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Why a U.S. obsession with meddling in other countries seriously jeopardizes world peace

Xinhua) 08:16, August 12, 2022

* U.S. foreign policy has prompted scenes of woe and horror worldwide and seriously jeopardized global peace and stability.

* From the end of World War II to 2001, the United States has initiated 201 armed conflicts in 153 locations, accounting for more than 80 percent of the total wars that occurred across the world in that time.

* Outright military aggression is not the only tool of U.S. control. It has also resorted to economic seduction, financial sanctions, cultural infiltration, incitements to riot, election manipulation and other ruses to covertly subvert so-called "ideologically hostile countries."

* The consequences have extended beyond the human losses, economic collapses and social turmoil of targeted states to shatter regional and global stability.

BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- "Intervention is as American as apple pie," late American political scientist Robert Jervis wrote in the introduction to a book entitled "The New American Interventionism."

Jervis' words were written 23 years ago and remain valid today. They get to the heart of U.S. foreign policy, one that features meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and subverting their governance, with the ultimate aim of securing American hegemony.

Such an interventionist foreign policy has prompted scenes of woe and horror worldwide and seriously jeopardized global peace and stability.

Protesters gather in front of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq on Dec. 31, 2019 to condemn airstrikes by the U.S. forces against Hashd Shaabi bases in Iraq. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

TRAILS OF BLOODSHED

In the spring of 1805, U.S. army officer and diplomatic consul William Eaton, in alliance with Hamet Karamanli, the deposed brother of Yusuf Karamanli, Pasha of Tripolitania, or today's Libya, marched an army to attack Derna. They easily captured the Tripolitanian city with the help of three U.S. ships, and the Pasha was forced to capitulate.

The incident, which led to the end of the First Barbary War and a victorious United States, has been viewed by many scholars as the first U.S. attempt at a coup d'etat in a foreign government through military interventionism, triggering the country's consequent pursuit of global domination.

Since then, the United States has launched more bloody overseas military intrusions, often swooping in on a country and launching deadly attacks until the target is thrown into chaos and its government overthrown.

From the end of World War II to 2001, the United States has initiated 201 armed conflicts in 153 locations, accounting for more than 80 percent of the total wars that occurred across the world in that time. Since 2001, Washington and its allies have dropped an estimated average of 46 bombs on other countries daily.

Those wars, mainly in the name of "democracy," "freedom" and "human rights" were instead a reckless interference in the domestic affairs of other countries, leaving behind death and destruction in the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

For example, U.S.-led NATO forces carried out continuous airstrikes for 78 days against Yugoslavia. The result? More than 8,000 civilians dead or injured and nearly 1 million displaced.

The U.S.-launched war in Afghanistan killed around 50,000 Afghan civilians from 2001 to mid-April 2020 and reduced some 11 million to refugees. Furthermore, years of bloodshed have left more than 200,000 Iraqi civilians dead and dragged Libya into greater turmoil.

The United States is "the most warlike nation in the history of the world," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said in 2019, adding his country had only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its 242-year history.

The U.S. history of looting "is associated with numerous military interventions and the organizations of coups to eliminate those governments that did not easily accede to their demands," Gilberto Valdes Gutierrez of the Cuban Institute of Philosophy told Xinhua.

U.S. historian Paul L. Atwood has also summarized this bellicose nature of the United States: "War is the American way of life."

The bombed Radio Television Serbia (RTS) building is seen in Belgrade, Serbia, March 21, 2022. In Belgrade, there are many scars left by the NATO bombings. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

COVERT MANIPULATION

Outright military aggression is not the only tool of U.S. control. It has also resorted to economic seduction, financial sanctions, cultural infiltration, incitements to riot, election manipulation and other ruses to covertly subvert so-called "ideologically hostile countries."

Those underhanded moves were admitted by former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton in a CNN interview in mid-July. "As somebody who has helped plan coup d'etat, not here but other places, it takes a lot of work," he said.

As the Boston College political scientist Lindsey O'Rourke wrote in her book "Covert Regime Change: America's Secret Cold War," from 1947 to 1989, the United States launched 64 covert operations of subversion in other countries.

Over the past few decades, the U.S. government has fostered political unrest in Latin America, played a part in the "Arab Spring" and instigated "Color Revolutions" in Europe and Asia. In Latin America, it continues to meddle in the domestic affairs of regional countries under the "Monroe Doctrine."

Washington's sanctions have increased tenfold in the past 20 years. It has long put Cuba, Venezuela, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria and others on its blacklist, wantonly disrupting their economies and damaging people's livelihoods, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with USA Today in September 2020, political scientist Dov H. Levin noted that the United States has intervened in 81 elections between 1946 and 2000, including those in Yugoslavia and Italy.

An article published by Foreign Affairs in June 2020 said the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's first known covert action was to manipulate Italy's 1948 election by spreading incendiary propaganda, bankrolling their preferred candidate and orchestrating grassroots initiatives -- "all to advantage Italy's centrist forces over their leftist competitors."

The United States has financed non-governmental organizations "that essentially are there to destabilize countries," said Alfred de Zayas, professor of international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy, who, as an American, feels "vicariously responsible" for the misdeeds of his country.

Photo taken on Sept. 2, 2021 shows damaged vehicles at the site of the U.S. airstrike in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

ARROGANCE NEVER DIES

"A modern form of 'Western arrogance" is how Greg Cusack, former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, described his country's foreign policy in an interview with Xinhua.

He was right: From the beginning of its founding, the United States has formed a culture of piracy that advocates pillage and conquest. Later, as triumphalism reared its head in the West following the end of the Cold War, the United States, the world's sole superpower, saw a rare opportunity to reshape the globe as it saw fit and rule supreme.

But its "unipolar moment" was short-lived. As the world shifts towards a multipolar one, the United States fears its global supremacy is weakening and has therefore started tightening its grip.

"Washington's empire" is "built on foundations of greed and lust for power," writer and political commentator John Wight wrote in an opinion published in July.

Its "imperial arrogance" is the same as that accompanying any empire, "established in the name not of peace and prosperity, but of war and exploitation," Wight wrote, adding the United States "seeks to dominate" and "has a policy of interfering in other states' internal affairs."

Indeed, the United States has long undermined international rules, coerced others to pick sides and retaliated against those who refused to comply. The consequences have extended beyond the human losses, economic collapses and social turmoil of targeted states to shatter regional and global stability.

And to justify its interventionist policy, the United States has masqueraded its misdeeds as "just war theory" and so-called "democratic experiments."

Daniel Kovalik, an American expert on international human rights from the University of Pittsburgh, told Xinhua that the United States uses human rights as a "bludgeon" against targets.

It has nothing to do with human rights, he said. "It's about U.S. economic and strategic interests."

"The discourse about democracy is the U.S. tool of pressure on countries ... Every region they invaded was completely destroyed both physically and spiritually as they set neighbors against one another," said veteran Turkish journalist Tunc Akkoc.

As an op-ed published last year in the South China Morning Post read, the United States "delivers all the consequences that a hegemon can inflict upon non-compliant states."

The "different experiences of U.S. interventions" over the past decades "were not in favor of the peoples," Egyptian political expert Akram Hossam told Xinhua.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Bianji)
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Although the Justice Department on Thursday asked a federal magistrate judge to unseal a warrant that allowed FBI agents to search former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, The Palm Beach Post filed court papers to ensure the entire warrant  not just parts of it  are available to the public.

In the motion filed early Friday , the Post joined other news organizations that claim the release of all documents connected to the warrant is needed to rein in wild speculation about why the nations top law enforcement agency took the unprecedented step of asking to search the home of a former president.

The request to unseal the warrant, that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced during a nationally-televised news conference, could keep key parts of the warrant off-limits to the public, said attorney Martin Reeder, who is representing the Post.

The scope of all the warrant materials is broader than what the government is addressing, Reeder said. The government is only speaking to some of these documents.

AG Merrick Garland: Justice Department files motion to unseal Mar-a-Lago search warrant

More: Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart faces political firestorm after signing Mar-a-Lago search warrant

Former President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are seen arriving at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach on January 20, 2021, the day of President Joe Biden's inauguration. Boxes of documents were reportedly on Air Force One that day as the former president arrived from Washington.

DOJ motion simply asks to unseal search warrant, other documents

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, federal prosecutors are asking U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to unseal the search warrant, including Attachments A and B, and the property receipt.

It is unclear if an affidavit, which describes what evidence FBI agents had to justify the search, would be unsealed, Reeder said. It would contain detailed information critical to the public's understanding of what happened and why.

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, federal prosecutors are asking U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to unseal the search warrant, including Attachments A and B, and the property receipt.

Federal prosecutors asked Reinhart to unseal what they identified as Docket Entry 17 and its attachment. But, two other docket entries are sealed. It appears they would remain so if the prosecutors request is approved.

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Further, Reeder said, in their motion to unseal at least some of the warrant materials, they said Trump should be given time to object. If Trump opts to do so, he could raise other issues for Reinhart to consider.

In case you missed it: Donald Trump knows what FBI agents took from Mar-a-Lago and why they took it, experts say

Why did the FBI search Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate?: 5 potential explanations

Main entrance to Mar-a-Lago facing S. Ocean Blvd. Thursday morning August 11, 2022.

Reinhart ordered federal prosecutors to confer with Trump lawyers. He gave them until 3 p.m. Friday to tell him whether Trump intends to object.

Trump has blasted Garland for not explaining the reason for the search. Trump's team received the warrant but has declined to release it.

It appears the investigation is focused on classified or highly sensitive documents Trump may have taken to Mar-a-Lago when he left the White House. Officials at the National Archives and Records Administration retrieved 15 boxes of materials from the estate in January.

Car sits inside a gate at Mar-a-Lago near S. Ocean Blvd. Thursday morning August 11, 2022.

Since the FBI carried out as many as a dozen boxes from Mar-a-Lago on Monday, The New York Times, the Albany Times Union and a nonprofit activist group have filed court papers asking Reinhart to unseal the records. Late Thursday, CBS Broadcasting, the Washington Post, CNN, NBCUniversal Media and the E.W. Scripps Co. did so as well.

In their motions, all said the release of the warrant would help quell the bitter partisanship battle that has erupted. The search unleashed a torrent of recriminations, with Trump calling it an assault that could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries.

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said he understands Reinhart has been receiving threats, which prompted officials to remove his contact information and biography from the federal courts website.

A Palm Beach police vehicle is parked in the traffic circle on the west side of Mar-a-Lago Wednesday morning August 10, 2022.

Documents would shed light amid recriminations and speculation

Attorneys for the news organizations said the release of the sealed documents would help the public understand a remarkable event in history.

Access to all search warrant records  which currently appear to be under seal  would facilitate (the newspapers) efforts to inform the public of these highly newsworthy events in a timely and comprehensive manner, wrote Tampa attorney Carol Jean LoCicero, who represents the New York Times.

Reeder said court records are a key element to news-gathering efforts to keep the public informed. He cited the Post's decades-long history of covering Trump, well before he occupied the Oval Office.

"The Post desires to continue reporting to its readers on the many newsworthy events surrounding Mr. Trump," he wrote.

Reeder said the affidavit would give a detailed account of what prompted the search and what agents expected to find. Legal experts have said probable cause affidavits remain sealed unless charges are filed.

Front of Mar-a-Lago facing S. Ocean Blvd. Thursday morning August 11, 2022.

Times' attorney cites court decisions upholding public's right to records

LoCicero cited a long list of court decisions that uphold the publics right to court records. When the documents involve a public official  such as a former president, who has said he may seek the office again  the right is elevated, she said.

When the conduct of public officials is at issue, the public's interest in the operation of government adds weight in the balance toward allowing permission to copy judicial records, she wrote, quoting a 1982 court decision.

For any of the records to remain sealed, federal prosecutors have to demonstrate a compelling interest justifying an ongoing seal, she said. And, the governments claims have to be specific, she said.

Mar-a-Lago's main gate along S. County Rd. in Palm beach is closed around 10 a.m. August 10, 2022.

Naked assertions of some interest justifying secrecy, devoid of particulars, will not justify closure, she wrote.

That the search warrant would shed light on important questions the American public has about its government is unquestionable, she said.

"There can be no doubt that President Trumps actions, particularly as to his potential mishandling of sensitive government records, along with the U.S. Department of Justice officials decision to pursue and conduct a search of a former Presidents residence, is of core public concern," LoCicero wrote.

Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that typically targets Democratic presidential administrations, was the first to ask that the search warrant be released.

The Washington-based group, which filed some 20 unsuccessful lawsuits over former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons emails, claims the documents would aid in its investigation of the potential politicization of the FBI and the Justice Department.

They would show whether federal law enforcement agencies are abusing their law enforcement powers to harass a likely future political opponent of President Biden, Miami attorney Michael Budwick wrote on behalf of the nonprofit organization.

Jane Musgrave covers federal and civil courts and occasionally ventures into criminal trials in state court. Contact her at jmusgrave@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Mar-a-Lago search: Palm Beach Post files to make entire warrant public
An observant parent stopped what police believe was an attempted kidnapping during a school event in North Richland Hills on Tuesday night, police said.

On Tuesday, parents and kids attended a meet-the-teacher night at the International Leadership of Texas School NRH event.

A parent noticed a man walking around the schools hallways without a child, according to a press release from North Richland Hills police. The man walked up to the parent and child and put his arm around the child, police said, and tried to usher the child away from his mother.

The mother pulled the child back and told school officials what happened. The school contacted the police, who found the man  identified as 31-year-old Kevin Ward outside the school. Ward was taken into custody and faces a charge of unlawful restraint of a minor, a felony, with a bail set at $150,000.

In the departments tweet about the incident, North Richland Hills Police Department thanked the parent for their quick-thinking action.
Esmeralda Marquez, right, with her 2-year-old sister, Ruby. Esmeralda will be attending sixth grade this year. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Its been a while since Sherry Jones 15-year-old son has worried about familiar back-to-school activities  getting a fresh haircut, buying school supplies and shopping for cool clothes for the first day.

Hes more himself now, said Jones, a Carson resident. Hes excited about the upcoming school year. Hes seeing his friends and playing sports.

In a hopeful sign for Jones and other parents, the start of school this month is feeling almost normal after the pandemic traumatically altered the three previous academic years. Yet parental optimism is tempered with lingering concerns about the long-term toll of the COVID-19 years on their children's education and development.

Many parents  especially those in hard-hit Latino and Black Los Angeles communities  are still grappling with grief from losing loved ones and are alarmed by relaxed safety measures in schools. Among the unmet needs they see in their kids are mental health struggles, developmental delays and academic difficulties  and they are hoping that the return to school will help.

Mental health professionals and educators say parents have ample reason to be concerned.

"These kids have lost at least a year of instruction," said Montebello Unified School District interim Supt. Mark Skvarna, whose school system switched to remote learning in March 2020 and did not offer in-person instruction to all students until the fall of 2021. "And there's a lot of other things that go on, other than instructional rigor, that also help define a child's growth. And if you stop that for a year or a year plus, then you have a gigantic hole to fill."

While the effect varies among schools, families and students, a growing body of research supports these concerns.

Academic loss was worse in school districts that remained closed longer and especially worse for poor and minority students already behind their peers, according to data gathered from 49 states by Harvard University's Center for Education Policy Research.

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The researchers concluded that in high-poverty schools that remained remote for a full school year or more, "leaders could provide high-dosage tutoring to every student [and] still not make up for the loss."

In late 2021, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued a rare public health advisory on the mental health challenges confronting youth, noting that symptoms of depression and anxiety had already doubled from pre-pandemic levels, affecting about 1 in 4 students.

Were now entering our third year of dealing with this," said Jessica Borelli, professor of psychological science at UC Irvine. "We need to really be thinking about the long-term impact this kind of stress has on our childrens mental health.

Esmeralda Marquez, 11, wears her new school uniform in East Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Many parents interviewed by The Times said their children needed counseling and they either had their kids in therapy or were looking for it.

This is especially concerning as school systems have been unable to fill budgeted mental health positions because a shortage of qualified professionals.

"We funded an attendance counselor last year and never received one," said one Los Angeles Unified School District teacher who asked to remain anonymous because she was not authorized to speak. Leading into the new school year, openings for an attendance counselor and psychological social worker are unfilled, she said.

The L.A. school system is attempting to fill the gap with "telehealth" online and phone services and by contracting with outside firms to send staff to schools. Teachers this week also received their latest round of training in delivering lessons that incorporate social and emotional learning.

Jones said her son was moody and isolated himself during the pandemic, playing video games and complaining about going back to school. But he had always been a good student and she didnt think he needed any specialized help when campuses reopened last year.

However, she realized, when her son returned from camp, how deeply he has been struggling after he confided that he talked about his mental health issues during a camp discussion.

I realized that, myself and other parents, we didn't really check in with our kids mentally. We were just focused on their academics.

The boy has found ways to cope, Jones said, journaling, meditating and annotating his Bible. But not all children have acquired such practices.

Sofia Quezada of Boyle Heights said her two daughters, who had been self-confident, now "don't move one foot forward without second-guessing themselves."

"I'm hoping this school year pushes them into being excited about being involved. I'm hoping they'll come into their own identity."

Children across socioeconomic lines will be disparately affected in the coming months and years, depending on how well they fared during the pandemic, Borelli said. Those with preexisting learning disabilities will have it worse.

One of the things thats true about development is that it builds on itself," Borelli said. Children "can miss out on learning some important developmentally acquired skills that are important for subsequent developmental stages. When people have already moved on, it can be hard to learn later.

For Katidia Haro's two daughters, therapy and her ability to be present for them has helped. Her daughters, ages 10 and 14, are excited to go back to Balboa Gifted Magnet Elementary and the Humanities Magnet at Cleveland High School in the west San Fernando Valley.

But Haro said she limits outings with friends because of COVID-safety concerns. "That's really hard on them," she said.

L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho said that many parents have voiced concerns about relaxed COVID-19 safety measures in the district: Masks are optional; required weekly coronavirus testing has been discontinued. Carvalho insists that the district's protocols are backed by the evolving science.

He said he's also had to reassure many parents about the security of campuses in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Although lower-income communities were hardest hit by COVID-19, no schools have been immune to the pandemic's effects on children. In the more middle-class Las Virgenes Unified School District, which straddles the border of L.A. and Ventura counties, district leaders are especially concerned about the emotional state of students.

"We want our students engaged and active when it comes to their learning and on-campus experience," said Supt. Dan Stepenosky. "We've pushed hard to bring back the events and traditions that connect students, staff and parents to school: homecoming games, dances, spirit day, proms, in-person open houses."

The school system also added a behaviorist teacher on special assignment to each middle and high school to address conflicts that arise and to "empower students to solve the natural challenges that occur growing up," Stepenosky said.

While many parents appreciate the push for normalcy, several Las Virgenes parents, who said they might be in the minority, feel routines are getting back to usual too fast and at the expense of prudent health measures.

Sharply divided parent opinion is common.

Antonieta Garcia said her daughter, about to start middle school, is excited about being more independent but concerned about friends not wearing masks.

Esmeralda Marquez, who is entering middle school, often feel anxious when she is around others not wearing masks in public. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Garcia fears her daughter will isolate herself: Shes going to be in that mode of anxiety, and if shes in that mode, shes not going to be able to learn correctly.

The more relaxed health rules will be harder for people in her East L.A. community, where many lost loved ones.

"Why do families like us need to have this anxiety when they could easily COVID test them? I know families want to go back, but a lot of families, like us, were not ready yet," she said.

For Boyle Heights parent Julia Ortiz, who works as an office tech at an L.A. Unified school, the top concerns for her 12-year-old are grades and anxiety. The boy is entering Hollenbeck Middle School  and Ortiz fears he isnt ready.

Am I going to have recess in junior high? Ortiz said he asked recently. Ortiz explained that he wont, and that hell have seven classes instead of one.

He still has that little-kid mentality, Ortiz said. Hes nowhere near ready for junior high. Hes not even thinking about being a teenager. That worries me.

Emiliano Ortiz, 12, starts middle school next week, and his mother is worried he isn't ready after pandemic disruptions. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

But she feels its time for her son to move forward.

With the youngest children, many parents have noticed delayed motor skills. In elementary school, social skills and finding a sense of independence may be difficult.

Danielle Grays of Watts isnt sure if her 4-year-old will know how to open his lunch box or unzip his pants in the bathroom when he starts kindergarten at KIPP Compton Community School.

"When youre at home, you dont think about these things," said Grays, who is an early childhood educator. "You just do it for them.

Her oldest son, 9, was sent home in first grade during the pandemic, a critical year for reading and writing. This month, hes starting fourth grade.

Grays said she has observed the boy, typically "a character" who loves to socialize, become more anxious. Last year, though he was enrolled full time, he missed more than 30 days of school while having to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.

His writing took a big hit. Were really working on it," she said.

All school systems have put in place measures to help students academically. In Montebello, these measures include sharply lower class sizes at all grade levels. In addition, starting last year, about 1 in 13 students were brought into "accelerated learning labs."

At the elementary level, for example, specially assigned teachers worked with students in groups of five throughout the day providing 45 to 60 minutes of "strategic intensive instruction centered on reading and foundational skills," said Kaivan Yuen, assistant superintendent for educational services.

Maria Osorio of South Central said that for her four grandsons, extracurriculars, after-school programs and extra help are critical. Three of her grandsons  whom she is raising  have learning disabilities.

"It's been harder for them to stay at their grade level," she said. "I worry about that a lot, that they get the help they need. I've been fighting for those needs to be covered."

Osorio said that her grandsons improved academically after participating in an enrichment program that offers educational support and field trips.

Osorio's oldest grandson, 15, recently visited USC. The second oldest, 12, went on a trip to Catalina Island. The youngest went camping for a week.

"They came home very happy," she said. "It's like a reward for how much they've improved in school."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock.com

It is possible to attend graduate school without taking on student loan debt.

Here It Is: Our 2022 Small Business Spotlight

Discover: 7 Surprisingly Easy Ways To Reach Retirement Goals

From utilizing a 529 plan to working in a graduate assistantship program, we rounded up some of the best opportunities available to students to pay for a graduate education.

Apply for Scholarships

Similar to applying for an undergraduate education, there are many scholarships and merit scholarships available to graduate students.

Grad students may look through websites like scholarships.com to search for relevant scholarships by type, academic majors and states. See which scholarships you match with and apply for financial aid to help lower tuition expenses.

Create a 529 Plan

William Gogolak, assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University  Heinz College, said students planning on attending grad school should consider creating a 529 plan for themselves.

A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged investment account which can be used to pay for eligible education expenditures for a selected beneficiary, said Gogolak.

Most individuals are unaware they can be a beneficiary of their own account. If you are interested in creating a 529 plan, reach out to a trusted financial advisor about the best options for you.

Take Our Poll: Do You Think You Will Be Able To Retire at Age 65?

Check if Your Employer Offers Tuition Reimbursement

If you already work a full-time job, check in with your employer to see if they offer any tuition reimbursement programs.

Depending on the employer benefits, employees and their family members may be eligible for tuition reimbursement or discounts which go toward grad school costs. Remember to check the conditions in your company handbook if you plan to use your employers reimbursement program.

Jayson Matlock, assistant director of financial aid at Southern Utah University, said employees may even find some employers offer partnerships with universities that streamline your grad school experience at lower or no cost. Reach out to your employer and see which opportunities may be available to you.

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Find a Program Offering Graduate Assistantships

Amy Sarow, AuD, recently graduated from graduate school with a Doctor of Audiology and without taking out any loans. While Sarow attended a grad school out of state, she was able to pay for 90% of her tuition with a graduate assistantship. This automatically qualified Sarow for in-state tuition rates and a tuition scholarship which paid for nearly all of her tuition bill each semester in addition to a monthly stipend.

Sarow told GOBankingRates she was able to offset the rest of the cost by working a weekend job and working during the summer and semester breaks. In the end, everything paid off. Otherwise, Sarow could have ended up with six figures in student debt.

Sarows biggest advice when looking for grade schools is to find a program that offers graduate assistantships. Some universities may also offer research assistantships. Both positions are part-time, at 10 to 20 hours per week. These programs provide a stipend to students and pay for tuition and occasionally certain fees. If you have leftover tuition expenses or need extra money for living expenses, consider working a part-time job on the side.

Work at Your University

If theres a job opening as an employee at the university youre applying to for your graduate program, consider applying for it and working at the university.

Many universities offer their employees free or reduced tuition during their time in school, said Matlock. This is a great way to receive a salary, benefits and your education simultaneously while developing relevant experience which will translate to the workforce.

Apply to Multiple Grad Schools

Sean Coffey, director of communications and outreach at the California Policy Lab, graduated with an MPA from UNC-Chapel Hill. Whenever Coffey speaks with coworkers who are interested in applying for grad school, he always encourages them to apply to four to six schools if possible.

Why apply to so many schools? Coffey said students may get different financial aid packages, including research assistantships and tuition waivers, at the different schools.

Students may be able to leverage their packages and say to one school: Id really like to come to your school, but this other school is offering me X, Y and Z. Do you all have any ability to increase the package youre offering? Leveraging these packages may allow grad students to ultimately graduate with less debt or even no debt.

What if You Do Need Student Loans?

While grad students have a variety of accessible methods to pay for grad school without taking debt, there may be a situation where none of these options are available.

For a situation like this, Cecil Staton  CFP, CSLP, president and wealth advisor at Arch Financial Planning  said grad students may apply for student loans. However, it is recommended they apply for federal student loans, like direct unsubsidized loans or grad PLUS loans, instead of taking out a private loan.

Federal student loans offer protections against death and disability which are not usually provided by private loans, said Staton. Federal loans also offer access to income-driven repayment plans, taxable loan forgiveness and public service loan forgiveness. Private loans do not.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Can You Pay for Graduate School Without Going Into Debt?
NEW YORK  Weeks after the nation's first polio case in nearly a decade emerged in the New York suburbs, public health officials warned Friday that it's likely in New York City too.

That's while the city is still reeling from Covid-19 and the emerging monkeypox outbreak. New York proved a petri dish for both contagions, and now polio, which is largely asymptomatic but can cause paralysis, could be silently spreading.

For every one case of paralytic polio identified, hundreds more may be undetected, State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said in a statement. The detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples in New York City is alarming, but not surprising. Already, the State Health Department  working with local and federal partners  is responding urgently, continuing case investigation and aggressively assessing spread.

There are no confirmed cases of polio in New York City, but health officials said wastewater surveillance found six positive samples. The local detection comes after a confirmed case in Rockland County and positive wastewater samples in Rockland and Orange counties.

Health officials have been testing wastewater to track the spread of Covid-19, and recently began checking samples from June and July for polio, according to Denis Nash, a professor of epidemiology at CUNYs Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health.

It can be difficult to assess the level of community spread based on the six positive samples the city collected. Nash said its unclear how many facilities those samples came from, or what concentration of the poliovirus was detected in each.

As to how many people that could represent, thats another unknown, he said. We have never really calibrated the signal in wastewater to the number of cases that might be in the community. Its a really new approach to surveillance.

Officials have said the samples in New York have not been genetically linked to the case in Rockland County.

New Yorkers should know that the latest environmental findings do not indicate that the individual identified in Rockland County was the source of the transmission, and case investigation into the origin of the virus is ongoing, officials said.

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New Yorkers should know that the latest environmental findings do not indicate that the individual identified in Rockland County was the source of the transmission, and case investigation into the origin of the virus is ongoing, officials said.

The disease was largely eradicated in the U.S. due to successful vaccine campaigns, but it has found purchase in areas with flagging vaccination rates.

In New York City, just over 86 percent of children aged 6 months to 5 years old have received three doses of the polio vaccine, leaving another 14 percent vulnerable, according to health officials. Those rates varied significantly by borough and neighborhood. In Manhattan, vaccination rates average 91 percent  on Staten Island they're about 82 percent.

The Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn had the city's lowest rate at just over 56 percent. Meanwhile, nearby Greenpoint saw rates of over 99 percent.

Similar variance occurred across counties, though state officials calculated the rate differently, noting the percentage of 2-year-old children who had received three doses of the vaccine. In Rockland, that rate was roughly 60 percent, while in Orange County it fell to just below 59 percent  both far below the statewide average of about 79 percent and among the lowest in the state.

Officials urged parents to vaccinate their children, and anyone who is not fully vaccinated to seek out protection against the virus.

The number one thing that people can do to protect themselves is ensure that they, their children, their loved ones are vaccinated, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday. As a parent, this is a responsibility were putting on your shoulders right now. Were asking you to work with us. Make sure your children are protected.

Mayor Eric Adams told PIX11 that New Yorkers should not take the illness lightly.

We thought that this was behind us many years ago, and polio is a serious illness that we have to take seriously, he said. Challenging problem, easy solution: Vaccination.

Young children should get four doses of the vaccine, while adults and others beginning the process after the age of four should get a total of three doses, health officials said. Adults who received one or two doses in the past can receive their remaining doses now, regardless of how long it has been since the initial doses were administered.

The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defense is so simple  get vaccinated against polio, New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said in a statement. With polio circulating in our communities there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect them from this virus, and if youre an unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated adult, please choose now to get the vaccine.

Polio is entirely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us, Vasan said.
The polio virus was discovered in wastewater samples in New York City, showing the once-eradicated and potentially paralyzing disease is circulating farther than places in Rockland and Orange counties where it already had been found, state and New York City health officials announced on Friday.

The announcement gave no details about where in New York City the virus had surfaced and the date or dates of the sewage samples in which it was found. Health officials started testing past and current wastewater samples for polio traces after a Rockland County man suffered paralysis and was diagnosed with polio, the first U.S. case of the disease in years.

As of Aug. 4, the state Department of Health had said the polio virus had turned up in 11 sewage samples taken in Orange and Rockland counties in June and July. In Friday's announcement, officials said they now had positive results form one or both of those counties from May, signifying the disease had been circulating among unvaccinated people earlier than previously known.

For every one case of paralytic polio identified, hundreds more may be undetected, State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said. The detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples in New York City is alarming, but not surprising."

Part of a flyer being distributed by Rockland health officials and partner agencies in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Yiddish to alert people to a polio case and virus circulation in the county.

What to know: Infectious disease experts talk about the risk of polio

Polio: Now 87, Elwood Ennis recounts the fear and pain when virus was rampant

'Tip of the iceberg': How state health officials are setting off alarms over polio

Rockland County officials announced on July 21 that a young adult had been diagnosed with polio. The person was no longer contagious, officials said, but had suffered paralysis as a result of the illness.

The polio patient had never been vaccinated against the virus, officials said.

The polio case - the first apparently transmitted within the U.S. since 1979 - came from a person who had taken an oral polio vaccine in a different country. A rare complication of the live vaccine, which has not been given in the U.S. in more than two decades, allowed the person to develop a mild case of the virus and shed it.

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Officials working to vaccinate New Yorkers against polio

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved a small team into offices at the Rockland County's health complex in Pomona.

"It's a natural course of events," said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. A CDC field office was also set up during the 2018-2019 measles outbreak, when Rockland was an epicenter and saw more than 300 cases.

Meanwhile, local outreach for vaccinations continue. Rockland County has partnered with Good Samaritan Hospital, Montefiore Nyack, RefuahHealth and Serenity Health to produce 5,000 copies of an information flyer in four languages: English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Yiddish.

More than 1,400 polio vaccinations have been given in Rockland since the case was reported, county officials said.

Agencies with connections to the Orthodox Jewish and immigrant communities have been key, Day said.

"Rockland County is one of the most diverse in New York State," Day said. "Our Department of Health has spent the last few weeks working closely with community partners to develop messaging that's effective and impactful to all of our residents. Reaching all corners of Rockland with the simple message that polio is dangerous and only preventable by immunization is critical."

Vaccination numbers lag as polio spreads

Vaccination rates have lagged for small children during the COVID pandemic, which some delayed well-baby checkups and vaccination hesitancy grew.

Rockland and Orange counties have lagged behind much of the state. While school vaccination rates remain high - a 2019 law restricted vaccination exemptions for children in public and private schools - the rate for children under 2 is lower than many other areas of the state.

Rockland County, for example, has a polio vaccination rate of 60.34% and Orange County has a polio vaccination rate of 58.68% among children who have received three polio immunizations before their second birthday, according to state health department data from Aug. 1, 2022.

In New York City, 86.2% of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old have received the recommended three doses of the polio vaccine.

But there are NYC neighborhoods where polio vaccination coverage of children aged 6 months to 5 years, dips even further. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for example, has a polio vaccination rate for children in that age range that is just above 70%.

The statewide vaccination rate for children 2 and under stands at about 79%.

"The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defense is so simple  get vaccinated against polio, said New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. Polio is entirely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Polio virus found in New York City wastewater, showing spread in state
Kabul Getty Images

A prominent Afghan cleric, Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, was killed in Kabul by a suicide bomber who detonated explosives hidden in an artificial leg, Taliban sources said Thursday, as reported by BBC News and Reuters.

The religious leader supported the Taliban and was a prominent critic of the Islamic State's regional affiliate in Afghanistan. "It's a very huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," a senior Taliban official in the interior ministry said.

Sheikh Haqqani is one of the highest profile leaders to be killed in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power as the United States military withdrew last year. He notably "had previously issued a fatwa, or religious decree, in support of female education  a contentious issue inside Afghanistan," the BBC reports, going on to quote Haqqani who, in an interview earlier this year, argued that "there is no justification in the sharia [law] to say female education is not allowed. No justification at all."

The Islamic State Kohrasan Province (IS-K) claimed responsibility for the bombing, which occurred in the cleric's office. IS-K had targeted Haqqani before.

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CHARLOTTE  A Charlotte man charged in a 2018 traffic crash that resulted in the death of a Vermontville motorcyclist will be retried for manslaughter after jurors in his first trial could not reach a verdict on the charge, prosecutors said Thursday.

Mitchill Glenn, 53, was tried in July on three charges: OWI causing death, misdemeanor moving violation causing death and manslaughter with a motor vehicle.

The crash, which happened Aug. 7, 2018, claimed the life of 60-year-old Richard Dunlap of Vermontville.

A jury issued a not guilty verdict on the OWI causing death charge July 29. Glenn was found guilty, however, of the misdemeanor moving violation.

The third charge, manslaughter with a motor vehicle, resulted in a hung jury.

Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd said Thursday in a text message that prosecutors plan to retry Glenn on the manslaughter charge. A scheduling conference has been set for Aug. 19.

"This is a tragic case," Glenns attorney, Matt Newburg, said. "We respect (the jury's) decision and appreciate their willingness to serve as jurors in the case."

Police said Dunlap was preparing to turn onto American Legion Drive in Charlotte when he was struck by Glenn's pickup truck at about 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 2018.

At the time, officers believed Glenn was visibly impaired by methamphetamine  the basis for the OWI charge, said Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Anderson Thursday.

But the jury disagreed, acquitting Glenn on the charge.

Anderson said there's no quantifiable measurement for methamphetamine impairment, unlike a measure such as blood alcohol level. While there is a drug screening officers can perform, he said police did not test Glenn at the time.

"(The jury) obviously didn't believe that there was proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and that was their decision to make," he said.

Dunlap was passionate about his three grandchildren and farming, according to his obituary. He loved taking the children for rides on tractors and his restored Model-A.

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The Eaton County Jail released Glenn shortly after the verdict last month. He had been incarcerated since violating his bond in early 2021, Anderson said.

He faces up to one year in prison and a $2,000 fine for his conviction on the moving violation causing death charge.

Contact reporter Jared Weber at 517-582-3937 or jtweber@lsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Prosecutors will retry Eaton County man on manslaughter charge after hung jury
The Providence Journal has announced two major appointments.

Whitman Littlefield was named the new managing editor of digital and Eryn Dion was named the new managing editor of content. David Ng, executive editor of The Providence Journal, announced the appointments to the staff on Thursday.

Whitman and Eryn are two of the most talented journalists that I know, but more importantly, theyre fun to work and have a vision for the future of journalism, Ng said.

Littlefield

Littlefield, 34, who lives in Providence, has been with The Journal for nearly eight years. Most recently, he was The Journals digital editor and previously served as assistant managing editor of social media and innovation. In his new role, he will oversee and supervise the organizations strategy in growing its digital subscriptions, identify new audience opportunities and enhance The Journals digital brand.

Dion, 32, who lives in Coventry, joined The Journal's parent company, Gannett, in 2015 and was most recently co-director of the Gannett New England Planning Desk, which coordinated most of the content produced in the New England region by Gannett papers, not including The Journal. As the managing editor of content, she will be responsible for developing and executing content strategy, retaining audiences and executing newsroom projects.

Littlefield and Dion will report directly to Ng.

After graduate school at Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communication, Littlefield returned to his native Rhode Island and began working at the nations oldest continuously published daily newspaper.

"It's been a lifelong dream to work at The Journal, he said. Growing up, we'd sit down to lunch after finishing up the morning chores on the farm and pass around the sections of The Journal as we ate. During those meals, I learned about issues facing the state, politics, business, even what antics Garfield was up to.

Dion graduated from Roger Williams University in Bristol with a degree in communications.

"Working with The Journal is what brought me back to New England from Florida a few years ago, and while I moved away from that newsroom, I've stayed invested in them as the local paper," she said. "Coming into the fold, and finally working at a paper my family actually reads, is exciting and humbling. I truly believe in what The Providence Journal can be, and I truly believe in having The Journal be a paper for all Rhode Islanders."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence Journal announces key managing editor positions
Support for President Joe Biden has plummeted within the last year among Asian Americans, falling from 72 percent to 44 percent in the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S. As the midterms approach, Asian Americans are likely to vote Republican due to the failing economy, family values, education, and crime, Asian-American Republican congressional candidates told National Review.

In Indiana, Jennifer-Ruth Green, whose mother is Filipino and whose father is black, won the Republican primary in the states first congressional district in May, garnering 49.2 percent of the Republican vote. She is a veteran of the U.S. military and a first-time candidate who is focusing her campaign on national security and the economy.

She said she is able to relate to voters from many demographics due to her own cultural background and her policies on a strong economy.

Sharing pictures of my mom, whos Pilipino, or talking about some of my favorite foods, or just enjoying that publicly and sharing that culture publicly, has allowed people to be more relatable, Green said.

For Asian Americans, like the majority of Americans, the economy under Biden has hit voters the hardest, Green said, adding that school choice has also been a big issue in her district.

The biggest thing that I continue to hear is about the economy, she said. The struggle is apparent, and in connecting people at the basic level, they trust you to solve the economic difficulty that theyre having.

Beyond the economy, family values are also a key issue for the Asian-American community, she said.

Conservative values are important. Family matters so much in Asian societies, Green said, arguing that Republicans are now the premier party of working people and the party of the people that want to take care of our society as a whole.

In Virginia, Hung Cao won the Republican primary for the states tenth district. Hes also a first-time candidate, a veteran of the U.S. military, and immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam before the fall of Saigon.

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Hung Caos Republican identity is partly rooted in his being an immigrant and knowing that the party stands for opportunity and education.

Immigrants just want an equal playing field, whereas the Democrat Party feels like they just want to own you by giving handouts and making you depend on them, Cao said.

Vietnamese Americans are telling Cao that the economy is their No. 1 priority.

Everyone, right now, is concerned about the economy. . . . Its always about taking care of our family and our kids, and no matter how hard we work right now, [prices] keep climbing up, Cao said.

The second thing, especially in this district, and this is not just for Asian Americans . . . is education, Cao said, noting that his district is close to Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology, the No. 1 public school in the country.

In 2022, a federal judge decided that the admissions process the high school had adopted was illegal because it discriminated against Asian Americans by using racial balancing to increase the number of black and Latino students.

When they take the meritocracy of Thomas Jefferson and they destroy it by redistributing to meet certain demographics, and it destroys our opportunity, its not fair, Cao said, adding that thats whats destroying this country.

Two Republican congressional candidates from California, Eric Ching and Ritesh Tandon, told National Review that Asian Americans in the state are concerned about crime, education, immigration, and the economy.

Ching won the Republican primary in Californias 38th district and will face Democrat Linda Sanchez in November. Tandon won the GOP primary in the states 17th district and will battle Democrat Ro Khanna.

You look at California, and no one is feeling safe anymore, Ching said, adding that his constituents are also concerned about education and the economy and that Republican policies fit the peoples desires more.

Schools should be focusing more on [STEM] subject matters instead of teaching sex education to five-year-olds and pushing critical race theory, Ching added.

Discrimination against Asian Americans and illegal immigration are also top issues in California, Tandon said.

College admissions based on race proportionality is unfair, un-American and plain immoral, he said, noting that Asian-American students are rejected by colleges in the name of diversity.

How racist is this thinking! said Tandon, who is Indian American.

Illegal immigration also is unfair to those who migrated to the U.S. legally, Tandon said.

I am at a complete loss . . . as to why liberals want large illegal immigration. No Democrat has made any sensible explanation. It is plain destructive to America to allow millions of people to enter the U.S. illegally. The paradox is that legal immigrants have to wait 15 years to get their green cards! What lopsided nonsense is being done! Tandon said.

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Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) was sworn into the House on Friday to finish the term of the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), who died of kidney cancer in February.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) facilitated the oath of office on the House floor for Finstad, who was surrounded by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and members of the Minnesota congressional delegation.

His swearing in came three days after the Minnesota Republican won a special election to replace Hagedorn. Finstad bested his closest opponent, Jeff Ettinger, by 4 percentage points.

In remarks on the House floor Friday, the new congressman said it was an extraordinary honor to be elected to Congress. He spoke about his background of being a farmer.

When we wake up in the morning, we know something will be broke. So we wake up trying to figure out how am I gonna fix things? So really, to me, serving in Congress is all about that: rolling up my sleeves, taking that farmer mentality, figuring out whats broke and how were gonna fix it and move on. And thats the farmer in me, thats the Southern Minnesotan in me, he added.

Finstads swearing in comes nearly six months after Hagedorn, 59, died of kidney cancer. The Minnesota Republican was first elected to Congress in 2018. He announced in April 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer.

Finstad served in the Trump administration, working as the state director for the Department of Agricultures Rural Development in Minnesota. He previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives and spent time as the executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, the executive director of the Center for Rural Policy and Development, and area director at the Minnesota Farm Bureau.

Finstad called his predecessor a true fighter for Southern Minnesota and a great example of hard work and what we strive to be in Minnesota.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Rep. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence committee, speaks during a news conference on Friday. Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Some Republicans conceded that it would be concerning if Trump kept information about nuclear weapons.

The GOP largely continued to push the DOJ to disclose more about the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid.

One House GOP lawmaker argued that not all nuclear information is "highly, highly" classified.

Republicans continued on Friday continued to question why the FBI would raid the private home of a former president, despite new reports that Donald Trump took classified documents related to nuclear weapons from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago residence.

But some GOP lawmakers are conceding that this new development is concerning.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee, said that he was still waiting to see more closely held information about the case, including the affidavit that investigators filed to obtain the search warrant. Federal prosecutors typically don't release such information at this stage of an investigation.

"That's pretty serious, but that is also in a different compartment, you know, we compartmentalize classified information and nuclear is in its own place," the Texas lawmaker told Insider on Friday, alluding to the fact that some information about the US' nuclear arsenal is limited to only a few individuals. "I just don't have all the facts in front of me. It's unfortunate they just didn't work it out where he could send it back. You hate to see a former president have a search warrant" executed against him.

Rep. Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said "it depends on what the nuclear information is" during a news conference on Friday.

"There are things that are highly, highly classified and there are things that are not extremely classified but are nonetheless classified," he said. The Ohio lawmaker said his panel "of course" deals with concerns about the proper handling of classified information. But he stressed that Attorney General Merrick Garland had a "number of options" besides executing a search warrant at Trump's private club at Mar-a-Lago.

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On Thursday night, The Washington Post reported that "classified documents related to nuclear weapons" were among the things FBI agents were looking for when they executed a search warrant at Trump's Palm Beach resort on Monday. Trump himself did not deny The Post's report in a statement on Friday.

Other Republicans on the intelligence panel said the onus was on Garland to tell lawmakers more about the raid, including the specifics of why there were national security concerns about the documents that were reportedly stored at Mar-a-Lago.

"Look at the premise of most of your questions, was it nuclear? Was it, heck, maybe it was aliens? That's the point," Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah said during a news conference. "We don't know, we're asking them to tell us. Until they tell us, we're going to have questions like this and the presumption is gonna be that it is political."

Initial news about the raid served as a unifying moment for the GOP as even some of Trump's biggest critics within the party condemned the search. Even Vice President Mike Pence, who has a strained relationship with Trump, expressed concern.

But Trump's more loyal followers within the party went even further. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky followed Trump's example by baselessly speculating that agents may have planted evidence in the material they retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called to "defund the FBI."

This torrent of criticism has shifted slightly as some lawmakers clarify that their questions lay mainly with top officials, not agents on the ground.

"I want to be very clear, the rank and file members of the FBI and our Department of Justice  they are brave men and women who do their job every single day," Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi told reporters during a news conference. "However, the 7th floor, the leadership of the FBI and Department of Justice, have been politicized in the eyes of most Americans."

Kelly added that "perception is reality" and that the only way DOJ officials can calm the tension sparked by Trump and the broader conservative reaction to the raid is to be more transparent about why investigators took such an aggressive step. Turner, Kelly, and other GOP members of the Intelligence Committee called for Garland to reveal more about why the raid was conducted.

"Christopher Wray, I would say to you personally you are in a crisis of leadership, you have to assure the American people that you are working for all of us, not just some of us," Stewart said. "If you did what you did this week and there was a necessity for it then tell the American people why."

Garland confirmed on Thursday that he personally signed off on the raid after "less intrusive" means failed.

Trump appointed Christopher Wray, the current FBI director, after the president fired FBI Director James Comey. The only opposition to Wray's confirmation came from Senate Democrats. Before returning to DOJ, Wray defended then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who would later run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, during the "Bridgegate" scandal.

Garland responded to criticism of the FBI on Thursday, telling reporters that agents and DOJ employees were "patriotic public servants." Wray added his own defense on Friday.

"Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others," Wray said in a statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider
City leaders, neighborhood residents, Richmond police, state and local leaders continue to be staggered in the wake of the violence that left Police Officer Seara Burton in critical condition after she was shot Wednesday night.

>> Richmond officer third local officer shot in line of duty inside a month

Thursday evening, Mayor Dave Snow said a prayer vigil will be held at the south entrance of the City Building on Friday at 7 p.m.

Over the next week, you may see a larger presence of Indiana State Police in the city as they assist our department, the mayor said. . . . We thank everyone for your continued prayers and messages of solidarity and comfort. It means a lot right now, and we know our police department will continue to need your kindness in the days to come.

The police department also is asking the community to continue praying for Officer Burton, who remained in Miami Valley Hospital on Thursday night. Officers put stickers on their police cruisers asking for prayers as well.

>> FIRST REPORT: Richmond police officer shot during traffic stop, in critical condition

The department on east Main Street was a somber place Thursday as the thoughts of officers were all with Officer Burton, the four-year department veteran shot and wounded in an incident one woman said escalated quickly.

She definitely didnt deserve what happened, Michelle Partin told News Center 7s Mike Campbell on Thursday. She just did her job.

Partin said she saw the shooting and could barely keep herself from falling to the ground as she watched the gunman, identified by police as Phillip Matthew Lee, shoot Officer Burton.

The look on his face and the look in his eyes, Partin said. The man was not afraid of anything.

Partin said she heard 15 or more gunshots from Lee and from other officers returning fire toward Lee, who has a long record of criminal charges and convictions. They chase him down and took him away in an ambulance. Lee, 47, remains in the Wayne County (Indiana) Jail on several charges involving guns and drugs as well as two counts of attempted murder.

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Partin watched as officers and paramedics treated the fallen officer.

I saw the officer laying right there. It was real. It was happening. Theres no going back and I had to hold myself up with both hands on the wall.

Partin said she and her family will join in offering prayers for Officer Burton.




The Daily Beast

via GoFundMeIn the wake of the Highland Park Fourth of July parade mass shooting, the story of 8-year-old Cooper Roberts survival was embraced by many following updates on the boys recovery.And more than a month after the massacre, Roberts is long out of intensive carebut his family says he is now in constant pain and hopeless, sad, and angry at the realization he is paralyzed.In a sobering and gut-wrenching statement released Tuesday, the Roberts family said they want people to see the u
These wooden structures have only managed to

According to Ryzhenko, so far, these wooden structures have only managed to "protect" the passage to the city's Court of Appeal.

Read also: Russian occupiers conduct overnight raids in Kherson

This barbecue firewood near the Court of Appeal is supposed to be an antitank hedgehog, Ryzhenko wrote sarcastically.

Wooden tank traps are likely to be of dubious effectiveness against Ukrainian tanks.

Russian occupiers in the area are preparing for the liberation of the Kherson by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, by conducting raids in search of Ukrainian partisans who are arranging various sabotage, both in the city itself and in other settlements of the Oblast.

Read also: Russian forces complain of low-quality equipment in new video

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military is destroying bridges across the Dnipro River in order to damage the invaders logistics.

Kherson Regional Council member Serhiy Khlan stated that the last transport artery for Khersons Russian occupational garrison was the Kakhovka Bridge, which was disabled as a result of a missile strike on Aug. 10.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

Author Salman Rushdie was brutally stabbed on Friday prior to a lecture in New York state in front of a crowd of horrified onlookers.

The motive for the attack is, thus far, unclear, but given that Rushdie spent nine years in hiding after Irans Ayatollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa authorizing his murder over his authorship of the novel, The Satanic Verseswhich the Ayatollah considered blasphemousand that Rushdie was attacked just as he was about to give a speech, an effort to silence Rushdie permanently through violence seems likely.

The message sent by a successful attack on Rushdie is loud and unmistakable: your hurtful speech is the equivalent of violence against me and my values, and you deserve violence in return. Its a message intended not just for Rushdie, but for anyone who might be tempted to follow in his footsteps.

Dont Stop Using the Term Cancel Culture

When we began our careers in free speech advocacy in the early 2000s, the conflation of the expression of opinion with physical violence was a fringe belief, at least in the United States. Yet over the last 10 years, we have seen that argument become far more common, first on college campuses, and then in our society at large.

Advocates for seeing offensive speech as a form of violence tend to think that doing so would make society better. For example, just days after the riot that shut down a Milo Yiannopolous speech at the University of California-Berkeley in 2017, the Daily Californian student newspaper ran five op-eds in a single day from authors who sought to justify the use of violence in order to prevent the political provocateur of the moment from speaking. These were not acts of violence. They were acts of self defense, concluded one of the pieces.

These are not simply fringe opinions out of Planet Berkeley. In the largest campus survey of free expression, only 76 percent of students said its never acceptable to use violence to stop a campus speech. That is almost one in four students reporting some level of acceptance for violence to stop a speech they disagree witheven if they think its only rarely acceptable. This is alarming given that such efforts would be legal zero percent of the time. At some higher education institutions, such as Wellesley and Barnard, the percentage of students who say violence is never acceptable to stop a campus speech dropped to as low as 56 and 57 percent, respectively.

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It is a great sign of comparative peace and progress that younger Americans can convince themselves of a rough moral equivalence between peaceful argument and violence as a means for resolving disputes. But if violence and hurtful speech are actually equivalent, its not only logical to answer speech with violence, its impossible to cogently argue that you shouldnt. A downward spiral towards violence is guaranteed.

But we have no doubt that if our society reverted to solving more disputes using violence, they would quickly understand the superiority of liberal institutions like courts and Congress, and liberal norms like freedom of speech, over might makes right.

The ACLU Just Got Some Much-Needed Free Speech Competition

The vast majority of Americans who say that violent responses to speech are sometimes acceptable will nevertheless be appalled by the attack on Rushdie. Yet they must come to grips with the fact that todays attack, multiplied thousands of times, is how a society where violence is acceptable protest to speech would actually look. Free speech, and the peaceful version of conflict resolution it enables, is the only solution to this problem that does not require authoritarian repression.

Quoting an unnamed writer, Sigmund Freud perceptively noted in 1893 that the man who first flung a word of abuse at his enemy instead of a spear was the founder of civilization. This is the painful lesson of thousands of years of human endeavor. Its also a lesson our high schools, colleges, and institutions of all kinds have not lately bothered to teach. We may live to regret that oversight.

But beyond the hard-won lessons behind the speech/violence distinction, our thoughts are with Salman Rushdie and his family tonight. For his sake, and for all of ours, we hope that this brave artist will not only survive but live on to teach the world to never take a free and open society for granted.

Robert Shibley is Executive Director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Greg Lukianoff is FIREs President and CEO.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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A photo from the scene of a school bus crash in Wellington Thursday afternoon. Five children on board the bus were not injured.

WELLINGTON  A 48-year-old Central Florida man has been arrested after a car he was in rear-ended a school bus carrying five students Thursday afternoon.

The crash occurred after David Alton Daniels Jr. attempted to withdraw money from an account at a nearby bank that did not belong to him and fled with three others in a gold BMW, according to court records.

Daniels was arrested at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday and charged with criminal use of personal identification, grand theft, six counts of forgery of a credit card and four counts of unauthorized possession of a driver's license.

None of the five students who were traveling from Binks Forest Elementary School was injured or required medical attention, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

The students' parents were called to the scene to pick them up, fire rescue officials said in a tweet. One of the children walked home from the crash site, according to the sheriff's office.

In Florida, grand theft, criminal use of personal identification and unauthorized possession of a driver's license are felony charges of varying degrees. If convicted, the man faces a prison sentence of five to 30 years and fines between $5,000 and $10,000.

What happened leading up to the school bus crash?

About 2 p.m., Daniels went into the Synovus Bank branch on Greenview Shores Boulevard in Wellington and tried to withdraw $3,800 from an account that did not belong to him, deputies say.

The bank teller noticed his signature did not match the one on file, and Daniels provided a passport ID card and a credit card that did not belong to him, according to PBSO. The account he was attempting to take money out of had active fraud alerts and belonged to a man who lives in Parkland, the report said.

When bank employees called the police to report the suspicious withdrawal attempt, Daniels ran out of the bank building, the PBSO report says. He got into the gold BMW, which took off quickly out of the bank parking lot.

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The sheriff's office report shows an investigator called to the scene "attempted to catch up to" the BMW, but the report does not say whether the car's siren and lights were engaged. The sheriff's office did not responded to requests for comment.

The crash happened at about 2:40 p.m. when the BMW hit the school bus near the intersection of Cedar Bluff Place and Aero Club Drive in western Wellington, the sheriff's office report says. The speed limit in that area is 40 mph.

The sheriff's office has not released how fast the BMV was traveling prior to the crash except to say it was traveling at a "high rate of speed." Photos from the scene show the bus pushed off the road and into landscaping.

Two men in the car took off running after the crash. A third man was taken to HCA Florida Palms West hospital. He was interviewed there by deputies but had not been arrested as of Friday.

Daniels was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center for treatment of his injuries and he was arrested there several hours later.

The sheriff's office report says deputies and dogs searched the surrounding area for the other two men who were in the car.

Binks Forest Elementary, just 2 miles north of the crash scene, dismisses students at 2:05 p.m. The school's principal went to the scene of the crash.

Wellington Landings Middle School, which dismisses students at 4:05 p.m., went into a code yellow lockdown that allowed limited movement on campus as a precaution because of the police activity nearby, according to the Palm Beach County School District.

Second crash involving school bus in 2 days as students go back to school

The crash was the second in as many days involving a school bus.

Just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, a Chevrolet Malibu heading west on Sixth Avenue South in Lake Worth Beach crashed into the back of a school bus that was stopped at the Tri-Rail crossing.

The school bus driver did not realize the crash had occurred and dragged the car across the tracks before stopping, according to PBSO.

Two teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 were in the car. Both were seriously injured and taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach by ambulance.

One student aboard the bus and the driver were not injured in the crash, although the glass at the back of the bus was shattered. The student's parent picked them up from the scene, according to the school district. The bus was on its way to Roosevelt Middle School in West Palm Beach.

Media reports also showed a bus that was pulled over for speeding in a school zone Wednesday afternoon near Citrus Cove Elementary in Boynton Beach. The bus had just dropped off students nearby and only the driver was on board, WPTV reported.

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: School bus rear-ended in Wellington with 5 students on board
A primary school maintenance worker shot into a parked car on campus the day before school was scheduled to start, according to Georgia officials.

Schools in Union County were closed on Aug. 12, which was supposed to be the first day of school, according to a statement posted on Facebook. Union County is about 115 miles northeast of Atlanta.

The employee, Dwight Anthony Brown, 64, shot into the parked car at Union County Primary School at around 2:15 p.m. on Aug. 11, according to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

School was not in session, but teachers were present for a planning day.

No students were in any immediate danger, the statement from Union County Schools says. The incident occurred outside of the school, and no one was injured.

Brown targeted a specific unoccupied vehicle in the parking lot of the school, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Law enforcement arrested Brown after an extensive search and charged him with three counts of aggravated assault. The incident is under investigation.

Brown is being held in the Union County Detention Center.

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(Pixabay)

Scientists have built a robot that defies the standard laws of physics and could eventually help humans travel around black holes.

When humans, animals, and machines move through the world they must push against something  be that the ground, air, or water. This is Newtons third law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

The law applies to flat, three-dimensional space that humans move through, but in curved space forces can differ  and objects can move without frictional or gravitational impact.

As such, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology claim they have built a robot that can move in curved space without pushing against anything.

We let our shape-changing object move on the simplest curved space, a sphere, to systematically study the motion in curved space, said Zeb Rocklin, assistant professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.

We learned that the predicted effect, which was so counter-intuitive it was dismissed by some physicists, indeed occurred: as the robot changed its shape, it inched forward around the sphere in a way that could not be attributed to environmental interactions.

The experiment was done by placing a swimmer on a sphere with actuated motors on a freely rotating boom arm. They then connected this system to a rotating shaft so that the motors always move on a sphere, with the shaft itself supported by air bearings and bushings to minimize friction. The alignment of the shaft was also adjusted with the Earths gravity to minimize any residual force.

Although the robots movements were small  and do not look impressive on the video  the smallest change could have vital repercussions in the same way that a slight frequency shift induced by gravity became crucial to allow GPS systems.

The researchers believe that the principles of how a spaces curvature can be harnessed could eventually allow vehicles to navigate the highly curved space around a black hole.

This research also relates to the Impossible Engine study, said Mr Rocklin, referring to the notion of an engine that can generate thrust without fuel.

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Its creator claimed that it could move forward without any propellant. That engine was indeed impossible, but because spacetime is very slightly curved, a device could actually move forward without any external forces or emitting a propellant  a novel discovery.

Nasa has been working on such an engine, called an EmDrive, since 2015, but has not produced any beneficial results yet.

The results of the Georgia Tech study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
CAIRO (AP)  Deadly seasonal floods have collapsed more than 2,500 houses in eastern Sudan, state news has reported, leaving thousands homeless in an already impoverished region.

Another 546 houses were partially destroyed by torrential rains in River Nile province, SUNA news agency said late on Thursday.

Since the start of the rainy season in May, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that an estimated 38,000 people have been affected by the floods across the East African country.

So far, the areas hardest hit include Kassala, South Darfur, Central Darfur, South Kordofan, the White Nile and the River Nile provinces.

The total nationwide death toll remains undetermined. On Wednesday, SUNA reported that two children were killed when floods destroyed their home in the central province of the While Nile.

Earlier, OCHA said that at least another six people had died, and an unconfirmed number of people were injured when their houses collapsed or were washed away by floods in the Central Darfur province. About 2,800 houses were destroyed, and more than 1,620 houses damaged in the same province, according to an OCHA statement released on Monday.

Last month, the UN said that flash floods killed another 12 people in South Darfur.

Sudan's rainy season usually lasts until September, with floods peaking up between August and September. In 2021, more than 314,000 people were affected by rains and flooding across Sudan, according to the U.N.
Jackson said the Pennsylvania theme park needs to undergo significant changes to truly reflect its stated commitment to diversity and inclusion.

If anyone can bring about change, its the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and that was the veteran activists intention when he met Thursday with the CEO of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, owners of Sesame Place, to talk about the recent accusations of racism leveled against the Philadelphia-area theme park.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jackson met with CEO Marc Swanson in New York City to address racism claims that surfaced after video went viral that captures a costumed character at Sesame Place appearing to dismiss and ignore at least two Black children.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson met with leadership of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, owners of Sesame Place, to talk about the recent accusations of racism leveled at the Philadelphia-area theme park. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

SeaWorld board members and attorneys and BIvory LaMarr, the lawyer for the family of Jodi Brown  who, last month on social media, shared cellphone video showing a SeaWorld employee costumed as the turquoise Muppet Rosita refusing to high-five her daughter and niece, both 6  were also present at the introductory meeting.

These children are bearing the burden of this racial incident, Jackson said, according to Fox 29 News. Two children were affected directly by this.

During a news conference following the meeting, Jackson was questioned about the sincerity of Sesame Places repeated apologies. He replied, Trust, but verify, according to The Inquirer, a phrase popularized by President Ronald Reagan when discussing negotiations with the Soviet Union.

Jackson said Sesame Place needs to undergo significant changes, even at the highest levels, to truly reflect its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

As previously reported by theGrio, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit company behind Sesame Street, has promised to offer bias training following the revelation of the video from multiple sources across social media.

Sesame Workshop is aware of the recent incident at Sesame Place Philadelphia, which we take very seriously. What these children experienced is unacceptable, Sesame Workshop said in a statement shared on Twitter. We will continue working with our long-term partner Sesame Place to ensure that appropriate actions are taken and that incidents like this do not happen in the future.

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In this image from video provided by Jodi Brown, posted to Instagram on July 16, a performer dressed as the character Rosita waves off Browns daughter and niece at the Sesame Place amusement park. (Photo: Jodi Brown via AP)

The theme park reiterated that commitment on Tuesday, saying that diversity and inclusion training  which will be held for new hires and become a regular component of workplace development  will take place by the end of September, The Inquirer reports.

LaMarr said that the Brown family prefers dialogue over litigation, noting that Sesame Places executives have agreed to meet with the Brown family within two weeks to continue discussions.

We are committed to making sure our guests feel welcome, included and enriched by their visits to our park, Cathy Valeriano, president of Sesame Place Philadelphia, said in a statement.

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The post Sesame Place leaders, Jesse Jackson meet to discuss racism allegations appeared first on TheGrio.
An unregistered sex offender was found living in the woods behind an elementary school in Massachusetts, police say.

Robert Magrath, 47, resided in an encampment near Potter Elementary School in Dartmouth, according to a Dartmouth police news release.

Now Magrath faces a charge of failing to register as a level 3 sex offender, authorities say. He was arrested on Thursday, Aug. 11.

An extended investigation involving the departments detective division revealed his whereabouts behind the school, according to police.

Dartmouth Public Schools told News 12 that a parent informed the elementary schools principal about the encampment in the woods, according to the outlet.

In 2018, Magrath was charged with indecent assault and battery in connection with a child younger than 14, the outlet reported.

Dartmouth is roughly 60 miles south of Boston.

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When Carol Lee Preslar was killed in 1988, it ruined her familys life, as they pleaded for the Fort Worth Police Department to interview more suspects and look into evidence.

Preslar was a 27-year-old University of Texas Arlington student who had dreamed of being a stock broker. She was living with one of her older sisters in Utah, but had moved out in pursuit of a fresh start. She was cocktail-waitressing at a local hotel to pay for her degree. She had her life ahead of her. That was all until she was brutally raped and murdered in June 1988, and no one has ever been held responsible.

Now that so much time has passed, its more about a sense of justice, to be accountable, and also have some resolution, said Jodi McKenzie, Preslars niece. My goal would be to have resolution in my moms lifetime because both Carols mom and dad have already passed.

McKenzie has taken on the responsibility of seeking justice for her aunt, who wasnt that much older than she was.

Carol Lee Preslar

I lost my mom, I would say, at the same time. She was not very functional, understandably so because they were very close, McKenzie said.

Susie McKenzie, Jodis mother and Preslars oldest sister, had spent time raising Preslar after their parents divorced. Eleven years older, Susie McKenzie, who was married with three daughters, invited Preslar to live with the family as she was finishing up high school.

My mom has a lot of survivors guilt, Jodi McKenzie said, adding that her mother had planned a trip from Utah to Fort Worth to visit Preslar. Susie was supposed to leave on her trip earlier, but a few things delayed her, and days later her baby sister had been killed.

My mom has a fantasy that she could have saved her and my dads like, Well, it couldve been you too. The wrong place, wrong time. Who knows what you could have gotten mixed up with? Jodie McKenzie said.

Susie McKenzie spent decades trying to solve the killing and urged the local police department to do more. Susie however, now in her early 70s, has distanced herself from the case.

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Shes pretty hopeless about it, Jodie McKenzie said. She got pretty disenchanted by the interactions with the police and what they said about my aunt.

The murder

Preslars boyfriend hadnt heard from her in over 24 hours on June 25, 1988. He had an extra key to her apartment, in the Avignon Apartment complex at 6125 Bianca Circle, so he went inside and found his girlfriend dead and the room covered in blood.

The 27-year-old had been beaten, tortured, tied, strangled and sexually assaulted.

Because she worked as a cocktail waitress, Jodie McKenzie said, the family feels the investigation into her aunts death was mishandled.

[The police] kind of blamed the victim, she said. They said some horrible things at that time like, She got what she had coming to her.  She partied.  And well, no, she didnt deserve to die in that horrific way. No one has that coming to them

Investigators looked deeply into Preslars boyfriend, who later was cleared as a person of interest. Years later, in the early 2000s, the police department arrested a man who was Preslars neighbor, but DNA evidence and an alibi later proved it wasnt him, either. Since then, there hasnt been much luck.

Carol Lee Preslar

A plea to come forward

The case went cold, and was reopened in 2013, but that was short-lived after the detective in contact with the McKenzie family had retired. Years passed again until the case reopened in 2020, thanks to Jodie McKenzie reaching out consistently to the police department and applying pressure, she said.

I want to bring attention to the fact that theres a lot of evidence there that has not been tested or retested and theres a lot of suspects that have not been eliminated, Jodie McKenzie said. Its a combination of trying to bring awareness to her face, and potentially new leads or tips, because theres a good impression that some people knew what happened, but were afraid [to come forward] for whatever reason.

Jodie McKenzie was young when she knew her aunt, but described Preslar as a loving and good-hearted person who was a total jokester.

Shes dedicated years to the investigation and said shes prepared to spend the rest of her life for justice, but has one plea to the public: come forward if you know any information.

Residents can contact Detective Leah Wagner at 817-392-4397 or Detective Jeff Bennett at 817-392-4308, who both work in the police departments cold case unit, or contact Crime Stoppers at 817-469-8477 if they want to remain anonymous.

And as for Preslars killer, Jodie McKenzie said she wants him to know that hes robbed several people of living their life.

She was really getting her life together and this destroyed our whole family, Jodie McKenzie said. I never felt safe as a woman after that. Neither did my sisters.

The Fort Worth Police Department has not responded to a request for comment about the case or its investigation. For more information on Preslars murder, the McKenzie family recently spoke on a local podcast.
Sir Ganga Ram's contributions spanned the fields of architecture, engineering, agriculture and rights of widows

There are few personalities in India and Pakistan who left a legacy as lasting on both sides of the border as iconic engineer and philanthropist, Sir Ganga Ram.

Hospitals in Delhi and Lahore - built by his trust and family in his name - continue to uphold his legacy to this day.

While Pakistan's Lahore city was his home, during the 1947 Partition of India, his family moved to Delhi in India.

In August 1947, India won independence from British rule and the country split into two new nations - India and Pakistan. Between half a million and a million people died in religious violence and 12 million became refugees.

Ganga Ram died in 1927, but writer Sadat Hasan Manto's short story, The Garland, summed up just how much the man and his legacy is intertwined with the city of Lahore.

In the story, said to be based on a true incident during the Partition, a mob attacks Ganga Ram's statue in front of his hospital to wipe out his Hindu name. But when a man is injured, the mob shouts, "Let us rush him to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital."

There are hospitals in his name both in India and Pakistan

A strict disciplinarian, Ganga Ram was also known to be a kind-hearted man. His contributions spanned the fields of architecture, engineering, agriculture and women's rights. He specially focused on the welfare of widows.

Much of what we know about him comes from the 1940 book Harvest from the desert, the life and work of Sir Ganga Ram by Baba Pyare Lal Bedi.

Ganga Ram was born in 1851 in Mangtanwala village, about 40 miles (64km) from Lahore.

His father Daulat Ram had left Uttar Pradesh, a northern Indian state, and worked as a junior police sub-inspector there.

The family later moved to Amritsar in Punjab province where Ganga Ram studied in a government-run high school.

His higher education saw Ganga Ram travel across northern India and Pakistan as he went to Lahore to study at the government college and then later secured a scholarship to study engineering at the Thomason Engineering College in Roorkee in what is now Uttarakhand state in India.

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Of the 50 rupees ($0.63; 0.52) he got as scholarship, he would send half to his parents in Amritsar to supplement their income.

After Ganga Ram secured his engineering degree with top marks, he became an apprentice in the office of Rai Bahadur Kanhaya Lal, the then chief engineer of Lahore. Here began the "Ganga Ram period" in Lahore's architecture. He went on to become a top civil engineer and shaped the architecture in the city through his work.

Sir Ganga Ram is considered the father of modern Lahore

He is credited with designing and constructing several magnificent buildings, including the Lahore Museum, the Aitchison College, the Mayo School of Arts (now called the National College of Arts), the General Post Office, the Albert Victor Wing of the Mayo Hospital, and the Government College Chemical Laboratory.

Ganga Ram used arches and other Indian architectural traditions while employing western construction devices to protect them from the heat and cold of the climate in the Punjab province and ensure efficient and unobtrusive sanitation, Bedi wrote.

Renowned Pakistani journalist Khaled Ahmed described Ganga Ram as as "the father of modern Lahore," for the indelible mark he left on the city.

The Gangapur dream

While Ganga Ram was transforming urban architecture in Lahore as part of his government job, his heart remained in rural Punjab where he had grown up.

One of his most ambitious projects was the hydel power project in Renala Khurd in Punjab province

He returned to his roots in 1903, when he retired from his government post and was allotted land in Chenab Colony (later known as Lyallpur and Faisalabad) as a reward for his past services.

Here, he set out to establish Gangapur, a model village with new irrigation and farming systems.

He also built a unique system to transport passengers from the Buchiana railway station, two miles away to Gangapur - laying a narrow track to allow two trolleys hooked to each other to be drawn by a horse.

Ganga Ram was keen to attempt the irrigation system he had set up in Gangapur on a bigger scale. One of his most ambitious projects was the the hydel power project in Renala Khurd in Punjab province.

The project, which was officially opened in 1925, used five turbines to irrigate 360sq.km (139 sq miles) of wasteland and transform them into fertile fields.

India at 75

India, the world's largest democracy, is celebrating 75 years of independence from British rule. This is the first story in the BBC's special series on this milestone.

Rights of widows

Ganga Ram would be up early in the morning to go through his files and prepare for his day. Bedi writes that he would sometimes recite verses of Munajat-e-Bewgan (The widow's prayer), a poem by Urdu poet Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali, to himself.

He was often moved to tears when he read the verses. It was the inspiration behind the work he went on to do for widows in conservative Hindu society.

In 1917, Ganga Ram tried to pass a resolution on widow re-marriage at a religious Hindu conference in the province's Ambala city.

When it failed, he founded the Widows' Marriage Association and donated 2,000 rupees (a large sum at the time) from his own money to it.

The association would raise awareness about the difficulties widows faced in society. Ganga Ram soon realised that while some of the widows were too old to re-marry, many of them did not want to marry again.

With the government's approval, Ganga Ram built a Hindu Widows' Home in 1921, costing 250,000 rupees, to train such women with skills to support themselves. The home would go on to have two schools and a hostel. It would help the widows pass examinations and train them to become teachers of handicrafts.

Ganga Ram also funded the establishment of Lady Maynard Industrial School for Hindu and Sikh women who faced financial difficulties.

Sir Ganga Ram Trust

In 1923, the Sir Ganga Ram Trust was formed in the engineer's name.

The same year, the Sir Ganga Ram Free Hospital and Dispensary was established in the heart of Lahore. It was later developed as a full-fledged hospital with well-equipped surgical and medical departments, Bedi's books says.

The hospital was second only to Mayo Hospital, the oldest and biggest hospital in the Punjab province, according to the book.

The trust also established a Hindu Student Careers Society in 1924 to help Hindu students gain employment and the Sir Ganga Ram Business Bureau and Library.

Ganga Ram's ashes were brought back to Lahore after his death in London

Ganga Ram's last charitable project during his lifetime was the establishment of the Hindu Apahaj Ashram over two acres of land. This was a home for the elderly, the disabled and the infirm.

After his death in July 1927 in his London home, some of his ashes were brought back to Lahore and buried next to Hindi Apahaj Ashram as per his wishes. While the ashram is no longer here, his tomb, the Ganga Ram Samadhi, still stands.

According to Bedi, renowned Urdu writer Khawaja Hassan Nizami wrote about Ganga Ram's death, saying that if one could donate one's life, then he would have chosen to add his years to Sir Ganga Ram's life, "so that he might have lived longer and rendered even greater services to the distressed women of India".

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Tennessee Department of CorrectionA woman who shared a kiss with a prisoner during a visitation in Tennessee has been charged with murder after the inmate died shortly after their exchange.Rachel Dollard was taken into custody over the weekend by special agents from the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) and the Dickson County Sheriffs Department, the TDOC confirmed in a statement on Tuesday. She is accused of smuggling drugs into the Turney Center Industrial Complex.Dollard is facing ch
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden seemed to endorse the execution of former president Donald Trump on Thursday after a report indicated FBI agents were searching the former presidents residence for classified documents related to nuclear weapons.

Hayden responded to a tweet on Thursday by presidential historian Michael Beschloss, who noted that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Americans who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union, were convicted for giving U.S. nuclear secrets to Moscow, and were executed June 1953.

Hayden, who previously served as director of the National Security Agency and the CIA under former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, replied to the tweet: Sounds about right.

Sounds about right. https://t.co/hJCjxhN2BQ  Gen Michael Hayden (@GenMhayden) August 12, 2022

The tweets, while making no mention of Trump specifically, come after the Washington Post reported that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the files FBI agents were looking for when they searched Trumps residence on Monday. The papers sources did not say if such documents were recovered in the search. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment on the report.

Trumps attorney, Christina Bobb, said Thursday: I have not specifically spoken to the president about what nuclear materials may or may not have been in there. I do not believe there were any in there.

The search warrant for the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago earlier this week reveals law enforcement is investigating former president Donald Trump for removal or destruction of records, obstruction of an investigation and violating the Espionage Act, according to a new Politico report.

Meanwhile, a list of items removed from the property reviewed by the Wall Street Journal shows the FBI recovered eleven sets of classified documents during the search, including some top secret documents that should only have been available in special government facilities.

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FBI agents recovered one set of documents that were labeled Various classified/TS/SCI documents, meaning the documents included top-secret or sensitive compartmented information.

The list also included four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents and three sets of confidential documents, according to the report. The Wall Street Journal reported that the list did not offer any details about the substance of the documents.

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Harrison Fords original Han Solo blaster expected to fetch 410,000 at auction (RIAC/PA)

Han Solos original blaster, used by Harrison Ford in Star Wars: A New Hope, is expected to fetch up to 500,000 dollars (410,000) when it goes under the hammer later this month.

The prop firearm, which was previously missing and presumed lost, was rediscovered by Rock Island Auction Company (RIAC), and will be available at the companys premier auction.

The gun is the sole surviving blaster prop remaining of the three used for filming the original Star Wars trilogy, according to RIAC.

The pre-auction estimate for Han Solos BlasTech DL-44 Heavy Blaster is 300-500,000 dollars (245-410,000).

The prop was based on the German-made Mauser C96, one of the first and most recognisable semi-automatic handguns ever made.

Wanting an old west gunslinger feel for the captain of the Millennium Falcon, the designers selected the Mauser C96 as the basis of Han Solos iconic blaster.

The German-made Mauser C96 is one of the first and most recognisable semi-automatic handguns made.

Harrison Fords original Han Solo blaster expected to fetch 410,000 at auction (Anthony Devlin/PA Wire) (PA Archive)

Star Wars Hollywood memorabilia has become highly desirable in the field of collecting.

In 2018, Han Solos blaster from Return of the Jedi sold to Ripleys Believe it or Not! for 550,000 (451,000) dollars.

More recently an original X-wing miniature prop went for 2.3 million dollars (1.8 million) in June 2022.
Mavi Yachts just floated a very interesting proposition for yachting enthusiasts.

The Turkish shipyard has laid out plans to refit three luxury superyachts severely damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017 for quite a bargain. The trio, which includes Mondomarines 136-foot Sierra Romeo (above), Sanlorenzos 126-foot Princess Claudia II and Benettis 94-foot Mariale V, were fully inspected by the folks at Mavi and found to be ripe for renovation.

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This is a one-off opportunity, Mavis Haluk Gundogdu told Superyacht Times. All three are pedigree builds and can be refitted to turnkey condition at our shipyard, or sold as they are.

The survivors of the Category 5 hurricane are now laid up at Mavis Istanbul yard, and the team has secured the hull classification drawings of all three. The structures are said to be sound and the bulk of the damage superficial. As a result, the yard claims each vessel can be returned to nearly new condition at a fraction of the original asking price.

Mondomarines 136-foot Sierra Romeo. - Credit: Mondomarine

Mondomarine

Launched in 2007, Sierra Romeo is one of only two hulls in Mondomarines 41M series and has previously changed hands for as much as $10 million. After being wrecked at Sint Maarten, the 349 GT yacht is now listed for roughly $713,000. It needs to be fully stripped, but this means you can switch up the original three-cabin, six-stateroom layout. To get Sierra Romeo to turnkey condition, Mavi says youll have to fork out about $6.15 million on top of asking (depending on your requests).

Sanlorenzos 126-foot Princess Claudia II.

Princess Claudia II is part of Sanlorenzos highly successful 40 Alloy series. The models in this range typically sell for between $7.2 and $17.5 million, but this damaged 2011 beauty is now up for sale for $918,000. The princess, which was penned by Francesco Paszkowski, was fully submerged during the hurricane and had to be dredged out of waters in Saint Martin. The yard estimates youll need to pay about $6.7 million to get her back to fighting shape.

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Benettis 94-foot Mariale V.

Mariale V was launched in 2015 as part of Benettis popular Delfino 93 range. Models in the 14-strong series can sell for as much as $6.15 million, but this roughed-up example will set you back $436,000. It features an exterior design by Stefano Righini Design and interior styling by, well, you. Mariale Vs insides had to be ripped out, so you have a blank canvas. All told, you can expect to pay $2.6 million on top of asking.

We did the math: All three entirely revamped yachts will cost you $17.5 million. Its worthwhile noting that Mavi hasnt indicated how long each refit will take, but a dream fleet doesnt come together overnight.

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An armed man who allegedly attacked the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, was killed by police on Thursday after a chase and standoff, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The armed suspect attempted to breach the FBI field office early Thursday morning and fled in a vehicle after he triggered a security alarm, according to a statement from FBI Cincinnati.

The FBI, Ohio State Highway Patrol and local law enforcement responded, following the suspect until he stopped the vehicle and exited in Clinton County, after which gunfire was exchanged, according to the OSHP.

Law enforcement reportedly attempted negotiations, but opened fire again when the suspect raised his firearm.

More than six hours after the attempted breach of the FBI building, the suspect succumbed to fatal injuries at the scene of the standoff, OSHP confirmed to The Hill in a statement Thursday.

Multiple outlets have identified the suspect as Ricky Walter Shiffer.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The man who authorities say attempted to breach security at an Ohio FBI office Thursday morning may have been posting messages to former President Donald Trump's Truth Social site, even as he was engaged in the attempted incursion.

The man, who was shot and killed after a standoff that lasted much of the day, was identified to the Associated Press and others as Ricky Shiffer. Law enforcement officials said he was believed to have been present at the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6 last year.

A USA TODAY review of online postings by an account in the name "Ricky Shiffer" shows the account had recently posted angry reactions to news of the FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida home.

The same account posted during or just after the incursion at the FBI, appearing to describe the man's efforts.

"Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn't. If you don't hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I., and it'll mean either I was taken off the internet, the F.B.I. got me, or they sent the regular cops while"

The post apparently ended mid-sentence.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Thursday that the armed man attempted to breach the FBI's visitor screening facility about 9 a.m. After an alarm and response by special agents, the suspect fled.

The Truth Social post was time-stamped 9:29 a.m. Eastern time.

Truth Social deleted the profile for "@rickywshifferjr" Thursday afternoon, shortly after media reports began identifying Shiffer.

The social media service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

WHAT WE KNOW: The Mar-a-Lago search warrant has become a hot topic for speculation.

Posts in recent days

Two days previously, the account in Shiffer's name posted angry messages about the FBI search Monday at Trump's home and club Mar-a-Lago.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Shiffer account posted:

"I'm having trouble getting information, but Viva Frei said patriots are heading to Palm Beach (where Mar A Lago is). I recommend going, and being Florida, I think the feds won't break it up. IF they do, kill them." (Viva Frei is a right-wing YouTube personality.)

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The same day, the account posted:

"People, this is it. I hope a call to arms comes from someone better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me. Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop/Army-Navy store/pawn shop opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one."

THE EXTREMIST WATCHERS: How a network of researchers is searching for the next hate-fueled attack

The post concluded:

"This time we must respond with force. If you know of any protests or attacks, please post here."

The Truth Social account, before it was disabled Thursday evening, said Shiffer was a construction mechanic in Columbus, Ohio, which is about 100 miles from the FBI Cincinnati office. A search of public records identified a 42-year-old Ricky Shiffer in Columbus.

The Truth bio also suggested Shiffer was at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and made a reference to Ray Epps, a man at the center of a January 6 conspiracy theory:

"I tried to explain to Epps that it would only make sense to go into the building if they approved the fraudulent votes," the bio reads.

Shiffer was not charged in relation to the insurrection, according to a USA TODAY effort to track those prosecutions, and does not appear in a Justice Department index of the prosecutions.

A Twitter account in the name of Ricky Shiffer, with a photo of a man who closely resembles the photo in the Truth Social profile, was also suspended on Thursday evening.

Threats after FBI raid

FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau Thursday against a new wave of threats in the aftermath of Mar-a-Lago search and an attempted breach of bureau offices in Cincinnati by an armed man.

Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others, Wray said in a statement.

Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans," said Wray, who was a Trump appointee.

WHAT WILL HE DO? Trump could stop release of FBI search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.

FBI and Federal Evidence Response Team agents are outside of the FBI building in Kenwood collecting evidence after a possible threat this morning.

Separately, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that the Justice Department had filed a motion to unseal the warrant that led to the search of Trump's property. The former president and his lawyers have until Friday to decide whether to oppose unsealing the search warrant and related materials.

The posts are just one example of thousands of angry messages being posted on social media sites about the FBI search of Trump's property. Kesa White, a researcher who tracks extremists at the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, said that certain sites including Truth Social have been more vitriolic than others.

"The narrative is fluctuating across the board but I think (far-right social media site) Gab is the most infuriated by what's happened," White said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ricky Shiffer, suspect in FBI attack, may have posted to Truth Social
A man suspected of opening fire a week ago in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, was captured Thursday in Chicago, authorities said. His alleged accomplice was also apprehended. Twenty-one-year-old Shamar Lark, who police previously identified as the suspected Mall of America gunman, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon, police said. His alleged accomplice, 23-year-old Rashad May, was also arrested.

The two had been the subject of a multiagency manhunt for several days. At about 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, May and Lark were observed leaving a Chicago barber shop and getting into a car being driven by a female, police said. The car was stopped by law enforcement and the two men were arrested. A gun was also recovered, police said. Earlier this week, police had identified Lark as the shooting suspect, stating that he was wanted on suspicion of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, intentional discharge of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit in a public place, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County. May was wanted on suspicion of aiding an offender to avoid arrest. Meanwhile, three others  21-year-old Denesh Raghubir, 23-year-old Selena Raghubir and 23-year-old Delyanie Kwen-Shawn Arnold  were taken into custody earlier this week and were charged with helping Lark and May escape. Two of those suspects, Selena Raghubir and Denesh Raghubir, are cousins and were Best Western Hotel employees, police said. On Aug. 4, the Mall of America was placed on lockdown after shots were fired in what police called an "isolated incident." The shooting caused chaos, sending panicked customers and employees running for safety. Bloomington Police chief Booker Hodges said that there had been an altercation between two groups near the cash registers of a Nike store. One of the groups left, but then returned, and one person fired three shots into the store, Hodges said. No injuries were reported. In a news conference Monday, Hodges told reporters that Lark and May had lost a fight involving multiple other people in the Nike store. The two later returned after May told Lark to shoot up the store, Hodges said, and Lark fired three shots into the crowded store before both men fled. Lark and May then contacted Arnold and asked for help to escape the mall, Hodges said. Arnold reached out to his girlfriend, Selena, an assistant general manager at a Best Western located near the mall, who sent her cousin Denesh, another hotel employee, to drive the hotel shuttle to an Ikea parking lot and pick up Lark and May, according to Hodges. Denesh then drove Lark and May to the Best Western, where Arnold picked them up and took them to a Bloomington home that he shares with Selena, Hodges said. Hodges said that Denesh lied to officers who had tracked the shuttle to the Best Western, making them believe the two suspects were still at the hotel after they had left. Police then placed the hotel on lockdown to search for Lark and May. The Raghubir cousins have since been fired from Best Western. May and Lark are being held in the Cook County Jail, awaiting extradition.

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In separate incidents on Thursday, suspects tried to disarm Hagerstown Police officers, according to the police department.

In the first instance, the officer received a gash on the back of his head and was treated and released that night from Meritus Medical Center, said Lt. Rebecca Fetchu, spokeswoman for Hagerstown Police. Sgt. W. Decker, who has worked for the police department for about 15 years, was back at work on Friday.

In the second incident, the officer was not injured, Fetchu said.

"These events underscore the dangers our officers face every day," according to a Hagerstown Police statement on the agency's Facebook page. "We are grateful that no one was seriously injured."

"Both of these situations had the very real possibility of turning deadly," the post states. "We are grateful for our officers who put their lives on the line, never knowing what a call for service can turn into."

More: Email exchange: Downtown drug use 'threatens' future of Hagerstown

A post on the department's Facebook page states the Thursday night incident began with a call for a suspicious vehicle related to possible drug dealing.

Police were dispatched to the first block of North Locust Street and upon arriving, the suspects ran away, according to the Facebook post.

Master Police Officer Jon Molineaux found a suspect in a dead-end alley, according to the post and charging documents filed in Washington County District Court. Molineaux ordered, at gun point, the approaching suspect to stop. The suspect tried to run again and Molineaux grabbed him to stop him, but the suspect grabbed Molineaux's gun before the officer could put it back in his holster, according to the post and court records.

"The officer had to physically pull his gun out of the suspect's hands," the post states. "He managed to holster his gun and still get the suspect under control by taking him to the ground."

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Molineaux has been with the police department for almost 15 years, Fetchu said.

Richard Gean Loudin IV, 22, of Hagerstown was charged with disarming a law officer, obstructing and hindering, and resisting/interfering with arrest, according to online court records.

Loudin had a fanny pack containing more than 700 fentanyl pills, 26 grams of crack cocaine and nearly $4,000 in cash, according to the social media post.

Loudin also faces drug charges, including drug possession with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute a drug containing Fentanyl, according to online court records.

Suspect grabs for gun during Thursday morning incident

In the earlier incident on Thursday, Leon Muhammed Lockley, 41, of the first block of East Avenue, was charged with disarming a law officer for allegedly trying to remove Sgt. Decker's firearm, according to charging documents filed in Washington County District Court.

Lockley also was charged with first-degree assault against Decker, reckless endangerment and three counts of second-degree assault for allegedly assaulting three different Hagerstown Police officers on Thursday, court records state.

During the incident, Decker twice deployed a stun gun on Lockley, court records state. Lockley earlier admitted he was on spice or synthetic cannabis, according to court records and Fetchu.

Neither stun gun deployment incapacitated Lockley, but after the second time he curled up in a fetal position, records state. Once Lockley was taken to the hospital to have any stun gun probes removed, "it was found (that) any probes that may have made contact were not in fact intact in any body part," court records state.

District Court Judge Terry A. Myers ordered Lockley held without bond during a hearing Friday afternoon. Myers, noting that Lockley had no prior convictions and has lived in the community quite a while, also said he wants to know what was behind this episode and ordered a competency hearing.

Police responded to the first block of East Avenue around 10:09 a.m. Thursday for what the police department's Facebook post described as a "mental health related call where the officer was assessing the situation."

Decker found Lockley, who had been checked into a recovery center that morning but had shown up back home, court records state.

Decker wrote in charging documents that Lockley pointed at him and told Decker to cuff him and take him to jail, but Decker said he had no reason to and was not there for that. When Decker asked Lockley if he wanted to harm himself, he answered yes but didn't answer Decker as to how he would hurt himself, court records state. At the time they were on the porch and there were other people on the porch who kept "interjecting into our conversation," Decker wrote.

Decker wrote that he had Lockley go in the house with him to get away from the other parties. Decker mentions Lockley had some "sporadic behavior" and he called Lockley back from the kitchen area to the dining room. While speaking, Lockley "gave me no indications he was under any mental duress," Decker wrote.

Fetchu said police have certain criteria that have to be met to have someone taken to the hospital via an emergency petition for a mental-health evaluation. Saying he wanted to harm himself was not enough to warrant such a petition, she said.

Decker observed Lockley for other indicators that would require an emergency petition, but Lockley didn't meet the criteria, she said.

As Decker began talking to Lockley about the dangers of using spice, Lockley "took a furtive look toward my holstered duty weapon and charged me," Decker wrote in charging documents. Lockley allegedly grabbed Decker and took him to the floor, where Lockley grabbed the holstered weapon with his left hand and grabbed at Decker with his right hand, court records state.

Decker wrote that he was able to "pin my duty weapon in the holster and control his left arm with a control hold."

Decker ordered Lockley to stop and let go of the gun, court records state. Once Decker had control of Lockley's arms he called on the radio for more units. Decker also ordered Lockley to let go of the gun while the radio "was keyed up," court records state. Lockley was on top of Decker during this incident, the officer wrote.

Parties from the porch entered the home and screamed at Lockley to stop. Several people started pulling Lockley off Decker, court records state.

Once Lockley was pulled off, Decker sat up to reach his stun gun and Lockley began kicking at him, court records state. "Fearing he would get back to his feet and attack me again I deployed the Taser," Decker wrote. When that didn't have the "desired effect" and Lockley continued moving around, Decker deployed it again.

About 2 seconds after Lockley curled up, other officers arrived and arrested Lockley, court records state. Lockley began to resist as he was escorted out of the home.

Once at the hospital, Lockley became unruly and tried to get off the bed, stating "'BBK' Everybody kills," court records state. He cursed at Officer D. White and while shackled charged at White, trying to kick him, court records state. Lockley kneed White in the leg as White blocked the strike.

Then Lockley charged at three officers and White eventually got Lockley to the floor, court records state. While on the floor, Lockley allegedly tried to grab at Officer J. Mull's gun belt and then grabbed onto White's arm and tried to grab his gun belt, court records state.

Police were able to get Lockley back on his bed, where he continued to struggle and tried to bite Mull, court records state.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Hagerstown men charged with trying to disarm city police
A federal jury in Tallahassee convicted Gretchen Buselli, also known as Gretchen Yarbrough, for her role in a murder-for-hire plot against her ex-husband.

On Friday, Buselli, 48, was found guilty of use of an interstate commerce facility in the commission of murder-for-hire and making a false statement to a federal officer, according to court records.

The guilty verdict followed a five-day trial and was read by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Her sentencing hearing is slated for Oct. 27, at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee.

Buselli faces up to ten years in prison.

Detailed background of plot: Tallahassee woman charged with murder-for-hire of ex-husband, feds say

According to evidence introduced during the trial, Buselli mailed, called, texted and sent messages via an encrypted mobile application "to solicit the murder of her estranged husband," according to a summary from the Northern District of Florida.

The person Buselli solicited to execute the murder, reported the request to law enforcement, who then got an undercover FBI agent to stand in as the acquaintance.

Buselli then "communicated her desire to have her estranged husband killed to the undercover agent, providing a description of the intended victim, his whereabouts, and his routines," the summary read.

Soon Buselli, communicating with the FBI agent, negotiated the price for committing the murder: $5,000.

She then ran through scenarios before agreeing to leave the money in the stands at the Cascades Park Amphitheater  which left in a dark camouflage lunchbox in September 2021, according to court records.

"After being advised by the undercover agent that her estranged husband had been killed, Buselli stated, thank you," read the summary. "When later questioned by law enforcement, Buselli made multiple false statements denying her involvement in the plot and her desire to have her estranged husband killed."

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Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee wife convicted for role in murder-for-hire plot against husband
A Texas man accused of flying a drone loaded with drugs and other contraband into a federal prison in Fort Worth was arrested Thursday and charged with a federal crime, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham on Friday.

The drone crashed inside a secure, fenced-in yard at FMC Fort Worth, a federal correctional facility in the south part of the city, and authorities recovered a package containing 46 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 87 grams of pressed THC, two prepaid smartphones, and nine MP3 players.

Federal authorities identified the suspect as Bryant LeRay Henderson, 42, of Smithville, who was arrested at his residence on Thursday. Smithville is 225 miles south of Fort Worth.

Henderson will make his initial appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton.

Contraband drone deliveries are quickly becoming the bane of prison officials existence. Illicit goods pose a threat to guards and inmates alike  and when it comes to cell phones, the threat often extends outside prison walls. We are determined to stop this trend in its tracks, Meacham said in a Friday news release.

Henderson was charged via criminal complaint with one count of attempting to provide contraband in prison, one count of serving as an airman without an airmans certificate, and one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

The criminal element will always take advantage of new opportunities for illegal activity as technology progresses, said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno in the Friday news release. In this instance, excellent collaborative investigation among federal and local agencies led to multiple federal charges and prevented contraband from entering the federal prison system.

Henderson is accused of flying a DJI Inspire drone into the airspace over FMC Fort Worth just before midnight on May 4. The drone crashed inside a secure, fenced-in yard near the prisons HVAC shop, according to federal court documents.

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Authorities pulled surveillance video from a nearby high school and saw a young man drive up in a red Chevy Tahoe with a Transformers decal on the rear window, remove a drone and a package from the vehicle, launch the drone toward the prison, and then drive off.

Other surveillance footage identified a red Tahoe with an identical Transformers decal. From that footage, authorities were able to pull a license plate number. Two and a half weeks later, officers found the Tahoe abandoned in a travel lane, with its flashers on and hood up. It was impounded and later searched.

Inside the Tahoe, law enforcement officials found Hendersons debit card, a DJI drone controller, various drone accessories (rechargeable batteries, a propeller box, and dropping mechanisms), 18 smartphones, tobacco products, and vacuum-packed containers with steroid labels connected to a fishing line and a key ring.

Authorities later powered on the controller recovered from the car next to the drone recovered from the prison yard. The devices immediately paired. From the drone, investigators recovered 70 usable flight logs, which included date/time stamps as well as speed, height, and location data.

Law enforcement officials identified four flights that intruded into FMC Fort Worths airspace, and another two that intruded into airspace over FCI Seagoville, another federal correctional center southeast of Dallas.

Investigators later queried Hendersons records and found that the phone was near FMC Fort Worth around the time of the drone cash, and near FCI Seagoville near the time of the drones flight into the prisons airspace.

The Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General queried the FAAs database and reported that Henderson did not possess an airmans certification, and that the drone in question was registered to another owner who canceled his registration in August 2018. FAA records confirmed that the federal correctional institutions were restricted flight areas.

Federal officials noted that drone delivery of contraband is an increasingly vexing problem for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and state corrections officials.

Last month, a 44-year-old Houston man was charged in the Eastern District of Texas for allegedly operating a drone over FCI Beaumont in east Texas. In April, a 30-year-old former inmate pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle phones and tobacco into FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey. And last fall, three Atlanta men were sentenced to a year each in federal prison for using drones to smuggle contraband into Telfair State Prison in Georgia.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations Dallas Field Office  Fort Worth Resident Agency, the Bureau of Prisons Special Investigative Staff, and the Fort Worth Police Department conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Dallas Police Department.

If convicted, Henderson faces a maximum of 45 years total in prison: 20 years for attempting to provide contraband in prison, five years for serving as an airman without an airmans certificate, and 20 years for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Donald Trump signaled on social media that he would support the unsealing of search records.

DOJ pointed to intense public interest and Trump's remarks about the search to argue for unsealing.

The unsealing sets the stage for the release of more detail about Monday's Mar-a-Lago raid.

Former President Donald Trump has formally signed off on the unsealing of records related to the FBI's search of his South Florida home, the Justice Department said Friday, setting the stage for the public release of the warrant and list of items seized during the unprecedented search.

In a court filing, the Justice Department told a federal magistrate judge that it had conferred with Trump's lawyers, who "have informed the government that the former president does not object" to unsealing the records. The Justice Department's filing came as multiple news organizations reported  citing a copy of the search warrant  that the FBI raid was related to possible violations of the Espionage Act and laws governing the mishandling of government documents, including classified materials.

Shortly after the Justice Department's filing, Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart ordered the search warrant and inventory of seized items unsealed.

According to the newly unsealed records, FBI agents seized 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret, and removed several boxes of items, binders of photos, a handwritten note, and the executive grant of clemency for Mr. Trump's ally Roger Stone. The manifest of seized items also included information about the "President of France."

A day earlier, the Justice Department took the extraordinary step of asking Reinhart to unseal the search warrant and manifest of items seized from Mar-a-Lago, with Attorney General Merrick Garland linking the unusual decision to Trump's recent public statements and the public interest in the raid of the former president's home and members-only club in Palm Beach.

The Justice Department, in a court filing Thursday, said it supported the unsealing "absent objection by former President Donald Trump." Reinhart responded by ordering the Justice Department to consult Trump's legal team and advise by 3 pm Friday whether the former president raised such an objection.

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Trump said late Thursday that he supported the "immediate release" of the records, posting on Truth Social: "Release the documents now!" (Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that sued for the unsealing of the search warrant, called attention to the social media post in a court filing.)

But Trump could have released the documents himself. In a court filing, the Justice Department confirmed that it left Trump's legal team with a copy of the search warrant and list of items seized during the FBI raid on Monday, which appeared to focus on the former president's handling of government records and classified materials.

Rather than release those records, Trump excoriated the Justice Department and the FBI over a search he described as a politically-motivated "weaponization of the Justice System." Trump later suggested that the FBI was "planting" evidence at Mar-a-Lago during the search.

Republican allies rallied to his cause and demanded transparency from the Justice Department. Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican and former governor of the state, said the federal government had gone the way of the Gestapo  the notorious secret police in Nazi Germany.

Sen. Marco Rubio, another Florida Republican, said on Fox News that the Justice Department searched Mar-a-Lago looking for "whatever they could find."

"I actually don't think they went in looking for documents," Rubio said. "I think that was probably their excuse, they found some Obama donor judge to write them ... They found an Obama judge  not even a judge, magistrate, to write and give them a search warrant."

In his announcement of the Justice Department's unsealing request, Garland on Thursday closely attached the decision to Trump's rhetoric, including a lengthy public statement Monday in which the former president confirmed the FBI search.

"The department did not make any public statements on the day of the search," Garland said. "The former president publicly confirmed the search that evening, as is his right."

Garland also addressed the aspersions cast on law enforcement, saying he would "not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked."

"The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated patriotic public servants every day. They protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism, and other threats to their safety, while safeguarding our civil rights," Garland said. "They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Trump released a statement amid reports suggesting he took nuclear documents from the White House.

He baselessly accused Obama of keeping classified documents, "lots" of which "pertained to nuclear."

Trump's statement notably did not deny reports that he took top-secret documents to Mar-a-Lago.

In a statement released Friday, former President Donald Trump didn't deny a Washington Post report that said the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home for classified documents with information about nuclear weapons.

Instead, he again attacked former President Barack Obama, baselessly accusing him of illegally keeping classified documents.

"President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified," Trump said. "How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!"

Asked whether Trump's statement appeared to confirm that nuclear documents were uncovered in the Mar-a-Lago raid, a former Justice Department official replied, "Sounds like it."

"The correct answer is: 'I didn't take any classified info,'" said the former official, who requested anonymity to candidly discuss the topic.

The person added: "'Word is...' Love that. Word from who? His barber?"

Earlier Friday, Trump released another statement that appeared to dispute the Post report.

"Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more. Same sleazy people involved," the statement said.

Trump's public comments came one day after Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Justice Department had filed a motion to unseal the search warrant underpinning the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid.

A magistrate judge subsequently ordered the department to confer with Trump's lawyers and advise the court by 3 p.m. ET on Friday whether the former president would agree with or object to the DOJ's motion to unseal.

Trump, meanwhile, has been drawing misleading comparisons between the FBI's search for classified records at his Florida home and Obama's legal transfer of records from the White House to Chicago for his presidential library. As Insider reported, the Obama records were processed through the National Archives, which owns them.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The FBI has yet to provide a reason for why they searched Former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Trump's lawyer said the former president watched the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid from New York.

Christina Bobb said the property's security cameras transmitted a live feed from the Florida home.

Bobb complained earlier this week about not being able to observe the FBI's search.

Former President Donald Trump's attorney said Trump watched from New York as the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Monday.

Christina Bobb, one of Trump's lawyers, made this comment during a Thursday appearance on the right-wing media network Real America's Voice. Bobb told host Gina Loudon that, contrary to rumors that the security cameras had been turned off, the property's security feeds were on for most of the FBI's search.

"I think the folks in New York  President Trump and his family  they probably had a better view than I did. Because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch," Bobb said.

She added that she had not witnessed the raid as she was busy answering investigators' questions, but said the Trump family had seen "the whole thing."

"So they actually have a better idea of what took place inside," Bobb said.

She added that the cameras were only turned off for a "very short period of time" while agents spoke with lawyers about them being on.

Bobb complained this week about not having been allowed to observe the search. She also claimed without substantiation that the FBI could be looking to "make stuff up" about what they found at Mar-a-Lago.

"We'll see what they come up with. If they did, it will be interesting  especially since they precluded me from watching what they did," Bobb said.

The FBI has not given a reason for why the search of Trump's former residence was carried out, though this may come to light soon if the DOJ's motion to unseal court records regarding the raid goes through.

Numerous media outlets along with Trump's son, Eric, have suggested that the search concerned material that Trump may have taken to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. The Washington Post also reported that the FBI had been searching for classified documents about nuclear weapons.

In February, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from the former president's Florida residence. It also requested that the Department of Justice investigate whether Trump had broken the law by taking official White House documents to Mar-a-Lago.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

The warrant obtained by the FBI to search former President Donald Trumps office and residence at Mar-A-Lago has been made public, and it is a shocker. And Im sure youve heard this before, but this could be the big onethe case where Trump cant escape legal accountability.

Appendix B to the search warrant states that the warrant is to search for evidence of violations of the Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. Section 793, and two other statutes.

What did former President Trump do that could be considered a violation of the Espionage Act?

It appears that Trump allegedly held on to top secret records that he originally lawfully possessed after their return had been demanded by the National Archives.

Can the Feds Actually Prove Five Proud Boys Committed Sedition?

Section 793(d) of the Espionage Act states Whoever, lawfully having possession ofany documentrelating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nationwillfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it is guilty.

Does it matter that former President Trump states that he de-classified the materials found at Mar-A-Lago?

No.

Section 793(d) is not restricted to classified materials. Rather, it covers any document relating to the national defense that contains information that the possessor has reason to believe would be detrimental to the United States if made public. Here, the search warrant return states that documents seized from Mar-A-Lago include classified/TS/SCI documents (meaning Top Secret or Secure Compartmentalized Information), Top Secret Documents, Secret Documents, and Confidential Documents.

Even if former President Trump de-classified these documents before his term ended, the information contained in those documents would still fall squarely within Section 793(d).

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How do we know that former President Trump was asked to return these documents to the US government?

In February 2022, the National Archives revealed that former President Trump had brought 15 boxes of materials from the White House to Mar-A-Lago.

David Ferriero, the National Archivist, wrote to Congress that NARA has asked the representatives of former President Trump to continue to search for any additional Presidential records that have not been transferred to NARA, as required by the Presidential Records Act.

More recently, it was revealed that a subpoena was issued for return of these documents, but that former President Trump did not return all of the documents demanded.

What penalties does former President Trump face if convicted under the Espionage Act?

If former President Trump were to be indicted, tried, and convicted under the Espionage Act (all huge ifs), he would face a presumptive sentence of between 14-17.5 years imprisonment.

The penalty for each count of violation of Section 793(d) is imprisonment of not more than ten years. Each document wrongfully retained by former President Trump would constitute a separate count of conviction, meaning that he could face up to 10 years for each document.

Sentences in the federal system, however, are calculated by reference to the United States Sentencing Guidelines. These guidelines create a presumptive sentence, from which a District Court judge may depart in their discretion, although, ordinarily, the District Court judge will impose a sentence within the range calculated by the Sentencing Guidelines.

Violation of the Espionage Act is governed by Section 2M3.2:

Because Top Secret (and above) information was apparently wrongfully retained by former President Trump, the guideline offense level would be 35. Although there could be upward adjustments for various aggravating factors (such as an abuse of a position of trust), an offense level of 35 and no prior criminal history would expose former President Trump to a presumptive sentence of 168-210 months (14 - 17.5 years).

What happens next and how long will it take?

There is likely to be a long period before the next activity in this case becomes public.

First, because the documents were seized by a search warrant, there is a possibility that some of the documents might be covered by attorney-client privilege. The Department of Justice will use a taint team to review the documents for privilege, before handing any of them over to the investigative team of FBI agents and Assistant United States Attorneys. Former President Trumps attorneys will be able to participate in this process. To the extent that there is any dispute about the privileged status of any of the documents, the decision will be made by a federal judge. This process usually takes weeks or months.

The FBIs Search of Mar-a-Lago Is a Reminder That Trump Has Always Been a National Security Threat

The DOJ follows a tradition (which is not included in any written DOJ policy) of not taking public action in a politically-sensitive case in close proximity to an election. Depending on who you ask, this unwritten policy means that the DOJ will not indict a case (or otherwise make news) within 60 or 90 days of a general election. The search warrant was executed at Mar-A-Lago 91 days before the midterm elections on November 8.

When the DOJ emerges from the quiet period after the November 8 elections, the next logical step would be an indictment, which might include charges other than violations of the Espionage Act.

An indictment of a former President of the United States would be unprecedented. Of course, the actions of former President Trump are likewise unprecedented.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Daily Beast

NewsmaxNewsmax host Eric Bolling pounced on Laura Ingrahams apparent skepticism of former President Donald Trumps potential run for office, using the opportunity to knock his former Fox News colleague and the network itself.Regarding another Trump presidential campaign, Ingraham said on a podcast Monday that well see whether thats what the country wants.The country, I think, is so exhausted, theyre exhausted by the battle, the constant battle, that they may believe that, well, maybe its
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi

Zelenskyy, speaking during his nightly video address to the nation, explained that Denmark had immediately pledged an assistance package for Ukraine of EUR 110 million following the opening the conference..

In total, the conference collected 1.5 billion euros in just one day, said Zelenskyy.

Read also: NBU, IMF negotiate special account for funding Ukraine

Some of it will be spent on the production of vital ammunition.

Zelenskyy added that this is a significant addition to a $4 billion loan guarantee that the United States had previously given to Ukraine.

I am grateful to everyone who supported Ukraine in Copenhagen today and I believe that meetings like this one will accelerate our common victory, the President stated.

The 26 nations, which included Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, all promised to continue to support Ukraines military defense against Russian aggression.



Read also: EU sends $1 billion in financial aid to Ukraine

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Daily Beast

Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / GettyAt the risk of awarding the title prematurely, we think weve found the weirdest study published in 2022. Scientists strapped GoPro cameras to the bodies of six dolphins trained by the U.S. Navy, and recorded them hunting for food and consuming their prey in grisly detail. According to the study, there was a purpose behind this potential invasion of dolphin privacy; namely, to learn more about how the mammals hunted and ate.Scientists
MarketWatch

Announced at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the payment pause has been extended and even expanded several times, including four extensions ordered by Biden himself. As of mid-August, speculation was rampant that Biden would grant another extension, but the Department of Education wasnt making any promises, other than telling The New York Times that the departments review of broad-based debt cancellation remains ongoing and no decisions have been made. In the meantime, student loan debtors are advised to prepare for resuming their monthly loan payments.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroy the equipment of the Russian occupiers

Donetsk Oblast remains the area of highest enemy daily troop losses, according to the message.

Total Russian armor losses have exceeded 12,000:

Tanks: 1,849 (+3);

APCs and IFVs: 4,108 (+8);

Barreled artillery: 975 (+1);

Multiple launch rocket systems: 261 (+0);

Anti-air defense systems: 136 (+2);

War planes: 233 (+1);

Helicopters: 193 (+0);

UAVs: 778 (+6);

Cruise missiles: 185 (+0);

Ships and boats: 15 (+0);

Supply and fuel trucks: 3,021 (+3);

Specialized military equipment: 90 (+0).

Read also: Ukrainian attacks hit Russian air defenses near Kherson

Aug. 12 marks the 170th day of Russian invasion of Ukraine. After failing to capture Kyiv, the invaders withdrew from northern Ukraine and focused their efforts of seizing Donbas. Civilian targets across Ukrainian cities remain under sporadic Russian air strikes, while settlements along the Russian border are regularly shelled.

Kherson is the only provincial capital under Russian control. Moscow maintains the occupation of parts of Kherson, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

Read also: Massive shelling in three districts of Kharkiv Oblast, including Kharkiv city center

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Border officials globally and in the United States are taxing travelers who bring food from overseas. There will be a very costly fine for these violations.

In one instance a passenger traveling from Indonesia to Australias Darwin Airport was fined $1874 after officials found two beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant in their luggage. Australias reason for the hefty fine was a foot and mouth disease outbreak in Indonesian livestock a month ago.

A few days before that offense an Australian woman was fined $1844, for not declaring a piece of her Subway sandwich she packed from Singapore.

US Border officials in the past year have fined passengers for bringing in a variety of undeclared foods in their suitcases, eggs, bologna, and turkey ham. Out of 630 inspections in 2021, 150 were found with food items according to the US Customs and Border Protection. Thousands of penalties were issued to travelers who did not declare prohibited foods.

Getty Images

Customs officials found balut eggs in a passengers luggage on March 6. Balut eggs are duck embryos. The eggs are prepared by boiling them and eating it right off the shell.

Failure to declare food products at US air, sea and land border entry points can lead to fines and penalties of up to $10,000, according to the CBP.

Fines and penalties can go up to $10,000 for undeclared food products at US border entry points.

Heres what you need to know before bringing food products into the US.

Why are some foods not allowed?

Travelers bringing food products in the US from other countries risk the chance of bringing in foreign pests and diseases. This can affect our environment and agriculture. An outbreak of any sort can do more than just affect farmers. It would mean higher grocery bills and food shortages.

In 2021 customs officials found 264 pests at US ports, slightly higher than the previous year.

We work closely with the US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Health Inspection Services to prevent the introduction of plant pests and foreign animal diseases, a CBP spokesperson told CNN.

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What food products are not allowed into the country?

Meat Poultry Milk Egg Products

The Department of Agriculture enforces that no animal or bird products from countries with recent history of livestock diseases can be allowed in the country.
Aug. 12A federal judge has sentenced a former Bellows Falls man to more than six years in prison after he robbed a Charlestown bank in 2018 while claiming he was armed.

Trevor Allen, 30, pleaded guilty last November in U.S. District Court of New Hampshire in Concord to a charge of bank robbery, according to court documents. Judge Paul Barbadoro sentenced him on Wednesday to 77 months in federal prison on that charge.

According to his plea deal with federal prosecutors, Allen entered Claremont Savings Bank on Main Street in Charlestown on June 28, 2018, and handed a bank teller a note demanding that the teller empty the money in his drawer.

Surveillance cameras captured images of the robbery, which were broadcast on local news outlets, prompting multiple people to identify Allen from the photographs, according to a news release Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Attorney's Office has previously stated that investigators identified Allen's fingerprint on the demand note.

After the robbery, the teller told investigators that Allen had said he had a gun and had warned the bank employee not to alert police, saying things to the effect of, "Let's make this quick," according to the plea agreement. The teller gave Allen $2,485 in cash from his bank drawer, the news release states. As part of his sentence, Allen has been ordered to pay that amount in restitution, according to court documents.

Allen was indicted in May 2019 on a charge of armed bank robbery, court filings show. Prosecutors agreed in the plea deal to drop that charge and press only the less-severe bank-robbery charge, which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.

"Today's sentence holds Trevor Allen accountable for targeting this financial institution and instilling fear in innocent employees and bystanders," said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, in the news release. "It also is a warning to others that if you commit bank robbery or any other violent crime in New Hampshire you will face serious consequences for your unlawful actions."

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A lawyer representing Allen could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Ryan Spencer can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1412, or rspencer@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at

@rspencerKS
Last month, I was listening to an acquaintance talking about the weather, the way one does, in England. And then she said: I hope it stays like this all summer because it will be just like being abroad.

I pondered this statement in silence, not really sure what to say next. Admittedly, this was just before the UK set a new all-time temperature record last month. Perhaps having experienced such extreme heat in a country wholly unprepared for it, that woman might no longer feel the same?

Over the past few months more and more people, somewhat reluctantly perhaps, are realising we are in deep and deepening trouble. This summer, dwarfing 1976 as it already does in its extremity, is the mother of all wake-up calls. So far.

However, its not enough to simply worry about rivers running dry or to shake our heads as much of our green and pleasant land turns yellow and burns, or as crops suffer and fail.

The climate crisis isnt just on our doorstep now, its through the front door and sat on the welcome mat  and, unwelcome though it is, it wont be leaving. Its here, and this means that action is unavoidable. And remember: this is only the beginning.

Climate breakdown and the devastation of the Earth is the most compelling issue of our time. It is the issue that envelops all others. How we respond to it is going to be the only thing that our kids care about when they think of us when they are older. So, what I sometimes struggle to understand is, why arent nearly all our efforts, our time and our money going into battling this deep and deepening crisis?

Why are communities, countries and the world not uniting, as they did for example during the global pandemic, to try and sort this out? Or at least make things less bad.

As we sit in the throws of yet another UK heatwave today, what will it take to liberate action, at scale? We are potential agents of change  and we have no idea what we are capable of until we try. Why arent we trying?

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You only have to look at the world headlines to know this isnt an isolated problem. In California, Death Valley, normally the driest place in North America, saw flash floods after record rainfall (almost a years worth in three hours). Closer to home in Europe, thousands of people have been evacuated as out of control wildfires tear through southwest France.

The deadly heatwave is also putting pressure on already strained power infrastructure as people try to keep cool. English tourists are sweltering in Spain  as the government bans air conditioning units from being set below 27 degrees to save power. The list goes on and on.

Enough of lists. I think you know what to do. Its too late to wait for governments to act adequately: they dont intend to. We need to start acting, in the communities where we live, in the places where we work, to make ourselves resilient. To adapt, transformatively, to our deteriorating climate.

What kind of thing do I have in mind? Well, whats being done by the emerging, inspiring network of Climate Emergency Centres, for starters. One-stop unshops, for anyone and everyone who wants to start making needful changes, from the ground up. The idea is that these centres provide a space for uniting communities in finding solutions to environmental problems at a local level. Why not get involved?

To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment, sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here

Then theres whats happening in an increasing number of professions: from Lawyers For Net Zero, a group of in-house lawyers committed to ensuring businesses work for the environment, not against it, to those creatively disrupting the advertising industry from within. From Fiduciaries For The Future who are making money green, to the emerging network of academics bolstering climate change research and teaching via Faculty For A Future.

And then theres the parents like @heymothership who are trying to give their kids a future by promoting practical tips on things you can do for the planet every day. This is the change we need aa from everyone. The time has come where we need to become not just activists, but doists.

Prof. Rupert Reads latest book, Why Climate Breakdown Matters, published by Bloomsbury, is out now in ebook, and in paperback in the UK
Robert Page led Wales to the World Cup (David Davies/PA) (PA Archive)

Wales manager Robert Page is close to signing a new long-term contract, according to FAW president Steve Williams.

Page has been in charge of the national team since stepping in for Ryan Giggs  initially on a temporary basis  when the former Manchester United winger was placed on leave in November 2020.

Giggs eventually stood down as Wales boss in June of this year ahead of a domestic violence trial which is ongoing. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Wales qualified for the World Cup in June (David Davies/PA) (PA Archive)

After taking Wales to the last 16 of Euro 2020, Page  who previously served as Giggs assistant  led the country to their first World Cup since 1958, sealing qualification via a memorable play-off victory over Ukraine in Cardiff in June.

Williams says he and FAW chief executive Noel Mooney have held advanced talks with Page over fresh terms.

Noel Mooney and myself are working with Rob and his agent on an exciting, long-term contract, Williams told BBC Sport Wales.

Were dotting the is and crossing the ts and fingers crossed well be able to make an announcement in the forthcoming weeks.

Wales begin their World Cup campaign against the United States on November 21 before also facing Iran and England in Group B.
In a published opinion, the Washington State Court of Appeals has sided with Gov. Jay Inslees authority to institute a mask mandate.

Petitioners sought to nullify the state secretary of healths order that called for Washingtonians to wear a mask indoors and in certain large outdoor settings during the pandemic.

The petitioners filed a claim for declaratory and injunctive relief, a court order that prohibits an organization or an individual from taking a specific action, against Inslee and Secretary of Health Umair Shah over the mask mandate.

The petitioners argued that the order violated their right to free speech because wearing or not wearing a mask is symbolic speech, does not survive strict scrutiny, and compels speech.

They also argued that the order was void because proper authority was not designated to the secretary, and the emergency proclamation enacted by Inslee in response to the pandemic was in excess of the governors authority.

Furthermore, petitioners asserted that the power given to a local health officer was improper.

In response, the Court of Appeals made the following ruling:

We affirm the trial court and hold that the mask mandate does not implicate speech, therefore, we do not address whether the mask mandate survives strict scrutiny or compels speech. We also hold that the mask mandate is not void because the legislature properly delegated the authority to address an emergency to the secretary, the governors Emergency Proclamation was not in excess of his authority, and the power delegated to the local health officer is not improper.

According to the published opinion, when the lawsuit was filed, few drugs or therapies were available, plus no vaccines had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat or prevent the virus.

It was on Feb. 29, 2020, when Inslee issued a state of emergency in Washington after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the state.

COVID-19 was identified as a potential public health threat in the U.S. and in the state.

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On June 24, 2020, the secretary of health issued a statewide order, which required every Washingtonian to wear a mask in public pursuant to authority under RCW 43.70.130, RCW 70.05.070 and the governors emergency proclamation.

The purpose of the mask mandate was to help control and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Washington state.

Anyone who had failed to comply with the order could have been found guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up $100 or up to 90 days of imprisonment  or both.

With that said, the state secretary of health showed evidence of the efficacy of how wearing masks helped to prevent the spread of COVID-19, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions findings that face coverings are one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus  particularly when used universally within a community setting.

While petitioners presented their own information in opposition of the state, the trial court entered judgment in favor of the secretary of health, which later resulted in the Washington State Court of Appeals upholding that judgment.
By Ahmad Ghaddar and Rowena Edwards

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe is heading into winter with seasonally low levels of diesel in storage tanks, with major implications for the continent's industries and drivers in the run-up to EU sanctions on Russian crude oil and refined product supplies.

Diesel, along with other distillate fuels such as heating oil and gasoil, are the lifeblood of industry with uses ranging from powering factories to heating homes, in addition to being used as a motor fuel.

When Russia, which supplies Europe with about 60% of its import requirement, invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the diesel market went into shock as it priced in a possible cutoff of those supplies.

The six-month spread in European diesel futures went into a record backwardation of nearly $600 a tonne.

In a backwardated market, current prices trade at a premium to prices for future deliveries, which makes it uneconomical for traders to put diesel into storage and book a profit.

"No one in their right mind would put diesel into tanks at those levels," one European trader said.

GRAPHIC: European diesel futures 6-month spread (https://graphics.reuters.com/OIL-DIESEL/gkvlgodylpb/chart.png)

The result has been that European distillate stocks held by refiners are trending much lower than their historical averages.

GRAPHIC: European refinery distillate stocks (https://graphics.reuters.com/OIL-DIESEL/klpykwdwepg/chart.png)

Stocks of diesel and gasoil in commercial sites in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) hub are also well below their historical average, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global shows.

GRAPHIC:ARA Gasoil/Diesel Stocks (https://graphics.reuters.com/OIL-DIESEL/zjpqkbnzapx/chart.png)

The spread currently stands at about $100 a tonne, still well above levels for this time of year.

Compounding the situation further, extremely hot and dry weather in Europe has led to unseasonably low water levels on the Rhine river, a key waterway for moving barges carrying fuel from the massive oil refineries and tank farms in ARA to Germany, France and Switzerland.

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Water levels at the gauge point of Kaub in Germany currently stand at 42 cm, and Germany's electronic waterway information service for inland shipping, or ELWIS, forecasts levels to drop further to 34 cm in the coming days.

GRAPHIC:Rhine levels at Kaub Rhine levels at Kaub (https://graphics.reuters.com/OIL-RHINE/gdpzyomjwvw/chart.png)

According to consultants FGE Energy, 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil products traversed the Rhine to be unloaded in Germany in 2021, more than 10% of the country's oil demand.

At current levels, barge owners are opting to load their vessels at about a quarter or less of their 2,000-3,000 tonne capacity to avoid grounding into the riverbed.

This has created major bottlenecks along the route and has raised barge freight rates in some areas to record highs.

While oil products also move through pipeline and by rail into Germany, those are already operating at full capacity, FGE says. Trucking is an option, but high fuel costs make this option uneconomical, they added.

GRAPHIC:German gasoil and diesel stocks (https://graphics.reuters.com/OIL-GERMANY/byprjykydpe/chart.png)

"With the river levels so low there's no point in having product in ARA as you can't move it down the Rhine, and backwardation is discouraging having product in tank," one European trader said.

"A major disruption to an important gasoil/diesel supply route from ARA to inland Europe could not come at a worse time," FGE said.

The market is already tight due to refinery outages in Austria, which along with Germany and Switzerland will be looking to build heating oil stocks ahead of winter.

Soaring natural gas prices which are encouraging a switch to oil products for power generation could also tighten the market further, FGE said.

The International Energy Agency on Thursday raised its forecast for oil demand growth for this year by 380,000 bpd to 2.1 million bpd citing the gas-to-oil switch.

SANCTION DISRUPTION

The European Union will stop buying all seaborne Russian crude oil from early December and will ban all Russian refined products two months later.

Europe continues to rely heavily on Russia to satisfy its diesel demand, with 60% of Europe's seaborne diesel imports originating from the country in July, according to data from Energy analytics firm Vortexa.

And with no evidence that companies are stockbuilding ahead of sanctions, traders expect Europe to be in for a winter shock.

"Who knows what is going to happen back end of this year early next, looks like it will be carnage for a bit," another European trader said.

In July, the EU tweaked the sanctions to allow some EU firms to move Russian barrels to third countries in an attempt to limit the risks to global energy security, giving traders some leeway to re-route diesel from other regions to compensate for loss of Russian barrels.

"As such the market is less concerned about current low stock levels and assumes these inventories can more easily be replenished over the coming quarters," said Neil Crosby, senior analyst at oil analytics firm OilX.

(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Veronica Brown and David Evans)
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has ended a controversial partisan review of the 2020 election, which he and GOP legislators had funded for the past year, days after Vos defeated a primary challenger.

Vos ended the review and removed the chief investigator, former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, on Friday, after more than a year and over $1 million in spending. On Tuesday, Vos narrowly won his primary over an opponent who had endorsements from both former President Donald Trump and Gableman.

Gableman had faced intense criticism from election experts as well as Democrats in the state for his investigation, which embraced conspiracy theories including advocating for decertifying the 2020 election  a fanciful and legally impossible recommendation.

Gableman repeatedly attacked the state election officials and has openly campaigned against Republicans who criticized the probe, including appearing at a rally with Trump in the closing days of the Wisconsin primaries.

After having many members of our caucus reach out to me over the past several days, it is beyond clear to me that we only have one choice in this matter, and that's to close the Office of Special Counsel, Vos said in a statement first provided to the Associated Press, referencing Gablemans office.

Vos  while saying there were problems with the 2020 election  had encouraged Republicans in the state to move past both the election and the investigation into it.

He and Gableman began to split publicly after the former state Supreme Court justice started his decertification push. Vos said in an interview with a local TV station that Gableman went off the rails, while defending the scope of the probe.



Gablemen spent a considerable amount of time attacking private grants that went to local municipalities in the run-up to the 2020 election. The grants came from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, an elections-focused nonprofit to which Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Pricilla Chan donated hundreds of millions of dollars. Several lawsuits ahead of the 2020 election challenged the legality of those grants, but the lawsuits failed.

The now-shuttered GOP investigation in Wisconsin was among the most prominent attempts by Republicans in the country to undermine confidence in the 2020 election results  something Democrats in the state said had gone on too long. The investigation also sparked considerable litigation, with Gableman threatening to seek jail time for local election officials and mayors he deemed to be uncooperative, along with extensive legal battles over access to records from his office.

This sham investigation should never have started. It's a shame it took so long for it to come to this pathetic end, Democratic state Rep. Mark Spreitzer, who publicly clashed with Gableman in a series of hearings, tweeted Friday afternoon.
The Lynchburg Humane Society is scheduled to travel to Cumberland County again later this month to accept another group of beagles that are being removed from a mass breeding facility following animal welfare concerns.

The Humane Society of the United States is coordinating the removal of about 4,000 beagles housed at the Envigo RMS LLC facility in Cumberland which bred dogs to be sold to laboratories for animal experimentation, according to a Friday news release. The transfer plan comes as a result of a lawsuit filed against Envigo by the Department of Justice in May, alleging Animal Welfare Act violations at the facility.

The beagles are being transferred over a 60-day period, and the dogs will be up for adoption via Lynchburg Humane Society and other shelters and rescues.

Those interested in adopting a beagle from the Lynchburg Humane Society are encouraged to keep up-to-date on their social media for announcements on when the beagles will be available for adoption. All available pets can be viewed at www.lynchburghumane.org.

Thanks to the outpouring of support from our community and hard work of our staff we are excited to be able to return to Cumberland to save more beagles, Lynchburg Humane Society development and communications manager Claire LeFew said in the release.

Based on experiences from other shelters, this next group of beagles may be facing more challenges because they have been in the facility the longest. Despite any additional challenges we are dedicated to giving them the best compassionate care possible and finding great homes for them in our community.

The humane society is hosting an adoption special this Friday through Sunday for dogs in order to help make space for the arrival of more beagles and to help at-risk pets in other area shelters.
The Bedford County School Board unanimously moved Thursday to approve entering into a contract with a solar company to move forward in an energy cost-saving plan discussed a few months ago.

During the school boards April meeting, part of the divisions capital improvement plan discussion focused on the possibility of using some of the land at Goodview and Montvale elementary schools to set up solar panels. Using solar energy would help offset some utilities expenses, and Goodview and Montvale elementary schools have the most land available for this use, the divisions facilities committee decided.

At the school boards April meeting, the board gave BCPS staff consensus to request proposals from solar firms. The RFP received six proposals by the deadline, according to BCPS documents.

After a committee review of each solar proposal, Secure Futures Solar was chosen as the preferred vendor from two finalists interviewed July 20.

An estimated $50,000 in savings per year could result from the project, according to BCPS documentation.

Bedford County schools are not the only ones in Virginia opting for solar.

The division decided to contract with Secure Futures Solar partly because of positive references from other Virginia school districts contracted with the company, including Waynesboro City schools, Augusta County, Albemarle County and Orange County.

Secure Futures Solar included some educational benefits in the proposal, including a data dashboard where teachers and students could analyze and track electrical use, plus science and technology curriculums and trainings to bolster student education in these STEM areas. These educational resources also could support the formation of student STEM clubs and projects should teachers or schools opt for this extra component, according to BCPS documentation.

Secure Futures Solar would agree to maintain the equipment and land it occupies in a safe and attractive manner, according to BCPS documentation of the firms proposal.

The projected completion date currently is summer 2023.

 Shannon Kelly
Try to identify a different piece of Lynchburg-area history every week. If you have any mystery pictures of your own (or any old photos of Lyn
Keyiara Stokes is helping her community Shine Bright.

Stokes grew up in Mississippi, but she moved up to Omaha nearly seven years ago to pursue new opportunities in life and her career. She worked at First National Bank in the credit card department and later went to American National Bank to work as a teller. Stokes then changed paths and took a job as a social worker for the State of Nebraska.

She is in a new role now, using her experiences in finance and social work to help families in need. For the past four months, Stokes has been working as a loan processor for Family Housing Advisory Services and Omaha 100, a nonprofit that works with various financial institutions to help low- and moderate-income families become homeowners. She said its fulfilling work, and its as important as ever right now with housing costs sitting high.

While Stokes work involves getting families in homes, she was seen helping out in other ways Tuesday morning. Stokes and her Family Housing Advisory Services coworkers joined hundreds of volunteers from other metro businesses and organizations to help assemble 5,000 boxes of hygiene products for United Way of the Midlands Shine Bright campaign, which will go out to metro-area students. The boxes contain full-size personal and dental hygiene products for students according to their gender, age and ethnic background, according to Shawna Forsberg, president and CEO of United Way of the Midlands.

Stokes said that just as families need roofs over their heads, growing students need daily hygiene products to be healthy and confident as they go to school.

In her free time, Stokes does hair styling and cosmetic work. Its been a passion shes been practicing for six years. She also loves painting, drawing, writing and other methods of artistic expression. While she is dedicated to being there for her community, she also enjoys having time to herself to relax or stir up creativity.
Mt. Hope United Methodist Church

Mt. Hope United Methodist Church, 290th and Highway 6, McClelland, would like to invite all to join us on Sunday mornings for our worship service at 9:30 a.m. Children are welcome for the regular worship service and childrens sermon during the worship service. Upcoming events: On Sunday, Sept. 25 from 4 to 7 p.m. will be our Soup Supper/Bake Sale at McClelland Town Hall.

You do not have to be a member to participate in our church activities. Everyone is welcome.

Underwood Lutheran Church

Underwood Lutheran Church, 10 Third Ave., will hold Sunday activities. In-person worship begins at 9:30 a.m. Pastor Ben McIntire will deliver a sermon based on Luke 12:49-56. The online video will be available later in the day.

Gethsemane Presbyterian Church

Gethsemane Presbyterian Church, 224 Wallace Ave., invites you to worship with us. Our service runs from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Children are invited to participate in Sunday School. Kim Brouse will deliver the sermon, Wheres Your Sign? Join us for refreshments following the service.

Adult Bible study meets on Mondays and Thursdays from 9 to 10 a.m. Our Food Pantry is open on Mondays and Thursdays until 10:30 a.m. Our church is collecting Iowa 5 cent-refund cans/bottles for one of our mission projects, the Kanesville Honor Guard Society. Your donations help! Bags can be dropped off anytime at our front door. For more information, contact the church office at 712-366-2513 or visit us on Facebook at gethsemanepresbyterianchurch.org.

Timothy Lutheran Church

Timothy Lutheran Church, 3112 W. Broadway, offers services at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sundays. The church alternates between traditional services and praise services each week. Bible study and Sunday school at 9:15 a.m. If a month has a fifth Sunday, the church hosts a combined service at 9 a.m. Food and fellowship after service on fifth Sundays and there is no Bible study or Sunday school on those days. The church is handicap accessible.

St. Pauls Evangelical Country Church

St. Pauls Evangelical Country Church rings the church bell each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. to welcome people to worship at 11055 Dumfries Ave. There are directional signs from Wabash Avenue and Pioneer Trail leading to the church. We are a growing, friendly, Bible-teaching church led by Pastor Jason Kinney. Sunday School for all ages, including adults, begins at 9:15 a.m. This Sunday the scripture will be taken from Philippians 4:6-7, and the sermon title is The Peace of God. Each Sunday following worship we enjoy donuts and coffee in the Fellowship Hall. Greeters are Melissa Kinney and Mike Turner. The Church Council will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday. Bible studies and youth group will not meet in August but will resume in September. Visit our website at www.stpaulsecc.org for more information. We are handicapped accessible.

Compass Christian Church

Compass Christian Church welcomes you to worship with us Sundays at 10:30 a.m. We are located at 2007 S. Seventh St., just west of the South Expressway. The church is handicap accessible. During worship, a cry room is available, along with childcare for children ages 1-4. Compass Kids grades K-5 meet downstairs for special Bible lessons. You may also worship with us at compasscb.online.church or on YouTube.

Mens Bible Study and Womens Bible Study each meet on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Prayer meetings are held each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

For questions or more information, visit our Facebook page, Compass Christian Church CB, our website compasscb.org or call the church office at 712-366-9112.

Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church

Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church, 1800 Fifth Ave., invites the public to participate in our live worship service at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Face masks are optional. The church office can be reached at 712-323-7374 or through our email at fifthaveumchurch@gmail.com.

Bethany Presbyterian Church

Bethany Presbyterian Church, 1900 S. Seventh St., will have worship at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Nancy Ross-Hullingers message will be By Faith, and the scriptures are Hebrews 11:29, 12:2. There will be a Childrens Chat. Bill Muth will sing a solo. Liturgist is Lois Hall, and greeters are Sandy Kmezich and Linda Cody. August is school supply month. We are a handicap accessible facility.

Community of Christ Church

Community of Christ Church, 140 W. Kanesville Blvd., invites people to attend Sunday worship at 10:15 a.m. Our theme this week is Jesus Brings Holy Disruption. Our scriptures this week are Luke 12:49-56; Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19; and Hebrews 11:29-12:2. Sunday school starts at 9:15. We also have prayer service Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Please call our office at 712-323-4498 for any questions. There are virtual ministries out on our World Church Website under Ongoing Ministries at www.cofchrist.org.

Epworth United Methodist Church

Epworth United Methodist Church, 2447 Ave. B, worships on Sundays at 9:25 a.m. The people are friendly, the worship is meaningful and the building is handicap accessible. Masks and hand sanitizer are available. We also invite you to our Bible study on Thursdays at 9 a.m.

We keep in prayer for the healing of our community and nation for God. If you want us to pray for you personally, let us know your prayer requests by phone or online at Friends of Epworth UMC Facebook. Office hours are 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Phone: 712-323-3124.

Faith Lutheran Church

Faith Lutheran Church, 2100 S. 11th St., invites you to join us for contemporary praise worship at the 9 a.m. Sunday service. On Tuesday, there is a 9:30 a.m. adult Bible study that is open to everyone, and the Elders will meet at 2:30. Wednesday there is a Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. Please enter by the rear entrance. Services are available on Faiths Facebook page and on YouTube by searching for Ron Rosenkaimer. For more information about worship opportunities at Faith, contact the church office at 323-6445.

New Horizon Presbyterian Church

New Horizon Presbyterian Church holds three services on Sunday, with traditional services at 8 and 11 a.m. and the praise service at 9. Services are available on our Facebook page at facebook.com/NewHorizonPC. Session will meet Thursday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. The New Horizon Rummage Sale is back! The sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 18-19 and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20. Proceeds will benefit church and community missions.

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Westminster Presbyterian Church, 517 S. 32nd St., welcomes everyone to join us for worship on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. We are handicapped accessible through the northeast door of the church.

Corpus Christi Catholic Parish

The month of August is dedicated to The Immaculate Heart of Mary. Join us as we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day of the week at Corpus Christi  Queen of Apostles, 3304 Fourth Ave., Council Bluffs; and Corpus Christi Our Lady of Carter Lake, 3501 N. Ninth St., Carter Lake.

Daily Mass is celebrated as follows: In English Tuesday through Friday at 8 a.m. (Council Bluffs) and in Spanish on Monday and Thursday at 6 p.m. (Council Bluffs).

Our Weekend Mass in English is celebrated on Saturday at 4 p.m., on Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. (Council Bluffs) and at 9:30 a.m. (Carter Lake). Our Sunday Spanish Mass is at noon (Council Bluffs). Everyone is welcome.

Saturday, Aug. 13 and Sunday, Aug. 14 Mass Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time are Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Psalms 40:2, 3, 4, 18; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is for unbaptized adults and those who have been baptized in another faith tradition. New sessions will begin Thursday, Aug. 18 at the Parish Center. If you are interested in learning more about the Catholic faith or know someone who is, please call the Parish Office, 712-323-2916.

Smoked-grilled pork chop dinner Aug. 27 from 5-7 p.m., Corpus Christi Queen of Apostles Hall. Tickets are $20 pre-sale, $25 at the door. Dinner includes smoked-grilled pork chop (thick cut), scalloped potatoes, baked beans, salad and dessert. Tea, coffee and water provided. Cash bar available. To purchase tickets, contact the Parish Office.

Seasons of Hope Bereavement Group meets on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. with prayer, faith sharing and fellowship. If you would like consolation after losing a loved one, this Christ-centered faith sharing group is for you. For more details, call the Parish Office to register in advance. All are welcome.

Eucharistic Adoration is held every Monday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. at Corpus Christi Queen of Apostles.

For more information, call the parish office at 712-323-2916 or 712-323-4716 (Spanish) or visit our parish website at www.corpuschristiparishiowa.org.

Emanuel Lutheran Church

Emanuel Lutheran Church, 2444 N. Broadway, welcomes everyone to come as you are and be who you are! Our weekly worship service is at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday. Our worship service and weekly Sunday school show can be found on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. Visit us online at emanuelcb.org.

Saint John Lutheran Church

Saint John Lutheran Church, 633 Willow Ave., holds worship at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. Worship is also available to watch on YouTube. Our website is www.SaintJohnELCA.org. Our Facebook page is Saint John Lutheran Church Council Bluffs IA. Esther Group meets Tuesday at 9:30, the Time-Talent Committee meets Wednesday at 4:30 and Mary Group meets Thursday at 9 a.m. The building is handicap accessible. Please call the church office with any questions, 712-323-7173.

Broadway Christian Church

(Disciples of Christ) The Rev. Carol Hall and members of our congregation invite you to join us, together with the congregation of First Congregational UCC Church, for a special outdoor worship service. On Sunday, Aug. 14 at 10:30 a.m., we will meet at Lake Manawa State Park Shelter No. 7. The park is located 2.5 miles south of Interstate 80 (Exit 3). Shelter No. 7 is located on the southern lakeshore near the boat ramp off Bass Road. We will celebrate communion, which is open to all. Bring your lawn chair and join us for a picnic following the worship service; bring a dessert if you wish.

Overeaters Anonymous meets Mondays at noon. Alcoholics Anonymous meets Tuesdays at 6 p.m. and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. Bible Study will resume on Sept. 7. Masks are optional. To submit prayer requests or for more information, call the church office at 712-323-7741 or email us at office@bcccb.org. Visit us online at www.bcccb.org or on Facebook.

First Congregational UCC Church

Come and join us, along with the congregation of Broadway Christian Church, for a special outdoor worship service. We will meet at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Lake Manawa State Park Shelter No. 7. The park is located 2.5 miles south of Interstate 80 (Exit 3). Shelter No. 7 is located on the southern lakeshore near the boat ramp off Bass Road. We will celebrate communion, which is open to all. Bring your lawn chair, join us for a picnic following the worship service; bring a dessert if you wish.

First Congregational offers a free Community Dinner the last Friday of each month, from 5-6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. The next dinner is Friday, Aug. 26. Come and enjoy a meal inside  out of the heat!

Our Saviors Lutheran Church

Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 600 Bluff St., can be reached at 712-322-6655. Everyone is welcome. Worship services are Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. For more information, see our Facebook page under Our Saviors Lutheran Church of Council Bluffs or the website at oursaviorscb.org. Adult and youth Sunday school begins Sept. 18 at 9:30 a.m.

Activities this week include Al-Anon meetings Monday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Education Building. Thursday morning Bible Study meets at 9:30 a.m., and prayer time is at 11:15 a.m. Food and Pet Food Pantry is open Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. To schedule an appointment, please call the pantry directly at 712-522-3522 between 9:30 and 11 a.m. on the day you plan to come.

St. Pauls Episcopal Church

St. Pauls Episcopal Church is located at 22 Dillman Drive in Council Buffs. Our services are held each Sunday morning beginning at 11 a.m., and we invite visitors to attend and share with us these very enjoyable and enlightening services. For additional information, please contact the church at 712-323-7188.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents extended President Ted Carter's contract by three years on Thursday, potentially keeping the university's top leader in Nebraska through 2027.

Carter's new contract, approved unanimously, also raises his base salary by 3% this year and adds a second deferred compensation package to incentivize the president to stay at NU.

In all, Carter's total compensation could top $1.5 million beginning in 2023.

As approved by regents, Carter's restructured contract includes:

* An increase in base salary  which is funded through a combination of state appropriations and tuition revenue  from $934,600 to $962,638.

* A new end date of Dec. 31, 2027. When he was hired in 2019, Carter's five-year contract expired at the end of 2024.

* A second deferred compensation package that will put $340,000 in private money into an account beginning in 2023. Carter will be eligible to receive the money beginning in January 2024.

* Carter's existing deferred compensation package provides an amount equal to 11.5% of his base salary as an incentive to stay at NU.

Regents also awarded Carter, a former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, a $105,000 performance bonus for the 2021-22 academic year.

That amount is less than the $140,000 he was eligible to receive; Carter hit 89% of the benchmarks set for him by the board last year after first- to second-year retention numbers fell at several NU campuses.

Omaha Regent Elizabeth O'Connor, who was the lone "no" vote when regents approved Carter's initial contract in 2019, citing concerns about the amount, said she supported the new contract terms.

"Today, we are in a much better financial and operational position, we have more stable funding, we've emerged from a global pandemic stronger," she said.

O'Connor credited Carter for "landmark actions" like the creation of Nebraska Promise, which allows in-state students from median household incomes to attend NU tuition-free, a plan to address $400 million in deferred maintenance projects, and a restructuring of university debt that will save taxpayers money.

She said Carter has "exceeded expectations" and she believes he "will continue to produce outstanding results" for students and the state.

"Quite frankly, I expect even better things in the next several years," O'Connor said.

In other business:

* Regents approved a budget request seeking 3% more in state appropriations for the university in the next biennium on a 7-0 vote, with one abstention.

If approved by the Legislature and signed by the next governor, NU would receive $665 million in 2023-24 and $696 million in 2024-25.

Carter said the request would not cover all of the university's costs. NU would be required to close a $12.5 million budget gap each year, either through enrollment growth, tuition increases or budget cuts.

Regent Jim Pillen of Columbus, who is the Republican nominee for governor and will face state Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue in November, abstained.

Nebraska's next governor will put forward their own two-year budget recommendations in January.

* Neihardt Hall, the former home of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's honors program, and more recently, a location for students needing to quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, will be renovated into a student services center.

Regents approved a $21.5 million plan to transform 100,000 square feet of space in the former residence hall into offices, conference rooms, lounges and other places serving students.

The renovation will be funded through NU's $400 million deferred maintenance program.

* Regents also approved a master lease with 21V LLC, an entity managed by Woodbury Corporation and WRK, to develop 16.5 acres on the former Cushman Motorworks site.

In 2021, UNL announced plans to build the Unity Commons, a $175 million mixed-use development with housing for retirees and retail space near 21st and Vine streets.

* Students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha will be shuttled back and forth between the Dodge and Scott campuses on an Arrow Stage Lines bus after regents approved a $7.2 million contract.

The shuttle service runs approximately 250 days per year, with 4,200 riders using it daily. Over the course of the three-year contract, the cost to student users equates to roughly 38 cents per day.
DES MOINES  Abortion would be illegal in Iowa after six weeks of pregnancy  often before the woman knows she is pregnant  if Gov. Kim Reynolds request to the Iowa courts is granted.

Reynolds filed a motion Thursday asking a state court to lift an injunction on legislation passed in 2018 that would have banned abortions in Iowa at six weeks. That bill, passed by the Republican-led Iowa Legislature and signed into law by Reynolds, was halted at the time by a district judge who cited a previous Iowa Supreme Court ruling that negated a 24-hour waiting period for an abortion.

But since the U.S. Supreme Court and Iowa Supreme Court earlier this year issued rulings that effectively repealed a pregnant persons right to abortion access, Reynolds is asking the state courts to now lift the injunction on the six-week ban.

The historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe has given us a new hope and pathway forward to challenge the Iowa courts previous decision, Reynolds said in a statement. Life and death are determined by a persons heartbeat, and I believe that includes our unborn children. As long as Im governor, I will stand up for the sanctity of life and fight to protect the precious and innocent unborn lives.

Currently, abortion is legal in Iowa through 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The 2018 legislation is known as the fetal heartbeat bill, so named by its supporters because they say it bans abortions after a fetus heartbeat can be detected.

However, medical experts say the heart is not developed at six weeks, and ultrasound machines at that point in a pregnancy are not actually detecting a heartbeat. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, what is actually heard at six weeks is the ultrasound machine translating electronic impulses that signify cardiac activity.

It is clinically inaccurate to use the word heartbeat to describe the sound that can be heard on ultrasound in very early pregnancy. In fact, there are no chambers of the heart developed at the early stage in pregnancy that this word is used to describe, so there is no recognizable heartbeat, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says.

If the court grants Reynolds request and the 2018 law is enacted, Iowa would join 13 other states that ban abortion at zero or six weeks of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a national nonprofit organization that monitors states abortion laws and advocates for access to reproductive health care.

The Iowa law at issue includes an exemption for medical emergencies, and the ban would not apply to pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest, provided those are reported to law enforcement or a health care agency within specified time frames.

The law states that a woman should not be criminally charged for having an abortion. But it does not grant the same protection for a physician who performs an abortion, nor any individual who assists the pregnant person who has an abortion.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a Democrat, has declined to represent the state in the case, citing his opposition to the legislation.

Reynolds, a Republican, and the state are being represented instead by Iowa conservative attorney Alan Ostergren and Alliance Defending Freedom, a national conservative legal organization that, according to its website, works to protect religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, parental rights, and Gods design for marriage and family.

Neither Ostergren nor the Alliance Defending Freedom are being paid by the state for their work on the case.

Iowa Democrats criticized Reynolds approach.

Our main differences on reproductive health are that I will be a governor who supports the will of the people. A majority of Iowans are pro-choice and I stand with them, Deidre DeJear, the Democratic candidate running against Reynolds in this falls election, said in a statement to The Gazette.

When asked to what extent abortion should be legal in Iowa, DeJear said Republicans are focused on a numbers game.

Im not willing to engage in that, she said. Its simple: laws should protect, not regulate, womens rights.

During a virtual news conference Thursday, state lawmaker Jennifer Konfrst, the leader of the minority party Democrats in the Iowa House, noted public polling consistently shows a majority of Iowans and Americans believe abortion should be legal in some or most cases, and that Kansas voters recently voted down a proposed amendment that would have said their states constitution does not protect an individuals right to abortions.

Iowa Republican state lawmakers have started the process of proposing a state constitutional amendment similar to the one that was voted down in Kansas. If approved by lawmakers again in 2023 or 2024, that proposal would be decided by Iowa voters as early as the 2024 elections.

We know that Iowa Republicans want the most extreme abortion legislation they can get in the state.  So rather than waiting until the Legislature comes back in January and having an honest conversation about what abortion law looks like in Iowa and what reproductive freedom looks like in this state, Republicans are running to the courts and trying to have them circumvent the will of the people and address it that way. Its another example of politics over people, Konfrst said. This is way extreme. Weve seen voters across the country reject this, and because the governor knows voters would reject this here in Iowa, shes playing politics.
More than 400 United Way of the Midlands volunteers were busy assembling 5,000 personal hygiene kits for metro-area students in need Thursday at the Mid-America Center.

The kits, called Shine Bright boxes, contain full-size personal and dental hygiene products for students according to their gender, age and ethnic background, according to Shawna Forsberg, president and CEO of United Way of the Midlands. United Way checked with local school officials, who told the organization there was a need for hygiene products, since there are already community efforts that focus on collecting school supplies.

Its expensive to purchase a lot of these products for children, she said.

The project, now in its second year, focuses on children entering kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grade  students making the transition to school, middle school or high school, Forsberg said.

We work it out so these kits will be delivered, and theyll be delivered the first week of school through school counselors who know which students come from lower income families, she said.

The volunteers who assembled kits Thursday represented 40 employers, many of whom offer paid leave for employees to spend helping with service projects.

Sharon Koch was one of five employees from Lamson Dugan & Murray Law Firm helping out.

We have a mix of lawyers, administrative folks and law students with us today, she said. Were big United Way supporters. Its the least we can do for our city.

Koch helped with the Shine Bright boxes last year, too, she said.

I think its just a really important project for the students and people that need hygiene products, she said. It helps make you more successful and more confident about yourself.

Kayleya Stanfield was one of seven Millard Lumber employees helping Thursday.

I think its very helpful and very meaningful, she said. They can be more confident and more able to learn, because theyre not worried about their hygiene.

Adolescents, especially, tend to be concerned about hygiene, Stanfield agreed.

Theyre very self-conscious about it, she said.

Vicki Quaites-Ferris of the Empowerment Network was also there helping.

Its for a good cause, she said.

Quaites-Ferris said she thinks parents appreciate it, as well as students  especially if they have several children in the house  so this just helps take a bunch off their shoulders.

Preparation for Shine Bright began several months ago, Forsberg said. United Way held special fundraisers and ordered products for the kits. Werner Enterprises helped with storage and transportation of kit items, and Turner Construction also helped with transportation. Other community sponsors included American Enterprise Group and Weiners LTD.

Now, United Way of the Midlands is gearing up for its Day of Caring, which will be held on Sept. 16. The event is UWMs largest day of service and involves volunteer teams of all sizes tackling meaningful projects that address community and nonprofit needs across Douglas, Sarpy and Pottawattamie counties, according to a description on the webpage at unitedwaymidlands.org/events. Organizations and individuals interested in a volunteer event can send a message to volunteer@uwmidlands.org.
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Photo: SCOTT TURTON, PRINCE OF WHALES Bigg's orca CA216C and her white calf, CA216C1, also known as Frosty, travelling in Telegraph Cove on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022.

A rare white orca was spotted in Telegraph Cove on Wednesday, about 2,000 kilometres from its usual home off the waters of southern California.

The young orca CA216C1, dubbed Frosty, was with her mother and swimming with other transient killer whales, according to the Pacific Whale Watch Association.

Scott Turton, a captain for Prince of Whales whale-watching in Telegraph Cove, was on an evening tour observing Biggs orcas when he noticed a nearly all-white animal among the pods.

Turton initially thought it might be T46B1B, or Tluk, a white orca known throughout the Salish Sea, but after getting photos and checking markings, found it was not.

He recalled another white orca that had been seen several times off California  and even as far south as Tijuana, Mexico, last October  and reached out to researcher Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the California Killer Whale Project.

She confirmed it was Frosty.

At one point Wednesday, the California orcas branched off on their own and went to shallow water in Beaver Cove.

Resident Mike Dobbs watched the orcas linger in a shallow bay. He said they were nearly on the beach for a while just floating and vocalizing.

The mother and her white offspring headed north to Alert Bay, he said.

Frosty was first reported by Monterey Bay Whale Watch in August 2019, but has never been officially documented in B.C. waters. A post from the California Killer Whale Project indicates her mother, CA216C, was seen near Alert Bay in July 2014 with her family.

The distance between that Mexico sighting in late October 2021 to yesterdays sighting near Alert Bay/Telegraph Cove is more than 2,500 kilometres, which is quite the range, said Erin Gless, Pacific Whale Watch Association executive director.

Prior to Wednesday, the last sighting of Frosty was off the Farallones near San Francisco on June 26.

Its thought the orcas unusual colouration could be caused by Chediak-Higashi syndrome, a rare immune disorder characterized by reduced skin pigment.

Its not the first orca that has been seen in the Salish Sea with a similar condition.

In addition to Tluk, a well-documented young Biggs orca who hasnt been seen since April 2021, there was also Chimo, who was captured at Pedder Bay and kept at Sealand of the Pacific in Oak Bay from 1970 to 1972.

Whale-watching operator Paul Pudwell photographed Tluk in the waters off Sooke for two days in September 2020.

The young whale, whose name comes from the Coast Salish Halqemeylem word for moon, was thought to be two years old at the time.

The young whale had previously been reported off the tip of Vancouver Island and off the southeast coast of Alaska.

Pudwell said he was the first to photograph Tluk near Sooke in November 2018.

Only 10 orcas have been documented with Chediak-Higashi syndrome worldwide, including a pair off the coast of Japan in 2021. But how many are currently alive isnt known.

Little is known about any of the white orcas because there are so few and they move quickly. Scientists believe the white orcas may be at a disadvantage while hunting because their colouration may alert prey.

Biggs orcas can travel up to 160 kilometres a day and are always on the move hunting seals, seal lions and porpoises.
A European Parliaments fact-finding mission on the Pegasus spyware case revealed after investigations in Israel and contacts with NSO company which developed the spyware, that the company had sealed contracts with 22 customers in 12 countries of the 27-member European Union.

These findings show that the Pegasus affair relayed in 2021 by several international NGOs and media, like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories consortium (grouping 17 Western media), which pointed the finger primarily on the softwares users in non-Western countries, including Morocco and other states in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, suggesting that Western countries respected the rules, privacy and did not engage in espionage, was in fact an orchestrated campaign, dictated by political motivations.

The campaign by international but especially French media group and NGOs had accused Morocco of using the Israeli spyware Pegasus. Morocco then filed defamation suits with the Paris Court, demanding that evidence to corroborate these accusations be revealed.

According to the Israeli media Haaretz, the European commission of enquiry was set up after European commissioners denounced having been spied on, which suggested that it was European state-to-European state espionage.

The European commission members were surprised to discover during their investigation in Israel that NSO had European customers, and that out of 14 European countries that had signed contracts with the company in the past, 12 are still using the Pegasus program at a state level, reveals the Israeli media.

The Israeli firms responses to questions from the European Commission reveal that the company works with many security bodies in the EU, reports the Israeli daily Haaretz, debunking the allegations by Forbidden Stories consortium and NGOs that had targeted Morocco.

Many EU countries had signed contracts with the Israeli company in the past, and 12 still use Pegasus for lawful interception of cell phones calls, according to NSOs response to questions from the European Commission, explains Haaretz.

Part of these revelations, the Israeli company explained that it currently works with 22 European end users  security agencies, intelligence departments and law enforcement agencies- in 12 European countries. In some of these countries, NSO has more than one customer under contracts signed not with the country but with the operating agencies, according to the revelations of the investigation.

In Spain, the hacking operations were carried out legally, according to the revelations of Haaretz, confirming that several European countries carry out wiretapping of civilians according to the law and under judicial control.

The commission members also met during their visit to Israel with Defense Ministry officials and local experts. Upon their return to Europe, they also discovered that there was a highly developed cyberwar and espionage industry whose main customers were European countries.

If a single company has 14 Member States for customers, you can imagine the overall size of the industry. There seems to be a huge market for commercial spyware, and EU governments are very keen buyers. But they are very quiet about it, keeping it out of public view, said a member of the Pegasus Inquiry commission.

These shocking revelations and others that are surely still in store shed light on the real goals of the orchestrated campaign against specific countries, including Morocco, in the Pegasus case.
Danish shipping company Maersk is planning to inject around $500 million worth of investments into the Suez Canal Container Terminal in East Port Said, statement issued by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) indicated Thursday.

The money will go into the development of a new container dock with a length of 1,000 meters beside the current 500-meter dock at the terminal.

The investment plans also include increasing the number of cranes to 30 powered by electricity, instead of diesel, to curb emissions at the terminal and transform it into a green terminal by the end of 2030.

The Danish shipping company also plans to transform the Suez Canal Container Terminal into a smart terminal that is operated by the latest smart handling and communication systems.

SCA is very attractive to investment in recent years. The company early this month reported a 32.4% year-on-year (YoY) growth in revenue in July 2022.
Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have agreed to begin talks to ease the tensions between the two countries in eastern Congo, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday (11 August).

Speaking in Rwandas capital Kigali, Blinken said the presidents of Rwanda and DR of Congo, Paul Kagame and Felix Tshisekedi, who have accused each other of supporting rebel groups in the chronically volatile region, have now agreed to open direct communications aimed at ending tensions. The US top diplomat also warned that supporting and cooperating with armed groups will endanger local communities and threaten central Africas stability. Blinken urged the two countries to be respectful of each others territory and said that both Kagame and Tshisekedi welcomed the US support and committed to begin processes toward achieving stability.

The Nairobi process was an initiative by the outgoing Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, that brought the heads of states of East African countries together to find lasting solutions to the tensions in eastern Congo.

In talks with Kagame, Blinken emphasized the US commitments to be equal partners with Rwanda in advancing shared priorities, tackling global challenges and bettering the condition of the countrys citizens. Rwanda was the last stop of Blinkens African tour that also included South Africa and the DRC.
Dozens died in anti-government protests in Sierra Leones capital of Freetown and two other towns on Wednesday, August 10 as shocked citizens sought safety behind closed doors.

Authorities in Sierra Leone have said at least 21 civilians and six police officers have been killed in clashes that broke out during anti-government protests. In Freetown, hundreds took to the streets in frustration at economic hardship and a perceived failure by the government to cushion the impact of rising prices.

The protests were a way to express anger over the soaring cost of living under President Julius Maada Bios government that has gone up more than 40% within a few months. The protestors barricaded the streets and reportedly threw stones at police, sparking a confrontation that led to the deaths.

The unrest is highly unusual for Sierra Leone, especially in Freetown. A few people have been killed in isolated protests in other cities in recent years. President Maada Bio said the circumstances surrounding Wednesdays events would be fully investigated.

An eerie calm had returned to Freetown on Thursday, residents said, as stores were closed and people stayed in out of fear of unrest. Police said a curfew would remain in effect from 7pm to 7am local time from Thursday after the government imposed a 3pm curfew on Wednesday in an attempt to stem the violence.
A Japan-supported international conference on African development  the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 8  will be held in Tunisia, August 27 to 28.

TICAD 8 is expected to focus chiefly on cooperation in the health care field, including the fight against such infectious diseases as the novel coronavirus. The novel coronavirus has exposed the vulnerability of African countries in the health and medical fields, according to Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

The two-day meeting, which may still be switched to a virtual format depending on the coronavirus situation, will be attended also by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The first meeting was held in Tokyo in 1993, and the last meeting in Yokohama in August 2019. The next conference will be the second TICAD meeting in Africa, after the one in Kenya in 2016.

According to observers, the meeting will give Japan a chance to get relations back on track after the upheavals of the pandemic and the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In the past, Tokyo largely exercised its influence on the continent through soft power and aid and development, while the private sector and commercial lenders have been more cautious. Yet Tokyo is hoping to give its private sector renewed impetus to invest in Africa and lend to the continent as economic engagement by its great geopolitical rival China drops off at the same time as the twin impacts of Covid-19 and the war in eastern Europe hit the global economy.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. have signed a definitive agreement with Quebecor Inc. that will see the Montreal-based telecom company acquire wireless carrier Freedom Mobile Inc.

Rogers will sell Shaw-owned Freedom to Videotron Ltd., which is owned by Quebecor, for $2.85 billion in a deal it hopes will appease the concerns of federal regulators about its proposed takeover of Shaw.

The parties say the agreement is consistent with the terms agreed upon on June 17 when the deal was first announced, and is subject to regulatory approvals and the closing of the merger of Rogers and Shaw.

Quebecor will buy all of Freedom's branded wireless and internet customers as well as all of Freedoms infrastructure, spectrum and retail locations in a move that would expand Quebecors wireless operations nationally.

The parties say the combination of Freedom and Videotron will create a strong fourth national carrier and address the concerns raised by the Commissioner of Competition and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry regarding the Rogers-Shaw transaction.

The definitive agreement comes as Rogers continues to deal with the fallout from the July 8 service outage that impacted millions of Canadians for days.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Thursday approved the program statement and construction budget for phase two of the UNK-UNMC Rural Health Education Building on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus.

Construction of the $85 million facility is expected to begin in September 2023, with projected completion in July 2025. Thanks to approval from the Legislature, the proposed facility received $50 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for capital construction, plus $10 million for iEXCEL technology startup costs. Further, the Legislature has committed the necessary sustainable operational funds to support faculty and staff. The university has committed to raising $35 million in private funding for construction.

Adding a second health science focused building at UNK creates opportunities for students who want to both pursue  and practice  their health careers closer to home, which help us build a stronger rural workforce, increase access to rural care and help communities thrive, said Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In short, it will transform lives for generations.

Gold presented an overview of the current distribution of health care workforce across the 93 counties of Nebraska as well as future projections of need. The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors, demonstrates an increasing gap, particularly in rural communities.

It is clear that there are many underserved rural and urban communities and that the UNMC colleges continue to educate a critically important proportion of this workforce, Gold said.

University leaders say the goal is to address urgent needs in rural Nebraskas health care workforce; 14 counties in the state, for example, do not have a primary care physician. Much of the data presented was derived from UNMC College of Public Health workforce assessments.

UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen called the project fundamental to rural Nebraska and the survival of many communities.

Only the university can solve this problem, he said. Were on the verge of doing something that nobody else in the United States is doing, and thats educating health care workers and professionals in rural areas.

The project expands on an already successful collaboration between UNK and UNMC, phase one of the $19 million Health Science Education Complex, which opened in 2015 and offers nursing and a variety of allied health profession training programs on the UNK campus. Phase two will enable UNMC to expand the presence of its allied health and nursing programs, launching new programs that will train physicians, pharmacists and public health professionals.

The project advances UNMCs mission  as Nebraskas only public academic health science center  to train and build the states health care workforce. It also complements UNMCs Rural Health Opportunities program and Kearney Health Opportunities Program pathway programs, which attract talented students from rural Nebraska who are committed to practicing in rural areas following their education and training.

The new facility will include state-of-the-art classrooms, extensive simulation and clinical skills laboratories for pre-clinical education and complex clinical scenarios and simulated primary care spaces. It will bring new options to the UNK campus, including medicine, medical nutrition, genetic counseling and respiratory care  all high-need areas in rural Nebraska. A Master of Health Administration degree will be added to complement UNKs undergraduate program, and discussion is under way for the UNMC College of Pharmacy to offer a joint degree program with UNK.

Targeted renovation is planned for the existing HSEC facility, which will provide expanded anatomy, rehab and musculoskeletal labs.
ReportLinker

Steam Generators Market Research Report by Type (External Rising Film Evaporator, Falling Film Evaporator, and Re-boiler Generator), Material, Process, End User, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Steam Generators Market Research Report by Type, Material, Process, End User, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299431/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Steam Generators Market size was estimated at USD 1,692.11 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 1,875.88 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 11.11% to reach USD 3,184.68 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Steam Generators to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type, the market was studied across External Rising Film Evaporator, Falling Film Evaporator, Re-boiler Generator, and Thermosyphon Generator.



Based on Material, the market was studied across Austenitic, Ferritic, and Martensitic.



Based on Process, the market was studied across Micro Filtration, Periodic Heat Sanitization, Reverse Osmosis, Ultra Filtrations, and Ultraviolet Light.



Based on End User, the market was studied across Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Steam Generators market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Steam Generators Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Steam Generators Market, including ABB Ltd, Aqua-Nova AB, Atlas Copco, Azbil Telstar, S.L, Babcock & Wilcox Company, BFS Industries, LLC, BRAM-COR S.p.A., Byworth Boilers, Caterpillar Inc, Clayton Industries, Cleaver-Brooks, Inc., CMI Group, General Electric, Gerlach Industries, Inc., Kirloskar Group, PARKER BOILER, Pharmalab India Pvt. Ltd, Robert Bosch GmbH, Siemens AG, Spirax UltraPure, LLC, Spirax-Sarco Inc, SteriTech Ltd., Thermax Limited, VEIT GmbH, and Victory Energy Operations LLC.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Steam Generators Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Steam Generators Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Steam Generators Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Steam Generators Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Steam Generators Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Steam Generators Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Steam Generators Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299431/?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.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




ReportLinker

Sterilization Services Market Research Report by Method (E-beam Sterilization, Ethylene Oxide (ETO) Sterilization, and Gamma Sterilization), Type, Mode of Delivery, End-User, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Sterilization Services Market Research Report by Method, Type, Mode of Delivery, End-User, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299535/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Sterilization Services Market size was estimated at USD 12.98 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 14.79 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 14.23% to reach USD 28.84 billion by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Sterilization Services to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Method, the market was studied across E-beam Sterilization, Ethylene Oxide (ETO) Sterilization, and Gamma Sterilization.



Based on Type, the market was studied across Contract Sterilization Services and Sterilization Validation Services.



Based on Mode of Delivery, the market was studied across Off-site Sterilization Services and On-site Sterilization Services.



Based on End-User, the market was studied across Hospitals & Clinics, Medical Device Companies, and Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Sterilization Services market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Sterilization Services Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Sterilization Services Market, including Advanced Sterilization Products, Inc., Avantti Medi Clear, BGS Beta-Gamma-Service GmbH & Co. KG, Blue Line Sterilization Services LLC, Centerpiece, Cosmed Group, Cretex Companies, Inc., E-BEAM Services, Inc., Europlaz Technologies, H.W.Andersen Products Ltd., Life Science Outsourcing, Inc., Medistri SA, Medline Industries, LP, Microtrol Sterilisation Services Pvt Ltd., Midwest Sterilization Corporation, MMM Group, Sotera Health LLC, SteriPackGroup, Steris Corporation, and Stryker Corporation.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Sterilization Services Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Sterilization Services Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Sterilization Services Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Sterilization Services Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Sterilization Services Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Sterilization Services Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Sterilization Services Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299535/?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.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




For the past 25 years, the Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence program has worked to recruit and retain underrepresented minorities in Auburn Universitys Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Its director, Cordelia Brown, said the programs hallmark is the community it provides its students, giving them a place where they feel like they belong.

The program was founded in 1996 as the Minority Engineering Program. Though Alabama is roughly 28% Black, only 5% of Auburn students last fall were Black, according to Auburns Office of Institutional Research. The programs founders recognized a need to recruit Black students and other underrepresented minorities in the college of engineering and knew that these students faced greater retention problems than their peers.

To address issues of retention, the program strives to provide students with the academic and professional support necessary to ensure their success at Auburn and beyond. Upperclassmen in the program lead collaborative learning groups that align with the STEM classes students are taking. Weekly Sunday meetings teach academic and professional skills but also serve dinner to students, giving them a place to share a meal together.

There are models throughout the country that have really shown that being able to create a community with students based on support academically [and] support professionally, students can thrive in their environment, feel that they have a sense of belonging, a sense of community, and then be able to get the academic support that they need, Brown said.

For underrepresented students, Brown said their parents are less likely to be familiar with the environment and expectations of a college of engineering. By bringing these students together and holding them accountable to their coursework, the program is able to retain more of these students and ensure they go on to begin a career in engineering after graduation.

To celebrate the programs 25th birthday, corporate partners and alumni from the program donated to CIEE, raising a total of $3.4 million, with $1.2 million allocated directly to student scholarships. These scholarships, Brown said, are for incoming students who need financial assistance to attend, as well as current students to incentivize keeping a GPA above a 3.0, encouraging greater rates of student retention.

Christian Ford, who will be a junior at Auburn this fall, said the program was one of the biggest reasons he chose to go to Auburn. Through it, he said, he has learned how to better network with companies, how to manage his own finances and how to build good relationships with professors.

[Brown] helped show me how, coming into Auburn, Ill have this community right away and have some place to go to get help, not only in academics, but also if Im just struggling with just transitioning to college or other things around campus, he said.

Before Ford decided to come to Auburn, he had already encountered the program, which was then known as the Engineering Academic Excellence Program, through a student panel. He recalled hearing really personal stories about how the program helped these students grow not only as a student or engineer, but also just as a person.

Now an upperclassman, Ford is an ambassador for the program. Hes had lunch with prospective students to answer questions they have about the University or the CIEE program. Brown said the community-based model for the program encourages these students to give back their time and their knowledge to students who are just beginning in the program. These students are a part of the experience, but they have some ownership in it as well.

Im definitely happy with the program, Ford said. Im definitely happy with what its provided me and what it continues to provide to other students as well. Thats one of the main reasons Im still involved with the program heavily today.
Opelika Police Officer Chase Higgins has received a state award for his work in establishing the East Alabama Crisis Intervention Team.

At the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) annual conference recently, Higgins was named NAMI-Alabama 2022 Crisis Intervention Team Officer of the Year Award for starting the local team and responding to people with mental health disorders.

Its nice to be recognized for that, but that represents the work and how invested all of our partners are to make that happen, Higgins said. Because the only reason weve had the progress and the only reason Ive had any recognition is because of the work that theyre doing and the commitment that theyve made to address this.

Higgins, 28, a native of Beauregard, has worked as a training officer at the Opelika Police Department for almost four years and recently became the crisis intervention team coordinator for the department. Prior to joining law enforcement, he served in the Army for four years.

Higgins took charge of establishing the local crisis team with the help of Sgt. James Daniel and Officer Justin Winter.

Winter was the first OPD officer to receive CIT training in Tuscaloosa and encouraged Higgins to attend.

Weve had a lot of progress in a short period of time, but thats a testament to all the people that are involved and the work that theyre doing, Higgins said.

Opelika Police Chief Shane Healey said the crisis intervention team is filling a need that law enforcement has had for a long time.

Officer Higgins is a tremendously hard worker and very dedicated to what our mission is at the police department  being able to provide fantastic service to our community, Healey said. His efforts in this CIT team, putting that together and leading that have been invaluable.

Healey said Higgins saw that the team would be a perfect fit for what the community needs, and he wants Opelika to lead the way for East Alabama.

We have several officers that are CIT-certified and we spread them out through the patrol shifts, Healey said. Theyve responded to numerous calls where the skills and tools that they learned through CIT, they were able to put to use to resolve the situation better.

How the team works

Higgins said a crisis intervention team was first formed in Memphis, Tenn., after an officer-involved shooting in 1987 in which police killed a young man who was suffering from mental illness.

He had a history of mental illness that was progressively getting worse, and he wasnt getting the treatment that he needed, Higgins said. And it was always law enforcement responding until it escalated to hes an armed man pursuing law enforcement with a knife and they shot him.

A team was created to prevent a situation like that from happening again in Memphis, and over time other agencies decided to establish local teams to improve their mental health system, services and resources.

Thats what we want to do in East Alabama, is prevent that as best as we can through quality treatment and alternative dispositions, Higgins said.

The team is a combination of three main partners: law enforcement, mental health providers and mental health advocates including family members and individuals whove suffered from mental illness.

Higgins said these three main groups come together to improve resources for people in mental health or addiction crisis and to make contacting these individuals safer for everyone involved.

Getting started

In November of 2021, the OPD started looking into forming a local crisis intervention team, and the first group of officers was sent to the Tuscaloosa Police Department for training at the beginning of 2022.

While there, officers went through a 40-hour CIT officer certification course. Afterward, Higgins said they wanted to send more OPD officers to receive the training, and the Tuscaloosa Police offered to come to Opelika to train them instead.

It really resonated with me, and I really valued the partnership they were talking about, the relationships they were building and the channels of communication that they were opening, Higgins said. That took a lot of my interest and my desire, so I put a lot of effort into working on setting up what they have there, here.

Since then, the OPD has partnered with East Alabama Mental Health Center, the Recovery Organization of Support Specialists, NAMI East Alabama, the Tuscaloosa Police Department, the Lee County Sheriffs Office, Auburn University Psychological Services Center and the State of Alabama CIT Coordinators office to form the local Crisis Intervention Team.

With the help of these different organizations, 15 officers from OPD have been trained and certified in crisis intervention over the past year as well as certified five CIT instructors.

Now, Opelika CIT instructors can also teach other agencies in the area.

Recently, Higgins helped establish a steering committee for the local crisis intervention team. They held their first meeting in July to look at what the local mental health response looks like now and what needs to be improved.

Helping people

The CIT program uses the Sequential Intercept Model, which details how individuals with mental and substance use disorders come into contact with and move through the criminal justice system.

When a call comes through to the OPD dispatch, based on the information provided, it will be decided if an officer needs to respond or if the call needs to be redirected to the suicide and crisis lifeline number 988.

Healey said if dispatchers receive a call involving someone with a history of some kind of mental health disorder or substance abuse, the police department will be able to send one of the CIT-certified officers whove had training for the situation.

Ultimately, we want to reduce the amount of trauma thats caused to somebody in crisis when law enforcement shows up, Higgins said. The way that were doing that is by training officers.

During the training, officers learn what mental health illness looks like, how someone would behave, why they behave that way and how to deescalate situations.

Through the partners involved in the CIT, officers can refer individuals to a specialist they know who can further help provide what is needed for the situation. Officers will be able to offer an alternative to jail for individuals who need treatment.

Jail is not always the answer, so if theres some resources out there that we can use to get them where they really need to be and get them to the people that are really able to help them, then obviously thats a better outcome for us, for citizens and for the community as a whole, Healey said.

Higgins said the goal is to eventually expand the crisis intervention throughout the counties that East Alabama Mental Health covers, to include Russell, Chambers and Tallapoosa counties.

We want to incorporate every single law enforcement agency in those four counties of coverage, he said.
When Sam Hendrix decided to retire from Auburn University seven years ago, he was given one piece of advice by multiple people: Find something good to do, they told him.

They said, you know, if not, you will sit at home and watch TV all day, the Travel Channel or something like that, Hendrix said.

So he decided to heed their advice. Before Hendrix got his masters degree in higher education administration from Auburn, he got a bachelors in English from the University of North Alabama. Hendrix began putting that degree to good use and started writing. He has now written three books since retiring from his position as a development officer with the veterinary college at Auburn.

The first book, Records and Remembrances: A History of Auburn Church of Christ, was written for his church congregation. His second book, The Cary Legacy: Dr. Charles Allen Cary, Father of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn and in the South, is available through the Auburn University bookstore.

Hendrix began his most recent offering, Auburn: A History in Street Names, while working on the first two books.

While researching, Hendrix had begun noticing that many local folks happened to share the names of modern streets in Auburn. Hendrix already had a document listing the street names. As he found incidents related to the people or the street names, he began putting them in his document.

I would go into that document and I would just start writing it in, and my 10 or 11 pages of nothing but a list of street names grew to over 700 pages of a manuscript, Hendrix said. I kept finding stories that I just felt needed to go in it.

Once the book was finished, Hendrix decided to use the proceeds as a way to help others.

We decided, you know what, lets let the proceeds from this thing support camp enrollment for young people who are from low-income homes, Hendrix said.

Proceeds from Auburn: A History in Street Names go to a permanent endowment set up by Hendrix through the Auburn University Foundation that provide scholarships for underprivileged students to attend Auburn Youth Programs.

Favorite Stories

Auburn: A History in Street Names is full of stories from the history of the Loveliest Village on the Plains.

One of Hendrixs favorites revolves around an unnamed Auburn fisheries major who rented a house on Payne Street in the 1960s. Hendrix says the young man had graduated with a degree in horticulture but wanted to do something more in service to mankind.

He left his work in horticulture, came back to Auburn, re-enrolled and studied fisheries, Hendrix said. On the weekends, to let off a little steam, to get a little exercise, and because he had a true interest in it, he decided he would really fix up the yard of that property where he was renting.

The landlords apparently took notice of the mans landscaping improvements and decided to up his rent. When the man said he couldnt afford it, they told him, Well, thats life in the big city. I guess youll have to find another place to live.

Hendrix said the young man did just that.

That day or the day before, he got his shovel, went out and dug up all those nice pretty plants he had planted and took those with him to his next place, Hendrix said.

Hendrix is also fond of a story from the early 1900s, about one of the youngest men to ever graduate from the U.S. Military Academy. John Howard Wills was raised in a home on the corner of Magnolia and Gay home, where Bank of Auburns headquarters building now sits.

Wills lost both his parents by the time he was 15. They are both buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in Auburn.

Hendrix says Wills was a bright young man who graduated from Auburn High School early and then studied engineering at Auburn for two years when it was still known as Alabama Polytechnic Institute. He then moved on to West Point, N.Y.

He finishes his studies up there and he graduates in the class of 1916 as the youngest member of his class, and the first Alabamian to graduate West Point with the highest GPA in his class, so he is the top student at his class at West Point, Hendrix said.

Wills was around 16 or 17 when he graduated from West Point. After a few years, he went on to fight in Europe during WWI where he rose in rank quickly.

He is later promoted to Major, and he is given commendation for heroism on the battlefield during the summer of 1918, Hendrix said. But a few weeks later, he is killed on the battlefield in France. He is buried in Suresnes American Cemetery in Paris.

Hendrix says there is now a plaque honoring Wills on the side of his parents headstone in Pine Hill Cemetery.

One particularly interesting street name in Auburn is Debardeleben. It was originally called East Street, because it formed the eastern boundary of Auburn, Hendrix says. At some point it was renamed Riley Street after a widow that lived there. Its modern name would come soon after.

In the 1920s several politicians wanted to move Alabama Polytechnic Institute to Montgomery.

There would be a lot more affluence associated with a college in Montgomery then there would have been in little old Auburn, Hendrix said. One of the leading voices to oppose relocating the entire college was a guy from Birmingham named Charles Debardeleben.

Despite dropping out of Alabama Polytechnic Institute in his senior year, Debardeleben eventually became president of its national alumni association. He took up the fight to keep the school in Auburn.

An awful lot of people were very relieved, not least of whom were the business owners in the city of Auburn who would have lost their shirts had the college moved away, Hendrix said. And so, as a thank-you to Charles Debardeleben for his efforts in keeping the college in Auburn, the city council renamed Riley Street to Debardeleben Street.

Auburn: A History in Street Names is now in its second printing. Hendrix had originally printed 1,500 copies around November of last year, but it sold out in a month. The latest printing was for 3,000 copies.

The book is available in several local stores including J&M, the Auburn University Book Store, Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers and Well Red. All four businesses donate proceeds from the sales to Hendrixs endowment.

Hendrix had a book signing Saturday afternoon at Auburn Oil Co. Booksellers and will have another at Well Red on Sept. 1, from 6-8 p.m.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Police say a charge of assault with a weapon has been laid against a woman after officers in Vancouver were allegedly attacked in the same area as a tent encampment was being removed from the city's Downtown Eastside.

A statement from Vancouver police says 44-year-old Alene West was charged after an officer was hit in the head with an object on Tuesday.

The statement says several other suspects are also under investigation for what is described as a "swarming" of officers who were responding to reports of an unruly man at a community centre in the same block as the encampment.

Sgt. Steve Addison says officers were surrounded, pelted with objects, bitten and punched by people trying to stop police from taking the man into custody.

Addison says the arrest was not related to removal of the tents and police were not involved in that action, which was ordered by Vancouver's fire chief due to safety concerns.

He says dozens of people had gathered to watch city workers talk with campers and begin the tent removal but officers were surrounded as they arrived at the community centre for the unrelated arrest.

This incident is another example of our officers facing violence while trying to maintain some degree of public safety in an increasingly hostile neighbourhood," Addison says in the statement.

In total, seven people were arrested and Addison says three will return to court later, including West and the man whose actions led to the initial police response.
what the actual fuck

hope he makes it and recovers fully

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holy shit???? the fuck???

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This is horrifying

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"Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known," according to the statement.



The interviewer suffered a minor head injury, officials said.



A state trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. His name was not released."

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Awful, I hope he recovers.

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Horrifying. He's such a fierce advocate for free speech too. Hope he pulls through :(( his work made a major impact on me as a lit student

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jesus :( really hope he recovers

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horrifying, my god

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Damn, I hope he survives this. Absolutely terrifying.



Feel terrible for him, his family, and all the people who had to witness that. I've been to book readings before and it's like... the softest nerdiest people.

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How awful and scary. I hope he has a full recovery.

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Regardless of who the attacker is associated with this is largely the fault of the Iranian government. Theyve issued a fatwa against him since the late 80s and the Ayatollah has openly called for his death for years. He went into hiding for years because of them only for this to happen to him once he decided to start doing more public events. Theyre disgusting, despicable and should be held accountable.



Also Twitter needs to be held accountable for allowing the Ayatollah to make an account and tweet calling for Rushdies death only a few years ago.

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they're too busy arresting and persecuting Baha'is

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Nah, Twitter's ~freedom of speech~ is more important.

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if you check the hashtag, there are several men calling the man a hero for doing this and cleaning the world of a blasphemer with thousands of likes.

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How .....How..... the hell does the Ayatollah have a TWITTER account?? How is that even allowed???

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omg :( I hope he ends up being okay

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I really hope he's okay. This is terrible.

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Holy shit, was there no security? I hope he's ok.

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Thats always my question when stuff like this happens. This poor man has had a known hit out on him for decades, why was security not super tight? I know security costs money but if some organization wants to hire Sir Rushdie, it should be just considered a necessary cost.

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I read an article that said there was one deputy present, but that the location of this event doesn't have a metal detector or bag searches or any other form of security. People who stay there keep their doors unlocked at night. You'd think more precautions would be taken in this case, since people have been wanting to kill this man for decades.

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It probably seemed low-risk, since it's a nonprofit venue in rural New York. But maybe that's what made it appealing to the attacker.

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I was wondering about that too. Seems like they shouldve had more security. Hopefully hes okay. People are crazy.

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Im always cautiously optimistic when it comes to this asshole because nothing sticks to him but this has been fun to witness.

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literally HOW has he not been convicted? it's mind blowing.

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Donald Trump has a tag?????? Which mod added that lmfao

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Remember when he was a joke and a reality TV star instead of a former president of the us? Jesus I still can't process he had a full presidential term



Edited at 2022-08-12 09:48 pm (UTC)

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It's jarring how many offhand references there were to him in TV shows like Law & Order, way before The Apprentice. Often name-checking him as a reference to a rich jerk. Of course L&O is filmed in NYC but it happened in studio-filmed sitcoms too. 

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I've complained about this multiple times, but I tried to add a Dolly Parton tag in one of my discussion posts for The Orville (she cameos in season 3) and THERE WASN'T ONE!!!



But Trump has a tag! Queen Dolly Parton does not have a tag but this loser does.

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The tag dates back to when he was a reality tv star

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Wake me when they throw him in genpop. Then I might celebrate

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Fuck if only but we know that would absolutely never happen

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I'm not even convinced he'll be arrested or serve any actual time tbh. Like 10 minutes in they'll scream, "Overcrowding!" and out he'll go.

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they should imprison him in the Bronx Zoo

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I have been texting my mom about this and at one point said "Lock him up!" ... and she replied "Orange you getting ahead of it all?" 

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Hell probably fly off to Russia as soon he finds out he's being indicted.

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The entire family will flee the moment a warrant for his arrest is issued (but sadly I still don't think anyone has the balls to actually throw this criming family in jail where they all belong)

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This scum of the earth traitor 100% sold nuclear information to our enemies, there is just no way he had that info and didn't find ways to make money off it. I really hope this is the thing that gets him in prison.

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Jared recently got 2 billion from the Saudis.

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SO fucked. Neckbeard fleshlight fucked.



He had documents laying around that are only legally allowed to be read in a special secure room specifically designed for the occasion. Also the President (past, present, or future) literally cannot declassify anything nuclear related lmao



He isfucked. Neckbeard fleshlight fucked.He had documents laying around that are only legally allowed to be read in a special secure room specifically designed for the occasion. Also the President (past, present, or future) literally cannot declassify anything nuclear related lmao

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your lips to god's ears!

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but her emails..

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But will anything actually happen? This man has spent a lifetime getting away with illegal shit, Im sure hell find a way to get away with this also. Hes very well protected and has many powerful people in his circle who will make sure he stays out of trouble.

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I bet hell say he declassified them and thatll be that tbh

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https://youtu.be/T_d3teq6pWw



Edited at 2022-08-13 04:40 am (UTC) This is probably how he thinks documents get declassified.

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This is where I am at too. That bitch is Teflon, I still think he won't see the inside of a jail cell

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Yeah nothing is gonna happen to him.

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Covid could have taken him out but it didn't. I'm still mad about that.

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He's toast. He was in illegal possession of top secret nuclear documents. Those can't be declassified, he's fucked.



There's no way he gets out of this one. At the same time, it looks like Tish James may be able to dissolve the Trump Organization, completely taking his business empire away from him. This wasn't a good week for him.

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Okay but what are the chances of him actually going to jail? Like, I'm tickled but I don't want to get my hopes up. Also you know his base will try to wage civil war over this. Is this how the American empire falls?











*I am stoned but whatever, these questions are valid.

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These are my questions and why I made the post!

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I mean, I think his base might TRY. Or at least some of them (see: the guy in Cincinnati who tried attacking an FBI office yesterday), but I don't think they have enough man power/fire power to do anything real.



The greater threat to American democracy is just how our institutions allow for corruption (e.g. dark money) and tyranny of the minority (e.g. the Senate).

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Is he really saying that nuclear fuckin' codes were classified?? I know that they change and all but damn, stupid.

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Apparently Breitbart published the names of the FBI agents who served the warrant. So... that's a target on those backs now.

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Hopefully all the "fans" will just find a DNS error very soon.

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if youd told 12 year old me that the FBI would be raiding the house of the ex-president over nuclear secrets AND that it was the guy from the apprentice this fucking timeline man

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The Matrix from hell. Someone took the orange pill. 

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okay but what are the odds that anything will actually happen to him tho? and what does this mean for any potential announcement of a presidential run?



he's crooked and dangerous and we all goddamn know it, but nothing ever sticks to him, Teflon Don indeed

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If nothing happens to him, Im going to basically lose all hope for our country.

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You're more optimistic than me. I lost hope the second he was announced as an official candidate.

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After an electoral victory, which shocked many in and outside of Colombia, long-time senator and former leftist guerilla Gustavo Petro was inaugurated as Colombias President last Sunday. The once controversial mayor of the capital Bogota campaigned on a platform of ending extractive industries in the Andean country, including banning hydraulic fracturing and ceasing the award of new licenses for oil exploration. That triggered considerable consternation among many analysts, industry insiders and economists because of Colombias tremendous economic dependence on petroleum production and exports. Crude oil is the strife-torn countrys key legal export generating for the first six months of 2022 $10.3 billion which is 36% of total export earnings for the period. That was followed by $5.3 billion in export earnings from coal and in third place coffee which generated $2.3 billion. Petroleum is responsible for around 3% of Colombias gross domestic product and a fifth of Bogotas fiscal income. That makes Colombias oil industry a key component of its economy and driver of the post-pandemic recovery, particularly especially with prices having rallied sharply since the end of 2021.

The international benchmark Brent has soared roughly 44% for the year to date to be trading at around $97 per barrel giving earnings for Colombias oil industry a significant boost. That will see Bogotas fiscal revenue surge, especially if national oil company Ecopetrol, which is 88.5% owned by Colombias government, hikes its dividend, or makes a one-off special payment to investors. The economic recovery now underway in Colombia and the growing contribution of the petroleum industry, because of significantly higher prices, to the strife-torn countrys post-pandemic recovery couldnt occur at a more crucial time. The Andean countrys economy suffered extensively under the administration of Petros predecessor Ivan Duque with violence, poverty, and unemployment spiking, particularly because of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. That coupled with an ever-deeper budget deficit and inability to successfully reform tax collection is placing considerable financial pressure on Bogota and Colombias sovereign credit rating.

In May 2021, after being rocked by violent protests against Duques proposed tax reforms, Colombias sovereign debt rating was downgraded from investment grade to junk status. International rating agency S&P Global Ratings dropped the rating from an investment grade BB+ to a speculative setting at BBB- with a stable outlook. Other rating agencies took similar measures, Fitch reduced Colombias credit rating to BB+ during July 2021 and Moodys to Baa2 in October that year. It is Colombias ballooning budget deficit and weak government finances which are weighing heavily on the sovereign debt rating as well as fiscal outlook. At the height of the pandemic, during 2020, Bogota recorded a budget deficit that was 7.8% of GDP, which since the economy reopened from one of the worlds longest coronavirus lockdowns fell to 7.1% for 2021. While record spending is proposed for 2022 with Colombias congress approving a $93 billion budget the annual deficit is expected to only be 7% of GDP, marking another decline since 2020. That notable spending increase is earmarked for poverty relief and other measures aimed at easing the considerable economic pressures arising in Colombia, particularly for the poor, in the wake of the pandemic.

Even the lower deficit forecast for 2023, however, is still unsustainable for the fiscally fragile South American nation. That means boosting tax revenue is crucial to strengthening a fiscally fragile economy. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data shows that for 2020 that Colombia had a very low tax-to-GDP ratio of 18.7%, the second lowest in the OECD after Mexico. Those numbers, including multiple years with fiscally unsustainable budget deficits, underscore why the national government is seeking to broaden the tax base, improve the collection, hike taxes and boost tax income. That must occur if greater government spending for social programs including urgently needed poverty alleviation is to occur. Fighting poverty is a key element of Colombias post-pandemic recovery. By the end of 2021 the Andean countrys national statistics agency, DANE, reported that (Spanish) 19.6 million people in a country with a population of 52 million. This gives Colombia a poverty rate of 39.3% which except for 2020 is the highest since 2012. Socioeconomic inequality has also surged according to the World Bank. Colombias GINI coefficient, a key recognized measure of socioeconomic inequality where a lower number is better, soared to 54.2 in 2020 from a decade low of 49.7 in 2017.

To combat an untenable fiscal deficit while boosting government coffers to fund spending for ambitious social programs the newly installed Petro administration introduced a tax reform bill designed to boost fiscal income from taxation. The proposals include (Spanish) hiking taxes for Colombians earning over $10 million pesos or approximately $2,400 per month and placing a levy on heavily process foods as well as beverages. Reforms also include lifting dividend withholding tax, from 10% to 20%, for foreign investors owning shares in Colombian companies. Then there is the proposal to increase taxes levied on extractive industries by implementing a 10% export tax on oil, coal, and gold. That levy will be payable when international oil and coal gold prices exceed a set threshold. The reference prices under consideration are $48 per barrel Brent for crude oil, $87 per metric ton for thermal coal, and $400 per ounce for gold. Colombias hydrocarbon regulator the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH  Spanish initials) will be tasked with setting the reference price. It is also planned to reduce the deductions energy companies can make from royalty payments. This is on the basis that royalties are not an expense associated with the production of crude oil, but the fee levied by the state for private companies profiting from the extraction of a finite public asset. Petros tax reforms, according to Ministry of Finance estimates, will add $5.9 billion to government coffers annually.

These developments have triggered considerable market jitters, particularly for participants in Colombias petroleum industry. Not only is crude oil the crisis-riven countrys single largest export but the oil industry is struggling to return to pre-pandemic production volumes due to a range of significant headwinds. Then there is Petros determination to reduce Colombias dependence on extractive industries and transition to sustainable energy which will see an end to contracting for hydrocarbon exploration and ban hydraulic fracturing. While existing production agreements will be allowed to continue plans to wind down Colombias petroleum industry, which is responsible for 20% of fiscal revenues, are afoot. Newly appointed Minister of Mines and Energy Irene Velez confirmed (Spanish) that the government will proceed with those plans. Such developments are weighing heavily on the outlook for the domestic oil industry, already under considerable pressure and facing a range of major headwinds, where production volumes of have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

There is, however, still considerable uncertainty as to whether this signals the end of Colombias hydrocarbon sector. The urgency with which government revenue must increase to head off a fiscal crisis and fund crucial poverty alleviation programs means the 10% export tax on crude oil will become a critical source of additional income. That may lead to a rethink at the highest levels of government as to how Colombias hydrocarbon and other natural resources can be better managed.

By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, has called on Ukraine and Russia to halt fighting in the area of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and institute a demilitarized zone around it.

"The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarisation to ensure the safety of the area," Guterres said, as quoted by Reuters.

"Regrettably, instead of de-escalation, over the past several days there have been reports of further deeply worrying incidents that could, if they continue, lead to disaster," Guterres said in a statement on August 11.

The Zaporizhia nuclear plant is controlled by the Russian army, but the Ukrainian government claims it is the Russians that are shelling the facility. The Russian side says the Ukrainian forces are attacking it to wrestle back control.

The UN Security Council met yesterday to discuss the matter. Russia's UN Ambassador, Vasiliy Nebenzya, said experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency would visit the Zaporizhia NPP later this month.

The United States backed the call for a demilitarized zone and urged IAEA experts to visit the facility.

Earlier in the week, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Marian Grossi, said that there was a "very real risk of a nuclear disaster" due to the situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine due to regular shelling.

Related: A Radical Plan To Reduce Europes Oil Demand By 33%

In a tweet, Grossi said, "The @iaeaorg team must go to Zaporizhia just as we did to Chornobyl and South Ukraine earlier in the year. We can put together a safety, security and safeguards mission and deliver the indispensable assistance and impartial assessment that is needed."

"Any military firepower directed at or from the facility would amount to playing with fire, with potentially catastrophic consequences," Grossi also said.

"I strongly and urgently appeal to all parties to exercise the utmost restraint in the vicinity of this important nuclear facility, with its six reactors. And I condemn any violent acts carried out at or near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant or against its staff," he also said.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Iran has been seeking assurances that no other U.S. president could unilaterally withdraw from the deal.

IRNA: Unnamed Iranian diplomat says that proposal for nuclear deal by EU could be acceptable.

Iran considers that a European Union proposal for the restoration of the so-called nuclear deal could be "acceptable" if it provides assurances about the key demands of the Islamic Republic, a senior Iranian diplomat was quoted as saying on Friday. Speaking to Iran's IRNA news agency, the unnamed Iranian diplomat said on Friday, as carried by Reuters: "Proposals by the EU can be acceptable if they provide Iran with assurance on the issues of safeguards, sanctions and guarantees."

Iran has been seeking assurances that no other U.S. president could unilaterally withdraw from the deal and impose new sanctions if such an agreement is reached now.

The EU moderators of the indirect U.S.-Iran nuclear talks presented the two sides with a final version of the agreement earlier this week.

"It is now in a final text," the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell Fontelles, said in a tweet.

"What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it's now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals. If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal," he tweeted.

Related: U.S. Natural Gas Rises To Two-Week High On Strong Demand



If a deal is reached between Iran and the world powers, it will pave the way for the lifting of the U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil exports, potentially easing an expected deficit on the market when the EU embargo on Russian seaborne imports enters into full force early next year.

If a deal is agreed upon, oil prices could plunge to $80 per barrel, analysts have said.

Iran can relatively quickly ramp up its oil production and exports in case sanctions on its oil industry are lifted, the Energy Intelligence Research & Advisory unit said this week.

If a deal is reached this month, under Energy Intelligence's "Breakthrough" scenario, Iranian production could rise to nearly 3 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the year from just over 2.5 million bpd now, and further rise to 3.7 million bpd by June 2023, Energy Intelligence Research & Advisory said. Under this scenario, Iranian exports could rise to between 1.25 million bpd and 2 million bpd, respectively, up from an estimate of just below 1 million bpd for this month.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
- Nuclear deal talks with Iran ended in Vienna this week without a resolution but everyone was sent home with a final draft agreement that requires green lights all around. Iran said on Friday that the EUs proposal could be acceptable--at least if it gets an assurance on the issues of safeguards, sanctions and guarantees. Chiefly, Iran wants assurances that future U.S. Presidents cannot

- While Libyan officials have already mentioned their plans to increase oil output to 2 million bpd (from the current 1.2 million bpd), the NOC made the proclamation official this week, with its new chairman promising a medium-term plan to make it happen over the next three to five years. This wont be an immediate boost to the market, and given the rival prime ministers and militia factions simply in a holding pattern as all sides attempt to strengthen their positions, anything can happen in that timeframe.

- PetroChina is allegedly threatening to pull up stakes in the southern Iraqi governorate of Maysan after another round of protests outside the oil companys headquarters demanding improved services and infrastructure. Police dispersed the protesters, but not before Iraqi media sources claimed that PetroChina had threatened that if protests continued they would withdraw to another governorate or from the country entirely, which would deprive Iraq of 500,000 bpd.

Politics, Geopolitics & Conflict

- PetroChina is allegedly threatening to pull up stakes in the southern Iraqi governorate of Maysan after another round of protests outside the oil companys headquarters demanding improved services and infrastructure. Police dispersed the protesters, but not before Iraqi media sources claimed that PetroChina had threatened that if protests continued they would withdraw to another governorate or from the country entirely, which would deprive Iraq of 500,000 bpd.

- While Libyan officials have already mentioned their plans to increase oil output to 2 million bpd (from the current 1.2 million bpd), the NOC made the proclamation official this week, with its new chairman promising a medium-term plan to make it happen over the next three to five years. This wont be an immediate boost to the market, and given the rival prime ministers and militia factions simply in a holding pattern as all sides attempt to strengthen their positions, anything can happen in that timeframe.

- Nuclear deal talks with Iran ended in Vienna this week without a resolution but everyone was sent home with a final draft agreement that requires green lights all around. Iran said on Friday that the EUs proposal could be acceptable--at least if it gets an assurance on the issues of safeguards, sanctions and guarantees. Chiefly, Iran wants assurances that future U.S. Presidents cannot withdraw from the deal if reached now.

Deals, Mergers & Acquisitions

- DTE Energy and Ford have reached an agreement for DTE to supply Ford with 650 MW of solar energy capacity by 2025the largest deal of its kind. The deal will allow Ford to source all of its electricity in Michigan from clean sources. The purchasethe largest in US history, will be made possible through DTEs MIGreenPower program. By 2025, all vehicles Ford assembles in Michigan will be assembled using 100% carbon-free electricity. The deal will bolster Michigans solar energy by 70%.

- Devon Energy Corp has agreed to buy Validus Energy for $1.8 billion. Validus has 42,000 net acres in the Eagle Ford that are next to Devons existing leases. The deal should be complete by the end of next month. Validus produces 35,000 boepd (70% oil), with another 5,000 boepd to be added by the end of the year. It is Devons second U.S. purchase this year after it purchased Williston assets from RimRock last month. Devon said in addition to the 350 repeatable drilling locations, it could refracture another 150 Validus wells.

- Shell is looking to sell its 30% stake in the Cambo oil prospect in the North Sea. The projectan easy target for climate activistsdidnt have much hope of being developed as of the end of last year, when Shell said it was declining to invest in the project, leaving the remaining stakeholder, Siccar Point (who has since been acquired by Ithaca Energy), holding the bag on a project it had no intention of developing alone. At the time, critics of Shells withdrawal from the project said it would jeopardize the UKs energy security. A successful sale of Shells stake in Cambo could breathe new life into the stalled project. It is the second-largest undeveloped resource in the North Sea basin. Shell has said that the economics are not supportive of investment in the project.

- Exxons sale of its offshore shallow water assets in Nigeria to Seplat has been curtailed by Nigerias oil regulator. Initially, Nigerias President had approved the deal, but after the regulator refused to approve it, Buhari withdrew his consent. No reason was given for the refusal.

- Exxon is looking to expand its trading operations, hoping to cash in on the extremely volatile market that has bolstered the bottom line of some of the worlds largest oil traders this year. While nothing has been finalized. Exxon planned on increasing its derivatives trading activities four years ago, but its efforts were stymied by the Covid outbreak.

- Australias Santos has acquired an underground pipeline route that could transport natural gas, by purchasing Hunter Gas Pipeline Pty Ltd, the company that owned that route. The pipeline would transport gas from its upcoming Narrabri project, which is set to come online mid-decade. Hunter has valued the future pipeline at A$1.2 billion. Santos is expected to start construction in early 2024.

Energy Markets

- The fire that raged across Cuba, destroying nearly half of the countrys main fuel storage facility at Matanzasa supertanker portand knocking out chunks of power, has finally been tamed. While the fire is not completely out, it has been reduced to manageable levels. At least four fuel storage tanks of ten had been engulfed in flames, although no official reports have surfaced yet detailing the exact extent of the damage. Each storage tank holds 50,000 cubic meters of fuel. The Matanzas fuel depot supplies the largest power generation plant in Cuba. Cuba routinely suffers blackouts due to aging power plans that are in desperate need of maintenance.

- Europe is using more natural gas as it becomes clear easing the burden on the fossil fuel in favor of other energy sources is easier said than done. Last month, Europes biggest source of power came from natural gas, overtaking nuclear, as about half of Frances nuclear power plants continue to experience outages due to corrosion and maintenance. France is no longer Europes biggest exporter of power due to its nuclear power issues. Sweden is now Europes biggest net exporter of poweralthough it mainly exports power derived from nuclear, hydro, and biofuels.

- Theres no question that the tight energy market and Russias invasion of Ukraine have cast a more favorable light on the oil industry. In Canada, the public is looking more fondly on its oil sector, with 60% of those polled by Leger in August favoring increasing Canadian oil exports.

- Poland has imported its first cargo of Murban oil as it tries to steer clear of Russian crude, which it has vowed to be completely done with by the end of the year. Polands PKN Orlen purchased the Murban from Total.

- Germanys RWE AE said it would hold off on retiring its Neurath A coal-fired power stations in case it needs it this winter. The plan was shuttered on April 1 to keep with its plans to phase out coal, but Russias invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions has encouraged countries in the UK to change those plans.

Regulation

- The Los Angeles Department of City Planning issued a draft ordinance designed to ban new oil and gas wells, with the ultimate goal of phasing out all oil and gas extraction within 20 years. According to the Mayor, Dirty energy production has no future in Los Angeles. As of 2020, the oil and gas industry supports 36,000 jobs and contributes $8.6 billion in gross regional product in the City alone, and contributes 4% of the citys total General Fund budget.
Chinese state-controlled oil giants Sinopec and PetroChina said on Friday that they intended to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, along with two other state-held firms.

The announcement for the delisting of the shares or the American Depositary Shares (ADSs) from the NYSE comes amid protracted talks between China and U.S. regulators about audit rules, as well as heightened U.S.-China tensions after the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last week.

Apart from Sinopec and PetroChina, the other firms that had notified the NYSE of their intentions to delist were China Life Insurance and Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco).

PetroChina said in its release that it had notified the NYSE today of its decision and would file with the SEC on or about August 29 a form to delist its ADSs from the NYSE. Among the many business reasons for seeking delisting of its ADSs, PetroChina cited the considerable administrative burden for performing the disclosure obligations as necessary for maintaining the listing of the ADSs on the NYSE as a result of the differences in the regulatory rules of multiple listing venues.

PetroChina will keep its listings on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges, the company said, as did the other three Chinese firms seeking delisting from New York.

Commenting on the plans for delisting, an official at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said:

According to these companies announcements, they have strictly observed relevant U.S. rules and regulations since listed on the U.S. markets, and the delisting decisions are made out of their business considerations.

These companies are listed on multiple markets, and only a small portion of their securities are traded in the U.S. markets. The delisting plan will not jeopardize these companies fund-raising ability through domestic and overseas capital markets, the official added.

The Chinese securities commission will continue to communicate and cooperate with relevant overseas regulators to jointly protect the legitimate rights and interests of issuers and investors, the commissions official noted.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Another natural gas pipeline could soon become operational in Europe to connect Spain and France, and the new link could start operations in around nine months, according to Spains energy minister.

This new interconnection, this gas pipeline could be operating in about 8 or 9 months on the southern border side, that is, from the Pyrenean to Spain, Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera told national TVE station in an interview on Friday, as carried by Reuters.

Europe is working to wean itself off Russian gas amid growing tensions with Moscow and uncertain pipeline supply from Russia, which was slashed this summer. Apart from importing record volumes of LNG from the United States, European countries look to build more infrastructure to accommodate more gas imports from sources other than Russia.

Spain itself does not depend on gas from Russia, but it has six LNG import terminals and lies on the route of pipelines from North Africa to Europe. Spain, however, is not well connected via pipelines to other European countries, limiting European access to LNG imports.

Earlier this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed the idea of a gas pipeline to connect Portugal, Spain, and central Europe via France and said he supported the new connection.

I made the case that we should really tackle such a project, Scholz said, as quoted by the Financial Times, referring to talks he had held with the leaders of France, Spain, and Portugal, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, companies have also been studying plans for possible offshore pipeline connections from Spain to Italy.

In May, energy infrastructure operator Snam of Italy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Spanish energy and transmission system operator Enagas for a feasibility study on an offshore pipeline between Spain and Italy. Snam and Enagas will jointly mandate a technical feasibility study aimed at the potential construction of an offshore pipeline connecting Spain with Italy, which would be beneficial to further diversify energy supply towards our country as well as Europe, the Italian company said.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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At least two other oil majors shuttered their Gulf of Mexico platforms on Friday following a leak in the Fourchon booster station, shutting down the flow of crude through the Amberjack Pipelines.

On Thursday, Shell halted production at its Mars, Ursa, and Olympus platforms, which can produce 410,000 bpd. Shell did not provide an estimate for when the platforms would resume production.

On Friday, Shell was joined by Chevron, which shuttered Jack/St. Malo (57,000 boepd), Tahiti, and Bigfoot (75,000 bpd) platforms, which also feed into the Amberjack lines. Equinor joined Shell and Chevron on Friday, shuttering its Titan platforma minor platform in the Gulf of Mexico that typically produces just 2,000 boepd.

The Fourchon booster station, which leaked two barrels of oil before being shut down, is expected to be repaired later today. It is not yet clear when platforms will resume production.

The shutdown, which now spans seven platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, comes at a time when the United States is battling high retail gasoline prices and tight crude oil and refined products markets. Already the United States has tapped into its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the tune of 800,000 and 1 million barrels per day to alleviate the prices at the pump.

Crude oil inventories in the United States remain 5% below the five-year average. U.S. crude oil production currently sits at 12.2 million barrels per day, 900,000 bpd shy of its pre-Covid peak.

Crude oil prices were trading down on Friday, but still up week over weeka reality that could arrest the pattern of falling retail gasoline prices in the United States. The Biden administration has lobbied OPEC and Saudi Arabia specifically to raise oil production in the runup to midterm elections.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Photo: The Canadian Press Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide west of Clinton, B.C., on Wednesday July 24, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Thousands of migrating sockeye and chinook salmon appear to be making it through a massive slide area on the Fraser River on their way to spawn in central British Columbia.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada says 280,000 salmon have already been counted above the slide site north of Lillooet, contrasting greatly from three years ago when barely 100 salmon were counted.

Gord Sterritt, a director of the group Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance, says there is excitement within Indigenous communities about the potential arrival and harvest of wild salmon.

In 2019, a rock slide of about 110,000 cubic metres fell into the river canyon, creating an almost impassable barrier for migrating salmon.

Rescue efforts to get the trapped salmon beyond the slide included shooting them through a so-called salmon cannon, capturing them and using a truck or helicopter to take them past the site and moving huge boulders into the river to create a pathway to help ease the fish beyond the slide zone.

Fisheries project spokesman Dale Michie says this year's salmon faced delays along the Fraser River due to high waters in the spring, but the fish arriving at the slide site have been able to continue their migration.

The Fisheries Department is forecasting up to 10 million sockeye will return to the Fraser River this summer, while commercial fishers are also reporting large runs of sockeye this year on the Skeena River in northwest B.C. and off Barkley Sound on Vancouver Island.
Kazakhstan will re-route some of its export oil to a pipeline in Azerbaijan as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium channel remains at risk of further suspensions, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

In July this year, a Russian court ordered the suspension of oil flows along the CPC on the ground of environmental violation: a spill that occurred during the loading of a Greek-flagged tanker last year at the port of Novorossiysk. The company attributed the accident to equipment problems.

That courts decision was overturned by a higher court, and flows via the CPC were started, but according to the Reuters report, the Kazakh state sees it as a vulnerability.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is the worlds largest international oil transportation project involving Russian and Kazakh companies for the transportation of crude oil from Kazakh and Russian fields to the port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea via a 1,500-km pipeline. Chevron has a 15-percent stake in the company.

Kazakhstan sends two-thirds of its oil exports via the CPC, which earlier this year was suspended for a month after damages suffered during a storm. Now, state oil company Kazmunaigaz is in talks with Azerbaijans SOCAR for a redirection of some flows via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that ends in Turkey.

Kazakhstan exports some 1.4 million bpd of crude, which is equal to about a percent of the global supply. However, based on the Reuters report, only a fraction of that would be redirected to the Azeri pipeline: 1.5 million tons annually, per one of the unnamed sources, which is about 30,000 bpd.

Yet this could be just the beginning, according to the sources. Starting from 2023, Kazakh could be exporting 3.5 million tons of crude annually via another Azeri pipeline to the Georgian Black Sea coast. With that, the total flow redirected from the CPC would come in at 100,000 bpd, Reuters calculates.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Physical natural gas flows on the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany dropped to 13 million kWh/h on early Friday afternoon in Europe, data from Nord Stream showed.

The flows were at 13 million kWh/h between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. CET on Friday, down from 14.48 million kWh/h in the previous hour. Nominations for today and for Saturday remain steady at 14.574 million kWh/h, according to the Nord Stream flows data.

Earlier on Friday, gas flows were steady on the Nord Stream pipeline, which now sends gas from Russia to Europe at just 20% of its capacity.

Benchmark natural gas prices in Europe have soared to records in recent weeks after Russia said that gas supply via Nord Stream would be cut to just 20% of the pipeline's capacity, days after Gazprom restarted the pipeline at the end of July at 40% capacity after regular 10-day maintenance. The Russian explanation for the even lower gas flows to Europe was that another turbine at a compressor station was sent for repairs, while the one that Canada returned from repairs has yet to be installed.

There is little Russia can do to help with repairs of equipment at Nord Stream compressor stations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this month.

Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz laid the blame on Russia, again, saying that the turbine was ready for work and Germany was ready to ship it. Scholz was pictured by Reuters standing next to the turbine during his visit to Siemens Energy's site in Muelheim an der Ruhr in Germany.

"It's quite clear and simple: the turbine is there and can be delivered, but someone needs to say 'I want to have it'," Scholz said as carried by Reuters.

Germany and the EU are bracing for further reductions in Russian gas supply ahead of the winter, even if the turbine makes it to Russia.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was in Omaha visiting family on Thursday, roughly a week after a jury ordered him to pay a total of $49.3 million to the family of a boy killed in the Sandy Hook massacre.

Mary LaVelle said she was visiting Omaha when she heard that Jones was in town and decided to confront him at the Cottonwood Hotel in the Blackstone District to hear what he had to say following the trial and verdict.

Cottonwood staff would not confirm if Jones or his wife, Erika Wulff Jones, were guests at the hotel Thursday.

LaVelle said she pretended to be a journalist during her 10-minute conversation with Jones. She said he was willing and able to talk about everything.

Hes such a creature of bad things that I just saw him there and thought, Well, Im gonna interview him, she said.

In a video LaVelle provided to The World-Herald, Jones said that he was in Omaha with his wife visiting family and that he has been to Omaha many times.

In the video, LaVelle can be heard asking Jones how he was feeling after the verdict in the trial.

Last week, a jury in Texas ordered Jones to pay the parents of a 6-year-old boy killed at Sandy Hook a total of $49.3 million in damages, though he likely wont be required to pay that amount due to limitations established in Texas law.

He also has been found liable in two other defamation suits brought by relatives of other Sandy Hook victims. Trials for damages were scheduled to begin in both cases next month, but their progress has been complicated by a recent bankruptcy filing by one of Jones companies.

Speaking in the video, Jones echoed claims that he made during his testimony in court. His focus on Sandy Hook was a very small part of what I did but the news media misrepresented and made it a huge part of who I was, Jones said in the video.

I did make mistakes and so Ive owned up to that, Jones acknowledged at one point in the video. Later, he said he has the right to question things if I want.

When LaVelle saw one of Jones children running around, she asked whether the child was a paid actor, an accusation Jones made about the children who were killed at Sandy Hook.

At one point in the video, Jones tells LaVelle he hopes she puts the video online. When LaVelle asked if she should post it, Jones responded, You should, absolutely. Feel free to.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert announced the hiring of two economic developers and the resignation of a staff member Friday.

Jacquelyn Morrison will join the Mayors Office as a deputy chief of staff for economic development and development services, according to a press release.

Morrison previously worked for the State of Nebraska Department of Economic Development as the administrator of the states tax incentive division. She currently serves on the Nebraska State Board of Education, an elected position.

She will receive an annual salary of $113,000, according to the Mayors Office.

Morrison replaces Kevin Andersen, who recently returned to the private sector after working in the Mayors Office since 2018. According to his LinkedIn profile, Andersen now works at JEO Consulting Group, where he worked before joining the mayors staff.

Andersens departure comes after the announced resignation of Troy Anderson, another deputy chief of staff for economic development who recently accepted a position as assistant city manager in Wichita, Kansas.

Former Omaha Planning Director Steve Jensen will come out of retirement to help fill the role until Andersons replacement is hired, according to the Mayors Office.

Jensen has worked on a number of large development projects, including the Riverfront, Aksarben Village, Midtown Crossing and the proposed streetcar system.

Morrison and Jensen have the experience and relationships to continue (Omahas) accelerating pace of development, Stothert said in the press release.

The economic development team works with the mayor, city departments, developers and the Greater Omaha Chamber to recruit new businesses to Omaha, expand existing businesses and assist development projects.

Morrison, who holds a law degree from Georgetown University, said being chosen for the position is an honor.

Across our city there are countless infrastructure projects underway and even more businesses looking to expand, Morison said in the press release. I welcome the opportunity to work on our existing projects and new opportunities that will enhance our economy, communities and businesses.
One of the patients Dr. Denai Gordon had been seeing for a while at Nebraska Medicines Durham Outpatient Center was missing a lot of appointments.

The woman had diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments, and the missed appointments complicated the process of getting her diabetes under control.

Then Gordon, a family medicine resident, and Dr. Neil Kalsi, a family medicine physician, began participating in a pilot project through the Nebraska Health Network for a service called Community Relay. Its an online platform that allows providers and patients alike to search for hundreds of free or low-cost community-based services, from food pantries to housing assistance. Similarly, a recently expanded partnership between Unite Nebraska and United Way of the Midlands now allows people across Nebraska to tap a network of services, with or without referral from a health care provider, through United Ways 211 service. They also can get the help of a navigator in the Unite Nebraska Coordination Center. As part of the Community Relay pilot, the clinic team began giving all patients an assessment asking whether they were struggling with any of 10 categories of social determinants of health  such things as access to nutritious food, safe housing and reliable transportation that factor into health. Gordon said the patient eventually agreed to complete the form. She had to take multiple buses to get to the clinic. She had no bed and was sleeping on the floor. Gordon logged on to the platform and sent the patient home with a list of places she could begin contacting for help, including food pantries and sources of free or low-cost furniture. It just really highlights how much we dont know about our patients if we dont ask them, said Gordon, who also referred the patient to social workers who are helping her work through her challenges.

Both Community Relay and the expanded Unite Us program are intended to address the fact that many of the factors that play into health, including access to food and housing, happen outside clinic walls.

Unite Nebraska initially was launched in 2020 as a system that health care providers and social workers could use to refer patients for services, said Joy Doll, vice president of community programs for CyncHealth, which sponsors the program. CyncHealth, formerly known as the Nebraska Health Information Initiative, or NEHII, has been working to link patient records collected by physicians, hospitals, pharmacists and other health care providers in Nebraska and western Iowa for more than a decade.

But as weve evolved, weve realized theres no wrong door for social care, Doll said. ... This gives people direct access to those resources in a way they didnt have before.

Dr. Michael Romano, Nebraska Health Networks chief medical officer, said many patients arent comfortable admitting to providers that they need help beyond the medical care theyre seeking. The health network was founded in 2010 by Methodist Health System and Nebraska Medicine.

In a survey the organization conducted, about two-thirds of respondents werent willing to talk about their needs, Romano said. A 2019 study in a journal published by the American Academy of Family Physicians found a similar breakdown.

Of those who did answer, Romano said, Most say, Thanks, but no thanks, give me someplace to go and Ill get help myself.

Kalsi, the Nebraska Medicine physician, said he likes the program because it gives him an extra tool he can use at bedside.

For patients who arent ready to talk about other needs, he said, the screening at least opens the discussion: We care about this just as much as we care about your blood pressure, he said.

The team doesnt screen who gets the form but rather gives it to every patient. Eighty percent of health outcomes, he said, depend on what happens outside the clinic. Thats why this is so important, Kalsi said. If we just stick to the books, were not going to help anyone.With some patients, like the one Gordon saw, it can take time to build trust.

My hope is that if we provide this form to everyone, again and again, that lets you know its OK to talk about, just like any other medical problem, he said.

The groups each use a different technology platform to connect providers, community groups and patients. Community Relay uses the findhelp.org platform. Romano said the organization helps hunt down and connect with the nonprofit groups and other organizations that provide services, collectively known as community benefit organizations. The Community Relay network has grown from 1,400 organizations when it started to about 2,200 today. United Nebraska uses a platform developed by Unite Us, a New York technology firm. The system is connected to more than 4,000 resources. It also allows providers and the community organizations to track whether patients followed up and received the help they needed. Adam Fanning, Unite Us state network director for Nebraska and Iowa, said the program reaches into Iowa. Pam Schwalb, chief operating officer for United Way of the Midlands, said Nebraskans still can call 211 to seek help. But Nebraskans who need help also can go to Unite Nebraska or ne211.org to search for food pantries, transportation, rental assistance and other types of assistance by ZIP code. Doll said the data collected through the platform comes back to CyncHealth, where its available to clinicians. That way, a provider would know a patient faces challenges, such as food insecurity, that also affect her health. Really, what were trying to do is build out an infrastructure for Nebraska and Iowa so people can get things in one place, she said. Schwalb said United Ways 211, which took 320,000 calls last year, has an assessment up front to determine whether someone using the system has a specific need. That way, the person can be directed to a navigator with knowledge of the issue. Recently, for instance, a user called seeking assistance with a child who was acting out. The request went to a navigator who provided a referral for the user to get help with her child. Doll said Unite Nebraska is distributing flyers with QR codes to hospitals so nurses who suspect a patient has social needs can place the flyer in the patients discharge papers, allowing the patient to seek help on his own. By working through United Ways coordination center, Doll said, Unite Nebraska also has been able to gain access to the United Ways bilingual navigators and a language line that provides interpreters covering 240 languages. Previously, some community groups rejected referrals based on language. Thats health equity in action, she said. The organization also has data indicating that theres more need in the community than resources to meet it, she said. Romano said the good news is that multiple groups are working on the problem. Ultimately, he said, success in all of this is, Can we change some of those health outcomes to more favorable outcomes by intervening in these social needs?<&rule>
EUREKA  An individual in Woodford County is presumed to have the first case of monkeypox in the Peoria area.

The Woodford County Health Department announced the first case in Woodford, Peoria and Tazewell counties on Friday. The department and the Illinois Department of Public Health are working on reaching out to people who may have been in contact with the individual.

There have not been any cases in McLean County. Cases are required to be reported to the local health department, said McLean County Health Department spokeswoman Marianne Manko.

In its announcement, Woodford County Health Department said it does not see signs of "extensive local spread" of monkeypox in the area. The virus can spread through close physical contact (though it is not a sexually transmitted infection).

People should be aware of new rashes, sores, flu-like symptoms or swelling of the lymph nodes, the release said.

The McLean County Health Department has added a link on its website to the IDPH page with more information about the virus, Manko said. MCHD will also have a table at the Pride Festival in downtown Bloomington this weekend.

So far the LGBT+ community has been disproportionately affected by the virus. Part of MCHD's efforts include combating stigma around the infection, Manko said.
One count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams but less than 15 grams (Class 1 felony)

One count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine with the intent to deliver less than 5 grams (Class 2 felony)

One count of unlawful possession of a stolen firearm (Class 2 felony)

One count of unlawful possession of more than 5 grams but less than 15 grams of methamphetamine (Class 2 felony)

One count of unlawful possession of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine (Class 3 felony)

One count of violating the Illinois Firearm Owners Identification Card Act (Class 3 felony)
BLOOMINGTON  A formal search process to replace Don Knapp as the McLean County state's attorney will begin next month, according to county board chairman John McIntyre.

Knapp announced this week that he will leave office Sept. 16 to serve as a judge in the 11th Judicial Circuit, which covers McLean, Ford, Livingston, Logan and Woodford counties.

Knapp has served as McLean Countys top prosecutor since he was appointed in 2018 to succeed Jason Chambers, who became a circuit judge. He then ran unopposed for the office in 2020.

Prior to that, he had served as an assistant McLean County administrator and an assistant state's attorney for the civil division.

In his letter of resignation, which was read during Thursday's McLean County Board meeting, Knapp wrote that he received an order this week from the Illinois Supreme Court appointing him to the bench effective Sept. 16.

Knapp added that while he is excited to continue his service to the citizens of Central Illinois, his service as state's attorney has been the honor of a lifetime.

"The results achieved by the personnel in the office have truly been historic and unquestionably played a significant role in keeping the citizens of McLean County safe," Knapp wrote. "I have no doubt that the team remaining after my departure stands ready to continue the busy work that citizens of the county have come to expect and deserve."

Knapp defeated 11th Circuit Associate Judge Amy McFarland in the GOP primary for the vacancy left by retiring Judge Paul Lawrence. Since no Democrats filed for the judge vacancy, Knapp will run unopposed in the November election.

McIntyre said the process to fill the remainder of Knapp's term as state's attorney, which runs through 2024, will begin with the submission of applications and resumes that are due to the McLean County administrator's office by noon on Sept. 7.

Eligible candidates will have an interview with McIntyre between Sept. 7 and 12 and an interview with the county's executive committee during its regular Sept. 12 meeting.

A recommendation from McIntyre then will be brought before the full county board for a vote during its Sept. 15 meeting.

The McLean County Board on Thursday also voted against the appointment of Democrat Krystle Able to fill the District 4 seat left by Matt Coates, who resigned to serve on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

The board voted along party lines based on concerns over her stances regarding law enforcement. Cory Wills, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 176, said Able's social media history indicates that she is firmly "anti-police."

Able said she will reapply for Coates' seat. She also is one of four candidates running for a District 4 seat in November.

Able said in a statement released Friday that the decision was disappointing but not unexpected.

"The anti-Democratic values put on display during the board meeting, denying the will of the Democratic voters in District 4 and their precinct committee people must be rejected at the ballot box this November," Able said. "I encourage voters to get to know the candidates running in their Districts and ensure that the person you vote for supports workers, supports human rights and voting rights, and perhaps most importantly, upholds and supports democracy."
BLOOMINGTON  The McLean County Museum of History has once again gained recognition for a 10-part online program chronicling the shared experiences of local migrant communities.

In July, Hannah Johnson, former director of youth and family education at the museum, attended the Association of Midwest Museums' annual conference in Milwaukee to accept the Best Practices 2022 Award on behalf of over 20 contributors to the "Breaking Bread in McLean County" series.

This series shares stories of communities from the Kickapoo Nation to Congolese Americans focusing on subjects such as food, family, tradition and trauma. In April, the museum also won an award for Superior Achievement in Community Partnerships from the Illinois Association for Museums in recognition of the series.

The American Alliance of Museums said the Best Practices Award recognizes museums and cultural organizations whose innovative projects or community partnerships and collaborations have pushed beyond the status quo and led to the advancement of best museum practices or the establishment of new practices at their institutions in order to better fulfill their missions.

"Breaking Bread" is a partner program of the McLean County Museum of History, BN Welcoming, Design Streak at Illinois State University and Heartland Community College.

Program facilitators will be making two presentations in October about the making of "Breaking Bread."

The first will be from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. Oct. 6 at the 24th annual Conference on Illinois History in Springfield.

The second will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. for ISU Senior Professionals. Registration information is on the "Senior Professionals" page of the university's website.

The entire series is available on the McLean County Museum of History's YouTube channel.
Hundreds of Americans still dying of COVID-19 each day: ABC News

Xinhua) 08:17, August 12, 2022

People wearing face masks are seen at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Xinhua)

Americans who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations may be in trouble this fall, with immunity waning over time.

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Despite some positive advances, coronavirus-related deaths remain at a persistently high level in the United States, with nearly 400 American deaths to COVID-19 reported each day, a daily total that has not seen any significant declines since the spring, reported ABC News on Wednesday.

Over the last seven days alone, the United States has reported just under 2,700 COVID-19 deaths; since the beginning of 2022, nearly 205,000 Americans have been lost to COVID-19, the report said, citing figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The latest viral surge has been largely driven by highly infectious variants, which continue to infect and reinfect Americans. It has been more than eight months since the original Omicron variant emerged, and although the original strain is no longer circulating in the United States, its subvariants continue to spread," said the report.

BA.5, a subvariant of Omicron, is currently estimated to account for more than 87 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the country, the report said, noting that Omicron and its subvariants have been better at chipping away at vaccine efficacy, which has caused health experts to reignite their call for Americans to get vaccinated and boosted.

Last week, Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, warned that Americans who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations may be in "trouble" this fall, with immunity waning over time, it added.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Bianji)
Photo: The Canadian Press A protester yells freedom towards a person who attempted to stick a paper sign on a truck criticizing the so called Freedom Convoy, a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest, on its 18th day, in Ottawa, on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Two days before the Emergencies Act was invoked last February to quell anti-government convoy protests, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned cabinet ministers that international partners were concerned Canada wasn't able to control the situation.

The warning is contained in heavily redacted summaries of three meetings of the governments incident response group and one meeting of the full cabinet, which were released through the Federal Court as part of a challenge of the governments use of the act.

Trudeau's comments on Feb. 12 came the day after he spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden. According to the White House, Biden expressed concerns about the impact of blockades at border crossings, including the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., on U.S. companies and workers.

"The prime minister promised quick action in enforcing the law and the president thanked him for the steps he and other Canadian authorities are taking," the White House said on Feb. 11.

At the time, Trudeau was speaking to a number of world leaders about the buildup of Russian military forces near the border with Ukraine. In the first 12 days of February, he spoke with leaders from the EU, Norway, Poland, Japan, Germany and Ukraine. Readouts from the Prime Minister's Office for those meetings do not mention the ongoing protests.

But that was top of mind for cabinet, the documents show. The weekend before invoking the Emergencies Act, the government was busy weighing the consequences of using the legislation while also assessing other tools.

By Saturday, Feb. 12, protesters were using social media to co-ordinate, beginning "slow roll" protests, and involving children in their actions by bringing them to blockades to prevent police activity and engaging schools in walkouts, the documents say.

The meeting minutes show cabinet and senior government, military and RCMP officials were told there was the possibility of engagement with the protest leaders, and even a potential "breakthrough" in clearing the protest in Ottawa.

But the same briefings warned ministers the protesters in the capital were becoming increasingly hostile to police, and were showing a "significant escalation in boldness."

Ottawa police released a statement Feb. 12 saying there were more than 4,000 people in the downtown area and there had been "aggressive, illegal behaviour." The Ottawa Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police and RCMP then established an enhanced Integrated Command Centre to co-ordinate.

Behind the scenes, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told the federal incident group that there were challenges working with the other forces, citing concerns with communication and with Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly  who resigned the following week.

Meanwhile, police enforcement began Saturday at the Ambassador Bridge after an attempt by the Ontario government to negotiate with protesters failed, the documents say, but it stalled as the number of protesters swelled to more than 500.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told his colleagues there seemed to be two distinct movements involved: a "relatively harmless and happy" faction with a "strong relationship to faith communities," and a more concerning group "of harder extremists trying to undermine government institutions and law enforcement."

He also noted there were reports of ex-military members advising and instructing the blockade leaders, the documents say.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra was working to secure tow trucks and drivers. The federal government has said that tow companies were unwilling to move the big rigs choking Ottawa's downtown streets, and invoking the Emergencies Act gave police powers to compel them to help.

It was Sunday that federal officials were told there was a "potential for a breakthrough in Ottawa."

According to Keith Wilson, lawyer for the "Freedom Convoy" group, that breakthrough was a deal he had been working to negotiate with city officials. Tamara Lich, one of the protest leaders, and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson exchanged letters on Feb. 12, discussing an arrangement that would see the truckers move their vehicles outside the residential areas.

"Many of the citizens and businesses in Ottawa have been cheering us on but we are also disturbing others. That was never our intent," Lich wrote to Watson.

The group printed flyers explaining that they planned to reposition trucks beginning Monday, "so we don't give the prime minister the excuse he desperately wants to use force and seize our trucks."

"The block captains started going truck to truck and handing these documents out saying, 'We need to de-escalate,'" Wilson said in an interview.

But the protest was not a unified group.

On Sunday evening, Feb. 13, prominent protester Pat King said on social media that there was no deal, and suggested counter-protesters were spreading misinformation. He told demonstrators not to move.

Some vehicles began moving on Feb. 14, Wilson said, clearing two blocks.

But he said several misunderstandings and miscommunications in the "chaotic environment" slowed what was already likely to be a multi-day effort to move truckers onto Wellington Street and the Sir John A MacDonald Parkway.

"We thought we had communication challenges," Wilson said. "Oh my God, did the police ever have terrible communications. So we go to move trucks, and then the police wouldn't let us move."

That afternoon, Trudeau announced the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act.

By Feb. 19, following days of warnings from police for protesters to leave, an operation involving hundreds of officers began clearing vehicles and people from Ottawa's downtown core.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been urged not to charge interest on the yet-to-be-introduced digital currency, otherwise known as E-Cedi.



According to stakeholders, the inclusion of interest would bring about unhealthy competition with bank deposits and fiscal currency.



Head of Digital and Inclusive Banking, Cal Bank, Martha Acquaye, said charging interest on the E-Cedi would put a lot of stress on the banking and the financial sector because, it would mean that we would be competing on rates with the digital currency.



She said this would translate in deposits going down, an increase in the cost of funds and subsequent increase in the cost of lending.



So, we encourage the Central Bank that as part of the implementation to consider interest-free digital currency, she said.



Ms Acquaye made the call at the 2022 MoMo Month Stakeholders Forum organised by Mobile Money Limited (MTN MoMo) in Accra.



The forum was on the topic, The Impact of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on Future Digital Payments.



CEO of MTN MoMo, Eli Hini, said the Central Bank is currently piloting the E-Cedi hence the need for stakeholders to understand how it impacts the overall ecosystem.



He said it was critical for payment service providers to get informed and understand where the conversation is going and how they can align their businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that it presents.



We need to set business in a way that can take advantage of innovations that would come up looking at the opportunities and how you can leverage on it, he stated.



Mr. Hini said the introduction of the E-Cedi would add value to the mobile money system in terms of settlements.



E-Cedi, when implemented effectively, would address that problem and improve on the efficiency of settlements. It also speeds up the process of rebalancing of accounts by MOMO agents because with the E-Cedi account they can move money to their MOMO account, he said.



Allaying the fears of the E-Cedi competing with MoMo, Mr. Hini said, just like MoMo came and created opportunities for people, other innovations would come with its opportunities and we should be ready to embrace it.



Assistant Director, Fintech Promotion and Innovation BoG, Clearance Blay, said the E-Cedi is part of the governments agenda of digitalising the ecosystem.



He indicated that digital currency would bring financial inclusion and help financial service providers to provide more value-added services.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has said his institution is looking forward to the introduction of a virtual police station to reduce the number of people who visit their stations.



According to him, if this is introduced, one will be able to make a complaint virtually and invite suspects virtually.



Speaking at a public lecture at KNUST on Thursday, August 12, he said We are looking forward to a period where we will have virtual police station. Where you dont have to show up at the police station. You just make your complaint virtually and then we will send you all the information. And we can even virtually also invite the suspect which is data processing," he said The IGP further noted that while the virtual option is still being considered, internally, messages can be sent to police officers with just the press of a button.



And we evaluate and think that it is something that we can virtually do it than to show up at the police station and be unattended to and all that. So, we have a lot of work to do, but internally, with a press of a button you can send messages to every police officer across the country instantly, the police chief said.



From headquarters to regional level we send documents electronically that we need not to find people to come pick it up and do that, Dampare added.

Source: Ghanaweb









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Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a Governance Lecturer at the Central University, has asked the General Legal Council, an admission body for the Ghana School of Law, to review their entrance exams rules.



The General Legal Council issued an official report stating that the General Legal Council (GLC) has over the years established credible, rigorous and well-benchmarked systems and procedures for assessing answer booklets and re-checking of same for all candidates before examination results are released".



"The decision of the General Legal Council in respect of the published results of the Entrance Examination shall be final. No request for re-marking of scripts, re-tallying of scores or review or marks shall be accepted. Candidates cannot also request to see their marked answer scripts or the marking schemes used for marking the questions.



In view of the above, I undertake to accept without question, the decision of the General Legal Council in respect of the published results of the Entrance Examination as final, the Council added.



But Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah has registered his outright disagreement with the Council.



"What they are doing is wrong. They are setting a very bad precedent . . . Stop those things you are doing. You are humans, maybe we will call you 'My Lord, My Lord' because of the law but you are humans like us. It's the country that's given you power; you were not born with it. Stop what you are doing; it's not nice. You can go to hell. Please, what you are doing is not right. The General Legal Council must act and act right.



"Did they build the school? Who among them can tell us they contributed even a bag of cement to construct the school? Who among can tell us they generated capital to renumerate the teachers? The school is not theirs. It is for all of us, for public good. They should give us a break! . . . Ghana is over 60 years but we don't have up to 10,000 lawyers," Dr. Otchere-Ankrah fumed while speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme.



He asked the Council; "Will you go to Heaven when you pass law exams?"







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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In line with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, the outbreak will be declared over, after 42 days of the last negative test if there are no new cases.



All of Ghana's three cases of MVD were related; a father, mother and son.



The Ghana Health Service in a press release issued Thursday said the mother, a 24-year-old was Ghana's sole survivor and has since been discharged and reunited with her family.



"Marburg Virus Disease was confirmed in Ghana on 4th July 2022. Three cases have since been reported with the last being on 21 July 2022. Two of the three cases unfortunately died," the release said.



In all, 198 contacts were identified by the GHS in four districts (Adansi North and South, Prestea Huni Valley, and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba) of which 118 of them have completed the 21 days of mandatory follow-up and have since been discharged. The remaining contacts are still being followed up and none has any symptoms.



"The only survivor of the three (3) has since recovered from the disease following two negative tests carried out 48 hours apart on the 3rd and 6th of August 2022 respectively, by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR). The patient has since been discharged and reunited with her family. Ghana, therefore, has no case of MVD".



"The public is encouraged to continue to observe the preventive measures and to report any illness to the nearest health facility for attention," the GHS release said.



"Even though Ghana has no MVD case currently, the Ghana Health Service, together with our development partners and relevant state agencies will continue to maintain heightened surveillance for MVD and other viral haemorrhagic fevers. Ongoing public education and engagements on MVD will be maintained while we continuously review the situation. The Service with support from partners, has initiated a process for socio-ecological mapping to assess the risk of viral haemorrhagic fevers for enhanced surveillance in Ghana.



"The Ghana Health Service, working with our partners remains committed to working toward protecting the health of the general population of Ghana".

Source: Graphiconline.com









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Egypt's cabinet has approved a plan to ration electricity to save natural gas that it will instead divert to the export market to generate foreign currency, it said on Thursday.



Egypt has suffered from an acute foreign currency shortage since Russia's February invasion of Ukraine, which pushed up global commodity prices, led to the collapse of tourism from the two countries and drove up the cost of borrowing.



Under the draft plan, shops and malls will have to limit their use of strong lights and keep their air conditioning at no cooler than 25 degrees Celsius.



Ministries and government facilities will have to turn off lighting at the end of working hours, the statement added. Street lighting will also be reduced.



The government last month postponed a planned increase in electricity prices by six months. The higher prices would have been intensely unpopular among a population that over the last few years has endured a series of harsh austerity measures.



On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the government hoped to reduce the amount of gas used to generate electricity by 15%. He said domestic power plants bought their natural gas at one-tenth the price that it could fetch on international markets.



Europe has been seeking alternative sources of gas to cut its reliance on Russian gas as the war in Ukraine escalates.



Rapid growth in Egypt's natural gas supplies, boosted by the discovery of the Mediterraneans largest field, turned it from a net importer to an exporter in late 2018.



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Egypt exported 9.45 million cubic meters of liquid natural gas in the first seven months of 2022, up 44% from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data.

Source: Reuters









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The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has called for a truce in the Radio Ada and the Ada Traditional Council impasse.



It also urged the Ada Traditional Council to use a due process of law to address its concerns against Radio and not to take the law into its own hands.



It said the imposition of restrictions on Radio Ada and its reporters during the celebration of this years Asafotufiam festival by the Traditional Council was unjustifiable.



Describing the restrictions as an affront to press freedom as guaranteed in Article 21(1)(a) and (f) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the GJA said the Council must also refrain from actions that had the tendency to endanger the lives of the radio station and its staff.



Speaking at a press conference to address the impasse between the traditional council and the radio station, Mr Albert Dwumfour, the GJA President, said the



Ada Traditional Council did not have the right or powers to impose such restrictions.



He said after news of the impositions broke out, the GJA sent a fact-finding delegation comprising the General Secretary, Mr Kofi Yeboah, and the Organising Secretary, Mr Dominic Hlordzi, to Ada to interact with staff of station and persons close to the Traditional Council to have a good appreciation of the issues at stake.



Mr Dwumfour said in the course of the GJAs fact-finding mission, persons close to the Ada Traditional Council expressed deep concern about the use of insulting and disrespectful language by programme hosts of Radio Ada against the chiefs while citing the regular practice of the reporters, mentioning the names of chiefs without their titles, and inciting the people to hoot at them among name-calling during a demonstration.



The GJA President said, whilst appreciating the concerns of the chiefs, especially what they described as unrefined language used to address them by reporters of the station, the GJA believed that the imposition of restrictions on the station and its reporters was unjustifiable.



He said the GJA considered the barring of the three reporters from wearing paraphernalia of the station and particularly the mention of their names, as a threat to their lives and that of their families.



We should be mindful of how such public disclosure of names of journalists had led to their killing, he said.



He said despite lodging a complaint at the National Media Commission (NMC) against Radio Ada for professional misconduct which was commendable and an appropriate forum to seek redress on such matters, the Traditional Council violated the rules on complaint settlement of the NMC per the imposition of restrictions on the radio station and its reporters.



He said, Section 13(2) of the NMC Act, 1993 (Act 449) provided that, A person who has lodged a complaint with the Commission shall, unless he withdraws the complaint, exhaust all avenues available for settling the issue by the Commission before a recourse to the courts.



Since the complaint by the Ada Traditional Council was still pending, and had not been withdrawn, the Council violated the NMC rules of engagement for complaint settlement by constituting itself into a traditional court to punish the radio station and its staff. Mr Dwumfour Said.



While encouraging the Ada Traditional Council and the management of Radio Ada to find amicable ways of resolving their differences, he urged the Council to refrain from actions that had the tendency to endanger the radio station and the lives of its staff.



He also advised Radio Ada and its staff to stop using insulting or unacceptable language in the discharge of their duties.



We believe one major significance of festivals is to use the occasion to foster peace and unity among people to promote the development of the community, the GJA President said.



We also recognize the concept of community radio as the rallying force for the promotion of the culture and socio-economic development of the host communities, he added.



Mr Dwumfour urged both parties to consider each other as partners in development and work together to promote development in the area.





Source: GNA









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Security Analyst, Adib Saani, has accused the National Security Secretariat of Ghana of not being proactive enough about the ongoing conflict between the people of Krobo and the ECG, which has resulted in the company cutting off power to Krobo communities.



According to Adib, the secretariat should have acted and intervened earlier because cutting off power to Ghanaians for more than two weeks has serious security implications.



"It (the cutting out of the light) is a major issue; livelihood is being destroyed because a lot of people rely on electricity as a means of survival. Hospitals are not able to operate, and all of these have implications for human security. From day one, this has been a security issue, and I would have expected that National Security would have acted a bit early. They acted late," the security analyst said in an interview with GhanaWeb.



Also, Adib Saani said that if the ECG intentionally cut off the power from the Lower and Manya Krobo municipalities, they would have breached Ghana's laws and international laws on people's right to have access to power.



He noted the current challenges the company is having with the pre-paid meter installation exercise in the two districts is because it decided to use force by deploying personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces rather than using dialogue.



"Going there with the military was wrong and is tantamount to abusing the military, which is not good enough. It is not their work; their work is to defend. Who are they defending against? It is stupid for anyone to think that it was a good idea to go with the military," he said.



Adib made these remarks on the back of reports that the National Security Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah, has met with leaders of the two Krobo municipalities, which have been cut off from the national grid, Lower and Manya Krobo, and the Managing Director of the Electricity Company Ghana (ECG) to come up with a road made to resolve the issues at hand.



Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the ECG has justified the decision of his outfit to cut the power supply from communities in the two municipalities in the Eastern Region since July 27, 2022.



According to Samuel Dubik Mahama, even though he knows the consequences of cutting power supply to households and businesses, the right thing must be done.



He said that the ECG had no option but to cut the power supply because two communities in the Manya Krobo Municipality have refused to accept the pre-paid meters his agency is installing and because they connect themselves to the electricity network anytime they are cut off.



" electricity (supply) is a grid; if somebody is tempering with it, you cannot give the other person stable power, and if we don't have access to the grid, how can we work? So, we then decided to shut down that line because they kept on tripping the line that was leading to Somanya. So, we then decided to shut down the whole feeder because we need to shut it down, come and sit down, and let's have a conversation as the way we are going to move forward," he said.

Source: Ghanaweb









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The Asante Mampong Forests Division of the Ghana Forestry Commission has discovered some 8,000 seedlings nursed for this years Green Ghana project, dumped at a refuse site.



The Forestry Commission officials made the discovery at a refuse site near the Offin Forest Reserve at Bosouor in the Asante Mampong Municipality during a daily routine in the forest.



The officers sighted a KIA truck moving out of the refuse site and a later investigation led to the discovery of the seedlings.



Out of a total of 8,011 seedlings discovered at the dumpsite, 5,891 were alive while 2,120 seedlings were found to be lifeless.



We received reports that the seedlings had been dumped at a refuse dump in Mampong district in the Ashanti Region. We needed to come here with my team to confirm first-hand. We got here this morning and the information we got from the District Manager is that on the 28th of July, whilst the forest guards were going round to inspect trees that have been planted, they heard the sound of a truck close to the forest reserve. They decided to move in that direction. As they approached, the truck moved away, they went close to the site and saw the seedlings on a refuse dump, Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey told the media.



Out of the 8,011 seedlings found at the dump site, 5,891 seedlings were categorized as live while 2,120 seedlings were dead after a sorting exercise they did, he said.



Efforts to trace the KIA truck suspected to have dumped the seedlings at the refuse site has proved futile. Meanwhile, the Mampong police are said to have commenced investigations into the matter.



According to the Forestry Commission, over 22 million trees were distributed across the country for the 2022 Green Ghana Day.



This years commemoration was marked on June 10, 2022.

Source: Ghanaweb









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Huawei hosted the TECH4ALL Education Global Online Summit yesterday. Officials and experts at the summit explored how digital technologies will transform todays education systems into a more inclusive and innovative paradigm, democratize access to education resources, and build-in systemic resilience to external factors like the pandemic.



Technology can play a critical and catalytic role in transforming education, said Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education for UNESCO. We need to use technology to ensure connectivity for all; build free, public digital learning content and platforms; and focus on how technology can enhance innovation and change in teaching methodologies.



Underpinned by connectivity, digital skills, and digital platforms, the transformation of the education sector is gathering momentum.



Technology truly has the power to transform education for everyone, said Kevin Zhang, CMO of ICT Infrastructure for Huawei. We are doing this in three ways: connecting schools, promoting digital skills, and supporting STEAM curriculum.



Strategies that prioritize blended learning are already in play where schools are no longer just physical venues for learning, with educational approaches shifting to prepare todays students for tomorrows world. One UNESCO program that leverages technology and a transformational approach is Technology-enabled Open Schools for All (TeOSS). Supported by Huawei and developed in close collaboration with the MOEs of Ghana, Ethiopia, and Egypt, the three-year project aims to benefit students and teachers in the three African nations and set the foundation for innovative education systems that seamlessly connect school and home learning in online and offline scenarios to maximize inclusion.



It is a project we are very much excited about, said Mr. John Ntim Fordjour, Deputy Minister of Education of Ghana. The purpose is to provide reliable connectivity for all schools at the pre-tertiary level. Future educational technology is going to advance the quality of education and even the ways we teach and learn.







In Kenya, connecting schools, boosting digital literacy, and providing teachers and students with digital devices is a key priority. Successful completion of phase one of the DigiSchool project, for example, saw 13 schools connected, with more than 6,000 students benefiting.



The Ministry of ICT, the Ministry of Education, UNESCO, and Huawei formed a collaborative initiative to provide sustainable Internet connectivity. Ensuring no child is left behind  that is the driving force behind this project, said Martin Kungania, Deputy Director, Education National Coordinator for Kenyas Digital Literacy Programme.

Experts from WeTechCare and the Bandung Institute of Technology described progress with the France DigiTruck and Huawei ICT Academy, respectively.



In France, 35% of people are unable to fully utilize digital tools due to a range of challenges. The DigiTruck  a solar-powered mobile classroom converted from a used shipping container  aims to help address this by providing free training in digital skills, targeting unemployed young people and older citizens. Continuing the theme of skills development, discussion on the Huawei ICT Academy centered on the value of developing students ICT skills to cultivate the next generation of tech talent  a critical need given the current estimated global shortage of 200 million ICT professionals.



Looking to the future and at how education will evolve, speakers from the National University of Singapore, Pimax Technologies, and Huawei explored how ICT infrastructure and nascent technologies such as AI, VR, and the metaverse will revolutionize the teaching and learning space, reshaping subjects like geography and history with a truly immersive experience that will enable students to virtually travel through time and space.



Read more about Huaweis TECH4ALL Tech4Education projects:

https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all/education

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Youth Wing of the National Democratic Congress will not participate in the 2022 International Youth Day Celebrations being organized by the National Youth Authority.



The Youth Wing is of the view that there is absolutely nothing for the youth to celebrate in these times of excruciating hardship that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has brought upon the Ghanaian youth through their bad governance, economic mismanagement, and pervasive corruption.



The hardship is so dire that the youth struggle to afford one decent meal a day. To add insult to injury, prices of goods and services keep on increasing on the market every second.



Contrary to the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia governments fanciful promises to create descent jobs for the youth, they have rather increased the unemployment situation through the collapse of businesses such as banks and other financial institutions resulting in the laying-off of many of our youth. Many graduates, newly trained nurses, teachers, and other professionals remain home unemployed and wonder where their next meal will come from. Those in the informal sector already struggling to put body and soul together have been saddled with unbearable taxes to further worsen their precarious living standards.



We are not oblivious of the fact that young people of our Country today must show proof of their NPP membership or affiliation before they can get any opportunity under this government. For those who do not have any connections in the NPP, they are callously confronted with monetary demands not less than GHS 30,000 cedis to be recruited into various security agencies or other job opportunities.



The NPP government has thrown meritocracy to the dogs! No wonder there are concerns about standards of professionalism in some of our security agencies today.



The economic mismanagement by the government has resulted in extremely bad times for young entrepreneurs who struggle to make ends meet due to increase in taxes, and nuisance taxes such as the e-levy which has led to the deliberate collapse of the mobile money businesses affecting the livelihoods of over 300,000 youth. Most young people who were into online business have had to fold up due to the introduction of the roundly condemned e-levy.



As the NDC rightly predicted, the NaBCO model for job creation is unsustainable. After putting NaBCO beneficiaries through months of hardship by government's refusal to pay them their meagre allowances, government has finally collapsed the programme and the beneficiaries are now hopeless! Ominously, the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government has wickedly failed to pay beneficiaries their monthly stipends for the past nine months.



Another disturbing anti-youth project this government is vigorously pursuing, is its inability to pay allowances of national service personnel for many months now. The case of teacher and nursing trainee allowances is not different. After bragging of supposedly restoring trainee allowance to enhance its electoral fortunes, government has so far not been able to honor its promise.



While government cannot find money to pay these allowances to give respite to young people, President Akufo-Addo finds money to rent luxurious jets at cut-throat prices at the detriment of suffering taxpayers so he can enjoy bathing in the sky.



Again, even though the Free SHS programme has been lauded by many Ghanaians as a good programme, its poor implementation has brought untold hardships to parents and students. Today, boarding students are dying of hunger in schools. They largely rely on the benevolence of their old school associations, churches, and philanthropists to survive. Many heads of schools are threatening to shut down schools for lack of food.



The state of the Ghanaian youth today under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government is that of hopelessness and complete disillusionment. Government is clueless about youth development and how to address the challenges facing the youth.



It is therefore surprising that the NYA is readying itself to mark this year's international youth day with another jamboree instead of charging government to immediately address the needs of the youth. We are aware that the NYA intends to mark the day by conferring an award on President Akufo-Addo. That is nothing but an insult to the Ghanaian youth. It is such a wonder that at a time that the Ghanaian youth are struggling, the NYA finds it necessary to award the President for inflicting hardship on them.



The NDC under President John Mahama handed over a National Youth Policy and Implementation Plan to the Akufo-Addo government 6 years ago. This government failed to implement the policy. It has spent all these years reviewing the policy.



Again, the NDC government enacted the National Youth Authority Act in 2016 but the Akufo-Addo govern has failed to implement the law for the benefit of the Ghanaian youth.



The Youth Wing of the NDC believe that the only thing that is worth celebrating is the tenacity, resilience, and the tolerance of youth in the face of extreme unjustifiable provocation.



There is absolutely no future for the youth as the Akufo-Addo government through its economic policy of borrow-to-chop has mortgaged the future of the youth by borrowing to unprecedented levels that many generations yet unborn will have to pay. Such a bad father who leaves no inheritance for his children!











We wish however to urge the youth not to despair and lose faith in Ghanas democracy. We encourage all eligible youth to endeavor to register with the Electoral Commission when the opportunity presents itself and exercise their franchise in anger, hunger, and protest this failed NPP government.







Aluta Continua



Victoria Ascerta!







George Opare Addo, Esq



National Youth Organizer.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Photo: North Shore News file. A former teacher who worked as a guidance counsellor at West Vancouver Secondary has pleaded guilty in North Vancouver court to one charge of possession of child pornography.

A former West Vancouver teacher has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

Joseph Scott William McLeod, known as Joey McLeod in his professional capacity, was suspended from his position as a counsellor at West Vancouver Secondary in January 2021, after North Vancouver RCMP members executed a search warrant at his home and arrested him.

Police were acting on an investigation started by the RCMPs integrated child exploitation unit.

The Crown charged McLeod with possession of child pornography in July of that year.

McLeod was set for a procedural appearance in North Vancouver provincial court on Aug. 3 when he and his lawyer Catherine Rose opted to enter a guilty plea.

He is informed of the nature and consequences of this plea and that he understands that if there is a deal between the Crown and myself, that it is up to the judge what the sentence will be, Rose told the court.

McLeod, who was appearing via video from Ontario, then entered his guilty plea. The Crown then sought a pre-sentence report including a psychological assessment.

The case is due back in court in October.

McLeod had been employed in the West Vancouver school district since 2017. In 2019-20, he was listed as a Grade 8 counsellor in the student yearbook. Prior to that, he taught at McMath Secondary in Richmond.

At the time of the arrest, West Vancouver schools superintendent Chris Kennedy said he was told by investigators that McLeods charge was not connected to any of the students in his school.

Since his arrest, McLeod has been on bail with conditions to stay away from pools, playgrounds and community centres where people under the age of 18 are known to gather unless his bail supervisor gives him permission. He is also banned from being in contact or alone with anyone under the age of 14 unless another adult is present.
Audio Attachment: Listen to NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has seemingly returned to Peace FM's flagship morning 'Kokrokoo', following their long period of boycott after their National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, on Wednesday, 6th May 2020, issued an official directive to that effect.



The opposition party boycotted the 'Kokrokoo' programme following that edict signed by Sammy Gyamfi wherein he slammed the host of the programme, Kwami Sefa Kayi and his production team.



"Although we appreciate the production and editorial discretion of the station to give their platform to whoever they deem fit, we consider it unfair for the NPP to maintain their two (2) slots on Fridays while the NDCs two slots on Wednesdays are reduced to one (1), to satisfy the whim of a dictatorial Host and his poodle. In protest to this flagrant disregard for fairness by the Host and Production Crew of the program, the National Communication Bureau of the NDC has decided to cease the placement of party communicators on the 'Kokrokoo' show forthwith," portions of Sammy Gyamfi's statement read.



But the dust seems to have settled on the 27months old issue after General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, popularly called "General Mosquito", stormed the studios today.



He made an appearance on the show on Friday, August 12, 2022 after two years and three months of the party's non-appearance.



Although there is no official report from the party, the General Secretary's appearance may be an assurance to the public indicating the party has resolved to returning to the show, since Mr. Sefa Kayi has stated a number of times that he has taken no offence to Sammy Gyamfi's vituperations.



Johnson Asiedu Nketia joined Friday's panel briefly with alacrity as he discussed matters relating to the Electoral Commission and the National Democratic Congress's (NDC) boycott of the Commission's Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).



Watch Johnson Asiedu Nketia in the video below





Sammy Gyamfi's Boycott Letter

The National Communication Bureau of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wishes to inform all its Communicators, Media Monitors, and Officials that the Party has boycotted Peace (104.3) FMs morning show (Kookrokoo) effective today, Wednesday, 6th May 2020.This decision has been occasioned by the unfair paneling system that the Production Team of that program has continuously foisted on the NDC over a number of months. Specifically, the reason for this boycott has to do with the unreasonable decision of the Producers and Host of the program to permanently reserve one (1) of the two (2) slots the party has traditionally had on Wednesdays on the show to Mr. Allotey Jacobs, who is often introduced by the host of the program as a Social Commentator with strong leanings to the NDC, ostensibly to spite the NDC.All efforts to get the Producers and Host of the program to give us a fair representation on the show over the past eight (8) months, including a complaint to the Management of the station for an amicable resolution of this matter, have proven futile, as the party continues to be treated with utmost contempt.This unfair treatment flies in the face of the long-standing tradition of the program, which allocates two (2) slots each to the NDC and the NPP on Wednesdays and Fridays respectively. Although we appreciate the production and editorial discretion of the station to give their platform to whoever they deem fit, we consider it unfair for the NPP to maintain their two (2) slots on Fridays while the NDCs two slots on Wednesdays are reduced to one (1), to satisfy the whim of a dictatorial Host and his poodle.In protest to this flagrant disregard for fairness by the Host and Production Crew of the program, the National Communication Bureau of the NDC has decided to cease the placement of party communicators on the Kookrokoo show forthwith.All Communicators, Media Monitors, Members, and Officials of the NDC are hereby entreated to refuse any invitations and/or interviews from the said program, until the station addresses our concerns and reviews their unfair paneling system.Signed.SAMMY GYAMFI(National Communication Officer, NDC)

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Charles Owusu, former Head of Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, has supported calls by the Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA) for a reshuffle in President Akufo-Addo's ministerial team.



AFFA, a grassroot wing of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), says the President should reshuffle his appointees to fortify the economy.



The group argues that some of the appointees are dormant in the discharge of their duties and strongly believes the reshuffle will wake them up to execute their duties effectively because lazy ones are crippling the economy.



But President Nana Akufo-Addo, in a radio interview on North Star radio in Tamale as part of his tour of the Northern Region, says the reshuffle will destabilize his government.



The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilize the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs, the President said.



Charles Owusu disagrees with the President's stance as, according to him, the reshuffle will rather help put the Ministers to work.



He also asserts changing the appointees will largely contribute to the growth of the economy contrary to the President's beliefs that it will slow down his government.



"I am for the reshuffle . . . People are calling for reshuffle because of their sufferings. I think he also reducing the size of the government is also another way of making sure we get efficiency at that side . . . So, it is not necessarily that he should replacing his appointees but maybe, when he reduces the size of government, it can also whip up the confidence of Ghanaians," he said on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo".





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Seasoned Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has dissented to arguments by some members of the governing New Patriotic Party and government officials that ministerial reshuffle is at the discretion of President Nana Akufo-Addo.



Former Member of Parliament for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah, responding to calls by the Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA), a grassroot wing of the NPP, asserted that it is not a constitutional requirement that the President should reshuffle his Ministers.



"Let me put on record that it's not constitutional injunction that the President should do a reshuffle whether he likes it or not. It's not in any law in Ghana. It is rather an advice from some people that Mr. President, from where we sit, we suggest you changing some appointees will help . . . nobody can begrudge him," he said while discussing the reshuffle and matter arising on Peace FM's show "Kokrokoo" Friday morning.



The former MP strongly believes "Ghana is in competent hands", adding that the President is very focused.



But Mr. Pratt, joining the panel discussion on the programme, deflated Collins Amankwah's arguments and those who share similar views.



He argued that those calling for the reshuffle are key members of the party the President belongs to, therefore if the NPP members themselves agree that the President should change his Ministers, then it goes to tell how significant the reshuffle is.



"There is no President in this country who is independent and does whatever he wants. The constitution frowns on that. The President can be dismissed. We have the right to sack the President if he doesn't perform effectively . . . If you find a President in a country who doesn't listen to advice and adamantly does what he wants, that is called dictatorship.



"We all know that that agitation for reshuffle is largely coming from within the NPP . . . Let's ask ourselves why are the NPP members, themselves, saying they need a reshuffle? First, the President has accepted that things are not going well. It's not just the President who admits that things are not going well but some NPP bigwigs also say the same thing," he stated.



He exposited that having a reshuffle won't end the sufferings of Ghanaians but it will definitely help the government.



"Truthfully, cabinet reshuffle doesn't change everything. It doesn't mean things will be okay but it has some other effects. If for nothing at all, the appointees come to a realization that they can be dismissed if they don't perform . . . this helps government."





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Lawyers for restrained NDC Member of Parliament for Assin North constituency James Gyakye Quayson have responded to the first interested party in his application at the Supreme Court in which he is seeking to quash the decision of an Accra High Court for what concerns the testimony of the prosecutions first witness in his criminal trial.



Lawyers for the MP argued that the high court decision was based on a patently erroneous interpretation of the Evidence Act.



In their statement of the case to the Supreme Court, the first interested party had justified the high court decision to allow the witness testimony, citing section 111 of the Evidence Act 1975, arguing that the witness can give testimony in the form of opinion or inference without personal knowledge.



The defence lawyers however dismissed this justification, reminding the prosecution that the trial judge herself did not rely on this argument in her ruling although it had been earlier presented to her by the director of public prosecution.



The MPs application on July 18th 2022 at the Supreme Court was occasioned by the overruling of the high court judge of an objection to the testimony of the first prosecution witness that was being offered without the introduction of any evidence that the witness had personal knowledge of the matters he was testifying about.



In a reply to the statement of case filed by the prosecution in opposition to the application to quash the high court decision, Lawyers for James Gyakye Quayson said attempts by the prosecution to justify the error of the high court judge in their statement of the case has led to erroneous legal arguments on their part.



The basic fundamental error of the judge as stated in ground 1 of our application was to decide that because the witness is a competent witness and his evidence is relevant the objection should be overruled.



Citing relevant precedence, lawyers for the MP argued that the high court ought to exclude evidence however relevant if it is prejudicial against the accused.



They also argue that by allowing a witness without personal knowledge of the matter to testify in a criminal trial, the high court judge will be breaching Article 19(2)(c) of the 1992 constitution which states that A person charged with a criminal offence shall  be presumed to be innocent until he is proved or has pleaded guilty.



This presumption, they say, is wholly undermined by the presumption of the personal knowledge of prosecution witnesses which imposes the burden on the accused person to produce evidence and to persuade the court of the lack of personal knowledge of the witnesses.



The Defense lawyers further argued that Simply being able to cross-examine these witnesses to demonstrate their lack of personal knowledge of the facts of the matter that the accused is charged with does nothing to alleviate the injustice to the accused person.



They concluded that the right to fair trial of the accused MP would thereby be honoured more in its breach than in observance and there could be no more grievous injustice to the accused than such a violation of his fundamental human rights.



Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson, has been charged with forgery and perjury by the Attorney-Generals Office. He is also accused of deceiving a public officer and knowingly making a false declaration in relation to his nationality and dual citizenship with Canada before the 2020 parliamentary elections.



However, the first prosecution witness who is also the complainant in the case neither works at the passport office, the electoral commission nor the Canadian embassy and obviously has no personal knowledge of the issues he wants to testify about against the MP.



The Accra high court has adjourned the hearing of the criminal charges against the honourable James Gyakye Quayson to Tuesday, October 18 2022 pending the outcome of the Supreme Court application on the first prosecution witness.

















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Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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International advocacy organization Global Citizen today announced the lineups for the 10th anniversary Global Citizen Festival, taking place in New York Citys Central Park, presented by Citi and Cisco, and Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana, presented by Harith General Partners, on Saturday, September 24, 2022.



Since it began lighting up Central Parks Great Lawn in 2012, the Global Citizen Festival has become the worlds longest-running global campaign calling for an end to extreme poverty that unites millions of voices, amplified by the worlds biggest artists, demanding world leaders take action NOW.



Globally, the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed nearly 100 million more people into extreme poverty and is reversing recent trends of shrinking inequality, leading to the loss of at least three years of progress. Without urgent action NOW this backsliding will only worsen. Russias invasion of Ukraine has aggravated the situation further, with as many as 323 million people now facing acute hunger, and 1.2 billion people now live in nations experiencing a perfect storm of food, energy, and financial crises. If we dont take action NOW, as many as 200 million more people may be plunged into extreme poverty by November.



The 2022 Global Citizen Festival will call on world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and ahead of the G20 and COP27 in November to step up and invest $600 million into the future of women and girls, close the annual $10 billion climate financing shortfall, deliver $500 million to help African farmers respond to the global food crisis, and provide urgent relief from crushing debts to End Extreme Poverty NOW.



With two stages in international cultural capitals, New York City and Accra, Ghana, the 2022 Global Citizen Festival will be broadcast and streamed on ABC, ABC News Live, FX, Hulu, iHeartRadio, TimesLIVE, Twitter, YouTube, and more. ABC News Lives broadcast will air on Saturday, September 24, and a primetime special, Global Citizen Festival: Take Action NOW, will air on ABC on Sunday, September 25 at 7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT. Additional tune in details to follow in the coming weeks.



Performers on the Central Park stage will include Metallica, Charlie Puth, Jonas Brothers, MANESKIN, Mariah Carey, Mickey Guyton and Rosalia with more to be announced. Global Citizen Festival: NYC will be hosted by actor, producer, author, and Global Citizen Ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas.



Marking the 65th anniversary of Ghanas independence and the 20th anniversary of the African Union, Accras iconic Black Star Square will see live performances from Usher, SZA, Stormzy, Gyakie, H.E.R., Sarkodie, Stonebwoy and TEMS with more to be announced.



Decades of systemic and political failures have led humanity into the midst of converging and rapidly deteriorating crises  climate, hunger, health, war and conflict. The most marginalized populations are paying the price of the stagnant inaction of our leaders, and now millions of lives, and the future of our planet, are at stake. We refuse to just stand by and watch! We refuse to accept the starvation of multitudes when solutions are readily at hand. We demand a secure future for girls everywhere. We demand governments keep their promises on climate funding. We demand relief from debts unjustly crushing economies. And we demand action NOW, while theres still time to change our collective trajectory.  Hugh Evans, Co-Founder and CEO, Global Citizen



Global Citizen is calling for world leaders, major corporations and philanthropic foundations to take to the Global Citizen Festival stages and announce new commitments to End Extreme Poverty NOW, including:



Deploy Financing NOW and immediately meet the total goal of reallocating $100 billion in IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), by making up the $40B shortfall.



SDRs are a type of reserve asset mostly sitting unused by the worlds wealthiest countries. These rights can immediately provide new and affordable financing relief for countries at high risk of financial and debt distress.



There are 69 eligible low-income countries who stand to benefit from the reallocation of SDRs, many of which are in Africa. During the pandemic, many of these governments spent more on debt repayments than on education, health and social protection benefits combined. This funding is needed NOW to ensure governments have what they need to invest in strengthening health systems and pandemic preparedness, and the nutrition, welfare, and education of their citizens. Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Korea, and Sweden can transfer their Special Drawing Rights to the developing countries that desperately need them right now.



Take Climate Action NOW and fulfill the $100 billion per year promises made in the Paris Agreement.



Africa accounts for just 3-4 percent of global emissions, yet finds itself on the frontlines of the effects of climate change. Extreme temperatures and droughts, such as those in Somalia, threaten to make a mockery of our attempts to end extreme poverty and protect the planet. African countries and businesses stand ready to invest in green jobs and infrastructure, but they need genuine partnership to deliver.



Having not contributed to the problem, it is unjust to expect that Africa shifts to renewable and clean energy without support from the wealthiest countries, who have indeed industrialized using fossil fuels over the past 150 years. Rich countries like Germany, Italy, the US, Canada and Australia must fulfill the promise that was meant to be delivered by 2020 and close the annual $10 billion shortfall.



Empower Girls NOW and provide critical investments into girls education, sexual and reproductive health and economic empowerment.



In the last two years, more than 47 million women and girls have been pushed back into extreme poverty, and the pandemic has forced millions of girls out of the classroom and into unpaid care work.



The US, UK, the European Commission, France, Germany and Italy can change this by pledging $600 million in financial support towards UNFPA, Education Cannot Wait and the Child Care Incentive Fund, launched this year by the White House. This will support new policies addressing the expansion of paid parental leave, including obligatory paternity leave, access to contraception and education.



Mitigate a Global Food System Meltdown NOW by providing $500 million for Africas farmers to make the most of the current planting season and fund the local production of fertilizers, tools, and equipment they need to produce more food.



Africa is currently experiencing horrific food shortages as a result of Russias unjust invasion of Ukraine. Yet the continent has enough arable land to feed the world, let alone its own citizens.



Germany, the UK, the European Commission, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Belgium need to band together and provide funding to agencies like the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program and CGIAR to urgently equip farmers with the resources they need. Failure to do so NOW will make the present hunger crisis far worse over the coming year, as food supplies diminish and prices soar even higher.



Throughout the campaign, Global Citizen will continue to defend and promote advocacy, ensuring marginalized voices are heard and leaders are held accountable to deliver on their promises. Global Citizen will elevate citizens voices, especially from the Global South; defend the right of anyone to speak freely, dissent, and organize without fear of reprisals or violence; and call on corporations to refrain from using litigation to silence activists on the frontline. Without such efforts to champion the causes of those in peril, the achievement of our campaign goals will continue to be deprioritized by those in power.



The 2022 Global Citizen Festival campaign is supported by governments and world leaders including: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana; Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia; Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations; Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA; Andrej Plenkovic, Prime Minister of Croatia; Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain; Frank Bainimara, Prime Minister of Fiji; Ingrida Simonyte, Prime Minister of Lithuania; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Ban Ki-moon, Former UN Secretary General; Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the UN Foundation; Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Stanley Kakubo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zambia; Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senate Majority Leader; Meryame Kitir, Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy, Belgium; Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico; Anne Tvinnereim, Minister for International Development, Norway; Government of Luxembourg; Kingdom of the Netherlands; Peter Sands, Executive Director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait; Erna Solberg, Former Prime Minister of Norway; Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN; Ertharin Cousin, Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Food Systems for the Future.



Ghana is honoured to host this years edition of the Global Citizens Festival. I look forward to welcoming each and everyone of you to Accra, capital of the country at the centre of the world. Together, let us join hands and help accelerate progress towards the realization of the SDGs. We owe to the next generation to live in a world free from poverty, disease and the degradation of the environment. The time to help make a change is now. We must align forces to make an impact in Africa, and help end extreme poverty. I have called colleague African leaders to join me in September, and help break these systemic barriers that have been affecting our people. Let us build a strong foundation for future generations.  H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana



While communities face injustices, crises and inequalities in the world, we simply cannot give up the fight and solidarity to end poverty. We need all voices in calling for a better future for everyone, everywhere. Now is the time for ambitious action. Together, with Global Citizen, we can keep the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals.  Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary General



This year we have strongly felt the impacts of climate change across international conflicts, global health, and economic crisis, raising the level of inequality higher than before. However, together our mission is possible. It is more important than ever that the world comes together to demand action from global leaders with a unified voice, NOW. Global Citizens must champion political and financial solutions, like climate and agricultural adaptation, that center the most vulnerable members of our global community and plant the seeds for dignified and prosperous futures.  Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations & Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens Co-chair



All over the world we are seeing the ravaging effects of the climate crisis, and the disastrous results of political inaction  of not hearing or empowering the victims of poverty and disenfranchisement, of not allowing countries to work in collaboration to protect the global public good. NOW is the time for ordinary people to take action and fight, and for world leaders to listen and act, because their lives and livelihoods are at stake.  Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados



An urgent, collective, and concerted effort is required to make progress toward ending extreme poverty. I am encouraged by the call to action issued by Global Citizen and I call upon leaders from around the world to add their voices, as we cannot afford to sit back and watch the status quo continue. It is time to break down the systemic barriers that have kept people in poverty and indeed, time to act to protect future generations from climate change.  Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia



We live in perilously difficult times and it is our duty to fight hunger, poverty, discrimination, illness and effects of climate change. We need to pull together all our resources to ensure that the most vulnerable citizens can live in dignity and safety. I thus fully support the tireless efforts by Global Citizen to continue uniting us in this vital joint action.  Andrej Plenkovic, Prime Minister of Croatia



The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that all countries must have equitable access to the tools and technologies needed to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond rapidly to outbreaks and other health emergencies. This is why the World Health Organization brought public and private partners together to launch the innovative mRNA Technology Transfer Hub based in South Africa, with more than a dozen low- and middle-income countries joining so far. I welcome Global Citizens support for this crucial initiative to diversify and expand manufacturing of life-saving vaccines, so that the world is better prepared to prevent and respond more equitably to infectious diseases and the next pandemic threat.  Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization



The 2022 Global Citizen Festival and the End Extreme Poverty NOW campaign are supported by a coalition of the worlds leading brands and companies including Global Partners Accenture, Cisco, Citi, Delta Air Lines, Harith General Partners, P&G, Verizon and YouTube. Global Citizen Festival: NYC Campaign Partner, World Wide Technology, has deepened their commitment to sustainability by signing the UNs Race to Zero in line with the Science Based Targets initiative, answering Global Citizens call on corporations to make science-based targets.



As Patron of Global Citizens work in Africa, Tshepo Mahloele, Founder & Executive, of Harith General Partners, supports Global Citizens growth across Africa to reach more audiences and help achieve equity in places with high rates of extreme poverty. Global Citizen Festival: NYC is also honored to have the support of Mayor Adams, 110th Mayor of New York City.



Co-chairs of Global Citizen and of this campaign include: Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture; Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco; Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi; Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines; Lorraine Twohill, CMO of Google; Marc Pritchard, CBO of P&G; and Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon. Global Citizens co-chairs are private sector leaders making commitments in support of the UNs Global Goals. They support Global Citizens campaigns while helping to drive deeper engagement within the private sector.



Policy partners supporting the campaign include: Action Against Hunger, ALLIED, BRAC, Ban Ki Moon Center for Global Citizens, Center for Environmental Peacebuilding, CGIAR, CIVICUS, charity: water, Conservation International, EarthRights, Education Cannot Wait, Focus 2030, Ford Foundation, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, Freedom House, Front Line Defenders, Fund for Global Human Rights, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, Gerando Falcoes, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Global Health Advocates France, Legal Empowerment Fund, International Disability Alliance, IFAD, International Organization for Migration, International Rescue Committee, International Service for Human Rights, LISC, Namati, NPX, One Acre Fund, OutRight Action International, Pandemic Action Network, Peoples Vaccine Alliance, Peace Boat, Re:wild, Rotary International, Science Based Target initiative, Social Gastronomy Movement, UN Foundation, UNFPA, UN Joint SDG Fund, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Benchmarking Alliance, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, World Health Organization, and WHO Foundation.



Global Citizen Festival has gratefully received in-kind support from leading media companies, including: AIM GROUP, Bandsintown, BellaNaija, Billboard, Boo! Media, Branded Cities, Captivate, Clear Channel Outdoor, DDP Outdoor, Global OOH, GSTV, The Hollywood Reporter, iHeartRadio, Intersection, Interstate Outdoor, JC Decaux, MX, New Tradition, OAAA, Orange Barrel Media, Penske Media, Rolling Stone, Seen Media, Six Flags Theme Parks, Spotify, Variety, VIBE, Volta, The Wall Street Journal and YFM.



Tickets to the festivals are free and can be earned by downloading the Global Citizen app or visiting www.globalcitizen.org to take action on the campaigns issues. For each action taken, users earn points that can be redeemed for tickets to the festivals.



For more information about the 2022 Global Citizen Festival, visit www.globalcitizen.org, and follow @glblctzn on Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and YouTube.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Phyllotreta striolata, striped flea beetle. Credit: Robert Webster / xpda.com /Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA-4.0

Machine learning has now been used to identify important pests that can ravage vegetable crops, according to work published in the International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing.

Changzhen Zhang of Kaili University in Guizhou, Yaowen Ye, Deqin Xiao, Long Qi, and Jianjun Yin of the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, China point out that effective pest control requires knowledge of the species affecting the plants and the level of infestation. The team has used a so-called "bag-of-features" model to develop an automatic pest monitoring system has been. They explain that their approach combines remote information processing technology and machine vision technology.

The proposed system can be implemented in a vegetable crop field to monitor four major pests: Phyllotreta striolata (the Striped Flea Beetle, a pest of brassicas), Frankliniella occidentalis (the invasive Western Flower Thrips, feeds on some 500 or more different species of vegetable, fruit, and flower), Bemisia tabaci (the Tobacco White Fly, which affects tomato and other related plants), and Plutella xylostella (the diamond-back moth, a pest of cruciform crops).

The team demonstrated an error rate of less than 10% when compared with detection and counting by people trained to spot the pests. Given that B. tabaci can reduce tomato crop yields by 60% so the detection of such species is critical to efficient and effective farming. The other species mentioned can all affect a wide variety of crops with devastating consequences when infestation is allowed to run rampant.

The team has demonstrated success in a controlled environment. The next step will be to test the system and improve its abilities in a more complex and realistic vegetable-growing environment.

Explore further Researchers use science of light to reduce pesticides used to protect crops from pests and diseases

More information: Changzhen Zhang et al, Rapid detection and identification of major vegetable pests based on machine learning, International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing (2022). Changzhen Zhang et al, Rapid detection and identification of major vegetable pests based on machine learning,(2022). DOI: 10.1504/IJWMC.2022.124813
Ultrasound induced microbubbles mediate bioadhesion. Credit: Zhenwei Ma

Researchers have discovered that they can control the stickiness of adhesive bandages using ultrasound waves and bubbles. This breakthrough could lead to new advances in medical adhesives, especially in cases where adhesives are difficult to apply such as on wet skin.

"Bandages, glues, and stickers are common bioadhesives that are used at home or in clinics. However, they don't usually adhere well on wet skin. It's also challenging to control where they are applied and the strength and duration of the formed adhesion," says McGill University Professor Jianyu Li, who led the research team of engineers, physicists, chemists, and clinicians.

"We were surprised to find that by simply playing around with ultrasonic intensity, we can control very precisely the stickiness of adhesive bandages on many tissues," says lead author Zhenwei Ma, a former student of Professor Li and now a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia.

Ultrasound induced bubbles control stickiness

In collaboration with physicists Professor Outi Supponen and Claire Bourquard from the Institute of Fluid Dynamics at ETH Zurich, the team experimented with ultrasound induced microbubbles to make adhesives stickier. "The ultrasound induces many microbubbles, which transiently push the adhesives into the skin for stronger bioadhesion," says Professor Supponen. "We can even use theoretical modeling to estimate exactly where the adhesion will happen."

Their study, published in the journal Science, shows that the adhesives are compatible with living tissue in rats. The adhesives can also potentially be used to deliver drugs through the skin. "This paradigm-shifting technology will have great implications in many branches of medicine," says University of British Columbia Professor Zu-hua Gao. "We're very excited to translate this technology for applications in clinics for tissue repair, cancer therapy, and precision medicine."

"By merging mechanics, materials and biomedical engineering, we envision the broad impact of our bioadhesive technology in wearable devices, wound management, and regenerative medicine," says Professor Li, who is also a Canada Research Chair in Biomaterials and Musculoskeletal Health.

More information: Zhenwei Ma et al, Controlled tough bioadhesion mediated by ultrasound, Science (2022). Journal information: Science Zhenwei Ma et al, Controlled tough bioadhesion mediated by ultrasound,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abn8699
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Donald Trump derided any critical news coverage as "fake news" and his unwillingness to concede the 2020 presidential election eventually led to the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

For years, radio host Alex Jones denounced the parents of children slaughtered in the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newton, Connecticut as "crisis actors." On August 5, 2022, he was ordered by a jury to pay more than US$49 million in damages to two families for defamation.

These are in no way isolated efforts to flood the world's media with dishonest information or malicious content. Governments, organizations and individuals are spreading disinformation for profit or to gain a strategic advantage.

But why is there so much disinformation? And what can we do to protect ourselves?

Three far-reaching reasons

Three schools of thought have emerged to address this issue. The first suggests disinformation is so pervasive because distrust of traditional sources of authority, including the news media, keeps increasing. When people think the mainstream media is not holding industries and governments to account, they may be more likely to accept information that challenges conventional beliefs.

Second, social media platforms' focus on engagement often leads them to promote shocking claims that generate outrage, regardless of whether these claims are true. Indeed studies show false information on social media spreads further, faster and deeper than true information, because it is more novel and surprising.

Last, the role of hostile and deliberate disinformation tactics cannot be overlooked. Facebook estimates that during the 2016 U.S. election, malicious content from the Russian Internet Research Agency aimed at creating division within the American voting public reached 126 million people in the U.S. and worldwide.

The many shades of disinformation

This crisis of information is usually framed in terms of the diffusion of false information either intentionally (disinformation) or unwittingly (misinformation). However this approach misses significant forms of propaganda, including techniques honed during the Cold War.

Most Russian influence efforts on Twitter did not involve communicating content that was "demonstrably false." Instead, subtle, subversive examples of propaganda were common and unrelenting, including calling for the removal of American officials, purchasing divisive ads, and coordinating real life protests.

Sadly even misinformation spread unwittingly can have tragic consequences. In 2020, following Donald Trump's false claims that hydroxychloroquine showed "very encouraging results" against COVID-19 rapidly spread over social media, several people in Nigeria died from overdoses.

Responses to propaganda and disinformation

So how have various entities addressed both mis- and disinformation?

The Jones jury case and verdict is one example of how societies can counter disinformation. Being hauled into court and forced by a jury of your peers to shell out $49 million in damages would cause most people to verify what they're saying before they say it.

Governments and corporations have also taken significant steps to mitigate disinformation. In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU ceased retransmitting Russia Today, the well-known Russian state-controlled television network, and it is now no longer available in Europe or in Africa.

The EUvsDisinfo project has countered Russian propaganda and addressed "the Russian Federation's ongoing disinformation campaigns affecting the European Union, its Member States, and countries in the shared neighborhood" since 2015. In 2022 Google followed suit, launching its Russia-Ukraine ConflictMisinfo Dashboard, which lists dubious claims related to the invasion and fact-checks their veracity.

Wikipedia as anti-propaganda?

Ordinary citizens have several avenues to counter disinformation as well. Information literacy is typically framed as an individual responsibility, but Swedish scholars Jutta Haider and Olof Sundin point out that "a shared sense of truth requires societal trust, especially institutional trust, at least as an anticipated ideal."

How can we re-create a common sense of truth? Wikipediathe freely accessible online encyclopedia where knowledge is collectively producedis a good place to start.

Wikipedia has community-enforced policies on neutrality and verifiability. Anyone can edit a Wikipedia page, but countless administrators, users and automated type-setting "bots" ensure these edits are as correct as possible. Modifications and disputes about article content are archived on the website and visible to all: the editorial process is transparent. With the possible exception of obscure topics where very few editors are involved, misinformation is weeded out fast.

Education is key

As information consumers, some important steps we can take to protect ourselves from disinformation include seeking out and reading a wide variety of sources and not sharing dubious content. Schools are doing their part to spread this message.

Notable initiatives in Australia include Camberwell Grammar School in Canterbury, Victoria where teachers have drawn on resources produced by ABC Education to teach their students how to identify credible news sources. And a University of Canberra pilot program using Stanford University's "lateral reading" principle is being trialed in three primary and secondary ACT schools this year. The program instructs participants to open another tab and check Wikipedia if they come across any unknown or dubious claims. If the claim is not verifiable, move on.

Such information education needs to be complemented with an awareness of democratic norms and values. And it should also incorporate a better understanding of the importance of privacy: the more we share about ourselves, the more likely we are to be targeted by disinformation campaigns.

Though disinformation may continue and even prosper in certain corners, our best lines of defense are ensuring we read information from multiple, credible sources; utilize fact-checking services; and are more discerning about what we read and share.

To put it simply, don't feed the trollsor the platforms where they thrive.

Explore further Critical thinking protecting Ukrainians against Russia's disinformation campaign

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The UK government has officially declared a drought in several parts of England.

The UK government on Friday officially declared a drought across swathes of England, following months of record low rainfall and unprecedented high temperatures in recent weeks.

At a meeting of the National Drought Group, the government's Environment Agency said the "drought trigger threshold had been met" in parts of southwestern, southern, central and eastern England.

Drought was last officially declared in England in 2018.

The agency has released a report noting that England had its driest July since 1935.

The Met Office, the UK's meteorological authority, said the period from January to June this year saw the least rainfall in England and Wales since 1976.

That summer saw the use of drastic measures such as roadside standpipes and water rationing.

This year's exceptional weather comes as France is also experiencing a record drought and battling huge wildfires.

The UK government said the move to drought status was based on factors such as rainfall, river flows and levels of groundwater and reservoirs and their impact on public water supply.

"We urge everyone to manage the amount of water they are using in this exceptionally dry period," National Drought Group chair, Harvey Bradshaw, said in a statement.

The Environment Agency and water companies "will step up their actions to manage impacts" and press ahead with their published drought plans, including measures like hosepipe bans.

It stressed that "essential supplies of water are safe."

'Extreme heat'

England and parts of Wales are severely parched and three water companiesWelsh Water, Southern Water and South East Waterhave all imposed hosepipe bans, while several others are set to follow suit.

Every month of the year except February has been drier than average, according to the Met Office.

Satellite images from July released by NASA showed dried-up brown areas extending across most of southern England and up the northeastern coast.

The source of the River Thames has dried up, and now starts from a point several miles downstream.

Meetings of the National Drought Group are convened by the Environment Agency, which monitors water levels in rivers and ground water.

The group is made up of senior decision-makers from the government and water companies, along with other affected groups such as farmers.

Water minister Steve Double said the government had "made it clear" to water companies that "it is their duty" to maintain essential supplies.

"We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment," he added.

'Leaks'

But critics have pointed to the billions of litres lost daily by the private water firms, whose top management are paid millions of pounds annually and which regularly pay out dividends to shareholders.

"They should actually get their fingers into action," said Claire Connarty, 61, as she visited a plant nursery in Kent, southeast of Londonwhere a hosepipe ban came into force Friday.

"They've got leaks all over the place but then they tell us to limit our water (use)."

Fellow shopper Barry Martin, 62, was more sympathetic, noting that leaks were inevitable and that he was trying to limit his own wasteincluding by having buckets in his shower to catch excess water.

"I try not to waste," the retiree told AFP, adding that as he is on a water meter it helps keep his bills down as well as to preserve an increasingly precious resource.

The Met Office on Tuesday issued an amber warning of "extreme heat" in parts of England and Wales Thursday to Sunday, predicting possible impacts on health, transport and infrastructure.

Temperatures were expected to peak in the mid-30s Celsius on Friday and the weekend, after which some showers and thunderstorms were forecast.

Temperatures were not expected to hit the record levels seen in July, when a temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in Lincolnshire in northeastern England on July 20, during an unprecedented heatwave.

The National Climate Information Centre said that such high temperatures in the UK were only possible due to human-induced climate change.

Explore further UK meteorologists, water firms issue warnings as extreme heatwave looms

 2022 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

New research by Dr. Bridget Pratt at ACU's Queensland Bioethics Center argues that global health aidthe delivery of health services to underserved populations in resourcepoor areas of the worldshould be sustainable as a matter of climate justice and solidarity.

The health care sector is responsible for 4.4% of the world's greenhouse gases.

No estimates currently exist for the environmental footprint generated by global health practices, but it generates substantial emissions through models of care, transport, procurement, waste generation, and infrastructure energy and water use.

Dr. Pratt said the delivery of health services to low and middle-income countries should be more sustainable to reduce the impact of climate change.

"We are in the midst of a crisis of climate change and environmental degradation that will only get worse, unless significant changes are rapidly made," Dr. Pratt said.

"Sustainable health care has emerged as a way for health care sectors in affluent countries to help mitigate climate change by reducing their emissions.

"But there has been a lack of consideration about our ethical responsibility to reduce the environmental footprint of global health aid.

"Reducing climate change-related risks and harms for the vulnerable is integral to the mission of global health and it is vital to consider the climate impact of its practice.

"The people the field of global health is trying to help are the ones experiencing the greatest climate changerelated impacts on their health and wellbeing.

"These effects are occurring now and are predicted to worsen, from increasing chronic undernutrition, respiratory impacts, heat stroke and death.

"The field has a duty to provide sustainable health services that are responsive to climate change."

Dr. Pratt said part of the solution was to provide more sustainable health care and build a global low-emissions health care infrastructure in low and middle-income countries.

This could include eliminating redundant tests, prescribing drugs with lower carbon footprints, embracing telehealth to reduce travel, procuring goods and services locally and reducing reliance on single use plastics.

Dr. Pratt is an ethics researcher and the mater lecturer/senior lecturer in health care ethics at Queensland Bioethics Center, Australian Catholic University. Her research on the ethics of sustainable global health practice was published in Bioethics.

Explore further Poor must not shoulder responsibility for reducing health care carbon emissions

More information: Bridget Pratt, Sustainable global health practice: An ethical imperative?, Bioethics (2022). Bridget Pratt, Sustainable global health practice: An ethical imperative?,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/bioe.13071

Provided by Australian Catholic University
Chef Keo Seuamsothabandith prepares dishes for pickup and delivery through the family business Laos To Your House in the kitchen rental space at City View Loft on Aug. 11, 2022, in Chicago. The virtual restaurant offers pickup and delivery of traditional Lao cuisine every other Thursday. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

If youre looking to experience what may be Chicagos only project dedicated to the food of Laos, youll need to make your way to a mostly barren, industrial block on the West Side. Thats where youll find a commercial kitchen where Stacy Seuamsothabandith, her husband, Byron Gully, and her brother Keo Seuamsothabandith dish out pickup orders every other Thursday for their project, Laos to Your House.

Although theyre excited to offer Chicagoans the chance to experience traditional Laotian dishes like seen savanh (a dried beef dish) and sai oua (a flavorful pork sausage), they believe they have a much bigger mission. Laos is kind of a forgotten Asian country, Stacy Seuamsothabandith said. So we started with: How do we teach people about our cuisine and culture?

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Chef Keo Seuamsothabandith prepares dishes for pickup and delivery. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

To cater to those new to the cuisine, they are presenting some of the dishes in popular formats. So youll find bento boxes along with an enormous platter of different meats and salads, which they call a LAOcuterie board.

The website for Laos to Your House offers far more information than just a menu. Youll find a detailed history of the cuisine, along with videos of how to eat certain popular foods. (Many dishes are traditionally eaten by first picking up some sticky rice and then scooping up other food.)

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Seuamsothabandith said the mission to help spread Lao cuisine came from her parents. They fled Laos once the Pathet Lao communist party took control in 1975. After a few years in a refugee camp in Thailand, they moved to the United States, eventually settling in the Quad Cities area. (Despite its name, the Quad Cities now refers to five towns on the Iowa and Illinois border. In alphabetical order: Bettendorf, Davenport, East Moline, Moline and Rock Island.)

After college at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Seuamsothabandith was excited to move to Chicago, but she was surprised to find an almost complete lack of Lao food. Although she could find some dishes at a few Northern Thai restaurants, she couldnt find a single restaurant that specialized in the cuisine. With Chicago being such a huge market, how do we not have a Lao restaurant here? Seuamsothabandith said. However, she did point out that there are Lao restaurants in Elgin (White Pearl Restaurant) and Rockford (Lao Kitchen).

Chef Keo Seuamsothabandith cuts Lao brisket as he prepares dishes for pickup and delivery. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Seuamsothabandith admitted she can cook only a few dishes, but her parents and her brother ran food trucks in the Quad Cities area. She thinks Laos to Your House can appeal to two audiences. Chicagos such an open-minded market, Seuamsothabandith said. There are so many kinds of cuisines and a huge desire for people to try them. But theres also a market for people who cant cook, but miss mom and dads cooking.

Though her husband, Byron Gully, didnt grow up eating Lao food, hes excited to help. I never thought Id help bring the cuisine of Laos to Chicago, Gully said. Seuamsothabandith credits him with building the website and creating instructional videos.

Laos to Your House has been operating only for a few weeks, but Seuamsothabandith and Gully have been impressed by the response. Obviously, orders from family and friends are great, but to connect with people we didnt know with this food is amazing, Gully said.

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Currently, the three are still working full-time at other jobs, which has led to some long nights. The mission really moves us to keep leaning in and investing time, Gully said. When you find something you are passionate about, it doesnt feel like work.

Stacy Seuamsothabandith and her husband, Byron Gully, prepare dishes for pickup and delivery. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Its a lot of hard work, but its fun hard work, Seuamsothabandith said.

Which leads to the obvious question: Are they going to eventually open a permanent Lao restaurant?

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I would answer that we are going to do what the mission dictates, Gully said. Chicago is the third largest city in the country, and we are trying to help make Laos no longer a forgotten country. However we can best fulfill that mission is our goal.

Laos to Your House is available every other Thursday. Place your order at least two days before the pickup date. Anyone can order pickup, and delivery is available through DoorDash if you live within 5 miles of the kitchen at 324 N. Leavitt St. Visit laostoyourhouse.com to learn more and place your order.

nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com

Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
The $4.2 billion dam has been at the centre of a regional dispute ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011.

Ethiopia announced Friday it has completed the third filling of its mega-dam on the Blue Nile, a new milestone that could raise further tensions with downstream neighbours Egypt and Sudan.

The development comes a day after Ethiopia said it had launched electricity production from the second turbine at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the northwest of the country.

"Today as you see behind me, the third filling is complete," Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said from the dam site in images broadcast on state television.

"The Nile is a gift of God given to us for Ethiopians to make use of it."

The massive $4.2 billion dam, set to be the largest hydro-electric scheme in Africa, has been at the centre of a regional dispute ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011.

There is still no agreement between Ethiopia and its downstream neighbours Egypt and Sudan about the GERD's operations despite talks held under the auspices of the African Union.

Cairo and Khartoum view it as a threat because of their dependence on Nile waters.

But Ethiopia deems it essential for the electrification and development of Africa's second most populous nation.

It was one of Africa's fastest growing economies in recent years until war broke out in northern Ethiopia in November 2020 between federal government forces and Tigrayan rebels.

'Gifted nations'

There was no immediate reaction from Egypt or Sudan about Friday's development.

But Egypt, an arid nation which relies on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, last month protested to the UN Security Council that the third filling was under way.

Map of East Africa showing the Nile and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Abiy nevertheless sought to reassure Egypt and Sudan over the impact of dam.

"When we set out to build a dam on the Nile, we said from the beginning that we did not want to make the river our own," he said on Twitter.

"We hope that just like Ethiopia, the other gifted nations of the Nile, Sudan and Egypt, will get to utilise their share."

On Thursday, he had called for negotiations to reach an understanding on the dam but insisted the third filling was not causing any water shortages downstream.

The process of filling the GERD's vast reservoir began in 2020 and it now contains 22 billion cubic metres of water out of a total capacity of 74 billion.

"Compared to last year, we have reached 600 metres which is 25 metres higher than the previous filling," Abiy said Friday.

Almost complete

Ethiopia first began generating electricity from the GERD in February. Currently, the two operational turbines, out of a total of 13, have a capacity to generate 750 megawatts of electricity.

It is ultimately expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, more than doubling Ethiopia's current output.

Project manager Kifle Horo said Thursday that overall the dam was now more than 83 percent complete and that the goal was for it to be finished in the next two and a half years.

The structure is 145-metres (475 feet) high and 1.8 kilometres long, straddling the Nile tributary in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of northwestern Ethiopia, not far from the border with Sudan.

The project was initiated under former prime minister Meles Zenawi, the Tigrayan leader who ruled Ethiopia for more than two decades until his death in 2012.

Explore further Ethiopia starts power generation from second turbine at mega-dam

 2022 AFP
Boats lay on the dried lake bed in a port in Velence, Hungary, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Anna Szilagyi, File

Once, a river ran through it. Now, white dust and thousands of dead fish cover the wide trench that winds amid rows of trees in France's Burgundy region in what was the Tille River in the village of Lux.

From dry and cracked reservoirs in Spain to falling water levels on major arteries like the Danube, the Rhine and the Po, an unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of Europe. It is damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions, causing wildfires and threatening aquatic species.

There has been no significant rainfall for almost two months in the continent's western, central and southern regions. In typically rainy Britain, the government officially declared a drought across southern and central England on Friday amid one of the hottest and driest summers on record.

And Europe's dry period is expected to continue in what experts say could be the worst drought in 500 years.

Climate change is exacerbating conditions as hotter temperatures speed up evaporation, thirsty plants take in more moisture and reduced snowfall in the winter limits supplies of fresh water available for irrigation in the summer. Europe isn't alone in the crisis, with drought conditions also reported in East Africa, the western United States and northern Mexico.

A sign on a fence near the dried-up river Tille says 'Swimming is Forbidden' in Lux, France, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

As he walked in the 15-meter (50-foot) wide riverbed in Lux, Jean-Philippe Couasne, chief technician at the local Federation for Fishing and Protection of the Aquatic Environment, listed the species of fish that had died in the Tille.

"It's heartbreaking," he said. "On average, about 8,000 liters (2,100 gallons) per second are flowing. ... And now, zero liters."

In areas upstream, some trout and other freshwater species can take shelter in pools via fish ladders. But such systems aren't available everywhere.

Without rain, the river "will continue to empty. And yes, all fish will die. ... They are trapped upstream and downstream, there's no water coming in, so the oxygen level will keep decreasing as the (water) volume goes down," Couasne said. "These are species that will gradually disappear."

A view of a dry lake bed near the village of Conoplja, 150 kilometers north-west of Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Water shortages reduced Serbia's hydropower production. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File

Jean-Pierre Sonvico, the regional head of the federation, said diverting the fish to other rivers won't help because those waterways also are affected.

"Yes, it's dramatic because what can we do? Nothing," he said. "We're waiting, hoping for storms with rain, but storms are very local so we can't count on it."

The European Commission's Joint Research Center warned this week that drought conditions will get worse and potentially affect 47% of the continent.

Andrea Toreti, a senior researcher at the European Drought Observatory, said a drought in 2018 was so extreme that there were no similar events for the last 500 years, "but this year, I think, it is really worse."

For the next three months, "we see still a very high risk of dry conditions over Western and Central Europe, as well as the U.K.," Toreti said.

A dead fish skeleton laying on the cracking earth of a dry lake bed near the village of Conoplja, 150 kilometers north-west of Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Water shortages reduced Serbia's hydropower production. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File

Current conditions result from long periods of dry weather caused by changes in world weather systems, said meteorologist Peter Hoffmann of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research near Berlin.

"It's just that in summer we feel it the most," he said. "But actually the drought builds up across the year."

Climate change has lessened temperature differences between regions, sapping the forces that drive the jet stream, which normally brings wet Atlantic weather to Europe, he said.

A weaker or unstable jet stream can bring unusually hot air to Europe from North Africa, leading to prolonged periods of heat. The reverse is also true, when a polar vortex of cold air from the Arctic can cause freezing conditions far south of where it would normally reach.

Hoffmann said observations in recent years have all been at the upper end of what existing climate models predicted.

A tractor throws up a cloud of dust as it works in a sun-dried field in Til-Chatel, France, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

The drought has caused some European countries to restrict water usage, and shipping is endangered on the Rhine and the Danube rivers.

The Rhine, Germany's biggest waterway, is forecast to reach critically low levels in the coming days. Authorities say it could become difficult for many large ships to safely navigate the river at the city of Kaub, roughly midway between Koblenz and Mainz.

On the Danube, authorities in Serbia have started dredging to keep vessels moving.

In neighboring Hungary, wide parts of Lake Velence near Budapest have turned into patches of dried mud, beaching small boats. Aeration and water circulation equipment was installed to protect wildlife, but water quality has deteriorated. A weekend swimming ban was imposed at one beach.

Stretches of the Po, Italy's longest river, are so low that barges and boats that sank decades ago are resurfacing.

Farmer, Baptiste Colson, holds a clump of dried earth and grass as he stands in a sun-dried field in Moloy, France Wednesday Aug. 10, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

Italy's Lake Garda has fallen to its lowest levels ever, and people who flocked to the popular spot east of Milan at the start of a long summer weekend found a newly exposed shoreline of bleached rocks with a yellow hue. Authorities recently released more water from the lake, Italy's largest, to help with irrigation, but halted the effort to protect the lucrative tourist season.

The drought also has affected England, which last month had its driest July since 1935, according to the Met Office weather agency. The lack of rain has depleted reservoirs, rivers and groundwater and left grasslands brown and tinder-dry.

Millions in the U.K. already were barred from watering lawns and gardens, and 15 million more around London will face such a ban soon.

U.K. farmers face running out of irrigation water and having to use winter feed for animals because of a lack of grass. The Rivers Trust charity said England's chalk streamswhich allow underground springs to bubble up through the spongy layer of rockare drying up, endangering aquatic wildlife like kingfishers and trout.

Dead fish lay on the dried-up bed of the river Tille in Lux, France, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

Even countries like Spain and Portugal, which are used to long periods without rain, have seen major consequences. In the Spanish region of Andalucia, some avocado farmers have had to sacrifice hundreds of trees to save others from wilting as the Vinuela reservoir in Malaga province dropped to only 13% of capacity.

Some European farmers are using water from the tap for their livestock when ponds and streams go dry, using up to 100 liters (26 gallons) a day per cow.

In normally green Burgundy, the source of Paris' Seine River, the grass has turned yellow-brown and tractors churn up giant clouds of dust.

Baptiste Colson, who owns dairy cows and grows feed crops in the village of Moloy, said his animals are suffering, with the quality and quantity of their milk decreasing. The 31-year-old head of the local Young Farmers union said he has been forced to dip into his winter fodder in August.

Wilted sunflowers in a field near the village of Conoplja, 150 kilometers north-west of Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Drought in Serbia have led to forecasts for this year's harvests being reduced. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File

A paddle boarder passes through a drying portion of the Verdon Gorge in southern France, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. France was in the midst of its fourth heat wave of the year Monday as the country faces what the government warned is its worst drought on record. Credit: AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File

Dead fish lay on the dried-up bed of the river Tille in Lux, France, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

A goose looks for water in the dried bed of Lake Velence in Velence, Hungary, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Anna Szilagyi, File

The sun beats down on the dried-up bed of the river Tille in Lux, France, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

A view the dried-up river Tille in Lux, France, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

A tractor throws up a cloud of dust as it works in a sun-dried field in Til-Chatel, France, Tuesday Aug. 9, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

Cows eat whatever green vegetation remains in a sun-dried field in Moloy, Burgundy region, France Wednesday Aug. 10, 2022. Burgundy, home to the source of the Seine River which runs through Paris, normally is a very green region. This year, grass turned yellow, depriving livestock from fresh food, and tractors send giant clouds of dust in the air as farmers work in their dry fields. Credit: AP Photo/Nicholas Garriga

The dried riverbed of the Po river in Sermide, Italy, Thursday, Aug.11, 2022. The river Po runs 652 kilometers (405 miles) from the northwestern city of Turin to Venice. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Luigi Navarra, File

The river Rhine is pictured with low water in Cologne, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File

Horses graze next to a tree that fell years ago on the dried out meadow of a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Michael Probst

A motorcycle drives through the lavender fields of Valensole during a hot day in southern France, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. France was in the midst of its fourth heat wave of the year Monday as the country faces what the government warned is its worst drought on record. Credit: AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File

People take photos on the southern tip of Margaret Island, which can be seen due to low water level of the River Danube. in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. An unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of the European continent, damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions and threatening aquatic species. Water levels are falling on major rivers such as the Danube, the Rhine and the Po. Credit: AP Photo/Anna Szilagyi, File

A sunbather stands in front of the receding water line of the Verdon Gorge, southern France, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. France was in the midst of its fourth heat wave of the year Monday as the country faces what the government warned is its worst drought on record. Credit: AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File

Boats lie on the dried riverbed at a tourist dock along the Po river in Sermide, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. The river Po runs 652 kilometers (405 miles) from the northwestern city of Turin to Venice. Credit: AP Photo/Luigi Navarra, File

Dry and sun burnt grass spreads in Greenwich Park with the backdrop of Queens House and the high risers of Canary Wharf in London, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Britain is braced for another heatwave that will last longer than July's record-breaking hot spell, with highs of up to 35 C expected next week. Credit: AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File

People take a stroll on the river bed of the Waal as water levels dropped because of drought in Nijmegen, Netherlands, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. In parts of the country a ban on daytime irrigation of agricultural land has been issued because of extreme drought. Credit: AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File

A boat laying on a dry bank of river Danube after a long time of drought near the village of Cortanovci, 50 kilometers north-west of Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File

"That is the biggest concern," Colson said.

EU corn production is expected to be 12.5 million tons below last year and sunflower production is projected to be 1.6 million tons lower, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Colson expects at least a 30% drop in corn yields, a major problem for feeding his cows.

"We know we'll have to buy food ... so the cows can continue producing milk," he said. "From an economic point of view, the cost will be high."

Explore further France struggles with drought over punishing summer of heat

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Chaparral Fire in 2021. Credit: Jeff Hall/CalFire

A team led by Kristen Guirguis, a climate researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, found evidence that the risk of hazardous weather is increasing in the Southwest.

The researchers investigated the daily relationships among four major modes of weather affecting California. How they interact governs the formation of weather events such as atmospheric rivers capable of bringing torrential rains and Santa Ana winds that can spread devastating wildfires.

"This study suggests that weather patterns are changing in a way that enhances hot, dry Santa Ana winds, while reducing precipitation frequency in the Southwest," said Guirguis. "These changes in atmospheric circulation are raising the risk of wildfires during California winters."

The study, "Winter wetdry weather patterns driving atmospheric rivers and Santa Ana winds provide evidence for increasing wildfire hazard in California," was published in the journal Climate Dynamics July 17, 2022.

The basis of the research was an examination of the dominant atmospheric circulation patterns over the North Pacific Ocean, known as Baja-Pacific, Alaskan-Pacific, Canadian-Pacific, and Offshore-California modes. What distinguishes them from each other are the relative positions of ridges and troughs in the atmosphere.

The research team identified 16 recurring weather patterns that are created daily as these modes interact with each other. One product of the work was a summary of California weather patterns from 1949 to 2017. The patterns associated with the formation of dry gusty Santa Ana winds that often stoke Southern California fires are becoming more frequent. Patterns associated with what might be considered "normal" rainfall are decreasing in the Southwest thus promoting drought, but patterns associated with extreme precipitation and strong atmospheric river episodes have remained steady over the study period. The researchers noted that while the patterns associated with heavy precipitation and strong atmospheric rivers have not changed in frequency, a warmer atmosphere is capable of holding more water so these storms are becoming more damaging.

The results suggest an increasing probability of compounding environmental hazards during California winters, said the research team. Though winter atmospheric rivers are the antithesis of hot, dry Santa Ana wind conditions, sequences of wildfires followed by strong atmospheric rivers often compound the damage from fires when they trigger flash floods and destructive debris flows from burn scars.

"This spells challenges for wildfire and water resource management and provides observational support to our previous results projecting that California will increasingly have to depend on potentially hazardous atmospheric rivers and floodwater for water resource generation in a warming climate," said study co-author Alexander Gershunov, a Scripps Oceanography climate scientist.

Study authors say this work is helping to inform an experimental subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) forecast product being developed at Scripps Oceanography's Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) that predicts extreme weather in California including atmospheric river landfalls, Santa Ana winds, drought, and heat waves.

Explore further What causes compound wind and precipitation extremes across the Indo-Pacific?

More information: Kristen Guirguis et al, Winter wetdry weather patterns driving atmospheric rivers and Santa Ana winds provide evidence for increasing wildfire hazard in California, Climate Dynamics (2022). Journal information: Climate Dynamics Kristen Guirguis et al, Winter wetdry weather patterns driving atmospheric rivers and Santa Ana winds provide evidence for increasing wildfire hazard in California,(2022). DOI: 10.1007/s00382-022-06361-7
Summaries of hybrid speciation in unisexual whiptail lizards. Primary hybridization (i.e., a hybridization event between two diploid sexual species that is associated with transition to unisexual reproduction) precedes genome addition (i.e., ploidy elevation) (left). Sexual species associated with each process are indicated. Colored bars in STRUCTURE plot (each representing data for a single lizard) show estimates of the genome-wide proportion of genetic ancestry derived from sexual parental species for each unisexual individual. Violin plots show 95% confidence intervals for formation time estimates of diploid unisexual lineages. kya, thousand years ago. Photo is of Aspidoscelis deppii, a sexual species that is both an ancestor of the parthenogenetic lineage Aspidoscelis cozumelus and has been involved in introgressive hybridization with Aspidoscelis guttatus (photo credit: A.J.B.). Credit: Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abn1593

A quartet of researchers, two from the U.S. and two from Mexico, found evidence that suggests divergence time between ancestral parents can be used to predict the effects of hybridizationat least in lizards. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their phylogenetic network study of whiptail lizards.

Prior research has shown that despite being unisex creatures (they are all female), whiptail lizards still have genetic diversity. The researchers with this new effort noted that this is not the case with other unisex creaturesmost just make clones of themselves. Prior research has also shown that hybridization in a species arises due to a variety of factors, such as random behavioral changes that lead to more offspring, or simply as a means to increase genetic diversity, which has been shown to reduce birth defects. Hybridization can lead to both genetic diversity and/or the development of a new species.

To learn more about the whiptail lizard and its unique reproductive habits, the researchers used a phylogenetic network as a means of tracing its ancestry. Creating it involved tracing back the history of the lizard species and allowed the researchers to see where genetic divergence led to a unisex lineage. The researchers observed that a certain amount of time is required before divergence in a species can lead to the development of a unisex creature such as the whiptail lizard. Put another way, they suggest a certain degree of genetic distance between parental genomes must exist before a change as drastic as the evolution of a unisex lizard can develop. In the case of the whiptail lizard, the researchers calculated that time span to be approximately 10 million years.

The researchers suggest their work can be used to support a model that describes the process of divergence and the changes that occur in a species as it continues to evolve. And such a model could be used to explain why, or even how, hybridization can lead to such diverse outcomesfrom increases in genetic diversity to the development of a new species. They also suggest the model could be used to predict the evolutionary outcome of certain creatures.

Explore further Asexual reproduction leads to harmful genetic mutations

More information: Anthony J. Barley et al, The evolutionary network of whiptail lizards reveals predictable outcomes of hybridization, Science (2022). Journal information: Science Anthony J. Barley et al, The evolutionary network of whiptail lizards reveals predictable outcomes of hybridization,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abn1593

 2022 Science X Network
Illustration of LCRD relaying data from ILLUMA-T on the International Space Station to a ground station on Earth. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Dave Ryan

NASA uses lasers to send information to and from Earth, employing invisible beams to traverse the skies, sending terabytes of datapictures and videosto increase our knowledge of the universe. This capability is known as laser, or optical, communications, even though these eye-safe, infrared beams can't be seen by human eyes.

"We are thrilled by the promise laser communications will offer in the coming years," says Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator and program manager for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "These missions and demonstrations usher in NASA's new Decade of Light in which NASA will work with other government agencies and the commercial sector to dramatically expand future communications capabilities for space exploration and enable vibrant and robust economic opportunities."

Laser communications systems provide missions with increased data rates, meaning they can send and receive more information in a single transmission compared to traditional radio waves. Additionally, the systems are lighter, more flexible, and more secure. Laser communications can supplement radio frequency communications, which most NASA missions use today.

Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD)

On Dec. 7, 2021, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) launched into orbit, about 22,000 miles from Earth to test the capabilities of laser communications. LCRD is the agency's first technology demonstration of a two-way laser relay system. Now that LCRD is in orbit, NASA's laser communications advancements continue.

LCRD experimenters program

In May 2022, NASA certified that LCRD is ready to conduct experiments. These experiments are testing and refining laser systemsthe mission's overall goal. Experiments provided by NASA, other government agencies, academia, and industry are measuring the long-term effects of the atmosphere on laser communications signals; assessing the technology's applicability for future missions; and testing on-orbit laser relay capabilities.

"We will start receiving some experiment results almost immediately, while others are long-term and will take time for trends to emerge during LCRD's two-year experiment period," said Rick Butler, project lead for the LCRD experimenters program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "LCRD will answer the aerospace industry's questions about laser communications as an operational option for high bandwidth applications."

Illustration of TBIRD downlinking data over lasers links to Optical Ground Station 1 in California. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Dave Ryan

"The program is still looking for new experiments, and anyone who is interested should reach out," said Butler. "We are tapping into the laser communications community and these experiments will show how optical will work for international organizations, industry, and academia."

NASA is continuing to accept proposals for new experiments to help refine optical technologies, increase knowledge, and identify future applications.

LCRD will even relay data submitted by the public shortly after its launch in the form of New Year's resolutions shared with NASA social media accounts. These resolutions will be transmitted from a ground station in California and relayed through LCRD to another ground station located in Hawaii as yet another demonstration of LCRD's capabilities.

TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD)

Recently following LCRD, the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) payload launched on May 25, 2022, as part of the Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 (PTD-3) mission, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on SpaceX's Transporter-5 rideshare mission. TBIRD will showcase 200-gigabit-per-second data downlinksthe highest optical rate ever achieved by NASA.

TBIRD is continuing NASA's optical communications infusion by demonstrating the benefits lasers communications could have for near-Earth science missions that capture important data and large detailed images. TBIRD is sending back terabytes of data in a single pass, demonstrating the benefits of higher bandwidth, and giving NASA more insight into the capabilities of laser communications on small satellites. TBIRD is the size of a tissue box!

"In the past, we've designed our instruments and spacecraft around the constraint of how much data we can get down or back from space to Earth," said TBIRD Project Manager Beth Keer. "With optical communications, we're blowing that out of the water as far as the amount of data we can bring back. It is truly a game-changing capability."

NASA's laser communications mission timeline. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Dave Ryan

Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T)

Launching in early 2023 in the Dragon trunk of SpaceX's 27th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station, the Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) will bring laser communications to the orbiting laboratory and empower astronauts living and working there with enhanced data capabilities.

ILLUMA-T will gather information from experiments aboard the station and send the data to LCRD at 1.2 gigabits per second. At this rate, a feature-length movie could be downloaded in under a minute. LCRD will then relay this information down to ground stations in Hawaii or California.

"ILLUMA-T and LCRD will work together to become the first laser system to demonstrate low-Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit to ground communications links," said Chetan Sayal, project manager for ILLUMA-T at NASA Goddard.

Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O)

The Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O) will bring laser communications to the Moon aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II mission. O2O will be capable of transmitting high-resolution images and video when astronauts return to the lunar region for the first time in over 50 years. Artemis II will be the first crewed lunar flight to demonstrate laser communications technologies, sending data to Earth with a downlink rate of up to 260 megabits per second.

"By infusing new laser communications technologies into the Artemis missions, we're empowering our astronauts with more access to data than ever before," said O2O Project Manager Steve Horowitz. "The higher the data rates, the more information our instruments can send home to Earth, and the more science our lunar explorers can perform."

NASA's laser communications endeavors extend into deep space as well. Currently, NASA is working on a future terminal that could test laser communications against extreme distances and challenging pointing constraints.

Whether bringing laser communications to near-Earth missions, the Moon, or deep space, the infusion of optical systems will be integral for future NASA missions. Laser communications' higher data rates will enable exploration and science missions to send more data back to Earth and discover more about the universe. NASA will be able to use information from images, video, and experiments to explore not just the near-Earth region, but to also prepare for future missions to Mars and beyond.
Escherichia coli. Credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH

Researchers at CU Boulder have developed and validated a new sensor for E. coli risk detection that features an impressive 83% accuracy rate when detecting contamination in surface waters.

The findings were recently published in Water Research and could improve detection of a variety of contaminants quickly and effectively in water systems around the globe and in America.

Emily Bedell (Ph.D.EnvEngr'22) is the lead author on the paper from the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering. She said about two billion people worldwide use a drinking water source that has some level of fecal matter in it and can cause health issues ranging from diarrhea to stunted growthespecially in young children.

"About 60% of all diarrheal deaths are related to water quality, globally," she said. "This is a real problem, but current methods for finding poop in drinking water are expensive, have high barriers to entry like extensive training requirements or can take about 24 hours to provide results. We have invented a sensor combined with a machine learning model that uses fluorescence to show fecal contamination spikes in real-time."

Both the sensor and machine learning model combination have been approved for a patent by the U.S. Patent Office.

Bedell said fluorescence works by shining a UV LED light source on a water sample and measuring the amount of light that is absorbed and re-emitted at a higher wavelength. That information can quickly show potential contamination, but it is sensitive to many environmental and physical factors such as sample temperature, which cause noise in the data and make it difficult to interpret.

"We use machine learning techniques to cut through that noise to better detect anomalies," Bedell said.

Fast and accurate assessment of water quality is a growing neednot only in low-income countries, but in situations like the Flint, Michigan water crisis where citizens were exposed to dangerous levels of lead from poor government policies.

Professor Evan Thomas, director of the Mortenson Center, is a co-author on the paper. He said climate change is also a factor in this discussion as more frequent power outages may impact treatment facility operations and severe weather could contaminate critical water sources.

"We are going to need more data on water quality, and we need it to be widely available," he said. "Taking measurements once a day will not be enough to ensure we are receiving water that doesn't have either biological or chemical contaminants that can harm us in both the short and long term."

Bedell is now employed as an engineer for Virridy in Boulder and is working on advancing the technology further. Ideally it will function in partnership with a larger home treatment system for those utilizing a private wellwhere water quality is not regulated by the EPAfor their drinking water.

"That sensor will be a miniaturized version of the design built in this paper and will be installed on a house's main water line coming from the well," she said. "The sensor's data will be sent through the user's WiFi to an online database where the machine learning model will be applied to predict risk level and send the information to a mobile app that will alert the user if contamination is detected."

Bedell said she has always been interested in the intersections of engineering, the environment and social equity and this research project really brought those aspects together during her time with the Mortenson Center.

"Water quality research hits on all those points in so many ways. With more data we can explicitly point out how and when communities are being harmed through environmental injustices so that the policies and practices put in place that caused the harm can be addressed," she said.

More information: Emily Bedell et al, A continuous, in-situ, near-time fluorescence sensor coupled with a machine learning model for detection of fecal contamination risk in drinking water: Design, characterization and field validation, Water Research (2022). Emily Bedell et al, A continuous, in-situ, near-time fluorescence sensor coupled with a machine learning model for detection of fecal contamination risk in drinking water: Design, characterization and field validation,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.118644
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

While the Asian monsoon brings rain that is vital for the agricultural economy of the vast region, it is also known to suck up into the upper atmosphere chemical pollutants that accelerate climate change.

Scientists are eagerly awaiting the results of a US-led international project that seeks to confirm earlier findings published in Science that pollutants generated by human activity get transported upwards by the monsoon system and impact atmospheric chemistry and, in turn, change climate.

Atmospheric chemistry is the study of the components of planetary atmospheres, which includes the tropospherethe layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earththe stratosphere and other upper atmosphere layers.

Laura Pan is a principal investigator on the project and a scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is leading the Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical and Climate Impact Project (ACCLIP) along with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACCLIP is investigating how gas and aerosol emissions affect global chemistry and climate.

"In recent decades, satellites have revealed that the monsoon creates a distinct layer of chemicals about 16 kilometers above the Earth, but we know very little about its composition and evolution," Pan told SciDev.Net.

"ACCLIP will give us an opportunity to sample what's there, but we know that whatever its composition, it connects to the climate."

Studying the skies

The month-long project involves scientists from Korea, Japan, Italy and Germany, who will focus on the powerful circulation of the monsoon and sample the chemical pollutants that are pulled upwards into the higher atmosphere where they affect rainfall over Asia in different waysleading to both floods and droughts.

Researchers, using aircraft based at the US air base in South Korea, will fly through areas with the worst air qualitywhich happen to be where the Asian monsoon occurs. Scientists believe that while rain pours downwards a wide range of chemical pollutants get sucked by wind systems into the upper atmosphere and that their reactions with one another are linked to climate change.

Evidence that the South Asian monsoon transports pollutants as high as the stratosphere was first available in 2015 when a similar experiment, using research aircraft flying into pollution hotspots, was carried out by the Germany-based Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the German Aerospace Centre.

The lifted air contains various chemicals and aerosols produced by industry, agriculture, vehicle emissions and other human-related activities, along with natural biological processes.

"Research conducted until now shows that the Asian summer monsoon lifts pollutant gases and aerosols from the boundary layer of Asia to the upper atmosphere. A part of these pollutants are transported higher into the stratosphere and horizontally to the Western Pacific and West Africa in the form of eddies," Suvarna Fadnavis, from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, tells SciDev.Net.

"These pollutant gases and aerosols affect the radiative balance and chemical composition of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (upper atmosphere)."

Measuring monsoons

Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic brought industrial and road traffic to a temporary halt, reducing the generation of pollutants and affecting the monsoon, according to a 2021 Environmental Research Letters study. Researchers found that rainfall increased over South Asia, which has been facing water scarcity over recent decades.

In South Asia, East Asia and West Africa, increases in monsoon rains due to global warming have been counteracted by decreases in monsoon rains due to cooling from human-caused aerosol emissions during the 20th century, according to a report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"Scientists have been interested to know if the pollutants at the surface reach the stratosphere during the strong ascent that occurs during the monsoon and this project may prove helpful," says Jayaraman Srinivasan, a distinguished scientist at the Divecha Centre for Climate Change and honorary professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore's Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

Fadnavis says that the ACCLIP project may help understand the "linkages of the unknown pattern of Asian summer monsoon with chemical changes occurring at higher altitudes over the Asia-Pacific region and the implications on the monsoon precipitation, extreme or drought, ice clouds, temperature changes etc."

Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath, climate scientist at the Centre for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Land Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur says that wind systems that transport pollutants and moisture are a concern for East Asian and South Asian countries.

"This is particularly important for regions such as the Indo-Gangetic Plain, where atmospheric pollution is very highthe urban regions are already big heat islands and additional warming would make life in the cities more miserable," he says.

Recent studies identified a region of high aerosol loading near the tropopausethe boundary between the troposphere and the stratospherecalled the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer. This also serves to move aerosols to the upper atmospheric layers where high aerosol concentrations can impact "radiative forcing" and cool the Earth's surface.

Radiative forcing is a measure of the energy balance change in the atmosphere that results from a "forcing agent"such as greenhouse gases and aerosols.

The Asian Summer Monsoon Chemical and Climate Impact Project will study the outflowthe wind generated by a stormof the Asian monsoonal circulation, which occurs primarily in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, says Kenneth Jucks, manager for the Upper Atmosphere Research Program at NASA.

"Because we are looking at the outflow, being deployed on the coast of Asia to observe over the Pacific is ideal," Jucks said. "The outflow is influenced by processes that occur throughout much of Asia, including China, the Himalayas, northern India, and even South-East Asia."

Kuttippurath says that reliable measurements from the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere have been hard to come by, adding that "this type of campaign would definitely help scientists to better understand the chemistry and dynamics of the region."

Explore further High altitude research aircraft explores the upper levels of the Asian Monsoon

Provided by SciDev.Net
As extreme weather events become more common, seaside regions are particularly vulnerable. Credit: James Peacock via Unsplash

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, sometimes with tragic consequences. Europe's coastal cities are preparing to meet the challenges with help from nature and data from outer space.

As the people of La Faute-Sur-Mera small French coastal town in the Vendee north of La Rochelletucked into bed on the night of 27 February 2010, a violent storm was raging out at sea.

Swirling, cyclonic winds, high waves and heavy rain blown up across the Bay of Biscay combined with a high spring tide to wreak havoc as it battered the coastline of western France. Residents awoke to a scene of utter devastation.

Perched perilously between the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the river Lay on the other, the town was completely inundated by flooding from the storm surge. Homes, property and businesses were ruined.

Of the 53 people in France who died as a result of Storm Xynthia, 29 were from La Faute.

In a town with a population of just 1,000 people, it was a devastating tragedy.

Extreme weather

Such extreme weather events are becoming more common and seaside regions are particularly vulnerable, says Dr. Clara Armaroli, a coastal geomorphologist who specializes in coastal dynamics (how coastlines evolve).

In response, the University School for Advanced Studies (IUSS) in Pavia, Italy, is leading a pan-European project to develop an early-warning system to increase coastal resilience. Armaroli coordinates the project, called the European Copernicus Coastal Flood Awareness System (ECFAS).

"Given climate change and sea-level rise, we know there will be an increase in the tendency and the magnitude of coastal storms," Dr. Armaroli said.

"What's needed is an awareness system at a European level to inform decisions."

ECFAS has been set up to develop a proof-of-concept for an early-warning system for coastal flooding. It will develop a functional and operational design.

It draws on data and uses tools from the EU's Copernicus Earth observation satellites and from the Copernicus Services.

Central to this is how data about storm surges, magnitude of flooding and potential impact could be incorporated into the EU's Copernicus Emergency Management Service (Copernicus EMS).

Copernicus EMS is a space-based monitoring service for Europe and the globe that uses satellite data to spot signs of impending disaster, whether from forest fires, droughts or river flooding.

Coastal flooding is not yet part of the Copernicus emergency management mix so ECFAS wants to "plug the gap" says Armaroli.

This will ensure that coastal flooding is monitored in future and that such vulnerabilities become part of its watching brief.

In addition to charting the progression of storms that break on Europe's coastlines, the ECFAS team is integrating data about the changes to shorelines caused by coastal erosion. It's a growing concern as sea-levels rise across the globe.

Boundary erosion

"The vulnerability and exposure of our coastal areas are also increasing due to erosion, which is narrowing the boundary between the land and the sea," said Dr. Armaroli.

The early-warning system will gather data from an array of sources, all of which impact flood risk. This includes geographic factors such as land use and cover, soil type, tidal changes, wave components and sea levels.

It is being designed to provide forecasts for coastal storm hazards up to five days out. Potentially, it could work in tandem with pre-existing regional and national systems to improve local defenses.

Looking beyond the proof-of-concept stage, Armaroli hopes ECFAS-Warning for coastal awareness can play a critical role in helping areas better prepare for when disaster strikes.

"Our work has started a process, but in the future, we hope this can really help increase the resilience of our coastal areas to the coming extreme weather events," she said.

On the west coast of Ireland, in the Atlantic seaport town of Sligo, an environmental engineer named Dr. Salem Gharbia is taking the challenges faced by coastal cities to the next level.

With the projectSCORESmart Control of the Climate Resilience in European CitiesDr. Gharbia's team is building a network of "living labs" to rapidly and sustainably enhance local resilience to coastal damage.

"Coastal cities face major challenges currently because they are so densely populated and because their location makes them vulnerable to sea-level rise and climate change," he said.

With SCORE's network of 10 coastal citiesfrom Sligo to Benidorm, Dublin to GdanskDr. Gharbia intends to create an integrated solution that should help coastal centers to mitigate the risks.

"The main idea behind the concept is that we have coastal cities learning from each other," he said.

Co-created solutions

"Each living lab faces different local challenges," he said, "But each has been established to include citizens, local stakeholders, engineers, and scientists to co-create solutions that can increase local resilience."

Through the network, SCORE wants to pioneer nature-based solutions such as the restoration of floodplains or wetlands that reduce the risk of flooding in coastal regions. It's a model that is already proving effective.

One example, a project to bio-engineer sand dunes in Sligo for stronger natural defenses, is also being tested in Portugal.

The team is developing smart technologies to monitor and evaluate emerging coastal risks. In addition to using existing Earth observation data, this means the community can become involved through new citizen science projects aimed at expanding local data collection.

In Sligo, locals are already getting involved in the monitoring of coastal erosion using what Dr. Gharbia terms "DIY sensors"drone kitesequipped with cameras, to survey local topography.

Elsewhere, citizens are helping to monitor and record water levels and quality, as well as wind speed and direction with a variety of other sensors.

Sustaining local citizen involvement in this way is crucial to SCORE's success, said Gharbia.

"It's essential that this is two-way for citizens," he said. "Without engaging them fully in the process of co-design and co-creation of ideas to mitigate risks, you will never get them committed to the types of solution proposed."

Data sources

All of this, of course, is creating a wealth of new data from a multitude of sources. But Dr. Gharbia is adamant that an integrated approach is critical.

"The main reason we're developing this system is," he said, "We've realized that to increase climate resilience we have to utilize all the information coming in from different sources."

Ultimately, the goal behind the work is for a real-time, early warning system that could be used by local and regional policy makers to test a range of "what if" scenarios.

Currently, the team are categorizing the data and optimizing the systems and models. In time, they hope other regions can learn from the approach and develop similar living labs.

Dr. Gharbia said the impact of his research project should be "to create an integrated solution that can be used in multiple different locations and can make a big impact in increasing local coastal resilience."

Resilience like it should spread far and wide. "The main purpose is a solution that can be replicated and scaled up," said Dr. Gharbia. The tragic consequences of more frequent and more intense coastal storms must be averted.

Explore further High-tide floods surge as climate changes and sea level rises
Emissions have rebounded following the reductions seen during the pandemic-induced lockdowns. Looking back further we can see that carbon dioxide emissions have roughly quadrupled since 1960. Credit: Global Carbon Project

The world's focus is sharply fixed on achieving net-zero emissions, yet surprisingly little thought has been given to what comes afterwards. In our new paper, published today in Nature Climate Change, we discuss the big unknowns in a post net-zero world.

It's vital that we understand the consequences of our choices when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and what comes next. The pathways we choose before and after reaching global net-zero emissions might mean the difference between a planet that remains habitable and one where many parts become inhospitable.

At the moment, human activities have a warming effect on the planet. But achieving our climate policy goals would take humanity into the uncharted territory of being able to cool the planet.

Being able to cool the planet raises a number of questions. Principally, how fast would we want the planet to cool, and what global average temperature should we aim for?

How are our emissions changing?

Our collective greenhouse gas emissions have warmed the planet about 1.2, relative to pre-industrial temperatures. In fact, despite all the talk about reducing emissions, global carbon dioxide emissions are at near-record levels.

Some countries have successfully reduced their greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, such as the United Kingdom which has halved greenhouse gas emissions relative to 1990.

There is also greater push from major emitters such as the United States and the European Unionas well as countries that emit less but already experience climate change impactsto take stronger steps to limit the damage we are doing to the climate.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reaching net-zero are humanity's greatest challenges. As long as greenhouse gas emissions remain substantially above net-zero we will continue to warm the planet.

To be in line with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 above pre-industrial levels this century, we need to drastically reduce our emissions.

We also need to increase our uptake of carbon from the atmosphere through developing and implementing drawdown technology.

What will come after net-zero?

Net-zero emissions will be reached when humanity's greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere are balanced by their removal from the atmosphere. We would likely need to reach global net-zero well within the next 50 years to keep global warming well below 2.

If we achieve this, we could continue the process of decarbonisation to reach net-negative greenhouse gas emissionswhere more of humanity's greenhouse gas emissions are removed from the atmosphere than released into it.

The Earth has warmed to date but after achieving net-zero emissions it will cool. We need new climate model simulations to understand this. Observed global mean surface temperature (GMST) comes from the Berkeley Earth dataset. The red, orange and blue lines illustrate possible scenarios for a post net-zero climate for which we wish to understand the implications. Author provided

This would need to be achieved through a combination of "negative emissions" technologies, likely including some not invented yet, and land use changes such as reforestation.

Continued net-negative emissions will cause the planet to cool as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere fall. This is because the greenhouse effect, where gases such as carbon dioxide absorb radiation from Earth and warm the atmosphere, would weaken.

Currently, there's almost no focus from governments, or indeed scientists, on the consequences of meeting our policy goals and going beyond net-zero. But this would be a turning point as the world would begin to cool.

Land would cool faster than the ocean. Indeed, some people may experience substantial cooling over their lifetimesan unfamiliar concept to grasp in our warming climate.

These changes would be accompanied by effects on weather extremes and impacts to weather and climate-sensitive industries. While there's not much research on this yet, we could, for example, see shipping routes close up as ice regrows in polar regions.

In the long-term, the best target global temperature for the planet might be something akin to a pre-industrial climate, with the human effect on Earth's climate receding.

In our paper we call for a new set of climate model experiments that allow us to understand the range of possible future climates after net-zero.

Any decisions must be informed by an understanding of the consequences of different choices for a post net-zero climate. For example, competing interests between countries and industries may make global agreements more challenging in a post net-zero world.

Why does this matter now?

Reading this article, you may feel we're getting ahead of ourselves. After all, as highlighted, global greenhouse gas emissions remain at near-record highs.

A key factor that will affect the behavior of the climate system after net-zero emissions would be the maximum level of global warming that we peak at. This is dictated by our current and near-future emissions.

If we fail to meet the Paris Agreement and peak global warming reaches 2 or more, then future generations will endure the effects of higher sea levels and other possible disastrous climate changes for many centuries to come.

Our understanding of post net-zero impacts of different peak levels of global warming is extremely limited.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through decarbonization remains our key priority. The more we can suppress global warming by reaching net-zero emissions as early as possible, the more we limit potential disastrous effects and the need to cool the planet in a post net-zero world.

Explore further Review suggests current global efforts are insufficient to limit warming to 1.5C

More information: Andrew D. King et al, Preparing for a post-net-zero world, Nature Climate Change (2022). Journal information: Nature Climate Change Andrew D. King et al, Preparing for a post-net-zero world,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41558-022-01446-x

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The spin-down rate of the observed pulsars, , vs. their spin period, P. The dots in blue, green, and red stand for normal pulsars, pulsars in binary systems, and magnetars with a magnetic field B > 1013 G, respectively. The observational data are taken from Hobbs et al. (2004), with a catalog version of 1.65. Credit: The Astrophysical Journal (2022). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac6cdd

The first pulsar was discovered in 1967. With an increase in pulsar observations, astronomers have found that some pulsars have a proper motion velocity greater than 1000 km/s, and the number of such pulsars is growing each year.

Recently, Dr. Li Zheng and his collaborators from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (CAS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Nanjing University proposed a neutrino rocket model inside neutron stars, which, coupled with Australian National Astronomical Observatory (ATNF) pulsar data, may explain the origin of pulsars with proper motion velocity above 1000 km/s.

The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

Neutrons in gyrator motion can emit a pair of neutrinos and antineutrinos. However, the radiative power of the cyclotron motion of a single neutron is so low that its effect is negligible.

There is a special Einstein condensation phenomenon called superfluid that might occur within a rotating neutron star (also known as a pulsar) when the thermal temperature inside the neutron star is lower than the energy gap of the bound neutrons.

It has been shown that Cooper pairs of neutrons that have been formed by neutron binding also undergo gyrator motion in the superfluid region of neutron stars. Based on calculations, the researchers discovered that these left- and right-handed neutrinos, which are emitted by neutron Cooper pairs, have high energies.

Furthermore, left-handed neutrinos and right-handed neutrinos emit in the same direction due to their non-conservation of parity. As a result of the conservation of momentum, when a neutron star emits a neutrino stream along its rotation axis, the neutron star itself acquires a recoil velocity in the forward direction along its rotation axis.

Due to the continuous emission of neutrino streams inside the neutron star, it accelerates continuously, resulting in high velocity along the rotation axis, a phenomenon also confirmed by the observations of Crab and Vela pulsars.

In neutron stars, neutrino radiation energy is provided by rotational energy. Due to this effect, neutron stars are characterized by a spin-down rotation. "Our model predicts an accelerated rotation spin-down rate for long-period pulsars," said Dr. Li Zheng.

Explore further Unusual neutron star spinning every 76 seconds discovered in stellar graveyard

More information: Zheng Li et al, Neutrino Rocket Jet Model: An Explanation of High-velocity Pulsars and Their Spin-down Evolution, The Astrophysical Journal (2022). Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Zheng Li et al, Neutrino Rocket Jet Model: An Explanation of High-velocity Pulsars and Their Spin-down Evolution,(2022). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac6cdd
Another documentary about Diana, Princess of Wales. What more is there to say  or be revealed  at this point? Not much. But The Princess on HBO, from director Ed Perkins, takes a unique approach: The film assembles news coverage that spans nearly two decades, from her 1981 engagement to Prince Charles to her 1997 car accident death in Paris. The end result is not so much the story of Diana (even though it obviously is) but a look at the telling of her story  as the media told it. Which means there are no present-day talking heads inserted along the way. Just clips stitched together chronologically, but in an order that becomes its own commentary.

Seeing so much Diana news coverage assembled in one place lays bare the cynical impulses, the blundering PR instincts and the misplaced allegiance to the idea of the monarchy itself. But its also a reminder of how the central players comported themselves through it all.

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Diana, Princess of Wales is surrounded by police and security as she arrives for a visit to Harlem Hospital's pediatric AIDS unit in New York in 1989. (Parkerphotographgy/Alamy Stock Photo/HBO )

The British royals are put under the microscope by the press. But not really. Not when it matters. Lurking behind every headline about Diana is the unspoken pact that her son, Prince Harry, would later allude to in his 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey: That very real and problematic stories about the monarchy will be left untouched  or handled with the most delicate of euphemisms  and in return the royal family will play along and, when one is available, provide a sacrificial offering.

Its a deeply compromised and jumbled way of covering public figures who, as the complaint often goes, live off the public dole while also possessing massive personal wealth.

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Thats the background context that gives the documentary its frisson.

What do you think youve got in common? Charles and Diana are asked upon their engagement. Its an innocuous enough thing to ask, but they both sort of guffaw uncomfortably and then Charles says, What a difficult question! and punts to Diana. What a weaselly move: A 32-year-old man who has grown up in this world acts as if it were brand new to him, so he pawns off the question to his 19-year-old fiancee, who has zero media training and has been forced to learn as she goes. Its one of many early clues this would not be a supportive marriage for her. At any rate, she says the two share a sense of humor. I could see that, actually!

Theres footage of people celebrating the couples pending nuptials, over which a reporter intones: The royal family may be an anachronism in the dismal 1980s, but its an anachronism the British clearly love. Another reporter says: At times like this, Britain is at its very best. No matter what concerns us, like, uh, having no money, no jobs, riots in the streets, were doing our bit to celebrate the regal pair. Just when you think the emptiness of royal coverage has been exposed entirely, another reporter says of the young bride-to-be: Her father, her uncle Lord Fermoy and others have even vouched for her virginity.

Flash forward to the birth of their first child. Princess Anne is traveling in New Mexico and as she strides purposefully out of a building, shes followed by a scrum of reporters and photographers, leading to the following exchange:

Reporter: What about Diana?

Anne: I dont know, you tell me.

Reporter: Your reaction to her having a son?

Anne: I didnt know she had one.

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Reporter: This morning.

Anne (flatly): Oh. Good.

Flash forward to Charles and Dianas 1983 Australian tour. You cant give pictures of him away, a photographer complains.

The story of Princess Diana is told in the new documentary "The Princess," as depicted in news coverage of the day. (HBO)

Its obvious that it never occurred to Charles that he might marry someone with a charisma all her own  or a charisma she might grow into  and what it would mean when that charisma was given a world stage.

But if your life is predicated on making public appearances and needing adulation at those appearances  well . maybe its worth asking if its time to call the whole thing off. And by the whole thing, I mean the monarchy itself.

Flash forward to a later interview with the couple.

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Charles: I suspect most husbands and wives find that they often have arguments.

Diana: But we dont!

Charles: But occasionally we do.

Diana: No, we dont!

I wonder if he saw her not agreeing with everything that came out of his mouth as arguing  how often does the heir to the British throne hear the word no?  whereas she saw it merely as having her own point of view and whats the big deal about that anyway?

The parallels to the British medias treatment of Prince Harrys wife, Meghan Markle, are obvious. The film is making this point, albeit obliquely. There is something deeply toxic in the expectations the royal family has about how it should be treated (everyone outside their circle is an annoyance but keep the money spigot flowing!). But its also hard to make sense of the way the media toggles between obsequiousness and outright cruelty and invasions of privacy. Get a life, you think!

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Princess Diana attends a White House event Sept. 24, 1996 in Washington, D.C. (HBO)

Dianas very presence was raw meat for a ravenous press pack. Its frightening to see it play out. Eventually we see her adopting a coping mechanism that, ironically, Charles talks about in an earlier interview. Heres what he says: If you dont work out in your own mind some sort of method for existing and surviving this kind of thing, you would go mad I think. And so she became strategic and intentional about how she interacted with the media, rather than simply letting it happen to her. She was criticized as being manipulative for this, as if nothing less than full submission was acceptable. Exploitation, certainly in the view of the tabloid press, was a one-way street. How dare she think otherwise.

By 1993, the marriage had disintegrated entirely and Diana gave a speech in which she talked about pulling back from public life. She always knew there would be interest in her, she says, but she never anticipated the extent to which it would affect both my public duties and my personal life in a manner thats hard to bear. And so, she announces, shes going to seek out a better balance combining a meaningful public role with hopefully a more private life.

One commentators response: I think shes very close to being a monster.

The footage of her throughout the 80s and 90s shows anything but. You watch her talking to people during various visits and she looks fun to be around, relaxed and comfortable in her own skin and interested in the person across from her.

More than anything, The Princess is a documentary that makes you think about its editing choices. Theres a curious lack of clarity or transparency around many of the unidentified voices (from broadcasters, presumably) that can be heard speaking over the assembled images and youre left to wonder if this commentary originally accompanied said footage or if Perkins, the director, is mixing and matching.

The story of Princess Diana is told in the new documentary "The Princess." (Kent Gavin/HBO )

For me, the larger takeaway is the absence of documentaries that challenge perceptions about, and the validity of, the monarchy itself. Its easier, I suppose, to make another film about Diana.

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I think thats the wrong decision. Because even if the Windsors were nicer people, the institution itself is corrupt, from the still devastating effects of colonization done in its name to hidden financial schemes (the disclosures in the Paradise Papers alone, but thats just the tip of the iceberg) to the queens own son paying a multimillion dollar settlement to a sexual abuse accuser. Why would there be need to keep Prince Philips will sealed for 90s years? 90 years! How did a person who was penniless when he married amass millions as the queens consort?

If you search the internet for British royal family exempt all kinds of stories come up and you realize that when the British media does cast a critical eye on how the monarchy functions, the stories tend to be one-and-done. Buckingham Palace banned ethnic minorities from office roles reads one recent headline, a revelation quickly jettisoned from the news cycle. Thats the pattern. Prince Charles vetted laws that stop his tenants buying their homes, reads another. If the Queen has nothing to hide, she should tell us what artifacts she owns, reads yet another: The royal family has a history of acquiring looted objects, so its exemption from a law protecting cultural heritage raises questions.

Imagine if a documentary filmmaker attempted to compile even a fraction of the many inequities, hidden finances and causes for concern into a single film that outlines, in detail, the true story behind the rancid fairy tale.

The Princess  2.5 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: 7 p.m. Saturday on HBO

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic

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Sea walls may protect one stretch of coast but make the problem worse elsewhere. Credit: Shutterstock/Ross Gordon Henry

New Zealand's national adaptation plan, launched last week, offers the first comprehensive approach to how communities can prepare for the inevitable impacts of a changing climate.

Having a plan is critical. Reactive and ad-hoc adaptation could create more problems on top of those already caused by climate change.

Based on priority risks identified in the national climate change risk assessment, the plan gives clearer direction around decision making for long-lived investments such as infrastructure and housing.

It provides more clarity for local government, for example by specifying which climate change scenario they should use when assessing risks to coastal areas from sea-level rise.

It also sets out actions to review the sharing of adaptation costs between local and national governmentan urgent step which means councils can begin making realistic plans for their own local adaptation.

But some aspects of the plan lack strategy and structure. It is more a series of actions, some connected, others quite discrete, with many already happening anyway. The absence of Te Tiriti in the framing is concerning, as is the fact some of the main funding sources for adaptation research (such as the national science challenges) end in 2024.

Priorities for adaptation

The adaptation plan is legislated under the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act (2019) and is required to address risks identified in the earlier national risk assessment. This includes risks to coastal and native ecosystems, social cohesion, the economy and financial systems, and basic needs such as potable water.

The four goals that underpin the adaptation plan are essentially unarguable: reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts, enhance adaptive capacity, consider climate change in all decisions and strengthen resilience.

Four more specific priority areas are identified as:

enabling better risk-informed decisions

driving climate-resilient development in the right places

laying the foundations for a range of adaptation options, including managed retreat, and

embedding climate resilience across government policy.

The adaptation plan is structured around actions that relate either to system-wide issues or five "outcome areas," which broadly align with the domains identified in the risk assessment. These are the natural environment; homes, buildings and places; infrastructure; communities; and the economy and financial system.

Aotearoa New Zealand's first national adaptation plan includes support for primary sector businesses and rural communities to better adapt to the impacts of climate change. Find out more here: https://t.co/htC16HseTZ

#AdaptAndThrive #NationalAdaptationPlan pic.twitter.com/brogGXAbGp  Ministry for the Environment | Manatu mo te Taiao (@environmentgvnz) August 10, 2022

Lack of strategy

This all sounds relatively sensible so far. The principles guiding the plan are grounded in adaptation theory and concepts.

Yet the plan still lacks strategy and structured planning. It harnesses existing initiatives already underway, which makes practical sense but could make it difficult to maintain oversight of how adaptation is being implemented.

The plan rightly emphasizes the need to continually evaluate the effectiveness of adaptation but it lacks a structured process, leaving it unclear how adaptation will be tracked over time. This limits the scope for how much we can learn from what works or doesn't, and make adjustments accordingly.

Who will pay for adaptation?

The plan touches only superficially on the financing of adaptation, which is a major concern (although let's not forget that not adapting will cost far more). The costs of managed retreat are increasingly (and justifiably) receiving attention but it remains uncertain who will be expected to pay.

Other important questions around costs and timing are not addressed directly, including how much more difficult and costly delayed adaptation would be. We need more guidance and direction for investments in an uncertain future, because many of the tools we currently use, such as cost benefit analysis, can't handle uncertainty very well.

Two of the priority areas identified in the climate change risk assessment involve financial stability and the economy. The requirement for listed companies to begin identifying and disclosing their climate-related risk and how they are going to minimize it is an important first step.

The plan makes clear the government cannot bear all the costs of adaptation. However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has emphasized there will be limits to effective adaptation, particularly if we fail globally to keep warming below 1.5 above pre-industrial temperatures.

When adaptation is not implemented effectively or is not sufficient to cope with the severity of climate change, some of the costs may fall back on the government. This might be directly through disaster relief funding or indirectly through job losses. How government at all levels will handle these costs remains unclear.

Unintended consequences

Another point missing in the adaptation plan is how the government will manage potential unintended consequences of private-sector adaptation and conflicts between groups.

For example, coastal defenses such as sea walls or stop banks may protect one area but shift the problem along the coast or downstream. Increasing irrigation to cope with variable rainfall or drought could create conflicts between other water users and the environment.

However, an inter-departmental executive board will be tasked with providing transparency of implementation, improving coordination within central government and enabling accountability. This will be critical to the plan's effectiveness and ultimately the resilience of Aotearoa New Zealand in a changing climate.

Explore further New Zealand launches plan to prepare for climate change impacts: Five areas where the hard work starts now

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

A study led by La Trobe University has proposed meaningful and consistent job titles for animals the world over who provide support for people.

Recently published in Animals, the study examined support animals' roles and training, before defining their differences to create standarized titles.

Lead author Dr. Tiffani Howell, from the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University, said that until now consistent titles were not available for animals in support roles, creating confusion.

"If you ask most people what the difference is between an assistance animal, therapy animal, and emotional support animal, they won't be able to tell you. People use these words in different ways," Dr. Howell said.

"It's important to have clearly defined terms because there can be legal implications in some cases. Some animals working in support roles have 'public access,' which means that their handler can take them places that are typically off-limits to animals.

"But not all animals in support roles have these access rights, so it's important to be able to quickly and easily distinguish which animals can, for example, enter a cafe with their owner, and which ones can't," Dr. Howell said.

Dr. Howell said that title can also affect funding, as some government organizations provide financial support for certain types of working animals, but not others.

"The types of work that animals can do to benefit humans are growing so quickly that it can be difficult to keep pace with what's happening on the ground," Dr. Howell said.

Researchers discussed implications for various regions of the world, making this the first paper, to their knowledge, with an international approach to these definitions.

Research findings in action

Media reports in recent years have covered some bizarre cases of animals seeking access to public spaces. As part of the research, Dr. Howell applied the new terms to three public cases as follows:

Case 1: In 2018, a Brooklyn, New York, resident tried to take her peacock Dexter on a flight to Los Angeles, claiming it was an emotional support animal.

"Dexter would probably remain an emotional support animal (ESAs) according to our definition, because it wasn't clear whether Dexter performs any tasks to mitigate the owner's disability. So the peacock is probably not an assistance animal, or 'service animal' as they are referred to in the U.S.," Dr. Howell said.

Case 2: In 2019 an airplane passenger traveling from Chicago to Omaha in the U.S. took a miniature horse along for the trip.

Dr. Howell said the horse, Flirty, would be classified as an assistance animal.

"Because the owner has a disability and the horse is trained to mitigate the impacts of that disability (e.g., reminds the owner to take medication, helps the owner maintain balance).

"According to U.S. law, assistance horses and dogs have the right to enter public places that would be off-limits to most animals. So, it's good that the airline allowed her onto the plane, and apparently even the flight crew liked meeting her."

Case 3: The third case involving a duck, Daniel, is an interesting one.

"Assistance ducks are rarethis may be the only onebut I believe that Daniel would qualify as an assistance animal because he performs tasks that mitigate the impacts of his owner's disability (e.g., alerting her to rising stress levels so she can take steps to calm herself), Dr. Howell said.

"He also wears a diaper which would help ensure that his hygiene is appropriate for public access."

Explore further Dog and human cognition similar, study finds

More information: Tiffani J. Howell et al, Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs, Animals (2022). Tiffani J. Howell et al, Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs,(2022). DOI: 10.3390/ani12151975
In the attached image, light which twists shines on to a moving BEC, breaking it into clusters of BEC droplets that move following the light's features. Credit: University of Strathclyde

A new method for shaping matter into complex shapes, with the use of 'twisted' light, has been demonstrated in research at the University of Strathclyde.

When atoms are cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero (-273 degrees C), they stop behaving like particles and start to behave like waves.

Atoms in this condition, which are known as BoseEinstein condensates (BECs), are useful for purposes such as realization of atom lasers, slow light, quantum simulations for understanding the complex behavior of materials like superconductors and superfluids, and the precision measurement technique of atom interferometry.

The Strathclyde study has shown that when twisted light is shone on to a moving BEC, it breaks into clusters of BEC droplets that move following the light's features, with the number of droplets equal to twice the number of light twists. Altering the properties of the light beam can change both the number of BEC droplets and the way that they move.

The research has been published in Physical Review Letters.

Grant Henderson, a Ph.D. student in Strathclyde's Department of Physics, is lead author on the paper. He said: "By shining a laser beam on to a BEC, we can influence how it behaves. When the laser beam is "twisted," it has a helical phase profile and carries orbital angular momentum (OAM). Laser beams with OAM can trap and rotate microscopic particles, behaving like an optical spanner.

"This method of shining twisted light through ultracold atoms opens a new and simple way of sculpting matter into unconventional and complex shapes. It has the potential for the design of novel quantum devices such as atomtronic circuits and ultra-sensitive detectors."

Explore further Physicists build an atom laser that can stay on forever

More information: Grant W. Henderson et al, Control of Light-Atom Solitons and Atomic Transport by Optical Vortex Beams Propagating through a Bose-Einstein Condensate, Physical Review Letters (2022). Journal information: Physical Review Letters Grant W. Henderson et al, Control of Light-Atom Solitons and Atomic Transport by Optical Vortex Beams Propagating through a Bose-Einstein Condensate,(2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.073902
Difference in resolution between bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing. Credit: biorxiv.org

In May 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled Jif peanut butter due to potential salmonella contamination. In the last 5 years alone, there have been ~35 food-related salmonella outbreaks. Salmonella enterica is a gram-negative pathogen that typically invades the intestines to cause disease. People who get salmonella infection experience symptoms with varying degrees of severitymany have diarrhea and fever, while some have no symptoms at all. So, what dictates the disease outcome during salmonellosis? There can be myriad factors at play, like differences in the strains of salmonella that cause infections, or variations in the genetic make-up or immune responses of individuals. In other words, not all cells (be they the host or the pathogen) are the same or have similar physiology. These factors can result in a wide clinical spectrum of salmonella infection.

Resolving single cells by RNA sequencing

Scientists are now trying to dissect this heterogeneity in host-salmonella interactions by investigating the behavior of single cells at an unprecedented resolution. "This is very challenging to study as bacterial numbers are minute during different stages of salmonella infection. So, we need sensitive tools to probe them," said Prof. Roi Avraham, Principal Investigator in the Department of Immunology and Regenerative Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, during a session at ASM Microbe 2022. One technique that is sensitive enough to dissect these complex interactions is RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Traditional bulk RNA-seq reveals the average transcriptomeexpression levels of different genes in cellsby quantifying messenger RNA, or mRNA, in a given sample.

In the past decade, scientists have unleashed the potential of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to investigate host-microbe interactions. scRNA-seq provides information about the transcriptome in single cells, offering a high spatiotemporal view of the infection landscape. An analogy that is often mentioned in reference to single-cell techniques is that of a fruit smoothiewhile bulk measurements can provide information about the overall characteristics of the fruit smoothie, single-cell technologies provide information about individual pieces of strawberry, banana, apple and so forth.

By understanding which genes are upregulated or downregulated in individual cells, one can get clues as to why different cells behave the way they do. The development of targeted antimicrobial therapies for treating Salmonella infections with different clinical outcomes remains a primary goal of such advanced understanding.

Cellular heterogeneity during salmonella infection

When a pathogen infects the host cell, the pathogen activates a virulence program to cause infection, whereas the host activates a defensive immune response to combat the invader. A lot of factors can influence what will happen in this tug-of-war. For instance, when and where does the pathogen trigger its virulence program, or what genes are turned on or off in the infected cells at a given time during infection?

Heterogeneity of infection outcomes during host-pathogen interactions. Credit: biomedcentral.com

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium or Typhimurium (S. Typhi) invades the host intestinal cells and begins its intracellular life cycle inside phagocytes like macrophages. In doing so, the bacterium escapes the host immune responses and later spreads throughout the body via the bloodstream.

It is known that S. Typhi has heterogeneous replication rates inside both macrophages and tissues. One subpopulation of S. Typhi grows fast and produces proteins that hijack the host cellular machinery to favor the survival of the pathogen. These virulence proteins are called effectors and are produced by 2 type III secretion systems (T3SSs) that are located on Salmonella Pathogenicity Island (SPI) 1 and 2. Meanwhile, a second subpopulation of S. Typhi remains as non-replicating cells called persisters. Persisters can display further heterogeneity, depending on their metabolic activities. They are also resistant to many antibiotics and, hence, can serve as a reservoir for chronic infections.

S. Typhi further displays heterogeneity during infection in response to fluctuating host immune responses, which could potentially reprogram the host cellular machinery into distinct subpopulations. "The pathogen itself influences the host immunity and is influenced by the immunity. It has to balance its replication, virulence activities and manipulation of host immunity," said Avraham.

scRNA-seq of macrophages infected with S. Typhi revealed that actively dividing salmonella are predominantly found in M2-like macrophages that are anti-inflammatory and support bacterial growth. On the other hand, non-replicating salmonella are predominantly found in M1-like macrophages that are pro-inflammatory and arrest bacterial growth. Non-replicating salmonella persisters make up a smaller subpopulation compared to their fast-growing counterpart, but they are clinically significant as they are resistant to antimicrobials.

When antibiotics are removed, persisters can cause disease relapse. The reason for this is that even though they do not grow and divide, they are still metabolically active and able to reprogram macrophages via SPI-2 virulence effectors. This suggests that variations in gene expression in host macrophages can create different cellular environments that can affect the pathogen in distinct wayseither by allowing salmonella to escape host immunity and survive under stealth, or by allowing them to escape host antimicrobial defenses and grow.

Dual RNA-seq studies for host-salmonella

Most of the studies thus far have applied scRNA-seq to profile either the host or the pathogen, but researchers are now working to evaluate both host and pathogen cells simultaneously in an approach called dual RNA-seq. Application of bulk dual RNA-seq in salmonella-infected host cells revealed that a bacterial small RNA called PinT manipulates the expression of many host and bacterial genes. PinT upregulates genes involved in inflammatory signaling in the intestines of the host, a reaction salmonella depends on to compete with gut microbes and avoid being killed by the host. On the bacterial side, PinT downregulates the expression of certain SPI-1 and SPI-2 virulence effectors that allow the bacteria to replicate intracellularly.

Left, Cryo-electron tomography image of S. Typhi interacting with the host cell membrane. Right, Segmentation of the image in left with different cellular components annotated. Credit: elifesciences.org

Researchers are now building a single-cell version of dual RNA sequencing (scDual-seq) to study host-salmonella interactions. During ASM Microbe 2022, Avraham introduced a technique developed in his lab called scPAIR-seq to analyze pathogen-specific immune responses in the context of S. Typhi infection. This technique enables researchers to study the impact of multiple bacterial mutants on host cells, simultaneously and at single-cell resolution.

In this work, researchers infected macrophages with a library of uniquely barcoded bacteria that have mutations in SPI-2 virulence effectors to investigate mutant-specific changes to the host transcriptome. They found that among virulence effectors, SifA had the most significant impact on the host transcriptome. SifA helps salmonella to establish a protective niche inside vacuoles in macrophages. In the absence of SifA, S. Typhi is present in the cytoplasm instead of vacuoles and reprograms infected macrophages to an anti-inflammatory M2 state. This allows the bacteria to proliferate in the cytosol, suggesting an alternative route of infection. The experimental and computational pipeline developed in this study can be used to study the effect of multiple effectors simultaneously in other pathogenic bacteria, as well to provide a global and holistic view of effectors on host immune pathways.

Applications of scRNA-seq

RNA-seq, and in particular scRNA-seq, is becoming an increasingly popular choice to analyze changes in gene expression during host-pathogen interactions. These methods have revealed new insights into S. Typhi infections and provided clues about heterogeneity in both host cells and bacteria. Such studies can reveal molecular details of how immune cells eliminate pathogens and about the spatiotemporal targeting efficacy of different antimicrobial therapies.

Efforts are underway to build cellular atlases in various model organisms to reveal different cell types and states. Immunological Genome Project is one such effort that is creating gene expression profiles for all mouse immune cell types and is bound to play a pivotal role in host-pathogen interactions. This atlas can be used to understand which genes are modulated in different immune cell types during bacterial infections. Using such resources, one can begin to answer questions, such as why do bacteria infect or proliferate in some cells and not others, which host immune cells are more susceptible to infection and why.

Next stop: The clinic?

Scientists are also making efforts to translate RNA-seq findings from the laboratory to the clinic. In one such attempt, researchers applied an algorithm based on scRNA-seq data to predict outcomes of salmonella infection in healthy individuals ex vivo using their blood samples. Individuals with different immune cell typeseither wild type or with a polymorphism in the TLR10 gene that regulates cytokine responsesdemonstrate different infection phenotypes. Future work to expand cohort sizes and predict clinical outcomes of infectious diseases by analyzing heterogeneity at the cellular level can help develop personalized therapies for individual patients.
The Tohoro, or Southern Right Whale is one of New Zealand's rarest whale species. Researchers have monitored its movement and presence with the help of citizen scientists. Credit: University of Auckland, Department of Conservation permit.

Photographs shared by members of the public, via Facebook and nature-watching network iNaturalist, helped scientists assess how the species is faring around the Aotearoa New Zealand mainland.

Carried out in cooperation with the Department of Conservation and published in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management, the study reveals that southern right whales are slower than expected at re-establishing a habitat in mainland waters.

The research was led by Annabelle Cranswick, a masters student in the Faculty of Science at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland. Sightings of the whale rose between 2003 and 2010, but the increase wasn't sustained over the past decade, Cranswick found. That's despite some high-profile incidents such as the appearance of Matariki, the southern right whale which captured the nation's heart while lingering in Wellington Harbor in 2018.

One possibility is that the species' knowledge of mainland wintering grounds was lost when numbers crashed because of whaling.

"Photos supplied on social media and by citizen scientists are proving so important for us to monitor populations of these recovering whales," says Cranswick. "We can assess that yes, this is a southern right whale, and discover how long a whale stayed in a particular area.

"Even a distant photo, showing just part of a whale, can be helpful," says Cranswick. "We can pick a southern right from just the white patches called callosities on the head, their flat back which lacks a dorsal fin, or even their large paddle-shaped pectoral fins."

Information on population demographics aids conservation efforts. Facebook and iNaturalist photos supplemented a Department of ConservationTe Papa Atawhai database that largely relies on citizen scientists' whale sightings. Scientists focused on 116 sightings over 11 years (20112021) in the waters around mainland New Zealand, including the North (Te Ika a Maui), South (Te Waipounamu), and Stewart (Rakiura) islands.

"We went through ten years of social media data to extract these sighting reports," says Hannah Hendriks, a marine biologist with the Department of Conservation. "There are very few whale researchers and rangers scattered across the country, so we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears."

Bobby Phuong, a postie in Christchurch who's an enthusiastic amateur wildlife photographer, shot one of the images to feature in the study. He drove for nearly an hour to see a whale and calf at Sumner in August last year, sharing his photos via Facebook.

"They were remarkable to witness and I'm glad my photos have helped in some way," he says.

In Gisborne, Wainui Beach resident Ian Ruru captured images of a southern right whale frolicking in the waves, meters away from surfers, in September 2018. "She sat directly in front of our home for eight hours that day I guess she wanted her story to be told... Paikea we called her," says Ruru.

A note to would-be citizen-scientists: Photographers must stay 50m from adult whales and 200m from whales with calves.

Southern right whales were hunted to near extinction, with global numbers falling to as low as 500. By 2009, an estimated 2,200 of the whales were in New Zealand waters, moving between the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (Maungahuka) and Campbell Island (Motu Ihupuku), and occasionally being found around mainland New Zealand including Stewart Island (Rakiura). Numbers are slowly recovering.

"Social media provided detailed information from areas with lots of people and lots of cameras," says Dr. Emma Carroll, of Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, who is a co-author of the study.

"Where there are fewer people, like the west coast of Te Waipounamu (the South Island), information from the public and Department of Conservation rangers recorded in the national database was more important."

Because southern right whales come close to shore, many photos were from clifftops or even the beach. Southern right whales remain such a rarity around the New Zealand mainland that it's possible there will be only a single sighting in a year.

Explore further Fin whale populations rebound in Antarctic feeding grounds

More information: Annabelle S. Cranswick et al, Social media and citizen science records are important for the management of rarely sighted whales, Ocean & Coastal Management (2022). Annabelle S. Cranswick et al, Social media and citizen science records are important for the management of rarely sighted whales,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106271
Globall 2022 is currently the four highest year for wildfire carbon emissions.

Blazes that have torched tens of thousands of hectares of forest in France, Spain and Portugal have made 2022 a record year for wildfire activity in southwestern Europe, the EU's satellite monitoring service said Friday.

Amid a prolonged heatwave that saw temperature records tumble, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said that France had in the last three months reached the highest levels of carbon pollution from wildfires since records began in 2003.

It follows Spain registering its highest ever wildfire carbon emissions last month.

CAMS said the daily total fire radiative powera measure of the blazes' intensityin France, Spain and Portugal in July and August was "significantly higher" than average.

The service warned that a large proportion of western Europe was now in "extreme fire danger" with some areas of "very extreme fire danger".

"We have been monitoring an increase in the number and resulting emissions of wildfires as heatwave conditions have exacerbated fires in southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula," said Mark Parrington, CAMS senior scientist.

"The very extreme fire danger ratings that have been forecasted for large areas of southern Europe mean that the scale and intensity of any fires can be greatly increased, and this is what we have been observing in our emissions estimates and the impacts it has on local air quality."

CAMS released satellite imagery showing a plume of smoke from the huge in southwestern France extending hundreds of kilometres over the Atlantic.

France has received help battling the latest blazewhich is 40-kilometres (25 miles) wide and which forced some 10,000 people to evacuate the regionin the form of 361 firefighters from European neighbours including Germany, Poland, Austria and Romania.

Globally, 2022 is currently the fourth highest year in terms of wildfire carbon, CAMS said.

Scientists say heatwaves such as the exceptional hot and dry spell over western Europe are made significantly more likely to occur due to manmade climate change.

 2022 AFP
North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered, with a population estimated at less than 368 animals. Credit: NOAA

Every year, an estimated 13 million people go whale-watching around the world, marveling at the sight of the largest animals ever to inhabit Earth. It's a dramatic reversal from a century ago, when few people ever saw a living whale. The creatures are still recovering from massive industrial-scale hunting that nearly wiped out several species in the 20th century.

The history of whaling shows how humans have wreaked careless havoc on the ocean, but also how they can change course. In my new book, "Red Leviathan: The Secret History of Soviet Whaling," I describe how the Soviet Union was central both to this deadly industry and to scientific research that helps us understand whales' recovery.

From wood to steel and bad to worse

At the start of the 20th century, it seemed whales might gain a reprieve after years of hunting. The era of whaling from sail boats, depicted in such memorable detail by Herman Melville in "Moby-Dick," had nearly wiped out slow, fat species like right and bowhead whales, and also wreaked substantial harm to sperm whales.

In the 1800s, U.S. whalers sailed without restraint or hindrance into every corner of the world's oceans, including waters around Russia's Siberian empire. There, tsarist officials watched in helpless rage as Americans slaughtered whales upon which many of the region's Indigenous peoples relied.

In the 1870s, petroleum began to replace whale oil as a fuel. With few catchable whales remaining, the industry appeared to be near its end. But whalers found new markets. Through hydrogenationa chemical process that can be used to turn liquid oils into solid or semi-solid fatsmanufacturers were able to transform smelly whale products into odorless margarine for human consumption.

Around the same time, Norwegians invented the explosive harpoon, which killed whales more efficiently than hand-thrown versions, and the stern slipway, which allowed whale carcasses to be processed on board ships. Along with diesel engines and steel hulls, these technologies enabled whalers to target previously untouched species in once-inaccessible locations, such as the Antarctic.

A humpback whale breaches in Boston Harbor on Aug. 2, 2022. Whaling greatly reduced humpback whale numbers, but the species is recovering under international protection.

Late to the party, late to leave

As mechanized whaling gained force in the 1920s and '30s, Norwegian, British and Japanese whalers cut through populations of blue, fin and humpback whales on a scale that is hard to believe today. In what scientists once thought was the peak catch year, 1937, over 63,000 large whales were killed and processed.

World War II briefly suspended this slaughter, which many governments were starting to realize threatened the survival of some whale species. In 1946, whalers, statesmen and scientists created the International Whaling Commission in hopes of heading off a return to disastrous prewar levels of whaling.

That same year, the USSR joined the IWC and took control over a former Nazi whaleship, which it renamed the Slava, or Glory. No one suspected the central role the country would play in the most disastrous two decades of whales' long history on Earth.

The madness of modern whaling

Despite the IWC's best intentions, postwar catches rose quickly. By the mid-1950s, even longtime whalers had to admit that big whales were becoming too scarce for their industries to be profitable. All nations except Japan began to ponder the end of whaling.

It thus came as a shock when the Soviet Union announced in 1956 that it planned to build seven new "floating factories"gigantic industrial processing ships, accompanied by fleets of smaller "catcher" boats that would scour the oceans for whales.

In this 1976 news video, Greenpeace activists confront a Soviet whaling ship on the high seas. NOTE: Contains footage that some viewers may find disturbing.

Soviet whale scientists were as stunned as observers elsewhere. These biologists and oceanographers had been watching the decline from ships and from their labs in the Fisheries Ministry and Academy of Sciences since the 1930s.

Instead of supporting the fleet expansion, they argued forcefully that whales stood on the brink of extinction, and whaling should decrease radically, not expand. This was how the Soviet planned economy was meant to work: Science, not profit, would help guide economic decisions, letting planners know how much could be extracted from the natural world and when to stop.

But Soviet officials were determined to finally catch whales on a large scale, as Western nations had done for so long. The Fisheries Ministry ignored its scientists' recommendations and built five of the seven planned floating factories over the next decade.

By the 1960s, the Soviet Union was the world's largest whaling nation. Whalers such as the legendary captain Aleksei Solyanik were celebrated as superstars, comparable to astronauts like Yuri Gagarin.

But the scientists had been right: Many whales species were nearly gone. To produce large catches, Solyanik and other captains decided to ignore international quotas and secretly targeted the most endangered whale species, including blue, humpback and fin whales in the Antarctic and the North Pacific.

In 1961, for example, Soviet fleets killed 9,619 rare humpbacks south of New Zealand, while reporting only 302 to the IWC. This was only a portion of their global catch, which the Soviet Union continued to underreport for years. Driven by Moscow's demands for ever-increasing production, whalers worked at reckless speed, wasting much of the fat and meat taken from the dead whales. It is doubtful the industry was ever profitable.

Thanks to Soviet scientists who preserved some records of these illegal kills and to subsequent work by other scholars, it now appears likely that the Soviet Union killed around 550,000 whales after World War II while reporting only 360,000. We now know that global whale harvesting peaked in 1964, not 1937, with a total of 91,783 whales killedabout 40% by Soviet whalers.

Not quite extinct

By the 1970s, populations of large whales had dwindled to insignificance. Many observers were sure extinction was inevitable. But momentum for whale conservation was growing.

The U.S. listed blue, fin, sei, sperm and humpback whales under the law that preceded the Endangered Species Act in 1970, then continued to protect them under that law, enacted in 1973. Whales also received protection in U.S. waters under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Thanks to pressure from environmentalists and its own citizens, the Soviet Union ended its whaling industry in 1987. The country accepted a global moratorium on commercial whaling, which remains in force today with only three holdouts: Norway, Iceland and Japan.

Whale numbers almost immediately began to rebound. Humpback whales were especially successful, but populations of bowhead, fin and sperm whales also expanded in the near absence of commercial whaling. However, some species, notably North Atlantic right whales, remain endangered or critically endangered.

In one of the greatest conservation successes, Eastern Pacific gray whales are today estimated to have returned to pre-exploitation abundance, and may actually be reaching the limits of what their primary foraging grounds in the Bering Sea can support. And in 2018 and 2019, German scientists and researchers from the BBC observed and filmed fin whales feeding around the Antarctic peninsula in vast pods that recalled the way the ocean must have looked before the 20th century.

Thanks to the Russian scientists who opposed their country's disastrous whaling expansion and kept its records, we know how many whales were lost in the 20th century. That information can also help scientists, governments and conservationists judge whales' remarkable but far from complete recovery.

Explore further Norway kicks off minke hunt, raises quota to 999 whales

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

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted so many aspects of our lives, and it may be some time before the full impacts are known. That's especially true for students and teachers, who were forced to confront a new way of learning amid lockdowns across the country. In response, the federal government is investing billions of dollars in education through the American Rescue Plan.

Courtney Mauldin is a professor in the School of Education at Syracuse University. She took time to answer some questions about the state of education and how districts and parents can best support their children.

Q: How big of a problem has learning loss been through the pandemic?

I find that the topic of learning loss has taken more of a front row seat as we continue to navigate the longstanding effects of the pandemic. However, our schools were already in a space of navigating high teacher turnover, inequitable distribution of resources, and a responsive instruction to students with diverse histories and identities. Considering this, learning loss might have been magnified in new ways throughout the pandemic, particularly by academic standards and achievement-based measures.

Q: What should districts and parents be looking for to determine if kids need some extra help, and what should they be doing during the summer to promote learning?

My conversations about navigating the pandemic with young people over the last year have really illuminated that many of them feel that if given the opportunity to have an engaging experience such as project-based learning on relevant topics that they care about, attending art and cultural events relevant to their lives, and other enrichment that meets students at an engaging level, they would be excited about the return to schools.

For so long, we've forgotten how vital student engagement is to shaping student investment in learning. I encourage parents to look into their local museums and arts and cultural centers for free programming and admission free days. There is a ton of deep and inquiry-based learning that happens in these spaces. For school districts, I think there is a tall yet important task of ensuring that students feel a culture of safety and belonging before implementing the newest catch-up initiativesthe culture of the schools and classrooms is always the pre-cursor to the learning that follows.

Q: Aside from summer enrichment, is there more that districts can do to help students who may be falling behind and are there ways the federal government can/should help support that?

The recent investment into summer learning by the federal government is a forward step in supporting students impacted by these last few years of the pandemic, especially the consideration of their social and emotional health. I appreciate that Biden's American Rescue Plan (ARP) is also taking into consideration the additional mental health supports needed for students at this time. School districts across the U.S. are navigating multiple concerns that range from school safety, teacher retention, decreased teacher autonomy, and more. My hope is that the federal government recognizes that there has to be a continuous investment in our teachers, students and familiesthey are key stakeholders in U.S. schools.

While expanding summer learning is a forward step, there are multi-pronged issues plaguing our schools that also impact student learning. These issues must be addressed with not only intentional funding but also taking a critical look at the ecosystem of schools and rethinking what works well for students. This looks like truly supporting teachers beyond gift cards and jeans day. How do we value teachers as the experts and professionals they are? How might we better balance the ratio of school counselors to student body population? The residuals of the pandemic go beyond a few academic school years and students deserve to have continuous and adequate supports.
Figure 1. Momentum-matching and band-alignment vdW BP/Bi2O2Se infrared photodetectors. a, Energy valley structure and transition of the BP/Bi2O2Se vdW heterojunction. b, Type II band alignment of the BP/Bi2O2Se vdW heterojunction. c, Comparison of QE of the BP/Bi2O2Se photodetector with 2D and bulk material photodetectors at zero bias. d, Comparison of polarization ratio under different wavelengths. Credit: SITP

Professors Hu Weida and Peng Hailin, two of researchers at Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics and Peking University, recently proposed momentum-matching and band-alignment van der Waals heterostructures to solve the low QE of 2D materials infrared photodetectors. The results were published in Science Advances, titled "Momentum-matching and band-alignment van der Waals heterostructures for high-efficiency infrared photodetection."

Infrared photodetectors with a high quantum efficiency (QE) can be used for ultraweak light detection and quantum communication. However, QE is largely limited by absorptivity and defect-recombination of infrared absorbers as well as the collection of the photogenerated carrier, which severely impedes the fabrication and further development of infrared photodetectors with a high QE. As a result, direct-bandgap semiconductors with a high photoelectric conversion efficiency are always preferred. However, technological drawbacks such as expensive growth processes, cryogenic working conditions, and toxic elements still limit the expanding application space of conventional materials. Additionally, it is still challenging to meet the requirements of both lattice matching and band alignment in heterojunction building blocks based on conventional bulk materials.

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials provide new opportunities for infrared detection technology because they possess naturally passivated surfaces and can be stacked into van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures without further consideration of lattice matching. However, 2D vdW photodetectors severely suffer from low QE because of their atomically thin nature. Several strategies, including optical waveguides, optical resonators, and surface plasmons, have been demonstrated to enhance the QE in 2D photodetectors but at the expense of device integration level and narrow spectral response.

The momentum-matching vdW heterostructures can support interlayer transitions that are direct in k-space irrespective of direct or indirect bandgap semiconductors, in which the valence-band maximum (VBM) of one semiconductor and the conduction-band minimum (CBM) of another are centered at the k-space in the Brillouin zone. "Therefore, the momentum-matching vdW heterostructures can not only improve the generation rate of photocarriers but also potentially broaden spectral response," said Hu.

It can also reduce the interface recombination with low lattice-mismatching scattering and defect-free impurities. Importantly, for infrared photodetection, rational band alignments are very significant for achieving a high QE by optimizing the generation, suppressing the recombination, and improving the collection of photocarriers. The type II band-alignment structure without potential barriers for electrons and holes is desirable.

The valence-band maximum of 2D black phosphorus (BP) and the conduction-band minimum of 2D Bi 2 O 2 Se are located at the same  point, as shown in Figure 1a. The carriers at the interface can be stimulated into the conduction bands of BP and Bi 2 O 2 Se, which greatly improves the transition and generation of the photocarriers. The photogenerated electrons and holes see no potential barriers and can be collected efficiently in type II BP/Bi 2 O 2 Se vdW heterojunction, shown in Figure 1b. Ultimately, the room temperature QE (84% at 1.3 m and 76.5% at 2 m) of the BP/Bi 2 O 2 Se device were achieved, which are higher than most reported 2D-based devices and even comparable to commercially state-of-the-art infrared photodetectors at zero bias as shown in Figure 1C. This high QE is caused by the high absorption coefficient, free-barrier band transport, and detection-free interfaces. In addition, the polarization ratio of the BP/Bi 2 O 2 Se device at 2 m is up to 17, as shown in Figure 1d. This is also superior to most photodetectors based on polarized materials or antenna-assisted structures in the short-wave infrared region.

Explore further Researchers create unipolar barrier photodetectors based on 2D layered materials

More information: Yunfeng Chen et al, Momentum-matching and band-alignment van der Waals heterostructures for high-efficiency infrared photodetection, Science Advances (2022). Journal information: Science Advances Yunfeng Chen et al, Momentum-matching and band-alignment van der Waals heterostructures for high-efficiency infrared photodetection,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq1781
CAMBRIDGE  The Cambridge school board has left open the option of appealing the state Education Departments order to remove the Indian mascot, but almost all the Native American imagery has disappeared from the school.

At Thursdays school board meeting, board President Shay Price reported that due to delays outside the boards control, the notice of appeal the board approved at its July meeting was filed with the state later than the board expected.

The notice of appeal does not start the appeals process but allows the school to do so later.

Unless the school appeals and succeeds, it remains obligated to remove the name and mascot. Most have been removed or covered, school Superintendent Douglas Silvernell reported.

The only large Indian images left are on the floors of the gym and the fitness center, which would have to be refinished by an outside contractor. Silvernell looked into covering the Indian image in the gym with decals, but one type of decal was too slippery and the other was too grippy. Either could trip up athletes, he said.

To refinish the floors, the school would have to file a letter of intent for the project, get an architectural review, receive state Department of Education approval, and request bids, Silvernell said. People would have to stay off the floor for several days to let the surface cure, limiting when the work could be performed.

It wont be done by Sept. 1, Silvernell said.

Price said the Department of Education would consider an extension if the board or administration asks for one.

The attorneys are talking to each other, Price said.

In a related matter, three members of the Native American Guardians Association addressed the board during the public comment period, encouraging the school to keep the Indian nickname and imagery.

Jonathan Tso, who is half Navajo and half Assiniboine, and his wife Crystal Tso, a full-blooded Navajo, are both board members of the organization.

We dont find anything like this offensive, Jonathan Tso said. Spend money on the kids, not the mascot.

Im proud of my heritage, Crystal Tso said. You have an image of people who are proud of their heritage.

Andre Billeaudeaux, NAGAs executive director, cited an analysis of three years worth of data from two similar high schools in Virginia.

One school was pressured to drop its Native American mascot while the other school was left alone, he said.

Students at the school where the mascot was in dispute had declining grades and physical fitness. Tobacco, drug and alcohol use, absences and dropouts increased compared to the second school and there were two suicides, Billeaudeaux said. Other studies show similar harm to students when Native mascots are attacked, he said.

You havent checked all your boxes, Billeaudeaux said. More information is available. NAGA is here to help.

After the meeting, Jonathan Tso said he and his wife, who live in New Mexico, were in the area to visit school board member Dillon Honyoust, who has Native American heritage, and visit the local tribes.

Billeaudeaux, from Virginia, described himself as a social scientist who has studied political communications, national identity, and racism, among other topics. Phil Zimbardo, the psychologist who did the notorious Stanford University prison experiment in 1971, is my mentor, Billeaudeaux said.

In other matters:

Although the districts tax levy for 2022-2023 is up by 1.99%, the districts overall tax rate is down from $17.95 per $1,000 of assessed value to $14.78 per $1,000, school Business Administrator Anthony Cammarata said. Revaluations in the districts eight towns led to an increase in overall assessments, he said. Rates per town will vary somewhat due to different equalization rates.

The school was rated as favorable or most favorable in all but one category in the recent building climate survey, Silvernell reported. The only category below favorable was substance abuse, due to concerns about vaping and whether the school is doing enough outreach to substance abuse agencies. Shared decision-making scored toward the low end of favorable. We need to revitalize that committee and rewrite the plan, Silvernell said.

A master facilities review identified interest in an auditorium, classroom improvements, an artificial turf playing field, hands-on learning opportunities, and outdoor classrooms, Silvernell said. State aid for a previous building project will end soon and the school will need to replace that income, he said. The schools architect is putting together a master draft and the school could hold a vote on a new building project in May, he said.

The board has started discussions on holding informal meetings with the public so that people can bring up issues outside of board meetings, Price said. People would be able to sign up for a time to meet with one or two board members to air their concerns.
An aerial view of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. Court papers show that the FBI recovered documents labeled top secret from the estate. (Steve Helber/AP)

WASHINGTON  The FBI recovered top secret and even more sensitive documents from former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the sudden, unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday.

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The seized records include some marked not only top secret but also sensitive compartmented information, a special category meant to protect the nations most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

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The property receipt also shows federal agents collected other potential presidential records, including the order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone, a leatherbound box of documents, and information about the President of France. A binder of photos, a handwritten note, miscellaneous secret documents and miscellaneous confidential documents were also seized in the search.

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Trumps attorney, Christina Bobb, who was present at Mar-a-Lago when the agents conducted the search, signed two property receipts  one that was two pages long and another that is a single page.

In a statement earlier Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents were all declassified, and argued that he would have turned them over if the Justice Department had asked.

While incumbent presidents generally have the power to declassify information, that authority lapses as soon as they leave office and it was not clear if the documents in question have ever been declassified. And even an incumbents powers to declassify may be limited regarding secrets dealing with nuclear weapons programs, covert operations and operatives, and some data shared with allies.

Trump kept possession of the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trumps home earlier this year. The Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records.

It remains unclear whether the Justice Department moved forward with the warrant simply as a means to retrieve the records or as part of a wider criminal investigation or attempt to prosecute the former president. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information, with both criminal and civil penalties, as well as presidential records.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed off on the search warrant, unsealed the warrant and property receipt Friday at the request of the Justice Department after Attorney General Merrick Garland declared there was substantial public interest in this matter, and Trump said he backed the warrants immediate release. The Justice Department told the judge Friday afternoon that Trumps lawyers did not object to the proposal to make it public.

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In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.

The Justice Departments request was striking because such warrants traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, and felt that the public was entitled to the FBIs side about what prompted Mondays action at the former presidents home.

The publics clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing, said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

The information was released as Trump prepares for another run for the White House. During his 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed. Garland said he personally approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly given that standard practice where possible is to select less intrusive tactics than a search of ones home.

In this case, according to a person familiar with the matter, there was substantial engagement with Trump and his representatives prior to the search warrant, including a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago a couple of months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the documents were stored. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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FBI and Justice Department policy cautions against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of the inquiries and to avoid unfairly maligning someone who is being scrutinized but winds up ultimately not being charged. Thats especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court papers are routinely kept secret as the investigation proceeds.

In this case, though, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI search, as is his right. The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the courts functions.

The Justice Department under Garland has been leery of public statements about politically charged investigations, or of confirming to what extent it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader probe into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The department has tried to avoid being seen as injecting itself into presidential politics, as happened in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton regarding her handling of email  and when he spoke up again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the probe was being effectively reopened because of the discovery of new emails.

The attorney general also condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel over the search. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be defunded. Large numbers of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be released hoping they it will show that Trump was unfairly targeted.

I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them dedicated, patriotic public servants.

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Earlier Thursday, an armed man wearing body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement. A law enforcement official briefed on the matter identified the man as Ricky Shiffer and said he is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol and may have been there on the day it took place.

Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.
HARTFORD  A Glens Falls woman is expected to be sentenced to 7 years in prison in connection with a burglary in Hartford last Christmas Eve.

Cassidy S. Leroux pleaded guilty in Washington County Court on Aug. 5 to felony first-degree burglary.

Leroux was arrested in January after police said she was one of three people who broke into a residence on Route 196. The group is accused of assaulting a male resident inside the home and stealing money and credit cards.

She had been on probation at the time of the crime for an unrelated case.

Leroux was charged with felony counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, fourth-degree grand larceny, and misdemeanor petit larceny. She pleaded guilty to the single burglary count in satisfaction of the charges.

Leroux is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 23.
A Warren County committee met on Tuesday to discuss the plan for the countys remaining American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds.

Mary Beth Mylott and Diane Collins, from the Zero Waste Warren County volunteer group, spoke to the committee at the opening of the meeting about the countys Department of Public Works grant application.

We are talking about changing the system, where towns currently have to pay for disposing their recyclables, into coming together and bringing those recyclables to a central facility and selling directly to markets. This has the potential to bring profits to the towns for many years to come, Collins told the Warren County ARPA Advisory Committee. Our group strongly supports this project and would certainly stay actively involved if the funding is made available.

In April, the group presented a study it conducted to the Board of Supervisors.

We made recommendations about the Warren County transfer station because it is cemented in the past and there are a lot of new ways ... and as a volunteer group we want to help move the county into a different system, Mylott said.

Jim Siplon, president of the EDC Warren County, also spoke to the committee at the start of the meeting.

He stated the community expressed the need for investment in broadband services with some of the remaining ARPA funds.

Warren County is in a very good position on broadband, nevertheless, there remains work to be done, Siplon said.

He told the committee the EDC would not be very successful in applying for grants on its own because of the countys high broadband percentage, so use of the ARPA funds would address the remaining residences in the county without access. The EDC would then be able to shift its attention to other projects.

Adam Feldman runs the local Habitat for Humanity chapter and came before the committee about a 25-unit shovel-ready project in the town of Queensbury.

We are hoping the ARPA funds will be the catalyst to unlock these 25 units, Feldman said.

Habitat for Humanity applied for a $250,000 grant from the county for the $13 million project. Feldman said the money was only needed for site control.

Rob York, director of the countys Office of Community Services, gave an update on the plans for the $1 million set aside for behavioral health projects.

He said the Community Services board has created an ad hoc committee to review the proposals submitted for mental and behavioral health programs, currently totaling $3.8 million.

Queensbury at-large Supervisor Rachel Seeber then presented the idea of a $65,000 mental health toolkit that would provide all 800 county employees to better recognize and assist with mental health or substance abuse issues. Seeber said she learned about the training at a National Association of Counties, or NACo, conference in August from the director of the association, Matt Chase.

This would ensure our CPS (Child Protective Services) workers and probation officers receive the support they need, not only dealing with these issues on a daily basis, but what that can look like at home as well, Seeber said. It has a proven track record. Its working in many other counties.

Effort to shift funds fails

Johnsburg Town Supervisor Andrea Hogan joined the meeting via Zoom. She said the town put in an application for $55,000 annually for the next two years to help offset the costs of its sewer district.

This would support our small businesses and residents who will be included in our sewer district to help defray the cost while they figure out how to budget for this extra cost, Hogan said.

However, she decided to withdraw the application after being humbled by the applications that spoke first.

We desperately need the help, but I do not believe these funds were intended for more noble a cause than the hospital mental health initiatives, Habitat or the work Jim Siplons doing, she said.

Hogan did take the opportunity to urge the committee to reconsider the allocation of $4 million in ARPA funds for infrastructure and asked all members to educate themselves on all of the capital projects proposed in the county.

Hogans words prompted a change in the meetings atmosphere.

After her comments, committee member Ray Agnew made a motion to undo the decision made at the last meeting and instead only use $2 million in ARPA funds for infrastructure, taking the other $2 million needed for infrastructure projects from the reserve account.

Seeber agreed with Agnew, saying she has been an advocate for using the full $12 million for community projects and services. She suggested no ARPA funds should be designated for infrastructure until all the applications have been reviewed.

These applications took a lot of work and I think we owe it to our community to hear what they have asked for before we jump the gun and use $4 million for something that can be taken out of another pot of money, Seeber said.

Doug Beaty, county supervisor from Queensbury, shared a similar view.

Dennis Dickinson, Lake George town supervisor, said he was totally opposed to the idea of rescinding the motion.

Second-guessing ourselves is a total waste of time. We have a lot to do, a lot of other applications to look at, he said. If you want to do something productive today, take up some of these things that were talked about.

Claudia Braymer, Glens Falls Ward 3 supervisor and co-chair of the committee, reminded the committee that the applications totaled $22 million, so it would be impossible to address them all.

Stony Creek Supervisor Frank Thomas said the funds were originally allocated by Congress to assist governments, not for these very worthy extra activities.

The debate over whether to allocate ARPA funds to road and bridge projects ended after only five members of the committee voted in favor to rescind the earlier decision about spending $4 million on infrastructure.
Matt Castelli outspent Matt Putorti by a nearly 2-1 ratio on television and digital advertising during July and early August, leading up to their Aug. 23 primary for the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, in November.

Castelli spent $99,352 on television and digital advertising between July 1 and Aug. 3, while Putorti spent $52,000, according to new campaign finance reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

Castelli is already on the general election ballot on the Moderate line, an independent ballot line that his campaign established.

Stefanik did not spend any money on television and digital advertising during the period, but spent $23,699 on text mail messages.

Castelli, a former CIA counterterrorism official, had $431,418 in his campaign fund as of Aug. 3, while Putorti, a lawyer from Whitehall, had $231,075.

Castelli received $85,418 in contributions during the period, while Putorti received $56,735.

For the first period of the election cycle, Castelli outraised Putorti in so-called small dollar un-itemized contributions of less than $200 per person  $34,094 to $23,281  seen as an indicator of grassroots support.

Congressional candidates file regular campaign reports four times a year, and more frequently in the weeks directly before and after an election. The reports are required by federal law, and are intended to provide transparency about who is supporting, and potentially influencing, candidates. The reports also provide an indication of how competitive a race might be.

Stefaniks numbers

Stefanik had $3.35 million in her campaign fund as of Aug. 3.

She received $338,829 in contributions between July 1 and Aug. 3, including $110,040 in small dollar contributions.

Stefanik spent $119,242 during the period on fundraising and telemarketing calls.

NY-20 race

In the 20th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, had $1.23 million in his campaign fund as of Aug. 3, while his Democratic primary challenger Rostislav Rar, an immigration lawyer from Albany, had a $2,056 deficit.

Tonko already is on the November general election ballot on the Working Families line.

Republican challenger Liz Lemery Joy had $246,060 in her campaign fund as of Aug. 3.

Tonko received $119,991 in contributions between July 1 and Aug. 3, while Joy received $61,060.

Joy, a former blogger and speaker from Schenectady, continues to out-raise Tonko in small-dollar contributions  $30,163 to $3,221.
ATLANTIC CITY  Assemblyman Don Guardian will draft legislation to require identification tags for off-road vehicles in New Jersey, to help police trace owners of those ridden illegally, he said at a Friday meeting of a group working on public safety issues in the resort.

We have asked (the Office of Legislative Services) to look at every other state to find out if any legislation has been put together, said Guardian, R-Atlantic, a former city mayor. Whatever we can do at the state level to help, we want to do that.

Currently police have no way of identifying riders who illegally drive on roads and city rights-of-way, ignoring traffic laws and creating a public safety hazard, acting police Chief James Sarkos said.

Police are not allowed to pursue illegally ridden dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles, under rules set by the state attorney general, because of the risk of causing a serious accident, Sarkos said.

That has made it difficult to apprehend those breaking the law.

New Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City President Anthony Faranca said illegal riders are endangering themselves and visitors who walk near the casino parking areas.

They do wheelies down our drive, Faranca said of the entry to valet parking.

And they dont wear helmets, putting themselves at grave risk of severe injury, he said.

Council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz, a Democrat who is the organizer of the Clean and Safe Atlantic City meetings, said the idea for putting identification tags on off-road vehicles was jumpstarted by an Aug. 7 Press of Atlantic City editorial.

Guardian expects to have a draft bill by the next public safety meeting Aug. 26, he said.

Sarkos also said he and other city officials are rewriting an ordinance that fines gas stations and storage facilities for servicing ATVs and dirt bikes illegally ridden on resort roads and rights-of-way, after a similar ordinance failed to garner support last month.

We feel public safety is a shared responsibility, Sarkos said. They should not be servicing those riding illegally.

November referendum will decide if Atlantic City moves to nonpartisan elections ATLANTIC CITY  City Council declined to vote to move to a nonpartisan form of government at

The amended ordinance would allow gas station attendants and storage facility workers who feel their safety would be jeopardized by refusing to sell gas or give access to those riding illegally to avoid fines if they quickly notify police of the illegal activity, Sarkos said.

That will be a safe ordinance for everyone, he said.

The new ordinance will be back before City Council soon, Sarkos said.

Some council members were concerned that the ordinance presented at the July meeting could put gas station attendants and storage facility workers at risk if they have to refuse to sell gas to, or provide storage for, those breaking the law.

At the July meeting, council did pass another ordinance setting out rules for confiscating and destroying all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes illegally ridden on city streets and rights-of-way.

Sarkos said after the meeting that police have seized a small number of illegal ATVs and dirt bikes under the new ordinance, but destroyed none yet.

State Senate approves Reynolds as Atlantic County Prosecutor TRENTON  The state Senate unanimously approved William E. Reynolds, of Absecon, as Atlantic

We are ironing out the process, Sarkos said.

Sarkos was recently driving with his wife on Atlantic Avenue when he witnessed an illegally ridden off-road vehicle leave the road and crash on the sidewalk, he said. He jumped out and apprehended the rider, who was attempting to flee.

The vehicle wouldnt start, Sarkos said. So Sarkos was able to confiscate it.

Under the amended ordinance, it would not be illegal for storage facilities to rent to people storing off-road vehicles, but the facilities would have to stop people from riding them out of the facility or back into the facility illegally, Sarkos said.

It also would be legal to sell gas to those bringing off-road vehicles to a gas station on a trailer, but not to those riding them illegally into and out of the gas station, he said.
BOSTON  A Rhode Island man guilty of sex trafficking crimes across seven states forced one of his victims into prostitution in Atlantic City, federal prosecutors say.

Ronald Hall, 48, of Woonsocket, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and one count of transportation of an individual with the intent to engage in prostitution, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Massachusetts said. Hall was indicted by a grand jury in October 2020.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani on Nov. 3, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release.

From at least 2010 to 2019, Hall, using force and threats, intimidated at least five victims in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Florida and Nevada to engage in prostitution, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

One victim interviewed by Special Agent Evan Picariello said Hall used her in Atlantic City, and that any girl working for Hall, also known as Riz, would need to make at least $1,000 per night, according to an affidavit filed in 2020.

The behavior he (Hall) engaged in was unconscionable, U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said. Although nothing will ever erase the profound, long-lasting hurt and pain these women have suffered at the hands of Mr. Hall, todays conviction hopefully brings some long-awaited justice and accountability.

WATCH NOW: Atlantic City police break up homeless encampment under Playground Pier ATLANTIC CITY  Bill Butler, who is homeless, was awake at 7 a.m. on Monday when he and abou

The U.S. Attorneys Office said Hall recruited several women suffering from substance use disorder, using their addiction as a tool for coercion, exchanging drugs for their earnings as prostitutes. Halls victims usually would be forced into prostitution seven days a week and at numerous times during the day, keeping their profits for himself.

The victim forced into prostitution in Atlantic City told the investigator that drugs would be withheld from them by Hall, causing his victims to become sickened by withdrawal.

He also would intimidate his victims by searching them for outsourced drugs and having them ask for permission to leave their hotel rooms, the affidavit said.

Hall also subjected his victims to starvation, regular threats of injury, physical abuse, forced intercourse, violent assaults with weapons including knives, belts and bats, and made some of the victims brand themselves with a tattoo of his nickname, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Hall faces a possible life sentence for the sex trafficking offenses and an additional 10 years for the transporting charge.
PLEASANTVILLE  An esteemed diversity-and-inclusion initiative in the district could be in jeopardy of losing its leader unless the state takes action.

The Pleasantville Board of Education entertained a resolution Tuesday to end a partnership agreement with the state Amistad Commission and terminate AMHOTINO Program Specialist Tamar LaSure-Owens. The vote to end the agreement was 4-2  failing, because it fell one vote short of the five needed for the nine-member board to take such action on personnel.

The agreement had LaSure-Owens work to diversify the districts curriculum and implement the states inclusive learning standards. She also worked to have the districts curriculum serve as a model to other school systems across New Jersey as they work to implement state standards. The Amistad Commission, which is an autonomous state body within the Department of Education, would in turn reimburse the district LaSure-Owens salary.

The district has yet to be reimbursed for LaSure-Owens salary, acting Superintendent Karin Farkas said at the Tuesday school board meeting.

Farkas said the district had reached out multiple times in the intervening five months, but the Amistad Commission has yet to execute its part of the agreement.

It is a valued program, we appreciate the hard work and being a model program for the district, Farkas said. Were hoping that the Amistad Commission will work with the (New Jersey Department of Education) and execute the agreement for the 2021-2022 school year and the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.

A Department of Education spokesperson said in an email to The Press of Atlantic City on Thursday that it would research the situation.

LaSure-Owens said the Amistad Commission had recently undergone a change in leadership and that it was holding its next meeting at the end of August.

Why is it all going to end? LaSure-Owens asked, citing the praise the program had received.

LaSure-Owens also challenged the potential action on procedural grounds. She said she did not receive a Rice notice about the possible action until Monday, one day before the school board meeting  short of the 48-hour notice required by state law.

Pleasantville Education Association President Joe Manetta spoke at the meeting against LaSure-Owens release. He noted she is a tenured teacher and a PEA member, and argued that as such, LaSure-Owens was entitled to a position in the school district.

The board resolution did encourage LaSure-Owens to reapply for any vacant position for which she qualifies.

Cape May celebrates Juneteenth, anniversary of Harriet Tubman Museum CAPE MAY  People from throughout the region came together over the weekend to celebrate Jun

The districts Amistad, Holocaust and Latino program, or AMHOTINO, is designed to incorporate lessons about history, tolerance and diversity in different school subjects. It places a special focus on the histories of African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans; the legacy of slavery in North and South America; and the events of the Holocaust and other genocides in world history.

The state Legislature passed a law in 1994 requiring schools to teach students about the Holocaust and other genocides. It then created the Amistad Commission in 2002 and mandated schools across New Jersey to incorporate African American history into their curricula.

In January 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill strengthening the Amistad Commission, requiring the state Legislature to give the commission its own budget, separate from the Department of Education.

Murphy signed a separate law this January requiring that schools teach the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In 2019, he enacted a law requiring that schools teach students about the history of the LGBTQ community and that of people with disabilities.

Farkas said the AMHOTINO program would continue regardless of whether LaSure-Owens stays on as AMHOTINO coordinator and would meet state diversity standards. LaSure-Owens, noting the multiple accolades she has received for her AMHOTINO work, argued she was a critical part of the programs success.

The New Jersey Education Association selected LaSure-Owens for its Urban Education Activist award in December due to her work creating the AMHOTINO program at Pleasantville. The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution in March similarly honoring LaSure-Owens for her contribution to education in the area.

Pleasantville students learn about Purim PLEASANTVILLE  Lessons about diversity, tolerance and different cultures took on a festive 

LaSure-Owens received significant community backing Tuesday. Mainland-Pleasantville NAACP President Olivia Caldwell spoke in support of LaSure-Owens. She said LaSure-Owens had been doing important work to advance equality in education and argued she was well worth keeping in the district. Caldwell encouraged the board to give more time to the state, saying she knew from experience that working with bureaucracy in Trenton requires an abundance of patience.

It is very difficult to get things out timely, Caldwell said. So perseverance is going to be key.

Former Amistad Commission Director Stephanie James Harris said delays in the process were only procedural, as the commission had already appropriated funds to reimburse the district LaSure-Owens salary and acting Commissioner of Education Angelica Allen-McMillan only had to process the payment. As the Amistad Commission has budgetary independence, the Department of Education lacked the authority to stop the payment outright.

James Harris, who left the Amistad Commission in June, said it would be particularly important for the district to keep LaSure-Owens as AMHOTINO grows.

Shes done exemplary work for furthering the implementation of all these state mandates, James Harris said. To stop it midway would be a travesty.
The Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) awarded Valerie Garr of the Quad-Cities with the 2022 Paul Mann Memorial Human Relations Award at their "Celebration of Excellence" banquet Aug. 1 in Des Moines.

Garr is the president and founder of the Quad-City Minority Partnership Committee (QCMP)  a program that provides information, institutional contacts, resources and support to expand higher education access for local students of color and first-generation students. She also serves as the director of diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of Iowa College of Nursing.

Valerie is an effective and creative leader who has successfully grown a program benefiting thousands. Her devotion to enhancing and broadening opportunities for diverse student communities is a vital connection to equitable opportunities for all students. We are pleased to be able to present Valerie with the ISEA 2022 Paul Mann Human Relations Award for her tireless work, progress and success, ISEA President Mike Beranek said in an ISEA news release.

The award recognizes individuals or groups for their human and civil rights efforts and encourages developing programs that advance human and civil rights among ISEA members. It is named in honor and remembrance of Paul Mann, a longtime association activist from Des Moines who worked to defend civil and human rights.

Garr established the QCMP 15 years ago after learning that college recruiters weren't connecting with local students of color during high school visits. To help alleviate this problem, she assembled a team of educators of color to highlight the these students seeking a successful college experience. Garr and her colleagues' efforts resulted in a human resources program for high schools who work with institutional contacts to use toward bridging the achievement gap.

The QCMP holds a yearly "Youth Conference," offering students of color and first-generation college students a chance to meet college and university recruiters through college fairs. This year, the QCMP added an employment fair to the conference.

The work of the QCMP has helped over 3,000 students.

The QCMP includes representatives of color from five higher education institutions of higher learning. Through the program, Garr connects these representatives with local students for exposure and to access potential educational opportunities.

The ISEA represents pre-K-12 educators, education support professionals, community college faculty, Area Education Agency professionals and both retired and aspiring educators with contracts covering over 50,000 employees statewide.
Long stored the in basement of City Hall, records for the city of Moline are advancing into a new records management system.

The city wants to dispose of records that are no longer needed and to digitize records to free up space in the basement and use it for employee purposes. Records the city wishes to dispose of must be approved from the state archives. It can't dispose of certain records such as ordinances, agendas or minutes.

Enacted in 1962, the Local Records Act regulates the preservation and disposal of public records for all units of local government. The purpose is to provide a process for managing records that are necessary for the proper functioning of government, the destruction of obsolete records and the archival of preservation of records that have long-term research value.

City Clerk Janine Hollembaek Parr is leading the records management project and said each department is currently in the process of organizing records and completing disposal certificates.

"It is a city-wide project," Hollembaek Parr said. "We are in the preliminary stage of the records disposal process."

The city hopes to have all disposal certificates submitted by the end of the year. Once the disposal process is complete, the city will then discuss the digitization of the records.

The first step in the process is locating the application for authority to dispose of local records that was approved by the appropriate Local Records Commission in which it provides a retention schedule with record titles, descriptions and a range of the retention period.

Chief Deputy Director of the Illinois State Archives Robert Chayce Boots said local governments would then work off of the retention information to determine which records to keep versus what to dispose of.

"Then after that, they generate a disposal certificate for those records, and then that comes through Springfield to the state archives," Boots said.

The disposal certificates will then be reviewed to make sure the records are in compliance. Once the certificate is fully approved, it will be returned, and a date will be indicated on it when records can be destroyed. Agency's that use a commercial shredding service can schedule shredding of the approved records 30 days after the approved DC.

More information on the process can be found in the in state archive's quick guide for disposing of local records.

With space in the basement opening up, Sarah Mark, fleet and facilities manager, said they hope to develop a more functional space for employees and community members. Mark said they hoped to update the HVAC system, create a break room on the north side and create a conference space.

"The city has been very fortunate to add to our staffing in many departments," Mark said. "Unfortunately, (we) had to eliminate pretty much all break-room areas in order to have office space for new team members."

The conference space would have areas for staff to bring in community members or those interested in living or doing business, to meet and plan for future projects and developments in the city.
When police responded to a Wednesday night shooting at Knollwood Townhouses in north Rapid City that left one man dead and another injured, they heard gunfire across the street at Knollwood Heights Apartments on Surfwood Street.

The Rapid City Police Department said a man was grazed with a bullet at the Surfwood Street incident, which police say is unrelated to the Knollwood Townhouses.

Its days like this where it just feels like all we can really do is shield the kids from stray bullets, and thats about it, said Tyler Read, community engagement specialist at the RCPD. We have a lot of big aspirations, things that could make a difference, but until the community says theyve had enough, its not gonna stop.

A 9-year-old boy who lives in the neighborhood said its like the 500th murder thats been here, but answered no when asked if hes scared.

Theyre getting pretty immune to it, Read said.

Of the 13 homicides in 2021, four occurred at The Big Three," a term used by police to refer to the high crime area of Maplewood Townhouses, Knollwood Heights Apartments and Knollwood Townhouses.

The RCPD hasnt confirmed if they are investigating Wednesday's case as a murder, but a statement released said, at this point in the investigation, police believe they have most of the involved parties accounted for, and there is no belief that there is any ongoing threat to public safety as a result of the shooting.

RCPD spokesman Brendyn Medina said Wednesday afternoon that no one had been arrested at that point. The names of the victims and suspects have not been released.

We still have questions about just what went on prior to the shooting actually taking place. Once we can get some of those questions answered, that will determine whether there are arrests or not, Medina said.

The next few days are crucial, Read said.

We've got this balancing act, because after a murder happens, the first 72 hours is critical time. You can have retaliation happen, he said. All kinds of bad things can happen in our first 72 hours, so it's important to try and flood the neighborhood with eyes and positivity so that we can reduce the potential for that, which is real.

Read has manned the RCPD substation in Knollwood Townhouses since September 2020. The substation serves primarily as a space for neighborhood children to work on crafts, play video games and socialize. Read also organizes bake sales called "Hood Cakes" in the community. Neighborhood kids sell baked goods to buy video games or items for community members in need.

Read has an extensive background in the art world, working as the community engagement coordinator for the Rapid City Arts Council from 2012-2019. He was a Bush Foundation Fellow from 2017-2019, and he worked as Art Director for the Cheyenne River Youth Project on the Cheyenne River Reservation from 2019 to 2020.

He and several neighborhood boys started on a mural on Wednesday afternoon on a concrete wall in front of the home of Ward 4 Rapid City Councilman Lance Lehmann. The mural will say Mitakuye Oyasin, a Lakota phrase meaning all are related.

Plans for the mural didnt start on Wednesday, but Read said it would be a good way to take the events off the childrens minds.

I think it's pretty much like the only thing we can do. Just go somewhere around the corner where it's safe and try and remind everybody through a piece of art to be good to each other, he said. It's something good that the kids can think about other than what's going on here.

The RCPD has two other substations near The Big Three. One in the Uptown Rapid Mall is dedicated to the RCPD's youth outreach team. The third substation, located near the corner of Knollwood Drive and North Maple Avenue, opened recently just across the street from Knollwood Townhouses to provide an office space for RCPD Sgt. Ryan Phillips, who oversees patrol efforts in the neighborhood and for Read to do office work and for patrol officers to write reports, Medina previously told the Journal.

The likelihood of someone being over there (at the new substation) and not out on a call already, and getting over there (to Knollwood Townhouses) in time, it just hasnt happened yet, Read said, referring to the issue of people walking by with backpacks, face masks, hats, long sleeve shirts and jeans in 100 degree weather.

Its this cat and mouse game, Read said.

The RCPD asks anyone with information on the shooting incidents to contact Detective Dan Trainer at 605-394-4134. An anonymous tip can also be submitted by texting the letters RCPD and the information to 847411.
A high school student was shot in the head during drivers education class Thursday afternoon on the Far South Side, Chicago police said.

The girl, 17, was behind the wheel of a Ford Focus attempting a three-point turn when people standing on the corner opened fire at a passing car traveling north in the 11300 block of South Normal Avenue shortly after noon, police said.

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She was hit in the head by one of the multiple gunshots that were fired.

The teacher and another student seated in the back seat were not injured.

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The victim, who received three stitches to close the wound, was at home recovering after being released from Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to police.

No arrests had been made yet.
The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe received a significant preliminary injunction this week from the U.S. District Court in South Dakota in the tribe's claim of voter rights violations in Lyman County.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Roberto Lange issued the injunction Thursday to implement a new redistricting plan for the Lyman County Board of Commissioners' Nov. 8 election and to begin the adoption of a remedial plan.

Cooperation between the Tribe and the County, between Tribal members and non-Tribal members, is crucial to the future of Lyman County," Lange wrote in his decision. "If the County does not come forward with an appropriate remedial plan, this Court can impose its own.

Attorneys for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe said the decision acknowledges that the countys current redistricting plan would dilute the voting power of the Native American community and requires the county commissioners to create a new plan for the county elections in November.

This decision affirms that gatekeepers must make inclusive changes protected by the Voting Rights Act in a timely fashion and acknowledges that everyone benefits when local governments cooperate with tribal governments like the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, said Native American Rights Fund Staff Attorney Samantha Kelty.

In May, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe voters filed a lawsuit against Lyman County commissioners for delaying the rollout of fair election districts. While over 40% of Lyman County voters live on the Lower Brule Reservation, an at-large voting system hampered reservation voters to elect a single candidate of their choice to the Board of Commissioners, the tribe's attorneys argued.

The 2020 redistricting process required changing the at-large voting system and giving Native American voters an opportunity to select two of the five county commissioners in order to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Vice Chairman Neil Russell said the tribe is ready to "help Lyman County make positive changes on- and off-reservation."

Lange's 49-page order acknowledges Lyman Countys voting patterns that tend to favor white-majority voters and places Native American voters at a distinct disadvantage.

Lange wrote the effect of a single county-wide district has been to create a system where the Countys white majority can and largely has blocked election of Native-preferred candidates.

Lyman County has never seen Native American representation at the county level. The pro-bono organization Public Counsel assisted the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The organization's Senior Counsel Tara Ford said the decision ensures that all voters will have a meaningful say in their representation.

This decision acknowledges what Native American voters in Lyman County have experienced for decades, a pattern in which Tribal voters arent on equal footing and in which they do not have a fair chance to elect county leaders who address their issues, Ford said. Were hopeful that with this decision, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe voters will now be able to elect leaders that understand the needs of their community and who will help shape their future.
Name: Christina Griffin

Age: 31

From: San Antonio

How many rallies have you attended previously? This is my first time.

Favorite thing about the rally? All the interesting people.

Name: Joyce "Red Motorcycle Joyce" Melson

Age: 64

From: Boulder, Colorado

How many rallies have you attended previously? 34.

Favorite thing about the rally? My favorite thing about coming to the rally is looking at the guys because I already have a Harley.

Name: Alexander Miskow

Age: 25

From: Chicago

How many rallies have you attended previously? This is my first year.

Favorite thing about the rally? Tattooing, the money, the rally itself, the bikes, all the black eyes.

Name: Terry Forsyth

Age: 51

From: Boulder, Colorado

How many rallies have you attended previously? This is like my 100th rally.

Favorite thing about the rally? I like to ride Harleys.
Love is in the air at the Sturgis rally. Walking through Sturgis, visitors are likely to hear cheers for newlywed couples mingling with the rumble of motorcycles.

Every year, dozens and dozens of couple choose the rally as the place to marry or renew their vows, and wedding officiants in the Black Hills are thrilled to be part of so many love stories.

Celebrate the wins

The unexpected discovery of a wedding venue inside J&J Optical inspired a tourist from Holland to propose to his girlfriend on Tuesday morning.

He wanted to propose here. He had a makeshift ring, said wedding officiant Joan Pillen, who runs Sturgis Hitchin' Post out of J&J Opticals office. She has dedicated space for weddings, complete with twinkling lights, at the office.

The couple was traveling with a group. A traveling companion needed contact solution, so they all stopped at J&J Optical.

Someone said, Do you marry people? and that is when one gentleman went to the twinkly light area and got on his knee, Pillen said. I told them, Take your passports to the courthouse. You can be legally married in the States.  I would not be surprised if they came back (to get married).

By Tuesday afternoon, Pillen had performed a dozen ceremonies since this year's rally started. She typically performs several dozen weddings throughout the motorcycle rally. Pillen prefers walk-ins to scheduling ceremonies, she said, and Sturgis Hitchin' Post has space indoors and out where couples get married.

Interestingly, Ive done a lot of renewals of vows  a 50-year and a 25-year. People are wanting to celebrate the wins right now and Im finding people to be more sentimental, Pillen said. Id say 20% (of ceremonies I perform) are couples who were married to each other, got divorced and are getting married to each other again. Thats a very hopeful story, I think.

We see a lot of first marriages, a lot of third marriages, a lot of different kinds of weddings. Couples who come to the rally are going to tend to have been married before, she said. Because Im here in Sturgis  we get a lot of couples that just come in, just the two of them, that just want to get married and come back out and celebrate.

Outdoor weddings tend to draw a crowd.

Its noisy and nutty and all the bikers driving by have advice for the couple that they scream, Pillen chuckled. Its fun for people to say they got married in Sturgis.

After 20 years as a wedding officiant, Pillen still loves her job.

It brings so much joy into our office to have that year-round. Its so fun to have a happy couple come in eloping or something simple. They want to get married and we do the best job we can. We make this fun little wedding package and really celebrate with them, Pillen said. Im so happy for everyone whos getting married or renewing vows. Its my joy.

Pretty biker weddings

Black Hills Rally Weddings and Sturgis Rally Weddings are businesses that both cater to couples who marry during the rally at quieter, scenic locations.

Black Hills Rally Weddings is owned by wedding consultant and officiant Gale Johnsen, whos carrying on her familys business. Her mother was a wedding consultant in California for decades, and Johnsens sister is a wedding planner as well. Black Hills Rally Weddings hosts outdoor weddings on about five acres of property in Boulder Canyon between Sturgis and Deadwood.

Johnsen anticipates during this years rally, shell perform about 20 weddings. She prefers to schedule ceremonies a few days or just hours ahead of time.

Johnsens goal is to help couples get married without breaking their budgets.

My mother felt bad when people couldnt afford a beautiful wedding. She used to say, Everyone should be able to afford a beautiful wedding, so my sister and I are keeping her tradition, Johnsen said.

Moneys hard to come by and this way they can have a beautiful wedding for almost nothing, she said. Fix your car, buy a house, pay your student loans off. Dont pay for a big wedding.

Keeping weddings affordable is Johnsens way of supporting tourism as well as aiding locals who want memorable, low-cost celebrations. Shes married couples from Australia, Taiwan, England and elsewhere around the world. Some couples return to visit Johnsen for years after their wedding.

The couples she marries typically choose to have family and close friends at their ceremonies. Johnson only hosts weddings for 30 people or fewer.

I get some first-timers but usually theyve been married once before and they dont want the big white wedding, she said. Ive had them up to the eighth time (getting married).

We have pretty biker weddings  no skulls, Johnsen said. If youre going to have a wedding, you might as well have a pretty motorcycle wedding.  Some people want that crowd in Sturgis. Theres something for everybody. Weve got our niche.

Couples marry beneath an arch custom crafted out of parts of Harley Davidson motorcycles, Johnsen said.

The groom rides his motorcycle right up into the arch. We understand its a big part of their lives so we incorporate the motorcycle into the wedding, Johnsen said.

Couples can opt for a champagne toast and cake after their ceremony, but often they choose to go to a restaurant or other location to continue celebrating, she said.

Theres so many good restaurants. Its really not hard to plan a wedding in the Black Hills, Johnsen said. Im doing this to have fun and maybe bless people and have a good time.

Intimate weddings, stunning locations

Rally wedding season started early this year for Mary Maisey-Ireland, wedding officiant and owner of Sturgis Rally Weddings. By Tuesday, shed already performed several weddings and had more scheduled.

She doesnt perform weddings or vow renewals in Sturgis. Maisey-Ireland specializes in marrying couples during the rally at locations throughout the Black Hills, especially near the regions lakes and waterfalls.

I ask if theyve been here before and if they have a favorite place. A couple is getting married on the Needles Highway this week. Theyre getting married at a place where they took a picture together in 2017, she said.

Roughlock Falls is popular. There are couples who will go to Spearfish Falls. Its a bit of a hike but that means its also more private, Maisey-Ireland said. Were spoiled for choices. Theres so many beautiful places. That means theres nobody there setting up chairs for you or an arch.  Most rally weddings are really small and those arent needed.

Weddings in public places often attract joyful crowds who stop to witness the festivities.

On the whole, Ive never had a negative experience with doing weddings in public places like Roughlock Falls. What Ive had are all the people who happened upon it being just delighted, and standing back to watch and cheering when they kiss. Its the kindness of strangers, Maisey-Ireland said. Theres a real sense of community with bikers, and thats also been my experience with weddings.

I feel like I sometimes have to pinch myself that people pay me to do this, she laughed.

Though small, the rally weddings she officiates are carefully planned.

A lot of people, when they hear I do rally weddings, picture it being a lark: Hey, baby lets get married.  I get to work with people who do their research and book a wedding with me sometimes a year or more in advance and then its a very deliberate choice on their part to roll their wedding into their vacation, said Maisey-Ireland, whos been officiating weddings for more than 20 years. For many of them, this is where they return year after year for their anniversary.

This year, for example, shes performing a vow renewal for a couple who have been married 25 years and want a ceremony for just the two of them.

What I love about a rally wedding is because they tend to be very small, people feel a tremendous amount of freedom to do it exactly the way they want to do it. The couples who work with me are couples who have planned ahead because we create their wedding ceremony together. They have put so much thought into what they want their ceremony to be, she said.

They wear everything from shorts and tights to full leathers to wedding gowns. It depends on the person. I always say wear what you feel comfortable and beautiful in, Maisey-Ireland said.

Unexpected guests are sometimes a joyful part of the day.

Having people be surprised by their guests is more likely to happen with a rally wedding, Maisey-Ireland said. Ive had people drive all night in order to get there to be there for a ceremony. In both cases, the bride was absolutely stunned. She had no idea.  I think the groom was in on it  so that fun thing happened.

Maisey-Ireland reminds her couples to consider whether theyll need good internet connection at their chosen location site.

Its not uncommon for people to do a Facebook Live and send out a link so friends and family can be present that way, she said.

Not only am I with people on one of their happiest days but I get to be a host of sorts in sharing all these incredible places where we live, Maisey-Ireland said. Theres something about doing all of that that wakes me up again to this place that we live. Sometimes I think to myself, People save money all year round to get to vacation here and I get to live here.
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Applause filled the gymnasium as tears filled the eyes of graduates and onlookers alike at Trapper Creek Job Corps first graduation ceremony in two years on Tuesday.

Like many young people who left school during the pandemic, unsure of what the future would bring, the Trapper Creek grads endured an extra layer of adversity in reaching their education goals and struggled to return to a new normal.

Welding program graduate Alyssa Leno described going down a dark path and living in her car during her time away. She talked about how she almost didnt return to finish her education at Trapper Creek.

Feb. 8, 2021, I got a call saying I could come back to the center," Leno said. "The next day, I almost didn't because what I was doing was so much easier. I was good at struggling."

Eventually Leno decided to return and attributed the friendships that she formed at Trapper Creek to teaching her strength, perseverance and how to stay true to herself. The program also taught her to push herself and keep setting goals.

I remember coming back, we were dealing with all the COVID restrictions," she said. "I wanted to leave. I thought it was ridiculous. But I kept setting goals for myself. I'd say as soon as I get my license, I'm pulling my papers. And then I got my license. Then I said, once I get my high set, I'm gonna pull my papers. And then I kept finding myself wanting more and more and more from the program. And subconsciously, I really knew that it was just me not wanting to quit something because all I've done the whole life was quit.

Leno worked her way through the program and eventually landed in a leadership position mentoring other students. She said that leadership was hard at first because everyone is always watching you and how you present yourself but that eventually it came naturally.

Three years ago, if you would have told me that I was going to be in top leadership in three different areas, leaving with a basically brand new car, nice apartment with three job offers, I would have laughed so hard, Leno said.

All this place takes effort," Leno said. "Everything else is right in front of you. Take advantage of everything this place has to offer. Be open to change and willing to learn. Seek discomfort and work hard and ask questions. Because I promise you everything on the table here is obtainable. I want to thank all of the staff here for pushing me to do better (as a) guidance counselor, keeping me on my toes and pursuing something in me even when I couldn't see it myself."

Vincent Kroeger, academic manager at Trapper Creek, praised the graduates for working hard and overcoming huge obstacles while preparing for their futures.

Typically it's a 20-, at the most 24-month program, Kroeger said. All these guys who were sitting here today all came in either the summer or the fall of 2019. They were 17 years old, and now here we are in 2022. Most of them are 21, and that's not typical. They all have their education, their industry based credential, jobs lined up, ready to rock and roll. So like from a personal standpoint, this is Generation Z now at Trapper Creek Job Corps Center  I'm pretty proud of them. I think they're a good representation of this generation."

Leno plans on spending some time with her family in western Montana and camping now that shes graduated but plans on moving to Utah where she has job prospects and a place to live lined up with other graduates of the Trapper Creek Program. She attributed a lot of the positive changes in her life to her time in the program and the relationships she made there, but mostly what it taught her about life and herself.

It really changes your life when you really apply yourself," she said. "Because all this place is, is independent work. If you don't apply yourself, you're just going to be stuck here, wishing for things to happen. But you got to make those things happen. I'm just so grateful for this place.
MISSOULA  Debra Gean Roeber, 66, of Butte was sentenced Wednesday to one year and a day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for stealing more than $600,000 from an elderly and blind woman, now deceased, who was under her care.

Roeber pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud and to money laundering.

U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said in a press release Thursday that Roeber admitted to spending the money instead on lake property, vehicles, a pontoon boat and other items for herself.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen also ordered Roeber to pay $661,549 in restitution.

Montanans are inherently trusting and the victim in this case trusted Roeber because she was the victims guardian. Roeber abused that trust when she defrauded her elderly, lonely, and blind victim, which is not just tragic and egregious, its reprehensible and unacceptable. Our office and our law enforcement partners will not tolerate elder abuse, and we will be steadfast in our commitment to protect our most vulnerable friends and neighbors, Laslovich said.

The government alleged in court documents that the state district court appointed Roeber as the guardian and conservator for the victim, identified as Jane Doe, who was unable to care for herself or her financial needs without assistance because she was blind. From about January 2017 until June 2020, Roeber stole $661,549 from Jane Doe and used the money for, among other things, construction projects on lake property at Canyon Ferry, vehicles, furniture, a pontoon boat and cash. None of the expenditures was authorized. Roeber admitted she took advantage of Jane Doe a lot, including lying to the victim about her finances. Jane Doe, who is now deceased, lived her final days believing this fraud left her destitute and unable to care for her simple needs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan G. Weldon prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation.
Nearly all of Montana's $14 million in Russia-linked assets have been sold off since the country invaded Ukraine earlier this year, the state Board of Investments' executive director said Thursday.

The board's executive director, Dan Villa, told the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee that about $35,000 of that total remains since the board began efforts to divest in March.

It's been nearly six months since Russia launched its most recent invasion of Ukraine, a move that has been widely condemned by the United States and other Western countries. Subsequent sanctions have taken a toll on the Russian economy, along with the withdrawal of many companies based in the West.

A rise in anti-Russia sentiment in the U.S. has also prompted consumer boycotts and bipartisan calls by politicians to economically punish Russia. Gov. Greg Gianforte wrote on Twitter shortly after the invasion that Montana was reviewing its roughly $25 billion investment portfolio for assets "that may benefit Vladimir Putin, his cadre of profiting oligarchs, and his vicious war machine."

But Villa said that the board's divestment strategy was rooted in financial prudence.

"We began exiting the Russian holdings when we could, not because of any, what I'll call governance or policy reasons, but because Russia is uninvestable as a country at this point," he said.

The remaining assets are mostly in rubles  Russia's official currency  which Villa said have been difficult to sell off due to capital controls the country's central bank enacted in response to threats of sanctions earlier this year.

Villa also reported that three of the state's four largest investment pools  the Consolidated Asset Pension Pool, the Trust Funds Investment Pool and the Montana State Fund  posted losses of 2.8% to 5.9% during the fiscal year that ended June 30. But he noted those declines were mild compared with double-digit losses in all of the top U.S. stock markets during the same period.

"It really speaks to why diversification is necessary within a pool of this size," he said, adding that the state's real estate portfolio posted gains of nearly 24%.
Montana remains on track to switch over to a new statewide voter management system in January 2023, the state elections manager said Thursday, after an encouraging test of the system in the state's June primary election.

Stuart Fuller, the elections manager in the Secretary of States office, told the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee that a couple bugs in the system still need to be worked out, but otherwise the test run went smoothly.

Twelve counties took part in what election officials refer to as a parallel test of the new system, in which the current system is used to conduct the election, while duplicating functions such as printing ballots on the new system. They ranged from rural, sparsely populated Fergus and Toole counties to the comparatively urban Flathead and Silver Bow counties.

Silver Bow County Election Administrator Linda Sajor told the committee she also felt confident after the test.

I think we are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were last year, and I am confident that we will be ready to go live in January, Sajor said.

The top elections officials in several counties began growing concerned last year after initial testing of the system revealed what they said were substantial, unresolved problems within the new system, called ElectMT. In public comments offered to the same committee last November, they expressed alarm at the Secretary of States offices plans at the time, to move forward with the switchover to the new system at the beginning of 2022.

Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen ultimately decided to push the launch date back to 2023.

The current system, MontanaVotes, is now more than 15 years old. Past Secretary of State Corey Stapleton initiated the effort to develop a successor to that system in 2019.

Even those officials who raised the alarm about launching the new system too soon, however, have consistently praised the capabilities of the ElectMT system.

On Thursday, Fuller said that one feature pegs each voters address to points in space in its geographic information system. With new congressional district maps in effect this year, and ongoing legislative redistricting to take effect in 2024, he said ElectMT will assign voters to new districts much more accurately and efficiently.

Thats opposed to the current system, under which Fuller said you have to go in and manually assign address ranges to a precinct, and you have to do that across the entire state.

The same dozen counties that held parallel tests during the primary are planning to do so again for the 2022 general election, Fuller said.
New ways of understanding the risks of wildfire smoke will come from the University of Montana, thanks to an $800,000 National Science Foundation grant.

The award, given to UM associate professor of environmental and analytical chemistry Lu Hu, comes from NSFs Faculty Early Career Development Program. It gives Hu a five-year research grant to study the chemical composition of wildfire smoke in Missoula and look at ways to improve air-quality models.

We need to study in smoke what we cannot see with our human eyes, especially when it causes respiratory and other diseases, Hu said in a UM press release.

Hu is looking to use the grant money for a project aimed at improving the measurement of volatile organic compounds, also known as VOCs. These compounds hurt human health.

He explained in the press release that the second largest producer of VOCs are wildfires, and that theyre hazardous and regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Oddly enough, unburned trees are the No. 1 VOC producer (think of the smells of a green forest).

When we look at smoke, we see the particulate matter, he said. The actual chemical composition is much more complex. So we can examine VOCs and rank them in terms of what are the most important for human health impacts. We also rank them in terms of how reactive they are and their ability to generate secondary pollutants.

The compounds are volatile when they mix with human-caused pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, Hu explained.

So if you have VOCs from trees or wildfire smoke next to heavy traffic from cars, it becomes this perfect atmospheric cocktail where all these ingredients come together in sunlight, and that can be bad, he said.

The bad is the formation of ozone. Ground-level ozone poses health risks like aggravating lung conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.

Right now, researchers can't measure VOCs well. Hu's project will work to improve that and the use of mass spectrometry to better quantify the compounds, he explained.

"With all our current models, we still cannot predict the formation of ozone when we have wildfire smoke," Hu said.

Some of the compounds found in wildfire smoke are classified as furans, which have the potential to be carcinogenic.

While Missoulas air quality has been relatively decent this summer, thats not always the case. And the fires are still burning  Missoula County moved to Extreme fire danger on Thursday.

The grant also allows Hu to continue a long-term, air-monitoring site based in UM's Clapp Building, and Missoula is an ideal location for such a site because of smoke that travels through. The site was originally established by Bob Yokelson.

Missoulas smoke this year has come from other regions in the western U.S., which means Missoula hasn't been too impacted by chemicals and VOCs so far, Missoula County Health Department Air Quality Specialist Ben Schmidt said. Much of the smoke that passes through Missoulas valley comes from British Columbia, Idaho, northern California and southern Oregon.

It all comes down to where the fires start up, Schmidt said.

Schmidt explained that the kind of research Hu is doing helps the health department make better-informed decisions for its recommendations to Missoulians for wildfire smoke protection.

Hu joined the university in 2017, one of westerns Montana worst years for wildfire smoke.

Before that, wildfire to me was a word I read in the newspaper or in research literatures, Hu said. I never paid attention to that in terms of research. In 2017, that summer, my first summer, that really just changed my mind.

Hu has three graduate students working alongside him in the lab and two postdoctoral students on his team. The award supports another graduate student and an additional postdoctoral position for two years.

Its not going to get better before it gets worse, Hu said.
Police were looking for the vehicle that killed a bicyclist Friday on Chicagos Southeast Side in what authorities are calling a hit-and-run.

Pablo Rodriguez, 55, suffered fatal injuries and died at about 6:15 a.m. after being struck by a vehicle at the 9900 block of South Avenue L in the East Side neighborhood.

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Witnesses told police the vehicle was a black SUV or van that continued to travel north on South Avenue L after hitting Rodriguez.

It is at least the second fatal hit-and-run in Chicago this week. A 5-year-old boy died Wednesday after being struck by two vehicles. Earlier this summer, activists and community members on the North Side called for safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists as a result of multiple traffic-related deaths.

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Police are encouraging anyone with information about the crash to call 312-745-4521.
A Richmond man who provided a false story about how his 3-week-old daughter died in a letter to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has been sentenced to serve 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing the child.

While incarcerated on a murder charge, 23-year-old Matthew Sebolka wrote Stoney and gave one last story attempting to explain his daughters fatal injuries, according to a summary of evidence included in Sebolkas plea agreement.

This time the defendant stated that his wife Elizabeth struck the victim in the face and head, and prevented the defendant from protecting the victim by poking him in the eye, thereby temporarily blinding him, the agreements narrative says.

But his story was an outrageous lie.

Sebolka told police four other stories, but none added up, and none would have resulted in the fatal injuries that Raven Michelle Sebolka suffered on July 30, 2021. She died 11 days later. Had the case gone to trial, medical experts would have testified that the constellation of injuries the baby sustained was consistent with abusive head trauma.

During the course of the childs treatment at VCU Medical Center, it was revealed that Ravens brain had pushed past her skull, with large bilateral brain herniations. Brain herniation occurs when something inside the skull produces pressure that moves brain tissues, and it is most often the result of brain swelling or bleeding from a head injury, stroke or brain tumor.

Ahead of his jury trial scheduled for Monday, Sebolka pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 to second-degree murder, reduced from first-degree, and felony child abuse. In accordance with his plea agreement, Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley Cavedo convicted Sebolka and sentenced him to a total of 50 years in prison with 32 years suspended, leaving him 18 to serve.

The punishment was within discretionary state sentencing guidelines, which called for an active prison term of between 13 years and six months and 22 years and six months.

According to the prosecutions summary of evidence, Richmond emergency services received a 911 call at 10:31 p.m. on July 30 about a 10-day-old baby being scratched in the face by a cat. The childs mother decided to ride the Pulse bus to take Raven to VCU Medical Center.

Upon arrival, it became immediately apparent the child had multiple head fractures.

Sebolka told investigators that his wife had left the house and he was the only person watching the baby. He said that at one point, he noticed the family cat sitting on the childs face and, after removing the pet, his daughter seemed fine. Sebolka said he dozed off for a moment and, when his wife returned, the baby was having issues and 911 was called.

After Sebolka was advised of his Miranda rights, detectives told him his daughters head trauma was inconsistent with his initial statement of what occurred.

Sebolka then changed his story and said he was riding in a car with his father, who had to slam on the brakes, which caused the infants head to go forward and make contact with a seat. But Sebolkas father denied the child was unsecured in a car seat.

After being told that could not cause his daughters injuries, Sebolka gave a third explanation and blamed his wife, stating she dropped the child. But Sebolkas wife denied dropping her baby.

Sebolka was then arrested on a charge of child abuse. He provided a different statement, and admitted he lied about knowing how [his daughter] was injured.

He told detectives he blacked out while holding the baby and fell into the wall with her head first. Sebolka said that when he regained consciousness, the child was underneath him crying. The defendant stated that he put [his daughter] in the car seat, went to the bathroom, and upon returning observed the family cat on the [childs] face.
Charlottesville residents and public officials were forced to scrutinize policing in the city as the regions racist legacy was laid bare in August 2017, and community members voiced their criticism of both local and state polices handling of the white supremacist attacks.

The work of local activists led to the creation of the Police Civilian Review Board, now called the Police Civilian Oversight Board. As city officials were still reeling from what some see as their failure to keep the community safe during the Unite the Right rally five years ago , the City Council elected to dissolve the Citizens Advisory Panel in favor of a new independent review board for the police department. The board has evolved over the past few years, with the city hiring a director last year.

The efforts of that first group of individuals that got together and really paved the way for a city of Charlottesvilles size to say, We need to have accountability and accessibility in policing  that is nearly unheard of, said Ashley Marshall, Charlottesvilles deputy city manager of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Community members have remained critical of the citys approach to police reform over the past five years, concerned that there hasnt been enough change.

I was present at the torch rally on Aug. 11 [2017]. And I watched the police hang back, said Brad Slocum, secretary of the Charlottesville area chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. The city has not only failed to address some of the issues [of policing] but in fact has kind of gone backwards on them.

And in regards to race, there is scant evidence that much has changed.

A report released earlier this year showed the Charlottesville Police Department continues to show a trend in arresting more Black people than white people. In 2021, 56% of total arrests were of Black people, while 42% were of white people. These statistics remain unchanged from 2020, though 2021 saw an decrease in total arrests at 831 down from 922 in 2020. According to 2020 census data, 65.18% of the citys population is white and 15.3% of the citys population is Black.

Budget, transparency are concerns in city

Community members, activists and even city councilors have asked for more transparency in the police departments budget. While the department got about $1.3 million more than it has in previous years, community members voiced concerns that its unclear where the money in that budget is going.

Elizabeth Stark, co-chair of the Charlottesville area chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said its hard to know what needs to be reformed when the budget isnt detailed.

We cannot start assessing the efficacy of policing and what the cops are really doing in our community until we have that information, she said.

Another issue is morale. Former chief RaShall Brackney was fired last year and is suing the city on the basis of race, color and sex discrimination. In the lawsuit, she said that she was fired because of her reform efforts. City officials have pointed to an exodus of officers from the department in explaining the decision to part ways with Brackney, with officials stating morale was low among officers.

Now, as the city embarks on its search for a new police chief, the same questions that arose about policing in August 2017 are coming up again.

We need to establish a culture of oversight, said Hansel Aguilar, the citys new Police Civilian Oversight Board director. Itll be hard to make recommendations on what 21st Century Policing looks like without knowing, without doing an audit of the department.

This would include analyzing the departments practices and what may need to be reformed.

The 21st Century Policing Model was created by an Obama administration task force to identify best policing practices and offer recommendations on how those practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.

Nancy Carpenter, a member of the Oversight Board, said she thinks the board needs to do more to work with the community, especially those who are most marginalized by the police.

Its more than just setting up a table at a festival or whatever, Carpenter said. I hope we can really have some public comment and overt conversations. We need to acknowledge that we do have a problem with policing in this community. If you listen to the people who are speaking from their community, you know that [problem] exists.

Thats one of the changes Aguilar wants to make. He said under the Oversight Boards new operating procedures and changes in Virginia state law, the board can do more than it has in the past, and that includes holding forums for community input.

However, Aguilar says police reform must be a collaborative effort to be successful. He quoted his report to City Council in November 2021: Civilian oversight, however, is not a panacea for solving all policing issues. To tackle the systemic issues in policing, we need a multi-faceted, evidence-based, and trauma informed approach that includes all sectors of society.

Carpenter wants the city and the Oversight Board to collaborate with community groups like Peace In The Streets and the B.U.C.K. Squad, which aim to de-escalate potentially violent situations before the police get involved. City Council has put some money toward programming for these groups, but Carpenter sees more room for direct collaboration.

As the city looks toward hiring a police chief, community input has been at the forefront of the discussion. The city hired POLIHIRE, a Washington, D.C.-based search firm, to manage the search. POLIHIRE released a survey to collect residents input on what they want out of their new chief to help build a profile of the perfect candidate when the firm starts advertising, interviewing and hiring. The survey, created and managed by POLIHIRE, also asks for information on what topics are most important for the next chief to address and advice residents may have.

Looking to the future

Mayor Lloyd Snook has his own thoughts and vision for the future of the citys police force.

I would like to see a police chief that is committed to the model of the 21st Century Police force, Snook said. You need two things: you need to have a clear vision, and you need the ability to attract and keep a team committed to that vision. So what well be looking for and be recommending that the city manager be looking for is someone who has both the vision and the ability to build and keep a team.

Snook said that while Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers will ultimately be in charge of making the decision, City Council will get to make recommendations. And Snook said he hopes community members will be vocal about what they want throughout the hiring process.
WASHINGTON  A former Rocky Mount police sergeant who was in the first wave of rioters to force their way into the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Thursday to seven years and three months in prison.

The sentence for Thomas T.J. Robertson was equivalent to the harshest punishment to be delivered so far in the insurrection cases.

It was the same as that given to another rioter, Guy Reffit of Texas, whose actions were similar to Robertsons, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said in imposing the sentence.

Evidence at an April trial showed the U.S. Army veteran and career police officer was wearing a gas mask and holding a large walking stick in a defensive posture across his chest as an angry mob approached police officers trying to defend the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol.

The defendants conduct served only to advance the mobs progress toward the building, prosecutors said in a court memorandum that asked for an eight-year prison sentence.

But even more troubling than what Robertson did Jan. 6, 2021, Cooper said, were his actions after he was arrested the following week and allowed to remain free on bond  actions that included amassing an arsenal of firearms, continuing to make incendiary political comments on social media and sending texts that were presented for the first time in court Thursday.

If they come here again, many will die, Robertson told a friend in March 2021, apparently referring to federal authorities who had earlier searched his home.

I can kill every agent that they send for two weeks, maybe longer, he wrote in a text that was read aloud by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi.

Although Robertson, 49, has described his social media dialogue as more bluster than bona fide threats, Cooper expressed his doubts.

How can I have any confidence that he will not be a danger to the community if released? the judge asked at one point, saying he probably would have imposed a lesser sentence had it not been for Robertsons conduct while free on bond.

It seems you really think of partisan politics as war. You continue to believe conspiracy theories, he said as Robertson stood before him, dressed in orange jail overalls instead of the dark blue suit and tie he wore during his jury trial.

I sincerely believe you would answer a call to duty if something like this ever happened again, Cooper said.

Robertson has already spent about 13 months in jail, which will be credited to his time in prison. His personal recognizance bond was revoked last summer after authorities learned he had ordered 34 firearms online, and then found a loaded M4 rifle and a partially assembled pipe bomb during a search of his Ferrum home.

Following a weeklong trial, a jury convicted Robertson of five felonies and one misdemeanor: obstruction of an official proceeding, interfering with police officers during a civil disorder, entering a restricted area while armed with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct in a restricted area, disorderly conduct in the Capitol and tampering with evidence.

At the time, Robertson was just the second defendant charged in the insurrection to go before a jury. Juries do not recommend sentences in most federal cases, leaving that to judges after nonbinding sentencing guidelines are calculated.

As of Aug. 6, more than 860 people from across the country have been charged with participating in the insurrection, which federal authorities say was sparked by former President Donald Trumps false claims of a stolen election.

About 350 have pleaded guilty to felonies or misdemeanors, and another 11 have been convicted by juries, according to a summary compiled by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia.

Of the 227 defendants who have been sentenced to date, 116 have received terms of incarceration. About 70 have been ordered to home detention, and the remainder got suspended sentences and were placed on probation.

Thomas Robertson, despite swearing an oath of office when he became a police officer, joined the violent mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and did so while armed, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said in a statement Thursday. Todays sentence holds him accountable for his role in the violence that day.

Robertson was off duty at the time of the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising.

Evidence showed that he and a younger colleague, former Rocky Mount police officer Jacob Fracker, joined a crowd of rioters after listening to Trump speak at a rally, urging his supporters to fight like hell against an election he claimed was rigged against him.

Courts have found no credible evidence of widespread fraud in an election won by President Joe Biden.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Friday that Richmond officials owe residents a further explanation about the purported mass shooting plot city police said they foiled at Dogwood Dell.

During an hourlong session with reporters and editors at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Kaine also said he plans to seek re-election in 2024 and that he will back President Joe Biden if the president runs again.

During a July 6 news conference, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith and Mayor Levar Stoney said authorities had foiled a planned July 4 mass shooting at Dogwood Dell. But during an Aug. 3 hearing for two men charged in connection with the alleged plot, a city prosecutor told a judge that he had no evidence that it was planned for Dogwood Dell.

I have no inside intel other than what I read in the paper, said Kaine, who served as a Richmond council member and as the citys mayor before he was elected lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator.

I think, though, city officials are duty-bound to provide an explanation because they came out strong about this is what this was.

If they did an arrest up front and they didnt say this was going to be a mass-shooting incident, then they wouldnt owe an explanation about a decision with respect to these charges, Kaine said.

But having come out of the gate and [said] OK, this is a mass shooting incident, and then prosecutorial decisions suggest well maybe it wasnt, I think you have to answer that question.

Kaine said that if officials reached a conclusion in error, theres no shame in that. He noted that Bill Leighty, a chief of staff during Kaines term as governor, had a saying that the first reports are always wrong, in an emergency. That proved true during the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech, the senator said.

So people dont need to be embarrassed about saying, We thought X and it turned out to be wrong. Thats always the case, Kaine said.

But having told you that, I do think there needs to be some clarification.

Jim Nolan, a spokesman for Stoney, said in a statement: As RTD and others have reported and are well aware, this case is now in the hands of federal authorities, and the legal process must be allowed to play out. That said, the mayor expects the police department to continue to keep residents informed on issues of public safety, and on this case, when and where it is appropriate.

The mayor believes the most important goal of policing is keeping the residents of our city safe, and he is grateful that RPDs swift action on a tip removed a serious potential threat from the community. He encourages the community to partner with the department to provide the same kind of valuable information that can help keep everyone safe.

As for his election plans, Kaine, a senator since 2013, said: My plan right now is yes, Im running. Kaine added that he will make a final decision after this Novembers elections.

Im not young, but Im still youthful and healthy and productive and having fun, said Kaine, 64.

Regarding the president, he said, If Joe Biden runs, Im going to back him, adding that he has no particular insight into the presidents plans.

Kaine, who ran for vice president as Hillary Clintons running mate in 2016, also weighed in on Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is considering a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

Kaine said Youngkin could be an appealing candidate to Republicans because Youngkins successful run for governor in 2021 threaded the needle in attracting supporters of former President Donald Trump without clinging too close to Trump.

Thats a balance thats tough, Kaine said. The senator said he thinks it is unwise for Republican hopefuls to cling closely to Trump, but said Trump voters are the engine of the Republican electorate.

If I were on the Republican side  so let me put myself into those shoes  I mean, I can see that Glenn Youngkin would be very attractive, Kaine said.

Now, the problem that he would have is Donald Trump is still the dominant figure in that party.

This week, Kaine denounced a Youngkin tweet that criticized the Department of Justice over the search of Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The senator noted Friday that while he thought Youngkins criticism was off-base, he said it also did not help the Virginia congressional delegations effort to woo FBI headquarters to Virginia, rather than Maryland.

You even see Governor Youngkin understands that, Kaine said of Trumps continued dominance in the GOP. So he had to come to Donald Trumps aid over Mar-a-Lago in ways that I dont think he should have.

Kaine added: The challenge for Youngkin is that nobodys ever left the governors office early.

Virginia is the only state that bars governors from serving consecutive terms. The only Virginia governor in modern times to run for president during his term is Doug Wilder, who lost the Democratic nomination to Bill Clinton in 1992.

On another matter, Kaine recently introduced the Reproductive Freedom for All Act, an effort to federally protect abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.

Kaine said that while the measure does not currently have enough votes to overcome Senate filibuster rules, he noted that congressional efforts on gun legislation were ineffective during most of his nearly 10 years in the Senate.

For 10 years, weve been trying to do something on guns and we didnt have 60 votes. That didnt stop us from putting bills on the table, but we couldnt move them, he said.

But eventually the mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas back to back were the things that were the tipping point.
For at least 70 years, Virginia politicians have accepted the notion that some issues are better handled by state agencies than by the courts or the General Assembly  and theyve been arguing ever since about exactly how much.

Now, Gov. Glenn Youngkin aims to have a tool to meet his goal of cutting the states regulatory requirements by 25%. It is the goal of the first major overhaul in more than 25 years of the way Virginia governors review new regulations and revisions to existing ones.

Its a target thats not new  the General Assembly in 2018 launched a pilot program to do just that, to test the waters for a general cutback. It passed unanimously.

The sponsor, Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, calling the 2018 bill one of his favorite pieces of legislation to have worked on, said support for easing regulatory burdens has support from both sides of the partisan divide.

He found that as he tried to build on the progress and create a continuous regulatory program with two-year reduction goals during the latest legislative session, efforts failed in the Senate. The measure won 11 Democratic votes in the House of Delegates and support from five of eight Democrats in the Senate General Laws Committee, but died in a party-line vote in the Senate Finance Committee.

It came out [of] the House with some Democrats support, he said. I think if wed been in a different time era, it might have gotten out with even more support and got through the Senate.

Del. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, who co-sponsored the 2018 pilot legislation, said: We should want regulations when they make peoples lives better. And when theyre inhibiting peoples lives or theyre inhibiting government working effectively, we should either revise them or do away with them.

Calling it a compromise that hit the sweet spot, VanValkenburg noted that he is wary of regulatory trimming that is arbitrary for the sake of cutting percentages. He did support Weberts proposal to expand the reduction effort. Weberts 2022 bill did not set across-the-board targets, but said the Department of Planning and Budget should set tailored goals for each agency.

Youngkins overhaul sets strict new deadlines, and he wants agencies to do better about letting the public know about regulatory changes.

His overhaul tightens standards for the once-every-four-years review of regulations that agencies are already supposed to do.

Some agencies take these reviews seriously, but for some, the periodic reviews were just perfunctory, said Andrew Wheeler, director of the newly formed Office of Regulatory Management in the governors office.

Some agencies put even less effort in.

A report last year by then-Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne in the Northam administration found that nearly a quarter of executive branch agencies did no such periodic reviews, while only a bit more than a quarter did reviews of all their regulations.

Youngkins overhaul also calls on executive branch agencies to publish annual plans detailing all the new regulations and rules they plan to work on over the following 12 months. It is sort of an early warning system for the public and for businesses that arent closely watching every notice of proposed rulemaking that formally launches the process of making a new regulation or revising an old one.

All executive branch agencies, even those exempt from the elaborate requirements of the Administrative Process Act, will have to post proposed new regulations, changes and guidance documents for all executive branch agencies on the states Town Hall website. (The site is a repository for information about proposed changes to state regulations and a portal to participate in or view related public meetings.)

Laynes 2021 review found half of all regulations adopted over the past 15 years were exempt from the APA requirements and from any review by a governor.

This is about transparency and speeding things up, said Wheeler, who took charge of Youngkins regulatory reform effort after the General Assembly rejected his nomination to serve as Secretary of Natural Resources

Ive been doing this work since the 90s, and Im convinced that the more information you present to the public, the better the regulations you get, Wheeler said. He served for two years as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump, after working as an energy industry lobbyist and as top lawyer for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

For standard regulatory proposals, Youngkins overhaul sets a three-week deadline for getting a notice of proposed rulemaking to the governor and a five-week deadline to reach the governors desk once a final version of the proposal is ready.

Fast track proposals for noncontroversial changes and emergency regulations move on even shorter time frames.

It can take two to three years for a new regulation to get through, Wheeler said. The governor wants to speed things up ... he wants the government to operate more like a business.

The periodic review of existing regulations will now require, not just request, an economic analysis that will include an examination of costs and benefits of a regulation.

Here, the idea is to look at the regulations impact, as well as costs and benefits of not having the regulation and of any alternative approaches.

In addition, the economic analysis will need to look at the impact on families.

Here, the starting point will be a look at how regulations affect families transportation, energy costs and education. Theres still work to be done on the metrics for family impact, Wheeler said.

Its like were starting with a Form 1040EZ but moving to a 1040 long form, he said, referring to standard tax forms. I expect any agency can give us a three- or four-paragraph narrative, as we develop more specifics ... were moving from the qualitative to the quantitative.

Periodic reviews will also look at the number of regulatory requirements  the target of Youngkins 25% reduction.

Here, too, theres work to be done.

Weve reduced the hours needed to get a cosmetology license, said Wheeler, referring to the state Board of Cosmetologys approval of a plan to cut the hours of training required from 1,500 to 1,000.

The move should be a big step toward cutting the average $16,000 cost of education for the license, the board decided.

At the same time, the plan calls for a shift of training attention to infection control and safe handling of chemicals.

There are a few more formal steps to go through before the change takes effect.

Once that happens, the question is how to count that change toward the 25% reduction goal  is it a 33% reduction, or a reduction of just one of several hundred requirements?

We still need to look at how to figure out the percentage reduction in regulatory requirement here, Wheeler said. Theres one agency that required every filing be notarized and realized it didnt need to: whats the percentage reduction of that?

Deciding on what, exactly, a requirement was and how to measure a reduction was one issue Layne found when reviewing the three-year pilot program at the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation and the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

The DPOR found its boards, which regulate everyone from architects to professional wrestlers, had 1,984 regulatory requirements it could work with  more than 700 others were required by law.

Over the three years of the pilot, the department and its boards reduced 534 of the discretionary requirements.

I expect that Youngkins critics will see this as an effort to undermine decisions that should be based on scientific or technical factors and substitute a gubernatorial veto over regulatory agencies, said John McGlennon, professor of government at the College of William & Mary.
White supremacists from dark corners of the internet planned their now-notorious descent on Charlottesville for months.

It ended in civil unrest, a car attack, a helicopter crash and, all told, three deaths.

What follows is an account of how the events of last weekend unfolded, as told by the protesters who massed in opposition, the white nationalists who planned it, the state officials charged with managing it all, and the residents of Charlottesville who watched as their progressive college town descended into chaos.

The interviews have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

I. We knew we had a recipe for violence

Charlottesville resident and fringe-right activist Jason Kessler submits an application on May 30 to hold a special event in Emancipation Park, a small square in the center of the city. He charges the $25 application fee to his credit card.

Under the line asking for a description of the event, he writes in shaky block letters: Free speech rally in support of the Lee Monument.

The city had voted to remove the statue of Confederate Civil War Gen. Robert E. Lee in February.

Kesslers application comes about 15 days after prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer led a torch-lit rally around the statue and a month before the KKK held a 40-person rally there.

A reviled figure in the town for his offensive and fringe beliefs, Kessler begins heavily promoting the event among white nationalist, racist and Nazi groups on the internet and in speeches. Posters list a half-dozen prominent white supremacist figures as speakers.

Kessler, June 25 rally in Washington, D.C., in front of the Lincoln Memorial: Lincoln was a traitor. Our entire country would be better off if the South had won the Civil War. Now the same carpetbagging cowards that call us racist are trying to tear down our monuments.

I cant go anywhere in my hometown without these (expletive) radical communists following me everywhere and hounding me. OK, well you didnt like that the alt-right came to Charlottesville? Well Im going to bring back the alt-right and anyone whos brave enough to stand together against censorship of free speech.

Brad Griffin, 36, of Eufaula, Ala., a spokesman for the League of the South, which he describes as a Southern nationalist organization that stands up for the rights of white Southerners: Jason Kesslers idea was that he was going to invite all these different groups to come to Charlottesville to protest the removal of the Lee monument. It started off as a heritage issue.

Col. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police superintendent: The Virginia Fusion Center (the states criminal and terrorist threat monitoring service) went into hyperdrive mining intelligence, monitoring the groups, monitoring any information we could to determine who may come and what they were planning.

A.C. Thompson, a ProPublica reporter who has been covering white supremacy and hate crimes for the past year: When I was reading the white supremacist websites and listening to the podcasts, I could tell they were on board to push this rally in a big way.  Weve documented a spike in anti-Semitism, a spike in racist graffiti. A real, intense xenophobia. And a connection to Trump. A swastika painted next to a Trump sign. Or somebody saying, Trump is going to get rid of you.  Theres a feeling that they have the blessing of a sitting president.

Charlottesville Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy, who introduced the proposal to remove the Lee statue and is the City Councils sole black representative: Every day they say something online. They send out some kind of idle threat. Theres not a day that goes by they dont say something crazy. In my personal opinion, if we werent doing something right, they wouldnt be so upset.

Emily Gorcenski, Charlottesville resident, anti-fascist activist: Being a local activist, it was pretty much the first and last thing on my mind for nine weeks. We made a concerted effort to get the permit revoked. There was quite a bit of preparation.

Colonel Flaherty: The white supremacists were promoting people bringing guns. We knew that there were many groups on the left that had promoted violence of one nature or another. So we knew that we had a recipe for a significant amount of violence.

Preparations on all sides mount in the days leading up to the rally.

State Secretary of Public Safety Brian J. Moran: It became clearer and clearer that this was a significant threat. At some point, the attendance estimate reached 700. We brought (Gov. Terry McAuliffes) chief of staff to the Fusion Center on July 27 to brief him. The state police provided us with enough information to take the unprecedented action of mobilizing the National Guard in preparation for a civil disturbance before it happened.

Colonel Flaherty: The Thursday and Friday before in Richmond, all of the troopers tried on their equipment. They went over the citys plan. They were planning their mobilization.

Gorcenski, anti-fascist activist: I have a pretty standard load out for actions like this. I tend to be very self-sufficient. So I carry things like bandages, water, Gatorade, food, sunscreen, milk in case chemical agents come out. I was also armed, so I was carrying a handgun at the time.

Pastor Viktoria Parvin, St. Mark Lutheran Church in Charlottesville: We didnt expect it to be violent.

Griffin, League of the South: We only brought like maybe five or six shields with us. They were designed in case we were in the park and anybody in the crowd would lob projectiles. But the vast majority of us came in without knives, no one on our side brought guns because we had agreed with the police that we would come in unarmed because the police told us they would guarantee our security.

Trace Chiles, East Coast Commander of the Fraternal Order of Alt- Knights, which arrived outfitted in body armor, many carrying guns: It is our mission to stop Antifa and Black Lives Matter.

Mike Peinovich, host of The Right Stuff white nationalist podcast, Aug. 8: Cargo shorts, flip-flops and a tank top might not be the way you want to go. Bring whatever you need that you feel you need for your self-defense and third-party self-defense of other people that might not have anything. Now Im not telling anybody to do anything illegal. I dont want anybody breaking any laws, but I am saying do what you need to do for the security of your person at this point.

Dr. Michael Williams, trauma surgeon and administrator at the University of Virginia Medical Center: We were told by the police there would be between 5,000 and 6,000 people. This was very intense. The recurring theme at the hospital was, 'This is not a drill.' We deliberately slowed the elective operating schedule for the roughly five days before the event and opened up around 70 beds. Typically we are at or near capacity.

Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Superintendent Martin Kumer: We had about 80 beds at the jail reserved in the event of a mass incarceration.

Colonel Flaherty: There was a lot of discussion: Should they be let in with guns and weapons? The items they brought in to the park werent illegal to possess, so there really was not a reasonable way to limit those items.

On Aug. 7, City Manager Maurice Jones sends a letter revoking the permit for the rally unless it is moved from the small, downtown square around the Lee statue to a much larger, open park about a mile north, McIntire Park. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia files a federal lawsuit on Aug. 10 arguing the rally was moved not because of concerns over size and safety, but over the content of the protest.

Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones letter to Kessler: Holding such a large rally in Emancipation Park poses an unacceptable danger to public order and safety.

Virginia ACLU Director Claire Guthrie Gastanaga: No one who possibly knows our organization would think it wasnt a difficult decision (to represent Kessler). We never had a legal fight about where the rally should be, we simply said, when you make decisions, there is a process you have to follow and you have to do it right.

At 9:30 p.m. the day before the rally, U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad rules in favor of Kessler because the city took no similar action to revoke permits issued for a counterprotest several blocks away, writing in his ruling, "The disparity in treatment between the two groups with opposing views suggests that the defendants' decision to revoke Kessler's permit was based on the content of his speech rather than other neutral factors that would be equally applicable to Kessler and those protesting against him."

Around 10:30 p.m. Friday, word of a militaristic, torch-lit procession on U.Va.s campus spreads rapidly.

Colonel Flaherty: We had some information that Mr. Kesslers group was either going to burn a cross or do this torch march or do whatever it was. We didnt know where it was going to start.

Thompson, ProPublica: Each group has leaders, theyre getting directions by radio. A truck pulls up with all the torches. I thought, 'This is a level of organization I havent seen in a long, long time.' This frankly far outstrips the organizational capacities of the old racist movement.

U.Va. professor Larry Sabato: When we saw the lights coming, I knew it was going to be bad. We went around gathering students  some came to the basement of (my house on the Lawn), others went with friends or met up with parents who were still in town for move-in day. They were very nervous about it all. One asked me if this happens a lot at U.Va., and I told him it was the first time Id seen anything like it in my 47 years here.

Secretary Moran: I drove by the Rotunda and sure enough, I saw torches. I ran over and theres a building that looks down at the Thomas Jefferson monument and theres a large brick patio and thats where the torch assembly, thats where they assembled.

Sabato: The group was reciting Hitlers slogans.

Joe Montoya, who lives outside of Charlottesville, and was leaving a multifaith service on campus: We could hear: 'Blood and soil, well take our streets back,' a lot of anti-Jewish things. I came there to worship God and was terrorized. We had to go through a back alley to escape the church and had a police escort. They screamed terrible things at me.

The group surrounds a small crowd of about 20 counterprotesters who had linked arms surrounding a monument to Thomas Jefferson. University police said they were told the march would take a different route, and are nowhere in sight at the beginning of the confrontation.

Griffin, League of the South: When everyone arrived at the statue, there was a small group there led by Emily Gorcenski who were encircled.

Gorcenski, anti-fascist activist: The Nazis surrounded us very quickly. I stood face to face with a man wearing a swastika pin shouting in my face. I was ready to die that night. I figured that was just how it was going to go. Earlier in the day I had written my final messages to the ones I loved in case I didnt make it through the weekend. I dont know who threw the first punch. When it got violent, the circle shifted to one side and we were able to run.

Sabato: There werent enough counterprotesters there to be able to do the Nazis any harm. They were outnumbered 10 to 1. The students who linked arms around the statue of Jefferson were very brave. Our dean of students got in the middle of it and was struck with a torch  he got a cut on his arm.

Griffin: They lunged with pepper spray. It descended into a brief fight after that with torches.

Gorcenski: We lost. We got our asses handed to us. It was a pretty dark night. I thought that was the end of America that night. Nobody came to help us.

Secretary Moran: It was exactly what like youd see in a World War II video of Nazi Germany. I had never seen anything like that. It just shakes you. It was surreal to see. And the youth, how young these people were. I was just bracing for what might unfold the next day.

II. What are you going to do, not defend yourself?

Vice Mayor Bellamy: I spoke at a 6 a.m. sunrise service and helped lead the march from First Baptist. I led some chants: 'No hate; No fear; White supremacy isnt welcome here.' Things like that. Then I went to a location I cant disclose.

Colonel Flaherty: We did an orientation for our people at 6:30 a.m. at the John Paul Jones Arena, gave them a little intelligence brief to let them know we had the potential for violence, that while precious few of us were from there or ever lived there, that Charlottesville was our city that day.

Secretary Moran: I was in the park standing there with state police and this heavily armed (militia) comes up. I approached one man and he said, Youve got to talk to my commanding officer. Im thinking, What? They were behaving as though they were military. The night before was chilling, but then seeing this was like, 'Oh, boy.'

Jeanne Pupke, senior minister of First Unitarian Universalist Church: We walked uphill arm in arm, singing  'This Little Light of Mine', 'Oh, Freedom' - prepared to be arrested when we arrived to blockade the park. We expected the police would turn us away, but they didnt. They stayed behind their barricades.

Griffin, League of the South: The Nationalist Front had gathered in a parking garage. And we were going to come in together. We were going to march in together in a column because that was the safest way to do it.

Thompson, ProPublica: By the way they came in formation and the amount of clubs, weapons, banners with big old poles on them, I thought, 'This is likely to be a very violent day.'

Pupke, minister: After I took my place on the stairs leading up to the park a group of about 30 young men with shields pushed their way through our line. The Antifa folks didnt like that and got upset. They leaned forward, then the melee.

Montoya, counterprotester: It horrified me to see crowds of Neo-Nazis yelling despicable things. I ended up standing next to an Episcopalian bishop. He asked me, 'What are they chanting?' And I had to turn to this holy man and say, 'Theyre chanting "f---ing f-----s."'

Pastor Parvin: The white nationalists were so young. They called me old something. They were laughing, like they were going to a party.

Thompson, ProPublica: What I saw, frankly, was counterprotesters occasionally wanting to get into skirmishes with the neo-fascists and the racists. And, frankly, most of the time the white supremacists were really getting the better of that - being much better at dispensing violence than the counterprotesters.

Gorcenski, anti-fascist activist: Was there willing combat? Yeah, there was willing combat. Because one side was f---ing Nazis. They came, and we knew that they were coming with weapons, because they spent nine weeks telling people they were coming with weapons. What are you going to do, not defend yourself? Let them march through town?

Ryan Kelly, former staff photographer, The Daily Progress: People were wailing on each other with sticks and flags and shields.

Trace Chiles, Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights: How long after being hit with human feces and other objects does it take for any man to defend himself? I know you aren't possibly implying that we should allow it, considering the police did nothing?

Colonel Flaherty: There was some criticism that there were spot fights and confrontations going on in the crowd. And (police) did nothing. Well, we cant rush into the crowd. Only fools rush into a crowd. We needed to make sure we were set up as we trained to do and we can methodically move that crowd out and disperse them.

Griffin, League of the South: Let me distinguish between the counterprotesters. There were some of these clergy people and they were inside the park and they were having a little prayer circle, and everybody was leaving them alone.

Montoya, counterprotester: The worst thing I saw were white supremacist hordes surrounding clergy  They were throwing water balloons full of urine. When they charged toward us, the counterprotesters intervened. I dont think I would be here today if it werent for them.

Thompson, ProPublica: We witnessed one instance where a battalion of white supremacists encountered an older group of counterprotesters. They were like give-peace-a-chance, middle-aged and senior citizens kind of folks. And the white supremacists just absolutely pummeled them.  Police were just watching it happen.

Colonel Flaherty: Remember, the rally wasnt scheduled to start until noon. Around 10:30, quarter to 11, somewhere around that time, as you were starting to see (chemical) spray and throwing different things, we started moving the National Guard in closer. We started suiting up our tactical field force so they could get in position. We had people in the crowd, police that were indistinguishable in the crowd; we needed to get them out of harm's way.

Secretary Moran: At 11:30, bottles were being thrown back and forth. There was the escalation of violence and thats when the governor declared a state of emergency and we mobilized the tactical team to clear the park. The state police rolled in a BearCat (armored vehicle). State troopers yelling into a bullhorn to disperse. And, actually, a majority of the crowd actually dispersed at that point. Some remained. The tactical team had to push them out of the park. We gave them 11 minutes.

Griffin, League of the South: I saw what looked like smoke come up. And so thought to myself, 'Well, maybe the riot police have dispersed the violent Antifa.'  Around that time, we heard over the speakers that we were being declared an illegal assembly and had to disperse.

Secretary Moran: I thought it went pretty well. We secured it.

Colonel Flaherty: As far as our performance in Emancipation Park, I couldnt be prouder. Had we been able to call the end of the day at about 1:30 or so, while unfortunately there had been 15 or so people who suffered injuries, it had been a successful event, because we dealt with the problem, cleared the problem. No property damage. Minor injuries in what could have been an extremely violent day.

III. Be advised, multiple pedestrians struck.

Pushed from the park, bands of counterprotesters and rally attendees scatter in all directions. A large contingent of white nationalists walks the mile to McIntire Park, where the city had initially wanted to move the rally, and hears speeches from Spencer and former KKK leader David Duke.

Downtown, a group of over 100 counterprotesters snakes through the streets around the mall chanting.

Kristen Marie, Richmond resident, counterprotester: I was just following the crowd. Apparently we were all just marching to where the Nazis were gathering. There was no alt-right. No police. Nothing was really happening. Everything felt fine. There was no violence. Everyone was in a good mood and smiling. Then I heard screeching tires and felt the wind from the car as it went by.

Kelly, former Daily Progress photographer: (The car driver) reversed up the hill so he could come barreling down at a higher speed. I absolutely remember the sound of when he hit the crowd  the thumps, and sounds, and things like that. It sounded like a car wreck, but there were just so many human bodies involved. It was unlike anything Id seen or heard.

Gorcenski, anti-fascist activist: I saw it push all the other vehicles forward. I saw people screaming. People getting pushed forward. I ran toward the car and pulled my gun because I was afraid hed get out and start shooting.

Marie, counterprotester: It didnt even occur to me that it was an attack until he started reversing to escape.

Colonel Flaherty: The helicopter was above it, so we had real-time, live view of it in the command post. We knew immediately.

Dr. Michael Williams, trauma surgeon: The radio sounded: 'Be advised, multiple pedestrians struck. 30 to 40 causalities. More information to come.'

Heather Heyer, 32, is killed as she crosses the street.

Sec. Moran: I knew this was about to go public and the public was just going to be shaken. I texted to the governor. I think I told him, Horrible Twitter video of car slamming people and then another car backs off. I dont know what I was texting. He has been arrested. Video likely to be on CNN soon. I wanted to prepare him for that.

Marie, counterprotester: The victims were in shock. I remember this one girl looking around. Shes like, Wheres my phone? And Im looking at her leg and its like twisted and blood everywhere.

Col. Flaherty: The helicopter stayed with the car, Trooper-Pilot (Berke) Bates and Lt. (Jay) Cullen. They followed it and then the sheriffs department made the stop. We watched that unfold from the downlink.

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, is arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Secretary Moran: There were still protesters all over. There were still these white supremacists all over the city. Thats the problem with an urban environment.

Colonel Flaherty: You immediately start thinking about the criminality of it. Is this a solitary event or is there potentially another person thats ready to run into the crowd somewhere else? Is this individual a lone wolf?

Marie, counterprotester: The street medics marching with the protesters reacted instantly. It was amazing to see people working together. The cops didnt show up for, it felt like, 15 minutes. Im sure it was less. But it felt so long. I called 911 and the dispatcher didnt seem to know about it.

Dr. Williams, trauma surgeon: Ms. Heyer was the first patient to arrive. We were triaging patients outside at the traffic circle and in the lobby. Based on acuity they were labeled green or red. We did that for, I dont know how long we were at that. But it seemed like forever. And at one point, the flow of patients stopped. Roughly 11 of 19 patients, not including Ms. Heyer, went through a trauma resuscitation protocol.

IV. "He was trying to gain control of it."

Just before 5 p.m., the Virginia State Police helicopter piloted by Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates falls into the woods and erupts in a fireball just outside of town. It was one of two state police helicopters monitoring the event. There was no distress call.

Robert Noll, a nearby resident: I was doing some yard work and about to have a beer. There had been helicopters flying over all day, but it made a pop, pop, pop sound like it was missing an engine. I saw the pilot was struggling to gain control of it.

Col. Flaherty: We had been communicating from the command post with Trooper 1, thats the call sign for the helicopter.  We were trying to call him. There was no contact.

Sec. Moran: Time stood still waiting.

Noll: It was just above the tree line and it appeared to invert. I just remember it fell tail down and then you heard this gross sort of thud. It wasnt a boom. It was a thud.

Col. Flaherty: We were all just hoping wed hear Jay Cullen come back on the air.

Sec. Moran: Im Catholic. There were a lot of crosses being  (begins crying)  Im sorry.

Bates and Cullen both die in the crash.

V. I forgive them.

Gorcenski, anti-fascist activist: The thing we had known would happen, happened. I dont know that there are words that describe the rage, the frustration, the sorrow from being there and watching it happen, when this was the literally the last nine weeks of my life.

Chiles, Fraternal Order of Alt- Knights: Overall, it was a success against Antifa and BLM. But, sadly, a loss as well, as someone, whether guilty themselves of protesting illegally or not, lost their life. No one wants that. Charlottesville has the blood of Heather on their hands as well as the police and the governor of this state.

Griffin, League of the South: There were hundreds of riot cops, state troopers and everything. They could have easily, easily prevented what happened and they didnt. And that is a scandal. If Heather Heyer had complied with Governor McAuliffe's orders and dispersed like the rest of us did, she would be alive today. Similarly, if the streets had been properly barricaded as they were supposed to be, she would also be alive today. There are many questions which need to be answered.

Marie, counterprotester: We walked back around the mall area to see what was going on and see if we could find our friends. Everything had died down. It was really a somber field around downtown and they had stationed riot police around downtown. It was intimidatingly somber.

Colonel Flaherty: I traveled to meet the widows of Bates and Cullen. I got home around midnight.

Gorcenski, activist: We fell back to a safe house in a group of eight people in formation with someone watching behind us. Through the streets of Charlottesville, we had to walk like a military unit.

Marie, counterprotester: We left at 5. Heard that there was a fatality on the way back. Thats when it hit. It was mostly a silent car ride. I got home. I sat and just bawled for hours. I didnt eat.

Secretary Moran: On the drive back, I was still trying to understand that weekend. What these young men, what possibly has happened in their lives that they think  that they would embrace white supremacy or the Nazi flag.

Montoya, counterprotester: I think they latched on to something thats given them what they think they need, and theyre poisoned. I forgive them. I forgive the people who murdered Heather and spewed hate at me. I dont understand why they did it, but I forgive them.

Kessler, organizer, attempts to hold a press conference Sunday: (Inaudible over shouting of large crowd. A man runs up and punches Kessler, who is then chased away.)

Vice Mayor Bellamy: The vigils Ive seen, the 5,000 people on the U.Va. Lawn. Those things leave me encouraged, and I know that were going to be fine. More united. Stronger than ever. Its already happening.
Virginia learned past lessons too late, leaving the state unprepared for a powerful snowstorm that crippled a heavily traveled stretch of Interstate 95 in early January, stranding motorists who were promised state aid that didnt come, according to a new report by the Office of the Inspector General.

The report, released on Friday, gives an unsparing critique of the response by three state agencies  transportation, state police and emergency management  to a surprisingly ferocious snowstorm that stalled over I-95 on Jan. 3.

The storm, which came 12 days before Gov. Glenn Youngkin took office, created icy conditions that left motorists sitting overnight in their vehicles in sub-freezing temperatures, including Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who reached his office in Washington the next day, 27 hours after leaving his home in North Richmond.

We should always be applying lessons learned to improve safety for Virginians, Kaine said in a statement on Friday in response to the report. I hope the commonwealth will follow these recommendations in the future to prevent the dangerous situation that hundreds of motorists and I experienced on I-95.

And Im going to do everything I can on the federal level  including ensuring successful implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law  to help Virginians get to where they need to go safely, he said.

The crippling of I-95 might not have happened as it did if state agencies had heeded the lessons of a similar snowstorm that blocked traffic on Interstate 81 near Bristol in late 2018, the inspector general said. Instead, the state did not take preventive measures recommended then, including planning for storms more severe than forecast and communicating those dangers effectively to the public.

Theyve got to prepare for when things go awry and they dont get what they expect, said Ben Sutphin, audit manager for the I-95 investigation, as well as a report in late June that found the Virginia Department of Transportation unable to hire enough contractors to remove snow from roadways in emergency conditions.

When the inspector general was working on the snow removal study, we felt we could not not audit the I-95 snow incident, Sutphin said in an interview on Friday.

The report found that the Virginia Department of Emergency Management has plans for responding to natural disasters, but not specifically for hazardous snowstorms that, in January, created an atypical situation for snowfall and snow removal.

More snow fell faster than expected after rainfall that made pre-treatment of the interstate pavement ineffective, the report said. Temperatures dropped quickly, creating icy conditions that caused tractor-trailers to jackknife on hilly sections of the interstate in both directions, blocking traffic that was heavier than normal because of the New Years holiday and limited air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although a winter weather exercise was planned prior to January 3 and was postponed, the fact that it was not actually held potentially contributed to challenges during the incident, the report states. Traffic was moving so slow that the highway system could not be considered operational.

This also resulted in stranded motorists not receiving assistance with basic needs such as food and water, it adds.

One of the biggest faults found in the report was ineffective state communication to the public about the severity of the road hazards for drivers, who underestimated the dangers because of mild weather over the holiday weekend before the storm.

The report said the states messages  communicated by its 511 phone channel and digital highway message boards  were either ineffective or misleading. It specifically cited a message to stranded motorists that state & locals coming ASAP with supplies & to move you.

The inspector general said the message originated from then-Secretary of Transportation Shannon Valentine, who said she was concerned about reassuring stranded drivers and helping the state regain control of the highway to move vehicles out of the way and motorists to safety.

In my opinion, they wanted to get to the people to tell them that were getting help out there  and that was an important message, Sutphin said. But the reality of making that happen was a different story.

The report also detailed shortcomings in situational awareness of the increasingly severe conditions, communications among state offices and lack of sufficient resources, such as outside contractors, to remove snow  as the inspector had detailed in the previous report.

The inspector general said the lack of backup electrical power for VDOT road cameras made it hard to monitor highway conditions, forcing the state to rely on spotty mobile telephone service and radio communications that not all VDOT vehicles possess.

I was just surprised there was not backup power on those cameras, said Sutphin, noting that the report recommends that the state seek funding from the General Assembly to upgrade the network with an additional power source.

The inspector general does not fault then-Gov. Ralph Northam for not declaring a state of emergency before the storm because the forecasted event ... did not rise to the level to issue an emergency declaration.

However, the report suggested an alternative, used by West Virginia, to set aside funding and other resources as a precaution.

This may help in future storms to allow for more resource staging, such as the National Guard serving stranded motorists, if needed, it states.
Soon after writing about two Goochland County sisters and their remarkable summer  one hiked the length of the Appalachian Trail, the other was pedaling from coast to coast  I received an email from reader Tom Grenell in Emporia.

Grenell wrote in admiration of what Eliza and Maya Sweeney were doing and said another pair of siblings did the same thing 34 years ago: he and his sister.

We were older, 30 and 29, but so many other things were eerily similar, Grenell said of the Sweeney sisters experiences. The adventures have obviously stayed with us for all these many years, and articles such as yours rekindle an avalanche of amazing memories.

I wanted to find out more, so I spoke to Grenell by phone.

Grenell, 65, is a retired veterinarian, originally from New Jersey, who after school joined a practice in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., and later opened his own practice in Emporia. He was working in Roanoke Rapids when he was able to take a six-month leave of absence in 1988 to hike the AT, which is something hed been wanting to do since hiking a section of it in New England a few years earlier.

Meantime, his sister, Nancy Barta, a schoolteacher, was making plans to pedal from Seattle to Cape Cod during her summer break. Just like the Sweeney sisters said of the timing of their journeys, Grenell said there was no particular coordination on the part of him and his sister, though their trips overlapped that summer, nor was extreme sibling competition  one trying to outdo the other  at the heart of it.

It just happened that way, he said.

In reading the piece about the Sweeneys, and in particular, Eliza Sweeneys hike on the AT, Grenell saw a lot of similarities to his own experience during his six months on the 2,200-mile trail: from her parents meeting her at the trails northern terminus, Mount Katahdin in Maine, something his parents also did for him, to her good fortune of meeting amiable hiking partners along the way.

The variety of people that you meet out there is amazing, Grenell said. I guess thats another thing about it. You watch the news or read the paper, and it seems like 97% of the world is rotten and 3% is good. On the trail and in life in general, Id say its just the opposite of that.

Friendships he made on the trail continue to this day, leading to hiking trips over the years to such places as Tanzania, Nepal and Peru.

It just opened up a whole world beyond [the Appalachian Trail], he said.

And it wasnt just the people on the trail, Grenell said, but those behind the scenes who made a difference: family and friends who reliably mailed supplies for him to pick up at post offices along the way. It kept him and the two dogs he was hiking with going, and it made an impression that stayed with him long after.

The support team was great, and I realized how important that was and carried it over to my business, too, he said. I had some employees that worked for me for 15 or 20 years, which is rare these days for a small business, but we made a really good team, and they were there all the time doing whatever they need to do to make our practice right. I tell people I had the best employees ... the support team I had in my business was spectacular.

I asked Grenell how the Sweeney sisters might view this summers adventures 34 years from now  the vantage point Grenell and his sister have when they reflect on their experiences in 1988.

One thing is a general appreciation for what you have, and the ability to make do without the things you dont. He recalled one of his first nights on the trail when he and friend set up camp near what was allegedly a reliable spring.

It was not a gushing spring, Grenell recalled with a laugh. It was drip, drip, drip.

It took 45 minutes to fill water bottles and a pan for cooking that night.

So, appreciating things like plumbing and shelter ... and things like that, he said. It really hits you when youre out, and you dont have those kinds of things.

More than that, its the ability to persevere despite what you dont have.

When you start on something like what they did and youre able to accomplish it, it kind of proves to yourself that determination can go a long way, he said. Youve proven to yourself that youre not a quitter. Its something that can carry through life: When things get tough, you can find a way.
All looks good this weekend.

Aside from a few fair weather clouds, both Saturday and Sunday bring sunshine to metro Richmond with afternoon temperatures in the lower to middle 80s. The humidity will be lower than its been in several weeks, and that will allow for especially cool weekend nights around 60 degrees.

Big heat is still nowhere to be found for the next week. A large disturbance will slide close by early next week, and that will bring lots of clouds and numerous showers on Monday and Tuesday. But the wind direction will remain from the northwest, which cuts off any supply of high humidity. As a result, afternoon temperatures both days are likely to hold in the upper 70s.

But fall is not coming early. That system moves away later next week, and afternoon temperatures will return to levels more typical of August, into the middle or upper 80s by Thursday and Friday.

Climate notes

The low temperature Friday morning squeaked down to 69 in Richmond, ending the streak of 25 days with low temperatures of at least 70. This was the third-longest such streak on record, shy of the 31-day stretch in 2013 at the top of the list.

Global temperature analyses from July have come in from several organizations this week and, while they all have a slightly different tune, their song is the same. Last month was one of the 10 hottest Julys on record globally.

The two primary U.S. organizations, NASA and NOAA, ranked global average temperature for last month as the third and sixth hottest July on record, respectively. The organizations weight the way they include their measurements of the polar regions a little differently, but the end result is consistent with the results from the scientists at Berkeley Earth (fourth place) and the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (third place).
A 31-year-old Roanoke man was arrested early Friday following a four-hour standoff after gunshots were exchanged with police from a downtown apartment.

No one was injured during the encounter, but the surrounding blocks were closed to traffic for hours. Because it was an officer-involved shooting, Virginia State Police is investigating the incident at the request of Roanoke police.

Shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday, police said Roanokes 911 center reported shots had possibly been fired in the 100 block of Elm Avenue Southwest, about a block from Elmwood Park.

As officers arrived, a second round of gunshots were fired from inside an apartment, state police said. City officers returned fire, state police said.

Authorities evacuated surrounding apartments in the building.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., a man left the apartment and was arrested. Damoan Townes, 31, of Roanoke, is charged with two counts of discharging a firearm within a building with malicious intent. State police recovered the gun believed to have been used in the shooting.
The Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem school systems have updated COVID-19 mitigation strategies for the upcoming year, while the Center for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed some of its guidance for quarantining and social distancing this week.

Those three public school systems all have similar plans in place, with students who test positive for the virus having to quarantine at home for at least 5 days, according to each districts plan.

However, those who come into contact with an individual who contracted the virus do not necessarily have to quarantine under the school systems plans or updated guidelines from the CDC.

Roanoke and Salem recommend students or staff who come back from quarantine wear a mask for days 6-10 or participate in a program that requires the individual to be tested on a daily basis during the same time.

Roanoke County has language in its policy which recommends masking and testing daily after returning from quarantine, but does not mandate it.

County schools spokesman Chuck Lionberger said the policy was last updated Aug. 9, but is now subject to possible change.

We are going to reevaluate our policies based on these latest recommendations, he said Friday afternoon. So I cant say specifically what might change or not at this point.

Salem spokesman Mike Stevens said the school system has no plans to change its policy as they are following the most recent guidelines by the Virginia Department of Health.

The biggest changes from the CDCs Thursday announcement include dropping the recommendation that people quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person.

The changes, which come more than 2 1/2 years after the start of the pandemic, are driven by a recognition that an estimated 95% of Americans 16 and older have acquired some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or being infected, agency officials said.

Additionally, the agency also said people no longer need to stay at least six feet away from others.

The biggest education-related change is the end of the recommendation that schools do routine daily testing, although that practice can be reinstated in certain situations during a surge in infections, officials said.

The CDC also dropped a test-to-stay recommendation for students exposed to COVID-19 to regularly test  instead of quarantining at home  to keep attending school. With no quarantine recommendation anymore, the testing option disappeared too.

Lionberger said it was unclear whether RCPS would still recommend testing for infected students after returning from quarantine.

Masks are optional at all three school systems, and the full COVID-19 mitigation strategy plans can be found on each school systems website.

In another Roanoke County school matter, an unconventional way of filling its need for bus drivers and cafeteria workers was approved.

The school system is advertising 10 new full-time positions and those hired will work the morning and afternoon bus driving shifts while working in the cafeteria during school hours, according to Lionberger.

The employees will receive full benefits, as well as having access to the Virginia Retirement System, something part time employees dont have, according to school system officials.

The system last tried this method in 2019, and had previously done so before that, according to officials.

Currently the system has 15 bus driving positions and 31 nutrition associate positions open.

Lionberger said Friday the positions are now available to apply for on the RCPS website.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Since 2016, Helping Florence Flourish has been bettering the city of Florence every day by providing services, support, and funding to those who are in need.

Helping Florence Flourish began when a group of us brought a consultant into town to help us think about all of the domains of the community, Executive Director Chris Handley said. Then to understand those areas and what the needs are of the community and how we can address those needs together.

Handley and his team reached out to approximately 65 community leaders, and in a survey, they were asked to identify big issues facing the city.

This survey not only helped identify what Florence needed help with, but it also helped build relationships and start a sense of collaboration in the group. After identifying the biggest issues, they decided to address them.

These main areas of concern, or focus groups, were education, homelessness, restoration of the family, racial bridging and citywide prayer gatherings.

Each one of these areas has a special team that targets these issues while introducing and applying the Word of God.

We are working toward a visible demonstration of the unity of the Body of Christ to bless Florence, Handley said. This mission statement pushes the question of can we be one to bless the community, while being led by moving toward two biblical realities.

These realities would be oneness, and peace of the city.

John 17:21 and Jeremiah 29:7 are what Handley says are their leading verses. These verses lead the organization to continuously reach out to many residents around the city, including churches.

We have about 25-30 congregations that are engaged, and individuals from each who are close with the organization and we had a large gathering back in 2017 where 2,500 people gathered together in the Florence Civic Center with Tony Evans; that was the most people we had in one room who are connected with Helping Florence Flourish.

The citywide prayer gatherings also bring our leaders together and the congregations as well, he said.

These gatherings meet at a different church every month, it started when two prayer groups started to pray over and for families in the Florence area.

The goal of these gatherings is to not only spread the Word of God, but also to bring hope to those who are lost and to love each other through hard times and past our differences.

Growing up in London, there is a great camaraderie amongst Christians gathering together and praying  so I have always looked for the gatherings and networks of pastors in the states no matter where I was. Figuring out how we can work together so it is not just one church entity, All Saints Church Rev. Jason Hamshaw said.

Hamshaw has hosted the pastors breakfast along with the citywide prayer gathering, and gone to various events. As well as advertising for funding for the organization to help those who need it.

I was homeless on and off for years, and these people with Helping Florence Flourish saw potential in me to be better and to do better for myself and my kids, said Aaliyah Washington, one of the people who Helping Florence Flourish was able to help.

With Hamshaws help, she got a job at Hotel Florence and saved most of her money. With the money she had saved, Washington was able to buy a trailer home off of Old Marion Highway.

He also helped her get her first car, and on her 25th birthday, she got her first house.

I finally got saved and decided I wanted more for my kids. Some days I go to sleep with my stomach growling but my kids will always have a full stomach, Washington said.

With the help of Helping Florence Flourish, Washingtons home is being fixed up due to some problems it was giving the young family, and in the meantime, she is staying for free at a home the organization has, while she is still working and saving her money. She is working on going back to school at Florence Darlington Technical College.
Here in the classic South, we have two choices when it comes to national parks. We have the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and we have Congaree National Park near Columbia, South Carolina. Chances are its the closest national park to you.

On a hot and humid Sunday I paid it a visit. Right off I saw a brass relief of Harry Hampton on the visitors center, and with good reason. For many a day Hampton led a lonely campaign to save Congaree Swamp, a 15,000-acre tract of pristine bottomland hardwood forest along the Congaree Rivers north bank some 20 miles southeast of Columbia.

As I walked the 2.4-mile boardwalk, I saw a red-bellied watersnake, whitetail deer, brilliantly colored spiders, and evidence of wild hogs. But the show here comes down to trees and at key times synchronized lightning bugs. I walked through South Carolinas last virgin forest, which stands as tall as any temperate deciduous forest the world over. As civilizations rose and fell, Congarees trees grew upward and outward, some of them for 800 years. Light resonates here among the boughs of one of Earths highest canopies.

Ninety protected tree specieshalf the number Europe boaststake their place among Californias redwoods and Yosemites sequoias. Three-hundred-year-old loblolly pines, exceeding 15 feet in circumference and 150 feet tall, rise into a sky-blocking canopy. Before the saws and dams, 24 million acres of lofty bottomland beauty carpeted the East Coast. Congaree Swampthe one bottomland refusing to go quietly in the night.

In the 1890s, loggers felled bald cypress monarchs whose water-soaked logs sank in revenge rather than float downriver to sawmills. The oft-flooded swamp, too bemired for road building, frustrated the loggers who abandoned their quest. Only nature has touched Congaree since. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo toppled several national champion trees, including Shumard oak.

We can thank Harry Hampton for his role in saving Congaree. In time, others took note of his efforts and a grassroots effort swelled to the point that a new designation arrived in 2003Congaree National Park, a 26,276-acre national park in central South Carolina, the culmination of the campaign Hampton ignited in 1969. The park preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. Its a green-variegated gem  the countrys 57th national park and South Carolinas first. Here, a 22,200-acre biome, the countrys largest contiguous tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest, delights visitors. Know that its the twelfth least visited national park. So, its not swarming with people, and I like that.

Hampton devoted his life to the states natural resources, and hes known as the father of South Carolinas conservation movement. The Harry Hampton Wildlife Fund, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and fans of the great outdoors follow Harry Hamptons lead. Theyre doing good things for wildlife, its habit, and nature in general.

You live in striking distance. Why not spend a Sunday beneath one of the worlds taller canopies. Some of you might want to plan backcountry camping there. Whatever your preference, if youre a bit like me, youll come away with a thought  Never have I seen so much greenery.
 Man beats his dog ... and gets 25 years in a Texas prison!?! | Main | "The Arbery case is heinous, but his killers sentences are extreme" 

Last week, as discussed in this post, Guy Reffitt, the first Jan. 6 defendant to be convicted at a jury trial (rather than through plea), was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison. This AP piece reports on today's sentencing of another Jan 6 defendant conviction at trial and the similar outcome (coming from a different sentencing judge):

An off-duty Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, with a fellow officer was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in prison, matching the longest prison sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

Former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison. Cooper also sentenced Robertson to three years of supervised release after his prison term.

Federal prosecutors had recommended an eight-year prison sentence for Robertson. His sentence equals that of Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who attacked the Capitol while armed with a holstered handgun. Robertson gets credit for the 13 months he has already spent in custody. Robertson has been jailed since Cooper ruled last year that he violated the terms of his pretrial release by possessing firearms.

The judge said he was troubled by Robertson's conduct since his arrest  not only his stockpiling of guns but also his words advocating for violence. After Jan. 6, Robertson told a friend that he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war and he clung to baseless conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump, the judge noted.

Sentencing guidelines calculated by Cooper recommended a prison term ranging from seven years and three months to nine years. It's a long time because it reflects the seriousness of the offenses that you were convicted of, the judge said.

In April, a jury convicted Robertson of attacking the Capitol to obstruct Congress from certifying Joe Bidens 2020 presidential victory. Jurors found Robertson guilty of all six counts in his indictment, including charges that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick....

Robertson traveled to Washington on that morning with another off-duty Rocky Mount police officer, Jacob Fracker, and a third man, a neighbor who wasn't charged in the case. Fracker was scheduled to be tried alongside Robertson before he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in March and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. Cooper is scheduled to sentence Fracker next Tuesday.

Prosecutors have asked Cooper to spare Fracker from a prison term and sentence him to six months of probation along with a period of home detention or community confinement. They said Fracker's fulsome cooperation and trial testimony was crucial in securing convictions against Robertson.

Robertson's lawyer, Mark Rollins, sought a prison sentence below two years and three months. He questioned the fairness of the wide gap in sentences that prosecutors recommended for Robertson and Fracker given their similar conduct. Robertson served his country and community with distinction, his lawyer told the judge. His life already is in shambles, Rollins said....

In a letter addressed to the judge, Robertson said he took full responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6 and any poor decisions I made. He blamed the vitriolic content of his social media posts on a mix of stress, alcohol abuse and submersion in deep rabbit holes of election conspiracy theory. I sat around at night drinking too much and reacting to articles and sites given to me by Facebook algorithms, he wrote.
 Another Jan 6 rioter who was convicted at trial sentenced to 87 months in federal prison | Main | Rounding up some sentencing news and notes for the week that was 

August 12, 2022

"The Arbery case is heinous, but his killers sentences are extreme"

The title of this post is the headline of this notable new Washington Post commentary (which, as of noon Friday already prompted well over 3000 comments). The piece is authored by David Singleton, and I recommend it in full. Here are excerpts:

As a human being, I felt nauseated watching the video of Ahmaud Arbery being shot to death by three White men who had hunted him down as he jogged through a Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood. As a Black man, I feared that Arberys killers would escape justice before an almost all-White jury in a state court. And as a political progressive committed to dismantling white supremacy, I was relieved when the jury found Arberys killers guilty of murder. Yet the punishments the three men received  in the state case, life in prison for William Roddie Bryan, who joined the pursuit of Arbery and recorded the incident with his cellphone, and life in prison without parole for Gregory McMichael and his son Travis, who fired the fatal shots; and just this week in the federal case, two more life sentences plus additional years for the McMichaels and 35 years for Bryan  left me questioning whether such lengthy sentences are what justice requires. As a former public defender who now works to end mass incarceration and the extreme sentences that contribute to it, I believe the answer is clear: no.... Contrary to what many believe, mass incarceration is not the result of locking lots of people up for low-level, nonviolent crimes. According to such sentencing experts as Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis, life and other extreme sentences are the real drivers of the 500 percent increase in the prison population over the past 40 years. In their book The Meaning of Life: The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences, Mauer and Nellis note that one out of seven people in prison in the United States has been sentenced to life. They say that lengthy sentences make no sense from a public safety perspective, given that most people age out of committing violent crimes by their mid-20s. Additionally, continuing to imprison people long past the time when they can be safely released is expensive, especially when they are elderly. But the economic costs of mass incarceration are not the only costs. To paraphrase Bryan Stevenson and Sister Helen Prejean, people should not be defined forever by the worst things theyve done. But a life sentence, especially life without parole, does just that. When we keep people incarcerated who have transformed themselves behind bars, are no longer dangerous, and have the potential to be productive citizens, we all lose.... If we are to end mass incarceration, state and federal authorities must eliminate such draconian punishment and enact laws that allow judges to revisit sentences based on the incarcerated persons demonstrated rehabilitation and fitness to live in society. Meanwhile, although I am relieved that Arberys murderers are being held accountable, I hope they will someday be released  after they have served an appropriate period of their sentences and demonstrated their fitness to return to society.

Prior related posts:

August 12, 2022 at 12:27 PM | Permalink

Comments

Age out of violence by their mid 20's?? When I did time in a federal prison, I would say that 1) there were very few inmates in their mid 20's and 2) I have little confidence that the the other inmates who were admitted for violent crimes were any more likely to go straight than the younger ones -- with the exception of men past the age of 45.

However, I do agree with the general conclusion of the article that there must be a way for men to demonstrate their "redemption" and earn there way back into society -- with the occasional exception for true psychopaths.

Posted by: chris boys | Aug 14, 2022 2:44:49 AM

Post a comment
Craving one of Krispy Kremes famously decadent glazed doughnuts and a hot coffee to go with it for a comforting breakfast? Yes Penangites, its time to wave your hands in the air and go doughnuts because Krispy Kreme will be opening its first-ever drive-thru outlet in Penang!

According to a netizen who posted in the PenangToday Community Facebook group, the drive-thru Krispy Kreme outlet is located at Setia Sentral in Seberang Perai.

We were curious as to when the opening date would be, so we reached out to Berjaya Corporation Berhad (who operates the Krispy Kreme franchise business in Malaysia). They promptly informed us: If there wont be any other delays, the drive-thru outlet is scheduled to open on 26 August 2022.

You heard them folks! Rev up your engines, set your calendars and head to Setia Sentral on 26 August 2022!

Now you dont have to get out of your car to enjoy the worlds most beloved sugary glazed doughnuts. Just pull over and get your doughnut fix on the go! And dont forget to pair your sweet treat with a cup of coffee for the ultimate Homer Simpson experience.

Other articles you might like:

Lizas Biryani: RM11 homemade Pakistani biryani run by family in SS15 will leave you wanting more

New in town: Higher Ground  Century-old horse stable in Penang converted into cafe by day, bar by night

The post Krispy Kreme is opening its first drive-thru outlet in Penang for your on-the-go doughnut cravings appeared first on SETHLUI.com.
FRIDAY, Aug. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- When dogs' hearing fades, their mental skills follow, new research reveals.

For the study, the researchers examined the link between hearing loss in aging dogs and dementia. The findings shed light on ways sensory loss affects canine cognition (thinking skills) and could lead to better treatment of aging dogs.

In humans, we know that age-related hearing loss is estimated to affect one-third of people over age 65, said corresponding author Dr. Natasha Olby, a professor at North Carolina State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

We also know that the rate of cognitive decline is approximately 30% to 40% faster in people with age-related hearing loss and that hearing loss is a greater contributor to dementia risk than other factors such as [high blood pressure] or obesity. But we dont understand whether the same holds true for dogs, Olby added in a university news release.

For the study, Olby's team examined 39 elderly dogs. Each underwent tests of their hearing and cognitive skills. The dog owners responded to questions about their dogs' quality of life and cognitive function. The investigators then compared results of the cognitive tests, questionnaires and age between the hearing groups.

The researchers found that the "average" dog has no trouble hearing tones at 50 decibels (dBs). Nineteen dogs were able to hear at 50 dB (similar to a quiet refrigerator), 12 at 70 dB (similar to a dishwasher), and eight at 90 dB (roughly equivalent to the noise produced by an airplane taking off). The dogs in each group were, on average, 12, 13 and 14 years old.

Comparing their hearing tests with owners' responses on the quality-of-life questionnaires, the researchers found that the dogs' scores for vitality and companionship significantly decreased as their hearing deteriorated.

Hearing loss is one of the biggest predictors of dementia in people, Olby said. Hearing loss also contributes to falls in elderly people, as sensory decline contributes to a loss in motor skills. So the connection between physical and neurological decline is clear for humans.

Cognitive questionnaire scores ranked all eight dogs in the 90 dB group as abnormal, compared to nine of 12 dogs in the 70 dB group, and eight of the 19 in the 50 dB group. Results from cognitive testing showed a similar pattern: A dog's performance ability decreased as hearing did.

This study indicates that the same connection [seen in humans] is at work in aging dogs," Olby explained. "But since we can potentially treat hearing loss in dogs, we may be able to alleviate some of these other issues. By quantifying neurological and physiological changes in elderly dogs, were not only improving our ability to identify and treat these issues in our pets, were also creating a model for improving our understanding of the same issues in humans.

The findings were published online Aug. 6 in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

More information

National Public Radio has more about helping your old dog age gracefully.

SOURCE: North Carolina State University, news release, Aug. 9, 2022

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NORTH SIOUX CITY  As park manager for Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve, Jodi Moats' responsibilities include everything from collecting turkey tail feathers for art projects to wrangling up buffalo chips for a distance throwing contest.

But she draws the line at milking any cows.

"I refuse to add cow milking to my daily routine," she said, pointing to the menagerie of critters at Sonny's Acres. "You'll see other types of farm animals but no milking cows."

A 1,500-acre park located in the Missouri River basin outside of North Sioux City, Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve will be the site for several family-friendly activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, commemorating its 25th anniversary as a state park.

First established by Stephen Searls Adams in 1872, the homestead includes the family's farmhouse, a log cabin, the Lamont Country School, Stavenger Lutheran as well as Sonny's Acres, which also doubles as a working farm.

In addition, the land is home to several interpretive exhibits and more than 10 miles of hiking and biking trails.

Envisioning it as a place where people could enjoy the natural world, Stephen Searls Adams' granddaughters Mary and Maud Adams donated the homestead to the State of South Dakota in 1984. It received the state park designation in August 1997.

"Mary and Maud called Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve 'a place for inner renewal,'" Moats explained. "The visitors who come here call it a 'hidden treasure.'"

Indeed, the facility saw a huge spike in attendance at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We never closed and it was easy to be socially distanced at a 1,500-acre park," Moats said. "Ever since, more and more people have been visiting us."

Which is why Moats is so excited for the Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve's 25th anniversary celebration.

All day Saturday, kids will be able to make ink out of berries while using turkey feathers as pens. At the same time, dads can test their agility by throwing buffalo chips while moms can work on their pitching arm during a rubber chicken throwing contests.

"Rubber chickens are easier and safer to throw than real ones," Moats noted.

Other activities will include ropemaking, candle making, corn shelling, Dutch oven and threshing machine demonstrations.

"We'll even have a homemade pie contest," Moats said. "Contestants can bring in their pies at 10:30 a.m. and judging will start at 1:30 p.m."

These are types of events which were common when Stephen Searls Adams was still around. They were also activities that would probably meet the approval of his granddaughters.

"I never met Maud Adams (who died in 1995) but I did know Mary Adams (who died in 2009)," Moats, who began working at the park 22 years ago, explained. "To this day, I still think of Mary."

Looking over the 1,500-acre park, Moats is certain that the Adams family would be proud.

"Mary and Maud envisioned a place where people could learn about our prairie past," she said. "Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve has become an oasis for people wanting to unwind in a peaceful park that is right off of the Interstate 29."
FREMONT, Neb.  Sixth Judicial District County Judge Ken Vampola has announced his resignation, effective Sept. 2.

Vampola has served as a judge from 2005-22 in the Sixth District, which includes Dakota, Cedar, Dixon, Thurston, Burt, Dodge and Washington counties. He was most recently retained by voters in 2020.

"It has been an honor and privilege to serve," Vampola said in a news release.

Among the positions he held prior to his appointment to the bench, Vampola was a Winnebago Tribal Court judge from 1998-2003 and a Winnebago tribal prosecutor and juvenile presenting officer from 1995-98.
SIOUX CITY  A Kansas man accused of driving to Sioux City to meet a 14-year-old girl has pleaded not guilty of providing marijuana to her and a second juvenile female.

Sharan Monger, 21, of Kansas City, Kansas, entered his plea Friday in Woodbury County District Court to two counts of drug distribution to a person under age 18 and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

According to court documents, Monger began a conversation on a social media site with the 14-year-old on July 28 and agreed to bring her marijuana, saying he'd also bring alcohol and condoms.

Monger arrived in Sioux City early the following morning and met with the teen and another 14-year-old girl, who both got into Monger's vehicle, where he rolled each of them a joint and offered it to them, court documents said.

Monger was arrested in possession of two prepackaged bags of marijuana weighing 11 grams.
SIOUX CITY  Sioux City's riverfront will be transformed on August 20 and 21 into an 1804 living-history camp replicating the Lewis and Clark expeditions stay in present-day Sioux City at the annual Sergeant Floyd Memorial Encampment.

This year's commemoration on the grounds of the Sergeant Floyd River Museum & Welcome Center coincides with the actual date of Sgt. Charles Floyd's death on August 20, 1804. Floyd was the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die during the journey.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 20 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 21, visitors are invited to explore the authentic tents, camp equipment, uniforms and firearms and interact with re-enactors who bring the history of the expedition to life. The free two-day event will feature children's activities from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 20.

The Sergeant Floyd Burial Re-enactment Ceremony will be held on Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. on the grounds of the Sergeant Floyd Monument. Re-enactors in full-dress uniform will re-create the burial of the only member of the expedition to die during their journey. The public is encouraged to bring lawn chairs because seating is limited.

For more information, contact the Welcome Center at 712-279-0198 or visit SiouxCityMuseum.org.
FBI seized top secret documents in Trump estate search

WASHINGTON (AP)  The FBI recovered top secret and even more sensitive documents from former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the sudden, unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday.

The seized records include some marked not only top secret but also sensitive compartmented information, a special category meant to protect the nation's most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

The property receipt also shows federal agents collected other potential presidential records, including the order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone, a leatherbound box of documents, and information about the President of France. A binder of photos, a handwritten note, miscellaneous secret documents and miscellaneous confidential documents were also seized in the search.

Congress OKs Dems' climate, health bill, a Biden triumph

WASHINGTON (AP)  A divided Congress gave final approval Friday to Democrats' flagship climate and health care bill, handing President Joe Biden a back-from-the-dead triumph on coveted priorities that the party hopes will bolster their prospects for keeping their House and Senate majorities in November's elections.

The House used a party-line 220-207 vote to pass the legislation, prompting hugs among Democrats on the House floor and cheers by White House staff watching on television. Today, the American people won. Special interests lost, tweeted the vacationing Biden, who was shown beaming in a White House photo as he watched the vote on TV from Kiawah Island, South Carolina. He said he would sign the legislation next week.

The measure is but a shadow of the larger, more ambitious plan to supercharge environment and social programs that Biden and his party unveiled early last year. Even so, Democrats happily declared victory on top-tier goals like providing Congress largest ever investment in curbing carbon emissions, reining in pharmaceutical costs and taxing large companies, hoping to show they can wring accomplishments from a routinely gridlocked Washington that often disillusions voters.

Today is a day of celebration, a day we take another giant step in our momentous agenda," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who minutes later announced the final vote as she presided over the chamber. She said the measure meets the moment, ensuring that our families thrive and that our planet survives.

Republicans solidly opposed the legislation, calling it a cornucopia of wasteful liberal daydreams that would raise taxes and families' living costs. They did the same Sunday but Senate Democrats banded together and used Vice President Kamala Harris tiebreaking vote t o power the measure through that 50-50 chamber.

Author Salman Rushdie stabbed on lecture stage in New York

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP)  Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses drew death threats from Irans leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York.

A bloodied Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was on a ventilator Friday evening, with a damaged liver, severed nerves in his arm and an eye he was likely to lose.

Police identified the attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey. He was arrested at the scene and was awaiting arraignment. Matar was born a decade after The Satanic Verses was published. The motive for the attack was unclear, State Police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said.

An Associated Press reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stab or punch him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested.

Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdies wounds as serious but recoverable.

Southern Baptists say denomination faces DOJ investigation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention said Friday that several of the denomination's major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse.

The SBC's Executive Committee has received a subpoena, but no individuals have been subpoenaed at this point, according to the committee's lawyers.

This is an ongoing investigation and we are not commenting on our discussions with DOJ, they said.

The statement from SBC leaders  including Executive Committee members, seminary presidents and heads of mission organizations  gave few details about the investigation, but indicated it dealt with widespread sexual abuse problems that have rocked the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.

Individually and collectively each SBC entity is resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation, the statement said. While we continue to grieve and lament past mistakes related to sexual abuse, current leaders across the SBC have demonstrated a firm conviction to address those issues of the past and are implementing measures to ensure they are never repeated in the future.

Fetterman 'grateful' as he returns to Pa. Senate race

ERIE, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman acknowledged he was lucky to be alive as he officially returned to the campaign trail Friday, more than 90 days after the Democrat suffered a stroke that threatened his life and political prospects in one of the nation's premier Senate contests.

Fetterman spoke for nearly 11 minutes, haltingly at times, as he addressed several hundred voters packed inside a convention center on the shores of Lake Erie. It was the 52-year-old lieutenant governor's only scheduled public rally this month as he gradually ramps up his public schedule.

Tonight for me, its about being grateful  just grateful," said Fetterman, who stood for the duration of his remarks. Three months ago my life could have ended. Its the truth."

He said he may not have survived his stroke if he was in rural Elk County instead of being just 20 minutes away from a major stroke facility.

Gisele saved my life, he said, wearing his usual hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

By chance, AP reporter on scene to witness Rushdie attack

NEW YORK (AP)  Reporter Joshua Goodman traveled with his family to the Chautauqua Institution in western New York for a peaceful week away from the news. Instead, the news found him.

Goodman, an Associated Press correspondent for Latin America based in Miami, was attending a lecture by author Salman Rushdie on Friday when Rushdie was stabbed onstage.

The journalist said goodbye to his wife and asked her to pick up their two children before he began to work, equipped only with his mobile phone. He dictated words, took photos and sent video that told the world someone had attacked Rushdie, whose 1988 book The Satanic Verses was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims and led Irans then-leader to issue an edict calling for the authors death.

It was a remarkable example of being in the right place at the right time to witness an unexpected event.

It was very surreal is the only way you'd describe it, Goodman said. This was the last place you'd expect something like this.

Hot nights: US in July sets new record for overnight warmth

Talk about hot nights, America got some for the history books last month.

The continental United States in July set a record for overnight warmth, providing little relief from the days sizzling heat for people, animals, plants and the electric grid, meteorologists said.

The average low temperature for the Lower 48 states in July was 63.6 degrees (17.6 Celsius), which beat the previous record set in 2011 by a few hundredths of a degree. The mark is not only the hottest nightly average for July, but for any month in 128 years of record keeping, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climatologist Karin Gleason. Julys nighttime low was more than 3 degrees (5.4 Celsius) warmer than the 20th century average.

Scientists have long talked about nighttime temperatures -- reflected in increasingly hotter minimum readings that usually occur after sunset and before sunrise -- being crucial to health.

When you have daytime temperatures that are at or near record high temperatures and you dont have that recovery overnight with temperatures cooling off, it does place a lot of stress on plants, on animals and on humans, Gleason said Friday. Its a big deal.

Anne Heche remains on life support for donor evaluation

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Anne Heche remains on life support and under evaluation for organ donation after a car crash that led to her brain death, a representative for the actor said Friday.

Under current California law, death can be determined by the loss of all brain function and in accordance with accepted medical standards.

While Heche is legally dead, she's on life support and her heart is still beating" so that the nonprofit organization OneLegacy can determine if she can be a donor, spokeswoman Holly Baird said in a statement.

The process, which involves assessing which organs are viable and finding an appropriate recipient, could take from one day to several days, Baird told The Associated Press.

In the U.S., most organ transplants are done after the donor has been declared brain-dead.

Respected snake researcher dies from rattlesnake bite

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP)  A respected snake researcher who had been making significant discoveries about the species since childhood has died after being bitten by a timber rattler.

William H. Marty Martin died Aug. 3 after being bitten the day before by a captive snake on the property at his home in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, according to his wife, Renee Martin.

Martin, who was 80 years old, continued to make arduous mountain hikes to document and count snake populations in remote sites, said Joe Villari, who manages the Bull Run Mountains Preserve in northern Virginia and would accompany Martin on his outings there.

He was in his 80s, and he was hard to keep up with, said Villari, who made it a point to join Martin on his semiannual treks to remote mountain dens where the snakes would live.

John Sealy, a rattlesnake researcher from Stokesdale, North Carolina, who knew Martin for more than 30 years, said Martin was perhaps the foremost authority on timber rattlers, a species he studied since childhood.

Inflation Reduction Act may have little impact on inflation

WASHINGTON (AP)  With inflation raging near its highest level in four decades, the House on Friday gave final approval to President Joe Biden's landmark Inflation Reduction Act. Its title raises a tantalizing question: Will the measure actually tame the price spikes that have inflicted hardships on American households?

Economic analyses of the proposal suggest that the answer is likely no  not anytime soon, anyway.

The legislation, which the Senate passed earlier this week and now heads to the White House for Biden's signature, won't directly address some of the main drivers of surging prices  from gas and food to rents and restaurant meals.

Still, the law could save money for some Americans by lessening the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly, extending health insurance subsidies and reducing energy prices. It would also modestly cut the government's budget deficit, which might slightly lower inflation by the end of this decade.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded last week that the changes would have a negligible impact on inflation this year and next. And the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Wharton Budget Model concluded that, over the next decade, "the impact on inflation is statistically indistinguishable from zero.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  On a day of give and take, Western nations made more pledges to send arms to Ukraine while the European Union's full ban on Russian coal imports kicked in Thursday, adding to the sanctions against Moscow that intelligence claims are hurting its defense exports.

Germany, seen early in Russia's invasion as a lackadaisical Ukrainian ally, is making what Chancellor Olaf Scholz described as a massive break with its past by sending weapons to the war-ravaged country.

Scholz said Germany "is shipping arms  a great, great many, sweeping and very effective. And we will continue to do so in the coming time. His government has approved military exports of at least $710 million and plans to provide further financial aid to Ukraine, the chancellor said.

At a conference in Copenhagen, Britain and Denmark also made additional commitments to help Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion, which has devastated the nation and reverberated across the world.

We will not let you down, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said as she opened a daylong international donor's conference. Denmark said a new contribution of $113 million would push the total amount of funding from the small northern nation of 5.8 million to over $500 million. She called it a huge donation.

In comparison, Ukraine's top donor, the United States, has committed $9.1 billion in security aid since Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24.

To put more pressure on Russia, Britain announced it will send additional multiple launch rocket systems and guided missiles to Ukraine. The missiles can hit targets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away with pinpoint accuracy, the U.K. government said.

The new weapons, whose number wasnt specified, come on top of several rocket-launch systems Britain provided earlier this year after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the bolstered military support shows the West will stand shoulder-to-shoulder, providing defensive military aid to Ukraine to help them defend against Putins invasion."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking by videoconference to the meeting of mostly northern European countries, pleaded for more aid. The sooner we stop Russia, the sooner we can feel safe, he said.

Britain said Moscow was already strained by the need to produce armored fighting vehicles for its troops in Ukraine and hence is highly unlikely to be capable of fulfilling some export orders, in a sector it has long taken pride in.

The British defense intelligence update, highlighting the increasing effect of Western sanctions, dovetails with Western belief that the series of measures imposed on the Kremlin since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine are increasingly having an impact on the Russian economy.

The update said that because of the war and sanctions, its military industrial capacity is now under significant strain, and the credibility of many of its weapon systems has been undermined by their association with Russian forces' poor performance.

As the war nears the half-year point, Russia faces other challenges. Amid reports that hundreds of Russian soldiers were refusing to fight and trying to quit the military, covert recruitment efforts are underway that include using prisoners to make up for a shortage in trained troops.

Russia's military credibility came under more pressure on Wednesday when Ukraine said nine Russian warplanes were destroyed following explosions at an air base in Russian-controlled Crimea that appeared to be the result of a Ukrainian attack.

Russia denied any aircraft were damaged in the blasts  or that any attack took place. But satellite photos clearly showed at least seven fighter planes at the base had been blown up and others probably damaged.

The U.K.'s Wallace dismissed Russian explanations of the blasts, including a wayward cigarette butt, as excuses.

"When you just look at the footage of two simultaneous explosions not quite next to each other, and some of the reported damage even by the Russian authorities, I think its clear that thats not something that happens by someone dropping a cigarette, the British minister said.

Ukrainian forces mounting a broad counter-offensive in the south have recaptured 54 settlements in the Kherson region, overrun by Russia in the early days of the war, the governor said Thursday.

Speaking on Ukrainian TV, Yaroslav Yanushevych also accused Moscow of shelling the areas it lost in retaliation, creating a catastrophic humanitarian situation in towns and villages along the region's northern boundary. The governor said 92% of the Kherson region remains under Russian occupation.

In the east of the country, the Ukrainian military said it had repelled Russian attempts to advance on the city of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscows offensive in the Donetsk region. It also said Russian troops had tried and failed to break through Ukrainian defensive lines near the cities of Kramatorsk and Avdiivka, also in the Donetsk region.

The military also reported Russian shelling of dozens of towns and villages in Ukraines north, south and east.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians not to divulge details about the country's military operations.

If you want victory for Ukraine, then thats another matter, and you should feel your responsibility for every word you say about what our state is preparing in terms of defense or counter-offensives, he said.

Russia, meanwhile, was taking apparent steps to strengthen its control over the eastern Luhansk region after driving out the last Ukrainian troops last month. Luhansk and Donetsk make up the Donbas, the industrial heartland.

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, said he was joined on a visit to the region by Russia's top law enforcement and security officials and also the minister in charge of construction.

Medvedev, in a post on a messaging app, said they met with local Kremlin-backed officials to discuss restoring infrastructure, repairing hospitals and preparing schools for the start of the school year, solving social problems and supporting civilians.

In other developments Thursday:

 Burial services were held for 11 more unidentified bodies found in Bucha, the town outside the Ukrainian capital that saw hundreds of people slaughtered under Russian occupation early in the war.

 The governments of Ukraine and Russia traded more accusations over which side was responsible for shelling the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to Moscow and Kyiv to stop military action around Europes largest nuclear plant to avoid a catastrophe.

 The European Union's ban on coal imports from Russia took effect following a long phase-in that started in April. The 27-nation EU said it will affect about 25% of Russian coal exports and create a loss of about $8 billion a year. The EU is also trying to wean itself off Russian gas imports, but is too dependent to impose a full ban.

 And in perhaps the most symbolic example of give and take on Thursday, McDonalds announced plans to start reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months. The fast-food giant shuttered and sold hundreds of its Russian restaurants in March.

Looking beyond a hoped-for return to peace, Scholz said Germany was working with the EU to develop plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

That is going to be a big, big task which can hardly be described as a Marshall Plan, he said, referring to the massive U.S. aid plan for Europe in the wake of World War II. Its bigger.

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP)  Republicans in Congress who are relying on Donald Trump to excite voters in the fall elections are not only defending the former president against the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home but politically capitalizing on it with grave and potentially dangerous rhetoric against the nations justice system.

The party that once stood staunchly for law-and-order has dramatically reversed course, stirring up opposition to the FBI and tapping into political grievances and far-right conspiracies that fed the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

It's all part of the GOPs election year strategy to harness voter outrage over the unprecedented search, quickly and unequivocally set in motion as Trump hosted a dozen Republicans for dinner of steak and scallops at his private Bedminster club the day after the FBI action.

One Republican at the table, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, a former sheriff, said he told the former president loud and clear that it's time to protect himself politically by declaring his 2024 campaign for the presidency.

"Mr. President, I said, the American people, your supporters, are concerned with this corrupt DOJ and the FBI."

If I were you, sir, announce youre running for president," Nehls recalled telling Trump. "Take that doubt, take that anxiety away from the people that want you to be our 47th president.

The escalating rhetoric comes amid stark warnings of violence against law enforcement, including the Ohio police shooting Thursday of an armed man clad in body armor who tried to breach the FBIs Cincinnati office and engaged in an hours-long standoff. The day before, FBI Director Christopher Wray had called the threats to agents and DOJ deplorable. The FBI has warned its agents to take precautions, citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities. In some extreme cases, GOP lawmakers and others are demanding the FBI be dismantled and defunded.

It's all coming at a time of blistering attacks on the nation's civic institutions that experts say is worrisome, if not dangerous, for the future of U.S. democracy. With no branch of government unscathed, the discord risks sowing distrust in the White House, the Congress and the Supreme Court. It has kept security tight in Washington, limiting public access to the government.

All of this rhetoric is being thrown around without any consideration for possible consequences, said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI special agent who led the bureaus field offices in Seattle and Honolulu.

All that does is stir up that minority within the base that arent satisfied with just words, they actually want to act it out.

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said, "The vitriol coming from extremists, white supremacists and others, has been overwhelming, pointing to rhetoric from Trump's former campaign manager Steve Bannon and others warning of assassinations or calling for civil war.

"We usually expect that from these quarters, but the same kind of rhetoric is coming from prominent Republicans and Trump allies," she said by email. These comments coming from Republicans are really worrying as they are mainstreaming violent rhetoric.

Asked Friday at the Capitol about the responsibility leaders have to tone down the rhetoric and keep the nation calm during times of uncertainty and distress, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy demurred  and blamed Attorney General Merrick Garland.

I think the attorney general has a real problem here, McCarthy said.

McCarthy, who is in line to become speaker if his party wins House control, revived Republican concerns that Trump is being treated unfairly, as the first former president to have his home searched by the FBI, and he criticized the attorney general for delivering only a few minutes' explanation during a press conference.

In McCarthy's view, it was Garland, not his own party's rhetoric, that was dividing the nation.

Why would you pause and not talk to the American public, knowing where the American public is at, that he is just inflaming the public, and why would you only speak for a few moments? McCarthy said. So I think the attorney general has a lot of explaining to do.

Republicans believe the Justice Department has been overly tough on Trump going back to the Russia investigation into allegations the president was colluding with a foreign entity, including when he called on Russia to release emails it had stolen from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential election.

The Republicans contrast the FBI search of Trump's private club and residence with its treatment of Hillary Clinton, who was investigated for using a private email server in violation of government rules during her time as secretary of state  an offense the led to long chants of Lock her up! during Trump rallies.

The No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, claimed without evidence the Biden administration was weaponizing the Justice Department against Trump, a top potential 2024 rival for the White House.

She joined fellow House Republicans on the Intelligence Committee on Friday in demanding information, and vowed if their party wins control in the November election they will find out what happened.

The House Republican majority will leave no stone unturned when it comes to transparency and accountability into the brazen politicization of Joe Biden's Department of Justice and FBI targeting their political opponents, Stefanik said.

Congressional Republicans have said their office phone lines are ringing from constituents outraged over the raid and they said they've never seen their colleagues more fired up to fight back  all the way to the November midterm elections.

Rep. Jim Banks, the Indiana Republican who organized the dinner with Trump, said they encouraged the former president to kick off the campaign now to seize the moment.

Banks said Trump will be a big part of the House Republicans' campaign to win back the House majority.

House lawmakers returned to session Friday to vote, walking through metal detectors to screen against firearms, a legacy of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Lawmakers had a security briefing earlier this week to address ongoing threats against lawmakers.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that Trumps role inciting the insurrection at the Capitol was sufficient cause to have concerns about inflammatory political rhetoric.

"You would think there's an adult in the Republican room who would say, 'Just calm down and see what the facts are and let's go for that,'" Pelosi said, instead of again instigating assaults on law enforcement.

One republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a former FBI agent, called on lawmakers to cool it.

I dont think any of this is okay, Fitzpatrick told reporters.

Were the worlds oldest democracy, and that can go away very quickly, he said. As our adversaries have said so many times: The only way you defeat America, youre never going to beat America from the outside, ever. The only way you beat the worlds greatest democracy is from within  turning American on American."

He said, So its incumbent upon everybody to act in a way thats becoming of the office they hold  and thats not casting judgment on anything until you know all the facts.

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston, Michelle Price in New York and videojournalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  A gunman who died in a shootout after trying to get inside the FBIs Cincinnati office apparently went on social media and called for federal agents to be killed on sight following the search at former President Donald Trumps home, a law enforcement official said.

Federal investigators are examining social media accounts they believe are tied to the gunman, 42-year-old Ricky Shiffer, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

At least one of the messages on Trumps Truth Social media platform appeared to have been posted after Shiffer tried to breach the FBI office. It read: "If you dont hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I.

Another message posted on the same site this week from @rickywshifferjr included a call to arms and urged people to be ready for combat after the FBI search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Authorities also are looking into whether Shiffer, a Navy veteran, had ties to far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys, the official said.

Shiffer was armed with a nail gun and an AR-15-style rifle when he tried to breach the visitor screening area at the FBI office Thursday, according to the official. Shiffer fled when agents confronted him.

He was later spotted by a state trooper along a highway and got into a gunbattle that ended with police killing him, authorities said.

The burst of violence unfolded amid FBI warnings that federal agents could face attacks following the search in Florida.

The FBI is investigating what happened in Cincinnati as an act of domestic extremism, according to the law enforcement official.

Shiffer is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and may have been at the Capitol that day but was not charged with any crimes in connection with the riot, the official said.

Officials have warned of a rise in right-wing threats against federal agents since the FBI entered Trump's estate in what authorities said was part of an investigation into whether he took classified documents with him after leaving the White House. Supporters of the former president have railed against the search, accusing the FBI and the Justice Department of using the legal system as a political weapon.

FBI Director Christopher Wray denounced the threats as he visited an FBI office in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, saying, Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who youre upset with.

The FBI on Wednesday also warned its agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards are not visible outside FBI space, citing an increase in social media threats against bureau personnel and offices.

A now-suspended Twitter account, @rickyshiffer, shared the same profile picture as the Truth Social account and similar opinions, including a call for armed conflict in the U.S. this past spring.

It included posts saying that elections are rigged against conservatives and that the country faces tyranny.

I dont think its a one-off incident, said Amy Cooter, a researcher at Middlebury College who is an expert on militias. Im afraid theres going to be a pocket full of people who feel compelled to act.

Courthouses, government offices and election headquarters all could be targets, she said. Anywhere is fair game now because these folks feel this a personal issue for them, Cooter said.

Shiffer worked as an electrician, according to one of his social media profiles. He was a registered Republican who voted in the 2020 primary from Columbus, Ohio, and in the 2020 general election from Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to public records.

Court records show the Ohio Department of Taxation filed suit against him in June, seeking a $553 tax lien judgment, according to court records listing him at an address in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also previously lived at several addresses in Columbus and in Omaha, Nebraska.

He graduated from high school in central Pennsylvania in 1998 and enlisted in the Navy that same year, later serving on the USS Columbia submarine until 2003, according to military records. He was an infantry soldier in the Florida Army National Guard from 2008 to 2011, when he was honorably discharged.

I know he was way into World War II and the military," said Lori Frady, a classmate at West Perry High School in Elliottsburg, who had not seen Shiffer since graduation. "He didnt have a lot of friends, but the friends he did have were big into history and military history.

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, John Seewer in Toledo, Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jim Mustian and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.
In a packed courtroom, a district judge sentenced a Lincoln man to 106 years to life in prison and fined him $30,000 for a string of sexual assaults on boys in a case described by the lead Lincoln Police investigator as one of the worst he's ever seen.

On Thursday afternoon, Graciano Lopez, the former owner of a Lincoln magic shop and lawn care business, stood and read from a letter, thanking the investigators "for working tirelessly so these young men's voices could be heard," and the two boys for "bravely starting this process."

"You saved my life," he said tearfully. "And now I can get the help that I need."

Lopez, 44, said he had let abuse from his past determine his future and wanted to apologize and take full responsibility for his actions and the harm he caused.

"I didn't set out to hurt anyone, but in the end my actions hurt so many. Please forgive me," he said.

Soon after, the mother of one of the victims read from her own letter, telling Lopez they would never be able to forget what he did.

"Never in our wildest nightmares did we ever think you would be callous enough to cause this kind of pain. You accepted money from us for the mowing and magic shows and then left open wounds in your wake," she said.

She said she and her husband tried to teach their sons about work ethic and mistakenly thought Lopez would be a good role model; instead, he took advantage and did unspeakable things to them.

She said after he sexually assaulted one of their sons, he sat down at their table for dinner.

"You are a monster. No doubt about it. But now we all know you are a pathetic human being," she said.

She said she hoped Lopez never saw the light of day again, only prison bars.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Chris Reid said Lopez argued he could be rehabilitated. But the question for the state was whether he ever could be trusted to return to society and not perpetrate on children.

"The state believes he has crossed the Rubicon, that he has passed the point of no return, where there are irreversible consequences for his actions," Reid said.

He asked for a punishment that matched the gravity of his crimes, which includes 15 years of sexual abuse of at least eight children, many of them subjected to hundreds of individual sexual assaults.

"He crossed a line 15 years ago because of his choices that no one else is responsible for but himself, and those choices have consequences," Reid said. "The victims need justice."

In the end, Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong directed much of her comments to Lopez's victims, telling them she sincerely hoped this would help bring them some closure to these horrific events.

She said the acts that resulted in the charges took places hundreds or thousands of times between 2005 and 2014.

Strong said Lopez took advantage of positions of trust  as a foster parent in the case of two victims, as an employer at his lawn service company and Jolly Beans Magic Castle, a magic shop near a middle school  to sexually abuse vulnerable young children who looked up to him and trusted him.

She said they don't really know the exact number of victims, but she thanked the brave ones who came forward to stop Lopez from continuing to do this to others.

"We don't have enough people in today's society that do that kind of thing, that are courageous, that stand up so that others will not be harmed. I am thankful to you," she said.

And she sentenced Lopez, who had pleaded no contest, to 20 years for each of five victims of first-degree sexual assault for a total of 100 years to life, plus six years more on child abuse and third-degree sexual assault of a child charges.

Lincoln Police began investigating Lopez in March 2021 when a child in his care contacted the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and reported Lopez had sexually assaulted him numerous times over the past several years.

A two-month investigation led investigators to another seven victims, all of whom were under the age of 16 at the time when they were abused.
The driver of a semitrailer was killed when the semi he was driving collided with a freight train west of Juniata.

Around 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Adams County sheriff's deputies were called to the scene of the crash, which was a quarter-mile south of 12th Street Road and Roseland Avenue.

The semi, which was loaded with grain and heading north, collided with a westbound BNSF Railway train. The 29-year-old semi driver, Ryan P. Nemitz, was from rural Kearney.

Juniata is about 7 miles west of Hastings.
13: The Musical is one of the most hardcore musicals that has ever graced Broadway. Yeah, it may be about a soon-to-be 13-year-old Jewish boy who is forced to move from New York City to a small Indiana town after his parents divorce, and how the pressure to make new friends consumes him. But its also about social politics, growing up, and the beginnings of romantic attraction. Evan, the Jewish boy in question, wants to be popular so a lot of his classmates will agree to come to his upcoming bar mitzvahbecause no matter the age, the humiliation of throwing a party that no one attends is an eviscerating one.

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If youre wondering why Im sitting here writing about Netflixs new movie of amusical about 13-year-olds in Indiana, its not because Im particularly into that kind of thing. Its because my high school put on a production of 13: The Musical in my senior year. And yes, my 17- and 18-year-old friends and I were in it.

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13-year-olds shouldnt be worried about being skanks. But to be honest, I kind of miss it.

The thing about the stage production of 13 (which ran on Broadway in 2008) is that its actually kind of good? Jason Robert Brown, the Tony-winning composer and playwright who wrote 13, pulled zero punches. A young Ariana Grande and her future Victorious co-star Elizabeth Gillies were in the cast with other great talents singing some genuinely good songs. The thing is, though, the plot was bonkers. Topics include: cheating, blackmail, physical violence, and an obsession with kissing, aka the tongue. Compared to 13, Browns The Last Five Years, a semi-autobiographical show about the dissolution of his first marriage whose two protagonists move through time in opposite directions, seems tame. This is what made it a perfect senior production for my school: it was bonkers for 13-year-olds but fine for my more modest high school, the songs and set pieces were fun, and it talks a lot about growing up and moving onto the next chapter of your life as an adult. The perfect send-off.

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Unfortunately, Netflixs adaptation of the film, written by Robert Hornwho co-wrote the original musical with Brown and Dan Elishsanitizes the entire experience. Though it never promised to be the originalearlier it was revealed that Brown wrote three new original songs for the filmbut I didnt think it would be so far removed. Throughout the course of the stage musical, Evan first befriends Patrice, who harbors a crush for him, and Archie, who has muscular dystrophy. He soon finds out that his first friends are not the most popular and he ends up ditching them for the popular kids. It doesnt work out and he comes back realizing the true power of friendship and becoming a man. But lets be clear: in the stage production, Archie is sort of an asshole, Patrice is kind but a little boring, the cool kids are a mixture but the main three we deal withBrett, Kendra, and Lucyare obtuse, uneventful, and downright malicious, in that order.

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Those three new songs were added but 10 were taken out, those 10 of course being the ones that show these characters at their least admirable. In the film, Archie is sidelined with a couple of harmonies and a few quips, coming off as the saint-next-door. Brett still wants to kiss Kendra but also actually likes her and talking to her, compared to being solely focused on kissing. Lucy also manipulates Evan, but she doesnt spread any rumors of Kendra cheating on Brett with Evanthat is, if you can even cheat at 13. The songs that convey these plotlines are entirely removed, including Getting Ready, in which Lucy cautions Kendra against being a slut, tease, and skank. Brett and Archie dont accidentally kiss, Brett never punches Evan, and though the film hints that Patrice might have a crush on Evan, its mostly unclear compared to the stage production where they share a kiss towards the end.

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The movie adds some new characters, including Evans mother, played by Debra Messing, and his grandmother, played by the Rhea Perlman. The addition of Evans extended family broadens the scope of the show, although we lose some of the subjective alone-ness of a teenagers experience, and Evan and his mother get a short song together that is sweet and well-placed. There are other highlights as well, namely the wonderful diverse cast of kids who are just as good at dancing as they are at singing the hell out of Browns songs. JD McCrary, most known for voicing Young Simba in the 2019 remake of The Lion King, is great as Brett along with his supporting group of bros who get their own moment to shine in the wonderful number Bad News. Gabriella Uhl as Patrice is perfectly cast: she has a plainJane quality while also being fierce in her convictions and her belting range. I wish she had even more screen time. Eli Golden as Evan is wonderfully charismatic. And though Lucy as a character is frankly annoying, Frankie McNellis does a great job of making her into something thats at least fun to watch, exemplified in another great number: Opportunity (although they could have left out the added rap verse).

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I expected some collateral damage from the move from stage to screen like always. And these changes arent objectively bad: Im not entirely sure that 13-year-olds really get into this kind of messier-than-the-Real-Housewives drama, but the bar for what is deemed appropriate on screen today is different than the bar for appropriateness on stage in 2008. Im also certain that 13-year-olds shouldnt be worried about being skanks. But to be honest, I kind of miss it. The chaotic energy and bafflingly high-stakes of the drama in 13, combined with the far-too-mature behavior of the kids, is what makes the emotional payoff at the end so rich. Its not just the uncouth stuff that was removed, either. The film inexplicably leaves out some of the best numbers from the show, such as Being a Geek, which Evan performs with his rabbis, and If Thats What It Isthe highlight, if youre asking this 13 veteran. Its the resolving song that carries the shows thesis of accepting the bad moments of life and and then trying again. The final song A Little More Homework, is good but doesnt quite nail this, instead leaning on more generic messages about the long road ahead.

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I cant entirely figure out Netflixs reasoning for smoothing out the shows edges, making the film in line with a more basic coming-of-age tale. As far as I can tell, there wasnt much backlash to the content or themes when it was originally on Broadway. The choice to leave out certain songs and entire character arcs, like Archies, is just as bafflingArchie was a complex disabled character, representation that is still needed in todays media. The film sacrifices some of the shows integrity for what I can only assume is fear of backlash for depicting young kids doing and thinking about things they shouldnt. It would seem as though Netflix is pivoting more towards a Disney-like approach to youth content, or perhaps the times have changed more than I thought and the 13 of yore truly wouldnt be accepted today. But let teenagers be assholes, I say! Because they are sometimes!

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This 13 is not the one I remember from high school and not exactly how I remember being 13 myself (though neither is the stage version, to be fair). But maybe its the purely inspirational lighthearted content our tweens need in this never-quite-post-pandemic era. Maybe the creators were wise to make this version more prim and proper in fear of backlash and dismissal. But maybe we can let things be raw, even risk being overly mature and overblown, if the reward is a deeper satisfaction or larger lesson. Maybe we need to let teenagers be messy so that growing out of that mess means more.
On Monday, the FBI carried out a surprise search of Donald Trumps residence and the surrounding premises at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. In the days since, anonymously sourced reporting has suggested that one major reason for the raid was that federal officials, including those at the National Archives, had come to believe Trump was in possession of material taken from the White House that is supposed to be stored elsewhere. On Thursday night, the Washington Post reported that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items that agents were looking for.

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While the average voter may not be concerned about whether former presidents are following federal archiving guidelines to the letter, nuclear secrets are a different matter, to the point that the phrase nuclear secrets is often used as shorthand for material that could compromise national security to a catastrophic degree if it fell into the wrong hands. You dont want ISIS getting instructions for building a hydrogen bomb, or at least I dont want that. Earlier this week, when the media was rife with speculation over what the FBI could have been seeking during its raid, Fox News Dana Perino said, Short of the nuclear codes being written on these documents, locked behind closed doors, I just really dont understand how a document could warrant this kind of warrant.

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As has been noted for years, moreover, Mar-a-Lago is a working business whose guests dont have to pass background checks, and, apparently, some of the documents that were retrieved were chilling in a regular old storage room by the pool:

2/3 The top secret classified documents were found in former President Trump's office above the ballroom and a storage room off an interior hallway near the pool.  Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) August 12, 2022

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Basically, the classified-document version of a Corona commercial!

To be clear, the Department of Justice has not confirmed that nuclear weapons information was found during the search, but Trump doesnt seem too confident that it wasnt.

Trump on Truth Social suggests without evidence that nuclear materials were planted by the FBI during the Mar-a-Lago search pic.twitter.com/EBaY37JZ5O  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 12, 2022

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Faced with the news that the former president may have been storing literal nuclear secrets in a hallway closet near a hotel pool, some Republicans have responded by floating legal theories that would exculpate him. NBC News spoke to someone from the conservative Heritage Foundation, for instance, who argues that the president can declassify material using the power of thought.

If any president decides to declassify a document and doesnt tell anybody  but he has made the decision to declassify something  then the document is declassified, Stimson said. He added that theres a rich debate about whether or not a document is declassified if a president has decided but not communicated it outside of his own head, but Stimson said he would rather be the defense than the prosecution if the dispute ever went to trial.

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Other legal experts quoted in the article, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, are among those involved in this purportedly rich debate who take a different position on brain rayonly declassification.

Theres also this:

Turner: There are a number of things that are classified that fall under the umbrella of nuclear weapons but that are not necessarily things that are truly classified. Many of them you can find on your own phone pic.twitter.com/N950GqWhJ4  Acyn (@Acyn) August 12, 2022

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The phone genius in that clip is Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio, who is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

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Oklahoma Rep. Markwayne Mullin complained at the same press conference that the media ignored Hillary Clintons possession of classified material in its coverage of the 2016 election, a claim that is at best arguable. Right-wing commentators including Ben Shapiro and Joel Pollak, meanwhile, are saying that the FBI wouldnt or shouldnt have waited until 18 months had elapsed since Trump left office to retrieve actual nuclear secrets.

[Update, Aug. 12, 2022, at 4 p.m.: Trump has released a statement asserting that 1) the material taken from him was declassified, 2) the Department of Justice could have gotten access to it by asking him directly, and 3) Barack Obama also took classified material with himto Chicagoafter leaving office. The first claim has not yet been backed up by any sort of paper trail, and as Slates Fred Kaplan explains, there is already reporting available that indicates that even if the Trump White House attempted to declassify the documents taken in the raid, the process was not completedand, further, that he could still be criminally liable for violating laws regarding sensitive information even if it had been. The second claim is undermined by reports that the DOJ issued a subpoena to Trump covering the materials in question, and met with his representatives, earlier this year before ultimately applying for a search warrant. The third has been addressed by a National Archives and Records Administration statement, which notes that it maintains and controls presidential archives, including those associated with Obamas library in Chicago, and asserts that Obama-era classified materials are in fact held in the Washington, D.C. area.

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Concurrently, a number of news outlets have reported that an inventory of items taken from Mar-a-Lago, which would have been left by agents on the scene, includes a set referred to as classified/TS/SCI documents. That acronym stands for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information, which is an especially high level of classification. Foxs Bret Baier, in reporting on this development, emphasized that only one box of the material had such a marking. Its not like they have voluminous boxes of this most classified material, Baier said, although he did add that this doesnt take away from the sensitivity of it or the possible problems that that causes.]

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Is the cost of constantly having to do this kind of creative public-relations triage worth the benefit of having Donald Trump be the essentially permanent leader of the Republican Party, even as early polling shows that key voters are not being convinced? (Politico found that 47 percent of independents at least somewhat approve of the raid, compared with 37 percent who at least somewhat disapprove.) Republicansincluding the senator from Florida who specifically said multiple times during the 2016 campaign that he did not think Trump should be entrusted with nuclear codescontinue to behave as if it is.
Two mysteries pop out from the reports that, in its search of Mar-a-Lago, the FBI found classified documents about nuclear weapons and signals intelligence. First, precisely what is in these documents? Second, why did Donald Trump pilfer them from the White House when he left office in January?

We may never know the answers. Even if the Justice Department publicly releases the search warrant and an itemized list of the documents it retrieved, items related to national security are likely to be redacted. And as for Trumps motives, they may be the stuff for psychoanalysts to ascertain.

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Still, if, as the New York Times reports, these documents are related to some of the most highly classified programs run by the United States, a few guesses can be made.

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Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons, as the Washington Post describes some of the items that FBI agents sought at Mar-a-Lago, could refer to a wide variety of thingsfrom the size of the U.S. arsenal (which many private analysts have calculated) to the nuclear stockpiles of foreign nations (somewhat sensitive) to the design of nuclear weapons, the nature of command-control mechanisms, or ways to neutralize foreign nukes (all of which are highly classified, and justifiably so). As Barack Obama once put it, Theres classified, and theres classified. Documents covering this last group of topics are classified.

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Some on Twitter have wondered if Trump might have taken the nuclear codes, but this is not remotely possible. Its conceivable that he absconded with the biscuit, the card containing the launch codes, as a souvenir of his time as commander in chief. Traditionally, a president turns in his card the moment his successor is sworn in, but Trump didnt attend Joe Bidens inauguration, so he might have just slipped it in his pocket. Still, if he did pull this stunt, it wouldnt matter, as the codes are changed when power is transferred. Just past noon on Jan. 20, 2021, Trumps card, whatever its location, was erased. Nor is there anything on an erased card that a foreign spy or terrorist or anyone else would find useful, according to a former official who is familiar with the technology.

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However, a spy would be very interested in any documents on signals intelligencewhich refers to intercepts of foreign communications, the sorts of materials that are considered the crown jewels of intelligence collection. Such documents are classified beyond Top Secret. Some are marked SAP, for Special Access Programdocuments that only a small number of officials, who are specifically and individually cleared for access to these programs, can see or even know about.

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Again, we dont knowand may never knowprecisely what documents Trump took. Are they transcripts of interceptsconversations that he had with foreign leaders, or that foreign leaders had with their aides or with other foreign leaders? (The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that information about the President of France  was on the three-page receipt of items taken from the property.) Are they briefing papers on intelligence-gathering sources and methods? Whatever he possessed in this realm, a foreign spy would find such a trove extremely valuable.

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A former Trump staffer named Kash Patel has said that Trump declassified a lot of material before leaving office, so his possession of certain documents might not be illegal. He may know something about this. A former intelligence aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, Patel served on Trumps National Security Council with Ezra Cohen-Watnick, whod been recruited by Gen. Michael Flynn and who was so extreme in his views that Flynns successor, retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, fired him. However, in November 2020, after losing the election, Trump appointed Patel acting chief of staff to his newly appointed acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Millerand he appointed Cohen-Watnick as undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. More pertinently, earlier in the year, hed named Cohen-Watnick to chair the Public Interest Declassification Board, which hed packed with other political allies.

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It is not known why Trump took such an interest in the board; most other presidents ignored it and left vacated positions unfilled. Nor is it known how many documents Cohen-Watnick and the others got declassified.

Whatever Trumps aims, the attempt was misguided, for several reasons. First, it is illegal to willfully conceal or remove any federal documents, whether or not they are classified. Moreover, anyone found guilty of this crime is subject to a fine and up to three years in prisonand disqualified from holding any office under the United States, though some debate whether that particular punishment could be applied to the presidency, qualifications for which are strictly laid out in the Constitution.

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Second, a document is not declassified just because the presidentor the head of the Public Interest Declassification Boardsays it is. It has to go through a formal process, in which the security stamps, tags, or labels are removed. It seems at least some of the documents at Mar-a-Lago did not go through this process; according to the Journal, the FBI removed 11 sets of classified documents, four sets labeled Top Secret, one marked Various classified/TS/SCI documents.

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The latter groupwhose initials stand for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Informationprobably includes the documents relating to nuclear weapons or signals intelligence. If any of the documents concern atomic weapons design, they can be declassified only by a special panel of the Department of Energy.

It is ironic that so many of his documents are so highly classified. In January 2018, Trump signed a law upgrading the crime of mishandling secret documents from a misdemeanor to a felony. This was clearly a jab at Hillary Clinton, his foe in the 2016 election, who Trump had said should be locked up for her careless handling of classified information as Obamas secretary of state. (As John Lennon once put it, Instant karmas gonna get you/ Gonna knock you right on the head.)

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While were on the subject, what about Hillarys email? Of the 30,000 emails that the FBI examined, eight were found to contain Top Secret information. Seven of them were about CIA drone strikes, which had been reported in the newspapers (but were still technically classified). The other one was an account of a telephone conversation with the president of Malawi. (All conversations with foreign leaders are, by definition, Top Secret.) In other words, she revealed nothing remotely about nuclear weapons, signals intelligence, or anything that might have enlightened a foreign spy.

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And so we are left to ponder the final, most puzzling question: Why did Trump hang on to these documents? What could he gain from doing so? Some on Twitter speculate that he might want to sell the documents to foreign governments. I wouldnt put much past Trump, but even I consider this theory extremely unlikely. (That said, storing these materials at a public place like Mar-a-Lago is stunningly irresponsible. It is proper that the FBI also sought surveillance video showing who was wandering into the storage area.)

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My guess about Trumps motives (and, at this point, it can only be a guess): pure, testosterone-driven ego.

The Washington Post reported back in February, when the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of materials from Mar-a-Lago, that Trump retained much of his correspondence, including the love lettersas he once described themwith North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The Post attributed this information to two people familiar with the documents. This suggests that Trump showed the letters to people. Who were these people? We dont know. Was he showing the letters in order to show off? It seems likely.

If so, one can imagine Trumpwho was always prone to brag about his powershowing off documents about nuclear launch controls or transcripts of conversations among world leaders. Look how powerful I was, how privy I was to everything, these possessions would convey. Look how powerful and privy to everything I might become once again, they would imply.

We dont know if the Justice Department can build a criminal case on Trumps unlawful pilfering and possession of these documents. It is reassuring that, for now, whatever documents the FBI was able to recover are back in safe hands. It would be a much bigger relief if, by the punishment for his actions, Trump is barred from ever taking hold of them again.
In case you havent heard, were sending a probe to explore Uranus, so that we can all better understand whats happening on the surface and deep inside.

Ill give you a minute to stop laughing.

Everyone from NASA scientists to elementary school teachers knows that Uranus is the most giggle-inducing planet in our solar system. Its right in the name, which most of us pronounce your-anus, despite the fact that a Greek scholar would tell you it should be YUR-uh-nus. Thats where most laypeoples knowledge ends. And scientists barely know morethis strange ice giant has only been visited by human technology once, in 1986 when the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by, snapped some photos, and took some preliminary scientific measurements. We know that one season on Uranus lasts 42 years, its the coldest planet in the solar system with some of the fastest winds, and its surrounded by a red ring and has a dark spot on it. If that wasnt enough action for Uranus, in a fitting turn, below the upper atmosphere has what scientists call, mushballs which are clumps of water and ammonia. So yes, Uranus is full of stuff.

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Im so sorry. Just hang in there.

In April, as part of the National Science Foundations Decadal survey, the NSF advised that NASAs top planetary priority be a proper mission to explore Uranus. The mission is called for now, the Uranus Orbiter and Probe. Scientists are thrilled that NASA finally decided Uranus deserves a proper probing.

Stick with me.

Uranus wasnt always going to be called Uranus. When astronomer William Hershel discovered the planet in 1781 he wanted to name it Georges Star after King George III, which would have certainly not been as funny, interesting, or even accurate. Astronomer Johann Bode, who helped discover the planet, agreed with us future folks that George was not the winner and instead wanted to follow with traditional nomenclature of the outer planets, which are named after Roman gods. Jupiter was the father of all gods, Saturn was the father of Jupiter, so Bode thought this new planet should be the father of Saturn: the god of the heavens, Caelus.

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For some reason though, Bode broke the pattern for Uranus and used Caelus Greek name; its still the only planet in our solar system that jumped pantheons. We have no reason to think Bodes choice was a prank, but it would have been a pretty good one.

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But could the giggle factor be making it harder to study, and teach about, Uranus? I asked Paul Byrne, associate professor of Earth and Planetary Science at Washington University, about covering the planet in his classes. The name is the first thing people latch on to. But its also an opportunity, because even with a funny name, people are talking about the planet, he told me over email. So its not so much of a challenge to segue into something like did you know Uranus smells of farts? (which it does), which will make people laugh, but now youre talking about atmospheric composition.

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Heidi Hammel, an interdisciplinary scientist on the James Webb Telescope Project whos been studying the outer planets (including Uranus) since working on the Voyager 2 mission, told me that you run into trouble no matter how you pronounce the name. The name is definitely a distraction. For a while, I tried to educate people about the planetary pronunciation. But then I learned the word urinous (the color of urine) and realized that was a lost cause. So now when I talk about Uranus, I usually try to get over this whole issue right away: I tell a bunch of the jokes, and let people get their giggles out.

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Sticking with the correct pronunciation can still make some people think about anuses, since it seems like trying to avoid the word. And even YUR-uh-nus isnt quite right. For some reason along the way the spelling became Latinized to Uranus, and the pronunciation seems to have followed suit. Its not clear why this nonconforming nomenclature took on the Latinized pronunciation when the name was selected, when in keeping with tradition our seventh planet should really be Ouranos, pronounced like ore-AN-ose which would really not lend itself to such laughter.

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Butt jokes aside, Uranus is one of the most intriguing planets to call our solar system home. As Byrne said, the planet does smell of farts due to the sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere. But if we go even deeper, the pressure is so intense that it breaks up methane molecules and squeezes the resulting carbon so strongly that it creates diamonds. So somewhere deep inside Uranus, its raining diamonds.

Soon, though, thanks to the Uranus Orbiter and Probe, well know much more about the planets workings. Well, not too soonprojects like this can take decades from creation to launch. Hammel, 62, said, I am not holding out much hope of my lasting until it arrives at the Uranus system (though I will continue to go to the gym and eat my Wheaties!). But she knows this science isnt just for her eyes. Truly, I am most thrilled for the next generation of young planetary scientists. The Uranus system is going to knock their socks off with amazing discoveries and remarkable science.

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Some of these discoveries may include the cause of the planets sideways orbitthe reason why its poles point east to west rather than north to southand its wonky magnetic field. Scientists also hope to learn whats happening below the planets hazy seafoam atmosphere.

In the decades since Voyager sailed through the outer solar system, scientists and the rest of us have been waiting, hoping that NASA would take us back to the unexplored regions of mysterious moons, icy volcanoes, bizarre plumes, and a stinky tilted teal planet with an unfairly earned bad rap. Every world in the solar system deserves its own mission, and now we can finally look forward to exploring Uranustogether.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance on Thursday on how to live with the coronavirus. One of the recommendations in particular was surprising (OK, a lot were, but this one stood out): If youre infected with COVID-19, you should isolate yourself for five days. Then, if you no longer have symptoms, youre free to go out into the world, as long as you wear a maskeven if you are still testing positive on an antigen test.

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Yes, really. Heres what the guidance says: if after five days your antigen test results are positive, you may still be infectious. And so, to prevent spreading the virus? You should continue wearing a mask.

New CDC guidance effectively ends test to exit, is how ER physician Jeremy Faust put it.

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This is not strictly in line with the biology of the virus, Faust points out. Nor does it square with the reality of masking, which can cut down on but not eliminate transmission, especially if not everyone is doing it (hats off to other non-medical professionals who have figured out how to get a perfectly tight seal on their KN95s; mine always let at least a little air leak through no matter what I do). And while leaving isolation at day five then masking was already on the menu of CDC-sanctioned options (in part because tests were hard to come by), the fact that the agency is saying its OK to be out and about while you know youre personally infectious is a notable departure.

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Relaxing COVID rules like this is the wrong move for the agency, some are arguing: The CDC sets the bar on what should happen, like a speed limit, public health expert Julia Raifman told the Washington Post. Basically, it is the CDCs role to outline the very best practices for what you should do when you are sick with COVID, including the steps that you should follow to avoid spreading it to other people. That way if you slack off a littlewell, at least you were starting from an airtight place. More importantly, the CDCs guidelines are what you can hold up to your employer to say: Hey, Im not officially cleared to come back into work yet.

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Its also worth noting that the latest CDC guidance is an ever-more-complex tangle of options, and wild-card plays. For example, after five days, you have the option to go into the world (masked) but keep testing; if your test comes up negative sooner than day 10, you can remove your mask. But if COVID symptoms pop back up after five days, you need to go back into isolation, and restart the countdown clock to day zero. Also, none of this is relevant if you have shortness of breath: in that case, you should isolate for the full 10 days. At that point you might also need to distinguish between shortness of breath due to light panic from all the instructions, versus COVID itself.

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The messaging here should perhaps just be: You need to try to isolate for 10 days, unless you have a specific exception, in big neon letters. Maybe, on a personal level, these exceptions could include flying home from a foreign country (people are doing it). Still, your boss should not be able to require you to clock back into work before then.

Even if they seem to be a mess of choices, not everyone hates the spirit of the new CDC guidelines. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told the New York Times that the new set of guidance, which also removes quarentine periods if youre exposed to the virus, is a welcome change. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist, wrote on Twitter: Im sure there will be protest about this, but these revised guidelines seem to track with how people are actually living in the face of a virus that 1) is not disappearing and 2) seems to be finding even the most cautious among us. If COVID is going to keep spreading anyway, why should the government-suggested burden be on individuals to keep it from spreading, even when they are infected?

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The real problem here is not these guidelines; it is the lack of support and incentive available for people to take the steps necessary to avoid spreading the virus; it is the broad dropping of mask mandates, even as the virus surges. Staying at home for up to 10 daysor isolating in place, wherever you may find yourselfcan be a huge financial burden. The CDC is suggesting that in an expanded number of instances, people do not necessarily have to do this, so long as they wear a mask. This might not be the best advice for a speed-limit setting agency to provide. Or maybemaybeguidance that is more in line with how people are living will engender trust from people who have come to see a lot of advice around COVID precautions as scold-y and out of touch with reality. As someone who has spent the pandemic in the rule-follower camp, it is hard for me personally not to read the new CDC guidance and feel a little bit of relief.
Analysts point to problematic statistics indicators.

Housing in Slovakia may nit be as expensive as some indicators suggest. (Source: TASR)

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Based on data from Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, Slovakia is the most expensive country in which to live in central and eastern Europe. Its price level for consumer goods and services is even higher than in Slovenia, Portugal, Malta or Greece.

Other Eurostat statistics indicate that Slovakia is the third poorest country in the EU in terms of gross domestic product per capita. However, analysts warn that these statistics may not reflect the real position of Slovakia, pointing to one indicator: purchasing power parity.

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Purchasing power parity data are currently not reliable enough to compare living standards between countries, Daniel Dujava of the Institute for Financial Policy (IFP), a think tank running under the Finance Ministry, told The Slovak Spectator.

Michal Lehuta, macro-analyst of VUB bank shares this opinion: the calculations of purchasing power parity  the ratio of price levels between countries  are apparently very different in the European Union. In addition, Slovakia underwent a fundamental revision of the methodology in 2016 and 2017, which statistically made the country significantly more expensive. At the same time, the country-specific statistics are hardly comparable and therefore not very reliable.

In particular, the statistics of the price level of housing, where housing in Slovakia is said to be more than twice as expensive as in Hungary and almost twice as expensive as Poland, seem suspicious, Lehuta told The Slovak Spectator.

Statistics vs. reality

Dujava recalls that in its 2018 analysis looking at whether Slovakia is catching up to the West, the IFP pointed out that there may be a problem with purchasing power parity data.
Slovakia could be heading towards a minority government, observers say.

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Igor Matovic will stay put as finance minister, the leadership and the parliamentary caucus of his OLaNO movement have announced, in what they labelled a final decision that will not change.

OLaNO is thus essentially disregarding the ultimatum issued by its coalition partner Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) in early July. SaS, which has four ministers in the cabinet of Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO), said it would leave the government and the ruling coalition unless Matovic resigned as finance minister by the end of August.

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Igor Matovic won the election. He received a mandate to put together a coalition for this election term. He is the leader of the party with the most MPs in the house. OLaNO wants to fulfil the promises it gave people in the election, the movement stated.

The leaders of the four coalition parties are set to meet on Friday afternoon, but observers are sceptical about their chances of finding common ground. Sme Rodina and Za Ludi insist that they want the four-party coalition to continue until the end of the current parliament, in March 2024.

OLaNO and SaS representatives say they would prefer that too, but admit that the way things are going, Slovakia will have a minority government as of September 1. SaS ministers are expected to quit on that date if their demand for Matovics departure as minister is not met.

If SaS leaves the government and three of its ministers return to parliament (the fourth, Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok, was not elected as an MP), the party caucus will have 21 MPs. The three remaining coalition parties would then command fewer than the 76 votes needed for a majority in the house, and would have to rely on opposition votes to be able to pass laws.

"Only laws with the support of SaS as opposition will be passed, or alternatively with the support of Hlas [of Peter Pellegrini]," political analyst Grigorij Meseznikov noted in an interview with the Sme daily.

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Zambia memorial park honors fallen Chinese nationals in TAZARA railway construction

Xinhua) 08:21, August 12, 2022

Photo taken on June 2, 2022 shows the graves of Chinese engineers and workers in the TAZARA Memorial Park in Chongwe, Lusaka Province, Zambia. (Xinhua/Martin Mbangweta)

Zambia on Wednesday commissioned a memorial park built in honor of Chinese nationals who died during the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia railway line (TAZARA) in the 1970s.

LUSAKA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Wednesday commissioned a memorial park built in honor of Chinese nationals who died during the construction of the Tanzania-Zambia railway line (TAZARA) in the 1970s.

The commissioning of the TAZARA Memorial Park was attended by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Du Xiaohui, among others.

Constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the memorial park has a museum of photographs as well as graves of 36 Chinese engineers and workers who died during the construction of the 1,860 km railway line which links Zambia and Tanzania.

The layout of the Memorial Park is a dominating Chinese Knot viewed from above, which is a traditional Chinese cultural symbol for eternity.

The commissioning ceremony started with a tour of the museum as well as the laying of wreaths in honor of the fallen heroes.

In his remarks, the Zambia president thanked workers from the three countries who sacrificed their lives to build the railway line.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema (R, Front) stands as a wreath is laid in honor of the Chinese nationals who died during the construction of the TAZARA railway line in the TAZARA Memorial Park in Chongwe, Lusaka Province, Zambia, on Aug. 10, 2022. (China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation/Handout via Xinhua)

He said it was incumbent upon the current generations to reflect on the sacrifices made by ensuring that the railway line was revitalized.

He added that during his recent visit to Tanzania, the two governments also reaffirmed their resolve to ensure that the railway line was revitalized in partnership with China.

The Zambian president said the current generation had a duty to carry on the spirit exhibited during the construction of the railway line by being committed to duty.

"The best way to remember our foreign heroes is to revive TAZARA," he said.

Hichilema further said the memorial park will become one of Zambia's key tourist attraction centers and directed the ministry responsible for tourism to ensure that it becomes part of the country's tourism package.

People visit the museum of the TAZARA Memorial Park in Chongwe, Lusaka Province, Zambia, on Aug. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Martin Mbangweta)

On his part, the Chinese envoy said the best way to honor the martyrs of the TAZARA construction was to reactivate the railway line which has been facing operational challenges.

Du said the Chinese government was currently embarking on efforts aimed at revitalizing the railway line following a request from the governments of Zambia and Tanzania.

According to him, the reactivation of the railway line will not only help Zambia solve its transportation challenges and promote the export of more products but was an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

He noted that once reactivated, TAZARA will be a convenient, safe and environment-friendly mode of transportation that could promote the development of Zambia's copper mining industry.

"China and Zambia share complementary economic advantages and reactivating TAZARA will help export more high-quality Zambia products to China and provide support for deepening China-Zambia cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and other fields," Du said.

China, he said, was willing to work with Zambia and Tanzania to promote South-South Cooperation and safeguard international fairness and justice.

Hassan Simba Yahya, the Tanzanian High Commissioner to Zambia, said the construction of the memorial park will go a long way in providing information to future generations on the construction of the railway line and the assistance rendered by China.

TAZARA was constructed as a turnkey project between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China, with commercial operations starting in July 1976, covering 1,860 kilometers from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
When an Arizona bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, learned that a member of his ward was sexually assaulting his 5-year-old daughter, he followed church policy and called the Mormon Abuse Help Line.

The bishop later told law enforcement that church attorneys in Salt Lake City who staff the help line around the clock said that because he learned of the abuse during a counseling session the church considers a spiritual confession, he was legally bound to keep the abuse secret.

Paul Douglas Adams, a U.S. Border Patrol employee living with his wife and six children in Bisbee, Arizona, continued abusing his daughter for as many as seven more years, and went on to abuse a second daughter. He finally stopped in 2017 with no help from the church only because he was arrested.

The Associated Press obtained thousands of pages of sealed court documents that show in detail exactly how the churchs help line can divert abuse complaints away from law enforcement, leaving children in danger.

THE CLERGY-PENITENT PRIVILEGE

The seven years of secrecy in the Adams case began when church attorneys in Salt Lake City advised Bishop John Herrod and later Bishop Robert Kim Mauzy they were exempt from reporting requirements under the states child abuse reporting law because of the laws so-called clergy-penitent privilege.

You absolutely can do nothing, Herrod said he was told during an interview with federal investigators.

Arizonas child sex abuse reporting law, and similar laws in more than 20 states, says clergy, physicians, nurses, or anyone caring for a child who reasonably believes the child has been abused or neglected has a legal obligation to report the information to police or the state Department of Child Safety. But it also says that clergy who receive information about child neglect or sexual abuse during spiritual confessions may withhold that information from authorities if the clergy determine it is reasonable and necessary under church doctrine.

An Arizona attorney who is defending the bishops and the church in a lawsuit filed by three of the Adams children, told the AP that Herrod and Mauzy  and by extension the church  were acting within the law and in accordance with their religious principles.

These bishops did nothing wrong. They didnt violate the law, and therefore they cant be held liable, said William Maledon. He also called the Adams childrens lawsuit a money grab.

THE HELP LINE

The Associated Press obtained nearly 12,000 pages of sealed records from an unrelated child sex abuse lawsuit against the Mormon church in West Virginia, which show that the help line is part of a system that can easily be misused by church leaders to divert abuse accusations against church members away from law enforcement and instead to church attorneys, who may bury the problem, leaving victims in harms way.

It was established in 1995 when legal claims of sex abuse against churches were on the rise.

Officials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said in sworn statements included in the sealed records that the help line is staffed by social workers who destroy records of all calls at the close of each day.

When the social workers receive calls about abuse that may present a risk to the church  such as abuse committed by prominent church members, abuse perpetrated during church activities, or especially egregious instances of abuse  the calls are referred to attorneys with the Salt Lake City law firm Kirton McConkie. The church maintains that all calls referred to the attorneys are protected by attorney-client privilege, leaving no record of the accusations accessible to prosecutors or victims attorneys.

The lawsuit filed by the Adams children alleges: The Mormon Church implements the Helpline not for the protection and spiritual counseling of sexual abuse victims...but for (church) attorneys to snuff out complaints and protect the Mormon Church from potentially costly lawsuits.

THE SURVIVORS

Miranda and Matthew Whitworth adopted the Adams younger daughter when she was just 2 years old. Miranda said when they met, the toddler wrapped her arms and legs around her head, buried her face in her neck, and refused to look up to say good-bye to her mothers family.

It was the craziest thing, Miranda Whitworth said. It was like when you see a baby monkey or baby gorilla cling to their mother, and they just wont let go.

The couple said they joined the lawsuit to push the church to change its policy so that any instance of child sexual abuse is immediately reported to civil authorities. We just dont understand why theyre paying all these lawyers to fight this, Matthew Whitworth said. Just change the policy.

Nancy Salminen, a special needs teacher in public schools, adopted the older Adams daughter, MJ, after providing her with foster care when she was 12 years old. Today, MJ is a bubbly 16-year-old who plays in her high school band and proudly dons a crisp new uniform for her job as a fast-food restaurant.

She had every excuse to fail and to just fold into herself and run away, Salminen said. But instead, she came back stronger than anyone Ive ever known.

THE UPSHOT

Paul Adams died by suicide in jail before he could stand trial on federal child pornography charges and state child sex abuse charges.

Leizza Adams pleaded no contest to two counts of child abuse and served two-and-a-half years in state prison.

Judge Wallace Hoggatt called the abuse endured by MJ and her younger sister one of the most horrendous cases of child molestation he had ever encountered.

Today, the lawsuit filed by the Adams children in Cochise County Superior Court, as well as a criminal investigation by the Cochise County attorney, continue to unfold.

I just think that the Mormon church really sucks. Seriously sucks, MJ told the AP. They are just the worst type of people, from what Ive experienced and what other people have experienced.

Associated Press editor Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City and news researcher Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report.

To contact the APs investigations team, email investigative@ap.org.
There was great excitement in January after doctors at the University of Maryland transplanted a genetically modified pigs heart into a terminally ill man. The heart was produced by Revivicor, a biotech company in Blacksburg, and the patient survived for two months before succumbing to an apparent viral infection in the organ.

Later the same month, doctors in Alabama transplanted gene-edited pig kidneys by Revivicor into a brain-dead patient. Researchers saw no signs of organ rejection for the three days the patient was kept alive afterward.

In both cases, the pigs genes had been hacked to reduce chances of the human immune system rebelling against the foreign organs. But pigs are hardly the only livestock medical researchers are considering as a potential source of future human organ replacements.

Another is sheep, which may be a better organ match. Unlike pigs, theyre born at and grow to roughly human weights.

Toward that end, a nonprofit in Southwest Virginia is seeking to capitalize on the growing need for farm animals specially bred for scientific research purposes. The Blue Ridge Plateau Initiative, which formed roughly five years ago, is assisting a New Hampshire company to expand its operations into Grayson County, breeding disease-free sheep for medical research.

The company, New England Ovis, is owned by two New Hampshire veterinarians, Julie and Richard Hurley, and its been around for 17 years. Annually NEO raises 300 sheep that are free of 54 specific pathogens. NEO bills them as the healthiest sheep in the world.

Its specific-pathogen-free lambs sell for $3,400 each, and are used in cutting-edge biomedical research. That compares to $200 each or so the animals would bring at a traditional meat market.

The current demand for NEOs animals already far outstrips its supply. But its farm in New Hampshire cant grow in its present location because its landlocked.

The company learned about the potential of expanding in Grayson because an economic developer working with NEO, Peter Lampesis, is friends with a retired anthropologist from Roanoke, Jerry Moles.

Moles, a friend of mine, is a founding member and secretary of the Blue Ridge Plateau Initiative. He connected Lampesis with Danny Boyer, BRPIs president, who had a three-decade career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

On a visit to NEOs New Hampshire operation, Boyer realized Grayson Countys climate and terrain would be a great place to raise specific-pathogen-free sheep.

New England Ovis has already completed a lamb-breeding pilot project in Grayson, in which 150 specific-pathogen-free lambs were birthed by Caesarian section in a sterile environment, then shipped to New Hampshire for raising. Now that they know they can do it in Virginia, theyre seeking $12 million to $15 million to get a Grayson County expansion off the ground, Lampesis said.

It would involve at least two biosecure farms that together would produce an additional 500 specific-pathogen-sheep per year.

Were seeking the right investor-partner to grow with us in Virginia, a partner who sees the vision for regenerative medicine and comes along for the ride with us, Lampesis told me.

NEO sheep sell for such a high price because theyre free of different diseases common to the species. Such pathogens can easily ruin research projects because they add too many potential variables to scientific results. Infected sheep also pose a risk of passing zoonotic diseases to human researchers.

With pathogen-free animals, results are faster and more accurate because there are no confounding diseases, Julie Hurley told me. And the animals have no diseases to pass on to handlers.

Lampesis said New England Ovis already has one customer interested in buying 12,000 of their specific pathogen-free sheep, but the company cant raise anywhere near that number presently. (The company said it cant publicly disclose its corporate customers. But if it could, most people would recognize the names.)

The really thrilling potential of the business is the prospect of organs from disease-free sheep being used as replacements in sick humans who need a heart, a kidney, lungsor other anatomical parts such as ligaments and tendons.

Current research suggests those organs can be stripped of their sheep cells in a process called decellularization. What remains is the organs collagen scaffoldingtheyre known as ghost organs and appear as almost see-through. Those can then be repopulated with human stem cells collected from the organ recipient.

The latter process is called recellularization, and researchers havent yet figured everything out with that. The goal is for a patients immune system to recognize the transplanted organ as human, rather than reject it as foreign.

It sounds like science fiction, but there are plenty of scientific facts that support that potential. Julie Hurley estimated were probably five years out from a sheep heart, infused with human stem cells, being implanted in a cardiac patient.

This will be a heart that wont be rejected by the recipient, she said. That means the recipient wont require anti-rejection drugs, which suppress the human immune system. Transplantation of sheep kidneys could come even sooner, she added.

Imagine the potential, if animal organs could cure sick people of human maladies, and organs could be ordered in a process akin to calling your local auto parts store for a specific car models alternator.

The cardiologists I know, and there are some in my family, are so excited, Boyer told me. It can help people needing hearts, kidneys, etc. It can change the whole transplantation dynamic. Theres a long, long list of people waiting for heart transplants.

This is just one of the projects the Blue Ridge Plateau Initiative is working on. Another, which is otherwise unrelated, is a USDA-approved abattoir in Carroll County that would serve livestock farmers who now have to ship their animals hours away to out-of-state slaughterhouses.

Moles said that grew from a survey conducted at Virginia Tech, in which farmers in 18 counties in Southwest Virginia and northern North Carolina were asked what they needed to help their livestock operations.

The No. 1 response was a slaughterhouse that would help them bring their meat to market. So members of the BPRI focused on that.

Theyve already identified a parcel of land owned by Carroll County, just off Interstate 77, as a suitable location and procured approval from the countys economic development authority. The slaughterhouse would produce about 30 direct jobs, and would break even if it processes 65 head of cattle per week, according to its business plan. The BRPI is aiming for a facility that would process 200 cattle per week, and Moles said they already have commitments from farmers for 100 head weekly.

Boyer estimated building the slaughterhouse will cost $5 million to $6 million. Hes placing great hopes in grants that the state and federal government have earmarked for small and medium-sized meat producers, in the wake of coronavirus meat shortages that persist.

That slaughterhouse is needed now, Boyer said. And the need for [pathogen specific sheep] is so great, I think theres a really, really good chance its going to succeed.

He added: Its going to succeed somewhere.

Why not in Southwest Virginia?
Rapper Flo Rida will be performing at this year's state fair on Sept. 3.

Flo Rida will replace Lady A after the group canceled the remainder of their tour last week.

Priscilla Block will be the opening act for the show on the Bristol Windows Stage at Anderson Field.

Raised in the rough Miami neighborhood of Carol City, Flo Rida first burst onto the music scene with his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in 2012. His first single, Low, featuring T-Pain, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

He later launched his own record label, IMG, in 2011.

Were pleased Flo Rida was available and agreeable to join us at pretty much the last minute for this years State Fair, said Executive Director Bill Ogg.

Tickets will be available, beginning at noon Friday, at statefair.org and are $49 for general admission and $69 for the pit.

All tickets for the Lady A concert will be refunded and guests can expect to see the refund on their credit card statements in 3-6 days.

Ticket buyers who paid cash must bring their ticket to their purchase location for refund. No tickets from the Lady A concert will be valid for the new show.

Other acts featured in the Nebraska Lottery Concert Series include Jeff Dunham, Brantley Gilbert, Los Tucanes de Tijuana and the Happy Together Tour.

For more information, visit statefair.org.
Scottsbluff Public Schools is one of just four school districts in the state that is a recipient of the newly created Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) Educator Pipeline Grant.

The NDE, in partnership with NACTE, met in recent months to address the educator shortage by utilizing statewide ESSER III investment strategies. From those conversations, the NDE developed several objectives for the Educator Pipeline Grant, which includes address educator shortages through strategies to support recruitment, preparation and retention of teachers, paraprofessionals, education specialists and leaders; offer funds to local sites for a localized approached; develop and strengthen partnerships to address shortages.

NDE awarded $1.5 million in funds to help school districts, Educational Service Units, colleges and universities and organizations design and implement strategies.

The grant featured three funding levels, $250,000, $100,000 and $50,000, based upon the priorities outlined within the application. The grant applications were accepted from May 23 through June 13. Twenty five applicants requested a total of $3.5 million, according to the NDE. Scottsbluff Public Schools was awarded a Tier 2 award for $100,000 to be used for strategies supporting the recruitment, preparation and retention of teachers, paraprofessionals, education specialists and leaders.

Scottsbluff Public Schools Superintendent Andrew Dick said the district will initiate a multi-pronged strategy to recruit and support the development of educators through the grant.

Now, more than ever, with fewer people enrolling in post-secondary educator prep programs, school districts across the country are having to become more thoughtful, creative, and aggressive in their approach to recruit and retain high-quality staff, he said in a press release. By receiving this grant, Scottsbluff Public Schools will be able to enhance our efforts in the areas of mentoring new teachers and expanding our Educators Rising program, while also employing additional strategies, such as providing student teachers a stipend to incentivize them to select SBPS for their experience, and expanding financial incentives for existing staff to pursue advanced degrees.

Having the Educators Rising student organization is part of the strategies to include with the career and technical academies at Scottsbluff High School. The district is expanding its Grow Our Own teaching program in partnership with Scottsbluff Public Schools Foundation.

Dick said they do not have a timeline for implementing the strategies, but said it is a priority for the district this year. Several strategies will require educational and community partnerships to leverage resources and provide a greater collective impact to the program. SBPS seeks to strengthen partnerships with ESU #13, WNCC, Chadron State College, Scottsbluff Public Schools Foundation, and Twin Cities Development in implementing their plan.

At the administrative days, they shared information about the harder filled areas. In recent years was English Language Arts teachers, special education is always a challenge  but even this year we struggled finding elementary teachers, he told the Star-Herald. This year, our pool of applicants was not as deep as it once was.

The need for qualified professionals also is needed outside of the classroom.

When we talk about educator shortages, its not just in the teaching ranks, he said. It also extends to our specialists  speech language pathologists, school psychologists and para educators.

Any funds expended to achieve the strategies would be submitted to NDE for approval and reimbursement. Some of the strategies will require supplemental funds through district funds.

It gives us an opportunity to demonstrate some innovation and creativity and even try some strategies I think have worked well in other places to ensure were recruiting and retaining the best staff possible, Dick said.

The funds are available through December 2024.

Dick said while the district is focused on addressing the educator shortage, the quality of instruction is not a concern as the first day of school nears.

We are fully staffed in all of our classrooms, he said. This is the fewest number of certified teachers that Scottsbluff Public Schools had to hire in recent memory, but it was also our most difficult year. That makes it more concerning.

Every classroom will have a qualified teacher leading instruction for the 2022-23 school year. However, the challenge with educator shortages drove the district to apply for grant funding.

We do see this as one, if not the greatest, challenge we are facing in education right now, Dick said.

Chadron State College also received a Tier 2 award for $100,000 for strategies supporting the Nebraska Panhandle Para to Teacher Academy.
The classical story of Charlottes Web, written by E.B. White and adapted by Joseph Robinette will take the Goshen Community Theater stage later this fall. The public is invited to audition for a role in the show Aug. 30-31 at 6:30 p.m. in the Eastern Wyoming College auditorium. Adults and youth characters are needed for the show.

Director Aaron Bahmer said he hopes the show will encourage more community involvement in the theater.

I hope to help rejuvenate community involvement with theater by bringing new families into GCT, he said. I also want to provide opportunities for students at Eastern Wyoming College to be part of this show, both on stage and off.

The cast will rehearse for about two months before opening night of the show. Bahmer said rehearsals begin after Labor Day, Sept. 5.

We will start rehearsals right after Labor Day three days a week for a total of about eight hours a week, he said. I have divided the script into smaller scenes and will rehearse a group of players to limit the waiting time of people in a scene.

Public performances will be held Oct. 27-30 and Nov. 4-6.

For more information about GCT, visit goshencommunitytheatre.org.
Closed for more than three years, the boardwalk leading to one of Indian Cave State Parks main attractions  Indian Cave  has reopened.

But with a few changes.

Instead of the old series of stairs and platforms  which was partially washed away by landslides during the March 2019 bomb cyclone  the new boardwalk includes a ramp compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has also added an 8-foot-wide viewing deck with seating, and plans to install interpretive panels explaining the areas cultural and natural history, and the story of the prehistoric Native petroglyphs, which are carved into the caves sandstone walls.

But the new boardwalk doesnt carry visitors as close to the cave as the old one. And that was intentional, said Jeff Fields, the commissions parks administrator.

Were trying to protect the integrity of the petroglyphs on the cave. Weve had some vandalism in the past, he said. This was an effort where people can get close enough to see things, but not too close.

The state plans to add a viewing scope to the deck for a better view of the petroglyphs, Fields said.

The state started the $800,000 replacement project in September. The boardwalk measures 420 feet from end to end, though a 5-foot-wide staircase leading up to it can cut some of the distance.

On average, the park  about 90 miles southeast of Lincoln  attracts 225,000 visitors per year, Fields said.
With the beginning of school next week comes some changes regarding traffic in and around Wythe County schools. First, school and law enforcement officials are asking parents to dramatically decrease the amount of time they spend in school pick-up lines. And second, Wythe County deputies will be watching for speeders at five county schools.

Parent pick-up line procedures

Regarding parent pick-up lines, Wythe County Public School posted a letter online to parents advising them of new procedures. The letter is signed by Superintendent Wesley Poole, Wythe County Sheriff Charles Foster, Wytheville Police Chief Joel Hash and Rural Retreat Police Chief Derek Breedlove.

The beginning of a new school year often brings changes to procedures and practices. One such change concerns parent pick-up time throughout the school division, the letter said. Line-up for parent pick-up at our schools will begin no earlier than 2:45 p.m. each afternoon, or no earlier than 30 minutes prior to student dismissal on shortened school days. This change is being made in an effort to enhance school safety on our campuses.

In the past, parents could be seen lining up at school as early as 1 p.m.

The letter said that after access issues at two school last year during afternoon incidents, it became apparent that a procedure change was needed. The school system and law enforcement officials established the new parent pick-up parameters.

Parents\guardians who pick up students are asked no to arrive at school prior to 2:45 p.m. each afternoon, allowing a 30-minute window in which to arrive on campus. The letter said that school resource/security officers will enforce the new procedure.

The change will not affect early student check-out procedures nor will it affect bus loading and departure times.

Our top priority is, and always will be, the safety of our children, the letter said. This change will enhance many of the strategies WCPS has in place related to school security. We appreciate your cooperation and support in our efforts to safely educate the children of Wythe County.

Speed Enforcement Cameras

Earlier this year, the Wythe County Board of Supervisors approved the use of enforcement cameras to catch speeders in school zones. The move came after the Virginia General Assembly passed a law that allows cameras in school and construction zones.

Supervisors agreed to partner with Blue Line Solutions, a company that will set up speed enforcement cameras at no cost to the county. BLS will monitor the cameras that photograph the license plates of speeders, and then bill the drivers, collect the money and mail the county a check every month.

The cameras are expected to be installed sometime this fall, and until then, Wythe County deputies will monitor speeds in five school zones using hand-held laser units that track the speed of individual vehicles and identify the vehicles license plate.

Those who are ticketed will receive a letter about the fine, along with a photo of their car and license plate. If someone else was driving their car, they can fill out information and send it back to Blue Line Solutions so that the appropriate driver can be ticketed. In addition, drivers can long onto a website and see a video taken by the camera.

They can see themselves speeding, Cline said.

Before the cameras are installed, possibly as early as next week, signs will be erected alerting drivers to the camera speed enforcement.

After monitoring speeds at county schools, the sheriffs office plans to have speed enforcement officers in five schools zones: Speedwell Elementary School, Rural Retreat Elementary School, Jackson Elementary School, Sheffey Elementary School and Fort Chiswell High School.

Officers will be at the school during drop-off and pick-up times, and after school when students are still on the grounds.

Wythe County Chief Deputy Anthony Clines said that the study showed that speeding is a particular problem in the area of FCHS, endangering students who often cross the highway after school to eat at Burger Express.

In January, a student showed that on weekdays, 12,406 cars passed through the school zone, with 2,656 cars traveling at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. Most school zone speed limits are 25 mph; the Rural Retreat school zone limit is 35 mph.

Thats a whole lot of cars, Cline said. The scary part was that 443 cars that week were going 21 mile per hour or more over the speed limit. We have children cross the highway to go to the restaurant  so that number scares me. That is crazy.

Cline said that 1,120 cars were going 15 to 20 miles per hour over the speed limit.

He added that the sheriffs office plans to set the speeding limit to 12 miles per hour over the speed limit.

Our goal is to have zero people speeding in our school zone, the chief deputy said.

Cline said that for the first week, speeders will be mailed a warning ticket with no fine. Fines will be issued after the first week of school.

To reach reporter Millie Rothrock, call 276-228-6611, ext. 573, or email mrothrock@wythenews.com
General Dischord, soldier musicians from the 234th Army Band of the Oregon National Guard, will perform a free concert sponsored by the Clatskanie Arts Commission at 3 p.m. Aug. 14 in the Birkenfeld Theatre, 75 S. Nehalem St., Clatskanie.

The band performed at the Clatskanie Heritage Days parade and asked to return to Clatskanie, according to a press release submitted to The Daily News.

The event will include music from Sousa, the Beatles, Harry Potter and the Service Song Medley.

The performance is free, but seating is limited to 160 people, so people should reserve tickets by calling Elsa at 503-728-3403 (leave a message and she will confirm the ticket reservation) or send an email to elsawooley1@gmail.com.

With generous support from Donna Garlock, the Clatskanie Arts Commission will kick off its 34th Performing Arts Series with a free concert, Big Band in the Park, from 2 to 4 p.m. Sept. 5 in the Clatskanie City Park.
WOODLAND  The city of Woodland plans to spend most of its $1.8 million in federal pandemic relief funding on water projects.

As of Thursday, the City Council had allocated $1.57 million of American Rescue Plan Act money to four water projects, said Peter Boyce, city administrator.

Counties and cities can use the money to support public health expenditures, address negative economic effects from the pandemic, replace lost public-sector revenue, provide premium pay for essential workers, and invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, according to the Municipal Research Services Center of Washington.

So far Woodland has spent $528,000 of the ARPA money on improvements to waterlines on West Scott Avenue and Davidson Avenue where the streets cross the railroad tracks. The projects include increasing 4-foot watermains to a 16-foot PVC carrier pipe inside a 30-foot steel casing, according to the 2022 capital projects plan.

The Davidson Avenue project mostly is funded by a $500,000 Cowlitz County rural economic development grant and $28,000 of ARPA money that covered an unforeseen increase in costs, Boyce said. The West Scott Avenue waterline crossing is fully funded by $500,000 in pandemic relief money.

About $284,590 was allocated to the Lakeshore Avenue water project, which has a total cost of about $1.7 million. The project includes extending sanitary sewer and water lines on Lakeshore Drive from Goerig Street to Island Aire Drive.

The city also plans to spend $761,000 on the West Scott Avenue asbestos waterline replacement, with a total cost of $1.26 million.

Boyce said the projects were all planned before the city received the pandemic relief money. The ARPA funding didnt change projects timing, but it reduced the amount of bonding the city will have to do to replace its water reservoir in the near future, he said.

The council also allocated $100,000 to replace the City Hall ventilation system. About $141,250 remains unallocated, Boyce said.

The Cowlitz County commissioners allocated $2.6 million of the countys ARPA funding for Woodlands exit 21 project.

ARPA money can cover qualifying costs through 2024, and must be spent by the end of 2026.
CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP)  Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses drew death threats from Irans leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York.

A bloodied Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was on a ventilator Friday evening, with a damaged liver, severed nerves in his arm and an eye he was likely to lose.

Police identified the attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey. He was arrested at the scene and was awaiting arraignment. Matar was born a decade after The Satanic Verses was published. The motive for the attack was unclear, State Police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said.

An Associated Press reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stab or punch him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested.

Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdies wounds as serious but recoverable.

Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, a co-founder of an organization that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked. Reese suffered a facial injury and was treated and released from a hospital, police said. He and Rushdie were due to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile.

A state trooper and a county sheriffs deputy were assigned to Rushdies lecture, and state police said the trooper made the arrest. But after the attack, some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasnt tighter security for the event, given the decades of threats against Rushdie and a bounty on his head offering more than $3 million for anyone who kills him.

Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the roughly 2,500 people in the audience. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.

The assailant ran onto the platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first youre like, Whats going on? And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten, Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.

Another spectator, Kathleen James, said the attacker was dressed in black, with a black mask.

We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that theres still a lot of controversy around this author. But it became evident in a few seconds that it wasnt, she said.

Matar, like other visitors, had obtained a pass to enter the Chautauqua Institutions 750-acre grounds, Michael Hill, the president of the nonprofit education center and resort, said.

The suspects attorney, public defender Nathaniel Barone, said he was still gathering information and declined to comment. Matars home was blocked off by authorities.

The stabbing reverberated from the tranquil town of Chautauqua to the United Nations, which issued a statement expressing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres horror and stressing that free expression and opinion should not be met with violence.

From the White House, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described the attack as reprehensible and said the Biden administration wished Rushdie a quick recovery.

This act of violence is appalling, Sullivan said in a statement. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing.

Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes, and the literary world recoiled at what Ian McEwan, a novelist and Rushdie's friend, described as an assault on freedom of thought and speech.

Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world, McEwan said in a statement. "He is a fiery and generous spirit, a man of immense talent and courage and he will not be deterred.

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said the organization didn't know of any comparable act of violence against a literary writer in the U.S. Rushdie was once president of the group, which advocates for writers and free expression.

Rushdies 1988 novel was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims, who saw a character as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. Across the Muslim world, often-violent protests erupted against Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim family.

At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, including 12 people in Rushdies hometown of Mumbai. In 1991, a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death and an Italian translator survived a knife attack. In 1993, the books Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived.

The book was banned in Iran, where the late leader Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdies death. Khomeini died that same year.

Irans current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never issued a fatwa of his own withdrawing the edict, though Iran in recent years hasnt focused on the writer.

Irans mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fridays attack, which led an evening news bulletin on Iranian state television.

The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.

He said in a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fear.

The only way you can defeat it is by deciding not to be afraid, he said.

Anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered long after Khomeinis decree. The Index on Censorship, an organization promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016.

An Associated Press journalist who went to the Tehran office of the 15 Khordad Foundation, which put up the millions for the bounty on Rushdie, found it closed Friday night on the Iranian weekend. No one answered calls to its listed telephone number.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was appalled to learn of the attack on Rushdie, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. In no case is violence a response to words spoken or written by others in their exercise of the freedoms of opinion and expression.

In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, Joseph Anton, about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie used while in hiding.

Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnights Children, but his name became known around the world after The Satanic Verses.

Widely regarded as one of Britains finest living writers, Rushdie was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008 and earlier this year was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor, a royal accolade for people who have made a major contribution to the arts, science or public life.

In a tweet, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deplored that Rushdie was attacked while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.

The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance. Visitors dont pass through metal detectors or undergo bag checks. Most people leave the doors to their century-old cottages unlocked at night.

The center is known for its summertime lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before.

At an evening vigil, a few hundred residents and visitors gathered for prayer, music and a long moment of silence.

Hate cant win, one man shouted.

Associated Press journalists John Wawrow in Chautauqua; Jennifer Peltz, Hillel Italie and Edith Lederer in New York City; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Michael Hill in Albany, New York; Ted Shaffrey in Fairview, New Jersey; and Nasser Karimi and Mehdi Fattahi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
DETROIT (AP)  A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after jurors said they couldn't reach a unanimous verdict in a dispute over whether two engineering firms should bear some responsibility for Flint's lead-contaminated water.

Veolia North America and Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, known as LAN, were accused of not doing enough to get Flint to treat the highly corrosive water or to urge a return to a regional water supplier.

The eight-person jury met for roughly seven days after hearing evidence for months. The jury first signaled on July 28 that it couldn't reach a verdict before taking a planned 11-day break. The group returned to work Tuesday.

Further deliberations will only result in stress and anxiety with no unanimous decision without someone having to surrender their honest convictions, solely for the purpose of returning a verdict, the jury said in a new note Thursday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge David Grand declared a mistrial, rejecting a request by lawyers for four children to allow a verdict that's less than unanimous.

This is not a focus group, Grand said.

The trial centered on the engineering firms and the effects of lead on the children, not all Flint residents. But the result was being closely watched because there are other cases pending against Veolia and LAN.

The firms were not part of a landmark $626 million deal involving property owners, thousands of residents of the majority-Black city, the state of Michigan and other parties.

We don't see this as a defeat, Veolia attorney Dan Stein told The Associated Press. The plaintiffs were the ones trying to prove their claims to the jury, and they were unable to do so.

Corey Stern, an attorney for the children, said he was only one juror shy from winning the case. The lack of a verdict means a trial can be held again with a different jury.

I'm fired up for the next one, Stern said. I wish the judge would schedule it for Monday. I hated leaving the courthouse. Youre an inch from the goal line after toting the ball for 99 yards.

Flint's water became contaminated in 2014-15 because water pulled from the Flint River wasnt treated to reduce the corrosive effect on lead pipes. Citing cost, managers appointed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder stopped using water from a Detroit agency and switched to the river while awaiting a new pipeline to Lake Huron.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission said the bad water was the result of systemic racism in the city, doubting that the water switch and the spurning of complaints would have occurred in a white, prosperous community.

During closing arguments, attorneys for the children argued that Veolia should be held 50% responsible for lead contamination and that LAN should be held 25% responsible, with public officials making up the balance.

But Veolia's lawyers noted the firm was briefly hired in the middle of the crisis, not before the spigot was turned on. LAN said an engineer repeatedly recommended that Flint test the river water for weeks to determine what treatments would be necessary.

LAN attorney Wayne Mason said outside engineers were getting lumped in with a platoon of bad actors, namely state and local officials who controlled all major decisions about the water. The health effects on the four children were also challenged at trial.

Snyder was summoned as a witness but declined to answer questions, citing his right against self-incrimination.

He was indicted on misdemeanor charges in a separate Flint water investigation. The Michigan Supreme Court said the indictment was invalid, though state prosecutors are trying to reinstate the charges.

The jury instead watched a video of Snyders 2020 interview with lawyers.

I wish this never would have happened, he said of the water mess, acknowledging mistakes by government.

Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  A Virginia man has been sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison on federal bank robbery charges in a case that tested the constitutionality of broad search warrants that use Google location history to identify people who were near the scene of a crime.

Okello Chatrie, 27, was sentenced Wednesday in the 2019 robbery of the Call Federal Credit Union in Midlothian.

Chatries lawyers had argued the use of a geofence warrant to identify people who were near the scene of the robbery violated their constitutional protection against unreasonable searches. Federal prosecutors argued Chatrie had no reasonable expectation of privacy since he voluntarily opted in to Googles Location History.

U.S. District Judge Hannah Lauck ruled in March that the warrant violated the Constitution by gathering the location history of 19 cell phones  including Chatrie's  near the bank at the time of the robbery without having any evidence that their owners had anything to do with the crime. Geofence warrants seek location data on every person within a specific location over a certain period of time.

But Lauck denied Chatrie's motion to suppress the evidence produced by the warrant, finding the detective had acted in good faith by consulting with prosecutors before applying for the warrant and relied on his past experience in obtaining three similar warrants.

Privacy advocates said Lauck's ruling that the warrant violated the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches could make it more difficult for police to continue using a popular investigative technique that has helped lead them to suspects in a list of crimes around the country.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Lauck denied a defense request for a lower sentence for Chatrie, saying there were too many victims in the robbery. Prosecutors have said Chatrie demanded cash in a handwritten note, waved a gun, threatened to kill a bank teller's family and ordered employees and a customer onto the floor.

The sentence Lauck imposed  141 months  was at the low end of discretionary federal sentencing guidelines, which called for a term of between 141 and 155 months.
BENTON COUNTY  Disparate interests in the Northwest have found something they can agree on  the need for a sustained spending boost of more than $1 billion a year on cleanup at the Hanford nuclear reservation.

Tuesday a letter was sent to President Biden asking that the administrations next annual budget request bump the Hanford sites budget to nearly $3.8 billion and continue that increased funding from fiscal 2024 for years to come.

In June, the Biden administration took the unusual step of revising its Hanford budget request for fiscal 2023 from its initial request by about $191 million to just over $2.6 billion.

The current Hanford budget as authorized by Congress is a record high $2.6 billion, not including spending for some expenses such as security.

But thats not enough as the Hanford site in Eastern Washington enters its next phase of cleanup, said the letter sent Tuesday, just ahead of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholms first visit to the site on Friday.

Continuing funding at the present level will exponentially balloon the overall cost of Hanford cleanup, delay work by decades and increase the risk of a catastrophic infrastructure failure or release of contamination, those signing the letter agree.

It was signed by the governors of both Washington and Oregon.

Hanford Communities, a coalition of local governments near Hanford, and the Tri-City Development Council signed on.

It also was signed by Seattle-based Hanford Challenge and Portland-based Columbia Riverkeeper, even though Tri-Cities and west side groups disagree on the details of how environmental cleanup of the site should be done.

Washington state and Tri-Cities Hispanic organizations and key Hanford labor unions also signed the letter.

A separate letter was sent by the Yakama Nation, which has treaty rights at Hanford.

Hanford cleanup immense

The scope of Hanford cleanup is immense, representing one of the most complex and challenging environmental remediation efforts on the planet, the letter signed by the governors and others said.

The site, now covering 580 square miles, was used during World War II and the Cold War to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nations nuclear weapons program, leaving parts of Hanford massively contaminated.

Progress has been made on environmental cleanup over the past 33 years, including cleanup of 1,300 waste sites, demolition of 900 facilities and treatment of 27 billion gallons of groundwater.

But hundreds of facilities and waste sites still need to be cleaned up, billions of gallons of groundwater still needs to be decontaminated, and temporarily buried and stored waste tainted with plutonium needs to be packaged and shipped to a national disposal facility in New Mexico.

Most daunting are the 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste now stored in underground tanks, many of them prone to leaking.

Hanfords biggest challenge

Importantly, this large volume of tank waste presents one of the most significant long-term risks at Hanford, and tank waste treatment is the largest cost driver for the entire cleanup effort, the letter said.

The Department of Energy estimates that $300 billion to $640 billion will be needed to complete the remainder of Hanford environmental cleanup by 2078.

It would require annual budgets of $5.4 billion at the low end of the estimate to $11 billion at the high end, according to DOEs 2022 Hanford LIfecycle Scope, Schedule and Cost Report.

The report projects the need for a significant budget increase starting in fiscal 2024 to ramp up construction and other work to prepare for the treatment of high level radioactive tank waste at Hanford as other cleanup is done, including the start of low level radioactive waste treatment begins.

It is imperative that your FY24 budget request includes the necessary resources for this critical phase of Hanford cleanup, and for Congress to ensure that this funding is provided, the letter to Biden said.

Doing otherwise will only increase long-term costs for the American people while increasing the risk to human health and the environment, the letter said.

The full list of signers includes Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Washington state Department of Ecology, Washington State Commission on Hispanic Affairs, Tri-Cities Development Council, Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hanford Communities, Hanford Challenge, Columbia Riverkeeper, Central Washington Building Trades Council and the UA Local Union 598 Plumbers and Steamfitters.
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee on Thursday pledged efforts to create a new chapter for the development of innovation and technology in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).



Hong Kong will seize the historic opportunities offered by the country's 14th Five-Year Plan to build itself into an international center for innovation and technology, Lee said at a forum on GBA innovation and technology cooperation.

He said measures to gear up Hong Kong's innovation and technology development will be proposed in his policy address, which is expected to be delivered on Oct. 19 this year.

Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said in his video speech at the forum that the ministry will continue to support the building of an international innovation and technology hub in the GBA, and further open up national sci-tech programs to Hong Kong and Macao through inter-departmental efforts.

Last year, Hong Kong's total research and development (R&D) expenditure exceeded 26.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 3.38 billion U.S. dollars), a record high, and the number of start-ups has increased to about 4,000, official data showed.

Hong Kong ranked first in Asia and second globally in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2021, produced by the IMD World Competitiveness Center, with its performance in technology being rated first in the world.
SPOKANE  The former Freeman High School student who killed one of his classmates and injured three others should have a chance to live a meaningful life after he gets out of prison, his defense attorney argued Thursday.

Prosecutors, however, argued the 20-year-old should serve more time behind bars to pay for the damage he did to the community.

Sentencing hearings for Caleb Sharpe began Thursday morning and are expected to continue through next week.

Sharpe was 15 when on Sept. 13, 2017, he entered Freeman High School with multiple weapons and opened fire on his classmates. He killed Sam Strahan, wounded three girls and traumatized dozens of others.

Early this year, Sharpe pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of assault.

More than 200 Freeman community members shared how the shooting impacted them in weeks of testimony earlier this year.

On Thursday, attorneys made their opening arguments on what Sharpe's sentence should be to Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael Price.

Strahan's mother, Ami Strahan, sat in the front row surrounded by fellow Freeman families, watching the proceedings with a white ribbon pinned to her chest.

Sharpe's parents and a handful of family members sat directly behind him.

Public defender Brooke Foley argued that he should serve a 20-year fixed sentence due in part to his immaturity and untreated mental illness at the time of the shooting.

The Washington State Supreme Court has acknowledged that youth must be considered and that young people's brains aren't fully developed, Foley noted.

Sharpe had severe depression with psychotic features and untreated ADHD at the time of the shooting, Foley said. There had been signs of Sharpe's growing mental illness for years, she said.

A variety of circumstances contributed to his mental status, Foley argued. Those included moving away from his friends to Spokane Valley, spending more time alone as his parents grew busier, playing first-person shooter games, a breakup and an obsession with increasingly dark movies and documentaries.

Sharpe's comments at the time about his desire to hurt others "go unreported, unnoticed," Foley said.

In a school assignment shortly before the shooting, Sharpe listed his prized possession as a gun, she said.

None of Sharpe's concerning behavior was reported until he passed notes to two girls who thought he might be suicidal; he then saw a school counselor, Foley said.

All of those signs of failing mental health, along with Sharpe's immaturity, should be considered as mitigating factors and reduce his sentence, Foley said. Since being incarcerated, Sharpe's ADHD has been treated and his brain has matured, showing signs he could be rehabilitated, she said.

"There's no one here that disputes how horrible that day was," Foley said.

Sharpe has taken responsibility for his actions and is remorseful, Foley said, noting he pleaded guilty earlier this year and didn't object to extensive victim impact statements.

Deputy Prosecutor Sharon Hedlund acknowledged that Sharpe's youth should be a mitigating factor but requested a 35-year sentence, with the requirement that before his release, a sentencing review board consider Sharpe's likelihood to reoffend and whether he has been rehabilitated.

Foley's description of Sharpe as a moody, self-conscious and struggling isn't abnormal, Hedlund argued.

"She's describing a fairly typical teenage boy," Hedlund said.

The prosecution's experts agree that Sharpe was "slightly immature for his age," but Hedlund argued that his immaturity and struggles weren't cause for him to shoot his classmates.

Sharpe's age and immaturity should be a mitigating factor, Hedlund said in agreement with the defense. She said, however, 35 years is a mitigated sentenced compared to the 90 years Sharpe could face in a standard sentence as adult.

When it comes to rehabilitation, there aren't many cases of school shooters who have been released to compare their recidivism rate, Hedlund said. Most school shooters either die during or shortly after the incident, or are still incarcerated, she said.

Hedlund argued the 35-year sentence with a requirement for a review would "provide some assurance of safety for the community."

She also argued that Sharpe hasn't shown true remorse for what he did, and the court still doesn't have a "true understanding" of why he shot his classmates.

Over the next week, both attorneys will call experts, including psychologists who examined Sharpe, along with detectives and family members to testify.

The first of those experts, Dr. Richard Adler, testified that via neuroimaging shortly after the shooting, he found Sharpe's brain was immature for his age but has since improved, showing potential to be rehabilitated.

Adler testified that it was a combination of Sharpe's undiagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder, ADHD, immaturity and access to guns and other factors that caused him to commit the shooting.

The school counselor who evaluated Sharpe after the note was reported to administration should have noticed the way Sharpe talked about being interested in violence, Adler said. Acting like characters he was watching on TV and his interest in weapons should have been a sign he could act out violently, he said.

"If you work with young people, you should hear this and know this is not right," Adler said.

With Sharpe's current brain maturation and continuing growth, along with consistent treatment for his mental illness, Adler said he feels Sharpe is at a low risk of reoffending.

More experts, along with Sharpe's and Strahan's families, are expected to testify over the next week. Price is expected to hand down his sentence by the end of next week.
Apple Watches have saved lives so many times that nothing seems to be "mission impossible" for them, much to owners' delight. Know how it did.

Apple launched its first smartwatch edition in 2015 and since then it has cemented its position as one of the premium smartwatches with loads of useful features, even those that can actually save lives. From measuring simple health-related things like heart rate and sleep patterns to offering emergency SOS features, the watch comes with many features that have been proved life saviors during the most dangerous of situations. From detecting atrial fibrillation, heart condition to calling emergency service for help, read about the times when an Apple Watch has saved lives.

Apple Watch spots a UK man's atrial fibrillation before doctors

Apple Watch once detected atrial fibrillation: a condition that can be fatal if not treated and monitored properly before a doctor. The watch owner Chris Mint was a healthy 30-year-old fitness enthusiast who has received notifications that he may potentially have A-Fib. However, a doctor told him that his Apple Watch was likely mistaken. But after doing a full check up it turned out he did have two leaking heart valves. Later, doctors told him that if the Apple Watch wouldn't have alerted him, it's possible that the undiagnosed condition could have caused a heart attack or stroke.

Apple Watch rescues kayaker swept out to sea

Apple's wearable product has become the life savior for a kayaker who was swept out to sea by strong currents on the north coast of Sydney Australia. The kayaker used Watch's emergency SOS feature to call emergency service and ask for help after he drifted almost 4 kilometers off the coast and was unable to paddle back to shore due to the strong currents of the sea.

Apple Watch helped him to send a signal for help by activating the emergency SOS function and the concerned authority rushed for his rescue.

Apple Watch Detects Heart tumor Missed by Hospital

Earlier Apple Watch detected non-cancerous heart tumors by alerting the user about an irregular heart rhythm that could be caused by atrial fibrillation. Kim Durkee, the watch owner shared that initially she thought it must have been a mistake, but the Apple Watch kept giving her warnings over the next couple of days. She then underwent diagnosis and found that she had a non-cancerous heart tumor for which she needed surgery.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Federal prosecutors unveiled fraud and money-laundering charges this week against a former Qualcomm research engineer and three others for allegedly duping the San Diego company into paying $150 million to acquire technology that it putatively owned already.

A federal grand jury handed up the indictment in May, but it was unsealed on Monday. It alleges the quartetincluding two San Diego residentschoreographed a scheme to defraud Qualcomm after ex-Vice President of Research and Development Karim Arabi came up with a faster method for evaluating micro-processors during the "design for test" process while working at the company.

Under terms of Arabi's employment agreement, intellectual property created while he was on Qualcomm's payroll belonged to the company. The indictment alleges he and others took elaborate steps to hide his involvement. They portrayed the invention as the brainchild of a Canadian graduate student, according to the indictment. It was being commercialized through a Bay Area startup.

The graduate student happened to be Arabi's younger sister. She was studying subjects generally related to inkjet printing, not semiconductor design, according to the indictment. She legally changed her name during the process, and while she's listed as the inventor on provisional patents, the applications were filed by Arabi using sham email accounts to conceal his identity, according to prosecutors.

The indictment also alleges Arabi, 56, was heavily involved in founding the startupcalling and attending meetings, choosing its name and hand-picking its chief executive officer. He allegedly took steps to hide his involvement, including setting up bogus email accounts.

The information was concealed from Qualcomm during negotiations leading up to its acquisition of the eight-month-old startup in October 2015. Arabi left Qualcomm in June 2016 after working there on and off for nine years.

Arabi and Ali Akbar Shokouhi were arrested on Monday in San Diego. Shokouhi is an entrepreneur and consultant who was involved in making the startup appear legitimate, prosecutors said. He was also a former Qualcomm employee.

Sanjiv Taneja, who served as the startup's CEO and the point man for negotiations, was arrested in Northern California. Arabi's sister, Sheida Alan, was arrested in Canada and faces extradition proceedings to the United States.

Efforts to reach Arabi and Shokouhi, including contacting their lawyers, were unsuccessful. Shokouhi pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in San Diego federal court Tuesday and was released on a $1 million bond. Arabi was not available to appear in court for unknown reasons and was set to be arraigned Wednesday.

If convicted, the four charged each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; fines of $250,000 or twice their gain for the fraud charges.

The indictment also alleges that the four laundered funds via schemes that include foreign real estate purchases and interest-free loans. That could result in $500,000 fines and the forfeiture of property.

"Fraudsters cannot hide behind sophisticated technology or complex schemes," said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman in a statement. "This office will pursue criminals and their laundered, ill-gotten gains whether they are hidden in a mattress or scattered throughout the international financial system."

Qualcomm was not identified specifically in the indictment. It was referred to as a multi-national San Diego technology company. But in 2017, Qualcomm sued Arabi, Taneja and Alan in San Diego Superior Court essentially making the same allegations. The legal action was dismissed without prejudice in late 2018.

"Protecting intellectual property is a cornerstone of innovation. We thank the U.S. Department of Justice for its work in this case," the company said in a statement.

Explore further Software company founder McAfee charged with tax evasion

2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce held its first Minority Small Business Forum on Thursday night to provide information for owners to help them start, grow and protect their businesses.

Over 130 people gathered at the Newman-Adam Unit of the Boys & Girls Club of Brazos Valley. Guests were able to visit 25 educational booths and hear from a panel of expert speakers regarding small business administration, human resources and hiring, marketing and advertising, business law, and banking and finance.

Rose Thompson of Bryan owns Roses Jewelry Box, and she said as a new small business owner, she was trying to absorb as much information possible to take home and apply to her small business.

I am loving this event. The atmosphere is very nice and the information is here for me. I just came to get the knowledge and information and that is great, she said after visiting a few informational booths. I am going to go home and combine it all together and just figure out what my business really needs.

Chamber President Glen Brewer said this event was made possible through their Community Outreach Committee which they started three years ago.

Because we are the Chamber of Commerce for all businesses, we did not want to grow and leave anyone behind, Brewer said. Our Community Outreach Committee was put together to make sure that all businesses are welcome in the Chamber and have access to all of the abundant information that the Chamber has for them and dont feel excluded. We started talking about the needs for small businesses and especially minority and historically underutilized certifiable businesses, to have access to what the Chamber does. If people dont feel comfortable coming into [our office], we thought lets bring the environment to the community.

Brewer said the forums goal is to give everyone the best information possible about how to grow and maintain their business and make connections in the community.

Attendee Lisa McKenzie of College Station, president and founder of Nonprofit Arise, a racial reconciliation ministry, said she came to the forum to learn more strategies about how to operate with a business mindset.

I want learn how to market, advertise and how to bring in other team members; and it is on my heart to start a business as well. I want to learn the tools that I need to start a business, she said. Sometimes you have a desire in your heart to start up a business and you dont know where to start. I think the fear of not knowing where to start can hinder you forward, and sometimes you just need the necessary tools. This is an awesome forum so we can be informed on how to start, what are the steps, what are the tools that we need to start a successful business  I am excited about learning.

Katherine Moore of Frost Bank was one of the five panelists who discussed things people should know before opening a business bank account. Amelia McCracken of Ment Marketing & Creative Services was another panelist who discussed ways to market a business and create a brand.

Jason Cornelius, the Chambers chair elect and Community Outreach Committee chairman, said they wanted to create a group that focused on being the open door to minority and historically underutilized businesses.

At the booths we have banks here for financing, we have insurance groups for people to look at both for their business and for their employees, we have people here to help with staffing and HR purposes, Cornelius said. We have lawyers and bookkeepers and marketing firms, so we tried to get a wide variety of things that small businesses might need.

Cornelius said their organization determined the minority business owner base by catering to historically underutilized business run by African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, businesses owned by women and businesses owned by disabled veterans.

Donna Druery of Bryan, owner of Druerys Flat Fixing & Road Service, said she has been a business owner for 30 years and wanted to keep up with current business information.

I am always looking to find more information, to see what has changed, what is new out there, those kinds of things; the latest information is what I am seeking, she said. I cant wait to come back to attend the next event so I can find the newest information.

The next Business After Hours Chamber event is Aug. 18 at Bryan-College Station Toyota.

For more information, visit bcschamber.org or email carrie@bcschamber.org or jason.cornelius@frostbank.com.
One hundred years ago, on Aug. 15, 1922, the Rev. Guillermo Ibarra developed Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana de Bryan, or First Mexican Baptist Church of Bryan.

Leaders in the church have placed pictures of the founding congregation and other members from throughout the years on the walls of the church to commemorate the milestone anniversary.

For us, its very personal because were the fourth generation in the church, Betty Martinez said. When the church was established, her and her siblings great-grandfather was named the first treasurer and deacon of the church. Their grandfather and father also served as treasurers of the church. Her brother, Rev. Moses Herrera, served as pastor of the church for 10 years, from 1989 to 1999 and was part of the 70th and 75th anniversary celebrations. So thats why I say its very, very personal for us.

Martinez said several people who were members of the church but have moved away over the years, are returning to Bryan to celebrate the churchs 100th year.

I have really thoroughly enjoyed everybody. Its a big family, said 90-year-old Maria Medina Yandell, who officially became a member in 2005 and whose brother was a deacon at the church. Its just a small congregation, but we are united.

The celebration will happen throughout the weekend. On Saturday, a Hallelujah concert will be held at 4 p.m., followed by a light supper at 5 and a concert of singing and testimonies at 6. On Sunday, the service will begin at about 10:45 a.m.

We can say, up to this 100 years, God has helped us, and he will continue to help us, Martinez, 75, said. We just need to go on. Theres not a stopping point.

She said Bryan was a stopping place for Ibarra, the establishing pastor of the church, who was born in Matamoros, Mexico, in 1876; however, there is not a stopping point for the church.

In a historical document used to get a historical marker, Martinez wrote that Ibarra came to Texas in 1890 at the age of 14 before moving to Bryan with his family in 1911. He joined First Baptist Church a few years later and realized his family was the only one with a Spanish last name.

First Baptist Church was pivotal, she said, at helping Ibarra create a church specifically to serve the Mexican Baptist population in Bryan, writing in the document used to obtain the historical marker that it was the first Spanish-speaking church in the community.

The church opened with a congregation of about 50 people, meeting in a white rent house on Parker Street, Martinez said. In 1954, she said, the church moved from the Parker Street house to its current location on the corner of N. Sims Avenue and W. 16th Street in Bryan.

Martinez said she remembers the January day when the congregation broke ground on the current church site.

All the little ones, we were over there because it was so cold, but my daddy was one of the trustees, so he was the one who was digging the holes, so we saw him doing that digging, she said. I remember all that. Good memories.

She wrote in the historical marker submission that she was 7 years old at the time, and likely did not know the significance of the day, but knew their church had a new location.

This year, Martinez said, the church has between 25 and 35 people on any given Sunday. The church also has welcomed members of a local Methodist Church after their building was damaged during the 2021 winter ice storm.

Martinez and her sister, 73-year-old Polly Spencer, have been going to the church all their lives, along with their eight siblings, and Spencer said she remembers walking to the church from their house. They walked both when it was on Parker Street and also after it moved to its current location, laughing as she remembered the time they left their youngest brother at the church after he had fallen asleep in a pew.

Martinez said members of the church have gone on to achieve post-secondary degrees and enter careers in education, the medical field, business and the church. Others went on to join the military and work in state and federal government departments.

I always told my students, be productive people, she said.

The church has bilingual services, and Martinez and Spencer said the church is where they learned Spanish, becoming bilingual themselves. When they were in school, they said, the youth at the church attended Bowie Elementary School or Ibarra Elementary School, which opened in 1935 and has since been replaced by Ibarra Park; however, students were not allowed to speak Spanish at school.

Yandell, 90, said some of her children still do not speak Spanish because they could not speak it at school.

The congregation continues to host bilingual services, Vacation Bible School and Sunday School and a Christmas Eve drama. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the church to hit pause on a few of their usual offerings, but they hope to bring them back this year and next.

The main thing is we are together; we are happy, Martinez said. We do what we service. We worship the Lord. We contribute. Three times a year we have what we call Week of Prayers  state, the U.S. and foreign missions, and we contribute to those.

Rev. Julian Silva has served as pastor of the church since 2001 and described it as an oasis for Christians in the Bryan community.

Primera Iglesia Bautista was the first Hispanic church in this area and continues to serve the Hispanic community in Bryan/College Station, and now has become a bilingual ministry to every race, he wrote for the historical marker documentation. Primera continues to move on to greater things that the Lord has designed for her.

Martinez said she expects the church to receive a historical marker in the next year, and she hopes the congregation grows, but emphasized the desire to maintain quality congregants over a specific number.

I really want the church to continue, if its the Lords will, Spencer said. We want it to continue to 150. We wont see it, but we would hope there are children and kids that have learned already to be able to continue.
 Flash

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Thursday denounced a Lithuanian official's visit to China's Taiwan region, warning that China will take resolute countermeasures.



According to media reports, Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute arrived in Taiwan with a delegation on Aug. 7 for a five-day visit.

"China strongly condemns the Lithuanian anti-China forces for their deliberate violation of China's sovereignty and gross interference in China's internal affairs," Wang told a daily news briefing.

Wang said the one-China principle is one of the basic norms of international relations and the political foundation for China to develop bilateral relations with other countries, including Lithuania.

The communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Lithuania states clearly that the government of the Republic of Lithuania recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and that the government of the Republic of Lithuania undertakes the obligation not to establish official relations or engage in official contacts with Taiwan, according to the spokesperson.

"However, the Lithuanian side repeatedly breaks its promises, which is a blatant breach of faith," said Wang, adding that China will firmly retaliate against the vicious provocation by the Lithuanian side, as it harms the one-China principle and undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We urge the relevant people on the Lithuanian side not to continue serving as pawns of 'Taiwan independence' and anti-China forces, still less head further down the wrong path," Wang said.
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Several weeks of dry weather have allowed drought conditions to expand in Nebraska, with the worst conditions in the southwest part of the state.

According to the latest weekly Drought Monitor released Thursday by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 50% of the state is in severe drought or worse, more than 80% of the state is in at least a moderate drought and 95% is considered abnormally dry.

Hall County is in a moderate drought, according to the monitor. In the surrounding area, the majority of Buffalo County is in a moderate drought, while Howard and Adams counties are both a mix of moderate and severe drought. Hamilton is a mix of moderate drought and abnormally dry, while Merrick County is mostly in a severe drought. Sherman County is in a moderate drought.

Nebraska State Climatologist Martha Shulski said parts of eastern Nebraska have precipitation deficits of 8-10 inches just since October.

But the situation is a far cry from the southwest corner of the state, where exceptional drought now covers a significant area.

Virtually all of Perkins County is in exceptional drought, which also covers large portions of Hayes, Hitchcock and Keith counties.

Its the first time since 2013 that exceptional drought has been present anywhere in Nebraska, and only the third time since 2000 it has appeared in the southwest part of the state.

Al Dutcher, Nebraskas associate state climatologist, said the move from extreme drought to exceptional drought in southwest Nebraska is not as noteworthy as it seems.

Its really a matter of semantics, Dutcher said, noting that when areas have been in severe and extreme drought as long as southwest Nebraska has, the damage has already been done.

More than 18% of the state is now in extreme drought, a nearly 50% increase from just a week ago. Outside of southwest Nebraska, the area most affected by drought is northeast Nebraska, where a half dozen counties are completely covered by extreme drought.

The National Weather Services Omaha office said in a tweet that the region it covers would need 150%-175% of its normal rainfall over the next six months to alleviate drought conditions.

Unfortunately, the long-range forecast calls for a better-than-average chance of below-normal precipitation and above-average temperatures.

Our weather outlook going into fall doesnt provide much hope, Shulski said. A continuation of overall warmer- and drier-than-normal conditions have the highest probability of occurrence. Southwest monsoonal moisture may make it into western Nebraska in the near term. But widespread drought alleviation is not likely in Nebraska anytime soon

The continued drought conditions are starting to have an effect on crop potential.

DTN, a company that provides real-time weather, agricultural, energy and commodity market information, said Thursday that its annual crop tour conducted this week shows that corn and soybean yields in Nebraska are likely to be much lower than earlier estimates.

DTN is estimating average corn yields of 158 bushels per acre this year, considerably lower than the U.S. Department of Agricultures five-year average for Nebraska of nearly 186 bushels per acre. The estimate for soybeans is 52.5 bushels per acre, compared with a five-year average of 59 bushels.

In Nebraska, conditions have been poor going back to last fall when drought started to creep into the state, DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said in a story posted on the companys website. With winter and spring being abnormally dry, drought has been the major player in the states crop production this year.

Baranick also cited heat and severe weather as factors in the lower crop yields.

In addition to lowered crop yields, Shulski said shes heard reports of complete crop losses due to drought, as well as pastures drying up, stock ponds and lakes going dry, reduced hay yields, destocking of pastures, and early weaning and selling cows. Some municipalities also have water restrictions in place, she said.

Much of the state has been baking over the past couple of weeks. Temperatures in the Grand Island area are forecast to remain in the 90s through at least Sunday.

The prolonged lack of rain has led the Platte River to all but dry up in areas around Columbus, and 70% of the states topsoil moisture is now considered short or very short.

While conditions may remind people of the states last major drought a decade ago, Dutcher said things arent nearly that bad.

This in no way compares to 2012, he said. Its nowhere close to that magnitude.

The good news is that cooler weather is on the way. Temperatures in Lincoln are forecast to drop into the low 80s starting Tuesday, and there will be some more significant chances of rain.
CARBONDALE  Starbucks baristas and members of the Carbondale community gathered at Starbucks Thursday afternoon to watch the votes for the employees to join a union be counted by the National Labor Relations Board.

Several baristas had laptops and gathered near the counter to watch the vote. That group included union organizers Ken LeBlanc, Megan Brown and Cierra Goolsby. They were joined by another five or six employees of the store, as well as those working Thursday afternoon.

Cecilia Solis brought her lizard Dez to watch the vote. The lizard is called the groups unofficial mascot.

The vote was taken by mail. Each ballot was in two envelopes. The first included the employees names. Inside that envelope was a second envelope that was marked without names or addresses. The second envelope included the ballot.

The process of vote counting began at 2 p.m. First, the company had the opportunity to challenge the ballots and employees who voted.

Once that process was completed, the votes were tallied. A total of 14 employees sent ballots. Eight yes votes would be required to win the election. The final tally was 11 yes, two no and one ballot challenged.

Because the challenged ballot could not change the outcome, the union vote carried and employees in the Carbondale store will be represented by Starbucks Workers United.

Many of those inside Starbucks clapped and cheered when the vote count was finished.

I dont think this could have happened without community support, LeBlanc said.

Some of those who joined the employees to watch votes be counted online included Adam and Tish Turl, who own Born Again Labor Museum, and Victor Ludwig of Democratic Socialists of America.

Brown added that Adam and Tish Turl offered them use of the Born Again Labor Museum for meetings. The DSA also helped by circulating their petitions.

DSA supports us nationally, Brown said.

Ludwig said he wanted to show his solidarity with the union employees.

I wanted to help support the employees and make sure they were not facing an onslaught of attacks, Ludwig said.

He added that the Socialists support workers and unions.

I grew up in a union home and saw the results of anti-union acts and the union leaving. It showed me how important it is to stand together, Tish Turl said.

For the last 40 to 45 years, working people have gotten the short end of the stick, Adam Turl said. Were not just standing up for ourselves, but for all.

The new union members held events at Starbucks, such as sip-ins and sit-ins, to create awareness about their union efforts.

Their next step will be to negotiate their first contract.
A trio of new students in the Southern Illinois University School of Law recently completed a three-day, statewide program designed to give them an early boost not only in law school, but in their legal careers.

Through Jumpstart, SIU Law students Amber Alexander, Kathryn Pettersen and Paige Wriston joined peers from Illinois eight other law schools for an orientation of sorts to their chosen career fields. Established by former Northern District of Illinois Judge Ann Claire Williams, Jumpstart is designed to help students develop academic and interpersonal skills needed to navigate law school and become successful in legal professions.

The program began nearly two decades ago and is a joint project of the nine Illinois law schools and the Illinois State Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism with a specific focus to help promote diversity in the legal profession. Williams continues to direct Jumpstart, which includes sessions on the academic side of law school, presentations from lawyers, judges and law clerks and networking opportunities.

Jumpstart is just what it sounds like, explained SIU Law School Dean Camille Davidson. Its a pre-matriculation program for students and it gives them time to come and hear from various practitioners and judges. It really gives students a chance to level the playing field and will introduce them to what they will be studying as well as give them soft skills as well, things like communications, networking and what to expect in law school.

Davidson said Jumpstart also allows students a chance to get to know some of their peers from the other schools as well as their own classmates.

It is really important to give them a chance to talk with one another about the challenges that they might face in law school, she said. It will help them learn what can make them successful in law school and to find the resources and support that will be available.

Stephanie Villinski, deputy director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, who coordinates the program, said the program is designed for those who may be new to legal work.

The focus is on first-year law students who are from communities that are not as well represented in law schools and the real goal is to give them insight into what is this thing called law school and what are these weird terms and acronyms all about and how can they really focus on what is important, Villinski said. It really covers everything from how to write like a lawyer to opportunities post-law school and having a growth mindset.

She said this was the first time students from SIU participated in Jumpstart and 93 students in all took part. Students must apply and be selected to be part of the annual Jumpstart cohort.

Amber Alexander of Carbondale, who will begin as a first-year law student at SIU this fall, said the program gave her an important perspective on law school.

I think they presented a really realistic view of what to expect going into the first year. It was inspiring and empowering for me, she said.

Fellow first-year SIU law student Paige Wriston of New Athens said Jumpstart has prepared her for the beginning of the term.

Wriston said, When I saw the opportunity to kind of get a head start and understanding of what it is going to take to be a successful student and then later in life, be a successful lawyer, it was really important that I take part and get the tools and resources that I need.

She added participation has better prepared her.

Now I can go in and be more confident, she said.
With students returning to campuses in just a couple of weeks, universities and colleges across the state are beginning to pull from COVID-19 response plans to prepare for the spreading monkeypox virus, which could pose a unique risk to students because they live in close quarters and often have heightened sexual contact, experts say.

We have to be concerned about monkeypox on college campuses, said Dr. Emily Landon, University of Chicago Medicines executive director for infection prevention and control. Monkeypox spreads through close, physical contact, and theres a lot of social and sexual networks in colleges.

A large majority of the 556 total monkeypox cases Chicago reported Monday have been identified in men who have sex with men, Chicago Department of Public Health data shows.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Monday reported 672 cases across the state.

Monkeypox has spread aggressively among men who have sex with men in part because they are often connected to tight sexual networks, but theres no biological reason why gay and bisexual men have been hit hardest and nothing to stop the disease from spreading more aggressively within other populations, Landon said.

Well-known bugs like meningitis and mononucleosis already spread on campuses through close contact. The monkeypox virus wont discriminate when students start touching.

Any close contact, skin-to-skin, prolonged contact, even things like making out with people can lead to monkeypox transmission, she said.

While the city and states public health departments do not have monkeypox guidance of colleges and universities publicly available, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does have information for congregate living settings, such as college dorms.

CDPH officials did not respond Monday when asked via email if the department was working on such guidance or had seen monkeypox cases among students.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale officials say there are no reported cases of monkeypox on campus, yet, with students returning to SIU in the coming weeks, they are keeping a close watch on things.

"We are advising our students that the best way to protect themselves is through education," SIU spokesman Jim Potter said.

Potter added that the SIU Student Health Center will offer educational program to students and is prepared to evaluate students who suspect they may have monkeypox.

"As we do with all public health concerns, we continue to work closely with the Jackson County Health Department on how to respond to monkeypox, and we rely on guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control," Potter said.

The University of Illinois has been meeting weekly with local health authorities and providers to monitor the viruss spread throughout Champaign County, spokesperson Chantelle Thompson said. The states flagship university is working with campus groups, local bars and fraternities to get monkeypox messaging out, she said.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign wants to ensure we are keeping those currently most at risk for monkeypox (MPV) informed, without stigmatizing them or letting others become complacent, spokesperson Chantelle Thompson said.

No cases have been confirmed yet, and isolation for monkeypox-positive students and close contacts will be assessed as cases arise, Thompson said.

Plans are in place to scale (an) MPV response should it become necessary, she added.

Western Illinois University medical officers are working with local health officials to develop protocols based on state guidelines, spokesperson Darcie Shinberger said. The university will lean on COVID-19 protocols to prepare for a potential outbreak, she added.

Columbia College will use coronavirus guidelines to respond to monkeypox, spokesperson Lambrini Lukidis told the Tribune.

There are no plans to test for monkeypox or provide the difficult to acquire monkeypox vaccines on campus yet, but the college is already sharing information with all students on identifying and stopping the spread of the virus, Lukidis said.

Columbia hasnt yet confirmed any cases, she added.

For now, I think on monkeypox, we would be taking the lead from local health authorities in terms of what to do and where somebody would isolate, Lukidis said.

Illinois State University has relied on the state health departments public information, spokesperson Eric Jome said.

It is encouraging to see that theres mobilization at the state level and at the federal level. As these things progress, more resources are going to become available, and we would obviously be working with our local health departments if the case arose, he said.

When the semester starts in a couple of weeks, there will be a lot more students on campus, Jome said. The university will work to get information out as students get back to class.

Were watching this. If theres anything COVID has taught us, its just to be flexible and that things may change, he said.

Landon said colleges need to make sure that they have systems in place to share information about the virus, and they also need to think about how to make monkeypox testing and care for positive students accessible given the stigma and weekslong quarantines associated with the disease.

Howard Brown Health Center clinicians have already detected monkeypox among university students in Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Herald reported.

If colleges dont make it easy for students to get treatment for monkeypox, they may not go and get it, Landon said. While plans need to be ready and information shared with students, universities and students shouldnt freak out about the disease, she added.

Public points of contact, like sharing toilets, do not seem to be leading to monkeypox spread, Landon said. Across Illinois and Chicago, housemates who dont have sexual contact do not seem to be passing on the virus to one another, meaning dorm rooms shouldnt currently pose a major risk, she added.

Landon offered advice for students: With fist-bumps and careful sex practices, be really careful about who you share your skin with.

Les O'Dell of The Southern contributed to this story.
A 27-year-old man died in an officer-involved shooting incident in Eutawville late Thursday night, according to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division.

The incident occurred after a Eutawville Police Department officer received a call for service.

An armed man, Tyler Mendez, and the officer exchanged gunfire, SLED said. Mendez died at the scene.

No law enforcement officers were injured.

SLED is investigating the incident. The name of the officer involved has not been released.

Eutawville Mayor Brandon Weatherford could not be reached for comment.

Attorney Michael Laubshire, who is representing Eutawville Police Chief Sean Hopkins, said We are fully cooperating with SLEDs investigation.

SLED said no other information will be released in the ongoing investigation.

The Orangeburg County incident is the 23rd officer-involved shooting in South Carolina in 2022.

This is the first officer-involved shooting in the town since then-Eutawville Police Chief Richard Rick Combs shot and killed Bernard Bailey on May 2, 2011.

After more than four years and two mistrials, Combs pleaded guilty to misconduct in office in Baileys death. Combs was sentenced to 10 years, suspended to one year of house arrest with electronic monitoring and five years of probation.
 Flash

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev paid a visit to Donbass on Thursday to explore measures to ensure the region's security and normalize life there.

Medvedev wrote on Telegram that he met with the heads of Donbass and on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting on priority measures to ensure the security of Donbass.

At the meeting, leaders of Russia's major law enforcement departments, the first deputy head of the presidential administration, and the construction minister, also considered issues of promoting economic and social development of Donbass.

Medvedev said that the participants paid particular attention to the harmonization of Donbass' laws with Russian legislation, the restoration of infrastructure, the repair of hospitals, the preparation for the new school year, the solution to social problems, and the support of residents.
The Orangeburg County School District will offer $5,000 additional sign-on bonuses to full-time certified teachers new to the district for the 2022-2023 school year.

The teachers will need to be hired before Sept. 15 to receive the sign-on bonus.

The bonuses will be for teachers that are teaching critical need subject areas, District Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Ernest Holiday told school trustees on Tuesday.

I wish we had known this earlier because I think we could have filled a lot of our vacancies, Holiday said. With the state of South Carolina, they are all identified as critical needs, but the grant will determine which ones they identify as critical need. This is exciting.

The bonuses will be funded through a three-year Leveraging Innovation for Educator Excellence grant. The grant offered in partnership with Voorhees University and the Call Me Mister program at Claflin University.

The sign-on bonuses are not for part-time teachers or substitutes, as specified by the grant, Holiday said.

Holiday said the district is also looking for additional opportunities through the grant to assist with retaining teachers that remain with the district year after year. He said the incentive will be announced in the future.

Retention is the new recruitment, Holiday said. It is hard to find new teachers, so we are trying to keep the ones we have.

The $5,000 sign-on bonuses come on top of the $3,000 sign-on bonuses approved by the board earlier this year for new teachers.

A nationwide teacher shortage has created a high demand for certified staff, the district has said.

The district believes sign-on bonuses will help OCSD remain competitive with other school systems vying to hire teachers ahead of the 2022-2023 school year.

The three-year grant is also available to the Calhoun County Public Schools District.

In other business:

 The district will continue to encourage all employees and students to wear masks while on the school and campus. The district will continue to exercise health and safety cleaning protocols.

COVID is not gone, Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster said.

 Trustees went into closed session to discuss a contractual matter. The nature of the contractual matter was not publicly disclosed. Trustees also discussed personnel matters.

 The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at district headquarters at 102 Founders Court in Orangeburg.

During the meeting, trustees briefly discussed the need to officially pass a policy re-opening the school board meetings to allow the public to attend in-person.

While some people attended in-person Tuesday, trustee Mary Ulmer said the board has not officially reopened the meetings to in-person public attendance. Ulmer said a policy was passed during the height of COVID eliminating in-person public attendance.

The matter will be taken up at a future meeting. The meetings continue to be live-streamed on the district's website at www.ocsdsc.org
(TBTCO) - Ngoai 15 ho so co gia tri chuyen nhuong chenh lech tu 5 ty ong tro len xay ra tai quan Ninh Kieu a uoc Cuc thue TP. Can Tho chuyen sang cong an e ieu tra, trong danh sach 108 truong hop co gia chuyen nhuong duoi khung lai xuat hien nhung cai ten ca nhan ung ra giao dich trung hop en ky la.
The Luxembourgish government spent the most per person of any EU government on research and development in 2021, according to figures from Eurostat.

The latest figures show that the government allocated 689 per person on R&D activities in 2021. This is far above the EU average of 244 per person.

Second-placed Denmark spent 530 per person, while Germany spent 471.

On this per-capita measure, Luxembourg spent a staggering 36 times more on research and development than lowest-placed Romania, whose government allocated just 19 per person in 2021.

Overall, over the last decade government funding for R&D has increased by 6% compared to 2020, and 35% compared to a decade ago. The biggest risers in percentage terms are Latvia, Greece and Hungary. While Spain actually spent slightly less per person in 2021 than in 2011.

R&D spending covers areas such as scientific research and investment in developing technologies.

Examples of innovation in Luxembourg include the airless wheels being developed in Colmar-Berg, and the Grand Duchy's burgeoning "Space Silicon Valley", with a new Space Campus set to open in Kockelscheuer and Belval.
The Victor Hugo vaccination centre in Limpertsberg will close its doors at 1pm on Saturday and remain shut for at least one month.

In the last couple of weeks, mainly vulnerable people and those above the age of 60 opted to get a second booster jab of a Covid-19 vaccine. First booster shots and initial vaccinations were rarely administered.

Ever since invitations for the second booster were sent out in mid July, the number of people getting vaccinated has declined by half with each week, explained Luc Feller, the High Commissioner for National Protection.

Another reason for the closure of the Victor Hugo vaccination centre is that the municipality of Luxembourg City will need the location during the Schueberfouer.

Feller noted: "We will try to rely on other vaccination capacities, including the more than 300 doctors that have signed the specification sheet, the pharmacists, the vaccine buses that we will reinforce, as well as the mobile teams that go to senior homes. I also expect that depending on the further unfolding of the situation, we will reopen the Victor Hugo centre and others in September."

Feller conveyed that it is not yet clear whether more people will be invited for booster jabs due to the uncertainty of the situation: "What will the variants in autumn look like, will we have another 'manageable' Omicron variant or one that is more infectious or pathogenic?"

A similar situation applies to the newly developed vaccines for the Omicron variant, said Feller: "The question of when we will get new vaccines is not unimportant. New deliveries are scheduled to arrive in autumn, but the necessary authorisations have yet to be given."

Luxembourg expects about 500,000 doses of the new vaccine manufactured by Moderna and 260,000 doses of the new type from Pfizer/BioNTech.

No need to wait for new vaccines, urges Dr Jean-Claude Schmit

According to Dr Jean-Claude Schmit, people eligible for a booster should not wait for the new vaccines, but rather get inoculated with the existing ones due to the persisting threat.

"The vaccines that we have work very well, not against infection, but against complications", explained the director of the Health Directorate. "This has clearly been proven and people should therefore protect themselves. It is still possible to get vaccinated at a later stage with one of the newer types."

The certificate of the first booster jab has no expiration date in the EU. However, health authorities expect that another booster will become necessary after one year.

In the last couple of months, the virus has weakened and it is possible that it continues moving in that direction. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that a more aggressive variant may not yet change the course of the pandemic one more time.
With electricity prices expected to go up by more than a third this autumn, we take a look at the sources of Luxembourg's electricity.

Gas prices up by 80% this autumn, and electricity prices up by 35%: it looks set to be a tough winter for household bills in the Grand Duchy.

The energy companies say that electricity prices are going up as a knock-on effect of the increase in the cost of gas, as some electricity is produced with the help of gas.

But where does Luxembourg's electricity actually come from? This article draws a distinction between, firstly, the electricity produced in Luxembourg, and, secondly, what is consumed in Luxembourg. The latter includes energy imported from other countries such as Germany and Belgium.

Production

These figures relate to electricity produced in Luxembourg.

Gas generates 14% of the electricity produced in Luxembourg.

This is more than France (6%), but lower than neighbouring Germany (16%) and Belgium (22%). The EU's top consumer of gas for electricity is Italy, where more than half of electricity production relies on the fuel.

Oil makes up another 6% of electricity generation, meaning 20% of the electricy produced in Luxembourg comes from fossil fuels.

Again, this compares favourably to neighbouring Germany, where 46% of electricy comes from fossil fuels (predominantly coal). It is also slightly less than Belgium (25% from fossil fuels), but more than mainly nuclear-powered France, where just 9% of electricity is generated from fossil fuels.

80% of Luxembourg's electricity generation is from renewable sources.

26% of the total comes from wind, 17% from solar, 8% from hydropower, and 29% from 'other renewables' such as bioenergy (plant matter or animal waste).

In contrast, the main source of electricity production in France is nuclear power, accounting for 69% of the total. Nuclear also dominates in Belgium, generating 52% of the country's electricity.

In Germany, the sources are much more mixed. Coal makes up 29% of the total, but wind is catching up fast at 21%. Nuclear, which was due to be decommissioned but may now last longer than originally planned, accounts for 12%.

All data relate to 2021 figures from Our World in Data. You can explore the source data using the interactive chart above.

Consumption

These figures relate to the electricity consumed in Luxembourg.

While Luxembourg produces electricity from a mix of renewable and fossil fuel sources, it actually imports the majority of its electricity. While Luxembourg can directly control the energy mix of electricity produced within its territory, it has little influence over the energy mix from abroad.

81.5% of Luxembourg's electricity comes from abroad.

The main country it imports from is Germany (58%). Given the coal-heavy mix in Germany, it's not surprising that Luxembourg's consumption mix includes some energy produced from coal.

The remaining 42% of imported energy comes from France and Belgium: about an even split between them. This means that Luxembourg's electricity mix does include some energy generated by nuclear power in these countries.

The following chart shows the energy mix including electricity imported from abroad:

 Courtesy of Thomas Gibon

As you can see, once the net imports are factored in, the picture changes somewhat.

In total, 46% of the electricity consumed in Luxembourg comes from renewable sources.

About a further third comes from low-carbon nuclear power, mainly from France and Belgium. While a small amount comes from gas-powered sources in Belgium and Germany.

All data relate to 2021 figures from the Institut Luxembourgeois de Regulation.

This article has been revised to clarify the distinction between the production of Luxembourg's electricity and its consumption.
As of 10 August, there have been 41 confirmed cases of monkeypox recorded in Luxembourg - an increase of 10 in the past week.

According to the Ministry of Health, none of the patients have required hospitalisation thus far.

To date, the cases in Luxembourg are solely made up of men, with an average age of 39.

Across 41 countries in Europe, there have been 17,897 cases of monkeypox to date, 1,971 of which were identified over the past week. 40% of cases were people aged between 31 and 40, while 99% of cases are male. 455 people have been hospitalised to date, while two people have died as a result of the illness.

The Ministry of Health reiterated a series of safety measures to protect against the virus, including washing hands regularly, avoiding sharing bed sheets or towels with the sick, and using protection during sexual intercourse.
A massive thunderstorm dumped torrents of rain over Casper on Thursday night, causing area roads to flood. And now more flooding could be on the way.

Sections of Poplar Street near Interstate 25 were swamped with water at about 11 p.m. Water streamed down English Avenue and spurted up out of the road near a fast food restaurant.

Cars passed slowly through what appeared to be several inches of water as lightning lit up the sky for more than an hour.

A Star-Tribune editor saw police cars blocking eastbound traffic at First Street and Poplar. Several emergency vehicles were also situated at Poplar Street and the Interstate 25 overpass.

Other minor flooding was seen on parts of 12th Street.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Natrona County and much of western Wyoming. That watch was in effect Friday morning and set to last through Sunday evening. Localized flooding was expected, with heavy downpours leading to floods in low-lying areas, the weather service said.

Rainfall totals of 1 to 1.5 inches are possible, especially in the higher elevations such as the Bighorn Mountains. Flooding was most likely in a swath of western Wyoming that includes Jackson, Kemmerer and Dubois and a stretch in northern Wyoming that includes Greybull, Worland, Buffalo and Kaycee.

Flooding is not expected in major rivers in the area, but flash floods are possible in small streams and creaks, along with areas of poor drainage, the weather service said.
Attorneys for the state say Wyomings constitution does not protect abortion, and that the states history favors heavy restrictions and criminalization of the procedure.
STURGIS  Visitors to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally have always been coming in shifts, with one wave of riders and tourists coming for the opening weekend, then giving way midweek to a second shift in the lead-up to the climactic closing weekend.

In the past decade another influx, a pre-rally crowd, has seen bikers rumble into town a week or more before the official start of the rally, allowing them to enjoy favorite rides through the Black Hills and other amenities before the crowds hit.

In the last 10 years weve seen more and more of an influx before the rally, and this year was the strongest weve ever seen, Sturgis City Manager Daniel Ainslie said Thursday.

Public Works Director Rick Bush said the third-shift change, if you will, was well underway Wednesday and Thursday.

Were seeing quite a few campers being pulled out and the same coming in, Bush said.

Ainslie reminded local residents to cut the latest infusion of visitors a little slack going into the final days of the rally.

Residents by now are starting to get a little tired of the excitement and maybe theyre not quite as patient, Ainslie said.

Both Ainslie and Bush said Wednesday was one of the busiest traffic days of the rally, with long lines of motorcycles and vehicles on major city streets.

However, according to the South Dakota Department of Transportation traffic counts, Day 6 showed a 1.9% decrease in vehicles entering Sturgis (54,599) compared to the previous five-year average.

For the rally so far, the SDDOT counts show a total of 354,985 vehicles have entered Sturgis, well-ahead of the previous five-year average of 340,447.

Police Chief Geody VanDewater said the rally continues to run smoothly for his officers in spite of record-high temperatures in excess of 100 degrees.

He said officers were keeping hydrated and trying to stay in the shade as best they could in the heat. They were expecting more incidents of heat exhaustion and heat stroke among rallygoers.

VanDewater said the number of calls for service and arrest trends remain steady, but one infraction saw a jump on Wednesday, with six arrests for underage consumption of alcohol, compared to only three such arrests in the prior five days of the rally.

VanDewater said he has seen reports of juveniles both bringing alcohol into town and consuming in bars.

We try to encourage them to ID everybody, but at the end of the day, you can only ask so much. The bars have to take ownership. Thats their responsibility to maintain their liquor license, he said.

Police made seven arrests for misdemeanor possession of drugs or paraphernalia on Wednesday and early Thursday, bringing the total so far this year to 47, more than double the arrests (19) made through the same period in 2021. Two were arrested on felony drug charges, making 13 total through Day 6, and three short of the 16 arrests in 2021.

Eight DUI arrests bring the rally total to 44, compared with 40 arrests for the same period in 2021.

Illegal parking issues, particularly in downtown Sturgis, have eased somewhat since a rash of violations early in the week kept police and towing operators busy.

Five additional violations pushed the total so far to 107, just ahead of 101 last year.

Total calls for service (1,050) still lag well behind the 1,387 reported last year at this time.

The Meade County Sheriffs Offices total calls-for-service numbers also lag behind those of last year, 525 to 569 in 2021.

Traffic stops are up with 221 so far, compared to 194 last year, with the number of tickets written nearly identical 104-102.

Arrests for DUI are exactly equal from year to year, 28 each, with 15 misdemeanor drug offenses this year slightly outnumbering last years tally at this point, 15-12. Felony drug arrests this year (6) are well below the 14 recorded in 2021.

Deputies have responded to 24 traffic wrecks in the county thus far, 18 with injuries.

Last year at this time there had been 16 crash, with nine injuries.
 Flash

Over 10,000 residents have been forced to evacuate and 6,800 hectares of land have burned in wildfires raging for a third day in France's southwestern department of Gironde. Some 1,100 firefighters, backed by the aerial brigade, continued battling the fire on Thursday.

"The fire brigades of Gironde and Landes, supported by reinforcements, have been intervening since Tuesday afternoon in a fire which started in Saint-Magne and which has, at this time, burnt more than 6,800 hectares of forest," said the prefecture of the department of Gironde in a statement on Thursday morning.

"Significant human and material means have been deployed to control the fire. In total, nearly 1,100 firemen are involved. Additional reinforcements are expected, the prefecture added.

"The conditions are particularly difficult: the vegetation and the soil are particularly dry after more than a month without rain. The scorching temperatures (40 degrees celsius today) are expected to continue until Saturday and are combined with very dry air to create conditions of very severe risk of fire outbreak."

Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin visited the city of Hostens in Gironde to show their support for firefighters.

"The resumption of fires in Gironde is a shock. In Hostens, I came to express my full support for the fire brigade and all the forces mobilized," said Borne on Twitter.

In July, Gironde was hit by two wildfires that destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of forest and led to the evacuation of almost 40,000 people.

The latest wildfires spread to the neighboring department of Landes on Tuesday during the night, and several roads including highways remained closed on Thursday.

In the southeastern department of Drome, wildfires that broke out last Friday in the mountains of Diois were still not under control. On Thursday, firefighters in the department called for volunteers and donations on Twitter, explaining that ''the firefighters are exhausted and the logistics team needs support.''

In the northwestern department of Maine-et-Loire, wildfires that have burnt 1,500 hectares of land since Monday were reported as stable by firefighters.

In the eastern department of Jura, the wildfires that broke out on Tuesday are still raging, after having burnt over 330 hectares of land. Over 80 firefighters were mobilized on Thursday to bring the fire under control, local authorities said.

"Across the territory, more than 10,000 firefighters and civil security personnel are mobilized against the flames," tweeted French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

"Germany, Greece, Poland, and in the next few hours Romania and Austria: our partners are coming to the aid of France in the face of the fires," he added.












MOOSE  Grand Teton National Park Rangers conducted three major search and rescue operations within 24 hours this week as backcountry activity reaches its high point in the Tetons.

On Monday, Aug. 8, at about 1:30 p.m., Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received a report of a disoriented 21-year-old female at Surprise Lake. Park rangers flew via helicopter to a landing zone near the lake where they prepared the woman for transport via short-haul out of the backcountry to Lupine Meadows. From there she was transported via ambulance to St. Johns Health.

Short-haul is a rescue technique where an individual or individuals, often with gear, are suspended below the helicopter on a 150 to 250 foot rope. This method allows a rescuer more direct access to an injured party, and it is often used in the Teton Range where steep, rocky terrain makes it difficult to land a helicopter.

The helicopter pilot barely had time to refuel before a call came in at about 3:30 p.m. the same day regarding the injury of a 22-year-old female. She suffered back injuries after jumping into Phelps Lake from a rock feature known as Jump Rock. The patient was unable to walk more than a few steps.

Park rangers flew to the lake where and transported the woman via short-haul to White Grass Ranch, where she declined further medical assistance.

The next day, on Aug. 9 at about 8 a.m., a climber on the traverse between Teewinot Mountain and Mount Owen contacted dispatch to report his climbing partner had taken a several-hundred-foot, un-roped fall, had a severe head injury and possibly broken bones.

Four park rangers and rescue gear were flown to the site. The patient, a 24-year-old male, was treated and airlifted to Lupine Meadows where an emergency physician, park ambulance crew, and air ambulance crew further stabilized him. The patient was then transported via Air Idaho Rescue to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls.

The accidents are a reminder that backcountry travelers need to remember to plan ahead and follow basic safety protocols, including:

Set a reasonable objective based on your groups experience. When planning a hike or climb, make sure it is well within the abilities of your least experienced group member.

Know the weather forecast and be prepared for rain, snow, ice and cold. Temperatures and precipitation patterns can change rapidly at high elevations.

Pay special attention when descending and moving across slippery surfaces. Most mountain accidents occur on the descent.

Dont be afraid to turn around. Summit fever can be the greatest hazard of all.

Research your intended route by consulting topographic maps, guidebooks, and rangers.

Always tell a friend or family member your route and when you intend to return.

Be prepared to care for yourself or your partner in case of an injury and carry the equipment, food and water necessary to stay out longer than you expect.

Visit the park website at www.nps.gov/grte to learn more about the park and your planned activity before heading out.
When Sen. Dan Dockstader pulled out of the race for secretary of state and gave his support to Sen. Tara Nethercott, the other candidate, Rep. Chuck Gray referred to them as insiders. Since that time Gray has continued to apply this reference to Nethercott publicly and now in his mailers.

In contemplating the term insider and what that might mean for the voters of Wyoming, I have come to agree that Nethercott is indeed an insider, and thank heavens for the state of Wyoming that she is. As an insider she is familiar with our history, culture and ethics, and as the daughter of a law enforcement officer whose conservative family has been in this great state for five generations, she fits the bill to be the next secretary of state.

Attending elementary school as a Shoshoni Wrangler and graduating as a Riverton Wolverine, she was immersed in the states conservative, hard-working culture all through her formative years. She attended the University of Wyoming for her undergraduate work and went on to receive her law degree from the University of Wyoming Law School. Those choices certainly put her on the inside track to step in and help move this state forward in true, conservative Wyoming fashion.

Since she was elected to the Wyoming State Senate in 2017, Nethercott has amassed an impressive record that can only be attributed to the talents she has developed working with citizens across the state, state agencies and her fellow legislators. In 2021 the Wyoming County Commissioners Association honored her as the legislator of the year, rewarding her for habit of listening and her support of policies needed to maintain Wyomings legacy of small government closest to the people.

Do I like a public official working inside the structure of state government to provide support for our county commissioners? Yes, that is my kind of insider.

Gray claims he is not an insider. This leaves us to believe he is an outsider, which I would again agree with.

Since Gray received his high school education in California and higher education from a liberal Ivy League university, I dont think anyone would argue that he is an outsider. And now this outsider wants to tell the citizens of Wyoming how he plans to run the Wyoming secretary of states office using his embedded West Coast and East Coast influences.

Since her election, Nethercott has personally sponsored 26 legislative bills, with 11 of them (42%) being passed by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by the governor. Of her 26 bills, all but five were passed by the Senate.

Only two years after being elected, she was selected by Senate leadership to be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and, as such, serves as co-chairman of the Joint Judiciary Committee.

Under her chairmanship, 67% of the bills sponsored by the Judiciary Committee have been signed into law, a very high percentage considering the complexity of the topics assigned to this committee for consideration. Nethercotts intelligence, experience as a practicing attorney and in establishing a small business all on her own provide a solid foundation in providing confidence to businesses in the state. These successes also send a message nationally and globally that Wyoming is open for business, with a competent, self-defined secretary of state dedicated to protecting the interests of businesses and helping them thrive in a small-government economic environment.

Is Representative Gray an outsider in the legislature? Statistics from the legislative web site would validate he is. Like Nethercott, Gray was also elected in 2017 and personally sponsored 39 legislative bills, with only three being signed into law.

Thats a mere 7% success rate. Perhaps more telling that his lack of ability to pass legislation is that of the 39 bills he personally sponsored, only five made it out of the House of Representatives where he is an elected member. This shows his inability to work collaboratively with a House that has a strong majority of his own Republican Party in a way that would garner support to his bills. The Wyoming Legislature has historically rejected the influences of outsiders whose ideas are contrary to long-standing conservative Wyoming values.

Unlike Senator Nethercott, Gray has not been assigned to chair a committee. Perhaps this sheds some light on the lack of confidence multiple House leaders have in his leadership capacity and ability to work with others.

We call ill afford a secretary of state who, as an outsider, is either not willing or does not have the ability to work with others for the benefit of Wyoming.

Join me in voting for a true Wyoming insider. Vote for Tara Nethercott to be our next secretary of state.
THE recent, and perhaps ongoing, difference of opinion between Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) and the Tobago House of Assemblyover the limitations on the national air carriers service on the Tobago routeled me to question whether CAL needs to be responsible for the domestic airbridge.
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Kimberly is missing; Call the police if you see her
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi received interviews from Chinese state media on Thursday after attending the series of Foreign Ministers' meetings on East Asia cooperation, visiting Cambodia, Bangladesh and Mongolia, and hosting the ROK and Nepali foreign ministers' visit to China.

ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting and East Asia cooperation

In the interview, Wang Yi introduced the main achievements scored in the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting and highlighted China's efforts in promoting East Asia cooperation.

Wang said that in face of challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic, increases of downward pressure on economy and the comeback of the Cold War mentality and camp confrontation, foreign ministers from China and ASEAN's member states gathered in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to make a voice of seeking peace, planning for common development, and promoting stability together. It has demonstrated our firm determination to safeguard international fairness and justice, and has made political preparations for the holding of a series of East Asia cooperation leaders' meetings this year.

In the first half of this year, China-ASEAN trade volume exceeded $450 billion, 11.5 percent increase year-on-year, Wang said, China imported more than $21 billion of agricultural products from ASEAN. The favorable spillover effect of the China-Laos Railway is obvious and the vaccine research, development and production between China and ASEAN member states has increased steadily. All parties believed that China-ASEAN cooperation has become the most successful and dynamic example for all Asia-Pacific regional cooperation, Wang added.

Wang pointed out that the biggest achievements of the meeting came from fully implementing the consensus reached on China-ASEAN Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations, carrying out an action plan for the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and outlining the focus and direction for next-step cooperation.

All parties have agreed to prioritize development and share development opportunities, and have agreed to stick to open regionalism, and carry forward multilateralism, he added, China firmly supports ASEAN centrality in regional cooperation, which is widely welcomed by ASEAN countries.

South China Sea issue

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). During the interview, Wang Yi emphasized the important role of the DOC in maintaining overall stability in the South China Sea.

Wang said that the South China Sea is the "common home" of China and the ASEAN and to safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea is the shared interests of China and ASEAN countries. Over the past two decades, all parties have focused on the overall situation, placed the South China Sea issue in an appropriate position, effectively managed differences and disputes, maintained overall stability, and ensured a good environment for the development of China-ASEAN relations, Wang stated.

All parties have highly recognized the important role of the DOC in the South China Sea issue and have agreed to hold the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the DOC, and look forward to issuing a joint leaders' statement to demonstrate our common determination to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea, Wang said.

In addition, all parties have agreed to resume the consultations on the "code of conduct" in the South China Sea (COC) and made the COC an upgraded version of the DOC. As comprehensive strategic partners, China and the ASEAN countries will firmly uphold the principles of the DOC, advance the consultation process of the COC, deepen maritime dialogue and cooperation, and firmly grasp the correct direction of properly handling the South China Sea issue, and build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation, Wang said.

Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan and the Taiwan question

When being asked about U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan region, Wang said that Pelosi landed in China's Taiwan when the Chinese delegation arrived in Phnom Penh to attend the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting. We immediately condemned Pelosi's visit, Wang said, the move violated the commitments made by the U.S. government to China on the Taiwan question, violated the basic norms governing international relations and infringed upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Countries including Russia, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Bangladesh, Greece, Turkey, and New Zealand clearly stated that they would adhere to the one-China policy and hope to maintain international and regional peace and stability. The ASEAN foreign ministers issued a statement reiterating the one-China policy, calling for upholding the principles of the UN Charter.

Wang emphasized that China's countermeasures to Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan are justified, reasonable, necessary, and appropriate. It is the United States and the Taiwan authorities that are changing the status quo on the Taiwan question. China's countermeasures are for the sake of peace in the Taiwan Strait and maintaining the regional stability.

Wang reiterated that the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs is the "golden rule" for governing international relations. China's move is to safeguard the basic norms of international relations and safeguard the international fairness and justice.

Wang warned against three dangerous trends as the situation develops.

He said that, firstly, it is necessary to be prepared for the United States gathering some accomplices to pour fuel on the fire, enhancing regional military deployments, further escalating the situation and attempting to create a new and bigger crisis.

Secondly, we must be wary of "Taiwan independence" forces misjudging the situation, continuing to collude with external forces, and heading further along the path of splitting the country, he added.

Thirdly, he said we must be wary of politicians in some countries following suit. This will seriously undermine the political foundation for relations between China and these countries, and will seriously undermine the UN Charter and the post-World War II international system.

China's white paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" which was released recently, Wang said, stated that we have been closer to, more confident in and capable of achieving the goal of national reunification than at any time in history.

China-Cambodia relations

Wang Yi said that China and Cambodia are important close neighbors and best friends. The friendship between the two countries has stood the test of international situations and is unbreakable.

During this visit, Cambodia adheres to the one-China principle, resolutely opposes any words and deeds that violate China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will stand with the 1.4 billion Chinese people, he emphasized.

In recent years, the two countries have jointly built the "Belt and Road" with high quality, which has brought benefits to the two peoples. During the visit, China and Cambodia agreed to strengthen the docking of development strategies and implement various cooperation, he added.

Meanwhile, Wang said that China will continue to provide vaccine assistance according to Cambodia's needs, carry out cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine, import more Cambodian high-quality agricultural products, increase Cambodian flights to China, and facilitate Cambodian students returning to China to resume classes.

China-Bangladesh relations

Wang Yi expressed that China and Bangladesh are friendly and neighboring strategic cooperative partners, and this visit to Bangladesh aims to continue friendship and enhance mutually beneficial cooperation.

During this visit to Bangladesh, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emphasized that Bangladesh cherishes its friendship with China and regards China as an important partner for maintaining peace and common development, Wang added, the Bangladeshi side stated that it abides by the one-China principle, believes that Taiwan is part of the territory of the People's Republic of China, and does not approve of provocative actions by individual countries.

Wang said that China and Bangladesh agreed to enhance political mutual trust, practice the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, support each other in safeguarding national independence, national dignity and core interests, and support each other in taking a development path that suits their national conditions.

In addition, China and Bangladesh agreed to enhance the dovetailing of the Belt and Road Initiative with Bangladesh's Vision 2041, and deepen cooperation in areas such as infrastructure construction, digital economy, and green development.

Wang Yi announced that China decided to grant duty-free access to 98 percent of Bangladeshi goods, and support Bangladesh in expanding exports to China.

The two countries also agreed to strengthen social and cultural exchanges, signed a new cultural and tourism exchange plan, and made it clear that exchanges and cooperation in the field of poverty alleviation will be strengthened, Wang added, China welcomes Bangladeshi students to return to China to resume classes, and will increase flights between the two countries in an orderly manner.

China-Mongolia relations

Wang Yi said that since his last visit to Mongolia two years ago, he has witnessed encouraging changes in Ulan Bator and felt the vitality of the vast grassland. As a friendly neighboring country, China is heartily pleased for Mongolia's rapid progress and looking forward to its development and revitalization. Wang Yi briefed the broad consensuses reached by the two sides during the visit.

The two sides agreed that faced with the current complex and volatile international and regional situation, China and Mongolia are closely connected with a shared future, and should be good neighbors more valuable than gold, good brothers sharing weal and woe, and good partners striving for common development.

The two sides are willing to promote the in-depth synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Mongolia's Steppe Road Program, the Global Development Initiative and Mongolia's New Revival Policy, and China's "two-step" development strategy and Mongolia's long-term development vision, so as to create three major engines for further development of bilateral relations.

The two sides reaffirmed mutual respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests. China supports Mongolia in maintaining stability, focusing on development and exploring a development path in line with its own national conditions. Mongolia emphasizes the adherence to the one-China principle and opposes other countries' interference in China's internal affairs. This position has been consistent and has not changed.

The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation at the border, promoting the opening of ports and connection of railways and highways to the largest possible extent, so as to keep the industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded. The two sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the cross-border railway connection program at the Gants Mod port, which will be important in helping Mongolia to expand its opening-up and achieve strong growth.

The two sides will enhance cooperation in afforestation and counter-desertification. China hopes that both sides support each other in greening the common home and guarding the green land and blue sky.

China-ROK relations

Wang Yi said that China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are close neighbors and inseparable partners.

Wang said that ROK Foreign Minister Park Jin's visit to China this time comes on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two countries agreed to strengthen political and diplomatic communication and pragmatic cooperation, negotiate, and sign a joint action plan for the future development of China-ROK relations between the foreign ministries of the two countries.

The two sides agreed to hold a high-level strategic dialogue between the foreign ministries of the two countries and a "two-plus-two" diplomatic and security dialogue, actively promote the joint research work of the Committee for Future Development of China-ROK relations.

Both sides agreed to speed up the second-phase negotiation on the China-ROK free trade agreement and strive to reach a consensus at an early date; hold dialogues on maintaining the stability of industrial and supply chains, and strive for the integrity, security, smoothness, openness and inclusiveness of industrial and supply chains; stick to trade and investment liberalization, abide by World Trade Organization rules, and uphold the principles of non-discrimination, non-exclusion, openness and transparency.

The two sides agreed to hold the "China-ROK Year of Cultural Exchanges" well, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation between China and the ROK in areas of people-to-people and cultural affairs and media. It's important to launch more direct flights to further facilitate personnel exchanges.

The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views and expounded respective positions on the THAAD issue. The two sides underlined the need to take seriously each other's security concerns and to strive to properly handle the issue so that it will not become a stumbling block to bilateral relations.

China expects that after 30 years of changes, the relationship between the two countries should become more mature, more independent and more stable.

Park Jin said the ROK is willing to, on the basis of the ROK-China strategic cooperative partnership, respect each other, and promote inclusive cooperation to make bilateral relations more mature and healthier.

China-Nepal relations

Wang Yi said, China and Nepal are good neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, good friends who help each other.

During Nepali Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka's visit to China, the two sides also reached an important consensus on cooperation.

China will continue to firmly support Nepal's efforts to safeguard its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, explore a development path in line with its national conditions.

Nepal firmly pursues the one-China principle and will never allow any activities that use Nepal's territory to oppose China and undermine China's interests. Nepal will unswervingly honor this commitment. Nepal supports China's legitimate position on Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and other internal affairs.

The two sides will jointly build the "Belt and Road" with high quality, speed up the feasibility study of cross-border railway.

The two sides will speed up the Kathmandu Ring Road Improvement Project at a faster pace and advance electric power interconnection projects.

Wang Yi announced that China will grant zero-tariff treatment to 98 percent of Nepali products. China welcomes Nepal to expand its export to China.

The two sides will strengthen cooperation on justice, combating cross-border cybercrimes, border management, joint prevention and control, and ports, among others.

The two sides will deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and increase direct flights to facilitate personnel exchanges. China welcomes Nepali students to return to China to continue their studies.
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A first-time visitor to the University of Arizona Press might assume they should approach from the left, park near the corner of Rigorously Academic and Sternly Professorial, and head for the nearest ivory tower.

If so, it may take awhile to find it.

True, UA Press is located right where it should be on the top floor of the university library, but good luck finding any of the old-school stereotypes connected to academic letters.

Its walls are glass, elbow patches are definitely not the style, and pipe-smoking was banned years ago. Even more revealing is the bookshelf in the office of Director Kathryn Conrad.

University presses were created to connect academics across the world, she began. Were important building blocks of scholarship, but I think people are surprised to learn how many of our books are of general interest; books anyone might want to read.

With that she reached for a copy of Discovering Mars published last year by Jim Bell and William Sheehan. She pointed to Dance of the Returned, a novel by Devon Mihesuah that explores Choctaw spirituality.

UA Presss newest title is a collection of paintings by Oodham artist Michael Chiago, Sr., with the story behind each image explained by ethnobiologist Amadeo M. Rea.

Im guessing most readers of Arizona nonfiction have at least one of our books on their bookshelves at home, Conrad said. In almost every field I can think of, we have some books for academics and other books for people who are simply interested in those fields.

This commitment to popular scholarship can be found in the organizations DNA. The very first book published by UA Press was A Pima Remembers, a warm autobiography by George Webb that tells stories from his childhood life as a Pima Indian.

Surprisingly, UA Press does not publish textbooks. That said, many of its books  such as Thomas Sheridans landmark history, Arizona  can be found in college classrooms as well as living room shelves.

The father of UA Press was the indefatigable Dean of Anthropology Emil Haury. He pushed the proposal that was approved by President Richard Harvill in 1959. It was hardly a grand opening. The first requisition signed by Harvill authorized a desk, two chairs and a typewriter.

By then UA had become a world leader in earth sciences and the UA Press played an important role in sharing that expertise. Space science was another emerging specialty, and UA Press helped tell that story, too. One of its earliest releases was a Rectified Lunar Atlas that mapped the moon  all of the moon, including the never-before-visible dark side.

Today, UA Press majors in those subjects at the academic core of the university itself. Those include anthropology, archaeology, environmental science, space science, the borderlands and Southwestern history. It also specializes in Indigenous, Latinx and Latin American studies, and offers two poetry series: Sun Tracks and Camino del Sol.

Authors need not be connected to UA, but their topics must check one of those boxes  have an academic base  and be ready for an academic review.

Peer review is a requirement of all university presses, Conrad said. A minimum of two experts must endorse every project. Peer review just makes our work more reliable.

Changing times

Academic presses are feeling the same pressures squeezing the traditional publishing world, particularly the stresses of increased costs, production delays, and paper shortages.

So, like publishers everywhere, university presses are developing new delivery systems. Soon, we may be able to hear Planetary Astrobiology on the car radio driving home.

Weve known for a while that a lot of people only read e-books, Conrad said, but the pandemic really drove home the need to develop other formats. When everything closed, professors couldnt get books for classes. We couldnt get books to all the people who needed them.

UA Press has moved quickly to respond. Thanks to funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, it has stepped up the digitization of its collection.

Their grant should get us close to 500 e-books, Conrad said. Its a start. Who knows how long it will take, but our long-term goal is to have every book available in every format.

Heres a tip: Assume this project will be completed sooner, not later.

These people arent shy about meeting challenges. Together, Conrad and her fellow staff members have more than 200 years in publishing. She herself has almost 40, the last 27 of them as the director at UA Press.

When I got here in 1995, we werent even on campus, Conrad said. Our offices were near Park Avenue and Speedway Boulevard. We didnt get on campus until 2011, so to say weve come a long way is true in more ways than one.

If you find that one, original typewriter, please let one of them know.

FOOTNOTES

UA Press will celebrate the release of Michael Chiago: Oodham Lifeways Through Art Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Western National Parks Association, 12880 N. Vistoso Village Drive, in Oro Valley. Chiago will attend the unveiling, and the public is invited. The program will begin at 6 p.m. Learn more at tucne.ws/1l3y.

The Arizona Historical Society and UA Press are partners in a new book series called Arizona Crossroads that will explore Arizonas role as a historical meeting place for cultures, language, music, art, geography and politics. The three principal editors are Katherine Morrissey of the UA, Anita Huizar-Hernandez of Arizona State University and Eric Meeks of Northern Arizona University. For submission information, visit tucne.ws/1l3x.
Our solutions journalism beat here at the Star is turning one year old on Aug. 15.

While reflecting on the occasion, I admitted to my editor that when I'd pitched the idea of a whole beat focusing on people and groups working to fix problems, I wasn't sure if I'd generate enough reader interest or would even find enough stories to keep it going. Sure, we've done projects involving solutions journalism at the Star for years, but we hadn't taken on regular, sustained coverage of solutions that are underway (or needed) in our community.

Turns out, my fears were all for naught.

I've had a backlog of story ideas from the start and the beat has grown in ways I couldn't have imagined.

Thanks in large part to my participation in the Solutions Journalism Network's 2022 LEDE Fellowship, I've been able to engage with readers both virtually and in-person, soliciting feedback on our coverage and trying to learn what the community wants me to write about.

At in-person events I talked to attendees about my job and what kinds of stories they'd like to read. I launched a survey that has generated hundreds of responses, organized an hours-long community conversation where two dozen people helped guide future solutions coverage, and for the past six months, I've been giving readers a behind-the-scenes look at our work through my Southern Arizona Solutions newsletter.

I've also authored or co-authored more than 55 solutions-oriented stories covering topics including public safety, education, housing and homelessness, criminal justice, health, community groups, politics, mental wellness, substance use issues and more. To make it easy for readers to find our solutions coverage, we created a solutions page on our website.

And it's not just me producing solutions stories. We've recently started training other Star reporters, interns and apprentices on how to do solutions journalism on their own beats.

Solutions is growing and thriving at the Star, and the impact on our community has been even better than I'd hoped.

Emails from readers praising our solutions coverage and the way it affects their lives are constant and regular. Here's a portion of a recent one:
PHOENIX  State GOP chair Kelli Ward has no legal right to block a U.S. House committee from getting her phone records about her activities leading up to the Jan. 6th insurrection, an attorney for the government is telling a federal judge.

Douglas Letter said Ward participated in multiple aspects to interfere with the electoral count that was taking place.

She told Maricopa County to stop counting ballots, and promoted inaccurate allegations of election interference by Dominion Voting Systems, wrote Letter, who is the general counsel for the U.S. House.

Even after the states election results were certified showing Joe Biden won Arizona, she and others convened as electors for Donald Trump and sent a set of unauthorized Electoral College votes to Congress that she misdescribed as representing the legal votes of Arizona,  he wrote.

Ward filed suit earlier this year seeking to block a subpoena of her phone records. She argued providing the records would violate her rights and those of her husband, Michael, who, like she, is a doctor. She also said it would expose her patients who go to her for weight loss.

Ward also argued the Select Committee is operating illegally. Thats because only nine members were appointed to what was supposed to be a panel of 13 after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to accept some suggestions from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

But Letter told U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa everything the committee did, including issuing the subpoena, complied with congressional rules.

He also urged the judge to reject Wards claim that going after her phone records violates her First Amendment rights, including the right of political association.

The subpoena does not seek the content of any communication, Letter said. Instead, he said, it seeks only the information about who Ward communicated with, when, and for how long.

None of the data reveals any speech or associational rights protected by the First Amendment, Letter told Humetewa.

And even if they did  a point he is not conceding  he said it would be outweighed by the overwhelming interests of Congress.

The Select Committees subpoena seeks records relevant to determining the root causes of the Jan. 6th insurrection against Congress, a violent attack on the seat of our nations government that resulted in the deaths of several law enforcement officers and deepened public distrust in our political processes, Letter said.

He also said Ward has no legal standing to challenge the subpoena.

The Select Committee is not criminally investigating the Wards or anyone else, he wrote. Nor is the Select Committee, by investigating the Jan. 6th attack trying to expose information for the sake of exposure.

Letter told Humetewa the mere prospect that misconduct may be exposed does not make the subpoena improper.

And Dr. Kelli Wards extensive efforts at overturning the presidential election ... provide ample basis for issuing the subpoena, he said.

T-Mobile, the company that provides Wards phone, submitted its own request to have the subpoena quashed.

Humetewa has set no date for a ruling.

Ward and others have received a separate subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice over their role in submitting the slate of fake electors to Congress.
The campaign is on! The 2023 mayoral campaign, that is.

Two independents have filed papers with the city to run for mayor of Tucson.

That puts them on track to run against incumbent Mayor Regina Romero. The mayor, a Democrat, says she intends to run for reelection.

The two independents are Ed Ackerley, an advertising-agency owner who ran against Romero in 2019, and Zach Yentzer, a first-time candidate who is president of the Menlo Park Neighborhood Association.

In 2019, Romeros toughest race was in the Democratic primary, where she beat Steve Farley and Randi Dorman, winning 50% of the vote to Farleys 37% and Dormans 12%.

In the general election, Romero won 56% of the vote to Ackerleys 39% and Green Party candidate Mike Ceases 4%.

Ackerley said Thursday that he considers the 2019 run relatively successful, although he lost.

Last time when I ran not a single person in Tucson besides my wife and my mom knew who I was, he said.

Now, Ackerley said, he has some name recognition.

I still have the same fire in my belly. I want Tucson to be a growing, thriving place for my grandkids and my family, he said.

Ackerley and Yentzer know each other and have talked about the race. Ackerley said hes not worried about two independents splitting the vote from people who oppose Romero.

You cant tell people not to run, so Im just going to take on all comers, he said.

Yentzer thinks otherwise. Asked if either of them can win if they both run, he said No.

Its going to have to be like an unofficial primary, Yentzer said. Were both in it early. Lets see who has the most juice in the tank.

Whichever independent candidate has the better campaign as the process unfolds should continue while the other drops out, he said.

Yentzer has been studying Tucsons urban issues for years not just as a neighborhood activist but also as the host of a radio talk show he named Tipping Point, because he thinks Tucson is at a fateful moment. Yentzers day job is executive director of Tucson Young Professionals.

I have a deep sense of urgency, Yentzer said, noting the citys struggles with public safety, homelessness and housing prices. Weve got a window of time to start making the right decisions, to start solving those problems at scale.

Both Ackerley and Yentzer also lamented the polarization of local politics and what they see as the importation of national conflicts into local political discussion. They said theyd try to focus strictly on solving Tucson problems.

The general election is on Nov. 7, 2023. The other seats up for election are the City Council seats in Ward 1, currently held by Lane Santa Cruz; Ward 2, currently held by Paul Cunningham; and Ward 4, currently held by Nikki Lee.

Grant brings out politicos

Normally a $25 million transportation grant might not be that big a deal  worth a news release, sure, but not a press conference with all the bells and whistles.

This is election time, though. And Democrats such as U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly are striving to emphasize the positive about their achievements while leading the federal government.

So on Thursday morning Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other politicos were at an unlikely site for a news conference: a lot across the street from Tucsons Union Pacific rail yard with a clear view of the East 22nd Street bridge that crosses it.

Hosted by Mayor Regina Romero, they announced a grant that will help pay for the construction of a new bridge and rebuilding of 22nd Street on either side.

In his comments, Kelly sounded a lot like fellow U.S. senator from Arizona Kyrsten Sinema, emphasizing the word bipartisan as he described the infrastructure bill that produced the grants unveiled Thursday in Tucson and Phoenix.

It was almost exactly a year ago, when I was returning to Arizona after voting on the floor of the United States Senate for this bipartisan  bipartisan  infrastructure law, Kelly said, noting he worked with Republicans on the bill.

Let me say it wasnt easy, he went on. I find its so important to do things in a bipartisan way. Thats not always the easy way. But the results, Im convinced, are always much better for the American people.

Kellys Republican challenger, Blake Masters, has repeatedly criticized Kelly for voting in lockstep with Democrats.

You always know which way Mark Kelly is going to vote. Whatever the party line is, he toes it, Masters said in a video posted on Twitter this week. Mark Kelly is lying when he says hes a moderate. Hes lying when he says hes an independent.

Lake calls to end FBI

On Thursday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake went on an online show with a host, Steven Crowder, who had called for war Monday after the FBI search of Donald Trumps home.

Crowder launched straight into what he said is his new litmus test for GOP candidates: Whether they are in favor of disbanding the FBI and gutting the IRS.

Lakes answer: I would be for that absolutely. Of course Im running for a state position not a federal position.

Lake said in a written statement after the search Monday that it was one of the darkest days in American history, the day our Government, originally created by by the people, turned against us.
MEXICO CITY  Acting on a tip, Mexican soldiers seized almost 1 tons of meth and 328 pounds of apparent powdered fentanyl at a checkpoint in the northern border state of Sonora, the army said Thursday.

Soldiers also found 816,486 pills apparently containing fentanyl packed in 46 drums aboard the truck on Wednesday.

The Defense Department said it obtained information that a truck carrying powdered fruit juice concentrates to the border city of Tijuana was also hauling drugs.

Mexican cartels frequently pass officials information on shipments owned by rival gangs.

Mexican cartels manufacture fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, from precursors imported from China. They then press the drug into counterfeit pills made to look like Xanax, Adderall or Oxycodone.

Synthetic opioids like fentanyl have been behind a major increase in overdose deaths in the United States. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal. The drug is 100 times more potent than morphine.
Filmmaker George Romero introduced the modern zombie to moviegoers in the 1968 horror classic Night of the Living Dead.

Zombies became must-see TV when The Walking Dead arrived on AMC in 2010.

In between, a buzzworthy moment for zombies was 1985s Return of the Living Dead.

A critically acclaimed horror comedy, Return of the Living Dead was the first flick to establish that zombies hungered specifically for brains. The cast included Clu Gulager.

I killed 18 zombies, and then they came back and nuked me! Gulager said during a 2017 interview with the Tulsa World.

In that interview, Gulager indicated he wasnt keen to do the film.

I thought I was kind of above that, he recalled. And it turned out, if Im remembered at all, thats what I will be remembered for.

Its the proper time to remember Gulager, but he should be remembered for more than his place in zombie history.

Gulager, a former Tulsa resident who was tapped for Western fare early in his acting career and gravitated to horror projects later in life, died Aug. 5. He was 93.

Born in Holdenville and raised in Muskogee and Tahlequah, Gulager starred in two Western TV series in the 1960s. He played Billy the Kid in The Tall Man and deputy Emmett Ryker in The Virginian.

Gulager made his motion picture debut alongside Ronald Reagan in 1964s The Killers. Other film credits include Winning (with Paul Newman), McQ (with John Wayne) and The Last Picture Show.

Gulagers real-life last picture show was 2019s Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood.

The films writer and director, longtime friend Quentin Tarantino, used Gulager in a bookstore scene in which the Oklahoman appears with Margot Robbie.

Before the films release, Gulager told the Tulsa World that Leonardo DiCaprios character in the film could have been me. Ive lived that life, where he was a big star and now hes on his way down, and thats normal. Thats a way of life in my world, and Ive accepted it.

Performing was in Gulagers blood. His father, John, was an actor before becoming a lawyer and judge. Will Rogers was a cousin on his fathers side of the family tree.

Gulager said during a GetTV interview that he didnt take an interest in acting until he was in the Marine Corps.

One day I was running, exercising on the back lot of Camp Pendleton, he said. Suddenly I said, Hey, I think I want to act. I didnt know what acting was, and I still dont.

Actually, Gulager had a teensy bit of acting experience before Camp Pendleton. He returned to Muskogee to receive a lifetime achievement award at the 2013 Bare Bones International Film Festival and recalled childhood acting experiences during an interview with the Muskogee Phoenix.

I was a mouse king in the third grade, and Marion Bebb threw a shoe at me, he said, also mentioning a school play when he was a high school junior: All I remember was that I had to put up an ironing board and I couldnt get the ironing board up and everyone laughed.

Gulager attended Northeastern State University and Baylor after his Marine Corps experience. At Baylor, he met fellow theater student Miriam Byrd Nethery.

Our first kiss was a stage kiss, Nethery once told the Tulsa World. I remember I blushed and giggled. We were married the following summer.

They were wed for 51 years (she died in 2003) and raised two sons, John and Tom. The journey included an early move to New York, where Gulager did live television and theater before he joined the cast of the series The Tall Man.

Do you know how they tested me? Gulager said in the GetTV interview. They were doing a series called Cimarron City. After shooting one night, they put me by a bale of hay and interviewed me. I gave them my side smile, that I developed over the years for film, and answered the questions the way I thought the character would answer them  like Billy the Kid might answer them. And they took me on. I was authentic.

Gulager said in a 2019 Tulsa World interview that it was easy for him to ride a pony and wear a hat. He was, after all, a cowboy from Oklahoma. He suggested in the GetTV interview that he rode horses as well as anyone except fellow Oklahoman Ben Johnson, a rodeo-champ-turned-actor who won an Oscar for his work in The Last Picture Show.

Theres a scene (in The Last Picture Show) where we just look at each other while Im chalking my (pool) cue, Gulagar said. Its not bad being with an Academy Award winner.

Gulager said this about working with Wayne in McQ: John Wayne shot me in the (butt) and killed me. I dont mind that because I admire John. I was so in awe of John Wayne when I worked with him.

The horror film chapter of Gulagers life kicked into gear after Return of the Living Dead. He appeared in installments of the Nightmare on Elm Street and Puppet Master franchises, plus a trilogy of Feast movies directed by one of his sons.

Legacy? It goes way beyond a cult classic zombie flick. Gulager was the first TV contract player at Universal. He appeared in 50-plus TV series in addition to The Tall Man and The Virginian  everything from Have Gun  Will Travel to Mod Squad to lending his voice to a Beavis and Butt-Head episode. He was nominated for a Saturn Award (best supporting actor) for his work in the 1986 hunting-gone-wrong film Hunters Blood.

Gulager and his brood relocated from California to Tulsa in the 1980s before returning west. He taught acting workshops in both locales.

The more I think about the loss of the legendary Clu Gulager, the more my heart breaks for the next generations of actors, Tulsa born and raised actress Ana Berry said in a social media post.

Will they know what a real actor really is  not in it for the glitz and glamor, but in it because they must do it. Its their only way. Clu was that, the truest form of an actor who loved the art. He inspired many, including my father and myself to follow our hearts in the heartbreaking pursuit of acting. And though my dad and I never made it big, we made it in Clus eyes because we learned from the best: him.

Gulager screened his rare old films at the 2017 Tulsa Overground Film Festival and taught his legendary acting class, according to filmmaker and festival organizer Todd Lincoln. People loved it, he said.

Gulager doubled as a filmmaker. He directed 1969s A Day with the Boys, which gained a Cannes Film Festival nomination for best short film.

In an interview with David Del Valle, Gulager said he acted on three Alfred Hitchcock shows and was thrown out of looping rooms by the revered filmmaker on multiple occasions. Gulager hoped to sneak in and learn from Hitchcock. Said Gulager: I learned that he was very protective, very secretive, very argumentative and very hateful.

Prior to the 2017 Tulsa Overground Film Festival, Gulager (modestly?) said he has never been a big deal.

I was an actor. I worked more than most actors. I was very fortunate. Obviously, I enjoyed working, although it is very tough for me. Maybe I shouldnt say it, but I had a hard time with words  memorizing and remembering words.

He nevertheless crafted a career worth remembering.

Tulsa World Scene podcast: Paying tribute to Nichelle Nichols, Olivia Newton-John and Clu Gulager
In a 60-second speech at the 1973 Oscars, she explained that Marlon Brando could not accept his Oscar due to "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry."
When classes start Wednesday for Union Public Schools, the faculty members at the districts elementary schools will have a little something extra to celebrate.

Unofficial scores from Oklahoma State Testing Program released to districts earlier this summer indicate all of 13 Unions elementary sites posted double-digit reductions in the number of students requiring a reading remediation plan under Oklahomas Reading Sufficiency Act.

There is growth, said Theresa Kiger, executive director for elementary education at Union. As Ive explained it to our Title I families, its like an onion: We have to take some time and peel back the layers  as were not necessarily going to see huge growth immediately. Our children have holes in instruction from past two and three years, so were having to go back and fill those holes in. This way, we can continue to see the growth moving forward.

Students who test at the 40th percentile or lower at the beginning of the school year qualify for additional remediation efforts during the course of the year.

Depending on a students individual needs, that may mean some small-group time going over a specific area such as vocabulary or comprehension; additional intensive one-on-one work; or, at a handful of sites, getting tabbed for sessions with a volunteer from Reading Partners.

We have kids who come to us at various levels and with various knowledge gaps, Jarman Elementary School Principal Shawna Thompson said. Their life and language experiences impact their readiness for reading.

Jarman posted a 20% decline in the number of students on an intervention plan over the course of the 2021-22 school year.

Along with intentionally embedding intervention time into the school day and regular meetings among the staff to review and discuss students growth, Thompson said the districts ability to use federal COVID-19 relief funds to bring in several retired teachers as interventionists was a game-changer for her students.

We have three retired teachers who come in weekly to tutor and help with small groups, Thompson said. We call them our Golden Girls, and they are absolutely amazing.

That additional help was also a boon for Thompsons counterpart at Andersen Elementary, Bethany Harper.

Andersen posted a 14% decrease in the number of students on a reading intervention plan over the course of the 2021-22 school year.

Harper said she has already taken steps to make sure her school has additional interventionists on hand for the coming year to help continue building on students progress.

The trick has been finding them, she said.

Meanwhile, another Union school is incorporating some different methods to help bolster reading progress among students.

Shana Harris is the principal at Jefferson Elementary School, a Title I site just east of U.S. 169 between 81st and 91st streets. Among all Union elementary schools, her school had the largest percentage increase of third-graders testing proficient or better in reading, going from 49% in 2021 to 75% in 2022.

In addition to pulling out students as needed for individual reading help, faculty at Jefferson prioritize relationship-building and instilling hope in their students. Along with daily community time, the teachers and staff talk with students regularly about goal setting, what that means, the pathways needed to achieve those goals and how teachers can help them reach those goals.

We know that if our students feel loved and taken care of, thats the first thing, Harris said. If they have hope ... then theyre going to strive. They are going to reach for their goals. Thats just the nature of people  if you dont have hope, you dont try for anything bigger or better. Thats the first base, then they can reach for their academic goals. And it is starting to work.
With less than two weeks to go before the Aug. 23 elections, law enforcement officials are investigating whether District 3 Tulsa County Commission candidate Bob Jack violated state law prohibiting absentee ballot harvesting.

The state Attorney Generals Office assigned the case to Creek County District Attorney Max Cook on Tuesday after the Tulsa County District Attorneys Office asked to recuse itself.

Oklahoma statutes define ballot harvesting in part as (p)artially or fully completing an application for an absentee ballot on behalf of another person without that persons prior consent.

According to the Tulsa County District Attorneys Office, Jacks campaign mailed campaign literature to potential voters with prefilled absentee ballot applications attached, 56 of which made their way to the Tulsa County Election Board.

The applications included the names, addresses and birth dates of the applicants.

Absentee ballot harvesting involving 10 or more ballots is a felony in Oklahoma. Penalties can include up to five years in prison, a $50,000 fine, or both.

These documents provided by the Tulsa County Election Board appear to me to be evidence of a voting crime, specifically absentee ballot harvesting, Assistant District Attorney Doug Wilson wrote in an email to his boss, District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler.

Jack issued a statement Thursday saying the allegations have no merit and describing them as politically motivated.

I did not authorize or have knowledge that the company processing the mail piece would include the information in question, Jack said. I, along with my legal counsel, are confident that I will be completely vindicated once the details of this matter are reviewed by the authorities.

Jacks consulting firm in the race is Axiom Strategies.

The Tulsa County Election Board also provided the District Attorneys Office with copies of voter incident reports outlining two complaints it received regarding absentee ballot applications attached to Jacks campaign fliers.

The reports make no reference to ballot harvesting but instead focus on residents concerns about private information appearing on the absentee ballot applications.

The email from Wilson and other documents related to the case were provided by the state Attorney Generals Office in response to a request by the Tulsa World for information on the case.

Jack and Kelly Dunkerley, both Republicans, are competing to succeed former County Commissioner Ron Peters, who retired earlier this year. Dunkerley, a former Jenks mayor, nearly won the seat outright in the June Republican primary, when he earned 49.1% of the vote to Jacks 35.6.%.

If more than 50% of the votes in a primary dont go to one candidate, a runoff is held.

The winner of the Aug. 23 runoff will become the next District 3 commissioner, since no Democrat or anyone else filed for the office.

Jack, 73, was a longtime construction executive. He is a former chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Party.

In his recusal application to the Attorney Generals Office, Kunzweiler noted that he knows both candidates in the District 3 race and described Dunkerley as a friend.

He assisted me with my most recent contested re-election campaign. He has served with me on two recent church retreats, Kunzweiler wrote of Dunkerley. Given the severity of these allegations and my familiarity with both of the involved parties in this Tulsa County Commissioners race, the appearance of my office in the review process would be fraught with concerns over partiality/lack of impartiality.

That is not fair to either of these parties nor to the citizens of Tulsa County.

Featured video: Councilor opposes GOP Party chairs nomination to Infrastructure Development Advisory Board
Read the questions and answers of other districts

The Tulsa World sent 11 identical questions to candidates in the nine council races. Responses were limited to no more than 200 words.

The candidates responses, by district, will be posted online this week. To determine what City Council district you reside in, click here or call the Tulsa County Election Board at 918-596-5780. There also a map at the end of this story.

City Council elections will be held Aug. 23. Runoff elections, if necessary, will be held Nov. 8.

Jayme Fowler is seeking a second term on the council. Fowler, 63, is a wealth manager with Oak Creek Private Wealth. Chad Hotvedt, 38, is a special education instructor. Crosby, 38, mental health provider.

1. Why are you running for City Council?

Jayme Fowler: To serve the citizens of District 9 and city of Tulsa. Im not a politician. Im a native Tulsan and native of District 9, and Id like to see both continue to prosper and flourish. I am the only current councilor that is a business person.

Chad Hotvedt: I believe I am the best candidate because I work with our young people daily and see the struggles of everyday Tulsans.

I am a veteran, a special education teacher, and an adoptive father. I am a public servant who will step up in the same way I did when I served my country and later received an honorable discharge.

I believe in being a part of solving problems, not just talking about them. Thats when Carly and I saw that children that needed help, we fostered and then adopted. Its why I knew after the teacher walkout that I had a responsibility to step up and serve my community as an educator. I did not take this commitment lightly. I joined our schools as a substitute and became a paraprofessional before getting certified to teach.

We need leaders who know the struggles Tulsans face and actively work to make things better.

District 9 deserves a councilor who informs our community about what is happening around our city. Our councilors should be meeting with constituents in person regularly, posting regularly on social media, sending emails, or making phone calls about changes that pertain to Tulsa. We deserve a councilor who is engaged with all his constituents.

Lee Ann Crosby: I am not running for City Council for a title. I am running for the people of Tulsa, working to give Tulsans what they deserve. I have been working in the community for many years building relationships, learning the needs of Tulsans to better meet the needs of the citizens. I care about Tulsa!

2. What is the biggest challenge facing the city, and what do you think should be done to address it?

Jayme Fowler: Economic Growth. The city of Tulsas population has remained basically flat for the last decade. Tulsa cannot afford to ignore the energy industry, but the city needs to focus on additional areas of core competency.

Northeast Oklahoma has abundant water resources, very cheap, clean, and reliable energy. The chamber (of commerce) has identified some potential areas of growth to focus on such as regional headquarters and/or national headquarters for companies. In addition, Tulsa is also driven by small, high tech, and closely held businesses.

Out of nowhere, Tulsa has become a national leader in attracting remote workers. Through philanthropic vision and strategic planning this should remain a bright spot.

Last, the city/region has come very close to landing some game changing companies, Tesla and Panasonic. At some point in time, well land one of these big companies. In the meantime, well continue to grow through small businesses, organic growth, and remote learning.

Chad Hotvedt: Tulsans experiencing homelessness and lack of mental health care are the biggest challenges to our city.

While not all individuals who experience homelessness are also suffering from mental health challenges, it is absolutely crucial we work to address both issues head on and simultaneously.

I would love to take a hard look at what Houston has done to cut the number of citizens experiencing homelessness by 63% and reduce the time on the waitlist for housing to under 40 days. Tulsa should be looking at cities across the country to find examples of effective solutions that fit our local context.

Lee Ann Crosby: The challenge is to prepare Tulsa for future generations. This means safeguarding water and air quality, offering medical and mental health services, and matching Tulsans in need with available resources.

The working families who move Tulsa forward deserve the best quality of life in a city they can be proud of.

3. What are the two biggest challenges your district is facing, and what do you believe should be done to address them?

Jayme Fowler: 61st Street and Peoria Avenue is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Tulsa. A dedicated group of stakeholders has worked behind the scenes with landlords to enhance security in the neighborhood. In addition, WIN (Working in Neighborhoods) has addressed hundreds of cases in the neighborhoods adjacent to 61st and Peoria. My wife is a TPS teacher at McClure, and we have endowed Marshall and McClure elementary schools.

Community engagement with the surrounding neighborhoods, adjacent to Johnson Park, has begun to reimagine a new Johnson Park. City and community partners are now collaborating on a master plan for 61st and Peoria for 2022-2023.

Our less fortunate/unhoused population is growing in Tulsa. Innovative solutions need to be explored. State leaders signed into law HB 1337. Its my understanding, in laymans terms, that a hospital or licensed psychiatric care facility can now be reimbursed for indigent care through Medicaid.

For the first time, health care and mental health care providers can now set up health care clinics in schools, community centers, or stand-alone clinics, and treat our less fortunate and unhoused in a much more proactive way.

Economic incentives to build more affordable housing is critical to a brighter Tulsa.

Chad Hotvedt: Housing and infrastructure improvements are the two biggest challenges in District 9.

As Tulsans, we have seen what community involvement and investment can do for infrastructure. We should continue and enhance our investment in strategic ways to meet the needs of a growing city.

We should also address the need for low barrier/low income housing opportunities. Some of the lower-income options in my district are going to stop accepting vouchers. This will create more demand for lower income housing that we currently do not have. Our citizens need somewhere to live.

These are some of the challenges in District 9 that have been ignored for too long.

Lee Ann Crosby: Communication is key, that's why it's my top priority to hold regular town hall meetings across our district so that I can stay in touch with the people I will be working for to give them the district that they deserve.

Case in point, if City Hall was more in tune, we wouldnt be seeing the outrageous increases in our water bills that we have over the last 5 years. In particular, we need to listen to Tulsas senior citizens and those on fixed incomes.

There are many individuals experiencing homelessness in District 9. Addressing these challenges by going out into the community to teach life skills, which in turn increases self-sufficiency.

4. Why do you believe you are your district's best candidate for City Council?

Jayme Fowler: I was brought home from the hospital to Brookside, and I now live farther south in the same district. My wife and I have friends from all kinds of faiths, backgrounds, and political beliefs. To serve the citizens of D-9, a city councilor needs to be able to work with and respect people from all walks of life. Ive strived to serve all the citizens of D-9 and Tulsa with balance and fairness.

Chad Hotvedt: I believe that I am the best candidate because I work with our young people daily and see the struggles of everyday Tulsans. I am a veteran, a special education teacher, and an adoptive father. I am a public servant who will step up in the same way I did when I served my country and later received an honorable discharge.

I believe in being a part of solving problems, not just talking about them. Thats when Carly and I saw that children that needed help, we fostered and then adopted.

Its why I knew after the teacher walkout that I had a responsibility to step up and serve my community as an educator. I did not take this commitment lightly. I joined our schools as a substitute and later became a paraprofessional before getting certified to teach through the Troops to Teachers Program. We need leaders who know the struggles Tulsans face and actively work to make things better.

District 9 also deserves a councilor who informs our community about what is happening around our city. Our councilors should be meeting with constituents in person regularly, posting regularly on social media, sending emails, or making phone calls about changes that pertain to Tulsa.

We deserve a councilor who is engaged with all its constituents. If elected, I will do just that.

Lee Ann Crosby: It is up to the voters to decide who the best candidate is. Service is what gives us meaning, and that's why it would be a great honor for me to serve Tulsa in City Hall.

5. Name one infrastructure project you would advocate for in your district that is not streets related? Briefly explain why?

Jayme Fowler: I have had private conversations with some city officials and a developer about a much larger and closer bus station/transportation hub to 61st and Peoria. If a citizen has no or low access to transportation, among the essential services, then the cycle of poverty and despair will continue.

My wife took 5th grade children from her school on a field trip, and children were shocked and amazed about the outside world just a mile from their school. Basic transportation, a bus or Uber, is one of the basic building blocks of Getting Ahead. 61st and Peoria desperately needs a transportation hub.

Chad Hotvedt: I think we should bury our power lines. Theyre not only an eyesore, but theyre more susceptible to failing in extreme weather. Burying the power lines would improve our citys aesthetic while protecting our electric supply and keeping us all safer.

Lee Ann Crosby: Tulsa is overdue for a once-in-a-generation infrastructure audit assessing current and future needs. Often overlooked but particularly important now is Tulsas power grid.

We must weigh the needs of the future against the demands of today to ensure that Tulsas next generation can maximize its future. We need a robust grid to do this. I want to be part of leading a once-in-a-generation infrastructure audit.

6. Do you believe the Police Department should have any kind of independent oversight? Please explain your answer.

Jayme Fowler: The Police Department already has an internal affairs department, the OSBI, the attorney general, and a citizens oversight board. Moreover, whenever a Tulsa police officer is involved in a shooting it is automatically sent to the district attorney for review. I feel theres already enough checks and balances in place to not warrant independent oversight currently. However, situations and circumstances could change with the TPD.

Chad Hotvedt: Yes, there should be some independent oversight of the Police Department.

Tulsa has one of the highest rates of officer involved shootings in the nation (Source: Police Scorecard). Increased resources and funding to the Police Department have not resolved this issue.

Having a diverse group of citizens review complaints, determine when uses of force are excessive, incorporate community involvement, and highlight good outcomes and successes will go a long way toward addressing accountability and incorporating the recommendations from the Tulsa Equality Indicators plan.

I would like to see a citizen representative from each council district on the committee. This would help our communities understand what our officers are experiencing, and it would help officers learn what our communities need. I think it is a win-win.

Lee Ann Crosby: The buck stops at City Hall, and City Council has a major role to play in ensuring that the community is well represented when it comes to matters of public safety. We have to work together to make sure that the police have the resources they need to protect our great city and that the voices of our communities are heard and well represented.

7. The city is facing a shortage of affordable housing. Do you think it is the city government's responsibility to ensure that Tulsa has enough affordable housing units? If so, what should the city do to accomplish that?

Jayme Fowler: The city of Tulsa is facing a tremendous shortage of affordable housing. The hand of the city, through legislation, tax credits, city ordinances, and affiliated agencies like PartnerTulsa, should continue to shape and guide the marketplace to build more affordable housing. Traditional public housing has had poor results in Tulsa. River West (living wage mixed with subsidized tenants) in west Tulsa is a model to be possibly replicated in more areas in Tulsa. River West was financed with a variety of public and private funding sources.

Chad Hotvedt: Yes, I think it is the city governments responsibility to ensure affordable housing. Tulsa is a housing first city, so I think we should act like one.

Finding creative solutions to ensure the housing we do have does not deteriorate incentivize people to invest in affordable housing, and help our housing owners who have a hard time filling out the paperwork for Section 8 vouchers.

Lee Ann Crosby: The current trickle-down housing policy isnt well suited to meet the needs of hard-working Tulsans.

We need to bring together the best and brightest in our community to help alleviate the pressure of the housing crisis facing Tulsans which has been brewing for well over a decade.

We need an assessment of out-of-the-area property owners to best understand the current situation.

8. To help address problems associated with the city's homeless population, Mayor G.T. Bynum has proposed a city ordinance that would give the police the authority, after first providing a warning, to arrest individuals who are obstructing a public right of way  including individuals blocking sidewalks in front of businesses  and potentially subject them to fines and possible jail time. If elected to the City Council, would you vote for or against the proposal? Why?

(Editors note: As currently proposed, violators of the ordinance would not automatically be arrested but could be issued a citation to appear in court. If they failed to show up for their court date, a warrant could be issued for their arrest.)

Jayme Fowler: The way the law is currently proposed does not address the real issues. Not in favor. Lets look at some other solutions that place a lesser burden on everyone involved. Lets address the problems and not the symptoms.

Chad Hotvedt: No, I would not support this. This would essentially criminalize those experiencing homelessness. Putting them in jail doesnt help.

As a city, we need to find a way to help these people become contributing members of our community.

It costs up to $54 a day to hold a person in jail in Tulsa. That is $1620 a month for one person. Thats $19,440 a year for one person. By contrast, it costs an estimated $12,800 to provide someone with permanent, safe and stable shelter.

I know our city can do better things with taxpayer dollars than spending them on more incarceration.

Lee Ann Crosby: Criminalizing people experiencing homeless is not going to solve the problem but will instead compound it. As a longtime advocate and volunteer working with people who are experiencing homelessness, Ive observed that helping them acquire life skills is the most effective long term solution.

9. If local health care officials, such as hospital administrators or the Tulsa Health Department, recommended that the city implement a mask mandate to combat COVID-19, or a variant of the disease, would you support implementing a mask mandate? Why?

Jayme Fowler: If a local health care official, business owner, or Tulsa County Health Department recommends wearing a mask to combat Covid I have in the past and I will again, if we see our Covid numbers creep back up. I supported the mask resolution (encouraging, not mandating, Tulsans to follow CDC guidelines) which was unanimously approved by the City Council.

Chad Hotvedt: Yes, I prefer to take guidance from experts.

Lee Ann Crosby: Probably. By working in conjunction with county and state health o2fficials we have to keep in mind that there's only so much that can be done. We just experienced a once in a 100 year pandemic.

As we learned in 2020, city mask mandates were essentially unenforceable and are properly under the purview of the Health Department. Individuals, businesses, places of work, etc., should follow the guidance of the Tulsa Health Department.

That said, more should have been done for our seniors and those facing the end of life alone during the crisis instead of arguing over masks. It shouldnt have been a fault line.

10. Name one city department you believe should receive more funding and describe how those funds should be spent?

Jayme Fowler: Permitting and inspections. The city has gotten better with permitting and inspections, but we need to have more automation, streamlining, and faster turnaround on permitting. In addition, our inspections need to be more consistent. Overall permitting and inspections have gotten better, but theres still room for improvement.

Chad Hotvedt: Social and economic development. It is the lowest funded by about $10 million. I would focus on housing, animal welfare, and providing equitable economic opportunities for all Tulsans.

Lee Ann Crosby: Crafting a budget is one of the most important tasks put to the City Council.

We need to be mindful that the employees who are on the front lines, out in the middle of winter and repairing busted water mains arent overlooked. Or, for example, Animal Welfare is properly staffed and has the resources they need. We need to support salaries commensurate with hard work and years of dedication.

Too many times, wants are put above needs. We need to recruit the best talent and retain the best and brightest.

11. And finally, where is the city lagging when it comes to economic development, and what should the city do about it?

Jayme Fowler: I spent time away from Tulsa and worked for asset management firms in New York, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Ive lived in Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, and Birmingham, and I have traveled to cities throughout the United States. All these cities have their unique signatures.

For so long Tulsas unique signature was the oil and gas business. Tulsa needs one big bang to really take our growth from plodding, linear growth to accelerating growth. The mayor one day rattled off all the incredible things happening in Tulsa. The Gathering Place, Discovery Lab, Greenwood Rising, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Gilcrease, River Parks, OK Pop, Turkey Mountain, BMX. The citizens of Tulsa, government leaders, the universities, business leaders, philanthropists have all joined hands in crafting a bright future for Tulsa.

Lets narrow our focus and messaging just a little tighter. We are on the right track.

Chad Hotvedt: I think our city is lagging in programs to educate its citizens in high demand jobs. I want to see programs in place that train our people and then help with job placement. I want to see programs that will help Tulsans start their own business by supporting them as they apply for loans and write a business plan. I want to work alongside our business community to help place new Tulsa entrepreneurs with mentors to help ensure they will succeed.

Lee Ann Crosby: Workforce training is crucial. Businesses are more likely to come to a place with an abundance of skilled labor. We have a world class vocational training system and we just need to ramp it up so that we dont lose any more opportunities like Panasonic.

We need to take care of the Tulsans that are here by meeting their needs first and improving the quality of life attainable by citizens.

Related
Tulsa police are warning of an increase in rental scams targeting responders to online ads and are sharing tips on how to avoid being duped.

The scammers use photographs stolen from legitimate sites such as Zillow to create a fake online marketplace listing, according to a Tulsa Police Department social media post Friday.

Those who respond to the fake ad might then be offered a tempting incentive for paying a large deposit or several months rent up front, often requested via money transfer apps or gift cards.

In the end, you have just sent a scammer thousands of dollars for a property you thought you were renting, only to find out that property was never for rent in the first place, police said. It was actually for sale by the actual homeowner, or through a real estate firm.

Several other red flags can indicate a rental scam, including being denied a tour inside the rental before paying a deposit, or receiving excuses as to why the inside of the property is inaccessible.

The scammer will have a believable story about how they are out of town or deployed in the military so they cannot physically let you inside to see the property, police said.

Potential renters are warned never to make a payment to someone theyve never met in person, in addition to thinking twice about listings from individuals on an online marketplace.

Do extensive research on the prospective property you wish to rent, police said. If the property owner does not match the person you are attempting to rent from, cease all communication.

The Tulsa County Assessors Office helps potential renters with this research through its website, assessor.tulsacounty.org.

Victims of a rental scam are encouraged to file a report at tulsapolice.org.
A lot can happen in an hour or two. Monday night sure proved it.

That evening, after finishing up at work, I packed my gym bag, spent about 90 minutes at the Y, and then headed home. As I walked out the door to my car, I got a notification on my phone: The FBI had served a search warrant at former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence.

It was big news, but there wasnt much else to go on. If theres one wise piece of advice I received long ago, its to be patient and get the facts before opening my big yap.

Unfortunately, thats not the world we live in. Twenty-four hour news cycles, social media and election year politics demand immediate commentary and calls for action. We sure got a lot of that.

A sampling from the Oklahoma congressional delegation

Its been 24 hours & weve heard nothing from DOJ & the FBI, tweeted Sen. James Lankford. This is completely unacceptable. The politicization of DOJ/FBI has gone entirely too far.

Todays unannounced, politically-motivated raid on President Trumps home was a reckless move from the Biden Admin & proves how the administrative state has grown dangerously out of control, read a statement from U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern.

What happened last night at the private residence of (former) President Donald Trump should send chills down every Americans spine, U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin said.

The unprecedented raid on Mar-A-Lago & former President Trump is deeply concerning, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice said. We must know exactly why this raid occurred.

The furrowed brows of our elected officials didnt compare to the vitriol elsewhere in the Trump universe. Steven Crowder, a one-time stand-up comedian and now conservative commentator, was one of a legion of people basically calling for violence.

Tomorrow is war, the host of Louder with Crowder tweeted. Sleep well.

Whew. Thats a lot, and most of it based on little knowledge of what actually happened at Trumps Florida estate.

What do we know? Not a ton. The nature of police investigations means we often dont know everything until a charge is filed, if that happens at all.

But there are some bits of information that, if taken in before everyone started sounding off, might have cooled things down.

The first question: Why did the FBI execute a search warrant? The answer is that agents sought to retrieve documents from Mar-a-Lago that belonged to the government. Presidential records are government property, and once a president leaves they belong to the National Archives.

The National Archives had received 15 boxes of documents that had been stored at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year  some of which were classified. That, apparently, prodded the Justice Department to retrieve other records it suspected were still stored in Florida.

Keep in mind that the 1978 Presidential Records Act not only mandates that these records be turned over, but carries consequences.

Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined $2,000, up to three years in prison or shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States, the law reads in part.

In 2018, Trump signed another law that makes it a felony to remove or retain classified documents. This was in response to a similar 2016 classified documents case involving Hillary Clinton. Well get to that in a minute.

Trump wasnt pleased, and thats not surprising. Ive yet to see anyone who was all smiles when federal agents started rummaging through their stuff.

My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.  They even broke into my safe! he said in a statement.

Never mind that no agents would have set foot there had those records been returned.

The second question: Is this, as many have alleged, a weaponization of the Justice Department and the FBI? Considering the high bar you have to clear to obtain a warrant, Im skeptical.

Justice Department officials, the FBI and judges need to be assured that there is reason for a search. They want to know what youre looking for, where it is and have a solid indication that agents will find what they seek.

Add the delicate matter of doing this at a former presidents home and you better be sure your information is right.

In the search, agents took records found in three rooms at Trumps estate, including a personal safe. Just a guess, but that sounds like they had it on good information that the records they were looking for could be found in these specific places.

A third question: Is there some sort of urgency here? Id say yes. Given the fact that classified records were in the first batch of records received from Mar-a-Lago, theres good reason to fear that more could have been stored there.

The unsecured nature of their storage and the estates shaky record on security  during Trumps presidency, a Chinese government operative was found wandering the compound with a thumb drive containing malware  you could see how those in national security circles would have serious concerns.

And one more question: Is Trump facing criminal prosecution over this? Thats not so clear.

Prosecuting a former president is weighty stuff, and were talking about a law that is not often invoked. Investigators might be satisfied that they retrieved the documents and leave it at that.

Going back to the Clinton case, federal agents investigated her handling of classified information through emails routed through a private server. They discovered that classified information was transmitted, but declined filing charges, stating that they couldnt prove intent to break the law.

Careless? Yes. Maybe even reckless. But in the eyes of the Justice Department, it wasnt enough to be called a crime. That may also happen here.

Its possible that further investigation could change that. But as is the nature of criminal investigations, no one is going to know until much later.

There are a few conclusions we can make with greater certainty. Yes, the FBIs search of Trumps home is unprecedented, but so are the circumstances surrounding it.

And yes, when people were echoing the sentiment that If this can happen to a former president, it can happen to you, that is absolutely true.

We live in a country that is governed by the rule of law, and no one  even the powerful  is supposed to be above the law. You can bet the farm that if the FBI found out you had illegally stashed government documents at your home, youd get a visit.

Id ask our congressional delegation to take a breath. Erupting with outrage at what appears to be a lawful search undermines the rule of law. And God knows, weve seen how the erosion of respect for lawful government action (hello, Jan. 6) can have terrible consequences.
Advocates for reproductive rights secured a decisive and key victory last week in a state that has served as a critical access point for care for Oklahomans.

Spurred by the overturning of Roe v. Wade in recent weeks, Kansans showed up in huge numbers to reject government overreach at the highest level. Voters with varied backgrounds and beliefs made history together  in a state nearly as red as Oklahoma.

They joined in solidarity behind a common cause: protecting abortion access.

With the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to gut Roe v. Wade only weeks behind us, all eyes looked to Kansas as the first state with an anti-abortion referendum up for vote on a primary ballot. The race that determined the fate of abortion rights for the last state that held access across most of the Midwest was always expected to be tight.

What resulted was a staggering show of support for bodily autonomy from an overwhelming number of Kansans.

This election has shown that neither Republicans nor Democrats want their rights to access health care up for a vote, despite what many have assumed. As a colleague at a neighboring Planned Parenthood affiliate quipped this week, as Kansas goes, so goes the country.

Kansans resoundingly voted no. But, long before that, they organized. They phone banked and canvassed. They called everyone they knew and asked them to put signs in their yards and business fronts.

They helped educate people against the lies and deception of the oppositions arguments.

They contributed dollars  large gifts, modest ones, and everything in between. They showed up and won by 19 points in a race everyone knew would be close. While people may have aligned with the movement prior to the fall of Roe, it drove action at the ballot box.

Most notably, Kansans have proven that showing up in consensus, across party lines and amid this dangerous political landscape for reproductive rights is not only doable, it is our only solution.

At Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, we joined forces with a handful of mission-aligned organizations to form the coalition Kansans for Constitutional Freedom. We knew exactly what was at stake for the states we serve.

We worked with experts who understood Kansas messaging, early and ongoing polling, sophisticated communications efforts, and field organizing. On the strength of roughly $10.7 million raised across 13,000 donors  a Herculean effort, particularly for a ballot measure in a primary election  our Vote No campaign defeated the misleading Value Them Both amendment that would have removed the state constitutional right to an abortion and paved the way for a total ban.

While the political conditions in places like Oklahoma may not be as favorable toward reproductive rights as they were in Kansas, we know now that our allies are out there.

The remarkable results around this election show that advocates and activists for reproductive rights are speaking out and standing up to politicians committed to decimating their rights. This is a diverse movement calling out more in unison than ever before, demanding to be heard.

The grassroots efforts in every area of this campaign are ultimately what won the election. In the end, it was the sum of the work and the will of the people that prevailed.

A spark was ignited in Kansas  and it will catch in other states. We will not let up until it does, and it will take all of us working together and showing up for what we know is right in Oklahoma and across the country.

March. Vote. Win.
For 10 years, Tulsa City Councilor Jeannie Cue has done the work District 2 residents expect. She shows up in her community, does her homework, listens and acts in good faith for solutions.

Cue is a third-generation Tulsan who grew up on the southwest side of the city. She is a retired emergency room charge nurse and American Airlines employee with decades of volunteer service in her district, including with school groups, business associations and nonprofits.

District 2 includes a good portion of south Tulsa, including the successful Tulsa Hills shopping center and the Southern Hills and Oral Roberts University areas. But she is acutely aware of the challenges plaguing the 61st Street and Peoria Avenue corridor.

Its an area that was troubled for years before she took office, with deep issues of poverty, crime and lack of resources. But shes determined to turn it around.

Cue supports bolstering law enforcement in the area, including once assisting in a public safety grant for community policing. She is part of a working group to find ways to make housing safer for residents.

After a medical clinic closed in the area, Cue used her connections to attract a new one inside an existing nonprofit. Shes been known to go door-to-door talking to residents about their problems.

Homelessness remains a priority, an issue she brought to the council after having volunteered as a nurse in the Day Center medical clinic. She also champions issues for older and disabled people, such as sidewalk access and other infrastructure challenges.

She has an equal passion for Tulsa Animal Welfare, calling the conditions at the shelter heartbreaking and supporting its renovation and expansion.

Among her favorite topics is Route 66. She helped establish the Route 66 Commission in the Mayor Dewey Bartlett administration, securing money in the Vision tax package for projects connected to the historic highway. She continues to be active in the Route 66 Village and Station.

This joy for Route 66 comes from her years of traveling and wanting others to know of Tulsas unique offerings. She sees this as a key tourism attraction for Tulsa.

Her opponent, Aaron Bisogno, has challenged her in two previous races.

Cues work ethic reflects her passion for public service. She is honest about what she knows and doesnt know, and she then seeks answers and takes action. Shes the type of councilor to answers calls from 7 a.m. to midnight and who works tirelessly for others.

Just as important, she is a team player with other councilors. Thats an often underappreciated value in an elected official.

District 2 has been well-represented by Cue, and we support her reelection.
Ho Chi Minh City welcomed nearly 123 MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourists from South Africa on Thursday for a four-day visit.

The 123 MICE tourists include leaders, officers, and employees from ABSA Group Limited, one of South Africa's largest financial service organizations serving private, commercial, and corporate customers.

Geoffrey Christian Le, director of ABSA Group Limited, shared that the hospitality of the Vietnamese people was one of the reasons why the company chose Vietnam for its first trip following a two-year halt to company travel due to COVID-19 pandemic.

"I genuinely love Vietnamese people. They are individuals who cherish family values, Le said.

Ho Chi Minh City has a vibrant nightlife, a beautiful river, and cultural and traditional values that are unlike anything else in Vietnam.

A MICE tourist group from South Africa arrives at a five-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, August 11, 2022. Photo: Supplied

Furthermore, this location offers amazing cuisine, safety, and a comfortable setting for exploration and amusement.

The hotel infrastructure [in Ho Chi Minh City] and top-notch service standards are capable of satisfying any of our group members.

According to the program outlined for the trip, the group will remain in Ho Chi Minh City for four days and three nights at a five-star hotel, during which time they will participate in conferences, enjoy local cuisine, tour the city on double-decker buses and Vespa scooters, and enjoy a cruise on the Saigon River.

Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, stated that the city fully supports visits from MICE tourist groups.

Ho Chi Minh City's tourism sector anticipates that from now until the end of the year, it will welcome more MICE visitor groups for conferences and sightseeing, nightlife, and exploration of the citys vibrant culture.

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Vietnam is willing to hold trade talks with the United States to timely solve arising problems regarding a U.S. anti-circumvention investigation into steel pipe products imported from the Southeast Asian country.

Le Thi Thu Hang, spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the statement at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on Thursday following reports that the U.S. officially initiated an investigation into the case.

Hang affirmed that the Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive partnership has witnessed progress in all fields in recent times, including in economy, trade, and investment.

Vietnam is the leading trade partner of the U.S. in Southeast Asia, while the U.S. is the second-largest trade partner of Vietnam, with two-way trade turnover exceeding US$110 billion in 2021.

Vietnam advocates promoting economic, trade, and investment cooperation with the U.S. on the basis of freedom, fairness, and mutual benefits in accordance with bilateral agreements and regulations of the International Trade Organization (WTO), she said.

Vietnam is willing to exchange with the U.S. through existing mechanisms such as the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to promptly solve arising problems and strengthen economic, trade, and investment relations for the interests of businesses and people of the two countries."

In their lawsuit filed in May, major U.S. steel pipe manufacturers, namely Nucor Corporation, Bull Moose Tube, and Maruichi Steel Corporation, accused Vietnam of importing hot rolled steel (HRS), the main raw material used to produce steel pipes, from several countries, including China, for processing steel pipes to be exported to the U.S..

By doing so, the said Vietnamese exporters try to evade the respective trade remedy tax that the U.S. is levying on several countries, including China, according to the lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently decided to officially initiate a probe into the case.

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With the peak summer travel season drawing to a close, Vietnams international tourism segment still faces bottlenecks on its route to full recovery.

Within the framework of a program early this week to discuss the current state of the Vietnamese tourism sector, representatives from businesses and organizations across the country voiced doubts that Vietnam will meet its goal of welcoming five million foreign tourists by the end of the year if regulations governing visa policies, infrastructure, and personnel are not relaxed.

Incomplete recovery

According to Cao Thi Tuyet Lan, sales manager at Viettours Incentives & Events Co. Ltd., foreign tourists still find it difficult to enter the country despite Vietnam having fully reopened its borders.

What's more, it is hard to apply for visas for business travelers who work with domestic enterprises," Lan said.

[The domestic partner] first has to register [the foreign partner] with the Immigration Department, then wait for a week to submit a visa application.

If these bottlenecks are not removed quickly, the number of foreign tourists [Vietnam welcomes this year] will not be high."

Echoing Lans sentiment, Phung Quang Thang, director of Hanoitourist, noted that Vietnam should prioritize international tourism given that the revenue from the 18 million foreign visitors it welcomed in 2019 was significantly higher than that from the 85 million domestic tourists who took holidays that same year.

Revamping tourism promotion

In addition to welcoming an extremely modest number of international visitors, tourism infrastructure in hotspots across the country have yet to be restored after nearly two years of minimal use, and tourism promotional activities remain sluggish.

Vo Anh Tai, deputy general director of Saigontourist Group, suggested that municipal and provincial authorities develop products, programs, conferences, and seminars on tourism, as well as host diplomatic, cultural, and sporting events to welcome foreign delegations from key markets.

Cao Tri Dung, chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association, recommended that Vietnam build a big data platform that will allow tourism organizations to directly access customer information in order to improve promotional activities.

Besides traditional promotion activities, such as organizing roadshows and participating in international fairs, local tourism should be promoted through digital channels," Dung said.

Foreign tourists say Bali is not attractive anymore, but they arent sure of an alternative.

"Vietnam has great tourism products, but isnt great at promoting them.

Easing the visa process

Nguyen Trung Khanh, chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, used the event to share that the Southeast Asian country welcomed 733,400 foreign tourists between January and July, approximately 15 percent of its five-million-foreign-tourist target.

In addition to the facts that Vietnams peak tourism season usually hits during the second half of the year and COVID-19 prevention policies are enforced by different countries, Khanh attributed the international tourism sectors slow recovery to shortcomings in renewing commercial tourism products and a lack of personnel.

Vu The Binh, chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, countered Khanhs argument by citing obstacles in the visa process as the primary reason foreign tourists are not visiting Vietnam, going as far as suggesting that the country extend the visa waiver period it currently has in place for certain countries to 30 or 60 days from 15 days.

The recovery and development of Vietnams international tourism sector are urgent for more than 40,000 enterprises and two million workers in the industry, as well as millions of people who indirectly benefit from tourism, Binh affirmed.

At a recent meeting with tourism-related enterprises, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said that the number of foreign tourists was smaller than expected but he highlighted that the sector is not all doom and gloom.

Hung cited the number of foreign arrivals this year as 950,000, a 10-fold increase over 2021, crediting it to the General Statistics Office.

Despite its desire to fully recover, Vietnamese tourism is dependent on other countries reopening policies.

The Russia-Ukraine military conflict has also affected one of Vietnams largest source markets  the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea are still heavily focused on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are striving to attract tourists. We will review visa policies and create favorable conditions for reopening, the minister said.

Regarding proposals on easing visa policies, Minister Hung said the prime minister had recently held a meeting with the relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to clear obstacles facing international tourists.

In the coming periods, immigration policies will be surely relaxed, Hung assured, adding that enterprises should, in the meantime, prepare resources to improve their services.

Modest number of foreign visitors to Ho Chi Minh City

According to Phan Thi Thang, deputy chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee, the city served around 13.3 million domestic travelers and more than 765,000 foreign tourists from January through July, bringing in revenues of nearly VND60.4 trillion (US$2.6 billion), surging 57.82 percent year on year.

Nevertheless, the number of foreign guests was well below the figure recorded in the pre-pandemic period, Thang added.

Many other localities faced the same fate. Among the more than 1.45 million tourists who visited the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa during that seven-month period, over 1.38 million were local tourists and only 70,000 were foreigners.

The number of local visitors to the province was equal to 57 percent of that logged during the same period in 2019, while the ratio was only five percent for foreign tourists.

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam welcomed 954,600 international arrivals from January through July, skyrocketing 10 times over the same period last year but plunging 90.3 percent over the same period in 2019.

The country generated VND324.9 trillion ($14 billion) from lodging and catering services, and VND11.9 trillion ($511.2 million) from traveling services.

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Multiple illegal constructions sites been identified within protected marine areas managed by a national park on Phu Quoc, a popular tourist island off southern Vietnam, though the park management board said they are not authorized to deal with the issue.

Within one of the protected maritime areas in Phu Quocs Ham Ninh Commune is Cay Sao floating restaurant.

Unlike other floating restaurants that are built on buoys and rafts, Cay Sao was built on concrete pillars firmly planted into the ground below the water.

The restaurant is connected to the shore by a wooden boardwalk.

Next to the restaurant sits a row of bungalows also constructed on concrete pillars.

A similar grouping of bungalows could be spotted about 300 meters further down the coast.

We are sitting in a protected marine area where lots of sea turtles used to visit, a local friend told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters.

How can nature be preserved with these bungalows?

Similar situations seem rampant in protected maritime areas across the island.

On Phu Quocs off southern coast, for example, sits Roi Islet, where a barge registered to Ngoc Trai Ngoc Hien Phu Quoc Company continuously pumps sand into the water to build a new tourist site.

They are forming an area for ocean-related leisure activities, a local explained.

A bridge is being illegally built on May Rut Trong Islet off Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam. Photo: T.Trinh / Tuoi Tre

Ho Phi Thuy, director of Ngoc Trai Ngoc Hien Phu Quoc Company, admitted to building up the seabed near Roi Islet without asking for permission from local authorities.

The firm planned to create a nearly 2,000-square-meter area where tourists can take part in water activities.

Such constructions are commonplace on the islets surrounding Phu Quoc.

On May Rut Trong Islet, a 500-meter pedestrian bridge is being built. Attached to the bridge is a 100-meter ramp meant to lead visitors directly into the sea.

The coral reef surrounding May Rut Trong Islet is definitely affected by these constructions, a boat driver said.

Unauthorized to handle the problem

Nguyen Van Tiep, director of Phu Quoc National Park, confirmed that much of the construction taking place in these protected maritime zones is illegal.

"We have sent an official dispatch to police officers and local authorities to ask for their assistance because we do not have the authority to handle these cases," Tiep said.

A birds-eye view of an illegal pedestrian bridge on May Rut Trong Islet off Phu Quoc Island, southern Vietnam. Photo: S.L. / Tuoi Tre

The park management board has identified dozens of such cases, some of which encroach on several hectares of protected space.

The park is not authorized to impose penalties for these encroachments, Tiep stated, adding that the boundary of the park is not clearly marked.

The Phu Quoc National Park covers an area of more than 40,000 hectares, but it employs only a small number of workers.

We often coordinate with the local border guard unit and other authorities to patrol the protected areas, but preventing encroachment remains a challenge, the director explained.

Huynh Quang Hung, chairman of the Phu Quoc Peoples Committee, said that the administration will work with the national park to deal with violations of the protected maritime areas.

We have penalized and will continue to penalize violators, and we will require them to dismantle their illegal constructions and return the encroached areas to their original conditions, Hung stressed.

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The Australian Film Television and Radio School and the famed Industrial Light & Magic have announced a partnership that will see new world class training for Australians in visual effects.

A new Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects, commencing in February 2023 is designed to upskill emerging practitioners, digital artists and budding technical directors through on-the-job training with formal education by leading industry experts.

Delivered full-time over two semesters it is led by senior professionals in the industry from ILM and AFTRS.

AFTRS CEO, Dr Nell Greenwood, said, This is a really exciting partnership for AFTRS and the Australian industry. The combined skills of the ILM and AFTRS teams set a new benchmark for world-leading, industry partnered education.

The need for skilled visual effects artists is increasing rapidly and this unique course will have a real impact on the capacity and growth of the Australian VFX sector.

Executive in Charge of ILMs Singapore and Sydney studios, Luke Hetherington, said, A program between ILM and AFTRS felt like a very natural partnership from the start of our discussions. Were bringing 45+ years of traditional film craft teaching together with specialized, high-end technical knowledge from ILM and will use real world production examples, techniques and working environment. I believe this will help accelerate the development of highly skilled and diverse talent, which the Australian screen industry has an abundance of opportunities and needs for.

Dr Greenwood added, This year AFTRS launched a new five-year corporate strategy, Creating the Future, with a redrawn mission to offer its world-leading, industry partnered training and education across Australia. This new partnership with ILM is central to the School delivering on its ambition to offer future-facing, sustainable, world-leading training and its remit to support the growth and skills-level of the Australian industry.

Candidates for the 2023 intake will be able to apply from mid-August.
Seven is teasing Matt Preston, Curtis Stone, Colin Fassnidge and previously-unannounced Gary Mehigan for upcoming episodes of MKR.

But the promo department appears to have snipped together footage which indicates Matt Preston replacing Nigella Lawson in home cooking contests, alongside Manu Feildel.

There is also a new-look MKR HQ in which Curtis Stone, Colin Fassnidge and Gary Mehigan appear.

While the clarity isnt clear, what is clear is that Nigella is still judging Group 1 contestants this Sunday.

Will she be back for a Grand Final?

The creme de la creme of Australias culinary world are joining forces for the first time. Dont miss kitchen legends Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan, Curtis Stone and Colin Fassnidge on Australias favourite cooking show, MKR, on Channel 7 and 7plus.

MKR judge Matt Preston is an award-winning food journalist, best-selling author and broadcaster. Having judged cooking shows at home and abroad, he has a discerning eye for a winning dish and says he wants MKR teams to plate up tasty and unpretentious cooking.

Matts advice to the aspiring home cooks ahead of their instant restaurants? Dont show off; bring us the food you cook at home that your friends and family love. Also, your instant restaurant is not a place for first-time experimentation. Minimise your risks.

Renowned chef, restaurateur, author and international television personality, MKR guest judge Curtis Stone makes a welcome return to the series. Chef-owner of famed Los Angeles restaurant Maude, Curtis is keen to share his knowledge and food philosophy  using the best local and seasonal ingredients and treating them simply  with this years contestants.

Having honed his taste chasing flavours across the world from Mumbai to Seoul, award-winning presenter, restauranteur and podcaster Gary Mehigan makes his return to Australian screens to put the MKR contestants to the test; while MKR favourite and guest judge Colin Fassnidge is back with his trademark direct style. Trained by the legendary Raymond Blanc, the chef and cookbook author is famous for his refined take on the nose-to-tail food philosophy.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 98.5 percent of all businesses in Malaysia are SMEs. Hailed variously as unsung heroes, backbone of the economy and even as employers of last resort, the importance of SMEs to the country's economy cannot be overstated. Yet, in 2021, SMEs only grew by 1% versus 4.4% among larger companies. This is underscored by a miniscule growth in labour productivity among SMEs of a mere 0.1% in 2021, or 6.4% lower than 2019. This shows that despite all the optimism shown in the public, SMEs performance remain subdued despite the economy re-opening.

SME CEO Forum 2022

What ails the SMEs? Why haven't the SMEs caught up with the larger players in terms of growth and recovery?

These were the questions asked during the SME CEO Forum 2022, an annual mega gathering of SMEs organised by Business Media International and Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia or SAMENTA, on 9 August 2022 in Kuala Lumpur.

Some 22 speakers and panellists took turns to address the pain points of SMEs and the challenges holding them back, including on issues such as supply chain, technology and digitalization, financing and sustainability.

SME Corp CEO, Rizal Nainy officiated the opening ceremony of the SME CEO Forum 2022, along with Datuk William Ng, managing director of Business Media International cum chairman of SAMENTA.

The highlight of the SME CEO Forum 2022 was a spotlight session titled 'Harnessing the Power of SMEs in the Endemic' featuring Dr. Ong Kian Ming and Wong Chen, Members of Parliament of Bangi and Subang respectively.

"We are engaging with the government to address the issues of supply chain disruption and development, labour shortage and the spiralling costs of raw materials. But while we await for stronger intervention and help from the government, SMEs must act now to digitalise and automate their businesses, while adopting best practices in talent management and ESG," Datuk William Ng said.

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"SMEs need to understand that at the end of the day, it is up to them to help themselves. The pandemic has been a wake-up call for all SMEs. Moving forward, we will need to strengthen our basics and be more vigilant of internal and external factors that will affect our productivity and profitability," Ng added.

The SME CEO Forum 2022 is supported by Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Asean Retail-Chain Franchise Federation, Bakertilly Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce (DPMMKL), Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KLSICCI), Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MICCI), Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Malaysiakini. Sponsors include Affin Bank, Gsparx, SNS Network and Acer.

About Business Media International

Business Media International is a subsidiary of SGX-listed Audience Analytics Limited, a regional leader in promoting growth for companies in Asia through data-driven brands and initiatives.

We own renowned media brands such as SME Magazine, HR Asia, Capital Asia, Energy Asia, Logistics Asia, TruthTV, and CXP Asia as well as business impact assessment brands such as SME100, HR Asia Best Companies to Work for in Asia, Golden Bull Awards and CXP Asia Best Customer Experience Awards. We organise various exhibitions and have the proprietary Software-as-a-service  Total Engagement Assessment Model  in our portfolio.

Contact Person: Adrian Cheng

Phone Number: +6012-269 2701

Email: adrian@businessmedia.asia

(PRNewsfoto/Business Media International)

SOURCE Business Media International
Yoram Hirshfeld radiated so much kindness, according to former student Amnon Eden, whose son Saul is pictured here with Mr Hirshfield in 2007 (Amnon Eden/PA)

A former student of an Israeli man who died in a car crash in Ramsgate has described him as being special and someone who radiated so much kindness.

Yoram Hirshfeld, 78, and his daughter  Noga Hirshfeld, 40, a Cambridge physicist  were killed after a black Alfa Romeo collided with five pedestrians outside a multi-storey car park in Ramsgate, Kent, on Wednesday night.

Amnon Eden, 54, who lives in Essex, reflected fondly on the first time he met Mr Hirshfeld around 25 years ago, when the latter, who was a mathematics professor, stood in as a substitute for his first year algebra lecturer at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

For the first time ever the lecture immediately made sense. Perhaps the best example ever for the difference that a great teacher can make

Amnon Eden

For the first time ever the lecture immediately made sense. Perhaps the best example ever for the difference that a great teacher can make, the principal scientist at think tank sapience.org told the PA news agency.

His teaching was legendary. He knew how to explain complex math at the highest order in a way that even I, not a mathematician, and dyslexic to boot, could understand.

Mr Hirshfeld became Mr Edens masters and PhD co-supervisor when he studied computer science and he said that when he needed help with mathematical logic, he was there to guide me.

Saul who was one at the time with Yoram Hirshfeld in 2007 (Amnon Eden/PA)

He said he was sorry that his former professor died in such a tragic and unnecessary manner.

Despite moving to Essex in 2002 to take up a post as a lecturer at the University of Essex, the scientist spent many holidays with Mr Hirshfeld at his home in Rosh Pina, in upper Galilee, and also saw him and his family at their home frequently as a student.

Mr Edens son Saul, then just a few years old, also took a particular liking to the academic.

He radiated so much kindness, the first time my son Saul met him he jumped to his arms and hugged him, he said.

Yoram deserves an obituary of sorts for being the greatest teacher and a brilliant mathematician... Yoram was special.

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Amnon Eden

He added: Yoram deserves an obituary for being the greatest teacher and a brilliant mathematician.

Ive lived in five countries (Israel, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, and the UK) and worked with thousands of people (but) Yoram was special.

Tributes have also been paid to Ms Hirshfeld, also known as Noga Sella, who was a girl guides leader with 2nd Milton Guides and Milton Rangers in Cambridgeshire.

On Facebook, Girlguiding Cambridgeshire East said: It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Noga Sella, Leader with 2nd Milton Guides & Milton Rangers.

Noga passed away on Wednesday evening, as a result of a tragic accident whilst on holiday in Ramsgate.

Please keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers at this time.

Oded Sharon, a friend who met Ms Hirshfeld when they studied together at university, said: We went to university together 20 years ago and became close friends back then.

We shared a sense of humour and bonded over geeky things like Star Trek. Noga was one of the kindest, smartest, rare kind of good people I knew.

There were further fatalities as a result of the crash, with a girl of primary school age being taken to a London hospital for treatment for serious injuries, Kent Police said, adding that all the pedestrians were members of the same family.

A vigil was held on Thursday evening on Leopold Street, Ramsgate, to pay tribute to the family.
China "deeply concerned" by situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant: envoy

Xinhua) 08:39, August 12, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Thursday said that China is "deeply concerned" by the recent shelling on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

"We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint, act with caution, refrain from any action that may compromise nuclear safety and security, and spare no effort to minimize the possibility of accidents," he told a UN Security Council briefing.

Zhang chaired Thursday's meeting on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as president of the Security Council for the month of August.

Speaking in his national capacity, the envoy said that the shelling did not pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety, and the radiation level remained normal, citing information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from Ukraine's nuclear regulator.

"Nevertheless, the shelling did cause damage to the physical integrity of the plant, its safety and security system, power supply and personnel safety, which sounded a nuclear alarm to the international community," he said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
Celebrations from Novak Djokovic Credit: PA Images

The will he or wont he play at the US Open saga surrounding Novak Djokovic has taken a fresh twist after the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amended its coronavirus restrictions.

Just a week ago Djokovics coach Goran Ivanisevic admitted that he had zero hope that the 21-time Grand Slam winner would play at this years US Open as foreigners who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 are not allowed to enter the United States.

His statement came despite calls from the likes of tennis great John McEnroe, current player John Millman and politicians to allow the Serbian to compete in New York.

Djokovic himself had stated that he is preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to US.

Comment  Novak Djokovics agony needs to end and a US Open verdict needs to be delivered

And on Thursday he received a big shot in the arm as the CDC issued new guidelines relaxing rules on social distancing and quarantine with one of the key rules stating: Unvaccinated people now have the same as vaccinated people.

A statement read: This updated guidance is intended to apply to community settings. In the coming weeks, CDC will work to align stand-alone guidance documents, such as those for healthcare settings, congregate settings at higher risk of transmission, and travel, with todays update.

The CDC is yet to update its travel advice, but their website state that it is under view following the latest guidelines and a change could see Djokovic compete at the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.

The Serbian missed the defence of his Australian Open title as well as the United States hard-court swing in March due to his unvaccinated status.

After competing at the French Open and Wimbledon, Djokovic was sidelined from playing at this weeks Canadian Open and next weeks Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, due the coronavirus regulations.

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However, he remains on the US Open entry list and a change to the regulations in the coming days could see him fly to the United States to play in New York.

If he is allowed to play, then the Winston-Salem Open is the only event before the US Open that Djokovic could play with the ATP 250 tournament starting on August 22.

However, Djokovic has in the past entered Grand Slams without playing warm-up events and he won Wimbledon this year despite not playing in any grass-court events before the tournament.

The article Novak Djokovic gets a shot in the arm ahead of US Open as the United States loosens Covid-19 restrictions appeared first on Tennis365.com.
LEXEY DANICHEV/Sputnik Host Photo Agency/AFP via Getty Images

Latvias parliament has moved to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism over Russian President Vladimir Putins war in Ukraineand the Kremlin does not appear to be taking it well.

Russia is committing a genocide against the Ukrainian people, Latvian MPs said in a statement Thursday, according to AFP. Russia uses suffering and intimidation as tools in its attempts to weaken the morale of the Ukrainian people and armed forces, and to paralyze the functioning of the state in order to occupy Ukraine.

Over 40 countries have already committed to helping document and investigate Russias suspected war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, from the senseless killing of civilians, to rapes, to mass graves. The International Criminal Court might be putting forward a case as soon as this winter.

Already, Russian officials and lawmakers are indignant at the news that another government believes the countrys behavior on the world stage is as vile as terrorists behavior, and claiming there's no evidence behind it.

Given that there are no facts behind this decision but only savage xenophobia, the authors of this idea should be called nothing but neo-Nazis, Russias Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, claimed on Telegram.

Putins Twisted Mind Games Just Hit a Disturbing New Low

The Chairman of the Russian Federation Councils Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Andrey Klishas suggested Russia ought to retaliate, according to TASS.

"The toughest economic and political measures should be taken, Klishas said, suggesting other nations should be designated as state sponsors of terror instead.

The First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Dmitry Novikov, suggested the United States itself seemed too daunted to designate Russia in the same way.

Latvia has made a decision that would please Washington, but that Washington itself has not yet dared make, Novikov told TASS, adding he thinks Russia needs to respond as well. I am confident that the Foreign Ministry has been drafting proposals on how to react to these developments, and I am sure there will be a reaction."

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Its not clear if hackers have taken the call to action seriously, but Latvias website for parliament, Saeima, was down Thursday in an apparent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, leaving the site inaccessible. Latvias Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) claimed actors supporting Russias aggression were responsible for the DDoS, which consists of pummeling a site with so much traffic that it gets overwhelmed and cant function.

The Saeima has adopted a statement in which Russia is recognized as a country that supports terrorism, the CERT said in a statement. There is a large-scale DDoS attack against the Saeima's resources by activists supporting RU aggression.

The work of parliament hasnt been impacted, the CERT said.

Latvia has begun calling on other nations to step up their scrutiny of Russia, calling on European Union governments to take action as well. Just this week, Estonia joined up with Finland and Latvia to block Russians with tourist visas from visiting their countries. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she expects further restrictions to be discussed in the future at the European Council and European Union leaders' summits.

Latvia is not the only country that has taken steps on designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Some members of U.S. Congress have been working to push the United States to label Russia as a state sponsor of terror as well. Last month, the Senate passed a resolution that called on the State Department to designate Russia with the label. And Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been urging the Biden administration to take that step in the meantime.

Some have gone even further. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that if the State Department didnt step in, Congress would designate Russia first, according to Politico. And a group of bipartisan lawmakers, including Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), and Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), introduced a bill that would jump ahead and create a path to label Russia as a state sponsor of terror without the State Department taking action.

The United States must use every tool we have to stop Russia from its violent aggression in Ukraine, Lieu said in a statement. Russia supports proxies conducting terrorism against civilians around the globe, from Syria to Ukraine. By designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, this legislation increases consequences on Putins murderous behavior.

How Putin Is Pushing His Army Bosses Through a Meat Grinder of Death

The designation would put Russia on the United States short list of state sponsors of terrorism: North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Syria.

And its not just about Ukraine.

Putin has used chemical weapons on NATO soil, aided in the downing of a civilian airliner over Ukraine, and has supported despots like Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Kinzinger said.

Ukrainian officials, who have been pressing allies for months to designate Russia, welcomed Latvias news Thursday. Ukraines Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, said Latvias decision to move forward was a a timely move.

Grateful to Latvian parliament Saeimas and all of its members for recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, Kuleba said. Russia has long deserved this status with its actions in Ukraine and beyond. Ukraine encourages other states and organizations to follow suit.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Francisco Benitez Secures Second 2022 EPT Barcelona Title; Wins 25,000 No Limit Hold'em I (341,565)

August 11 2022 Brandon Bloom

Francisco Benitez has taken the 2022 PokerStars and BarcelonaCasino European Poker Tour by storm. The Uruguayan poker player has gone back-to-back in high roller events by winning the 25,000 No-Limit Hold'em I for 341,565 following a heads-up ICM deal.

His heads-up opponent was Argentinas Ramiro Petrone, and the two players agreed to an ICM deal, which awarded Petrone 306,705 for his second-place finish.

Benitez just recorded a victory in the 10,200 Mystery Bounty event, which concluded on August 9, and the very next day, he entered the 25,000 No-Limit Hold'em which ran from August 10-11, and emerged as the winner to claim another spadie trophy.

This high roller event attracted 50 entries to create a 1,200,500 prize pool, with the top seven finishers making the money.

Best Free to Play Slots

25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results

PLACE PLAYER COUNTRY PRIZE 1 Francisco Benitez Uruguay 341,565* 2 Ramiro Petrone Argentina 306,705* 3 Paul Phua Malaysia 174,070 4 Artur Martirosian Russia 132,060 5 Pedro Garagnani Brazil 102,040 6 Erik Seidel United States 81,030 7 Timothy Adams Canada 63,030

*Denotes Heads-Up ICM Deal

An Awesome Start

I feel very good. Its an awesome, awesome start, Benitez exclaimed following his second victory in back-to-back events.

He found himself making it all the way to the end of the tournament with fellow South American Petrone, and the two players agreed to an ICM deal which gave Petrone 306,705 for the runner-up finish.

Hes my friend, and we talked about getting heads up together, blah, blah, blah', and (then we actually) did it.

Although Benitez has some bigger online results, his victory the other day was his biggest live cash at the time, and now, he has already topped that with an even bigger cash.

Its amazing results its not different to me from online. I have my biggest cash online, but of course, I feel very good.

After his triumph the other day, Benitez said: "[It was a] good start and [gives me] more confidence for the rest of the tournaments. Now, he may have all of the confidence in the world as he continues to play a full schedule of events in Barcelona.

Ramiro Petrone - Francisco Benitez

EPT London Returns After Eight Years

Final Table Recap

Nine players returned to the felt for the second and final day, yet only seven players would claim a piece of the prize pool.

Frances Jean-Noel Thorel came into the day as the short stack, and was the first casualty as he was eliminated by Benitez.

Spanish pro Adrian Mateos was looking to make an early run in Barcelona, but he ran kings into aces and was eliminated on the money bubble in the massive cooler.

The seven remaining players were now in the money, and action started to pick up. Petrone found a double-up with a superior kicker to stay alive, and soon after, he eliminated Timothy Adams in seventh place when Adams couldnt win a flip.

Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel came into the day as the chip leader, but he was left short after being on the losing side of Petrones recent double. He found himself at risk against Petrone with ace-queen against ace-three, but a trey on the flop sent the legendary player to the rail in sixth place.

Brazils Pedro Garagnani had only a few big blinds on the money bubble but was able to chip up and make it into the money. However, his run came to an end in fifth place when his ace-king found no improvement against pocket nines.

Artur Martirosian took the lead in four-handed play, but quickly found himself without any chips. He lost a huge pot with pocket jacks against pocket kings in a hand which gave Benitez all of the momentum, and soon after, Martirosian lost the rest of his chips against the Uruguayan eventual victor and was eliminated in fourth place.

Artur Martirosian

Not long after three-handed play began, Petrone secured a double with ace-queen against Benitezs ace-ten, leaving Paul Phua as the clear short stack. A bit later, Phua ended up getting his chips in with the best hand against Benitez, but the board ran out to give Benitez the winner, and Phua was sent to the rail in third place.

After the third-place elimination, Benitez held more than sixty percent of the chips in play, and the two remaining players discussed and agreed to the aforementioned ICM deal. As a result, the two South American players each scored their biggest-ever live cash, according to The Hendon Mob.

EPT Live Reporting Hub Keep up with all the action by going to our European Poker Tour Hub Click Here
Hello!

Van der Valk first appeared on TV screens way back in 1972 and the hit detective drama was so popular it ran for 20 years before finishing in 1992. Given its large following from viewers, it's no wonder that ITV decided to bring back the hit show in 2020, which is currently being aired once again on the network for season two. MORE: Sanditon star to appear alongside Olivia Colman in new drama - and it looks seriously good The reboot stars Marc Warren, Maimie McCoy and Emma Fielding making up the
A year ago, America ended its longest war and withdrew troops from Afghanistan. After occupying the country for two decades, the withdrawal immediately led to a dangerous situation for any U.S. allies still left in the country, who risked retribution from the Taliban.

During the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the bond between two men from opposite worlds proved to be unshakeable and led to the rescue of a desperate family. They are now sharing their experiences in a dual memoir, Always Faithful.

After several failed attempts to leave, interpreter Zainullah Zaki, known as Zak, who had worked for the U.S. military for several years in Afghanistan, his wife and their four small children were able to leave Afghanistan safely - with the aid of Marine Corps Maj. Thomas Schueman, who helped from the other side of the world.

PHOTO: Marine Major Tom Schueman, and his friend and Afghan interpreter, Zainullah Zak Zaki co-authored the book, 'Always Faithful.' (ABC)

Schueman left Afghanistan in 2013, Zak remained in Afghanistan. As the Taliban took over Afghanistan's capital, Schueman said he immediately thought of his friend and began to make calls, texts and social media posts to try to find someone who could help.

MORE: Victory after Marines tireless battle to rescue translator from Kabul

Meanwhile, Zak spent days in Kabul working to get the proper documents he needed for himself and his family to come to the United States, as Schueman worked from the United States to devise a strategy to get Zak out of the country, ABC News reported in August 2021.

Finally, Schueman said he found someone at the Kabul International Airport to look for Zak's family and secure spots for them on a plane to Qatar.

PHOTO: In this Aug. 31, 2021, file photo, Taliban forces patrol near the entrance gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport, a day after U.S troops withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Stringer via Reuters, FILE)

Schueman and Zak first met in Helmand Province in 2010. Schueman said that Zak quickly became family.

It quickly became apparent that Zak was there to do so much more than simply translate our words; that he was there to fight alongside us, said Schueman. He became one of the members of my platoon, and he was almost immediately family to us.

Chaos ensued in August 2021, when the U.S. began withdrawing the troops left in Afghanistan after spending nearly two decades in the country.

Story continues

PHOTO: In this Aug. 30, 2021, file photo, U.S. Soldiers, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, prepare to board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. (U.S. Army via Reuters, FILE)

Zak recalled the onset of the war in 2001 and the first time he saw American soldiers arrive in his country.

When the Americans came, they were working [to build] Afghanistan. They work for our bright future, said Zak. I decided to go and join the U.S. Army and work together, side by side with them.

Although he was able to help Zak, Schueman said his work is far from over. He is continuing to advocate and push lawmakers to help other U.S. allies safely evacuate.

MORE: Biden signs PACT Act, expanding and streamlining care for veterans exposed to burn pits

I do believe that many people have very good intentions to support our allies, said Schueman. It just seems that the red tape to honor some of these promises that we made to the allies sometimes seem nearly insurmountable.

Schueman said that the two hope that their story can help draw attention to people like Zak and their experiences during the war.

I think it's important to have that dual narrative perspective where you don't have an American telling what Afghanistan is like, said Schueman. You have someone who was born there and raised there. Telling us about their culture, about their religion, about their history. And so I think that's imperative in this type of story.

Marine major and his interpreter find brotherhood amid war in Afghanistan originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
University of North Georgia (UNG) President Bonita Jacobs highlighted UNG's 150-year legacy, rising prominence and bright future in her annual State of the University address Aug. 12.

The faculty-staff convocation at the Convocation Center on UNG's Dahlonega Campus also served as the kickoff for the university's yearlong Sesquicentennial Celebration. Jacobs pointed out that UNG started in 1873 as North Georgia Agricultural College and that its students included 98 men and 79 women that first year. It was the first public college in Georgia to grant a bachelor's degree to a woman.

UNG's history also includes the former Gainesville State College, which opened in 1964 as Gainesville Junior College, to fill a need for accessible, quality higher education. UNG was created through the consolidation of Gainesville State College and North Georgia College & State University in 2013.

"In the 150 years since our founding, we have changed names and consolidated institutions, but our commitments to quality, affordable education and leadership development opportunities remain unchanged. In fact, that thread ties us all together  regardless of our decade, legacy institution or home campus," she said.

Jacobs highlighted UNG's expanding footprint, which includes five campuses, as well. UNG's enrollment has increased 23%, to about 19,000 students, since 2013. Now one of Georgia's largest universities, it enrolls students from nearly every U.S. state and territory and 85 countries. This fall, UNG will open the Cottrell Center for Business, Technology & Innovation on the Dahlonega Campus to prepare the next generation of business leaders. Later this fall, UNG will break ground for new buildings at its Blue Ridge and Cumming campuses.
The University of North Georgia (UNG) launched its yearlong Sesquicentennial Celebration on Aug. 12, marking 150 years of service to the region and the state. The annual Faculty-Staff Convocation ceremony, the first significant gathering for the academic year, served as the celebration kickoff. Throughout the year, UNG activities on each of its five campuses will focus on the university's legacies of academic scholarship, leadership and service.

"The determined spirit that led to the creation of then-North Georgia Agricultural College, sustains us still today. We have unwavering commitments to student success and service to our region and state, and, for nearly 150 years, we have produced civic, professional and military leaders who make a positive impact in their communities and beyond," UNG President Bonita Jacobs said. "Our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members are an invaluable part of our legacy, and we are eager to celebrate this milestone with them."

UNG's Sesquicentennial serves as an opportunity to honor the university's heritage, celebrate its present achievements, and focus on where it will lead next.
INVITATION TO BID

For supply of IT equipment to work for project staff and project partner

No. : 91164605

As a federal enterprise, the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH supports the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. On behalf of the German Government, GIZ currently provides advisory services to the Government of Viet Nam in priority areas : sustainable development of the Mekong Delta through the climate-resilient management of natural resources along the coast. For further information, please visit www.giz.de/viet-nam.

GIZ Country Office Hanoi, under the authority of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammnarbeit would like to annouce the Tender package for supply of the IT equipment for project staff and project partner.

The eligible suppliers interested in the tender can inform us officially through the Email: question-from-bidder-pog-vn@giz.de to receive the tender dossier.

- Terms of delivery: free to delivery to Hanoi as assigned by GIZ in provided location.

- Delivery time: No later than 30.10.2022

- Payment : Payment after receipt of goods against VAT Invoice and delivery note (negotiable)

GIZ will select the most economically and technically efficient quotation from submitted bidders, which fullfil all the minimum technical requirements.

Bid is to be submitted in 02 original copies with full signature and stamp , 01 in Vietnamese and 01 in English, with same validity, including following documents:

1. Letter of Interest signed and sealed by authorised person

2. Company profile (incl. copy of business registration certificate)

3. Copy of audited financial report of last 03 years (incl. balance sheet, income statement, cashflow statement, tax liquidation)

4. Proof of experience for providing similar services in the past (copy of similar contracts)

5. Bidding quotation (technical proposal and financial offer incl. VAT and excl. VAT in 2 separate emails)

The documents are to be submitted to the email VN_PoG_Quotation@giz.de at the latest by 17:00 (Vietnamese time) on 04.09.2022; we request you to submit the technical offer and price quotation in two separate emails with subject as "Technical offer  PO 91164605" and Price Quotation  PO 91164605 respectively.

Bids interested in the assignment are recommended to contact GIZ by sending request to the email address: question-from-bidder-pog-vn@giz.de to receive the complete tender dossier by 17:00 (Vietnamese time) on 31.08.2022.

GIZ is obliged to ensure the confidentiality of all bidding documents submitted.

Note :

Bids sending not as formally required or after the deadline will be disqualified.

Only the winning bidder will be later contacted for order placement
HA NOI  The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the extension of the deadline for issuing its final conclusion on a trade remedy duty evasion investigation into hardwood plywood imported from Viet Nam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Accordingly, the DOC plans to issue the conclusion on October 17.

Currently, the US is applying an anti-dumping duty of 183.36 per cent and an anti-subsidy tax of 22.98 per cent to 194.9 per cent on the product from China.

US customs said Viet Nams hardwood plywood exports to the US increased from US$112.3 million in 2018 to $226.4 million in 2019, $248.5 million in 2020 and $356.7 million last year. The export turnover expanded by 57.6 per cent in 2021 compared to the year before the initiation of the investigation.

According to the DOCs preliminary conclusions, plywood from Viet Nam using materials from China should be subject to the same anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties applied to China. If the materials are produced in Viet Nam or other countries, the products will be exempt from any duties.

The department will ask the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to continue suspending liquidity and require importers to pay a deposit equal to the provisional anti-avoidance tax rate for shipments from Viet Nam since June 17, 2020 when the investigation was announced.

Vietnamese exporters and US importers have been allowed to participate in the self-certification mechanism to be excluded from the evasion measure.

However, the self-certification mechanism is not applied to enterprises that fail to provide information or provide incomplete or inaccurate information as requested by the DOC during the investigation.

Statistics show businesses eligible for the self-certification mechanism made up about 80 per cent of Viet Nams export value during the investigation period.

Relevant parties should send their written comments on the DOC's preliminary findings, and a written request for a hearing on the comments must be submitted to the department within 30 days of the announcement of the preliminary conclusions. The DOC will also verify the information before issuing a final conclusion.  VNS
HA NOI  Nearly 10 tonnes of Vietnamese longan were exported to Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday, according to the Viet Nam Trade Office in Australia.

Previously, dozens of tonnes of the tropical fruit were transported to the country.

The office said it has coordinated with importers in the host country to organise an event to introduce Vietnamese longan to local consumers and overseas Vietnamese there.

Vietnamese longan products exported to Southern Australia and Western Australia states by Red Dragon Co Ltd and distributed by 4Waysfresh continues to be popular among local consumers.

4Waysfresh said it is waiting for Red Dragon to transport more longan to Australia.

The office has urged Vietnamese enterprises to promote the export of longan and other farm produce to this market, and co-ordinate with it in trade promotion activities.  VNS
HCM CITY  Shifting to green growth would help businesses increase their competitiveness and catch up with trends in the domestic and foreign markets, delegates told a seminar in HCM City on Wednesday.

As one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change, Viet Nam has made multi-dimensional efforts to drive the whole nation towards its collective goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gasses emissions targets, achieving sustainable development, and contributing to tackle the global climate change crisis, they said.

Speaking at the Good for Business, Good for Planet seminar held by Nhip Cau au Tu magazine, Tim Evans, CEO of HSBC Vietnam, said, The green journey that Viet Nam has embarked on is bringing both opportunities and challenges. Those businesses who get onboard early can capture major opportunities and build a competitive advantage, for instance, they are able to access green finance and enjoy relevant incentives thanks to regulatory support for green finance to facilitate a green economy.

On top of that, aligning a business to a net zero future also helps build a stronger brand, increase brand value, and improve employer branding to meet the expectations among employees and consumers.

He encouraged businesses to start working out their transition plan, beginning with setting a clear strategy and targets.

They should refer to the guidelines of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures to set short- and long-term targets and adjust their business strategy to align with climate risks, he said.

They should consider rolling out emission reduction initiatives like reducing waste, increasing circularity and implementing energy-efficiency measures, redesigning products for lower-carbon materials and switching facilities to renewable power, and so on. In the long run, new, low-carbon business models should be developed with technologies, goods, and services of a sustainable tomorrow at its core.

In this net zero pathway, cooperation will be the key in driving businesses, especially those who are linked together in the same ecosystem/supply chain, to join hands in looking for win-win solutions that benefit not only themselves but the society as a whole, he added.

Many businesses have already had a green agenda in place and great progress has been made, such as Nestle with regenerative agriculture through the NESCAFE Plan project.

Khuat Quang Hung, head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Nestle Vietnam, said currently nearly two-thirds of Nestles emissions come from the production of agricultural ingredients it uses. Therefore, the shift toward regenerative agriculture will help the group to greatly slash greenhouse gas emissions in the near future.

However, delegates at the seminar agreed that the transition to green growth is a challenging process, and much more needs to be done to achieve the net zero targets and a sustainable future for future generations.

HSBC's Evans said, in order to accelerate the transition of Viet Nam, there is a clear need for the Government to have a thorough framework coupled with detailed policies in place after its green growth strategy as a springboard. The green economy transition requires comprehensive reforms in which the finance sector should be at its heart. Only with strong green finance should other sectors be able to step up.

At present, international funds for green growth, particularly in renewable energy, are still nascent due to the hesitation of investors caused by insecure electricity commercial contracts posing risk to project-based funding as well as the restrictions in regulatory and legal frameworks for refinancing existing projects. Much more needs to be done to create a hassle-free space to leverage international capital for national green growth.

In adition, delegates suggested the Government should have incentive policies to encourage enterprises to transform towards sustainable development.

Top 50 corporate sustainability awards

The seminar was followed by the Top 50 corporate sustainability awards ceremony that honoured 50 foreign invested, listed and non-listed enterprises that have contributed to sustainable development, environmental friendliness and social justice.

The awards also aim to contribute to promoting the trend of sustainable development spreading among the business community and Vietnamese society, raise awareness, and demonstrate how sustainable business benefits companies, the environment, and society.

Akzo Nobel Vietnam, Cargill Vietnam, GE Vietnam, Manulife Vietnam, Nestle Vietnam, Unilever Vietnam, Masan, Nam Long, Novaland, PNJ, Sacombank, the Pan Group, Vinamilk and Hung Thinh Land were among the winners.

The awards were assessed based on criteria such as stable growth (company size, average growth and its position in the market), sustainable corporate culture, corporate governance, environmental protection and the social responsibility of companies.

The programme received data and advisory from the appraisal panel including representatives of HSBC Vietnam, Deloitte Vietnam, FTI Consulting, Talentnet, the Institute of Circular Economy Development and experts from Harvard Business School.  VNS
HA NOI  Gusto Thai, a Thai-style restaurant founded by a Vietnamese owner in Ha Noi, has been awarded the Thai Select certificate for the second time in a row.

This is a certificate from the Ministry of Commerce of the Thai government awarding Thai restaurants in Thailand and other countries that can guarantee food quality and taste and a service style that embodies the essence of the Thai spirit.

The award celebration, which took place on August 9, was attended by Thai Ambassador Nikorndej Balankura and the commercial counsellor of the Embassy of Thailand Taneeya Foocharoen.

Gusto Thai's founder, Pham o Lan Phuong, told VIR: "When the Thai Embassy came unannounced to check, we were completely unaware and had not prepared anything. We greeted them as if they were typical guests."

During a discussion with Ambassador Balankura, Phuong said that maintaining the originality of Thai food while adapting it to Vietnamese preferences was Gusto Thai's greatest challenge.

Since the head chef of the restaurant is Thai, there are tight restrictions on the ingredients used in the recipes. The taste of Vietnamese limes, which differ from those of Thailand, presents Phuong with difficulties as she searches for typical Thai flavours.

According to her, the ideal Thai cuisine should have a balance of all four flavours: sour, spicy, salty, and sweet, with spicy being the most prevalent. The restaurant has put a lot of work into each item they serve.

The menu is separated into four degrees of spiciness, with the Authentic Thai Flavor being the spiciest and Non-spicy being the least. The restaurant strives to make the meals as mild as possible for those who cannot consume spicy food.

"This is my debut restaurant," Phuong said. "Whenever I go overseas, my friends always take me out for Thai cuisine, which leaves an unforgettable memory for me. However, there are no genuine Thai restaurants in Ha Noi, even though HCM City has quite a few. This motivated me to open a restaurant serving true Thai cuisine."

"In addition to its delight and pride, the restaurant is also focussed on how to continue and gain the next certification," she added. VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam is ready to take part in more UN peacekeeping operations in the future, Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien said to UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pauline Tamesis in Ha Noi on August 12.

Chien praised the cooperation and assistance provided by the UN and its agencies, especially the UN Resident Coordinator Office, when Viet Nam served as the ASEAN Chair in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during 2020 - 2021.

He thanked the UN and relevant agencies for working closely with Viet Nam to successfully carry out many war aftermath settlement activities, particularly programmes and projects on addressing unexploded ordnance and toxic chemicals, which brought positive outcomes.

The official said he hoped the UN would continue coordinating with the Defence Ministry in war aftermath settlement through financial and technical aid, capacity building, experience sharing, and database building.

Since Viet Nam officially joined UN peacekeeping forces in 2014, it has successfully deployed over 500 personnel on peacekeeping missions and to the UN headquarters. It is also the first country in Southeast Asia to implement three training courses on heavy engineering equipment, under the Viet Nam-UN-Japan trilateral partnership programme, which received strong evaluations from UN leaders.

The country has maintained a rate of female participation in peacekeeping operations that is higher than the average and pledges to maintain and increase this rate to over 20 per cent by 2025, according to Chien.

Viet Nam would further engage in UN peacekeeping operations, including sending personnel on more missions and diversifying participation forms, he noted, adding that police would also be deployed on operations.

The official asked the UN to continue supporting Viet Nams commitments and political resolve to join peacekeeping operations, and create favourable conditions to further enhance cooperation in this regard.

Tamesis applauded Viet Nam's efforts, especially its military and police forces, in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UN would assist the Vietnamese Government and people in securing the best possible post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and meet healthcare-related demand, she said.

The official said she recently had the honour of signing the Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development Cooperation with the Vietnamese Government, describing it as a very important document that outlines the UNs strategy and assistance priorities for the country in the next five years. The document also underlines the UNs role in helping Viet Nam recover after the pandemic and ensuring that no one is left behind.

The Resident Coordinator spoke highly of Viet Nams achievements in joining UN peacekeeping operations, including the high rate of female participation, noting the UN pledges to continue assistance in this field.

The UN also highly valued Viet Nam sending police officers on peacekeeping operations, including three to the mission in South Sudan and one to the Police Division in New York, Tamesis added. - VNS
Another 22 streets in HCM City are set to become pedestrian only by 2025, helping to cut pollution in the city centre and offer new destinations for tourists. While some residents are excited, others are concerned about the impact on businesses. What do you think about the new plan? 
Van Nguyen

In the front yard of a pagoda, full of bonsai and Buddhist statues, Venerable Quang Tinh in his brown Buddhist Kasaya guides followers through a quiet tea meditation.

The session is part of a series of activities held at Linh Ung Pagoda, located on Truong inh Street in Ha Noi, in celebration of Vu Lan Festival, a big holiday in Buddhism in honour and appreciation of parents.

The meditation helps people be mindful, cherish the present moment and reflect on their parents, said Venerable Thich Quang Tinh who is based in HCM City's Giac Ngo Pagoda and has been invited to Ha Noi to perform the sessions.

Ringing the bell to help practitioners return to their conscious breathing, the monk calmly instructs them to be mindful and present during all aspects of the tea ritual, including making the tea, enjoying its scent and drinking the tea.

The Vu Lan Festival is a gentle reminder every year for those who have lost sight of being grateful to appreciate their families, he said.

Vietnamese people have a tradition of cherishing their ancestors and families.

He said: This beautiful mindset is an integral part of Vietnamese culture. Unfortunately, with globalisation and the rising tendency to put oneself and sensory pleasure first, this custom is at risk of being eroded away.

This year, Im overjoyed to see celebrations taking place all over the streets of Ha Noi and other places. Many areas host week-long celebrations of the Vu Lan festival. It is an effective way to spread the message of the festival, he said.

Vu Lan (Ullambana) Festival, also known as the Amnesty of Unquiet Spirits, is held during the seventh lunar month as this is also considered to be the month lost souls are in the search of mercy. It has become one of the largest annual traditional festivals in Viet Nam that is celebrated throughout the country.

The origin of the festival is explained by the legend of Maudgalyayana (known as Muc Kien Lien in Vietnam), a chief disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha, who was unable to alleviate the suffering of his mother in the realm of hungry ghosts.

He was told that the only way to deliver his mother from the pains of suffering is to rely upon the strength of monastics of all directions in their cultivation of meritorious virtues.

The merits could liberate the deceased from the three suffering realms and allow them to enjoy a life of abundance, good fortune and longevity. Therefore, by observing the practice, all Buddhists can deliver their parents from the miseries of the three suffering realms.

From this, many Buddhist countries have developed their own custom of offering food, clothing, and other items to hungry spirits in the seventh lunar month.

This festival has been widely celebrated in Vietnam to express respect, love and honour towards parents.

On this day, people visit pagodas and temples to worship ghosts and hungry spirits through offerings of food, clothes and other items and release animals like birds or fish.

65-year-old Pham Thi Yen from Ha Noi said the session at Linh Ung Pagoda left her with emotions.

The festival centres around how children should be grateful for the sacrifices their parents have made for them. I am delighted to participate in such an event.

On this day, people use flowers as a way to express their gratitude to their parents. Red roses are pinned on those who have parents with them and white roses for those whose parents have passed away.

I am very happy because my parents are still here with me, so I was able to pin roses to their shirts as an expression of gratitude to them.

ao Thi Bich Chien, 20 years old from Hung Yen Province, said: The rose represents the gift of our parents presence with us. Not only that, it also means they will always be by our side, supporting us.

She said the venerables lectures about parental love are thought-provoking and mean a lot to listeners.

The Venerables lectures are very insightful and special. They really touched me. Reflecting on his words, I personally think that I have already expressed affection for my parents verbally. Although Id like to do it more often, I think that telling your parents you love them from time to time is still better than doing nothing.

I am very moved by this festival. I hope the following Vu Lan season will continue to gather such a large crowd. It reminds me to spend more time with my parents while I am still able to, she said. VNS
After success in testing progress, Vietseed Co., Ltd is closely cooperating with the Nha Ho Research Institute for Cotton and Agricultural Development, based in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, on studying, experimenting, and overcoming the inherent weakness of elephant grass, as well as processing fresh material ready for the mass-production of pellet fuel from elephant grass biomass.

The EU is one of the top four markets for Vietnams agro-forestry-fishery exports, Photo: Le Toan

In addition, based on its long-term orientation, Vietseed has started different programmes such as adopting biotechnology in propagating elephant grass to reduce the cost of new planting and expanding growing areas; collecting and evaluating genetic resources; developing and selecting new elephant grass varieties; and analysing CO2 absorption, aiming at net-zero carbon.

The company established a team to do all research work from field trial to mechanisation of planting, harvesting, processing and making fuel pellets out of elephant grass, said Le Dang Hung, deputy director of Vietseed. Processing pellet fuel from elephant grass biomass will contribute to improving farming productivity and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In another case, dairy producer Vinamilk is implementing Green Farm  a model of sustainable dairy farm development that adapts to local natural conditions with regenerative farming techniques.

The model, which has been implemented since last year on three farms in Thanh Hoa, Quang Ngai, and Tay Ninh provinces, is developed through three major pillars, two of which focus on regenerative farming practices and sustainable practices with innovative technologies.

The programme adopts regenerative farming practices to minimise the impact on the environment and communities, such as utilising renewable energy, preserving soil and water resources, and reducing methane.

Meanwhile, sustainable practices with innovative technologies throughout the whole process, from breeding to production, are to ensure product quality, animal welfare, and environmental goals.

The agricultural group has set sustainable development as one of the criteria for development strategies to participate in realising Vietnams net-zero commitment by 2050.

Agriculture is not only an industry strongly affected by climate change, but also a huge source of GHGs. Statistics published by the Management Board of Agricultural Projects under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) showed that, in Vietnam, the agricultural sector discharges an average of 80 million tonnes of CO2, contributing nearly one-third of total national GHG emissions.

Such emissions in agricultural production are concentrated in the fields of rice cultivation, husbandry and land management, fertiliser usage and land emission management, and burning of plant residues.

Adopting regenerative farming practices and technology practices are effective solutions to GHG emission reduction because, under these models, the fertility in soils will increase and the water holding capacity is also improved, thereby increasing the natural, biological productivity of the land and encouraging species growth, said Dinh The Hinh, deputy head of the Agriculture Project Management Board.

CO2 can be reduced by promoting smart agricultural production, climate-smart agriculture, and good agriculture practices, in addition to replacing inefficient rice land with smart farming systems adaptive to the climate, reducing post-harvest losses and bettering straw management, Hinh added. To implement effectively the GHG emission reduction target, it is necessary to have the cooperation of the business community, especially the private sector, because the cost of reducing carbon emissions is too large.

In Vietnam, many private enterprises have been involved in green and low-carbon agricultural production. For example, the Sustainable Trade Initiative has cooperated with the MARD, local authorities, and domestic and foreign businesses since 2014 to implement the Sustainable Landscape Programme in Central Highlands provinces.

By the end of 2021, more than 10,000ha of agricultural land and 9,000 households have been supported for sustainable production. This has helped reduce the use of chemical fertilisers by 14 per cent and carbon emissions by 60 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nestle Vietnam is continuing to make efforts to implement projects in the field of regenerative agriculture with the expectation of contributing to the national emissions reduction targets.

Notably, the group integrated regenerative agriculture through its NESCAFE Plan with the aim of conserving and restoring farmland, ecosystems, and vital resources including soil, biodiversity, and water, thus benefiting farmers, the environment, and society at large.

These benefits include soil carbon sequestration and plant biomass, the improvement of soil health and fertility, and the reduction of the use of agrochemicals and net GHGs.

Agriculture continues to spearhead backbone of economy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung emphasised that Vietnam's agricultural sector has seen the strongest development ever, transforming from producing enough food to meet the needs of the people to exporting at a high percentage.

Organic fertiliser becoming answer for agri-businesses Agricultural businesses are struggling to find solutions to replace fertiliser, with prices continuing to rise.

Agricultural circular model gains traction With Vietnam accelerating the development of a circular economy, many businesses are attempting to apply this model in agriculture  but barriers to approval still stand in the way for some.
The Dwight Schools are a leading global network of International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools. Dwight School Hanoi will synergise Dwights 150-year legacy of academic excellence  pioneering in the IB  to carry out the most advanced co-education programme from preschool to twelfth grade.

Dwight School Hanoi will be situated on a 35,000-square-metre campus and located in the prime location of The Manor Central Park  a premier high-class urban area in central Hanoi.

The school campus boasts state-of-the-art architecture designed by world-leading architect Carlos Zapata. In Vietnam, Zapata is known as the designer of Bitexco Financial Tower  one of 25 symbolic towers around the world  and the JW Marriott Hotel.

Dwight School Hanoi will be situated on a 35,000sq.m campus and located in The Manor Central Park

Bitexco Group chairman Vu Quang Hoi said that he had been working to identify the right education partner to create the best educational environment for Hanoi in particular and for Vietnam in general.

He stated, I want to bring to Vietnam a school that offers preschool to high school with the most advanced facilities and best programmes. I also want this school to be the cradle of outstanding leaders, scientists, and managers who will become the future of the country and bring Vietnam further on to the world map.

Vu Quang Hoi, Bitexco Group chairman

Representative of The Dwight Schools, chancellor Stephen Spahn, appreciates having Hoi as Bitexco Groups companion. All Dwight Schools are dedicated to igniting the spark of genius in every child. This mission rests on the three pillars of personalised learning, community, and a global vision.

As a member of The Dwight Schools global network, students in Hanoi will enjoy numerous cross-campus curricular and creative collaborations with their peers around the world, have the opportunity to spend a trimester or year on any Dwight campus, and the ability to transfer seamlessly to any Dwight School should their family relocate, said Spahn.

Bitexco Group cooperates with The Dwight Schools to develop Dwight School Hanoi

Founded in New York in 1872, Dwight was the first school in the Americas to offer the comprehensive IB continuum curriculum from preschool to Grade 12. Dwights global network of IB Schools has campuses in New York, London, Seoul, Shanghai, Dubai, and in the cloud  Dwight Global Online School extends a Dwight education to students everywhere.

Graduates can attend leading colleges and universities in the United States, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Dartmouth, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania, among many others, as well as other leading higher-learning institutions globally.

Meanwhile, Bitexco strategically invests in education with the vision to foster the future generations of Vietnam and the world while creating a more prosperous and sustainable community. This includes educating and equipping the skills of heart, vision, and intelligence for the future leaders of the country.

Bitexco Group and Dwight hope to bring to Vietnam a leading international education model that encourages the strong growth of Vietnams economy and culture.

Bitexco steadfast in pursuing $1.35 billion urban project In spite of the withdrawal of joint venture partner Emaar Properties PJSC, Bitexco Group, a leading Vietnamese developer, is still pursuing the development of Binh Quoi-Thanh Da urban area in Binh Thanh district, Ho Chi Minh City.
It can be said that membership was the first step in the countrys global economic integration process.

Since then, Vietnam has been actively taking part in joint activities, especially economic cooperation ones. Together with member countries, Vietnam has been making efforts to implement the commitments and initiatives in the bloc, especially promoting the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 with an aim to develop the bloc into a single market and manufacturing hub where goods, services, and investment are freely moving.

The work ASEAN has carried out has helped make trade easier

Vietnam, together with ASEAN nations, has been promoting extensive economic cooperation with international partners. Highlights include signed and enforced free trade agreements (FTAs) between ASEAN and partners such as China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and India, as well as the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA.

As the chair of ASEAN 2020 and taking the role of promoting the establishment of the AEC, Vietnam and member countries displayed a cohesive and responsive spirit through hundreds of online meetings and proposed many initiatives to reinforce the regional supply chain and overcome the pandemic.

They included the Master Recovery Plan, Hanoi Plan of Action on Strengthening Economic Cooperation and Supply Chain Connectivity; and an MoU on dealing with non-tariff measures for the ASEAN List of Essential Goods.

In that chair role, and also as chair of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting, Vietnam actively coordinated with ASEAN member countries and partners to find solutions and promote consensus to deal with the negotiation processes, thus contributing to the signing the RCEP in November 2020. This great effort was highly appreciated by all sides, thus contributing to improving the prestige of Vietnam in the regional and international arena.

In the upcoming time, Vietnam will continue to keep the orientation of ASEAN integration as one of its priorities in the global economic path, reaffirming the sense of initiative in implementing the AECs initiatives and contributing to increasing unity and the dynamics of the economic region as a whole.

After 27 years of ASEAN membership, the implementation of cooperation commitments and initiatives in the AEC has been bringing about positive impacts for the country, businesses, and Vietnamese people in particular.

Vietnams economy has seen great changes in all aspects. In particular, GDP per capita rose over 13-fold, while the economic size grew from $20.7 billion in 1995 to $362.6 billion in 2021, ranking sixth in ASEAN in terms of nominal GDP. Vietnams export turnover rose from $5.2 billion to $336.3 billion in the same period of time.

ASEAN membership has also helped open cooperation opportunities for businesses, contributing to improving peoples livelihoods, creating more jobs, and increasing access to goods with diversified types and quality at reasonable prices from countries worldwide.

(*) Pham Quynh Mai, Deputy director, Multilateral Trade Policy Department Ministry of Industry and Trade
Emulating the ambitions of Singapores high-tech vision, Photo: Le Toan

Last week, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh urged Singaporean groups to increase their investment in Vietnam, notably in the fields of technology, strategic infrastructure development, logistics, and cutting-edge startups.

According to PM Chinh, the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership is growing strongly and quickly in all areas, particularly the economy, trade, and investment. The two-way trade increased by over 23 per cent to reach $8.3 billion in 2021, and it reached $4.75 billion in the first half of 2022.

He stressed that Vietnam wishes to strengthen its bilateral strategic alliance and learn from Singapores experience in establishing an independent, self-sufficient economy in parallel with intense and wide international integration.

The PM suggested that the two countries should launch projects and events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their strategic cooperation in 2023.

Ryan Galloway, country director of Funding Societies in Vietnam (FSVN) told VIR that there is a high level of interest in Singapore companies to venture into Vietnam. In light of this, recent trends of increased supply chain and technology investments may accelerate as Singaporean investors look for safe havens for growth.

Most Singaporean companies with regional aspirations normally look at Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines as a way to establish market leadership creditability. After having experience working with founders/managers across ASEAN, I bet on Vietnam any day: business owners are hyper-competitive, cost-conscious, and execution-driven, Galloway noted.

Funding Societies is the largest digital financing and debt investment platform for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia. For 2022, FSVN has a mandate to disburse more than $90 million.

According to the Asian Development Bank, Vietnam has a $58 billion funding gap for both micro-SMEs and SMEs: quite a large market, capable of supporting multiple fintech players.

Meanwhile, Acronis, a global company with headquarters in Singapore and Switzerland, has announced its plans to invest approximately $50 million in Vietnam over the next three years and open its local office alongside a research and development (R&D) centre by 2023.

The R&D centre in Vietnam is expected to have several hundred employees, hiring both engineers and talents in Vietnam. Acronis Vietnam office will work in close collaboration with its R&D centres in Singapore and Bulgaria to develop cutting-edge cyber protection solutions.

In April, the company also signed a cooperation agreement with FPT University to find, train, and retain talents in the field of IT. It also signed an MoU with FPT with the goal of developing local human resources for the soon-to-be-built R&D centre in Vietnam.

According to Stanislav Protassov, co-founder & technology president of Acronis, Asia-Pacific is a strategic market for Acronis, as Vietnam is one of the key countries in the region with potential for cyber protection. Vietnams cybersecurity market is projected to reach $350 million by 2026.

Considering that the economy is booming and the population continues to grow, Vietnam remains one of the most attractive markets in the region. Acronis is open and interested to acquire prominent cybersecurity startups in Vietnam to make them a part of the global Acronis proposition, he added.

Vietnam is growing rapidly in terms of startups and currently is third in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore and Indonesia, in the number of investments and amount of funding into startups. In 2021, the total amount of venture investments in Vietnam was over $3 billion and in 2022 this number will grow even further.

According to data by the Ministry of Planning and Investments Foreign Investment Agency, 88 countries and territories invested in Vietnam in the first seven months of 2022. Among these, Singapore took the lead with the registered investment capital of more than $4.3 billion, accounting for 27.7 per cent of the total in Vietnam.

Kosuke Sogo, CEO and co-founder of AnyMind Group, stated that Vietnam is an attractive market for Singaporean companies as in 2021, Singapore was Vietnams largest foreign investor thanks to the bilateral relationship between the two nations. Vietnams consumer market has attracted more and more foreign brands to enter, especially technological and e-commerce companies.

Vietnam is a potential market for commerce. Despite the macro situations impacting the world, Vietnam was able to achieve solid growth and recovered rapidly after the pandemic. With the tremendous investment of the country into infrastructure, fintech, and e-commerce, there are various opportunities for Singapore companies to expand their businesses to Vietnam, Sogo noted.

In July, AnyMind Group announced that it has raised 4 billion (approximately $29.4 million) in its Series D funding round. With the funding, AnyMind Group aims to strengthen the companys advancement in the commerce enablement space and fund future acquisitions. It has operated in Vietnam for six years.

We will continue to expand our offerings to drive next-generation commerce in Vietnam, from marketing, e-commerce enablement, logistics management, manufacturing, publisher monetisation and creator monetisation, Sogo said. We are also very open to merger and acquisition opportunities in Vietnam. We are looking for companies that can either enhance our existing offerings or open up new customer segments for us to deliver our technology to their customer base.

Accumulated as of July 2022, Singapore ranked second out of 139 countries and territories with valid projects in Vietnam.

Singaporean investors have so far funded nearly 3,000 projects worth nearly $70 billion, accounting for more than 16 per cent of the total registered investment capital in the country.

Vietnam excited for top city summit Vietnams aspirations to develop smart cities in the near future will be featured at the upcoming World Cities Summit 2022 in Singapore.

Building cities fit for human needs Building liveable and smart cities can only come from the backing of citizens as well as government master plans, a major conference in Singapore heard last week.

More green property trends incoming Vietnam is one of the key markets for Singaporean investors who are interested in green real estate, smart cities, and high-tech logistics.

The key challenges ahead for a digital economic boom Digital revenues in Vietnam are forecast to grow exponentially as the government continues to roll out new initiatives. Dwayne Ong, founder and CEO of Singaporean certification body CASUGOL, talked to VIRs Bich Thuy about how Vietnam can address its primary challenges to ensure sustainable digital growth.

A phased approach to smart cities On the sidelines of the World Cities Summit 2022 in Singapore last week Benjamin Chiang, managing partner for ASEAN Government and Public Sector at Ernst & Young Advisory, shared with VIRs Duc Hanh his knowledge on how to upgrade traditional cities into smarter ones.
The Second Proposal enabled the company to be consistently ranked first in social media shares by YouNet Media during the campaigns roll-out period, significantly improving its brand awareness, consideration, and preference scores with more than 40 million reaches, 35 million views, and 10 million engagements achieved.

The campaign has also contributed to Generalis market-leading position in R-NPS measuring overall customer satisfaction.

The Second Proposal is an integrated marketing campaign launched by Generali on the occasion of Valentine's Day.

The campaign comprised a music video inspired by classic love stories, with impressive LED displays showcasing romantic proposal messages on major streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to carry messages of lifetime bonding from Generali to its customers and the community.

The campaign culminated in a spectacular show featuring popular artists such as Duc Phuc, LyLy, and Osad, delivering great music experiences while further promoting Generalis positive Lifetime Partner messages.

The Second Proposal campaign has followed other successful brand campaigns of Generali in recent years such as Song Nhu Y and De Ngay Mai Luon Toi to bring our brand closer to millions of customers in Vietnam, said Tina Nguyen, Generali Vietnam CEO.

The campaigns name itself signifies Generalis commitment to becoming the lifetime partner of our customers by continually delivering them the best-in-class insurance products and services.

The Second Proposal signifies Generalis commitment to becoming the lifetime partner of customers

The Marketing Initiative of the Year award at the Insurance Asia Awards 2022 once again highlights Generalis innovation, humanity, and depth in its brand messaging and approach.

Generali was also honoured as an Inspirational Brand at the Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards 2021, recognising its success in leaving strong impressions and making its mark with outstanding brand campaigns in recent years such as Song Nhu Y and Tua Vao Nhau Cho Doi Nhu Y.

The Marketing Initiative of the Year award at the Insurance Asia Awards 2022 once again highlights Generalis innovation, humanity, and depth in its brand messaging and approach.

Of note, Song Nhu Y also brought Generali the Marketing Campaign of the Year 2020 award by InsuranceAsia News.

The Insurance Asia Awards is an annual programme organised by Charlton Media Group To honour outstanding insurers for their contributions to the advancement of the insurance industry in the region.

This programme was independently judged by an esteemed panel of experts from prestigious organisations in Asias finance and insurance sectors.

The campaign culminated in a spectacular show featuring popular artists such as Duc Phuc, LyLy, and Osad, delivering great music experiences

Generali Vietnam is part of Generali Group, one of the largest global insurance and asset management providers from Italy. After more than 190 years of operation, Generali Group has more than 75,000 employees, serving 67 million customers in 50 countries.

Standard Chartered Vietnam scoops prestigeous awards Standard Chartered Vietnam has been named the Best Service Provider - Cash Management for the second consecutive year and Best Payments and Collections Solution for Dragon Capital Vietfund Management in 2022 in the Asset Triple A Awards.

Vietnam nominated in 10 categories at World Travel Awards 2022 Vietnam has made the shortlist in 10 categories at the prestigious World Travel Awards (WTA) 2022, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said on June 6.

LNT & Partners wins the ALB Vietnam Law Award 2022 LNT & Partners on May 25 won the ALB Vietnam Law Award at the Asian Legal Business Southeast Asia Law Awards event in Singapore.

With diverse distribution channels and a nationwide network of more than 80 GenCasa (agency offices) and customer service centres, Generali Vietnam is serving over 450,000 clients across the country.

The company has continuously reaffirmed its success and contribution with prestigious awards and recognition, with the two recent titles in 2022 and 2021 being Leading investment-linked insurance product provider in Vietnam and Leading health insurance and customer experience provider in Vietnam; as well as Top 100 Vietnam Best Places To Work 2021 by Anphabe, a leading consulting firm providing Employer Brand and Happy Workforce solutions, among others.
VCs are backing startups in everything from video games to healthcare insurance services, Photo: Djinn Guild

Nano Technologies, a Vietnamese pioneer that lets workers access their wages through its Vui App platform, successfully secured $6.4 million last week in an oversubscribed pre-Series A round led by Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm (VC) OpenSpace.

New investors in the round included Partech Partners, Tekton Ventures, IT Farma, and Sketchnote Partners, in addition to Golden Gate Ventures (GGV), FEBE Ventures, ACE & Company, and more.

The fresh funding round comes a year after Nano Technologies raised $3 million in its seed funding round, led by returning investors GGV and Venturra Discovery, noted Dealstreetasia.

Previous to its involvement in Nano Technologies, OpenSpace has also invested in other Vietnams startups, such as edtech Topica and Finhay.

Finhay, a domestic digital investment platform, bagged a $25 million Series B round co-led by OpenSpace Ventures and VIG, along with Insignia, TVS, Headline, TNBAura, and IVC in late June.

Likewise, business software-as-a-service startup True Platform closed $3.5 million in seed funding from January Capital, Alpha JWC Ventures, BEENEXT, FPT Corporation, and other angel investors in May. The funding round was led by January Capital, a VC firm in Singapore with a portfolio of 40 startups from pre-seed round to Series C in the Asia-Pacific region.

In May, Singapore-based GGV and Vietnams National Innovation Centre inked a cooperation agreement to strengthen the long-term relationship between the two sides and provide support for the development of the start-up community and innovation ecosystem in Vietnam.

Accordingly, GGV will increase investment in the nation, promote exchange, encourage new ideas and innovations, and act as a catalyst to promote the position of Vietnamese startups in the region.

According to the latest KPMG-HSBC joint study on Asia-Pacifics technology-focused startup landscape, Vietnam has one of Asias newest and most dynamic startup scenes. Home to just 1,600 startups at the start of the pandemic, that total has now jumped to more than 3,000 (including the countrys four unicorns), cited data platform Tracxn.

Driving the countrys digital economy is a large, young population that is willing to adopt new tech and consumer services, supportive government policies, and a surge in overseas funding.

According to the Fintech Singapore Association, Vietnams most active fintech investors include Y Combinator, Jungle Ventures, 1982 Ventures, and Goodwater Capital, among others.

In Vietnam, Jungle Ventures, a Singapore-based VC, is backing fintech startups including Medici, a startup striving to make healthcare and insurance more accessible and affordable to the masses; Timo, Vietnams first digital banking platform; and KiotViet, a cloud-based point-of-sale and store management software suite with inventory and cash flow management, marketing, and other management solutions.

While based in the United States, Goodwater Capital has also been looking at investment potential in Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, its investments include MoMo operator M_Service, Vietnams biggest e-wallet Anfin, and Nano Technologies.

1982 Ventures, meanwhile, has allocated a significant portion of its fund to Vietnam and committed to investing more capital in Vietnamese startups this year.

We find that many Singaporean, regional, and global investors are aware of Vietnams potential but unfamiliar with the market and startup ecosystem. As an early investor in Infina, Fundiin, and Homebase, 1982 Ventures has demonstrated that it understands and has access to high-quality Vietnamese fintech startups at the earliest stages, the VC firm said.

Although Vietnams per capita GDP remains relatively low compared to others in the region, its economy is expanding faster than any other market. Growth is predicted to hit near pre-pandemic expansion levels of 5.5 per cent in 2022 and 6.5 per cent in 2023, according to World Bank estimates.

In general, KPMG estimated that venture capital deals in Vietnam surged to $1.1 billion in 2021, up from $301 million in 2020, and $330 million in 2019.

Vietnam has emerged as a hub for startups, closely competing with the likes of Indonesia and Singapore. With a young, energetic, and educated population, high smartphone and internet penetration, and strong government support, Vietnam should maintain its position as a compelling destination for tech entrepreneurs and investors, making the country a thriving environment for potential unicorns, said Tim Evans, CEO of HSBC Vietnam.

In terms of government support, perhaps we can start looking at how the government can create industry-specific policies and supportive frameworks for startups that focus on creating products and services that solve industry-specific challenges, director of KPMG Private Enterprise Nguyen Trung Kien told VIR.

William do - CEO, HOBBIT Investment For several years, many tech startups in Vietnam have been knocking on the doors of Singaporean investors. There is an interest amongst them in our hard-working people, rising economic opportunities, and government-friendly approaches. I have seen a remarkable development in technology progression, implementation, and application in Vietnam due to my experience working with projects at very early stages. The government is making efforts to expand and create conditions for technology niches to develop to the maximum and break through, creating innovative applications to support economic, social, and political development and affirmation to help build the role of Vietnam in general. Human resources have become one of our vital strengths and play a big part in the technology movement of the Vietnamese market. Vietnamese people are one of the leading communities to adapt quickly and are open to receiving new technology ideas. Therefore, it is hard to ignore attraction from the effort and resources the Vietnamese startups bring to add value to the international market and the Singaporean market in particular. Vice versa, Singapore is an ideal venue for Vietnamese blockchain startup thanks to its open policy and ease of access to international investment sources. Herston Elton Powers - Managing partner, 1982 Ventures The most significant trend for the Vietnamese startup ecosystem will be the emergence of fintech startups. While many of the technology incumbents have successfully gained market share in the e-wallet space, we expect the broader financial services stack to be developed by new startups and founders. The governments support for digital payments will unlock massive opportunities for fintech startups to increase access to financial services for all Vietnamese people and businesses. We believe fintech sandbox models have been beneficial for most markets to help sustainably accelerate the pace of innovation. The key is that regulators and startups must be engaged in a productive and continuous dialogue to protect consumers and maintain market stability. The sandbox model can help provide clarity for market participants and decrease uncertainty for investors. With that said, if sandbox registration and approval are not fit for purpose for startups  by not being affordable and expedient  innovative fintech solutions will be slow to launch and struggle to serve the economy. Vietnamese startups can take cues from regional peers such as Singapore and Indonesia. However, we are confident that Vietnamese founders understand their local market. The nations talent level is extremely high and potential founders should be excited about building the next Vietnamese unicorn.

Passion is available to turn Vietnam into blockchain hub Even if traditional entrepreneurs have a fantastic business idea, typical fundraising processes require significantly more effort, time, and money. William Do, CEO of HOBBIT Investment, explained to VIRs Hoang Dan why fundraising in crypto may offer an alternative that is best suited for blockchain-related projects.

Blockchain projects preferring long-term partnerships With the blockchain market showing signs of recovery and the amount of capital increasing sharply in recent weeks globally, investors are now more confident in seeking out stronger connections to move forward.
At the International experience on blockchain technology development and recommendations for Vietnam conference held last Friday, Michael R. DiGregorio, the Asia Foundations country representative in Vietnam, suggested that the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) should allow businesses to experimentally approach areas that are not clearly regulated by laws, such as blockchain.

Legalities in way of blockchain progress, illustration photo

The Asian Foundation is collaborating with Vietnam Blockchain Corporation and jupviec.vn to pilot the application of blockchain. After the blockchain platform is successfully integrated into jupviec.vn, the system will connect about 2,000 domestic helpers with potential customers through the website and mobile application.

This creates favourable conditions for workers when looking for a job, helping to increase their ability to negotiate salaries and other benefits related to their work records and professional certifications. Customers can also obtain personal information, experience and work results, and training certificates of workers.

The legality of this technology has not been guaranteed, so the companies involved in the project are taking risks, DiGregorio said.

This was also the concern of many business representatives and experts at the conference. The application of blockchain technology is now not only limited to the financial sector as before but also widely spreads to many other fields such as games, electronic contracts, logistics management, traceability of agricultural products, and even a digital government.

In Vietnam, blockchain technology is creeping into the operations of leading enterprises, such as the letter of credit management systems of banks such as MB, Vietcombank, and VPBank.

Techcom Securities also applies blockchain and smart contracts to bond issuance, transaction management, and corporate bond ownership for customers in Vietnam.

Blockchain technology applied in the gaming industry also brings stronger imprints, in which projects like Axie Infinity have become new unicorns with a market capitalisation of up to billions of dollars.

The blockchain platform has brought Vietnamese businesses unprecedented opportunities to develop and challenge themselves in the global playground, but it is also risky when participants are not protected by laws.

Phan Duc Trung, vice chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain Association commented, Many young Vietnamese people have created GameFi and other products that resonated greatly with the international community. Unfortunately, the legal environment in Vietnam is not enough to really support and promote this activity, and businesses in the blockchain game field are still mainly starting up in foreign countries.

Therefore, for the first time, a conference was held with the participation of both the legislature, the law enforcement agencies, and technology lovers, which is expected to bring about more positive changes.

These conferences will be the foundation for Vietnam to soon issue policies to promote the digital economy, Trung said.

Many countries have realised the potential of blockchain technology and widely applied it to fields such as education, healthcare, and transportation.

In 2016, Japan amended the Payment Services Act and the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds, thereby putting crypto assets under the management of legal regulations. In 2019, Japan once again revised related laws.

Switzerland also considers blockchain technology very important in the management of digital assets. The policies of this country are made from a technology-neutral point of view, the decision-making power will not belong to the government, but businesses and people will decide for themselves.

In the United States, a number of central and local governments are applying blockchain in providing public services. The US has also shown caution when it comes to digital asset management, but still strongly supports and participates in the G7 cryptocurrency initiative.

Nguyen Manh Tien, vice chairman of the National Assembly Committee for External Relations said, This big playground needs timely direction and guidance. He asserted the need for clearer legal directions so that Vietnam does not lag behind the technological development of many countries in the world.

According to Pham Quoc Hoan, deputy director of the National Electronic Authentication Centre under the MIC, there are eight countries in the world that have a roadmap and strategy for blockchain development.

India has a strategy to integrate modern technology with blockchain. The European Union also makes blockchain a priority to build legislation and infrastructure. Vietnam has built a blockchain community with excellent individuals, but it is not enough, the state needs to develop a specific roadmap for investors and businesses to see opportunities, Hoan confirmed.

Opening up capital flows for local blockchain startups A more transparent system and speedy investment attraction are making blockchain-related ventures a fertile ground for startups in Vietnam.

Blockchain industry faces talent shortage A lack of human resources in the booming blockchain industry is one of the biggest problems in developing blockchain projects in the country.

Passion is available to turn Vietnam into blockchain hub Even if traditional entrepreneurs have a fantastic business idea, typical fundraising processes require significantly more effort, time, and money. William Do, CEO of HOBBIT Investment, explained to VIRs Hoang Dan why fundraising in crypto may offer an alternative that is best suited for blockchain-related projects.
Besides assessing business performance, a growing number of institutional and individual investors are taking into account the ESG criteria before making an investment decision. ESG requires businesses to be transparent about their environmental, social, and governance performance, including their contributions to local economies.

On August 10, Masan Group, the only local enterprise with integration from production to retail, was honoured by Nhip Cau Dau Tu Magazine among the 50 firms in its Corporate Sustainability Awards.

The award was finalised after more than two months of survey and evaluation based on criteria such as stable growth, sustainable corporate culture, corporate governance, environmental protection, and social responsibility.

A representative of Nhip Cau Dau Tu Magazine said, The development of awareness about systemic issues such as climate change, disease risks, resource depletion, and inequality has promoted the investment trends based on ESG criteria or sustainable investment in recent years. The top 50 Corporate Sustainability Awards sets a goal to raise awareness of the business community in the private sector about the role, meaning, and importance of sustainable business.

Masan adopts sustainable solutions in both product development and operation activities

More public attention has been paid to the development of sustainable enterprises as well as a harmonious combination of economic efficiency with social responsibility, environmental protection, and resource conservation.

On February 8, the government issued Decision No.167/QD-TTg approving the programme on supporting businesses in the private sector to do sustainable business in the 2022-2025 period. By 2025, the goal is to raise awareness of the private sector business community about the role, meaning, and importance of sustainable business. Another goal is to develop tools and solutions to measure, evaluate, and recognise sustainable enterprises.

Promoting sustainable development

In the retail segment, Masans WinMart and WinMart+ retail systems maintainws a ratio of more than 90 per cent of Vietnamese products on the shelves that meet the criteria of premium freshness. Masan acts as a bridge to facilitate local businesses and manufacturers to bring high-quality products to more than 32 million customers per month.

WinMart/WinMart+ systems have also replaced all plastic bags with biodegradable alternatives while reducing or replacing single-use plastic materials with environmentally friendly options, providing promotional offers to customers who use their own multiple-use bags in order to encourage the adoption of green consumer behaviours in shopping at WinCommerces retail stores.

To minimise its environmental impact, WinEco has replaced nylon bags and rubber bands for packaging with biodegradable materials following the standards of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. In addition, WinEco also uses kraft paper and biodegradable nylon bags to harvest and package products instead of wrap and conventional nylon bags.

With a network of 30 consumer goods production factories, Masan not only applies the most advanced processing technology but also strictly adheres to strict environmental standards.

The MEATDeli HN and MEATDeli SG processing complexes have been officially granted BRC certifications. This is a valid international certificate to help control and minimise the risk of poisoning in the food industry and is considered a passport for food exporters.

BRC audit criteria and certification process are strictly controlled and consistent around the world. Meanwhile, Masan Consumer has invested in Dutch-designed wastewater treatment plants at consumer goods production facilities in Binh Duong, Hai Duong, and Nghe An. All treated water results comply with Vietnams highest standards.

Masan Groups goal is to build a Point of Life platform to serve essential needs on a one-stop-shop platform. The group aims to serve 30-50 million consumers by 2025 by operating 10,000 of its own retail outlets and 20,000 franchised stores.

With this model, consumers will save 5-10 per cent on their essential demand while manufacturers and farmers will increase their earnings by 5-10 per cent. The franchise partners will also raise profits by 5-10 per cent compared to the current operation.

Masan Group has spent over $21.3 million to corporate social responsibility activities since 2021. As a leading corporation in the private sector, Masan Group has contributed almost $233 million in taxes to the state budget in 2021. Masan's member companies are also among the largest taxpayers for the localities where they operate factories and production facilities.

With its strong commitments, long-term development vision, and effective implementation strategy, Masan Group has been continuously named in prestigious awards for Sustainable Development at home and abroad such as the 2021 Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Awards, the Top 50 Listed Companies in Vietnam for 10 consecutive years, and the 17th place in the top 100 Vietnam Best Places To Work by Anphabe.

As a leader in the consumer and retail sector with a solid corporate governance foundation and a sustainable development strategy, Masan has attracted much attention from global investors. In 2021 alone, Masan has lured an investment capital of $2.3 billion from foreign funds and corporations.

Masan at the awards for the top 50 Listed Companies in Vietnam

Masan overcomes COVID-19 challenges to make it into Vietnam's top 5 private groups Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, Masan Group has made efforts to maintain its production and supply chains, achieving revenue growth in the first nine months of 2021 and become one of the top 5 largest private companies in Vietnam in 2021 according to Vietnam Report.

Masan conglomerate posts impressive results, boosting its stock value The CrownX (TCX) continues to deliver positive business results. As an integrated platform consolidating two leading companies in retail and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)  namely WinCommerce (WCM) and Masan Consumer Holdings (MCH)  TCX grew net revenues by 6.9 per cent to $2.55 billion on-year in 2021, thanks to strong synergies between its businesses.
Binh Dinh (VNA)  Miss World 2021 Karolina Bielawska will be present at the finale of Miss World Vietnam 2022, scheduled to take place in Quy Nhon city, the central province of Binh Dinh, on August 12 evening.

Miss World 2021 Karolina Bielawska (centre) speaks at the press meeting on August 11. (Photo: VNA)

At a press meeting in Binh Dinh on August 11, Pham Kim Dung, head of the beauty pageants organising board, said the Miss World 2021 will also join charitable activities in Quy Nhon.

Karolina Bielawska said this is the first time she has set foot in Vietnam, and that she can feel the warm welcome for her from all people.

She comes to the contests finale to show her support for all contestants so that they can achieve their goals, she added.

With 37 contestants, the finale is set to begin at 8pm on August 12 at Hai Giang Peninsula of Quy Nhon city.

Miss World Vietnam 2022 is the second edition of the Miss World Vietnam pageant. In 2019, Luong Thuy Linh, a 19-year-old student from the northern province of Cao Bang, outperformed 38 others to become the first Miss World Vietnam.
In mid-July, a European business delegation of 50 high-ranking representatives visited Vietnam and held meetings to seek cooperation opportunities with domestic enterprises in fields of mutual strength. They went on a field trip to learn about the work of Vietnamese farmers, raw material areas, preliminary processing, traceability, and commercialisation of products in the EU market, especially organic products in the Southeast Asian country. It is one of many activities that Vietnam and the EU have organised to promote bilateral trade activities, particularly for agro-products, since the agreement took effect.

Room for agro-exports to grow through EVFTA deal, Illustrative image (Source: tapchitaichinh.vn)

Just before the delegation arrived, EU commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said, Vietnam has become a key partner for the EU in Southeast Asia. My visit, accompanied by a business delegation of EU agri-food sector representatives, will contribute to taking advantage of the new trade opportunities and allow to showcase the high quality and sustainability standards of EU agri-food production for the benefit of increasingly demanding Vietnamese consumers.

Vietnams agricultural exports to the European market increased rapidly from over $4.5 billion in 2020 to $5.2 billion in 2021. The figure in the first half of this year, meanwhile, has hit nearly $3 billion. The EU is one of the four major export markets for Vietnam's agricultural, forestry, and fishery products and some of Vietnams key agricultural items are exported to the EU, such as coffee, pepper, seafood, cashew nuts, and wood and wooden products.

The markets room is large, but, in reality, the export turnover of Vietnams agro-products makes up a tiny part of all agro-products entering the EU.

Speaking at an online forum on diversifying processed and preserved fruit and vegetable products in association with the requirements of the consumer market, organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in early July, Tran Van Cong, Vietnams agricultural counsellor in Europe said, The EU is an important and high-potential market for Vietnams agro-products. Especially in the context that prices of goods in this market are climbing due to lack of supply sources, exporters from Vietnam should take this opportunity to increase the market share.

The room for fruit and vegetables is the biggest. Each year, the EU spends an average of $120 billion importing these products, equaling 40 per cent of the import-export value of these products around the globe. Meanwhile, only $190 million of this figure comes from Vietnam, according to Cong.

Explaining this situation, Nguyen Duc Hiep, deputy director of Intimex My Phuoc SJC  the third-largest Vietnamese coffee exporter  told VIR, One of the biggest barriers for Vietnams agro-products to the EU is the failure to meet the quality standard requirements. The EU issues strict requirements and regulations on technical barriers, pesticide residues, and banned substances. Meanwhile, the domestic agricultural market is highly fragmented and is cultivated by households, thus the application of farming management and control on the usage of pesticides can be fraught with challenges.

Due to these disadvantages, agro-product companies face difficulties in gathering materials for processing and exporting products, Hiep added. "Pepper and coffee are two examples  the demand for these two products is large, but the materials cannot overcome the appraisal round about the pesticide residues, Hiep said.

According to Hiep, the EU is currently the companys key export market with a capacity of 50,000-60,000 tonnes of coffee per year, equalling half of Intimex My Phuocs export capacity.

Domestic agro-product exporters also admired that instability and failure in products quality is also another barrier for agro-products to set a solid position in the market with approximately 800 million people.

In the first five months of this year, the export turnover of rice to the EU has made up just 0.5 per cent of the total export value of the whole country overseas.

Nevertheless, the EVFTA is set to paint a bright future for Vietnamese rice. As part of the agreement, the EU offers Vietnam a quota of 80,000 tonnes of rice a year, subject to zero tariff rates, comprising 30,000 tonnes of husked rice, 20,000 tonnes of unhusked rice, and 30,000 tonnes of the fragrant variety, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The EU will also fully liberalise the trade of broken rice, helping Vietnam export an estimated 100,000 tonnes there annually.

Under the EVFTA, 21.3 per cent of Vietnams tariff lines for agricultural products are to be abolished. Over 500 of 556 tariff lines of vegetables and fruits, 85.6 per cent of the tariffs on processed fruit and veg, and 93 per cent on coffee and pepper will be duty-free.

The EU will eliminate tariffs on rice products within 3-7 years. As per the research findings of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the export growth of some of Vietnams agricultural products is projected to increase significantly by 2025 as a result of the tariff liberalisation under the EVFTA, such as rice (an additional increase of 65 per cent in 2025), sugar (8 per cent), pork (4 per cent), and beverages and tobacco (5 per cent).

Banks to leverage EVFTA adjustments With commitments under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, local authorities are contemplating relaxing foreign ownership constraints that have previously hindered bank mergers as mandated by the accord.

EVFTA helps compensate for pandemic-caused economic downturn: experts The implementation of the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has greatly helped make up for a downturn in the economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said at a workshop in Hanoi on February 25.

EU supporting comprehensive implementation of the EVFTA Implementation of the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement is contributing to promoting trade and investment activities among business communities and people of both sides. Peter Bernhardt, team leader of the ARISE+ Vietnam project, talked with VIRs Thanh Dat about the impact on Vietnam so far and addressed how the EU can support the country in implementing the deal more effectively.
In February, Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid a state visit to Singapore, with both nations vowing to continue cementing economic ties. How has this cooperation been implemented so far?

Singaporean Ambassador to Vietnam Jaya Ratnam

Singapore and Vietnams strong economic, trade, and investment ties are underpinned by decades of consistent and meaningful engagement between our governments and peoples. During President Nguyen Xuan Phucs state visit to Singapore earlier this year, he and President Halimah Yacob reaffirmed these ties and committed to further collaboration. Our leaders also oversaw the signing of an MoU on economic and trade cooperation between our two countries.

We are starting from a very strong base. Singapore has been the leading source of foreign direct investment into Vietnam for the past two years. Singapore is now Vietnams second largest foreign investor, with total registered capital of nearly $70 billion. This demonstrates the confidence that Singaporean investors have in Vietnams economic potential and the Vietnamese governments efforts to boost the ease of doing business here.

Despite the disruptions of the pandemic and the current global economic downturn, Singaporean companies continue to seek new opportunities to diversify and expand their presence in Vietnam.

What sectors are becoming the main magnets for Singaporean investors in Vietnam?

Well, I would like to highlight three sectors. First is supply chains and logistics. Recent global supply chain shocks have shown everyone the importance of this sector. Singapore companies look forward to contributing further expertise, human resources training, and digital solutions to develop the logistics sector in Vietnam.

To cite just one example, when completed, the multimodal Vinh Phuc ICD Logistics Centre established by Singapores YCH Group and Vietnams T&T Group will strengthen trade connectivity and supply chain resilience in our region.

Second is the green economy. Singapore is keen to work with Vietnam as it increases investments in sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy, with the ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The collaboration between Sembcorp and Vietnam Electricity is one promising partnership in this area.

Sembcorp is also working hard to upgrade its network of Vietnam-Singapore industrial parks (VSIPs) to integrate sustainability and innovation. In March, we celebrated the launch of the 11th VSIP in the southern province of Binh Duong, which will, among others, host a carbon-neutral factory owned and operated by Lego Group.

And third is the digital economy. Growing the digital economy will be a key priority for both our countries in the coming decades. Vietnam has identified the digital economy as one of the key drivers of growth that will propel Vietnam toward its ambition of becoming a high-income country by 2045.

Vietnams fast-growing middle class and young population make this sector particularly attractive to Singapore companies in e-commerce, digital payments, smart cities, and digital trade.

Singapore and Vietnam commit to further strong collaborations

ASEAN is reviewing and upgrading its existing free trade agreements. How have Vietnam and Singapore been cooperating in removing hurdles to increase trade and investment in this regard?

Singapore and Vietnam are two of the strongest proponents of free trade in ASEAN. For decades, we have worked tirelessly to remove trade and investment hurdles  not just between our two nations, but also with partners across the world.

More broadly, we are fervent advocates of free trade both within ASEAN, as well as between our region and the world. We believe that the future prosperity and development of ASEAN will hinge on the blocs ability to integrate into global supply chains and build bridges to other regions. As the only two ASEAN countries that have ratified free trade agreements (FTAs) with the EU, Singapore, and Vietnam hope that our agreements will serve as pathfinders to an eventual EU-ASEAN FTA.

We have ratified the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and hope that other ASEAN member states will join Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam in signing on to the agreement. We are also party to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership along with the other ASEAN member states. In view of emerging challenges and evolving technologies, we also welcome the reviews of existing ASEAN FTAs to identify new areas for cooperation.

Furthermore, Singapore and Vietnam place a strong emphasis on fostering conducive and attractive investment climates in our respective countries. This synergy has yielded collaborations including the VSIPs as well as investment agreements that accompany most of ASEANs FTAs. It is not a coincidence that Vietnam ranks among the top choices for overseas expansion by Singaporean companies, given the ease of doing business and the high levels of mutual trust between our corporations.

Singapore is proud of our steadfast partnership with Vietnam in facilitating 2-way trade and investments. Our successes thus far signal a strong potential for further collaboration as our countries work toward the shared commitment to build a green and digital economy.

Vietnam and Singapore have established a working group on digital economic cooperation. How will this cooperation help Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses cooperate with each other?

Following the signing of the MoU on digital economy cooperation during Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phucs state visit to Singapore in February this year, a joint working group has been tasked with implementing digital economy collaborations between our two countries. The working group will explore new areas of cooperation such as cross-border data flows, cybersecurity, AI governance, and electronic payments, including regulatory sandboxes.

The digital economy, like international trade, is not a zero-sum game. Ultimately, our bilateral digital cooperation aims to establish common norms and interoperable systems. This will provide the foundation for Vietnamese and Singaporean companies to transact with each other easily and securely, and enable them to grow their digital businesses. Establishing common ground in these areas will also help to increase the adoption of emerging technologies in a safe and trusted manner, and promote greater innovation.

Human resource training is another key component of our digital cooperation efforts. Vietnam is the number 1 partner of the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP). We were very proud to have trained the 20,000th Vietnamese official under the SCP in 2021, which incidentally also marked the 20th anniversary of the programme.

As Vietnams needs evolve, the SCP will continue to evolve alongside it. We have been supporting Vietnams Industry 4.0 agenda by sharing our experiences in digital transformation across a range of sectors, including governance, cybersecurity, e-commerce, trade and investment, and judicial reform. We look forward to sustained engagement between our governments, businesses, and societies in our shared drive to digitalise.
The report on VPE500, which has just been released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment's (MPI) National Centre for Socioeconomic Information and Forecast (NCIF) on August 10, confirmed that the VPE500 has greatly contributed to the operations of the private economic sector and the national economy.

A workshop on the assessment of the VPE500 took place on August 10 in Hanoi

Tran Toan Thang, director of the NCIF's Department of Industrial Forecast and Enterprise Development underscored the growing importance of Vietnamese private enterprises and the VPE500 in relation to the overall health of the national economy.

Despite the VPE500 representing only a small part of enterprises, due to its companies' outstanding sizes and business results, it greatly contributes to the operations of the private enterprise sector.

During 2016-2019, the VPE500 only accounted for 0.089 per cent of total enterprises, yet created 10.4 per cent of all jobs, occupied 13.0 per cent of total assets, and generated 15.8 per cent of net revenue.

VPE500 firms had an asset growth rate of approximately 15.4 per cent annually compared to just 5.6 per cent in the general private sector. Similarly, VPE500 members revenue increased by 11.7 per cent, while that of other businesses revenue climbed by 6.6 per cent.

Thang said that an overview of some current policies would show that, from orientations and guidelines to mechanisms and policies or regulations, Vietnam does not have any discrimination against, or favourable policies for, large enterprises. The government has even enacted many policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).

"However, large enterprises still have advantages in accessing resources such as land, investment opportunities, markets, finance, and opportunities to supply goods and services, thanks to incentives to attract investments, regulations on bidding conditions, and potential export customers. These advantages create a foundation for large enterprises to develop further," Thang said.

Despite the fact that private enterprises in the nation have been steadily expanding, Thang said that the VPE500 has so far not developed into a powerful force as expected, with only a few large private firms having attained world-class stature.

Even with the recent emergence of a small number of large private businesses, the value of Vietnamese brands remains lower than that seen in many other Southeast Asian nations. Meanwhile, SMEs continue to face numerous challenges during the development process, both objective and subjective.

More specific policies are required in order to build a large and stable growing force of private enterprises that can enjoy consistent growth, withstand huge external shocks, and increase the overall efficiency of the economy as a whole.

The report on the VPE500 pointed out that more specific policies are required in order to build a large and stable growing force of private enterprises that can enjoy consistent growth, withstand huge external shocks, and increase the overall efficiency of the economy as a whole.

"In Vietnam, the policies for enterprises over the coming years must therefore continue to be orientated towards not only creating favourable conditions for enterprises to enter the market but also surviving and growing. In particular, it can be viewed as necessary to encourage large enterprises to invest in improving productivity and gradually turn to in-depth growth," the report emphasised.

This can be seen through the issuance of economic policies to promote business partnerships, encouraging large companies, state-owned enterprises, and foreign-invested businesses to form joint ventures with domestic SMEs, as well as improving the overall capacity of enterprises to participate in global production networks, supply chains, and value chains.

Agreeing that the Vietnamese private enterprises of the VPE500 are large but not strong, economist Pham Chi Lan said that they would like to compete equally in terms of business freedom, access to resources, and intellectual property.

"Investment and business environment is focusing on cutting down costs and simplifying administrative procedures for enterprises to join the market, without paying enough attention to facilitate for them to grow quickly," said Lan. "Moreover, I see that foreign-invested enterprises can approach the resources more easily than local ones, while large firms with wide and close relationships can do more easily than the small ones."

So they also would need the policy to boost the development of some industries and encourage them to join the supply chains between large- and small-sized, large and foreign-invested enterprises, and large and state-owned enterprises.

Experts also emphasised the necessity of encouraging and creating movements so that cities and provinces can develop their own top-tier private enterprises, based on local advantages which reach out to the whole country.
Thai commercial bank Kasikorn Bank (KBank) has marked its presence in Vietnam with the opening of its first branch in Ho Chi Minh City last week.

Siritida Panom Na Ayudhya, assistant governor of the Central Bank of Thailand said, Amid the global pandemic and other tensions, Vietnam is the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia. The sound economic condition reflects a better quality of living for the people and the growing middle-class households. With an increase in trade and investment flows, we foresee that financial services will play an important role to support economic activities.

The governor added, We believe that the establishment of KasikornBanks branch in Vietnam will contribute knowledge and expertise to further develop the financial infrastructure and products to better meet the needs of local customers in both public and private sectors.

In addition, this event marked the debut of a range of brand-new digital solutions known as K Plus for KBank's clientele in Vietnam. KBank has now established its 11th foreign branch, which also happens to be its most recent branch outside of Thailand.

Kattiya Indaravijaya, CEO of KBank, emphasised that Vietnam emerges as the rising star in the ASEAN region thanks to the countrys impressive economic growth, stable macroeconomy, and strategic approach towards a cashless society.

As the most innovative digital bank in Thailand, we have developed a digital lifestyle environment tailored to the needs of Vietnamese consumers by using our in-house, patented K PLUS prototype technology, said Indaravijaya.

Beginning with the KBank Biz Loan solution, which is a credit service for smaller-scale retail stores, KBank will continue to concentrate on developing digital payment services and digital loan products, thus contributing to a cashless society. By using our strategic relationships, local investment platforms, and the KASIKORN VISION Investment Fund, we are confident to say that small and medium-sized businesses could access various financial services which fulfil their needs, she added.

Meanwhile, Central Retail  another Thai prominent investor last month unveiled its ambition to invest $870 million in Vietnam over the next five years to establish itself as the country's preeminent food and real estate omnichannel retailer.

The funding is being used for four major purposes, including making Central Retail the premier omnichannel platform in food and property in Vietnam, increasing revenues to $2.9 billion, increasing omnichannel sales penetration to 15 per cent, and increasing the company's presence in 55 provinces across Vietnam.

CEO of Central Retail Vietnam Olivier Langlet said, "With Vietnam as one of Central Retails key strategic markets, the company has achieved excellent growth with sales reaching $1.1 billion in under 10 years, accounting for 22 per cent of Central Retails total sales today.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh emphasised at last months Investors Promotion Meeting that now is the moment for Thai enterprises to expedite investment and commercial operations in Vietnam, particularly in renewable energy, high-tech agriculture and industrial infrastructure.

Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, general director of Asia Plus Group Holdings PCL, expressed his confidence in Vietnams vast potential as a high-quality investment magnet.

Kongkiat also proposed the intention to arrange a group of significant Thai businesses to go to Ho Chi Minh City this month to explore the potential.

According to Vo Tan Thanh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, despite difficulties in the world economic situation and the region, Vietnam and Thailand have conducted many collaboration activities to enhance the strategic partnership. Remarkably, trade and investment cooperation have gradually started to recover and greatly increase.

In terms of trade relations, Thailand is Vietnams largest trading partner in ASEAN, and is ranked as one of Vietnams top 10 major trading partners.

Bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Thailand has grown significantly in spite of the pandemic.

In 2021, bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached approximately $19 billion, an increase of 17.9 per cent in comparison with the year 2020.

Outstandingly, bilateral trade turnover reached nearly $8,57 billion in the first five months of 2022. Both countries aim to achieve $25 billion in 2025.

In terms of investor relations, up to May, Thailand was ranked ninth out of the 139 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 654 investment projects with the total registered capital of over $13 billion.

Meanwhile, Vietnam had 15 investment projects in Thailand with the total registered capital of over $32 million.

Ayudhya from the Central Bank of Thailand said, Vietnam and Thailand have a longstanding relationship and close links. We have connected in many aspects including trade, investment, and tourism. Vietnam is ranked as one of Thailand's top five major trading partners, while Thailand is one of Vietnam's top 10 major trading partners. Thailand already has over 600 investment projects in Vietnam and the number is likely to increase.

The collaboration is not limited to bilateral engagement, but also expands to multilateral cooperation such as the Greater Mekong Sub-Region Economic Cooperation Program and Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, according to Ayudhya.

Thai enterprises expanding into Vietnamese renewables There has been a rise in interest among Thai businesses and financiers for outbound renewable energy investment in Vietnam over the past few years. Vit Vatanayothin, partner at Baker McKenzies Bangkok office, talked with VIRs Thanh Van about the Thai perspective on this type of investment in the S-shaped country.

Thai investors eye more investment opportunities in Vietnam Vietnam is still a destination for foreign investment, including Thailand because it is a large and growing market, Tanee Sangrat, Director General of the Department of Information and Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Thailand, has said.
At the conference on August 11, MPI Minister Dung said that thanks to the control of the pandemic and the maintenance of macroeconomic stability, the business sector has reported a positive recovery recently.

As of July, the whole country had about 871,000 operating enterprises with tax incurred, an increase of nearly 13 per cent compared to 2021.

In the first seven months of 2022, the number of enterprises entering and returning to the market, as well as additionally registered capital into the economy, increased sharply.

The number of enterprises entering and re-entering the market was over 130,000 enterprises, an increase of 26.8 per cent on-year, 1.4 times higher than the number of enterprises withdrawing from the market. The total registered capital added to the economy in the first seven months of 2022 reached over $143 billion, an increase of over 37 per cent on-year.

According to reports from business associations, the market has recovered over 75-85 per cent compared to the time before the pandemic. Revenue in the first two quarters of 2022 increased sharply on-year, some of them were even higher than the same period before the pandemic.

The domestic air transport and tourism markets recovered nearly fully and 85 per cent respectively, especially in the second quarter. Export turnover continued to increase sharply, continuing to be a bright spot, significantly contributing to economic growth. In the first seven months of 2022, export turnover of goods was estimated at $216.35 billion, up 16.1 per cent on-year.

Minister Dung said that the confidence of investors and businesses continues to go up. Nearly 92 per cent of enterprises responded to keep their business scale or expand in the third quarter of 2022, while 85 per cent of processing and manufacturing enterprises expected that their production and business situation in the third quarter will be stable and get better than the second quarter.

Minister Dung at the conference between the prime minister and businesses

Five challenges

However, Minister Dung also noted, that Vietnamese enterprises are still weak and lacking in both quantity and quality.

"The number of newly-established enterprises and those returning to operation increased significantly but the rate of enterprises dissolved or stopped operating was still high. Besides this, the number of medium and large-sized enterprises is very low, and their scales are still too small compared to other countries in the region and the world. The majority of enterprises in our country are micro-, small-, and medium-sized, accounting for nearly 98 per cent of the total, in addition to being weak in innovation and technologies," said the minister.

Through the comments of business associations, in the last months of the year, they see a lot of burdens in five groups of issues:

First, the high price of gasoline, raw materials, and other input materials increases production and business costs, raising the cost of construction packages by 18-30 per cent and logistics costs by 3-5 times. The rise in costs was higher than the increase in revenue in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter and the same period last year.

Second, the shortage of labour in some sectors and localities, and the regulation on increasing the regional minimum wage also put more pressure and expenses on businesses, especially in labour-intensive industries.

Third, accessing credit and mobilising capital for production and business is still one of the major difficulties for enterprises.

Fourth, there is adverse volatility on both the supply and demand sides. In some industries, the supply of components is not enough to serve production, while in some other industries like textiles, it is forecasted to reduce orders from overseas markets in the next months due to a sharp decrease in the purchasing power, and raising inventory.

Fifth, a number of legal obstacles and barriers that have existed for a long time, have not been thoroughly resolved, hindering and obstructing investment, production and business activities. Further, environmental regulations in aquatic production and processing, standards on fire prevention, and regulations on corporate bond issuance are still inadequate.

This is also an issue that the business community repeatedly claimed in previous meetings between the prime minister and businesses, and they expect to resolve it as soon as possible. However, we have yet to resolve substantively and thoroughly," said Minister Dung.

"This practice has posed a great demand for all of us: We have to act as soon as possible to proactively overcome challenges and turn risks into threats," the minister emphasised.

"This practice has posed a great demand for all of us: We have to act as soon as possible to proactively overcome challenges and turn risks into threats," the minister emphasised.

From an international perspective, Vietnam's prestige and position are being enhanced. New free trade agreements open up great advantages for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in global value chains, along with the movement of foreign investment capital flows and the digital and green economy, creating new consumption trends and new business models.

Therefore, we need to utilise every opportunity to overcome the biggest challenges, proactively adapt, and seize opportunities to develop sustainably and gain greater values," the minister said and proposed numerous solutions for the short and long term.

MPI reviewing land-use stagnation The Ministry of Planning and Investment has launched a review into the long delays of large-scale foreign-invested projects, in an attempt to free up valuable plots that have been occupying land throughout the country.
Capstone Mechanical in Waco received a 50-year Secretary of Defense Freedom Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve organization for its support of employees in military service.

Ron Rivers, area chairman for ESGR, which is based out of Camp Mabry in Austin, presented the award to Capstone President Rick Tullis and Executive Vice President Stefan LeRow at the business, 7100 Imperial Drive.

The business was nominated by Spc. Yamel Perera, a U.S. Army reservist with the 490th Civil Affairs Detachment in Grand Prairie who works at Capstone Mechanical.

Tullis also received a 50-year anniversary coin.

The primary mission of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve is to support National Guardsmen, military reserve branches and civilian employers who support service members.

The ESGR routinely recognizes and awards outstanding civilian employers with the Secretary of Defense Freedom Award for going above and beyond the call and scope of their duties to support military service members whenever they are called to active duty.
About 18% of McLennan County residents live without health insurance. Alongside the uninsured rate, the county has a 17% poverty rate. The community has a need for accessible health care, and Ascension Providence is bringing back an event this weekend supporting Wacos most vulnerable.

Providences free Medical Mission at Home event Saturday will provide a range of personalized medical, social and religious services for anyone, regardless of insurance coverage. This years Medical Mission also is paired for the first time with the Waco Police Departments Back to School Bash offering free backpacks filled with school supplies.

More than 400 volunteers, physicians and nurses will rally together this weekend to offer free immediate care for all and encourage connections to resources for ongoing care where needed. The offerings will even include overlooked services like foot washing.

That arches back to our faith-based service. Thats exactly what Jesus did, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian Becker said.

Providences roots in Waco and Catholic ties go back to the citys first hospital, opened in 1905. Providences Catholic ties remain, and it is now part of Ascension, a nationwide Catholic health care organization.

Medical Mission got its start in Waco in 2016, then returned in 2018 and 2019 before taking a break because of the pandemic.

Becker said the last three events served an average of 853 people each. The most people the clinic saw in one day was 1,000.

He said the hospital is looking to serve another thousand this year, with about 400 volunteers and more than 40 physicians, physicians assistants and nurse practitioners offering a helping hand.

Becker said the clinic will offer an array of health screenings and services in its 26 medical bays this year, including glucose screening for diabetes.

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent health issues the clinic sees, Becker said.

I think in our community diabetes is a big issue that goes undiagnosed and unmanaged, Becker said.

At a previous clinic, out of nearly 800 people served throughout the day, 162 people were diagnosed with prediabetes and 100 were diagnosed with diabetes, he said. If left untreated, their condition could have worsened and caused other long-term health issues, Becker said.

Womens health is also a large piece of Medical Missions care, and Becker said women can receive a free mammogram.

Waco Family Medicine, which offers federally subsidized care to uninsured and underinsured people in the community year-round, will provide dental screenings for adults and children.

The Waco-McLennan County Public Health District is participating, which Becker said has been instrumental in the past. The department will give out COVID-19 vaccinations and school immunizations.

Other services include free primary care, lab services, prescriptions and lung cancer screening.

Lung cancer screening is new this year, and Becker said anyone who screens positive could be provided a voucher for low-dose CT scans to further their care.

In addition to health and medical services, the event offers a variety of social resources. Becker said part of the focus of the event is linking people in the community to organizations in Waco, improving their wellbeing in all facets.

Health care is also impacted by a number of social issues, Becker said.

Becker said in many cases, people have unmet social needs, which can push health onto the backburner and create further issues. Touching on housing, schooling, food insecurity and jobs through community resources allows space for people to care for their long-term health, he said.

By addressing social determinants for folks we can allow them to focus on health, Becker said.

Nearly 30 community partners will attend to offer non-medical resources, including Workforce Solutions for the Heart of Texas, Caritas of Waco, Mission Waco and The Salvation Army.

Caritas has been involved in the last three events. Executive Director Ann Owen said the organization is honored and thankful for Providence bringing the community together.

Having all of these resources together under one roof will be so beneficial to those attending, Owen said.

Caritas will hand out tote bags full of nonperishable food items donated by Central Texas Food Bank, Owen said. The organization will also provide information about the programs and services Caritas offers.

This is an incredible event for those in our community who struggle to make ends meet, especially during our current economic situation, Owen said.

Providence will even provide chaplains for spiritual guidance to people who want it at the event.

The Waco Police Departments Back to School Bash will feature free backpacks packed with new school supplies for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as free haircuts for students age 4 to 17.

We want to make sure kids are set up for success, Waco police spokesperson Cierra Shipley said.

She said the police event and Providences share the same mission of giving, and by combining them more people have access to both resources.

Last year the department gave away 800 backpacks on its own, Shipley said. This year, it plans to give out 1,100.

While Providences event is held inside, families can enjoy games at the Back to School Bash outside, including dunk a cop and a DJ, Shipley said.

Theres going to be plenty of opportunities for the community to interact with our officers, Shipley said.

Although Medical Mission at Home offers a range of same-day services, screenings and check-ups can uncover larger issues that require long-term care.

Becker said people can receive disease management counseling and get connected with resources to ensure continued care.

Its an effort to make an impact in the moment for that person and get them plugged in to services, Becker said.

Becker said months of planning and setup have gone into this years Medical Mission at Home. He said not only is the program rewarding to the people receiving the service but also those giving their time to it.

Were here to serve the community, Becker said.

The clinic will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Base, 4401 Bosque Blvd. Medical Mission is free to attend, and anyone who shows up is eligible for care, no questions asked.
Free food giveaway

St. John Catholic Church will host a giveaway of nonperishable food from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at 1312 Dallas St.

For more information, call 254-495-5292.

Homebuyer workshop

NeighborWorks Waco will host a free Homebuyer Education Workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at 922 Franklin Ave.

Attendees will learn about the homebuying process from professionals covering mortgages, inspections, insurance and shopping for a home.

Breakfast, lunch, drinks and snacks will be provided.

Feast Day Festival

A Church of the Assumption Feast Day Festival will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at West Knights of Columbus Club, 2547 Jerry Mashek Drive in West. The event is sponsored by the West Church of the Assumption.

A home-cooked fried or baked chicken and sausage dinner with all of the trimmings will be served. To-go orders will be available at 11, and dine-in will start at 11:30. Plates cost $12 for adults and $8 for children. Street tacos and nachos will be served after 3.

A live auction will start at 12:15. There will be playground equipment, water slides, bingo and a country store.

For more information, contact Mary Kolar at 254-855-5477 or marykolar57@yahoo.com.

Singing Seniors kickoff

The Baylor Singing Seniors, under the direction of Phillip Sitton, will hold fall semester registration and the first fall rehearsal at 9 a.m. Monday at Woodway United Methodist Church, 21000 Woodway Drive. The semester registration fee is $75.

Membership in the Singing Seniors is open to all senior adults. The suggested age is 55 and above. No musical training or audition is required.

For more information, call 210-887-5370.
An inmate who escaped from the Community Correctional Center-Omaha has been arrested by the Lincoln Police Department, according to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

Semaj Ross walked out of the facility June 27, the Corrections Department reported, triggering the fire alarm. Ross removed his electronic device upon escape, which authorities found along East Locust Road in Omaha.

Ross began his sentence in 2015 and was set to finish Jan. 25, 2025. He was initially sentenced to 20 years for shoplifting, burglary, criminal possession of a financial transition device and other charges for acts committed in Lancaster County.

He was booked in the Lancaster County jail on Wednesday on new charges, including delivery/possession of a hazardous drug.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP)  An Iowa man faces two criminal charges accusing him of driving his vehicle through a group of abortion rights protestors in Cedar Rapids in June and striking a woman before driving away, court documents posted online Wednesday said.

David Alan Huston, 53, of Swisher, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon  a vehicle  and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, according to the court documents.

There is no evidence to indicate the crash was politically motivated, Black Hawk County Attorney Brian Williams said in a statement. He said there also is no evidence that any protestors acted aggressively.

Huston did not immediately return messages Wednesday seeking comment on the charges, and online court records did not yet list an attorney for him.

A group organized by Indivisible Iowa and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa were protesting in front of the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids to support abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that make abortion legal nationwide.

Iowa law bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The state Supreme Court in June cleared the way for stricter limits when it reversed an earlier court decision that found the Iowa Constitution guaranteed the right to abortion. The Republican governor has promised to work through the courts to revive a six-week ban that was previously blocked.

Video of the June 24 crash shows protesters were crossing a street when a large pickup drove through the group, even as other vehicles waited for them to cross, Williams said in a statement. Protesters tried to to stop the pickup by blocking its path, resulting in one woman being struck. Court documents do not indicate the extent of her injuries.

Huston then left the scene without any attempt to exchange information, court documents say.

The crash happened in Linn County, but prosecutors asked a judge to shift the case to Black Hawk County due to a potential conflict of interest.
by Andy Heins

The National Waco Club is the oldest aircraft type club in the United States. Formed in 1958 by Ray Brandly of West Carrollton, Ohio, the club is dedicated towards supporting all owners and enthusiasts of WACO airplanes. Mr. Brandly purchased the remaining parts inventory from the Waco Aircraft Company, which ceased operating in 1947, and it was his desire to help owners keep their aircraft flying. Clayton Brukner, former President of the Waco Aircraft Company, supported this endeavor and attended the National Fly-ins until his passing in 1978.

The first National Waco Club Fly-in took place in 1959 at South Dayton Airport (now known as Moraine Airpark) with 13 Wacos attending. Subsequent years saw the National gathering occur at the Antique Airplane Association gathering in Ottumwa, Iowa, at the old Waco Aircraft Factory in Troy, Ohio (1963-65), South Dayton Airport (1966-69), Hogan Field in Hamilton, Ohio (1970-89), and finally Wynkoop Airport in Mt. Vernon, Ohio (1990-present). In 2009, the National Waco Club celebrated their 50th Reunion at Wynkoop Airport and drew the largest ever attendance of Waco airplanes with 52 examples arriving for the week-long gathering.

Membership in the National Waco Club is open to anyone with a love of Waco airplanes, be it a current owner, former owner, employee, or anyone who appreciates the beautiful airplane designs of the Waco Aircraft Company.

The 63rd annual National Waco Club Reunion took place during the week of June 22-26, 2022 at beautiful Wynkoop Airport (6G4) in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Wynkoop Airport is a unique and beautiful location just northeast of Columbus, Ohio. Presently owned and operated by Brian Wynkoop, his family has run the field since the 1940s. It features an all-grass, 3460 x 90, lighted runway (6-24), but the airport itself is a magical place which makes one feel like they have stepped back in time to 1945. The grove of trees nearby airfield centre is an excellent place to sit in the shade and enjoy watching the flying take place.

Club Reunion Chairman, Doug Parsons, usually arrives a weekend prior to the Reunion in his 1934 Waco YKC to help get the airport in shape for the event. His brother David, with his 1934 Waco UKC, and Tom Woodburn in his 1936 Waco ZQC-6, along with a host of other volunteers also join him in this endeavor. The participating Wacos begin arriving in Mt.Vernon on the Wednesday.

During the Reunion, the NWC features dinners on site each evening. All dinners are held in the grove, with tables and chairs setup among the trees. If inclement weather arises, a huge tent with seating for over 100 is also on the field. Wednesday evening is usually a pizza party, Thursday is the famous Corn Boil dinner, Friday a catered event, and Saturday brings the Banquet with a catered, buffet-style dinner as well.

The National Reunion also features two fly-outs. The first being to the Waco Museum and Learning Center in Troy, Ohio, followed by a luncheon at Barnhart Memorial Airport in New Carlisle, Ohio, sponsored by one of the Club members. The second is a fly-out to Mt.Victory, Ohio for breakfast. During the day on Friday and Saturday, various forums are offered for members to attend.

Saturday night is the annual banquet where all attendees who flew Waco airplanes to the Reunion are recognized. The affair is a catered, buffet-style dinner followed by an awards ceremony and then a Club auction. The auction helps fund the annual Reunion each year through items donated by the membership.

The Reunion this year saw eighteen Wacos attend from eight states and even one international visitor from Canada. Of these eighteen attendees, thirteen models were represented, and of particular note, thirteen were cabin models!
by Adam Estes

Convairs massive B-36 Peacemaker emerged from a U.S. Army Air Forces request in early 1941 for a strategic bomber with intercontinental range. It was a requirement driven by contemporary fears that Britain might fall to a German invasion, which was not inconceivable at the time. Convairs engineers worked at an incredible pace, having the first prototype, XB-36 42-13570, ready for unveiling in August, 1945. However, it wasnt until August 8th, 1946, that the XB-36 performed its maiden flight in Fort Worth, Texas, with Convairs legendary test pilot, Beryl Erickson at the controls. Taking place at noon, the air temperature that summers day exceeded 100F, but the inside the cockpit, the aircrew had to bear conditions upwards of 140F!

With the flight a success, and mass production already well under way, the newly independent U.S. Air Force received its first operational B-36 in June 1948, all of them slated for Strategic Air Command (SAC). Powered by six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, the B-36 could cruise at 230 mph, however with the addition of four General Electric J47 jet engines on wing-mounted pylons, the aircraft could reach speeds of 435 mph. The jet pods, added with the introduction of the B-36D (and retrofitted to all preceding models still in service) ran on the same aviation gasoline as the piston engines. The B-36 could carry up to 87,200 pounds of nuclear or conventional weapons and had a range of up to 10,000 miles. While Peacemakers formed the bulk of SACs nuclear deterrent fleet between 1949 and 1955, there were a variety of design offshoots, with some B-36s having purpose-built, strategic reconnaissance roles. A handful of others received modifications to test the launch and retrieval of parasitic aircraft like the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin fighter or the specially-adapted RF-84F/K Thunderflash photographic reconnaissance jets. One example, NB-36H 51-5712, even carried an operational nuclear reactor aboard, with the aim of proving whether such a device could power the bomber in flight. While this aircraft never did propel itself with nuclear power, the design team were able to demonstrate that the crew would not receive excessive radioactive exposure from the reactor in normal flight conditions.

In all, Convair built 384 B-36s by the time production ceased in August 1954. Despite massive expenditures on the program, the aircraft was arguably obsolete by the time it entered service. It was too slow to evade contemporary enemy jet fighters, such as the MiG-15, and lacked any aerial refueling capability. However, during its prime, the Peacemaker was the only USAF strategic bomber with sufficient range to penetrate the Soviet heartland, so the type had to straddle the breach until SAC could field sufficient numbers of Boeings far more capable B-52 Stratofortress. The 93rd Bombardment Wing became the first operational B-52 unit in March, 1956, flying from their home at Castle AFB in Atwater, California. This marked the beginning of the end for the B-36, with early model B-36s already in the boneyard, and the rest soon to follow. The last handful of USAF Peacemakers retired in early 1959, with the final operational flight taking place on February 12th, 1959 (B-36J 52-2827 now on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona). The final B-36 flight ever, involved the example presently with the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (NMUSAF) in Dayton, Ohio, B-36J 52-2220, which flew from its Arizona boneyard to Dayton on April 30th, 1959. Thus ended the saga of the worlds biggest ever strategic bomber. Despite the aircraft having never flown in anger, the type served an important role during the early days of the cold war by dampening Soviet territorial ambitions in Europe and elsewhere.

Just four complete B-36 Peacemakers survived the scrapping operations to the present day, these being the aforementioned B-36Js at the NMUSAF and Pima, B-36J 52-2217 at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska, and RB-36H 51-13730 at Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California. It is the latter example which is the subject aircraft of this profile. Convair RB-36H-30-CF Peacemaker 51-13730 was the 275th airframe constructed. The bomber rolled off the Convair assembly-line adjacent to Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, Texas during 1952, with the USAF formally accepting her for service that September. The 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, South Dakota became the aircrafts first operational unit. The Peacemaker received an upgrade to Featherweight Configuration II, ironic terminology for such a massive aircraft, but this involved removing a lot of the redundant items from the airframe, such as its defensive armament. In 1957, the aircraft moved to Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Illinois, where it became an instructional airframe on outdoor display alongside other decommissioned aircraft in the bases air park. While there, 51-13730 received a repaint in the markings of B-36D-45-CF 44-92065, c/n 62 (originally built as a B-36B-15-CF) from the period when that aircraft flew with the 326th BS, 92nd BW from Fairchild AFB in Spokane, Washington. The actual 44-92065 had already flown to Davis-Monthan AFB for decommissioning (and eventual scrapping) on February 27, 1957. While on external display in Rantoul, the aircraft received a fair amount of TLC, and part of this involved replacing some of the corroded magnesium alloy skins, which hadnt faired too well after decades of exposure to the elements. In 1991, a year or so before Chanutes closure, the NMUSAF assigned the airframe to Castle Air Museum. The move took place in 1992 and involved a huge disassembly operation, as one might imagine, with the pieces making their way by rail on eleven flatbed cars to their new home for reassembly and repainting, which museum volunteers completed in 1994. She has been on display ever since and is the only surviving RB-36H variant of 73 built. Now looking rather tired, museum volunteers are part way through a projected decade-long restoration effort which will hopefully see the aircraft last long into the future.

Adam Estes is a university student who has a passion for aviation history. He is a volunteer for the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California, and has kept tabs on numerous aircraft and museums around the world. His goal is to become a museum curator while continuing to write articles and books on aviation history.

Editors Note: The B-36 remained in service for just a handful of years, and the living memory of those days is fading fast. For those of us too young to have seen this aircraft in flight, but wishing to have some idea of what that must have been to witness in person, one need only turn to the 1955 motion picture, Strategic Air Command. While laden with leaden dialogue and a stagnant plot line, there is no disputing the extraordinary historical gift this film has provided us, with its technicolor recording of B-36 operations; for that alone, we must be grateful. The clip reveals a marvelous portrait of this magnificent, though short-lived, giant in all its glory.
Dear Amy: I recently started a new job at a warehouse that employs thousands of people. Due to this, when the shift ends theres always a long line of people waiting their turn to punch out.

However, without fail, there are always multiple people who will cut into said line to punch out ahead of the rest.

Im having a real hard time not getting angry or upset about this, especially after working more than eight hours.

What can I say to myself, or what kind of mentality can I adopt, to get over this?

 Bothered

Dear Bothered: Youve asked about adopting a new mentality, versus acting out or going to management.

Recently Ive been studying equanimity, which is described as an evenness of mind, especially under stress.

Equanimity is a state of not only acting calmly, but of actually feeling calm.

Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron describes ways to practice equanimity, outlining a situation analogous to yours  sitting in heavy traffic, while people cut ahead of you.

This can be seen as an opportunity to practice your calming skills.

After your shift, you can say to yourself: OK, here they come. Here are my teachers, butting in line. Dont mind me. Ill be hanging out here, quietly practicing my equanimity and improving my life.

You can also try to develop compassion toward these people, who might have to race to pick up kids from day care or have otherwise urgent needs that they believe outweigh yours.

This does not excuse their rudeness  but choosing compassion can help you to cope with it.

Deciding to do so under these sorts of circumstances can also make you smile  because youre using someone elses rudeness to actually make your own life better.

Dear Amy: My husband is the executor of his parents will.

He is the second of their three children and the oldest boy.

His parents have, at best, a strained relationship with their daughter, Anne.

As a result, they have named Anne in their will only to state that she will get nothing when they are gone.

They wont tell Anne about their choice, but often tell my husband, You can deal with her! when the time comes. They say that the look of disappointment on her face will be priceless.

My question is, why cant they tell her now?

I have asked them, and their answer is that it has to be a surprise!

I really dont understand why they cant be the ones who see the look on her face, if that is what is so important to them.

Why do they want to leave the dirty work for my husband and destroy his relationship with his sister?

I believe that if she knew now, she would move on with her own life, instead of trying to please them before they are gone.

There is no law that states that the contents of a will cant be revealed prior to death, is there?

I feel that they are putting my husband in a terrible position by making him the bearer of their wishes, and that his sister will try to pressure him to change the terms of the will after their death.

It is all very involved, but I believe they would be doing everybody a favor if they just told her what their decision is now, before they are gone.

What do you think?

 Upset In-law

Dear Upset: I agree with you; your in-laws seem exceedingly and unnecessarily mean-spirited regarding their final wishes. Their glee at disinheriting their daughter seems to leave out the fact that they will not be there to see the look on her face when she learns of their choice.

They are also putting your husband in a terrible position.

Executors should not disclose details of a will without permission of the testator (the person writing the will).

If your husband is inclined, he could choose to renounce his position as executor. There is a fairly simple process by which he could do this.

Imagine the looks on his folks faces if he simply declined to be part of their cruel game.

But regardless of what you (or I) think, how he handles this should be up to him.

Dear Amy: In a recent response to KK, you suggested that he could ask his date, Can I hold your hand?

Amy! Of course he can  but may he? Thats the question to ask!

 Grammarian

Dear Grammarian: Youre right! Thank you for the correction.
I don't think anyone can argue that our world hasn't loosened its morals over the years.

Not so long ago, TV networks refused to show Elvis from the waist down, in fear of moral terpitude running rampant on the streets. These days, you can walk down those same streets wearing a thong bikini listening to Cardi B's "WAP" on your way to the marijuana dispensary. The times have a'-changed.

By and large, I'm okay with it. I'm not one to get easily offended, I've been known to have a potty mouth, and even I can admit that "WAP" is kind of a bop. But sometimes, things come along so morally reprehensible that even we most diehard defenders of the First Amendment go, "Okay, we gotta put a stop to this." Thankfully, we have South Korean watchdogs doing it for us.

This week, the Korean Peasant's League and Korean Women Peasants Association sprang into action to protect their citizens against a dangerous moral threat. Due to their urgent campaigning and pressure, Korean television recently stopped airing an ad that was leading the innocent down a dark and deviant path of wicked immorality. South Korea has immediately banned a television spot that "sexually objectifies garlic."

By and large, I seldom worry about the risque nature of farm-to-table produce. But according to this watchdog group, the ad in question "has content of sexual expression that goes beyond sensationalism and damages the reputation of agricultural products." Because, as we all know, garlic is nothing without its wholesome and chaste reputation.

If you're anything like me, your first thought was probably, "WHERE CAN I IMMEDIATELY AND WITHOUT DELAY VIEW THIS AD?" Pro tip: Do NOT Google "sexy garlic." There WILL be boobs, and some will be vampire boobs. There are seem to be people who delight in posting pics of garlic bulbs that look like butt cheeks. And yes, there are plentiful stock photos of sexy models licking garlic bread. Ain't technology grand?

I did eventually find the video. The ad promotes Hongsan garlic, a brand promised to be "very thick and hard." And the rest of the video is a woman flirting with a guy wearing a giant garlic mask. Its the kind of ad that the words "what the...?" were invented for.

Here's what bugs me more than the ad, though. The sexiness of grocery staples is a concept I have NEVER pondered, but I'm pretty sure garlic is about the least sexy food out there. I have proof.

This past Monday, I woke up PARCHED. Magic pixies had somehow crawled down my throat while I slept and set up a series of dehumidifiers. That's when I looked to my right and saw salvation. There on my bedside table sat a half bottle of water from the night before. I took a triumphant swig -- and nearly threw up.

You see, the night before, I'd made spaghetti for dinner. I didn't have any garlic bread  but I had some bread and I had some garlic, so I improvised. It was delicious. But when I took a great big swig of that bottled water to discover IT now also tasted like last night's garlic bread? Well, that was just seismically gross. There's no worse way to roll into a Monday morning than making a beeline to your toothbrush while yelling, "Ew! Ew! Ew!"

I was running late, so I quickly buttered some toast with jam for the commute. That's when I learned a fun lesson: If you make garlic bread, you should NOT use the same knife later to get butter out of the container. I had accidentally created a tub of I Can't Believe It's Not A Garlic Hellscape.

If garlic's as sexy as that Korean ad claims, then I must have looked like a supermodel as I spat out that strawberry garlic toast.

Sorry, Hongsan. It's gonna take more than your bizarre ad to convince me that garlic's the sexiest food -- especially in a world where kumquats exist.
CEDAR FALLS  The Volunteer Center of the Cedar Valley has announced the following needs of local organizations for volunteers:

Contact the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley at (319) 883-3015 or information@vccv.org, or go online to vccv.org for a complete listing of volunteer opportunities in the Cedar Valley.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man has been arrested after allegedly attacking convenience store workers and breaking merchandise because he was carded.

Willie Smith Jr., 34, was arrested Wednesday for two counts of assault, disorderly conduct and fifth-degree criminal mischief. He was released pending trial.

According to court records, Smith began arguing with staff at Kwik Star on West Ninth Street on Wednesday afternoon because a clerk had asked him for ID when he attempted to buy beer.

He allegedly threw items at store employees, hitting two workers, and threw items to the floor, causing $107 in damages.

Photos: Missing children in Iowa
WATERLOO  A Memphis, Tenn., man has been found guilty of opening fire inside a crowded convenience store in April.

Jurors deliberated for part of Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning before finding Tony Cecil Orr Jr., 18, guilty of intimidation with a weapon, carrying weapons and going armed.

Intimidation is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and going armed has a maximum sentence of five years. Sentencing will be at a later date, and Orr will remain in custody until then.

Authorities said Orr, wearing a ski mask, fired three shots toward the clerk at Logan Convenience Store on April 20 as his brother was arguing with the employee. The clerk said the argument was the continuation of a complaint over the price of disposable lighters a few days earlier.

When the shots rang out, the clerk dived for cover and retrieved a store revolver from behind the counter. Patrons ducked, hid in the walk-in cooler and bathroom and darted for the emergency exit.

No injuries were reported.

During trial, the defense claimed Orr wasnt the shooter and had remained outside in the car.

The shooting was captured on video, and the clerk identified Orr as the gunman.

A friend of the brothers testified she had driven Orr and his brother to the store. She said the brother was carrying a gun when he and Orr entered the shop, and after the shooting Orr was holding the weapon when they returned to the car.

Police said they searched an East Second Street home where the brothers were staying and recovered clothing and shoes matching what the shooter was wearing. They also found ammunition and handgun magazines but no firearms.
Library to host event on college planning

Anyone interested in college can attend this ICAN presentation on planning and paying for college and careers. The program will highlight the many post-high school options available to students through education and training programs by engaging participants in a discussion about the planning process for selecting career pathways, education and training programs, as well as a review of the steps to the financial aid process.
CEDAR FALLS  Laura Sohl-Cryer has had a sonnet in her soul since she was a child.

My soul sings with the rhyme and meter in sonnets, said the award-winning Christian poet and storyteller from Cedar Falls. She is author of the newly published book, Remembering the Home Place: Sonnets and Stories From Our Family Farm.

Sohl-Cryer will share her work on Sunday in the Community Room at Hartman Reserve Nature Center in Cedar Falls. The 2nd Sunday Speaker series begins at 2 p.m. There is no cost; registration is not required. During the hour-long program, the author will read from her book, share adventures on her family farm and help participants share their own stories and remembrances.

Growing up on a century farm in Northeast Iowa that had been home to five generations of her family, Sohl-Cryer began writing as a child, weaving stories of her life and experiences on the farm into sonnets.

I was born on a farm in a blizzard, she said. Chores time  4:45  is ingrained in my soul. Now, looking back, I realize that growing up on the farm was a blessing. Small family farms are nearly extinct, and a lot of us have shared experiences that draw us closer to those roots. We need to share our stories of faith, family and life on the farm.

Sohl-Cryer left the farm at 18 for college at the University of Northern Iowa, graduating with a masters degree in communications. She started her career, married and became the mother of two children, Emma, now 20, and Colby, 17. She worked as a communications professional, taught college courses in speech and writing and lived her faith. Recently she became a lay minister at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Waterloo.

The first sonnet she published about life on the farm, The Best Things, won first place from the Iowa Poetry Association in 2015 and was published in Lyrical Iowa. Since then, her work has appeared in numerous publications and has received awards.

Remembering the Home Place was written as she coped with grief after losing her mother in October and the stress of handling the estate. The grief still comes unexpectedly, in unexpected places and it comes in waves, she said.

She took a break from working. I thought the estate would take all my time, but it has turned out to be fill out this form, mail it and wait. I started writing this as a way to manage my grief I put hands up and asked God for help. My faith is very strong and very important to me.

Sohl-Cryer described her process as a flurry of tears and typing.

In her book are tales and poems about tire swings, creeks, picking green beans, vengeful roosters, building straw forts in the haymow, as well as narratives about how her faith has helped her find joy and peace and guide her through sometimes dark and overwhelming places.

From January to May I was remembering stories and adventures about life on the farm and writing. One story would lead to something Id forgotten. Id have to call my brothers and ask if I was remembering something correctly, if it really happened, she said, smiling.

Readers tell Sohl-Cryer that her stories remind them of their own stories. She encourages them to share those remembrances. Thats how you make connections. Farm kids need to share their stories because its a way of life that is disappearing.

Remembering the Home Place also includes pages for reflection and discussion to engage readers and encourage them to delve deeper into their memories and strengthen faith.

Sohl-Cryer said, Writing became almost like a devotional. The goal was to remember that God is with me. I know youre grieving, I know youre sad, but sharing these stories will help. Writing released some of the sadness.

Copies of Remembering the Home Place are available at area Christian book stores and through amazon.com. For more information about Sohl-Cryer, visit www.sonnetinmysoul.com.
The moon is full this morning and red. It is a super moon as we call it. It is huge and right now unbelievably red. It was eerie this morning as I walked around the Tiny Russian Village. No flashlight needed and the world was a scary feeling red tint

I can see how the ancient ones decided that moons like this have powers and such. I believe. 

Beautiful and the sky is clear, air is fresh and crisp. What a beautiful morning at 3 a.m

Ordered two more tires and I will make a trip to the Big Village this morning to get the tires mounted. Sveta and I decided that we would get two more tires for the front of Sammy the Volga and make a complete set. The price was excellent and the quality is the best you can get

I have even created a new set of shackle lifts for the back leaf springs to get the weak springs back to original level. It never ends in having to keep ahead of future issues. The tires on the front are good, but one is leaking through the steel belts and it has to have a tube to keep it from going slowly flat. I am not comfortable running a tubeless radial with a tube. Even though that works and has been stable

Sammy the Volga and I have been so smitten by the quality and traction of the new tires that we just have to have a full set. We are greedy that way

I call it

Putting Sammy back to tank mode; with All Terrain Mud and Snow tires all around. Gives her lots of ground clearance and I think this next week I will put the new shackles (if I deem needed) on her rear and give her even more lift. Ground clearance is the key in the Tiny Russian Village for survival of your vehicle

WtR
Weather Alert

...Showers and Thunderstorm Chances Through Thursday... * Monsoon moisture will continue to provide chances for showers and thunderstorms across the eastern Sierra and western Nevada through Thursday with chances diminishing into the weekend. * These fast moving storms will be capable of dry lightning strikes across portions of northeast California and far Northwestern Nevada tonight into Thursday morning. * Wetter storms are expected over areas roughly south of I-80 in the Sierra and western Nevada through this evening and into Thursday morning. Localized areas of heavy rainfall with localized areas of flash flooding will be possible across areas of steep terrain and across recent burn scar areas. * Storm potential will trend down on Thursday and Friday with the best chances for isolated storms remaining across northeast California and Northwest Nevada. A few of these storms could be stronger with the potential for hail, heavy rainfall, and gusty outflow winds. * 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.
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Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Police have charged four more suspects in a 2021 carjacking-turned-homicide in Southwest Albuquerque.

Josiah A. Apodaca, 19, alleged by an informant to be the shooter, is charged with murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes in the death of 24-year-old Elias Otero on Feb. 11, 2021.

Santos Veronica, 19, faces similar charges in the case, while Andre Avila, 20, is charged with retaliating against a witness and conspiracy, and James Rodriguez, 20, is charged with tampering with evidence in the case.

Apodaca and Rodriguez have been booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and arrest warrants have been issued for Veronica and Avila.

Apodaca and Rodriguezs attorneys did not immediately respond to calls for comment. It is unclear if Veronica and Avila have an attorney.

According to a motion filed in 2nd Judicial District Court by Apodacas attorney, Apodaca should not be held until his trial because he has no previous criminal record, works two jobs and currently lives with his mother.

Apodacas attorney also mentioned that the affidavit failed to establish reliability and basis of knowledge of the confidential witness who placed Apodaca as one of the shooters.

Police arrested Adrian Avila and Anna Dukes, both 18, over the past several months. Dukes pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts each of armed robbery and conspiracy and faces up to 15 years behind bars and probation in the case.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Adrian Avila, Dukes, Veronica and Apodaca conspired together to rob a man on Feb. 10. Dukes allegedly lured the man over Snapchat to Alvarado Park, where Avila, Apodaca and Santos stole his car and money at gunpoint.

Later that night, according to police, Dukes lured Oteros brother to the same park, where the three men stole his car, forced him into another car and drove him to Elias Oteros home. Upon arrival, the group allegedly threatened to kill the brother unless Elias Otero gave them $1,000.

Elias Otero came out of the house with a gun and a confidential informant told detectives that Apodaca fatally shot him before the group fled. Police said Rodriguez helped the suspects get rid of the guns used in the crimes and Andre Avila repeatedly threatened to kill Dukes if she told anyone.
Eden Vaknin, left, whos Jewish Israeli, and Nada Vounis, a Palestinian living in Israel, share a bench together July 28 in the Rail Yard Park in Santa Fe. They served as senior young leaders who mentored teenagers taking part in the three-week Tomorrows Women camp in northern New Mexico. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Tajali Sheppard, left, a volunteer, helps Leen Abu Assab, center, and Yakin Shhab, both Palestinians, make sopaipillas last month during a cooking class. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Adar Hirak Asaf, left, whos Jewish Israeli, and Anjelina Shakkour, whos Palestinian, dance to live music last month on the Santa Fe Plaza. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Eden Vaknin, center, dances with Adi Inbar, left, and others who took part in the Tomorrows Women camp this summer. The program has brought Israeli and Palestinian teenagers to northern New Mexico for 19 years. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Lihi Naim, left, who served in the Israeli air force, and Nada Vounis, a Palestinian living in Israel, walk together July 28 through the Rail Yard Park in Santa Fe, where they served as senior young leaders in a three-week peace camp. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 5 Next

Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Half a world away from home, a small group of Palestinian and Israeli teenagers gathered in northern New Mexico this summer to cook, paint and talk.

Perhaps most important, they listened  really listened  to each others stories of checkpoints, bombings and bloodshed.

Its the kind of listening that can be uncomfortable and provoke anger. It can also demonstrate the power of conversation.

One person at a time, maybe it will make a difference, Dyala, a 20-year-old Palestinian and university student who lives in the West Bank, said in a recent interview.

She is one of four senior young leaders  all former campers  who participated in this years three-week Tomorrows Women camp in Galisteo and Santa Fe. Each young woman served a big sister role during the camp.

For 19 years, the program has brought Israeli and Palestinian teenagers to northern New Mexico, providing a neutral ground of sorts, more than 7,000 miles from the conflict at home.

This years campers  about a dozen young women 15 to 17 years old  learned enchilada recipes, made murals and had difficult conversations. They speak different languages at home, but the camp is in English.

Northern New Mexicos scenery and architecture are the backdrop.

Eden Vaknin, 20-year-old Jewish Israeli and a senior young leader in the camp, said early activities help build friendships and make it easier for the campers to connect with each other.

The girls may live just 40 miles apart at home while facing much different  often painful  experiences.

Its really hard, the anger between them  between the communities and between them specifically, Vaknin said. The camp starts with them being friends, and only after that, they can share their stories. That way they learn how to listen.

The camp calls it compassionate listening. Campers spend about 40 hours in dialogue sessions over three weeks.

They learn how to understand the other persons opinion, and they understand how to negotiate, not in an aggressive way, said Nada Vounis, an 18-year-old Arab living in Israel and a senior young leader in the Santa Fe camp.

Violence at home

The four senior young leaders serve as mentors. Each woman has her own stories of violence, heartbreak and commitment to peace  some of which they shared in short speeches last week before an audience at the Santa Fe rail yards.

Dyala said an Israeli soldier shot her father in the head and chest  killing him instantly  when he stepped outside to light a cigarette. Her mother, then pregnant, was shot and wounded.

Lihi Naim, a 21-year-old Jewish Israeli who served in the air force, said she has had friends die in terrorist attacks.

Vaknin described being attacked by a woman who followed her.

Vounis said she didnt come to speak about herself. But she spoke about the importance of continuing the dialogue, one person at a time, no matter how uncomfortable.

Violence in New Mexico also came up during the rail yards event  a night of music, speeches and art at the farmers market building in Santa Fe.

In remarks to the group, U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-N.M., touched on the death of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, a 27-year-old planning and land use director for the city of Espanola. He is one of four Muslim men shot in Albuquerque over the last nine months in killings that brought national attention to Albuquerque.

Leger Fernandez said seeing the kindness in others is key to reducing violence.

No black and white

Tomorrows Women is a nonprofit group dedicated to training young women to serve as peaceful leaders. The camp in Santa Fe is just one part of a program that lasts about a year and continues after the participants return to the Middle East.

The New Mexico portion of this years camp ended last week.

As part of the camp, local chefs taught the girls how to make New Mexican dishes, and the participants hiked, attended the Santa Fe Opera, visited the Santa Fe plaza and completed a ropes course. Therapeutic art was also a component of the camp.

Alana Grimstad, a spokeswoman for the group, said the programs demonstrate to the participants how much they have in common and help them work through difficult emotions. Several have lost loved ones in the conflict.

Many times, they come here full of hate, fear and anger because of what their life experiences have been, Grimstad said. Some may be living miles from each other, yet havent met someone from the other side.

Among the graduates are a human rights lawyer, activists, journalists and the founder of a preschool for Arab and Jewish children. Vounis wants to become a doctor.

But the professions they pursue arent necessarily the point. Also important are the simple conversations theyll have with people back home.

Vaknin, whos Jewish, said she has shared the stories of Dyala  a Palestinian in the West Bank  with her friends.

There is no black and white all the time, Vaknin said. There are things that we did wrong and they did wrong, and we have to fix it.

An auspicious symbol

New Mexico is an important setting for the camp.

In the United States, you can say whatever you want, you can believe whatever you want, you can be whatever you want, Naim said.

In Santa Fe, the campers hiked together and danced in the rain. Together, they sometimes seemed indistinguishable from New Mexicos teenagers. They laughed, hugged and finished each others sentences.

Its the most quiet place to do everything, said Dyala. Both sides can share their opinions freely without thinking if someones listening.

The senior young leaders encouraged Americans to keep in mind the full complexity of the conflict in the Middle East rather than embracing simple talking points. Each death is a real person, not just a statistic.

Some people take sides without even thinking or having more information about it, Dyala said.

Naim said its important to acknowledge that people are suffering, even if your attention drifts away from Ukraine or the Middle East.

Never lose the hope that peace can happen and change can happen, she said. And we need them to help us to make it  because it will be much easier if we have more hands in this process.

In a Journal interview, the four senior young leaders  Dyala, Naim, Vounis and Vaknin  expressed authentic excitement about an unexpected sight in Santa Fe.

Driving through the city on an off-day, they spotted a sign lit up in the dark: The letters spelled out P-E-A-C-E.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  As New Mexico lawmakers prepare to embark on a new tax overhaul attempt, some national groups are giving the current state tax code low marks for its economic competitiveness.

The Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan group, ranks New Mexicos tax climate as the 28th best in the nation  behind all neighboring states  while another group, the Council on State Taxation, said the state has the nations highest tax burden on business inputs, which include labor and equipment costs.

But some legislators said Thursday the rankings should not guide the effort to retool New Mexicos tax structure amid an ongoing revenue boom, saying state-by-state differences in taxes and demographics make comparisons tricky.

I think we have to take a lot of those so-called rankings with a grain of salt, Rep. Christine Chandler, D-Los Alamos, told the Journal during a break of the meeting of the interim Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee.

In addition, Sen. Liz Stefanics, D-Cerrillos, said factors like a states population and average income levels should be factored into tax rankings, but frequently are not.

For their part, officials with the national tax groups said the states poor tax ranking largely stems from issues connected to its gross receipts tax, including tax pyramiding  or multiple levels of taxes on business services.

But they did note that changes approved this year, including exempting some manufacturing supplies and costs from double taxation, could improve the states ranking.

While some business leaders and legislators have pushed for more sweeping steps to fix tax pyramiding, Chandler said legislators should take a cautious approach to the issue, pointing out the impact of the states 2004 food tax deduction.

The exemption of food and grocery items from taxation prompted the state to pay cities and counties to offset their lost revenue streams, and tax rates were increased in some parts of the state after those payments were eventually phased out.

While Chandler said discussions of reimposing the food tax is not a high priorityto her  and attempts to do so would likely encounter fierce political opposition  she said lawmakers should learn from the past when considering new changes to the tax code.

We need to have that conversation now, she told the Journal.

However, some lawmakers said the time is right for big changes to New Mexicos tax structure given the states revenue bonanza that allowed lawmakers to approve tax rebates of up to $1,500 for New Mexico households this year.

Im really hoping we can do some significant tax reform to make our state more competitive, said Rep. James Strickler, R-Farmington.

Strickler, who is not running for reelection this year, described New Mexicos current tax code as overly complicated and said it discourages business activity in the state.

New Mexicos gross receipts tax system has already come under the scrutiny of lawmakers in recent years, as a multitude of exemptions, deductions and other breaks enacted over the last several decades have led to an increase in tax rates.

While Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham this year signed a bill that lowers the states base tax rate by 0.25 percentage points over the next two years, some cities still have overall tax rates in excess of 8%, including Farmington, Santa Fe and Las Cruces.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said reducing the overall gross receipts tax rate might be more effective in making the state more attractive to businesses than approving new exemptions or carve-outs.

We make progress on the policy, but then we pass a bunch more credits and deductions and thats whats eating away at the base, Wirth said during Thursdays hearing.

Meanwhile, the legislative committee hearings this summer are being used to study tax issues in advance of next years 60-day legislative session, which starts in January.

And the gross receipts tax is not the only type of New Mexico tax thats drawing scrutiny.

Sen. Bill Tallman, D-Albuquerque, suggested Thursday lawmakers could consider lowering the states personal income tax rates, while simultaneously increasing the corporate income tax levels.

And some legislators pointed out New Mexico has one of the nations lowest property tax rates.

While no specific policy proposals have been endorsed by lawmakers yet, Chandler said additional tax cuts or rebates will likely be on the table given the states revenue boom that will become more clear after new estimates are released next week.

If those revenues are sustainable, then we should be thinking of some targeted tax relief, Chandler said.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

The Santa Fe County Sheriffs Office said it has received the FBIs forensic reports and Office of the Medical Investigator reports from the high-profile fatal shooting on a movie set last year outside Santa Fe.

Juan Rios, a Sheriffs Office spokesman, said the agency is now awaiting actor Alec Baldwins phone records to be reviewed. He said those records are forthcoming.

Once the phone records are received and reviewed by detectives, the final Sheriffs Office investigative case file will be forwarded to the District Attorney for review and final charging decisions, Rios said.

The case stems from an October 2021 incident when, according to authorities, Baldwin discharged a live round from a revolver on the set of Rust, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and wounding director Joel Souza, 48, on the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set.

In the months that followed, several lawsuits have been filed in the incident and investigators determined live rounds made their way onto the movie set, leading to scrutiny of the films armorer, ammunition supplier and others.

The state Environment Department in April issued the production company a $136,793 civil penalty for its failure to keep employees safe.

Rios said the Sheriffs Office is working with the Suffolk County Police Department in New York to get Baldwins phone records.

Our detectives will need to then thoroughly review those phone records for evidentiary purposes, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said in a prepared statement.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  With all of the Fidos in forever homes, Hollydogs Greyhound Adoption, the nonprofit organization created in 1995 to save South Floridas retired racers, has closed its doors.

The Bonita Springs shelter made the announcement on its Facebook page.

Back in the early 90s, we made a promise to all those greyhounds that had no place to go, the statement read. We promised that we will make it our mission to rescue and find homes for as many dogs as we could till there were none left. And so we did, today after 27 years of greyhound rescue.  It seems like a dream, but it is a bitter sweet dream.

Silvana Rizzi-Cortella, founder of Hollydogs Greyhound Adoption, said the shelter will stay open to continue to assist dogs that need rehoming, but the greyhound kennel is officially closed. She said the shelter has saved thousands of retired racers over the years. She declined further comment Sunday.

Greyhounds had been running for profit in Florida since the early 1930s. Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club in the 1920s, even before dog betting was legal.

But in November 2018, the public no longer had the appetite to watch dogs run. An overwhelming 69% of voters cast ballots in favor of Amendment 13, which banned greyhound racing by the last day of 2020.

In 2019, Florida, which was the first state to legalize dog racing, was still home to 11 of the nations 17 remaining greyhound tracks, according to The Miami New Times. Some of the tracks over the years included the Mardi Gras Racetrack in Hallandale Beach, Magic City Casino in Miami, the Palm Beach Kennel Club and Biscayne Greyhound Park, which attracted scores of visitors.

Bob Levy, a former Plantation councilman and former Pembroke Park city manager, adopted 10 greyhounds over the years from Hollydogs Greyhound Adoption. They are 45 mph couch potatoes, he said. As soon as they learn what a couch is, forget it, your couch will never be the same.

Theyve been working their whole lives, he said, and finally ready for some relaxation.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  A gunman who died in a shootout after trying to get inside the FBIs Cincinnati office apparently went on social media and called for federal agents to be killed on sight following the search at former President Donald Trumps home, a law enforcement official said.

Federal investigators are examining social media accounts they believe are tied to the gunman, 42-year-old Ricky Shiffer, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

At least one of the messages on Trumps Truth Social media platform appeared to have been posted after Shiffer tried to breach the FBI office. It read: If you dont hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I.

Another message posted on the same site this week from @rickywshifferjr included a call to arms and urged people to be ready for combat after the FBI search at Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Authorities also are looking into whether Shiffer, a Navy veteran, had ties to far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys, the official said.

Shiffer was armed with a nail gun and an AR-15-style rifle when he tried to breach the visitor screening area at the FBI office Thursday, according to the official. Shiffer fled when agents confronted him.

He was later spotted by a state trooper along a highway and got into a gunbattle that ended with police killing him, authorities said.

The burst of violence unfolded amid FBI warnings that federal agents could face attacks following the search in Florida.

The FBI is investigating what happened in Cincinnati as an act of domestic extremism, according to the law enforcement official.

Shiffer is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and may have been at the Capitol that day but was not charged with any crimes in connection with the riot, the official said.

Officials have warned of a rise in right-wing threats against federal agents since the FBI entered Trumps estate in what authorities said was part of an investigation into whether he took classified documents with him after leaving the White House. Supporters of the former president have railed against the search, accusing the FBI and the Justice Department of using the legal system as a political weapon.

FBI Director Christopher Wray denounced the threats as he visited an FBI office in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, saying, Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who youre upset with.

The FBI on Wednesday also warned its agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards are not visible outside FBI space, citing an increase in social media threats against bureau personnel and offices.

A now-suspended Twitter account, @rickyshiffer, shared the same profile picture as the Truth Social account and similar opinions, including a call for armed conflict in the U.S. this past spring.

It included posts saying that elections are rigged against conservatives and that the country faces tyranny.

I dont think its a one-off incident, said Amy Cooter, a researcher at Middlebury College who is an expert on militias. Im afraid theres going to be a pocket full of people who feel compelled to act.

Courthouses, government offices and election headquarters all could be targets, she said. Anywhere is fair game now because these folks feel this a personal issue for them, Cooter said.

Shiffer worked as an electrician, according to one of his social media profiles. He was a registered Republican who voted in the 2020 primary from Columbus, Ohio, and in the 2020 general election from Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to public records.

Court records show the Ohio Department of Taxation filed suit against him in June, seeking a $553 tax lien judgment, according to court records listing him at an address in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also previously lived at several addresses in Columbus and in Omaha, Nebraska.

He graduated from high school in central Pennsylvania in 1998 and enlisted in the Navy that same year, later serving on the USS Columbia submarine until 2003, according to military records. He was an infantry soldier in the Florida Army National Guard from 2008 to 2011, when he was honorably discharged.

I know he was way into World War II and the military, said Lori Frady, a classmate at West Perry High School in Elliottsburg, who had not seen Shiffer since graduation. He didnt have a lot of friends, but the friends he did have were big into history and military history.

___

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, John Seewer in Toledo, Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jim Mustian and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

___

Hendrickson 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.
TOPEKA, Kan.  An increase in turnout among Democrats and independents and a notable shift in Republican-leaning counties contributed to the overwhelming support of abortion rights last week in traditionally conservative Kansas, according to a detailed Associated Press analysis of the voting results.

A proposed state constitutional amendment would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban abortions outright. But Kansas voters rejected the measure by nearly 20 percentage points, almost a mirror of Republican Donald Trumps statewide margin over Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to repeal a womans constitutional right to an abortion, the threat of new restrictions in the state galvanized Democrats and independents more than anticipated. At the same time, Republicans showed less interest in turning out to support the measure.

The findings reinforce a sense in both parties that the Supreme Courts decision may have altered the dynamics of this years midterm elections. Heres how it played out:

OVERPLAYED THEIR HAND

In 2020, Trump carried Kansas by 18 points. Last week, not a single county in the state favored the ballot measure as much as it had supported the former president, the AP found.

In 99 of the states 105 counties, support for the abortion measure was more than 10 percentage points lower than its support for Trump against Biden. In 29 of those counties, that difference was more than 20 points.

And in 14 Kansas counties that Trump won, majorities rejected the amendment.

The anti-abortion politicians have just overplayed their hand on these bans, said Tamarra Wieder, director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates in Kentucky, where another abortion measure will be on the ballot in November.

The Kansas county with the largest drop from the presidential election to the abortion referendum was Greenwood, in rural southeast Kansas. Trump won nearly 80% of the vote there in 2020, but there was about a 30-point shift on abortion, with voters narrowly favoring no, the position that leaves abortion rights in place for women in Kansas.

Beyond counties that flipped entirely, dozens of deeply Republican counties saw voters favor the abortion amendment as expected, but by much narrower margins than their preference for Trump two years ago. Near Topeka, for example, 72% of voters in Pottawatomie County backed the former presidents re-election, while just 57% supported the amendment.

Abortion opponents said they were stunned by the margin of the results.

I was surprised for sure, said Ruth Tisdale, executive director of the Advice and Aid Pregnancy Center. I thought that it would be a closer outcome either way. I didnt have a strong sense of whether it would pass or not, but I thought that it would be closer, you know, 51 to 49 kind of thing.  It was very sad.

HUGE TURNOUT, SURGE OF INDEPENDENTS

It wasnt just the amendments margin of defeat that jolted the political consciousness. It was also the seam-busting turnout in what otherwise should have been a normal, low-turnout primary in a midterm election year.

The latest AP tallies show that more than 922,000 votes were cast by Kansas voters on the abortion referendum. Thats roughly twice as many voters as turned out for the states previous midterm primary election in 2018, and its about as many as turn out for Kansas midterm general elections in some years. Overall turnout  48% of registered voters  outpaced the 34% turnout for the 2020 presidential primaries.

The most recent electorate also was considerably less Republican than in a typical Kansas primary. From 2010 through 2020, Republican primary ballots outnumbered non-Republican ballots by about 2-to-1. In last weeks election, according to the Kansas secretary of states office, the two groups turned out in nearly equal numbers.

Advocates on both sides of the amendment spent more than $14 million blanketing Kansas with ads and signs, knocking on doors and calling voters, according to state campaign finance reports.

That effort helped attract an unusual variable in Kansas primaries: independent voters. That group is eligible to vote on referenda but not for candidates running in any party primary. But campaign ads emphasized that no affiliation voters could indeed vote on the abortion question. It worked: Around 184,000 more votes were cast for the abortion amendment than voted for governor, a likely barometer to measure their portion of the electorate.

The decision to overturn Roe really was a wake-up call for more moderate voters, said Ashley All, a spokesperson for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, a group that fought against the ballot measure.

ENERGY AROUND BALLOT MEASURES

The result from Kansas is rippling into numerous other states.

In Georgia, the membership for NARAL Pro-Choice America jumped from 53,000 to more than 80,000 and could hit 100,000 by the November election, said Alicia Stallworth, the director of NARAL campaigns in the Southeastern U.S.

I dont think this is something that disappears, Stallworth said of the current energy among abortion rights advocates.

Abortion-rights advocates said the decision to strike down Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 case that recognized a womans constitutional right to an abortion, energized many voters who had assumed abortion access was safe.

It was such a beacon of light in this moment, said Heather Shumaker, director of state abortion access at the National Womens Law Center, of the Kansas vote. I think there is energy around ballot measures for the foreseeable future.

In Ohio, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley has called for a statewide ballot question on a state constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights as soon as 2023.

In South Dakota, a group called Dakotans for Health is pushing a similar ballot initiative in 2024. And in Colorado, advocates want a 2024 referendum that could allow public funding for abortion.

But getting measures on ballots without going through a state legislature can be difficult. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which advises liberal groups on initiative campaigns, advises the process could take three years.

WHY WERE LOSING

In half of the states, including Kansas, only lawmakers can put propositions on the statewide ballot. That means in Texas, which bans most abortions, the only options are to wait for legislators to put an initiative to a voteas anti-abortion lawmakers did in Kansas  or vote out the incumbents.

In Texas we know thats why were losing, said Delma Catalina Limones, communications director for Avow, an abortion-rights group in that state.

But despite the apparent confidence of Kansas legislators to put the abortion amendment on the ballot this month, their expectations were upended by the resounding defeat.

Value Them Both Coalition, the main group in Kansas that fought in favor of the amendment, called it a temporary setback and promised in a statement that our dedicated fight to value women and babies is far from over.

___

Kessler and Dolby reported from Washington. Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

___

This story has been updated to reflect that the first name of the director of state abortion access at the National Womens Law Center is Heather, not Helen, Shumaker.
BILLINGS, Mont.  A federal judge on Friday reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump, in an order that marked a major setback to the already struggling coal industry.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris requires government officials to conduct a new environmental review before they can resume coal sales from federal lands. Morris faulted the governments previous review of the program, done under Trump, for failing to adequately consider the climate damage from coals greenhouse gas emissions and other effects.

Almost half the nations annual coal production  some 260 million tons last year  is mined by private companies from leases on federal land, primarily in Western states such as Wyoming, Montana and Colorado.

Few coal leases were sold in recent years after demand for the fuel shrank drastically. But the industrys opponents had urged Morris to revive the Obama-era moratorium to ensure it cant make a comeback as wildfires, drought, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change worsen.

Coal combustion for electricity remains one of the top sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, even after many power plants shut down over the past decade because of concerns over pollution and changing economic conditions.

The coal program brought in about $400 million to federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments in 2021, according to government data. It supports thousands of jobs and has been fiercely defended by industry representatives, Republicans in Congress and officials in coal- producing states.

Among President Joe Bidens first actions in his first week in office was to suspend oil and gas lease sales  a move later blocked by a federal judge  and he faced pressure from environmental groups to take similar action against coal.

The administration last year launched a review of climate damage from coal mining on public lands as it expanded scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. But no changes had been announced as a result of that review.

This decision gives the Biden administration the opportunity to make good on its commitment to seriously battle the climate crisis, said Earthjustice attorney Jenny Harbine, who represented environmental groups and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in the case. No progress has been made to reform the program or do whats needed to phase out existing leases.

The Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana is near several major strip mines. Tribal members have long fought against further development. Tribal President Serena Wetherelt said in a statement that Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland need to fulfill their trust obligation and take a hard look at the effects of the U.S. federal lands energy program.

Our lands and waters mean everything to us, Wetherelt said.

Interior Department officials were reviewing the ruling, spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said.

National Mining Association President Rich Nolan said the industry lobbying group would appeal Fridays ruling.

This is a deeply disappointing decision with energy-driven inflation, energy affordability and energy security top concerns for Americans, Nolan said. Denying access to affordable, secure energy during an energy affordability crisis is deeply troubling.

Officials from Montana and Wyoming had intervened in the case on the side of the federal government and argued against reviving the moratorium.

A spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said the Biden administrations defense of the federal coal program was only half-hearted because of its close alignment with environmentalists. Knudsen spokesperson Kyler Nerison added that the decision was an example of environmentalists taking advantage of federal laws to endlessly delay energy development.

Extracting and burning fossil fuels from federal land generates the equivalent of 1.4 billion tons (1.3 billion metric tons) annually of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Geological Survey. Thats equivalent to almost one-quarter of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.

Obama Interior Secretary Sally Jewell suspended coal sales in large part over climate concerns in 2016. After Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke revived the program in 2017, California, New York, New Mexico and Washington state sued. The Northern Cheyenne, joined by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, also filed a legal challenge.

In 2017 and 2018, the most recent years for which data was available, the U.S. government sold leases for 134 million tons of coal on public land in six states, according to figures provided by the Interior Department. Thats a relatively small amount compared with previous years, for example 2011 and 2012, when more than 2 billion tons were sold in Wyoming alone.

Demand for coal has plummeted as many utilities switch to natural gas or renewables to generate power.

___

Follow Brown on Twitter: @MatthewBrownAP
Sometimes redemption arrives in the tip of a paintbrush.

Ojibwe artist Patrick Collins bounced between 11 foster homes after being abused by both his parents. He battled alcoholism and Desert Storm-inflicted PTSD until he found himself on a canvas.

A graduate of Santa Fes Institute of American Indian Arts, Collins recently moved from Michigans Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Reservation to Albuquerque. Hell be showing a series on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women at the Santa Fe Indian Market on Saturday, Aug. 20, and Sunday, Aug. 21.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of this grandfather of New Mexicos art markets. More than 100,000 visitors swarm the Plaza to see art by more than 250 Native artists from across the U.S. and Canada. Shoppers annually drop $160 million on art, hotels and restaurants at what critics view as the most prestigious Native American market in the country.

This year marks Collins first try at selling his work in Santa Fe. Hell be bringing eight portraits of strong women he sees as crucial to both his life, and the MMIW movement that advocates for the end of violence against Native women.

Collins based his 24-by-40 inch portraits on photographs, adding tribal symbols and regalia to his canvases. He created the works using oil-based pencils and paint. Their skin tones glow in a menagerie of reds, blues, peaches and oranges blended into a silky luminescence.

We have people like Charlene Teters (Spokane artist and former IAIA dean for cultural arts and studies) who have done great things, Collins said. Women in Indian society usually arent going to get recognized.

Collins pictured a quizzical Teters wearing a traditional woven hat, her chin leaning on her hand.

She was at the forefront of fighting for Indian people, Collins said. She was at the forefront of the whole mascot issue.

It was Teters who encouraged him to finish school at IAIA when he ping-ponged between New Mexico and Michigan while his oldest daughter was having health problems.

Collins sketches out the womens shapes on canvas before filling in the body. He prefers oil for its vibrant color and long drying time, allowing him to change or add onto the painting.

I think oils are much richer than acrylics, he said. Its like Abercrombie & Fitch versus Kmart.

He often adds silver, gold or copper leaf to outline hand symbols designating women in distress.

His portraits stare above a studio folding table cluttered with half-squeezed paint tubes, bottles of denatured alcohol, plastic paint cups, bouquets of clean brushes and palette knives.

The first female is Inuit from Alaska/Greenland, the second is from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, the third is Navajo and a fourth is of Aztec descent from Central Mexico.

Navajo veteran Toni Eaglefeathers follows the powwow circuit advocating the promotion of Native women to higher military positions.

They all wear jingle dresses; thats a healing dress that came from the Ojibwa nation, Collins said. The dresses dangle with decorative cones made from chewing tobacco lids.

Collins grew up outside of his Michigan reservation. His mother was Ojibwa; his father was Seminole and part of the Red Power Movement of the 1970s.

My dad was a rolling stone, Collins said. I have like 14 brothers and sisters. My mom left my dad before I was even born. My dad was a pretty bad alcoholic.

Social workers took Collins from his mother, an artist who wove baskets. He grew up in foster care from the age of 7.

My mom was verbally abusive, he said. She didnt know how to be a good parent. My mom would dye her hair blonde. She wanted to be white so bad.

I came home and there was a counselor. She told my mom she had to go to therapy.

Eventually, his biological mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

At age 11 or 12, Collins was placed in a boys school that became his version of the New Yorks High School for the Performing Arts from Fame. He studied painting and drawing.

They had a program for the gifted and I thrived, he said.

My mom was an artist; it was part of my background my whole life. I was that guy who can draw. My academics were awful because I was drawing all the time.

But he leapfrogged from foster home to foster home, an angry kid who acted out his rage.

I was a tough kid that had problems, he explained. I was in the principals office every day.

I was disrespectful, I was acting out. I was running away from home, he continued. I made threats of suicide. I was the class clown, completely disrespectful.

When Collins was 12, a woman completing a guidance counselor internship spoke to him at school and the pain rushed out in an avalanche. Not long afterward, she took him into her home, becoming the woman he calls Mom. She had a husband and two children.

It was the best thing that ever happened to me, Collins said. I think they broke me. She was smart enough not to let me manipulate. They took care of me the rest of my life. They became the backbone of who I am.

He attended a Mississippi community college. He also attended Central Michigan University. Then an academic advisor from Arizona told him about IAIA.

I loved it, he said. It was my first time being in this region. I fit right in with the other kids. It was my first time dealing with other Native tribes. My roommate had been in foster care, too.

He graduated in 2021 and left for Michigan to pursue tribal politics and the chaos of distributing casino wealth. It didnt last.

I think art for me is therapeutic, he said. It helps me grow.

I know how to wield and use my hand that way. Im infatuated with a political response in my portraits.

Hes also bringing a 55-by-70-inch painting to Santa Fe. It pictures two young women, one his daughter Shelayna and Santa Clara Pueblo artist Rose B. Simpson holding a sign against genocide. It reads Natives for Ukraine.

We get it, he said.

Collins won Best of Show at the Ziibiwing Cultural Society in 2001 and was the 2002 Winter Olympics Mural recipient for the Discover Navajo Foundation.
JAKARTA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia targets to complete the first phase of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccination for livestock with 3 million doses of vaccines by September, said the country's spokesperson for FMD task force Friday.

"From June to July, 800,000 livestock were vaccinated and the number of FMD cases was sloping, this shows that vaccine is able to reduce the transmission rate," said the spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito.

This is in line with the study which concluded that FMD vaccine was able to reduce the financial impact on farmers in Southeast Asia, Adisasmito added.

Indonesia has imported 3 million doses of FMD vaccine from five foreign companies and is in the process of procuring another 25 million doses.

So far 1,378,845 livestock have received injections of the FMD vaccine, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture.

While the total number of infections is 481,964, with 149,035 cases remaining in 18 provinces. 
New Mexico culture is an iconic brand in itself, one properly exemplified through the struggles, perseverance and eclectic minds of the creative.

Cameron Ward and Natassja Santistevan aim to promote the states cultural innovation through their new magazine, Iconica.

Ward said, Our goal for the magazine is for this not just to be a platform for people to showcase their work, but also a platform to broaden their connections.

The publication focuses on modern lifestyles, featuring the imperceptible world of fashion, the perspective of artists and photographers, and the underground cadence of local musicians.

Even wordsmiths can share their poetry, and Ward and Santistevan are open to expanding what forms of art can be submitted.

Santistevan said, Were talking to spray painters, were talking to tattoo artists, were talking to DJs that have been here for a long time, because thats kind of what the Albuquerque architecture is.

Theyve also been exploring cities beyond Albuquerque to discover more representations of the states niche lifestyle, including Native American influence.

Ward added, Weve been traveling to Santa Fe a lot, and that is where were getting  a whole bunch of culture.

Creating Iconica

Ward grew up in Isleta, and she shared that her grandmother was a fashion designer in a more traditional sense. She discovered a deep admiration for arts and crafts, from her own creations to writing about other artists, which eventually embedded her in Albuquerques scene.

Through her network, she met Santistevan, and the desire to start a magazine was mutual and almost immediate. The two decided to start their journey in an unapologetic, competitive industry.

Ward said, We were like, no expectations, lets just go in blindly, and it actually was really good.

They were both hardened and motivated from their past experiences. Santistevan received a similar grandmother influence and was placed in sewing classes as a child. Yet, Santistevan was pushed away from the craft by peers.

I stopped sewing after being bullied, Santistevan explained. I would wear what I made to school  so then after that, I kind of just stopped, but I continued to use fashion to express myself.

Santistevan began curating events while in college and building a network, eventually colliding with Wards path.

Iconica formed, voyaging from a brainstorm to a warm copy off the printer, clutched by the hands of the creators. Each possesses their own strengths, allowing their partnership to be balanced, and their correlative passion for culture and craft helps drive the publication.

Ward said, We have to motivate each other  pushing each other is a huge role that you have to do.

Santistevan added, Were like our own bosses, but also each others bosses.

The art community

The two boasted the inspiration they receive from the arts community, expressing their gratitude to the various sponsors theyve partnered with and mentors who are already established in the medium. From graphic designers to social media gurus to photographers to makeup artists to models.

Santistevan said, Having those people that we can ask the questions to and support us is definitely something that, for any artist, is super important.

Their willingness to learn has been apparent in their coverage. Iconica features the local fashion scene highlighted by seasonal style, expressive photo and art galleries, profiles on musicians gracing venues across the state, and poetry meant to linger in the minds of readers.

Iconica provides a behind-the-scenes look into modern lifestyle and culture, influencing the audience while inspiring other creators at the same time.

The development of the magazine remains a constant learning process, however. Ward and Santistevan admitted that they had difficulty grasping variables of the production, from navigating software to formatting the layout to managing sponsors.

Yet, Ward and Santistevan are becoming more comfortable with every aspect of the operation.

Ward said of the process, Its like building the brand as we go. Like the people in Albuquerque, were always evolving and growing.

They have already seen development in the early life of the magazine. Each issues release is complemented by an event, where they are not only able to build their brand, but connect artists with each other.

From the first release party to the second, attendance almost tripled in size, according to Ward and Santistevan. They are already preparing to book an even larger venue for the third release.

Showcasing the brand

Iconica is a quarterly publication and its next issue will be released in November. The events and issues will purposely drift from the standard, offering a new experience, for there is a large world of emerging artists primed for exposure.

We want to showcase these people because it takes a lot of commitment, Santistevan said.

Iconica not only displays the talents of local creators but also encourages camaraderie in the artistic community.

In reality, we cant just use each other as ladders and then move on, Ward said. We grow together.

Expanding Iconica is a goal for Ward and Santistevan. They plan to keep building the magazine, eventually bringing attention to New Mexico in larger markets.

Whats really important is we want it to still be about New Mexico, Santistevan said. Were just trying to get eyes on this place.

New Mexico is as unique as the artists who express the cultures style and creativity, whether through fashion, photography, music or art. It is a brand earned through hard work. It is iconic.
Betty Kwagala, a patient at the Uganda-China Friendship Hospital, speaks in an interview with Xinhua in Kampala, Uganda, Aug. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

by Ronald Ssekandi

KAMPALA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- At the operation table in the Uganda-China Friendship Hospital here, senior Ugandan surgeons and their Chinese counterparts work shoulder to shoulder in saving the lives of ordinary Ugandans who are in dire need of health care.

"The other day I was with a Chinese anesthetist. She was the one who put my patient to sleep during the operation. I appreciate her expertise and the way she was doing it," Emmanuel Tugaineyo, director of the hospital, told Xinhua in an interview on Wednesday.

Funded by China 10 years ago to help boost health care in the east African country, this hospital has become a major landmark in bilateral cooperation in health since the two countries established diplomatic ties 60 years ago.

"The Chinese have done tremendous work in terms of complementing health service delivery in this country. The Chinese government has provided continuous support to this hospital in many areas," Tugaineyo said.

"When you consider the numbers (of patients) that are handled in this hospital alone, they have reduced the kind of pressure that was on Mulago (National Referral Hospital in Kampala) and other health units within the city," he said, noting that the hospital handles an average of 95,000 patients annually.

The hundred-bed hospital was a major treatment center for COVID-19 patients when the country was facing waves of the pandemic, during which China provided various forms of support to the country including sending medical supplies to the hospital.

Since 1983, China has been dispatching medical teams composed of different specialists to Uganda. Up to now, a total of 229 Chinese doctors and experts have provided medical services to local communities in Uganda, according to the Chinese embassy here.

Guo Zhiping, head of the medical team currently serving in Uganda, told Xinhua that besides treating Ugandans, they are also on a mission to pass on medical skills to their Ugandan counterparts.

Guo's team, which is the 22nd such Chinese group since 1983, consists of seven specialists in different fields such as gastroenterology, urology, infectious diseases, otolaryngology, anesthesiology, and traditional Chinese medicine.

"When I came here, I saw those patients who are in need of help, they need our medical services," said Guo.

"I believe our team can share with Ugandan physicians our expertise, technology. And our team also has a mission to be involved in hospital management and we hope we can bring some new ideas," she added.

Betty Kwagala, a patient at the hospital, spoke highly of the Chinese medical personnel when it comes to acupuncture. Kwagala told Xinhua that she tried Western medicine to relieve her back pain but failed. However after being treated with four acupuncture sessions, she can now feel relief from her symptoms.

Tugaineyo said the health ministry is planning to upgrade the hospital into a national referral trauma center and it will need specialists like neurosurgeons, orthopedics and others, so support from China is needed for the center to be fully operational. 

Guo Zhiping, head of the 22nd Chinese medical team to Uganda, speaks in an interview with Xinhua at the Uganda-China Friendship Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, Aug. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

Emmanuel Tugaineyo, director of the Uganda-China Friendship Hospital, speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Kampala, Uganda, Aug. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)
Chhaad  The Terrace, starring Paoli Dam, Directed by debutante director Indrani is premiering at the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA),Toronto.

Chhaad  The Terrace is produced by National Film Development Corporation under the new slate of productions. The film was extensively shot in Kolkata, India abiding by all the health guidelines amidst COVID-19 pandemic. The post-production of the film was concluded in December 2021. International Film Festival of South Asia [IFFSA] Toronto is the largest South Asian film festival in North America, and a pioneer organization devoted to the development, promotion and celebration of South Asian cinematic arts and talent in Canada. In its 11th year now, the festival has become an international icon and the voice of South Asian cinema in Canada. The gala opening ceremony of the film festival will be held on 10 August 2022.

Chhaad, the Bengali language feature film will have its premiere at IFFSA, Toronto 2022. The film is scheduled to be screened on 13 August 2022 at 6:30 PM at Cineplex Odeon Morningside Cinemas, 785 Milner Ave, Scarborough, Toronto. The film will be screened with English subtitles.

Chhaad is a realistic drama starring Paoli Dam, Arunoday Rahul Banerjee, Rajnandini Paul & Rajnandini Paul & another prominent cast. The film was part of the NFDCs script lab and has undergone a transformation since its first pitch to the corporation. It was also was part of an International edit workshop, The first Cut Lab, France. The editing consultant was Mr Benjamin Mirguet who mentored the Director and the Editor of the film.. The film explores the protagonist, Mitras (Paoli) relationship with the terrace and eventually her disillusionment with the terrace. Mitra is perturbed with her married responsibilities, she is a writer and a school teacher, her identity issues trigger when she is denied access to the terrace - Her open space.

Mr. Ravinder Bhakar, Managing Director, NFDC India, informed that We are glad that NFDCs films are recognized at renowned festivals world over. The new production Chhaad  The Terrace will be premiering in North America & we hope the film will be supported by the audiences, We are also planning to send the film at 53rd IFFI, which is scheduled between 20  28 November 2022 at Goa.

Mr. Sunny Gill, Festival Director expressed that,  IFFSA is proud to continue its mission of showcasing the best of South Asian cinema talent with this year's screening of the NFDC-produced -Chhaad The Terrace by Indrani, starring Paoli Dam. We're thrilled to continue our partnership with NFDC as they help to produce world class Indian cinema with a focus on promoting independent voices, which is central to IFFSA's mission and vision.

Ms. Paoli Dam, Lead Actress shared, A new feather in the cap for the film, its good to see the film steadily marching upwards & reaching its audiences. Its being recognized by the festivals and Indranis work is appreciated on her directorial debut. Thanks to IFFSA, Toronto for premiering the film.

Ms. Indrani, Director expressed that,  A dream come true and a moment to cherish all my life. My directorial debut Chhaad  The Terrace is premiering and garnering appreciation by the audiences, Thankful to NFDC for showing faith in me and all the Cast & Crew for their support and making this film happen under the tough circumstances, which makes it even more special personally.

The film began its journey from Film Bazaars Screenwriters Lab (SWL) & now premiering at the prestigious film festival. The call for entries for this years SWL is now open at 16th edition of the NFDC Film Bazaar. NFDC is also organizing the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa and the call for entries across various sections is open. The film is tentatively scheduled to release during end of this year.
The latest episode of Koffee With Karan comes bearing a lot of laughter, truth bombs, some interesting revelations and a fun camaraderie between the brother-sister duo Sonam Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor.

While Sonam spoke about a lot of topics ranging from her pregnancy to unwanted guests at Cannes, she also applauded Bollywood actress Genelia Deshmukh for her impeccable social media game. She went to say, "I love watching her reels, She and Riteish are hilarious. I am constantly stalking her on Social Media".

Sonam also commented on the love between the couple, Genelia and Riteish and I think we can all agree to that for sure. Seeing the duo in reels, videos or even interviews, the frankness and comfort they share with each other just makes itself evident and impossible to ignore.
On the occasion of Indias 75th year of Independence, #KotakMahindraBank is proud to partner with one of the 20th century's greatest masters of the sarod, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, and his sons, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash. This special video titled 'Three Generations One Nation pays homage to the nation, and for the first time ever, the maestro is joined by the 8th generation of musicians of his family - 10-year-old twins, Zohaan Ali Bangash and Abeer Ali Bangash.
Network18 Group channels have been putting up a strong show. Some 15 weeks back, the Groups English general news brand CNN-News18 moved ahead of Times Now. In the last few weeks, the Groups Hindi News channel, News18 India, moved ahead of Aaj Tak and India TV to attain the No. 1 position, as per BARC data.

In a heartfelt note to Network18 employees, Rahul Joshi, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, Network18 Group, lauded Team News18 India for a comprehensive win over Aaj Tak and India TV.

Mentioning how proud a moment it was when News18 India became No. 1, Joshi wrote, Hats off to Team News18 India for this comprehensive win over Aaj Tak and others, such as India TV, and also those trailing a distance away, like Zee News and ABP. Were more convinced about our leadership since it comes on the back of both rising reach and time spent, which means the engagement with the brand is high and the leadership here to stay.

He also mentioned that around 15 weeks back, CNN-News18 towered over Times Now. With a share of over 30%, our share is almost 60% higher than that of Times Now, the flagship channel of the Times group.

Meanwhile, calling CNBC-TV18 the Groups crown jewel, Joshi noted that the channel had opened with a share of over 80% once BARC released the ratings after a long hiatus. He further added that the share in prime time market hours was greater than 90%. Need I say more about a brand thats done it consistently for 22 long years, he said.

Continuing further, Joshi wrote, The idea behind this note is not to brag about our achievements. I write this note with all humility to thank you for your contribution and ownership in taking our brands to leadership positions. Whats more heartening is that this time the turnaround has been driven by the young and restless at Network18.

At the same time, he cautioned, The problem with being No. 1 is that theres only one way to go  further up. The No. 1 Attitude leaves no room for complacency; in fact, it instils a large dose of paranoia and restlessness to stay ahead. Always at the top.
Award-winning PR agency SPAG, a FINN Partners company, announced strategic partnership with Reckitt to champion impact-driven communications for a healthier world. The campaign aims to elevate Reckitts thought leadership voice, and commitment to improving hygiene and sustainability in the ASEAN region through a series of activities including stakeholder engagement, opinion leader building, content and design development, and social media and media strategy. This collaboration marks a pivotal step forward for both organizations in shaping a more sustainable and transparent communications landscape amidst a changing world.

As an organization that is home to the worlds best loved and trusted hygiene, health and nutrition brands, our priority has always been to protect the world and the people we love. Our decision to work with SPAG stems from their acute understanding of consumers needs and motivations, and Reckitts core vision, said Sumeet Vohra, President, SE Asia, Japan. We are confident of our partnership together and believe that this will be a defining step for us to create impact in the ASEAN region.

In recent times, global warming and its consequences including temperature anomalies and the spread of infectious diseases (Covid-19 and Monkey Pox) highlight the urgency to strengthen the resilience of global health. In Asias developing areas, these changes add pressure to weak health infrastructures and manpower constraints. With this, consumers are increasingly looking for solutions-oriented organizations and causes that value sustainability to protect the future of our world. Creating transparent communications as such will be paramount for brands, and SPAG stands at the forefront of this shift.

At SPAG, we believe in the power of driving meaningful conversations. Our positioning in Asias communications landscape and our expertise in the healthcare and innovation sectors demonstrate the depth of understanding we have of what consumers and brands are looking for today. That is, transparency, safety, and reassurance in the new world order, said Aman Gupta, Managing Partner, and FINN Health Practice Asia Lead. Aligned with Reckitts mission to build a cleaner and healthier world, we believe that our subject matter expertise and solutions-driven communications will support the cause that they have set out for.

With a strong footprint in Asia including India, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, SPAG, who has recently joined FINN Partners, is well-versed in the regions integrated communications landscape. It specializes in public relations, public affairs, and advocacy in healthcare as well as other sectors, making it a vertical-agnostic company. Together with its partner D Yellow Elephant, a digital and social media firm, SPAG offers a slew of communication-driven solutions including design and conceptualization, content development, website and SEO development, social media, and media engagement.
JAKARTA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Jakarta-owned bus operator Transjakarta will operate electric public minivans from Chinese car maker DFSK to improve air quality in the Indonesia's capital.

Transjakarta has signed an agreement with a car dealership company, which will supply the DFSK electric vehicles on Thursday in South Tangerang, Banten province, said Transjakarta's corporate secretary Anang Rizkani Noor on Friday.

He said that Transjakarta will start pre-trial of the electric public minivans in September.

The company has been operating some electric buses manufactured by the another Chinese automaker BYD and continues to gradually expand its electric bus fleet.

"Transjakarta will gradually electrify all fleets from big buses to minivans. This is a form of our seriousness in achieving the electrification target of the entire fleet by 2030," he said in a statement. 
First Ukraine grain deal vessel docks in Turkiye after buyer refuses delivery

Xinhua) 08:51, August 12, 2022

ANKARA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The first grain ship leaving Ukraine under a deal by the United Nations, Russia, Ukraine and Turkiye docked at a southern Turkish port on Thursday after the buyer in Lebanon rejected the cargo, Turkish news agency DHA reported.

The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will unload some of its cargo at the port of Mersin, according to DHA.

The vessel left the Black Sea port of Odesa in southern Ukraine on Aug. 2, carrying about 26,000 tonnes of corn to the port of Tripoli in northern Lebanon.

The cargo ship was first inspected off Turkiye's largest city Istanbul by a joint monitoring center team according to the agreement before heading to Tripoli.

However, the Lebanese buyer rejected the cargo, citing the delay in delivery "for more than five months," the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said on Monday.

"The shipment supplier is now looking for another buyer who could be in Lebanon's Tripoli city, or in another country or port," the embassy said in a statement.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal with Turkiye and the United Nations to allow food and fertilizer exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.

The deal aims to allow safe passage for ships carrying grain to world markets amid concerns about food shortages because of the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both major global wheat suppliers.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
HAVANA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Colombian government wants to resume peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla in the Cuban capital, Colombia's Foreign Affairs Minister Alvaro Leyva said here Thursday.

"We hope to resume dialogues with ELN in this land of peace to begin the road proposed by President (Gustavo) Petro Urrego to achieve total peace," said Leyva, who visited the Caribbean country with an official delegation to contact ELN leaders.

Leyva also highlighted Cuba's decade-long tradition of hosting talks between the Colombian government and the guerrilla group.

The gesture was made days after Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla fighter, was sworn in as Colombia's first left-wing president.

Meanwhile, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez said his country will remain committed to supporting peace.

Peace talks between the government and the ELN began in 2017 during the administration of former President Juan Manuel Santos, but were suspended in January 2019 after the guerrilla group performed a car bomb attack that killed over 20 people. 
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian diplomat said Friday that the European Union (EU) proposals for reviving a 2015 nuclear deal would be acceptable only if the fulfillment of Iran's demands is ensured, according to the official news agency IRNA.

The diplomat said on condition of anonymity that Iran is reviewing the proposals to see if they have "credibility" in meeting Iran's various demands, including resolving political claims about IAEA safeguards, removing sanctions on Iran, and having all sides guaranteed to reach a potential agreement at the end of the nuclear negotiations.

The EU on Monday put forward a "final text" of the draft decision on reviving the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), while awaiting political decisions from the participants in the Vienna talks.

The talks began in April 2021 in the Austrian capital but were suspended in March because of political differences between Tehran and Washington.

The latest round of talks, which had begun on Thursday following a five-month hiatus, came to an end on Monday.

Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact. 
With Governor DeSantiss firing of Soros-backed rogue Florida 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Andrew Warren, a very real question arises: What business does a New Yorker have to do with elections in Florida? Yes, Soros has US citizenship, but why is he poking his finger into Florida where he does not live? His three mansions are all in New York State.

For all state elections, its very clear that the state legislature has the authority to write laws about how they are conducted. For example, the legislature in Florida could declare that elections for state officeholders would only be on February 29, on Pi Day (March 14, 3.14 in European notation), or some other silly rule. But as long as that rule was applied evenly and did not prevent any particular group of otherwise eligible Florida voters from voting, it would be legal.

The same rule applies to voter registration. The 26th Amendment does require states to allow 18-year-olds to vote but otherwise creates no other specific rules. States are fully free to restrict non-citizens from voting because the 26th Amendment only guarantees the franchise to citizens. We could go on with a long list of other possible rules, but note that I have said absolutely nothing yet about federal elections.

Image: George Soros. YouTube screen grab.

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the so-called Motor Voter Law, lists a lot of rules about federal elections, so its important to understand the term:

Federal election means any general or special election or any primary held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting, nominating or electing any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, member of the United States Senate or member of the United States House of Representatives.

In short, a federal election is one in which someone who serves a function in the federal government is elected. And the Motor Voter law only applies to those elections.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 adds a layer of federal bureaucracy to administering elections by funding various non-controversial bits of the mechanical parts of doing an election. For example, it can pay for voting machines and handicap access to polling places. Other laws have been passed to regulate how much a person can donate, how the funds can be used, and how they must be reported. But unless its hidden very well, there appears to be no legal concern about who can contribute to my local city councilmans campaign. Or for that matter, to a District Attorneys campaign. And this is where George Soros has chosen to meddle.

The Florida 13th Judicial Circuit State Attorney is an officer of the state of Florida. Only registered voters in that part of Florida can vote in his election. And he is elected to uphold the laws of Florida within that Circuit. We must ask: What part of that Circuit is in New York? And the answer is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer: None! The Florida 13th Judicial Circuit is not in New York. So why is a New Yorker allowed to finance a campaign for that District Attorney? It makes no sense whatever.

We might take this a step further. If I live outside the 13th Judicial Circuit, but vote in that election, Ive committed a crime. If my vote is counted, it offsets a legal vote from within the Circuit, disenfranchising someone who has a lawful right to have his vote counted. So why is George Soros allowed to fund that campaign? He has no rightful voice in it, yet his millions fund all sorts of campaign ads, which the Supreme Court has equated to speech with Citizens United.

If these campaigns within a state truly belong to the voters of that state, then it is only appropriate for them to fund candidates they support without any interference from outside. Why should Liz Cheney be able to raise more money from northern Virginia than her home state of Wyoming? This would mean something very simple, and as far as I can tell, totally lawful. A state can restrict all campaign funding to donors who are domiciled in that state. That fancy word means that they live there. I live in Orange County, Florida, so, if that were the law, I could contribute to campaigns in Florida. George Soros could not.

Under Citizens United, corporations can contribute as well but, again, we Floridians would require them to be domiciled in Florida. Amazon.com is domiciled in Washington State, so it (and Jeff Bezos, who also lives there) would be excluded. On the other hand, Darden Restaurants, EverBank, Harris Corporation, and Winn-Dixie would be just fine, since they are all domiciled in Florida.

As I search through the mountains of federal campaign finance rules, I find no rules addressing geographic limits on contributions. Theres a lot of record keeping and reporting, but Ive found nothing to suggest that Florida could not adopt a similar restriction on Senate or House races. Senators and CongressCritters are elected from single states. They represent voters in those states. So why would Georgia allow Left Coast billionaires to buy two senators from Georgia? Could it be that John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock simply did not have the support in Georgia without a bunch of walkin around money for people who might not otherwise vote? Or did they need money to hire mules to stuff ballot boxes?

If all the money had come from Georgia, its unlikely that either Ossoff or Warnock would have been elected. But with Zuckerbucks, they had cash to do all the things they wanted to do, including the illegal ballot box stuffing that Dinesh DSouza and his team documented.

Elections are affairs run by states for the benefit of citizens of those states. There is no justification for allowing out-of-state actors to massively fund in-state campaigns. This makes the individual voter feel like he has no ability to influence either a campaign or his elected representative. But when funding is restricted to in-state actors or even in-district actors, the concept of representation becomes much more real.

Theres no legal impediment that I can find that prevents a state from enacting this sort of restriction. Further, theres no technical concern with extending it to the very district covered, since computer databases can be queried very quickly to identify eligibility. If we truly want election integrity, limiting election participation to citizens who are directly impacted by the specific electoral contest makes perfect sense.

UPDATE: This essay was updated to add a sentence about Liz Cheney's fundraising outside of Wyoming.

Ted Noel MD is a retired Anesthesiologist/Intensivist who podcasts and posts on social media as DoctorTed and @vidzette. His DoctorTed podcasts are available on many podcast channels.
A shameful aspect of woke intolerance has been the degrading of historical figures who fail to meet current standards of politically correctness. This vindictive fervor has spread from removing the statues of Confederate commanders and statesmen to removing those of American Founding Fathers who owned slaves to pulling down the statues of abolitionists who were not as radical as they might have been. It is therefore upsetting to discover the role played by Governor Ron DeSantis, who has become a poster boy for conservatives, in contributing to this madness. Like his predecessor Rick Scott, DeSantis thinks its a good idea to dishonor a Confederate commander in order to elevate a civil rights icon.

In 2018 Scott signed into law something that DeSantis put into effect in 2019, removing the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith from National Statuary Hall and replacing it with one of the civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. If Scott and DeSantis were trying to highlight their devotion to the civil rights cause, perhaps to increase their share of the black vote, all they really did was behave foolishly. Both Bethune and Kirby Smith deserve to be honored as Floridians, although unlike Kirby Smith, Bethune was born not in the Sunshine State but in Mayesville, South Carolina. I have no idea why this should be a zero-sum game, as it seems to be with Southern Republican governors. DeSantis, Scott, and Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas have all removed statues of Confederate heroes from place of honor and substituted for them civil rights activists.

No one is asking that Southern governors add to the number of Confederate memorial statues (that still abound in the former states of the Confederacy.) If our Southern Republican governors want to give recognition to more recent state celebrities by erecting statues to them, that is their right. The question is: why demean long-honored heroes in trying to pay homage to civil rights pioneers? Even if Southern Republicans have become strangely indifferent to seeing those associated with the Confederate cause being slighted, the swapping undertaken by their governors still strikes me as unseemly. It reflects badly on the character of those leaders who engage in such clumsy virtue-signaling. Why cant they add new heroes without subtracting older ones, who long commanded respect?

As an historian I can find much to admire in Bethune and Smith both. A dedicated and deeply religious black educator, Bethune focused on the Christian development of her students. She also deplored any misconduct on the part of blacks and like her mentor Booker T. Washington, Bethune, who was a stern disciplinarian, stressed the need for blacks to behave in a civil fashion in their own society as well as in the larger white one. Significantly, she allied with the Democratic Party and the New Deal administration in fighting disabilities against members of her race. And she played an important role in drawing away the black vote from DeSantiss party to the Democrats during the 1930s. (Before the mid-1930s blacks had been overwhelmingly Republican.)

Kirby Smith is equally worthy of our respect, as a remarkably intelligent military leader and a dedicated natural scientist. Beside his resourceful service in the Confederate army, in which he won victories from Virginia to Texas, he distinguished himself as a brave commander in the Mexican War, after graduating with honors from West Point. After the Confederacys defeat, Kirby Smith devoted the remainder of his life to being a professor of mathematics and botany at the College of the South in Sewanee. He also spent considerable time collecting and categorizing plants and became a distinguished botanist. There is no reason Floridas pantheon of state luminaries cannot make room for this distinguished native son as well as for Bethune. Even more relevant, there was no justification for removing Kirby Smiths statue, which was already placed on Capitol Hill in Tallahassee.

Finally, I cant imagine that Bethune, any more than Kirby Smith, would have any use for the woke America now demanding that we celebrate her. It is impossible to imagine that Bethune, a teetotaling, strict Presbyterian who quoted the Holy Book nonstop, would feel a home with the current cultural Left or in the present civil rights movement. She and Kirby Smith would undoubtedly react with the same shock to the LGBT lobby and our present sexual politics. Neither would likely be cheering BLM, and both of these Florida worthies would be demanding that the police be called in to disband all perpetrators of violence, whatever their race. At some point, the media may discover how reactionary by current standards Bethune was. If she were alive today, she might be found on the far, far side of the Religious Right. Perhaps a future DeSantis may have to remove Bethunes statue from Capitol Hill and replace it with that of a more fashionable black.

Image: Library of Congress
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known to most as AOC, is personally responsible for a cottage industry of funny memes, video parodies, and ROFL (i.e., rolling on the floor laughing) jokes, all at her expense. Would you expect anything different from a beautiful woman who, with a sense of authority, speaks gibberish about serious issues facing the United States? When laughing at the memes, though, remember that in the last century two others were initially mocked when they first came onto the political scene.

In their rise to power, both Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini seemed more like comic-strip villains than diabolical dictators. From Hitlers wacky mustache to Mussolinis smirk and from Hitlers effeminate speaking mannerisms to Mussolinis standing with outstretched arms on his large hips, imagine all the funny memes and ROFL emojis had the internet been around in the 1930s.

Reviewing R. J. B. Bosworths Mussolini, which calls for revisiting how history views the Fascist leader, Alexander Stille, writing for the New York Times, opens with:

Americans have tended to think of Benito Mussolini as a cross between a gangster and a buffoon, a Sawdust Caesar who hijacked Italian democracy and led his country to disaster as Hitlers junior partner. But in recent decades a number of Italian historians have disputed this view.

Likewise, writing about Hitlers accession, Tom Phillips shares:

In fact, this may even have helped his rise to power, as he was consistently underestimated by the German elite. Before he became Chancellor, many of his opponents had dismissed him as a joke for his crude speeches and tacky rallies. Even after elections had made the Nazis the largest party in the Reichstag, people still kept thinking that Hitler was an easy mark, a blustering idiot who could easily be controlled by smart people.

In Hitlerland, Andrew Nagorski discusses the medias early impressions of Hitler and the Third Reich.

Yet you had Americans meeting Hitler and saying, This guy is a clown. Hes like a caricature of himself. And a lot of them went through this whole litany about how even if Hitler got into a position of power, other German politicians would somehow be able to control him. A lot of German politicians believed this themselves.

In January 1940, the Three Stooges released You Nazty Spy! Moe was the first screen actor to mock Adolph Hitler. Later that year in October, Charlie Chaplins classic The Great Dictator was released to great acclaim. In 1941, before Pearl Harbor and Americas entry into World War II, the Three Stooges did a sequel called Ill Never Heil Again.

All this was a 1930s version of ROFL. In How Journalists Covered the Rise of Mussolini and Hitler, Dr. John Broich, writing in the Smithsonian Magazine, explained,

But the main way that the press defanged Hitler was by portraying him as something of a joke. He was a nonsensical screecher of wild words whose appearance, according to Newsweek, suggests Charlie Chaplin. His countenance is a caricature. He was as voluble as he was insecure, stated Cosmopolitan.

Hitler and Mussolini werent taken seriously by many people during their rise to power because the media presented them as caricatures; more to generate laughter than fear. As 1945 ended with 50 million, worldwide deaths, including the systematic murder of six million Jews, the world had stopped laughing.

Image: Hitler and Mussolini in 1937; AOC in 2022.

Many see AOC as a buffoon

Angry at the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, AOC joined 16 others on July 19 and performed in a planned protest outside the court. It made great theater because The Center for Popular Democracy Action Fund had asked the progressive representatives to submit themselves for arrest. Yet, much to AOCs annoyance, the Capitol Police chose not to put her in handcuffs, and that meant a missed photo op.

Not a problem! AOC simply put her hands behind her back and faked the handcuffs during the perp walk. The charade would have been successful had she not outed herself by stupidly raising her fist in the air to cheering onlookers.

Following AOCs fake handcuff walk, hundreds of humorous memes started populating social media. ROFL....

If you only viewed AOCs social media posts in the days following January 6, 2021, you would never have known she was not in the Capitol building that day. In a 90-minute Instagram Live video, she vented about how she feared for her life.

Once again, memes started populating social media. ROFL....

More recently, commenting about a video that was shown during the Communist-like January 6 Congressional Hearing led by Never Trump RINO Rep. Liz Cheney, a frightened AOC tweeted, Good Lord. The way it all comes rushing back into the body. Its like its that day all over again.

Once again, memes started populating social media. ROFL....

While half the U.S. population thinks the former bartender with the pretty face and big eyes is intelligence-challenged, the other half believes her every utterance. Some of AOCs astute comments:

Our planet is going to hit disaster if we dont turn this ship around and so its basically like, theres a scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult. And it does lead, I think, young people to have a legitimate question, you know, Is it okay to still have children?

We need to invent a technology thats never been invented yet.

Unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs. Unemployment is low because people are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week 

If Republicans are mad they cant date me, they can just say that instead of projecting their sexual frustrations onto my boyfriends feet.

If we work our butts off to make sure that we take back all three chambers of Congress.

With AOCs zest for publicity pranks and ignorant comments, she appears to many Americans as a buffoon who is good for a laugh. Just as the media once portrayed Hitler and Mussolini as comical foils.

Some readers might think its ludicrous to suggest that horrific events from the last century could ever occur in the United States of America. Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi said, It happened; therefore, it can happen again. It can happen everywhere.

AOC will be eligible to run for president in 2024.

Robin Itzler can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.
This is not what any of us were promised. Some of us never believed their promises anyway.

The current state of Americas economy, individual freedom and prosperity, and our global reputation are far worse than they were 19 months ago. America has been weakened, our enemies have taken notice, and the world is far less safe.

The media cabal Time actually ran a piece titled, The Secret Bipartisan Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election  that conspired to install the current occupant of the White House promised much, much more. According to them, the Trump administration had damaged America beyond all measure, and only a man of Joseph R. Bidens sterling credentials and government experience could hope to restore America to the right path. Their collective assertions were that only Joe Biden could correct what they viewed as the horrible electoral miscarriage that was Donald J. Trump.

We must all take a close look at the abuse we have suffered at the hands of the leftist Democrat Party, and their never-ending litany of lies trying to cover their failures. What I want to know is, after 19 months of predictable results for their failed policies, when are Biden voters going to get angry?

I do not blame them for thinking, Things can only get better now, after bad actors deposed President Trump, and Sleepy, basement-dwelling Joe ascended to the Oval Office. The abuse the Democrat faithful endured during the Trump presidency was relentless: every hoax imaginable about Russia, every night a lying, conspiratorial, gaslighting grift of evidence will show, and all manners of character assassination. By January 2020, we were all worn out from the non-stop barrage of bad news, while the narrative they crafted ignored or falsified the rays of hope.

However, what Biden voters were sold has not been delivered  Biden has not governed as the refreshingly wonderfully moderate he was made out to be. Instead, he and the Democrat Party are beholden to radical leftists. One could say Ol Joe was over-sold, and whoever is behind the scenes and administering the abuse has under-performed (or, some might say, performed exactly as intended), resulting in complete destruction.

Biden voters are rarely heard now. Some apologists are mainstays on the liberal, corrupt, corporate state-controlled media stage, but new data is revealing that hardly anyone wants Joe to run again. A CNN poll found that about 75% of Democrat voters would prefer another candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Well, well, well, welcome to the party.

The long list of failures and abuses are evident and continue daily: an open border across which there is the unchecked flow of both illegal immigrants and deadly narcotics, out of control crime and a never-before-seen degradation of Americas most beautiful cities; the decimation of the U.S. petroleum industry, resulting in high gas prices, and loss of energy independence all for the sake of a pipe-dream Green New Deal; unusually low workforce participation which has crippled the supply chain and all manner of services; the humiliating and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan; the weakening of the Armed Forces by requiring experimental vaccines and the purge of any who have valid questions or objections; a federal law enforcement and investigative department that understands only the power of the state and ignores the constitutional rights of the citizenry with the unconstitutional imprisonment of political opposition, while clearly illegal behavior of any favored allies goes uninvestigated and unpunished. And many, many more usurpations and offenses to the Constitutional rule of law and violation of their Oath of Office.

What is happening to every American is abuse, pure and simple. Here is a definition of abuse I saw a few months ago, and I wrote it down because it seemed to me to be exceedingly prescient in our current national and globalist-directed calamity:

Abuse is about power and control. If one leaves an abuser, their need for control does not diminish or disappear. As the abuser loses control, they will not accept this loss but will use other means to regain control. This extends to the systems one uses for correction, protection, and support. (Source unattributable)

One need only consider the great and relentless outcry from media elites, celebrities, politicians, and the deep state to use every weapon at their disposal against us. Those of us who legally and constitutionally elected Donald J. Trump did so in an attempt to throw off the shackles of government overreach and tyranny. It was also our unshakeable belief that Hillary should never have Commander-in-Chief access to the levers of power she so desperately desired and sought. We wanted to leave the abuser  the D.C. Swamp, the corrupt media, and the deep state. On November 8, 2016, the American people sent a clear message to our abusive overlords.

Consistent with an abusers behavior, they sought to teach us a stern lesson. The morning of November 9, 2016, the evil empire struck back and has never let up. They concocted their lies: Russia collusion, the Mueller investigation, and the impeachment sham. It was all meant to undo the results of the 2016 election, and all because We the People, the American electorate, had the nerve to tell our abuser, NO! Enough! Stop!

What could not be accomplished from November 2016 to January 2020, the pandemic enabled the Swamp to complete. They were in full cover mode, enabling the Biden campaign to tell bold-face lies, with a complicit media engaged in censorship to alter the outcome of the election.

The Democrat Partys pattern of abuse has intensified with the installation of their preferred figurehead.

And slowly  much too slowly  the facade is peeling back on the deep state, while those who are known to be responsible for the Russia Collusion Hoax have evaded accountability. Remarkably, the Left no longer attempts to hide their intentions, but instead, they openly declare what they would never have admitted B.T. (before Trump). Yet one thing is certain  they will deny responsibility for every failure, and every problem they worsen or create anew.

As one friend of mine observed the other day, Im not mad about the mess they have made. Hopefully everyone can clearly see how bad everything is and learn a lesson about voting for Democrats.

One can only hope. Too many of the Democrats who voted for Biden are either silent or persist in their Biden apologetics. It is neither honorable, nor is it rational, reasoned, or logical. Compared to the irrational, unreasonable, and illogical screeching about all things Trump for five years  most of which was based on bold-faced lies  it is intellectually dishonest as well.

When are these Democrat voters going to recognize their abuse, and divorce the lies they have been told? When, and what will it take, to hold the Doomsday regime to account for what is happening in America? When are these Biden voters going to demand an end to the abuse by those who deign themselves to be our minders and our betters?

There is more than sufficient evidence and many good reasons to join the rest of us in rejecting this abuse.

Jeff M. Lewis is a Christian, a husband and father, a Veteran, and a small business owner who resides with his family in South Texas.
If there was any remaining doubt that we live in an absurd, topsy-turvy world, that doubt has been crushed. An article by Eric Lendrum in the August 11, 2022 edition of American Greatness reveals that a Bill Gatesfunded scientist has declared that eating candy is healthier than eating meat.

Dr. Darius Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and dean of the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, has declared just that. His "Food Compass," a system devised to objectively rate foods and beverages on a 0 to 100 scale for nutritional value, has rated Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at 30 compared to ground beef at 26. The sugar-packed cereal Lucky Charms is given a score of 69, while grilled chicken comes in at 61.

After practicing dentistry for over half a century, and now being involved in educating future dentists, I am stunned. It seems that all those speeches I gave on nutrition and avoiding candy were just plain wrong. After years of passing out toothbrushes and dental floss, I realize now that I should have been giving my patients Snickers bars. I shudder to think of the damage I and others in my profession have done to generations of patients by suggesting that a grilled chicken sandwich might be a good lunch selection rather than recommending a Kit-Kat or Milky Way.

Being objective, however, I see no reason why dentistry should not be impacted by such nonsense. Economists are left shaking their heads over what is and is not a recession. Scientists are unwilling to answer who is, is not, or just possibly may be a woman. Daisy Duck is left questioning whether her paramour Donald, though looking, walking, and quacking like a duck, is actually a true canard and not, perhaps, a transgender possum in feathery disguise.

Prior to this nutrition bombshell, the most controversial slogan that dentistry ever had to deal with was when former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele declared, "Drill, baby, drill." Patients pleaded with me not to take those words to heart. Fortunately, common sense prevailed, and I did the "drill thing" only when necessary.

I have, therefore, decided to take the controversial position of continuing to advocate for chicken over chocolate, turkey over taffy, and beef over Baby Ruths. If St. Peter greets me at the Golden Gates one day by telling me I am not welcome due to my unwoke attitude toward candy consumption, I suppose I will be damned to an eternity of Red Hots. I pray it will not be so.

Image: Amarand Agasi.
Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin were technically on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but both were unabashed in their embrace of fascism.

Millions of innocents died at the hands of their ideology  whether "far left" or "far right." Extremists always end up in the same place, using the same tactics to impose their ideology  whatever it may be.

Hitler and Stalin embraced government authority to an awful, disgusting, and hopefully unrepeatable degree:

Political persecution then : Long before Nazi Germany's horrors were fully exposed, the political opponents of Hitler's regime were the first victims of systematic persecution. Stalin's purges similarly cleansed the Soviet Union of dissent under the guise of security.

: Long before Nazi Germany's horrors were fully exposed, the political opponents of Hitler's regime were the first victims of systematic persecution. Stalin's purges similarly cleansed the Soviet Union of dissent under the guise of security. Taxation explosion then : To exert power over the populace, both Hitler and Stalin embraced high levels of taxation. Property and income confiscation became a means to the end of total control.

: To exert power over the populace, both Hitler and Stalin embraced high levels of taxation. Property and income confiscation became a means to the end of total control. Education monopoly then: Under Hitler and Stalin, education came entirely under government control. Teachings were state-approved, reinforcing the "right" ideology and prohibiting the "wrong."

History is now repeating itself, as America drifts perilously closer to actual fascism. While the right is really more to the center, radical leftists have gone so far leftward that they are hardly recognizable.

Of course, 21st-century America is not 1930s-era Germany or Russia. But fascism is fascism, and we can see the seeds of it being planted here. With a common theme of "sweeping" control over the economy, gun ownership, health care, and ultimately everyday life (see: COVID-19), the self-serving use of state force is increasingly common.

If we accept the raid on a former president's private property today, what comes next? What will Americans accept tomorrow? The imprisonment of Trump? We already live in a world where Trump-supporters may be fired or lose their businesses because of their political views, and it's not so far removed from the Obama IRS targeting of conservative organizations.

Yes, fascism can happen here. Banana Joe Biden's Gestapo tactics just popped up at a Florida resort  unprompted and without explanation. When even Andrew Cuomo is asking questions about Biden's tactics, Republicans probably have a point.

Never forget President Biden's Federal Bureau of Investigation  under the Merrick Garlandled Justice Department  storming Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, allegedly over paperwork. Americans across the country witnessed two federal law enforcement agencies target a former U.S. president with paper-thin justification at best, simply because he is Donald Trump and "orange man bad."

Federal officials like Biden, Merrick Garland, and FBI director Christopher Wray are the same sorts of people who threw my grandfather in a Soviet Gulag for seven years  because of greed and politics, because they wanted to, because they could. They are the same types of people who drove my family to the United States in search of freedom.

Americans need to speak out loudly against those who actually do what fascists have always done. Soon enough, it may be too late to undo the damage.

Dan Backer is a veteran campaign counsel, having served more than 100 candidates and PACs, overseeing over $100 million in political expenditures. He is of counsel at Chalmers & Adams LLC, a political law and litigation firm.

Image: Picryl.
Is Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer the final word on what runs at the New York Times?

Sure looks like it, given a disturbing anecdote told by former Timeswoman Bari Weiss, who left the Times more than two years ago over its atmosphere of intolerance.

Turns out the Times isn't just intolerant; it's sycophantic  and these charges aren't just right-wing hyperbole.

According to Mediaite, Republican South Carolina senator Tim Scott had sent in an op-ed to the Times laying out his views on police reform in the wake of the George Floyd riots. On her podcast, where she had Scott on as a guest, she described this:

"Well, here's what happened. I was at the New York Times and you or your staff sent in an op-ed about the bill and why it fell apart," Weiss recalled. "And this is the part I'm not sure if you know. There was a discussion about the piece and whether or not we should run it. And one colleague, a more senior colleague said to a more junior colleague who was pushing for the piece, 'Do you think the Republicans really care about minority rights?'" "Wow," Scott said. "And the more junior colleagues said, 'I think Tim Scott cares about minority rights.' And then, and here's the pretty shocking part. The more senior colleague said, 'Let's check with Senator Schumer before we run it,'" Weiss added.

Check with Sen. Schumer?

Is Schumer some kind of owner or shareholder of the Times, which might explain such deference? I've been on editorial staffs myself and know that the editorial page is the voice of the paper  and, by extension, the voice of the owner, so it's never surprising when an owner might ask for a particular message to be expressed.

But last I heard, Schumer is not the owner.

Yet, somehow, the staff know that they need to "run by" anything that might be controversial with Chuckie Schumer in the Senate.

Is that how editorial decisions are made at the New York Times? They get clearance from Schumer? What happens if Chuckie "Last Word" Schumer says "no"? And how many of these permissions have been sought, not in this case, but in the past, so that a senior staffer could just casually bring up that Schumer needed to be consulted before the Times could make an editorial decision about what runs and what doesn't run in that august paper?

The younger staffer actually refused to do it on ethical grounds, but the senior staffer is the one who brought up the procedure of running editorial decisions past Schumer first, as if such things were always the way of dealing with tough decisions in the past.

It ought to be the most embarrassing thing to anyone in the news industry, that their own paper asks politicians to determine for them what they should run or not run. Newspapers are supposed to be independent. They're supposed to report and write without fear or favor. Their editorial voices are supposedly a reflection of their stance. But this "get permission from the Big Guy" stuff we are hearing about now? All told, it's public relations of the worst sort, that of a state-controlled press  and they're no journalists.

What an insult to the memory of the Timesmen of old  Abe Rosenthal, William Safire, Hedrick Smith, David Halberstam, and many others  some, such as Andrew Malcolm, still with us, who made the Times the gold standard of journalism!

Do they just like being sycophants? Or worse, do they fear displeasing Schumer? Is that how they operate? Readers will now be asking if everything the Times runs is cleared by Schumer first. Just call it the "Schumer Times."

Maybe these self-important "journalists" should ask themselves what they are now, given that the public is going to be wondering whether every op-ed they run was cleared with Schumer first.

Just don't call them journalists. Laugh at the suck-ups to Schumer, check out the nearby streetwalkers, and point at them instead.

Image: Ajay Suresh via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
In the wake of the FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago, we're being told that the actions taken were an anomaly, and that most FBI agents are honorable agents. I'd like to believe that, but if that were true, why haven't we seen mass resignations and public complaints? Flouting all convention and longstanding ethics in the law enforcement community, the Department of Justice is embroiled in yet another scandal.

The bias is flagrant, and nobody holds a candle to the bureaucrats under Obama. Eric Holder avoided accountability for withholding documents from Congress for years on the gun-running operation Fast and Furious. They were above the law. Not only that, but Eric Holder has repeatedly lied under oath with impunity and was never prosecuted:

Before he lied to Congress while under oath about what he knew about targeting reporters, he lied about Fast and Furious. As early as the New Black Panthers case, Eric Holder had a problem with the truth.

Then came Lois Lerner. The IRS violated rights protected by the First Amendment when the agency targeted Obama's political opponents. Then Lois Lerner and the IRS destroyed computers, withheld documents, and lied to Congress about the whole debacle. The DOJ did send someone to investigate, but conveniently for them, it happened to be a big-time Obama donor. Do you remember what happened next?

Lois Lerner and her comrades at the IRS skated. They were above the law. Where were the complaints from DOJ officials about preferential treatment?

Obama had slush funds at the DOJ used to funnel money  supposedly meant for victims  to political supporters. Trump abolished the funds, but under Joe Biden, they've been revived:

Merrick Garland has revoked a Trump-era rule prohibiting the redirection of corporate settlement money to third-party organizations. President Biden's Department of Justice appears to be rebuilding a dubious money chain known as "settlement slush funds." The Obama DOJ used these funds to channel cash from corporate settlements to bankroll private progressive organizations, circumventing the budget and oversight authority of Congress.

Yet that wasn't enough to prompt noticeable (if any) resignations by FBI agents, despite obvious corruption, and neither Democrats in Congress nor the Establishment media seem to care.

Obama dictatorially ordered the "independent" and "non-political" DOJ to stop a multi-year terrorist drug-running investigation to appease Iran:

In its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious law enforcement campaign targeting drug trafficking by the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hexbollah, even as it was funneling cocaine into the United States.

How many people died because global crime syndicates were permitted to run amok? To Obama and his DOJ, terrorists were above the law.

The Obama administration illegally spied on thousands of Americans, yet none of the swamp creatures faced prosecution. They were above the law.

Hillary and her aides broke laws, including having a huge number of classified documents on private servers. Yet there were no raids or threats of prosecution. The FBI even agreed to destroy Clinton campaign computers:

The FBI reportedly agreed to destroy the laptops of Hillary Clinton's aides Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson as part of immunity deals offered during the investigation into Clintons [sic] use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.

They were above the law.

James Comey, at the time he was the director of the FBI, repeatedly used fictitious documents provided by the Hillary campaign and DNC to illegally obtain FISA warrants to spy on those close to Trump in the months before the election. Yet these congenital liars were above the law.

When the FBI raided Rudy Giuliani's apartment, they seemed to take everything but the Hunter Biden laptop  which he offered to them  because they weren't looking to serve justice.

No matter how obvious the unequal treatment is, and how seriously some disregard the rule of law, the media and the Democrats continue with the fiction that "no one is above the law."

The swamp is deep, and at this point, it seems as though the DOJ and the FBI are irredeemably corrupt.
by Yosley Carrero

HAVANA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of international travelers continue to arrive in Cuba as the island sees a gradual recovery of the local tourism industry.

David Garcia, a 22-year-old university student from Spain, who, along with a group of his friends, was on his first visit to the Caribbean nation.

"I have long waited for this moment, but the trip had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic," he told Xinhua while taking snapshots of Havana's Revolution Square.

The Cuban government said that over 689,000 international tourists arrived during the first half of the year.

In Old Havana, the city center, which used to receive more than 60 percent of international tourists before the pandemic, vacationists are back again.

To Canadian tourist Melanie Trembley, the travel was a thrilling family experience with her husband and two adolescent sons.

After staying for one day in Havana, they headed to Cayo Santamaria beach resort in the central province of Villa Clara.

"I want to dance to salsa, taste the flavor of Cuban cuisine, and smoke Cuban premium cigars," she said. "We want to take a break from our daily routine."

The Cuban Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) has projected some 2.5 million arrivals of international tourists by the year's end, down from over 4 million before the COVID-19 emergency.

"So far, we have recovered 1,049 out of the 5,167 rooms included in the annual plan," Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia told legislators. "There is a gradual recovery in the country's fundamental tourist issuing markets."

Meanwhile, local authorities expect thousands of tourists and tour operators to participate in the 2022 nature tourism event scheduled for Sept. 20-24 in the western Cuban provinces of Havana, Artemisa, Mayabeque, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth special municipality.

In total, Cuba has over 78,800 hotel rooms in Havana, Matanzas and Villa Clara, according to recent data released by MINTUR.

Furthermore, new hotel facilities are built across the island with infrastructure improvement works in Cayo Largo del Sur, a small key off the southern coast of Cuba.

Havana resident Yenisey Cruz told Xinhua that tourism incomes could help the Cuban economy survive amid the U.S. economic sanctions on the island.

"We need more tourists to visit Cuba," she said. "We could reinvest tourism incomes to buy food in the international market and fund social programs." 
The pro-freedom right is winning, and President Trump is taking the heat.

The character of anti-liberty leftists is one of authoritarian fascism  their actions against President Trump being merely a hint of what they will do to the rest of us if they stay in power.

The past few days have been a fascinating and frightening glimpse into the growing authoritarian fascist tendencies of the nation's socialist, anti-liberty left.

We've been digesting the stories coming from the pro-freedom media as well the effluvium from the other side of the spectrum. You would like to think that eventually, they will tone down all the projection since it's their side going all Orwellian and oppressive, but you would be wrong.

Just remember: the same people who harassed President Trump with the "Russia collusion" hoax suddenly flipped and decided that election interference was a "conspiracy theory"  once it came from their side of the political aisle. You aren't allowed to question the results of an election with a Democrat victory, no matter how many mules there are. But if the Republicans win, you can do it all day long. Anti-liberty leftists proudly wear the badge of a hypocrite. It's in their DNA  Democrat National Authoritarianism. It makes them who they are.

But consider something we've mentioned and that has been pointed out by others here:

First, conservatives must stop referring to Democrats as "liberals." The word's root is the Latin liberalis or "of freedom." Today's Democrats are statists, which is the antithesis of freedom. Their values are firmly rooted in Marxism, a hard-left, totalitarian ideology. Don't give them the false virtue of being "liberals." As you see, I call them "leftists" every time.

Ask yourself, would someone who styles himself as a champion of liberty  i.e., a liberal  be in favor of heavy-handed authoritarianism? By definition, a political liberal would not support egregious violations over what seems to be a non-criminal dispute over documents, nor would he endlessly gloat about a weaponized justice system.

One of the two themes in the far-left propaganda organs these days seeks to prop up Biden's flagging fortunes: Biden is suddenly "piling up wins"; Biden begins his "victory lap"; Biden is "on a roll"; and Biden's "hot streak." Isn't that curious, how the leftist media machine suddenly decides to write the same story simultaneously?

The other is that these "liberals" have been in a perpetual gloat fest over the Mar-a-Lago raid (examples here, here, and here). They arrogantly revel in the decay of the rule of law, applauding the weaponized institutions against political rivals. Note that we're using the word "raid" because MSNBC demanded censorship of the term.

So, how could people who supposedly champion liberty cheer on an oppressive regime? These are the same people who want to censor free speech and your unalienable right to self-defense.

Even worse than this, the nation's socialist media are openly lying, with screeds entitled "Historians privately warn Biden that America's democracy is teetering," with choice quotations such as the following:

Wilentz, prizewinning author of "The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln," has also voiced alarm in recent months about the state of the country. "We're on the verge of what Hamilton in 'The Federalist' called government by brute force[.]"

That's an interesting phrase, given the events over the past few days  "government by brute force." Could that be referring to the heavy-handed weaponization of government bureaucracies by the nation's anti-liberty socialist left? Such as the Mar-a-Lago raid? Could that be referring to the desire of the alleged "Democratic" Party to hire 87,000 more IRS employees to go full beast mode on the people?

No, that was referring to a one-time three-hour, truly mostly peaceful protest that took place over a year and a half ago. That's something the anti-liberty left hasn't stopped talking about since, because they have nothing else to complain about. So much for Republicans being the "threat" to democracy.

Make no mistake: the people who only pretend to be liberal are the biggest threat to everyone  they just scream their projections to drown out anyone talking about it. What is happening to President Trump is only a taste of what will happen to everyone else if we don't win in November.

D. Parker is an engineer, inventor, wordsmith, and student of history, the director of communications for a Bill of Rights organization, and a longtime contributor to conservative websites. Find him on Substack.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.
After considerable public pressure, missing-in-action U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland finally addressed the media yesterday, saying he "personally approved the decision" for the FBI to execute a search warrant at President Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago. Garland declined to provide details about the investigation, such as what the documents retrieved by the FBI were.

Reading from his text, Garland piously intoned:

Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.

Following claims of honor, morality, and legal egalitarianism, Garland's FBI then leaked information to the Washington Post, a notorious Democrat mouthpiece, proving in itself that the agency had been politicized and compromised, and not for the first time.

The WaPo reported that the FBI was looking for classified documents related to nuclear weapons during their raid. The sources were obviously anonymous. It's unclear what type of documents the FBI claimed to be seeking or if they pertained to nuclear weapons belonging to the U.S. or other countries.

The FBI also claim that their agents killed a shooter in Ohio on Thursday who allegedly tried to force his way into the bureau's Cincinnati office.

The WaPo is claiming that the Ohio shooter, a man named Ricky Shiffer, had "possible ties to extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, whose leaders are accused of helping launch the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol." They also claimed that Shiffer told his followers on Truth Social that he was "ready for combat" after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago. They are even claiming the shooter called upon his followers to "kill the F.B.I. on sight."

The Washington Post, however, could not confirm whether the account actually belonged to Shiffer.

Garland defended FBI agents as "dedicated, patriotic public servants" and said he would not "stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. ... They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves."

So clearly, the spin will be two-tiered.

The first is that Trump stole nuclear weaponsrelated documents.

The second is that Trump-supporters are domestic terrorists preventing the FBI from doing their job.

So let's look at the nuclear documentation claim first.

The preposterous claim by the WaPo was fleshed out on social media. The implication is that Trump is in possession of the nuclear codes, which could enable him to launch a nuclear attack.

If Trump were a war-monger like his predecessors, he would have started a new conflict or escalated an existing conflict when he was president. But quite the opposite occurred: during Trump's tenure, he attempted to reduce foreign troops abroad and got the U.S. involved in no new wars or military conflicts whatsoever. Trump also managed to strike a peace plan in the Middle East between Israel and many Muslim countries such as the UAE and Bahrain.

Now about the nuclear codes.

The nuclear codes are deactivated when a president completes his tenure ahead of the presidential transition. Hence, Trump's nuclear codes ceased to be functional after Jan. 20, 2021. Let's go many steps farther and assume the ridiculous premise that the codes were active. The launch of a nuclear attack requires a multi-step authentication process, and the actual nuclear missiles are launched by the armed forces. This makes the claim of Trump launching a nuke attack a laughable impossibility.

Some are claiming that Trump may have intended to sell the material to foreign powers. Let's assume that were true. The question is, why did the FBI take 18 long months before conducting a raid relating to a matter of such national importance?

Normally, such conspiracy theories on social media deserved to be ignored. But the modern Democrat media operate solely on conspiracy theories emanating from anonymous or spurious sources, so they are mentioned and debunked.

So what possible advantages does this narrative have?

Since it is about nukes, then the FBI can redact key portions of the supporting documents of the warrant, claiming that they pertain to matters of national security. This enables the hoax to continue.

A presidential historian who works for NBC invoked the Rosenberg spies, who were convicted of leaking U.S. nuclear secrets to the KGB and were executed in June 1953.

Rosenbergs were convicted for giving U.S. nuclear secrets to Moscow, and were executed June 1953: pic.twitter.com/0Ox1JXoNDf  Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 12, 2022

A retired general and a former director of the CIA and the NSA agreed:

Sounds about right. https://t.co/hJCjxhN2BQ  Gen Michael Hayden (@GenMhayden) August 12, 2022

This is the ultimate murderous Democrat fantasy, since they cannot defeat Trump electorally.

This has been the standard Democrat operation playbook. Concoct a conspiracy theory such as Trump-Russia collusion or Trump stealing nuclear documents. Keep the details vague. Largely rely on innuendo and rhetorical questions. Next, drive the narrative several light-years ahead, talking about the death penalty and treason. Those who challenge the authenticity of the premise can also be called enemy agents or traitors.

As president, Trump had the authority to declassify any classified material in the government's possession.

But facts are the first casualty in such spurious Democrat hoaxes.

Documentation about nuclear weapons is especially sensitive and usually restricted to a small number of government officials. Publicizing details about U.S. weapons could provide an intelligence roadmap to adversaries seeking to build ways of countering those systems  an act of treason.

The rumor enables the FBI to justify scouring Trump's private office, breaking storage safes, and rummaging through the former first lady's wardrobe.

They may also demand a probe that will continue after the January 6 probe comes to an end following the midterms. If the GOP attempts to shut down the probe, Republicans will be called traitors, and perhaps the likes of Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney will protect the probe, which could carry on through 2024. The goal is to make the process a punishment. Keep probes going on, and keep leaking "shocking details" to the media.

Now let's look at the Democrat claim that the Ohio shooter was an enraged Trump-supporter.

The purpose of this claim is obviously propagandistic. It would enable the FBI to promote their White supremacist, domestic terrorist, and extremist MAGA narrative, to start.

If Trump-supporters conduct peaceful protests against the FBI overreach, the protesters will be accused of being neo-Nazis or shouting racist slogans. Worse, a shady Ray Epps kind of rogue provocateur-informant may infiltrate the group and either incite or commit violence for which Trump can be blamed. This is a continuation of the January 6 "insurrection" narrative.

Since they claim the shooter posted on Trump's social media site Truth Social, it also gives them an excuse to control the new and fastest-growing social platform that truly allows free expression. It probably gives them an excuse to shut it down and hence silence Trump's voice again after the coordinated social media de-platforming.

The Washington Post report, devoid of any provable facts and derived from anonymous sources, is a disgrace and should have been rejected at the earliest stage of editorial approval. Since the FBI haven't countered the claims made by the WaPo, that means they approve of its content.

When the agencies and the media that are meant to function as watchdogs of the powerful devolve into willing lap dogs of the establishment, it is an emergency.

Image: Pixabay, Pixabay License.
Google has confirmed that its Fiber services will expand to five new states in the US. The divisions CEO, Dinni Jain, confirmed the news at the Whats next for Google Fiber event.

Google Fiber is one of the companys most ignored services, and many users dont even know about its existence. There was no news of Fiber for a long time, and many people believed Google had killed it. However, Google Fiber is expanding to five new states to provide users with a high-speed broadband internet service.

As per the company announcement, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, and Nevada will be added to the Google Fiber support list in the next several years. Were talking to city leaders in the following states, with the objective of bringing Google Fibers fiber-to-the-home service to their communities. Dinni Jain said.

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Google Fiber is expanding to five new states

Jain says these five new states will be their main focus for growth for the next several years. Also, the company is working on expanding Fiber services in the current metro areas.

Google Fiber is currently available in 14 US states, including Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

In the last few years, Google Fiber has gone through several changes. First, the company abandoned the traditional TV service for Chromecast with Google TV. Then, their Fiber focus was directed to gigabit service instead of offering a 100Mbps plan. Google Fiber also started to offer a 2 Gig service last year with a new Wi-Fi 6 router.

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Moreover, Dinni Jain said they love talking to communities that want to build their own fiber networks. This strategy worked well in Huntsville and West Des Moines.

Besides Google Fibers efforts to expand in the country, the Biden administration recently passed a $45 billion plan to expand broadband internet access in the United States. The bill provides 20 of the countrys largest ISPs with sufficient funds to offer US citizens high-speed and affordable broadband internet.
Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong has been granted a presidential pardon. The pardon is effective Monday, August 15, South Koreas National Liberation Day anniversary. Lee can then formally take control of the electronics conglomerate.

For the uninitiated, the de-facto Samsung leader has been serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in a 2017 bribery case involving then South Korea president Park Geun-hye. He spent 18 months in prison before walking out on parole in August last year. As per the parole conditions, Lee couldnt travel out of the country freely even for business meetings. He needed to obtain permission for the same.

Lee also couldnt take up any formal role at the company. He could only receive reports from other Samsung executives. This affected the companys decision-making. More so when he was in prison where executives reportedly could meet him for only ten minutes.

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Calls for Lees presidential pardon have been coming since early last year as the tech world faced an unprecedented semiconductor shortage in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Since Samsung is one of the worlds largest semiconductor companies, it needed to play a vital role in overcoming the global shortage. Unfortunately, Lees absence in the office prevented the Korean behemoth from moving forward at an ideal pace.

Major South Korean business lobby groups, religious groups, individuals, and some American companies all asked for Lees presidential pardon as parole didnt allow him to work freely. Months after those calls, newly elected South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol freed the Samsung heir. Following the presidential pardon earlier today, Lee apologized to the South Korean public. He pledged to start anew, Bloomberg reports. I will try harder to give back to society and grow together, he added.

Lee is returning to lead Samsung amid a global economic crisis

Samsung is one of the most significant contributors to South Koreas economy. But factors like the Russia-Ukraine war, logistic disruptions in China due to pandemic lockdowns, rising political tensions between the US and China, and a global slowdown in consumer spending on electronics have affected the companys business lately. And its troubles indirectly affect the countrys economy as well. Time will tell whether Lees return to Samsungs office helps bolster the companys growth and stabilize the Korean economy.

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In a bid to overcome the economic crisis by vitalizing the economy, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, whose suspended prison term was ended recently, will be reinstated, the Korean government said in an official statement.
(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 11 - Two Italian men were found dead in a New York City hotel Wednesday morning, sources said Thursday.

The pair, business partners in the home furnishing sector, were from Rovigo near Venice, the Italian consulate told Carabinieri police in Rovigo.

They were aged 38 and 48, the consulate said.

The younger man was named as Luca Nogaris, an artisan, and the older man as Alessio Picelli, a home furnishing designer.

They were in New York on business.

Cause of death is not yet known but police were said to have ruled out a violent death. (ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 12 - The Getty Museum in Los Angeles on Friday said it would return a famed and illicitly exported Ancient Greek statuary group, Orpheus and the Sirens, to Italy.

The groups includes life-size terracotta figures of a poet and two sirens, or singing mermaids.

It was discovered in Puglia and dates back to the fourth century BC, when Magna Graecia culture was at its peak in southern Italy.

Italy has been seeking to get it back since 2006.

Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos recently proved that the group was exported from Italy illegally. (ANSA).


(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 12 - The Getty Museum in Los Angeles on Friday said it would return a famed and illicitly exported Ancient Greek statuary group, Orpheus and the Sirens, to Italy.

The groups includes life-size terracotta figures of a poet and two sirens, or singing mermaids.

It was discovered in Puglia and dates back to the fourth century BC, when Magna Graecia culture was at its peak in southern Italy.

Italy has been seeking to get it back since 2006.

Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos recently proved that the group was exported from Italy illegally.

The prosecutor's efforts also recently resulted in the return to Italy of 142 other antiquities, mostly from the collection of New York financier Michael Steinhardt. (ANSA).


BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday announced sanctions on Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications of Lithuania Agne Vaiciukeviciute, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

The spokesperson said that Vaiciukeviciute visited China's Taiwan region. The visit tramples on the one-China principle, seriously interferes in China's internal affairs, and undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In response to the egregious and provocative act of Vaiciukeviciute, China decides to adopt sanctions on Vaiciukeviciute, to suspend all forms of exchange with the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Lithuania, and to suspend exchange and cooperation with Lithuania in the field of international road transport, the spokesperson said. 
(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 12 - Italian monkeypox cases have risen by 45 to 644 since the last count on Tuesday August 9, the health ministry said in its latest update Friday.

Cass linked to foreign trips are now up to 182, it said.

Male predominance remains strong with 634 men infected and just 10 women.

The regions with the highest infection tallies remain Lombardy (282), Lazio (118), Emilia Romagna (65), and Veneto (44).

Italy has started monkeypox vaccinations with the first jabs being given at Rome's Spallanzani Hospital Monday followed by others in Bologna and the rest of Emilia-Romagna starting Tuesday. (ANSA).


LISBON - Firefighters are still trying to tame the flames at the natural park of Serra da Estrella, the highest mountainous range in continental Portugal.



One-tenth of the park has already been destroyed in a week. The fire which began last Saturday, August 6 in the park which has been included in UNESCO's Geopark network, was the largest and longest in the country, and reports coming from the frontlines are not reassuring. Environmental, meteorological and logistical problems have contributed to the expansion of the fire, according to allegations made by some mayors, including the mayor of Manteigas in statements to reporters. At the moment, the flames seem far from being tamed.



In a week, the flames have destroyed 14,000 hectares of park, according to the most recent data, or about one-tenth of the territory. Once the fire will be extinguished, a team of UNESCO technicians will have to inspect it and the park could be declassified.



At the moment, some 1,700 firefighters and 500 vehicles are being deployed to extinguish the fire. Three firefighters were hospitalized yesterday in serious conditions when one of the vehicles overturned.
Han Solos original blaster, used by Harrison Ford in Star Wars: A New Hope, is expected to fetch up to 500,000 dollars (410,000) when it goes under the hammer later this month.

The prop firearm, which was previously missing and presumed lost, was rediscovered by Rock Island Auction Company (RIAC), and will be available at the companys premier auction.

The pre-auction estimate for Han Solos BlasTech DL-44 Heavy Blaster is 300-500,000 dollars (245-410,000) (RIAC/PA)

The gun is the sole surviving blaster prop remaining of the three used for filming the original Star Wars trilogy, according to RIAC.

The pre-auction estimate for Han Solos BlasTech DL-44 Heavy Blaster is 300-500,000 dollars (245-410,000).

The prop was based on the German-made Mauser C96, one of the first and most recognisable semi-automatic handguns ever made.

Wanting an old west gunslinger feel for the captain of the Millennium Falcon, the designers selected the Mauser C96 as the basis of Han Solos iconic blaster.

The German-made Mauser C96 is one of the first and most recognisable semi-automatic handguns made.

Harrison Fords original Han Solo blaster expected to fetch 410,000 at auction (Anthony Devlin/PA Wire)

Star Wars Hollywood memorabilia has become highly desirable in the field of collecting.

In 2018, Han Solos blaster from Return of the Jedi sold to Ripleys Believe it or Not! for 550,000 (451,000) dollars.

More recently an original X-wing miniature prop went for 2.3 million dollars (1.8 million) in June 2022.
A former student of an Israeli man who died in a car crash in Ramsgate has described him as being special and someone who radiated so much kindness.

Yoram Hirshfeld, 78, and his daughter  Noga Hirshfeld, 40, a Cambridge physicist  were killed after a black Alfa Romeo collided with five pedestrians outside a multi-storey car park in Ramsgate, Kent, on Wednesday night.

Amnon Eden, 54, who lives in Essex, reflected fondly on the first time he met Mr Hirshfeld around 25 years ago, when the latter, who was a mathematics professor, stood in as a substitute for his first year algebra lecturer at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

For the first time ever the lecture immediately made sense. Perhaps the best example ever for the difference that a great teacher can make, the principal scientist at think tank sapience.org told the PA news agency.

His teaching was legendary. He knew how to explain complex math at the highest order in a way that even I, not a mathematician, and dyslexic to boot, could understand.

Mr Hirshfeld became Mr Edens masters and PhD co-supervisor when he studied computer science and he said that when he needed help with mathematical logic, he was there to guide me.

Yoram Hirshfeld in 2007 with Amnon Edens son Saul (Amnon Eden/PA)

He said he was sorry that his former professor died in such a tragic and unnecessary manner.

Despite moving to Essex in 2002 to take up a post as a lecturer at the University of Essex, the scientist spent many holidays with Mr Hirshfeld at his home in Rosh Pina, in upper Galilee, and also saw him and his family at their home frequently as a student.

Mr Edens son Saul, then just a few years old, also took a particular liking to the academic.

He radiated so much kindness, the first time my son Saul met him he jumped to his arms and hugged him, he said.

He added: Yoram deserves an obituary for being the greatest teacher and a brilliant mathematician.

Ive lived in five countries (Israel, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, and the UK) and worked with thousands of people (but) Yoram was special.

Tributes have also been paid to Ms Hirshfeld, also known as Noga Sella, who was a girl guides leader with 2nd Milton Guides and Milton Rangers in Cambridgeshire.

On Facebook, Girlguiding Cambridgeshire East said: It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Noga Sella, Leader with 2nd Milton Guides & Milton Rangers.

Noga passed away on Wednesday evening, as a result of a tragic accident whilst on holiday in Ramsgate.

Please keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers at this time.

Oded Sharon, a friend who met Ms Hirshfeld when they studied together at university, said: We went to university together 20 years ago and became close friends back then.

We shared a sense of humour and bonded over geeky things like Star Trek. Noga was one of the kindest, smartest, rare kind of good people I knew.

There were further fatalities as a result of the crash, with a girl of primary school age being taken to a London hospital for treatment for serious injuries, Kent Police said, adding that all the pedestrians were members of the same family.

A vigil was held on Thursday evening on Leopold Street, Ramsgate, to pay tribute to the family.
The Los Angeles Police Department has launched an investigation into the fiery crash which left US actress Anne Heche in a coma.

Detectives for the LAPDs West Traffic Division, who are leading the investigation, have requested a blood sample from the actress to test for the presence of narcotics.

Heche, 53, was taken to hospital following the incident on Friday morning in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles and remains in a critical condition, after her car was engulfed in flames.

She is the former partner of US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres  the pair began dating in 1997 before separating in 2000  and is known for films including Donnie Brasco, Cedar Rapids and the 1998 Psycho remake.

LAPD News: Traffic Collision into a Residence Involving Anne Heche pic.twitter.com/iWtAwvnDll  LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) August 11, 2022

In an updated press release on Thursday, the LAPD confirmed an investigation was underway into the incident.

On August 5 2022 at around 10.55am a vehicle driven by Anne Heche collided with a residence in the 1700 block of Walgrove Avenue, the report stated.

Heche sustained significant injuries, was rendered medical attention by the Los Angeles Fire Department and subsequently transported to a local hospital where she is still receiving medical attention.

As part of an investigative process, West Traffic Detectives composed a search warrant for a blood sample from Heche, which is common practice for a case of this manner.

The release added: This case is still an active and ongoing investigation and is currently in the process of gathering additional evidence; to include final toxicology results, and medical records from both parties involved.

Detectives for the LAPDs West Traffic Division have requested a blood sample from the actress to test for the presence of narcotics (Francis Specker/PA)

It is the intent of the investigating Detectives to present this case to the appropriate prosecuting office: the Los Angeles County District Attorney or the Los Angeles City Attorneys office once all pertinent evidence has been gathered.

Pictures and video footage obtained by US media outlet TMZ following the incident showed Ms Heche driving a blue Mini Cooper, which was later pictured severely damaged at the scene.

The vehicle struck a two-storey home and erupted in heavy fire according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).

59 firefighters took 65 minutes to access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames within the heavily damaged structure, according to an LAFD report.

Heche sustained a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention a spokeswoman for the actress confirmed to PA.
Children will face longer waits for help with autism or speech problems due to NHS staff shortages outside of hospitals, health leaders have warned.

The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers warned that without action the waiting list for community care will continue to rise.

The organisations, which represent NHS bodies, said there are growing vacancies for district nurses, health visitors, podiatrists, community dentists and speech and language therapists.

Delays in accessing services such as speech and language therapy or assessments for autism can have profound impacts on the lives of children, they said.

The organisations said existing staff shortages in the community have been exacerbated by the pandemic and staff are feeling the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis, particularly those who need to travel to see patients.

Earlier this month it emerged that more than a million people were waiting for care in the community.

The figures, obtained by the Health Service Journal, included 75,000 children waiting for care from community paediatric services, which help children with additional needs, developmental concerns, medical and long-term health conditions and support those with learning and physical disabilities.

About 74,300 young people were waiting for speech and language therapy.

The HSJ reported that 1.04 million people are waiting for community services in England, including nearly 300,000 children.

NHS Confederation and NHS Providers said ministers should commit to a national workforce plan to plug gaps.

They warned that the Governments pledge to recruit 50,000 more nurses before the end of this parliament will provide little or no benefit to community services as the vast majority of new nurses are working in hospitals.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: Community services are absolutely essential in keeping people well at home or in their community and preventing demand on other parts of the healthcare system, but to do so effectively they need the right numbers of people in the right roles.

At the moment, they are trying to provide services with one hand tied behind their backs.

Without action we are condemning patients, including young children, to lengthy waits and storing up problems in GP practices, A&E departments and other urgent and emergency care services that could have been dealt with earlier in the community.

Saffron Cordery, chief executive of NHS Providers, added: NHS leaders are once again raising the alarm over the consequences of the Governments failure to deliver a fully costed and funded workforce plan for the health service.

Like much of the NHS, vital community services havent been able to fill significant staffing capacity gaps and this is now having dire consequences for the health and welfare of some of the most vulnerable in our society.

We are seeing first-hand how delays to access for services such as speech and language therapy can have profound impacts for the rest of a childs life, exacerbating longstanding health inequalities.

Investing in community services could put us in a win-win situation, letting the NHS deliver higher quality care while reducing pressure on our urgent and emergency services, but we need national action on this, and fast.

The organisations said the creation of new roles, or alternative routes into existing roles, could help address staff shortages.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: NHS staff have been working incredibly hard to tackle the Covid backlogs and have treated more than 15 million patients in the last year.

We are growing the health and social care workforce, with over 4,300 more doctors, and 10,200 more nurses compared to last year, and supporting the community nursing workforce through initiatives such as the safer staffing tool and the development of the national community nursing plan.

Frontline staff can receive rapid access to mental health services through 40 staff mental health and wellbeing hubs, backed by 45 million to support the continuation of the health and wellbeing support offer.
Rishi Sunak has unveiled a three-part plan to ease the pain of soaring energy bills as he promised to provide the support required to the people who need it.

Following a dire new warning that energy bills could top 5,000 by the spring, the former chancellor said his plan consisted of support for the most vulnerable, support for pensioners and some support for everyone.

Writing for The Times, Mr Sunak said the first part of his plan involved using the welfare system to get money out quickly to those who need it the most.

Having explored all options, I know this is the quickest, most effective, targeted way of getting support to these groups of people, he said.

Initial payments have already gone out, while Mr Sunak flagged further support could come in the form of winter and cold weather payments.

Mr Sunak said all households could expect a roughly 200 boost from his VAT reduction on energy bills.

The second part of the plan involves identifying and targeting the scale of support needed, with expectations that soaring energy costs could see households 400 to 500 worse off than when Mr Sunak announced his previous support package in May.

Thirdly, the politician said he would drive a programme to identify savings across Whitehall in order to pay for his support scheme, which The Times said would cost around 10 billion.

That may mean we have to stop or pause some things in Government, because Government is about tough choices, he said.

But we must find these savings because getting people through this winter has to be the first priority.

He signalled the Government would likely need to raise more revenue from the Energy Profits Levy, and refused to rule out some limited and temporary one-off borrowing as a last resort to get us through this winter.

The fact is we have days and weeks to act before millions of Britons are left struggling with unaffordable bills, he said.

I have set out my plan. Its here in black and white.

I call on those rejecting my tried-and-tested method to set out in detail how they would get help to those that need it in time before their bills need paying.
Police say preliminary blood tests have revealed the presence of drugs in Anne Heches system after the US actress was involved in a fiery car crash which left her in a coma.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said additional testing was required to rule out any substances that were administered in the hospital.

LAPD spokesman Matthew Cruz also confirmed to the PA news agency that the incident was being investigated as a felony driving-under-the-influence (DUI) traffic collision.

Heche, 53, was taken to hospital following the crash on Friday morning in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles and remains in a critical condition, after her car was engulfed in flames.

She is the former partner of US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres  the pair began dating in 1997 before separating in 2000  and is known for films including Donnie Brasco, Cedar Rapids and the 1998 Psycho remake.

LAPD News: Traffic Collision into a Residence Involving Anne Heche pic.twitter.com/iWtAwvnDll  LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) August 11, 2022

In an updated press release on Thursday, the LAPD confirmed an investigation was underway into the incident.

On August 5 2022 at around 10.55am a vehicle driven by Anne Heche collided with a residence in the 1700 block of Walgrove Avenue, the report stated.

Heche sustained significant injuries, was rendered medical attention by the Los Angeles Fire Department and subsequently transported to a local hospital where she is still receiving medical attention.

As part of an investigative process, West Traffic Detectives composed a search warrant for a blood sample from Heche, which is common practice for a case of this manner.

The release added: This case is still an active and ongoing investigation and is currently in the process of gathering additional evidence; to include final toxicology results, and medical records from both parties involved.

Detectives for the LAPDs West Traffic Division have requested a blood sample from the actress to test for the presence of narcotics (Francis Specker/PA)

It is the intent of the investigating Detectives to present this case to the appropriate prosecuting office: the Los Angeles County District Attorney or the Los Angeles City Attorneys office once all pertinent evidence has been gathered.

Speaking to PA, Mr Cruz said that preliminary blood tests did show signs of narcotics.

Pictures and video footage obtained by US media outlet TMZ following the incident showed Ms Heche driving a blue Mini Cooper, which was later pictured severely damaged at the scene.

The vehicle struck a two-storey home and erupted in heavy fire according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).

59 firefighters took 65 minutes to access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames within the heavily damaged structure, according to an LAFD report.

Heche sustained a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention, a spokeswoman for the actress confirmed to PA.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday strongly condemned the terrorist attack against the Malian Armed Forces on Aug. 7, which resulted in a high number of casualties and loss of life.

The UN chief "expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the people of Mali, who continue to pay a high price in their continued fight against terrorism. He wishes a swift recovery to those injured," said a statement issued by his spokesperson.

The secretary-general reiterated the commitment of the United Nations, including through MINUSMA, the peacekeeping mission in Mali, to support efforts aimed at restoring peace and stability in the country, the statement said.

Fourty-two Malian soldiers were killed and 22 injured during a terrorist attack near the town of Tessit on Aug. 7, the Malian government said in a statement on Wednesday. 
Record numbers of people are having bowel cancer checks after the death of campaigner Dame Deborah James, health bosses have said.

Dame Deborah, also known by her social media handle Bowel Babe, had been raising awareness about the disease until her death on June 28 at the age of 40.

According to the NHS, between the months of May and July, 170,500 people referred for checks for suspected lower gastro-intestinal cancers.

It is up over 30,000 compared to the same period in 2021, and nearly 80,000 higher than the same period two years ago.

Dame Deborah James, with her husband Sebastien Bowen during a private tour at the Chelsea Flower Show (The Harkness Rose Company/PA)

Figures also showed referrals for bowel cancer hit an all-time high in the second week of July, shortly after Dame Deborahs death, up 60% on pre-pandemic levels.

The last three months also saw almost 200,000 more visitors to the NHS website to check symptoms of the disease.

National cancer director Dame Cally Palmer said: Thanks to the brave and relentless campaigning of Dame Deborah James, bowel cancer has come to the forefront of a national conversation on catching cancer as early as possible, and the fact that we have seen record numbers of people coming forward for bowel cancer checks shows people are taking the illness seriously and speaking to their GPs about it.

It is so important that we continue the work of Dame Deborah to raise awareness of bowel cancer and save more lives, so to anyone who has noticed symptoms, please do come forward.

Genevieve Edwards, chief executive at Bowel Cancer UK, says: People visiting bowelcanceruk.org.uk has never been higher, with tens of thousands more people seeking information about the symptoms of the disease since Dame Deborah James tragic death.

There was also a spike in people affected by bowel cancer posting on our forum, contacting our Ask the Nurse service and we know that people have visited their GP as a result of hearing her story.

The tweet I never wanted to write. The time has come to say goodbye. 5 years to prepare, doesnt make it any easy. Im under hospice at home care, & Im spending my time surrounded by my family. Please buy me a  to see me out and raise vitial funds. https://t.co/AztN5FziLR   Deborah James (@bowelbabe) May 9, 2022

In early May, Dame Deborah revealed she had stopped active treatment and was receiving end-of-life care at her parents home in Woking, Surrey, with her husband and their two children on hand.

The podcaster was diagnosed in 2016 and kept her one million Instagram followers up to date with her treatments.

Her candid posts about her progress and diagnosis, including videos of her dancing her way through treatment, won praise from the public and media alike.

Alongside Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland, she launched the You, Me And The Big C podcast in 2018.

She was made a dame, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying: If ever an honour was richly deserved, this is it.

Dame Deborah later said she felt honoured and shocked to be considered for the honour.

Her husband Sebastien Bowen has spoken about the difficulties of the last few months he spent with the former deputy headteacher, whom he married in France in 2008.

Mr Bowen told the Times: She was making the most of every last moment. But that was her. That is how I will always remember Deborah  the ability in the worst of times to embrace life.

More than anyone I know she loved life, even more so when it became so short and each minute counted.

He went on: She was so weak she couldnt do much on her own, which she found frustrating as she was naturally fiercely independent.

She was paralysed at the end from her waist down and had to deal with the psychological battle of the reality of her new handicap. She couldnt even go to the kitchen to get food or clean or dress herself.

Im not going to pretend it was easy. It was a new experience for all of us and we had to find our feet, but it also brought us closer to her and to each other.
FILE - Fox News chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and wife Jerry Hall attend the WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovator Awards at The Museum of Modern Art on Nov. 1, 2017, in New York. Hall filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, to dismiss her original petition for divorce from Murdoch from July 1, with permission to file a new one. They have agreed to the terms of their pending divorce, Hall's attorney said Thursday, Aug. 11. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Model and actor Jerry Hall and media mogul Rupert Murdoch have agreed to the terms of their pending divorce, her attorney said Thursday.

Hall filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday to dismiss her original petition for divorce from Murdoch, which she filed last month, with permission to file a new one.

Her attorney Judith L. Poller said in an email Thursday that Jerry and Rupert Murdoch have finalized their divorce. They remain good friends and wish each other the best for the future.

No details were released on the agreement the two have reached. Hall had sought an unspecified amount of spousal support in her original petition, and cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split. She and Murdoch have no children together.

Hall, 66, and Murdoch, 91, married in London in 2016.

It was the fourth marriage for Murdoch. Hall was previously the longtime partner of Mick Jagger. They have four children together.
A Virginia police officer was sentenced Thursday to seven years and three months in prison for his actions at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Thomas Robertson, 49, was off duty when he drove with fellow cop Jacob Fracker from their tiny town of Rocky Mount, Va., to Washington, D.C.

Thomas Robertson and Jacob Fracker, then members of the Rocky Mount Police Department, take a photo of themselves at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.



Thomas Robertson and Jacob Fracker, then members of the Rocky Mount Police Department, take a photo of themselves at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

After listening to some speeches near the Washington Monument, the two men and a friend joined the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol and attempted to stop Congress from certifying Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election.

In April, Robertson was convicted of six crimes: obstruction of Congress, interfering with officers during a civil disorder, entering a restricted area while carrying a dangerous weapon, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted area while carrying a dangerous weapon, disorderly or disruptive conduct inside the Capitol building, and obstruction.

The dangerous weapon that Robertson carried was a large wooden stick, which prosecutors said he used to block Capitol police and other law enforcement officers at the Capitol. He was convicted of obstruction for destroying he and Frackers cellphones after the riot.

Even after he was arrested and charged, Robertson kept posting online about the election being stolen from former President Donald Trump. He was out on probation until June 2021, when FBI agents found 34 guns in his home and hauled him back to jail for violating the terms of his release. Hell get credit for 13 months of time served.

The defendant is, by all accounts, proud of his conduct on Jan. 6, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi said.

Robertsons 87-month sentence is tied for the longest prison term for any Capitol rioter. Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who stormed the building with a holstered handgun, got the same sentence.

Reffitt and Robertson were the first two accused Capitol rioters to take their chances with a jury trial. Both were convicted on all counts.

Fracker, 30, was charged alongside Robertson but he flipped and took a plea deal in March before testifying against Robertson a month later.

At trial, Fracker said everybody in the mob pretty much had the same goal over overturning the election and that it didnt need to be said out loud.

The Rocky Mount Police Department fired Fracker and Robertson after they were arrested in January 2021.

About 850 people have been charged in connection with the riot. More than 350 have pleaded guilty to varying charges, and more than 230 people have been sentenced.

With News Wire Services
Teachers are leaving the profession like never before, leaving many school districts in dire need of educators to fill those roles.

While the ongoing teacher shortage has been happening since the start of COVID, the president of the second-largest teachers' union in the U.S. is warning that parents and students will particularly feel the impact in the upcoming school year.

"You have a perfect storm going on right now," Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "And we have been warning about this for a long time."

Even before COVID, nearly 300,000 teachers were leaving the profession every year, according to AFT. A July 2022 report from the AFT Teacher and School Staff Shortage Task Force found that one-third of teachers and principals indicated they were likely to leave their current job by the end of the 2021-22 school year.

A March 2022 survey of AFT members found that 90% believe the shortage is a serious problem for them and their co-workers, and 92% said these staffing shortages should be a high priority for the AFT.

According to Weingarten, there are four main factors at play: fewer people becoming teachers, a hot labor market where current teachers can get paid better in different roles, the lasting effects of the pandemic, and politics.

"You add all of that together and you have a perfect storm," Weingarten said. "It was foreseeable and it is fixable. But we have to actually have the will to fix it."

The four factors

71% of teachers have seriously considered leaving their job over the past few years, according to AFT's report. Of those planning on leaving the profession in the near future, only about 20% are planning on doing so for normal retirement.

"You have higher number of retirements this year, which everyone predicted because it was a really, really hard year," Weingarten said. "You have fewer people going into the profession."

According to a report from Universities.com, the states struggling to find teachers the most are mainly near the West Coast, with the top five being California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, and Hawaii.

A hot labor market doesn't help  in fact, many underpaid teachers have found they can get much higher pay by entering other professions.

The average teacher salary in the U.S. was roughly $66,397 for the 2021-22 school year, which is more than $2,000 less than a decade ago when adjusted for inflation, according to the National Education Association (NEA).

Even for teachers receiving adequate pay, it may not be enough to draw them back to environments disrupted by COVID.

During the height of the pandemic, some schools took little, if any, precautions to protect students and teachers from exposure to the virus. This included no mask requirements.

"You have all of the pandemic stress and strain, particularly that kids are coming in with greater needs because of two years of disruption," Weingarten said. "And not only have the conditions not really changed, but school districts and the federal government and others just pretend as if there was no pandemic."

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference to discuss Florida's civics education initiative of unbiased history teachings at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in Sanford, FL, 6/30/22. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

To make matters worse, the COVID pandemic became highly politicized, with trickle-down effects falling on school districts in the forms of vaccination and masking policies. That wasn't the only part of the classroom politicized, however.

"You have all of the politics, the culture wars, the shaming and blaming, the banning of books, the censoring of curriculum," Weingarten said. "So many teachers said to me, if a kid asked them a question after the Buffalo mass shooting, if they were in Florida or Texas, they didn't know whether they could answer the question that the shooter was a white supremacist because of the new rules that had passed."

Weingarten is referring to critical race theory, which has become a hot-button issue across the country.

According to the Brookings Institution, critical race theory states that U.S. social institutions (e.g., the criminal justice system, education system, labor market, housing market, and healthcare system) are laced with racism embedded in laws, regulations, rules, and procedures that lead to differential outcomes by race.

Some governors or local leaders have outright banned it from being taught in schools. But because their own definitions of it have been so vague, it's left teachers confused over what can and cannot be taught in the classroom.

'Obvious remedies'

Weingarten admitted that firmly addressing the ongoing teacher shortage is "not a simple solution" but stated that there are "obvious remedies," some that wouldn't even cost money.

One of those ideas is lowering class sizes, she said. Data has shown that larger class sizes correlate with lower levels of student achievement and fewer educational opportunities for students.

"That's one of the ways you meet the needs of kids, particularly post-pandemic, if we want to accelerate learning," Weingarten said.

National Guard Specialist Austin Alt fills in as a substitute due to a teacher shortage caused by COVID and other non-illness related absences in Pojoaque, New Mexico, January 28, 2022. REUTERS/Adria Malcolm

Paperwork is another huge issue for teachers, she added, as many of them "spend more time actually answering the data demands of states and localities and the federal government instead of actually focusing on teaching. Let's align our accountability system with what we know we need to do."

The big course of action is increasing teachers' salaries, though, which range widely across the country. Weingarten argued that in order to not only retain current teachers but also attract new talent, higher wages are necessary, along with adequate benefits.

"Some districts are doing them," she said. "And the places that are not doing them, like in Florida where the governor is just demonizing teachers, that's where you have the largest shortages."

Editor's note: A previous version of this post stated that the American Federation of Teachers is the largest teachers' union in the U.S. It is the second-largest.



Ethan is a writer for Yahoo Finance.

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More than 21,000 people have been brought to safety to the UK from Afghanistan, the Government has said.

This includes British nationals and their families, Afghans who worked for the UK, and people identified as high-risk, such as womens rights campaigners, journalists and members of the LGBT+ community.

The update was provided following calls for information on the arrival of Afghan refugees ahead of the one-year anniversary of Taliban forces taking over the country by capturing Kabul on August 15 2021.

A separate up-to-date total for the number of Afghan refugees who have arrived in the UK was not given.

The total includes about 15,000 people who were evacuated during Operation Pitting, the initial British military rescue mission.

About 5,000 people have been brought to safety since the evacuation in August last year.

And about 2,000 locally employed Afghan staff and their families were taken out of the country before Operation Pitting under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), which launched in April 2021.

So far, 10,000 people have been brought to the UK under Arap.

An up-to-date total was not provided for the number of Afghan refugees who have arrived in the UK under the separate Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), which launched in January 2022.

A full flight of 265 people supported by members of the UK Armed Forces on board an evacuation flight (Ministry of Defence/PA)

As of January 22, the Government said that about 6,500 people brought to safety during and after Operation Pitting who were eligible under the scheme had received leave to remain. This remains the latest publicly available figure.

The Government has pledged to resettle more than 5,000 people under ACRS in the first year of the scheme and up to 20,000 over the coming years.

Updates on arrivals under both schemes are due to be included in a future publication of the Governments quarterly immigration statistics.

It comes as almost 10,000 Afghan refugees remain in hotels, waiting to move into permanent accommodation.

Amnesty International UK said the patchwork of figures provided is a reminder of the chaos and delay of the UKs response to the Taliban a year ago.

Refugee and migrant rights director Steve Valdez-Symonds said: Those chaotic and dangerous scenes at Kabul airport last year were partly the result of complacency from the UK and other nations in failing to anticipate the fall of Kabul  leaving some people unable to access an evacuation place for which they were eligible and even costing some people their lives.

The Government has tried to present its response on Afghanistan as a success, but the Home Office has dumped thousands of Afghan families in unsuitable hotels for months on end and has still failed to reunite families separated during the emergency evacuation.

Andy Hewett, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, said: For Afghans here in the UK, a pressing concern is the safety of their family members who are currently trapped in Afghanistan and not able to apply to reunite with them here.

The Government recognised the need for families to be together when supporting people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine  they must show the same compassion and recognise that Afghans who suffered so much already have the right to be with their families, the people who make them feel safe.

Dr Peter William Walsh, senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, welcomed the news that at least 6,500 people have been resettled under ACRS.

He said the figure will surprise some critics, who may have suspected that low numbers were behind the Government not publishing figures.

There is still a lot we dont know about resettlement or relocation under UKs Afghan schemes, he continued.

Hopefully, more recent figures will be published in the not-too-distant future and provide more specific data on how many people have been granted status, under which scheme, and with accompanying demographic data.

A Government spokeswoman said: The UK will welcome up to 20,000 people in need through the ACRS.

Already we are proud this country has provided homes for more than 7,000 Afghan evacuees, but there is a shortage of local housing accommodation for all.

It has always been the case that immediate family members, including spouse or partner and children under 18, of those eligible under either our ACRS or Arap schemes, are also eligible for resettlement in the UK.
A former British embassy guard evacuated to the UK from Afghanistan has asked how much longer he can expect to live in a hotel with his heavily pregnant wife and toddler.

Faiz Mohammad Seddeqi, 30, was brought to the UK last August with his wife and son.

He had worked as a guard with the British Embassy in Kabul for more than a year.

The family has been living in a hotel in Watford ever since with their son, now one, and have a baby due in September.

He told the PA news agency it has not been an easy task.

He said: We have (had) to wait a year, I dont know how much longer I have to wait.

Mr Seddeqi said he has asked for another room many times but did not receive a positive answer.

He added: Is it possible to have a one-year-old child with a baby and two adults in a small room?

Around 9,500 refugees are still living in hotels, one year on from the Taliban seizing power on August 15 last year.

Some 70 hotels are understood to be in use at a daily cost of 1 million.

Around 7,000 Afghanistan evacuees are said to have been moved into settled accommodation since arriving in the country.

Officials recognise that living in hotels for months is not the best situation for families and are working to move them on to settled accommodation as quickly as possible, sources said.

But it is said to be complex in terms of matching families with appropriate homes according to the size of the family, its needs and specific vulnerabilities, on top of wider, pre-existing pressures on the housing system.

Mohammad, not his real name, came to the UK in July under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).

He is staying in a hotel in Manchester with his wife and four children ranging in age from a seven-year-old to a baby.

Aged in his 30s, he worked as an interpreter with British forces and said he was forced to hide from the Taliban.

He said he is very happy with my children and with my wife, who like it so much in England but are finding hotel life a little bit boring.

He said: I need a job and a new life in the UK, I want to get a new house very soon its very hard to stay for a long time in a hotel.

Andy Hewett, head of advocacy at the Refugee Council, said the Government is failing on their promise of a warm welcome, with thousands of Afghans still trapped, and those who have reached the UK separated from their loved ones.

He said their dignity and rights must be upheld by being given safe accommodation and the Government must ensure they do not face another year in hotels.

He said: Nearly 10,000 Afghan men, women and children are still in substandard temporary hotel accommodation, living in limbo between four walls with no ability to move on with their lives and recover from the trauma they have experienced.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: While hotels do not provide a long-term solution, they do offer safe, secure and clean accommodation.

We will continue to bring down the number of people in bridging hotels, moving people into more sustainable accommodation as quickly as possible.
The story and headline have been updated to reflect the number of law enforcement officers shot in the last three weeks, not three months.

Six North Carolina law enforcement officers have been shot, two of them fatally, in the line of duty this summer.

On Friday, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein condemned the violence against law enforcement officers and extended his condolences.

Early this morning, a Wake County deputy was killed in the line of duty, Stein said in a statement. This comes only 10 days after the murder of Wayne County Deputy Sgt. Matthew Fishman. Four other North Carolina deputies have been shot doing their jobs in the last three weeks alone, but are thankfully still alive.

Officers put their lives on the line to protect our communities  we must do everything in our power to keep them safe, Stein said. I thank the many public-spirited officers who are serving and protecting the people of North Carolina all over the state.

G eneral disregard for authority

Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood, who was recently elected president of the N.C. Sheriffs Association, said his concerns go beyond the recent shootings.

Its a general disregard for authority of any kind, he said in an interview with The News & Observer.

It is as if the idea that the law enforcement [officers] that come to work every day, that are trying to do the right thing are being somehow painted as the enemy and there is a disregard for their lives, Blackwood said. Its not just the killings, but [that] the killings have accelerated in such a way that you have got to question the timing of it all.

Today people are emboldened in a way that Blackwood said he hasnt seen in his 42 years in law enforcement.

Defendants curse at judges and run out of courtrooms after convictions, motorists are physically challenging officers for pulling them over for an expired tag, and people are getting shot after minor conflicts at the gas pump and a drive-through window, he said.

I dont know whether fuses are short because of COVID, or what it is, [but] there has been a complete breakdown in societal norms and respect for authority, he said.

Blackwood said the shift coincides with calls to defund and reimagine law enforcement, which escalated after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd in 2020, along with other fatal encounters between police and Black people.

The officers in Minneapolis were charged and convicted, which Blackwood said is what should happen in such situations. A handful of instances is too many, he said, but it doesnt mean that it is happening everywhere, he said.

There was a big hue and cry among the society to fix law enforcement, when law enforcement may not have been broken to begin with, Blackwood said.

I cant help but believe that all these committees that have come together [to] try to figure out a way to protect the folks who are committing the violent crimes and give them a second chance, that we have emboldened the criminal element to believe that they are not held accountable any longer, and it is that lack of accountability that is leading us down this road of discontent, Blackwood said. And I dont think it is getting better.

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page expressed similar concerns.

Just over the past few years I have never seen such disrespect for law enforcement in America, the 40-year law enforcement veteran, with over two decades in Rockingham, said in an interview with The N&O.

It has got to stop, Page said.

The scary thing about this climate, he added, is that if people will shoot at an officer doing his job then a private citizen doesnt have a chance.

Still answering the calls

Wake County Sheriffs Office spokesman Eric Curry said, despite the challenging environment, deputies are still answering calls.

This is the nature of the business. Every deputy understands that each call can be either routine or a potentially fatal interaction with a person [whose] only intention is to harm a law enforcement officer, he said.

Here are the shootings in the past three weeks.

Sampson County

The first shooting seriously wounded Caitlin Emanuel, a Sampson County sheriffs deputy, on July 24 while responding to a report of a stolen car.

Emanuel was shot on Hayne Stretch Road outside of Roseboro after 2 a.m. that Saturday, The News & Observer previously reported. While responding to the report, Emanuel found two men near the road along with the stolen car and called for back-up.

The responding deputy found Emanuel wounded at the scene.

Michael A. Walthall Jr., of Pennsylvania, was arrested by the Sampson County Sheriffs Office about 4:45 a.m. on the morning of the shooting. He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a law enforcement officer, larceny of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon and driving while impaired.

His first court appearance is in Clinton on Aug. 19.

Wayne County

Three Wayne County sheriffs deputies were shot Aug. 1 in an incident that left Sgt. Matthew Fishman dead.

The two other officers were treated for injuries and released from the hospital Aug. 3, as reported by The Charlotte Observer.

Fishman, 38, was killed when the deputies responded to a home on Arrington Bridge Road in Dudley, a town about 60 miles southeast of Raleigh.

The deputies arrived about 10:30 a.m. to serve an involuntary commitment order when a man inside began shooting at them, Wayne County officials reported.

Jourdan Hamilton, 23, then barricaded himself inside the home. A SWAT team entered the residence around 8 p.m. and found the suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot would, according to officials.

Fishman was buried Tuesday in Mount Olive. He is survived by his wife Sarah, and two children, ABC11 reported.

Caswell County

On Wednesday a Caswell County sheriffs deputy suffered serious injuries when he was shot in Semora.

Aaron Tyndall was serving a domestic violence protective order with another deputy Aug. 10 when he was shot multiple times by a man who barricaded himself inside the home for several hours afterward, according to the Sheriffs Office.

The suspect, identified as Kevin DeSilva, surrendered to law enforcement on the day of the shooting around 4 p.m.

Wake County

Early Friday, Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker announced the death of 48-year-old deputy Ned Byrd, who was fatally shot Thursday night in the eastern part of the county.

The shooting occurred around 11 p.m. near a gas station on Auburn Knightdale Road and Battle Bridge Road.

Byrd was on patrol with his police dog when he was shot more than once, sheriffs spokesman Eric Curry said. He was outside the SUV and was wearing a protective vest, with his dog still inside the car, Curry said.

The last Wake deputy shot in the line of duty was Sgt. Ronald Waller in June 2021. He suffered severe injuries when he was shot with an AK-47 assault rifle while serving an eviction notice on a tenant at a Raleigh apartment complex.

80 officers shot in the last five years

Since 2017, 71 law enforcement officers have been injured and 9 have been killed in the line of duty in North Carolina, reported by ABC11, The N&Os media partner.

In 2020 and 2022, there was an increase in officer injuries caused by gunfire in. Since January, a total of 13 officers have been shot, two of them fatally, across the state.
A 37-year-old Boise man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for shooting at an Ada County sheriffs deputy last October after causing a police pursuit, according to a news release.

Peter Kuyper, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer in June, could be eligible for parole after three years. The crime had an enhancement for use of a deadly weapon, the release said.

Kuyper was sentenced Wednesday to the three years fixed by Joel Horton, a retired Idaho Supreme Court justice who is a senior judge in the state and can be called upon to fill in on the bench.

Deputies received reports on the night of Oct. 27 that a man had fired shots at a minivan in Meridian, near the Meridian Road overpass on Interstate 84. They attempted to pursue the suspect and he fled, according to an Ada County Sheriffs Office tweet at the time. He drove more than 80 mph on city streets, a prosecutors office news release said.

Kuyper led officers on a pursuit before leaving his truck and running into a trailer at Mountain View RV Park off Airport Road. Upon exiting his vehicle, the defendant fired his handgun at a sheriffs deputy, who was not hit by the bullet, a release said.

Kuyper holed up in the trailer, causing a four-hour standoff that necessitated shutting down parts of I-84 near the Boise Airport for at least an hour.
Uma Pemmaraju attending the 2017 United Nations Women for Peace Association's Annual Awards Luncheon in New York City. (Getty Images)

Uma Pemmaraju, a founding anchor for Fox News, is being remembered as "an incredibly talented journalist" by colleagues and former co-workers after her death this week at the age of 64.

"I was so sad to hear. @UmaPemmaraju was a beautiful person inside & out," former Arkansas governor and Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee tweeted. "Talented and kind. A cherished friend."

Pemmaraju was at Fox News when it launched on Oct. 7, 1996, anchoring "Fox News Now" and "Fox on Trends." At the time, she was one of the few Indian American anchors on national television.

"We are deeply saddened by the death of Uma Pemmaraju, who was one of FOX News Channels founding anchors and was on the air the day we launched," Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement to Fox News on Tuesday. "Uma was an incredibly talented journalist as well as a warm and lovely person, best known for her kindness to everyone she worked with. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her entire family,"

According to the Boston Globe, Pemmaraju was 6 years old when her family moved from Rajahmundry, India, to San Antonio where they were one of the few Indian families. The family relocated after her father, a researcher who specialized in birth control, was asked to direct a new program for population studies in Texas.

Pemmaraju began her journalism career with the San Antonio Express-News newspaper while attending Trinity University in San Antonio as a political science major.

After college, she anchored shows for KTVT-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth and WMAR-TV Baltimore, where she won an Emmy for her work, and WBZ-TV in Boston, before landing at Fox News in 1996. She left the network but returned in 2003 as an anchor and fill-in host.

Speaking with the Boston Globe in 1993, Pemmaraju explained what drove her.

Im a conduit to help other people, she said. I dont want to sound too sentimental. But thats what Im about. I want to use my celebrity to help people, to help bring about something that needs to be done.

David Wade of WBZ-TV, where Pemmaraju worked from 1992 to 1996, spoke with her family, who told him she was a "'noble soul and pioneer' as an Indian Asian American newswoman of prominence."

Current and former Fox News employees paid tribute to Pemmaraju on Twitter.

Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly tweeted, "Uma was a pro and always had a kind word for others  she was taken too soon."

"She was the only South Asian face on American national TV news, I remember fondly from the 90s," wrote Reena Ninan, who worked at the network for eight years. "What amazed me most was her kindness when I joined as a reporter. She was a friend to all. Prayers up to her daughter. She loved her with all her [heart]."

Fox News financial correspondent Cheryl Casone recalled Pemmaraju's "warm smile in the halls of @FoxNews," later adding "I will never forget you."

"My first job at FNC was as an AP for 'Fox On Trends' with Uma Pemmaraju," Fox News editor Jay Soroko shared. "Uma was a true professional, whip-smart and fast on her feet. She had an infectious way of making you strive for perfection."

"She would stop, look you in the eye and be present with you at every interaction and always with a light in her eyes," Fox News chief meteorologist Rick Reichmuth remembered. "She'd remember prior stories we talked about and I always felt like she really cared."

Pemmaraju is survived by her daughter, Kirina. No official cause of death has been released.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
This undated photo provided by The J. Paul Getty Museum shows Sculptural Group of a Seated Poet and Sirens. The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is returning ancient sculptures and other works of art that were illegally exported from Italy. The museum announced Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, that next month it will ship back the nearly life-size group of statues known as "Orpheus and the Sirens." (The J. Paul Getty Museum via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

LOS ANGELES (AP)  The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is returning ancient sculptures and other works of art that were illegally exported from Italy, the museum announced Thursday.

The Getty will return a nearly life-size group of Greek terra-cotta sculptures known as Orpheus and the Sirens," believed to date from the fourth century B.C., according to the museum.

The sculpture group was purchased by J. Paul Getty in 1976 shortly before his death and had been on display for decades.

However, the museum now believes they were illegally excavated and taken out of Italy, based on evidence uncovered by the Manhattan district attorney's office, the Getty said in a statement.

Its just extremely rare and theres nothing similar in our collection, or closely similar in any collection, Getty Museum director Timothy Potts told the Los Angeles Times. It does leave a hole in our gallery but with this evidence that came forth, there was no question that it needed to be sent back to Italy.

The fragile sculptures will be sent to Rome in September to join collections designated by the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Getty said.

The museum also is working with the Ministry of Culture to arrange the return of four other objects at a future date. Those include a colossal marble head of a divinity" and a stone mold for casting pendants, both from the second century A.D., along with an Etruscan bronze incense burner from the fourth century B.C. and a 19th century painting by Camillo Miola entitled Oracle at Delphi," the Getty said.
TOKYO, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A new wave of public anger and serious concerns over sea pollution have been triggered in and outside Japan after the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) recently started construction of facilities that will discharge nuclear wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

Many Japanese citizens and civic groups have gone online and offline expressing their outrage -- "The ocean is not a dustbin!" "No more polluting the ocean!" and calling out the Japanese government and TEPCO as dishonest, irresponsible, hypocritical and selfish.

Struck by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan's northeast on March 11, 2011, the No. 1-3 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered core meltdowns, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

The plant has been generating a massive amount of radiation-tainted water since the accident happened as it needs water to cool the reactors. As TEPCO has still not found solutions to remove the melted-down cores, highly radioactive water will continue to be produced.

Japanese environmental groups have been seriously concerned that if TEPCO starts discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, it will be a catastrophe of marine pollution with no end in sight, leaving immeasurable long-term impacts on the marine ecological environment, aquatic product safety, and public health in the Pacific coastal regions.

Japan's fishing industry and other relevant groups fear that once the nuclear wastewater dumping starts around next spring, the pollution of the waters around Fukushima and the damage to the fishing industry will be irreversible.

A panel of experts organized by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had proposed five options when considering how to deal with the contaminated water, and the Japanese government eventually opted to discharge the water into the sea, which "takes the shortest time and costs the least," passing on the risk to the whole world.

By making the controversial decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, the Japanese government and TEPCO have ignored the legitimate and reasonable concerns of the international community and their own people. Japan should return to the track of full consultation with stakeholders and relevant international agencies, analysts say.

The international community has also raised a variety of questions about the legitimacy of the plan, the credibility of the data provided by TEPCO, the purification efficiency of the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), and the uncertainty of the impact on the marine environment. A task force of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had requested clarification and put forward suggestions for improvement after a visit to Japan in February.

Nuclear-contaminated water must be disposed of in an open, transparent, scientific and safe manner. Alternative plans should be taken into consideration by Japan and it must accept strict supervision by the IAEA, experts have stressed.

For the international community, Japan's wilful pushing through of the plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea has ignored the legitimate concerns of countries in the region and interests of the whole international community, exposing the country's selfish nature regarding its international responsibilities and obligations.

The Korean Federation for Environmental Movements, a South Korean civic environmental organization, warned that if nuclear wastewater is discharged into the ocean, it would endanger marine products and deepen marine contamination further. The contaminated water would inevitably spread into the Pacific Ocean, polluting oceans near neighboring countries of Japan.

South Korean government officials have urged Japan to take responsible measures that are safe from a scientific perspective and comply with international laws and standards.

Civic activists in Japan have pointed out Japan's hypocritical stance on the plan, saying Japan's calculation behind the decision obviously overrides the safety of the fishing industry and the health of residents near the surrounding waters.

The ocean belongs to all mankind. Japan should stop treating it as a "dustbin" in its own courtyard, halt its plan immediately and stop harming the marine homeland of mankind for its private interests, environmentalists say. 
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  An increase in turnout among Democrats and independents and a notable shift in Republican-leaning counties contributed to the overwhelming support of abortion rights last week in traditionally conservative Kansas, according to a detailed Associated Press analysis of the voting results.

A proposed state constitutional amendment would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban abortions outright. But Kansas voters rejected the measure by nearly 20 percentage points, almost a mirror of Republican Donald Trump's statewide margin over Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to repeal a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, the threat of new restrictions in the state galvanized Democrats and independents more than anticipated. At the same time, Republicans showed less interest in turning out to support the measure.

The findings reinforce a sense in both parties that the Supreme Court's decision may have altered the dynamics of this year's midterm elections. Here's how it played out:

OVERPLAYED THEIR HAND

In 2020, Trump carried Kansas by 18 points. Last week, not a single county in the state favored the ballot measure as much as it had supported the former president, the AP found.

In 99 of the states 105 counties, support for the abortion measure was more than 10 percentage points lower than its support for Trump against Biden. In 29 of those counties, that difference was more than 20 points.

And in 14 Kansas counties that Trump won, majorities rejected the amendment.

The anti-abortion politicians have just overplayed their hand on these bans, said Tamarra Wieder, director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates in Kentucky, where another abortion measure will be on the ballot in November.

The Kansas county with the largest drop from the presidential election to the abortion referendum was Greenwood, in rural southeast Kansas. Trump won nearly 80% of the vote there in 2020, but there was about a 30-point shift on abortion, with voters narrowly favoring no, the position that leaves abortion rights in place for women in Kansas.

Beyond counties that flipped entirely, dozens of deeply Republican counties saw voters favor the abortion amendment as expected, but by much narrower margins than their preference for Trump two years ago. Near Topeka, for example, 72% of voters in Pottawatomie County backed the former presidents re-election, while just 57% supported the amendment.

Abortion opponents said they were stunned by the margin of the results.

I was surprised for sure, said Ruth Tisdale, executive director of the Advice and Aid Pregnancy Center. I thought that it would be a closer outcome either way. I didnt have a strong sense of whether it would pass or not, but I thought that it would be closer, you know, 51 to 49 kind of thing. ... It was very sad.

A long line of voters wraps around the Sedgwick County Historic Courthouse in Wichita, Kan., on the last day of early voting on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

HUGE TURNOUT, SURGE OF INDEPENDENTS

It wasnt just the amendments margin of defeat that jolted the political consciousness. It was also the seam-busting turnout in what otherwise should have been a normal, low-turnout primary in a midterm election year.

The latest AP tallies show that more than 922,000 votes were cast by Kansas voters on the abortion referendum. Thats roughly twice as many voters as turned out for the states previous midterm primary election in 2018, and its about as many as turn out for Kansas midterm general elections in some years. Overall turnout  48% of registered voters  outpaced the 34% turnout for the 2020 presidential primaries.

The most recent electorate also was considerably less Republican than in a typical Kansas primary. From 2010 through 2020, Republican primary ballots outnumbered non-Republican ballots by about 2-to-1. In last weeks election, according to the Kansas secretary of states office, the two groups turned out in nearly equal numbers.

Advocates on both sides of the amendment spent more than $14 million blanketing Kansas with ads and signs, knocking on doors and calling voters, according to state campaign finance reports.

That effort helped attract an unusual variable in Kansas primaries: independent voters. That group is eligible to vote on referenda but not for candidates running in any party primary. But campaign ads emphasized that no affiliation voters could indeed vote on the abortion question. It worked: Around 184,000 more votes were cast for the abortion amendment than voted for governor, a likely barometer to measure their portion of the electorate.

The decision to overturn Roe really was a wake-up call for more moderate voters, said Ashley All, a spokesperson for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, a group that fought against the ballot measure.

ENERGY AROUND BALLOT MEASURES

The result from Kansas is rippling into numerous other states.

In Georgia, the membership for NARAL Pro-Choice America jumped from 53,000 to more than 80,000 and could hit 100,000 by the November election, said Alicia Stallworth, the director of NARAL campaigns in the Southeastern U.S.

I dont think this is something that disappears, Stallworth said of the current energy among abortion rights advocates.

Abortion-rights advocates said the decision to strike down Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 case that recognized a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, energized many voters who had assumed abortion access was safe.

It was such a beacon of light in this moment, said Helen Shumaker, director of state abortion access at the National Womens Law Center, of the Kansas vote. I think there is energy around ballot measures for the foreseeable future.

In Ohio, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley has called for a statewide ballot question on a state constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights as soon as 2023.

In South Dakota, a group called Dakotans for Health is pushing a similar ballot initiative in 2024. And in Colorado, advocates want a 2024 referendum that could allow public funding for abortion.

But getting measures on ballots without going through a state legislature can be difficult. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which advises liberal groups on initiative campaigns, advises the process could take three years.

People hug during a "Value Them Both" watch party after a question involving a constitutional amendment removing abortion protections from the Kansas constitution failed, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, in Overland Park, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

WHY WERE LOSING'

In half of the states, including Kansas, only lawmakers can put propositions on the statewide ballot. That means in Texas, which bans most abortions, the only options are to wait for legislators to put an initiative to a voteas anti-abortion lawmakers did in Kansas  or vote out the incumbents.

In Texas we know thats why were losing, said Delma Catalina Limones, communications director for Avow, an abortion-rights group in that state.

But despite the apparent confidence of Kansas legislators to put the abortion amendment on the ballot this month, their expectations were upended by the resounding defeat.

Value Them Both Coalition, the main group in Kansas that fought in favor of the amendment, called it a temporary setback and promised in a statement that our dedicated fight to value women and babies is far from over.

___

Kessler and Dolby reported from Washington. Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
On any given day when the Hon. Keith Sanborn oversaw a docket or officiated a wedding as a pro-tem judge, he would stride up to the Sedgwick County Courthouse already dressed in his black judicial robes.

Usually, a judge in robes is a sight reserved for the courtroom.

But Mr. Sanborn had no chambers. He officially moved out of the courthouse in 1993 when he was 70, the age judges were required to retire by state law whether they were ready, or not.

Coming to work already dressed was practical, in his mind.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett sometimes saw the retired judges wife dropping him off in front of the courthouse, ready to take up business in the justice system that he for a lifetime respected and loved.

He was one of the stalwarts of the bench for decades. There were a number: Paul Clark, David Kennedy, guys like that, Bennett said.

Keith was just one of the names always synonymous with that era.

Mr. Sanborn, who served Sedgwick Countys 18th Judicial District as an elected judge for a dozen years but for more than two decades after his retirement stepped back into the role when duty called, died Aug. 1 in hospice care at his Wichita home. He was 100.

A friend of the family said the cause of his death was advanced age. Mr. Sanborn celebrated his centenary year in April, surrounded by family. At the time he was still in reasonable health and good spirits, agreeing to chat with a newspaper reporter about his storied legal career  which included arguing before the U.S Supreme Court and 18 years as the Sedgwick Countys top prosecutor  as well as his love of Kansas, where he returned to raise his family after serving in World War II.

Worldly as he was, Mr. Sanborn fancied himself a plain country boy who had a love of Wichita so great, he couldnt stay away.

He told The Eagle in April: When you get to Wichita, Kansas, you have arrived.

Asked his favorite part of the city, his answer was simple: Everything.

In Wichita, he said, you learn to be who you are.

A funeral service is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at Hillside Christian Church, 8330 E. Douglas in Wichita  which his parents co-founded and where he was a longtime member  followed by a private burial at 3 p.m. at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Bluff City.

Early life, WWII service

He was born Norman Keith Sanborn on April 27, 1922, in Bluff City to interior designer Jonathan Earl Sanborn and Lola Mardis Sanborn. The family moved to Wichita when he was a toddler. He attended Sunnyside Elementary School, Wichita East High School and Ohios Antioch College until he joined the Navy during World War II, serving as an aviator in the Pacific Theater on a search-and-rescue squadron.

It was during his military service that he met Wanda Szymborski, a WAVES control-tower operator from upstate New York who he would marry.

Mr. Sanborn, in his April interview with The Eagle, said he spotted Wanda, a dark-haired beauty, at the officers pool at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. He was smitten instantly.

It took several weeks of convincing, he said, for her to agree to a date.

They married on July 19, 1946. Children and a move back home to Kansas, where Mr. Sanborn earned a bachelors degree from what was then the University of Wichita and a law degree from Washburn University on the GI bill, soon followed.

His daughters, Deborah Sanborn and Wendy Sanborn Dougan, in April said their father taught his children to be good, fair-minded and tolerant citizens. He believed everyone needed at least six hugs a day to get by, they said.

His legacy as first DA

Mr. Sanborn was admitted to the Kansas Bar Association in 1950. After working in private practice, he joined the prosecutors office in Sedgwick County, becoming the county attorney  a position that later transitioned to district attorney  in 1959.

He was here during the transition from the Court of Common Pleas and the older era and was the first district attorney of Sedgwick County after serving as county attorney, Bennett said, adding that to date, Mr. Sanborn has been the second-longest serving DA in the offices history.

He was part of the professionalization of the office, his legacy, Bennett said.

His reputation was that of a career prosecutor and somebody very well known in the community for the way he ran the office.

Mr. Sanborns career with the prosecutors office saw some of the citys most-notorious crimes and criminals. He was the acting Sedgwick County district attorney, for example, in 1974 when the BTK serial killer murdered his first victims, slayings that went unsolved for more than 30 years until Dennis Rader was identified and captured in 2005.

The brutality of the homicide scenes was something Mr. Sanborn never forgot, he told The Eagle years after his retirement.

He also successfully prosecuted Michael Soles, a troubled teenager who on Aug. 11, 1976, rode an elevator to the 26th floor of the downtown Wichita Holiday Inn hotel (now the Garvey building) and opened fire, picking off unsuspecting pedestrians and motorists on the streets below. The mass shooting lasted 11 minutes, killing three and wounding several others.

Mike Hill, a retired Sedgwick County sheriff, was a Wichita Police Department lieutenant at the time and one of the officers who halted Soles rampage. Hill said he first became acquainted with Mr. Sanborn while he was a police department street supervisor and Mr. Sanborn was the district attorney, showing up at crime scenes.

He was an icon in his day, as a prosecutor and as a judge.

The last time he saw the judge was by happenstance, Hill said. In 2017, when Soles, who became known as the Wichita Holiday Inn sniper, had his fifth parole hearing, Mr. Sanborn traveled to the Derby police and courts building, where public comment sessions are held, to help make a case for keeping Soles in prison.

Hill and Bennett were both there, doing the same.

Mr. Sanborn had difficulty walking by then, due to his age, Bennett said.

But when it was his turn to address the parole board, he stood and spoke eloquently about the reasons Soles should stay in lockup, he said.

Soles release was inconceivable, Mr. Sanborn told the panel, according to The Eagles news archives.

He remembered many details (about the crime), things Id never heard before, Bennett said.

Firm and fair judge

In 1976, Mr. Sanborn lost his seat as district attorney to legendary lawman Vern Miller and, after Miller was sworn in, he went back to private practice. He won a Sedgwick County District Court judgeship four years later, in 1980, at age 58, and served until he turned 70, when he had to retire.

He was well respected by those that appeared before him. He was firm and fair, and he ran a good courtroom, Hill said.

As in his lawyering days, Mr. Sanborns time on the bench was punctuated with infamous local cases including the 1980s murder trial of Ivory Haislip and Anthony Ray Martin, accused of killing a Wichita police officer.

On his last working day, Mr. Sanborn handled his final cases then packed up his chambers, including a collection of gavels he never used  he told The Eagle at the time he hadnt rapped one once in court during his career  and headed out, according to a profile published by The Eagle in 1993.

Colleagues whod worked with him at the time lauded his attention to detail and love of the law, as well as his quirky demeanor and relentless curiosity that endeared him to juries and ensured there was always something happening in his courtroom, the profile says.

Stories of him and things he had done and cases he had tried and presided over ... were ever-present in the courthouse, Bennett said, adding that into his 90s Mr. Sanborn would call occasionally when he thought something deserved the DAs attention.

He was still invested in this community.

In April, Mr. Sanborn said independence was what he most missed about being judge. He urged todays judges to always be fair and open and honest.

My philosophy was always be fair, he said at the time.

In retirement, the Marrying Judge

In his later years, one of Mr. Sanborns most-cherished honors was officiating weddings.

He performed perhaps hundreds, well into his 90s, his daughter, Deborah Sanborn, said  so many that some referred to him as the Marrying Judge.

He always came to the ceremonies with a gift for the newlyweds: a flashlight he said might help the couple find their way if ever the marriage turned dark.

He and his own wife, Wanda, were married for more than 70 years, until she died in 2018.

I certainly did perform a lot of weddings, Mr. Sanborn recalled in the April interview.

Thats the best part about being a judge, making people happy.

Mr. Sanborn was preceded in death by his parents and wife. He is survived by his four children, Deborah, Wendy, Rick and Keith John; his grandchildren and other members of their families. Memorial contributions may be made to The Hon. Norman Keith Sanborn Memorial Scholarship fund at Washburn University School of Law, 1729 S.W. MacVicar Ave., Topeka, Kansas, 66604, or online at wualumni.org/givenow.
North Myrtle Beach appears on the verge of settling a trio of discrimination lawsuits with former employees, but they wont be alone if they receive payouts over their grievances.

Those three were among a group of at least 10 employees that city officials were concerned would file suits after they were fired during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to documents acquired by The Sun News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Seven other former city employees terminated during 2020 were given payouts in exchange for signing agreements preventing them from suing the city or any of its officials and employees, the documents show.

The agreements would appear to be nondisclosure agreements, though city spokesman Donald Graham disputed that characterization. Theyre officially labeled Transition Resources and Release in Full Agreement.

They share all the primary aspects of a nondisclosure agreement though, which include: identification of the parties, a description of what is deemed confidential, the scope of the confidentiality obligation, exclusions from the confidential treatment and terms of the agreement, according to Forbes.

The Sun News has also previously referred to these as NDAs without objection from city officials.

The city paid the seven a total of $29,230, in sums ranging from $3,051 to $6,577, according to the agreements. That money was paid as a compromise of doubtful and disputed claims, with the city not admitting any liability.

Each agreement, provided to The Sun News with names of the former employees redacted, notes that the parties agree their employment is ending due to a reduction in force made necessary by an extreme need to reduce costs because of the pandemics impact on the economy.

North Myrtle Beach furloughed nearly 200 full- and part-time employees beginning April 2020, officials announced at the time. The pandemic caused a revenue shortfall of about $4 million during its 2019-20 fiscal year, according to documents it submitted to court in response to the employee discrimination lawsuits.

Former employee discrimination complaints

The three former employees who filed the suits were similarly offered a modest transition package as part of their terminations, but they did not sign those agreements, the city wrote in court documents.

Documents filed Monday in each former employees federal court case indicate a settlement has been reached, but no terms are disclosed, and city spokesman Donald Graham told The Sun News Wednesday that neither side had signed any official settlement documents. Both parties have 60 days to petition the court to reopen the case if necessary.

Graham added the city does not discuss personnel matters.

Pamela Mullis, the attorney for the three former employees, all women, did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for an interview.

Carolina Garcia, Tracy Scola and Suzanne Hoffnagle each alleged various forms of discrimination based on factors including race, sex and religion that led to their terminations while on furlough. Garcia also alleged sexual harassment and retaliation for seeking full-time health benefits.

Hoffnagle, 72 at the time she was fired, was just 99 days away from retirement, her complaint states. The city responded that it had attempted to credit her with that service time to help her reach full retiree health benefits, but she didnt respond to multiple messages from city officials trying to reach her about that while she was on furlough.

Use of nondisclosure agreements in government settings

The use of nondisclosure agreements or similar agreements with departing employees is not uncommon in recent years for North Myrtle Beach, The Sun News has found.

The city paid four other former employees that left since 2020 for non-pandemic reasons a total of $30,562 to sign similar agreements, documents show. The parties agreed to characterize those departures as resignations.

A fifth former employee that was retiring signed a nondisclosure agreement in exchange for continued health insurance eligibility.

That total of $59,792 paid as part of these agreements is more than the previous five years combined, when the city paid nine former employees during 2014-2019 about $46,000 total to sign nondisclosures, according to previous Sun News reporting. That previous reporting found that Conway had used four nondisclosure agreements and Surfside Beach used three, while all other local governments claimed not to use them.

Nine of the 12 agreements signed since 2020 included mention of South Carolinas Age Discrimination in Employment Act typed in bold font as part of a description of future claims the employee would be forgoing by signing.

Graham said federal statute requires a waiver of a potential age discrimination claim must be highlighted in some fashion when presented to employees 40 years of age or older.

Avoiding lawsuits

A city spokesman previously told The Sun News that the city rarely offers nondisclosure settlement agreements to departing employees, but they are considered on a case-by-case basis in consideration of protecting taxpayers from the risk of future litigation.

North Myrtle Beach paid a total of about $162,000 to settle seven lawsuits since 2020, according to documents provided from the FOIA request. None were filed by former employees.

The city is currently facing a fourth employee discrimination lawsuit filed year that remains active with no reported settlement, court filings show. Longtime city mechanic Davis Livingston alleged he was fired after suffering a work injury, but city officials have responded that his dismissal was due to showing inappropriate photos to coworkers.
Courtney Clenney, the OnlyFans and Instagram model who fatally stabbed her boyfriend to death in Miami in April, has been arrested on a murder charge, the Miami Herald has learned.

The 26-year-old Clenney was taken into custody on Wednesday in Hawaii, and will be eventually extradited to Miami-Dade County to face trial. Shes being charged with second-degree murder with a deadly weapon for the April 3 stabbing of Christian Toby Obumseli.

READ NEXT: Stab to the heart, history of violence led to arrest of Miami OnlyFans model for murder

Her arrest was confirmed Wednesday afternoon by her Miami defense lawyer, Frank Prieto, who said shed been in Hawaii while in rehabilitation for substance abuse and post-trauamatic stress disorder.

Im completely shocked, especially since we were cooperating with the investigation and offered to voluntarily surrender her if she were charged, Prieto said. We look forward to clearing her name in court.

The Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office, in a press release on Wednesday evening, said the arrest warrant remained sealed. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez, along with City Police Chief Manuel Morales and South Florida U.S. Marshal Gadyaces Serralta, will detail the arrest at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

A Hawaii jail booking mugshot of Courtney Clenney, 26, who is facing a murder charge for the killing of her boyfriend in Miami. - Hawaii Police

The arrest caps a four-month investigation by Miami police homicide detectives and prosecutors into Clenney, whose killing of her boyfriend during a domestic dispute in a luxury Edgewater apartment garnered headlines across the world. Clenneys defense attorney insisted that she acted in self-defense and the killing was justified.

But in the days after his death, Obumselis relatives called for Clenneys arrest, saying they did not believe he was ever a threat.

Obumseli worked in cryptocurrency. Known as Courtney Tailor on her social-media platforms, Clenney boasted over two million followers on her social-media platforms.

She and Obumseli had been dating less than two years, and their relationship had been plagued by domestic strife  shed once been arrested for domestic battery in Las Vegas, and police had been called to their home in Austin, Texas, on several occasions.

The two had only lived in Miami for a few months at the One Paraiso building, 3131 NE 7th Ave., where staff members had documented numerous domestic disturbance complaints about the couple and had even moved to evict them.

Clenney and Obumseli had broken up several times, although investigators believe that hed moved back into the apartment by the first day of April. The Miami Herald earlier reported that Miami police responded to the apartment on April 1, two days before the stabbing, over another domestic disturbance call.

Finally on the evening of April 3, just before 5 p.m., Clenney frantically called 911 to report Obumseli had been stabbed.
This photo provided by the Hawaii Police Department shows Courtney Clenney. Law enforcement in Hawaii on Wednesday. Aug. 10, 2022 arrested social media model Courtney Clenney on a charge of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon. Hawaii County police said in a statement they assisted the U.S. Marshals Service as they arrested the 26-year-old on the Big Island. (Hawaii Police Department via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

MIAMI (AP)  Prosecutors in South Florida announced a second-degree murder charge Thursday against social media model Courtney Clenney in connection with the fatal stabbing of her live-in boyfriend.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced the charge against the 26-year-old model during a news conference. Clenney was arrested Wednesday in Hawaii. Fernandez Rundle said Clenney, who goes by the name Courtney Tailor on such platforms as Instagram and OnlyFans, remained jailed in Hawaii while authorities seek her extradition to Florida.

She appeared in a courtroom on Hawaii's Big Island Thursday, where she waived her right to an extradition hearing and agreed to return to Florida.

Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered her held without bail pending extradition.

Fernandez Rundle characterized Christian Obumseli's April 3 death at the couple's Miami apartment as the culmination of a tempestuous and combative relationship that began in November 2020. The county medical examiner said in an autopsy report that Obumseli, who worked in cryptocurrency, died from a forceful downward thrust from a blade that went 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) into his chest, piercing a major artery.

According to an arrest report, Clenney acknowledged killing Obumseli but said she acted in self defense. She said Obumseli had pushed her and thrown her to the floor, which prompted her to grab a knife and throw it at Obumseli from about 10 feet (3 meters) away. The medical examiner said Obumseli's wound could not have been caused by a knife thrown from that distance.

Clenney's Miami defense lawyer, Frank Prieto, said the medical examiner's opinions won't stand up to scientific scrutiny when they argue self-defense at trial. He acknowledged that Clenney and Obumseli had a tumultuous relationship but said Obumseli was the primary aggressor.

Obumseli was the abuser, the worst kind of abuser, Prieto said in a statement. He would manipulate and abuse Courtney in private when he thought nobody was around.
A teen was killed and another was wounded early Friday in South Miami-Dade when a dispute among family members escalated into gunfire, police said.

The shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. in the 12800 block of Southwest 263rd Terrace.

Miami-Dade police said an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were shot.

The 18-year-old was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition, where he died from his wounds, police said. The 17-year-old girl was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in stable condition.

Police said they have someone in custody.

No other information was immediately available.

This article will be updated.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. federal agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons when they raided former President Donald Trump's home in Florida this week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

It was not clear if such documents were recovered at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, the Post said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

The U.S. Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to make public the warrant that authorized the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, after Trump, a Republican, portrayed it as political retribution.

The request means the public could soon learn more about what investigators were looking for during the unprecedented search of a former president's home.

The search was part of an investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House as he left office in January 2021, some of which the Justice Department believes are classified.

'The department does not take such a decision lightly'

Attorney General Merrick Garland, the top law enforcement officer and an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, told a news conference that he had personally approved the search. The Justice Department also seeks to make public a redacted receipt of the items seized.

"The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken," Garland said.

His decision to publicly confirm the search was highly unusual. U.S. law enforcement officials typically do not discuss ongoing investigations in order to protect people's rights. In this case, Trump himself announced the search in a Monday night statement.

Garland said the Justice Department made the request to make public the warrant "in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter."

A source familiar with the matter said the FBI retrieved about 10 boxes from Trump's property during the search.

Trump was not in Florida at the time of the search.

A Secret Service officer stands guard outside former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on August 9, 2022. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

Late on Thursday, Trump called for the immediate release of documents related to the search.

"Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last 6 years," he said on his Truth Social platform.

The government has until 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Friday to let the court know whether Trump's attorneys will object to unsealing the warrant. The case is before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who reviewed the warrant to ensure the Justice Department had sufficient probable cause for the search.

While seeking to unseal the warrant, the Justice Department has not asked the judge to unseal the sworn statement in support of the warrant, the contents of which could potentially include classified information.

Two of Trump's attorneys, Evan Corcoran and John Rowley, did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement earlier on his Truth social network, Trump said: "My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established. The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it."

The unprecedented search marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state investigations Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business, including a separate one by the Justice Department into a failed bid by Trump's allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting phony slates of electors.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about the FBI's search warrant served at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate during a statement at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington on August 11, 2022. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

The investigation into Trump's removal of records started this year, after the National Archives made a referral to the department.

Former Archivist David Ferriero has previously said that Trump returned 15 boxes to the government in January 2022. The archives later discovered some of the items were "marked as classified national security information."

A couple of months before the search, FBI agents visited Trump's property to investigate boxes in a locked storage room, according to a person familiar with the visit.

The agents and Corcoran spent a day reviewing materials, the source said. A second source who had been briefed on the matter told Reuters the Justice Department also has surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago in its possession.

Garland's Justice Department has faced fierce criticism and online threats since Monday's search. Trump supporters and some of his fellow Republicans in Washington accuse Democrats of weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to target Trump.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday, an armed man suspected of trying to breach the FBI building died following an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement officers, an Ohio State Highway Patrol official said.

Garland condemned the threats and attacks against the FBI and Justice Department. "I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked," he said.

Some Democrats have criticized Garland for being overly cautious in investigating Trump over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
A man has been taken into custody after Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage in New York state.

The 75-year-old Indian-born British author, whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was about to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when the incident occurred.

Sir Salman was stabbed at least once in the neck and once in the abdomen, according to police officials, before he was taken to hospital where his condition remains unclear.

New York state police have named the suspected attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey.

Major Eugene Staniszweski said at a press conference held in Jamestown on Friday: Earlier today at approximately 10.47am, guest speaker Salman Rushdie, aged 75, and Ralph Henry Reese, age 73, had just arrived on stage at the institution.

Shortly thereafter, the suspect jumped on to the stage and attacked Mr Rushdie, stabbing him at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen.

Several members of the staff at the institution and audience members rushed the suspect and took him to the ground, and shortly thereafter, a trooper who was at the institution took the suspect into custody with the assistance of a Chautauqua County Sheriffs deputy.

Author Salman Rushdie is tended to after he was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution (Joshua Goodman/AP)

Mr Rushdie was provided medical treatment by a doctor who was in the audience until EMS arrived on scene.

Mr Rushdie was airlifted to a local trauma centre and is still currently undergoing surgery.

Photos from the Associated Press (AP) news agency showed Sir Salman lying on his back with his legs in the air and a first responder crouched over him.

His book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims view it as blasphemous, and its publication prompted Irans then-leader Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his death.

Mr Reese, from the City of Asylum organisation, a residency programme for writers living in exile under threat of persecution, suffered a minor head injury.

They were due to discuss Americas role as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.

A video posted to Twitter by an AP reporter in the audience showed a man dressed in black being led away from the stage.

New York governor Kathy Hochul told a press conference that a state police officer saved Sir Salmans life.

She added: He is alive, he has been airlifted to safety. But here is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power, someone whos been out there unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life.

The Chautauqua Institution, which was hosting the lecture, tweeted about the incident, writing: We ask for your prayers for Salman Rushdie and Henry Reese, and patience as we fully focus on co-ordinating with police officials following a tragic incident at the Amphitheater today.

All programs are canceled for the remainder of the day. Please consult the NYS Police statement.

Its president Michael Hill said: What we experienced at Chautauqua today is an incident unlike anything in our nearly 150-year history.

We were founded to bring people together and community to learn and in doing so, to create solutions through action, to develop empathy and to take on intractable problems.

Sir Salman is taken on a stretcher to a helicopter for transport to a hospital (AP)

Today now were called to take on fear and the worst of all human traits  hate.

Jeremy Genovese, 68, from Beachwood, Ohio, a retired academic from Cleveland State University, told the PA news agency he arrived at the amphitheatre as it was being evacuated and that people were streaming out.

He said: People were in shock, many people in tears. Chautauqua has always prided itself as a place where people can engage in civil dialogue.

The amphitheatre is a large outdoor venue where people have given lectures since the late 1800s. You need a pass to access the grounds but it is not too difficult to get in.

Protests in the UK about the publication of the novel The Satanic Verses in 1989 (PA)

Sir Salmans publisher Penguin Random House said they are deeply shocked and appalled by the incident.

The chief executive of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement to PA: We are deeply shocked and appalled to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie while he was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.

We condemn this violent public assault, and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this distressing time.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter he was appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.

He added: Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay.

Sir Salman was previously president of PEN America, which celebrates free expression and speech, and its chief executive Suzanne Nossel was among those reacting to the attack.

@SuzanneNossel, CEO of PEN America, issued the following statement in response to the attack on author @SalmanRushdie: PEN America is reeling from shock and horror at word of a brutal, premeditated attack on our former President and stalwart ally, Salman Rushdie, who was  PEN America (@PENamerica) August 12, 2022

She tweeted: PEN America is reeling from shock and horror at word of a brutal, premeditated attack on our former President and stalwart ally, Salman Rushdie.

She added: Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing him a full and speedy recovery. We hope and believe fervently that his essential voice cannot and will not be silenced.

Sir Salman began his writing career in the early 1970s with two unsuccessful books before Midnights Children, about the birth of India, which won the Booker Prize in 1981.

It went on to bring him worldwide fame and was named best of the Bookers on the literary awards 25th anniversary.

Blood stains mark a screen on the stage where author Sir Salman Rushdie was during a knife attack during a lecture in New York (Joshua Goodman/AP)

The author lived in hiding for many years in London under a British government protection programme after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for his death over The Satanic Verses.

Finally, in 1998, the Iranian government withdrew its support for the death sentence and Sir Salman gradually returned to public life, even appearing as himself in the 2001 hit film Bridget Joness Diary.

The Index on Censorship, an organisation promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for Sir Salmans killing as recently as 2016, underscoring that the fatwa for his death still stands.

His other works include The Moors Last Sigh and Shalimar The Clown, which was long-listed for the Booker.

He was knighted in 2008 and earlier this year was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour as part of the Queens Birthday Honours.
Sir Salman Rushdie has forfeited his home, freedom, marriage and peace of mind due to his controversial writings.

The 75-year-old Indian-born British author, whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed on stage in New York state on Friday, with his condition in hospital unclear.

The incident is not the first time his life has come under threat.

Irans former ruler Ayatollah Khomeini sentenced him to death in February 1989 for the blasphemous The Satanic Verses, which parodied the Korans account of the prophecies of Mohammed, founder of Islam.

Inextricably trapped within the net of his own written words and with a 1 million-plus bounty on his head, Sir Salman Rushdie came to symbolise the freedom of the writer and the fragility of the profession in an age of prisoners of conscience.

The book generated fury and division, stirring up emotive, complicated questions about religion and racial harmony, law, politics and diplomacy, literary freedom and ethics.

A rally in Londons Park Lane against the publication of Salman Rushdies controversial book The Satanic Verses in 1989 (PA)

Few men have had to bear such vilification and menace as the self-described mischievous iconoclast, whose critics fanned violence across the Muslim world and, in Britain, book-burning and arson.

Sir Salman espoused peace and progress by liberation from fixed ideas but, in challenging Koranic tradition, the literary lion became Islams public enemy number one.

Under Islamic law, he was found guilty of creating fasad or public disorder in a land under divine sovereignty.

The ayatollahs justification for his death sentence, or fatwa, was the riots and a dozen deaths in India and Pakistan that followed newspaper condemnation of the book, published in 1988.

The Satanic Verses was banned in 45 Islamic countries, with hundreds of British Muslims endorsing the death sentence.

The author was regularly moved from house to house by round-the-clock Special Branch officers in an attempt to keep one step ahead of would-be assassins  with 56 moves in the first three months alone.

Sir Salman and independent India were born within weeks of each other in 1947.

His Muslim grandfather had built a fortune manufacturing leather cloth, but Indias independence led to the creation of a separate Muslim state in Pakistan. Sir Salmans was the wrong religion in the wrong country.

Sir Salman Rushdie (Julien Behal/PA)

Brought up a nominal Muslim, he never received an Islamic education, going instead to Rugby when he was 13.

Like his father, he went to Kings College, Cambridge, where he read history and appeared as a tiny bulb in The Footlights along with Clive James and Germaine Greer.

The young graduate dabbled in fringe theatre before moving into advertising. He dreamed up the naughty but nice slogan for fresh cream and the bubble delectabubble pun for Aero chocolate.

He began his writing career in the early 1970s with two unsuccessful books before Midnights Children, about the birth of India, which won the Booker Prize in 1981 and brought him worldwide fame.

Shame, based around the intricacies of Pakistani politics, followed two years later, confirming his reputation as the founder of a new genre, Anglo-Indian magic realism, with his own school of stylistic imitators.

His 11-year marriage to Clarissa Luard, with whom he had a son, Zafar, ended in divorce in 1987.

Aged 41, he was the darling of London and New Yorks literary establishment, hunted only by international publishers, when Viking Penguin paid a 500,000 advance for his next book, The Satanic Verses.

Sir Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses (Adam Butler/PA)

The novel is a parable of contemporary Britain and India and the conflict of good and evil, represented by two survivors from a jumbo jet blown up at 30,000ft who find themselves changing, one into the Angel Gabriel and the other into the Devil.

On February 14 1989, the BBC telephoned his Islington home with a message that Ayatollah Khomeini had sentenced him, and all those knowingly involved in the publication, to death.

He locked and shuttered his house, went to writer Bruce Chatwins memorial service, then vanished from the world with his second wife, American writer Marianne Wiggins.

After five months together in exile, Ms Wiggins walked out, unable to stand the strict security.

Penguin received repeated threats to staff and spent 2 million a year on security for its premises after shops were burned in Chelsea and York.

In March 1989, two men hunting Rushdie and travelling on forged Moroccan passports were stopped at Santander in Spain en route to Plymouth.

Five months later, a man blew himself up in a Paddington hotel room while making a bomb with military plastic explosive. A note to a French newspaper the next day said he died preparing an attack on the apostate SR.

The Satanic Verses (PA)

On Christmas Eve in 1990, the author announced that he regretted writing The Satanic Verses, promised to stop publication of the paperback, and said he had embraced Islam  statements he later said he wished he had never made.

Appeasement failed. Iran responded by renewing the death sentence and doubling the reward for his murder.

In September 1998 that threat appeared to lessen significantly when Iran distanced itself decisively from the fatwa and the accompanying bounty.

Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi told then-foreign secretary Robin Cook in New York that his government had no intention of harming Sir Salman and that his government did not support the bounty put up by an Iranian charitable foundation.

Sir Salman, by then 51, acknowledged there was still a degree of threat.

However he stressed he had no regrets about the book, adding: Theres not a chance in hell of the book being withdrawn. We have not fought this battle for freedom of speech to give in at the last moment.

Sir Salman Rushdie and his former wife Elizabeth in 2008 (Johnny Green/PA)

Hailing his newfound freedom, he took the opportunity to express his gratitude to his wife, Elizabeth, whom he described as a heroine.

He told how Elizabeth, whom he had recently married, had shared with him eight and a quarter years of the nine and a half years of the ordeal.

He said: Without her, I would not have survived this.

They had a son named Milan, who was born in 1997.

In 2000 Sir Salman moved to Manhattan in New York, and four years later he divorced Elizabeth and married his fourth and final wife Padma Lakshmi, an Indian-American actress and model, with whom he stayed until July 2007.

His return to public life saw him publish novels such as Fury, The Moors Last Sigh and Shalimar The Clown, which was long-listed for the Booker.

He also appeared in the 2001 hit film Bridget Joness Diary.

Sir Salman Rushdie after receiving his knighthood from the Queen in 2008 (John Stillwell/PA)

He was knighted in 2008 for his services to literature, an honour he was thrilled and humbled to receive.

However, the announcement sparked outrage in some Islamic countries, leading to widespread protests.

In 2022 he was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour as part of the Queens Birthday Honours.

He said it was a great surprise and delight, describing the privilege of being included in such illustrious company.

Later in the year, as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, he was attacked by a man who stormed the stage.

Sir Salman suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck and was transported to hospital by helicopter where his condition remained unclear, state police said.

Photos from the Associated Press news agency showed him lying on his back with his legs in the air and a first responder crouched over him.
The oldest veteran of the Royal Scots regiment, who fought in rearguard defence during the Dunkirk evacuations, is celebrating his 104th birthday.

Major John Errington, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire, fought at the battle of Le Paradis in Northern France in May 1940.

The 1st Battalion The Royal Scots, reduced in strength to just 400 men by more than two weeks in action, prepared for their last stand at Le Paradis, 30 miles from Dunkirk in north-east France on May 25 that year.

Their defence action helped delay the German advance, allowing thousands of British troops to reach the beaches of Dunkirk, regimental historians said.

John Errington (left) in 1941 during his time as a prisoner of war (The Royal Scots/PA)

Major Errington was eventually captured and spent five years as a prisoner of war.

He is celebrating his birthday with family on Friday.

Brigadier George Lowder, chairman of The Royal Scots Regimental Trustees, said: John Errington has been a very loyal member of our regiment and has shown exemplary service, especially during the Second World War.

On behalf of the regiment, we send our warmest congratulations on this special birthday, his 104th.

The regiment said that the 1st Battalion The Royal Scots orders, to Stand And Fight To The Last Man, played a pivotal role in enabling the withdrawal of 337,000 Allied Forces from the beaches of Dunkirk.

John Errington with his wife Brenda on their wedding day (Errington Family/PA)

However, this three-day rearguard defence against overwhelming odds led to the Battalions destruction.

Brigadier Lowder said: Their fighting spirit was undaunted, although they had been in continuous action for 17 days delaying the German advance over 200 miles and had suffered heavy casualties. Their contribution to Dunkirk was vital.

We should never forget that the vast majority of those who survived the last stand at Le Paradis spent the next five years as prisoners of war.

Major Errington served with the Battalions French liaison officer, Captain Michel Martell, a family member of the Martell Cognac Company.

He recently received a special bottle of cognac from Captain Martells grandson, Thierry Firino-Martell, who sent the gift to celebrate the veterans enduring comradeship and bravery.

In 2006, The Royal Regiment of Scotland was formed from its predecessor Scottish Infantry Regiments and after 373 years of unbroken service The Royal Scots left the British Armys order of battle.
SYDNEY, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A shipment of more than 200 kilograms of liquid methamphetamines has been seized in Australia's Sydney, a bust with a street value at over 25 million Australian dollars (about 17.76 million U.S. dollars).

On Friday the Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced what is an ongoing investigation of a transnational organized crime group. The liquid methamphetamines were discovered concealed in large bottles of olive oil in a truck in Sydney's western suburbs on July 30.

AFP National Anti-Gangs Squad Detective Superintendent Jason McArthur said the AFP investigation indicated the shipment involved a syndicate with links to overseas.

"Australian-based organized crime groups have an international reach and will collaborate with known offenders residing offshore," said McArthur in the police statement.

He added that the crackdown was made in collaboration with the National Anti-Gang Squad, a body set up to crack down on organized crime across the nation.

McArthur highlighted the importance of stopping this type of crime at the source.

"Illicit drugs like methamphetamine in the community create a domino effect of damage to Australians, including domestic violence, increased strain on the health system and community violence, as gangs fight for turf to sell their dangerous drugs," he said.

The government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has been actively trying to combat what has been a rise in organized crime in the state. 
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YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The Turkish Hurriyet newspaper reports some information about the contacts of the Armenian and Turkish special representatives for normalization Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic.

Rubinyan and Kilic met 4 times (once in Moscow and 3 times in Vienna).

Hurriyet reported citing an anonymous source from the Turkish foreign ministry that Rubinyan and Kilic had more than 500 phone talks so far.

Officials from the ministries of transport, trade and foreign affairs of the two countries will discuss the technical aspects of the steps taken within the scope of the normalization process, according to sources, Hurriyet reported, stating that the next meeting will take place in September.

On August 11 however, the Armenian foreign ministry said there is no agreement on the next meeting so far.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. There are 196,000 people with disabilities in Armenia, and according to the latest data from the Statistical Committee over 27,000 people with disabilities are employed.

Many employers have already adapted working conditions for them.

Now, the Armenian Government is introducing legislation requiring employers to ensure reasonable adaptations at the workplace for people with disabilities.

The new regulations will take effect January 1, 2023.

Weve defined reasonable adaptation types, which I will present now so that employers dont think that it implies big expenses. For example, a person with disability with diabetes can agree with their employer to change the lunch break hours from the 1 hour break to 15-minute breaks every 2 hours. Another example, the replacement of the door handle which must be lowered, and so on, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Tatevik Stepanyan said at a news conference.
SYDNEY, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- As Australia's unseasonably wet, chilly and windy winter lingers on, the other side of the world has been subjected to a summer of record-breaking heat and widespread fires.

Trying to understand the intricate relationship between such contrasting extreme conditions during this era of climate change has become a task of ever-increasing importance.

Jet streams, which are strong air currents swirling high in the Earth's atmosphere, have contributed greatly to extreme weather events worldwide in recent months, according to an eminent Australian meteorological expert.

University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Dr Milton Speer told Xinhua that global warming in recent decades had altered the structure and position of jet streams which, in turn, has led to a slowing down of major weather systems.

Explaining the punishing conditions throughout the past few months, Speer noted that in both hemispheres, the jet streams have moved closer to the Earth's poles, meaning that the usual weather systems have either been pushed too far north or too far south to bring their usual moderating influences.

In Europe, the main cold frontal systems were too far north, he said.

"In eastern Australia during the warmer months earlier in the year, a prolonged period of moist, onshore flow containing coastal low-pressure troughs provided record rainfall," he said.

"In that case there was very little effect from drier air in cold frontal systems because they were too far south of the continent."

He also noted that higher than average sea surface temperatures near the coast, earlier this year, meant there was more moisture available to the atmosphere which caused larger rainfalls.

Throughout eastern Australia's long spell of stormy conditions, La Nina has become an all-too familiar name in weather forecasts and raises the questions as to whether that oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon is becoming more regular and more intensive.

Such questions, however, are difficult to answer, Speer said, noting that the previous strongest double La Nina years were 1973-1976 and 1915-1917, yet there was less rainfall in eastern Australia during those times.

Extreme weather specialist Dr Meagan Carney of the University of Queensland (UQ) is equally measured when it comes to making La Nina predictions.

"It is true that the number of La Nina patterns is greater than in recent years; however, we would need data quite far back to make conclusions on whether the number of returns is something that we expect for the system," she told Xinhua.

"Historical records are really the key to determining whether an extreme event, like sequential La Nina patterns, is happening more frequently," she said. "The scientific community is very careful about making conclusions on the reasons we may be observing such a change."

So, as the southern hemisphere approaches its warmer seasons, can Australians expect similar sweltering conditions that Europe and the United States have suffered?

"We have already seen an increase in days when daily maximum temperatures break records in parts of Australia including an increase in the number of consecutive hot days," Speer said.

"For example, in southwestern Australia last summer various locations broke the number of consecutive days over 40 degrees Celsius. In eastern Australia, the trend is also for increasingly hot summers with severe fire seasons."

Speer noted again that "these conditions are the result of accelerated global warming experienced in recent decades."

Carney, however, cautioned against making too many assumptions about what summer will hold in store for Australia.

"The complexity of a climate system and the influence of land masses and the sea on weather impact our ability to make conclusions on global connections of extreme weather events," she said.

"What we can say ... is that climate change has certainly had an impact on how often we observe extremes. We know the probability of experiencing extreme weather events, including heat waves and flooding events, is increasing." 
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."

Religion has, throughout history, dominated the realms of politics and governance

Oh Bachchoo, science is the single matter

Which our consciousness chooses to flatter

With illusions of exclusive truth

Amid the reality of cloud and clatter.

From Khadi Boli to Hyper Boli, by Bachchoo

Religion has, throughout history, dominated the realms of politics and governance. The idiot papists persecuted Copernicus and Galileo and proved that religion was the enemy of truth.

The earth was a sphere, it did go round the sun. No theological formulation could or should oppose that reality.

Very many societies in our sad, and in dominant parts tyrannical, planet still allow religious doctrines, allegiances and, frankly, nonsensical untruths, to dictate the governance of millions, and yes billions in some countries, of contemporary human generations. In my humble estimation, for instance, Chinas structures, capitalistic ideologies and dictatorial insistence on Xi Jinping Thought has nothing to do with Marxism, socialism or Communism. Its a totalitarian regime that is determined to inculcate a single cultish idea of reality and politics. Is Xi Jinping Thought akin to a cult or a religion? (Discuss!)

The Chinese, of course, dont think of their political cult of enforced conformity as a religion. Several states in the contemporary world call themselves Islamic. In Saudi Arabia and Iran, though opposed to each other on the Shia-Sunni allegiances, the religion is not a democratically unifying force, but is the basis of the law and the justification for the denial of democracy.

And though the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland declares itself as a secular monarchic democracy, the Northern Ireland nation within it is democratically divided on religious lines. Catholics vote for the Sinn Fein and Protestants for one or other Unionist party. A precarious peace, following the American-brokered Good Friday Agreement in the 1990s, just about still holds and is threatened today by Boris Johnsons Northern Ireland Protocol which he signed in order to make his Brexit deal with the European Union.

Even in the United States, the Bible belt and politicians such as Mike Pence, however respectful of constitutional propriety, thump the Good Book to garner votes.

The most egregious TV news report I recently witnessed was a religious procession and ceremony in a western Russian town that was dedicated to consecrating the war and slaughter of civilians in the Ukraine. Christianity being called upon to do unto ones neighbour as one would not have done unto oneself?

Religions were born to give order and meaning to human existence, an exaltation from the animal state. From Buddhism to the New Testament gospels, the message of religion has been to spread peace amongst humankind. Are Russians respectful of their Christianity? Are the Buddhists of Myanmar and Sri Lanka following the path of the Buddha?

Even in Pakistan, the Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, having founded a country on the argument that Indias Muslim minorities would be dominated in a democracy by the majority population, declared himself a secularist. His famous first speech as Pakistans first Governor-General declared that people were entitled to their own faiths and would be protected by the State.

It was, however contrary it may seem, the doctrine of Mahatma Gandhi. Of course, it wasnt respected. Pakistan soon declared itself an Islamic state, and though it holds elections and goes through the motions of democratic practice when not under military rule, its religious profession regularly manifests itself in violence.

If Islam is the religion of peace, Islamists (as declaredly different from Muslims) are not its apostles.

To commemorate Indias 75 years of Independence, Britains Channel 4 TV featured two documentaries on the negotiations that led to the events of August 1947. Apart from the commentary of contemporary academic historians, the docs consist of archival records of the events. Channel 4 took the artistic or editorial decision to transform the archival footage from black and white to colour. We see the navy blue with white spots of Mr Jinnahs tie, the yellow and green parrot colours of Edwina Mountbattens fascinators (decorations for a ladys hair).

The documentaries detail the progress of talks between the Mountbattens, Dickies Indian secretary V.P. Menon, Nehru and Jinnah.

Menons grandson appears as a commentator and tells us emphatically that it was his grandfather who proposed the initial plan of dividing the subcontinent into three. A map flashed on screen shows us the territories he proposed, with the whole of Bengal part of the two-state solution. He didnt propose the precise boundaries -- that was left to the commission under Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who had never set foot in India before being entrusted with the task.

For some reason, the Mahatma gets a few seconds of mention in the opening scene and then, like Trotsky, was expunged from this history. There doesnt seem to be any malicious intent in such an erasure, but I felt it was curious. The documentaries dont go far enough back to trace the birth or progress of the Independence movement and dont record Jinnahs break with the Congress voicing the view that the concepts of ahimsa and satyagraha were Sanskritic, and therefore Hindu religious precepts, which the Mahatma had weaponised as political strategies. That being said, there can be no doubt that Gandhi was dedicated to a secular Independence in which religion would play no part in the political future.

That was a determination which would facilitate Indias entry into contemporary democracy and indeed into the progressive future. Turning back from that ideal is embracing the doctrines of repression prevalent in self-declared religious states.
The recent attack raises questions about the strategy of the Central government regarding the UT after the abrogation of Article 370

Jammu: Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi during the wreath laying ceremony of four army soldiers killed in a militant attack in J&K's Rajouri on Thursday morning, in Jammu district. (Photo: PTI)

With a dastardly attack, fidayeen (suicide squad) terror returned to shatter the peace of Jammu and Kashmir after nearly four years. In a brazen terror attack on an Indian Army camp close to a post at Pargal, in Rajouri, two Pakistani-backed terrorists of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) group, who were eventually gunned down in a fierce, five-hour-long battle, raised questions on our accomplishment of having eliminated terrorism in the Union territory of J&K.

Four brave soldiers laid down their lives in protecting the Army camp, and our nation. Army chief Gen. Manoj Pande, through an official tweet, said he, and all members of the Army of all ranks, salute the supreme sacrifice of four soldiers who laid down their lives in line of duty in Rajouri, and offered deepest condolences to the bereaved families.

The weapons and accoutrements recovered from the dead terrorists left little doubt that they belonged to and were trained in camps across the border.

The attack is serious on two counts. One, it was meant to hurt the sentiments of Indians ahead of the grand nationwide build-up to the celebration of the 75th Independence Day. The second is the questions it raises about the strategy of the Central government regarding the UT after the abrogation of Article 370.

In an official response, lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha, while condemning the act of terror, said the government and the Army were resolved to give such forces a befitting reply.

But the question arises, especially after the attack, if the best way to fight terror would be through a Centrally-administered government, or a popular local government. The stalling of elections and delaying bringing into power a popularly elected government might be counterproductive, especially when the situation otherwise is most conducive for India.

The Indian armed forces have performed their duties to the highest levels of professionalism, and even in this incident, were able to respond to the attack quickly and neutralise the terrorists and the threat. But the Army alone cannot be expected to ensure a terror-free Kashmir.

A larger civilian support to the objective of ending terrorism is crucial, and would be possible only when the political aspirations of all people in the region are also met. India has earlier learnt how terror and separatism could be ended, finally, in Punjab when popular support turned towards the Indian forces and police.

It is also necessary to relook at our analysis and beliefs about the effectiveness of the working of the abrogation of Art. 370 in combating terror, ending terror funding and support. A conclusion that a popular government would only aid our cause to end all support for separatists would help bring in greater change.

It is also crucial, along with military assertiveness, to try to win the battle of narratives, and hearts, of the ordinary citizen of Jammu and Kashmir. A larger outreach to citizens, enabling more effective delivery of development and welfare, empowerment through higher levels of liberty and freedoms and restoring of all normal political activities, will help us ensure we can avoid a repeat of such terror attacks.

Nothing can be more crucial than that as the nation prepares to celebrate 75 years of our Independence.
The BJP tried to pressurise the MLAs of JDU and RJD with the help of ED, but they decided to fight for Bihars self-esteem, the Sena said

Just like Maharashtra, the top leaders of the BJP were planning to upstage Nitish by forming a separate Shinde group in Bihar. However, Nitish stung back and turned the tables by severing ties with the BJP, the editorial in Uddhav Thackeray (in picture)-led Sena's mouthpiece Saamana said.  . PTI

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena has heaped praise on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying he has turned the tables by severing ties with the BJP. All opposition parties should welcome him if Nitish has taken this bold step by keeping in mind the 2024 general elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party has said.

If the Nitish Kumar-Tejashwi Yadav alliance remains strong in 2024, it can change the Lok Sabha election results. Nitish has created a storm. If it intensifies into a cyclone, then it can pose a challenge to the BJP, the Sena said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana on Thursday.

Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United) had on Tuesday quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and joined hands with the Tejaswhi Yadav-led RJD to form the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government in Bihar along with other parties.

The BJP tried to pressurise the MLAs of JDU and RJD with the help of Enforcement Directorate (ED), but they decided to fight for Bihars self-esteem rather than to surrender. The repercussions of political revolutions in Bihar, the land of socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan, are felt in the entire country. The BJP, overjoyed by bringing down the MVA government in Maharashtra, is facing revolt in Bihar, said the Sena.

Just like Maharashtra, the top leaders of the BJP were planning to upstage Nitish by forming a separate Shinde group in Bihar. However, Nitish stung back and turned the tables by severing ties with the BJP. The JDU has accused the BJP of being unfaithful. While the BJP had planned to destroy Nitishs party, the plan has boomeranged on itself, the editorial added.

The Sena further said the fissures between Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) founder Lalu Prasad Yadav must come to an end now. The RJD and JD(U) had contested against each other in the 2020 Bihar Assembly polls.

Bihar sends 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, the fourth highest after Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48) and West Bengal (42).
by Vladimir Rozanskij

In Afghanistan, religious extremism and tribalism rule. The regions countries are watching the events with apprehension, trying to limit the influence of radical Islam. War and weapons dominate political life whilst the economic crisis fuels tensions. On the Uzbek side, border controls are tight but bridges are reopening.

Moscow (AsiaNews)  On 15 August 2021, the Taliban retook Kabul after the sudden and precipitous withdrawal of US troops, which unleashed chaos at the airport, with mothers throwing children over fences into the arms of US marines.

A year later, news reports from Afghanistan are increasingly sporadic and vague, except for the reimposition of religious extremism and tribal rules.

In neighbouring Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, but also Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the authorities are monitoring with apprehension any possible spillover of radical Islam.

The countries of Central Asia are trying everything to encourage a moderate practice of religion, compatible with far from stable political systems, entrusted to a former Soviet ruling class that thrived for decades on Russias relative stability on the one hand and Western armed forces on the other.

Now the dual pillar is no more. War and weapons are back at both ends dictating the flow of political and social life amid an economic crisis that is fuelling tensions within their territories pitting various social classes and ethnic groups against each other.

In addition to their asymmetrical neutrality vis-a-vis Russias war in Ukraine, the ways these countries have managed to handle the Afghan powder keg are particularly important.

Tajikistan is at the forefront not only for geographical reasons  its border with Afghanistan is the one most at risk of infiltration  but also for its ethnic make-up since Tajiks are Afghanistans largest ethnic minority, but unrecognised by the Pashtun-dominated government in Kabul.

For its part, Uzbekistan is pursuing a containment policy, not only because it is the most populous country in the area (35 million vs 31 million Afghans) but also because of its strategic location on the trade routes linking China, India, Russia, and Europe.

This is also why Tashkent has tried to contain tensions with the Taliban as much as possible. A good example of its more constructive attitude is Termez, a small town on the border, which has become a lifeline for millions of Afghans thanks to its UN warehouses, full of humanitarian aid, which have delivered a thousand tonnes to Afghanistan, with some now going to disaster areas in Ukraine.

A landlocked country, bordering states just as far from the sea, Uzbekistan has also become a pathway for the hopes of displaced and abandoned refugees.

Uzbekistan is also Afghanistans main energy supplier, with Kabul eager to pay so as not to have any debts with Tashkent. In the summer, however, Afghanistan breaks away from the Uzbek network to connect to that of Tajikistan.

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have often been linked, like their ethnic groups, from ancient to modern times through successive dynasties. In 1750, Afghan Emir Akhmad Shah Durrani and Bukharan Khan Mohammad Murad Bek signed an historic Treaty of Friendship, fixing the border on the Amu Darya River.

In 1981, the Soviets built the Friendship Bridge. The 816-metre-long structure remained inaccessible for a long time due to the war of the last 20 years. At present, the Uzbek border remains one of the most guarded in the region, but bridges are slowly reopening.
by Emanuele Scimia

Created by China with the countries of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, the group has gone from 17+1 to 14+1. China's military threats against Taiwan and its qualified support for Russias war in Ukraine have weighed heavily. The EU remains cautious about the crisis across the Taiwan Strait.

Rome (AsiaNews)  Estonia and Latvia yesterday announced simultaneously their intention of leaving the 16+1 informal forum that brings together China and 16 countries in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.

According to Tallinn and Riga, participation in the Beijing-led cooperation group is no longer in line with their strategic goals in the current international environment. Lithuania left the group last year.

The 16+1 group has long been in the crosshairs of the European Union, which considers it a tool China uses to divide its members, pushing some member states to align themselves with China.

The decision by Estonia and Latvia comes as Western criticism mounts over Chinas growing military pressure on Taiwan and its hitherto qualified support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Estonian and Latvian leaders said that they would continue to work for constructive and pragmatic relations with China, respecting the rules-based international order and human rights.

Like Lithuania before them, Estonia and Latvia expressed dissatisfaction with the trade imbalance with China, a problem that has led other 16+1 member countries to revise their relations with Beijing, most notably Czechia, Slovenia and Slovakia.

In another blow to Beijing, the South China Morning Post reported that members of the European Parliament's Trade Committee plan to visit to Taiwan in December.

In the wake of the crisis triggered by the recent visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, Beijing has warned foreign politicians to avoid missions to the island.

The Taiwan issue has led to the break in relations between China and Lithuania. In November 2021, the Taiwanese government opened a mission in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius under the name "Taiwanese".

The move provoked Beijing's immediate response. Failure to use the name Taipei is a violation of the one China policy, according to the Chinese. For the Communist Party of China, the island is a "rebel" province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Since then, China has virtually cut off trade relations with Lithuania, a coercive action decried by the European Union at the World Trade Organisation.

Despite the stand taken by the Baltic countries, the larger members of the European Union have remained very cautious vis-a-vis Beijing's massive exercises around Taiwan. Many doubt the EU would take any tough response in the event of Chinas invasion of the island.

According to Marc Cheng, executive director of the European Union Centre in Taipei, Chinas recent manoeuvres will not accelerate negotiations between Taiwan and the European Union on investments and microchips since the two issues need a stable scenario to be implemented.

The PRC's drills might have pushed the EU to speed up playing a more active role in the global security arena and the Indo-Pacific region, said Cheng speaking to AsiaNew, while this might facilitate more discussion within member states and European Parliament to engage more with Taiwan.
Pakistan and India will celebrate their independence on 14 and 15 August respectively. While Kashmir pins the two against each, for Delhi, Beijing is the main rival. India has made great strides in recent decades, but Hindu ultranationalism is turning the original idea of the Indian nation on its head.

Milan (AsiaNews)  On Monday, 15 August, Delhi will celebrate the 75th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule, while Islamabad will do the same the day before.

Despite the celebratory nature of the event, 1947, the year of partition, remains a festering wound. In July of that year, British judge Cyril Radcliffe was tasked with dividing the British Raj into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan.

The work took only a few weeks to complete, but the resulting division ended centuries of relatively peaceful coexistence among the Indian subcontinents different communities; some 15 million people were displaced and up to two million people, half bound for India, died.

Some princely states were initially allowed to maintain their autonomy, including Kashmir. Even today, 75 years later, the latters fate has not been fully resolved.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Hindu ultranationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for the first time marked 14 August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.

Pakistans foreign minister responded by urging the Indian government to avoid politicising events related to their respective independence days.

In the last 75 years, India has made huge strides. The infant mortality rate has fallen from 161.8 per 1,000 births in 1960 to 27 in 2020, and the Human Development Index has gone from 0.11 in 1950 to 0.65 in 2019 (with an ascending rate from 0 to 1).

There have been leaps forward in infrastructure, access to drinking water and the Internet; in 2020, Indias GDP reached US$ 2.623 trillion and its economy this year could be one of Asia's most dynamic.

Yet, India is less and less the secular and multicultural state that emerged in 1947. Nowadays right-wing calls to turn India into a Hindu-supremacist state have more traction than the Mahatma Gandhis ideas about religious tolerance. A year after independence, Bapu (father), as Gandhi was known, was killed by a Hindu fanatic.

The BJP continues to build Hindu temples in lieu of Muslim mosques while sectarian violence grows year after year. According to some estimates, 180 people died in sectarian clashes between 2014 and 2020, 62 in 2020 alone.

Deemed a free country until 2020, India was ranked as partially free in 2021, sliding into the past with less and less cultural diversity.

Despite the long-standing enmity, Pakistan is not India's main rival. The disputed region of Kashmir borders another nuclear power, China.

Eager to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Beijing has decidedly backed Islamabad over Kashmir.

Despite 17 rounds of diplomatic talks, India and China remain deadlocked over their border disputes. In mid-2020, violence broke out in the Galwan Valley between Indian and Chinese soldiers.

Such tensions have pushed India closer to the United States, Japan and Australia, and now the four form the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), a forum of countries interested in containing Chinas presence in the Indo-Pacific.

Yet, although all Quad the members are democratic, they dont all see eye to eye on everything, most notably India vis-a-vis Russias invasion of Ukraine.

India's cooperation is necessary in the region and at the last Quad summit in May, several of Indias concerns, even those that do not directly involve the Chinese threat, were added for the agenda in 2023.

Thus, despite its increasingly anti-democratic tendencies, India plays an increasingly central role in Asia.
Police showed off new units in a ceremony two days ago. Vietnams constitution guarantees the right to protest, but no law has been approved regulating it. Since 2018 the issue has not been discussed.

Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies)  At least 15 Vietnamese provinces and cities have set up reserve riot police battalions or regiments to suppress "illegal demonstrations" and conduct arrests for disturbing public order".

On Wednesday, police in Ho Chi Minh City held a ceremony to show off the new unit, the Cong an Nhan Dan (Peoples Police) newspaper reported.

The new outfit will operate under the Ministry of Public Security or the heads of provincial police departments.

According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the units could be used to crack down on protests by ethnic and religious minorities.

A Ho Chi Minh lawyer, whose identity cannot be revealed for security reasons, said that the suppression of unlawful protests goes against the Constitution of Vietnam.

The right to protest is a constitutional right, so repression is unconstitutional; however, no legislation exists regulating demonstrations in the country.

According to the Vietnamese constitution, people have the right to protest, but the bill on demonstrations has been frozen for many years; as a result, In practice in Vietnam every protest is repressed, said a woman who took part in demonstrations against the construction of a Chinese oil platform in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone in 2014.

In 2013, the government directed the Ministry of Public Security to draft a bill on protests. Since then, the proposed legislation was tabled and then withdrawn several times from the National Assemblys agenda. By 2018 no lawmaker or media raised the issue again.

Overall, fundamental civil and political rights are systematically suppressed in Vietnam, reads the latest report (February 2022) by Human Rights Watch. The government, under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), severely restricts freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, movement, and religion.
Salman Rushdie's agent says the writer is on a ventilator after being stabbed in the neck and abdomen on a western New York stage where he was about to give a lecture
Luisa Canton, left, and Alex Hager, right, pose around a home-cooked dinner in their old home in the 1050 Waters Ave. complex. The unit was sold, along with seven others, to Aspen School District for the purpose of affordable employee housing, trading out one set of working class tenants for another.
Soraida Salwala introduces prosthetic legs made for elephants at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

by Song Yu

BANGKOK, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Over two decades ago, an Asian elephant named Motala stepped on a landmine and got her left front leg seriously injured. She limped for three days before she was rescued by a special hospital in Thailand.

Fitted with a prosthetic leg, she was taken care of for over 20 years.

Every morning and afternoon, 61-year-old Motala walks around the lawn outside her tent for a while.

Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants.

Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions.

Prior to the World Elephant Day, Soraida Salwala, 66, who has dedicated half of her life to saving those giant creatures, talked about the friendship with elephants.

"The hospital is my home, and the elephants are my children," she told Xinhua in an interview.

Her story began when she was eight years old. She encountered an injured elephant lying on the side of the road as it was hit by truck.

"I cried and begged my dad to take him to the hospital, but he told me that it was too big to be received, and no one knew how to save it. Finally the elephant died," Soraida said, recalling with sadness.

Many tragedies, like this, inspired her to build a hospital specialized in saving injured elephants.

Soraida takes with her a red walkie-talkie in pocket all along. When an elephant growled in distance, she used walkie-talkie, saying, "Mosha, it's mama Soraida, stay put."

Given years of companionship, a special bond was established between Soraida and her elephants. She said that they can understand her words and sometimes respond by patting the ground with their feet.

Mosha lost her right front leg when she was only seven months old after treading on a landmine. Two years later, doctors fitted her with her first artificial leg, making her the first elephant in the world to walk with a prosthetic leg.

As she grew, Mosha went through more than 10 prosthetics to adapt to her weighing body. She is turning 17 this year and has become very strong, only behaving a little grumpy as she enters adolescence.

"She is a naughty girl," Soraida said, while approaching and stroking Mosha gently. After whispering to her. Mosha gradually calmed down, leaning her head against Soraida.

A total of nine elephants are currently receiving treatment here, of which five are "permanent residents." Many elephants were given to the hospital because their owners could not afford to take care of them.

Taking care of elephants is costly. The hospital spends roughly 800,000 baht (about 22,617 U.S. dollars) monthly, with its expenses relying solely on community donations.

Soraida said the hospital had been struggling to make ends meet for more than a decade, and was on the verge of closedown five years ago due to a lack of funds.

In the most difficult time, 50 baht was left in the bank account. She had to raise money on social media. With media reports, donations poured in, and 40 million baht was raised in just a few days.

In addition, more veterinarians are needed for the hospital, which now has only one veterinarian, Cruetong Kayan.

The 41-year vet has been working here for 16 years and has saved more than 3,600 elephants. She practised here when she was a medical student, after which she decided to work with Soraida and devote herself to saving elephants.

Soraida admitted that not everyone was willing to work in the forest far away from a busy urban area, and COVID-19 made it more difficult for the hospital to operate.

The hospital now has 17 resident staff members, down from before the pandemic. "The pandemic is putting everyone under economic pressure, and so are our donors," Soraida said, hoping to cut costs for keeping the hospital for a longer time.

Over the years, Soraida has received death threats for standing up against elephant trafficking, but this has never changed her mind.

"Everything the hospital has done for nearly 30 years has been to improve the lives of elephants and people around them," She said.

"Elephants are a symbol of Thailand," Soraida said, hoping that the Thai government will set up an elephant fund to help elephants and their owners whenever they are in need. 

Soraida Salwala tends an injured elephant at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

An injured elephant feeds itself at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

A staff member feeds an injured elephant at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

Soraida Salwala tends an injured elephant at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

An injured elephant feeds itself at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

Aerial photo taken on Aug. 6, 2022 shows the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

A veterinarian comforts an injured elephant at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

A veterinarian comforts an injured elephant at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

Aerial photo taken on Aug. 6, 2022 shows the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

Staff members tend an injured elephant at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)

A veterinarian treats an injured elephant at the "Friends of the Asian Elephant" elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand, on Aug. 6, 2022. Deep in the forest of Lampang province in northern Thailand, the hospital, named Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE), is the first hospital in the world dedicated to treating injured elephants. Since its establishment in 1993, the hospital has saved more than 5,000 elephants with illnesses varying from diarrhoea to eye diseases and injuries through car accidents or mine explosions. (Xinhua/Wang Teng)
This is the best car I have owned to date. I traded in my well loved 2020 Corolla SE (also a fantastic vehicle) for this car and I absolutely LOVE it. It has sport mode, keyless entry and push to start, wireless apple carplay, and it handles beautifully. I wish I could have purchased one of the higher trims (I got the SEL trim which has the less powerful engine) for the better horsepower but I love this thing. 

This is the best car I have owned to date. I traded in my well loved 2020 Corolla SE (also a fantastic vehicle) for this car and I absolutely LOVE it. It has sport mode, keyless entry and push to start, wireless apple carplay, and it handles beautifully. I wish I could have purchased one of the higher trims (I got the SEL trim which has the less powerful engine) for the better horsepower but I love this thing.   Read More

This is the best car I have owned to date. I traded in my well loved 2020 Corolla SE (also a fantastic vehicle) for this car and I absolutely LOVE it. It has sport mode, keyless entry and push to start, wireless apple carplay, and it handles beautifully. I wish I could have purchased one of the higher trims (I got the SEL trim which has the less powerful engine) for the better horsepower but I love this thing.   Read More

Perfect EV Gateway By NewEVOwner77 | on 5.0
The HEMI is by far the most difficult to find. Only 114 cars were ordered with the 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) V8 that year, and only seven customers went with the convertible top. These cars usually change hands for more than $3 million at public auctions. When in Concours-ready condition, of course.While not as expensive, some non-HEMI 'Cudas also come close in terms of rarity. That's because the convertible itself is a rare car with no more than 303 units built. For instance, only 17 left the factory with the 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) V8. The 'Cuda you see here is not a HEMI or a 440, but it's a one-of-one gem thanks to its unique paint and upholstery configuration.This drop-top rocks a 383-cubic-inch (6.3-liter) V8 with a four-barrel carburetor, which makes it one of 147 cars fitted with this mill. The fact that it's the fancier 'Cuda reduces that number to 128, but the automatic transmission narrows it down even more to 87 cars.That's already incredibly rare if you ask me, but the muscle car becomes unique when we factor in the Tunisian Tan paint job (with matching wheels) and the two-tone, brown-and-tan interior. No, Tunisian Tan wasn't a special-order color in 1971. It was included in the regular color palette alongside the Plum Crazy, Sassy Green, and Top Banana; it just wasn't very popular.As you might have already guessed based on the way it looks inside and out, this 1971 'Cuda is the result of a frame-off restoration. Performed by Michel Poulin of R/T Restoration with NOS parts, the refresh turned this Mopar into a brand-new classic that could snatch a few prizes at big car shows across the U.S.And yes, the 383 V8 under the hood is of the numbers-matching variety, as is the automatic transmission. Driven for only 333 miles (536 km) since its restoration, the 'Cuda is waiting for a new owner (and driver) in Canada. One who's willing to pay a whopping $475,000. Far from affordable, I know, but still nowhere near as expensive as a HEMI.
kW

Spied on a couple of occasions already, the Japanese pickup wont receive a six-cylinder engine option. "ICEs are becoming increasingly harder to engineer because the emissions regulations are getting tighter and tighter, said Mitsubishi Australias senior manager of product strategy. Diesels run on a knifes edge to balance emissions, drivability, combustion noise, all those factors, Owen Thomson told our friends at CarSales.com.au It's pretty safe to assume that Mitsubishi will keep using four-cylinder diesels in this part of the world. Given that Ford has a 3.0-liter turbo diesel V6 available in the Ranger, the Japanese automaker is expected to add some kind of hybrid powertrain that would close the gap to the Power Stroke The Blue Ovals lump cranks out 247 horsepower (184) at 3,250 revolutions per minute and a beefy 443 pound-feet (600 Nm) from merely 1,750 through 2,250 revolutions per minute. In combination with a ten-speed automatic transmission, its easy to understand the Australian publics appetite for the six-cylinder turbo diesel of the T6.2 Ranger.Owen Thomson made the rounds last year when he stopped short of confirming a plug-in hybrid. But looking at the bigger picture, plug-in hybrid wouldnt be ideal in a pickup that already lags behind the competition in terms of maximum towing. The 2022 model year Mitsubishi Triton for Australia makes do with 3,100 kilograms (make that 6,834 pounds) compared to the segments 3,500-kg (7,716-lbs) golden standard.Obviously enough, the higher-capacity battery pack of a plug-in hybrid would affect both towing capacity and payload. Thats why both Ford and Toyota offer hybrid options in the F-150 and Tundra rather than PHEVs.On that note, the 2023 Mitsubishi Triton will serve as the basis of the next-generation Nissan Navara . Joined at the hip to the Frontier for South America, the Navara was in Europe back in 2021 due to worsening sales.
Except for the Nissan Z Proto Spec , which is a limited-edition model, all the versions of the new Z are described as "coming this Fall," which means that the dealers that got to order theirs already should have one in the lot by next month. However, do not expect yours to arrive that quickly, as the global chip shortage also affects Nissan.But we digress, so let us get back to the Z . It can be had in three trim levels: Sport, Performance, and Proto Spec. The latter is a limited series that only has 240 units available, so expect those to sell out quicker than you can find the phone number of the nearest Nissan dealer on Google Maps and then call them to place an order.The Performance trim level is $10,000 more expensive than the Sport if we look at the sticker price. It comes with four-piston Akebono calipers on the front, a Bose premium sound system, a 1.5-way clutch-type limited-slip differential, and 19-inch Rays alloy wheels instead of the stock 18-inch ones, as well as spoilers front and rear, along with leather seats.Mind you, if someone were to spec a Sport model with all the gear that the Performance trim brings, they would pay more than $10,000 in options, according to Nissan's configurator tool. If you are willing to splurge, you can get a virtual key for $450, racing stripes for $595, splash guards for $355, exterior projection lighting on the doors for $394, or up to $1,695 for the Passion red paint. There are cheaper color options.If you want to carry luggage with hard cases in the trunk, you might be interested in getting the $105 trunk mat, as well as the $500 cargo cover. We would rather just get the $66 roadside emergency kit, along with a $55 first aid kit (you still need to learn how to use those to get their full utility). Nissan even offers a $45 trash bin, which looks like a removable tumbler that is placed in the cup holder. It might save the plastic in the cup holder, but do not use it as an ashtray, as it might not withstand the heat.The online configuration tool for the 2023 Nissan Z is here
In it, the old man spends days at sea trying to catch a legendary fish. At last he hooks the fish, but it is too big to bring aboard his small boat. He is forced to lash it to the side for the journey back to shore. However, before he could safely reach shore with his prized catch, much of it had been eaten away by predatory fish, leaving nothing to show for struggle.The Bad Company Support (BCS), at 45 meters (147 feet) in length, would indeed have to hook a sea monster of biblical proportions to suffer the same fate.Nonetheless, the BCS departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida , in June on its inaugural shakedown cruise and headed east across the pond to Madeira, Portugal. The twelve-day journey was just the beginning of a marlin fishing tour that would take her to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, and other fishing holes on the African continent's west coast.She emerged from a major refit in Fort Lauderdale, having undergone modifications that suit owner Anthony Hsieh's (founder and CEO of publicly-traded LoanDepot) love for sportfishing. The mods on the Damen-built yacht were centered around the toy storage and tender areas. A deck reconfiguration now allows for a 10-meter (32.9 feet) sportfisher, two tenders and jet skis on the aft deck.The crane was modified to make launching and recovering the sportfisher easier. Exterior work added a fresh coat of custom 'Bad Company Grey' paint.Formerly known as Joy Rider and Pink Shadow, the 2019-built BCS was not in need of any work, but was modified to suit a purpose. She is one of ten in the Bad Company fleet. The nine other yachts in the fleet include the largest sportfisher in the world, the 44-meter Trinity Bad Company. The fleet is positioned around the world including Cabo San Lucas, the Bahamas, and the South Pacific, to accommodate Hsieh's fishing passion.The fleet supports sportfishing tournaments in various locales that aid his charitable foundation War Heroes on the Water. The events raised $1.35 million (1.311 million euros) in 2021 to help combat-wounded veterans.
HP

EV

The $566,090 Ferrari SF90 Stradale is one of Italys latest and greatest vehicles. Its packed with technology, looks exactly as someone would envision a vehicle carrying the prancing horse badge, develops enough power to keep the driver bolstered in their seat while accelerating, and its also a plug-in hybrid. Theres not much more you can ask for. Theres even a solution for the open-top experience  the SF90 Spider.The 986(1,000 PS) this vehicle can put out thanks to the blending of internal combustion engine and electric motor power, however, isnt enough to defeat the all-electric Tesla Model S Plaid.The $135,990 all-wheel-driveuses a tri-motor solution that can deliver the impressive figure of 1,020 HP (1,034 PS). The single-speed transmission transforms acceleration into an almost science fiction-derived feeling. There are no hiccups. Plus, theres that steering yoke everyone was talking about when the car first surfaced.Similarly, the Ferrari uses an all-wheel drive architecture to put its might to the ground. Its also the first mid-engine vehicle coming from the Italian brand that isnt rear-wheel drive. However, unlike Tesla, the power is managed with the help of an eight-speed automatic transmission. But, as the recording down below shows, using the best of both worlds for a high-performance powertrain ultimately ends up looking like a compromise. Thats what happens when the two vehicles are in a head-to-head run.The owners video shows him comfortably defeating other Ferraris, Porsches, and McLarens, but the Model S Plaid always finishes the race ahead of the Italian hypercar.To get his revenge on the pesky Tesla, the SF90 Stradale owner added new, stickier tires  the Toyo R888R. Then he started measuring the 0-60 mph acceleration. The result? Only 2.33 seconds. Its still not enough. The Model S Plaid, under the right conditions and with the proper pre-race management, can get to 60 mph (97 kph) a little faster  all it needs are 1.9 seconds.The electrified V8 might be able to accelerate until it runs out of gas, but it wont defeat the EV until were entering the top speeds realm. The Ferrari is limited to 211 mph (340 kph), while the Tesla can reach 175 mph (282 kph) in Track Mode. Worth mentioning that an especially modified Plaid reached even 216 mph (348 kph). Maintaining this speed over a longer distance is a whole other story.At the end of the day, we have reached an incredible time for the development of high-performance machines. Delivering a 0 to 60 mph time of under three seconds was regarded just recently as a major success. Now everyones trying to break the under two seconds threshold. Its truly fascinating.
BANGKOK, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that Sri Lanka's former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has arrived in Thailand for a temporary stay.

Immigration authorities of Singapore said on a website that Rajapaksa left singapore Thursday.

The Thai government on Wednesday stated that his stay is temporary and no political asylum has been sought yet.

It also said as a holder of a diplomatic passport, the former president of Sri Lanka is allowed to stay in Thailand without a visa for a period up to 90 days.

The former president had toured the Maldives and Singapore. 
kWh

WLTP

According to Teslamag , Giga Berlin is already building the Model Y with the LFP batteries supplied by BYD, following a type approval obtained last month from the Dutch authority RDW. This is not unusual since the RDW also issued type approval for other versions of the Model Y built in Gruenheide. The documents consulted by the German news outlet show the new Model Y with BYD battery is referred to as Type 005 and internally as variant Y7CR.The approval obtained on July 1st shows that the battery capacity is estimated at 55, with a projected range of 440 km (273 miles). Since were talking about the Europeanstandard, expect a shorter range, probably less than 400 km (248 miles). This is a step back compared to the previous LFP battery built with CATL cells at Giga Shanghai, which has a 60 kWh capacity and a range of 455 km (283 miles). On the other hand, the Tesla Model Y with BYD battery is lighter, at 2,087 kg (4,600 lbs), than the CATL version (2,153 kg/4,747 lbs). The BYD battery is more interesting than its CATL counterpart because it is a structural pack according to the type approval. This is in line with the Giga Berlin tradition, which already manufactures the Model Y using structural battery packs. Because of the constraint in 4680 cell production, they are now using 2170 cells imported from China.BYD usually relies on its blade batteries in a cell-to-body pack that qualifies as a structural battery pack, as seen on the BYD Seal. It now seems that this exact type of battery will be installed in the Tesla Model Y assembled in Gruenheide. Hopefully, they wont catch fire like several BYD electric vehicles recently. Either way, Giga Berlin will soon be producing a lot of variants of the Model Y. This could become a logistics nightmare for the company and a constant headache for its customers.
Alongside Orion, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will also launch into space a number of ten CubeSats , each created to carry on a specific mission in space. One of them is called BioSentinel, and is tasked with performing the first long-duration biology experiment in deep space.More specifically, the machine will carry with it on the trip to the Moon yeast, in an attempt to expose it to the conditions of space and fill critical gaps in knowledge about the health risks in deep space posed by space radiation.The microorganisms that form yeast (the same thing used to make bread or beer) have cells which have biological mechanisms similar to the human ones (like, say DNA repair after damage). They'll have to spend anywhere between six and twelve months floating in zero-G, somewhere between our planet and its satellite.Samples of yeast will be activated at different intervals, and its vital signs (yes, it seems yeast has vital signs) will be monitored by BioSentinel. The hardware will look at cell growth and metabolic activity after exposure to a high-radiation environment, thus helping scientists here on Earth draw the relevant conclusions.Once the results are in, people of Earth hope to learn more about how space radiation affects cells, especially in light of the soon-to-be-planned missions to the Holy Grail of space exploration, planet Mars In fact, NASA plans to make extensive use of the Artemis missions to prepare the Mars exploration program, so expect a lot more strange science experiments coming our way in the not-so-distant future.Artemis I is scheduled for lift-off on August 29.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

On June 8th, the investigation was expanded to include outside markets, including the United States where Nissan calls the X-Trail Hybrid something else. Through July 2022, the Japanese automaker analyzed the potential conditions that may lead to hydraulic brake assist loss. Nissan concluded that it had no reports attributable to this condition in the U.S.Better safe than sorry, Nissan decided to conduct a safety recall in the United States for extra peace of mind. The remedy is currently under development according to documents filed with the. Known owners of the suspect Rogue Hybrid vehicles will be informed by first-class mail beginning September 22nd.Due to the low heat capacity of the motor, certain driving conditions such as repeated brake application - combined with high temperatures in the engine room - may cause the brush temperature to increase inside the motor pump housing. The attached report goes on: If the temperature exceeds the allowable range, lubricity deteriorates, which causes sparking due to brush and commutator chatter that results in abnormal commutator wear.The abnormal wear leads to brush vibration, causing the pigtail to bend and eventually disconnect. When brake assist output drops below a preset level, the brake warning indicator will illuminate, informing the driver that something isnt quite right. Although the braking system will continue to function, increased pedal effort will be noticeable. If the hydraulic assistance doesnt work properly, the vehicle may not meet the performance criteria required by federal motor vehicle safety standard number 135.The brake booster assembly is produced by ADVICS North America Inc., and the part number is listed as 47210 4BC8A. A total of 5,904 vehicles are potentially affected, Rogue Hybrid vehicles produced between July 26th, 2016 and December 12th, 2018 for model years 2017 through 2019.
A case in point to be made here is about Mo Aoun, the virtual artist better known as moaoun_moaoun on social media, who is finally back into off-road-focused CGI action after a major break from digital overlanders. But as I strived to reconnect with the stuff hes been doing in the meantime (lots of pics of cars and some planes, in short), there was also great news in the bio section.As it turns out, since the last time I saw something noteworthy and car-focused on our 3D points of interest, when he churned out a cool Kia Telluride overlanding pickup truck fit for stunning virtual adventures, he became a creative designer at Jeep and Ram Trucks. Kudos to him, and great to see the company does not keep this pixel master on a short leash  as he recently treated us to ideation stuff like a modern Renault 5 or an even cooler, futuristic Mitsubishi EVO.By the way, those are also tucked in the gallery above because they deserve to shine brightly in our CGI-loving hearts for a moment before we get down to some Porsche Baja business. Well, the latest digital sketch idea is a bit of a handful, as we are faced with a lovely blue and orange Porsche Carrera (is that a 3.0 from the late 1970s or something newer like a 3.2 or even a Type 964?) that does not look so old anymore This is because the CGI expert updated some of the design traits to serve his well-known passion for overlanding . Notice the huge road clearance, beefy front plus rear bumpers, meaty all-terrain tires wrapped around orange and white beadlock wheels, the wider fenders, and the off-road accessories.Boy, and thats just the bottom half of the vehicle! Moving up we also find a spare tucked inside the exposed front trunk, a protruding interior-exterior roll cage, lots of additional lights (Hella, what else?), plus another spare that could easily get ditched in favor of a rooftop tent if you ask me
They achieved their goal with their street legal 911, called the Sally Special. A very special car with tons of attention to detail, including Cars badges, custom blue paint, bespoke wheels adapted from the type 996 Porsche 911 , a custom cloth interior with subtle blue stitching, and many other details. Further proving Porsches kind intentions, this truly unique vehicle will be sold at auction, with the proceeds going to charity. This labor of love aims to support young girls through Girls Inc. as well as Ukrainian refugees through the USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.The model is based on the 911 Carrera GTS, with the main goal being not to copy the actual car from the movie but to make it drivable and inspirational. It comes equipped with a manual gearbox, connecting us to the enthusiasm for driving and the feeling of freedom that Sally showed us in the movie. The car also got a new color scheme name, the Sally Blue Metallic, adding to its uniqueness and connection to childhood.Upon a closer look can also notice the amazing creative effort and attention to detail the team put into properly bringing Sally to life. A pinstriped tattoo is present under the rear wing, just like the one she had in the movie, prompting McQueen to poke fun at her.The car will be sold by RM Sothebys on August 20 at Monterey Car Week, along with a one-of-a-kind Porsche wristwatch, numbering 001/001 to match the vehicle. It will hopefully fetch a pretty penny, helping inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through the Girls. Inc charity. They try to equip young girls with the skills they need to make a positive impact in their lives and become powerful women and leaders who change the world. This would be in Sallys spirit of compassion, and it would be such a great thing to see achieved by the automotive industry.
An RAF Voyager met an Atlas C1 (A400M) transport aircraft in the air and refueled it over the ocean while being more than 900 nautical miles (1,035 miles/1,666 km) away from the nearest land.The Voyager was coming from the Mount Pleasant Complex, which is the main RAF military base on the Falkland Islands, while the Atlas had departed from RAF Brize Norton, headed to the Falklands. The 2 aircraft met 900 nautical miles away southwest of Ascension Island and 2,600 nautical miles (2,992 miles/4,815 km) northeast of the Mount Pleasant Airfield.The captain of the Atlas, the 30 Squadron Leader, had to make sure that Atlas stayed in close formation with the Voyager while the tankers captain carried out the delicate refueling procedure.It uses something called the probe-and-drogue system, with the probe extending from the receiver aircraft and the drogue extending from the tanker. The probe must then be carefully docked right into the drogues basket.This marks the first time that the Atlas was refueled operationally over the South Atlantic and, according to the Voyagers Mission Systems Operator, doing that above the ocean was unlike anything he had experienced before, even after practicing the maneuver in the simulator. Voyager is currently RAFs only air-to-air refueling (AAR) tanker that also doubles as a transport aircraft. This capability was initially aimed at fast jets to enhance their endurance, but the tanker is gradually extending the range of larger cargo aircraft, too, such as the Atlas C1.
HP

Finnish Formula One Former Racer and 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg just received his own Rimac Nevera. Naturally, when one gets his hands on a car hes been waiting for for a year, one takes it for a ride. Rimacs CEO joined in to give a detailed insight on the automobile. The racer-turned-influencer Rosberg video documented the event (watch it below).It is hardly a surprise to anyone that Nico Rosberg is tough to impress with a fast car. But this time, a short and casual law-abiding afternoon drive in the hills of Croatia made him sparkle with joy. Behind the wheel of his out-of-the-box Rimac Nevera and accompanied by Mate Rimac, the automotive Golden Boy that built the insane car. (Insane is the term used several times by Nico himself, so we only found it appropriate to take his word for granted.)Few customers can enjoy the thrills of getting their car straight out of the factory, but the well-known vlogger Rosberg got just this special treat. Still, his excitement was quickly tempered by the first challenge he had to overcome. Driving through the narrow array of all the cars Rimac has worked on in various projects is not as easy as it may seem. Luckily, the vehicle has enough cameras to see the hypercar out unscathed.The four-motor Nevera just sticks to the ground like a proper racer car (Mr. Rosbergs assessment. Again, take that precisely as he puts it). The ballistic missile hyper sportscar feels like a regular daily driver in the hands of the World Champion. And its not because the car would be anything less than fantastic to drive. It can perform just as well on the streets of a small town - in Cruise Mode - as it can thrash the tarmac of a racetrack in no time. To accomplish that, it actually has a specific Track Mode along with Sport Mode and Drift Mode for added extra fun.The Batmobile-customised Nevera 001/150, which Nico Rosberg received a few days ago, is the first one off the production line to be sold. Just 150 machines will be built, and car no #000 will remain with Rimac. According to the carmaker's boss, all models with Rimac-built parts in them will be displayed in the Croatian car brand's museum. Nico Rosbergs ride is the first customer drive of a Rimac Nevera ever, as Rimac's CEO Mate Rimac points out.What more of an inaugural drive could a brand-new hypercar receive? The machine is just as astounding as the company that built it. 1,400 MW (1,914), 1740 lb-ft (2,360 Nm) 0-60 mph in 1.9 sec, 0-186 mph (300kph) in 9.3 sec, and the quarter mile in 8.6 seconds. Top speed? 256 mph (412 kph). What else can you ask from a car full of high-tech and governed by sophisticated electronics? Nothing much, really, since it already battered Tesla's Plaid on the 440-yard run.The engineering marvel that Rimac pulled off with this machine is only the confirmation of its masterminds almost surreal ascend. From building a prototype in his garage to making the most powerful street-legal production car on the planet (for now), it took Rimac just a decade. Not too bad for a 34-year-old. Being the quintessential gear head, Mr. Rimac took a side job with another car company and now manages the fate of the legendary perpetual record-setter Bugatti as well.And, to make it even more out-of-this-world, Mate Rimac made it to the very top of the automotive universe with absolute zero formal knowledge on car making. His previous occupation was attending high-school classes in his home country, Croatia. Not too bad, I would agree.Stay tuned for more from Rosberg's Nevera, as the teaser at the end of the video points toward a more hands-on track-oriented review coming up.
But thanks to the brief but eventful existence of the Saunders-Roe Lerwick WWII British flying boat, we know this machismo is not universal. Unlike the American PBY Catalina or the Luftwaffe BV-138 Wiking, the British Lerwick was more lethal to its crewmembers than enemy ships. In short, it was every negative adjective you couldn't in good confidence apply to a Catalina , or indeed any other iconic World War II flying boat. For those of you who aren't fully up to speed on World War II-era British Aviation, it consisted of a cluster-you-know-what of dozens of different manufacturers. There were the more established monikers like Supermarine and Hawker, of course. But in the background to established giants, scrappy smaller companies like Saunders-Roe, often shortened to its nickname Saro, helped provide a solid backbone to the nation's aerospace sector.Saro's great contribution to British Aviation largely came from flying boats. I.e., seaplanes with ship-like hulls instead of pontoons or water skies in place of landing gear like float planes. British companies like Supermarine and Blackburn also contracted Saro to build the hulls for their own flying boat designs. They found further work prepping American Catalinas for the Royal Air Force.The company did indeed make some of the finest flying boats of its era. Icons like the Princess high-capacity airliner prototype surely fascinated the masses before its own unfortunate cancelation. But the Lerwick, named for the small town in Scotland's Shetland archipelago, does not deserve to be mentioned even in the same sentence as the Princess. As military airplanes go, the slab of her majesty's finest British beef that was the Lerwick was hopeless from the word go.First taking off from the water and into the air in November 1938, the Lerwick more or less elicited the polar opposite response that the American Catalina did. Where the Catalina, while not exactly stellar in the looks department, was an absolute joy to fly, the Lerwick was at an equal and opposite part of the spectrum. With dimensions of 63 ft 7.5 in (19.393 m), 80 ft 10 in (24.64 m), and 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m), and a maximum takeoff weight of 33,200 lbs (15,059 kg), the Lerwick's airframe was positively chunky.Powering this flying boat with a silhouette like a potato with RAF roundels were two Bristol Hercules II 14-cylinder radial piston engines, cranking out 1,350 horsepower each at 2,750 rpm. The nearest American equivalent to this engine would have likely been a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp or a Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone. Undoubtedly a robust engine. But in an absolute chonker of an airframe like the Lerwick, two of them simply wasn't enough.Couple that with sluggish and vague control surfaces, and you have a recipe for an airplane that you simply can't fly hands off for any extended period of time. That's a risky proposition for an airplane intended to be a maritime patrol and U-boat intercepting machine as its two primary functions. One can only imagine the pilot and co-pilot gripping their flight sticks with both hands as if hanging on for dear life for an entire several-hour-long patrol.Compared to the Catalina, its respectable maneuverability with buttery, smooth and responsive control surfaces was raved about in every country it served. The Lerwick , on the other hand, was almost repulsively terrible. Oh, and to pile on to its bad points, the airframe was so gosh darn heavy that it couldn't sustain level flight if one of the engines failed. It also had a stall like a boulder being pushed off a cliff and had wing pontoons that fell off on any given Tuesday.If you think this all translates into a screaming metal deathtrap with wings, you wouldn't be wrong. Of the meager 21 Lerwick flying boats ever built, nearly half of them were lost in accidents. One example even disappeared completely off the face of the Earth, as if un-spawning from a game of Flight Simulator or War Thunder. In a move that will come as a shock to precisely nobody, RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons unfortunate enough to be paired with Lerwicks instead of something like a Catalina, a Grumman Goose , or literally anything else absolutely loathed them.To make matters worse, the only time it so much as sniffed a German U-boat, the infernal airplane failed to sink it. Mercifully, these RAF squadrons had all received Catalinas as replacements by 1942Check back soon for more from Sea Month here on autoevolution.
Both options are 3.0-inch exhausts of the cat-back variety, featuring a 4.0-inch outlet with a T304 finisher. Armor Lite is recommended for dry conditions, while Armor Pro can take a little more abuse. The difference in material explains why the Armor Lite exhaust system is covered by a three-year warranty. By comparison, the Armor Pro boasts a lifetime warranty.Both exhausts promise the perfect mix of aggressive sound when youre into the throttle without being obnoxious on long drives. The sound isnt obnoxious on the outside, either. Although subtle, the MBRP exhausts definitely stand out from the 2022 Toyota Tundras bone-stock exhaust.Codenamed XK70, the third-generation Tundra was unveiled to mixed reception in September 2021. On the one hand, the twin-turbocharged V6 is aurally underwhelming compared to the naturally-aspirated V8 of the previous gen. But nevertheless, it produces more torque earlier in the rev range. Fuel economy isnt the 3.4-liter engines forte, yet customers are offered a hybrid-assisted V6 that beats the old V8 by 7 miles per gallon.Rated at 1,940 pounds (880 kilograms) for maximum payload and 12,000 pounds (5,443 kilograms) for maximum towing capacity, the Japanese truck from Texas can be yours starting from $35,950 excluding destination charge. Seven trim levels are currently available: SR, SR5, Limited, Platinum, 1794 Edition, TRD Pro, and the luxurious Capstone, which retails from $74,230.Come 2023, the half-ton pickup will ditch the lowest-spec engine option. Instead of 348 horsepower and 405 pound-feet (550 Nm), the new standard makes 389 horsepower and 479 pound-feet (650 Nm). Hybrid assistance boosts those figures to 437 horsepower and 583 pound-feet (790 Nm).Another novelty for the 2023 model year comes in the form of a visual package, the SX Package thats exclusive on SR5 grades in rear- or four-wheel drive. Available on double cabs with the 6.5-foot bed and CrewMax trucks with the 5.5-foot bed, this option adds 18-inch wheels in Dark Gray Metallic, black details both inside and out, and a black 4x4 tailgate badge.
Hydrogens very hot right now in Germany. Major automakers got together and pressured the government into making sure they will have enough green hydrogen within their borders, be it produced or imported.The main issue with hydrogen is that it requires massive amounts of power to make it. It cant be done without electricity and splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen isnt something that can be done easily and with no carbon footprint when were looking at a whole industry. Thats why scientists were pressured into finding a solution. Their bet  green hydrogen. Essentially, its the same process, but its done with renewable electricity.Mercedes-Benz, for example, spearheaded this whole effort lately. They closed deals in 2021 with major gas suppliers like Shell or BP (British Petroleum) and managed to convince German authorities that hydrogen is another route that might help with the transition to zero-emission cars, trucks, and semis. And the automaker is close to making this happen by establishing a dedicated path in Germany for semi-trailers that carry freight using only hydrogen as fuel.Considering the Stuttgart-based manufacturer entered this field 20 years ago , we should trust that the Germans have the solution. All they need is some serious support from other parties, including customers.But theres a problem. Put briefly, creating the fuel cell technology is still expensive. Hydrogen must be properly stored in a pressurized tank, and it must go through a catalyst where it starts the production of electricity needed to create the power thats used to move a vehicle. However, nothings impossible. Tesla proved it.But BMW couldnt just sit this one out. They started their tests and investments. The company may not be manufacturing any semis or vans, but it has a generous portfolio of premium vehicles. These cars, crossovers, SUVs, and other high-performance or incredibly luxurious models (like what Rolls-Royce is making) cant be all-electric. After all, BMW is the company that introduced The power of choice concept.Currently, customers from various markets can choose whatever type of powertrain they want for their preferred vehicle. The X3, for example, is available as a gas- or diesel-powered crossover, plug-in hybrid, fully electric, or in its most dynamic form  the X3 M Competition. You can even decide if all-wheel drive is something you need to pay for. Thats how far they went with giving customers options.After the transition from fossil fuels is completed, BMWs customers will still want to buy things they like. Generally, well-off customers like to choose and not be cornered into something. The company knew it had to do something about this.Back in March, we were telling you that BMW finished winter testing the iX5 Hydrogen. The zero-emission vehicle with a body carried over from the good-looking X5 M was stripped down of any camouflage and sent to battle cold and snow. The automaker promised that it will manufacture a limited series to prove FCEVs are worth more than a shot after testing revealed good data.BMW wants big players from the oil industry, governments, investors, and other auto companies to understand that they too should be a part of this guilt-free alternative to EVs that still use mined rare earths.Thats why we now have the first official confirmation that hydrogen-powered BMW's will become mass produced starting from 2025, and the iX5 Hydrogen might be among them. BMWs Head of Sales Pieter Nota told Nikkei the automaker will, alongside Toyota, introduce multiple FCEVs.() hydrogen fuel cell technology is particularly relevant for larger SUVs," Nota said.Cars using hydrogen arent something groundbreaking. Toyota, BMWs partner in making the iX5 Hydrogen a reality, was heavily invested in this sector back in 2010 . But the rise of Tesla's battery-powered vehicles and other strategies changed the companys plans.The collaboration between the Germans and the Japanese has first been seen with the all-new Toyota Supra. Even though it surprised many, BMW was content with sharing some of its technology and parts to get the hydrogen expertise from Toyota  the carmaker that has the Mirai FCEV as a second-generation unit thats sold in a couple of markets like the UK.BMWs iX5 Hydrogen will demonstrate that filling up doesnt take more than three to five minutes, and traveling long distances will be possible without compromising the standards customers are used to.The Bavarians will continue investing in updating their portfolio, and battery-electric vehicles remain an important side of the brands business. The hydrogen push, however, reveals that major European carmakers are actively trying to provide an alternative to the already popular EVs.Finally, someone will have to foot the incoming bill. The public and private sectors must work together if the green hydrogen dream is to become reality. As is the case with EVs in some markets, the charging infrastructure for FCEVs is basically nonexistent. Theres a lot of work to be done ahead.
IAEA chief affirms one-China principle

Xinhua) 08:59, August 12, 2022

VIENNA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supports relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and adheres to the one-China principle, the agency's director-general Rafael Grossi reiterated on Thursday.

Grossi made the remarks during a phone call with China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna Wang Qun.

Grossi said the IAEA, as part of the UN system, maintains its stance on the Taiwan question and sticks to the one-China principle.

The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 in 1971, which decides to restore the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the UN and to recognize the representatives of the PRC government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Du Mingming)
A team of students from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is developing a rover that will navigate on the lunar surface and collect data on the radiation levels. What makes it unique is that this machine is no bigger than a sheet of paper. Moreover, instead of wheels, it has six C-shaped legs designed to help it navigate across the regolith.With this small robot, called the Lunar Zebro , the team would be able to undertake tasks that would be far too risky for larger rovers. Thanks to its C-shaped legs, the Lunar Zebro will be able to climb over obstacles and explore areas where its wheeled counterparts dare not go.Its size will allow it to hitch a ride with a Moon lander as well. However, its mission will begin once it touches the lunar surface. The first thing on the teams agenda is to see if the rover can survive a lunar day (14 Earth days) and communicate with the ground stations on Earth.During this time, it will use its unique legs to navigate across the rugged terrain, and it will also take a picture of both the lander and Earth. The rover will enter hibernation mode at the end of the day and prepare for the lunar night, which will bring temperatures of -233C (-387.4F).The mission, which is expected to take place in the next few years, is meant to demonstrate its capabilities. If everything works accordingly, the team will use multiple Lunar Zebro robots to accomplish different tasks. The students plan to launch numerous rovers to swarm on the Moon. This will speed up the missions, at the same time allowing them to explore bigger areas. The project shows what cutting-edge technology might be expected from the space sector in the next years.Since 2018, the team has been testing the Lunar Zebro in conditions that simulate the harsh lunar environment. In 2020, the rover was sent to Hawaii, where it used its C-shaped legs to navigate across difficult terrain. Now, the team plans to use it inside a lava tube in Iceland to see how it performs.
EV

Full Self-Driving

Our Xiaomi Pilot Test vehicle has achieved a safe and smooth driving experience under various conditions. Check out the video below for some of my favorite demos! #LeiJunAnnualSpeech pic.twitter.com/5ngOtkwoWp  leijun (@leijun) August 11, 2022

Tesla has started its career as a massive disruptor in the automotive sector. To some degree, themaker is still a disruptor; if we believe the companys accounts, it will continue to be one. But somehow, Tesla lost its mojo the moment Rivian released the R1T. Although the Cybertruck was introduced earlier, the long delays and frequent changes made him more like a me too EV than a market leader.The same might happen to Teslas forever-beta, as many Chinese companies have shown some impressive capabilities of their own automated driving systems. The internet giant Baidu is one of them. The smaller startup DeepRoute.ai has also demonstrated proficiency in driving in city traffic, even during rush hours. The last one to enter this fray is Xiaomi, a somewhat surprising contender.The mobile phone maker has shown ambitions well beyond its initial area of interest. Speaking at an event in Beijing, the companys CEO, Lei Jun, announced that Xiaomi is currently running tests on 140 vehicles across China for autonomous driving. This didnt take long, considering that the Chinese phone maker only clarified its EV ambitions last year. So far, Xiaomi has dedicated around $490 million and 500 staff to developing autonomous driving technology.At the same event, Lei Jun made another threatening move toward Tesla, this time in the humanoid robots field. The 177-cm (5.8-ft) tall CyberOne can walk, talk and use artificial intelligence to figure out the world. While it is merely a work in progress without much use today (beyond the pleasantries you see in the video below), the CyberOne has the chance to develop into something big.At the same time, Teslas Optimus Bot is still missing in action. However, Elon Musk hopes to have it finished before Tesla AI Day on September 30. Musk thinks the Optimus Bot will be the most important product his company is working on. But then again, he said the same about Full Self-Driving, so who knows?
Lamborghini was way ahead of the carbon neutrality curve, being certified as compliant with the environmental management standard ISO 14001 in 2009.The carmakers SantAgata Bolognese plant has been certified as CO2 neutral since 2015, way before the aggressive push towards greenifying everything that were seeing these days.Throughout the years, the Italian car brand hasnt stopped finding innovative solutions for a more sustainable business, implementing a 360-degree approach to environmental friendliness. In 2021 alone, half of all the brands hazardous waste from production was recycled into new resources and products at Lamborghini.That includes cool accessories made from materials that dont pass quality controls. You know, everyday stuff like tote bags, smartphone cases, keychains, bracelets, and credit card cases.You see, innovation doesnt have to be complex. Taking stuff thats not really up to par quality-wise and turning it into something else than initially planned can have a nice positive effect on the environment. By doing so, Lamborghini has reclaimed around 27 tons of waste since 2020.As an alternative to recycling, the material is also donated to educational institutions like the Experis Academy in Fornovo di Taro and university associations like Bologna Motorsport. There, the materials are reused for the purpose of educating new technicians and engineers.While were not all major global players like Lamborghini, we can still make small changes that can ultimately benefit all of us, whether thats switching to an EV , recycling more, or heck, even taking a walk from time to time. If thats not an option, there are always cool bikes to choose from.
Pete Tittl's Dining Out column appears in The Californian on Sundays. Email him at pftittl@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter: @pftittl.
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You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
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Madhur Anand, University of Guelph; Ajay Verghese, Middlebury; Amitabh Mattoo, The University of Melbourne; Geetha Ganapathy-Dore, Universite Sorbonne Paris Nord, and Uditi Sen, University of Nottingham

(THE CONVERSATION) Editors note: At midnight on Aug. 14, 1947, India achieved independence from British colonial rule and Pakistan was created as a separate homeland for Muslims. More than 200 years of British rule had come to an end  a painful process in which some 15 million people were displaced and another million or more killed. The trauma of the Partition is seared in the collective memory of the two countries to this day.

For the 75th anniversary of this momentous day, The Conversation asked scholars from the U.S., Canada, France, U.K. and Australia to provide a list of the best Partition films, literature or art. Here are some recommendations:

1. My Name is Radha: The Essential Manto

- Recommended by professor Madhur Anand, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Partition in South Asia refers to that horrific year when an arbitrary red line was drawn across a map by British colonial rulers  namely, the last viceroy, Louis Mountbatten, and Cyril Radcliffe, a barrister from England who was given five weeks to draw the line that severed India and created Pakistan. The violence of that crooked line has traumatized an uncountable number of people. I know some of this history through the lives of my own parents.

While writing my memoir based in part on the Partition and my parents childhood, I hunted for nonfiction books and memoirs written by witnesses, but when I found little, I turned to fiction and poetry. One of the most influential books for me was Saadat Hasan Mantos My Name is Radha, a collection of translated short stories.

A former journalist and screenwriter, Manto was one among the millions who were displaced: Manto moved to Pakistan and wrote fiction about the lives of marginalized people. He wrote about Partition from the perspective of insane asylum residents and prostitutes and, in so doing, powerfully illustrated the unimaginable horrors and absurdities of Partition. He was tried in India for obscenity in his writing, but never convicted. He said, With my stories, I only expose the truth.

2. Midnights Children

- Recommended by professor Geetha Ganapathy-Dore, Universite Sorbonne Paris Nord

Salman Rushdies Midnights Children, which won the Booker Prize in 1981, the Booker of Bookers in 1993 and was judged Best of the Bookers in 2008, has not aged one bit. Translated into over 24 languages, the book was adapted for the stage by British directors Simon Reade and Tim Supple in 2003. In 2012, filmmaker Deepa Mehta brought out a cinematic version of it.

It is a must read on the multiplicity of India: There are as many dreams of India as there are people in this dramatically diverse land  plus the moth-eaten Pakistan, as founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah described it, with a divided Punjab and Bengal.

History, in this novel, is inseparable from story, as its protagonist Saleem Sinai was born on the same day as the nation. The twin hero of Midnights Children, Shiva, though he shares his name with one of Hinduisms most important deities, is ironically the son of a Muslim couple. Yet this embodies the hybrid nature of identity in the subcontinent, which is almost always multicultural. The epic narrative also incorporates the history of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was carved out of Pakistan in 1971.

Writing back to the empire, asserting its independence in chutnified Indian English, this masterpiece of magic realism borrows the device of the storytelling scribe from the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic.

Midnights Children thus remains an incontrovertible narrative on decolonization and the birth of new nation states.

3. Train to Pakistan

- Recommended by professor Amitabh Mattoo, University of Melbourne, Australia

Khushwant Singhs Train to Pakistan is one of the most moving accounts of the Partition of India and the way local communities, which had lived peacefully for generations, were torn apart by the forces of communalism. As the Partition plan is announced in the summer of 1947, millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs flee across the new border between India and Pakistan. Mass violence ensues.

Train to Pakistan is set in what at first seems like an island of hope: the imaginary village of Manmo Majra, on the border of India and Pakistan, inhabited primarily by Sikhs and Muslims. In the viciousness of the violence, this small villages traditional social structure and relative harmony is destroyed to a point where all sense of humanity is lost. There is still hope, however, in the resilience of love.

One day, a train arrives from Pakistan, a ghost train full of corpses of Hindus and Sikhs. The Sikhs are provoked to retaliate, with a plan to murder en masse Muslims leaving the village on a train traveling back to Pakistan. But a local outlaw, Jugga  a Sikh  sacrifices his life to save the train. He does so because be believes his Muslim lover, Nooran, is traveling on it.

4. Earth

- Recommended by professor Ajay Verghese, Middlebury College, U.S.

Deepa Mehtas 1998 film Earth is a chilling story about the horrors of the Partition. Based on Bapsi Sidhwas novel Cracking India, the film revolves around three friends in colonial Lahore, in present-day Pakistan: Shanta, a Hindu nanny to a young Parsi girl named Lenny, and two Muslim suitors, Hassan and Dil. The film portrays how their carefree friendship is upended by the violent division of India, slowly turning them against each other and finally into enemies solely on account of their religion.

Several aspects of the movie provide viewers with a unique window into the ground-level realities of the Partition, which included, as one grisly scene shows, an entire train car of slaughtered Muslims arriving to Lahore. The narrative is presented via the recollections of a young girl who lived through the event. Lenny is also from a wealthy Parsi family, a minority religion in India and one that is not normally featured in Partition discussions. Her familys naive attempt to stay neutral during the conflict when the mob comes reflects the reality of times when not just Hindus and Muslims but every religious group was involved in some act of violence. It was almost impossible to stay neutral.

Finally, the film powerfully centers the narrative around Shanta. Shes last seen when she is abducted and taken away by a Muslim mob, and viewers never learn of her ultimate fate. Shantas story is a reminder that Partition was not just about religion or land, but also about widespread, underreported sexual violence against women.

5. The Long Goodbye (album)

- Recommended by professor Uditi Sen, University of Nottingham, U.K.

Riz Ahmeds album The Long Goodbye is a commentary on contemporary race relations in Britain. It explores British-Asian belonging in the context of rising racism and xenophobia, using the metaphor of a breakup. It takes a deeper look at the lyrical complaints of the dumped partner, whose pain and anger mirror the emotions of contemporary British Asian and Muslim communities  shot through with a historical awareness of the British empire and the Partition of India.

In the song The Breakup (Shikwa), Brittney baby is the partner who took the money (my stash was a quarter of the cash in the world) and labor (my people built the west, fought for you in the war), and yet seeks to disown the new kids (the South Asian diaspora in the U.K.). Its impossible to separate what Ahmed says of the now from the then as he evokes the history of the equally impossible Partition of India.

Ahmed raps that during the Partition, Britain carved a scar down my middle just to leave me stretched out. Its left a bloody legacy of conflict: My Kashmir jumper still stained red and the bleeding never ends man.

He highlights how seemingly overnight, Muslims in India and Hindus in Pakistan became foreigners in their own home. Ahmed notes in the song Where You From that this racist question takes on a deeper meaning for British Pakistani Muslims, whose ancestors survived the Partitions displacement: My ancestors Indian but India was not for us.

Ahmed uses the Partition to lay bare the violence inherent in racist ideas of national belonging. The Long Goodbye dares listeners to learn from the past and imagine a form of belonging that celebrates being from everywhere and nowhere.

The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. The Conversation is wholly responsible for the content.
pawel.gaul/Getty Images/iStockphoto

PAHOA, Hawaii (AP)  A 16-year-old boy has died and his 14-year-old brother remained missing after they were swept away while swimming off a remote beach on Hawaii's Big Island, according to police.

Rescuers responded Thursday to a report of multiple swimmers in distress at Haena Beach, also known as Shipman Beach in the Puna district.
A Texas man was arrested after he allegedly used a drone to deliver drugs to a prison.

Authorities arrested Bryant LeRay Henderson at his home in Smithville on Thursday and charged him with flying a drone carrying meth, THC, two cell phones and nine MP3 players over to a prison in Fort Worth in early May, according to the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas.

Contraband drone deliveries are quickly becoming the bane of prison officials existence," said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham.

Court documents said Henderson used a DJI Inspire drone to deliver the contraband, but it crashed inside a fenced-in yard near the prison's HVAC shop. Prison employees were able to get hold of the items after they landed.

Investigators said they used surveillance video from a nearby high school to identify Henderson who was seen in the video driving up in a red Chevy Tahoe with a "Transformers" decal on the rear window, removing the drone and package from the vehicle, launching it towards the prison, and then driving off.

They found his debit card and drone controller inside the car he was driving in the video, the DOJ release states, adding that the controller matched the drone that crashed into the prison yard.

Henderson allegedly flew the drone -- which was registered to someone who canceled the license in 2018 -- over to the Fort Worth prison four times and another two times to a prison southeast of Dallas, according to the release.

If convicted, he could face up to 45 years in prison.

In July, another Texas man was arrested in Houston and charged with allegedly flying a drone over to a prison in Beaumont.
DC has an excess of history and an excess of hotels. For better or worse (usually worse), basically all of DCs many, many, many hotels have a weird historical quirk. Seriously: There are a lot of hotels in DC, and all of them built before 1990 have a ton of history. If you want to sleep where Lincoln pondered whether or not this experiment was/is worth the effort, just go to the Willard and feel like the best POTUS possible. End of list.

But the slightly less Lincoln-centric hotels of DC will provide a much more interesting history lesson. Here are five DC hotels with a history interesting enough for at least a one-night stay.

Foggy Bottom, rooms from $299

Obviously. The name of the hotel has become a shorthand for political scandal. Wouldnt it be nice to stay in a monument to the biggest political scandal from the past 50 years that didnt include a violent insurrection? Also, you could teach the young people in your life about surveillance without involving a single smartphone. Throwback!

If you are visiting and/or seeing a show at The Kennedy Center, you cannot find a better location. Its a block away, and the love JFK still receives would really, really piss off Nixon.

Downtown, rooms from $690

Were sticking with the dark side of DC  but were getting modern! The recently renamed Trump International Hotel was a place of protest for the 94.6 percent of DC residents who did not vote for the hotels former namesake in the most recent presidential election. But now its not named after a previous president, and Jose Andres is once again involved.

If youre looking for a five-star hotel located between The White House and Capitol Building that was the location of about 20 times more scandals than The Watergate and was the former Nations Old Post Office, consider the Waldorf!

Downtown, from $260

Its difficult to avoid politics when considering a historic DC hotel. So how about a hotel that caters to both sides, at least when it comes to poultry? The Hotel Washington, recently renamed from W Washington DC, is home to the turkeys that are pardoned every year at Thanksgiving.

Every year before their big day, the pardoned turkeys get a massive suite, wrapped in so much plastic it looks like an American Psycho set. Conveniently located across the street from the Treasury Department, which is next door to the White House, Hotel Washington is as close as you can stay to the White House without staying in the White House.

If you have any time to visit the rooftop bar, do it at night. It has one of the best views of the Washington Monument.

Woodley Park, from $180

A few miles from the National Mall, the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Woodley Park is a massive hotel with enough political history to warrant interest. But its The Beatles stay that helps put it on this list. To commemorate this historic 1964 visit, theres a tiny shrine to the Mop Tops stay near the rental car office. Guess what you might want when you visit the Nations Capital? A rental car! Why not look at some photos of men who drove on the wrong side of the road while you wait for your car? Also, FDR had his first inaugural ball there. I guess thats more interesting than a bands tour stop.

Oh, and some people think its haunted.

Adams Morgan, from $189

Theres no shortage of hotels infamous for presidents and politicians in and around DC. But there are some hotels whose history is more normal  or at least apolitical. One such hotel is Adams Morgans The Line. The boutique hotel opened in 2017 after years and years of construction and curiosity from locals. A hotel opening typically doesnt cause a big stir  but this 1912 building was repurposed from the First Church of Christ, Scientist. Is it blasphemous to open a hotel on the site of a church? Or does it make sense to repurpose a building that sat dormant for nearly 25 years? Whatever you decide is between you and your god.

This article was featured in the InsideHook DC newsletter. Sign up now for more from the Beltway.

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An obnoxious reality where travel is involved, tourists taxes actually serve a pretty important purpose.

For the uninitiated, tourists taxes are small fees levied on travelers, usually by way of accommodations, to help mitigate the effects of tourism and, more importantly, help curb overtourism. Which is why it should come as a surprise to none that the most expensive city in the world when it comes to tourist taxes is none other than Honolulu.

Per new data from Money.co.uk, the Hawaiian capital is number one when it comes to premium tourist taxes, costing travelers roughly $361.93 for a seven night stay, or $51.70 a night. Thats because, on top of the 10.25% transient accommodations tax (TOT) Hawaii charges, the city of Honolulu has added a 3% surcharge.

In second place comes San Francisco, which, too, charges a large TOT of 14% on stays under 30 days. Those looking to stay for seven nights in the Bay Area can plan to pay $207.29 in tourist tax alone, per room, or $29.61 a night. Similarly, LAs TOT is 12% of a nightly room rate, which works out to be $23.49 a night.

The fourth most expensive tourist tax? That would be Orlando, which charges a 6% sales and resort tax, and winds up coming out to around $11.60 a night. That applies to Orange County area at large, too, and Miami isnt far behind.

Of course, all of the aforementioned cities are also counted among the USs most visited cities. And, for its part, Honolulu has long been looking for ways to tame tourism. What better way to do that than to raise the barrier to entry? Its a controversial method, sure, but one thats proven consistently effective. Its not exclusive to the US, either.

While the tourists taxes in Europe are exponentially lower, they do exist. In fact, Amsterdam charges 79.18, per tourist, for a seven-night stay  more even than Orlando. Further, Mexico actually charges the largest flat rate to tourists entering the country of all.

Moral of the story? Factor tourist taxes into your budget. Or, alternatively, consider destinations that dont charge tourist taxes.

For more travel news, tips and inspo, sign up for InsideHook's weekly travel newsletter, The Journey.

The post Which US City Has the Highest Taxes For Tourists? appeared first on InsideHook.
Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who was the former general of the Indonesian Army Special Forces, gestures while attending the Gerindra Party leaders national meeting in Bogor, Indonesia, Aug. 12, 2022.

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto declared his intention to run in the 2024 presidential election on Friday, accepting a nomination from the countrys second largest party, which he founded.

This will be the third consecutive presidential run for Prabowo, a former Army special forces commander who served under autocratic Indonesian leader Suharto, then his father-in-law. Prabowo lost to Joko Jokowi Widodo in the two previous presidential races.

I hereby declare with a sense of duty that I accept your nomination as a candidate for president of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo said in a speech at the Gerindra Partys national leadership meeting in Sentul, a town just south of Jakarta.

We want to fight to build a better future for our children, for Indonesian youths, he said.

Jokowi, his current boss, will not be running in the next general election because of term limits mandated by the constitution.

Prabowo, 70, announced his new bid for Indonesias highest office after Gerindras provincial representatives agreed to nominate him as its presidential candidate. He is the partys chairman and founder.

The Gerindra Party Regional Leadership Councils throughout Indonesia are unanimous in nominating Mr Prabowo as the Gerindra Partys presidential candidate for 2024, said Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, the partys executive chair.

Indonesians are set to go to the polls on Feb. 14, 2024 to select the countrys next president, members of the national parliament and local councils.

The election is expected to be hotly contested as no potential candidate polled higher than 30 percent in recent surveys, analysts said. A run-off would be held on June 26, 2024, if no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote.

Prabowo, Central Java provincial Gov. Gandjar Pranowo and Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan are among potential contenders for the next presidential election, according to recent privately-conducted opinion polls.

A survey by Indonesia Polling Stations (IPS) this week showed that 30.2 percent of respondents said they would vote for Prabowo, 19.8 percent for Ganjar and 18.9 percent for Baswedan.

Nominating Prabowo again could boost Gerindras general election chances because he remains the partys most popular politician, said a political analyst in Jakarta.

By nominating Prabowo, Gerindra stands a chance of finishing second again in the legislative election after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. His impact is huge, said Djayadi Hanan, executive director of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), a private pollster.

Djayadi said Prabowos support base had expanded after he joined the Jokowi government as defense minister.

As part of President Jokowis cabinet, Prabowo also has attracted some of Jokowis supporters, he said.

Usep Saepul Ahyar, a senior researcher at the Populi Center, another polling agency, said Prabowo had a loyal voter base who would keep voting for him.

So far, Prabowos loyal voters are in Banten, West Java, West Sumatra, he told BenarNews.

Gerindra Party members queue to enter the venue of the national meeting of its leaders, as a picture of party chief Prabowo Subianto is seen in the background, in Bogor, West Java province, Indonesia, Aug. 12, 2022. [Reuters/Willy Kurniawan]

Following the 1998 resignation of the dictator Suharto amid political and economic upheavals, the army discharged Prabowo for his alleged role in the kidnapping of political activists as commander of the army special forces (Kopassus). The late President Suharto, a former army chief, had ruled Indonesia for 32 years.

Prabowo has denied committing or being a party to any human rights violations.

Syaiful Huda, deputy secretary general of the National Awakening Party (PKB), said that a coalition with Gerindra would be announced this coming weekend.

The PKB was founded by clerics from Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim-majority country.

It will be formalized in a joint declaration with the signing of a cooperation agreement, Huda said.

Jazilul Fawaid, the PKB deputy chairman, said his party and Gerindra could complement each other, one being a religious party, the other nationalist.

The Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party and the United Development Party have formed the United Indonesia Coalition in order to be eligible to field a presidential candidate, because the bloc controls 27 percent of seats in the House of Representatives.

Under Indonesian electoral law, political parties or coalitions may nominate a presidential candidate only if they hold at least 20 percent of House seats or have garnered 25 percent of the vote in the previous election.

Campaigning for the 2024 election would be cut to 75 days, from the six months allowed in the previous two electoral cycles, so as to reduce divisiveness and law-and-order issues, the electoral commission has said.

Supporters of rival candidates had marred previous campaigns across the archipelago country by exchanging religious or ethnic slurs.


A police investigator marks a bullet casing found in front of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines, where at least three people, including a former town mayor, were killed in an attack by a gunman, July 24, 2022.

Authorities were still searching for an unidentified gunman who fatally shot the former deputy mayor of a town located south of the capital Manila, Philippine police said Friday, in the latest killing of a politician in the Southeast Asian nation.

The victim, Romeo Sulit, 61, who had served as deputy mayor of Lobo, a town in Batangas province, was gunned down while attending a birthday party in Lobo on Thursday night, officials said.

He was the second Filipino politician to be assassinated within three weeks, but police said they had yet to determine a motive. In the Philippines, where local officials are known to have their own private armies, revenge attacks are common.

Sulit was the guest of honor at the birthday celebration for a friends daughter when a gunman shot the victim in the head, police investigator Billionaire Jan Calleja said.

The suspect fled on foot towards the north direction. The victim was brought to [a] Lobo District Hospital for medical treatment. [A] dragnet operation was requested, Calleja said.

Sulit, who was still active in local politics, died at the Batangas Medical Center in Batangas City early on Friday morning, officials said.

[His death] is a big loss to the policy-making body in our town, the local government unit of Lobo said in a statement.

We mourn his death and we express our deep condolences to the family, they added.

The University of Batangas, where Sulit had served in the past as commander of its Reserve Officers Training Corps, urged authorities to arrest the suspect and swiftly finish the investigation.

We are saddened by the incident. We vehemently and angrily condemn the alleged brutal killing, they said in a statement.

In late July, a former mayor of Lamitan town on southern Basilan island, Rosita Furigay, was shot dead along with two others at Ateneo de Manila University in Metro Manila, while she was attending her daughters graduation ceremony from law school.

Chao Tiao Yumol, the suspect who was caught and who confessed to the killing, was a doctor who had a long-running feud with Furigay, authorities said.

Yumols father was subsequently shot and killed in Basilan, in what police suspected could be a case of rido  a revenge killing or blood feud that remains prevalent in a country where politicians are known to hire their own private armies and illegal guns can easily be acquired on the black market.
A U.S. F-35B Stealth Fighter Jet performs at the Singapore Airshow on Feb. 15, 2022.

China and Thailand are to kick off a major joint air force exercise on Monday after a two-year suspension because of COVID-19, the Chinese Defense Ministry announced.

In a statement on Friday, the ministry said the Falcon Strike 2022 training exercise will be held at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Udon Thani province, northeastern Thailand.

The exercise will begin on Sunday and will last until Aug. 24, BenarNews sources said. It will include training courses such as air support, strikes on ground targets, and small and large-scale troop deployment, according to Chinas defense ministry.

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will dispatch fighter jets, fighter-bombers and airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, and the Royal Thai Air Force will send its fighter jets and AEW aircraft, the ministry said.

The renewed exercise marks a new effort to enhance mutual trust and friendship between the two air forces, the ministry said, as well as to further the strategic cooperation between Thailand and China, as the latter seeks to project power and expand its influence in the region.

Falcon Strike begins on the same day that Super Garuda Shield ends in Indonesia. Troops from the host country, the U.S. and Australia participated in a live-fire exercise on Sumatra island on Friday, according to the Associated Press.

The drills in Thailand follow the Chinese military finishing a week-long air-naval exercise around Taiwan in response to a visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Thailand cannot deny Chinas military role in this region. The combined exercise enables Thailand to better understand and be more familiar with the PLAs command and control system and its military doctrine, Dulyapak Preecharush, deputy director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at Thammasat University in Bangkok told BenarNews.

Growing military links

Reuters quoted an anonymous Thai air force source who said his nation will not deploy its F-16s for Falcon Strike 2022. Instead it will use its Swedish-made Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighters as well as German-made Alpha Jet light attack aircraft.

It is unclear which types of aircraft China will deploy.

Chinese fighter jets have been seen taking part in recent Sino-Thai Air Force joint training exercises, said Andreas Rupprecht, an analyst Chinas military aviation, in a recent interview.

Thailand has been shifting more toward China in recent years, Rupprecht said.

Fighter jets from Chinas PLA Air Force and the Royal Thai Air Force fly in tactical formation during joint training exercise Falcon Strike 2019. [Chinese Defense Ministry]

Since the Thai military increased its power after coups in 2006 and 2014, Bangkok bought tanks, armored personnel carriers and entered into a controversial multi-billion-dollar contract to procure submarines from China.

Chinas arms exports to Thailand increased five-fold between 2014 and 2018 compared with the preceding five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden.

The Thai-U.S. relationship has encountered some turbulence because of the growing ties between Bangkok and Beijing, despite Thailand being the U.S.s oldest treaty ally in Asia.

The Thai air force expressed a strong interest in buying some F-35 stealth fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of F-16A/B Fighting Falcons, but Washington so far seems reluctant to consider the purchase, fearing the fighters sensitive technologies could be compromised by China, its biggest military and strategic rival.

However the upcoming Falcon Strike exercise should not increase tension between China and the U.S. if it doesnt have a scenario such as an attack on U.S. interests or let China become familiar with U.S. military hardware, said Thammasat Universitys Dulyapak.

Both the U.S. and China can take turns to hold joint drills with Thailand, the analyst said, adding: There is no monopoly in Thailands defense policy.

Falcon Strike joint training exercises have been held annually since 2015 but were suspended in 2000 because of the global COVID pandemic. This years event is the fifth training exercise between the air forces of China and Thailand.

Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok contributed to this report.
Some Myanmar residents act as couriers by purchasing food and supplies in Mae Sam Lab village for others in Myanmars Karen state, July 12, 2022. [Yostorn Triyos/BenarNews]

The children of a ferry operator play near the pier in Mae Sam Lab, Thailand, July 13, 2022. [Yostorn Triyos/BenarNews]

Myanmar passengers check their mobile phones while waiting to board a boat to take them across the Salween River from Mae Sam Lab village in Thailand, July 13, 2022. [Yostorn Triyos/BenarNews]

A small boat loaded with goods remains on shore near Mae Sam Lab village as it waits for additional passengers, July 13, 2022. [Yostorn Triyos/BenarNews]

People disembark from a passenger boat, the main mode of transportation in the area, in Mae Sam Lab village, northwestern Thailand, July 13, 2022. [Yostorn Triyos/BenarNews]

A woman waits in Mae Sam Lab village, northwestern Thailand, for a ferry to cross the Salween River to Myanmar. Operators can wait up to a half day for enough passengers to break even on such trips, July 15, 2022. [Yostorn Triyos/BenarNews]

The inhabitants of Mae Sam Lab say life in this Thai village along the frontier with Myanmar used to bustle with tourists and a vibrant cross-border river trade.

As the people here struggle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, violence from attacks by Burmese junta forces nearby have made things worse, they say.

The doldrums started with the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourists  Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Korean  were gone. Boat operators, local guides, souvenir shops have been badly affected, said Chai Pongpipat, an official with the Tambon Mae Sam Lab administration.

In the months since the February 2021 coup in Naypyidaw, troops belonging to the Burmese military regime and Border Guard Force have clashed with ethnic resistance forces including in the Karen State, which lies across the Salween River from Mae Sam Lab.

Over two years of enduring COVID, people seemed to be able to adapt to its effects, but the slight COVID recovery was worsened by the clashes between Myanmar forces and ethnic fighters in the areas. The trade activities have stalled, Chai told BenarNews.

Meanwhile, fishermen say their catches have been falling. Theyre afraid to fish when its dark on the river, which separates the two countries, because of nighttime clashes on the Myanmar side.

Lately, there have been a handful of small boats from the nearby village coming here to buy stockpiles of food and necessities as the fighting is unpredictable, Chai said.
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Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta casts his vote in his country's presidential elections at Mutomo Primary School, Gatundu, Central Kenya on Tuesday. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online falsely claiming that Kenyatta publicly admitted that his deputy president will win the election.
On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming that a video shows World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying he isnt vaccinated against COVID-19. The clip is from a documentary and shows part of an interview, filmed weeks after Ghebreyesus was vaccinated, in which he says at one point that he waited for better global vaccine equity before receiving his own shot.
Two big questions for a man in prison for a deadly 1984 arson remained up in the air Wednesday, though answers are coming soon. Will William P. Cascone be granted a new trial? Will he be released in the meantime?
Editors note: The Berkshire Eagle is providing updates on candidates and campaigns ahead of the Sept. 6 primary elections.

Berkshire District Attorney

The State Police Association of Massachusetts endorsed Berkshire District Attorney candidate Timothy Shugrue on Thursday ahead of the Sept. 6 Democratic primary vote.

Every District Attorney serves a vital role in ensuring their county remains safe by protecting their citizens and local businesses, said Patrick McNamara, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, in a statement. In our opinion, Attorney Shugrue has the knowledge, experience and willingness to ensure the citizens of Berkshire County have a strong advocate seeking justice on their behalf.

Where to meet the candidates this week Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington announced that she will continue a series of house parties and meet and greets this week with events in Pittsfield on Tuesday, Lenox on Thursday and a visit to Kimball Farms Life Care Community in Lenox on Friday. Challenger Timothy Shugrue will make an appearance Saturday at the annual Jimmys Ride After Party at Ozzies Steak and Eggs in Hinsdale. The annual event in memory of Jimmy Bernardo serves as a fundraiser for the Berkshire County Kids Place and Violence Prevention Center. On Tuesday, Shugrue will participate in a meet and greet at the Greenock Country Club from 5 to 7 p.m. On Wednesday, hell visit with the Great Barrington Rotary.

Its the first formal endorsement announcement for the Shugrue campaign. The local defense attorney said that he was proud to receive the endorsement.

As a proud Democrat, I am committed to public safety and I strongly believe in effective and smart prosecution, Shugrue said in a statement. I am humbled to have been endorsed by such a prestigious organization, and I look forward to receiving the support of law enforcement professionals, and the general public.

The association has endorsed three other district attorney candidates across the Commonwealth: Assistant District Attorney Dan Higgins in the Cape and Islands race, incumbent Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz and incumbent Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey.

The endorsement comes as the Harrington campaign prepares for a door knocking and canvassing campaign with one of the incumbent DAs most notable supporters: Attorney General Maura Healey, the Democratic candidate for governor.

The Harrington and Healey campaigns will visit with voters over the course of a coordinated canvassing campaign Aug. 20.

The candidates will meet Monday for the first debate in the Berkshire District Attorneys race. The event, co-hosted by Pittsfield Community Television and iBerkshires.com, features a debate with both the candidates for district attorney and county sheriff and will start at 6 p.m. at the Berkshire Athenaeum.

The district attorneys portion begins at 7:30 p.m. following the sheriffs debate. The event will be streamed on PCTV CityLink Channel 1301, PCTV Select and the broadcasters Facebook page.
"Freemans story is more complex than such accounts allow, and the instrumentalization of her life narrative raises questions about the stories told in the absence or suppression of archival material and about how narrative serves as one tool among many for the containment of black lives, even those that are celebrated," Dr. Sari Edelstein, assistant professor of English, UMass Boston

Quote
Four years ago, I joined the effort to elect Andrea Harrington as Berkshire district attorney. My interest in doing so was rooted in dismay at the offices prior administration.

I have watched closely the work of the DAs Office under Harrington. Whatever one makes of the endorsements she is now announcing from politicians who live outside Berkshire County, her offices performance on the nuts and bolts of its prosecutions has been woeful.

I have been a trial lawyer for 42 years. I spent 10 of those years as a federal prosecutor. In that period, I ran the U.S. Attorneys office in Springfield. Among other cases I successfully prosecuted during those years was the biggest armed robbery case in the history of Berkshire County. I know what it is to be a quality prosecutor.

The failures of the DAs Office under Andrea Harrington to effectively prosecute its major criminal cases have been frequent and noteworthy. Two of the most recent of those failures are telling.

Judge faults Berkshire DA's handling of case involving foster child's death and dismisses charges against Adams couple In a ruling sharply critical of the Berkshire District Attorney's office, a judge this week dismissed an involuntary manslaughter case brought against Adams foster parents. "This is not the standard of conduct the court expects from the Commonwealth in grand jury proceedings," Judge John Agostini wrote.

In 2021, Harrington charged Cassandra Barlow-Tucker and Matthew Tucker, of Adams, with involuntary manslaughter alleging that they had, acting as foster parents, recklessly failed to provide basic medical care to a foster child in their care and so were criminally responsible for his death.

The Tuckers faced 20 years in prison if convicted, and suffered the devastating loss of reputation that attaches to those charged with killing a child.

Almost a year later, after conducting hearings and reviewing written submissions from Harringtons office and the Tuckers attorneys, Berkshire Superior Court Judge John Agostini made detailed findings of prosecutorial misconduct by Harringtons office and dismissed the case against the Tuckers. Judge Agostini is a highly esteemed Superior Court judge. In dismissing Harringtons case, he wrote a thoughtful 17-page decision which concluded with the stinging comment that District Attorney Harringtons presentation was not the standard of conduct the court expects from the Commonwealth in grand jury proceedings.

The Eagle wrote an editorial addressing the DAs misconduct in this case and, in less circumspect terms, wrote that Overreaching to obtain indictments is a dangerous abuse of discretion, but doing so in a case that tries to hold a foster parent criminally responsible for a childs death is truly reprehensible. Harrington has now appealed this ruling but has refused to respond to The Eagles request on behalf of the public for even the scant details of her appeal.

More recently, Harringtons office lost a first-degree murder case where the evidence included the video confession of the defendant admitting to the murder. During the trial, the defendant testified that his confession was false and that he had given it only under pressure by police officers. But Harringtons office chose not to call those police officers to testify and rebut that claim. After the trial, the police involved in that investigation publicly rebuked her office for not calling them as witnesses who could have thoroughly undermined the credibility of the defendants claim that his confession was coerced.

If Harrington did not believe the police who investigated the case and therefore would not call them to testify, she should either not have introduced the confession into evidence or not have prosecuted the case at all. If she believed the police, she should have called them as witnesses. At best, her offices decision-making in this matter is inexplicable. At worst, it is prosecutorial malpractice.

These two cases exemplify the Harrington administrations poor judgments in major prosecutions. It is fine for Harrington to lean on her progressive values and political endorsements to seek reelection. It is another thing to do the hard work of effectively and fairly prosecuting the real and dangerous criminals in Berkshire County, which is her offices primary mission. That Harrington has failed to do.

Harringtons public pronouncements criticizing others who serve in the criminal justice system also deserve some attention.

In May 2021, Harrington wrote a letter to Massachusetts District Court Chief Justice Paul Dawley, stating that District Judge Jennifer Tyne, who regularly presides over Harringtons District Court cases, was a significant threat to public safety. Harrington described some of Judge Tynes rulings as dangerous and alleged that she engaged in hostile treatment of victims and prosecutors. She demanded that Judge Tyne be removed from the bench.

After carefully reviewing the tapes of the proceedings in question, Justice Dawley determined that there was no factual basis for Harringtons allegations; rather, the recordings reflected Tynes careful and thoughtful analysis, and her rulings were properly within the bounds of lawful judicial discretion. Despite these findings and widespread support in the bar for Judge Tyne, including from many former prosecutors, Harrington has repeatedly and publicly stated that she stands by her criticisms.

And in January of this year, Harrington publicly proclaimed a strong but very dubious opinion involving the federal indictment of States Attorney for Baltimore Marilyn Mosby. Like Harrington, Mosby was part of a self-styled group of progressive chief prosecutors whose mission is to reform the criminal justice system. One day after Mosbys federal indictment for perjury and other significant felonies, Harrington rose to her defense. Harrington wrote in a since-deleted tweet: Seeing the justice system used against @MarilynMosbyEsq is scary for those of us taking on the status quo. I have tremendous respect for Marilyns leadership and her courage but she shouldnt have to bear so much. This MLK day, I will be celebrating her.

In essence, Harrington implied that the federal charges against Mosby were trumped up by the scary status quo, which apparently included the United States Department of Justice, which brought the charges, and the federal grand jury that indicted her.

Harringtons unsubstantiated criticisms of others acting in good faith in the criminal justice system, like Judge Tyne and the U.S. Department of Justice, undermine the publics trust in our criminal justice system to no good end.

All in all, the people of Berkshire County deserve better from their district attorney  a lot better.
Yuh-Line Niou, a state assemblywoman and candidate for the Democratic primary in New York's 10th Congressional District, speaks in an Aug. 2 candidates forum in Brooklyn. Niou is one of many candidates in the newly redrawn 10th District in which Eagle columnist Leonard Quart now finds himself navigating the many options in a crowded Democratic primary.
Staffers help customers in March 2021 during opening day at Clear Sky Cannabis in North Adams, the second recreational marijuana dispensary to open in Northern Berkshire County. Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday signed into law reforms to the state's cannabis regulations that one Cannabis Control Commissioner called "monumental."
SANDPOINT - Idaho State Police are investigating a single-vehicle collision that occurred on Thursday at approximately 10:26 a.m. on Highway 41 near milepost 34.7, in Bonner County.

A green 1995 Chevrolet Tahoe, driven by a 17-year-old male, was traveling southbound when the vehicle left the roadway off the west shoulder. The vehicle re-entered the roadway, lost control, overturned and went back off the roadway again off the west shoulder before coming to a final rest.

The driver was wearing a seatbelt and sustained minor injuries. A 17-year-old male passenger sustained unknown injuries and was airlifted by Lifeflight to Sacred Heart for treatment, it is unknown if he was wearing a seatbelt. A 16-year-old female passenger was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle and sustained serious injuries. A 15-year-old female passenger was also not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected and sustained non-life threatening injuries.

Police say alcohol was a factor in the crash and the incident remains under investigation.
Mainly Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province & Ringing Trips to Bahrain
The 7th Annual Top Empowerment Virtual Conference, presented by Topco Media and Nedbank, kicked off on 20 July 2022 with a highly successful first day. This virtual conferences mission is to empower top companies, entrepreneurs and leaders that are embracing technology, transformation, and innovation in Africa. The conference partners include Nedbank, AVBOB, Hollard Insurance, Nemesis Accounting, IDC, Merchants and UFS.

David Masondo, South Africas deputy finance minister, opened day one of the conference, followed by Nedbanks opening address led by Ciko Thomas, group managing executive: retail and business banking, focusing on increasing investment into black-owned entities.

Mathews Phosa, a prominent businessman and attorney at Phosa Loots Attorneys Inc., delivered the first keynote address, raising the question of whether the government is setting businesses up for failure in a post-liberation state. "Some of the things happening today, I want to make clear, is [sic] not what we fought for. It is time to deliver, it is time to reconcile, to create hope for the nation and hope for the future. The government should bridge the gap between the public and private sectors. Business is business. Government is government. We must learn from the experience of state capture and stop corruption, a passionate Phosa explained. He also added that corruption came both from the government and the private sector: There's one nation, one country, one economy  we must all work together. All of us in South Africa must work together.

How an innovative green transition can create economic opportunities

Nedbank, which is not only the green bank based on its corporate identity but also because of its sustainability commitments, hosted the days first panel discussion with the theme of how an innovative green transition can create economic opportunities. The discussion was moderated by Maanda Rashaka, strategic specialist in sustainability at Nedbank, and the panellists included Anel Bosman, group managing executive: CIB, Nedbank Limited; Henry Sebata, partner, BTS AVO & BTS Group; and Jarrod Lyons, business development executive, Atlantis Special Economic Zone for Green Technologies.

During the discussion, Jarrod Lyons stated that one could make a transition just by upskilling previous employees sufficiently to be able to transition to the greener more sustainable economy, with Anel Bosman adding that we need to transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive economy. She added: Only through working at systemic, business and community levels we can really create an inclusive society.

The state of youth unemployment and identifying actionable solutions before its too late

The fireside chat about education, job creation and the unemployed youth in South Africa, drew a lot of attention. The panellists included Waseem Carrim, CEO, NYDA; Allan van der Meulen, co-founder, Zlto; and Victoria Jacobs, managing director at Skill Hub as the moderator.

This timely discussion offered some interesting insights. There are opportunities, but many are short-term in nature, said Waseem Carrim. According to Allan van der Meulen, some of the biggest obstacles hindering the youth from evolving in the workplace are that they are given internships that dont really prepare them for the job market, teach them skills that are not in demand and forget about barriers. He added that education is still crucial as it plays a role in entrepreneurship too. The question was raised whether we can educate people in a way that they can understand, as only 1 in 100 youth in South Africa complete tertiary education. The conclusion was that there is an opportunity to train non-accredited skills for actual demand that exists in the economy, localise the content and have more young people become entrepreneurs, which would create more jobs.

Creating shared value partnerships for economic growth

Carl van der Riet, chief executive officer at Avbob Mutual Assurance Society, discussed what has worked for Avbob to transform and make a real difference through CSI initiatives. He emphasised that shared value partnerships place the fulfilment of societal needs as the purpose of corporate activity. We need to unite around a single purpose of creating inclusive economic growth. We need to be investing time and energy into creating shared value partnerships. Without meaningful participation in economic growth, the cycle of poverty is never broken. It is only through quality education that our children will have a hope of competing and thriving through the fourth industrial revolution.

This sentiment was echoed in a panel discussion about advancing education through CSI initiatives as an aspect of transformation within South Africa, with panellists Nakedi Pilane, business development director, Avbob; Gugu Mkhize, CEO, Inseta; and Kholosa Nonkenge, assistant director at the Department of Basic Education.

The panellists agreed that education needs to be investigated for the youth to be competitive to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and a long-term view requires one to invest in people. SMMEs can indoctrinate the youth into the right culture and train them. If theres no transformative ownership, nothing is going to change, and the structure of our economy will remain the same and continue to increase inequality. Only by creating an enabling environment can we really hope to create an economy that benefits all.

Theo Baloyi, the CEO of Bathu Shoes, and a winner at the 2021 Top Empowerment Awards, in Job Creation category, shared his journey as a South African entrepreneur with the audience in a fireside chat How to start a multi-million rand company with little to no start-up capital. He noted that: "The most exciting part of your journey is actually watching it happen. And as one Twitter user noted: Its so inspiring to hear the humble beginnings & how @Theobaloyi7 worked hard to be at the powerful position he is right now.

Watch the videos here:

Top Empowerment Conference 2022 - Day 1 Session 1

Top Empowerment Conference 2022 - Day 1 Session 3

Top Empowerment Conference 2022 - Day 1 Session 4

Top Empowerment Conference 2022 - Day 1 Session 4




Despite the relative sophistication of its economy and business environment, South Africa's record as regards its promotion of women in the business environment is poor.

Keoleboge Malela, ESG manager at Norsad Capital

For instance, although the South African stock exchange, the Johannesburg stock exchange (JSE), is the largest in Africa, it reflects the dearth of women in executive positions in the countrys listed companies. Figures from October last year show that there were just four female CEOs among the top 40 JSE-listed companies. Moreover, only 5% of all listed companies have a female CEO. As for salaries, the gender pay gap is bigger at listed companies than in unlisted ones. Add to this the fact that women were those most severely affected by the pandemic in our country: of the three million South Africans who lost their jobs as a result of Covid-19 and lockdown, two million were women.

While all this may be quite entrenched in our country, there are reasons to be concerned. For one, we are losing out on potential economic growth  something that is sorely needed in South Africa. The fact that growth in the economy could be better if we involved women more is backed up by a study done by the Boston Consulting Group, which highlighted that if women participated equally as entrepreneurs, the global economy would grow somewhere between 3% and 6%. Additionally, there is research that confirms that, as regards investment, a focus on gender in investment decisions is likely to make companies more competitive and to improve human capital.

Many regions of the world have begun to understand that women-focused investment is crucial, explains Keoleboge Malela, ESG manager at Norsad Capital. This shift in focus is beginning to impact female entrepreneurs in positive ways. For example, last year, female-led startups in Africa attracted $288m in funding, considerably more than the $52m achieved in 2019.

This is good to see, says Malela, but its just the beginning. Male-led startups still attract a great deal more funding. In addition, the scarcity of funding impacts women in a range of other ways, including their ability to secure good employment and the business worlds ineffectiveness in innovating to produce quality products targeting the female market.

It is against this thinking that Norsad Capital has developed its approach to making funds available to women-owned businesses. According to Malela, Weve adopted a gender lens when it comes to assessing potential investment. As a result of this approach, between 2019 and 2021, we saw an increase of 61% in womens jobs in the companies we chose to invest in.

Malela believes that investment firms and funders should add gender issues to their due diligence programmes. One does not need to focus exclusively on female ownership, she explains. A look at the number of women on the executive team of the business, as well as the size of the female staff complement, and whether the products or services it provides have a positive impact on women, provides a good indication as to whether the firm shows an understanding of the issues facing women.

Norsad Capital has itself implemented policies geared to further the interests of women on its staff. According to the latest Norsad Capital Impact Report, just over half the employees are women. More significantly, a significant number of professional staff are female, and there is solid representation of women at board level.

If women are to take their place as equal citizens in our country, this must include their ability to run and to grow businesses. Funders should be taking note.
From left: John Black, Tara Penny, Warren Eva

Eva and Black made history last month when they became the first South Africans to summit K2. Its the second highest peak in the world and is part of the Karakoram mountain range that spans the borders of Pakistan, China and India. It stands at a dizzying 8,611 metres above sea level and is widely considered the world's toughest and most dangerous mountain climb.

Eva and Black received a guard of honour when they arrived at Hot House just days after landing back in South Africa, before sitting down with Hot 102.7FM head of news, Tara Penny  who had tracked their story every step of the way  and The Big Joburg Drive team of Simon Parkinson, Zinhle Nako, and Dylan Rogers.

Warren and John used a satellite phone in freezing conditions at all times of the day to keep us abreast of every breathtaking moment, says Penny. In their own special way, they took Hot 102.7FM and our listeners along for the historic ride.

Not only did Eva and Black climb the worlds second-highest mountain, but in the process raised R83,320 for their designated charity, Food4Hope, something that resonated deeply with the team at Hot Cares on Hot 102.7FM.

What an amazing achievement, and we thought it was incredible that Warren and John not only scaled these incredible heights for their own sense of accomplishment, but also with a charitable element front of mind, says Carmen Rocha, managing director of Hot Cares. It seemed only right, then, that Hot Cares matched their efforts and the money they raised for Food4Hope.

With Hot Cares adding its contribution, Food4Hope will be receiving R166,640 towards their efforts as an organisation that focuses on the most pressing and urgent childrens needs, which include food, clothing, school fees and attending to their medical needs.

Food4Hopes vision is to see the optimal functioning and development of children in need of brain food, and their cause is one that fits perfectly with the Hot Cares objective to "make a meaningful difference to the lives of those around us.

These guys are South African heroes and we want to play our part in celebrating their incredible achievement, says Lloyd Madurai, managing director of Hot 102.7FM. We hope our listeners enjoyed following this groundbreaking journey every step of the way, with the knowledge that there was more at stake here, and we thank Warren and John for allowing Hot Cares the opportunity to make a meaningful difference with Food4Hope.

Eva and Black will now enjoy a much needed rest before plotting their next challenge. As the history-making pair told Hot 102.7FMs The Big Joburg Drive: Watch this space!




Teneo Online School recently conducted a survey to determine how perceptions of online schooling in South Africa have changed after digital learning became the only schooling option during lockdown.

Image source: August de Richelieu from Pexels

Even prior to the pandemic, online schools had their fair share of critics among South Africans, but this perception drastically changed due to the lockdowns and increased isolation. So, was this purely a short-term solution for parents during the pandemic?

An analysis of the enrolment data from Teneo Online School says otherwise: these learners have switched for the long-term and most plan to finish their school experience online. The real school online has grown by 10,488% in over five years, from 85 learners when it was founded in 2018 to 9,000 learners today and counting, since enrolments are always open.

The data clearly indicates that both parents and learners who initially were not convinced merely needed to see it to believe it. Now that they have seen how convenient, yet brilliant quality online school is, they are more open to considering it, says John Shaw, CEO of Teneo Online School.

Five survey insights worth noting

94% of the sample indicated that online school is better value for money in comparison with traditional, brick-and-mortar schools. For example, those who wish to do an international curriculum, such as Independent Examinations Board (IEB), often need to fork out more money for a private school. There is also no need to spend money on school uniforms or transport costs  if you have access to a digital device and high-speed internet, you are good to go.



95% of the sample agreed that they would consider online school for their children if the children agreed to trying it.



97% of the sample indicated that online school encourages autonomy in children which is good for their development. Since structure and routine are important for learners, Teneo operates on a mostly synchronous (live) basis where learners are expected to be live in class in accordance with their timetables (just as they would at a physical school). However, there are students who benefit greatly using the asynchronous (recorded) model where they learn using pre-recorded lessons and at their own pace  a great option for those pursuing other interests in the daytime, such as aspiring professional sportsmen.

80% of the sample would consider their children swapping from the South African curriculum to an international one, such as Pearson Edexcel British International or IEB. 20% believe the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) alone will suffice.



Only 7% of the sample believe that all online schools are the same, the remaining 93% believe that selecting the right online school for your child is important. This is a critical insight since there are many online schools offering different things, so it is essential that you consider what the best option for your child would be. Parents should consider the type of school suitable to their child, the amount of live interaction the child will receive (ratio of live versus recorded), look at the learner management system and how it operates and confirm that the school in question uses quality, SACE-registered teachers.

Shaw founded the school long before the pandemic because he saw how efficient online schools were internationally, and making this mainstream in South Africa would address many educational challenges, like removing area codes as a criterion for schools.
The South African government has managed to negotiate a settlement that will see the clearing of citrus containers stuck in ports of entry in the European Union (EU).

Source: tawatchai07 via Freepik

The settlement follows new measures introduced by the EU to regulate risk associated with False Codling Moth (FCM) on citrus fruit.

The new measures include amended additional phytosanitary declarations for grapefruit and soft citrus and a revised cold treatment regime for oranges.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) said the measures were published on 21 June 2022 and were set to come into force by 24 June 2022.

This implied that consignments arriving in Europe from 14 July onwards needed to comply with the new measures.

Taking the shortest sailing time to the EU, it meant that consignments that left South Africa on 24 June 2022, three days from the publication, should have been certified on the new measures, the department said.

The DALRRD said it explained to the European Commission (EC) in a meeting and through written communication that the date was unreasonable.

"At the time of the publication of the new measures, there were consignments that were certified and had already left for the EU, as well as some that were in the process of being exported.

"The DALRRD assertions were that changing the inspection and certification system within three days were unrealistic," the department said.

It said that a reasonable date relating to compliance with the new measures would have been for consignments leaving South Africa on 9 July 2022, considering the required adjustments of systems and communication to the different regulatory sites, which were required at least three weeks from publication.

However, the department said, the EC insisted on 14 July 2022 as an implementation date, and as anticipated, the department started receiving queries from exporters after the implementation date regarding rejection of consignments in the EU ports.

"The EU authorities needed phytosanitary certificates compliant with the new FCM measures. The DALRRD segmented the cases into just documentation regarding grapefruit and soft citrus, and cold treatment compliance on oranges.

"The impasse was subsequently addressed through replacing phytosanitary certificates with the correct additional declarations, starting from 22 July 2022. The orange cases were still an issue, until the industry in a meeting on 25 July 2022 presented to the DALRRD possible equivalent measures regarding treatment applied on these consignments under South Africas Systems Approach for FCM," the department said.

The DALRRD committed to negotiate with the EU through the relevant National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs), that they should consider these equivalent measures.

The department said the first official letter was sent to the Netherlands NPPO on 27 July 2022 and a positive response was received on 28 July 2022.

Based on this agreement, the department said an arrangement was agreed to that replacement phytosanitary certificates will be issued for oranges with equivalent cold treatment declaration.

"Issuance of replacement phytosanitary certificates for oranges started on Monday, 1 August 2022. In a meeting with industry on 3 August 2022, the DALRRD agreed to include other ports of entry after receiving yet another positive response from Italy on equivalent cold treatment declaration.

"The ports that were presented by industry where South African oranges were rejected included ports in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Over 2 000 containers, at an estimated valued at R500m, were affected by this blockage," the department said.

With information being submitted by the industry, the department said it has so far re-certified orange consignments blocked in the Netherlands and Italian ports.

"We are receiving confirmation that the containers are being cleared.

"Furthermore, the DALRRD held a meeting with the EC on 5 August 2022 regarding handling the non-compliant consignment at the ports of the EU and agreed on the interim measures, namely that the EU acceded to the DALRRDs application to complete the cooling period in the EU.

"The interim measures provide that the consignments be treated at the cold treatment facilities in the EU and the department to notify other EU member states, the department said.

To date, the department said it managed to clear more than 300 of 509 containers and is processing clearance of the remaining containers.
In August every year, South Africa observes Women's Month to celebrate the important role women play in the workplace and in society. The reality, however, is that there is still a significant gap in equality among men and women in terms of pay and rank across most job sectors.

According to Stats SA data released in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey of the 2nd quarter of 2021, women accounted for 43,4% of total employment in the second quarter of 2021. Of those in managerial positions, 66,9% were men compared to 33,1% of women.

The University of Stellenbosch Business School shared a report confirming that only 20.7% of the board members on JSE-listed companies are female and many JSE-listed companies do not even have a single female director, while the 2021 PwC Executive Directors Report revealed that only 14% of CEOs, CFOs and executive directors of JSE-listed companies are female. This indicates an additional barrier of gender-based discrimination for women striving towards executive positions.

What are some of the advantages of having greater gender balance in the workplace?

Gender equity is not only the 'right' thing to do, but it also makes business sense. Corporates that dont prioritise attracting and retaining female talent may be missing out. Looking at male and female job seekers, our data reveals that job sectors like manufacturing, construction, and design & marketing seem to have more female job seekers than male job seekers with tertiary qualifications.

Along with accessing a greater pool of talent, research indicates that recruiting women can boost the bottom line. According to data from S&P 500 companies, analysed by BoardReady in 2021, there was a strong connection between board diversity and revenue growth during the pandemic. When comparing revenue from 2019 and 2020, companies where women held more than 30% of board seats outperformed their peers in 11 of 15 sectors.

Furthermore, studies suggest that having a strong representation of women in senior roles creates less gender discrimination in the employment process and a greater retention rate. In addition, women aid creativity. Companies with women in senior leadership roles often experience the phenomenon of innovation intensity, producing 20% more patents than teams with male leaders. More female representation within organisations is also associated with higher status. Fortunes most respected companies have twice as many women in senior management than other companies.

Given the value that women can bring to the workplace, what steps can corporates take to bridge the gender gap and position themselves as Employers of Choice for SAs top female talent?

While the global Covid-19 pandemic has irrevocably changed the world of work and ushered in a new normal, it has also presented corporate companies with new opportunities to level the playing field and create greater gender equality in the future. CareerJunctions latest data reveals where these opportunities may exist.

Creating more remote/hybrid work opportunities

Women desire flexibility in terms of where, when, and how they work. Historically women have been disadvantaged when applying for certain roles because they often must juggle multiple roles as spouse, mother or caregiver while simultaneously pursuing a career.

The recent shift away from traditional office-based employment means that companies can now access a wider pool of talent by creating remote/hybrid job opportunities for women.

It is interesting to note that significantly more women are applying for remote roles than men in several job categories. For example, female applications increased by 368% for teaching jobs with the 'work from home' option, while male applications increased by 119% for remote teaching jobs.

Other occupations which have seen a more gender-balanced increase in remote job applications are shown in the table below.

The top three fastest growing job sectors over the last 12 months were admin, office & support, the legal sector, as well as the marketing sector, followed by the architecture & engineering, and design, media & arts sectors. Looking at these top three fastest growing sectors in terms of recruitment, female applicants are taking the lead since most applicants across these sectors were female. If your organisation falls within one of these sectors, you could be well placed to attract quality female candidates when you place a job advert.

On the other hand, male applicants dominated the applications for architecture & engineering jobs as well as design, media & arts vacancies over the last 12 months. So, if your organisation falls within one of these sectors and youd like to attract SAs top female talent, you may need to share more information about the additional value you can offer as an employer in terms of work-life balance, employee benefits, and so on.

Conclusion

In an increasingly competitive job market, South African corporates looking to differentiate themselves as employers of choice would be wise to consider the value that women can bring to the table and play their part to bridge the gender gap in the workplace. In the short term, corporates can start reducing the pay gap by offering more equitable packages for their job vacancies and proactively searching for equitable talent by identifying suitable female candidates for executive positions.

In the medium term, employers should focus on training, mentoring, and supporting women as soon as they join the company to support skills development and the opportunity for career growth. Finally, in the long term, corporates can achieve greater gender equity by fast-tracking female employees to ensure there is a higher percentage of women in executive and leadership positions.




As Israel unleashed a surprise wave of air strikes on Gaza last Friday, the two remaining Conservative politicians vying to replace disgraced Prime Minister Boris Johnson publicized letters vowing fealty to Israel.

Their timing underscored the degree to which British politicians on both sides of the aisle have now joined their American counterparts in making commitment to Israel a defining issue in their campaigns for highest office.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, trumpeted their pro-Israel credentials over the weekend, as Israel killed 45 Palestinians, including 16 children, and injured hundreds more. Israel said several Islamic Jihad leaders  the intended targets  were among the dead. A ceasefire went into effect late on Sunday night.

As expected, western leaders came out solidly in support of Israel, even though on this occasion there was not even the pretense that Israel was retaliating for rockets fired out of Gaza. Israel initiated the hostilities, claiming its strikes were meant to prevent an alleged attack by the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad with an anti-tank missile.

One can imagine how politicians in the United States and Europe would have reacted had a Palestinian faction justified firing rockets into Israel unprovoked on the basis that it wished to deter future Israeli air strikes. But in any case, if deterrence really was Israels aim, its attack had precisely the opposite effect. Entirely predictably, Islamic Jihad responded by firing hundreds of rockets into Israel.

In fact, though it is never mentioned by western politicians or media, Palestinians, unlike Israel, actually have a right in international law to resist Israel militarily  and not only because Israel has been belligerently occupying their lands for decades.

Israel has additionally subjected Gaza to a 15-year blockade that has tightly controlled who and what is allowed in and out of the tiny, heavily overcrowded coastal enclave. Gaza has been left in ruins by a series of Israeli attacks over more than a decade  what the Israeli army calls mowing the lawn. Gazas trapped 2.1 million inhabitants suffer serious shortages of food, clean water, medicines and electricity. Malnutrition and poverty are endemic.

Last year, the head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, observed: If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza. That hell is entirely manmade  by Israel.

Double standard

Perhaps the most flagrantly hypocritical comment on the weekends events came from Yevgen Korniychuk, the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel. He tweeted out a message of support for Israel that turned reality on its head.

He expressed deep sympathy for the Israeli public, suggesting that Israel, like Ukraine, was suffering a very brutal attack by its neighbor. He added: Attacks on women and children are reprehensible.

But it was Israel that initiated the attack, not the Palestinians. And it was women and children in Gaza, not in Israel, who died under Israeli bombs.

Korniychuks comments served to underscore the wider hypocrisy of western politicians who have expressed outrage at Russian aggression against Ukraine since its invasion in late February, but for years have either minimized or supported Israels regular aggression against Gaza.

The double standard was starkly evident in the case of the two contenders for Johnsons crown. At the weekend, Truss and Sunak laid out their unwavering support for Israel at the very moment it was killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They did so to their partys main pro-Israel lobby group, the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI).

Truss averred: The UK should stand side by side with Israel, now and well into the future. As Prime Minister, I would be at the forefront of this mission. Comments from Truss, the bookmakers favorite, particularly stick in the craw.

As foreign secretary, she has been outspoken in condemning Russias invasion, calling it an illegal occupation. She has backed Britons going to fight against Russia. She has loudly supported sending weapons to help Ukraine defend itself. And she has suggested that the assets of Russian nationals frozen by the UK should be transferred to Ukraine.

Of course, Truss wishes to extend none of those supposedly principled positions supporting Ukrainians against Russian aggression to Palestinians facing Israeli aggression.

It is inconceivable that she would ever approve of sending arms to Palestinians so they could defend themselves from Israeli attack. Quite the contrary. Trusss government has increased arms sales to Israel to record levels even as Israel chokes Gaza and Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem steal ever more Palestinian land.

It is also unthinkable that Truss would agree to freeze Israeli assets in the UK and use them to help reconstruct long-suffering Gaza. Or that she would back Britons going to fight with the Palestinian resistance against Israels suffocating blockade of Gaza.

Financial gain

Once again, what is treated as sacrosanct for Ukraine is denied absolutely to Palestinians, even though Israels crimes against the Palestinian people have been going on for decades, not months. But it is not just that Truss and Sunak are failing to uphold the same ethical and legal principles they espouse so vehemently in the case of Ukraine.

Their letters to CFI deny Palestinians any right  not just a military one  to resist their oppression from Israel, while the pair also promise to reward Israel regardless of how much it oppresses the Palestinians and breaks international law.

Remember, a spate of human rights groups recently concluded that Israel is an apartheid state, in its treatment of both Palestinians under occupation and those living as a minority inside a professedly democratic Israel.

That is all swept under the carpet, with neither Tory minister daring to alienate CFI. The organizations website revealed in 2014 that four-fifths of all Conservative MPs were CFI members. Its current website reports that since the 2015 general election it has taken more than 180 of them on trips to Israel, where they have been wined and dined by Israeli leaders.

More than a decade ago, an investigation by Channel 4 described CFI as by far Britains most powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. Its members were reported to have donated more than 10m ($12m) to the party between 2001 and 2009. Which may explain why Truss wrote in her letter: CFI members are some of our most valued, passionate and committed supporters. I have no doubt that the strength of the Conservative partys support for the State of Israel stems in large part from the important role that you all play.

That sounds a little too much like an admission that the Tory partys  and her own  unconditional backing for Israel derives, at least in part, from the financial leverage exerted by wealthy pro-Israel donors. It was almost as an afterthought that Truss noted her commitment to Israel was also because it is the right thing to do.

Incentivizing apartheid

As Truss and Sunak face separate hustings organized by CFI over the next few days, the pair will be encouraged to outcompete each other in demonstrating their loyalty to Israel.

That said, it is hard to imagine what more they can offer. Truss strongly hints that she wants to follow the example set by former US president Donald Trump and move the British embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in defiance of international law.

Peace talks that Israel has long stymied are premised on Palestinians receiving occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israel has been actively preempting that possibility by helping Jewish settlers take over Palestinian lands in the city and making life ever harder for the Palestinian population there to drive them out.

Truss said she had been holding conversations about where the embassy is sited with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Lapid, who approved the latest attacks on Gaza, backed Trumps relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem in 2018.

For Trump, the move was intended to pander to his electoral base of US evangelicals. They wish to shore up Jewish control of the region to bring about an end times in which Christians alone rise to be with God.

Now Truss appears ready to emulate Trump.

In her letter, the foreign minister also promises to cement Britains ties with Israel by expediting a Free Trade Agreement being drafted by the government. Truss has said closer trade is a priority.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International have warned against Britain hastily negotiating such an agreement, warning that it may incentive Israels system of apartheid, help Israel expand its illegal settlements and give a stamp of approval to Israeli efforts to annex Palestinian land under occupation.

Truss vows too a further crackdown on the international boycott movement, backing a US-style bill to prevent public bodies, including local councils, from joining the BDS campaign to divest funds from Israel for its illegal activities in the occupied territories.

She says BDS causes needless division. Presumably the division that concerns her is antagonizing Israels aggressive lobbyists in the UK, not fueling tensions with Palestinians, their supporters and human rights groups.

Given inaction by western governments, solidarity expressed through boycotts is effectively the only nonviolent way for individuals and organizations to punish Israel  whether for its continuing crimes against ordinary Palestinians, or its efforts to steal and colonize their land, or its moves to frustrate the emergence of a Palestinian state.

By outlawing peaceful resistance to Israels belligerent occupation, Truss would leave Palestinians and their supporters with a stark choice: either promote violent forms of resistance, or sit quietly while Israel inflicts death by a thousand cuts on Palestinian statehood and any hopes of peace.

Global power dynamics

Truss makes clear that she will characterize any effort to hold Israel to account as antisemitism. She intends to silence criticism of Israel for its human rights abuses at the United Nations, one of the very few international forums where Israel faces scrutiny.

And she promises to toughen the UKs stance towards Iran, the only counterweight to Israels military dominance in the Middle East.

Sunak is barely less extravagant in his advocacy for Israel. He too extols the Free Trade Agreement, calls for intensified intelligence cooperation with Israel against Iran, promises to outlaw boycotts, and grossly mischaracterizes the Abraham Accords  signed by some Gulf states to further isolate the Palestinians  as a new era of peace.

Whether it is Truss or Sunak who replaces Johnson, each is already committed to championing Israel against the Palestinians and crushing dissent at home.

The opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer is not offering any kind of corrective to the Conservatives lockstep support for Israel.

His predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, a strong supporter of justice for the Palestinians, faced a relentless, years-long, evidence-free campaign tarring him as presiding over an institutionally antisemitic party. Starmer has learnt that lesson. During his campaign for the Labour leadership, he declared himself a Zionist, subscribing to an ideology that in practice insists Israel has a right to usurp Palestinian land and colonize it.

Since then, he has ignored a vote by his own party conference to declare Israel an apartheid state and deny it arms to oppress Palestinians. He has also blurred a long-accepted distinction between anti-Zionism, opposition to Israels oppression of Palestinians, and antisemitism, bigotry towards Jews.

Like Truss and Sunak, Starmer has unequivocally supported helping Ukrainians resist Russian aggression while denying that right to Palestinians under Israeli military occupation.

The truth, as illustrated by these bipartisan double standards, is that no UK party leader is prepared to found their foreign policy on genuine ethical principles or humanitarianism, whatever they claim.

Their knee-jerk support for Israel follows from a recognition of global power dynamics. Western neocolonial interests are what sets the agenda in the oil-rich, conflict-prone Middle East, a region where the super-powerful lobbies of the fossil fuel industry and the arms manufacturers have so much at stake financially.

It is those narrow, cynical, elite interests that British governments serve, not some notion of the greater public good. Which is why Israel knows it is free to pound Gaza whenever it chooses  with no consequences, except for the Palestinians facings its bombs.

Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. His latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilizations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing Palestine: Israels Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). His website is www.jonathan-cook.net.
The Ukrainian government is threatening to commit war crimes again.



On Thursday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry released a video on Twitter threatening Russian civilians that they may be bombed if they vacation in Crimea.



The video shows women and children running for their lives after the alleged Ukrainian strike on Saki airbase in Crimea earlier this week.



"Unless they want an unpleasantly hot summer break, we advise our valued russian guests not to visit Ukrainian Crimea," the MoD said. "Because no amount of sunscreen will protect them from the hazardous effects of smoking in unauthorised areas."



The video tells civilians, who voted overwhelmingly to join Russia in 2014, that "Crimea is Ukraine" and it's "time to head home" lest they be bombed.





Unless they want an unpleasantly hot summer break, we advise our valued russian guests not to visit Ukrainian Crimea.



Because no amount of sunscreen will protect them from the hazardous effects of smoking in unauthorised areas.

Bananarama pic.twitter.com/NnWnpZqMhR  Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 11, 2022



Russia can't have a news outlet of their own on any Western social media site but Ukraine can threaten to commit war crimes with the full support of Big Tech.



Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram.
Following objections from the Ukrainian government, CBS News has removed a short documentary which had reported concerns from numerous sources that a large amount of the supplies being sent to Ukraine arent making it to the front lines.

The Ukrainian government has listed its objections to the report on a government website, naming Ukrainian officials who objected to it and explaining why each of the CBS news sources it dislikes should be discounted. After the report was taken down and the Twitter post about it removed, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this was a good start but still not enough.

Welcome first step, but it is not enough, Kuleba tweeted. You have misled a huge audience by sharing unsubstantiated claims and damaging trust in supplies of vital military aid to a nation resisting aggression and genocide. There should be an internal investigation into who enabled this and why.

The CBS News article about the documentary was renamed, from Why military aid to Ukraine doesnt always get to the front lines: Like 30% of it reaches its final destination to the far milder Why military aid in Ukraine may not always get to the front lines. An editors note on the new version of the article explicitly admits to taking advisement on its changes from the Ukrainian government, reading as follows:

This article has been updated to reflect changes since the CBS Reports documentary Arming Ukraine was filmed, and the documentary is also being updated. Jonas Ohman says the delivery has significantly improved since filming with CBS in late April. The government of Ukraine notes that U.S. defense attache Brigadier General Garrick M. Harmon arrived in Kyiv in August 2022 for arms control and monitoring.

CBS News does not say why it has taken so long for this report to come out, why it didnt check to see if anything had changed in the last few months during a rapidly unfolding war before releasing its report, or why it felt its claims were good enough to air before Kyiv raised its objections but not after.

Someone uploaded the old version of the documentary on YouTube here, or you can watch it on Bitchute here if that one gets taken down. It was supportive of Ukraine and very oppositional to Russia, and simply featured a number of sources saying they had reason to believe a lot of the military supplies being sent to Ukraine arent getting where theyre supposed to go.

The original article quotes the aforementioned Jonas Ohman as follows:

All of this stuff goes across the border, and then something happens, kind of like 30% of it reaches its final destination, said Jonas Ohman, founder and CEO of Blue-Yellow, a Lithuania-based organization that has been meeting with and supplying frontline units with military aid in Ukraine since the start of the conflict with Russia-backed separatists in 2014. 3040%, thats my estimation, he said in April of this year.

The US has sent tens of thousands of anti-aircraft and anti-armor systems, artillery rounds, hundreds of artillery systems, Switchblade armored drones, and tens of millions of rounds of small arms ammunition, CBSs Adam Yamaguchi tells us at 14:15 of the documentary. But in a conflict where frontlines are scattered and conditions change without warning, not all of those supplies reach their destination. Some also reported weapons are being hoarded, or worse fear that they are disappearing into the black market, an industry that has thrived under corruption in post-Soviet Ukraine.

I can tell you unarguably that on the frontline units these things are not getting there, the Mozart Groups Andy Milburn tells Yamaguchi at 17:40. Drones, Switchblades, IFAKs. Theyre not, alright. Body armor, helmets, you name it.

Is it safe to characterize this as a little bit of a black hole? Yamaguchi asked him, perhaps in reference to an April report from CNN whose source said the equipment thats being sent drops into a big black hole, and you have almost no sense of it at all after a short period of time.

I suppose if you dont have visibility of where this stuff is going, and if youre asking that question, then it would appear that its a black hole, yeah, Milburn replied.

We dont know, Amnesty Internationals Donatella Rovera tells Yamaguchi at 18:45 when asked if its known where the weapons being sent to Ukraine are going.

There is really no information as to where theyre going at all, Rovera says. What is more worrying is that at least some of the countries that are sending weapons do not seem to think that it is their responsibility to put in place a very robust oversight mechanism to ensure that they know how theyre being used today, but also how they might and will be used tomorrow.

A news outlet pulling a report because their own government didnt like it would be a scandalous breach of journalistic ethics. A news outlet pulling a report because a foreign government didnt like it is even more so.

Weve already seen that the western media will uncritically report literally any claim made by the government of Ukraine in bizarre instances like the recent report that Russia was firing rockets at a nuclear power plant it had already captured, or its regurgitation of claims that Russians are raping babies to death from a Ukrainian official who ended up getting fired for promoting unevidenced claims about rape. Now not only will western media outlets uncritically report any claim the Ukrainian government makes, they will also retract claims of their own when the Ukrainian government tells them to.

Its not just commentators like me who see the western press as propagandists: thats how they see themselves. If you think its your job to always report information that helps one side of a war and always omit any information which might hinder it, then you have given yourself the role of propagandist. You might not call yourself that, but thats what you are by any reasonable definition of that word.

And a great many western Zelenskyites honestly see this as the medias role as well. Theyll angrily condemn anyone who inserts skepticism of the US empires narratives about Ukraine into mainstream consciousness, but then theyll also yell at you if you say were not being told the truth about Ukraine. They demand to be lied to, and call you a liar if you say that means were being lied to.

You cant have it both ways. Either you want the mass media to serve as war propagandists or you want them to tell the truth. You cannot hold both of those positions simultaneously. They are mutually exclusive. And many actually want the former.

This cant lead anywhere good.

__________________

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Mary McCord, who was the chief of the United States Justice Departments national security division under President Barack Obama, said that former President Donald Trump may have violated the Espionage Act.



On the Skullduggery podcast from Yahoo! News, McCord contended that provisions in the World War 1-era law, which has been applied to the mishandling of classified information, potentially covers what Trump allegedly didremoving documents from their proper place, losing or stealing information, and other acts of gross negligence.



But the Espionage Act is part of the two-tiered US justice system. Only lower-level federal government employees or contractors are punished with Espionage Act charges. High-ranking officials are able to use their status to avoid charges that would turn them into convicted felons.



It is, however, possible that the FBI invoked provisions of the Espionage Act to secure a warrant to search Trumps Mar-a-Lago home and reclaim control of classified documents.



A grand jury subpoena for sensitive documents was issued to Trump in the spring, according to NBC News. The subpoena related to documents that Trumps legal team discussed with Justice Department officials around that same time.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) coordinated with Trump representatives in 2021, and in January 2022, 15 boxes were transferred to the National Archives. Some of the records contained classified information so NARA contacted the Justice Department [PDF].

FBI agents raided Trumps Mar-a-Lago home on August 8, and they reportedly retrieved at least 10 boxes of documents. Some of those files allegedly contain classified information. The fact that those boxes were not turned over when Trump representatives coordinated with NARA likely factored into the FBIs decision to deploy agents to reclaim the documents.

The Justice Department routinely investigates and prosecutes US government employees and contractors who take classified information and try to keep the records in their home. Such individuals are typically charged with unauthorized possession or the willful retention of national defense information.

On May 18, 2021, Kendra Kingsbury, a 48 year-old FBI intelligence analyst who had a top secret security clearance, was charged [PDF] with willfully retaining national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act. Between June 2004 and December 2017, she allegedly took documents on FBI counterterrorism operations as well as CIA documents on al Qaida in Africa, which she kept at her home in Dodge City, Kansas.



CIA contractor Reynaldo Regis pled guilty to retaining classified information on May 11, 2018. He was accused of copying classified information into personal notebooks. FBI agents found approximately 60 notebooks containing classified information when they searched his Maryland home.

Harold Martin was a Defense Department contractor, who was similarly charged with violating the Espionage Act on February 8, 2017 [PDF]. During the span of two decades, Martin took digital and hard copies of NSA documents, US Cyber Command documents, and a CIA document on foreign intelligence collection. They were kept in his Maryland home and his vehicle.



Mohan Nirala pled guilty on September 16, 2016, to willfully retaining national defense information and violating the Espionage Act. He was an imagery scientist at the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). FBI agents found more than 20 secret and top secret documents at his home in Maryland.

Working as a computer systems administrator at Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, Chris Glenn faced Espionage Act charges in 2014 after the FBI found that he had encrypted files from the Defense Department and US Southern Command, which he kept on an internet-accessible network storage device located in his residence in Honduras.



Mark Unkenholz was an NSA employee in Maryland, who was part of an office that worked with industry partners. On March 29, 2022, he was accused of willfully retaining national defense information and violating the Espionage Act in his personal email account.

As an NSA employee, Unkenholz did not have physical copies of the records in his home. He possessed the files by having the documents in his personal email, and the FBI learned of the retention because he sent the documents to a person at a company who was not authorized to receive the information. (Note: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had classified information on her private email server that created an increased risk of unauthorized disclosure.)

Then there is the case of the collector of rare documents. In 2012, Secrecy News reported that James Hitselberger, a Navy contract linguist in Bahrain, was charged with violating the Espionage Act because he had a habit of taking classified documents to his living quarters to read. The Hoover Institution at Stanford University had a Hitselberger collection that contained political posters and leaflets that he gathered in pre-revolutionary Iran.

FBI agents uncovered classified documents in Hitselbergers possession as well as his collection at the Hoover Institution.

In a rare event, David Petraeus, who was a CIA director and Pentagon chief, faced accusations of unlawfully retaining national defense information when he kept eight Black Books in his home [PDF]. The books contained highly classified information with the identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions, quotes and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings, and notes from discussions with President Barack Obama.



Petraeus later shared the Black Books with Paula Broadwell, who he had an affair with while she was writing a biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.



Because Petraeus was a former high-ranking official and a revered US military general in Washington, his attorneys were able to convince the Justice Department to not charge him with violating the Espionage Act.



Petraeus was charged in 2015 with the misdemeanor offense of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, which is part of the criminal code for public officers and employees.



None of the individuals charged with retaining or possessing information unlawfully had the same influence or power as Petraeus or Trump. They were lower class people that were unable to stop the Justice Department from treating them like spies.



Trumps legal team should be able to learn from Petraeus legal team and negotiate with Justice Department behind closed doors so he is not charged with violating the Espionage Act (if the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland is even prepared to charge him with a crime).



Therefore, it will be stunning if the Justice Department pursues an Espionage Act prosecution. No matter what the FBI uncovers and accuses Trump of doing with classified documents, he is still a former US president.



And regardless of the ultimate outcome, the documents that were at Mar-a-Lago belong to the public, not Donald Trump.
Unelected and unaccountable Technocrats are bent on creating vaccine passports. There is no discussion with nation-states or actual citizens who will be forced into taking the passports. A universal digital ID is the Holy Grail of Technocracy because it will enable a Skynet system of total control. The World Banks backing guarantees that Central Bank Digital Currency will be tightly coupled with vaccine passports. DBDCs will collect all financial transaction information. Social media collects all of your personal contacts and psychographic profile. Amazon Ring and Google Nest cameras collect your every local movement. Vaccine passports collect and store all of your health information. DNA collection will provide health predispositions. Existing government databases collect everything from drivers license data to gun registrations to political positions. When all of these types of data systems are connected and integrated, Skynet will have arrived to stay. It will know more about you than you know about yourself. It will predict your behavior. It will control your every movement. Resistance to this emerging system is not anti-technology as they would have you believe; it is anti-control.  TN Editor

While the World Health Organization pushes ahead with plans to enact a new or revised international pandemic preparedness treaty, the World Bank and other organizations are advancing new vaccine passport regimes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is moving ahead with plans to enact a new or revised international pandemic preparedness treaty, despite encountering setbacks earlier this summer after dozens of countries, primarily outside the Western world, objected to the plan.

A majority of WHO member states on July 21, during a meeting of WHOs Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), agreed to pursue a legally binding pandemic instrument that will contain both legally binding as well as non-legally binding elements.

STAT News described the agreement, which would create a new global framework for responding to pandemics, as the most transformative global health call to action since [the] WHO itself was formed as the first specialized United Nations agency in 1948.

Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum, African Union and World Bank  which created a $1 billion fund for disease surveillance and support against the current as well as future pandemics  are developing their own pandemic response mechanisms, including new cross-country vaccine passport frameworks.

WHOs pandemic treaty: whats been proposed and what would it mean?

Ongoing talks to formulate a new or revised pandemic treaty are building on the existing international framework for global pandemic response, the WHOs International Health Regulations (IHR), considered a binding instrument of international law.

On Dec. 1, 2021, in response to calls from various governments for a strengthened global pandemic strategy and signaling the urgency with which these entities are acting, the WHO formally launched the process of creating a new treaty or amending the IHR, during Special Session  only the second in the organizations history

During the meeting, held May 10-11, WHOs 194 member countries unanimously agreed to launch the process, which previously had been discussed only informally.

The member countries agreed to:

Kickstart a global process to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The IHR, a relatively recent development, were first enacted in 2005, in the aftermath of SARS-CoV-1.

The IHR legal framework is one of only two binding treaties the WHO has achieved since its inception, the other being the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The IHR framework already allows the WHO director-general to declare a public health emergency in any country, without the consent of that countrys government, though the framework requires the two sides to first attempt to reach an agreement.

The proposals for a new or revised pandemic treaty, put forth at the special ministerial session of the WHO in May, would somewhat strengthen the WHOs pandemic-related powers, including establishing a Compliance Committee that would issue advisory recommendations for states.

However, according to the Daily Sceptic, while the IHR is already legally binding, the amendments proposed in May would not strengthen existing legal obligations or requirements:

The existing treaty regulations, like all (or most) international law, do not actually compel states to do anything other than talk to the WHO and listen to it, and neither do they specify sanctions for non-compliance; almost all their output is advice.

The proposed amendments dont alter that. They dont allow the WHO unilaterally to impose legally binding measures on or within countries.

The Daily Sceptic noted one of the risks stemming from the negotiations for a new or updated treaty include the potential codification of the new lockdown orthodoxy for future pandemics, which would replace the sound, science-based, pre-COVID recommendations previously in place.

According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, such a treaty would grant the WHO absolute power over global biosecurity, such as the power to implement digital identities/vaccine passports, mandatory vaccinations, travel restrictions, standardized medical care and more.

Mercola also questioned a one-size-fits-all approach to pandemic response, pointing out that pandemic threats are not identical in all parts of the world. In his view, he said, the WHO is not qualified to make global health decisions.

Similar concerns contributed at least in part to opposition against the proposals presented at the special ministerial session, during which a bloc of mostly non-Western countries, including China, India, Russia and 47 African nations, prevented an agreement from being finalized.

Will opposition fade away?

Although no final agreement was achieved at the May meeting, consensus was reached to organize a new special ministerial session of the WHO later this year, possibly after the WHOs World Health Assembly, scheduled for Nov. 29 through Dec. 1, Reuters reported.

Mxolisi Nkosi, South Africas ambassador to the UN, told the WHOs annual ministerial assembly the new special session would consider the benefits for such a convention, agreement or other international instrument.

Nkosi added:

Probably the most important lesson COVID-19 has taught us is the need for stronger and more agile collective defences against health threats as well as for building resilience to address future potential pandemics.

A new pandemic treaty is central to this.

At the time, the U.K.s ambassador to the UN, Simon Manley, addressing the lack of an immediate agreement and the consensus to hold a new meeting, tweeted negotiations may take time, but this is a historic step towards global health security.

2 Second resolution  led by    with 60+ co-sponsors  calls for discussions on a #PandemicTreaty to start later this year. Negotiations may take time, but this is a historic step towards global health security. (3/4)  Simon Manley (@SimonManleyFCDO) May 25, 2021

The INB, at its meeting held in Geneva July 18-21, also agreed with this view, reaching a consensus that its members will work on finalizing a new legally binding international pandemic agreement by May 2024.

As part of this process, the INB will meet again in December and will deliver a progress report to the 76th World Health Assembly of the WHO in 2023.

According to the WHO, Any new agreement, if any when agreed by Member States, is drafted and negotiated by governments themselves, [which] will take any action in line with their sovereignty.

The WHO further claims that governments themselves will determine actions under the accord while considering their own national laws and regulations.

The Biden administration expressed broad support for a new or updated pandemic treaty, with the U.S. heading previous negotiations on this issue, along with the European Commission, via its president Ursula von der Leyen, who, as previously reported by The Defender, is also a strong proponent of vaccine passports and mandatory COVID-19 vaccination.

An analysis by the Alliance for Natural Health International speculated that any final agreement may simply strengthen the existing IHR or, alternatively, may involve an amendment to the WHOs constitution  or both.

Just two days after the July 21 INB agreement, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHOs director-general, tweeted:

Im pleased that alongside the process of negotiating a new [international] accord on pandemic preparedness & response, WHOs Member States are also considering targeted amendments to the [IHR], incl. ways to improve the process for declaring a [public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC].

In the same Twitter thread, he also declared the ongoing monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, one that is concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners.

Notably, the WHO director-general overruled an expert panel that was divided over whether to classify the outbreak as a global public health emergency.

With this declaration, three global health emergencies are now in place, as determined by the WHO: COVID-19, monkeypox and polio.

Busy summer for vaccine passport proposals

While the WHO and global governments weigh plans for an updated or new pandemic treaty, other organizations are moving forward on vaccine passport technologies and partnerships.

On July 8, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), composed of many of the worlds industrialized nations, announced it would promote the unification of the different vaccine passport systems currently in use around the world.

Thirty-six countries and international organizations participated in a July meeting with the goal of creating a multilateral framework for establishing a global vaccine passport regime, according to Nick Corbishley of Naked Capitalism.

The development is a continuation of efforts involving the WHO to harmonize global vaccine passport regimes.

In February, the WHO selected Germanys T-Systems as an industry partner to develop the vaccination validation service, which would enable vaccination certificates to be checked across national borders.

T-Systems, an arm of Deutsche Telekom, was previously instrumental in developing the interoperability of vaccine passport systems in Europe.

Also in July, 21 African governments quietly embraced a vaccine passport system, which in turn would also be interlinked with other such systems globally.

On July 8, which is also Africa Integration Day, the African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control launched a digital vaccine passport valid throughout the African Union, describing it as the e-health backbone of Africas new health order.

This follows the development in 2021, of the Trusted Travel platform, now required by several African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Togo and Zimbabwe, and air carriers such as EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways, for both inbound and outbound travel.

Beyond Africa, Indonesia, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20, is conducting pilot projects that would bring about the interoperability of the various digital vaccine passport systems currently in use globally. The project is expected to be completed by November, in time for the G20 Leaders Summit.

Naked Capitalism highlighted the role of South African company Cassava Fintech in the efforts to develop an interoperable vaccine passport for all of Africa.

A subsidiary of African telecommunication company Econet, Cassava initially developed the Sasail app, which the company described as Africas first global super app that combines social payments with the ability to send and receive money and pay bills, chat with others and play games.

Cassava and Econet entered into a strategic partnership with Mastercard, to advance digital inclusion across Africa and collaborate on a range of initiatives, including expansion of the Africa CDC TravelPass.

As previously reported by The Defender, Mastercard supports the Good Health Pass vaccine passport initiative that is also backed by the ID2020 alliance and endorsed by embattled former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair.

Mastercard has also promoted technology that can be embedded into the DO Card, a credit/debit card that keeps track of ones personal carbon allowance.

ID2020, founded in 2016, claims to support ethical, privacy-protecting approaches to digital ID. Its founding partners include Microsoft, the Rockefeller Foundation, Accenture, GAVI-The Vaccine Alliance (itself a core partner of the WHO), UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank.

Mastercards top two stockholders are Vanguard and BlackRock, which hold significant stakes in dozens of companies that supported the development of vaccine passports or implemented vaccine mandates for their employees. The two investment firms also hold large stakes in vaccine manufacturers, including Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

Mastercard provides funding for the World Banks Identity for Development (ID4D) Program, which focuses on promoting digital identification systems to improve development outcomes while maintaining trust and privacy.

The Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at the New York School of Law recently described the ID4D program, which touts its alignment with the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , as one which could pave the way to a digital road to hell.

According to the center, this would occur through the prioritization of economic identity and the use of an infrastructure that has been linked to severe and large-scale human rights violations in several countries.

Mastercard is also active in Africa through its joint initiative with another fintech (financial technology) company, Paycode, to increase access to financial services and government assistance for remote communities across Africa via a biometric identity system containing the data of 30 million individuals.

World Bank, WHO promote pandemic preparedness and vaccine passports

The World Bank in late June announced the creation of a fund that will finance investments in strengthening the fight against pandemics and support prevention, preparedness and response  with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.

The fund was developed under the lead of the U.S., Italy and current G20 president Indonesia, with broad support from the G20, and will be active later this year.

It will provide more than $1 billion in funding for areas such as disease surveillance and support against the current as well as future pandemics.

The WHO is also a stakeholder in the project and will provide technical expertise, according to WHOs director-general.

The agreement follows a 2019 strategic partnership between the UN and the World Economic Forum, to accelerate the implementation of the UNs 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs.

Although the agreement has recently circulated on social media, it was announced in June 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It encompasses six areas of focus, including health and digital cooperation.

In terms of health, the agreement purports that it will support countries [sic] achieve good health and well-being for all, within the context of the 2030 Agenda, focusing on key emerging global health threats that require stronger multistakeholder partnership and action.

In turn, the digital cooperation promoted by the agreement will purportedly meet the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution while seeking to advance global analysis, dialogue and standards for digital governance and digital inclusiveness.

However, despite rhetoric preaching inclusiveness, individuals and entities that have refused to go along with applications such as vaccine passports have faced repercussions in their personal and professional lives.

Such was the example of a Canadian doctor who was fined $6,255 in June over her refusal to use the countrys ArriveCAN health information app  which is being investigated over privacy concerns  to enter the country.

Dr. Ann Gillies said she was fined when re-entering Canada after attending a conference in the U.S.

Andrew Bud, the CEO of biometric ID company iProove, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security contractor, described vaccine certificates as driving the whole field of digital ID in the future, adding they are not just about COVID [but] about something even bigger and that once adopted for COVID [they] will be rapidly used for everything else.
And in the context of the US-China rivalry, this tendency toward overconfidence could also prove to be a weakness for Beijing, blinding it to its own challenges. It could be a blessing for the United States, if it can get its act together. The Chinese people, not the government, have every reason to feel proud and confident in their achievements over the past four decades. For many other Chinese, especially younger ones, the idea of a rising East and a declining West is an accepted fact. News programs and social media are filled with such dogma, and political science classes, at the urging of Xi, are teaching it. Credit:Getty Images They lifted themselves from poverty and created some of the most successful companies on earth. They made their country a manufacturing colossus and the biggest consumer market for cars, smartphones and many luxury brands. They built skyscrapers, subways, highways and high-speed railways, some of the best in the world. The United States, on the other hand, has seemed embroiled in its many domestic problems and often too paralysed to sort through its issues.

Before the pandemic, I got used to Chinese people coming back from trips to the United States and telling me how backward, shabby and underwhelming they had found it to be. Some of them refused to take the New York subway system, saying it was dirty, smelly and full of service disruptions. They were appalled by the lack of public transportation in Los Angeles and the poor highway conditions in Silicon Valley. They did not understand why wealthy San Francisco was plagued with homelessness. They were greatly disturbed by gun violence and the failure of laws to control it. Most of those people were not nationalists. They were educated elites who grew up in poverty, benefited from Chinas opening up and had seen the United States as an ideal. The United States awed and disappointed them at the same time. But for many other Chinese, especially younger ones, the idea of a rising East and a declining West is an accepted fact. News programs and social media are filled with such dogma, and political science classes, at the urging of Xi, are teaching it. Yan Xuetong, a professor of international studies at Tsinghua University with a nationalistic bent, said at a Beijing conference in January that Chinas college students need to learn more about the world. They often have a binary view, believing that only China is just and innocent, while all other countries, especially the Western countries, are evil, and that Westerners are bound to hate China, he said. Students usually have a very strong sense of superiority and confidence in international relations, he said, and often treat the other countries with a condescending mindset.

Loading They use wishful thinking in international affairs, believing that its very easy for China to achieve its foreign policy objectives, Yan said. He added that they also tend to believe conspiracy theories and other unsubstantiated opinions found online. Many young people criticised him in turn, accusing him of condescension. Chinese propaganda has always tried to highlight Chinas achievements and the Wests failures. On December 30, 1958, when China was entering the Great Famine that would result in the death of millions by starvation, the front page of the Peoples Daily reported that the country was succeeding in industrial and agricultural production. In the international news section, stories about socialist countries like Vietnam and North Korea were celebratory, while ones about the capitalist West were all about their economic and political woes.

I grew up reading a newspaper column titled Socialism is Good. Capitalism is Bad. Each week, millions of young readers like myself would consume biased pieces about an American girl going hungry or a North Korean boy living a happy life. We believed them until China opened up and we realised that our socialist country was impoverished. That changed to a degree in the 1990s and 2000s, as the Chinese Communist Party allowed some investigative reporting and public online criticism. But under Xi, everything about China exudes positive energy, including economic forecasts, while the West, especially the United States, is increasingly portrayed as evil or in decline. When people stop queuing up for visas in front of the US consulates,then the US is in decline. Wang Jisi, a professor of international studies at Peking University and a top expert in US-China relations The state broadcaster Chinese Central Television, eager to give the party credit for the countrys successes, made a documentary called Amazing China in 2018. In one section about achievements in poverty eradication, the film showed Xi sitting among farmers, talking about how their income had increased twentyfold in 20 years. Who else could have done this? he asked rhetorically. Only the Communist Party could have done this. Only our socialist system could have done this. It couldnt have been done in any other places.

But capitalist countries like Japan and South Korea had gone through similar economic transformations decades earlier. In the past two years, many state news reports and theoretical essays have contrasted Chinas orderly governance with the messy West, citing the US mishandling of the pandemic, its widespread protests against racism and its many mass shootings. When the United States and a few other Western countries struggled with their COVID responses, state media and many Chinese social media influencers urged them to copy Chinas homework. China has built some of the worlds most successful companies. Credit:Bloomberg Wang Jisi, a professor of international studies at Peking University and a top expert in US-China relations, complained at a peace forum in July that CCTVs main news program ran at least two stories about the United States every night and that both were negative. Theyre either about the US having another mass shooting, another example of racial tensions or its messy handling of the pandemic, he said. Why cant we talk about whats happening in Africa or Latin America and not talk about bad stuff in the US?

In an interview with an academic journal this year, Wang tried to correct the idea that the United States is in decline. He argued that while Americas international standing had experienced relative decline between 1995 and 2011, its share of global output rose in the decade after 2011. There is not enough evidence to conclude that Americas economy is in irreversible decline, he said, although he acknowledged that the US soft power had diminished. Loading For China, the danger of drinking its own propaganda Kool-Aid is that it stops looking at its own problems while exaggerating Americas weaknesses. The Communist Partys aversion to truth and its obsession with control are backfiring. Xis zero-COVID policy, which relies on mass testing and lockdowns, is wreaking huge damage on the Chinese economy. But since no criticism is allowed, the country is largely going along with strict restrictions while much of the world is in the process of returning to normal. When people stop queuing up for visas in front of the US consulates, said Wang, the professor, then the US is in decline.
There is an emotion that lacks a name, wrote Ian Eldershaw. I know the feeling, Ian. Like the ache of finishing a good book. Or the gnaw of imagining other lives progressing below your aeroplane window. Or the dread that time is quickening.

Yet, Ians quest was for a different emotion: Its that deep-felt yearning for the human race to succeed  to create a better world, a beautiful planet, to bring out the better angels in our nature. Whats it called?

Hope seems the best English can offer. Or optimism? Naivete? But none hit the mark. Same applies to agathism, the belief that all things tend toward good. Its close, but imprecise, as is aroha, a Maori term embracing love and compassion. While Liam Runnalls (alias LR of the crossword page) dreamt up ute-hopianism.

Dictionaries are obsolete in some senses, or at least imperfect when aiming to isolate some nuanced senses. Credit:Jo Gay

In many ways, the label Ian desires is the flipside of solastalgia. Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined that term in 2003, popularised by a Missy Higgins album of the same name in 2018. Solastalgia dovetails Latin and Greek, fusing comfort (solacium) with -algia (pain or grief). The word describes a unique distress generated by environmental change, an eco-pang for an idyll thats beyond reclaiming.
Renny Wijeyamohan is the director of Run Girl, one of the documentaries in SBSs Curious Australia series. Run Girl follows the story of Bendere Oboya, who came to Australia from Ethiopia as a refugee at the age of three and is now one of Australias most promising track athletes.

How did the story of Bendere come to you?

SBS ran a funding initiative called Curious Australia: its all about diverse stories that make Australia unique and great. Ive been following athletics for a little while and I was pretty inspired by some of the performances at the Olympics last year. Theres a really interesting crop of refugee Australian athletes coming through at the moment, particularly Peter Bol who just won silver at the Commonwealth Games.

Run Girl director Renny Wijeyamohan.

Bendere trains in the same squad as Peter, and she was also at Tokyo, so thats how the story came into my lap. As we dug deeper it was an amazing tale  particularly beginning to understand some of the struggles of Benderes parents and that migrant journey. That all came to light in filming and I guess made the film quite powerful.
Resilience has become the catchphrase of the pandemic and the catch cry for every hardship we endure, no matter how high the steaming pile has become.

Many of us have felt the drain of domino illnesses and difficult events over the past three years.

The bubble is bursting on resilience as the answer to all things. Credit:Getty

There is the human Petri dish of daycare that brings a revolving door of illness to young families; there is the flu season that has knocked many of us when we were already down with COVID; there are the multiple rounds of multiple variants of COVID; there are the enduring emotional and financial impacts of the lockdown; and there are the devastating natural disasters that have left people surrounded by flames, droughts and floods.

But, be resilient or build resilience, right? Its definition is the ability to cope with difficulties and bounce back from crises. For many, however, it has come to feel like another way of saying suck it up.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age won several Kennedy Awards for excellence in journalism on Friday night as Nick McKenzie, investigative reporter for both mastheads and Channel Nine, took out the journalist of the year honour for a second time.

More than 400 people gathered at Royal Randwick in Sydney to see McKenzie take out the gong again, after he won it in 2020.

McKenzie and Joel Tozer also won the outstanding finance reporting for The Fallen Star for both mastheads and 60 Minutes, while Tozer and Adele Ferguson claimed the outstanding consumer affairs reporting award for Bad Look: Exposing the dark underbelly of the cosmetic surgery industry, also on 60 Minutes.

Ferguson, Lauren Day and Klaus Toft won the outstanding investigative reporting honour for Cosmetic Cowboys, a joint production for the ABCs Four Corners and Nine publications.
Brisbane would get two new railway stations  at Everton Park and Bridgeman Downs  as part of a 14-kilometre underground line between Albion and Strathpine, under a proposal considered by Brisbane City Council and sent to Infrastructure Australia.

The Everton Park station would be at Leach Street beside Stafford Road and adjacent to Everton Park State School. Symbolically, it is also part of the North West Transport Corridor that Brisbane City Council this week ruled cannot support above-ground development.

New underground rail stations could be built at Everton Park and Bridgeman Down on a western underground rail line from Albion to Strathpine or at Chermside under an eastern link from Albion to Carseldine. Credit:North West Transport Corridor business case August 2022.

Alternatively, the business case proposed a shorter, 9.5-kilometre underground rail running more eastward from Albion rail yards towards Chermside and then Carseldine.

From Carseldine, the alternative line would run on above-ground from Carseldine to Strathpine requiring extra four track rail lines and extra bridges over the South Pine River.
Tech billionaire Scott Farquhar and his wife, investment banker Kim Jackson are known for having a somewhat low-key approach to their discretionary property purchases  at least among Australias billionaire class.

That said, the couples principal property investment is the $71 million Elaine estate in Point Piper (a doer-upperer at that), so its all relative.

Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson are known for their low-key discretionary property portfolio. Credit:

But as Gina Rinehart stakes her claim to Noosa, Andrew Twiggy Forrest to the late Olivia Newton-Johns Gaia Retreat in Byron Bay, and Mike Cannon-Brookes claims a good part of Palm Beach, the Southern Highlands and now Dunk Island, the Farquhar-Jackson family are doubling down on the Central Coast.

Records show the co-chief executive and co-founder of software giant Atlassian has set a record for Avoca Beach of $10.85 million, which in billionaire terms could be seen as a bargain, given it was discounted from an original guide of $13 million in February.
Sydney barrister Perry Herzfeld, SC, acting for Lambourne, told the court the circumstances of the case were extraordinary and officials attempted to deport Lambourne on Thursday on a Fiji Airways flight, triggering a standoff between the airline and the government. The airline took the view that it would not board Lambourne without his consent in light of the court order on Thursday. The government then took the position that if Fiji Airways didnt board him, the aircraft wouldnt be permitted to leave at all, Herzfeld said. The flight eventually departed without Lambourne on board, but he was escorted by police to a hotel where he was detained. We now understand that the government has, despite this courts order, continued to try to arrange Justice Lambournes deportation, this time via a Solomon Islands flight scheduled for over the weekend, Herzfeld said. The court heard that President Taneti Maamau, acting as immigration minister, made a second deportation order after the courts orders on Thursday on the grounds that Lambourne had been declared a threat or risk to security. Monoo Mweretaka, Kiribatis Deputy Solicitor-General, appeared in court on behalf of the Attorney-General and was grilled about why Lambourne was declared a security risk.

Court of Appeal Justice Peter Blanchard, a former New Zealand judge, said: Might I say that what you are doing to Mr Lambourne has more potential to adversely affect Kiribatis international wellbeing, judging by what Im reading in international papers, than anything Mr Lambournes done. Nothing youve said so far comes close to convincing me that the government has got a case here. You may be able to produce one by next Friday. Asked why Lambourne could not reside at his home until the hearing next Friday, the Deputy Solicitor-General said: You have to understand that Mr Lambournes wife is the leader of the Opposition, and there are supporters that always come to the house. We believe that once we put Mr Lambourne in the house, there would be something ... going [to] happen. Blanchard replied: So, the governments motivation is, in fact, political?

No, no, no, Mweretaka replied. Why did you mention the fact that his wife was leader of the Opposition? Blanchard said. Mweretaka said that people always come to the house, so we dont want any problem. He alleged Lambourne was also breaching a recent visitor visa condition by working in Kiribati. Herzfeld said the allegations made against his client were not accepted. The Court of Appeal  Blanchard, Rodney Hansen and Paul Heath  ordered on Friday that Lambourne be released on bail on the conditions that he reside at home and not visit the courthouse at Betio before next weeks hearing. The court said it was reasonably arguable that any deportation under existing orders issued by the government would be unlawful, an issue that will be determined finally after next weeks hearing.

The court made clear that its previous order preventing Lambournes immediate deportation applied to the most recent deportation order. However, it is not clear whether the government will attempt to deport Lambourne over the weekend in defiance of that order. The Attorney-General suspended David Lambourne as a judge in May, citing unspecified misconduct grounds. The High Court presently is not functioning in Kiribati after the government also suspended the nations chief justice, distinguished New Zealand judge William Hastings, in late June. Hastings was due to hear a legal challenge by Lambourne to his suspension. The government had previously sought to stop Lambourne re-entering the country from Australia but he returned this month on a visitor visa. The Court of Appeal noted in its judgment on Friday that the Kiribati President attempted on Thursday to recall, vacate and nullify Lambournes appointment in 2018 as a High Court judge and to reappoint him for a term that expired on June 30 last year. The court said it doubted whether this was a valid use of specific power in the Constitution.
China's network development injects new vitality into digital society

09:17, August 12, 2022 By Han Xin ( People's Daily

As high-quality network system has become the foundation of the digital economy in the Internet era, especially the 5G era, China is making great efforts to foster integrated application of 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks.

Photo taken on July 8, 2022 shows workers adjusting antenna at a 5G base station in Xuba township, Tongling, east China's Anhui Province. (People's Daily Online/Guo Shining)

The coordinated development of the two types of networks in the entire process and all sectors of economic and social development will effectively boost industrial transformation and development.

Li Qin, a citizen of Chaoyang District, Beijing, is now able to download a high-definition movie in less than 20 seconds after she upgraded her broadband connection to a 1,000M Internet service.

What Li uses now is a 5G Internet service plan launched by China Mobiles Beijing branch, which gives users access to a 1,000M Internet connection featuring high speed and low latency.

Network speed in China has significantly increased since the country announced for the first time in 2015 that it would lower prices for Internet services and elevate Internet connection speeds.

Data released by a third-party organization have indicated that Chinas average broadband download speed increased nearly 14 times from 4.25Mbps at the end of 2014 to 62.5Mbps at the end of 2021.

Over the past seven years, the country has built the worlds largest and technologically advanced network facilities, with 1,000M fiber optic networks capable of serving 400 million families and 1.85 million 5G base stations installed nationwide.

Photo shows two girls taking selfies at a spot decorated with artworks featuring 5G services in east China's Shanghai in October 2020. Such artworks have appeared in many landmarks, communities, and streets of the city to show the development of Chinas 5G networks. (People's Daily Online/Fei Feng)

In March 2021, Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released an action plan on promoting the collaborative development of 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks, and deploying the two types of networks in more than 100 Chinese cities by the end of 2023. Over the past year, the country has witnessed nationwide efforts to realize the goal.

5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks can provide mobile and fixed networks to users with features such as ultra-large bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and advanced and reliable performance. The two types of networks are complementary to each other and together serve as the foundation of new infrastructure, said an official with the MIIT.

The collaborative development of the two types of networks is a key measure to the overall plan of lowering prices for Internet services and elevating Internet connection speeds, noted the official. The development will not only help China maintain its leading position in the global telecommunications industry, but will continuously inject impetus into the digital transformation of the countrys manufacturing sector, noted the official.

During the past year, China has made new progress in improving the capacity of 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks across the country. Data suggested that as of the end of May this year, every 10,000 people in China had enjoyed 12.1 5G base stations. Urban areas of all the prefecture-level cities, counties, and 92 percent of the central areas of townships had been covered by 5G networks. The number of families using 1,000M fiber optic networks surpassed 55 million.

So far, 29 cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin, have gained access to 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks, according to an official with the MIIT.

While significantly improving the network capacity of urban areas, 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks, together with a multitude of emerging technologies, have empowered many industries and innovative applications.

In recent years, in-depth integration of 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks has brought about profound changes in industries including industrial manufacturing, logistics and ports, health, and education, with more than 20,000 application cases.

Thanks to the 5G network, voice recognition technology is playing a more important role in power inspection Workers in the main control room of the Ultra-high voltage converter station can accurately check the operation of facilities by logging in an AI inspection system developed by the Chinese AI firm iFlytek Co. Ltd.

A medical worker collects a swab sample from a girl at a nucleic acid testing site in Jiangdong township, Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 16, 2022. The application of a high-speed 5G network has enabled the testing site to have residents' information automatically input into the computer system by scanning their health codes. The whole sampling process for each person can be completed in less than 20 seconds. (People's Daily Online/Yang Meiqing)

The combination of 5G networks, which are known for their low latency and high stability, and AI technologies, has made remote real-time data processing, feedback, and early warning possible, said Zhang Chenchen, an executive of the State Grid Anhui Electric Power Co., Ltd.

During this years June 18 online shopping festival, more than 100 automated guided vehicle robots were put into service for sorting out parcels at a smart logistics park established by JD Logistics, Inc., the delivery arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province.

The robots empowered by the 5G network demonstrated great work efficiency and handled up to 110,000 pieces of parcels per day.

China will continue to encourage relevant parties to enhance cooperation so as to further unleash the potential of networks and jointly make technological innovations for the integrated application of 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks.

Aiming for increasing Internet speeds more prudently and lowering Internet service prices in a more targeted manner, China will strive to improve network coverage in urban areas, boost the application of 5G networks and 1,000M fiber optic networks, and make efforts to lower service prices, particularly for special groups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Telecom minister Ashwani Vaishnaw on Friday asked staff to focus on customers and solve their problem immediately in order to help in turning around the fortunes of the loss-making organisation.

The government has approved a package of Rs 1.64 lakh crore for the company and now responsibility lies on everyone to make the organisation very strong, the minister said.

"I am rock solid with you. The Prime Minister is with you. Now, we have to be with our customers. Every customer is God. Customer is the king. Whatever problems customers face, they should become our problem and (we should) solve them immediately. Focus on your customers," Vaishnaw told the staff during his visit to Chennai.

Last week, the minister had asked employees to either "perform or perish" and those who don't want to work can take early retirement.

"I will measure KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), performance, and the result every month. Those who don't want to work can take VRS and go home," the minister had said.

The minister expects employees to deliver positive results in 24 months.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
All three domestic voting advisory firms are opposing a resolution floated by to reappoint as its CEO and MD of .

Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS), Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES) and InGovern Research Services are all recommending that public shareholders of the payments major defeat the resolution.

However, the reasons cited by them for Sharmas ouster are different.

The main bone of contention for InGovern is that Sharma is not liable to retire by rotation as director and not so much around the stock price decline.

Sharma is not liable to retire as director by rotation, thats the main problem in our view.

As far as the share price performance is concerned, is not a unique case. All new-age have seen their stock prices tank from the highs. Also, most of them happen to be non-profitable. MFs and insurance are still trying to understand how and when these will turn profitable. This was something that was known at the time of the IPO, said Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of InGovern.

Not just Paytm, shares of other startups such as Zomato, Policy Bazaar and Nykaa are down sharply from their highs. Most startups have also been at odds with their shareholders on the issue of ESOP issuances.

Meanwhile, SES has an issue with Sharma holding the position of chairman as well as MD and his excessive remuneration.

Although, there is no legal bar on the chairman of the company from holding executive position, SES is of the view that the company should have separated the position since combining both positions may lead to concentration of powers in the hands of a single person, it said in a note.

Sharma has got nearly 46 per cent of the ESOPs issued under Paytms 2019 ESOP Scheme that too at a deep discount to the companys share price.

Shares of Paytm fell 4.7 per cent on Friday to end at Rs 787.

Considering that the options are exercised at an exercise price of 9 per option, Sharmas economic benefit would amount to approx Rs 1,962 crore (at share price of Rs 810) SES is of the opinion that a directors performance should be benchmarked against the individuals performance target as well as companys overall performance, and therefore the remuneration to an ED must include a variable performance-based component, the voting advisory firm has added.

has laid more emphasis on Paytms poor performance post-listing.

Since the companys listing, the companys stock price has fallen by 63.6 per cent (from the issue price of Rs 2,150), resulting in wealth destruction for shareholders. In FY22, the company reported a cash loss of Rs 1,200 crore and losses in the first quarter of FY23 are high. Sharma has made several commitments in the past to make the company profitable, however these have not played out. We believe the board must consider professionalising the management, has said.

This is a rare instance of voting advisory firms asking shareholders to vote out an MD-CEO. About seven years ago, recommended an against vote on resolution pertaining to re-appointment of Tusli Tanti as MD & CEO of Suzlon due to questions over his performance.

Shareholders booting out an MD & CEO is rare but there are some recent examples.

In 2020, shareholders of Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank had also voted against the appointment of Sunil Gurbaxani as managing director and CEO, even though the RBI had approved his appointment for three years.

Also, shareholders of Dish TV had voted against a resolution to re-appoint Jawahar Goel as the managing director (MD). However, he continued to remain on the board as the articles of association allowed him to be a director not liable to retire by rotation.

Sharmas fate at the helm of one of Indias most-popular digital payments firms will depend on whether large shareholders of Paytm get swayed by the advisory given by the three proxy firms.

Domestic institutional investors such as mutual funds and insurance companies  who typically follow the advice of proxy firms  hold less than 2 per cent stake in the company. Individual shareholding in the company is high at nearly 17 per cent but they are not known to be active voters.

Like other startups, Paytm has no identifiable promoter. Some of its large shareholders include Chinas Ant Financial, which held 24.88 per cent stake at the end of June 2022 quarter, and SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF), which held 17.46 per cent and SAIF Partners held another 10.6 per cent.

It remains to be seen how these three big shareholders vote.
Scientists have identified antibodies that are effective against many different SARS-CoV-2 variants, an advance that paves the way for next-generation vaccines which could protect from different COVID-19 strains.

The antibodies identified in monkeys by a team at The Scripps Institute in San Diego, US are also effective against other SARS viruses like SARS-CoV-1, the highly lethal virus that caused an outbreak in 2003.

The results show that certain animals are more able to make these types of "pan-SARS virus" antibodies than humans, giving scientists clues as to how to make better vaccines.

The findings, published on Thursday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, reveal the antibody structures that produce this more comprehensive immune response.

The researchers found these neutralising antibodies recognise a viral region in the spike protein -- which the virus uses to enter and infect the cells -- that is relatively more conserved.

This means that the region is present across many different SARS viruses, and is therefore less likely to mutate over time, they said.

The finding may help develop next-generation vaccines that can offer additional protection against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and other SARS-related viruses, according to the researchers.

"If we can design vaccines that elicit the similar broad responses that we have seen in this study, these treatments could enable broader protection against the virus and variants of concern," said study senior author Raiees Andrabi, an investigator at The Scripps Institute.

The researchers immunised rhesus macaque monkeys with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Two shots were administered, resembling a similar strategy used with currently available vaccines in humans.

However, unlike the vaccines, the macaques were shown to have a broad neutralising antibody response against the virus, including variants such as Omicron.

The scientists found these antibodies recognise a conserved region on the edge of the site where the spike protein binds to host cells, called the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor binding site.

This is different than the region where the majority of human antibodies target, which overlaps more with the ACE2 receptor binding site and is more variable to change, they said.

"The antibody structures reveal an important area common to multiple SARS-related viruses," said study co-senior author Ian Wilson.

"This region to date has rarely been seen to be targeted by human antibodies and suggests additional strategies that can be used to coax our immune system into recognising this particular region of the virus, Wilson said.

The researchers notes that the macaque's gene coding for these broad neutralising antibodies -- known as IGHV3-73 -- is not the same in humans.

The dominant immune response in humans is related to the IGHV3-53 gene, which produces a potent but much narrower neutralising antibody response, they said.

However, the scientists said this finding paves the way to rationally design and engineer vaccines or vaccine-adjuvant combinations that elicit more broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its many variants.

"According to our study, the macaques have an antibody gene that offers them more protection against SARS viruses," said Dennis Burton, a co-senior author of the study.

"This observation teaches us that studying the effect of a vaccine in monkeys can only take us so far but also reveals a new target for our vaccine efforts that we might be able to exploit by advanced protein design strategies," Burton 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 Federal Bank, as part of its celebrations of the 75th year of the country's independence, has gifted 1.55 acres of land for the construction of houses for the homeless poor.

The property was handed over to the Left government in the state for their flagship "Life Mission" project, which envisages to provide free housing for homeless and landless in the state.

The documents of the 1.55 acre property in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district, which was owned by the Federal Bank, were handed over to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by C Balagopal, Chairman and Independent Director of the Bank the other day.

This noble deed by the bank is expected to benefit at least 40 families of the southern state, the bank said in a statement.

M V Govindan Master, Minister for Local Self Governments, Rajanarayanan N, Senior Vice- President and Head Loan Collection & Recovery Department of the Bank, Renji Alex, Vice-President & Zonal Head - Thiruvananthapuram, Anoop T, Vice-President & Head - Government Business and other officials of the bank were also present on the occasion, it said.

Commenting on the humanitarian gesture, Rajanarayanan said has always believed in the sustainable, long-term betterment of the society that it lives and grows in.

"So, we take great pride in associating with the government's meaningful initiative to provide shelter to the homeless," he added.

LIFE Mission (The Livelihood, Inclusion and Financial Empowerment Mission), an ambitious programme to provide secure and adequate housing facilities to all landless and homeless families in the state, was launched by the LDF government on September 28, 2016.

The project contemplates construction of housing units by utilising government funds, sponsorships, and funds of local self-government institutions.

(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 Friday said the government's 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign has seen unprecedented response across the country and claimed the target of having 20 crore households hoist or display the flag on independence day will definitely be reached.

general secretary Arun Singh told reporters that party president J P Nadda will also inaugurate an exhibition here on Saturday to mark the 'Partition Horrors Remembrance Day', which falls on August 14.

It will highlight the atrocities people faced during the partition violence, he said.

Silence marches will also be taken out in every district on that day, he added.

It will send out the resolve that everyone is together for unity and integrity, he said.

Referring to the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign, Singh said the exercise which started from August 9 has reached all corners of the country with MPs and other elected representatives joining it to encourage people to be a part of the initiative.

Singh also urged people to take a selfie with the flag at their homes during the exercise between August 13-15 and post it on the official website for this.

The government has urged people to hoist or display the tricolour in their homes during August 13-15 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India's independence.

(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 High Court on Thursday abolished the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), formed by the Congress government headed by in 2016 and transferred all pending cases before the ACB to the Police division.

In 2016, the government formed the ACB, curtailing the powers of the .

A division bench comprising Justice B Veerappa and Justice K S Hemalekha said that all pending cases before the ACB will now get transferred to the Police division.

The order was passed in connection with the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Chidananda Aras, advocates' association and social activist SR Hiremath's Samaj Parivartan community challenging the formation of ACB.

Reacting on high court order said, "I have not yet seen the order on the issue of High Court quashing the ACB".

Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, said that after seeing the order, he will respond.

"ACB was formed by separating Lokayukta. We respect the decision of the High Court. Haven't seen what the order is. He said he will respond after seeing the order. ACB was an independent investigative body. ACB is there not only in but also in many states. ACB should be in Lokayukta," said Siddaramaiah.

He said that now the High Court has decided that there is no need for independent existence.

(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.)
From the first steps towards self-rule to the dawn of Independence and then to the country's emergence as a nuclear power and beyond, the grand old building has been a witness to the story as it unfolded before it since 1927.

The hallowed precincts of have witnessed lively debates on the making of Constitution, poignant scenes after the announcement of the death of Mahatma Gandhi and thumping of desks when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi announced the unconditional surrender of West Pakistan forces in Bangladesh.

The heartfelt speeches of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the calm but firm resolve of Lal Bahadur Shastri, the eloquence of Indira Gandhi, the poetic brilliance of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the powerful oratory of Narendra Modi have reverberated in the chambers of .

The foundation stone of the colonnaded building was laid by Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught in 1921 and the building was inaugurated on January 18, 1927.

The recently-concluded monsoon session of Parliament, could perhaps be the last in the old building as a new triangular building gets ready at a frenetic pace for a possible November inauguration.

"Today you meet for the first time in your new and permanent home in Delhi," Lord Irwin, the Viceroy, said addressing the first session of the third legislative assembly on January 24, 1927.

"In this chamber, the assembly has been provided with a setting worthy of its dignity and importance, and I can pay its designer no higher compliment than by expressing the wish with that the temper, in which the public affairs of will be here conducted, may reflect the harmony of his conception," he said.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Lala Lajpat Rai, C S Ranga Iyer, Madheo Srihari Aney, Vithalbhai Patel among others were the members of the third legislative assembly.

Through the Government of Act, 1919, the British had started allowing greater participation of Indians in the government.

Two years later, revolutionaries Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt hurled bombs in the Assembly chamber from the public gallery after the House had passed the controversial Trade Disputes Bill.

"At this stage, two bombs were thrown from the Visitor's Gallery, and burst among the benches occupied by the official members, causing injury to certain members. Confusion prevailed and Mr President retired. After a few minutes, Mr President resumed the Chair," according to the official report of the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of April 8, 1929.

Vithalbhai Patel was the then president of the legislative assembly, a post which came to be known as the Speaker as parliamentary democracy evolved in the country.

On the eve of Independence, the Constituent Assembly met at 11:00 p.m. with president Rajendra Prasad in the Chair. Sucheta Kriplani, a member from Uttar Pradesh, sang the first verse of Vande Mataram to mark the opening of the special session.

Prime minister Nehru delivered his famous "tryst with destiny" speech which was followed by a pledge by members of the Constituent Assembly dedicating themselves to the service of the nation.

Speaker G V Mavlankar announced the death of Gandhi at a sitting of the Lok Sabha on February 2, 1948.

"We are meeting today under the shadow of a double calamity, the sad demise of the tallest man of our age who has led us from slavery to independence and the reappearance of the cult of political violence in our country," Mavlankar said.

"A glory has departed and the sun that warmed and brightened our lives has set and we shiver in the cold and dark," Nehru said.

It was from the same House that prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri made an appeal to the country to skip one meal every week as India struggled with food shortages and fought a war against Pakistan in 1965.

When the Lok Sabha met after the imposition of Emergency in 1975, the House witnessed protests from several members against the government move to suspend private members' rights to raise issues in the House.

Deputy home minister F H Mohsin placed the Proclamation of Emergency made by the President when the Lok Sabha met on July 21, 1975.

Lok Sabha members Somnath Chatterjee, Indrajit Gupta, Jagannathrao Joshi, H N Mukherjee, P K Deo protested the suspension of their rights.

"It may be the swansong for democracy but I have to say and I say with all the emphasis at my command that when there is no specific rule to give blanket power for suspension of this nature, it cannot be admitted," Deo, a member of Swatantra Party from Kalahandi, said.

With the advent of the coalition era in 1989, the Parliament witnessed frequent change in governments till 1998, when BJP formed a coalition government under prime minister Vajpayee.

Within a year, the Vajpayee government fell after losing the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha by a single vote on April 17, 1999, only to be re-elected in the subsequent general elections.

In 1974, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi made a detailed statement in Parliament on July 22, apprising the House of the "peaceful nuclear experiment" at Pokhran and reaction of other countries to it.

Almost 24 years later in 1998, the then prime minister Vajpayee declared India as a nuclear weapons state after scientists carried out five underground nuclear tests on May 11 and May 13 that year.

"India is now a nuclear weapon state. This is a reality that cannot be denied, It is not a conferment that we seek; nor is it a status for others to grant. It is an endowment to the nation by our scientists and engineers. It is India's due, the right of one-sixth of humankind," Vajpayee said.

He also announced a no first use policy, seeking to assure the world that was caught unawares about the tests.

In 2008, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh launched a forceful defence of his coalition government against the no confidence motion moved by the Left parties which had withdrawn support following differences over the nuclear deal with the US.

(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, Aug 12 (IANSlife) Independence Day, celebrated every 15th of August, falls on a Monday this year, serving as the ultimate long-weekend opportunity to explore and dwell in the rich culture of the country.

While is celebrated for its breathtaking architecture and diverse landscapes, not many are aware of the fact that the country is home to 40 spectacular World Heritage Sites! So with 'art and culture' being cited as the second biggest motivation to travel for Indians (according to Agoda's India-genous Travel Survey), the three-day vacay is the perfect time to embark upon a historical journey!

Bask in the beauty of intricate Mughal Architecture at Agra Fort, Uttar Pradesh

Agra is world-famous for its iconic Taj Mahal, however, not to be missed is the Red Fort of Agra or Lal Qila, another treasure only two kilometers away, connected to the monument via a parkland. Listed as a World Heritage Site in 1983, this glorious fort was commissioned by emperor Akbar and is an emblem of India's powerful history. Surrounded by brilliant Mughal architecture, hosting a complex of buildings inside its boundaries - ranging from grand palaces, and audience halls to beautiful mosques - this walled city appeals to travelers looking for a real sense of history.

When in Agra, choose from an array of stay options :

. ITC Mughal, a luxury collection

. Radisson Hotel

. Crystal Sarovar Premiere

Explore the past at the Group of Monuments at Hampi, Karnataka

Hampi is also regarded as the 'World's Largest Open-Air museum' for it has much to offer travelers to visually grasp and highlight its victorious past. Also known as the City of Ruins, the city showcases the grand past of the Vijayanagara empire, through humble foundational structures of temples, forts, royal and sacred complexes, shrines, and pillared halls that once stood proudly.

When in Hampi, choose from an array of stay options :

. Royal Orchid Central Kireeti Hampi

. Evolve Back Hampi

Awaken the child in you at Mountain Railways of [Darjeeling, Nilgiri & Kalka]

Moving through Ghoom at a dizzying altitude of 2258 meters, nestled amidst the scenic hills of Darjeeling, is the world's oldest mountain steam railway. Founded in 1881, the railway snakes its way through the scenic Himalayan mountains, exposing travelers to timeless vistas as they enjoy a ride from a bygone era.

When in Darjeeling, choose from an array of stay options :

. Hotel Mayfair Darjeeling

. Ramada by Wyndham

. Yashshree Mall Road

Take a step back at Rani-ki-Vav, Gujarat

Located on the banks of river Saraswati, Rani-ki-Vav [or The Queen's Stepwell], is an inverted temple that highlights the sanctity of water in a state mostly known for one of the world's largest salt deserts.

Commissioned by queen Udayamati in memory of her beloved husband in 1603, and completed after 20 years, the stepwell is an engineering feat, designed originally with seven steps, although today only five remain. Each panel consisted of unique carvings, sculptures, and distinct geometric patterns. The architecture of the monument is incomparable to anything from its time as it consists of more than 500 principle sculptures and 1000 minor ones!

While in Gujarat, you can choose from an array of stay options :

. The Grand Raveta

. Hotel The Grand Piano

Connect with the stars at The Jantar Mantar, Rajasthan

The Jantar Mantar is an open-air astronomical observatory created to view the world above, and it comprises 20 instruments including one regarded as the 'World's Largest Sundial'.

It was built by the then king, Maharajah Sawaii Jai Singh II, to meet his fascination with celestial objects and their movement to predict the time of day. Each instrument was scientifically designed with complex features and shapes that depict innovation and advanced thinking - way ahead of its time!

Jaipur has much to offer travelers, so stay a while and explore the other sites of the Pink City. There are hundreds of places to choose from to suit every budget:

. Samode Haveli Hotel

. Alsisar Haveli - A Heritage Hotel

. Golden Tulip Hotel Jaipur

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

--IANS

ianslife/tb/

(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 is a symbol of the sovereignty and of a country. Indians have always held the Tricolour in high esteem. It played an important role not only in the freedom struggle but even in the post- wars, including the Indo-China war and the Kargil War.

To honour the Tricolour on the 75th day, the Indian government has decided to organise the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign under 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mohatsav'. Between August 13 and 15, 200 million will be hoisted atop schools, offices and even houses across the nation.

How was the Tricolour chosen as India's

The 'Tiranga' evolved over several decades to finally look like it does now. The is said to have been designed for the first time by Sister Nivedita, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, in 1904. The flag was made up of two colours, red and yellow. It had a 'Vajra' in the centre, considered to be the weapon of Lord Vishnu. 'Vande Mataram' was written in the Bengali language on either side of the flag.

In 1906, another design of the flag was seen at the Parsee Bagan in . On August 7, 1906, India's was hoisted for the first time at what is now called Girish Park in . It had three equal stripes of green, yellow and red. The green strip was located on the top, with eight lotus flowers, half-opened painted on it. 'Vande Mataram' was written in the Devnagri script on the middle, yellow strip.

The flag also had a crescent moon and sun painted on the red strip.

In the same year, the famous Cama flag was designed by Bhikaji Cama, Veer Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Kumar. It also had three stripes, but the colours were different.

The first strip was saffron, the second yellow, and the third one was green. Eight small suns replaced the lotus. 'Vande Mataram' was written on the middle, yellow strip.

This flag was hoisted for the first time internationally. At the Berlin Committee, a socialist conference in Berlin, Bhikaji Cama unfurled the flag and marked a monumental moment in India's freedom struggle.

The next version of the flag was designed by Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1917. Both the leaders had launched the Home Rule Movement, and they used the flag extensively during the meetings and protests. This flag had five red and four green stripes, alternately. The Saptarishi, or the seven stars, were printed on the flag. It also carried the Union Jack, Britain's national flag, on the top left corner. Opposite the union jack, on the top right corner, a crescent and a star were also printed.

However, by this time, Mahatama Gandhi had entered the Indian freedom struggle.

In 1921, while travelling to Vijayawada, Gandhi met a young man, Pingali Venkayya. He had designed a flag and wanted Gandhi to look at it. The flag had two colours, red and green, depicting two major religious communities in the country.

Gandhi asked Venkayya to insert a white strip into the flag to represent all the other religions. The spinning wheel or 'Charka' was also added to the flag's centre at Gandhi's request. Charkha became a major part of Gandhi's struggle for India's independence. The emergence of khadi was seen as an attack against Britain's economic drain on .

In 1931, had recently adopted a 'Purna Swaraj' resolution at the Lahore Session. It was decided that January 26 would be celebrated as every year. The flag was redesigned by Venkayya. Red was replaced by saffron colour, and it was placed on the top of the flag. The white strip was placed in the middle and green at the bottom. Gandhi's 'charkha' was placed inside the white strip.

The committee adopted it as the official flag of . It was even used by Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA).

Finally, on July 22, 1947, just days before became independent on August 15, 1947, the Constituent Assembly adopted the present form of the Tricolour. The spinning wheel was replaced by Ashok's 'Dharma Chakra', with 24 spokes. It is the flag we so proudly look at today.
Live news updates: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community to force the Russian army to leave the occupied Zaporizhzhia after multiple strikes hit the compound. "The entire world must react immediately to chase out the occupiers from Zaporizhzhia. Only the Russians' full withdrawal... would guarantee nuclear safety for all of Europe," Zelenskyy said in his daily video address.

Union Home Minister will inaugurate a one-day National Conference of Rural Cooperative Banks organized by the Ministry of Cooperation and the National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) on Friday. Union Minister of State for Cooperation BL Verma will address the valedictory session of the conference. Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation Gyanesh Kumar, NAFSCOB Chairman Konduru Ravinder Rao and NAFSCOB Managing Director Bhima Subrahmanyam shall also be present.

The agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons, among others, in the unprecedented search they conducted of the premises of former US President earlier this week in Florida, according to a stunning news report. Neither the US Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, nor the investigating agency denied or confirmed the Thursday evening report by The Washington Post.

Within a short span of ten days, India Post has sold more than 1 crore national flags, through its 1.5 lakh post offices as well as online, to citizens, informed the Ministry of Communications on Thursday.
Youths from other nations will aspire to work in India only when we will establish multinational corporations like and in the country, Deputy Chief Minister said here on Friday.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi's education minister, was addressing the students of two private schools.

"We need to establish companies like Google, in our country and only then, youth of other nations will aspire to work in India," he said.

He said only better education to children can make India the number one country in the world and the biggest indicator of that would be when children of other countries will aspire to study in Indian universities and work in its companies.

"The day parents in America or Europe will dream of sending their children to India universities for higher education, our nation can be considered the number one country in the world," he said.

Speaking about the AAP-led Delhi government's entrepreneurship programme -- Business Blasters, Sisodia said it will allow every student to showcase the best in them and develop fine entrepreneurial skills.

"The program is a catalyst for the mindset change among students and makes them job providers instead of job seekers," he said.

He further said, "no government" can make the country "the best on its own".

"All 131 crore Indians need to work together to fulfill this dream. Therefore, on the 75th year of independence, everyone should take a pledge that together we will make India the greatest and education is the only way to fulfill this vision," he added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
State-owned NMDC is looking to explore minerals like lithium and cobalt, which are used in electric vehicles, in foreign lands, its chairman and managing director Sumit Deb said on Friday.

The company is also planning offshore mining of copper, nickel and gold, Deb said.

NMDC through Legacy Iron Ore Ltd in Australia is looking to mine lithium, nickel, and cobalt which are used in EVs, Deb said at the curtain raiser of a FICCI event, Indian Minerals and Metals Industry Transition Towards 2030 & Vision 2047, here.

Based in Perth, Legacy Iron Ore Ltd has a focus on gold, iron ore and base metals. NMDC has 90.02 per cent equity in the company.

The company also has plans to explore other minerals like gold and copper in countries like Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

NMDC will also explore lithium reserves in India as "it has got exploration rights in Karnataka", he said.

On an upward iron ore price revision by NMDC, Deb said it was a marginal hike by the miner and the demand for the mineral will start picking up from the second quarter onwards.

NMDC, which is the largest iron ore producer and seller in India, on Thursday hiked prices of lump ore by Rs 200 a tonne and fines by Rs 100 per tonne with immediate effect. The company has fixed the prices of lump ore at Rs 4,100 per tonne and that of fines at Rs 2,910 a tonne.

Deb further said the conference scheduled for August 23 will see participation from industry players, other stakeholders and the academia who will discuss the growth drivers needed for the Indian minerals and metals sector, challenges being faced by the sector and opportunities available.

(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.)
Customs sleuths at the Mangaluru International Airport have seized 24 carat weighing 831 gm from a passenger who arrived by an Air India flight from Dubai on Wednesday.

A Customs communique here said the male passenger, hailing from Kasaragod in Kerala, was carrying the in paste form.

He had packed the in a white tape pouch and had concealed it inside a stitched pocket of the undergarment that he had worn. The seized gold is valued at Rs 43.29 lakh.

In another seizure on Thursday, officials of the air intelligence unit seized assorted foreign currency equivalent to Indian currency value of Rs 5,97,040 from a male passenger hailing from Bhatkal who was to travel to Dubai by a SpiceJet flight.

The passenger had concealed the currency in a handbag carried by him, the communique 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.)
To protect themselves from fund blockage due to additional sanctions from western countries, Russian banks and other financial institutions are looking for ways to align their country's payment messaging system with India's messaging system. are, however, reluctant to the idea, according to a report by Economic Times.

If the messaging platforms are connected, it might help improve the payment settlement mechanism between the two countries. Russian bankers believe that it will come in handy if additional sanctions are imposed on in the coming days, the report added.

"Russian banks which are still unaffected by US sanctions, have no branch in India. Once such a bank comes under sanctions, its office in would want to find a way to communicate through a secured channel with where it has vostro accounts. For this, they feel the Russian messaging system should be cETonnected to SFMS. Emails are not considered a safe mode for sharing payment details and no bank uses fax anymore," a banker said in the report.

Indian banks, on the other hand, believe that if the move is implemented, it might be considered a way to sidestep the sanctions imposed on by the US. The US and European Union (EU) have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia since it attacked Ukraine in February.

"Whether a Russian bank's deposits (in vostro) would be stuck in the event of a sanction is a hypothetical question at this point. But linking SFMS with the Russian system could be viewed as a way to bypass to deal with a sanctioned Russian bank," an industry expert from India said.

Currently, Russia is a participant of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). It is a global provider of messaging services for confirming cross-border payments. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, there have been talks in the EU and the US around excluding Russia from the mechanism. However, no step has been taken in that direction yet.

In July, the Reserve Bank of India allowed the settlement of payments between Russia and India in rupees. With this, the countries can avoid the USD while making the payments and use the INR instead. For the messaging platforms of the two countries to be aligned, the needs to show a green flag which it has not done yet.
Farmers protesting over the non-payment of dues for the past four days here blocked the second side of the Jalandhar-Ludhiana stretch of the highway on Friday.

Roads leading to Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Nakodar were also blocked by parking tractors, leading to traffic snarls.

Police personnel in large numbers were deployed and water cannons stationed near the protest site.

Earlier, they had blocked the Jalandhar-Ludhiana carriageway of the highway while protesting over the alleged delay in the payment of their dues amounting to Rs 72 crore by a sugar mill here.

The farmers had started their indefinite protest near the sugar mill on Monday under the banner of the Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba).

Kapurthala SSP Navneet Singh Bains is monitoring the situation.

"Since the Punjab government has taken our protest lightly, we blocked the other side of the highway at 10 am today," said BKU (Doaba) president Manjit Singh Rai.

However, ambulances, school buses and other emergency vehicles were allowed to pass, said farmer body's general secretary Satnam Singh Sahni.

They claimed that representatives of various farmers bodies under the Samyukt Kisan Morcha are holding a meeting to chalk out the next course of action.

Banners of the SKM were on display at the protest site on Friday.

Rai and Sahni said they will not budge till Rs 72 crore was transferred into the accounts of farmers.

"We will turn our agitation into a statewide stir if our demand is not immediately met by the government," they warned.

Farmers, who had been protesting for the payment of arrears, had on Thursday lifted the road blockade from a section of the national highway here due to Raksha Bandhan.

The protesters had warned that they will intensify their stir and block both sides of the Ludhiana-Jalandhar section from Friday if their demand is not met.

(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 French Air and Space Force contingent, including three jets, was hosted in India during deployment, a statement issued by the French Embassy in New Delhi said.

A French Air and Space Force contingent, including three jets, was hosted for a technical stopover at Air Force Station in Sulur town of Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore district on August 10-11 during a long-range deployment from to the Pacific Ocean.

From August 10 to September 18, the French Air and Space Force is carrying out a major long-range mission in the Indo-Pacific, code-named Pegase 22.

"The first stage of this mission aims to demonstrate France's capacity for long-distance air power projection by deploying an Air Force contingent from metropolitan to the French territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean in less than 72 hours (August 10-12)," the statement added.

"The Air Force contingent made a technical stopover at Air Force Station Sulur during this unprecedented 16,600-km deployment."

As part of Mission Pegase 22, the French Air Force contingent will participate in the 'Pitch Black' air exercise to be held in Australia from August 17 to September 10. The Indian Air Force will also participate in this multilateral exercise along with Australia, Japan, the US, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, the UK and South Korea.

--IANS

anil/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.)
Acreage under paddy, the main food grain grown during the kharif season, continued to be almost 15 per cent less than the same period last year, raising concerns of an at least 10-12 million tonnes (mt) drop in production.

The acreage has been down due to scanty rainfall in the main paddy-growing states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha. Together, the five states account for more than 40 per cent of Indias total annual production, which is estimated to be over 120 mt.

With around 24 per cent of normal average area in which is grown every year remaining unsown till August 12, there is very limited chance of a big uptick in output as compared to last year, trade and market sources felt.

In the previous kharif season, India produced over 111 mt of . In several states, farmers have moved on to other short duration crops, such as pulses and coarse cereals abandoning .

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), between June 1 to August 12, cumulatively across the country the southwest monsoon is around 8 per cent more than normal but in major growing states of UP (-44 per cent), West Bengal (-21 per cent), Jharkhand (-41 per cent), and Bihar (-38 per cent). In Telangana, which is another major paddy-growing state, crops have been damaged due to excess rains (+78 per cent).

The drop in acreage has triggered fears of the government clamping down in exports as it did in the case of wheat in May. The only saving grace in case of paddy is that central pool stocks are adequate.

India, the worlds second largest producer and top exporter of rice, commands a 40 per cent share in the global trade. It exported 21.2 mt of rice in the 2021-22 fiscal year, of which 3.94 mt was basmati rice.




A fresh controversial row has erupted after a top Nationalist Party (BNP) leader told his followers that his party was preparing for violent street protests to oust the ruling Awami League (AL) government led by Prime Minister rather than fight it politically in elections.

"By all means we should not face election -- we do find the latest move by the Election Commission to reach out to us satisfactory but we won't fight any election," said prominent BNP leader Mirza Abbas.

However, AL Chief has asked her party leaders and workers to fight against any such conspiracies to create unrest and trouble in the country such as BNP -Jamaat's targeted bombing on public buses and attack on law enforcers back in 2013 when the party boycotted the election and later carried out such violent attacks both to foil the war crimes' trial and bring down the Hasina-led government.

These threats from prominent BNP leaders comes within a month following an earlier warning by BNP's Volunteer Wing Secretary, who threatened Prime Minister with "a repeat of 1975," referring to the massacre of her entire family in a military coup at that time.

Such repeated threats by the BNP have compelled the Bangladesh Home Ministry to take a serious view because the month of August evokes grim memories of the 1975 coup that killed the whole family of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of the country and 'Father of the Nation'.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana survived the attack as they were protected by the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Amid the failure of killing the entire Bangabandhu's family, on August 21, 2004, a grenade attack nearly killed Hasina. However, nearly 30 AL workers, including some top leaders died.

BNP leader Tarique Rahman, then in power in 2004, stands convicted by the court after a long judicial process, as the mastermind of the plot to kill Hasina in direct collaboration with radical elements.

Jamaat-e-Islami, a militant outfit and a key ally of BNP, has been ramping up efforts to reach out grassroots through formation of village unit committees.

Tarique and his mother Khaleda Zia have lived up to the legacy of her late husband, General Zia-ur-Rahman, Bangladesh's first military ruler, who turned the clock back on the country's "unfinished revolution" by setting in motion a process of 're-Pakistanisation', which culminated in his successor General H.M. Ershad declaring Islam as the state religion of Bangladesh, says Bangladesh watcher Sukhoranjan Dasgupta,

He mentioned that Sheikh Hasina carries forward her father Bangabandhu's legacy of national liberation and the dream of 'Sonar Bangla' (Golden Bengal). This is the legacy of the fight for independence from Pakistan amid the worst genocide in South Asia, Dasgupta said.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir directed his party leaders and activists to "hit the streets to overthrow the Sheikh Hasina-led government".

"Sit on the streets and oust this government." Fakhrul said that while addressing a protest rally before the National Press Club on Tuesday afternoon.

In continuous threat to boycott election, the BNP Secretary General announced this.

--IANS

sumi/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.)
More than a dozen developers in a central Chinese province are seeking help from their local government to restore property sales in the face of protests from disgruntled homebuyers, a sign that tension from a mortgage payment boycott is spilling over to other areas.



At least 17 real estate in Hefei, the provincial capital of central Anhui province, asked authorities to block the increasingly organized protests against them, according to a letter dated Aug. 2 seen by Bloomberg News.

Protesters have tried to disrupt home sales by chanting slogans and pulling down banners when developers open new projects, according to the letter. Some homebuyers have also refused to fulfill purchase agreements, and in some cases requested partial refunds, the letter said.

In the letter, developers argue they face unreasonable requests from some homebuyers, including complaints about interior decoration. There were no specific examples given and Bloomberg News couldnt independently verify the accusations.

Hundreds of thousands of angry homeowners have halted payments on their mortgages across China to protest long delays in getting their homes built. The plea for help from Hefei signals that even developers who havent fallen behind on construction are now being targeted.

Calls to the Hefei city government went unanswered out of office hours Friday.

The mortgage boycotts threaten to further damp consumer confidence and derail home sales, which plunged 40% in July from a year ago. Within four weeks last month, more than 320 projects in about 100 cities were facing payment boycotts, forcing authorities to corral banks and developers to defuse the unrest. The online movement has slowed after the government cracked down on several social media sites being used by protesters to encourage more people to join.

If a large number of homebuyers seek to protect their interests, a bigger social issue would arise, according to the letter. We hope that authorities can pay attention to the phenomenon, and tackle problems for developers.
Manufacturing Corp. warned that clients in sectors such as smartphones were freezing orders, underscoring how a downturn in consumer electronics demand is hurting the chip sector.



Waning demand from makers of smartphones and TV components is forcing SMIC to readjust its manufacturing plans, co-CEO Zhao Haijun told analysts on Friday. The economic downturn and inventory adjustments have spurred rapid freeze and urgent order halts as some clients hold off on placing new orders, he said on a conference call. SMIC fell as much as 3.1% in Hong Kong.

Investors fear the notoriously cyclical chip industry is hurtling toward a prolonged slump after years of shortages led to heavy investments in capacity. SMIC is among a raft of manufacturers now grappling with rapidly crumbling global electronics demand, as consumers leave a pandemic-era boom behind. Its also contending with steadily tightening restrictions as Washington tries to contain Beijings technological rise.

Chinas largest chipmaker reported revenue rose 42% to $1.9 billion in the second quarter, generally in line with expectations. It posted net income of $514.3 million in the second quarter, surpassing the $469.5 million average estimate.

SMIC is at the vanguard of Chinas long-term ambition to produce chips sophisticated enough to replace American silicon, which comprise the majority of the countrys annual $155 billion in consumption.

It remains a technological leader in a giant domestic industry now gripped by a series of corruption probes, as senior officials frustrated with the nations lack of progress in semiconductors begin to hold executives accountable. The outcome of the widening dragnet and its impact on local players remain unclear.

have played a central role in curbing the countrys chip ambitions. The Trump administration blacklisted SMIC about two years ago on national security concerns, citing the companys ties with the Chinese military, an allegation the chipmaker has denied. Washington is now also pressing allies into the effort, so that key suppliers like the Netherlands ASML Holding NV and Japans Nikon Corp. join its technology blockade.

In response, homegrown firms have attempted to develop alternatives to American silicon. The Shanghai-based contract chipmaker has succeeded in advancing its production technology two generations this year to 7-nanometers, though industry experts caution that may not be based on the same standards employed by far larger rivals like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

SMIC has said sanctions hurt its ability to develop more sophisticated technologies. The companys capability is severely curbed by its lack of access for instance to ASML Holding NVs extreme ultraviolet lithography systems, which are required to make the most advanced chips.

The company said in a separate filing that Tudor Brown, the former president of Arm Ltd., has resigned from the board, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. Zhao also resigned as an executive director, according to the company.
Five of Chinas largest state-owned announced plans to delist from US exchanges as the two countries struggle to come to an agreement allowing American regulators to inspect audits of Chinese businesses.



Life Insurance Co., Co. and Petroleum & Chemical Corp. all disclosed their intentions to delist in statements published in quick succession on Friday, along with Aluminum Corp. of and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co.

The US and China have been at odds for two decades over allowing American inspectors access to the work papers of . Negotiators have yet to hammer out an agreement with the clock ticking on a congressionally imposed deadline of 2024 to kick off businesses that dont comply. Mainland China and Hong Kong are the only two jurisdictions worldwide that dont allow inspections by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, with officials there claiming national security and confidentiality concerns.

As US and Chinese officials try to reach a deal, speculation has been mounting that a solution could involve that Beijing deems sensitive voluntarily exiting .

These state-owned enterprises are in strategic sectors and deemed to have access to information and data that the Chinese government may be hesitant to give access to foreign regulators, said Redmond Wong, a strategist at Saxo Markets.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement that the delisting plans were based on the companies business concerns.

About 300 businesses based in China and Hong Kong -- with over $2.4 trillion in market value -- risk being kicked off US Exchanges as the Securities and Exchange Commission increases scrutiny of the firms, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated in May. Among the biggest are China Life, PetroChina, China Petroleum & Chemical, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc.

Its unclear whether the move to delist will smooth negotiations to break a standoff on inspections, a US legal requirement meant to protect investors from accounting frauds and other financial malfeasance. The 2024 deadline stems from a 2020 law called the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act that was popular with both Democrats and Republicans.

A voluntary delisting might not keep the PCAOB from demanding to review a companys work papers, PCAOB Chair Erica Williams said this month. The PCAOBs authority to inspect was retrospective, meaning the watchdog could still demand work papers from those companies even after they leave, Williams said.

If a firm or issuer decides to delist this year, it really doesnt matter to me because I need to know if you engaged in fraud last year, Williams said, not referring to any company specifically.

The US SEC on July 29 added Alibaba to a growing list of companies that could be kicked off American exchanges if the two countries fail to reach a deal.

Alibaba said in July it was seeking primary listings in Hong Kong, joining Bilibili Inc. and Zai Lab Ltd. which made the move earlier. The switch could help companies tap more Chinese investors while providing a template for other US-listed Chinese firms that face delisting.

Alibaba said in August that it would try to maintain its listing on the New York and Hong Kong .

Alibaba, Pinduoduo Inc., JD.com Inc., China Life and Sinopec fell about 3% in pre-market trading in the US. fell about 1%, while the Kraneshares CSI China Internet Fund ETF declined 1.8%.





The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which reports to Congress, says China considers eight companies listed on major US exchanges to be national-level Chinese state-owned enterprises. They are PetroChina, China Life Insurance, China Petroleum & Chemical, China Southern Airlines Co., Huaneng Power Inc., Aluminum Corp. of China, China Eastern Airlines Corp. and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical.

While the delistings will have little impact on the companies themselves given their New York shares are thinly traded, the moves underscore escalating tensions between the US and China, said Marvin Chen, a strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Relations between the superpowers have been especially tense in recent days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosis trip to Taiwan prompted several days of Chinese military drills around the island.

Congress is considering legislation that could speed up the delisting deadline to as soon as 2023, adding further pressure for the two sides to quickly reach a deal.

The PCAOB chair has declined to provide a definitive date by which an agreement with Chinese authorities must be reached, but reiterated it would need to be soon.

The New York delisted China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. in January last year, following an order signed by former President Donald Trump that barred investment in Chinese businesses deemed as having links with the military. Huaneng Power said in June that it intends to delist due to low volume and the administrative burden and costs of maintaining the listing.
A high-tech Chinese research ship that was supposed to dock at Sri Lanka's southern port of Hambantota has not berthed as planned, the countrys ports authority said on Friday, days after India expressed security concerns over its presence in the island nation. Chinese ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship Yuan Wang 5 was to arrive on Thursday and remain at the port until August 17 for replenishment.

The Harbour Master of the Ports Authority (SLPA) said that the ship did not arrive at the port as planned. The ship is awaiting clearance to enter from its location 600 nautical miles away east of Hambantota, local officials said. On July 12, Sri Lankan foreign ministry had granted approval for the vessel's docking at the . On August 8, the ministry in a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Colombo requested for deferring the planned docking of the ship.

It, however, did not specify the reason for such a request. 'Yuan Wang 5' had already entered the Indian Ocean by that time. Sri Lankas request for postponement came after the Indian government had raised strong objections to the visit citing security concerns. The SLPA said that although a Chinese company is in charge of the Hambantota port, the navigation and operational issues are handled by it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and former minister Carlo Calenda have agreed to form a centrist alliance ahead of the September 25 general election.

Renzi's small party Italia Viva ( Alive) and Calenda's Azione (Action) party are looking to win over moderate voters,reports dpa news agency.

In the Italian electoral system, which allocates part of its seats in parliament according to pure majority voting, such alliances are crucial for success.

According to opinion polls, the centre-right alliance led by the right-wing party Brothers of Italy, is currently in the lead and has the best prospects of winning.

Meanwhile, the centre-left alliance led by the Social Democrats (PD) will fail to win a majority even if it joined forces with the centrist group, the polls predict.

The new alliance is hoping to win over voters from Forza Italia, led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as two of his party's most prominent faces, the ministers Mariastella Gelmini and Mara Carfagna have already left and will join the alliance's election campaign, led by Caleda.

The former Minister still hopes to convince outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi to stay on after the .

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Johnson and Johnson's baby powder will soon be history, as the company will stop selling its baby talcum powder in 2023. However, the brand will be reborn as they plan to bring corn-starch-based powder into the market. In a report by Reuters, Johnson and Johnson has over 38,000 lawsuits that claim its talc products to be carcinogenic due to contamination with asbestos minerals.

Also, read | Johnson & Johnson drops talcum baby-powder globally as lawsuits mount

The more surprising though is why a top brand like and Johnson's got discontinued in countries like the of America and . While the company claims all the to be a gimmick, the reasons are still not known. Here are some of the queries that need to be resolved.

Why & talc powder will be discontinued?

Though there is no one-word answer. People think and claim that Johnson and Johnson's powder is highly carcinogenic because of the contamination of the asbestos mineral.

However, Johnson & Johnson claims that the powder is safe for the body. Also, its sales were badly affected after information about the risk of came out.

Can the powder cause

Though the company denies the claims, their numbers have been affected as most consumers believed in the thought.

To rescale a new product, Johnson & Johnson will be using corn starch in the talcum powder.

Some American women also claimed that they got ovarian after using the baby powder. Regulators in the of America claimed that they found cancer-inducing ingredients in the baby powder. Moreover, the company has not accepted any of these allegations to be true.

How much does Johnson & Johnson pay for litigation?

The top pharma company is mired in litigation and paid more than one billion USD in over the past five years.

Moreover, the company's bankruptcy filing suggests that it has been forced to pay around 3.5 billion USD to settle settlement matters.

What does Johnson & Johnson Powder contain?

Johnson & Johnson claims that the powder is made from a natural mineral named Talc. It contains oxygen, hydrogen, silicon, and magnesium. In simple words, talc is a hydrous magnesium silicate, used in cosmetics and personal care products, as it is a good absorbent of moisture.

The only reason why cancer came into the limelight is that Asbestos is also released from where it is extracted. It can be dangerous and life-threatening for the body. During the mining of talc, there is a high risk of getting mica, which could be harmful.
said it plans to stop selling its legacy talc-based baby-powder products globally in 2023, a move that comes amid continued legal battles and years after the company discontinued the product in the US and Canada.



J&J said Thursday that it had made the commercial decision to transition all its baby powder products to use cornstarch instead of talcum powder after conducting an assessment of its portfolio. The health conglomerate, which maintains the product is safe, has for almost a decade faced lawsuits accusing it of hiding cancer risks tied its talc-based baby powder.

We continuously evaluate and optimize our portfolio to best position the business for long-term growth, spokesperson Melissa Witt said in an emailed statement. Todays decision is part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, which evaluated several factors, including differences in demand for our products across geographic regions and evolving consumer trends and preferences.

Shares of the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company rose less than 1% in post-market trading and had fallen 2.3% so far this year through Thursdays close.

In May 2020, as J&J navigated thousands of lawsuits accusing the product of causing some users cancers, the company pulled its talc-based powders from the US and Canadian markets, citing another commercial decision based on declining sales.

After decades of selling talc-based products the company knew could cause deadly cancers to unsuspecting women and men around the world, J&J has finally done the right thing, Leigh ODell, a lawyer for former talc users, said in an emailed statement Thursday. They stopped sales in North America more than two years ago. The delay in taking this step is inexcusable.

Talcum Powder



Talcum powder has long been used in baby products because the mineral keeps skin dry and prevents diaper rash. The mines that produce the powder, however, can also yield asbestos, a mineral once used in products such as building insulation that researchers have linked to cancers. Some consumer have found corn starch can offer the same benefits of talc without the asbestos risk.

J&J said Thursday that its position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged.

The health conglomerate has spent years seeking ways to contain its legal liabilities. It faces 40,300 lawsuits in the US over its talc-based powders, according to a company filing last month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

J&J sought protection for its newly created LTL Management LLC unit last year after arguing it was struggling to contain the lawsuits.

$2 Billion Trust



The company put $2 billion into a trust as part of the units to resolve all current and future talc claims. In February, a judge said the case could proceed in order to seek settlements, but his ruling is being appealed.

Lawyers for former talc users have challenged J&Js move to have the unit seek Chapter 11 protection to deal with the talc unit. A federal appeals court in Philadelphia will hear plaintiffs arguments Sept. 19 that the move amounted to a bad faith filing because they contend J&Js financial position wasnt threatened by the talc litigation.

In court filings, J&Js lawyers have noted the company ran into stumbling blocks in working out a global settlement of the talc cases and faced mounting legal costs. The drugmakers attorneys noted it paid more than $1 billion in legal fees over the last five years in the talc cases and had to deal with inconsistent jury verdicts.

J&J has been forced to pay about $3.5 billion in settlements so far to resolve talc cases, according to the companys bankruptcy filings. A 2018 jury verdict out of state court in St. Louis ultimately forced J&J to pay $2.5 billion to 20 women who targeted its baby powder for their ovarian cancer. Both the Missouri Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court refused to overturn the verdict.

Meanwhile, J&J plans to break off its consumer health business into a standalone company next year in a move that legal experts say could help it isolate liability should the Chapter 11 vehicle not succeed.

The case is LTL Management LLC, 21-30589, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey (Trenton).
The government is preparing a "contingency plan" to deal with the potential resurgence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) terror group after reports suggesting the banned outfit was trying to make a comeback, sources said.

Although the government has been holding talks with the TTP for months to broker some kind of a deal, prospects of such an agreement are grim, the sources told The Express Tribune.

On Wednesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif expressed his apprehensions about the success of the talks, while Pakistan's special envoy on Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq had admitted the peace process was at a "nascent stage".

With reports of some Taliban fighters being seen in the Swat valley, the authorities concerned are preparing a "contingency plan" to deal with the militant threat in case talks with the TTP collapsed.

Authorities have not closed the window of talks with the TTP, they are at the same time ready to deal with any eventuality, The Express Tribune reported.

Sources said the primary reason entered into talks with the TTP was that the Afghan Taliban were reluctant to take any military action against the outfit.

Instead, the interim Afghan Taliban government was keen on Pakistan and the TTP to resolve their differences through talks.

Pakistan began negotiating with the TTP not out of choice but out of compulsion, according to the sources.

During one of the in-camera briefings given to MPs, the military leadership had said talks were in an initial phase and any deal with the TTP would be strictly in accordance with the Constitution and law.

It is believed that Pakistan is trying to exhaust all available options before resorting to any other steps to deal with the threat of the TTP.

The Afghan Taliban government is in a fix as it is reluctant to take any action against the TTP but at the same understands the importance of Pakistan, Express Tribune reported.

With the recent killing of Al Qaeda chief Aymen-Al-Zawahiri in Kabul, the Taliban government in Afghanistan has now come under increased pressure to cut ties to terrorist groups.

Zawahiri's killing has diminished chances of the Taliban getting recognition in the foreseeable future.

If the issue of the TTP remains unaddressed, the Taliban may antagonise Pakistan, which has been their main advocate seeking legitimacy for the current government in Kabul, The Express Tribune said.

--IANS

san/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, whose residence was raided earlier this week, has been put under house arrest until October 9 over her criticism of Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine.

Russian news agencies reported the decision by a Moscow court on Thursday, reports dpa news agency.

It is part of a criminal case against 44-year-old Ovsyannikova for the alleged spreading of false information about Russian armed forces.

She faces between five and 10 years in prison, according to Interfax news agency.

Her home was raided by security officers on Wednesday after which she was arrested.

Ovsyannikova worked for Russian state television's Channel One and had been considered loyal to the Kremlin until she held an anti-war banner up to the camera in a news broadcast in March.

The banner read: "Stop the war. Don't believe the propaganda. You are being lied to here."

She spent several months abroad afterwards working for German newspaper Die Welt.

In July, she again protested the war near the Kremlin.

Under Russian law, Moscow's war on Ukraine can only be referred to as a special military operation and penalties for criticizing the army's actions were made tougher in March.

Ovsyannikova has only been issued with fines on the smaller end of the scale so far.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
on Friday called for avoiding "unilateral actions" to change the status quo in the Strait and refrained from any mention of the "One China" policy, days after Beijing held its biggest-ever military drills around following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the self-governing island.

In its first reaction to the tensions, India, without naming either or Taiwan, said it is concerned over the developments and pitched for efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Pelosi's visit to last week drew a furious response from which claims that the island is part of its territory.

"Like many other countries, too is concerned at recent developments," Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in his weekly media briefing.

"We urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change status quo, de-escalation of tensions and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region," he added.

and are also locked in a bitter border row in several friction points in eastern Ladakh for over two years.

When a journalist from China's state-run Xinhua news agency asked about India's position on the "one-China" principle while referring to Beijing receiving support of around 170 countries on it following Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, Bagchi did not give a direct reply.

"India's relevant policies are well-known and consistent. They do not require reiteration," he said.

China held a mega air and naval exercise around Taiwan following Pelosi's trip, triggering fears of a major confrontation between the two sides.

The Taiwanese government has alleged that China used military exercises as a practice to attack the country in future.

The US has been steadfast in its outreach to Taiwan in the face of increasing Chinese hostilities, and reassuring Taipei of its continued support.

In response to another question, Bagchi said India has no plans as of now to evacuate the 10,000-odd Indians living in Taiwan. He said all Indian missions abroad have contingency plans for expatriate Indians but added that no advisory has been issued yet in the case of Taiwan.

India has been promoting ties with Taiwan in areas of trade, investment, tourism, culture, education and people-to-people exchanges.

The volume of bilateral trade has grown nearly six-fold from USD 1.19 billion in 2001 to almost USD 7.05 billion in 2018 and India ranks as Taiwan's 14th largest export destination and 18th largest source of imports, according to official data.

By end of 2018, around 106 Taiwanese companies were operating in India, with the total investment amounting to USD 1.5 billion in the fields of information and communication technology, medical devices, automobile components, machinery, steel, electronics, construction, engineering and financial services.

The two sides have also set up teams for further expansion of ties in education as well as skill development training.

India does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but both sides have trade and people-to-people ties.

In 1995, New Delhi set up India-Taipei Association (ITA) in Taipei to promote interactions between the two sides and to facilitate business, tourism and cultural exchanges.

India-Taipei Association has also been authorized to provide all consular and passport services.

In the same year, Taiwan too established the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in Delhi.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the community to force the Russian army to leave the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after multiple strikes hit the compound.

"The entire world must react immediately to chase out the occupiers from Zaporizhzhia. Only the Russians' full withdrawal... would guarantee nuclear safety for all of Europe," Zelenskyy said in his daily video address.

This statement came after Ukraine accused of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) again on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier, the Chief of the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanded access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "as soon as possible" for their safety.

"I ask that both sides cooperate... and allow for a mission of the IAEA to proceed as soon as possible," Rafael Mariano Grossi said in an address to the UN Security Council.

Grossi said the IAEA had received updates from both Ukraine and Russia, but that the information provided was often contradictory, according to Al Jazeera.

"So I propose, I plead to call this mission as soon as possible," he said, adding that preventing a nuclear disaster was a "collective responsibility."

Ukraine's interior minister said that Kyiv is making contingency plans to face any scenario at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, including evacuating people from the area.

"The plant is as of today not only in the hands of the enemy but in the hands of uneducated specialists who could potentially allow for a tragedy to happen," interior minister Denys Monastyrsky told Reuters in an interview.

"Of course, it's difficult to even imagine the scale of the tragedy which could come into effect if Russians continue their actions there," he said.

Meanwhile, the UN Chief has called for an immediate end to all military activity around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, warning that any damage could lead to "catastrophic consequences" in the region and beyond, reported Al Jazeera.

In a statement issued before a UN Security Council meeting to discuss security at the plant, Antonio Guterres appealed "for common sense and reason" to avoid any actions "that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant".

Guterres issued a separate statement earlier in the day before the site of the nuclear plant was struck five times, according to Ukraine's state nuclear operator.

Moscow and Kyiv have each accused the other of striking the compound on Thursday and over the weekend.

Notably, launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, which the West has termed an unprovoked war. As a result of this, the Western countries have also imposed several crippling sanctions on Moscow.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UN nuclear chief warned on Thursday that "very alarming" military activity at Europe's largest nuclear plant in southeastern could lead to dangerous consequences for the region and called for an end to combat actions there.

Rafael Grossi urged Russia and Ukraine, who blame each other for the attacks at the plant, to immediately allow nuclear experts to assess damage and evaluate safety at the Zaporizhzhia facility.

Grossi demanded a halt to military actions "that have even the smallest potential to jeopardise nuclear safety" at such an important installation.

His appeal echoed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call earlier on Thursday for an end to all military activity around the Zaporizhzhia plant, warning that any damage could lead to "catastrophic consequences" in the vicinity, the region and beyond.

Grossi, director general of the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), gave a virtual briefing to the UN Security Council at a meeting called by Russia to discuss what Moscow claims were Ukrainian attacks on the plant.

While the plant is controlled by Russia, its Ukrainian staff continues to run the nuclear operations. It is in Enerhodar, a city seized by Russian troops in early March soon after they invaded .

Grossi said statements received from Russia and "are frequently contradicted" and the IAEA cannot corroborate important facts unless its experts visit Zaporizhzhia.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council that "Kyiv's criminal attacks on nuclear infrastructure are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe".

He accused Ukrainian armed forces in recent days of repeatedly using heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems to shell the Zaporizhzhia plant, including on Thursday.

"The background radiation at the nuclear power plant at the moment is within limits, but if the strikes continue, it is only a question of time," Nebenzia warned. "We call on states that support the Kyiv regime to bring their proxies into check to compel them to immediately and once and for all stop attacks."



Ukraine's UN ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, accused Russia of using "elaborate plans of deceit, sabotage and cover-ups" to stage the shelling at Zaporizhzhia, including on Thursday, which poses "an unprecedented threat to nuclear security for Ukraine, to Europe and the world as a whole".

The Ukrainian state company operating the plant, Enerhoatom, said there was renewed Russian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia facility and nearby buildings on Thursday.

"Five (hits) were recorded near the plant management's office -- right next to the welding site and the storage facility for radiation sources," Enerhoatom said in a post on its official Telegram channel. "The grass caught fire over a small area, but fortunately, no one was hurt."



Ukraine's ambassador told the council the only way to remove the nuclear threats is by withdrawing Russian troops and returning the plant to Ukraine's control.

Nebenzia said Russia supported an IAEA visit in June to Zaporizhzhia, which was given "a red light" at the last minute by UN security experts. Moscow is ready to provide "all possible assistance" to resolve any issues for a visit "even before the end of August", he said.

Yevhen Balytskyy, the Kremlin-installed temporary head of the Zaporizhzhia region, said on Thursday that the Russia-backed administration there stood ready to ensure the safety and security of any IAEA delegation sent to investigate conditions. He said in an interview on Russian state TV that the Kremlin-backed authorities had prepared armoured vehicles for the envoys.

Kyslytsya blamed Russia's "unjustified conditions" for the delay in getting IAEA experts to Zaporizhzhia, and said Ukraine stands ready to provide "all necessary assistance" to facilitate the nuclear team's travels through Ukrainian-controlled territory, which is just five miles from the plant across the Dnieper River.

Guterres appealed in a statement "for common sense and reason" to avoid any actions "that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant", and for the withdrawal of all military personnel and equipment.

The Russian capture of Zaporizhzhia renewed fears that the largest of Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors could be damaged, setting off another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the world's worst nuclear disaster, which happened about 110 kilometres (65 miles) north of the capital Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told defence leaders at a conference in Copenhagen on Thursday that the consequences of a radiation accident at Zaporizhzhia "could be even more catastrophic than Chernobyl, and essentially the same as the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, but without a nuclear strike".

"If the Soviet authorities tried to hide the Chernobyl disaster and its full consequences, Russian authorities are much more cynical and dangerous," he said. "They are doing everything themselves to maximise the risk of a nuclear disaster, and lie to the whole world that someone else is allegedly to blame."



Grossi said in an Associated Press interview last week that the situation at Zaporizhzhia is "completely out of control".

Grossi said in a statement on Wednesday that he would personally lead an expert mission to inspect the nuclear plant "in the very near future", without elaborating on the timeline.

(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.)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet has expressed alarm at the high number of Palestinians, including children, killed and injured in the latest escalation in Gaza.

"Inflicting hurt on any child during the course of conflict is deeply disturbing, and the killing and maiming of so many children this year is unconscionable," said Bachelet in a media statement issued on Thursday.

The UN human rights office said on Thursday that it has verified 48 Palestinian deaths in last week's violence from August 5 to 7. Among them at least 22 were civilians, including 17 children and four women, Xinhua news agency reported.

Figures from the UN human rights office also showed that in the past week, 19 Palestinian children have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territory, bringing the death toll since the start of this year to 37.

The office noted that while the ceasefire for the latest escalation in Gaza is holding, tensions remain very high in the West Bank, where four Palestinians were killed and 90 others were injured by live ammunition on August 9.

"The situation in Palestine is extremely fragile, and events such as in Nablus risk igniting further hostilities in Gaza. The utmost restraint is necessary to prevent further bloodshed, including by ensuring that firearms are used strictly in compliance with standards," the UN rights Chief said.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
International Youth Day is celebrated every year on August 12 to raise awareness about cultural and legal issues related to the youth. The day was marked by the United Nations, and it was first observed on August 12, 2000.

Governments and related authorities mark it as an opportunity to work on issues related to youth via cultural events, workshops, concerts, and meetings involving local and national government executives. Interestingly, it is also labeled as the celebration of the potential of youth as global partners. Also read | "Youth Are the Harbingers of Kindness," says Daaji on heartfulness hosting the three-day International 'Rising With Kindness' Youth Summit

According to the 2020, United Nations World Youth Report, 1.21 billion  more than 15 percent of the global population is between the ages of 15 and 24. As mentioned earlier, International Youth Days main objective is to deal with the crucial matters of the world involving young people whether it is social justice, climate change, global peace, education, and different things.

International Youth Day: Quotes

The power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, our present, and our future. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm, and courage of the young people.- Kailash Satyarthi

"My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions." - Swami Vivekananda

Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness. - F Scott Fitzgerald

"Keep true to the dreams of your youth." - Friedrich Schiller

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation..." - Pearl S Buck

"Youth is something I never wanna take it for granted.

I just want to smile and live life." -Tyler, The Creator

"Good habits formed at youth make all the difference."  Aristotle

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.  Diogenes

The world belongs to the energetic.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

You are only young once, and if you work it right, once is enough  Joe Lewis

Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.  Nelson Mandela.

International Youth Day: Importance and Significance

The theme for International Youth Day 2022 is Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All ages. The idea of International Youth Day was appreciated by the UN General Assembly on August 12, 1999, to recognize and promote the importance of youth participation in world affairs.

UNFPA ( Population Funds Association) report suggests that ageism leads to discrimination like other social ills of racism and sexism. Thus, it can have a detrimental effect on individuals and society.

"We celebrate young peoples efforts and contributions big and small toward righting the worlds wrongs and pulling others along with them. Todays youth are tomorrows leaders who know that nothing will change if they stand by; change only happens when they stand up," stated the UNFPA.

Historically, the idea to mark International Youth Day was proposed in 1991 ahead of the first session of the World Youth Forum of the System in Vienna, Austria. Thereafter, it took almost nine years to start this initiative.
Aster DM Healthcare's consolidated net profit rose 33.8% to Rs 79.77 crore on a 12.3% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,662.12 crore in Q1 FY23 over Q1 FY22.

Profit before tax increased by 20.9% to Rs 85.22 crore in Q1 FY23 as against Rs 70.49 crore in Q1 FY22.

Total expenses rose 13.14% year on year to Rs 2,613.78 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2022. Medicines and consumables cost stood at Rs 917.75 (up 14% YoY) and employee benefits expense was at Rs 939.41 crore (up 24% YoY).

EBITDA (excluding other income) increased by 4% to Rs 292 crore in Q1 FY23 as against Rs 281 crore posted in Q1 FY22. Excluding losses due to new hospitals, EBITDA stands at Rs 312 crore, a growth of 11% YoY.

Among business segments, revenue from Hospitals jumped 10.9% to Rs 1,519.76 crore in Q1 FY23 from Rs 1,370.51 crore in Q1 FY22. Revenue from Clinics slipped 4.46% to Rs 536.88 crore in Q1 FY23 as against Rs 561.94 crore in Q1 FY22. Revenue from Retail Pharmacies (including opticals) soared 37.49% to Rs 600.08 crore in Q1 FY23 as against Rs 436.46 crore in Q1 FY22.

Commenting on the performance, Azad Moopen, founder, chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare said, We have started Q1 on a positive note with revenue growth of 12% on a consolidated basis. Revenue in the GCC increased 10% over last year while strong growth momentum in India continued, with revenues growing 18% over Q1 FY 22. Adjusting for contribution from Covid testing last year, GCC revenues grew 18%. In India revenues grew 26% when adjusting for Covid related vaccinations. During Q1, we started operations management of the 140-bed Aster Mother Hospital in Areekode in Kerala, kick starting our planned brown field, low capex initiatives which give a much better ROI and improve our efficiencies. We are looking at more such opportunities in various parts of India.

He added, We have submitted plans for the proposed integrated advanced healthcare facility at Trivandrum, capital of Kerala named as Aster Capital Hospital. The hospital is planned to be a 550-bed facility with the first phase having a capacity of 350 beds expected to be operational by FY 26. Aster Labs entered four other states: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. As of 30 June 2022, there were 2 reference labs, 15 satellite labs and 109 patient experience centers. We expanded Aster Pharmacy branded retail stores in India, operated by Alfaone Retail Pharmacies Private Limited or ARPPL, to 176 pharmacies as of 30 June 2022. As part of its service proposition, Aster Pharmacy in India plans to launch its e-commerce operations, in the second half of FY23.

Alisha Moopen, deputy managing director of Aster DM Healthcare said, We have two of our new hospitals ready for operation Aster Sharjah, which has 101 beds the soft launch of which happened during Q1 and Aster Royal at Oman with 145 beds. We are excited to get them operational in Quarter 2 of this Year as we expand our footprint in GCC. Our new initiatives in Digital expansion continue along the planned lines. We did successful launch of our Digital App in GCC which shall be made available in India soon.

Aster DM Healthcare operates in various segments of the healthcare industry, which include hospitals, clinics and retail pharmacies, and provides healthcare services to patients across economic segments in various gulf corporation council (GCC) states through its various brands, such as Aster, Medcare and Access.

Shares of Aster DM Healthcare declined 7.46% to Rs 219.50 on the BSE.

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Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is quoting at Rs 333.6, up 1.6% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is down 26.67% in last one year as compared to a 7.07% gain in NIFTY and a 37.52% gain in the Nifty Auto index.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd gained for a third straight session today. The stock is quoting at Rs 333.6, up 1.6% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.22% on the day, quoting at 17697.8. The Sensex is at 59458.94, up 0.21%. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd has added around 7.44% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Auto index of which Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is a constituent, has added around 9.43% in last one month and is currently quoting at 26661.75, up 1.49% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 14.73 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 36.67 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark August futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 329.35, up 1.79% on the day. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is down 26.67% in last one year as compared to a 7.07% gain in NIFTY and a 37.52% gain in the Nifty Auto index.

The PE of the stock is 71.51 based on TTM earnings ending June 22.

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Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

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As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



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The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, has raided the residence of the former president, Donald Trump, at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. This is unprecedented in American politics, where ex-presidents have never before been the subject of law enforcement actions due to their actions in office. (One who could have been, Richard M Nixon, was famously pardoned by his successor Gerald R Ford. The decision to do so probably cost Ford re-election in 1976.)

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
Here is the best of Business Standards pieces for Friday

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has published the first set of norms to regulate digital lending.

In this context our lead editorial notes that, while the norms sensible, the RBI could also ensure greater transparency by mandating all fees and charges be clearly disclosed and it could regularly release aggregated and anonymised data to give a sense of market size and growth rates. Read here

Forecasts of economic doom are premature and central bank-bashing is misplaced, writes T T Ram Mohan. Read here

Arvind Subramanian and Josh Felman argue that three shocks to globalisation have squeezed opportunities for China while enlarging them for India. Read here
The "government's rich friends" are getting 'gajak' through tax reliefs, write-offs and exemptions worth crores while the poor are getting only small assistance as 'revris', the alleged Friday targeting Prime Minister .

Last month, the prime minister, after inaugurating the Bundelkhand Expressway in Uttar Pradesh, cautioned people against what he called the "revri culture" of offering freebies for garnering votes and said it is "very dangerous" for the development of the country.

He used 'revris', a popular north Indian sweet often distributed during festivals, as a metaphor for freebies being promised by various parties to grab power and said the people, especially the youth, should guard against it.

Hitting back at the prime minister, spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh asked why were "bank loans worth Rs 5.8 lakh crore were written off in the last five years" and why was "corporate tax worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore reduced".

He said while small assistance given to the poor and oppressed classes to tide in tough times are 'revris', the "freebies given to the rich" were like 'gajak', which were way more than those given to the needy.

"We are against the jhooth ki gathri' (bundle of lies) culture. We are not against holding the hands of citizens during bad times," Vallabh said.

He cited various projects such as giving 100-day employment to every rural household under MGNREGA, mid-day meals by which "12 crore children are getting food", and the Food Security Act because of which "60 per cent Indians got free ration during the pandemic", saying these welfare schemes are showing results.

"We are not against MSP for farmers, we don't consider that 'muft ki revri'. We consider those as handholding, making them a partner in the growth story of our country.

"We are against 'muft ki gajak' which the Government of India is giving by way of corporate tax cuts, causing a loss of Rs 5.8 lakh crore to the exchequer when public sector banks transferred Rs 7.27 lakh crore in loans written off. We are against this, not against empowering people," he told reporters.

Vallabh said, "Why are small amounts of assistance given to the poor are freebies or 'revri', while the freebies that the rich friends get all the time through low tax rates, write offs and exemptions are categorized as 'necessary incentives' (gajak)?"



When will there be a discussion on bank loan waivers to big corporates and the cut in corporate taxes, he posed.

The leader claimed that of the Rs 9.92 lakh crore loans written off by banks in the last five years, Rs 7.27 lakh crore is the share of public sector banks. The government, he added, has admitted in Parliament that of the amount written off by it only Rs 1.03 lakh crore was recovered.

Assuming that the recovery from the written-off loan will increase to 20 per cent in the coming time, public sector banks will have not recovered Rs 5.8 lakh crore, Vallabh said.

"When will there be a discussion on freebies of Rs 5.8 lakh crore given by the public sector banks in the last five years?"



He also wondered when will there be a discussion on the "annual loss of Rs 1.45 lakh crore to the government due to the reduction in corporate tax rates".

"We are against 'Jhooth Ki Gathri' culture, where somebody announces something without proper homework, understanding, and as just as a poll gimmick. We are against that."



Noting that if something is announced, there should be a proper study and research, he said, "We are against the culture of smoke and mirrors. That is our stand."



Vallabh reminded the Modi government about its promises that included "every Indian will have a house by 2022, farmer's income will double by 2022, the bullet train will be operational by 2022, the economy will be worth USD 5 trillion".

"How and when will this culture of false promises end? Is the prime minister going to give new deadlines for the promises made for the year 2022?" the Congress leader posed.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Minister on Friday defended his new government's decision to provide Z-plus' security cover to his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, rubbishing criticism of the move by the BJP.

Kumar also said his government will try to fulfil the promise of 10-lakh jobs that Yadav had made ahead of the last assembly elections.

He is the deputy CM with obvious security needs. Why should he not get the cover? They (the BJP) speak nonsense, said Kumar when his attention was drawn by reporters to criticism from leaders of the saffron party.

Reacting to the decision to provide Z-plus security cover for Yadav, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi had tweeted, I was never given a bulletproof car, not Z-plus security either. With minimum security, I served the public for a long time from the government residence at Polo Road.

"Why do they need so much security? People are now scared that they have come to power," he added.

The 'Z-plus' security comprises a pilot, an escort, a close protection team, house guard, spotters, search and frisking staff, among others in the form of several plain-clothes security personnel and armed commandos, a senior police official said.

Yadav has also been provided with a bulletproof car.

Asked about the electoral promise of 10 lakh jobs that Yadav, then in the opposition, had made during the 2020 assembly polls, and which the young RJD leader asserted, has got the nod from the chief minister, Kumar said, We will definitely try to fulfil that promise to the best of our ability.

The JD(U) leader was also asked whether he feared non-cooperation from the Centre, in terms of financial assistance, following his exit from the NDA.

There are norms with regard to sharing of revenue between the Centre and the state. If these norms are betrayed, those doing so will stand exposed and suffer consequences, said the 71-year-old Kumar, who is the longest-serving CM of the state.

To a pointed query whether the cabinet expansion is scheduled to take place on August 16, Kumar said with a mischievous smile what if it happens earlier than that?



He, however, added: We had wanted to complete the induction of ministers as early as possible. But, it seems we will have to wait till the 15th (of August) is over.

(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.)
At least 11 members including party's lone MLA and senior leader Sudip Roy Barman were injured in police custody as they were allegedly "attacked by the ruling BJP's workers" in on Thursday.

Pradesh President Birajit Sinha said that the " goons" attacked the leaders and workers while they were in police custody.

He said "seriously injured" Roy Barman and former Youth Congress President Sushanta Chakraborty are now under medical treatment in the medical college and hospital here.

Sinha said that the Congress leaders and workers had assembled at Ranir Bazar as part of their pre-scheduled nation-wide programme of 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

"But the police denied permission to hold the event. After some arguments, the Congress leaders and workers launched a road blockade to protest the police's decision and the police arrested around 250 Congress leaders and workers and took them under detention to a police complex in Arundhuti Nagar. But on the way, groups of criminals and mafia elements owing allegiance to started heavy stone pelting on the running vehicles injuring the Congress leaders and workers," the state Congress chief told the media.

He claimed that the police took no action to deal with the situation."This was done in a pre-planned manner and the police did nothing. The miscreants now do not dare to come near to physically attack and resort to stone-pelting from afar," the Congress leader said.

Around 100 Congress workers on Thursday night surrounded the residence of Chief Minister Manik Saha in protest against the BJP attack, but the police dispersed the Congressmen.

Condemning the attack on the Congress leaders and workers, opposition CPI-M in a statement said that they too could not hold a pre-scheduled programme at Ramchandra Ghat in Khowai district on Thursday as the BJP workers in presence of the police prevented the Left party workers and leaders.

The Left party workers led by CPI-M's state secretary and party's central committee member Jitendra Choudhury tried to hold a rally as part of their country-wide programme of "Save Constitution and Save Democracy".

--IANS

sc/pgh

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chief Minister on Thursday visited Dare, his village in Satara district, for the first time since occupying the top post of the state.

He was accorded a warm welcome by the villagers. "I have come to my native village for the first time after taking charge as chief minister. I am overwhelmed by the affection showered on me by the people of the village," he said. There is a big scope for tourism in this western region and the state government will take steps to promote tourism in the area, Shinde said.

Asked about the allocation of portfolios, Shinde said it will happen soon. "Questions were asked when the cabinet expansion will take place. Like the cabinet expansion happened, the allocation of portfolios will also take place soon," he said. Shinde, a senior Shiv Sena minister, rebelled against party chief Uddhav Thackeray in June and brought down the Thackeray-led government by splitting the party.

(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.)
Reserve Bank of India changed the rules related to bank lockers in 2021 which are effective since January 2022. The primary objective of these bank locker rules was to protect expensive assets from theft and burglaries. With trembling economic inequality, jewelry and cash thefts are still prevalent in many parts of India.

After Supreme Courts order, issued these rules. In general, often get away with theft cases stating that are not responsible for any goods kept inside . As deny accountability, customers are obliged to fight legal battles. After January 2022, banks have not been able to escape their liability in case of damage or loss to the goods from the . To understand this, here are the rules you should know.



Also read | RBI issues digital lending norms, reserves space for regulated entities

Banks will need to pay 100 times the compensation of the rent

The Reserve Bank introduced a bank locker rule which states that if anything is being stolen from the locker, the bank will have to pay 100 times to the customer as a compensatory loss. The reason behind issuing this rule was complaints of thefts in .

The system has become more transparent as banks will have to show a list of empty lockers

Lack of transparency had always been a concern in the public sector departments. Until today, banks used to sideline the theft incidents and ignore them completely by saying that they were not responsible for it. stated that in its order banks will have to show a list of empty and the waiting list number of the locker.

Fraud Prevention Rules introduced: SMS alerts and e-mails

Every time you will access the locker, you will be alerted through e-mail and SMS through the bank. The objective of the rule is to prevent fraud. Also, the bank has the right to rent a locker for a maximum period of three years. For instance, if the locker rent is Rs 2000, the bank should not charge you more than Rs 6000, excluding other maintenance charges.

footage is mandatory for people using the locker room

has made it mandatory to monitor the people coming and going into the locker room through cameras. Moreover, the data of footage will have to be stored for six months. In case of a security lapse or theft, the police will be able to investigate through the CCTV footage.

Key takeaways of Bank Locker's rules by RBI



1. Now, Banks cannot escape their liability in case of any damage or loss to the goods from the locker.

2. The Supreme Court has ruled that banks are not allowed to escape their liability concerning the goods in the locker. Thus, you can fight a legal battle against locker thefts.

3. These instructions apply to both safe custody of goods and existing lockers within the banks.
New Delhi (India), August 12 (ANI/PNN): One of the best ways to get into a top global university is to do the IBDP (International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme), which is one of the most challenging pre-university programs in the world. This is a rigorous two-year programme with many different assessments throughout a student's journey.

One of the critical challenges of the IBDP is that it is very different from the national curriculum because it has a very strict mark scheme that wants the students to derive solutions, design experiments, and choose relevant examples to support their arguments, as well as challenge existing theories with well-thought-out counterarguments. These things don't come naturally to students, especially those joining IBDP from a traditional Indian curriculum background. Such exacting standards require extra training, which the school most often cannot provide because most of the time spent in classes is used to cover the syllabus and clarify concepts.

Students tend to underestimate the level of difficulty of the IBDP. In particular, they underestimate the length and depth of the syllabus. They are unaware of the numerous internal assessments, lab experiments, portfolio compilations, essays, and oral exams required for submission to the IB, alongside college applications, SAT preparation and CAS hours.

Most IBDP students complain that their school could not finish the syllabus on time, leaving them very little time to revise and practice exam-style questions.

Moreover, the final exams are not graded locally in school but by select IBDP Examiners worldwide. For this reason, it is imperative for a student to practice exam-style questions from the very beginning and understand the style of writing answers as per the IBDP mark scheme. Although a student may know everything, most students are still unable to get top scores because they are not adept at thinking, writing, and organising their answers the way the IBDP wants them to.

The reality is that most IBDP school teachers were never IBDP students themselves, and so whilst they may be good at teaching concepts, they may not know the best way to get a near-perfect score on the exams and the best way to navigate through the two-year journey and provide the right type of training for each assessment type.

That's why CRACK IB is uniquely placed to efficiently solve the problems of IBDP students because it was founded by an IBDP school topper and is made up of a handpicked team of award-winning tutors, former IBDP curriculum writers, and IB Examiners from around the world, the very same people who may be correcting the final exams of IBDP students.

CRACK IB offers live interactive online classes with IB examiners and award-winning tutors worldwide.

CRACK IB provides different courses at strategic times of the IBDP programme so that students can not only ace their IBDP assessments during the academic year but also peak at the right time before their final exams. Regular courses offered are short-term courses based on a bundle of topics with dedicated live doubt-solving sessions. Also offered are vacation courses such as Mid-IB revision, 2nd-year IBDP preview, and Pre-IBDP Foundations for 10th graders. At relevant times, courses for Internal Assessments (IAs), Extended Essays (EEs), and separate courses to crack TOK are also offered. The final exam build-up comprises crash courses, pre-exam prep, and paper solving sessions leading up to the final IBDP exams.

"When I started the IBDP in 2006, we didn't have the online resources we have today. Often, we didn't even have textbooks for certain subjects. Additionally, I certainly wasn't the brightest guy in the class. But suppose I was able to crack it with my limited resources. In that case, I truly believe that with the right system of organised training, motivated students can easily excel in the IBDP", said Zeeshan Firasta, CRACK IB founder and former Kodaikanal International School IBDP valedictorian and Northwestern University alumnus.

After topping his school's IBDP programme, completing 3 degrees from Northwestern University, passing his CFA Level I in his first attempt, and completing an MSc Finance degree from Warwick Business School, Zeeshan has had plenty of formal education and believes his exam-cracking experiences alongside with the teaching prowess of his team of CRACK IB tutors can help IBDP students thrive in a crucial time of their lives.

Zeeshan elaborates on some of the techniques used at CRACK IB, stating, "We want to give students all the elements they need to ace the IBDP efficiently. In particular, we identify different types of IBDP questions from each topic and provide students with step-by-step solutions for each type. We also teach them how to organise their answers by understanding IB question command terms, and train them to use the right keywords and diagrams, choose relevant examples and counterarguments to maximise their score on each IB assessment. In short, we train our students to get into the mind of the IBDP mark scheme."

With a base in Europe and India, CRACK IB intends to expand rapidly, ultimately hoping to provide its services globally. CRACK IB courses are offered at competitive rates, starting as low as Rs 7,999. Course listings are continually updated and can be found at (www.crackib.com)

This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Have a domestic vacation planned in the coming months? Or, are you planning to fly back home during the festive season? If yes, then this news may concern you. Starting 31st of August, the civil aviation ministry will remove price caps for the domestic aviation sector. This will give airlines flexibility on passenger fares.

Under normal circumstances, airlines would be broadly expected to continue with current levels of fares despite the government deciding to remove domestic fare caps. This is mainly on account of costlier fuel. However, that could change based on whether airlines maintain pricing discipline or not. Airline executives have also told Business Standard that low-demand routes, flights with poor loads, and new routes could see discounts.

Caps on fares and capacity were introduced in May 2020 as air travel resumed after the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. While the government allowed 100 per cent capacity deployment in October 2021, it continued with the pricing regulation.

Under the current policy, the government has been setting minimum and maximum fares for domestic flights that are applicable for up to a period of 15 days from the booking date on a rolling basis. For bookings beyond 15 days, airlines have been free to set their own fares.

Going ahead, capacity addition, the demand-supply situation, and fuel prices could determine pricing. How much you end up spending could also depend on which route you're flying.

Aloke Bajpai, the co-founder and group CEO of ixigo, told Business Standard that should gradually decline on routes with softer demand. Basically, customers can enjoy lower pricing on sectors or routes with comparatively low flight loads. However, another travel agency company executive believes that select flight routes, for instance between Indian metros, were likely to see a surge in pricing.

When you are travelling also matters. The announcement has come when traffic is lean. One financial daily reported that airline executives believe that a fare war could erupt. Ticket prices will decline if that happens. According to the report, airline executives see falling considerably at least till the end of September due to lower traffic. They do expect airlines to maintain pricing discipline in the festive season that starts from October. However, it is possible that airlines that urgently need liquidity might undercut prices even then.

According to data provided by travel portal ixigo, for tickets purchased about two weeks in advance, the average one-way fares on some of the top domestic routes have decreased by as much as 31%. For example, a Delhi  Mumbai ticket, which cost Rs 7,587 a month ago was down 24% to Rs 5,801 in the second week of August.

Similarly, ticket prices on the Delhi-Goa route were down 20%, and Mumbai-Chennai route fell almost 15%. But the decline came from a high base. It was driven by airlines and online travel aggregators trying to cash in on the long Independence-day-weekend. The fares in July were 25 to 30% higher compared to January this year.
Borut Pahor, Slovenia's President AA Images

It was a wrong signal to President Putin that he can do whatever he wants, with unimportant consequences for his actions, Borut Pahor tells Anadolu Agency

ANKARA (AA)  The West made a mistake by not reacting to the 2014 annexation of Crimea adequately, Slovenias president has said.

It was a wrong signal to (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin that he can do whatever he wants, with unimportant consequences for his actions, Borut Pahor told Anadolu Agency in an interview during his official visit to Turkiyes capital Ankara.

The sanctions package after Crimeas annexation was not radical, he said, adding that the West did not want to repeat the mistake after Russia launched war in Ukraine on Feb. 24, and adopted a strong package of sanctions.

The war in Ukraine, Pahor said, put huge burden on our shoulders, but we are in solidarity, which he said should be maintained until peace is achieved.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was surprised to see such solidarity, according the Slovenian leader.

I didnt expect neither that Putin will invade Ukraine, Ive been surprised and disappointed. Disappointed, because Ive invested very much, as the president, as the prime minister of Slovenia, to have excellent relations with Russia and President Putin, he added.

Pahor said Ukraine should not be left alone in its war with Russia and the West should do whatever it takes to ensure peace.

At this very moment I just don't see the possibility for such a peace. But it will be, I hope so very much in the near future, he said.

The president also urged that the political will of Ukraine, its government and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should be followed.

- Some countries under direct pressure from Russia

Pahor said that he has been trying for his colleagues at the EU and NATO to pay attention to the Western Balkans.

There is a long tradition of problems even before the war. But with the war, there is another problem, and that is that some countries there are under direct pressure from Russia, the Slovenian president asserted.

Serbia, for which the EU membership process continues, is under great pressure on whether to implement the sanctions of the Western bloc and the EU, he claimed.

Pahor said the EU accession processes of the Western Balkan countries should be accelerated.

The right answer to this problem of consequences of the war (in Ukraine) is to speed the process of enlargement of the European Union and NATO to the Western Balkans countries, he defended.

In this case, I think every country, also Serbia, will have to answer the question where certain countries would like to be. And I hope so very much that every country including Serbia, at the end of the day, will be on the side of the West, he added.

He also pointed out the recent tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, which escalated late July ahead of Pristinas planned implementation of a new law mandating that everyone, including Serbs living in Kosovo, have a Kosovar ID card and license plate.

Pahor said these problems can only be solved in the long term by accelerating the enlargement process.

- If NATO waits, Western Balkans countries will be exposed to Russia

The Slovenian leader said Bosnia-Herzegovina should be the next country to be invited to NATO membership.

I think, if Bosnia would be one day in NATO, that would, very importantly, change the dynamic of events in Western Balkans, he said.

Pahor said that he has been working grant EU candidate status to Bosnia-Herzegovina before the end of 2022, without any precondition. He also emphasized the importance of North Macedonia and Albanias continuing membership bids in the EU.

The Slovenian president said that the Western Balkans hold some opportunities as well as problems.

And I would like to say how important it is what the EU and NATO will do there. If they will wait and wait and wait for developments, well, the Western Balkans countries will be exposed to Russia and this could be of the problem.

- Thank God Turkiye is a member of NATO

Speaking on Turkiyes strategic importance, Pahor said the strategic partnership agreement that was signed between Slovenia and Turkiye in 2011 shows the importance the two countries gave each other.

I think its good that there is a process of negotiation between Brussels and Ankara on EU membership. I know its going very slow. But nevertheless, I think its important to keep Turkey as close to us as possible, said Pahor.

He hailed Turkiye for its excellent job in mediating between Russia and Ukraine as the war continues in its sixth month.

I think we should be thankful to your government and the president that they are so strong in getting some results here, which are not important just for Europe but also for third countries, he added.

On July 22, Turkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal in Istanbul to reopen three Ukrainian ports -- Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny -- for grain exports.

The historic deal, brokered by Turkiye and the UN, has unblocked exports of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports since the beginning of the war.

Pahor said that he is in favor of excellent relations between Brussels and Ankara. Your country is important. Geopolitically is extremely important. Thank God it is a member of NATO. I think this is very, this is very important.

He also said that the three-way memorandum that were signed between Turkiye, Sweden and Finland during NATOs Madrid summit in June for the two Nordic countries accession to the alliance is extremely important for the alliances future.

I wouldnt under estimate the role of Turkiye, I think nobody is underestimating the role of Turkiye. There is a debate going on on democracy or rule of law, free media, and all that stuff. But this is not just the debate between Turkiye and EU, its also a debate within the EU.

Behlul Cetinkaya/AA
SMC Asia Car Distributors Corp., the official importer and distributor of BMW in the Philippines is now offering one of the best valued BMW ...
Bangladesh expects a 15% growth in cement exports in FY22-23

12 August 2022

Bangladesh has set an export target for the cement industry at US$11m during the 12 months of the ongoing financial year, ending 31 June 2023, compared to US$9.57m earned in FY21-22. This translates to expected growth of 15 per cent YoY, according to the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.

Meanwhile, the first month of FY22-23, ie July 2022, started with bringing home US$0.72m of earnings on account of cement exports, up by 94.6 per cent over the same month last year. The figure also includes a minor amount of salt, stone and related products, says EPB data.

More than a dozen companies export cement to India, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, local media says that Bangladesh Cement Manufactures Association (BCMA) sent a letter to the commerce ministry asking for a 10 per cent cash incentive for exporting key construction materials to increase the current export volume threefold.

The volume of cement export was 0.25Mt in the 2021 calendar year. The majority was exported to the northeastern states of neighbouring India, cites the letter. Seventy-six cement companies are registered with the government, but only 42 large-, medium- and small-scale companies are currently in operation. Of them, seven have stock market listings, according to the association.

Currently, all the 42 plants have a production capacity of ~58Mta against the demand of ~31Mta. The cement industry is dominated by only 10 companies, including two multinationals, holding around 75 per cent of the total market share.

Published under
A woman told police she had put a down payment of $600 on a cat with a Visa gift card on Facebook. The woman drove down from Kentucky to pick up the cat from an address on Flynn Street and when she got there a black male answered the door and he didn't know anything about a cat. The woman believes that she was scammed. An officer did some research on the name and DOB the suspect used and couldnt find anyone with that information. The woman had a Facebook picture of the suspect but unknown if it's a real picture or not. The woman knows she is out the $600 but she wanted to make a report about the incident.

* * *

A man on Tunnel Boulevard told police someone had thrown a rock through his bedroom window. He said he had left home earlier in the day and returned to find his bedroom window broken and a rock on the floor. The man was unable to provide any suspect information or video footage of the incident.

* * *

An officer noticed a man who appeared to be bothering people at the horseshoe in front of the Tennessee Aquarium at 1 Broad St. As the officer was watching the man, a woman approached the officer and said the man had stolen her husbands backpack and was currently wearing it. The man was wearing a backpack. The officer approached the man and inquired about the backpack. He said he thought it was his and he removed it and sat it on the ground. The backpack was returned to the womans husband and the officer asked if they wanted to press charges or make a report. He didnt want a report or charges made because he got his backpack back. The officer informed the suspicious man that his behavior was borderline disorderly conduct and suggested that he should leave the area of the Tennessee Aquarium at the request of their security. He agreed and proceeded to leave on foot heading south on Broad Street.

* * *

A woman on Mountain Creek Road told police her mother had bought her a pistol many years ago, and that it had become rusted and damaged. She no longer wanted the weapon and wanted CPD to take it. An officer ran the pistol through NCIC and found it has no record. The officer will submit it to Property.

* * *

A man at Walmart at 2020 Gunbarrel Road told police sometime between 4 and 4:30 p.m. someone broke the rear passenger window of his Chevrolet while it was parked in the parking lot and stole his property.

* * *

A woman on Mountain View Drive told police someone called her and scammed her into sending the information of four $500 Nordstrom gift cards. After she realized it was a scam, she contacted Nordstrom and was able to get one of the cards canceled and returned to her on another gift card. The woman was able to get an order canceled that was placed online with another one of the gift cards and anticipates another $500 gift card being returned to her.

* * *

A woman on N. Hawthorne Street wanted another woman to leave her house. Police asked the second woman to leave and she did.

* * *

A man and woman on Hollyberry Lane told police they were involved in a verbal disorder. There was no evidence to suggest otherwise. Both agreed to separate.

* * *

While on patrol, an officer discovered a suspicious silver Jeep Patriot parked and locked in the back parking lot of the YMCA at 4138 Hixson Pike. The officer checked the vehicle's tag against records and found it didnt come back on file. The officer checked the vehicle's VIN against records and found that the vehicle was not stolen and was registered to a woman in Ooltewah. The officer didnt see anything suspicious inside the vehicle and it was secure. There were no keys seen inside the Jeep.

* * *

A man told police his car was damaged in the parking lot at 150 Browns Ferry Road and he wanted a report of the incident. He said the driver of a box truck swiped his vehicle and both had agreed to handle the damages without getting insurance involved. The driver of the box truck agreed to pay for the damage but was not on scene. He had written down his information for the first man. The man didnt want to make a crash report.

* * *

A woman on 6th Avenue Court told police someone was knocking on her door causing a disorder. The man knocking told police he was just trying to pick up his property. The woman placed the mans property in the hallway where he was able to collect his items and leave the area without incident.

* * *

A woman at Orange Theory Fitness at 7407 Igou Gap Road told police her car had been broken into and items stolen. She arrived at 6:14 a.m. for her fitness class and, when she exited the class at 7:14 a.m., she noticed the window broken out and her wallet with credit cards, $50 cash, and a prescription for medication for her son was gone. The woman later called in to add her father's checkbook with First Bank to the property stolen. She said checks have been written from the checkbook. She understands that a separate report for forged checks will have to be made with detailed information regarding the checks illegally written. She called back again and said an officer in the Fraud Department called her and asked her to find out where a check for $1,800 was drawn from on her fathers First Bank account. She spoke to the bank and they told her that they could not tell where the check was cashed, but that it cleared the bank payable to a certain woman.

* * *

A woman on Lake Haven Drive told police her car was stolen during the night. She said the suspects went into an unlocked BMW in her carport and took the key fob to another one of her vehicles, a Nissan Rogue, and stole that one. She captured the incident on her home security camera. The vehicle was entered into NCIC as stolen. Later police responded to a large crowd gathering on Tunnel Boulevard. Police saw the Nissan Rogue sitting in the back corner. The vehicle was confirmed stolen by dispatch. Dispatch tried multiple times to notify the owner. The vehicle was recovered on Tunnel Boulevard. Don Yates Wrecker Services towed the vehicle back to their lot and the vehicle was removed from NCIC.

* * *

A man on Lake Resort Drive told police someone ransacked the inside of his 2012 BMW X6 and stole three items. He says he believes his vehicle was locked, but found no damage to it.

* * *

A woman on Wilson Street told police a man had slashed her tire. Police saw a small cut in the rear passenger tire. The woman said she hadnt talked to the man in a few days, but she saw him the day before wearing a blue tank top and shorts. She didnt want to press charges, just wanted to report the incident. She didnt have current insurance on the car. The woman later called in saying she observed another tire (the front, passenger tire) had also been cut.
A Cleveland, Tn., school went on lockdown on Thursday afternoon after a gunshot was heard.

At approximately 2:34 p.m., the school resource officer at Michigan Avenue Elementary School reported a distant gunshot was heard by staff members and students, who were outside.

As a precaution, the children were brought inside and school was placed on lockdown. Numerous deputies responded to check the area. No threats to the school were discovered and the lockdown was released.

Additional Bradley County Sheriffs Office deputies remained at the school to assist with school dismissal.
Sheriff Ray Cross said he personally intervened after he was told that tour buses were dropping illegal immigrants off in Dade County.

He said he told the bus driver to keep traveling to a big city that would have more resources for them that the rural North Georgia county.

This account is on the Dade County Sheriff's Facebook page:
China denounces Lithuanian official's visit to Taiwan

Xinhua) 09:17, August 12, 2022

BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Thursday denounced a Lithuanian official's visit to China's Taiwan region, warning that China will take resolute countermeasures.

According to media reports, Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute arrived in Taiwan with a delegation on Aug. 7 for a five-day visit.

"China strongly condemns the Lithuanian anti-China forces for their deliberate violation of China's sovereignty and gross interference in China's internal affairs," Wang told a daily news briefing.

Wang said the one-China principle is one of the basic norms of international relations and the political foundation for China to develop bilateral relations with other countries, including Lithuania.

The communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Lithuania states clearly that the government of the Republic of Lithuania recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and that the government of the Republic of Lithuania undertakes the obligation not to establish official relations or engage in official contacts with Taiwan, according to the spokesperson.

"However, the Lithuanian side repeatedly breaks its promises, which is a blatant breach of faith," said Wang, adding that China will firmly retaliate against the vicious provocation by the Lithuanian side, as it harms the one-China principle and undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We urge the relevant people on the Lithuanian side not to continue serving as pawns of 'Taiwan independence' and anti-China forces, still less head further down the wrong path," Wang said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Du Mingming)
An employee at the Speedway, 1330 E 3rd St., told police that as he was cleaning the beer cooler an unknown man came in and took two cases of beer. The employee estimated the value of the beer stolen to be approximately $40. The employee described the man as a black male, approximately 60 years in age, wearing a white tank top, shorts and a hat.

* * *

While on routine patrol, police viewed a beat-up silver Chevy sedan backed into a parking spot on Mountain Creek Road. Police looked at the license plate displayed on the vehicle, and upon running the plate, it came back to an Infinity Q45. Police looked through the windows of the vehicle and viewed small pieces of tin foil that appeared to be folded up as well. Police waited for whoever had been driving the vehicle to return, however it did not appear that they would be returning any time soon. Police got the VIN of the vehicle, and documented its presence at that location.

* * *



While on routine patrol, police found a white Suzuki SUV parked in an empty parking lot next to a warehouse on Powercorp Drive. Police attempted to run the license plate on the vehicle; however, it came back not on file. Police then attempted to run the VIN and that also came back not on file. The vehicle had a set of keys sitting in between the driver and passenger seat. There were also

two cell phones in the front seats and two phones in the back seat as well. On the outside of the vehicle right above the gas tank there was a hole that looked like it could possibly be from a bullet. The hole was covered up by a sticker. Police checked the area to attempt to locate anyone who may have been occupying the vehicle, and when police returned to where the vehicle had been parked, it was gone.

* * *

A man called police from his residence in Ringgold to report his 2021 red Hyundai Elantra (GA tag)

stolen. The man said that he left his vehicle unlocked with the keys inside in the parking lot at 31-W Insulation, 3211 N Orchard Knob Ave., that morning at approximately 10 a.m. He said he returned later that afternoon and realized his vehicle was gone. The man was able to track his vehicle through his cell phone, and the vehicle was pinging at an address on W. Shadowlawn Drive. Police located the vehicle unoccupied, backed into a parking space. The owner arrived on scene and unlocked the vehicle using his cell phone. Since the keys were gone, United Wrecker towed the vehicle. The man said that the cameras at his work were disabled and therefore did not capture any suspect information. It appeared that there had been at least three individuals inside of the vehicle. Police attempted to lift finger prints from inside the vehicle, but were unsuccessful.

* * *

While on routine patrol, police witnessed a man stumbling while walking in the 2200 block of Rawlings Street. Police spoke with the man and he said that he did not know where he was. He was extremely intoxicated and had an empty fifth of Jack Daniels by his feet. Police ran his information. The man had a valid license and no warrants. The address on his license was on N. Highland Park Avenue. Police asked the man where he lived, and he gave them the Highland Park address. Police transported the man back to his residence without incident.

* * *



A man on S. Cheltenham Road told police he had been messaging an account he thought belonged to a friend of his through Snapchat, when someone on the account began to threaten him. He said the person on the account threatened to send nude photos of him to his contacts if he did not go purchase an Apple gift card for the other user. He told police the other user did not have any actual nude photos of him, and had showed him the photo apparently intended to be sent, and he said that it did not really even look like him. Police walked the man through how to report this activity through Snapchat and Instagram, the two apps he had been contacted through. Police also suggested that the man block the offending account, and possibly check to make sure his accounts had not been compromised. The man agreed to do so, and will be following up with Snapchat and Instagram. The man was unable to provide any suspect description.

* * *



A man on Mountain Creek Road, at Hawthorne Creekside Apartments, told police he last saw his vehicle when he parked it there around 8:30 p.m. the night before. He said when he got back to it that morning around 7:45 a.m., he discovered that the catalytic converter was cut off and gone. He's not sure if there are any cameras around where his vehicle was parked.

* * *

A man working on Riverside Lane told police his wallet had been taken from his vehicle the day before. Upon notifying the plant manager, security footage was reviewed and noted two vehicles drive past the entrance to the plant slowly, then come onto the property. The vehicles were a red Nissan Altima and a red Hyundai Elantra. The vehicles entered the plant and left shortly after. The

incident happened at 5:45 p.m. The man's wallet had his credit card, debit card, Social Security card, green card and $30 in it. The man and other employees checked the main road after the fact to see if the wallet could be located, but did not find it. The vehicle information for a Hyundai Elantra was located that matched one of the suspect vehicles. The vehicle information was turned into Property. Upon investigation, it was found the Nissan Altima is a stolen vehicle. Current camera footage does not show the suspects in the vehicles.

* * *

A crash was reported in the drive thru of the Dairy Queen, 5433 Highway 153. A man told police he thinks he put his truck in reverse instead of park and rolled back into a woman's vehicle. The man's truck had no damage. The woman's vehicle had a small dent from the trailer ball hitch. Both of them swapped information to give their insurance companies and elected to not have a crash report done.

* * *



A man on Mountain Creek Road told police someone cut the catalytic converter off of his 1999 Honda Accord.

* * *

A man on Sanford Avenue told police that at 12:54 p.m. a city of Chattanooga Public Works employee was operating a heavy crane machine to pick up tree brush and limbs in front of his address. He said during that time, one of the limbs fell from the crane and struck his mailbox, causing damage. The man said that he does have a Ring bell camera, which only captured the latter part of the incident after the limb had already fallen from the crane. The video showed the city employee walking to his mailbox to pick up the branch and looking at the damages to the mailbox. The total damage to the mailbox is approximately $40.

* * *



Police were called to America's Best Value Inn & Suites, 103 Patten Chapel Road, because of a man who was refusing to vacate his hotel room. Police spoke with the man in room 119 and he had already begun collecting his items. Police assisted in moving his items outside the room to expedite the process. He left without incident.

* * *

Police were called to the United Way, 630 Market St., for a disorder prevention. A representative with United Way told police that they just wanted police in the building when they tried to get a homeless woman to exit the building. They didn't want police to be seen by the homeless woman, and after she left they said they did not need a report.

* * *

A woman on Camellia Drive told police a man was arrested last week and gave her address as

being his. She said he had been staying with his girlfriend at another residence on Camellia Drive. She said she received a letter from a lawyer at her address that was addressed to the man who had been arrested. She said she gave the letter to the man's girlfriend. She said she does not know why he gave her address as his. She wants a record on file of him giving her address. Other records gave the man's address as a residence on Noa Street and at 800 McCallie Ave., which is the Salvation Army.

* * *

A disorder was reported at a residence on Alabama Avenue. A man there told police he was receiving harassing text messages from a phone number he was unfamiliar with. He told police he believed the messages to be from his girlfriend, posing as another girl in an attempt to catch him cheating on her. At no time did the man or woman say anything became physical between the two of them. Police observed nothing to indicate anything physical had taken place between the two.
City officials said they will use a $25 million federal grant to replace the 70-year-old, long-deteriorating Wilcox Boulevard Bridge with a new, modern structure that will better connect residents to the Tennessee River while enhancing a core logistics corridor for the city.

The funding, which was granted by the U.S. Department of Transportations Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) program, represents one of the largest, single-item transportation investments in the citys history.

On behalf of the City of Chattanooga, I sincerely thank President Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for this historic investment into our city, which will uplift our transportation industry and ensure a more connected, healthy, and equitable future for our residents, said Mayor Tim Kelly. I also want to thank our congressional delegation, Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Norfolk Southern, our state delegation, Mayor Jim Coppinger, our City Council and County Commission, and the many others who made this project possible.

"This unprecedented series of partnerships is the perfect example of the tremendous impact we can have when we work together on transformative solutions that will improve peoples lives for decades to come.

He said the existing bridge has deteriorated to the extent that it can only support passenger vehicles, delaying East Chattanooga response times for first responders, and increasing the burden on the citys local logistics and transportation industry.

When completed, the new bridge will expand equitable access to jobs, parks, trails, and essential services for some of the citys most historically disadvantaged communities, while increasing safe access to one of the regions most important logistical assets - Norfolk Southerns DeButts Railyard, it was stated.

Were pleased to congratulate the city of Chattanooga for being awarded a federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) grant to replace and improve the Wilcox Boulevard Bridge in Chattanooga said Deputy Governor and Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley. This bridge replacement will strengthen Chattanoogas infrastructure network and provide a safer, more reliable route for members of the community. TDOT has a long, demonstrated history of working with the city and we look forward to continuing our partnership to ensure this project is successful.

The new bridge will be engineered to modern structural integrity standards that will support CARTA buses, emergency vehicles, increased vehicular traffic, and multimodal freight to support future economic activity in East Chattanooga.

It will also include a new multi-use path that will directly connect East Chattanooga residents to the Riverwalk through the Wilcox Boulevard Connector - a pedestrian and bike connection the city plans to develop from Amnicola Highway at Wilcox Boulevard to the Riverwalk in the coming years.
Tennessee Tourism and Chattanooga Tourism Co. will honor the "most influential harmony duet in country music", The Louvin Brothers, with the unveiling of a Tennessee Music Pathways marker Saturday, Aug. 20, at Patten Square. At the unveiling, hear from WDEF Radios Scott Miller as well as local and state leaders on the importance of this commemoration.

Patten Square is at 818 Georgia Ave.

About the Louvin Bothers:

Ira Lonnie Loudermilk, and his younger brother, Charles Elzer Loudermilk, the most influential harmony duet in country music, the Louvin Brothers, began their career in Chattanooga, where they perfected a style rooted in old-time brother duets and shape-note hymn singing. In addition, they brought sophisticated vocal interplay and an unprecedented degree of intensity. In 1942, the brothers entered a talent contest in Chattanooga and won three successive weeks, earning a 15-minute daily show on the citys newest radio station, 25watt WDEF. After the brothers worked the morning radio show and a full day at Peerless Woolen Mills, they often played shows in the evening. After the radio show ended, the brothers moved back to Alabama. Ira was drafted in June 1944 but was reportedly injured during basic training and discharged. The brothers immediately moved back to Chattanooga.

The Louvins worked with fiddle player Bob Douglas who had heard them perform at the American Theatre talent show and invited them to become part of his group. They called themselves the Foggy Mountain Boys five years before the bluegrass du Flat & Scruggs adopted the name.

Douglas Foggy Mountain Boys has a daily show on 5,000-watt WAPO. While performing on WAPO, Ira wrote his first song, Weapon of Prayer. In 1946, Charlie enlisted in the Air Force for 18 months. Ira went to Knoxville to join Charlie Monroes Kentucky Pardners band. After Charlie was discharged in 1947, he joined Ira in Knoxville, and they renamed themselves the Louvin Brothers. They were still in Knoxville when they began to record in 1947. After that, they lived in several cities before joining the Grande Ole Opry in Nashville in 1955.

The brothers broke up in 1963, but their music influenced country rock pioneer Gram Parsons of the Byrds and his duet partner Emmylou Harris (whose first No. 1 hit was the Louvins If I Could Only Win Your Love). The Louvins also influenced several generations of roots-oriented rock and country artists. A tribute album, Livin, Lovin, Losin (with Harris, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Vine Gill and others), won the Grammy for Best Country Album in 2004.

Launched by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development in 2018, Tennessee Music Pathways is an online planning guide that connects visitors to the states rich musical heritage at tnmusicpathways.com. From the largest cities to the smallest communities, Tennessee Music Pathways stretches across all 95 counties and features hundreds of landmarks from the seven genres of music that call Tennessee home.
Charles Baretta Hawk, 43, of 45 Johnson Road, Chatsworth, was convicted on Friday by a Whitfield County jury on one count of child molestation.

Superior Court Judge Jim Wilbanks presided over the trial. The states case was presented by Assistant District Attorney Ben Kenemer with assistance from Eric White, formerly of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations. Hawk was represented by Jack Donlon of the Public Defenders Office.

Kenemer called four witnesses to testify including the victim and a member of her family. A prior victim, molested by Hawk in 2006, also testified about her own experience which was very similar to the allegations of the current victim.

Eric White, who was previously a special agent with the GBI and lead the investigation testified about the work he did, beginning in Murray County where the abuse was disclosed but ultimately leading to charges in Whitfield County where the abuse had actually occurred. Hawk did not testify but attorney Donlon called three witnesses on his behalf in an attempt to establish an alibi defense. Hawk was incarcerated during part of the time the offense was alleged to have occurred in the indictment. However the exact date was not alleged as material to the case and it is not unusual that child victims are unable to establish an exact date on which the abuse occurred, prosecutors said.

Judge Wilbanks set sentencing for next Friday at 1 p.m.

Hawk has a total of three prior felony convictions including the prior from 2006 and two prior convictions for failure to register as a sex offender. If Judge Wilbanks determines that Hawk is subject to recidivist sentencing under Georgia law, he could be sentenced to 19 years in prison without parole followed by one year of probation supervision, which is mandatory for certain sex offenses to facilitate transition services and sex offender registration upon release from prison.
One of the most wanted for TennCare fraud is no longer on that list but has been located and booked on the charge.The Office of Inspector General, in a joint effort with the Benton County Sheriffs Office, Friday announced the arrest of 39-year-old Lindsey Horner of Big Sandy, Tn. She is charged with TennCare fraud and theft of services. Investigators say Ms. Horner allegedly claimed to TennCare that her minor child was living with her, but that was not the case. As a result, TennCare paid more than $28,084 in fees and claims on her behalf.This arrest is significant because Ms.Horner was classified as one of our most wanted because we werent able to locate her for more than a year, Inspector General Chad Holman said. Everyone at the OIG is grateful for our partners in local law enforcement agencies who assist us in locating people who are being sought for TennCare fraud.The TennCare fraud charge is a class D felony, and theft of services charge is a class C felony. The case is being prosecuted by District 24 Attorney General Matthew F. Stowe, who serves Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin and Henry Counties.The OIG, which is separate from TennCare, began full operation in February 2005 and has identified and investigated more than 130,349 potential fraud cases leading to more than $9.2 million being repaid to TennCare. In the last year ending June 30, 2021, the total estimated cost avoidance was more than $7.5 million. TennCare's budget is comprised of both federal and state dollars. To date, 3,177 people of been charged with TennCare fraud.The OIGs Most Wanted list can be located online at https://www.tn.gov/finance/fa-oig/fa-oig-most-wanted.html. Anyone with information about a wanted subject is urged to use the contact information on the page.Through the OIG Cash for Tips Program established by the Legislature, Tennesseans can get cash rewards for TennCare fraud tips that lead to convictions. Anyone can report suspected TennCare fraud by calling 1-800-433-3982, toll-free, or by logging on to www.tn.gov/oig/ and following the prompts that read Report TennCare Fraud.
The Lee University Board of Directors has awarded promotion in rank to six faculty members. Four faculty were promoted to professor, one was promoted to associate professor, and one was promoted to associate lecturer.

The faculty promoted to professor are Drs. Debra Gladden, Chad Schrock, Randy Sheeks and John Wykoff.

Dr. Gladden, professor of mathematics, joined Lees faculty in fall 2010. She has directed programs such as Mentoring Mathematicians in the Making, served on national committees such as the Council for Undergraduate Research, and participated in National Science Foundation sponsored programs such as Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics and ProjectNeXT. Dr. Gladden has also directed multiple grants involving undergraduate research and promoting the awareness of the beauty of mathematics among high school students. She has published research in Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, Primus, and International Journal of Geometry, among others.

Dr. Schrock, a professor of English specializing in early British literature, joined Lees faculty in 2010. In addition to teaching, he is the English literature coordinator in Lees Department of Language and Literature. He has articles published on literature from the eighth, 12th, and 14th-21st centuries. His book, The Consolation of Narrative, came out from Palgrave Macmillan in 2015, and he publishes and presents scholarship regularly on the intersection of Christianity and literature, especially early British literature from Chaucer to George Herbert. Dr. Schrock is also the secretary of the national organization The Conference on Christianity and Literature.

Dr. Sheeks, music and worship professor, joined the faculty of Lee University's School of Music in 2010 and is the associate dean of the School of Music and coordinator of the undergraduate music and worship program. Prior to Lee, he spent 23 years in local church music ministry. His outstanding leadership in the music and fine arts ministries at three different churches has made him a well-known voice in the world of church music. Since joining the Lee faculty, Dr. Sheeks led a team which revamped the music and worship degree, creating a stronger ministry emphasis and connection with the School of Theology & Ministry. Dr. Sheeks received the Excellence in Advising Award in 2015, and along with his wife Debbie, he directed the Ladies of Lee womens choir from 2018-2022.

Dr. Wykoff joined Lee Universitys School of Music faculty in 2011 and is a professor of music theory and composition. He is an American composer of contemporary classical music. An award-winning composer, Dr. Wykoff has received numerous commissions for diverse occasions, including the 2017 presidential inauguration in Washington D.C. His works are performed internationally by top choirs and renowned new music ensembles. In 2023, he will serve as composer in residence for Perform Internationals Normandy Festival, which will include the world premiere of a major new choral/orchestral work by Wykoff. His choral music is published exclusively by Walton Music, and his book The Melodic Voice: Conversations with Alice Parker, written with Alice Parker and Cameron Labarr, is available from GIA Publications.

Dr. Charlotte Webb was promoted to associate professor of nursing.

Dr. Webb joined Lees faculty in 2015, bringing 15 years of nursing education experience. She is a family nurse practitioner with experience in the provision of rural healthcare and wellness services. Dr. Webb teaches in the BSN, DNP, and Disaster Healthcare Mission Management programs at Lee. Her focus areas are medication administration safety, clinical outcomes, and concept-based teaching. She has presented on healthcare safety, nursing simulation, and disaster management. Webb currently serves as associate dean of the School of Nursing and is a current member of the Tennessee Board of Nursing.

Kimberly Lyon was promoted to associate lecturer in journalism.

Ms. Lyon joined the faculty of Lees Department of Communication Arts in 2018, where she teaches courses in journalism, news reporting, and writing for the media. She is also the faculty sponsor for the Lee Clarion, the universitys student-run newspaper. Before becoming faculty, she served an administrative role in overseeing the daily activities and providing support for the departments within Lees College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to Lee, she served as a reporter and columnist for the Bradley News Weekly, where she covered local news and school systems with a weekly publication reaching 40,000 readers.
Alan Wong is a celebrity chef known for making mouth-watering Hawaiian dishes. But some of his recipes are surprisingly simple, including his Chopped Vegetable Salad. Heres a breakdown of the dish and a look at Wongs 30-year culinary career.

Alan Wong is considered to be one of the worlds greatest chefs

Alan Wong | alanwongs.com

Wong was born in Japan and moved to Hawaii at the age of five. He developed a passion for food and cooking as a teen and went on to pursue a degree in culinary arts in Honolulu.

After working as an apprentice in New York under Chef Andre Soltner in the famous French restaurant Lucete, Wong brought his honed skills back to Hawaii. In the 90s, he kicked off an early version of the farm-to-table movement and founded Hawaiian Regional Cuisine  an organization that promotes using local Hawaiian produce and cuisine.

He then started a chain of restaurants called Alan Wongs, which earned him dozens of accolades. He received a James Beard Award for Best Chef, Pacific Northwest in 1996. And his restaurants were lauded as some of the worlds best by institutions like Food and Wine and Gourmet Magazine.

We're closing out #AANHPIHeritageMonth by raising a glass to a culinary master, James Beard award-winning chef Alan Wong! pic.twitter.com/XMVrCGC3RX  The View (@TheView) May 31, 2022

Wongs Honolulu restaurant was often visited by former president Barack Obama. In 2009, the president invited Wong to create a luau-style menu for the annual Congressional picnic.

Wong wrote two cookbooks  Alan Wongs New Wave Luau (1999) and The Blue Tomato  The Inspirations Behind the Cuisine of Alan Wong (2010). He also appeared on Top Chef, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and Anthony Bourdains No Reservations.

His chopped vegetable salad recipe is ridiculously easy to make

Wong served his delicious Chopped Vegetable Salad in his award-winning restaurants. And as detailed by Food and Wine, the dish is surprisingly easy to make.

Wong starts by making the dressing, which consists of canola oil, sesame oil, sherry vinegar, rice vinegar, lemon juice, black bean salsa, green chiles, and salt and pepper. Once the ingredients are combined, he sets the dressing aside and gets started with the vegetables.

RT @HIFoodWineFest: Chef Alan Wong will be cooking at @HawaiianAir event on 9/6! Tix on sale HFWF.me #chefworks pic.twitter.com/zkSn3EYoe6  Hawaiian Airlines (@HawaiianAir) June 24, 2014

Wong boils each vegetable  beets, green beans, sugar snap peas, and broccoli  until tender and then runs them under cold water in a colander. He then pats the veggies dry and places them in a large bowl.

To complete the salad, he tosses the cooked vegetables with baby lettuces, chopped plum tomatoes, and French feta cheese. He then tops it with the reserved dressing and serves it at room temperature.

Alan Wongs minute poke is another simple yet delicious dish

In his book, The Blue Tomato, Wong shares his signature recipe for Minute Poke. And as detailed by Hawaii Magazine, he gave it that name because of how quickly it comes together.

Minute Poke is a name I made up, he revealed. Its a poke dish designed for the diner to mix at the table, so it marinates briefly just before its eaten. Miko is the Hawaiian word for to season or salt, but in casual usage, it means to let sit for a while. Poke can be eaten freshly made or prepared ahead of time.

The first step in making Wongs Minute Poke is whipping together a delicious sauce, which is made by combining sambal oelek (an Indonesian chili paste), minced ginger, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and inamona (ground kukui nuts). The poke is made by topping a layer of diced onion with chopped sashimi-grade ahi tuna and topping it off with green onions.

Wong suggests building the poke in a musubi mold placed in the center of a plate or bowl. Once the poke is assembled and pressed down, the mold can be removed.

Wong finishes the dish by sprinkling seaweed and Hawaiian salt around the plate. And he suggests serving the sauce around the poke or separately if preferred.

RELATED: The Pioneer Woman: Ree Drummonds Caesar Salad Spears Have One Ingredient That Sends Them Over the Top
First Lady Jill Biden is a celebrity in her own right. She also wears many hats. Not only is she President Joe Bidens wife, but she is also a college professor, mother, grandmother, and wife. For certain occasions, Biden takes on the role of a party host. She recently shared her trick for managing large dinner parties using Post-It notes.

Jill Biden leads a busy life

Jill Biden in September 2020 | Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

As President Joe Bidens wife, Jill Biden has a full schedule. She supports her husbands career and the American people in various ways. For example, she helps push for COVID-19 vaccination and cancer research. Biden also visits other countries, such as Ukraine, as a representative for America.

Additionally, Biden is a college professor. Since 2009, she has taught English at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) in Alexandria, Virginia. Despite becoming the first lady, Biden has remained a full-time educator.

I think people were a little skeptical, she said of her decision to continue teaching at NOVA, she said in an interview with Real Simple. Could I truly do it since I was the first one to try it? But I knew I wanted to teach. And so I said, This is what I want to do. We have to figure it out. I knew I could do both. Id done it as Second Lady, and at that time, my staff said, Theres no way you can do this, and then they saw that I could. I saw it work then, and I knew we could figure out how to do it now.

Jill Biden uses Post-It notes to help her host large dinner parties

As my friend @chefjoseandres knows well  food is love!



I am so grateful for all Jose and the @WCKitchen team are doing to support Ukrainian refugees here in Spain, and around the world. pic.twitter.com/2LbSj28nCB  Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) June 29, 2022

Occasionally, Jill Biden also hosts large numbers of people. To manage these events, she uses Post-It notes.

It started because the Bidens are a big family, and we have a lot of gatherings. And they would all say, What can I do to help? And by the time youve explained, You get the salad bowl out, its in this cupboard, here are the utensils, etc. I thought, Theres got to be an easier way, she told Real Simple.

I know my meal and what Im going to serve, so I do Post-it notes, like Fill the glasses with ice, Light the candles, and I put them on the cabinet above my kitchen counter, Biden added. Then I put out the salad bowl with the tomatoes or the lemons or whatever needs to be cut, and everything is set up so when somebody comes in, they do what they want to do.

Biden shared that her guests can take whichever Post-It notes they choose and fulfill the tasks.

Everybody knows their role, she said. If we get together, its at least 13 or 14 and can go up to 30. So I do that for almost every big family dinner now. I do the main. Everything else is up for grabs.

She uses Post-It notes in other ways

Managing parties is not the only way Jill Biden uses Post-It notes. She also uses them to write reminders to herself to keep track of her duties at work.

She also uses sticky notes to leave sweet messages for Joe Biden. If I want to get a message to Joe, I put one on his mirror. It may be a nice I missed you or I hope you get whatever it is youre working on, the first lady shared.

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RELATED: Prince Harry and Jill Biden Are Really Good Friends
In February 1993, Mark Noll spoke these words at his induction as Wheaton Colleges McManis Professor of Christian Thought. In a talk entitled The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, he decried the anti-intellectualism he saw in modern evangelical life. As his ideas gained greater exposure with Christianity Todays publishing of his address (Oct. 25, 1993, p. 28) and the 1994 release of his book with the same title, a debate spread through the Christian community: Was the evangelical mind really in such bad shape?

Other evangelical scholars added to the discussion. Alister McGrath, theology professor at Oxford University, presented a more optimistic outlook in Evangelicalism & the Future of Christianity (InterVarsity; excerpted, ct, June 19, 1995). Fuller Theological Seminary president Richard Mouw urged Christian intellectuals to learn from popular religion in Consulting the Faithful (Eerdmans; excerpted, ct, July 18, 1994). Dallas Theological Seminary's Darrell Bock, a New Testament professor, promoted a fresh outlook on a theological tradition in his book Progressive Dispensationalism (Victor/Bridgepoint, coauthored with Craig Blaising; summarized in ct, Sept. 12, 1994).

This spring Christianity Today brought these four together for a three-hour discussion on the state of the evangelical mind. Moderated by managing editor Michael Maudlin, the conversation was supplemented by questions and comments from executive editor David Neff, editorial resident Helen Lee, and associate editor Wendy Zoba. What follows is their lively and wide-ranging discussion.

I. The state of the evangelical mind

How would each of you characterize the current state of the evangelical mind?

Noll: I am most concerned about ...

1

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Whether you describe it as a decadent society or a decaying culture or a democracy dying in darkness, 2020 has given us a taste for what Cormac McCarthy once described as the frailty of everything revealed at last. We have been frail for a very long time, but what we could deny before has been made glaringly manifest through a pandemic, racial injustice, social unrest, mass unemployment, and a highly contentious presidential election that earnest folks on both sides have described in existential terms. The foundations of our society are not quite destroyed, but they are cracking, and those cracks raise the psalmists question, What can the righteous do? (Ps. 11:3).

Part of the answer, I believe, is to support and rely upon Christian colleges and universities to serve as institutional anchorsspaces of transformation and education, discipleship and scholarship, cultural edification, and exhortation.

The default evangelical response to cultural decay has been to redouble our culture war efforts: elect people who will better pursue our agenda, boycott and denounce attacks on our values, and so on. And while I would be the last to dismiss the importance of Christian political participation and cultural criticism, I do worry that these focuses can distract us from the more basic work that needs to be done. We need to shore up the ruins.

When many evangelicals lack a robust idea of sex, marriage, and the human body as God designed them, it does little good for us to criticize the normalization of alternative lifestyles. When evangelical consumers and evangelical entrepreneurs are driven by the same basic belief in autonomous individualism as their secular counterparts, we cant be surprised when sacrificing for our neighbors feels like an infringement upon our rights. When white evangelicals have little grasp of history or the trauma of generations of institutionalized racism, we should not expect racial reconciliation to occur. When evangelicals have abandoned the possibility of truth and the common good for identity politics, it is not surprising that the world does not take our moral authority seriously.

To shore up the ruins is not to retreat from society into private enclaves but to recognize that our house is not in order. Our walls will not stand. We need catechesis and discipleship, not quick culture war and political victories, or we risk letting the entire house crumble while we stand in the front yard waving memes at our digital neighbors.

The work of shoring up the ruins must be primarily done in local churches and within families and communities. However, Christian colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to be a major institutional framework for the catechizing and discipleship. They can and do equip and assist local churches, families, and communities in their work.

This is why I am particularly troubled by the significant challenges facing Christian higher education. At precisely the time the church in America needs cultural institutions that preserve what is good, transform lives, and prophetically challenge secular ways of being in the world, our schools are experiencing declining enrollment and layoffs. Sixty-five percent of our schools have seen a decline in enrollment between 2014-2018 and in the last decade, 944 faculty and staff positions have been eliminated. We are under pressure to reduce our education to efficiently targeted career training and certification rather than the cultivation of wisdom (a goal with a much harder to measure return on investment).

I do not believe that Christian higher education can save us. It cant. But having spent 13 years teaching, the majority of which took place within Christian universities, I have personally witnessed the tremendous power of these institutions to transform the lives of students, to produce scholarly and popular work that builds up the church, and to be spaces of cultural renewal and preservation. Our schools, properly funded and supported, can be beacons of light for the church during a time of crisis. Or they too can crumble into highly efficient, baptized career and bureaucracy training centers.

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If the phrase our schools rubs you the wrong way, Id like to suggest that we have hit upon one of our problems. Evangelicals struggle to create and sustain lasting, influential cultural institutions because we too often think in terms of individual good rather than corporate or common good.

Even if you never went to a Christian college or university, you are currently benefiting from the work of these institutions. Your pastor benefits from the theological work produced by scholars at Christian schools. Your church benefits from the cultural criticism done at these schools. Christian businesses and professionals benefit from learning how to integrate faith into their professions. Christian artists and musicians benefit from apprenticeship. Our politicians and community leaders benefit from theories of government and justice handed down and built upon in Christian schools.

When Christian colleges and universities are well supported, they can afford to give scholars time to mentor students and produce works that edify the church. And those scholars need the support of schools because even when they manage to write a popular book, it rarely pays enough to make up for the time it took to research and write the book.

Our schools, properly funded and supported, can be beacons of light for the church during a time of crisis.

Or we could rely on thought leaders and influencers to produce research, make ethical judgments on biotechnology, develop political theologies, and perform cultural analysis. But when we rely almost exclusively on online personalities for our cultural and theological wisdom, we should expect to have our ears tickled. One of the significant advantages of the academic environment is accountability. My colleagues at my institution and across Christian higher education hold me accountable for my ideas and my research. If I begin to produce research that panders to my audiences biases, I expect my colleagues to challenge me.

Of course, we could just demand that our pastors offer commentary, advice, and analysis on every aspect of culture. But to do this is unfair to our pastors. It places an unreasonable burden upon them and distracts from their calling to a local congregation.

We should want Christian colleges and universities to be successful so that they can do critical work assisting local churches and communities in strengthening our foundations and providing lasting, meaningful relief from some of the crises that plague our time.

For example, as our society struggles mightily to maintain the basic level of public discourse necessary for a democracy, Christian schools can provide room for robust and charitable debate over ideas that matter, as I have previously argued at CT.

Our schools can also do vital work researching and telling the history of racism in America and in our own churches. Whatever your views are on racial division in 2020, the fact is we cannot healwe cannot even repentuntil we understand what our nation, our denominations, our churches have done. That work must be done fearlessly, unmolested by the political correctness of the Left or the Right and motivated by the same spirit of unity that brings us together at the Lords Table.

And as technological advances continue to complicate, invade, and restructure our lives and habits, we need institutions of Christian higher learning that can cultivate more humane habits in students and produce cultural criticism that equips the church for discernment. I dont think we are remotely ready for the ethical and spiritual challenges our current technology has created, let alone the technology just around the corner.

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Perhaps closest to my own heart, Christian liberal arts schools like my own Oklahoma Baptist University resist many of the worst pressures of the contemporary age through careful, charitable, humble study of great works of literature, art, music, history, science. By learning to attend to and delight in what is beautiful, good, and true, we deny the primacy of novelty. We reject what C. S. Lewis called the chronological snobbery that sees everything new as superior to the old. We grow respect for the wisdom of those who have come before us. And we are rightfully humbled.

Im not going to say that every Christian college and university is doing this kind of work. They arent. And even the ones that are can do better. But they cant do anything without support. And this year, while billions of dollars will be spent on an election, with a non-trivial amount coming from evangelicals, some Christian schools may close.

So, even if a Christian college isnt your alma mater, it is your school; they are our schools. At their best, they serve the church. And the sooner we can accept our shared responsibility, the sooner we can do the necessary work of shoring up the ruins.

The crises that face us cannot be overcome by politicians (although they can be made much worse by them) or by culture-war skirmishes. They can be addressed only by grounding ourselves in the truth. That work will be done primarily in the local church, but our Christian colleges and universities have a tremendous role to play by providing resources, mentorship, and scholarship.

O. Alan Noble, PhD, is an associate professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, editor-in-chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and author of Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age, (InterVarsity Press, 2018).

Speaking Out is Christianity Todays guest opinion column and (unlike an editorial) does not necessarily represent the opinion of the publication.
A federal investigation will look into the largest Protestant denominations response to abuse, following a bombshell report commissioned and released by the Southern Baptist Commission (SBC) in May.

The SBC Executive Committee confirmed on Friday that the Justice Department has initiated an investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention, and that the investigation will include multiple SBC entities.

The general counsel for the Executive Committee (EC)which oversees day-to-day business for the convention and was the subject of the SBCs own abuse investigationsaid the EC has received a subpoena, but no individuals have been subpoenaed at this point.

The SBC and its entities have committed to cooperating with the investigation.

A statement signed by the presidents of each SBC entity and seminary referred to their involvement as part of their ongoing commitment to transparency and abuse reform.

While we continue to grieve and lament past mistakes related to sexual abuse, current leaders across the SBC have demonstrated a firm conviction to address those issues of the past and are implementing measures to ensure they are never repeated in the future, it read.

An independent investigation by Guidepost Solutions into the EC, released in May 2022, found that over the past 20 years, its leaders had compiled a secret list of more than 700 abusive pastors, mishandled allegations, and mistreated the victims who asked for help.

The investigation, which cost over $2 million, spanned 330 interviews and five terabytes of documents collected over eight months.

Hours before the EC confirmed the Justice Department inquiry, blogger Ben Cole tweeted that federal investigators had sought the unredacted version of that report and had begun issuing grand jury subpoenas.

The EC general counsel declined to comment further on their discussions with federal investigators as the investigation is ongoing.

It is not clear what potential or suspected crimes they are looking into. The Department of Justice (DOJ) writes on its website, Child sexual abuse matters are generally handled by local and state authorities, and not by the federal government.

But the DOJ has looked into church abuse before. It began investigating abusive Catholic priests in Pennsylvania in 2018, following a state grand jury. At the time, the Washington Post wrote that the decision to launch such a probe, even one limited to a single state, is noteworthy because the federal government has long shied away from responding to allegations of the churchs coverup.

The abuse issue garnered attention in Southern Baptist circles later. Thanks to the public witness of survivors and reports by media including the Houston Chronicle, it came to the forefront after #MeToo and #ChurchToo took off.

At its June annual meeting, the SBC voted to adopt reforms including launching an official database of credibly accused pastorsa tool they hope will prevent abusers from moving between churches.

The task force responsible for studying how to enact those changes was named on Monday, led by two pastors outspoken in favor abuse reform and transparency: Marshall Blalock of South Carolina and Mike Keahbone of Oklahoma.

This week, new members of the EC also gathered at SBC headquarters in Nashville for training and orientation, after an unprecedented exodus of leaders and trustees took place around the decision to waive attorney-client privilege in the Guidepost investigation.

The 288-page report from Guidepost revealed how much trustees had been kept in the dark around the decisions made by EC staff and lawyers Jim Guenther and Jaime Jordana legal team that had represented the entity from 1955 until last year.

Current EC leaders hope for a new era of transparency and mission for the EC. One of its new lawyers, Gene Besen of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, referenced changing the direction, and the ECs new interim president, McLaurin, talked about changing the culture.

Talk of reform and repentance extends across the convention, with state associations launching their own abuse response protocol and seminaries mandating training.

While so many things in the world are uncertain, we can be certain that we serve a mighty God. Nothing, including this investigation, takes Him by surprise, the entity presidents said in their statement.

We take comfort in that and humbly ask you be in prayer in the days and weeks ahead. Specifically, we ask God to grant wisdom and discernment to each person dealing with the investigation.
The Village Church, a large Southern Baptist church in Texas pastored by Matt Chandler, has announced it reached a settlement with a woman who had reported one of the churchs pastors sexually assaulted her when she was 11 years old.

But the conflict isnt over. The church statement said, We maintain and firmly believe that we committed no wrong, and noted that the woman couldnt positively identify that it was the church employee who abused her.

The womans family protested, saying in a statement that the churchs statement was not fully truthful, transparent, or caring for the traumatized. The family has left the church over the handling of the case.

The attempt to communicate care in one sentence followed by language that invalidates and dismisses the merits of the victim's claims is not the way to express care, compassion, and truth, the family said. And then we wonder why so many victims of trauma are leaving the church.

The settlement comes in the context of Southern Baptist churches wrestling with how to respond to a report documenting extensive abuse in the denomination.

The civil lawsuit against The Village Church was filed under the name Jane Doe, but the mother, Christi Bragg, recounted the details of what happened to her daughter on the record to The New York Times in 2019. The girl reported to her mother the year before that back in 2012, a pastor at a church summer camp, Matthew Tonne, had touched her in her bed with her undergarments pulled down. The mother immediately filed a police report and reported the incident to the church. The church said it also immediately filed a police report. Tonne maintained his innocence.

The church fired the pastor shortly after the familys report in 2018, but told the congregation it was over alcohol abuse. The church didnt share publicly that Tonne, a childrens pastor, had been accused of sexual abuse until prosecutors indicted him over the incident in January 2019.

The family accused the church of negligence in its response, and sought $1 million in a lawsuit. It said the church had not helped the child process her abuse but paid for Tonnes alcohol abuse treatment.

Chandler, who also leads the Acts 29 network of churches, addressed the case in an interview with Baptist 21 in June 2019 after the Times article came out. He insisted that the church had reported immediately and deferred to the family and detectives on everything, including not publicly naming Tonne as an abuse suspect. He said he dealt with the report as a father whose daughter was in a cabin nearby when the alleged abuse took place. But he also mentioned that Tonne, the accused, was beloved and had spent time ministering to his daughter.

The Village Church and the name Matt Chandler in 200 years won't mean jack squat, said Chandler. Yet what you and I can do in this moment of history that can be talked about in 200 yearsthat you and I would be serious about the protection of the most vulnerable...about not defending our institutions but doing convictional courageous leadership, doing whats right even if it hurts.

The church has used MinistrySafe as an outside organization to handle its abuse prevention policies and responses, but the Times reported that the Bragg family learned as the case developed that one of the leaders of MinistrySafe, Kimberlee Norris, was also a lawyer for the church. That meant a lawyer defending the church was also overseeing its accountability measures.

In 2020, Dallas County prosecutors dismissed criminal charges against Tonne, saying the complainant cannot and has not positively identified [Tonne] as the person who committed this offense. Tonnes record was also expunged.

When prosecutors announced that decision, the victims attorney expressed shock, telling Star Local Media in Frisco, Texas that the woman was ready to identify The Village Church childrens pastor Matthew Tonnethe same pastor who pleaded his 5th Amendment rights in his deposition given in our lawsuitas her assailant.

In its August statement announcing the settlement, the church brought up the prosecutors decision to drop charges, quoting prosecutors saying the woman couldnt positively identify the pastor as the offender.

Our clients testimony regarding the assault and who committed it has never wavered, Boz Tchividjian, one of the attorneys representing the woman, told CT. Its tragic that TVC never really seemed to grasp that. We are so grateful to our client for taking the profoundly difficult and brave step forward to bring darkness to light in this egregious matter.

The church did not immediately respond to a request for comment to the familys statement.

We are an imperfect church, Chandler said in 2019. But when it comes to reporting as soon as we heard, taking our cues from the detective and the family, Im not sure what we could have done different.
Babylon Bee CEO tells megachurch the 'truth is under attack' in America

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon warned a northern Virginia megachurch that modern American society is attacking truth and comedy in ways that threaten the freedom of speech.

The head of the popular Christian satire site gave a Monday lecture at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg. He listed ways society is attacking comedy and biblical truth through censorship.

"We're living in crazy times, unusually crazy times, actually outrageous times where absurdity is everywhere," Dillon began. "Truth is under attack. Reason is under attack."

"Comedy is under attack. And you can't speak up and try to defend any of these things, or they try to suppress your voice and silence you. Freedom of speech is under attack."

Dillon said the world is "increasingly becoming more and more difficult" for Christians to speak "the truth boldly in the public square."

One example, according to Dillon, was when churches in the United States could not gather to meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, but casinos, bars and strip clubs remained open.

"COVID really drew out the insanity and somehow it's not behind us yet at this point," Dillon said, citing a 2021 study that found students at Stanford University will more likely to wear facemasks while riding a bicycle than helmets.

"It wasn't long ago [when] we were told men were not allowed to have an opinion on abortion. You know what we're told now? Men can get pregnant," he continued.

Dillon cited the example of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who, during her confirmation hearing, was asked to define the word "woman" and responded, "No, I can't ... I'm not a biologist."

"Now, I see what looks like a lot of women here tonight. I think," Dillon continued as the audience erupted in laughter. "Or at least some of you were assigned female at birth. The doctor made his best guess, and you just went with it."

"This is nuts. Men are dominating women's sports. Does anybody have a problem with that?" he added as the crowd cheered and clapped. "Men are being named woman of the year."

Dillon noted that certain world events are occurring today that make him "angry." He said these particular attacks on truth should not be considered funny.

"Drag shows for kids are everywhere, and if you call it grooming, you'll get banned permanently on all of the major social platforms. It kind of makes me angry. I have two young kids," Dillon expressed. "I don't even want to laugh at that one.  The truth is under attack in all of these examples."

"Comedy is under attack," Dillon said, adding that the world is "so absurd" that it is to the point where it seems it is a "parody" in and of itself.

"It makes our job kind of challenging," Dillon said, saying it's "a lot harder" for his website's writers "to do their job" as satirists because "their jokes keep coming true."

One of the main criticisms that Babylon Bee receives, Dillon said, is that its jokes are often labeled as being "too believable," saying it was "the weirdest criticism of comedy to me."

"Jokes are funny because of their proximity to the truth, not their distance from it. Right? I mean, everybody here has heard the saying 'it's funny because it's true,'" he explained.

"If you divorce a joke from reality so far that no one could possibly believe it, then it's not going to be funny and it's not going to make a point. So, I think it's just a weird and silly criticism of us."

Dillon believes that "attacks on comedy are attacks on the truth because there is a grain of truth to every joke," which is how comedians can resonate with audiences.

Another more "harmful" thing, Dillon said, is how culture is seemingly "coming after" comedians by creating strict rules about what can and cannot be joked about.

"A lot of comedians are playing along, by the way. There's a lot of comedians that are refusing to make jokes that can potentially get them canceled or suspended. Others, fortunately, are being bold," Dillon said.

"Do you remember what happened to Chris Rock? He got slapped by Will Smith. He made a joke that wasn't received well. That didn't use to happen."

A rule created by society, which Dillon said he rejects "wholeheartedly," is the idea of comedians not being allowed to engage in "punching down."

"Punching down," he said, is defined as comedians joking about "people who are beneath you" or who have "less power than you, less privilege than you."

"It's a really weird situation to be in, as a comedian, as a satirist, or a humorist, a comedy writer of any kind, to be thinking to yourself, not 'is this funny?' when you're writing a joke, but 'am I making fun of somebody who sees themselves as being more marginalized and oppressed than me and is going to be offended by it?'" Dillon said.

"Imagine how condescending it is to think to yourself, 'you know what, I shouldn't joke about those people. They're beneath me' I'm better than them. They're down here. I'm up here," Dillon added as the audience laughed.

Dillon said that if every person is "created equally in God's image," then all comedians should be able to joke about anyone they choose to joke about "indiscriminately."

"Isn't that the way of treating each other equally?" he asked, getting applause. "If I were to make a joke about women, I'd be 'punching down' because men supposedly have more power and privilege than women in our society. Well, I would only be reinforcing that if I acted like I couldn't make jokes about women because they're beneath me. I'm reinforcing that idea."

"If I joke about them, I'm treating them equally. So, I will. I'll continue to joke about you throughout the night. And you will like it and not slap me."
ELCA apologizes to Latino congregation for mistreatment by first trans bishop

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has issued an apology to a predominantly Latino congregation that was mistreated by the mainline denomination's first trans-identified bishop.

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton apologized to Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina of Stockton, California, after the second plenary session of the denomination's annual Churchwide Assembly at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio.

At issue was the congregation's reported mistreatment by Bishop Megan Rohrer of the Sierra Pacific Synod, who resigned in June amid allegations of racism and other issues.

Eaton gave a public apology in English on behalf of the denomination to the congregational leadership and others, with a translator conveying her remarks in Spanish.

"We are grateful for your willingness to listen to our church's message to you this day," she said, saying that the ELCA offers "a public recommitment to become an anti-racist church."

Eaton said ELCA officials are working to "make amends" after the controversial firing of the church's pastor.

"During this Churchwide Assembly, it is important to make a public apology to that congregation," said Eaton, believing that the situation "exposed the depth of systemic racism that we wrestle with as a Church and in society."

Rohrer, who uses "they/them" pronouns, became the first trans-identified individual to be consecrated a bishop in the ELCA last September.

Overseeing over 200 churches in California, the bishop announced last December that the Rev. Nelson Rabell-Gonzalez, head of Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina, was being removed over verbal harassment and retaliation allegations.

The removal shocked the congregation and resulted in the church losing financial backing from the ELCA just as they were going to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

According to The Associated Press, the loss of financial support forced the congregation to lose their worship space and forced them to hold services in a parking lot.

Rohrer garnered outrage over the decision, as well as other controversies, prompting many within the synod to call for the removal of the bishop from office.

Jovita Torres Perez, a congregant from Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina, gave an address at the convention and accepted Eaton's apology on behalf of the church, according to AP.

Rohrer wrote in a Facebook post that she agreed to resign after spending time with family and having "a conversation with the Synod Council."

"The final details of that agreement are still being negotiated, but I believe in light of today's news, this information should be made public," stated Rohrer.

The resignation came around the time that Eaton announced the beginning of a disciplinary process against Rohrer.
Gay couple arrested for allegedly sexually abusing adopted sons, creating child porn

A gay couple in Georgia have been arrested on charges of allegedly sexually abusing their two adopted sons, who are brothers, and filming the abuse to upload and share on the internet.

William and Zachary Zulock were jailed on charges related to aggravated child molestation and sexual exploitation, according to the Walton County inmate list. The two men are also facing pending charges related to sexual exploitation and enticing a child for indecent purposes.

As NBC reported earlier this month, the investigation into the couple kicked off on July 27 after authorities were tipped off by a third suspect who was allegedly downloading child sex abuse material.

Investigators learned from the tipster about another person who "was producing homemade child sexual abuse material with at least one child who lived in the home with the perpetrator, according to the Walton County Sheriffs Office (WCSO).

Authorities raided the mens home that night in Oxford after confirming the identities of the children and perpetrators, as well as obtaining a search warrant.

"A small team was dedicated to moving directly to the children to ensure their safety while a team engaged with the adults in the home, securing the scene," officials said.

"During the execution of the search warrant, evidence that both adult males  the adoptive fathers of the sibling pair residing in the home  were engaging in sexually abusive acts and video documenting this abuse."

The investigation is ongoing, according to officials.

According to a WSB-TV news report earlier this month, the two children allegedly abused by the men were brothers the Zuckers had adopted. The Walton Countys Division of Family and Child Services joined deputies in the raid at the home to secure the children's safety.

Evidence suggesting that the men sexually abused the children and recorded the abuse was discovered by investigators during the raid and after ensuring the children were safe.

Concerns about the sexual exploitation of minors were at the center of a separate case involving allegations that Visa knowingly monetized child pornography on Pornhub and MindGeek-owned sites.

The lawsuit, Fleites v. MindGeek, was filed last month in the U.S. District Court Central District of California. The plaintiff, Serene Fleites, alleged that Pornhub hosted a sexually explicit video of her that was filmed when she was 13.

Fleites claimed that her boyfriend at the time pressured her into making the video and posted it online without her consent. MindGeek posted the video on other pornography websites, and it garnered over 400,000 views before Fleites discovered it.

The complaint alleges that Pornhubs parent company profited from revenue earned from advertisements that appeared in the video.

"While MindGeek profited from the child porn featuring Plaintiff, Plaintiff was intermittently homeless or living in her car, addicted to heroin, depressed and suicidal, and without the support of her family," the lawsuit reads.

Visa was listed as a defendant and filed a motion to be dismissed from the lawsuit, but U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney denied the request. Fleites argued in her lawsuit that the credit card company knew MindGeeks websites contained child pornography and had failed to purge such content.

Despite this knowledge, the lawsuit states that "Visa and its agent banks explicitly agreed with MindGeek to continue to process transactions without restrictions on all MindGeek sites provided MindGeek maintained pretextual window dressing claims that it had technology, processes, and policies in place to prevent such content."

Visa believes it should be dismissed from the lawsuit because the complaint hinges on the actions of MindGeek and the plaintiffs boyfriend. However, Carney ruled that the "emotional trauma that Plaintiff suffered flows directly from MindGeek's monetization of her videos."
Michigan library loses 84% of its funding over objections to LGBT books

A Michigan public library may have to close after locals voted to defund its primary funding source due to the inclusion of LGBT reading materials that many concerned parents considered harmful to children.

The parents' campaign against the Patmos Library in Jamestown has led to the failure to renew a property tax millage that funds most of its budget.

As WZZM-TV reported last week, the millage was voted down on Aug. 2, with 1,905 votes cast against and 1,142 in favor. As a result, according to The Associated Press, the Patmos Library will lose 84% of its $245,000 annual budget.

A concerned group of parents opposed the millage due to the library displaying LGBT materials to celebrate Pride month in June, claiming that the books were "grooming children for sexual exploitation."

One of the novels on display was Gender Queer: A Memoir, which reportedly contains graphic descriptions of what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, according to WZZM.

Although the library placed a few books behind the counter and required people to request them, many parents wanted the books removed altogether. Patmos staff and its elected board of directors reportedly refused to remove all LGBT materials.

The Patmos Library did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

In a statement last week to WOOD-TV, Larry Walton, the library's board president, denounced the proposal to remove the content.

"We need to support First Amendment rights of freedom of speech," he said. "That factors into our decision-making, too. We can't have book bannings. We can't have book burnings."

Cody Newhouse, who voted against the millage, said that he objects to the presence of LGBT materials in the library's adult section, as kids could still access them.

"It's only the LGBTQ stuff that bothers me, with my kids in particular," he told WOOD-TV. "If you're older, make your own decision, that's totally fine. But with the younger kids, I just believe it should be away from them."

Walton said he is unsure when the millage dollars will dry up and that the board is considering its next move, including seeking a new millage in a future election.

As Michigan Live reported, one Jamestown resident has raised over $8,000 to help keep the library open.

Last month, the Miami-Dade County School Board in Florida reversed its initial decision to adopt two textbooks for its sex education curriculum after parents voiced similar objections.

The books, Comprehensive Health Skills for Middle School and Comprehensive Health Skills for High School, reportedly contained content about sexual orientation and gender identity.

School board members Christi Fraga and Mari Tere Rojas told The Miami Herald that although all but two community members spoke in favor of the books, that was not reflective of the many emails from parents who voiced their concerns.

They contend that the number of people who showed up at the meeting does not necessarily represent how the community feels about the textbooks.

During a school board meeting in September of last year, a parent of a student in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, one of the largest school districts in the U.S., read and shared images from two books available in the district's high school libraries.

The mother, Stacy Langton, objected to her child's school district making the books Gender Queer and Lawn Boy available in public school libraries. Langton stated that the books depict boys having sex and contain graphic sexual descriptions.

The mother read the curse words and sexual acts featured in both books, maintaining that "this is not an oversight at Fairfax High School." A school board member interrupted her, noting that "there are children in the audience here."
Texas megachurch with 14K members votes to leave UMC amid homosexuality schism

A Texas megachurch has voted to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church due to the mainline Protestant denominations ongoing debate over homosexuality as over 200 churches in the Lone Star State are considering disaffiliation.

The Woodlands Methodist Church, a congregation with approximately 14,200 members located in Woodlands, Texas, voted on Sunday to leave the UMC Texas Annual Conference.

According to an announcement from the church, about 3,000 members gathered at the church on Sunday and about 2,678 members  or 96.3% of those voting  supported disaffiliation.

Senior Pastor Mark Sorensen posted a video on the churchs website saying that the vote affirmed that we are united in one vision and one clear mission.

We are ready to move on past the division and the differences that have been an ongoing distraction in our denomination for far too long, said Sorensen. Remember, we are changing to stay the same. With this vote, we are preserving the ministry that we know and love.

Sorensen offered a blessing to those who wanted to remain in the UMC, suggesting it is time to bless one another, even as we go our separate ways.

In this there is no victory, in this there is no winner or loser, he added. We are called to pray for and lift up others in whatever ministry God has calling us to now and in the future.

According to the UMC Texas Annual Conference, more than 210 member congregations are considering disaffiliation from the denomination as of late July.

The conference will host a special session on Dec. 3 in Houston that will, among other things, include officially recognizing the departure of churches that have taken the necessary steps toward disaffiliation.

Woodlands is not the only congregation to disaffiliatee from the Texas Conference on Sunday. The 1,300-member Faithbridge of Spring, Texas, approved disaffiliation when all 549 members present for the vote supported leaving.

Im  realistic about where the denomination is heading, and so I have no second thoughts, said Faithbridge Senior Pastor Ken Werlein, as reported by UM News. Weve done the right thing, the smart thing, the wise thing to keep Faithbridge Faithbridge.

Over the past several years, the UMC has faced a polarizing debate and schism over whether the United States' second largest Protestant denomination should maintain its official stance banning the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of noncelibate homosexual clergy.

Although theological liberals within the denomination have failed to change the official rules, many of them in positions of leadership have refused to enforce the existing rules highlighted in the UMC Book of Discipline, causing much frustration among theological conservatives.

Across the United States, many congregations have left or are considering disaffiliating from the UMC. Many have joined the Global Methodist Church, a newly created conservative Methodist denomination.
'Duck Dynasty' star says daughter has 'turned a corner after 14th surgery

"Duck Dynasty" stars Jase and Missy Robertson are praying that their daughter Mia is done with surgery after she recently underwent her 14th operation to address her cleft lip and palate.

Their 18-year-old daughter is now at home recovering after undergoing surgery last month. It's been a long journey for the family as the daughter has undergone several surgeries since her birth in 2004.

This week, during a brief update on his podcast "Unashamed," joined by his father Phil Robertson and brother Alan, Jase Robertson reported that his daughter is recovering well.

"She's doing great. She's turned a corner," the loving father stated.

When asked about her breathing, Jase replied, "Everything seems great, seems to be fine."

"Surgery went a little longer than expected, but she is home and recovering," he told podcaster listeners. "Thank you for praying for her and for our family. She is a champion!"

Before the procedure, Missy Robertson spoke candidly on Instagram about her emotions.

"People ask me, 'How many more surgeries does Mia have left?'" Missy wrote ahead of surgery on July 8. "The answer is always, 'We just don't know.'"

In a more optimistic social media post, Mia Robertson declared she was at the "finish line."

"Hopefully the last time I'll see my doctors in this setting! It's been a long road but we are at the finish line," she declared.

Since her 13th surgery in the Spring of 2021, Mia Robertson has been calling her own shots, something Missy Robertson said she still has to get used to.

"Since she is 18 now, she is taking the lead in all the discussions and medical forms. It's been a little strange," Missy Robertson wrote. "But it's just another reminder to lean on the Lord and that I'm not in control."

In a past interview with The Christian Post, Missy Robertson, who also shares three other children with her husband, most recently a baby they adopted, said she believes there is a purpose behind the pain they've been through with her daughter's medical condition.

"Looking back, especially over the last couple of years, we definitely see reasons for Him allowing us to go through this and allowing Mia to go through the pain and the challenges that she has in her life," she said.

"She wants to help other people," she added. "To me, that speaks not only about a greatness about her, as an individual, but about the greatness of our God to see something in a child, long before she was born, that could help influence people and to bring them closer to Him. Who am I to question that about Him?"

Mia Robertson started the Mia Moo Fund to help ensure every kid has the chance to smile.

Cleft lip and palate are birth defects that result when a baby's lip or mouth don't form properly during pregnancy.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in every 1,600 babies is born with a cleft lip with a cleft palate in the U.S. One in about 2,800 babies is born with a cleft lip without a cleft palate. One in about 1,700 babies is born with a cleft palate without a cleft lip in the U.S.

One of the functions of the Mia Moo Fund is to spread awareness of the cleft lip and palate journey, Missy Robertson said in an earlier interview. The other one is to help with medical funds for the parents and the families living right here in America.
Georgia approves tax break for parents of unborn babies 'with a detectable human heartbeat'

Expectant parents in Georgia can now apply for a tax break for an unborn child or children following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade allowing state law banning abortion as early as six weeks of gestation to go into effect.

In guidance Monday by the Georgia Department of Revenue, the state will recognize "any unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat  as eligible for the Georgia individual income tax dependent exemption."

Taxpayers with any unborn child or children between July 20 and Dec. 31 can claim exemptions of $3,000 for their 2022 individual income tax returns, according to the state.

The guidance states that any taxpayer claiming the deduction might be asked to provide an "income tax return, relevant medical records or other supporting documentation" to substantiate the claim.

The state plans to issue additional instructions on how to claim the personal exemption later this year.

The guidance follows the June Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, and a subsequent July ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Sistersong v. Kemp in July, which allowed the state's 2019 ban on abortions after six weeks to take effect immediately.

The 2019 law, House Bill 481, recognizes "unborn children as natural persons."

Lauren Groh-Wargo, the campaign manager for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, questioned the guidance.

"So what happens when you claim your fetus as a dependent and then miscarry later in the pregnancy, you get investigated both for tax fraud and an illegal abortion?" she tweeted.

Following the 11th Circuit's ruling, the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood released a joint statement calling the ruling "highly unorthodox" and "horrific."

"This is a highly unorthodox action that will immediately push essential abortion care out of reach for patients beyond the earliest stages of pregnancy. Across the state, providers are now being forced to turn away patients who thought they would be able to access abortion, immediately changing the course of their lives and futures," the statement read. "This is horrific. We'll continue doing everything in our power to fight for abortion access in Georgia in the face of these harmful attacks on people's ability to control if and when to have a child."

On the other hand, Georgia Right to Life issued a statement on Facebook describing the ruling as "wonderful news, no matter how you slice it." The pro-life organization explained that "our offices are rejoicing over all the lives that are being saved, even today!"

"Yesterday, children in the womb were in grave danger  today, children in the womb are in significantly less danger! This is to be celebrated!" Georgia Right to Life wrote.

In 2019, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law The Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, a ban on abortions in Georgia upon detecting a fetal heartbeat.

"Georgia is a state that values life," Kemp said as he approved the measure. "We protect the innocent. We champion the vulnerable, we stand up and speak for those that are unable to speak for themselves."

Following the Dobbs ruling, several states have enacted policies that ban abortion under most circumstances. The Biden administration has taken efforts to help secure abortion access.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a "Reproductive Rights Task Force" chaired by Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta to monitor state and local laws restricting abortion.

President Joe Biden also signed an executive order to "protect and expand access to abortion" in response to abortion bans in several states. In an executive order released July 8, Biden said his administration was "taking action to protect healthcare service delivery and promote access to critical reproductive healthcare services, including abortion."

"It remains the policy of my Administration to support women's right to choose and to protect and defend reproductive rights. Doing so is essential to justice, equality, and our health, safety, and progress as a Nation," the president stated in the order.

Biden ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to give him a report within 30 days outlining strategies to "protect and expand access to abortion care, including medication abortion."
Minnesota jury sides with pharmacist pastor who refused to provide the morning-after pill

A Minnesota jury has ruled that a pharmacist who refused to fill a woman's prescription for emergency contraception in 2019 because of his religious objections didn't violate state discrimination law.

An Aitkin County jury ruled last week that George Badeaux, a pharmacist at the McGregor Pharmacy in McGregor who also serves as a local pastor, did not violate state human rights law when he refused on moral grounds to provide the morning-after pill to Andrea Anderson in 2019.

Although ruling in favor of Badeaux, the jury also concluded that Anderson had suffered "emotional harm" to the amount of $25,000.

The feminist group Gender Justice, which represented the plaintiff, denounced the jury's decision and vowed to appeal the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

"To be clear, the law in Minnesota prohibits sex discrimination and that includes refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception," said Gender Justice Legal Director Jess Braverman in a statement.

"We will appeal this decision and won't stop fighting until Minnesotans can get the health care they need without the interference of providers putting their own personal beliefs ahead of their legal and ethical obligations to their patients."

In 2019, Anderson filed a lawsuit, claiming that the pharmacist violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act. A trial began on Aug. 1.

The mother of five claims she had to drive over 100 miles roundtrip in wintry conditions for around three hours to get the emergency contraception from another provider located in Brainerd.

Anderson said she also contacted a local CVS but was declined her prescription request. Anderson is also suing the CVS pharmacy.

"The pharmacists I encountered ignored my health needs and my doctor's instructions," stated Anderson in a statement. "I could not believe this was happening. I was angry."

Aitkin County District Judge David Hermerding said that questions regarding freedom of religion were not to be considered.

"The issue for the jury is not defendant's constitutional rights," said the judge, as quoted by The Associated Press. "It is whether he deliberately misled, obfuscated and blocked Ms. Anderson's path to obtaining [emergency contraception.]"

Charles Shreffler, Badeaux's lawyer, said he and his client are happy with the decision and don't believe that Anderson will receive any payments in damages because the jury ruled that she was not discriminated against.

"We are incredibly happy with the jury's decision," Shreffler said in a statement shared with media outlets. "Medical professionals should be free to practice their professions in line with their beliefs."

The pharmacist will not have to pay the $25,000 unless the finding that he didn't discriminate against Anderson is overturned as the litigation proceeds.

"In order for [Badeaux] to be liable for damages, he has to be found liable. The jury has to first find that he discriminated against Ms. Anderson on the basis of her sex, and the jury specifically found that he did not discriminate against her," Shreffler told Minnesota Public Radio.

In an interview with "Fox & Friends First" host Todd Piro on Wednesday, Badeaux said he believed that people "should be able to live out our beliefs in our workplace."

"I couldn't fill this prescription because one of the possible mechanisms of action of the medication is that it can prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg into the uterus," Badeaux continued. "In my mind, that would be ending a new human life."

Badeaux defended his refusal to administer the emergency contraception, saying that he "did everything I could" to help the woman "in light of the facts."

"I went out of my way to phone the patient when there was a small possibility that the pharmacist who would be working the next day who would fill the prescription might not make it because of a snowstorm forecast," he added.
Merrick Garland denounces 'unfounded attacks' on FBI, DOJ after Mar-a-Lago raid

Attorney General Merrick Garland says the raid on the Mar-a-Lago residence of former President Donald Trump followed proper protocol, responding to claims the search for classified documents was prosecutorial misconduct.

In remarks Thursday afternoon, Garland announced the filing of a court request to unseal the search warrant and property receipt in the U.S. Southern District of Florida. He said the raid he approved followed had federal court approval on the basis of probable cause.

"Copies of both the warrant and the FBI property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former Presidents counsel, who was on site during the search," he said in his first remarks since the Monday raid. "The search warrant was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause."

The attorney general denounced what he described as "recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors."

"I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked," he added. "The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants."

Garland said most of the work "is by necessity conducted out of the public eye" and done to "protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations."

Calling it a "weaponization of the Justice System," Trump alleges that the DOJ committed prosecutorial misconduct. He contends the raid was unnecessary because his "attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully" with authorities.

"The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. "Everything was fine  and then, out of nowhere and with no warning, Mar-a-Lago was raided."

In another post on Truth Social Thursday, Trump said he would not oppose the Justice Department's quest to unseal the warrants relating to the raid and said he encourages "the immediate release of those documents."

The raid outraged Trump supporters and many Republican elected officials.

Garland's comments come after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tweeted that Republicans would launch an investigation into what he says is the "weaponized politicization" of the Justice Department if they take control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterm elections.

Sources close to the situation told The Washington Post that there was reason to believe that the former president failed to turn over sensitive classified documents from his time in office.

The National Archives and Records Administration said in February that it had retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago the month before that was said to have been improperly taken from the White House. Questions were reportedly raised about if Trump was holding onto more documents amid requests by The National Archives to receive documents covered under the Presidential Records Act.

The legislation mandates the preservation of written communications related to a president's official duties.

According to a report by The Washington Post, people tied to the raid have said that the classified documents they were looking for included content relating to nuclear weapons. But it is unclear if such content was among documents discovered by investigators.

On Friday, Trump responded to The Washington Post report.

"Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "Why wouldnt the FBI allow the inspection of areas at Mar-a-Lago with our lawyers, or others, present. Made them wait outside in the heat, wouldnt let them get even close - said 'ABSOLUTELY NOT.' Planting information anyone? Reminds me of a Christofer Steele Dossier!"
Planned Parenthood spends 'unprecedented' amount of money on lobbying post-Roe

Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the abortion giant's advocacy arm, has spent a massive amount of money on lobbying efforts since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization that tracks campaign finances and lobbying efforts, released a report earlier this month showing that Planned Parenthood Action Fund has spent unprecedented sums of money on lobbying in the past three months.

An analysis by the nonprofit organization noted that this is the most the abortion advocacy group has spent during the second quarter of a year.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund spent over $739,000 in the first half of 2022 on federal lobbying on issues including abortion access, with about $170,000 spent in the years first quarter, OpenSecrets reported.

This comes after the organization reported a 4,000% increase in donations after the Supreme Court released its Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization majority opinion in June.

Planned Parenthood Action Funds pressure campaign has focused on lobbying for the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, as well as pushing for key bills in the U.S. House and Senate, it continued.

Both National Right to Life Committee and the pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony List focused lobbying efforts on multiple bills in 2022, including the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

The bill, introduced last January, would make it a criminal offense to commit or attempt an abortion at 20 weeks gestation.

Susan B. Anthony List spent over $260,000 on federal lobbying during the second quarter of 2022, according to OpenSecrets, a $30,000 decrease from the years first quarter. In addition, NRLC saw a $20,000 decrease in its second spending quarter.

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund also lobbied for the Womens Health Protection Act, a bill that would have codified abortion into federal law. The act passed the House last year and was supported by the Biden administration, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

However, the act came up short of the 60 votes required to invoke cloture and begin debate on the legislation in the Senate, with 48 senators voting in favor of cloture and 46 senators voting against it.

Its essential that the Senate pass the Womens Health Protection Act without delay, Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in an online campaign.

Pro-life leaders celebrated the bills failure, with Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, condemning what she perceived to be the legislations extremism.

We thank all our pro-life allies in the Senate who spoke out about the extremism of this bill and helped defeat it, she said.

Biden, Pelosi, and Schumers Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act would enshrine an unlimited abortion right in federal law and block common ground pro-life laws around the country.

In calling for this bill to be passed, Chuck Schumer referred to abortion as sacred and a fundamental right  proving that pro-abortion Democrats could not be more radically out of touch with the American people, she added. Those who sided with the abortion lobby to trample the will of the people will face political consequences.

Planned Parenthoods political arm also lobbied for military service members to have abortion access, as OpenSecrets reported. The MARCH for Military Servicemembers Act, introduced by Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in June, the bill would require the Department of Defense to cover the costs of servicemembers abortions at military medical treatment facilities.

The bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services but has yet to pass the House or Senate.
Texas comptroller announces investigation into bar that hosted drag show for children

The Texas comptroller said the state has opened an investigation into a Dallas bar that held a drag show for children earlier this summer.

In a statement released Friday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar identified himself as one of many Texas parents who found themselves disturbed by the recent images showing children participating in a drag show in the Dallas area, including one of a child placing money in a performers undergarment.

The drag show in question, which was dubbed as a family-friendly pride experience called Drag the Kids to Pride, took place at Mr. Misster bar in Dallas on June 4.

I know this is a concerning issue for many Texans, and the images circulating are certainly inconsistent with our Texas values, he added. Though my office does not typically comment on ongoing investigations, the recent public discussion surrounding this specific entity demands a response.

Hegar assured concerned Texans that my office had already begun the process of investigating this specific event, as well as working to determine if the establishment is liable for the Sexually Oriented Business Fee (SOBF) under Chapter 102 of the Business Code.

Hegars announcement came one day after Republican state Rep. Bryan Slaton called on Hegar to treat Mr. Misster as a sexually-oriented business. As Slaton explained, Sexually-oriented businesses are required to pay $5 per attendee present and they must also prevent children and sex offenders from attending or participating.

Drag shows are no place for a child.



Today Im calling in @Glenn_Hegar to do what he can to enforce existing law and protect Texas kids while I work with my colleagues in the Texas Legislature.



We must protect Texas kids from sick adults who want to sexualize them. #txlegepic.twitter.com/lcxto4MbQQ  Bryan Slaton (@BryanforHD2) August 4, 2022

Slaton emerged as an outspoken opponent of the idea of drag shows for kids when news of the Drag the Kids to Pride event at Mr. Misster first broke in early June. At the time, Slaton vowed to introduce legislation that would ban drag shows for minors as soon as the next session of the Texas legislature began. Two months later, the state lawmaker has described any action by Hegar as a temporary measure to enforce existing law and protect Texas kids while I work with my colleagues in the Texas Legislature.

Drag shows are no place for a child.



I would never take my children to a drag show and I know Speaker Dade Phelan and my Republican colleagues wouldnt either.



I will be filing legislation to address this issue in the new #txlege . pic.twitter.com/R7NkX7ADBR  Bryan Slaton (@BryanforHD2) June 6, 2022

Video footage from the event shows a performer dressed in red leather drag taking tips from small children as he suggestively danced under a sign that read, Its not going to lick itself. A description of the June 4 drag show on Eventbrite promoted the availability of Mr. Misster Mocktails for guests under the age of 21 while highlighting FIVE limited spots for young performers to take the stage solo, or with a queen of their choosing.

Following Hegars public statement indicating his intention to investigate the drag show for kids, Slaton praised the state comptroller for his strong leadership on this important issue. The state lawmaker asserted that when it comes to protecting children from grotesque content, Texans deserve lawmakers who will stand up for our childrens innocence.

Any business that allows kids to attend an event of a sexual nature should be held accountable, and I am proud of Glenn Hegar for taking steps in that direction, he remarked. Like many Texans, I am eagerly awaiting the results of his investigation. I will continue working toward passing legislation to ensure children are never again subjected to these events.

In an earlier statement to The Christian Post, a spokesperson for Mr. Misster lamented that the attention the establishment received due to the outcry over the Drag the Kids to Pride event led to hundreds of threatening emails, messages and phone calls as well as protesters yelling in kids faces, calling them a variety of homophobic slurs, throwing trash at them and trying to get in fights with parents.

We are sad to see that an event that was [supposed] to be a moment of pride for these LGBTQ+ families and their children is being interpreted as anything other than it was, a family-friendly event.  We are thankful that [the Dallas Police Department] stepped in to control the unruly protestors and we are saddened by the unjust actions that these protestors displayed.

CP reached out to Mr. Misster for comment on Texas state officials attempts to probe whether or not to impose a sexually-oriented business fee on their establishment. A response was not received by press time.

The controversy surrounding the Drag Your Children to Pride Event comes as the prevalence of Drag Queen Story Hours targeted toward young children at some public libraries has raised concern among parents throughout the U.S. At the same time, public schools embrace of LGBT ideology, including many public schools participation in Jazz & Friends Reading Day, has also raised alarm among parental rights activists.

As part of the Jazz & Friends National Day of School and Community Readings earlier this year, schools across the U.S. partnered with the LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign to read books about trans-identified children to students. In addition to I am Jazz, a semi-autobiographical tale about trans-identified activist Jazz Jennings, recommended reading for the day included CALVIN: Time to Be Me!

Calvin has always been a boy, even if the world sees him as a girl. He knows who he is in his heart and in his mind, but he hasnt yet told his family. Finally, he can wait no longer, a description for the book reads. A lesson plan for the day advises teachers to tell students that gender is a spectrum, not a binary, and that we all express ourselves in many different ways along that spectrum.
Young Adult Christians Don't Attend Church, Mother Charged For Illegal Abortion, And Is The Bible Sexist?

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A strong majority of Generation Z and Millennials who say they have made a personal commitment to Christ do not attend church in person or online at least once a month, according to a new study.



A young adult pastor with an influential Texas church has critiqued the claim that the Bible is sexist against women, arguing that a biblical Christian understanding of women is superior to the mainstream culture.



A pro-life legal researcher does not believe a case in which Facebook had to turn over private chats between a mother and daughter to Nebraska police as part of an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the girls abortion could become a common occurrence in a post-Roeworld.

Conservative Christian leaders have denounced the Federal Bureau of Investigations recently raid on former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home, seeing it as politically motivated.
Liberty University selects CarterBaldwin search firm to identify its next president

The Georgia-based CarterBaldwin Executive Search will conduct the search for the next president of Liberty University, a prominent Evangelical university founded by Jerry Falwell Sr. in Virginia.

In an announcement Wednesday, the Lynchburg-based university stated that CarterBaldwin will oversee the search for a person to replace interim Liberty President Jerry Prevo, who has served in that role since the resignation of former President Jerry Falwell Jr. in 2020.

Gilbert "Bud" Tinney, Jr., a member of Liberty's Board of Trustees and chairman of the search committee, spoke of the current situation as a time of stabilization.

"During this season of institutional transition, Liberty University has benefited tremendously from a combination of stabilizing leaders with vast institutional experience and some of the nation's best outside experts," stated Tinney.

"The selection of CarterBaldwin demonstrates clearly Liberty's ongoing commitment to excellence and its determination to work with the absolute best advisors to find the right individual to lead Liberty University into its next 50 years."

CarterBaldwin has an extensive history of working with faith-based and nonprofit organizations and has placed more than 100 CEOs in faith-based institutions.

CarterBaldwin Chairman Price Harding said in a statement that he is "extremely proud of our work on behalf of faith-based institutions."

"Liberty University isn't just one of the world's largest institutions of higher education, it is also a unique institution with unique characteristics and nonnegotiable values," Harding stated.

"We are excited about partnering with the search committee to find the right leader. Along the way we will bring to the university our commitment to always providing objective counsel and the best available expertise in executive search."

Liberty will release a position profile in mid-September to begin the process of soliciting and evaluating candidates. The Liberty board of trustee's search committee hopes to install a new president before the 2023-2024 academic school year. Prevo will continue to serve as acting president until the role is filled.

The search will be led by Harding and CarterBaldwin partner Bill Peterson.

In August 2020, Falwell Jr. resigned as Liberty president after he and his wife, Becki, were implicated in a sex scandal by a young man named Giancarlo Granda.

The allegation came after Falwell had been put on an "indefinite leave of absence" from his roles as president and chancellor following the leaked photo of him on social media at a costume party on a yacht during his family's vacation.

In the photo, Falwell wore unzipped jeans that exposed his abdomen and underwear while his hand was around the waist of his wife's assistant, who wore a tank top and unzipped shorts.

Falwell became the head of the university in 2007 following the death of his father, who founded the institution under the name Liberty Baptist College in 1971.

Prevo served as chairman of the university's board of trustees since 2003.

During Prevo's time as interim president, Liberty faced allegations of failing to adequately respond to claims of sexual assault and harassment by students.

In July 2021, a dozen women filed a class-action lawsuit accusing Liberty of mishandling their sexual assault complaints when they were students.

The litigation was settled in May, with the details of the agreement between the two parties kept confidential.

Liberty became the subject of a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Education in May.

According to the government, there were questions over whether Liberty was in compliance with the Clery Act, which requires schools to support victims of sexual violence.
Two-thirds of younger adults with a commitment to Christ don't attend church: survey

A strong majority of Generation Z and Millennials who say they have made a personal commitment to Christ do not attend church in person or online at least once a month, according to a new study.

The August edition of the "State of the Bible: USA 2022" report from the American Bible Society finds that 40% of Generation Z adults ages 18 and over attend church "primarily online." They were followed closely by 36% of churchgoers ages 77 and up.

However, the report suggests that among Gen Z and Millennials who have made a meaningful commitment to Jesus, about 66% do not attend church either in person or online at least once a month.

The study produced 2,598 responses from a representative sample of adults 18 and older within all 50 states and the District of Columbia collected from January 10-28, 2022.

Gen Z is defined as those ages 10 to 25 in 2021, while Millennials were defined as ages 26 to 41 in 2021.

While more than half (54%) of all adults up to age 57 said they have "made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today," fewer than a third of those in the three youngest generations who have made that commitment are "practicing" Christians.

"This should challenge every Christian and ministry leader to intentionally cultivate relationships with their younger neighbors, who are often seeking security and hope amidst ever-increasing anxiety," said John Farquhar Plake, director of ministry intelligence for the American Bible Society. "It's our prayer that every generation is able to meaningfully connect with the Word of God, engaging with it as a way of life and actively living out their faith in community."

Practicing Christians were defined as those who identify as Protestants or Catholics, consider their faith very important to them and attend religious services at least once a month.

Non-practicing Christians identify as Christians but fall short in at least one of those other areas, the importance of faith or church attendance.

Sixty-one percent of non-practicing Gen Z Christians say they have made a personal commitment to Chrsit, while 57% of their Millennial counterparts say the same. Only 28% of Gen Z respondents said they attend church at least once a month, while 22% of Millenials said the same.

Only 13% of Gen Z and 12% of Millennial respondents were considered "Scripture Engaged." Gen X (75%) is the most Scripture-engaged generation among Practicing Christians.

According to the survey, those considered "non-practicing Christians" are far more likely than "practicing Christians" to attend services online.

While practicing Christians prefer in-person services, non-practicing Christians are about as likely to attend online as in person.

According to the survey's definitions of "practicing" versus "non-practicing" Christians, nearly half of all American adults (46%) fall into the non-practicing category.

"You might consider them the 'sleeping giant' of the church," the survey noted.

"They have some contact with the Bible and the church. They know some things about Jesus. Yet they're saying they long to know more. How will churches respond? How will publishers, charities, schools, and creative artists step up to this curiosity?"

According to the study, half of Gen Z respondents said they "wish they read the Bible more," and 55% said they are "curious to know more about Jesus."

"Among Non-Practicing Christians, Gen Z has the highest percentage of people saying they've increased their Bible reading in the past year (17%) ... and also the highest percentage who say they've decreased their Bible reading (20%)," the report states. "This may indicate a certain volatility as they make choices about their spirituality and reading habits."

The "State of The Bible" findings closely mirrored a report from Pew released in March, which showed in-person church attendance has stagnated after churches reopened following the COVID pandemic shutdown.

In July 2020, a few months after the pandemic lockdowns began, according to the report, 13% of U.S. adults said they attended religious services in person the previous month.

In March 2021, Pew reported that the figure had increased by four percentage points to 17%. And in September 2021, the share of adults who said they attended a religious service in the past month rose to 26%.

But in March 2022, the share of Americans who attended religious services in person in the previous month was 27%, just slightly higher than the 26% reported last September.

The study also mirrors a 2019 Barna study that finds that two-thirds of American young adults who attended a Protestant church regularly for at least a year as a teenager say they dropped out of church for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. Only 34% said they continued to attend church twice a month or more.

Among the top reasons they listed for dropping out of church were they "moved away to college," church members seemed "judgemental or hypocritical," they didn't feel connected to people in the church, they disagreed with the church's stance on social issues or their work responsibilities prevented them from attending.

Among young adults who attended church regularly for at least one year as a teenager, 31 percent are currently attending twice or a month or more, suggesting there is a 69% chance that teenagers who drop out of church won't return.
In mission work, we must begin and end with God

The world of Christian international missions is full of people with generous hearts who see a global need, are moved to address it, then do their very best to help.

But for a long time, there were no standards by which short-term missionaries could measure their programs or performance. Sometimes their efforts succeeded, sometimes they failed. Occasionally, well-intentioned people brought some harm to the very communities they sought to serve.

Thats why universal, accessible standards of excellence are so critical to short-term missions work. They can be a meaningful opportunity to initiate lasting, positive change in the lives of vulnerable populations around the world.

Without such guidance, its easy to make mistakes  and some of them are serious.

Care for orphaned and vulnerable children is an area that stands out as especially in need of reform. So many Christians want to help feed, protect and educate vulnerable children  and in many cases, they try to do so by supporting residential care facilities, like orphanages and childrens homes, in the areas theyre visiting.

But we know now that family empowerment is the best way to help these children. Strong families build flourishing, independent communities. They foster emotional, physical and psychological development in a way no institution ever could.

Many of the mistakes in mission trips boil down to one simple fact: People with resources tend to also be the people with power. Navigating the resource imbalance across different cultures is very delicate and must be very intentional to avoid missteps.

Short-term missions teams sometimes foster dependency in the areas theyre visiting by meeting needs the community could be handling itself. These groups can also unintentionally put themselves in the drivers seat by pre-defining the services and resources theyre willing to provide. When were not careful, its easy to take power away from non-Western global partners in the mission field.

We shouldnt do for others what they can do for themselves, and that is particularly true of parenting. The vast majority of children living in orphanages and childrens homes have living parents and are placed there due to poverty. By focusing mission trips on supporting orphanages and childrens homes, we can undermine the natural coping mechanisms for parents, like extended family and community support. However, recognizing the opportunity to empower local families to care well for their children provides a sustainable solution.

World Orphans is a wonderful example of the fruitfulness of aligning with standards of excellence in missions for serving orphans and vulnerable children and finding ways to build upon community-based solutions. When originally founded, their mission trips were largely focused on volunteering with children who were living in residential care facilities in vulnerable communities.

But this work didnt always support their larger goal to holistically care for children in need. So, they changed strategies. They listened to local partners, partnered with the Standards of Excellence in Short-term Mission (SOE), where I work, and rethought their global partnership strategy.

This wasnt without its challenges, of course. U.S. partners initially expressed disappointment with the changes to the trips. They missed the face time they used to get with the children living in residential care. However, once World Orphans began to cast a vision for what empowering families and communities could look like to new partners, these challenges and disappointments began to fade.

Now, they steward a rich network of partnerships between U.S churches and international churches in communities all over the world that result in sustainable change for vulnerable children and families  and theyre just getting started.

Missions work is demanding, and organizational reform is taxing as well. But its important to step back and remember that God abides at the center of all our work and that His will cannot lead us astray. If we remain centered on and by God, He will keep us humble enough to accept the changes we need to make and strong enough to make them. He will inspire in us the love and fortitude necessary to empower families and communities all across the world.

Missions arent about us, but about those we serve. And adhering to objective standards of excellence that begin with God is the way to make sure we serve them rightly.
Patriotism vs. nationalism

Whats Wrong with Christian Nationalism? asks Paul D. Miller, professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Affairs in his recently published book The Religion of American Greatness.

The question is provocative. Who says there is anything wrong with Christian nationalism? Doesnt Christianity impart values that make for good citizenship? Shouldnt we love and support our nation?

Miller, who has served both in the military and as a member of the National Security Council staff, is writing as a Christian insider, who accepts the faiths truth while carefully distinguishing between healthy patriotism and corrosive nationalism.

Individuals have natural emotional attachments to the nation where they were born and nurtured or to which they have immigrated. They have imbibed its culture, typically speak one or more of its native languages, revere its flag and other symbols, and share its values. Political theorists who emphasize civic republicanism believe that those who live in nations that acknowledge them as citizens rather than as mere subjects will be especially committed to their nation. Christians have an additional reason to support nations that provide for their freedom of worship.

Long before the U.S. became a superpower, we Americans thought of ourselves as special. Puritan fathers expressed the wish that we would be a city upon a hill. Frontiersmen thought that Americans had a manifest destiny to spread from coast to coast. Americans helped save the world for democracy by beating back authoritarianism in World War I, nazism in World War II, and communism in the Cold War.

Miller argues that what has made America special and what should bind Americans together is not a special anointing by God, a singular commitment to Christianity, or superior virtue. Our Americanness stems from our commitment to the principle of equal rights in the Declaration of Independence and to an approximation of justice through the rule of law as established by the U.S. Constitution.

These principles are not uniquely Anglo-Saxon or Christian. Instead, they rest on the fundamental idea that all individuals have inherent worth, that all are equally entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the best way to attain these is through a democratic-republican government that provides for majority rule while honoring minority rights. The Constitution accordingly divides powers among three branches of government (separation of powers), allocates powers between state and national authorities (federalism), divides Congress into two branches (bicameralism), provides for periodic elections, and the like.

Although a majority of citizens through much of American history have been white Christians, we have wisely accepted individuals from all parts of the world. Our Founders further forbade religious tests for office, prohibited governmental establishments of religion, and offered religious free exercise to all.

The U.S. accepts new citizens not on the basis of their race or religion but on their acceptance of our Constitution and the values it embodies. By contrast, those whom Miller identifies as Christian nationalists define citizenship by race or class and seek to cling to power through force and other illiberal means rather than through persuasion and elections.

Patriots take a more nuanced view. They seek the good of all fellow citizens while recognizing that the nations greatness rests on the extent to which it lives up to its own ideals. A Christian citizen recognizes that unwavering allegiance to the actions of any single leader is a form of idolatry that is more likely to undermine the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution than to promote them.

Christian virtues enhance citizenship, but Christian faith has never been a prerequisite to it. Patriots who love and serve America will do more for it than nationalists who idolize it.
Terrorists kill elderly Christian, kidnap others in northern Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria  Suspected Muslim terrorists in northern Nigeria killed an 86-year-old Christian in his home on Aug. 2 and kidnapped two others who were later released, likely after ransom payments, sources said.

The gunmen killed Daniel Yatai at his home in predominantly Christian Manchok village, Kaduna state, shortly after 11 p.m., according to his son Philip Daniel Yatai, who said the assailants kidnapped his niece, 21-year-old Brenda Friday.

The terrorists forcefully broke into their home as they were already sleeping, shot our dad and kidnapped my niece, Yatai told Morning Star News. They phoned us on Wednesday morning [Aug. 3] asking for a ransom of 15 million naira [US$35,845] before my niece can be released.

While not disclosing whether a ransom was paid, Yatai on Aug. 5 confirmed that his niece had been released. Also kidnapped from his home in Manchok on Aug. 2 and held for ransom was Amos Magbon, rector of the Federal School of Statistics in Manchok, who was also released by Aug. 5, Magbons brother, Innocent Magbon, told local media.

Area residents said the assailants attacked the village in Kaura County, southern Kaduna, with gunfire before breaking into some homes. A daughter of the late Yatai, Christiana Yatai, reportedly said the gunmen ordered their door be opened, and when the five relatives in the home refused, the terrorists forced their way in.

One of the gunmen outside shot Daniel Yatai through a window, while the others who had broken into the home then entered his room and shot him again, Christiana Yatai told local media.

In mid-July in nearby Zangang village, three Christians were ambushed and shot, killing two of them, residents said. Area resident Isaac Gandu said the three Christians were workers at the Health Department of Kaura Local Government Council.

They had gone to some rural Christian communities to provide health services to them when they were ambushed by terrorists and shot at, Gandu told Morning Star News in a text message. Two of the victims, who are males, died at the spot they were ambushed, and the third victim, a lady, is currently receiving treatment at a local hospital here.

Kidnapped Christian Women

The attack followed Islamic militants kidnapping of 21 Christian women on June 21 in nearby Kasan Kogi village. The Rev. Ezekiel Garba, pastor of Chapel of Good News Church in Kasan Kogi village, told Christian Solidarity Internationals Nigeria Report that his wife was among those held captive.

They said they will marry off our women to their members if we dont pay 100 million naira (US$230,000) ransom within days, Pastor Garba told Nigeria Report. They said they will use them to produce children who will kill us in the future.

About 300 armed terrorists, hooded and clad in military fatigues, attacked Kasan Kogi, about 20 miles south of the city of Kaduna, on motorcyles, killing the Rev. Ezra Shamaki and another resident. They kidnapped Pastor Shamakis wife, one of the 21 females abducted along with six males, Pastor Garba told Nigeria Report.

The assailants went straight to the morning fellowship of a group of women meeting at the local Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) church, Pastor Garba said.

They came rushing into the village and split up, he told Nigeria Report. Some went to other parts of the town while others surrounded the church. They killed the pastor of the church and kidnapped his wife along with other women in the church.

The terrorists captured Pastor Garba, his wife Salama and their 21-year-old daughter as they tried to flee, he said.

They first grabbed my wife at a different corner and snatched my daughter as she was running close to me. When I saw she was crying helplessly, I stopped and submitted myself, Pastor Garba told Nigeria Report. They took us on their bikes to the outskirts of the village where they gathered all the other hostages before moving to the bush. But before then, they asked me to go and mobilize money for them. I pleaded for my daughter and wife, but they only released me and my daughter, who I told them was breastfeeding.

The assailants swore to eliminate all Christian villages in the area, he said.

Their leader identified himself as Akakkabe from Niger Republic, Pastor Garba told Nigeria Report. He said he left his former base in Sokoto to assist his fellow Muslims here. He warned me not to delay with his money.

Pastor Andrew Galva of the Chapel of Good News Church in Kasan Kogi was also kidnapped with his wife at a different location, and he too was released on the captors hope that he would raise ransom money, he said.

I pleaded that that was the second kidnapping this year in my family, and we didnt have any money, but they wouldnt accept it, Pastor Galva told Nigeria Report.

Jonathan Asake, president of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), told Nigeria Report that in previous raids the terrorists have forced kidnapped women into sexual slavery.

They kidnap women and turn them into sex slaves, Asake told Nigeria Report. Many of the women have returned traumatized, with many of them dying after being released.

Umar Barde, who represents Kajuru and Chikun constituencies in the Nigerian House of Representatives, confirmed the sex slavery.

Sexual violations by terrorists here are rampant, Barde told Nigeria Report. They rape both old and young women, even teenagers. But because of stigma, people are ashamed to say it. But if you ask men who may have been kidnapped along with the women, they will tell you they witnessed mass rapes in their camps.

Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith last year (Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021) at 4,650, up from 3,530 the previous year, according to Open Doors 2022 World Watch List report. The number of kidnapped Christians was also highest in Nigeria, at more than 2,500, up from 990 the previous year, according to the WWL report.

Nigeria trailed only China in the number of churches attacked, with 470 cases, according to the report.

In the 2022 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to seventh place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 9 the previous year.

This article was originally published by Morning Star News.
Actress Anne Heche, who had been in a coma since a car crash last week, has been declared brain-dead and is being kept alive on life support to see if her organs are viable for donation, one of her representatives said Friday.

Heche, 53, was critically injured Aug. 5 when she crashed the Mini Cooper she was driving into a home in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, authorities said. She suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and was being treated at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital, according to a statement released on behalf of her family and friends Thursday night.

It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable, the statement said. The declaration of brain death had come Thursday night, the representative later confirmed.

The crash started a fire that took 59 firefighters more than an hour to extinguish, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Heche was the only person in the car, authorities said.

Jeff Lee, a public information officer with the Los Angeles Police, said an initial blood sample drawn from Heche at the hospital had revealed the presence of drugs, but he did not say what kind. He said a second test was needed to rule out any substances administered by hospital staff but those results could take weeks.

In 1991, Heche won a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding younger actress in a drama series, for playing good and evil twins on the NBC soap opera Another World.

She starred in several popular Hollywood films in the late 1990s, including Donnie Brasco, Wag the Dog and Six Days Seven Nights. She continued to have television roles, including on Men in Trees in 2006 and Hung in 2009, and performed on Broadway, starring in Proof in 2002 and Twentieth Century in 2004, for which she received a Tony nomination.

In his review of Twentieth Century, Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote of Heches portrayal of Lily Garland, Her posture melting between serpentine seductiveness and a street fighters aggressiveness, her voice shifting between supper-club velvet and dime store vinyl, Heche summons an entire gallery of studio-made sirens from the Depression era: Jean Harlow, the pre-mummified Joan Crawford and, yes, Carole Lombard, who famously portrayed Lily in Howard Hawks screen version of Twentieth Century. 

She has several projects that are in postproduction, according to IMDb, including Supercell, a movie with Alec Baldwin, and the HBO show The Idol. She had recently finished filming on Girl in Room 13, a Lifetime movie that is scheduled to premiere in September, Variety reported.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Early in the morning on Feb. 24, Ukrainian violist Kateryna Suprun and her 2-year-old daughter were startled awake in their beds by a massive explosion. Sirens started to wail in the streets as Russian missiles rained on downtown Kyiv.

Like many of her friends and neighbors, Suprun never believed this could actually happen; but within hours, she was among tens of thousands of Kyiv residents grabbing what they could and evacuating the city. Suprun, her daughter and their two cats navigated traffic jams and panicked crowds during a harrowing four-day drive to the Polish border, where locals supplied them with food and water.

"I will remember for the rest of my life the moment when we crossed the border," Suprun, 31, tells me in an email (translated from Ukrainian), "because I didn't know if I would ever return, [if] I would see my family, and whether my beautiful country would exist."

Suprun is among an estimated 5 million Ukrainian refugees who have fled their home country; another 7 million remain in Ukraine, but displaced from their homes. Now, nearly six months after the first strike on Kyiv, Suprun is one of 74 musicians banded together and touring the world as the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra.

The orchestra, conceived and led by the Canadian Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, is made up entirely of Ukrainian refugees, Ukrainian members of European orchestras and musicians representing the Kyiv National Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra, Kharkiv Opera and other Ukrainian ensembles.

Formed through a collaboration between the Metropolitan Opera (Wilson's husband is Met General Manager Peter Gelb) and the Polish National Opera, the orchestra coalesced quickly around a mission to stage, as the Met news release put it, "artistic defense" of its homeland. Its debut concerts across Western Europe and Britain have been met with rave reviews and long ovations. (The BBC recently released a stream of the orchestra's Proms performance at Royal Albert Hall.)

Following a pair of shows at Lincoln Center on Aug. 18 and 19, the tour culminates at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 20.

For Wilson, 55, the project is deeply personal. One of her cousins, originally from the southwestern Ukraine city of Chernivtsi, went to the front lines in Donbas at the start of the invasion and is still there. His sister is a volunteer, driving trucks with medical supplies, and Wilson sometimes sends her supplies she can't find - goggles, camo gloves, protective vests.

Wilson's great-grandparents emigrated from Chernivtsi to Winnipeg, part of a massive diaspora of Ukrainians to Canada through the first few decades of the early 20th century. But when she refers to Ukraine as a "second home," she clarifies that "home" includes Russia.

She remembers fondly being embraced as a Ukrainian artist when she would visit Russia to conduct at the Bolshoi Theatre, which she considers her artistic home.

"The irony is just sickening," she says on the phone from a tour stop in Edinburgh, Scotland. "It really is like one nation."

When the invasion started, Wilson felt shock, horror and a desperation to find a way to contribute - or at least unleash some of the anguish she felt watching the images play out on television. At the time she was on a blur of a tour for a solid month, guest conducting four different orchestras in four different countries - leading them each in programs of largely Russian composers.

At a March concert in Gran Canaria, one of Spain's Canary Islands, with the Gran Canaria Philharmonic, she added the Ukrainian national anthem to a program of Prokofiev and Shostakovich, and gave a short speech (in Spanish). She did the same at every subsequent date.

"A year ago I never thought we'd be playing Russian repertoire in this climate," she recalls telling the audience. "But we were playing Tchaikovsky for ourselves. This was at the time that they started canceling Tchaikovsky around Europe. So it was delicate, but I felt very, very strongly that we had to separate clearly: What is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and what is Russia?"

Classical music is seldom the first responder in a crisis. On the whole, it's a slow-moving machine with many moving parts, much of them rusted over with institutional inertia. But in cities across Ukraine, Russian aggression was met almost instantly (and seemingly instinctually) with salvos of artistic resistance, as orchestras, ensembles and individual musicians staged defiant public performances in city squares, apartments and subway stations.

This spirit seems to live within Wilson as well. Her third week of that European tour was supposed to feature a run with the Odessa Philharmonic, many of whose members were forced to flee.

The subsequent week off found Wilson flying to London, meeting up with Gelb, and wondering what she could do - fly to Warsaw and volunteer? Hand out food and blankets? She felt helpless watching footage of millions of refugees flowing into Warsaw, and wondered how many of them were musicians.

Surely enough to form an orchestra?

Wilson had accidentally hatched a plan that would consume the rest of her summer. Before Gelb reached the airport for his flight home, he'd contacted his counterpart at the Polish National Opera, Waldemar Dabrowski, in an effort to join forces. Dabrowski was already hosting refugees at his home, including a musician from Kharkiv and her daughter, camped out in one of their dressing rooms.

Dabrowski immediately signed on and within days the three had enlisted the help of prestigious London-based concert agency Askonas Holt, which swiftly squeezed the orchestra into spots at a string of summer festivals across Europe - most of which are typically booked years in advance.

To assemble the orchestra itself, Wilson flew to Warsaw and met with Dabrowski's team, administrators and musicians who within 48 hours produced a list of Ukrainian musicians eager to join the orchestra. Nearly a third would come from the orchestra in Lviv, the rest would be performing with each other for the first time.

(In Ukraine, while there's no conscripted service for eligible men between ages 18 and 60, they are largely forbidden from leaving the country. Several male musicians received special dispensations to perform, with support from Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. One was called into service before the tour began.)

The cultural ministries of Poland and Ukraine granted funds for the orchestra to use the Polish National Opera's Teatr Wielki, and rehearsals commenced. Ten days later, the orchestra played its inaugural concert in Warsaw - a gesture akin to a rush to the front lines.

"I also wanted to fight. I would have no qualms taking up a weapon, but I took up a baton," Wilson said.

Wilson's program is a finely tuned plea for peace, but also an assertive stand for the strength and creative force of Ukrainian culture.

She opens with the intensely beautiful seventh symphony by the esteemed Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. At 84, he also fled Kyiv at the start of the invasion and now lives in Berlin.

The haunting 17-minute work was completed in 2003 as a memorial to Silvestrov's wife, musicologist Larissa Bondarenko, who died suddenly in 1996 at the age of 50. Wilson was drawn to its elegiac potential as an expression of grief for Ukrainian soldiers lost in battle. In its closing moments, breaths pass unsounded through brass instruments, lightly resonating through their forms. Wilson thinks of them as the sound of "the breath of life, the soul living on."

"It was hard to hold back tears in certain places," Wilson recalls of rehearsing the Silvestrov. "Of course, I did. I had to. As a conductor, you can't let your emotions show too much."

In addition to the Silvestrov, Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova will join the orchestra to perform Chopin's second piano concerto, which was first performed by the composer in Warsaw in 1830.

Soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska will sing "Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?" from Beethoven's "Fidelio" - an aria that finds Leonora recoiling in horror at the monstrous cruelty and "wildem Grimme" (i.e. wild rage) of Pizarro the jailer, only to resolve, beautifully and inevitably, to find strength in love.

The program concludes with Dvorak's "New World" symphony, No. 9 and an encore Wilson says has broken the hearts of every audience who has heard it.

It's so easy, especially an ocean away, to think of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra as another manifestation of our compulsion to equate art with often inert expressions of "hope" and "humanity" and answer horror with beauty. A pandemic's worth of performing arts defined by consciously summoned optimism has perhaps dulled our faith in art as more than mere salve.

For Wilson, it's a weapon. The orchestra is an operation. And the musicians are soldiers. Nobody complains, she says. They smile. They hug. They play. They know what they're doing.

"This is not just about music making. We are on a mission to fight," she says. "Every day, Putin is trying to silence Ukraine in every way: bombing them, saying that they don't have any culture, that they don't have any tradition. He's lying! When I saw everybody living in fear in their basements, not having the freedom to make music, it was just atrocious to me. This [concert] is a way of saying, 'You will not win, because culture is the soul of Ukraine.' "
This year marks the centennial anniversary of F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu, a long time for us humans but only a blip for vampires.

If you were looking to celebrate the birthday of that silent classic, which still casts a long and ominous shadow over all vampires films that have followed, you could do it with what's perhaps its exact opposite: the new Netflix action-comedy Day Shift, with Jamie Foxx as a San Fernando Valley vampire hunter.

Day Shift, which begins streaming Friday, has aims much closer to something like Zombieland" than Murnau. Foxx plays Bud Jablonski, a working-class Los Angeles man and divorced father who cleans pools as a cover for his real job of hunting vampires. They seem to be especially populous in the San Fernando Valley, which may not be surprising to Californians but is about as far a departure you can get from the aristocratic, European origins of the genre. Plus, What We Do in the Shadows already has Staten Island covered.

Day Shift isn't much interested in vampires, anyway. They're mostly videogame-like cannon fodder for Bud, a veteran hunter who's quite good at killing them but significantly worse at hiding his real occupation. He's living on his own after his wife (Meagan Good), suspicious of his excuses, kicked him out. Now, she's ready to move, with their 10-year-old daughter (Zion Broadnax), far away from Los Angeles unless Bud can come up with $10,000 in a week for school tuition and braces.

But Bud is living fang to fang. He gets his money selling vampire teeth to what's effectively a pawn shop. He drives a turquoise pick-up and lives, with locks up and down the door, in a seedy apartment complex that appalls his ex. She hears a porn star has just moved in. They live amongst us, Bud explains.

Day Shift, the directorial debut of former stuntman J.J. Perry and written by Tyler Tice and Army of the Dead scribe Shay Hatten, has placed a familiar tale  a down-and-out single father trying to prove his worth  into a vampire movie. There's also a labor commentary somewhere in here with Bud, kicked out of the vampire hunter union, trying to get back in to secure higher rates for his kills.

But the union subplot is less to drive home a free-market point than to supply Bud a buddy-comedy partner. After another hunter, Big John (Snoop Dogg), helps Bud get back into the union, a union rep (Dave Franco) is assigned to monitor and ride along with Bud. As a suit-wearing, regulations sidekick terrified of vampires but thoroughly knowledgeable about them, Franco is a fine foil to Foxx.

There's a this-is-barely-a-story feel to Day Shift, but not always unpleasantly so. The family plotline is as basic as it gets. The buddy comedy set-up  complete with banter about the Twilight saga  is likewise standard boilerplate. Day Shift might slot in somewhere around an OK Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode.

Yet the slapdash vibe of Day Shift" has its charms. It's built almost perfectly to be the kind of thing you might, after some scrolling, absentmindedly click to watch on Netflix and end of watching for its sheer watchability. That's due largely to Foxx, whose comic timing remains sharp, and supporting players like Snoop and Peter Stormare who breeze in, as if purely for fun. Thinly sketched as it is, Day Shift has a retro vibe. Not, like, Nosferatu-retro, but more 1980s. Want to see Jamie Foxx shoot some vampires? Well, you're in luck.

Day Shift a Focus Features release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for strong violence and gore, and language. Running time: 114 minutes. Two and half stars out of four.

___

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Would you believe me if I said you could eat the most acclaimed sushi in Houston for nearly half the price? The happy hour menu at Montrose hot spot Uchi is not a secret by any means, but it couldn't hurt to get the word out for Houstonians who crave Japanese eats that won't drain your savings.

Great sushi is often well beyond the average diner's budget. High-quality, sushi-grade raw fish is in itself expensive, and you kind of want it to be, as it's best for the raw seafood you're consuming not to poison you. On top of this, upscale Japanese restaurants will often import the creme de la creme of salmon, tuna or some rare species from top-notch suppliers in Japan.

While there is definitely great budget-friendly sushi in Houstonmy favorite is Oishii on Richmond, if you can stand the waitmany high-roller sushi spots often make me wish I'd chosen a more lucrative career. There's Kata Robata, of course, the gold standard of Japanese restaurants led by chef Manabu "Hori" Horiuchi. The new Soto in Montrose is a luxurious, sometimes theatrical experience. And down the road on Westheimer, Uchi has stood on the corner of Grant near Montrose Boulevard for the past 10 years.

Emma Balter

Uchi Houston stems from the pioneering Austin restaurant of the same name, which opened in the Texas capital back in 2003. Owner Tyson Cole and his umbrella restaurant group Hai Hospitality have expanded significantly since. There are now five Uchi locations, including two out-of-state; the Houston outpost opened in 2012. Sister concept Uchiko has locations in both Austin and Houston, there's an Uchiba bar in Dallas, and most recently, Cole partnered with barbecue legend Aaron Franklin to create Loro, an Asian smokehouse that you can find in the Heights.

I've eaten my way through many of Houston's best restaurants, but I had not been to Uchi until this week, simply because I didn't think I could afford to. Until recently I somehow failed to discover that the Montrose destination has a happy hour every day from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., offering a robust menu of sushi and other bites, plus a limited wine, beer and sake selection, at discounted prices. The restaurant has offered this since the first day it opened.

So, I made a reservation on a whim this week and finally tucked my feet under Uchi's sushi counter. There are fewer choices on the happy hour menu than the core menu, but still plenty from which to order. There's regular nigiri and rotating nigiri from specialty fish, maki rolls, and non-sushi cold and hot dishes.

Emma Balter

The majority of the dishes on Uchi's special happy hour menu are exclusive to it, but there is some crossover. The spicy crunchy tuna roll is only $9 for the first two hours after doors open, compared with $13.50 after that. The kurodai and managatsuo nigiri are $4 and $6, instead of $8 and $10, respectively.

"The idea behind Uchi Happy Hour is to create a special dining experience that sits apart from the normal Uchi experience," said Amber Quist, chief brand officer of Hai Hospitality. "Offering an entry point for many new guests and a varied experience for our existing guests at a great value."

Between myself and my dining companion, who unlike me was not super hungry, we ordered three makimono rolls, two nigiri, two "hot tastings" dishes and one dessert. The totalwithout our drinks, tax or tipwas $52 for two people. If we had ordered the same dishes or the equivalent on the regular dinner menu, it would have been about $90. And we got the same friendly service and ambiance as if we were shelling out bigger bucks.

While still a special occasion meal for me, I was thrilled to find that Uchi's happy hour is pretty good value. As long as you're willing to eat dinner at a most inconvenient time, it can be yours too.
One of the fun and interesting aspects of exploring food and spirits is discovering how these tastes tie into our culture and history.

Take, for instance, the busy, boozy history of bananas foster.

Legend has it back in 1951 the owner of Brennan's Vieux Carre on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Owen Brennan, promised the chair of the New Orleans Crime Commission, Richard Foster, a fancy new dessert to end a dinner honoring his work.

Sister Ella Brennan, already overworked and stressed, was left with the task of whipping up the promised concoction that night. No pressure! Also, not much to go on  it just had to be new and special. It also had to compete with the legendary "baked Alaska" served down the street at Antoine's.

Looking around at what was left in the kitchen, her eyes landed on a bunch of ripe bananas sitting off in a corner. She remembered a dish her mother used to make for her as a child  bananas sauteed in butter and brown sugar. She described in her memoir a last- minute decision to jazz it up with rum and banana liqueur, and a hit of cinnamon to make it sparkle, before depositing it over vanilla ice cream.

They called it "bananas Foster and it found a home on Brennan's menu thereafter. Sister Ella saved the day and created a dessert that would be celebrated all around the world, including the West Coast of Michigan.

Bananas Foster Porter Brewer: New Holland Brewing Co.

Style: Rum barrel-aged porter with bananas and Vietnamese cinnamon.

Price: $5 per pint or $20 for 4 - that's typical of limited release prices.

ABV: 13.2%

Appearance: As dark as the moonless sky above in St. Roch's Cemetery in New Orleans at midnight. Head pours a light brown color.

Aroma: Cinnamon and nutmeg. There is no mistaking the rum and bananas in there. There's also a fudge or chocolate hint coming through the porter.

Mouthfeel: Decadent, velvety. This is a luxurious beer that is best sipped and savored.

Taste: As New Orleans Chef Emeril Lagasse likes to say: BAM! This one hits you with a lot of flavor.

Summary: This is a well-crafted, interesting and delightful beer. It's not going to be your go to - it's a limited release - so enjoy it while you can.

Pairs With: Enjoy this one outside under a starry sky with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and The Preservation hall jazz band playing in the background and you are bound to pass a good time. . See More Collapse

So lets sample a taste of the Big Easy courtesy of the New Holland Brewing offering Bananas Foster Porter  a rum barrel-aged porter with bananas and Vietnamese cinnamon.

I never tire of reminding you that New Holland Brewing  the largest independent brewer in Michigan  was started by two guys from Midland, Brett VanderKamp and Jason Spaulding. While Spaulding went on to start another amazing brewery, Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids, VanderKamp continues to helm New Holland.

One of the things that distinguishes New Holland is its experimenting with aging and flavoring beers in barrels like their highly-successful and sought-out Dragons Milk line.

In March, New Holland unleashed its limited release Bananas Foster. I apologize if you have a difficult time finding this one now  I've been saving this one for just the right summer evening and this week I was feeing that NOLA vibe. New releases take a minute to find their way to Midland and once they arrive those sought-after brews fly off local shelves. Let that be the lesson: When you see a limited release in the wild, grab it. Don't worry about holding onto them for too long  the good ones will store for months just fine. Some might even get better with age.

Bananas Foster Porter is a well-made, deeply flavorful brew with bold but balanced flavors. That rum-cinnamon combo packs a wallop. Once your tongue gets acclimated, that rum flavors starts to blend with the banana and a light caramel tone. It gives off an Imperial porter vibe. I'm also getting hints of another lovely dessert  bread pudding.

Great, now I'm craving beignets and I'm pretty sure they they don't have those at Eastman Party Store.

It's boozy, so if you start wobbling like Jack Sparrow we'll forgive you but you won't be allowed to captain the ship. The alcohol gives it a warm, sweet and pleasant finish.

So sit down, prepare to enjoy yourself and, until next time, laissez les bon temps rouler ... let the good times roll ... Skoll
WASHINGTON (AP)  The FBI recovered top secret and even more sensitive documents from former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the sudden, unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday.

The seized records include some marked not only top secret but also sensitive compartmented information, a special category meant to protect the nation's most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

The property receipt also shows federal agents collected other potential presidential records, including the order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone, a leatherbound box of documents, and information about the President of France. A binder of photos, a handwritten note, miscellaneous secret documents and miscellaneous confidential documents were also seized in the search.

Trumps attorney, Christina Bobb, who was present at Mar-a-Lago when the agents conducted the search, signed two property receipts  one that was two pages long and another that is a single page.

In a statement earlier Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents were all declassified, and argued that he would have turned them over if the Justice Department had asked.

While incumbent presidents generally have the power to declassify information, that authority lapses as soon as they leave office and it was not clear if the documents in question have ever been declassified. And even an incumbent's powers to declassify may be limited regarding secrets dealing with nuclear weapons programs, covert operations and operatives, and some data shared with allies.

Trump kept possession of the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trumps home earlier this year. The Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records.

It remains unclear whether the Justice Department moved forward with the warrant simply as a means to retrieve the records or as part of a wider criminal investigation or attempt to prosecute the former president. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information, with both criminal and civil penalties, as well as presidential records.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed off on the search warrant, unsealed the warrant and property receipt Friday at the request of the Justice Department after Attorney General Merrick Garland declared there was substantial public interest in this matter, and Trump said he backed the warrants immediate release. The Justice Department told the judge Friday afternoon that Trumps lawyers did not object to the proposal to make it public.

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.

The Justice Department's request was striking because such warrants traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, and felt that the public was entitled to the FBIs side about what prompted Mondays action at the former presidents home.

The publics clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing, said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

The information was released as Trump prepares for another run for the White House. During his 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed. Garland said he personally approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly given that standard practice where possible is to select less intrusive tactics than a search of one's home.

In this case, according to a person familiar with the matter, there was substantial engagement with Trump and his representatives prior to the search warrant, including a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago a couple of months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the documents were stored. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

FBI and Justice Department policy cautions against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of the inquiries and to avoid unfairly maligning someone who is being scrutinized but winds up ultimately not being charged. Thats especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court papers are routinely kept secret as the investigation proceeds.

In this case, though, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI search, as is his right." The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the court's functions.

The Justice Department under Garland has been leery of public statements about politically charged investigations, or of confirming to what extent it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader probe into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The department has tried to avoid being seen as injecting itself into presidential politics, as happened in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton regarding her handling of email  and when he spoke up again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the probe was being effectively reopened because of the discovery of new emails.

The attorney general also condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel over the search. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be defunded. Large numbers of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be released hoping they it will show that Trump was unfairly targeted.

I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them dedicated, patriotic public servants.

Earlier Thursday, an armed man wearing body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement. A law enforcement official briefed on the matter identified the man as Ricky Shiffer and said he is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol and may have been there on the day it took place.

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Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.

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More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday loosened many of its recommendations for battling the coronavirus, a strategic shift that puts more of the onus on individuals, rather than on schools, businesses and other institutions, to limit viral spread.

No longer do schools and other institutions need to screen apparently healthy students and employees as a matter of course. The CDC is putting less emphasis on social distancing - and the new guidance has dropped the "six foot" standard. The quarantine rule for unvaccinated people is gone. The agency's focus now is on highly vulnerable populations, and how to protect them - not on the vast majority of people who at this point have some immunity against the virus and are unlikely to become severely ill.

The new recommendations signal that the Biden administration and its medical advisers have decided that the lower fatality rate from covid-19 in a heavily vaccinated population permits a less demanding set of guidelines.

"The current conditions of this pandemic are very different from those of the last two years," CDC epidemiologist Greta Massetti said Thursday in a briefing for reporters.

The virus has killed more than 1 million people in the United States since it arrived in early 2020. About 42,000 people with covid-19 are hospitalized and the daily death toll is close to 500, according to a Washington Post seven-day average of daily trends. Those numbers, though quite a bit higher than in early spring, do not approach the dire figures of last winter, and CDC officials have repeatedly pointed to greater protection against the virus because of high levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity, coupled with the rollout of effective treatments that have reduced severe illness.

A report released Thursday by the agency explaining the guidance revisions said the more favorable circumstances allow public health officials to focus on "sustainable measures to further reduce medically significant illness as well as to minimize strain on the health care system, while reducing barriers to social, educational, and economic activity."

But the revision in guidance carries some risk, according to infectious-disease experts: Another fall and winter wave of cases, or the emergence of a new coronavirus variant, could call into question the wisdom of the CDC's strategic pivot or hamper the agency's ability to reimpose tougher guidelines.

As part of the changes, the agency is dropping its recommendation that people be screened or tested for covid in most settings. That change is likely to affect policies in workplaces, schools and day-care centers.

"When considering whether and where to implement screening testing of asymptomatic people with no known exposure, public health officials might consider prioritizing high-risk congregate settings, such as long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, and correctional facilities, and workplace settings that include congregate housing with limited access to medical care," the CDC wrote in the report explaining the changes.

One CDC webpage, titled "How to Protect Yourself and Others," has been extensively revised. It no longer states, for example, "If possible, maintain 6 feet between the person who is sick and other household members." The new language is more nuanced, does not employ the 6-foot rule, and acknowledges that it may be impractical to stay away from a sick person: "In those situations, use as many prevention strategies as you can, such as practicing hand hygiene, consistently and correctly wearing a high-quality mask, improving ventilation, and keeping your distance, when possible, from the person who is sick or who tested positive."

Under the new guidance, quarantine procedures have been relaxed: Unvaccinated people who have had close contact with someone who is infected no longer are advised to go through a five-day period of quarantine if they have not tested positive for the virus or shown symptoms.

Previous CDC guidance said people who had been exposed but were up to date on their coronavirus shots could skip the quarantine period. The new guidance expands that standard to everyone.

The updated CDC guidance does not call for dropping all precautionary measures. For example, people who have been exposed - but not confirmed to be infected - should still wear a mask and get tested at least five days after exposure.

People who test positive should continue to isolate immediately and stay home for five full days if positive. ("Isolation," as opposed to "quarantine," covers those known to be infected or who are symptomatic.)

The CDC did not call for a negative test before exiting isolation. Some infectious-disease experts have argued that a negative test offers direct evidence of a person's potential to spread the virus, unlike the one-size-fits-all timeline. And the five-days standard has been criticized as too short. A recent study found that people continue to test positive on antigen tests for eight days, on average, after becoming infected.

"I think the question is, is the CDC finally saying, 'Look, we've done what we can do to contain the most acute phases of this pandemic?'" said Jeanne Marrazzo, an infectious-diseases expert and clinician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "So are they just finally saying that it is time for us to sort of take a step back and think about putting this back to the individual person?"

The more relaxed guidelines are "a concession to realism, to the way that a lot of people are handling this," said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He called the new guidelines "entirely reasonable," but added, "My major concern is whether they will continue to be entirely reasonable given the unpredictable dynamics of the virus."

The revision by the CDC of its coronavirus guidance is the most significant move by the agency since the massive outbreak of infections from omicron last winter. Omicron sickened tens of millions of people in a matter of weeks. The CDC had been recommending a 10-day isolation period up to that point, but omicron quickly decimated the labor force and the agency abruptly cut isolation guidance in half.

The CDC is not a regulatory body. Its guidelines do not have the force of law. But many government jurisdictions, businesses, schools and millions of people have tried to adhere to the agency's guidelines during the pandemic.

Social factors and not just virologic ones have shaped the CDC's approach. The agency's director, Rochelle Walensky, has said the agency wants to offer practical recommendations that can, and will, be followed by a broad swath of the public. That means taking equity issues into account, because people do not have equal access to tests, or the same ability to work remotely or isolate from family members. The agency has said it wants to avoid unnecessary extension of isolation for people who test positive but are unlikely to still be infectious.

Public health experts, interviewed in recent days about the anticipated loosening of restrictions, said the changes reveal the Biden administration's strategic shift toward a "live with the virus" approach.

Although the latest omicron subvariant, BA.5, has fueled a wave of infections in many parts of the country over the past two months, the great majority of those cases have not required hospitalization.

"The pandemic is in a very different spot" than it was last year, said David Aronoff, an infectious-disease expert and physician at Indiana University. "We know the majority of Americans have some immunity to SARS-CoV-2, either because they're immunized by a vaccine or immunized by an infection."

Thursday's CDC action arrives as the agency's latest data indicates the summer BA.5 wave has peaked. The share of the country living in the highest level of stress on the medical system has dropped from 61% to 45% during the past two weeks. The South, where 66% of the populations lives in high-covid areas, continues to be by far the most affected area, but all four regions of the country has shown declining covid intensity the past two weeks.

Many workplaces may use the latest guidance to stop routine testing, and may cut back on other preventive policies, Aronoff said. But if there is a spike in severe illness and deaths in the fall, "there has to be a willingness to ramp up or dial up our preventive strategies if needed," Aronoff said.

Caitlin Rivers, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said it made sense to standardize the quarantine guidance regardless of vaccination status.

"The vaccines remain protective against severe illness, but the combination of variants and waning [immunity] have eroded their protection against infection," Rivers wrote in an email. But, she added, "I feel strongly that people who are exposed should wear a mask and test between Days 5 and 7 to avoid infecting others."

Rivers said she was sorry to see the agency drop its recommendation that testing be used to screen for the virus, calling it a "useful tool for identifying outbreaks early and monitoring the burden of disease in a population." The expense can be a barrier, she said, but "absenteeism and losses in learning or productivity are also costly."

Julia Raifman, an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, said what is most notable about the guidelines is what is missing.

"The CDC sets the bar on what should happen, like a speed limit," Raifman wrote in an email. "Instead, we have the CDC establishing that there are no speed limits and making it very difficult for state and local governments to set better policies."

There is no policy guidance "to reduce a bad surge and its harms to health as well as widespread disruption of education and work by turning on a mask mandate and increased testing," Raifman said. CDC should "establish longer-term policies for living with less COVID and have policy preparedness to make surges less harmful and disruptive to health and the economy."

The new guidance also provides additional information about the reliability of rapid antigen tests and the importance of testing more than once - what is known as serial testing. It comes amid evidence that many people who are symptomatic with an illness and suspect they have covid are still testing negative, initially, on the at-home tests.

The new guidance says people who are exiting isolation and don't want to wear a mask for an additional five days, as the CDC recommends, can take two tests to reach mask-free status. One test should come no sooner than Day 6 (after symptoms appeared, or the person had that initial positive test result). The second test should come 48 hours later, the new guidance said. Two antigen tests with more than 48 hours between them provides "more reliable information because of improved test sensitivity," the guidance said. People should have two consecutive negative tests to discontinue masking, the guidance said.

A University of Massachusetts research study, posted online but not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, has spurred the government to embrace serial testing. The study showed that two rapid antigen tests conducted 48 hours apart were sensitive to 93% of the infections detected independently by the much-more accurate PCR tests during the initial week of infection. But a single rapid test caught only 60% of infections among symptomatic people on the day they came up positive on the more sensitive PCR test, according to the study's lead author, Apurv Soni, director of the program in digital medicine at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.

"Public health implications of our findings suggest that people who are suspected to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 should exercise caution despite an initial negative rapid antigen-test and favor mask-wearing and avoiding crowded places," the authors wrote. Given reports of people continuing to test positive after five days of isolation, the authors said their findings "support isolation for a longer period of time to prevent the potential of spread of SARS-CoV-2 to others."

Even so, the CDC is not making major changes in its recommendation for people who are recovering from covid and want to know when they can exit isolation. That guidance says patients can end isolation five days after their first day of symptoms, as long as their symptoms have improved and they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication. The CDC encourages people who become very sick or have weakened immune systems to isolate for 10 days.

In the coming days, the agency plans to consolidate hundreds of websites related to its covid response, each with different messages on testing, ventilation and masking in different settings.

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The Washington Post's Jacqueline Dupree and Dan Keating contributed to this report.
It may not come as a surprise to regular diners at Cleveland-Heath, but the Edwardsville restaurant has earned another award.

Evan Buchholz, who took over ownership of the restaurant in December 2021, was recently named runner-up for Chef of the Year by Feast Magazine. Craig Rivard from Little Fox in St. Louis earned the top honor, but Buchholz was happy to earn the recognition.

It was really a surprise, but Im honored to be mentioned among all the other chefs out there, said Buchholz, who owns the restaurant along with his wife, Gina. It first came up around the end of July and then I had some people texting me about it because the article was posted online before the magazine came out.

I was able to see that I was runner-up, and I cant be mad about that in my first year of owning my own place. Edwardsville really supported me through that, and the fans help you on those kinds of lists. This is the third installment of Cleveland-Heath and I appreciate the recognition.

Buchholz, who has been in the restaurant business for more than 20 years, came to Edwardsville from Virginia several years ago. He worked at Cleveland-Heath for both the original owners, Jennifer Cleveland and Eric (Ed) Heath, who opened the restaurant in 2011, as well as Keith and Kari McGinness, who bought the restaurant in 2017 and sold it to Buchholz.

I came out here and started working for Ed and Jenny and after they sold it, I stayed on with Keith and Kari, Buchholz said. I took a hiatus for about two years and went over to open Perennial on Lockwood (in Webster Groves) for the Olive + Oak group.

I got a phone call from Keith saying he wanted to do other things and he wasnt interested in owning the restaurant anymore. He wanted to know if I would be interested in buying it. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up and luckily my wife was on board too.

Since taking over ownership of Cleveland-Heath on Dec. 6, Buchholz has continued to make changes to the menu.

Were bringing back some of the items that were originally here and some favorites that I had seen in the past but maybe newer customers hadnt seen, Buchholz said. Ed and Jenny didnt write down every single recipe, but I know many of the dishes and I was able to put my own spin on some of them.

The biggest thing is understanding the people in Edwardsville and what they are looking for. Its not always steak and potatoes, but its something that is growing around as the food scene here gets more adventurous.

The response to Buchholzs new menu items has been overwhelmingly positive, as reflected by his recognition from Sauce Magazine.

Were doing a lot of wine dinners and a lot of tasting menu dinners in our event space and that has really taken off, Buchholz said. People trust what I do, and they seem to love the results.

Cleveland-Heath is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and is closed on Sunday. In addition to indoor seating, outdoor seating is also available, weather permitting. The restaurant has an event space that holds up to 40 people.

If you havent tried us in a while, please come back, Buchholz said. Were looking forward to September and October when well be doing our first brewery dinners, one featuring Perennial and one featuring the Old Bakery Beer Company in Alton, where my wife Gina used to work.

For more information and a menu, visit https://www.clevelandheath.com/ or Cleveland Heath on Facebook.
DENVER (AP)  Colorado is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold its anti-discrimination law in the face of a challenge by a Christian web designer who does not want to create custom wedding websites for same-sex couples and claims the state law violates her right to free speech.

In a brief filed Friday with the court, lawyers for the Colorado State Attorneys Office said Colorado's anti-discrimination law only requires that a business sell its goods or services to all members of the public and does not regulate speech.

The Act addresses what a business does and not what it says. Any burden the Act might impose on a businesss expression therefore does not violate the First Amendment, they said.

The high court is expected to hear the case of Lorie Smith this fall. Smith, who runs a graphic and website design business in the Denver area, wants to expand into wedding website services but says her Christian beliefs prevent her from designing a wedding website or graphics for a same-sex couple.

The Supreme Court said it would only consider the free speech issue in deciding whether a law that requires an artist to speak or stay silent violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

Smith's lawyer, Jake Warner, said that Smith has designed websites for LGBTQ+ customers in the past. The legal challenge, said Warner, is not about discriminating against same-sex couples. Instead, it's about state law forcing Smith to design custom websites and graphics that include ideas antithetical to her beliefs.

Lorie always serves people based on the message not the people, said Warner, This case has nothing to do with the person. Its all about what the government is forcing a person to express. Though Smith does not currently design wedding websites, Warner said that in the future she would assess whether to accept a customer only on the messaging they requested on their website.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser worries that, if the high court sides with Smith, the ruling could threaten other anti-discrimination laws across the country.

The free speech claim advanced here we think is dangerous and is one that, if granted, would open up a range of loopholes to anti-discrimination law, said Weiser, Discrimination is not expression. It is illegal conduct.

The Supreme Court has a majority of conservative judges who have recently overturned womens constitutional right to an abortion and set a new precedent for gun control regulations in case in New York.

But Weiser is confident that the court will uphold Colorado's law.

We have seen over decades and decades the Supreme Court hold this line we are advancing in this case, Weiser said. It would be a dangerous and very problematic step to walk back from it, and we believe the court will take seriously any consequences of such action.

In a 2-1 ruling last year, the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Smiths attempt to overturn a lower court ruling that threw out her challenge. The judges said Colorado had a compelling interest in protecting the dignity interests of members of marginalized groups through the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.

The law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, is the same one at issue in the case of Colorado baker Jack Phillips that was decided in 2018 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Phillips won a partial victory when the high court said that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had acted with anti-religious bias against Phillips. But it did not rule on the larger issue of whether a business can invoke religious objections to refuse service to LGBTQ people.

Last year, a Denver district judge ruled that Phillips had violated the states anti-discrimination law by refusing to make a birthday cake for a transgender woman. While Phillips argued that he could not make the cake because of its message, the judge said the case was about a refusal to sell a product, not compelled speech.
COLLINSVILLE  After the holiday traffic crush ebbs in January, Route 159 drivers will need to prepare for a new road construction project next year as the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will improve almost seven miles of the much-used north-south route.

The $12 million project will start/terminate just south of Beltline Road in Collinsville, pass through Maryville and Glen Carbon and terminate/start in Edwardsville in front of the Mattress Firm store, just north of Center Grove/Goshen roads.

In Edwardsville, the scope of work will include milling 2  inches of the asphalt from the traffic lanes and shoulders; pavement patching where specified; then crews will add 1  inches of binder, which is asphalt with slightly larger rock mixed in. It reduces future rutting in the pavements top layer. Then, a new, 1 -inch asphalt layer will be applied to the traffic lanes plus resurface the shoulders. At Center Grove/Goshen Road, the resurfacing will be to the radius return, meaning it will include brief sections of both Center Grove and Goshen roads.

While this work will not include a dedicated right-hand turn lane from northbound Troy Road to eastbound Goshen Road, City Engineer Ryan Zwijack said Tuesday that IDOT crews will revamp the Home Depot entrance next to the Bank of Hillsboro and widen the entrance.

Tara McLaren with IDOT said this project will go to bid on Sept. 23.

In Glen Carbon, all of the above will apply except work within Edwardsville city limits. In addition, the following side roads will get resurfaced to the radius return, patching or making pedestrian access route adjustments  Kingsley Way, Brenda Street, Dogwood Estates, Benes Street, Front Street, Glen Crossing Road, Green Acres Road, Oak Hill Manor, Edwards Drive, Glen Carbon/Cottonwood roads, Junction Drive and Whistle Stop Drive.

Sidewalk ramps and other work needed to comply with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) will be done at the following intersections: Brenda Street, Dogwood Estates, Benes Street, Kingsley Way, Jean Ann Drive, Green Acres Road, Oak Hill Manor, Edwards Drive, Glen Carbon/Cottonwood roads, Junction Drive and Whistle Stop Drive.

The traffic lights at the following intersections  Glen Crossing Road, Glen Carbon/Cottonwood roads and Junction Drive will all be updated.

Glen Carbons Public Works Director, Scott Slemer, told the villages public works committee that this work will not interfere with or delay any construction occurring at Orchard Town Center, which is next to the projects north end. However, he said IDOT informed him that it wants the village to assume more maintenance responsibilities along this stretch than in previous projects.

For example, IDOT wants Slemer and the village to assume all maintenance and energy costs for the lighting within the villages section of the project, or 29 lights. He said he contacted Ameren Illinois to obtain and average monthly cost but as of Tuesday, he had not received a response. This transfer does not include snow removal, which IDOT would continue to do. IDOT would maintain the road surface, center line lanes, pavement markings and storm sewers underneath a roadway, he said.

They also want us to take over maintenance responsibilities of all storm sewer cleaning  all catch basins, grates and manholes there are out there, Slemer said. I think that is the way IDOT is going with all of their stuff; as these become urban, they want to force the municipality that [the project] goes through into maintaining it.

The village has a street sweeper that it employs when needed, especially during the holiday shopping period. As far as the storm sewers, Slemer said cleaning the sewers is something that seldom happens here. Slemer said IDOT's request will put added but manageable stress on his six-person department; he said the bigger worry is the lights cost. If the village wants to swap any of those 29 lights out to LEDs, the onus would be on the village to pay for it, he added.

Slemer hopes to get more information and bring it back to the committee between Tuesday and the next board meeting on Aug. 23.

He said that he plans to sit down with IDOT in the near future along with his counterparts from Edwardsville, Maryville and Collinsville to share with IDOT each municipalitys expectations on the project.
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NEW DELHI (AP)  India on Friday criticized China's decision to block the imposition of U.N. sanctions sought by it and the United States against the deputy chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based extremist group designated by the United Nations as a terrorist organization.

"It is unfortunate that when it comes to our collective battle against terrorism the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Abdul Rauf Azhar has been under U.S. sanctions since December 2010 for acting for or on behalf of the group, known as JEM. India says Azhar was involved in the planning and execution of numerous terror attacks, including the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft, the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and the 2016 attack on an Indian air force base in Pathankot.

An official at Chinas U.N. Mission, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said on Wednesday that his country put the proposed listing of Azhar for sanctions on hold because it needed more time to study the case.

He said the U.N. Security Council committee monitoring sanctions allows holds on people proposed for sanctions, and there have been quite a number of similar holds by committee members on listing requests.

In June, China put a hold on adding Abdul Rehman Makki, deputy chief of another Pakistani group proscribed by the U.N., Lashkar-e-Taiba, to the U.N. blacklist. Makki has been under U.S. sanctions since November 2010, and India says he has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing young people to resort to violence, and planning attacks, including in Mumbai in 2008.

The Indian spokesperson said on Friday there should be no double standards in dealing with terrorists. "The practice of placing holds and blocks without giving any justification must end. It is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold, Bagchi said in a statement.

Pakistan says it has outlawed more than 65 militant groups, including Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

China enjoys strong friendly ties with Pakistan. Beijing is financing tens of billions of dollars worth of megaprojects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The package includes road construction, power plants and agriculture and has an estimated cost of up to $75 billion.

India's ties with China have deteriorated amid tensions caused by a more than two-year-old standoff between the two countries' armies at their disputed border in the eastern Ladakh area.

Both countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets along the de facto border called the Line of Actual Control. In 2020, 20 Indian troops were killed in a clash with Chinese soldiers involving clubs, stones and fists along the disputed border. China said it lost four soldiers.

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This story corrects that the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane was in 1999, not 1998.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  The family of country singer Naomi Judd filed an amended court petition Friday to seal police reports and recordings made during the investigation into her death.

The family filed the petition in Williamson County Chancery Court, saying the records contain video and audio interviews with relatives in the immediate aftermath of Judds death and releasing such details would inflict significant trauma and irreparable harm.

The petition was filed on behalf of the singer's husband Larry Strickland and her daughters Ashley and Wynonna Judd and was a more detailed follow-up to an earlier request made by the family last week. A representative provided it to The Associated Press with the familys permission.

Judd, 76, died on April 30 at her home in Tennessee. Her daughter Ashley has previously said that her mother killed herself, and the family said she was lost to the disease of mental illness.

The court filing on Friday also included details about how Ashley Judd found her mother alive after she shot herself. Ashley stayed by her mothers side, waiting for 30 minutes until help arrived.

The petition asks the court to prohibit the Williamson County Sheriffs Office from releasing the records for several reasons, among them that the disclosure would include her medical records and that the family has a right to privacy.

Tennessee public records law generally allows local law enforcement records to be released, but police have the discretion to hold records while an investigation is ongoing. Once an investigation is closed, that exemption no longer applies. The AP left a message for the sheriff on Friday seeking comment.

Strickland, Wynonna and Ashley Judd submitted statements outlining their concerns about the records. Strickland said in the court filing that he was unaware that his interviews with law enforcement were being recorded, adding that he shared personal and private information to assist in the investigation.

Ashley Judd said she was in clinical shock, active trauma and acute distress when she spoke with law enforcement and that she did not want those records, including video, audio and photos, to permanently stay in the public domain and haunt the family for generations.

The petition said that media outlets in Tennessee had already filed public records requests in her case.

Judds death the day before she was due to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame has garnered intense national media attention surrounding the cause of her death, but also the filing of estate and will paperwork.

A family statement said that misinformation about the Judds was being spread and they wanted to state the facts, while also protecting their privacy amid the grieving process.

Our family continues to grieve together privately, in unity and community, recognizing our mothers beauty and talents as a gift to the world, the statement said. There has been misinformation circulated as we continue to mourn and we lament that. We ask news organizations only to cover facts. And as we recognize other families struggling as a loved one faces mental health crises, we encourage them to seek help through NAMI: The National Alliance on Mental Illness at 800-950-6264 or call 988 available 24 hours a day .

Naomi and her daughter Wynonna Judd scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades. The red-headed duo combined the traditional Appalachian sounds of bluegrass with polished pop stylings, landing hit after hit in the 1980s. Wynonna led the duo with her powerful vocals, while Naomi provided harmonies and stylish looks on stage.

The Judds released six studio albums and an EP between 1984 and 1991 and won nine Country Music Association Awards and seven from the Academy of Country Music. They earned a total of five Grammy Awards together on hits like Why Not Me and Give A Little Love, and Naomi earned a sixth Grammy for writing Love Can Build a Bridge.
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Vote-tallying in Kenyas close presidential election isnt moving fast enough, the electoral commission chair said Friday, while parallel counting by local media stopped or dramatically slowed amid public concerns about censorship or meddling.

Differing tallies by media outlets fed anxiety as longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga, backed by former rival and outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta in his fifth attempt at the presidency, was in a race with Deputy President William Ruto, who fell out with the president years ago.

Three days after Tuesday's vote, Kenyans wondered whether the presidential election would go to a runoff for the first time.

The head of the government-created Media Council of Kenya told The Associated Press that no one has asked anyone to stop" their tallies, but added that we want to align the numbers with each other and I think lets peer review our numbers. David Omwoyo was going into a meeting with media leaders as he spoke.

With no clear winner emerging and perhaps days more to wait, social media hummed with unverified claims by both candidates' supporters, which rights groups called dangerous in a country with a history of political violence.

Even the official count was sluggish, adding to impatience. We're not moving as fast as we should," electoral commission chair Wafula Chebukati said.

That surprised a senior electoral expert who has observed the election and told the AP that looking at things right now, they should have no problem finishing by the constitutional limit of seven days after the vote. The expert spoke on condition of anonymity without authorization to speak publicly.

You want to move as fast as the speed of trust, the expert said, adding that "this is going much smoother than we anticipated, and thats a good thing. They suggested posting a spreadsheet to make it easier to see the numbers from the more than 46,000 results forms posted from around the country.

The public posting of the forms was meant to be a groundbreaking exercise in transparency for the electoral commission, which is under pressure after the high court cited irregularities and overturned the results of the previous presidential election in 2017, a first in Africa. Kenyatta won the new vote after Odinga boycotted it.

The commission chair even appeared to tease local media houses a day after the election, saying they were behind in tallying.

But transparency is also a double-edged sword if caution and responsibility is not exercised, the Kenya Human Rights Commission said Friday, saying the various media tallies without explanation have caused anxiety, fear, unrest and in extreme cases, violence. Meanwhile, social media is awash with false information, it said.

The media council on Wednesday noted growing concerns about the varying tallies and said it was consulting with media owners and editors to find an urgent solution to this to ensure Kenyans receive synchronized results.

But their slowdown brought criticism. For media to be silent and opaque on their own counts and why they've stopped is yet another betrayal of their duty to Kenyans, cartoonist and commentator Patrick Gathara tweeted Friday.

The editor of the Nation media group, Mutuma Mathiu, published a commentary saying the slow count has given rise to a whole raft of conspiracy theories and complaints" and adding that media occupy different positions in relation to political interests. He cited the need to remain independent and do accurate work.

Ochieng Rapuro, the editorial director at the Standard group that includes the Kenya Television Network, told the AP that stopping is our own decision. We have finished tallying, but given the murky fights around the outcomes of our elections, we have decided to stand on the side of caution."

The editorial director with the Citizen media group did not respond.

To win outright, a candidate needs more than half of all votes and at least 25% of the votes in more than half of Kenyas 47 counties. No outright winner means a runoff election within 30 days.

Seeking answers, some Kenyans have turned to counting a far smaller set of results forms, also published by the electoral commission, for 291 constituencies. Almost 80% of them were posted as of Friday night.

Turnout dipped sharply in this election, to 65%, as some Kenyans expressed weariness with seeing long-familiar political leaders on the ballot and frustration with economic issues including widespread corruption and rising prices.

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Follow all of AP's coverage of Kenya at https://apnews.com/hub/kenya
SPRINGFIELD  Link card users will be unable to use their cards for a short time later in August as the Illinois Department of Human Services transitions to a new system.

The transition will begin at 11 p.m. Aug. 20. All services should be restored by 6 p.m. Aug. 21.

During this time, Link cards will not be available to make purchases or ATM withdrawals, according to information from the DHS. Additionally, users will not be able to access account information from the Illinois Link Helpline at 1-800-678-LINK or the Illinois Link card website.

Other than the switch in systems, Link card users should see little change, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services. All benefits available prior to the transition will be available after the transition. Four-digit PINs will remain the same. Users will not need a new Link card. The blue Link card will work as the color of new Link cards will be changing to gray.

The state advises that before the transition, users should plan to make any food purchases, cash purchases or cash withdrawals to accommodate their needs during the brief outage.

The Illinois Link Card website will have a new look, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services. Users will be required to create a new account. Instructions to create a new account will be on website.

A new mobile app, ebtEDGE, will replace ConnectEBT. The app is free for EBT cardholders and is available in the Apple Store for iOS and Google Play Store for Android.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Minnesota Republican Brad Finstad was sworn in Friday as the newest member of the U.S. House, giving the GOP one more seat, which means Democrats can't afford to lose more than four votes on close issues like their flagship climate change and health care bill.

Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a ceremonial photo op afterward with a smiling Finstad, who was surrounded by members of his large family, including his wife, Jackie, and their seven children.
JACKSON, Miss (AP)  The Mississippi Department of Public Safety said Friday that its internal investigation found no criminal conduct by a white Highway Patrol trooper who used physical force against a handcuffed Black man during an arrest  a confrontation caught on video by relatives of the man being arrested.

An investigation started after the relatives' video of the Aug. 5 incident went viral. The footage showed the trooper putting a handcuffed man into a chokehold and wrestling him into a grassy ditch in a rural area near the south Mississippi city of McComb.

The department and investigators from two of its divisions, the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, said they completed all necessary inquiries.

A review of this incident by MBI agents and command staff produced no evidence of criminal conduct by the trooper throughout the encounter, Lt. Col. Charles Haynes, director of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, said in a news release.

The Department of Public Safety released nearly 40 minutes of video and audio. It included video shot by cameras in the trooper's patrol car, audio captured by the trooper and video shot by brothers of the first man arrested. Although some of the patrol car footage was silent, the department said it had synchronized the video and the audio clips.

Part of the footage shows Eugene Lewis standing in the road in handcuffs as his brother Gary, who also goes by the name Packer Lewis, and another brother, Derrius Lewis, yelled that they were recording the incident. Suddenly, the trooper grabbed Eugene Lewis by the neck and pulled him across the road, tackling him to the ground. At one point, the trooper appeared to use his knee to pin him down.

Investigators identified the trooper as Hayden Falvey. In the combined video and audio, Lewis can be heard telling Falvey, I cant breathe, to which the trooper responded, Youre running your mouth. You can breathe.

According to the news release, Falvey pulled over Lewis for speeding and other traffic violations. It also said Falvey alleged he smelled burnt marijuana from the vehicle, and Lewis eyes were bloodshot and glassy.

In patrol car dashboard camera footage and audio released Friday, Falvey can be heard saying to Eugene Lewis: Did you smoke some weed recently?

Lewis replied that he had done so about 40 or 50 minutes earlier.

OK, Falvey said as he patted down Lewis. Not a big deal.

Falvey put handcuffs on Lewis, saying it was a precaution as he searched Lewis SUV. The trooper said Lewis was not under arrest at that point and asked Lewis several questions about whether he had ever been arrested and whether any marijuana or other drugs were in the vehicle. Lewis said he had previously been arrested for selling cocaine.

During the trooper's vehicle search, Gary and Derrius Lewis drove up in a Dodge Charger, stopped and got out of their vehicle. They identified themselves as Lewis brothers. After a brief exchange with Falvey, the brothers left. They soon returned to shoot cellphone video as the trooper's physical altercation with Eugene Lewis started.

After Falvey put Eugene Lewis into the patrol car and buckled his seatbelt, Lewis used obscenities against the trooper.

Im glad you feel that way, sir, Falvey responded.

Video shot by one of Eugene Lewis' brothers showed another state trooper arriving. It also showed one of the troopers walking toward the two brothers and pointing a weapon at one of them.

Troopers arrested Eugene Lewis' two brothers. In the audio released Friday, Falvey can be heard telling the men they should not have stopped to shoot video.

Your brother is going to jail, Falvey said. "Now all of yall are catching charges for your theatrics.

Packer Lewis said his brothers were released from jail that night, but he was kept two more days because of a past charge on his criminal record. He said he is facing nine charges related to the incident, including obstruction of justice. Eugene Lewis is also facing eight charges and Derrius Lewis is facing five charges.

Tindell defended the troopers' decision to arrest the brothers who shot video of the incident.

While DPS and MHSP recognize and respect the right of citizens to observe, and even record, law enforcement officers executing their duties, those rights are not without limitations," Tindell said in the news release. "As you will see, this event is a prime example of how even a routine traffic stop can quickly turn into a dangerous situation for both citizens and law enforcement officers when subjects resist arrest and when uninvolved persons interfere.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  A Republican state lawmaker in Utah said Friday he plans to introduce legislation that would require clergy to report child abuse to authorities, eliminating the clergy-penitent privilege in a state where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the predominant religion.

Rep. Phil Lyman's news release came a week after The Associated Press published an investigative story focusing on cases in Arizona and West Virginia that found the church's abuse reporting system can be misused by church leaders to divert abuse accusations away from law enforcement and instead to church attorneys who may bury the problem, leaving victims in harms way.

Lyman, a member of the faith who himself served six years as a bishop of a local congregation, said he had already been working for months on his legislation but called the AP story powerful and an example of the kinds of problems caused by delaying report of the abuse.

He said he deeply values the repentance and confessional process. But he argued the clergy exception can delay intervention for victims and create uncertainty for clergy members. He would prefer to have clarity so clergy members could tell parishioners at the beginning of confessions that they are required to report abuse.

People should be able to go and confess their sins to their bishop without fear of being prosecuted up until when they are confessing something that has affected someone's else life significantly," Lyman said. Right now, you'd hear their confession and you would say, Gosh, I dont know what to do with this.' 

Church officials didn't immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment. The faith said in a statement issued one day after the AP story was published that the piece seriously mischaracterized the reporting systems and that a help line that local leaders are supposed to call to report abuse focuses on helping victims.

William Maledon, an attorney representing bishops and the church in a lawsuit filed by children who say they were abused in Arizona, told the AP last month that the bishops were not required to report the abuse.

Arizona and Utah are among more than 20 states with similar laws that give reporting exceptions to clergy who receive information about child neglect or sexual abuse during spiritual confessions.

Lyman has already discussed the legislation with Democratic Rep. Angela Romero, who introduced a similar proposal in 2020 that didnt go anywhere in Utah's statehouse. Romero said she believes a majority of people in Utah  regardless of their faith  would support removing exceptions. Though she still expects some resistance from some religious institutions, her conversations with other lawmakers have given her confidence it will be seriously considered when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Its going to require individuals contacting their elected officials and telling them they want to see the exemption go away, she said.

Lyman said his bill isn't directed solely at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he reached out to inform the faith on Thursday of his plans. He hadn't heard back yet as of Friday afternoon but said he expected to have a meaningful conversation with church officials about his proposal.

The church has its headquarters in Salt Lake City and an estimated two-thirds of the state's residents and the majority of state legislators belong to the faith.

The exception for clergy seems to create some subjectivity and some ambiguity, said Lyman, who is from southeastern Utah. At best, it creates some delays. And to me it puts clergy in a little bit of an awkward position.

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Associated Press writer Sam Metz contributed to this report.
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RENO, Nev. (AP)  As officials in some parts of rural Nevada vow to bypass voting machines in favor of hand counting ballots this November, the Nevada secretary of states office is proposing statewide rules that would specify how to do it, including requiring bipartisan vote counters, room for observation and how many ballots to count at a time.

On Friday, four voting rights groups came out against the proposal, calling it an admirable attempt to ensure higher standards for counting votes by hand, but urging the secretary of state to prohibit the practice outright, noting that the push for hand-counting stems from unfounded speculation about voting machines.

The regulations are not enough to address the underlying accuracy issues and remediate the legal deficiencies of hand count processes, the groups Brennan Center, All Voting is Local, ACLU Nevada and Silver State Voices said in a statement Friday.

Both voting rights groups and hand-count proponents spoke at an online hearing Friday, the first meeting convened to discuss the regulations. Voting rights groups lobbied to prohibit hand-counts, while voting machine skeptics, a majority of the speakers, said the proposed regulations were a power grab meant to sabotage hand-counting.

The debate over how to regulate hand-counting comes after a push for the method in some conservative rural parts of the state where election misinformation has grown.

Mark Wlaschin, deputy secretary of state for elections in Nevada, said the regulations have been in the works for nearly a year and dont come in direct response to events in Nye County, where the county clerk responsible for administering elections resigned last month after election conspiracies led to a successful push to hand-count votes. Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske is the lone elected statewide official who is a Republican.

Wlaschin said the rules would help counties that opt to switch to hand-counting systems, preventing clerks from having to draw up rules from scratch. They would also create a uniform structure so the state can ensure the counting is valid. If a county wants to switch to hand-counting, he said, at least now its not going to fall on the clerk to (conduct) a year of research in developing a template of his or her own.

Nye County is one of the first jurisdictions nationwide to act on election conspiracies related to mistrust in voting machines. Nevadas least populous county, Esmeralda, used hand-counting to certify Junes primary results, when officials spent more than seven hours counting 317 ballots cast.

Proponents of hand-counting have described the old-fashioned method as a way to address distrust in elections, especially unproven claims that voting machines are prone to hacking and are untrustworthy. Experts say hand-counting is not only far more time consuming but opens the process to more errors.

At the center of the push is Mark Kampf, the new interim Nye County clerk who has repeated the lie that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. He wrote the framework of a new vote-counting plan that would transform elections in his rural county with the help of Jim Marchant, a Republican secretary of state candidate and leader of the America First coalition of candidates who deny the validity of the 2020 election results. At a February candidates forum, Marchant told a crowd Your vote hasnt counted for decades.

In an interview during his first full day in office Monday, Kampf declined to discuss his belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, saying his views about that election are not relevant to his new job. Instead, he outlined his plan for paper ballots that are the exact same as current mail-in ballots, in-person signature verification and a camera livestream set up alongside poll watchers so others can see the voting process as well.

Alongside the hand-count will be a parallel tabulating process that uses the same machines currently used to count mail-in ballots.

Kampf said at that time that he agreed with some of the states proposed hand-counting rules, but on Friday he urged officials to scrap the regulations, parts of which he said create an incredible undue burden.

Kampf was among many who exceeded the two-minute limit, speaking for over 30 minutes. He said Nye County should be exempt from the regulations because of its plan for a parallel voting tabulation process.

Wlaschin asked if the parallel voting process would be phased out in favor of solely counting votes by hand.

Kampf, who was appointed as interim clerk and is on the ballot for a four-year term, answered: Like in any system transition process, if it doesnt work  and I fully anticipate that we can get it to work  and I hope we can prove to you and to those who are doubting and have significant doubts that it can work, that youd make that decision at that point in time."

Absent from the regulations is any enforcement if a county fails to follow the rules. Part of ensuring compliance falls on the secretary of states office, Wlaschin said, and part of that falls on the county clerks.

Nearly every other Nevada county plans to stick with machine counting.

Humboldt County Clerk Tami Rae Spero read the hand-count regulations and thought of what resources that would take in her rural county of about 17,000.

The teams of four and table spacing requirements would help a hand-count run smoothly, but she wondered where would she find the needed space and bipartisan personnel.

Lets just hope we dont actually ever have to, she said.

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Stern 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 Stern on Twitter @gabestern326.
SRINAGAR: A migrant worker from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said on Friday. The attack took place around midnight, they said.

During intervening night, #terrorists fired upon & injured one outside #labourer Mohd Amrez S/O Mohd Jalil R/O Madhepura Besarh #Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, #Bandipora, the Kashmir Zone Police said on Twitter.

The police said Amrez was shifted to a hospital for treatment where he succumbed to injuries. PTI
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  New Zealand on Friday welcomed the first cruise ship to return since the coronavirus pandemic began, signaling a long-sought return to normalcy for the nation's tourism industry.

New Zealand closed its borders in early 2020 as it sought at first to eliminate COVID-19 entirely and then later to control its spread. Although the country reopened its borders to most tourists arriving by plane in May, it wasn't until two weeks ago that it lifted all remaining restrictions, including those on maritime arrivals.

Many in the cruise industry question why it took so long.

The end of restrictions allowed Carnival Australia's Pacific Explorer cruise ship to dock in Auckland with about 2,000 passengers and crew Friday morning as part of a 12-day return trip to Fiji that left from Sydney.

Amazing, isn't it? Tourism Minister Stuart Nash said in an interview with The Associated Press. Its another step in the reopening of our borders and a step closer to resuming business as usual.

Nash said it would take some time for international tourist numbers and revenue to return to their pre-pandemic levels, when the industry accounted for about 20% of New Zealands foreign income and more than 5% of GDP.

I think there's been many people in the tourism sector who have done it hard over the last two years, Nash said. But we've always taken an approach where we need to ensure that we get the health response right. Because if we don't, we know the consequences are dire.

Not everybody is happy with the return of tourists. A sailboat carrying protesters upset about the industry's impact on the environment followed the Pacific Explorer into the harbor Friday, before passengers were greeted with an Indigenous Maori welcome and a visit by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Nash said the pause in tourism had given the nation a chance to reset its priorities. One of those was to go after what he described as wealthier high quality tourists who would stay longer and have a story to tell when they returned home.

We are not targeting the guys that come over and put up on Facebook, Hey, travel around New Zealand on $10 a day living on 2-minute noodles, Nash said.

He said another goal was to move away from the perception that people working in the industry would be subject to long hours and low wages, and to make it a more rewarding and aspirational career.

Nash said that with airline tickets more expensive and travelers more risk-averse than before the pandemic, tourism numbers could remain subdued for a while, but he thought the industry would eventually make a strong comeback.

I see markets like the United States being a really important market for New Zealand, he said. There's been $2 trillion saved in the States over and above that which would have been saved if it hadn't been for COVID. So, there's a little bit of money floating around.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland's prime minister said Friday that huge amounts of chemical waste were probably dumped intentionally into the Oder River, which runs along the border with Germany, causing environmental damage so severe it will take the river years to recover.

Tons of dead fish have been seen floating or washed ashore on the Oder's banks over the past two weeks but the issue only erupted into a major scandal late this week.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whose government is under pressure for its handling of what appears to be a major environmental catastrophe, vowed that Polish authorities would hold the perpetrators to account.

Huge amounts of chemical waste were probably dumped in the Oder River with full awareness of the risks and consequences, he said in a video on Facebook. We will not let this matter go. We will not rest until the guilty are severely punished."

German media have reported that the poison is mercury, although this has not been officially confirmed.

Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the mass fish die-off. Huge numbers of dead fish were first spotted near the southwestern Polish town of Olawa in late July, along with dead animals such as beavers.

Przemyslaw Daca, head of Polish Waters, the national water management authority, said Thursday that 10 tons of dead fish have been removed from the river.

This shows that we are dealing with a gigantic and outrageous ecological catastrophe, he said at a news conference near the river where officials faced angry residents.

Meanwhile, German officials complained that Poland failed to honor an international treaty by not notifying them immediately about the possible contamination of the river. A boat captain first alerted German authorities about the dead fish on Aug. 9.

We know that the chain of reporting thats envisaged for such cases didnt work, Christopher Stolzenberg, a spokesperson for Germanys Federal Environment Ministry, told reporters in Berlin.

Stolzenberg said German authorities were in contact with their Polish counterparts to get further information about the situation and to provide any assistance requested.

Poland has deployed soldiers to help clean up the Oder and an association of fishermen in Zielona Gora, a city in western Poland, said Friday it was suspending fishing in the river due to the contamination.

According to Morawiecki, the scale of the pollution is so large that it may take years for the river ecosystem to recover.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced Thursday that soldiers and reservists were being deployed to help remove pollutants from the river, which is known as the Oder in German and the Odra in Polish and Czech. It flows north for hundreds of miles from the Oder Mountains of Czechia and empties into the Baltic Sea.

___

Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.

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Follow all AP stories about climate change and environmental issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California lawmakers on Thursday rejected a proposal that could have forced some popular social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to pay fines for using features they know can harm children.

The bill would have let the state attorney general or other local prosecutors sue social media companies for up to $250,000 per violation for knowingly using features that can cause children to become addicted to their products.

It was one of the most watched pieces of legislation in California this year, as it could have forced social media companies to make broad changes that would affect users across their platforms.

Supporters said rules were necessary to protect children from companies who turn a blind eye to the harm caused to children's mental health when they become addicted to social media platforms they say are designed to manipulate their developing brains.

California's influential tech industry worked for months to defeat the bill, arguing it would do little to improve child safety while causing social media companies to ban all children from their platforms.

As weve said from the start, protecting children online is a priority but must be done responsibly and effectively, said Dylan Hoffman, executive director for California and the Southwest of TechNet, a group of technology CEOs and senior executives that opposed the bill. Were glad to see that this bill wont move forward in its current form. If it had, companies wouldve been punished for simply having a platform that kids can access.

Thursday, the bill failed to pass a key legislative committee, the final step required before a vote could happen in the state Senate. It's not clear why the bill did not pass. It had passed the state Assembly and other legislative committees earlier this year without a dissenting vote.

State Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham, a Republican from San Luis Obispo and the author of the bill, blamed its demise on the committee chair, Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino. His office did not respond to an email requesting comment.

I am extremely disappointed, Cunningham said. The bill's death means a handful of social media companies will be able to continue their experiment on millions of California kids, causing generational harm.

The bill was a casualty of what's known in the Legislature as the suspense file, a list of bills that must first be vetted by the powerful appropriations committees before they can proceed in the Legislature.

After weeks of public hearings, on Thursday the appropriations committees in the state Assembly and state Senate voted on 814 bills in just a few hours, with no discussion or explanation. When it was over, 612 bills advanced while 202 were held in the committee, essentially killing them for the year, according to Chris Micheli, a veteran lobbyist who tracks the committees' actions.

Other defeats included a bill by Democratic Assemblymember Marc Levine that would have required all state agencies to retain public records for a minimum of two years. Carmen Barber, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, said the irony was lawmakers used the most undemocratic tactic to kill the bill by shelving it without explanation or a vote.

A bill that would have capped out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 also failed to pass at a time when state officials are planning to make their own brand of the medication in attempt to keep costs down.

The decision by Assembly Democratic leadership to hold the bill blocked meaningful relief for millions of California residents struggling to pay for the rising cost of insulin, said Republican state Sen. Patricia Bates, the bill's author.

But other high-profile bills made it through, including one by Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener that would decriminalize possession of some hallucinogenic drugs. The bill had been delayed last year, but is now likely heading for a vote in the state Assembly before the end of the month.

Lawmakers have until the end of August to pass bills this year. Among the votes expected over the next few weeks include legislation aiming to make it easier to build housing on commercial sites, a new tax on the sale of guns and ammunition and a bill that would let legislative staffers form a labor union.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Ryan Jones, University of Oregon

(THE CONVERSATION) Every year, an estimated 13 million people go whale-watching around the world, marveling at the sight of the largest animals ever to inhabit Earth. Its a dramatic reversal from a century ago, when few people ever saw a living whale. The creatures are still recovering from massive industrial-scale hunting that nearly wiped out several species in the 20th century.

The history of whaling shows how humans have wreaked careless havoc on the ocean, but also how they can change course. In my new book, Red Leviathan: The Secret History of Soviet Whaling, I describe how the Soviet Union was central both to this deadly industry and to scientific research that helps us understand whales recovery.

From wood to steel and bad to worse

At the start of the 20th century, it seemed whales might gain a reprieve after years of hunting. The era of whaling from sail boats, depicted in such memorable detail by Herman Melville in Moby-Dick, had nearly wiped out slow, fat species like right and bowhead whales, and also wreaked substantial harm to sperm whales.

In the 1800s, U.S. whalers sailed without restraint or hindrance into every corner of the worlds oceans, including waters around Russias Siberian empire. There, tsarist officials watched in helpless rage as Americans slaughtered whales upon which many of the regions Indigenous peoples relied.

In the 1870s, petroleum began to replace whale oil as a fuel. With few catchable whales remaining, the industry appeared to be near its end. But whalers found new markets. Through hydrogenation  a chemical process that can be used to turn liquid oils into solid or semi-solid fats  manufacturers were able to transform smelly whale products into odorless margarine for human consumption.

Around the same time, Norwegians invented the explosive harpoon, which killed whales more efficiently than hand-thrown versions, and the stern slipway, which allowed whale carcasses to be processed on board ships. Along with diesel engines and steel hulls, these technologies enabled whalers to target previously untouched species in once-inaccesible locations, such as the Antarctic.

Late to the party, late to leave

As mechanized whaling gained force in the 1920s and 30s, Norwegian, British and Japanese whalers cut through populations of blue, fin and humpback whales on a scale that is hard to believe today. In what scientists once thought was the peak catch year, 1937, over 63,000 large whales were killed and processed.

World War II briefly suspended this slaughter, which many governments were starting to realize threatened the survival of some whale species. In 1946, whalers, statesmen and scientists created the International Whaling Commission in hopes of heading off a return to disastrous prewar levels of whaling.

That same year, the USSR joined the IWC and took control over a former Nazi whaleship, which it renamed the Slava, or Glory. No one suspected the central role the country would play in the most disastrous two decades of whales long history on Earth.

The madness of modern whaling

Despite the IWCs best intentions, postwar catches rose quickly. By the mid-1950s, even longtime whalers had to admit that big whales were becoming too scarce for their industries to be profitable. All nations except Japan began to ponder the end of whaling.

It thus came as a shock when the Soviet Union announced in 1956 that it planned to build seven new floating factories  gigantic industrial processing ships, accompanied by fleets of smaller catcher boats that would scour the oceans for whales.

Soviet whale scientists were as stunned as observers elsewhere. These biologists and oceanographers had been watching the decline from ships and from their labs in the Fisheries Ministry and Academy of Sciences since the 1930s.

Instead of supporting the fleet expansion, they argued forcefully that whales stood on the brink of extinction, and whaling should decrease radically, not expand. This was how the Soviet planned economy was meant to work: Science, not profit, would help guide economic decisions, letting planners know how much could be extracted from the natural world and when to stop.

But Soviet officials were determined to finally catch whales on a large scale, as Western nations had done for so long. The Fisheries Ministry ignored its scientists recommendations and built five of the seven planned floating factories over the next decade.

By the 1960s, the Soviet Union was the worlds largest whaling nation. Whalers such as the legendary captain Aleksei Solyanik were celebrated as superstars, comparable to astronauts like Yuri Gagarin.

But the scientists had been right: Many whales species were nearly gone. To produce large catches, Solyanik and other captains decided to ignore international quotas and secretly targeted the most endangered whale species, including blue, humpback and fin whales in the Antarctic and the North Pacific.

In 1961, for example, Soviet fleets killed 9,619 rare humpbacks south of New Zealand, while reporting only 302 to the IWC. This was only a portion of their global catch, which the Soviet Union continued to underreport for years. Driven by Moscows demands for ever-increasing production, whalers worked at reckless speed, wasting much of the fat and meat taken from the dead whales. It is doubtful the industry was ever profitable.

Thanks to Soviet scientists who preserved some records of these illegal kills and to subsequent work by other scholars, it now appears likely that the Soviet Union killed around 550,000 whales after World War II while reporting only 360,000. We now know that global whale harvesting peaked in 1964, not 1937, with a total of 91,783 whales killed  about 40% by Soviet whalers.

Not quite extinct

By the 1970s, populations of large whales had dwindled to insignificance. Many observers were sure extinction was inevitable. But momentum for whale conservation was growing.

The U.S. listed blue, fin, sei, sperm and humpback whales under the law that preceded the Endangered Species Act in 1970, then continued to protect them under that law, enacted in 1973. Whales also received protection in U.S. waters under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Thanks to pressure from environmentalists and its own citizens, the Soviet Union ended its whaling industry in 1987. The country accepted a global moratorium on commercial whaling, which remains in force today with only three holdouts: Norway, Iceland and Japan.

Whale numbers almost immediately began to rebound. Humpback whales were especially successful, but populations of bowhead, fin and sperm whales also expanded in the near absence of commercial whaling. However, some species, notably North Atlantic right whales, remain endangered or critically endangered.

In one of the greatest conservation successes, Eastern Pacific gray whales are today estimated to have returned to pre-exploitation abundance, and may actually be reaching the limits of what their primary foraging grounds in the Bering Sea can support. And in 2018 and 2019, German scientists and researchers from the BBC observed and filmed fin whales feeding around the Antarctic peninsula in vast pods that recalled the way the ocean must have looked before the 20th century.

Thanks to the Russian scientists who opposed their countrys disastrous whaling expansion and kept its records, we know how many whales were lost in the 20th century. That information can also help scientists, governments and conservationists judge whales remarkable but far from complete recovery.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/the-soviet-union-once-hunted-endangered-whales-to-the-brink-of-extinction-but-its-scientists-opposed-whaling-and-secretly-tracked-its-toll-186709.
MECOSTA  Debate erupted during a public hearing at the Mecosta Village Tri-Lakes Association meeting Thursday night when one individual was concerned for local wildlife.

"You guys poison the lakes," he said. "The dragonfly population is way down. Our frog population is way down. There used to be tens of thousands of spring peepers."

There has been a significant effect according to this individual, citing the noticeable lack of the typical, recognizable sound of thousands of spring peepers that those used to living around the many lakes in Michigan are accustomed to in the summertime.

The individual has lived in the Tri-Lakes area for 60 years, and also worked for 20 years as a research biologist.

"These are indicator species," he said, meaning the fact that aquatic insects and amphibians are dwindling should be a red flag, or a sign that the the herbicides used to treat invasive weeds and other plants are affecting local non-invasive wildlife.

He believes the problem lies in septic systems, and the city choosing to use tax money to fund the Tri-Lakes Association (TLA) rather than get down to the root of the problem.

"I'm expected to pay taxes so you guys can dump chemicals in our lakes," he said.

He also mentioned that fisheries are suffering due to the way the herbicides disrupt fish populations.

"It's the toxic herbicides you guys dump into our lake year after year," he said.

TLA president David Lewis insisted there are other factors at play, asking if there were any studies, or recorded proof of what was being suggested, to which the individual replied that his eyes and ears, as well as 60 years of living on the lakes, should be enough to be able to tell that something has gone askew.

Following the public hearing, the TLA approved the appointment of new member, Randy Walsdorf, who is a resident of the Tri-Lakes area, for a four-year term.

Walsdorf shared his sympathies with the previously agitated individual, saying "I get you. It must be heartbreaking."

The TLA agreed to a five-year plan to continue its work dealing with invasive plant species on the Tri-Lakes, totaling a budget of $90,000.

"We're trying to do the most cost-effective, safest thing we can," Lewis said.

During the meeting the board also discussed plans to install a boat washing station on the lakes. The item was tabled due to a lack of information, or a site plan, and board members doubting whether many people would even make use of it.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday proclaimed unwavering U.N. commitment to a fully denuclearized North Korea, even as a divided Security Council allows more room for the isolated country to expand its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Meeting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, Guterres said he affirms the U.N.s clear commitment to the full, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and DPRK, using the initials of North Koreas formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Theres a fundamental objective to bring peace, security and stability to the whole region, he told Yoon, while also praising South Koreas participation in international peacekeeping efforts and fighting climate change.

Guterres, who arrived in South Korea on Thursday, later met with South Korean Foreign Minster Park Jin, who said the U.N.-led international community should be communicating a stern and unified message to North Korea that its nuclear ambitions won't be tolerated.

Park called for the U.N.s help in finding an effective solution to the North Korean nuclear issue, and Guterres expressed support for South Korean efforts to stabilize peace in the peninsula, the Foreign Ministry said.

North Korea has test-fired more than 30 ballistic missiles this year, including its first flights of intercontinental ballistic missiles since 2017, as leader Kim Jong Un pushes to advance his nuclear arsenal in the face of what North Korea has called gangster-like U.S.-led pressure and sanctions.

The unusually fast pace in weapons demonstrations also underscore brinkmanship aimed at forcing Washington to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and negotiating badly needed sanctions relief and security concessions from a position of strength, experts say. The U.S. and South Korean governments have also said the North is gearing up to conduct its first nuclear test since September 2017, when it claimed to have detonated a nuclear warhead designed for its ICBMs.

While the Biden administration has said it would push for additional sanctions if North Korea conducts another nuclear test, the prospects for meaningful punitive measures are unclear. China and Russia recently vetoed U.S.-sponsored resolutions at the U.N. Security Council that would have increased sanctions on the North over some of its ballistic missile testing this year, underscoring division between the councils permanent members that has deepened over Russias war on Ukraine.

Guterres meetings with South Korean officials came a day after North Korea claimed a widely disputed victory over COVID-19 but also blamed rival South Korea for the outbreak, vowing deadly retaliation. The North insists its initial infections were caused by leaflets and other objects flown across the border on balloons launched by South Korea's anti-Pyongyang activists, a claim Seoul describes as unscientific and ridiculous."

North Korea has a history of dialing up pressure on the South when it doesnt get what it wants from the United States, and there are concerns that North Korea's threat portends a provocation, which might include nuclear or missile tests or even border skirmishes.
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BUENOS AIRES (AP)  Paraguay Vice President Hugo Velazquez Moreno said Friday he will resign next week shortly after he was included on a U.S. corruption list for his alleged involvement in offering bribes to a public official.

The inclusion of Velazquez on the corruption list, announced by U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield Friday morning, rocked Paraguays political world not only due to Morenos role in President Mario Abdo Benitezs administration but also because he is seen as a leading contender to become a presidential candidate for the Colorado Party in next years elections.

Minutes after Ostfield spoke at a news conference at the U.S. embassy in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, Velazquez expressed his innocence but said he would drop his presidential candidacy and would present his resignation to Congress next week so he could defend himself against the allegations.

It really hit me like a bucket of cold water, Velazquez said during an interview with a local radio station. I don't know what he's referring to because he didn't give too many details.

Juan Carlos Duarte, a former prosecutor who is a close personal and business associate of Moreno, was also included in the corruption list, Ostfield said.

Ostfield said Secretary of State Antony Blinken received credible information that showed how at the request of Vice President Velazquez, Duarte, his close personal and professional partner, offered a bribe of more than $1 million to a public official.

This offering of a bribe was consistent with an apparent pattern of corrupt activity and in this case it was carried out to obstruct an investigation that threatened the vice president and his financial interests, Ostfield said.

As a result of the designations, Velazquez, Duarte and their immediate family members will no longer be allowed to enter the United States.

Velazquez said he is completely and totally in the dark about the allegations detailed by Ostfield.

Paraguays vice president said he would resign because he wants to go out like a common citizen to defend what I think is an injustice."

President Mario Abdo Benitez said the U.S. allegations surprised us all but congratulated Velazquez for his quick decision to drop out of the presidential race and announce he would be stepping down as vice president.

I congratulate him for his mature attitude in prioritizing the interests and the construction of credibility of our nation in announcing to the Paraguayan people that he will resign as a candidate and as vice president, Abdo said.

In addition to his close relationship with Velazquez, Duarte is also legal counsel for the entity that runs the bi-national Yacyreta Dam that is jointly owned by Paraguay and Argentina.

Duartes act of corruption abused and exploited his powerful and privileged public position within the Yacyreta Bi-National Entity, risking public confidence in one of Paraguays most vital economic assets, the State Department said.

Duarte has been removed from his post at Yacyreta, Abdo said.

The designation comes mere weeks after a former president of Paraguay, Horacio Manuel Cartes, was also included on a U.S. corruption list for his involvement in significant corruption. Cartes served as president of Paraguay between August 2013 and August 2018.

Ostfield emphasized that the designation has nothing to do with politics and Washington will continue working closely with President Mario Abdo Benitez and his government in a variety of issues, including the fight against corruption, impunity and against money laundering and terrorism financing.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Matthew Wilson, University of South Carolina

(THE CONVERSATION) When someone mentions a banana republic, theyre referring to a small, poor, politically unstable country that is weak because of an excessive reliance on one crop and foreign funding.

The term originated as a way to describe the experiences of many countries in Central America, whose economies and politics were dominated by U.S.-based banana exporters at the turn of the 20th century.

After the FBIs August 2022 search of the residence of former President Donald Trump, some Republicans compared the U.S. to a banana republic. And in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a surge of tweets did the same.

Political instability within the U.S. has little to do with fruit. So why is the term being used?

Subverting democracy to keep the cash flowing

In the 1880s, the Boston Fruit Company, which later became the United Fruit Company and then Chiquita, began importing bananas from Jamaica and launched a successful campaign to popularize them in the U.S.

As demand for bananas grew, large companies made deals with governments across Central America to fund infrastructure projects in exchange for land and policies that would allow them to expand production.

The growers often depended on authoritarian rule to protect land concessions and quell labor unrest that might shrink their profits. Sometimes, they would actively subvert democracy to reassert their influence. The Cuyamel Fruit Company, for example, supported a coup in Honduras in 1911 that replaced its president with someone more aligned with U.S. interests.

Another well-known example is the 1954 CIA-orchestrated plot on behalf of the United Fruit Company against Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz. That coup ended the first real period of democracy that Guatemala had known.

The tight relationship between banana exporters and repressive and corrupt leaders ultimately undermined development in the region, exacerbated inequality and left Central American countries weak and misgoverned.

Hyperbolic rhetoric?

Responding to the events that unfolded leading up to and during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, current and former government officals commented that they resembled the instability of banana republics that were known for ignoring election results and overturning those results with coups  thats exactly what happened in Costa Rica in 1917.

When American politicians and political commentators use the term, theyre often trying to conjure up images of corruption, repression and failures to stop executive overreach. Theyre equating government officials with the tinpot dictators supported by foreign interests who acted with impunity to govern by force and persecute their opponents.

A number of Republican politicians invoked the term in response to the FBIs raid of Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence.

But the comparison isnt apt. Its true that outgoing leaders are more likely to be investigated and punished by their political opponents in countries with strong executives and weak judiciaries.

However, holding elected officials accountable for their actions and not allowing anyone to be above the law is actually characteristic of a healthy democracy.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/whats-a-banana-republic-a-political-scientist-explains-188573.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsins Republican Assembly leader on Friday ended a 14-month, taxpayer-funded inquiry into the 2020 election by firing his hand-picked investigator. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' firing of Michael Gableman came just three days after the lawmaker narrowly survived a primary challenge from an opponent endorsed by former President Donald Trump and Gableman.

While Gableman found no evidence of widespread fraud during his inquiry, he had joined Trump in calling for lawmakers to consider decertifying the 2020 election  something Vos and legal experts say is unconstitutional and impossible.

Vos announced the investigation last year under pressure from Trump and chose Gableman, a conservative former Supreme Court justice, to lead it. But as the investigation progressed, Vos relationship soured with both Gableman and Trump.

When he hired Gableman, Vos had said he was supremely confident in his abilities. By Tuesday night, Vos was calling him an embarrassment."

"After having many members of our caucus reach out to me over the past several days, it is beyond clear to me that we only have one choice in this matter, and thats to close the Office of Special Counsel, Vos said Friday in a statement issued first to The Associated Press.

Gableman, who has repeated Trump's lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, has said that Vos never wanted a real investigation. He and his attorney, James Bopp, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

His investigation had drawn bipartisan scorn, and his firing generated bipartisan praise.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has been highly critical of Gableman and the probe. Spokesperson Britt Cudaback reacted with one word: Finally.

It was a good decision. It would have been a better decision six months ago, said Republican state Sen. Kathy Bernier, chair of the Senate elections committee, who went on to add that she has "zero respect, for Michael Gableman.

Vos had repeatedly said the goal of the probe was not to overturn the 2020 election, a move Gableman acknowledged was impossible in a private memo to Vos. Even Gableman's attorney Bopp told lawmakers that decertification was pointless.

Vos said people with ongoing concerns about election integrity should focus on defeating Evers, who vetoed changes Republicans wanted. Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels supports disbanding the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission and has said he would have signed the bills Evers vetoed.

Michels' adviser Chris Walker declined to comment on Gableman's firing.

Vos hired Gableman to quell pressure he was feeling from those who believed Trump's false claims about the 2020 election. President Joe Biden won Wisconsin by nearly 21,000 votes, an outcome that's survived lawsuits, recounts, reviews, audits, in addition to Gableman's own investigation.

Unhappy with how he was treated by Vos, Gableman's public comments critical of the speaker increased as did Trump's. In April, Gableman called for pressure to be put on Vos to extend the former justice's contract. Vos did so  albeit with a pay cut from his initial $11,000 a month. Vos put the investigation on hold in May, pending resolution of ongoing lawsuits.

Their relationship reached a tipping point when both Trump and Gableman endorsed Vos' primary opponent, leading to a tighter-than-expected race. Vos eked out with a 260-vote win. Vos said his victory showed lawmakers dont have to be a lapdog to whatever Donald Trump says.

Gableman also faces legal trouble.

On Tuesday, a judge was to determine whether Gableman remains in contempt of court for not complying with the state's open records law. Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington forwarded his contempt order to the committee that disciplines attorneys for possible further action, including suspension or repeal of Gablemans law license.

That is one of six pending lawsuits related to the investigation.

The attorneys' fees awarded so far has resulted in a total tab for Gableman's investigation, all paid by taxpayers, that tops $1.1 million.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, said he was glad Vos decided to shut down what he called a colossal waste of tax dollars to promote the Big Lie.

What we knew before this started remains true today: our elections are free, fair, and secure, and the results of our elections reflect the will of the voters," said Kaul, who has a pending lawsuit against Gableman.

Gableman has used the probe to raise his national profile. He gave the prayer at Trump's Wisconsin rally this month and he's been a regular on conservative talk radio, including an appearance where he disparaged how Wisconsin's chief elections official dresses.

Gableman also faced criticism for scant expense records, confusing emails, meeting with conspiracy theorists including MyPillow executive Mike Lindell, and making rudimentary errors, including multiple spelling mistakes. For instance, in records released during the lawsuits, Gableman and his team routinely misspelled Vos as Voss."

Democratic state Sen. Melissa Agard said it was past time for Gableman to be fired.

Im glad that Speaker Vos has stopped the bleeding for these tax dollars going to a sham investigation, she added.
The power of TikTok was on full display this week after a Houston woman went viral for rescuing a puppy discovered hidden in piles of trash in a ditch near Third Ward.

Taylor Dixon, a 31-year-old mortgage underwriter and freelance social media marketer, said she was taking her dog Caine for a walk with her nieces during her lunch break Monday when she came across a ditch overflowing with garbage off Jutland Road and Pederson Street near her sister's neighborhood. "There was an entire toilet seat, a purple wig on the ground," she said. "It was a lot. It was so much trash."

To her shock, hidden among all the junk was an abandoned pitbull puppy peering at her from beneath an overturned table. Hoping that the puppy was just lost and its owner might come for it soon, Dixon left the animal water and returned to work.

"When it comes to a lot of trash and just being in an unfamiliar area, I was scared to touch the stuff, " Dixon said, adding she didn't come back at night because it wasn't safe to be there alone. "It was nasty. And then there's snakes and possums. I just wanted somebody with me."

Taylor Dixon / TikTok

On Tuesday morning, Dixon returned with her sister and nieces and brought along food and water, hoping that the puppy wouldn't still be there. The dog had remained at the forefront of her mind, and was still there when she returned. "The reason I went back was because I could not rest. It was on my heart, on my mind," she said. "I was tossing and turning all night. There was absolutely no way that I was not going to drive back over there and check on that puppy."

They fed and bathed the puppy, with Dixon documenting the rescue on TikTok in hopes that someone would eventually help find its forever home. Since she's moving away from Houston soon and already owns a large dog (Caine is a Great Pyrenees), Dixon knew she couldn't keep it.

"Mommy, he's so beautiful!" Dixon's nieces can be heard shouting in the video. Dixon's dog can be heard crying as it approached the pup. To her surprise and joy, Dixon's TikTok swiftly gained traction on the platform, garnering over four million views and over 690,000 likes since it was posted Monday. In addition to comments calling her a hero, she also received thousands of requests from people in and out of state interested in adopting the pup.

Overwhelmed, Dixon said she was barely able to keep up with all the responses. "I did not for one second expect for it to take off the way it did. None of my videos have done that so I didn't expect that at all," she said. "It literally made me so happy, just elated."

However, not all reactions were positive. Dixon said she received one comment accusing her of planting the puppy for TikTok fame. "The person didn't even have a profile picture so that says a lot about them," she said. "I just told them that I would pray for them because obviously they're dealing with something internally and taking it out on others."

Others have criticized her for leaving the puppy overnighta charge for which she said she has no excuse. "I should've maybe called my boss to tell her the situation and hoped that she'd understand so I could handle the puppy situation," Dixon said. "If I could do it over again, I totally wouldn't have ever left her because anything could've happened. I'm so happy and relieved she was still there when I went back the next morning."

After posting about the puppy on a neighborhood Facebook page, the dog initially went home on Tuesday with a man from Missouri City who reached out to Dixon wanting to surprise his wife with a dog. However, the arrangement didn't work out and the pup was returned to Dixon on Wednesday. Still determined, Dixon posted another TikTok asking for help.

Early Thursday, Dixon received a message from Sydney Ying, a 19-year-old dancer for the Houston Rockets, who expressed interest in adopting the dog. "I had never seen that street, like a place where people just dump trash," Ying said about Dixon's TikTok. "That already made me sad but then I continued watching it and I realized it was about a puppy! I watch a lot of dog rescue videos so it was crazy to see one in Houston."

Worried that the "precious" puppy would end up in a kill shelter or with someone who couldn't provide her the care she needed, Ying said she "wanted to get a hold of her before anything bad happened to her to at least give her a chance."

Within hours of getting in touch with Dixon, Ying took the puppy to the vet where she learned it was 12 weeks old and had some intestinal parasites. "She got her first round of vaccines and I had to get get her special food to increase her appetite since she is pretty malnourished," Ying said. "She's been taking a lot of naps but I can tell she's going to be a big girl and is going to have a lot of energy."

The pup is also getting along with Ying's two other dogs, who are also rescues. "She's been so sweet," Ying said. "She's been very kind and she's pretty docile for a puppy, especially a pitbull puppy." She is still deciding on whether to name her Luna or Ivy and plans to let her TikTok followers weigh in on which suits the pup best.

Dixon said she's grateful that TikTok brought her and Ying, who she now considers a friend, together. "TikTok found the puppy a perfect home," she said. "I just feel so much better. I know she is safe and I can just feel the genuine love, like she's getting all the affection and all the love in the world that she can possibly get right now."
Hyderabad: Thousands of public toilets, like the ones near Saroornagar lake and at Jubilee Hills Road No. 45, which were missing post GHMC elections have

now been converted into shops.

The civic body had in January 2019 claimed that about 7,800 public toilet seats have been installed at 3,500 locations in its jurisdiction, which would be enhanced to 10,000, a target set by the State government. It also claimed Hyderabad has the highest number of public toilets among all Indian cities.

Although the 10,000 seats target was to be completed by January, there was considerable delay because of Covid-19. Officials informed GHMC that the remaining 2,200 and odd toilet seats would be installed soon and that tenders to execute the works had been floated.

Most of the facilities have been installed on a build operate and transfer basis involving different agencies. Meanwhile, the corporation has entrusted their maintenance and upkeep to different agencies, including some self-help groups.

The GHMC has been spending around Rs. 3,500 per seat per month for an overall annual expenditure of about Rs 22 crore to Rs 25 crore. Of the 6,000 new public toilets, around 1,000 have been installed in LB Nagar zone, 1,000 in Kukatpally zone, 1,034 in Charminar zone, 1,000 in Serilingampally zone, 905 in Khairatabad zone and 1,032 in Secunderabad zone.

After the initial enthusiasm to accomplish the ambitious initiative within the deadline, the corporation made a U-turn immediately after the GHMC polls and Swachh Suverkshan survey in 2020. Their reasoning has been that too many public toilets on the footpaths and arterial stretches were not a good augury. The argument goes that a public toilet after every 500 metres not only gives a shoddy look to the city but also is tough to maintain.

Ironically, the top bureaucrat who instructed the corporation authorities to set up public toilets is the same person who called for their removal. Following his diktat, over 1,000 public toilets have since been removed at Baghlingampally, Uppal, Mettuguda, Sangeet road, Panjagutta, LB Nagar and Moosarambagh, among other locations.

Responding to the issue, a senior civic official, requesting anonymity, told Deccan Chronicle that the corporation has removed over 2,000 toilets as they were obstructing movements of pedestrians. He said that the others have been lying vacant since the GHMC polls as private agencies did not turn up to maintain them.

On many toilets being converted into shops, the official said that nothing has come to his notice and they would initiate action if they come to know of such developments.
Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The Department of Justice is investigating the Southern Baptist Convention following the release of an explosive report detailing how leaders of the nation's second-largest faith organization quashed abuse survivors' stories and resisted organizational reforms, the Houston Chronicle's Robert Downen and John Tedesco reported Friday.

The SBC's Executive Committee confirmed in a statement to the Chronicle that the DOJ is currently probing "multiple" member organizations within the SBC. Leaders also made clear that they intend to cooperate with the investigation.
boonchai wedmakawand/Getty Images

DENTON, Texas (AP)  A man on trial in Texas died Thursday after drinking from a large water bottle containing a cloudy liquid as a jury found him guilty of child sexual assault, officials said.

Edward Leclair, 57, was on trial in Denton, located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Dallas, on five counts involving one victim. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office doesn't yet list his cause or manner of death. Leclair had been released on bond following his arrest.
Heres a modest proposal for Illinois judges: When the accused is an elected official, move more quickly to a trial date.

Yes, we know the wheels of justice grind slowly, especially given the pandemic backlog. And its true that all criminal defendants (and their victims) deserve a speedy but fair trial. But two recent examples suggest that time is yet more of the essence when it comes to accused politicians.

Take, for example, the case of Ald. Ed Burke, 14th. His racketeering trial is not set to take place until Nov. 6, 2023, a delay caused by the busy schedules of the attorneys involved. That date, a stunning four-and-a-half years after Burkes May 2019 indictment, comes after the date when Burke will stand for reelection.

Weve argued that Burke (who has pleaded not guilty) should think about his ward and the city as a whole and step aside while he prepares for his trial, advice that, at the time of writing, he has not yet taken. Clearly, though, the egregiously long delay is unfair on voters who may find themselves in the impossible position of not wanting to support a candidate who has been accused of being corrupt while at the same time not wanting to prejudge an innocent man. In this case, public interest should be deemed more important than attorney convenience.

The same applies to the upcoming trial of former House Speaker Mike Madigan. Madigans trial is also not coming until 2023 or maybe even 2024. The judge has set Feb. 1 as the deadline for pretrial motions and the full case likely will start months later than that.

That means Madigan is entitled for that period to not just his regular Illinois pension but also to the bump that goes to lawmakers of more than 20 years standing, replete with an annual increase. He is getting $12,400 a month from the state; an amount that would be reduced if Madigan was found guilty of misconduct related to his office.

If Madigan is innocent, and innocence must be presumed, that pension is valid. If he is found guilty, taxpayers would be right to conclude they had been bilked. Again.

Unlike Burke, Madigan is not running for anything during this delay, but the pension issue is a matter of public concern with both fiscal and symbolic weight. Here again, attorneys argued for extra time and the judge doled it out. But that generosity comes with a clear public cost.

Both of these men are entitled to their day in court. And the people of Illinois are entitled to that day arriving as expeditiously as possible. The limbo of delay  at a level that goes beyond reasonable preparatory time  does not serve either the public or the private interest.

Judges need to toughen up with attorneys and remind them that more is at stake than their schedules.
WFO LAS VEGAS Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

San Bernardino County in southern California...

* Until 730 PM PDT.

* At 422 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain over Goffs Road and Interstate 40. 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...

Goffs Road, Interstate 40, and possibly Highway 95 near Interstate

40.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO PHOENIX Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Phoenix has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Riverside County in southern California...

* Until 500 PM PDT.

* At 413 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 18 miles southeast

of Desert Center, and is nearly stationary.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

* This severe thunderstorm will remain over mainly rural areas of

Riverside County.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO BROWNSVILLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

Severe Weather Statement

National Weather Service Brownsville TX

702 PM CDT Thu Aug 11 2022

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 715 PM CDT

FOR SOUTHWESTERN HIDALGO COUNTY...

At 659 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Citrus City or

north of Palmview and Palmhurst moving southwest at 25 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to

roofs, siding, and trees.

Locations impacted include...

Mission, Palmview, Penitas, La Joya, Palmhurst, Sharyland, Alton,

Narciso G. Cavazos Elementary School, Abram-Perezville and Doffing.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

The National Weather Service in Corpus Christi has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Central Live Oak County in south central Texas...

Northwestern Bee County in south central Texas...

* Until 745 PM CDT.

* At 703 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Pawnee, or 13

miles northeast of Three Rivers, moving south 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, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

George West, Three Rivers, Oakville, Pawnee, Ray Point and Karon.

This includes the following highways...

Interstate 37 between mile markers 54 and 74.

US Highway 281 between mile markers 618 and 630.

US Highway 59 between mile markers 710 and 722.

Prepare immediately for large hail and deadly cloud to ground

lightning. Seek shelter inside a well-built structure. Stay away from

windows.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

Severe Weather Statement

National Weather Service Spokane WA

408 PM PDT Thu Aug 11 2022

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 445 PM PDT

FOR NORTHEASTERN WHITMAN COUNTY...

At 408 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Colfax, or 13

miles north of Pullman, moving northeast at 40 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...

Colfax, Garfield, Albion, Oakesdale, Farmington and Belmont.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

To report severe weather contact your nearest law enforcement agency.

They will send your report to the National Weather Service office in

Spokane.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

Severe Weather Statement

National Weather Service Spokane WA

448 PM PDT Thu Aug 11 2022

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 515 PM PDT

FOR NORTHWESTERN BENEWAH...SOUTHWESTERN KOOTENAI...NORTHEASTERN

WHITMAN AND SOUTHEASTERN SPOKANE COUNTIES...

At 448 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 12 miles southwest

of Plummer, or 26 miles west of St. Maries, moving northeast at 35

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...

Harrison, Tekoa, Fairfield, Rockford, Worley and Latah.

This includes U.S. Highway 95 in Idaho between mile markers 397 and

413.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

To report severe weather contact your nearest law enforcement agency.

They will send your report to the National Weather Service office in

Spokane.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, August 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Southeastern Spokane County in northeastern Washington...

* Until 900 AM PDT.

* At 829 AM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 14 miles southeast

of Cheney, moving northeast at 30 mph.

HAZARD...Half dollar size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

Rockford, Spangle, Plaza, Mica and Valleyford.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
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The senior politician also slammed reporters who questioned his unsavoury remarks during the press conference at the press club in Kottayam.  DC Image

Kottayam (Kerala): Senior politician P.C. George on Thursday courted yet another controversy by making distasteful remarks against the actress, who was abducted and sexually assaulted by a gang in 2017, saying it was she who has benefitted by getting more opportunities in movies, after the incident.

Answering a question during a press meet here, George, known for making controversial remarks in sensational cases, even mocked the use of survivor while referring to the case.

The survivor is getting several films now...I dont think she suffered any loss after the issue. The loss which she had suffered in life as a woman might be huge, if the said incident was true. But, my belief is that she got benefits in other areas, the former MLA alleged.

The senior politician also slammed reporters who questioned his unsavoury remarks during the press conference at the press club here.

The former MLA had earlier made alleged distasteful statements against the survivor and openly extended support to actor Dileep, the eighth accused in the case. He was arrested recently in a sexual assault case and over hate speeches against the Muslim community.
Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701)

Today

Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 83F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low 59F. Winds light and variable.
Centrul de Caritate pentru Refugiati angajeaza Asistent la biroul de suport
Earlier in the day, suspecting that an attempt was being made to sow confusion after reports started appearing in a section of the media that the ECI had ordered the party to stop the Saalu Dora Selavu Dora campaign, Sanjay issued instructions to party officials to find out the truth. (DC Image)

HYDERABAD: The battle of fake news ahead of the Munugode Assembly election to spread confusion in the ranks of rivals seems to have started already.

On Friday, the BJP trashed reports of a purported order from the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordering it to halt its Saalu Dora Selavu Dora (Thats enough, its time to leave) campaign targeting Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

There is no truth in the reports and we believe the whole issue was engineered by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) which is worried over the campaigns impact and its increasing reach among the people, party spokesperson Rani Rudrama said.

Later at night, BJP state president Bandi Sanjay refuted another bit of fake news on the postponement of the proposed meeting of Union minister Amit Shah in Munugode on August 21. Sanjay said there was no truth in the rumours that the meeting had been postponed, and asserted it would be held as scheduled. Two dates were given, August 21, and August 29 for the meeting. It is scheduled for August 21. Do not believe the rumours that it has been postponed, Sanjay said.

Earlier in the day, suspecting that an attempt was being made to sow confusion after reports started appearing in a section of the media that the ECI had ordered the party to stop the Saalu Dora Selavu Dora campaign, Sanjay issued instructions to party officials to find out the truth. The reports indicated that Telangana BJP had written a letter to the commission asking for permission to continue with the campaign and the poll panel had turned it down, the rumours said.

We contacted the ECI and spoke with a deputy election commissioner and were told that they did not receive any letter of any sort on the subject, Rudrama said.

Even as the BJP laid the blame for the episode at the feet of the TRS, the party made it clear that there was no going back on the Saalu Dora Selavu Dora campaign, and added that the display board at the party headquarters would be back in action. Meanwhile, its online campaign with a website, and an account on Twitter remained active, the party said.

The reports doing the rounds earlier said the ECI had ordered the BJP not to use pictures of the Chief Minister, stop the campaign, and wind up what the BJP said was a Kalvakuntla Countdown Clock  launched on June 25 by the state party in-charge Tarun Chugh  marking the number of days it says the TRS will be in power in Telangana.

According to the BJP, the ECI informed the party that the question of it coming into the picture on an issue such as this did not arise as there was no model code of conduct in place. Though a bypoll is expected for the Munugode Assembly seat, official activity related to it has not started in the state.
Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute has apologised after a misunderstanding meant a person was told their application was rejected because they are Russian.

The organisation was challenged on social media after communications suggested the person was not able to join the organisation, but it has now clarified the offer still stands.

The email had read: The Beatson has established a new policy upon which I am unable to appoint you because you are Russian.

Owen Sansom, Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute director, said the organisation does not have a policy of declining any applications from Russian students on the basis of their nationality.

Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis and offers are always reviewed against external checks, such as visa requirements or UK government sanctions.

In this case there was an initial misunderstanding of these restrictions, which has been addressed.

Sansom said the organisation has contacted the applicant involved to offer them a place and have apologised for any distress caused.

He added it is reviewing processes internally to prevent this issue from occurring again in future.

The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research is a registered Scottish charity, and one of Cancer Research UKs core-funded institutes.

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Society Diary would like to start its first column of 2022 by admitting that to call eight months into the year fashionably late may be a bit of an understatement. To call it unfashionably tardy would be rude, but admittedly more accurate.

Rest assured, Diary has a list of very reasonable excuses for the delay in filing copy, including sampling copious amounts of charity alcohol as part of its retraining as a beverage connoisseur.

The Royal British Legions Pull the Pin rum was explosively spiced and Diary detected a hint of upset supporters with many questioning why RBL would sell alcohol in the shape of a grenade. People found a charity for war veterans commodifying a weapon problematic, for some reason. Go figure.

Meanwhile, the Official Captain Toms gin was as dry as its reception, with it being pulled from sale a few months ago after breaking charity law.

Various other things have happened, but I wont bore you with the details. Mistakes were made, largely by me, but going forward Diary will be different. Sounds like a Tory leadership campaign, doesnt it?

While Diary shifts to hybrid working to accommodate these side hustles, uploading on the goings-on of charity land will be more sporadic, but no less thrilling. Shall we?

Pork Pie gate

Are you, too, incapable of controlling your anger at the name of Leicesters Pork Pie Roundabout? If yes, youre not the only one. This week, animal charity PETA called on officials to rename it to promote veganism and reduce the citys obesity rates.

PETA's senior campaigns manager, Kate Werner, told Sky News that a name change would inspire people to eat more vegan foods and honour the city's heritage, with it being where the word vegan originated from.

This columnist asks what PETA would propose to call it instead. Should one call it a Vegan Pork Pie roundabout? Or does that defeat the point? Vegan Pie roundabout is distinctly lacking on alliteration. Rabbit roundabout has nice alliteration, but then PETA would have to explain that the roundabout is named such in support of rabbits, and explain that drivers should refrain from eating them. Vegan roundabout is rather plain...But now we're going in circles. (Sorry).

During Diary's hiatus, it had the pleasure of visiting pork pie Graceland, Melton Mowbray. In terms of a name change impacting obesity rates in Leicestershire, this columnist feels the only way you'd stop the locals from eating pork pies is by forcibly taking them out of their hands. People eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Break on the telly? Pork pie. Feeling sad? Pork pie. Feeling happy? Pork pie. Etcetera etcetera. (This characterisation may be based entirely on Diary's own eating habits while visiting).

Diary fears PETA would be terrified to discover what else is named after the delicious pastry snack there. The Pork Pie shop and the Pork Pie bench as well  the work never ends!
Clearly, Admiral Insurance Co. did not want to assume any risk in the New York City area.

The insurance policy Admiral issued to Richfield Window Coverings excluded coverage in any way connected with operations or activities in the nine counties within and surrounding the New York City metropolitan area. Richfield purchased the policy despite that exclusion, even though it sells window coverings to retailers in New York and around the country.

But when an employee of a Home Depot store on Long Island filed a lawsuit after cutting off parts of three fingers while using one of Ritchfields cutting machines, the company asked Richfield to defend it.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Admiral has no duty to defend its policyholder, reversing a decision by the Appellate Division.

The fact that Richfield provided the machine to Home Depot is enough to trigger the exclusion because the phrase in any way connected with merely requires that the two are linked in some way, even if they are only tangentially connected, the unanimous opinion says.

Richfield, based in Santa Fe Springs, California, sells blinds, shades and shutters to national retailers, including Home Depot, Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond under the brand name Nien Made USA. The company provides retailers who sell its products with cutting devices and trains store employees how to use them. Richfield field representatives typically visit the retail locations periodically to maintain and repair the devices as needed.

On Aug. 12, 2017, Home Depot employee Colleen Lorito severed parts of three fingers on her left hand while using one of the cutting devices at a store in Nassau County, New York. She claimed the machine did not have a safety guard. Lorito and her husband filed a lawsuit against Richfields parent company, Nien Made.

Admiral denied Richfields request to defend the company, pointing to the language in the policy that excludes Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester counties from coverage for liability caused by any operations or activities performed by or on behalf of any insureds.

The insurer and Richfield tried to resolve their differences through arbitration. The arbitrator found in favor of Admiral.

Richfield filed a lawsuit, but the Morris County Law Division granted summary judgment in favor of the insurer. The Law Division judge pointed to the policy language that excludes injury or damage arising out of, related to, caused by, contributed to by, or in any way connected with activities or operations in Nassau and the other eight New York counties.

The New Jersey Appellate Division, however, ruled that the Law Division judge erred. The appellate court found that Richfields limited activities and operations in Nassau County had no causal relationship to the lawsuit. The companys president, Harjit Singh, had testified that Richfield doesnt do business in New York, it sells product to companies that operate there.

The Supreme Court said in has never had an opportunity to interpret the meaning of policy language that excludes activities or operations in anyway connected to certain counties, but in previous decisions it has applied similar terms broadly. No causal relationship is required, the opinion says.

Richfields attorney, Ryan Milun in Cranford, New Jersey, said insurance policies that exclude the New York area from coverage are common because the region is notorious for runaway verdicts. But he said he thinks the Supreme Court was wrong to apply the policy exclusion to a wholesaler that does not do any business in the region directly.

Milun said Richfield in no way caused Loritos injury. Although hes not involved with the injury lawsuit, he said he knows that the cutting devices that Richfield supplies to retailers have safety guards. The employee would have had to have moved it in order to cut her fingers, he said.

So why did Richfield purchase a policy that excluded nine New York counties from coverage when it sells product in those counties?

Im not sure they were aware of the exclusion as it was buried within the policy, but either way they certainly didnt think Home Depots use of the machine would count as Richfield operations, Milun said.

Attorney Justin N. Kinney, who represented Admiral, refused to comment on the decision.
Courts are split on the question of whether it is permissible to depreciate labor costs when determining actual cash value (ACV). The Illinois Supreme Courts decision in Sproull v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., (9/23/21), affirming the appellate court decision (7/24/20), is an excellent reference and starting point for any adjuster who wants to understand the jurisprudence regarding labor depreciation.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Sproull on first impression, that homeowner insurance companies cannot depreciate labor costs in calculating ACV when the policy did not define ACV. The Illinois Administrative Code indicated that ACV of a damaged structure was to be determined as replacement cost of property at time of loss less depreciation, if any. See 50 Ill. Admin. Code 919.80(d)(8)(A). However, neither the code nor the insurance policy in question set forth a definition of depreciation or established a method for calculating it. Because of this, the Illinois Supreme Court found that the policy was ambiguous on the question of labor depreciation because it could be subject to more than one reasonable interpretation.

This issue is going to be decided on a case-by-case basis. In reaching its conclusion, the Illinois Supreme Court conducted a review of the law from jurisdictions that had adopted the view that labor can be depreciated from those that found that it could not.

The Court in Sproull provides an excellent review of the case law throughout the country, both supporting and rejecting labor depreciation.

In one line of cases, courts view the damaged property as the product of materials and labor. Take a damaged roof, for example. Some courts would require a damage analysis for purposes of establishing ACV to consider what the expected life of the destroyed roof, both as to materials and labor, would have been. This view is predicated on the idea that the insured bought an insurance policy covering a roof surface, and did not separately insure materials and labor. Under this view, a roof is a combination of product (i.e., shingles) and a service (i.e., labor to install the shingles). To preclude labor depreciation would unjustly enrich the policyholder by not having to pay an essential cost associated with the replacement of the roof that had already been paid at some time in the past when the roof was originally installed.

On the other hand, some courts require the analysis of ACV to consider only those items that logically tend to establish the value of the property at the time of loss. Under this view, the roof shingles are logically depreciable, given that they experience physical age, and thereby lose value because of natural and expected wear and tear. Labor, however, does not lose value because of natural and expected wear and tear. Labor does not lose value over time. It would be illogical to analyze whether the roofer was young and stout versus a 70-year old roofer with arthritis who had trouble climbing a ladder or hammering a nail.

One way for an insurance company to clarify whether labor is depreciable under an insurers policy is to specifically define ACV in a policy in a manner to exclude labor from the ACV calculation. Otherwise, whether labor is depreciable becomes a question of judicial geography. Excluding labor from an ACV calculation in the policy would avoid the uncertainty of judicial geography or reliance upon vague, common law rules for determining ACV. The three principal rules include the broad evidence rule, market value rule, or replacement cost minus depreciation rule. Under the broad evidence rule, all relevant factors are considered in determining ACV, including purchase price, replacement cost, appreciation or depreciation, the age of the building, the condition in which it has been maintained and market value. The market value rule similarly looks at factors effecting the value of the property, including a decline in value based on use, wear, obsolescence, or age.
News Details

Globalfoundries to make 2x more chips for Qualcomm

Date: 12-08-22

GlobalFoundries and Qualcomm doubling their existing strategic global long-term semiconductor manufacturing agreement. Securing wafer supply is important during these upredictable times. Not only the demand fulfilling but also to ensure both US based companies help each other in protecting mutual business and even rising US share of chip market.

The release by GlobalFoundries says this agreement secures wafer supply and commitments to support U.S.-based manufacturing through capacity expansion at GFs most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility, in Malta, New York.

With the mobile phone segment getting too crowded and saturated with lesser profit margin, Qualcomm is venturing into automotive domain in a big way due to huge prospects in that market. Shortage of chips in automotive is more severe than other markets. To ensure consistent supply of chips, semiconductor chip vendors look for reliable partners who can allot dedicated fab time for making their chips. Globalfoundries FDSOI fab is more suitable for automotive domain.

Globalfoundries says In 2021, Qualcomm Global Trading Pte. Ltd (QGT), a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, was one of GFs first customers to secure their supply with a long-term agreement covering multiple geographies and technologies where that agreement secured 22FDX capacity at GFs Dresden facility and will now include capacity at GFs recently announced facility in Crolles, France, making QGT an anchor customer in GFs leading European proprietary technology. QGT has also secured capacity in GFs market leading 8SW radio-frequency silicon-on-insulator (RFSOI) technologies for Sub 6GHz 5G front-end module (FEM) which will be primarily manufactured in GFs Singapore facilities, where site expansion plans are well underway with full ramp expected in early 2023, adds Globalfoundries.

Todays announcement specifically extends QGTs U.S. based collaboration with GF in FinFET for 5G transceivers, Wi-Fi, Automotive and IoT connectivity. GFs FinFET platforms provide a best-in-class combination of performance, power and area that are well-suited for high-end Mobile, Automotive and IoT applications, says Globalfoundries in it release.

This is terrific news for GlobalFoundries, Qualcomm Technologies and for upstate New York. Just days after we passed my historic, bipartisan CHIPS & Science bill, we can already see the semiconductor industry reinvesting in the United States. This deal to 2028 proves what we have always known  that the industry will grow here when we are competitive with Asia and Europe. With major new federal incentives for microchip manufacturing in the U.S., I look forward to many more announcements like this to come, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

With accelerating demand for 5G, Automotive and IoT applications, a robust supply chain is critical for ensuring innovation in these areas remains uninterrupted, said Dr. Roawen Chen, Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain and Operations Officer, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Our continued collaboration with GF helps us to expand the next generation of wireless innovation as we move toward a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected.

GFs global manufacturing footprint enables us to partner with our customers to meet their capacity needs, where they need it, said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GF. Our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies delivers differentiation and innovation in mobile and IoT spanning three continents, and this long-term agreement extension provides Qualcomm Technologies with additional U.S. based manufacturing for a more resilient supply chain.

Todays announcement from our CEO Summit in Washington, D.C. secures Qualcomm Technologies as a key long-term customer through 2028 in our most advanced fab in upstate New York, which together with U.S. CHIPS and state funding, will fuel expanding GFs U.S. manufacturing footprint. We applaud the bipartisan efforts and leadership demonstrated by Senator Schumer and the incredible support of Commerce Secretary Raimondo to bring back chip manufacturing to America, added Dr. Caulfield.
U.S. uses "defending human rights" as tool to cover its own violations: Tunisian experts

Xinhua) 09:22, August 12, 2022

TUNIS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The slogan of "defending human rights" raised by the United States is nothing but an umbrella to cover its serious human rights violations inside the country and the rest of the world, Tunisian political experts have told Xinhua.

On the one hand, the United States is always ready to launch accusations against other countries, showing no respect for their basic human rights, Zouhair Maghzaoui, general secretary of the People's Movement of Tunisia, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"But on the other hand, the United States does not hesitate in many cases to commit the most heinous crimes in the field of human rights or to remain silent if the matter is concerning practices involving its allies," Maghzaoui added.

For his part, Hicham El-Hajji, a political activist, said he believes that declarations of support for human rights issued by the United States around the world "are failing to persuade even children."

Khaled Obeid, a political academic, said the U.S. human rights violations are "both an old and constantly renewed issue that the U.S. administration deals with through a logic of double standards."

The experts agreed that the human rights situation in the United States, which has notorious records, has frequently exposed U.S. officials to repeated vitriolic criticism in the corridors of the United Nations.

The U.S. government does not hesitate to use the issue of human rights to put pressure on other countries, in accordance with a policy of double standards, said the experts.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Du Mingming)
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Four new laws that seek to help prevent and respond to wildfires went into effect on Wednesday after being passed by the Colorado legislature earlier this year.

One of the laws, House Bill 1111, increases the amount of property lost to wildfires that insurance providers have to cover upfront from 30% of the value to 65%. The law also extends the timeframe wildfire victims have to rebuild their homes from 12 months to 36 months.

Senate Bill 114 allows county commissioners to designate ponds as fire suppression ponds, protecting them from being drained if needed for firefighting resources. House Bill 1132 requires all controlled burns on private property to be reported to local fire departments. Finally, House Bill 1012 invests over $7 million on forest health and restoration efforts.

These days in Colorado, wildfire season lasts year round, Rep. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, who sponsored SB-114, said. We have to be prepared to respond at any moment and give our brave first responders every possible tool they need to do their job.

These new laws come as record-breaking wildfires have become more and more common in Colorado.

At the end of December, Colorado suffered its most destructive wildfire in state history, when the Marshall fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County. Shortly before, the three largest wildfires in Colorado history all occurred in 2020.

The four laws taking effect Wednesday are among 11 wildfire-related measures that lawmakers passed this year, totaling tens of millions of dollars. The rest of the measures have already gone into effect, including legislation to increase firefighting resources, foster recovery efforts, conserve watersheds and fund wildfire mitigation incentives and outreach.

The threat of wildfires continues to grow, said Sen. Tammy Story, D-Conifer, who sponsored four of the wildfire-related bills. Its important that were as prepared as possible to handle them.
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The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
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.
Ultraman and Merliger help protect wildlife at Singapore night safari

Singapore Night Safari, featuring attractions like the Indian Rhinoceros, Malayan Tapir and Asian Elephant, now welcomes two cartoon titans from now till October 31, 2022. Ultraman and Merliger, an incarnation of Singapores Merlion, have landed in Night Safari to defend wildlife from the ecologically destructive Kaiju.

The festivities, which feature art and themed activities, are part of the SingapoReimagine - Ultraman campaign, a collaboration between Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Tsuburaya Productions to mark 55 years of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Japan. Together with Mandai Wildlife Group, the initiative seeks to engage the local community and tourists through the iconic characters to help spread the message of wildlife conservation.

Learn about the ecological threats posed by the Kaiju at the Ultraman-themed Safari Adventure Tour and feed Night Safaris herd of Asian Elephants. Photo credit: Mandai Wildlife Group

As part of the campaign's premise, fictional giant monsters known as Kaiju such as Eleking III and Zumbolar pose a threat to wildlife by causing pollution and habitat loss. Take part in a digital trail and venture to the parks Naracoorte Cave to help Ultraman and Merliger fend off the Kaiju. Along the way, learn practical tips and fun facts on how you can contribute to protecting wildlife and make a social declaration with Ultraman and Merliger at special photo points.

Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant will feature an array of treats including the Ultraman Mini Impossible Burger, Ultraman Chicken Karaage Curry Rice and the Hanzagiran Fried Fish & Salted Egg Carbonara. Photo credit: Mandai Wildlife Group

Snap a photo with the masterfully crafted mural depicting Ultraman and Merliger preparing for an epic confrontation against the Kaiju. The art piece brings to bear the critical work to halt biodiversity loss and threats from deforestation and pollution for the survival of wildlife species like the Malayan Tiger, Sunda Pangolin and many more animals. The mural was painted by a local artist from DPLMT who also created the Ultraman mural at Haji Lane.

Painted by local artist DPLMT, who also produced the iconic New Kid On The Block Ultraman mural at Haji Lane, this mural depicts Ultraman and Merligers battle against Kaiju which represent wildlife threats. Photo credit: Mandai Wildlife Group

Private buggy rides are available in the parks Safari Adventure Tour to take visitors to feed Night Safaris real giants, the Indian Rhinoceros and Asian Elephants. While on the journey, participants will learn about the Kaiju and the real-life threats to wildlife that they represent. Tour participants also stand to gain an exclusive Ultraman sticker pack.

Read more Singapore News, Travel News and Entertainment News here
Text:

Bringing more instances of how the security personnel along the borders in West Bengal refuse to probe the human trafficking angle while arresting Bangladeshi women, human rights leader Kirity Roy has said, they are treated as accused in violation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Government of India and the Government of Bangladesh on Bilateral Cooperation for Preventing of Human Trafficking, especially trafficking in Women and Children.In a letter to the chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Roy, secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), and national convenor, Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), Hooghly, said, The victims should be immediately repatriated to their own country and the criminal charges against them must be withdrawn at the earliest, insisting, The matters must be handled by the police or the BSF personnel with a human approach.I am writing this complaint regarding detention of Bangladeshi women in West Bengal and accusing and treating them as criminals under Foreigners Act, 1946. For a long time MASUM has been trying to bring this systematic violation of laws by the BSF and police administration into light by making numerous complaints to the NHRC and other relevant departments. The authorities including police and Border Security Force (BSF) are not at all concerned to initiate proper investigation into whether the persons including women and children crossed the border from Bangladesh to India were the victims of human trafficking or not. Here I am appending two case details for your perusal.

Case 1:

In connection with Swarupnagar Police Station Case no. 496/2022 dated 17.05.2022 under section 14 of Foreigners Act, the following Bangladeshi woman was arrested:The accused person is a Bangladeshi national, who was trying to enter India from Bangladesh on 16.05.2022 at around 07:50 p.m. and was apprehended by BSF personnel attached with D coy of 112 Battalion, Hakimpur BSF BOP and the next day at 04:45 a.m. she was handed over to the Swarupnagar Police Station.For more than 8 hours she was under BSF custody whereas the distance between the said BOP and the police station is only 15 kilometers. General rule is BSF has to inform the concerned police regarding the apprehension of any accused as early as possible after the apprehension. On 17.05.2022 the victim was produced before the Basirhat Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court escorted only with male police personnel.The magistrate sent them to the Dum Dum Central Correctional Home for 14-day jail custody. As per the Article number 2 under II definition MoU of between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh on Bilateral Cooperation for Preventing of Human Trafficking especially trafficking in Women and Children; signed by both countries on 30th May 2015, trafficking in women and children shall mean selling, buying, recruitment, receipt, transportation, transfer or harbouring of any person for the purpose of sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery servitude or the removal of the organs or any other form of exploitation. Therefore, how was the victim treated as accused and sent to jail custody by the court?

Case 2:

The police or BSF personnel or the concerned court must initiate to investigate whether these Bangladeshi persons are the victims of human trafficking or not

The victims should be immediately repatriated to their own country and the criminal charges against them must be withdrawn at the earliest

The victims should be transferred to an appropriate home from the Dumdum correctional home at the earliest

Government should initiate a series of sensitization programs for police personnel, BSF personnel and other legal authorities in the area of human rights, trafficking, repatriation and restoration and JJ Act

The matters must be handled by the police or the BSF personnel with human approach

In connection with Swarupnagar Police Station Case no. 494/2022 dated 16.05.2022 under section 14 of Foreigners Act, the following Bangladeshi woman along with her children was arrested:The victim was a Bangladeshi national, who was trying to enter India from Bangladesh on 16.05.2022 at around 5.40 p.m. when she was apprehended by BSF personnel attached with 'C' Company of 112 Battalion, Tarali BSF BOP and later handed over to the Swarupnagar Police Station. Ms. Sahnaz Fakir was produced before the Basirhat ACJM court on 17.05.2022 and sent to the Dumdum Central Correctional Home for 14-day jail custody. Moreover, she was also escorted by male police personnel to the court.According to the office memorandum of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Foreigners Division) Government of India Dated 1st May, 2012 it clearly instructed about the procedure of dealing with the victims of trafficking. The memorandum stated that if the women and children victims were found without a valid passport or visa then they have to be repatriated to their country of origin through diplomatic channels.Till the repatriation they must be kept in an appropriate childrens home, or Ujjawala home. In reality, police or BSF personnel or the concerned court never attempt to initiate any investigation whether these Bangladeshi persons are the victims of human trafficking or not. Additionally, the victims are kept in the correctional home.From other several instances it is also found that the people of Bangladesh illegally enter India for the purpose of medical treatment as they have very limited facilities in their native place. Cross border trafficking is very organized crime where touts or middlemen are operating in connivance with border guards of both sides, India and Bangladesh. These helpless Bangladeshi persons enter India for better livelihood or for medical treatment purposes but when they are arrested; they are treated as accused under the Foreigners Act.This approach is also violating the Article 6, 7, 8, 11 and 12 of the MoU between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh on Bilateral Cooperation for Preventing of Human Trafficking especially trafficking in Women and Children; signed by both countries on 30th May 2015.The incidents are not only violating the advisory of Government of India but are also in violation of Goal Number 16 of Sustainable Development Goals of UN, Government of India is a party to set the goals and obliged to adhere to the same.Under the circumstances I request your urgent intervention in this case to bring justice to the victims by taking the necessary actions:
Kyiv promised to prioritize and supply grain to stave off impending food insecurity that threatens African nations. Instead of heading to Africa, the freighter sailed to Turkey, Europe, and China even with these statements from Ukraine.

Starving African Nations Should Be a Priority

According to the New York Times, none of the grain ships that have left Ukrainian ports as of Tuesday were headed for African countries that need it most.

One of the first ships to travel through the grain corridor was rejected by Lebanon customers who were unhappy with the delay, reported RT.

When the arrangement took effect on August 1, ten ships left Ukrainian ports, mainly carrying animal feed. These ships were bound for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, Italy, and China. The Times reported on Tuesday that deliveries for Yemen, Somalia, or other countries facing great hunger were delayed.

Turkish-flagged Polarnet, which arrived in Derince on Monday carrying 12,000 tons of corn, became the first vessel to reach its destination. When the ships arrived, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Ukraine would not abandon African nations.

President Vladimir Zelensky sent a message to President Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana last Monday that Ukraine is ready to be a guarantor of food security to supply grain.

According to experts cited by AP, the bulk of the 20 million tons of grain that have been stranded at Ukrainian ports for the past few months is actually for animal feed and not food supply.

The first ship under the "grain corridor" deal to depart Ukraine said Ukraine was transporting 26,000 metric tons of chicken feed for Lebanon.

Read Also: Donald Trump Net Worth 2022: Did Trump Get Richer Since Leaving the US Presidency?

With much hoopla, the freighter Razoni, flying the flag of Sierra Leone, departed Odessa on August 1, only to be turned around in Beirut on Monday when the Lebanese buyer declined to accept the consignment on the basis that it was too late by many months.

Ukraine supplies about 5% of grain imports that support countries, but Moscow has a bigger share which is four times more. But Ukraine has accused Russia of blockading its ports, although it was reported that the Ukrainians are the ones who mined themselves recklessly.

Later, the UN and Turkey worked out a deal to set up a safe passage for ships navigating ports in Ukraine. Freighters leaving Ukraine port are expected to have grains, fertilizer, and food, while incoming ships will be checked for weapons.

Aspects of the agreement aim to handle all the Western sanctions against Russian shipping, which in reality prevent Moscow from supplying consumers in Africa and South America with food, fertilizer, and other goods.

In an opinion piece published last month in many important African publications, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Moscow was taking all necessary steps to ensure the delivery of the supplies that were contractually committed.

Lebanon Rejects Ukrainian Shipment

According to Bloomberg, a client in Lebanon declined the first grain cargo to leave Ukraine's recently reopened ports due to a five-month delay in transit.

The Ukrainian embassy says a new buyer for the grain is being found in Lebanon or abroad. The ship's destination was changed from Tripoli to "awaiting orders" on Sunday, noted ship-tracking data. Kyiv did not abide by the agreement to supply grain to African nations suffering from food insecurity.

Related Article: Brussels Snubs Zelensky's Demands To Ban Russian Travel at EU Borders

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Several billion years ago, cataclysmic meteor strikes struck the first super landmass in the ancient past. This process struck and sundered this unknown supercontinent over millions of years, resulting in the land masses we see today. Planet Earth is the only one that has defined floating continents on its crust.

Earth's Surface Pounded to Bits by Meteorite

One of the proofs that scientists know a supercontinent existed is that the edges of present continents are so far apart that they fit like jigsaw pieces, but how it came to be is unknown, noted Lumen Learning.

Speculation says that primordial Earth was different, and it took great force to shatter the first supercontinent. Forces unimaginable now were generated.

Even countless millions of years have passed that left bread crumbs as clues, such as zircon, these minerals found in Western Australia Craton. This earthen crust has remained the same for several billion years, reported Science Alert.

Pilbara Craton is a snapshot in the farthest past and holds a record of a primordial past; in it are the zircon crystals with proof of space rocks slamming and breaking continents.

According to Geologist Tim Johnson of the Curtin University of Australia, examining the oxygen isotope in zircon was melted on top with the sign of unbelievable meteor impacts on a super landmass in the ancient past, citing EurekAlert.

He added that the bombardment of the continents by cataclysmic meteoric strikes is similar to the Chicxulub that killed off the dinosaurs later.

They examined 26 rock samples containing zircon bits between 3.6 and 2.9 billion years old.

Read Also: Cave Sealed Off for 5 Million Years Contains 33 Blind Creatures, Surviving Without Oxygen

Analyzing samples of the oxygen isotopes oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 with 10 and 8 neutrons, which are ratios employed in paleogeology to ascertain the temperature at which the rock was formed,

How Cratons Are Formed

Using these rations, they determined three stages and changed how the Pilbara Craton came to exist.

Stage one involves the formation of zircons as the Earth's crust partially melts due to heat generated by impacting space rocks. Most of the oldest clusters were formed by a powerful impact that made the craton.

The next stage is the reforming and stabilization of the crustal nucleus, followed by the last stage of melting and turning granitic. A stable nucleus that will transform into today's continental pieces, similar to cratons in other crustal plates around the world

Space rocks of variety have destroyed countless eons and an unimaginable number of land masses. Cratons are made by unimaginable heat through catastrophic bombardments with thick rock layers.

There are 35 cratons known in addition to the one investigated thus far; if the hypothesis is correct, more of them must be examined.

Johnston added that the data related to the archaic continental crust of the Earth shows patterns in Western Australia. He said that more tests are needed to verify the study's results published in Nature.

The study says that cataclysmic meteoric strikes are responsible for breaking up a super landmass in the ancient past, with zircons being its clues.

Related Article: Eternal Cycle of the Death and Rebirth of the Cosmos Continues Since Its Birth

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Connecticuts statewide ballot for the Nov. 8 election is now set. It contains one geographic oddity and one big disappointment to a large bloc of voters. It also keeps intact a remarkable 60-year racial streak.

The geographic oddity: Out of 14 major-party candidates who will be on every ballot around the state  vying for the six state constitutional offices plus U.S. Senate  only one is from greater Hartford. Thats Mary Fay of West Hartford, the Republican nominee for comptroller.

Eight of the 14 hail from Fairfield County. Four live in New Haven County. One, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, is from Middletown in Middlesex County and none come from Litchfield, Tolland, Windham or New London counties.

And the primaries didnt offer any hope for the Hartford area: All five candidates who lost statewide primaries came from Fairfield or New Haven county.

Among the four candidates for the highest offices  governor and U.S. Senate  three live in Greenwich: Gov. Ned Lamont, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Leora Levy, the GOP Senate nominee.

Coincidence? Nope. These days anyone seeking either of those two offices who lacks vast personal wealth starts out in a deep hole. Its no surprise the town with the most wealth produces those candidates. The fourth hopeful for one of the top jobs, Bob Stefanowski of Madison, the Republican for governor, said he would lend himself $10 million for his campaign.

The disappointment: Again, as always, no Hispanic candidates appear on either ticket for a statewide office. Many Democrats had hoped 2022 would bring the first, as Hispanic voters represent about 17 percent of the Connecticut population.

There were some candidates of Hispanic heritage this year including Maritza Bond in the partys primary for secretary of the state. But Rep. Stephanie Thomas, D-Norwalk, the endorsed candidate, handily beat Bond on Tuesday after outpolling Rep. Hilda Santiago, D-Meriden, for the party nod back in May.

And the streak: For 60 years, stretching over 16 statewide election cycles since 1962, Democrats have nominated a Black candidate for state Treasurer. That run carries forward with Erick Russell, a 33-year-old lawyer from New Haven. Russell, endorsed by the party in May, had to beat two challengers in the primary, Karen DuBois-Walton, of New Haven, who is also Black, and Dita Bhargava from Greenwich.

Speaking of streaks, Republicans last won a statewide or congressional race in 2006, a 16-year run they would like to end.

Dont feel bad for Hartford

The geographic oddity of Hartford County shut out of the statewide ballot on the Dems side and nearly shut out by the GOP, is a combination of simply the way the chips fell this time around and the money issue. It would never have happened in years past, when party bosses carefully balanced the statewide and congressional tickets by ethnicity, political leanings and sections of the state.

Fay told me in an email that she has definitely noticed the oddity, and talks about it on the campaign trail  when shes in the Hartford area, of course. Its harder to raise money here, she said.

Top elected leaders arent worried about the plight of Hartford.

Just two years ago we had two who lived in Hartford and believe me, we heard that from the other parts of the state, said House Speaker Matt Ritter, a Hartford Democrat, referring to Treasurer Shawn Wooden and Sen. Chris Murphy. I havent heard for the last four years that Hartford has not done well.

The shift reflects, partly, that there are more Democrats than ever in Fairfield County as old-line Republicans switch parties in the Trump era, Ritter pointed out.

I dont think theres any sense of it being planned to undermine Hartford, Senate President Pro-Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, told me.

In fact, he noted that New Haven usually provides the largest margins for Democrats.

But greater Hartfords power base is just fine, thank you very much, with Ritter as the speaker and Rep. Jason Rojas of East Hartford as House Majority Leader, not to mention some prominent legislative chairs. The speaker alone, like the Senate President Pro-Tempore, holds more power than any constitutional office except governor, by a longshot.

Its sort of a restoration of some balance, Looney said. Good candidates and good leaders can come from anywhere, anytimeStamford was a major power center.

Politics, like most sports, can be a game of inches. The tickets might have ended up looking very different but for a hundred or so votes swinging this way or that way at the party conventions in May. If you had asked people three months ago if Stephanie Thomas would be our nominee, Ritter said, people would have said What?

Its a disappointment

To Rep. Vin Candelora, R-North Branford, the House GOP leader, the geographic imbalance reflects a troubling trend. I think its a money issue, he said. Because of tight deadlines and other restrictions, the states public financing system doesnt allow for your blue-collar person or average person to run, Candelora added, especially for statewide office.

The greatest barrier of all seems to be for Hispanic candidates to make their way onto a statewide ballot position. One of the U.S. Senate candidates, Leora Levy, was born in Cuba and might claim Hispanic heritage.

Its a disappointment. The opportunity will present itself again and we need to have a candidate who will make it through the process, said Jason Rojas, who, as House majority leader is the highest ranking Hispanic elected official in the state. Representation does matter.

Still, Rojas said, speaking for Democrats, as long as the party addresses issues that matter to people, I dont think its going to hurt us.

As youd expect because of the makeup of the parties, the Democratic ticket is more diverse, with two Black (Russell and Thomas) and one Asian candidate (Attorney General William Tong) among the seven. The Republicans have six white and one Asian candidate (Harry Arora for treasurer) on their statewide ballot. Levy, who is white, was born into a family of Americans and Europeans whe were in Cuba for about 35 years before they escaped to the United States when she was age 3.

The Dems have five men and two women among their front seven; the GOP ticket is four women and three men.

One problem, Candelora noted: People of color are not coming up through high-profile posts as mayors. If you look at our cities, he said, theyre all run by white males.

dhaar@hearstmediact.com
After a meeting that lasted over three hours and a process that lasted over a year, the Hartford City Council on Thursday night approved the citys updated charter revision and sent it to Novembers ballot.

The vote was contentious and followed a marathon meeting that included a break of over an hour for council members to privately discuss the charter. In the end, the resolution to approve the charter revision passed by a 5-3 vote, with councilman John Gale not present for the meeting.

Council President Maly Rosado, Council Majority Leader T.J. Clarke, Councilwoman Marilyn Rossetti, Councilman James Sanchez and Councilman Nick Lebron voted in favor of the charter revision, while Councilwoman Tiana Hercules, Councilman Josh Michtom and Councilwoman Shirley Surgeon voted against it.

The resolution needed a majority to approve, and with Gale not present, the margin was thin. Hercules and Michtom had previously said they would not support it, and Surgeon announced before the vote that she would reject it. The main issue over the past few weeks has been a push to overhaul the city council system to add district representation instead of the current model, and also to possibly expand the council to more members.

There was drama until the end of the meeting because Clarke did not say which way he was leaning when he spoke before the vote and criticized the lack of district representation in the charter.

Its disappointing to hear that Hartford, which is the capital city, is the last major city in Connecticut that has not caught up with the times, so to speak. And I think thats something that we should be actually considering, he said. One could argue, the way that the structure is now, which is nine members at large, is not really impactful and kind of neglecting the voices of those that we call neighbors.

Rosado spoke after Clarke and responded to an earlier claim from Michtom regarding allegations of backdoor meetings during the charter revision process. In May, six of 14 members  including all four Black members  left the commission.

This is democracy. And to make this about Black commissioners leaving, I take that very offensively, Rosado said. We should be working together as a council body, as colleagues, moving the city forward and not putting so much negativity or so many things that are just not appropriate. We need to move forward.

Rosado later added that to not vote on this tonight sends a very strong message.

Clark ultimately voted in favor of the resolution, which will now be on the November ballot for Hartford voters to consider.

At a special city council meeting two weeks ago to review the proposed charter, Michtom and Hercules submitted a resolution that would have asked the commission to reconsider a slew of major issues, including district representation and the makeup of boards and commissions. But council voted against the resolution, leading the two members of the Working Families Party to release a statement the next day calling out Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and city council members for what they said was a lack of transparency throughout the process.

The status quo in this city of how government works for the people is bad, Michtom said Thursday before the vote. We have a system that is not responsive to people, where people dont know where to turn. They dont have a sense that their vote matters and that folks respond to their needs.

Before the vote on the entire charter, council members had voted on 20 different substantive changes proposed by the commission. The most significant changes to the proposed charter include giving city council the ability to hire more staff, giving city council more time to review the annual budget and adjusting the charter section on boards and commissions to create more flexible meeting schedule.

The charter revision commission first met in April 2021. James Woulfe, the chairman of the charter revision commission, declined to speak about specific issues but said in a statement that hes grateful to the rest of the commission for their work throughout the process.

The City Council has approved the most comprehensive package of charter revisions since 2002, when the city changed its form of government, and Im grateful to them, my fellow commissioners, and the public for engaging in a rigorous, transparent, thoughtful process, he said.

jonah.dylan@hearstmediact.com
NEWTOWN  The uninhabited home along the shoreline of Lake Zoar piqued Eugene Tortoricis interest.

The self-described entrepreneur had wanted to purchase property along the lake, a reservoir on the Housatonic River that snakes through four towns in lower Connecticut.

Tortorici saw the waterfront property, located down a slope off Bankside Trail, as an investment in an up-and-coming neighborhood.

The little white house looked to be abandonedone of only two abandoned properties Tortorici, a Southbury resident, was able to locate along the lake. Better still, a neighbor suggested to him the owner might be willing to sell.

But tracking down the owner, a Massachusetts man in his 60s, proved to be a challenge. Pulling the records from the town led him to a dead phone number and a P.O. box address.

Me being persistent as I am with every business that I have, Im like, Im not stopping there, the 32-year-old said in a recent phone interview.

While police records dont indicate exact details of the search for the owner, an undeterred, Tortorici had his Realtor conduct a name search. It came back with three names one was the contact information that led to a dead number. But when Tortorici called the second contact on the list, a man picked up.

He says yeah, you found me. Im the owner and Id like to sell it, Tortorici said. That was the fraudster.

It was the moment what could have been an ordinary real estate deal took a bizarre turn. Because the voice Tortorici heard over the phone did not belong to the actual owner, but another man entirely who police say impersonated the owner and agreed to sell the home to Tortorici.

Ultimately, the man Tortorici spoke with on the phone that day was identified by investigators as Edwin Robert Lewis III, of Willington. Newtown police charged him last month with second-degree money laundering, first-degree identity theft, first-degree larceny, criminal impersonation and second-degree forgery.

Lewis has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. His attorney said in a statement last week that we intend to present evidence in the appropriate forum to confirm his not guilty plea.

Tortorici and the man agreed to a purchase price of $65,000, records show.

Fast forward a couple months down the road, I buy it, completely correctly through attorneys, Tortorici said. He duped two law firms.

The home was sold on July 26, 2021, records show.

Investigators believe the sale was able to go through because Lewis name was very close to to that of the genuine owner. The sale only raised suspicions for police after the real owner called Newtown police on Aug. 24 2021 and told them he believed his identity had been stolen, according to the warrant. The subsequent investigation led to the recent arrest.

A neighbor had noticed Tortorici was on the property and contacted the actual homeowner. Thank God for him, Tortorici said. At the time I would have kept on investing in the property.

The neighbor informed him that the owner had not, in fact, sold the property. Tortorici said he disregarded the neighbor at first that was until the police became involved.

I didnt believe it, he said. But police told him they were almost certain the man who had agreed to sell him the house was not who he claimed to be. They had triangulated the mans cell phone, they told him, Tortorici said.

The warrant shows police were able to use the phone number for Lewis and a Virginia drivers license for him to establish he was not the actual owner of the property. When police ran his identity through a state police criminal record system, they found Lewis had been arrested in Wethersfield in 2007 and charged with second-degree larceny, credit card theft, second-degree forgery, and criminal impersonation.

Details from that case were not immediately available.

Police also tied Lewis to the fraudulent sale through paperwork from the sale notorized at a bank in South Windsor on July 21, 2021, according to the warrant. Lewis phone location shows him near the bank on that date, and a man matching his description was seen on the banks surveillance photo having documents notarized there, according to the warrant.

There was another clue that had led Tortorici to believe he was dealing with the true owner of the home. A neighbor had told him when he first expressed interest in the house that the owner had tried to convert the homes electrical system. Tortorici said the owner later denied that, but when he searched Lewis name, he learned he owned an electric company.

Records in the states Department of Consumer Protection show more than two dozen complaints were filed against Lewis dating back to 1996.

Most of the complaints are related to conducting work without the appropriate credential or permits, a spokeswoman for the agency said in an email.

The agency said Lewis held an electrical unlimited contractor license, which expired in 2000, and had his electrical unlimited journey person license revoked in 2006. In 2008, he was ordered to pay more than $6,000 in fines and restitution for doing electrical and plumbing work without permits, a press release said.

During the purchase, Tortorici said only one moment gave him pause. Early one morning during closing, around 4:30 a.m., Tortorici said he and his wife were awoken by a phone call from Lewis number. He picked up, but he said Lewis didnt speak. Tortorici said he hung up and called back, but Lewis didnt answer.

I remember getting this weird feeling, Tortorici said. I felt really bad about it. He called back the next day ready to walk away from the deal, but he said Lewis offered an excuse claiming hed pocket dialed Tortorici by mistake on his way to work.

Tortorici said he had to open a case and sit for an hours-long deposition, but after around 5 months, he was able to get his money back from the purchase. I was ecstatic, he recalled. I literally started crying on the front step.

Then he got a call from the real owners lawyer, who pointed out that the house was still in his name. He offered to quit his claim to the home. The lawyer told him hed meet him at his door the following morning.

As the lawyer was leaving with the paperwork, I told him listen, if he ever does want to sell it, its a long shot, if he ever does want to sell it, let me know, Tortorici said.

A few days later the lawyer called him back and told him the real owner was interested in selling the home.

A month later, Tortorici bought the home again this time, with a different attorney and different insurance policy, he said. The purchase price was $8,000 over his original purchase price from Lewis.

The owner, reached by phone Friday, declined to comment other than to say he was grateful that the Newtown police concluded their investigation and that there was no violence upon the arrest.

Court records show the owner later a suit in Connecticut civil court requesting that the courts identify him as the proper owner, and seeking damages. Tortorici was later removed from the suit.

Kent Mancini, an attorney with Cramer & Anderson who represented the owner in in the suit, said this week that the lawsuit is proceeding in parallel to the criminal case. He said he didnt know about the second sale of the home.

Tortorici is unsure now exactly what he plans to do with the home, suggesting at one point he may fix the home up and move in, rather than flipping it, as he had originally planned.

Im going to make it nice, its going to be a nice property in the end, he said.

After the sale closed, Tortorici said he and the real - now prior - owner of the property went out to lunch. Tortorici considers him a friend. The two, as he put it, have been through the ringer together.

He didnt do any of this, Tortorici pointed out. and that was the most horrible part for me, Im like, I created all the problems for this poor guy because I was the one door knocking, I was the one calling, I put this all into action.

But, I believe you do the right thing in life, you live righteously, things follow, he said. You know the worst luck of my life turned out to be one of the best afterwards.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  A diesel pipeline in Wyoming owned by a company that's being sued by federal prosecutors over previous spills in two other states cracked open and released more than 45,000 gallons (205,000 liters) of fuel, state regulators and a company representative disclosed Friday.

Cleanup work is ongoing from the spill that was discovered by the pipeline's operator on July 27, said Joe Hunter, Emergency Response Coordinator with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The fuel spilled into sandy soil on private ranchland near the small community of Sussex in eastern Wyoming and did not spread very far, he said.

Contaminated soil was being excavated and placed into a temporary staging area, and it will be spread onto a nearby dirt road where the fuel is expected to largely evaporate, Hunter said.

The line is operated by Bridger Pipeline, a subsidiary of Casper-based True companies, according to an accident report submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard's National Response Center.

The company initially reported only 420 gallons (1,590 liters) had spilled, but later revised its estimate to 45,150 gallons (205,250 liters), according to a National Response Center database.

Bridger Pipeline spokesperson Bill Salvin said the initial figure was based on what company personnel saw on the ground and reported immediately. The volume estimate increased as the site was excavated, he said.

True and its subsidiaries have a long history of spills. In May, federal prosecutors in Montana alleged that representatives of Bridger Pipeline had concealed from regulators problems with a pipeline that broke beneath the Yellowstone River near the city of Glendive in 2015. The break spewed more than 50,000 gallons (240,000 liters) of crude into the river and fouled Glendive's drinking water supply.

In North Dakota, federal prosecutors and the state Attorney General's Office are pursuing parallel claims of environmental violations against a second True companies subsidiary responsible for a 2016 spill that released more than 600,000 gallons (2.7 million liters) of crude, contaminating the Little Missouri River and a tributary.

Representatives of the companies have denied violating pollution laws and rejected claims that problems with the Montana line were concealed from federal regulators.

The Wyoming spill was caused by a crack at a weld in the line, said Hunter, who did not know how long it was leaking before being discovered. The spilled fuel did not appear to reach any waterways and no enforcement actions for environmental violations were planned, he said.

I'm not saying there wouldn't be any down the road but for right now there won't be" any enforcement actions by the state, Hunter said. It's an older pipeline and it's one of those things that happen.

The 6-inch (15 centimeter) diameter steel line was installed in 1968 by the original owner and later acquired by Bridger Pipeline, Salvin said. It was last inspected in 2019, using a device that travels inside the pipe looking for flaws, and no problems were detected, he said.

We're focused on minimizing the environmental impact and we're going to replace the soil and restore the land as close as possible to its original condition, Salvin said.

Kenneth Clarkson with the Pipeline Safety Trust, a Bellingham, Washington-based group that advocates for safer pipelines, said a thorough investigation into the spill's cause needs to conducted.

Its frustrating to hear of another spill by Bridger Pipeline LLC," Clarkson said. "This spill of 45,000-plus gallons of diesel into rural Wyoming negatively impacts the environment, wildlife, and surrounding communities.

Violations of pipeline safety regulations would be handled separately and fall under jurisdiction of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Salvin said the agency has been notified about the spill, but officials did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.

Bridger last year reached a $2 million settlement with the federal government and Montana over damages from the Yellowstone River spill. The company was previously fined $1 million in the case by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

___

Follow Brown on Twitter: @MatthewBrownAP
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In the post-World War II era in New Canaan, traditional saltbox-style houses were typical family abodes  until a certain group of architects descended on the area, turning the suburban town into a neighborhood art show.

The construction of mid-century modern homes around town was started by The Harvard Five, five alumni from Harvards School of Design. One member, Phillip Johnson, is most known for The Glass House or Johnson House in New Canaan. Tourists from around the world visit the all-glass, square house built in 1949.

The home on 44 Benedict Hill Road is one of nearly 100 mid-century modern homes built in New Canaan from the 1940s through the 1960s. Today, New Canaan has 80 mid-century modern homes, as 20 were torn down, according to The New England Historical Society.

Known as the Evans House, the home on 44 Benedict Hill Road is named after its designer, James Jim Evans, a Yale School of Architecture alumnus. According to listing agent John Engel, Evans was inspired by The Glass House, but wanted to experiment more with curves and steel rather than wood. Due to Evans architectural risk-taking, Engel described the home as the second-wave of mid-century modern for its design.

Douglas Elliman Realty / Contributed Photo Douglas Elliman Realty / Contributed Photo Douglas Elliman Realty / Contributed Photo Douglas Elliman Realty / Contributed Photo Inside the 44 Benedict Hill Road home, which was inspired by Philip Johnson's "Glass House." (Douglas Elliman Realty / Contributed Photos) Inside the 44 Benedict Hill Road home, which was inspired by Philip Johnson's "Glass House." (Douglas Elliman Realty / Contributed Photos)

Engel compared those interested in mid-century modern architecture to classic car collectors, in which architects pay attention to the name of a homes designer and its condition. These architecture collectors, as nicknamed by Engel, will find the 1960 New Canaan home in its original condition, Engel noted. With its floor-to-ceiling glass and curved roof, the 1,600-square-foot house still has its original asphalt roof and glass windows. The glass exterior, a popular design in mid-century modern homes, shows the surrounding 4.6 acres of woods.

The main entrance is a walkway that leads into a wrap-around balcony around two sides of the home. The balcony is visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living and dining rooms that are connected to the kitchen. There are four bedrooms and three bathrooms, according to the listing.

Engel described the home as being beautiful on all four sides, noting that  due to its unique shape  it should be treated like an early Picasso painting or mid-century modern sculpture.

The 44 Benedict Hill Road home is listed for $2.1 million, which is slightly above the average New Canaan home price. According to national real estate brokerage Redfin, homes in its ZIP code have a median sale price of 06840of $1.7 million. Homes in the area tend to sell after an average of 21 days, compared to 58 days last year, according to Redfin, and in June 2022, there were a total of 100 New Canaan homes sold. According to the national real estate brokerage,



The house on 44 Benedict Hill Road is listed by Douglas Elliman of Connecticut LLC and presented by John Engel (203.247.4700).
KILLINGWORTH  A lawsuit aiming to protect a bird sanctuary at Deer Lake Scout Reservation, which is for sale, and a countersuit from the Boy Scouts both have been dropped.

Robert Brown, spokesman for the Connecticut Yankee Council, confirmed both parties had withdrawn their respective suits.

We did sign the release from the lawsuit late yesterday [Aug. 8], yes, and are happy we can continue to move forward with discussions with the interested parties, Brown said.

Since Deer Lake was put on the market in September 2021, the sale has become controversial. Environmental groups, conservationists, former Scouts, residents and local and state officials have wanted to preserve the 255-acre property, which has been described as a precious and pristine treasure by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

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The end of the lawsuits will help with negotiations, according to Ted Langevin, head of the Pathfinders group. He would not comment further.

Brown said, Were still in discussion with both interested parties and havent ruled anything out yet.

When asked whether the Yankee Council was close to a decision on the sale, Brown said, Not yet, were still in discussion with both parties to structure the best deal for Scouting.

Brown said the council is in negotiations with both Fortitude Capital, a real estate development firm, and Pathfinders, a local scouting group that runs the camp.

Margaret Streicker, CEO of Fortitude Capital LLC, sits on the board of the Yankee Council, but had recused herself, she has said.

Pathfinders met a May 1 deadline with a competitive offer, after a weekslong fundraising blitz. The Yankee Council was seeking $5 million, including a $400,000 kill fee. Fortitude Capital had submitted a letter of intent for $4.6 million.

Pathfinders latest offer was the fourth bid on the land; Langevin would not disclose the amount.

The suit filed on behalf of David Stephenson of Madison, an avid birder who wants to preserve the Richard English Bird Sanctuary, was filed in Middletown Superior Court in late April. It sought a conservation easement to protect the bird sanctuary to run with the land.

The late Richard English of New Haven, an active member in the New Haven Bird Club, had bequeathed a sizable amount of his estate to Deer Lake, and a bird sanctuary was dedicated to him on the property, which was published in The Scouter, a Boy Scout magazine, according to attorney Keith Ainsworth.

That attorneys who filed the suit on behalf of the Yankee Council in July, however, claimed that there never was any bird sanctuary on the property and said Stephensons lawsuit was stalling any sale and could cause financial damages to the Boy Scouts.

Mr. Stephenson knows, or reasonably should have known, of the chilling effect of this lawsuit, as well as the increased cost to CYC, but continues to prevent the sale of the Deer Lake property, the countersuit stated.

The Council does not recognize any bird sanctuary, according to court documents.

CYC admits that the Richard L. English fund makes annual charitable donations to CYC, but DENIES the remaining allegations contained in Paragraph 10 of the Complaint, wrote attorney David X. Sullivan, who represents the Yankee Council.

In paragraph 10, Ainsworth wrote, Following the public announcement of Defendant's dedication of the Richard English Bird sanctuary the public accepted this dedication through annual public visits by avid birders and interested members of the public who make the trip to Killingworth to observe the many species of birds that inhabit the bird sanctuary at Deer Lake.

Ainsworth noted that the Richard English Foundation had donated $100,000 annually to Deer Lake since Englishs death in 2011.

Yankee Council spokesperson Bob Brown explained the Yankee Councils assertion that there is no bird sanctuary on the property: My understanding  we have no record of it ever being a bird sanctuary.

Weve never known that property to be a bird sanctuary, Brown said. Thats never been in any of our records. We cant find anything that says, that supports the claim that it is a sanctuary.

That is why we dont agree with it. Weve pushed back on the assertion, Brown said. We dont have any record of it being a bird sanctuary and we certainly never used it as such in practice.

We never marketed it as such. Nor were we aware that people were coming there with the intent to visit a bird sanctuary, Brown said.

We know that theres a plaque on the property, he said. I think the kiosk provided information on the birds that lived or habituated on the property.

Ainsworth said his client, Stephenson, wanted to withdraw the suit because that was the best decision for him personally and he was concerned over a potential financial loss.

My client went out on a limb and no one followed him there, Ainsworth said. A lot of people were making noise, save Deer Lake, save Deer Lake, bird sanctuary.

The AG didnt step in and neither did any of the environmental groups who were all going before the cameras, in the papers and on Facebook, Ainsworth said.

A spokesperson for Attorney General William Tong disagreed with Ainsworths statement.

The assertion that the Office of the Attorney General did not step in is offensive and inaccurate, Elizabeth Benton, a spokesperson from his office, said in a written statement. Attorney General Tong personally engaged in efforts to save Deer Lake.

The Office of the Attorney General has been and remains involved, and is confident that all sides will be able to work together to reach a positive resolution for the preservation of this important property, the statement said. Attorney General Tong previously requested that the Yankee Council postpone consideration of proposals for the purchase of Deer Lake while the Office reviewed the Councils compliance with charities law.

We continue to work with the Yankee Council to ensure the proper handling of any potential transfer of charitably restricted land, the statement read.
There have been no confirmed cases of monkeypox in Connecticut children, but with some exposure among children in other states, state public health officials are preparing.

At the end of July, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said there had been two cases of monkeypox identified in children. This month, a group of children in Illinois were exposed when a worker at a day care tested positive for monkeypox.

Connecticut has so far received 3,628 doses of monkeypox vaccine Jynneos, and while the vaccine is not approved for use in patients younger than 18, there are provisions being made.

In Illinois, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made individual exceptions for exposed children, and Department of Public Health spokesman Chris Boyle said that could happen in Connecticut, too.

Boyle said there are single patient emergency use authorizations available from the FDA, and the CDC is developing an expanded-access investigational new drug protocol to allow broader use of Jynneos in the pediatric population.

If a Connecticut resident under the age of 18 needs vaccination for post-exposure prophylaxis, DPH will work with partnering health care providers to complete the single-patient emergency use authorization from FDA, Boyle said. We have already been in touch with CDC and other stakeholders to ensure we are prepared.

University of Connecticut virologist Paolo Verardi said younger children are particularly at risk from monkeypox, as well as immunocompromised patients.

The types of people that are most susceptible are the ones that are very young and they have an underdeveloped immune system, he said. So, young children, anybody thats immunosuppressed, and you may be immunosuppressed because they may be taking a drug for an autoimmune disease.

Its not that children are more likely to contract monkeypox, Verardi explained, but that children, the elderly, and those that are immunosuppressed or immunocompromised are at the highest risk of developing more severe disease.

As of Monday, there have been 30,189 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally and 8,934 confirmed cases in the United States of which 48 are in Connecticut, according to the CDC.

The virus has, for the most part, been found among middle-aged men, but Verardi said it is transmissible by physical exposure to infected lesions, respiratory means and, though its less likely, indirect contact with infected surfaces.

That includes touching monkeypox lesions that sometimes can be hard to notice, or touching and using objects such as toys, clothes, and bedding of someone that is infected, he said.

The virus that causes monkeypox is very thermo-stable, which means the virus can stay in the environment without losing infectivity for quite some time, Verardi explained. Children are very active, social, and tactile, so spread in settings like schools and day care facilities is something we need to consider, particularly if the outbreak continues to evolve and infections become more widespread in diverse populations.

Boyle said the state will formally coordinate strategy with schools and child care centers on monkeypox mitigation, if and when the data demonstrates the necessity: The data dictates the response, right now we are not seeing a need to issue any additional guidance than what has already been released.

Though the U.S. declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency earlier this month, transmission levels in Connecticut are still low, Boyle said.

We are not at a state public health emergency level or pandemic level, he said. As we monitor the data, DPH  in collaboration with school districts and local health departments  will assess guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on educating school districts and daycares on monkeypox.

Though a formal guidance for schools is being formulated, Boyle said DPH is already coordinating with schools.

Many school nurse supervisors participate in a weekly Connecticut Department of Public Health/Local Health Department call already. DPH provides a weekly update on monkeypox on those calls, Boyle said. So, in effect we have been providing information to school districts already.

Verardi said that having protocols in place that allow for vaccination of patients under the age of 18 is important, its not the endgame.

We should have been better prepared in the first place when it comes to availability of vaccines, and we need to be ready for the possibility of needing to vaccinate our kids more widely and not just after known or potential exposure, he said.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  A sheriffs deputy was killed after stopping along a dark stretch of road in North Carolina, prompting authorities to launch a manhunt for whoever fired the shots late Thursday night.

We will find whos responsible for this loss. Even in the midst of the hurt and the pain, we ask for prayers, we ask for patience as we go about finding out what happened and whos responsible, Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker said at a news conference early Friday morning.

The sheriffs office identified the slain deputy as Deputy Ned Byrd, 48, a K-9 officer who had been with the office for 13 years. Byrd was fatally shot in the line of duty after 11 p.m. Thursday on a dark section of Battle Bridge Road adjacent to open land about a quarter mile (0.4 kilometers) from a gas station, sheriffs office spokesperson Eric Curry said by telephone.

We're trying to gather why the deputy stopped where he did, Curry said.

Earlier in the evening, Byrd had responded to a domestic call less than a mile away and then entered his notes into the system, Curry said. There was no radio traffic to indicate that Byrd was making a traffic stop, since procedure would have dictated that he check in, he said. However, it appears that as Byrd patrolled the area, something caught his attention along the road, since his vehicle was positioned as if to illuminate something, he said.

When Byrd didnt respond to several attempts to check-in, another deputy was sent to check and found Byrd shot outside his vehicle with his K-9 still inside the vehicle, Curry said.

Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies were in the area Friday to join a manhunt for the perpetrator or perpetrators, Curry said.

Several sheriffs deputies have been shot and wounded in recent weeks in North Carolina. Sgt. Matthew Fishman of the Wayne County Sheriffs Office was killed last week. He was one of three deputies shot while trying to serve involuntary commitment papers at a home south of Goldsboro on Aug. 1.

Attorney General Josh Stein said in a statement that he's troubled by the recent spate of violence against law enforcement officers.

Officers put their lives on the line to protect our communities  we must do everything in our power to keep them safe, he said. I thank the many public-spirited officers who are serving and protecting the people of North Carolina all over the state.

Byrd joined the sheriff's office as a detention officer in 2009 and was sworn in as a deputy in 2018, according to the sheriff's office.

Former Sheriff Donnie Harrison remembered that Byrd's goal was to be a deputy, WNCN-TV reported.

I allowed my detention officers, if they qualified to go out for the deputy position," Harrison said. "He tried a couple times and finally made it. He was one happy person and I was one happy person for him. Thats what makes it so hard.
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The Westport Astronomical Society is welcoming Westport Observatory Director Bob Meadows at 8 p.m. on Tuesday for The 2022 Stellafane Report in an online event as part of the societys free science lecture series.

Meadows will speak about his recent attendance at the 86th Convention of Amateur Telescope Makers 2022 Stellafane Convention. He will also report on all of the latest amateur telescope innovations.

The event will be hosted in the astronomical societys classroom, as a webinar on Zoom, and as a livestream on the Astronomical Societys YouTube channel.

Peope are encouraged to participate, ask questions, and be a part of the live meeting.

Historical society hosting swinging 1940s concert

Tickets are on sale for the Weston Historical Societys swinging 1940s outdoor concert.

The fundraiser will be from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the societys property, 104 Weston Road. The raindate is Sept. 18.

It will feature performances from Vince Giordano with the Mini Hawks 7 band, as well as Miss Maybell and the Jazz Age Artistes with Judkins and Nalepka.

No outside alcohol will be allowed. Outside food is to be limited to support the food vendors that will be on site. The Baked and Sauced Airstream and a food truck from JRs Deli and Grille will be there.

Attendees will be able to listen to the music, view classic 1940s cars, and take the opportunity to have a first glimpse in the newly restored Coley Homestead and its 1940s kitchen.

Purchase tickets at https://www.westonhistoricalsociety.org, or at the door.

It costs $40 per person for historical society members or $45 if they would like to use one of the societys padded chairs for the event. It costs $50 per person for non-members, or $55 to use one of the chairs. Children 10 and under are free.

Tickets that include a padded chair will only be available for purchase online up until Sept. 10. People are also able to bring their own lawn chairs.

Email info@westonhistoricalsociety.org, call 203-226-1804, or visit https://www.westonhistoricalsociety.org for more information.

Coastal Bridge Advisors expands senior team

Coastal Advisors, a boutique and independent wealth management firm, has hired a director of marketing, expanding its senior team.

Deirdre Childs joins the team, bringing 17 years in marketing and business development.

Childs previously served in a variety of in-house senior roles and worked as a consultant to support global businesses, and major brands in the expansion of their marketing, and communications programs, including Dove, Broadridge, Patagonia and Pepsi.

She looks forward to bringing her talents to the firm, where she will also support its client engagement, business development and branding activities.

Coastal Advisors has its headquarters at 54 Wilton Road in Westport, and an office in Los Angeles.

The hire is one of several recent additions to the team. The firm has also added to its investment operations, and client service teams to address increased service demands.

Visit https://coastalbridgeadvisors.com for more information about the firm, including its disclosures.

New artist exhibits at the Westport Book Shop

Artist Elizabeth Petrie-Devoll is the Westport Book Shops guest exhibitor for August.

Petrie-Devoll is exhibiting 11 original assemblage works of art through Aug. 31. All of the artwork is available for purchase.

Petrie-Devoll creates new art from old objects with a practice that enlivens history, and questions the supposed border between the past and the present. She works from her home studio in Westport, and regularly exhibits art in Fairfield County and surrounding areas.

She is a member of the Board of the Artists Collective of Westport. She has an undergraduate degree from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Fine Arts.

Petrie-Devoll spent more than a decade as an art director on Madison Avenue in New York City, primarily at the advertising company BBDO. She has spent 10 years as education director and artist in residence at the Westport Historical Society.

Visit https://epdevoll.com to see her artwork.

The art can be viewed during business hours at the shop, located at 23 Jesup Road. The Drew Friedman Art Place is an area of the shop dedicated to exhibiting the artwork of community artists yearround on a rotating basis.

Visit https://www.westportbooksaleventures.org, or email info@westportbooksales.org for more information, and to become involved.
Chinese scientists are developing a cutting-edge flying submarine concept vehicle in addition to its current arsenal. It is a flying torpedo or mini-drone that flies and swims towards a target.

China's New Vessel Surpasses US Navy Concept

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) on August 8 claimed that a research team from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in eastern China had built and tested a prototype submersible drone able to fly through the air quickly.

Researchers say the drone can do both civilian and military purposes, like inspecting underwater mines. The unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) has four propellers and two slanted at the front. It can follow an underwater target slowly and maintain its position for long periods.

It features two large wings which fold over its back as it glides below. That offers the drone a sleek underwater form that reduces drag and enhances maneuverability, reported EurAsian Times.

Whenever the vehicle breaks the water surface, the wing extent enables a glide over the water traveling at 120 km/hr.

The project's principal scientist, Ang Haisong, claims he published a manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal in June. He stated that when in fixed-wing mode, which allows for long-range aerial attack, it consumes less energy, noted Interesting Engineering.

Chinese scientists created two scaled-down prototypes with a roughly two-meter wingspan. The key to creating a flying submarine concept vehicle that can fly is for the researchers to figure out a way to enable the UUV to take off from the ocean.

Read Also: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Exposes Main Battle Tanks Flaws Hindering Battle Victory

To solve this problem, Ang and his colleagues devised an intelligent control system that allows the submersible to glide over the waves while producing enough lift for flight.

Equipped with an airbag on its underside that can be flooded to adjust the buoyancy so that it can maintain a certain depth without making noise with its propellers.

It has an airbag on the underside that can be filled to regulate the buoyancy, allowing it to maintain a specific depth without producing noise with its propellers.

Futuristic Submersible Aircrafts

The outlet cited an unnamed researcher from Northwestern Polytechnical University focusing on related technology. China is developing a handful of flying submarines classified as transmedia vessels. Ang stated that most hybrid transmedia vessels are for war and capable of supersonic airspeeds.

Ji Wanfeng, a professor at the Naval Aviation University in Yantai, Shandong province, claims that these hybrid ships are practical and affordable weaponry to counter the danger posed by aircraft carriers. He and his colleagues believe modern warships' multilevel defense systems can shoot down roughly 50% of new attacks such as planes, missiles, or traditional drones.

An aero-sub capable of flying and diving into the water could evade and confuse a carrier group's defenses. Diving below when locked on, and surface to resume a jostling attack on a surface combatant.

A number of them might cause a warship's computer to become confused during combat. Ang went on to say that a flying sub is more likely to survive if it can fly at 150 km/h. Chinese scientists remarked that a flying submarine concept vehicle is a good addition as a combat system, added to the PLA Navy.

Related Article: AIP Technology: A Gamechanger for Indian Navy or Should It Be Passed Over

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CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP)  Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses drew death threats from Irans leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York.

A bloodied Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was on a ventilator Friday evening, with a damaged liver, severed nerves in his arm and an eye he was likely to lose.

Police identified the attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey. He was arrested at the scene and was awaiting arraignment. Matar was born a decade after The Satanic Verses was published. The motive for the attack was unclear, State Police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said.

An Associated Press reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stab or punch him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested.

Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdies wounds as serious but recoverable.

Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, a co-founder of an organization that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked. Reese suffered a facial injury and was treated and released from a hospital, police said. He and Rushdie were due to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile.

A state trooper and a county sheriffs deputy were assigned to Rushdies lecture, and state police said the trooper made the arrest. But after the attack, some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasnt tighter security for the event, given the decades of threats against Rushdie and a bounty on his head offering more than $3 million for anyone who kills him.

Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the roughly 2,500 people in the audience. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater.

The assailant ran onto the platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first youre like, Whats going on? And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten, Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.

Another spectator, Kathleen James, said the attacker was dressed in black, with a black mask.

We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that theres still a lot of controversy around this author. But it became evident in a few seconds that it wasnt, she said.

Matar, like other visitors, had obtained a pass to enter the Chautauqua Institutions 750-acre grounds, Michael Hill, the president of the nonprofit education center and resort, said.

The suspects attorney, public defender Nathaniel Barone, said he was still gathering information and declined to comment. Matars home was blocked off by authorities.

The stabbing reverberated from the tranquil town of Chautauqua to the United Nations, which issued a statement expressing U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres horror and stressing that free expression and opinion should not be met with violence.

From the White House, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described the attack as reprehensible and said the Biden administration wished Rushdie a quick recovery.

This act of violence is appalling, Sullivan said in a statement. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing.

Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes, and the literary world recoiled at what Ian McEwan, a novelist and Rushdie's friend, described as an assault on freedom of thought and speech.

Salman has been an inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world, McEwan said in a statement. "He is a fiery and generous spirit, a man of immense talent and courage and he will not be deterred.

PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said the organization didn't know of any comparable act of violence against a literary writer in the U.S. Rushdie was once president of the group, which advocates for writers and free expression.

Rushdies 1988 novel was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims, who saw a character as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. Across the Muslim world, often-violent protests erupted against Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim family.

At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, including 12 people in Rushdies hometown of Mumbai. In 1991, a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death and an Italian translator survived a knife attack. In 1993, the books Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived.

The book was banned in Iran, where the late leader Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdies death. Khomeini died that same year.

Irans current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never issued a fatwa of his own withdrawing the edict, though Iran in recent years hasnt focused on the writer.

Irans mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fridays attack, which led an evening news bulletin on Iranian state television.

The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.

He said in a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fear.

The only way you can defeat it is by deciding not to be afraid, he said.

Anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered long after Khomeinis decree. The Index on Censorship, an organization promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016.

An Associated Press journalist who went to the Tehran office of the 15 Khordad Foundation, which put up the millions for the bounty on Rushdie, found it closed Friday night on the Iranian weekend. No one answered calls to its listed telephone number.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was appalled to learn of the attack on Rushdie, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. In no case is violence a response to words spoken or written by others in their exercise of the freedoms of opinion and expression.

In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, Joseph Anton, about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie used while in hiding.

Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnights Children, but his name became known around the world after The Satanic Verses.

Widely regarded as one of Britains finest living writers, Rushdie was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2008 and earlier this year was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor, a royal accolade for people who have made a major contribution to the arts, science or public life.

In a tweet, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deplored that Rushdie was attacked while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.

The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance. Visitors dont pass through metal detectors or undergo bag checks. Most people leave the doors to their century-old cottages unlocked at night.

The center is known for its summertime lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before.

At an evening vigil, a few hundred residents and visitors gathered for prayer, music and a long moment of silence.

Hate cant win, one man shouted.

___

Associated Press journalists John Wawrow in Chautauqua; Jennifer Peltz, Hillel Italie and Edith Lederer in New York City; Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, New York; Michael Hill in Albany, New York; Ted Shaffrey in Fairview, New Jersey; and Nasser Karimi and Mehdi Fattahi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
BRIDGEPORT  A Bronx, N.Y., man, charged with choking and stabbing a local woman two years ago, was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.

This was a horrific criminal event, Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo said at the sentencing of 30-year-old Christopher Jirau.

In addition to the nine-year term, the judge ordered Jirau to serve six years of special parole.

The victim had sent a letter to the court complaining that the sentence was too lenient but Supervisory Assistant States Attorney Colleen Zingaro told the judge that the victim refused to come to court to testify in the case.

The victims decision not to testify put the prosecutor in a difficult situation and I believe, based on all the circumstances, the disposition is a fair one, the judge said.

Jirau had been charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, home invasion, second-degree strangulation and first-degree unlawful restraint. But under the plea bargain he pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, first-degree assault and second-degree strangulation.

His lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Kelly Billings, said Jirau had no comment on the sentence.

Police said on Jan. 22, 2020, officers were dispatched to Bridgeport Hospital for a victim of a stabbing.

The woman was taking out the garbage when she was confronted outside her apartment by Jirau, police said.

Police said Jirau put his hand over the womans mouth so she couldnt scream and then forced her back into the apartment at knifepoint. Once inside the apartment, police said the two tumbled to the floor and Jirau grabbed the womans throat in his hands and began choking her.

Police said Jirau released the woman as she began to pass out but then picked up his knife and repeatedly stabbed her in the torso and stomach.

Bleeding from her wounds, police said the woman was forced to sit in a chair while Jirau ranted at her. She pleaded with him to let her go to the hospital but he told her he was worried she would call the police.

After several hours, police said Jirau left the apartment and the victim drove herself to the hospital.

Police said Jirau was later arrested in Westchester County in New York and extradited to Connecticut.
RICHMOND, Ind. (AP)  Prosecutors on Friday filed two attempted murder charges and four other counts against a man accused of shooting an eastern Indiana police officer in the head during a traffic stop and search for possible narcotics.

The Wayne County Prosecutors Office also has charged Phillip Matthew Lee, 47, of Richmond, with three drug possession counts for methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. A judge set Lees bond at $1 million.
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media

BRIDGEPORT  A Waterbury man was sentenced to more than six years in prison Thursday after police found more than a kilogram of cocaine and two loaded firearms during a state parole compliance check, according to federal prosecutors.

Keven Santos, 24, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and possession of firearm by a felon on May 2. U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport ordered Santos to serve 76 months  six years and four months  in prison followed by four years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a news release.
WFO MIDLAND/ODESSA Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

AREAL FLOOD ADVISORY

Flood Advisory

National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX

342 PM MDT Thu Aug 11 2022

...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 645 PM MDT/745 PM CDT/ THIS

EVENING...

* WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected.

* WHERE...Portions of southeast New Mexico and Texas, including the

following counties, in southeast New Mexico, Eddy and Lea. In

Texas, Culberson, Loving and Reeves.

* WHEN...Until 645 PM MDT /745 PM CDT/.

* IMPACTS...Minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas.

Rises in small streams and normally dry arroyos.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 342 PM MDT /442 PM CDT/, Doppler radar indicated heavy

rain due to thunderstorms. Minor flooding is ongoing or

expected to begin shortly in the advisory area. Between 1 and

2 inches of rain have fallen.

- This includes the following streams and drainages...

Salt Creek, Delaware River, Pecos River, Black River, Red

Bluff Draw and Owl Draw.

- Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Loving, Malaga, Red Bluff Reservoir, Orla and Red Bluff.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads.

Remain alert for flooding even in locations not receiving rain.

Arroyos, streams, and rivers can become raging killer currents in a

matter of minutes, even from distant rainfall.

The National Weather Service in El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

West Central Hudspeth County in western Texas...

* Until 645 PM MDT.

* At 346 PM MDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1.25 and 1.75 inches of

rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts up to 1 inch are

possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected

to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by thunderstorms.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban

areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as

other poor drainage and low-lying areas.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Fort Hancock, Acala and McNary, including portions of Interstate

10.

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

In hilly terrain there are numerous of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Some Justice Department officials believe the agency should issue a public statement concerning the unusual search of former President Donald Trump's house and club in Florida; However, this sentiment failed to influence the top leadership.

CNN reported that the Department of Justice's public statements about the probes, particularly the extensive criminal investigation that began on January 6 and anything involving Trump, has been strictly controlled by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

According to those aware of the situation, part of the reason the FBI searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago property on Monday as part of a criminal investigation into the handling of classified information was to prevent a spectacle.

Around 10 a.m., agents began to show up. ET was dressed in civilian clothing, not in the wee hours, and he was wearing a jacket with the FBI logo that was typical of searches. At the time, Trump was in New York.

Then Trump made a public statement describing the hours-long search as a "siege."

To explain his silence on the issue, Garland cited both the department's general policy of not commenting and the fact that it is part of a plan to safeguard the investigation by not allowing possible targets to be aware of the Justice Department's steps.

He has also stressed the significance of protecting the rights of those who have not yet been charged from trial by publicity before the Justice Department files a case against them.

Law Enforcement Receives Threats

The argument that the silence is damaging to the department's and the public's interests, however, has been made internally by some Justice and FBI officials, in part because Trump and his supporters have filled the hole.

On Wednesday, queries about Trump's claim that the FBI may have planted evidence during the search and threats against agents were directed at FBI Director Chris Wray in Omaha.

Wray, a Trump appointee from 2018, said that he cannot answer Trump's allegation and referred the questions to the department.

On the issue of threats, he commented: "I will say that I am always concerned about violence and threats of violence against law enforcement. Any threats made against law enforcement, inducing the men and women of the FBI, as with any law enforcement agency, are deplorable and dangerous."

Read Also: Russia-China Ties Grow Closer as Beijing Blames US of Being "Main Instigator" of Ukraine War

As a result of the FBI raid on Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on Monday, law enforcement agencies around the nation are aggressively monitoring threats and statements that have surfaced online.

Law enforcement sources stated that agencies are also preparing for any acts of violence that they believe may occur at or close to the pro-Trump rallies that some followers are pushing for, according to ABC News.



Trump Declines To Answer NY Attorney General Inquiry

Former President Donald Trump has declined to respond to inquiries regarding his family's business practices as part of a New York state investigation.

To prevent the interview at the New York Attorney General's office on Wednesday, Trump has filed a lawsuit.

State authorities charge the Trump Organization of misleading them about the worth of its properties to obtain advantageous loans and tax benefits,

Trump has termed the civil investigation a witch hunt and has denied any misconduct.

After being photographed arriving at the Manhattan location where he was questioned under oath, Trump issued a statement in which he criticized Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, and the inquiry as a whole.

Trump said: "Years of work and tens of millions of dollars have been spent on this long-simmering saga and to no avail. I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution."

The interview transpired on Wednesday, according to James' office, and Trump asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, which prevents individuals from being forced to testify against themselves in a criminal case.

"Attorney General James will pursue the facts and the law wherever they may lead. Our investigation continues," per the statement.

Legal experts believe Trump opted not to answer questions on Wednesday because his responses could have been used against him in that criminal investigation, BBC reported.

Related Article: Hunter Biden Probe: GOP Slams FBI for "Double Standard" After Trump Mar-a-Lago Raid While First Son Joins POTUS for Vacation

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Conservatives slammed US Attorney General Merrick Garland's presentation to the country on Thursday's FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.

Garland gave little specifics on why the raid on former President Donald Trump's Florida resort occurred during his five-minute statement, which included no time for press questions, but he did note that the search warrant and its contents will be disclosed at Trump's request.

Garland Says Personally Signed Off on Trump Mar-a-Lago Search

The only significant detail Garland did disclose was that he personally approved the execution of the search warrant on Monday evening. He also made a point of defending the FBI and the DOJ against critics who allege they have been transformed into political weapons against their political adversaries.

Conservative Twitter users were irritated that Garland provided no specifics and refused to answer any queries regarding the nature of the raid. Some chastised him for revealing he authorized the warrant, while others praised his defensive demeanor.

On Thursday, a federal court gave the Justice Department until 3 pm to respond. Friday to declare if former President Donald Trump supports or opposes the FBI's search warrant and property receipt from his Mar-a-Lago house on Monday.

The order was issued soon after Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the raid on Trump's house for the first time since it occurred. Garland stated that he signed the search warrant for the operation and that the Justice Department intends to provide additional information about it, according to Fox News.

Garland issued an in-person statement on Thursday afternoon, responding to Republican pressure to speak out against the FBI's unannounced search. He stated that the DOJ requested that the search warrant be made public given the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the great public interest in this case.

Garland would not take questions, but he went out of his way to condemn the recent verbal assaults and threats against law officers in the aftermath of the raid. His last-minute visit comes after the former president said federal authorities 'raided' his residence, breaking a padlocked door and seizing documents requested by the National Archives.

Read Also: US Justice Department Charges Iranian With Plotting To Assassinate John Bolton

Eric Trump Claims FBI Refused to Give Warrant's Copy

The former president also has the opportunity to reply, which means he may potentially prevent its dissemination. Garland's decision to unseal the order comes after Trump's son Eric said the FBI declined to provide a copy to his father's team, while the ex-lawyer president Christina Bobb disputed that by claiming the document is in her hands.

Democrats have also increased their calls for Trump to make the warrant public. The smartphone of Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, one of Trump's closest loyalists in Congress who reportedly supported his plans to steal the 2020 election, was confiscated by FBI investigators a day after the Mar-a-Lago search.

However, that seizure was tied to another Justice Department investigation into the former president, this time into a 'fake-elections plot' that he and his associates were involved in. The raid on Trump's residence comes months after the National Archives requested that the Justice Department launch an inquiry into the Republican's handling of confidential documents, Daily Mail reported.

Minutes after Attorney General Merrick Garland's statements, former President Donald Trump wrote a comment on Truth Social criticizing predecessor Barack Obama rather than the attorney. Trump demanded to know what happened to the records Obama and his aides took with them when they departed the White House in 2017, claiming that "the Fake News Media refuses to speak about it. They want it CANCELLED!"

The cases are not the same. Obama administration officials sent their papers to their home base in Chicago via the National Archives, where they planned to scan them for inclusion in their presidential library. Trump allegedly brought boxes of materials to his Mar-a-Lago property, sparking concerns from the National Archives, which led to the present inquiry and this week's search of the president's residence, as per USA Today.

Related Article: Donald Trump Invokes Fifth Amendment Rights Amid "Politically Motivated Witch Hunt"

@YouTube

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The University of Oregon Board of Trustees announced on Thursday that President Michael H. Schill will be leaving the UO to become the new president at Northwestern University. His appointment as president will begin this fall, according to a news release from Northwestern.

Schill began his tenure at UO in 2015 and holds a tenured faculty appointment in the University of Oregon School of Law. His priorities to strengthen the UO community included enhancing academic and research excellence, supporting student access and success, providing an outstanding campus experience and improving inclusion and diversity, according to his online biography from the UO website.

Im really looking forward to engaging with the entire Northwestern community to push out the frontiers of research, to enhance diversity, and to foster a sense of belonging and respect, Schill said in a video statement.

Schills election as Northwesterns forthcoming president comes a month after Rebecca Blank, the universitys previous leader, announced her resignation as president due to her cancer diagnosis. Northwesterns Chair of the Board of Trustees reconvened their 34-member Presidential Search Committee, ultimately endorsing Schill to the board.

I and the other members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon are immensely grateful for President Schills service and leadership to this university and its faculty, staff and students, Ginevra Ralph, UOs Chair of the Board of Trustees, said in a statement.

The board will now work to appoint an interim president, who will be expected to begin service before the start of the academic year, according to the Chairs statement. On Sept. 15-16, the board will commence to discuss plans for an international search for the UOs permanent president, according to the statement.
China launches first terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite

09:23, August 12, 2022 By Feng Hua, Zhang Wei ( People's Daily

China recently successfully launched a terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Chinas Shanxi Province.

A terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite, named Goumang, is sent into orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Chinas Shanxi Province. (China National Space Administration/Zheng Taotao)

Named Goumang, the satellite is expected to provide remote sensing services and improve the efficiency and accuracy of carbon sink measurement, providing important support for the countrys efforts to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

As a scientific research satellite under the framework of Chinas medium and long-term development plan of national civilian space infrastructure, Goumang will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 506 kilometers, inclined 97.4 degrees, according to Cao Haiyi, chief designer of Goumang.

The satellite is able to detect and measure such factors as vegetation biomass, atmospheric aerosol and chlorophyll fluorescence through comprehensive remote sensing means, including laser, multi-angle, multi-spectral, hyperspectral, and polarization.

The satellite can provide a wide variety of services, such as monitoring carbon in the terrestrial ecosystem, surveying and monitoring terrestrial ecology and resources, monitoring and evaluating major environmental protection projects, monitoring the atmospheric environment, and obtaining data about the effect of aerosols on climate change.

Moreover, the satellite will also meet the needs for the determination of vertical control points, disaster monitoring and evaluation, and agricultural forecasting. It will significantly boost quantitative land remote sensing in China.

The satellite can obtain information about global forest carbon sinks through both active and passive remote sensing. This will help enhance the countrys capability to monitor and measure carbon sinks in various ecosystems, including forests, grasslands, wetlands and desertified land.

A terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite, named Goumang, is sent into orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Chinas Shanxi Province. (China National Space Administration/Zheng Taotao)

Equipped with payloads including laser radar, multi-angle and multi-spectral camera, hyperspectral detector and polarization imager, Goumang can monitor key data on carbon sink capacity of forests, including plant height, vegetation coverage, chlorophyll fluorescence, and PM2.5 concentrations, helping improve the efficiency and accuracy of carbon sink measurement.

The multi-beam laser radar enables the satellite to measure the height of a tree by calculating the difference between the time when the laser beams scan the crown of the tree and the time when the laser beams scan the ground.

Through statistical analysis and application tests, the research and development (R&D) team has managed to use five laser devices on the radar to emit laser beams 200 times in one second, eventually shortening the distance between two objects to be monitored from several thousand meters to several hundred meters and significantly improving the accuracy of plant height measurement.

The satellite has five multi-spectral cameras, which can help monitor the Earth from five angles. This enables the satellite to accurately measure vegetation coverage and the density of forests. The five multi-spectral cameras can help the satellite create a three-dimensional map with high accuracy of the distribution of vegetation in the area monitored by the satellite.

Photo shows a simulated image of China's terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite. (Photo/ China National Space Administration)

The satellites ability to accurately map the distribution of chlorophyll fluorescence offers important support for the efficient and precise measurement of carbon sinks. To improve the accuracy of detecting the spectrum of chlorophyll fluorescence, which emits only a very small amount of energy, a hyperspectral detector has been installed in the satellite and the theory of grating spectrometer has been applied, which increased the spectral resolution by tenfold, enabling the device to detect even the most subtle change in daylight intensity.

In order to remove the atmospheric effects, a polarization imager has been installed on the satellite, which is able to detect PM2.5 concentrations from 35 angles and obtain information about horizontal PM2.5 concentrations.

In addition, the satellite is also equipped with a laser radar, which can help monitor longitudinal PM2.5 concentrations. These two payloads enable the satellite to provide information about PM2.5 concentrations from three dimensions, guaranteeing a higher level of accuracy for atmospheric correction.

A terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite, named Goumang, is sent into orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Chinas Shanxi Province. (China National Space Administration/Zheng Taotao)

The launch of Goumang marked the 430th mission of the Long March rocket family. Also launched on the same rocket were two small satellites, namely the Jiaotong 4 and the Minhang Youth.

The Jiaotong 4 will be used to collect information about ship movements and flight statuses around the globe, as well as information about the global Internet of Things (IoT). The Minhang Youth, which is designated as a platform for young students to partake in space science research and engineering practice activities, including satellite design, satellite R&D, satellite payloads, and satellite launch, will carry out applied scientific research on space-Earth integrated carbon source monitoring.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky warned on Thursday that the country has to be ready for any scenario at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that was struck by shelling, including the evacuation of people from the area.

Russian and Ukrainian local officials have exchanged blame for a new volley of shelling that occurred on Thursday at the nuclear power plant. The Zaporizhzhia plant is Europe's biggest and is located in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine's Nuclear Power Plant

In an interview, Monastyrsky said that the plant was not only in the hands of the enemy, referring to the Russians, but also in the hands of uneducated specialists who could potentially allow for a tragedy to happen at the nuclear power plant.

The official added that it was difficult to even imagine the scale of the tragedy that could result from Russian forces continuing their actions in the area. In recent days, Ukrainian authorities have warned of the risk of a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster, as per Reuters.

The interior minister added that the situation means officials have to be ready for almost anything that could happen at the plant. He noted that the state emergency services together with the interior ministry and the Regions Ministry were discussing different scenarios that may be needed, including the questions of evacuations.

Read Also: Russia-China Ties Grow Closer as Beijing Blames US of Being "Main Instigator" of Ukraine War

The situation comes as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed grave concern about shelling at the nuclear power plant. IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Gross said in a statement that he was extremely concerned about the shelling that struck the plant.

According to CNBC, Ukraine's state nuclear power company Energoatom blamed Russia for the damage to the plant while Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant themselves.

Potentially Catastrophic Tragedy

On the other hand, the United States accused Russia of using the power plant as a "nuclear shield" while Moscow's defense ministry said that damage to the plant had only been avoided thanks to the "skillful, competent, and effective actions" of its troops.

Gross, who is also leading the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, urged all sides to exercise the "utmost restraint." The strikes hit a high-voltage power line on Friday at the facility, which forced its operators to disconnect a reactor despite no radioactive leak being detected.

As the world's focus shifted to the nuclear power plant and its potential catastrophic demise, the war between Russia and Ukraine continued in the east and south. Moscow has struggled to gain control of the largely Russian-speaking Donbas region in the east, comprising Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

On Saturday, Ukraine's military said that Moscow's military forces shelled dozens of frontline towns and were trying to attack six different areas in the Donetsk region. However, officials noted that all of these attacks failed to gain any territory and were held back by Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of "unconcealed nuclear blackmail," saying, "Only the complete withdrawal of Russians from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP and the restoration of Ukraine's full control over the situation around the plant will guarantee the restoration of nuclear safety for all of Europe," DW News reported.



Related Article: Russia Recruiting Prisoners To Fight in Ukraine War in Exchange for Freedom [REPORT]

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Finally, some good news for the Labour Party. They have a leader who's cutting through.

Now for the bad news. His name isn't Keir Starmer.

Yesterday, Gordon Brown took to the pages of the Guardian to propose his solution to the burgeoning energy crisis. A suspension of the energy cap price rise. A comprehensive windfall tax on the energy companies. And  if that didn't manage to mitigate their gluttony  temporary renationalisation of the sort introduced at the height of the banking collapse.

The Brown Plan was brash. It was bold. And with 66 per cent of British households facing a winter blizzard of fuel poverty, it immediately snatched control of the political agenda.

Rightly. The energy companies have had their chance. As the nation struggles back to its feet after shaking off the ravages of Covid, and Putin tries to use energy blackmail to help secure his subjugation of Ukraine, the fat-cat utility bosses have seen an opportunity to fill their distended bellies.

Some critics have called their staggering proposed price hikes 'greedy'. But it's worse than that. They are profiteering in a time of war. And the moment has come to hold them to account.

Yesterday, Gordon Brown took to the pages of the Guardian to propose his solution to the burgeoning energy crisis. A suspension of the energy cap price rise. A comprehensive windfall tax on the energy companies

But Gordon Brown's timely intervention hasn't just exposed the rapaciousness of the big energy suppliers. It's also exposed the callowness of St Keir, and his flat-lining political project.

At the beginning of his article, Brown penned a pointed paragraph. 'Time and tide wait for no one,' he wrote. 'Neither do crises. They don't take holidays.'

It was initially seen as a thinly veiled attack on Boris, who had snuck a couple of days off to celebrate his honeymoon belatedly. But it also happened to coincide with the absence of the Labour leader, who had chosen this precise moment to enjoy a full sun-kissed fortnight away (in conditions of such secrecy his team wouldn't even reveal what continent he was on).

Some claimed too much was being read into the barbed aside. But veteran Brown watchers were immediately transported back to the autumn of 2008, when the then Prime Minister Brown caustically announced: 'This is no time for a novice'.

Again, the public line was this represented a dig at David Cameron. But everyone knew it was actually aimed at David Miliband, who was reported to be plotting a leadership coup.

Miliband backed off  mysteriously allowing himself to be photographed waving a banana in the process  and the plot collapsed.

Brown's words had been perfectly judged. As they have been again. It's important not to get too carried away.

Gordon Brown is not the new Labour Messiah. Just as he was never quite the New Labour Messiah.

He led his party to an election defeat that it has still not recovered from. His 'bigoted woman' slur haunts Labour in its old heartlands to this day. And some of his other recent interventions regarding the energy price hikes have been trite and populist  such as his demand for Cobra to be convened to deal with the issue.

But Gordon Brown has also shown that he still has a knack of coming up with big solutions when Britain is facing its biggest problems. Unlike his successor but three.

Time and a crisis may wait for no man, but Labour have now been waiting more than two years for the real Keir Starmer to turn up. Since securing the leadership of his party, he has hit the ground running  backwards.

His first priority was to tell the country what he wouldn't do  by ostentatiously ditching the Ten Pledges he'd just been elected on. He then started to tell the country who he wasn't  Jeremy Corbyn. Then he reached further back into the history books to find someone he might quite like to be  Tony Blair.

But Gordon Brown's timely intervention hasn't just exposed the rapaciousness of the big energy suppliers. It's also exposed the callowness of St Keir, and his flat-lining political project

It was announced Keir had appointed Tony Blair's old aide Matthew Doyle as his new spin doctor. It was announced Keir had decided to snub an invitation to the Durham Miners' Gala, just as Tony Blair had famously done. It was announced Tony Blair would appear in a video, praising  and one can only imagine Starmer's breathless excitement when he saw him mouthing these words  Keir's 'strength, determination and intelligence'.

But there's just one problem with this strategy. You can't recreate Blairism without Blair. Take, as one minor example, Starmer's decision to go awol  and remain awol  in the days following the Bank of England's dire cost-of-living forecast.

In reality, there is something performative about the calls for immediate action to resolve the energy crisis.

Boris and his locum Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi will be gone in three weeks. Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are going through the final acts of their Punch & Judy show. Nothing of substance can truly be achieved until a new prime minister is in place.

But Labour decided to go on the attack nonetheless. They berated Boris for dancing with his new bride to Sweet Caroline. They demanded to know what emergency measures the Government was proposing to deal with the crisis. But for some reason Keir Starmer and his team genuinely seem to have been taken aback by the very obvious  and fair  question: OK, where's your leader, and where's your own plan?

Gordon Brown has proposed a windfall tax on profiteering energy companies - exactly something Liz Truss has ruled out if she becomes Prime Minister

Some Labour insiders say they were sticking to the maxim 'Don't disturb your enemy when he's in the process of making a mistake'. But that wasn't Tony Blair or Gordon Brown's maxim. Their guiding philosophy was 'If your enemy's in the process of making a mistake, use that as the moment to charge in and rip their head off'.

Another insider told me Labour had taken the view most voters switch off during the summer, and it was better to keep their powder dry. But, again, that wasn't the way under Blair and Brown.

They believed the dog days of July and August presented a perfect opportunity to reset or reinforce the party's agenda, as my own mother  the then Labour MP for Hampstead & Highgate  found out when she was dispatched to Benidorm to pounce on a gaggle of unsuspecting British holidaymakers.

This is what Gordon Brown's intervention, and Keir Starmer's half-hearted Blairite genuflection, actually reveal. Starmer is leader of the Labour Party in name only. He has no true agenda of his own. He has no true philosophy of his own. He has no true strategy he can call his own.

When he was elected, the consensus was that to succeed, Starmer had to move out from under the shadow cast by Jeremy Corbyn. But in truth, he also had to move out from the shadow cast by his more illustrious New Labour predecessors.

And he can't. We have been told that in the next few days Labour's leader will finally unveil his policy solution to the energy crisis. It's now pretty clear what it will be: 'What Gordon said'.

Towards the end of last year, Starmer's aides began briefing that he intended to start channelling his 'inner Tony Blair'. I knew Tony Blair. I worked with Tony Blair. Tony Blair was a friend of mine. (Actually, he didn't like me much, but we can park that.)

Keir, you're no Tony Blair. And from the look of the past couple of days, you're no Gordon Brown either.
A woman who married a man with half of his face missing due to an extremely rare condition which left him without a jaw, has now revealed internet trolls often accuse her of faking her feelings for her husband to get attention from others.

Joseph, 41, and Vania, 39, Williams, from Chicago tied the knot in 2020, and while the two are madly in love, their relationship hasn't been smooth sailing as they often face backlash from strangers who have much to say about Joseph's condition.

Joseph was born with an extremely rare condition called otofacial syndrome which left him without a jaw or chin.

After having faced bullies and hate throughout the entirety of his life, Joseph found dating difficult because he struggled with 'low self-esteem and felt worthless'.

Vania, 39, from Chicago tied the knot with Joseph Williams, 41, in 2020 and haters have accused her of 'faking their marriage for attention'

Joseph was born with an extremely rare condition called otofacial syndrome which left him without a jaw or chin

The two often receive hate from strangers who allege Vania is faking her feelings for Joseph to get attention and sympathy

However Joseph soon found love with Vania in 2019 and began to believe in himself.

Despite their visible love for one another, the two often receive hate from strangers who allege Vania is faking her feelings for Joseph to get attention and sympathy.

Vania, who has 'never dated anyone with a disability' before meeting Joseph, didn't understand how their relationship could work when she first met him.

When people would question their relationship the 39-year-old would often lie and tell others the two were 'just friends' because she was 'embarrassed' and 'ashamed'

'Getting to know Joe over time, I didn't see his face anymore, I just saw his spirit, his personality,' said Vania.

One year after meeting, the two who communicate through their phones and sign language, say their relationship revolves around love and nothing else.

Joseph has described the hate they receive as 'nerve wracking,' noting that people often say Vania 'can't kiss him,' or is 'cheating on him.'

Others question how the two can have sex and even go as far as saying they are 'faking [their] marriage for attention.'

'When we go out together, it's basically just stares, people pull out their phone sometimes recording or taking pictures, but they never say anything, just staring,' added Vania.

However, Joseph sees the hate 'as clear as day' and wishes that people would 'just ask him what happened' instead of acting 'ignorant.'

The couple's family have been supportive from the start but Vania's mom had concerns because she thought her daughter would have to provide Joseph with 24/7 care.

Joseph has described the hate they receive as 'nerve wracking,'; noting that people often say Vania 'can't kiss him,' or is 'cheating on him

Joseph sees the hate 'as clear as day' and wishes that people would 'just ask him what happened' instead of acting 'ignorant'

Despite the numerous hate messages and the constant stares, the couple says their relationship revolves around love and nothing else

What is the extraordinarily rare lifelong condition that sees children born without a jaw Otofacial syndrome is a rare congenital deformity in which a person is born without a mandible, and without a chin.

In nearly all cases, the child does not survive because it is unable to breathe and eat properly.

Even with reconstructive surgery, the tongue is extremely underdeveloped, often making unaided breathing and swallowing impossible.

The first challenge to survival is assisted breathing and tubal feeding.

This is a lifelong affair, generally requiring the patient to spend nearly all of the time under direct hospital care

According to Rarediseas.org the amount of people born with Otofacial syndrome is between 1 per 50,000 births and 1 per 250,000 births. Advertisement

Joseph, who isn't sure of the cause of the syndrome, communicates through sign language, gestures, writing notes and using his phone.

He eats by blended food and putting it through a tube into his stomach.

Joseph said: 'I have a tube in my neck, called a trachea, which helps me breathe.

'And I was taught sign language when I was two years old, to help me communicate.

'However, since then I have also found other ways to help me communicate such as making notes and typing into my phone.

'When I was just a couple of days old, I was taken from Illinois, where I was born, to Chicago, for multiple surgeries.

'I had a bone and skin graft as they tried to construct a jaw for me, but as I grew my body rejected it and it was unsuccessful.

'And I was also put up for adoption which led to me meeting my adopted family.

'Growing up was hard and being born like this has caused me many problems, but I have tried not to let it affect me.

'I can't eat, speak or even breathe properly.

'I have a tube in my stomach which I can place blended food into, but this means that I have never tasted food.'

And although the family though he would need constant care they soon came around when they saw how 'independent' Joseph was.

'[Joseph] doesn't need my help with anything,' added Vania.

Despite the numerous hate messages and the constant stares, the couple says their relationship revolves around love and nothing else.
A 26-year-old teacher who 'never imagined' being in a heterosexual relationship has fallen head over heels for her 56-year-old colleague.

Aliyah Coleman, of Cibolo, Texas, first locked eyes with Kenneth Coleman when she started her career as a secondary school teach in September 2020.

She was instantly attracted to the dad-of-two, something which was surprising because she had previously only ever been interested in women.

The secondary school teachers then became inseparable after a staff night out - and are now they are happily married - after eloping earlier this summer.

Aliyah Coleman, 26, of Cibolo, Texas, and Kenneth Coleman, 56, met when she began a new job working as a secondary school teacher

He proposed in October 2021, getting down on one knee to pop the big question

Kenneth is 30 years older than Aliyah, but she says it doesn't matter as she has always been 'an old soul'

Aliyah said, 'My family and friends weren't shocked by the age gap, they were shocked by the gender.

'I never considered being with a man before, I had just got out of a three-year relationship with a woman.

'But I had a strong connection with him, and it broke me out of the box.'

Aliyah admits 'pursuing' Kenneth for several weeks before they started to date.

But he was 'very professional and private' at work, and wasn't thinking about a relationship because she was so young compared to him.

But Aliyah persisted, saying, 'I was intrigued by him and would go out of my way to speak to him more at work.

'I was instantly attracted to his looks, knowledge and throughly enjoyed listening to his stories as he was previously an engineer and travelled the world.

'I don't think he considered a romantic relationship with me because of the age gap.

'But I have always been told I have an old soul, so I didn't think twice about that.'

The happy couple then married in July 2022, eloping to Canyonland National Park, Moab, Utah

Aliyah says she had never imagined being with a man until she met Kenneth and was attracted by his looks and knowledge

She had previously been in a three-year relationship with a woman, with friends and family being surprised when she started dating a man

She adds that she just knew she wanted to marry Kenneth - who had been married twice before - saying, 'I knew from the get-go that I wanted to marry him - something I had never felt before.

'He is the first man I have ever dated, and our sex life is amazing.

'His age doesn't make a difference, we do it at least five times per week.'

The loved-up pair became an 'official' couple in October 2020, before Kenneth popped the big question a year later, in October 2021.

They married eloped in July 2022, getting married in Canyonland National Park, Moab, Utah with no family or friends present.

Aliyah said, 'It was a dream come true to spend our special day alone together in nature.'

But she admits she has had differing reactions to the relationship.

Loved up: The pair (pictured here wearing matching shorts) have lots in common, including a love of traveling and board games

The couple met when they worked in the same school, with Aliyah pursuing him

Aliyah said, 'I told my mum, who is 52, about him and she wasn't fazed because she's always joked that I was born 50 years old, as I have never acted my age.

'Thankfully, everyone has been pretty accepting but strangers and some people from work have assumed I am with him for his money.

'However, we are both teachers and earn a decent living. We split everything.

'An age-gap relationship can be hard if you are concerned about other people's opinions, but we don't.'

Aliyah also insists that the couple have a lot in common, such as board games and the desire to travel the world.

She said, 'After a few weeks of dating, Kenneth told me he has had a vasectomy which was great news as I have never wanted to be a mother.

'Most of the time we forget about the age gap as we are always having fun.

'Our home is full of games; we have a shuffleboard and a ping pong table.'

But Aliyah admits the thirty year age gap does cause her some concern as she worries about Kenneth's health and their future.

She said, 'Last year, Keneth developed sepsis and was in intensive care - during that point, I thought all my dreams were going to slip away.

'Now, I over-analyze if he has an ache and pain due to his age.

'But I must remind myself that nobody is guaranteed to live to 100, something could happen to me in my 20s.

'I know of about ten people who have sadly lost their lives to cancer from high school but all of my older relatives are still alive so that does give me peace of mind when I am worrying.'
Police announced Thursday that they are investigating star Anne Heche for drugged driving following a horrific accident in a Los Angeles home that left her critically injured.

Detectives with a search warrant collected a blood sample from Heche and discovered drugs in her system, according to LAPD spokesperson Officer Jeff Lee.

Police Investigate Actress Anne Heche for Felony

Toxicology tests, which may take weeks, must be undertaken to more precisely identify the medications and distinguish them from any medicine she may have been given for treatment at the hospital remained Thursday, six days after the incident.

An email requesting a response from Heche's agent was not immediately returned. According to a spokesperson, Heche is currently in serious condition and has been in a coma since the tragedy, with burns that necessitated surgery and lung problems that necessitated the use of a ventilator to breathe.

On August 5, Heche's automobile crashed into a house in the Los Angeles westside neighborhood of Mar Vista. Flames erupted, and Heche, who was driving alone, was dragged away, Independent reported.

Heche, 53, was brought to the hospital and had her blood tested, where law enforcement sources claimed they discovered cocaine in her system. According to TMZ, fentanyl was also discovered in her system, but additional testing is needed to confirm whether the narcotic was there at the time of the crash because it is commonly used as a pain reliever in hospitals.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration classified fentanyl as a Schedule II restricted narcotic comparable to morphine but nearly 100 times more powerful, noting that two milligrams (less than a grain of salt) of the synthetic opioid can be deadly depending on a person's body size.

As reported by the Los Angeles Police Department, there were no reported injuries associated with the event for anyone involved at the time. All conceivable charges in the circumstance would have been misdemeanors. However, LAPD later discovered that a victim was hurt, and that victim sought medical assistance.

Lynne Mishele, the lady who resided in the house Heche burned, was injured by debris, and had smoke-related injuries. She was not hospitalized, but she was severely traumatized physically and psychologically. Witness Lynne Bernstein described the collision as horrific, saying he could barely breathe while attempting to get Heche out of the blue Mini Cooper she was driving.

Read Also: Former Twitter Manager Caught Red-Handed for Allegedly Acting as Foreign Agent for Saudi Arabia

Anne Heche's Friends Ask for Prayers

Heche's close friend agreed, telling the Daily Mail that she is in awful health and that the smoke inhalation is life-threatening. The friend asked that people please pray for the actress, saying that only God can rescue her now. Heche slammed her Mini into a garage block before speeding away, smashing into a hedge, and ending up entirely immersed in Mishele's home at 1766 South Walgrove Avenue.

Before the deadly incident at Mishele's residence, the footage shows Heche's blue Mini Clubman hurtling down a tight alleyway at breakneck speed. Despite a woman stepping over the exit onto the main road, she did not quickly brake, with the actress only hitting the pedal at the last moment.

The five-second film ends as the dazed pedestrian turns around to stare at the automobile as it speeds away into the distance. Insiders claimed they had a warrant to collect her blood because they suspected she was inebriated, but the findings may take weeks.

They claimed the actress might face hit-and-run charges for the garage collision, in which she rapidly fled despite being videotaped by stunned bystanders. Before the collision, a slurring Heche joked on a podcast about drinking vodka with wine chasers, stating she was having a really awful day at the time, as per Fox News.

Related Article: Fred Savage Faces Accusations of Sexual Harassment, Assault by 'Wonder Years' Reboot Crew Members That Led to His Firing

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He said that 'retail is showbusiness' and with his penchant for gold Rolex watches and a very juicy private life that made its way to the pages of the tabloids, Topshop founder Sir Ralph Halpern certainly lived up to his own motto.

The Topshop founder, who died this week at the age of 83, started his career as a trainee at Selfridges earning 5 a week founded the women's fashion chain and became head of the Burton group by 1980 after getting his boss sacked.

He took brand from a single concession in a Croydon store to a huge high street brand as head of the Burton Group, adding brands such as Dorothy Perkins and Debenhams along the way.

But his rather colourful private life threatened to distract from his business achievements when a model sold the story of their 10-year affair to the News Of The World in the 1990s, detailing his prowess as a lover and earning him the nicknames 'Randy Ralph' and 'five-times-a-night Halpern'.

She also claimed that she'd rubbed anti-baldness cream into his head during their assignations, which started when she was 19-years-old, leading to ridicule in the press, where he was dubbed a 'flashy man' who 'couldn't keep his trousers on'.

Sir Ralph Halpern, who founded Topshop and was knighted by Margaret Thatcher for his services to retail has died at the age of 83 (pictured with his wife Joan Halpern in 1987)

Halpern's marriage was derailed after 19-year-old model Fiona Wright exposed their affair in the News of the World

Halpern joined the Burton Group in 1961, when it made men's suits, and rose up the ranks to eventually become chief executive

Halpern was born to Jewish parents Bernard and Olga in London in October 1938 after they fled Austria following the Nazis' rise to power.

But their son was to follow in the footsteps of fashion designer mother and retailer father as he embarked on a career in fashion himself.

After a few years working for his father before joining Selfridges, Halpern joined The Burton Group in 1961. At the time, it was known for making men's suits.

However in 1968 Halpern established Topshop as a high street concession, which would later cement his place in the company.

Following two years of huge success the first Topshop store opened in Croydon, South London. And as its success grew, so did Halpern's.

Although he had made a name for himself in the company, it was an act of subterfuge that saw him given the top job in 1978.

While in his position of deputy managing director of the Burton Group, Halpern recorded a conversation with his then-boss, Cyril Spencer, who said he intended to buy the company.

Halpern expanded the Burton Group to include Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Harvey Nichols, Evans, Racing Green and Debenhams

Halpern was known to arrive at the gym at 6am every day for a cardio and weights workout before eating a breakfast of passion fruit and muesli

Halpern married his wife Lady (Joan) Halpern in 1967 and the pair had a daughter Jenny (left)

Although Halpern and Joan divorced in 1999, they remained amicable (pictured at Jenny Helpern's wedding in 2003)

Jenny, who now runs a PR firm, was close with her father

Halpern and his daughter Jenny at the opening of a restaurant in Percy Street in March 1999

When Halpern played the recording to the board, Spencer was promptly shown the door, leaving the chief executive position open for himself.

After reaching the top, Halpern expanded the company to include Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Principles, Racing Green and Evans.

The suave boss of the fashion empire became known for his love of gold Rolex watches and jewelled cufflinks, and used an Aston Martin as his company car.

He arrived at Oxford Circus at 6am every morning for a pre-work gym session.

After a 6km run on the treadmill and weight training he would don his Burton suit and settle in his office suite, which was decorated with healing crystals, for a breakfast of passion fruit and muesli.

Meanwhile in his family life, Halpern's busy business life left his marriage to Joan, who he'd wed in 1967, strained. The pair, who shared a daughter Jenny, spent less and less time together.

Halpern's marriage and reputation was rocked when Fiona Wright sold a kiss-and-tell story to the News of the World in 1987

Sir Ralph Halpern with his daughter, Jenny Halpern-Prince at Marble Arch Ice Rink in 2002

Sir Ralph Halpern married for a second time in the early 2000s, to his former secretary Laura Blume

Halpern and Laura share a son Samuel (pictured at Jenny Halpern's wedding) who is now in his twenties and studying in Miami

After nearly a decade at the top, Halpern's marriage was further rocked by a kiss-and-tell story from model, Fiona Wright, who claimed they'd been having an affair since she was 19-years-old.

As the sordid details of the affair were sprawled out across three pages, Wright told of how she had rubbed anti-baldness cream into Halpern's head.

She also revealed intimate details about their sex life and claimed they romped 'five times a night'.

After the story came out Halpern admitted his dalliance with the model but did not confirm any of the details shared by Wright.

Although he dismissed the affair as something that happened '10 times', the public and Fleet Street were scathing in their take-down of Halpern.

He became the subject of several satirical cartoons and was described by The Sunday Times as a 'flashy' man who 'couldn't keep his trousers on'.

Halpern and his wife were driven further apart by the affair and eventually split, but remained amicable.

Despite public backlash Halpern initially maintained the support of the Burton Group's shareholders, whom he wined and dined.

With a mantra that 'retail is showbusiness' he was known to take busloads of investors on tours of the Burton Group's flagship stores, ending with tea at Harvey Nichols.

However, despite decades of success and dedication to the Burton Group, Halpern was promptly ousted by shareholders in 1990 following an unsuccessful venture into property.

Ralph Halpern at the wedding of his daughter Jenny to Ryan Prince with his second wife Laura Blume (right) and their young son Samuel

By 1997 the Burton Group removed Debenhams from its portfolio and renamed the company Arcadia, removing much of Halpern's stamp on the business.

In 1999, Halpern and Lady Halpern finalised their divorce as the retail boss was living with his former secretary Laura Blume.

The pair had a son, Samuel, in 2000 and married in 2003.

Halpern's daughter Jenny, who now runs a PR company, married her husband Ryan Prince in the same year and the fashion mogul was pictured with his second wife and young son smiling with the newlyweds.

A few years after tying the knot, Halpern and Laura Blume moved to Miami before eventually divorcing in 2007.

Samuel, who is now roughly 22 years old, is attending university in Florida.

Sir Ralph Halpern passed away on 10 August, 2022 at the age of 83 from natural causes.
She burst onto screens as wild child Maeve in Sex Education. Now actress Emma Mackey is poised for super stardom with her first leading film role.

Emma, 26, who was born and raised in France, will star as Emily Bronte in a hotly-anticipated biopic scheduled for release later this year.

The film is already generating buzz after its first trailer was released this week and is set to mark yet another exciting chapter in Emma's meteoric rise.

The headmaster's daughter, who had a 'sheltered' upbringing as a 'bookish' Catholic schoolgirl, was working as a translator before landing her breakthrough as bad girl Maeve in Netflix's Sex Education.

The series has led to high-profile parts in Eiffel, a film released today about the man who built the Eiffel Tower, and the upcoming Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

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Red carpet glamour: She burst onto screens as wild child Maeve in Sex Education. Now actress Emma Mackey, pictured, is poised for super stardom with her first leading film role

Breakout: The headmaster's daughter, who had a 'sheltered' upbringing as a 'bookish' Catholic schoolgirl, was working as a translator before landing her breakthrough as bad girl Maeve in Netflix's Sex Education. Pictured, in the hit series with co-star Asa Butterfield as Otis

Big screen: Emma, 26, who was born and raised in France, will star as Emily Bronte in a hotly-anticipated biopic scheduled for release later this year

Emma was born in northwest France to a French father, a headmaster, and an English mother, a charity volunteer.

Her character in Sex Education might run a sex clinic at school, but Emma's upbringing in Sable-sur-Sarthe was far more innocent.

'It was really  nice. I went to a Catholic school and did loads of sport and I was really happy. I loved studying and was very bookish. It was quite a sheltered existence,' she told the Evening Standard.

Emma moved France to the UK aged 17 to study English Literature at Leeds University and took part in amateur theatre productions.

Sweeping romance: Sex Education led to a high-profile part in Eiffel, a film released today about the man who built the Eiffel Tower (pictured with co-star Romain Duris)

Front row fashionista: Emma with Nicole Richie at a Miu Miu event in Paris in June 2019

'I had to toughen up a bit,' she said. 'People made me realise I was quite innocent and oblivious to certain things. I wanted to make people like me.'

The day before graduating, Emma made the decision to apply for drama schools in London and landed an agent a year later. Six months after that she was cast in Sex Education after five rounds of auditions.

At the time Emma was working as a translator and living with friends and family to save money.

'When I got off the phone I burst into tears and did a cliched squeal,' she continued. 'I called my mum and pretended to be very, very cool. Like, "Yeah, got this role, it's no big thing".'

Hollywood blockbuster: Emma also appeared in Death on the Nile, directed by Kenneth Branagh

Love life: Emma prefers to keep her personal life under wraps but was at one point dating Dan Whitlam, pictured together at Cannes in 2019. It is not known if the couple are still together

Despite winning critical acclaim for her portrayal of Maeve - and becoming a fan favourite thanks in part to her will-they-won't-they relationship with Otis (Asa Butterfield) - Emma won't be returning for the fourth series of the Netflix show.

Her character has taken up an opportunity to study abroad in the US and Emma has spoken of it being the right time to move on to other projects.

'Sex Education is so momentous as a concept, as a show, and the cast are phenomenal,' she said in an interview with Hunger.

'I genuinely care about them all a lot and I made lifelong friends. But the bittersweet nature of it is that I also can't be 17 my whole life.'

Emma's latest film, Eiffel, arrives in UK cinemas today. It tells the story of engineer Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) and his journey to construct what would become one of the world's most recognisable landmarks.

Stylish: Emma cuts a cool figure at Wimbledon 2019 (left) and is elegant in Cannes that year

As in real life, the film depicts Eiffel as initially reluctant to build the 324m tower, originally intended as a temporary structure for the entrance to the 1889 Universal Exhibition. Yet, in a decision that baffles historians, he ultimately agreed.

The film's explanation for this change of heart is a woman named Adrienne Bourges (Mackey), whom Eiffel had loved as a young man but was refused permission to marry.

The film has received mixed reviews but Mackey's performance has won praise.

Fans will next be able to watch her in a second period drama when she takes on the role of Emily Bronte.

Forbidden affair: New biopic Emily features a romance between Bronte and her curate father's assistant. Emma plays the role of the author (pictured)

Star turn: Emily, played by Mackey, next to her father Patrick Bronte, played by Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar

Debut director Frances O'Connor, famous for being a leading lady in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and The Importance of Being Earnest opposite Colin Firth, has said the steamy film is bound to wind up historians.

In a revised history of the famously introverted author's life, 'Emily' portrays its central character as caught up in a forbidden affair with an assistant curate - a real and reportedly handsome man.

'I know there'll be some people that are p----d off about it,' O'Connor told Total Film. 'People like Bronte historians will probably say, 'Well, that didn't happen'.'

Mackey, a Bronte superfan, will star opposite Oliver Jackson-Cohen, scheduled for release in October.
It was inundated with negative reviews and hit headlines over its overpriced menu - yet Salt Bae's controversial Nusr-Et restaurant in London has proved a hit with Instagrammers.

Diners have filled the social media platform with glamorous snaps showing them posing with the social media sensation or on the steakhouse's standout stairs and showcasing the expensive dishes.

The Knightsbridge restaurant, part of a chain run by Turkish chef, Nusret Gokce, who rose to viral fame back in 2017 for his unusual meat seasoning technique where he lets salt run down his elbow, made 7million of sales in its first four months.

This week, Nusret UK Limited, the company behind the steakhouse, filed financial reports to the UK's Companies House revealing that it 'performed higher than expected and made a profit of 2.3million in 2021.

Yet the impressive figure is hardly surprising when considering how expensive the menu at the steakhouse is.

Specials include a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for 1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for 1,350 and Golden Kafes for 500 - while a simple burger and Red Bull will set you back 100 and 11 respectively.

It was inundated with negative reviews and hit headlines over its overpriced menu - yet Salt Bae's controversial Nusr-Et restaurant in London has proved a hit with Instagrammers (pictured)

Diners (pictured right) have filled the social media platform with glamorous snaps showing them posing with the social media sensation or on the steakhouse's standout stairs and showcasing the expensive dishes

The Knightsbridge restaurant, part of a chain run by Turkish chef, Nusret Gokce, who rose to viral fame back in 2017 for his unusual meat seasoning technique where he lets salt run down his elbow, made 7million of sales in its first four months. Pictured, a diner at the steakhouse

This week, Nusret UK Limited, the company behind the steakhouse, filed financial reports to the UK's Companies House revealing that it 'performed higher than expected and made a profit of 2.3million in 2021. Pictured, a diner at the restaurant

David Beckham, Jason Statham and Naomi Campbell are among the famous faces to have eaten at Nusret's restaurants - which include locations in New York, Dubai and Istanbul.

Meanwhile, Coleen Rooney and husband Wayne, Gemma Collins and Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott are some of the British celebs to have visited the London-based eatery after it opened in September 2021.

Yet just months after its highly-anticipated opening, it became one of the worst ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor after being slammed by unhappy customers online.

Diners were left less than impressed with the glitzy steakhouse, with a slew of bad reviews leaving it at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor.

One person commented: 'Do not be fooled by the glitz and glam and waste your money. Terrible food. Meat was not at all tasty. Ended up going for a 5 kebab after a 300 bill... this place is the biggest joke in London.'

Meanwhile another wrote: 'Insult to humanity. Worst food, worst service. Paid over 1,800 for three of us. Poor quality, smelly meat, small portions. Rather spend 50 in the local restaurant, will be better! Never again! Stay away, it's a death trap!'

Yet the impressive figure is hardly surprising when considering how expensive the menu at the steakhouse is. Pictured, a customer at the eatery

Specials include a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for 1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for 1,350 and Golden Kafes for 500 - while a simple burger and coke will set you back 100 and 9 respectively. Pictured, a diner at the steakhouse

Just months after its highly-anticipated opening, it became one of the worst ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor after being slammed by unhappy customers online. Pictured, customers at the steakhouse

In March 2022, a sommelier who was fired from Salt Bae's restaurant for 'eating an avocado after 5.30pm' branded the eatery a 'toxic working environment'.

Guillermo Perez, 30, from Madrid, compared Nusr-Et to a 'McDonald's for rich people' for charging guests extortionate prices - despite allegedly serving them 'frozen chips with Heinz ketchup'.

Sommelier of eight years Mr Perez, who has lived in the UK since 2012, claimed the London eatery was 'immoral' in a scathing attack, adding that bottles of wine were being marked up by 'incredible' amounts.

'Bottles worth 1,000 would be sold for up to 3,000, for example,' Mr Perez told MailOnline. 'Of course you can charge people whatever price you want, but it's pretty immoral when the quality of the food and service does not match the price.

Cash to splash: Gemma Collins previously spoke of her shock at her 1,450 bill for a 24 carat Golden Tomahawk steak at Salt Bae's London restaurant Nusr-et

Loved-up: Gemma enjoyed her meal at the Knightsbridge restaurant with her partner Rami Hawash

'One day I saw a big bag of frozen chips and I thought "really? That's what we are serving people?" And they had Heinz ketchup and mayonnaise, which you can get from the shop.'

Mr Perez continued: 'I have worked in Mayfair and other good restaurants, but my experience there was very disappointing. I think people there want to show how much money they have, almost everybody paid in cash.'

Mr Perez said he was dragged into HR on January 20 after he was berated by a chef in the staff canteen - which is shared with a hotel  for eating his own avocado and rice.

David Beckham, Jason Statham and Naomi Campbell are among the famous faces to have eaten at Nusret's restaurants - which include locations in New York, Dubai and Istanbul

Meanwhile, Coleen Rooney and husband Wayne, Gemma Collins and Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott are some of the British celebs to have visited the London-based eatery (pictured) after it opened in September 2021

Workers from Nusr-Et are not allowed to eat food from the canteen after 5.30pm, Mr Perez said.

'I arrived with my own food at 5.35pm and took a plate and the chef started shouting at me telling me I can't eat from the canteen,' alleged Mr Perez, whose past work experience includes the upmarket Sushisamba.

'I tried to explain that the avocado was mine and that I was just taking a plate and some cutlery and he accused me of being aggressive and called my general manager.'

Within 30 minutes, Mr Perez said he was told to report to HR, where he was chastised for 'arguing with the chef' and told not to return after that day. He said he was told he would not receive his week's holiday pay or work a notice period.

MailOnline contacted Nusr-Et for comment.
Despite being a controversial combination, socks with heels has been a beloved style move with the fashion set for several years. But gym socks with heels?

Just do it! Is the message Bella Hadid gave in Nike tube socks recently. The 25-year-old was spotted looking incredible rocking the 'faux pas' and she's not the only one.

Actresses Yara Shahidi and Isan Elba, as well as influencers in Copenhagen and Paris, are all giving the unconventional - but ridiculously cool - combo a spin.

Despite being a controversial combination, socks with heels has been a beloved style move with the fashion set for several years. But gym socks with heels?

Just do it! Says Bella Hadid in Nike tube socks. The 25-year-old is making a case for this 'faux pas' and she's not the only one

Bella's influence is undeniable. And how could it not be? Her off-duty look is most often a beautifully crafted mix of athleisure with sportwear and fashion-forward pieces.

For a day in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan, Bella wore a black and white check skirt and a black tee topped by a varsity jacket.

She teamed the ensemble with several silver necklaces, earrings and rings on multiple fingers.

But it was her black tube socks featuring a white Nike swoosh pulled up to her knees paired with 4 inch heels that took her look to inspiration status.

Bella's off-duty look is a beautifully crafted mix of athleisure with sportwear and fashion-forward pieces

For her appearance on 'Good Morning America' Yara Shahidi, 22, looked very stylish in a blue and white ensemble by New York designer Thom Browne

For her appearance on 'Good Morning America' Yara Shahidi, 22, looked very stylish in a blue and white ensemble by New York designer Thom Browne.

The 'Black-ish' star's double-breasted blazer dress showed off her petite frame, while her white sheer underlying blouse added an element of sex appeal.

Her runway ready look was made complete with grey and white tube socks and two-tone brogues.

The 22-year-old's runway ready look was made complete with grey and white tube socks and two-tone brogues

Isan Elba hit the 'Beast' World Premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in support of her dad, Idris.

For the special evening, the 20-year-old donned a black and white Miu Miu blouse tucked cleverly into her bra and a mini skirt that shows off her fit legs.

Thick white socks paired with stiletto heels showed of the 'Crimson Ties' star's advanced style savvy.

Thick white socks paired with stiletto heels showed of the Isan Elba's style savvy

A guest was seen wearing orange ribbed socks with matching Prada heels outside Rhude during Paris Fashion Week

An influencer was spotted on the streets of Copenhagen wearing neon green Nike socks and platform Mary Janes

Thin knee socks worn with open-toe mules is a killer combination

A guest looked effortlessly cool outside the Ganni show in Copenhagen wearing a grey graphic sweatshirt, pale pink shorts and Prada gym socks with fishnet heels

A guest attending the Jean Paul Gaultier's 'Fashion Freak Show' in London added a casual touch to her little black dress with white tube socks

Street style stars are often fashion magicians, but have no fear, anyone can make this trend look good.

Just reach for your favorite gym socks and a pair of roomy heels. The comfort will surprise you and the instant zest to your look will excite you!

The combination works particularly well in the fall, so get ready to put your best foot forward come September.
A mum-of-two has shown off her newly glowing skin after struggling with stubborn pigmentation and dryness for more than eight years.

Emily, in her mid thirties, was also struggling with fine lines around her eyes, a dull skin tone and premature skin ageing and turned to Melbourne brand Liberty Belle to overhaul her regime.

The luxury company, founded by Real Housewives of Melbourne star and former journalist Andrea Moss and her facial plastic surgeon husband Dr Chris Moss, is known for using innovative and clinically-proven actives to treat concerns at their core.

Emily binned all her products and swapped them out for eight new ones and was handed a specific morning and evening routine which she's followed for the past 16 months.

A new mum has shown off her glowing skin after struggling with stubborn pigmentation and dryness for more than eight years. These photos were taken just a few months apart

Liberty Belle was founded by Real Housewives of Melbourne star and former journalist Andrea Moss and her facial plastic surgeon husband Dr Chris Moss

These included Braveheart, Eye Do, Next Level, Glam Squad, Star Quality, Superstar Facial SPF 50+, Dream Team Advanced and Quiet Achiever.

While pricier than your typical skincare, the products contain high grade active ingredients and are formulated without any pore clogging silicones, chemical UV filters, parabens, sulfates (SLS and SLES) or synthetic fragrances.

'I was desperate to minimise the appearance of pigmentation on my forehead which has worsened throughout two pregnancies,' Emily said.

'I was very self conscious of it and always felt the need to wear foundation to cover it up. I was also aware of fine lines developing around my eyes and wanted to combat these too.'

While pricier than your typical skincare, the products contain high grade active ingredients and are formulated without any pore clogging silicones, chemical UV filters, parabens, sulfates (SLS and SLES) or synthetic fragrances

'I was desperate to minimise the appearance of pigmentation on my forehead which has worsened throughout two pregnancies,' Emily said

What was Emily's full skincare routine? MORNING CLEANSER: Braveheart EYE TREATMENT: Eye Do SERUM: Next Level Glam Squad MOISTURISER: Star Quality SUN PROTECTION: Superstar Facial SPF 50+ EVENING CLEANSER: Braveheart EYE TREATMENT: Eye Do SERUM: Dream Team Adv. 1.25 FACE TREATMENT: Quiet Achiever (2 x per week) MOISTURISER: Star Quality WHAT ARE THE MAIN BENEFITS OF EACH PRODUCT? Braveheart ($70): This deep clean botanical foaming gel cleanser uses clarifying Lactic Acid, Tea Tree, Manuka, Sandalwood, and Willowherb to remove stubborn makeup and grime. Eye Do ($168): This eye gel is formulated to powerfully revitalise the eye area by targeting dark circles, fine lines, wrinkles, and crow's feet. It is rich in powerful peptides, including Copper Peptide, Patented Skin Smoothing Peptide, and Octa-Peptide. Next Level ($144): This water-based and oil-free serum is supercharged with three forms of stabilised Vitamin C and a unique Brightening Peptide to protect the skin against scavenging free radicals. It is pro-collagen and designed to promote overall skin health for radiant-looking skin. Glam Squad ($144): This serum is filled with skin-enhancing Hyaluronic Acid molecules that work to promote immediate and long-term hydration. Effective concentrations of Niacinamide and Panthenol help soothe, support, brighten, and protect the skin barrier. It's especially ideal for congested or breakout-prone skin. Star Quality ($228): This multi-action moisturiser is formulated to support the skin's natural renewal process at night and its revitalisation needs during the day. A Hydration Saccharide works with a Hyaluronic Acid Crosspolymer to provide hydration and moisturization for up to 72 hours. Niacinamide, Acai Sterols, and Panthenol promote overall skin health while the Firming + Radiance + Collagen Complex works to reveal glowing skin. Superstar Facial ($55): This ultra-sheer physical SPF 50+ Facial Sunscreen provides broad spectrum sun protection against UVA, UVB and blue light (high energy visible light). Advanced Dream Team Retinol ($144): Advanced Dream Team has been independently verified as suitable for sensitive skin after completing comprehensive testing at a world-leading skincare evaluation laboratory in Europe. It is water-based and complements your skin's nightly regenerative cycle. It combines our encapsulated Retinol with supporting actives to powerfully target fine lines, pigmentation, uneven skin tone and congestion. Quiet Achiever ($142): Quiet Achiever contains the use of PHA's which results in less irritation compared to traditional AHA formulations. It works on the outer layer of the skin's surface by loosening the bond between dead skin cells to help reveal radiant skin beneath. Advertisement

She's one of many who have reported significant results since using the brand, which is famous across Australia for delivering tailored skincare regimens to clients struggling with acne, ageing, redness and dryness

When she started she was breastfeeding and found that her skin was extremely dry so she focused on hydration.

'I started to notice results in the texture and hydration levels of my skin within a few days. I also felt that my skin definitely had much more of a 'glow' within those first few days and this has just improved more and more through continued use of the products,' Emily said.

After two weeks she noticed the lines around her eyes begin to fade and her pigmentation started to improve.

'I didn't realise quite how much until I saw the before and after results. I have been able to transition to a much more lightweight foundation as I need far less coverage over my pigmentation,' she said.

The seven ingredients you need in your skincare for brilliant results Hyaluronic acid for hydration What is it: Hyaluronic Acid is a natural marvel molecule known for its ability to hold up to 1000 times its weight in water. This water magnet is a sugar molecule that is naturally found in the body and is responsible for the skin's plumpness and volume. Panthenol to moisturise What is it: Panthenol, also called Pro-Vitamin B5, is a naturally occurring alcohol that is quickly absorbed by the skin where it readily converts to Vitamin B5. This moisturising powerhouse is lauded for its ability as both a humectant (attracts water) and emollient (seals any cracks to keep the water locked in). Vitamin C for brightening What is it: Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid or L-ascorbic acid. This vitamin is not able to be produced by the body and therefore to maximise its skin benefit potential, it needs to be applied topically. Retinol for skin renewal What is it: Retinol is a form of Vitamin A and is a part of the retinoid family. Vitamin A increases the rate of the cell regeneration which essentially means Retinol can make skin cells in dull or older skin mimic the behaviour of younger, healthier cells to help refresh the complexion and fight the appearance of lines and wrinkles. AHAs for exfoliation What is it: AHA stands for alpha-hydroxy acids and refers to a group of water-soluble acids made from sugary fruits known for their exfoliating properties. AHAs work on the outer layer of the skin's surface by loosening the bond between dead skin cells to help reveal radiant skin beneath. Niacinamide for skin barrier support and balance What is it: Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3 and is celebrated for its multitasking nature. Niacinamide essentially works by encouraging the skin's cells to behave in a more efficient manner, mimicking younger, healthier cells. Squalane to nourish What is it: Squalane is an excellent emollient derived from olives and known for its ability to maintain the skin's moisture barrier and hydration by sealing it with a strong lipid. Including squalane in your skincare can help offset the natural decline in your body's squalene levels as you age which will help to keep your skin more moisturised and looking more youthful. This vitamin rich, deeply nourishing ingredient is neither heavy or occlusive on this skin. Advertisement

Dr Moss is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon who has been practising in Toorak for more than 20 years (pictured is a Liberty Belle customer)

'I have also found myself going without makeup all the time as I have had such increased confidence in the appearance of my skin.

Emily's overall skin appearance was more even and refined and she's constantly flooded with compliments from family and friends about how 'glowy' her skin always looks.

She's one of many who have reported significant results since using the brand, which is famous across Australia for delivering tailored skincare regimens to clients struggling with acne, ageing, redness and dryness.

Dr Moss is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon who has been practising in Toorak for more than 20 years.

His passion for the face extends to the science of non-surgical cosmetic medicine treatments and active skincare and has performed groundbreaking research into the anatomy of the face.
ALDI is opening a pop-up dumpling truck serving a full takeaway feed for just $1.44.

The truck will operate from 5pm-7pm (or while stocks last) on August 12 in the ALDI Bankstown Central car park.

Each order contains six delicious Urban Eats dumplings, including fan favourites Prawn Gyoza and Chicken Dumplings.

ALDI has imposed a maximum of 4 serves per person, and no cash is accepted.

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ALDI is opening a pop-up Dumpling Truck serving a full takeaway gyoza feed for just $1.44

Andrew King, Frozen Food Buying Director said: 'At a time when consumers are feeling the pinch, it's rewarding to provide an option for people to still enjoy their Friday night rituals when they shop with us.'

'The ALDI Dumpling Truck demonstrates how good food doesn't have to hurt your pocket. You can dish up quick, delicious and affordable Friday dinners at home for less than $1.50 a serve!' he added.

The pop-truck truck follows on the heels of ALDI's research into Australia's takeaway food habits, which revealed that almost half (46%) of Aussies are paying between $15 and $20 on a takeaway food order per person.

Each order contains six delicious Urban Eats dumplings, including fan-favourites Prawn Gyoza and Chicken Dumplings  all for less than a $2 coin

The motive behind the initiative is to show Australians that a takeaway, or ALDI's 'fakeaway' dinner can be the ultimate trifecta  fast, affordable and talk-about-it-all-week sort of delicious

Shoppers can also recreate the Dumpling Truck as well as a range of other convenient 'fakeaway' meals week-in-week-out using products from the Urban Eats frozen food range.

If you cannot make the pop-up truck, the full range of dumplings are available in the freezer section across the country.

In addition, all proceeds from the ALDI Dumpling Truck will be donated to ALDI's national charity partner - Camp Quality, a charity that brings positivity, fun and laughter back into the lives of kids facing cancer.

But this is not the first time ALDI has wowed thousands with its pop-up magic.

Aldi Australia has previously opened its first pop-up bar in the heart of the Sydney CBD - but only for two days.

On July 15 and 16, the new experience called 'The Trophy Room' showcased some of the award-winning wines sold at by the supermarket giant along with cheeses to pair.

A night out at the bar cost just $4.41 and includes a gin cocktail, but you can also order a 'tasting experience' where Aldi wines are paired with the supermarket's cheeses.

On July 15 and 16, the new experience called 'The Trophy Room' will showcase some of the most popular wines sold at by the supermarket giant along with cheeses to pair

Those interested in attending will need to act quickly and purchase tickets online

While the tasting experience itself is complimentary, guests will need to pay extra for glasses of wine and cheese.

A glass of Pinot Grigio will cost just 83 cents, with the most expensive glass on the menu, a Pinot Noir from Otago in New Zealand, just $2.49 a glass.

Aldi is pairing the wines with some of its popular cheeses, including a triple cream brie for 56 cents a serve, and a smooth blue cheese for 62 cents.

The stylish bar launches at a time when Australians are struggling with soaring cost of living.

The boujee but affordable bar launches at a time when Australians are most concerned with the rising cost of living

A glass of wine is no more than $2.49, and cheese costs up to 90c per serve

Jason Bowyer, ALDI Wine Expert and Buying Director said: 'The Trophy Room is a first for Aldi Australia, demonstrating that a fine wine and dining experience doesn't have to dent your wallet. And what's even better, you can replicate the exact experience at home.

'The reality is everyone can have a wine rack and cheese draw worthy of the title the "Trophy Room" if they shop the products on offer at Aldi.'

He went on to describe the value of the range as 'undisputable' and is excited to offer customers the unique experience.

Aussies who fancy a seat at the bar will have to be quick as The Trophy Room is open for only two nights.
A young single woman has shared her bold response to men who slide into her direct messages - and inspired others to follow her lead.

Lina, from New York, made $75 after requesting money from a man who started messaging her out of the blue on Facebook.

'It worked' she simply captioned a post to a popular online dating group with screenshots of the conversation.

'It worked' she simply captioned a post to a popular online dating group with screenshots of the hilarious conversation

'Hey Lina, I'm Jake. I saw you on my suggested friends and thought you looked' the man wrote in a message with a heart face emoji to which Lina responded with a cash request of $25 for using the emoji 'instead of an adjective'.

In the US, Facebook Messenger has a feature that allows users to send and receive money using a valid debit card or Pay Pal account.

Jake was amused by the gutsy move and offered to take Lina out for dinner before she sent a larger money request for $50 for calling her 'cute as f***'.

In the US, Facebook Messenger has a feature that allows users to send and receive money using a valid debit card or Pay Pal account

Still not deterred, he quipped, 'This dinner is getting expensive. Soon we'll have to fly to another country to be able to cover the monies owed to you' and jokingly suggested they go to Italy together.

Lina made one final attempt at getting the lovestruck Jake to send her money and requested $75 'for using my tactics against me'.

Jake transferred her the sum and wrote: 'Unfortunately now I can't afford the trip to Italy but we can go to a nice Italian place'.

Jake was amused by the gutsy move and offered to take Lina out for dinner before she sent a larger money request for $50 for calling her 'cute as f***'

It is not known whether Lina took him up on his dinner offer but her post attracted hundreds of 'likes' and a barrage of comments from fellow group members impressed with her brazen trick.

'This guy is awesome. He was a really good sport about that,' one woman wrote to which Lina responded: 'Right?! He wanted my number and I wanted to get my nails done at Paintbox!'.

'I LOVE THIS FROM BOTH SIDES. Hot,' exclaimed another.

'Same! We love a guy that gets our sense of humour and values,' Lina replied.

Poll Do you think Lina went too far asking for money from 'cheeky' men? Yes No Do you think Lina went too far asking for money from 'cheeky' men? Yes 74 votes

No 39 votes Now share your opinion





'I'm gonna start using this when I get DMs instead of letting them talk to themselves. Maybe they will block me,' laughed a third.

Some called Lina an 'icon' and the 'cheeky' Jake a 'keeper' while others hoped she gave him a chance.

'This is very cute. Finally, a nice one,' a singleton said.

However, not everyone was impressed with the exchange but many jumped to Lina's defence.

'This man is fine, he is engaged in this with her and can make his own decisions about what is okay for him when reaching out to someone. Stop gatekeeping what type of behaviour is acceptable for two consenting adults who can make up their own damn minds,' one member commented.

'He didn't get p***y when she sent the charge and he was fine with paying the price for sliding into her DMs and being cheeky. If he wasn't fine with it, he could have unmatched and kept on with his day,' agreed a second.

'Everyone gets to decide what kind of behaviour is okay for them within their relationships. Even new relationships. This is f***ing hilarious to me and I hope his good humour and your connection continues positively.'
Monkeypox vaccines have almost run out in Brighton less than a week after the city welcomed hundreds of thousands of revellers for Pride celebrations.

The local rollout of the modified smallpox jab has been paused until further stocks have arrived  but that might not be for another month.

Only people with existing appointments will still be able to get a dose, local Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle said.

Brighton has only had 69 cases of monkeypox, but that is still more than any area outside of London, which has become the epicentre for the outbreak.

It comes after a weekend of Pride celebrations from August 5 to 7, which is thought to have attracted 250,000 people.

National stocks of monkeypox are running low with just 5,000 doses left in the British stockpile  enough to vaccinate 2,500 people with two shots.

UK health chiefs have 100,000 more on order but supply issues mean they aren't due until sometime in September.

Monkeypox vaccines have run out in Brighton less than a week after the gay capital's Pride celebrations (pictured)

Britain is 'set to run out' of monkeypox vaccines in '10 to 20 days' The UK will run out of monkeypox vaccines within days  despite having one of the biggest outbreaks in the world. An internal NHS England letter on Tuesday revealed there are just 8,300 doses of the two-dose jab, enough to vaccinate just over 4,000 people. Reports suggest the number could now be as low as just 5,000. There are fears that people who are at the highest risk of catching or becoming unwell with the disease will miss out. Supply issues have left the country running short and an extra 100,000 doses aren't due until next month. Britain has the fourth highest case numbers in the world, with 2,914 confirmed so far, after only the US, Germany and Spain. The NHS letter, seen by the Financial Times, called for health bosses to 'urgently' draw up a plan to address the shortage that could last three to four weeks. It stressed 'the urgency of reaching those at highest risk', adding: 'This is clearly all very difficult and very sensitive, and not a position that any of us would like to be in.' Advertisement

London could run out of monkeypox vaccines in ten days despite being the worst affected area in the country, according to Labour MP Florence Eshalomi.

The Government ordered 150,000 jabs but has only received 50,000 so far, with another 100,000 not due to arrive until September because of supply issues.

There are fears that people who are at the highest risk of catching or becoming unwell with the disease will miss out.

Britain has the fourth highest case numbers in the world, with 2,914 confirmed so far, after only the US, Germany and Spain.

Most of the cases have been in gay or bisexual men, although the disease can spread to anyone.

Remaining jabs are expected to be dished out to sexual health services most in need in the coming days, although Brighton will not receive any jabs until September.

Mr Russell-Moyle told the BBC: 'I've already spoken to people in the area who feel worried, scared and that they've missed out.

'They feel that they're being put at risk, and that their enjoyment of the summer is being put at risk by bad organisation from the government.

'My understanding is that if you are not vaccinated in the next couple of weeks, then it will be too late and you'll have to wait until September.'

Brighton and Hove City Council warned people attending Pride to 'be aware of the symptoms and check yourself before attending' last weekend.

The first symptoms do not usually appear until five days at the earliest, so infections picked up at the festival are unlikely to have been counted yet.

More than 25,000 people in England have received a vaccine so far, according to the NHS.

Britain has ordered the Imvanex smallpox vaccine, which gives crossover protection against monkeypox.

Officials are currently dishing out jabs to healthcare workers who care for patients with monkeypox, gay and bisexual men 'at the highest risk of exposure' and close contacts of confirmed cases.

First doses are given within 14 days after contact, followed by a second dose 28 days later.

Around 75 per cent of cases are in London, which is also where the majority of vaccines have been targeted.

But charities have previously warned the rollout should be extended to other cities that have large LGBT+ communities like Brighton and Manchester.

Ian Green, chief executive of sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: 'The very limited doses of vaccine we have left in the country must now be prioritised for those most at risk in the places with the highest reported cases.

'That means ensuring sexual health services in places like Brighton, Manchester and Essex are given provision alongside London.

How DO you catch monkeypox and what are the symptoms? EVERYTHING you need to know about tropical virus

How do you catch monkeypox?

Until this worldwide outbreak, monkeypox was usually spread by infected rodents  including rats, mice and even squirrels  in west and central Africa.

Humans can catch the illness  which comes from the same family as smallpox  if they're bitten by infected animals, touch their blood, bodily fluids, or scabs, or eat wild game or bush meat.

The orthopoxvirus, which causes monkeypox, can enter the body through broken skin  even if it's not visible, as well as the eyes, nose and mouth.

Despite being mainly spread by wild animals, it was known that monkeypox could be passed on between people. However, health chiefs insist it was very rare until the current outbreak.

Human-to-human spread can occur if someone touches clothing or bedding used by an infected person, or through direct contact with the virus' tell-tale scabs. The virus can also spread through coughs and sneezes.

In the ongoing surge in cases, experts think the virus is passing through skin-to-skin contact during sex  even though this exact mechanism has never been seen until now.

How deadly is it?

Monkeypox is usually mild, with most patients recovering within a few weeks without treatment.

Yet, the disease kills up to 10 per cent of cases. But this high rate is thought to be in part due to a historic lack of testing meaning that a tenth of known cases have died rather than a tenth of all infections.

However, with milder strains the fatality rate is closer to one in 100  similar to when Covid first hit.

The West African version of the virus, which is mild compared to the Central African strain, is behind the current spread. No deaths have been reported as part of the ongoing outbreak.

How is it tested for?

It can be difficult to diagnose monkeypox as it is often confused with other infections such as chickenpox.

Monkeypox is confirmed by a clinical assessment by a health professional and a test in the UK's specialist lab  the UKHSA's Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory.

The test involves taking samples from skin lesions, such as part of the scab, fluid from the lesions or pieces of dry crusts.

What are the symptoms?

It can take up to three weeks for monkeypox-infected patients to develop any of its tell-tale symptoms.

Early signs of the virus include a fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion  meaning it could, theoretically, be mistaken for other common illnesses.

But its most unusual feature is a rash that often begins on the face, then spreads to other parts of the body, commonly the hands and feet.

The rash changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off.

How long is someone contagious?

An individual is contagious from the point their rash appears until all the scabs have fallen off and there is intact skin underneath.

The scabs may also contain infectious virus material.

The infectious period is thought to last for three weeks but may vary between individuals.

What do I do if I have symptoms?

The UK Health Security Agency advises Britons to contact their sexual health clinic if they have a rash with blisters and have been in close contact with a suspected or confirmed monkeypox case or have been in West or Central Africa in the last three weeks.

Britons are asked to contact clinics ahead of their visit and avoid contact with others until they have been seen by a medic.

Gay and bisexual men have been asked to be especially alert to the symptoms as most of the cases have been detected in men who have sex with men.

What even is monkeypox?

Monkeypox was first discovered when an outbreak of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys kept for research in 1958.

The first human case was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the infection has been reported in a number of central and western African countries since then.

Only a handful of cases have been reported outside of Africa and they were confined to people with travel links to the continent.

The UK, US, Israel and Singapore are the only countries which had detected the virus before May 2022.

Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which kills up to one in ten of those infected but does not spread easily between people. The tropical disease is endemic in parts of Africa and is known for its rare and unusual rashes, bumps and lesions (file photo)

Nurses and doctors are being advised to stay 'alert' to patients who present with a new rash or scabby lesions (like above)

Is it related to chickenpox?

Despite causing a similar rash, chickenpox is not related to monkeypox.

The infection, which usually strikes children, is caused by the varicella-zoster virus.

For comparison, monkeypox  like smallpox  is an orthopoxvirus. Because of this link, smallpox vaccines also provide protection against monkeypox.

Are young people more vulnerable?

Britons aged under 50 may be more susceptible to monkeypox, according to the World Health Organization.

This is because children in the UK were routinely offered the smallpox jab, which protects against monkeypox, until 1971.

The WHO also warns that the fatality rate has been higher among young children.

Does it spread as easily as Covid?

Leading experts insist we won't be seeing Covid-style levels of transmission in the monkeypox outbreak.

A World Health Organization report last year suggested the natural R rate of the virus  the number of people each patient would infect if they lived normally while sick  is two.

This is lower than the original Wuhan variant of Covid and about a third of the R rate of the Indian 'Delta' strain.

But the real rate is likely much lower because 'distinctive symptoms greatly aid in its early detection and containment,' the team said, meaning it's easy to spot cases and isolate them.

Covid is mainly spread through droplets an infected person releases whenever they breathe, speak, cough or sneeze.

How is the UK managing the outbreak?

MailOnline revealed monkeypox patients and their close contacts, including NHS workers, are being offered the Imvanex smallpox vaccine.

The strategy, known as ring vaccination, involves jabbing and monitoring anyone around an infected person to form a buffer of immune people to limit the spread of a disease.

Gay and bisexual men 'at the highest risk of exposure' are also offered a jab, with doctors or nurses advising whether they are eligible.

Vaccines are also being offered to contacts of people with confirmed cases of monkeypox. Doses are given between four and 14 days after the contact.

The Government said unprotected direct contact or high risk environmental contact includes living in the same house as someone with monkeypox, having sexual contact with them or even just changing their bedding 'without appropriate PPE'.

As with Covid, someone who has come within one metre of an infected person is classed as a monkeypox contact.

What if it continues to spread?

Experts told MailOnline they 'could see a role' for a wider targeted jab rollout to more NHS staff and female sex workers in the UK 'if this isn't brought under control quickly'.

Close contacts of the UK's known cases and some gay and bisexual men are already being offered the jab, which was originally designed for smallpox. The two rash-causing viruses are very similar.

A health source told MailOnline 'there would be a number of strategies we'd look at' if cases continued to rise.

Professor Kevin Fenton, London's public health regional director, said if the outbreak in the capital continues to grow then the rollout of vaccines and treatments could be broadened to more groups.

He said there are 'plans in place' to have more antivirals if the outbreak keeps growing.

What other countries have spotted cases?

More than 80 countries  including the US, Spain and Italy  have detected cases of monkeypox.

Most cases have been detected in the US, UK, Spain, Germany and France.

There are a handful of antivirals and therapies for smallpox that appear to work on monkeypox, including the drug tecovirimat, which was approved for monkeypox in the EU in January

Is there a vaccine for it?

The smallpox vaccine, called Imvanex in the UK and Jynneos in the US, can protect against monkeypox because the viruses behind the illnesses are closely related.

Data shows it prevents around 85 per cent of cases, and has been used 'off-label' in the UK since 2018.

The jab, thought to cost 20 per dose, contains a modified vaccinia virus, which is similar to both smallpox and monkeypox, but does not cause disease in people.

Because of its similarity to the pox viruses, antibodies produced against this virus offer cross protection.

Are there any drugs to treat it?

There are a handful of antivirals and therapies for smallpox that appear to work on monkeypox.

This includes the drug tecovirimat, which was approved for monkeypox in the EU in January.

Tecovirimat prevents the virus from leaving an infected cell, hindering the spread of the virus within the body.

An injectable antiviral used to treat AIDS called cidofovir can be used to manage the infection, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It also works by stopping the growth of the virus.
A mother claims she was forced to pull out three of her own teeth because she could not get an NHS appointment during the pandemic.

It is the latest example of Britons resorting to dangerous DIY dentistry amid a 'dental desert' that has seen workforce numbers shrink to record low levels.

Layla Waters, 52, says she contacted 49 NHS surgeries within 70 miles of her house in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, but couldn't get an appointment in two years.

After her first infected tooth caused her pain in March 2020 during the first lockdown, she resorted to yanking it out with a piece of kitchen towel.

But just two months later, she was forced to do the same thing again when a second tooth became infected and became loose.

And in February this year, Ms Waters, who is unemployed, had to pull out a third molar. She has not had to have another tooth removed yet.

Health watchdogs on Monday said the at-home procedures was becoming increasingly common.

Dentists quit in droves during the Covid pandemic and 90 per cent of practices across the UK are no longer taking on new patients.

Around 4million people in England have been left without a dentist, forcing some to taking matters into their own hands.

Layla Waters, 52, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, pulled out three of her own teeth because she could not get an NHS dentist appointment in over two years

How much does NHS dentistry cost, compared to private? There are 3 NHS charge bands: Band 1: 23.80 Covers an examination, diagnosis and advice. If necessary, it also includes X-rays, a scale and polish, and planning for further treatment. Band 2: 65.20 Covers all treatment included in Band 1, plus additional treatment, such as fillings, root canal treatment and removing teeth (extractions). Band 3: 282.80 Covers all treatment included in Bands 1 and 2, plus more complex procedures, such as crowns, dentures and bridges. For comparison, check-ups can cost between 20 and 120 at private dentists, according to Which?. Dentures and bridges can also cost up to 2,520, the consumer watchdog says. Advertisement

Ms Waters - who has been signed off work because of the chronic pain disorder fybromalgia - said: 'Every time I phoned to try to book an appointment, because of lockdown and the shortage of dentists, I could never get in.

'They kept sending me prescriptions for antibiotics and I must have had around ten prescriptions over the last couple of years to try to get the infections under control.

'In the end, it was so bad that I decided I had to do something. I used kitchen roll to grab the tooth, so it wouldn't slip, and pulled.

'It took two or three attempts, but it came out. I couldn't get out of bed for a couple of days  I was curled up in a ball crying.'

Just five weeks later, Ms Waters pulled out another infected tooth and removed the third tooth six months ago.

She now only has one back molar left on the left side of her mouth and just two on the right.

Ms Waters described the situation as 'a nightmare from start to finish' and says it has affected her confidence 'massively'.

She said: 'Eating is becoming a massive issue.

'It has affected my confidence massively  I don't go out or socialise because the moment I open my mouth it's obvious I've got missing teeth.

'I get through a pack of painkillers every two days. I suffer from toothache, and all of my teeth are lose now.

'I've called 49 dentists in total now. The best response I've had is that I could be put on the waiting list, but it was 18 months long.

'I've been going round and round in circles and keep being met by a brick wall. We need more NHS dentists  I just want to get my teeth sorted.'

Ms Waters, who claims Universal Credit, has continued to seek an NHS dentist as she cannot afford the cost of private dental care.

But according to the NHS website, there are currently no NHS dental practices in Peterborough taking on new adult patients.

Ms Waters said: 'It's just so sad in this day and age that people have to resort to this. I always managed to get my prescriptions when I needed it, that was never an issue.

'The problem was getting a face-to-face appointment with a dentist. It's not their fault so I don't want to bash the dentists.

'I don't understand the politics of it and I won't pretend I do, but whoever is in charge of making incentives to become an NHS dentist needs to take a look at it.

'There never used to be a shortage, I don't know what's causing the shortage, but all of a sudden there is a shortage of dentists.'

Some regions in England are far worse than others for access to NHS dentistry. It is poorest in the North West, South West and Yorkshire and the Humber where 98 per cent of practices won' accept new patients. This was followed by the East Midlands with 97 per cent, the South East with 95 per cent, the East of England with 93 per cent, and the West Midlands with 84 per cent. London was the best performer for NHS dental care, but even in the nation's capital over three quarters (76 per cent) of practices were not accepting new patients

Official health service data, which records the number of adults seen by NHS dentists in 24 month periods shows the drastic decline in the number of people seeing a dentist since the pandemic. While people struggled to access NHS dentistry services before Covid due to a lack of appointments, the situation has deteriorated further with 6million fewer people seen compared to pre-pandemic levels

Millions of people have been left without access to dental care after the number of NHS dentists fell to their lowest level ever last year

It comes after the survey of nearly 7,000 NHS dental practices across the UK found 91 per cent are unable to adult accept adult patients.

The poll, by the British Dental Association (BDA) and BBC, also found around eight in 10 practices were not accepting child patients.

Healthwatch England's national director Louise Ansari told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the situation was 'dire'.

BDA officials said NHS dentistry is now at a 'tipping point'. According to the UK-wide survey, 90 per of the nation's NHS dental practices were not accepting new adult patients.

Wales was the worst for NHS dental access in the UK, with 93 per cent of its practices unable to accept new patients.

This was followed by England where 91 per cent of 5,416 practices did not accept new patients, with Northern Ireland next with 90 per cent, and Scotland performing the best with only 82 per cent of practices not accepting patients.

By English region, NHS dental access was poorest in the North West, South West and Yorkshire and the Humber where 98 per cent of practices had no capacity for new patients.

This was followed by the East Midlands with 97 per cent, the South East with 95 per cent, the East of England with 93 per cent, and the West Midlands with 84 per cent.

London was the best performer for accessing NHS dental care, but even in the nation's capital over three quarters (76 per cent) of practices were not accepting new patients.

Of the NHS practices not taking on patients in the UK, about one in six (17 per cent) said their waiting lists to become a patient were at least a year or more.

Patients at one practice in Cornwall have been told they face five-year waits.

The survey also found no NHS dentist practice was accepting any new patients in just over a third (35 per cent) of the nation's 217 local authorities.

The situation was equally dire for children in England, with only 79 per cent of NHS practices not accepting new child patients.
One expert is warning that monkeypox will become the next pandemic to strike the world, as the current outbreak of the virus has caused over 30,000 cases worldwide - with about a third of infections detected in the United States alone, home to the largest outbreak in the world.

Dr. Joseph Eisenberg, a epidemiologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in an interview that he believes the erupting virus will become the next pandemic in the US, but not reach the same heights as COVID-19.

His comments come as the nation's outbreak begins to spiral out of control.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded another 366 infections on Thursday, bringing the confirmed cases total to 10,758.

The surge in cases and the potential for the virus to become a pandemic has left health officials scrambling. America is facing a massive shortage of vaccines, with only around 1.1 million available.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly considering splitting shots into fifths to make limited supplies go further - though have been criticized for the move as their is little data supporting it.

'Monkeypox is the next pandemic,' Eisenberg said.

'It is spreading globally through several countries, including the US In the US, cases are rapidly increasing into the thousands.

'Its a different kind of pandemic than what we see in Covid, however, because it is much less infectious and it is currently affecting a specific risk group that involves very close, intimate contact. And so, yes, its a pandemic, but its not anything like the Covid pandemic.'

Not all agree the situation is this serious, though. Dr. Andrew Brouwer, an assistant research scientist at Michigan's School of Public Health, pushed back in the same interview.

'The COVID-19 pandemic has sensitized us to disease transmission. Other outbreaks... received much less attention,' he said.

'That is not to say that we should let the MPV and other outbreaks fly under the radar, but we should have some perspective that outbreaks of various diseases happen all the time and not all are existential threats.'

Brouwer does think the increased attention on the virus is helping fight it, though, making the average more aware of its spread and how to spot a potential case.

The virus has spread rapidly to start the new month. More than half of the 10,758 total confirmed US cases -5,569 - have been detected over the last 11 days alone.

More than one-fifth of US cases are in New York, where 2,187 cases have been confirmed. The Big Apple in particular has emerged as the nation's biggest monkeypox hotspot - just as it did early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

California (1,892 monkeypox cases confirmed) and Florida (1,053) are the only other states that have logged more than 1,000 cases each.

The virus has been detected in 49 states and the District of Columbia, with Wyoming the lone state to still be at zero.

Case figures have ramped up in recent weeks, likely for multiple reasons. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has greatly expanded testing efforts - with the nation able to test around 80,000 people each week.

Americans are now more aware of monkeypox as well, and a person experiencing symptoms is more likely to seek medical attention. Doctors are also more vigilant to get someone exhibiting symptoms tested.

But there are also fears that the virus is rampantly spreading to the point where it can no longer be controlled - especially as more cases erupt outside of gay and bisexual men, who initially made up nearly every infection.

Officials seem to have been caught off-guard by this outbreak, though, leading to an initial shortage of tests and lacking supply of vaccines that still is hampering the response.

When jabs have become available in major population centers like New York City, appointments have been filled within minutes due to the exceedingly high demand.

In order to quell the shortage of the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine, federal officials are planning on delivering doses of the vaccine that are only 0.1 milliliter (ml) - a massive drop from the 0.5 ml standard dose.

They believe that using an intradermal injection - which delivers the vaccine between the layers of the skin instead of underneath the skin's fat - will make sure the shot is just as effective.

But there are some questions as to whether this is the right move.

In 2015, researchers gathered that smallpox vaccines were just as effective when delivered in smaller doses if the injection was performed intradermally.

Former FDA Chief Dr Scott Gottlieb (pictured) told CBS' Face the Nation that access to monkeypox tests and vaccines would need to be expanded to control the current outbreak

It was just one study performed on 524 participants, though, and using a different vaccine.

Paul Chaplin, CEO of Jynneos' manufacturer Bavariant Nordic, published an open letter to Dr Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and Dr Robert Califf, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration expressing concerns about the lack of data supporting the plan.

The Danish pharma giant is asking for more trials to be performed on the effectiveness of the smaller doses before the nation overhauls its vaccine strategy.

Currently, shots are mainly reserved for men who have sex with other men - though some exposed people have been granted the shot as a precaution.

Access to the shots may need to be expanded soon. Some officials fear that the virus has already escaped that sexual network and is now in other groups as well.

'There's a potential to get this back in the box but its going to be very difficult at this point,' Dr Scott Gottlieb, formed FDA chief, told CBS' Face the Nation last weekend.

'We're continuing to look for cases in the community of men who have sex with men, its primarily spreading in that community, but there's no question it has spread outside that community at this point and I think we need to start looking for cases more broadly.'

Gottlieb said that any person with an atypical case of either shingles or herpes should be tested for monkeypox at this point.

Expanding testing will either find more cases - giving officials more information they can use to control the outbreak - or will confirm more people as negative and confirm areas where the virus is not spreading.

He also believes the CDC should begin wastewater surveillance - which can give more general pictures of where the virus is spreading without individual testing.

Despite his concerns, Gottlieb does not think the virus has reached a point where the average American should be worried.

I dont think this is something people need to be generally worried about,' he explained.

'I think the incidence of this infection in the broader community is still very low. Your risk of coming into contact with monkeypox is still exceedingly low outside of certain social networks where you see a higher case rate.

'If you want to contain it we need to start looking more widely for it.
Experts estimate that in a dispute for Taiwan, China would likely destroy 900 US fighter jets with devastating missile assaults.

They said that Beijing could annihilate half of the US Navy and Air Force in a couple of days. Military specialists have been conducting war scenario training to plan how China would attack Taiwan.

Expert Predict US Will Struggle To Carry Out China's Defenses

Analysis said Chinese missiles drowned a substantial portion of the US and Japanese surface fleets and killed hundreds of aircraft on the ground in 18 of the 22 rounds played thus far. As per Mark Cancian, a retired US marine and former White House military expert, the West's reprisal will smash the vulnerable Chinese amphibious and surface fleet and eventually sink 150 ships.

As reported by Bloomberg, Cancian stated that the US would struggle to carry out a systematic effort to knock down Chinese defenses and would need to move in close to sink them. None of the drills included the use of nuclear weapons or the scenario of China successfully occupying Taiwan. The bleak outlook comes as tensions between the two countries are near a breaking point following a visit to the island by top US legislator Nancy Pelosi, the third in line to the presidency.

China has never been bashful in admitting its desire to capture Taiwan, which has strong US support. While Beijing may be planning for a lightning strike across the Taiwan Strait to seize the island, many believe the conflict would be everything but swift.

According to the most recent virtual war games conducted by the White House and think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), it would be "costly" for both sides for the US to intervene militarily in a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2026. For weeks, US generals, Navy commanders, and retired Pentagon officials have assembled around tables that simulate an invasion. They maneuver opposing armies in blue and red, as well as little wooden squares, over maps of the Western Pacific and Taiwan.

It discovered that Beijing's missile strike force would be deadly for as long as the inventory lasted. According to experts, US submarines and bombers equipped with long-range missiles will be crucial in destroying Chinese forces. Cancian stated that anti-ship missiles were critical to Taiwanese triumph and cautioned that Taipei vessels would struggle to survive as long as the Chinese had long-range missiles.

Experts are unsure how many lives will be killed in the fight or what effect it will have on the global economy. It comes as security specialists say that China would require two million soldiers to invade Taiwan and would likely fail, similar to Vladimir Putin's forces in Ukraine.

Massive war exercises are being held across the island by Communist Party soldiers, which are thought to be preparations for an invasion. Ian Williams, a China specialist, writing in The Sunday Times, said: "[Ukraine] has demonstrated how a determined underdog can thwart the ambitions of a much larger and more powerful rival, and it is being studied on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."

Over the previous week, Beijing has sent warships, aircraft, and missiles, virtually encircling the island in a siege. This is a militarized tantrum, and such a display of power does not imply a successful or simple invasion, according to Williams.

Read Also: Russia Recruiting Prisoners To Fight in Ukraine War in Exchange for Freedom [REPORT]

China Completes Large-Scale Military Exercises Near Taiwan

Taiwan has accused China of conducting open attack rehearsals on the island while Beijing's state-controlled media has lauded the drills as preparation for the "reunification operation." It's a terrifying echo of Putin's rhetoric before his invasion of Ukraine when Russia referred to their assault as a special operation.

The fundamental distinction between Taiwan and Ukraine is that the former is an island, requiring any enemy forces to deploy by amphibious landing or huge airdrop, as per The Sun. China's recently ended large-scale military drills in the vicinity of Taiwan included at least a dozen missile launches that landed in locations surrounding the self-ruled island state.

The roughly dozen Chinese missiles fired during the drills to protest House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taipei bracketed the island, according to Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry announced on Twitter Tuesday that 10 People's Liberation Army warships and 45 warplanes were spotted surrounding the island, triggering replies from interceptor aircraft and naval vessels as well as the activation of land-based missiles. The number of warships stayed the same on Wednesday, but the number of warplanes was reduced to 36, including Su-30 and J-11 fighters, Washington Times reported.

Related Article: China Breaks Promise Not To Send Military Troops, Vows To Conduct Regular Patrols Around Taiwan

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I run a butchers on a small local High Street, which isn't in the town's main centre but has plenty of footfall and a good selection of other shops. However, I am considering giving up my shop as the landlord is hiking the rent.

The extra cost of the rent, along with business rates, and our rising energy bills will squeeze profits, and while I don't want to move and close the doors, I don't feel I can justify keeping the shop open.

During the pandemic, we built a website and started selling online, doing collections and local deliveries, and I think we can retain this part of the business and grow it without paying for the shop.

I've found a unit in some converted barns on a nearby farm, which would be much cheaper in terms of rent, and would be easy to do collections and deliveries from.

Chopping block: I don't want to close the physical shop, but rising cost might force me - entrepreneur Dave Fishwick replies (stock image)

The numbers all stack up, but I can't help feeling unhappy about the idea of closing the shop and taking the butchers away from the local area and our regular customers.

On the flip side, many people do walk past us to the local supermarket a few doors down or drive to the leading supermarkets in town.

Should I shut up shop and sell online and from the converted barn, or stick with my expensive local High Street shop?

Dave Fishwick, This is Money business doctor, replies: Firstly, it appears the main problem is the landlord hiking the rent, as you say, your town centre still has plenty of footfall, which is excellent.

Many High Streets have faced challenges for years. Before the rise of online shopping and supermarket home deliveries, superstores and retail parks were sprouting up across the country.

My first conversation would be with the landlord, and I assume you are not tied into a long lease.

If your landlord is asking you to sign up for another multi-year lease at a higher rent, I think this makes your decision easy.

If you can keep the shop open on a short-term basis and avoid a substantial rent increase, it might still be worth trying to grow the business in its current location, maybe alongside the other side, while you transition.

I would have the conversation with your landlord; where some shopkeepers have no choice but to absorb higher rents, you actually have an alternative, which gives you a strong negotiating position.

You could consider moving to an empty shop in the area, and perhaps you could arrange a 12-month rent-free period, and then a much-reduced rent moving forwards, but this will incur some moving costs; however, it is still worth considering all the options before you shut the shop.

Those of us over a certain age will remember the town centre as being the central hub and focus of the town.

Times and habits change, though, and many high streets have seen a severe decline, not helped by the loss of big department store chains like BHS and Debenhams and the closure of many mainstream stores, all of which can help independent shops by attracting people to the local area.

Business rates, as you mention, are also a significant drag on your businesses. It might seem reasonable to expect a rate reduction if the local authority allows large retail parks to open in the same area.

Rents are sometimes reduced by landlords struggling to keep their properties occupied, and business rates sometimes exceed the cost of rents. The small business rate relief may help you.

Alternatively, as you are in retail (e.g. shops, cafes, or bars), you can reduce your business rates by a third with the retail discount. Businesses in Enterprise Zones can also get reduced or even zero rates.

Some rural companies (such as the only butcher's shop in a town or village) can also be exempt from business rates. A rates relief broker online may also be able to help you reduce your bills.

A butchers shop in a village local to mine diversified their product range during the pandemic, adding locally sourced produce like eggs, bread, and milk, as well as prepared, oven-ready dishes and also offered collections and local deliveries, all of which were of real benefit to residents and kept them coming back, I think you could do the same.

It was also worth considering using a same-day refrigerated van courier service to deliver further afield, opening up your capabilities to supply many customers in different areas.

I like your idea of reducing the costs of using the converted barn on a nearby farm, which would be much cheaper in terms of rent.

However, if you could have a shop with reduced costs, as I mentioned above and also a refrigerated delivery service from the farm, you would then be covering all bases, and you would have three separate sources of income rather than one.

We do need local authorities to offer more support to local businesses, and we also need ourselves as consumers to make a real effort to support local shops to help them survive: use them or lose them.
HSBC's largest shareholder has escalated its campaign to spin off the bank's Asia business as the stand-off between the two looks set to turn ugly.

Ping An hit back at chairman Mark Tucker and chief executive Noel Quinn's arguments against separation, stating that carving out HSBC's lucrative Asian operations, which produce around two-thirds of the bank's profits, will unlock between 20billion and 28billion of added market value.

Last week Tucker and Quinn warned shareholders that a divorce would erode HSBC's share price and reduce dividends.

Break-up plot: Ping An said HSBC had exaggerated the downsides of a spin-off and ignored the long-term value a separate Asian business would generate

The bank outlined 14 reasons why meddling with its structure would be counterproductive, ranging from a costly decoupling and losing existing clients to diluting global synergies and putting 3.6billion of cross-border wholesale banking revenues at risk.

Yesterday, however, Chinese insurer Ping An said HSBC had exaggerated the downsides of a spin-off and ignored the long-term value that a separate Asian business would generate.

Ping An has been agitating for a break-up since April and wants to list HSBC's Asian business as an independent bank in Hong Kong, with current parent HSBC remaining a major shareholder in the Asian entity.

Aside from unlocking 20billion to 28billion of added market value, the bank would also be released from 6.5billion of capital requirements it is obliged to maintain given its status as a global systematically important bank.

HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing platform

The Shenzhen-based insurer believes the Asia business is constrained by HSBC's current group set-up and is trading at a discount to other Asian banks, including DBS.

Stand-off: HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn

The conglomerate claims HSBC Asia's model is inefficient and uncompetitive, with its cost-to-income ratio significantly higher than its Asian peer group.

The strong riposte from Ping An to HSBC's arguments for maintaining the status quo highlights the widening fault lines between the bank and its largest shareholder, with both sides digging in for the long haul.

HSBC has hired Goldman Sachs and Robey Warshaw, the Mayfair-based boutique investment bank which includes former chancellor George Osborne in its ranks, to advise on strategies for keeping Ping An at bay.

So far, the Ping An campaign has received short shrift in the City, with financial institutions dismissing split ambitions as technically complex, distracting for management and risky to the 'network income' HSBC generates through cooperation between its operations in different countries.

The clamour to form a separate Asian business has, however, gained traction with HSBC's large Asian retail investor base, which holds around a third of the bank's shares.

Annoyed that the UK-based lenders had to halt dividends through the pandemic, on the orders of the Bank of England, Asian retail investors see hiving off HSBC Asia as a way to avoid similar dividend freezes in the future.

Tensions ran high last week when retail investors expressed their frustrations and support for a spin-off at an HSBC investor meeting in Hong Kong following the release of its interim results.

Some investors bore placards urging a split and calling for Ping An to be given a seat on the HSBC board.
Of all Britain's top FTSE 100 companies, Hellmann's-to-Dove group Unilever lays claim to being the most attentive to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda.

So it is astonishing that a company with such a 'woke' approach should have found itself caught in a year-long war with one of its best known offshoots  luxury Cookie Dough and Matzah Crunch ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry's.

The dispute, over the manufacture, distribution and sale of Ben & Jerry's in the Palestinian territories, and to settler communities in particular, touches a number of raw nerves.

Sour taste: Tubs of ice cream are produced at Ben & Jerrys factory in Beer Tuvia, Israel

Efforts by Unilever to draw a line under the dispute by selling the West Bank operations to its Israeli franchisee have ended up in the Manhattan courts after Ben & Jerry's declined a settlement offer.

A very small scoop of Unilever's vast global operations is using up an ice-cream mountain of effort.

In spite of Unilever's sensitivity to social and governance issues, chief executive Alan Jope bravely drew a line in the sand when it came to efforts by Ben & Jerry's to dictate to its ultimate owners.

As Jope recently noted, the ice-cream firm should steer clear of 'straying into geopolitics'. The Vermont-based founders of the ice-cream maker, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, say they do not support boycotts.

Yet the intensifying battle with Unilever, economic owners of the brand, is something very close to a boycott.

Unilever is playing hard ball in the dispute. As part of its efforts to bring the renegade Ben & Jerry's back into line, it has suspended pay to its independent board members.

In taking a hard line against the Vermont board, Unilever has a powerful ally in the shape of activist investor Trian.

Controlling shareholder Nelson Peltz, who has a seat on the main Unilever board, has lobbied against pension funds which advocate disinvestment over the West Bank dispute.

Unrepentant: Unilever chief exec Alan Jope

The row also exposes the rifts emerging in America's vast  and increasingly less-connected to Israel  Jewish community. The views of founders Bennett and Jerry might be considered outliers. Vermont is the most radical state in the union. It is the home of Left-wing presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders, a sometimes critic of Israel.

In living memory, the state capital, Burlington, was the only city in the US to boast an openly communist mayor. And when Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's in 2000  making its founders very rich people  it signed up to a governance structure which Bennett and Jerry describe as 'the magic' of its success.

I would venture to suggest that it is not the 'woke' agenda which makes Ben & Jerry's so popular but the brilliant range of choice ingredients and flavours. Rising temperatures have made ice creams a great growth category  together with the rabbinical stamp of approval to be found on every Ben & Jerry's tub.

When Unilever announced last month it had sold Ben & Jerry's business in Israel to the local franchisee Avi Zinger of American Quality Products, it looked to have found a neat way of circumventing the Vermont board.

Unilever did not confine itself to announcing a commercial arrangement. It stated in the strongest terms that 'anti-Semitism has no place in society' and the company would have no truck with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In deciding on its approach to the problem, Unilever consulted extensively with the Israel government.

Politics: Ben & Jerrys founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in Burlington, Vermont

Unilever is unapologetic about its long association with the Middle-East. Its history in the region dates back to the pre-British mandate era, which ended with Israeli independence in 1948. It employs more than 2,000 people there  from all backgrounds  and over the last decade has poured 211million into investment.

None of this has satisfied Ben & Jerry's sanctimonious board. Instead, the Vermont legal action in the Manhattan courts seeks to block the sale to the Israel franchisee on the grounds that it is protecting the 'social integrity' of the brand.

The B&J board voted 5-2 in favour of going to court with the two Unilever nominees the only dissenters. Given Unilever's robust response, one might have expected America's Jewish community to fall-in behind the company's Solomon like decision. Not a bit of it.

T'ruah, an organisation describing itself as 'the rabbinical call for human rights', has aligned itself with Ben & Jerry's.

Claiming to represent 2,000 rabbis and cantors across North America, it argues that although it doesn't support BDS, it claims that Israel's occupation 'thwarts' the two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Unilever's chief executive Alan Jope is unrepentant about its decision to sell Ben & Jerry's to its Israeli distributor. He notes that while Ben & Jerry's remain keepers of the ethical stance of the brand, the London-based giant retains control of distribution arrangements. Thus it had every right to sell the commercial rights to the brand to its local Israeli partner. It is standing firm in the face of the threat from Vermont.

Ben & Jerry's may still be capturing the headlines but didn't get a mention in Unilever's first-half financial results released last month. What we do know is ice cream, particularly Unilever's Magnum and Cornetto, are growing at high double digits.

Moreover, contrary to the speculation, Jope is as committed to ice cream as ever in spite of the Ben & Jerry's stand-off.

It would, of course, be madness to dispose of ice-cream brands in the middle of a European-wide heat-wave.

It is paradoxical that Unilever is enjoying super growth in ice-cream sales as the US, UK and Europe stagger through an unprecedentedly hot summer.

The record-breaking temperatures are, after all, linked in many minds to the climate change Unilever seeks to challenge.
Conservative party leadership frontrunner Liz Truss has cheered up the UK's small band of frackers.

At a party hustings event in Cheltenham, Truss said she believed it should be allowed, after the Government banned fracking in 2019 following worrying reports of an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.9 near a shale gas site in Lancashire.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the Government indicated it would look again at the science behind shale gas and fracking.

Boost: Conservative party leadership frontrunner Liz Truss said she believed fracking should be allowed

The technique has been widely used in the US, a country with wide open spaces, but in Britain, which is much smaller and more densely populated, fracking has proved far more controversial.

Nevertheless, shares in Igas Energy surged 13.5 per cent, or 8.8p, to 74.2p, while another oil & gas minnow, Egdon Resources, leapt 9.9 per cent, or 0.45p, to 5p. Both have fracking licences.

In June, Igas claimed public support was growing. 'Igas has the potential to deliver five production wells, which would supply 3m homes within 12 to 18 months. With the right government support we can rapidly accelerate the development of this strategic national resource,' it said.

Egdon has around 614 square kilometres under licence.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.5 per cent, or 34.98 points, to 7500.89 while the FTSE 250 gained 0.5pc, or 93.53 points, at 20.338.96.

Packaging giant Mondi rose 11.2 per cent, or 172p, to 170.5p after it agreed to sell some Russian production facilities for 1.3billion to Russian billionaire, Viktor Kharitonin. Rival Smurfit also added 1.6 per cent, or 49p, to close at 3206p.

But pandemic winners Kingfisher, Dunelm Group and DFS Furniture were sold off after the broker UBS downgraded the stocks, citing the worsening economic climate.

B&Q owner Kingfisher was downgraded to 'sell' from 'hold', with the price target reduced to 203p from 338p. The shares fell 2.7 per cent, or 6.9p, to 248.9p.

Homewares seller Dunelm saw its rating reduced to 'neutral' from 'buy, with the target price reset to 850p from 1761p. It shed 1.2 per cent, or 10p, at 831p.

DFS, the sofa seller, had its target price slashed to 100p from 241p and is rated a 'sell' by UBS. It finished the day down 2.6 per cent, or 3.6p, at 137.6p.

Fund manager Abrdn was up 1.6 per cent, or 2.75p, to 175.6p after it bought a stake in regulated UK digital assets exchange Archax.

It has become the latest asset manager to bet on crypto-assets and chief executive Stephen Bird said the investment provided an opportunity for 'substantial financial benefits' as blockchain technologies were 'inevitably going to form a big part of the future of financial markets'.

Archax has become the first digital securities exchange to win approval from the Financial Conduct Authority, and is to launch this year. It allows institutional investors to trade cryptocurrencies and tokenised securities.

Bitcoin, the world's most known crypto, slumped below $20,000 last month, having lost more than two-thirds of its value since nearing $69,000 in November.

Yesterday it was trading at around $24,000.

BP climbed 0.7 per cent, or 3p, to 430.55p and Shell rose 0.1 per cent, or 1.5p, to 2215p after Brent crude returned above $100 a barrel.

Prices surged when the International Energy Agency raised its demand estimate for this year amid a switch from gas to oil for power generation.
UK businesses are more confident than their European peers and are investing at a faster pace than prior to the pandemic despite a small contraction in second quarter growth.

As the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a negligible 0.1 per cent decline in GDP  half the drop predicted in pessimistic forecasts  a business confidence poll showed that UK companies are facing up to macro-economic challenges with a more positive attitude than rivals on the continent.

The Accenture/S&P UK Business Outlook  a quarterly survey of business optimism tracking 12,000 businesses, including 1,400 in the UK  showed 28 per cent of UK private sector firms expected activity to increase over the coming year.

Forging ahead: A business confidence poll showed that UK companies are facing up to macro-economic challenges with a more positive attitude than rivals on the continent

The score is lower than recorded earlier in 2022, but still substantially healthier than the EU and global averages, which came in at 16 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

The confidence of British companies was further underscored in the ONS's GDP release, which revealed that businesses are continuing to invest in the face of economic headwinds.

According to the ONS, business investment rose 3.8 per cent in the most recent quarter, well above pre-pandemic levels. One area of concern for companies will be the widening trade deficit, which saw imports exceed exports by a record 27.9billion.

Much of this, however, was a result of costlier oil and gas imports and it is hoped that the gap will narrow as energy prices normalise.

The fresh data comes as economists raged over whether or not the UK is heading for a recession.

The GDP data showed that tourism, recreation and hospitality sectors performed particularly strongly between April and June, helping to offset a dip in healthcare and social work output as Covid vaccination and test-and-trace programmes wound down. The stoic performance of British industry flies in the face of forecasts that the UK was destined to plunge into a protracted downturn before the end of 2022.

Technically defined as two consecutive quarters of contracting GDP, a recession this year is now far from inevitable.

'It is too early to call a recession despite output fall,' KPMG UK's chief economist Yael Selfin said.

Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to the EY ITEM Club, added that it wasn't forecasting a recession at this point, 'given the supports the economy still has', including low unemployment and healthy household balance sheets.
Haleon's terrible start to life on the London Stock Exchange has intensified after the consumer health group admitted it may get caught up in a massive lawsuit involving a heartburn drug in the US.

The company, which sells Sensodyne toothpaste and Centrum vitamins, warned it could be on the hook for indemnities to drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), from which it demerged from last month.

The shock admission comes after GSK was connected with an impending raft of personal injury lawsuits concerning Zantac, a once-popular drug in the US and the UK, which was pulled from shelves in 2019 amid fears it contained a chemical that caused cancer.

Tensions: Haleon's Dave Lewis and GlaxoSmithKline chief Emma Walmsley

That has led to more than 2,000 cases being filed in the US, with the first trial due to begin on Monday, August 22 in the state of Illinois. If GSK is held liable in any of the court cases, it has served Haleon with a notice that it may try to recover payments from the company.

The incident piles further pressure on GSK chief executive Dame Emma Walmsley and could cause tension with Haleon chief executive Brian McNamara and its chairman, former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis.

The demerger of Haleon was a key plank of Walmsley's strategy to boost GSK's drug pipeline as well as revive its flagging share price and silence activist investors who have questioned her leadership. But the current situation means those critical voices may begin to grow louder again.

McNamara could also face pressure to boost Haleon's value after GSK previously turned down a 50billion offer for the business from Unilever this year in favour of pushing ahead with the demerger. Haleon currently carries a market cap of around 25billion, less than half the price of Unilever's bid.

Zantac was originally developed by GSK but after its patent expired it was produced and sold by several drug companies including Sanofi and Pfizer. Parallels are being drawn with German pharma giant Bayer, which two years ago agreed to pay 9billion to settle a lawsuit relating to Roundup, a weedkiller made by its subsidiary Monsanto which was also claimed to cause cancer. News of the Zantac litigation is not new, with Haleon referencing it in its prospectus prior to listing on the London market.

But Haleon and GSK's shares have taken a hit ahead of the first trial as investor concerns exploded this week.

'The share price reaction goes to show most investors don't bother to read the small print [of the prospectus], so they've been caught off-guard after the potential liabilities hit the news,' said the AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson.

Forecasts from several analysts have also spooked the market, with Morgan Stanley predicting total damages could be as high as 37billion.

Both Haleon and GSK have come out swinging against the lawsuits, with the former saying it is not a party to any of the Zantac claims and has 'never marketed' the drug in the US.

GSK, meanwhile, said it will 'vigorously defend' itself against the claims, highlighting that 'substantial scientific evidence' that supported conclusions from US and European regulators that there was no link between Zantac and the development of cancer.

Shares in both companies rallied, with Haleon up 2.2 per cent, or 5.8p, to 271.6p while GSK rose 3.6 per cent, or 50p, to 1450p.

But worries about Zantac are more bad news for Haleon, which has struggled to gain ground following a lacklustre debut on the London market, which at the time was the largest float since mining giant Glencore in 2011.

Its shares originally listed at 330p but have dropped 17 per cent since then. GSK's shares are also down nearly 15 per cent following the demerger.

Astra treatment given green light in America

AstraZeneca is celebrating after a cancer drug secured US approval.

The firm's Enhertu treatment, which it developed with Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo, has been given the green light by the Food and Drug Administration regulator for use in patients suffering from an aggressive and difficult to treat form of lung cancer.

It followed the results of a clinical trial in which nearly 58 per cent of patients saw positive responses from the treatment.

It is the first drug to be approved by US regulators for a type of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Lung cancer is the second most common form globally, with more than 2m patients diagnosed in 2020.

Survival rates for patients suffering from NSCLC are particularly poor  only 8 per cent live longer than five years after diagnosis.

The drug can now be given to patients who have inoperable tumours or where the cancer has spread beyond the lungs.

AstraZeneca will pay 103m to Daiichi Sankyo as part of a development agreement between the two companies. Astra shares went up 2 per cent, or 206p, to 10,712p.
Touch of class: Turkish butcher Nusret Gokce shot to fame in 2017 for the flamboyant manner in which he salted steak

An ultra-pricey steak restaurant opened by social media sensation 'Salt Bae' raked in 7million in its first four months of trading.

Turkish butcher Nusret Gokce, who shot to fame in 2017 for the flamboyant manner in which he salted steak, opened the Nusr-Et restaurant in London's Knightsbridge district in September last year.

It quickly attracted attention for outrageously expensive dishes, such as a 630 gold leaf-wrapped steak.

Despite several negative reviews from food critics, NusrEt raked in the cash.

Nusret UK, the company behind the restaurant, reported turnover of 7million for 2021 and profit of 2.2million.

Salt Bae's empire includes locations in New York, Dubai and Istanbul and attracted a celebrity fans, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, David Beckham and rapper Snoop Dogg.

Salt Bae has drawn criticism after it was alleged he paid chefs just 12 an hour.
Hard-nosed cop 'Raptor 13' has settled a compensation claim with a tow truck driver who claimed the officer assaulted him so badly in an 'illegal' search that it ruined his sex life.

NSW Police Senior Constable Andrew Murphy and his partner Constable Michael Smith were accused of roughing up Canberra man Dylan Yates at a petrol station in 2018.

Formerly a member of NSW Police's famed anti-gang Raptor squad, Senior Constable Murphy was confined to desk duties in 2020 after the police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, released a report about an incident where he abused two Muslim women.

Senior Constable Murphy had shot to internet fame in preceding years for controversial in-your-face tactics shared in viral videos, using the codename 'Raptor 13'.

Mr Yates, 28, sued the state of NSW in the ACT Supreme Court over his alleged treatment by the two officers in a civil personal injury claim of assault and battery causing psychological illness.

According to court documents, Yates also claimed he was maliciously prosecuted by Murphy over the incident, and that $5,000 disappeared from his tow truck after it was searched.

Senior Constable Andrew Murphy, known as 'Raptor 13', suffered a humiliating court loss after allegedly assaulting a tow truck driver

Dylan Yates (pictured) sued the state of NSW over his alleged treatment by the two officers in a civil personal injury claim of assault and battery causing psychological illness

The case was settled last Thursday at the request of the defendant in the middle of a trial.

His solicitor Phillip Gibson said the terms of the settlement were confidential and wouldn't comment on whether any admissions were made by the NSW Government.

Mr Yates received an institutional apology from the ACT chief justice for the time the case took to resolve and the impact that had on him.

During the case, Mr Yate's mother Marion told the court that November 23, 2018, was the day she 'lost her son' as he 'withdrew' from the world over the next year.

'He's never been the same. He had no dealings with anyone, he was just a shell,' she said.

In a statement of claim filed in the ACT Supreme Court, Mr Yates explained that he was towing a vintage Ford XB GT for All States Towing.

The company has a contract with the Australian Federal Police and was targeted by anti-vaccine activists in February for towing their cars during protests.

Mr Yates stopped at the Shell service station in Gundagai, NSW, home of the famous Dog on the Tucker Box statue, on the way from Shepparton, Victoria, to Canberra.

Mr Yates said the officers accused him of being a Rebels bikie and demanded to see all his many tattoos

At the same time, about 3pm, Senior Constable Murphy's patrol car arrived and he and Constable Smith got out and approached Mr Yates.

Both parties agree the officers asked to see proof the car was being towed legitimately and inspect his licence and other documentation.

The driver showed them his work log on an iPad and the policemen inspected the registration of both vehicles, along with his towing authority.

A defence filed with the court alleged that though the checks showed the car was not stolen, they 'revealed a history of weapons offences and links to' bikie gangs.

'He's got a warning for Rebels,' Constable Smith later told the court.

Mr Yates claimed in his lawsuit that Senior Constable Murphy said his partner saw him 'in club colours' the previous week. The defence denied he said this.

Senior Constable Murphy then demanded Mr Yates show him his tattoos because he had reason to believe he was a member or associate of the Rebels bikie gang.

'Have you got any 13s tattooed on you?' he asked. Mr Yates said no.

The lawsuit claimed Senior Constable Murphy 'suddenly pushed him to the rear of the tow truck' and subjected him to a search of all his visible tattoos.

Mr Yates (pictured with his daughter) claimed he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the officers' conduct, along with anxiety, depression, and humiliation

Mr Yates has numerous tattoos across his body and the officers demanded to see them, according to social media pictures

The controversial cop allegedly grabbed Mr Yates's arms and twisted them behind his back.

The defence denied this but admitted he then told him to take of his shoes and hand them over.

Constable Smith then began searching the tow truck, which Mr Yates was told was for illegal drugs or weapons they believed he may be carrying.

The government's defence claimed the officers were entitled to search Mr Yates and his vehicle without a warrant because they had a reasonable suspicion.

Mr Yates claimed in his lawsuit that while the tow truck was being searched, Senior Constable Murphy pushed him so hard he stumbled backwards onto the road.

The officer then allegedly yelled at him to get off the road, before grabbing him and pushing him towards the tow truck.

Mr Yates claimed he saw Senior Constable Murphy take a bum bag out of the tow truck during the search, and he later discovered $5,000 cash was missing from it.

The government's defence denied any of this happened and Constable Smith testified during the trial that he never saw the cash during the search.

Senior Constable Murphy gave Mr Yates a defect notice for his tow truck claiming the driver's seat and seatbelt were in poor condition and there was an oil leak.

However, an inspection by a mechanic four days later found no defects on the vehicle.

About this time, Mr Yates' boss Zoran Matijevic called his employee and asked to speak to the officers, but Senior Constable Murphy hung up on him without answering, the court heard.

After the search was over and the defect notice issued, Mr Yates drove out of the petrol station but realised the policemen were driving behind him.

Formerly a member of NSW Police's famed anti-gang Raptor squad, Senor Constable Murphy was booted in 2020 for abusing two Muslim women

Mr Yates' statement of claim said that in response he turned around and drove back to the service station 'as he did not feel safe' with them following him.

The state's defence claimed Mr Yates cut off another driver while turning around, then cut off a second driver while changing lanes, forcing them to brake suddenly to avoid a crash, then changed lanes again without indicating - all while not wearing a seatbelt.

The officers followed Mr Yates back to the patrol station and told him to get out of the tow truck and show them his licence. Mr Yates refused.

Mr Yates was issued with five infringement notices and two weeks later was charged by Senior Constable Murphy with refusing to comply with a requirement to submit to a search.

He pleaded not guilty in Goulburn Local Court and the charge was dropped two months later, along with all but one of the infringement notices.

The statement of claim alleged the charge was malicious and there was 'no reasonable or probable cause' to lay it.

Mr Yates also alleged the officers knew the search was illegal and only did it to intimidate him. The defence denied this.

The father-of-one's lawsuit claimed he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the officers' conduct, along with anxiety, depression, and humiliation.

This gave him difficulty maintaining concentration or attention and performing everyday tasks, hyper-vigilance, fatigue, disturbed sleep, and an 'inability to have intimate or sexual relationships'.

His statement of claim listed six doctors who he sought help from to deal with his psychiatric problems after the traffic stop.

Senior Constable Murphy became notorious in a series of viral videos showing him using controversial tactics as part of Strike Force Raptor

Mr Yates claimed he was unable to go back to work until December 14, 2018, and wanted the value of that time reimbursed, along with damages for loss of future earnings.

'The assault and battery were affected in a high-handed, humiliating, and oppressive manner,' the lawsuit alleged, calling the prosecution an 'oppressive abuse' of the law.

The government's defence claimed the use of force by both officers was reasonably necessary under the circumstances.

It denied Mr Yates' psychological issues were the result of the officers' conduct.

The case dragged on for more than three years, which Mr Yates' lawyer told the court worsened his mental state.

Mr Yates last year moved from his home in Caldwell, in southern Canberra, to live with his parents in Albury, on the NSW-Victoria border.

ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum apologised in court the Thursday before last, after the settlement was reached, for the way the case was handled.

'I've seen a lot of material in the medical documents, indicating that the processes of the court during that time exacerbated the stress that you suffered,' she said.

'I would like to extend an institutional apology on behalf of the justice system for the time [it took] to resolve for you and the impact that that had on you.

'I sincerely hope that the resolution of these proceedings gives you the strength to recover and move towards a happier way of life.'

Senior Constable Murphy became notorious in a series of viral videos showing him using controversial tactics as part of Strike Force Raptor.

He infamously stopped mourners travelling on their way to the burial of slain Comanchero boss Mick Hawi, waved a metal pole near a man's head, and pushed a member of a 'veterans' motorcycle group.

The final straw was a scathing report from the police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, over a 'threatening and bullying' road stop in Parramatta, in Sydney's west, in April 2019.

In footage that sparked massive uproar, Raptor 13 and his squadmate were seen pulling over a P-plate driver, 24, and her stepmother passenger.

He told the driver: 'Don't argue with me love or you'll be going back in the paddy wagon as accessory to bloody murder.'

The watchdog described Raptor 13's behaviour as 'intentionally intimidating, abusing, threatening and bullying' and slammed it as 'serious misconduct'.

Senior Constable Murphy was as a result reassigned to a 'non-public facing' admin role dealing only with his fellow officers.
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Actor James Caan was making headlines in the mid 90s - not for his roles in hit films Misery and The Godfather, but for being at the center of a 1993 murder probe and the target of a restraining order taken out by his girlfriend at the time.

Caan's ex-girlfriend Leesa Rowland filed a 1994 restraining order and settled a physical battery lawsuit for $86,000 after accusing the actor of abuse, but she's always shied away from the spotlight when asked about the relationship.

Now, emboldened by the actor's passing last month, actress and author Rowland, 57, is speaking out for the first time to DailyMail.com to tell how Caan choked her, blacklisted her from Hollywood, threatened to put a 'hit' on her mother and upended her life after calling it quits 28 years ago.

'I feel like I'm free and no longer have a threat that someone's going to hurt me,' Rowland tells DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

Rowland says Caan's rage toward her came after she questioned him about the mysterious death of their mutual friend Mark Schwartz, 25, a roadie for a band, who fell from the fire escape of the apartment the actor was sleeping in.

Caan was eventually cleared when the death was ruled an accident, but questions remained.

Rowland was with Caan and Schwartz the night he died and is now shedding light on the circumstances surrounding the fall and Caan's threats that had her living in fear for nearly 30 years.

James Caan's ex-girlfriend Leesa Rowland filed a 1994 restraining order and settled a physical battery lawsuit for $86,000 after accusing the actor of abuse. She's speaking out for the first time in 30 years to tell the full story

Rowland moved from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles in 1989 at the age of 22 with dreams of making it big. She met Caan in 1992 at a mutual friend's home

At the time Caan and Rowland met, he'd already made a name for himself in Hollywood after playing mobster Sonny Corleone in 1972 classic The Godfather and having just starred as a kidnapped novelist opposite Kathy Bates in the 1990 hit thriller Misery. Caan is pictured in 1994

Rowland moved from Austin, Texas, to Los Angeles in 1989 at the age of 22 with dreams of making it big. She got an agent and began doing print work, commercials and starred in cult classic Class of Nuke 'Em High Parts 2 and 3, with a steady stream of auditions rolling in.

She met Caan - who she calls Jimmy - at a friend's home in 1992. He was 52, she was 25.

At the time he'd already made a name for himself in Hollywood after playing mobster Sonny Corleone in 1972 classic The Godfather and having just starred as a kidnapped novelist opposite Kathy Bates in the 1990 hit thriller Misery.

'I feel like I'm free and no longer have a threat that someone's going to hurt me,' Rowland says of Caan's passing

'I didn't really know who he was when I met him. He was just Jimmy. He had a Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo belt buckle and he said he was a rodeo cowboy, which is what I thought he was at first. But of course, he wasn't. He was an actor,' she says.

The pair began dating casually and would enjoy dinners and time together at his Beverly Hills home and the Le Parc Hotel, where the actor kept a suite while his house underwent renovations.

'He was always very charming and nice. We got along great and hung out all the time,' she said, adding that there were no red flags in the relationship.

That all changed after September 18, 1993.

'I was with Jimmy and Mark the night he died,' Rowland tells DailyMail.com from her Manhattan apartment.

She describes with vivid memory the day leading up to his death.

She and Caan were at a friend's apartment at the high-rise Wilshire Corridor building. Instead of staying at the Le Parc, Caan had swapped places for the night for added privacy to make phones calls and read scripts, Rowland said.

'Jimmy and I were at the apartment and I had an audition the next day. Jimmy called Mark to tell him to print out my script. He printed it out, picked up pizza and brought it over to the apartment. He brings it up and we hang out with Mark for a while,' she says.

Mark Alan Schwartz worked with funk boy band The Gap Band and was a friend of Caan's. Rowland said Caan introduced her to Schwartz, who at the time was dating Ola Ray, who shot to fame for starring as Michael Jackson's girlfriend in the Thriller music video.

'Mark was so fun and charming. He was 6'3 and handsome and was a roadie for The Gap Band,' Rowland says. 'He wanted to be a music manager eventually.'

Rowland said Schwartz left in the afternoon, then came back later that night to pick her up and bring her to the Le Parc hotel so she could rest for her audition the next morning.

'We were with another friend talking, laughing, looking at photo albums of him and Ola. Everything was fine and normal,' Rowland said. 'He wasn't drunk like the reports said.'

She went to bed alone and that was the last she saw of Mark Schwartz.

'I go into the bedroom of the suite, I go to sleep and then I wake up in the morning to homicide police.'

Rowland says that without much explanation, the officers took her and a mutual friend  whose name she's chosen not to reveal - to the crime scene.

'The police tell us they have James in another [police] car and that he didn't recognize the body,' she says.

Rowland says she breathed a sigh of relief, because if Caan didn't recognize the body, it meant it was likely she didn't know the victim.

'We arrive at the apartment and it's marked off as a crime scene. They walk us over to the scene and take the cloth off the body and it's him.'

Under the sheet was the body of 25-year-old Mark Alan Schwartz from West Hollywood.

Holding back tears, Rowland says, 'I thought at first it was a gunshot, because of the gash on his head. I have never seen a dead person in my life, much less my friend. I was crying hysterically.

'I looked up and it seems so obvious that he fell from the balcony of the apartment,' Rowland says. But Caan had denied that Schwartz ever entered the apartment and claims he slept through the whole ordeal.

Represented by women's rights attorney Gloria Allred, she filed a physical battery lawsuit and settled outside of court for $86,000, which Rowland says went to her medical bills

'The police brought me inside and it's there that I hypothesized that Mark may have tried climbing the fire escape and fell. The cop wrote that down, took me for seven hours of questioning and that was it.'

After questioning Caan for nearly 10 hours, what began as a murder probe was ruled an accident. The police report said Schwartz fell around 4am as he tried to climb into the eighth-floor apartment balcony from an adjacent fire escape.

'It appears he lost his footing and fell to his death,' LA Detective Vic Pietrantoni said at the time. 'An autopsy was conducted which confirmed that the cause of death was related to the fall.'

Police said Schwartz arrived at the Wilshire Boulevard building in a taxi and discovered that he did not have money for the fare.

Building employees told police that Schwartz was last seen entering the elevator in the lobby, presumably planning to return to pay the fare. But shortly after, the lobby attendant reported hearing a loud 'thumping noise' coming from outside the complex.

Caan told police that Schwartz was a casual acquaintance who had visited briefly during the early evening hours Friday.

Schwartz apparently had knocked on the door in an attempt to wake Caan, police said, but was unsuccessful. Then he climbed out on the fire escape.

Caan told The Los Angeles Times that he was woken up by police knocking at the door.

'It was certainly a rude awakening,' Caan said. 'They had their guns pointed at me...It was like a Columbo script...It's ludicrous. You don't kill someone and go back to sleep.'

Caan said he had gone to the apartment to read scripts in private and that when he went to bed, he turned the ringer off so that he would not be disturbed.

'I was staying in the back room of the apartment and I couldn't hear anything,' said Caan. 'I feel sorry for the kid and his folks.'

Caan said friends told him that Schwartz had been drinking that night, but Rowland says they were sober when she went to sleep.

'He had been drinking and that's why he took a cab,' Caan said. 'His friend put him in a cab and sent him home. Everybody suffers when something like this happens.'

Mark Schwartz died after falling from the eighth floor fire escape of the high-rise Wilshire Corridor building in LA. His death was ruled an accident

When Rowland moved to Los Angeles she got an agent and began doing print work, commercials and starred in cult classic Class of Nuke 'Em High Parts 2 and 3, with a steady stream of auditions rolling in. She said that all ended after Caan blacklisted her

But one thing always bothered Rowland, 'Why did he say he didn't recognize the body? If I could know who he is, the person I met him through should know who he is.'

While she can't say definitively if Caan was involved or at fault, the question always loomed in her mind.

'It changed our whole relationship because I was always trying to figure out what happened with Mark,' Rowland says.

Caan called her a few days later and wanted to know everything that was said in interrogation, she said.

'I asked, ''I don't understand why you told them you didn't recognize Mark.''

'"Because I was being investigated for murder,'" Caan said flippantly, according to Rowland. 'He never wanted to figure out what happened to him.'

Caan claimed he didn't recognize the body of his friend Schwartz and that he slept through the whole ordeal as Schwartz fell while climbing the fire escape

In the eight months of their relationship after Mark's death, Rowland said it haunted her.

'I had feelings of guilt, thoughts that if I hadn't left the apartment or hadn't gone to sleep, he wouldn't have left.

'We saw each other a lot and talked about the incident quite a bit. Jimmy was nice about it in the beginning and comforting and tried to make me feel better,' she said. 'He never wavered that he slept through it.'

Rowland says he told her not to talk to the media or friends about the case because it would hurt his image and affect the public's opinion of him.

She says Caan started drinking more and doing drugs in front of her. She says he was teaching her how to 'self-medicate' with alcohol and she started drinking whenever she would think about the grisly scene.

Caan entered rehab later that year in August 1994.

'A few months later the story is on the news and I joke to him, '''Can you believe they used my hypothesis that he fell from the fire escape? It's obvious he fell from the balcony. What's that about?'''

'He didn't think that was funny,' she says.

'His whole demeanor changed and he said, ''Leesa, if I ever hear that you're talking I will put a hit out on your mother.'' And if you know Jimmy he thinks he's a gangster. And at that moment he felt like a gangster.

'Then he took me by my neck with his bare hands and said I'm going to kill you. And he started punching me and strangling me and just went ballistic.

'Finally, he opens the door and tosses me into the hallway.

'All I could think of was him doing that to Mark. Is this what happened to Mark? Over the balcony? It was a flashback to Mark dead because of the way he threw me.'

She says she eventually got up from the hallway and went back into the hotel room to get her things and Caan was on the phone.

'I've already made a coupe phone calls about you.' Caan told her.

Caan is best known for his breakout role as Sonny Corleone in 1972 crime film The Godfather, which scored him an Oscar nomination. After this death last month, former Gambino family underboss turned FBI informant Salvatore 'Sammy the Bull' Gravano claimed Caan needed permission from the Colombo family to be able to star in The Godfather

Caan returned to full-fledged stardom opposite Kathy Bates in Misery in 1990. The pair are pictured together in the film

Rowland says she went home and her roommate took photos of her bruised eye and fractured nose.

And while Rowland didn't know for sure if Caan had the means to order a hit on her mother, she wasn't willing to run the risk.

'I went down to the station and made a police report...as life insurance. If anything happened to me I would have this.'

Rowland was represented by famed women's rights attorney Gloria Allred in her case against Caan

Caan was always known as a Hollywood bad boy and was speculated to have ties to the mob. Just two months before the assault on Rowland, Caan was arrested after being accused of pulling a gun during an argument with a rapper in Hollywood.

In 2011, Caan offered to stand bail for mob boss Andrew 'Andy Mush' Russo and revealed Russo is godfather to his son Scott, star of the TV crime series Hawaii 5-0.

'I've known Andrew since 1972 and in all that time I have known him only as an unbelievable father, grandfather, great-grandfather and as good a friend as any person could ask for,' Cann said in a letter read to the court in Brooklyn,

And after his death last month, notorious mobster Sammy the Bull Gravano claimed Caan was an associate of the Colombo mafia family, so much so, that Caan had to ask the mafia family permission to take on the role as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather.

'He was in the mob,' Gravano told Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Show. 'James Caan was in - was hooked in with the mob.'

'I was there when he came down and asked permission to be in that movie. I was there with Carmine Persico,' Gravano said, referencing another Colombo family boss allegedly present. 'Joe Colombo gave him the role. He was connected with the Colombo family.

Gravano doubled down and said that while Caan was not a made member of the mob - given that he was Jewish born from German immigrants - he was an associate of the Colombo family.

Reps for Caan have not responded to comment.

His bad boy behavior continued throughout his life. Caan was divorced four times, had a cocaine addiction, was also accused of abusing his ex-wife and once lived at the Playboy Mansion. He's also rumored to have terrified his co-stars on set.

Rowland says Caan started drinking more and doing drugs in front of her. She says he was teaching her how to 'self-medicate' with alcohol and she started drinking whenever she would think about the grisly scene. Caan entered rehab later that year in August 1994

Mark Alan Schwartz worked with funk boy band The Gap Band and was a friend of Caan's. Rowland said Caan introduced her to Schwartz, who at the time was dating Ola Ray, who shot to fame for starring as Michael Jackson's girlfriend in the Thriller music video

'Once I got the retraining order it was in the news. A couple weeks after that, my house got ransacked. I was intimidated.'

She says over the next five years her tires were slashed, her home was ransacked several times, she was mugged in Manhattan and lived in constant fear of her mother being killed back in Texas.

'I never wanted to see him again in my life,' she says. 'Bad things kept happening to me. Everywhere I went bad things would happen. It was like a was on some intimidation list. Of course it could be a coincidence, but it all became too much.'

Represented by women's rights attorney Gloria Allred, she filed a physical battery lawsuit and settled outside of court for $86,000, which Rowland says went to her medical bills.

The damage to her career was perhaps even worse than the physical damage.

'I went from booking a lot of TV gigs and people sending me scripts, and then it all stopped. I got no auditions, nothing. My agent only wanted me to do things talking about Jimmy, but I couldn't and didn't want to talk about it. I just wanted to do my work and I couldn't tell them what the abuse stemmed from. So I didn't talk for 30 years.'

She worked as a stylist and makeup artist and moved to the Cayman Islands for three years and says that's where she found peace.

But she says the trauma followed her throughout her entire life.

'My whole demeanor changed after that. It was a life changing event. I was always nervous.

'The worst part was I lost my voice. I was so afraid that someone would say I was talking about the incident even when I wasn't.

'I couldn't tell anyone that he threatened to kill my mother. Even now, I'm afraid to talk because I hear Jimmy yelling at me that if I speak he'll put a hit out on her, and my mother passed in 2003.'

In the 30 years since, she's run into Caan twice. Once at a restaurant in Los Angles; they made eye contact and he had to leave due to the restraining order.

The second time was just a few years ago in Florida.

'He had a walker and he was right across the room. I couldn't talk to him. It was the weirdest thing. I just couldn't talk to him because he put me through so much.'

'He never reached out once to apologize,' she says. 'I was hoping one day he would contact me and explain and apologize.'

Rowland says she ran into Caan for the second time just a few years ago in Florida. 'He had a walker and he was right across the room. I couldn't talk to him. It was the weirdest thing. I just couldn't talk to him because he put me through so much,' she said. Caan is pictured in Los Angeles with a walker last year

Rowland has written two self help books and lives with her partner of 15 years, real estate attorney Larry Wohl

Rowland, who lives in Manhattan and runs an animal rescue, says the trauma has affected her relationships and she never told a soul about the threat made against her 30 years ago

But on July 6, Caan passed away at age 82 after years of health complications.

'A mutual friend told me. I was saddened that he died. I really liked him at one time and I was sad that he had health issues at the end of his life and suffered a lot,' she says.

'But I feel like I'm free and no longer have a threat that someone's going to hurt me.

'I don't know if he really would've killed me or my mother but I lived with that threat,' she says. 'I feel a sense of freedom, that I don't have to worry about my sweet family.'

'He had a long time he could've called me to apologize. Wouldn't you think he would? Especially if he was innocent.'

Reports of his passing noted that Schwartz death was the 'secret Caan took to the grave' and highlighted his checkered past.

Rowland has since written two self help books and runs a non-profit Animal Ashram to help animals. She lives in Manhattan with her partner of 15 years, real estate attorney Larry Wohl.

She says the trauma has affected her relationships and she never told a soul about the threat made against her 30 years ago.

'It still bothers me. Me, Mark's family, Ola - we still don't have closure on what happened to Mark.'
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Political leaders on Thursday honored Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana as a determined advocate for her beliefs during a funeral after she and three other people were killed in a highway crash last week.

Members of Congress were among several hundred mourners for the nearly two-hour service at Granger Community Church near Walorskis northern Indiana home.

Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke about Walorski's work as a Christian missionary in Romania with her husband, Dean Swihart, as the director of a local humane society and as a television news reporter before, all before entering politics.

'Tell you the truth, Jackie never had a job. She always had a purpose and a mission,' McCarthy said.

Walorski, 58, was in an SUV with two members of her congressional staff on August 3 when it crossed the median of a northern Indiana highway for unknown reasons and collided with an oncoming vehicle, according to the Elkhart County Sheriffs Office.

Political leaders on Thursday honored Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana as a determined advocate for her beliefs during a funeral after she and three other people were killed in a highway crash last week

Numerous members of Congress were among several hundred mourners for the nearly two-hour service at Granger Community Church near Walorskis northern Indiana home. Pictured with her husband of 27 years Dean Swihart

Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke about Walorski's work as a Christian missionary in Romania with her husband, as the director of a local humane society and as a television news reporter before entering politics

Mourners attend the burial service for late Congresswoman Jackie Walorski at Southlawn Cemetery on Thursday

Political leaders on Thursday honored Republican U.S. Rep. Walorski of Indiana as a determined advocate for her beliefs during a funeral after she and three other people were killed in a highway crash last week

Walorski, 58, was in an SUV with two members of her congressional staff on August 3 when it crossed the median of a northern Indiana highway for unknown reasons and collided with an oncoming vehicle, according to the Elkhart County Sheriffs Office. Her husband, Dean Swihart (right) seen comforting another mourner

The coffin of late Congresswoman Jackie Walorski is seen at the burial service

The Congresswoman's 27-year-old staffer Zachery Potts, of Mishawaka, who was driving, and her 28-year-old communications director, Emma Thomson, of Washington, D.C., also died, as did the woman who was driving the other vehicle.

Potts was Walorski's district director and the Republican chairman for northern Indiana's St. Joseph County.

Walorski was first elected to Congress in 2012 after six years in the state Legislature and was seeking reelection this year in the solidly Republican district.

Much of Walorski's funeral highlighted her Christian faith, with her husband, Dean Swihart, an elementary school music teacher, playing saxophone with other musicians as they performed several hymns.

Republican Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri recalled becoming friends with Walorski after they first joined Congress at the same time and lived in the same Washington apartment building for many years.

The Congresswoman's 27-year-old staffer Zachery Potts, of Mishawaka, who was driving, and her 28-year-old communications director, Emma Thomson, of Washington, D.C., also died, as did the woman who was driving the other vehicle

Walorski was first elected to Congress in 2012 after six years in the state Legislature and was seeking reelection this year in the solidly Republican district

Pallbearers carry the coffin of late Congresswoman Jackie Walorski during her burial service

Wagner choked back tears as she called Walorski 'one of the best.'

'Jackie was a no-nonsense, get it done and move it or lose it woman of strength and intense integrity,' Wagner added.

Walorski was active on agriculture and food policy in Congress, often working across the aisle on those issues.

A co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, she introduced legislation with Democrats to bring back a Nixon-era White House event on food insecurity.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said Walorski loved the country and was proud of her home area.

People who weren't directly involved also came by to watch the burial service for Walorski

The coffin for late Congresswoman Jackie Walorski is saluted while being carried by a horse-drawn carriage at Southlawn Cemetery

The procession of vehicles for late U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski arrive at Granger Community Church for a funeral Mass

Mourners look on as the casket of late U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski is carried into Granger Community Church

A mourner bows his head as the procession of vehicles for late U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski arrive

'One thing about Jackie, her step was always sure, her step was always forward,' Holcomb said. 'She was optimistic and enthusiastic and, yes, energetic.'
Moscow made it a priority to agree with Ukraine to prevent food insecurity in Asia and Africa, but western commitment seems to be dragging.

West's Promise to Countries Threatened by Hunger

The Russian Foreign Ministry is beginning to see how much the West is willing to cope with global food security; this has been flipped upside down by the Russian sanctions.

It was distressing to see grain-load ships departing Black Sea ports and sailing to Western countries instead of Africa or Asia, reported RT.

During a media briefing last Thursday, Ivan Nechaev, deputy head of the ministry's communication and press department, stated that not a single merchant vessel with grain had reached the borders of starving African or South Asian countries.

He noted that the ships primarily travel to Western ports, and the bulk of the exported items are corn grain and sunflower oil, raising doubts about the authenticity of those in the West that claim that world food stability is reliant on the "grain deal," noted the Good Word News.

Nechaev stated referring to the recent deal between Russia and Kyiv, which allowed the resumption of grain exports from Ukrainian ports, going mainly to Western ports, casts doubt on the sincerity of the West that world food security depends on the 'grain deal.'

Before the agreement, Ukraine and its Western backers accused Moscow of purposely impeding food shipments, thereby endangering world food security.

Moscow frequently refuted the assertions, claiming that Ukraine obstructed the shipments by planting naval mines in the ports' waterways, citing Olxpraca.

Read Also: Donald Trump Net Worth 2022: Did Trump Get Richer Since Leaving the US Presidency?

Grain Deliveries from Ukraine

The foreign ministry official also addressed the issue with the Sierra Leone-flagged freighter Razoni, which departed Odessa on August 1 with 26,000 metric tons of chicken feed bound for Lebanon.

After the Lebanese customer refused to accept the package because it was many months late, the ship was turned around from Beirut on Monday.

The deputy head remarked that there was no wheat on the freighter, which the Lebanese buyer needed; instead, there was corn and fodder, which was distressing to Russia. Where the ships went and their cargo of Ukrainian grain was a subject of a New York Times article.

The publication stated on Tuesday that none of the ten ships that departed Ukrainian ports since the Istanbul agreement went into force on August 1 were headed for Yemen, Somalia, or any other nation experiencing "disastrous levels of starvation."

Last Monday, Botswana's Mokgweetsi Masisi received a message from Ukrainian President Zelensky declaring that Ukraine was committed to continuing to be a reliable food supplier.

Nechaev continued by saying that Russia would uphold its commitments and was eager to carry out the terms of the Istanbul agreement. He said that the agreement covers restoring Russian food exports to the international market and shipping grain from Ukrainian ports.

The first portion of the agreement has been in effect for the past week and a half, while the second portion is still unfulfilled. Conveys hope that the West will respect its pledge to allow access to the international markets for Russian food and fertilizers.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow sees the West's commitment to combating food shortages in Africa and Asia as ambiguous because the ships are headed west rather than east.

Related Article: Moscow Claims Russia Is Fighting Against the West, Not Ukraine Itself

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A Texas college student who was onboard the party boat when her 19-year-old friend was pushed to his death by his girlfriend has revealed harrowing details of the shocking day.

Carly Martin, now 21, was enjoying the day on the 22-foot party boat, along with 11 other students, when Jack Elliott was 'shoved' by his 'fling' Delaney Brennan and fell to his death in Travis Lake, northwest of Austin.

Delaney and Jack, 19, were flirting and kissing when she gave him a 'playful shove' that left him overboard before hitting a propeller and drowning in the water at around 8.30pm in October 2019.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Carly recalled the shocking incident following the long day of 'drinking, partying, and dancing' as the teens dipped in and out of the water on a fellow Texas Christian University student's family boat.

Carly has revealed the grim details of the horrific ordeal, as the passengers started concocting lies about the fatality that have now left them facing criminal charges.

She claims that 'everyone' present on the tragic evening knew Delaney had pushed Jack - who she was flirting with - and said it's 'astonishing' that they kept up the lie for as long as they did.

Carly was standing between the driver looking out towards the passenger seat when she suddenly felt movement beneath her feet, about an hour and a half after sunset.

She recalled screaming, 'Oh my gosh, what did we hit.'

Carson Neel, the leader of the expedition and boat owner, allegedly responded: 'Oh my gosh, I think we just hit Jack!'

'Everyone was in disbelief,' Carly recalled, while remembering the hysteria that broke out and Delaney repeatedly claiming, 'I didn't mean to push him!'

Jack Elliott, 19, a Texas Christian University freshman, was pushed off a boat while out on a lake near Austin in October 2019. He was struck by the boat's propeller and died

Carly Martin (pictured), was onboard the boat the day Jack Elliott was allegedly shoved overboard before hitting a propeller and drowning in the water at around 8.30 pm in October 2019

Jack and Delaney (pictured above), both Texas Christian University attendees, were kissing and flirting when she pushed him off the boat in October 2019. Multiple witnesses, including Carly, either heard Delaney say

Delaney (pictured) and Jack were having a fling - but her 'playful shove' left her lover overboard in October 2019. She admitted to feeling 'guilty' on social media in the aftermath, but she continues to study at TCU after he died

Pictured: Delaney, far right along with Carly on her immediate right, and Jack on the far right. The photo above was taken days before the tragic incident

Delaney later posted about the incident on social media, she wrote: 'I'm still messed up from this and my parents are here with me now, but we don't know much still. I just feel like guilty.

'And I don't think I have ever been this sad. I was the last person to touch him.'

Meanwhile, Carly believes that Delaney's post - where she insisted that she didn't know what happened to Jack - was a lie.

'Everyone knew for a fact that she did that,' Carly said. These kids had so many chances to tell the truth and none of them did.

'The fact that they made the continuous choice to lie is astonishing.

After chaos broke out on the boat, the teenage passengers quickly held flashlights facing into the water while Carson went to check the propellers, Carly recalled.

Instantly, one of the male passengers took the role of 'ringleader' and started thinking of a cover story as the students attempted to figure out their next moves, Carly told DailyMail.com.

The lies they forged, as they concealed the truth about how Jack ended up underneath the boat, kickstarted years of pain and anguish for his grieving family.

Speaking about the 'ringleader,' Carly said: 'He was really the one trying to cover it up and the one making sure that this did not get out.'

Jack was at the front of the boat with Delaney when he was allegedly pushed off. Seconds later passengers felt a rumbling below their feet - which they assumed to be Jack

Delaney, now 21, has been indicted on a felony charge of tampering with evidence by aiding in the deletion of a cellphone video. She is now facing jail

Eleven of the passengers on the boat scrambled to think about what to do next after Jack fell into the ocean. The passengers aimed flashlights to the water in attempt to find him near the surface

Two days later, some of the group gathered in a hotel room in Fort Worth near Dallas where the teens called Jack's parents who were grieving at home in California.

Carly says she attended the meeting but quickly left before the rest of the teenagers called the Elliott family.

Meanwhile, Elle Weber, who was also present for the tragedy, did most of the talking, according to the OC Register. She said that the group were sorry for their son's death and for 'all the stories you've heard.'

In the days and weeks after Jack's fall, Carly said she tried to go back to school, along with the others who all mostly lived in the same dorm room at TCU.

But while her life stopped - because of the trauma she experience after losing her beloved friend - she claims that everyone else involved just went about their days like nothing had happened.

'I just remember everyone was doing life like normal, it was like nothing ever happened,' Carly said.

'For me, I remember I was within a hole and just watching the world go by like I cant do anything, so I just had a huge mental breakdown and I ended up leaving for that semester.

Jack, who was 19 at the time, had been partying and drinking together with 11 other teens on the waters of Lake Travis, a manmade lake, northwest of Austin.

Jack's family have been fighting for the truth since October 2019

Carly, who is no longer friends with her friends from TCU, slammed them for their ongoing lies. She said that while her life stopped - because of the traumatic loss she experience by losing her beloved friend - she claims that everyone else involved just went about their days like nothing had happened

Carly ended up dropping out of school and returning back to her hometown in Chicago. She lost contact with her friend group at TCU after secretly heading to Jack's hometown in Orange County, California, to tell his parents the truth of what happened to their son.

She said: 'I was really scared that if they found out that I went against their story that they were gonna try to f*** me over and make me sound like a liar when I was telling the truth because it really was 10 against one.'

'Thats another reason I also dropped out of school because I was genuinely terrified,' Carly said.

When Carly sat down with the Elliott family in December 2019, they were still in 'shock' over their son's death - but she said they knew that there was more about the night that the 12 students were not telling them.

'They knew there was more to the story ever since the night he died,' Carly said. 'They knew their son better than everyone and Jack was not an irresponsible guy.

'So I think ever since then, it kind of started like a fight for justice and truth. And they haven't really stopped fighting for their son and the truth ever since that night.'

Jack was known for being a 'very smart and likable' classmate, who got along with everyone, Carly explained.

She recalls their friendship being similar to a bond with a sibling - and said she has fond memories with the 19-year-old, whose body was not found for 10 days after falling from the party boat.

Carly (pictured) sat down with the Elliott family in December 2019 to discuss with them what happened to their son. She dropped out of college after having a mental breakdown over the incident. Carly's fear of backlash from the group on the boat also made her fear going back to school. While the others attempted to hide their footprints, Carly told the truth

Carly's testimony to the Elliott family was the first push to getting justice for Jack, she said. The family launched a wrongful death lawsuit in 2020 in attempt to uncover the truth

Nearly three years later, five Texas college students are now facing criminal charges following Jack's death, after they were found to be tampering with evidence and providing misinformation about the boat party incident.

The teens who were present on the boat attempted to conceal the truth by lying to officials, pleading ignorance to Jack's family, and dumping their booze bottles off the side of the boat.

The true circumstances were only revealed in a wrongful death lawsuit launched by Elliot's grieving family in 2020.

Elle, another teen on the boat, detailed in a sworn statement in the suit: 'Delaney and Jack were at the front of the boat, flirting and kissing.

'She gave Jack a "playful little shove" and he fell off the boat.'

Elle later admitted she had not told the police the full story. She said: 'I was scared and in shock about what happened.

'I wish it had not happened and I wish I'd told police everything the first time.'

In an affidavit, another teen said panicked Delaney kept repeating: 'He fell! I didn't mean to push him' after the ordeal.

Carson, who was said to be in charge of the boat since his dad Billy ran the Northshore Marina, said in a sworn affidavit: 'A lot of people were freaking out and crying and not communicating well.

'I tried to stay as calm as possible because I knew it was serious and freaking out would make it worse.' Carson turned the boat back and headed towards the spot where he believed Jack might have gone overboard, but he could not be found.

Elle Weber (pictured) had been behind the controls on the boat that day according to her sworn deposition. She originally had told Jack's parents that nobody had any clear idea how their fell overboard - but her answer changed after a 2020 lawsuit. Elle later wrote in a sworn deposition that she had in fact been the only eyewitness and saw another girl push Jack into the lake

Jack's lover, Delaney (pictured), now faces jail. Jack's grieving family 'haven't really stopped fighting for their son and the truth ever since that night,' according to former student Carly, who was also present on the boat

In her own deposition, Fashion student Delaney, now 21, also revealed in the she got a tattoo of Jack's initials on her wrist after the tragedy so that she can remember how much 'he loved life.'

She said: 'I did that because I wanted to always have something to remember him by.

'When I looked down I wanted to remember how much he loved life and it kind of gave me a reminder to always live my life to the fullest and to do everything in life to basically live up to what he would have done.'

A month after his death in November 2019, Delaney posted a black and white shot of the couple, showing them leaning into one another as she clings onto Jack's arm while he is holding a beverage in a tin can.

In a social media tribute post following the incident, Carson remembered Jack and his 'crazy dance moves.' He wrote: 'One minute you're having the time of your life and the next one you're grieving the loss of a good friend.

He continued, 'Don't think it will ever feel right without you here man. I wish I coulda gotten closer to you but God's got a plan.'

The lawsuit, lodged by Elliott's family in a bid to get finite answers from the teens, was settled privately and confidentially.

Despite this, the teens again found themselves in hot water in late 2021.

A Travis County grand jury decided that those involved had a criminal case to answer - particularly in respects to any alleged cover-up.



Delaney, Elle and Carson, along with students Anthony Salazar and Josh Evans, are now facing criminal charges after the justice system stepped in.

Delaney Brennan was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with evidence by aiding in the deletion of a cellphone video. She could face up to 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

She will appear for a pre-trial at the Travis County Criminal Court on August 17.

Delaney's attorney declined to comment on the case when approached by DailyMail.com.

In an affidavit, another teen said panicked Delaney (above) kept repeating: 'He fell! I didn't mean to push him' after the ordeal. Despite the lawsuit being settled privately, Delaney Brennan was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with evidence by aiding in the deletion of a cellphone video. She could face up to 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine

Posting onto social media, Delaney (pictured) wrote: 'I'm still messed up from this and my parents are here with me now, but we don't know much still. I just feel like guilty  and I don't think I have ever been this sad. I was the last person to touch him'

Fashion student Delaney, now 21, later revealed she got a tattoo of Jack's initials on her wrist after the tragedy so that she can remember how much 'he loved life.'

Carson Neel was also indicted on a felony charge of tampering with physical evidence for allegedly dumping the alcohol overboard.

Like Delaney, Carson could also face up to 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine. Carson appeared in Travis County Criminal Courts on August 2.

Elle Weber has been indicted on a misdemeanor charge of giving false information to a police officer. She is set to appear in court on August 16.

Josh Evans, of Aliso Viejo, was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Evans appeared in court on August 7.

Anthony Salazar was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of perjury. He appeared in court on August 2.

Inconsistencies in the timeline and events on the night that Jack's fell to his death seem to have begun from the first call to the police, to inform them that the students could not find their friend.

Elle called 911 - and gave her name to police as 'Elle Macpherson.'

She later said during a sworn deposition that she did not know the name she gave was one of a famous supermodel and actress.

As they sailed back to shore, the group allegedly dumped their alcohol bottles - including beers, White Claws, and vodka - in the water.

Following Jack's disappearance, 'the teens hatched a plan to hide the truth from authorities and even Jack's family in Newport Beach,' according to police records.

While Carson and Elle Weber had been behind the controls on the boat that day, the group persuaded fellow student, Anthony Salazar, who had not been drinking because he was feeling unwell, to say that he had been behind the wheel at the time of the accident.

One tale the witnesses told Jack's family suggested that he did a back flip off the boat into the water. Another alleged how Jack fell in while vomiting over the side of the vessel.

Two months after the incident, by December 2019, Ben Echelson, a Texas Parks and Wildlife game warden, filed a report that contained details of what they believe really occurred.

'Jack Elliott was pushed by Delaney Brennan from the front of a wakeboard boat  operated by Elle Weber under the supervision of Carson Neel.

'Jack Elliott was struck by the propeller multiple times and was killed  the alcohol on board was thrown overboard.

'False statements were given to the officers responding to the accident concerning the events preceding the push and the manner in which Jack Elliott fell into the water.'

Jack's body was not recovered for another 10 days, and he was eventually found more than 100 feet below the surface by rescue teams.

The boating expedition was led by Carson Neel whose dad, Billy, ran the Northshore Marina. Carson attempted to dive into the water and search for Jack, but failed

Police searched for Jack's body after the group of teens on the boat the night of the incident failed to locate him

Jack's body was found in the waters of Lake Travis (above), a manmade lake, northwest of Austin

The lawsuit, lodged by Elliott's family in a bid to get finite answers from the teens, was settled privately and confidentially. Jack is pictured with his dad, Brett

Pictured: Devil's Cove in Lake Travis. Jack was pushed from the boat into the water between the popular party spot, Devil's Cove.
New York City's most prolific criminal, with 167 arrests on his record, appeared in court Thursday after being caught stealing 48 items worth $450 from an Upper East Side Rite Aid.

DailyMail.com cameras were at Manhattan Supreme Court as Jamel Pringle, 39, was notably denied bail for the first time on Thursday despite New York's woke bail reform laws.

Police had previously joked that, due to the controversial laws that only offered bail for serious offenses, Pringle had amassed 'frequent flier miles', according to the New York Post.

A New York judge had at last required him to make bail in February, saying 'It would take me all day to go through this rap sheet' under a new amendment to the law allowing repeat offenders to be assigned bail.

Pringle has one felony conviction, 88 misdemeanors and another 39 citations for failing to appear in court.

The next closest offender in New York City has just 101 arrests.

New York City's most prolific criminal, with 167 arrests on his record, appeared in court Thursday after being caught stealing 48 items worth $450 from an Upper East Side Rite Aid

DailyMail.com cameras were at Manhattan Supreme Court as Jamel Pringle, 39, was notably denied bail for the first time on Thursday despite New York's woke bail reform laws

Police had previously joked that, due to the controversial laws that only offered bail for serious offenses, Pringle had amassed 'frequent flier miles'

A New York judge had at last required him to make bail in February, saying 'It would take me all day to go through this rap sheet' under a new amendment to the law allowing repeat offenders to be assigned bail

Pringle has one felony conviction, 88 misdemeanors and another 39 citations for failing to appear in court

The next closest offender to Pringle's proficiency in New York City has just 101 arrests

Serial thief Jamel Pringle who has 167 arrest appears in Manhattan Supreme Court after he was nabbed in early February for robbing a Rite Aid

Pringle appears in court in February of 2022 after the Rite Aid robbery

In February, Pringle was arrested on an early Monday morning for taking 48 items worth over $430 from a Rite Aid on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on New York City's Upper East Side.

Pringle's greatest hits include a February ticket for petty theft and public lewdness for being caught exposing himself at a CVS.

Just weeks earlier, he was cited for swiping a tip jar at a 102nd street cafe that had more than $40 in it, the second time he had done this same crime.

He currently has an open misdemeanor dating back to July 2021 for running after a person and their son with a stick and yelling that he was 'going to kill' them.

Assistant District Attorney Corey Robinson said that he only ever appears in court if he's arrested and arraigned and has 'been given every opportunity' to show he can follow the rules, but has failed each time.

In February, Pringle was arrested on an early Monday morning for taking 48 items worth over $430 from a Rite Aid on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on New York City's Upper East Side

Pringle's greatest hits include a February ticket for petty theft and public lewdness for being caught exposing himself at a CVS

Richell Lisboa, the Legal Aid attorney assigned to Pringle in February, argued for him to be given treatment and not punishment.

This comes as crime is up a shocking 36.6 percent through August, according to the city's own data.

While murders in the city are down 5.6 percent, robbery is up 39.2 percent, from 6,530 to 9,091, and burglaries increased by 32.9 percent, from 6,251 to 8,305, according to NYPD data.

Felonious assaults rose by 18.6 percent and rapes saw an 11 percent increase so far this year over 2021. 'It appears there's a normalization to this violence, and we're saying no to that,' Adams told Smiley last week.

The Mayor said reforming a system takes time, and 'when you look at how to reform a system, you don't destroy a system.'

Adams has been a vociferous supporter of an expansion in the city's police presence since becoming mayor in 2021, doubling the number of cops on the city's subway and bringing back plain-clothes officers in the new Neighborhood Safety Teams.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams reveals just TEN criminals make up nearly FIVE HUNDRED arrests since bail reform and SIX are still roaming the streets (but he won't tell you who they are)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today revealed that just ten individual criminals made up for 500 of the arrests in the city over the last two years, and at least six of them are still walking the streets.

The announcement by Adams came with a rally call to judges and the legislature to do-away with laxed bail reforms that are putting more violent criminals back on the street.

Adams was joined at a press conference by NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and frustrated NYPD chiefs.

He told of how the 20120 reforms, ushered in under Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, now made it impossible for criminals to be jailed.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday at a press conference where he revealed

NYC'S 10 WORST REPEAT OFFENDERS INCLUDING A CHRONIC THIEF WITH 101 ARRESTS CRIMINAL #1 - Thief with 101 arrests on his record Arrested 101 times total

74 arrests for theft in Manhattan

15 convictions

14 failure to appear

Open case for stealing from Target CRIMINAL #2 - 67 arrests in the last two years 96 arrests total

44 convictions

26 failures to appear CRIMINAL #3 - 18 open cases 58 arrests total (55 since 2020)

18 open cases for theft and burglary CRIMINAL #4 - 22 convictions 62 arrests total

59 arrests since bail reform

47 theft charges in Manhattan

Eight open cases CRIMINAL #5 - Arrested 23 times this year Serial burglar with 23 arrests, all in 2022

12 in Manhattan CRIMINAL #6 - 71 arrests for burglary and misdemeanors but is OUT 71 total arrests

57 arrests since bail reform

1 felony, 1 misdemeanor

Out on parole for burglary charge CRIMINAL #7 - 33 arrests since 2020 17 arrests for burglary since 2020 in Brooklyn

Five convictions

Six open cases

Still free on the streets CRIMINAL #8 - 87 career arrests 25 arrests since bail reform

20 convictions for burglary and robbery

Out pending sentencing CRIMINAL #9 - 48 arrests with TEN open warrants Arrested 39 times since bail reform

17 grand larceny charges

Four convictions

Open cases for stealing from Sally's and L'Occitane CRIMINAL #10 - 39 arrests in two years including assaulting a police officer 13 arrests for Grand Larceny

19 convictions

Three pending Grand Larceny Auto arrests

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Crime in NYC continues to soar as more repeat offenders are let out on now-or-low-cash bonds

At his press conference, Adams, a former cop, fumed: 'You have to work really hard to get to Rikers right now. To get there, you did something that is really bad.'

He allowed some of the cops to give details on some of the ten offenders - but refused to share their names or mugshots with the press, claiming he had to 'follow the rules'.

Among them was a criminal referred to as 'recidivist number one' who has been arrested 101 times in his life, mostly for petite larceny.

'We've arrested him 101 times, but how many crimes do you think he really committed? 200? 300? 1,000?' Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri said.

'This individual I'm talking about, he has 14 failures to appear.

'He's walking around the streets today probably committing another crime as we speak,' he added.

Another of them is a burglar who has been arrested 57 times since 2020, and another has assaulted a police officer and failed to show up to court but remains on the streets.

'He is a crime wave and guess what? He is walking around the streets of New York City, probably out there committing another crime.'

Despite the fact that some of the men have open crime warrants out against them, Adams would not name them at the press conference.

He said he was bound by 'the rules of counsel' and that he couldn't share the men's identity.
Johnson & Johnson will stop selling its trademark talc-based baby powder as the pharma giant pays out billions of dollars to women alleging it caused their cancer.

Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato assumed the role months after the company's attempt to block victims' lawsuits failed

The company has been forced to fight more than 38,000 cases brought by women claiming asbestos in the powder caused deadly ovarian infections.

It has been off sale in the US and Canada since 2020 and will now be discontinued worldwide.

A Reuters investigation in 2018 found that the New Jersey-founded firm knew for decades that traces of the deadly carcinogen were found in its baby powder.

Internal records, trial testimony and other evidence showed that from 1971 to the early 2000s, the company's raw talc and finished powders contained asbestos.

In 2019 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled the powder after finding asbestos in nine of the 43 bottles tested.

Johnson & Johnson knew for at least 30 years that its trademark talc-based baby powder contained asbestos. It has been off sale in the US and Canada since 2020 amid cancer lawsuits

WHY COULD TALCUM POWDER BE DANGEROUS? Talcum powder is made of finely ground talc, a mineral which forms underground as a clay-like rock. Talc is often mined from the same place as asbestos, a mineral known to cause lung disease. While talc is used for the skin, thanks to its softness and moisture-absorbing properties, asbestos was used for insulation. Non-contaminated talc is completely safe. But if it is tainted with asbestos, there is a risk it could be damaging to health. Tests have in the past found traces of asbestos in talcum powder products. Asbestos is made up of six minerals that form together as tiny crystallised fibres. The minerals on their own aren't dangerous, but together they are a recognised cause of cancer. About eight out of 10 people with mesothelioma  a type of lung cancer  have been exposed to asbestos. When asbestos fibres are breathed in, they travel to the ends of small air passages and reach the membranes of the thorax and lungs. They can cause inflammation and scarring, damage cells DNA, or cause changes that result in uncontrolled cell growth. If swallowed, these fibres can reach the abdominal lining, where they can cause mesothelioma. Ovarian cancer is another cancer asbestos is believed to be linked to. Advertisement

Johnson & Johnson continues to insist the product does not contain asbestos, blaming 'misinformation' for the claims.

It said its move to cornstarch-based ingredients was prompted by 'evolving global trends'.

A spokesperson said: 'We stand firmly behind the decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirms talc-based Johnsons Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.'

In an effort to avoid the brunt of the lawsuits, J&J spun off subsidiary LTL Management last October, assigning its talc claims to the company.

J&J then placed LTL into bankruptcy, which stalled the pending lawsuits.

Those suing claim Johnson & Johnson ought to defend itself.

The 'bankruptcy gimmick is as despicable as it is brazen' and 'an unconscionable abuse of the legal system,' said Linda Lipsen, chief executive of the American Association for Justice, a trial lawyers' group, in a statement.

But earlier this year, New Jersey judge Michael Kaplan ruled that bankruptcy proceedings will not allow Johnson & Johnson to avoid the class action suits.

Ben Whiting, an attorney with the plaintiffs firm Keller Postman, said because the lawsuits are paused in bankruptcy, the company's sales decision won't immediately impact them.

But if a federal appellate court allows the cases to move forward, the consumers could try to use Johnson & Johnson's decision to pull the products as evidence, Whiting said.

'If these cases were to go again, then its a very big deal,' Whiting said.

A shareholder proposal calling for an end to global sales of the talc baby powder failed in April.

In response to evidence of asbestos contamination presented in media reports, in court room and on Capitol Hill, J&J has repeatedly said its talc products are safe, and do not cause cancer.

J&J (New Brunswick, NJ headquarters pictured) has sought to block tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging its talc-based baby powder causes ovarian cancer. It has paid out billions

Sold since 1894, Johnson's Baby Powder became a symbol of the company's family-friendly image.

Earlier this year federal judge Michael Kaplan ruled that J&J cannot avoid its class-action suit using a bankruptcy loophole

An internal J&J marketing presentation from 1999 refers to the baby products division, with Baby Powder at the core, as J&J's '#1 Asset'.

The baby powder accounted for only about 0.5 per cent of its U.S. consumer health business by the time the company pulled it off the shelves.

Mounting suits have not hurt the company much financially, though. According to an analysis by Fierce Pharma, J&J is still the largest pharma company in the world, with revenue even growing by 14 percent last year.

Worldwide distribution of its Covid vaccines, along with many other consumer products, have proved to be a boon for the company.
A grieving wife left with horror injuries has blasted the courts after an unlicensed driver who killed her beloved husband was given just 20 months jail time.

Ian Seibel, 51 and his wife Paula were walking their dog along Anzac Avenue in Kallangur, north of Brisbane, on November 1, 2020 when they were hit.

Manpreet Singh Brar, 33, who was speeding, ran a red light and did not have a driver's licence, crashed into another vehicle before hitting the couple, The Courier Mail reported.

Ian Seibel (pictured), 51, died in hospital after he and his wife Paula were struck by a car that had run a red light in Brisbane in November, 2020

Mr Seibel died in hospital five days later and his wife Paula (pictured, holding the poster) sustained serious injuries, having to undergo life-saving surgery

Mr Seibel died in hospital five days later and his wife sustained serious injuries, having to undergo life-saving surgery.

At Brisbane's Supreme Court on Thursday, Brar pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, grievous bodily harm and driving without a licence.

He was also suspended from holding a licence.

Brar was handed a five year prison sentence, which will be suspended after serving 20 months.

Aaron Seibel, Ian's son, said he was devastated at the sentence.

'Thirty years off a man's life is worth 20 months...I can't put into words how disappointed I am,' he said.

'You wake up every morning and you think I'll go talk to dad about something and then you remember he's not there anymore.'

Ian's son Aaron (pictured) said: 'You wake up every morning and you think I'll go talk to dad about something and then you remember he's not there anymore'

Ms Seibel sad in her victim statement: 'I am beyond angry that I have not had the opportunity to spend the rest of my life with this kind, loving gentle giant.'

'He really was my better half and I feel like I am less than a whole person now that I don't have him by my side to share my life with,' she added.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Seibel said: 'He really was my better half and I feel like I am less than a whole person now that I don't have him by my side to share my life with'

Ms Seibel seen hugging family and friends outside the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday

The Crown Prosecutor, Chris Cook, said Brar previously had five prior speeding convictions, offence for unlicenced driving and nine suspensions from the State Penalties Enforcement Registry.

Defence barrister Gavin Webber said Brar had grown up in India but moved to Australia in 2009.

He was married and had two children, included a daughter born last week he had not met.

Brar has been in custody since February this year after having his bail revoked for unlicenced driving.

He will be deported back to India after serving his jail sentence.
The mayor of Washington D.C. on Thursday renewed her plea for soldiers to help with migrants being bused to her city, a week after the Pentagon rebuffed her request for the National Guard to be deployed.

It came as another bus from Texas was spotted at dawn, unloading migrants in front of the U.S. Capitol.

In a letter to the secretary of defense, Mayor Muriel Bowser said support was needed to 'help prevent a prolonged humanitarian crisis in our nation's capital.'

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is sending migrants arriving in his state to Washington, New York and other cities in order to show Democratic leaders the extent of the crisis being faced on the border.

Migrants were spotted Thursday at dawn disembarking from a bus they boarded in Texas after crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

In a tweet highlighting the fresh request, Bowser said: 'We need help from our federal partners as we seek to stabilize and manage our operating environment in this critical moment.

'I have been honored to work with the men and women of the D.C. National Guard many times and today we renewed our request for their assistance.'

Last week Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin refused the initial request, saying troop 'readiness' may be affected if the National Guard were to divert its members to the city to help deal with the 6,200 illegal immigrants dumped on its streets.

Muriel Bowser on Thursday renewed her plea for soldiers to help with migrants being bused to her city, a week after the Pentagon rebuffed her request for the National Guard to be deployed

He also declined to provide the D.C. Armory to the city to assist with the reception of migrants to the city, claiming that the Department of Defense has determined that FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program has sufficient funds 'at this point to provide migrant assistance.'

In her new letter, Bowser tried to overcome the objections, insisting that it would not be an open-ended request and that emergency authorities had not yet been able to find a non-military federal site suitable for serving as a respite center.

Abbott began his initiative in mid-April, saying that some of America's biggest cities needed to experience what small border communities were facing with the migration crisis.

A month after Abbott launched the busing program, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey followed suit in mid-May and started also sending migrants crossing into his state to D.C. and NYC.

So far, at least 6,000 migrants have been bused to D.C. from Texas since April. Must less have gone to New York City as buses just started arriving there this month.

Another bus of migrants who boarded in Texas are dropped off near the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning

Two more buses also arrived at Port Authority in New York City on Wednesday as Abbott shifts some focus to The Big Apple after months of sending busloads of undocumented immigrants to D.C.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott wrote an op/ed calling on D.C. and NYC mayors to push President Biden to address the crisis. So far he has sent 6,000 migrants to D.C. as part of a mission to bus illegal immigrants out of his state

Two more buses carrying illegal immigrants arrived at New York City's Port Authority on Wednesday around 7:45 a.m. The buses were each carrying around 95 people.

In response to Abbott shifting his focus to the Big Apple, Mayor Adams is now threatening to send New Yorkers to Texas in an effort to unseat its Republican governor.

As the new migrants stepped off the bus into the City that Never Sleeps on Wednesday, they were greeted by protesters who claimed the mayor has no plan to deal with the onslaught of new migrants.

Others, though, handed the new migrants $20 bills in an effort to help them get started with their new lives as hundreds roam the streets looking for shelter.
Coles was slammed for their use of Acknowledgement of Country on receipts

One of Australia's most prestigious art galleries now requires visitors to click through an Acknowledgement of Country just to enter its website.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales' website prompts users to read the message before having to click continue before they can actually access the site.

'We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of New South Wales stands,' the declaration reads.

The Art Gallery of NSW site states the institution has 'long collected, displayed and interpreted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and is committed to recognising it as Australia's premier cultural tradition and celebrating the essential place it holds in the shared history and identity of this country'.

The Art Gallery of NSW requires user to read an Acknowledgement of Country to use its site. The gallery website prompts users to read the message before having to click continue before they can actually access the site

The Art Gallery of NSW (pictured) states the gallery 'respect the ongoing rights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have to their culture'

'We respect the ongoing rights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have to their culture and recognise that cultural authority over art does not diminish because a work has entered an institutional collection. The Gallery has an ongoing commitment to best practice in engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,' the statement reads.

Radio host Ben Fordham lashed out at the overuse of the Acknowledgement Of Country on his 2GB show, claiming the message was 'forced'.

'Once upon a time - it was something special. Now it's so tokenistic that people are tuning out,' Fordham said on Thursday.

'You physically cannot access the [Art Gallery of NSW] website - unless you click "Continue" on that message.

'They don't give you the option. No wonder it's starting to feel forced. Don't get me wrong, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land but are you telling me that this now has to be done every time someone opens a website? Talk about downgrading the significance of the gesture.'

2GB host Ben Fordham (pictured) lashed out at the overuse of the Acknowledgement Of Country and how 'forced' the Art Gallery of NSW's message is

Fordham also slammed the use of the Acknowledgement of Country by Coles and Qantas, labelling it as 'tacky'.

'Qantas plays an Acknowledgement of Country before their flights and how's this for tacky? Coles is printing an Acknowledgment of Country on its receipts,' the radio host said.

'No wonder some Indigenous representatives are saying slow down.

'They say its unnecessary and condescending. Indigenous elder Ian Hunter has told News Corp the Acknowledgement of Country shouldn't be taken lightly. It should only be used where appropriate such as a citizenship ceremony. I'm getting fed up with this. It's overreach.'

Coles has been printing Acknowledgement of Country on its receipts for some time.

Printed near the bottom of the receipt, the statement reads, 'Coles Group acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia. We recognise their strength and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.'

'Coles Group extends that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and recognise their rich cultures and consulting connection to land and waters,' it added.
Matthew Brian Ramsay,46, (pictured) allegedly stabbed Ms Coulston with a 10-inch (25cm) kitchen knife when she answered the door at her home in Sydney

The mother-of-two who was stabbed in the chest at her home allegedly paid a $10,000 rehabilitation bill for the high-flying real estate agent and close family friend accused of trying to kill her.

Police allege Helen Coulston was stabbed when she answered the door of her $4.5 million Sydney home to long-time family friend Matthew Brian Ramsay at about 12.15pm on August 8.

Dover Heights couple Ms Coulston and her husband Walt allegedly helped Ramsay, 46, get treatment for alcohol issues, a friend of the accused claimed.

'Matt and Walt have been best friends for years, through the property world ... Walt and Helen (allegedly) paid for his rehab,' the friend told The Daily Telegraph.

The friend described Ramsay as a 'very gentle person' who was an 'excellent worker' and 'dedicated to his career' but noted the 46-year-old's life changed when he and his wife Clair divorced him and she moved to New York with their young daughter.

Helen Coulston and her husband Walt (pictured, on their wedding day) allegedly paid $10,000 in rehabilitation costs for the man who tried to kill Ms Coulston. Ramsay was the couple's long-time friend, best man at their wedding and is the godparent to their two children

Friends of the Coulston's said Ramsay had not been seen for months before he allegedly showed up unannounced at the family's $4.5million Weonga Road home in Dover Heights, Sydney (pictured)

Ms Coulston was rushed to St Vincent's Hospital in a critical but stable condition (pictured) and has since returned home where she is recovering from her injuries

The former real estate agent allegedly accepted the Coulstons' offer to get intensive help, the Telegraph reported.

Ramsay allegedly turned up unannounced at couple's Weonga Road home and plunged a 10-inch (25cm) kitchen knife in Ms Coulston's chest on Monday.

A builder across the road intervened in the alleged dispute.

Ramsay allegedly fled the scene in a white Audi A5, but police tracked his vehicle to Campbell Parade in Bondi, where they arrested him at gunpoint.

Ms Coulston is expected to make a full recovery.

Despite the stressful few days, Mr Coulston was all smiles when he returned home with a sushi lunch for his kids on Tuesday.

The dad-of-two also made a bizarre comment to one of the journalists stationed outside their home, offering a quote in exchange for learning where her jacket was from.

'I've got to go give the kids lunch, sushi, they love it,' Mr Coulston said.

'I have to ask you where you got your jacket from everyone likes it, it's obviously the most important thing happening, so if you tell me that, I'll tell you something.'

Mr Coulston went on to say the incident was 'as you'd expect... a bit weird'.

Mr Coulston was pictured casually standing at the front door in a pair of ugg loafers

Ramsay was denied bail in Waverley Local Court on Tuesday where he did not appear, remaining in the cells during the brief hearing.

Ramsay was denied bail in Waverley Local Court on Tuesday where he did not appear, remaining in the cells during the brief hearing.

He has also been charged with shoplifting $31 worth of snacks and flavoured milk from a petrol station.

His defence lawyer Andrew O'Brien did not apply for bail and sought an adjournment for both matters.

Mr O'Brien indicated he would look to have his shoplifting charge dealt with under the mental health act when the case returns to court on September 5.

The charge will next return to court on October 19, with an interim apprehended violence order put in place with NSW Police naming Ms Coulston as a person in need of protection.
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The alleged gunman accused of going on a rampage that left one person dead and three others seriously injured was charged with murder and three attempted murders.

Finlay MacDonald, 39, is accused of murdering John MacKinnon, who is believed to be his brother-in-law, with a firearm, turning the weapon on two more victims and stabbing his wife, Rowena MacDonald, 32.

Police confirmed yesterday that he has been arrested and charged with the murder of Mr MacKinnon and the attempted murder of three other people. MacDonald is due to appear in court in Inverness today.

MacKinnon, 47, was shot dead at home in the fishing village of Teangue on the Isle of Skye in a series of 'linked' incidents.

Police were called to the village of Tarskavaig at 9am on Wednesday following reports that his sister-in-law Rowena, had been stabbed in her home.

The alarm was then raised around 30 minutes later after a gunman opened fire on Mr MacKinnon at his home eight miles away.

A further two people were then injured in the Scottish mainland village of Dornie after further reports of gunfire. Osteopath John Don Mackenzie and his social worker wife Fay, both 63, were rushed to hospital following the attack.

Wednesday's horror began when the first victim, named locally as Mr MacKinnon's sister-in-law, Rowena MacDonald, 32, (pictured) was stabbed at a property in the village of Tarskavaig at around 9am

Forensics officers yesterday at the scene of an incident at a property in the Dornie area of Wester Ross, on the northwest coast of Scotland

John MacKinnon, 47, has been named locally as the victim of yesterday's horrific gun rampage, in which a further three people were injured before police Tasered and arrested a suspect

Mr MacKinnon's (pictured right, with actor Robson Green, left) family today released a statement describing him as a 'loving husband and a much-loved member of the community'

An air ambulance pictured at the scene of one of the incidents in the Scottish Highlands this morning

Following the incident in Teangue, two locals named as osteopath John D Mackenzie, 63, and mental health nurse wife Fay, 63, (pictured together, centre) were attacked

Police say there were three linked incidents on Skye and the Scottish mainland which have led to the arrest of a 39-year-old man

Despite the police presence in Dornie (pictured) on Skye, Police Scotland says there is no further risk to the community

Shockwaves will reverberate in this rural idyll far into future By Joe Hutchison The shootings that left one man dead and others injured will have a major impact on local communities for 'a long time', a councillor has admitted. Last night, John Finlayson, councillor for Skye and Raasay, said: 'People across both communities, Skye and in Lochalsh, are still in shock over what has happened. 'Yesterday everybody was in shock as things developed and this morning they were waking up to the reality of what happened and they are still in shock. 'The community spirit is still strong. People want to support each other and they are also keen to support the families in any way they can. 'But at the same time we need to respect the privacy of the families, and our prayers and best wishes go to them and to those who are in hospital, fighting for their lives probably. 'What happened yesterday is going to have an impact for a long time on the individuals, but also on the communities.' He added: 'I have had contact with close friends and neighbours and there is obviously deep concern for those involved. We just need to make sure that the support is there for them.' Hamish Fraser, of Broadford and Strath community council, said that the events of Wednesday were unheard of in living memory and the shockwaves would be felt across local communities for months. Ian Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, yesterday described it as a 'very, very dark period' for Skye and Lochalsh. The SNP Westminster leader told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland: 'These are small communities where everybody tends to know everyone and there is a real sense of shock.' He praised the response of the emergency services and said it was important that 'we continue to assess where we are' in relation to firearms regulations. 'These are very controversial topics and, in these rural areas, we're all aware there are applications from time to time for people that have licences for guns, particularly when it comes to agricultural matters', Mr Blackford said. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, Nationalist MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, said that the close-knit communities had been 'shattered to our core'. Advertisement

Mr MacKinnon's family yesterday paid tribute to the 'much-loved' family man. They said in a statement: 'John was a loving husband, father of six, brother, uncle and grandfather to his family, and was a much-loved member of the community.

'John loved the outdoors, was a keen motorcyclist and, as a loved father, shared his activities with his family.'

Torabhaig Distillery on Skye, where Mr MacKinnon worked as a distiller for five years, was closed yesterday.

A notice at the door of the facility advised it had been forced to shut 'unexpectedly'.

Mrs MacDonald, who is the mother of young children, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where she was described as in a serious condition.

Last night, Mr MacKenzie remained in a 'critical' condition at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Mrs MacKenzie was taken to Broadford Hospital on Skye but was discharged yesterday.

A friend of the MacKenzies, who did not wish to be named, told how the couple's son is travelling back from his honeymoon in Thailand to be at his father's bedside.

The source said: 'His son is newly married so he's coming back, he might be here already.

'It's just disgusting, it's terrible. I just can't understand it. The community is not happy, as you can imagine.

'John is a strong man, but he's had some pretty bad damage. We're hoping he can pull through.

'I heard he was shot, possibly through the window. Fay is out, she has been discharged. I heard that she was injured by the glass shattering.

'They have lived here for years and are both well known in the village, they're good people.

'He's known on the islands too because he used to travel out every so often to treat people.

'It's just a shock, nothing like this has ever happened here before. A lot of people have firearms around here, but nobody has ever done something like that.'

Another Dornie local described Mr MacKenzie as a 'nice, quiet' man. She said: 'He was right in with the community. He's talented too, he used to play the pipes in a few ceilidh bands.'

Teangue resident Gordon Matheson said that the incidents had been 'profoundly difficult' for the community.

'Families have suffered tremendous loss today,' he said.

The Rev Roddie Rankin, from Plockton and Kyle Free Church, said: 'These things violate close communities, like we have ourselves.

'To me it feels like someone has taken an almost priceless porcelain and just dropped it and smashed it and the community is left to try to piece it together again.'

Nicola Sturgeon yesterday branded the attacks, which have rocked the 'close-knit' communities, 'horrific'.

Speaking as she visited a church group in Forfar, Angus, the First Minister said: 'I want to convey that strength of feeling to those individuals and families who will have been devastated by what has happened.

'Obviously, the kind of incidents that happened would have been horrific and devastating in any part of the country.

'But the kind of communities we're talking about here are small, close-knit communities and that sense of devastation will be felt even more acutely.'

A Scottish Charity Air Ambulance flies overhead as emergency services deal with the fallout of the incidents on Skye and in Dornieon Wednesday

An ambulance at the scene of one of the incidents on the Isle of Skye this morning. A total of three people were injured and one man killed on Wednesday

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, MSP for the Highlands and Islands region, said on Wednesday: 'My heart goes out to all those affected by these appalling, related incidents on Skye and in the Lochalsh area.

'I would like to pay tribute to the prompt response and bravery of our emergency services who managed to prevent the situation escalating further. As ever, we are in their debt.'

The incident resulted in a massive response from the emergency services, with around 14 police cars deployed to the scenes, including armed response units. A police helicopter was also involved.

Osteopath John D Mackenzie (above) was named locally as the third person injured during the gunman's rampage

Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance was dispatched from Aberdeen to assist in the emergency response.

Ambulances and a special operations response team attended, as well as a rapid retrieval emergency team which is sent to rural areas when people are in critical need of medical attention.

Yesterday, a heightened police presence was still visible throughout the popular holiday destination. On Skye, police stood guard outside both addresses while forensics officers scoured the area.

There was a similar scene at the MacKenzies' home, with officers expected to remain for the next few days.

At a press conference, police said that they were on hand to help local residents.

They stressed such incidents were 'extremely rare' and posed no threat to the wider community.

Senior officers also confirmed that the person who allegedly discharged the firearm did have a licence.

Dozens of police cars and the force helicopter were called to reports of an injured woman at a property in the Tarskavaig area

Police officers were then alerted to reports of gunshots 26 miles away on the mainland in Dornie

A police van at the scene of one of the incidents on the Isle of Skye this morning. One man has died and three other people were injured

Chief Superintendent Conrad Trickett, local policing commander for Highlands and Islands Division, said: 'The thoughts of everyone are with the family and friends of Mr MacKinnon and the people who remain injured in hospital. These incidents took place in close-knit, rural areas and will have a significant impact not only on those directly affected, but also friends and neighbours living in these communities.

'The policing response was significant as people would expect and involved national resources from across Scotland, including Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow, being brought in to support local policing on Skye and Lochalsh.

'Local officers who live and work in these communities brought the situation to as swift a conclusion as possible and I thank everyone involved, including colleagues from the Scottish Ambulance Service, for their outstanding efforts in responding to what was a distressing series of incidents.'

Police Scotland added that it is working closely with local partners, including Highland Council and NHS Highland, to help provide support and welfare to those affected by Wednesday's events. Yesterday, Scottish Conservative local councillor Ruraidh Stewart, who represents Eilean a' Cheo on Highland Council, said that members of the community remain 'resilient' in the face of the tragedy.

Mr Stewart said: 'My heart breaks for the families involved in this tragedy. In Skye and Lochalsh we are a close-knit community who are shocked and saddened by today's incident.

'My prayers are with the bereaved families and the victims in hospital with serious injuries.

'We are a resilient community, thankfully well supported.'

He added: 'I would like to thank the emergency services for all their efforts and the Highland Council staff, who have helped and supported the families involved.'
Thousands more migrants could be entering Australia next year with the Albanese government preparing to let more foreign workers in to boost the economy.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic between 120,000 and 150,000 skilled migrants came to Australia each year.

However, during the extreme border shutdown more people left than arrived, sapping the economy of workers.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has confirmed that increasing migration will be on the agenda at the Jobs and Skills summit with businesses and unions in September.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants skilled migration levels to increase to 200,000 a year, up from the Coalition's cap of 160,000.

Thousands more migrants could be entering Australia next year with the Albanese government preparing to let more foreign workers in to boost the economy

Last month Dr Chalmers said that target sounded reasonable because labour shortages were a 'real handbrake' on the economy.

'I think as we emerge from that period of Covid where the migration tap was largely turned off, that should be an opportunity to think about the best mix of migration as the program gathers speed again,' Dr Chalmers said.

'That's something we're talking to business about.'

In an ABC Radio interview on Thursday, Dr Chalmers again confirmed that migration will be a key part of Australia's economic recovery - alongside training local workers.

'Skills and education, they'll be a key focus at the summit. And there's a role for migration to play too but not as a substitute for those other two things,' he said.

'And so we need to move on all fronts simultaneously and that's why the summit has made those sorts of issues the key priorities and the key focus.'

Before the Covid-19 pandemic between 120,000 and 150,000 skilled migrants came to Australia each year

Changes to the migration rules are expected to be announced in the October 25 Budget.

The Australian Workers Union is demanding that businesses are forced to train one local worker for every migrant they hire.

Dr Chalmers also said it was Labor's intention to keep the third stage of tax cuts which were passed in 2019 after the country's biggest trade union group pushed him to scrap them.

The stage three tax cuts are controversial because, unlike the first two stages which are already in place, they will benefit the wealthiest Australians the most.

From July 2024 a politician on $211,250 will get a tax cut of $9,075 while a registered nurse on $72,235 will get a tax cut of $681, a bus driver will get $461 and a chef will get $321.

Ahead of September's summit, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) had released a list of economic demands including rent controls, higher taxes on company profits, and scrapping the stage three income tax cuts.

Aussies earning over $45,000 will have their taxes slashed in 2024 after Treasurer Jim Chalmers (pictured) slapped down union demands to cancel upcoming cuts

Chefs are set to save $321 a year when the stage three tax cuts come into play in 2024

But Dr Chalmers shot down the union plan in his ABC radio interview on Thursday.

'We intend to leave them in place,' he said of the cuts.

Dr Chalmers said the only tax change Labor is contemplating is a crackdown on corporate tax avoidance.

'We think that there are steps that can be taken now in the tax system particularly in relation to multinational tax avoidance,' he said.

'That where our priorities should be.'

Dr Chalmers said the ACTU's suggestions do not reflect government policy but accepted their right to submit ideas.

'The whole point of having a summit like this is to bring people together to see if there can be common ground found,' he told ABC Radio National on Thursday.

'It would be pretty strange if we said, ''come along to a summit and only bring along ideas which have been pre-approved by the government''.

'That's not in the spirit of the summit, not the spirit of the way the government operates.'
Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias, 42, died after a heart attack in an Amazon warehouse in Carteret, NJ as temperatures hit 92F

Federal work-safety investigators are looking into the death of an Amazon worker and an injury that potentially led to the death of another employee, adding to a probe already underway following a third fatality during the company's annual Prime Day shopping event in mid-July.

All three Amazon workers died within the past month and were employed at company facilities in New Jersey.

The new Occupational Health and Safety Administration investigations are putting fresh scrutiny on Amazon's injury rates and workplace-safety procedures, which have long been criticized by labor and safety advocates as inadequate.

Department of Labor spokesperson Denisha Braxton confirmed Thursday that the most-recent fatality took place last week at an Amazon facility in Monroe Township, about 20 miles northeast of Trenton.

The second probe is looking into a July 24 accident at an Amazon facility in Robbinsville.

The worker involved in that accident died three days later, according to Braxton.

In a statement, Robbinsville Police Chief Michael Polaski said police responded to the warehouse, called PNE5, on July 24 after receiving a report that a worker fell from a three-foot (one-meter) ladder and struck his head.

Polaski said the worker was conscious and alert when police arrived. But police were told CPR was conducted on the person by other workers prior to their arrival, he said. The person was transported to a hospital and OSHA was notified of the incident on the same day, he added.

Police in Monroe Township didnt immediately reply for a request for comment on the incident there.

The Amazon facility in Robbinsville, NJ was the site of the worker's fatal fall from a ladder

The two most recent deaths were first reported by the USA Today Network.

OSHA officials declined to provide additional information about any of the deaths, citing the open investigations. The agency has up to six month to complete each probe.

Sam Stephenson, a spokesperson for Seattle-based Amazon, said in a statement the company was 'deeply saddened by the passing of our colleagues and offer our condolences to their family and friends.'

'Our investigations are ongoing and were cooperating with OSHA, which is conducting its own reviews of the events, as it often does in these situations,' Stephenson said.

Last month, OSHA launched another investigation into a worker fatality at an Amazon warehouse in the New Jersey town of Carteret during the companys Prime Day shopping event, which turned out to be the biggest in the company's history.

Federal officials haven't released additional details about the death, but news reports have identified the worker as 42-year-old Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias.

Packages ride on a belt at the Amazon Fulfillment center in Robbinsville Township, NJ

A spokesperson for Amazon said the companys internal investigation into the Carteret death shows it 'was not a work-related incident, and instead was related to a personal medical condition.'

'OSHA is currently investigating the incident, and, based upon the evidence currently available to us, we fully expect that it will reach the same conclusion,' the spokesperson said.

News of the deaths comes amid broader scrutiny into the company's operations.

In late July, OSHA officials inspected Amazon facilities in New York, Illinois and Florida after receiving referrals alleging health and safety violations from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York.

The civil division of the U.S. attorney's office is also investigating safety hazards at Amazon warehouses and 'fraudulent conduct designed to hide injuries from OSHA and others,' according to a spokesperson for the office.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidelines that ease many restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including social distancing and quarantine protocols.

The announcement also includes the removal of test-to-stay for schools while freeing businesses from the onus of requiring unvaccinated people exposed to the virus to quarantine at home. The changes are a drastic move away from measures that polarized much of the country.

CDC's New Guidelines

It also effectively acknowledges the way many Americans have been navigating the pandemic for quite some time. The health agency's action also comes as children across the United States return to school and many officers have started reopening.

During a Thursday news briefing, a CDC epidemiologist, Greta Massetti, said that COVID-19 is "here to stay." She noted that high levels of population immunity due to vaccination and previous infection along with the tools that are available will protect people from severe illness and death.

The new guidelines come after more than two years of a pandemic where more than 1 million Americans have lost their lives. They also come as the highly contagious BA.5 subvariant of Omicron continues to spread across the country, as per the New York Times.

The U.S. has recorded more than 100,000 cases and nearly 500 deaths per day on average but many Americans dispensed with practices such as social distancing, quarantine, and mask-wearing long ago.

An infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, Michael T. Osterholm said that the CDC is attempting to meet up with the reality that everyone in the public is pretty much with this pandemic.

Read Also: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization To Stretch Out Supply of Monkeypox Vaccine Amid High Demand

According to CNN, the new guidelines also say that contact tracing, which is another hallmark during the pandemic, should be limited to hospitals and certain high-risk group-living situations such as nursing homes, and the guidelines de-emphasize the use of regular testing to screen for COVID-19.

Removing Various Restrictions

They also do not advise quarantining people who have been exposed to the virus but are not infected. The health agency does keep some measures the same, including encouraging testing for people with symptoms and their close contacts.

The guidelines also say that people who test positive should stay at home for at least five days and wear a mask around others for at least 10 days. They added a recommendation that people wear masks indoors in about half of the country.

Furthermore, the CDC's new guidelines tailor advice on isolation for people who became very sick from COVID-19. People with moderate symptoms, such as shortness of breath, and those who were hospitalized should stay home for at least 10 days. On the other hand, people with compromised immune systems should consult their doctors about ending isolation after infection.

The new guidelines come as school districts across the country have scaled back their COVID-19 precautions in recent weeks even before the latest guidance was issued. Some have also promised a return to pre-pandemic schooling environments.

In most districts, masks will be optional when classes resume this fall and some of the country's largest districts have dialed back or eliminated COVID-19 testing requirements entirely, the Associated Press reported.



Related Article: Monkeypox Outbreak Is Getting Problematic as US Cases Near 7000; Joe Biden Declares Public Health Emergency

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Peter Dutton has warned the international community not to make the same mistakes with China as they did with Russia, as tensions over Taiwan escalate.

The opposition leader doubled down on his criticism of the Chinese government, saying there was regret stronger action wasn't taken against Russian President Vladimir Putin in the lead up to the invasion of Ukraine.

'There's no sense in a couple of months or a couple of years time saying Chinese have gone into Taiwan, we didn't see this coming,' he told Nine on Friday.

Peter Dutton has warned the international community not to make the same mistakes with China as they did with Russia, as tensions over Taiwan escalate

'We're right in shining a huge spotlight on the behaviour, calling it out ... If we do that, that gives us the best chance of keeping peace in our region.

'There'd be a lot of people saying, if only we put more pressure on Putin not to go into the Ukraine ... we wouldn't have the bloody scenes that we see now.'

Beijing fired 11 ballistic missiles over and near Taiwan following US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island last week.

Acting prime minister Richard Marles reaffirmed the need for a 'capable' and 'potent' defence force amid escalating regional tension.

Beijing fired 11 ballistic missiles over and near Taiwan following US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island last week

Mr Marles, who is also the defence minister, would not be drawn on how Australia would defend itself in the face of a possible Chinese attack, but called for de-escalation.

'The world wants to see that ... we would all breathe a sigh of relief (if) we saw a return to normal peaceful activity around there,' he said.

'From Australia's point of view ... our engagement here is based on the fact that we have an unchanged policy of not wanting to see any change to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.'

China's Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addressed the National Press Club on Wednesday, where he said there was 'no compromise' on Taiwan, and that his nation's 1.4 billion people would decide its future.

He also said the 23 million people living in Taiwan would undergo re-education about China once reunited.
Political attacks on the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and put agents at risk, its director said Thursday after an armed man tried to break into its building into Ohio.

The agency has endured days of abuse and threats since officers on Monday searched the Florida home of former President Donald Trump.

'Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others,' said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

'Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans.

'Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.

'I am proud to serve alongside them.'

It was the second time in two days that he had spoken out against the anger and hostility directed towards law enforcement officers.

And although he did not refer directly to the episode, his statement came soon after officers shot dead an armed man who attacked the FBI's field office in Cincinnati, Ohio.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Thursday Political attacks on the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and put agents at risk - after a gunman attacked a field office in Ohio

Wray did not refer to the episode, but his statement was issued soon after officers shot dead an armed man who attacked the FBI's field office in Cincinnati, Ohio

Ricky Walter Shiffer was shot dead by police Thursday after he raised a gun towards officers around 3pm, state highway patrol confirmed.

A social media account with the same name offered a possible motive.

'People this is it. I hope a call to arms comes from someone better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me,' the poster said two days after the Mar-a-Lago raid.

'Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop/ Army-Navy store/ pawn shop opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one.

'They have been conditioning us to accept tyranny and we must respond with force.'

And the user posted to the account on Thursday morning: 'If you dont hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I. and it'll mean either I was taken off the internet, the F.B.I. got me, or they sent the regular cops.'

Shiffer had attempted to break into the office, prompting a five-hour standoff with authorities.

The body armor wearing suspect fled the office and was chased onto highway before abandoning his car by a cornfield on a country road just off of Interstate 71.

Investigators say Shiffer was also at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.

The ordeal, which has now ended as officials work to take him into custody, started after the FBI reported that an armed suspect tried to breach the agency's Visitor Screening Facility at its headquarters in Cincinnati.

Sources told NBC News that he was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and fired a nail gun at personnel.

After agents rushed to scene amid blaring alarms, the agency said the suspect fled by car north onto Interstate 71, where police were on pursuit.

The Clinton County Emergency Management Agency said the man, dressed in body armor, exchanged gunfire with officers near a cornfield by Smith and Center Road, Wilmington, Ohio.

Officials said the area is currently under lockdown, with WLWT reporting that the stand-off with police has ended after he was injured in the gunfire.

Authorities have said the suspect is currently contained in the blocked-off area, but has yet to be placed under custody.

The confrontation in Cincinnati comes as officials warn of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following a search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The FBI said an armed man tried to breach its Cincinnati headquarters (pictured) on Thursday before leading police on a chase through Wilmington

Two small airplanes and an Ohio State Highway Patrol helicopter are circling the area during a standoff Thursday

Interstate 71 and state Route 73 were among roads closed during a standoff

Officers are pictured in pursuit of the suspect on Interstate 71, which has been closed

Authorities have said the suspect is currently contained in a one-mile radius near a cornfield by Smith and Center Road, Wilmington

The man was reportedly wearing body armor as he got into an altercation with security agents at the FBI's Visitor Screening Facility

The confrontation in Cincinnati comes as officials warn of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following a search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump, pictured on Wednesday outside Trump Tower

Officials said the incident began on Thursday morning when the suspect got into an altercation with security officers at the FBI office, CNN reported.

The agency said in a statement that 'the activation of an alarm and a response by armed FBI special agents' led the man to flee the scene in his car.

'The FBI, Ohio State Highway Patrol, and local law enforcement partners are on scene near Wilmington, OH trying to resolve this critical incident,' the FBI said.

Nathan Dennis, a spokesperson for the Ohio State Highway Patrol, said in a news conference that 'the suspect vehicle did fire shots during that pursuit.'

Authorities have closed the interstate in both directions as police remained in a standoff. Officials in Ohio have locked down a mile radius near the interstate and urged residents and business owners to lock doors and stay inside.

The agency and its Cincinnati office did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for additional information.

There have been growing threats in recent days against FBI agents and offices across the country since federal agents executed a search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

On Gab, a social media site popular with white supremacists and anti-Semites, users have warned they are preparing for an armed revolution.

Federal officials have also been tracking an array of other concerning chatter on Gab and other platforms threatening violence against federal agents.

The search was reportedly related to the National Archives and Records Administration, which is charged with safeguarding presidential records that belong to the public

Trump has denounced the search as a politicized 'witch hunt' against him

The former president is facing a long-running investigation into his real estate empire. Pictured: Secret Service stand guard as Trump leaves Trump Tower for the New York Attorney General's office on Wednesday morning

Mar-a-Lago is closed for the summer. Its well-heeled members generally leave Florida for cooler locations, only returning for the winter. Trump was in New York on Monday

FBI Director Christopher Wray denounced the threats as he visited another FBI office in Nebraska on Wednesday.

'Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you're upset with,' Wray said.

The FBI on Wednesday also warned its agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards are 'not visible outside FBI space,' citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities. It also warned agents to be aware of their surroundings and potential protesters.

The warning did not specifically mention this week's search of Mar-a-Lago but attributed the online threats to 'recent media reporting on FBI investigative activity.'
A 33-year-old man has become the ninth person charged with the murder of an 18-year-old who was killed in an attack at a Liverpool internet cafe.

Michael Toohey was allegedly set upon at the business in London Road on Saturday, April 16, and later died of multiple injuries.

After his death Michael's family paid tribute to the 'beautiful' and 'well-mannered' teenager, and said he was looking forward to becoming a father, with his child due three months after his death.

A total of eight people had been charged with murder following the attack, while a number of other people have been arrested by police investigating his death.

Now it has been confirmed that a ninth person has been charged with his murder.

Yesterday Steven McInerney, of no fixed address, was charged with murder and remanded into custody to appear before Wirral Magistrates' Court today.

The 33-year-old had been arrested on May 16 and been bailed with conditions while enquiries took place, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Michael Toohey (pictured at a wedding), 18, who died just before 6pm of multiple injuries on April 16 was looking forward to becoming a father before he was attacked in Liverpool city centre

In a statement in April, Michael's family said the 'beautiful' and 'well-mannered' teenager had been due to become a father in three months. Pictured: The forensics at the scene

He joins the following people who have been charged with his murder:

Jack Knox, 19, of Oakdale Close, was arrested and subsequently charged on Wednesday, June 29, and was remanded into custody.

David Shelley, 25, of Chiltern Drive, was arrested and subsequently charged on Wednesday, June 29, and was remanded into custody.

Callum Hewell, 21, of Stratton Road, was arrested and subsequently charged on Wednesday, June 29, and was remanded into custody.

Matthew Wynn, 25, of Mosslawn Road, was arrested and subsequently charged on Wednesday, June 29, and was remanded into custody.

Michael Williams, 24 years, of Carlake Grove was arrested and subsequently charged on Wednesday, June 8 with murder. He appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court on Thursday, June 9, and was remanded into custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on November 14.

Anthony Williams, 31, of Hillbrook Drive, Walton was arrested and charged with murder on May 17, and following an appearance at Liverpool Magistrates Court that day, he was further remanded to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on November 14.

Keiron Williams, 28, of no fixed abode was charged with murder on Thursday, June 30, following his arrest. He was further remanded to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on November 14.

A 14-year-old boy, who cannot be identified, was arrested and subsequently charged on Wednesday, June 29, and was remanded into custody.

A total of 15 people have been arrested in connection with Michael's murder.

Three men - aged 19, 27 and 54 - were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and released under investigation.

A 34-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender was bailed.

A 14-year-old and 15-year-old who were previously arrested and bailed with conditions, have now been released under investigation.

In a statement in April, Michael's family said the death of the 'beautiful' and 'well-mannered' teenager was like history repeating itself after his cousin died at 15 following an attack.

His family added: 'Michael was adored by everybody who had the pleasure to meet him.

Nine people have since been charged with murder after the attack. Pictured: A cordon at the scene in April

A post mortem confirmed the 18-year-old died from multiple injuries after he was attacked at the cafe on London Road. Pictured: The scene in April

'His cheeky smile would light up any room, he was kind, caring, courageous and idolised his sisters and was a brilliant uncle.'

The family said the assault had seen history repeat itself, after Michael's cousin Johnny Delaney died following an attack in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, in 2003, aged 15.

The statement also said: 'The family please ask if anybody knows or hears of anything related to Michael's tragic death please come forward and prevent this from happening to anyone else's innocent child.

'A boy full of potential and grace has had his life taken from him and his family left devastated.'

Anyone with information on this incident can contact @MerPolCC, 101 or @CrimestoppersUK, anonymously on 0800 555 111 with reference 22000261976.

Anyone with any footage, can upload this to be viewed by police via the following link to the NICE website here.
Facebook is under fire after giving a US teenagers private messages to police, leading to her mother being charged over the girls illegal abortion.

At a time when the issue of terminations has opened up a highly charged political chasm across America, women are being urged to delete Facebook over privacy fears.

Meta, the social media sites parent company, said it complied with a police warrant when it handed over scores of messages between Nebraska mother Jessica Burgess and her then 17-year-old daughter, Celeste.

The pair were under investigation over what was said to be the burial of a stillborn, with Celeste saying she gave birth in the shower before they placed the foetus in a box, burned it and buried it.

She was 23 weeks pregnant at the time, in a state that allows terminations only up to 20 weeks.

Both mother and daughter were charged in April with concealing or abandoning a corpse and two lesser crimes.

But last month, when the Facebook conversations were reviewed by detectives, Mrs Burgess, 41, was also charged with illegally obtaining and giving abortion pills to her daughter.

Facebook is under fire after giving a US teenagers private messages to police, leading to her mother being charged over the girls illegal abortion

The pair had discussed on Facebooks Messenger function how Celeste could use medication to induce an abortion and how they could dispose of the foetus.

The teenager reportedly said she couldnt wait to get the thing out of her body before a friend tipped police off that she had seen Celeste take the first abortion pill, allegedly procured by her mother.

Both women denied the charges when they appeared in court last week. Now 18, Celeste is being tried as an adult.

Court documents show Facebook turned over the chats to Nebraska police after it was served with a warrant.

It comes nearly two months after a Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade case, effectively stripping millions of American women of their constitutional right to an abortion.

Pro-choice and privacy campaigners had previously warned that tech giants would be forced to turn over information if more states introduced tougher abortion laws.

Meta, the social media sites parent company, said it complied with a police warrant when it handed over scores of messages between Nebraska mother Jessica Burgess (right) and her then 17-year-old daughter, Celeste

Facebook users were urged to wipe their accounts for good, with the slogan #DeleteFacebook gaining traction online.

International rights organisation the Global Justice Centre said: Abortion rights supporters have long warned about the destructive power of mass surveillance in the hands of the anti-abortion movement. Now, were seeing what that could look like.

Meta  whose president of global affairs is former deputy PM Nick Clegg  hit back, saying it was its policy to comply with government requests when the law requires us to do so.

Nothing in the valid warrants we received from local law enforcement in early June, prior to the Supreme Court decision, mentioned abortion, it said.

The warrants concerned charges related to a criminal investigation and court documents indicate that police at the time were investigating the case of a stillborn baby who was burned and buried.

It comes nearly two months after a Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade case, effectively stripping millions of American women of their constitutional right to an abortion

Both of these warrants were originally accompanied by non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing any information about them. The orders have now been lifted.

Jake Laperruque, of the Centre for Democracy and Technology, a privacy rights group, said social media giants will face more pressure as more states prosecute abortion-related crimes. This is going to keep happening, he added.

If companies dont want to end up repeatedly handing over data for abortion investigations, they need to rethink their practices on data collection, storage and encryption.

WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, has end-to-end encryption, which means the company cannot access them.

But the Facebook platform does not offer that level of privacy as a default, meaning most messages are stored on its servers.
Junior doctors are set to strike again unless the Government commits to a significant pay rise, it emerged last night.

The British Medical Association (BMA) says it will ballot junior doctors for industrial action following an unacceptable pay increase of 2 per cent.

The BMA is calling for a rise of up to 26 per cent, which it claims represents pay restoration to the level of wages in 2008, after which point salaries began to fall steeply in real terms due to the cost of living.

The British Medical Association (BMA) says it will ballot junior doctors for industrial action following an unacceptable pay increase of 2 per cent (file image)

The organisation, which represents all doctors in the UK, says its junior doctors are demoralised, burnt out and feeling undervalued.

The decision to ballot members follows deafening silence from the Government over the issue of pay restoration, it added.

In a recent BMA survey of junior doctors, 83 per cent said this years 2 per cent pay award was completely unacceptable.

And 72 per cent said they would be prepared to take industrial action if the Government did not commit to full pay restoration.

Dr Sarah Hallett and Dr Mike Kemp, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs, said: Todays message from junior doctors in England to the Government is clear: commit to full pay restoration or prepare to face industrial action.

Junior doctors have had enough of being overworked, underpaid and undervalued, and will not tolerate these cuts any longer.

Last month, the Government agreed to a 4.5 per cent pay increase for NHS workers.

However this excluded junior doctors, who received a 2 per cent rise  a move described as a devastating blow to their morale.

The BMA said at the time the move had been nothing short of a betrayal and showed the blatant disregard politicians had for doctors in training in England.
As the great armada pushed out into the Channel on a warm August night in 1942 and set course for Dieppe, a slim figure stood at the deck rail of a destroyer, chain-smoking Morland Special cigarettes and pondering what lay ahead.

Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, 34, was about to get his first real taste of battle. But he was less concerned about his own fate than the performance of his men.

Among the 6,000 Canadians and Commandos set to storm six beaches in and around the picturesque French port was a tiny unit of specialists, put together as a result of a Fleming initiative.

Operation Jubilee, an attempt to seize intelligence from the Nazis at Dieppe in 1942 resulted in a disastrous loss of men and equipment

Instead of achieving the element of surprise, British and Canadian troops were cut down by accurate machine gun and mortar fire as they attempted to land

Five months earlier, the man who went on to create James Bond had proposed to his boss, the Director of Naval Intelligence Admiral John Godfrey, that they take a leaf out of the Germans book and set up special intelligence Commandos  who would accompany the forward troops and  if the attack is successful  their duty is to capture documents, cyphers etc, before these can be destroyed by the defenders . . .

Godfrey leapt at the idea and now the 30-odd men of the Intelligence Assault Unit were about to launch their first mission. In the midst of the mayhem they were to make their way into town to a German naval headquarters housed in a hotel. Their prize was the Enigma cypher machines used to encode naval signals, as well as code books and lists of settings.

Such material was pure gold in intelligence terms and would be of great assistance to the codebreakers at Bletchley Park, who were engaged in a perpetual battle to crack signals traffic that would give the Navy an edge in its life-or-death struggle to keep the Atlantic sea lanes open. Flemings Commandos  as they would become known  were all tough and motivated volunteers, drawn from the newly-formed Royal Marine Commandos.

Captain Lord Louis Mountbatten, pictured, gave a speech to the men before they set sail across the Channel on the daring mission

Among them was Alan Saunders, a 19-year-old South Londoner who had signed up for special duties of a hazardous nature and just completed six months of gruelling preparation in the Scottish Highlands.

Training for the op was thorough and the intelligence very detailed. They knew exactly which room, the precise location of the safe and even what type it was, recalls Alans son Ian Saunders, 77, from Yeovil, Somerset. And at least one member of the team had an extremely unconventional background: an ace safe-cracker who had been released from prison to do his bit for king and country.

The excitement felt by the troops on board the nearly 300-vessel armada  that got under way 80 years ago this month  was tempered by apprehension. Before leaving, the dashing Lord (Louis) Mountbatten had gone from ship to ship delivering rousing pre-battle speeches.

It was a very nice talk, remembered Commando George Cook. He said he wished he was coming with us. Two hundred blokes thought, well we wish you were going instead of us.

Royal Marine Commandos trained extensively under simulated fire ahead of the operation (pictured Commandos training in 1943)

The raiders misgivings proved tragically well-founded. Twelve hours later the force was shattered and the beaches of the port-cum-holiday resort transformed into a nightmarish landscape that once seen could never be forgotten.

The inclusion of Flemings men in Operation Jubilee, as the raid was codenamed, has only come to light in recent years and has been seized on to try to explain why it was that an enterprise so fraught with danger was allowed to go ahead in the first place.

In the summer of 1942 the last thing Britain needed was another military disaster. Morale was at rock bottom after a series of defeats, culminating in the fall of the Libyan port of Tobruk to Rommels army in June. On the face of it, Britains situation had been much improved following the entry of the U.S. into the war six months before.

But it seemed that the cavalry might have arrived too late. On the Eastern Front the Red Army was getting a hammering and Stalin was issuing increasingly desperate appeals for help from the West. There were real fears that he might decide to make a separate peace with Hitler, leaving all of Europe in German or Axis-friendly hands.

He was demanding that his British and U.S. allies open a second front now. And the American generals  and much of the British public  agreed with him.

The idea filled Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the British top brass with dread. They knew that Britain was hopelessly unprepared to launch a full-scale landing on the Continent.

A premature invasion would surely end in catastrophe which would only postpone victory, perhaps for ever. The huge pressure bearing down from Moscow and Washington persuaded military chiefs that they had to come up with some operation to show that they meant business.

James Bond author Ian Fleming, pictured right, was one of the intelligence officers who planned the mission which was intended to seize Enigma codes and machines from the Nazis

The result was the raid on Dieppe. The target was chosen not for any particular military value but because it was within range of RAF fighters which could provide some cover for the attackers. It would be claimed later that Jubilee was a necessary sacrifice from which invaluable lessons would be learned that would reduce casualties when the real D-Day came. Its main purpose was as a political and propaganda exercise  with the possible bonus of a rich haul of Enigma material snatched by Flemings Commandos thrown in.

Seen in that light, the officer chosen to oversee the operation was the ideal man for the job. Dickie Mountbatten had recently taken over as chief of Combined Operations Headquarters, charged with raiding occupied Europe. He was also hard-working and a superb communicator who brimmed with can-do confidence, thus ensuring himself a warm place in Churchills heart.

Mountbatten got off to a good start with successful and highly-publicised raids on German facililties in the Norwegian island of Vaagso in December 1941 and the French Atlantic port of St Nazaire three months later.

What was not made public at the time was that, as well as blowing up valuable fish oil stores used in the manufacture of high explosives at Vaagso, a special team was also tasked with grabbing Enigma material from German ships.

They came away with two cipher machines and coding tables which for a time at least gave the Navy advance warning of U-boat movements.

When Jubilee resurfaced, Fleming was anxious to get his men a piece of the action and bagged a ringside seat for himself aboard the destroyer HMS Fernie. The unit would fit neatly into the operation, adding some real purpose to what was otherwise a rather incoherent exercise.

The plan set ridiculously ambitious goals for the Canadians and the Commandos. In the space of a few hours they were supposed to take the town, destroy infrastructure and capture the main military headquarters and an airfield. In addition, they were expected to hijack around 40 barges, once earmarked to carry an invasion force to Britain, and tow them back to Blighty  even though they were of no use to the Allies whatsoever. Intelligence preparations were flawed. They were the responsibility of Peter de Casa Maury, a Cuban-born former racing driver and chum of Mountbattens, who everyone knew was not up to the job.

Assessments of the enemys capabilities were hopelessly optimistic, no use was made of local resistance agents, and gun positions in the cliffs either side of the town went unnoticed.

Support fire from warships and bombers was obviously inadequate. Furthermore, a plan to attack from the flanks was scrapped in favour of a frontal assault.

Despite the glaring risks and weaknesses, the operation was poised for launch in July only to be cancelled because of the dreadful weather. The risk that the Germans would get to hear about it and strengthen their defences seemed to rule out any revival.

This was just the latest in a string of recent setbacks for Mountbatten and Combined Ops. They had achieved nothing since St Nazaire and he needed another win to maintain his own prestige and that of his organisation.

Six weeks later Jubilee was relaunched and Dieppe would go down as one of the great Allied debacles of the war. The fleet set out from ports in the south east on the night of August 18, 1942. They were heading for six colour-coded beaches in and around Dieppe. The element of surprise was crucial and the aim was to get in under the cover of darkness just before first light.

Inevitably, timings slipped and whatever shock was felt by the defenders was soon overcome. Almost everywhere the attackers were immediately under fire  even before they hit the shore from machine guns, mortars and artillery in well-sited positions.

The worst slaughter was at Blue Beach, just east of Dieppe, where the men of the Royal Regiment of Canada stepped out of their landing craft and into a curtain of bullets. In 20 minutes the Royals were reduced from a coherent force to a remnant of dazed and powerless men, curling up on the sand and rock to make as small a target as possible for the chattering guns.

When the shooting finally stopped, Private Jack Poolton recalled an appalling sight: There were boots with feet in them. There were legs. There were bits of flesh. There were guts. This was my regiment.

The same ghastly scenes were played out on Red and White beaches. Watching from a destroyer off shore, the Canadian landforce commander, General Ham Roberts, could make little sense of the battle. Communications were terrible and the shore obscured by smokescreens to protect the force. He seized on the few positive bits of information reaching him to press on with his plan, even though it had been ripped to pieces by reality.

At 8.30am he ordered in the Royal Marine Commandos, including Flemings men. They clambered down from the gunboat HMS Locust into landing craft. Shells threw up waterspouts around them as they made for the shore and bullets whanged off the armoured sides.

The 370-strong Marine force was led by Col Joseph Picton Phillipps, who was nicknamed Tiger because of his eagerness for the fray, but even he could see that it was suicidal to carry on.

Alan Saunders was in one of the landing craft heading for the fatal shore. He recalled how Picton Phillipps put on some white or yellow gloves and got as high as he could to indicate a withdrawal. As he signalled the following craft to turn back, he fell dead, cut down by machine-gun fire. It was a turkey shoot, Alan recalled many years later. The beach  I can even see it now  was strewn with burnt-out tanks. Tanks and men were blown to pieces and body parts were all over the place.

Alans landing craft was hit 50 yards from the shore and went up in a sheet of flames. It was every man for himself . . . You never got rid of your equipment or your arms but if you hung on to them you were going to the bottom. Best to save yourself for another day. Some decided to swim to the beach. Some of us said to hell with that, well only get shot or put in a PoW camp. Portsmouth is this way  lets go.

Alan and his mates spent three and a half hours in the sea before being picked up. None of the Commandos who got ashore made it off the beach. By lunchtime, everyone ashore had surrendered and the armada was heading for home. The overall casualty list was horrific, with 3,626 ground troops killed, captured or wounded. Nonetheless, Mountbattens deft PR ensured it was presented initially as a success.

He set about creating a narrative claiming that Dieppe was a tragic necessity, a dress rehearsal if D-Day was to be a success. Nothing in the orders revealed a system for evaluating the participants performance and the claim must be regarded as a post-facto justification dreamed up by Mountbatten to preserve his reputation.

The Jubilee disaster is best seen as showing how, in the feverish atmosphere of war, a flawed proposal can take on an unstoppable momentum, especially when overseen by a determined glory hunter. But when searching to explain an episode that defies military common sense, some have come up with another motive.

It has been argued that Dieppe was a huge smokescreen designed to disguise the real reason for the raid  the seizure of Enigma material by Ian Flemings Commandos. If that were the case, the same result could have been achieved with far less risk to life.

Fleming reacted to the failure of the units first outing with an imperturbability worthy of 007. As Nicholas Rankin, author of Ian Flemings Commandos, observed, he associated war with the gaming table . . . the serious player must not brood on loss.

His men  who became known as 30 Commando  went on to great successes in North Africa, Italy and Europe. Alan Saunders lived to fight another day until he was badly wounded in Sicily in 1943.

He died in 2015 aged 92. Son Ian recalls a proud Commando and a pretty tough guy, even to the end. As he says: You wouldnt want to upset him even when he was in his mobility scooter.

Additional reporting: Roger Allen and Tim Friend
Australians who withdrew their super early at the start of the pandemic stand to be up to $43,000 worse off by retirement, a new report says.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg in March 2020 announced that financially stressed Australians who had lost working hours as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns, would be allowed to withdraw up to $20,000, in two maximum instalments of $10,000.

Two years on, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) estimates someone who withdrew $10,000 at age 30 would be $21,516 worse off by retirement.

Australians who withdrew their super at the start of the pandemic stand to be up to $43,000 worse off by retirement, a new report says (pictured are young women at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney)

Glen McCrea, ASFA's deputy chief executive, said young Australians - who lost more working hours because of lockdowns - were set to suffer the most long-term damage

This 30-year-old worker who took out $20,000 would be $43,032 worse off once they reached 67, the age pension threshold from July 2023.

Barefoot Investor author Scott Pape said ASFA's $535,000 super savings goal for someone retiring at 67 was too excessive and endorsed Super Consumers Australia's $258,000 target

A 40-year-old Australian who took out $10,000 would be $17,512 short by retirement.

The same worker who withdrew $20,000 would be $35,024 worse off.

A 50-year-old worker who siphoned $10,000 would be $14,253 worse off and be $28,506 short if they took out $20,000.

Glen McCrea, ASFA's deputy chief executive, said young Australians - who lost more working hours because of lockdowns - were set to suffer the most long-term damage.

'Young people, women, single parents and the unemployed paid a high price in terms of the cost to their retirement savings,' he said.

Mr Frydenberg in April 2020 announced taxpayers would be allowed to withdraw up to $10,000 from their superannuation, tax free, by the end of June that year plus another $10,000 by the end of September 2020.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg in March 2020 announced that financially stressed Australians who had lost working hours would be allowed to withdraw up to $20,000, in two maximum instalments of $10,000 (pictured is Melbourne's Flinders Street station in 2020)

They were allowed to withdraw their super without it affecting their Centrelink or Veterans Affairs entitlements.

Average super balance by income bracket AVERAGE SUPERANNUATION BALANCE: $145,388 $18,200 OR LESS: $143,479 $18,201 TO $37,000: $92,490 $37,001 TO $90,000: $116,698 $90,001 TO $180,000: $249,830 $180,000 OR MORE: $575,470 NO TAX RETURN: $99,468 Australian Taxation Office figures for 2019-20 Advertisement

The Labor Opposition at the time and trade unions, which run many industry funds, were opposed.

This saw super funds release $38billion in funds under the temporary early relief scheme.

New Zealand citizens in Australia unable to access Centrelink payments were among those who made withdrawals from their super.

About three million Australians applied for early release super, with one-third of one million of these workers cleaning out or depleting their retirement savings.

'While superannuation was able to do much of the heavy lifting by distributing payments to people quickly in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's important that we recognise the detrimental impact that this has had for the retirement savings of millions of Australians,' Mr McCrae said.

ASFA estimates someone retiring at 67 to receive a part-pension would need to have $535,000 in superannuation for a comfortable retirement, based on someone having paid off their home.

But Super Consumers Australia believes $258,000 is sufficient.

Barefoot Investor author Scott Pape said ASFA's super savings goal was too excessive and endorsed Super Consumers Australia's target.

'For far too long the super industry has played to the millionaires in the members' stand,' Pape said.

Australians have $3.4trillion tied up in superannuation.
John Barilaro has pulled out of a second appearance at an inquiry investigating his appointment to a plum trade role in New York City due to illness.

The former NSW deputy premier was due to front the inquiry on Friday to face further questions over his controversial appointment to the overseas trade job.

A parliamentary committee has been examining how he got the role, which was created while he was the state's trade minister.

Mr Barilaro was appointed to the position despite a senior bureaucrat at the state's investment agency earlier being identified as a preferred candidate.

John Barilaro has pulled out of a second appearance at an inquiry investigating his appointment to a plum trade role in New York City due to illness

He stepped down from the role as senior trade and investment commissioner to the Americas less than two weeks after his appointment was announced in June.

Mr Barilaro told the inquiry during his first appearance on Monday that he did not believe he had done anything wrong, but he regretted ever applying for the role.

'If I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have walked into what was a s***show,' he said.

'Because the trauma I have gone through the last six, seven weeks has been significant.'

Committee chair Cate Faehrmann said on Thursday that Mr Barilaro had been asked to give further evidence as there remained questions to be answered about the transparency of the appointment process for his and other trade commissioner roles.

The committee has expanded the terms of reference for its inquiry and is now investigating the appointment of all the state's trade commissioners.

Labor has pledged to abolish the roles if it wins the March state election.

Parts of the inquiry have also focused on the appointment of former Business Australia executive Stephen Cartwright as the London agent-general.

On Monday, the inquiry heard from Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown that Mr Cartwright had threatened to go over her head to 'the minister or premier' during protracted contract negotiations as he sought to increase his salary package to about $800,000.

'A salary that high for any public-service role is ridiculous,' Ms Brown said.

Penny Sharpe MLC and Daniel Mookhey MLC question John Barilaro during his first appearance before the inquiry at NSW Parliament House on August 5

On Tuesday, text messages between Ms Brown and other government department secretaries were revealed, showing their reaction to news reports of Mr Barilaro's appointment in June.

'This isn't great,' Ms Brown wrote on June 20, sharing a news article flagging the inquiry that she has now appeared in front of on three separate occasions.

Mr Barilaro's appointment is also subject to a Department of Premier and Cabinet review led by former NSW public commissioner Graeme Head.

A draft excerpt of his report prompted Stuart Ayres to resign from cabinet and as deputy Liberal leader.

Another review, led by prominent lawyer and former ICAC inspector Bruce McClintock, will examine whether Mr Ayres breached the ministerial code of conduct.
Five people have claimed they were victims of rape or attempted rape during their time working in the NSW Parliament in the past five years.

The shocking claims by three men and two women were revealed with the publication of a workplace behaviour review on Friday.

The alleged victims, who have not been named, submitted their allegations in an anonymous survey for a review conducted by sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.

Five people have claimed they were victims of rape or attempted rape during their time working in the NSW Parliament in the past five years. Pictured: Premier Perrottet

It is not clear how many of the five claims related to rape or attempted rape. The alleged perpetrators have also not been named.

The alleged victims were all under 55 and most were between 25 and 34.

More than a third of the sexual assault claims that workers said they had heard of happened in NSW's Parliament House, with others occurring after work drinks.

The independent review was commissioned last year after several complaints were raised about the abuse of staff.

I have read the report. It is sobering, confronting and unacceptable Premier Dominic Perrottet

Alongside the rape claims, it contained allegations of bullying and harassment.

The review says that some MPs' offices were 'well-known hotspots' for bullying.

One unnamed MP was accused of enjoying 'bringing grown men to tears'.

A staffer told the review: 'Employees are bullied, traumatised and no legitimate action can be taken.'

Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, Premier Dominic Perrottet vowed to weed out MPs who behave inappropriately and to make parliament safe.

'I have read the report. It is sobering, confronting and unacceptable,' he said.

'Every workplace across our state should be free from harassment, sexual harassment and sexual assault but this is not the case in the New South Wales Parliament.

'Jeez your boobs look good in that': Read quotes in the report from parliament workers When I first started [a Departmental staff member] said 'oh look, we've got a pretty new face', I didn't know how to discourage that kind of comment. Some days you would walk into [the office] and they would make a comment that was inappropriate [such as] 'jeez your boobs look good in that'... Some [MPs] only hire females who are good looking and under a certain age, and there is definitely an air of sexuality about those offices I've known offices where it is common knowledge that the staffers were sleeping with other staffers or DLOs and sometimes, the Minister. The amount of MPs that I saw try to make sexual advances on young men and women at party social events was pretty much constant. I had a colleague in the Department who was quite handsy, patted me on the bum. It started as flirting. She can't stop it because it would cost her her job It's very normalised, the MP and Chief of Staff sleeping with junior staff. The power dynamics were so unbalanced It felt like the 1970s, old rich white men employing these beautiful young women in their 20s Sometimes after a community member would leave the office, [the MP] would say 'I think she came in because she wants to sleep with me'. On sitting weeks, it is the worst, Ministerial staff and MPs come in, there's staring and leering Real the full report here

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'Parliamentarians are leaders and role models in our society. They should lead from the front.

'Clearly, we have a culture in the New South Wales Parliament that over time has become in many instances toxic and is wrong.

'If parliamentarians cannot lead and provide an environment where workplace is safe, what hope to be have for other workplaces across our great state?'

Ms Broderick's staff interviewed several alleged victims over the course of the review.

In her report she reveals that many felt unsupported.

'Of those who said during interviews that they reported the incidents, none were provided with any meaningful support or validation of their experiences,' Ms Broderick wrote.

'All those who shared stories of sexual assault with the Review Team via an interview were women who had been sexually assaulted by men.

'This may indicate that there are additional barriers for men, especially gay and bisexual men, and for trans and gender diverse people, to share their experiences.'

Mr Perrottet said the report only marked the beginning of cultural reform at NSW parliament and pledged to follow through on its recommendations.

They included strengthening internal policies and codes of conduct, reducing alcohol use, boosting support services and monitoring 'well-known hotspots' for bullying.

'This must end, it ends today,' Mr Perrottet said.

Only one in four people working in the building participated in the report, including MPs, cleaning, security and catering staff.

Health Minister Bronnie Taylor told people who were responsible for some of the behaviour to leave NSW parliament.

'You know who you are, and my very strong advice to you is that you do not belong in the parliament of NSW,' she said.
The top US securities regulator is probing Melvin Capital Management's risk controls and investor disclosures after the hedge fund was decimated in last year's meme-stock frenzy, according to a new report.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating what Melvin founder Gabe Plotkin told investors after the fund lost $6.8 billion by betting against GameStop shares during the frenzy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Melvin had been one of Wall Street's most successful hedge funds prior to January 2021, when the fund suffered billions in losses in a battle of wills against an army of small investors on the Reddit forum WallStreetBets.

WallStreetBet users considered Melvin their arch-nemesis for taking out massive short positions in their beloved GameStop, a type of trade that would earn the fund a profit if the struggling video game retailer's share price had fallen.

Instead, small investors drove the stock to dizzying heights and inflicted billions in losses on Melvin, and Plotkin announced earlier this year that the fund would shutter.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating what Melvin founder Gabe Plotkin (above) told investors after the fund lost $6.8 billion by betting against GameStop

Shares of GameStop soared in January 2021, and remain well above their historical averages more than a year after an army of small traders drove the price up

Now, the SEC is speaking to the investors who entrusted their money to Melvin, seeking information about whether Plotkin and other executives misled them as they tried to raise money following the meme-frenzy, according to the Journal.

Spokespersons for the SEC and Melvin did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com on Thursday evening.

The SEC probe is still in its early stages and may not lead to an enforcement action, according to the Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.

WallStreetBets users reacted with glee to the news, with u/Agitated-Maize-9126 commenting: 'Ohhh yeaaaaaa [rocket emojis] expose every last one of the criminals.'

Still, others were skeptical that the investigation would have teeth, or result in anything other than a minor fine.

'Investigation = SEC having lunch with MC leadership. Then going home,' wrote u/Allaroundlost.

From 2014 to 2020, Melvin boasted average annualized returns of 30 percent, making Plotkin the envy of Wall Street.

But in May, Plotkin announced his fund would shutter after suffering ruinous losses.

'The appropriate next step is to wind down the Funds by fully liquidating the Funds' assets and accounts and returning cash to all investors,' Plotkin wrote in a letter to investors reported by Reuters.

WallStreetBet users on Reddit considered Melvin their arch-nemesis for taking out massive short positions in their beloved GameStop

WSB users expressed glee at news of the probe, but also skepticism that the investigation would have teeth

Plotkin said that the fund had been through an 'incredibly trying time' since the meme-stock bloodbath in early 2021.

Plotkin had been the darling of Wall Street before the meme-stock bloodbath

Melvin started 2021 with $12.5 billion in assets, but ended the year down 39 percent after betting big against shares of GameStop.

Then the fund lost 23 percent in the first four months of 2022, as markets declined broadly, and had just $7.8 billion in assets at the end of April, according to Reuters.

In the letter Plotkin said he had already raised a substantial amount of cash and cut the funds' exposure.

Plotkin was previously a star trader at Steven A. Cohen's hedge fund, which was then called SAC Capital Advisors.

But Plotkin left in 2014 to launch his own fund, after SAC pleaded guilty to criminal insider trading charges.

His Melvin Capital quickly attracted attention and powerful investors and ended 2020, the year the pandemic began, with gains of 52.5 percent.

Melvin started 2021 with $12.5 billion in assets, but ended the year down 39 percent after betting big against shares of GameStop

As the fund began bleeding money in the meme-stock frenzy, losing more than $1 billion a day at one point, powerful investors continued to back Plotkin for a time.

Ken Griffin's Citadel LLC and Point72 Asset Management, as Cohen's fund is now known, invested billions in emergency cash in Melvin in early 2021 amid the meme stock losses.

Earlier this year, Plotkin told investors he wanted to reorganize and shrink assets to $5 billion from roughly $8.7 billion and charge them lower fees, for a time.

Investors reacted strongly to the proposals and Plotkin was forced to apologize not long after, saying he had made a mistake.

In May, Plotkin said he had begun the process of liquidating the portfolio and would stop charging management fees beginning June 1.

He also said that he had 'given everything' he could but that it was not enough to 'deliver the returns you should expect.'
North Korea claimed to have had no coronavirus cases for more than two years. Then, earlier this year, they recognized a pandemic while referring to it as a fever. Now, North Korea claims that its COVID-19 outbreak is over.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed success in the country's campaign against the sickness this week, according to the Yonhap News Agency, quoting the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea Lifts COVID-19 Measures

The South Korean government expressed deep regret over North Korea's arrogant and threatening words during the national meeting on assessing anti-epidemic measures, an unofficial from the Unification Ministry said in a statement, according to National Interest.

As per analysts, while the totalitarian North has exploited the pandemic to tighten social controls, its victory announcement might be a prelude to restarting commerce, which has been impeded by border closures and other restrictions.

Observers believe it may also pave the path for the North to perform a nuclear test for the first time since 2017. As reported by KCNA, quoting another official, North Korea's stated death rate of 74 individuals is an exceptional miracle in comparison to other countries.

North Korea stated the number of persons with fever symptoms rather than verified cases. On May 15, the number of daily cases reached over 392,000, causing health experts to warn of an impending disaster. The World Health Organization has questioned North Korea's assertions, stating last month that it felt the situation was worsening rather than improving due to a lack of independent evidence.

Even though Pyongyang has launched no known vaccination program, Pyongyang has declared a triumph. Instead, the government claims to have depended on lockdowns, domestic medicine, and what Kim refers to as the advantageous Korean-style communist system.

The North has stated that it is conducting extensive medical checks around the country, with daily PCR tests on water collected in border regions among the precautions. It also stated that it has been working on new technologies to identify the virus and its variations, as well as other infectious disorders like monkeypox, as per CNN.

Read Also: Russia-China Ties Grow Closer as Beijing Blames US of Being "Main Instigator" of Ukraine War

Kim Yo Jong Blames South Korea for the Outbreak

Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's sister, said the North Korean leader experienced fever symptoms and blamed the pandemic on South Korean leaflets. She said that South Korea was behind the leaflets and that the North would respond with armed force if they did not cease.

South Korean activists are known to float balloons across the border with pamphlets criticizing Kim Jong-un, although it is improbable that they provoked a pandemic of COVID-19. There were big demonstrations in April of this year, and the government also opened its borders to freight business from China in January.

The first evidence that North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un is afflicted with coronavirus has surfaced, after the state's allegation that he is very unwell. The sister of the head of the clandestine country notorious for its ruthless treatment of inhabitants and hushed-up views disclosed that he had been suffering from fever symptoms.

The propaganda was discovered at a party workers' gathering for a national conference for assessing the emergency anti-epidemic activity which was advertised on May 12 this year.

This is doubtful since there have been reports of around 4.8 million instances of fever that have not been classified as COVID-19. The country is known to have a scarcity of testing kits and claimed not to have seen a single instance of the virus throughout the first two years of the pandemic, Mirror reported.

Related Article: Langya Henipavirus: New Virus Infects 35 People in China | Symptoms, Transmission, and Everything to Know

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A fine dining restaurant on one of Australia's most idyllic islands that is struggling to find staff has taken desperate measures to lure workers as the hospitality shortage hits crisis point.

SeaLevel21 on North Stradbroke Island has forked out hundreds of dollars in advertising for chefs without much success, despite its scenic backdrop just 30km off the Queensland coast.

Owners Lee Takirau and Andy Morrison have gone a step further by launching a new campaign showing off the lifestyle the successful applicants will enjoy.

Free accommodation has been thrown in as an extra incentive, along with access to boats, paddle and surfboards, and a staff car.

SeaLevel21 is one of many businesses on North Stradbroke Island desperate for staff.

SeaLevel21 owner Andy Morrison stars in a TikTok video aimed at recruiting new chefs for his restaurant on North Stradbroke Island. Surfboard access is one of the many perks

'Hospitality is in a major staffing crisis at the moment but I don't think we're alone in that struggle,' Ms Takirau told Today show.

'We just decided to take it head-on. We're not quitters. So we're throwing everything at it.'

The restaurant teamed up with a production company to film a TikTok campaign starring Mr Morrison in a chef's uniform running towards the ocean armed with a surfboard as part of a call-out for new staff.

'We've probably spent thousands and thousands of dollars on traditional advertising to look for a head chef,' he said.

'So we decided to join the cool kids and see if we can't get any attention from any young chefs out there at the moment. We have an amazing lifestyle on the island, fishing, diving, surfing.

'We just thought maybe someone will see it who wouldn't look on the traditional methods of advertising.'

A second campaign video launched on Friday shows Mr Morrison manning a barbecue on the beach while spruiking SeaLevel21 and its stunning backdrop.

'It's one of the few fine dining restaurants on the world's second largest island,' he explains.

'We're about using the best possible produce and giving customers the best possible experience. It's a fine dining experience you can do in your boardies.'

SeaLevel 21 owners Lee Takirau and Andy Morrison (pictured) haven't given up on their desperate search for new staff to work on the idyllic island

Andy Morrison spruiks SeaLevel21 and its stunning backdrop in a new campaign video

Mr Morrison told Daily Mail Australia there are 10 positions up for grabs at SeaLevel21, mostly chef roles.

Successful applicants will have access to and cook with freshest produce straight from the ocean.

They will have the same two days a week off to build their own lifestyle on the island.

The main thing the owners are looking for is passion.

'We're looking for someone who wants to follow their food journey,' Mr Morrison said.

'We have a few strings to our bow in our business and we're looking for all types of things. To show off the lifestyle that we live here is amazing.

'We're not even looking for a qualified chef right now. What we're looking for is someone who wants to take that journey on and follow their food.'

SeaLevel21 owner Andy Morrison appears in a TikTok video in an attempt to find new staff

SeaLevel21 (pictured) is one of the few fine dining restaurants on North Stradbroke Island

SeaLevel21 isn't only the business on North Stradbroke Island desperate for staff.

Straddie Chamber of Commerce president Colin Battersby operates a holiday rental house cleaning business on the island.

He's paying up to $10,000 a year for bus and ferry fares for staff commuting to and from the mainland for work due to a lack of affordable housing on the island.

'It's about a $100 a week per person. If you're on $28 an hour you can't afford that, so I have to pay it to attract staff,' Mr Battersby told the Courier Mail.

'For them to start work at 8.30am they have to catch the 6.55am water taxi and get a bus even earlier to get to the water taxi. It's a few hours each way to get to work.'

To apply for a job at SeaLevel21, email info@sealevel21.com.au.
A decision on whether to approve a controversial new coal mine in Cumbria has been delayed for a second time.

A deadline for the Government to decide on the project, on the outskirts of Whitehaven, had been set for July 7, but was pushed back to August 17 after Boris Johnson resigned.

Now the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities has said a decision will be made by November 8, because officials are not yet in a position to provide advice to ministers. It would be the first deep coal mine for more than three decades and would extract coking coal to make steel. Green groups say it would increase carbon dioxide emissions, but supporters say it would create jobs and reduce imports.

An aerial view in October of the site of the proposed new coal mine near the Cumbrian town of Whitehaven. A decision on whether to approve the controversial mine has now been delayed for a second time

In October 2020, Cumbria County Council approved the mines operation until 2049, but suspended its decision four months later when the Governments Climate Change Committee said the use of coking coal in steel making should be curtailed by 2035.

Among the mines chief proponents is Mike Starkie, the Conservative mayor of Copeland borough, which includes Whitehaven, who said the latest delay was outrageous and totally unacceptable.

To now move the goalposts to November is appalling and there is no justification whatsoever, he added.

Environmentalists have also argued that demand for coking coal is already declining in the UK and Europe as steelmakers increasingly switch to less carbon-intensive methods.

Among the mines chief proponents is Mike Starkie, the Conservative mayor of Copeland borough, which includes Whitehaven, who said the latest delay was outrageous and totally unacceptable

People demonstrate against the proposed Cumbrian coal mine outside the Home Office in London in September. Green groups say the coal mine would increase carbon dioxide emissions. Environmentalists have also argued that demand for coking coal is already declining in the UK and Europe as steelmakers increasingly switch to less carbon-intensive methods

Victoria Marsom, from campaign group Friends of the Earth, said: The UK and European market for coking coal is set to rapidly diminish as manufacturers switch to greener steel.

She added: The case against this coalmine is overwhelming regardless of how many times the decision is delayed.

The battle over the future of the Cumbrian coal mine comes as the government increasingly moves to cut carbon emissions in a bid to get the UK to net zero by 2050.

But the efforts have caused concern about the future of the British steel industry, with Tata Steel, which owns the Port Talbot steelworks in Wales, currently pressuring for 1.5 billion in taxpayer funding to support its moves to greener steelmaking processes and furnaces.
An animal shelter is offering huge discounts on its adoption fees as the pound attempts to find homes for dozens of dumped dogs - especially their 'heavy' ones.

The Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne provides shelter for lost and abandoned dogs and cats and is currently overflowing with pups.

The pound estimates it houses more than 16,000 animals each year as unwanted pets move through its facility.

Currently the shelter has 84 dogs up for adoption - with the majority of them being 'heavier' dogs - as it offers a discounted $195 for anyone willing to adopt the bigger animals.

The Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne has 84 dogs up for adoption and is offering a reduced adoption price of $195 for all dogs that weigh more than 15kg

'Our shelters are at capacity, with over fifty dogs searching for a forever family. Its fair to say, we are at a crisis point and have reduced our adoption fees to help us clear our shelters,' The Lost Dogs Home said in a post to social media.

'If you or someone you know may benefit from unconditional love, loyalty, and companionship, we are happy to help you help our dogs with a discounted adoption fee of $195 on dogs heavier than 15kgs. Please take advantage of our reduced rates from 12 - 20 August. Your new best friend will be forever thankful.'

The discounted adoption fee will run from August 12 through to August 20.

Dogs weighing under 15 kg are generally considered small dogs, with breeds over 15kg commonly referred to as medium sized. Dogs heavier than 25kg considered a large dog.

Many of the dogs up for adoption at the Victorian facility are breeds usually in the headlines for attacks or issues.

However, owners of these particular breeds always maintain the larger dogs are just as safe as smaller animals.

Breeds such as Rottweilers, Mastiffs and American Bulldogs are up for adoption at the facility at reduced fees.

The shelter says winter is a typically slower time for adoptions but this year's drop has been compounded as a result of rising costs of living pressure and less time to care for their furry friends.

Breeds such as Rottweilers, Mastiffs and American Bulldogs are up for adoption at the facility at reduced fees

Some owners are also surrendering their pets as a result of property restrictions on animals.

Animal welfare charity Companion Animal Network Australia (Australia CAN) said the rental crisis was hard enough but some renters were having to choose between a home and their furry friends.

CEO Trish Ennis called on the government to impose regulations preventing landlords from discriminating against renters with pets.

Ms Ennis said there had been 'far too many pet surrenders' based on rental and housing issues.

In Victoria landlords have to give a sufficient reason for denying a renter if they have pets.
Vladimir Putin is now 'unlikely to ever succeed' in occupying Ukraine, Ben Wallace has said, as Britain pledged more financial and military support for the country.

The Defence Secretary said Russia's invasion has 'faltered' and is 'starting to fail in many areas' as he co-hosted a conference of donors in Copenhagen on Thursday.

He also described huge losses of both personnel and military equipment it has suffered in the near six months since Putin launched a 'special military operation' on February 24.

Mr Wallace said: 'They have failed so far and are unlikely to ever succeed in occupying Ukraine.

'Their invasion has faltered and constantly been remodified to the extent they are really only focusing in parts of the south and in the east, a long, long way away from their three-day so-called special operation.

'Three days are now over 150 days and nearly six months in, with huge significant losses of both equipment and indeed Russian personnel.'

The UK has pledged to send multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine, as well as precision guided missiles which can strike targets up to 50 miles away - designed to defend against Russian heavy artillery.

Mr Wallace continued: 'President Putin will have gambled that come August, come a few months in, we will have all got bored of the conflict and the international community would have gone off in different directions.

'Well, today is proof of the opposite.

'We have come out of this meeting with more pledges of finance, more pledges of training and more pledges of military aid, all designed to help Ukraine win, to help Ukraine stand up for its sovereignty and indeed to ensure that President Putin's ambitions fail in Ukraine as they rightly should.'

In other developments Thursday:

Burial services were held for 11 more unidentified bodies found in Bucha, the town outside the Ukrainian capital that saw hundreds of people slaughtered under Russian occupation early in the war.

The governments of Ukraine and Russia traded more accusations over which side was responsible for shelling the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to Moscow and Kyiv to stop military action around Europe's largest nuclear plant to avoid a catastrophe.

The EU's ban on coal imports from Russia took effect following a long phase-in that started in April.

And in perhaps the most symbolic example of give and take on Thursday, McDonald's announced plans to start reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months.

Looking beyond a hoped-for return to peace, Scholz said Germany was working with the EU to develop plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said Russia's invasion has 'faltered' and is 'starting to fail in many areas'

Russian President Vladimir Putin pictured during a meeting via videoconference on Thursday

Mr Wallace pictured as he speaks during after hosting a donor conference, together with Ukrainian and Danish defence ministers

Ukrainian civilians take part in military training in the Lviv region of western Ukraine earlier this month

British, New Zealand (and Ukrainian soldiers with a Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System as they conduct artillery training in the UK

Satellite pictures show Crimea airbase after blast that 'destroyed up to 20 of Putin's warplanes' Startling new satellite images have showcased the extent of the damage at a Russian air force base in Crimea after devastating explosions ravaged the site on Tuesday afternoon. The broken and charred remains of several Russian fighter jets can be seen in the aftermath of the blasts which are believed to have damaged up to 20 aircraft and demolished ammunition storage facilities. The broken and charred remains of several Russian fighter jets at the air base Russia denied any aircraft were damaged in Tuesday's blasts - or that any attack took place. More explosions were then reported last night at Zyabrovka airbase in the Homiel region of southern Belarus just 20 miles from the northern Ukrainian border, which has also been used by the Russian air force. Again, officials tried to downplay the blasts - saying they were an accident caused by an aircraft engine fire. But photos of the Saki base in Crimea published by US-based satellite imaging company Planet Labs PBC clearly showed at least seven fighter planes had been obliterated in what is widely thought to have been a Ukrainian strike. Ukrainian officials stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility for the explosions, but confirmed at least nine planes had been destroyed and mocked Russia's explanation that a careless smoker might have caused ammunition at the Saki air base to catch fire and blow up. If Ukrainian forces were, in fact, responsible for the blasts, it would be the first known major attack on a Russian military site on the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Advertisement

Mr Wallace's remarks come as Denmark has joined the UK in offering more aid to Ukraine.

Germany, earlier seen to be reluctant in giving full tangible support to Ukraine, is also making what Chancellor Olaf Scholz describes as a 'massive' break with its past by sending weapons to the war-torn country.

But Mr Wallace revealed that allies will soon need to start purchasing weapons from other countries or 'placing orders in factories to increase ammo supply to Ukraine' as their own reserve stocks are depleted.

He added: 'Our continued support sends a very clear message: Britain and the international community remain opposed to this illegal war and will stand shoulder-to-shoulder, providing defensive military aid to Ukraine to help them defend against Putin's invasion.'

Ukrainian troops have been trained in the UK on how to use the launchers.

Britain has also committed to training a further 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in infantry battlefield skills over the coming months.

Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have all announced they will be supporting the programme.

Meanwhile, Mr Scholz said Germany 'is shipping arms - a great, great many, sweeping and very effective' and 'will continue to do so in the coming time'.

Germany has also approved military exports of at least $710 million and plans to provide further financial aid to Ukraine, the chancellor said.

Speaking at the conference, Danish Prime Minister vowed 'we will not let you down' in a show of continued support for the eastern European country.

Denmark said a new contribution of $113m would push the total amount of funding from the country of 5.8m to over $500m.

The UK has previously supplied Ukraine with various weapons, including the NLAW anti-tank missile launcher, which was considered instrumental in the initial defence against Moscow's invasion.

The show of support for Ukraine came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking by videoconference to the meeting of donors, pleaded for more aid.

He said: 'The sooner we stop Russia, the sooner we can feel safe.'

The UK has said Russia is already strained by the need to produced armoured vehicles for its soldiers in Ukraine.

A Ministry of Defence update has highlighted 'the increasing effect of Western sanctions' on the Russian economy, with its 'military industrial capacity is now under significant strain'.

The report added that 'the credibility of many of its weapon systems has been undermined by their association with Russian forces' poor performance'.

Workers pictured placing a body of one of the unidentified persons who were killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha

A worker rests during the mass burial of unidentified people who were killed in the Bucha district of Ukraine

Russia is already contending with reports that troops are refusing to fight and instead opting to quit the military, with covert recruitment efforts said to be underway to make up for shortages.

It comes as startling new satellite images have showcased the extent of the damage at a Russian air force base in Crimea after devastating explosions ravaged the site on Tuesday afternoon.

The broken and charred remains of several Russian fighter jets can be seen in the aftermath of the blasts which are believed to have damaged up to 20 aircraft and demolished ammunition storage facilities.

Russia denied any aircraft were damaged in Tuesday's blasts - or that any attack took place.

But more explosions were then reported on Wednesday at Zyabrovka airbase in the Homiel region of southern Belarus just 20 miles from the northern Ukrainian border, which has also been used by the Russian air force.

Russia tried to explain away the air strikes, including referring to a wayward cigarette but, but the explanations were described as 'excuses' by Mr Wallace.

He said: 'When you just look at the footage of two simultaneous explosions not quite next to each other, and some of the reported damage even by the Russian authorities, I think it's clear that that's not something that happens by someone dropping a cigarette.'

Citizens inspect the damaged settlements after Russian rocket strike in the Kharkiv region on Thursday

The damage is pictured after a Russian shell hit a yard in a central residential area affecting an office building and the balconies and windows of a five-storey apartment block in Kharkiv

Ukrainian forces launched a counter-offensive in the south of the country to recapture 54 settlements in the Kherson region on Thursday.

The region had previously been overrun by Russian forces in the early days of the war.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Kherson governor Yaroslav Yanushevych accused the Kremlin of shelling the areas it lost in retaliation.

He said Russia was creating a 'catastrophic' humanitarian situation in towns and villages along the region's northern boundary.

To the east of Ukraine, the country's forces say they have repelled attacks around the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk - said to be a key target for Russia.

The military has also said it has halted similar attacks near the cities of Kramatorsk and Avdiivka, both also in the region.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky urged Ukrainians not to divulge details about the country's military operations.

He said: 'If you want victory for Ukraine, then that's another matter, and you should feel your responsibility for every word you say about what our state is preparing in terms of defense or counter-offensives.'
A council that fitted solar panels on thousands of homes to meet green targets is having to spend more than 360,000 on wire mesh to deter pigeons.

Nottingham City Council received more than 300 complaints from its tenants about birds nesting under the panels.

As well as being a noise nuisance, the pigeons caused leaking roofs and blocked the gutters, while their droppings are considered hazardous to human health. The dung can also reduce the amount of sunlight captured by the panels.

The Labour-run authority had to seek permission to spend 362,664 on the anti-pigeon meshes for old and new panels because it has been monitored by a government-appointed panel since 2020.

Nottingham City Council received more than 300 complaints from its tenants about birds nesting under the panels

As well as being a noise nuisance, the pigeons caused leaking roofs and blocked the gutters, while their droppings are considered hazardous to human health. The dung can also reduce the amount of sunlight captured by the panels

This followed the failure of a not-for-profit energy company set up by the council, which cost taxpayers 38million.

Earlier this year, an investigation found 24million of ring-fenced housing rent revenue could have been wrongly spent on projects other than housing  on top of nearly 16million of housing revenue account funds previously discovered to have been unlawfully spent.

The solar panels scheme was intended for low-income residents and was funded with millions in central government grants.

The council has fitted more than 3,000 panels on tenants roofs as part of its efforts to become the UKs first carbon-neutral city by 2028 and said birds nesting under them was a common problem.

A common issue that has come to light with these solar panels is birds nesting under the array, a council spokesman said.

This has led to many issues including resident complaints, blocked gutters, damaged tiles, leaking roofs, unwanted noise nuisance and the build-up of guano (droppings) that is classed as hazardous to peoples health.

In June the government said it was minded to bring in commissioners to help run the council for the next two years.
Liz Truss's refusal to apologise to Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for calling her an attention-seeker who should be ignored might have irritated the Queen, I am told. 'HM treats Sturgeon as she treats her Commonwealth PMs and expects mutual respect between them,' says my source. 'They rub along together well enough. HM has a delicate balancing act to play in the independence debate. If the Union splits she will become Queen of Scots. Sturgeon seems fine with that. King Charles is another matter.'

'Liz Truss's refusal to apologise to Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for calling her an attention-seeker who should be ignored might have irritated the Queen, I am told'

The next series of The Crown will miss the script-enhancing skills of Jemima Goldsmith, who has backed out because the depiction of her friend, the late Princess of Wales, was not handled as 'respectfully or compassionately' as she had hoped. However historian Robert Lacey, who is married to Jemima's aunt, Lady Jane Rayne, remains as a consultant. Must make for interesting family discussions!

How does the always-fashionable thespian Emma Thompson, pictured during her investiture, like to be addressed? 'Just Dame will do,' she says, adding about the honour: 'It's nice to be acknowledged in that way.' Dames aren't deplored like men who lust after peerages. Prior to his own ennoblement Viscount Northcliffe said: 'When I want a peerage I'll buy one like an honest man.

English actor Emma Thompson poses with her medal and insignia after she was appointed a Dame in November 2018

Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is still on the Privy Council, so he's a 'Rt Hon' and will make the cut to attend, in due course, the council proclaiming Charles king.

Tommy Corbyn  Jeremy's son, who campaigns to legalise cannabis and founded the National Hemp Service  responds cheekily to Rishi Sunak's promise to crack down on drug-takers: 'Why not start by drug-testing MPs and let's see how that goes...' Might his father give him the names of some suspects?

As a schoolgirl in Melbourne, much-loved Olivia Newton-John, who has died at 73, had to obey strict rules, including a ban on wearing patent leather shoes in case boys saw the reflection up their dresses. 'If only they'd known I would someday record a song called Let's Get Physical,' she said. Its lyrics include: 'There's nothing left to talk about unless it's horizontally.'

Taking aim at young female journalist Kara Kennedy, writing her debut column (about Wales) in The Daily Telegraph, BBC newscaster Huw Edwards snipes on Twitter: 'Tragically could only see the first para  but I thought even feeble Telegraph writers had moved beyond sheep and Richard Burton.' A colleague of Kara's snaps back: 'Twenty-two-yearold graduate trainee writing her first piece for the paper  talk about punching down!' Shouldn't Huw get out more?

Apropos of my item about the BBC's new disinformation and social media correspondent, Michael Cole tells me his last job there was arts and media correspondent, adding: 'There were 14 people doing it.'
In their rush to net zero, ministers have made some truly perverse decisions.

Among the most baffling is paying the owners of the Drax power station in Yorkshire nearly 1billion a year to convert from burning coal to wood pellets.

In the Alice in Wonderland world of green policy, these pellets are described as carbon neutral. However, environmentalists furiously dispute this classification. And it's easy to see why.

Huge areas of woodland, which would naturally absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, are being felled to satisfy surging demand. Drax alone burns the equivalent of 25million trees a year.

Among the most baffling decisions taken by ministers in their rush to net zero is paying the owners of the Drax power station in Yorkshire nearly 1billion a year to convert from burning coal to wood pellets

Most are taken from US forests, then shipped up to 4,500 miles to Britain on gas-guzzling freight ships. And when the pellets are processed and burned, experts say they release as much CO2 as coal.

Yet despite its colossal carbon footprint, this muddle-headed scheme is funded by consumers through a surcharge on their energy bills.

As Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng rightly says: 'It doesn't make any sense.'

Such pointless 'greenwashing' shows why Liz Truss is right to declare a moratorium on the environmental levies which comprise up to 8 per cent of household fuel bills.

It's time for a full reappraisal of all these charges, to ensure they genuinely achieve their aims. At a time of soaring bills, families must not be penalised by spurious taxes that have no practical effect except to make ministers feel more virtuous.

The public should not have to pay for their empty posturing.

Who can fix the NHS?

Despite the recent national insurance hike providing an extra 12billion to the NHS and social care, waiting lists are still spiralling upwards.

The latest number for those requiring routine treatment is a staggering 6.7million.

Hospitals are creaking at the seams. In July alone, nearly 30,000 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E before being treated, 33 per cent up on the previous month and the highest on record.

Ambulance response times are rising, with emergency departments overcrowded. And the Society for Acute Medicine warns of even more 'grave' consequences as we move into winter.

Of course, the pandemic created a huge backlog but with the NHS receiving eye-watering sums to clear it, taxpayers are entitled to ask where that money has gone.

Why, for example, are NHS managers still recruiting diversity and inclusion managers in defiance of a Government crackdown?

Before shovelling ever more cash into a seemingly bottomless black hole, the new PM must have the courage to demand radical reform.

When Covid struck, the vaccine miracle was achieved by a public/private partnership that circumvented the foot-dragging bureaucrats to get the job done.

Shouldn't that be the template for a revolution in the NHS?

Your gift of a smile

Just a few months ago they fled the horrors of war. Now, because of your incredible generosity, thousands of Ukrainian children are enjoying a carefree summer in activity camps around Britain.

The astonishing 11million readers donated to our Mail Force Ukraine appeal was initially channelled to aid agencies and charities on the ground.

But recognising that refugee children were in desperate need of rest and relaxation, 1million of your money was set aside for the summer camps scheme.

So thanks to you, for a short while at least, they can put their troubles behind them. The smiles on their faces are your rich reward.
Google has agreed to pay $60 million in penalties flowing from a long-running court fight with the Australian competition watchdog over the tech giant misleading users on the collection of personal location data.

In April last year, the Federal Court of Australia found Google breached consumer laws by misleading some local users into thinking the company was not collecting personal data about their location via mobile devices with Android operating systems.

The case revolved around whether it was sufficiently clear Google would still collect and access location data when a user's location history was set to 'off' but their web and app activity was 'on' and one of its apps was used.

Google (pictured) agreed to pay a $60million fine after the were last year found to be in breach of consumer laws by misleading users into thinking the company was not collecting personal data about their location via mobile devices with Android operating systems

The company was also found in breach of two other consumer laws concerning conduct liable to mislead the public and making misleading representations about a service's performance characteristics.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission at the time called the judgment a clear message to digital platforms to be up front with consumers about what is happening with their data.

On Friday, a brief Federal Court hearing was told a $60 million penalty was agreed as 'fair and reasonable' between the parties and that a joint submission had been submitted to Justice Thomas Thawley.

On Friday, a brief Federal Court of Australia (pictured) hearing was told a $60 million penalty was agreed as 'fair and reasonable' between the parties

The court heard possible issues still in play were whether the penalty made future conduct 'economically irrational' and if the penalty was suitable.

Justice Thawley said he was satisfied the fine was in an appropriate range and thanked the parties before adjourning the case until later on Friday.
He will be eligible to be considered for parole in July 2029

Mate asked police, 'So, she didn't die then?' upon regaining consciousness

Prosecutors said intent was clear by buying the nitrogen gas days ear lier

An Adelaide father who attempted to murder his young daughter 'out of spite' and 'vindictiveness' towards his wife has been jailed for 14 years.

Shaun Preston Mate, 45, pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of his then-three-year-old daughter days before his Supreme Court trial in June.

The dad's desire to hurt his wife was revealed clearly when he regained consciousness after attempting to gas both him and his daughter and asked police, 'So she didn't die, then?'

Mate purchased a pair of nitrogen gas tanks in July 2020, two days before the crime, and released the gas after an argument at dinner with his then-wife.

Shaun Preston Mate, 45, has been sentenced to 14 years behind bars for the attempted murder of his three-year-old daughter. He will be eligible to be considered for parole on July 2029

Shaun Mate (pictured) pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of his then-three-year-old daughter days before his Supreme Court trial in June

Police officers found the 45-year-old and his daughter unresponsive, suffering from hypoxia at their Adelaide home.

The toddler spent five days in intensive care at hospital and took weeks to recover from the gas attack.

Sentencing Mate on Friday, Auxiliary Justice Geraldine Davison said Mate had emotional issues and was paranoid his wife would divorce him but that in no way excuses him of the act he carried out.

'I regard this offence as being at the high end of the scale of seriousness, ' she said, according to Adelaide Now.

'The victim was a vulnerable child, your planning indicated it was premeditated, and it was the most significant abuse of the trust placed in parent.'

Mate was sentenced to 14 years behind bars for attempted murder.

He will be eligible to be considered for parole in July 2029.

Mate being rushed to hospital after the gas attack

The court heard leading up to the attempted murder, Mate's marriage was 'falling apart' and he had become both verbally and physically abusive.

In a submission to the court in June, the ABC reported prosecutors claimed the 'premeditated' attack was an act of 'spite' against his now ex-wife.

Prosecutor Kos Lesses said the girl was lucky to survive and referred to Mate's callous question about asking if his daughter died.

'That comment has relevance in refuting [a previous] suggestion that he did not have recall of the offence incident,' Mr Lesses said.

'This was planned, premeditated, with spite and an element of vindictiveness.'

Defence lawyer Marie Shaw in June said Mate 'deeply regretted' his actions and hoped he could one day regain the trust of his daughter who 'he loved'.
An angry Q&A audience member has slammed Australia for suggesting China is a major security threat despite its aggressive behaviour towards Taiwan and its cyber sabotage.

Li Shee Su, a semi-retired IT executive, suggested concern about the Chinese Communist Party's behaviour was misplaced because the U.S. had been more militarily assertive since the 1960s.

'Why do we persist in labelling China as our major security threat when history strongly suggests otherwise?' he asked on ABC's current affairs panel program.

Mr Li argued the United States had orchestrated conflicts, citing the Vietnam and Iraq wars, as China is criticised for ignoring international law and militarising islands in the South China Sea.

'The evidence shows that it is the US and its allies that have waged unceasing and sometimes unjustified wars,' he said.

Scroll down for video

Li Shee Su, a semi-retired IT executive, suggested concern about the Chinese Communist Party's behaviour was misplaced because the U.S. had been more militarily assertive since the 1960s

'So, who is the real threat to our security?'

Liberal Party senator and Opposition frontbencher James Paterson hit back.

'The reason why the Chinese Communist Party is labelled as the biggest national security threat to Australia is because they are,' he said to applause.

Senator Paterson, who holds the cyber security and countering foreign interference portfolios for the federal Opposition, said China was constantly trying to sabotage Australia's key internet infrastructure.

'Right now, today, we are under near constant attack in the cyber realm from the Chinese Communist Party, whether it's the government, or our critical infrastructure,' he said.

'Over the last five years, we have suffered record levels of foreign interference and espionage and the Chinese government is the primary culprit of that.

'Right now, the Chinese government is acquiring military capability at the fastest pace of any nation in the world since World War II.'

Liberal Party senator and Opposition frontbencher James Paterson hit back at the audience member, pointing out China was constantly trying to sabotage Australia's key internet infrastructure

Mr Li cited former U.S. president Jimmy Carter's 2019 assertion the United States was the 'most warlike nation in the history of the world' that imposed American values on other countries.

His downplaying of China's aggressive stance in Asia occurred two days after its Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian coldly stated Taiwan's 23million residents did not deserve the right to decide its future as a democratic island and there was 'no room for compromise'.

'The future of Taiwan will be decided by 1.4billion Chinese people,' he said.

While Australia has maintained a nuanced one-China policy since 1972, it does not recognise China's claim that it should run the affairs of Taiwan, a liberal and democratic island that produces a large portion of the world's computer chips.

China's Communist Party has not ruled over Taiwan since it came to power in 1949 but President Xi Jinping has hinted he wants to reunify Taiwan with China by 2027, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.

Since 1895, China has only ruled Taiwan from 1945 to 1949.

Mr Li's downplaying of China's aggressive stance in Asia occurred two days after its Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian (pictured) coldly stated Taiwan's 23million residents did not deserve the right to decide its future as a democratic island

Nationalist Chiang Kai-shek and his forces fled to Taiwan after they were defeated by the Communists in a civil war.

China last week intimidated Taiwan with military exercises after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the capital, Taipei.

This made her the first Speaker to visit Taiwan since her Republican predecessor Newt Gingrich went there in 1997.

China is Australia's biggest trading partner and the biggest buyer of iron ore exports used to make steel.
Police probing Harmony Montgomery's disappearance today stated that she was killed in December 2019, claiming fresh 'biological' evidence but refusing to clarify what it is.

Harmony was five years old when her mother last saw her alive in New Hampshire in 2019. The small child's brief existence was plagued by claims of abuse, neglect, and being moved in and out of social services care.

Missing Harmony Montgomery Declared Murder Case

She had been missing for over two years by the time authorities became engaged in the inquiry into her disappearance in September 2021.

At a news conference on Thursday, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella stated that the investigation was no longer focused on her disappearance, but rather on locating the person who killed her. The police have refused to explain the nature of their fresh evidence. They have yet to find the child's remains.

Authorities stated that they had recently unearthed biological evidence that led to their distinction, but they have not released this material publicly. Harmony's mother, Crystal Sorey, lost custody of her when she was four years old in 2018.

Sorey had a history of substance misuse. The little girl moved home with her father, Adam, but it wasn't long before the Department of Children showed up amid complaints of abuse. In July 2019, she received a blackeye during one of the workers' visits.

She was mysteriously permitted to remain in her father's custody. Months later, in October 2019, a second worker visited the residence and stated that the residents were 'happy.' There were many allegations to child services from persons in her life that she had bruises and red markings on her face in the months before she was last seen alive, Daily Mail reported

Adam Montgomery told detectives that he last saw his daughter around Thanksgiving 2019 and that he delivered her to Sorey, which prosecutors deny. Harmony was reported missing to Manchester police in November 2021 by Sorey, who had suffered from addiction but had been living in sober housing for a while.

Tim Flanagan Jr., Sorey's brother, stated in an interview that he and other family tried to prepare Sorey for the prospect that the kid was dead. Harmony was put in the care of her father, Adam, 32, who had exhibited only occasional interest in the kid, by a Massachusetts juvenile court judge in February 2019. Montgomery acknowledged to shooting a guy in the head during a heroin deal in Haverhill five years before.

According to a state justice representative, the juvenile court judge, Mark Newman, declined to comment on Thursday. She stated that the trial court expresses its great grief over this terrible occurrence.

Read Also: US Police Crisis: Top Official Raises Alarm as More Policemen Quit Their Jobs

Harmony Montgomery's Mom Begs For Details About Her Death

Harmony endured turmoil at home and failures by government agencies that were engaged in her care throughout her brief life. When she was two months old, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families took her in because child welfare professionals were concerned about Sorey's struggle with drug use disorder. In accordance with advocate's report, Adam Montgomery was jailed when Harmony was born and first met her during a supervised visit at the prison when she was 6 months old.

According to the report, between August 2014 and January 2018, DCF withdrew Harmony from Sorey's care three times and put her in the hands of foster parents. Adam Montgomery has been incarcerated since January on felony second-degree assault charges against Harmony, interference with custody, and endangering the welfare of a child. He has entered a not-guilty plea.

Kayla, his former wife, has pleaded not guilty to lying to a grand jury investigating the girl's abduction and receiving welfare payments after Harmony moved out, according to Boston Globe via MSN. Crystal Sorey responded to Thursday's update on Harmony's disappearance with a video in which she pleads for information on her daughter's death.

The specifics of who reported Harmony's case to authorities are unknown, and the timing of events remains a mystery. According to a statement from Mayor Joyce Craig's office to WMUR News 9, the mayor's office got an email about Harmony in December 2021.

The specifics of the email are unclear, but the publication claims it was "mainly discussing concerns with follow-up" from the Division for Children, Youth, and Families. The identity of the sender of the email is unknown, as per The Sun.

Related Article: Indiana Toddler, 4, Fatally Struck by Car While Wandering Alone Onto Highway While Parents Are Asleep

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Hero grandmother Dina Puc sacrificed herself to save her toddler granddaughter from being savaged by the family's pet dogs

A hero grandma saved her toddler granddaughter from being savaged by the family's own pet dogs - which apparently 'don't like children'.

The two dogs turned on the little girl as they were being fed in the backyard of her grandparents' home in Springwater Place, Algester, in Brisbane's south around 7pm on Thursday.

As the bull mastiffs ripped at the child's face, horrified Dina Puc, 63, threw herself between the dogs and the youngster - but they then launched their attack on her.

Ms Puc is now said to be in a critical condition and going in for further surgery after medics battled to save her life on Friday.

The toddler, aged about three, suffered serious face, neck and chest wounds and required extensive stitches.

'The dogs don't really like kids,' shattered grandfather Robert Puc admitted to Daily Mail Australia on Friday.

The toddler, aged about three who Daily Mail Australia has elected not to name, suffered serious face, neck and chest wounds needing extensive stitches

'They were my own dogs.

'The last couple of weeks, my granddaughter has been with me when I've been feeding them but last night one of the dogs got on her and just attacked her.

'My wife jumped out and just covered her, lying on top of her whole body to protect her from the dogs, but they just latched onto her instead.'

He added: 'They know my wife of course but they couldn't really see in the dark - it's not great light there.

'When she was facedown, the dogs had got no idea who she was.'

A neighbour reported seeing the family walking two 'very big dogs' she believed were bull mastiffs (pictured) and which came up to waist-high

A neighbour who tried to intervene was also injured when he fell from a wall as he threw sticks and wood at the dogs to get them to stop.

Mr Puc revealed how he then battled to try to drag the dogs off and save his wife and granddaughter from the blood-crazed attack - but they were too strong for him.

'I was out there pulling at them,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'But they were too powerful. It was horrific.

'My wife saved my granddaughter. She's going to be okay - she's going to need some stitches.

'But my wife is not in a good way. It's very serious. She just went into surgery again today.'

Two dogs turned on the little girl as they were being fed in the backyard of her grandparents' home in Springwater Place, Algester, in Brisbane's south around 7pm

The incident was not reported to police but Queensland Ambulance Service said critical care paramedics treated the injured in the wake of the attack.

'A female toddler was transported to the Queensland Childrens Hospital in a serious condition with chest, neck and facial injuries,' said a spokesman.

'A female in her 60s was transported to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a serious but stable condition with a significant head injury and neck pain.

'A critical care paramedic and an officer from the High Acuity Response Unit were onboard for transport.'

They added: 'A male in his 60s was transported to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a stable condition with back pain after he fell 1.5m from a retaining wall.

'This patient did not sustain any dog bites.'

On overhead view showing the backyard of the Puc property (centre) where the savage dog attack took place

The dogs have since been captured by Brisbane City Council rangers and are now impounded pending a decision on their future.

Their breed is not yet known, but a neighbour reported seeing the family walking two 'very big dogs' she believed were mastiffs and which came up to their owner's waist.

A spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'Council attended an address in Algester on Thursday evening and seized two dogs from a private property.

'Animal attacks are taken incredibly seriously and these animals are at councils animal centre while investigations into this incident continue.'
A grumpy kangaroo has taken out its anger on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, attacking the embassy's front gate in Canberra.

Footage of the attack was posted to Twitter on Friday showing the kangaroo trying to make its way through the gate of the embassy in Australia's capital.

It was captioned, 'Apparently a kangaroo attacked the gates of the Russian embassy in Australia. I guess now we know where kangaroos stand on the war.'

The kangaroo tried to make its through the front gate of the Russian Embassy in Australia (pictured), which is located in Canberra ACT

After multiple unsuccessful attempts, the kangaroo decided to give up and was then seen hoping away along the footpath.

The video was met by a significant reaction from members of the public, including one man who said: 'You've got it wrong. Kangaroo was trying to defect. Drunk Russian embassy staff didn't let it in.'

'They'd jump at the chance to help Ukraine,' another commented.

A third said: 'Russia will roo the day they invaded Ukraine.'

The video was met by a significant reaction from members of the public, including one man who said: 'You've got it wrong. Kangaroo (pictured) was trying to defect. Drunk Russian embassy staff didn't let it in'

'This is just the beginning, wait until the emus arrive,' a fourth added.

This isn't the first time the embassy has been smashed by Australians.

The pub across the road from the embassy, the Kingston Hotel, recently erected a massive Ukrainian flag to the top of its roof.

The pub hoisted the flag as a way of showing support for Ukraine, following months of attacks from Russia.

Vladimir Putin (pictured) declaring war on Ukraine, in what he termed a 'special military operation'

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine back in February, with the communist nation bombarding the nation with attacks in the past six months as it attempts to claw back territory and stop Ukraine from joining NATO, a Western defence alliance.

Russia has seized up to a third of Ukraine however the invaded nation is fighting back.

At its bloodiest period, more than 100 Ukrainian soliders were dying every day as Russia ramped up its attacks in the Donbas region.

The fighting continues with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continuing to appeal for weapons and money from Western nations.
A heartbroken politician has paid tribute after losing her young son in a motorbike crash while he was on holidays with friends in Greece.

Harry 'Digger' Lambley, 23, was travelling around the Greek Islands on a trip with his friends from Alice Springs when the accident occurred on Wednesday.

His mother, who is the independent member for Araluen, Robyn Lambley, remembered him as someone who brought 'fun and joy to the world'.

It is understood another man from Alice Springs was injured in the crash.

Harry 'Digger' Lambley (pictured) , 23, was holidaying with friends from Alice Springs when the accident occurred on Wednesday

Independent member for Araluen Robyn Lambley (pictured) says her son will be remembered as someone who 'brought fun and joy to the world'

Mrs Lambley, the independent member for Araluen, learnt of the tragedy Wednesday afternoon and told NT News, 'Harry Digger Lambley brought fun and joy to the world.'

'Territory born and bred, Harry lived and loved in his short 23 years. He will be sadly missed by his family and his many friends,' Ms Lambley said.

Country Liberal Party Senator Jacinta Price also took to social media to express her condolences for the family.

'I offer my deepest condolences to Northern Territory MLA Robyn Lambley for the tragic loss of your boy Harry,' she wrote.

'Our boys went through school together and I cannot imagine the heartbreak you and your family are living.'

It is unclear if Ms Lambley will take a break from her parliamentary position.

Earlier this week she was campaigning for the Country Liberal Party ahead of the upcoming Fannie Bay bi-election.
Intentionally waving a Nazi flag in NSW or displaying memorabilia bearing swastikas can land a person in jail for up to a year, along with a fine of $11,000.

The Crimes Amendment (Prohibition on display of Nazi symbols) Bill 2022 swiftly passed in the upper house on Thursday with unanimous support.

It comes after an inquiry earlier this year recommended a ban on the public display of Nazi symbols in a bid to tackle rising anti-Semitism.

NSW becomes the second state in Australia to pass the landmark legislation after Victoria in June.

The ban on displaying symbols such as this comes after an inquiry earlier this year recommended a ban to tackle rising anti-Semitism

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark described the passing of the law as a historic day for NSW.

'Nazi symbols are a gateway to violence and are used as a recruitment tool by extremists,' he said.

'Banning their display is a long-overdue and much-needed law in our state. The perpetrators will finally be held to account'.

The Holocaust is the genocide perpetrated by the Nazi regime in Germany that killed some six million Jews and other minority groups including homosexuals, Black people and Roma people during World War II.

NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman said the passing of the bill marks a significant moment in the state's repudiation of hateful ideology.

'This new offence sends a clear message that the display of Nazi symbols, and the hatred and bigotry they represent will not, and should not, be tolerated,' he said.

'This new criminal offence will provide important, additional safeguards against hate speech and vilification in our state.'

A section in the bill allows for the swastika symbol to be used in academic, historical or educational settings, thereby paving the way for its display by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains in which it holds religious significance.

'For too long, the Hindu community has not felt comfortable to display our symbol of peace because it resembled a symbol of evil. This is no longer,' said Hindu Council of Australia national vice-president Surinder Jain.

NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman (pictured) earlier said the swastika distressed community members and was 'unacceptable in our community'

Mr Bark noted the legislation is also 'a game-changer in tackling online hate' and called on tech companies to ramp up efforts to remove imagery and symbols associated with Nazism.

Labor's Walt Secord, a member of the parliamentary committee examining the ban of Nazi symbols and an ardent advocate for the bill, said 31 incidents of displaying the Nazi flag were reported to the police in 2020.

Many members from the government and opposition in the upper house recounted personal stories of their families' lived experiences enduring the Holocaust while others warned of the dangers of rising neo-Nazi trends.

On Thursday, Mr Secord referred to a NSW man arrested by counter-terrorism police in September found to be in possession of a Nazi flag and a map of the state on his bedroom wall with plans to make a 3D-printed gun.

ASIO said in 2020 that far-right violent extremism with its emphasis on neo-Nazi ideology makes up around 40 per cent of its counter-terrorism caseload.
McDonald's is facing a $250million wage theft claim after a union representing staff alleged they were being denied their entitled paid breaks.

This week, The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) lodged documents with the Federal Court seeking compensation for 250,000 current and former workers of the fast food giant.

Staff are entitled to a paid ten-minute break if they work four hours or more, and two breaks if they work more than nine hours.

But the SDA allege staff at hundreds of McDonald's restaurants around Australia weren't being given their designated breaks.

McDonald's is facing a $250million wage theft claim after a union representing staff alleged they were being denied their entitled paid breaks

The union claims staff weren't told about their entitlements and were told if they wanted their paid break, they couldn't stop work to get a drink or to go to the bathroom.

Others were allegedly told they could have a free soft drink instead of their break.

SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer said the claim would send a message that 'systematic exploitation' of young staff wouldn't be tolerated.

'Across their restaurants, McDonald's demands consistency. They make sure each restaurant can put two beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun,' he said.

'It's simply not believable that these breaks weren't denied on purpose.'

If the claim is successful, it would be one of the biggest of its kind in Australia.

Secretary of the South Australian SDA Branch, Josh Peak, said young staff needed to be protected.

'It is really outrageous behaviour to be tricking young people into thinking they are not entitled to go the toilet if they utilised their paid entitlements,' he told ABC Radio Adelaide Breakfast.

'Workers never got their paid 10-minute rest break and when workers did ask for it, they were told ''we don't do that here because you can go the toilet whenever you like'', which is completely ludicrous.'

One worker Isabelle, who was hired at a McDonald's in Adelaide's CBD, said in the five years she worked there she was never given a paid drink break.

Instead, she said she could take drinks breaks throughout her shift, but added they were only less than a minute long, and she had to return to work immediately.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) this week lodged documents with the Federal Court seeking compensation for 250,000 current and former workers of the fast food giant

'I'd spoken to my bosses about it, and they just told us that we didn't get them, they chose to do something different, and that it was legal, it was all fine,' she said.

She added that often managers would be 'angry' with staff if they asked to go to the bathroom or to have a drink.

'I remembered thinking, what do I need more? Do I need a drink more or do I need to go to the bathroom more  and then you just pick from there,' she said.

McDonald's has denied the allegations and intends to fight the claim.

'McDonald's believes its restaurants complied with applicable instruments, provided rest breaks to employees and were consistent with historic working arrangements,' a spokesperson said.

'Those arrangements have been known to the SDA for many years. The manner of taking breaks has not been challenged or raised by the SDA as a matter of concern throughout successive enterprise bargaining processes for new industrial agreements.

'We are very mindful of our obligations under applicable employment laws, including the former enterprise agreement and the Fast Food Industry Award, and continue to work closely with our restaurants to ensure employees receive all correct workplace entitlements and pay.

'We value our employees highly and the great contribution they make to the success of the business.'
A nine-year-old schoolgirl is 'extremely lucky' after suffering a serious head injury when she was hit by a car outside a school - almost in the same place where a 12-year-old boy was hit several years ago.

Emergency services were called to the intersection of Augusta Boulevard and Dixon Dr in Pimpama, on the Gold Coast, just after 8.20am on Friday, following reports a young girl had been struck by a car.

The accident happened near Pimpama State Secondary College and Pimpama State Primary College.

A nine-year-old schoolgirl has been rushed to hospital with a serious head injury after she was hit by a car while attempting to cross the road

Paramedics treated the nine-year-old for a head injury before rushing her to Gold Coast University Hospital.

Queensland Ambulance Service Operations Supervisor Jayney Shearman said the girl had initially lost consciousness.

'Initially there was a period where the girl lost consciousness, but she did regain that and she actually improved significantly during the time that we were with her,' Ms Shearman told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

'The head injury was a closed head injury and as a result of that incident there was some internal bleeding.

'... She was transported with a High Acuity Response Officer and a critical care paramedic on board.'

Ms Shearman explained the girl is 'extremely lucky' and is doing 'exceptionally well' despite suffering an extensive head injury.

The girl is in hospital where doctors will monitor her condition and provide further treatment if required.

The girl is in a serious but stable condition.

Police said the accident happened when the girl was attempting to cross the road with the car involved remaining at the scene.

A police investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Queensland emergency services were called to the intersection of Augusta Boulevard and Dixon Dr, near Pimpama State Primary College (pictured) following reports a young girl had been hit by a car

In 2018, a 12-year-old boy was struck by a car just around the corner and broke his leg in two places.

Pimpama State Primary College student Riley Haydon broke two bones in his leg when he was runover by a slow moving car just metres from his school.

Road safety attendants and a zebra crossing was approved by the state-government for the dangerous roads.

Outraged parents had been fighting the state-government for the installation of pedestrian crossings around Pimpama schools after two similar incidents occurred earlier in 2018.
The granddaughter of the Walt Disney Company's co-founder has accused the company of turning a blind eye to Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct, as the disgraced mogul's youngest accuser press forward in her lawsuit naming Disney.

Outspoken heiress Abigail Disney claimed in an interview with Rolling Stone that 'Harvey was an open secret' when Disney owned Weinstein's Miramax studio from 1993 to 2010.

Abigail Disney spoke out in connection with a lengthy profile of Kaja Sokola, who was just 16 in September 2002, when she says Weinstein sexually assaulted her in his New York apartment.

Sokola has one of the last pending misconduct lawsuits against Weinstein, which she filed in 2019 -- and which also accuses Disney of failing to investigate or stop Weinstein.

Kaja Sokola was just 16 in September 2002, when she says Weinstein sexually assaulted her in his New York apartment

Outspoken heiress Abigail Disney claimed in an interview with Rolling Stone that 'Harvey was an open secret' when Disney owned Weinstein's Miramax studio

Abigail Disney, who owes her fortune to the company her grandfather founded, but has frequently spoken out slamming it in the past, did not hold back in her latest remarks.

'I mean, it wasn't even a secret. Everyone knew what Harvey was about, and that was just fine as long as everybody saw it as, 'Well, this is just how business is done,'' she told Rolling Stone.

'Nobody had the moral clarity to step up and say, 'Well, not here. We don't do it that way here.' I think Disney needs to step up.

'When you've done a wrong thing, even if it's only by stepping back and letting something happen, that's still a wrong thing to do. And you have to take responsibility,' the heiress added.

Sokola's lawsuit also takes direct aim at Disney, alleging: 'During the time Disney owned Miramax, Miramax paid settlements to multiple women who were victims of Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment and abuse.'

'Based on Disney's control of Miramax finances, Disney knew or should have known of these payments, which should have caused additional inquiry and investigation,' the lawsuit states.

Sokola's suit is one of the few still pending against Weinstein. Most of the suits against Weinstein were settled together in 2019 bankruptcy proceedings

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.

The company emerged from the Weinstein saga virtually unscathed, despite its longtime association with the movie mogul.

But Sokol says she hopes to hold Weinstein as well as his alleged enablers accountable with her suit.

'Nobody's untouchable right now,' she said, adding of those close to Weinstein: 'I would ask, 'Was it worth it?' Because there's no shadow of doubt in me that they knew.'

'I am very curious if Harvey looks in the mirror and he still thinks, 'All these b***hes,' or if he has any kind of reconciliation of what he has done.'

Sokola's suit is one of the few still pending against Weinstein. Most of the suits against Weinstein were settled together in 2019 bankruptcy proceedings.

But Sokola opted to split her claim off separately under a New York law that offered a temporary window to sue over child sexual abuse claims, even if the statute of limitation had expired.

Sokola, now 35 and working as a psychologist in Poland, says she met Weinstein when she came to New York as a child model, living away from her parents for the first time.

Kaja Sokola is seen in New York in 2010. She is now 35 and working as a psychologist in Poland

She was 16, and he was 50, when she says she met him at an event hosted by her agency, NEXT Model Management.

'People at the event said, 'This is the king of Hollywood, and he can make everything happen,' Sokola recalled to Rolling Stone. 'He said, 'If you want to be an actress, I can see you have potential and I would like to meet with you for lunch and discuss it.'

'Of course, I've heard, 'Do not go out for dinners. People can put all sorts of drugs in your drinks.' But a lunch seemed safe,' she said.

As alleged in her lawsuit, Weinstein's driver picked her up a few days later and dropped the two of them off at his SoHo apartment.

In the apartment, the suit claims that Weinstein forced her to remove her clothes while he 'grabbed at her breasts' before ejaculating on the floor.

Afterwards, she says he blocked her from trying to leave his home then threatened her career.

'Harvey Weinstein made clear that refusing his sexual demands would mean giving up the opportunity to make it in Hollywood,' the lawsuit claims.

For years, Weinstein's attorneys have vigorously denied Sokol's allegations, including in statements to DailyMail.com calling them 'preposterous' and 'patently false.'

Weinstein's current representatives told Rolling Stone that Weinstein did not even buy the SoHo apartment described in the complaint until 2005, three years after the alleged attack.

Attorney Imran H. Ansari told the outlet that 'a timeline of events, corroborated by other evidence, including witness testimony, will refute Ms. Sokola's allegations of sexual abuse as a minor, that were statutorily required to be alleged in her complaint in order to sue Mr. Weinstein under the Child Victims Act and not be time-barred due to the passing of the statute of limitations.'

In charges that stemmed from separate allegations, a New York jury found Weinstein guilty in 2020 of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual act in the first degree.

Weinstein, now 70, is serving a 23-year prison sentence in that case. He is currently being held in Los Angeles awaiting trial on additional charges.

Weinstein faces 11 felony charges in California over alleged assaults on five women, which he denies. His trial there has been set for October.

In June, he was also charged in Britain with the 1996 indecent assault of a woman in London.

It's unclear whether that case will ever come to trial, as UK officials would have to decide whether to seek his extradition while he is already serving a lengthy sentence in the US.

In total, nearly 90 women including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek have accused Weinstein of harassment or assault.
A long, hard-fought battle for privacy when nature calls at a busy truck pitstop has taken another bizarre twist.

Truckie advocate Wes Walker has spent the last 14 months campaigning for toilet facilities to be installed at the Gatton Heavy Vehicle Decoupling Facility west of Brisbane.

He brought along his own porcelain throne, which he sat on in full view of passing motorists along the Warrego Highway, as part of a dramatic protest which attracted widespread support.

Mr Walker thought he'd finally won the ongoing saga when two portable toilets mysteriously turned up at the $18 million facility, only for Queensland's Department of Main Roads and Transport to demand the unauthorised toilets be removed and threatening to fine the company responsible.

The government has since backflipped and allowed the portaloos to remain short term, much to the relief of hundreds of drivers who use the facility to drop off heavy loads before continuing their journeys.

Mr Walker has vowed to personally clean the toilets every day at his own expense in the hope the toilets will remain a permanent fixture.

Wes Walker (pictured) has expressed his relief toilets will remain at Gatton Heavy Vehicle Decoupling Facility... for now

'It should be a human right to have bathroom or toilet facilities here,' the disability pensioner told Seven News.

'When mother natures calls, especially with older people, you do need to go to the bathroom.

'I will clean the toilets every morning because that's what these people deserve. I'm only saying what they say.'

Fellow drivers are just as relieved.

'It's better than doing it on the grass or out in the paddock,' one man added.

Mr Walker denied being responsible for the portaloos turning up earlier this month

'What do we have to do to get permission? It was costing them (TMR) nothing,' he told Big Rigs National Road Transport Newspaper before the government backflip.

'What do I have to do? I've tried hard and hard. Bless their hearts who did do it.

'People who carry this country are treated like second-class citizens. It has to stop.'

Wes Walker spent 14 months campaigning for toilets at the facility west of Brisbane by bringing along his own porcelain throne to make a point

The Queensland government hailed the Gatton Heavy Vehicle Decoupling facility as a boost for the freight and heavy vehicle industries at its grand unveiling last May.

The facility was designed to make it easier and more efficient for drivers to break down and reconfigure their trucks before continuing over the Toowoomba Range or into Brisbane.

But the state government faced a massive spray from drivers after forgetting to install toilets at the site.

The department argued it didn't want the facility to be also used as a rest area and drivers could use the bathroom facilities at the BP service station down the road.

It also installed CCTV to fine drivers caught leaving waste behind or relieving themselves onsite.

The two portable toilets will stay for now after a backflip from the Queensland government, thanks to the persistence of Wes Walker (pictured with the facilities)

'Well can I say it gives me the s***s,' Mr Walker told A Current Affair a year ago.

'I'll be honest I've teared up a bit  I'm an emotional man, this is wrong. They [truckies] are the lifeline of the country.'

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Queensland roads minister Mark Bailey confirmed the portable toilets will return.

'We know how important it is to the freight industry that heavy vehicle rest areas and decoupling pads are safe and fit for purpose,' he said.

I have spoken with Senator Glenn Sterle and received an update on conditions at the Gatton decoupling area, highlighting the need for toilet facilities on site.

'Im committed to working with Senator Sterle, Transport and Main Roads and the heavy vehicle industry to find a permanent solution at the site, and have commenced discussions with my department on how best to do this.

'In the interim, portable toilets will be returned to the area.

The Gatton Heavy Vehicle Decoupling facility is used by hundreds of truck drivers to drop off their heavy loads before continuing their journeys

The National Road Freighters Association Inc hailed Mr Walker as a legend on the behalf of the trucking industry.

'On behalf of the NRFA, including the transport industry as a whole, we would like to say thank you to Wes Walker for all of his efforts at highlighting the lack of toilet facilities at the Gatton Pad,' it wrote on Facebook.

Your passion and 'never say die' approach got the attention of the right people and finally common sense prevailed.

'Thank you Wes. You're a legend.'

However, there could be another twist with the saga far from over.

University of Queensland runs agriculture programs and a research station on surrounding land it owns nearby.

It has expressed concerns about the biosecurity risk posed by human waste and litter from the toilets.

'Designs for any future toilet facilities at the site will need to take a number of factors into consideration, including the proximity of the area to the University of Queensland Agricultural Research Station,' roads minister Mr Bailey added.
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Anne Heche has been officially declared brain dead and will be taken off life support after suffering a brain injury in a fiery Los Angeles car crash last week, her friends and family have said.

The actress, 53, who is in a coma and in critical condition, will stay on a ventilator to determine whether any of her remaining organs are viable to be donated, per Heche's wishes.

Heche, who's been hospitalized at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital north of Los Angeles, suffered a 'severe anoxic brain injury' in the August 5 crash, according to a statement released Thursday night on behalf of her family and friends. Such an injury is caused by a sustained lack of oxygen to the brain.

A representative for her loved ones said: 'We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne's recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital.'

'Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive.'

They added that it had 'long been her choice' to be an organ donor, so she will be kept on life support until medics are able to confirm whether she has any viable organs to donate.

Actress Anne Heche (pictured being wheeled into an ambulance after the crash) has been intubated in a critical condition after crashing her Mini Clubman into a garage before speeding off and smashing it into a home where it exploded

An interior shot shows the Mini Clubman's airbag had blown out along with most of the decor being burnt through following the crash

A photo before the August 5 crash shows Heche moments before the second accident at the wheel with a bottle of vodka in the cup holder

Anne Heche's family statement in full 'Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive. It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she's being kept on life support to determine if any are viable. We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne's recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital. Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life's work  especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light.' Advertisement

The statement, first reported by People.com, continued: 'Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life's work - especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light.'

The actress, 53, was last reported still in a coma fighting for her life in the 'worst state you can imagine' after crashing her car into a house at 90mph while 'high on cocaine' last Friday.

On Tuesday, Heche spokesperson Heather Duffy Boylston said Heche was suffering from burns that required surgery and lung injuries that required the use of a ventilator to breathe.

Detectives with a search warrant took a sample of Heche's blood and found narcotics -cocaine and fentanyl - in her system, LAPD spokesman Officer Jeff Lee said.

Officials confirmed she hadn't been drinking alcohol, despite being pictured with a vodka bottle in her cupholder.

A close friend of the actress told DailyMail.com: 'She is in a terrible condition. The smoke inhalation is life threatening. It will be a miracle if she recovers from this and comes out of this coma.'

The actress lost control of her car as it careened into a home and ignited a fire that badly burned her, leaving her in 'extreme critical condition,' her rep said.

It took 59 firefighters 65 minutes to 'access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames' that were caused by Heche's crash.

'She will be in a coma for a long time and there are fears she could die because her lungs don't work on their own,' an anonymous source told DailyMail.com.

The 53-year-old suffered horrific burns during the collision and was recorded being dragged out of the mangled wreck by firefighters after it burst into flames in Los Angeles around 11 a.m. on August 5. Pictured: Heche's wrecked mini is towed away from the crash site

Heche was filmed being saved from the horrific scene by firefighters, wrapped up in a white towel to presumably prevent infections to her severe burns, before ripping the towels off her as they loaded her into the ambulance.

LAPD are treating the horrific crash as a potential felony, due to the injuries inflicted on the woman inside the home, Lynne Mishele, and sources told TMZ that the actress was under the influence of cocaine.

It's unclear what the extent of Mishele's injuries are.

Heche 'has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention,' according to her rep. 'She is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident.'

Heche can be seen being removed from the scene on a stretcher and taken toward a waiting ambulance

Pictured: Heche's mini is seen before the crash, which has left her in a critical condition

According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the crash caused 'structural compromise and erupting in heavy fire'

Heche's blue Mini Clubman is shown on a doorbell camera speeding past a home along South Walgrove Avenue in the Mar Vista neighborhood around 90 miles per hour

Mishele can been seen trying to salvage what she could after the fire was put out

Anne Heche's Lifetime movie still set to premiere next month as the actress remains in extreme critical condition Anne Heche's upcoming Lifetime movie, Girl in Room 13, is still scheduled to air next month as she remains in a coma after her fiery car crash in Los Angeles last Friday. Following news that the 53-year-old actress' rep told People that she 'is not expected to survive' after sustaining a catastrophic brain injury from, Lifetimes executive VP and head of programming Amy Winter shared an update about Heche's film. 'As many of you know, Anne remains in critical condition and all of us here at Lifetime are deeply concerned for her and everyone affected,' she said at the TCA press tour. 'This project is important to Anne, along with each and every one of us.' Winter continued: 'We all sought to make a film that would bring attention to this appalling issue of human sex trafficking.' Elisabeth Rohm, who served as the director of Girl in Room 13, told ET that she and 'everybody' at Lifetime 'is devastated' and 'praying for her and the victims of this horrible tragedy.' 'I know that Anne really was passionate about this film. She gave it everything that she had, she brought a phenomenal performance and force to this project and she was really committed to stopping violence against women. We wish she was here with us, and all I can say is that were just praying for her recovery,' Rohm concluded. Advertisement

Heche is being treated at the Grossman Burn Unit - founded by the father of Dr. Peter Grossman, according to Showbiz411.

His wife, Rebecca Grossman, has been accused of killing two brothers, aged 11 and 8, as they crossed a street with their parents on a marked crosswalk. She has pleaded not guilty.

Earlier on Monday, newly released footage saw the moments before the crash in which Heche almost mowed down a woman.

She was recorded speeding down an alleyway and narrowly missing the pedestrian as she walked along the sidewalk in the Mar Vista area of the city.

The woman, who has not been identified, whipped around in astonishment as the blue Mini Clubman raced past just before 11 a.m. on Friday.

It comes as police insiders revealed Heche, who was intubated with horrific burns after the terrifying crash, is set to be investigated over the 90mph smash.

A picture taken by a witness before the crash showed her in her blue Mini Clubman with a bottle with a red top on it looking glassy eyed.

Meanwhile new images showed the moment the shocked homeowner watched her 'entire lifetime of possessions' go up in flames during the horror collision on Friday morning.

Lynne Mishele was photographed looking on in disbelief as her life's work erupted in a fireball after the actress tore through it at breakneck speed.

She was seen on the sidewalk outside with her hands in her pockets looking gobsmacked as 59 firefighters battled the huge blaze that took over an hour to put out.

Heche first crashed her Mini on a garage block, before racing away, plowing through a hedge and ending up fully submerged in Mishele's home on 1766 South Walgrove Avenue.

Footage also shows Heche's blue Mini Clubman racing down a narrow alleyway at breakneck speed before the fiery crash at Mishele's house.

She did not immediately brake despite a woman being seen walking across the exit on to the main road, with the actress only at the last minute tapping the pedal.

The five-second clip came to an end as the staggered pedestrian turns around to look at the car as it tears off into the distance.

Homeowner Lynne Mishele, seen in the maroon, stands across the street from her home looking dazed and confused after actress Anne Heche slammed a Mini into the side of her house and triggered a large fire

Firefighters pick their way through the charred debris of Lynne Mishele's house after successfully extinguishing the blaze

Firefighters enter the property as large clouds of smoke billow from the scene of the high speed crash

Devastation is seen at Lynne's house after actress Anne Heche plowed 30ft into the property driving a Mini at high speed

Mishele can be seen, left, as she surveys the damage to her home

Mishele can be seen outside of her wrecked home in the minutes following the crash - Heche's Mini still on the right, waiting to be removed

The insiders said they had a warrant to draw her blood because they believe she was intoxicated but it could take weeks to get the results.

They said the minimum the actress could face is hit-and-run charges for the garage crash which saw her quickly take off despite being filmed by shocked witnesses.

Before the crash, a slurring Heche joked on a podcast about drinking vodka with wine chasers - claiming at the time that she was having a 'very bad day.'

The actress, 53, was recorded speeding down an alleyway and narrowly missing the pedestrian as she walked down the sidewalk in Mar Vista

This is the shocking moment Anne Heche almost mowed down a woman before she plowed through a house and her car exploded in Los Angeles

Better Together, which she co-hosts, aired just hours before she crashed her car into the house. She and co-host Heather Duffy say Refined - a vodka distillery which sponsored one of their shows - gave them free alcohol.

'We each have a bottle in front of us because our friends sent us a bottle of Refined and I think we even did a bad commercial for them in the beginning of our days.

'Dr. Rahm said that we should be drinking vodka instead of wine,' Duffy says, to which Heche adds, 'and we listened, and we are drinking it.'

Duffy then reveals they are using wine to chase down the vodka, before Heche reveals: 'Today's been a very unique day.

'I don't know what happened, sometimes days just suck and I don't know if you ever have them [but] some days, those no good, very bad days, and some days days just end up like this.

'Sometimes days just suck and I don't know if you ever have them, but you know some days, Mama says just gonna be like this,' she continues. 'Some days there's those no good, very bad days.

'And I don't know why some days just end up like this, and things don't really rock me like that.'

She later revealed how she has had a tough week, explaining how people interrupted her meditating at her apartment. It remains unclear if the podcast was recorded on Friday, or if that is just when it aired.

According to TMZ, despite the alleged drinking on the podcast, Anne Heche was not under the influence of alcohol when she crashed the car.
Donald Trump has called for the release of the search warrant in the FBI raid on his Florida resort, following reports that the search was related to classified documents regarding nuclear weapons.

Late on Thursday, Trump said he would not challenge the release of the warrant, after Attorney General Merrick Garland said he would petition for the document to be unsealed.

According to Garland, Trump's attorneys do have their own copies of both the warrant and the receipt for items seized in Monday's raid -- documents that are routinely provided to the target of a court-approved search.

If Trump does have the warrant and receipt as Garland says, it's unclear why he would not simply publish them himself, which he has a right to do.

Trump announced his stance in a post on his Truth Social network. 'Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the un American, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents,' he wrote.

Trump added that he encouraged the warrant's release even though it was 'drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and vested interest in attacking me.'

The statement came well ahead of the 3pm Friday deadline that Trump's legal team faced if they decided to oppose the DOJ motion to unseal the warrant, and a ruling on the motion could come before the weekend.

Late on Friday, Trump said he would not challenge the release of the warrant that the FBI used to search Mar-a-Lago

Trump has called for the release of the search warrant in the FBI raid on his Florida resort, following reports that the search was related to classified documents regarding nuclear weapons

According to AG Garland, Trump's attorneys do have their own copies of both the warrant and the receipt for items seized in Monday's raid

Earlier Thursday, Garland appeared before cameras to defend the search and reveal that he had approved the operation at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.

Fall-out from the unprecedented search of a former president's residence has dominated the political world ever since Monday and the Justice Department is under increasing pressure to explain its decision.

Garland said he could not reveal further details of what prompted the hunt, but sources told the Washington Post it was to do with nuclear weapons.

But they did not say whether it was to do with the U.S. nuclear program or that of another nation.

Moments before Garland's brief remarks the Justice Department petitioned a judge to unseal the search warrant.

He said the DOJ moved to make the search warrant public 'in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter.'

Garland took no questions but went out of his way to criticize the recent verbal attacks and threats against law enforcement in the wake of the 'raid.'

'Let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,' the Biden official said.

'Men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves.'

His last-minute appearance comes after the former president claimed his home was 'raided' by federal agents who apparently broke a padlocked door and seized documents sought by the National Archives.

'The department does not take such a decision lightly,' Garland explained in an apparent bid to counter accusations of political persecution from Trump's allies.

'Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken.'

Trump was ordered to respond by 3pm on Friday to the DOJ's motion to unseal the warrant.

In his own Thursday statement after Garland's appearance, Trump claimed his lawyers 'were cooperating fully' with the investigation and accused agents of 'getting way ahead of themselves' - but notably made no comment on what he'll do about the warrant.

'My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established. The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it,' Trump posted on his app Truth Social.

'They asked us to put an additional lock on a certain area - DONE! Everything was fine, better than that of most previous Presidents, and then, out of nowhere and with no warning, Mar-a-Lago was raided, at 6:30 in the morning, by VERY large numbers of agents, and even "safecracker." They got way ahead of themselves. Crazy!'

Trump has been fuming since revealing news of the search on Monday night, when he said it meant 'dark times for our nation.'

Garland said Thursday, 'The department did not make any public statements on the day of the search. The former president publicly confirmed the search that evening, as is his right.'

Trump was not in Florida when the FBI conducted its search but rather in New York City

The Justice Department has moved to unseal the search warrant used in the operation, though Trump has time to respond and potentially block its release

His move toward unsealing the warrant comes after Trump's son Eric claimed the FBI refused to give his father's team a copy of it, though the ex-president's lawyer Christina Bobb contradicted that by suggesting the document is in her possession.

There have also been growing calls from Democrats for Trump himself to make the warrant public.

A day after the Mar-a-Lago 'raid,' FBI agents seized the cellphone of Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, one of Trump's top allies in Congress who allegedly aided his efforts to try to steal the 2020 election.

But that seizure was related to another Justice Department investigation of the former president, regarding a 'fake-electors scheme' that he and his allies are accused of promoting to stay in power, according to the Washington Post.

The raid on Trump's home comes months after the National Archives asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into the Republican's handling of classified records.

Attorney General Merrick Garland's full statement on FBI's unannounced search of Mar-a-Lago The Department of Justice will speak through its court filings and its work. Just now, the Justice Department has filed a motion in the Southern District of Florida to unseal a search warrant and property receipt relating to a court approved search that the FBI conducted earlier this week. That search was a premises located in Florida, belonging to the former president. The department did not make any public statements on the day of the search. The former president publicly confirmed the search that evening, as is his right. Copies of both the warrant and the FBI property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former president's counsel, who was on site during the search. The search warrant was authorized by a federal court upon the required finding of probable cause. The property receipt is a document that federal law requires law enforcement agents to leave with the property owner. The Department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter. Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing. All Americans are entitled to the even-handed application of the law, the due process of law, and to the presumption of innocence. Much of our work is, by necessity, conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations. Federal law, longstanding department rules, and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time. There are however, certain points I want you to know. First, I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter. Second, the department does not take such a decision lightly - where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and, to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken. Third, let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. Men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them. This is all I can say right now. More information will be made available in the appropriate way and at the appropriate time. Advertisement

Officials from the Archives flew to Mar-a-Lago in January to retrieve 15 boxes of files that were meant to be handed over when Trump left office. Some have since been confirmed to have been labeled 'classified.'

Garland's Thursday appearance happened on the heels of a bombshell new CNN report that reveals federal authorities took documents from Mar-a-Lago in June and served a grand jury subpoena while on the grounds.

But his days-long silence on the explosive raid has spurred fury among Republicans, some of whom are even calling for him to be impeached.

'No one would have ever imagined before that we would be using or one political party would be using the FBI to attack their political opponents,' Kentucky Senator Rand Paul told Fox News on Wednesday.

'Now, this is really something that's going to require an investigation. And I wouldn't be surprised if the investigation leads to abuse of power that this could even lead to an impeachment of the attorney general.'

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley tweeted that 'Garland must resign or be impeached' at the very least, and that FBI Director Chris Wray should be removed altogether.

Monday's raid was reportedly based on 'witness claims' of classified documents within Mar-a-Lago even despite the January collection and June DOJ visit, CNN reported on Thursday.
Sri Lanka's former Prime Minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa reappeared in Thailand after his Singapore visa expired following the events that led to him being ousted from his country's government.

The former official flew by private jet from Singapore to Thailand on Thursday, said a high-ranking police official with direct knowledge of his movements. The source added that Rajapaksa's jet landed at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport and noted that his stay in Thailand will be treated confidentially.

Rajapaksa in Thailand

In a social media post on Wednesday, Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said that Thailand had received a request from Rajapaksa to enter the country. The official said that as a holder of a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport, Rajapaksa can enter Thailand without a visa for up to 90 days.

However, Sangrat emphasized that the former Sri Lanka prime minister's stay is only temporary and noted that Rajapaksa was not seeking political asylum. The ousted leader previously fled from his home country for the Maldives in July amid mass anti-government protests, before traveling to Singapore where he tendered his resignation, as per CNN.

Residents in Sri Lanka have experienced growing anger for months after the country's foreign exchange reserves plummeted to record lows, with dollars running out to pay for essential imports including food, medicine, and fuel.

Rajapaksa's sudden exit from Sri Lanka last month was a historic moment for the country of roughly 22 million people. His family had ruled with an iron fist for much of the last two decades, before losing the faith of their citizens.

Read Also: Kim Jong Un Declares North Korea's Victory Over COVID-19 with Just 74 Reported Deaths, Blames South for Outbreak

According to Aljazeera, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha added that he was aware of Rajapaksa's intended visit to the country. He noted it was allowed for humanitarian reasons because the former president was seeking asylum in a third country. While he did not elaborate on other things, Chan-Ocha said Rajapaksa will not engage in political activity while in Thailand.

Ousted From Sri Lanka

The former Sri Lanka prime minister has made no public comments regarding his travel plans after fleeing his home country. Residents from Sri Lanka have staged massive street protests for several months demanding democratic reforms and solutions to the nation's economic collapse.

Protesters occupied official offices and residences in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo and blamed mismanagement and corruption by the Rajapaksa family for the economic crisis. The island nation is also negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout program.

On top of criticisms over his management of Sri Lanka's economy, Rajapaksa has also been accused by human rights groups of involvement with war crimes when he was defense secretary during Sri Lanka's civil war, which ended in 2009.

Last month, an international human rights group formally asked Singapore to indict Rajapaksa for crimes against humanity during Sri Lanka's civil war. The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project argued that Singapore should exercise universal jurisdiction to arrest the former prime minister for grave breaches of international humanitarian law.

Sri Lanka's tourism-related economy was badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which also resulted in the slashing of remittances from workers overseas, rising oil prices, populist tax cuts, and a seven-month ban on the import of chemical fertilizers last year, Reuters reported.



Related Article: China Would Destroy 900 US Jet Fighters in Battle for Taiwan as Beijing Concludes Large-Scale Military Drills, Including a Dozen of Missile Firings

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Firefighters are battling a brush fire they believe started at a homeless encampment in southern California.

Footage of the blaze shows large clouds of smoke billowing alongside a busy Los Angeles County freeway Thursday evening.

Although dramatic looking, the fire, which spanned approximately four acres, wasn't a threat to any structures. However, it did shutdown Interstates 605 and 105, causing major traffic jams.

The fire comes as temperatures are on the rise in LA, with some areas forecast to reach triple-digit heat this weekend.

California is also in the peak of its wildfire season, which meteorologists say has grown longer over the years due to dry conditions and above normal temperatures caused by climate change.

Firefighters are battling a brush fire they believe started at a homeless encampment in southern California

Firefighters believe Thursday's inferno broke out in Norwalk along the San Gabriel River, where the two freeways merge, around 6pm local time.

Initial reports indicated the blaze started on the side of the interstate at a possible homeless encampment, county dispatchers told The Los Angeles Times.

At least six fire engines responded to the blaze, which had grown to about four acres by 6.48pm. Crews were seen spraying water on the fire.

Firefighters were met 'tough' challenges as they tried to get what on the blaze because of its roadside location, CBS Los Angeles reported. Officials were essentially limited to the water supply on the trucks.

The scene was still active at 8pm, but the fire was holding, dispatch said. Fumes from the smoke could be smelled as far as nearby Fullerton, La Mirada and Brea.

California Highway Patrol issued an alert at 8.11pm informing residents that several parts of the interstate would be closed for at least two hours. It is unclear if the roads have since reopened.

At least six fire engines responded to the blaze, which had grown to about four acres by 6.48pm. Crews were seen spraying water on the fire

The scene was still active at 8pm, but the fire was holding, dispatch said. Fumes from the smoke could be smelled as far as nearby Fullerton, La Mirada and Brea. Officials shutdown parts of I-105 and I-605

A driver in Norwalk, California photographed seeing the brush fire burning up ahead

Thursday's fire comes as California continues to battle the 1,000-acre McKinney Fire, the state's deadliest and largest wildfire of the year.

The blaze broke out on July 29 in the Klamath National Forest in Northern California, forcing thousands to evacuate.

More than 3,000 fire personnel were assigned to the blaze, which as of Thursday, was 80 percent contained.

The cause of the massive inferno remains under Investigation, Cal Fire reported.

The McKinney Fire has claimed the lives of four people, injured seven and destroyed 185 residential and commercial buildings. A portion of Highway 96 still remains closed due to the fire.

The Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources also claimed the fire killed tens of thousands of fish along a 20-mile stretch of the Klamath River.

Officials say the fish died after debris flow made oxygen levels in the river plummet.

Thursday's fire comes as California continues to battle the 1,000-acre McKinney Fire, the state's deadliest and largest wildfire of the year. The McKinney Fire is pictured on July 31

The blaze broke out on July 29 in the Klamath National Forest in Northern California, forcing thousands to evacuate. As of Thursday, the McKinney Fire is 80 percent contained. Damage from the fire is pictured on August 3

Dead fish that are found on a 20-mile stretch of the Klamath River in northern California between Indian Creek and Seiad Creek on August 6. Officials say the McKinney Fire burning in the area killed tens of thousands of fish

California's peak fire season runs from July through October when the state experiences a drier climate.

Summer months see the largest number of blazes, likely due to extreme heat, but officials say these fires result in less damage overall when considering acres burned.

Cal Fire claims September and October are the most vulnerable months for California wildfires, which are fueled by hot summers and little rainfall resulting in dried vegetation. These types of infernos have proven to be most destructive.

Meantime, temperatures are on the rise in LA County, which is not good for the area's vegetation.

The National Weather Service, which predicted triple-digit temperatures this upcoming weekend, warned valleys, mountains and deserts will get the brunt of the extreme heat.

The McKinney Fire has claimed the lives four people, injured seven and destroyed 185 residential and commercial buildings. Fire damage is seen on August 4

California's peak fire season runs from July through October when the state experiences a drier climate. On Wednesday, a firenado broke out in northwestern Los Angeles county. It spanned nearly 150 acres

Water drops were used to extinguish much of the firenado's flames, but footage showed a large amount of smoke billowing over the area

'The warmest temperatures will likely be over in the Antelope Valley,' Meteorologist Roobie Munroe told the Times earlier this week. 'Getting into the 103- to 105-degree range, which is potentially the peak of the heat.'

The forecast is typical for this time of year and officials have yet to issue an excessive heat warning.

Munroe did note forecasters expect the area to soon see monsoon moisture, which can dampen the heat and lessen the threat of wildfires.

'Obviously we need some rainfall,' he said. 'If we're talking weeks upon weeks of well above normal temperatures, that will have a large impact on the drought. It'll be really important to see how we do this upcoming wet season.'
Technology is expected to replace a series of six-figure jobs within the next decade from aeroplane pilots to stockbrokers and accountants.

Faethm by Pearson, a data analytics firm that specialises in artificial intelligence, has predicted robots could do a series of boring jobs, including ones paying high salaries.

'Many tasks that can be considered repetitive, or even "robotic", could be readily automated,' it said in a draft report.

Aeroplane pilots in the 2019-20 financial year had average taxable incomes of $154,262 but Faethm by Pearson predicted 36.55 per cent of full-time equivalent jobs could be automated by 2032.

Faethm by Pearson, a data analytics firm that specialises in artificial intelligence, has predicted robots could do a series of boring jobs, including ones paying high salaries (pictured is Qantas pilot Lisa Norman with the airline's chief executive Alan Joyce)

Stockbrokers, who earn average salaries of $306,018 buying shares on behalf of clients, were also at risk with the report predicting 34 per cent of jobs could be done by a machine.

Jobs that technology threatens as proportion of full-time roles FINANCE BROKER: 59.2 per cent MEDICAL RECEPTIONIST: 58 per cent AEROPLANE PILOT: 36.55 per cent STOCKBROKING DEALER: 34 per cent ACCOUNTANTS/AUDITORS: 32 per cent Source: Faethm by Pearson's draft report, The Future of Australian Jobs, August 2022 Advertisement

Finance brokers, who organise loans on behalf of a borrower, were even more under threat, with 59.2 per cent of jobs threatened by robotics.

The average salary in this mortgage-broking role is $93,833.

'The topmost at-risk jobs are generally within the financial industry  where more than half of the tasks performed could be automated by technology over the next 10 years,' the report said.

Accountants and auditors were at risk too with 32 per cent of jobs at risk of automation.

Faethm by Pearson said that without technological change, Australia would have 45,760 more accounting jobs by 2032 but would instead see just 7,200 more human jobs created in the next decade as the population increased.

It predicted technology would deprive the labour force of 41,670 general accountancy jobs and another 4,090 tax agent positions within the coming decade.

So as the population increased, Australia would have 193,640 accountants by 2032, up from 186,430 now, a growth pace of 0.4 per cent a year in the next decade as robotics replaced the human bean counters.

Stockbrokers, who have average salaries of $306,018 buying shares on behalf of clients, were also at risk with the report predicting 34 per cent of jobs could be done by a machine (pictured is the Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney)

Auditors, who analyse the finances of companies for irregularities, have average pay of $142,922 compared with $109,724 for accountant managers and $79,624 for tax accountants.

Low-paid jobs are facing competition from machines with 58 per cent of full-time medical receptionist jobs under threat in an occupation with an average salary of just $41,186.

The average salary in 2019-20 was $63,882, new Australian Taxation Office data released this week showed.

Melbourne's south-east was expected to be the worst-hit area, with 88,610 jobs at risk by 2032 because of technology, compared with 86,300 in Melbourne's west, 78,260 in inner Melbourne, 68,170 on the Gold Coast and 58,570 in Sydney's inner south-west.

Accountants and auditors were at risk too with 32 per cent of jobs at risk of automation (pictured is a stock image)

The labour force will need more people to fill aged and disability care roles, as technology replaces supermarket checkout operators and retail sales assistants, the report predicted.

For now, bosses are struggling to find staff with Australia's unemployment rate in June falling to a 48-year low of 3.5 per cent.

But that could change in coming years as machines become able to fulfill the human skills shortages.

'Some industries, companies, economies, and communities will bear the brunt of the downside effect, whereas others will flourish and deliver huge rewards to those who invest in or grow with them,' the report said.
Police in New York City are hunting for a man who was caught on video speeding away from a traffic stop in Queens after hitting a mother pushing her daughter in a stroller and running over a 35-year-old man.

The incident began when police pulled over the black SUV in the Ridgewood district of Queens.

Police said the driver had been pulled over for driving with a suspended license and had ordered him out of the vehicle.

Two officers stood beside the driver's side, and surveillance footage captured the driver revving up his engine.

The driver of the black SUV, to the left of the screen, was pulled over on Wednesday in Queens

Two officers can be seen standing by the driver's door as an Amazon delivery van passes

The driver revved up his engine, and one of the officers could be seen gesturing to the officers in the patrol car to bring their vehicle out and block his escape route. A woman pushing a stroller could be seen crossing the road

The driver sped off, leaving the two officers staring as he smashes into three people

One of the officers gestured to his colleagues in a waiting patrol car, asking them to edge the car forward and block the driver before he can flee - but the driver took off before they could react.

He immediately hits a 28-year-old woman, who was pushing her two-year-old daughter in a stroller, and then knocked a 35-year-old man off his feet before driving off.

The police ran to the victims, and the driver sped off - his car was found abandoned in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, but the driver has not yet been apprehended.

The officers ran to help the woman, who was knocked sideways by the car. A man in a green t-shirt, by the passenger door of the black SUV, was also hit

The stroller fell over on the street and police ran to assist the injured parties

The officers in the patrol car got out and ran towards the injured people

'He actually pushed the child out of the way - he's a hero, the guy who got hit,' said witness Carlos Lopez, who took video of the incident.

'He was very concerned about the child.'

All three people were taken to hospital: the man suffering from leg injuries, and the woman and child with only minor scrapes.

The mother injured her knee, and the child hurt her wrist.
A scorned lover has supposedly penned a brutal message to her ex-boyfriend, taking out an advertisement in a local newspaper branding him a 'filthy cheater'.

A full-page ad appeared in the independent Mackay and Queensland Life newspaper on Friday morning.

In it, 'Jenny' wrote: 'Dear Steve, I hope you're happy with her. Now the whole town will know what a filthy cheater you are.

'From Jenny. P.S. I bought this ad using your credit card.'

The ad had a sting in the tail - with 'Jenny' claiming she used Steve's credit card to pay for the ad. But many readers smelt a rat

The newspaper said it had been 'inundated' with dozens of messages about the ad, which was taken out on page 4 - premier newspaper real estate.

'We do NOT know who Steve is, but apparently he's been very bad,' the news outlet said. 'We won't be revealing any details about Jenny.'

The newspaper said it did not charge the credit card involved.

The advertisement sparked an internet sensation. 'Jenny sounds like someone I want to be friends with,' one reader said.

But many smelt a rat. 'This has PR stunt written all over it,' someone said.

Another added: 'Of all the things that happened, this never happendest the most.'
A report into work culture in the NSW Parliament has catalogued a series of shocking incidents in the halls of power - from an MP telling a staffer her breasts looked 'good in that' to allegations of rape.

The review, by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, revealed five people have claimed they were victims of rape or attempted rape while working in the building in the past five years.

The shocking allegations - by three unnamed men and two women - were made in an anonymous survey of staff members.

Many detail how they were subjected to bullying or harassment at the hands of senior colleagues and elected politicians.

A report into workplace culture in the NSW Parliament (pictured) was handed down today

One woman said of her time working for an MP: 'Some days you would walk into [the office] and they would make a comment that was inappropriate [such as] ''jeez your boobs look good in that''...'

Another person said: 'When I first started [a Departmental staff member] said ''oh look, we've got a pretty new face'', I didn't know how to discourage that kind of comment.'

One worker said they were touched by a colleague, saying: 'I had a colleague in the Department who was quite handsy, patted me on the bum'.

Others said it was 'normalised' for MPs or senior staff to have sex with juniors.

'It felt like the 1970s, old rich white men employing these beautiful young women in their 20s,' one worker said.

Five people have claimed they were victims of rape or attempted rape during their time working in the NSW Parliament in the past five years. Pictured: Premier Perrottet

More than a third of the sexual assault claims that workers said they had heard of occurred in NSW's Parliament House, with others occurring after work drinks.

It is not clear how many of the five claims related to rape or attempted rape. The alleged perpetrators have also not been named.

The alleged victims were all under 55 and most were between 25 and 34.

The independent review was commissioned last year after several complaints were raised about the abuse of staff.

I have read the report. It is sobering, confronting and unacceptable Premier Dominic Perrottet

Alongside the rape claims, it contained allegations of bullying and harassment.

The review says that some MPs' offices were 'well-known hotspots' for bullying.

One unnamed MP was accused of enjoying 'bringing grown men to tears'.

A staffer told the review: 'Employees are bullied, traumatised and no legitimate action can be taken.'

Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, Premier Dominic Perrottet vowed to weed out MPs who behave inappropriately and to make parliament safe.

'I have read the report. It is sobering, confronting and unacceptable,' he said.

'Every workplace across our state should be free from harassment, sexual harassment and sexual assault but this is not the case in the New South Wales Parliament.

'Jeez your boobs look good in that': Read quotes in the report from parliament workers When I first started [a Departmental staff member] said 'oh look, we've got a pretty new face', I didn't know how to discourage that kind of comment. Some days you would walk into [the office] and they would make a comment that was inappropriate [such as] 'jeez your boobs look good in that'... Some [MPs] only hire females who are good looking and under a certain age, and there is definitely an air of sexuality about those offices I've known offices where it is common knowledge that the staffers were sleeping with other staffers or DLOs and sometimes, the Minister. The amount of MPs that I saw try to make sexual advances on young men and women at party social events was pretty much constant. I had a colleague in the Department who was quite handsy, patted me on the bum. It started as flirting. She can't stop it because it would cost her her job It's very normalised, the MP and Chief of Staff sleeping with junior staff. The power dynamics were so unbalanced It felt like the 1970s, old rich white men employing these beautiful young women in their 20s Sometimes after a community member would leave the office, [the MP] would say 'I think she came in because she wants to sleep with me'. On sitting weeks, it is the worst, Ministerial staff and MPs come in, there's staring and leering Read the full report here

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'Parliamentarians are leaders and role models in our society. They should lead from the front.

'Clearly, we have a culture in the New South Wales Parliament that over time has become in many instances toxic and is wrong.

'If parliamentarians cannot lead and provide an environment where workplace is safe, what hope to be have for other workplaces across our great state?'

Ms Broderick's staff interviewed several alleged victims over the course of the review. In her report she reveals that many felt unsupported.

'Of those who said during interviews that they reported the incidents, none were provided with any meaningful support or validation of their experiences,' Ms Broderick wrote.

'All those who shared stories of sexual assault with the Review Team via an interview were women who had been sexually assaulted by men.

'This may indicate that there are additional barriers for men, especially gay and bisexual men, and for trans and gender diverse people, to share their experiences.'

Mr Perrottet said the report only marked the beginning of cultural reform at NSW parliament and pledged to follow through on its recommendations.

They included strengthening internal policies and codes of conduct, reducing alcohol use, boosting support services and monitoring 'well-known hotspots' for bullying.

'This must end, it ends today,' Mr Perrottet said.

Only one in four people working in the building participated in the report, including MPs, cleaning, security and catering staff.

Health Minister Bronnie Taylor told people who were responsible for some of the behaviour to leave NSW parliament.

'You know who you are, and my very strong advice to you is that you do not belong in the parliament of NSW,' she said.
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A lucky father has won a gorgeous 3 million Cornwall mansion in a charity prize draw after buying a 25 ticket.

Uttam Parmar, 58, won the stunning house with panoramic views of the Camel Estuary on the south-west coast.

The father-of-one entered the Omaze Million Pound House Draw in July - after entering the competition eight times before without winning, he and his wife Raki, 53, finally walked away with the grand prize.

Uttam, an operations manager at Alps Alpine from Leicestershire, was at hospital when he found he had won the four-bedroom dream home with a 25 ticket.

He said: 'When Omaze called to tell us we'd won a prize, we were actually at the hospital.

'We were so excited that we might have won the grand prize, we called our son Aaron, 26, to see if the winning entry code matched ours. When he triple checked the numbers matched, we must've burst his eardrums screaming down the phone!

The dream 3 million five-bedroom house in Cornwall was won by Uttam Puttar with his 25 ticket

Uttam , 58, (left) and wife Raki, 53, (centre) left said he was delighted with winning the dream home. He said: 'I've now won my own piece of paradise!'

Inside, the home also has a large open plan kitchen and dining area for entertaining guests, with floor-to-ceiling windows

The 3 million house commands views of outstanding natural beauty in the surrounding countryside

The house has five acres of land included, as well as its own hot tub with panoramic views of the stunning Cornish countryside

'Although, we still didn't believe we'd won until we got back to our house and Omaze told us in person.

'I've entered every Omaze Draw since they started, so patience really is a virtue, as I've now won my own piece of paradise  this house is definitely my favourite one they've offered!'

A video shows Uttam and his family celebrating their astonishing win in the draw and their reaction to seeing the luxury home for the first time.

The huge prize also includes 50,000 for the family - the home is also mortgage free, with stamp duty and legal fees covered.

Thehouse commands views of outstanding natural beauty in the surrounding countryside and is a short distance from the picturesque village of Rock on the coast - where celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay lives with his family in his 4.4 million mansion.

The Parmar family's new house includes a suntrap terrace, a hot tub and its own courtyard with exposed brick walls and an open fireplace. Inside, the home also has a large open plan kitchen and dining area for entertaining guests.

With a sleek modern design, the home won an award for the best new build in Cornwall in 2020.

The five-bedroom house also includes a stylish private courtyard for entertaining guests

The home's sleek modern design won it an award for best new build in Cornwall in 2020

The prize draw was the ninth run by Omaze, whose Million Pound House Draw has raised 6.75 million for good causes

The spacious 4,200 square foot house also includes five acres of land in the Cornish countryside.

Uttar now has the choice to live in the house, sell it or rent it out. Local estate agents estimate it could fetch up to 15,000 a month in rent at peak seasons.

Uttar said: 'I've always considered myself a lucky person, firstly because of my wonderful family  but I've also won a few bits such as a TV and coffee table, which I was pretty happy with to be honest.

'I never dreamed I'd win anything as extravagant as a three-million-pound-house though!

'We've holidayed in Cornwall over the years and always thought it would be incredible to have a place here  and now we do  we're still pinching ourselves.

'We have a large extended family  so no doubt they'll all be asking to have their next birthday parties here.

'We're not sure if we'll rent, sell or live in it yet  it's the best dilemma we've ever had! Whatever we decide, it's a life changing win for the whole family!'

The prize draw raised money for Blood Cancer UK, a charity dedicated to funding research into cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Gemma Peters, Blood Cancer UK's Chief Executive, said: 'We are so grateful to Omaze for choosing us as its charity partner for the Cornwall house draw.

'Blood cancer is the UK's third biggest cancer killer, and the money this partnership has raised will help us to give support and information to people who are affected by blood cancer  as well as fund lifesaving research that will bring forward the day when blood cancer is finally beaten.'

James Oakes, Chief International Officer at Omaze said: 'We're delighted that Uttam has won his dream home - and was able to contribute to this fantastic 1,000,000 raise for Blood Cancer UK in the process.'

The prize draw was the ninth run by Omaze, whose Million Pound House Draw has raised 6.75 million for good causes.

The next house draw is for a stunning 2.5 million home in Kent - raising money for children's charity Global's Make Some Noise.

The new draw closes on September 25.
An EasyJet air hostess has relived her terror in court at having to tackle two burly holidaymakers who threatened her as they tried to board a plane to Tenerife whilst drunk on whiskey and brandy.

Jemma Grieves, 41, was said by one passenger to have a 'look of fear on her face' when Glynn Martin, 44, and Jason McKiver, 42, who both could barely stand up straight due their intoxicated condition, began hurling abuse when they were refused entry on board the aircraft.

During their boorish outburst Martin got in Miss Grieves's face, pointed his finger towards her and said: 'I know you, I will remember what you look like.'

Easyjet hostess Jemma Grieves, 41, has relived her terror in court at having to tackle two burly holidaymakers who threatened her as they tried to board a plane to Tenerife whilst drunk on whiskey and brandy

Bolton magistrates' court heard that Glynn Martin, 44, (left) and Jason McKiver, 42, (right) who both could barely stand up straight due their intoxicated condition, began hurling abuse when they were refused entry on board the aircraft

Then, as the pilot intervened McKiver yelled: 'I am going to get on this f****** aeroplane - and you're not going to stop me.'

Police were summoned to departure gate 9 at Manchester Airport after Capt David Etchells managed to distract McKiver and got him off the jet by asking for his boarding pass which he had left in his walk-on bag on the bridge.

Both men later admitted drinking up to eight brandies and whiskies in a VIP lounge ahead of their flight.

In a statement taken immediately after the incident Miss Grieves, from Wigan, who works as a cabin crew manager for the budget airline, said: 'I have worked on the airlines for 17 or 18 years and though I've dealt with conflict before I have never felt as badly intimidated as I did today due to the way those two males acted towards me.

'I felt helpless and I feel so relieved that the captain was at hand to help me. But I was worried about what might have happened if things had escalated.

Miss Grieves, who said she ahs worked on airliens for 17 or 18 years, said although she had dealt with conflict before she had never felt so badly intimated due to the way Martin adn McKiver behaved towards her

'I was in genuine fear of how the behaviour of those two males changed and I thought I was going to be physically hit.

'It unnerved me so much and affected me so badly I had to withdraw from the flight. It is the first time I have done this due to how bad I was feeling.

Miss Grieves said she did not feel she could have provided a good service to passengers had she had to travel following the incident.

At Bolton magistrates court, Martin, of Bispham, Blackpool, and McKiver, of Lytham St Annes, Lancs, admitted entering an aircraft when drunk and using threatening behaviour.

The incident occurred at 3.45pm on October 15 last year after the pair, who are close friends, made their way to fight EZY1903 following their drinking binge.

Miss Jane Deakin, prosecuting, said: 'The cabin crew were made aware that both defendants had been drinking and may not be suitable to fly.

'Miss Grieves and Capt Etchells stood at the front of the aircraft to meet Mr Martin and Mr McKiver as they boarded.

'Mr Etchells watched them both stumble by the air bridge to the aircraft and it seems they could barely stand up. Miss Grieves tried to communicate this to the defendants but they insisted that they were flying and that they were just going to go to sleep.

'They then became aggressive when informed that they were unfit to fly.

'Mr Martin shouted at Miss Grieves in her face and in her personal space, pointing his finger towards her and saying 'I know you, I will remember what you look like.'

'Mr McKiver was also aggressive towards the crew. The captain saw both men making physical threats towards Miss Grieves and stood in between them and said they would not be boarding the flight. He said that was the decision of the caption, it was final.

'Both men were pushing the captain in the shoulder. The captain told them to stop touching him. He said he felt they were trying to antagonise him. The captain shouted to other crew to call the police.

McKiver (right) and Martin (left) later admitted drinking up to eight brandies and whiskies in a VIP lounge ahead of their flight, before pushing the captain on the shoulder

'Mr Martin left saying, 'You do not want to spend another night in the clink' but Mr McKiver remained at the aircraft and continued to be aggressive saying: 'I am going to get on this f****** aeroplane, you're not going to stop me.'

'He tried to push past the captain to get to a seat but Mr Etchells attempted to calm him down and in order to distract him he asked to see his boarding pass. Mr McKiver had left his bag on the bridge and went retrieve his boarding pass but in doing so the captain quickly jumped off the aircraft and instructed the crew to pull the barrier across so that Mr McKiver could not go back onto the aircraft.'

Officers arrived and both men were detained.

In his statement Capt Etchells said: 'I am deeply concerned about the safety of my crew and passengers and if this was to happen again I may not have the skills or ability necessary to protect those I am responsible for.

Martin's lawyer Dave Charnley said his client travels the country with his employment in the medical field and that the men had drunk about eight short drinks of whisky- brandy mixers during a 'lengthy wait' at the airport before trying to board the flight

'I often have flashbacks at night which are disturbing my sleep and I am on edge in public places. I wish I could have acted sooner to prevent the abuse Miss Grieves received.'

Martin had 19 previous offences on his record while McKiver had 13.

Martin's lawyer Dave Charnley said his client travels the country with his employment in the medical field. He said that the men had drunk about eight short drinks of whisky- brandy mixers during a 'lengthy wait' at the airport before trying to board the flight.

Mr Charnley said: 'I don't want to diminish anything but understandably, if somebody is looking forward to their holiday, they have been given their tickets and then told they are not going, it's a natural reaction that they are going to question that decision.

'He was upset and voiced that upset by making some comments. He made no attempt to physically get past the lady Jemma Grieves, it's all verbal. '

Miss Grieves said she did not feel she could have provided a good service to passengers had she had to travel following the incident and that it 'unnerved' her

For father-of-two McKiver, Miss Arisha Gulhati said his client had been engaged in a custody battle over his children and added: 'He has previously had no issues getting on planes having had a drink. He was anticipating getting on board and falling asleep until they got to their destination.

'It was a well earned holiday as far as he was concerned having been through what he had gone through over the previous three months. Mr McKiver would say he was passionate about how he felt and wanted an explanation.'

Martin and McKiver were both granted unconditional bail pending the preparation of background reports and will be sentenced in October.

'These matters are very serious, they have at least passed the custody threshold,' Chairwoman Rahila Akram told them: 'Having said that, all options will be open, including committing the case to crown court for sentence.'
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This is the terrifying moment a fire tornado raced towards French firemen battling a huge blaze amid a record-breaking European drought that has dried up rivers, melted glaciers and ravaged farmland.

Video of the rare phenomenon, posted to social media on Friday, showed a tornado rip through an area of dry grassland where firefighters were battling a wall of flames.

A twisting pillar of smoke is seen rising up into the sky, before the wind passes over the inferno. This causes flames to twist upwards and dance rapidly across the ground. The footage cuts as the flames barrel towards a fire engine.

France has been forced to call in reinforcements from across Europe to help battle a huge wildfire that has been burning in the south of the country for more than a month.

Hundreds of firefighters from Germany, Poland, Romania and Italy are heading to Gironde, near Bordeaux, to help tackle a blaze that began burning in early July as Europe's record-breaking summer heatwave got underway before reigniting several days ago - forcing 10,000 people from their homes and burning 7,000 hectares of pine forest.

Water-bombing planes are also being sent from Greece and Sweden to help extinguish the flames, as locals describe biblical scenes. Valentine Dupy, who lives in the village of Belin-Beliet, said the region is 'like an apocalypse. Smoke everywhere ... and planes throwing orange powder onto the fire.'

Europe is sweltering through a record-breaking summer of heatwaves and drought that has parched the continent and turned forests tinder-dry. In Switzerland, a glacial pass that has been covered by ice for the last 2,000 years is set to be ice-free by the end of the week because it has all melted.

This is the terrifying moment a fire tornado raced towards French firemen battling a huge blaze amid a record-breaking European drought that has dried up rivers, melted glaciers and ravaged farmland

A twisting pillar of smoke (left) is seen rising up into the sky, before the wind passes over the inferno. This causes flames to twist upwards and dance rapidly across the ground. The footage cuts as the flames barrel towards a fire engine (right)

A water-bombing plane drops flame retardant chemicals on to trees in the Gironde region of France, where fire crews are struggling to extinguish a blaze that has been burning for more than a month

Flames rip through tinder-dry woodland in Gironde, in the south of France, where a record-breaking summer of heatwaves and drought has turned pine forests into firewood

Pine trees in Gironde, the south of France, are consumed by a wildfire that has burned through thousands of hectares of land since it first ignited last month

Fire crews had managed to dampen down the Gironde fire around the end of July, when Europe's last major heatwave ended, but say it was never fully extinguished and has now re-ignited as the hot weather returns

A firefighting helicopter gathers water from a dried-out lake bed in Gironde, south of France, to try and extinguish a nearby wildfire that has forced 10,000 people from their homes

Firefighting trucks are barely visible beneath a huge plume of smoke from a wildfire burning in the south of France, as crews from across Europe are drafted in to help battle it

Flames consume woodland in Gironde, near Bordeaux, where a wildfire has been burning since early July and shows no signs of stopping as Europe's record-breaking summer of heat and drought continues

Flames burn through woodland in the south of France, as 361 European firefighters rush to assist 1,100 French emergency workers who are already tackling the blaze

This photo provided by the fire brigade of the Gironde region SDIS 33, shows a wildfire burning near Saint-Magne, south of Bordeaux, southwestern France

Firefighters embrace as they work to contain a fire in Saint-Magne, as wildfires continue to spread in the Gironde region of southwestern France

Europe's weather crisis, country by country France Wildfires burning in at least four locations - the worst of which is in Gironde, where 10,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Country is also going through the worst drought in its history, with 100 villages now without drinking water. Germany Widespread drought has dropped the level of the Rhine river so far that it will soon become impassable to barges carrying coal, oil and goods. Should the river become blocked it will cause huge economic damage. The last time that happened - in 2018 - the country narrowly avoided falling into recession. Italy The River Po, which runs across the affluent north, is dangerously low - threatening farms that rely on it to water their crops. Stretches are so low that sunken ships are reemerging, and an old WW2 bomb was even uncovered and had to be defused. Spain Having suffered through a record heatwave in July, crucial reservoirs in Spain are now running close to empty - with weeks of summer left to go. The Cijara reservoir, near Madrid, is around 84 per cent empty while the Vinuela reservoir in the arid south - near Malaga - is 87 per cent empty Portugal A large wildfire is burning out of control in central Portugal, just weeks after dozens of blazes tore through the country during a 40C heatwave. Switzerland A glacial mountain pass, covered in ice for the last 2,000 years, will become ice-free in the next few days - the first time since the Romans were conquering Europe that it will have been fully exposed. Advertisement

Firefighters said they had managed to save her village, transformed into a ghost town after police told residents to evacuate as the flames approached. But the blaze reached the outskirts, leaving wrecked houses and charred tractors in its wake.

'We've been lucky. Our houses were saved. But you see the catastrophe all over there. Some houses could not be saved,' said resident Gaetan, pointing to houses burnt to the ground.

Support was on its way from across Europe, with 361 firefighters, as well as trucks and waterbombing aircrafts, expected to back up the 1,100 French firefighters already on the ground.

'We are still in the phase of (trying to) confine the fire, direct it where we want it, where there is less vegetation, where our vehicles can best position themselves ... so we can eventually fix it, control it and extinguish it,' said Matthieu Jomain, a spokesperson for the Gironde firefighers.

More than 60,000 hectares (230 square miles) have gone up in flames so far in France this year, six times the full-year average for 2006-2021, data from the European Forest Fire Information System shows.

French authorities said temperatures in the Gironde region would reach 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Thursday and stay high until Saturday.

Firefighters warned of an 'explosive cocktail' of weather conditions, with wind and the tinder-box conditions helping fan the flames.

The Gironde was hit by big wildfires in July that destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of forest and temporarily forced almost 40,000 people from their homes.

Hostens mayor Jean-Louis Dartiailh described the past weeks as a disaster. 'The area is totally disfigured. We're heartbroken, we're exhausted,' he told Radio Classique. '(This fire) is the final straw.'

Europe is suffering under a severe heat wave and drought that has produced tragic consequences for farmers and ecosystems already under threat from climate change and pollution.

In France, which is enduring its worst drought on record, flames raged through pine forests overnight, illuminating the sky with an intense orange light in the Gironde region, which was already ravaged by flames last month, and in neighboring Landes. More than 68 square kilometers (26 square miles) have burned since Tuesday.

Along the Oder River, which flows from Czechia north into the Baltic Sea, volunteers have been collecting dead fish that have washed ashore in Poland and Germany.

Piotr Nieznanski, the conservation policy director at WWF Poland, said it appears that a toxic chemical was released into the water by an industry and the low water levels caused by the drought has made conditions far more dangerous for the fish.

A burned-out house and car are visible in the village of Belin-Beliet, in the Gironde region of France, after a wildfire swept through and destroyed some outlying buildings

A burned-out car is visible in front of a torched house in the village of Belin-Beliet, in the south of France, which was hit by wildfires that have burned through thousands of hectares of forest

A house in the south of France that has been gutted by fire stands in the village of Belin-Beliet, which had fortunately been evacuated before the flames arrived

A firefighting truck that had been helping to tackle blazes in the south of France ended up becoming a victim of them, as crews struggle to get the inferno under control

A glacial pass in Switzerland that has been covered by ice for the last 2,000 years is set to become ice-free by the end of the week as high temperatures cause it to melt - except for one strip covered by blankets to protect it

Europe is in the grips of sweltering heat, severe drought and raging wildfires that are tearing through Spain, France and Portugal, while key waterways such as the Rhine and the Po are running dry

'A tragic event is happening along the Oder River, an international river, and there is no transparent information about what is going on,' he said, calling on government authorities to investigate.

People living along the river have been warned not to swim in the water or even touch it.

Poland's state water management body said the drought and high temperatures can cause even small amounts of pollution to lead to an ecological disaster but it has not identified the source of the pollution.

In northern Serbia, the dry bed of the Conopljankso reservoir is now littered with dead fish that were unable to survive the drought.

The water level along Germany's Rhine River was at risk of falling so low that it could become difficult to transport goods - including critical energy items like coal and gasoline.

In Italy, which is experiencing its worst drought in seven decades, the parched Po River has already caused billions of euros in losses to farmers who normally rely on Italy's longest river to irrigate their fields and rice paddies.

'I am young and I do not remember anything like this, but even the elderly in my village or the other villages around here have never seen anything like this, never ever,' said Antonio Cestari, a 35-year-old farmer in Ficarolo who says he expects to produce only half his usual crops of corn, wheat and soy because his river-fed wells have such low water levels.

The Po runs 652 kilometers (405 miles) from the northwestern city of Turin to Venice. It has dozens of tributary rivers but northern Italy hasn't seen rainfall for months and this year's snowfall was down by 70%. The drying up of the Po is also jeopardizing drinking water in Italy's densely populated and highly industrialized districts.

Elsewhere, in Scilla, footage was taken by locals of water cascading through the streets and engulfing cars on the road.

Writing on Twitter, one person said the water was the result of 'climate change and untreated streams' while another person said they hoped everyone was ok.

A resident watches the progression of a wildfire in Linhares, Celorico da Beira, Portugal

View of a burning area during a wildfire in Videmonte, Celorico da Beira, Portugal

View inside a burned house during a wildfire in Videmonte, Celorico da Beira, Portugal

A tree burning on the inside is seen in front of a wildfire in Videmonte, Celorico da Beira, Portugal

A firefighter looks at the aftermath of a wildfire in Videmonte, Celorico da Beira, Portugal,

Over in Portugal, the Serra da Estrela national park was also being ravaged by a wildfire. Some 1,500 firefighters, 476 vehicles and 12 aircraft were deployed to fight it but the wind-driven blaze 250 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Lisbon was very hard to reach, with inaccessible peaks almost 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) high and deep ravines. The fire has charred 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of woodland.

In Britain, where temperatures hit a record 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Fahrenheit) in July, the weather office has issued a new warning for 'extreme heat' from Thursday through Sunday, with temperatures forecast to reach 36 C (96.8 F).

It has been one of the driest summers on record in southern Britain, and the Met Office weather service said there is an 'exceptional risk' of wildfires over the next few days.

London Fire Brigade said its control room had dealt with 340 grass, garbage and open-land fires during the first week of August, eight times the number from last year. Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Smith said 'the grass in London is tinderbox dry and the smallest of sparks can start a blaze which could cause devastation.'

In Switzerland, a drought and high temperatures have endangered fish populations and authorities have begun moving fish out of some creeks that were running dry.

In Hausen, in the canton of Zurich, officials caught hundreds of fish, many of them brown trout, in the almost dried-up Heischerbach, Juchbach and Muehlebach creeks this week by anesthetizing them with electric shocks and then immediately placing them in a water tank enriched with oxygen, local media reported. Later, the fish were taken to creeks that still carry enough water.

Despite all the harm caused by the extreme weather, Swiss authorities see one morbid upside: they believe there's hope of finding some people who went missing in the mountains in the last few years because their bodies are being released as glaciers melt.

In the Swiss canton of Valais, melting glaciers have recently revealed parts of a crashed airplane and, at separate locations, at least two skeletons. The bodies have not yet been identified, news website 20Minuten reported Thursday.

Spanish state television showed dozens of trucks heading to France having to turn around and stay in Spain because wildfires had forced authorities to close some border crossings. TVE reported that truckers, many carrying perishable goods, were looking for ways to cross the border because the parking areas around the Irun crossing were full.

France this week is in its fourth heat wave of the year as it faces what the government describes as the country's worst drought on record. Temperatures were expected to reach 40 C (104 F) on Thursday.

A view of a dry lake bed near the village of Conoplja, 150 kilometers north-west of Belgrade, Serbia

Dead fish float on the surface of the Oder river, as water has been contaminated and is causing the mass extinction of fish in the river, in Bielinek, Poland

A dead fish lies on the bank of Oder River on the German-Polish border, in Brieskow-Finkenheerd, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

A dead fish skeleton laying on the cracking earth of a dry lake bed near the village of Conoplja, 150 kilometers north-west of Belgrade, Serbia

What's causing Europe's extreme summer? As England officaly declares drought, rivers run dry in Germany and 'monster' wildfires ravage France - SHIVALI BEST on how the answer could lie far away over the Atlantic

By Shivali Best, Executive Science And Technology Editor For Mailonline and Jonathan Chadwick For Mailonline

Europe is sweltering through a record-breaking summer of heatwaves and drought that has parched the continent and turned forests tinder-dry.

Wildfires are blazing across France, while Germany's most-important river, the Rhine, is on the verge of running dry, and swathes of England are officially in drought today.

In this video, MailOnline's Shivali Best explains the Azores High - a new weather phenomena that is 'driving Europe's extreme drought'.

The Azores High usually sits to the south but is currently directly over the UK and Ireland, stretching from the Azores Islands

Using climate models, scientists simulated global weather over the past 1,200 years and found that the number of large Azores Highs is extremely unusual

Met Office reveals how the 'Azores High' pressure system is pushing up from the south and bringing scorching temperatures to the UK, France and the Iberian peninsula

The Met Office has revealed how the 'Azores High' pressure system is pushing up from the south, bringing scorching temperatures to the UK, France and the Iberian peninsula.

The Azores High is a large centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean.

It is often referred to as the 'gatekeeper of precipitation', and is formed by dry air descending in the subtropics.

Flames rip through tinder-dry woodland in Gironde, in the south of France, where a record-breaking summer of heatwaves and drought has turned pine forests into firewood

The river Rhine is pictured with low water. The low water levels are threatening Germany's industry as more and more ships are unable to traverse the key waterway

What is The Azores High? The Azores High is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure typically found south of the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. Formed by dry air descending in the subtropics, the Azores High, which usually sits off Spain, has grown larger and is being pushed northwards. This has brought scorching temperatures to the UK, France and the Iberian peninsula. The size and intensity of the Azores high shifts year on year, driving variations in rainfall levels over the continent. As such, it's been referred to as a 'gatekeeper of precipitation' over Europe. Source: Carbon Brief Advertisement

While it usually sits off Spain, it has recently grown larger and is being pushed further north, bringing scorching temperatures to the UK, France, and the Iberian peninsula.

A Met Office spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Areas of high and low pressures do move around the globe, so the Azores High does occasionally extend across the UK throughout the year.

'The high usually doesnt stay for too long but on this occasion it has remained close by throughout the summer.'

Worryingly, these large Azores High systems are becoming more common.

A major new study this year found that over the past 100 years, the number of extremely large Azores High systems has increased significantly.

And since 1980, large Azores Highs are two to three times more likely than over the previous hundred years.

Using climate models, scientists simulated global weather over the past 1,200 years and found that the number of large Azores Highs is extremely unusual.

Aside from the effects of the Azores High this summer, scientists believe long-term trends in hot weather have been caused by climate change.

The 10 warmest years on record in the UK have occurred in the 21st century, with data stretching back to 1884.

Professor Nigel Arnell, professor of climate system science at the University of Reading, said this year's heat was 'virtually impossible' without the sharp rise in greenhouse gases since pre-industrial times.

'The implication of that of course is that droughts are going to get worse into the future,' he said.

Swathes of England are officially in drought today as supermarkets began rationing bottled water today to prevent panic buying and millions of households edge closer to a hosepipe ban.

Residents in the South West, Southern and Central England and East of England have been move into drought status where they are being urged to be frugal with water use because of the driest summer in 50 years.

It is the first drought declared in the UK since 2018  although that one was rapidly brought to an end by heavy rain - but despite the threat of torrential downpours and thunderstorms on Monday, much of southern England is unlikely to see significant rain until September.

The dried out greens and fairways of Ashton Court Golf Course, near Bristol, where the prolonged dry conditions, have left the parched land turning from green to brown

A prolonged period of low rainfall is a common definition of a drought, but in fact there is no one definition that applies across science, agriculture and the water industry.

'Within agriculture, a period of three or four weeks with no or below average rainfall quickly constitutes a drought situation in this country,' said Dr Joe Osborne, an industry consultancy manager at the Met Office.

'[But] there are many, many different definitions of drought, from the meteorological, the hydrological, the agricultural and the socio-economic perspectives.'

The move will put pressure on water companies to do more to conserve supplies after a number of major leaks in recent weeks wasting millions of gallons of water.

Hosepipe bans have already been announced for around 17million people  and another 15million could soon join them. Parts of southern England had the driest July since records began, and reservoir levels have fallen to their lowest levels in last 30 years.

Sainsbury's and Aldi have put up posters limiting customers to between three and five bottles of drinking water each.

The ground starts to crack on a footpath in Windsor Great Park due to the continued heat and lack of rainfall on August 11, 2022

Dry conditions are like a 'tinder box' for sparking fires, as seen in parts of France at the moment. Wildfires are now blazing across the country's southwest, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate from their homes.

A wildfire starts with a spark, perhaps from a burning ember, a spark on a train track, lightning, heat from the sun or even often human error, such as disposing of a lit cigarette.

If a spark happens in the presence of oxygen and fuel  such as dry grass, trees, shrubs and even houses  a fire can start.

During the first British heatwave of the 2022 summer, fires were reported in Upminster, Southgate, Croydon, Dagenham and the Essex village of Wennington, among other locations.
Samsung's South Korean billionaire heir was given a presidential pardon after his jail term for corruption so he can help tackle the 'national economic crisis.'

Lee Jae-yong, 54, the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, is the latest person to be handed a presidential pardon, continuing South Korea's long tradition of freeing business leaders convicted of corruption on economic grounds.

He was convicted of bribery and embezzlement in January last year but justice minister Han Dong-hoon said he had been 'reinstated' to help tackle the economic crisis.

According to Forbes, Lee has a net worth of $7.9 billion. The pardon is largely symbolic as he was already out on parole in August 2021 after serving 18 months in prison for bribery, just over half of his original sentence.

The scandal led to massive protests and brought down then-President Park Geun-hye in 2017.

The pardon that he received on Friday will allow him to return to work fully and lift a post-prison employment restriction which had been set for five years.

Lee Jae-yong, 54, the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, pictured leaving court in 2021, is the latest person to be handed a presidential pardon, continuing South Korea's long tradition of freeing business leaders convicted of corruption on economic grounds

The pardon is largely symbolic as he was already out on parole in August 2021 after serving 18 months in prison for bribery, just over half of his original sentence

Alongside Lee, three other high-profile businessmen were pardoned, including Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin, sentenced to a suspended two-and-a-half year prison term in a bribery case in 2018.

In a statement, the justice ministry said: 'Due to the global economic crisis, the dynamism and vitality of the national economy have deteriorated, and the economic slump is feared to be prolonged.'

The statement added that alongside other high-level executives, Lee was given the pardon so he could 'lead the country's continuous growth engine through active investment in technology and job creation.'

According to the ministry, a total of 1,693 people including prisoners with terminal illnesses and those near the end of their terms are on the pardon list, ahead of the annual Liberation Day anniversary on Monday.

After Lee's pardon was announced he issued a statement which said he aims to contribute to the economy through 'continuous investment and job creation for young people.' Pictured: Lee in 2020

This anniversary marks Japan's 1945 World War II surrender, in which Korea was liberated from decades of colonial rule and it is typically celebrated each year with hundreds of prisoners being pardoned.

After Lee's pardon was announced he issued a statement which said he aims to contribute to the economy through 'continuous investment and job creation for young people.'

The 54-year-old had been jailed for offences connected to a massive corruption scandal which brought down former president Park Geun-hye.

He was the latest in a long history of South Korean tycoons who have been charged with bribery, embezzlement, tax evasion or other offences.

However, many of those convicted have had their sentences cut or suspended, including late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was convicted twice.

The tycoons often received presidential pardons in recognition of their 'contribution to the national economy.'

The 54-year-old, pictured in 2021, had been jailed for offences connected to a massive corruption scandal which brought down former president Park Geun-hye

South Korea's president, Yoon Suk-yeol, today said that the pardons were aimed to improve the lot of 'ordinary people who had been affected by the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic.'

Analysts do not agree with the president's view, with many, including Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo, saying that the pardons simply allow major businessmen to feel they were not 'constrained by any legal norms.'

It was expected that former conservative president Lee Myung-bak, who is currently serving a prison sentence over corruption, would benefit from the pardons.

But he has not been included on the list as justice minister Han said that all politicians had been excluded this time because the economy was the most 'urgent and important' issue.

It has been suggested in local reports that pardoning Lee Myung-bak would have been too risky for President Yoon, who is already struggling with record-low approval ratings.

Local reports have speculated that pardoning Lee Myung-bak would have been too risky for President Yoon, who is already struggling with record-low approval ratings.

Lee Jae-yong is yet to face a separate trial over accusations of accounting fraud regarding a merger of two Samsung firms in 2015.

Lee Jae-yong, pictured, is yet to face a separate trial over accusations of accounting fraud regarding a merger of two Samsung firms in 2015

It comes after he was excused from a hearing in May in that trial to host US President Joe Biden, who kicked off a tour of South Korea by visiting Samsung's chip plant, alongside President Yoon.

Lee's pardon comes after Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker, with a turnover of about one-fifth of South Korea's gross domestic product, unveiled a 450 trillion won ($346 billion) investment blueprint for the next five years.

The blueprint is aimed at making Samsung a leader in sectors from semiconductors to biologics and creating 80,000 new jobs.

Lee's imprisonment was no barrier to the firm's performance- it announced a surge of more than 70 per cent in second-quarter profits in July last year, with a coronavirus-driven shift to remote work boosting demand for devices which used its memory chips.

Lee's imprisonment was no barrier to the firm's performance- it announced a surge of more than 70 per cent in second-quarter profits in July last year, with a coronavirus-driven shift to remote work boosting demand for devices which used its memory chips. Pictured: Lee

Samsung group is the largest of the family-controlled empires called chaebol which dominate business in South Korea.

Mr Tikhonov said: 'Samsung operated perfectly well without any pardon.

'The pardon weakens rule of law, which potentially is, in fact, more detrimental than advantageous.'

However, a survey conducted last month by four poll groups revealed that 77 per cent of respondent favoured pardoning Lee, despite earlier protests.

Political commentator Eom Kyeong-young, based in Seoul, said: '(That support) is apparently due to the current economic situation, but people also seem to have thought in part that Lee was somewhat in a position where he could not shrug off pressure from the former administration.

'While business groups including the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Korea Enterprises Federation welcomed the pardon for Lee, civil rights groups criticized Yoon's pardons for businessmen.'

Meanwhile, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said in a statement: 'The Yoon Suk-yeol administration... is ultimately just aiming for a country only for the rich,'
A steamy period drama about the love life of Emily Bronte, who is not actually believed to have had any romantic encounters in her short life, is bound to wind up historians, its director has said.

Actress Frances O'Connor, famous for being a leading lady in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and The Importance of Being Earnest opposite Colin Firth, is making her writing and directorial debut with the film.

In a revised history of the famously introverted author's life, 'Emily' portrays its central character as caught up in a forbidden affair with an assistant curate - a real and reportedly handsome man.

Sex Education and Barbie actress Emma Mackey, who is a big fan of Bronte, stars as the author

Forbidden affair: The film features a romance between Bronte and her curate father's assistant

'I know there'll be some people that are p----d off about it,' O'Connor told Total Film.

'People like Bronte historians will probably say, 'Well, that didn't happen'.'

Sex Education actress Emma Mackey, 26, stars as the titular character in the period drama.



The director has said that 'passionate' Mackey, a Bronte superfan herself, was perfect for the starring role.

Emma Mackey, 26, who plays Bronte, looks very different in her breakout role in Netflix's Sex Education

O'Connor added that Mackey had even said in the past that she'd love to play the author, and compared the rising star to Bronte.

'She's super bright and she's a very passionate person but, at the same time, she's got this fierce intelligence to her the same way that Emily did and she knows who she is in a really strong way.

'It's just very compelling when you put that on screen. And I think because she wanted to play it in a way that was very personal to her, that's why she's so amazing in the film,' she told

'Passionate': Bronte shares a forbidden embrace with William Weightman in the film

Very compelling: Mackey is a huge fan of the author and has previously said she wanted to play her

French-British actress Mackey, who is set to feature in the upcoming Barbie movie, out in 2023, also recommended the actor who plays Bronte's love interest.

Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who recently starred in horror film The Invisible Man, plays Weightman, and was a family friend and assistant curate to Patrick Bronte.

The film imagines intimate experiences that might have influenced Bronte's passionate masterpiece.

O'Connor, who has spent much of her acting career in period dramas, said she has been a fan of Bronte's works since she was 15 and took some inspiration from the author's passionate work Wuthering Heights.

Discussing the appeal of Bronte, OConnor added: Shes a mystery, we know so little about her  and Im an introvert and this character is an introvert!

Bronte, who died from consumption when she was 30 in 1848, finished her landmark novel just a year before her death.

OConnor said of Bronte: Shes a mystery, we know so little about her  and Im an introvert and this character is an introvert!'

'Theres so much in it. You can kind of feel who she was through the novel,' O'Connor told Metro.co.uk.

'She was somebody who suffered from things that just seemed very modern  she had social anxiety and she struggled with her sense of who she was, and her relationship with her sisters feels very real.'

At the start of the trailer, Mackey's character is asked by her sister: 'Emily, how did you write Wuthering Heights?'

Her father, Patrick, played by Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar, warns her: 'Do not bring shame on this house, Emily.'

Emily, played by Mackey, next to her father Patrick Bronte, played by Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar

Weightman is wooed by Bronte's poetry, telling her: 'There is something ungodly in your writing, I feel it when we're together.'

Anne and Charlotte Bronte are played by Amelia Gething and Alexandra Dowling, with the film's trailer showing the sheltered life they led in Haworth, Yorkshire.

The trailer describes the author as a 'rebel, misfit, and genius'.

O'Connor expressed her satisfaction that the film reflects her own acting career, but insisted she is going to move away from period dramas with her next work.

The Warner Brothers film premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Emily will be out in UK cinemas on October 14.
Potassium (K) is an essential mineral that is not only critical for human health but also key to plant health.

Indeed, there needs to be an adequate supply of Potassium in the soil to maintain good crop growth. After all, when the supply is limited, plants have reduced yields, poor quality, poor water use efficiency, and are more susceptible to pest damage. Furthermore, the deficiency of Potassium leads to weak stems, poorly-developed root systems, and smaller and shriveled seeds.

Potassium is a macronutrient due to the fact that plants require large amounts of it. It also plays more roles in a plant than any other nutrient - after all, it regulates water balances, nutrient and sugar movement in plant tissue, driving starch, protein synthesis, and legume nitrogen fixation.

What's worrying, however, is that agricultural soils in many parts of the world are gradually depleting potash, due to many years of intensive cropping and repeated nutrient removal during harvest. High-yielding crops further remove large amounts of Potassium from the soil. Thus, many fields now require regular inputs of potash in order to maintain their productivity.

Brazil: the Leading Importer of Potash

Speaking of Brazil, the country is the second-largest consumer of potash in the world - but it imports a whopping 95%.

Given that potash is the building block of plant health, Brazil Potash Corp is focused on providing Potash to Brazil, which finds itself in extremely high need of this nutrient, while simultaneously being one of the largest net exporters of food to the world.

What makes this development stage potash project so vital for the country? Once it starts production, it will fulfill roughly 20% of Brazil's annual potash needs. On top of that, this project aims to provide fertilizer to Brazilian farmers in a more economical fashion and help secure world food security.

More than Fulfilling Brazil's Potassium Needs

Brazil Potash aims to reduce Brazil's high dependency on other countries for Potassium. To achieve its goal, the fertilizer company is almost at a "shovel-ready" stage to extract Potassium salts. Despite being in the Amazon State of Brazil, the project sits on previously deforested land that was used for cattle grazing and would not require any rainforest deforestation.

As stated above, when the soil lacks Potassium, vegetables are less resistant to climate change and more susceptible to disease and winterkill. On top of that, the quality of the crops becomes compromised with smaller grain sizes and irregular shapes.

But of course, Brazil imports most of the potash (95%) it consumes. Most of this comes from the mines of Canada, Russia, Germany, and Israel. Rather than import potash from 20,000 kilometers away, the company will instead focus on developing the Autazes, Itacoatiara, and Itapiranga mineral deposits.

This will significantly reduce the transport distance resulting in a drop in the generation of greenhouse gases compared to importing potash extracted in the Saskatchewan reserve in Canada. And this is a big deal considering that Brazil imports 32% of its potash requirements from Canada.

Aside from significantly bringing down the emission of greenhouse gasses produced by transport, which is one of the major causes of global warming, its most significant positive effect will be on the people's livelihood.

Autazes Potash Project

The city of Autazes, which has just over 37,000 inhabitants, currently suffers from infrastructure difficulties, and in fact, many residents do not have access to adequate sanitation. The income per person in about 50% of households is also half the minimum wage. These stats do not justify the true potential of the city and the people living there. For instance, over the next 30 years, this region alone can supply 20 to 30% of the potash that Brazil needs annually.

And that is precisely where Brazil Potash comes into the picture, as they are hoping to bring a massive change to the people of Autazes' fortune by generating around 1,200 direct jobs in the construction phase, along with 1,500 in the operational phase. The estimates also suggest that each direct job will give rise to four times the number of indirect jobs and provide substantial opportunities for people to start their own businesses. The implementation and construction phase will last just under five years.

The Autazes municipality, too, will benefit from increased tax revenues invested in schools, water quality, roads, and health services from Brazil Potash's operations in the region, not to mention connecting the city to Brazil's national power grid, which is 85% generated from renewable sources. This goes to show that the company is focused on the sustainable development of the region through partnerships not only with the public agents and non-governmental organizations but also with the community.

Special Focus on Sustainability

Brazil Potash is involved in extracting and treating Potassium ore. Their objective is to generate a complete development cycle, which removes Potassium from underground soil layers in order to be then used to fertilize crops.

Found at 800 meters in depth, the company removes the potassium from the subsoil and treats it in such a way that it becomes fertilizer to enrich the land and help improve the quality of what is harvested. Ultimately, the food we eat is strengthened by a mineral that is essential for both agriculture and human health alike.

This way, Potassium leaves the earth and then returns to the earth, strengthening the foods grown and helping to maintain the continued growth of agriculture. Headquartered in Belo Horizonte, Brazil Potash's technical base is located in the city of Autazes.

Brazil Potash performs all of this in a highly sustainable fashion, as its operations serve to considerably reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses involved in the production and international transport of potash. Therefore, the company will be essential in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - its projected 1.3 million tonnes a year of GHG emission reduction is equivalent to planting over 60 million new trees.

The company is further committed to sustainable growth and community engagement through its Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) and by prioritizing hiring people and regional partners.

Since the very beginning, Brazil Potash has been engaged in the local community, which is half indigenous, and even runs a before and after school program where over 150 underprivileged children get two meals a day, tutoring on their school work and learn practical life skills like how to grow food.

Brazil Potash has several experienced professionals, in addition to having the support of a board of directors with extensive knowledge of the market and international operations covering geology, mining, sustainability, financial, and marketing aspects.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A Ukrainian family who had their dog stolen six days after they arrived in the UK have been reunited with their beloved Yorkshire Terrier.

Police launched a hunt for eight-year-old Ellie and after trawling through CCTV footage, they found the dog in a nearby house safe and well.

Lina and Oleksiy Litvinova, both 40, their children Ivan, 17, and Kira, nine months, and Linas mum Larysa, 66, had been left devastated when Ellie was stolen from outside their temporary home in Streatham, south London on Sunday.

The family, from Kharkiv, had arrived in the UK just six days before, having driven 2,000 miles for three days across ten countries to escape the war in their homeland.

Lina (centre) and Oleksiy (right) Litvinova, both 40, their children Ivan, 17, and Kira (left), nine months, and Linas mum Larysa, 66, are delighted to be reunited with their beloved dog Ellie

Eight-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Ellie was reunited with her family on Wednesday after she was found safe and well in a nearby house

Ellie, who had been part of the Litvinova family since she was a puppy, was reunited with her owners on Wednesday night.

A very relieved Lina said: We are just so happy to have Ellie back.

There was always the awful possibility of not seeing her again. But this is the best present for us all.

We would like to thank everyone who has helped get Ellie back.

Ring doorbell footage from a house across the street showed a red BMW stop at the side of the road on Sunday morning as the little dog ran out the house

The Litvinova family had been left devastated when Ellie was stolen just six days after they arrived in the UK. Pictured: Ivan, Oleksiy and Lina with Ellie

All the people across the country who have shared the appeal poster and photos on social media and the police who were great.

Thank you everybody, our family is back together now.

Ring doorbell footage showed the moment a red BMW stopped in the middle of the road outside the family-of-fives house on Sunday morning and Ellie could be seen running out.

Lina (pictured) thanked everyone who shared the appeal online and helped reunite the family with their dog

Lina claims two people in the BMW told passersby they were the owners before snatching the dog and driving off with her in broad daylight.

Lina said: This sort of thing just doesnt seem to happen back in our home town of Kharkiv.

But we arrive here in England and within a few days Ellie is snatched.

A Met Police spokesman told MailOnline: A dog stolen from a family who had recently arrived in the UK from Ukraine has been returned to them following a proactive investigation.

Police were contacted at approximately 13:40hrs on Sunday, 7 August after Yorkshire Terror 'Ellie' was stolen from their address earlier that morning.

Officers from the Central South Command Unit's Safer Neighbourhoods Team began investigating, and following witness, CCTV and vehicle enquiries police attended an address in Surrey, where Ellie was located safe and well.

She has since been returned to her family. They were kept updated at each stage of the investigation.

Enquiries continue with regards the circumstances around her theft. No arrests have been made at this time.
Water firms faced more fury today for failing to get a grip of leaks wasting billions of gallons a day while imposing hosepipe bans on millions.

More than 30 million people in England and Wales currently face or are already under restrictions for how much water they can use.

Millions more face the threat of further rationing after a drought was declared today for large swathes of the south, south west, central and eastern England.

But despite this water firms still waste up to two billion gallons of water a day because of leaks.

Homeowners living in the affected area have taken to social media to vent their angry at the companies, accusing them of taking weeks to fix problems, while hitting them with restrictions.

One man on Twitter posted photos of a large leak after a pipe burst at a time when there is 'lots of talk about saving water'. Thames Water will put 15 million people across the south east under a hosepipe ban within the coming weeks. It comes as an official drought was confirmed.

More than 15 million people across the Thames Valley region will be hit with the ban on using hosepipes and sprinklers in the coming weeks - the water company giant is yet to confirm an official start date.

Earlier this week Thames Water admitted that despite trying to be efficient with water usage, like the Germans and the Danes, the company loses more than 635 million litres of water a day.

Londoners have slammed the water company for not fixing huge leaks.

Another huge water leak in London @thameswater what is happening ? https://t.co/6VpRozzo8L  Back in Time West London (@OldLondonW14) August 12, 2022

One man filmed a leak on his road that had been ongoing for more than a week.

In the video he shows the water that had ran down the road from the source, where there were two weeks.

He said that Thames Water said they would come and fix the leak on August 8 - but four days later they still had not come.

He said: 'Even though they called for a hosepipe ban because of the water shortage and the continued heat wave, we still have this.'

Currently around two billion gallons of water are wasted across the UK each day - 20 per cent of the countrys entire water use.

There are fears that hosepipe bans could last until October as a result of no meaningful rainfall being forecasted.

Temperatures over the weekend are expected to soar to over 36C, with many parts of England facing a level three heat alert.

One leak in Hanwell has claimed to have gone on for at least six months, creating calls for Thames Water to investigate the problem.

Yorkshire Water, which supplies five million, became the latest company to announce its first hosepipe ban in 27 years.

The temporary ban will begin on August 26 and anyone caught breaking the ban could be fined up to 1,000.

But people from Yorkshire have taken to Twitter to call on the company to fix the leaks leading water to run onto their roads before stopping residents using their hosepipes.

Another woman added that it was 'disgraceful' that Yorkshire Water had decided to impose a hosepipe ban when a leak near her home had not been fixed for more than three weeks.

The video shows part of a road cordoned off with yellow barriers, with a blue arrow painted on the ground pointing to where the leak is.

Although maintenance work looked like it had taken place, the water was still dripping onto the street.

@YorkshireWater hosepipe ban imminent and this leak still going strong for almost 3 weeks #leak #hosepipeban

Disgraceful pic.twitter.com/Nqkh1YVpNo  E (@Mally350z) August 10, 2022

In Kent and Sussex, 1.4 million are already under restrictions as a result of the South East Water ban that began today.

When a hosepipe ban is in place, people are not allowed to connect their hose to the mains water supply.

This means people will be banned from using a hosepipe to fill up paddling pools and swimming pools, cleaning the walls or windows of your home and washing cars.

@sewateruk Bit confused how you can let this leak continue from 1:30am this morning but still introduce a hosepipe ban from Friday. If there is such a shortage of water shouldnt we be stopping all leaks asap. Message me if you want location details to get someone to fix it. pic.twitter.com/AVedRGk2pV  Ashleigh (Quiche) (@PotterJane) August 10, 2022

One woman on Twitter said: 'Bit confused how you can let this leak continue from 1:30am this morning but still introduce a hosepipe ban from Friday.

'If there is such a shortage of water shouldnt we be stopping all leaks asap.'

Her video shows water spilling out of a pipe onto the road and flooding a nearby pavement.

Another showed a leak on Sittingbourne High Street in Kent.

The woman who posted the video claimed that at least 40,000 litres had been lost since the leak began.

New video for Wednesday in Sittingbourne High Street. The leak continues, at least 40,000 litres since yesterday @SouthernWater @Kent_Online pic.twitter.com/YREtiMwsxG  catherine beak (@beaky29) August 10, 2022

A week ago, people in South Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight as well as the Isle of Man had the ban imposed upon them under Southern Water's new restrictions - but leaks are still taking 'several weeks' to be fixed.

People in Pembrokeshires water use will be limited from August 19 Welsh Water announced.

One woman in Wales shared a video a drain over flooding and asked Welsh Water how they expect the public 'to care' about water waste 'when the company that manages doesn't.'

@DwrCymru Day 5 of water leak still not fixed. Welsh Water may be a not for profit but you don't seem to mind waste?Soon you will be asking us to save  our brooks and the Wye are very low, why should we care if the company who manages water doesn't? #waterwaste #drought22 pic.twitter.com/4SqfKJ3oNk  Rachel Fry (@rachbird75) August 9, 2022

Southern Water put people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight on a hosepipe ban last week. One woman questioned how one water leak had continued for a number of weeks without saving water at a time when 'we are supposed to be saving water'.

In Wales, one person said that a faulty water pipe had even caused a sinkhole on the side of the road.

The bans are being put in place after some parts of England experienced the driest July since records began and reservoirs fell to the lowest levels in 30 years.

Critics have called for the bosses of water companies not to get paid bonuses until they fix the mains leaks that are resulting in billions of litres of water from being wasted each day.

The Liberal Democrats and The River Trust charity want the Government to ban water company executives from getting an extra cash boost until the holes in leaking pipes are confirmed.

Analysis of Companies House records by the Lib Dems shows executives at England's water and sewage firms earned 48million in 2020 and 2021, including 27.6million in bonuses, benefits and incentives.

Southern Water, which brought in a hosepipe ban on Friday, paid its executives 3.4million in bonuses, despite having pumped raw sewage into rivers and failed to fix leaking pipes.

The National Drought Group - made up of Government and agency officials, water companies and other groups such as the National Farmers' Union (NFU) - is set to meet tomorrow to discuss the prolonged dry weather

Thames Water, which is threatening to bring in a hosepipe ban, has been caught up in a row about its failure to run a 250million desalination plant designed to deliver up to 100million litres of water a day during droughts. Its executives were paid around 5million despite the failure.

At the weekend, the firm, whose boss Sarah Bentley earned around 1.25million in pay and bonuses last year, asked Londoners to save water by taking shorter showers.

South East Water has brought in a hosepipe ban for some customers in Kent and Sussex and paid its bosses almost 646,000 in bonuses and benefits over the past two years.

Lib Dem rural affairs spokesman Tim Farron said: 'It is outrageous that whilst millions of people suffer from hosepipe bans, water company execs reward themselves with bonuses despite not even bothering to fix leaks. What on earth have they done to deserve these bonuses?

'Ministers are letting water firms get away with scandal after scandal. The public are sick of it. It is time someone stood up to these companies and demanded action. That should start with fixing these leaks, and then once and for all ending sewage pumping into waterways.'

An image of scorched Britain captured on July 10 showed how ongoing drought conditions have affected the country

Christine Colvin, of The Rivers Trust, said promising to reduce leaks by only 50 per cent by 2050 was 'ridiculously unambitious'.

She added: 'What constitutes good performance by water companies?

'They are really being rewarded for financial performance and their awards are not being linked to environmental performance.'

Water companies have only promised to halve leaks by 2050, despite predictions of a rise in droughts. Last month was the driest July in England since 1935, with just 35 per cent of its average rainfall for the month, while Wales only got 53 per cent.

In response to the complaints on social media, water companies have said that they are continuing to work on the leaks alerted to them by members of the public.

A spokesperson for Southern Water said: We would like to thank members of the public who report leaks to our network either by calling us, via social media, or via our website.

We fix hundreds of leaks every day  22,500 last year alone  working day and night to detect and repair pipes across an enormous network. These are prioritised according to severity. Visible leaks often do not lose as much water as hidden leaks on larger pipes buried deeper underground.

Were investing heavily in intelligent network technology to help us locate leaks faster, but customers still provide a vital service by alerting us.

Hosepipe bans will be place for more than 30 million people across England and Wales by the end of the month. But water companies are still coming under fire for not fixing leaks that are resulting in TWO BILLION litres of water being wasted each day.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said: Reducing water lost through leaks is one of our key priorities, we have reduced it by 50 per cent since our last hosepipe ban in 1995/6 and we are aiming to reduce it by a further five per cent by 2025.

Were working hard to fix leaky pipes all year round - this summer we also have extra people in our field teams and have adopted a seven-day working pattern so that we can find and fix leaks quicker.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: 'We know its not acceptable to be losing so much precious water but were doing something about it and our shareholders have recently approved an additional 2billion into the business so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health.

'Its not going to be quick, but were making progress and weve met our target to reduce leakage for the last three years, reducing the amount of water lost by 10.2 per cent since 2019/20.

'Our aim is to reduce our leakage by 20.4 per cent between 2020 and 2025 and in 2021/22 we fixed over 60,000 leaks, thats almost 1,200 on average every week.'
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More than 100 migrants including children arrived in Dover today after being intercepted by Border Force while making the dangerous crossing over the Channel from France.

A group of 39 migrants made up of young men and women and some older adults landed in the port at around 6.30am, followed hours later by another 100 asylum seekers.

The arrivals came a day after 261 migrants took advantage of calm conditions to risk the journey by small boat to the UK, bringing the total to have crossed during August to 2,608.

A group of 39 migrants arrived in Dover this morning after crossing the English Channel in small boats before being picked up by the Border Force and landing at Dover at around 7.30am

A second group of up to 100 migrants, including babies and young children, were escorted to the harbour on board Border Force cutter Hurricane at around 10am this morning. Pictured: A member of the Army holding a baby which arrived at Dover with the second group of migrants

A child wearing a tracksuit and trainers with an adult male being brought on land from the Border Force cutter Hurricane at around 10am this morning

The group of migrants which came into Dover this morning were wearing red life vests and most of them were pictured holding burgundy coloured towels

The group of 39 migrants appears to be comprised of mostly be young men and older male teenagers as well as several young women and older adults

Migrants were picked up in the English Channel by the Border Force vessel Ranger before landing at Dover Marina

The arrivals at Dover seemed relieved to reach the UK, with one man making a heart sign with his hands (pictured) while another gave a thumbs up to onlookers

Several migrants stood up and threw their arms in the air in glee as the boat approached the port, before being told to sit down by Border Force staff

The first mostly male group appeared cold, wrapping red and blue blankets around their shoulders as they walked along the gangway to be processed by UK officials.

Most of them wore disposable face masks as they entered Dover Marina after being picked up by the Border Force vessel Ranger.

Several of the people in the first group were wearing designer clothing. One man wearing a Tommy Hilfiger puffer jacket was photographed texting on a smartphone after he disembarked from the Border Force boat.

Two young men were also photographed wearing Nike branded jackets and a young female migrant wearing pink trousers was pictured carrying a leather handbag.

A second group of up to 100 migrants, including a baby and young children, were escorted to the harbour on board Border Force cutter Hurricane at around 10am this morning.

They seemed relieved to reach the UK, with one man making a heart sign with his hands while another gave a thumbs up to onlookers.

Several migrants stood up and threw their arms in the air in glee as the boat approached the port, before being told to sit down by Border Force staff.

A member of the Army dressed in camo uniform and a red life jacket was pictured holding a baby and then a toddler who both arrived with the second group of migrants at 10am.

This comes after Thursday (August 11) saw 261 migrants arrive in the UK in seven dinghies or other small craft - bringing the total for the year to 18,969, according to official MoD data.

The highest level of migrants crossings over the Channel so far this year was on August 1 when 696 migrants were intercepted at sea by Border Force in just 14 boats - an average of around 50 migrants per vessel.

A member of the Army dressed in camo uniform and a red life jacket held a baby and then a toddler (pictured) who both arrived with the second group of migrants at 10am

Figures released by the Ministry of Defence today show that 261 migrants crossed the English Channel in a total of seven small boats yesterday , August 11

A man wearing a Tommy Hilfiger puffer jacket (pictured) was photographed texting on a smartphone after he disembarked from the Border Force boat at Dover

The highest level of migrants crossings over the Channel so far this year was on August 1 when 696 migrants were intercepted at sea by Border Force in just 14 boats - an average of around 50 migrants per vessel

Two young men (one of pictured middle) were wearing Nike branded jackets and a young female migrant (left) wearing pink trousers was pictured carrying a leather handbag

A total of 18,969 migrants have sailed across the 21-mile Dover Straits in small boats so far this year, compared to 28,526 throughout the entirety of 2021 and 8,410 in 2020.

It comes after it was revealed this week how people traffickers have launched a 1,500-a-person 'summer sale' to cross the Channel illegally in a dinghy - mainly aimed at Albanians exploiting a loophole in UK anti-slavery laws - and advertised on TikTok with the promise: 'The French won't stop you - they will escort you safely until you reach the UK'.

Some 28,526 people made the treacherous journey in 2021 - compared to 8,410 who arrived in 2020, according to official government figures.

A Government spokesperson has previously said: 'The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

'Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws, but they risk lives and hinder our ability to help refugees who come to the UK through safe and legal routes.

'The Nationality and Borders Act will enable us to crack down on abuse of the system and the evil people smugglers, who will now be subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

'Under our new Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, we are continuing preparations to relocate those who are making dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys into the UK in order for their claims to be considered and rebuild their lives.'

It comes as, amid continuing calm waters and warm temperatures, 'never been cheaper' prices are being offered on social media with experts finding that at least a third of the 3,000 migrants who crossed from France in the past six weeks used one of the offers.

Multiple accounts have been discovered on TikTok selling Channel crossings and promising 'safe passage'

One of the TikTok accounts posted a video offering safe passage from Calais, northern France, for 5,000

MPs have demanded that ministers redouble their efforts to deport migrants to Rwanda following a surge in Albanians using small boats to enter Britain, lured in with cut prices and the promise: 'Hurry Albanians  England is waiting.'

The price of crossing the Channel appears to have dropped from close to 20,000 to between 5,000 and 3,500 per person. In some cases it has been as low as 1,500 to fill inflatable boats landing on the Kent coast.

One advert said: 'Don't pay 17,800-18,000. They are passing by every day, it has never been cheaper', while another shows a group in a dinghy grinning while holding the Albanian flag and promising safe passage to the UK for 5,000.

Albanians are understood to be using a loophole in UK anti-slavery laws by claiming that they are the victims of trafficking to Britain for forced work.

It is said to help them claim asylum despite their home country not suffering civil war since 1997.

Leaked figures have revealed migrants from the Balkan country now make up four in ten arrivals from northern France with 1,075 Albanians arriving in the UK aboard dinghies and small boats in the six weeks to July 12.

They made up 37.5 per cent of all migrants trafficked to the UK in small boats by gangs during the period  now eclipsing all other nationalities including Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians.

And TikTok is being used to lure them in with nine criminal gangs said to run the route to Britain. Experts are split, with some claiming it is a sale to coincide with the hot and dry summer Europe is enjoying while others believe it is 'a closing down sale as they [gangs] are getting scared that the Rwanda policy will take off'.

Tony Smith, former director general of Border Force, told the Telegraph: 'It may be the business model is struggling to handle new markets like Albania and may have to do a bit more of this sales pitch to encourage more people to do it.'

The 'summer sale' is said to be contributing to a rise in crossings. And now multiple accounts have been discovered on TikTok selling Channel crossings and promising 'safe passage' - along with advice on using the asylum system.
A Melbourne woman said she was coughing up blood and couldn't speak or swallow for a week after having a horror Nando's meal.

Madison, 30, swallowed a sharp object as she was eating a paella at the popular fast food chain before starting to choke.

After spending ten hours in hospital, the businesswoman emailed Nando's to tell them what happened.

She received a response a week later and was offered just a $13 voucher as compensation.

Business owner Madison said she ingested a sharp object while eating a Nando's paella (pictured) before coughing up blood in the bathroom moments later

Madison said she spent ten hours at Melbourne'e Alfred Hospital (pictured) after swallowing the sharp object

Describing what happened, she said the piece of glass was 'cutting her throat'.

'It was super sharp. It went down the middle of my oesophagus, and it felt like it was lodged there,' she told 9News.

She coughed up blood as the tried to bring the object back up and wasn't able to speak because of the pain.

'I couldn't talk - every time I said anything it felt like a piece of glass was cutting my throat.'

Her father took her to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne where she had an X-ray, a camera put down her throat and a CT scan - but nothing was found.

Doctors said the object could have passed through her throat but offered to put her to sleep while they investigated more.

But she said she didn't want to go into theatre since there were a lot of urgent surgeries happening.

She left after ten hours in hospital but couldn't speak or 'barely swallow' for a week after that.

'Every time I moved my tongue it felt like my throat was being pierced by something,' Madison said.

She said for a week after the ordeal, every time she moved her tongue it felt like her throat was being pierced by something (pictured, a stock photo)

Nando's said it was 'deeply sorry for the incident' but Madison said she thinks it is not taking the situation seriously (pictured, a popular Nando's meal)

She emailed Nando's to tell them what happened before being offered the compensation.

The chain told her it was conducting an internal investigation into the incident and was 'deeply sorry'.

Nando's also said it hoped the voucher was sufficient and thanked her for her patience and understanding.

Madison said getting the voucher was insulting and almost comical, saying she didn't think the fast food chain was taking it seriously.

She added she needs to see an ear, nose and throat specialist as she still has discomfort a month on - an appointment costs about $240.

She said she will not be eating there again.

A Nando's spokesperson said its response to what happened could have been better and will take steps to improve.

'Nando's takes food safety extremely seriously and has an internal team dedicated to reviewing, investigating, and responding to such queries,' a spokesperson told 9News.
The grief-stricken family of tragic Lilia Valutyte have shared a series of photos of the 'fun' and 'cheeky' schoolgirl, as they launched a fundraiser for a statue to be built in her honour.

The nine-year-old was mercilessly stabbed to death in front of her five-year-old sister on Fountain lane in Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 28, in a murder that shocked the nation.

Deividas Skebas, 22, a fruit picker from Lithuania, is set to stand trial after being charged with her murder, with a plea hearing scheduled for September 19.

An inquest heard Lilia died from a single stab wound and was identified by her stepfather.

Her mother, Lina Savicke, 35, worked in a recruitment office just yards away from where she was slain.

In the latest photos shared by her family, Lilia is seen dressed in a blue bubble suit, at a bike show in Boston, joking around in the kitchen, at an aquarium, and at a dance competition sharing a hug with her sister.

Ms Savicke told police: 'Lilia was grown in that street, every week she spent down there playing, and it happened next to the window.

Lilia Valutyte (pictured), aged nine, was mercilessly stabbed to death in front of her five-year-old sister on Fountain lane in Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 28, in a murder that shocked the nation

An inquest heard Lilia (pictured with her younger sister Liepa, aged three) died from a single stab wound and was identified by her stepfather

Plans for a statue will either incorporate the form of an angel with Lilia's face or will take her full likeness (Pictured: Lilia enjoying a day out at an aquarium)

'The memorial is a way for her to still be there, and we're now fundraising to get it.'

She added: 'It's hard to know what to say. She was just a normal child, one day she's happy and another she isn't, one day she wants to eat pancakes and another she doesn't - the usual things.

'She loved to dance, travel and try new things, and annoy her sister. She wanted to go to Italy, so we will probably go anyway next year.'

Lilia was born at Boston Pilgrim Hospital and most recently attended Boston Pioneers Academy in Fydell Crescent.

Her stepfather, Aurelijus Savickas added: 'She was cheeky; quiet in one way and then other ways she wasn't. She always tried to make fun.'

Plans for the statue will either incorporate the form of an angel with Lilia's face or will take her full likeness.

A fundraiser has been set up by a close family friend through a Just Giving appeal. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made.

Ms Savicke said: 'There are so many things we could say, but we are not going to talk a lot about who she was and share those stories from our home; they are ours and we want to keep them for us.

'You find yourself looking for her everywhere. We had four corners and now one is gone.'

Skebas appeared in court on Monday, August 1, charged with Lilia's murder in Boston.

Lilia, of Carlton Road, was confirmed dead at Pilgrim Hospital, in Boston, following an incident in Fountain Lane at about 6.20pm on Thursday, July 28, the inquest was told.

Skebas, of Thorold Street, Boston, was remanded in custody at Lincoln Crown Court. A plea hearing is set for September 19.

Ms Savicke previously told of how she was inside her embroidery shop on the day of her daughter's killing when she heard someone scream 'mum'.

She frantically ran outside to find Lilia bleeding from a stab wound as her distraught five-year-old sister stood next to her.

'I go out and see how my little girl was standing a metre away from the big one and she just bled to death,' Lina told the Sunday Mirror.

Lina revealed that the mother of Skebas, who is charged with Lilia's murder, has since called her to offer their support.

'His mother called... I heard he comes from a very good family. She promised to take care of everything that she is able to,' Lina said of her conversation with Skebas' mother Daiva.

Lilia Valutyte (pictured) was brutally stabbed to death outside her mother's embroidery shop in the town centre of Boston, Lincolnshire at around 6.20pm on Thursday, 28 July

Mother Lina Savicke says she has spoken to the mother of the man who has been accused of killing her daughter Lilia

Lithuanian national Deividas Skebas (left with his mother Daiva) has been remanded in custody accused of murdering the young girl, ahead of his next appearance at Lincoln Crown Court on September 19

CCTV footage shows Lilia playing with her younger sibling on a street in broad daylight with a hula hoop - which the pair often did while their mother was at work - before Lilia was attacked just ten minutes later at around 6.20pm.

Police officers could be seen running over to Lila followed by paramedics who rushed towards the little girl with their first-aid bags in a desperate bid to save her.

Shocked residents could then be seen gathering at the scene before an officer ushers them away.

Reliving the horrifying moment, Lina said she was at work in a recruitment office just yards away.

Everything happened just 'ten steps' away from her, she told The Sunday Mirror.

She said: 'On that fateful day I was giving a gift to my friend when the children were playing outside my windows.

'As I ran around the corner, I heard someone calling me, "Mum!"

'I go out and see how my little girl was standing a metre away from the big one and she just bled to death.'

The death of the nine-year-old girl has left local people in Boston in a 'profound shock'

The mother of Lithuanian national Deividas Skebas (pictured) said she will ' take care of everything that she is able to'

Lina told fellow Lithuanian mother Daiva, who is thought to own a florists in Lithuania, about the plan to collect donations but she said she 'did not have the money', the Delfi Plus news outlet reported.

An inquest this week heard Lilia died from a single stab wound and was identified by her stepfather.

Skebas came from the industrial city of Utena in north east Lithuania where members of his family still live.

He is said to have moved to the UK, and then returned to his home country, before arriving back in Boston recently - and has worked as a fruit picker while here.
A university course on French history and culture has been given a trigger warning because it 'may be upsetting to some students'.

The module called Qualified French Language, part of the French course at the University of Aberdeen, has a warning included in the course guide.

The course, which covers language skills, literature, film, the Second World War, France's colonial history and modern societal changes relating to migration and feminism - all which have been labeled as 'potentially challenging topics'.

The University of Aberdeen said that they believe 'every student is different' and therefore 'do not seek to tell them what they should or should not find challenging.'

French history and culture have been given a trigger warning in a university module called Qualified French Language because they 'may be upsetting to some students'

Students on the course are also told to expect discussion around the Francophonie, essentially the near-equivalent of the Commonwealth for French-speaking nations.

Today, the Francophonie represents a global community of French-speaking people, comprising a network of private and public organizations promoting equal ties among countries where French people or France played a significant historical role, culturally, militarily, or politically.

The 'content warning' for the module says: 'Some of the course content (for instance the climate crisis, responses to terrorism, family relationships, post-colonial patterns which the themes of Francophonie and the diversity of France and French might bring up, homophobia) may be upsetting to some students.'

The module will cover World War II. Pictured: Escaped French soldiers arriving in London

France's colonial history will also be taught. Pictured here is a French resistance group

Undergraduate students are also reminded that, should they be triggered by any of the course content, they should reach out for support if they need it.

The warning adds: 'tutors have been briefed to approach potentially challenging topics sensitively, and you are encouraged to contact your tutor or course coordinator if you anticipate any difficulties during the oral class, or in connection to any task across this course'.

One module that is included in the content warning covers 'gender, sexuality, love and marginalisation in contemporary France' with added context in 18th century French culture onwards.

Students are also told to expect discussion around the Francophonie, essentially the near-equivalent of the Commonwealth for French-speaking nations

The university documents also point out that 'potentially challenging topics are engaged with across the course, from the texts to be understood or translated to the topics discussed in oral classes and videos studied'.

Some users took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the warning, with one commenting: 'That woke bastion, the university of Aberdeen, has given students a trigger warning that courses on French history and culture may be upsetting. Les pauvres!'

The French trigger warning is one of a number of cautionary notes put out by the university, and comes as university bosses have been accused of patronising and 'mollycoddling' students.

More than 1,000 texts across UK universities have been slapped with trigger warnings or removed from reading lists due to their 'challenging' content.

An investigation has revealed at least ten institutions  including three from the elite Russell Group  have either withdrawn books or made them optional in case they harm or offend undergraduates.

Even the work of literary greats such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie have been given trigger warnings.



Undergraduate students are told to reach out for support if they need it

Prof Frank Furedi, of the University of Kent, told The Telegraph: 'It is troubling that a line is drawn around things which arise in course material.

'It becomes almost like a quarantine, isolating phenomena like wars and conflict, and all those things which go into creating history and culture, because they are deemed a threat to the health of young people.

'The risk is that subjects become so anesthetised that they are about as interesting as a phonebook. Young people should be going to university to be challenged.'

A University of Aberdeen spokesperson said: 'The content warning applies to one module of our French Studies programme, where students discuss French-language texts on a range of topics related to Francophone society, and embracing a wide range of issues which can include themes of colonialism, homophobia, and familial issues of a sensitive nature. The texts are not fixed, and change from year to year.

'Our approach to content warnings enables us to explore controversial topics that could otherwise be difficult to address in an inclusive and supportive environment.

'Our guidelines on content warnings were developed in collaboration with student representatives and students have expressed their admiration for our approach.

'We are an international university with students from over 130 countries and as such there is a wide range of cultural diversity with students sometimes reading in a second, or third language.

'Our content warnings reflect the fact that every student is different, and do not seek to tell them what they should or should not find challenging.'
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has ridiculed the Globe Theatre's portrayal of Joan of Arc as non-binary after women's rights campaigners said the switch was 'insulting and damaging'.

Ms Rowling is a long-time campaigner of women's rights and has spoken out over concerns on transgender people having access to women-only spaces.

MailOnline's exclusive yesterday on Shakespeare's Globe Theatre's new portrayal of Joan of Arc as non-binary and using the pronouns 'they/them' has sparked extensive backlash from feminists and historians.

And while Ms Rowling's entry to the debate was the lightest of touches, it will be seen as hugely significant to supporters of her views and causes.

It came after a Twitter user criticised The Globe's new I, Joan production.

Her remark of 'Coming next: Napoleon was a woman because he was defeated at Waterloo' was liked by Ms Rowling on the social media timeline.

It came moments after Heather Binning from Women's Rights Network told MailOnline the play was damaging to women.

She said: 'This demonstrates just how our arts and creative industries have taken on the woke mantle without realising that 'being kind' to one group of people actually hurts and damages another important and fundamental group.

'Joan of Arc was female. Her early years were spent cooking and cleaning and looking after the animals. When she was 10 she had a vision that she was to fight for France. In order to do this she took on the outward appearance of being male.

'This had nothing to do with 'feelings' and everything to do with the biological reality and disadvantage that being female brought. Many women throughout the ages have had to adopt 'maleness' in order to be taken seriously and advance their ambition.

Harry Potter writer JK Rowling is a long-time campaigner of women's rights often speaking out

Ms Rowling's liked a tweet ridiculing the new no-binary Joan of Arc production at The Globe

Rehearsals of the new play which opens later this month at Shakespeare's The Globe Theatre

A publicity picture for the new play at The Globe, which has prompted some controversy

'To rewrite female history is an insult. Using they\them pronouns for an individual is grammatically incorrect and ugly, and confusing to many in society who struggle with language.'

This morning feminist academics said the twist on Joan 'was modern nonsensical ideology'.

Dr Sarah Rutherford said the idea the historical heroine could be no-binary was insulting.

She said: 'This offends me. Joan of Arc is a female cultural icon.

'She was escaping the constraints of being a woman at that time. Non binary, I have been told, means neither male or female.

'We know she was a woman. Please stop applying a modern nonsensical ideology to historical figures.'

Dr Sarah Rutherford said Joan of Arc was a 'female cultural icon' and non-binary label offensive

The Globe Theatre, on the South Bank in London, is one of the word's most famous attractions

French say new portrayal is 'insulting' Joan of Arc devotees in France have spoken with horror about the depiction at a British theatre, Peter Allen writes. A new production of I, Joan is billed as questioning the gender binary of the Saint, who is revered across France. This is playing with history, said Francois Durand, an 82-year-old retired civil servant who was visiting the famous gold statue of Joan in the centre of Paris on Friday. Joan of Arc is first and foremost a Catholic saint, and somebody who represents heroism, Mr Durand added. Her sexuality is irrelevant. Franco Spano, a 21-year-old student, agreed that the portrayal sounded insulting and stupid. Mr Spano added: It just doesnt make any sense at all  just sensationalism. And another visitor to the statue who asked to be referred to solely by her first name of Noelle, said: This just sounds ridiculous  of course its wrong. Joan of Arc is a national hero in France after saving her country from the English during the Hundred Years War in the 15th Century. Advertisement

MP Rosie Duffield said: 'Misogyny, and the erasure of women - our words, our privacy, our stories, our history, our spaces, dressed up as 'Art', 'Politics' or 'Academia' is still misogyny.'

And Victoria Smith called out the Globe for its defence of the upcoming production.

She wrote online: 'You're right, you won't be the first or the last to decide gender non-conforming women aren't really women.

'It's called sexism.'

Ann Widdecombe, former Conservative MP and a Catholic herself, told MailOnline holy figures in religion should be treated with respect.

She said: 'It is insulting when people play around with the saints just because they want to make some kind of point.

'It is a farce beyond measure. Joan of Arc was a woman. There is no evidence she thought of herself in any other way.

'She was a woman, how on earth someone can suggest she was non-binary is beyond me. This play is effectively de-womanising her.

'They are effectively re-writing history, I think she would have laughed at it in utter scorn while Shakespeare would have clutched his head in disbelief.'

Women's Equality Party leader Sophie Walker added: 'When I was a little girl, Joan of Arc presented thrilling possibilities about what one young girl could do against massed ranks of men.

'Rewriting her as not female and presenting it as progress is a massive disappointment.'

The theatre has defended itself - confirming the titular figure 'Uses the pronouns 'they/them' in the show - but insisted Shakespeare would have approved.

Pre publicity for the upcoming show says Joan is non-binary and uses pronouns 'they' or 'them'

MP Rosie Duffield and Women's Equality Party leader Sophie Walker criticised the play

The life of Joan of Arc Joan of Arc was born in 1412 into a pious Catholic family of peasants. She began to hear voices at the age of 13 and believed God had chosen her to lead France to Victory against England in the 100 Years War. She convinced Charles of Valois to let her lead the army to the besieged city of Orleans, where it was victorious. But after the prince became King Charles VII, Joan was captured by English allies, the Burgundians. She was tried for witchcraft, heresy and dressing as a man, among 70 charges, History.com reported. Keen to distance himself from the accused witch, Charles VII didn't come to her aid. Joan initially said she had heard voices and saw visions of saints, but under duress, she relented on her claims she had ever received divine guidance in her mission to put Charles on the throne. The story goes that she went against orders by wearing men's clothes days after doing this and was sentenced to death as a result. She was burned at the stake in the market place of Rouen at just 19 years old, in 1431. Some 20 years later, however, a new trial ordered by Charles VII cleared her name Joan of Arc was canonized in 1920 and is one of history's most famous saints. Advertisement

Joan has been adopted as a feminist icon and for the suffragette movement was even featured on their posters.

Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, told MailOnline yesterday: 'Playwrights are allowed to have a bit of poetic license but I think what is interesting about the play is that it very much falls in with the idea of rewriting history.

'The reinterpretation violates the historical reality. It's plundering history to legitimise views in the here and now.

'Someone like Joan of Arc would not have any idea what non-binary was. It is a recharacterisation of something that did not even exist at the time.

'It completely violates the meaning of history  it's the projecting of a fantasy backwards.

'I imagine in time someone will suggest Jane Austen was transgender or George Elliot was non-binary.

'It completely violates the meaning of history  it's the projecting of a fantasy backwards.

'For French patriots Joan of Arc is someone very special. Her role was all the more heroic because she was a woman.'

Debates about gender identity currently ongoing mean the move by the Globe - which was given 3million of taxpayers' money in 2020 to help it through the pandemic - is sure to prompt controversy.

It is not clear whether the play was commissioned or funded by the Globe itself. Isobel Thom plays the title role.

The play is written by Charlie Josephine who is non-binary and whose website says uses the pronouns they/he.

In an interview about I, Joan, the writer said of the production: 'It's going to be this big sweaty, queer, revolution, rebellion, festival of like joy.

'It's a big story, on a big stage, Joan of Arc was this incredible historical figure.

'Joan was this working class, young person, who was transgressing gender at a time when it as really dangerous and that just felt instantly relatable to me.

Joan is to be played in the new I,Joan show by Isobel Thom and directed by Ilinca Radulian

Joan of Arc is one of the most famous and inspirational women in French history and a saint

Theatre artistic director Michelle Terry insists Shakespeare 'would have approved' 'Shakespeare did not write historically accurate plays. He took figures of the past to ask questions about today's world. Our writers of today are doing no different, whether that's looking at Ann Boleyn, Nell Gwynn, Emilia Bassano, Edward II, or Joan of Arc. 'The Globe is a place of imagination. A place where, for a brief amount of time, we can at least consider the possibility of world's elsewhere. We have had entire storms take place on stage, the sinking of ships, twins who look nothing alike being believable, and even a Queen of the fairies falling in love with a donkey. 'Shakespeare's Globe proudly presents a new play, I, Joan with Joan as a legendary leader, who in this production, uses the pronouns 'they/them'. The production is still being created and opens on 25 August in the open-air Globe Theatre. We are not the first to present Joan in this way, and we will not be the last. To respond specifically to the use of pronouns, the use of 'they' to refer to a singular person has been traced by the Oxford English Dictionary to as early as 1375, years before Joan was even born. But theatres do not deal with 'historical reality'. Theatres produce plays, and in plays, anything can be possible. 'Joan's army will be made of hundreds of 'Groundlings' standing in the Yard, all coming to watch a play for 5 - the most accessible ticket price in London theatre. We hope this 5 ticket invites as many people as possible to come and have an opinion of their own, and even if we don't agree with each other, still show kindness, curiosity, and respect. 'It was no accident that Shakespeare moved his playhouse beyond the jurisdiction of the London City Walls. He wanted to play. Play with identity, power, with the idea of pleasure, and with all sides of an argument. Shakespeare had the capacity to imagine the lives of 1,223 characters, he could understand perspectives and differences and express them so beautifully that we still enjoy his work over 400 years later. 'For centuries, Joan has been a cultural icon portrayed in countless plays, books, films, etc. History has provided countless and wonderful examples of Joan portrayed as a woman. This production is simply offering the possibility of another point of view. That is the role of theatre: to simply ask the question 'imagine if?'.' Advertisement

'I was assigned female at birth. I'm non-binary, I'm from a working class background. I've often felt like I've had something to say and haven't been given permission to say it.

'So to get an opportunity to write a play about a character, that's also trying to do that, I was like, uh it's too good to be true really.

'So it's like a huge, huge thing that I want to get right and I really care about.'

Director Ilinca Radulian added: 'We're just trying to do something that puts people in Joan's shoes, in Joan's body, like, with that mission, with those questions and with that sense of possibility.

'We want to take the audience on a journey of discovery with Joan.'

Charlie continued: 'It's like an expansion of a historical figure, yeah and I hope that opens up new possibilities for empathy and new possibilities for understanding for everyone.

Michelle Terry, artistic director of the Globe, said the production was asking the audience to consider something different.

She said: 'Shakespeare did not write historically accurate plays. He took figures of the past to ask questions about today's world. Our writers of today are doing no different, whether that's looking at Ann Boleyn, Nell Gwynn, Emilia Bassano, Edward II, or Joan of Arc.

'The Globe is a place of imagination. A place where, for a brief amount of time, we can at least consider the possibility of world's elsewhere. We have had entire storms take place on stage, the sinking of ships, twins who look nothing alike being believable, and even a Queen of the fairies falling in love with a donkey.

'Shakespeare's Globe proudly presents a new play, I, Joan with Joan as a legendary leader, who in this production, uses the pronouns 'they/them'. The production is still being created and opens on 25 August in the open-air Globe Theatre. We are not the first to present Joan in this way, and we will not be the last. To respond specifically to the use of pronouns, the use of 'they' to refer to a singular person has been traced by the Oxford English Dictionary to as early as 1375, years before Joan was even born. But theatres do not deal with 'historical reality'. Theatres produce plays, and in plays, anything can be possible.

'Joan's army will be made of hundreds of 'Groundlings' standing in the Yard, all coming to watch a play for 5 - the most accessible ticket price in London theatre. We hope this 5 ticket invites as many people as possible to come and have an opinion of their own, and even if we don't agree with each other, still show kindness, curiosity, and respect.

'It was no accident that Shakespeare moved his playhouse beyond the jurisdiction of the London City Walls. He wanted to play. Play with identity, power, with the idea of pleasure, and with all sides of an argument. Shakespeare had the capacity to imagine the lives of 1,223 characters, he could understand perspectives and differences and express them so beautifully that we still enjoy his work over 400 years later.

'For centuries, Joan has been a cultural icon portrayed in countless plays, books, films, etc. History has provided countless and wonderful examples of Joan portrayed as a woman. This production is simply offering the possibility of another point of view. That is the role of theatre: to simply ask the question 'imagine if?'.'
Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, is suing German parliament

Former German leader Gerhard Schroeder, who has become increasingly derided in Germany for his pro-Russian views, is suing the country's parliament in an effort to reinstate his post-retirement perks as the ex-chancellor.

Schroeder, 78, was stripped of his right to a publicly funded office in May, amid mounting dismay at his refusal to distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has long had a close relationship with Russian energy companies and Putin.

Schroeder's lawyer Michael Nagel told German news agency DPA on Friday that he had filed a suit with the Berlin administrative court.

Former German leader Gerhard Schroeder, who has become increasingly derided in Germany for his pro-Russian views, is suing the country's parliament in an effort to reinstate his post-retirement perks as the ex-chancellor. Pictured: Schroeder (left) with Putin in 2011 in Russia

The court filing, seen by DPA, said that the decision to close Schroeder's office and reallocate its remaining staff was 'rather reminiscent of an absolutist princely state in terms of the way they were made' and should not be allowed to stand in a democratic constitutional country.

The Bundestag said it had not yet received the suit from the court and could not comment further.

The Bundestag had changed the rules in May to link some privileges former chancellors receive to their actual duties. In their decision, lawmakers didnt explicitly state Schroeder's ties to Russia.

But Nagel told dpa that the reasons for the change were obvious and wouldn't withstand legal challenge.

While chancellor from 1998 to 2005, Schroeder forged the relationship with Putin that came to overshadow much of his career. Schroeder called Putin a close personal friend, and they spent long hours in discussion over drinks.

Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, has long had a close relationship with Russian energy companies and Putin (pictured together in St. Petersburg in Russia in 2012

He travelled to Moscow in late July for a meeting with Putin, after which he said that Russia wanted a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy branded Schroeder's behaviour as 'disgusting'.

A champion of the Nord Stream pipeline which carries Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, Schroeder is chairman of the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream AG, operator of the pipeline majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom, according to LinkedIn.

After intense criticism, Schroeder stood down in May from the board of Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft and declined a nomination for a board position at Gazprom.

Earlier this week, Schroeder survived a move at the local chapter of his Social Democrat party to expel him, with a committee saying there was no evidence that he had broken party rules.
McDonald's has said it will reopen branches in Ukraine to restore an 'important sense of normalcy' in the country six months after restaurants closed when Russia invaded.

It said on Thursday that it will reopen some restaurants in Kyiv and western Ukraine, where businesses are trading away from the fighting. Businesses open in Kyiv include Nike, KFC and Mango.

McDonald's closed its Ukrainian restaurants because of the war but has continued to pay more than 10,000 employees in the country.

Its decision to reopen some of the branches is also a symbol of support for Ukraine after it suspended McDonald's operations in Russia in March.

The company closed its Ukrainian restaurants but has continued to pay more than 10,000 McDonald's employees in the country. Pictured: A closed McDonald's restaurant in February in Kyiv

It said on Thursday that it will reopen some restaurants in Kyiv and western Ukraine, where businesses are trading away from the fighting. Pictured: The aftermath of a rocket strike in Kharkiv

Paul Pomroy, corporate senior vice president of international operated markets said in a message to employees: 'We've spoken extensively to our employees who have expressed a strong desire to return to work and see our restaurants in Ukraine reopen.

'In recent months, the belief that this would support a small but important sense of normalcy has grown stronger.'

There are 109 McDonald's branches in Ukraine but the company has not said how many would open, when or which would welcome back customers first.

Paul Pomroy, corporate senior vice president of international operated markets, pictured, said in a message to employees that staff have expressed a 'strong desire' to return to work

The company said that over the next few months, it will work with vendors to get supplies into restaurants, prepare stores and bring back employees as well as launching safety procedures as the war rages to the east.

McDonald's decision to reopen in Ukraine comes after the country was severely damaged economically by the war.

Restarting businesses, even in a limited capacity, would help. It has been predicted by The International Monetary Fund that Ukraine's economy could shrink by 35 per cent this year.

McDonald's sold its 850 restaurants in Russia to a franchise owner after the country invaded Ukraine. Pictured: A closed McDonald's in Podolsk outside Moscow in May

Meanwhile, McDonald's has sold its 850 restaurants in Russia to a franchise owner. It comes three decades after the company opened its first location in Moscow, which became a powerful symbol of easing Cold War tensions.

After shutting Russian locations of the fast-food restaurant in March, the company lost around $55 million per month.

Selling its Russian restaurants was the first time the company had 'de-arched,' or exited a major market.

Alexander Govor bought thousands of the former McDonald's restaurants in Russia and has been reopening them under the name Vkusno-i Tochka, or Tasty-full stop.
A 'drunk' bear was found slumped in a forest and given a lift to the vet after gorging on hallucinogenic 'mad honey' in Turkey.

In the footage, taken in the Yigilca district of Duzce Province, the bear wobbled and whined and stared into space as she sat belly-up in the back of a pick-up truck, after people rescued her from the forest yesterday.

The mad honey which she had ingested, called 'deli bal' in Turkish, is a type of rhododendron honey that can have hallucinogenic effects.

The bear was gasping for breath as she suffered the after effects of gorging on the honey.

She was brought to a vet for treatment and will be released into the wild in the coming days, according to local authorities, and is in good condition.

In the footage, taken in the Yigilca district of Duzce Province, the bear wobbled and whined as she sat belly-up in the back of a pick-up truck after ingesting the 'mad honey'

The cub was found by forester Yasin Oztas, who told local media that they took her to Ducze National Parks and Nature Conservation Branch Directorate. She was found sitting on the ground

The bear was taken to a vet for treatment, pictured, and is in a good condition. She will be released into the wild in the coming days

The cub was found by forester Yasin Oztas, who told local media that they took her to Ducze National Parks and Nature Conservation Branch Directorate.

Mr Oztas explained that villagers said the day before that a mother and her two cubs were travelling through the area.

He continued: 'While we were carrying out our forest protection control activities, we saw a bear cub lying on the ground in a lethargic way.'

At first the group were afraid but quickly realised the young cub was unwell.

The Ministry said in a statement yesterday: 'Our baby brown bear, who is exhausted in Duzce, is in good health, and our teams continue their treatment.'

The bear was disorientated and stared into space while sitting in the back of the pick-up truck

Citizens were also asked to suggest a suitable name for the bear.

Bee expert Dr Meral Kekecoglu, the Associate Director of the Duzce University Beekeeping Research, Development and Application Centre, explained the dangers of mad honey to local media.

Dr Kekecoglu said: 'It has benefits, but it can also lead to death.'

He added that types of hallucinogenic honey, made with chestnut, or rhododendron, and others with linden, can have different results.

The Dr explained that depending on the chemical content of the honey, the effects can differ greatly.

Dr Kekecoglu went on: 'If the amount of grayanotoxin is very high, it shows a blood pressure lowering effect and even starts to hallucinate the person who consumes it.

'|Therefore, it can reach a very dangerous level in people who consume it. The situation can be very dire.

Citizens were asked to suggest a name for the 'drunk' bear after its rescue. Pictured: The bear lay on the ground when it was found

'It is necessary to be very careful when consuming rhododendron honey. It has benefits, but it can lead to consequences that can lead to death.

'It is questioned whether it is possible to have such an effect on a bear, but it can.

'If it creates such an effect even on a bear, think about how much effect it can have on a person when they consume too much.'

Gayanotoxins are a family of neurotoxins that are found in various plant species.

Dr Kekecoglu said that when consumed in a controlled way, honey with this substance can help people suffering from hypertension and asthma.

The Turkish General Directorate of Forestry said in a statement, also on Thursday: 'Our forest rangers on patrol found this ecstatic bear cub.

'We think it's had a little too much honey, according to initial estimates.'
U.S. federal agents searched former President Donald Trump's Florida home this week in search of records pertaining to nuclear weapons, a Washington Post report stated.

The article published on Thursday may also cast doubt on Republican lawmakers who blasted a search they claimed was more indicative of a totalitarian regime while awaiting case-specific information.

The report that FBI agents searched Donald Trump's Florida house for nuclear weapons-related sensitive information could aid to explain the urgency of the extraordinary search at the home of an ex-president and intensify his dispute with the Justice Department.

The most recent information further escalates the stakes of an escalating legal dispute when Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday called the former president's bluff and, in an uncommon move, asked a judge to unseal the search warrant and inventory of material found from Trump's house.

A Matter of National Security

Garland's politically fraught action of ordering FBI agents into the home of a former president may have been motivated by the alleged presence of nuclear weapons documents at Mar-a-Lago, as collecting them would be perceived as a national security priority.

The Post's report's revelations came on yet another unusual day that reenacted the chaos and accusations of Trump's presidency and forged bitter new political rifts in advance of the former President's inevitable bid for the White House.

Federal authorities were reportedly searching Trump's resort for sensitive materials pertaining to nuclear weapons, among other things per the report.

The report cited sources familiar with the case but they didn't go into great detail about the documents or say whether they pertained to nuclear weapons that belonged to the US or to another country, according to CNN..

Read Also: Russia-China Ties Grow Closer as Beijing Blames US of Being "Main Instigator" of Ukraine War

The question of why a previous president would require such closely-guarded secrets after leaving office will be raised, however, if it turns out that Trump did take such documents from the White House.

Government officials would be concerned about the probability that such information would be kept in an unprotected location where people come and go and where it might be exposed to intrusion by a foreign intelligence outfit.

Trump Calls Raid 'unAmerican'

The former President declared late on Thursday that he will not object to the disclosure of information pertaining to the "unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in" of his residence. However, Donald Trump did not specifically state which records he would be willing to see made public.

Furthermore, the FBI search was lawfully sanctioned by a warrant signed by a court that would have needed to find probable cause that a crime had been committed. Hence it was not a break-in.

Other media outlets The New York Times, CBS, the Washington Post, CNN, and NBC have requested that the court make all information regarding the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago public.

While in the White House, Trump was particularly fascinated with the US nuclear arsenal and boasted about having access to top-secret intelligence.

According to a report from The Guardian, in the summer of 2017, he allegedly demanded an arsenal 10 times larger than what it was at its peak during the Cold War, which prompted the then-secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, to call him a "moron."

Trump also made a bold threat to destroy Afghanistan and North Korea.

Related Article: President Joe Biden's Advisers Plot 2024 Presidential Campaign Early To Set Up Potential Rematch with Donald Trump

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A double murderer who was acquitted in the nineties and went on to kill again has been jailed for life in a legal first.

Rickie Tregaskis, 53, was originally cleared by a jury in 1991 of killing Barbara Griffin, 59, and attempting to kill her aunt Emma Anton, then 85, at Mrs Griffin's home in St Helier, Jersey in August 1990.

Seven years later, Tregaskis went on to commit a further unprovoked murder of Michael Josey in Mevagissey, Cornwall, who he kicked to death after he had 'looked at him in a funny way.'

Rickie Tregaskis, 53, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, will now spend life in prison - the second life sentence he has been handed

The families of the victims say they have finally got justice after Tregaskis was jailed on Thursday for a minimum of 20 years.

Speaking outside the court after the verdict, Cheryl Lowe, the daughter of Mrs Griffin, said her mother could now 'rest in peace'.

She said: 'We've waited 30 years for this, 32 years almost. It means everything, my mother can now rest in peace, we've waited all this time and now everybody knows who murdered my mother.'

Barbara Griffin (left) was murdered by Tregaskis while defending her elderly aunt Emma Anton during a frenzied knife attack

It was the first case of its kind in Jersey since the Channel Island changed its double jeopardy law in 2019, allowing a retrial after acquittal, bringing it into line with the UK.

The killer, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, will now spend life in prison, the second life sentence he has been handed.

During a trial in May this year, the Royal Court in Jersey heard that Tregaskis entered Mrs Griffin's ground floor flat, which her aunt was visiting, on the night of 2 August 1990.

He stabbed Ms Anton in her sleep during a frenzied attack as Mrs Griffin bravely tried to save her aunt.

The 85-year-old miraculously survived after being stabbed repeatedly in her left side but Mrs Griffin received a fatal wound to her heart while rushing to her rescue.

Though police arrested Tregaskis and charged him with the killing and assault five days later on 7 August 1990, a jury unanimously found him not guilty in his 1991 trial.

But this week, 31 years after the crime, Tregaskis was finally convicted of murder and attempted murder following a 2012 cold case review and re-investigation.

It comes after an eight-day retrial at the Royal Court, where the jury found him guilty by a majority verdict.

Mrs Griffin lived in St Helier, Jersey, where the law has recently changed to allow a retrial following acquittal

As part of the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Gary Wyatt, Mr Josey's nephew, said his uncle would have still been alive if justice had been served first time around.

'I hope he is given a whole-life term to ensure he never sets foot outside prison again,' Mr Wyatt said.

'I know he now has a disability but he also has psychopathic tendencies and I still believe he is a danger to the public.

'After he had been released for other offences in the past he went on to attack people. And there could still be offences out there which he has never been convicted of.

'I do believe that if he is ever released he will attack again - he has nothing to lose.

'I hope the sentencing judge today also understands that if Tregaskis had been convicted the first time around then my uncle would still be alive today.'

The case was referred to the Jersey Court of Appeal earlier this year, which subsequently quashed the acquittal, beginning a new trial on 26 April 2022.

Speaking after the sentencing, a spokesperson for Jersey Police said: 'Today's sentencing marks the end of what has been a long and challenging re-investigation into the horrific attack in the early hours of Thursday 2 August 1990 when Emma Anton was viciously stabbed as she lay in her bed, and her niece Barbara Griffin murdered as she came to her aunt's assistance.

'Hopefully today's sentence will go some significant way to help Barbara and Emma's families feel that justice has finally been served after 32 years.

'Tregaskis committed what can only be described as an unprovoked, vicious and cowardly act against two women, aged 59 and 85 years, in what should have been the safety of their home in the middle of the night.

'Thankfully, due to the courage and moral fortitude of a number of people who testified during the trial, Tregaskis has finally faced justice for his heinous actions.'

Tregaskis was arrested less than a week after killing Barbara but the subsequent trial was dogged by setbacks, including the star prosecution witness refusing to attend and fleeing to the UK.

After his release, he continued his life of violent crime and was later jailed for six and a half years for a number of offences, including stabbing a doorman.

Tregaskis was released on licence in February 1997 on the condition he lived with his father in Mevagissey, where just weeks later he kicked Mr Josey to death.

Tregaskis was released on licence in February 1997 on the condition he lived with his father in Mevagissey, where just weeks later he murdered again

He was sentenced to life in 1999 with a minimum tariff of 20 years but remains in prison after he was refused parole.

Senior Investigating Officer, Lee Turner added: 'Over the years that this investigation took place, Barbara and Emma's families have demonstrated patience, understanding and support to the police for which I'm extremely grateful, and I'm pleased that today's sentence may help to begin their own healing process.

'I'd like to personally express my sincere gratitude to the witnesses who testified recently, for their courage in supporting the investigation and for facing the ordeal of giving evidence in court, and to the invaluable input and support of my colleague Clyde Till who has worked alongside me throughout the entirety of this re-investigation, and without whom this outcome may very well have been different.

'I also want to express recognition and gratitude to the original investigation team in 1990 who worked so hard to try and get justice for Barbara and Emma, and whose efforts provided a solid platform on which this re-investigation could build and develop, some of those officers sadly no longer being with us to see this conclusion.'
Boris Johnson is taking legal advice ahead of a fresh Partygate grilling as he bids to avoid being kicked out the House of Commons for misleading MPs, it has emerged.

The Prime Minister, who has little more than three weeks left in power, is said to have sought guidance before his upcoming appearance in front of the Privileges Committee.

The cross-party group of MPs have launched a probe into Mr Johnson's past denials of Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street.

They have previously warned the PM that he faces losing his seat in the Commons if he's punished as a result of their investigation into his Partygate 'lies'.

The Committee is due to haul Mr Johnson before them in person when Parliament returns from its summer recess, in order to quiz the PM under oath about his knowledge of Downing Street parties.

According to The Times, Mr Johnson is taking both legal and political advice on what to tell the Committee.

The newspaper reported that senior figures in Number 10 have accepted the Committee will find Mr Johnson was wrong to have told MPs last year that 'no Covid rules were broken' and 'all guidance was followed' in Downing Street.

Police have issued 126 fines - including to the PM himself - for breaches of Coronavirus regulations in Government buildings.

But Mr Johnson is said to hope that by arguing he did not deliberately lie to MPs, he can escape a suspension of more than 10 days from the Commons.

This would avoid the prospect of the PM having to face a by-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency.

The Privileges Committee is due to haul Boris Johnson before them when Parliament returns from its summer recess, in order to quiz the PM over his Partygate denials

Mr Johnson told MPs last year that 'no Covid rules were broken' and 'all guidance was followed' in Downing Street

Police have issued 126 fines - including to the PM himself for his 56th birthday bash in Number 10 - for breaches of Coronavirus regulations in Government buildings

'It is a foregone conclusion that he is found to have misled parliament,' a source told the newspaper. 'Whether it is knowingly or not might affect the sanction.'

Under the Recall of MPs Act, an MP becomes subject to a recall petition if they are suspended from the Commons for two weeks, or 10 sitting days.

A by-election is then triggered in an MP's constituency if more than 10% of local voters sign the recall petition.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, recently confirmed that Mr Johnson could face a recall process as part of the Committee's probe.

Allies of the PM have recently begun a campaign to halt what they have branded as a 'rigged' inquiry and urged Tory members of the Committee to quit their roles.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, one of Mr Johnson's most loyal supporters, lashed out at the fresh Partygate probe as an 'egregious abuse of power' and described it as a 'witch hunt'.

But two senior members of the Committee today hit back at the brickbats from the PM's allies, which have unsettled a number of Conservatives.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, one of Mr Johnson's most loyal supporters, has branded the Committee's probe a 'witch hunt'

Labour's Harriet Harman, the chair of the Committee, and veteran Tory backbencher Sir Bernard Jenkin wrote in The Times: 'Recent efforts to undermine the work of the Committee represent an attempt to undermine the procedures which the House has established to hold the members to account.

'The House should be reluctant to allow intimidation and the targeting of individuals to subvert the proper processes. We will not let this succeed.'

There have been claims that the Committee has 'moved the goalposts' by changing their inquiry's terms of reference, after they took advice that suggested whether or not Mr Johnson intended to mislead MPs was not a factor that needed to be considered.

The Committee also recently dismissed suggestions that their investigation was no longer necessary since Mr Johnson has now announced his resignation as PM.

Ms Harman and Sir Bernard added: 'There have been unfounded allegations about goalposts being moved and rules changed. But this is inaccurate.

'No rules or terms of reference have been changed at any point, and the Committee is carrying out this inquiry as instructed by the House and according to the rules of the House.'
Sweden has bowed to Turkish demand and agreed to extradite a fraud suspect after Ankara threatened to freeze Stockholm's bid to join the NATO military alliance.

The move is the first known extradition since Turkey threatened to block the applications of Sweden and neighbouring Finland earlier this year.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May, setting aside their longstanding stance of military nonalignment.

It was a major shift of security arrangements for the two countries after neighbouring Russia launched its war on Ukraine in late February - which caused public opinion in the two Nordic countries to swing in favour of joining the alliance.

However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to block the two nations from NATO membership unless they meet several demands, including the extradition of people Ankara considers 'terrorists'.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured during a NATO summit in Spain in June) has threatened to block Sweden and Finland from NATO membership unless they meet several demands, including the extradition of people Ankara considers 'terrorists'

Erdogan accuses the two countries of being havens for Kurdish militants, specifically highlighting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The man facing extradition was identified in Swedish court documents as Okan Kale, and was convicted in Turkey of credit card fraud in 2013 and 2016.

He sought asylum in Sweden in 2011 but his request was denied. He was granted refugee status in Italy in 2014.

Kale's name features on a list published in Turkish media of people that Ankara wants extradited from Sweden.

The justice ministry would however not comment on whether the man was on a list drawn up by Turkey.

It noted that Ankara had sought his extradition in 2021 - long before the Stockholm's application to join the North Atlantic alliance in May.

'This is a regular, routine matter,' justice ministry spokeswoman Angelica Vallgren told AFP. 'The extradition request was received last year.'

Kale has been held in Swedish custody since December 2021.

He maintains he has been wrongfully sentenced because he is a convert to Christianity, refused to do military service and has Kurdish roots, SVT said.

In an agreement signed by Sweden and Finland at a NATO summit in Madrid in late June, the two countries agreed to examine Turkish extradition requests 'expeditiously and thoroughly'.

Erdogan said Sweden had made a 'promise' to extradite '73 terrorists'.

'This is a normal routine matter. The person in question is a Turkish citizen and convicted of fraud offences in Turkey in 2013 and 2016,' Swedish Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson told Reuters in a text message.

'The Supreme Court has examined the issue as usual and concluded that there are no obstacles to extradition,' he said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice declined to confirm whether the man was on the list of people Turkey has demanded to have extradited.

The countries sought out NATO membership earlier this year to guarantee their security in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin's offensive in Ukraine.

Sweden and Finland (shown in green) applied to join NATO in May, setting aside their longstanding stance of military nonalignment after Russia invaded Ukraine in February

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's rules require the consent of all of its 30 existing members before Finland and Sweden can officially accede into the alliance, which is expected in the coming months.

The candidacies of the two prosperous Northern European nations have won ratification from more than half of the NATO member nations in the roughly three months since the two applied.

It marks one of the speediest expansions of the pact of mutual defence among the United States and democratic allies in Europe in its 73-year history.

The agreement from Sweden comes after US President Joe Biden formally welcomed Finland and Sweden joining the NATO alliance on Tuesday.

He signed the instruments of ratification that delivered the U.S.'s formal backing of the Nordic nations entering the mutual defence pact.

'In seeking to join NATO, Finland and Sweden are making a sacred commitment that an attack against one is an attack against all,' Biden said at the signing as he called the partnership the 'indispensable alliance.'

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden formally welcomed Finland and Sweden joining the NATO alliance. Pictured: Biden signs the Instruments of Ratification for the Accession Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty for the Republic of Finland and Kingdom of Sweden

The U.S. became the 23rd ally to approve NATO membership for the two countries. Biden said he spoke with the heads of both nations before signing the ratification and urged the remaining NATO members to finish their own ratification process 'as quickly as possible.'

The Senate last week approved the two, once-non-aligned nations joining the alliance in a rare 95-1 vote that Biden said shows the world that 'the United States of America can still do big things' with a sense of political unity.

U.S. State and Defence officials consider the two countries net 'security providers,' strengthening NATO's defence posture in the Baltics in particular.

Finland is expected to exceed NATO's 2% gross domestic product defence spending target in 2022, and Sweden has committed to meet the 2% goal.

Biden encouraged their joining and welcomed the two countries' government heads to the White House in May, standing side by side with them in a display of U.S. backing.

The U.S. and its European allies have rallied with newfound partnership in the face of Putin's military invasion, as well as the Russian leader's sweeping statements this year condemning NATO, issuing veiled reminders of Russia's nuclear arsenal and asserting Russia's historical claims to territory of many of its neighbours.
A former Tory donor who gave the party more than 3.1million has begun to support Labour after lashing out at Boris Johnson's leadership.

Records show hedge fund boss John Armitage gave Sir Keir Starmer 12,500 last month to help fund his office.

Mr Armitage, who founded Egerton Capital, ended his association with the Conservatives in 2020 and has since made several cash pots to their rivals.

He gave shadow health secretary Wes Streeting 15,000 in January and the party itself 12,500 in March 2021, three months after his final donation to the Tories.

Mr Armitage has previously criticised Boris Johnson's conduct while in No10. Last month he told the BBC: 'In the Westminster bubble most MPs and most commentators don't really realise what deep s*** the Conservatives are in.

Mr Armitage, who founded Egerton Capital, ended his association with the Conservatives in 2020 and has since made several cash pots to their rivals.

Records show the hedge fund boss gave Sir Keir Starmer (below) 12,500 last month to help fund his office

'I think people in the country are: a) fed up with a regime that tolerated a dishonourable and bad prime minister for a long time; b) Brexit has actually happened and the debate has moved on to doing something about it and making it good; c) I think most people are fed up with what I would call boosterism, or you could call it policy by press release, where nothing happens.'

He also criticised Rishi Sunak, saying his huge personal wealth would make it hard for him to make difficulty financial decisions. Liz Truss, meanwhile was attacked for going 'in furs in tanks astride the world stage, looking like Mrs Thatcher'.

Conservative leadership candidates have declared more than 140,000 in donations for their campaigns, but the frontrunners have so far kept quiet about their backers.

Updates to the MPs' Register of Interests published yesterday showed Liz Truss had not yet declared any donations to her campaign, while Rishi Sunak had revealed only the loan of some office space in Westminster worth 3,195.

The office space was donated to the former chancellor by Bridge Consulting Ltd, co-owned by former Conservative Party and O2 marketing boss Will Harris.

The records also show Suella Braverman's unsuccessful campaign received 10,000 from First Corporate Consultants Ltd, a company owned by leading climate sceptic Terence Mordaunt.

Mr Mordaunt, not thought to be related to former leadership candidate Penny Mordaunt, also owns Bristol Port and chaired the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) between 2019 and 2021.

The GWPF has lobbied against climate change policies such as net zero and was sanctioned by the Charity Commission in 2014 for breaching rules on "balance and neutrality".

Mr Mordaunt remains on the GWPF's board of trustees, along with former Conservative chancellor Lord Lawson and MP Steve Baker, a key figure behind the climate-sceptic Net Zero Scrutiny Group.

Tom Tugendhat declared the largest amount of donations of any leadership candidate, listing more than 120,000 in his register of interests.

Some 42,673 came from Policy Focus Ltd, a London-based company set up only 10 days before Boris Johnson's resignation and owned by property developers Christian Sweeting and Robert Luck.

Mr Tugendhat also received 50,000 from long-standing Tory donor Ian Mukherjee and 25,000 from Beacon Rock Ltd, a company owned by former Conservative Party treasurer Sir Michael Davis.

He received a further 6,000 from business consultancy InvestUK Group, which has previously supported Mr Tugendhat's work as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Kemi Badenoch raised 12,500 to support her bid for the Tory leadership, including 10,000 from Longrow Capital, owned by tech-focused investor Dave Maclean.

She also received 2,500 from Joanne Black, for whom no further details are available.

Penny Mordaunt, Sajid Javid, Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi are yet to declare any financial support for their campaigns.

MPs have 28 days from accepting a donation to declare it to parliamentary standards authorities, with the latest publication covering the period up to August 8.
A businessman who 'snapped' and smothered his 'nagging' wife to death with a hotel pillow to 'shush her' while they were on holiday in the UK has been jailed for life after admitting he murdered her.

Singapore couple Soong Fong and Pek Ying Ling, both 51, were staying at the County Aparthotel in Newcastle when the corporate marketing boss held a pillow over his wife in the early hours of December 7 last year so she would 'be quiet'.

After the attack, the killer husband called his eldest son and told him: 'I have hurt your mother. She's gone. She's dead. I just lost it. I tried to cover her mouth to shush her. I just lost it'.

A court heard that he also told police after his arrest: 'I just wanted her to keep quiet.'

Prosecutor Peter Makepeace QC alleged: 'He lost his temper, he snapped and he smothered her to death, apparently to stop her scolding him or nagging him or to keep her quiet'.

Fong had initially denied murdering Mrs Pek, known as Evelyn Pek, saying he could not remember killing her, but changed his plea to guilty on the fifth day of his trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

Judge Paul Sloan QC today passed a life sentence with a minimum term of 12 years and six months.

The court heard that Fong was a 'loving and devoted husband' to his wife of 28 years, with whom he had three adult sons, and had no history of domestic abuse.

Undated handout photo issued by Northumbria Police of Soong Fong

Undated handout photo issued by Northumbria Police of Pek Ying Ling

The court heard the pair had been on holiday in the UK, where Fong suffered a 'significant fall' down a 'near vertical embankment' while trying to take a photo on the Isle of Skye.

By the time the couple arrived in Newcastle, where one of their three sons was at university, Fong's barrister Toby Hedworth QC said it was 'clear there was something significantly wrong with him'.

The court heard Fong collapsed three times in his room at the County Aparthotel, eventually being taken to hospital in an ambulance and discharged with 'ongoing muscular pain'.

Judge Sloan said: 'CCTV footage from the hospital and hotel reveals the pain you were in - you had difficulty walking.'

The judge said messages from one of the couple's sons that night show he had told his mother not to 'scold' Fong, and that he later explained in his evidence she 'had a tendency to keep telling (Fong) what to do and what not to do'.

'Out of genuine concern for your wellbeing, your wife didn't heed her son's advice,' the judge told Fong.

'By the time you arrived back at your room you remained in very considerable pain and discomfort. You were physically and mentally worn down.

'Your wife, who will have been just as anxious and concerned, didn't let matters rest.

'I stress, none of what I have just detailed could even begin to excuse what you then proceeded to do, but it perhaps does shed some considerable light upon why a normally loving, caring, protective, patient and gentle man should behave in a way which was so utterly and completely out of character.'

The County Aparthotel in Newcastle, where Fong murdered his wife

Judge Sloan said Fong pinned his wife down on the bed, placed his knees on her shoulders and put a pillow over her face, holding it until she lost consciousness, and then until she died. He added it would have lasted 'minutes not seconds'.

Fong phoned his son to tell him his mother was gone, saying he had 'tried to cover her mouth to shush her' and 'just lost it', the court heard. He later told police he 'just wanted her to be quiet'.

One of the couple's sons, Aloysius, read a victim personal statement in court saying he and his three brothers had 'lost both parents at the same time'.

'All of mum's family are heartbroken. They also view my dad as their son and want him to return safely to Singapore when he is allowed to.

'We are all devastated about what has happened here in Newcastle.'

He said: 'Me and my girlfriend have always looked at my parents' relationship as an inspiration to us, and that has not changed.

'Anyone who knew them could see how they adored each other.'

Mr Hedworth, mitigating, said: 'Bewildered, devastated and broken. That is the man to be sentenced this morning. A man now living a nightmare from which he cannot wake.

'What has been and remains so difficult for the defendant is he still continues to be unable to understand how he could have done such a thing. He continues to have no real recollection of what, in fact, happened in that room that night.'
An astonishing collection of love letters exchanged between a British prisoner of war and his wife reveals the hardship of wartime separation.

Hundreds of letters record when young sweethearts Peggy and Alan Horton were separated during World War Two when he was a prisoner of war after being captured by the Germans.

The Imperial War Museum described the set as one of the most extensive of their kind.

'In spite of time and space you are as near to me now as you were a year ago', wrote Alan to his beloved from inside a Nazi prison camp.

The heartful words are a small extract of the huge collection, discovered in the loft of the couple's Dorset home by their son John Horton, 72, six decades later.

Peggy Horton was in a voluntary aid detachment (VAD) during the Second World War (left)> she is pictured with Alan, right, in 1989

The letters reveal the hardship of Peggy (left)'s separation while she worked on the home front until the end of the war. Alan (right) served in the Royal Artillery Regiment and was captured by the Nazis after the battle of Crete

Alan's prisoner document after he was captured by the Germans following the Battle of Crete

John said: 'When my mother died in 2003, my sister and I were clearing out the loft, and we saw this large box of letters in the corner.

'They are love letters essentially, that tells the story of my parents and how their love kept them going during unimaginable horrors we cannot even begin to fathom today.'

Although Alan would occasionally give talks about his time in Germany as a prisoner of war, John said they were often more light-hearted recollections of the more ridiculous moments he experienced whilst held in captivity inside Hitler's Third Reich.

John, a retired aid worker and Christian minister who now lives in Warwickshire, said the discovery of the letters allowed him to learn more about what his parents went through.

John and his twin sister, Anne, were born in Cheltenham in 1949, but brought up in Dorset.

Although he doesn't know how his parents met, John said his mother worked as a voluntary aid detachment (VAD), while his father was in the army in the Royal Artillery Regiment in 1939.

John said the pair were stationed close to one another, so would have visited each other during the early stages of the war.

Peggy and Alan were married on 21 November 1940, in Sittingbourne, Kent - Peggy aged 22 and Alan aged 29 - at the height of the Second World War.

Battle of Crete: Humbling defeat for Britain as 4,000 killed and 11,000 captured The battle of Crete in 1941 was a disaster for British forces After Germany took over Greece in April that year, Nazi forces turned their attention to Crete Around 40,000 British, Dominion and Greek forces were attacked by German paratroopers and ships in May 1941 Poor intelligence cost the British dearly - 4,000 men were killed, 11,000 were captured and tens of thousands more were evacuated. Source: Imperial War Museum Advertisement

John said: 'The spent cartridges from the Battle of Britain dog fight between Nazi and RAF planes fighting overhead were heard rattling on the roof of the church on their wedding day.

'Unsurprisingly they didn't hang around for wedding photos outside. It is something we cannot really imagine 80 years on.'

Just a few weeks later, Alan was on board a ship embarking on a two month journey from Glasgow to Egypt.

From Egypt, Alan and his fellow comrades were shipped to Crete - a strategically-important base for the British armed forces in the Mediterranean sea - where the British army suffered a catastrophic defeat, with thousands killed on both sides.

'In my Father's writing there are lists of all people killed in the battery in the Battle of Crete', said John.

'12,000 allied troops were taken as POW or killed.

'The Germans then took the Allied prisoners across to Greece and they were put on trains, 37 to a cattle truck, and they were transported for seven days and seven nights across Europe.

'My father very much plays it down in his letters, but it was so bitterly cold for the poor soldiers and they had lost everything they had in the battle, so the men had the clothes on their back and that was it.

'Alan said that all the men had dysentery - some of them, including himself, had jaundice - and the train would stop for just five minutes every day for them to relieve themselves.'

John has now written a book about the letters exchanged between his parents while his father (pictured) was a prisoner of war

The letters document the couple as they struggled with their separation for years during the war

After a year spent in a Nazi prison camp, John wrote 'In spite of time and space you are as near to me now as you were a year ago'

John said the letters were '85 years old and yet a very modern story'

John pictured with his parents in 1989 - he said 'The strength and determination that underlined that generation is striking'

Alan and Peggy's son John Horton, 72, discovered the huge collection of their letters in 2002

The Imperial War Museum said the haul of letters and documents was one of the 'most extensive sets of their kind'

Alan was taken to three POW camps, where he would spend the remainder of the war until the eventual surrender of Germany in 1945.

In June 1941, he was stationed in the first Camp, Lubek, as he recalled in his log book, 'Lubek was a clean but hungry camp.

'The thought of food dominated the mind, sleeping and waking.

'Slow starvation haunted the mind and stayed with us long after the arrival at Warburg where Red Cross parcels were issued regularly.'

Alan was stationed in Warburg from October to September 1942, where he recounted: 'Warburg meant dust, filth of every description and above all, cold.

'The European winter took the place of hunger as a ghost to haunt us.'

Until the end of the war in April 1945, Alan was placed in Eichstatt, in Bavaria, where prisoners were occasionally taken to the cinema and the circus, and were even allowed to study for professional exams to relieve their boredom.

Alan, who qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Bankers whilst a PoW wrote: 'It was set in a lovely green valley through which meanders a narrow river. Quarters are cleaner and much better built and there are good exercise grounds'.

Despite obtaining his training, Alan actually never received his BSC in economics, as John revealed the plane carrying his final papers home from Germany to the UK was shot down.

John said: 'By the end of the war, food was so desperately short - both armies were getting very hungry indeed and the Germans were running out of critical supplies.'

Peggy's words also offered Alan light amid the darkness, as she told her husband to think of home.

In one letter she wrote: 'I'm afraid I can't write any more for a while, so I'll bid you good night my sweet - forget the war and dream about me and us.

'Faith, hope and courage are in our hearts - we are young and strong and full of our love.'

Alan felt more comfortable recalling the brighter glimpses of his wartime experience in the years that followed, and he returned to civilian life working in towns across the country for Lloyds Bank.

'I think my father, like a great many people in the armed forces, just erase it from their minds and try not to think about it', said John.

'Father used to be asked to give talks about being a prisoner of war and I actually heard one once.

'It was full of absolutely ridiculous stories but it told you nothing at all about being a prisoner of war.

'The letters themselves give you glimpses into it, but because he doesn't want to upset my mother he doesn't say that much.

Letters in the Second World War An astonishing 60 BILLION letters were sent between soldiers and their loved ones over the course of the Second World War US armed forces sent 10 million letters a day - roughly one letter written every day by Americans in uniform Letter writing was the main form of communication during the war, especially for those stationed overseas away from their families Most servicemen and women wrote letters to their loved ones every day throughout the war. Source: Dr Jonathan Fennell Advertisement

'The first thing I remember about my father's war experience was when I noticed a large scar on his leg when I was very young.'

The author explained how the collection of letters did not just feature those exchanged by his parents, but others from wives, parents and mothers looking for their husbands and sons.

John explained: 'People used to contact my mum in case she had any information about what had happened to fellow soldiers.

'My mum wrote a number of letters to the Red Cross throughout the war, who used to send special health and food parcels to Alan and other war prisoners whilst they were captured.'

Also included in the letters is a powerfully moving note from a grieving Colonel of the Regiment, Stanley Stebbings, who wrote to Peggy commiserating about the loss of his own nephew - a friend of Alan's who was one of many killed during the Battle of Crete.

John said: 'As the men sailed into harbour in Crete one of my father's fellow lieutenants - who was Stanley Stebbing's nephew, turned to my father and said 'we are going to die here - you may not, but I most certainly will.'

'And all the people manning his gun were killed within a few minutes. It was pretty much a slaughter.'

Stanley Stebbings wrote in his letter to Peggy on 14 Jun 1941: 'Dear Peggy, You will have heard that the battery took a horrible knock...

'But now everyone is back who can probably get back, so I am horribly afraid they must all be prisoners of war.

'Oh Peggy, I am so, so sorry to have to write, as I know the appalling uncertainty. It will be many weeks before you get the names from the Red Cross of those who are safe but prisoners.

'I just hope and pray that we shall get news that at any rate they are safe.

'Oh Peggy, I've a heavy heart these days. My prayers are with you all, the women whose lot, so horrid, to wait and hope. Have faith Peggy as I have.'

John said he and his sister gave the letters to the Imperial War Museum, who described them as one of the 'most extensive sets of their kind.'

John has finally written and published his book 'Behind The Wire' after years of work

He said: 'My sister's husband had recently retired from the Army, and he got somebody from the Imperial War Museum to look at the letters and they said it was one of the most complete sets of letters they had seen written between a husband and wife through those war years.

'My mother was able to write more letters because the prisoners were only given four postcards and two airgrams to write each month.

'It really highlights how remarkably communications have improved - how long do you expect to wait before you got a reply now?

'With the youth it's 10 seconds.

'The idea that a newlywed couple might have to wait three months or more just to get a letter - but that form of conversing was far more descriptive - they are lasting monuments and evidence of history, which is not the case with a text or email which just gets binned upon reception.'

John added: 'When you read the letters, one realises how lucky we have been to live with peace.

'But the important thing to think about is that this is actually beginning to happen again in Europe with Russia invading Ukraine.

'This is 85 years old and yet a very modern story.

'I did not expect to be re-writing something that perhaps had that greater poignancy and relevance that it does in fact also have today.'

John added: 'The strength and determination that underlined that generation is also striking.'

A powerful message from one of the final letters the pair exchanged on their fourth wedding anniversary, 21 November 1944.

Peggy wrote: 'Would that I were back where I was four years ago tonight!

'But as you have pointed out, then we had separation to face; now it is a reunion.

'What a lifetime these years have been. God grant the end is now near.'

Alan died in 1993, after surviving tuberculosis 40 years prior, and Peggy stayed in good health until she passed ten years later, following a series of strokes.

John has hoped to turn his parents letters into a book since their discovery back in 2002.

After 20 years, fueled by the free time in his retirement and lockdown, John has published a book called Behind The Wire: A Prisoner of War in Nazi Germany: 'A story told in a collection of love letters written between 1940 and 1945 highlighting the pain and separation of war but enlivened by hope.'
A drought was declared in parts of England today following the driest summer for 50 years.

The conditions, which have almost completely deprived some areas of rainfall all summer, have prompted the National Drought Group to move parts of the South West, parts of southern and central England, and the East of England into official drought status.

It is the first drought declared in the UK since 2018  although that one was rapidly brought to an end by heavy rain - but despite the threat of torrential downpours and thunderstorms on Monday, much of southern England is unlikely to see significant rain until September.

The move is likely to lead to water use restrictions for households and businesses. It will also put pressure on water companies to do more to conserve supplies after a number of major leaks in recent weeks wasting millions of gallons of water.

So what is the significance of today's move, and what changes could we start to see?

Who decides when to declare a drought?

The Environment Agency's National Drought Group declares when there is a drought.

The NDG is made up of representatives from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, water companies, the Environment Agency, the National Farmers' Union, Natural England, Consumer Council for Water, water services regulator Ofwat, Water UK and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as well as the Angling Trust and the Rivers Trust.

What makes it a drought?

There is no single definition for a drought or set of measures that must be met. Instead, the group looks at rainfall, water supplies in rivers, reservoirs and lakes and temperature forecasts.

If they decide the factors have combined in a certain way to warrant a warning, they will raise the alarm and offer a prediction of how severe the drought will be and how long it will last.

An aerial view of Wessex Water's Sutton Bingham Reservoir near Yeovil in Somerset, where the water level has dropped significantly

The most recent EA data showed rainfall totals for August have ranged from 12% of the long-term average in north east England to 0% in southeast and south west England.

Meanwhile river flow data revealed almost 90% of measuring sites were showing below normal readings, with 29% classed as "exceptionally low".

It comes after the driest July on record for some areas and the driest first half of the year since 1976.

Four water companies, Welsh Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, and South East Water have all imposed hosepipe bans, while Yorkshire Water has announced a ban will start on August 26.

The heat and dry conditions have also taken their toll on agriculture.

What is behind the extreme weather?

Shivali Best, MailOnline's Executive Science and Technology Editor, explains: 'The causes of extreme weather are complex, but scientists believe long-term changes to the Earths climate are to blame.

'They focus on a high pressure system called the Azores High, which usually sits out in the Atlantic to the south west of Spain. When it is in this position, low pressure systems carrying moisture sweep over the Ocean - across the top of the Azores high. This brings rain to the UK and Europe.

'Theres a lot of seasonal variation  and there are other complicated factors at play, including the jet stream and a process known as the North Atlantic Oscillation. But this summer, the Azores high is larger than normal and has moved north.

'This means low pressure systems are also tracking further to the north, bringing even less rain than normal to Europe and the UK. And these large Azores high systems are becoming more common.

'A major new study this year found that over the past 100 years, the number of extremely large Azores high systems has increased significantly. And since 1980, large Azores highs are two to three times more likely than over the previous hundred years.

'Using climate models, the scientists also simulated global weather over the past 1,200 years and found that the number of extremely large Azores highs is extremely unusual.

'They believe this dramatic increase in recent years is a sign that human greenhouse gas emissions have caused these changes.

'While the Earths climate naturally varies from year to year, this acceleration since the end of the twentieth century is unique. By 2050, one projection forecasts that Spain will experience more than twenty days above 40C every summer.

'As it stands, the UK has already had record-breaking temperatures of more than 40C. And the drought in Europe is predicted to get worse before summer ends. Whatever happens, more extreme weather is set to become a fact of life.'

Will I be hit by a hosepipe ban?

Hosepipe bans have already been announced for around 17million people  and another 15million could soon join them.

Parts of southern England had the driest July since records began, and reservoir levels have fallen to their lowest levels in the last 30 years.

The fact a drought has been officially announced makes it highly likely more areas could follow suit.

How long will it last?

Dry conditions are expected to continue until October.

Even after rain starts falling it takes weeks and months for reservoirs and underground aquifers to fill up again, meaning Britain could stay in drought status for quite some time.

How do drought conditions impact Britain?

In a moderate drought, water supplies come under stress, wildlife habitats are harmed, wildfires break out and farmers suffer lower crop yields, according to the National Drought Group.

Prolonged dry conditions are already causing problems for crops like potatoes, apples, hops, broccoli and sprouts, and there are fears Britain risks a looming vegetable shortage.

Jack Ward, chief executive of the British Growers Association, said Britain 'could be in a major deficit position', where domestic supplies cannot meet demand. He said: 'The temperatures we are seeing here are being replicated around Europe so European production sites are facing similar challenges. This could lead to less product and less choice.'

Long dry periods are problematic for wildlife because they can reduce the amount of food available to animals. Fish may also be affected by lower oxygen levels in the water.

The impacts of a more serious drought include the 'failure of public and private water supplies', the National Drought Group says. Along with 'widespread' wildfires, the failure of crops and plants for fodder would increase food prices and worsen shortages of certain produce.

A dried up part of the River Stour, which runs through Patrixbourne and Bridge near Canterbury

The extremely dry summer of 1975 saw sheep, pigs and calves die in the high temperatures, while milk yields fell and lambs and cattle took longer to fatten, according to a Royal Society paper.

Crops suffered not only from a lack of water but also from an increase in pests and diseases.

What restrictions could water companies bring in?

Once a drought is declared, the National Drought Group can limit the amount of water companies can take from rivers and ensure there are suitable plans for dealing with drought incidents.

In some situations, the group will perform an 'emergency fish rescue' from drying-out bodies of water. It can also stop businesses using spray irrigation as well as advising the public how to conserve water.

There could also be hosepipe bans and further restrictions on non-essential water use, including car washes and swimming pools. There would be 'prolonged' restrictions on canal and river navigation due to low water levels, and companies that consume large amounts of water would be forced to apply for permits to continue doing so.

A severe drought could lead to water rationing and the introduction of standpipes or mobile water tanks. A huge emergency response would include the convening of COBRA, the government's emergency committee.

Water companies could impose rationing at certain times of day and the introduction of standpipes or mobile water tanks. The permit regime would also be substantially toughened up to protect public water supplies. All other amber restrictions would be further strengthened.
A publican has reportedly handed over hundreds of dollars to avoid negative reviews after a bartender spat in the drink of a customer with a far-right tattoo.

Neo-Nazis in Melbourne are said to have bragged on encrypted social media channels about how Irish Times Pub manager Nitin Parashar forked over $651 after being threatened with a slew of bad Google reviews and complaints.

The $651 sum is thought to have been a reference to the 51 people killed in the Christchurch Mosque shooting.

The alleged threat rose from a dispute between a bartender and neo-Nazis at the pub in Melbourne's CBD.

Jimeone Roberts was drinking there on August 2 with fellow neo-Nazis when they confronted a bartender.

The male Irish bartender spat in Roberts' drink after noticing a 'black sun' tattoo on his shoulder. Two bartenders were later fired over the incident.

Irish Times Pub manager Nitin Parashar reportedly forked over $651 to avoid negative Google reviews after a a bartender spat in the drink of neo-Nazi Jimeone Roberts (pictured)

The incident occurred after bartender noticed Mr Roberts had a 'black sun' tattoo on his arm. The symbol links back to Nazi Germany and is popular among neo-nazis globally

The tattoo is similar to that used by the SS military unit in Nazi Germany and was only recently removed from the insignia of far-right Ukrainian unit the Azov Battalion. It features a black circle surrounded by 12 radial sig runes.

The confrontation degenerated into a slanging match including multiple homophobic slurs from Roberts.

Roberts was recently sentenced to a community corrections order after he stuck up countless anti-Semitic posters around Melbourne.

In private channels, on apps favoured for their lack of censorship, Melbourne neo-nazis bragged about forcing the pub to pay them $651 and demands for a public apology.

Police are now investigating the alleged demands following the spitting incident.

'Its believed a number of men became involved in an altercation with a staff member and have subsequently made a number of demands from the business,' Victorian police said.

'As the matter is currently being assessed, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.'

The Irish Times pub's Facebook apology went up seven days after the incident and mentioned Roberts and his friends but it has since been taken down.

'The Irish Times Management would like to take this opportunity to apologize (sic) to Jimeone Roberts and his friends - Stefanos, Neil Erikson, Thomas Sewell, and Ricky T. for the incident that took place on 2nd August 2022,' the statement read.

'Following the incident, the Irish Times Management took immediate disciplinary action by terminating the two employees involved in the event which violated The Irish Times' workplace code of conduct.

'The Irish Times Management team strongly disapproves of the ex-employee's unprofessional conduct by spitting into the patron's drink as a consequence of a discussion with the patron over a political topic.'

'We do not want to be in the centre of any political views or topics,' pub management also said separately.

Jimeone Roberts (pictured) had been drinking at The Irish Times Pub in Melbourne's CBD on August 2 with three mates when they confronted a male worker behind the bar

The Irish Times in Melbourne's CBD apologised for the incident and confirmed two employees had been sacked

Footage shared to social media and obtained by Daily Mail Australia shows the group blasting the worker after the drink was spat-in, with the bartender then repeatedly asking them to leave.

'That's his personal choice, he can do whatever he wants,' a friend of Roberts is heard saying to the bartender.

Roberts then starts to verbally abuse the worker calling him a 'fa***t'.

'I don't like fa***ts, you don't like Nazis, I didn't start s**t with you for being a f**king fa***t',' he says.

His friend then continues to berate the bartender, saying it shouldn't matter what Mr Roberts was wearing, his drink should never have been spoiled.

'It was a sign of disrespect,' the bartender replies.

'This is the problem at the end of the day, it's called disrespect, you're supposed to be doing a job,' the friend hits back.

'It makes me feel ill. I'm frustrated at the fact you think it's appropriate.'

The Irish Times Pub issued an apology to Roberts and his friends on their Facebook page after the incident

The group eventually leave the pub with one asking the bartender what time he finishes so they can 'meet up somewhere'.

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission and Australia's leading anti-hate campaigner said he imagined people would be 'applauding' the bartenders.

'I understand the disgust and rage they felt when they realised that they are serving hateful individuals who were probably toasting Hitler and fantasising about rounding up Australian Jewish men, women and children and taking them into open fields to be shot,' he said.

'This incident is a reminder that neo-Nazism is alive in our state and should send a chill down every Victorian's spine since the rhetoric that these hardcore bigots are spewing online, can cross the line into real-world lethal attacks.'

Dr Abramovich added spitting into a drink was not appropriate.

'Still, there are more effective and appropriate ways to fight the evil they represent than spitting into their beers,' he said.
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The devastated parents of a five-month-old boy who was killed when a van crashed into his pram broke down after a pensioner was cleared of causing his death by careless driving.

Shelagh Robertson, 75, who had been charged with the death of Louis Thorold, was found not guilty by reason of insanity today because of her undiagnosed dementia.

The jurors found that Ms Robertson's dementia, which had gone undetected and untreated during the Covid pandemic, had affected her driving.

Rachael and Chris Thorold, who had tried for a baby for five years before they eventually conceived Louis through IVF, broke down outside Cambridge Crown Court today as they said Louis's death was a life sentence for them but they 'must now look forward'.

Mr Thorold said: 'Louis Thorold was the sweetest, happiest, joyful, and most beautiful baby.

'He was perfectly ours. He was our lives, he still is. We love, adore, and cherish him.

'Every moment we had with Louis was so special. We loved every single second.

'Louis' future and all his potential stolen, a life sentence for us, his family, our community, and everyone who hears this story.'

Heartbreakingly, the smiling baby was pictured just hours before he was killed with his mother Rachael, who was also badly injured in the accident.

Five month-old baby Louis Thorold pictured with his mother Rachael hours before he was killed when a van went on to the pavement and collided with his pushchair

Shelagh Robertson (pictured outside Cambridge Crown Court today), 75, was found not guilty by reason of insanity of causing the death of five-month-old Louis

Louis was described as 'the sweetest, happiest, joyful, and most beautiful baby' by his heartbroken parents outside court today

Mr Thorold added that Louis' legacy will live on through a road safety foundation set up in his name.

'We must now look forward,' he said.

'Louis would not want us to be sad or to give up. Louis will live on. His legacy will be that one day no-one will have to deal with the death of a child on Britain's roads.

'The Louis Thorold foundation has already achieved so much, but this is just the start. Our message is simple, no child should die on Britain's roads.

'The technology systems and approaches exist to eliminate all road deaths. But they require leadership and courage from those we elect to make a difference.'

The jury heard that Ms Robertson was driving home after shopping in Tesco in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire on January 22, 2021 when she drove into the path of an oncoming van.

The collision with the van forced it on to the pavement where it hit and killed five month-old Louis Thorold and sent his mother, Rachael Thorold, flying into the air.

The jury was shown dashcam footage from the van, which showed the driver swerving to avoid hitting Robertson's Mazda after it suddenly made a turn at a junction.

The van, which had been travelling below the speed limit, then hit Mrs Thorold and the pram Louis was in, seriously hurting her and killing the baby.

Louis's parents Chris and Rachael Thorold (pictured outside court today) said they must 'now look forward' and ensure their son's legacy lives on

Louis was pronounced dead at Addenbrooke's Hospital shortly after the crash on January 22, 2021, while Rachael fractured her skull and broke nearly every bone on the right side of her body including her cheek bone, several vertebrae, her pelvis, hip, arm and leg.

She was in a coma for ten days and drifted in and out of consciousness for the next 40.

On the website for Louis's namesake charity, his parents condemned Ms Robertson for showing no sympathy and no remorse for the babys death as they shared a new video of the smiling, laughing five-month-old on his jungle gym.

The statement said: Why Shelagh Robertson chose to do what she did that day in January, we will never know.

'We have never heard from her. No message, no sympathy, no remorse. Any good person would have simply accepted what they had done and tried to make amends.

'After 19 months, its sad to observe that this is the state of justice in this country, a system designed to support the criminal, not the victims.'

Judge Mark Bishop told jurors that to return a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity they must be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, Robertson had dementia at the time and either did not know what she was doing or did not know that what she was doing was wrong.

He said that this 'doesn't include a momentary failure to concentrate'.

The defendant, who sat beside her solicitor and a family member in the well of the court, used a hearing loop to listen to the jury foreperson and appeared expressionless as the verdict was returned after the jury deliberated for just over seven hours.

Baby Louis, who was born through IVF after Rachael had struggled to get pregnant for five years, died instantly in the accident which left his mother fighting for her life

Louis's parents Chris and Rachael Thorold, who sat in the public gallery, looked down at the floor, with Mr Thorold shaking his head.

James Leonard, defending, said in his closing speech that it was 'obvious' Robertson's driving 'fell below the standard of a reasonable and competent driver'.

But he said that Robertson was 'ill-equipped to negotiate' the junction due to her dementia and she was unaware of this as she was undiagnosed at the time.

Prosecutor David Matthew said in his closing speech that he did not doubt that Ms Robertson had 'a form of dementia' in January 2021 but questioned how bad it was at this time.

Adam Zeman, professor of cognitive of behavioural neurology at the University of Exeter, had presented a report on Ms Robertson to the jury.

He said she had 'dementia caused most probably by Alzheimer's disease in a slightly atypical presentation.'

Rachael Thorold was seriously injured in the collision in January 2021, spending ten days in a coma and breaking multiple bones

Prof Zeman added Ms Robertson would have been at 'high risk of becoming confused at that junction and one possible outcome of the confusion would be to look the wrong way.'

He added: 'It's a difficult junction for the average healthy driver.'

Prof Zeman said: 'Some forms of dementia are diagnosed relatively late as the features are rather subtle.

'The time her problems were getting more severe coincided with the pandemic so there would have been fewer opportunities for face-to-face contact than there normally would be.'

Jurors were shown an MRI scan of the defendant's brain, which Prof Zeman said showed 'shrinkage' of a part of the brain associated with memory and language.

He said that if he had a patient with the 'difficulties' he saw in Ms Robertson he would 'advise them immediately not to drive'.

James Leonard, defending, said that Robertson was 'ill-equipped to negotiate' the junction of the A10 and Car Dyke Road in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire (pictured) due to her dementia

Detective Sergeant Mark Dollard, from the road policing unit, said: 'This was an extremely tragic and sad incident and our deepest condolences go out to Louis' family.

'We carried out a thorough and exhaustive inquiry, however, regardless of the verdict nothing will ever bring Louis back and his family will have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

'It is however, a stark reminder of how important it is for anyone who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle to be competent and capable of driving safely.

'I would urge anyone who is concerned about a family member or friend and their ability to drive to speak up, discuss your concerns with your loved one or alternatively speak to your GP who can submit their concerns to the DVLA.'

Mr and Mrs Thorold have set up a charity in their son's name: the Louis Thorold Foundation.

It aims to eradicate child pedestrian deaths by improving road safety and to compel drivers over the age of 70 to be retested regularly.
Britain's 'Summer of discontent' will continue tomorrow with no trains running across large swathes of the country as drivers walk out in a row over pay - despite enjoying a median salary of 59,000.

Drivers from nine rail companies will walk out of their jobs for a 24-hour period in a row over pay, while other firms are warning there will be a knock-on effect that could cause significant disruption.

The strike will take place on a Saturday, hitting thousands of people travelling to sporting events and those trying to travel on their holidays during the summer break.

Drivers from nine rail companies will walk out of their jobs for a 24-hour period in a row over pay. Pictured: Empty tracks at Kings Cross

One of the UK's most popular bands, Coldplay are due to perform at Wembley Stadium on Saturday in front of as many as 90,000 fans - who may be affected by the planned strike.

The announcement was made by Aslef on the same day as other strikes by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and Transport Salaried Staffs Association crippled services, with only around one in five trains running and some areas having none at all.

An estimated 6,500 drivers will be taking part.

Last night it emerged junior doctors are also set to strike again unless the Government commits to a significant pay rise.

The British Medical Association (BMA) says it will ballot junior doctors for industrial action following an 'unacceptable' pay increase of 2 per cent.

The BMA is calling for a rise of up to 26 per cent, which it claims represents 'pay restoration' to the level of wages in 2008, after which point salaries began to fall steeply in real terms due to the cost of living.

The organisation, which represents all doctors in the UK, says its junior doctors are demoralised, burnt out and feeling undervalued.

The decision to ballot members follows 'deafening silence' from the Government over the issue of pay restoration, it added.

In a recent BMA survey of junior doctors, 83 per cent said this year's 2 per cent pay award was 'completely unacceptable'.

A breakdown of tomorrow's rail strikes is as follows -

Avanti West Coast

All services across Avanti West Coast routes have been cancelled.

Chiltern Railways

The company is 'strongly' advising customers to avoid travelling unless they have to, given a knock-on effect from other operators.

Busy trains, short-notice cancellations and delays are all thought to be likely.

A reduced service of one train per hour is running on the Aylesbury Vale Parkway - Marylebone route between noon and 8pm.

CrossCountry

CrossCountry will not run any services on Saturday.

Gatwick Express

Although its drivers are not striking, services are likely to be 'impacted' given industrial action on London Overground and Southeastern.

An estimated 6,500 drivers belonging to union Aslef will be taking part. Pictured: An Aslef picket line in Leeds last month

Great Western Railway

A limited service will operate between Bristol Temple Meads - London Paddington, Reading - Oxford and Reading - Basingstoke.

Timetables will start later and finish earlier than normal.

Greater Anglia

Greater Anglia has asked customers to avoid travelling with their 'heavily reduced and disrupted' service.

One train per hour will run in each direction between London - Norwich, London - Colchester, Southend Victoria - Liverpool Street, and Liverpool Street - Stansted Airport.

Heathrow Express

All Heathrow Express services have been cancelled.

Hull Trains

A 'significantly reduced' timetable is running, consisting of one service to and from King's Cross.

London North Eastern Railway

No trains are running north from Edinburgh Waverley, while southbound trains are restricted to one every two hours.

No trains are running north from Leeds, while just one train is running south to London King's Cross.

One northbound train per hour is running from King's Cross, while one northbound and one southbound train is running every two hours from Newcastle.

London Northwestern Railway

No London Northwestern Railway services are running.

Northern

Although services are running as normal, strikes affecting other operators could make trains busier than normal.

Southeastern

All Southeastern services have been cancelled.

Southern

Southern drivers are not involved in Aslef's strike, but services may be 'impacted' given disruption on London Overground and Southeastern.

Stansted Express

Stansted Express have advised customers to avoid travelling on Saturday.

One train each way is running between Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street every hour.

Engineering work means there will be a bus during the journey between Waltham Cross and Harlow Town.

Transport for Wales

Although not directly affected by strikes, services are likely to be hit by the reduced timetable of other operators.

Customers have been advised to avoid non-essential travel between Carmarthen - Newport, Cardiff - Lydney, Shrewsbury - Wolverhampton, and North Wales Coast, since trains are expected to be busy.

West Midlands Railway

No West Midlands Railway services are running on Saturday.
Interview: China-proposed BRI boosts socio-economic development of Pacific island countries -- expert

09:29, August 12, 2022 By Zhang Yongxing ( Xinhua

SUVA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been warmly welcomed in the Pacific island countries because it has helped boost their social and economic development over the past decade, a Fijian expert said here Thursday.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Keshmeer Makun, a lecturer at the University of the South Pacific based in the Fijian capital Suva, said that the BRI has become a platform for win-win cooperation between China and the participating countries across the world, including the Pacific island countries located at the southward extension of the BRI, now important economic and trade partners of China.

"To date, 149 countries, including the 10 Pacific island countries, have diplomatic relations with China, and 32 international organizations have joined the initiative. The world has already witnessed China's expanding trade and investment ties with countries along the Belt and Road over the years," he said.

The BRI, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is aimed at building a trade, investment, and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Makun said that "as an important platform for China and these countries to advance the cooperation, the BRI is bolstering bilateral ties between China with her partners across the Belt and Road with shared interests and mutual benefits. The enhanced ties between China and the Pacific can be exemplified in this regard."

"China has provided support in infrastructure development like roads, hospitals, and climate mitigation projects in the Pacific island countries and also pledged to support them in the areas of need in the future. The tangible benefits under various projects and development support have lifted the relations between the Pacific (island countries) and China to a new height," he said.

The Chinese-run projects and businesses have become part of the local economy in the Pacific island countries, generating jobs and incomes for the people, he said.

The building of the BRI continues to demonstrate strong resilience and vitality, injecting strong impetus into global openness and cooperation and world economic recovery, he said.

Believing that China and the Pacific island countries have great potential in their future cooperation, Makun said that the two sides should work together to synergize the BRI with the recently-launched 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, a roadmap for sustainable development in the Pacific region.

"The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and green development of the BRI are win-win cooperation for both China and the Pacific. In fact, they are making a strong commitment to sustainability and demonstrating their social responsibility for the developing world," he said.

He pointed out that Chinese expertise and know-how in the field of renewable energy can be of tremendous help to the Pacific island countries which are rich in renewable energy resources such as hydropower, solar power and wind power.

Makun also stressed the importance of cooperation in climate change between China and the Pacific island countries, saying that China, as the world's most populous country and the second largest economy, will be a key partner in mitigating natural disasters and climate-induced risks, reducing poverty and achieving the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"China is increasingly showing environmental leadership on the global stage, supporting the Paris Agreement on climate change and promoting a philosophy of reviving an ecological civilization. The BRI can offer a significant contribution toward meeting the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement," he said.

Makun made it clear that the BRI is not a debt trap for participating countries, but a platform for mutually-beneficial cooperation.

Developing countries like the Pacific island countries need massive infrastructure investment, and China can certainly help to provide some of this, he said, adding that despite the so-called "debt trap" myth raised by some media reports, the world has come to know that the BRI is endowed with a coherent set of principles where "win-win" situation, rather than "win-lose" or "zero-sum," through "all-round connectivity" gets the ultimate priority.

The lecturer urged international development partners to work together to help the Pacific island countries address their challenges as the BRI is an initiative for peaceful development, economic cooperation and it will make economic globalization become more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all.

"The BRI is a process of open, inclusive and common development, it is in the interest of both the Pacific island countries and the international development partners if they can work together and take concrete actions," he said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
By David Hearst

August 12, 2022: Information Clearing House -- " Middle East Eye" - There can be no clearer demonstration of the hollowness of western values than in the persistent, cynical and criminal failure to bring Israel to book for its actions.

It is increasingly clear that Gaza paid the price for an Israeli military campaign in the West Bank that has little to do with it.

In an orgy of violence, Israel reversed a strategy - which it has been pursuing for decades - of dividing the Palestinians into different camps. It is now forcing them to reunite.

Israel clearly intended to provoke a wave of missile strikes with the arrest of Bassam al-Saadi, a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group (PIJ). For three days, the PIJ did not react. Saadi had been arrested seven times before and even leaked footage of him being dragged by soldiers did not ignite passions. There were no protests in the West Bank.

Israel then launched its attack on Friday afternoon, killing Taiseer al-Jabari, the commander of the northern division of al-Quds Brigades (Saraya al-Quds), the military wing of the PIJ, along with five-year-old Alaa Qaddoum, a 23-year-old woman, and seven other Palestinian men.

By the standards of this long and bitter conflict, Israels attack on Gaza was unprovoked. There is no evidence to support the contention that Jabari was preparing an attack on Israeli tanks.

Only three hours after the strikes on Gaza did the PIJ unleash a rocket barrage, but Hamas's much larger rocket force remained in its silos.

All of the targets of this campaign are local commanders and relative unknowns, even to Ran Kochav, the spokesperson for the Israeli army who forgot Jabaris name on live television on Saturday.

But if the campaign to defang the West Bank is clear, it is equally the case that such an operation would provoke the very uprising it is designed to stem. An armed uprising in the West Bank is no longer a matter of if, only when. This is not just a consequence of the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, whose writ no longer runs in Jenin, or indeed Nablus. Both cities have formed their own brigades.

A leadership deficit

The formation of new armed cells in territory which has largely eschewed armed resistance since 2007 reflects not only the collapse of the PA, but a leadership deficit within all Palestinian factions, PIJ and Hamas included.

The cells themselves may be "inspired" by the Islamic Jihad movement but their members come from all groups, including Fatah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Put simply, the West Bank is bristling with guns, most of which can be acquired easily on the Israeli market. A new generation of Palestinians is trading in their cars, careers and, ultimately, their own lives for them.

This decision has little to do with the weight of history. It has more to do with the burden of the present.

If recognising Israel does not work; if Israel is disinterested in talks that lead to a Palestinian state; if every time Israeli forces attack, the outside world commends it for doing so; if vigilante gangs of settlers destroy your olive trees and your houses under the armed protection of Israeli soldiers; if the law that applies to those gangs is civilian, but the law applying to you, who are unarmed, is military; if your own leaders are corrupt, and refuse to hold elections for decades for fear of the popular vote: what else is there left for you to do? Surrender? Leave for London?

Israel is under a profound delusion if it thinks that Palestinians will just melt away. This is the last thing on this generations mind. They will stand and fight. It's not flight they are thinking of, but liberation.

Global abandonment

Palestinians are as globally connected as any other generation of youths around the world. What exactly is the message world leaders are giving them in their fact-free reactions to the latest bombardments?

US President Joe Biden reacted as follows: "My support for Israels security is long-standing and unwavering - including its right to defend itself against attacks.

"Over these recent days, Israel has defended its people from indiscriminate rocket attacks launched by the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the United States is proud of our support for Israels Iron-Dome, which intercepted hundreds of rockets and saved countless lives. I commend Prime Minister Yair Lapid and his governments steady leadership throughout the crisis."

The statement, which is worth reading in full, had no expression of concern about Israel shooting first. Lapids actions were commendable.

Or what about Britains prime minister to be, Liz Truss? As these events were unfolding, Truss addressed Conservative Friends of Israel with these words: "The UK stands by Israel and its right to defend itself. In her letter to the group, she added: We condemn terrorist groups firing at civilians and violence which has resulted in casualties on both sides."

To rub salt into the wound, Truss promised to review the location of Britains embassy, which is currently in Tel Aviv - an act which would consign what small role the UK had as a peacemaker or mediator in this conflict to the ashes. There is no domestic pressure for her to do this.

The EU acknowledged that the escalation had already led to a number of casualties but did not say who they were and which side caused them. France "deplored" the Palestinian civilian casualties, but condemned "the firing of rockets into Israeli territory and reiterates its unconditional commitment to the security of Israel".

Only the UN and the Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney broke ranks - by inches, not feet. Ireland said it was "deeply concerned" by the impact of Israeli strikes on civilians.

What message do these statements send to the families of the 45 Palestinians who have been killed in these attacks, 16 of them children? What message goes through to the hundreds injured?

In this case, Israel clearly fired first not because a Palestinian militant group had reacted. But because it did not react. That is something of a first in this conflict.

And it is applauded for doing so by the very same leaders who are arming Ukrainian resistance fighters against Russian occupiers.

A dangerous message

There can be no clearer demonstration of the hollowness of western values than in their persistent, cynical and criminally responsible failure to bring Israel to book for its actions.

This is a dangerous message to be sending both sides in the conflict, not least Israel itself.

Lapid is unlikely to lead public opinion in Israel. Israels next generation of soldiers are not following him, rather the likes of the Kahanist Itamar Ben-Gvir, who took part in the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque along with his supporters.

If Benjamin Netanyahu succeeds in forming the next government later this year, the extreme right - and from a group once classed by the US and Israel as terrorists - could well be in his cabinet.

By giving Lapid the greenest of green lights to kill Palestinians at will, western leaders are sending an even more dangerous message to the next generation of Israeli leaders who are openly talking of killing Arabs come what may. They openly threaten Palestinians with another Nakba.

The latest target of Israels operation in the West Bank is described as Israels most wanted man in Nablus. But Ibrahim al-Nabulsi was only 19 years old. Before the final firefight of his life, Nabulsi made an audio recording that went viral: Preserve the homeland after me, and my commandment is for no one to leave gunpowder. I am besieged, and I am going to be martyred, he said.

Huge crowds attended his funeral, and those of Islam Sabbouh and 16-year-old Hussein Taha, who died in the same Israeli raid.

The relief for Israel in his death will be strictly temporary. The obvious fact is that the more Palestinians Israel kills the more they provide a recruiting platform for fighters to replace them.

Elaine Abu-Shaweesh is all of five or six years old. She was injured in bombings in Rafah on Saturday. Hani Alshaer, a journalist from Gaza, caught her on video with a bloody bandage on her head, and saying: Israel is not a state, and they are under, under, under my feet. And they are on the ground and are trash and they are not. They are bombing kids and maybe right now they have destroyed our house, because last time they did, last war.

No one taught this little girl what to say. But come what may she will grow up to resist what is happening all around her. This is Israels work. It is also the worlds responsibility.

Gaza ceasefire a temporary truce as Israel will attack again

Ali Abunimah talks about the ceasefire following Israel's latest attack on Gaza that killed 44 people, including 15 children.
Missing California teen Kiely Rodni has been added to the FBI's missing persons database as her boyfriend revealed he texted her to 'be safe' and 'don't do anything stupid' before she left for the campground party.

Rodni, 16, was last seen Saturday near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee at a party attended by more than 100 juveniles and young adults, the Placer County Sheriff's Office said.

The Sheriff's Office originally said they did not believe she had been abducted, but the FBI announced on Thursday that it had added Rodni to the national database - just five days after she went missing.

Her boyfriend, Jagger Westfall, revealed earlier this week that he had texted his girlfriend to 'be safe' and 'don't do anything stupid' before Rodni went to the party, which was reportedly filled with illegal activities, such as alcohol.

Rodni, herself, was reportedly very drunk at the party.

Westfall, who did not attend the party for unknown reasons, texted her to complain about his day and heard back hours later.

'At 10.30 she responded to what I was saying, [she] said: "Oh, I'm sorry you're going through that." And that's the last I heard from her,' Westfall told Fox 40.

He also told the outlet he and her father had taught Rodni how to 'get out of sticky situations' and said she would not 'put her life at risk.'

'I really need her back. I really just need to know that shes safe, thats all I need at this point, I really want to hug her again,' he told Fox 40. 'I fully believe that shes alive and well.'

Kiely Rodni, 16, has been added to the FBI's missing persons database after she went missing five days ago. She was last seen Saturday near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee at the party attended by more than 100 juveniles and young adults

Police are now asking the public to pay close attention to the necklace (pictured) she is wearing, as the photo was taken 'recently.' They also asked the public to look for a Lana Del Ray sweatshirt they believe is 'still in her possession'

DailyMail.com has contacted Westfall for comment.

The teen's friend Kate Cuno also revealed she had hung out with Rodni just hours before the party and the pair had made creme brulee.

'Everything was normal,' Cuno told Fox 40. 'I don't think she ran away or anything. I would have noticed if something was slightly off.'

Police released a surveillance image showing the missing teen hours before she vanished at a nearby campground.

The image shows Rodni at 6.08pm on Friday at a business in Truckee, about ten minutes south of the Prosser Family Campground, where she was last seen at 12.30am later that night.

'Kiely [was] last seen wearing black spaghetti strap bodysuit, green Dickies pants [with] black grommet belt [and] black Vans,' the Placer Sheriff's department wrote in a tweet releasing the image.

On Thursday evening, Placer County Sheriff's Office released another image of Rodni, where she was seen wearing a black spaghetti strap crop top with a silver necklace. Deputies are now asking the public to pay close attention to her necklace, as the photo had been taken 'recently.'

Her boyfriend, Jagger Westfall, revealed earlier this week that he had texted his girlfriend to 'be safe' and 'don't do anything stupid' before Rodni went to the party, which was reportedly filled with illegal activities, such as alcohol. He had last heard from her around 10.30pm. It is unknown why he did not attend the party

Westfall said he just wants to 'hug' her again and still believes she is 'safe' somewhere. He said: 'I really need her back. I really just need to know that shes safe'

Earlier that day, police also released an image of a Lana Del Ray hoodie, with the lyrics: 'You don't want to be forgotten, you just want to disappear.' Authorities believe the hoodie, which was 'loaned' to her by a still unidentified person the day before her disappearance, is still in her possession.

The last person to have heard from the teen was her friend Samantha Smith, 18, who spoke with Rodni on the spoke at 12.36am. Shortly after, Rodni phone was turned off.

'At 12.36am she called meand this is the last call anybody had with her. We said: "Love you, good night. Get home safe," and thats the last thing we heard of her,' Smith told the Independent on Monday.

'Right now we believe that it is an abduction case...she was in no state to drive and she wouldnt have made it far or would have crashed.'

Smith also told The Sun that she believes a lot of teens at the party are afraid to speak to police because they fear the consequences, but believes some might have information that could lead to Rodni.

'I think a lot of them were scared to talk,' Smith told The Sun. 'They were engaging in illegal activity in the woods, it's like this Lord of the Flies space where they can just be.'

Another source told The Sun that the teens at the party were sometimes 'fighting,' smoking weed and drinking alcohol.

'We've said over and over again, we're not investigating any of you, we're partnering with you in an investigation for a missing person, this isn't about things you shouldn't have done,' Smith told The Sun.

'But it's also hard because there are so many teenagers, what are their relationships like with their parents? That can define a lot of what they're going to say. Are they used to hiding everything?

She was last seen on local surveillance footage wearing a black bodysuit and green Dickies pants on August 5

Police released an image of the sweatshirt (pictured) she was loaned the day before she disappeared. It featured eerie Lana Del Ray lyrics, reading: 'You don't want to be forgotten, you just want to disappear.' Police believe the hoodie is 'still in her possession' and it unknown who 'loaned' her the coat

The Placer County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday released an old image of Kiely Rodni's 2013 silver Honda, which has been untraceable along with her

The campground was only 12 miles away from her home in California

'They're afraid of the consequences or how they're going to be viewed, how their parents are going to react. But at this point, it's like, who cares? We need to find her.'

Police announced on Thursday afternoon that they currently do not have 'any new leads' and are encouraging people to come forward.

'We're struggling with clues, and so searches aren't super successful, so we don't have a direction in which to search,' Nevada County Sheriff's Captain Sam Brown said. 'We have a point last-seen and we're searching beyond that point last-seen.'

Lieutenant Josh Barnhart also announced that many teens have come forward with video evidence and they are currently reviewing the footage.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, the teen's mother, pleaded in an online video shared by authorities for anyone with information to come forward.

'We just want her home,' Rodni-Nieman said. 'We're so scared, and we miss her so much.'

The teen's mother (pictured) believes her daughter was abducted and is pleading for the allegedly kidnapper to bring her home

Speaking to DailyMail.com on Monday, Lindsey said she believed her daughter has been abducted and begged the alleged kidnapper to bring her home.

She said: 'I am terrified. My mind reels and my sleep is plagued with nightmares... thoughts that I just can't get out of my head.'

'I last saw her on Friday morning, she was going to meet us to go to a vintage car show but then she changed her mind and wanted to go to this party instead.

'I extended her curfew. I had done it before and felt safe. She texted me at 11.30pm to say she would be leaving at 12.15am to come home.

'She said: ''I love you, mom.'' That was the last I heard from her.'

Lindsey said she is sure that her daughter would not have run away. She said: 'My daughter is not the runaway type  not to stigmatize kids who are  but my daughter is not. She had the resources to run away and would have done if she wanted to.'
A Minnesota mother is suing Walmart after a fire in a parking lot burned her two daughters, killing one and permanently disfiguring the other.

Essie McKenzie, 33, was shopping at the Walmart in Fridley, Minnesota, in 2019 when her daughters, Ty'rah, 6, and Taraji, 9, were caught in a fire after Roberto Hipolito left a hot camping stove inside his minivan besides the girls' car.

McKenzie is now seeking at least $75,000 in damages against Walmart, blaming the company for its 'well-known' policy of allowing people to camp out in their parking lots but not monitoring them to ensure the safety of others, KARE 11 reported.

'Walmart encouraged and permitted a dangerous condition on its property,' the lawsuit states. '[Walmart] escalated that danger by failing to provide staff to oversee the appropriate use of its parking lot as a campground.'

Essie McKenzie, 33, is seeking at least $75,000 against Walmart, blaming the company for not monitoring campers in its parking lot after one left a hot cooking stove in his minivan, causing a fire that spread to her car, killing her sleeping six-year-old and scarring her nine-year-old

McKenzie was shopping at the Walmart in Fridley, Minnesota, in 2019, when she left her sleeping daughters in the car

Ty'rah (left. ) suffered a heart attack after first responders pulled her and her older sister out of the burning vehicle. She was revived at the scene before dying at a nearby hospital. Taraji (right) suffered severe burns

The lawsuit blames the company for its 'well-known' policy of allowing people to camp out in their parking lots but not monitoring them to ensure the safety of others. Pictured: Two charred vehicles sit in the parking lot

Roberto Lino Hipolito, 72, pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent fire causing great bodily harm and settled a $130,000 lawsuit filed against him by McKenzie

According to investigators, Hipolito, 72, of Long Beach, California, was traveling with his wife in their 2005 Dodge Caravan, living in the vehicle as they traveled across the country.

Hipolito had used a camping stove to make breakfast on August 6, 2019, but failed to wait for it to cool down before storing it in the minivan and parking beside McKenzie, who left her sleeping daughters in car after an early trip to the airport.

While the Hipolitos and McKenzie were in the store, the minivan caught fire, which eventually spread to the car where the girls were sleeping.

First responders rushed to the scene and were able to get the girls out of the burning vehicle. Ty'rah suffered a heart attack and was revived at the scene before dying at a nearby hospital.

The lawsuit claims that the surviving Taraji suffered burns that will leave her physically and emotionally scarred for life.

Investigators found that Hipolito had used a camping stove to make breakfast on August 6, 2019, but failed to wait for it to cool down before storing it in the minivan, causing the fire

The flames spread to McKenzie's car on the left, where the two girls were sleeping

First responders rushed to the scene and were able to get the girls out of the burning vehicle

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Walmart stated: 'Our sympathies remain with the friends and family impacted by this tragic event three years ago'

The wrongful death suit states that by not monitoring the Hipolitos, who had been at the parking lot overnight, Walmart maintained 'dangerous conditions' on store grounds.

'These unregulated, unlicensed, and unmonitored campgrounds pose a threat of illness, injury, noise, and crime to a considerable number of members of the public,' the suit reads.

In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Walmart stated: 'Our sympathies remain with the friends and family impacted by this tragic event three years ago. We plan to defend the company and will respond in court to the complaint as appropriate.'

McKenzie, pictured with her kids, said the in lawsuit that by not monitoring the Hipolitos, who had been at the parking lot overnight, Walmart maintained 'dangerous conditions'

She said her surviving daughter faces life-long trauma after she watched her sister die

The family had previously reached a $130,000 settlement in a civil case against Hipolito

The lawsuit comes two years after McKenzie reached a $130,000 settlement in a civil case against Hipolito.

Although initially charged with manslaughter, Hipolito pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent fire causing great bodily harm and was sentenced in 2020 to 120 months in jail and three years probation.

The more serious second-degree manslaughter charge was dropped given Hipolito's advanced age and lack of criminal history.

Assistant County Attorney Wade Kish, the prosecutor, said the McKenzie family did not object to the decision and were satisfied with the sentencing.

During the sentencing hearing, McKenzie recounted the not only the physical damage Taraji, suffered, but also the mental anguish.

'She watched her six-year-old sister lose everything in the palm of her hand,' McKenzie said.

Hipolito accepted his culpability in the fatal fire, telling the court, 'I wished that this never happened, and I wish I could do something to fix it, but I can do nothing.'
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A suspected robber had to be rescued after he was buried underground in a collapsed tunnel near the Vatican while his gang was trying to burrow 20ft into a bank.

The man was freed after eight hours, with firefighters digging him out from under Via Innocenzo XI in Rome after the asphalt gave way.

It is believed that the man and his four accomplices were preparing to rob a bank vault nearby and dug the tunnel, which began near an empty shop, to reach it.

According to Italian media, one of his four alleged accomplices, who managed to escape the collapsed tunnel, alerted emergency services-and firefighters then heard a voice from under the rubble.

Rescuers using mechanical diggers then dug a parallel hole to free the man during the long recovery operation while he cried out, 'Help, I beg you to get me out'.

He was given liquid food and an oxygen cylinder to help him breathe, eventually pulled out alive, while a large crowd cheered.

The man was then taken to hospital, where he remains, with critical, but non life-threatening injuries.

The man was rescued in an operation that took eight hours. He was given liquid food and an oxygen cylinder to help him breathe, eventually pulled out alive, pictured,

Rescuers, pictured, dug a parallel hole to free the man during the long recovery operation while he cried out, 'Help, I beg you to get me out'

The man was then taken to hospital with critical, but non life-threatening injuries. Pictured: The large rescue operation to free the man

Pictured: A map showing the location of the tunnel in the centre of Rome, near Vatican City. It began near a shuttered shop

Residents watched on as the rescue happened. One resident said that they had no suspicion anyone was digging a hole and there were no noises either. Pictured: The team working to rescue the man

Behind the police cordon and the digger was a huge watching crowd who followed the rescue until it was completed, pictured

A resident called Michelle who lives in the same building said: 'We all thought that the people there were renovating the place. So, we had no suspicion and we did not hear noises either.'

A police spokesman said that two people from Naples and two from Rome had been arrested for resisting a public official and damage to public property.

They added: 'We are still investigating. We do not exclude that they are thieves; it is one of the theories.'

A digger and tent is seen in Rome as the rescue operation to get the man out unfolded (pictured). Police have not ruled out the fact that the hole could have been dug to carry out a robbery

Pictured: The tunnel which the suspected bank robber was rescued from. It began underneath an empty shop which was shuttered and said to have been recently rented

A large group of emergency services gathered to help with the rescue effort, pictured. Those suspected to be in the gang were arrested

An oxygen cylinder, which was used along with liquid food for the man is seen as firefighters worked to get him out of the tunnel, pictured

Although police have not confirmed the men were digging for a robbery, Italian media have reported that it is likely that the men were. This is because Ferrogosto is coming up in Italy, where many leave the city. They believe the men were taking advantage of the empty city to do the robbery. Pictured: The scene in Rome

But Italian media has noted that the tunnel was found ahead of the August 15 long weekend when Rome is empty as residents traditionally leave town for Ferragosto and reported that the hole was likely dug for a bank robbery.

Corriere della Sera daily wrote: 'The hole gang' while La Stampa said: 'They dig a tunnel to rob a bank, and one of them is buried underground.'

And police told local media that the man had previous robbery convictions, along with the four other gang members.

The suspected would-be bank robbers all have previous convictions for robbery. Pictured: The equipment used for the rescue including diggers and ropes

The man's accomplices escaped the collapsed tunnel but he was stuck and had to be freed. Pictured: The swathe of police and emergency services in Rome
Liz Truss sparked a row with trade unions today as she accused the Civil Service of having a 'woke' culture that 'strays into anti-Semitism'.

The Foreign Secretary and Tory leadership favourite was blasted by the head of the FDA, which represents civil servants, for providing 'no evidence for her accusation'.

Dave Penman said her comment made at a Manchester synagogue 'goes further than the usual dog-whistle politics' of the leadership election.

In a written statement Ms Truss insisted the culture in the Civil Service can be 'changed'.

She also pledged to review whether schools are doing enough to educate pupils and teachers about anti-Semitism, according to her team, and said university campuses must be 'ridded' of the issue.

Ms Truss said: 'Every organisation has its culture, but it's not fixed, it can be changed.

'That's what ministerial leadership is about: it's about making sure that the policies we represent, the values we stand for, are reflected in what we do.'

But Mr Penman said 'The Conservatives have been in Government for more than 12 years now and, for most of that time, Liz Truss has been a minister.

'So accusations of ''civil service wokeism'' are a little ironic, given it's essentially a criticism of their own leadership.

Liz Truss sparked a row with trade unions today as she accused the Civil Service of having a 'woke' culture that 'strays into anti-Semitism'.

FDA general secretary Dave Penman said her comment made at a Manchester synagogue 'goes further than the usual dog-whistle politics' of the leadership election

'However, Truss's accusation of antisemitism goes further than the usual dog-whistle politics that has been on display during this leadership campaign when it comes to the Civil Service.

'She provides no evidence for her accusation that many civil servants will find both insulting and abhorrent.

'A prime minister is also minister for the Civil Service, and throwing around such unfounded inflammatory accusations illustrates a lack of leadership, the very thing that she claims to be demonstrating.'

Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge, a leading critic of Jeremy Corbyn's time running the party, said: 'Using anti-Semitism to peddle the right's ''anti-woke agenda'' is below the belt. The oldest form of racism is not a tool to use in the divisive culture war nonsense.'

The Foreign Secretary has also set her sights on boosting links between the UK and Israel, with a plan to secure a free-trade deal, her campaign said.

She added that the relationship between the UK and Israel has 'grown in standing' over the past year, but insisted there is 'still more to do', including completing a free-trade deal.

A Truss campaign source claimed that Labour has been a 'talking shop for anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism' under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, and formerly Jeremy Corbyn.

'This has increased anxieties within the Jewish community,' they said.
A shocking year at Six Flags ends in the loss of nearly two million customers and a collapse in stock value.

The world's largest theme park operator reported the loss in attendance following the implementation of an initiative to lessen the presence of 'rowdy teenagers' in their parks, according to the company's CEO Selim Bassoul.

Six Flags CEO Selim Bassoul claimed parks have become 'cheap day care center for teenagers' amid declining stocks and attendance

The Texas-based theme park's shares tumbled 18% to $21.12 Thursday after it disclosed attendance at its 27 parks was down 22% from this time last year, which is wildly different when compared to Disney's reported 70% rise in park attendance year-over-year.

Bassoul, who was named CEO in 2021, blamed the drop partly on price hikes for admission in response to dishing out too many discounts last year.

'So, we only got the discounter or we became a day care center for teenagers,' and 'it was a cheap day care center for teenagers,' he said.

The Texas-based theme park's shares tumbled 18% to $21.12 Thursday after it disclosed attendance at its 27 parks was down 22% from this time last year.

Six Flags employs more than 52,000 seasonal employees and 2,100 full-time at their 30 parks across North America

Bassoul's 'rowdy' comments are not completely unfounded, as the teens occasionally turned violent while at the amusement park.

Last month, a teen was arrested for aggravated assault of a police officer at Great Adventure in Jackson Township, NJ, when he pushed a cop who had been called to the park because of reported fights.

In 2021, Six Flags in Prince George's County, Md., saw several fights break out in the parking lot during a park festival.

And in 2017, at the Six Flags in Gurnee, Ill., police were called to the park after teenagers 'sucker punched' a 12-year-old when the boy's mother asked them to tone down their swearing.

The teens then attacked the boy's parents, punching and kicking them, according to reports.

A fight that broke out at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey in 2020.

A massive brawl at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA during 2021's Fright Fest.

In response, Bassoul and Six Flags are continuing to increase ticket prices to focus on 'elevating the guest experience.'

The company expects attendance to be down by between 20% and 25% this year.

Even with the decline in attendance, the company is reporting an increase in total guest spending up $11.93 to $63.87 per guest.

'We want to be a park for the middle class and even the lower middle class,' he said.

'We believe our demographic is the average income of the US and I'm migrating a little bit from what I call the Kmart, Walmart [customer] to maybe the target customers, if I want to say that.'

Six Flags is also looking to improve wait times at its parks, which can add up from up to 30 minutes to park, up to 30 minutes to clear security, 15 to 25 minutes to use the restrooms and one to two hours to get food and get on a ride, Bassoul said.

During the past year, the company said it has lost about two million season ticket holders who did not renew their membership.

As a result, total revenue for the quarter decreased by 5% to $24 million, fueled by the the lower attendance and $5 million reduction in sponsorship revenues.

A Six Flags spokesperson tells mailonline.com they have no comment on the report.
One of the last surviving Dunkirk fighters, who spent five years as a prisoner of war, celebrates his 104th birthday today.

Major John Errington is the oldest veteran of the Royal Scots Regiment and fought in the rear-guard defence during Dunkirk evacuations, including the infamous battle of Le Paradis in May 1940.

The vet, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire, is thought to be the last surviving regular officer commissioned before the start of World War 2.

As a young man, he was captured by German forces as his Battalion fought to delay their advance to the beaches of Dunkirk.

He was held at a prisoner of war camp for five years, where he learned to speak Arabic and Swahili.

After the war, he continued to serve in the Army for a number of years, meeting his wife Brenda while in Jerusalem, before retiring to farm on the Isle of Mull off the coast of Scotland.

John Errington (pictured above), who fought in France in 1940 and spent five years as a prisoner of war, is celebrating his 104th birthday

Major Errington served as a Regimental Signals Officer with the Royal Scots, which were deployed to France in the British Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of war.

The 1st Battalion The Royal Scots' played a pivotal role in enabling the withdrawal of 337,000 Allied Forces from the beaches of Dunkirk.

They powered through more than two weeks of continuous action, which reduced their numbers to just 400 men, with 141 killed and more than 350 wounded.

As they fought to delay the German advance, these soldiers all knew they faced one of two fates: be killed or be captured.

They prepared for their last stand at Le Paradis, 30 miles from Dunkirk in northeastern France on May 25.

Tragically, the three-day defence eventually led to the Battalion's destruction, but allowed thousands of troops to reach the beaches of Dunkirk.

After being heavily hit by armoured attacks, the Battalion ceased fighting on May 27.

Major John Errington (on the left) with two comrades from The Royal Scots' Regiment

Just a handful of soldiers escaped back to the UK, while 292 Royal Scots were captured by the enemy, including Major Errington, who spent the next five years as a prisoner of war.

His adjacent unit, the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment, suffered severe casualties and Le Paradis will go down in history as the site of a war crime after 97 soldiers of that regiment were massacred by the German SS after they had already surrendered.

Research has suggested that around 20 Royal Scots may have suffered a similar fate.

Major Errington proudly displaying his numerous medals for his military service

During his time in the Oflag, a type of prisoner of war camp for officers, Major Errington learned Arabic off a Palestinian labourer and also learned Swahili.

He is also said to have learned to dinghy sail as a POW and sailing became a lifelong hobby.

After the war, Major Errington joined Army Intelligence, studying at the Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) in Jerusalem.

In July 1946, he narrowly escaped death again when his Arabic teacher kept the class back for further studies over the lunch break and The King David Hotel, where they were all due to meet for lunch, was blown up by Zionist paramilitary group Irgun and 91 people died.

It was also in Jerusalem where he met his wife Brenda, who was working for the Foreign Office at the time.

Major Errington later saw service in the Far East, before retiring from the military to farm on the Isle of Mull, close to Aberdeen.

Major Errington celebrates his 104th birthday with his family today and was praised for his 'loyal' efforts during the war.

Brigadier George Lowder MBE, chair of The Royal Scots Regimental Trust, said: 'John Errington has been a very loyal member of our regiment and has shown exemplary service, especially during the Second World War.

'On behalf of the regiment, we sent out warmest congratulations on this special birthday, his 104th.'

The regiment said the 1st Battalion The Royal Scots' orders to 'Stand and fight to the last man,' saved the lives of many who successfully evacuated from the beaches of northern France.

Brigadier Lowder said: 'Their fighting spirit was undaunted, although they had been in continuous action for 17 days delaying the German advance over 200 miles and suffered heavy casualties.

'Their contribution to Dunkirk was vital.

Major Errington pictured above with his wife Brenda on their wedding day

'We should never forget that the vast majority of those who survived the last stand at Le Paradis spent the next five years as prisoners of war.'

Major Errington served with the Battalion's French liaison officer, Captain Michel Martell, a family member of the Martell Cognac Company.

He recently received a special bottle of cognac from Captain Martell's grandson, Theirry Firino-Martell, who sent the gift to celebrate the veteran's enduring comradeship and bravery.

The Erringtons have a long family tradition of Royal Scots connections dating back to the Battle of Waterloo.

Major Errington, who was brought up near Glencorse near Edinburgh, was educated at Wellington College before going to RAF Cranwell, where he learned to fly solo in a biplane.

His elder brother had been expected to join the Royal Scots but did not, so he took it upon himself to switch to the Army, went to Sandhurst to train to be an officer and joined the regiment.

In 2006, The Royal Regiment of Scotland was formed from its predecessor the Scottish Infantry Regiments and after 373 years of unbroken service The Royal Scots left the British Army's order of battle.
A father traveled for over a month from Venezuela to Texas before boarding the bus to New York today with 89 other immigrants, including a family with a child as young as one.

Alexander Hernandez, 51, traveled for more than a month to get to the border in Texas to get into the US.

He is one of several migrants on the bus today which arrived at Port Authority early on Friday morning as part of an ongoing political battle between New York Mayor Eric Adams and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Speaking to DailyMail.com he said: I came from Venezuela. It took me a month to get to Texas and then two days from Texas to New York.

I only wanted to come to New York because I was told that it was an easier place to get a job. I saw the bus was to New York so I got on it straight away.

They treated us well in Texas, on the bus there were families. They gave everyone water, medical attention if we needed it.

They paid a lot of attention to the families with children to make sure they were ok. It was all smooth, everyone was helpful.

I am happy to be here. I have two kids back in Venezuela and once I am sorted here I hope to bring them over.'

An ambulance was also sent to wait at Port Authority for the migrants as one passenger is 'very, very sick' and needs medical attention.

Those on the bus have been tested for COVID and there have been 'a number of positive tests,' says Manuel Castro, who works in the NYC Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Some migrants on the bus were separated from their families before the trip and weren't aware they were headed to New York when they boarded the bus, including a man separated from his pregnant wife and children.

A woman and her baby were welcomed to New York after getting off the bus from Texas with nearly 90 other migrants on Friday morning

Manuel Castro, the Commissioner of the Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs, greets migrants as they arrive in New York City

Castro said some of the passengers were eventually heading to other final destinations including Chicago and Florida

'Clearly in Texas they are not being given the support that they need,' said Castro, who added the migrants were 'exhausted and tired'

The man's wife was left in Texas, while their grandmother was sent in the opposite direction to San Antonio.

One migrant said 'Texas did not treat us well', while others claimed that they were forced to sign waivers on the bus.

Castro said some of the passengers were eventually heading to other final destinations including Chicago and Florida and expressed concern at 'how they get there.'

'Clearly in Texas they are not being given the support that they need,' said Castro, who added the migrants were 'exhausted and tired.'

He also said those bussed out of Texas were given waivers to sign but not handed copies of them.

'Using human beings as political pawns is disgusting,' said Castro.

Yesenia Benitez, a volunteer helping to get the migrants settled in the big apple, said 'we have given them food, packages, healthcare, everything.'

Benitez also said the city's shelters are at a 'breaking point,' and added its 'terrible in there.'

She slammed Mayor Eric Adams for his lack of support, saying he 'showed up once for a press conference, and that's all they have done.'

Last week, Texas governor Greg Abbott began to bus undocumented migrants to New York City in a symbolic show of protest for President Joe Biden ending a pandemic program that allows border agents to more easily thwart illegal border crossings.

New York has considered itself a sanctuary city for undocumented migrants and does not cooperate with immigration enforcement officers on deportation or detention matters.

Families were being supported by volunteer workers after being processed by the mayors offices, who have pledged to keep families together

Adams (center in white shirt) is seen on Sunday welcoming children who arrived in New York City on a bus from Texas. While 40 migrants were expected, only 14 disembarked in New York City due to fear over crime in the Big Apple

Over the weekend Abbott bused a 100-plus undocumented migrants from Texas to New York City so that they could use city support services

Asylum-seekers wait to be transported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents after crossing the Rio Grande river into the U.S. from Mexico, at Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., July 26. Both Texas Governor Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed orders allowing migrants the option of taking free buses to Washington, DC and New York City

On Tuesday, Adams called Abbott's program 'irresponsible' for using human beings for a 'political ploy.'

He also threatened to bus New Yorkers to Texas in order to knock on doors for Abbott's upcoming gubernatorial opponent, Beto O'Rourke.

'I already called all of my friends in Texas and told them how to cast their vote,' Adams said. "I am deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good old fashion doorknocking, because for the good of America we have to get him out of office.'

He had previously called Abbott's program 'horrific.'

"It's unimaginable to come to this country and your first visit here and someone trying to throw you out as the Governor of Texas is doing,' Adams said. 'I think he's irresponsible. I don't think he's accomplishing anything. There's a reason the Statue of Liberty is there. We all came from somewhere... I don't think he's accomplishing anything except exposing the type of individual that he is.'

Adams' press office said that they could not speak to the mayor's political plans and stressed that the mayor said that this was something he was contemplating.
Qantas and Jetstar engineers could strike within weeks in the latest bout of chaos for Australia's airlines.

Maintenance engineers voted to take the industrial action, with 90 per cent of the 700 union members saying yes as they continue to demand pay increases.

The move will affect Qantas, Jetstar and fly-in-fly-out operator Network Aviation.

Qantas Engineering Executive Manager Scott McConnell says the threat of industrial action is the 'last thing travellers need'.

The impending strikes are just the latest setback for Australia's airlines after months of chaos.

Maintenance engineers voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action to get pay increases (pictured, a Qantas engineer at work)

The ALAEA union said it hopes the airline will return to the negotiating table (pictured, a Qantas plane preparing to take off in Sydney)

Earlier this month, Qantas was forced to ask senior executives to leave their cushy jobs and work full-time as baggage handlers for up to three months as the airline battles staff shortages.

Colin Hughes, the airline's chief operating officer, wrote to high-level staff last week saying it was looking for at least 100 managers to work in a variety of airport roles for up to five days a week.

Mr Hughes said there was 'no expectation that you will opt into this role on top of your full-time position', but noted it was a necessary action to take as a response to growing criticism of Qantas' ability to handle passenger demand.

Flight cancellations have been widespread for Qantas and other airlines. They.have largely been attributed to a lack of aircrew including pilots and hostesses in ongoing Covid circumstances.

IT glitches in the Qantas system at the start of the month saw 41 flights out of Sydney and Melbourne cancelled in a single day.

Understaffing and technical difficulties over the winter school holiday period also saw huge delays across the airlines, with lines spilling outside of terminals for check-ins and security.

Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and REX cancelled flights out of Sydney with some frustrated travellers receiving just a few hours notice.

Virgin Australia axed 10 flights, Qantas cancelled eight, with two flights dropped by Virgin and Rex dumping one.

Now, impending strikes could lead to even more issues at Australia's airports.

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALEA) put the ballot forward to gauge how many supported the strike action and overtime bans.

Jetstar's negotiations for their engineers recommenced in May (pictured, Jetstar passengers in Melbourne)

The union set up one-minute stoppages for later this month that it said will not impact on passengers but will be a message for the airlines 'to change their view on things'.

ALAEA Federal Secretary Steve Purvinas said: 'We hope this encourages Qantas to return to the negotiating table with a fair wage offer.'

'We hope that might be enough to get the airlines to change their view on things,' he said.

'We do want to give some time for the resolution of these matters, before we do anything that could come close to disrupting the public,' he told The Australian.

But he said the concerns are if management don't agree and want 'to stick to their unfair wages policy' - then negotiations could fail.

Longer stoppages could be on the cards if this tactic doesn't work but the union said there will be alternative labour provided to avoid delays.

Dozens of travellers at Melbourne Airport have been warned to expect delays as giant queues are seen snaking across the terminal (pictured)

Massive queues have formed at Sydney Airport sparking travel chaos ahead of the long weekend in June

Qantas Engineering Executive Manager Scott McConnell told The Australian he was disappointed in the vote.

'The union has repeatedly said that any industrial action won't impact customers' travel plans and, while we hope they stick to their word, we're also putting in place contingency plans in case they don't,' Mr McConnell said.

'The entire aviation sector is still recovering from the impact of COVID, and the threat of industrial action is the last thing travellers need.'

He added the airline is committed to pay increases yet said what the union wants is unrealistic.

Qantas engineers are calling for a three per cent wage increase over four years, with a meeting between the two set up for next week.

Jetstar's negotiations for their engineers recommenced in May.
Donald Trump watched the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago live from Trump Tower in New York via the security camera feeds in his Florida home, his attorney said.

Christina Bobb, one of Trump's lawyers, said during an interview with the right-wing media network Real America's Voice, that the Trump probably had a better view than she did and she was at Mar-a-Lago when the raid took place.

'I think the folks in New York - President Trump and his family - probably had a better view than I did because they had the CCTV, but they were able to watch I was stuck in the parking lot there to collect paper and answer questions. But they were actually able to see the whole thing so they actually have a better idea of what took place inside,' she said.

She added that the security cameras were only turned off for a 'very short period of time' while agents spoke with lawyers about them being on.

'So initially, [the agents] said you need to turn off all the cameras and then, of course, the staff complied,' she noted. 'Then the lawyers jumped in and said, you actually don't have to turn them off. So shortly after they turn them back on. So the cameras were only off for a very short period of time.'

Eric Trump told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that the 30 agents who arrived at the property asked staff to turn security cameras off  but they refused.

'There's 30 agents there,' he recalled of the Monday search in a phone call interview. 'They told our lawyer you have to leave the property right now. Turn off all security cameras.'

By not turning off the security cameras, Eric Trump said they saw the FBI raiding areas of the property that they 'shouldn't have been.'

Donald Trump watched the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago live from Trump Tower in New York via the security camera feeds in his Florida home

Trump attorney Christina Bobb told Real America's Voice that 'President Trump and his family probably had a better view than I did because they had the CCTV'

Meanwhile, the search warrant used to execute the raid is expected to be revealed on Friday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday that the Justice Department had made a motion in federal court for the warrant and the inventory list of items taken from Mar-a-Lago, the private club and Florida residence of the former president.

According to Garland, Trump's attorneys do have their own copies of both the warrant and the receipt for items seized in Monday's raid -- documents that are routinely provided to the target of a court-approved search.

If Trump does have the warrant and receipt as Garland says, it's unclear why he would not simply publish them himself, which he has a right to do.

Late on Thursday night, Trump said he would not oppose the motion to release the warrant and the inventory.

He wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, that he was 'encouraging' it.

'Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the un American, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents,' he wrote.

'Release the documents now!' he said.

The statement came well ahead of the 3pm Friday deadline that Trump's legal team faced if they decided to oppose the DOJ motion to unseal the warrant. A ruling on the motion could come Friday.

During Monday's FBI raid, 10 boxes of material were removed from Mar-a-Lago; above a member of the Secret Service is seen at Trump's Florida home

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he 'personally approved' the raid

Garland said he was taking the unusual action of speaking about the investigation because Trump, himself, disclosed it.

The former president and his family have gone on the defensive, slamming the Justice Department for their actions and accusing President Joe Biden of having ordered the raid.

The White House said the president found out about the raid from public reports.

Garland said he 'personally approved' the raid.

Monday's raid was part of a longer-running investigation into documents Trump took with him when he left the White House. Under the Presidential Records Act, all such documents must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of each presidential administration for historic preservation.

Trump returned 15 boxes to the Archives earlier this year. But, on Monday, in a day-long search, agents went through storage space at Mar-a-Lago and areas in Trump's personal residence, removing about 10 boxes.

The contents of those boxes are still unclear. The unsealing of the search warrant will provide more details, but if the files are marked top secret or classified then details will be kept hidden.

Multiple reports on Thursday said the raid was based on documents related to nuclear weapons.

The New York Times reported investigators had been concerned about material from what the government calls 'special access programs,' a designation that is typically reserved for extremely sensitive operations carried out by the United States abroad or for closely held technologies and capabilities.

And experts in classified information told the Washington Post the search shows the concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Mar-a-Lago and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands.

Trump claimed that was a 'hoax.' Posting on his social media account on Truth Social, the former president said 'nuclear weapons issue is a hoax.'

Agents discovered 'boxes everywhere', reported News Nation, including some papers labeled top secrets, from two areas including a 'storage room near a pool' and his 'personal office above a ballroom.'

The report did not specify the ballroom or pool room where the documents were found, but did state that some of the papers had Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information - the highest level of classification.
Facebook will be testing encrypted messages and a secure storage for all end-to-end chats, which will prevent workers to see chat content or for them to be shared with police, according to a release from its parent company, Meta.

The purpose for the encrypted messages is to allow users to store and back up messages in case users lose their phone or want to restore message history on a new device, Meta said.

This 'means that [they] won't have access to your messages, unless you choose to report them to [Meta].'

An announcement to allow users to encrypt messages comes three days after the company revealed it turned over chats between a Nebraska mother and daughter discussing preparation for the teen daughter's in-house abortion to police officials.

Despite the possible connection between both incidents, the 'announcement wasnt connected to the Nebraska case or law enforcement enquiries,' a Facebook representative told DailyMail.com.

Meta, the social media giant's parent company, turned over the direct messages as part of an investigation into the Nebraska teen's illegal abortion, court documents show (File photo)

Jessica Burgess (right), 41, and her daughter Celeste (not pictured), 17, were given felony charges of of removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body

Celeste Burgess, 17, is alleged to have had a stillbirth before burning and burying the fetus

'Weve had this announcement planned for months and have been regularly sharing updates on our progress toward default end-to-end encryption for personal messages and chats.'

Initial testing of end-to-end encrypted chats began in August 2021.

Nebraska police officials submitted a search warrant in June 2022 requesting data from Meta on Jessica Burgess, 41, and her 17-year-old daughter, Celeste.

Investigation into the mother-daughter duo began in April, two months prior to the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, after police were given reports that Jessica had administered abortion pills to her daughter.

'Nothing in the search warrants received from local law enforcement mentioned abortion,' Facebook said in a statement, while the company was notified that officials were probing a 'case of a stillborn baby who burned and buried.'

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told DailyMail.com that Meta 'regularly turns over user information that has been requested by U.S. law enforcement' and that the practice is 'not unusual.'

Messages between Jessica and Celeste, dated April 20, showed that Jessica had advised her daughter how to use the abortion pills.

Two days later, the pair allegedly burned and buried the fetus after Celeste had a stillbirth.

Both women were given felony charges of removing, concealing or abandoning a dead human body and misdemeanor charges of concealing the death of another person and false reporting.

A copy of the chat between Celeste and Jessica released by Meta to Madison County police officials

Meta, in a statement shared on Twitter, stated it was unaware that law enforcement was investigating an alleged illegal abortion

Jessica was later given two additional felony charges, including performing or attempting abortion at more than 20 weeks and performing an abortion as a non-licensed doctor.

Celeste, at the time of her alleged stillbirth, was 23 weeks pregnant.

Both women have plead not guilty and are currently awaiting trial.

Additional updates to Meta's Messenger app include the ability to unsend messages and the removal of 'vanish mode.'

Messenger will soon include a new mode where all messages disappear at a selected time after they've been seen.

Secure storage of Messenger chats can be accessed via a PIN or a generated authenticator code, with added restoration through a third-party cloud service.

Storage is currently being tested on both Android and iOS, and is not yet available through the desktop app or chats that are not encrypted.
August 12, 2022: Information Clearing House -- The Palestinians have every reason to hate Israel; it is a settler-colonial apartheid state erected on the ruins of their homeland. But why does Israel hate the Palestinians so much? It has sadistically and systematically terrorised, blockaded and imprisoned them after taking control of their lives and livelihoods, denying them fundamental rights and freedoms

The obvious answer may not be the right answer. Yes, Israel abhors Palestinian violence and terrorism that has touched more than a few Israelis but it is nothing compared with the wholesale violence and state-terror exacted by Israel on the Palestinians, launching vengeful and preemptive wars, as it has this past weekend.

To my mind, Israels hatred of the Palestinians is shaped and driven by three basic sentiments: fear, envy and anger.

Fear is a major factor  it can be irrational but also instrumental.

It should come as no surprise that Israel has continued to fear the Palestinians well after it occupied all their lands and became a mighty regional and nuclear power. Because its fear of the Palestinians is not merely physical or material, it is existential.

Under the apt title: Why all Israelis are cowards, an Israeli columnist wondered in 2014 what kind of a society produces cowardly soldiers who shoot unarmed Palestinian youth from a long distance. Some four years later, in 2018, it was indeed surreal to watch Israeli soldiers hide behind fortified defences as they shot hundreds of unarmed protesters for days on end.

Israel basically fled Gaza in fear back in 2005, imposing an inhumane blockade on the two million, mostly refugees, living there.

Israel fears all that is Palestinian steadfastness, Palestinian unity, Palestinian democracy, Palestinian poetry, and all Palestinian national symbols, including language, which it downgraded, and the flag, which it is trying to ban. Israel especially fears Palestinian mothers bearing new babies, which it calls a demographic threat. Echoing this national Israeli obsession with Palestinian procreation, a historian warned 12 years ago that demography is a threat to the survival of the Jewish state much like a nuclear Iran, for example, because in his view, Palestinians could become a majority by 2040-2050.

Fear is also instrumental for a garrison state like Israel, known as an army with a country attached. In a book summarising his decades-long experience in Israel, an American journalist noted that: Todays government stirs up fears, most of them imaginary or at least wildly exaggerated, painting Israel as an isolated, lonely, threatened, little country, always on the defensive, always on the lookout for the next sign of hate somewhere, eager to overreact.

In sum, fear generates hatred because, in the words of another Israeli observer, a state that is always afraid cannot be free; a state that is shaped by militant messianism and ugly racism, against the indigenous people of the land, cannot be truly independent either.

Israel is also angry, always angry at the Palestinians for refusing to give up or give in, for not going away; far away. Israel, for all intents and purposes, has won all its wars since 1948, and become a regional superpower, forcing Arab regimes to bow in humiliation. And yet the Palestinians continue to deny the Israelis victory, they will not submit; they will not surrender, rather they continue to resist come what may.

Israel has the world powers on its side, with the United States in its pocket, Europe behind it and the Arab regimes sucking up to it. But the isolated  and even forgotten  Palestinians still refuse to cede their basic rights, let alone concede defeat. It must be infuriating for Israel to have so much innocent blood on its hands, to no avail. It kills, tortures, exploits and robs the Palestinians of all that is dear, but they will not acquiesce. It has imprisoned more than a million of them over the years but the Palestinians refuse to capitulate. They continue to yearn and struggle for freedom and independence, with many insisting on Israels own demise as a colonial state.

Israel is also envious of Palestinian inner power and outward pride. It is envious of their strong beliefs and readiness to sacrifice, which presumably reminds todays Israelis of early Zionists. Todays Israeli conscripts-turned-Robocops face off against bare-chested Palestinian bravery from behind their armoured vehicles, cowardly shooting with vengeance.

Israel is most envious of the Palestinians historic and cultural belonging to Palestine; of their attachment to the land, an attachment Zionism has had to manufacture in order to entice Jews into becoming colonial settlers. Israel hates the Palestinians for being so integral to the history, geography and nature of the landscape it claims as its own. Israel has long resorted to theology and mythology to justify its existence, when the Palestinians need no such justification; belonging so effortlessly, so conveniently, so naturally.

Israel has tried to erase or bury all traces of Palestinian existence, even changing the names of streets, neighbourhoods and towns. In the words of one Israeli historian, to find accurate parallels for the reconsecration of places of worship by a conqueror, one must go back to Spain or the Byzantine Empire in the middle of the late 15th century.

Israel hates the Palestinians for being the living proof that the foundations of Zionism  a people without a land settling in a land without a people  is mythical at best and violent and colonialist in reality. Israel hates them for impeding the realisation of the Zionist dream over all historical Palestine. And it especially hates those living in Gaza, for turning the dream into a nightmare.

Yet, it would be wrong to glorify any of this. Love is always better than hate. Hatred is destructive and feeds into more hatred. Hatred is devastating to the hateful and the hated. Israel could still turn all that hatred into tolerance, envy into appreciation, and anger into empathy, if only it has the courage to atone for its violent past, apologise for its crimes, compensate the Palestinians for their suffering and start treating them with the respect and honour they deserve as equals, even privileged equals in their homeland. Israels hatred will not drive the Palestinians out but it may well drive the Jews out and away.

Marwan Bishara is an author who writes extensively on global politics and is widely regarded as a leading authority on US foreign policy, the Middle East and international strategic affairs. He was previously a professor of International Relations at the American University of Paris.
The final two female victims in the fiery Los Angeles crash that killed six people, including a mother and her unborn child, after an ICU nurse plowed through a red light have been identified.

Lynette Noble, 38, and Nathesia Lewis, 42, were identified as victims by their families and friends, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The pair were killed on August 4 when Nicole L. Linton, 37, ploughed her Mercedes straight into traffic about ten miles south-west of downtown LA. She was driving at 90mph and sliced one of the victims' cars in half, sending the baby in his car seat flying into the air.

Noble and Lewis were driving together when their car instantly burst into flames, family members told the Times. The bodies of the two weren't immediately identified due to severe trauma.

While the identification of the bodies are pending verification from the county coroner, Personal belongings and identification leading to Noble were found in the burnt car, family and friends say, according to reports.

The other victims included a pregnant woman, her boyfriend, the woman's one-year-old son, and her unborn child.

Nathesia Lewis, was identified as one of the six victims in the fiery Los Angeles on August 4. Lewis was driving with Lynette Noble when the vehicle burst into flames after being slammed by ICU nurse, Nicole Linton

Lynette Noble, was identified as one of the six victims in the fiery Los Angeles on August 4. Noble and Lewis were driving together when ICU nurse Nicole Linton slammed into their car

Linton allegedly got into a fight with her boyfriend when she ran through a red light at 90 mph at a busy Los Angeles traffic intersection

Nea Irby was hanging out with Noble and Lewis the day they were killed. Irby, who is close friends with Noble, was driving separately from the two. She drove pass the intersection of the crash minutes before the accident. When she went back, she saw the fiery collision.

'I just thought it was a tragic accident,' Irby said.

'If I would have known it was Lynette, I would have turned my car around and went back to stay right there until they put out the fire. It's been bothering me. I just have this vision in my head of this car on fire and to have found out that it was her is hard.'

At a vigil a few miles from the crash, Krystal Lewis, Nathesia's sister, told the Times that her sister left behind seven children.

'She loved unconditionally,' Krystal said at the vigil. 'It's devastating. Like, everybody feels bad because it was so unexpected. When I saw the crash, I didn't think that it was anybody I knew.'

Graphic shows the direction the SUV was going in along South La Brea Avenue when it ran the red light and caused the horrendous crash

Skid marks are seen on the ground at the intersection as investigators on August 4 tried to work out what had happened

The mangled wreck of the Mercedes that Linton was speeding in iafter the crash. Linton survived the crash but six others died, including Asherey Ryan and her one-year-old son, Alonzo

Nathesia's boyfriend, Clarence Hamlin, recalled her as being 'loving and caring.' Hamlin painted a mural of his late girlfriend on the side of her sister's beauty salon.

'Everyone knows that she would have done anything for a stranger or someone in the community,' Hamlin said. 'Maybe she was that way because her mother died when she was young.'

The day of the fatal crash, Hamlin didn't know he lost his girlfriend in the fiery blaze. He rushed to call her and her friends after she didn't come home that night, but was left with unanswered questions.

It wasn't until days later when he knew Nathesia was dead that the news began to break him. He recalls walking at night and believing to have seen her, prompting him to run towards her. As he got near, he realized it was just an illusion.

Tabia Johnson, a witness to the crash, took a photo of the suspect, Nicole L. Linton (center), commenting that Linton only appeared to suffer minor injuries in the horrible crash

An emergency medical worker directs Linton, who can be seen here sitting with a bloody arm

Driver Nicole Linton, an ICU nurse from Texas who works in Los Angeles, was charged with six counts of murder on August 8, and if convicted, could face up to 90 years in prison.

LA County DA George Gascon revealed during a press conference Monday there was no evidence Linton was under the influence of alcohol during the time of the crash.

She was released from the hospital Sunday and is now held at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California, previously on a $9 million bond.

Gascon said Linton was traveling at speeds of at least 90mph when she sped through a read light and hit crossing vehicles at the busy intersection of La Brea and Slauson Avenues.

Eight-month pregnant Asherey Ryan, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene alongside her one-year-old child Alonzo Luchiano Quintero and her unborn baby boy following the horrible crash.

The unborn child's father, Reynold Lester, was also killed in the crash after the car split in half immediately on impact, those close to the family confirmed.

Asherey, Reynold, and little Alonzo were on their way to a doctor's appointment for a pregnancy check-up when Linton smashed into the car they were traveling in.

'A young family was destroyed in the blink of an eye,' Gascon said Monday. 'Theres catastrophic damage to the families and friends of those killed and injured.

'Its not only a tremendous loss to their families, but to our entire community, who learned of this incredible tragedy who watched the now viral video of the collision.'

Asherey Ryan (above), 23, died in the fiery crash with her one-year-old child and her unborn child. She was almost to her due date when she died

One-year-old baby boy Alonzo (pictured) was also killed in the horrific collision between South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue on August 4

The father of the unborn child Reynold (right) also died in the deadly crash. He is pictured with Asherey

Linton, who is now an ICU nurse, worked in a strip club and had a history of threatening suicide following bad break-ups. She suffered from mental health after her lover died in 2017.

She planned on marrying Germaine Mason, the Olympic silver medalist, before he was killed in a motorcycle crash, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed.

When I saw what had happened in LA the first thing that went through my mind was that she had argued with her boyfriend and was drunk and trying to commit suicide,' a source close to Linton said.

She had threatened to do it before. I thought maybe this time she had gone through with it.

Her attorneys have argued that she has a profound history of mental illness.

Linton was charged with six counts of murder on August 8, and if convicted, could face up to 90 years in prison

Linton drove her Mercedes into ongoing traffic flowing both ways across an intersection near downtown LA
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Tragic Archie Battersbee died of brain injury following strangulation, an inquest has heard today.

The 12-year-old was found unconscious by his mother at his home in Southend, Essex in April after he took part in what his family believe was a social media 'blackout challenge'.

He died last Saturday after his mother Hollie Dance fought for weeks to prevent the NHS from turning off his life support.

Doctors said his brain damage was so severe that he had no realistic prospect of recovery but his family fought for him to be kept alive through the High Court, Court of Appeal, and European Court of Human Rights.

The 'blackout challenge', also known as the 'choking challenge' or the 'pass-out challenge', has done the rounds on social media platforms like TikTok for several years and involves users to hold their breath up until the point where they lose consciousness due to a lack of oxygen.

It is done to experience a 'high', and users will record the moment and post the footage online.

The brain experiencing a lack of oxygen in the 'blackout challenge' is similar to that of a cardiac arrest, drowning or choking, and if the brain has low oxygen for three minutes serious damage can be caused, and even death for more than five minutes.

Dr Nick Flynn,a GP at Union Quay Medical Centre in Cork told the Irish Examiner that in some situations people may slump after losing consciousness, leaving it harder for the heart to pump and low levels of oxygen to the brain for a longer period of time.

Undated family handout file photo of Archie Battersbee

Undated family handout file photo of Archie Battersbee in hospital

All her pleas were rejected - as was Ms Dance's call for him to be transferred to a hospice last week, after Barts Health NHS Trust in east London said there were risks he could die during the move without his family around him.

Speaking at the inquest today, coroner's officer Paul Donaghy said Archie was found unresponsive in his home on April 7.

He said: 'Paramedics attended and they reported a Glasgow Coma Scale of only 3 and confirmed a cardiac arrest. CPR continued and Archie was transported to Southend Hospital.

Archie was supported in hospital by soft toys, visits from friends and family and his mother, who stayed by his bedside for weeks at a time

'Archie was thereafter transferred to the Royal London Hospital and Great Ormand Street Hospital who were both in agreement that surgical intervention would not help Archie. He was reviewed by the Paediatric Neurology team during his admission.

'Second opinions were also provided by multiple professionals from the Royal London, Queen's and Great Ormond Street Hospitals who agreed that Archie had suffered severe irreversible brain injury. The High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court were involved in applications to determine the direction of care and the best interests of Archie.

'With the authority of final court order, life-sustaining treatment was withdrawn on August 6, 2022, in a side room on the intensive care unit and Archie died surrounded by his family and friends. Death confirmed by a hospital consultant.'

Mr Donaghy said a provisional cause of death was identified as catastrophic hypoxic-ischemic brain injury secondary to strangulation.

Senior Coroner for Essex Lincoln Brookes set a date for the full inquest into Archie's death for February 7 next year.

He told the court that an inquest would be to learn who died, and where, when, and how they came about their death, with 'no one being on trial' during an inquest.

He added: 'I also want to take the opportunity to say that Archie's death is a tragedy that so many people, especially his family on a personal level. I would like to extend my deepest condolences [to Archie's family] on behalf of myself and my officers.'

Archie's case is just one of multiple recent tragedies where parents have fought against doctors' decisions to stop providing life support to their children, after it has been decided it is no longer in their best interests.

Most agree such battles are extremely difficult for all concerned, and there are calls to review current legislation around state and parental rights in order to avoid children's lives being fought over in similar incidents in the future.

After a highly charged battle between the hospital and his parents, 23-month-old Alfie Evans died in April 2018 when doctors in Liverpool, in northwestern England, withdrew life support.

Hollie Dance, mother of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee

A person lights candles outside the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, east London, following the death of 12 year old Archie Battersbee

His parents, who had the support of Pope Francis, wanted to take him to a clinic in Rome but lost a final court appeal just days before he died.

Charlie Gard, born in August 2016 with a rare form of mitochondrial disease that causes progressive muscle weakness, died one week short of his first birthday after doctors withdrew life support.

His parents had fought a five-month legal battle for him to be taken to the United States for experimental treatment.

His case drew broad sympathy, including from then US president Donald Trump and Pope Francis, while 350,000 people signed a petition demanding he be allowed to go to the United States.

Such cases are always fiercely contested, and the involvement of religious groups can make decisions all the more difficult for family and friends.

Archie's doctors argued in court that he was almost certainly 'brain dead' and further treatment was not in his best interests. They said Archie had suffered 'irreversible cessation of brain stem function' and had died at the end of May.

But his family disagreed: Hollie described Archie gripping her hand, opening his eyes and even crying. Doctors ran tests in the wake of this but found no improvement in Archie's condition.

Archie's mother previously said: 'I know I've done a very good job being Archie's mum. Based on my own childhood I was determined to be as good as a mother as I can possibly be and I feel like I have done that to the very best of my ability. It's one of the reasons I am here.'
Footage has emerged purportedly showing the moment a Russian fighter was woken up from a nap to find a gun-wielding Ukrainian soldier standing over him.

The video shows what is thought to be one of Vladimir Putin's men asleep in a forest in Ukraine under a red blanket.

The Ukrainian soldier was apparently sneaking through an empty Russian camp when he spotted the fighter.

Video purportedly shows one of Vladimir Putin's men asleep in a forest in Ukraine under a red blanket

Footage apparently shows him moving closer to the Russian soldier as he slept before standing over him and apparently waking him up.

The fighter is jolted awake and pulls the blanket away from his head before looking in horror at the Ukrainian soldier pointing a gun at him.

It is not clear what happened afterwards as the clip ends as soon as the Russian soldier's face appears.

Footage apparently shows the Ukrainian soldier moving closer to the Russian fighter as he slept before standing over him (left). The fighter is jolted awake and pulls the blanket away from his head before looking in horror at the Ukrainian soldier pointing a gun at him (right)

Elsewhere in Ukraine, there was incessant fighting in the Donbas region.

The town of Kramatorsk was hit by 11 rockets overnight. Seven people were killed and 14 others were wounded in and around the town, which remains cut off from gas, running water and electricity.

'Three quarters of the population of the region have already been evacuated, because incessant shelling by the Russian army doesn't leave civilians any choice - it's either to die from wounds, or from hunger and cold in winter,' Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television.

The threat of a nuclear accident also loomed in eastern Ukraine where shelling has hit an area that is home to Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Workers clear debris next to a crater caused by a rocket strike on a house in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on Friday

Shelling near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia facility continued overnight. Russian forces fired more than 40 rockets at the city of Marhanets, which is across the Dnieper river from the power plant.

Three people were wounded in the most recent shelling, including a 12-year-old boy.

The neighboring city of Nikopol was shelled as well, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The U.N. nuclear chief warned late Thursday that 'very alarming' military activity at the nuclear plant could lead to dangerous consequences.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi urged Russia and Ukraine, who blame each other for the attacks at the plant, to immediately allow nuclear experts to assess damage and evaluate safety and security at the sprawling nuclear complex where the situation 'has been deteriorating very rapidly.'

He pointed to shelling and several explosions at Zaporizhzhia last Friday that forced the shutdown of the electrical power transformer and two backup transformers, forcing the shutdown of one nuclear reactor.
The share of parents who want to arm teachers in public schools has jumped by seven points to 43 percent, as fears of more Uvalde-style carnage hang over the start of a new academic year, researchers say.

Pollsters at PDK International, an education group, found that the number of parents seeking to arm teachers in schools increased by seven points since the last time they were asked in 2018.

School safety tops the list of parents concerns as children go back to classrooms this month, still wary of the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 schoolchildren and two teachers dead.

Former president Donald Trump and other Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, have voiced support for arming teachers and boosting school security, but the issue remains divisive.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said that, despite the survey, the people in classrooms every day  teachers, school staff and students  dont want more guns in schools.

For gun control campaigners, school marshals and teacher-arming schemes are steps in the wrong direction in a country that already has among the worlds highest rates of gun ownership and gun deaths.

A school principal undergoes firearms training near Golden, Colorado. The number of parents who want to arm teachers in public schools has jumped by seven points to 43 percent since 2018, after a series of deadly mass school shootings

Of the 1,008 adults surveyed by PDK in June, 45 percent backed plans to arm teachers. Views fell along party lines, with 72 percent of Republicans favoring gun-toting teachers, while only 24 percent of Democrats felt the same way.

Although parents have swung towards support for armed teachers, other ways to secure schools have broader backing, including armed police, metal detectors, and mental health screening of students, the survey says.

Poll Should public school teachers be armed? Yes No Should public school teachers be armed? Yes 1 votes

No 3 votes Now share your opinion





Schools across the U.S. are stepping up security at the start of a new academic year, months after high school dropout Salvador Ramos, 18, bought two rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and carried out the bloodbath in Uvalde.

Georgia's second-largest school district, Cobb County, last month approved rules to let staff who are not certified police officers carry guns. The move aimed to make up for a shortage of trained cops in the area and did not allow for armed teachers.

Jordan High School in Columbus, Georgia, will on Monday begin barring staff, students, and visitors from bringing backpacks on to the schools campus, after a firearm was found in a students bag at the start of the school year.

Ohios politicians in June drastically reduced to 24 the number of hours of training teachers and other staff needed to carry guns in schools, over opposition from teachers' unions and the state's main police officer union.

School teachers and administrators fire their guns at a firearms course in Colorado. Nearly half of American adults now say arming teachers is a good idea  significantly less than those who back armed police and metal detectors in schools

Texas has pioneered the deployment of armed teachers in schools through its School Marshal Program since 2013, a response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the previous year.

Salvador Ramos, 18, bought two rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition before carrying out the Uvalde bloodbath.

The scheme allows teachers and administrators to carry handguns after an 80-hour training at academies overseen by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. It is opposed the Texas State Teachers Association.

Critics say such schemes do little or nothing to bolster school safety  they highlight how dozens of armed law enforcement officials waited more than an hour before confronting and killing Ramos, the gunman in Uvalde.

Gun advocates counter with a good guy with a gun argument, often pointing to Elisjsha Dicken, 22, a lawful gun owner who last month shot dead a gunman on a killing spree in a shopping mall in Greenwood, Indiana, likely preventing a higher death toll.

The threat of shootings and pressures to carry guns are among the many other issues facing public school teachers  low pay, stress and burnout  and may help explain their 280,000 drop in numbers since before the pandemic.

Beyond low pay and constant attacks from politicians, teachers are having to deal with rising gun violence, San Francisco doctor and podcaster Shoshana Ungerleider said on social media on Friday. No wonder theyre leaving.
A West Australian mother has revealed how she had to change her name and move house because of the angry reaction of her neighbours to her OnlyFans career.

Since beginning her career as an adult entertainer, Lucy Banks, from Perth has been the subject of multiple police reports, received a brick engraved with 'slut' in her yard and had to file multiple restraining orders - because of how she earns her living.

The 32-year-old's neighbours appear to believe her OnlyFans career is putting her children at risk with police telling Ms Banks she had been reported to them and Child Protective Services five times each.

'I was really upset. That was really distressing for me. I'm an exceptional mother and everything I do is to make sure my kids are safe and secure,' Ms Banks told News.com.

All reports against Ms Banks had been dismissed for the lack of evidence behind them.

Ms Banks' working name did little to protect her identity and she has changed it to protect the identity of herself and her family.

OnlyFans model Lucy Banks (pictured) revealed she's been reported to Child Protective Services five times since beginning her current career

The mother of two also said she's had to change her name to protect her kids' identity and has had a brick with the word 'slut' written on it thrown in her yard

Ms Banks has long been one of Australia's top earning adult entertainers after quitting her job in 2019 and signing up to OnlyFans.

Since then, she has earned the ire of prying locals who've continually harassed the model and reported her to police. However, she described the horror of receiving the brick.

That took it to a new level and we moved a few weeks after that, she said. People can hate me as much as they want, thats not a problem. But it was obviously somebody who doesnt like me who knows where I live.

'People have no idea the amount of effort I go to to make sure we're safe.'

She said she hadn't grown up with stability, but that her line of work allowed her to have it in adulthood and provide it for her own kids.

'We just have this stigma that can cross over into real life and be quite scary': Ms Banks said the dislike of her line of work on the internet endangered her in the real world

The mother continues to be one of Australia's top earning OnlyFans models and said she's glad to provide her family with the stability she didn't get to grow up with

She added that people who create sex content on OnlyFans' platform are mostly looking to do the best for their family.

'We just have this stigma that can cross over into real life and be quite scary,' she said.

When she last spoke to Daily Mail Australia she boasted more than 3,700 subscribers and earnings of up to $2,500 per day.

The OnlyFans star also revealed the stress she endured when a bag of lube and a vibrator among other possessions were snatched from her car.

'There's a criminal around who is going to be very shocked when he opens a bag full of massive dildos, OnlyFans gym tights and Lucy Banks-branded car air fresheners,' said the mum-of-two.

'The thought of some big, burly criminal walking about in white OnlyFans gym tights does make me giggle though,' she said.

'I actually had the police come out last night because I was convinced there was someone on my roof.'

'The car break-in has made me so paranoid. I was starting to think I was being stalked and someone was after me, but I'm sure it was just a random coincidence.'

The star jokingly added that anyone who had seen a suspicious person wearing a green velvet bodycon dress, burgundy lace lingerie set, white bikini or carrying a 10-inch pink dildo should call the police immediately.

Ms Banks shows no sign of slowing down on the platform.

'For me, it's about freedom. Having the time to be there for my family and being able to buy a home, necessities and fun stuff for my kids without worrying about how much money is in the bank.'
A Florida woman has been charged with felony animal cruelty after being recorded drowning her pet Chihuahua, Sadie, in a swimming pool before repeatedly slamming it against the ground, then posing for photos with the dog's body.

Shocking home video released by Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivy showed the moment Erica Black, 32, grabs her dog and walks into a pool before holding it under water.

Ivy then showed images of Black slamming Sadie against the floor beside the pool four times until the dog lies motionless. One image shows Black posing next to the body as she uploads photos of it to social media.

An investigation found that Black left the body lying on a sofa for days before showing it again during a livestream video.

The visibly disgusted sheriff described Black as 'the most despicable excuse for a human being I've ever seen in my life.'

He added: 'There is a special place in hell for this woman. Until she gets there, she's going to rot in our jail'.

Black was already under arrest for stabbing her 68-year-old roommate twice.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Shocking home video shows the moment Erica Black, 32, grabs her Chihuahua, Sadie, and drowns the dog in a swimming pool

Erica Black was charged with felony animal cruelty and is already in jail for stabbing her 68-year-old roommate on July 27

Ivy said the video was taken last October by a home surveillance camera and provided to the Sheriff's Department by a former roommate of Black's.

Ivy called the incident sickening and showed visible anger and disgust as he walked Black into the women's annex of the Brevard County jail.

'If I hear as much that she has a pet rock, I will lose my cr*p because this woman doesn't deserve to have anything,' Ivy said.

'You know, usually when I'm walking people in, I have something to say to them,' he tells Black. 'I'm disgusted by you.'

On top of her already existing $150,000 bond for the stabbing, a judge added another $15,000 to the bond for the charge of animal cruelty.

Police also released sickening stills of the video, which shows Black slamming her dog, Sadie, on the concrete

She then posed to take photos next to the dog's body, before uploading the pictures to social media

The incident comes a week after Black said she 'snapped' and tried to kill her roommate, Lindin Siri, in their home, Law and Crime reported.

Police arrived at the home on July 27 and found Siri with two stab wounds, airlifting the man to the emergency room.

Although Black, who has been previously charged with domestic violence in 2013, claimed she was defending herself against Siri, police said home cameras captured the whole incident.

Investigators said Siri had told Black to stop being 'a couch potato' as he kicked her off a sofa to vacuum underneath the furniture.

As he went on to clean the kitchen, the police said Black came at him with two knives and stabbed the man in the back.

The two roommates struggled over the knives before Siri was able to get rid of them and call 911.

After her arrest, Black claimed Siri had raped her before and told investigators: 'I've been thinking about killing him for a while, and tonight I just snapped. I don't know why.'

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivy (right) assisted an officer in walking Black (left) into the women's annex of the Brevard County jail
Dr. Ronald Ilg, 55, of Spokane previously pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges including cyberstalking, witness tampering, and attempted kidnapping. He has now confessed

A doctor has admitted hiring hitmen on the dark web to torture his wife and inject her with heroin twice a day in a sick plot to win her back.

Former medical director Ronald Ilg, 55, said he was a 'broken man' when he paid criminals more than $60,000 to kidnap his estranged wife, who had filed for divorce.

He asked the contract criminals to deliver a 'significant beating' that would 'injure both hands or break the hands'.

Confessing his crimes yesterday, Ilg told the court he was a 'broken man' at the time and asked men 'not only injure one of my partners but also kidnap my wife'.

Cyber experts say there's no evidence dark web hitmen complete jobs they're hired to do and there's no indication Ilg's wife was kidnapped or tortured, the Daily Beast reported.

The neonatal specialist, who treated infants at a clinic in Spokane, Washington, was fired in 2020 after coworkers filed complaints about his behavior.

The previous spring his wife had filed for divorce, and after he lost his job he became erratic and obsessive, harassing her in an effort to win her back despite multiple restraining orders.

All the while Ilg was having a BDSM affair with a mistress, which involved a sex-slave contract signed in blood and a sex-dungeon bunker buried on his property.

In the months after he was fired, prosecutors allege Ilg tried pay hitmen on the dark web over $50,000 to give a 'significant beating' to a former co-worker and to kidnap his wife and inject her with heroin until she agreed to drop divorce proceedings and return to him.

Ilg's alleged dark web solicitation for a hitman to kidnap and torture his estranged wife into returning to him

Ilg was connected to the solicitations and transactions - which he conducted under the username Scar215 - by a team of British journalists investigating dark web activity. He was arrested in April 2021.

A user named Scar215 posted on a dark web murder-for-hire website in February of 2020. The user requested that somebody break into a woman's home to deliver a 'significant beating' to her, specifically asking they 'injure both hands significantly or break the hands.'

Scar215 said about $2,000 in Bitcoin had been placed in an escrow account and would be paid out upon completion of the attack.

Though the job was seemingly unfulfilled, a month later Scar215 posted another request on the same website asking for the kidnapping and torture of a woman.

Texts from Ilg's mistress expressing fear that he would hire a hitman to kill her, too. She had previously discovered his messages on the dark web about hiring someone to kidnap his wife

'The target destroyed two families and walked away as if she did nothing,' the post read, 'I want the target kidnapped for 7 days. While being held, she will be given injections of heroin at least two times per day. She will be taught to do it herself and pics and videos of her doing on her own should be collected.'

The request goes on to say 'all means necessary' must be done to get her to drop all her court proceedings, return to her family, and promise to tell nobody about the kidnapping.

'She should be told that her families health, including her father and her kids, depend on her completing these rules. It would be unfortunate if her older boy became addicted to heroin. Or her dad be severely beaten or her dog be slaughtered.'

The requested listed Ilg's wife's name and address as the intended target. Scar215 offered $55,000 in Bitcoin for the job.

For years, Ilg lived a seemingly normal life. He was a successful neonatologist, ran for a local school board while calling himself a 'moderate conservative,' and divorced his first wife and married a second with whom he had a son in 2018.

But in 2019, two co-workers at his office filed behavioral claims against him, one saying he had harassed them and another complaining about his scheduling practices.

Though Ilg denied the claims - the specifics are unclear - whispers began to spread throughout his office.

According to the Daily Beast, employees were so revolted by the claims many said they felt they couldn't look Ilg in the eye.

Ilg worked as chief medical director at Mednax Maternal in Spokane, WA (street view image)

Rumors that he was bringing a gun into the office began to swirl.

The doctor was asked resign from his job but refused to. He was subsequently fired.

After losing his job, Ilg became increasingly erratic. He had already placed tracking devices on his wife's phone and car - which he told her were for her protection - and tried to force her into sex by threatening to take away her possessions, but now he began harassing her with texts begging her to return to him, and would stake her out at work and offer to pay her to drop divorce proceedings.

'Ron is spiraling and continues to get worse, to where now he is threatening to come to my home despite my opposition,' she wrote in a restraining order application in December, 'This has to stop.'

Ilg responded to the restraining order proceedings by saying he was in a 'raw emotional state' from the recent tumult in his life, and that he would leave his wife alone. Despite that promise, he soon sent her a letter professing his love.

'I do love you, more than words can describe, more than actions can show,' he wrote, 'Every fiber of my body, every ounce of my life energy calls out for you.'
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A huge fire has erupted near a Derbyshire model village sparking the evacuation of 50 homes as tinder-dry conditions and unprecedented heat sparks further chaos in the UK.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said 12 fires crews were dealing with a blaze off Fox Lane in Creswell, with three fields and a neighbouring farm complex affected.

They added that 50 properties were evacuated and Creswell Events Centre was being used as a rest centre for evacuated residents.

Footage shared online showed fire filling the horizon at the Creswell blaze, with large plumes of smoke in the sky.

Several roads have been closed including Elmton Road at the junction of Skinner Street, Fox Street, Frithwood Lane, Elmton Road to Hallgate Street and Wood Lane.

Officers said residents should keep their doors and windows closed while the fire is dealt with.

Oli Mousley, 19, a law student who lives in the village, said there was also 'ash floating around' in the residential area nearby and a 'strong smell of burning'.

It comes as police ordered people to avoid a precious Dorset nature reserve after a roaring blaze broke out this afternoon.

The large fire, being tackled by 90 firefighters, is tearing through Studland and Godlingston Heath National Nature Reserve which is next to a popular nudist spot on Knoll Beach and a major incident has reportedly been declared.

The four-minute chain ferry from Studland to the millionaire's resort Sandbanks has been suspended while the fire is put out. Cars were forced to evacuate the ferry - which usually carries tourists - to allow fire engines to tackle the flames.

The company said on social media: 'Ferry Road is closed due to a large fire in Studland. Emergency services are only letting people off the Studland Peninsula - the road is completely closed on the Studland side.'

The fire, which started just after 1pm, could be seen on the other side of Poole Harbour with witnesses suggesting the smoke was getting darker at around 3.40pm.

A Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue's spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'Access to the Studland peninsula is currently closed while Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service deal with a large heath fire.

'Crews were first called to Studland Heath at 1.12pm this afternoon (12 August), and there are currently approx. 90 firefighters tackling the blaze.'

The fire services are from from Springbourne, Blandford, Poole, Westbourne, Christchurch, Wareham, Swanage, Bridport, Redhill Park, Verwood, Bere Regis, Shaftesbury, Wimborne and New Milton, plus water carriers from Ringwood and Eastleigh.

Footage shared online showed fire filling the horizon at the Creswell blaze, with large plumes of smoke in the sky

The four-minute chain ferry from Studland to the millionaire's resort Sandbanks has been suspended while the fire is put out. Pictured: A fire engine on a chain ferry heading to Studland Heath, Dorset

The large fire, being tackled by 90 firefighters, is tearing through Studland and Godlingston Heath National Nature Reserve which is next to a popular nudist spot on Knoll Beach. Pictured: Heavy smoke rising from the scene on Studland Heath, Dorset

A spokesperson added: 'Multiple jets and beaters are being used to try and bring the fire under control. Studland and Godlingston Heath National Nature Reserve borders Studland Bay on the south side of Poole Harbour, and is found between Swanage and Sandbanks.'

The fire service also told people to keep doors and windows closed. A spokesperson added: 'We were called to Studland Heath at 1.12pm for a large fire involving undergrowth and gorse.

'We are asking people to leave the heath for their own safety, and to avoid Ferry Road.'

Due to the fire being either side of the main Ferry Road, access from and towards Swanage is currently closed.

Group manager of Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Brad Stevens said: 'The fire affects an area of around 200m x 200m, and is generating a lot of smoke. Anyone in the local area who is concerned should keep doors and windows closed. Our crews are fighting the fire on all sides, using multiple jets and beaters, and National Trust staff are using machinery to create a fire break.'

He added: 'Anyone who is currently on the peninsula will be able to leave via the chain ferry, which is running one-way with passengers towards Poole only. This will be very busy as the evening goes on, so people are asked to be mindful of the potential delays and prepare accordingly.'

Anyone using the harbour is being asked to stay away from the chain ferry route, so they can continue to assist.

Video footage shows the roaring blaze and plumes of smoke above the precious nature reserve located near a nudist beach

At least four fire engine crews were called to the scene at 1.12pm with a major incident reportedly declared

The blaze started close to Knoll Beach and is spreading through the tinder dry heath on Dorset's Studland peninsula

Police have warned people to avoid the heath and Ferry Road 'for their own safety' while the blaze is tackled by fire crews

While the Sandbanks Ferry has been suspended to the public, it is being used to transport fire engines across to Studland

The wild smoke can be seen from the millionaire's resort of Sandbanks, previously home to Harry Redknapp and his family

As the blaze rips through the Dorset nature reserve, the chain ferry at the millionaire's resort of Sandbanks has been suspended

One witness, Becky Wood, said: 'Within minutes we saw fire engines come up as well as an ambulance. The ferry was pretty much full and they had to get all the cars to reverse off the ferry in order to get the fire trucks and ambulance in to take them over.'

Witnesses were shocked at hour quickly the blaze had ripped through the Dorset nature reserve which is next to a nudist beach.

Ms Wood added: 'They've closed off the Poole side and there is no traffic allowed over to Swanage, they're just diverting traffic and clearing the area.

'It seems to be getting worse. At first we could just see the smoke as it was behind Shell Bay, but within 15 minutes it had spread down and we could see the flames. We were all shocked at how quickly the fire spread.

'It's best everyone avoids the area because I think they'll be working for a while.'

The heavy smoke could be seen rising above the treeline as England officially went into a drought today following the driest summer in 50 years

Witnesses were shocked at how quickly the fire had spread within just 15 minutes as they warned people to stay away

People have been warned to stay clear of the area as approximately 90 firefighters attempts to tackle the flames and smoke

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the scene on Studland Heath from across the bay after the fire broke out this afternoon

The large fire, is tearing through Studland near to the millionaire's resort Sandbanks and Godlingston Heath National Nature Reserve which is next to a popular nudist spot, between Bournemouth and Swanage

Sandbanks Ferry announced the suspension of their service via social media because of the roaring blaze

People flocked to social media to share images of the fire, with one user (above) labelling the blaze as a 'complete tragedy'.

The Sandbanks Ferry has been used to take stranded motorists away from the area to the millionaire's resort. A partner of one of the staff at Sandbanks Ferry said crews are 'shuttling the ferry non-stop to get people to safety', Dorset Live reported.

Local buses have also had to suspend services as the fire rips through the nature reserve.

Morebus said on Twitter: 'UPDATE - Breezer 50 - Due to a fire at Studland and the ferry being suspended the Breezer 50 will divert via road both way. We will NOT be serving any stops between ULWELL and the Ferry Terminal at this time'.

Just yesterday a red alert for wildfires was issued across Dorset due to the dry weather and heatwave conditions. A red alert means that, should a wildfire be experienced, it could spread quickly and easily due to the dry conditions.

The risk is greatest on large areas of open land, such as heathlands, fields and even cliffsides - evidenced by today's fire.

Swathes of England are officially in drought today amid scorching temperatures and hardly any rain since June. Fires have been seen in other parts of the UK, including a grass fire on Leyton flats in east London.
Shocking footage shows the moment when a large mob of at least 20 teens storm a Caribbean restaurant in Philadelphia, ransacking it by flipping tables, throwing chairs and even a bicycle at staff.

The raid took place on the night of August 6 at Zion's Cuisine in The City of Brotherly Love's Germantown neighborhood.

In the video, the group can be seen flipping tables and throwing chairs at the plexiglass separating customers from employees. At one point, one teen grabs a bike from outside and throws it inside the Caribbean restaurant, where workers are hiding behind the counter and a door only for staff.

Other teens were recorded stealing drinks from the eatery's cooler.

'They destroyed the glass, they broke my chairs, they messed up my refrigerator. It might be little stuff, but it costs a lot,' the restaurant's owner, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.

Philadelphia Police are saying that it is aware of the incident but need more tips for its investigation. The law enforcement agency is also asking for the public's help in identifying teenage suspects in the video. No injuries were reported.

A crowd of at least 20 teenagers stormed through Zion's Cusine, a Caribbean restaurant in the neigborhood of Germantown in Philadelphia, on August 8, where they flipped tables, threw chairs and even a bicycle at restaurant personnel hiding behind the counter

It remains unclear as to why the teens attacked the restaurant. Pictured: The juveniles outside the eatery

One restaurant employee who also did not want to be identified, told CBS News that staff did not anticipate the attack.

'Saying I hope they don't hurt us. I was praying to God. I was just like, what's going on? We were surprised. We didn't do nobody nothing and we are just here in the neighborhood to serve neighborhood food,' she said.

While taking shelter, many of the restaurant's personnel pleaded with the youth mob to leave.

Once the attack was over, employees had to clean up all of the mess and report the damage, which included a massive hole into the plexiglass.

'I am forgiving them and they must get their live together because they are going down the wrong road,' one employee wrote in a statement.

Meanwhile, the restaurant owner told NBC 10 that she's sacred of reopening the eatery in a neighborhood becoming increasingly dangerous.

'We have done nothing to nobody, except open our store trying to make a living as well as provide a service,' she said. 'Nobody's expecting that they're going into business to get their place trashed.'

The restaurant reopened since the attack. Pictured: Zion's Cuisine, a Caribbean eatery in Germantown, Philadelphia

Crime remains a serious concern for residents in Germantown, as the neighborhood experiences 114 violent crimes and 199 property crimes each year, according to Movoto Real Estate.

That's roughly 16.02 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 27.96 property crimes per 1,000 residents each year.

The rate of criminal activity in Germantown is higher than the average for the city of Philadelphia, even though the neighborhood's rate of property crime is lower compared to the rest of the City of Brotherly Love.

Specifically, the rate of violent crime in Philadelphia is 11 per 1,000 residents annually, while the rate of property crime is 34.42 per 1,000 residents annually.

The pillage is the latest in a wave of gun violence that is sweeping the City of Brotherly Love, with the city seeing at least 264 fatal and 1,011 non-fatal shootings this year alone already, according to City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart.

There have been 292 homicide victims in Philadelphia so far this year according to Philadelphia Police statistics, a two per cent drop from this time last year.

But the total number of homicides in the city in 2021 was 562, 11 per cent, up from 499 in 2020. The trend has been rising steadily since 2010.

Given this mini crime wave, it is little wonder that a study found Philadelphia to be one of the most stressed out cities in the country, coming in fifth out of 182 cities nationwide in a ranking compiled by Wallethub.
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A man has appeared in court today charged with murder and the attempted murder of his wife and two other people following a series of firearm incidents in north-west Scotland.

Finlay MacDonald, 39, is accused of murdering John MacKinnon, who is believed to be his brother-in-law, with a firearm, turning the weapon on two more victims and stabbing his wife, Rowena MacDonald, 32.

Police confirmed yesterday that he had been arrested and charged with the murder of Mr MacKinnon and the attempted murder of three other people.

Three others were taken to hospital following the incidents, including a man, 63, who was in a 'critical' condition on Thursday, and 32-year-old Rowena MacDonald, whose injuries have been described as 'serious'.

Wednesday's horror began when the first victim, named locally as Mr MacKinnon's sister-in-law, Rowena MacDonald, 32, (pictured) was stabbed at a property in the village of Tarskavaig at around 9am

A 63-year-old woman was also taken to Broadford Hospital, Skye, and released after treatment.

Finlay MacDonald faced one charge of murder and three charges of attempted murder when he appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court on Friday.

He did not enter a plea.

The 39-year-old was committed for further examination and remanded in custody.

MacKinnon, 47, was shot dead at home in the fishing village of Teangue on the Isle of Skye in a series of 'linked' incidents.

Police were called to the village of Tarskavaig at 9am on Wednesday following reports that his sister-in-law Rowena, had been stabbed in her home.

The alarm was then raised around 30 minutes later after a gunman opened fire on Mr MacKinnon at his home eight miles away.

A further two people were then injured in the Scottish mainland village of Dornie after further reports of gunfire. Osteopath John Don Mackenzie and his social worker wife Fay, both 63, were rushed to hospital following the attack.

Forensics officers yesterday at the scene of an incident at a property in the Dornie area of Wester Ross, on the northwest coast of Scotland

John MacKinnon, 47, has been named locally as the victim of yesterday's horrific gun rampage, in which a further three people were injured before police Tasered and arrested a suspect

Mr MacKinnon's (pictured right, with actor Robson Green, left) family today released a statement describing him as a 'loving husband and a much-loved member of the community'

An air ambulance pictured at the scene of one of the incidents in the Scottish Highlands this morning

Following the incident in Teangue, two locals named as osteopath John D Mackenzie, 63, and mental health nurse wife Fay, 63, (pictured together, centre) were attacked

Police say there were three linked incidents on Skye and the Scottish mainland which have led to the arrest of a 39-year-old man

Despite the police presence in Dornie (pictured) on Skye, Police Scotland says there is no further risk to the community

Shockwaves will reverberate in this rural idyll far into future By Joe Hutchison The shootings that left one man dead and others injured will have a major impact on local communities for 'a long time', a councillor has admitted. Last night, John Finlayson, councillor for Skye and Raasay, said: 'People across both communities, Skye and in Lochalsh, are still in shock over what has happened. 'Yesterday everybody was in shock as things developed and this morning they were waking up to the reality of what happened and they are still in shock. 'The community spirit is still strong. People want to support each other and they are also keen to support the families in any way they can. 'But at the same time we need to respect the privacy of the families, and our prayers and best wishes go to them and to those who are in hospital, fighting for their lives probably. 'What happened yesterday is going to have an impact for a long time on the individuals, but also on the communities.' He added: 'I have had contact with close friends and neighbours and there is obviously deep concern for those involved. We just need to make sure that the support is there for them.' Hamish Fraser, of Broadford and Strath community council, said that the events of Wednesday were unheard of in living memory and the shockwaves would be felt across local communities for months. Ian Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, yesterday described it as a 'very, very dark period' for Skye and Lochalsh. The SNP Westminster leader told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland: 'These are small communities where everybody tends to know everyone and there is a real sense of shock.' He praised the response of the emergency services and said it was important that 'we continue to assess where we are' in relation to firearms regulations. 'These are very controversial topics and, in these rural areas, we're all aware there are applications from time to time for people that have licences for guns, particularly when it comes to agricultural matters', Mr Blackford said. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, Nationalist MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, said that the close-knit communities had been 'shattered to our core'. Advertisement

Mr MacKinnon's family yesterday paid tribute to the 'much-loved' family man. They said in a statement: 'John was a loving husband, father of six, brother, uncle and grandfather to his family, and was a much-loved member of the community.

'John loved the outdoors, was a keen motorcyclist and, as a loved father, shared his activities with his family.'

Torabhaig Distillery on Skye, where Mr MacKinnon worked as a distiller for five years, was closed yesterday.

A notice at the door of the facility advised it had been forced to shut 'unexpectedly'.

Mrs MacDonald, who is the mother of young children, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where she was described as in a serious condition.

Last night, Mr MacKenzie remained in a 'critical' condition at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Mrs MacKenzie was taken to Broadford Hospital on Skye but was discharged yesterday.

A friend of the MacKenzies, who did not wish to be named, told how the couple's son is travelling back from his honeymoon in Thailand to be at his father's bedside.

The source said: 'His son is newly married so he's coming back, he might be here already.

'It's just disgusting, it's terrible. I just can't understand it. The community is not happy, as you can imagine.

'John is a strong man, but he's had some pretty bad damage. We're hoping he can pull through.

'I heard he was shot, possibly through the window. Fay is out, she has been discharged. I heard that she was injured by the glass shattering.

'They have lived here for years and are both well known in the village, they're good people.

'He's known on the islands too because he used to travel out every so often to treat people.

'It's just a shock, nothing like this has ever happened here before. A lot of people have firearms around here, but nobody has ever done something like that.'

Another Dornie local described Mr MacKenzie as a 'nice, quiet' man. She said: 'He was right in with the community. He's talented too, he used to play the pipes in a few ceilidh bands.'

Teangue resident Gordon Matheson said that the incidents had been 'profoundly difficult' for the community.

'Families have suffered tremendous loss today,' he said.

The Rev Roddie Rankin, from Plockton and Kyle Free Church, said: 'These things violate close communities, like we have ourselves.

'To me it feels like someone has taken an almost priceless porcelain and just dropped it and smashed it and the community is left to try to piece it together again.'

Nicola Sturgeon yesterday branded the attacks, which have rocked the 'close-knit' communities, 'horrific'.

Speaking as she visited a church group in Forfar, Angus, the First Minister said: 'I want to convey that strength of feeling to those individuals and families who will have been devastated by what has happened.

'Obviously, the kind of incidents that happened would have been horrific and devastating in any part of the country.

'But the kind of communities we're talking about here are small, close-knit communities and that sense of devastation will be felt even more acutely.'

A Scottish Charity Air Ambulance flies overhead as emergency services deal with the fallout of the incidents on Skye and in Dornieon Wednesday

An ambulance at the scene of one of the incidents on the Isle of Skye. A total of three people were injured and one man killed on Wednesday

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, MSP for the Highlands and Islands region, said on Wednesday: 'My heart goes out to all those affected by these appalling, related incidents on Skye and in the Lochalsh area.

'I would like to pay tribute to the prompt response and bravery of our emergency services who managed to prevent the situation escalating further. As ever, we are in their debt.'

The incident resulted in a massive response from the emergency services, with around 14 police cars deployed to the scenes, including armed response units. A police helicopter was also involved.

Osteopath John D Mackenzie (above) was named locally as the third person injured during the gunman's rampage

Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance was dispatched from Aberdeen to assist in the emergency response.

Ambulances and a special operations response team attended, as well as a rapid retrieval emergency team which is sent to rural areas when people are in critical need of medical attention.

Yesterday, a heightened police presence was still visible throughout the popular holiday destination. On Skye, police stood guard outside both addresses while forensics officers scoured the area.

There was a similar scene at the MacKenzies' home, with officers expected to remain for the next few days.

At a press conference, police said that they were on hand to help local residents.

They stressed such incidents were 'extremely rare' and posed no threat to the wider community.

Senior officers also confirmed that the person who allegedly discharged the firearm did have a licence.

Dozens of police cars and the force helicopter were called to reports of an injured woman at a property in the Tarskavaig area

Police officers were then alerted to reports of gunshots 26 miles away on the mainland in Dornie

A police van at the scene of one of the incidents on the Isle of Skye. One man has died and three other people were injured

Chief Superintendent Conrad Trickett, local policing commander for Highlands and Islands Division, said: 'The thoughts of everyone are with the family and friends of Mr MacKinnon and the people who remain injured in hospital. These incidents took place in close-knit, rural areas and will have a significant impact not only on those directly affected, but also friends and neighbours living in these communities.

'The policing response was significant as people would expect and involved national resources from across Scotland, including Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow, being brought in to support local policing on Skye and Lochalsh.

'Local officers who live and work in these communities brought the situation to as swift a conclusion as possible and I thank everyone involved, including colleagues from the Scottish Ambulance Service, for their outstanding efforts in responding to what was a distressing series of incidents.'

Police Scotland added that it is working closely with local partners, including Highland Council and NHS Highland, to help provide support and welfare to those affected by Wednesday's events. Yesterday, Scottish Conservative local councillor Ruraidh Stewart, who represents Eilean a' Cheo on Highland Council, said that members of the community remain 'resilient' in the face of the tragedy.

Mr Stewart said: 'My heart breaks for the families involved in this tragedy. In Skye and Lochalsh we are a close-knit community who are shocked and saddened by today's incident.

'My prayers are with the bereaved families and the victims in hospital with serious injuries.

'We are a resilient community, thankfully well supported.'

He added: 'I would like to thank the emergency services for all their efforts and the Highland Council staff, who have helped and supported the families involved.'
Home Search ICH Question Everything! Purpose and Intent of this website: U K descends into being 'colony of US'



Could London remain calm if external forces try to split UK, asks Chinese FM



By Zhang Hui and Xu Yelu August 12, 2022: Information Clearing House -- " Global Times" UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, due to need of her campaign to become the next prime minister and the UK's policy of clinging to the US' apron strings, criticized China for its countermeasures over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit, which only proved that Britain has lost its credibility as an independent country, Chinese analysts said.



They stressed that China will firmly respond to provocations from the US and its allies that challenge the one-China principle and undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.



Truss on Wednesday summoned Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang over "Beijing's aggressive escalation against Taiwan," and claimed that "increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from Beijing threaten peace and stability in the region," according to a statement on the website of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.



In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Thursday's media briefing that China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this and has lodged solemn representations with Britain.



"If Scotland were to collude with external forces and split itself from the UK, would the UK remain calm, show restraint, sit by and watch the situation deteriorate?" Wang asked.



Ambassador Zheng Zeguang has once again lodged solemn representations to the UK side on the latter's wrong remarks and deeds on the question of Taiwan and firmly refuted its wanton accusations on Wednesday during his meeting with UK senior officials.



Zheng stressed that whether it's talk about "helping Taiwan defend itself" or the plan by parliamentarians to visit Taiwan, they both constitute serious violations of the one-China principle and the Communique of the Governments of the People's Republic of China and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on an Exchange of Ambassadors issued 50 years ago. They will inevitably lead to severe consequences for China-UK relations and the UK side knows this all too well, he said.



Britain is joining the US and is not taking into account what will happen if the Chinese mainland does not effectively contain Taiwan secessionists, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Thursday.



The White House summoned Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang last week to condemn China's military activities around the island of Taiwan. According to the Chinese embassy, Qin sternly rejected the unreasonable accusations of the US side on China's military countermeasures.



"Now it seems that the UK has been colonized by the US, and it has failed to see how badly it's being used by the US," Wang said. He urged Britain to reflect on its current domestic problems and concentrate on solving them, instead of creating issues over Ukraine and the Taiwan Straits.



The UK has learned no lessons from stirring up the Hong Kong-related issue and now it wants to stir up the situation across the Taiwan Straits, which is all because it cannot find its value after Brexit. Thus it is bumping around to show its existence, Wang Yiwei said.



As Truss's remarks were made while she was running to come UK's next prime minister, Wang Yiwei said her comments were a political show for the leadership race, after all, being tough on China is politically correct in the West.



As for future China-UK relations, Liu Zuokui, a research fellow on European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that since the UK was strapped tightly to the chariot of the US, China-UK relations are likely to continue to fall along with China-US relations.



Aside from the UK, some Lithuanian politicians have also "jumped high" over the Taiwan question, and analysts warned that countries like Lithuania will continue to poke China over the issue.



But they stressed that China will make a strong and necessary response to countries like Lithuania if they play with fire on the one-China principle, such as sanctions against more of their politicians or even the severing of diplomatic ties. Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Reader financed- No Advertising - No Government Grants - No Algorithm - This Is Independent Get Our Free Newsletter Registration is not necessary to post comments. We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive language. Please be respectful of others. See also Search Information Clearing House The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
Norwegian authorities have threatened to put down a popular walrus amid fears it is putting itself and the public in danger, they said Thursday.

The walrus, nicknamed Freya, has won the public's hearts basking in the sun of the Oslo fjord, climbing into boats and getting up-close with tourists.

But despite repeated appeals to the public to keep their distance from Freya - a young female weighing 1,300 pounds - the mammal continues to attract big crowds, the Fisheries Directorate said in a statement. Its text was accompanied by a photograph of a group of onlookers crowding near the animal.

Norwegian authorities have threatened to put down Freya, a popular walrus, amid fears it is putting itself and the public in danger, they said Thursday

'The public's reckless behaviour and failure to follow authorities' recommendations could put lives in danger', a spokeswoman for the agency, Nadia Jdaini, said, noting that several potentially dangerous incidents have been witnesses in the last week.

These included people swimming with the walrus, approaching her with their children, taking photographs close to the mammal and throwing things at her.

'In the meantime, the distance recommendations and clarifications about not swimming with the walrus are repeated: we would again - strongly - recommend that the public keep their distance where the walrus has been observed and not bathe with it. It is for one's own safety and with animal welfare in mind,' Jdaini said.

Police have been passed on information about the incidents.

Pictured: A young female walrus nicknamed Freya rests on a boat in Frognerkilen, Oslo Fjord, Norway, on July 19, 2022. The walrus, nicknamed Freya, has won the public's hearts basking in the sun of the Oslo fjord, climbing into boats and getting up-close with tourists

But despite repeated appeals to the public to keep their distance from Freya - a young female weighing 1,300 pounds - the mammal continues to attract big crowds, the Fisheries Directorate said in a statement

Norway's Fisheries agency is closely following Freya in a patrol boat. The agency said Freya's welfare had clearly deteriorated.

'The fact that the walrus has become an attraction escalates the need for further measures. Our biggest fear is that people could get hurt... We are now exploring other measures, and euthanasia may be a real alternative', she added.

Freya, whose name is a reference to the Norse goddess of beauty and love, has made headlines since July 17 when she was first spotted in the waters of the Norwegian capital.

Walruses normally lives in the even more northerly latitudes of the Arctic.

Freya, whose name is a reference to the Norse goddess of beauty and love, has made headlines since July 17 when she was first spotted in the waters of the Norwegian capital

Between long naps - a walrus can sleep up to 20 hours a day - Freya has been filmed chasing a duck, attacking a swan and, more often than not, dozing on boats struggling to support her bulk.

Despite the recommendations, some curious onlookers have continued to approach her, sometimes with children in tow, to take photographs.

'Her health has clearly declined. The walrus is not getting enough rest and the experts we have consulted now suspect that the animal is stressed,' Jdaini said.

A protected species, walruses normally eat molluscs, small fish, shrimps and crabs.

While they don't normally attack people, they can if they feel threatened, according to authorities.
Two more swimmers have been bitten by what is believed to be the same dolphin responsible for attacks on at least six tourists at a Japanese beach resort.

Japanese media has reported that at least one man was taken to hospital on Thursday after being bitten on Koshino Beach near Fukui.

One man was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand on Thursday morning. Another attack then occurred in the afternoon where a second man suffered injuries to both fingers on his left hand.

In recent days footage has emerged in Japanese media showing apparent attacks on swimmers in and around the Koshino beach area.

In one, a man is seen grappling with a dolphin, whose fin is seen popping up out of the water as it becomes hostile. He tries to escape but the dolphin chases and then bites him.

Attacks have also occurred on other beaches in Fukui, with another video surfacing online in which people gather along the shore to watch dolphins swimming on Takanosu beach and a man is chased by them and has to run away.

Japanese media has reported that at least one man was taken to hospital on Thursday after being bitten on Koshino Beach near Fukui. The first man was seeing grappling with the dolphin in shocking footage. He tried to escape but the dolphin chased and then bit him

The man was bitten on both arms and the back of his hand on Thursday morning. It is believed that the same dolphin is responsible for at least six previous attacks on the same beach

Meanwhile, according to Japanese officials, at least six related previous attacks at Koshino Beach are believed to have been caused by the same dolphin which attacked the two men yesterday.

In another attack, swimmers were bitten after they tried to take a photograph with the animal.

And a separate girl was set upon by the dolphin and bled after it gnawed on her left ankle.

Despite the gentle nature of most dolphins, it is not uncommon for them to be hostile towards swimmers.

Due to the influx in dolphin attacks at the same beach, officials have now installed ultrasonic transmitters along the beach to hopefully deter them from the area.

There have also been warnings to swimmers about the dangers posed by dolphins, who have been told to avoid them if they spot them in the water.

Local media has said that dolphins in the area are now used to human interaction and have been seen in water as shallow as knee-deep.

Elsewhere in the world, while dolphin attacks are rare, they are not unheard of. This is despite the suggestion from scientists that wild bottlenose dolphins, pictured, find swimming alongside humans 'stressful' because they have found evidence that it disrupts their behavioural routines (stock image)

Elsewhere in the world, while dolphin attacks are rare, they are not unheard of.

This is despite the suggestion from scientists that wild bottlenose dolphins find swimming alongside humans 'stressful' because they have found evidence that it disrupts their behavioural routines.

There were consecutive attacks in Ireland in 2013 in the space of ten days by the same dolphin, in which two women were attacked and one suffered a broken rib.

Also in Ireland, a year later, five swimmers were rescued off the coast when they were cornered by an aggressive dolphin.

Dolphins are also occasionally very violent towards sea creatures. Once, a bottlenose dolphin was seen flipping a porpoise into the air in a forceful attack.
The family of a four-year-old British boy and his mother who went missing after travelling to Turkey have spoke of their relief after both were found safe and well.

George Jack Temperley-Wells is believed to have travelled to Antalya with mum Brogan Elizabeth Temperley on June 29 this year before both vanished. They are likely to have spent time with his father, 41-year-old Scott Nigel Wells, while in Turkey.

Brogan's grandparents Maureen, 78, and George, a retired Royal Navy diver and businessman 85, who lived alongside their granddaughter near Darlington, County Durham, had been desperately waiting for news of their loved ones.

They revealed she had no idea of the 'rumpus' she had caused and was catching the next flight home.

Retired Royal Navy diver and businessman George said: She got the shock of her life when she read about this.

She said 'Grandad I am coming straight home'. She was frightened to death by the publicity and in a hell of a state. She said 'Have you seen the news grandpa? What the hell is happening?'

George Jack Temperley-Wells travelled from Darlington to the Antalya area with his mother, Brogan Elizabeth Temperley, on June 29 this year

'I told her "You have caused a right rumpus. What are you going to do?" She said "I am coming straight home".

'I did not even ask her where she was or what she had been doing. She just said "I coming straight home grandpa because this has really frightened me".

'She cannot understand why anyone would think the boy is in danger. It is ridiculous. There was never any chance of that bairn coming to harm.

'She idolises him. He is with her 24 hours a day when they are at home, I can tell you that. Someone had been in touch with her to tell her she was in the news.

'We did not even discuss what she had been doing because she was in such a hurry to get home as soon as possible.

'Thank God it is all finished now. She is my favourite granddaughter. I know her like the back of my hand. There is now way she would put George in danger.

George Jack Temperley-Wells travelled from Darlington to the Antalya area with his mother

'I was worried to death to tell you the truth. But I knew she would be okay. She is not back in Britain yet but she has booked straightway to come home.'

Mr Temperley said his daughter met George's dad, who is English, when he was living in Darlington and she was working at a local estate agents but they had a very unhappy relationship and split up before George was born, with Mr Wells moving out of the area.

Shortly after becoming a mum, Brogan began having problems with drugs, her father said. He added: 'The baby has to be taken off her while she went into rehab and was in care for about a year. She was allowed to visit and every time she saw him she was heart broken.'

After Brogan received treatment for her problems mother and son were reunited - and have been inseparable ever since, Mr Temperley added.

He continued: 'She absolutely doted on him. Everywhere she went he went, except when he was at nursery playing with his friends.'

The grandfather said he had provided his daughter with a property he owned in the area and he and his wife Maureen visited regularly to see their granddaughter and great grandson.

His mother, Brogan, is 28 and wasdescribed as slim build with long, dark hair and dark eyes

But he had not seen either of them for two months, when she told him she was heading down to see friends in the Midlands, where the family used to live and where she grew up.

Mr Temperley said: 'We had no idea she was in Turkey or that her ex partner was in Turkey until all this came up. Her friends were stunned.'

He added: 'I have never met this fellow Wells and wish she had never met him. They were very bad for each other. If I was still boxing I would knock him out.'

He claimed Mr Wells had never supported the mother of his child and it was her grandparents who had looked after her accommodation.

'I cannot believe she would have gone to Turkey so he could spend time with his son. In fact, I don't believe it. There must be some other explanation.'

Grandmother Maureen said: 'We love her to bits but she is driving us nuts not knowing where she is. We are a very close family.

'Her and Mr Wells have not been in a relationship for years so we have not got a clue why she would go to Turkey to see him.'

Mr Temperley said his son Richard, Brogan's father, had been subject to very bad health and died earlier this year age 57.

He added Richard had been separated from Brogan's mother for a long time and that Brogan had very little contact with her.

The little boy is pictured with his father 41-year-old Scott Nigel Wells in images recently

They were not aware of what Mr Wells did for a living and had no idea what he was doing in Turkey, They believed he had another child by a different relationship.

This afternoon Durham Police said: George and his mother have been located safe and well and have returned to the UK, where they are receiving appropriate support.

'Our appeal was seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the world, so we would like to thank every single one of you who shared it and provided information to assist  we really do appreciate your help.'

His mother, Brogan, is 28 and was described as slim build with long, dark hair and dark eyes in the initial appeal.

George had been last seen in the Marina area of Antalya, in Turkey, where two of these pictures were taken.

Police had serious concerns for his welfare and need to urgently locate George and speak with his mother.

Anyone who is in contact with her had been asked to encourage her to contact the authorities in Turkey or the UK immediately to confirm her whereabouts and/or seek assistance to return home.
Five Chinese state-owned companies announced Friday they would delist from the New York Stock Exchange amid a refusal to adhere to US auditing regulations and growing tensions between the two global economies.

Washington has warned over 270 Chinese companies, like Alibaba Group, of possible removal from stock exchanges if Beijing continues to refuse regulations, according to a report by ABC News.

Beijing cites foreign inspection of audit documents from local accounting firms as a national security concern, leading to the dispute over regulations.

All five companies were identified in May as having not met US regulators' auditing standards, which required regulators to see records of corporate auditors.

PetroChina Ltd., China Life Insurance Ltd. and China Petroleum & Chemical Co. did not refer to disputes between the two countries over Taiwan, after a recent trip by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi sparked tensions, in their decision to delist.

Oil giant Sinopec announced Friday that it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange after refusing audit regulations by the US

Disputes arise amid growing tension between the two global economies, including Nancy Pelosi's recent trip to Taiwan

As the first House speaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, according to a report by NPR, Pelosi continued her campaign of advocating for Taiwan's democracy and criticism of China.

Within hours of Pelosi's arrival, China ordered live-fire drills in six different locations near Taiwan, restricting air space and water routes around the region.

The five companies, including Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. and Aluminum Corporation of China, announced they will continue to hold their listings in Hong Kong and mainland Chinese markets.

'These companies have strictly complied with the rules and regulatory requirements of the U.S. capital market since their listing in the U.S. and made the delisting choice for their own business considerations,' the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement.

All companies cited each of their respective, small trading volumes of their shares at the NYSE. A decision to move to Hong Kong would allow each company to be open to non-Chinese investors.

Following the announcement and in premarket Friday, Sinopec fell 4.3 percent; China Life Insurance fell 5.7 percent; Aluminum Corporation of China fell 1.7 percent; PetroChina fell 4.3 percent; and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. fell 4.1 percent.

Sinopec opened its Friday premarket listing after dropping by 4.3 percent

The largest drop among the five to-be delisted companies is a 5.7 percent fall for China Life Insurance

China Life and Aluminum Corp. will file for delisting on August 22, which will take effect 10 days later on September 1. Sinopec and PetroChina will follow on August 29, with the delisting taking effect September 8.

At the threat of being delisted, Alibaba said last week that it would convert its secondary Hong Kong listing as a dual primary listing, which analysts say could ease the e-commerce company to allow access to shares for mainland investors.

Previous Chinese-based companies to be delisted include China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom.

The trio were delisted in 2021 following a Trump-era decision to restrict investment in Chinese technology firms, a decision which remains unchanged by the Biden administration.
When FBI agents raided former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on Monday it triggered outrage among his supporters, who accused the Department of Justice of persecuting the former president.

Trump himself accused authorities of a 'witch hunt,' and of trying to ensure that he could never run for president again.

Even Republicans with no great love of Trump said it was a dangerous and unprecedented step.

'This is a very dangerous line they've crossed,' said New York GOP donor Eric Levine.

'And unless they come away with proof that he was plotting with Putin the invasion of New Hampshire or something, this heavy-handed manner of obtaining information on an ex-president is quite breathtaking.'

Sources said the raid was part of an investigation into whether Trump took classified documents home with him after leaving the White House, and even that they may have included nuclear secrets.

Former President Donald Trump faces a slew of legal battles that has only intensified since leaving office. They include investigations into his conduct after the election and his business practices. The probes stretch across the country

A new report on Friday claimed some documents labeled top secret were found in a storage room near the Mar-a-Lago pool. There are two pools on the Florida estate, one near the main house and the other parallel to the ocean

And it signified that Attorney General Merrick Garland and his Department of Justice now have the former president squarely in their sights.

Whether or not they have the evidence - or the political will - to charge a former president is another question.

But it is not the only legal jeopardy facing Trump or his business empire.

Two criminal investigations are under way. One is into allegations of interference in the 2020 election and another into possible financial crimes.

At the same time, a Congressional inquiry is weighing whether or not to recommend criminal charges related to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol last year.

January 6 investigation

Trump supporters overran the U.S. Capitol building on January 6 last year. The House of Representatives is collecting evidence about Trump's role in the violence

The January 6 committee held a series of public hearings as it presents its evidence

Trump was acquitted last year by the Senate of 'inciting an insurrection' for the way he fired up his supporters and spread false claims about the 2020 election being stolen from him.

Republicans said he was vindicated.

But that was not the end of the matter.

The House has established a committee to sift through the events leading up to the riot, and has presented its evidence in a series of blockbuster hearings during the summer.

It has included testimony from Trump's own aides that he knew he had lost the election, despite public claims to the contrary, and that he was told some of his supporters were armed, yet still demand they be allowed to march on Congress to protest certification of Joe Biden's election victory.

The committee has no legal power to prosecute Trump. But it could recommend that the Department of Justice press charges.

Possible indictments could include obstructing the vote count in Congress or conspiring to defraud the US.

Presidential records

Staff members carry boxes to Marine One before President Donald Trump left the White House, on Jan. 20, 2021 for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida

Trump aides were seen carrying boxes of files to Marine One when Trump flew out of the White House for the final time last year.

But presidents are meant to hand over their documents to the National Archive at the the end of their term under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act.

In February, the National Archive said some 15 boxes of government material, which should have been turned over, had been found at Mar-a-Lago.

Negotiations continued over materials that Trump had allegedly kept, but the quiet discussions exploded into public on Monday when the former president confirmed that his club had been searched by the FBI.

Attorney General Merrick Garland defended the operation and said he had signed off the search.

'Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy,' he said.

'Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.'

New York tax probe

Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of tax fraud. It is one of two cases against the company in New York

New York Attorney General Letitia James is is also investigating allegations that Trump's company misled lenders and tax authorities about asset values

A New York judge on Friday ordered the Trump Organization and its financial chief to stand trial in October on criminal tax fraud charges.

Prosecutors believe that Allen Weisselberg and Trump's company conspired to give off-the-books compensation to senior executives for 15 years.

That included $1.7 million, including rent, car payments and school tuition, for Weisselberg, who is accused of defrauding New York out of $900,000 in unpaid taxes.

He and the company deny any wrongdoing.

At the same time, Trump faces a civil case being pursued by New York Attorney General Letitia James. She is looking into allegations that Trump's company misled lenders and tax authorities about asset values, by raising and lowering valuations depending on whether it was for tax or investment purposes.

She questioned Trump under oath on Wednesday. But he pleaded the Fifth Amendment, repeating the phrase 'same answer', more than 400 times.

The two investigations are separate but James' civil investigation could lead to a lawsuit and fines.

Georgia grand jury

Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani (above), the former New York mayor and Trump lawyer, and Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina have been asked to appear before a Georgia grand jury investigating the aftermath of the 2020 election

Trump's lawyers and allies are in the firing line in Georgia, where the former president and key aides allegedly tried to overturn the state's 2020 election result.

Leaked emails and phone transcripts show how they put pressure on local officials including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to stop Georgia's 15 electoral college votes going to Biden.

In a January 2021 phone call, Trump even called on Raffensperger to 'find' him the 10,000 votes he needed to beat the Democratic candidate.

A grand jury has been convened to sift the claims and decide whether there is enough evidence to bring charges.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis more than three dozen individuals to appear before the jury. They include Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump lawyer, and Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator.
Hollywood producer Eric Weinberg had his court date in Los Angeles delayed due to what the district attorney called a 'flood' of new information.

Formal charges were expected to be announced during his arraignment Friday, where District Attorney George Gascon would present the formal charges against Weinberg and he would enter a plea.

The 61-year-old 'Scrubs' writer and co-executive producer, who was arrested at his Los Feliz home on July 14 for allegations of rape and sexual assault.

The DA's office notified the victims in the case that it requires more time to process and review the influx of new allegations from additional women police have received.

At least eight women have come forward to accuse Weinberg of violent sexual assault in the years before his July arrest, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Weinberg's initial court appearance was delayed due to a 'flood' of new information regarding the sexual assault allegations

'Scrubs' producer and writer Eric Weinberg was seen taking out the trash at his Los Angeles home while free on $3 million bail, in the first sighting since he was arrested for sexually assaulting eight women

The accusations detail Weinberg luring multiple young women to his home from coffee bars, supermarkets, and in one case, a pie shop, between 2012 and 2019.

Three of the alleged victims testified against Weinberg during his divorce proceedings in late 2020, according to court records.

LAPD said the number of Weinbergs alleged victims is expected to balloon, with his history of attacks believed to stretch back to the 1990s.

LAPD official press release from July 14 announcing the arrest of Weinberg at his Los Feliz home.

Weinberg wrote 11 episodes and served as co-executive producer for the hit show 'Scrubs.' (file)

Weinberg was released in late July after posting his $3.2 million bail.

The alleged survivors were informed by the DA's office they would need more time to review the large influx of evidence delivered by LAPD detectives.

Weinberg maintained a steady presence in writers rooms from the late 1990s to 2016.

Most notably, he worked on the hit NBC show 'Scrubs,' with more than 100 co-executive producer credits.

The District Attorneys office has not yet specified a new court date.
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He was first forced into hiding more than 30 years ago by Iran's theocratic dictatorship after the regime branded The Satanic Verses a work of blasphemy.

From ever-changing safe houses, constant armed guards and a new identity, to finally finding a new home in the US, British author Salman Rushdie has now been stabbed in the neck on stage in New York - the supposed beating heart of free speech.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of the Islamic republic, issued a fatwa - or religious ruling - calling on all Muslims to murder the celebrated atheist author and anyone involved in the publication of The Satanic Verses on February 14, 1989.

Rushdie, now 75, was forced to live under the long shadow the fatwa cast until it was finally lifted by Iran's hardline regime in 1998.

But for nine years, the writer constantly moved between safe houses and was protected by round-the-clock armed guards. He even adopted an alias, Joseph Anton - a combination of the first names of two of his favourite writers, Conrad and Chekhov.

The fatwa also led to the murder of the book's Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi, the targeting of its translators and publishers in Turkey, Norway and Italy, and worldwide riots and book-burnings - while The Satanic Verses itself was banned in many countries.

Speaking about the controversy with the Mail, Sir Salman said: 'Being under the fatwa was a jail, but I think that one of the problems is that from the outside it looked glamorous, as I sometimes showed up in places in Jags with people jumping out to open the door and make sure you get in safely and so on. Looks of who the hell does he think he is? Well, from my side it felt like jail.

'There was this crude argument that I did it in some way for personal advantage, to make myself more famous or to make money. At its most unpleasant it was levelled at me from the Islamic side that the Jews made me do it. They said my [second] wife was Jewish. She wasn't, she was American.

'If I had simply wanted to trade on an insult to Islam I could have done it in a sentence rather than writing a 250,000-word novel, a work of fiction.'

Sir Salman Rushdie holding a copy of The Satanic Verses during a 1992 news conference in Arlington

Muslim activists beat a burning effigy of Salman Rushdie in New Delhi

Ayatollah Khomeini at his residence in the leafy Paris suburb of Neauphle-le Chateau during his exile

'What you have to remember is that The Satanic Verses is not called Islam the Prophet, it is not called Mohammed, the country is not called Arabia - it all happens in the dream of somebody who is losing their mind.'

What shocked him is that no radical Muslims in Britain who backed the call for his assassination were ever prosecuted.

He said: 'There were these occasions, like in Manchester, where Muslim leaders said to their congregation, ''Tell me who in this audience would be ready to kill Rushdie?'' and everyone in the audience raised their hand. And the police thought this was OK.

Rushdie holding a copy of The Satanic Verses in 1989

'Supposing I had been the Queen and an imam said to his congregation, ''Who would be ready to kill the Queen?'' and everybody raised their hand. Would you think the police would not act?

'I only use the Queen as an example to dramatise this but it seems odd that when it is a novelist of foreign origin, therefore not completely British in some way, that it was allowed to happen with impunity.'

Rushdie remembers his split from his wife Marianne as being a particularly traumatic time. She claimed that the CIA was aware of Rushdie's whereabouts and so his cover was blown. When he realised that she was lying he decided to end the relationship.

'It was very shocking. There simply was a point at which I had to choose whether to be alone in the middle of this hurricane with nobody there for companionship or whether I somehow had to put up with this person in whom it was difficult to have faith.

'It was horrifying to be told by a policeman that they believed that your wife was lying to you. It is an experience most of us don't have.

'And then for her to say that it was the police who were to be blamed and that I shouldn't trust them sets a kind of mindf*** and I had to make my judgments. It became impossible for me to have faith in her veracity. So in the end I thought it was better to separate.'

In an interview three years ago, he said: 'Islam was not a thing. No one was thinking in that way. One of the things that has happened is that people in the West are more informed than they used to be'.

He ruefully added: 'I was 41 back then, now I am 71. Things are fine now. We live in a world where the subject changes very fast. And this is a very old subject. There are now many other things to be frightened about - and other people to kill'.

Sir Salman began his writing career in the early 1970s with two unsuccessful books before Midnight's Children, about the birth of India, which won the Booker Prize in 1981.

It went on to bring him worldwide fame, with it also later crowned the 'best of the Bookers' on the literary award's 25th anniversary.

His other works include the Moor's Last Sight and Shalimar The Clown, which was long-listed for the Booker, and he also published a memoir called Joseph Anton about the fatwa.

In this file photo taken on February 26, 1989, Hezbollah militants burn an effigy of Rushdie

People rushed to assist the author after the attack in New York, with the motive currently unknown

Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature, a decision that triggered outrage in several Muslim countries, including Malaysia and Pakistan.

In 2017, he risked angering Islamists again by saying he could not face reading the 'unenjoyable' Koran.

Asked if Islam's central text should be edited to make the religion seem 'more humane', the author replied: 'Editing the Koran seems like a mug's game. It's not a very enjoyable book because most of it is not narrative. The big difference between the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran is that the Koran has the least narrative of them. Only about a quarter of the book is stories. A third of the book is fulminations against the unbeliever and how they will rot in hell. Another third of the book is laws, how you should behave.

'So no I wouldn't edit it because then I'd have to read it, and I don't want to do that.'

New York police said that the Indian-British author suffered a stab wound to the neck and has been airlifted to hospital after he was attacked on stage.

The state police department has issued a statement confirming a male suspect ran onto the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and attacked Sir Salman and an interviewer.

The statement said: 'State police are investigating an attack on author Salman Rushdie prior to a speaking event at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. On August 12, 2022, at about 11am, a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer.

'Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known.

'The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. A state trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody.

'The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene.'
Salman Rushdie was stabbed at a literary event for creatives at an upstate New York education center where 100,000 people gather each summer for 'community and personal growth.'

The novelist, who was knifed in the neck while on stage, was preparing to give a lecture on City of Asylum, a Pittsburgh-based sanctuary for writers under threat of persecution.

The book event was part of the Chautauqua Institution's ongoing lecture series - which runs across summer. Thousands of people travel for the creative and spiritual events at the non-profit center.

Rushdie, 75, was prepared to speak alongside Henry Reese, the co-founder and president of City of Asylum.

His speech was to begin at 10:45 a.m. as a 'discussion of the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.'

Rushdie, 75, has previously received death threats for his writing, with his book the Satanic Verses sparking protests in 1988. He was stabbed in the neck

The institution, located by Chautauqua Lake in western New York, hosts thousands each year for its annual nine-week lecture series

Week seven of the institution's lecture series was an ongoing discussion of 'redefining the American home'

Medics attended to Rushdie after the attack, with witnesses saying a man 'punched and stabbed' the author as he was announced on stage

Blood appeared to be spattered on the wall behind where Rushdie had been attacked, with some also seen on a chair

Prior to his speaking engagement at the institution, Rushdie had given a speech in 1997 which had inspired Reese to found City of Asylum, the organization said.

This is not the first time Rushdie has taken part in a lecture series hosted by the institution, according to its website.

Chautauqua Institution, founded in 1874 as a 'vacation learning' spot, is a nonprofit organization located on Chautauqua Lake near Buffalo in western New York.

The institution's website says it is 'dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times.'

In its history, the institution has been visited by four sitting US presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Bill Clinton.

The main amphitheater has been host to FDR's 'I hate war' speech in 1936 in addition to other historical figures like Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony and Amelia Earhart.

Artists who have performed at the institution include Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Rhiannon Giddens, Toby Keith and Clay Aiken.

Throughout the nine weeks of summer, 'more than 100,000 people visit Chautauqua Institution in search of respite, community and personal growth.

'And every summer, they find it,' according to the website.

The institution's main amphitheater has been host to several celebrities and musical performances throughout its history, including Duke Ellington and Susan B. Anthony

Franklin Delano Roosevelt hosted his 'I hate war' speech at the amphitheater in 1936

In participating in the seventh week of the lecture series, titled 'More than Shelter: Redefining the American Home,' Rushdie was to speak on his own persecution by the Iranian government and his seeking for sanctuary in the US.

Rushdie wrote The Satanic Verses, which resulted in a culture war being sparked in 1988 in Britain  with protests taking place in the UK along with book burnings.

Rushdie went into hiding for nine years before Iran's fatwa was lifted

The book had supposedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad and The Koran, leading to protest.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of the Islamic republic, issued a fatwa - or religious ruling - calling on all Muslims to murder the celebrated atheist author and anyone involved in the publication of The Satanic Verses on Feb. 14, 1989.

Rushdie, now 75, was forced to live under the long shadow the fatwa cast until it was finally lifted by Iran's hardline regime in 1998.

For nine years, the writer moved constantly between safe houses and was protected by round-the-clock armed guards. He even adopted an alias, Joseph Anton - a combination of the first names of two of his favorite writers, Conrad and Chekhov.

Rushdie was put under round-the-clock security at the expense of the British taxpayer when a $3 million bounty was put on his head.

He previously reported that he received a sort of Valentines card from Iran each year letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him.

Rushdie was attacked ahead of his speech in Chautauqua, near Buffalo

But horror struck on Friday morning as the novelist as attacked while on stage at the event.

Blood appeared to be spattered on the wall behind where Rushdie had been attacked, with some also seen on a chair.

New York state police said today: 'On August 12, 2022, at about 11 am, a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer.

'Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital.

'His condition is not yet known. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury."

Hundreds of people in the audience gasped at the sight of the attack this morning, and were then evacuated.

A Chautauqua Institution spokesperson said: 'We are dealing with an emergency situation. I can share no further details at this time.'

The author was knighted in 2007 in Britain for services to literature by his friend Tony Blair.
The first meeting between President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping could happen in November on the sidelines of an international summit in Asia, according to people familiar with planning.

Details emerged on Thursday at a time of intense tension between the two countries, following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last week.

Beijing responded with bellicose rhetoric and live fire military exercises around the autonomous island.

Now Chinese officials are reportedly making plans for Xi to visit Southeast Asia in what would be his first international trip in three years, where he would have his first in-person meeting with Biden since the American president took office.

Officials involved in the preparations told the Wall Street Journal that the 69-year-old Chinese leader will take part in his party congress in the fall - where he is expected to break with precedent and claim a third term as premier.

Chinese officials are reportedly working on plans for a face-to-face meeting between Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden on the sidelines of summits in Southeast Asia in November

A billboard in Taipei welcomed Speaker Pelosi to the island as Taiwanese showed their support

Pelosi's visit triggered Chinese wargames around the autonomous island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory

Then he is due to attend a Group of 20 nations summit on the Indonesian island of Bali on Nov. 15 to 16.

And from there he will travel to the Thai capital of Bangkok for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit two days later.

As part of the planning, officials are making preparations for a meeting with Biden on the sidelines of one of the summits - although those plans could change, they said.

U.S. officials said they could not comment on preparations being made by Chinese officials.

But a White House official reiterated what was said after the two leaders spoke by phone at the end of last month, that officials were working towards an face-to-face meeting.

The Chinese foreign ministry told the Wall Street Journal: 'China supports Indonesia and Thailand as the hosts of the two conferences, and is willing to work with all parties to promote the conference to achieve positive results.'

Xi has not left China since January 2020 when he made a state visit to Burma. Days later, Chinese health authorities declared a public health emergency as COVID took hold.

President Joe Biden said he was 'concerned' but 'not worried' about China's military drills around Taiwan as he left his Delaware beach home on Monday morning

During that time China has ramped up its claims on Taiwan and fears have grown in recent weeks that it could be about to launch an invasion.

Pelosi arrived in Taiwan last week after days of speculation about whether she would make the trip and potentially intensify tensions with Beijing, which views Taiwan as Chinese territory that will eventually be reunified with the mainland.

It made her the highest-ranking elected U.S. official to visit Taiwan in decades.

In response Beijing deployed fighter jets, warships and ballistic missiles around Taiwan in what analysts said was a practice for a blockade or invasion of the island.

This week Biden said he was 'concerned' but 'not worried' about China's military drills.

And Biden has avoided criticizing Pelosi.

'That was her decision,' he said when asked about the trip by reporters as he left his Delaware beach home for a day trip to Kentucky on Monday morning.

Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell accused China of overreacting and using and it as a pretext to try to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait

'China has overreacted and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented,' he told reporters, describing it as an 'intensified pressure campaign' against Taiwan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded Republicans for verbal attacks on the FBI made by some of their members in the aftermath of Monday's raid of former President Donald Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.

'You would think there would be an adult in the Republican room that would say, just calm down, see what the facts are, and let's go from that instead of - again - instigating assaults on law enforcement,' Pelosi told reporters at a Friday press conference.

Members of Trump's party have called for investigations into the Department of Justice and for the FBI to be 'defunded' in the aftermath of Monday's raid of Trump's Florida home and private club.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded Republicans for verbal attacks on law enforcement made by some of their members in the aftermath of Monday's FBI raid of former President Donald Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago

Republicans have aimed their ire at the FBI in the aftermath of Monday's raid of former President Donald Trump's home and private club, Mar-a-Lago

An armed man was killed after trying to breach an FBI facility in Cincinnati Thursday.

The suspect is believed to have been in Washington, D.C. around the time of the January 6 Capitol attack, but wasn't among those charged with ransacking the Capitol.

Some House Republicans continued their verbal assault on the FBI at a press conference on Capitol Hill Friday morning.

The No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, skewered the agency and said the raid this close to the midterm election represented 'complete abuse and overreach of its authority.'

'And as the American people know, unfortunately, this is the same agency leadership that protected Hillary Clinton, James Comey and continues to protect Hunter Biden,' Stefanik claimed.

The FBI is currently led by a Trump appointee, Christopher Wray, and the DOJ's own inspector general had knocked Comey for his handling of the Clinton investigation in the run-up to the 2016 election, speaking about it publicly while the investigation into the Trump campaign's Russia ties was kept quiet.

A federal investigation into Hunter Biden is ongoing.

Rep. Trent Kelly, a Republican from Mississippi, said Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI needed to be held accountable.

'No one is above the law. I heard that yesterday. No one is above the law and that includes the Attorney General and the seventh floor of the FBI,' he said.

GOP Rep. Markwayne Mullin asked reporters gathered: 'What makes you think we should trust the FBI? Where have they earned our trust?'

The Washington Post reported Thursday night that federal investigators feared that Trump had among his belongings classified documents related to nuclear weapons - something the ex-president has since denied.

On Friday, Pelosi was asked if she was concerned about the rhetoric coming from Republicans in light of the Cincinnati incident.

'As if we need more evidence than a presidential incitement of an insurrection on the Capitol to know about causing concern about the safety of members of Congress, of our Constitution and of our law enforcement,' Pelosi said.

Pelosi also revealed that lawmakers met over Zoom Tuesday, one day after the raid, and were briefed on 'enhanced security for members and their staff and families,' which she said was a result of inflamed tensions 'that have no basis in truth.'

'There are no guarantees. We sign up for this. We have to do our jobs,' the House speaker also acknowledged.

'I know, very well, how vicious they can be, for a long time now - but it's certainly enhanced, if that's the word, exacerbated, by the statements of the president,' Pelosi said.

Pelosi also told reporters Friday that she hadn't been briefed about any of the Justice Department's actions.
August 12, 2022: Information Clearing House -- As Israel unleashed a surprise wave of air strikes on Gaza last Friday, the two remaining Conservative politicians vying to replace disgraced Prime Minister Boris Johnson publicised letters vowing fealty to Israel.

Their timing underscored the degree to which British politicians on both sides of the aisle have now joined their American counterparts in making commitment to Israel a defining issue in their campaigns for highest office.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, trumpeted their pro-Israel credentials over the weekend, as Israel killed 45 Palestinians, including 16 children, and injured hundreds more. Israel said several Islamic Jihad leaders  the intended targets  were among the dead. A ceasefire went into effect late on Sunday night.

As expected, western leaders came out solidly in support of Israel, even though on this occasion there was not even the pretence that Israel was retaliating for rockets fired out of Gaza. Israel initiated the hostilities, claiming its strikes were meant to prevent an alleged attack by the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad with an anti-tank missile.

One can imagine how politicians in the United States and Europe would have reacted had a Palestinian faction justified firing rockets into Israel unprovoked on the basis that it wished to deter future Israeli air strikes. But in any case, if deterrence really was Israels aim, its attack had precisely the opposite effect. Entirely predictably, Islamic Jihad responded by firing hundreds of rockets into Israel.

In fact, though it is never mentioned by western politicians or media, Palestinians, unlike Israel, actually have a right in international law to resist Israel militarily  and not only because Israel has been belligerently occupying their lands for decades.

Israel has additionally subjected Gaza to a 15-year blockade that has tightly controlled who and what is allowed in and out of the tiny, heavily overcrowded coastal enclave. Gaza has been left in ruins by a series of Israeli attacks over more than a decade  what the Israeli army calls mowing the lawn. Gazas trapped 2.1 million inhabitants suffer serious shortages of food, clean water, medicines and electricity. Malnutrition and poverty are endemic.

Last year, the head of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, observed: If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza. That hell is entirely manmade  by Israel.

Double standard

Perhaps the most flagrantly hypocritical comment on the weekends events came from Yevgen Korniychuk, the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel. He tweeted out a message of support for Israel that turned reality on its head.

He expressed deep sympathy for the Israeli public, suggesting that Israel, like Ukraine, was suffering a very brutal attack by its neighbour. He added: Attacks on women and children are reprehensible.

But it was Israel that initiated the attack, not the Palestinians. And it was women and children in Gaza, not in Israel, who died under Israeli bombs.

Korniychuks comments served to underscore the wider hypocrisy of western politicians who have expressed outrage at Russian aggression against Ukraine since its invasion in late February, but for years have either minimised or supported Israels regular aggression against Gaza.

The double standard was starkly evident in the case of the two contenders for Johnsons crown. At the weekend, Truss and Sunak laid out their unwavering support for Israel at the very moment it was killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They did so to their partys main pro-Israel lobby group, the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI).

Truss averred: The UK should stand side by side with Israel, now and well into the future. As Prime Minister, I would be at the forefront of this mission. Comments from Truss, the bookmakers favourite, particularly stick in the craw.

As foreign secretary, she has been outspoken in condemning Russias invasion, calling it an illegal occupation. She has backed Britons going to fight against Russia. She has loudly supported sending weapons to help Ukraine defend itself. And she has suggested that the assets of Russian nationals frozen by the UK should be transferred to Ukraine.

Of course, Truss wishes to extend none of those supposedly principled positions supporting Ukrainians against Russian aggression to Palestinians facing Israeli aggression.

It is inconceivable that she would ever approve of sending arms to Palestinians so they could defend themselves from Israeli attack. Quite the contrary. Trusss government has increased arms sales to Israel to record levels even as Israel chokes Gaza and Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem steal ever more Palestinian land.

It is also unthinkable that Truss would agree to freeze Israeli assets in the UK and use them to help reconstruct long-suffering Gaza. Or that she would back Britons going to fight with the Palestinian resistance against Israels suffocating blockade of Gaza.

For Trump, the move was intended to pander to his electoral base of US evangelicals. They wish to shore up Jewish control of the region to bring about an end times in which Christians alone rise to be with God.

Now Truss appears ready to emulate Trump.

In her letter, the foreign minister also promises to cement Britains ties with Israel by expediting a Free Trade Agreement being drafted by the government. Truss has said closer trade is a priority.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International have warned against Britain hastily negotiating such an agreement, saying it may incentivise Israels system of apartheid, help Israel expand its illegal settlements and give a stamp of approval to Israeli efforts to annex Palestinian land under occupation.

Truss vows too a further crackdown on the international boycott movement, backing a US-style bill to prevent public bodies, including local councils, from joining the BDS campaign to divest funds from Israel for its illegal activities in the occupied territories.

She says BDS causes needless division. Presumably the division that concerns her is antagonising Israels aggressive lobbyists in the UK, not fuelling tensions with Palestinians, their supporters and human rights groups.

Given inaction by western governments, solidarity expressed through boycotts is effectively the only non-violent way for individuals and organisations to punish Israel  whether for its continuing crimes against ordinary Palestinians, or its efforts to steal and colonise their land, or its moves to frustrate the emergence of a Palestinian state.

By outlawing peaceful resistance to Israels belligerent occupation, Truss would leave Palestinians and their supporters with a stark choice: either promote violent forms of resistance, or sit quietly while Israel inflicts death by a thousand cuts on Palestinian statehood and any hopes of peace.

Global power dynamics

Truss makes clear that she will characterise any effort to hold Israel to account as antisemitism. She intends to silence criticism of Israel for its human rights abuses at the United Nations, one of the very few international forums where Israel faces scrutiny.

And she promises to toughen the UKs stance towards Iran, the only counterweight to Israels military dominance in the Middle East.

Sunak is barely less extravagant in his advocacy for Israel. He too extols the Free Trade Agreement, calls for intensified intelligence cooperation with Israel against Iran, promises to outlaw boycotts, and grossly mischaracterises the Abraham Accords  signed by some Gulf states to further isolate the Palestinians- as a new era of peace.

Whether it is Truss or Sunak who replaces Johnson, each is already committed to championing Israel against the Palestinians and crushing dissent at home.

The opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer is not offering any kind of corrective to the Conservatives lockstep support for Israel.

His predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, a strong supporter of justice for the Palestinians, faced a relentless, years-long, evidence-free campaign tarring him as presiding over an institutionally antisemitic party. Starmer has learnt that lesson. During his campaign for the Labour leadership, he declared himself a Zionist, subscribing to an ideology that in practice insists Israel has a right to usurp Palestinian land and colonise it.

Since then, he has ignored a vote by his own party conference to declare Israel an apartheid state and deny it arms to oppress Palestinians. He has also blurred a long-accepted distinction between anti-Zionism, opposition to Israels oppression of Palestinians, and antisemitism, bigotry towards Jews.

Like Truss and Sunak, Starmer has unequivocally supported helping Ukrainians resist Russian aggression while denying that right to Palestinians under Israeli military occupation.

The truth, as illustrated by these bipartisan double standards, is that no UK party leader is prepared to found their foreign policy on genuine ethical principles or humanitarianism, whatever they claim.

Their kneejerk support for Israel follows from a recognition of global power dynamics. Western neocolonial interests are what sets the agenda in the oil-rich, conflict-prone Middle East, a region where the super-powerful lobbies of the fossil fuel industry and the arms manufacturers have so much at stake financially.

It is those narrow, cynical, elite interests that British governments serve, not some notion of the greater public good. Which is why Israel knows it is free to pound Gaza whenever it chooses  with no consequences, except for the Palestinians facings its bombs.

https://www.jonathan-cook.net/2022-08-09/truss-sunak-fealty-israel/
Ben Wallace today admitted Britain's bloody campaign in Afghanistan ended in failure and said the reasons for intervening 'crumbled before our eyes' during last year's chaotic withdrawal.

Monday marks the anniversary of the UK and the US pulling out of the country, allowing the Taliban to arrive unopposed into Kabul and sweep back into power.

The Defence Secretary told Mail+ Defence and Diplomacy Editor Mark Nicol of a visit to a war memorial dedicated to the hundreds of British troops killed during the 20-year operation, and spoke of his fear that their grieving parents would feel they had gave their lives for nothing.

Ben Wallace today admitted Britain's bloody campaign in Afghanistan was a failure and said the reasons for intervening 'crumbled before our eyes' during last year's chaotic withdrawal

'We'd gone there for the right reasons and stayed for 20 years, we'd done security, economic development, education, but we'd failed,' he told Mail+.

'And history told us when the West left the country it was going to go back to how it had been.

'We were leaving people behind, conceding the country to the Taliban and the Haqqani network, mainly because the West didn't really want to stay. And if they didn't want to stay, why did they go there at all?'

The Taliban launched a 10-day takeover of Afghanistan in August last year as United States-led forces withdrew from the country.

This was despite billions of dollars being spent by the US and Nato over nearly two decades to build up Afghan security forces.

The takeover culminated in the fall of the capital Kabul on August 15 as president Ashraf Ghani fled to Abu Dhabi and admitted the Taliban had won.

Chaos ensued at Kabul's airport as people tried to flee, with refugees pictured clinging to planes as they tried to take off.

Since then the Taliban have barred girls at secondary school from returning to class and ordered all women to cover their faces in public.

The Defence Secretary himself choked up last year as he talked about the consequences of the collapse of the Western-trained Afghan army.

Ben Wallace today admitted Britain's bloody campaign in Afghanistan was a failure and said the reasons for intervening 'crumbled before our eyes' during last year's chaotic withdrawal

Mr Wallace - who himself served in the military before entering politics - said he felt the issue so deeply because he was a soldier.

It comes as it emerged yesterday that the government is housing Afghan refugees in hotels at a cost of 1million a day.

Around 9,500 refugees are understood to be living in the 70 hotels as they wait for more settled accommodation.

Officials recognise that living in hotels is not the best situation for families and are working to move them into permanent homes as quickly as possible.

The delays are said to be down to the complexities of matching families with appropriate homes, as well as pre-existing pressures on the housing system.

Around 7,000 Afghan evacuees are said to have been moved into settled accommodation since arriving in the country.
A cruel son held his mother's head under the water in her own bath for up to 20 seconds in a terrifying naked attack.

Former soldier John Butler, 36, was jailed after smashing his way into the bathroom to attack his asthmatic mother in a row.

Mold Crown Court heard Butler was outraged when his mother Theresa went for a bath instead of going to the shops for him.

She had only been in the bath for one minute when Butler crashed through the bathroom door and told her: 'Get out of that bath and get to the shop.'

Former soldier John Butler, 36, from Mostyn, North Wales, was jailed after smashing his way into the bathroom to attack his asthmatic mother in a row

Mold Crown Court heard Butler had completed three tours of Iraq but suffered PTSD during his time on deployment

Prosecutor Frances Wilmott said: 'He grabbed the back of his mother's neck and forced her head under the water, holding her there for what she described as 10 to 20 seconds.

'The water went down her nose and throat, and when he did let go she was choking and gasping for air.'

Butler, of Mostyn, North Wales, was found guilty of assaulting Teresa Butler and damaging a door.

Ms Butler tried to turn her phone on to call for help but her son returned holding a large knife.

'Will you get out of that bath?' he asked - taking hold of her by the wrist and dragging her out, causing her to fall into a unit which fell and left smashed glass on the floor.

When a phone rang downstairs, he went to answer it, giving the victim chance to lock herself into her bedroom.

But he kicked the door, shattering it, and left the house.

The following day, Butler called his mother 56 times from a withheld number, saying it was 'her fault.'

He told her: 'This is the final nail in your coffin,' making 48 calls to her the following day.

Ms Butler didn't want to go to the police - but other family members reported it.

In a victim personal statement, Ms Butler said the defendant had known she had a heart complaint and was asthmatic.

Despite the offences, the victim said she 'loves John unconditionally,' adding: 'A mother's love will never end.'

Robin Boag, defending, told the court Butler went into the army at 16 and left when he was 24, in 2010.

During that time he completed three tours of duty in Iraq and had 'witnessed things there that had a lasting impression on him,' leading to post traumatic stress disorder.

Mr Boag conceded: 'It was an extremely unpleasant, nasty attack on his mother.'

Judge Nicola Saffman told the defendant: 'She was naked in the bath when you came crashing through the door.

'You grabbed her neck and held her underwater.

'You knew she was asthmatic and had a heart complaint. She was terrified.

'She has been extremely unwilling to go to the police - clearly she is a loving mother who just wants what is best for you.

'But your attack has affected her significantly.'

The judge took into account his Army service and PTSD but jailed him for three years.

A three year restraining order was put in place to protect Butler's mother, who can - if she chooses - apply to the court to have it end early.
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On August 4, 1990, two young men were working as chefs in a hotel in Pitlochry, a beautiful Highland Perthshire town, just outside the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland.

At 9pm, after a long day in a hot kitchen, they drove about 13 miles north along the A9 to Calvine, a spot on the edge of the Cairngorms, for a walk in the hills.

They hadn't gone far when they saw a huge, solid, diamond-shaped object, about 100ft long, hovering silently in the sky above them. Terrified, they hid in some bushes and looked up.

Minutes later, they heard the scream of a jet aircraft going north: In 1990, RAF Leuchars in Fife had two squadrons of Tornado fighters on 24-hour standby to intercept Russian intruder aircraft.

The jet came back and circled the 'thing' before heading off on its original course, as if the pilot had seen the object too and had come back for a closer look.

Eventually the two men stuck their camera out from where they were hiding and fired off six frames. At that point, the object shot vertically upwards and disappeared way, way up in to the sky.

Convinced they'd just seen a UFO, they took their photos to the Daily Record, one of Scotland's leading newspapers. But no story was ever printed: The paper passed the pictures on to the Ministry of Defence.

And then, the photographs simply vanished  along with the two young chefs.

Until now.

Here, for the first time, we can reveal that missing picture  a photograph one MoD insider described as the most spectacular UFO picture ever captured, and the Holy Grail in terms of hard evidence that these things really exist.

It's a picture the MoD and The National Archives have tried their utmost to keep hidden. While the information would normally have been released after 30 years, the Ministry has not released the original photo and wants the names of the witnesses sealed for a further 54 years  until 2076  because of 'privacy concerns'.

Revealed after 32 years: The 'most spectacular UFO photo ever captured'. The photograph, taken by two young chefs on August 4, 1990, has been hidden from view for more than 30 years

As a university lecturer and investigative reporter who's spent three decades immersed in the world of UFOlogy, I heard the story of the mysterious 'Calvine file'  as the missing photo and report of that incident at Calvine came to be known  many moons ago and have devoted the past 13 years doggedly searching for the images the men took.

What happened to the file, the men who pictured the UFO and how and why its very existence has been suppressed for 32 years, was a puzzle I was determined to crack. Wherever I searched for answers, however, I found insiders blocking my inquiries  until I struck lucky and found retired RAF officer Craig Lindsay, the first official to speak to one of the young chefs after that night.

He was willing to talk to me and, most exciting of all, I discovered that he'd broken protocol that day and stashed a copy of the image before, on Whitehall's orders, sending the entire dossier  negatives included  to the Ministry of Defence in London.

He'd kept the secret copy in his desk for 32 years  hidden inside his copy of Great Aircraft Of The World. When I eventually tracked him down, now 83 and still living in Scotland, he sounded almost relieved.

'I have been for waiting for someone to contact about this for more than 30 years,' he said.

RAF Officer Craig Lindsay shows a 30-year-old, black and white photo of a UFO sighting - described as 'one of the best in the world' which has been unearthed after being hidden by the British Ministry of Defence. 'I have been for waiting for someone to contact about this for more than 30 years,' he said.

So, what do I make of it? The moment Craig showed the photograph to me I knew I was looking at something exceptional. Yes, it is a black and white image, printed on colour paper, and the trees and fence look a little blurry, as if the photographer took it in a moment of panic  which is consistent with their story. But the camera is focused on the weird diamond shaped object in the centre of the frame. Unlike many other UFO images, this is clearly a structured craft of unknown origin. It looks other-worldly and unlike any conventional aircraft.

And it is by far the best UFO photograph I have ever seen.

Believe me, I'm no gullible, deluded conspiracy theorist. I'd grown cynical after viewing hundreds of unconvincing photographs and films: Blurry, grainy, out of focus shots of what easily could have been frisbees, streetlamps or even seagulls.

But this was clearly something different. I've since had it analysed by Andrew Robinson, a senior lecturer in photography at Sheffield Hallam University. He is convinced it is genuine, and if it is a hoax, then a highly elaborate one, involving expensive, sophisticated equipment and flying models, not at the disposal of two jobbing hotel chefs.

He told me: 'My conclusion is that the object is definitely in front of the camera, that is, it's not a fake produced in post-production, and its placement within the scene appears to be approximately halfway between the foreground fence and the plane in the background.'

Mr Lindsay, a pragmatic, logical former civil servant who spent ten years in the military, is convinced the image  and the frightened man he spoke to on that day  are genuine. Initially, he was worried about speaking to me in case he was in breach of the Official Secrets Act. But after 32 years of doing what he was told, and keeping quiet, he now wants the truth to emerge.

'As a press officer for Scotland, I dealt with many UFO reports but most were just of lights in the sky. It was obvious this one was different. When I asked what sort of noise it had made, the man said, 'It didn't make any noise at all.' Up to that point I wasn't treating it very seriously but when he said it was silent, I suddenly realised there is no aircraft that I know of that is silent.'

Lindsay arranged for the negatives the men had handed to the Daily Record to be collected and faxed a copy of the best print to the Ministry of Defence's now-defunct UFO desk in London.

'Before I could even get back to my desk the phone was ringing and my contact said, 'Tell me more about this. Can you get the negatives?'

This is the exact spot today where the hidden photograph was taken by two hotel chefs while hiking in the Scottish glen in 1990

When he visited the MoD later that year, however, he saw the Calvine photo blown up to poster size on the UFO office wall.

'I asked how they were getting on. They said it was being investigated. I was told to 'leave it to London' they asked me not to get involved, so I have done exactly that,' he said.

'The years passed and gradually I just forgot about the print in my drawer. Now I hope the two witnesses will come forward and tell their own stories.'

I hope so too. My interest in UFO sightings started in the 1990s when, working as a journalist in Yorkshire, I began using the Freedom of Information Act to request access to MoD files on famous UFO sightings such as the Rendlesham Forest incident that is often called Britain's Roswell (an incident in 1947 in New Mexico long believed to have been a cover-up of UFO evidence).

In 2008, shortly before the MoD disbanded their UFO desk, I had become such an authority on the MoD files that I was offered the opportunity to curate the release of thousands of once secret UFO papers at The National Archives.

In here, among the hundreds of drawings from schoolchildren and letters from UFO conspiracy theorists demanding to know where the aliens were being kept, I found a poor-quality, photocopied drawing of a UFO with a Harrier beside it.

Yet, even more intriguingly, alongside the image there was a briefing prepared for Defence Ministers in Margaret Thatcher's government of the time if they were approached to comment on the sighting.

The wording was vague and non-committal, the typical 'swatting away' investigators are used to. Under the sub-heading 'Defensive Lines to Take' is the official response the MoD should give, if asked.

'Have looked at the photographs, no definite conclusions reached regarding large diamond-shaped object. Confident that jet aircraft is a Harrier. Have no record of Harriers operating in location at stated date/time. No other reports received by MoD of unusual air activity or sightings at location/date/time.'

I checked, but of course, no one did ask. The story was immediately shelved. I went looking for more.

Although the sparse MoD papers on the Calvine sighting were declassified, the names of the photographer (and Craig Lindsay) were removed from the file under Data Protection laws. Normally, these would have been released after 30 years  on January 1, 2020  but the MoD and The National Archives continue to insist they must be kept secret for another 54 years  until 2076  because of 'privacy concerns'.

Even the Daily Record's decision not to publish the story is intriguing. Had it been spiked by a D-Notice  a gagging order based on national security concerns, served by the MoD?

While this might sound like something from TV's The X-Files, some clever sleuthing by my fellow UFOlogist Matthew Illsley discovered that the Record's editor, the late Endell Laird, had been a member of the MoD's D-Notice committee at the time. A coincidence?

Matthew from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire is challenging the extended closure decision that he says is unjustified, asking: 'What have they got to hide after all these years?'

So what was it? Sadly, I do not think that mysterious aircraft arrived from another galaxy. I believe it was man-made somewhere in a secret hangar  and whatever it was remains on the secret list and highly sensitive. The witnesses had simply been in that 'million to one' chance of being in that particular place at that particular time, and needed to be shut up.

Remember, this was 1990, the Cold War was still a year away from thawing. The Gulf War started literally days earlier. The world was  as many would argue it still is today  divided along 'them and us' battle lines.

Since the mid-Eighties, there had been rumours of a top secret, exotic, American reconnaissance aircraft named 'Aurora'  a silent, supersonic, geometrically shaped craft, used for spy missions.

Although there has never been any substantial evidence that it was ever built or flown, there have been numerous unexplained sightings and incidents in both the US and the UK over the years that have fuelled the Aurora myth  Calvine included.

In 1991, Defence Ministers denied in Parliament that the US had been given permission to fly or land their secret spy plane in UK airspace after reports that Aurora had been spotted leaving RAF Machrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre.

But papers I obtained using the Freedom of Information Act suggest that some MoD intelligence officers did believe Aurora existed but were not allowed to say anything publicly.

A source in the MoD tells me that once Britain's intelligence chiefs realised the Calvine photographs showed a top secret US project they were immediately classified secret  UK Eyes Only.

Last June, the Pentagon released its long-awaited report on what it now calls UAPs or 'unidentified aerial phenomena' after a spate of similar sightings and the release of films showing fast-moving UFOs taken by US Navy pilots. The new American UAP Task Force listed five categories that most sightings, when resolved, would likely fall into  and one of these is 'classified programs' developed by the US government.

I am convinced the Calvine photograph shows one of these classified programs. Meanwhile, the American, and possibly our own, government have found it useful to 'keep the myth of UFOs flying' because it provides a useful cover for their own covert military activities.

But in this case their cover was blown by two young men who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The MoD must explain to the public why, if there are no such things as UFOs, how they can justify keeping their identities secret for a further 54 years. And it also needs to explain what happened to the negatives and their file on the case  otherwise they are simply adding further grist to the mill of the conspiracy theorists who believe the authorities are hiding 'the truth' about visits to Earth by aliens. The pictures surely cannot be said to damage state interests.

I remain open-minded about the possibility that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. But I remain unconvinced that it has ever visited Earth.

The Calvine photograph is, in my opinion, the best image showing an unidentified flying object ever taken. But as Dr J. Allen Hynek, consultant to the USAF's former UFO Project Blue Book, once said: 'Unidentified to whom?'

If you have any more information about the Calvine mystery, contact us at femailreaders@dailymail.co.uk
CEO Barry McCarthy, a tech veteran who took over the company in February, said he hopes today's decisions will 'better position the company for long term success'

Peloton told employees Friday it's slashing 784 jobs, increasing equipment prices, closing several retail locations and requiring all non-remote employees to return to the office by November 14.

The decision comes as the pandemic darling tries to claw back profits after a 90% loss of its share price upon gym reopenings early this year.

CEO Barry McCarthy, a tech veteran who took over the company in February after a tumultuous end to former CEO John Foley's time at the company, said he hopes today's decisions will 'better position the company for long term success.'

Foley stepped down amid a storm of controversies and declining share prices.

Most notably, his company-wide freezing of new hires and the canceling of a massive company holiday party due to the company's tanking stock prices while he attended a lavish, invite-only party for some of his instructors at New York City's Plaza Hotel.

Friday's layoffs will come from the company's distribution and customer service teams.

McCarthy also announced Peloton will stop using in-house employees and vans to deliver equipment, shuttering 16 North American warehouses.

'This has been a challenge,' McCarthy wrote in the memo to the company Friday. 'We won't fix it overnight, but we have no choice but to make it work.'

Peloton said last month it would cut about 570 employees in Taiwan and nearly 3,000 employees in February.

Peloton's layoffs, store closures and price increases comes as the pandemic darling tries to claw back profits after a 90% loss of its share price upon gym reopenings early this year

Pelton will raise the price of its flagship Bike+ (left) by $500 to $2,495 and its Tread treadmill (right) by $800 to $3,495

In regard to equipment, the company will raise the price of its flagship Bike+ by $500 to $2,495 and its Tread treadmill by $800 to $3,495.

The price cuts 'cheapened at least the perception of the brand,' McCarthy said. 'So this is a return to historical positioning.'

Pelton also intends to undergo a 'significant and aggressive reduction' of its retail footprint across North America next year.

The company currently operates 86 stores across the US and Canada.

It remains unknown how many will be shuttered as part of today's plan for Peloton's future.

One thing left out of today's memo was the company's bike rental program.

Currently, several retail locations provide a service to rent a Peloton Bike+ for $89 per month, which covers both the bike and all access membership.

The company currently operates 86 stores across the US and Canada, but plans to close a It remains unknown how many will be shuttered as part of today's plan for Peloton's future

Peloton is making other changes, including a return to in-person work.

Office employees will have to come in at least three days a week starting September 6, McCarthy said Friday.

This type of return is in line with the approach used by other tech companies, such as Apple, but marks a sharp turn for a company that benefited from the work-from-home lifestyle.

McCarthy (left), a former Spotify and Netflix exec, vowed to cut costs, improve Pelotons products and move increasingly to a subscription-based model.

The massive series of announcements today come six months after McCarthy was appointed CEO in a broader management reshuffling.

The former Spotify and Netflix executive vowed to cut costs, improve Pelotons products and move increasingly to a subscription-based model.

The company ended the quarter with $2.96 million connected fitness subscribers, which are people who own one of the companys products and pay for a membership to its live and on-demand workout classes.

We have to make our revenues stop shrinking and start growing again, McCarthy added at the end of Fridays memo. Cash is oxygen. Oxygen is life.

Peloton is expected to report its fiscal fourth-quarter results on August 25.
A UCLA student who was on vacation in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, died on Friday after he was shot by a stray bullet during a shootout with drug dealers and vigilantes.

Trey Barber, who lives in Los Angeles, was shot in the back of the head three days before before he succumbed to his wounds, the U.S. Consulate in Rio and hospital Samaritano Botafogo confirmed.

The 28-year-old languages scholar, who was working towards getting his doctorate, was visiting a friend in Cascadura when the stray bullet was fired from Fuba Hill and entered the apartment he was in.

Barber was allegedly reaching out for the television remote when he was hit, Brazilian news outlets reported.

Barber was rushed to hospital and kept on a ventilator during treatment after the fatal shot. He was sadly pronounced dead on Friday.

Tributes poured in for the American tourist - who was heralded as a 'shining light in this world.'

Trey Barber, 28, tragically died from the stray bullet in Brazil, where he was on holiday. The scholar was two years into his program at UCLA studying Portuguese language and literature. He previously received his bachelor's degree from UCSB in the same area of study, according to his LinkedIn account

Trey Barber, initially identified by police as Joseph Trey Thomas, died on Friday in Rio de Janeiro after being shot in the back of the neck by a stray bullet while visiting a friend

PICTURED: Cascadura neighborhood where Barber was shot on August 9 while visiting a friend in Rio de Janeiro

Family and friends also set up a GoFundMe page to raise $15,000 to help bring his body back to the US after dying while on vacation.

It read: 'We are raising money for the family of Trey Barber, who died in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, three days after being shot during a confrontation between local drug dealers and vigilantes.

'Trey was in Brazil on vacation, a place he loved with all his heart.'

Barber was a PhD student at UCLA at the time of his death, where he also taught language classes.

The scholar previously got his 2018 bachelor's degree from UC Santa Barbara studying Portuguese language and literature, according to his LinkedIn account.

Jenny Choi contributed to Barber's funeral expenses while remembering her late classmate as 'funny' and 'kind' with a 'brilliant soul.'

She wrote: 'Trey and I met through school, particularly getting closer this past year leading up to our masters degrees.

'Ive never met someone with such high impact for how little words hed say, and wed often acknowledge his talent with words.'

'Trey often helped set up zooms so I could attend class remotely when sick, and I will forever be grateful for his kindness and generosity. Wed check in on each other during our most stressful quarter yet, encouraging each other to do well on our MA exams, looking forward our summer travels & relaxation.'

Choi concluded: 'My heart hurts for Trey and his family. Hes told me before how close he is with his mom and how loving and supportive everyone in his family is.'

It's not clear where Trey was staying within the Cascadura neighborhood (highlighted in red) but the shots were fired from near Fuba Hill

Barber sought a career in as a future translator. His family and friends are now trying to raise funds to bring his body home

PICTURED: Cascadura neighborhood where Barber was shot. He was picking up a television remote when a stray bullet hit him in the back of the neck, according to local reports

Barber was remembered by a former classmate as being 'funny' and 'kind' with a 'brilliant soul.' On a GoFundMe donation comment for Barber, Jenny Choi said he was close to his mom and his 'loving' and 'supportive' family

Barber sought a career as a future translator and enjoyed learning the meaning behind certain Portuguese phrases that can't be translated into English, according to UCLA graduate student page.

'I hope to focus my future research on meaning and equivalence in regards to translating from one language into another, which in my case will be specifically focused on translations from Portuguese into English and possibly vice-versa,' Barber wrote.

Local police also found another dead man after the same shootout.

According to Instituto Fogo Cruzado, which counts shootings in several Brazilian cities, 116 people were shot in Rio's metropolitan area in 2021.

Twenty four of them died.
A senior nurse has today won more than 21,000 from a private healthcare company after she was fired for sending a message to colleagues complaining about the lack of PPE.

Rosaline Caesar-Scammell moaned during the first lockdown that the protective equipment shortage was 'scary'.

The message also noted the number of staff who were off work with the disease leaving what she said was just a 'handful' of medics 'holding the fort'.

She was investigated by bosses at Nuffield's hospital in Bournemouth, Dorset, and eventually fired.

Former Rotary Club president Rosaline Caesar-Scammell moaned during the first covid pandemic lockdown that the protective equipment shortage was 'scary'

But an employment tribunal today found that Miss Caesar-Scammell was wrongfully dismissed, because the investigation had not been properly conducted.

However, it concluded that she would likely have been sacked anyway and reduced her compensation from more than 55,000 to 21,492 instead.

Miss Caesar-Scammell had also alleged that she had been the victim of racial discrimination, describing herself as a 'black slave' among 'white goddesses'.

But the tribunal, held in Southampton, Hants, dismissed those claims.

The three day hearing had been told Miss Caesar-Scammell - who is of Caribbean descent - first began working for Nuffield Health in 1999.

She had worked her way up to the position of ward sister when the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

On April 8, weeks after a nationwide lockdown was introduced in the UK, Miss Caesar-Scammell began her shift at 7am.

She told the tribunal she had left her phone - which was not locked or password protected - unattended on the nurses desk during her shift.

Later that day a message was sent from her phone to the 32 members of the group, saying: 'Here at work doing a 15x hr shift. Ran out of protective clothing again.

Miss Caesar-Scammell had also alleged that she had been the victim of racial discrimination, describing herself as a 'black slave' among 'white goddesses'. But the tribunal, held in Southampton, Hants, dismissed those claims

'All a bit scary as non [sic] of the patients here has been tested x 2 of the Consysnts [sic] are off with Covid and 10 nurses from my Dept either with Covid or isolating so just a handful of us holding the fort.'

Miss Caesar-Scammell insisted she didn't send the message herself, and later messaged the group to say it was a 'hoax'.

But she was suspended and, following two further investigation meetings and a final disciplinary meeting, was sacked by Nuffield Health for gross misconduct.

The health group said the 'inaccurate' message had caused 'deep concern' to colleagues.

She took Nuffield to an employment tribunal claiming that she had been unfairly dismissed.

Miss Caesar-Scammell also told the tribunal that she was 'ostracised' and racially abused by some colleagues throughout her 21-year employment at the hospital.

She was investigated by bosses at Nuffield's hospital in Bournemouth, Dorset, and eventually fired. The three day hearing had been told Miss Caesar-Scammell - who is of Caribbean descent - first began working for Nuffield Health in 1999

The tribunal rejected her race claims and also concluded that on the balance of probabilities, it was likely that Miss Caesar-Scammell did send or forward the message to the group.

However, it concluded that hospital outpatient manager Lorraine Hampton had conducted a prejudiced investigation.

Employment Judge James Dawson concluded: 'The reason for Miss Caesar-Scammell's dismissal was misconduct and there were reasonable grounds for that belief.

'However, we do not find that the investigation was reasonable.

'Ms Hampton had a mindset of seeking to discover facts that would incriminate Miss Caesar-Scammell.

'We do not find that Ms Hampton was biased but she lost sight of the fact that she was supposed to be a neutral investigator.

'We conclude that there was a 75% chance that the claimant would have been dismissed (if the investigation had been conducted differently) because there were other WhatsApp messages that were similar.

'The compensation awarded has therefore been reduced by 75%.

'It was wrong for Miss Caesar-Scammell to deal with the messages in the way that she did.'

In dismissing Miss Caesar-Scammell's race victimisation claims the judge said: 'There is no evidence that a white person would have been treated in any different way.'

A Nuffield Health spokesperson said: 'Nuffield Health welcomes that the tribunal found that all allegations of discrimination made by the claimant were dismissed. Nuffield Health has zero tolerance for any form discrimination and the welfare of our people is of utmost importance. We're disappointed that even though the judge found the claimant contributed to their dismissal by 50%, that the tribunal found them to be unfairly dismissed.'
A former Louisville cop is expected to plead guilty to federal charges related to the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot dead during a no-knock warrant raid on her home in 2020.

Kelly Goodlett, 35, who resigned from the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) last week, is expected to plead guilty on August 22 after her charges were filed as sealed information, which analysts predict means she's taken a plea deal.

The judge ordered her to hand over her passport on Friday and she is not allowed to talk to her other colleagues, who have been charged, according to the Courier Journal.

The former cop faces a maximum of five years in prison for falsifying a search warrant and filing a false cover-up report, after she was charged in a sealed 'information' - not indicted - according to the Washington Post.

Taylor, 26, was shot dead inside her home after a plainclothes officer busted into her apartment for a drug probe warrant.

Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, shot an officer in the leg with his legally-owned gun and later admitted he did not know the police had breached his home when he fired. Officers shot back, fatally striking Taylor six times.

Goodlett was charged last week alongside Sergeant Kyle Meany, 45, Detective Joshua Jaynes, 40, and former Detective Brett Hankison, 46, for their connections to Taylor's March 2020 death.

Kelly Goodlett is expected to plead guilty on Friday after her charges were sealed, leading to suspicion that she accepted a plea deal

Breonna Taylor, 26, was fatally shot five times in her home in March 2020 by Louisville police officers after they raided her home with a no-knock warrant for a drug probe. Her death caused a civil outcry and racial justice protests swept the nation

Jaynes and Meany have both been charged with one count of deprivation of rights and one count of conspiracy.

Meany has been charged with making a false statement to the FBI, while Jaynes is accused of falsifying records in a federal investigation.

Goodlett has been charged with conspiring with Jaynes to falsify the search warrants and covering up their actions afterwards, according to August 4 court documents.

The other three have pleaded not guilty, according to The Washington Post, and could face life in prison for civil rights offenses.

As part of her suspected plea deal, she could have agreed to testify, which would help the Justice Department hold the police department accountable for Taylor's death.

Jaynes' lawyer, Thomas Clay, expressed concern over the possibility that Goodlett could provide prosecutors with information, and stated that anyone involved in the case should not be prosecuted.

'The reaction Ive gotten from people in the law enforcement community has been pretty much shock and outrage. They think that these prosecutions are unjustified and theyre politically motivated,' Clay told the Washington Post.

The Justice Department did reveal that Goodlett had conspired twice with Jaynes on the affidavit and again after the shooting in an attempt to cover up the alleged disinformation.

The Justice Department is focusing its case mainly on the preparation of the affidavit rather than officers using excessive force, which is hard to prove.

Former US Attorney Barbara McQuade said the department's decision was 'clever' and could offer a better prospect of a conviction, since the criminal justice system largely protects the force used by police.

'There was a shooting, and someone died, and perhaps it was a crime, but its very difficult, as everyone knows, to prove a case in a police shooting because police officers have the authority to use deadly force,' she told the Washington Post.

'To focus on the shooting itself was unlikely to go anywhere. What Justice did here was go back a step.'

Jaynes was fired by the Louisville Metro Police in January 2021, in Kentucky, for adding a false statement to his sworn affidavit for the 'no knock' warrant to search Taylor's apartment over her drug dealer ex-boyfriend.

As a result, EMT Taylor, 26, was fatally shot by LMPD officers on March 13, 2020, sparking widespread protests around the country.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke today announced the charges - which include violating Taylor's civil rights, unlawful conspiracies, unconstitutional use of force, and obstruction offenses.

They claim that the LMPDs Place Based Investigations Unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant for Taylors home, which then led to her death.

Goodlett was charged last week alongside Sergeant Kyle Meany, 45, Detective Joshua Jaynes, 40, and former Detective Brett Hankison, 46, (pictured) for their connection to Taylor's March 2020 death

Officers Myles Cosgrove (left) and Brett Hankison were also fired from their roles in the police over the Taylor case. Joshua Jaynes, the lead investigator, had actually spoken to a fellow officer, Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, (right) who had received the information from Shivley Police.

Garland also confirmed that Hankison, who was cleared of criminal charges earlier this year, has been charged with two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law.

Until now, Hankison was the only officer to be charged in relation to Taylor's death, after firing shots through her window and sliding glass door.

He was found not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots into a neighboring apartment.

The Department of Justice confirmed that he will now face further charges, for reportedly using 'unconstitutionally excessive force' while acting in his official capacity.

A separate indictment filed earlier this month claimed that after Taylor was shot a Hankison moved from the doorway to the side of her apartment and fired 10 more shots.

These went through a window and a sliding glass door, both of which were covered with blinds and curtains, therefore depriving three of Taylor's neighbors of their constitutional rights.

The first count charges him with depriving Taylor and her boyfriend by firing shots through a bedroom window that was covered with blinds and a black out curtain.

Both counts allege that Hankison used a dangerous weapon, and that his conduct involved an attempt to kill.

Jaynes, the leading investigator in the case, is accused of falsifying information on an affidavit used to approve the warrant to raid Taylors arrest.

He claimed that he had verified through a US Postal Inspector that Taylor's ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover, a suspected drug trafficker, had been getting packages delivered to her apartment.

But he had actually spoken to a fellow officer, Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, who had received the information from Shivley Police.

Mattingly later resigned from the force, and has not been charged in connection to Taylor's death.

Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison were also fired from their roles in the police over the Taylor case.

Breonna Taylors family and lawyers (pictured earlier this month) said that the charges were ' a huge step toward justice' for her

Many joined the family to show their support earlier this month

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron failed to charge Mattingly and Cosgrove with a crime last year, saying that both cops were justified in returning fire against Walker.

Both Cosgrove and Hankison were fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department for their actions during the raid.

Garland said the federal charges allege that the officers falsified information on the search warrant used to enter Taylor's home.

He said that this violated her fourth amendment rights, which resulted in her death, with Jaynes and Goodlett 'knowingly falsifying' a document created after her death.

The charged claimed that the pair had allegedly met in a garage in May 2020 to discuss telling investigators a false story to 'cover up their unlawful conduct.'

Sergeant Kyle Meaney reportedly 'lied to the FBI' during its investigation of Taylor's death, and has also been charged.

Affidavits sworn by Jaynes and approved by Meany were used to obtain warrants to search five properties, including Taylors home.

The indictment claims that both Jaynes and Meany knew that the affidavit used to obtain the warrant was false, misleading and out-of-date.

It also states that both offices knew that the warrant would be carried out by armed LMPD officers, creating a dangerous situation for officers and anyone at Taylor's home.
Malaysia has banned Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder film from the cinemas because of its 'gay elements' in an attempt to 'curb LGBT content'.

The government said it objected to two minor parts in the film, with one being when a female character, Valkyrie, takes an interest in a concubine of Zeus.

Another moment mentioned was when Valkyrie is told by rock creature Korg that he reveals that he has two fathers. His species is 'conceived' when two 'Kronan' men hold hands over a pit of lava.

Distributor Disney submitted Thor: Love and Thunder as well as Pixar's Lightyear to Malaysia's Film Censorship Board, who asked for cuts which the studios rejecting, leading to the ban.

Same sex relations are illegal in Malaysia, with those found guilty facing up to 20 yeas in prison and a mandatory whipping punishment.

Malaysia has banned Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder film from the cinemas because of its 'gay elements' in an attempt to 'curb LGBT content' (pictured, Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth as Jane Foster and Thor)

The government said it objected to two minor parts in the film, with one being when a female character, Valkyrie, takes an interest in a concubine of Zeus (pictured, Chris Hemsworth as Thor)

The Asian country has laws which promote religious and racial tolerance between its three main ethnic groups, Chinese, Indian and Malays, but does not tolerate either male or female homosexuality.

Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister for Malaysia, Zahidi Zainul Abidin, said that the Thor film did not pass censorship because the government and Islamic Affairs Department were 'committed' to preventing the 'growth of LGBT culture'.

'[The movie] touched on LGBT but we see right now there are many films with LGBT elements that slip past the censorship,' said Abidin, The Times reports.

He also responded to a question in parliament to say: 'I am frustrated because the outside world was the one promoting LGBT,' adding that he and the government were rigorously monitoring films and social media platforms to find those promoting LGBT content, who would face 'severe action' if found.

Distributor Disney submitted Thor: Love and Thunder as well as Pixar's Lightyear to Malaysia's Film Censorship Board, who asked for cuts which the studios rejecting, leading to the ban. Pictured, the film's director, Taika Waititi

Abidin argued that LGBT films were becoming 'less blatant' in their methods and warned members of the public to remain 'vigilant'.

Pixar's Lightyear has been banned in at least 16 Muslim countries. The United Arab Emirates announced they wouldn't show a film in cinemas as it featured a same-sex kiss.

With the Malaysian government restricted to controlling content in cinemas and broadcast television, streaming services like Hotstar, the Malay version of Disney+, is able to show the films online.

The minister added that Malaysians ought to show 'self-restraint' and encouraged parents to use the age-control systems in place on the streaming services.
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Roman Abramovich's flagship yacht Eclipse was today spotted in Turkish waters as the former Chelsea owner continues to prevent the 750m vessel being seized as part of western sanctions against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Abramovich, who is reportedly close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, faces having his assets seized and was forced by UK authorities to dispose of his interest in Chelsea.

Several fellow oligarchs have seen their yachts and private jets seized after they were detained in western ports or airports.

Roman Abramovich's 750m super yacht Eclipse, pictured, has laid anchor in Mugla, Turkey, where it remains beyond the reach of UK, EU and US sanctions

Abramovich was forced to sell his interest in Chelsea as a result of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Abramovich moved his yachts out of western waters after the invasion of Ukraine. Western governments included oligarchs, such as Abramovich, who are seen to be close to

Abramovich was able to move his yachts into Turkish waters. Turkey, which is a member of Nato, has not introduced sanctions against tycoons are accused of being close to the Kremlin.

The Eclipse usually spends much of the winter in the Caribbean where Abramovich has a 70 acre beachside estate on the billionaire playground island of St Barts.

But it left St Maarten, around 20 miles from St Barts, on February 21 as Putin gathered his forces to invade Ukraine. It went through the Straits of Gibraltar nine-days-ago  just two miles outside British territorial waters  and studiously avoided the waters of EU countries as it continued sailing east.

The Solaris had been undergoing repairs in Barcelona, but left hurriedly on March 8 as EU countries began seizing assets. It arrived four days later in the port of Tivat in Montenegro which is not in the bloc.

Montenegro, which is eager to join the EU, had agreed to replicate sanctions against Russia, but in practice it only banned flights by the country's airlines. Abramovich therefore viewed the superyacht marina in Tivat as a safer location than Spain - at least temporarily, sources said.

The Solaris hurriedly left Tivat just before the EU announced it had followed the UKs lead and sanctioned Abramovich over his Kremlin links.

The 750m superyacht was built in Germany for Abramovich. It is currently moored in Mulga at the Marmaris Cruise Port
UK famous faces including JK Rowling and Boris Johnson have reacted with disbelief after Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck on stage in New York this morning.

The Indian-born British author, 75, was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when he was stabbed up to 15 times, including once in the neck.

He was airlifted to hospital but his agent has not yet given an update on his condition.

Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, led to Iran issuing him with a fatwa - a legal opinion calling for his death - 33 years ago.

British politicians, authors and notable faces rushed to express their thoughts and shocked reactions to the incident in upstate New York.

Famous British authors and politicians, including JK Rowling (pictured right at the Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore premiere this year) have expressed their shock after Sir Salman Rushdie (pictured left in 2019) was stabbed on stage in New York this morning

The author was intending to give a speech at the Chautauqua Institution before he was stabbed up to 15 times, including once in the neck, after an attacker approached him from behind. Pictured: Rushdie being tended to at the scene

Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted: 'Horrifying news.

'Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok.'

TV chef and writer Nigella Lawson wrote: 'This is horrific. Am distraught. Please, please let him be ok.'

Sathnam Sanghera, a journalist and author of Empireland, tweeted: 'Passage from Midnight's Children in my last ever exam.

'Poster of The Moor's Last Sigh had place on my (pretentious) student bedroom wall. Quote from Satanic Verses opens Empireland.

'Lots of British Asian writers wouldn't be writers without him. Pray he's well.'

JK Rowling, Nigella Lawson and Sathnam Sanghera expressed their horror to Sir Salman Rushie being stabbed on stage in New York this morning on Twitter

Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988 as many Muslims view it as blasphemous.

In 1981 the author won the Booker Prize for his second novel Midnight's Children.

Shocking images taken from the scene today showed a blood spatter on the stage and near the chair where he had been going to give the speech.

Rushdie, who has lived in the US since 2000, was about to give a speech about America being a haven for writers in exile.

He was attacked by a man who approached him from behind and rushed onto the stage before 'punching and stabbing' the author multiple times in front of horrified witnesses.

Rushdie was airlifted to hospital after receiving medical assistance from those at the event near Buffalo, in Upstate New York

British politicians, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and PM hopeful Rishi Sunak also expressed well-wishes for the author's wellbeing.

Boris Johnson tweeted: 'Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.

'Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay.'

Conservative leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak said on Twitter: 'Shocked to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie in New York.

'A champion of free speech and artistic freedom. He's in our thoughts tonight.'

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: 'Freedom of expression is a value we hold dear and attempts to undermine it must not be tolerated.'

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted: 'Shocked to hear that @SalmanRushdie has been stabbed in New York.

'Freedom of speech is fundamental to all strong democracies. Thoughts with him and his family.'

Shadow foreign secretary, Labour's David Lammy, also wrote: 'This is just horrific. Salman Rushdie is a lion of a man and a hugely talented author.

'Praying he makes a full recovery and his cowardly attacker is brought to justice.'

UK politicians tweeted their reactions to the shock stabbing

Sir Rushdie has previously complained of having 'too much security' at other events.

After Iran's Ayatollah Khmomeini issued him with the fatwa in February 1989 and called for his death, Rushdie was put on round-the-clock security until 2002 at the expense of the British taxpayer as a $3million bounty was put on his head.

New York State Police said in a statement: On August 12, 2022, at about 11 am, a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer.

Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital.

'His condition is not yet known. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury.

'A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. The Chautauqua County Sheriffs Office assisted at the scene.'




Since Zawahiri did not pose an immediate international threat, Marjorie Cohn says he should have been arrested and brought to justice in accordance with the law.



By Marjorie Cohn

August 12, 2022: Information Clearing House -- " Truthout" President Joe Bidens assassination of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan was illegal under both U.S. and international law.

After the C.I.A. drone strike killed Zawahiri on Aug. 2, Biden declared, People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer.

What we should fear instead is the dangerous precedent set by Bidens unlawful extrajudicial execution.

[Related: Al-Qaeda Chief Killing Does Not Make Us Safer]

In addition to being illegal, the killing of Zawahiri also occurred in a moment when the United Nations had already determined that people in the U.S. had little to fear from him. As a United Nations report released in July concluded,

Al Qaeda is not viewed as posing an immediate international threat from its safe haven in Afghanistan because it lacks an external operational capability and does not currently wish to cause the Taliban international difficulty or embarrassment.

Just as former President Barack Obama stated that Justice has been done after he assassinated Osama bin Laden, Biden said, Now justice has been delivered when he announced the assassination of Zawahiri.

Retaliation, however, does not constitute justice.

Targeted, or political, assassinations are extrajudicial executions. They are deliberate and unlawful killings meted out by order of, or with acquiescence of, a government. Extrajudicial executions are implemented outside a judicial framework.

The fact that Zawahiri did not pose an imminent threat is precisely why his assassination was illegal.

Violated International Law

Extrajudicial executions are prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the United States has ratified, making it part of U.S. law under the Constitutions supremacy clause.

Article 6 of the ICCPR states,

Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.

In its interpretation of Article 6, The UN Human Rights Committee opined that all human beings are entitled to the protection of the right to life without distinction of any kind, including for persons suspected or convicted of even the most serious crimes.

Outside the context of active hostilities, the use of drones or other means for targeted killing is almost never likely to be legal, tweeted Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Intentionally lethal or potentially lethal force can only be used where strictly necessary to protect against an imminent threat to life. In order to be lawful, the United States would need to demonstrate that the target constituted an imminent threat to others, Callamard said.

Moreover, willful killing is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions, punishable as a war crime under the U.S. War Crimes Act. A targeted killing is lawful only when deemed necessary to protect life, and no other means (including apprehension or nonlethal incapacitation) is available to protect life.

Violated US Law

The drone strike that killed Zawahiri also violated the War Powers Resolution, which lists three situations in which the president can introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities:

-First, pursuant to a congressional declaration of war, which has not occurred since World War II.

-Second, in a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces. (Zawahiris presence in Afghanistan more than 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks did not constitute a national emergency.)

-Third, when there is specific statutory authorization, such as an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).

In 2001, Congress adopted an AUMF that authorized the president to use military force against individuals, groups and countries that had contributed to the 9/11 attacks in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

was one of a small circle of people widely believed to have planned the 2001 hijacking of four airplanes, three of which were flown into the Pentagon and World Trade Center buildings. But since he did not pose an immediate international threat before the U.S. targeted him for assassination, he should have been arrested and brought to justice in accordance with the law.

The attack against Zawahiri violated Obamas targeting rules, which required that the target pose a continuing imminent threat. Although former President Donald Trump relaxed Obamas rules, Biden is conducting a secret review to establish his own standards for targeting killing.

Biden Continues Illegal Drone Strikes

In spite of the Biden administrations claim that no civilians were killed during the strike on Zawahiri, there has been no independent evidence to support that assertion.

The assassination of Zawahiri came nearly a year after Biden launched an illegal strike as he withdrew U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Ten civilians were killed in that attack. The U.S. Central Command admitted the strike was a tragic mistake after an extensive New York Times investigation put a lie to the prior U.S. declaration that it was a righteous strike.

Biden declared that although he was withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan, he would mount over-the-horizon attacks from outside the country even without troops on the ground. We can expect the Biden administration to conduct future illegal drone strikes that kill civilians.

The 2001 AUMF has been used to justify U.S. military actions in 85 countries. Congress must repeal it and replace it with a new AUMF specifically requiring that any use of force comply with U.S. obligations under international law.

In addition, Congress should revisit the War Powers Resolution and explicitly limit the presidents authority to use force to that which is necessary to repel a sudden or imminent attack.

Finally, the United States must end its global war on terror once and for all. Drone strikes terrorize and kill countless civilians and make us more vulnerable to terrorism.

Marjorie Cohn is professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, former president of the National Lawyers Guild, and a member of the national advisory boards of Assange Defense and Veterans For Peace, and the bureau of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Her books include Drones and Targeted Killing: Legal, Moral and Geopolitical Issues. She is co-host of Law and Disorder radio.
The National Archives snapped back on Friday at Donald Trump's claim that Barack Obama took 33 million pages of classified documents from the White House, saying it was not true.

The agency said, in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA), Obama's unclassified presidential records are in a facility they control in Chicago while the classified Obama records are in a secure facility in the Washington D.C. area.

Obama has no control over them, the agency said.

'As required by the PRA, former President Barack Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the presidential records of his administration,' the National Archives and Records Administration noted in a statement.

Trump alleged on Friday that Obama kept 'lots' of classified documents after leaving the White House.

'President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified,' Trump said in a post on Truth Social. 'How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!'

Trump mentioned Obama in multiple Truth Social posts on Thursday that asked 'what happened' to millions of pages of documents he said Obama took from the White House to Chicago. Obama 'refused to give them back,' one post said.

National Archives snapped back at Donald Trump's claim that Barack Obama took 33 million pages of classified documents from the White House, saying it was false and they had records

Statement from National Archives on Trump accustions on Obama records The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) assumed exclusive legal and physical custody of Obama presidential records when President Barack Obama left office in 2017, in accordance with the Presidential Records Act (PRA). NARA moved approximately 30 million pages of records of unclassified records to a NARA facility in the Chicago area where they are maintained exclusively by NARA. Additionally NARA maintains the classified Obama Presidential records in a NARA facility in the Washington, DC, area. As required by the PRA, former President Barack Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the presidential records of his administration. Advertisement

The National Archives in Chicago is a depository for federal records and has a research room where a visitor can request to see records, according to its website. The archives has facilities across the country including in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, New York, and Seattle.

Obama can request digital copies of his unclassified records for his presidential library but he would have to pay for them as the records are the property of the federal government.

Trump's attacks on his predecessor came as the search warrant used to execute the raid on Mar-a-Lago is expected to be revealed on Friday.

Monday's raid was part of a longer-running investigation into documents Trump took with him when he left the White House.

Under the Presidential Records Act, all such documents must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of each presidential administration.

The law declared all presidential and vice presidential records property of the federal government, with 'custody, control and preservation' of the records delegated to the National Archives when a president leaves office.

Trump returned 15 boxes to the Archives earlier this year. But, on Monday, in a day-long search, agents went through storage space at Mar-a-Lago and areas in Trump's personal residence, removing about 10 boxes.

The contents of those boxes are still unclear. The unsealing of the search warrant will provide more details, but if the files are marked top secret or classified then details will be kept hidden.

Multiple reports on Thursday said the raid was based on documents related to nuclear weapons.

The New York Times reported investigators had been concerned about material from what the government calls 'special access programs,' a designation that is typically reserved for extremely sensitive operations carried out by the United States abroad or for closely held technologies and capabilities.

And experts in classified information told the Washington Post the search shows the concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Mar-a-Lago and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands.

Trump claimed that was a 'hoax.' Posting on his social media account on Truth Social, the former president said 'nuclear weapons issue is a hoax.'

Agents discovered 'boxes everywhere', reported News Nation, including some papers labeled top secrets, from two areas including a 'storage room near a pool' and his 'personal office above a ballroom.'

The report did not specify the ballroom or pool room where the documents were found, but did state that some of the papers had Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information - the highest level of classification.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday that the Justice Department had made a motion in federal court for the warrant and the inventory list of items taken from Mar-a-Lago, the private club and Florida residence of the former president, to be made public.

According to Garland, Trump's attorneys do have their own copies of both the warrant and the receipt for items seized in Monday's raid -- documents that are routinely provided to the target of a court-approved search.

If Trump does have the warrant and receipt as Garland says, it's unclear why he would not simply publish them himself, which he has a right to do.

Late on Thursday night, Trump said he would not oppose the motion to release the warrant and the inventory.

He wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, that he was 'encouraging' it.

'Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the un American, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents,' he wrote.

'Release the documents now!' he said.

Obama's unclassified presidential records are at a National Archives facility in Chicago

Then President-elect Donald Trump and President Barack Obama in the Oval Office in November 2016

Garland said he was taking the unusual action of speaking about the investigation because Trump, himself, disclosed it.

The former president and his family have gone on the defensive, slamming the Justice Department for their actions and accusing President Joe Biden of having ordered the raid.

The White House said the president found out about the raid from public reports.

Garland said he 'personally approved' the raid.
An Californian radiologist who accused his dermatologist wife of poisoning him with Drano by pouring it in his lemonade had his claims slammed as 'completely absurd and untrue' by his wife's lawyer.

Yue 'Emily' Yu's lawyer David Wohl said that husband Jack Chen, 53, 'was desperate to have reasons to gain custody of the children' after his client was caught with the drain cleaner on a nanny cam in their $2.7million home.

The lawyer claims that the wife, 45, was in fact pouring the chemical into an empty cup to prevent splashing. It was then used to unclog their kitchen pipes.

But Chen says that the toxic substance was poured into his hot lemonade by his 'abusive' wife, who he had been with for 10 years.

'The idea that my client, who is a 45-year-old well-respected dermatologist in Orange County, would destroy her life, destroy her children's lives and try to kill her husband is just completely absurd and untrue -- and for that matter, defamatory," Wohl said.

Chen's lawyer, Steven Hittelman, said Chen told police he had noticed a chemical taste in his lemonade and was sick for months. He was later diagnosed with stomach ulcers, gastritis and inflammation of the esophagus, according to a CBS News report.

Jack Chen's lawyer, Steven Hittelman, said Chen was diagnosed with stomach ulcers, gastritis and inflammation of the esophagus

Chen said he has at least three videos of Yu pouring Drano into his cup. Yu's lawyer, David Wohl, said she was simply clearing out the plumbing

On August 4 Yue 'Emily' Yu was arrested by Irvine Police Department. Before posting the $30,000 bail, she was served with divorce papers and a domestic violence restraining order

Hittelman said Chen called him last month to share video evidence that his wife and mother of this two children tried to spike his hot lemonade with Drano, the chemical substance typically used to rid clogs in drains

Orange County District Attorney's office Kimberly Edds said that Yu's arraignment is set for November 3

Any time Yu is seen on camera pouring Drano, her lawyer claims, 'was for facilitating use in the sink or any other part of the house that was clogged as far as the drainage goes'

Wohl said he did not know how or if Chen consumed Drano.

'We do know that he was desperate for a divorce filing,' Wohl said. 'He was desperate to have reasons to gain custody of the children. We believe that these claims he made are all part and parcel of that effort.'

Previously, Hittelman told DailyMail.com that the first time he spoke with Chen was sometime after July 18 when Chen told him that his wife tried to poison him and handed him video evidence of the act.



After watching the video, Hittelman described Yu as 'very methodical,' and said it was 'just unnerving to actually see it.'

'It is very intimate to commit murder to know what her husband's patterns and preferences are and seamlessly introduce poison into his routine,' he said.

Chen's lawyers claims he took three videos of Yu pouring Drano into his drinks.

'Anytime she poured Drano into a cup, it was completely empty,' Wohl refuted. 'It was for facilitating use in the sink or any other part of the house that was clogged as far as the drainage goes.'

Yu is also alleged by Chen to be abusive.

Prior to Yu's arrest, she was served with divorce papers and a domestic violence restraining order.

'After the children were born I became concerned about Emily's behavior. Not only was she was very demanding of me that I give her massages, one time when I could not because I was sick she stepped on my head until I did it,' according to court documents.

The couple's next court date is set for August 18 to determine whether the restraining order will be held by court for up to five years, Hittelman added.

A copy of the domestic violence restraining order that was issued to Yu on August 5

The Spanish style home Chen shared with his wife and two children in Irvine, California. Yu has a domestic violence restraining order against her and is not permitted near their home Chen, their children, Chen's place of work, the children's school, and a second property they own

He said the children learned early on that 'Emily's rule is everything.'

'Emily's parenting if you could call it that revolves around yelling, insulting, verbally abusing, hitting, pushing, pulling and being emotionally abusive,' he wrote.

Chen claims that Yu had physically and verbally abused their two children, alleging that she had yelled at the children to 'go die.'

After posting a $30,000 bail, Yu has since been suspended from work. She has yet to be charged as of August 10.

Public information officer with the Orange County District Attorney's office Kimberly Edds told DailyMail.com that Yu's arraignment is November 3.

The court hearing is only based on the suspicion of poisoning and not on domestic violence.

'We don't have any charges filed against Ms. Yu,' Ebbs said, 'Orange County prosecutors are reviewing the evidence to see if there are sufficient facts to file criminal charges against her. At that point she will plead guilty or not guilty.'
Keir Starmer has resurfaced after his holiday and branded Boris Johnson a 'complete lame duck' over the energy crisis.

Speaking earlier today, the Labour leader said he will outline his party's plan for tackling the energy price crisis on Monday.

He said: 'We do need a strategic, a credible, plan and that's exactly what's missing from this Government.

'For weeks now, and for weeks to come, we've seen the spectacle of two leadership hopefuls fighting each other, internal battle, actually arguing about just how bad they've been in Government and a Prime Minister who is a lame duck because he recognises there's a problem with energy bills, but says I'm not going to do anything about it.

'So, yes, we need a strategic plan, and that's what I will be setting out on Monday.'

He then called Mr Johnson a 'bulls****er' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival when pressed to come up with a nickname for the Prime Minister.

Speaking to Iain Dale and Jacqui Smith, he said it is 'nonsense' to claim his party has not been leading on the cost-of-living crisis.

Keir Starmer has resurfaced after his holiday and branded Boris Johnson a 'complete lame duck' over the energy crisis (pictured at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre)

He then called Mr Johnson a 'bulls****er' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival when pressed to come up with a nickname for the Prime Minister (pictured during a visit to the Airbus UK East Factory in Broughton, North Wales)

Mr Dale said there had been criticism of Labour's stance but said 'all politicians have to take holidays'.

Sir Keir said: 'This business that we haven't been leading on this is pretty nonsense actually.'

He continued: 'The Labour party actually has been all over this for the best part of a year because energy prices and what we would do about them was the dominant theme of our conference last year.

'I said we've got to have not just crisis management, but deal with the problem more substantially.'

He said he was a 'massive fan' of insulating homes better.

Mr Dale also asked the Labour leader to come up with a nickname for the Prime Minister, who has in the past taunted him as 'Captain Hindsight' and 'Captain Crasheroonie Snoozefest'.

He said: 'What frustrates me is that if you're the Prime Minister, you're in the unique position of pulling those levers to make a real change for people.

'That man Johnson made promises he never intended to keep. They were empty promises.

Speaking to Iain Dale (L) and Jacqui Smith (C), he said it is 'nonsense' to claim his party has not been leading on the cost-of-living crisis

He also praised his deputy leader Angela Rayner (above), saying he would make her deputy prime minister if Labour won the next election

'That is the worst kind of politics, pretending you're going to do something - knowing you're not going to do it and not caring.

'Levelling up, there isn't a strategic plan or the resources to do it. Dealing with entrenched inequality is hugely important.'

He concluded by saying: 'He's a bulls***er.'

He also spoke about his own 'modest' upbringing and how it affected his understanding of the pressures people are facing today.

He said: 'I'm not complaining. I was very, very lucky. I went from that working-class background to heading up the Crown Prosecution Service.

'I had fantastic opportunity. But we couldn't pay our bills sometimes, we struggled.'

He also praised his deputy leader Angela Rayner, saying he would make her deputy prime minister if Labour won the next election.

He said: 'I think Angela's story is absolutely incredible and she's an incredible individual.'
A juvenile has been arrested and charged with murder in the deaths of a New Hampshire mother and her two sons.

Kassandra Sweeney, 25, and her two sons, 4-year-old Benjamin and 1-year-old Mason, were found shot to death in their Northfield, N.H. home, according to New Hampshire Attorney General's office.

In a statement, state Attorney General John Formella said the youth, who wasn't named due to their age, is charged under the state's juvenile laws with three counts of first-degree murder.

The three victims were found dead from gunshot wounds in the family's Wethersfield Drive home on the morning of August 3.

Kassandra Sweeney, 25 (pictured center) and her two sons, Benjamin Sweeney, 4 (pictured first row, right) and Mason Sweeney, 1, (second row, far right) were found dead inside a home on Wethersfield Drive in Northfield, N.H. on Wednesday

The father, Sean Sweeney, posted this message to Facebook, saying in part how thankful he is for the outreach he has received since the loss of his wife and children

The father, Sean Sweeney, posted on Facebook for the first time since the murders.

'I want to thank everyone for the outreach and support, while things will never be "normal" again my body finally shut down and let me get some sleep.'

Sean also thanked those who spent time defending him from online accusations of being guilty of the crime, saying 'thank you to everyone who has spent the last few days ensuring that the random idiots online are properly informed.'

He ended with a message of remembrance for his wife and sons, saying 'it is our job now to keep their memories alive.'

'They will be forever loved and missed and forever in my heart I hope that goes for each and every other person who reads my ramblings.'

Benjamin Sweeney, 4 (left) and Mason Sweeney, 1, (right) were found dead inside a home on Wethersfield Drive in Northfield, N.H. on Wednesday

The State Medical Examiner determined both boys and the mother were each shot once and died from their wound

The state's chief medical examiner conducted autopsies on the three victims and determined all were shot once.

'Since the alleged perpetrator is a juvenile, the law precludes any further information from being released,' Formella said. 'The charges and allegations against the juvenile are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.'

Officials didn't disclose the relationship, if any, between the juvenile and the victims, and no motive was given for the killings.

The AG's office said they would not release the age of the suspect or speak about any specifics in the case, and that all information will remain private until the case is completed, unless the juvenile is tried as an adult.

Formella declined to say whether the attorney general's office would petition the court to try the youth as an adult, and he doesn't expect anyone else to be charged in the case.

Authorities during the days long search for the suspect in Northfield and Tilton, N.H.

Authorities set up search teams along I-93 north of the scene of the crime, where the juvenile suspect was eventually caught

Wednesday's search was the second conducted in grassy areas near I-93 in the towns of Northfield and Tilton.

It's not immediately clear when the charged juvenile will appear in court.

In addition to the murder counts, the suspect is also charged with one count of falsifying physical evidence.

A GoFundMe has been set up in memory of Kassandra Sweeney and her two boys to help with memorial costs and living expenses.
There was widespread relief as a Bath teenager reported missing amid growing concerns for her welfare has been found safe, police announced.

Ruby, 13, who had been missing for three days, vanished from her home in Bath on Tuesday, August 9.

Officers had been very concerned for her welfare and thanked members of the public for their help.

'We're pleased to announce that missing Ruby, 13, has been found and is safe,' Avon and Somerset Police wrote on their Twitter.

'Thanks to everyone who called with information or shared our appeal.'

Officers thought she had used public transport in Bath, Bristol and North Somerset when she went missing. Avon and Somerset Constabulary is appealing for help from the public to help locate her.

A police statement said: 'She's white, about 5ft 4ins and slim with shoulder-length blonde hair. Ruby was wearing black shirts and a black PLT t-shirt, black socks and white sliders when she left home.

Ruby, 13, went missing from her home in Bath on Tuesday, August 9. 'Police say she is white, about 5ft 4ins and slim with shoulder-length blonde hair. Ruby was wearing black shirts and a black PLT t-shirt, black socks and white sliders when she left home

Avon and Somerset Police, who had expressed their growing concern for Ruby's welfare, were pleased to announce that she has been found safe

'She was later seen wearing black shorts, a white bodysuit and a grey Micky Mouse jumper. Ruby is believed to be using public transport to travel between Bath, Bristol and Weston-super-Mare.

'If you know where Ruby is, please call 999 quoting reference 5222190863. Or call 101 with any other information.'

Ruby's safe return follows happy conclusions to other missing child or young person sagas.

Joseph Steeley, a 12-year-old boy who went missing from a hospital after being admitted with a head injury on Wednesday has been found.

Joseph Steeley was last seen at Royal Lancaster Infirmary on Wednesday night

Officers from Lancashire Police had been 'very concerned' for the safety of Joseph, who was last seen at Royal Lancaster Infirmary on Wednesday night.

Police said he was receiving treatment after 'taking off his bike'.

And George Jack Temperley-Wells, a four-year-old British boy reported missing after travelling to Turkey with his mother, has also been found safe and well.

He was believed to have travelled from Darlington to the Antalya area with his mother, Brogan Elizabeth Temperley, on June 29 this year.

This afternoon Durham Police said: George and his mother have been located safe and well and have returned to the UK, where they are receiving appropriate support.

George Jack Temperley-Wells travelled from Darlington to the Antalya area with his mother
A 'receipt for property' written by FBI agents who searched Donald Trump's Florida home reveals that they carted away 11 sets of classified documents, photographs and other files marked 'top secret' among boxes of items.

The receipt and the search warrant, obtained by DailyMail.com on Friday afternoon, offer further insight into the unprecedented raid on a former president's home.

In all, FBI agents took 27 boxes of documents.

In addition, they list an 'Executive Grant of Clemency: Re Roger Jason Stone Jr' - a former Trump adviser who was pardoned in the last days of Trump's presidency - 'info re: President of France' and a 'handwritten note.'

The search warrant was approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart last week. FBI agents searched the Mar-a-Lago three days later on Monday, igniting a political storm

The 'Receipt for Property' lists items seized, including an 'Executive Grant of Clemency: Re Roger Jason Stone Jr' - a former Trump adviser who was pardoned in the last days of Trump's presidency - 'info re: President of France ' and a 'handwritten note'

The search warrant for Donald Trump's Florida home Mar-a-Lago reveals that FBI agents seized 11 sets of classified documents, photographs and other files marked 'top secret'

A report on Friday claimed top secret documents were found in a storage room near the Mar-a-Lago pool. The estate has two pools, one near the main house and the other near to the ocean

The list also includes references to a set of documents marked 'Various classified/TS/SCI documents.' In the national security world, the 'TS/SCI' abbreviation generally refers to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information - available only to those with the highest level of clearance.

Also listed are four sets of 'top secret' documents, three of 'secret' documents and three sets of 'confidential' documents, but the receipt offers no further information about what they contained.

Lawyers for Trump insist that as president he had the power to declassify the documents before leaving office.

For his part, Trump said the FBI did not need to search his property.

'They could have had it anytime they wanted  and that includes long ago. All they had to do was ask,' he said in a statement.

Trump allies have expressed fury at what they say was the heavy handed way the FBI went about the search.

After the former president confirmed the search, the Department of Justice asked a judge in Florida to unseal the warrant.

United States Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ordered the warrant be released on Friday afternoon, when lawyers for Trump raised no objection.

However, it does not include the 'affidavit' setting out why the FBI wanted to search the property and the evidence they used to persuade a judge to grant a warrant.

The search warrant itself sets out the plan for the raid.

It describes how agents were to focus on areas of Mar-a-Lago used by Trump (referred to be an acronym for Former President of the United States) and to avoid areas used my club members.

Attachment A to the warrant sets out the areas of the property to be searched. Attachment B describes the items to be seized, including 'physical documents with classification markings'

'The locations to be searched inside the "45 Office,' all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used of available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or building on the estate,' it says.

'It does not include areas currently (i.e. at the time of the search) being occupied, rented, or used by third parties (such as Mar-a-Largo [sic] members) and not otherwise used or available to be used by FPOTUS, such as private guest suites.'

Under Attachment B, it says officers are to seize: 'All physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits or crime, or other illegally possessed ... including the following:

'Any physical documents with classification markings, along with any containers/boxes that are collectively stored or found together with the aforementioned documents and containers/boxes.'

It also says 'any government or presidential records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021' will be seized - covering the entire time Trump was in office.
Looking dishevelled in a T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, unshaven former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood is pictured for the first time since a sex scandal engulfed him four months ago.

The hip-hop DJ, 64, had been keeping a low profile since claims surfaced in April.

He ventured out of his central London home but was in no mood to speak when asked by the Daily Mail to comment on accusations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour.

Westwood, the son of an Anglican bishop, remained silent and stern. The star, who has stepped down from his radio show at Capital Xtra until further notice, simply stared straight ahead. He left his flat with a male friend to go to a nearby cafe. It came as pressure mounted on his former employer the BBC, which may have missed chances to examine concerns over his conduct, according to an internal review.

Scotland Yard detectives are investigating four sex allegations against Westwood dating back 40 years.

Earlier this month, it emerged that the BBC received several reports about Westwood in 2012, including two allegations of inappropriate behaviour and sexual misconduct  and an accusation that he created a toxic atmosphere amongst those he worked with.

Accused: Tim Westwood near his London flat this week

DJ poses with fans at Hot Import Nights at Alexandra Palace in London in 2005

The revelation came after BBC director general Tim Davie at first said there was no evidence of complaints against Westwood, who worked at the corporation from 1994 to 2013.

Mr Davie was director of audio and music from 2008 to 2012 before becoming acting director general. The BBCs internal review was launched after claims of sex misconduct and predatory behaviour were made by women. Westwood has previously denied all allegations, with a spokesman saying there had never been any complaints against him officially or unofficially.

The BBC has now appointed an independent barrister to lead a broader review to fully examine what was known about concerns regarding Westwoods conduct. The corporation said it is in contact with police and appropriate information will be passed to officers. A number of former high-ranking BBC executives are coming under scrutiny over their dealings with the DJ.

Close: Westwood with ex BBC boss Matthew Bannister (pictured at BBC TV New Talent Party) in 2000

In 1998, Matthew Bannister, then BBC radio director, was gushing in his praise of the DJ, saying: I do feel extremely protective of Tim... You dont get the respect he has from black people by playing at it. Its not an act or somebody exploiting something.

He added: I do see him more than other DJs...Tims effectively been taken into the bosom of my family. My kids adore him and he gets on well with my wife. He was the only Radio 1 DJ who came to my 40th birthday.

Hes somebody I find incredibly easy to get on with, whose genuine differences from me I find attractive.

Mr Bannister declined to comment to questions from the Mail this week.

But a source close to him said he was shocked to hear the recent allegations about Tim Westwood and was unaware of any complaints about such behaviour when he was Radio 1 controller between 1993 and 1998. Westwood has previously said of Mr Bannister, who recruited him to Radio 1: I admire Matthew most for his honesty. Ive got enormous trust in him. I confide in him an awful lot. This week a senior BBC source told the Mail that managers had concerns about people who would be in the studio as Westwood presented his show and also about some music. The insider added: Tim was representing the voice of hedonism.

Scotland Yard detectives are investigating four sex allegations against Westwood (pictured in 2017) dating back 40 years

Two of the four sex allegations against Westwood date back to the 1980s, while the other two relate to 2010 and 2016.

He stepped down from his show on Capital Xtra after seven women accused him of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour in a joint Guardian/BBC News investigation.

Ten more women made claims of sex abuse, sex misconduct and inappropriate behaviour in a further joint investigation in July. The report included a claim from a woman who said Westwood first had sex with her when she was 14 and he was in his 30s.

In its review, the BBC said it received two reports of sexual misconduct against Westwood in 2012. One was an allegation of inappropriate sexual remarks to a 15-year-old girl at a non-BBC event in 2007, which was passed to police who took no further action.

The other claim related to an inquiry by a newspaper seeking BBC comment in November 2012 about a rumour of sexual misconduct.

The BBC review also found that internal complaints were made about his behaviour, including the alleged use of sexualised comments on-air.
A father-of-two who waited 20 hours in A&E only to be told to see his GP 'refused to leave' the hospital without vital blood tests - which revealed he was suffering from terminal cancer.

Gareth Dixon, 40, a sign fitter from Warrington, was taken to hospital earlier this year after reportedly being unable to get a GP appointment at his practice, Fairfield Surgery in Manchester Road, for worsening symptoms of fatigue, thirst and aches and pains.

He kept trying to get in to see a doctor but was unable to get a face-to-face appointment, he says, adding he could only get through on the phone - by which point he claims he was just told to go for blood tests several days later.

Gareth started suffering from chest pains 24 hours later, leading his family to insist he called 111.

During a 20-hour wait in Warrington Hospital's A&E department, Gareth, who had been suffering from hip and rib cage pain, says he was seen by a doctor who reportedly told him to chase up an appointment with a GP.

According to Gareth his bloods were finally taken but he didn't see another doctor until the following morning. It was then when a consultant broke the news that he was suffering from Plasma Cell Leukaemia, an aggressive form of cancer.

'I just refused to go anywhere until they had given me a blood test,' said Gareth. 'They basically told me there was nothing wrong with me. I wasnt going to sit there for hours to be told nothing was wrong.'

Father-of-two Gareth Dixon, 40, a sign fitter from Warrington, who waited 20 hours in Warrington Hospital's A&E department, only to be told to see his GP, 'refused to leave' without vital blood tests - which revealed he was suffering from Plasma Cell Leukaemia

This type of leukaemia occurs in the plasma of the bone marrow. It is characterised by high levels of plasma cells flowing throughout the body and can be detected on a regular blood test.

Following Gareth's long ordeal through the hospital's emergency department he could not leave the hospital for another five days as an in-patient while a plan for his care was put in place.

Following the diagnosis he says the treatment and care he has received has been 'amazing'.

He added: 'I had gone in thinking I was either diabetic, as everyone in my family is, or that it was prostate cancer with the symptoms that I had. So I sort of had that mindset - but it was a shock for it to be leukaemia.

'With prostate cancer if you catch it early enough you can make a full recovery, but with leukaemia there isn't really a cure as such, we just have to try and keep it at bay.'

Starting on chemotherapy just days later, Gareth immediately started to feel tired and poorly, parking his job as a sign fitter while he underwent the intense treatment course.

As part of his treatment Gareth will undergo a stem cell transplant which doctors hope will put him into remission for a few months to allow him time with loved ones, including his wife Laura, pictured together, and sons Lewis, 12, Dom, 19

As part of his treatment Gareth will undergo a stem cell transplant which doctors hope will put him into remission for a few months to allow him time with loved ones, including his wife Laura, and sons Lewis, 12, Dom, 19.

Laura says she was 'heartbroken' on hearing her husband's diagnosis and still has 'breakdowns' every couple of days when the reality hits her that he is terminally ill.

'I couldn't stop crying when we found out. It was just heartbreaking,' Laura said.

The treatment entails Gareth going into isolation for a month before receiving intense chemotherapy, to kill the cancer cells, before his stem cells are reintroduced into his body.

'The last week or so I was ready for giving up. I felt that bad,' he said. 'The drugs I was on so they could harvest the stem cells made me feel really ill.

'I feel a lot better in myself now. I still need to nap every day but I am feeling better. It was almost instant after I had the procedure done.'

Dr Paul Fitzsimmons, Executive Medical Director at Warrington and Halton Hospitals, said: 'We are extremely sorry to learn of Mr Dixon's diagnosis and do hope that he is keeping as well as possible under the circumstances.

'Upon presentation to us on March 6, 2022, some 48 hours after he had been in contact with his GP, Mr Dixon spent a total of 20 hours in our Ambulatory Care Unit.

During a 20-hour wait in Warrington Hospital's (pictured) A&E department, Gareth, who had been suffering from hip and rib cage pain, says he was seen by a doctor who reportedly told him to chase up an appointment with a GP

'During this time we were able to carry out physical examination, a full range of tests and provide a definitive diagnosis, arrange referral to the consultant haematologist and an inpatient treatment plan for his condition.

What is leukaemia? Leukaemia (acute myeloid leukaemia) is cancer of the white blood cells with aggressive forms of the cancer referred to as acute. It affects a type of white blood cell called a myeloid which fights off infections and prevents the spread of tissue damage Symptoms of acute myeloid leukaemia include: Looking pale or 'washed out'

Feeling tired or weak

Breathlessness

Frequent infections

Unusual and frequent bruising or bleeding, such as bleeding gums or nosebleeds

Losing weight without trying to The cause of acute myeloid leukaemia is unknown but it is most commonly diagnosed in people over 75. It is treated with chemotherapy and in some cases medics may also recommend a stem cell transplant. About 3,100 people diagnosed with it each year in the UK. Advertisement

'We have not received any complaints from Mr Dixon but do urge him to contact our PALS team on whh.pals.nhs.net if he wishes to raise concerns about any element of his care.'

In response to Gareth's claims that he struggled to get a GP appointment while suffering from a then-undiagnosed terminal illness, a spokesperson for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside said Warrington GP practices are facing 'significant challenges'.

The spokesperson said: 'We're unable to comment on individual cases for patient confidentiality reasons. In line with the rest of the country, all Warrington GP practices continue to face significant challenges with increasing demand on their services.

'Practices are working with partners across Cheshire and Merseyside to improve access to appointments.'

The father-of-two has written a bucket list which the family are trying to tick off in stages as Gareth goes through his treatment.

One of his biggest dreams is to visit Maine, USA, for the Stephen King tour and to try Maine lobster.

Laura added: 'The list is something quite positive for us to do. If the treatment does work at all and puts him in remission it could be for six months to a year.

'People with myeloma, which is different but similar, they normally get about two years [after diagnosis] but he is at the lower end of that so he may only have a year if it takes at all.'

Gareth's family have set up a GoFundMe page to help Gareth achieve his bucket list dream, which also includes swimming with a great white shark, visiting Loch Ness and seeing the 'dark skies' at night.

The family is hoping to raise more than 5,000 to give Gareth and Laura the chance to make these memories as soon as his stem cell transplant is complete.
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Alex Jones appears not to have a care in the world as he's seen relaxing at a hotel pool in Omaha a week after he was ordered to pay nearly $50milion to the families of the Sandy Hook shooting.

DailyMail.com obtained a photo of the Infowars host, 48, relaxing in the shallow end Thursday at the four-star Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, where rooms start at $150 a night.

He was later seen grinning and giving a thumbs up to the camera as his wife Erika Wulff Jones sat on his lap in what looks to be a cafe.

The prominent conspiracy theorist was decompressing after the two-week-long trial that ended with Jones admitting that the Sandy Hook massacre was not a hoax and being ordered to pay $49million to the families for his lies.

Alex Jones was seen relaxing at a posh hotel pool in Omaha a week after he was ordered to pay nearly $50milion to the families of the Sandy Hook shooting

DailyMail.com obtained a photo of the Infowars host relaxing in the shallow end Thursday at the four-star Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel in Omaha

He was later seen grinning and giving a thumbs up to the camera as his wife Erika Wulff Jones sat on his lap in what looks to be a cafe

The couple were seen relaxing at the Cottonwood Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, where rooms start at $150 a night

Jones was ordered to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to the family of slain 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, one of the 26 people were shot dead in the Sandy Hook massacre. That's in addition to the $4 million in compensatory damages he was ordered to pay to parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis.

Jones will likely pay only a fraction of the $45.2million in punitive damages and could end up owing as little as 10 percent.

The broadcaster was found last year to have defamed Heslin and Lewis by spreading lies that they were part of a government plot to stage the 2012 massacre in Connecticut.

An attorney for the parents believes the damages will likely be capped at $4.5 million, however Jones' lawyer predicts it could be even less.

Attorney Federico Andino Reynal, who represented Jones, said in court Friday that he will seek to reduce the $45.2 million punitive damages award because it does not comply with Texas law.

While juries have broad discretion on awards, states law caps punitive damages at $750,000 when economic losses are not involved, as in this case.

Reynal confirmed on Monday that he plans to invoke the cap. According to the New York Times, he expects the punitive award to be reduced to $1.5 million.

Mark Bankston, an attorney for the parents, said Monday that because Jones and his company face three claims each, he estimates the cap would be $4.5 million.

Bankston said he will argue the damages cap does not apply, but declined to elaborate further.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, who presided over the case, must approve the final amount, a decision that is expected soon.

Alex Jones (pictured August 2) will likely pay only a fraction of the $45 million in punitive damages awarded to the parents of a young boy killed in the Sandy Hook massacre

A Texas jury ordered Jones to pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis $45.2 million punitive damages and $4.1 million in compensatory damages. PICTURED: J.T. Lewis, Sophia Vetare, Mark Bankston, Bill Ogden, Neil Heslin, Kyle Farrar, Scarlett Lewis and Wesley Ball gather for a photo after jurors return a punitive damages verdict on Friday

Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, told Alex Jones while testifying in court, "you're not going to stop'. Jesse's father Neil Heslin became emotional during his testimony during the trial for Alex Jones

Several defamation lawyers have said they were skeptical that the parents will be able to get around the cap.

'They're not going to collect it all - no way,' Texas defamation lawyer Chuck Sanders said.

The initial number will still be a lasting deterrent to spreading misinformation if the verdict is cut significantly, Sanders said.

Even if the parents can convince Judge Gamble that the cap should not apply, Texas Supreme Court precedent holds that the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages should rarely exceed four-to-one.

The jury's verdict in this case represents an 11-to-1 ratio.

In reaching their decision, the Texas justices cited a 2003 decision by the US Supreme Court, which said that the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages should only exceed single digits in rare cases.

Jones' company, Free Speech Systems LLC, filed for bankruptcy protection on July 29, pausing two other Sandy Hook cases against Jones.

An attorney for the parents believes the damages will likely be capped at $4.5 million, however Jones' lawyer predicts it could be around $1.5 million. Jones and Reynal are pictured outside the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas, on July 26, 2022

Attorney Bill Ogden gives Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old shooting victim Jesse Lewis, a hug after jurors return a punitive damages verdict of $45.2 million against Alex Jones

Lawyers for Heslin and Lewis said they hoped a big-money verdict against Jones would serve as a deterrent to him and others who peddle misinformation for profit.

'I am asking you to take the bullhorn away from Alex Jones and all of the others who believe they can profit off of fear and misinformation,' attorney Wesley Ball said in his closing argument Friday.

'The gold rush of fear and misinformation must end, and it must end today.'

Jones, who has since acknowledged the Sandy Hook shooting was real, has claimed his statements about massacre were protected by the First Amendment. He even showed up to court with 'Save the 1st' scrawled on a piece of tape over his mouth.

But despite the public theatrics, Jones never got to make that argument in court. After he failed to comply with orders to hand over critical evidence, a judge entered a default judgment for the plaintiffs and skipped right to the punishment phase.

Reynal told the jury during closing arguments that a large judgment would have a chilling effect on people seeking to hold governments accountable.

'You've already sent a message. A message for the first time to a talk show host, to all talk show hosts, that their standard of care has to change,' Reynal told jurors.

As for Jones, Reynal said he isn't going away any time soon. He'll remain on the air while they appeal the verdict, one of the largest and highest-profile decisions in a defamation case in recent years.

Among others: a gadfly ordered in February to pay $50 million to a South Carolina mayor after accusing her in emails of committing a crime and being unfit for office; a former tenant ordered in 2016 to pay $38.3 million for posting a website accusing a real estate investor of running a Ponzi scheme; and a New Hampshire mortgage provider ordered in 2017 to pay $274 million to three businessmen after he posted billboards accusing them of drug dealing and extortion.
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Sir Salman Rushdie was undergoing emergency surgery last night and will 'likely lose an eye' after being stabbed up to 15 times in the neck in front of a horrified audience in America.

The celebrated author, who has faced Islamist death threats for three decades after writing The Satanic Verses, was knifed by an attacker who came out of the audience as he was about to give a lecture in western New York state.

After being helped from the stage, Rushdie was rushed to hospital by air ambulance and put on a ventilator, with severed nerves in one arm and damage to his liver and the outlook grim for one of his eyes, according to his agent.

'The news is not good,' agent Andrew Wylie said in a written statement. 'Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.'

Witnesses saw the alleged knifeman, named last night as Hadi Matar, 24, from New Jersey, strike 'ten to 15 times' in a matter of seconds before Rushdie, 75, fell to the floor covered in blood.

The attacker, clad in black and wearing a black mask, stormed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution as the writer was being introduced to a cultural festival before giving a speech about artistic free expression.

Hundreds of people in the audience gasped and blood spatter could be seen on the stage and surrounding furniture. The Booker Prize-winning author was surrounded by staff and audience members, some of them holding up his legs in an apparent effort to send more blood to his chest.

This labelled timeline of images shows Rushdie on stage before the attack happens, then the response, the arrest of assailant Hadi Matar, 24, and subsequent air ambulance

On stage at the lecture theatre: Man thought to be Sir Salman Rushdie is seen on the left at the the Chautauqua Institution

Helpers cradle the wounded author: Satanic Verse author Salman Rushdie is helped by people after he was stabbed on stage

Suspect held down on stage: A police officer and another man are seen holding someone down on the stage - thought to be Matar

The suspect, Matar, is seen on the left being manhandled away by three men while a group gather around the wounded Rushdie to the right

He is taken away by police: The man is put into a cop car and is still in custody after the attack on Salman Rushdie

Blood spatters a screen near speakers: It is on the wall behind where Rushdie had been attacked, with some also seen on a chair

Sir Salman Rushdie was put on a stretcher and airlifted to hospital after the shocking stabbing this morning

British-born Booker Prize winning author Sir Salman Rushdie (pictured in 2019) got death threats and was issued a fatwah by Iran for his 1988 novel, the Satanic Verses. He has lived in the U.S. since 2000 and was today preparing to give a lecture about America being a haven for writers in exile

Security guards and audience members pinned down the attacker on stage as the audience was asked to quietly leave the amphitheatre after the horrific incident at 11am local time.

A New York state trooper arrested the suspect and he was taken away by police. Officials would not speculate on the motive.

Although Rushdie was rushed to hospital by helicopter after being put on a stretcher, he was able to walk off the stage with help from others about five minutes after the attack.

His agent Andrew Wylie said his client and friend went into surgery immediately after landing at the medical facility.

Rushdie, who now lives in New York, spent years living in hiding under British police protection after Ayatollah Khomeini called for his execution, issuing a 1989 fatwa against him on the grounds that his novel The Satanic Verses was blasphemous.

Many Muslims claimed the novel depicted Muhammad irreverently and it sparked rioting and the burning of bookshops around the world.

The fatwa covered others connected to The Satanic Verses and Hitoshi Igarashi, the book's Japanese translator, was stabbed to death in 1991.

Rushdie still has a 2.7 million bounty on his head but audience members in Chautauqua, near Buffalo, said security at the event was lax and there were no searches. Rushdie, who has spoken there before without incident, did not appear to have any bodyguards with him.

Rita Landman, an endocrinologist who was in the audience, said she went on to the stage to offer medical assistance.

People rushed to assist the author after the attack, with the attacker being restrained by witnesses. The motive for the stabbing is currently unknown

Salman Rushdie, 75, was attacked by a man who approached him from behind before stabbing him multiple times. The suspect, pictured with Sheriff deputies, was quickly pinned to the floor before being arrested

Rushdie was airlifted to hospital after receiving medical assistance from those at the event near Buffalo, in Upstate New York

Rushdie was attacked on stage ahead of his speech in Chautauqua, near Buffalo, with witnesses claiming that he was 'punched and stabbed'

Medics attended to Rushdie after the attack, with witnesses saying a man 'punched and stabbed' the author as he was announced on stage

She said Rushdie had multiple stab wounds, including one to the right side of his neck, and there was a pool of blood under his body. But she said he was not receiving CPR.

'People were saying, 'He has a pulse, he has a pulse, he has a pulse',' she told the New York Times.

Many witnesses initially thought the assailant was simply punching the writer rather than stabbing him, so relentless was the attack.

Rabbi Charles Savenor, who was in the audience to hear Rushdie talk about cities that offer asylum for persecuted writers, said the attack happened 'in a blink' as the writer and his host, Henry Reese, sat down.

'I was sitting around 50ft away so I didn't see whether he was punching him or if he had a blade, but all I saw was the arm going up and down, up and down,' he said.

'People were deeply in shock. Chautauqua Institution is a place where people wrestle with ideas and ideals... Nothing like this has ever happened here before.'

State Trooper James O'Callaghan said that the author remained in surgery for his injuries, and that they were unable to give an update on his condition

A Homeland Security Investigations Police officer enters the building where Salman Rushdie's alleged attacker Hadi Matar, lives in Fairview, New Jersey

New Jersey Police officers stand guard near the building where alleged attacker Hadi Matar, lives in Fairview, New Jersey

His agent, Andrew Wylie, said that the author was currently in surgery for his injuries

He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds. Mr Reese, who was introducing the author, suffered a minor head injury.

Roger Warner was sitting on the front row with his wife. He said he saw a 'tall, slender man' jump on to the stage, adding: 'He [Rushdie] was covered with blood and there was blood running down on to the floor. I just saw blood all around his eyes and running down his cheek.'

Elisabeth Healey, 75, said the assailant 'ran with lightning speed' over to the author, while fellow audience member Kathleen Jones said: 'We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that there's still a lot of controversy around this author. But it 'became evident in a few seconds' that it wasn't, she added.

Police remain on the scene outside of the Chautauqua Institution after Rushdie was flown to hospital via air ambulance on Friday afternoon

Dozens of onlookers quickly rushed to the stage to try to apprehend the suspect, and help Rushdie after he was attacked in front of hundreds

Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie spent years in hiding after being issued 'spiritual' death threat by Iran Sir Salman Rushdie is a Booker Prize-winning author and novelist. The 75-year-old was born in India, and his writing is often based around the themes of connections and migrations between Western and Eastern civilizations. He won the Booker Prize in 1981 for his second novel, Midnight's Children. His writing has spawned 30 book-length studies, and over 700 articles on his writing. Rushdie's writings have broadly been acclaimed to the genres of magical realism and historical fiction. He has been living in the US since 2000, and he was named a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University in 2015. He has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, including for Midnight's Children, in 1983 for Shame, in 1988 for The Satanic Versus, in 1995 for The Moor's Last Sign, and in 2019 for Quichotte. Rushdie, 75, is an Indian-born acclaimed author and novelist Advertisement

The gated Chautauqua Institution, which is near Lake Erie in the south-western corner of New York state, describes itself as a 'community of artists, educators, thinkers, faith leaders and friends dedicated to exploring the best in humanity'.

It offers arts and literary events and programmes during the summer, of which Rushdie's address was a highlight.

Rushdie has lived in New York since 2000 and has US citizenship. Asked last year about the longstanding call for his death, he replied: 'Oh, I have to live my life.'

Ayad Akhtar, president of PEN America, a free expression campaign group at which Sir Salman used to hold the same post, said he had not seen him accompanied by bodyguards in recent years.

However, some of those at yesterday's event were angry that security hadn't been tighter.

'I went to the talk to find out why people would want to kill someone for their writing,' said guest Sam Peters. 'I don't know why he wasn't better protected.'

John Bulette, 85, added: 'There was a huge security lapse. That somebody could get that close without any intervention was frightening.'

Kyle Doershuk, an usher in the ampitheatre, said security at the institution was lax and there did not appear to be any additional measures in place for Rushdie's visit.

'It's very open, it's very accessible, it's a very relaxed environment,' he said. 'In my opinion something like this was just waiting to happen.'

The attack sent shockwaves through the literary and political worlds. Boris Johnson said he was 'appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend'. Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was 'shocked and appalled to hear of the unprovoked and senseless attack'.

She added: 'Freedom of expression is a value we hold dear and attempts to undermine it must not be tolerated.'

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries called the attack 'horrifying', adding: 'An awful attack on a literary giant and one of the great defenders of freedom of expression.'

Author JK Rowling said on Twitter: 'Horrifying news. Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok,' while horror writer Stephen King echoed her concern.

PEN America said it was 'reeling from shock and horror' at the attack.

'We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil,' chief executive Suzanne Nossel said.

'Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered.'

New York governor Kathy Hochul praised the swift response of the authorities to what she called a 'horrific event', saying a state trooper 'stood up and saved his life'.

Muslim societies on both sides of the Atlantic were quick to condemn the attack. The Muslim Council of Britain tweeted: 'Such violence is wrong and the perpetrator must be brought to justice,' while Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, added: 'American Muslims, like all Americans, condemn any violence targeting anyone in our society.'

Markus Dohle, chief executive of Penguin Random House, the author's publisher, said: 'We are deeply shocked and appalled to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie. We condemn this violent public assault, and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this distressing time.'

A statement from New York State Police said: 'At about 11 am, a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer. Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody.'

'I'm stupidly optimistic. Even through those bad years I always believed there would be a happy ending': The courageous but haunting words of brilliant author Salman Rushdie on his life in hiding from fatwa

By Helen Weathes for The Daily Mail

One of the most celebrated writers of our time, Sir Salman Rushdie spoke of his 'great surprise and delight' when he was named in this year's Queen's Birthday honours list for services to literature.

The 75-year-old award-winning novelist described his elevation to the Order of the Companions of Honour in June as an 'extraordinary honour' and 'a privilege'.

It was a crowning moment in an illustrious career overshadowed by the most extraordinary controversy the literary world has seen.

Founded in 1917 by George V, the Companions of Honour is awarded for long-standing contribution to arts, science, medicine or government. Rushdie certainly fits that bill.

The author of more than 20 books, the Indian-born, Rugby-educated, former advertising copywriter's output is not only prolific but acclaimed. His third novel Midnight's Children won the 1981 Booker Prize, and then the Best of Booker Prize winners in 2008.

But it was his controversial fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, which propelled him on to the front pages 34 years ago, turning him into a global name, figure of hate and target of death threats.

Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdie at the Vanity Fair Oscar after party in March 2006

He has been living under the long shadow of fear ever since, even though his life has gradually returned to something approaching normality.

Five years in the writing, The Satanic Verses shook the world and ignited Muslim fury as protesters accused the author of offending their deepest religious beliefs; calling the magic-realist epic novel a 'blasphemy'.

The complex and multi-layered plot focuses on two men, both Indian Muslims living in England, infused with Islam but confused by the temptations of the West. The first survives by returning to his roots; the second kills himself, destroyed by the inability to reconcile his spiritual needs and intellectual inability to return to the faith.

Rushdie was blindsided by the violent response to his novel, which he suggested was both about 'migration, metamorphosis, divided selves, love, death' and a 'serious attempt to write about religion and revelation from the point of view of a secular person'. But following its publication in 1988, it was banned in several countries including Rushdie's birthplace of India, where 12 people lost their lives in a riot in Bombay. There were violent demonstrations in Pakistan.

Some chains stopped selling the book, and copies were burned across the UK, first in Bolton where 7,000 Muslims gathered on December 2, 1988, then in Bradford in January 1989. In May that year, thousands gathered in Parliament Square in London to burn an effigy of Rushdie.

On Valentine's Day in 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran called for Rushdie's execution by issuing a fatwa on him and his publishers  forcing the author into hiding for almost a decade, while translators and publishers were either murdered or the victims of attempted terrorist attacks. In October 1993, William Nygaard, the novel's Norwegian publisher, was shot three times outside his home in Oslo and seriously injured.

A 2.7million bounty was placed on the author's head, which resulted in Rushdie taking on a 24-hour armed guard under the British Government's protection programme and moved from one safe location to another.

Novelist and friend Ian McEwan recalled: 'The first few months were the worst. No one knew anything. Were Iranian agents, professional killers already in place in the UK when the fatwa was proclaimed? Might a 'freelancer', stirred by a denunciation in a mosque, be an effective assassin?

'The mobs were frightening. They burned books in the street, they bayed for blood outside Parliament and waved 'Rushdie Must Die' placards.'

Rushdie came out of hiding in 1998 when new Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said it no longer supported the fatwa.

In 2012, he published his memoirs under his alias during that bleak time  Joseph Anton  a combination of the first names of two writers he loved: Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov.

But as recently as February 2016, it was reported that money had been raised to add to the fatwa, reminding the author that  for some  the Ayatollah's ruling still stands.

Students of religious party Jamiat Talba-e-Arabia burn an effigy of British author Salman Rushdie during a protest in Multan, Pakistan in June 2007

In recent years, Rushdie has tried to put distance between his life as a writer in New York now  where he became resident 20 years ago  and the events of almost 35 years ago.

'I really resist the idea of being dragged back to that period of time,' he said in an interview last year, adding that he hates being defined by it.

'It destroys my individuality as a person and as a writer. I'm not a geopolitical entity. I'm someone writing in a room.

'One of the benefits of being a writer, I think, is that if what you're doing for a living is examining your life, hopefully by the time you reach this advanced age, you understand something about yourself and why you think what you think.'

As for surviving death threats, the fatwa, the years in hiding with his sanity intact, Rushdie added: 'I am stupidly optimistic, and I think it did get me through those bad years, because I believed there would be a happy ending, when very few people did believe it.'

In another interview, however, he admitted he often thought about death. 'I did, and now I think about it for a different reason, a slightly more inescapable reason,' he said, referring to his advancing years.

The son of an Indian lawyer turned businessman, Rushdie was 14 when he was shipped off to boarding school in Britain. He turned to writing in the 1970s after a successful career in advertising during which he came up with the cream-cake slogan, 'Naughty but Nice.'

Acclaimed for his magic-realist style, he was a rising star in the literary world, expected to set the world alight with each new offering  though with The Satanic Verses, it was not in the way he ever imagined or intended. Novelist and friend Martin Amis once wrote: 'Salman had disappeared into the world of block caps. He had vanished into the front page.'

Protester with 'we are ready to kill Rushdie signs' and an effigy with him on a hanging noose in Beirut, Lebanon in 1989

In fact, he had moved with a Special Branch protection team to a hotel in the Cotswolds for his own safety.

That same evening, Channel Four broadcast a pre-recorded interview with Rushdie, in which he said: 'If you don't want to read a book, you don't have to read it. It's very hard to be offended by The Satanic Verses  it requires a long period of intense reading. It's a quarter of a million words.'

Four days after the fatwa was issued, he apologised: 'I profoundly regret the distress the publication has occasioned to sincere followers of Islam.' Khomeini rejected the apology.

He said that even if Rushdie repented and 'became the most pious man of all time', it was still incumbent on every Muslim to 'employ everything he has got' to kill him.

Ever the optimist, Rushdie was able to speak of the 'fun side' of his global notoriety and became equally as famous for his love life and 'party boy' image  which he insists was wildly exaggerated  which emerged after he came out of hiding.

Four times married, he has a son Zafar with first wife Clarissa Luard. They divorced in 1987, just before the publication of The Satanic Verses, after he left her for bohemian Australian author Robyn Davidson.

Author Sir Salman Rushdie holds up a copy of his controversial book, "The Satanic Verses" during a 1992 news conference in the US in June 2007

Following that two-year romance, he married American novelist Marianne Wiggins. Their marriage lasted five years and in 1997 he married publishing assistant Elizabeth West, whom he met while in hiding and with whom he has a second son, Milan.

The marriage collapsed when he met Indian-born model Padma Lakshmi. Their 2004 marriage lasted three years. Today, his partner is said to be American poet and artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths.

Despite having lived under the shadow of a fatwa for so long, Rushdie is a fierce defender of freedom of speech and has spoken of his abhorrence of today's creeping 'cancel culture'.

Comfortable in the spotlight, he has learned to embrace his fame in more unexpected ways  including a cameo in the film Bridget Jones's Diary. In 2017, he made another cameo on Larry David's sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm. Rushdie  making fun of his ordeal  tells Larry, who has also had a fatwa issued against him, that there are pluses  women would flock to him.

'At first I thought, you know, 'How funny is this really?' And then I thought, 'OK, there's a point in my life when it would not have been funny, and the fact that we can now send it up is a good thing.'

Now, as the victim of a brutal knife attack, hopefully that optimism was not misplaced.
Microsoft is giving the world a chance to create better emoji designs.

The Washington-based tech giant recently made most of its emoji characters open-sourced, allowing other people to use and modify them however they want following their redesign, per Ars Technica.

Microsoft's open sourcing of its emoji characters is allegedly part of its Windows 11 design push to encourage "creativity and inclusivity in the emoji space."

Microsoft Emoji Character Open-Sourcing Details

Microsoft was recently found to have open-sourced more than 1,500 of its 3D emoji on relevant websites for free, allowing others to modify and use them however they like.

XDA Developers mentioned that the new emojis Microsoft launched in 2021 come in three variants: a fully 3D version with texture and color gradients, a flat "color" version with basic color without the 3D versions' textures, and gradients, and a monochromatic "high contrast" version.

Now in its open source state, Microsoft has them available in various formats, including SVG, PNG, and JPG, so they can be used by anyone regardless of the format they want to work with.

However, there are some emojis that are not included due to copyright, such as Clippy, Microsoft's office assistant that was introduced in 1996, per Artsy, as Clippy replaced the paper clip emoji in Microsoft's 2021 emojis.

Another emoji that was excluded from being open-sourced is the Microsoft Windows logo, understandably.

Why Did Microsoft Do It?

Jon Friedman, Microsoft's CVP of design and research, said that the company wasn't planning to open source its work as it was initially focused on building the body of work, per The Verge. However, Friedman noted that the idea suddenly started to pop around.

Read More: Google Blasts Apple's iMessage Urges It to Adopt 'Modern Texting Standards' Between iPhones, Android Devices

He also added that open sourcing the emojis aligned with Microsoft's belief and perspective that the more open source it is, the more product excellence it can build, leading the company to be more relevant for all humanity.

With the emojis now available on open source websites like GitHub and Figma, Friedman expects that the company will see "really unique, specific, and... really broadbly applicable" from the creators who will be using them in the future.

He also recounted how this freedom of creation led to Microsoft seeing people creating Marvel versions of its app icons in the past - something which Friedman called "awesome."

Another reason why Microsoft made most of its emojis open-sourced is due to the changing state of work, with remote and hybrid work changing how people express themselves.

Friedman found that without the luxury of body and facial language, people are now using emojis to convey their emotions to other people. As such, Microsoft wanted to make people's conversations richer to the point they could feel "a little more comfortable with authentically reacting to things emotively."

"There's power in recognizing, honoring, and building on the work of others," Friedman said. "Our creator community is infinitely imaginative, and we can't wait to see how you break boundaries, remix our designs, and take the Fluent emoji to places we can't foresee."

Related Article: How to Get New Emojis for Your Device
Supporters of Iran have been celebrating the callous attack on Salman Rushdie, which saw the author stabbed up to 15 times at an event in upstate New York

Supporters of Iran have been celebrating the callous attack on Salman Rushdie, which saw the author stabbed up to 15 times  including once in the neck.

Rushdie, 75, was attacked by Hadi Matar, 24, as he was being introduced to the stage for the CHQ 2022 event in Chautauqua, near Buffalo in upstate New York, on Friday morning. He was airlifted to hospital and undergoing surgery in Erie, Pennsylvania.

He was issued a fatwa  a death sentence - in 1989 by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini after his book, the Satanic Verses, sparked and outcry with Muslims in Britain.

The book supposedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed and The Koran, with Khomeini calling for Rushdie's death, and also called for Muslims to point him out to those who could kill him if they could not themselves.

So far Iran has not officially commented on the attack against the author by Matar, who rushed the stage after approaching him from behind. It's believed that Matar is sympathetic to the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

But supporters of the government have praised the stabbing, saying that it is Khomeini's fatwa finally materializing into action after 33 years.

Some said that they were hoping for the author, who was knighted in 2007 in Britain 'for services to literature', to die following the brutal attack.

Others warned that those who were considered an enemy to the Islamic Republic would suffer a similar fate as him.

A quote reportedly from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the current Iranian leader, was shared online with him saying the fatwa against Rushdie was 'fired like a bullet that won't rest until it hits its target.'

Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989 after his book, the Satanic Verses, sparked and outcry with Muslims in Britain. The book supposedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed and The Koran, with Khomeini calling for Rushdie's death, and also called for Muslims to point him out to those who could kill him if they could not themselves

Rushdie, 75, was attacked by Hadi Matar, 24, as he was being introduced to the stage for the CHQ 2022 event in Chautauqua, near Buffalo, on Friday morning. Pictured: Matar is walked to a squad car in handcuffs

Conservative Iranian pundit Keyvan Saedy said on Twitter: 'This deserves congratulation: God willing, we will celebrate Salman Rushdie going to hell soon.'

Hossein Saremi, a conservative social media activist, added that a 'lion' had beaten Rushdie and that the attacker was part of 'Islam's soldiers without borders.'

He wrote: 'Revenge may be delayed, but it will inevitably happen'.

A senior adviser to Iran's nuclear negotiating team, Seyed Mohammad Marandi, said that he will not shed a tear for the writer 'who spouts endless hatred and contempt for Muslims and Islam.'

Several accounts affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, for which Matar reportedly was sympathetic towards, openly boasted about the attack.

One called Syria News published a post saying: 'The order was carried out at a place they never thought about. It's not important if he doesn't die; it's important that they understand the battle is not over.'

Eghtesad Salem,a conservative news website published a column saying that the attack was issuing a clear message to American officials.

It stated that they would be hunted down for the assassination of Iran's top general, Qassim Suleimani, who died in a U.S. airstrike in January 2020.

Rushdie was attacked on stage ahead of his speech in Chautauqua, near Buffalo, with witnesses claiming that he was 'punched and stabbed'

Medics attended to Rushdie after the attack, with witnesses saying a man 'punched and stabbed' the author as he was announced on stage

Blood was spattered on the wall behind where Rushdie had been attacked, with some also seen on a chair. New York State Police confirmed that Rushdie was stabbed in the neck

Majid Motamedi wrote: 'Carrying out the order to murder Salman Rushdie 33 years after it was issued sends a message to American officials that they must fear Iran's revenge for Gen.

'Qassim Suleimani, until their death, even if the revenge takes 33 years.'

The fatwa, or 'spiritual opinion', followed a wave of book burnings in Britain and rioting across the Muslim world which led to the deaths of 60 people and hundreds being injured.

Rushdie was put under round-the-clock security from 1989 to 2002, at the expense of the British taxpayer, when a $3million bounty was put on his head.

He was forced to go into hiding for a decade with police protection, and previously said he received a 'sort of Valentines card' from Iran each year letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him.

He even adopted an alias, Joseph Anton - a combination of the first names of two of his favourite writers, Conrad and Chekhov.

The fatwa also led to the murder of the book's Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi, the targeting of its translators and publishers in Turkey, Norway and Italy, and worldwide riots and book-burnings - while The Satanic Verses itself was banned in many countries.

Muslim activists beat a burning effigy of Salman Rushdie in New Delhi

Ayatollah Khomeini at his residence in the leafy Paris suburb of Neauphle-le Chateau during his exile

Speaking about the controversy with the Mail, Sir Salman said: 'Being under the fatwa was a jail, but I think that one of the problems is that from the outside it looked glamorous, as I sometimes showed up in places in Jags with people jumping out to open the door and make sure you get in safely and so on. Looks of who the hell does he think he is? Well, from my side it felt like jail.

'There was this crude argument that I did it in some way for personal advantage, to make myself more famous or to make money. At its most unpleasant it was levelled at me from the Islamic side that the Jews made me do it. They said my [second] wife was Jewish. She wasn't, she was American.

'If I had simply wanted to trade on an insult to Islam I could have done it in a sentence rather than writing a 250,000-word novel, a work of fiction.'

In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.

'What you have to remember is that The Satanic Verses is not called Islam the Prophet, it is not called Mohammed, the country is not called Arabia - it all happens in the dream of somebody who is losing their mind.'

During the fatwa he lived in permanent terror and at one point thought his ex-wife Clarissa Luard and their son Zafar, who was nine at the time, had been killed by assassins or kidnapped.

In 1998 Iran's reformist president relaxed the fatwa and said it had no intention of tracking Rushdie down and killing him.

The Index on Censorship, an organization promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016, underscoring that the fatwa for his death still stands.

Technically it still stands, as the only person who is able to cancel the call for his death, Khomeini, died in June 1989  months after issuing the fatwa.

Rushdie's London-based son Zafar, 42, is aware of the incident and his father has been seen being transported by air ambulance after the attack.

People rushed to assist the author after the attack, with the attacker being restrained by witnesses. The motive for the stabbing is currently unknown

Senator George Borrello branded the attack as 'shocking' adding that there is 'no room' for 'beliefs that demand that you kill someone who disagrees with you'.

He added: 'This shocking attack on a celebrated and noted author, apparently prompted by fundamentalist extremism, has no place in America.'

New York State Police said in a statement: 'On August 12, 2022, at about 11 am, a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer.

'Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital.

'His condition is not yet known. The interviewer suffered a minor head injury.

'A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene.'
Hes 6 ft tall and smoking, but the youngster standing with a posse of friends on a street corner of Has, a tiny town tucked away in the mountains of northern Albania, is only 13 years old.

When he pulls out his cigarette packet to offer me one, his high-pitched voice makes it clear he is still a child.

Despite his youth, like so many young males in this depressed backwater he is determined to escape Albania as soon as possible.

I go on a boat to England next month, he assures me in near-perfect English, with only a slight trace of an Albanian accent.

Six of my friends from school have left for your country this summer. I miss them already.

Mayor of Has, Liman Morina, 52 (pictured on August 10), says he wants to erect a statue of the Queen because so many teenage boys are leaving the town for the UK

He tells me his name is Gjergi but, as I get out my notebook and write it down, things begin to get nasty.

Violently grabbing the pad from me, he demands my pen and scribbles over the name.

Get lost, he shouts, as his mates surround me screeching in unison: Go, London, London.

It is obvious theyre not very fond of outsiders, even from Britain, nosing about here.

More teenage boys travel to England by cross-Channel boat from Has, a three-hour drive from the capital Tirana, than from anywhere else in Albania, according to the mayor. Pictured: A general view of Has on August 10

More teenage boys travel to England by cross-Channel boat from this dirt-poor, potholed town, a three-hour drive from the capital Tirana, than from anywhere else in Albania, says its mayor, 52-year-old Liman Morina.

Its a phenomenon thats impossible to miss. Not only are their tales all over social media, but Albanian TV news screens footage of the youngsters arriving in Dover on repeat.

And many are familiar faces to Mr Morina. Among the migrants, he regularly spots children who only a few weeks before were living with their families in Has  now dubbed Little London.

Sitting in his town hall office, with its Albanian flag  a double-headed eagle on a red background  neatly furled on a brass-coloured stand, he sounds almost despairing.

Our town is emptying, he says. We are losing our children, our lifeblood, as they go away.

This summer, boys of 15 or even younger, have disappeared because the boat crossings are cheap now.

'The parents let them go. They think it will be a better life in your country for their child. It is an economic decision.

The exodus of Albanias youth is under the spotlight because a military file leaked to The Mail on Sunday last weekend showed that nearly four in every ten migrants on traffickers boats from France to England over a recent period of six weeks hailed from this tiny Balkan country.

On Thursday it emerged that they are determined to stay.

More Albanians claim to have been trafficked or to have become victims of modern slavery once in the UK than any other nationality.

Immigration officials suspect many make up the claims as a ruse to boost their asylum chances and avoid deportation back to Albania, which is deemed a safe country.

None of this is stopping the exodus from Has. The mayor, a former schoolteacher, has four brothers who live in Leicester, but prays that his own three children, two girls and a boy aged between ten and 20, will not leave Has too.

He admits, however, that his town feels part of London because almost every family has a close relative living in the English capital or another big UK city.

In the weeks since June 24, when Hass secondary schools closed for summer, education officials here say more than 60 teenage boys have upped sticks for Britain.

Obtaining a UK visa is difficult and expensive but Albanians can travel visa free, by boat or air, into the European Union before travelling on to northern France to board a traffickers dinghy.

One official reveals that at the end of the summer term, the 19-year-olds leaving school said goodbye to their teachers with the words See you in London, instead of the more normal See you around.

He added: English is now the favourite lesson at every secondary school. The teenage students even say Thank you, sir to the teacher when class finishes.

'They never miss a lesson. They know English is important because they need the language to get by in your country.

When autumn term starts in a few weeks time, schools have no inkling how many pupils will be missing from their desks.

The biggest secondary in the town had 800 students in 2016.

By the end of the summer term this year, there were just 480 on the school roll. The rest had decamped to the UK.

Social media sites popular with teenagers, TikTok in particular, drive demand for a new life in Britain.

Albanian gangs operating in France brazenly post videos advertising a summer sale for Channel sea-crossings, with prices down to 2,000 a head, in their own language.

To a background of loud rap music, they have even advertised a 15,000 yacht service from Calais or Dunkirk to England.

As of last night, their videos were still up and running on TikTok to entice more customers.

Yet Albanians were once a rare sight in Britain. Until the fall of communism three decades ago, the small Balkan state was a hermit kingdom with virtually zero contact with the outside world.

The 1991 UK census, two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, recorded just 338 Albanians living here.

Today, the figure runs into tens of thousands, many in the UK illegally because  as they are not fleeing a wartorn country  they are not eligible for asylum.

And so the numbers grow. This week the Office for National Statistics released new data showing Albanians constitute one of the main nationalities for non-UK births: that is babies born to foreign parents.

Albanian mothers gave birth to 3,260 children last year in England and Wales alone.

Of course, the opposite is happening in Has.

There are fewer children being born as the young men find a new life, leaving behind the girls who  in different circumstances  would have become their wives.

The girls wander about town with nothing to do. They just chill all the time and look at their nails or mobile phones, says one bartender who has cousins in Manchester.

They dont need to work because their brothers send them money from England. Meanwhile, the boys they would have married fall for other girls when they get there.

Few understand the disastrous consequences for Has better than Isaam Kuki, a 58-year-old former police officer, who lives in the town.

He has not seen his son Darim since he left for Britain seven years ago, at the age of 15.

Since then, Mr Kukis two elder sons, in their 30s, have gone too.

None of the three young men has Home Office permission to stay permanently in Britain, although they are allowed to work.

The result? It is difficult for them to visit Albania to see Mr Kuki or his 52-year-old wife who live in a cramped flat not far from Has town centre.

It is a meaningless life when you cant see your children every day, he told me this week.

They each have a huge desire to come to see us in Albania but they cant in case England will not accept them back.

'It is heartbreaking for my family and others like us. We dont see our grandchildren grow up. We are alone here.

Darim followed a well-trodden path for Albanian migrants.

When he reached England in the back of a lorry on a Channel ferry (the migrants mode of illegal travel before traffickers ramped up their boat trade in 2018), he was placed in foster care as an unaccompanied minor.

He was put through school at British taxpayers expense, then college. where he trained to be a plumber.

But aged 18, and deemed to be an adult, there was a hitch when his asylum application was turned down twice.

He decided to stay without papers, living in fear of being caught by the police and deported as an illegal migrant.

He worked illegally with other Albanians on building sites, sending money back to his parents and paying for his father to have two heart bypass operations.

He has since got a National Insurance number, but has never been granted a permanent right to live in Britain.

His father and many other parents in Has insist it is impossible to carve out a good life in northern Albania. And that may be true.

Theres not enough work to go round. Five thousand people live in the town, many of employment age, but only 700 have jobs, 300 of them in the public sector working as police officers, civil servants or teachers paid for by the Albanian state.

Many families, even those in work, rely heavily on money sent back from the UK by their sons to make ends meet because of low pay.

Every summer, Albanian emigres, who are fortunate enough to have British citizenship or permanent leave to remain and so are free to travel, turn up in town.

They are keen to parade their success, arriving in flash supercars, with cash gifts for their families and presents from high-end boutiques in Britain.

Some drive Lamborghinis or Maseratis rented for the occasion. This week two of the visitors cars driving around Has sported expensive personalised GB number plates with the word HAS on them to denote the owners Albanian roots.

This display of opulence in the impoverished streets does not go unnoticed by youngsters such as Gjergi, who dream of leaving town because they face a hopeless future.

They think they will earn good money and soon be driving supercars, too, if they live in the UK, says Blerim Rexhaj, 24, the owner of Britain, a new lounge bar thronged with customers who sip coffee and drink lager as Albanian music plays in the background.

Unusually, he has come back to his home town from West London to make his fortune.

After making his way into the UK on a lorry at the age of 14, he was put into care as an unaccompanied child migrant and went on to study electrical engineering at a college in Uxbridge.

I went to the UK because I have an uncle who lives there who promised to help me, he explains at his bar.

He is in property rentals and runs two car-washes. When I left college, he offered me the chance to work for him. I saved money.

'I did long hours for him and lots of other jobs too.

Blerim Rexhaj (pictured), 24, is the owner of Britain Lounge Bar in Albania. Blerim lived in the UK for 10 years before returning to Albania

The entrepreneurial Blerim would be a credit to any country. Although he was not deported from Britain as an illegal entrant, he never got formal Home Office permission to stay for ever. It left him in limbo and that worried him.

Last year, he returned to Has and used the money he had earned in Britain to set up his lounge bar with his two brothers, who had never left the town.

It has been a tough task. He cooks the pizzas himself, because he cant find staff. Six of my waiters and cooks have left for the UK in a few months.

'They want to get out while the boat crossings are cheap, he explains. It is a sad thing for Has.

Outside the bar, there is picture of Big Ben and a lifesize model of an English red telephone box (bought for 2,000 by Blerim on the internet).

He points out a black supercar outside with GB plates. The owner? An Albanian living in Croydon, South London, who is visiting his home town to show off his success in the UK and bring money here for his family.

Back at the town hall, the mayor admits there is a silver lining to running this town.

On the outskirts of Has, gaudy mansions are being built by the emigrants who want somewhere to live when they come back on holiday or to see their families.

It impossible for people to survive here because there is no work, says Mr Morina.

The wages of the few who have jobs are low. Even though I run the town, I only get 680 a month. But the cost of living, the food, the fuel, is as high as in the UK.

We would be facing a big disaster if the children didnt go because they send money back to their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.

'More than eight in ten families rely on it. Even those with jobs get extra help from their children in England.

Behind his desk on a shelf is a picture of the Queen, in a turquoise hat, waving and smiling.

The mayor says he is going to use the image as a template for a statue of the British monarch he plans to put up in the centre of town on a roundabout.

The money to fund this extraordinary idea will be raised by his appeal for donations from the thousands of migrants from Has living in the UK.

I think they will give generously. And there a lot of them, he says, with what looks suspiciously like a wink.

Then he adds in a more serious tone: Links between our countries are so close, the people of my town feel your Queen is their Queen too.

Some names have been changed.
British Airways has been accused of cost-cutting by business-class passengers who say small bottles of champagne have been axed on some short-haul flights.

They say that instead, one glass at a time is being poured from a big bottle on the trolley.

Regular flyers said it felt like BA was rationing measures because the service did not start until after take-off and they had to wait for the trolley to reach their row.

They said it also meant not being able to take away a miniature bottle after the flight.

But last night BA denied it was cost-cutting and said many passengers preferred flight attendants providing a restaurant-style service.

It said mini bottles were still served on flights to places like Amsterdam and Dublin.

British Airways has been accused of cost-cutting by business-class passengers who say small bottles of champagne have been axed on some short-haul flights. Pictured: file image of a BA plane

Customers put on an Iberia Express plane, BAs sister airline, complained that the seats did not recline.

Thousands of BA passengers flying from Gatwick have been switched to the budget carrier to avoid cancelling holidays.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: I noticed it flying to Marseille.

'Theyve changed it, taken away mini bottles completely.

There appears to be a reluctance to give champagne out on short haul. You have to really ask for it when the trolley comes round.

'The great thing about mini bottles is they can be handed out before take-off or a meal and you can take one away at the end of the flight.

I think its clearly part of the cuts to the quality of service in business class for short haul.

'The airline was renowned for distributing mini-bottles of bubbly within minutes of taking your seat.

'In the old days youd be on a BA flight and theyd lavishly hand out your champagne, but it certainly seems as though some high-flyers have lost their fizz.

Another frequent business flyer told the Daily Mail: It felt like rationing. Me and my wife asked for champagne and were poured just a glass for our meal. 

BA said: We know our customers value our restaurant-style service where fine wines and champagnes are personally poured and topped up by our crew throughout their journey.
It is an unspoilt coastal hamlet representing a throwback to a bygone time  just as intended.

The tenanted manor of Trevalga was placed in a will trust more than 60 years ago so the estate could be 'preserved and improved and as far as possible not sold or broken up'.

Its last private owner, Gerald Curgenven, dictated that estate income should go to his old school, Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where the Duchess of Cambridge was a former pupil.

The arrangement kept development at Trevalga, on Cornwall's rugged northern coast, to a minimum and allowed tenants who would otherwise be unable to afford a home in such an idyllic spot to stay in what remains a close-knit community.

But the villagers are now gearing up for a 'Battle of Trevalga' amid fears they could be evicted  after the 1,200-acre estate, where some families go back three generations or more, was put on the market with a guide price of 15,750,000.

Residents  a mixture of retired, craftspeople and tenant farmers  say a new owner will look to evict them to capitalise on the region's popularity as a tourism and second home hotspot.

The tenanted manor of Trevalga was placed in a will trust more than 60 years ago so the estate could be 'preserved and improved and as far as possible not sold or broken up'

The Trevalga estate is nestled between the tourist havens of Boscastle and Tintagel in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It stretches half a mile inland and includes a cliff-top manor house, six let farms, 17 further houses and cottages  12 of which are let on assured shorthold tenancies  meaning landlords can evict without reason as long as they give notice.

High-end estate agency Savills, which is marketing the 'ring-fenced' estate said its 'spectacular' and 'highly popular' location offers 'endless amenity and leisure opportunities'.

But handwritten protest signs reading 'Illegal Sale', 'We Need Homes', 'Trevalga: Not For Sale', 'Save This Community' and 'Let The Battle of Trevalga Commence', now adorn gateposts and fences on its single-track lane.

Residents' campaign leader Serena Partrick, a tenant farmer, said: 'It's very unlikely that anyone evicted from Trevalga would be able to find any property, let alone an equivalent property [in the area]. Some people might think these homes should only be lived in by people with money, but that's never been the point of Trevalga. Why should you have to be a millionaire to live in such as beautiful peaceful place?'

Chris Thomas, 75, has lived in his cottage with his wife Ros for more than half a century and has one of the few regulated tenancies. He said: 'A buyer would have to buy the house with us in it.

Chris Thomas and wife Rose have lived in Trevelga for over 40 years but they fear the sale of the estate could see them lose their home and be replaced by second home owners

'But that doesn't alter the fact we'd be devastated if this community was split up. There's a strong suspicion that they're rushing this through because a government white paper to improve tenants' rights will make it harder for them to get rid of local people in future.'

A Bill is due to be introduced in the 2022-23 parliamentary session to abolish 'no-fault' section 21 evictions in the private rented sector after research suggested that many tenants were reluctant to lobby for repairs or challenge rent increases due to the ease with which they could be evicted.

The ancient manor of Trevalga was bestowed to Robert, Earl of Morton by William the Conqueror when he made him Earl of Cornwall in the 11th century.

For 700 years, it was largely owned by the Bassetts and then the Stephens family. In 1889, it was put into a trust for the Stephens family but was sold in 1934 after Mrs EG Stephens died without a beneficiary.

The new Lord of the Manor, Mr Curgenven, owned the estate until his death in 1959, and left the hamlet in trust to Marlborough College. In 2010, the college tried to sell the estate after receiving legal advice that the trust was invalid because it did not have an end date or ultimate beneficiary.

The 1,200-acre estate is mapped out here in an advert showing the pristine and unspoilt scenery

The college then took direct ownership of the estate but put it on the market after concluding that owning such as large asset could contravene Charity Commission guidelines. The sale was halted after residents received their own legal advice suggesting the college's position was wrong.

The trust is now run by three individuals who have told tenants that a sale is inevitable. The college  where boarding fees cost 42,930 a year  will be the benefactor.

A spokesman for Marlborough College said: 'The sale is being handled by the trustees and is nothing to do with the college. I can only refer you to Savills, who are liaising with trustees.'

Savills said: 'The sale is subject to all existing tenancies with the security of tenants remaining unchanged. The trustees have explored thoroughly the future of the estate within the trust structure that binds them and have concluded it is time for there to be a new owner not so constrained.'
One of the most celebrated writers of our time, Sir Salman Rushdie spoke of his 'great surprise and delight' when he was named in this year's Queen's Birthday honours list for services to literature.

The 75-year-old award-winning novelist described his elevation to the Order of the Companions of Honour in June as an 'extraordinary honour' and 'a privilege'.

It was a crowning moment in an illustrious career overshadowed by the most extraordinary controversy the literary world has seen.

Founded in 1917 by George V, the Companions of Honour is awarded for long-standing contribution to arts, science, medicine or government. Rushdie certainly fits that bill.

The author of more than 20 books, the Indian-born, Rugby-educated, former advertising copywriter's output is not only prolific but acclaimed. His third novel Midnight's Children won the 1981 Booker Prize, and then the Best of Booker Prize winners in 2008.

But it was his controversial fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, which propelled him on to the front pages 34 years ago, turning him into a global name, figure of hate and target of death threats.

Padma Lakshmi and Salman Rushdie at the Vanity Fair Oscar after party in March 2006

He has been living under the long shadow of fear ever since, even though his life has gradually returned to something approaching normality.

Five years in the writing, The Satanic Verses shook the world and ignited Muslim fury as protesters accused the author of offending their deepest religious beliefs; calling the magic-realist epic novel a 'blasphemy'.

The complex and multi-layered plot focuses on two men, both Indian Muslims living in England, infused with Islam but confused by the temptations of the West. The first survives by returning to his roots; the second kills himself, destroyed by the inability to reconcile his spiritual needs and intellectual inability to return to the faith.

Rushdie was blindsided by the violent response to his novel, which he suggested was both about 'migration, metamorphosis, divided selves, love, death' and a 'serious attempt to write about religion and revelation from the point of view of a secular person'. But following its publication in 1988, it was banned in several countries including Rushdie's birthplace of India, where 12 people lost their lives in a riot in Bombay. There were violent demonstrations in Pakistan.

Some chains stopped selling the book, and copies were burned across the UK, first in Bolton where 7,000 Muslims gathered on December 2, 1988, then in Bradford in January 1989. In May that year, thousands gathered in Parliament Square in London to burn an effigy of Rushdie.

On Valentine's Day in 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran called for Rushdie's execution by issuing a fatwa on him and his publishers  forcing the author into hiding for almost a decade, while translators and publishers were either murdered or the victims of attempted terrorist attacks. In October 1993, William Nygaard, the novel's Norwegian publisher, was shot three times outside his home in Oslo and seriously injured.

A 2.7million bounty was placed on the author's head, which resulted in Rushdie taking on a 24-hour armed guard under the British Government's protection programme and moved from one safe location to another.

Novelist and friend Ian McEwan recalled: 'The first few months were the worst. No one knew anything. Were Iranian agents, professional killers already in place in the UK when the fatwa was proclaimed? Might a 'freelancer', stirred by a denunciation in a mosque, be an effective assassin?

'The mobs were frightening. They burned books in the street, they bayed for blood outside Parliament and waved 'Rushdie Must Die' placards.'

Rushdie came out of hiding in 1998 when new Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said it no longer supported the fatwa.

In 2012, he published his memoirs under his alias during that bleak time  Joseph Anton  a combination of the first names of two writers he loved: Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov.

But as recently as February 2016, it was reported that money had been raised to add to the fatwa, reminding the author that  for some  the Ayatollah's ruling still stands.

Students of religious party Jamiat Talba-e-Arabia burn an effigy of British author Salman Rushdie during a protest in Multan, Pakistan in June 2007

In recent years, Rushdie has tried to put distance between his life as a writer in New York now  where he became resident 20 years ago  and the events of almost 35 years ago.

'I really resist the idea of being dragged back to that period of time,' he said in an interview last year, adding that he hates being defined by it.

'It destroys my individuality as a person and as a writer. I'm not a geopolitical entity. I'm someone writing in a room.

'One of the benefits of being a writer, I think, is that if what you're doing for a living is examining your life, hopefully by the time you reach this advanced age, you understand something about yourself and why you think what you think.'

As for surviving death threats, the fatwa, the years in hiding with his sanity intact, Rushdie added: 'I am stupidly optimistic, and I think it did get me through those bad years, because I believed there would be a happy ending, when very few people did believe it.'

In another interview, however, he admitted he often thought about death. 'I did, and now I think about it for a different reason, a slightly more inescapable reason,' he said, referring to his advancing years.

The son of an Indian lawyer turned businessman, Rushdie was 14 when he was shipped off to boarding school in Britain. He turned to writing in the 1970s after a successful career in advertising during which he came up with the cream-cake slogan, 'Naughty but Nice.'

Acclaimed for his magic-realist style, he was a rising star in the literary world, expected to set the world alight with each new offering  though with The Satanic Verses, it was not in the way he ever imagined or intended. Novelist and friend Martin Amis once wrote: 'Salman had disappeared into the world of block caps. He had vanished into the front page.'

Protester with 'we are ready to kill Rushdie signs' and an effigy with him on a hanging noose in Beirut, Lebanon in 1989

In fact, he had moved with a Special Branch protection team to a hotel in the Cotswolds for his own safety.

That same evening, Channel Four broadcast a pre-recorded interview with Rushdie, in which he said: 'If you don't want to read a book, you don't have to read it. It's very hard to be offended by The Satanic Verses  it requires a long period of intense reading. It's a quarter of a million words.'

Four days after the fatwa was issued, he apologised: 'I profoundly regret the distress the publication has occasioned to sincere followers of Islam.' Khomeini rejected the apology.

He said that even if Rushdie repented and 'became the most pious man of all time', it was still incumbent on every Muslim to 'employ everything he has got' to kill him.

Ever the optimist, Rushdie was able to speak of the 'fun side' of his global notoriety and became equally as famous for his love life and 'party boy' image  which he insists was wildly exaggerated  which emerged after he came out of hiding.

Four times married, he has a son Zafar with first wife Clarissa Luard. They divorced in 1987, just before the publication of The Satanic Verses, after he left her for bohemian Australian author Robyn Davidson.

Author Sir Salman Rushdie holds up a copy of his controversial book, "The Satanic Verses" during a 1992 news conference in the US in June 2007

Following that two-year romance, he married American novelist Marianne Wiggins. Their marriage lasted five years and in 1997 he married publishing assistant Elizabeth West, whom he met while in hiding and with whom he has a second son, Milan.

The marriage collapsed when he met Indian-born model Padma Lakshmi. Their 2004 marriage lasted three years. Today, his partner is said to be American poet and artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths.

Despite having lived under the shadow of a fatwa for so long, Rushdie is a fierce defender of freedom of speech and has spoken of his abhorrence of today's creeping 'cancel culture'.

Comfortable in the spotlight, he has learned to embrace his fame in more unexpected ways  including a cameo in the film Bridget Jones's Diary. In 2017, he made another cameo on Larry David's sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm. Rushdie  making fun of his ordeal  tells Larry, who has also had a fatwa issued against him, that there are pluses  women would flock to him.

'At first I thought, you know, 'How funny is this really?' And then I thought, 'OK, there's a point in my life when it would not have been funny, and the fact that we can now send it up is a good thing.'

Now, as the victim of a brutal knife attack, hopefully that optimism was not misplaced.
Harrods is reportedly set to replace its striking workers with agency staff.

The luxury department store in Knightsbridge, central London, is allegedly the first employer to take advantage of controversial new laws.

In July, ministers lifted a ban on temporary staff being allowed to replace striking workers. It came after unions staged Britain's biggest rail strike in 30 years.

It means businesses can now provide skilled agency workers to fill staffing gaps caused by strikes.

According to The Mirror, approximately 150 members of Unite union, who work at the store, will vote on strike action in a row over pay.

A letter seen by the newspaper from Harrods to workers said the new legislation 'now allows agencies to provide temporary workers to perform duties normally performed by a worker who is on strike'.

Harrods is reportedly set to replace its striking workers with agency staff

'We are therefore no longer restricted from engaging temporary workers should any industrial action take place now or in the future,' it added.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: 'It comes as no surprise that Harrods, known for catering to the supremely well-off, could be the first employer Unite has come across to threaten low paid staff with the recent legislation designed to break strikes.

'Harrods attempts to use this new legislation to bully our members doesnt change a thing.

'Unite is prepared for all eventualities and our members at Harrods will receive the full backing of the union in their fight for a fair pay rise.'

A Harrods spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We have had confirmation from Unite of their intention to formally ballot their members for strike action, following a rejection of a proposed pay increase offered back in April.

'This ballot relates to a very small number of colleagues who are members of Unite; roughly a third of employees who are part of this particular collective bargaining agreement.

The luxury department store in Knightsbridge, central London, is allegedly the first employer to take advantage of controversial new laws

'As a business, we undertake rigorous and regular benchmarking to ensure all colleagues are paid competitively. Our base pay rates are very competitive within the industry, and the pay rise we have offered will ensure this remains the case.

'Unfortunately, we are unable to award these payments to all impacted colleagues until pay negotiations have concluded with Unite.

'This is why it is extremely disappointing that Unite continues to delay this pay increase being awarded and backdated for the colleagues in this group. This is our number one priority.

'We continue to urge Unite to work with us to ensure this is swiftly resolved for the benefit of all our hard-working and dedicated colleagues.

'We are proud to offer exceptional customer service as part of the Harrods experience. It is vital that we continue to provide the experience that our loyal customers deserve, as well as ensuring the highest levels of safety for our colleagues, and this means ensuring we are properly staffed at all times.

'We already work with agency colleagues within Harrods to ensure that we have consistent and high quality service available to all customers, particularly in busy periods.

When the law change on the use of agency workers came into force, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng hailed it as 'good news for our society and for our economy'

'While we are able to engage temporary workers if industrial action occurs, this is certainly not our preferred course of action.

'That is why we are urging Unite to work with us to resolve this matter as swiftly as possible.'

When the law change on the use of agency workers came into force, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng hailed it as 'good news for our society and for our economy'.

'In light of militant trade union action threatening to bring vital public services to a standstill, we have moved at speed to repeal these burdensome, 1970s - style restrictions,' he said.

'From today, businesses exposed to disruption caused by strike action will be able to tap into skilled, temporary workers to provide the services that allow honest, hardworking people to get on with their lives.'

The Government has also changed the law to raise the maximum damages that courts can award against a union, when strike action has been found by the court to be unlawful.

For the biggest unions, the maximum award will rise from 250,000 to 1 million.
The man accused of the alleged murder of a young woman in her own bed refuses to take his psych meds amid claims prison staff are trying to kill him.

Luay Nader Sako, 36, of Roxburgh Park, last year pleaded not guilty to the stabbing murder of Celeste Manno in anticipation of securing an assessment from a forensic psychiatrist that supported an assertion he was not capable of committing the crime due to his poor mental health.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of Victoria heard Sako insisted on remaining locked away from other inmates in an isolation unit where he refused to take medications at least one expert believes would help him stand trial for murder.

Celeste Manno, 23, was allegedly murdered in her Melbourne home in November 2020

Luay Sako, 35, attended a local police station hours after Ms Manno's death and was taken to hospital under police guard, and was charged with murder

Celeste Manno had been in the prime of life when she was stabbed to death in her own bed

In May, the court heard two forensic psychiatrists who assessed Sako were at loggerheads about whether he was fit to stand trial.

The decision will now be decided by a jury trial that will span three days in November.

The court heard while Dr Andrew Carroll - on behalf of Sako - argued the alleged killer was too mentally unwell to properly direct his lawyers, Dr Clare McInerney - for the prosecution - believes that prognosis could be cured.

On Friday, Crown prosecutor Patrick Bourke asked Sako be assessed yet again - this time by forensic psychologist Professor James Ogloff.

The court heard prosecutors believed it was in the 'interest of justice' to assess whether Sako's condition had more to do with his behaviour rather than any actual mental illness.

Sako's barrister Sam Norton, of Stary Norton Halphen, opposed the application and accused the Crown of attempting to 'second guess' its own expert.

'We say there is no basis to do so,' he said.

But Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth ordered the assessment be done with a view to maintain the fitness trial dates in November.

Should a jury find Sako unfit to stand trial, the court heard Justice Hollingworth held hope he could be moved to Thomas Embling Hospital - for the criminally insane - where he could be forced medications in hope of getting him well enough to stand trial.

Ms Manno was Sako's team leader at a Serco call centre before he was fired from the role

Heartbroken mum Aggie Di Mauro pictured with her beloved daughter

The court heard Sako had threatened suicide if he were to be moved out of his isolation cell, where he spends up to 23-hours a day in lockdown.

At a hearing in March, the court heard Sako had secured a 'second opinion' on his mental capacity after his original assessment didn't fall his way.

In a 30-page report, Dr Carroll found Sako was not only unfit to stand trial over the alleged murder, but would remain that way for at least the next year.

The court heard the psychiatrist, who examined the fitness of Bourke Street killer James 'Dimitrious' Gargasoulas, claimed Sako's was a 'complicated situation'.

But Dr McInerney, for prosecutors, believed Sako had a 'more favourable prognosis' depending on his treatment

Mr Bourke said Sako's mental fitness needed to be subject to a thorough investigation before the court.

'It will be submitting that Mr Sako is in fact fit (to stand trial),' he said at the time.

Sako allegedly smashed through his former colleague's window at her family home in Mernda, in Melbourne's northeast, before repeatedly stabbing her with a knife as she lay in bed in November 2020.

Ms Manno is pictured with her partner, Chris Ridsdale, who had been looking forward to celebrating her birthday the week she was killed

Pictured: The crime scene in Mernda where Ms Manno was found dead

There has been an outpouring of grief for Ms Manno

He then allegedly fled over a fence that was left stained with blood.

Sako attended a local police station hours later and was taken to hospital under police guard and treated for a hand injury that required surgery.

At Sako's very first court hearing last year, the court heard Sako had no mental health issues and was not on any medication at the time his 23-year old victim was killed.

Sako had been freed to live in the community at the time of the alleged murder after being charged with breaching a restraining order.

Ms Manno was Sako's team leader at a Serco call centre in South Morang and comforted him when he left the company a year earlier.

Sako's family was devastated by his arrest and said they didn't know much about what he had been doing at the time.

He had been unemployed and living at his parent's house.
The Perseids meteor shower is set to light up the night skies tonight what is considered one of the highlights of the year for stargazers.

Known as the 'fiery tears of Saint Lawrence', the Perseids will be visible in clear skies after sunset tonight and until dawn on Saturday.

During this period, there could be up to 150 shooting stars per hour this year, according to Royal Observatory Greenwich.

The celestial event takes place when the Earth ploughs through galactic debris left by the passing of the Swift-Tuttle Comet.

NASA says it's considered 'the best meteor shower of the year' and one of the most plentiful showers' with 'swift and bright meteors'.

The meteors are called Perseids because they seem to dart out of Perseus, a constellation in the northern sky, which itself is named after the Greek mythological hero Perseus

Meteors, also known as shooting stars, come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids. Pictured are shooting stars at night from Perseids meteor shower

THE PERSEIDS METEOR SHOWER The Perseid meteor shower peaks in mid-August, and is considered the best meteor shower of the year. Perseids is often dubbed the best of the year because of how bright and active it is. With swift and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long 'wakes' of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth's atmosphere At its peak, the Perseids can produce 150 meteors per hour, or one every 20 to 30 seconds. The display is caused by Earth slamming into the debris left behind by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle in July and August each year. Advertisement

The Met Office told MailOnline that skies are expected to be completely clear for much of the UK, with excellent viewing conditions for the shower.

'Clear skies are also expected for most of the UK on Friday night for the Perseids meteor showers,' a Met Office spokesperson said

'However again there will be a layer of cloud in northwest Scotland making for poor viewing conditions here.'

It's possibly that light from the extra-bright full moon could make the Perseids harder to see. When watching for meteors, the darker the sky the better.

'The bright moon may also make viewing the meteor shower a little more difficult at times,' the Met Office spokesperson said.

Meteors, also known as shooting stars, come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids.

When comets come around the sun, the dust they emit gradually spreads into a dusty trail around their orbits.

Every year, Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere where they disintegrate to create fiery and colourful streaks in the sky.

However, the events won't pose a threat to humans as the objects nearly always burn up in our atmosphere before reaching the planet's surface.

Known as the 'fiery tears of Saint Lawrence', the celestial event takes place when the Earth ploughs through galactic debris left by the passing of the Swift-Tuttle Comet

Also this weekend, stargazers will be able to enjoy a stunning meteor shower called the Perseids without the need for a telescope

WHERE DO METEORS COME FROM? Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids. When comets come around the sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them. Every year Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky. Source: NASA Advertisement

The Swift-Tuttle Comet, which causes the Perseids, spans 16-miles wide and is formed of ice and rock.

It ploughs through our Solar System once every 133 years, with the last pass in 1992.

The comet will come within one million miles of Earth on August 5, 2126 and August 24, 2261.

The name 'Perseids meteor shower' comes from the fact meteors appear to shoot out from the Perseus constellation  the 24th largest constellation in the sky.

Stargazers need to look northeast to locate Perseus, thought to resemble Greek hero Perseus raising a sword above his head.

The event is best for viewing in the Northern Hemisphere during the pre-dawn hours, although sometimes it is possible to view them as early as 10pm.

'The radiant for the Perseids  the point in the sky the meteors appear to come from  is in Perseus, and high in the Northern Hemisphere of the sky,' said Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The name 'Perseids meteor shower' comes from the fact meteors appear to shoot out from the Perseus constellation

'It's 58 degrees north of the celestial equator, which means it would be overhead from 58 degrees north (the latitude of places like Ullapool in Scotland).

'This also means the radiant never rises for places south of 32 degrees south, so the southernmost parts of Australia, and much of Argentina and Chile.

'The upshot is that the Northern Hemisphere has the best potential view, as the radiant is higher in the sky and visible for longer, so in theory more meteors are visible.

'As you move further south the number declines, and south of 32 degrees south essentially none are seen.'

The next major meteor shower will be the Draconids in October, although it tends to tends to be a less active shower than the Perseids.

The Draconid meteor shower comes from the debris of comet 21 P/ Giacobini-Zinner  a small comet with a diameter of 1.24 miles (2 kilometers).
A corneal implant created from pig's skin has successfully restored the sight in 20 blind or visually-impaired people as part of a promising trial.

The implant is made from collagen protein from the animal, and resembles the human cornea - the transparent part of the eye that covers the iris and pupil.

Scientists at Linkoping University and and LinkoCare Life Sciences AB have developed the implant as an alternative to donated human corneas, as well as a less-invasive surgery for implantation.

It is hoped that the results of the pilot study will bring hope to those who live with corneal blindness and low vision.

Professor Neil Lagali, who led the project, said: 'The results show that it is possible to develop a biomaterial that meets all the criteria for being used as human implants, which can be mass produced and stored up to two years and thereby reach even more people with vision problems.

'This gets us around the problem of shortage of donated corneal tissue and access to other treatments for eye diseases.'

The corneal implant is made from collagen protein from pigs, and it resembles the human cornea - the transparent part of the eye that covers the iris and pupil.

Scientists have developed the implant as an alternative to donated human corneas, as well as a less-invasive surgery for implementation which can be done via laser

Pig skin is economically viable and easily accessible all over the world as it is the by-product of the food industry (stock image)

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THE NEW CORNEAL IMPLANT? Made from a cheap and easily accessible material - Corneal transplants are routinely done using donated human corneas, which are not readily available.

- Corneal transplants are routinely done using donated human corneas, which are not readily available. Less-invasive implantation surgery - Implementation requires only a small incision in the eye to allow the cornea's placement, which can be done with a laser. The surgical removal of the patient's tissue is not required.

- Implementation requires only a small incision in the eye to allow the cornea's placement, which can be done with a laser. The surgical removal of the patient's tissue is not required. Post-op eyedrops are only required for eight weeks - Current corneal transplants require years of follow-up medication. Advertisement

It is estimated that 12.7 million people around the world are blind due to damaged or diseased corneas, as they restrict how much light enters the eye.

However only one in 70 patients receives a cornea transplant, and those who need them tend to live in low and middle-income countries where access to treatments is very limited.

Mehrdad Rafat, researcher and entrepreneur behind the implants, said: 'We've made significant efforts to ensure that our invention will be widely available and affordable by all and not just by the wealthy.

'That's why this technology can be used in all parts of the world.'

In a study, published yesterday in Nature Biotechnology, the researchers describe how they created the cornea using collagen molecules from pig skin.

The material is economically viable and easily accessible all over the world as it is a by-product of the food industry.

The researchers first stabilised the loose collagen molecules to create a robust material that could withstand implementation in the eye.

While donated corneas must be used within two weeks, the bio-engineered corneas can be stored for up to two years before use.

The paper also outlines how the new implant can make the surgery for implementing the new cornea less invasive.

Left: Photo of the corneal implant made from pig skin collagen (BPCDX), indicating its transparency and refractive nature. Right: Light transmission through 550-m-thick samples of BPCDX, a single-crosslinked version of the implant (BPC) and the human cornea

The researchers first stabilised the loose collagen molecules to create a robust material that could withstand implementation in the eye. Pictured: Electron microscope images of the surface and cross-section of pig (porcine) cornea compared to the corneal implant (BPCDX).

The standard procedure is the surgical removal of the patient's damaged cornea before the new one is sewn into place.

However, installing the bio-engineered cornea does not require the removal of the patient's tissue, and no stitches are necessary.

Professor Lagali explained: 'Instead, a small incision is made, through which the implant is inserted into the existing cornea.'

This can be done either with an advanced laser or by hand with simple surgical instruments, as has been tested in the past on pigs.

'A less invasive method could be used in more hospitals, thereby helping more people,' the professor added.

The patients were followed for two years after the operations and, according to the study, they had no complications. Pictured: Photographs of eyes from two subjects with the corneal implant four months post-operation, showing that it retained transparency

A: Photographs of a patient's cornea before operation (left) and one day post-operation (right) with arrows indicating change in thickness and curvature in the central cornea. B: Eye scans indicating sustained thickening and corneal curvature following implantation of 280-m-thick corneal implant. Front and rear surfaces of the implant are indicated by white arrows

Twenty people with advanced keratoconus were involved in the pioneering trial of the biomaterial implant.

Keratoconus is a disease that occurs when the cornea thins and gradually bulges outward into a cone shape, and can lead to blindness.

Surgeries were performed in Iran and India - countries where there is a significant lack of treatment options for those with corneal blindness and low vision.

The patients were followed for two years after the operations and, according to the study, they had no complications.

Their eye tissue healed quickly and the cornea's thickness and curvature were restored to normal.

With conventional cornea transplants, medicine must be taken for several years post-surgery, however only an eight-week course of immunosuppressive eye drops was enough to prevent rejection of the new implant.

Before the procedure, 14 of the 20 participants were blind, but after two years they had all regained their sight.

Three of the Indian patients who had been blind before the study had perfect, 20/20 vision after the operation.

A larger clinical study followed by regulator approval is still required before the implant can be used in healthcare.

The researchers also want to study whether it can be used to treat other eye diseases, and if it can be adapted to the individual patient for even better results.
Google is to stop giving quick answers to silly questions as it seeks to improve its 'featured snippets' tool.

The service  which sometimes shows up as a response to direct questions asked of the search engine  has previously fallen foul of spreading false information.

Changes to the way it works, announced by Google in a blog post, will mean that users should see fewer answers to questions such as 'When did Snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln?'

This question would throw up the result 1865  the right date, but obviously not the correct killer.

'This clearly isn't the most helpful way to display this result,' Google's head of search, Pandu Nayak, wrote in the announcement.

Google is to stop giving quick answers to silly questions as it seeks to improve its 'featured snippets' tool. Changes to the way it works, in a blog post, will mean that users should see fewer answers to questions such as 'When did Snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln?'

'Why are firetrucks red?', meanwhile, has seen the search engine inadvertently repeating a joke from Monty Python

EXAMPLES OF THE 'SILLY QUESTIONS' GOOGLE WILL NO LONGER ANSWER 1. When did Snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln? Google's answer: '1865' 2. How to get in touch with the Illuminati? Google's answer: 'Want to get rich? Apply today and join the Illuminati!' 3. Can I remove a tick with my teeth? Google's answer: 'Pull upward with steady, even pressure.' 4. Who is king of the United States? Google's answer: 'Barack Obama' 5. Is Obama planning a coup? Google's answer: 'Obama may in fact be planning a communist coup d'etat at the end of his term in 2016.' 6. Why are firetrucks red? Google's answer: 'Because they have eight wheels and four people on them, and four plus eight is twelve, there are twelve inches in a foot, and one foot is a ruler, and Queen Elizabeth was as a ruler, and Queen Elizabeth was also a ship, and the ship sailed the seas, and in the seas are fish, and the fish have fins, and the Finns fought the Russians, and the Russians are red, and that is why firetrucks are red!' 7. Presidents in the Klan Google's answer: President William McKinley

President Woodrow Wilson

President Warren G. Harding

President Harry S. Truman 8. How to get a date Google's answer: Hang out in places with people your own age.

Ask a friend or family member to set you up with someone.

Strike up a conversation with a stranger.

Use open body language when you're talking to people.

Try a little small talk to keep things light.

Suggest an activity for a date to be direct. 9. Are women evil? Google's answer: 'Every woman has some degree of prostitute in her. Every woman has a little evil in her Women don't love men, they love what they can do for them. 'It is within reason to say women feel attraction but they cannot love men.' 10. What happened to the dinosaurs? Google's answer: 'Dinosaurs are used more than anything else to indoctrinate children and adults in the idea of millions of years of earth history.' Advertisement

'We've trained our systems to get better at detecting these sorts of false premises, which are not very common, but there are cases where it's not helpful to show a featured snippet.

'We've reduced the triggering of featured snippets in these cases by 40 per cent with this update'.

Other questions that have confused the snippet feature include 'Who is the king of the United States?', which once yielded the answer 'Barack Obama'.

The service  which sometimes shows up as a response to direct questions asked of the search engine  has previously fallen foul of spreading false information

'Why are firetrucks red?', meanwhile, has seen the search engine inadvertently repeating a joke from Monty Python, responding with: 'Because they have eight wheels and four people on them, and four plus eight is twelve, there are twelve inches in a foot, and one foot is a ruler, and Queen Elizabeth was as a ruler, and Queen Elizabeth was also a ship, and the ship sailed the seas, and in the seas are fish, and the fish have fins, and the Finns fought the Russians, and the Russians are red, and that is why firetrucks are red!'

The company would also tell users that stairs were invented in 1946  after reading a website that attributed a particular US safety regulation to that date.

The same technology used for the featured snippets is also what powers Google's smart speakers and voice assistants.

Its key purpose is to allow the search engine to answer queries without users having to click onto other websites.

Snippets appear under many searches, but because they directly answer questions by quoting pages, they can backfire in ways that standard query responses don't.

Other questions that have confused the snippet feature include 'Who is the king of the United States?', which once yielded the answer 'Barack Obama'

The service  which sometimes shows up as a featured response to direct questions asked of the search engine  has previously fallen foul of spreading false information. One search pulled false information from a site that said former US presidents William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Harry Truman were members of the Ku Klux Klan

For example, when you search for how long light takes to get from the sun to Earth, Google at one point offered a snippet that highlighted the distance from Pluto instead.

In 2017, the search engine was accused of spreading fake news after a featured snippet for the query 'Is Obama planning a coup' led to the answer 'Obama may in fact be planning a communist coup d'etat at the end of his term in 2016'.

It had found the information on a conspiracy website.

Try typing in 'can I remove a tick with my teeth?' in Google search, meanwhile, and the first thing you'll see is advice from the Centers for Disease Control to 'pull upward with steady, even pressure.'

Of course, the CDC is referring to using a tool like tweezers rather than your mouth, but Google isn't always able to display the answer clearly.

Type in how to get a date and Google bizarrely provides a list of 10 steps to take

Worse still, a few years ago it was found that by asking 'Are women evil?', the search engine produced this featured snipped: 'Every woman has some degree of prostitute in her. Every woman has a little evil in her Women don't love men, they love what they can do for them.

'It is within reason to say women feel attraction but they cannot love men.'

In an attempt to address the root cause of such errors, Google is also planning to introduce warnings for times when a search term has hit a 'data void'.

This is defined as a question where a good answer may not actually exist.

'It looks like there aren't many great results for this search,' the site now warns visitors.

Nayak said: 'This doesn't mean that no helpful information is available, or that a particular result is low-quality.

'These notices provide context.'
A 97-inch OLED EX TV panel with the company's Cinematic Sound OLED (CSO) was unveiled by LG Display on Wednesday.

What Is CSO Technology

By vibrating the display using a thin film exciter attached to the panel's back, CSO eliminates the need for extra speakers by generating sounds directly from the OLED, according to the news story by The Verge.

The 5.1 channel system, according to LG Display, will provide a "cinematic level of immersion," with all sound emanating from the TV rather than surround sound speakers positioned behind the viewer.

In other words, LG claims that the 97-inch OLED EX TV panel can produce sounds without using actual speakers.

In case you're unsure whether such technology is possible, Sony has been utilizing a similar technology dubbed Acoustic Surface in OLED TVs since 2017. Also lacking speakers, this TV makes sound by vibrating actuators behind the display.

Sony does not, however, compare Acoustic Surface with 5.1 surround sound. As pointed out by Ars Technica, Sony instead encourages users to "connect their own gear to the set and to use the TV as the center channel for a surround sound setup."

What Is OLED EX and How Does It Works

The 97-inch LG Display panel produces a brighter and more accurate image using the same OLED EX technology as LG's most recent flagship OLED TVs.

But what exactly is an OLED EX technology?

First of all, OLED stands for organic light emitting diode, a technology being used for displays for some years now. Meanwhile, the "EX" part of the OLED EX combines "Evolution" and "eXperience," as noted by Ars Technica.

Due to the use of deuterium and the company's "EX Technology algorithm," LG Display's OLED EX technology, which it first revealed in December, reportedly offers screens that are up to 30% brighter than those found in ordinary OLED displays.

The Verge pointed out that according to LG, the "EX Technology algorithm" predicts the usage of each individual light emitting diode in your TV based on your unique viewing habits, allowing it to precisely control the display's energy input to more correctly represent the details and colors of the video content being played.

Read More: Top 3 Best Smart TVs to Buy in 2022: Which of LG, Samsung, and Sony Is the Best?

OLEX EX, according to LG, will have smaller bezels. According to calculations using a 65-inch OLED panel, the company claims it will be able to reduce bezel thickness from 6mm to 4mm.

In the second quarter of 2022, LG claims it will begin integrating OLED EX technology into all of its OLED panels. It's unclear, though, how much longer it might take for this technology to reach consumers after then, as noted by The Verge.

What Is the Difference Between OLED and OLED EX

If you're wondering what the difference is between OLED and OLED EX, Ars Technica explained that the latter uses deuterium compounds rather than simple hydrogen, which is the distinction between conventional OLED and OLED EX.

Deuterium is extracted from water by the company and turned into compounds that are used in diodes. The diodes should be brighter and more effective after they have stabilized and been combined with LG's machine learning algorithms.

Related Article: LG's Star Wars C2 OLED TV: How Much and How to Buy
Testosterone is commonly thought of as increasing sexual urges and aggression in men  but a new study shows it has a cuddly side too.

In experiments, researchers injected testosterone into male gerbils to see how they'd behave with their partners.

The injections fostered cuddling and 'friendly behaviour' and primed them for 'positive social interactions', they found.

Testosterone influences activity of oxytocin  the so-called 'cuddle' or 'love' hormone that's linked with social bonding, say the researchers, although they don't know how.

Testosterone influences the activity of oxytocin - the so-called 'cuddle' or 'bonding' hormone that's associated with social bonding (file photo)

WHAT IS TESTOSTERONE? Testosterone is the male sex hormone and is mostly made in the testicles, but also in adrenal glands, which are near the kidneys. It causes the voice to deepen, body hair to grow and the genitals to become larger during puberty. As well as affecting sex drive and sperm production, it also plays a role in developing strong bones and muscles, and how the body distributes fat. Women also create small amounts of the hormone in the ovaries and adrenal glands, and it affects their fertility and bones and muscles. In women, relatively small quantities of testosterone are released into the bloodstream by the ovaries and adrenal glands. Testosterone and other androgens 'play an important role in healthy female sexual function, especially in stimulating sexual interest and maintaining desire', according to a study published last year. 'Testosterone initiates sexual activities and proliferates sexual desire and behaviour,' it says. 'In addition, testosterone is essential in modulating clitoral and vaginal physiology to facilitate genital lubrication, sensation, and engorgement.' Advertisement

The new study was conducted by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, led by assistant professor of psychology Aubrey Kelly and her husband Richmond Thompson, a neuroscientist.

'For what we believe is the first time, we've demonstrated that testosterone can directly promote nonsexual, prosocial behaviour, in addition to aggression, in the same individual,' she said.

'It's surprising because normally we think of testosterone as increasing sexual behaviours and aggression.

'But we've shown that it can have more nuanced effects, depending on the social context.'

The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, involved experiments on Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus).

These small rodents, which have been used in scientific experiments since the 19th century, form lasting pair bonds and raise their pups together.

Males can become aggressive during mating and when defending their territory, but they also show cuddling behaviour after a female becomes pregnant, and they demonstrate protective behaviour towards their pups.

In one experiment, a male gerbil was introduced to a female gerbil. After they formed a pair and the female became pregnant, the males displayed the usual cuddling with their partners.

The researchers then gave the male subjects an injection of testosterone, thinking the boost would lessen his cuddling behaviours.

'Instead, we were surprised that a male gerbil became even more cuddly and prosocial with his partner,' Kelly said.

'He became like super partner.'

In a follow-up experiment, the researchers removed females from the cages so that each male gerbil that had previously received a testosterone injection was alone.

An unknown male was then introduced into the cage  inviting the possibility of the two rivals starting to fight.

'Normally, a male would chase another male that came into its cage, or try to avoid it,' Kelly said.

'Instead, the resident males that had previously been injected with testosterone were more friendly to the intruder.'

Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus, pictured) have been used in scientific experiments since the 19th century

MEN WITH HIGH TESTOSTERONE 'ARE MORE SELFISH' Having high levels of testosterone can make men less generous and more likely to exhibit selfish behaviours, a study found. Psychologists from China and Switzerland measured the brain activity of men while they completed a task involving deciding between generous and selfish options. Men who had been given additional testosterone three hours before completing the task tended to select the more selfish options, they found. Testosterone also dampened activity in a region of the brain known to be involved in consideration of other people's welfare. Advertisement

The friendly behaviour abruptly changed, however, when the original male subjects were given another injection of testosterone.

Due to the extra injection, the male began chasing the rival male intruder or avoiding it completely.

'It was like they suddenly woke up and realised they weren't supposed to be friendly in that context,' Kelly said.

Kelly said that testosterone 'enhances context-appropriate behaviour' and could play a role in 'amplifying the tendency to be cuddly and protective or aggressive'.

In the wild, testosterone also appears to help animals rapidly pivot between prosocial and antisocial responses depending on the context.

The researchers found males receiving injections of testosterone showed more oxytocin activity in their brains during interactions with a partner compared to males that did not receive the injections.

Testosterone likely influences the activity of oxytocin, but the researchers don't know exactly how.

'We know that systems of oxytocin and testosterone overlap in the brain but we don't really understand why,' Kelly said.

'Taken together, our results suggest that one of the reasons for this overlap may be so they can work together to promote prosocial behaviour.'

The obvious limitation of the study is it used gerbils rather than humans, so the results should only cautiously be applied to other animals.

Human behaviors are far more complex than those of gerbils, but the findings may provide a basis for studies in other species, including humans.

'Our hormones are the same, and the parts of the brain they act upon are even the same,' Thompson said.

3D illustration of a testosterone molecule. Testosterone is the male sex hormone and is mostly made in the testicles, but also in adrenal glands, which are near the kidneys

Previous studies have linked the presence of testosterone with various social or psychological behaviours in men.

Last year, researchers at the University of Bristol found testosterone doesn't drive success in life, contradicting previous assumptions.

The Bristol experts suggested high testosterone could be a result of success, rather than the other way around, which could explain previous studies that linked high levels of the hormone with a successful life.

Another 2021 study found having high levels of testosterone can make men less generous and more likely to exhibit selfish behaviours.
EMMERDALE

In Emmerdale Manpreet (pictured with Harriet behind) is shocked to find an unconscious Charles in Church

Has there ever been such an action-packed church in the history of Christianity? Disastrous weddings and funerals, illicit liaisons in the vestry  and let's not forget 2002, when Zoe Tate burned down the original establishment and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Now, after Naomi agrees to talk things through with Charles, there's a big argument, and when Manpreet arrives at the church she's shocked to find an angry Naomi heading out and an unconscious Charles inside. So, in no time, he's back at the hospital. Is there a bed with his nameplate on it?

He was in there last in October, which is hogging the NHS limelight a tad. And again, Manpreet's at his bedside (it'll be her getting bedsores at this rate), where Ethan is shocked when Manpreet compares Naomi's actions to Meena's. Stay unconscious, Charles; it's a minefield out there.

MACK'S DOWNTIME How does Emmerdale's Lawrence Robb (Mack) switch off after an intense day? If he's not going over the next day's scenes, it's walking, gym or PS5 games. Sign me up for that gym, please. Advertisement

At least Harriet gets to see some action now she's back working as a copper, and she arrests Naomi on suspicion of assault. That is one power-hungry vicar/policewoman.

It's a bad week for Charity and Mackenzie when they lose their baby, but in better news, Jai and Laurel try to rekindle their relationship. They're excited and can't wait to tell the kids, but will the youngsters feel the same?

'Yes, we know Daddy's a druggie and Mummy's an alcoholic, but guess what?! They're together again.' Child psychologist alert!

In a week of exam results in Soapland, Jacob receives excellent grades, but declares he's still not going to university. Er, when did Jacob ever open a book?

The only 'studying' he ever did was when he was being groomed by Maya, and we all know how that ended up. Will anyone be able to change his mind?

Please, yes; I'll hop on a bus myself and drag him to uni if it prevents us being subjected to any more of his misery.

CORONATION STREET

Audrey (pictured) admits to Ken, Claudia and Rita that she tried to take her own life in Coronation Street

Someone give Faye a break... 'She's not had a very easy life, has she?' says Corrie's Ellie Leach, who plays Faye. You're telling me. Let's start with the surname, Windass  how much worse could that be? Adopted after her mum died of a heroin overdose, Faye then gave birth at 13, was blackmailed by Ray Crosby into having sex with him, and sentenced to jailtime for attacking Adam (who she mistook for Ray). Now, she's having a premature menopause at just 20. Can't she just go out and enjoy Pizza Hut once in a while? Advertisement

How great is Sue Nicholls? Her portrayal of Audrey, surrounded by family but still lonely, is one of the most poignant storylines the show's delivered. The UK isn't kind to its ageing population, and Audrey's frustration with those around her is incredibly moving.

When she tells Claudia, Ken and Rita that she tried to kill herself, it's shocking and upsetting, but seems to be a wake-up call and so she decides to revamp the salon (clients, beware).

Sinister Arrival Stephen (SAS) is sure something's amiss, but Audrey fobs him off with lies, which don't deter him from pushing her to sign over the trust fund paperwork. No, Audrey! Did you learn nothing from the debacle with Lewis?

Stephen's more slippery than an eel in olive oil. The SAS is also up to no good when he suggests energising Underworld's website.

Sarah's impressed  no surprises there though.

Life's less rosy for Craig and Faye when she tells him off for humiliating her in front of her boss. Despite Craig giving her a nightie to keep her cool when in bed, she's distraught.

Next thing you know, Craig's packing his bags. Plural? Does he even own more than two shirts?

EASTENDERS: IS LEWIS ABOUT TO MEET HIS MAKER?

Sam reveals to Phil that Lewis (pictured) is tied up in the boot of the car. Sam drives him to a warehouse, but does Phil think that bumping off Lewis is the best idea?

And here it comes again! They really can't get enough of that gun from the props cupboard.

This time, Sam has it and reveals to Phil that Lewis is tied up in the boot of the car. Methinks they've been watching too much Emmerdale, where characters spend more time in car boots than they do in the Woolpack.

Reluctant as Phil is to participate (at first), Sam drives him to a warehouse, but does Phil think that bumping off Lewis is the best idea? A warehouse?

Never a good option. It's like those crime dramas in which people think it's a great idea to park on the roof of a multi-storey car park, or criminals decide to live on the top floor of a block of council flats.

A warehouse is the same thing: you're trapped. Here's another thought: why, if they know a spare warehouse, are the Mitchells always hiding things in the club? Just sayin'.

Is Honey about to acquire a new love interest when Mr Lister, hoping to impress her, asks Lola for a mini makeover? Oh come on, that's like ordering a tub of Haagen-Dazs from Satan: there's no way that delivery is ever going to work out.

I predict an early contender for awards season: the show's brilliant scene celebrating the England Lionesses' win over Germany in the Euros. It was a masterclass in editing.
Sherri Shepherd has moved from Los Angeles to New York City - with the help of Hertz - where she will star in her very own talk show, titled Sherri, filling a time slot vacated by Wendy Williams.

And the 55-year-old star has talked to DailyMail.com exclusively about what her plans are for her new program, which kicks off in September.

One of the things she stressed is that there will be no mean jabs and she will certainly be celebrity friendly as she would like to land some A-list guests like Oprah and Meryl Streep. 'I'm about joy,' she shared.

New town, new show, new interview: Sherri Shepherd has moved from Los Angeles to New York City where she will star in her very own talk show, titled Sherri, filling a time slot vacated by troubled Wendy Williams; seen with a Hertz truck on Monday

Hello NYC! And the 55-year-old star has talked to DailyMail.com about what her plans are for her new program which kicks off in September. Here she is seen moving boxes into her new NYC pad

Sherri talked to DailyMail.com after Hertz helped her make the big movie east. They even put her face and name on the side of the vans while helping her fill her new NYC pad with her items.

As far as the show, which will air on FOX Television Stations and broadcasters nationwide, she is going to make is positive.

'Lets be clear, Im not a mean person at all!' she shared.

'I'm all about positive energy. Im about joy. Im about kindness and laughter. Anyone that knows me will tell you just that,' Sherri told DailyMail.com.

'And thats what my talk show will embody. Why would it be anything but that? As a celebrity myself, I know what its like to not feel safe appearing on a show or hoping a host doesnt try to have a gotcha-moment with you. It will be a celebrity-friendly zone on Sherri.'

She wants these ladies to show up: The funny girl hopes to land Meryl Streep, left, and Oprah, right with Stedman Graham, as guests

Her dream guest is Michelle Obama.

'And of course, she can bring the guy that she is married to that ran our country too!' joked the star.

'You know I want Oprah! Who wouldnt? I would so love to sit opposite of Meryl Streep! And you know I have a crush on Rege-Jean Page, he has to come,' she noted.

'And Trevor Noah, hes a priority too. I'd love to do a duet with Pat Benatar. And I must celebrate the living legend that is actress Marla Gibbsthat queen deserves her flowers.'

And she is happy to take on the role of talk show host: 'I couldnt be more excited to join the genre that has given us names like Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donahue, Sally Jesse Raphael, Rolonda Watts, Montell Williams and Ricki Lake. I hope to make the impact those titans of talk have made when Sherri premieres live on September 12. Im grateful!'

She had the time slot before: Wendy Williams had the time slot before

Will they do the show? She may be able to land the Kardashians and Jenners; Khloe and Kylie seen here

Talking on the post of talk show host is a challenge, but she is happy to take it on: 'I tell everyone to run towards the thing that scares you, move in the direction of the things that challenge you.'

So far she does not feel pressure to dazzle after fan favorite Wendy left the network.

'I only feel pressure to go out there and be authentically Sherri,' said the stand up comedienne.

'I put pressure on myself to make sure Im bringing my best self each time I step onto that set. Making sure I can offer people one-hour of joy, laughter and inspiration is the only thing Im worried about.

'And Im confident that Ive got a great team at Debmar-Mercury helping me achieve that goal each day.'

As far as work stress and anxiety, she looks to a higher power to help her.

Good times: Sherri had fun working with Hertz. On Monday, Shepherd surprised customers at the Hertz location on 126 W 55th St, when she returned the Hertz Truck she rented to move her belongings east as she relocated to NYC for her new show

'My faith is the center of all things. When work gets stressful, when I get in my head and second-guess myself; I stop and pray,' said Sherri.

'Prayer centers me. It gets me back on track. And Ive surrounded myself with some folks that can tell when I need some extra muscle and theyll grab me and pray when Im not strong enough to pray for myself.

'Sometimes it takes a village to make this magic, but Ive been blessed with a God-loving village that holds me down.'

And she is excited to get back to the busy pace of New York, a city she knows well after living there for nine years while doing The View and starring in Cinderella on Broadway.

'I've got to say, there's no matching the energy of The Big Apple,' said the talent.

'Im really excited myself and so is my son Jeffrey, because he gets to now hangout with his friends here that he could only talk to on FaceTime while we lived on the West Coast. What better place for him to find his independence as a young man than New York City!'

Silly star: While she was at Hertz, she surprised customers by giving them special Hertz rewards along with items that dont fit in her new NYC home

This all feels familiar to her as she shot a pilot for a talk show back in 2005.

'I think it was for my own show. It didnt get picked up. That was before I even landed The View. When I left The View, I told everyone that would listen that I wanted my own talk show,' she shared. 'I came close in 2019, but the timing wasnt right.

The star worked with Hertz during her move which she said she loved: 'I just had to move from L.A. to New York to host my new talk show SHERRI and I'm so grateful to Hertz for not only helping me get all of my stuff across country.

'But Im extra excited because they had my face on the moving truck. You never really expect to see your face on a moving truck and I've got to say, it's kind of a thrill.'

Sherri had fun working with Hertz.

On Monday, Shepherd surprised customers at the Hertz location on 126 W 55th St, when she returned the Hertz Truck she rented to move her belongings east as she relocated to NYC for her new show.

While she was at Hertz, she surprised customers by giving them special Hertz rewards along with items that dont fit in her new NYC home.

Hello Manhattan: She is excited to get back to the busy pace of New York, a city she knows well after living there for nine years while doing The View and starring in Cinderella on Broadway

She also said, 'This is a part of Hertz's Let's Go campaign and it fits so perfectly with my life because I'm a huge believer in the idea of Let's Go!I tell everyone to run towards the thing that scares you, move in the direction of the things that challenge you. Thats what Im doing with my new talk show.'

Shepherd can currently be seen in the HBO MAX series Sex Lives of College Girls; and recently co-starred in the Lifetime movie Imperfect High.

She co-starred in the Netflix hit comedy series Mr. Iglesias; and as a recurring guest star on ABCsCall Your Mother.
Nope (15, 130mins)

Verdict: Not quit a yep

Rating:

Until 2017, Jordan Peele was known as a comedian. That's insofar as, in this country, he was known at all. But that changed with his debut feature as writer and director, the brilliant horror-thriller Get Out, and he further burnished his reputation as a film-maker with the clever and deeply disturbing Us (2019).

So for his third feature, Nope, a sci-fi thriller in which aliens arrive in the sky above California, expectations were flying-saucer high, the more so as the film reunites Peele with his leading man from Get Out, the always-excellent Daniel Kaluuya.

Get Out made a bona fide movie star of Kaluuya, the lifelong Arsenal fan from a North London council estate, who still startles audiences Stateside when he steps up to receive awards (he earned an Oscar nomination for Get Out and went one better last year for Judas And The Black Messiah). He's so convincingly African-American on screen that it's a shock to many of them when he opens his mouth off it.

Daniel Daluuya, pictured, plays OJ Haywood in Nope, whose father has been killed as a consequence of extraterrestrial activity

The siblings are descendants of the anonymous black jockey who, in 1878, featured in a pioneering set of moving pictures by the English photographer Eadweard Muybridge, considered to be the first antecedents of the movies as we know them today

In Nope he plays the taciturn O.J. Haywood, who, with his much sparkier sister Emerald (Keke Palmer), runs a horse ranch north of Los Angeles. The siblings are descendants of the anonymous black jockey who, in 1878, featured in a pioneering set of moving pictures by the English photographer Eadweard Muybridge, considered to be the first antecedents of the movies as we know them today.

So although Nope does not tackle the subject of racism head-on, like Get Out, it has a go, side-on; Peele is understandably needled that black contributions have been airbrushed from early cinematic history.

As for the modern day, the ranch is home to Haywood's Hollywood Horses, supplying equine talent to the film industry. But we get to know O.J. and Emerald in the wake of tragedy; their father has been killed seemingly as a consequence of extraterrestrial activity.

There appears to be a spaceship of some sort, checking out humanity from behind a suspiciously stationary cloud. Yes, as with 95 per cent of alien visitors in the movies, America is what interests them most about Planet Earth. Still, when the result is films of the stature of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977), from which Peele has conspicuously borrowed in making Nope, we probably shouldn't carp.

Moreover, his film starts with an alarmingly arresting image of which Spielberg would be proud. On the set of a 1990s sitcom featuring a chimpanzee, the show's hairy star has evidently run amok, killing some of the cast and leaving a terrified child actor cowering under a table.

The traumatised boy has since grown up. His name is Jupe and, as played by Steven Yeun, is now the owner of a Wild West theme park, using Haywood horses. Beyond that vague convergence of the two stories, however, it never becomes entirely clear why they belong in the same film. And really, that is the problem with Nope. It's as if Peele had loads of ideas, many of them very good ones, and couldn't bear to leave any of them out.

Imagine a cocktail, so full of ingredients that you can't taste any of them properly. That sums up the muddled narrative of this film.

Even the ominous biblical quote that is captioned at the very beginning  'I will cast abominable filth at you, make you vile, and make you a spectacle'  becomes a source of debate. What is its significance?

And wait, there's more to cram in. Once O.J. and Emerald have established that there definitely is something up there, with the help of a guy (Brandon Perea) from the local tech store who sets up a CCTV system, they realise that they could monetise this creepy UFO.

All they need to do is get it on film, to capture the so-called 'Oprah shot', to which end they persuade a veteran cinematographer (Michael Wincott) to stake out the ranch. This enables Peele to satirise that very 21st-century lust for fame and whatever fortune goes with it.

The actual cinematography, by the modern Dutch master Hoyte van Hoytema (Spectre, Interstellar, Dunkirk), is one sound reason to see Nope. And there is much else that I found intriguing, even rewarding.

Kaluuya gives a terrific performance as the enigmatic O.J. but the title (a reference to O.J.'s deadpan response when an alien apocalypse seems imminent) is pretty much how I felt about the film.

It's a nope, not a yep; too incoherent to be rated as anything other than the least of Peele's three features to date. That said, roll on the fourth.

So, the Eiffel Tower was just a giant love letter?

Eiffel (15, 108 mins)

Rating:

The iconic landmarks of Paris are getting some proper dramatic attention this summer. Notre-Dame On Fire was released just a few weeks ago, and now another French-language film, Eiffel deftly weaves fact and fiction in the story of how engineer Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) conceived and then executed his plan for a mighty lattice structure rising 330 metres above the Seine.

The factual bit relates to the tower itself, and is more riveting than a story about rivets has any right to be. Belle Epoque Paris is very nicely evoked and the construction scenes are superbly done.

Plus, there are all kinds of fascinating historical snippets. For instance, there were strenuous objections from the Vatican, on the basis that the modern monstrosity would overshadow Notre-Dame. Meanwhile, its visionary creator was revered, then reviled and finally revered again, as his tower took shape.

Where Eiffel topples, arguably, is in the fictionalising of a reignited love story between Gustave Eiffel (Romain Duris) and an old flame, Adrienne, played by the bilingual Emma Mackey in her first major French-speaking role

The factual bit relates to the tower itself, and is more riveting than a story about rivets has any right to be. Belle Epoque Paris is very nicely evoked and the construction scenes are superbly done

Where Eiffel topples, arguably, is in the fictionalising of a reignited love story between him and an old flame, Adrienne, played by the bilingual Emma Mackey in her first major French-speaking role.

It's cheesier than an overripe camembert and the notion that Eiffel designed his tower in the shape of an A as a kind of wrought-iron love letter to Adrienne might be too much for some. But the acting is terrific and I confess I bought into it heart and soul. It's a pleasingly old-fashioned film, a picture that might have come out of 1950s Hollywood with American accents all round, maybe with Alan Ladd or even Kirk Douglas as Eiffel. I enjoyed it very much.

Where Is Anne Frank (PG, 99 mins)

Rating:

gives American accents to the famous teenager and the imaginary friend, Kitty, to whom she wrote her diaries. That grates a little, but otherwise Israeli director Ari Folman does a fine job of animating Anne's heartrending story, flitting back and forth, rather fancifully at times, between wartime and present-day Amsterdam.

Whether you want to see it turned into an animation is a different matter. But the film is aimed squarely at a young adult audience and is done with sensitivity and skill.
The Rose Byrne-led series Physical has been renewed for a third season at Apple TV+.

A number of media outlets confirmed the news about the comedy-drama, which stars and is executive produced by Byrne, on Thursday.

The show's creator and showrunner, Annie Weisman, gave a statement to Deadline to express her excitement about working on another run of episodes.

Renewed: The Rose Byrne-led series Physical has been renewed for a third season at Apple TV+

'I am thrilled for the opportunity to continue telling Sheila's story in creative collaboration with Rose Byrne and the rest of our incredible cast, writers and crew,' she began.

Weisman then discussed the level of talent that Byrne brought to the program.

'Rose's breathtaking, hilarious and brave performance is the north star on our show's journey of personal empowerment and transformation in 80's Southern California in all its synth-pop, sun-baked, spandex-clad glory,' she stated.

Opening up: The show's creator and showrunner, Annie Weisman, gave a statement to Deadline to express her excitement about working on another run of episodes

The showrunner concluded by expressing that she was elated at the positive response to the show.

'The feedback we've received from audiences who continue to discover and feel seen by Physical is the most deeply gratifying experience of my career, and I'm so grateful to our team at Apple and Tomorrow Studios for making this dream a reality.'

Physical is centered on a San Diego housewife who evolves into an aerobics video star during her husband's political campaign.

In addition to Byrne, the series stars performers such as Rory Scovel, Geoffrey Arend and Lou Taylor Pucci.

Storyline: Physical is centered on a San Diego housewife who evolves into an aerobics video star during her husband's political campaign

Development on the program was first announced in January of 2020, when Byrne was first attached to the project.

Much of the cast was brought together over the course of that year, and filming commenced in the fall of 2020.

The program's first season premiered in June of last year and received mixed to positive reviews.

Rocky start: The program's first season premiered in June of last year and received mixed to positive reviews

The series was renewed for a second run last August and filming took place last fall.

The show's season debuted this past June and was met with a much warmer reception from critics.

The eventual release date of Physical's third season has not been revealed as of yet.
Former Bachelor star turned influencer Alex Nation has slammed Motley Crue star Tommy Lee after he shared an X-rated full frontal nude selfie on Instagram on Thursday night.

The 30-year-old Aussie reality star left a scathing comment under the rocker's post before it was removed.

'If this was a woman...' Alex wrote underneath.

Former Bachelor star turned influencer Alex Nation has slammed Motley Crue star Tommy Lee after he shared an X-rated full frontal nude selfie on Instagram on Thursday night

Alex was seemingly referring to Instagram's strict nudity rules and the policy regarding female nipples in photos.

Nudity is banned on the social media website, as well as most 'female' nipple pictures.

Instagram however specifies: 'But photos in the context of breastfeeding, birth giving and after-birth moments, health-related situations (for example, post-mastectomy, breast cancer awareness or gender confirmation surgery) or an act of protest are allowed.'

Tommy's obscene post stayed up for hours before being deleted.

'If this was a woman...' Alex wrote underneath, with other followers chiming in

Alex was referring to Instagram's strict nudity rules and the policy regarding female nipples in photos

Tommy has fans this week by posting a full frontal nude photo to his Instagram

The legendary rocker, 59, shared a snap of his famously tattooed body sitting down on what appeared to be the edge of a bath on Thursday.

In the image, Tommy is seen wearing nothing but a chain necklace and nipple rings as he exposed his genitalia to his 1.4million fans on the social media platform.

The Motley Crue star captioned the NSFW image: 'Ooooopppsss'.

The father-of-two, who was previously married to Pamela Anderson and infamously starred in a sex tape with her, was quickly inundated with comments.

Tommy even shocked his wife Brittany Furlan, 35, who was quick to write, 'OH MY GOD', beside the offending image.

The father-of-two, who was previously married to Pamela Anderson and infamously starred in a sex tape with her, was quickly inundated with comments. Tommy even shocked his wife Brittany Furlan, 35, who was quick to write, 'OH MY GOD', beside the offending image

'TOMMY PUT THE PHONE DOWN NOW,' commented one fan, while comedian Ryan Sickler preferred to see the post in good humour.

'Does the camera add 5 lbs?' he wrote, garnering over a 1,000 likes.

Even Grindr - the online dating application for gay, bi, trans, and queer people - was compelled to comment, with a tongue in cheek, 'Wrong app, babe'.

Meanwhile, other followers were quick to show concern, with one writing, 'Please put the phone down'.

Tommy clearly found his post hilarious. The star was quick to follow it up with an image of an elephant staring at a naked male model, while swaying its trunk

Influencer Daniel Mac added: 'How long will this stay up?', before another fan quipped, 'TOM YOU CANT POST THIS ON INSTAGRAM'

Tommy clearly found his post hilarious. The star was quick to follow it up with an image of an elephant staring at a naked male model, while swaying its trunk.

It was captioned, 'How do you breathe through that little thing??' - no doubt a reference to the size of Lee's manhood.

Tommy recently reached a new fanbase after his relationship with Pamela Anderson was revisited in dramatic miniseries Pam & Tommy.

While Anderson was not pleased with the racy biopic, Lee threw his support behind the series, which follows their tumultuous relationship and their stolen sex tape.
Kyle Sandilands has shared the first glimpse of his son Otto after welcoming his first child with fiancee Tegan Kynaston on Thursday.

The proud new dad was seen wheeling baby Otto around in a tiny crib in the hospital as he called into his radio show via Zoom on Friday morning.

Kyle proudly showed off a sleeping Otto to co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson and the team as he shared intimate, and at times, graphic details about the birth.

Kyle Sandilands shared the first glimpse of his son Otto on Friday morning after welcoming his first child with fiancee Tegan Kynaston

Kyle revealed Otto was born via a C-section and weighed 'just under 3kgs'.

'Everything is wonderful,' Kyle said, before going on to detail the birth.

'Tegan had to have a C-section and they put up a sheet and I looked, she said they hadn't started yet... I could see her intestines! Her face, I think she thought they were painting her with the Dettol.

Kyle revealed Otto was born via a C-section and weighed 'just under 3kgs'

'Tegan had to have a C-section and they put up a sheet and I looked, she said they hadn't started yet... I could see her intestines! Her face, I think she thought they were painting her with the Dettol,' Kyle explained

He then put Otto on camera to show god mother Jackie O.

A broody Jackie couldn't contain her excitement and gushed about how 'cute' her new godson is.

'Oh he's so cute, look at him! What colour hair does he have? It's light brown?'

Kyle said Otto hasn't had his hair washed yet, but he confirmed it is blond.

Speaking about his unique name, which comes from a Germanic origin and means 'the wealthy one', Kyle said he'll give his son the life he 'always wanted' and joked how he will grow up to be an 'entitled Sydney rich kid'.

He then put Otto on camera to show god mother Jackie O. A broody Jackie couldn't contain her excitement and gushed about how 'cute' her new godson is

'He's not cried... the nurse said we've got the unicorn baby,' he said.

'Maybe the baby knows about your bank balance and that his life will be easy,' stand in host and comedian Jim Jefferies said.

'He's going to be a little blond haired, blue-eyed entitled Sydney a**ehole! what a fantastic life. It's the life I always wanted that my dad never gave me and my dad died broke and I got nothing!' Kyle said with a laugh.

Jackie burst into tears live on her radio show on Thursday morning when she excitedly announced the birth of Kyle and his fiancee Tegan's first child.

Jackie, who has been co-hosting her KIIS FM show with Kyle for years, said she was thrilled her best friend is finally a father, describing it as a 'life-changing moment'.

'I have an announcement, Otto has been born,' Jackie began, prompting the entire KIIS team to tear up.

Jackie burst into tears live on her radio show on Thursday morning when she excitedly announced the birth of Kyle and his fiancee Tegan's first child

'I'm speechless actually, I'm so happy for him, it's been a long time we've worked together, to see him become a father today is life-changing,' she said.

The mother of one added: 'I couldn't be happier for him, he will become a new person it will change him, I'm so happy for them both!'

The news was also shared on KIIS FM's Instagram account with a picture that read: 'Otto Sandilands is here!'

Kyle's manager Bruno Bouchet told Daily Mail Australia: 'Little Otto was born this morning. Mum and bub both doing well.'

Just an hour earlier Kyle abruptly left his radio show on as his fiancee Tegan went into labour.

Just seconds into the show, father-to-be Kyle, 51, told his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson he had to leave and rush Tegan, 36, to the hospital.

'Guys, I am broadcasting from home for a reason, and that reason seems to have raised its head now,' he said, before turning to his pregnant partner and asking her, 'It's all happening?'

Just an hour earlier Kyle abruptly left his radio show on as his fiancee Tegan went into labour

Turning back to the microphone, Kyle continued: 'Guys, I think it might have to leave the show and go to the hospital.'

'It's time? Oh, it's time!' an excited Jackie exclaimed, prompting a rousing applause form the entire radio studio.

Shedding his usual calm demeanour, Kyle seemed rather flustered as he told his colleagues: 'Guys I'm so sorry. I feel very unprepared, I don't...'

Jackie assured him everything was fine, before inviting producer Pedro Vitola to host the show in Kyle's absence.

Kyle and Tegan announced they were expecting their first child in February.

Kyle and Tegan also became engaged in Port Douglas, Queensland, over the Christmas holidays.

Before dating Tegan, Kyle was with ex-girlfriend Imogen Anthony for eight years until they called it quits in 2019.
Kyle Sandilands has revealed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was one of the first people to congratulate him on becoming a father for the first time.

The radio host, 51, and his fiancee Tegan Kynaston, 36, welcomed their baby boy Otto on Thursday morning.

During Friday's Kyle & Jackie O Show, his co-host Jackie O Henderson explained what went down after he was forced to leave the show and take Tegan to the hospital.

Kyle Sandilands has revealed the surprising person who congratulated him on the birth of his first child Otto

'It was a real journey,' Jackie, 47, told Kyle. 'Everyone was very emotional.'

Jackie added that several listeners, including stars like Guy Sebastian and John Laws, dialled in to send their best wishes for the new family of three.

Kyle then ran through all the stars that congratulated him.

'I've got some pretty impressive people who have messaged,' he said.

'Former Prime Minister, Scomo, first cab off the rank. He's friendly.'

2GB's Ray Hadley, Seven Network boss James Warburton, Sky News presenter Paul Murray, Samantha Jade and his best mate John Ibrahim also sent their regards, according to the radio guru.

But it was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's wishes that took the Jackie by surprise.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese congratulated Kyle on becoming a father for the first time

'What, Albo?!' she said with shock after Kyle calmly revealed he'd contacted him.

Kyle continued, expressing his disappointment with the New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet who he hadn't heard from.

'Nothing from the Premier, mind you,' he said, before Jackie suggested he might not have his phone number.

On Thursday, former Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian phoned in to celebrate the news and congratulate the radio host.

The 40-year-old said he was on his morning walk when a stranger he'd 'never met' pulled over in a car and said: 'I just had to tell you, Kyle's had his baby! He's had his baby!'

'What, Albo?!' Jackie O said with shock after Kyle calmly revealed he'd contacted him

'He was so excited,' Guy recalled. 'And equally we are excited. I know you're all celebrating there. What a day!'

'I sent Kyle a little message and I'm so, so happy for you guys as well,' he said to the team back at the radio station.

TV presenter Beau Ryan also called into the show, jokingly telling Jackie: 'I never thought I'd see this day while I was alive.'

Also sending his best wishes was Kyle's idol, veteran radio host John Laws, who mused: 'Does the child look like me?'

The high-profile couple announced they were expecting their first child in February

Kyle officially became a father on Thursday morning after he was forced to abruptly leave his breakfast radio show at around 7am due to Tegan going into labour.

'Guys, I am broadcasting from home for a reason, and that reason seems to have raised its head now,' he said, before turning to his pregnant partner and asking her, 'It's all happening?'

Turning back to the microphone, Kyle continued: 'Guys, I think it might have to leave the show and go to the hospital.'

'It's time? Oh, it's time!' an excited Jackie exclaimed, prompting a rousing applause form the entire radio studio.

Kyle officially became a father on Thursday morning after he was forced to abruptly leave his breakfast radio show at around 7am due to Tegan going into labour

'It's time? Oh, it's time!' Jackie exclaimed, prompting a rousing applause form the entire radio studio

'Calm down, we don't want the kid coming too soon,' Kyle joked.

Jackie, who is Otto's godmother, shed tears of joy as she declared: 'Otto has been born!'

Kyle later gave a rather graphic update about the birth, telling 'Intern' Peter Deppeler live at the hospital: 'Otto's born, Otto's fabulous. I cut the cord, I didn't realise it was like tough calamari and blood spurted out.'

'I was the first person to touch him, he sh*t himself, poo was oozing out,' he added.

Kyle gave a rather graphic update about the birth, telling 'Intern' Peter Deppeler live in the hospital car park: 'Otto's born, Otto's fabulous. I cut the cord, I didn't realise it was like tough calamari and blood spurted out'

Dressed in blue scrubs, the elated new father said: 'I was the first person to touch him, he sh*t himself, poo was oozing out'

The high-profile couple announced they were expecting their first child in February.

'We're having a baby! We are having a friggin' baby. I couldn't be happier,' Kyle said on his KIIS FM breakfast show at the time.

Tegan said on air that Kyle had been 'very emotional' since finding out he was going to be a first-time father.

Tegan and Kyle found out the sex of their baby at an elaborate gender reveal party held on Sydney Harbour later in February.

The high-profile couple announced they were expecting their first child in February. 'We're having a baby! We are having a friggin' baby. I couldn't be happier,' Kyle said on his KIIS FM breakfast show at the time

They hired a superyacht for the occasion and arranged for planes flying overhead to release blue smoke, revealing they're having a baby boy.

Kyle and Tegan also got engaged in Port Douglas, Queensland, over the Christmas holidays.

In June, it was reported that Kyle had purchased a $13.8 million mansion in Sydney's elite Bellevue Hill to make room for their growing family.

The four-storey sprawling property boasts five bedrooms, six bathrooms, an internal life and a wine cellar.

Before dating Tegan, Kyle was with ex-girlfriend Imogen Anthony for eight years until they called it quits in 2019.
Sister Wives personality Christine Brown sold her share of the Flagstaff, Arizona property, Coyote Pass, to Kody and Robyn Brown for $10.

Christine, 50, made the real estate transaction to Kody, 53, and Robyn, 43, in a July 28 transaction, Us Weekly reported Tuesday after reviewing property records.

'For the consideration of Ten Dollars, and other valuable consideration, I or we, Kody Winn Brown and Robyn Alice Brown, husband and wife and Christine R. Brown, a single woman do/does hereby convey to Kody Winn Brown and Robyn Alice Brown, husband and wife the following real property situated in Coconino County, Arizona,' property records read, according to the outlet.

The latest: Sister Wives personality Christine Brown, 50, sold her share of the Flagstaff, Arizona property, Coyote Pass, to Kody, 53, and Robyn Brown, 43, for $10

Christine said that she was gifting the land - which is valued at $213,420 - as a gift to Kody and Robyn, about nine months after she said she and Kody were splitting after more than 25 years of marriage.

The former couple are parents of six children: son Paedon, 23, and daughters Aspyn, 27, Mykelti, 26, Gwendlyn, 20, Ysabel, 19, and Truely, 12.

In a November 2, 2021 Instagram post, Christine revealed that she 'have made the difficult decision to leave' Kody after the pair had 'grown apart.'

She added: 'We will continue to be a strong presence in each others lives as we parent our beautiful children and support our wonderful family. At this time, we ask for your grace and kindness as we navigate through this stage within our family.'

Christine said that she was gifting the land - which is valued at $213,420 - as a gift to Kody and Robyn

Kody, Christine, Meri, Robyn and Janelle were pictured together

Christine at the time had moved out of the family's extensive property in Arizona and into a Utah duplex, according to the outlet. Earlier in the year, during the show's 15th season, she had said she was hoping to leave Kody and the state.

Speaking to fans on Cameo last November, Christine said that her 'decision [to leave] was a long time coming' and that she felt 'like a much better person divorced.

'I just hope that Kody and I can still remain friends during all of this, because weve been still communicating with each other and stuff,' she said. 'I mean, good and bad days - dont get me wrong.'

Christine's leaving Kody was a focal point of the TLC special Sister Wives: One on One this past February, as she said she and Kody were 'divorced' and 'completely separate.'

She said, 'Were just going to be friends, eventually. I just realized I had to make a decision for my heart and my heart was done being broken, and it felt, well, freeing.'

Kody said in the special: 'Christines moved. Shes left. Were no longer married.'

Christine's leaving Kody was a focal point of the TLC special Sister Wives: One on One this past February, as she said she and Kody were 'divorced' and 'completely separate'

In a November 2, 2021 Instagram post, Christine revealed that she 'have made the difficult decision to leave' Kody after the pair had 'grown apart'

The parting of the longtime marriage will be showcased on the 17th season of Sister Wives, which is set to air next month on TLC.

In a preview, Kody said he was heartbroken by the split, telling Christine her leaving was 'just the knife in the kidneys after all these years' amid the sacrifices he made for their relationship.

Christine said in response, 'I agreed to be a sister wife but I agreed to be an equal wife,' regarding their plural marriage.

She said in a segment on the special, 'It's not fun breaking people's hearts. I mean, at my core, I just want people to be happy and I just want people to feel loved. But I knew I was making a decision that would break hearts and it tore me apart. And it was super, super sad.'

Kody remains spiritually married to Meri Brown, 51; in a spiritual union with Janelle Brown, 53; and in a legal marriage to Robyn Brown, 43.

Sister Wives' 17th season is set to debut on TLC on September 11 at 10/9c.
The Today Show paid tribute to host Karl Stefanovic on his 48th birthday on Friday by sharing some never before seen photos of Karl as a gawky teenager.

The gallery of Instagram snaps showed the Today host as a fresh-faced youth with a daggy haircut.

In one photo, a teenage Karl was dolled up in a tuxedo at his school formal as he and his blonde date beam at the camera.

The Today Show paid tribute to host Karl Stefanovic on his 48th birthday on Friday by sharing some never before seen photos of Karl as a gawky teenager (pictured)

Another showed Karl attending a birthday party as a teenager, in a open long sleeve shirt that revealed his chest.

The Today show added some well wishes next to the carousel of snaps, writing 'happy birthday to the GOAT [greatest of all time] @karlstefanovic_'.

Fans jumped in to add some kind words, with one writing 'Karl is definitely like a bottle of wine' and another joking he 'could pass as Tom Cruise's doppelganger'.

Another showed Karl attending a birthday party as a teenager, in a open long sleeve shirt that revealed his chest

His wife Jasmine also honoured him by showing off the television presenter's party side.

In a hilarious Instagram post, the 38-year-old shoe designer sent him well-wishes on his special day alongside a wild video of Karl partying in Europe this month.

In the slow-motion clip, Karl is seen arms spread wide with a vape in hand as a CO2 gun blasts in his face while Losing It by Fisher plays in the background.

Fans jumped in to add some kind words with one writing 'Karl is definitely like a bottle of wine'

One fan jokingly said Karl 'could pass as Tom Cruise's doppelganger'

Karl met Jasmine in late 2016, five months after he split from his first wife Cassandra Thorburn, to whom he was married for 21 years.

The Channel Nine star proposed to the former model in February 2018 with a $100,000 engagement ring.

The newlyweds welcomed their first child, Harper, on May 1, 2020, at Sydney's North Shore Private Hospital.

Karl is already a father to sons Jackson, 20, and River, 12, and daughter Ava, 16, who he shares with ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn.
A $10 million award awaits anyone with information on five high-ranking members of the Russian hacking group.

On Thursday, the US State Department announced that it was offering a $10 million award to anyone who could provide information that would identify and locate five individuals linked to the Conti ransomware group. The agency said that the five high-ranking members hid behind the aliases "Target," "Reshaev," "Professor," "Tramp," and "Dandis," and had participated in malicious cyber activities against critical American infrastructure.

Conti ransomware is run by a Russia-based hacker group and has supported the Russian government in their unprovoked attack on Ukraine, The Hill reported. The group has also threatened critical infrastructure of countries they believe were threats to Russia, the US State Department explained.

Threat actors behind the Conti ransomware have performed more than 1,000 ransomware operations that targeted critical infrastructure both in the US and internationally, including law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, and 911 dispatch centers.

US State Department Launches Rewards of Justice Program for Information on Conti Ransomware Actors

Within the US State Department, the Rewards of Justice program exists to provide monetary rewards to those who can provide information on threat actors affecting America's national security. According to Bleeping Computer, the program was initially launched to gather informatio on terrorists targeting the interests of the US but has expanded to offer rewards in exchange for information on cyber criminals, including the Russian Sandworm hackers, REvil ransomware, and the Evil Corp hacking group.

Back in May, the US State Department offered a similar reward and an additional $5 million for any information that could lead to the arrest of individuals conspiring with the Conti ransomware members. In April, the agency offered a $10 million reward for information on a group of hackers from Russia who were believed to be involved in malicious cyber activities.

These Russian hackers were accused of participating in a criminal conspiracy that infected computers globally through a malware infection called NotPetya in June 2017.

Read Also: New Ransomware Gang 'Black Basta' Emerges - Here's How To Fight Them

US State Department Releases Face of One Conti Ransomware Member

On Thursday, the US State Department released a photograph of a man they believed is "Target," one of five high-ranking Conti ransomware bad actors. "Target" is believed to be the Russian hacking group's "office manager and a team leader" who is responsible for the physical operation of the cybercrime group. He is also believed to have a background in law enforcement.

Target's colleagues include, Tramp, the owner and leader of the BlackBasta ransomware operation and owner and administrator of the Qbot malware command-and-control infrastructure and operation, Dandis, who is a technical manager, Professor who works for the ransomware operation from a tactical level, and Reshaev, a core leader and developer of the Conti ransomware.

The government believes that the Conti ransomware operation is behind more than 1,000 attacks worldwide and has received ransom payments of over $150 million. In the summer of 2020, Conti rebranded from Ryuk and quickly rose to prominence after attacking several high-profile victims such as the City of Tulsa, Broward County Public Schools, Advantech, and Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) and Department of Health (DoH).

Earlier this year, the Conti ransomware group pledged their alliance to Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. A Ukrainian security researcher then began leaking more than 170,000 internal chat conversations between the Conti ransomware gang members and the source code for the Conti ransomware encryptor, leading to the shutdown of the Conti ransomware brand.

This enabled law enforcers to determine the five main actors behind the operation. Now, the US State Department is offering a $10 million reward to anyone who can identify or provide information on the five high-ranking officials of the Conti ransomware operation so they could finally be apprehended.

Related Article: Cisco Confirms Data Breach by Yanluowang Ransomware Gang
Elsa Pataky graced the internet with a photo of her husband Chris Hemsworth seemingly nude in the bath with a parrot on his head on Thursday.

The Spanish model and actress, 46, shared the snap to celebrate Chris's 39th birthday.

'Happy birthday to my favourite parrot trainer, kids handler and wife tamer,' she captioned the Instagram post.

Elsa Pataky, 46, graced the internet with a photo of her husband Chris Hemsworth, 39,(pictured) nude in the bath with a parrot on his head

She continued, 'Theres nothing you cant do. We love you to the moon and back,' before writing more in Spanish.

Elsa uploaded the photo alongside two others, including one of the Thor star wrestling with their three children: daughter India, nine, and twin boys Sasha and Tristan, both eight.

The third picture was a black and white still from Thor: Love and Thunder, in which Elsa cameoed as a 'wolf woman' who was a former lover to Chris's character.

The Spanish model and actress (left) shared the snap on Thursday to celebrate Chris's 39th birthday

Chris and Elsa boast one of the strongest marriages in Hollywood, but some fans may not know the pair actually tied the knot just three months after going public as a couple in 2010.

The actor hasn't been shy about discussing his rushed nuptials, telling Good Morning Britain in 2016 that it was a spur of the moment decision.

'It did happen quick and it just felt right, it made sense,' Chris told the show when quizzed on how fast his relationship with Elsa progressed.

Elsa uploaded the photo alongside two others, including one of the Thor star wrestling with their three children: daughter India, nine, and twin boys Sasha and Tristan, both eight

The third picture was a black and white still from Thor: Love and Thunder, in which Elsa cameoed as a 'wolf woman' who was a former lover to Chris's character

The lovebirds started dating in early 2010, and they tied the knot in a low-key ceremony in December that year.

'There was no great plan to any of it to be honest. We were on holiday and we said, "Why don't we get married too?" And then the next minute... There probably should have been some planning but it all worked out,' he mused.

'Honestly, we had both our families on holiday at the same time, just randomly, and we said this is a good opportunity with everyone together so we just did it.'

Chris and Elsa boast one of the strongest marriages in Hollywood, but some fans may not know the pair actually tied the knot just three months after going public as a couple in 2010

Together with their children, they now reside in a $30million mansion in Broken Head, near the celebrity enclave of Byron Bay.

Last year, Elsa revealed the surprising secret behind her enduring marriage was laughter.

'We enjoy doing the same stuff and Chris has a great sense of humour and knows how to take the sting out of things,' she told Hola! magazine.
Nigella Lawson has revealed the real reason she can't use chopsticks.

The 62-year-old British celebrity cook says she's unable to manage the utensils because her hands are double-jointed.

Last week, Nigella's My Kitchen Rules co-star Manu Feildel outed Nigella's embarrassing secret during an interview on the News.com.au's podcast I've Got News For You.

Nigella Lawson has revealed the real reason she can't use chopsticks in an interview with her My Kitchen Rules co-host Manu Feildel on his Manu's On the Sauce Instagram page

Nigella made the comments in an interview for Manu's On the Sauce official Instagram page.

'I'm totally uncoordinated,' Nigella said cheerfully during the chat, in which the famed cooks talked about their love of food and their mutual admiration.

Elsewhere in the interview, Nigella revealed her famed life as 'foodie' expert was in fact a second career, undertaken at age 38 when she published her first book.

The 62-year-old British celebrity cook told Mau she is unable to manage the utensils because her hands are double-jointed

Surprisingly, Nigella said she refused early offers to appear on TV.

'I did not want to be a performer,' she explained, adding she insisted she would only do a show if it was unscripted.

Asked how she discovered her love of food Nigella said it all began with her family upbringing.

Elsewhere in the interview, Nigella revealed her famed life as 'foodie' expert was in fact a second career, undertaken at age 38, when she published her first book

'My mother had a lot of children, and she made cook from a very early age,' the glamorous chef said.

Meanwhile, Manu told fans during the chat that Nigella 'exactly the same on screen as off.' Meanwhile, Nigella said the same of her famed French co-star.

The news comes after fans have wildly approved Nigella's appearance on MKR.

The popular beauty replaced controversial judge Pete Evans on the Channel 7 show, calling her addition to the cast a 'massive upgrade.'

One fan called her 'the vital ingredient this show has been missing,' after debut last Sunday.
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Kendall Jenner had a busy time in Chicago as she visited some of the Windy City's hottest spots to promote her tequila brand, 818, before embarking on a tropical getaway to celebrate her younger sister Kylie's 25th birthday.

While promoting her enormously successful hand-crafted tequila, the 26-year-old supermodel stopped by Joy District on Monday, where she enjoyed cocktails with the owners and staff.

During the event, the five-foot-ten beauty turned heads in a black figure-hugging midi dress that accentuated her incredible figure as she posed for photos with an alcoholic beverage in one hand.

Cheers! Kendall Jenner had a busy time in Chicago as she visited some of the Windy City's hottest spots to promote her tequila brand, 818, before embarking on a tropical getaway to celebrate her younger sister Kylie's 25th birthday

The following night at the restaurant, Lyra, the reality star got behind the bar and taste-tested various different drinks while rocking a floral crop top, which showcased her gym-honed abs, and a pair of white jeans.

Together they curated a special mixed drink, known as the Kalimera [which translates to good morning from Greek to English], made with 818's Anejo Tequila and watermelon - that has been officially added to their cocktail menu.

Inside the Greek eatery, Jenner mingled with employees and raised her glass in the air before trying a number of different cocktail combinations.

Staying busy: While promoting her enormously successful hand-crafted tequila, the 26-year-old supermodel stopped by Joy District on Monday, where she enjoyed cocktails with the owners and staff

Delicious: While at the restaurant, Lyra, the reality star got behind the bar and taste-tested various different drinks while rocking a floral crop top, which showcased her gym-honed abs, and a pair of white jeans

Experimenting: Inside the Greek eatery, Jenner mingled with employees and raised her glass in the air before trying a number of different cocktail combinations

Her business trip came just days before she joined Kylie on an 'intimate and relaxing' girls trip, which included her niece, Stormi, four, their mom Kris Jenner and older sister Kim Kardashian.

On Thursday, Kendall also shared a video of herself lounging on a round concrete chair with her white tank top pulled slightly up to display her toned midriff.

A few hours later, she also uploaded a mirror selfie while wearing a floral bikini.

Beautiful: During one promotional event, the five-foot-ten beauty turned heads in a black figure-hugging midi dress that accentuated her incredible figure as she posed for photos with an alcoholic beverage in one hand

Exciting: Together they curated a special mixed drink, known as the Kalimera [which translates to good morning from Greek to English], made with 818's Anejo Tequila and watermelon - that has been officially added to their cocktail menu

Entrepreneur: The model posed for a number of photos with staffers at different Chicago hotspots

Looking good! On Thursday, Kendall also shared a video of herself lounging on a round concrete chair with her white tank top pulled slightly up to display her toned midriff

Sizzling: The comment section on the post was filled with people calling her a 'perfect human' and calling her 'beautiful'

Cool girl: In the footage, she wore a pair of sunglasses and shook her head as she adjusted her clothing

Bikini body: A few hours later, she also uploaded a mirror selfie while wearing a floral two-piece

Additionally, the star found time to use her platform to express outrage over an exhausted carriage horse that collapsed during the evening rush hour in Manhattan on Wednesday.

'I'm sick to my stomach DISGUSTED stop this now,' she captioned a video of the incident. 'I hope this poor baby is ok.'

In the footage, which she reposted on her Instagram Story, a horse, named Ryder, can be seen falling to the ground while its driver whipped and yelled.
Selling Sunset star Heather Rae Young worked up a sweat at Radiant Hot Yoga in Newport Beach on Wednesday.

The expecting 34-year-old reality star - who will welcome her first child in 'early 2023' - sported a grey tank top beneath blue drawstring sweats, a matching hoodie, and black slides.

Heather had a Gucci bag slung around her shoulder as she stopped by Thrive Juice Bar for a healthy green smoothie on her way back to the car.

It's getting hot in here: Selling Sunset star Heather Rae Young worked up a sweat at Radiant Hot Yoga in Newport Beach on Wednesday

Young returned to Radiant Hot Yoga on Thursday where she and the owner - Coastal Estates Group realtor Skyler Dearen - had a private 'pregnant yoga' session together.

On Wednesday, the Anaheim-born blonde surprised her husband of nine months - Flipping 101 host Tarek El Moussa - with an early birthday present at the Porsche Experience Center in Carson, CA.

Heather - who boasts 3.9M social media followers - wrote via Instastory: 'Unfortunately, I have to sit this one out.'

Welcoming her first child in 'early 2023'! The expecting 34-year-old reality star sported a grey tank top beneath blue drawstring sweats, a matching hoodie, and black slides

Drink to-go! Heather had a Gucci bag slung around her shoulder as she stopped by Thrive Juice Bar for a healthy green smoothie on her way back to the car

Back for more: Young returned to Radiant Hot Yoga on Thursday where she and the owner - Coastal Estates Group realtor Skyler Dearen (L) - had a 'pregnant yoga' session together

The half-Moroccan house flipper - turning 41 on August 21 - got to drive a blue Porsche all over the 53-acre driver development course, which costs between $450-$1250 depending on the model.

In his post about the Porsche experience, Tarek revealed the whole thing was filmed for their new eight-episode docu-series The Flipping El Moussas, which premieres next year on HGTV.

After El Moussa gushed that Young was 'amazing' she commented: 'Such a blast my love. I am the best at surprises!'

'Unfortunately, I have to sit this one out': On Wednesday, the Anaheim-born blonde surprised her husband of nine months - Flipping 101 host Tarek El Moussa (R) - with an early birthday present at the Porsche Experience Center in Carson, CA

'The dopest evening. My love is smiling ear to ear': The half-Moroccan house flipper - turning 41 on August 21 - got to drive a blue Porsche all over the 53-acre driver development course, which costs between $450-$1250 depending on the model

'I'm a huge car fanatic!' In his post about the Porsche experience, Tarek revealed the whole thing was filmed for their new eight-episode docu-series The Flipping El Moussas, which premieres next year on HGTV

After El Moussa gushed that Young was 'amazing' she commented: 'Such a blast my love. I am the best at surprises!'

On Tuesday, The Oppenheim Group realtor - who's still planning the nursery - unveiled 4-D ultrasound images of their unborn son, which gave her 'flutters' and 'made' her week.

Heather and the Long Beach native had been in the middle of in vitro fertilization treatments when they discovered they were pregnant.

'It was a huge shock. We just weren't expecting this. We had just gone through IVF. We had embryos on ice. We had a plan.' Young told People on July 13.

'It was so special': On Tuesday, The Oppenheim Group realtor - who's still planning the nursery - unveiled 4-D ultrasound images of their unborn son

'We had embryos on ice!' Heather and the Long Beach native had been in the middle of in vitro fertilization treatments when they discovered they were pregnant (pictured July 24)

'My babies are getting so big!' Young is already stepmother to Tarek's 11-year-old daughter Taylor (R, pictured Sunday) and son Brayden (L), turning 7 on August 20, from his first marriage to Christina Haack

'I think when you least expect it and there's no stress in your life, the world just brought us what was meant to be. I'm so excited that it happened like this.'

The Malibu Horror Story actress is already stepmother to Tarek's 11-year-old daughter Taylor and son Brayden, turning 7 on August 20.

El Moussa had the children during his seven-year marriage to his former Flip or Flop co-host Christina Haack, which ended in January 2018.
Lisa Kudrow has weighed in of the lack of diversity in Friends and claimed the show's creators had 'no business writing stories about people of colour'.

The actress, 59, who played Phoebe Buffay on the sitcom, said David Crane and Marta Kauffman wrote the series about their own personal lives and did not have the experiences of being a person of colour.

Lisa, who previously admitted in 2020 the series lacked representation throughout its 10 seasons and believes if it was made today it would have been more diverse, touched on the issue again in a new interview.

Lisa said: 'I feel like it was a show created by two people who went to Brandeis and wrote about their lives after college. And for shows especially, when it's going to be a comedy that's character-driven, you write what you know.

'They have no business writing stories about the experiences of being a person of colour. I think at that time, the big problem that I was seeing was, 'Where's the apprenticeship?'', she told Daily Beast.

The latest: Lisa Kudrow has weighed in of the lack of diversity in Friends and claimed the show's creators had 'no business writing stories about people of colour' (pictured March 2022)

Lisa previously told the Sunday Times that if there were a current incarnation of the series, 'It would not be an all-white cast,' adding that the show 'should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong.'

Creator Marta, 65, told the Los Angeles Times in June that she was focused on incorporating diversity into her work moving forward.

She said: 'I feel I was finally able to make some difference in the conversation. I have to say, after agreeing to this and when I stopped sweating, it didn't unburden me, but it lifted me up. But until in my next production I can do it right, it isn't over.

'I want to make sure from now on in every production I do that I am conscious in hiring people of colour and actively pursue young writers of colour. I want to know I will act differently from now on. And then I will feel unburdened.'

Marta said that at first it 'was difficult and frustrating' to hear criticism of the series over the show's lack of representation.

Cast: The series starred a principal cast of white actors (L_R) Lisa, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc

In an effort to 'right the wrong', Marta also made a $4million donation to Brandeis University in creating the Marta F. Kauffman '78 Professorship in African and African American Studies.

It aims to 'support a distinguished scholar with a concentration in the study of the peoples and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora.'

She said that the 2020 murder of George Floyd was a turning point in her awareness of systemic racism and how the popular series might have played into it.

Marta said: 'It was after what happened to George Floyd that I began to wrestle with my having bought into systemic racism in ways I was never aware of.

'That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct.'

The series starred a principal cast of white actors Lisa, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer.

The performers of colour who made appearances on the series included Aisha Tyler, who played Joey and Ross' love interest Charlie Wheeler.

Opinion: The actress, 59, who played Phoebe Buffay on the sitcom, said that David Crane (right) and Marta Kauffman (centre) wrote the series about their own personal lives and did not have the experiences of being a person of colour

The character starred in nine episodes and had the second longest run of a POC, aside from Ross' girlfriend Julie [Lauren Tom].

Black actors Gabrielle Union, Phill Davies Tom Lauren Tom, Craig Robinson and Mark Consuelos among others also featured in the series but only as tertiary characters.

Marta said that she has 'learned a lot in the last 20 years' and is 'embarrassed [she] didn't know better 25 years ago.'

She noted: 'Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It's painful looking at yourself in the mirror.'

After the announcement of the donation, Kauffman told the Los Angeles Times: 'I've gotten nothing but love. It's been amazing. It surprised me to some extent, because I didn't expect the news to go this wide.

'I've gotten a flood of emails and texts and posts that have been nothing but supportive. I've gotten a lot of "It's about time." Not in a mean way. It's just people acknowledging it was long overdue.'

Pictured: (clockwise from left) Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay

David, who played Ross on the hit show, told The Guardian in an interview in 2020 that he was always pushing for diversity on Friends.

He said: 'I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour.'

'One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian-American woman, and later I dated African-American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.'

It took the show until 2002 to cast Aisha, the first black actress to become a series regular on the show, playing Dr Charlie, a palaeontology professor who ended up dating Ross in season nine.

The realization about the show's lack of black characters has sometimes been hard for Marta, who got emotional in 2020 while admitting that she didn't do enough to promote diversity on her hit NBC sitcom.

Claims: David , who played Ross on the hit show, told The Guardian in an interview in 2020 that he was always pushing for diversity on Friends (pictured Aisha Tyler as Charlie right)

Representation: The character starred in nine episodes and had the second longest run of a POC, aside from Ross' girlfriend Julie [Lauren Tom] (pictured right)

Marta was asked during the virtual 2020 ATX TV Festival about what she 'wished she knew' when she started her career in television.

The writer/producer teared up and got emotional, stating: 'I wish I knew then what I know today.

'What makes this truly emotional for me is that I want this connection I didn't have. I deeply, deeply want this connection with the Black community that I didn't have. Because of Friends, I never attained that.

Referring again to the lack of diversity, she said: 'Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now. I would've made very different decisions.

She added: 'I mean we've always encouraged people of diversity in our company, but I didn't do enough and now all I can think about is what can I do?'

'What can I do differently? How can I run my show in a new way? And that's something I not only wish I knew when I started show running, but I wish I knew all the way up through last year.'
She has made several appearances on Melanie Griffith's Instagram in recent weeks.

And Rebel Wilson made it clear that they are good friends when she celebrated the iconic actress' 65th birthday with her girlfriend Ramona Agruma by her side.

The 42-year-old Pitch Perfect star appeared to have thrown her pal a slightly belated birthday lunch on Thursday, but they went all out on the celebration at the Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel, which included a special desert tray and custom-printed menus.

Fast friends: Rebel Wilson, 42, serenaded her friend Melanie Griffith's 65th birthda with a lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel's Polo Lounge that was attended by her girlfriend Ramona Agruma

Rebel and Ramona both wore complementary white blouses for the lunch, while the fashion designer dressed her plunging top up with a white blazer.

Melanie sat next to the Australian comic actress and wore a black blouse while styling her blond locks up in a bun.

Also joining the gang for lunch was the British TV presenter Carly Steel, who wore a lovely black-and-white floral dress, and the philanthropist Irena Medavoy, who looked elegant in all black.

Ramona shared a photo of the group to her Instagram page, captioning it, 'Happy birthday beautiful @melaniegriffith,' and dubbing them the 'ladies who lunch.'

Rebel reposted the same photo to her Instagram Stories and dubbed the high-profile group the 'Blondtourage.'

Girl power: Ramona shared a photo of the group to her Instagram page, captioning it, 'Happy birthday beautiful @melaniegriffith,' and dubbing them the 'ladies who lunch.' Rebel reposted the same photo to her Instagram Stories and dubbed the high-profile group the 'Blondtourage.'

Black and white: Rebel and Ramona wore white blouses for the lunch, while the fashion designer dressed her plunging top up with a white blazer. Melanie sat next to Rebel and wore a black blouse while styling her blond locks up in a bun

Although the menu didn't appear to be any different, the Polo Lounge had printed up copies that read 'Happy Birthday Melanie!' at the top.

Rebel also shared in her Insta Stories that the group had been presented with a tray of chocolate truffles and other assorted desserts decorated with photos of Melanie, including one of her out on a walk with Rebel and Carly.

The luxurious desserts included cute pink-frosted cupcakes for everyone that were rimmed with colorful sprinkles and decorated with everyone's name in teal frosting.

Birthday special: Although the menu didn't appear to be any different, the Polo Lounge had printed up copies that read 'Happy Birthday Melanie!' at the top

Sweet treat: Rebel also shared in her Insta Stories that the group had been presented with a tray of chocolate truffles and other assorted desserts decorated with photos of Melanie

Yum! The luxurious desserts included cute pink-frosted cupcakes for everyone that were rimmed with colorful sprinkles and decorated with everyone's name in teal frosting

On a stroll: Among the photos on the birthday assortment was one Melanie posted featuring Rebel and Carly Steel

Melanie previously celebrated her birthday with a dinner featuring some of her celebrity friends, including Eva Longoria, Kyle Richards, Debi Mazar and Mario Lopez.

She looked chic on her big day with a sleek little black dress, along with stylish black lace fingerless gloves.

The Body Double star wrote in her caption: 'My 65th birthday dinner was absolutely fabulous. I am so privileged to have, and so very grateful for, my family and my friends. Laughter, love and kindness.'

Back in black: Melanie previously celebrated her birthday with a dinner featuring some of her celebrity friends while looking chic with a sleek black dress and stylish lace fingerless gloves

Pals: She was joined b celebrity friends including including Eva Longoria, Kyle Richards, Debi Mazar and Mario Lopez

Also on Thursday, Rebel shared a short clip to her Insta Stories in which she revealed that she had received an array Augustus Bader skincare products 'from the birthday girl, Melanie Griffith.'

'I've been looking forward to trying these,' she added cheerfully.

Although Rebel has made appearances on Melanie's social media recently, the two haven't shared much else about their friendship or even revealed how they came to be pals.

However, the Cats actress did appear with Melanie's daughter Dakota Johnson in the 2016 comedy How To Be Single.

Gift giving: Also on Thursday, Rebel shared a short clip to her Insta Stories in which she revealed that she had received an array Augustus Bader skincare products 'from the birthday girl, Melanie Griffith.'

Nailed it: 'I've been looking forward to trying these,' she added cheerfully
A slew of celebrities, including Kendall Jenner and Alicia Silverstone, are sharing in their disgust over the video showing a horse that collapsed on the street while pulling a carriage in New York City on Wednesday.

The New York City Police Department responded to the incident that happened near Ninth Avenue and 45th Street in Manhattan around 5 p.m., according to People.

But before officers arrived a video obtained by NBC News shows the driver of the carriage allegedly trying to pull the distressed animal up off the ground and hitting him, yelling, 'Get up! Come on! Get up! Get up!' as he remained on the ground.

The driver allegedly pulled the harness and hit the horse with the reins, but the animal puts his head down before eventually leaning over on his side.

Tense moments: Video of a horse that collapsed while pulling a carriage in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of New York City on Wednesday has some people outraged

Celebrity outrage: Kendall Jenner, Alicia Silverstone and Ariel Winter are among the growing number of celebrities to express their outrage over

Once the horse, named Ryder, laid on his side on the pavement, the driver was forced to remove his carriage, all while a crowd began to gather along the street in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.

Mounted officers with the NYPD arrived at the scene and hosed down the horse down to cool it off.

Those officers then took the animal to a nearby stable where it received 'proper veterinary care', and was awake as of Wednesday night.

Christina Hansen, a spokesperson for a union that represents carriage drivers, told NBC New York that Ryder received a preliminary diagnosis of Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), a neurological disease caused by possum droppings.

Response: The New York City Police Department responded to the incident that happened near Ninth Avenue and 45th Street in Manhattan around 5 p.m., according to People

But before officers arrived a video obtained by NBC News shows the driver of the carriage allegedly trying to pull the distressed animal up off the ground and hitting him, yelling, 'Get up! Come on! Get up! Get up!' as he remained on the ground

The driver allegedly pulled the harness and hit the horse with the reins, but the animal puts his head down before eventually leaning over on his side

Hansen maintains the neurological effects of EPM caused the horse to stumble and fall while the carriage driver was trying to get him to change lanes.

'They were hosing the horse down as a precaution, but they checked all of his vitals he had good temperature, good color in his gums and everything like that,' she added.

Ryder is currently recovering and will not be working at this time. In fact, he may ultimately be retired, which is a common fate for carriage horses with EPM because they're likely to fall.

Jenner is among the growing number of celebrities who are voicing their concerns for Ryder

'I'm sick to my stomach, DISGUSTED,' it read over the top of the video posted on the top model's Instagram Stories. 'Stop this now.'

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians alum added, 'I hope this poor baby is ok ,' along with four broken red heart emojis.

Kendall Jenner: 'I'm sick to my stomach, DISGUSTED,' it read over the top of the video posted on Jenner's Instagram Stories. 'Stop this now'

Cool off: Mounted officer with NYPD arrived at the scene and hosed off Ryder with cold water

Alicia Silverstone: 'These beautiful animals are being abused and mistreated in NYC' it read on Silverstone's Instagram Story

A posting of the video by PETA (People For Ethical Treatment Of Animals) was added to Clueless actress Alicia Silverstone's Insta-Story page, where she hared how 'heartbreaking' it was to see the animal in such distress.

'These beautiful animals are being abused and mistreated in NYC,' it read in the caption, along with a broken red heart emoji.

Model Delilah Gray Hamlin also took to social media to voice her outrage over the treatment of the animal by the carriage driver.

'This is so unbelievably sad it's so hard to watch,' she shared along with the clip of the incident.

The daughter of actors Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna also wrote 'Ban horse carriages in NYC' several times over in another page she posted on Instagram.

Delilah Hamlin: 'This is so unbelievably sad it's so hard to watch,' Hamlin shared along with the clip of the incident on her social media platform

Ban push: Hamlin also demanded lawmakers in NYC to 'ban horse carriages in NYC

Jasmine Tookes: 'Poor baby. When I lived in NYC I always hated seeing all the horses standing around in sweltering heat,' the model shared on Instagram

Movement: Actress Joey King urged people to sign a petition that would ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City, which is gaining steam in the wake of Ryder's collapse on the street

Model Jasmine Tookes followed suit and wrote, 'Poor baby. When I lived in NYC I always hated seeing all the horses standing around in sweltering heat.'

Actress Joey King went as far as to share a a petition that being shared that would ban horse-drawn carriages in New York City, which had already gotten nearly 40,000 signatures at the time.

Actresses Chloe Fineman and Ariel Winter, models Olivia Culpo, Amelia Hamlin and Nicole Williams English, and pop star Bebe Rexha were among the other celebrities to express their outrage over the incident or had the video posted on their social media platforms.

Outrage: The video of the horse being helped by NYPD was posted on Ariel Winter's Instagram

Support: Winter showed her support for a bill introduced by NYC Councilman Bob Holden that would phase out horse carriages in the Big Apple

Support: If passed, the new measure would give horse drivers preferences for electric carriage licensure and require they be paid union wages.

Joining the cause: Chloe Fineman is shared her outrage over the video of the horse

That stable worker claimed Ryder was already doing 'really well,' and that he had only been in New York City since April after being used an an Amish buggy horse

Animal activists  including NYCLASS  were among the organizations to make their way to City Hall on Thursday to call on the City Council to fast track a bill introduced by Councilman Bob Holden last month that would phase out horse carriages in the Big Apple.

If passed, the new measure would give horse drivers preferences for electric carriage licensure and require they be paid union wages.

'@NYCCouncil@NYCSpeakerAdams@NYCMayor - the world is watching. This horse may die, like many others. We must pass Intro 573 to end this abuse! @BobHoldenNYC," the organization wrote, along with the footage of officers hosing down Ryder.

More support: Model Olivia Culpo also pushed for people to sign the petition

Show of support: Pop star Bebe Rexha also had the video posted on her Instagram page

Show of support: Model Nicole Williams English posted the story on her social media
Ronnie Ortiz-Magro returned on Thursday night's Jersey Shore: Family Vacation on MTV after taking a lengthy break from the show to get sober and to seek mental health treatment.

'It's been a long year and it's been a lot of doing the right thing and just being a full-time dad, being sober,' Ronnie, 36, said. 'Living the best life that I can live one day at a time.'

Ronnie met Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino, 40, at a restaurant in Jersey to talk about what he had been through after not seeing him for almost a year.

The latest: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, 36, returned on Thursday night's Jersey Shore: Family Vacation on MTV after taking a lengthy break from the show to get sober and to seek mental health treatment

'He took some time away from the show to focus on his sobriety,' Mike said in a confessional. 'To what extent and how successful he is, that's what I want to find out.'

Ronnie said in his confessional that he wanted Mike to see that he was taking sobriety seriously.

'I really want Mike to see where I am in my life because I have gone to treatment before and then I've slipped up,' Ronnie said in a confessional.

'Last time I did my 30 days,' Ronnie told Mike. 'But it's like 30 days isn't going to fix 30 years of f**** up.'

Ronnie met Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino, 40, at a restaurant in Jersey to talk about what he had been through after not seeing him for almost a year

Ronnie said in his confessional that he wanted Mike to see that he was taking sobriety seriously

Ronnie said he basically had his daughter Ariana full-time

Ron told Mike that he had a sponsor and had done both inpatient and outpatient treatment.

'I had to actually go through it like three or four times,' Mike said about his sobriety.

Ronnie told him he was also just starting to go back into the gym because he had been depressed.

'It happens,' Mike said. 'Your mental health is the most important thing.'

Ronnie said he basically had his daughter Ariana full-time. In a confessional, Ronnie said that now his whole life revolved around his daughter.

'I'm being the best father I can be,' Ronnie said. 'Everyday I'm trying, I'm improving.'

Ronnie said he planned on sitting down with the others and letting them know that he would own his mistakes.

'Everyone was definitely upset at the time for some of your actions,' Mike said.

In a confessional, Ronnie said that now his whole life revolved around his daughter

Ronnie said, 'I'm being the best father I can be. Everyday I'm trying, I'm improving'

Ronnie cried in a confessional when asked about his relations with the other shore mates.

'I definitely miss the roommates,' Ronnie said. 'I f***ed up and I understand, and that's part of recovery as well. What matters is that I got through it.'

Mike in a confessional that he went through similar things in his sobriety.

'Now he has realized that he cannot drink and drug and he has to be sober in order to have a healthy, successful, and positive life.'

The episode opened with Mike telling his wife Lauren, 36, that he was trying to be the mediator between Angelina Pivarnick, 36, and Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, 37.

Lauren and Mike then drove to the launch party for her skin care line called Laurens.

Jenni told Deena Cortese, 35, at the event that she hadn't spoken to Angelina after she blocked her on Stories and didn't know how things would go with her. Angelina showed up late and spoke with Lauren.

'I know we have not always been close,' Lauren said. 'I invited you here even though you blocked me in Stories.'

'I don't think I blocked you on Stories,' Angelina said. 'I blocked Jenni on Stories.'

The episode opened with Mike telling his wife Lauren, 36, that he was trying to be the mediator between Angelina Pivarnick, 36, and Jenni 'JWoww' Farley, 37

Lauren and Mike then drove to the launch party for her skin care line called Laurens

Jenni told Deena Cortese, 35, at the event that she hadn't spoken to Angelina after she blocked her on Stories and didn't know how things would go with her

Angelina denied to Lauren that she blocked her on Stories, saying she had only blocked Jenni

Mike kept a watchful eye on the discussion knowing the preexisting tensions

Jenni said in a confessional that she didn't understand why Lauren invited Angelina to her launch party.

'Now I'm the bad guy,' Jenni said.

Angelina ran out of the party to her car without talking to Jenni.

Vinny Guadagnino, 34, was in Vegas practicing his Chippendales routine. Paul 'Pauly D' Del Vecchio, 42, stopped by. Vinny said he was trying to get the right consistency of oil for the show.

Back in Jersey, Deena and Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, 33, worked on their Meatball Show talk show. They decorated a She Shed where they planned to film and then started planning who they would interview.

They screamed and started crying when they thought that Amy Schumer wanted to be on their show. Deena had her husband call her. Deena then told Snooki that she thought their first guest should be a host.

'But like who knows how to deal with raunch,' Snooki said.

Deena suggested Jerry Springer.

'Jerry deals with raunch people, raunchy situations, and won't judge us,' Snooki said to the camera.

Snooki reached out to him over DM.

Vinny Guadagnino, 34, was in Vegas practicing his Chippendales routine

Vinny was seen perfecting his moves for the Sin City showcase

Paul 'Pauly D' Del Vecchio, 42, stopped by, as Vinny said he was trying to get the right consistency of oil for the show

The two friends were seen driving around Las Vegas as they met up on Thursday's episode

'I hate DMing celebrities, it's just such a thirst trap but Jerry would be perfect,' Snooki said.

Jerry wrote back and said yes.

'So Jerry Springer is going to be our first guest?' Deena said.

'We are already killing it,' Snooki said.

Deena told Chris all the things he needed to do including picking up Amy and Jerry and getting coffee and bagels.

'I need help here,' Chris said.

Chris called Angelina for help.

'Deena's over here,' Chris said. 'She's working my fingers down to the bone.'

Angelina went over to Deena's house to help them and was told that she needed to pick up Jerry Springer.

'Jerry f***ing Springer,' Angelina said. 'I'm fangirling over here right now.'

Angelina picked up Jerry who was standing on the side of the street after she cleaned up her car.

'This is a dream come true for me,' Angelina said to the camera.

Back in Jersey, Deena and Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, 33, worked on their Meatball Show talk show

Snooki reached out to talk show host Jerry Springer via DM on social media

Angelina went over to Deena's house to help them and was told that she needed to pick up Jerry Springer

Angelina told him that she felt that she could have been on his show. She told him about the breakdown of her marriage and then asked him if he was single.

'No, I've been married for 49 years,' Jerry said.

'You are such a great looking older man,' Angelina said.

'I don't think you are going to have any trouble finding a young man,' Jerry said.

'I'm not trying to f*** Jerry I'm just trying to see if I'm f***able,' Angelina said in a confessional.

Deena introduced Jerry Springer as their first guest.

'He has 5,000 episodes,' Deena said.

They screamed for Jerry as he walked over to their SheShed. They asked him if he had ever watched Jersey Shore and he said he had seen a few episodes. Snooki said she used to watch his show after school.

'You brought reality TV to where it is,' Snooki said.

'I apologize,' Jerry said.

'No, you made us who we are!' Snooki said.

Deena and Snooki drank and then took a Breathalyzer.

'If the buzzers going off, don't drink anymore,' Jerry tried to tell them.

'Oh, she lives here,' Snooki said.

'My great hope for both of you is that you may never be on my show,' Jerry said as his final thought.

Angelina went to pick up Springer after she cleaned up her car

Snooki and Deena chat with the TV personality on their series The Meatball Show

The ladies enjoyed glasses of wine as they chat with the veteran TV personality

Springer told the pair, 'My great hope for both of you is that you may never be on my show'

Aimee E. Hall, 29, from the Floribama Shore show, was mistakenly booked instead of Amy Schumer

Angelina drove off to get the next guest, who she was told was Amy Schumer.

'That's not the right Amy,' Snooki said when she saw Aimee E. Hall, 29, from the Floribama Shore show.

'I never said Amy Schumer,' Chris told Angelina. 'Deena thought I knew Amy Schumer's number?'

'We love you but we really thought we were getting Amy Schumer,' Snooki said. 'So can we just ask your Amy Schumer questions to you.'

Snooki dropped her wine on the floor. Angelina, who was watching from inside the house, said they were 'lit.'

'I think next time we should just shoot for one guest,' Chris said.

Inside the shed, Snooki and Deena danced together. Snooki fell on the ground when she was trying to leave.

Vinny then texted the group that their next vacation should be in San Diego.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation will return next Thursday on MTV.
Eva Longoria looked chic while hosting an event for her Casa Del Sol tequila line in Santa Monica on Thursday night.

The Desperate Housewives star, 47, strolled up to The Bungalow in a silky pink slip dress with a plunging neckline.

She walked in silver high heels and was covered in jewelry: bracelets, necklaces and big hoop earrings.

Hostess: Eva Longoria looked chic while hosting an event for her Casa Del Sol tequila line in Santa Monica on Thursday night

The Texas native's long brown locks fell messily past her slender shoulders, and she carried a dark black trucker hat with her.

She gave a few waves to onlookers as she made her way into popular late-night hangout.

The superstar reportedly made cocktails of her Casa del Sol tequila at the venue's Night Market.

Taking the plunge: The Desperate Housewives star, 47, strolled up to The Bungalow in a silky pink slip dress with a plunging neckline

Sweet: She gave a few waves to onlookers as she made her way into popular late-night hangout

The Heartbreak Kid actress' appearance came just a day after it was announced that she had landed a role in a new series.

Land of Women is a dramedy coming to Apple TV+ based on Sandra Barneda's bestselling novel of the same name.

The series will follow Longoria's character, Gala, a 'New York empty nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties,' according to Variety.

Gala, her mom (Carmen Maura) and daughter attempt to avoid 'dangerous criminals' chasing her 'now vanished husband' by hiding in Northern Spain as they attempt to 'start anew and hope their identities will remain unknown.'

Blinged out: She walked in silver high heels and was covered in jewelry: bracelets, necklaces and big hoop earrings

Drama: Land of Women will center around her character, Gala, who is 'a New York empty nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties,' according to Variety

The show, which will be shot in English and Spanish, is currently in pre-production in Spain.

At the moment she is still in the midst of post-production on Flamin' Hot, the biopic she is directing about Cheetos inventor Richard Montanez.

A Beautiful Life star Jesse Garcia is playing the lead amid a cast that includes Veep actor Matt Walsh and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Tony Shalhoub.

After shooting wrapped, Eva told Variety: 'Im so honored to have led this team in telling a beautiful story where people can see themselves in these characters and are inspired by the endless beauty and talent that is so rich in our community.'

'Every day we were on set, I was reminded again and again by our amazing cast and crew that our community is smart, creative and endlessly talented' the mom-of-one added.
She's enjoying some time off after the Mad Max prequel Furiosa was shut down for a week when director George Miller tested positive for Covid-19.

And The Queens Gambit star Anya-Taylor Joy took full advantage of her down time on Thursday.

The actress, 26, went for a freezing but refreshing dip in the full moon tide at Bronte Baths.

Anya-Taylor Joy, 26, was all smiles as she enjoyed a freezing but refreshing dip in the full moon tide at Bronte Baths in Sydney. Pictured above

She uploaded a video of herself dripping wet as she watched the tide crash over the pool, laughing: 'It's pretty great.'

Anya posted it to Instagram with the caption: 'Full moon tide, baby. Love you all.'

Her natural beauty shone through the footage as she went makeup free and looked to be wearing an orange bathing suit.

It comes after the star secretly married her boyfriend Malcolm McRae last month following one year of dating, reported Page Six.

The actress and the musician, 27, tied the knot in a modest courthouse ceremony in the United States, according to sources.

Anya posted it to Instagram with the caption: 'Full moon tide, baby. Love you all'

Anya and Malcom are said to be planning a larger ceremony with friends and family once the actress wraps filming the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa, in Australia and is able to return home to Los Angeles for a longer period.

The couple confirmed their relationship at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in late March, but are said to have been dating for over a year.

The Queen's Gambit star first sparked engagement rumours in June when she was seen sporting a dazzling diamond on her ring finger.

It comes after Anya secretly married her boyfriend Malcolm McRae last month following one year of dating. Pictured together in April

Daily Mail reached out to a representative for Anya requesting comment about the alleged nuptials.

The source claimed the actress jetted back to Australia shortly after the wedding to resume filming Furiosa.

She's starring as a younger version of Charlize Theron's character in the earlier film, which saw Tom Hardy take over the Mad Max title character from Mel Gibson.

The couple have been rumored to be engaged after Anya was spotted in June wearing what appeared to be a diamond ring on her left ring finger.

She has been seen several times since then with the same ring, mostly recently in Sydney, Australia, on Monday, after the reported wedding.
Microsoft 365's Outlook still crashes or freezes for some users when they launch the app.

And as such, Microsoft has laid out some effective workarounds to fix the issue as they work to finally iron it out completely.

Microsoft 365 Outlook Crash

As per the latest report by Bleeping Computer, some users of Outlook for Microsoft 365 are still reporting that it still frustratingly crashes or freezes right after they open it.

It is worth noting that Microsoft has already pulled out the latest Microsoft 365 update, version 2206, shortly after several users complained that Office apps, such as Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, were crashing.

The bug seemingly gets triggered when Office users try to open a contact card or, in some cases, when they hover over the name or photo of another user.

Bleeping Computer notes in a separate report that the crashing bug on Office apps started with the release of the Monthly Enterprise Channel version 2206, which came along with the August Patch Tuesday update.

Microsoft is already aware of the crashing issue and has pulled the problematic update.

The Redmond-based tech says it has "reverted to the last known unaffected version to expedite remediation, subsequently confirming resolution with some formerly affected users."

Microsoft 365 Outlook Still Crashes

However, even as Microsoft has already pulled the version 2206 update, Outlook seems to continue with its crashing and freezing issues.

Some Outlook for Microsoft 365 users claim that their app immediately freezes or crashes right after they launch the app.

The Redmond software firm confirms it is already investigating the current issue, which its customers have reported.

And for the meantime, the renowned tech giant published a new support page, which guides Outlook users on how to avoid experiencing the persistent crashing mess.

Microsoft says that this occurs when users open the Outlook app for desktop. The support page narrates that "it gets past loading profile and processing, briefly opens and then stops responding."

On top of that, it further explains that the bug "occurs when the EmailAddress string data value under the Office identity is blank."

Read Also: Microsoft Launches Outlook Lite for Android: Here's What You Have to Know

Microsoft 365 Outlook Issue Workaround

All that said, Microsoft gave away a few workarounds to fix the persistent crashing issues on Outlook for Microsoft 365.

One of which requires users to sign out of Office and sign back again to "repopulate the identity registry settings."

If that does not work, the support page suggests users turn off Support Diagnostics to avoid the "not responding" issue.

All they need to do is enter this registry key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\General]

"DisableSupportDiagnostics"=dword:00000001

Related Article: Leaks of Microsoft's New Email Client 'One Outlook' Look Promising
Samantha Womack has revealed she will continue her gruelling theatre role as she battles breast cancer.

The former EastEnders star, 49, is currently starring as the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, which opened to rave reviews at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in the West End last month, and is running until January.

She revealed on Tuesday that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer as she paid tribute to Olivia Newton-John, who died from the disease on Monday morning.

Brave: Samantha Womack has revealed she will continue her gruelling theatre role in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe as she battles breast cancer (pictured during the performance)

In a tribute to the late actress, she tweeted a picture of the pair with Olivia's daughter Chloe, taken when Samantha had played Sandy in the 1993 West End production of Grease.

Samantha captioned the image: 'This was the most magical of evenings. Olivia and Chloe had come to see Grease in London and we had dinner together afterwards.

'I was so excited and in awe, she was my childhood. I now start my own battle with this disease and am left feeling deeply moved. #OliviaNewtonJohn.'

Samantha, who famously played Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders from 2007 to 2017, was immediately flooded with messages of support from her celebrity friends.

Tribute: Samantha revealed she has breast cancer on Tuesday as she paid tribute to the late Olivia Newton-John in a 1993 image with the late actress and her daughter Chloe

One to watch: The former EastEnders star, 49, is currently starring as the White Witch in the show, which opened to rave reviews at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in the West End last month

Amid her battle with cancer, Samantha is set to continue her turn on the stage, which is a physically demanding part. Understudy Rachel Dawson will take over if the star needs time off for treatment.

Samantha is hoisted up at one point so she can 'fly' over the audience  a particular challenge during this scorching summer, she told The Daily Mail's Alison Boshoff.

'I feel like a little baked potato up there,' she joked. 'Sometimes I'm absolutely draped in fake fur... shoulder pads and wigs and flying... and the heat at the top of the auditorium is otherworldly.

'I am OK with heights. That's never been one of my phobias. When it's not 45 degrees, it's a really pleasant place to be.'

Samantha has two children, Lili and Benji, with former husband Mark Womack, who appears in Emmerdale. They split up four years ago, but have carried on living together.

For the past two years she has been dating actor Oliver Farnworth, 40. Womack reveals that the three of them now form a 'blended parenting unit'  dividing their time between homes in Bedfordshire and Liverpool.

Close: Former flame: Samantha shares children Benjamin, 21, and Lili Rose, 17, with ex-husband Mark (pictured in 2013) and offered no further details on her diagnosis

She explained: 'We have worked very hard at creating our situation. It's not that traditional  we do all spend lots of time together. Mark often stays at the house [in Bedfordshire]; or Oli and I stay with him in Liverpool. Oli and Mark really get on.

'It is nice. I think Mark and I came to the same place at the same time, so it's probably easier for us to stay friends. I know it's not always possible, if someone is in pain or hurting. But we just really enjoy our friendship.'

Daughter Lili, 17, is studying music at LIPA in Liverpool while Benji, 20, is a university student. Womack recently bought a house in Valencia, Spain, which she intends to be her principal residence with Farnsworth when she isn't working.

Cute couple: Samantha is currently dating former Coronation Street actor Oliver Farnworth, 39, and the pair live together in Spain, after relocating to Valencia at the start of the year

She said: 'My ex-husband is an actor, so the three of us trying to get our schedules together can be quite challenging.

'But on the plus side, we're all incredibly understanding of the fact that sometimes we just need to drop things and run to a job.

'Coming out of the pandemic, we were so desperate to remind ourselves that there was an industry. It felt very frightening for all of us, for different reasons. We were all very grateful to get back to work, because it was a hair-raising two or three years.'

The Macmillan Support Line offers free, confidential support to people living with cancer and their loved ones. Call 0808 808 00 00 for support.
Vick Hope sent temperatures soaring with her latest photoshoot in Mexico.

The braless radio presenter, 32, who recently got engaged to Calvin Harris, 38, put on a leggy display in a pink cutout dress featuring a thigh-split.

Sharing the slew of sizzling snaps to her Instagram on Thursday, she modelled a series of skimpy numbers for fashion retailer, Bohemian Lover Tulum.

Hot stuff: Vick Hope put on a leggy display in a thigh-split pink cutout dress as she posed for a sizzling fashion shoot in Mexico, in snaps posted to her Instagram on Thursday

Vick flashed her sideboob as she changed into an orange maxi dress while clutching a trendy straw hat in further shots.

Continuing to showcase her toned pins in a bright blue bandeau and bra top co-ord, she went make-up free to highlight her natural beauty.

Appearing to be in high spirits, the TV personality grinned for the camera while modelling a backless white dress.

Calvin is said to have spent a whopping 1million on his fiancee's engagement ring.

Wow! Vick flashed her sideboob as she changed into an orange maxi dress while clutching a trendy straw hat in further shots

Out of this world: Continuing to showcase her toned pins in a bright blue bandeau and bra top co-ord, she went make-up free to highlight her natural beauty

Happy: Appearing to be in high spirits, the TV personality grinned for the camera while modelling a backless white dress

It emerged the DJ and Vick were engaged in May this year after a whirlwind five-month romance.

However it was recently claimed the couple are planning a low-key ceremony for their big day, with an insider telling The Sun: 'Although it is a stunning ring and extremely expensive, the couple arent going for a flashy or expensive wedding.

'The extravagance of the rock will eclipse how much theyre going to spend on the big day itself as they want to keep it low key and simple with just a core of close friends and family present.

'Either way, money is no real object for Calvin who has made millions creating hit dance tracks over the past 15 years.'

Eye-watering: Calvin is said to have spent a whopping 1million on his fiancee's engagement ring

Loved-up: It emerged the DJ and Vick were engaged in May this year after a whirlwind five-month romance

Vick was spotted wearing her diamond engagement ring at the Chelsea Flower Show in May after Calvin popped the question underneath a tree at his Ibiza farm, Terra Masia.

A source told MailOnline at the time: 'Calvin and Vick's relationship has moved quickly but they're smitten with each other.

'They could not be happier and are already planning their wedding, which is set to take place in Ibiza, where they grew close during Vick's secret visits to the White Isle.

'After keeping their relationship private, they decided to go public at the Chelsea Flower Show on Monday, they want everyone to now know their happy news.'

Couple: An insider said: 'Although it is a stunning ring and extremely expensive, the couple arent going for a flashy or expensive wedding' (pictured in May 2022)

In April, Vick shared a photo of a tree at Calvin's 138-acre farm, Terra Masia.

Calvin had previously posted the same tree, where he later proposed to Vick, on his own Instagram account.

Vick also teased an image of the couple on the beach in Ibiza by posting a picture of her feet alongside a man's foot believed to be Calvin's.

Calvin has liked every one of Vick's Instagram pictures since January, when he showed his admiration for her bikini photos taken in Mexico.

Vick's romance with Calvin hasn't gone unnoticed by her Radio 1 co-star Jordan North, 32, who regularly teases her about their closeness live on their show.

Persistence: Scottish DJ Calvin has been pursuing Vick for over a decade, having first asked her out when she was 19 (pictured in May)

Calvin first pursued former Strictly star Vick, who appeared on the BBC series in 2018, ten years ago.

She revealed during her days co-hosting the Capital FM Breakfast Show in 2018 that Calvin had asked her out when she was 19 but she turned him down because she was unimpressed with his looks.

However, since his A-list makeover, which even led to an Emporio Armani underwear shoot, she admitted to regretting the decision, comparing his new look to an 'Adonis.'

Breakfast host, Roman Kemp, 29, revealed: 'Calvin Harris asked Vick out on a date when he did Acceptable in the 80s.'

Vick replied: 'He looked how he used to look, I was shallow, I was 19, and I said no and I went off with either Scouting for Girls, or The Wombats, I don't which, I thought they were going to be bigger but no, it turns out Calvin Harris was going to turn into an Adonis.'

Calvin reportedly split from model girlfriend Aarika Wolf in March while Vick has been publicly single since breaking up from boyfriend of four years, Tom Rosenthal.

The multi-millionaire DJ has previously dated pop stars Rita Ora, 31, Taylor Swift, 32, and Ellie Goulding, 35.

After selling his two multi-million-pound mansions in Los Angeles two years ago, Calvin snapped up a 138-acre farm called Terra Masia in Ibiza, where he now resides.
Idris Elba is the hero of Beast, a survival story which pits a widowed husband, on a trip to South Africa with his daughters, against a huge rogue lion who is tracking them.

The lion was created using special effects and during filming there was a stand-in stuntman wearing a big foam mask.

Elba said: 'I haven't done a movie where I'm imagining  and fighting with  something that is not really there, in such close proximity.

Role: Idris Elba is the hero of Beast, a survival story which pits a widowed husband, on a trip to South Africa with his daughters, against a huge rogue lion who is tracking them

'I've fought in other movies with swords and weapons and against things that aren't there.

'But how fearful can you be when you've got a guy in a grey suit and a big floppy head trying to beat you? So that was a skill set that I had to learn.'

He added: 'I don't like to watch films that I'm in.

Funny: The lion was created using special effects and during filming there was a stand-in stuntman wearing a big foam mask

'I typically go to a premiere, watch the first ten minutes and then leave. But for some reason, I stayed... which was torture!

'However, I was just fascinated about how we achieved the ferociousness of this lion.'

Elba plays a man who brings his two daughters to Africa, where he first met his late wife, when their lives are turned upside down.

'It's about a family that go back to a small village in West Africa to mourn the death of a loved one, my ex-wife and my childrens' mother,' he explained on The Tonight Show this week.

Glamorous: Idris is pictured at the Beast premiere earlier this week in New York where he was joined by his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba

'Basically, they find themselves cornered by a rogue lion who has been sort of broken from their pride by poachers,' Elba continued.

He added the movie is, 'basically a survival story,' adding his character and his daughters, 'are having a tough time dealing with the death of their mum, so it's really about the beast coming for them, the beast of mourning, the beast of family ties and how that all comes together

'We based that lion in the movie on a lion that's been extinct for a long time, it's called a Barbary lion,' he said.

'It was a huge lion, much bigger than the average lion, so for the film we just amplified the fact that this was really big,' Elba added.

They also shared a laugh over the stuntman Owen who was dressed in a makeshift 'tiger' suit, which Fallon joked was the 'scariest thing I've seen in my life.'

Beast will be in cinemas from August 26.
Nicky Hilton looked in great spirits as she left trendy eatery Craig's in West Hollywood on Thursday.

The 38-year-old socialite nailed casual chic as she slipped into a pair of skinny jeans and a textured bow detail top.

Her outing comes nearly a month after Nicky revealed that she'd welcomed her third child, a baby boy, with husband James Rothschild, 36.

Out out: Nicky Hilton looked in great spirits as she left trendy eatery Craig's in West Hollywood on Thursday

The younger sister of Paris Hilton stepped out in a pair of classic black stilettos while she toted her essentials in a quilted Chanel bag.

Her bright blonde locks were styled in a brushed out wave as they naturally fell to her shoulders, while she sported a dewy palette of makeup.

Nicky who was seen leaving solo flashed a grin while leaving the celebrity hotspot after enjoying a night off from her mummy duties.

She and her husband James share daughters Lily, six, and Theodora, four along with their baby son.

Out out: The younger sister of Paris Hilton stepped out in a pair of classic black stilettos while she toted her essentials in a black quilted Chanel bag

Happy: Nicky who was seen leaving solo as she flashed a grin while leaving the celebrity hotspot

The now-married couple initially met at a mutual friend's wedding that took place in Italy in 2011.

The socialite was previously married to Todd Meister, although their union was annulled after just three months.

She eventually moved on with her now-husband, to whom she became engaged in 2014.

Nicky and James subsequently tied the knot during a wedding ceremony that took place in London the following year.

The pair went on to start a family when the former gave birth to Lily in July of 2016.

New addition: Her outing comes nearly a month after Nicky revealed that she'd welcomed her third child, a baby boy, with husband James Rothschild

The happy couple subsequently added Theodora to their lives the following December.

The socialite gave birth to her first son, whose name has not been revealed to the public as of yet, last month.

Nicky spoke about parenting during an interview with Yahoo! Life's So Mini Ways and noted that she was happy about the fact that her daughters were getting along well.

Family: Nicky and James seen with Theodora and Lily-Grace in 2020

'I love the bond of sisterhood  it's unbreakable and you have a built-in best friend for life. And I love seeing my girls look after each other and play with each other. They are each other's biggest cheerleaders and I love that,' she stated.

The entrepreneur also discussed how her style had changed ever since becoming a parent.

'Becoming a mother has definitely influenced the way I dress and the way I design...I'm running around to meetings, pick-up, drop-off and playdates, so I really need something comfortable,' she said.
Olivia Wilde terrified fans with the latest look at her upcoming psychological thriller, Don't Worry Darling.

The actress, 38, took to Instagram on Thursday to share another teaser for the movie, which saw the film's stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles cuddling up in bed before it cut to a scary scene showing zombie-like creatures running at the camera.

Olivia - who reportedly upset Florence by 'hooking up' with Harry during filming while still engaged to Jason Sudeikis - captioned the video: 'Look closely. DWD. 92322'.

Spooky season: Olivia Wilde terrified fans with the latest look at her upcoming psychological thriller, Don't Worry Darling

Among the terrified fan reaction was a joke from Olivia's friend Jennifer Garner, who quipped: 'S**t, now Im worried.'

Actress Dawn O'Porter was also quick to comment, penning, 'CANNOT WAIT', while the film's official account wrote: 'Were changing the world.'

Other fans penned: 'Cant wait!!! To be scared!!!'; 'Yes!!! Cant wait for the premiere!'; 'I jumped'; 'JUMPSCARE WARNING?!'; 'HES INNOCENT YOUR HONOR !!'; 'JUMPSCARE'; 'I wasnt expecting the jumpscare and its dark in my room.'

Freaked out: Among the terrified fan reaction was a joke from Olivia's friend Jennifer Garner, who quipped: 'S**t, now Im worried' (pictured together in 2015)

The thriller, set within an idyllic and thriving corporate community in the 1950s, will be released September 23.

It sees Harry and Florence star as Jack and Alice Chambers, who seem to be the perfect couple... until she starts discovering things about their secretive community.

The new teaser comes following claims Florence was said to be unhappy with her co-star and director Olivia as it's claimed she 'hooked up' with Harry while engaged to Jason Sudeikis.

Olivia and Jason, 46, got engaged in 2012 and share children Otis, eight, and Daisy, five.

ARGH! The teaser saw the film's stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles cuddling up in bed before it cut to a scary scene showing zombie-like creatures running at the camera

Terrified: Fans and Olivia's celebrity pals were quick to comment after being freaked out by the clip

But there is some confusion over timings because Olivia and the Ted Lasso star were thought to have split in November 2020.

Olivia made headlines with Harry in January 2021, when they were photographed holding hands at his manager's wedding.

While it's never been confirmed that Olivia and Harry's romance began while she was still engaged to Jason, Page Six have reported that Florence has fallen out with Olivia over the coupling.

An insider told the site: 'Flo seeing Olivia and Harry all over each other on set did not go down well as Olivia was still with Jason when she first hooked up with Harry.'

One to watch: The thriller, set within an idyllic and thriving corporate community in the 1950s, will be released September 23

At the time, sources claimed the relationship with Harry was the main reason for the split.

Meanwhile, Olivia won the New York custody battle against her ex on Wednesday after a judge ruled that California is her children's home state.

Jason, 46, had filed the suit against his ex in New York City Family Court over their two children in October 2021. He had wanted his two children to live with him in Brooklyn.

Olivia, however, wanted them to stay with her in Los Angeles, and possibly relocate to London, where her boyfriend Harry lives.

She accused the Ted Lasso star of serving her custody papers 'in the most aggressive way possible,' DailyMail.com exclusively revealed. And on Wednesday, a New York judge dismissed the case.

The judge, in a legal filing signed August 5, ruled 'New York was not the home state of the subject children' and that rather 'California was the childrens home state.'

'Therefore, for the reasons stated on the record on July 15, 2022, respondents motion to dismiss the custody petitions filed on October 21, 2021 is granted,' the filing, which was reviewed by Page Six, stated.

The court determined 'New York does not have jurisdiction to hear the custody petitions' because it is not Otis and Daisy's home state.
Charlotte Dawson looked unrecognizable as she showed off her incredible body transformation to her Instagram account on Thursday.

The reality star, 29, who lost a staggering three stone through her fitness dance routines displayed her toned physique as she posed for a gym selfie wearing clinging active wear.

She added a comparison picture of her posing in a throwback photo from last year wearing a striped bikini before overhauling her health and fitness.

Weight loss: Charlotte Dawson looked unrecognizable as she showed off her incredible body transformation - and three stone weight loss - to her Instagram account on Thursday

The former Celebs Go Dating star, admitted that she 'went through hell' in order to shed the weight in just a matter of months.

Charlotte explained that she felt like a prisoner in her own body before making the decision to overhaul her lifestyle for the better.

Alongside the comparison snaps, the TV favourite admitted that she made the drastic weight transformation happen in a short time.

Tough times: The former Celebs Go Dating star, admitted that she 'went through hell' in order to shed the weight in just a matter of months (pictured in August)

Writing a lengthy post for her 1.3 million followers, she began: 'My darlings  2k21 V 2k22.'

'Literally canny believe the difference! My whole life has changed so much in that time.'

Addressing the 'before' bikini snap, Charlotte said: 'I know I looked like I was in a fab place on the left. But honestly a lot of the time I was just styling it out when inside I was feeling like s***e and going through hell.

'My health was really not in a good place at all - mentally or physically but I just couldn't get motivated to do anything about it.

New look: Charlotte explained that she felt like a prisoner in own body before making the decision to overhaul her lifestyle (pictured in August with 18-month-old son Noah)

'It took that warning from the doctor - telling me I was in the diabetes danger zone - to get my act together and start doing something about it.'

The determined TV star went on: 'Hey am not saying how I am now is perfect but after starting exercising more and eating better I managed to shift over 3 Stone of timber and turned those bad stats upside down.

'I finally feel confident and not pretending I am. And I just feel so so proud of myself.

'So if you're feeling a bit down on yourself, don't despair, you can deffo do it.

'Thousands of gals have joined me on the fitness journey now. And you deserve to give yourself that self care - even if you're a mamma. Especially if you are. The carers need caring for too.'
Robin Williams' children Zak and Zelda have shared emotional social media tributes to their late father on the eighth anniversary of his death.

The actor, who died aged 63, was membered by his son Zak, 39, who shared an old photograph of him and hailed the 'wonderful, hairy man'.

The Good Will Hunting actor passed away in 2014, by suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California. His autopsy revealed undiagnosed Lewy body disease, which is a form of progressive dementia.

In tribute: Robin Williams' children Zak and Zelda have shared emotional social media tributes to their late father on the eighth anniversary of his death

On Thursday, Zak tweeted: 'Dad, on the eighth anniversary of your passing, I'm remembering how incredibly kind and joyful you were.

'I deeply miss you you wonderful, hairy man and will be celebrating your life today. Love you so so much!'

Also honouring her father, Zelda, 33, shared a quote from writer Haruki Murakami, which appeared related to suicide prevention.

Tragic: The Good Will Hunting actor passed away in 2014, by suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, Californi a. His autopsy revealed undiagnosed Lewy body disease, which is a form of progressive dementia (pictured 2006)

It read: 'And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over.

'But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in.'

She also shared a thread of suicide prevent resources and hotlines and requested her followers to add more if they knew of any.

Special: Also honouring her father, Zelda, 33, shared a quote from writer Haruki Murakami, which appeared related to suicide prevention

Zelda added: 'I don't ask for much, but if I may, be gentle to your hearts today. I know I'm trying.'

On the anniversary last year, Zelda also shared a Murakami quote, which read: 'Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star.

'It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago. Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.'

Robin also had son Cody, 30, from his relationship with Valerie Velardi.

Earlier this year, Zak shared a funny tribute to his father, which would have been the actor's 71st birthday.

For dad: Zak shared a funny tribute to his father which would have been the actor's 71st birthday. Seen in 2012

'Happy 71st Birthday Dad! I'll be remembering you today as you would want to be remembered, in spandex. Miss you and love you always!' wrote his son on Instagram as he posted a photo of the comedian on a bicycle.

Robin was an avid cyclist who used to ride often on the winding paths by his home in Marin County, California.

Last year Zak said his dad was 'frustrated' with his health struggles before he ultimately took his life.

The legendary comedian had unknowingly been misdiagnosed with Parkinson's disease and was actually suffering from Lewy body dementia - the second most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's - his family found out after his death.

Hilarious: 'Happy 71st Birthday Dad! I'll be remembering you today as you would want to be remembered, in spandex. Miss you and love you always!' wrote his son on Instagram as he posted a photo of the comedian on a bicycle

'What I saw was frustration,' Zak told host Max Lugavere on his podcast The Genius Life.

'What he was going through didn't match one to one [with what] many Parkinson's patients experience. So, I think that was hard for him.'

Zak, who is a mental health advocate, continued: 'There was a focus issue that frustrated him, there were issues associated with how he felt and also from a neurological perspective he didn't feel great,' and added: 'He was very uncomfortable.'

Williams' son also questioned the medication that his father was put on, suggesting they may have made his overall health worse.

'Those drugs are no joke,' he explained. 'They're also really hard on the mind and the body.

'I couldn't help but feel beyond empathy. I couldn't help but feel frustrated for him,' Zak continued. 'It can be really isolating even when you're with family and loved ones.'

Lewy body dementia causes a progressive decline in mental abilities, and those affected might have visual hallucinations and changes in alertness and attention.

Zak also shared his experience with dealing the loss of his father, and how it impacted his mental health.

'I was heavily drinking to manage my mental health where it created very harmful issues. For me personally, I was having health issues. I was experiencing some psychosis and when I spoke with a psychiatrist I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,' he said.

Adding: 'I was self-medicating through the trauma using alcohol.'

Zak, who is a father of two, went on to seek help in a 12-step program as well as group therapy, which helped him.
Megan Thee Stallion left fans in hysterics as she co-hosted The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Texas native stunned in a bold red wrap dress for her appearance while on the promotional trail for her new album Traumazine.

She delighted viewers with her hosting stint, which saw her chow down on pickles, spray the audience with champagne and play with her pet pooch 4oe.

Loving life: Megan Thee Stallion delighted fans as she chowed down on pickles, sprayed the audience with champagne and brought her dog on set while co-hosting The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday

She began with shocking Jimmy by announcing that she was a fan of stuffing hot Cheetos in pickles for a snack - revealing it was a common delicacy in her hometown of Houston.

Having brought the snack with her onto the set, she then chowed down on one with Jimmy also trying it out and enjoying the treat.

Megan also revealed that she's so fond of the snack that Jay Z had treated her to Cheetos when she signed with his label Roc Nation.

She explained: 'There were platters of Cheetos - I was going to sign anyway but yes! That's how you do it.'

Yum: She began with shocking Jimmy by announcing that she was a fan of stuffing hot Cheetos in pickles for a snack - revealing it was a common delicacy in her hometown of Houston

Pour it up: Jimmy and Megan then celebrated the launch of the new album with a bottle of champagne, with the rapper insisting that they 'make a mess'

Loved it: Megan's co-hosting stint went down a treat with viewers

Talk then turned to her new album, with Megan revealing: 'I had 50 songs recorded for this and we only chose 18.

'As an artist your label can try and control you and pick your songs for you but as an artist I made it a point to write all the songs that I loved and I liked and that meant something to me.

'I treated it like my diary I wanted to get more personal with my hotties [fans] - people have a perception of me that's not me at all.'

Hostess: Megan looked gorgeous as she co-hosted The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in a classic wrap dress

Stunner: The 27-year-old Texas native stunned in a bold red wrap dress that clung to her and showed off her cleavage

New music: She stopped by the long-running late night show to promote her new album Traumazine

Jimmy and Megan then celebrated the launch of the new album with a bottle of champagne, with the rapper insisting that they 'make a mess' and spraying the contents over the studio.

Taking to Twitter, fans penned: 'Champagne showers are the only way to really celebrate! Gratz Megan! #MeganOnFallon'; 'Megan knows how to party

'Congratulations'; 'meg making a mess up in this mans studio oh my goodness'; 'Jimmy wishes he had an umbrella Eni

'Loved this interview.'; 'Champagne shower so cool.'

Personable: The outspoken entertainer brought her larger than life personality to the set as she chatted with host Jimmy Fallon

Attention-grabbing: The Houston-raised rapper skipped a necklace, instead putting her busty chest on display in the low-cut, collared dress

Leggy: Megan showed some leg in her classic wrap dress, which had a thigh-high slit

Earlier in the day the music sensation put on a sexy display as she dropped in on Instagram to promote her album Traumazine, which was released at 12am EST on Friday.

Ahead of the release of her sophomore album she wrote, 'Only a few more hours until Traumazine drops,' in capital letters.

She also shared stunning album artwork and the track list for her project, the follow up to 2020's Good News.

In the caption she wrote emphatically: 'MY NEW ALBUM TRAUMAZINE IS OUT FRIDAY. PRESAVE IT NOW !!! Link in my bio.'

The 18-track collection of songs features collaborations with Jhene Aiko, Dua Lipa, and Latto, among others.
Adrian Dunbar has revealed his character in ITV's new detective drama, Ridley, will have a musical bent and was delighted when producers agreed to his request.

The Line Of Duty actor, 64, suggested the idea for protagonist Alex Ridley to sing in a nightclub he owns, as a way to cope with the death of his wife and daughter in a fire.

A man of many talents, Adrian performed Louis Armstrong classic What A Wonderful World on Irish talk show The Late Late Show in 2019.

Talented: Adrian Dunbar has revealed his character in ITV's new detective drama, Ridley, will have a musical bent and was delighted when producers agreed to his request

He told the Daily Mail: 'Ridley's on a journey of redemption after a tragedy, so there are aspects of his personality, such as his sense of humour, that we don't see initially.

'He isn't at that place yet where he can laugh at things  but hopefully he will further down the line.'

Adrian previously played Ted Hastings in the BBC cult police show for six series. He says he's delighted to be playing someone less office  and uniform  bound than Hastings.

'Ted's uniform, especially the starched white shirt, didn't do me any favours,' Adrian concedes.

Coming soon: The Line Of Duty actor, 64, suggested the idea for protagonist Alex Ridley to sing in a nightclub he owns, as a way to cope with the death of his wife and daughter in a fire

He went on to joke: 'I met a woman in Tesco who said: "You don't look nearly as fat as you do in Line Of Duty. It's probably those police-issue white shirts, isn't it?" I thought: "Charming!"

Officially, ITV say they 'can't speculate' about their new Sunday night detective drama filling the hole left by Morse and Endeavour and turning into a long-running staple.

It was reported in January that the first scenes of the year had been filmed in Lancashire.

The Irish actor will play Detective Inspector Alex Ridley, who is retiring from the police after years of dedicated service.

Old times: The upcoming show follows Dunbar's enormous success in writer Jed Mercurio's BBC hit Line Of Duty, where he won accolades for his role as Superintendent Ted Hastings

His replacement is DI Carol Farman, played by Bronagh Waugh, a former protegee whom Ridley mentored for many years and is now in charge of investigations.

When he's enlisted by Carol as a police consultant on a complex and compelling murder case, the investigation takes a dark and unexpected turn.

Turning to her old mentor for support, Carol is keen to access Ridleys unique insight into crime-solving which has served them so well in the past, prompting him to revive their partnership.

Cast: He will star alongside DI Carol Farman, Bronagh Waugh, a former protegee whom Ridley mentored for many years and is now in charge of investigations (pictured in 2018)

The upcoming show follows Adrian's enormous success in writer Jed Mercurio's hit Line Of Duty, where he won accolades for his role as hot-headed Ted.

Confirming work on the four two-hour long shows, Adrian previously said: 'Ridley has begun shooting and we really couldnt be off to a better start.

'Despite the wintry weather, everything from cast and crew right down to the catering is excellent.

'Bronagh Waugh has stepped into her characters shoes seamlessly and we have been joined by some great actors with more to come.'

Co-creator Jonathan Fisher, who also serves as Executive Producer on the new show, added: Its a real thrill for filming to be underway with such a top-rate cast starring alongside Adrian Dunbar and led by a superb production team.

'We cant wait to share this absorbing new detective series with our audience.'

Ridley has been commissioned for ITV by Head of Drama, Polly Hill, with Drama Commissioner, Chloe Tucker overseeing production of the drama from the channels perspective.

Ridley will premiere on ITV this autumn.
They're one of Australia's favourite comedy duos with nearly 20 years in the business.

But Hamish Blake and Andy Lee have admitted they're scared their careers may end over politically incorrect things that they said on old podcast episodes.

Speaking to Nova's Ben and Liam, Andy, 41, said he would be cancelled for the jokes he made in the early noughties if he said them today.

Hamish Blake and Andy Lee have admitted they're scared their careers may end over politically incorrect things that they said on old podcast episodes

'There are so many things that would cancel Hamish and I,' he admitted.

'I promise you  because Hamish and I do another podcast called The Remembering Project where we listen back  there are things we listen back to and go "nah, we're not going to say that in this day and age."

'Someone can trawl through and if they really want to, they can get their knives out and finish our careers.'

Speaking to Nova's Ben and Liam , Andy, 41, said he would be cancelled for the jokes he made in the early noughties if he said them today

Nova host Liam said he listened to an old episode from 2006 on the way to to the studio ahead of the interview with Andy.

'Hamish has been turkey slapped on the Hamish and Andy show!' Andy can be heard laughing in the clip.

'What are we doing!' laughed Lee. 'I can't even remember doing it, I've blocked it out of my mind!'

'The context here  that I think is important  is that you used a slice of turkey to slap him in the face,' Liam said.

Hamish and Andy are one of Australia's favourite comedy duos with nearly 20 years in the business

It comes as Andy Lee's hit game show The Hundred returned for a third season this week.

Popular guests will include comedians Tom Gleeson, Tommy Little, Nazeem Hussain and Luke McGregor, Love Island host Sophie Monk, Hamish Blake, Nath Valvo, Susie Youseff, Lizzy Hoo and more.

They will all join Andy, 41, panellist Mike Goldstein and 100 everyday Aussies who Zoom in every week to share their thoughts.

It comes as Andy Lee's hit game show The Hundred returned for a third season this week

'I asked The Hundred whether they wanted another season of the show and it was a resounding "yes". You have to trust the data,' Andy said in a statement to TV Blackbox.

'I also asked them whether they wanted Gold Logie winner Hamish Blake to replace me as host and Ive decided to keep their answer confidential.

'Some data you cant trust. Ill be back for season three.'

The show's format centres around Lee posing questions to three guest panellists, who battle it out to determine who knows Australia best.
A 67 million year old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was found 32 years ago today.

The species Tyrannosaurus rex is arguably one of the most popular dinosaurs in the history of the world, with its fame being catapulted by pop culture films such as "Jurassic World' and its sequels. Some of the earliest discoveries of Tyrannosaurus rex or T. Rex for short, dates back to 1874 near Golden, Colorado, where geologist Arthur Lakes found teeth. In the early 1890s, paleontologist John Bell Hatcher collected postcranial in eastern Wyoming.

It was in 1900 when the first partial skeleton of T. Rex was found in eastern Wyoming by Barnum Brown, a paleontologist who served as an assistant curator of the American Museum of Natural History. He later found another partial skeleton in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana in 1902, which had up to 34 fossilized bones,

But one of the most fascinating finds of a T. Rex skeleton was made on August 12, 1990 on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota by one marine archaeologist and paleontologist Susan Hendrickson. There, she found one of the most complete and best-preserved skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex to date. This Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton found on this day 32 years ago is now known as the quirky SUE the T. Rex on Twitter.

Read Also: New Dinosaur Species Discovered In Madagascar, Called The 'Lonely Bandit'

What You Need to Know About Sue the T. Rex

1. Specimen FMNH PR 2081 is more than 65 million years old.

On a summer day in 1990, explorer and fossil collector Sue Hendrickson discovered three huge bones protruding off a cliff near Faith, South Dakota. These bones were then identified as part of the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered and was identified as Specimen FMNH PR 2081. According to History.com, the T. Rex skeleton was more than 65 million years old.

2. Sue the T. Rex's skeleton was more than 90% complete.

When Hendrickson discovered Specimen FMNH PR 2081 32 years ago, she and scientists at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research found that the T. Rex skeleton was over 90% complete, making it one of the most well-preserved skeletons of that species ever to be found. The research institute paid $5,000 to Maurice Williams for rights to excavate the dinosaur skeleton from his land and transport it to the research facility in Hill City, South Dakota.

3. There was a legal battle over Specimen FMNH PR 2081.

Specimen FMNH PR 2081, who is now more popularly known as Sue the T. Rex, was in the middle of a legal battle in 1992 when the US Attorney's Office argued that the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was recovered from federal land and was therefore government property. Later, Williams was revealed to be a part-Native American and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe who traded in his land to the tribe to avoid property tax fees, rendering his sale of excavation rights to Black Hills as invalid.

Five years later in 1997, Specimen FMNH PR 2081 was purchased at a public auction at Sotheby's in New York City for $8.36 million. Chicago's Field Museum won the bid thanks to funding from the McDonald's and Disney corporations.

4. Sue the T. Rex lived to the upper end of the typical life expectancy of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Specimen FMNH PR 2081 or Sue the T. Rex dated back to the Cretaceous period, which is about 67 million years ago. Sue the T. Rex was one healthy rex, as it lived to the upper end of the predator's typical life expectancy of about 28 years. Sue was also found to have had an adolescent growth spurt and reached its full size at the age of 19, the Field Museum revealed.

5. Sue the T. Rex's sex is still unknown.

Scientists have yet to discover Sue the T. Rex's sex. However, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was named after Susan Hendrickson, the fossil collector who discovered it 32 years ago. Hendrickson was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2000 for her marvelous discovery of Sue the T. Rex." She also published an autobiography titled "Hunt for the Past: My Life as an Explorer" in 2010.

Related Article: New Species Of Dinosaur Discovered In Australia; Could Describe Evolutionary Tree


She hit the town for a girls night out with Love Island star Elma Pazar on Thursday.

But despite being out with her pals, Amber Turner looked distracted by her phone as they left the Mayfair Hotel in London ahead of their evening out.

The TOWIE star, 29, was seen looking down at her device as she walked along, while her two gal pals followed behind her.

Out and about! Amber Turner looked distracted by her phone as they left the Mayfair Hotel in London ahead of their evening out

During the outing, Amber showcased her pins in a pair of distressed denim hot pants, which she styled with a white top and a pair of woven gold heels.

The reality star wore her platinum blonde locks in loose waves and opted for a glamorous coat of make-up to enhance her pretty features.

Elma, 26, looked equally glam in a form-fitting pale blue top and a white mini skirt, with a pair of strappy heels.

Looking good! Elma, 26, looked equally glam in a form-fitting pale blue top and a white mini skirt

They were joined by another friend who looked stylish in a green top and a pair of wide-legged trousers and slip on heels.

Last month, Amber hit out at 'desperate newbies' in the The Only Way Is Essex cast, claiming some of the friendships are 'fake for the camera'.

But it appears Amber has already mended bridges with one of the newcomers, Elma, as they were spotted enjoying the night out together.

She blasted newcomers to the show, branding them 'desperate for stories', noting that she is often targeted at the receiving end of this.

Distracted? The TOWIE star, 29, was seen looking down at her device as she walked along, while her two gal pals followed behind her

The new series also sees Junaid Ahmed, Mia Sully, Hannah Voyen and Pia Smith join the cast.

In an exclusive chat with MailOnline, Amber explained: 'I dont think the new cast members have got genuine friendships. It is all fake for camera. Or the show is starting so everyone starts seeing each other for a few weeks to look like they are a solid group.'

Dubbing herself 'a target' for TOWIE newcomers, she added: 'People are desperate for stories. With me I am always a target, If they come for me they will get a reaction - It might be a s**t story but they will get a story'

Oh no! Amber was also recently rocked by claims that her boyfriend Dan (pictured) was 'flirting' with co-star Ella, 21, who's 11 years his junior, during an Essex night out

Amber was also recently rocked by claims that her boyfriend Dan was 'flirting' with co-star Ella, 21, who's 11 years his junior, during an Essex night out.

Ella sent a voice note to friends that circulated in Essex claiming Dan has always fancied her, and once Amber heard the message, she was furious, a TOWIE insider claimed.

The insider revealed: 'Amber couldn't believe what she was hearing.

'She lives with Dan, they have been together for years and share a dog, she thought they had moved on from Essex rumours and gossip.

'To be confronted with this all during filming for the new series in the Dominican Republic was hard for her too, she didn't expect to be at the forefront of another storyline about her relationship.'
Anne Heche looked happy in her very last Instagram post shared on July 14.

The 53-year-old star - who will have her life support turned off following her car crash a week ago, per her rep - smiled while on the beach set of an independent film she made with Joey Lawrence and his wife Samantha Cope Lawrence as well as his brother Andrew Lawrence.

'Good times on set with Lawrence Bros! ' the actress wrote in her caption.

DailyMail.com has learned she was shooting a small role in the romantic comedy called Frankie Meets Jack in Braintree, Massachusetts. The film wrapped in mid July and is still expected to be released next year.

Last one: Anne Heche looked happy in her very last Instagram post shared on July 14. The star - who is on life support after crashing her car into a Los Angeles home a week ago and is not expected to live, per her rep - smiled while on the beach set of a film with Joey Lawrence and his wife Samantha Cope Lawrence as well as Andrew Lawrence

Frankie Meets Jack 'follows a couple who fall in love through their dogs being best pals,' per an IMDB synopsis.

The stars of the movie are Joey and his wife Samantha with Anne having a bit part which was shot in a restaurant in Braintree, Massachusetts.

Anne wore a purple and pink blouse with a purple jacket that tied in front, white slacks and a turquoise necklace as she filmed her scene in a packed restaurant with a bar and stools.

The movie also includes scenes at a dog rescue center, in a park, at a coffee shop and at a wedding held on the beach. Filming took place from June 27 until July 13 in Braintree and Quincy, DailyMail.com has learned.

The director is Joey's brother Andrew Lawrence and the production company is Dawn's Light.

Dawn's Light Media shared a photo of Anne on camera. 'Set Life Sunday: @andrewlawrence directing a scene with @anneheche in Frankie Meets Jack.' Anne could be seen on the monitor in a scene.

In costume: Anne wore a purple and pink blouse with a purple jacket that tied in front, white slacks and a turquoise necklace as she posed with Joey and his wife

She worked till the end: DailyMail.com has learned she was shooting a romantic comedy called Frankie Meets Jack in Braintree, Massachusetts. Frankie Meets Jack 'follows a couple who fall in love through their dogs being best pals,' per an IMDB synopsis

Heche also added a video the day before - on July 13 - on the Massachusetts set.

'My summer job!' she said as she wore a plunging brown and beige polka dot summer dress with a cream colored hat.

'Hey everybody here in Boston, rocking a character, here in Boston with Joey Lawrence and his new wife Samantha doing a rom-com, having a blast and look how gorgeous,' she said in the self made video as she panned the shore where there were movie trailers.

The star appeared to be in a great mood.

Her rep shared on Thursday that Anne was brain dead while in a burn center in West Hills, California and her life support would be turned off.

TMZ reported the Six Days Seven Nights actress had cocaine in her system and possibly Fentanyl during the crash.

Good mood in July: Heche also added a video the day before - on July 13 - that where she was also on set. 'My summer job!' she said as she wore a plunging brown and beige summer dress with a hat

By the shore: 'Hey everybody here in Boston, rocking a character, here in Boston with Joey Lawrence and his new wife Samantha doing a rom-com, having a blast and look how gorgeous,' she said in the self made video as she panned the shore where there were movie trailers

The actress has been in a coma following a fiery smash in Los Angeles late last week, and the Donnie Brasco star was left with burns that needed 'surgical intervention', according to her representative.

They told PEOPLE: 'She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention.

'She is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident.'

Earlier this week, the star was said to be in a 'stable condition' in hospital after crashing into a house in the neighbourhood of Mar Vista at high speed on Friday but that has changed.

Local residents have been sharing their accounts of what happened, and one has recalled Anne told passers-by she 'wasn't doing real well' following the collision.

Last photo of the star: Her rep shared on Thursday that Anne was brain dead while in a burn center in Lost Hills, California and was not expected to live. A circle is around what appears to be a bottle of alcohol, but it has not been confirmed

Lynne Bernstein, who lives in nearby Venice with wife Natalie, told how he and neighbours Dave and Gabriel were able to talk to the Volcano star after she drove 'almost all the way through' a house and her car 'almost immediately' caught fire.

Dave was able to get into the back of the car to speak with the driver.

Lynne said: 'She responded that she wasn't doing real well. He actually talked to her briefly. Yeah, he asked her to raise her hand or something ... if she was okay and she said she couldn't.'

With her pals: Anne (center in a lei and hat) celebrated pride in June with her friends as she is seen in this image shared to the Instagram for her podcast Better Together Anne And Heather

The group tried their best to free Anne from her vehicle and Lynne thinks if they had been able to do so before the fire brigade arrives 'maybe she wouldn't be suffering the way she is now.'

Noting that Gabriel tried to put out the fire while Dave tried to get Anne out, Lynne said: 'We were having a hard time seeing and breathing.

'[Dave was] overcome by the smoke. So, he went to the back of the house to see if there was an alternative route, maybe we could get to her from the front of the vehicle. But the smoke, even on the backyard was pretty darn intense.'
Julia Bradbury showed off her incredible rock-hard abs as she shared a workout video to her Instagram on Friday weight-lifting a table.

The TV presenter, 52, proudly put on a red bikini top after undergoing reconstruction surgery last October following her breast cancer diagnosis.

She looked amazing once again as she displayed her impressive strength and explained the health benefits of exercising after a cancer diagnosis on her Story.

Impressive: Julia Bradbury showed off her incredible rock-hard abs as she shared a workout video to her Instagram on Friday weight-lifting a table

She teamed her swimwear with denim shorts for the video taken during her family trip to Greece.

She penned in the caption: 'When you don't have access to a gym or weights... Pick up a table!

'I love exercising outside & when I'm in my local park, I use park benches and logs to help my workout. There's always a way.'

Strong: The TV presenter, 52, proudly put on a red bikini top after undergoing reconstruction surgery last October following her breast cancer diagnosis

The former Countryfile presenter underwent a mastectomy in October during which her breast plus two lymph glands were removed before reconstruction took place.

Speaking to Woman & Home she joked: 'I have a breast, I have my nipple, but I don't have sensation and because I'm naturally slim, I have what I call the mozzarella-cheese effect around, as my friend Ben Shephard and I call it, my pneumatic boob.'

During a recent holiday the mother-of-two went on to tell Hello! magazine: 'I have this feeling of embracing everything now, grabbing everything that life has to offer with open arms'.

Working out: She looked incredible once again as she displayed her impressive strength and explained the health benefits of exercising after a cancer diagnosis on her Story

She continued: 'I wasn't sure that I would ever travel again - and certainly wasn't sure whether I'd wear a bikini ever again.'

Julia added she had always appreciated the 'healing power of nature' and did so even more now.

'I'm still at the acute end of coming through my diagnosis and coming to terms with everything, so life is very heightened,' she said.

Holiday: She teamed her swimwear with denim shorts for the video taken during her family trip to Greece

'The skies are a deeper shade of blue, the patterns of nature are more striking than usual. I'm taking it all in.'

The broadcaster said she was using her illness as an opportunity to 'reset' her emotional and physical health and now practises meditation and gratitude every day, sleeps at least eight hours each night and has cut out almost all alcohol.

She added: 'It will be a long time before you find me dancing on tables again - and I love dancing on tables.'

Wow! It comes after Julia oozed confidence on Tuesday as she soaked up the sun during her family holiday in Greece where she wore a yellow bikini

Candid: Julia recently revealed that the risk of her cancer returning is higher than average and detailed her experience learning to love her body after a mastectomy

Julia also told how she had promised at the beginning of the holiday to agree to any of her children's requests, from swimming to trekking or eating ice cream but only one a day.

She added: 'They are this size for such a short time: you blink and they're gone.

'I want to enjoy every one of those moments and they're even more magnified and precious now.'
Kyle Sandilands is returning to primtime television in a major way.

The KIIS FM radio host is stepping back into the world of reality TV as a judge on Channel Seven's upcoming Australian Idol reboot, reports the Daily Telegraph.

It's the second time he will appear on the show, following his stint on the original series from 2005 until 2009.

Kyle Sandilands (pictured) is stepping back into the world of reality TV as a judge on Channel Seven's upcoming Australian Idol reboot

Kyle will reportedly join 'two top international Grammy Award winning artists' on the judging panel when the show begins taping in the next few months.

The 51-year-old exited the original show in 2009 after a string of scandals, which included referring to 2005 winner Kate DeAraugo's arms as 'tuckshop lady arms'.

At the time, Channel 10 said in a statement: 'It's increasingly clear that as Idol has remained a family-focused show, his radio has taken on a more controversial position over this period which is not in the interest of the show.'

Kyle's exciting career announcement comes after he welcomed his first child, a baby boy named Otto, with fiancee Tegan Kynaston.

It's the second time Kyle will appear on the show, following his stint on the original series from 2005 until 2009

The new dad was seen wheeling baby Otto around in a tiny crib in the hospital as he called into his radio show via Zoom on Friday morning.

He proudly showed off a sleeping Otto to co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson and the team as he shared intimate, and at times, graphic details about the birth.

Kyle revealed Otto was born via a C-section and weighed 'just under 3kgs'.

'Everything is wonderful,' Kyle said, before going on to detail the birth.

'Tegan had to have a C-section and they put up a sheet and I looked, she said they hadn't started yet... I could see her intestines! Her face, I think she thought they were painting her with the Dettol.

The 51-year-old exited the original show in 2009 after a string of scandals. Pictured with Marcia Hines and Ian 'Dicko' Dickson

Kyle said Otto hasn't had his hair washed yet, but he confirmed it is blond.

Speaking about his unique name, which comes from a Germanic origin and means 'the wealthy one', Kyle said he'll give his son the life he 'always wanted' and joked how he will grow up to be an 'entitled Sydney rich kid'.

Kyle and Tegan announced they were expecting their first child in February.

Kyle and Tegan also became engaged in Port Douglas, Queensland, over the Christmas holidays.

Before dating Tegan, Kyle was with ex-girlfriend Imogen Anthony for eight years until they called it quits in 2019.
Model and muse Hailey Bieber looked absolutely flawless as she shared multiple images from her recent Victoria's Secret photoshoot with photographer Corey Tenold on Friday.

With her playful and radiant energy jumping off the screen, Bieber glowed as she rocked the designer's bra and panties in the polaroid-style snaps like those of model friend Bella Hadid who shot on the same day in New York.

The post featured the toned and sun-kissed skin care entrepreneur in two different lingerie sets.

Natural beauty: Model Hailey Bieber shared sexy polaroid-like images from a recent Victoria's Secret lingerie shoot in New York City on Friday

Leading off the collaborative post with Tenold, Bieber wore a white bust enhancing bra and high cut underwear both classics of the intimate apparel brand.

Although the set was simple in style, the model's taut core and decolletage made for a sensual display.

Set in front of a royal blue background, Bieber's loosely styled hair and natural makeup made for a 'just out of bed' allure.

Cheese! Bieber flashed a giant smile while the photographer took pics

Simply captioned '@haileybieber for @victoriassecret' the four image carousel boasted a less polished and more raw look at the gorgeous model who lit up in front of the camera as the flashes went off.

The second skimpy lingerie set Bieber wore, also white, was more ornate with dainty lace on both the bra and hip hugging panty.

The contour of Bieber's ultra toned obliques were accentuated as the model confidently moved about the set.

Blow me a kiss: Bieber exuded confidence and ease in lingerie

Bieber joined the roster of Victoria's Secret models in October 2021 and has been seen in many of their campaigns since.

Known for her stunning looks and easy-going personality, the model has a massive following of teens and young adults who look to her for inspiration.

Taking her personal brand beyond being a sought after model and Justin Bieber's beloved wife, Bieber recently launched her skincare line Rhode which sold out immediately upon release.
Embattled movie producer Randall Emmett was spotted in Los Angeles on Thursday enjoying a night out with friends.

Emmett, 51, who split with his fiance Lala Kent in October 2021, was dressed in his trademark black t-shirt, pants and sneakers outside the Le Fleur Lounge in the West Hollywood area.

The outing comes about six weeks after an explosive report in the Los Angeles Times that the The Irishman producer exhibited abusive behavior toward women, assistants and business partners, including allegations he required sexual favors from women in exchange for a part in his films.

Pictured: Lala Kent's ex-fiance Randall Emmett enjoys a night out with friends

Another woman claimed he pulled up in his Rolls Royce as she was leaving a bar in 2014, rolled down the window and told her, 'I'm not a creep, I promise. Im a movie producer, you can Google me  please Google me.'

He also faces a number of lawsuits accusing him of misrepresentation and civil fraud including one regarding an allegation of exploitation of Bruce Willis on Emmetts sets, as the actors cognitive abilities declined.

Emmett and Willis have made 20 films together, and he directed the actor in 2021's Midnight in the Switchgrass.

Sex for work: The Irishman producer is being sued by a woman who was told she needed to provide sex for work, and alleges she gave him massages and oral sex, and more during a three year period

Allegations: Lala Kent, 31, has accused her ex-fiance of domestic abuse in a lawsuit. Emmett is also being accused of abusive behavior toward women, assistants and business partners

Break up: The couple called off their engagement in November 2021. Emmett blames his legal troubles on Kent's efforts to gain full custody of their daughter, Ocean, born in March 2021

Emmett is also being sued by Kent, 31, for alleged domestic dispute.

The LA Times reported that one woman, who has remained nameless, said she gave the Silence producer 'massages and oral sex, allowed him to digitally penetrate her and stood nude in his office while he' pleasured himself over a three year period.

The Vanderpump Rules star and the producer met in 2016, but kept the relationship secret for before going public in 2018, after Emmett's divorce to You actress Ambyr Childers, 34, with whom he shares two children.

Emmett had a recurring role on the reality show after he and Kent announced their engagement later that year. Their wedding was planned for 2020, but postponed due to the pandemic. The couple welcomed a daughter, Ocean in March 2021.

The split later that year and the break was confirmed in November 2021. Through a spokesperson, Emmett has blamed his current legal troubles on his former flame, who is seeking full custody of their one-year-old.
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She was labeled a 'climate criminal' on social media last month for her numerous short private jet flights, including a 17-minute flight replacing a 45-minute drive.

And that criticism from fans appeared to get to Kylie Jenner on Thursday, when she was seen arriving in Los Angeles after her birthday trip to the Bahamas.

The 25-year-old Kardashians star was hidden from view by employees carrying at least five umbrellas, though her sister Kendall Jenner, 26, and partner Travis Scott, 31, didn't appear as concerned with going incognito.

Hiding: Kylie Jenner, 25, appeared to try to conceal herself after being labeled a 'climate criminal' as she exited a private jet in LA after her birthday trip to the Bahamas. She was joined on the flight by her sister Kendall Jenner, 26, beau Travis Scott, 31, and daughter Stormi Webster, four

Kylie appeared to be dressed for comfort on her trip, opting for a set of relaxed pale pink sweatpants.

She was seen with a hint of a white top peaking out from under her umbrellas, and she stayed on theme with comfortable gray-and-white trainers.

The Kylie Cosmetics entrepreneur made good use of one of her biggest birthday gifts, a gorgeous rust-colored Birkin bag from Hermes that she made a show of opening in a TikTok documenting her party aboard a yacht.

The luxurious bag was estimated to be worth around $100,000, owing to its extremely limited status  Kylie said in her video that only three were made  and its exquisite customizations, according to an expert who spoke to The Sun.

However, they noted it could have cost as much as double, but was likely much less, as 'It doesn't have the rare crocodile skin that is used for some of the more expensive bags...'

Holding the bag: Travis was seen carrying several luxury bags. He had performed in London with Kylie by his side before they traveled to the Bahamas for her birthday

Incognito: The Kardashians star was hidden from view by employees carrying at least five umbrellas. The secrecy was likely because her private jet flights have been widely scrutinized on social media

Pretty in pink: Kylie appeared to be dressed for comfort on her trip, opting for a set of relaxed pale pink sweatpants

Tagging along: Walking just behind her was her daughter Stormi Webster, who appeared to be holding another person's hand

Walking just behind Kylie as she deplaned was her daughter Stormi, whom she shares with her partner Travis.

The little girl looked adorable in a blue-and-aquamarine onesie, which she wore with the hood up.

She also appeared to be carrying a stuffed toy as she marched behind her mother.

Kylie has had a busy flight schedule in recent days, despite the rampant criticism she has received on social media.

Carbon spewing: Kylie has been on a traveling spree this month. She took a 24-hour trip to Milan on her jet, followed by a more extended London Trip. But after flying down to the Bahamas for her birthday, she plane traveled repeatedly to Florida, along with a flight to New York, though she may not have been aboard for all of those voyages

Casual: Kylie was seen with a hint of a white top peaking out from under her umbrellas, and she stayed on theme with comfortable gray-and-white trainers

Birthday present: The Kylie Cosmetics entrepreneur made good use of one of her biggest birthday gifts, a gorgeous rust-colored Birkin bag from Hermes that she made a show of opening in a TikTok documenting her party aboard a yacht

Pricy! The luxurious bag was estimated to be worth around $100,000, owing to its extremely limited status  Kylie said in her video that only three were made  and its exquisite customizations, according to an expert who spoke to The Sun. However, they noted it could have cost as much as double, but was likely much less, as 'It doesn't have the rare crocodile skin that is used for some of the more expensive bags...'

During an earlier European vacation, she appears to have taken a one-day trip to Milan, Italy, flying in on August 2 and out again the following day.

She then flew to London, where she spent some time with Travis and Stormi from around August 4 until the August 8.

According to the automated Twitter account @celebjets, which posts arrivals and departures from high-profile celebrity jets, Kylie's jet arrived in the Bahamas on the same day she left London  August 8  only for her jet to make several trips over the next few days between the Bahamas and Florida, all the way up to New York State, then back to the Bahamas and finally across the US back to Los Angeles on Thursday.

Although her jet may have taken numerous trips in just a few days, Kylie wasn't necessarily aboard each flight, and some of the trips may have been to ferry friends or family to join her in the Bahamas for her celebration.

A TikTok video that the entrepreneur posted shortly after the festivities showed her sisters Kim and Kendall joining her for a party aboard a yacht, along with Kim's children, their mother Kris Jenner, Kylie's BFF Stassie Karanikolaou and Kim's good friend La La Anthony, among other revelers.

Too cute: Stormi looked adorable in a blue-and-aquamarine onesie, which she wore with the hood up. She also appeared to be carrying a stuffed toy as she marched behind her mother

Catching a ride: Although the other guests appear to have made their way home other ways, Kylie's older sister Kendall took a ride with her on her pink-accented jet

Legs for days: The high-profile model showcased her long, trim legs thanks to a set of tiny white shorts, which she matched with a pair of white trainers and tall white ribbed socks

Classic style: She completed the look, which was reminiscent of Princess Diana's low-key sweatshirt-and-shorts ensembles, with a nondescript royal blue sweatshirt from KSUBI. The catwalk star wore her raven locks down with a middle part, and she covered her modestly made-up face with slim black sunglasses

Accessorized: She carried a large beige-and-tan bag out to a waiting car

Although the other guests appear to have made their way home other ways, Kylie's older sister Kendall took a ride with her on her pink-accented jet.

The high-profile model showcased her long, trim legs thanks to a set of tiny white shorts, which she matched with a pair of white trainers and tall white ribbed socks.

She completed the look, which was reminiscent of Princess Diana's low-key sweatshirt-and-shorts ensembles, with a nondescript royal blue sweatshirt from KSUBI.

The catwalk star wore her raven locks down with a middle part, and she covered her modestly made-up face with slim black sunglasses. She carried a large beige-and-tan bag out to a waiting car.

Travis was left carrying several several more bags, including a striking white Louis Vuitton bag covered in a multicolored pattern, a smaller dark brown suitcase from the same fashion house and a luxury backpack.

He looked relatively relaxed in black sweatpants and a matching hoodie, though he added a splash of color to the monochrome look with a pair of neon yellow trainers.

The rapper, who was swept up in controversy after ten people were killed due to a crowd surge during his headlining set at his Astroworld festival in Houston, recently returned to performing at high-profile events.

In July, he made his return to festivals when he was a guest during Future's set at Rolling Loud in Miami, and he headlined his first arena show since the Astroworld tragedy when he performed at London's iconic O2 arena during his trip to the UK with Kylie and Stormi.

Bag man: Travis was left carrying several several more bags, including a striking white Louis Vuitton bag covered in a multicolored pattern, a smaller dark brown suitcase from the same fashion house and a luxury backpack

No fuss: He looked relatively relaxed in black sweatpants and a matching hoodie, though he added a splash of color to the monochrome look with a pair of neon yellow trainers

After everyone had disembarked, their luggage was seen rolling out of the plane on the conveyor belt. Among the pricy suitcases were several bulky pale pink cases.

Employees were also seen pushing luggage racks weighed down with thick garment bags.

Kylie's polluting plane trips have come under fire in recent weeks, particularly after she took a 12-minute flight on the $70 million jet from her Hidden Hills home to Camarillo, California, when she could have made the same 26-mile journey in around 40 minutes.

The wasteful rip was exacerbated by the face that Kylie and her entourage had to drive 30 minutes in the opposite direction to get to the airport, which ultimately made her total trip longer than if she had just driven.

According to experts, she likely spent around $1600 in jet fuel costs, though she would have spend much more on the trip  around $7200  if she was commissioning a private jet rather than flying in her own plane.

On the move: During an earlier European vacation, Kylie appears to have taken a one-day trip to Milan, flying in on August 2 and out again the following day. She then flew to London, where she spent some time with Travis and Stormi from around August 4 until the August 8

Dizzying: According to the Twitter account @celebjets, which posts flights from high-profile celebrity jets, Kylie's jet arrived in the Bahamas on the same day she left London, only to make several trips over the next few days between the Bahamas and Florida, all the way up to New York State, then back to the Bahamas and finally across the US back to Los Angeles on Thursday
Millie Bobby Brown was seen on a date with her boyfriend of one year, Jon Bon Jovi's son Jake Bongiovi, in New York City's Little Italy neighborhood on Thursday.

The star was flashing a gold band on her wedding finger, which has not been seen before. It is not known if Jake was wearing a ring as well on his marriage finger.

The Stranger Things actress is only 18-years-old and Jake is 20-years-old so the ring may be more of a promise ring, though his parents did tie the knot at a young age: Jon and Dorothea were both around 27-years-old when they wed in 1989.

A new ring? Millie Bobby Brown flashed a gold band on her wedding finger when she was seen on a date with her boyfriend of one year, Jon Bon Jovi's son Jake Bongiovi, in New York City's Little Italy neighborhood on Thursday

DailyMail.com has reached out to Brown's publicist for more information on the ring.

Millie flashed the gold ring when wearing a black sweatshirt with a red and white boot design on front, sand colored sweatpants and Fila sneakers.

Her hair was pulled up with sunglasses on top of her head and dainty gold heart-shaped earrings on and she carried a cup of take-out coffee.

The actress was also seen in a pair of Tommy Hilfiger overalls with a white T-shirt as she applied lip gloss on the sidewalk next to her beau.

She added blue tinted sunglasses.

Ringed: The Stranger Things actress is only 18-years-old and Jake is 20-years-old so the ring may be more of a promise ring

Married young: His parents did tie the knot at a young age: Jon and Dorothea were both around 27-years-old when they wed in 1989

Jake had on blue T-shirt with a pocket on front along with khaki slacks and black chunky sneakers.

He added sunglasses on his head as he carried a take out container.

That same day they were seen sharing an ice cream sundae in a photo shared to Instagram as she posted the caption, 'Always b my baby <3.'

Earlier this week they lovebirds were seen together at the Stranger Things: The Experience in New York.

The English actress became an internationally recognized child star on the smash hit Netflix series Stranger Things.

She did not have a band on her wedding finger at this time.

She was spotted giving a group - including Mariah Carey's 11-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan - a VIP tour of its New York City pop-up.

Change of clothes: The actress was also seen in a pair of Tommy Hilfiger overalls with a white T-shirt as she applied lip gloss on the sidewalk next to her beau. She added blue tinted sunglasses

Mariah shares Monroe and Moroccan with her second ex-husband Nick Cannon, who just welcomed his eighth child and has a ninth on the way.

Closing September 4, Stranger Things: The Experience is an immersive hourlong extravaganza that re-creates 'Hawkins Lab.'

Millie was sprightly as ever during her latest outing, cutting a summery figure in a colorful floral top and matching slacks.

She could be seen sharing a warm laugh with her boyfriend as the children on the tour gathered around them.

Ice cream social: That same day they were seen sharing an ice cream sundae in a photo shared to Instagram as she posted the caption, 'Always b my baby <3'

At one point the showbiz couple, who have been dating since the summer of last year, were spotted peering over Millie's phone together.

Stranger Things follows the residents of a small made-up Indiana town in the 1980s where bizarre supernatural events begin to take place, causing a boy to vanish.

Season four dropped on Netflix in two parts in May and July, and a fifth and final season will be following on afterwards.

Power couple: Here they are seen arm in arm at the Stranger Things season four premiere at Netflix Brooklyn in May

The cast includes Winona Ryder, as well as people like Millie, David Harbour and Finn Wolfhard who were elevated to stardom by the series.

They feature among names including Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke's daughter Maya Hawke, as well as Joe Keery and Gaten Matarazzo.

Meanwhile Jake has decided not to follow his father into the music business and is embarking on an acting career instead.

When asked by Man About Town magazine about a potential music career, he said: 'I think I'll leave that to my dad! There's really no following the act there.'

Jake reflected: 'As long as you can have your identity  who you are and what you originally set out to do  and keep that strong, that's the goal.'
Martha Stewart took it in stride after a meme suggesting she could be Pete Davidson's next romantic interest went viral.

The 81-year-old lifestyle guru was pictured holding hands with the 28-year-old former Saturday Night Live star when she attended the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner as a guest of DailyMail.com, which set social media buzzing.

Martha let out a hearty chuckle when DailyMail.com caught up with her in Sin City as she prepares to open her first-ever restaurant at the Paris in Las Vegas tonight - to ask if she might be Pete's next celebrity girlfriend.

'Pete Davidson is like the son I never had,' she gushed.

Sweet: Martha Stewart, 81, gushed that 'Pete Davidson is like the son I never had,' after DailyMail.com asked her about hilarious memes linking the two after his split from Kim Kardashian; seen together in April at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

The Bedford by Martha Stewart is inspired by her farmhouse in Bedford, New York, and it features a menu packed with a variety of her favorite dishes, along with her own California chardonnay, produced by 19 Crimes.

Her fans can even find the lovely pots and pans stocking the Bedford's kitchen at her website Martha.com.

Meanwhile, Martha appeared to have had a great time after meeting up with Pete.

New venture: Martha was in Sin City as she prepared to open her first-ever restaurant

Just like home: The Bedford by Martha Stewart is inspired by her farmhouse in Bedford, New York

Leading ladies: She joins Lisa Vanderpump, who recently opened Vanderpump a Paris in Vegas

'He is a charming boy who is finding his way,' she added sweetly.

Her fans might even get a chance to hear more from the King Of Staten Island star, she revealed.

'I've invited him to come on my podcast and I look forward to hearing what he has to say,' she added.

Prime location: The restaurant is located at the Paris Las Vegas, which is modeled after the City of Lights and features a half-sized Eiffel Tower

Tasty: The Bedford features a menu packed with a variety of her favorite dishes

Having a drink: In addition to her classic dishes, the restaurant serves her California chardonnay, produced by 19 Crimes, which also makes wine in collaboration with her pal Snoop Dogg

The memes about Martha and Pete began circulating online after the two were pictured holding hands in exclusive DailyMail.com photos from the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April.

It was a purely friendly gesture, as they were posing together with the comedian's then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian, who split from him earlier this month.

Given Pete's penchant for dating a string of high-profile celebrity women, Martha became a popular guess as to his next love interest, despite her being more than 50 years his senior.

More to come: 'He is a charming boy who is finding his way,' Martha added. She revealed that she invited him on her podcast. 'I look forward to hearing what he has to say,' she added

Meme-worthy: The TV writer GenneFer Gross previously tweeted the photo of Pete and Martha, with their clasped hands circled in red. 'We should've seen this coming,' she joked

The TV writer Gennefer Gross previously tweeted the photo of Pete and Martha, with their clasped hands circled in red.

'We should've seen this coming,' she joked in the caption.

Prior to his nine months dating the Skims billionaire, Pete was briefly engaged to Ariana Grande, and he carried on short relationships with Kate Beckinsale, Bridgerton's Phoebe Dynevor, Margaret Qualley, Kaia Gerber and Cazzie David, among others.

His split from Kim came seemingly as a surprise, though the two reportedly drifted apart gradually due to their at-odds schedules.

The lovebirds were already bicoastal, with Pete based in New York City while Kim lived in Los Angeles with her children, but he had recently ben spending a great deal of time in Australia while filming.
She's been enjoying a holiday-filled summer with her two daughters and husband Chris Hughes.

And on Friday, Amanda Holden, 51, took to Instagram to share another glamorous snap while soaking up the sun on a lavish boat in Sicily.

The TV personality flaunted her incredible figure in a blue triangle bikini which she covered over in a green patterned shirt in the snap which she posted on her Instagram Stories.

Looking good: On Friday, Amanda Holden, 51, took to Instagram to share a glam blue bikini snap of herself soaking up the sun on a lavish boat while in Sicily

The Heart Radio presenter sheltered from the hot weather under a large black sun vizor keeping her blonde tresses out of her face.

She enjoyed the incredible views as she looked out into the ocean holding onto her hat and accessorising with layered gold necklaces.

Amanda completed her holiday attire with a black crossbody handbag and held her phone in her hand.

The Instagram Story follows after Amanda took to TikTok last week to boogie as she danced jokingly alongside her daughters Lexi, 16, and Hollie, 10, with the trio bearing a striking resemblance.

Wow: The TV personality looked nothing short of sensational as she soaked up the sun in the incredible snap

The family were joined by Alan Carr, who she's currently filming a new show with in the Mediterranean island, and a group of others for the video.

Amanda donned a white sundress with a v-neckline, cut out and spaghetti strap design for the video, while her blonde locks were left down in a soft curl.

Lexi also sported a white dress with a puff sleeve design, giggling for the playful video.

Busting a move: The snap follows after Amanda showed off her dancing skills on Saturday as she enjoyed a boogie for a TikTok video in Sicily

Lookalike: She danced jokingly alongside her daughters Lexi, 16, and Hollie, 10, with the trio bearing a striking resemblance

Matching: The trio all sported white dresses for the evening of fun

Beauty: Amanda's blonde locks were left down in a soft curl, as she opted for a glowing palette of makeup

While Hollie stood beside Alan, with Amanda's mum holding on to the youngster as it appeared to be a family affair.

For one video, the camera began on her as she danced towards it, before panning to the group - where Alan, Hollie and Lexi all showed off their skills.

While another displayed the Chatty Man as the centre dancer, before panning to Amanda and her daughters who danced side by side.

Going for it: Her eldest daughter Lexi, 16, giggled while dancing as she sported a puff sleeve white dress

Group: Alan Carr was in fits of laughter as he stood beside Lexi, with Amanda's mother beside him too

The Britain's Got Talent judge captioned the video: 'Fornite moves in sicily'.

Chatty Man: The comedian also posted his own video, where he began with the camera on himself

Amanda has been keeping her 1.8M Instagram followers updated with family snaps throughout their getaway, as she mixes some work with holiday time.

She and Alan are currently filming a BBC property show together  where they renovate a house in Italy for the new programme.

With her family joining her on this trip of filming, it comes after she enjoyed a trip to Greece with them - sharing a slew of sun-soaked shots.
Action taken to reduce conflict with elephants

By LI YINGQING, CHEN MEILING (China Daily) 09:33, August 12, 2022

Bao Mingwei, a veterinarian from Wild Elephant Valley in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan, inspects elephants in the wild. JIANG WENYAO/XINHUA

Measures help safeguard villagers, protect homes and crops

Bao Mingwei, 42, a senior veterinarian at an elephant reserve in Yunnan province, thinks he knows the secret of his innate ability to attract the giant creatures. "Maybe I just smell like them," he said.

"Sometimes I have to stand in the elephants' dung, while other times my clothes are stained by them. We vets are also at risk of being attacked," said Bao, who has worked at Wild Elephant Valley in the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture for 22 years and is known as an "elephant doctor".

In March last year, the story of a group of wandering Asian elephants made news around the world.

Three months later, a young male elephant left the herd and wandered alone for about 30 days. To ensure its safety, Bao anesthetized the animal and took it to the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. It was the first case in China of a wild elephant being taken back to its habitat after roaming over a long distance.

"There is scant material to refer to when rescuing elephants. Most of the time, we rely on our experience," Bao said.

Bao followed the elephant for 33 days, estimating its weight by observing the animal's physique, teeth and footprints in order to administer the correct dose of anesthetic.

On Aug 8 last year, more than 10 elephants returned to their habitat in the Mengyang area of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve after wandering for 1,300 kilometers in about 110 days. Tens of thousands of people helped track the animals' movements and guide them home.

Chen Fei, director of the Asian elephants research center at the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said the herd has separated into two groups, one of which has joined a large family of elephants.

"This means that in general the elephant population is healthy and that there are frequent exchanges between herds," Chen said.

He added that an elephant calf born at the reserve is doing well.

The Asian elephant, the continent's largest land mammal, is native to a total of 13 countries and regions. There are estimated to be 40,000 to 50,000 of the animals in the world. In China, the species is a first-class protected wild animal, and is found mainly in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er and Lincang, Yunnan.

Despite the population of Asian elephants falling over the past 30 years, the number of the animals in China rose to about 300 by the end of last year, meaning that the relationship between humans and the elephants had become more harmonious, according to experts.

Chen said: "The number has risen by about 100 over the past decade. Individual young elephants are also being observed more frequently."

A breeder feeds a calf at the Xishuangbanna reserve. WANG YUHENG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Pilot project

Xiangyanqing village, located on the perimeter of the reserve, is often visited by the elephants. Villager Duan Zhongming said, "They ate corn at our home, and we had to hide upstairs."

In 2017, one of China's first pilot projects to prevent attacks from elephants was launched in the village, where barriers were erected to keep the animals out. Now, an 800-meter guardrail surrounds the village to protect residents. Tourism is also being developed locally.

Conflict between humans and elephants is not uncommon in Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and India.

In Yunnan, a monitoring and alert system tracks elephants' movements. Infrared cameras and drones are also used for this work. To avoid coming into contact with the animals, residents receive real-time messages detailing the elephants' locations through an app, social media and radio.

On July 31, elephant observer Diao Faxing, 47, woke at 5 am to examine footage from a drone. He confirmed that every elephant herd in Dashujiao village, Jiangcheng county, Pu'er, was at a safe location. Diao then sent a voice message to the village's WeChat group, and after hearing that the elephants were in a safe location, residents set out to start farmwork.

During the day, Diao and his colleagues monitored the elephants and informed villagers of the animals' movements. They also observed the elephants' health.

Diao said the number of elephants near the village is rising, and the animals are developing closer bonds with the locals, which is causing problems.

"Elephants used to hide in the woods during the day, coming out to feed at night when villagers were at home. Now, the animals wander in the village during the day, and residents are no longer afraid of them. We have to remind them to keep a safe distance," he said.

Diao is one of 64 observers in Pu'er contributing to a 24-hour alert system. He and his colleagues follow the elephants in vehicles, bringing along drones, sleeping bags, clothing and simple stoves. They go to sleep around 1 am, sometimes in villagers' homes.

Information obtained about the elephants is uploaded to an app developed in the county.

Diao was a truck driver before becoming an observera job he was initially attracted to out of curiosity, but which he now feels has great significance.

An elephant herd once visited a tea plantation where an elderly man was working. The man, who had difficulty hearing, had not received a message about the elephants on WeChat. After seeing that the animals were just 10 meters from the man, Diao quickly escorted him to a safer place.

Roaming elephants approach Yangwu town, Yuxi, Yunnan province, on July 8 last year. CUI YONGHONG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Safety precautions

Last year, the authorities in Pu'er spent 1.15 million yuan ($170,000) on 18 drones and also installed solar energy street lamps, safety warning boards and protection barriers to ensure residents' safety.

Diao said that in an ideal scenario, humans and elephants would live together harmoniously. "The hope is that the animals and humankind can develop a better relationship," he added.

However, the monitoring and alert system still does not offer adequate protection for villagers' property. The elephants favor 400 types of food, compared with about 100 varieties in the 1980s. They are especially fond of corn, rice and sugarcane, according to Guo Xianming, director of the reserve's scientific institute.

In Bajiaoqing village, Yuxi, Yunnan, after a large quantity of corn grown by villager Qin Zhihui was damaged by elephants, insurance worker Chen Bin was called in to assess the losses.

Chen Bin said GPS was used to estimate the area of farmland damaged by the animals, and Qin received compensation of 1,932 yuan for his 0.19 hectares of corn. The claim was settled within a week.

In 2014, such insurance cover was extended throughout Yunnan. Over the past decade, compensation totaling 173 million yuan has been paid in cases involving elephants.

Dao Fachang, 40, a resident of Dadugang village, Xishuangbanna, said elephants entered the village in July and August each year to eat corn, rice and fruit. Although his family received compensation from an insurance company for damage caused by the animals, he said it did not cover the losses.

Yan Yonghan, who is responsible for wild animals accident public liability insurance at the Xishuangbanna branch of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, said that since 2010, the local government has offered insurance for residents, who don't have to pay the premium.

Premiums and compensation have risen over the years. However, claims are now settled in a week, rather than six months previously, enabling farmers to quickly receive reimbursement and use it in daily life, Yan said.

This year in Pu'er, crops favored by elephants have been planted on 466 hectares of wasteland to meet the animals' demand for food and reduce the chances of them entering villages. Ownership of the land has not changed.

Chen, from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said a national park for elephants is being established as part of the measures taken to resolve conflict between the animals and humans. The park will also help promote protection of the species, other endangered creatures, plants and the rainforest.

"The venue aims to restore the Asian elephants' habitat, promote stable and healthy development of the elephant population, enhance its genetic character, and ease tensions between humans and the animals," he said.

Wandering elephants take a rest after arriving at Yimen county, Yuxi, on June 13 last year. The herd returned to its habitat in Xishuangbanna after roaming for 1,300 kilometers in about 110 days. XINHUA

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
The string-like material that the Perseverance rover photographed on the Martian surface is likely just Dacron netting, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

As per CBS News, the mysterious material turns out to be just trash that the rover discarded itself.

String-Like Material Photographed on Mars is Likely Dacron Netting

In NASA's blog posted last week, the agency said that hardware as Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) was discarded onto the Martian surface when the Perseverance landed on the planet in February 2021.

What NASA is seeing now is the debris from imagery in the Hogwallow Flats region of the Red Planet. Scientists believe that the tangled object, along with the other material in the photos, is possibly pieces of shredded Dacron netting.

"The hardware teams suspect that this is another piece of Dacron netting, based on the observed 22 mm2 grid mesh pattern," said Justin Maki, JPL's imaging scientist and Mastcam-Z deputy principal investigator, as cited by the New York Post.

According to Maki, this particular piece of netting seems to have undergone significant unraveling or shredding. The appearance suggests that it was subjected to strong forces.

NASA shared additional images of EDL system debris, which include a piece of multi-layer insulation. The said material likely comes from the skycrane.

While the skycrane crash site is two kilometers (1.2 miles) to the southeast, it is likely that the material was blown by the wind in the last several days or weeks, according to Maki.

He explained that the dot pattern on the material is similar to the pattern of the thermal blankets installed onto the spacecraft, which were made in one of two varieties, Perforated Aluminized Kapton and Mylar.

There were subsequent images of the blanket seen and based on the images, it appears that it was snagged on a rock and could be seen "flapping in the breeze."

Read Also: NASA Perseverance Rover Captures Photo of Odd-Looking Rock: 3 Other Unusual Photos Captured by the Mars Rover

Perseverance Team Members Review Images of the Debris

In June, more Dacron netting material was photographed by the Perseverance rover. The NASA operations team has recorded around half a dozen pieces of suspected EDL debris as of July 24.

According to Maki, the first EDL debris was observed in Hogwallow Flats on April 16. The area appears to be a "natural collecting point for windblown EDL debris," as per JPL.

NASA blog explains that Dacron is considered as polyester fiber, which is known for its durability, consistency and quality.

But as noted by CBS News, the particular piece of netting photographed by the rover appears to have undergone significant unraveling and shredding.

Maki noted that the Perseverance team members are reviewing images of the debris. The team is trying to identify if the material may pose as a potential contamination source for the sample tubes.

According to CBS News, the NASA blog noted that engineers are also considering the chances that EDL debris might be a source of entanglement risk to the rover.

Maki said that the Perseverance imaging teams will keep on reviewing images of the terrain for possible sources of EDL debris.

Related Article: NASA Shares Perseverance Rover Photo of the Martian Landscape
Ellen DeGeneres posted a heartfelt message to her ex-girlfriend Anne Heche just before it was revealed that the actress has died aged 53.

The former talk-show host's message came just moments before it was confirmed Friday morning that Heche was declared legally dead, though her heart is being kept beating so that it can be harvested for donation.

'This is a sad day,' said DeGeneres, 64, who dated Heche from 1997 to 2000. 'I'm sending Anne's children, family and friends all of my love.'

The way they were: Ellen DeGeneres posted a heartfelt message to her ex-girlfriend Anne Heche just before it was revealed that the actress has died aged 53

'This is a sad day': DeGeneres, who who dated Heche from 1997 to 2000. 'I'm sending Anne's children, family and friends all of my love'

DeGeneres and Heche were serious enough that in 1999, they declared that if Vermont legalized same-sex marriage in a highly publicized case then before the state's supreme court, they would tie the knot.

Heche's team announced this Thursday that she was 'not expected to survive' the injuries she sustained from her fiery car crash on August 5, when she drove into a house at 90mph while under the influence of cocaine.

Heche's ex James Tupper, with whom she had fought a protracted and bitter custody battle over their son Atlas, 13, put their differences aside and wrote simply: 'love you forever,' with a broken heart emoji.

Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills Kyle Richards wrote in his comments: 'Im so sorry Thinking of you and both her boys.'

Throwback to 1997: DeGeneres and Heche were serious enough that in 1999, they declared that if Vermont legalized same-sex marriage, they would tie the knot

Putting their differences aside: Heche is pictured in 2009 with her ex James Tupper, with whom she had fought a protracted and bitter custody battle over their son Atlas, 13

Warm words: He put their differences aside Friday morning and wrote: 'love you forever,' adding a broken heart emoji

Loving words: Celebrities ranging from Cruel Intentions actress Selma Blair to Gina Schock of The Go-Gos tweeted tributes to Heche

Heche is survived by two sons - Atlas, whom she had with Tupper, and Homer, 20, whom she had with her ex-husband Coleman Laffoon.

Selma Blair wrote a heartfelt Instagram tribute to Blair, sharing: 'Since I came to Hollywood, I met so many dear people who loved anne from way back. And continue to. I was always told how much I would love her and she remained a light to admire.'

Blair continued: 'She clearly is one of the great actresses of our time and this tragedy is haunting. She was remarkable. And perhaps very complicated but seemed to fight like hell to do the best for everyone she loved. May her memory be a blessing. Love and support to all who knew and loved @anneheche. Comfort to her boys. Love.'

After Heche was declared dead this Friday, Gina Schock of The Go-Gos tweeted: 'Not sure what's going on in the world but 53 years young we say goodbye to @anneheche May you, your family, friends and fans find peace in this difficult time.'

Police sources told TMZ this week that their preliminary blood tests, using blood drawn while Heche was in the hospital, showed cocaine in her system.

Throwback: After her team announced she was unlikely to survive, Ed Helms, her co-star in the 2011 movie Cedar Rapids (pictured), expressed his grief on Twitter

The tests also turned up fentanyl, but because hospitals also use fentanyl for pain relief, it is currently unclear if it was in her bloodstream during the accident.

Heche first crashed into a garage, then sped away from the scene and barreled headlong into the two-story home of Lynne Mishele, who sustained serious enough injuries that the police opened a felony investigation.

It took 59 firefighters over an hour to extinguish the blazing house - and half an hour to extract Heche from the car, which exploded in the crash.

A small bottle of vodka was pictured in Heche's car, but the preliminary blood tests performed after she was hospitalized did not find alcohol in her system.

She was hospitalized and spent days in a coma before she was declared braindead, though she remains on life support for the purposes of organ donation.

Thomas Jane, whom she had been dating since 2019, confirmed after the crash to DailyMail.com that they had broken up.

The actress turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with the psychological effects of her traumatic childhood, during which she was sexually abused by her secretly gay father who went on to die of AIDS.

What a cast: Isiah Whitlock Jr., who appeared with Heche in Cedar Rapids (pictured), wrote that she was 'One of the kindest and most talented actors Ive ever worked with'

After her team announced she was unlikely to survive, Ed Helms, her co-star in the 2011 movie Cedar Rapids, expressed his grief on Twitter.

'Anne Heche news today is so heartbreaking. A truly epic, vibrant spirit and a profound talent,' he wrote. Sending tremendous love and support to her family.'

Rosanna Arquette tweeted Thursday night: 'Im very upset and sad that Anne Heche is not expected to live.And yes she would have been arrested for driving under the influence and putting lives in danger .she still is a great artist and struggled with addiction its terribly sad for her children and for her friends.'

Real time: Rosanna Arquette tweeted Thursday: 'Im very upset and sad that Anne Heche is not expected to live,' then after Heche was declared dead she wrote: 'Rest In Peace now Anne'

Side by side: Her performance in Proof on Broadway in 2000 drew particular praise from her co-star Stephen Kunken and from Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn

Tributes poured in on social media this Friday after the actress was declared dead, including from Rosanna who tweeted simply: 'Rest In Peace now Anne.'

Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn added his voice to the choir on Twitter: 'Honest to God, I think maybe the best acting performance Ive ever seen in my life was Anne Heche in PROOF on Broadway.'

Heche's co-star in Proof, Stephen Kunken, had tweeted the previous night: 'Some years ago I was Anne Heches quirky suitor in PROOF on Broadway. She was as kooky and utterly fabulous as I could have ever dreamed.'

He hailed her as 'An immense talent I loved playing opposite & more importantly a truly decent human and friend. The news is just unendingly sad.'

'Dancing with all your heart': Carrie Ann Inaba, who was one of the judges on Dancing With The Stars when Anne competed on the show in 2020, shared her memories as well

Isiah Whitlock Jr., who appeared with Heche in Cedar Rapids, wrote: 'RIP Anne Heche. My heart breaks. One of the kindest and most talented actors Ive ever worked with. God bless you. You will be greatly missed.'

Carrie Ann Inaba, who was one of the judges on Dancing With The Stars when Anne competed on the show in 2020, shared her memories as well.

'Rest In Peace. @Anne Heche May your soul be at peace. We will miss your beautiful, unique and free spirited energy,' she wrote on Twitter. 'I will always remember your performance on @officialdwts in that [rainbow] costume, dancing with all your heart. thank you for being you.'

Ariel Winter's ex Levi Meaden, who played Anne's son on a series called Aftermath, wrote: 'Im at a loss as I write this. Lord knows she had her struggles in life, but it led her to carry herself the way she did, led her to be the woman I met. She told me the only one holding me back was me, and that I needed to be my own hero.'

'She is an icon': Ariel Winter's ex Levi Meaden, who played Anne's son on a series called Aftermath, wrote: 'Im at a loss as I write this'

'It was an honor': Priyanka Chopra, who acted with Heche on Quantico, wrote: 'My heart goes out to Anne Heche's children, family, friends, and everyone who grieves'

He recalled: 'She gave me so much advice. She taught me how to carry myself in this industry. She is an icon. She was an immense talent. She was a lot of things but my most importantly she was loved.'

Meaden continued: 'Im heartbroken, and I know many, many other people are as well. Ive been reading so many experiences similar to mine and that impact is a testament to who she is. Anne seemed to know a lot about what it is to be human, and the ferocious courage it takes to fully embrace that.'

He wrote that Anne 'knew there was strength in vulnerability and she wouldnt let anyone rob her of it. I hope she is at peace. My heart goes out to all of those that loved her but especially her family. Ill miss you Anne, thanks for everything.'

Priyanka Chopra, who acted with Heche on Quantico, wrote: 'My heart goes out to Anne Heche's children, family, friends, and everyone who grieves. It was an honor to have known you and worked by your side. You were a lovely person and an incredible actress. You will always have a special place in my heart. Rest in Power, Anne.'

Reflective: Hilaria Baldwin, whose husband co-starred in the 1996 legal thriller The Juror and on the Broadway play Twentieth Century, also expressed her thoughts of the tragedy; seen in 2004

Hilaria Baldwin, whose husband co-starred in the 1996 legal thriller The Juror and on the Broadway play Twentieth Century, also expressed her thoughts of the tragedy.

'Getting to know "public figures" over the past decade has been many things from inspiring to human... I have also gained such compassion for their nervous systems and what it is liek to have so many eyes, inions, praise, and judgement on one person,' she captioned an old snap of her spouse and Heche.

She continued: 'The sheer numbers and intensity isn't a natural experience and one that I don't think the human has adapted to. Much anesthetizing can happen when we feel overwhelmed. Lose ground and need a break. This can lead to addiction and mental torture. It is a vicious cycle. My heart is with you, Anne. With your family and loved ones.. May you rest in peace. And may we all have compassion for how much energy we are throwing at any one person. Famous or not. No one is equipped for too much from too many sources.'

'It was an honor and joy to work with you. Thank you for sharing your light with me,' Jennifer Love Hewitt captioned a picture of the late actress.

'I'm just so sad about my dear friend Anne Heche,' Alicia Silverstone (pictured with her late pal in 2018) began. 'She was my favorite actress that I have ever worked with. So present alive sharp passionate compelling complicated an extraordinary scene partner.'

'It was an honor and joy to work with you. Thank you for sharing your light with me,' Jennifer Love Hewitt captioned a picture of the late actress.

Alicia Silverstone also took to Instagram to express her sorrow as well as some photos of them posing together at the premiere of her series American Woman in 2018.

'I'm just so sad about my dear friend Anne Heche,' she began. 'She was my favorite actress that I have ever worked with. So present alive sharp passionate compelling complicated an extraordinary scene partner.'

The Clueless star concluded: 'We became close after working together and our children became friends. I love her and I will miss her very much and cant believe this is it. To her family my heart is with them all sending so much love and James and her boys I will continue to stay close to and hold in my heart.'
She bagged herself a 250,000 investment from Lord Sugar.

And The Apprentice winner Harpreet Kaur has now revealed she's found love with one of her former co-stars, announcing she's been 'unexpectedly swept of her feet' by Akshay Thakrar.

The pair announced their relationship on Instagram on Friday sharing a number of loved-up snaps as they celebrated their three-month anniversary.

'My life has been a complete whirlwind': The Apprentice winner Harpreet Kaur has revealed she's dating her co-star Akshay Thakrar

The dessert parlour owner, 30, looked stunning in the snaps with her digital Marketing Agency owner beau Akshay, 28/

In one picture the couple dressed to impress, with Harpreet clad in a black off-the-shoulder dress and Akshay donning a dapper black suit and open collar white shirt.

The second snap showed the pair beaming to the camera for a selfie as they enjoyed dinner at a restaurent.

'A special someone has swept me off my feet': The pair announced their relationship on Instagram on Friday by sharing a number of loved-up snaps

The Apprentice champion cut a casual figure in a white jumper for the final snap which she accesorised with a gold choker necklace.

Akshay beamed wearing a leather jacket as the couple sat in a booth at a lavish restaurant.

Harpreet gushed in the caption: 'The best things in life happen unexpectedly 

'I cannot wait to see where this journey takes us': The dessert parlour owner, 30, looked stunning in the snaps with her beau, who owns a digital marketing agency

'I love sharing my Oh So Yum business journey with you all but this time.its a personal one.

'Since coming out of the Apprentice house, my life has been a complete whirlwind in more ways than one.

'Over the past three months, a special someone has swept me unexpectedly off my feet & I cannot wait to see where this journey takes us'.

So sweet: Harpreet gushed in the caption: 'The best things in life happen unexpectedly 

Taking to the comments Akshay wrote: 'So happy youre mine. Excited for whats to come! '

The BBC stars were congratulated by several off their former co-stars as well as Love Islander Demi Jones.

The relationship comes after Harpreet revealed her sister will remain a shareholder in their dessert parlour business  but says Lord Sugar is still yet to meet her sibling.

'So happy you're mine': Akshay was quick to take to the comment section to express his feelings

Harpreet told MailOnline her sister Gurvinder, 33, not only remains a director but still owns her stake in the company.

In an exclusive interview, Harpreet insisted that Apprentice boss Lord Sugar had 'no problem' with her business of five years being jointly run by a member of her family and BBC producers built up the tension as 'a bit of fun TV editing.'

Harpreet said: 'My sister is going to remain as a director in the business. They made a big deal of it on the show but it's not that big of a deal.

'Lord Sugar is getting two for the price of one and is looking forward to meeting my sister but if it stopped him from investing then she was going to step down.

Support: The BBC stars were congratulated by several off their former co-stars as well as Love Islander Demi Jones

'During the interviews there was nothing they said about the business plan, they had no issue with it. I was so confident because I thought if the only problem is the company structure, not the business itself, then I'm onto a winner.

'They had no problems with the costs, expenses, figures, so if it was just a case of my sister being a shareholder then we were happy to change it but she's going to stay.

'We didn't have to argue or anything  it was a bit of fun TV editing but Lord Sugar doesn't have a problem.'

Harpeet's sister became the joke of Internet memes during the show's final after viewers believed she would be sacked from the company and replaced as a shareholder by Lord Sugar.

'She's going to stay': The news follows after Harpreet revealed her sister will remain a shareholder in their dessert business  but says Lord Sugar is still yet to meet her sibling

She added: 'I tease her with the memes though and say "right  you're sacked!" Lord Sugar says "you're out sis, goodbye!"'

The entrepreneur, whose business started as a Leeds shopping centre kiosk when she was 24, revealed she's single but too busy to find love, especially now she has Lord Sugar to impress.

She said: 'It would be lovely to settle down one day but right now if someone asked me on a date, I'd say yes, the 15th December 2023  I am too busy.

'Unfortunately, any potential dates are going to have to wait. The man of my dreams could walk past me, and I wouldn't bat an eyelid.

'I'm onto a winner': Harpreet told MailOnline her sister Gurvinder (pictured), not only remains a director but still owns her stake in the company

'It's not a big deal': Harpreet insisted that Lord Sugar had 'no problem' with her business being jointly run by a member of her family and producers built up tension as 'a bit of fun TV editing'

'We all go through different life journeys and experiences. It is hard to get the perfect balance  right now I am happy running my business and doing my own thing.

After watching The Apprentice since its launch in 2005 and winning Lord Sugar's investment, there's little Harpreet doesn't know about the show.

She claims Gordon Ramsay's new TV programme Future Food Stars, which sees the chef task restaurant owners with challenges in a bid to win his financial backing, is a 'copycat' of The Apprentice  and predicts Lord Sugar won't be happy.

'I tease her': Harpeet's sister became the joke of Internet memes during the show's final after viewers believed she would be sacked from the company and replaced by Lord Sugar

She said: 'He has copied The Apprentice hasn't he? I felt like it wasn't the usual Gordon Ramsay that we're used to seeing. He was really chilled and I wanted him to let rip. I can't imagine Lord Sugar will be too pleased.'

Harpreet says Future Food Stars has nothing on The Apprentice's 'gruelling' process, which led her fellow candidate Shama Amin to quit this year on medical grounds.

She said: 'It is so tough and no one gets it unless you're in the process otherwise you just think it's a bunch of people on TV looking silly. It is so much more than that. It is such a crazy experience. I won and I still had a traumatic experience.

'It's hard to get the perfect balance': Harpreet revealed she's single but 'too busy' to find love, especially now she has Lord Sugar to impress

'Whenever I have watched the show in the past and someone's quit I've thought "why she's quit?" but now I get it. It is so gruelling and it drains you emotionally, physically, and mentally.'

Harpeet beat fellow finalist Kathryn Louise Burn, who runs an online pyjama business, to Lord Sugar's investment with her dessert brand Oh So Yum.

She still runs her kiosk, as well as managing a dessert parlour in Yorkshire, and since winning the show has already hit her first target in launching a delivery wide service, so customers up and down the country can enjoy her sweet treats.

'I gave him an offer he couldn't refuse': Harpeet beat fellow finalist Kathryn Louise Burn, who runs an online pyjama business, to Lord Sugar's investment with her dessert brand Oh So Yum

The businesswoman vowed: 'My next aim is to open another store within the next six months. I'm going to make sure I do that. I will do it, I promise.

'I would like to open another store in Yorkshire because it's a good link and there's plenty of custom around here and then further from that I want to continue exploring the rest of the UK.

'I know I have a lot of people down south that want my fresh waffles and fresh crepes so I will stick to Yorkshire for the next few months but then I want to continue growing from there.'
Lee Jung-seop's pocket-sized tinfoil painting, "Artist Drawing His Family" (1950s) / Courtesy of the MMCA



'MMCA Lee Kun-hee Collection: Lee Jung Seop' on view until next April



By Park Han-sol



While touted as one of the most iconic modern artists of Korea, whose paintings of bulls letting out spirited cries came to symbolize Korean national identity, Lee Jung-seop (1916-56) was, ultimately, a family man.



The painter's desperate yearning for a reunion with his wife and two sons, who had crossed the sea to Japan in 1952, after leading a life of destitution in war-torn Korea, is reflected in a rather unusual yet somehow fitting material of the time: crumpled aluminum foil pulled from cigarettes packets found in his pocket or trash cans dotting the street.



In his pocket-sized tinfoil painting, "Artist Drawing His Family," the mustached painter with a long chin at the bottom  a facial feature that earned him the nickname, "agori," ("chin Lee") during his university years in Japan  is conjuring up a drawing of himself happily embracing his family members once again.



It's a dream that went unrealized in the end. The artist met an untimely death at the age of 40, just four years after seeing his family depart, alone in a hospital bed in Seoul, as he suffered from hepatitis and malnutrition.



The crab and fish appearing in Lee's imagined scene of reunion may seem random, but they are in fact, visual icons representing the last time the wandering, impoverished family was truly happy together in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, amid their refuge-seeking journey during the war.





Installation view of the section displaying Lee Jung-seop's tinfoil painting series at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in central Seoul / Korea Times photo by Park Han-sol



Twenty-seven such delicate tinfoil paintings have been made the stars of the show at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea's (MMCA) newest exhibition of art from the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's donated collection, "MMCA Lee Kun-hee Collection: Lee Jung Seop," in central Seoul.



Because of their small sizes, which can make it difficult for viewers to spot fine details and iconography in person, the pieces have also been blown up on an adjacent 15-meter-wide digital screen.











Lee Jung-seop's "Chicken and Chicks" (1950s) is one of two paintings that have been unveiled to the public for the first time at the exhibition, "MMCA Lee Kun-hee Collection: Lee Jung Seop." Courtesy of the MMCA





Lee Jung-seop's "Family and the First Snow" (1950s) / Courtesy of the MMCA



In addition to tinfoil works, the show also boasts a large number of Lee's postcard, oil and letter paintings as well as pencil drawings  70 in total, to be exact  from the 1940s to '50s, including "Chicken and Chicks" and "Children Playing in the Water," which are being unveiled to the public for the first time.



"Lee's works were influenced by and represented significant moments from his life story," exhibition curator Woo Hyun-jung said during a press preview at the museum, Wednesday.



"This show is about presenting where the artist Lee Jung-seop meets the human Lee Jung-seop."



As a result, the exhibition distances itself from Lee's much more well-known icons of bulls  a symbol of perseverance for the Korean people  and instead fills the gallery with his distinct portrayal of familial love.





Lee Jung-seop's "A Letter to My Wife" (1954) / Courtesy of the MMCA



Some of the notable works include "Hyunhaetan Sea," which captures his long-desired boat trip to reunite with his family in Japan; "A Letter to My Wife," a heartfelt message filled with endearing words of hope and drawings; and "Dancing Family," depicting an overjoyed couple and their two children in a style reminiscent of Henri Matisse's "Dance."



But if one were to pick another highlight of the show, it would have to be his series of 37 postcard paintings, all sent to his girlfriend-turned-wife Yamamoto Masako (whose Korean name is Lee Nam-duk) between 1940 and 1943 as visual love letters before the couple tied the knot in Korea two years later.



They offer a glimpse into his earlier forays into different artistic styles: abstract and surrealist tendencies explored by the Free Artists Association, a movement he was part of along with Kim Whanki and Yoo Young-kuk, geometric expressions, traditional Korean aesthetics and techniques, as well as experimentation with a variety of materials, such as watercolor, crayon and "meok" (traditional Korean calligraphy ink.)





Lee Jung-seop's "Imaginary Animals and People" (1940) / Courtesy of the MMCA
Huma Qureshis Valimai in Tamil and Hindi has done quite well, and her Maharani 1 won accolades, while Maharani Season 2 is to be premiered on an OTT platform soon. Huma also turns producer with Double XL that addresses the sensitive topic of body shaming. She discusses a range of subjects close to her heart.

Excerpts:

What challenges did you face while shooting Maharani Season 2?

We plunged into shooting M2 with just two weeks of prep, soon after returning from the shooting of Double XL in London. There was a little fear within me because of the lack of time. But Subhash Sir was very confident. He said we had done the first season, so now it was only a question of putting Rani Bharti in different situations. Another challenge was the fact that we were shooting in Bhopal in the winter, and we had to get up at 4 a.m. and mouth big lines in a particular accent. But Rani Bharti is an interesting character for me.

Do you feel audiences are attracted by political subjects and conspiracy stories?

I am of the opinion that good and interesting, romantic and action-oriented shows attract audiences, whether they are political or family-based. Well-written content and good performances attract audiences.

Youve been identified with Rani. How do you feel about that?

Rani Bharthi has got into my DNA. The identity is different from the real me. The discussion is about Rani ab kya karegi? Not, How will Huma perform? It has been my most satisfying character. Its so challenging that I really have to forget myself to become Rani. Its been so rewarding.

What made you decide to become a producer?

I think I have great stories to tell. I love cinema. I wanted to use whatever I have learnt over so many years, and make films for myself and other people. Its my way of giving back to the industry.
Vijay Deverakonda, who is busy promoting his film Liger, discusses his career, journey from Hyderabad to Mumbai, the adulation of his fans, and more.

Excerpts from the interaction:

Q YOUR JOURNEY FROM HYDERABAD TO MUMBAI FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND TO MUMBAI NOW, HOW DIFFERENT HAS IT BEEN?

I used to play supporting roles till Yevadu Subramanyam became a success. It was during that time that I came to Mumbai for the first time. I came to the city to get a visa as I was planning to go to Europe to visit some relatives. My uncle lives in Europe, and was sponsoring my trip. I travelled from Hyderabad by bus. However, my visa application was rejected because I didnt have enough money in my savings account, though my father had deposited some funds to meet the visa requirements. The embassy officials thought I was going to Europe to settle there, and rejected my application. But I have since been able to visit the continent, paying for my own trip. On my first trip to Mumbai, I had planned only a two-day visit. It was summer, so it was very hot here. Now, we have shot the entire film Liger in Mumbai. I have spent a lot of time here. I love it. I know people here. My director /producer has his office and residence here. However, after my shoot I just workout and go to bed. Maybe that will change later. In Hyderabad its different  when I come back home, people come to meet me.

Q NOW YOU HAVE A HUGE FAN FOLLOWING ALL OVER INDIA DONT YOU?

I have not yet been able to grasp whats happening. The idea was for me to visit every city, introduce myself, and promote Liger. My first visit to the Navi Mumbai Mall was a big event. I was not expecting such a huge crowd. Ive also been to Patna, apart from Mumbai. As soon as I reached Patna, I realised that people already knew me, as they were calling out my name. When I came back to my room, my mom called and became emotional about the love the people from Mumbai and Patna expressed for me. We have yet not understood what I have done to receive this sort of love and attention. Its touching and I feel welcomed. But I also feel a sense of responsibility  I have to give them incredible and entertaining cinema.

Q WHO ARE THE WOMEN WHO PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN YOUR LIFE.

Its a blessing given to me. My maternal grandmother played a huge part in my life. I was very attached to her. My mom has played a very big role too. It was two women producers who gave me my first big break. Over all, women have contributed a lot to my life, and given me love and support. I guess certain star alignments are responsible for the situation.

Q TELL US ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE. WHO ARE YOU DATING?

I dont like to talk about my personal relationships. The privacy of whoever Im in a relationship with will need to be protected. I have chosen this public life.

But the person who I have a relationship with may not necessarily like public attention. I am okay being judged but not everyone likes it.

Q WHAT DO FAME AND POPULARITY MEAN TO YOU? HOW WILL YOU SUSTAIN THESE?

Fame and popularity will not go to my head. As for sustaining my popularity, I will just have to keep doing work, I guess. If they love my work, they will give me more love. I love the job I do and I will do it till my love for acting continues. I will stop acting if I stop loving it. Nothing lasts forever. This is my work now. I am young and have the energy to perform all kinds of roles. Right now, this is life for me. I take complete ownership and live it. But priorities may change later.

Q WHATS YOUR INSPIRATION?

To earn money and respect. My driving force was to earn name and fame. I always wanted to be recognised. I didnt like the mentality of the middle class which I come from, and I wanted to fight it, rise above it, and follow my own path in life.

Q EXPECTATIONS HAVE INCREASED WITH LIGER. ARE YOU FEELING ANY PRESSURE NOW?

I have no tension about my film. I am very sure its going to be a blockbuster. The only pressure point is how to extend my reach. I belong to Hyderabad and this film is set to release all over India. Right now I am concerned with making sure wide audiences watch my film.

Q WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT KARAN JOHAR?

After Arjun Reddy I came to Mumbai to meet Karan [Johar]. He loved me as an actor and felt we should work together. At that time, I wasnt ready. After hearing Ligers script he agreed to do this film. He asked no questions, just backed the film. I have promised to make him proud and happy that he had bet on the right person. If this works, he will back more people, as Karan right now is obsessed about promoting talent from all over India. Having Karan helped us to bring this dream to life. We are able to promote the film with just his name. Hes a blessing in my life.

Q ARE YOU NOT ACCEPTING ANY OFFERS IN HINDI?

I have not found any scripts. Also, I am not looking to sign any film right now. I want to release this film and enjoy its success. I am doing Jana Gana Mana and Kushi; I dont want to take on more projects in a hurry. I will hear and pick scripts after a few months.
VIJAYAWADA: A family of freedom fighters is preserving the memories of Mahatma Gandhi in their house here for decades and educating younger generations about the connection Vijayawada had with the Indian Freedom Movement.

The visits of the Mahatma to what was then Bezawada six times ignited freedom spirit among the Telugu people and strengthened the Azadi Sangram, giving it a prominent place in the freedom struggle.

Andhra Arts Academy chairman Golla Narayana Rao belongs to the freedom fighters family that lived in the one-town area of Vijayawada city, preserving the 101-year-old room where the Mahatma stayed during his visit to Vijayawada in 1921.

Narayana said his father Golla Radhakrishna Murthy gave the name of his grandfather to him and he was very fortunate to get the freedom fighters name.

Gandhi came to Vijayawada for the All India Congress meeting on March 31 and 1 April, 1921 and later for the Swaraj Nidhi campaign. My grandfather donated Rs 25,000 to the Congress. Mahatma Gandhi with wife Kasturba, Vallabhai Patel, Vithalbhai Patel and Devdas Gandhi stayed in our house, he recollected.

The family still preserves the almirah and the room used by the Mahatma as homage to the father of the nation. The family offered food in gold plates to Gandhi and other leaders but the Mahatma ate the food in his own silver plate and took the gold plate as a donation to the Swarajya Nidhi.

Vijayawada worked as a Nerve Centre in the Indian Freedom Movement but the present generation is unaware about these. My father Radhakrishna Murthy later turned into a Communist saddened over the increase in corruption in the Congress party but never shunned Gandhian path.

The 100-year-old house is badly damaged and we are planning to renovate it, Narayana said.

Notably, in 1921, freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya, a staunch follower of the Mahatma from Bhatlapenumarru near Machilipatnam designed the tricolour national flag and presented it to Gandhi during the CWC meeting in Vijayawada. Gandhi approved the design and later it was officially adopted as the national flag by replacing Charka with Ashok Chakra.

The descendants of the freedom fighters in Vijayawada noted that the Mahatma visited Bezawada six times between 1919 and 1946. He came to Vijayawada first on March 31, 1919 and spoke on Satyagraha at a public meeting at Rammohan Roy Library. Gandhis visits to various areas in the region had a huge impact on the Telugu people joining the freedom movement.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is planning to visit Bihar in a week to meet his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, sources said on Friday.

Party sources said that Rao had planned a weekend visit but put it off to next week as the newly formed Mahagathbandhan government comprising the JDU, RJD and the Congress is yet to settle down.

Rao wanted to stay in Patna for two days to hold meetings with Kumar and Yadav, discuss national politics and to pitch for bringing non-BJP parties together against the NDA government at the Centre ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, sources said.

He planned to distribute cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of Bihar soldiers on behalf of the state government, who died in Galwan Valley in June 2020. He had distributed cheques to the kin of martyrs in Jharkhand in March.

Party sources said the Chief Minister was supposed to visit West Bengal and Bihar on May 29 and 30 to meet families of soldiers killed in Galwan valley. However, the tour had to be postponed due to various reasons.

However, with the unexpected political developments unfolding in Bihar last week and JDU snapping ties with BJP, Rao has decided to personally greet Kumar and Yadav for forming the new government.

He views the Bihar developments as a major breakthrough for forging a non-BJP front. It may be noted that Rao has been touring various states and meeting non-BJP leaders for the last six months.
Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar on Friday said India would want to "assess and monitor" the China-Taiwan tension and its repurcussions on the country.

Jaishankar was at PES University whose students put the former diplomat to test with pointed questions on foreign affairs.

One question was on the repurcussions of the current China-Taiwan tension. "...so far the Chinese presence is only in the north of us. Since what you have is a power that's beyond a regional power, we would want to assess and monitor the situation," Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar listened to every student, answering questions with a smile. No question was ignored.

Also Read | Taiwan issue: India calls for avoiding 'unilateral actions' to change status quo

The minister was asked what India's position would be in the UN if Beijing were to invade Taiwan, given the border dispute with China and Modi administration abstaining from voting against Russia for attacking Ukraine.

"I really do not see any connection between those issues. Our boundary difference started long ago. What started five months ago can't influence what started 70 years ago," he said.

To a question on India's bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council being a "far-fetched dream", Jaishankar said: "It's a very big deal. And, because it's a big deal, it won't happen easily. The world isn't generous. Just because it is a pipe dream doesn't mean it shouldn't be chased."

Jaishankar, taking a question on India's foreign debts, said the country's finances are in "a strong position".

Advising students to be aware of global happenings, Jaishankar explained how foreign policy helps the common man.

'I have a Bengaluru connection'

During his interaction with students, Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar shared his Bengaluru connection.

"I have a Bengaluru connection. My grandparents were in Bengaluru and I used to visit them during holidays and also early years of schooling too," he said. Later in the day, Jaishankar visited the famous Food Street at VV Puram. Jaishankar was accompanied by IT/BT Minister CN Ashwath Narayan.
Hindu teenage girl Kareena Kumari, who was kidnapped from Pakistans southern Sindh province in June, told a court here on Friday that she was forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man, in yet another case of atrocity against the women of the minority community.

Kareena was abducted on June 6 from outside her home in Benazir Shaheedabad in the interior of southern Sindh province.

After painstaking efforts by her poor father Sundar Mal, the girl was produced in a court in Nawabshah where she said in a video message that she was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam and then married to Khalil in June.

The girl, who was sent to a womens centre, has asked the court that she be allowed to return to her parents.

We are poor people and we dont even have money for bus fare to come to court. Today my daughter told the truth. The court must let her go and punish the culprits who abduct, sexually molest and even sell off girls, Mal said.

Dilip Kumar Manglani, a lawyer who is representing Mal in Kareenas case, says the culture of forcible conversions has put Hindu girls and their families at risk, especially in the interior areas of Sindh.

We try to do our best, but in most cases the kidnapped girls are underage and in court, the accused produce fake documents or certificates and the police also do not help, he complained.

He said in Kareenas case also she was a minor.

The parents of these abducted girls are poor and they dont have any certificates or documents to verify the age of their daughters and the accused and police take advantage of the situation. In some cases, parents are not even allowed to meet their daughters, Manglani said.

The abduction and forcible conversion of young Hindu girls in the interior of Sindh has become a major problem.

In March this year, three Hindu girls - Satran Oad, Kaveeta Bheel and Anita Bheel - were abducted, converted to Islam and married to Muslim men within eight days. None of the three girls have been traced so far by the police.

In another case on March 21, Pooja Kumari was brutally shot dead outside her home in Rohri, Sukkur. Apparently, a Pakistani man wanted to marry her but she refused and he and two of his accomplices opened fire on her a few days later.

Civil rights activists say Poojas case has been on the back burner since March, although the parents have filed a complaint against the accused but are being pressured to reach a compromise with the accused.

The Sindh High Court took notice of the case but so far nothing has happened.

Not only young teenage girls but older Hindu women have also fallen prey to abduction and forced conversions.

Gori Kohli, a mother of four children, was abducted from Khipro in Sindh and later it transpired she had converted to Islam and married Aijaz Marri, the man accused of kidnapping her.

Her husband claims Marri is an influential person in the area and no one listens to him.

Even the police took Rs. 15,000 as bribe from me but later just said my wife had converted to Islam and married Marri and told me to go home, he said.

However, there are some cases where senior police officials have intervened and recovered abducted Hindu girls, the most prominent being that of Reena Meghwar who was abducted from Kario Ghanwar village in the Badin district last year.

Reena who was rescued said she was forcibly converted to Islam. The court ordered that she be handed back to her parents in July last year.

SSP Badin Shabbir Ahmed Sethar, who played a role in Reenas rescue, admits that due to local politics, influential people and corruption in the lower ranks of police such cases usually do not reach a conclusion.

On July 16, 2019, the issue of abducting and forcibly converting Hindu girls in various districts of Sindh province was taken up in the Sindh Assembly, where a resolution was debated and unanimously passed after it was modified over objections of certain lawmakers that it should not be restricted to Hindu girls only.

But the bill which criminalised forcible religious conversions was later rejected in the assembly.

A similar bill was again proposed but rejected last year.
Veteran author Kim Hoon speaks during a press conference held for the release of his new book, "Harbin," in Seoul's Mapo District, Aug. 3. Yonhap



By Park Han-sol



Kim Hoon's latest book, "Harbin," on independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910), has become a new bestseller in major local online bookstores.



Published on Aug. 3 ahead of the 77th anniversary of Liberation Day on Aug. 15, the novel has climbed to the top of the bestseller lists of both YES24 and Kyobo Books for the first week of August.



"Harbin" is a compact 308-page story that focuses on a short time period before and after the fateful encounter between Ahn and Hirobumi Ito, the four-time prime minister of Japan and the first resident-general of Korea.



It was Oct. 26, 1909, a year before Korea was annexed by the Japanese Empire, when the activist pulled the trigger on Ito upon his arrival in Harbin, Manchuria. After the assassination, Ahn was arrested on the spot and sent to Lushun Prison, where he spent the final days of his life before being sentenced to death the following year.



The story of the country's arguably most recognizable independence fighter to date has been a topic revisited by many other writers in the past. But Kim, who has award-winning historical novels such as "Song of the Sword" and "Namhansanseong" under his belt, has taken a different approach in painting a portrait of the famed figure.



Instead of confining Ahn to the narrow context of heroism and nationalistic patriotism during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial era, the 74-year-old novelist hoped to "describe the activist's youthful spirit and vitality  as if the young man is alive right next to you," he noted during a press conference in Seoul earlier this month.



Although the project had lingered in the novelist's head for at least five decades, since he was struck by Ahn's interrogation reports, which he came across during his university days, he put it off for years due to its dauntingly complex layers and the amount of research required. It was only at the beginning of this year that he finally picked up his pen to finish the book.



In the end, "Harbin" is a literary ode to "human Ahn Jung-geun," who was torn between his status as a young breadwinner with religious faith surrounded by mixed feelings of doubts and zeal as well as his wish to contribute to bringing peace in the East Asian region. The latter, the author said, is a message that should resonate even more strongly today.


Gotabaya Rajapaksa is staying at a hotel here in the heart of Thailands capital, where police have advised the ousted Sri Lankan president to remain indoors for security reasons, according to a media report on Friday.

Rajapaksa arrived in Thailand with three other people on a chartered flight from Singapore at Wing 6 of the military airport adjacent to Don Mueang International Airport around 8 pm local time on Thursday.

The group had planned to land in Phuket but concerns about a possible information leak resulted in the flight being redirected to the military airport in Bangkok, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported, citing a source.

At the hotel, the location of which was not disclosed, plainclothes police officers from the Special Branch Bureau have been deployed to ensure safety of Rajapaksa. Officials have asked the embattled former Sri Lankan president to remain within the hotel during his stay in the country, the report said.

Also read: Gotabaya Rajapaksa leaves Singapore for Thailand after short-term visit pass expires

Rajapaksa arrived in Bangkok on the same day that his visa in Singapore expired. He arrived here for a temporary stay before seeking permanent asylum in another country.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday confirmed a temporary visit to Thailand by the 73-year-old Sri Lankan leader for humanitarian reasons, and said he promised not to conduct political activities in the kingdom during his search for permanent asylum in another country.

After fleeing to the Maldives on July 13, Rajapaksa then flew to Singapore, where he announced his resignation a day later after months of protests over Sri Lankas unprecedented economic crisis.

"This is a humanitarian issue. We have made a promise that it's a temporary stay. No (political) activities are allowed, and this will help him find a country to take refuge in," Prayut was quoted as saying by the Bangkok Post newspaper on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said the ousted president can stay in Thailand for 90 days as he is still a diplomatic passport holder, the report said.

Don said the Sri Lankan government did not oppose the visit and the Thai government would not make accommodation arrangements for him. The visit would not pose conflicts with Colombo as acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe had worked for him when he was in power, he added.

The minister said a condition for Rajapaksas stay was that he should not cause problems for Thailand.

Rajapaksa has made no public appearances or comments since fleeing Sri Lanka.

A report in the Daily Mirror newspaper in Sri Lanka said Rajapaksa will return to Sri Lanka in November after his 90-day Thai visa runs out.

The Sri Lankan government had directly appealed on behalf of the ousted President and sought permission to allow him to seek temporary shelter in Thailand, the report said.

However, as the 90-day Thai visa runs out in November, political sources said that Rajapaksa will return to Sri Lanka as he was a Sri Lankan citizen and had all the legal rights to remain in the country.

Although several attempts had been made for Rajapaksa to seek asylum in the Middle East, he had not received any favourable response, the report said.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.

The massive protests that began in March culminated with Rajapaksas resignation. The protesters accused the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated Sri Lanka's political scene for nearly two decades, of plunging the country into the worst economic crisis since the countrys independence in 1948 through mismanagement and corruption.

The country, with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default, had announced in April that it is suspending nearly USD 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about USD 25 billion due through 2026. Sri Lankas total foreign debt stands at USD 51 billion.

The United Nations has warned that 5.7 million people require immediate humanitarian assistance, with Sri Lankans experiencing extreme shortages of essentials including food, fuel and medicines.

The new Sri Lankan government led by Rajapaksas ally Wickremesinghe faces the task of leading the country out of its economic collapse and restoring order. Sri Lanka has seen months of mass unrest over the worst economic crisis, with the government declaring bankruptcy in mid-April by refusing to honour its international debts.
Almost 60 per cent of Afghanistan's journalists have lost their jobs or fled the country since the Taliban takeover a year ago, according to a survey published Friday by Reporters Without Borders.

The France-based NGO said 219 of the country's 547 media organisations had ceased operations since the Taliban took power on August 15, 2021.

Women journalists have been most impacted, with 76 per cent losing their jobs.

Also Read | Taliban say bombing kills prominent Afghan cleric in Kabul

"Journalism has been decimated during the past year in Afghanistan," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said in a statement.

"The authorities must undertake to end the violence and harassment inflicted on media workers, and must allow them to do their job unmolested."

The survey found that only 656 women journalists were still working, the vast majority in Kabul, down from 2,756 a year ago.

Accusations of immorality were frequently used to remove them from their posts.

Also Read | Taliban fighters swap arms for books in Afghanistan as hundreds return to school

"The living and working conditions of women journalists in Afghanistan have always been difficult, but today we are experiencing an unprecedented situation," Kabul-based journalist Meena Habib told RSF.

"They work in conditions that are physically and mentally violent and tiring, without any protection."

Some media outlets have been forced to shut by rules against broadcasting music and other content, while others have been unable to continue without international funding.

A decree issued by Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada last month warned against "defaming and criticising government officials without proof".

It was the latest in a series of measures aimed at curbing press freedoms.

At least 80 journalists have been detained for varying periods by security forces in the past year, with three currently imprisoned, RSF said.

The NGO ranked Afghanistan at 156 out of 179 countries in its press freedom index for 2022.
A 62-year-old man belonging to the Ahmadi community was stabbed to death by a religious fanatic for refusing to praise a controversial cleric in Pakistans Punjab province on Friday, the latest in a spate of killings from the minority community.

Pakistans Parliament in 1974 declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslims. A decade later, they were banned from calling themselves Muslims. They are banned from preaching and from travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage.

The latest incident took place in Rabwah (Chenab Nagar), some 170 kilometres from Lahore. Rabwah is the headquarters of the Ahmadi community.

Naseer Ahmad was stabbed to death at Rabwah's main bus stop by a religious fanatic for not chanting slogans in praise of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi. He was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his wounds, said Saleemuddin, the spokesperson of Jamaat-i-Ahmadiya Pakistan.

He said the suspect intercepted Ahmad and demanded he chant slogans in favour of Rizvi. On his refusal, the suspect attacked him with a knife. The locals overpowered the TLP member and handed him over to police.

"The suspect in police custody chanted TLP slogans and expressed no remorse in killing the man," he said.

Firebrand Pakistani cleric Rizvi died in 2020. The Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief was arrested for asking army troops to rebel against the army chief and spent several months in jail before being released in May 2019.

Hundreds of TLP activists laid partial siege to the national capital in 2020 to denounce the publication of blasphemous cartoons in a French magazine and force the government to expel the French ambassador.

"He was an active member of the community and it was his Friday ritual to go to the graveyard just like many other Ahmadis to pray for their loved ones before he was attacked," Saleemuddin said, adding that the father of three daughters was killed only for his faith.

According to police, the suspect has been identified as Hafiz Shahzad Hasan Sialvi, a former student of a TLP seminary in his hometown of Sargodha city.

Police said a murder case has been registered against the suspect, who is in his 20s, and would be presented before court for physical remand on Saturday.

Minorities, especially Ahmadis, are very vulnerable in Pakistan and they are often targeted by religious extremists.

Abdul Salam, a member of the Ahmadi community, was brutally stabbed to death by Hafiz Ali Raza apparently for his faith in May this year.

Former military dictator Gen Zia-ul Haq had made it a punishable offence for Ahmadiyyas to call themselves Muslims or to refer to their faith as Islam.

In Pakistan, around 10 million out of the 220 million population are non-Muslims.

According to the 2017 census, Hindus constitute the largest religious minority (5 million) in Pakistan. Christians make up the second largest religious minority, with almost the same number (4.5 million) and their concentration is mostly in urban Sindh, Punjab and parts of Balochistan.

The Ahmadis, Sikhs and Parsi are also among the notable religious minorities in Pakistan.
A contingent of the Indian Air Force left for Malaysia on Friday to participate in the first bilateral air exercise between the two countries.

The IAF said it is participating in the 'Udarashakti' exercise with a fleet of Su-30 MKI and C-17 aircraft.

Also ReadThree soldiers, 2 militants killed in suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir army camp

The Indian contingent departed from one of its air bases directly for their destination, the Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) base of Kuantan.

"The exercise will give an opportunity to IAF contingent members to share and learn best practices with some of the best professionals from RMAF, while also discussing mutual combat capabilities," the IAF said.

It said the four-day exercise will witness conduct of various aerial combat drills between the two Air Forces.

"Exercise Udarashakti will fortify the long standing bond of friendship and enhance the avenues of defence cooperation between the two Air Forces, thereby augmenting security in the region," the IAF said.
Amid buzz about reintroduction of cheetahs in India, senior officials of the Madhya Pradesh forest department on Friday said they are unaware about the exact plans of the arrival of the animals to the state's Kuno-Palpur National Park (KNP). There were speculations that the cheetahs will arrive in the state by August 15 and arrangements such as setting up an enclosure have been made at the KNP.

We are not aware of their arrival till now, as it is a matter between the Central government and foreign countries involved in the project, the state's principal chief conservator of forest (Wildlife) J S Chauhan said. India had last month signed a MoU with the Namibian government for procuring the cheetahs in the KNP under the ambitious reintroduction project.

Also Read | Introduction of wild cheetahs to Indian reserves involves risks and opportunities: top South African expert

The official also refused to comment on whether the cheetahs being procured from Namibia and South Africa will arrive together or separately. The Centre has already inked an agreement with Namibia for the intercontinental translocation of cheetahs, but the one proposed with South Africa is not yet signed, an official said. Earlier, a senior official when asked about the plan to re-introduce cheetahs on Indian soil said that they are working on it and the fastest animal on earth will arrive here in August.

When specifically asked about the date, August 15, the forest department's principal secretary Ashok Barnwal had said, It can be. Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) dean and senior professor Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, popularly known as Y V Jhala, had earlier told PTI when asked if cheetahs will come to India on the occasion of Independence Day, I don't know, but it is possible also.

The KNP in Sheopur district has already made preparations for housing 12 to 15 cheetahs and has earmarked an area of 5 sq km with eight compartments for initially keeping the translocated animals. The national park is spread in an area of over 750 sq km and is capable of handling cheetahs, as it has maintained a large prey base of cheetal, sambhar, blue bull, wild boar and langoor among others, he said.

The country's last spotted cheetah died in Chhattisgarh, undivided Madhya Pradesh in 1947 and the animal was declared extinct in the country in 1952. A few years ago, the WII prepared a cheetah reintroduction project. Kuno, located in the Chambal region, is spread over an area of more than 750 sq km and has a conducive environment for the cheetah, he said.

Earlier, the sanctuary was also shortlisted as the second home of the famous Asiatic Lions of Gujarat, but the programme ran into trouble with the Gujarat government opposing the shifting of lions from Gir forest, the officials said. The issue of translocation has become a bone of contention between the two BJP-ruled states, as the government has refused to part with the Asiatic lions for the neighbouring state, following which a day-long bandh was also observed in Sheopur district in protest.
A woman in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur was brutally attacked by a man using a cleaver due to which she had to get 200 stitches.

According to the police, the woman, Nidhi Pandey, a property dealer, met the accused, Arvind Singh Rathore, in Bashahi Naka area of Kanpur, to seek return of the money she had invested.

Also ReadTiranga yatra in Uttar Pradesh attacked over minor accident

An altercation ensued between the two and the accused assaulted her with a cleaver and forced-fed her chillies.

The woman escaped from the hotel and filed a police complaint.

She is currently being treated at a private hospital.

The police have registered a case and are on the lookout for the accused, who is on the run.

Joint Commissioner of Police Anand Prakash Tiwari said that the station in-charge has been informed and a probe is underway.
Nitish Kumar's jolt to the BJP is a godsend for a disillusioned, demoralised, dejected and divided opposition.

Nothing was happening right for the non-BJP parties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had sought to demolish their citadels by hook or crook and created an atmosphere where the very existence of the opposition had come into question.

Only last month, BJP chief J P Nadda had famously declared that all those in the political field would be marginalised sooner than later, and only BJP would remain the force to reckon with.

Also Read | Will Bihar curb BJP's arrogance?

With less than two years for the next Lok Sabha polls, the opposition looked dead as a dodo. Non-BJP leaders, too, had started speaking about the inevitability of a third term for Modi after the spectacular showing of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh while retaining power.

Over a month back, the toppling of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government sent shivers down the opposition camp. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, heading the ruling dispensation, fell like a pack of cards. It was known that the Enforcement Directorate was at work in the state for a long time, but Thackeray appeared unguarded and paid for it. Sharad Pawar's NCP and Congress were collateral damage.

But the message was that the ruling dispensation at the Centre could go to any extent to destabilise non-BJP governments. The MVA government had finished half its term and the powers that be wanted to finish off the Sena politically despite being the BJP's oldest Hindutva ally. 'Operation Lotus' was earlier used in several states, including Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

Also Read | JD(U)'s exit: The expansion of BJP and collapse of NDA

Nitish Kumar pulling the rug from under the feet of the BJP and aligning with the RJD and Congress to become Chief Minister of Bihar for the eighth time was like the late cut of Gundappa Viswanath. It has stunned Modi and also the BJP's 'Chanakya' so much that the ruling party has suddenly gone silent. It does not know what has hit it.

The fact is that 71-year-old Kumar is no Uddhav Thackeray and has read Modi's strategy like no one else in the opposition so far. He concluded that offence is the best route and ensured that BJP gets 'rejected and ejected' in Bihar in a jiffy. There are perhaps no such examples in recent years of the all-powerful ruling party at the Centre being kicked out of power so pathetically.

Detractors of the Bihar CM could be branding him a 'Paltu Ram' (Mr Turncoat) for the frequent political somersaults, but that will not cut ice in the present circumstances.

Also Read | Nitish wanted to become Vice President, got angry when BJP refused: Sushil Modi

The significance of the operation in Patna is that Kumar's sudden action has strengthened the opposition. There is a now a feeling among the non-BJP parties that Modi can be defeated, and the task is not insurmountable. It is immaterial that everyone in the political field has interpreted it in their own ways.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda sees the seed of the Janata Parivar coming together again to make a mark on the national scene. "It made me think of the days when the Janata Dal Parivar was under one roof. It gave three PMs. I am in my advanced years, but if the younger generation decides, it can offer a good alternative to this great nation," he tweeted.

I have been watching the developments in Bihar. It made me think of the days when the Janata Dal parivar was under one roof. It is gave three PMs. I am in my advanced years, but if the younger generation decides it can offer a good alternative to this great nation.  H D Devegowda (@H_D_Devegowda) August 9, 2022

The Bihar developments have exposed some opposition leaders who were detrimental to the cause of opposition unity in the wake of their omissions and commissions in the states ruled by them.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has suddenly gone into hibernation since the Partha Chatterjee scam broke out. Her action to break ranks with the opposition in the vice presidential polls was seen as one of the biggest self-goals in the non-BJP space in recent years. Everybody who is anybody in the opposition knows why the mercurial CM is suddenly silent.

Though the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has expanded its wings and has come to power in Punjab after establishing its hold in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal likes to play solo. He has nothing to do with other opposition parties. The AAP, which came to power in Delhi around seven years back after ousting the Congress, is attempting to play spoiler for the grand old party in several states and thereby helping the BJP.

Nitish Kumar's entry into the national opposition space is expected to stabilise matters as the Bihar CM could play a disruptor. Though Nitish has never been able to come to power on his own in Bihar, the stature of the JDU leader is such that the BJP high command has suddenly found itself on the back foot.

The change of government in Bihar could also help change the narrative at a time when the skyrocketing prices and rising unemployment are turning into major issues, and the ruling party's charge of opposition resorting to "revadi politics" is appearing to be boomeranging on it.

The BJP's expansionist trait has played havoc with the regional parties. It is reflected in the recent split in the Shiv Sena, weakening the Shiromani Akali Dal, split in the AIADMK, marginalisation of the TDP and AGP, the splitting of the LJP, weakening of the INLD and creating problems for the National Conference and PDP.

Rahul Gandhi's recent declaration that the Congress is not afraid of Modi and that he can do whatever he wants showed that the grand old party wants to take the powers head-on, whatever the cost. The party has realised that Congress-mukt Bharat is not an empty slogan, and the ruling dispensation could go to any extent to marginalise it.

Bihar developments, therefore, have come as a breath of fresh air to the opposition battered by the constant ED raids on opponents of the BJP and other alleged misuses of government agencies. The BJP has suddenly become off balance.

(Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari are senior journalists)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
A new republican monument has been unveiled in Derry's Bogside.

Saoradh Doire, in conjunction with Derry IRPWA (Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association), unveiled the People's Monument at a ceremony close to Free Derry Corner on Sunday afternoon last.

Main speaker at the event, leading Saoradh member Thomas Ashe Mellon, said the monument was dedicated to the 'unsung heroes of the republican struggle' in the city.

Immediately after the unveiling, IRPWA staged a whiteline picket in support of current republican prisoners and to highlight what they described as 'ongoing British Internment.'

A spokesperson said: It is vital, particularly while internment is being weaponised against republicans that support is extended to all republican prisoners, including those who have been interned by the occupier.

The Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association, in conjunction with Saoradh, encourages all like-minded republicans and individuals to show their support for the men and women behind the wire.

Families laying wreaths and floral tributes in memory of their loved ones at the People's Monument. Photos: Tom Heaney, nwpresspics

The day's events concluded with an Irish Night held in the 720 Bar, featuring Eimhear Ni Ghlacain, Roberts/Mellon Republican Memorial Flute Band and Chris of Erin Go Bragh.
Two unionist councillors in Newry, Mourne and Down have joined the DUP.

Alan Lewis has defected from the Ulster Unionists while Henry Reilly has previously been a member of the UUP, Ukip and the TUV, but recently sat as an independent.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was delighted to welcome the two new members to his team on the Co Down council.

He said: They join many other new members who are now part of a vibrant and growing party within South Down.

I have known Henry over many years and he has always been a dedicated representative, focused on delivering for the people of the Mournes, and dedicated to strengthening our place within the United Kingdom.

Since his election in 2019 Alan has also been a fearless and hardworking representative, focused on uniting and strengthening unionism within South Down.

I want to see a stronger and more cohesive unionism, working to strengthen our place within the union.

There is a unity of purpose within unionism in opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol and, as leader of the DUP, I will do everything in my power to build upon that.

Mr Lewis said: The people I represent want to see greater unionist unity.

There were more than 12,500 unionist votes cast at the last Assembly election in South Down and I believe this can be further built upon through a strong DUP team which I am looking forward to being part of.

Mr Reilly said I look forward to being part of that strong DUP team, not just in South Down, but across Northern Ireland.

The South Down area had previously been troublesome for the DUP, with deep divisions and public resignations.

During the Northern Ireland Assembly election campaign earlier this year, members of the DUP South Down association resigned to back a candidate with the rival TUV.

The partys former MLA for the area, Jim Wells, also resigned his membership and said he would not support the DUP candidate Diane Forsythe.

Despite this, Ms Forsythe retained the seat for the DUP.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said he was disappointed to be losing Mr Lewis from the party but wished him well.

He told the BBC: Im disappointed Alan Lewis has decided to leave the Ulster Unionist Party.

He was a much-valued councillor and friend, but thats politics.

We will look for a replacement to fight the Slieve Croob DEA in the forthcoming council elections.

In the meantime, we wish Alan well.
A Belfast councillor has expressed disappointment after the city failed to make the short list to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023.

Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield were announced at the seven potential host cities.

While the 2022 winner Ukraine should be hosting the contest in 2023, the honour passed to the UK as runner-up due to the ongoing Russian invasion.

Belfast SDLP councillor Seamas De Faoite, who had been leading the charge in the Northern Irish capital for Eurovision, called on the winning city to honour Ukraine.

He also criticised the ongoing absence of a fully functioning Stormont Assembly as hampering a wide range of efforts, including Belfasts Eurovision bid.

While we are naturally disappointed that Belfast failed to be shortlisted as a host city for next years Eurovision, I am proud of the all the work that went into making this bid a reality, particularly the cross-party element which showed what we can achieve when we work together to make our city a better place for everyone who lives here, he said.

We were not successful on this occasion but Belfast remains a city capable of hosting large-scale events as we have proved repeatedly in the past, with everything from music festivals to award shows and conferences.

Unfortunately our bid was hampered, like many things in the North, by the lack of functioning Executive to lead the way and lobby on our behalf.

We are blessed with great people, we have the talent and vision, but if we are ever going to address the issues around a lack of space, our infrastructure and maximise the potential of our night-time economy to enable us to attract major events like Eurovision, then we need an Executive up and running to deliver on these issues.
By Lee Hae-rin





Councilor Ai Suluu / Courtesy of Ai Suluu
Despite increased movement in the foldable phone space over the last year or so, Samsung has managed to retain its dominance in the segment. While the company will happily have you believe this was made possible because last year's Samsung foldables -- the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3 - were technological marvels, the reality is slightly different.

Arguably the two best foldable phones that we had seen till about a day before, the two Galaxy devices had some crippling issues, making them hard to recommend over similarly priced conventional flagships such as the company's own, Galaxy S22 Ultra and others from the likes of Apple.

But cut to August 10, 2022, Samsung has made NOT recommending its foldables a lot more difficult by launching the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4. As successors of its previous-gen foldables, these new devices from Samsung don't reinvent the wheel, but instead bring meaningful upgrades in areas that last year's foldables had found themselves lacking in.

While the form factor remains the same, Samsung has introduced improved hinge mechanisms and used lighter materials to make both the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 much more ergonomic devices. In fact, with the former, Samsung has managed to shave off about 8g of weight and also spread the weight out more evenly to give the devices a nicer in-hand feel.

The new hinge mechanism of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 also feels more durable. Although we have not had much time with the device, in our limited time with it, we felt opening and closing the display felt like a nicer exercise. Apart from this, there is no other change in the Fold 4 in the design department over the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

The Galaxy Z Flip 4 also gets some design changes, and now brings a smaller at 1.2mm hinge, making the phone more pocketable in its form factor. But apart from that there is no change in design or outer appearance as the outer screen on the phone also remains the same size as last year -- something we would have loved to see change with the Galaxy Fold 4.

Talking about the displays, on paper, the ones on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 look like an upgrade on the previous gen phones, because they now offer adaptive refresh rate between 48Hz to 120Hz on the front panel and promise absolute power-efficiency on the rear with its range of 1Hz to 120Hz. On the outer panel, there is also the Corning Gorilla Victus+ or added protection.

Under the hood, is where the biggest upgrades find their way on the two devices. Both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 get their power from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. This definitely looks like an area where the phones will get a good boost over their predecessors. While we did not notice the effects of it our interactions with the phones, I'm sure some time and in-depth testing will definitely reveal the truth.

However, the biggest and the most exciting changes on the two phones can be found in the camera department. This is because unlike the previous foldables from Samsung, the new Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Z Flip 4 both offer flagship-level photography experience.

For this, Samsung has not only borrowed hardware but also some interesting camera features as well from its Galaxy S22 series of phones. Both the foldables now support better low-light imaging thanks to the inclusion of Nightography' features.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 also gets an improved 50-megapixel primary camera with OIS, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera which brings 3X optical zoom and up to 30X zoom digital zoom to the phone. The only thing that remains on the Z Fold 4 is the selfie camera.

The Z Flip 4 does not get new camera hardware as it supports the same dual 12MP main cameras which were fitted on the Flip 3. But the cameras still seem to be outputting better images, possibly because of the presence of an updated ISP. While this hardware is not the worst, we would have still loved to see more in the camera department from Samsung on the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

In the battery department, the Galaxy Fold 4 does not offer great upgrades over the Fold 3. We still have the same dual cell 4400mAh battery pack inside, but it now supports faster charging than before. The Z Flip 4 on the other hand now brings you a bigger 3700mAh battery instead of 3300mAh on the Flip 3. However, what's more important is that it now supports 25W fast charging which is an upgrade over the 15W slow charging of the Flip 3.

Overall, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 definitely look like solid upgrades over the previous-gen foldables. While it's true we would have been happier with some more upgrades to the design and the battery department on both the phones, what cannot be denied is that even with the current upgrades, they look like they could offer enough to be recommended to buyers looking for premium flagships.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 vs Galaxy Fold 3: Whats different?
San Francisco, Aug 11 (IANS) After announcing that Google has combined two of its video-calling apps -- Duo and Meet -- into a single platform, the tech giant said this upgrade gives everyone access to new features like scheduling and joining meetings, virtual backgrounds, in-meeting chat and more, in addition to your current video calling features.

The company said additional meeting features let users start an instant video call with their entire study group or connect with their colleagues at a recurring scheduled time.Before they join a meeting, they can change their background or apply visual effects.

During the meeting, they will also be able to use in-meeting chat and captions for more ways to participate.

"We are also launching live sharing for Google Meet. Live sharing allows all meeting participants to interact with the content that is being shared," Dave Citron, Director of Product Management, Google Duo and Google Meet, said in a blogpost.

"So whether you are co-watching videos on YouTube, curating a playlist on Spotify, taking turns while playing games like Heads Up!, UNO! Mobile or Kahoot! During an ice breaker, everyone will be able to join in on the action," Citron added.

Over the past few weeks, the company said it has started rolling out these new features to the Duo app, and now, users are beginning to see their app name and icon updated to Google Meet.

This upgrade will take place throughout the month across mobile and tablet devices and will come later for other devices. To ensure a smooth transition, keep your app updated to the latest version.

(Except for the headline, the rest of this IANS article is un-edited)

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in
Alaska Broadband Grant

More than 1,000 rural Alaskans in five communities along the Yukon River will receive affordable, high-speed internet for the first time thanks to a tribal broadband grant funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The collaboration between Doyon, Limited and Alaska Communications will connect one of the most underserved regions in the United States with a fiber-optic cable that will be the foundation for expanding broadband to communities in the region. The communities served include Fort Yukon, Beaver, Stevens Village, Rampart, and Tanana. Alaska Communications will deploy a fiber-to-the-home network in each community, offering up to Gigabit speed service at affordable rates. The network will connect to the Alaska Communications' core fiber network in Fairbanks, Alaska. The project is part of the Alaska FiberOptic Project, a larger collaboration between Calista Corporation, Doyon, Limited, Gana-A Yoo Limited and Alaska Communications to connect up to 20 communities along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers with fiber-optic cable. This segment is the first of three segments to get funding. Alaska Communications will begin the permit and construction process as quickly as possible. Headquartered in Fairbanks, Doyon has more than 20,100 shareholders and was established under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Doyon has subsidiaries in oilfield services, government contracting, and tourism, is also the largest private landowner in Alaska and one of the largest in North America.




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LONG BEACH  The Washington State International Kite Festival (WSIKF) is a week-long kite celebration and competition. This year's festival will be held Aug. 15-21 in Long Beach - about 170 miles southwest of Seattle. Kitelife Magazine calls it the greatest, grandest Kite Festival on the North American continent.

The Kite Festival is free to the public, but entry fees are required for competitions.





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A THAAD launcher is seen in this photo captured from the Facebook account of the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) on April 24, 2019. Yonhap



The United States is preparing for all contingencies amid signs of a potential North Korean nuclear test but is concerned by Pyongyang's "strengthened rhetoric" around its nuclear program, a state department spokesperson said Thursday.



Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the department, said Pyongyang is continuing to prepare for what will be its seventh nuclear test.



"The U.S. assesses the DPRK is preparing its Punggye-ri (nuclear) test site for what would be its seventh nuclear test. This assessment is consistent with the DPRK's own public statements," the spokesperson said in a telephonic press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.



"We are preparing for all contingencies in close coordination with our Japanese and ROK allies," Patel added. "Furthermore, we are prepared to make both short and longer term adjustments to our military posture as appropriate in responding to any DPRK provocation."



ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.



Seoul and Washington said earlier that the North appeared to have completed "all preparations" for a nuclear test, and that it may only be gauging the timing.



North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017.



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned his country may use its nuclear weapons against South Korea and the U.S. last month, threatening to "wipe out" the Seoul government and its military should they make what he called a "dangerous move," such as a preemptive strike.



"We are concerned by the regime's strengthened rhetoric around its nuclear program," said the department spokesperson.



"A seventh nuclear test since 2017 would constitute a grave escalatory action, and seriously threaten regional and international stability, as well as security," the spokesperson added.



The department spokesperson also expressed concerns over the health and safety of North Korean people, one day after the North Korean leader declared victory in fight against COVID-19.



"We are very concerned about how COVID-19 could affect the North Korean people and we continue to support the provision of vaccines to the DPRK," the spokesperson said.



Patel urged Pyongyang to work with international aid organizations, noting the North has not accepted any vaccine assistance from the COVAX global vaccine distribution program to date.



"To this end, we strongly support and encourage the efforts of international aid and health organization in seeking to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19 in the DPRK and to provide other forms of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable groups in the country," he said.



On China's renewed criticism of U.S. THAAD missile defense system deployed in South Korea, the department spokesperson said any such criticism would be "inappropriate."



"The United States and the ROK made an alliance decision to deploy THAAD to the ROK as a purely defensive measure to protect the ROK and its people," said Patel.



"Criticism or pressure on the ROK to abandon its defense is inappropriate," he added. (Yonhap)


A major change to how people accused of rape use the consent defence in law is the starting point in reforming Irelands laws on sex offences, academics have said.

The Government is to change legislation that will overhaul laws on consent, knowledge and belief in rape cases.

The new legislation will change the current position where a person is not guilty of rape if the accused honestly believed they had the consent of the victim. This defence has been described as overly protective of the accused.

Now, the accuseds defence on consent will have to be objectively reasonable, bringing it in line with many other defence standards in criminal law.

Dr Sinead Ring, an expert in criminal law and evidence and lecturer at the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University, said academics and campaigners have been calling for these changes for years.

Dr Ring said the subjective test that has been used in rape cases has been useful to the defence.

Its useful as it cant be effectively countered by the prosecution because they cant read somebodys mind, she said.

The honest and genuine belief is just so vague, it also opens the door to rape myths in the sense of jurors using myths in their reasoning about what is and isnt a reasonable or genuine belief.

I think the proposals are strengthening the requirement to really interrogate that claim that the accused believed they had consent. The court will now ask does that align with what somebody would consider to be objectively reasonable, and would the ordinary person on the street consider that to be reasonable?

The threshold is so low for somebody to get away with rape and this is a way of counteracting that problem.

Dr Ring believes the law should go further in allowing the prosecution to ask the accused how he checked whether or not the complainant was consenting.

The onus should be on the person doing the penetrative act to check and to consider whether or not the person theyre having sex with actually consents, Dr Ring added.

Consent is more of an exercise of communication and participation.

Having an adult conversation about what people want to engage in is much more appropriate, particularly given the harms that result for people who are raped.

We should actually be requiring the jury to consider whether or not the defendant failed to take steps to get that consent.

In a Supreme Court case in 2016, the court spoke also about consent and communication.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton said that a lack of consent constitutes rape.

Consent is the active communication through words or physical gestures that the woman agrees with or actively seeks sexual intercourse, the court stated.

Professor Louise Crowley, at the School of Law in UCC, said the changes are part of a bigger response and attempt by the legislature to better deal with sexually motivated crimes.

Prof Crawley said that different standards have been applied to rape cases through the subjective consent defence.

We have done so badly for so many years to position the victim of sexual violence at the centre of an investigation of an allegation of rape, she added.

Weve been very slow in having a victim centred criminal justice process.

Looking at specifically the consent issue, for too long a man who rapes a woman who says that he had an honest, albeit mistaken belief that she had consented and that was a sufficient defence.

In any element of the criminal justice system, we apply the reasonable man test which speaks to society deciding whats acceptable and not acceptable behaviour.

Why is it that a crime that can only be committed against a woman had this differential view of the honest but mistaken belief of the abuser, where that would never apply in other areas of criminal law. It was never acceptable.

The change to objective view is really, really significant.

Prof Crawley also believes rape victims should been given their own legal representation, something the legislator is considering.

I think the starting point is that this reform is actually necessary, that its not overly sympathetic to the victim or the person whos making the allegation, she added.

I think that its a necessary rebalancing to reflect more appropriate and objective standards of determining evidence, and nowhere is it more necessary where you have most typically, her word against his.

She also called for further training for all gardai and frontline responders, including GPs and emergency staff to be able to better deal with sexual assault victims.

She also believes that enactment of new laws has been helped by the justice minister being a woman.

I think that Helen McAtee has huge empathy for women, and I think that she really understands the current climate, she really grasped the significance of the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence in Irish society, Prof Crawley added.

The number of people prosecuted for rape is on the rise. In 2020, the Director of Public Prosecution s (DPP) prosecuted 168 people for rape, compared to 124 in 2014.

Shirley Scott, policy manager at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said she hopes the conviction rate will be higher following the reform of defence laws.

Hopefully victims will see this reform as positive and that they see it as a way of removing particular barriers and obstacles to prosecution, Ms Scott said.

She also believes that there is a huge amount of work under way to teach teenagers and men about consent, particularly organisations like the Mens Development Network.

All of that is very positive in terms of shaping conversations and raising awareness, she added.
Dundalk's Cllr Sean Kelly has proposed seeking a deputation from Irish Water to come before the next Dundalk Municipal District meeting to address councillors concerns relating to water quality within Dundalk and the surrounding area.

Irish Water told the Dundalk Democrat that sediment in old cast iron mains pipes, which has been dislodged during repair or maintenance works, is the reason for "temporary discolouration of the water / the water to appear brown before it reaches customers' taps", in homes in Dundalk and surrounding areas. The Democrat had contacted Irish Water after it was revealed that significant water discolouration has occurred in the water supply in Dundalk, as well in areas including Blackrock and Dromiskin over last weekend.

Cllr Kelly, who is also Leas Cathaoirleach of Dundalk Municipal District made the proposal to his fellow councillors from the Municipal District, and has put forward a number of issues that he believes need to be addressed by Irish Water. They are as follows:

The ongoing works at Cavan Hill and how long the system will need to be flushed to clear all the remaining sediment and what areas are outstanding.

Why the brown water is persisting in some areas long after the period of flushing as we have been advised has concluded.

Why some areas have had water issues for several months now with no adequate response from Irish Water?

Why has this become a serious issue in recent years and what caused the situation to change that this is now becoming an annual event?

What plans do Irish Water have to avoid this going forward for next year and if they would consider a better communication strategy in the run up to flushing works to alleviate public concern?

The Fianna Fail councillor says that although he understands there is an Irish Water clinic offered in advance of county meetings, this has happened less frequently since COVID. He adds that he believes the level of public concern regarding the water issue, from the councillors' constituents in Dundalk, require this to be a formal presentation followed by a question-and-answer session at the next Municipal District Meeting.

The next Dundalk Municipal District meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 6 September.




U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday and expressed support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, officials said.







Guterres, who is on a two-day visit to Seoul, met with Yoon over lunch at the presidential office in Seoul.







Yoon welcomed the secretary-general, saying he looked forward to hearing his thoughts on how to solve the many challenges facing the world.







Guterres said through a translator that he thanks South Korea for being a model nation in the work of the U.N. and especially in peacekeeping efforts around the world.







He also praised South Korea's respect for human rights and contribution to the international community in the areas of socioeconomic development and climate change.







Guterres went further to express the U.N.'s full support for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, saying it was an important goal in achieving security, peace and stability in the region.







The two agreed North Korea's nuclear and missile developments pose a large challenge to not only the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime but also to peace in Northeast Asia and the world.







Yoon discussed specific cooperation measures between South Korea and the U.N. in the areas of development, peace-building and climate change with U.N. officials accompanying the secretary-general.







Guterres said he looks forward to South Korea strengthening cooperation with the international community on peace and security, human rights, development and climate change, and invited Yoon to the U.N. General Assembly in New York next month.







Later in the day, the U.N. chief met with Foreign Minister Park Jin at Seoul's foreign ministry to discuss security on the Korean Peninsula and cooperation on regional and global issues like climate change. (Yonhap)


EBRD and Hyundai Rotem deliver training to 80 young Egyptians

Certified training in maintenance of transport infrastructure and rolling stock

Programme linked to the EBRD-financed 100 million Cairo Metro Line-II purchase of trains project

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has teamed up with Hyundai Rotem to enhance the applied skills of young people in Egypt by providing certified training in the maintenance of transport infrastructure and rolling stock.

The training was delivered in five batches to 80 young women and men under the EBRD-Rotem programme, focusing on topics related to the maintenance of rolling stock for Cairo Metro Line-II.

Trainee Sarah Ahmed exceeded the expectations of her trainers, discovered a passion for the sector and hopes to secure a job offer shortly. She said: Being in the workshop boosted my confidence to work in a sector dominated by men and gave me new skills to complement my studies. Ive applied for a job in the rolling stock sector and very much look forward to a future career in this key sector for Egypt.

The hybrid curriculum blended theoretical, classroom-based studies with more practical, on-site training. The structure enabled the trainees to acquire relevant skills and hands-on experience of rolling-stock management, preparing them for employment in asset-intensive sectors such as the metro, railways and transport utility industry.

Ahmed Maher Zaki, another young trainee, said: The training was very useful on a personal level to develop my knowledge about a profession Im passionate about. As we learned about preventive maintenance for trains, this will certainly open up new job opportunities for me.

The scope of the training was devised by Hyundai Rotem, in combination with international and local trainers, to ensure the use of best international practice in the sector. Trainees receive a certificate once they have completed their training and passed a written examination.

The Cairo Metro Line-II purchase of trains project is a major infrastructure initiative, financed by the EBRD. In 2016, the bank signed a loan agreement for up to 100 million for the purchase of six air-conditioned trains and two locomotives to be operated on the Cairo Metro Line II. The Banks financing was earmarked for the purchase of rolling stock, including spare parts and maintenance equipment, but also came with an important commitment from the Egyptian authorities to support a youth training programme in the first 18 months of implementing the maintenance contract.

Hyundai Rotem is a South Korean manufacturing company and part of the Hyundai Motor Group.

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of its operations there in 2012, the Bank has invested 9.8 billion in the country through 152 projects.
Their love tried and tested, through sickness and health, James and Laura Long have shared 18 years together, since meeting at a christening in 2004.

James and Laura have overcome a cancer diagnosis while living abroad, but the real test in their relationship came early, when James took three days to text after their first date, something he still hears about today.

James described the day he met Laura.

The first time I crossed paths with Laura was September 2004, at my cousins childs christening and little did I know that my life would change for the better from that day.

"To be perfectly honest, I was living my best life and not looking for a girlfriend, but was instantly attracted to this blonde that was chatting to my cousin, and immediately made a beeline to him, Whos that!? How come you never introduced us before?

Laura said it all kicked off in Redz nightclub after the christening. We all went to Redz after the christening, and we danced for a bit and afterwards he kissed me on Daunts Square. James said: It felt like we had known each other for years; we exchanged numbers, but I was wrongly advised not to seem too keen. Oh my! How wrong was that? Im still hearing about not texting for three days to this day!

Laura said she thought she had been given the snub.

James and Laura Long.

I really thought we clicked, and it just felt right, so I knew this could develop into something. But when I didnt hear from him for three days, I was thinking, here we go, what a waste of time. But three days later I got a text and we have been together since. He later told me he was trying to play it cool by using the three-day rule.

After college, Laura wanted to travel and the pair moved to London.

Laura said: I always had a plan to move away after college and told him that I was going to London, whether he wanted to or not. He was up for it, and we ended up there for 10 years. I think thats one of the things I love about him. He is up for anything, and we are always planning our next adventure.

James and Laura Long.

James said it made sense to leave Ireland.

When we graduated from college, the economy had just gone belly-up and we found it difficult to find jobs in areas we studied, so we decided to take a risk and move to London, which was one of the best decisions we made. It helped us grow up fast and made us stronger than ever.

In London, Laura was diagnosed with cancer. This was the scariest time of our lives, but we were so lucky to be in the hands of the NHS and after six months of treatment, Laura was given the all-clear, James said.

My admiration for Lauras positive attitude and sheer determination to beat this disease will never be topped. The following year we were engaged and never looked back. Funny how a horrible situation can bring people closer than ever.

James and Laura Long.

Laura said: Weve been together almost 18 years and during that time weve lived away, travelled as much as we can, been through a cancer diagnosis, been married and moved home.

James said: Ive turned 36 this year and I have been with Laura half my life. We have grown from babies to a happily married couple, and even though we had our ups and downs, I wouldnt change any of it.
CORK Westlife fans attending this weekends concerts have paid tribute to the group with stories of devotion to the band and friendships set to their music.

Pairc Ui Chaoimh is set to host 40,000 fans for each concert but Michelle Murphy from Glounthaune will undoubtedly be among their most loyal supporters.

She has been carrying on a tradition for her late brother Wanny, a devoted Westlife fan, who died suddenly in 2018 at the age of just 35.

Up until that day, he and Michelle had boasted their own supergroup, jokingly known as the Westies.

Their modest fan club comprised of Wanny, Michelle, her sister-in-law Clodagh, their sister Tracy, and Wannys niece (Michelles daughter) Sophie. Together, the gang attended Westlife concerts, which they still recall with fondness.

Sophie has been going since she was five years old, said Michelle. We travel everywhere to see them. Wanny used to fly home from Guernsey especially for concerts. It was always me and my sister Tracy and sister-in-law Clodagh.

Their music brought the family comfort at an extremely difficult time.

One of Wannys requests was that we play Westlife at his funeral. His friends all joked that it was the first and last time they would ever stand and listen to a Westlife song play til the end.

The group will bring along a Westlife scarf and t-shirt once belonging to Wanny as a tribute to the Westlife fan.

Its bitter-sweet to hear their music but we have so many beautiful memories, said Michelle. "His friends were all into heavy metal and house music. He didnt care about the slagging he got for being a Westlife fan.

Meanwhile, Valerie OConnor of Blarney St had been planning to attend the concert with her best friend and sister-in-law Deirdre Kearney, who tragically passed away before the concert.

We went everywhere together and had been so excited for this day to come, she said. Sadly, Deirdre died suddenly before having the chance to see them perform.

"She had been so excited to go for drinks and dinner but I know she will be with me in spirit. Ill be bringing along her memorial card tomorrow so I can feel like she is there with me.

Valerie has benefited from the support of her friend Carmel.

My friend Carmel is coming with me to the concert now. The three of us had been very good friends in North Pres. Carmel was the first person I called when Deirdre passed away.

Valeries husband Stephen had bought her the tickets following a difficult year.

My husband Stephen bought them for me when I had been having a very tough year. He didnt even say anything until the day they came in the post, she said.

Diehard fan Victoria Piper from Crosshaven confessed to buying tickets for both Friday and Saturdays concerts.

Ive been going to their concerts since 2001, Victoria said. My cousin was a fan and at that age all you want to do is follow the crowd. While everybody else grew out of their music I never stopped being a fan and I dont think I ever will.
Clancy Construction has become the first company to be approved under Enterprise Irelands Built to Innovate initiative for a project in Cork.

The initiative aims to achieve faster, higher-quality housing construction by providing funding for productivity training, innovation, and digital, paperless systems.

The use of off-site construction reduced the overall personnel required on site of the 554-bed Bandon Rd student accommodation development and, at the same time, increased productivity, despite repeated delays caused by Covid-19 lockdowns.

The opening of the new scheme ahead of the new college term is also expected to free up accommodation in urban Cork and return it to the rental market.

Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath said: Schemes such as this will help the construction sector prove new technologies that will ultimately help speed up the delivery of big infrastructure projects.

Enterprise Ireland is helping companies such as Clancy Construction maximise the value of modern methods of construction, and I look forward to seeing this new technology being further utilised to deliver thousands of much-needed homes in the years ahead.

The completed Bandon Rd project comprises of 77 apartments spread across five blocks, the frames for which were manufactured and assembled off site. The frames were then delivered and quickly erected on site.

The model of construction meant that an individual apartment block of five to six storeys high was constructed and weatherproofed in an 18-week period, with the internal finishing cycle taking just 16 weeks.

Clancy Construction managing director John OShaughnessy said: We were delighted to work with Enterprise Ireland on this new scheme, which forms part of the Housing for All initiative. This project was halted for 12 weeks as a result of two Covid-19 lockdowns and also faced supply chain disruptions as well as social distancing requirements.

However, by making use of technological advancements, lean construction, and off-site construction, the development has been completed on time and within budget.

It shows the value of innovation and lean processes, and I am confident that it can be replicated across the residential construction sector.

Enterprise Irelands Industrial and Lifesciences division manager, Tom Kelly, added: This project on Bandon Rd proves the potential of off-site construction to accelerate the delivery of housing, within budget. Under Built to Innovate, we welcome Clancy Constructions plans to further improve productivity with training and the introduction of advanced digital systems.
Olivia Kelleher

Local farmers in Ferns, Co Wexford have been praised for their heroic efforts in assisting firefighters after a blaze broke out on land on Thursday,

The RTE News at One was told that farmers directed traffic away from the scene, removed bales of hay out of harm's way and made a makeshift fire break to stop the blaze from spreading to adjoining fields.

Farmer Paddy Walsh told the programme that the blaze broke out on neighbouring land in the afternoon.

"At the back of the Ferns GAA pitch there is barley sown there. It (the fire) started spontaneously and then with the wind is just transferred up field and kept on going.

"They say (at its height) it (had spread) over thirty acres. The flame was fifteen to twenty feet high."

Paddy and a few other farmers hopped on their tractors and tilled the ground in front of the fire so that the blaze couldn't move further.

"There was another few farmers and they were wetting the water in the ditches to try to keep it abay. The wind died down at the right time so that was a massive help as well."

Paddy said he was inspired to hop on his tractor in a bid to do something having seen a few farmers halt the spread of fires on YouTube videos from Australia.

"No one had much experience in things like that. Probably a couple of years ago (that he saw the YouTube video.) But every farmer is very vigilant now and has tankers of water ready to go. Because a spark off a machine could set a field alight. It is best practice just to be vigilant anyway.

"There were several fire engines came and there were lads just happened to be in the village putting up flags for a county final they were the first on the scene. They moved a lot of bales out of harms away and allowed the traffic to come in an out."

The blaze broke out at around half four yesterday. Eight units of Wexford and Wicklow fire brigade responded along with special units for command and control, including water carriers.
Along the lines of IIT Madras Research Park, Anna University's College of Engineering Guindy (CEG) campus will soon get a research park too, which will come up at a cost of Rs 50 crore, stated a report in The New Indian Express.

The university has received building committee approval for the research park and is likely to start construction of the seven-storeyed building within the next two months. "We have plans to make the research park operational by next year," said Vice-Chancellor of the varsity, R Velraj.

Varsity officials said the higher education department will allocate funds for the construction of the research park soon. A patch of land has been identified near the Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE) campus, near the university, where the research park will come up.

The aim of the higher education department behind setting up the research park is to promote innovations and industry-related research work in the university. The research park will also provide much-needed exposure to the engineering students of the state's premier technical university.

According to varsity officials, in the seven-storeyed research, two floors will be earmarked for innovation and product development-related work that will be carried out by the university's faculty members and students. While another two floors will be allotted to start-ups, from where they can operate.

The university also has plans to accommodate a few of the established corporate companies in the research park to ensure that student and faculty members get good research projects to work on.

"We will sign MoUs with the corporates which will provide space in the Research Park. As per the MoU, they will have to provide some research projects to our faculty members and students and will also provide internships to our students," said Velrthe Vice-Chancellor.

The idea behind the Research Park is to propel innovation through incubation and joint research and development (R&D) efforts between academia and the industry. The Research Park will help in the development of students and motivate their professional growth, said a faculty member of the university.

"IIT Madras Research Park houses companies with a research focus and this has helped in leveraging the academic expertise of IIT Madras as well. We have similar plans too," said the faculty member.




Petition calls upon Maine, US to firmly enforce animal cruelty laws at aquaculture sites





A petition filed by animal welfare groups seeks to require state officials in Maine, the United States, to more aggressively enforce animal cruelty laws at aquaculture facilities, saying that a "troubling vacuum in oversight exists" at the state level.

"Despite overwhelming scientific evidence that fish are sentient, conscious, capable of pain, suffering and logical thought," the state does not provide proper oversight of how fish are raised and treated in aquaculture facilities, according to a 32-page petition filed on August 1 by the groups, only two of which are Maine-based.

The lead organisation behind the petition is Animal Outlook, a Washington-DC based group formerly known as Compassion Over Killing. In an interview, Animal Outlook executive director Cheryl Leahy said the petition calls on the Animal Welfare Program at the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to put in place "basic guardrails" to regulate how fish are treated.

"I hope they understand the scope and nature of the problem of mistreatment of animals and the lack of transparency and accountability that exists," she said.

Agriculture department spokesman Jim Britt said via email that the department has received the petition and is reviewing it, but that he could not comment further at this time.

Adding new rules now is particularly important because aquaculture operations are on the verge of a rapid expansion, with four industrial-scale farms looking to locate here, Leahy said.

One of the groups opposed to a land-based salmon farm in Belfast, Friends of Harriet L. Hartley Conservation Area, signed the petition as did the Maine Seaweed Exchange, a nonprofit working to develop a seaweed aquaculture industry in the state.

"In Maine and across the globe, aquaculture is a booming industry, meaning that more and more aquatic animals are subjected to life in industrial aquaculture facilities," the petition reads.

Although animal cruelty investigations fall to the agriculture department, oversight and approval of aquaculture facilities is the responsibility of the Department of Marine Resources and Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The largest currently operating aquaculture company in Maine is Cooke Aquaculture of Canada, which grows thousands of salmon in net pen cages off the coast of Maine.

The petitioners are using a process in which 150 Maine registered voters can ask a state agency to write new rules to address a particular concern. In this instance, the "citizen petition for rulemaking" calls on the state to designate the Animal Welfare Program as the agency responsible for investigating reports of animal cruelty at aquaculture facilities and require it to write rules to establish best management practices.



- Spectrum News




President Yoon Suk-yeol met with U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) on Friday and discussed strengthening the bilateral alliance.







Markey is in Seoul as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.







During their meeting at the presidential office, Yoon thanked the senator for his efforts over decades in Congress to strengthen the alliance.







Markey expressed confidence the bilateral relationship will grow stronger, saying the CHIPS and Science Act, which focuses on the semiconductor industry and was signed by U.S. President Joe Biden this week, "will only further deepen our partnership economically but strategically as well." (Yonhap)






US court for Massachusetts allows delay of state law that will ban sale of some pork

A US federal court judge for the District of Massachusetts, the United States, signed an agreement on August 11 approving the delay of enforcement of a state law that would have banned the sale of pork that comes from animals not housed according to the state's prescriptive housing standards.

This agreement is limited to the pork sales provisions and does not apply to either the egg or veal provisions in the law which is called Question 3 (Q3).

A coalition led by the National Pork Producers Council, along with the National Restaurant Association and several New England restaurant and hospitality associations, filed suit seeking to stop the law's impeding implementation. The suit also asks the court to find the law unconstitutional.

Q3 was a 2016 Massachusetts ballot initiative set to go into effect on August 15, 2022. It is similar to California's Proposition 12, which is currently being reviewed by the US Supreme Court.

Q3 would ban any uncooked whole pork meat sold in the state that does not meet specific sow housing requirements, regardless of where it was produced.

Going further than Prop 12, the Massachusetts law would not allow the transshipment of whole pork through the state, thus jeopardising an estimated US$2 billion worth of pork that moves into neighboring New England states.

In June, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources released final rules implementing Q3. An FAQ Guidance Document was unveiled on July 11 and caused major concerns concerning the state's determination of the implementation date and its impact on shipments of pork transiting through Massachusetts to other states.

"This is a significant outcome as NPPC continues to push to preserve the rights of America's pig farmers to raise hogs in the way that is best for their animals and maintains a reliable supply of pork for consumers," said Terry Wolters, NPPC president and owner of Stoney Creek Farms in Pipestone, Minnesota. "The impact of Question 3 would have been particularly harmful to those in surrounding New England states who did not have a vote in the 2016 Massachusetts referendum, nor any notice of the dramatic steps that activists had taken trying to force these harmful initiatives on voters in other states."

Earlier, the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy and the coalition came to an agreement that the Q3 rule prohibiting sales of non-compliant pork should be put on hold at least until 30 days after the US Supreme Court issues a ruling in the lawsuit brought by NPPC and American Farm Bureau Federation to Proposition 12. This agreement is limited to only the pork sales provision of Q3 and producers located in Massachusetts are still required to comply with the in-state housing standards.

"Working cooperatively with the court and AG Healy's office to ensure already-constrained supply chains continue to work despite this unconstitutional law is a win for American families and local economies in New England and around the country," Wolters said. "Thanks to this agreement, and court order, New Englanders can still enjoy their favorite pork products  from bacon to ribs and BBQ this Labor Day weekend and throughout the rest of the year."

NPPC notes that nearly all pork produced in the US fails to meet Massachusetts Q3 standards.

Other parties in the agreement also praised the agreement.

"This delay is great news for restaurants and guests across Massachusetts. This ruling ensures that until this issue is ruled by the US Supreme Court, no major changes will take place in the Massachusetts pork supply," said Stephen Clark, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. "We have heard from countless restaurant owners and suppliers across Massachusetts concerned about the availably and cost of pork in the coming months. Of particular concern, is restaurant owners in the Latino and Asian restaurant community, pertaining to the availability of or more importantly, lack of compliant pork."

"This stay is the outcome that Rhode Island restaurant operators may not have even realised they needed," said Dale J. Venturini, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association. "The supply chain in our state is so challenging right now that this far-reaching regulation in Massachusetts would have been an uncontrollable and unexpected blow locally. For now, the status quo remains in place and diners in Rhode Island can be sure they'll still be able to get bacon for breakfast or on top of their Friday night burger."



- Farm Progress




Startups in Thailand explore use of insects to produce animal feed



Startups in Thailand are focusing on insects to make animal feed, seeking to help alleviate increasing pressure on livestock farmers to move toward sustainability.

"Insect-derived feed can be a solution to the circular economy," said Peter Hamilton, chief executive officer of Biovert Protein, a Thai startup developing technology to pulverise black soldier fly larvae to process into fish feed.

Biovert plans to build a factory in the Eastern Economic Corridor, a special economic zone in Thailand, by 2024 to launch full-scale production.

Concerns about sustainability in industrial agriculture are rising.

In Europe, livestock, which consumes massive volumes of grains, is considered an environmental concern and avoidance of meat is gaining steam. This presents a problem that needs attention for many companies in Thailand, a leading food exporter.

Black soldier fly eggs hatch in four days and become pupae in 14 days. The insects contain abundant protein as well as calcium and amino acids. They can be mass-produced in a short period of time and are strong alternative to grain-based feed, Biovert said.

The company's other goal is to reduce food waste. Black soldier fly larvae require a massive amount of food for growth, so the company buys spent grain from a local beer brewery.

Europe is leading in the insect protein market, but Southeast Asia offers lower barriers to new entrants. Thailand, in particular, is promoting the development of environmentally friendly technologies, spurring new businesses in the field.

These include FlyLab, another startup working on black soldier flies in northern Chiang Mai. Thai Union Group, the company behind the Chicken of the Sea canned tuna brand, also announced in 2021 an investment in Orgafeed, which develops pet food with black soldier fly larvae.

Reducing production costs is a major challenge.

These startups are pouring money into finding out the optimal environment for enhancing the nutritional value of insects and they must pass these costs on to customers to turn a profit. This means they not only have to get livestock farmers to invest in sustainability but also bring down prices as low as possible to conventional grain-based feed.

- Nikkei Asia




Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Friday instructed the government to swiftly take steps to designate areas that were hit by heavy rains early this week as a special disaster zone.







If designated, the rain-hit areas will be eligible for the government's financial support in recovery work, relief funds for victims and other benefits.







"The government will make its utmost efforts to stabilize the lives of residents in the affected areas and to support a swift recovery," Han said during a disaster response meeting.







Two days of the heaviest rainfall in 80 years battered Seoul and its surrounding areas earlier this week, killing 13 people, with six people still remained missing. (Yonhap)


Xiaomi had a busy Thursday. It revealed a new slimmer foldable smartphone to go up against Samsungs just-announced Galaxy Z Fold 4, then made that appear dull when its own humanoid robot prototype walked on stage. The Xiaomi CyberOne is 177cm (5.8 feet) tall, weighs 52kg (115 pounds) and is, apparently, a Leo. It comes before Teslas humanoid vision arrived as a real-world prototype. But theres some definite style overlap.

The CyberOne is the second product out of the Xiaomi Robotics Lab, after the CyberDog from August 2021. The humanoid machine has a face in the form of a curved OLED panel, it can see the world in 3D and hear with two microphones to identify "85 types of environmental sounds and 45 classifications of human emotion." I dont think I even have that emotional range. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said each CyberOne would cost between 600,000 and 700,000 yuan (about $89,100 to $104,000), so it'll be sometime before the robots hit mass production, if ever.

 Mat Smith

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The biggest stories you might have missed

Jared Mauch just received $2.6 million in funding.

Given a choice between settling for pathetically slow internet speeds from AT&T or paying Comcast $50,000 to expand to his rural home, Michigan resident Jared Mauch chose another way: starting his own fiber internet service provider. Now, he's expanding his service from about 70 customers to nearly 600, thanks to funding aimed at expanding access to broadband internet. He'll need to expand from 14 to about 52 miles of fiber to complete the project, including at least a couple of homes that require a half mile of fiber for a single house.

Continue reading.

It looks less like a Razr, too.

Motorola

Another foldable appears  this time to go up against the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Motorola's last Razr was a nifty folding smartphone and $1,500 fashion statement, but the weak hardware struggled. Now, the company has revealed the Razr 2022, a foldable that might live up to that kind of price, thanks to a true flagship-class Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor and an upgraded, more expansive screen. The curved chin and top camera notch has been nixed in favor of an all-screen design, removing a lot of that Razr design DNA.

Continue reading.

The Mix Fold 2 is also Xiaomi's second device with a Leica camera.

Xiaomi

Xiaomis Mix Fold 2 is the Chinese brand's second foldable phone, featuring a surprising thickness of just 5.4mm, opened  barely enough to house a USB-C port  and 11.2mm thick, folded. One feature that enables the Mix Fold 2's thinness is Xiaomi's third-generation "micro water drop hinge," which gives a tighter fold on the flexible display panel. Alas, the Mix Fold 2 is China-only for now, so good luck finding an importer.

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You can also play games with the live sharing feature.

Google's merger of Meet and Duo is definitely confusing, but there should be some benefits. The company has added a live sharing beta feature that lets users of the revamped Meet share Spotify and YouTube streams during chats. The functionality will sound familiar if you've tried Apples SharePlay, but you can't use Spotify or YouTube with that feature. At least, not yet.

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OSLO, Norway, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Navamedic ASA (OSE: NAVA), a Nordic pharma company and reliable provider of high-quality products to hospitals and pharmacies, grew revenues by 67.2 percent in Q2 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 to NOK 110.4 million, driven by growth in the company's key business areas. Navamedic reiterates its mid- to long-term ambition of building a NOK 1 billion company.

"We are pleased to report record-high revenues and continued strengthening of our profits and cash flow in the second quarter. This was a result of strong growth across several key products, particularly the obesity drug Mysimba. We have continued to progress well along our strategic path through the strengthening of our existing portfolio by leveraging our strong market position and by adding distribution and marketing rights for attractive products. Furthermore, we have strengthened our platform through M&A with the acquisition of Impolin," says Kathrine Gamborg Andreassen, CEO of Navamedic.

Navamedic's gross margin was 44.8 percent in Q2 2022, up from 39.3 percent in the same period in 2021. EBITDA was NOK 23.7 million compared to NOK 4.3 million in the second quarter of last year. Operating profit (EBIT) was NOK 21.9 million compared to NOK 2.9 million in the same quarter in 2021.

"Even though the second quarter of 2022 was a great quarter for Navamedic, we have only just started on our value creation journey. We are planning several product launches in the months to come, and we have a good pipeline of potential new distribution and marketing partnerships and acquisitions," says Gamborg Andreassen.

In August 2022, Navamedic signed an agreement with Vectans Pharma, which gives Navamedic the exclusive right to market and sell an innovative muco-adhesive buccal tablet for single-dose treatment of cold sores in the Nordic and Benelux regions.

"This is a great example of how we can utilize our strong presence and in-depth competence in our markets to broaden our portfolio through partnerships with international pharma companies. Navamedic has a competent and highly motivated team and an excellent product portfolio, and the momentum we currently have makes me confident that we will reach our mid-term revenue target of NOK 1 billion, including carefully selected acquisitions," says Gamborg Andreassen.

Navamedic will hold a presentation of the second quarter and first half 2022 financial results, Friday 12 August at 08.30 CET. The presentation will be held at Haakon VIIs gate 2 in Oslo as well as via webcast on www.navamedic.com/investors/financial-results. Representatives from Navamedic will be CEO Kathrine Gamborg Andreassen and CFO Lars Hjarrand.

EBITDA and other alternative performance measures (APMs) are defined and reconciled to the IFRS financial statements as a part of the APM section of the attached second quarter and first half 2022 presentation on slide 25.

For further information, please contact: Kathrine Gamborg Andreassen, CEO, Navamedic Mobile: +47 951 78 680 E-mail: kathrine@navamedic.com

Lars Hjarrand, CFO, Navamedic Mobile: +47 917 62 842 E-mail: lars.hjarrand@navamedic.com

About Navamedic:

Navamedic ASA is a Nordic full-service provider of high-quality products to hospitals and through pharmacies. Navamedic meets the specific needs of patients and consumers by leveraging its highly scalable market access platform, leading category competence and local knowledge. Navamedic is present in all the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Benelux, with sales representation in the UK and Greece. Navamedic is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: NAVA).

For more information, please visit www.navamedic.com

This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation article 7 and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This stock exchange announcement was published by Lars Hjarrand at the time and date set out above.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/navamedic-asa/r/navamedic-asa--q2-and-first-half-2022-financial-results,c3613078

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/17619/3613078/1613877.pdf Navamedic ASA Q2 2022 Presentation

https://mb.cision.com/Public/17619/3613078/9b0fedf9dafeb68f.pdf Navamedic ASA Q2 and 1H 2022 Report
Attorney General Merrick Garland says the Justice Department asked a court to unseal the warrant the FBI received before searching the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump, acknowledging the extraordinary public interest in the case.
Russia convenes the UN Security Council due to the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The reason is the alleged shelling of the facility by the Ukrainian military. Moscow is not embarrassed by this obvious lie. As well as the fact that the whole world knows the truth about the shelling of the plant by the Russian army.
From: Las Vegas Advisor -- Expert Gambling Books For Immediate Release: Dateline: Las Vegas , NV Thursday, August 11, 2022

No guest this week as we answer questions from our mail bag. We welcome your questions  send them to us at [email protected], or you can find me at @RWM21 on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/GamblingWithAnEdge. .

https://www.spreaker.com/user/7418966/mail08062022

click to listen  alt click to download .

Show Notes [00:00] Introduction [00:30] Bill Benters published material [02:02] Risk of ruin for 8/5 and 8/6 Jack or Better [03:47] Getting flat-bet at a Strip casino [05:06] Intermittent fasting [17:00] Getting cut off from comps at a small locals casino [19:39] Backed off aggressively for counting at a Native American casino [22:26] Relationship between net worth and bankroll [26:55] Gambling advice, blackjack on Vice [30:16] https://SouthPointCasino.com [31:06] https://BlackjackApprenticeship.com [31:38] https://VideoPoker.com/gwae [33:05] Average daily theoretical calculations across properties [34:18] Dating tips for a single professional gambler [37:11] Speed of shuffling on video poker games [38:20] Paying off markers with a credit card [40:05] Video poker training software, Win Poker [41:43] Does a property care about the use of video poker strategy cards [43:01] Calculating the edge on a video poker loss rebate [49:11] Video poker progressives [50:57] Recommended: The Bear on Hulu, Official Secrets on Netflix Sponsored Links: https://SouthPointCasino.com https://BlackjackApprenticeship.com https://VideoPoker.com/gwae Sites Referenced: https://WizardofOdds.com https://Vpfree2.com Vice episode https://youtu.be/PsZpnoELOus Bill Benters 1994 paper: https://www.gwern.net/docs/statistics/decision/1994-benter.pdf Bloomberg article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-05-03/the-gambler-who-cracked-the-horse-racing-code?utm_content=business&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social Recommended: The Bear https://Hulu.com/series/the-bear Official Secrets https://Netflix.com/title/81052553 About Huntington Press Huntington Press is a specialty publisher of Las Vegasand gambling-related books and periodicals, including the award-winning consumer newsletter, Anthony Curtis Las

Vegas Advisor. Huntington Press

3665 Procyon Street

Las Vegas, Nevada 89103

E-mail: cs@huntingtonpress.com


Alamo Heights Independent School District is getting two new campus officers in the wake of the Uvalde shooting, which is translating to a larger proposed general fund budget for the city.

The district already had an officer at the high school. One of the two new ones will be stationed at the Junior School and a third will rotate daily through Cambridge, Woodridge and the Howard Early Childhood Center, said Julie Ann Matonis, district director of communications.

The school board voted to approve the addition of the officers this week. It is working with the Alamo Heights Police Department to recruit and select the new officers, so there is not an estimated time of when the employees will start at the school, Matonis said.

On ExpressNews.com: Alamo Heights ISD, police eye more school security officers

Though the new officers are a major reason for the budgets larger total, City Manager Buddy Kuhn said other factors also are contributing, including an increase in commodity costs, like for fuel and materials, and a 5 percent cost of living pay increase for all employees.

The city council is eyeing a $16.4 million total budget, which consists of an $11.9 million general fund and a $4.5 million utility fund. The general fund is usually referred to as the operating fund for the city and is used to finance day-to-day operations such as fire, police, public works, community development and more. Revenues for this fund come from taxes  mostly property  as well as from licenses and permits, intergovernmental revenue, charges for services, fines, and interest.

IF YOU GO WHAT: Alamo Heights city council will host a public hearing about its fiscal year 2023 budget and tax rate. After the hearing, the council will consider adopting the budget and tax rate. WHEN: Aug. 22 at 5:30 p.m. HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Community members can attend in person at the Alamo Heights Council Chambers on 6116 Broadway or via Zoom by dialing 1-346-248-7799; meeting ID 852 3571 3722; password 277513. WHERE TO SEE THE PROPOSED BUDGET: The proposed budget is on the city website, alamoheightstx.gov. Click on the "departments" tab on the home page and choose "administration and finance." Click "financial reports" on the left side of the screen and scroll down to "Fiscal Year 2023 Proposed Operating Budget" to download the 87-page document. If you have questions, contact Finance Director Robert Galindo at rgalindo@alamoheightstx.gov. See More Collapse

The utility fund is a self-supporting fund that consists of the operating budgets for water and sewer operations. It is fully funded with the rates people pay for their sewer and water services.

The $11.9 million in general fund revenues represents a 4 percent increase from the current fiscal year, and the $11.7 million in general fund expenditures is a 4.5 percent increase from this fiscal year.

Because of the incoming officers, the police department is seeing the largest increase of any city department  a 14 percent bump from this fiscal year. But the school district will be paying back most of what the city pays upfront.

The school district pays for 75 percent of the cost of salary and benefits for one of the new campus officers, and the city pays for the remaining 25 percent. The second new officer will be paid for completely by the district. In the end, Alamo Heights will pay only $45,482 for the two new officers.

Public safety  which includes fire, emergency medical services, police and dispatch  make up 60 percent of the citys general fund spending. Fire and EMS are slated to receive $3.1 million and police and dispatch will get $3.8 million. Public works comes in next at $2.1 million, or 18 percent of the general fund allocations.

The budget accounts for the $1 million in street maintenance projects that the city sets out to complete each year. Kuhn said a final plan on which streets will be tackled is still to be determined.

On ExpressNews.com: Alamo Heights firefighters treat comrades invisible wounds

The city continued to put its usual $25,000 aside for cleanup at the Olmos Basin. And there will be a $25,000 fund from which groups like Alamo Heights Bike Park and Friends of Hondondo Creek Trails can request money when they have projects they want to complete.

The utility fund includes $450,000 for the replacement of water lines along Wildrose, Cloverleaf and Rosemary avenues as part of the citys efforts to meet new Texas Commission on Environmental Quality mandates.

The city is planning to lower its tax rate from 40.4439 cents per $100 valuation to no more than 39.2000 cents per $100 valuation. Kuhn said the rate likely will end up about 38.0000 cents per $100 valuation. The decrease is due largely to the property valuations.

Generally, as valuations go up, tax rates should go down, Kuhn said.

But because certified valuations have been so high, Kuhn said people will still pay more in taxes this upcoming year, and the city will generate about 6 percent more revenue despite a lower tax rate.

The average home value in Alamo Heights is $751,392. For people with a home valued at that amount, the tax bill will come out to about $2,945, which is approximately $165 more than this year.

Community members can voice their opinions on the tax rate and budget at a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Alamo Heights Council Chambers, 6116 Broadway, and via Zoom. At the same meeting, the council will consider adopting the budget and tax rate, which would both go into effect Oct. 1.

Some figures in this article may be slightly different when they are brought to council on Aug. 22 since city staff is making adjustments that city council requested when it first saw the proposed budget this week, such as upping employee pay increases to 5 percent rather than the initially planned 4 percent.

megan.rodriguez@express-news.net




The government was set to issue special presidential pardons Friday on the occasion of next week's Liberation Day anniversary amid widespread speculation that Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong will be among the beneficiaries.







Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon will announce the pardons, which will be the first since President Yoon Suk-yeol took office, after the Cabinet endorses the list during an extraordinary meeting to be presided over by Yoon, officials said.







The most talked-about possible beneficiaries include Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee.







Lee was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye and released on parole in August last year. His prison term officially ended on July 29, but he still needs a pardon to be free of post-prison restrictions and have all his rights reinstated.







Also expected to benefit from the special pardons is Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who was sentenced to a suspended 2 1/2-year prison term in October 2018 in a similar bribery case involving former President Park.







Former President Lee Myung-bak had initially been widely expected to benefit from the pardons but was reportedly ruled out, as Yoon's approval ratings have fallen to unusually low levels and pardoning the unpopular former president could worsen his standing.







The 81-year-old former president has been out of prison since June after a court granted a three-month suspension of his prison term over health issues.







In Korea, presidents usually grant special pardons in commemoration of major national holidays, with leaders of top conglomerates, known as "chaebol," often becoming beneficiaries on the grounds that their return to management will help boost the domestic economy. (Yonhap)


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A new San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology exhibit at Port San Antonio will give visitors a virtual ride in electric-powered aircraft, a tour of 3D-printed moon habitats and a chance to learn what makes a self-driving vehicle go.

Sounds like fun, but David Monroe, founder and CEO of the museum, says the exhibit has a serious goal: introducing schoolchildren and adults to STEM-based education to foster interest in jobs in cybersecurity, aerospace, lunar architecture, robotics and bioscience work in San Antonio.

Were trying to inspire children at an early age to join the fascination of science and technology, he said during a sneak peek tour of the 20,000-square-foot exhibit last week. Right now, theres a lot of open tech jobs, so if children and young adults develop interests in those areas, they have a lot of opportunity to land those high-paying jobs and make real significant contributions.

Called Area 21, the free exhibit is set to open to the public today at Tech Port Center + Arena. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Thursday afternoon, as crews were putting final touches on the space, Monroe stopped to look over a mini-city built of Lego components.

On ExpressNews.com: First look: Inside Tech Port Center + Arena, San Antonio new $70 million, high-tech concert and esports venue

The display created by SAMSAT interns includes mock-ups of buildings, homes, streets  even an airport. The interns collaborated with Port-based CACI International, which provides cybersecurity services for defense agencies, to integrate the sort of systems that control electric grids and water and sewage plants in cities across the United States.

This is a cyber city, Monroe said. This is a teaching tool to teach children how infrastructure operates and how these controls can be protected. He stopped to reflect on the city and other displays and added: This room is not just a museum. Its a workplace. Its a learning place.

Drawing power

For the past five years, the Port has invited San Antonians fascinated by the early days of computing, camera phones and cybersecurity hardware to explore the main museum in the former Kelly AFB chapel.

It, too, is an effort to foster interest in STEM programs and cultivate the next generation of talent for companies at the Port. Since opening that modest facility in 2017, an annual average of 20,000 students from across San Antonio have visited to take part in hands-on learning experiences.

Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

During that time, companies on the Port campus have created more than 5,000 jobs in the very sectors that are being showcased at SAMSAT and around which some terrific learning experiences are being built, Port President and CEO Jim Perschbach said in a statement. There are some significant opportunities ahead to keep growing these leading-edge industries right here in San Antonio as our innovations are being used around the world.

The key to this success and to future growth relies in part on raising awareness of innovations that already exist in the community while delivering the tools for young people to learn the technology and science skills to find work in the future, he said.

Port officials say the new space will draw more than 100,000 K-12 students every year. Theyd come to see revolving exhibits and take part in a host of STEM programs coordinated with area school districts, as well as summer camps and internship and volunteer opportunities.

Port San Antonios sprawling 1,900-acre campus is home to about 80 companies employing nearly 16,000 people, mostly in technology. Its also home to the Air Force Medical Operations Agency and is adjacent to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, where the Air Force Civil Engineering Center and the 16th Air Force, known as Air Forces Cyber, are located.

Tech Port

In April, the Port opened its $70 million Tech Port Center. Since then, it has announced the launches of an esports gaming center and an office for Capital Factory, an Austin-based accelerator working to connect local startups with Defense Department contracts.

On ExpressNews.com: How Port San Antonio brought Capital Factory to its campus and what it seeks to accomplish there

The SAMSAT exhibit is the last big component to open at the new center.

The Port had contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to support SAMSAT and its program development, including its first cybersecurity simulator and the addition of a large training center to support K-12 and workforce training, Monroe said.

Now, the Area 21 space is offered at no cost to SAMSAT.

The Ports board of directors has directed all profits from Tech Port, including net proceeds from concerts, conferences and industry events, to the Kelly Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit established to fund STEM and workforce development programs.

On Thursday, Monroe stepped past cables and crews using forklifts to move items around the space, including the Motoman EA 1400, a welding robot that is one of the first industrial robots deployed in San Antonio.

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He greeted Sam Ximenes, founder and CEO of space architecture firm Exploration Architecture, or XArc, as well as a space construction company called Astroport. The San Antonio native is also founder and board chair of the WEX Foundation, an entity focused on space education for middle and high schoolers.

Ximenes has worked with researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio and garnered funding from NASA to study how to melt moon rocks to help humans build lunar outposts. One idea involves melting moon dust, or regolith, to create bricks.

On ExpressNews.com: UT San Antonio moon rock researchers seeking the ideal recipe to build lunar bases

On Thursday, he was wrapping up the setup for his exhibit, which features a prototype of the 3D printing technology he hopes will one day make bricks on the moon. There, moon dust would be its raw material. Here, the printer will use basalt found in the Knippa Quarry off U.S. 90 between Sabinal and Uvalde to show visitors what habitats on the moon could look like. He hopes it will inspire students to enter the field of space engineering.

Were trying to make San Antonio known as a space community, specifically with a niche in space construction, Ximenes said. When the kids come through here, theyll see this is actually happening in San Antonio. They can be part of the space program. They dont have to go anywhere else.

Also in the exhibit is one of Southwest Research Institutes autonomous vehicle prototypes.

In 2006, the local nonprofit research and development organization began its Mobile Autonomous Robotics Technology Initiative to build combat military ground vehicles, passenger cars, commercial trucks, industrial tractors and mobile robots. Two years later, SwRI demonstrated its first automated vehicle, known as MARTI, in New York City as part of the ITS World Congress, a global event focused on transportation technologies.

SwRI recently donated MARTI to Area 21.

We love it when we can find San Antonio history, Monroe said. San Antonio has a huge legacy of technology innovation, but its a well-kept secret. We want to change that and help San Antonio get its place on the map.

eric.killelea@express-news.net
Dillards has settled its dispute with Rolling Oaks Mall over ownership of the department store space it occupies at the Northeast Side mall.

The mall owner last week deeded the store property at 6909 E. Loop 1604 to the retailer based in Little Rock, Ark., Bexar County property records show. It couldnt be determined if money changed hands.

The transfer occurred after Dillards dismissed a lawsuit it had filed in bankruptcy court in Houston, where mall owner Washington Prime Group Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, and affiliates had entered Chapter 11 reorganization in June 2021.

Dillards sued Washington Prime and Rolling Oaks Mall LLC in April, seeking a court ruling granting the retailer ownership of the store space.

On ExpressNews.com: Dillards battles San Antonio mall owner over store property

The retailer said it repeatedly claimed exclusive ownership of the store property but that Washington Prime wouldnt acknowledge the claim. Dillards dismissed the lawsuit less than two weeks before a deadline for Washington Prime to file an answer to the complaint.

A Washington Prime spokeswoman declined to comment. Dillards representatives didnt respond to a request for comment.

The department stores space, about 174,000 square feet on 14.7 acres, is appraised at $6.2 million by the Bexar Appraisal District.

In its suit, Dillards said the previous mall owner  Simon Property Group  agreed in the late 1980s to convey it land in exchange for the retailer opening a store at the mall.

The retailer invested $8.4 million to build the store, which opened in 1988. Thats an investment equal to more than $20 million today. It has continuously operated the store since its opening and never paid rent to Simon, Dillards added.

It said it paid all property taxes on the real estate since at least 1995. In April, the Bexar County tax assessor-collectors office was able to trace tax payments on the property from Dillards back to 1996.

On ExpressNews.com: USAA Real Estate and Houston firm partner to buy 125 acres of vacant land near Rolling Oaks Mall

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Dillards said it had multiple discussions about formalizing the conveyance of title to the property over the years, but it never got done.

Simon transferred operations of Rolling Oaks Mall to Washington Prime in 2016, two years after it was spun off from Simon.

In 2018, the suit said, Simon conveyed an interest in the the mall to Rolling Oaks Mall LLC, a Washington Prime entity. Washington Prime is a real estate investment trust with a property portfolio valued at more than $4 billion, according to its website.

Washington Prime blamed a shift to online shopping and the pandemic for contributing to last years bankruptcy filings.

As part of last weeks transfer, Dillards and Rolling Oaks Mall entered into a 121-page agreement. The document references the malls desire to build retail and commercial facilities on reserve tracts near Dillards store.

pdanner@express-news.net
Among Whataburgers 890-plus restaurants across 14 states, one location stands above the rest  literally.

In downtown Corpus Christi, the San Antonio-based burger chain operates what it calls Whataburger by the Bay: a two-story restaurant with a balcony overlooking the yacht clubs and marinas along Corpus Christi Bay. At 6,000 square feet, it is the largest of the chains restaurants, which can now be found as far away as Georgia and Kansas.

The restaurant at 121 N. Shoreline Blvd. was built in 1999 as a tribute to the chains 50th anniversary, the company said in a statement, referring to the location as its flagship.

On ExpressNews.com: Expanding the footprint: Two years in, Whataburgers new owner works on recipe for expansion

The companys founder, Harmon Dobson, opened the first restaurant in August 1950 at 2609 Ayers St. in Corpus Christi, about two miles southwest of the double-decker restaurant, selling burgers for 25 cents each, as well as chips and drinks.

Dobson is now celebrated with a statue on a bench in the restaurant  he is smiling, with what appears to be several cigars in his shirt pocket  next to a plaque praising him as a father, husband, pilot and most certainly a visionary.

We seek to honor his legacy in everything we do, and we are proud to have remained family owned and operated since that important day when it all began, the plaque reads.

The companys ownership has changed, however: In 2019, a majority stake in the chain was sold to Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners, propelling its growth as its expanded across the South and Midwest.

On ExpressNews.com: Whataburger sells majority ownership stake to Chicago investment firm, the end of an era for the Texas staple

Dobson is also shown in a painting on the second story, along with his wife, Grace, who took over the business after he died in a plane crash in 1967.

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.

The company relocated its headquarters to San Antonio from Corpus Christi in 2009.

On Google, Tripadvisor and other review websites, visitors to the restaurant praise its balcony views.

Being a life-long patron of Whataburgers, I had to check this out, one visitor said. Same great food as all the other Whataburger locations but this one has an upstairs and deck with bay views. A Whataburger with atmosphere!

Another visitor, from New Zealand, described eating there during a five-week trip in Texas.

We have seen many dozen Whataburger outlets and knowing the chain is a Texas institution we felt we had to try one, the visitor wrote. We liked the fact that the meals were delivered to your table. We thought the place was clean, and the staff efficient; and theres even a bit of a view. Also nice was the pride in being a Texan company  theres even a nice full-size bronze of the founder as you come in the door. We will now be able to look Texans in the eye and say we tried this Texan culinary delight.
Rating: Once was enough

Theres so much to like about Vegan Avenue, the plant-based cafe opened by Griselda Munoz in Monte Vista two years ago.

The sun filters down like a Bob Ross painting in the muraled courtyard. Smoothies, cocktails and fresh juices flow from the curved wooden showcase bar. The whole menu is served all day, from charming waffle stacks to bar-caliber cauliflower Buffalo wings to hearty spinach-mushroom enchiladas to a bacon cheeseburger with all the juice and none of the carnivorous entanglements. The Brekkie Tacos stuffed with scrambled soy and vegan chorizo are some of the best breakfast tacos in the city, no matter the provenance.

Its cute, its friendly, its vegan.

Yep. There are a lot of things to like about Vegan Avenue. But sandwiches arent one of those things. And its not because theyre vegan. Its because theyre poorly executed, no matter the provenance.

On ExpressNews.com: Top 10 veggie burgers in San Antonio

Mike Sutter/Staff

Best sandwich: The weakest link for the Vegan Avenue sandwich experience lay in the bread, even for The Breakfast Club, the strongest among a field of frail contenders ($16 with fries or salad). The poppyseeds and sesame seeds looked nice together, but the bun itself was a stiff-brimmed hat resting uneasily on an otherwise decent collaboration of vegan proteins, including a juicy Beyond Meat patty, a folded omelet-style egg substitute, melted vegan cheddar and tempeh bacon with good salt and smoke, even in its barely cooked state. Like all the fries in this report, both regular and sweet potato, the side of fries with this sandwich was barely warm and already going soft when it hit the table.

Mike Sutter/Staff

Other sandwiches: The other sandwiches went from bland to worst, starting with a Buffalo Chikn sandwich ($15 with fries or salad) that tapped into the fried chicken sandwich zeitgeist of the moment. Sort of. The vegan chicken stand-in called Chikn can keep up with chicken in taste and texture when its fried, and Vegan Avenue handled it just fine. But its Buffalo sauce game was weak, the bun behaved like yesterdays news, fat slices of raw cucumber failed the pickle test, and who invited kale to the party?

On ExpressNews.com: The best plant-based vegan hot dogs and sausages from H-E-B and Whole Foods

Mike Sutter/Staff

Not to pick on kale, but here goes: Its dry, its prickly, it tastes like the soil it came from. Its no substitute for the crisp hydration of iceberg, butter, romaine or any of the other more evolved lettuces. And it really serves no function on a fried chicken sandwich beyond virtue signaling.

Maybe Im mad because kale crashed the party even harder on the last two sandwiches, especially a fried mushroom poboy ($16 with fries or salad), where it made the rubber-tire mushrooms even more of a chore to bite through. And it did nothing to help an underdressed Chickn Parm sandwich ($16 with fries or salad) that might have amounted to something if thered been more than a suggestion of marinara. Youve got good fried Chickn and solid vegan interpretations of Parmesan and provolone cheeses. Why not go all in on the tomato sauce?

But really, neither of those sandwiches stood a chance against the rock-hard thump of the hero rolls they rode in on. Vegan Avenue deserves better ambassadors, because it's better than the sum of its sandwiches.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Members of New Mexico's Muslim community pushed Thursday for the Afghan refugee suspected of killing four Muslim men to remain behind bars pending trial  citing previous accusations of domestic violence and video surveillance that appeared to show him slashing the tires of a vehicle parked outside the local mosque.

The video from early 2020 had prompted leaders of the Islamic Center of New Mexico at the time to admonish Muhammad Syed and tell him not to return to the mosque.

The woman whose tires were slashed never went to the police and charges were never filed, said Ahmad Assed, the Islamic center's president.

But nearly two years later, her brother-in-law became one of the victims. Muhammad Zahir Ahmadi was fatally shot last November behind the market he owned with his brother.

Police have named Syed, 51, as the primary suspect in Ahmadi's death and in the fatal shooting of another man in early August. Authorities already have charged him with two counts of murder in the deaths of two other Muslim men in recent weeks.

Syed was arrested late Monday more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from his Albuquerque home. He told authorities he was on his way to Texas, citing the ambush-style killings as his concern.

Albuquerque police on Thursday released two brief videos showing part of Syeds arrest. The footage from body-worn cameras includes an 18-second clip of Syed face-down on the ground as officers tell him to put his hands behind his back. He appears to tell them he does not speak English as they put him in handcuffs.

In the other clip, he is shown walking from the back of a police cruiser into the department's headquarters. He wore a striped long-sleeved shirt, dark pants and sandals.

Syed is scheduled to appear in court Monday, when a state judge will consider a motion by prosecutors seeking to detain Syed without bond pending trial. Prosecutors have argued that Syed is dangerous and that no conditions of release will ensure the community's safety.

Syed denied any connection to the crimes that shook the city and its small Muslim community after he was arrested during a traffic stop, saying he was heading to Houston to find a new home for his family over fear about the killings.

His public defenders declined comment on the case Thursday except to say that they were reviewing evidence and preparing for Monday's hearing.

Given the level of media attention, we need to be very careful to not let this case be tried in the public forum and not a court of law, said Tom Clark, one of Syed's state appointed attorneys.

Assed and other members of the city's Muslim community said they were working with law enforcement to try to keep Syed in custody.

Despite police saying personal conflicts might be part of the motive for the killings, Assed said in an interview that Muslims are struggling to understand why the men who were killed were targeted and that the killings raised questions and concerns about whether more attacks had been planned.

Its certainly our concern for this community as we move forward and its a concern because not knowing more about the motive, we are at a disadvantage in understanding whether that was what was planned, that was it, or whether more victims were on the radar, Assed said.

The first killing in November was followed by three between July 26 and Aug. 5.

According to a criminal complaint, police determined that bullet casings found in Syeds vehicle matched the caliber of the weapons believed to have been used in two of the killings and that casings found at the crime scenes were linked to guns found at Syeds home and in his vehicle.

Police said they received more than 200 tips and one from the Muslim community that led them to the Syed family. Syed knew the victims, authorities have said.

Syed has lived in the United States for about five years. When interviewed by detectives, Syed said he had fought against the Taliban, according to a criminal complaint filed in court Tuesday.

He lived in an apartment in Albuquerque with family members who told reporters that he was a truck driver but hadn't worked for a company in a long time.

Court documents show the domestic violence allegations Syed was accused of involved separate altercations with his wife, a son and his future son-in-law. The cases were dismissed because the victims declined to press charges.
NEW YORK (AP)  For much of the year, small cracks in Donald Trump's political support have been growing.

Dissatisfied Republican primary voters began to consider new presidential prospects. GOP donors grappled with damaging revelations uncovered by the Jan. 6 committee. S everal party leaders pondered challenging Trump for the party's 2024 nomination.

But after the FBI executed a search warrant at his Florida estate, the Republican Party unified swiftly behind the former president.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who likely represents Trump's strongest potential primary challenger, described the Biden administration as a regime and called Monday's Mar-a-Lago search for improperly taken classified documents another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regimes political opponents.

The GOP push to portray Trump as the victim of a politicized Justice Department ignored the potential criminal misconduct that justified the search in the eyes of a federal judge. It overlooked Trump's role in hiring now-vilified FBI Director Chris Wray, who also served as a high-ranking official in a Republican-led Justice Department. The Biden White House, meanwhile, said it had no prior knowledge of the search.

But the robust defense serves as a fresh reminder of the former president's enduring grip on the GOP, driven by an ability to use a sense of grievance among many Republican voters toward government and other institutions. Trump tapped into that animosity to overcome two impeachments and the fallout from an insurrection. His allies said Tuesday that the FBI search would only strengthen his position again.

The sooner he kicks off his campaign, the better," Indiana GOP Rep. Jim Banks, the chair of the Republican Study Committee, said in an interview.

Banks was among about a dozen Republican lawmakers who spent several hours Tuesday evening with Trump at his summer home in Bedminster, New Jersey. During a meal that included steak, scallops, mashed potatoes, salad and a Trump cookie, the group talked about the upcoming midterm elections and the 2024 presidential race, Banks said.

The former president told the lawmakers his mind is made up about a 2024 campaign and we'll all be happy with his decision."

The FBI search seemed to trigger a shift among Trump's advisers, who had been privately urging him to wait until after the midterm elections to announce his intention to seek the presidency again. Suddenly, some of those same advisers were urging him to launch his campaign before the November elections.

Trump stoked such speculation in the hours after the search by posting a campaign-style video on social media. The best is yet to come, he said.

He followed up with a fundraising appeal, making it personal by declaring "its important that you know that it wasnt just my home that was violated  it was the home of every patriotic American who I have been fighting for.

In Columbia, South Carolina, Sen. Lindsey Graham said he spoke with Trump and felt sure another campaign was coming.

One thing I can tell you, Graham said. I believed he was going to run before. Im stronger in my belief now.

As Republicans rallied behind Trump, Democrats pushed back against GOP claims of political interference, without evidence. Some accused the GOP of a departure from its longstanding commitment to law and order."

The FBI director was appointed by Donald Trump, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Asked if the raid might hurt Democrats in the November elections, she said: Youre talking about if the Justice Department decides to have a warrant to go in because they suspect something is justified, its going to have an impact on the election? No, no, no, no, no.

Some of Trump's most vocal Republican critics still shied away from embracing the former president. And it was unclear how rank-and-file Republican voters and independents frustrated by Trump's divisive leadership might be moved by the new developments.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor and one of many Republicans considering a 2024 presidential bid, noted Tuesday that a federal judge had to sign off on the warrant.

The former president is presumed innocent, Christie said in an interview. On the other hand, we cant immediately impugn the motives of the prosecutors just because theyre from another political party.

Its an extraordinary action. And there better be some pretty extraordinary facts to underlie it. If there are, then they have every right to do it.

And some other Republican officials seemed to express continued concerns about Trump by refusing to weigh in at all.

The relatively short list of those GOP leaders who remained silent Tuesday afternoon was led by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who has privately encouraged his party to move past Trump. But the Kentucky Republican eventually weighed in, saying: The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday. Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately.

The overwhelming majority  from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to DeSantis, accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the Justice Department and ignored any potential wrongdoing by Trump.

The GOP now fully embraces the notion that Trump should, indeed, be above the law, and that Trump 2.0 will be a bonfire of vengeance, wrote Republican commentator Charlie Sykes, a frequent Trump critic.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is gearing up for a presidential run of his own, said he shared the deep concerns of millions of Americans over the search of Trump's private residence.

He stopped short of attacking the FBI, however. Instead, he said Attorney General Merrick Garland should give a full accounting to the American people as to why this action was taken and he must do so immediately.

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Josh Hawley of Missouri aggressively condemned the Justice Department on Trump's behalf.

Hawley called the search an unprecedented assault on democratic norms and the rule of law. He called for Garland's resignation or impeachment and the removal of FBI Director Wray.

Cotton said Garland had weaponized the Justice Department against his political enemies. There will be consequences for this," he warned.

Also from Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, still another Republican weighing a 2024 run, called the search unprecedented and alarming. But like Pence, he added, We must see the probable cause affidavit before making a judgment.

The search intensified the months-long probe into how classified documents ended up in boxes of White House records located at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year. A separate grand jury is investigating efforts by Trump and allies to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In late June, long before the latest development, 48% of U.S. adults said that Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Views on Trumps criminal liability broke down predictably along party lines, with 86% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans saying Trump should be charged. Still, the fact that nearly half the country believed he should be prosecuted represents a remarkable position for the former president, pointing to the difficulties he could face in another White House run.

Former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg said Monday's FBI search would almost certainly strengthen Trump's standing among Republican primary voters, especially those Republicans who had begun to lean toward DeSantis or another fresh face. But if Trump is ultimately indicted for a federal crime related to the search, as Nunberg said he expects, the former president's ability to win over a broader group of voters in the 2024 general election could take a major hit.

Despite the fantasies of everyone from Sean Hannity to Steve Bannon, I can promise you that someone under indictment isnt going to get elected president of the United States, Nunberg said.

But on Tuesday, at least, the Republican Party was squarely behind Trump, its undisputed leader.

One of Trump's most vocal supporters in Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, almost seemed to thank the Justice Department for bringing her party together.

Ive talked a lot about the civil war in the GOP and I lean into it because America needs fearless & effective Republicans to finally put America First, she tweeted. Last nights tyrannical FBI raid at MAR is unifying us in ways I havent seen.

___

AP writers Jill Colvin, Meg Kinnard, Alan Fram and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
BEND, Ore. (AP)  St. Charles Health System in Central Oregon accidentally overpaid thousands of employees a total of $2 million and is demanding employees pay that money back.

Employees were told Thursday of the total amounts allegedly owed, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

Scott Palmer of the Oregon Nurses Association said the amounts range from less than $100 to as much as $3,000. St. Charles leadership said in a written statement that the average amount owed is $780, and that many employees have already signed forms agreeing to repay the money.

More than 2,300 employees owe some money to St. Charles, a spokeswoman told The Bulletin.

The overpayment issues began in November when hackers launched a ransomware attack on Ultimate Kronos Group, a technology company that runs St. Charles payroll system. Many businesses across the U.S. that use the system were unable to access timecard data.

From late November until January, the hospital paid employees based on hours they reported during that time, a spokesperson said.

Palmer said the nurses association plans to issue a cease and desist letter to St. Charles demanding it halt the repayment process and saying it could be illegal. He said in one case, a nurse was notified about an amount allegedly owed with a sticky note.

This is just yet another way in which nurses and frontline health care providers and staff are being burdened, Palmer said, noting years of enduring the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said members of the nurses association have received little evidence that the hospital system overpaid employees.

(St. Charles is) just asserting that this money is owed with no documented support, at least none that we can tell from our members, he said.

St. Charles representatives declined requests form Oregon Public Broadcasting for an interview.

While we recognize this is an inconvenience for our employees, weve communicated from the beginning that this is a step wed eventually need to take, spokesperson Lisa Goodman wrote in a statement.

She also wrote that St. Charles has been paying back employees whom the hospital underpaid as a result of the hack.
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NORFOLK, Va. (AP)  A U.S. Army lieutenant who was pepper-sprayed, struck and handcuffed during a traffic stop in Virginia can present his claims of false imprisonment and assault and battery to a jury, a federal judge has ruled.

But the summary judgment Tuesday said federal immunity laws shield the two officers involved from facing Caron Nazarios claims that they violated the Black and Hispanic soldier's constitutional protections against excessive force and unreasonable seizure, as well as his right to free speech by allegedly threatening him with arrest if he complained about their behavior.

U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young also ruled that the officer who initially pulled Nazario over is liable for illegally searching for a gun in the soldier's SUV in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Virginia law, leaving the question of damages on that point up to a jury. Nazario had a concealed carry permit.

The December 2020 traffic stop of the uniformed military officer in the small town of Windsor drew national attention and outrage after Nazario sued in April 2021, citing police body camera images and his cellphone video of the encounter. He was never charged with a crime.

Nazario had been driving home in the dark from his duty station when Officer Daniel Crocker radioed that he was attempting to stop a vehicle with no rear license plate and tinted windows, the lawsuit says. Body camera video later showed that a temporary tag was taped to the inside of the rear window.

It appeared to Lt. Nazario that there was no good location in the immediate vicinity to stop safely. So, for the benefit of the officers safety and his own, Lt. Nazario continued slowly down US 460," the lawsuit says. Nazario drove below the posted speed limit for less than a mile until he reached the well-lit parking lot of a BP gas station, it says.

Crocker said the driver was eluding police and he considered it a high-risk traffic stop, according to a report cited in the lawsuit. Another officer, Joe Gutierrez, was driving by and joined him.

The lawsuit says both officers escalated the situation by immediately pointing their guns at Nazario and trying to pull him out of the vehicle while he kept his hands in the air. Gutierrez pepper-sprayed Nazario multiple times as the officers yelled for him to get out.

At one point, Nazario said he was afraid to get out, to which Gutierrez replied: You should be.

When Nazario did get out and ask for a supervisor, Gutierrez responded with knee-strikes to his legs, knocking him to the ground, where the two officers struck him multiple times and then handcuffed and interrogated him, the lawsuit says.

Officer Gutierrez was later fired for failing to follow department policy during the stop. A special prosecutor concluded late last month that Gutierrez should not be criminally charged under Virginia law, but should be investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for potential civil rights violations.

The federal judge ruled Tuesday that the officers had probable cause to pull Nazario over for an improperly displayed license plate, and to charge him with eluding police as well as obstruction of justice and failure to obey when he refused to exit the vehicle.

The judge also wrote that Nazarios claims under the U.S. Constitution of unlawful seizure and excessive force present questions about the officers' conduct that could be put before a jury. But Young threw out the allegations under the federal doctrine of qualified immunity, which balances accountability with the need to shield officials who reasonably perform their jobs.

For example, the judge wrote that there is not a clearly established right prohibiting the aiming of firearms, the use of threats or the use of OC spray against a suspect who has repeatedly refused to comply with lawful commands to exit a vehicle.

The allegation that Nazarios free speech was violated was also tossed under the federal immunity doctrine.

However, Young said Nazario's claims under state law, false imprisonment and assault and battery, can move forward. The judge wrote that Virginia law only provides local officials immunity from suits alleging negligence.

Explaining his summary judgment on Crocker's search for the gun, Young wrote that the firearm was not relevant evidence for the crimes of eluding or obstruction of justice." However, he said Nazarios claims that Gutierrez knew about the search and failed to intervene could proceed to trial. Gutierrez has argued that he knew nothing about the search.

Jessica Ann Swauger, an attorney listed for Gutierrez, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Jonathan Arthur, one of the attorneys representing Nazario, said the judge's ruling is a victory even though three of the federal claims were tossed.

Whether its under federal law or whether its under state law, the jury is going to speak," Arthur said. "And we hope that the jury is going to stand up and say that this behavior will not be tolerated.

Anne C. Lahren, an attorney for Crocker, said the remaining questions are classic issues for a jury, rarely decided at this stage in a civil suit. She also noted that the judge found the stop itself and the officers' ensuing commands to be lawful.

Lt. Nazarios own actions gave rise to the unfortunate, but lawful, escalation of force ..., Lahren wrote. Had Lt. Nazario simply followed the lawful commands of the officers from the outset of the traffic stop, none of this would have been necessary.
A Travis County judge on Wednesday blocked efforts by state Sen. Roland Gutierrez to force the release of law enforcement records related to the May 24 massacre in Uvalde.

Gutierrez, a Democrat whose district includes Uvalde, has been pushing for months to obtain the records from the Department of Public Safety. Lawyers for the state said he submitted the request to the wrong person, and Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell Busbee argued last week that releasing the material could jeopardize an ongoing investigation into the shooting and the police response that day.

NEWS FROM UVALDE: After anger-filled public meeting, schools superintendent acknowledges: Trust has been crippled

In a brief ruling, Judge Catherine Mauzy said the records had not been requested properly under the states open records law, so she had no need to consider whether the requested information is exempted from required public disclosure. Gutierrez had sent the request to a DPS employee instead of the open records division.

Gutierrez said he planned to appeal and would submit a new request to the department.

It is very disturbing that the Department of Public Safety has continued to fail to disclose even the most benign information to the public, he said in a statement. You shouldnt need a lawsuit to be honest and transparent with people about what occurred.

Busbee told the court last week that she feared the release would jeopardize criminal charges she may pursue down the line, and we would lose a lot of cooperation from witnesses.

If theres information placed out in the public, then people would be apt to come to a conclusion without hearing the full story, the full investigation there, Busbee said. There is no way that I would be able to see that justice was done.

DPS offered to provide the records to Gutierrez alone on July 21  for his legislative purposes  with the condition that he not release the documents publicly. The senator declined, saying they should be widely available.

Law enforcement officials and politicians have repeatedly changed their stories about the events of May 24. In the days immediately following the shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott and other leaders praised police for their quick response to the incident, only to find out shortly after that hundreds of officers declined to confront the teenage gunman for more than an hour.

Nineteen children and two teachers died that day. Another 17 people were injured.

jeremy.blackman@chron.com
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The fiance of a San Antonio woman hacked to death in 2020 told the jury at the murder trial of Rafael Castillo that he averted his eyes before the defendant chopped her hands off, then killed her with an ax buried into her skull.

Castillo, 27, is accused of killing Nicole Niki Perry, 31, on Nov. 19, 2020, allegedly to teach her a lesson because she did not show him proper respect at the house where they were staying, a place that sheltered a rotating cast of drug-addicted transients.

Randall Fulghum, a prosecution witness, said he and Perry had been together for about eight years. She was the one in charge, he said, something he liked because he is autistic.

The couple went to stay with a friend who lived in a house-like structure behind a home in the 300 block of Harlan Avenue on the South Side. Several transients lived there, and Fulghum said he and Perry used methamphetamine with many of them.

On ExpressNews.com: Jury sees grisly photos of San Antonio woman who was hacked with machete, ax as murder trial begins

Fulghum said Perry was outspoken, not afraid to speak her mind, and had annoyed and angered Castillo so much that he killed her with a machete and an ax after they argued about respect. Castillo had warned her to shut up numerous times, Fulghum said, and he had tried to get Perry to stop antagonizing Castillo.

When she did not stop, Castillo attacked her, he said.

Fulghum said he couldnt watch what was about to happen when Castillo duct-taped Perrys wrists together and grabbed a machete.

I heard it, Fulghum said through tears, describing three chops of the machete. It was a sound I will never forget.

Perry moved and struggled after her hands were severed at the wrist, Fulghum told the jury. When Perry would not stop moving, Castillo became angrier. Fulghum said Castillo told Perry, I thought I told you to stop moving.

On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County man charged with hacking woman to death in front of her fiance

Castillo then grabbed a long black ax that he buried into her skull, said Fulghum, who wept as he recalled the sound of the ax hitting Perry on the right side of her head.

I started shaking uncontrollably, he told the jury.

Castillo told him he needed to clean up the scene, or Fulghum wouldnt like it, he said. I knew what that meant.  Id end up the same way (as Perry).

Fulghum said he and a woman he knew only as Vanessa gathered clothing and rags to absorb the blood. They used bleach and Fabuloso, and Vanessa grabbed some plastic bins and trash bags out of a hidden room adjacent to the crime scene, reachable through a hole in the wall hidden by a bookcase. They began to place bloodied items in the bins, along with the body.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio man indicted in killing of Houston-area victim found burned, dismembered

When Fulghum saw Perrys face, her eyes were still open, he said.

I closed her eyes and whispered good-bye to her, he told the jury, holding back tears.

Fulghum said a man he did not know came and picked up the trash bags that contained evidence and the body and drove it off.

Perrys remains were found off of W. W. White and Higdon roads in far Southeast Bexar County by a work crew.

When prosecutor Jennifer McDaniel showed Fulghum the bloodied machete and ax taken from the crime scene and asked if he recognized them, he wept.

I had to pull it out of her head, Fulghum said.

He admitted he was too afraid to tell deputies when they arrested him the next day what had happened because Castillo warned him that he had eyes on him.

Fulghum said under questioning that he was on probation for failing to register as a convicted sex offender. He said he has been clean of drugs and has not used methamphetamine since his second arrest on Dec. 8, 2020.

With Perry gone, Fulghum said he didnt care about anything anymore.

Fulghum leapt slightly from his seat on the witness stand when McDaniel showed him a photograph of Perry that was taken before her autopsy was performed. He gasped and cried at the sight of her, gagged and bloodied, with a zip tie and tow strap around her neck.

Thats Niki, he said through tears.

He said his life will never be the same.

I dont sleep. When I close my eyes, I see her.

If convicted, Castillo, 27, faces up to life in prison.

ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863




President Yoon Suk-yeol granted his first special pardons to Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and 1,691 others on the occasion of next week's Liberation Day anniversary, the justice minister said Friday.







Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon announced the pardons to be effective from Liberation Day on Monday.







Former President Lee Myung-bak had initially been widely expected to benefit from the pardons but was not included in the list. Also excluded was former South Gyeongsang Province Govenor Kim Kyoung-soo.







The most prominent beneficiary is Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee.







He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in a bribery case involving former President Park Geun-hye and released on parole in August last year. His prison term officially ended July 29, but he still needs a pardon to have all his rights reinstated.







Lotte Group Chairman Shin was sentenced to a suspended 2 1/2-year prison term in October 2018 in a similar bribery case involving former President Park.







A widely expected pardon for the 81-year-old former President Lee was ruled out at the last minute as Yoon's approval rating has fallen to unusually low levels and pardoning the unpopular former president could worsen his standing.







Lee has been out of prison since June after a court granted a three-month suspension of his prison term over health issues.







In South Korea, presidents usually grant special pardons in commemoration of major national holidays, with leaders of top conglomerates, known as chaebol, often becoming beneficiaries on the grounds that their return to management will help boost the domestic economy. (Yonhap)


Kenneth Platt, the most visible and voluble of San Antonios remaining Pearl Harbor veterans, was buried here Thursday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery with a salute from an Air Force honor guard.

A soldier who wore the Combat Infantryman Badge for action in the Pacific but later served in the Air Force in the cold war era, Platt died Aug. 3 at 101.

The upbeat, gregarious Platt had been in declining health. He was still the center of attention at veteran breakfasts at Jims Restaurant this year, but spent his final days drifting in and out of consciousness in hospice at his home near Balcones Heights.

I see somebody, a friend, Russell Minor, quoted Platt as saying the day before he died. And right after that, he kind of reached up to where the wall meets the ceiling, trying to grasp whatever he was seeing. I think when we all get to that point where its basically over, the good Lord comforts you in ways nobody else can know or see.

He added: The day he died, what he told me was, Ive got to go.

Just two local Pearl Harbor survivors remain: Heinz Bachman, 100, a former Army staff sergeant and native of Germany who emigrated to the United States before World War II, and Gilbert Meyer, a retired Navy chief petty officer who recently celebrated his 99th birthday.

Neither attended the most recent of the annual Pearl Harbor Day luncheons in San Antonio, where Platt was a regular.

On ExpressNews.com: On 80th anniversary, just one Pearl Harbor veteran makes it to San Antonios annual steakhouse reunion

The lunches will continue  the only question is how many families of Pearl Harbor veterans might attend, said Irene Hernandez, an organizer of the gatherings who had been active in the now-defunct Pearl Harbor Survivors Association chapter in San Antonio.

Machine gun fire from a strafing Japanese plane came through a window four feet from where Platt was fast asleep at Schofield Barracks outside Honolulu early on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941.

Days before, he had rearranged the sleeping area.

He moved his bed in the barracks, his son, Wayne Platt, 75, said. He didnt like where it was. He was a corporal, he could do that. So he moved it and thats where the bullets came through, went straight through there. He didnt fall under his bunk  thats just a silly story he told.

It was the first of several close calls in the Pacific. One day in New Guinea, a soldier named Vito Marchessi asked Platt for his Thompson submachine gun so he could take point on a patrol.

Daddy gave it to him and told him to get up front, Wayne Platt said. He ran into them. They were cooking rice. And (Kenneth Platt) heard the firing go off and they go up there and the Japanese go run and duck through the woods, and (Marchessi) killed five Japanese and they killed him.

Platt died peacefully with his wife, Lorena, and son, Wayne, hours later, the evening before his 77th wedding anniversary.

Six airmen from a Joint Base San Antonio honor guard slowly pulled Platts casket out from a hearse and set it upon a bier.

God is with us, and God is not silent, said Pastor Bill Shockley, who stood next to the casket, which had Platts Pearl Harbor veterans cap on it. In ancient times when our ancestors came to a place called death, they went to the Bible to find their comfort and solace, and were not any different this morning.

We come to the same Bible, we seek the same comfort from the same God.

Senior Airman Connor Gary presented the flag to Lorena Platt.

Its just been a long month and I miss him and he was a great guy. Wayne Platt said. Im glad we had him as long as we did. Like I told somebody, he could have died 80 years ago or more, but he didnt, so he lived a long life.

sigc@express-news.net
Ive never met a Greg Abbott follower.

Dont get me wrong. Ive spoken to countless Texans over the years who have cast their ballots for this states two-term governor.

Those voters generally describe Abbott as a serviceable, electable vessel for the GOP agenda. Many of them express admiration for the tenacity Abbott has shown in rebounding from a freak accident that occurred in Houston in 1984 when an oak tree fell on him and left him paralyzed from the waist down.

You hear appreciation from those voters, but no enthusiasm. Maybe its the fact that Abbott always sounds so detached, so contained, like the algorithmic product of a right-wing focus group. But you never feel that alchemical connection that some politicians can create with their supporters.

John Kerry had voters. Barack Obama had followers.

George H.W. Bush had voters. Ronald Reagan had followers.

Love him or hate him, its impossible to deny that Beto ORourke stirs passion.

At his best (and hes been at his best during a state tour expected to cover 5,600 miles and 75 communities in seven weeks), the former El Paso congressman, and current Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has the capacity to make politics visceral  to turn rhetorical riffs into something you feel in your gut.

ORourke has never been the most disciplined politician, and this former punk-rock musician is like a particular type of musical artist: the kind who can ignite a room when theyre fully engaged, but doesnt know how to fake it when they dont feel it.

ORourkes special brand of magnetism was on full display Wednesday during a campaign stop in Mineral Wells.

As he has often done in the weeks following the horrific May 24 school shooting in Uvalde that took the lives of 19 children and two teachers, ORourke talked about the absurdity of an 18-year-old being allowed to legally purchase an assault-style weapon designed to penetrate an enemy soldiers helmet at 500 feet and knock him down dead and use it against kids at five feet.

A pro-Abbott voter in the back of the room laughed.

It may be funny to you motherf-----, but its not funny to me, ORourke shot back. The room exploded with applause. Within a couple of hours, social media lit up.

In a way, it was an uncharacteristic moment for ORourke. Its true that he has used profanity freely on the campaign trail over the years. But he generally uses it as verbal seasoning, to add emphasis to the point he was making.

We all remember ORourkes Nov. 2018 concession speech after he lost a close race for the U.S. Senate to Ted Cruz.

Im so f---ing proud of you guys! ORourke told his supporters.

Using a profanity as a name-calling device, particularly against someone at one of his rallies, is not typical for ORourke.

His preferred method for dealing with his detractors has been to disarm them with kindness, as he did on July 23 during an outdoor event in the North Texas town of Spearman.

That Saturday afternoon, ORourke invited Republican protesters into the park pavilion to protect them from the 100-degree heat and offered them water.

Even in this time of extreme political division, ORourke clings to the belief that if he can make eye contact with someone, he can persuade them to reconsider their choice.

The Mineral Wells event wasnt the first time this summer he has scolded an audience member.

As Texas Tribune reporter Patrick Svitek pointed out in a Thursday tweet, ORourke delivered a similar response  minus the profane epithet  last month in Snyder while discussing gun violence.

When he heard derisive laughter, ORourke said, It might be funny to you. It isnt to me.

The words might have been similar, but everything about the Mineral Wells exchange felt different. In Snyder, ORourke delivered the line in a calm, offhand sort of way. In Mineral Wells, we saw raw anger, delivered with a vehemence that probably surprised even ORourke.

There will be plenty of pundits and politicos condemning ORourkes language. On the other hand, if we stopped to honestly ponder the horror of elementary school children being mutilated in their own classroom by a high-powered weapon, wed never stop cursing.

In what world is ORourkes statement offensive, but Abbotts initial response to the Uvalde shooting  It could have been worse  appropriate?

Marisa Bono, a San Antonian who serves as the CEO for the policy advocacy organization known as Every Texan, put it this way with a Thursday tweet:

Motherf----- may be a profanity, but it could have been worse is an obscenity.

Thats why ORourke inspires a following and Abbott, for all his electoral success and fundraising muscle, never will.

ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470
A photo of a Thrall police officer posing with Kyle Rittenhouse that was posted to the departments official Facebook account has begun circulating on social media, sparking outrage.

The photograph, posted on Thursday, shows Rittenhouse grinning next to an unnamed Thrall officer in front of a vehicle.

Make those stops, you never know who you might meet, the post reads. Today it was Kyle Rittenhouse, welcome to Texas.

About six hours later, the post was edited by the Central Texas police department after intense backlash.

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The edited post read: I must have missed something, I believe that this young man was arrested, charged, indicted and then found not guilty by a jury of his peers. Is this not how our country works anymore? The hate in these comments is terrible, if you have information that is contrary to that I would honestly love to hear it.

In 2020 at the age of 17, Rittenhouse drove from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in response to protests for the shooting of a Black man by a white officer. Rittenhouse had said he wanted to help law enforcement protect property amid civil unrest. He was accused of fatally shooting two men and injuring another with his rifle. He was acquitted last year of multiple felony charges during his high-profile trial in which he argued he acted in self-defense.

Now 19-years-old, Rittenhouse recently made headlines in Texas after he said he was attending Texas A&M University. A school spokesperson later said Rittenhouse had not been accepted at the university. Rittenhouse later tweeted that he was moving to Texas this year to attend Blinn College in Brenham, a two-year institution that has a strong transfer rate to A&M, according to the Houston Chronicle. Acceptance, however, is not guaranteed.

The Thrall Police Departments Facebook post received nearly 1,800 comments.

Also on ExpressNews.com: Beto ORourke curses at heckler who laughed during stump speech on Uvalde shooting

Sick you are making him out as a hero, one person wrote. Shame on your officer and this department."

Another added: Get pulled over for a traffic violation, get a selfie taken instead. Is that service extended to everyone?

Its unclear how Rittenhouse and the officer met. Chief Whitney Whitworth did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The city of Thrall is about 40 miles northeast of Austin.

timothy.fanning@express-news.net
The recent wave of mass shootings has opened an important discussion: How do we go back to being a society in which this is a rare occurrence rather than a common one?

Many feel that controlling access to firearms is the answer. Statistics from other countries with stricter gun control laws support this viewpoint, with the United States ranking first among developed countries in firearm homicides, given our easier access.

Those who find this conclusion unacceptable counter that mass shootings stem primarily from mental health issues. Certainly, this view has some validity, as we can all agree that individuals who commit such violence are disturbed. But in terms of solutions, what would it mean to treat this primarily as a mental health issue? As a society, what should we be doing?

As practicing psychologists, we believe it falls on our profession to begin to frame an answer. Lets start by defining these horrific acts as anti-social, since they tear at the fabric of our society, leaving behind broken hearts and minds. The opposite, which would represent our attempts at reducing this violence, can be characterized as pro-social.

When you engage in pro-social behavior, your goal is to benefit another person, to be of help. But there is a seeming paradox at the core of pro-social behavior: Why would someone impose costs on themselves to benefit others? Doesnt this run counter to our cultures dominant ethos of profit and individualism? Arent we naturally selfish, rather than giving?

Not at all. Research on pro-social behavior has demonstrated, from an early age, that we prefer people who are kind and helpful versus people who hinder and harm, and children will model themselves after those who have influence on them. The spectrum from selfishness to altruism emerges from both inherited tendencies and environmental influences. Much can be done, particularly at an early age, to foster pro-social behaviors.

Please note the emphasis on early childhood development. The sooner we intervene with children showing anti-social tendencies, the greater the impact. Research has shown elementary school teachers can significantly predict future adult offenders when the children are as young as 6. They recognize healthy behavior and have a close-up view of which children are struggling. Why would we waste this opportunity to intervene and provide support to disturbed children and their families, potentially avoiding tragedy?

That would mean making sure our schools become resource centers, adequately staffed with teachers, counselors and social workers, with proper funding for creative networks of outreach and care. At this point, the opposite is true: Education is woefully underfunded, particularly in our state (40th nationally in a 2021 report from the Education Law Center).

If the goal is to nurture mental health and pro-social behavior, we must shift from a negative view of active social service. Proper government funding is a necessary cornerstone, though programs need to not only inspire a new generation of teachers and counselors, but also inspire our citizenry into active volunteerism.

Our society should also foster help for our young adults by reinvigorating service organizations such as AmeriCorps, Job Corps and even the old Civilian Conservation Corps. Recent personality profiles done on young mass murderers makes clear that alternative placements, within well-staffed training programs, might have made a difference.

As mental health professionals, we know what is necessary to foster psychological well-being. If we are serious about addressing violence from the perspective of mental health, we must commit to cultivating the social and educational framework to generate pro-social behavior. As Mahatma Gandhi said, The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members. Lets make sure our children are given what they need to help us create a safer and more compassionate society.

Poonam Sharma and Gary Whiting are licensed psychologists. Both work for a clinic that has been treating survivors of the Uvalde massacre.
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Leave it to Texas Republicans to decide that a return to zero-tolerance strategies such as expulsion and criminalizing of misbehavior would make our schools safer.

Like reform schools back in the day, this approach simply steers vulnerable adolescents, disproportionately Black and Hispanic, into the juvenile justice system, where they can learn to be better criminals.

Some teens do benefit from placement in alternative schools where they receive added attention. The focus is often on success in learning, and creating less failure and frustration.

I dont think thats what the Republicans have in mind when they talk about discipline, however. When in doubt, punish and blame.

Susan Hull, Bandera

Line needed crossing

Re: Pelosi crossed a line; now Taiwan, U.S. may suffer, Other Views, Sunday:

While University of Texas at San Antonio professor Jon Taylor has voiced his opinion on House Speaker Nancy Pelosis trip to Taiwan, he presented only one side.

China, an autocratic dictatorial state, controls the travel of its citizens. The U.S. and other free countries allow their citizens to travel freely. China has no right to restrict the travel of any citizen of the U.S. to any free country.

Had Pelosi not traveled to Taiwan, the U.S. would have been seen as bowing to Chinese will, and the damage to U.S. credibility and strength in the Pacific Rim would have been far worse than the Chinese now demonstrating their might.

Mark Kuhlmann

Tejano Travel by Abbott

It appears Gov. Greg Abbott is on to something. Abbotts travel agency seems to be gaining momentum by enticing migrants to book passage to New York City from their border crossings in South Texas. More than 50 migrants recently completed their journey from South Texas and were welcomed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Earlier, Abbott successfully completed a pilot program by busing migrants to Washington.

Expansion of the Abbott Tejano Travel Agency could include Arizona, where Gov. Doug Ducey might set up a similar migrant travel service, maybe to the West Coast.

I cant imagine what Abbotts harebrained scheme might develop into eventually, but the migrants who were successfully transported to Washington and New York can be examples of how a governor can execute future trips for interested arrivals to other cities from any port of entry point in the U.S.

Attaboy, Greg.

John Kepler
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Daryl Davis was a decade into his 37-year sentence for aggravated assault when he was attacked in Texass Polunsky prison facility in Livingston. The first time the Mandingo Warriors gang used a broom handle to beat him. Days later they pummeled him using a magnet stuffed into the end of a sock as he turtled on the prison floor.

The Department of Criminal Justice transferred Davis to another unit for protection. To the Tyler native known inside as Major, the assaults didnt make sense. He wasnt affiliated with any gang. He started asking around.

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The prisons hyperactive rumor mill soon spit out an explanation: A guard who had accepted an inmates bribe for favors believed  wrongly  that Davis had turned him in. Seeking retaliation, the guard paid the gang in smoking tobacco to attack Davis.

The discovery launched Davis on an improbable D-I-Y legal journey that lasted a decade and a half. Representing himself in federal court, he prevailed over State of Texas attorneys at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, known for its conservative bent.

At trial, he summoned the same gang members who had beaten him to describe how theyd been hired by the guard. Convinced, the jury awarded Davis $25,000 for the attack.

UVALDE: After messy handling of Uvalde shooting, experts say even the fastest response cant outrun bullets

That was just the start. For the next dozen years Davis tried to get the State of Texas to pay up. He filed petitions and wrote letters from his cell.

Davis served 18 years and 6 months in prison after being convicted of beating his girlfriend with a full 40-ounce beer bottle. Once paroled, he started dropping in on state legislators. He haunted the Capitol in Austin, telling his story to anyone who would listen.

The first thing I remember thinking is, How the hell did he get in here? recalled Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. Staffers for Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, and Rep. Carl Sherman, a DeSoto Democrat, confirmed their bosses also heard Daviss story.

Im not a Republican, Im not a Democrat, Davis said. Ill walk with all of them.

Rep. Matt Schaefer, a Tyler Republican, listened cautiously when Davis first stopped by. In a former life I did some criminal defense work, he said. So I come with a healthy skepticism of what anyone says in the criminal justice system.

I thought he just wanted to be listened to, he added. But then hes showing up at the office all the time. It reminded me of the Bible story of the widow in front of the judge  a parable Jesus told about a woman whose constant petitions for justice eventually prevailed.

In time, Schaefer, too, became convinced the State of Texas owed Daryl Davis his money.

Hard to win, no matter how talented

The federal court system receives tens of thousands of filings every year from aggrieved prisoners representing themselves. But federal procedure and civil rights law create a challenging legal maze.

Civil rights law is very difficult to begin with, so it is hard to win no matter how talented you are, said Jeff Edwards, an Austin attorney who has won civil rights cases against the Texas prison system.

Almost always the suits are dismissed as deficient, added H. Daniel Butler, an Iowa State University sociology professor who has studied civil rights lawsuits filed by Texas prisoners. In a recent paper, he found only 7 percent of the complaints resulted in what might be called a win.

To have a prisoner mostly represent himself and prevail, Butler added, is extraordinary.

Filed in January 2007, Daviss original petition is a hand-written account of his prison attack. Suspecting that a guard under his command named Michael McDuffie was smuggling contraband, a lieutenant had lied to McDuffie in an effort to elicit a confession, saying Davis already had snitched on him.

Furious, McDuffie paid an inmate gang to attack Davis in retaliation, Davis wrote. When Davis complained, prison officials didnt follow up on his grievances.

In her Report and Recommendations, Magistrate Judge Judith Guthrie noted both the lieutenant and McDuffie denied their alleged roles in the incident, and Daviss injuries werent severe. She cited cases saying the prison system was not liable for every injury an inmate suffered at the hands of another inmate. Several weeks later a judge dismissed his case on summary judgment.

Writing his own briefs, Davis appealed to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit. In April 2009 a panel concluded Davis actually might have a case.

While The district court found no  evidence supporting Davis allegation that McDuffie ordered the hit on Davis or knew of an impending hit on Davis, they wrote, the finding ignores interoffice communications between prison officials indicating that several informants asserted that Officer McDuffie paid the Mandingo Warriors 30 packs of Bugler Tobacco to assault Davis.

If McDuffie paid inmates to assault Davis, the judges added, this obviously would rise to a level of deliberate indifference beyond that protected by qualified immunity  the legal shield insulating government agents from civil lawsuits for most actions they take while performing their on-the-job duties.

The best witnesses

For the first time, Davis got a court-appointed lawyer to help him. A Lufkin attorney since the mid-1970s, Roger Neil Moss said he has worked with plenty of state prisoners.

Daryl knew the facts of his case better than anyone Ive represented, he recalled. He had boxes full of materials and I could say, Give me that letter from so-and-so, and hed reach over and snatch it right out.

When Davis said he wanted the Mandingo Warriors to testify, Moss objected: Those guys have bad reputations. I told Daryl, they are not likely to be believed.

But during the three-day trial in April 2010, James Grant, serving a 75-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault, and Troy Sanders, convicted of capital murder, were calm, articulate and precise in their descriptions of prison life, Moss recalled  the best witnesses.

Sanders explained why the Hispanic gang contacted by McDuffie to attack Davis had to contract out the job to the Warriors, a Black organization. The way penitentiary politics works, he testified, is that a Mexican, or group of Mexicans, jumping on a Black man, for those who are not in the know of whats going on, its automatically going to be construed as something racial.

Grant, who identified himself as the Mandingo Warriors official liaison to the prisons Gang Intelligence unit, described how the group had warned officials that Davis might be attacked, hoping they could get him moved off the unit without bloodshed. But administrators didnt act.

Did you see the actual attack? Moss asked. Yes, sir, Grant replied. I participated in it. After deliberating three hours, the jury sided with Davis, voting to award him $25,000.

Collecting it was another matter.

Knocking on doors

Following the trial, Davis said state attorneys tried to strike a quick deal for $7,000. They must have thought Id take it because I was just an inmate, he said. But I said Id rather have nothing.

Back in his cell, he fired off a flurry of filings. When he argued the State of Texas should cover the bill, the government lawyers said the prison system was not legally responsible for McDuffies actions. When he asked to garnish McDuffies wages, a judge rejected the idea, noting Davis hadnt even provided a good address for the guard. McDuffie could not be reached for comment for this story.

In response to a growing number of inmate lawsuits, in 1996 the federal court system required prisoners to pay filing fees out of their trust accounts. When he ran out of money I just stopped filing, Davis said.

He was released five years after his trial victory and returned to Tyler, where he started several charities to help school children. He also runs a car-detailing shop with a friend.

In 2015 Davis found a Georgetown attorney to help him collect. The state should have paid him, and it should have been a lot more, said Chad Van Cleave. But they just told me, Were not liable and we dont have any intention of paying the check.

He discovered the likelihood of collecting from McDuffie wasnt much better. The best I could tell he had a worthless trailer on property that didnt belong to him and a run-down bass boat, Van Cleave said.

So Davis started knocking on politicians doors.

A moral and legal obligation

Schaefer said when Davis first approached him three years ago, I thought, Why should I spend my time on this case? But the fact Texas had offered a settlement suggested people knew the state had screwed up, he said. Without a doubt it had a moral and ethical obligation.

We worked it and worked it, Schaefer said. But even with a legislator in his corner, the wheels turned slowly. In addition to the prison agency, the governors office and attorney general had to sign off.

Davis approached other lawmakers, as well. Neither Sen. Hughes nor Rep. Sherman was available for an interview, though both listened and helped, Davis said.

Whitmire, the longest-serving active senator and the influential chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said he made inquiries after hearing Davis out. I asked Bryan Collier [Department of Corrections executive director] to take another look, he said. I thought he was entitled to his money. But it wasnt just the money, but the principle of the thing.

Two months ago Schaefers office asked Davis to stop by. For the beating orchestrated by a State of Texas employee and his 16 years of dogged pursuit, Davis, now 58, was presented with a check for $27,669.86  the jury award plus interest.

It wasnt a seismic event in the world of prisoner jurisprudence; no systemic wrongs were righted. And in a state that has paid millions of dollars to prisoners who spent years  sometimes decades  locked up for crimes they never committed, the settlement of Daviss debt made only the faintest of ripples.

But it did mark the end of one former prisoners journey to be seen. No matter how many doors shut in your face, you need to fight, Davis said. You cannot be victorious if you give up.

eric.dexheimer@chron.com
NEWS FLASH





Croatian Public Service Obligation flights (PSO) have been delayed until at least September after the government failed to finalise contracts with Trade Air and Croatia Airlines, which were originally to come into force in June. Although Croatia Airlines has continued to maintain its PSO services, irrespective of the funding made available through the contracts, Trade Air suspended its domestic flights in late April after its previous contract with the Croatian government expired. It was due to resume domestic operations in July but has constantly delayed the start date, as a result of the governments actions.
Listen to the voice of Belt and Road from foreign media

(People's Daily App) 11:09, August 12, 2022

The 2022 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road was held in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Tuesday.

Themed by "Embrace Global Development Initiative and Deeper Connectivity", the forum is hosted by People's Daily, Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the CPC and the People's Government of Shaanxi Province. More than 120 Chinese and foreign media representatives from more than 40 countries and organizations "met" together to have discussions on topics such as the media's responsibility to promote global development and development holding the key to delivering better lives to people worldwide.

The participants highly praised the 2022 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road and frequently applauded the Belt and Road Initiative. What did the foreign media representatives say? Follow us to find out.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
Rep. Kim Sung-won of the ruling People Power Party, center wearing rose-colored scarf, says he honestly wishes it would rain more right now so that the photos would come out better during his visit to a severely flood-damaged area in Dongjak District, Seoul, Thursday. Screenshot from Channel A



By Lee Yeon-woo



The questionable attitudes of some ruling party politicians visiting areas damaged by this week's torrential rains and flooding have stirred up criticism from around the country, saying that such visits are not sincere and only for show.



Rep. Kim Sung-won of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) fueled public anger when his remarks while visiting a neighborhood severely damaged by the rains and flooding  Sadang-dong, Dongjak District, Seoul  were picked up by a local broadcaster's camera, Thursday. Dongjak District is one of the areas in Seoul that was hit the hardest by the pounding rains earlier this week, and Kim was visiting the site to assist in a post-flood clean-up with PPP floor leader Kwon Seong-dong.



"Honestly, I hope it rains right now so that the photos will come out better," Kim said to his fellow lawmakers at the site. Rep. Lim Lee-ja, who stood next to Kim, slapped his arm and pointed to the camera to warn him to watch his mouth. However, the scene was already being broadcast live.



As the video went viral, a great deal of criticism has been leveled at Kim for making such an insensitive remark, considering how the record torrential rains have caused great damage to people's livelihoods and property, and he was supposed to be visiting the site to help restore the area after severe flood damage.



Kim held a press conference Friday, apologizing for his inappropriate statement and promising to put his best efforts into helping those who were affected by the flooding. Despite his apology, his party, the People Power Party, (PPP) is expected to hand Kim's case over to its ethics committee, according to PPP interim chief Joo Ho-young.





A promotional image uploaded on the presidential office's website and social media, Tuesday, it features a photo of President Yoon Suk-yeol and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in front of the semi-basement flat in Seoul where a family of three died when their home was flooded with rainwater from a sinkhole in the adjacent road, Monday. Screenshot from the presidential office's Facebook account
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It's Friday, August 12, 2022, the day of the week when I pass along a quotation intended to be uplifting or enlightening. This morning, I'll deviate from the script somewhat. Today's words, poignant and sad, serve as a reminder of the cost of war, especially to families of the fallen. They come from John F. Kennedy, years before he became commander in chief, a touching observation about his older brother Joe.

Most U.S. presidents have believed that national interests sometimes require military action in the cause of freedom. In his State of the Union address to Congress on January 6, 1941, nine weeks after assuring America's mothers and fathers that their "boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars," Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a more ominous message:

"I find it unhappily necessary to report that the future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders," FDR told Congress. "No realistic American can expect from a dictator's peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion -- or even good business. Such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors. Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

This was the address in which Roosevelt articulated what he called the "Four Freedoms" -- freedom of expression, freedom of worship, freedom from fear, and freedom from want, "everywhere in the world."

It was that evocative phrase, everywhere in the world, repeated after the enunciation of each "freedom," that gave the speech its loft and rhetorical power. FDR's call was answered, in time, by 18 million Americans, among them Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., and his younger brother John, who served heroically in the South Pacific and who would succeed the supreme allied commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in the White House.

John F. Kennedy espoused and epitomized the values of a generation that had seen its nation attacked and assumed the necessity of protecting liberty on foreign shores. President Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address became the gold standard for interventionist rhetoric among 20th century presidents. The United States, JFK told the world, would "bear any burden, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty."

That's quite an obligation, as the Kennedy family knew firsthand.

On this date in 1898, the Spanish-American war officially ended with a cease-fire bringing independence to Cuba, and with Spain ceding Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The short and decisive armed conflict, which began in April of that year, was effectively over by the mid-July surrender of Santiago de Cuba, ending Spain's reign as a colonial power in this hemisphere and signaling the rise of American international influence.

"[A] splendid little war," Secretary of State John Hay wrote to Theodore Roosevelt, "begun with the highest motives, carried on with magnificent intelligence and spirit, favored by that Fortune which loves the brave."

In truth, neither fates nor fortune always favor the brave, which was underscored on this date in 1944, when U.S. Navy aviators Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. and Wilford John Willy volunteered for a highly dangerous, top-secret mission to attack German V-2 rocket launching sites in France.

The Allies had no rockets of their own, so in a desperate gambit, aging B-24s were loaded with volatile explosives and directed, in a precursor of today's unmanned drones, by radio signals. But because the bombers couldn't get off the ground on their own, two-man crews were to get them airborne and then parachute out of the cockpit.

On the evening of August 12, 1944, the Kennedy-Willy airplane exploded minutes after takeoff with both pilots still aboard. The sheer gallantry of those two men takes your breath away, although the officers who authorized such a dangerous scheme would probably be court-martialed today. In any event, in mere seconds the oldest Kennedy scion, handsome as a movie star, brave as they come, and groomed for greatness, was dead at age 29.

His younger brother John, known to family and friends as "Jack," was recuperating in Chelsea Naval Hospital from injuries suffered when his PT boat was sunk in the Pacific when he heard the news. Jack knew intuitively what his brother's death meant for him: Their father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., had told the local newspapers upon the birth of his oldest son that Joe Jr. would grow up to be America's first Roman Catholic president. "Now," Jack confided to a friend, "the burden falls on me."

First, however, he created a memorial book for his family, "As We Remember Joe." In it, Jack Kennedy wrote about his older brother, "His worldly success was so assured and inevitable that his death seems to have cut into the natural order of things."

In a sense this is true when any mother or father buries one of their children, a reminder not only of the debt owed to all Gold Star families, but also of the loss anyone feels when they lose a child or a sibling.

And it's our quote of the week.

Carl M. Cannon is the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics. Reach him on Twitter @CarlCannon.
The lump sum exit scheme, opened earlier this year for those farmers who are wishing to leave the industry, soon closes for applications.

Farmers in England can apply to the scheme, which will provide a payment so they can exit the sector in a managed way.

In return, they will be expected to either rent or sell their land or surrender their tenancy in order to create opportunities for new entrants.

The exit payment provided is based on the average direct payments made to the farmer for the 2019 to 2021 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) years.

This reference figure will be capped at 42,500 and multiplied by 2.35 to calculate the lump sum, meaning that farmers could receive up to around 100,000.

The scheme, which opened for applications in April, has a deadline set for 30 September.

David Exwood, vice president of the NFU, encouraged farmers wishing to retire to apply to the scheme.

With the rollout of the first domestic agricultural policy for more than 40 years currently taking place, farmers across the country will be making difficult decisions about the future of their farm business.

"I would encourage anyone considering this to take advantage of the free and confidential business advice being funded by Defra.

We will also continue working with Defra on the crucial New Entrants Scheme which we hope will provide a pipeline for new talent to enter the industry.

Defra said that a further phase of support would be launched in late September and would run until March 2025.

Defra Secretary George Eustice said: The decision to retire or exit the industry can be extremely difficult and is frequently postponed.

"The purpose of the scheme is to assist farmers who want to exit the industry to do so in a planned way that provides them with the means to make a meaningful choice about their future.

"The scheme will also free up land for new entrants to farming, and we will be saying more about our new entrants scheme shortly.
Pilgrims UK has launched a new lamb business, which the food company says will process Welsh and British premium lamb products.

Pilgrims UK, one of the UKs leading food businesses, said it had launched the new business to 'reinvent the lamb category in the UK'.

Pilgrims UK Lamb Ltd will process Welsh and British premium lamb products, with all lamb producers Farm Assured, the firm said.

The move follows Pilgrims acquisition of Randall Parker Foods (RPF) two manufacturing facilities in Llanidloes and Andover last year, consisting of 350 staff.

Pilgrims UK Lamb was officially launched at the Royal Welsh Show, which saw the business showcase its lamb products.

The team also held meetings with key industry stakeholders, including representatives from the NFU and Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC).

Lee Rampling, managing director  Fresh at Pilgrims UK, said: A huge amount of work has gone into integrating the RPF sites into the wider Pilgrims UK organisation.

The move brings our lamb operations closer together into a single integrated supply chain which will benefit team members and customers alike, securing jobs, investment and growth for a sustainable future.

Jim Gaffney, managing director of Pilgrims UK Lamb Ltd, who continues to oversee operations at the two sites, said: It was great to get our first official outing as Pilgrims UK Lamb Ltd under our belts to usher in a new era for us all.

We will continue to produce the high-quality lamb we are known for, while leveraging the expertise and Passion for Food that exists across the Pilgrims UK business to help us reach new customers and markets."
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Prosecutors raided the office of Naver, Korea's largest internet portal giant, Friday over its alleged abuse of its market dominant position in dealing with a real estate market information partner in the past.







The raid at the company's headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul, was carried out over allegations that Naver blocked the unspecified market information provider from selling data to Kakao, Naver's main rival, between May 2015 and September 2017.







The case was launched following a criminal complaint filed by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the country's antitrust regulator, in November of last year at the request of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.







The FTC in December 2020 issued a 1 billion-won (US767,000) fine to Naver after concluding that the internet portal giant had signed the deal with the market data company under the condition that it does not provide Kakao with market data.







The SME ministry asked the FTC to pursue a criminal investigation after assessing that Naver caused damage to the company by blocking its potential dealings with Kakao. (Yonhap)


The FC Barcelona begins LaLiga Santander 2022-2023 with a party in front of the Ray Vallecano, this Saturday to the 21:00 hours, with a lot of doubts. The picture blaugrana has a lot of pending subjects in the market of signings estival and, for the moment, are not near to resolve . The name of Martin Braithwaite is the one who more worry generates, put the club wants to terminate his agreement, but his situation keeps on being of uncertainty.

The case is that, does a year, his paper in the Barca was very, very different. After the exit of Leo Messi, the Barcelona forward remained very 'touched' and without gunpowder, place were very few the options that had Ronald Koeman to configure his line of attack. Martin Braithwaite split like one of the big alternatives of the Dutch trainer and answered with solvency.

It is not a secret for anybody that Braithwaite, as it showed it in the Leganes and first year in the Barca, that with regularity can be important. In fact, in the debut of the cules in the 2021-2022 on 15 August, the international with Denmark tonoticed a doublet for the been bulky goleada against the Real Sociedad (4-2) in the Camp Nou.

In this opportunity, Braithwaite annotated the second so much of the afternoon after Frenkie of Jong sent a centre from the right lane so that the Danish finished of head to bocarrajo in the second stick and leave to the rest with the feeling of absolute command in the field and also in the marker. In the 59', Jordi Alba received a good balloon of Memphis inside the area, went of the defence with a big dribbling but his finish was diverted by Remiro. The refuse hunted it Braithwaite so that the Danish marked his second so much of the night to placar.

A year afterwards, very distinct

Of this doublet of Braithwaite has happened almost a year and is in the door of exit. No from this time on, but from it does quite time. Xavi Hernandez has left him clear that does not have he and in the past season, since it was available (January), only played 22 minutes. The club is in the most hit research to achieve his exit... But it is a case that will extend more than what wanted to in the Spotify Camp Nou.
Julie Kagti

Founder of Curtain Call Adventures

A winemaker who works with kiwi farmers in her region. A communications specialist who is creating empowering, feminist rag dolls. An adventure tour specialist who believes in local experiences. An entrepreneur who envisioned and launched an app to help everyone learn Indian languages. Another who brings traditional Maharashtrian fare to dining tables across the world. Our country is replete with visionaries who are working towards empowering local communities and artisans while educating the world about their skills and crafts. Made in India, for the world. In this special issue, we applaud these women who are putting India on the world map...The COVID 19 pandemic has been a reminder that we dont live as isolated societies, but, as humankind, share this planet. Julie Kagti, the Assamese founder and travel curator of Curtain Call Adventures, firmly believes that local communities are the guardians of our environment and our traditions, and that sustainable or low-impact travel is a way of taking responsibility to help them prosper. Curtain Call encourages immersive travel in the Northeast to benefit local communities, because building their economy also gives them an incentive to hold onto their culture.During my student days in Mumbai, a lot of my friends would request me to put them in touch with travel agents operating in the Northeast. After a while, I found that all the itineraries were to fixed destinations with little or no interaction with local communities.. I felt the need to offer discerning travellers a richer experience through visits to local villages that offer a chance to see the ways of the tribes in their purity.. I have sought this immersive approach in my own travels with my children. Most of the time we stayed in homestays where we would interact with the owners and enjoy really cool local experiences. As a locals understanding of a place, its ecology and traditions is better, this helps in planning practices that are less harmful to the environment and more beneficial to communities to live in harmony with their surroundings.and the benefits we have received, promoting places and destinations to which it would not be possible to plan immersive trips. I curate trips for my travellers as I would for my own family. Social media helps in this to reach a larger audience and connect with like-minded people who, too, would like to celebrate this rich experience of Indianness.If youre looking to make a positive change with social impact,. It will motivate, guide and inspire you.
Bangladesh yesterday fixed different weekly holidays in domestic industrial zones instead of traditional weekly closures to ensure uninterrupted power supply. A circular issued in this regard by the department of inspection for factories and establishments (DIFE) under the ministry of labour and employment said the decision has been taken in public interest.

The new system will be followed amid the ongoing electricity shortage due to global fuel oil and gas price hikes.

State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid had a few days back mentioned about this plan. The minister said uninterrupted power supply will be possible from October.

Bangladesh yesterday fixed different weekly holidays in domestic industrial zones instead of traditional weekly closures to ensure uninterrupted power supply. A circular issued in this regard by the department of inspection for factories and establishments (DIFE) under the ministry of labour and employment said the decision has been taken in public interest.

Around 490-500 MW of power is expected to be saved daily with this measure, Hamid said.

Meanwhile, many representatives from industries in the core sector that use heavy machinery said long power outages during the staggered holidays will hamper machinery and production systems and substantially increase operational costs.

Some factory owners, including those from tanneries, jute units, leather factory and apparel units, however, said that there will be no impact of the measure on them.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Leading global luxury platform FARFETCH and Italian fashion brand Salvatore Ferragamo have announced a global strategic partnership. The commercial deal will see the two companies engage in an integrated partnership that will allow Ferragamo to boost its digital innovation capabilities by leveraging the full breadth of FARFETCHs platform.

FARFETCH and Ferragamo share a vision of the convergence of luxury retail centred on quality, innovation, and client experiences, powered by strong and differentiated technological solutions, according to a press release issued by Ferragamo.

Leading global luxury platform FARFETCH and Italian fashion brand Salvatore Ferragamo have announced a global strategic partnership. The commercial deal will see the two companies engage in an integrated partnership that will allow Ferragamo to boost its digital innovation capabilities by leveraging the full breadth of FARFETCH's platform.

We are absolutely delighted to be working with Ferragamo on their digital transformation. This partnership capitalises on all of FARFETCHs strengths as the global platform for the luxury industry and taps into our vision for luxury new retail. Ferragamo has a wonderful heritage of creativity and craftsmanship and I am hugely excited about the opportunity to take it to a unique new audience globally. Ferragamos outstanding product and creativity, coupled with our marketing capabilities and innovative digital experiences will captivate that audience while our media and technology platform capabilities power Ferragamos digital ecosystem, said Jose Neves, founder, chairman and CEO, FARFETCH.

Leveraging the power of the FARFETCH technology platform will enable Ferragamo to power its digital and omnichannel strategy using FARFETCH Platform Solutions. The partnership will involve leveraging FARFETCHs global audience reach through strengthening Ferragamos presence on the FARFETCH Marketplace, as well as utilising FARFETCHs Media Solutions to deliver engaging digital experiences for a younger, and global audience, added the release.

FARFETCH is the leading digital platform in luxury fashion and represents the ideal partner to further boost Ferragamos omnichannel innovation, fuelling our plans to reach new, younger audiences and accelerate our growth, said Marco Gobbetti, CEO, Salvatore Ferragamo.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)
Theand the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to soon begin work on developing an economic and industrial zone in Chattogram's Anowara sub-district. The economic zone covering 778 acres is expected to generate 30,000 jobs, according to BEZA chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun.

Harun said the zone is fully dedicated to Chinese entrepreneurs and investors. Chemical, automobile assembly, garments and pharmaceutical factories will be built in the economic zone.

The China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd was initially chosen for the project by the Chinese government, which changed its decision later.

The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) and the China Road and Bridge Corporation recently signed a memorandum of understanding to soon begin work on developing an economic and industrial zone in Chattogram's Anowara sub-district. The economic zone covering 778 acres is expected to generate 30,000 jobs, according to BEZA chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun.

CRBC, a subsidiary of Fortune Global 500 company China Communications Construction Company, focuses on global civil engineering and construction projects like highways, railways, bridges, ports and tunnels.

A government-to-government agreement was signed with China earlier for the project, Harun was quoted as saying by Bangla media reports.

He said the zone has access to water transportation and the site is suitable for export-oriented industries due to its proximity to the largest sea port in the country.

Everything will be finalised after securing the seal of approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

China had expressed interest in building the economic zone when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the country in 2014.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Switzerland advocated for the quick completion of negotiations regarding the free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and India in a recent meeting held between Swiss federal councillor Ueli Maurer and Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. Switzerland is a member of the EFTA along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

Trade between India and Switzerland reached around $31.8 billion in 2021, making the former the second-biggest Asian trading partner of the latter, as per statistics released by the Swiss government.

Switzerland advocated for the quick completion of negotiations regarding the free trade agreement between the EFTA and India in a recent meeting held between Swiss federal councillor Ueli Maurer and Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the city of New Delhi. Switzerland is a member of the EFTA along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

Both sides discussed areas for enhanced cooperation, including on fintech, automatic exchange of information, renewable energy, sunrise sectors as well as infrastructure investments and sustainable finance, said the Indian ministry of finance on Twitter.

The Swiss Federal Department of Finance also issued a statement promoting the finalisation of the negotiations on an EFTA free trade agreement with India. Maurer promoted open markets and emphasised that stronger trade has a positive impact on a country's prosperity in the long term, the statement added.

While Indias exports to the EFTA amounted to $1.7 billion in FY22, its imports touched $25.5 billion in the same period. Of these, imports just from Switzerland were valued at $23.4 billion. Discussions regarding a broader trade and investment agreement between India and EFTA members officially began in January 2008 until they were put on hold in 2013, and recently picked up in October 2016.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)
The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) has announced that it will implement restrictions to protect cotton producers by preventing the introduction of boll weevils. With the cotton harvest season around the corner, the state of Louisiana will see an influx of used and custom cotton harvest equipment moving into and through the state.

Boll weevil reintroductions usually occur when used and/or custom cotton harvest equipment from a boll weevil-infested area travels through the state or stops within the state to conduct harvest operations without being properly fumigated, inspected, and certified as being free of boll weevils, according to a press release issued by the LDAF.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) has announced that it will implement restrictions to protect cotton producers by preventing the introduction of boll weevils. With the cotton harvest season around the corner, the state of Louisiana will see an influx of used and custom cotton harvest equipment moving into and through the state.

Once the equipment stops anywhere within the state of Louisiana, our department must be notified so we may conduct an inspection of the equipment and review all pertinent documentation, said LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain, DVM.

Cotton harvest equipment includes cotton pickers, cotton module builders, cotton module trucks, boll buggies, tractors, trailers, and any other equipment potentially harbouring cotton debris or boll weevils, added the release.

Equipment entering Louisiana from Texas will require a Fumigation Certificate or a USDA PPQ Inspection Form 540 must accompany that equipment, Strain added. Equipment from all other states, where the boll weevil has been eradicated, should have a phytosanitary certificate or other official documents such as a statement on letterhead from a state-of-origin regulatory official certifying that the equipment is free from boll weevil or that the equipment originated in a boll weevil free area.

In the Southeast, where the boll weevil has been eradicated, the combined annual direct economic benefits from increased yields, reduced insect damage, and lower insect control costs are more than $80 million, according to Cotton.org. The value of this permanent stream of benefits exceeds $1.2 billion  a significant boost to these rural economies. Hence, the importance of following the protocols put in place by the LDAF and the continued eradication of the boll weevil in Louisiana.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)
TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Canadian Mint is honouring one of the greatest musicians the world has ever seen by issuing a new $1 commemorative circulation celebrating the life and artistic legacy of Canada's own Oscar Peterson. Called "the man with four hands" by jazz great and admirer Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson rose to the top of the music world through more than six decades of electrifying piano performances and unforgettable compositions such as Hymn to Freedom, Blues Etude and The Canadiana Suite. The coin was unveiled today before family and friends gathered in Toronto'sRoy Thompson Hall, a stage well known to Mr. Peterson. It will begin circulating on August 15, to coincide with his birthday.

"The Mint is passionate about celebrating stories of exceptional Canadians on its coins and I am delighted that Oscar Peterson, the first Canadian musician to appear on a circulation coin, is being celebrated as one of the world's most respected and influential jazz artists of all time," said Marie Lemay, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "Mr. Peterson's music and legendary performances have brought joy to millions of music lovers in Canada and around the world and we are proud to honour him, through this coin, for his exceptional contributions to Canadian music and culture."

The Oscar Peterson commemorative circulation coin was designed by artist Valentine De Landro, an accomplished comic book artist, illustrator, and designer from Ajax, Ontario. His design features Oscar Peterson at the piano, with his hands in full motion, from which emerges a flowing musical scale showing two closing bars of his famous Hymn to Freedom. Mr. Peterson's name completes the design.

"Throughout Oscar's career he received many awards and honours, each of which meant a great deal to him. During the nearly fifteen years since his passing, there have been more. All of them humbling. All of them a source of pride. The addition of this commemorative circulation coin bearing his likeness is something neither he nor I could ever have imagined," said Kelly Peterson. "Knowing that Canadians now, and for generations to come, will hold this coin and be reminded of Oscar Peterson or be inspired to learn about him for the first time evokes emotions challenging to describe. I am deeply, profoundly honoured. Oscar was a great pianist and composer. He was a staunch advocate for human rights. Above all, he was always a proud Canadian. As his music is timeless, so too now will he be a part of the Canadian consciousness forever."

Growing up in Little Burgundy, the neighbourhood that was the hub of Montreal's black community, Oscar Peterson was taught, by his father and his older sister Daisy, the value of a music education from a very early age. Raised on the classics, he quickly mastered the piano and honed his craft through popular music to become one of the most acclaimed jazz musicians of all time. Over a more than 60-year career, he made over 400 recordings and his famous Oscar Peterson Trio performed around the world. He won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted in Canada's Music Hall of Fame in 1978. A first-time Juno Awards nominee in 1977, he won Best Jazz Album, as The Oscar Peterson Four, in 1987. He was also made a Companion of the Order of Canada by the late Ramon Hnatyshyn, Governor General of Canada.

In 1962, he composed Hymn to Freedom, which became an anthem of the 1960s civil rights movement whose musical and social influence continues to resonate today. His Canadiana Suite was an epic and moving tribute to the country he loved and always called home.

The impact of Oscar Peterson's work and life story transcends generations: inspiring countless artists who themselves became music icons, and still attracting new generations to his music and to his craft. Numerous music schools and scholarships have been founded in his honour. Mr. Peterson died in 2007 at the age of 82.

"When I was a child traveling the world with my dad, I remember being curious about the figures on each country's currency. It was an opportunity to learn about the history of where I was visiting. One thing that has always been important to me is that as Canadians, we take the time to explore our history - all aspects of it," said Celine Peterson. "Knowing that Canadians at home and anyone who visits from abroad will hold the opportunity to learn about a formidable figure in our nation's history in the palm of their hand, brings me an immense amount of joy. My dad being given this recognition by the Royal Canadian Mint is something I never would have even thought to imagine because to me, he is and always will be, dad."

The Oscar Peterson circulation coin is limited to a mintage of three million coins, of which two million feature a purple accent, Oscar Peterson's favourite colour. It will reach Canadians through their change as bank branches and businesses replenish their inventories of $1 circulation coins.

The coloured and uncoloured circulation coin can be purchased together as part of a six-piece Collector Keepsake coin set. They are packaged in a richly illustrated collector card that contains one of each currently circulating coin, from five cents to two dollars. Other collector products adding to the celebration of Oscar Peterson's legacy include special wrap rolls of 25 one-dollar circulation coins, in coloured and uncoloured versions, as well as 1 oz. fine silver and pure gold versions of the circulation coin design.

These collectibles can be ordered as of today by contacting the Mint at 1-800-267-1871 in Canada, 1-800-268-6468 in the US, or online at www.mint.ca/oscarpeterson. They are also available at the Royal Canadian Mint's Ottawa and Winnipeg boutiques, as well as through the Mint's global network of dealers and distributors, including participating Canada Post outlets.

About the Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. The Mint is recognized as one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca. Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Images of the circulation coin and related collector products are available here.

For more information, media are asked to contact: Alex Reeves, Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Telephone: 613-884-6370, reeves@mint.ca

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1877014/Royal_Canadian_Mint_ROYAL_CANADIAN_MINT_HONOURS_LEGENDARY_CANADI.jpg




Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, said Friday it has tentatively agreed to work with multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing.







The company said in a regulatory filing that it signed a letter of intent on the cooperation in a deal valued at around US$350 million, approximately 29 percent of its total sales in 2021. It did not reveal other details of the deal.







Samsung Biologics said the two companies exchanged a separate letter of intent in May last year to collaborate on strategic biopharmaceutical manufacturing.







The size of the deal, which was not disclosed at that time, has recently increased "due to growing demand" from AstraZeneca, to a point where the South Korean company became legally bound to report it to financial authorities, the company said.







The two companies have expanded their partnership in recent years since they signed a long-term strategic agreement on producing drug substances and products in September 2020.







Samsung Biologics manufactures AstraZeneca's COVID-19 long-acting antibody (LAAB) combination, AZD7442, as well as a cancer immunotherapy product. (Yonhap)


Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 11, 2022) - World Copper Ltd. (TSXV: WCU) (OTCQX: WCUFF) (FSE: 7LY0) ("World Copper" or the "Company") reports that it has filed an amended National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") technical report for the Escalones copper project, located in Chile.

The NI 43-101 technical report is entitled "Amended Preliminary Economic Assessment NI 43-101 Technical Report, Escalones Copper Project, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile" (the "Technical Report") with an effective date of February 15, 2022 and a revised and amended date of August 9, 2022. The Technical Report was prepared pursuant to NI 43-101 by Global Resource Engineering, Ltd. and Hard Rock Consulting, LLC. The Technical Report is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and is available on the Company's website at worldcopperltd.com .

ABOUT WORLD COPPER LTD.

World Copper Ltd., headquartered in Vancouver, BC, is a Canadian resource company focused on the exploration and development of its copper porphyry projects: Escalones and Cristal in Chile, and Zonia in Arizona. Two of these projects have estimated resources with significant soluble copper mineralization, and each has additional copper porphyry targets with exciting potential to expand the resource base.

The World Copper team has a unique skill in navigating the mining sector within Chile, with some members having worked in the country for more than 40 years and with discovery success.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

WORLD COPPER LTD.

"Nolan Peterson"

Nolan Peterson

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, or to schedule a Zoom meeting with Management, please contact:

Nolan Peterson or Michael Pound

Phone: 604-638-3287

E-mail: info@worldcopperltd.com

For all Investor Relations inquiries, please contact:

John Liviakis

Liviakis Financial Communications Inc.

Phone: 415-389-4670

For all Public Relations inquiries, please contact:

Nancy Thompson

Vorticom, Inc.

Office: 212-532-2208 | Mobile: 917-371-4053

Follow Us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldCopperLtd

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldCopperLtd

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/worldcopperltd

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 news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. 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 differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, statements as to the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the TSX Venture Exchange), permits or financing, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims, environmental issues and liabilities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's continuous disclosure documents. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133594
Sydney, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 11, 2022) - Austral Gold Limited (ASX: AGD) (TSXV: AGLD) (the "Company") announces that early this morning, a group of armed robbers assaulted the Guanaco-Amancaya mine complex and stole gold precipitate material equivalent to approximately 500 ounces of gold from the Company's Guanaco refinery, in Taltal, in the Antofagasta region in Chile.

The Company advised that no one was seriously injured in the incident which is being investigated by Chilean authorities. In addition, although the Company believes it has strong security, the Company will undergo a thorough review to determine how it can further strengthen security at its Guanaco-Amancaya mine complex.

About Austral Gold

Austral Gold Limited is a growing gold and silver mining, development, and exploration company whose strategy is to expand the life of its cash generating assets in Chile, restart its Casposo mine in Argentina and build a portfolio of quality assets in Chile, the USA and Argentina organically through a Tier 1 or 2 exploration strategy and via acquisitions and strategic partnerships. Austral owns a 100% interest in the Guanaco/Amancaya mine in Chile and the Casposo Mine (currently on care and maintenance) in Argentina, a non-controlling interest in the Rawhide Mine in Nevada, USA and a non-controlling interest in Ensign Gold which holds the Mercur project in Utah, USA.

In addition, Austral owns an attractive portfolio of exploration projects in the Paleocene Belt in Chile (including those acquired in the 2021 acquisition of Revelo Resources Corp), a noncontrolling interest in Pampa Metals and a 100% interest in the Pinguino project and a 51% interest in the Sierra Blanca project, both in Santa Cruz, Argentina. Austral Gold Limited is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: AGLD) and the Australian Securities Exchange. (ASX: AGD). For more information, please consult Austral's website at www.australgold.com.

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.

Release approved by the Chief Executive Officer of Austral Gold, Stabro Kasaneva.

For additional information please contact:

Jose Bordogna

Chief Financial Officer

Austral Gold Limited

Jose.bordogna@australgold.com

+61 4666 892 307

Ben Jarvis

Director

Austral Gold Limited

info@australgold.com

+61 413 150 448

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical and consist primarily of projections - statements regarding future plans, expectations and developments. Words such as "expects", "intends", "plans", "may", "could", "potential", "should", "anticipates", "likely", "believes" and words of similar import tend to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include the incident is being investigated by Chilean authorities and the Company will undergo a thorough review to determine how it can further strengthen security at its Guanaco-Amancaya mine complex.

All of these forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied, including, without limitation, business integration risks; uncertainty of production, development plans and cost estimates, commodity price fluctuations; political or economic instability and regulatory changes; currency fluctuations, the state of the capital markets especially in light of the effects of the novel coronavirus" uncertainty in the measurement of mineral reserves and resource estimates, Austral's ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and management, potential labour unrest, reclamation and closure requirements for mineral properties; unpredictable risks and hazards related to the development and operation of a mine or mineral property that are beyond the Company's control, the availability of capital to fund all of the Company's projects and other risks and uncertainties identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed on the ASX and on SEDAR. You are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. Austral cannot assure you that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and management's assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Austral's forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date hereof and Austral does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133603
Newport Beach, California--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Greenbriar Capital Corp. (TSXV: GRB) (OTC Pink: GEBRF) ("Greenbriar") Greenbriar is extremely pleased to celebrate and welcome the USA's largest and California's first inland dry port located only a short 21 miles east of Sage Ranch (an 18 to 25 minute highway drive), after the Kern County Board of Supervisors OK'd its designation this Tuesday. Sage Ranch offers 995 new homes in the cleanest and safest community in Kern County at only an 18 to 25 minute drive away - to one buyer. No developer can offer that.

The supervisors unanimously voted to designate a privately-owned 410-acre site near the southeast corner of state highways 14 and 58 as the Mojave Inland Port.

It will be the only inland dry port fully permitted in California. As a dry port, it will rely on trains rather than ships. Cargo will move from the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach via train to Mojave, where it will be fully distributed onto trucks for transport to their final destinations.

The only other port that could be considered inland is the Port of Stockton, but that one is not a dry port, as cargo ships reach it via the San Joaquin River. The board's designation can be seen as approval for the project as a whole.

Sources representing the project say it could prove hugely lucrative, handling as many as 3 million containers annually and could ultimately have an economic impact of as much as $500 million per year, as well as bringing 3,000 full time high paying union jobs to the local area, and $73 million annually to Kern County in taxes.

The proposed timetable is for the Mojave Inland Port to break ground in 2023 and be fully operational in 2024.

When completed, the port project is intended to ease supply chain congestion and space limitation at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as providing much-need economic growth and diversity to the Mojave-Tehachapi region and beyond.

The port could ultimately have an annual economic impact in excess of $500 million, and the county could get something like $73 million annually in taxes from the project, which will support as many as 3,000 new union jobs with an annual net labor income of $226 million. The port location has direct access from state highways and is bisected by the Lone Pine Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad.

The railroad is expected to play a key role, with direct rail service transporting goods from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by way of the Alameda Corridor and up to Mojave.

This inland dry port will be a branch of the ports of LA and Long Beach. The process would be pretty simple. Loaded container ships would come in to the berths at LA and Long Beach, offload canisters onto shuttle trains which would push these canisters 90 miles up the track to Mojave where tractor trailers would be waiting for them. After then, immediately offload the tractor trailers for their final destination.

The inland port is not to be confused with the Mojave Air and Space Port (MASP), although the two sites are roughly adjacent to one another and MASP submitted a letter of support for the inland port project.When it comes to moving goods, there is now four options: rubber tire, rail, air and space. No other place can say that in the world. Congressman Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday released this statement:

"As California and the United States continue to reel from the current supply chain crisis, it is critical that businesses are able to send and receive goods and products through West Coast ports in a timely and efficient manner. Mojave has been a leader in commercial space breakthroughs and with this inland port, it is well-positioned to be a leader in goods movement to help support our local communities and the broader economy."

Tim Reid from the MASP said via email, "The Mojave Air and Space Port/Rutan Field is excited to see a new, innovative approach to addressing the issues surrounding supply chain logistics. With the proximity to the Air & Space Port, and Union Pacific's rails, we hope to build a solid relationship with the inland dry port and to explore more options for intermodal transportation. With the addition of new jobs, significant air quality improvement, and reduced road congestion, this is a total win for our community."

The port project can take advantage of some $1.2 billion in one-time Port and Freight Infrastructure funds from the 2022-2023 state budget through the California State Transportation Agency. The program is intended to help ease supply chain congestion.

Senator Shannon Grove had this to say: "Backlogs at the seaports causing disruption to the supply chain is an issue that impacts every Californian. The Mojave Inland Port relieves congestion at the seaports and also provides economic benefits, especially to our agriculture producers. This project is going to provide several benefits for the local community including new jobs, exporting agriculture products more efficiently and keeping the supply chain moving for consumers."

About Greenbriar Capital Corp:

Greenbriar is a leading developer of renewable energy and sustainable real estate. With long-term, high impact, contracted sales agreements in key project locations and led by a successful, industry-recognized operating and development team, Greenbriar targets deep valued assets directed at accretive shareholder value.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Jeff Ciachurski"

Jeffrey J. Ciachurski

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Phone: 949.903.5906

Fax: 604.608.9572

www.greenbriarcapitalcorp.ca



The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" and include any information that addresses activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including the Company's strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133599
Rig mobilisation for Gazania-1 in South Africa and Namibia Update

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (AIM:ECO)(TSX-V:EOG), the oil and gas exploration company focused on the offshore Atlantic Margins, confirms that the Island Innovator rig, owned by Island Drilling Company AS, was released and mobilised today.

The rig is now under contract to Eco and its JV partners and will move on to the Gazania-1 well on Block 2B, 25km offshore the Northern Cape in Orange Basin South Africa. The rig is expected to arrive and spud by the end of September 2022, subject to weather conditions. The Gazania-1 prospect is targeting a 300 million barrels light oil resource. The well will take approximately 25 days to drill, and the JV partners plan to seal and plug the well after the test, with no equipment being left on the sea floor. The partners have also approved the option to drill a sidetrack well contingent on a discovery in the main target.

The JV partnership in respect of Block 2B comprises Eco Atlantic (50% WI and Operator), Africa Energy Corp (27.5% WI), Panoro 2B Limited, a subsidiary of Panoro Energy ASA (12.5% WI), and Crown Energy AB (10% WI).

Update on Namibia

The Company is also pleased to announce that it has signed Joint Operating Agreements ("JOA's") with NAMCOR, the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia, with regard to the Company's four operated offshore Petroleum Licence ("PEL") interests in Namibia, being PEL 97 (Cooper), PEL 98 (Sharon), PEL 99 (Guy), and PEL 100 (Tamar).

Updated Presentation

An updated version of the corporate presentation is also available on the Company's website: https://www.ecooilandgas.com/investors/reports-presentations/

Colin Kinley, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented:

"We are excited to get underway with our drilling campaign at Block 2B in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa. A successful outcome at the Gazania-1 well has the potential to be transformational for Eco and our JV partners.

"We are also pleased to have signed JOA's with NAMCOR in relation to the PEL's we operate offshore Namibia. With all of the recent operational success we have seen recently in Namibia, we are excited to be one of the largest offshore licence holders in the region and look forward to working with NAMCOR to generate value for the benefit of all."

**ENDS**

For more information, please visit www.ecooilandgas.com or contact the following:

Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas c/o Celicourt +44 (0) 20 8434 2754 Gil Holzman, CEO Colin Kinley, COO Alice Carroll, Head of Corporate Sustainability +44(0)781 729 5070 Strand Hanson Limited (Financial & Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 James Harris James Bellman Berenberg (Broker) +44 (0) 20 3207 7800 Matthew Armitt Detlir Elezi Echelon Capital (Financial Adviser N. America Markets) Ryan Mooney Simon Akit +1 (403) 606 4852 +1 (416) 8497776 Celicourt (PR) +44 (0) 20 8434 2754 Mark Antelme Jimmy Lea

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended).

Notes to editors:

About Eco Atlantic:

Eco Atlantic is a TSX-V and AIM-quoted Atlantic Margin-focused oil & gas exploration company with offshore license interests in Guyana, Namibia, and South Africa. Eco aims to deliver material value for its stakeholders through its role in the energy transition to explore for low carbon intensity oil and gas in stable emerging markets close to infrastructure.

Offshore Guyana in the proven Guyana-Suriname Basin, the Company holds a 15% Working Interest in the 1,800 km2 Orinduik Block Operated by Tullow Oil. In Namibia, the Company holds Operatorship and an 85% Working Interest in four offshore Petroleum Licences: PELs: 97, 98, 99, and 100, representing a combined area of 28,593 km2 in the Walvis Basin.

Offshore South Africa, Eco is Operator and holds a 50% working interest in Block 2B and a 20% Working Interest (to be increased to a 26.25% Working Interest, subject to Completion of the Acquisition announced 27 June 2022) in Blocks 3B/4B operated by Africa Oil Corp., totalling some 20,643 km2.

Cautionary Notes:

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements", including, without limitation, statements containing the words "will", "may", "expects", "intends", "anticipates" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, general economic and market factors, competition, the effect of the global pandemic and consequent economic disruption, and the factors detailed in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com. Although forward-looking statements contained herein are based on what management considers to be reasonable assumptions based on currently available information, there can be no assurance that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and our assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/711886/Eco-Atlantic-Oil-and-Gas-Ltd-Announces-Rig-mobilisation-for-Gazania-1-and-Namibia-Update
Redde Northgate Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

12 August 2022

REDDE NORTHGATE PLC

("Redde Northgate" or the "Group" or the "Company")

Transaction in Own Shares

Redde Northgate plc (LSE:REDD) announces that on 11 August 2022 it purchased the following number of its own shares to be held in treasury:

Class of shares : Ordinary shares of 50p ("shares") Number of shares purchased : 50,000 Weighted average purchase price paid : 393.8603 pence per share Highest purchase price paid : 396 pence per share Lowest purchase price paid : 389.5 pence per share

Following the above transaction, the Company's issued share capital consists of 246,091,423 ordinary shares of 50p each, of which 7,613,150 ordinary shares are held in treasury, and 1,000,000 preference shares of 50p each which do not carry any rights to vote. Therefore the total number of voting rights in the Company is 238,478,273, which may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation) as incorporated into UK domestic law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the schedule below contains detailed information about the purchases made by Numis Securities Limited on behalf of the Company as part of the Company's buyback programme.

Schedule of Purchases - Individual Transactions (all of 11 August 2022)

Number of shares

purchased Transaction price

(GB pence per share) Time of transaction Transaction reference number Venue 1001 391.50 08:21:27 00060485980TRLO0 LSE 2262 391.50 08:27:27 00060486078TRLO0 LSE 205 391.50 08:27:27 00060486077TRLO0 LSE 700 391.50 08:27:27 00060486076TRLO0 LSE 225 391.00 08:31:06 00060486184TRLO0 LSE 1904 391.00 08:31:06 00060486183TRLO0 LSE 1699 395.00 09:00:45 00060487023TRLO0 LSE 277 395.00 09:00:45 00060487022TRLO0 LSE 487 395.00 09:00:48 00060487024TRLO0 LSE 519 395.00 09:00:48 00060487025TRLO0 LSE 585 394.50 09:02:24 00060487040TRLO0 LSE 1818 394.50 09:02:24 00060487039TRLO0 LSE 423 395.50 09:41:16 00060488274TRLO0 LSE 334 395.50 09:41:16 00060488273TRLO0 LSE 1916 396.00 09:51:22 00060488843TRLO0 LSE 142 396.00 09:51:22 00060488842TRLO0 LSE 1900 396.00 09:51:22 00060488841TRLO0 LSE 2255 395.50 09:51:22 00060488844TRLO0 LSE 614 396.00 09:51:22 00060488845TRLO0 LSE 1662 395.00 09:53:45 00060488954TRLO0 LSE 323 395.00 09:53:45 00060488953TRLO0 LSE 186 395.00 10:16:28 00060489913TRLO0 LSE 999 395.00 10:16:28 00060489912TRLO0 LSE 832 395.00 10:16:28 00060489911TRLO0 LSE 2243 395.50 10:47:04 00060490812TRLO0 LSE 401 395.50 11:01:35 00060491165TRLO0 LSE 1732 395.50 11:01:35 00060491164TRLO0 LSE 2028 394.50 12:37:51 00060492771TRLO0 LSE 472 395.00 13:16:48 00060493392TRLO0 LSE 814 395.00 13:16:48 00060493391TRLO0 LSE 1711 394.50 13:25:59 00060493587TRLO0 LSE 331 394.50 13:25:59 00060493586TRLO0 LSE 2326 395.00 14:01:17 00060494305TRLO0 LSE 606 395.00 14:34:18 00060495074TRLO0 LSE 1400 395.00 14:34:18 00060495073TRLO0 LSE 86 395.00 14:34:18 00060495072TRLO0 LSE 1402 394.50 14:35:03 00060495134TRLO0 LSE 530 394.50 14:35:03 00060495133TRLO0 LSE 348 394.00 14:37:07 00060495429TRLO0 LSE 1006 394.00 14:37:09 00060495434TRLO0 LSE 597 394.00 14:37:37 00060495459TRLO0 LSE 121 394.00 14:37:37 00060495458TRLO0 LSE 167 391.50 15:00:07 00060496938TRLO0 LSE 511 391.50 15:00:07 00060496940TRLO0 LSE 1400 391.50 15:00:07 00060496939TRLO0 LSE 635 389.50 15:42:37 00060500580TRLO0 LSE 1393 389.50 15:42:37 00060500579TRLO0 LSE 714 391.50 15:58:13 00060501313TRLO0 LSE 1226 391.50 15:58:13 00060501312TRLO0 LSE 1397 391.00 15:59:55 00060501390TRLO0 LSE 75 391.00 15:59:55 00060501389TRLO0 LSE 667 390.50 16:04:28 00060501588TRLO0 LSE 187 390.50 16:04:28 00060501587TRLO0 LSE 206 390.50 16:04:28 00060501586TRLO0 LSE

Notes

This announcement is made in accordance with the requirements of Listing Rule 12.4.6.

For further information contact:

Buchanan

David Rydell/Jamie Hooper/Hannah Ratcliff +44 (0) 207 466 5000

Notes to Editors:

Redde Northgate is the leading integrated mobility solutions platform providing services across the vehicle lifecycle. The Company offers integrated mobility solutions to businesses, fleet operators, insurers, OEMs and other customers across seven key areas: vehicle rental, vehicle data, accident management, vehicle repairs, fleet management, service and maintenance, vehicle ancillary services and vehicle sales.



The Company's core purpose is to keep its customers mobile, whether through meeting their regular mobility needs or by servicing and supporting them when unforeseen events occur. With its considerable scale and reach, Redde Northgate's mission is to offer a market-leading customer proposition and drive enhanced returns for shareholders by creating value through sustainable compounding growth. The Group aims to achieve this through the delivery of its strategic framework of Focus, Drive and Broaden.

Redde Northgate services its customers through a network and diversified fleet of over 120,000 owned and leased vehicles, supporting over 600,000 managed vehicles, with more than 170 workshop, body shop and rental locations across the UK, Ireland and Spain and a specialist team of over 6,000 automotive services professionals.

Further information please visit the Company's website:

www.reddenorthgate.com


LONDON (dpa-AFX) - British drug maker GSK plc (GSK, GSK.L), in its statement on Zantac (ranitidine) litigation and N-nitrosodimethylamine or NDMA, said the U.S. and European regulators have concluded there is no evidence of a causal association between ranitidine therapy and the development of cancer.



The company noted that substantial scientific evidence supports the conclusion of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, and the European Medicines Agency.



GSK said the plaintiff litigation is inconsistent with the scientific consensus, and that the company will vigorously defend all claims.



The statement was issued in response to recent speculative commentary regarding U.S. Zantac litigation.



GSK has been named as a defendant in around 3,000 filed personal injury cases in federal and state court and numerous unfiled claims registered in a census established by the Court presiding over the Zantac Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) proceeding.



Since the issue concerning the presence of NDMA in ranitidine arose in 2019, GSK noted that the company, independent cancer researchers, the FDA and the EMA have all undertaken extensive reviews of available data and conducted numerous investigations.



Based on these investigations and experiments, all have concluded that there is no evidence of a causal association between the therapy and the cancer development. These conclusions pertain to all forms of cancer.



In November 2019, the FDA determined that levels of NDMA in ranitidine products are similar to levels in common foods like grilled and smoked meats, and that it would conduct tests to fully understand if ranitidine forms NDMA in the human body.



In September 2020, the EMA's comprehensive review of epidemiological and post marketing data concluded there is 'no evidence of a causal association between ranitidine therapy and the development of cancer in patients.'



In June 2021, the FDA reported that its testing did not support that ranitidine is converted to NDMA in a general, healthy population.



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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXV:CCE)(FSE:D7H0)(OTCQX:CMRZF) (the "Company" or "Commerce") is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing 2022 drill program at the Company's wholly owned Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit, located in Nunavik, Quebec.

The Company has recently completed its fourth drill hole at the Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit, with a total of approximately 1,003 m completed to date (Figure 1). The first two drill holes (EC22-194 and 195) were completed as step-outs at the southern end of the deposit in order to improve the confidence of the geological model in this area. The Company is pleased to report that both holes collared in rare earth mineralized fluorite dolomite carbonatite, as determined by geological core logging, and therefore, has extended the mineralized footprint at Ashram an additional ~100 m to the southeast. Based on the geological core logging of these two drill holes, the Ashram Deposit has a mineralized surface footprint that now extends at least 700 m along strike (remains open), 300 m in width, and 600 m to depth (remains open). This further solidifies the monazite dominant Ashram Deposit as one of the largest rare earth element deposit's globally. Core samples are currently being collected and will be shipped shortly to Activation Laboratories in Ancaster, ON, for geochemical analysis.

Apart from one additional drill hole planned at the south end of the deposit to further improve confidence in the geological model, the remainder of the drill holes (~3-4 holes totalling ~1,100 m) will be focused on infill drilling with the objective of increasing resource confidence from the inferred/indicated categories to the indicated/measured categories in areas where the neodymium-praseodymium ("NdPr") contents are highest. Depending on the location within the deposit, the NdPr distribution - i.e. % of Nd+Pr oxide of the total rare earth oxide ("REO") - typically varies from 21-24+% with monazite being the dominant carrier of the rare earth elements ("REEs").

The drill hole plan has been developed by the Company's primary Prefeasibility Study consultant (BBA Inc.) and is targeting infill of a larger pit shell (~+50%) compared to what was considered in the Project's 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment. This larger pit shell is anticipated to underpin an initial mineral reserve estimate upon completion of the Prefeasibility Study for the Project.

The program is being managed by Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, (head office) with drilling operations being carried out by Forage Fusion Drilling Ltd. of Hawkesbury, ON. The Company notes that it will carry-out its field programs while adhering to all federal, provincial, and regional restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mineral exploration has been recognized as an essential service in Canada and the Province of Quebec.

Figure 1: 2022 drill plan and holes completed to date at the Ashram Deposit

Photo 1: Drill hole EC22-195, the southernmost hole completed to date at the Ashram Deposit.

Figure 2: Cross-section (left) and oblique view (right) of the Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit's principal mineralized zones. To be updated following completion of the 2022 drill program.

About the Ashram Deposit

The Ashram Deposit ranks as one of the largest REE (and fluorspar) deposits globally, consisting of a monazite dominated, single mineralized body outcropping at surface, and has a footprint approximately 700 m along strike, over 300 m across, and 600 m deep, remaining open in several directions. The deposit hosts a measured resource of 1.6 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.77% rare earth oxide (REO) and 3.8% F, an indicated resource of 27.7 Mt at 1.90% REO and 2.9% F, and an inferred resource of 219.8 Mt at 1.88% REO and 2.2% F, at a cut-off grade of 1.25% REO (Effective Date July 5th, 2012). Note, mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources will be converted into Mineral Reserves.

NI 43-101 Disclosure

Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P.Geo., Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd., a Permit holder with the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec and 'Qualified Person' as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

About Commerce Resources Corp.

Commerce Resources Corp. is a junior mineral resource company focused on the development of the Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit located in Quebec, Canada. The Company is positioning to be one of the lowest cost rare earth producers globally, with a specific focus on being a long-term supplier of mixed rare earth carbonate and/or NdPr oxide to the global market. The Ashram Deposit is characterized by simple rare earth (monazite, bastnaesite, xenotime) and gangue (carbonates) mineralogy, a large tonnage resource at favourable grade, and has demonstrated the production of high-grade (>45% REO) mineral concentrates at high recovery (>70%) in line with active global producers. In addition to being one of the largest rare earth deposits globally, Ashram is also one of the largest fluorspar deposits globally and has the potential to be a long-term supplier to the met-spar and acid-spar markets.

For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.commerceresources.com or email info@commerceresources.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

COMMERCE RESOURCES CORP.

" Chris Grove "

Chris Grove

President and Director

Tel: 604.484.2700

Email: cgrove@commerceresources.com

Web: http://www.commerceresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which includes any information about activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include that we expect to complete a prefeasibility study for the Ashram Project; that we plan to drill additional holes on the property with specific objectives; that we expect to complete a larger pit shell on the property upon completion of our prefeasibility study that is in progress; that Ashram has the potential to become one of the largest fluorspar deposit and a long-term supplier to the met-spar and acid-spar markets; and that the Company is positioning to be one of the lowest cost rare earth element producers globally. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Risks that could change or prevent these events, activities or developments from coming to fruition include: that we may not be able to fully finance any additional exploration on the Ashram Project; that even if we are able raise capital, costs for exploration activities may increase such that we may not have sufficient funds to pay for such exploration or processing activities; the timing and content of any future work programs; geological interpretations based on drilling that may change with more detailed information; potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumptions based on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered analogous deposits that, with further test work, may not be comparable; testing of our process may not prove successful or samples derived from the Ashram Project may not yield positive results, and even if such tests are successful or initial sample results are positive, the economic and other outcomes may not be as expected; the availability of labour and equipment to undertake future exploration work and testing activities; geopolitical risks which may result in market and economic instability; and despite the current expected viability of the Ashram Project, conditions changing such that even if metals or minerals are discovered on the Ashram Project, the project may not be commercially viable; The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Commerce Resources Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/711858/Commerce-Resources-Extends-Mineralization-Along-Strike-at-the-Ashram-Rare-Earth-and-Fluorspar-Deposit-Quebec
The effort to create society-wide consensus on climate change is undermined by a narrow approach to climate communication, according to Professor Jean-Pierre Benoit, chair of Economics at the London Business School and expert on game-theory.

DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 'When we say facts don't work anymore, part of the problem is I just keep giving you the same kind of facts,' Professor Benoit explained when addressing the problem of winning over climate sceptics with more scientific data.



Temperature records not necessarily changing minds

This summer's heatwave across Europe - including record-high temperatures in a number of countries - has seen a spate of meteorological data released tracking historic temperature changes. The role of climate change has been at the forefront of reporting, with some researchers claiming it made the 2022 heatwaves up to ten times more likely.

Benoit - who believes climate change has left humanity 'on the precipice of disaster' - warned against relying on this kind of data to change opinions alone. "Look at the temperature" - well, it didn't convince me before. Why do you think it's going to convince me now? You just repeat the same thing seven times in a different way - and you're surprised that I'm not convinced?'

Polarisation on climate often 'rational'

Speaking on the Conversations on Climate podcast- a joint production of United Renewablesand the London Business School- Benoit was critical of the idea that polarisation in the climate debate is only a result of irrationality amongst sceptics. Instead, he pointed to his own work on rational polarisation - the idea that opinions might logically diverge on a subject in the face of new data, because this data is evaluated according to pre-existing, rational reasoning.

On the subject of high energy prices in Europe and what it means for climate policy, for example, Professor Benoit drew a distinction between polarising around causes, and polarising around solutions - with implications for how to communicate climate risks.

'Both groups might agree that if you invested more in fossil fuels, there would be more fossil fuels. And if I'm a fossil fuel person, I'd say yes: if we put five times more into renewables, there'd be more renewables.' Benoit explained. 'What they disagree about is what's the better route to take,' and that is unlikely to be changed by more of the same kind of data.

Instead, environmental communicators need to 'take a different angle,' by recognising points of rationality in sceptical viewpoints, such as vested interests in science funding on all sides. Nonetheless, Benoit stressed the growing 'consensus' on climate change in general as a point for hope.

Conversations on Climateinvites 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 Paul Beijer.

The latest episode, featuring Professor Jean-Pierre Benoit, is released today, Friday 12th August, 2022. The full video of the interview is 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 (mailto:IIhawke@unitedrenewables.co.uk)

WEB unitedrenewables.co.uk/resources

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6cd33709-e520-41fd-9138-3b1916eba155


BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The pound climbed against its most major counterparts on Friday, as the U.K. economy contracted less than expected in the second quarter.



Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the GDP fell 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter, after a revised 0.8 percent growth in the previous quarter. Economists had forecast the GDP to drop to 0.2 percent.



U.K. industrial and manufacturing production fell less than expected on a monthly basis in June, down by 0.9 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.



Weak economic data from the U.S. prompted investors to scale back the odds of more aggressive tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve.



Odds of a 75 bps hike in September have fallen to around 34 percent on the back of weak CPI and PPI data.



The pound was up against the franc and the euro, touching 1.1501 and 0.8446, respectively. The pound is likely to face resistance around 1.16 against the franc and 0.82 against the euro.



The pound was higher against the yen, at a 2-day high of 162.79. On the upside, 165.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.



In contrast, the pound retraced its early gains against the greenback, hitting a 2-day low of 1.2168. The pound is seen finding support around the 1.20 level.



Looking ahead, Eurozone industrial production for June is due in the European session.



U.S. import and export prices for July and University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment for August are scheduled for release in the New York session.







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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / Gold Springs Resource Corp. (TSX:GRC)(OTCQB:GRCAF) (the "Company" or "GRC"), has received assays from the final drill holes at South Jumbo as part of the 2022 drill campaign on its large Gold Springs project located in USA, on the border of Nevada and Utah, one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world.

Highlights include:

0.83 g/t gold equivalent over 18.3 meters including

1.89 g/t gold equivalent over 6.1 meters in hole E-22-015

1.89 g/t gold equivalent over 6.1 meters in hole E-22-015 0.75 g/t gold equivalent over 6.1 meters in hole E-22-017

0.53 g/t gold equivalent over 13.8 meters and

0.96 g/t gold equivalent over 6.1 meters in hole E-22-018

0.96 g/t gold equivalent over 6.1 meters in hole E-22-018 1.05 g/t gold equivalent over 4.6 meters and

0.74 g/t gold equivalent over 26.0 meters in hole E-22-020

Gold equivalent based on US$1,800/oz gold, US$25/oz silver and 50% for silver recovery.

Randall Moore, Executive Vice President of Exploration, stated:

""These results of our 2022 drill program confirm the significant potential for expansion of our current gold resource at South Jumbo in various directions:

To the South - hole E-22-015 . To the North - hole E-22-020 . In the gap zone between the two resource blocks - holes E-22-017 and E-22-018.

GRC has now demonstrated the extension of gold mineralization in three different directions and also at depth. To the North the extension is significant as the hole E-22-020 with 1.05 g/t AuEq over 4.6 meters and 0.74 g/t AuEq over 26 meters is 80 meters north from the existing resource.

Once we update our model, follow-up holes will be planned with the objective to continue to expand gold mineralization in every direction, but especially to the north, towards Central Jumbo."

Summary of drill intercepts:

Hole

Number Target From

Meters To

Meters Thickness

Meters Gold

g/t Silver

g/t AuEq

g/t E-22-015 South Jumbo 24.4 42.7 18.3 0.74 13.3 0.83 including 29.0 35.1 6.1 1.69 28.7 1.89 and 79.2 89.9 10.7 0.38 4.5 0.41 E-22-017 South Jumbo 7.6 16.8 9.2 0.40 3.2 0.42 and 48.8 54.9 6.1 0.74 2.0 0.75 and 83.8 96.0 12.2 0.36 4.1 0.39 E-22-018 South Jumbo 24.4 29.0 4.6 0.40 2.2 0.42 and 41.1 54.9 13.8 0.49 5.9 0.53 and 76.2 82.3 6.1 0.90 8.8 0.96 and 158.5 161.5 3.0 0.67 1.0 0.68 and 176.8 185.9 9.1 0.36 1.5 0.37 E-22-019 South Jumbo 70.1 71.6 1.5 1.16 26.4 1.34 E-22-020 South Jumbo 117.3 121.9 4.6 1.04 1.0 1.05 and 126.5 129.5 3.0 1.38 4.5 1.41 and 155.4 181.4 26.0 0.72 2.2 0.74

True thickness is estimated to be 70-100% of reported length. Grams per tonne of gold and silver abbreviated as "Au g/t" and "Ag g/t" respectively. Gold equivalent based on US$1,800/oz gold, US$25/oz silver and 50% for silver recovery.

Drill Hole Table

Hole ID Target Easting

UTM NAD 27 Northing Elevation Meters Azimuth Inclination TD (m) E-22-015 South Jumbo 760795 4195872 1958 320 -55 140.2 E-22-016 South Jumbo 760728 4196151 1972 290 -65 198.1 E-22-017 South Jumbo 760721 4196250 1973 270 -60 228.6 E-22-018 South Jumbo 760776 4196396 1963 260 -65 213.4 E-22-019 South Jumbo 760619 4196300 1970 90 -45 195.1 E-22-020 South Jumbo 760596 4196824 1937 320 -50 182.9

Qualified Person

Randall Moore, Executive Vice-President Exploration, Gold Springs Resource Corp., is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and validated that the information contained in the release is accurate.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Approximately 7 kg of RC chips were sent to the laboratory for each 1.52 meter drill intervals. Standards and blanks are submitted into the sample stream at the rate of 15% for QA/QC purposes. In addition, the laboratory also includes duplicates of samples, standards and blanks. The results of these check assays are reviewed prior to the release of data. All RC sample assays are also reviewed for their geological context and checked against the drill logs.

Assay Method

Assays were performed in Reno, Nevada by ALS Geochemical, an ISO 9001:2000 certified and independent laboratory. Gold was analyzed by fire assay of a 30-gram sample with an AAS finish with samples assaying greater than 5 g/t re-assayed using a 30-gram sample and a gravity finish. Silver is analyzed by a four-acid leach ICP method.

About Gold Springs Resource Corp.

Gold Springs Resource Corp. (TSX: GRC and OTCQB: GRCAF) is focused on the exploration and expansion of the gold and silver resources of its Gold Springs project located on the border of Nevada and Utah, USA. The project is situated in the prolific Great Basin of Western USA, one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world.

Gold Springs Resource Corp. Contact:

Antonio Canton, President and CEO

acanton@goldspringsresource.com

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements herein include the statement relating to the expansion of the gold resource at South Jumbo and may also include words such as "creating", "believe", "would", "continue", "will", "promising", "should", and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may materially differ from expectations if known and unknown risks or uncertainties affect our business or if our estimates or assumptions prove inaccurate. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, risks of the mineral exploration industry which may affect the advancement of the Gold Springs project, including possible variations in mineral resources, grade, recovery rates, metal prices, capital and operating costs, and the application of taxes; availability of sufficient financing to fund planned or further required work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; availability of equipment and qualified personnel, failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, changes in project parameters, including water requirements for operations, as plans continue to be refined; regulatory, environmental and other risks of the mining industry more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form and continuous disclosure documents, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include: the accuracy of current resource estimates and the interpretation of drill, metallurgical testing and other exploration results; the continuing support for mining by local governments in Nevada and Utah; the availability of equipment and qualified personnel to advance the Gold Springs project; execution of the Company's existing plans and further exploration and development programs for Gold Springs, which may change due to changes in the views of the Company or if new information arises which makes it prudent to change such plans or programs.Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements in this press release describe the Company's expectations as of the date hereof.

SOURCE: Gold Springs Resources Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/711810/Gold-Springs-Resource-Demonstrates-Extension-of-Gold-Mineralization-of-its-South-Jumbo-Resource
People walk out of Trump Tower in Manhattan on Aug. 10, in New York City. AFP-Yonhap



U.S. federal agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons when they raided former President Donald Trump's home in Florida this week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.



It was not clear if such documents were recovered at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, the Post said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.



The U.S. Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to make public the warrant that authorized the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, after Trump, a Republican, portrayed it as political retribution.



The request means the public could soon learn more about what investigators were looking for during the unprecedented search of a former president's home.



The move was part of an investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House as he left office in January 2021, some of which the Justice Department believes are classified.



Attorney General Merrick Garland, the country's top law enforcement officer and an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, told a news conference that he had personally approved the search. The Justice Department also seeks to make public a redacted receipt of the items seized.



"The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken," Garland said.



His decision to publicly confirm the search was highly unusual. U.S. law enforcement officials typically do not discuss ongoing investigations in order to protect people's rights. In this case, Trump himself announced the search in a Monday night statement.



Garland said the Justice Department made the request to make public the warrant "in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter."



A source familiar with the matter said the FBI retrieved about 10 boxes from Trump's property during the search.



Trump was not in Florida at the time of the search.



Will Trump's lawyers object?



It was unclear whether Trump's legal team would object to the release of the warrant.



The government has until 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) on Friday to let the court know whether Trump's attorneys will object to unsealing the warrant. The case is before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who reviewed the warrant to ensure the Justice Department had sufficient probable cause for the search.



While seeking to unseal the warrant, the Justice Department has not asked the judge to unseal the sworn statement in support of the warrant, the contents of which could potentially include classified information.



Two of Trump's attorneys, Evan Corcoran and John Rowley, did not respond to a request for comment.



In a statement on his Truth social network, Trump said: "My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established. The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it."





U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland explains to reporters that he will not take questions after he delivered a statement at the U.S. Department of Justice Aug. 11, in Washington, DC. AFP-Yonhap
PARIS, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Eleglide, an innovator in electric scooters and bikes, is introducing a new scooter - Coozy. The name - Coozy - is a combination of "cool" and "cozy", indicating that it'll make people look cool and feel cozy on their ride.

Coozy

Designed for commuters, Coozy features a minimalist look. It has a dark body with a hidden kickstand, a built-in dashboard and a built-in headlight. To make it look even simpler, most wires are covered in the shield. Coozy's simple and cool look can easily match your work attire.

With a 350W motor, Coozy can reach a maximum power of 540W and a maximum speed of 25km/h. The 450Wh battery enables it to run 50-55km on a full charge, longer than most commuter scooters.

To ensure a high level of security, Coozy is designed with a dual braking system consisting of an E-ABS and a rear disc brake, enabling safer stopping. For better protection of the battery, the battery case is made of aluminum alloy that is shockproof, puncture-proof and waterproof. Besides, Coozy escorts users day and night with 4 bright lights, including a headlight, a rear brake light and 2 steering lights. Additional safety details can be easily found on Coozy, containing a non-slip standing mat, 2 non-skid grips, 3 reflectors, a double-lock folding mechanism, etc.

To provide a comfortable ride, Coozy comprises 10-inch pneumatic tires that roll smoothly, a front suspension to absorb shock impulses and a 19cm footboard letting users stand steadily.

The highlight of Coozy lies in its intelligent control. The built-in LED display allows users to read various information, such as speed mode and battery level, and to activate multiple functions, including shifting speed modes, activating the push mode, etc. What's more, Coozy can also be controlled via the app - Green Drive - supporting iOS 12.0+ and Android 4.3+. More functions can be achieved thanks to the smart app, like changing the speed unit, setting the zero start mode, etc.

Celebration of New Release on Geekbuying

To celebrate the birth of Coozy, it has a special offer priced at 549.99 only on the official website of Eleglide and the global e-commerce platform - Geekbuying - from August 23rd to August 30th. Eleglide provides a 1-year warranty and 14-day worry-free returns for all Coozy users who order from Eleglide.com.

Learn more at:

https://eleglide.com/products/coozy-10-inch-tire-foldable-commuting-55km-range-powerful-36v-450wh-battery-ipx4-led-display-app-electric-scooter

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Eleglide-Coozy-36V-12-5Ah-350W-55KM-Range-Electric-Scooter-510153.html

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1877037/image.jpg
The 2022 annual general meeting ("AGM") of shareholders of Evolution Credit Limited (previously Real People Investment Holdings Limited) ("ECL" or "the Company") was held on Friday, 12 August 2022 at 10:30 CET, at which the shareholders approved the following resolutions. The meeting was held via video conference, without physical presence.

Business of the meeting

The Company's audited consolidated annual financial statements for the financial year ended 31 March 2022, including the Directors' report, the Audit Committee report, and the report of the independent auditors was presented.

Re-appointment of the independent auditors and re-appointment of the designated auditor

The AGM resolved that Deloitte & Touche Inc. South Africa be re-appointed as auditors of the Company to hold office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company, and that Llewellyn Marshall, or such other person as nominated by the Audit Committee, be appointed as the designated auditor of the Company until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company.

Re-election and appointment of Norman William Thomson as non-executive Director of the Company

The AGM resolved that Norman William Thomson (independent non-executive director) be appointed as director of the Company.

Re-election of Audit Committee members Ralph Rowland Buddle, Derrick Thembinkosi Vusumuzi Msibi, and Peter Gerard de Beyer

The AGM resolved that Ralph Rowland Buddle, Derrick Thembinkosi Vusumuzi Msibi, and Peter Gerard de Beyer be re-elected as members of the Audit Committee, to hold office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company.

Approval of the annual remuneration structure of the non-executive directors

It was noted that there was an error in Appendix C to resolution number 7, which related to the approval of the annual remuneration structure of the non-executive directors, in that the fees of Ralph Buddle and Peter de Beyer were swapped around in error. The AGM resolved that the annual remuneration structure of the non-executive directors be approved with effect from 1 April 2022, subject to the amendment of Appendix C, and approved for Ralph Buddle's remuneration to be R670 000 and Peter de Beyer's remuneration to be R602 000.

General authority to provide financial assistance

The AGM resolved that the Board of Directors be authorised to grant direct or indirect financial assistance within the meaning of sections 44 and 45 of the Companies Act pursuant to granting of loans, entering into subordination agreements, providing letters of support, and any other financial assistance as may be required, between the Company and its subsidiary companies, as defined in the Companies Act.





* * * * * * *

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Taylor, Head of Governance and Secretarial

Email: carmen.taylor@evolution.za.com

Phone number: +27 60 743 7381

The information was submitted for publication at 11:30 CET on 12 August 2022.

Attachment
Dongguan, China--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Xiamen Ampace Technology Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Ampace") has officially released its new brand logo - "Ampace". The new logo marks the beginning of Ampace's new phase of development.

Top Enterprise Cooperation: Comprehensive Enhancement of the Enterprise's Competitiveness for Accelerated Development

Ampace, established in April 2021, is the result of joint investment by Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) and Amperex Technology Limited (ATL) to promote the long-term development and strategic layout of the enterprise's businesses related to the R&D, production, sales and services of medium-sized batteries and battery packs, and facilitate development into a trusted battery system and solution supplier.

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Ampace continues to strive to promote the existing businesses of Poweramp Technology Limited (Poweramp), such as household energy storage, high-power unmanned aerial vehicle/electric tools, and mini electric two-wheeled vehicles, as well as CATL's household energy storage business. After business integration, Ampace will focus on medium-sized batteries businesses, such as those for energy storage systems, high-power battery products, and mini electric two-wheeled vehicles.

At present, Ampace is home to more than 500 cutting-edge researchers, with a total R&D investment of RMB 870 million. It has also obtained 694 unique patents and participated in the formulation of 34 industry standards. Relying on the strong R&D capacity and technological background, Ampace will continue to heavily invest in technology R&D, using core technology to drive product and enterprise development.

New "Ampace" Logo: Inheriting Classic Design Elements, Deeply Integrating Low-Carbon and Vitality

The "Ampace" logo integrates a brand-new color matching and pattern design. The color matching of red and green makes the "Ampace" logo more vibrant and eye-catching and also more relevant to the idea of clean energy.

By further highlighting the classic "A" graphic design, it has added a fine touch of "upward cohesion, continuous progress" through simple graphics and fine angles to the word "Ampace". The lithium battery semicircle at the bottom of the graphics further illustrates the scientific and technological background of Ampace and the core development concept of creating "ultimate experience" products.

Through the ingenious design of graphics and color matching, the new logo "Ampace" is more fashionable and international, and also achieves a better interpretation of the company's corporate mission to "deliver green energy solutions with the ultimate user experience to forge the world ahead and empower a better life."

Heralding A New Chapter: Ampace Creates Value for Customers with Cutting-edge Scientific and Technological Innovation

Poweramp, the predecessor of Ampace, has shown rapid growth in many fields, with sales of RMB 4.3 billion in 2021. In the field of energy storage, the company's business covers home storage, industrial and commercial storage, uninterruptible power supplies and other fields. At present, the company has served major customers in China, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Australia, with a cumulative shipment of 650,000+ modules and a global home storage market share of 30%. In the field of high-power battery products, the company cooperates with domestic and foreign leading brands in the areas of vacuum cleaners, UAVs and power tools, with a cumulative shipment of 87 million+ battery cells. In the field of mini vehicles, the company has entered into strategic cooperation agreements with a number of leading vehicle companies at home and abroad, encompassing fields such as e-bikes, electric motorcycles, shared systems, battery swapping and more.

With such a foundation, Ampace will continuously and vigorously develop existing businesses, further establish its end-to-end product safety system, develop advanced technology to achieve extreme product performance, and activate the value creation in the upstream and downstream industry chain, thereby forming a harmonious development between different businesses and facilitating industry development from the perspective of the full life cycle of products.

The Ampace logo indicates a new era of self-development, reinforces the brand concept of "Power Your Life" and injects new momentum into the development of the clean energy industry.

Company: Amperex Technology Limited (ATL)

Contact Person: Xitong Liu

Email: Liuxt3@poweramptech.com

Website: www.poweramptech.com

Telephone: 13827234061

City: Dongguan

Address: No.1 Xinghui Road, Songshan Lake Park, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, P.R. China

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Carbon Streaming Corporation (NEO: NETZ) (OTCQB: OFSTF) (FSE: M2Q) ("Carbon Streaming" or the "Company") announced today that it has changed its auditor to Deloitte LLP ("Deloitte") from Baker Tilly WM LLP ("Baker Tilly"), effective August 11, 2022. Following the recommendation of the Audit Committee, Carbon Streaming's Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Baker Tilly and approved the appointment of Deloitte as the Company's auditor until the next annual general meeting of the Company.

In accordance with National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102"), the Notice of Change of Auditor, together with the response letters from Deloitte and Baker Tilly, have been filed on SEDAR. There were no "reportable events", as the term is defined in NI 51-102, between the Company and Baker Tilly.

About Carbon Streaming

Carbon Streaming is an ESG principled company offering investors exposure to carbon credits, a key instrument used by both governments and corporations to achieve their carbon neutral and net-zero climate goals. Our business model is focused on acquiring, managing and growing a high-quality and diversified portfolio of investments in projects and/or companies that generate or are actively involved, directly or indirectly, with voluntary and/or compliance carbon credits.

The Company invests capital through carbon credit streaming arrangements with project developers and owners to accelerate the creation of carbon offset projects by bringing capital to projects that might not otherwise be developed. Many of these projects have significant social and economic co-benefits in addition to their carbon reduction or removal potential.

The Company has executed carbon credit streaming agreements related to over 10 projects around the globe, including nature-based, biochar, methane avoidance, clean cookstove and water filtration projects.

To receive corporate updates via e-mail, please subscribe here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005097/en/

Contacts:

ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY:

Justin Cochrane, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: 647.846.7765

info@carbonstreaming.com

www.carbonstreaming.com

Investor Relations

Andrea Cheung, VP, Investor Relations

info@carbonstreaming.com

Media

Amy Chambers, Director, Marketing, Communications Sustainability

media@carbonstreaming.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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (CSE: EMH) (OTCQB: EMHTF) ("Emerald" or the "Company") is providing an update and additional background on its transaction (the "Transaction") with Skye Bioscience Inc. (OTCQB: SKYE) ("Skye") pursuant to the terms of an arrangement agreement dated May 11, 2022, as amended (the "Arrangement Agreement").

On July 28, 2022, Emerald mailed to shareholders of Emerald (the "EHT Shareholders") its management information circular (the "Circular") in connection with the annual general and special meeting of Emerald (the "Meeting") to be held August 19, 2022 to, among other things, approve the Transaction. The Circular, which is available on Emerald's website and under Emerald's profile at www.sedar.com, contains key facts pertaining to the Transaction and should be referenced for an accurate representation of the details and process undertaken by Emerald, its management and the board of directors of Emerald (the "EHT Board") in connection with the Transaction.

On August 4, 2022, a group of shareholders published a news release (the "Third Party News Release") regarding the Transaction. Such shareholders did not identify themselves by name in the Third Party News Release. The Third Party News Release misrepresented and mischaracterized important elements of the Transaction, some of which are addressed below, excluded pertinent information, and presented details not related or relevant to the Transaction in an effort to distract shareholders from the actual facts. Shareholders should deal with facts and not innuendo. Further, such shareholders have not presented any alternative path forward for the Company or any means of addressing the issues facing the Company, as discussed below.

The Company is issuing this release to provide additional background information relating to the Transaction and to correct and respond to some of the statements in the Third Party News Release.

Further Background to the Transaction

On November 29, 2021, the Company announced that it intended to exit the recreational and medical cannabis business in Canada and pivot to a pharmaceutical development focus, an industry in which its directors have expertise. Prior to November 2021, the EHT Board as a whole considered the strategic direction of Emerald from time to time in connection with the overall management of Emerald's business. As the cannabis industry matured in Canada, it became increasingly apparent that the challenging and saturated nature of the recreational and medicinal cannabis sector in Canada would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the Company to become a profitable endeavour if it were to continue the status quo and follow its then current business model. Emerald, along with other similarly sized companies in the cannabis space, faced a number of issues including low margins, evolving demands for different products, high costs of product innovation, greater competition, weaker demand than expected and the impact of COVID-19. As a result of these factors, the Company's business continued to suffer ongoing operating losses at a time when raising funds in the cannabis industry had become increasingly difficult.

The Company was operating in the legalized cannabis market which, since its inception in 2018, was and is extraordinarily complex and competitive. The following facts, among many others, highlight that this complexity and competitiveness continue and represent a challenging and uncertain environment for Licensed Producers:

There were 894 Health Canada-issued license holders as of August 4, 2022, covering cannabis cultivation, processing, and sales, compared to 133 licenses as of December 3, 2018. 1

Price compression remained every bit as evident in 2021 as in 2020 and prior years, with the average price per gram of flower down 16% of the course of 2021. 2

In their most recent respective trailing four-quarter periods, the top five Canadian licensed producers (by sales) generated a total of $1.48B in revenue yet realized an aggregate operating income (loss) of $-1.83B. 3

The quarterly growth rate of total legal adult-use Canadian cannabis sales has slowed notably in recent quarters and in the most recent quarter was down, by 2% as compared to the prior quarter 4 , for the first time in 13 quarters.

, for the first time in 13 quarters. Canopy Growth Corporation reported a net loss of more than $2 billion in the quarter ending June 30, 20225, further highlighting the challenge to operate profitably.

During 2020 and 2021, Emerald undertook a variety of different business initiatives aimed at increasing the profitability and value of the Company. Emerald focused on cost-control initiatives, including staff reductions, introduced new products and sought out new partners and new markets for its products as well as attempted a transition into the cannabis pharmaceutical space.

"Emerald's cannabis business realized a loss of $41.7M during 2021 and has lost an aggregate of $240 million since 2015," stated Jim Heppell, Chairman of Emerald. "Despite Emerald's efforts to focus and specialize and attempts to adapt in an effort to achieve profitability in the Canadian cannabis industry, Emerald was continuing to lose significant amounts of money and the future of Emerald as a going concern was becoming in doubt. Rather than staying the course in the cannabis industry the EHT Board, after significant consideration and study, decided to pivot out of that industry and into pharmaceutical development. We believed and still believe that operating in the intersection of biotechnology and cannabinoid science is more likely to provide a return to EHT shareholders than Emerald continuing in the cannabis business."

During this period the EHT Board held several formal and informal meetings at which the Company's overall financial performance and the future of its business were discussed. These discussions culminated in November 2021,when the EHT Board met and determined that it would be in the best interests of the EHT Shareholders to undertake the Realization Process described in the Circular and to undertake a fundamental transaction with a public issuer in the pharmaceutical business. In searching for such a transaction, the EHT Board was not solely seeking opportunities which would result in the Company becoming acquired by a third party but considered all relevant alternatives including partnerships, other forms of business relationships and potential acquisition opportunities. The goal of the EHT Board was not necessarily for Emerald to be acquired but rather to transform the entity in one way or another to provide EHT Shareholders with a better opportunity to realize a return on their investments in Emerald through exposure to the pharmaceutical sector.

In the two years leading up to the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, Emerald did not receive any bona fide offer to acquire the EHT Shares or all or substantially all of the assets of the Company or other realizable proposals for strategic alternatives of the nature described above. In September 2021, Emerald did receive a term sheet from a private company with respect to a business combination. The term sheet valued the private company at a figure which the EHT Board considered to be extremely inflated and which would have led to significantly unfavorable dilution to the EHT Shareholders. Accordingly, the Company declined the proposed transaction and the EHT Board does not view such proposal as being a bona fide offer.

As stated in the Company's November 29, 2021 news release and the Circular, the Company retained Vantage Point Advisors ("VPA") to assist it in identifying potential acquisition/merger candidates involved in pharmaceutical cannabinoid development and to carry out due diligence on selected candidates.

As disclosed in the Circular, in the subsequent period, VPA identified and analyzed 21 companies in this sector, including Skye, and then shortlisted ten companies to present to the EHT Board. In discussions between the EHT Board and VPA, this list was further shortened to seven. VPA reached out to these companies to determine potential interest in a strategic transaction with Emerald. Emerald conducted an initial due diligence review and financial analysis of all the targets, including Skye, with the assistance and advice of VPA, however, none of the discussions with the other potential targets progressed to the term sheet stage. All discussions with potential targets (other than Skye) halted following the execution of the term sheet with Skye on February 18, 2022. Following further due diligence and financial analysis, it was the EHT Board's conclusion that the Transaction was an excellent opportunity for Emerald shareholders to potentially benefit from a new class of cannabinoid-derivative drug candidates.

Under the terms of the Transaction, the exchange ratio (the "Exchange Ratio") of 1.95 shares of Skye common stock (the "Skye Shares") for each common share of Emerald (the "EHT Shares") valued the EHT Shares at approximately $0.10 per share, based on the volume weighted average price of the Skye Shares as of May 11, 2022 on the OTCQB, which is a premium of approximately 185% to the closing market price of the EHT Shares on the CSE as of May 10, 2022. Based on the then applicable 20-day VWAP of both Skye and Emerald and the Exchange Ratio, the Proposed Transaction implies a 170% premium to the market capitalization of Emerald.

As discussed in the Circular, the Exchange Ratio was the subject of arm's length negotiation between the parties. The initial draft of the Term Sheet received by the Company from Skye provided that following completion of the Transaction, existing Skye shareholders would hold approximately 71% of the outstanding Skye Shares and the former EHT Shareholders would hold approximately 29% of the Skye Shares. Skye and Emerald, after negotiation, entered into the Term Sheet on February 18, 2022 which provided for a merger of equals whereby the shareholders of each company would hold 50% of the shares of the merged entity. The specific exchange ratio would be determined immediately prior to execution of the Arrangement Agreement based on the number of shares of each company then outstanding.

As Skye carried out its due diligence on Emerald it became apparent that the parties had underestimated the costs that Emerald would incur in winding down its operations. After further extensive and difficult negotiations between the special committees of Emerald and Skye, the Exchange Ratio was amended in the final Arrangement Agreement to 1.95 Skye Shares for every EHT Share held. This will result in current Skye shareholders holding 54% of the outstanding Skye Shares and former EHT Shareholders holding 46% of the outstanding Skye Shares following the completion of the Transaction.

Evans & Evans, Inc. ("Evans & Evans") was retained to prepare and deliver a fairness opinion (the "Fairness Opinion") to the special committee of the EHT Board (the "Special Committee"), which was formed for the purposes of evaluating the Transaction. Further details on the formation of the Special Committee, its mandate and role in the negotiations of the Transaction are set out below and in the Circular. The Company is not required to obtain a formal valuation in connection with the Transaction pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") as it is listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange and therefore can rely on the exemption from the formal valuation requirement set out in section 5.5(b) of MI 61-101.

A copy of the Fairness Opinion is attached to the Circular. Evans & Evans determined that, based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications set out in the Fairness Opinion and such other matters as they considered relevant, it was of the opinion that, as of the date of such opinion, the Transaction and the Exchange Ratio are fair, from a financial point of view, to the EHT Shareholders. The Fairness Opinion was one factor considered by the Special Committee in providing its recommendation to the EHT Board and by the EHT Board in approving the execution of the Arrangement Agreement. A full list of the factors taken into account by the Special Committee and the EHT Board can be found on pages 24-25 of the Circular under the heading "Reasons for the Recommendations".

Evans & Evans was paid a fixed fee by the Company for the Fairness Opinion. No part of the fee was contingent on the delivery of a Fairness Opinion that supported the Transaction or the successful completion of the Transaction. The Special Committee did not consider that the fixed fee amount paid to Evans & Evans impacted the impartiality of Evans & Evans. The Company is not aware of any relationship or arrangement between Evans & Evans and the Company or an interested party in the Transaction that may be relevant to a perception of lack of independence in respect of the Fairness Opinion. No prior valuation in respect of the Company that relates to the subject matter of or is otherwise relevant to the Transaction has been made in the 24 months before the date of the Circular.

Special Committee

At the time VPA was engaged by the Company, the EHT Board considered whether establishing a special committee was appropriate and determined, in light of the small size of the EHT Board, the previous decision to wind down the Company's cannabis operations and the early stage of the transaction review process, that a special committee was not necessary at that time. The EHT Board reconsidered the formation of a special committee after it became clear that there was a reasonable likelihood that the negotiations may lead to the execution of a term sheet with Skye and that Messrs. Heppell (as a director of Skye) and P. Dhillon (as the CEO and Chair of Skye) would be conflicted in such event.

In the early discussions with Skye and prior to the formation of the Special Committee, the EHT Board took the approach that as Mr. P. Dhillon was both director and CEO of Skye and Jim Heppell was also a director of Skye, Mr. Bobby Rai, the third director of EHT and who did not have an interest in the Transaction at such time, would lead the discussions on behalf of the EHT Board and that communications between Skye and Emerald would generally take place at a management level. Mr. Heppell excused himself from all Skye board and management meetings where the Transaction was discussed and Mr. P. Dhillon did the same in respect of EHT Board and management meetings and discussions. Once Skye and Emerald determined that there was a reasonable likelihood that the negotiations may lead to a term sheet (the "Term Sheet"), Skye and Emerald each established their respective special committees. The Company established the Special Committee on February 8, 2022.

In determining the members of the Special Committee, the EHT Board considered that the EHT Board consisted of only three directors, Messrs. Heppell, P. Dhillon and Mr. Bobby Rai. As noted above, each of Messrs. Heppell and P. Dhillon could be considered to have an interest in the Transaction. As a result, there was only one director, Mr. Rai, without a material interest in the Transaction at such time. The EHT Board did not believe that it was desirable to have a special committee composed of a single director and considered that it would be beneficial for the workload of the committee to be spread between two persons. The Company's chief operating officer, Mohammed Jiwan, has extensive experience in the cannabis industry. The EHT Board believed that Mr. Jiwan would provide valuable insight to the Special Committee. As the Special Committee consisted of two members, its mandate required that it could only make recommendations to the EHT Board with the unanimous approval of both members.

The Special Committee's mandate was determined by the EHT Board and provided that the primary responsibilities of the Special Committee would include (a) supervising, conducting and coordinating the process to be followed by Emerald and its professional advisors in evaluating the Transaction; (b) negotiating a term sheet with Skye and providing a recommendation to the EHT Board as to whether or not the term sheet is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders; and (c) reporting and making recommendations to the EHT Board in respect of the Transaction. The Special Committee did not have the authority to approve the Transaction, however, consistent with its mandate, negotiations concerning the Term Sheet and the Arrangement Agreement were driven by the Special Committee and not by the EHT Board. The Special Committee did consult from time to time with Mr. Heppell as Mr. Heppell has extensive experience with M&A transactions and the biotechnology sector, however, Mr. Heppell's role was limited to an advisory role and the Special Committee made its own decisions in camera and relied on its other professional advisors, including legal counsel, for advice.

Subsequent to the formation of the Special Committee, the parties agreed that upon completion of the Transaction, Mr. Rai would be appointed to the board of directors of Skye (the "Skye Board"). Mr. Rai is expected to be granted options to purchase Skye Shares in connection with his appointment to the Skye Board. No specific amount of options has been set and the number will be determined by the Skye Board consistent with its compensation practices for other Skye directors. In this respect, Emerald understands that pursuant to the current Skye director compensation policy, the directors of Skye are entitled to receive 250,000 options as an initial grant on joining the Skye Board and then 150,000 options on an annual basis thereafter. In addition, each director of Skye is entitled to receive a cash fee for acting as such. The fee payable to Skye directors for 2022 is US$40,000 per annum. To the knowledge of the Company, Mr. Rai will not receive any other collateral benefit in connection with the Transaction.

As stated in the Circular, the Special Committee was not able to come to a consensus on whether to approve and recommend the Term Sheet. At the time of execution of the Term Sheet, Mr. Jiwan considered that Emerald could remain a viable producer of cannabis products and, accordingly, was of the view that the Company should not shift to a pharmaceutical focus. The other member of the Special Committee, Mr. Rai, was of the view that the Company's existing cannabis business was unlikely to succeed and that Emerald and its shareholders would be better served by a shift in focus to the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Rai has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry which helped inform his analysis.

As a result, the Special Committee was unable to provide a recommendation to the EHT Board concerning the Term Sheet. At the subsequent EHT Board meeting, each of Messrs. Heppell and P. Dhillon declared their interest in the Term Sheet and abstained from voting. Mr. Rai, as the remaining non-conflicted director, approved the execution of the Term Sheet.

Following the execution of the Term Sheet on February 18, 2022, Skye and Emerald conducted extensive due diligence and continued negotiations with respect to the final terms of the Arrangement Agreement, which were conducted by the parties while maintaining continuous communication with, and direction from, the EHT Special Committee regarding the key remaining issues.

On May 11, 2022, after careful consideration of all applicable factors and risks, and based on the Fairness Opinion, the EHT Special Committee unanimously determined that the Transaction is fair to the EHT Shareholders and in the best interests of Emerald and its stakeholders and unanimously recommended that the EHT Board approve the Transaction on the basis of the draft Arrangement Agreement negotiated with Skye and presented to the EHT Board, subject to any final changes required to be made to the draft Arrangement Agreement based on discussions between the Special Committee, the EHT Board and Skye and approved by the EHT Board. The EHT Board accepted such recommendation to approve the Arrangement Agreement.

As disclosed in the Circular, each of Messrs. Heppell, P. Dhillon and Rai had a disclosable interest at such time in respect of the Transaction and accordingly disclosed such interest to the remaining members of the EHT Board. Pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), in such circumstances all directors are permitted to vote on the resolution. Consequently, each of Messrs. Heppell, P. Dhillon and Rai voted on the EHT Board resolution approving the Arrangement Agreement and recommending to EHT Shareholders that they vote in favour of the Transaction. Ultimately, the decision to approve the Transaction rests with the EHT Shareholders.

The Transaction is the result of a comprehensive process overseen by the Special Committee of the EHT Board with the support and advice of a financial advisor and other external advisors. It was not arrived at or agreed to due to any pre-existing relationship between the Company and Skye or any individuals.

Any statements in the Third Party News Release related to Messrs. Heppell and P. Dhillon are inflammatory and meant to distract shareholders from the matters on which they are being asked to vote. Shareholders should deal with facts and not innuendo. The facts are that any matters related to former executives or directors that have been accused of any wrongdoing or illegal activity have been investigated by the Company and appropriate steps have been taken.

Emerald Health Sciences

In the Third Party News Release, it is alleged that both Emerald and Skye are controlled by a private company, Emerald Health Sciences Inc. ("Sciences"). This statement is not accurate. At the time of the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, Sciences held approximately 18% of the outstanding EHT Shares and approximately 22.4% of the outstanding Skye Shares and did not control either party.

In connection with the execution of the Arrangement Agreement, Sciences entered into negotiated support agreements with both Emerald and Skye confirming that it would vote the Skye Shares and EHT Shares, respectively, held by it in favour of the Transaction. As previously disclosed on July 15, 2020, the Company had terminated certain related party agreements pertaining to consulting services and a loan facility with Sciences.

Effective July 8, 2022, Sciences distributed all of the EHT Shares held by it to Sciences' shareholders, on a pro rata basis, in connection with a return of capital distribution (the "Return of Capital"). The support agreement entered into between Sciences and Skye (the "Support Agreement") specifically permitted Sciences to transfer such EHT Shares held by it to its shareholders pursuant to a stock dividend, return of capital or other similar transaction. The Support Agreement further confirmed that any such EHT Shares so transferred would cease to be subject to the Support Agreement. To the knowledge of the Company, none of the EHT Shares distributed by Sciences pursuant to the Return of Capital are now subject to any voting covenant or support agreement except for the EHT Shares held by Messrs. Heppell and P. Dhillon, each of whom had entered into a separate support agreement with Skye in his capacity as a director of Emerald. The EHT Shares held by Messrs. Heppell and P. Dhillon will be excluded for the purposes of the minority shareholder approval for the Transaction required by MI 61-101.

Prior to the distribution, (a) Mr. Heppell held 165,806 EHT Shares, representing 0.07% of the total issued and outstanding EHT Shares and he received 1,574,993 EHT Shares as a result of the Return of Capital, resulting in him holding 1,740,799 EHT Shares, representing 0.82% of the total issued and outstanding EHT Shares; and (b) Mr. P. Dhillon held 400,303 EHT Shares, representing 0.18% of the total issued and outstanding EHT Shares and he received 260,252 EHT Shares as a result of the Return of Capital, and obtained control over 1,197,806 EHT Shares, resulting in him holding or exercising control over 1,858,361 EHT Shares, representing 0.87% of the total issued and outstanding EHT Shares. The shareholdings of Messrs. Heppell and P. Dhillon set out under the heading "Annual General Meeting Matters" at page 1 of the Circular reflect their respective holdings on a post-Return of Capital basis. To the knowledge of the Company, the Return of Capital did not result in any person becoming a "related party" of Emerald.

The EHT Shares received by the other shareholders of Sciences will be permitted to be voted at the Meeting as the Return of Capital distribution occurred prior to the record date for the Meeting, being July 12, 2022.

While Sciences was a common shareholder of both Skye and Emerald, the Transaction was agreed to and is being recommended to shareholders of Emerald because the Special Committee and the EHT Board believe that it is in the best interests of the Company and resulted from a comprehensive process overseen by the Special Committee which was supported by external advisors and the Fairness Opinion, not because of any actual or alleged relationship between any parties.

EHT Board Unanimously Recommends Voting in Favour of the Transaction

"Emerald's board of directors recommended that shareholders vote in favour of this Transaction. Management and the Board of Emerald have subsequently held conversations with a number of shareholders, who have been supportive of the transition of the Company to a pharmaceutical cannabinoid focus based on unique, protected intellectual property and with an opportunity to undergo the rigour of clinical assessment to validate its potential therapeutic benefits," added Jim Heppell.

"Skye embodies all of these characteristics, and the purpose and benefit of this Transaction is to combine the intellectual property and financial assets of Skye and Emerald in a manner that provides a path towards potential value creation. If Skye's SBI-100 drug achieves clinical validation and regulatory approval, it would potentially provide exposure to a glaucoma market with over 70 million patients globally6. As indicated in the Circular, the EHT Board continues to recommend that all shareholders vote in favour of the arrangement with Skye."

The Company would like to remind EHT Shareholders that the Meeting to approve the Transaction, among other things, is to be held virtually at 10:00am (Vancouver time) on August 19, 2022. For your shares to be voted prior to the Meeting, voting instructions or proxies must be received by Computershare Trust Company of Canada, the Company's transfer agent, no later than 10:00am on August 17, 2022. The directors of Emerald UNANIMOUSLY recommend that EHT Shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction. Information regarding how to vote your EHT Shares is set out in Appendix I of the Circular and if you have questions or require assistance with voting, please contact Bernie Hertel, investor relations, at bhertel@emeraldhealth.ca.

The meeting of the Skye shareholders to approve the Transaction is expected to be held in early October or early November. The Company and Skye anticipate that the Transaction will close promptly after such meeting.

Please visit www.emeraldhealth.ca for more information or contact:

Moe Jiwan, Chief Operating Officer

1(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5

Emerald Investor Relations

(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5

invest@emeraldhealth.ca

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility that actual results or events could differ materially from our expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include the time and date of the Meeting, the expected timing for closing of the Transaction and the benefits of the Transaction to EHT Shareholders, the potential valuation creation of the Transaction, Skye's SBI-100 drug achieving clinical validation and regulatory approval and the exposure such approval would provide.

We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to the risks that the conditions precedent to the Transaction may not satisfied, including the receipt of regulatory and shareholder approval, in the time periods anticipated by the Company and Skye or at all and some or all of the expected benefits of the Transaction may fail to materialize or may not occur within the time periods anticipated by the Company and Skye or at all. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent management beliefs regarding future events, many of which, by their nature are inherently uncertain and beyond management control.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent our expectations as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to obtain a better understanding of our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Emerald undertakes no obligations to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur unless required by applicable law.

1 Health Canada - https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/industry-licensees-applicants/licensed-cultivators-processors-sellers.html

2 MJ Biz Daily - https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-retail-prices-declined-in-2021-led-by-vapes-concentrates/

3 Filings by the following companies for the most recent four quarters ending, respectively, Canopy Growth (2022-06-30),

Aurora (2022-03-31), Tilray (2022-05-31), Hexo (2022-04-30), Organigram (2022-05-31), available on SEDAR.

4 Statistics Canada - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2010000801 (Table 20-10-0008-01)

5 CBC - https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canopy-growth-earnings-1.6542659

6 Zhang, N., Wang, J., Li, Y. et al. Prevalence of primary open angle glaucoma in the last 20 years: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Sci Rep 11, 13762 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92971-w

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133597
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (CSE: EMH) (OTCQB: EMHTF) ("Emerald" or the "Company") announces that it has identified matters which require the Company to make restatements (the "Restatements") in respect of its interim consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 (the "Restated Q1 Financial Statements") and related management discussion and analysis (the "Restated MD&A") relating to (a) cash and cash equivalents (b) revenue from sale of goods and (c) impairment of assets.

The Restatements were identified during a review conducted by MNP LLP ("MNP"), the Company's auditor, in accordance with the standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") to satisfy the requirements for inclusion of the Company's previously filed financial statements and management's discussion and analysis into the Skye Bioscience, Inc. ("Skye") proxy statement in Form 14A in connection with the previously announced arrangement involving the Company and Skye.

Readers of the Restated Q1 Financial Statements and Restated MD&A should note that the Restatements do not materially change the Company's overall cash position, and do not impact the value of the Company's assets.

A summary of the material Restatements is described below:

certain cash payments had not previously been recognized and as a result, the Restatements include adjustments to reflect the proper application of cash payments received, decreasing the Company's cash balance as of March 31, 2022 by $111,000; previously unrecognized commission revenue was identified and pass-through sales were noted as not eliminated; as such, the Restatements include adjustments to reflect the proper elimination of pass-through sales and recognition of commission revenue, resulting in a decrease of $167,000 to accounts receivable in the unaudited condensed interim consolidated statement of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2022; and previously unidentified indicators of impairment for biological assets were noted and accordingly, the Restatements include adjustments to reflect the Company's assessment of impairment expense, resulting in a restatement of the balances of inventory write-down and changes in inventory and biological assets in the unaudited condensed interim consolidated statement of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2022 to reflect net adjustments of $771,000 and a decrease of $488,000, respectively.

Further details of such matters together with a discussion of various other non-material restatements and adjustments can be found in Note 3 to the Restated Financial Statements and in the Restated M&A, both of which are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Please visit www.emeraldhealth.ca for more information or contact:

Moe Jiwan, Chief Operating Officer

1(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5

Emerald Investor Relations

(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5

invest@emeraldhealth.ca

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133602
SHANGHAI, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Queclink Wireless Solutions , a global manufacturer of Internet of Things (IoT) hardware, recently celebrated the relocation and upgrade of the Shenzhen Research and Development Center. The new premise is located in the Zhigu Industrial Park in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, a city also known as the center of the technological revolution in China.

Nearly 200 listed tech companies are located in the Nanshan District, making it an ideal location for the company focusing on IoT innovation. The regional advantage brings great convenience to product development and innovation meanwhile helping the experienced technical team refine their work. In addition to this, the easier access to supply chain and market frontiers allows the team quickly respond to customization service requests as well as production logistics.

"Queclink continues to make substantial investments in research and development and the necessary laboratory, testing and qualification infrastructure enabling the company to stay ahead in the dynamic IoT market" said Alex Key. "Queclink must continuously innovate to better meet the needs of our customers. Upgrading the Shenzhen R&D center allows the team to drive the high quality development of products and solutions with our global customers' needs in mind." Alex has advised Queclink since 2010 and has served as a consultant and advisor in major telecommunications companies globally since 1990.

The Shenzhen R&D Center team has been continuously expanded by over 20% each year, with the majority of new staff being engineers. The new office is now equipped with bigger laboratories and advanced instruments, including a brand-new environmental reliability test lab, OTA test system, RF shielded chamber and more. The newly launched WiFi6 & 5G wireless communication test equipment supports dense IoT environments and enables new immersive applications for bringing more progressive solutions. On the other hand, the new premise has doubled its space and includes facilities such as a lounge and fitness center.

The Chief Executive Officer of Queclink, Adam Liao, marked the occasion by stating, "Queclink is always committed to creating new opportunities for our worldwide partners with smart devices. To enable a connected future, Queclink keeps making strategic investments in our infrastructure to develop IoT solutions that ultimately help our customers achieve more as we grow together for the next decade and beyond."

Established in 2015, the Shenzhen R&D Center has been an indispensable scientific research base for Queclink global deployment, providing the best platform for local engineers to showcase their exceptional skills.

Since the relocation of the headquarters in Shanghai last year, both Shenzhen and Hefei R&D centers have expanded their staff recruitment as planned. With more talents joining the team, Queclink is forging a stable and solid research force. In the wake of improvement and upgrade of the R&D environment and equipment, Queclink will keep expanding its expertise to empower more businesses worldwide.

About Queclink Wireless Solutions (Stock: 300590.SZ)

Queclink develops, manufactures, and delivers hardware that enables the world's most innovative IoT solutions. As a leading manufacturer, our footprint sprawls into over 140 countries, with more than 42 million devices in the market. Queclink is a publicly traded company (Stock: 300590.SZ).

For more information about Queclink, please visit our Website, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and contact marketing@queclink.com for marketing collaboration.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1877099/image_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1877100/image_2.jpg
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / Core Assets Corp., ("Core Assets" or the "Company") (CSE:CC)(FSE:5RJ)(OTCQB:CCOOF) is pleased to announce the intersection of significant CRD mineralization in every drill hole completed to-date and the discovery of an extensive Mo-Cu-bearing porphyry at the Sulphide City Target, part of the Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD Project ("Silver Lime"), central Blue Property ("Property"); Atlin Mining District of NW British Columbia.

Highlights

Every drill hole completed at the Silver Lime Project to-date has intersected multiple chimney-style, massive sulfide carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) feeders (Figure 1).

Diamond drilling at the Sulphide City Target has also intersected a Mo-Cu-bearing porphyry believed to be the source feeding the >250 high-grade carbonate replacement mineralization (CRM) occurrences observed at surface throughout the Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD Project.

The mineralized porphyry is located within the 6.6 x 1.8 KM surficial expression of CRM and has been drilled to vertical depths of 468 metres from surface and remains open for exploration (SLM22-006; Figures 1-2).

The newly discovered porphyry has been affected by high temperature potassic alteration overprinted by intense, texturally destructive phyllic alteration and hosts impressive MoPyCu porphyry-type mineralization and veining that increases with depth (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Photographs of 2022 HQ-sized core intervals from the Sulphide City Target showing representative tonalite porphyry, porphyry mineralization/alteration, and base metal sulphide skarn and carbonate replacement mineralization. (Chalcopyrite = Cpy; Molybdenite = Mo; Galena = Gn; Sphalerite = Sph; Pyrrhotite = Po; Pyrite = Py; Potassic Alteration= K+; Biotite=Bio; Quartz-Sericite-Pyrite Alteration = QSP; Massive = MS; Carbonate Replacement Mineralization = CRM).

1,124 meters of diamond drilling has been completed at the Sulphide City Target, with impressive CRD mineralization and mineralized porphyry drilled over significant widths in all holes.

Core Assets Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD Project displays characteristics that match up to some of the largest Porphyry-CRD systems globally, covering the full mineralization evolution spectrum from Cu-Mo porphyry through to Ag-Pb carbonate replacement mineralization (Figure 3).

Crews have mobilized to the Grizzly Manto Target to complete an additional 2,000 metres of diamond drilling.

*All drill core assays are still pending and until assay results are completed and received, any inference of potential copper, gold, lead, silver, zinc, and molybdenum grades from the geological descriptions provided in this release are speculative in nature and based on preliminary visual observations only.

Core Assets' President & CEO Nick Rodway commented, "The second hole ever drilled at the Sulfide City Target is what we consider to be a potential company maker - SLM22-006 intersected extensive Cu-Mo-Zn-mineralized intercepts of altered porphyry and endoskarn, and semi-massive to massive Zn-Cu-Pb/Ag contact skarn and carbonate replacement mineralization. We are observing heavily mineralized endoskarn replacing mineralized, potassic-to-phyllic altered intrusive indicating that this system has seen multiple pulses of metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids.

We have now tapped into the Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD system at both the Sulphide City and Jackie targets, located 2.4 km apart. Due to the continuous and zoned nature of CRD's, the information we are gathering from the 2022 diamond drilling campaign will assist the Core Assets team with tracking the plumbing of the system along surface and at depth, targeting the multi-kilometre long limestone beds observed across the Property. Multiple skarn and/or carbonate replacement occurrences have been intersected in every drill hole completed at the Silver Lime Project to-date. Tapping into a well mineralized porphyry source at Sulphide City with CRM mapped for 6.6km at surface indicates that this system is large with room to grow and is comparable to other district-scale Porphyry-CRD systems globally."

Figure 2: Planview geological map of the Sulphide City Target at the Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD Project showing 2022 diamond drilling progress, surficial extents of the syn-mineral tonalite porphyry and post-mineral diorite dyke and mapped massive to semi-massive sulphide occurrences. * indicates a vertical drill hole and hole SLM22-005 was lost at 137 metres depth (EOH).

Figure 3: Mineralization spectrum of Carbonate Replacement Deposits. Modified after Megaw et al., (1988).

About the Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD Project

The Silver Lime Carbonate Replacement Project is hosted in carbonate rocks of the Florence Range Metamorphic Suite (ca. 1150Ma). Target limestone and marble host rocks are intercalated with upper amphibolite grade metapeltic rocks, quartzite, and amphibole-bearing gneiss. The protoliths to the metasedimentary units include continentally derived clastic strata and platform carbonate, whereas the amphibole-bearing gneiss is interpreted as probable basaltic flows, sills, dykes, and tuffaceous units related to early rifting of the ancestral North America continental margin (i.e., Mihalynuk, 1999). Younger felsic to intermediate intrusive rocks are also widespread within the project area and range from Triassic to Eocene in age. Widespread Eocene magmatic activity was associated with Cordillera-wide, brittle strike-slip faulting. Eocene volcano-plutonic centres in the western Cordillera are known to host porphyry, skarn, and epithermal-type mineralization extending from the Golden Triangle in NW BC to the Tally-Ho Shear Zone in the Yukon (>100 kilometers).

Three well-defined target areas exist at the Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD Project and include the Jackie, Sulphide City, and Grizzly Manto targets. The Jackie Target represents a distal and high-grade expression of Ag-Pb-Zn-Cu CRM that consists of numerous massive-to-semi massive sulphide occurrences measuring up to 30 metres long and 6 metres wide and comprise an approximate area of 400 metres by 380 metres, within the extensive 6.6-kilometre by 1.8-kilometre mineralized zone that remains open in multiple directions. Many sulphide occurrences at Jackie are clustered and hosted within NE-SW trending faults and fault splays, proximal to undeformed felsic dykes oriented sub-parallel to faulting. These fault-hosted sulphide bodies are interpreted as "spokes" that typically broaden at depth and express continuity back towards a causative intrusion in CRD's. The Sulphide City Zn-CuAg Target is characterized by multiple semi-massive to massive sulphide occurrences measuring up to 40 metres along strike and 8 metres wide. In 2022, detailed geological mapping and diamond drilling discovered an undeformed, Mo-Cu-bearing, and causative porphyry intrusion. The Sulphide City Target boasts an average surficial grade of 13.3g/t Ag, 0.34% Cu, and 3.9% Zn (83 rock samples) that remains open. The Grizzly Manto Ag-Zn-Pb-Cu Target represents the largest, untested surficial exposure of CRM globally. Carbonate replacement mantos at Grizzly (i.e., bedded massive sulphide ore bodies) are observable at surface across open strike lengths of up to 1 kilometer, and at widths of over 5 meters. Average surficial grade at the Upper Grizzly Manto Target yields values of 164.7g/t Ag, 0.42% Cu, 3.8% Pb, and 7.1% Zn over 450m strike length, whereas the Lower Grizzly Manto has an average graded of 70.0 g/t Ag, 0.36% Cu, 0.2% Pb, and 7.1% Zn over an inferred strike length of 1km.

To-date 2,423 metres of HQ-sized diamond drilling has been completed at the Silver Lime Porphyry-CRD Project.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

Nicholas Rodway, P.Geo, (Licence# 46541) (Permit to Practice# 100359) is President, CEO and Director of the Company, and qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Rodway supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.

About Core Assets Corp.

Core Assets Corp. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of mineral projects in British Columbia, Canada. The Company currently holds 100% ownership in the Blue Property, which covers a land area of111,648.8 ha (~1,116 km). The project lies within the Atlin Mining District, a well-known gold mining camp located in the unceded territory of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation and the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. The Blue Property hosts a major structural feature known as The Llewellyn Fault Zone ("LFZ"). This structure is approximately 140km in length and runs from the Tally-Ho Shear Zone in the Yukon, south through the Blue Property to the Alaskan Panhandle Juneau Ice Sheet in the United States. Core Assets believes that the south Atlin Lake area and the LFZ has been neglected since the last major exploration campaigns in the 1980's. The LFZ plays an important role in mineralization of near surface metal occurrences across the Blue Property. The past 50 years have seen substantial advancements in the understanding of porphyry, skarn, and carbonate replacement type deposits both globally and in BC's Golden Triangle. The Company has leveraged this information at the Blue Property to tailor an already proven exploration model and believes this could facilitate a major discovery. Core Assets is excited to become one of Atlin Mining District's premier explorers where its team believes there are substantial opportunities for new discoveries and development in the area.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

CORE ASSETS CORP.



"Nicholas Rodway"

President & CEO

Tel: 604.681.1568

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include expectations regarding the pending core assays, including speculative inferences about potential copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, zinc, and lead grades based on preliminary visual observations from results of diamond drilling at the Silver Lime Project; that preliminary results of drilling have exceeded the Company's expectations; the Company's plans to further investigate the geometry and extent of the skarn and carbonate replacement type mineralization continuum at Silver Lime through additional field work and diamond drilling; the proposed diamond drilling program planned for Silver Lime in 2022; that drilling efforts will aim to confirm and extend certain targets and mineralization on the property; that the Company's exploration model could facilitate a major discovery at the Blue Property; that the Company anticipates it can become one of the Atlin Mining District's premier explorers and that there are substantial opportunities for new discoveries and development in this area. It is important to note that the Company's actual business outcomes and exploration results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include that expectations regarding pending core assays based on preliminary visual observations from diamond drilling results at Silver Lime may be found to be inaccurate; that results may indicate Silver Lime does not warrant further exploration efforts; that the Company may be unable to implement its plans to further explore Silver Lime and, in particular, that the proposed diamond drilling program planned for Silver Lime may not proceed as anticipated or at all; that drilling efforts may not confirm and extend any targets or mineralization on the Silver Lime; that the Company's exploration model may fail to facilitate any commercial discovery of minerals at the Blue Property; that the Company may not become one of Atlin Mining District's premier explorers or that the area may be found to lack opportunities for new discoveries and development, as anticipated; that further permits may not be granted in a timely manner, or at all; that the mineral claims may prove to be unworthy of further expenditure; there may not be an economic mineral resource; that certain exploration methods, including the Company's proposed exploration model for the Blue Property, may be ineffective or inadequate in the circumstances; that economic, competitive, governmental, geopolitical, environmental and technological factors may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices; our specific plans and timing drilling, field work and other plans may change; we may not have access to or be able to develop any minerals because of cost factors, type of terrain, or availability of equipment and technology; and we may also not raise sufficient funds to carry out or complete our plans. Additional risk factors are discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for its recently completed fiscal period, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com . Except as required by law, the Company will not update or revise these forward-looking statements after the date of this document or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events.

SOURCE: Core Assets Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/711868/Core-Assets-Diamond-Drilling-Intersects-CRD-Mineralization-in-All-Holes-and-Discovers-Mo-Cu-Porphyry-Source-of-the-Carbonate-Replacement-System-at-the-Silver-Lime-Project
A Russian rocket launched toward Ukraine from Russia's Belgorod region is seen at dawn in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Aug. 11. AP-Yonhap



Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Friday of risking nuclear disaster by shelling Europe's largest nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war.



Western countries have called for Moscow to withdraw its troops from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the United Nations called on Thursday for it to be declared a demilitarised zone. But there has been no sign so far of Russia agreeing to move its troops out of the facility they seized in March.



The plant dominates the south bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro river that cuts across southern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under intense bombardment from the Russian-held side.



Three civilians, including a boy, were wounded in overnight shelling of one of those towns, Marhanets, Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said in the latest in a string of similar reports.



Kyiv has said for weeks it is planning a counteroffensive to recapture Zaporizhzhia and neighbouring Kherson provinces, the largest part of the territory Russia seized after its Feb. 24 invasion still in Russian hands. Moscow has installed regional officials who say they intend to stage votes to join Russia.



Ukraine's Energoatom agency, whose workers still operate the plant under Russian occupation, said the power station was struck five times on Thursday, including near where radioactive materials are stored. Both sides blamed each other for the blasts and Reuters could not verify either account.



Russia says Ukraine is recklessly firing at the plant. Kyiv says Russian troops struck it themselves, and are also using the plant as a shield to provide cover while they bombard nearby Ukrainian-held towns and cities.



"The Ukrainian Armed Forces do not damage the infrastructure (of the plant), do not strike where there may be a danger on a global scale. We understand that the invaders are hiding behind such a shield because it is not possible to strike there," Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command, told Ukrainian national television.



The U.N. Security Council, where Russia wields a veto, met on Thursday to discuss the situation. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to stop all fighting near the plant.



"The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarisation to ensure the safety of the area," Guterres said in a statement.



At the Security Council meeting, the United States backed the call for a demilitarised zone and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the site.



Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the world was being pushed "to the brink of nuclear catastrophe", comparable in scale with the 1986 Chornobyl disaster in then-Soviet Ukraine. He said IAEA officials could visit the site as soon as this month.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded Russia return the plant to Ukraine's control.



"Only a full withdrawal of the Russians ... and the restoration of full Ukrainian control of the situation around the station can guarantee a resumption of nuclear security for all of Europe," he said in a video address.



France echoed Zelenskiy's demand and said Russia's occupation of the site endangered the world.



"The presence and actions of the Russian armed forces near the plant significantly increase the risk of an accident with potentially devastating consequences," the French foreign ministry said in a statement.





Ukrainian servicemen wait with their tank after experiencing mechanical issues on a country road near Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Aug. 10. AP-Yonhap
HONG KONG, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"): SGQ, Hong Kong Stock Exchange ("HKEX"): 1878) (the "Company" or "SouthGobi") today announces its financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022. All figures are in U.S. dollars ("USD") unless otherwise stated.

Significant Events and Highlights

The Company's significant events and highlights for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and the subsequent period to August 12, 2022 are as follows:

Operating Results - In response to the increase in the number of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") cases in Ejinaqi, a region in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region where the custom and border crossing are located, reported in late October 2021, the local government authorities imposed stringent preventive measures throughout the region, including the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry located at the border of Mongolia and China. Accordingly, the Company's coal exports into China were suspended from November 2021 to May 2022. On May 25, 2022, the Ceke Port of Entry re-opened for coal export on a trial basis. As a result, the Company recorded 0.1 million tonnes of sales in the second quarter of 2022.



Since May 25, 2022, the number of trucks permitted to cross the Chinese-Mongolian border, as well as the volume of coal exports have increased. As a result, the Company has gradually resumed mining operations beginning on July 15, 2022. The Company's major mining operations, including coal mining, have resumed and the Company expects to increase the volume of coal production in a gradual manner, while coal processing shall remain suspended for the time being. The Company will revisit the possibility of resuming coal processing at a later date.



The Company experienced an increase in the average selling price of coal from $47.9 per tonne in the second quarter of 2021 to $66.6 per tonne in the second quarter of 2022, due to improved market conditions in China.



- In response to the increase in the number of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") cases in Ejinaqi, a region in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region where the custom and border crossing are located, reported in late October 2021, the local government authorities imposed stringent preventive measures throughout the region, including the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry located at the border of Mongolia and China. Accordingly, the Company's coal exports into China were suspended from November 2021 to May 2022. On May 25, 2022, the Ceke Port of Entry re-opened for coal export on a trial basis. As a result, the Company recorded 0.1 million tonnes of sales in the second quarter of 2022. Since May 25, 2022, the number of trucks permitted to cross the Chinese-Mongolian border, as well as the volume of coal exports have increased. As a result, the Company has gradually resumed mining operations beginning on July 15, 2022. The Company's major mining operations, including coal mining, have resumed and the Company expects to increase the volume of coal production in a gradual manner, while coal processing shall remain suspended for the time being. The Company will revisit the possibility of resuming coal processing at a later date. The Company experienced an increase in the average selling price of coal from $47.9 per tonne in the second quarter of 2021 to $66.6 per tonne in the second quarter of 2022, due to improved market conditions in China. Financial Results - The Company recorded a $2.7 million profit from operations in the second quarter of 2022 compared to a $1.0 million loss from operations in the second quarter of 2021. The financial results for the second quarter of 2022 were impacted by the foreign exchange gain of $1.4 million, a write off of other payables of $1.6 million and by the decreased sales resulting from the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry experienced by the Company during the second quarter.



- The Company recorded a $2.7 million profit from operations in the second quarter of 2022 compared to a $1.0 million loss from operations in the second quarter of 2021. The financial results for the second quarter of 2022 were impacted by the foreign exchange gain of $1.4 million, a write off of other payables of $1.6 million and by the decreased sales resulting from the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry experienced by the Company during the second quarter. China Investment Corporation ("CIC") convertible debenture ("Convertible Debenture") - On May 13, 2022, the Company and CIC entered into an agreement (the "2022 May Deferral Agreement"), pursuant to which CIC agreed to grant the Company a deferral of (i) semi-annual cash interest payments of $7.9 million payable to CIC on May 19, 2022 (the "Deferred Amounts"); and (ii) the management fee which payable to CIC on February 14, 2022 and August 14, 2021 (the "Deferred Management Fee") under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement (collectively, the "2022 Deferral Amounts") under the Convertible Debenture.

The principal terms of the 2022 May Deferral Agreement are as follows:

Payment of the 2022 Deferral Amounts will be deferred until August 31, 2023.

As consideration for the deferral of the Deferred Amounts, the Company agreed to pay CIC a deferral fee equal to 6.4% per annum on the Deferred Amounts payable under the Convertible Debenture, commencing on May 19, 2022.

As consideration for the deferral of the Deferred Management Fee, the Company agreed to pay CIC a deferral fee equal to 2.5% per annum on the outstanding balance of the Deferred Management Fee payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, commencing on the date on which each such 2022 May Deferred Management Fee would otherwise have been due and payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement.

The Company agreed to provide CIC with monthly updates regarding its operational and financial affairs.

If at any time before the 2022 Deferral Amounts and related deferral fee are fully repaid, the Company proposes to appoint, replace or terminate one or more of its chief executive officer, its chief financial officer or any other senior executive(s) in charge of its principal business function or its principal subsidiary, the Company will first consult with, and obtain written consent (such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld) from CIC prior to effecting such appointment, replacement or termination.

The Company and CIC agreed that nothing in the 2022 May Deferral Agreement prejudices CIC's rights to pursue any of its remedies at any time pursuant to the prior deferral agreements.



Application for New Listing on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V") and Primary Listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange - On April 20, 2022, the Company announced that it would be making an application (the "Listing Application") to the TSX-V to list its common shares on the TSX-V. In conjunction with the foregoing, the Company would also apply for voluntary delisting of its common shares from the TSX (the "Delisting"), subject to the Company receiving approval from the TSX-V of the Listing Application. Pursuant to the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (the "Listing Rules"), the Company announced it intends to submit a written notification to the HKEX stating, among other things, that it will be able to fully comply with the applicable Listing Rules in connection with the approval of the Listing Application and the Listing Application becoming effective, and such that its current secondary listing on the HKEX will be converted to a primary listing.

On July 28, 2022, the Company received an acknowledgment from the HKEX in respect of the Delisting issued pursuant to paragraph 3.34 of the HKEX's Guidance Letter (HKEX-GL-112-22), which informed the Company that, upon the effective date of the Delisting, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will regard the Company as having a primary (rather than secondary) listing status on the HKEX pursuant to Rule 19C.13A of the HKEX Listing Rules and the dis-application of the stock marker "S" from the Company's trading symbol on the HKEX will take effect. While it was disclosed in the Company's management proxy circular dated June 29, 2022 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.

Sale by CIC of its Interests in the Company- On May 27, 2022, the Company announced that as disclosed in the press release issued by CIC on May 26, 2022 (the "CIC Press Release"), CIC has entered into an agreement to sell (the "CIC Sale Transaction") all of its interests in the Company, including its 64,766,591 common shares of the Company and the Convertible Debenture, to JD Zhixing Fund L.P. (the "Buyer"). The Company has been advised that the Buyer is an exempted limited partnership formed under the laws of Cayman Islands. The Buyer's general partner is JD Dingxing Limited, a corporation formed under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Buyer's limited partner is Inner Mongolia Tianyu Trading Limited, a corporation formed under the laws of Hong Kong. As disclosed in the CIC Press Release, completion of the CIC Sale Transaction is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent.

In connection with the CIC Sale Transaction, CIC has agreed to assign (the "Assignment") to the Buyer all of CIC's rights in and obligations under: (i) the Convertible Debenture and related security documents; (ii) the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement and related documents; (iii) the deferral agreements 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 (the "Deferral Agreements"); and (iv) the Securityholders Agreement.

Subject to completion of the CIC Sale Transaction and related Assignment, the Buyer has agreed to reduce the service fee payable by the Company under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement from 2.5% to 1.5% of all net revenues realized by the Company and all of its subsidiaries derived from sales into China.

Upon the completion of the CIC Sale Transaction and related Assignment:

while the Convertible Debenture is outstanding, or while the Buyer has a minimum 15% direct or indirect stake in the Company, the Buyer will have the right to nominate one director to the board of directors (the "Board") pursuant to the board nomination rights contained in the Securityholders Agreement;

the buyer also will have the right to nominate two additional directors to the Board if it and its affiliates have a minimum 20% direct or indirect stake in Company, or one additional director to the Board if it and its affiliate have a minimum 10% direct or indirect stake in Company, pursuant to the board nomination rights contained in the Deferral Agreements; and

while the Convertible Debenture is outstanding, or while the buyer has a minimum 15% direct or indirect stake in Company, the buyer will have certain pre-emption rights on a pro-rata basis to subscribe for any new shares to be allotted and issued by Company. The pre-emption rights do not apply to new shares issued pursuant to pro-rata public equity offerings made to all shareholders, exercise of stock options and shares issued to achieve a 25% public float.



Going Concern - Several adverse conditions and material uncertainties relating to the Company cast significant doubt upon the going concern assumption which includes the deficiencies in assets and working capital.

Refer to section "Liquidity and Capital Resources" of this press release for details.

OVERVIEW OF OPERATIONAL DATA AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

Summary of Operational Data

A Non-International Financial Reporting Standards ("non-IFRS") financial measure. Refer to "Non-IFRS Financial Measures" section. Cash costs of product sold exclude idled mine asset cash costs. Per 200,000 man hours and calculated based on a rolling 12 month average.

Overview of Operational Data

For the three months ended June 30, 2022

The Company experienced an increase in the average selling price of coal from $47.9 per tonne in the second quarter of 2021 to $66.6 per tonne in the second quarter of 2022, as a result of improved market conditions in China. The product mix for the second quarter of 2022 consisted of approximately 52% premium semi-soft coking coal, 40% standard semi-soft coking coal/premium thermal coal and 8% of washed coal compared to approximately 72% premium semi-soft coking coal, 27% standard semi-soft coking coal/premium thermal coal and 1% washed coal in the second quarter of 2021.

In response to the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Ejinaqi, a region in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region where the custom and border crossing are located, reported in late October 2021, the local government authorities imposed stringent preventive measures throughout the region, including the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry located at the border of Mongolia and China. Accordingly, the Company's coal exports into China were suspended from November 2021 to May 2022. On May 25, 2022, the Ceke Port of Entry re-opened for coal export on a trial basis. As a result, the Company recorded 0.1 million tonnes of sales in the second quarter of 2022.

Since May 25, 2022, the number of trucks permitted to cross the Chinese-Mongolian border, as well as the volume of coal exports, have increased. As a result, the Company has gradually resumed mining operations beginning on July 15, 2022. The Company's major mining operations, including coal mining, have resumed and the Company expects to increase the volume of coal production in a gradual manner, while coal processing shall remain suspended for the time being. The Company will revisit the possibility of resuming coal processing at a later date.

The Company's unit cost of sales of product sold increased from $41.4 per tonne in the second quarter of 2021 to $56.3 per tonne in the second quarter of 2022. The increase was mainly driven by the diseconomies of scale due to decreased sales as well as the increase in the effective royalty rate.

For the six months ended June 30, 2022

The Company sold 0.1 million tonnes for the first six months of 2022 as compared to 0.8 million tonnes for the first six months of 2021. The average selling price increased from $44.1 per tonne for the first six months of 2021 to $66.6 per tonne for the first six months of 2022, due to improved market conditions in China.

The Company's production in the first six months of 2021 was higher than the first six months of 2022 as a result of the temporary suspension of the Company's major mining operations (including coal mining) which took effect from November 2021 to July 2022 for the purpose of mitigating the financial impact of the border closures on the Company and preserving the Company's working capital.

The Company's unit cost of sales of product sold increased from $30.5 per tonne for the first six months of 2021 to $67.5 per tonne in the first six months of 2022. The increase was mainly driven by the diseconomies of scale due to decreased sales as well as the increase in the effective royalty rate.

Revenue and cost of sales related to the Company's Ovoot Tolgoi Mine within the Coal Division operating segment. Refer to note 3 of the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for further analysis regarding the Company's reportable operating segments. A non-IFRS financial measure, idled mine asset costs represents the depreciation expense relates to the Company's idled plant and equipment.

Overview of Financial Results

For the three months ended June 30, 2022

The Company recorded a $2.7 million profit from operations in the second quarter of 2022 compared to a $1.0 million loss from operations in the second quarter of 2021. The financial results for the second quarter of 2022 were impacted by the foreign exchange gain of $1.4 million, a write off of other payables of $1.6 million and by the decreased sales resulting from the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry experienced by the Company during the second quarter.

Revenue was $5.8 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to $5.2 million in the second quarter of 2021. The Company's effective royalty rate for the second quarter of 2022, based on the Company's average realized selling price of $66.6 per tonne, was 26.4% or $17.6 per tonne, compared to 21.9% or $10.5 per tonne in the second quarter of 2021 (based on the average realized selling price of $47.9 per tonne).

Cost of sales was $5.1 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to $4.6 million in the second quarter of 2021. The increase in cost of sales was mainly due to the increase in royalties during the quarter. Cost of sales consists of operating expenses, share-based compensation expense, equipment depreciation, depletion of mineral properties, royalties and idled mine asset costs. Operating expenses in cost of sales reflect the total cash costs of product sold (a Non-IFRS financial measure, refer to "Non-IFRS Financial Measures" section) during the quarter.

Operating expenses in cost of sales were $3.1 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to $2.3 million in the second quarter of 2021. Cost of sales related to idled mine assets in the second quarter of 2022 included $0.2 million related to depreciation expenses for idled equipment (second quarter of 2021: $0.9 million).

Other operating income was $3.8 million in the second quarter of 2022 (second quarter of 2021: $0.1 million of other operating expenses). Foreign exchange gain of $1.4 million and write off of other payables of $1.6 million were recorded in the second quarter of 2022. (second quarter of 2021: the Company incurred a foreign exchange loss of $0.2 million).

Administration expenses were $1.8 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2021, the increase in the balance was mainly due to the increase in legal and professional fees for the second quarter of 2022.

The Company continued to minimize evaluation and exploration expenditures in the second quarter of 2022 in order to preserve the Company's financial resources. Evaluation and exploration activities and expenditures in the second quarter of 2022 were limited to ensuring that the Company met the Mongolian Minerals Law requirements in respect of its mining licenses.

Finance costs were $10.2 million and $8.9 million in the second quarter of 2022 and 2021 respectively, which primarily consisted of interest expense on the $250.0 million Convertible Debenture.

For the six months ended June 30, 2022

The Company recorded a $2.5 million profit from operations in the first six months of 2022 compared to a $6.5 million in the first six months of 2021. The financial results were impacted by (i) the higher selling price achieved by the Company; and (ii) decreased sales volume resulting from the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry experienced by the Company during the first six months of 2022.

Revenue was $5.8 million in the first six months of 2022 compared to $33.3 million in the first six months of 2021. The Company's effective royalty rate for the first six months of 2022, based on the Company's average realized selling price of $66.6 per tonne, was 26.4% or $17.6 per tonne, compared to 16.0% or $7.1 per tonne in the first six months of 2021 (based on the average realized selling price of $44.1 per tonne).

Cost of sales were $6.1 million in the first six months of 2022 compared to $22.9 million in the first six months of 2021, as follows:

Operating expenses in cost of sales were $3.6 million in the first six months of 2022 compared to $14.6 million in the first six months of 2021. The overall decrease in cost of sales was primarily due to the reduced sales.

Cost of sales related to idled mine assets in the first six months of 2022 included $0.7 million related to depreciation expenses for idled equipment (first six months of 2021: $1.4 million).

Other operating income was $5.8 million in the first six months of 2022 (first six months of 2021: $0.4 million of other operating expenses). Foreign exchange gain of $1.9 million and write off of other payables of $2.8 million were recorded in the first six months of 2022. (first six months of 2021: foreign exchange loss of $0.2 million).

Administration expenses were $3.0 million in the first six months of 2022 compared to $3.3 million in the first six months of 2021, as follows:

The Company continued to minimize evaluation and exploration expenditures in the first six months of 2022 in order to preserve the Company's financial resources. Evaluation and exploration activities and expenditures in the first six months of 2022 were limited to ensuring that the Company met the Mongolian Minerals Law requirements in respect of its mining licenses.

Finance costs were $20.3 million and $21.0 million in the first six months of 2022 and 2021 respectively, which primarily consisted of interest expense on the $250.0 million Convertible Debenture.

Summary of Quarterly Operational Data

A non-IFRS financial measure. Refer to section "Non-IFRS Financial Measures". Cash costs of product sold exclude idled mine asset cash costs. Per 200,000 man hours and calculated based on a rolling 12 month average. Not presented as nil sales was noted for the quarter.

Summary of Quarterly Financial Results

The Company's consolidated financial statements are reported under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The following table provides highlights, extracted from the Company's annual and interim consolidated financial statements, of quarterly results for the past eight quarters.

Revenue and cost of sales relate to the Company's Ovoot Tolgoi Mine within the Coal Division operating segment. Refer to note 3 of the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for further analysis regarding the Company's reportable operating segments.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Liquidity and Capital Management

The Company has in place a planning, budgeting and forecasting process to help determine the funds required to support the Company's normal operations on an ongoing basis and its expansionary plans.

Costs reimbursable to Turquoise Hill

Prior to the completion of a private placement with Novel Sunrise Investments Limited ("Novel Sunrise") on April 23, 2015, Rio Tinto plc ("Rio Tinto") was the Company's ultimate parent company. In the past, Rio Tinto sought reimbursement from the Company for the salaries and benefits of certain Rio Tinto employees who were assigned by Rio Tinto to work for the Company, as well as certain legal and professional fees incurred by Rio Tinto in relation to the Company's prior internal investigation and Rio Tinto's participation in the tripartite committee. Subsequently Rio Tinto transferred and assigned to Turquoise Hill its right to seek reimbursement for these costs and fees from the Company.

On January 20, 2021, the Company and Turquoise Hill entered into a settlement agreement, whereby Turquoise Hill agreed to a repayment schedule in settlement of certain secondment costs in the amount of $2.8 million (representing a portion of the TRQ Reimbursable Amount) pursuant to which the Company agreed to make monthly payments to Turquoise Hill in the amount of $0.1 million per month from January 2021 to June 2022. The Company is contesting the validity of the remaining balance of the TRQ Reimbursable Amount claimed by Turquoise Hill.

As at June 30, 2022, the amount of reimbursable costs and fees claimed by Turquoise Hill (the "TRQ Reimbursable Amount") amounted to $6.8 million (such amount is included in the trade and other payables).

Going concern considerations

The Company's condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which assumes that the Company will continue to operate until at least June 30, 2023 and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of operations as they come due. However, in order to continue as a going concern, the Company must generate sufficient operating cash flows, secure additional capital or otherwise pursue a strategic restructuring, refinancing or other transactions to provide it with sufficient liquidity.

Several adverse conditions and material uncertainties cast significant doubt upon the Company's ability to continue as a going concern and the going concern assumption used in the preparation of the Company's condensed consolidated interim financial statements. The Company incurred a loss attributable to equity holders of the Company of $17.8 million for the first six months of 2022 (compared to a profit attributable to equity holders of the Company of $5.8 million for the first six months of 2021), and as of that date, had a deficiency in assets of $121.2 million as at June 30, 2022 as compared to a deficiency in assets of $90.5 million as at December 31, 2021 while the working capital deficiency (excess current liabilities over current assets) reached $43.6 million as at June 30, 2022 compared to a working capital deficiency of $42.5 million as at December 31, 2021.

Included in the working capital deficiency as at June 30, 2022 are significant obligations, represented by trade and other payables of $64.6 million, which includes $23.0 million in unpaid taxes that are repayable on demand to the Mongolian Tax Authority ("MTA").

Furthermore, the Company may not be able to settle all trade and other payables on a timely basis, and as a result any continuing postponement in settling of certain trade and other payables owed to suppliers and creditors may impact the ability of the Company to resume its mining operations and may result in potential lawsuits and/or bankruptcy proceedings being filed against the Company. Except as disclosed elsewhere in this press release, no such lawsuits or proceedings were pending as at August 12, 2022.

As disclosed in the section "Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic", the Chinese-Mongolian border was re-opened for coal export on a trial basis on May 25, 2022 but there can be no guarantee that the Company will be able to continue exporting coal to China, or the Chinese-Mongolian border crossings would not be the subject of additional closure as a result of COVID-19 or any variants thereof in the future. The Company has been proactively adjusting its sales strategy and exploring opportunities to expand its sales.

There are significant uncertainties as to the outcomes of the above events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern and, therefore, the Company may be unable to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business. Should the use of the going concern basis in preparation of the condensed consolidated interim financial statements be determined to be not appropriate, adjustments would have to be made to write down the carrying amounts of the Company's assets to their realizable values, to provide for any further liabilities which might arise and to reclassify non-current assets and non-current liabilities as current assets and current liabilities, respectively. The effects of these adjustments have not been reflected in the condensed consolidated interim financial statements. If the Company is unable to continue as a going concern, it may be forced to seek relief under applicable bankruptcy and insolvency legislation.

For the purpose of assessing the appropriateness of the use of the going concern basis to prepare the financial statements, management of the Company has prepared a cash flow projection covering a period of 12 months from June 30, 2022. The cash flow projection has considered the anticipated cash flows to be generated from the Company's business during the period under projection including cost saving measures. In particular, the Company has taken into account the following measures for improvement of the Company's liquidity and financial position, which include: (a) entering into three deferral agreements with CIC on November 19, 2020, (the "2020 November Deferral Agreement") for a deferral of (i) deferred cash interest and deferral fees of $75.2 million which were due and payable to CIC on or before September 14, 2020, under the deferral agreement signed on June 19, 2020 (the "2020 June Deferral Agreement"); (ii) semi-annual cash interest payments in the aggregate amount of $16.0 million payable to CIC on November 19, 2020 and May 19, 2021; (iii) $4.0 million worth of PIK Interest shares ("2020 November PIK Interest") issuable to CIC on November 19, 2020 under the Convertible Debenture; and (iv) the management fee which payable to CIC on November 14, 2020, February 14, 2021, May 15, 2021, August 14, 2021 and November 14, 2021 under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement (collectively, the "2020 November Deferral Amounts"), on July 30, 2021, the 2021 July Deferral Agreement for a deferral of the 2021 Deferral Amounts and on May 13, 2022, the 2022 May Deferral Agreement for a deferral of the 2022 Deferral Amounts respectively until August 31, 2023; (b) communicating with vendors in agreeing repayment plans of the outstanding payable; (c) continuously assessing through communication with MTA its acceptability to a prolonged settlement schedule of the outstanding tax payable and making settlement based on that assessment and the liquidity position of the Company; and (d) obtaining an avenue of financial support from a prospective shareholder for a maximum amount of $73.0 million during the period covered in the cash flow projection. Regarding these plans and measures, there is no guarantee that the suppliers and MTA would agree the settlement plan as communicated by the Company, Nevertheless, after considering the above, the directors of the Company believe that there will be sufficient financial resources to continue its operations and to meet its financial obligations as and when they fall due in the next 12 months from June 30, 2022 and therefore are satisfied that it is appropriate to prepare the condensed consolidated interim financial statements on a going concern basis.

Factors that impact the Company's liquidity are being closely monitored and include, but are not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions on the Company's ability to import its coal products for sale in China, Chinese economic growth, market prices of coal, production levels, operating cash costs, capital costs, exchange rates of currencies of countries where the Company operates and exploration and discretionary expenditures.

As at June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company was not subject to any externally imposed capital requirements.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In response to the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Ejinaqi, a region in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, reported in late October 2021, the local government authorities imposed stringent preventive measures throughout the region, including the temporary closure of the Ceke Port of Entry located at the border of Mongolia and China. Accordingly, the Company's coal exports into China were suspended from November 2021 to May 2022.

On May 25, 2022, the Ceke Port of Entry re-opened for coal export on a trial basis, with a limited number of trucks permitted to cross the border during the trial period.

Since May 25, 2022, the number of trucks permitted to cross the Chinese-Mongolian border, as well as the volume of coal exports have increased. As a result, the Company has gradually resumed mining operations beginning on July 15, 2022. The Company's major mining operations, including coal mining, have resumed and the Company expects to increase the volume of coal production in a gradual manner, while coal processing shall remain suspended for the time being. The Company will revisit the possibility of resuming coal processing at a later date.

The Company has been proactively adjusting its sales strategy and exploring opportunities to expand its sales. Although the export of coal from Mongolia to China has resumed as of the date hereof, there can be no guarantee that the Company will be able to continue exporting coal to China, or the Chinese-Mongolian border crossings would not be the subject of additional closure as a result of COVID-19 or any variants thereof in the future. The Company anticipates that its revenue, liquidity and profitability will continue to be adversely impacted until such time as the coal exports into China are allowed to resume at normal levels.

The Company will continue to closely monitor the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and the situation at the Ceke Port of Entry, including the number of trucks that are permitted to cross the border and the impact on the operations and financials of the Company.

Convertible Debenture

In November 2009, the Company entered into a financing agreement with CIC for $500 million in the form of a secured, convertible debenture bearing interest at 8.0% (6.4% payable semi-annually in cash and 1.6% payable annually in the Company's Common Shares) with a maximum term of 30 years. The Convertible Debenture is secured by a first ranking charge over the Company's assets, including shares of its material subsidiaries. The financing was used primarily to support the accelerated investment program in Mongolia and for working capital, repayment of debts, general and administrative expenses and other general corporate purposes.

On March 29, 2010, the Company exercised its right to call for the conversion of up to $250.0 million of the Convertible Debenture into approximately 21.5 million shares at a conversion price of $11.64 (CAD$11.88).

On November 19, 2020, the Company and CIC entered into the 2020 November Deferral Agreement pursuant to which CIC agreed to grant the Company a deferral of the 2020 November Deferral Amounts. The 2020 November Deferral Agreement became effective on January 21, 2021, being the date on which the 2020 November Deferral Agreement was approved by shareholders at the Company's annual and special meeting of shareholders.

The principal terms of the 2020 November Deferral Agreement are as follows:

Payment of the 2020 November Deferral Amounts will be deferred until August 31, 2023.

CIC agreed to waive its rights arising from any default or event of default under the Convertible Debenture as a result of trading in the Common Shares being halted on the TSX beginning as of June 19, 2020 and suspended on the HKEX beginning as of August 17, 2020, in each case for a period of more than five trading days.

As consideration for the deferral of the 2020 November Deferral Amounts, the Company agreed to pay CIC: (i) a deferral fee equal to 6.4% per annum on the 2020 November Deferral Amounts payable under the Convertible Debenture and the 2020 June Deferral Agreement, commencing on the date on which each such 2020 November Deferral Amounts would otherwise have been due and payable under the Convertible Debenture or the 2020 June Deferral Agreement, as applicable; and (ii) a deferral fee equal to 2.5% per annum on the 2020 November Deferral Amounts payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, commencing on the date on which the management fee would otherwise have been due and payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement.

The 2020 November Deferral Agreement does not contemplate a fixed repayment schedule for the 2020 November Deferral Amounts and related deferral fees. Instead, the Company and CIC would agree to assess in good faith the Company's financial condition and working capital position on a monthly basis and determine the amount, if any, of the 2020 November Deferral Amounts and related deferral fees that the Company is able to repay under the Convertible Debenture, the 2020 June Deferral Agreement or the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, having regard to the working capital requirements of the Company's operations and business at such time and with the view of ensuring that the Company's operations and business would not be materially prejudiced as a result of any repayment.

Commencing as of November 19, 2020 and until such time as the 2020 November PIK Interest is fully repaid, CIC reserves the right to require the Company to pay and satisfy the amount of the 2020 November PIK Interest, either in full or in part, by way of issuing and delivering PIK interest shares in accordance with the Convertible Debenture provided that, on the date of issuance of such shares, the Common Shares are listed and trading on at least one stock exchange.

If at any time before the 2020 November Deferral Amounts and related deferral fees are fully repaid, the Company proposes to appoint, replace or terminate one or more of its Chief Executive Officer, its Chief Financial Officer or any other senior executive(s) in charge of its principal business function or its principal subsidiary, then the Company must first consult with, and obtain written consent from CIC prior to effecting such appointment, replacement or termination.

On July 30, 2021, the Company and CIC entered into the 2021 July Deferral Agreement pursuant to which CIC agreed to grant the Company a deferral of: (i) semi-annual cash interest payments of $8.1 million payable to CIC on November 19, 2021; and (ii) $4.0 million in PIK Interest shares issuable to CIC on November 19, 2021 under the Convertible Debenture.

The principal terms of the 2021 July Deferral Agreement are as follows:

Payment of the 2021 Deferral Amounts will be deferred until August 31, 2023.

As consideration for the deferral of the 2021 Deferral Amounts, the Company agreed to pay CIC a deferral fee equal to 6.4% per annum on the 2021 Deferral Amounts payable under the Convertible Debenture, commencing on November 19, 2021.

On May 15, 2022, the Company and CIC entered into the 2022 May Deferral Agreement, pursuant to which CIC agreed to grant the Company a deferral of (i) the Deferred Amounts; and (ii) the Deferred Management Fee under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement under the Convertible Debenture.

The principal terms of the 2022 May Deferral Agreement are as follows:

Payment of the 2022 Deferral Amounts will be deferred until August 31, 2023.

As consideration for the deferral of the 2022 Deferral Amounts, the Company agreed to pay CIC a deferral fee equal to 6.4% per annum on the Deferred Amounts payable under the Convertible Debenture, commencing on May 19, 2022.

As consideration for the deferral of the Deferred Management Fee, the Company agreed to pay CIC a deferral fee equal to 2.5% per annum on the outstanding balance of the Deferred Management Fee payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, commencing on the date on which each such 2022 May Deferred Management Fee would otherwise have been due and payable under the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement.

The Company agreed to provide CIC with monthly updates regarding its operational and financial affairs.

If at any time before the 2022 Deferral Amounts and related deferral fee are fully repaid, the Company proposes to appoint, replace or terminate one or more of its chief executive officer, its chief financial officer or any other senior executive(s) in charge of its principal business function or its principal subsidiary, the Company will first consult with, and obtain written consent (such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld) from CIC prior to effecting such appointment, replacement or termination.

The Company and CIC agreed that nothing in the 2022 May Deferral Agreement prejudices CIC's rights to pursue any of its remedies at any time pursuant to the prior deferral agreements.

Ovoot Tolgoi Mine Impairment Analysis

The Company determined that an indicator of impairment existed for its Ovoot Tolgoi Mine cash generating unit as at June 30, 2022. The impairment indicator was the fact that the Company suffered continuous loss for the period and potential closure of border crossings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the future. Since the recoverable amount was higher than carrying value of the Ovoot Tolgoi Mine cash generating unit, there was no impairment of non-financial asset recognized during the six months ended June 30, 2022.

REGULATORY ISSUES AND CONTINGENCIES

Class Action Lawsuit

In January 2014, Siskinds LLP, a Canadian law firm, filed a class action (the "Class Action") against the Company, certain of its former senior officers and directors, and its former auditors (the "Former Auditors"), in the Ontario Court in relation to the Company's restatement of certain financial statements previously disclosed in the Company's public fillings (the "Restatement").

To commence and proceed with the Class Action, the plaintiff was required to seek leave of the Court under the Ontario Securities Act ("Leave Motion") and certify the action as a class proceeding under the Ontario Class Proceedings Act. The Ontario Court rendered its decision on the Leave Motion on November 5, 2015, dismissing the action against the former senior officers and directors and allowing the action to proceed against the Company in respect of alleged misrepresentation affecting trades in the secondary market for the Company's securities arising from the Restatement. The action against the Former Auditors was settled by the plaintiff on the eve of the Leave Motion.

Both the plaintiff and the Company appealed the Leave Motion decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal. On September 18, 2017, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the Company's appeal of the Leave Motion to permit the plaintiff to commence and proceed with the Class Action. Concurrently, the Ontario Court of Appeal granted leave for the plaintiff to proceed with their action against the former senior officers and directors in relation to the Restatement.

The Company filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada in November 2017, but the leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was dismissed in June 2018.

In December 2018, the parties agreed to a consent Certification Order, whereby the action against the former senior officers and directors was withdrawn and the Class Action would only proceed against the Company.

Counsel for the plaintiff and defendants have agreed on and the case management judge has ordered a trial to commence in December 2022 (subject to court availability). To accomplish all steps necessary for trial preparation, counsels have agreed to the following proposed schedule under the case management of the judge: (i) document production and pleading amendments by October 31, 2021; (ii) oral examinations for discovery ending by December 31, 2022; (iii) expert reports of plaintiff complete by April 25, 2022 and expert reports of defendants complete by August 22, 2022; and (iv) pre-trial agreements, filings and motions by August 31, 2022. The Company has urged for a trial to begin as early as possible.

The Company firmly believes that it has a strong defense on the merits and will continue to vigorously defend itself against the Class Action through independent Canadian litigation counsel retained by the Company for this purpose. Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation, it is not possible to predict the final outcome of the Class Action or determine the amount of potential losses, if any. However, the Company has determined that a provision for this matter as at June 30, 2022 was not required.

Toll Wash Plant Agreement with Ejin Jinda

In 2011, the Company entered into an agreement with Ejin Jinda, a subsidiary of China Mongolia Coal Co. Ltd., to toll-wash coal from the Ovoot Tolgoi Mine. The agreement had a duration of five years from the commencement of the contract and provided for an annual washing capacity of approximately 3.5 million tonnes of input coal.

Under the agreement with Ejin Jinda, which required the commercial operation of the wet washing facility to commence on October 1, 2011, the additional fees payable by the Company under the wet washing contract would have been $18.5 million. At each reporting date, the Company assesses the agreement with Ejin Jinda and has determined it is not probable that this $18.5 million will be required to be paid. Accordingly, the Company has determined that a provision for this matter as at June 30, 2022 was not required.

Special Needs Territory in Umnugobi

On February 13, 2015, the Soumber mining licenses (MV-016869, MV-020436 and MV-020451) (the "License Areas") were included into a special protected area (to be further referred as Special Needs Territory, the "SNT") newly set up by the Umnugobi Aimag's Civil Representatives Khural (the "CRKh") to establish a strict regime on the protection of natural environment and prohibit mining activities in the territory of the SNT.

On July 8, 2015, SouthGobi Sands LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company ("SGS") and the chairman of the CRKh, in his capacity as the respondent's representative, reached an agreement (the "Amicable Resolution Agreement") to exclude the License Areas from the territory of the SNT in full, subject to confirmation of the Amicable Resolution Agreement by the session of the CRKh. The parties formally submitted the Amicable Resolution Agreement to the appointed judge of the Administrative Court for her approval and requested a dismissal of the case in accordance with the Law of Mongolia on Administrative Court Procedure. On July 10, 2015, the judge issued her order approving the Amicable Resolution Agreement and dismissing the case, while reaffirming the obligation of CRKh to take necessary actions at its next session to exclude the License Areas from the SNT and register the new map of the SNT with the relevant authorities. Mining activities at the Soumber property cannot proceed unless and until the Company obtains a court order restoring the Soumber mining licenses and until the License Areas are removed from the SNT.

On July 24, 2021, SGS was notified by the Implementing Agency of Mongolian Government that the license area covered by two mining licenses (MV-016869 and MV-020451) are no longer overlapping with the SNT. The Company will continue to work with the Mongolian authorities regarding the license area covered by the mining license (MV-020436).

Importing F-Grade Coal into China

As a result of import coal quality standards established by Chinese authorities, the Company has not been able to export its F-grade coal products into China since December 15, 2018 because the F-grade coal products do not meet the quality requirement.

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE

On August 2, 2011, the State Property Committee of Mongolia awarded the tender to construct a paved highway from the Ovoot Tolgoi Mine to the Shivee Khuren Border Crossing (the "Paved Highway") to consortium partners NTB LLC and SGS (together referred to as "RDCC LLC") with an exclusive right of ownership of the Paved Highway for 30 years. The Company has an indirect 40% interest in RDCC LLC through its Mongolian subsidiary SGS. The toll rate is MNT 1,500 per tonne.

The Paved Highway has a carrying capacity in excess of 20 million tonnes of coal per year.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, RDCC LLC recognized toll fee revenue of $0.2 million (2021: $0.4 million) and $0.2 million (2021: $1.6 million), respectively.

PLEDGE OF ASSETS

As at June 30, 2022, one of the Company's property, plant and equipment with a carrying value of $nil (December 31, 2021: $nil) was pledged as security for a bank loan granted to the Company.

PURCHASE, SALE OR REDEMPTION OF LISTED SECURITIES OF THE COMPANY

The Company did not redeem its listed securities, nor did the Company or any of its subsidiaries purchase or sell such securities during the six months ended June 30, 2022.

COMPLIANCE WITH CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The Company has, throughout the six months ended June 30, 2022, applied the principles and complied with the requirements of its corporate governance practices as defined by the Board and all applicable statutory, regulatory and stock exchange listings standards, which include the code provisions set out in the Corporate Governance Code (the "Corporate Governance Code") contained in Appendix 14 to the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the HKEX (the "Hong Kong Listing Rules"), except for the following:

Pursuant to code provision C.2.7 of the Corporate Governance Code, the chairman of the Board ("Chairman") should at least annually hold meetings with the non-executive directors (including independent non-executive directors) without the executive directors present. The Company has not had a Chairman since the conclusion of the annual general meeting held on June 30, 2017. During the period of January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022 there were no meetings between the Independent Lead Director, who is fulfilling the duties of the Chairman, and the non-executive directors without the presence of the executive director. The opportunity for such communication channel is offered at the end of each Board meeting.

SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS BY DIRECTORS

The Company has adopted policies regarding directors' securities transactions in its Corporate Disclosure, Confidentiality and Securities Trading Policy that have terms that are no less exacting than those set out in the Model Code for Securities Transactions by Directors of Listed Issuers contained in Appendix 10 to the Hong Kong Listing Rules ("Model Code").

In response to a specific enquiry made by the Company on each of the directors, all directors confirmed that they had complied with the required standards as set out in the Model Code and the Company's Corporate Disclosure, Confidentiality and Securities Trading Policy throughout the six months ended June 30, 2022.

OUTLOOK

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges around the world and adversely impacted the global economy. The Company has adopted, and will continue to implement, strict COVID-19 precautionary measures at the mine site as well as in all of its offices in order to maintain operations in the normal course, while also complying with the advice or orders of local public health authorities.

As a result of the restrictions on truck volume crossing the Mongolian border into China imposed by Chinese Authorities at the Ceke Port of Entry, the Company anticipates that it will continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for the foreseeable future until restrictions on trucking volume crossing are allowed to resume at normal levels, which will have an adverse effect on the Company's sales, production, logistics and financials. In particular, the restriction of the number of trucks crossing the Mongolian border into China implemented will limit the Company's ability to increase revenue despite the improved market conditions in China.

The Company decided to gradually resume mining operations beginning on July 15, 2022. The Company's major mining operations, including coal mining, have resumed and the Company expects to increase the volume of coal production in a gradual manner, while coal processing shall remain suspended for the time being. The Company will revisit the possibility of resuming coal processing at a later date. The Company will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has on coal exports to China, and will continue to react promptly to preserve the working capital of the Company and mitigate any negative impacts on the business and operations of the Company.

The Company remains cautiously optimistic regarding the Chinese coal market, as coal is still considered to be the primary energy source which China will continue to rely on in the foreseeable future. Coal supply and coal import in China are expected to be limited due to increasingly stringent requirements relating to environmental protection and safety production, which may result in volatile coal prices in China. The Company will continue to monitor and react proactively to the dynamic market.

In the medium term, the Company will continue to adopt various strategies to enhance its product mix in order to maximize revenue, expand its customer base and sales network, improve logistics, optimize its operational cost structure and, most importantly, operate in a safe and socially responsible manner.

The Company's objectives for the medium term are as follows:

Enhance product mix - The Company will focus on improving the product mix and increasing the production of higher quality coal by: (i) improving mining operations; (ii) washing lower quality coal in the Company's coal wash plant and partnering with other nearby coal wash plant(s); (iii) resuming the construction and operation of the Company's dry coal processing plant; and (iv) trading and blending different types of coal to produce blended coal products that are economical to the Company.

- The Company will focus on improving the product mix and increasing the production of higher quality coal by: (i) improving mining operations; (ii) washing lower quality coal in the Company's coal wash plant and partnering with other nearby coal wash plant(s); (iii) resuming the construction and operation of the Company's dry coal processing plant; and (iv) trading and blending different types of coal to produce blended coal products that are economical to the Company. Expand customer base - The Company will endeavour to increase sales volume and sales price by: (i) expanding its sales network and diversifying its customer base; (ii) increasing its coal logistics capacity to resolve the bottleneck in the distribution channel; and (iii) setting and adjusting the sales price based on a more market-oriented approach in order to maximize profit while maintaining sustainable long-term business relationships with customers.

- The Company will endeavour to increase sales volume and sales price by: (i) expanding its sales network and diversifying its customer base; (ii) increasing its coal logistics capacity to resolve the bottleneck in the distribution channel; and (iii) setting and adjusting the sales price based on a more market-oriented approach in order to maximize profit while maintaining sustainable long-term business relationships with customers. Optimize cost structure - The Company will aim to reduce its production costs and optimize its cost structure through engaging third party contract mining companies to enhance its operation efficiency, strengthening procurement management, ongoing training and productivity enhancement.

- The Company will aim to reduce its production costs and optimize its cost structure through engaging third party contract mining companies to enhance its operation efficiency, strengthening procurement management, ongoing training and productivity enhancement. Operate in a safe and socially responsible manner - The Company will continue to maintain the highest standards in health, safety and environmental performance and operate in a corporate socially responsible manner, and continue to strictly implement its COVID-19 precautionary measures at the mine site and across all offices.

In the long term, the Company will continue to focus on creating and maximizing shareholders value by leveraging its key competitive strengths, including:

Strategic location - The Ovoot Tolgoi Mine is located approximately 40km from China, which represents the Company's main coal market. The Company has an infrastructure advantage, being approximately 50km from a major Chinese coal distribution terminal with rail connections to key coal markets in China.

- The Ovoot Tolgoi Mine is located approximately 40km from China, which represents the Company's main coal market. The Company has an infrastructure advantage, being approximately 50km from a major Chinese coal distribution terminal with rail connections to key coal markets in China. A large reserves base - The Ovoot Tolgoi Deposit has mineral reserves of more than 100 million tonnes. The Company also has several development options in its Zag Suuj coal deposit and Soumber coal deposit.

The Ovoot Tolgoi Deposit has mineral reserves of more than 100 million tonnes. The Company also has several development options in its Zag Suuj coal deposit and Soumber coal deposit. Bridge between Mongolia and China - The Company is well-positioned to capture the resulting business opportunities between China and Mongolia under the Belt and Road Initiative. The Company will seek potential strategic support from its two largest shareholders, which are both state-owned-enterprises in China, and its strong operational record for the past decade in Mongolia, being one of the largest enterprises and taxpayers in Mongolia.

NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

Cash Costs

The Company uses cash costs to describe its cash production and associated cash costs incurred in bringing the inventories to their present locations and conditions. Cash costs incorporate all production costs, which include direct and indirect costs of production, with the exception of idled mine asset costs and non-cash expenses which are excluded. Non-cash expenses include share-based compensation expense, impairment of coal stockpile inventories, depreciation and depletion of property, plant and equipment and mineral properties. The Company uses this performance measure to monitor its operating cash costs internally and believes this measure provides investors and analysts with useful information about the Company's underlying cash costs of operations. The Company believes that conventional measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS do not fully illustrate the ability of its mining operations to generate cash flows. The Company reports cash costs on a sales basis. This performance measure is commonly utilized in the mining industry.

Summarized Comprehensive Income Information

(Expressed in thousands of USD, except for share and per share amounts)

Summarized Financial Position Information

(Expressed in thousands of USD)

SELECTED INFORMATION FROM THE NOTES TO THE CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Additional information required by the HKEX and not disclosed elsewhere in this press release is as follows. All amounts are expressed in thousands of USD and shares in thousands, unless otherwise indicated.

1. BASIS OF PREPARATION

1.1 Corporate information and going concern

The Company's condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which assumes that the Company will continue to operate until at least June 30, 2023 and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of operations as they come due. However, in order to continue as a going concern, the Company must generate sufficient operating cash flows, secure additional capital or otherwise pursue a strategic restructuring, refinancing or other transactions to provide it with sufficient liquidity.

Several adverse conditions and material uncertainties cast significant doubt upon the Company's ability to continue as a going concern and the going concern assumption used in the preparation of the Company's condensed consolidated interim financial statements. The Company incurred a loss attributable to equity holders of the Company of $17,825 for the first six months of 2022 (compared to a profit attributable to equity holders of the Company of $5,776 for the first six months of 2021), and as of that date, had a deficiency in assets of $121,152 as at June 30, 2022 as compared to a deficiency in assets of $90,450 as at December 31, 2021 while the working capital deficiency (excess current liabilities over current assets) reached $43,568 as at June 30, 2022 as compared to a working capital deficiency of $42,535 as at December 31, 2021.

Included in the working capital deficiency as at June 30, 2022 are significant obligations, represented by trade and other payables of $64,585, which includes $23,044 in unpaid taxes that are repayable on demand to the MTA.

Furthermore, the Company may not be able to settle all trade and other payables on a timely basis, and as a result any continuing postponement in settling of certain trade and other payables owed to suppliers and creditors may impact the ability of the Company to resume its mining operations and may result in potential lawsuits and/or bankruptcy proceedings being filed against the Company. Except as disclosed elsewhere in this condensed consolidated interim financial statement, no such lawsuits or proceedings were pending as at August 12, 2022.

As disclosed in the section "Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic", the Chinese-Mongolian border was re-opened for coal export on a trial basis on May 25, 2022 but there can be no guarantee that the Company will be able to continue exporting coal to China, or the Chinese-Mongolian border crossings would not be the subject of additional closure as a result of COVID-19 or any variants thereof in the future. The Company has been proactively adjusting its sales strategy in response and exploring opportunities to expand its sales accordingly.

There are significant uncertainties as to the outcomes of the above events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern and, therefore, the Company may be unable to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business. Should the use of the going concern basis in preparation of the condensed consolidated interim financial statements be determined to be not appropriate, adjustments would have to be made to write down the carrying amounts of the Company's assets to their realizable values, to provide for any further liabilities which might arise and to reclassify non-current assets and non-current liabilities as current assets and current liabilities, respectively. The effects of these adjustments have not been reflected in the condensed consolidated interim financial statements. If the Company is unable to continue as a going concern, it may be forced to seek relief under applicable bankruptcy and insolvency legislation.



Management of the Company has prepared a cash flow projection covering a period of 12 months from June 30, 2022. The cash flow projection has considered the anticipated cash flows to be generated from the Company's business during the period under projection including cost saving measures. In particular, the Company has taken into account the following measures for improvement of the Company's liquidity and financial position, which include: (a) entering into three deferral agreements with CIC on November 19, 2020, the 2020 November Deferral Agreement for a deferral of the 2020 November Deferral Amounts, on July 30, 2021, the 2021 July Deferral Agreement for a deferral of the 2021 Deferral Amounts and on May 13, 2022, the 2022 May Deferral Agreement for a deferral of the 2022 Deferral Amounts respectively until August 31, 2023; (b) communicating with vendors in agreeing repayment plans of the outstanding payable; (c) continuously assessing through communication with MTA its acceptability to a prolonged settlement schedule of the outstanding tax payable and making settlement based on that assessment and the liquidity position of the Company; and (d) obtaining an avenue of financial support from a prospective shareholder for a maximum amount of $73,000 during the period covered in the cash flow projection. Regarding these plans and measures, there is no guarantee that the suppliers and MTA would agree the settlement plan as communicated by the Company, Nevertheless, after considering the above, the directors of the Company believe that there will be sufficient financial resources to continue its operations and to meet its financial obligations as and when they fall due in the next 12 months from June 30, 2022 and therefore are satisfied that it is appropriate to prepare the condensed consolidated interim financial statements on a going concern basis.

Factors that impact the Company's liquidity are being closely monitored and include, but are not limited to, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions on the Company's ability to import its coal products for sale in China, Chinese economic growth, market prices of coal, production levels, operating cash costs, capital costs, exchange rates of currencies of countries where the Company operates and exploration and discretionary expenditures.

As at June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company was not subject to any externally imposed capital requirements.

1.2 Statement of compliance

These condensed consolidated interim financial statements, including comparatives, have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 - "Interim Financial Reporting" using accounting policies in compliance with the IFRS issued by the IASB and Interpretations of the IFRS Interpretations Committee ("IFRIC").

The condensed consolidated interim financial statements of the Company for the six months ended June 30, 2022 were approved and authorized for issue by the Board on August 12, 2022.

1.3 Basis of presentation

These condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared using accounting policies and methods of computation consistent with those applied in the Company's December 31, 2021 consolidated annual financial statements, except as disclosed below. These condensed consolidated interim financial statements do not include all the information and note disclosures required by IFRS for annual financial statements and therefore should be read in conjunction with the Company's annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021.

1.4 Adoption of new and revised standards and interpretations

There have been no other new IFRSs or IFRIC interpretations that are not yet effective that would be expected to have a material impact on the Company, except those disclosed in the Company's annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021.



2. SEGMENTED INFORMATION

The Chief Executive Officer (chief operating decision maker) of the Company reviews the financial information in order to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and to assess its performance. No operating segment identified by the Board has been aggregated in arriving at the reporting segments of the Company. For management's purpose, the Company has only one reportable operating segment, which is the coal division. The division is principally engaged in coal mining, development and exploration in Mongolia, and logistics and trading of coal in Mongolia and China for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021.

The Company's resources are integrated and as a result, no discrete operating segment financial information is available. Since this is the only reportable and operating segment of the Company, no further analysis thereof is presented. All the revenue of the Company is generated from trading of coal for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021.

2.1 Information about major customers

During the six months ended June 30, 2022, the Coal Division had eleven active customers. Three customers with respective revenues contributed over 10% of the total revenue during the six months ended June 30, 2022, with the largest customer accounting for 20% of revenues, the second largest customer accounting for 19% of revenues and the third largest customer accounting for 13% of revenues. Two customers with respective revenues contributed over 10% of the total revenue during the six months ended June 30, 2021, with the largest customer accounting for 38% of revenues and the second largest customer accounting for 17% of revenues.

2.2 Geographical information

The operations of the Company are primarily located in Mongolia, Hong Kong and China.

The revenue information above is based on the locations of the customers.

3. REVENUE

Revenue represents the value of goods sold which arises from the trading of coal. The Company recognizes all revenue from the trading of coal at a point in time when the customer obtains control of the goods or services.

4. EXPENSES BY NATURE

The Company's expenses by nature are summarized as follows:

5. COST OF SALES

The Company's cost of sales consists of the following amounts:

Cost of sales related to idled mine assets for the period ended June 30, 2022 includes $663 of depreciation expense (2021: includes $1,437 of depreciation expense). The depreciation expense relates to the Company's idled plant and equipment.

Cost of inventories recognized as expense in cost of sales for the three months ended June 30, 2022 totaled $2,593 (2021: $1,951), including depreciation and depletion totaled $394 (2021: $283). Cost of inventories recognized as expense in cost of sales for the six months ended June 30, 2022 totaled $2,610 (2021: $13,751), including depreciation and depletion totaled $896 (2021: $1,065).

6. OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES/(INCOME), NET

The Company's other operating expenses/(income), net consist of the following amounts:

7. FINANCE COSTS AND INCOME

The Company's finance costs consist of the following amounts:

The Company's finance income consists of the following amounts:

8. TAXES

The Canadian statutory tax rate was 27% (2021: 27%). A reconciliation between the Company's tax expense and the product of the Company's loss before tax multiplied by the Company's domestic tax rate is as follows:

9. EARNINGS/(LOSS) PER SHARE

The calculation of basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share is based on the following data:

10. TRADE AND OTHER RECEIVABLES

The Company's trade and other receivables consist of the following amounts:

The aging of the Company's trade and other receivables is as follows:

Overdue balances are reviewed regularly by senior management. The Company does not hold any collateral or other credit enhancements over its trade and other receivable balances.

The Company has determined that the loss allowance on its trade and other receivables was $22,954 (December 31, 2021: $23,841) as at June 30, 2022, based upon an expected loss rate of 10% for trade and other receivables 90 days past due and 100% for trade and other receivables 180 days past due. The closing allowances for trade and other receivables as at June 30, 2022 reconcile to the opening loss allowances as follows:

11. TRADE AND OTHER PAYABLES

Trade and other payables of the Company primarily consist of amounts outstanding for trade purchases relating to coal mining, development and exploration activities and mining royalties payable. The usual credit period taken for trade purchases is between 30 to 90 days.

The aging of the Company's trade and other payables, based on invoice date, is as follows:

12. ACCUMULATED DEFICIT AND DIVIDENDS

At June 30, 2022, the Company has accumulated a deficit of $1,229,896 (December 31, 2021: $1,212,071). No dividends have been paid or declared by the Company since inception.

REVIEW OF INTERIM RESULTS

The condensed consolidated interim financial statements of the Company for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, which are unaudited but have been reviewed by the Company's independent auditor and the Audit Committee and they have been prepared in compliance with the IFRS, the Hong Kong Listing Rules, TSX Company Manual and other applicable legal requirements.

The Company's results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 are contained in the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and the Company's website at www.southgobi.com .

ABOUT SOUTHGOBI

SouthGobi, listed on the Toronto and Hong Kong stock exchanges, owns and operates its ?agship 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

Except for statements of fact relating to SouthGobi Resources Ltd. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the "Company"), certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. 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 relate to management's future outlook and anticipated events or results and are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding:

the Company continuing as a going concern and its ability to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of operations as they become due;

adjustments to the amounts and classifications of assets and liabilities in the Company's consolidated financial statements and the impact thereof;

the Company's expectations of sufficient liquidity and capital resources to meet its ongoing obligations and future contractual commitments, including the Company's ability to settle its trade payables, to secure additional funding and to meet its obligations under each of the Convertible Debenture, the 2020 November Deferral Agreement, the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, the 2021 July Deferral Agreement and the 2022 May Deferral Agreement as the same become due;

the Company's anticipated financing needs, development plans and future production levels;

the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential closure of Mongolia's southern border with China on the Company's business, financial condition and operations, including the resumption of coal production and coal processing at normal levels;

the impact of the restrictions on the number of trucks crossing the border at the Ceke Port of Entry and the import coal quality standards established by Chinese authorities on the Company's operations;

the results and impact of the Ontario class action (as described under section Regulatory Issues and Contingencies of this press release under the heading entitled "Class Action Lawsuit");

completion of the CIC Sale Transaction;

the estimates and assumptions included in the Company's impairment analysis and the possible impact of changes thereof;

the agreement with Ejin Jinda and the payments thereunder (as described under section Regulatory Issues and Contingencies of this press release under the heading entitled "Toll Wash Plant Agreement with Ejin Jinda");

the ability of the Company to enhance the operational efficiency and output throughput of the washing facilities at Ovoot Tolgoi;

the ability of the Company to enhance the product value by conducting coal processing and coal washing;

the impact of the Company's activities on the environment and actions taken for the purpose of mitigation of potential environmental impacts and planned focus on health, safety and environmental performance;

the future demand for coal in China;

future trends in the Chinese coal industry;

the voluntary delisting of the Common Shares from the TSX and the listing of the Common Shares on the TSX-V pursuant to the voluntary delisting application and the Listing Application, respectively;

the conversion of the Company's listing of Common Shares on the HKEX from a secondary listing to a primary listing pursuant to the primary listing application;

the Company's outlook and objectives for 2022 and beyond (as more particularly described under Outlook of this press release); and

other statements that are not historical facts.

Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions described below and elsewhere in this press release, including, among other things: the current mine plan for the Ovoot Tolgoi mine; mining, production, construction and exploration activities at the Company's mineral properties; the costs relating to anticipated capital expenditures; the capacity and future toll rate of the paved highway; plans for the progress of mining license application processes; mining methods; the Company's anticipated business activities, planned expenditures and corporate strategies; management's business outlook, including the outlook for 2022 and beyond; currency exchange rates; operating, labour and fuel costs; the ability of the Company to raise additional financing; the anticipated royalties payable under Mongolia's royalty regime; the future coal market conditions in China and the related impact on the Company's margins and liquidity; the anticipated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the assumption that the border crossings with China will reopen for coal exports at normal levels; the anticipated demand for the Company's coal products; future coal prices, and the level of worldwide coal production. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on the information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the uncertain nature of mining activities, actual capital and operating costs exceeding management's estimates; variations in mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the possible impacts of changes in mine life, useful life or depreciation rates on depreciation expenses; risks associated with, or changes to regulatory requirements (including environmental regulations) and the ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals; the potential expansion of the list of licenses published by the Government of Mongolia covering areas in which exploration and mining are purportedly prohibited on certain of the Company's mining licenses; the Government of Mongolia designating any one or more of the Company's mineral projects in Mongolia as a Mineral Deposit of Strategic Importance; the risk of continued restrictions on the number of trucks crossing the border at the Ceke Port of Entry; the risk that the import coal quality standards established by Chinese authorities will negatively impact the Company's operations; the risk that Mongolia's southern borders with China will be subject for further closure; the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for coal and the economy generally in China; the risk that the COVID-19 pandemic is not effectively controlled in China and Mongolia; the risk that the Company's existing coal inventories are unable to sufficiently satisfy expected sales demand; the possible impact of changes to the inputs to the valuation model used to value the embedded derivatives in the Convertible Debenture; the risk that the CIC Sale Transaction fails to complete; the risk of the Company or its subsidiaries defaulting under its existing debt obligations, including the Convertible Debenture, the 2020 November Deferral Agreement, the Amended and Restated Cooperation Agreement, the 2021 July Deferral Agreement and the 2022 May Deferral Agreement; the risk of the Company failing to obtain the necessary approvals for the voluntary delisting of the Common Shares from the TSX and the listing of the Common Shares from the TSX-V; the risk of the Company failing to complete the conversion of the Company's Common Shares on the HKEX from a secondary listing to a primary listing; the impact of amendments to, or the application of, the laws of Mongolia, China and other countries in which the Company carries on business; modifications to existing practices so as to comply with any future permit conditions that may be imposed by regulators; delays in obtaining approvals and lease renewals; the risk of fluctuations in coal prices and changes in China and world economic conditions; the outcome of the Class Action (as described under section Regulatory Issues and Contingencies of this press release under the heading entitled "Class Action Lawsuit ") and any damages payable by the Company as a result; the risk that the calculated sales price determined by the Company for the purposes of determining the amount of royalties payable to the Mongolian government is deemed as being "non-market" under Mongolian tax law; customer credit risk; cash flow and liquidity risks; risks relating to the Company's decision to suspend activities relating to the development of the Ceke Logistics Park project, including the risk that its investment partner may initiate legal action against the Company for failing to comply with the underlying agreements governing project development; risks relating to the ability of the Company to enhance the operational efficiency and the output throughput of the washing facilities at Ovoot Tolgoi; the risk that the Company is unable to successfully negotiate an extension of the agreement with the third party contractor relating to the operation of the wash plant at the Ovoot Tolgoi mine site and risks relating to the Company's ability to raise additional financing and to continue as a going concern. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements.

Due to assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the assumptions, risks and uncertainties identified above and elsewhere in this press release, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company uses forward-looking statements because it believes such statements provide useful information with respect to the currently expected future operations and financial performance of the Company, and cautions readers that the information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release; they should not rely upon this information as of any other date.

The English text of this press release shall prevail over the Chinese text in case of inconsistencies.

SOURCE: SouthGobi Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/711892/SouthGobi-Announces-Second-Quarter-2022-Financial-and-Operating-Results
SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ROKIT Healthcare, a company specializing in bio-healthcare, today announced it will provide a hyper-personalized medical platform that uses 3D bioprinting and AI technology built on Google Cloud, to innovate the treatment of osteoarthritis and diabetes feet. ROKIT Healthcare's AI solution accurately recognizes the affected area of the patient, using computer vision and deep-learning technology, and then outputs a patch with the same size and shape as the affected area to a 3D printer. The goal for this platform is to increase the treatment rate for chronic and complex diseases, improve access to medically underprivileged areas, and lower medical expenses.

ROKIT Healthcare moved its existing infrastructure to Google Cloud and used Google Cloud's AI tools to expand its medical platform. ROKIT Healthcare has established a system that can reliably expand and operate medical platforms in various regions using Google Cloud's scalable, high-performance load-balancing service Cloud Load Balancing and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) , which provide a fully managed Kubernetes service.

Currently, ROKIT Healthcare has signed 10-year contracts with its customers worth about KRW 2.5 trillion in 20 countries around the world, increasing the number of countries in which it operates, such as UAE, Brazil, Malaysia, India, Turkiye, and Paraguay.

Andrew Chang, Managing Director of Google Cloud Korea, said, "This cooperation with ROKIT is very meaningful in that the company will be able to provide innovative treatment solutions for chronic diseases that have not previously been treated sufficiently. I'm pleased that we can help increase the reliability and scalability of ROKIT Healthcare's medical platform with Google Cloud solutions, including Vertex AI."

You Seok-hwan, CEO of ROKIT Healthcare, said, "We are confident that ROKIT Healthcare has introduced a leading system in the field of personalized regeneration including skin and cartilage. Through this cooperation with Google Cloud, ROKIT Healthcare expects to realize its vision to transform the medical paradigm more quickly. ROKIT Healthcare will build a medical platform that can tap the collective intelligence of doctors all over the world and quickly spread solutions that can cure disease in a short time at a low cost."

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Leading clinical trial endpoint technology provider sets ambitious targets to reduce translation timelines by 20-30% with investment in new technology and processes

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clario, a technology company that delivers the leading endpoint technology solutions for decentralized (DCT), hybrid and site-based clinical trials, today announced an investment in new translation service technology - the Clario Translation Workbench - to reduce translation times by 20-30% which will speed up eCOA study start-up and increase global patient access to clinical trials.

"Our clients need to deploy studies in multiple countries and ensure patients have access to accurate and timely translations of their electronic clinical outcomes assessments. This is critical to a successful study. With Clario's global reach and this investment in technology and process to reduce translation times, we can help increase patient access and speed up overall study set-up times," said Andy Cooper, EVP eCOA & Trial Enablement.

The Translation Workbench will:

Use new technology to reduce the time spent in communications between the Translation vendor and Clario

Reduce the burdensome processes associated with generating accurate screenshots and translations of the related screens on eCOA applications

Reduce defects, and minimize human error through investment in automation and a new centralized data platform

Clients need reliable translation services to launch studies in multiple countries and reach a diverse patient population. However, they often face delays and challenges with the technical nature of the work. A key focus of the investment is to reduce the number of manual steps often needed in the technical and complex process of delivering accurate translations. Clario's new Translation Workbench technology has been developed and released to directly address those problems.

About Clario

For nearly 50 years, Clario has been delivering the leading endpoint technology solutions for clinical trials. Through experience gained from over 19,000 clinical trials delivered in support of 870 regulatory approvals, Clario fuses scientific expertise and global scale into the broadest endpoint technology platform to empower pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device partners to transform lives. Clario's Trial Anywhere solutions have been powering hybrid and decentralized clinical trials (DCT) for over 15 years, enabling sponsors to collect high-quality endpoint data from any modality or location, all while improving the patient experience. Clario has 30 facilities in nine countries across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

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London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd (Bank Islam) has chosen Kestrl, a UK-based Islamic Fintech that offers personal finance solutions to Muslims, to develop and implement personal financial management (PFM) features for its newly launched digital bank, Be U.





Bank Islam X Kestrl

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Through this partnership, Bank Islam hopes to cement its status as Malaysia's leading Islamic Bank and create an app that provides 'next-level' banking for over 350,000 users that it expects to acquire over the next 12 months. Officially launched in July, Be U is understood to be the country's first digital bank that is built natively on the cloud.

Founded in 2019 by two Cambridge graduates, Kestrl branded itself 'The Muslim Money App', promising to help its users grow their wealth without compromising their religious beliefs. It does this with its bespoke PFM tool, applying machine learning and behavioural science to users' transaction data to create a monthly budget, automatic savings, and personalised investment/savings suggestions to users to achieve their goals.

Bank Islam hopes to use Kestrl's PFM tool and its new digital banking app to market its extensive suite of Islamic banking products to younger, digitally savvy customers who strongly desire a more user-friendly solution that align with their values. The Bank expects to introduce the new offerings on Be U by the end of the year.

Mohd Muazzam Mohamed, Bank Islam Group Chief Executive Officer, said: Bank Islam is pleased to partner with a values-orientated fintech like Kestrl that shares our commitment towards customer centricity and Shariah compliance. Through this partnership and our shared learnings in Malaysian and UK markets, we hope to provide Be U users with a truly innovative experience.

Areeb Siddiqui, Chief Executive Officer, Kestrl said: We are incredibly excited to be partnering with as forward-thinking an organisation as Bank Islam to develop its digital bank. Offering personalised solutions to Muslims without feeling they've had to compromise is at the heart of Kestrl's values. We look forward to applying our existing PFM tools and developing some new features for the Malaysian market to build a truly differentiated offering for the Bank.

About Kestrl Ltd

Kestrl is a fast-growing UK-based Islamic Fintech that promises to help Muslims grow their wealth without compromising their beliefs. Dubbed "The Muslim Money App", Kestrl's tool helps its users achieve their goals, applying machine-learning to their banking data to build monthly budgets, automatic-savings, and personalised investment suggestions. Offered both as a retail-app, as well as a software-solution for Banks looking to digitize, Kestrl has acquired thousands of users across the UK and Middle East, and hopes to offer its Software to more Banks across South East Asia that align with their Shariah values. For more information, visit https://kestrl.io/

About Bank Islam

Malaysia Berhad Bank Islam is Malaysia's first public listed Islamic Bank on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Berhad. Established in July 1983 as Malaysia's first Islamic Bank, Bank Islam has 141 branches and more than 900 self-service terminals nationwide. As a full-fledged and pure-play Islamic bank, Bank Islam provides banking and financial solutions that strictly adhere to the Shariah rules and principles and are committed to the ideals of sustainable prosperity and ESG values. The core subsidiaries of the Bank Islam Group are pioneers in various Islamic financial services, including investment and stockbroking, namely BIMB Investment Management Berhad and BIMB Securities Sendirian Berhad. For more information on the Group's products and services, visit www.bankislam.com.

See online version here: https://kestrl.io/articles/blog/press-release-bank-islam-partners-with-uk-islamicfintech-kestrl-to-expand-be-us-personalised-solutions

For further information, please contact: mediarelationseditorial@bankislam.com.my

Media Contact:

Name: Areeb Siddiqui

Email: areeb@kestrl.co.uk

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133475
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Reflecting a sharp pullback in prices for fuel imports, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing U.S. import prices fell by more than expected in the month of July. The Labor Department said import prices slumped by 1.4 percent in July after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in June. Economists had expected import prices to decline by 1.0 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month. The report also showed export prices tumbled by 3.3 percent in July after climbing by 0.7 percent in June. Export prices were expected to decrease by 1.1 percent. 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.
August 12, 2022

First-ever global consensus guidance published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions

Use of IVUS recommended in all phases of lower extremity arterial and venous revascularization procedures to guide clinical decisions

The results come ahead of the multi-society roundtable sponsored by SCAI on peripheral IVUS in September and the upcoming publications of a large-scale real-world health outcomes study presented at TCT last year

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced an important milestone in the evolving standard of care for treating patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD): the establishment of the first-ever global consensus for the appropriate use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in lower extremity arterial and venous interventions.

Published in the August 2022 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions as " Appropriate Use of Intravascular Ultrasound During Arterial and Venous Lower Extremity Interventions ," the new consensus document from 30 global vascular experts recommends routine use of IVUS as a preferred imaging modality in all phases in many peripheral vascular disease (PVD) procedures.

"The voting panelists considered a variety of clinical scenarios and based on their extensive experience, arrived at a strong consensus," said lead author Eric A. Secemsky, MD, Interventional Cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston USA. "They recommend routine use of IVUS as a preferred imaging modality in all phases for many peripheral interventions, both diagnostic and therapeutic, as it enables such exquisite visualization of the target vessel and lesion. Their recommendations, which withstood the rigor of peer review, can now be considered in the formulation of clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral vascular disease."

PVD affects an estimated 200 million people worldwide, including approximately 40 to 45 million Americans, according to the American Heart Association [1]. The authors noted that minimally invasive approaches for PVD interventions are increasingly common, but traditional imaging techniques like angiography have limitations, including 2-dimensional projections of 3-dimensional vasculature, which can complicate diagnosis and intraprocedural optimization.

"As the global leader in providing vascular solutions to physicians and the patients they serve, we especially value the rigor and independence of this cross-specialty expert consensus," said Heather Hudnut Page, General Manager and Business Leader for Peripheral Vascular Image Guided Therapy Devices at Philips. "It is exciting to know that this initiative has the potential to standardize the use of IVUS in peripheral interventions and guide clinical decisions to further improve the quality of care procedures for patients."

Supported in part by research grants from Philips and Boston Scientific, the study was conducted and analyzed independently by Smith Center for Outcomes Research, gathering a wide spectrum of vascular expert opinion to ascertain the role of intravascular imaging in contemporary clinical practice.

Historical milestone

To achieve consensus, the broad, multi-disciplinary, global experts used a rigorous RAND/University of California, Los Angeles appropriateness method. The writing committee generated a systematic and comprehensive list of key clinical scenarios and the role of IVUS in decision-making pathways before voting by a separate committee of world experts in the field who were blind to each other's responses. The initial results of their work were first shared at a special symposium during the 2021 Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) annual meeting. Subsequently, the Smith Center for Outcomes Research team has released a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) [2] summarizing and systematically appraising the number of observational cohort studies in the peripheral vascular space prior to the late-breaking RCT data from Australia further demonstrating benefits of IVUS-guidance in PVD patients. [3] Dr. Secemsky et al. also published a contemporary review in EuroIntervention [4] showing how IVUS imaging can standardize daily practice decisions through a data-driven approach. In the current JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions publication, the experts established clinical agreement to identify optimal use of IVUS and potential gaps to set a standard across medical subspecialties in order to drive positive outcomes for patients.

"Lack of clarity in the appropriate use of IVUS in peripheral vascular procedures has raised important questions in daily interventional practice," said Sahil Parikh, MD, Director of Endovascular Services at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. "Establishing the appropriate use criteria recommendations is a historical milestone and foundational step towards improving the quality and safety of peripheral vascular procedures."

Intravascular ultrasoundaimed at helping clinicians decide, guide, treat, and confirm the right therapy for each patient during their procedure. Phased array IVUS is an important imaging tool used during venous and arterial interventions. It provides the fast plug-and-play usability and high-fidelity image resolution needed for pre-procedural planning, intra-procedural guidance, and post-procedural optimization of therapy for patients. Using an array of miniaturized ultrasound transducers mounted on the tip of a catheter, it captures real-time images of vascular disease inside vessels, enabling physicians to standardize and improve procedure care for their patients. Additional workflow optimization is enabled by integrated suite offerings such as Philips' Azurion 7 with IntraSight platform.

[1] Benjamin EJ, Muntner P, Alonso A, Bittencourt MS, Callaway CW, Carson AP, Chamberlain AM, Chang AR, Cheng S, Das SR, Delling FN, Djousse L, Elkind MSV, Ferguson JF, Fornage M, Jordan LC, Khan SS, Kissela BM, Knutson KL, Kwan TW, Lackland DT, Lewis TT, Lichtman JH, Longenecker CT, Loop MS, Lutsey PL, Martin SS, Matsushita K, Moran AE, Mussolino ME, O'Flaherty M, Pandey A, Perak AM, Rosamond WD, Roth GA, Sampson UKA, Satou GM, Schroeder EB, Shah SH, Spartano NL, Stokes A, Tirschwell DL, Tsao CW, Turakhia MP, VanWagner LB, Wilkins JT, Wong SS, Virani SS., American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2019 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2019 Mar 05;139]

[2] Natesan S, Mosarla RC, Parikh SA, Rosenfield K, Suomi J, Chalyan D, Jaff M, Secemsky EA. Intravascular ultrasound in peripheral venous and arterial interventions: A contemporary systematic review and grading of the quality of evidence. Vasc Med. 2022 Aug;27(4):392-400. doi: 10.1177/1358863X221092817. Epub 2022 May 12. PMID: 35546056.

[3] Allan RB, Puckridge PJ, Spark JI, Delaney CL. The Impact of Intravascular Ultrasound on Femoropopliteal Artery Endovascular Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2022 Mar 14;15(5):536-546. doi: 10.1016/j.jcin.2022.01.001. PMID: 35272779.

[4] Secemsky EA, Parikh SA, Kohi M, Lichtenberg M, Meissner M, Varcoe R, Holden A, Jaff M, Chalyan D, Clair D, Hawkins B, Rosenfield K. Intravascular ultrasound guidance for lower extremity arterial and venous interventions. EuroIntervention. 2022 Apr 19:EIJ-D-21-00898. doi: 10.4244/EIJ-D-21-00898. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35438078.

For further information, please contact:

Joost Maltha

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +31 6 10 55 8116

E-mail: joost.maltha@philips.com

Fabienne van der Feer

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +31 622 698 001

E-mail: fabienne.van.der.feer@philips.com

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips.

Attachments
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Goldgroup Mining Inc. (TSX: GGA) (OTC Pink: GGAZF) (BMV SIX: GGAN.MX) ("Goldgroup" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into a loan agreement dated August 10, 2022 (the "Loan Agreement") with Sail Natural Resources LP (the "Lender") in the principal amount of USD$550,000 (the "Loan"). The Lender is a resource focused private investment vehicle, with a focus on supporting growth stage mining companies. The Loan bears interest at 5% per annum, will be repaid in 11 equal monthly installments of USD $50,000 commencing on October 10, 2022, maturing on August 10, 2023. The Loan is initially being advanced on an unsecured basis, however, under the Loan Agreement, the Company has agreed to use reasonable efforts going forward to reorganize certain security granted by the Company under a credit facility from Accendo Banco S.A. ("Accendo") so that the Loan is secured behind the Accendo credit facility. There is no guarantee that such security will ultimately be granted in favor of the Lender.

The Company is not issuing any securities, or paying any bonus, commission or finder's fees in respect of the Loan. The Loan is repayable at any time before maturity without penalty. The proceeds from the Loan will be used to maintain the Company's existing operations and general working capital requirements.

THIS PRESS RELEASE, PROVIDED PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE CANADIAN REQUIREMENTS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

About Goldgroup

Goldgroup is a Canadian-based gold production, development, and exploration Company with a significant upside in a portfolio of projects in Mexico, including an interest in DynaResource de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., which owns 100% of the high-grade gold exploration project, San Jose de Gracia located in the State of Sinaloa. In addition, the Company operates its 100%-owned Cerro Prieto heap-leach gold mine, in the State of Sonora, Mexico.

Goldgroup is led by a team of highly successful and seasoned individuals with extensive expertise in mine development, corporate finance, and exploration in Mexico. Goldgroup's mission is to increase gold production, mineral resources, profitability and cash flow, with a view to building a leading gold producer.

For further information on Goldgroup, please visit www.goldgroupmining.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Investor Relations



Toll Free: 1-877-655-ozAu (6928)

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Such securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and, accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act, unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption from such registration requirements.

The TSX has neither reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Certain information contained in this news release, including any information relating to future financial or operating performance, may be considered "forward-looking information" (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities law) and "forward-looking statements" (within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Actual results could differ materially from the conclusions, forecasts and projections contained in such forward-looking information.

These forward-looking statements reflect Goldgroup's current internal projections, expectations or beliefs and are based on information currently available to Goldgroup. In some cases forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. Certain assumptions have been made regarding the Private Placement and the Company, including the receipt of Toronto Stock Exchange approval, the proposed use of proceeds raised pursuant to the Private Placement and the Company's plans at the Cerro Prieto project. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Goldgroup and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.

Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors including, without limitation: receipt of all required stock exchange and regulatory approvals; the scope, duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the scope, duration and impact of regulatory responses to the pandemic on the employees, business and operations; uncertainties related to actual capital costs operating costs and expenditures; production schedules and economic returns from Goldgroup's projects; uncertainties associated with development activities; uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources and precious metal recoveries; uncertainties related to current global economic conditions; fluctuations in precious and base metal prices; uncertainties related to the availability of future financing; potential difficulties with joint venture partners; risks that Goldgroup's title to its property could be challenged; political and country risk; risks associated with Goldgroup being subject to government regulation; risks associated with surface rights; environmental risks; Goldgroup's need to attract and retain qualified personnel; risks associated with potential conflicts of interest; Goldgroup's lack of experience in overseeing the construction of a mining project; risks related to the integration of businesses and assets acquired by Goldgroup; uncertainties related to the competitiveness of the mining industry; risk associated with theft; risk of water shortages and risks associated with competition for water; uninsured risks and inadequate insurance coverage; risks associated with potential legal proceedings; risks associated with community relations; outside contractor risks; risks related to archaeological sites; foreign currency risks; risks associated with security and human rights; and risks related to the need for reclamation activities on Goldgroup's properties, as well as the risk factors disclosed in Goldgroup's Annual Information Form and MD&A. Any and all of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements.

Although Goldgroup believes that the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on reasonable assumptions, readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with such statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on forward-looking information. Goldgroup expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except as may be required by, and in accordance with, applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133601
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. (CSE: VEGN) (FSE: VGP) (OTCQB: VGANF) ("Plant&Co."' or the "Company"), a modern health and wellness company curating delicious foods, is pleased to announce its recently acquired CPG brand, LumberHeads, is now being distributed by DSM Foods, an Ontario-based business servicing over 200 retail location through its food distribution network. An initial order for LumberHeads Popcorn has already been delivered and LumberHeads popcorn will be available in retail locations across DSM Foods network.

"Plant&Co continues to focus on acquisitions and accelerating the organic growth of our brands. We are building increased revenue as we execute alongside our brand founders. LumberHeads is a great example of how we are helping founders accelerate their growth. In less than 6 months since our majority acquisition in LumberHeads Foods Co., we have helped increase production capacity and distribution to retail. Working with a great distributor like DSM Foods, we will increase the number of stores LumberHeads is in which will help introduce this outstanding product to more people, and everyone that tries LumberHeads loves it," said Shawn Moniz, CEO of Plant&Co. "We listed our first brand, Holy Crap Cereals with DSM earlier in the year and we are very pleased that they have now listed an additional Plant&Co brand. We continue to deliver results through our organic and inorganic growth strategies. Step by step we are building our business in the direction of profitability. Working with distributors such as DSM is a key component to expanding distribution and accelerating growth for Plant&Co in 2022-2023."

Background on DSM

DSM Foods is a family-owned business operating since 1985. With distribution routes into the health food industry through chained and independent grocers, restaurants, and caterers. With a specialty focus on the Kosher community that is over 400,000 strong in the GTA alone, DSM is well known and regarded in its customer base and brings a value-add service to its kosher customers and clients.

About Plant&Co Brands Inc.

Image 1



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Plant&Co. Brands Ltd. (CSE: VEGN) (FSE: VGP) (OTCQB: VGANF) is a modern health and wellness company curating delicious. It offers a growing number of plant-based food products through its brand portfolio of Holy Crap Foods, YamChops 'a plant-based butcher', LumberHeads Food Co., Lettuce Love Cafe, and Heal Wellness. For more information please visit: www.HolyCrap.com , www.YamChops.com, www.LumberHeads.com , www.HealWellness.ca, www.LettuceLoveCafe.com and www.PlantandCo.com.

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/133628
DGAP-Ad-hoc: Multitude SE / Key word(s): Legal Matter

Multitude SE Comments on the FIAU penalty decision to its subsidiary, Ferratum Bank p.l.c



12-Aug-2022 / 15:09 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Multitude SE Comments on the FIAU penalty decision to its subsidiary, Ferratum Bank p.l.c

Multitude SE (ISIN: FI4000106299, WKN: A1W9NS) ("Multitude" or "the Group") has considered the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit's (FIAU) penalty decision of 08 August following a compliance examination on one of Multitude's subsidiary, Ferratum Bank p.l.c.

The examination was carried out on Ferratum Bank p.l.c. ("the Bank") between December 2018 and May 2019. The compliance examination resulted in an administrative penalty of 653,637. Multitude sets out the assessment of the decision below.

The Group and the Bank take the AML/CFT framework very seriously. The Bank has offered its services from Malta for 10 years, after obtaining its licence as a credit institution in 2012 and currently employs 180 individuals. Its services comprise mainly of low-value unsecured consumer loans to customers located within the EEA and retail deposits primarily from the German market. Acknowledging the importance of compliance, the Bank has during the past years made substantial investments in its internal control processes and increased the number of resources dedicated to this area. No earlier major administrative measures in this field have been imposed on the Bank by the FIAU.

While continuously supporting the missions of the FIAU, the Group?strongly disagrees with the FIAU's decision and considers it as disproportionate. The Group therefore supports the Bank's decision to appeal.

The Group also wishes to express, that the FIAU's decision was highly unexpected. The Bank has always collaborated with the FIAU and MFSA in an open and transparent manner. The Group wishes to highlight, amongst several considerations, that it had been more than three years since the on-site visit and audit process was carried out, respectively, the news of this penalty was unanticipated.

The Group would, in addition, like to highlight that the incident is isolated to the Ferratum Bank p.l.c and does not have wider ramifications for the Multitude Group. The penalty decision does not have a significant impact on Multitude SE financial position.

Multitude has been operating for 17+ years and was founded in Finland. It is listed in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 'FRU.' www.multitude.com

12-Aug-2022 CET/CEST The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


Increasing healthcare spending, improvements in mass spectrometry workflows, and rising interest in proteomics research are expected to fuel the Protein Labeling Market over the predicted years.

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Verified Market Research recently published a report, "Protein Labeling Market" By Labeling Method (In Vitro Labeling, In Vivo Labeling), By Application (Immunological Techniques, Cell-Based Assays), and By Geography. According to Verified Market Research, the Protein Labeling Market size was valued at USD 2.25 Billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 4.4 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2022 to 2030.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample/?rid= 5101

Browse in-depth TOC on "Protein Labeling Market"

202 - Pages

126 - Tables

37 - Figures

Global Protein Labeling Market Overview

Increasing health care outlay and rising interest in genetics analysis is anticipated to fuel the Protein Labeling Market over the anticipated years. Also, technological advancements during this phase and also the growing R&D outlay expect a lift to the market within the returning years. To boot, enhancements in mass spectrum analysis workflows and also the miniaturization of biochips are anticipated to drive the market throughout the forecasted period. On the other hand, growing competition within the Protein Labeling Market and lacking good professionals may hamper the market at a global level.

Protein labeling may be a secondary analysis approach for proteomic analysis that's utilized within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries for analysis and diagnostic functions. moreover, because the prevalence of chronic diseases, like cancer, rises, the demand for illness hindrance, diagnosis, and treatment conjointly rises. Lack of knowledgeable specialists, restricted uses of Protein labeling products, and high prices of reagents, kits, and different Protein labeling services, are a number of potential roadblocks to plug enlargement.

Companies within the Protein Labeling Market are increasing their product innovation through strategic collaborations. To sustain themselves within the more and more competitive market, corporations are developing innovative products furthermore as sharing skills and experiences with different corporations. whereas corporations have long collaborated with one another furthermore as tutorial and analysis establishments during this market by the manner of partnerships, in or out-licensing deals, this trend has been increasing over recent years.

Key Developments

In April 2018 , enGenes Biotech GmbH, a producer of recombinant proteins, has signed a partnership with ACIB GmbH for protein labeling.

, enGenes Biotech GmbH, a producer of recombinant proteins, has signed a partnership with ACIB GmbH for protein labeling. In April 2019 , Perkin Elmer completed the acquisition of Cisbio Bioassays in the plan to enlarge its DELFIA, Alpha, and LANCE assay innovations with Cisbio's range of products and reagents. Cisbio abilities for Perkin Elmer assist life science research while also growing the product offering.

, Perkin Elmer completed the acquisition of Cisbio Bioassays in the plan to enlarge its DELFIA, Alpha, and LANCE assay innovations with Cisbio's range of products and reagents. Cisbio abilities for Perkin Elmer assist life science research while also growing the product offering. In March 2019 , enGenes Biotech GmbH declared that it is developing this project that uses the patented technology enGenes-X-press to site-directly incorporate non-canonical amino acids into proteins, which is used for protein labeling.

Key Players

The major players in the market are General Electric Company, Kaneka Corporation, LI-COR, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., New England Biolabs, Inc., PerkinElmer, Inc., Promega Corporation, F. Hoffmann-LA Roche AG, Seracare Life Sciences, Inc., and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

Verified Market Research has segmented the Global Protein Labeling Market On the basis of Labeling Method, Application, and Geography.

Protein Labeling Market, By Labeling Method

In Vitro Labeling



In Vivo Labeling



Bio-orthogonal Labeling

Protein Labeling Market, By Application

Immunological Techniques



Cell-Based Assays



Fluorescence Microscopy

Protein Labeling Market, by Geography

North America



U.S





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





France





U.K





Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific



China





Japan





India





Rest of Asia Pacific



ROW



Middle East & Africa

&



Latin America

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Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - August 11, 2022) - Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. (TSXV: MOS) ("Mobi724" or the "Company"), a fintech enabler of AI-powered payment card-linked solutions, announces that it has closed a non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering") previously announced on August 3, 2022, for proceeds of $500,000.

The closing of the Offering consisted of the sale of 20,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") of the Company at a price of $0.025 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share (each a "Warrant Share") for a period of 5 years after the closing date at a price of $0.05 per Warrant Share.

The Offering was sold pursuant to exemptions from prospectus requirements. The proceeds from the sale of Units will be added to working capital in furtherance of the Company's business. The securities issued pursuant to the Offering shall be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day as well as the Exchange Hold Period as the Offering was carried-out pursuant to the Minimum Price Exception stipulated in Policy 1.1. Completion of the private placement remains conditional to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange).

Closing of Transaction Previously Announced on June 29, 2022:

The Company also announces that it has successfully closed the transaction previously announced on June 29, 2022, according to which a $4,376,663.19 interest bearing (6% per annum) debenture, convertible into common shares of the Company at $0.26 per share (the "Debenture"), was successfully extended for 13 months. The Debenture was issued by way of a private placement on August 6, 2020, and matured on June 30, 2022. The Company and the holder of the Debenture extended the maturity date of the Debenture to July 31, 2023. During the 13-month extension period (namely from July 1st, 2022 to July 31, 2023) the Debenture shall not bear any interest.

About Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc.

Every Transaction is An Opportunity

Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc. (TSXV: MOS) is an AI powered fintech company which provides a platform, that enables banks and merchants to offer their customers real-time payment card-linked incentives, in a white-label format. Mobi724's objective is to add a layer of AI-driven actionable intelligence to every payment transaction, creating engaging consumer experiences & generating incremental commercial opportunities to its clients. Learn more at mobi724.com.

Legal Disclaimer

Mobi724 cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by Mobi724 are subject to risks and uncertainties, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described under Item 'Risk Factors and Uncertainties' in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis, available on SEDAR. Any forward-looking statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Mobi724 cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Mobi724's control. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Mobi724 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

THIS NEWS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION TO BUY OR SELL ANY SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Investor Relations:

For further information, please visit www.MOBI724.com or contact:

Marcel Vienneau, CEO

Mobi724 Global Solutions Inc.

T: 514-394-5200 ir@mobi724.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133571
Rogue Baron plc / EPIC: SHNJ / Market: AQUIS / Sector: Beverages

12 August 2022

Rogue Baron plc

('Rogue Baron' or the 'Company')

Change of Year End

Rogue Baron plc (AQSE: SHNJ), a leading company in the premium spirits sector, is pleased to announce that it is changing its year end date to 30 September.

As announced on 30 June 2022, as a result of the disclaimer of opinion in the Company's accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021, the Company will be releasing a trading statement in each quarter until a clean audit opinion is received. The disclaimer related to the year end stock take at the Bin 1301 bar, which was closed in November 2021, and a stock take of the Company's tequila inventory, currently in storage at a distillery in Tequila, Mexico; these stock takes were not completed by the Company's auditor in the time available.

The Company has been in consultation with the auditor over the two outstanding matters from the audit opinion.

The auditor has agreed to now undertake a stock take prior to 30 September 2022, the Company's new year end. Moreover, the disclaimer of opinion on the discontinued Bin 1301 bar will automatically fall away at the new year end date, given that discontinuation will be more than eight months old by that time. The auditor has agreed to endeavor to audit the 30 September 2022 year end accounts as soon as practically possible after the year end date.

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

END



For further information, please contact:

The Company

Ryan Dolder

rdolder@roguebaron.com

AQSE Corporate Adviser:

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Guy Miller +44 (0) 20 7469 0936

AQSE Corporate Broker:

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Lucy Williams +44 (0) 20 7469 0936
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Humana Inc. (HUM) announced Friday that it will acquire substantially all of the assets of Inclusa, Inc., a Managed Care Organization or MCO, in Wisconsin that provides long-term care services and supports to approximately 16,600 older adults and adults with disabilities through the state's Family Care program. For more than 20 years, Inclusa has partnered with local healthcare providers and community resources to connect members with the support and services they need tp eligible seniors and adults with disabilities. As an MCO, Inclusa works with over 6,000 service providers in approximately 40 service categories and is contracted with the State of Wisconsin. It is also permitted through the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance to provide Family Care services and supports in 68 of Wisconsin's 72 counties. The acquisition of Inclusa follows Humana's 2020 acquisition of Wisconsin health care company iCare and will further increase the number of Medicaid recipients served by Humana, which currently totals approximately 1 million Medicaid members across five states - Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Humana was also recently awarded contracts in Ohio and Louisiana. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary state regulatory filings as well as other customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 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.
Fort Worth, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Fanboys Marketplace, home to DFW's largest collection of pop culture gifts, toys, and collectibles, rejects the latest buyout offer from a private equity firm.

This is the second offer that's been put on the table for Fanboys, this time to the tune of $6.5 million. Both proposals came from a private equity firm, but each time Mike Rogers, owner of Fanboys LLC rejected the offer. The proposal greatly undervalues the company. "It's not enough," Rogers said of the deal.

Fanboys is experiencing explosive growth having opened four new locations in 2022 alone: their fourth, located in Garland, Texas and two new locations in Hulen mall in Fort Worth and The Parks Mall at Arlington. Fanboys also recently signed a 10-year lease on a new headquarters and distribution center to open in 2023.

About Fanboys:

Fanboys Marketplace began in 2018 as Fanboys Comic Con, a series of pop culture conventions that took place at local shopping malls. When COVID-19 forced Fanboys to pause events in 2020, the company opened a storefront along South Hulen Street in Fort Worth to allow vendors to continue selling their collectibles, toys, comics and other pop culture inspired novelties during the pandemic. Fanboys has since moved to a larger location at 6385 Camp Bowie Blvd in Fort Worth.

Voted Best Toy Store by Fort Worth Magazine and Gold Winner of Best Collectibles Store in DFW by Dallas Morning News in 2021. Fanboys carries collectible toys from Funko to D&D! Fanboys has six locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Find out more about Fanboys at www.fanboysmarketplace.com or on Facebook and Instagram.

Mike Rogers

817-521-6153

fanboysmarketplace@gmail.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133609
MANILA, Aug 12, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Southeast Asia's most renowned FSI event, World Financial Innovation Series (WFIS), is now ready to disrupt Philippines' fintech market with its inaugural edition in the country. To give an estimate of the country's burgeoning market, the first half of 2021 witnessed a total funding of $342 million garnered by the country's fintech firms, more than double of what was raised throughout 2020.The event platform that has had a history of sharing the latest intel from financial services industry and facilitating collaboration opportunities for the industry giants, will now be led by Oz Forensics, Onfido, Snowflake, Kissflow, AppsFlyer, Nucleus Software, Seon, OutSystems, GBG, Expleo, Freshworks, Redstar, GrabForBusiness, Feedzai, Panamax Inc., Pennant Technologies, Genesys, Exist, Goldpac Fintech, Infobip and Mambu at its upcoming edition. These organizations will have their exclusive exhibition booth at the event that's scheduled for 16 - 17 August 2022 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Manila, Philippines. Apart from showcasing their cutting-edge solutions, some of them will also take part in the conference to share their crucial industry insights and expertise.One of the confirmed speakers, Serge Malgin (Chief Commercial Officer, Oz Forensics) while talking about his expectations from the event commented, "I'm glad to be part of the first Philippines edition of WFIS 2022. The Philippines represents a strategic market where we want to invest more in the upcoming years. Our panel will be focused on sharing our expertise around preventing and lowering the risk of biometric frauds. In fact, thanks to our cutting-edge technology we run more than 500,000 biometrics check every day across 18 + countries. In the last year 1% of total check was a potential attack successfully solved. Considering our major work in financial segment this turns into a very profitable technology that protected our clients from huge potential loss.""We take our role seriously and we try to develop always the best approach and a custom experience for all the different business we operate in. We cannot wait to work with all the Philippines companies that will attend the event," he added further.WFIS 2022 - Philippines, will host 400+ technology and business heads from the leading Banks, Insurance & Micro-Finance institutions across the country. The event will also feature 25+ most inspirational thought leaders and experts from FSI & Tech who will participate as speakers to shed light on the most pressing industry topics.The event will power two knowledge-packed days filled with insightful presentations, fireside chats, deep dive panel discussions, Q&As, live showcase of the best FSI & fintech solutions coupled with abundant networking opportunities and a lot more.Varun Budhiraja, Account Executive at AppsFlyer gave a noteworthy insight concerning the fintech landscape, he said, "When engaging with FinTech & banking apps, mobile has become central to the customer experience in the Philippines, which particularly peaked during lockdowns. While primarily the goal for marketers is to be able to optimize growth through different types of campaigns, the process to achieve this could be complex. Creating seamless user profile across every touchpoint is a messy, challenging and often incomplete process. That's why those that have the mobile-first and mobile-only advantages are standing out in the competitive market."WFIS 2022 - Philippines also aims to promote the objectives of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and aid the organization in sharing its vision with the country's FSI community.In a statement issued, following OutSystems' participation announcement, Gary Romualdez (Country Manager Philippines, OutSystems) expressed, "It's a pleasure to be participating in World Financial Innovation Series (WFIS), live in the Philippines where industries alike from FSIs and Techs get together to discuss and learn the latest disruptive innovations within the Fintech industry. OutSystems is glad to be part of this event to share about how OutSystems High Performance Low Code solution, is able to help financial institutions automate processes, integrate solutions, and build complex UI/UX to give their customers the best-in-class experience with layers of security, that reduces the effort of organizations to be compliant and secure on the cloud without sacrificing the speed and flexibility of developing custom solutions for their customers."For more information about the event, log on to: https://philippines.worldfis.com/About TradepassProviding access to the global emerging markets, Tradepass brings together people, products and solutions to power events for unparalleled business and networking opportunities. Being the most accredited event company, it helps organizations: enter new markets, grow sales pipeline, close prospects, raise capital and identify the right solution-providers.As a deal facilitator, Tradepass is always determined about exposing the most agile liquid growth markets, to enable all-round scalability and growth.Media contact:Riya JainPR & Communication Leadriyaj@tradepassglobal.com+ (91) 80 6166 4401TradepassSource: TradepassCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
LONDON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- We welcome the Government's announcement to accelerate the roll out of digital technology to provide an extra 2,500 virtual ward 'beds'1. They will be in place this winter in a bid to tackle the huge pressures facing the NHS with waiting list backlogs.

We know that virtual wards can, and do, make a difference. They can double clinical capacity and improve patient safety. The evidence is coming in and there is huge support from patients and clinicians because virtual wards can help safely focus the care on those who most urgently need it, whilst helping to spot issues that might otherwise be missed.

Dr Arrash Yassae, Global Clinical Director at Huma, said: "Virtual wards can be crucial for the NHS. Patients say remote monitoring changes their lives and evidence shows there can be real improvements in health outcomes because clinicians can spot issues earlier. A well-designed virtual ward can also support earlier discharge and help avoid admission, which we know is going to be so important this winter."

Evidence:

Peer-reviewed research from across cardiac and respiratory care has shown how Huma's virtual wards have seen 3-4x reduced mortality rates2, increasing oral medication adherence from 85% to 96% in patients with low baseline adherence3, can detect deteriorating patients with almost 90% specificity4, and required 40% less time needed to review patients5.

Separately, reports from NHS and government bodies have shown that when using Huma's virtual wards clinicians have been able to almost double clinical capacity6, and most recently, seen 19% reduction in outpatient appointments, and patients being medically optimised 76% faster7. This latest work resulted in two cardiac nurses winning the Nurse of the Year8 award and the project being shortlisted for an upcoming HSJ Award9.

Patient feedback:

"To me it saves jumping in the car, parking, walking in, sitting in a queue She rang me up and she said, 'those new tablets that you're going to start tomorrow morning, stop. Don't do it because your blood pressure is consistently too low.' As far as I'm concerned, I'm on a daily checkup now without having to move from the house." (Alun Morgan, 80)."

"I was a bit sceptical of the app itself, but no problem - I think it's the most valuable app I've got on my phone at the moment." (Evan Dobson, 69)

"This app doesn't just give you the reassurance that you are being monitored by your nurse, it helps you to better assess yourself. One of my greatest joys has always been to play the drums. Thanks to the app, I'm well enough to play again." (David Watkins, 69)

Clinician feedback:

"It has been a fantastic innovation for my heart failure patients and the service as we have used Huma's digital remote monitoring technology to identify deteriorating patients. I have been able to change the medications and management of patients to keep them well and out of hospital." Viki Jenkins, Heart Failure Advanced Nurse Practitioner & echocardiographer at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board

"We have a dashboard in our clinic where we're constantly monitoring all the patients and if anyone is deteriorating from their symptoms, or their temperature or their heart rate goes up or their oxygen levels drop, it immediately flags up on the system and the patient gets a call from a GP within 10 minutes." Dr Afsana Safa, GP Marylebone Health Centre and Clinical Director, West End & Marylebone PCN speaking about virtual wards run with Huma during COVID-19.

"I've been able to start interventions sooner than I would have done, to avoid hospital admissions"

For interviews with our clinicians, researchers or developers then please contact:

Sian Jarvis or Ed Sykes

References:

NHS England letter to all NHS hospital trusts Lim et al. (2022) doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofac063 Sarraju et al. (2022) doi.org/10.1038/s41746-022-00622-9 Obika et al. (2021) doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooab053 Shah et al. (2021) doi.org/10.1186/s12875-021-01594-7 NHSX Covid report The full report is available on request Report by Digital Health Ecosystem Wales (available on request) British Journal of Nursing, Cardiovascular Nurse of the Year 2022 HSJ Awards 2022 Shortlist - Digitising Patient Care

About Huma

Huma Therapeutics is a global digital health company headquartered in the UK that advances digital-first care delivery and research to help people live longer, fuller lives. Huma's award-winning modular platforms are used by more than 3,000 hospitals and clinics, with 1.8 million active users. Huma's offering works across different disease areas and powers:

'Hospitals at Home'

Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) solutions

DCT platform to support digital or hybrid studies

Huma's platform has been shown to almost double clinical capacity, reduce readmissions by over a third, enable better diversity, participant retention and protocol adherence, whilst allowing trials to run within weeks. Please visit www.huma.com and follow us on LinkedIn at Huma

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427908/Huma_Logo.jpg
Deutsche Bank has revealed that China's green finance market surpassed CNY 20 trillion ($2.9 billion) in value in the first half of 2022. Haitai Solar has listed shares in Beijing, while Shangji has revealed plans for a new polysilicon project in Inner Mongolia.Haitai Solar (BSE: 835985) has announced the launch of its initial public offering on the Beijing Stock Exchange. The company, which is recognized as a Tier 1 manufacturer by BloombergNEF, produces solar panels under its own brand. It also makes panels as an original equipment manufacturer for brands such as JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Longi, ...

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.
Greece's Public Power Corp. (PPC) Renewables, the green energy division of state-owned PPC, has kicked off a tender for a 550 MW solar plant at a former lignite mine.The 550 MW solar plant will be built in Kozani, in Greece's Macedonia region, which was the nation's lignite hub for decades. PPC Renewables estimates the cost of the 550 MW plant to be around 216 million ($221.4 million), excluding the cost of PV modules. However, bids for the tender can exceed that sum, said PPC. The winning engineering, procurement and construction contractor will need to complete the licensing of the plant, ...

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.
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

For immediate release

12 August 2022

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 125,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 861.29 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 9 February 2022.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 5,782,347; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 219,208,956.

The figure of 219,208,956 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
LIMA, Peru, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Minera IRL Limited ("Minera", the "Company" or "we") (BVL:MIRL) (CSE:MIRL) (FWB:DZX) is pleased to announce that it has today filed on SEDAR its unaudited consolidated financial statements and corresponding management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.



Financial Results for the Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2022

A summary of the Company's financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, are as follows:

Second Quarter Ended 30 June 2022 2021 Revenue ($'000) 9,675 10,776 Gold sold (ounces) 5,249 6,013 Realized gold price ($ per ounce ) 1,843 1,792 Gross profit ($'000) 980 2,962 After-tax loss ($'000) (3,044 ) 1,770 Loss per share (cents) (1.3 ) 0.8

*Note - All of the results presented are prepared under IFRS and are in United States dollars.

During Q2 2022, the Company reported sales revenue of $9.7 million compared with sales revenue of $10.8 during Q2 2021. This 10% decrease was primarily due to the combined effect of a 3% increase in the average price of gold sold and a 13% decrease in the number of gold ounces sold. Sales revenue increased quarter-on-quarter by 3% from $9.4 million reported in the first quarter of 2022.

Gold sales during the second quarter of 2022 were comprised of 5,249 ounces of gold (Q2 2021: 6,013 ounces of gold) at an average realized gold price of $1,843 per ounce, a 3% increase compared to the price of $1,792 per ounce for the same period in 2021. Gold sold during the second quarter of 2022 was 4% higher than the first quarter of 2022.

Total gold production from Minera's Corihuarmi mine during the second quarter of 2022 was 15% higher than the first quarter of 2022. The Company is implementing further optimization and reorganization programs aimed to increase gold production quarter-on-quarter and to mitigate against the increasing costs of consumables resulting from rising fuel prices worldwide.

For full details on the financial results of the Company for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, see Minera's unaudited consolidated financial statements and MD&A that have been filed on its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and with the Lima Stock Exchange.



About Minera IRL Limited

Minera IRL Limited is the CSE, BVL and FWB listed holding company of Minera IRL S.A. and Compania Minera Kuri Kullu S.A., two precious metal mining companies engaged in mining exploration, development, and operations in Peru, with a primary focus on gold. Minera is led by an agile and experienced senior management team with extensive mining industry experience, particularly in South America. Minera operates the Corihuarmi Gold Mine located 5,000 meters above sea level in Central Peru while assessing opportunities to advance its Ollachea Gold Project located in the Department of Puno, Southern Peru. For more information, please visit www.minera-irl.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Minera IRL Limited

Gerardo Perez

Executive Chairman

Diego Benavides

CEO and Director

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Minera IRL Limited

Pedro Valdez

Head of Investor Relations

+51 1 418 - 1230

Susan Gabbie

Manager, Communications

+51 1 418 - 1230

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements in this press release include those concerning the Company's expectation that optimization and reorganization programs aimed to increase gold production will have the desired effect. Forward looking statements are based on assumptions. While management believes these assumptions and statements are reasonable in context, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to political, legal, regulatory, business, environmental and economic risks and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Minera IRL's actual results and future performance to be materially different than those expected or estimated future results, performance or achievements and that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, results, or achievements.

Minera IRL assumes no obligation, except as may be required by law, to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Risks, uncertainties and contingencies and other factors that might cause actual performance to differ from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Peru's ability to continue to contain the COVID-19 crisis, changes in and access to the capital or precious metals markets, another round of severe weather, additional labor unrest and changes to legislative, political, social, health or economic developments both within Peru and in general.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Pangea Natural Foods Inc. (CSE: PNGA) ("Pangea" or the "Company"), a natural food company, announces that it has changed its auditors from Harbourside CPA LLP ("Former Auditor") to Baker Tilly WM LLP ("Successor Auditor"). The Former Auditor resigned as the auditor of the Company effective August 12, 2022, and the board of directors of the Company appointed the Successor Auditor as the Company's auditor effective August 12, 2022, until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company.

There were no reservations in the Former Auditor's audit reports for the relevant period, being the financial year ended October 31, 2021, and any period subsequent to the most recently completed financial year for which an audit report was issued and preceding the resignation of the Former Auditor. In accordance with National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102"), the Company has filed a Change of Auditor Notice (the "Notice") on SEDAR together with letters from both the Former Auditor and Successor Auditor, with each lettering confirming agreement with the statements contained in the Notice, as applicable. There were no reportable events as defined in NI 51-102 between the Former Auditor and the Company.

About Pangea Natural Foods Inc.

Pangea Natural Foods Inc. is a food manufacturing company focused on manufacturing and distributing high quality plant-based food products across North America.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

(signed) "Pratap Sandhu"

Pratap Sandhu

CEO, Corporate Secretary and Director

For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.pangeafood.com or contact:

Pangea Natural Foods Inc.

Pratap Sandhu, Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: +1 (604) 765-8069

Email: pratap@pangeafood.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain statements and information that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding the Company's plans to expand distribution of its products throughout North America and expectations regarding the Company's growth. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends," "anticipates," "it is expected," or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "should," or "would" occur.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analyses made by management of the Company and the opinions and estimates of management of the Company as of the date of this news release, including that the Company will be able to widen the distribution of its products in North America and that the Company's business will grow. Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to them, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors may include, among others, that the Company will not be able to expand its distribution network, and the other risks and uncertainties applicable to the Company and the business of the Company as set forth in the Company's final long form prospectus dated June 20, 2022 and its other disclosure available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

There can be no assurance that the transactions contemplated in this news release will complete. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133683
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of new interviews with Vertex Resource Group, Silver Bullet Mines, and Star Navigation on their latest news.

The Power Play by The Market Herald provides investors with a quick snapshot of what they need to know about the company's latest press release through exclusive insights and interviews with company executives.

Vertex Resource Group (TSXV:VTX) reports record Q2 2022 results

Vertex Resource Group (VTX) has reported its financial and operational results for the second quarter ended June 30,2022. Terry Stephenson, President & CEO of Vertex Resource Group, sat down with Sabrina Cuthbert to highlight the results and share the company's outlook for the second half of 2022.

For the full interview with Terry Stephenson and to learn more about Vertex Resource Group, click here

Silver Bullet Mines (TSXV:SBMI) issues operational update

Silver Bullet (SBMI) is reporting progress at its Arizona pilot plant and Buckeye and Washington mines. The Arizona mill is performing within parameters while processing lower-grade material from Buckeye. Peter Clausi, VP Capital Markets, spoke with Sabrina Cuthbert about the updates.

For the full interview with Peter Clausi and to learn more about Silver Bullet Mines, click here

Star Navigation (CSE:SNA) announces LOI with Safe Air Company and Brent Global

Star Navigation Systems Group (SNA) has signed an LOI to provide seven STAR-ISMS in-flight safety monitoring systems to Safe Air and Brent Global of Kenya. STAR-ISMS. Amir Bhatti, CEO of Star Navigation, sat down with Sabrina Cuthbert to discuss the news.

For the full interview with Amir Bhatti and to learn more about Star Navigation, click here

Interviews for The Power Play by The Market Herald are released daily. To learn more about the companies featured in The Power Play or to explore our other interviews visit The Power Play by The Market Herald.

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The Market Herald

Charity Robertson

charity.robertson@themarketherald.ca

themarketherald.ca

SOURCE: The Market Herald

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/711977/The-Power-Play-by-The-Market-Herald-Releases-New-Interviews-with-Vertex-Resource-Group-Silver-Bullet-Mines-and-Star-Navigation
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Tashota Resources Inc. ("TRI" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an offering of flow-through units in accordance with the recently-introduced Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit. The Company is also pleased to provide an update on its exploration activities at its 50% owned Echo Ridge property in the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt.

Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit Flow-Through Unit Offering

The Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit ("CMETC") provides an additional exploration tax credit per the 2022 Federal budget released on April 7, 2022. The Canadian government introduced the CMETC to encourage investment in the exploration of such critical minerals as copper, nickel, lithium, and cobalt, and specifically, it provides an additional 30 percent tax credit on top of the 100 percent tax deductions provided by the traditional Canadian exploration tax credit flow-through structure, where applicable.

Critical minerals are used in various clean energy technologies, including electric car batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and virtually all electronic devices. The CMETC is intended to ensure that Canada, with its vast potential for discovering mineral resources, is well-positioned to benefit from the looming demand for these critical minerals1. Management of the Company believes that the Company is qualified to offer CMETC flow-through units due to the presence of copper-gold mineralization on its Echo Ridge property in the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt, which is currently being explored (more on this below).

TRI's CMETC-based offering is an offering of up to 5.2 million units (the "Units") at a price of $.20 per Unit to purchasers pursuant to the "accredited investor" and "family, friends and business associates" exemptions or other applicable exemptions in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions. Each Unit is comprised of one (1) common share in the capital of TRI to be issued as a "flow-through share" (as defined in subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and in accordance with the 2022 Federal Budget (a "Common Share") and one (1) common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase an additional Common Share at a price of $0.30 per Common Share for a period of three (3) years from the date of issuance, subject to the terms and conditions set out in the subscription agreements relating to the offering. The Warrants are subject to acceleration, such that should the Common Shares trade on an exchange for ten (10) or more consecutive days at a price of $0.45 or greater, the Company may, at its option, provide written notice to the holder requiring that the Warrants be exercised within 30 days of the date of the notice, failing which the Warrants shall immediately thereafter expire.

Echo Ridge Exploration Update

TRI recently completed a series of repairs on Clay Lake Road that have enabled Abitibi Geophysics ("Abitibi") to mobilize and conduct a down-hole survey program involving measurements between approximately 12 drill hole pairs, including H2H 3D IP surveys (under an exploration permit valid until November 22, 2022). Drill pads will be planned following the results of this work, which will outline the best conductive responses in anticipation of a minimum 1,500 metre drilling program. The present exploration is based on mineralization that has a clear signature of over 500 meters strike length and is open on strike. This is also supported by a 3D geologic and mineralization model based on the Company's thirteen drill hole program conducted in 2021, as detailed in a report by Richard Kilpatrick, P.Geo, with an effective date of April 19, 2022.

The results of the 2021 drill program show copper-gold mineralization within the diorites occurring near the sheared contacts with metasedimentary rocks. The best results from the drilling returned 0.5% Cu over 8.14m (ER-21-10), 1.33% Cu over 3.5m (ER21-13), .45% Cu over 3.58m (ER21-12), and 2.08% Cu over 1.85m (ER21-09).

These findings resulted in a recommendation to conduct down-hole surveys on the holes completed to date and conduct step-out drilling to the east and west of the mineralization identified in the 2021 program as well as other recommendations.

These results have been deemed sufficient by Ikram (Ike) Osmani, MSc., P.Geo, TRI's Qualified Person ("QP") on this project for the Company to qualify to offer the CMETC flow-through units discussed above. Commenting on the Kilpatrick report and the results of subsequent exploration work supervised by Dr. Colin Bowdidge, P.Geo on an additional set of drill holes at Echo Ridge (ER21-01 to ER21-05), Mr. Osmani stated that Echo Ridge has "a potential low-grade, bulk-tonnage copper deposit". For clarity, the drill hole results of the subsequent exploration work have been received by TRI and submitted to Mr. Osmani and a report is being finalized. Once the report is completed, the Company will provide a summary of the assay results of these additional drill holes and the report's recommendations.

About Tashota Resources Inc.

Tashota Resources Inc. ("TRI") is a prospect generator junior resource exploration company currently focused on defining and monetizing the mineral deposits on its multiple properties in historically prolific gold camps in Northern Ontario. TRI has stellar management and advisory team with significant exploration, engineering, project financing, and permitting experience. This includes decades-long experience in prospecting and mining operations in the Hemlo, Shebandowan, and Beardmore-Geraldton Gold Camps, where TRI has property interests comprising nearly 45,000 acres.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

Charles J. Elbourne,

President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Charles J. Elbourne, President & CEO,

Tashota Resources Inc.

82 Richmond St. E. Suite 401

Toronto, ON M5C 1P1

C: 416-315-6490

O: 647-350-6122

Email: elbourne007@gmail.com

Website: www.tashotaresources.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the timing and amount of estimated future exploration and success of such exploration activities; and the availability of the CMETC for the Company's Unit offering as described in this press release. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "schedule", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "continue", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "will", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important facts that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, availability of sufficient financial and other resources in order to complete anticipated exploration work on the Company's properties; availability of certain tax treatment under the CMETC; currency fluctuations; the global economic climate; and competition. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact the COVID 19 pandemic may have on the Company's activities and the economy in general; the impact of the recovery post COVID 19 pandemic and its impact on precious metals; the risk that the Company may not be able to secure financing on the terms described in this press release or at all; there being no assurance that the exploration program described in this press release will warrant future exploration on the Echo Ridge Property; risks and uncertainties inherent to any mineral exploration program; receipt of necessary approvals; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future gold and other metal prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages; environmental risks and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

In presenting this information, TRI is not making an offer to sell nor soliciting an offer to buy any securities, certifying the completeness or accuracy of this information, or assuming that the recipient is qualified to consider this opportunity. Accordingly, this document does not and is not intended to comply in any manner with any United States or Canadian securities or disclosure laws or requirements. Prior to making or soliciting any such offer, the Company will provide access to such information and will comply with the requirements of applicable securities laws.

1 For one reference, see: https://www.utilitydive.com/news/copper-shortfall-greenhouse-gas-climate-goals-report-minerals/627334/.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133719
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Argo Gold (CSE: ARQ) (OTCQB: ARBTF) (XFRA, XSTU, XBER: A2ASDS) announces that Reinhard Schu has stepped down from the board of directors and that Pedro Villagran-Garcia has stepped down as Vice-President of Argo Gold. The Company would like to thank Mr. Schu for his significant contributions and wish him well in his future endeavours. The Company would also like to thank Mr. Villagran-Garcia for his significant contributions and wish him well in his future endeavours.

About Argo Gold

Argo Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company. Information on Argo Gold can be obtained from SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on Argo Gold's website at www.argogold.com. Argo Gold is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (www.thecse.com) (CSE: ARQ) as well as (OTCQB: ARBTF) and (XFRA, XSTU, XBER: A2ASDS).

For more information please contact:

Judy Baker, CEO

(416) 786-7860

jbaker@argogold.ca

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement

Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. 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. 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 including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. 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. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133721
DocuPhase, a Tampa, FL-based provider of provider of Business Process Automation (BPA), accounting automation, and B2B payments software and solutions, acquired Frevvo, a workflow automation company.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.



The addition of Frevvos form and signature technologies further enhances the DocuPhase automation platform, which today offers data recognition (OCR), document management, workflow automation, accounting automation, and payment processing technologies to more than 1,000 customers.

Founded in 2008, Frevvo provides an online forms and workflow automation solution serving various industries and businesses of all sizes. The company is established within Higher Education intuitions and K-12 school districts for delivering automation solutions for student enrollment process, financial aid applications, transcript requests, and various other functions within registrars and student administration offices.

The company, backed by growth equity firm LoneTree, continues to invest in technology and the resources needed to serve growing market demand in automation software.

Founded in 2000 in Tampa Bay, Florida, and led by Dan Gaertner, DocuPhase is a solution for companies looking to automate their business processes and expand productivity. The company specializes in automating bookkeeping processes, purchasing orders, sales orders, capturing invoices, approving payments, managing vendors, student, and employee onboarding, and other business processes.

FinSMEs

12/08/2022
Politics

AP

Garland asks court to unseal warrant for Mar-a-Lago search

WASHINGTON

The Justice Department is asking a federal court to unseal the warrant the FBI used to search the Mar-a-Lago estate of former President Donald Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday, acknowledging extraordinary public interest in the case about classified records.

The request is striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the Justice Department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, and that the public was entitled to the FBIs side about what prompted Mondays action at the former presidents home.

The publics clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing, said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

Should the warrant be released  the request is now with the judge, and Trump can object  it could disclose unflattering information about the former president and about FBI scrutiny of his handling of sensitive government documents right as he prepares for another run for the White House. During his successful 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

Its unclear at this point how much information would be included in the documents, if made public, or if they would encompass an FBI affidavit that would presumably lay out a detailed factual basis for the search. The department specifically requested the unsealing of the warrant as well as a property receipt listing the items that were seized, along with two unspecified attachments.

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed. Garland said he personally approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly given that standard practice where possible is to select less intrusive tactics than a search of ones home.

In this case, according to a person familiar with the matter, there was substantial engagement with Trump and his representatives prior to the search warrant, including a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago a couple of months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the documents were stored. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Neither Trump nor the FBI has said anything about what documents the FBI might have recovered, or what precisely agents were looking for. But the former president complained anew Thursday about the search.

Trump, who for years has lambasted the FBI and sought to sow distrust among his supporters in its decisions, said the warrant was served and the search conducted despite his cooperation with the Justice Department over the search.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said that his attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully prior to the search, and that government officials could have had whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, if we had it.

The Justice Department has until Friday afternoon to alert the judge about whether Trump will object to the release.

FBI and Justice Department policy cautions against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of probes and to avoid unfairly maligning someone who is being scrutinized but winds up ultimately not being charged. Thats especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court papers are routinely kept secret as the investigation proceeds.

In this case, though, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI search, as is his right. The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the courts functions.

Even so, Garland, in a hastily scheduled public statement delivered from the Justice Department podium, appeared to acknowledge the unusual nature of the departments request as he declined to take questions or provide any substantive details about the FBIs investigation.

Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations, he said. Federal law, longstanding department rules and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time.

The Justice Department under Garland has been leery of public statements about politically charged investigations, or of confirming to what extent it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader probe into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The department has tried to avoid being seen as injecting itself into presidential politics, as happened in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton regarding her handling of email  and when he spoke up again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the probe was being effectively reopened because of the discovery of new emails.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trumps home in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year. The National Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information.

The attorney general also condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel over the search. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be defunded. Large numbers of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be released hoping they it will show that Trump was unfairly targeted.

I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them dedicated, patriotic public servants.

Earlier Thursday, an armed man wearing body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement. A law enforcement official briefed on the matter identified the man as Ricky Shiffer and said he is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol and may have been there on the day it took place.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Interview: U.S. in no position to talk about human rights, says expert

13:12, August 12, 2022 By Sanaa Kamal ( Xinhua

GAZA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States is the last country entitled to talk about human rights issues, as it has committed "many bloody crimes against humanity," a Palestinian expert said recently.

"Historically, the U.S. has committed major crimes against humanity in the Middle East. It violently imposed its economic and political hegemony on Arab countries," Salah Abdel Ati, a Gaza-based expert on human rights, told Xinhua in an interview.

What happened to the Palestinian people is "a stark portrayal" of U.S. human rights abuses in the region, Abdel Ati said.

Both Republican-led and Democrat-led U.S. administrations have long been practicing double standards on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, leaving the legitimate rights and demands of the Palestinian people unprotected and unresolved, not to mention peace, development and human rights, he said.

Abdel Ati praised the report released Tuesday by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, which reveals a series of crimes committed by the United States in the Middle East and surrounding areas that seriously violate international law.

The report proves that all the U.S. allegations of human rights issues are just false slogans and have no basis on the ground, he said.

The United States, as the report pointed out, has shown no respect for the diversity of civilizations, but rather hostility to those that it does not identify with, Abdel Ati said.

The U.S. prisoner abuse scandals coming into light frequently are not only an infringement on and an insult to the dignity of these people, but also a total disregard of and a trampling on international norms, he said.

Abdul Ati cautioned the people of all Middle Eastern countries to recognize the hypocrisy and deceit of the so-called "American-style democracy" and "American-style human rights," which "will only bring more instability and uncertainty to the region."

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maxim Power Corp. ("MAXIM" or the "Corporation") (TSX: MXG) announced today the release of financial and operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements, accompanying notes and Managements Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) will be available on SEDAR and on MAXIM's website on August 11, 2022. All figures reported herein are Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Three Months Ended

June 30, Six Months Ended

June 30, ($ in thousands except per share amounts) 2022 2021 2022 2021 Revenue 48,380 44,342 84,172 74,372 Net income 8,565 29,589 25,463 56,015 Earnings per share  basic 0.17 0.59 0.51 1.12 Earnings per share  diluted 0.15 0.48 0.42 0.91 Adjusted EBITDA (1) 18,781 21,441 34,674 30,864 Total generation  (MWh) 390,813 389,101 784,404 713,591 Total fuel consumption  (GJ) 4,119,567 4,137,093 8,303,475 7,734,434 Average Alberta market power price ($ per MWh) 122.47 104.51 106.32 100.01 Average realized power price ($ per MWh) 123.79 113.96 107.31 104.22 Total net debt (1) 55,639 14,997 55,639 14,997 Total assets 365,459 295,366 365,459 295,366





(1) Select financial information was derived from the consolidated financial statements and is prepared in accordance with GAAP, except adjusted Earnings before Interest, Income Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (Adjusted EBITDA). Adjusted EBITDA is provided to assist management and investors in determining the Corporation's approximate operating cash flows before interest, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization and certain other non-recurring income and expenses. Total net debt was derived from the consolidated financial statements to include: loans and borrowings (including the convertible loan facility), current liabilities, other long-term liability, less total current assets.

OPERATING RESULTS

Since commissioning Milner 2 (M2) in June 2020, M2 has generated 3,029,435 MWh of electricity, earned $280 million of revenue and $114 million of Adjusted EBITDA(1). In the first six months of 2022, M2 generated 784,404 MWh of electricity, earned $84 million of revenue and $35 million of Adjusted EBITDA(1).

During the second quarter of 2022, revenues increased as compared to 2021 primarily due to higher realized prices and higher generation volumes of M2. Adjusted EBITDA(1) decreased due to higher per unit natural gas costs in 2022, partially offset by net realized gains on power and natural gas commodity swaps and increased revenues.

Net income decreased in 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to the recognition of the third (final) payment from the Line loss Proceedings in 2021 and the same factors impacting Adjusted EBITDA(1), partially offset by unrealized gains from natural gas swaps in 2022.

M2 CCGT PROJECT UPDATE

In 2022, MAXIM continued progress on the engineering and construction of the Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) expansion of M2 and is pleased to report that the project remains on schedule to commission in December 2022. Recent milestones include greater than 80% construction complete and the commencement of cold commissioning activities. The estimated project cost, excluding borrowing costs, is currently $152 million as of the date of this MD&A. Estimated costs have increased from the $142 million previously reported due to increased expenditures related to integration of the existing steam turbine, overages for mechanical work, expanded project management and construction of the associated natural gas pipeline. As of June 30, 2022, MAXIM has incurred $128 million of capital investment in relation to the CCGT expansion of M2 and has funded this spending with existing cash on hand, cash flow from operating activities and debt.

MAXIM has commenced the commissioning process in the third quarter of 2022 and anticipates that the plant will commence commercial operations in December of 2022. MAXIM believes strongly that this asset will be a top performing facility in the Alberta power market.

At this time, MAXIM forecasts it has sufficient liquidity to complete the CCGT expansion of M2 and will fund the project using cash on hand, cash flow from operating revenues, grant funding and available funds through the existing senior and subordinated credit facilities, as required.

$20 MILLION GRANT FUNDING

On July 14, 2022, the Corporation, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into an agreement to receive grant funding in the amount of $20 million. The Corporations CCGT expansion of M2 captures waste heat that would otherwise exhaust into the atmosphere and will turn it into useful low carbon electricity for the Alberta power grid. As of this date, all of the proceeds from the grant have been received and will be used as funding for the CCGT expansion of M2, which is anticipated to be operational by December 2022.

AMENDMENT TO SENIOR CREDIT FACILITY

In June 2022, MAXIM amended the terms of its senior credit facility to allow for an increase to its normal course issuer bid (NCIB) limitations from $1.0 million to $2.5 million for the 2022 calendar year. Additionally, MAXIM recommenced repayments of its $28.5 million Bank Term Facility #1, under the senior credit facility, in the amount of $0.7 million quarterly. The first quarterly payment occurred on August 2, 2022, followed by regular quarterly payments commencing at the end of the third quarter 2022.

NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID

MAXIM continues its NCIB program for the August 25, 2021 to August 24, 2022 period. Under this NCIB, MAXIM may purchase for cancellation up to 2,400,000 common shares of the Corporation. Collectively under this program and as of June 30, 2022, the Corporation has repurchased and cancelled 277,285 common shares for $1.1 million, of which 266,370 common shares were repurchased and cancelled in 2022 for $1.0 million. MAXIMs NCIB program is limited to $2.5 million for the 2022 calendar year under the senior credit facility. Any excess is subject to approval from the lenders under the senior credit facility.

About MAXIM

Based in Calgary, Alberta, MAXIM is one of Canadas largest truly independent power producers. MAXIM is now focused entirely on power projects in Alberta. Its core asset  the 204 MW H.R. Milner Plant, M2, in Grande Cache, AB  is a state-of-the-art natural gas-fired power plant that commissioned in Q2, 2020. MAXIM is currently increasing the capacity of M2 to approximately 300 MW and concurrently will realize an improvement in the efficiency of the plant by investing in heat recovery combined cycle technology. In addition, MAXIM continues to explore additional development options in Alberta including its currently permitted gas-fired generation projects and the permitting of its wind power generation project. MAXIM trades on the TSX under the symbol MXG. For more information about MAXIM, visit our website at www.maximpowercorp.com. For further information please contact:

Bob Emmott, President and COO, (403) 263-3021

Kyle Mitton, CFO and Vice President, Corporate Development, (403) 263-3021

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively "forward looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to MAXIM's plans and other aspects of MAXIM's anticipated future operations, management focus, objectives, strategies, financial, operating and production results. Forward-looking information typically uses words such as "anticipate", "believe", "project", "expect", "goal", "plan", "intend", "may", "would", "could" or "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes, events or performance. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date thereof and are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Specifically, this press release contains forward-looking information concerning, among other things, the expected completion date of the CCGT expansion of M2, emissions intensity, the current cost estimates for the CCGT expansion of M2 and MAXIMs financing plans with respect to the CCGT expansion.

Management has included the forward-looking statements above and a summary of assumptions and risks related to forward-looking statements provided in this press release in order to provide readers with a more complete perspective on MAXIM's future plans and operations and such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

MAXIM's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that MAXIM will derive there from. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists of factors are not exhaustive. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and MAXIM disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.
TORONTO, Aug. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mene Inc. (TSX-V:MENE) (US:MENEF) (Mene or the Company), an online 24 karat jewelry brand, is pleased to announce it has signed an arms length asset purchase agreement (the Purchase Agreement) to purchase substantially all of the assets of a manufacturing facility in the United States.



Transaction Details

On July 5, 2022, the Company entered into the Purchase Agreement pursuant to the which, the Company shall acquire substantially all rights, title and interest in all of the assets, properties and rights used in connection with the operation of the manufacturing facility.

Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the total consideration payable by the Company is US$1,000,000, payable at closing of the Purchase Agreement as follows: (i) US$500,000 payable in cash, and (ii) US$500,000 (based on the close of business exchange rate reported by the Bank of Canada on the day prior to the date of issuance) by the delivery of 1,206,583 common shares of the Company (the Compensation Shares) at a deemed price of CDN$0.5332 per Compensation Share. The Compensation Shares shall be subject to a statutory hold period commencing on closing of the Purchase Agreement which shall expire on the date that is four months and one day following closing.

The closing of the Purchase Agreement is subject to closing conditions and the receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Mene Inc.



Mene crafts pure 24 karat gold and platinum jewelry that is transparently sold by gram weight. Through mene.com, customers may buy jewelry, monitor the value of their collection over time, and sell or exchange their pieces by gram weight at prevailing market prices. Mene was founded by Roy Sebag and Diana Widmaier-Picasso with a mission to restore the relationship between jewelry and savings. Mene empowers consumers by marrying innovative technology, timeless design, and pure precious metals to create pieces which endure as a store of value.

For more information about Mene, visit mene.com.

Media and Investor Relations Inquiries:

Adil Sheikh

Chief Financial Officer

Mene Inc.

ir@mene.com

+1 289 748 3702

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws that are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statements that involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as expects, or does not expect, is expected, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, budget, scheduled, forecasts, estimates, believes or intends or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results may or could, would, might or will be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information.

This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others; an inability to close the Purchase Agreement or meet its obligations thereunder; an inability to receive applicable regulatory approvals for the Purchase Agreement; an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases presenting as major health issues on the price of precious metals, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains; failure to comply with environmental and health and safety laws and regulations; operating or technical difficulties in connection with the manufacture, sale and distribution of jewelry; actual audited results differing from reported unaudited results; global economic climate; dilution of the Companys shares; the Companys limited operating history; future capital needs and uncertainty of raising capital; the competitive nature of the jewelry industry; currency exchange risks; the need for the Company to manage its planned growth and expansion; the effects of product development and need for continued technology and manufacturing change; protection of proprietary rights; the effect of government regulation and compliance on the Company and the industry; network security risks; the ability of the Company to maintain properly working systems; theft and risk of physical harm to personnel; reliance on key personnel; global economic and financial market deterioration impeding access to capital or increasing the cost of capital; and volatile securities markets impacting security pricing unrelated to operating performance. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information other than as required by law.

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.
TDC NET Holding: Interim Financial Report H1 2022

August 12, 2022 03:00 ET | Source: TDC Net A/S TDC Net A/S

Kbenhavn SV, DENMARK
London, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Launched in 2016, the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) of Saint Lucia is one of the top performers in the Caribbean region. As the demand for a programme such as this skyrockets amongst high net-worth individuals (HNWIs), the newly elected government is striving to utilise the funds brought in by the programme to develop more advanced public infrastructure and uplift the standard of living of its people.

Despite being the newest Caribbean programme in this industry, Saint Lucia offers an advanced, secure and transparent programme. With more foreign direct investments coming into the country via its prestigious CIP Programme, the government is preparing a roadmap to engage in constructing and uplifting schools, roads, health care, and other public infrastructures through the funds generated by the Citizenship by Investment Programme.

After the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world, countries realised the need for advanced and robust health infrastructure. Similarly, Saint Lucia is putting a focus on the development of new health care centres and hospitals which will be equipped with modern amenities to help mitigate the threats of any forthcoming health calamities. The modernised health structure will eventually uplift the country as a whole and provide quality healthcare at affordable costs. The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs recently donated a haematology analyser and immunoassay analyser to the St Jude Hospital. These devices will strengthen the delivery of diagnostic testing in the coastal town of Vieux Fort. The funds generated by the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) have enabled additional advanced developments in the health care sector.

Mc Claude Emmanuel, recently appointed Head of the Citizenship by Investment Programme Unit, outlined the government of Saint Lucia and the CIP Units collective plan to restructure the programme and build a stronger Saint Lucia together. He said that the nation would soon witness the construction and rehabilitation of housing units, schools and hospitals to upgrade the infrastructure of the country.

Emmanuel also said the administration is working tirelessly to uplift the country and doing exemplary work, paving the way forward for Saint Lucias sustainable development. With the governments new vision the dream of an excellent Saint Lucia is slowly turning into reality.

Emmanuels primary focus is on robust, stringent and scrutinised due-diligence procedures to ensure that only honest and credible investors attain the alternative citizenship of Saint Lucia. Emmanuel explained that applications from each investor are subject to strict procedures and due diligence checks with each application being checked by an independent international third-party firm as well as the CIP Unit in order to cross-check that investors or applicants are of the highest calibre.

The CIP Unit Head assured that new policies, agendas and programmes are continually being adopted to make Saint Lucias Citizenship by Investment Programme the worlds number one.

Saint Lucia Citizenship by Investment Programme:

Saint Lucia's Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) is the newest citizenship by investment programme in the Caribbean region. Launched in 2016, the CIP of Saint Lucia aims to establish itself among the best programmes in the world. It ranked fourth in the 2021 CBI Index, published by the PWM Magazine of The Financial Times. Saint Lucias programme secured a solid ten in three of the nine pillars of excellence. The programme is seen as credible because of its transparency when providing investors with information on how their funds are used.

Saint Lucia has been on investors radar as the world deals with countless uncertainties and businessmen are searching for safe, stable and peaceful destinations to expand and explore their business internationally. Investors can apply for the alternative citizenship of Saint Lucia via the National Economic Fund Investment, popularly known as the Fund Option.

The National Economic Fund Investment Option: The Fund Option of Saint Lucia aids the growth and development of infrastructure as well as socio-economic upliftment within the country. The minimum investment using the investment option starts from USD 100,000. An investor can also add additional dependants under a single application.

Citizenship by Investment Programme offers benefits such as:

Makes an individual a global citizen.

Contributes to portfolio diversification and wealth planning.

Provides lifelong citizenship, which can be passed on to future generations.

Helps in expanding business overseas.

Gives the investor an opportunity to spend the rest of their life in a peaceful and safe environment.

Saint Lucia is an excellent choice for the investor because it is known as the Caribbeans largest economy, thereby helping an investor with the expansion of their business and portfolio diversification. An individual can flourish in business as citizenship provides the opportunity to travel to around 75 per cent of the world hassle-free. In addition to this, the CIP of Saint Lucia provides a favourable tax regime and also offers a wide range of sectors to invest in.

Saint Lucia is a quintessential island paradise. Its majestic peaks reach the heavens with the splendour of its lush green rainforests and the hypnotizing blue waters of the Caribbean Sea providing a mesmerizing reason to visit. It is on many travel enthusiasts' bucket lists because of its landscape, people, customs and cuisine intertwining to offer the perfect setting for vacations.

The country is renowned for being a place which offers a quality of life in a tranquil environment. Saint Lucia has many opulent resorts and hotels, and a variety of restaurants and is the perfect choice for people celebrating their honeymoons, anniversaries, weddings, and other milestone events. Chefs celebrate the countrys creole heritage by creating amazing dishes inspired by the sea.

Saint Lucias history is rich and vibrant. With a mixture of cultures, its people have a deep sense of cultural identity that they vigorously celebrate to this day.

The country is also home to fun and adventure. Tourists have the option to recline on the sandy white beaches, zip line through lush rainforests, soak in the volcanic mud baths of Soufriere, indulge in authentic island food, and club-hop on the Rodney Bay strip, or ride ATVs through the countryside. Envision exploring abandoned sugar plantations, snorkelling in crystal clear waters, chasing brightly coloured fish in the shadow of the Pitons, or experiencing a live sea turtle hatching in the last light of dusk. Saint Lucia offers an experience that will stay in ones mind for years to come.
Dublin, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Biobanking Market (2022-2027) by Product & Service, Sample, Storage, Application, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Biobanking Market is estimated to be USD 2.52 Bn in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 3.65 Bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 7.71%.



Market Dynamics

Market dynamics are forces that impact the prices and behaviors of the 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 AMS Biotechnology, Bay Biosciences, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Bioivt & Elevating Science, Boca Biolistics, 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 Biobanking 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 Biobanking 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 Biobanking 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 Cost-Effective Drug Discovery and Development and

4.1.2 Genomic Research Activities

4.1.3 Advances in Biobanking and Growing Trend of Conserving Cord Blood Stem Cells of Newborns

4.1.4 Government and Private Funding to Support Regenerative Medicine Research

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Cost of Automation

4.2.2 Issues Related to Biospecimen Sample Procurement

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Emerging Countries

4.3.2 Growing Focus on the R&D of Cell Therapies

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Long-Term Sustainability of Biobanks



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 Biobanking Market, By Product & Service

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Equipment

6.2.1 Storage Equipment

6.2.2 Sample Analysis Equipment

6.2.3 Sample Processing Equipment

6.2.4 Sample Transport Equipment

6.3 Consumables

6.3.1 Storage Consumables

6.3.2 Analysis Consumables

6.3.3 Processing Consumables

6.3.4 Collection Consumables

6.4 Services

6.4.1 Storage Services

6.4.2 Processing Services

6.4.3 Transport Services

6.4.4 Supply Services



7 Global Biobanking Market, By Sample

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Blood Products

7.3 Human Tissues

7.4 Cell Lines

7.5 Nucleic Acids

7.6 Biological Fluids

7.7 Human Waste Products



8 Global Biobanking Market, By Storage

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Manual Storage

8.3 Automated Storage



9 Global Biobanking Market, By Application

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Regenerative Medicine

9.3 Life Science Research

9.4 Clinical Research



10 Americas Biobanking 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 Biobanking 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 Biobanking 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 Biobanking 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 AMS Biotechnology

15.2 Bay Biosciences

15.3 Becton, Dickinson and Company

15.4 Bioivt & Elevating Science

15.5 Boca Biolistics

15.6 CTI Biotech

15.7 Cureline

15.8 Cureline

15.9 Firalis

15.10 Geneticist

15.11 Greiner Holding AG

15.12 Hamilton Company

15.13 Merck KGaA

15.14 Panasonic Healthcare Holdings

15.15 Promega

15.16 Proteogenex

15.17 Qiagen N.V.

15.18 Tecan Trading

15.19 Thermo Fisher Scientific

15.20 US Biolab Corp

15.21 VWR International



16 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/wsjf7c

Attachment
WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chartered Professional Accountants of Yukon and the CPA Western School of Business (CPAWSB) congratulate Julie Minor, Brianne Stanek, and Elreen Tungol for passing the multi-day national Common Final Examination (CFE) written in May 2022. The exam was administered by CPAWSB.



Congratulations to Julie, Brianne, and Elreen for successfully passing the CFE, said Peter Woodruff, CPA, CA, chair of CPA Yukon. Their success is especially significant given the challenges brought on by the pandemic, and on behalf of the CPA Yukon Board of Directors, I applaud them for their tenacity and welcome them to the ranks of Yukons CPAs.

In order to become designated, students must complete rigorous course work, pass the CFE, and fulfill relevant practical experience requirements. The national CFE ensures all Canadian CPAs meet the same high standards, which are recognized nationally and internationally.

On behalf of everyone at the CPA Western School of Business, I congratulate the 3 hard-working individuals from the Yukon Territory who passed the CFE, said CEO of the CPA Western School of Business Yuen Ip, MBA, CPA, CMA, PMP. I wish each of them the very best as they move into the next stages of their careers.

CPAWSB delivers the nationally-developed CPA professional education program in Canadas western region. Throughout the program, CPA candidates develop the competencies expected of professional accountants, developing technical skills and enabling competencies as they grow in professionalism and leadership.

About CPA Yukon

The Chartered Professional Accountants of Yukon (CPAYT) is a member organization of CPA Canada, which represents more than 200,000 CPAs across the country. The CPA British Columbia is responsible for training, governing, and regulatory body for CPAYT members. CPAs are recognized internationally for bringing superior financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight, and leadership to organizations.
New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Steam Autoclaves Market Research Report by Technology, Product, End-Use, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299515/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Steam Autoclaves Market size was estimated at USD 2,198.30 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 2,471.55 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 12.68% to reach USD 4,500.74 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Steam Autoclaves to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Technology, the market was studied across Gravity Displacement, Pre-vacuum, and Steam Flush.



Based on Product, the market was studied across Floor Standing Steam Autoclaves, High-pressure Steam Autoclaves, Horizontal Steam Autoclaves, Table Top Autoclaves, and Vertical Steam Autoclaves.



Based on End-Use, the market was studied across Clinics, Healthcare companies, Hospitals, and Research and Academic Institutes.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Dental, Laboratory, and Medical.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Steam Autoclaves market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Steam Autoclaves Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Steam Autoclaves Market, including Belimed Deutschland GmbH, BMM Weston Ltd, Celitron Medical Technologies Kft., Consolidated Sterilizer Systems, Eryigit Medical Devices Inc., Getinge Group, HIRAYAMA Manufacturing Corporation, LTE Scientific Ltd, Matachana Group, Medisafe International Inc, Peacocks Medical Group, PHC Holdings Corporation, Priorclave Ltd., Steris Corporation, and Tuttnauer.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Steam Autoclaves Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Steam Autoclaves Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Steam Autoclaves Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Steam Autoclaves Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Steam Autoclaves Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Steam Autoclaves Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Steam Autoclaves Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299515/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Stucco Market Research Report by Material, Base, Type, End User, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299473/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Stucco Market size was estimated at USD 12.99 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 14.55 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 12.23% to reach USD 25.98 billion by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Stucco to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Material, the market was studied across Admixtures, Aggregates, Bonding Agents, Cement, Other Materials, Plasticizers, and Reinforcements.



Based on Base, the market was studied across Concrete, Masonry, and Tile.



Based on Type, the market was studied across Insulated and Traditional.



Based on End User, the market was studied across Non-residential and Residential. The Non-residential is further studied across Commercial Building and Industrial Building.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Stucco market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Stucco Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Stucco Market, including Basf Se, California Stucco Products Corp., Cemex, Dryvit Systems Inc., Dupont, Eagle Building Materials, Gomix Co. Ltd., Guangdong Yunyan Special Cement Building Materials Ltd., Isomat S.A., Jbr Coatings And Insulations, Mission Stucco Co., Omega Products International, Sika Ag, Silpro, Spec Mix Llc, Sto Group, The Quikrete Companies, Total Wall Inc., Vasari Plaster And Stucco Llc, and Western Blended Products.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Stucco Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Stucco Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Stucco Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Stucco Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Stucco Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Stucco Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Stucco Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299473/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Synthetic Rubber Market Research Report by Type, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299287/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Synthetic Rubber Market size was estimated at USD 21.99 billion in 2021 and expected to reach USD 23.06 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 5.12% to reach USD 29.68 billion by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Synthetic Rubber to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Type, the market was studied across Butyl Rubber, Nitrile Rubber, Polybutadiene Rubber, and Styrene-Butadiene Rubber.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Footwear, Industrial Rubber Goods, Non-tire Automotive, and Tire.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Synthetic Rubber market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Synthetic Rubber Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Synthetic Rubber Market, including Asahi Kasei Corporation, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, Denka Company Limited, Dupont, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Firestone Polymers, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Group Dynasol, Indian Synthetic Rubber Private Limited, JSR Corporation, Kraton Corporation, Kumho Petrochemical Company Ltd., Lanxess Ag, LG Chemical, Lion Elastomers, Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Sibur, Synthos S.A., The Dow Chemical Company, Trinseo, and Zeon Corporation.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Synthetic Rubber Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Synthetic Rubber Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Synthetic Rubber Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Synthetic Rubber Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Synthetic Rubber Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Synthetic Rubber Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Synthetic Rubber Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299287/?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.



__________________________
Pune, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Containers are used to transport objects from one place to another. Unlike conventional shipping, container shipping uses containers of various standard sizes20 foot (6.09 m), 40 foot (12.18 m), 45 foot (13.7 m), 48 foot (14.6 m), and 53 foot (16.15 m)to load, transport, and unload goods or objects. As a result, containers can be moved by trains, ships and trucks. Most commonly and important container sizes are 20-foot and 40-foot lengths. The 20-foot container is generally referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) and the 40-foot container is known as the Forty-foot Equivalent Unit (FEU).



Container Shipping Market research report is an experts analysis that mainly includes companies, types, applications, regions, countries, etc. Also, the reports give analysis on sales, revenue, trade, competition, investment, forecast. Container Shipping Market research covers COVID-19 impacts on the upstream, midstream and downstream industries. Also, this study offers detailed market estimates by emphasizing statistics on several aspects covers market dynamics like drivers, barriers, opportunities, threats, and industry news & trends.

Get a Sample Copy of the Report at - https://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/request-sample/20646624

Container Shipping Market Increasing demand for transportation services is a key driver of the global container shipping market. Rising number of factories and manufacturing units has fueled growth of the global container shipping market. In addition, several government associations are also boosting growth of the global container shipping market by providing specific guidelines to shipping companies.

Market split by Type, can be divided into: -

20 Foot (6.09 M)

40 Foot (12.18 M)

45 Foot (13.7 M)

48 Foot (14.6 M)

53 Foot (16.15 M)

Market split by Application, can be divided into: -

Industrial

Agricultural

Automotive

Others

Market segment by Region/Country including: -

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Spain etc.)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia etc.)

South America (Brazil, Argentina and Colombia etc.)

Middle East & Africa (South Africa, UAE and Saudi Arabia etc.)

To Understand How Covid-19 Impact Is Covered in This Report - https://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/request-covid19/20646624

Leading players of Container Shipping including: -

China Shipping Container Lines

HANJIN

China Ocean Shipping

HAPAG-LLOYD

Mediterranean Shipping

MAERSK

Key Developments in the Container Shipping Market: -

To describe Container Shipping Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by countries, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force

To analyze the manufacturers of Container Shipping, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share

To display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers in Global, with sales, revenue and Container Shipping market share

To show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type and application

To analyze the key countries by manufacturers, Type and Application, covering North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle-East and South America, with sales, revenue and market share by manufacturers, types and applications

To analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.

To describe Container Shipping sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.

Inquire or Share Your Questions If Any Before the Purchasing This Report  https://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/20646624

Detailed TOC of Global and United States Container Shipping Market Report & Forecast 2022-2028

1 Study Coverage

2 Market by Type

3 Market by Application

4 Global Container Shipping Competitor Landscape by Company

5 Global Container Shipping Market Size by Region

6 Segment in Region Level & Country Level

7 Company Profiles

8 Industry Chain and Sales Channels Analysis

9 Research Findings and Conclusion

10 Appendix

Purchase this Report (Price 4350 USD for a Single-User License)  https://www.absolutereports.com/checkout/20646624

About Absolute Reports:

Absolute Reports is an upscale platform to help key personnel in the business world in strategizing and taking visionary decisions based on facts and figures derived from in depth market research. We are one of the top report resellers in the market, dedicated towards bringing you an ingenious concoction of data parameters.

Containers are used to transport objects from one place to another. Unlike conventional shipping, container shipping uses containers of various standard sizes20 foot (6.09 m), 40 foot (12.18 m), 45 foot (13.7 m), 48 foot (14.6 m), and 53 foot (16.15 m)to load, transport, and unload goods or objects. As a result, containers can be moved by trains, ships and trucks. Most commonly and important container sizes are 20-foot and 40-foot lengths. The 20-foot container is generally referred to as a Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) and the 40-foot container is known as the Forty-foot Equivalent Unit (FEU).


New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market Research Report by Usage Type, Product, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06298943/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market size was estimated at USD 981.23 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 1,060.41 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 8.32% to reach USD 1,585.41 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Traffic Road Marking Coatings to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Usage Type, the market was studied across Permanent and Removable.



Based on Product, the market was studied across Epoxy, Paint, Preformed Polymer Tape, Pressure Sensitive Tape, and Thermoplastic.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Airport Marking, Car Park Marking, Factory Marking, Road Marking Labels, and Road Marking Lines.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Traffic Road Marking Coatings market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market, including Asian Paints Ltd., BASF Coatings, Behr Process Corp., Benjamin Moore & Co., Dow Inc., Dulux Protective Coatings, Ennis-Flint, Inc., Kansai Paints Co. Ltd., M Co., Nippon Paint Holdings Co., PPG Industries (UK) Limited, RPM International Inc., SWARCO AG, and The Sherwin-Williams Co..



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Traffic Road Marking Coatings Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06298943/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great Place to Work and Fortune magazine have honored The Lifetime Value Company (LTVCo) as one of this year's Best Small Workplaces. This is LTVCo's second time being named to this prestigious list, previously known as the Fortune Best Small & Medium Workplaces, this time coming in at 26th place. Earning a spot means that LTVCo is one of the best companies to work for in the country.

To determine the Fortune Best Small Workplaces list, Great Place to Work analyzed the survey responses of over 30,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified companies with 10 to 99 U.S. employees. In that survey, 99% of LTVCo's employees said LTVCo is a great place to work. This number is 42% higher than the average U.S. company.

"We are proud to not only be named to this prestigious list but also to have just earned the Great Place to Work certification for the second year in a row," said Josh Levy, CEO and co-founder of LTVCo. "Both the certification and this award are a true indicator that our employees feel supported and are passionate about the work they do. It's fantastic to see that the culture we've built continues to inspire our teams to fulfill our company mission, build great products and help consumers make better decisions."

The Fortune Best Workplaces in New York list is highly competitive. Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture, selected the list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback. Companies were only considered if they are a Great Place to Work-Certified organization and headquartered in the New York metropolitan statistical area.

"It's not the size of an organization that makes it great, but how the organization treats its people," says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. "And these small workplaces have proven that the inspiring cultures they've created go head-to-head with those of any large corporation. Leaders at these companies put their people first, and in return, achieve stronger business results than the average workplace."

In 2022, LTVCo also made the list for Fortune Best Workplaces in New York, Glassdoor's Best Places to Work 2022 and the National Association for Business Resources Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. Previously, LTVCo ranked 25th in the Fortune and Great Place to Work's 2021 Best Small & Medium Workplaces , was the 2021 Best Tech Work Culture Regional Timmy Winner and ranked among highest-scoring businesses on INC. magazine's annual list of best workplaces and earned the prestigious 2021 Great Place to Work Certification.

WE'RE HIRING!

Looking to grow your career at a company that puts its people first? Visit our careers page at: https://www.ltvco.com/careers

About The Lifetime Value Company

The Lifetime Value Company is a tech company with a culture of innovation and passion for data. We build and ship best-in-class apps and web-based products and tools that put the power of information into the hands of our customers. Our mission is to help people discover, understand and use data in their everyday lives. Learn more at www.ltvco.com and on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact: press@ltvco.com

About the Fortune Best Small Workplaces

Great Place to Work selected the Best Small Workplaces by analyzing the survey responses of over 30,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified companies with 10 to 99 U.S. employees. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place to Work Trust Index survey. Great Place to Work determines its lists using its proprietary For All methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America's largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 6.1 million employees, this year alone. Read the full methodology.

To get on this list next year, start here.

About Great Place to Work

Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, it has surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Its employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything it does is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All.

Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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Attachment
Company completed the spinoff of fintech & mobile solutions offering, GoLogiq, as an independent, publicly traded company

Logiq reports solid execution pursuing higher margin businesses with larger customer accounts on a consolidated and segment basis

Company focus is on direct-to-customer portal, which was launched in mid-April and is expected to produce significantly higher margins and revenues



NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Logiq, Inc. (OTCQX: LGIQ; NEO: LGIQ), a provider of digital consumer acquisition solutions, today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2022 ended June 30, 2022, and its outlook for full-year 2022. Results consolidate GoLogiq, Inc. (OTC: GOLQ) financials, which was a Logiq majority-owned business segment until completion of the spinoff on July 27, 2022. Going forward, GoLogiqs financials will no longer be consolidated with the Logiqs.

Financial Highlights

Consolidated revenues in the quarter were $4.9 million, compared with $8.3 million in the prior year quarter.

Consolidated gross margins increased 730 basis points to 36.8%, over the year-ago quarter.

GoLogiq (formerly AppLogiq) gross margins increased 1,480 basis points, to 46.5%, year over year. This increase in margin was a result of implementing a strategic shift to targeting high-margin end-customers compared to low-margin high-volume white label resellers, that began in 2020.

Logiq (formerly DataLogiq) gross margins increased 350 basis points to 31.9%, over the same quarter last year.

Consolidated net loss was $6.5 million, compared with a net loss of $5.0 million in the year-ago quarter.



Operating Highlights

On July 27, the Company announced that it had completed the distribution of GoLogiq (formerly known as Lovarra) spin-off shares to Logiq shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 30, 2021, which marked the full separation of Logiq and GoLogiq into two independent, publicly traded companies.

Management Commentary

Logiq Chief Executive Officer, Brent Suen, commented, We are pleased with the successful spin-off of our GoLogiq business, through which we transformed our business into two standalone companies. We are confident that going forward this transaction will unlock both companies fullest value and create enhanced returns for our shareholders.

As we noted in our first quarter report, our quarterly revenue remains inconsistent, as was reflected in the second quarter. However, our commitment to executing on our strategy to pursue a higher margin business was reflected in our robust gross margin results. Mr. Suen added, Importantly, Logiq is in a transition period in which we are shifting our resources to securing larger corporate customers, in part to capitalize on our Battle Bridge acquisition earlier this year, whose consolidation has synergistically produced a company with a broader range of services and greater depth of expertise  which we believe will enable us to bid on and win far bigger customer accounts. While those sales cycles are longer, I strongly believe that this strategy is gaining solid traction and we fully expect to report strong progress in the months ahead.

Q2 2022 Financial Highlights

Consolidated revenues in the quarter were $4.9 million, down 40.4% compared to $8.3 million in the prior year period. The Companys (GoLogiq) CreateApp platform contributed $1.6 million or 32.6% of second quarter consolidated revenue, down 42.6% from $2.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The revenue decrease resulted from a strategic shift to pursue a higher gross margin business, which resulted in attrition of lower margin business and an increase of direct sales/marketing expenses. Logiqs DataLogiq platform revenues contributed $3.3 million or 67.4% of second quarter consolidated revenue, down 39.3% from $5.5 million in the year ago quarter. The decrease in revenues was primarily due to Medicare enrollment and a newly implemented focus on a direct-to-customer (D2C) portal. The D2C portal reduces the Companys dependence on third-party aggregators and enables it to go directly to end-consumers via consumer facing portals, such as an Angies List or Porch.com, generating considerably higher gross profit margins that can, when scaled, track upwards to 50-60%.

Consolidated gross profit decreased 25.7% to $1.8 million on a 36.8% gross margin in Q2 2022 compared with $2.4 million, or 29.5%, respectively in the prior year quarter.

Total operating expenses increased 5.7% to $8.3 million in Q2 2022 from $7.8 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to an increase in general and administrative and sales and marketing expense.

The Q2 2022 net loss was $6.5 million, up from a net loss of $5.0 million in the year-ago quarter. As of June 30, 2022, the Companys cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash totaled $0.4 million vs. $1.6 million on December 31, 2021.

Reiterating 2022 Guidance

The Company reiterates its annualized revenue projections for fiscal 2022 to end the year in the range of a $40 million to $50 million run rate, reaching a breakeven EBITDA run rate by the end of 2022 and attaining profitability in early 2023. This forecast is based on the Companys potential deal pipeline, which originally included M&A and potential partnerships and client relationships. The Company is not currently calculating any further M&A for the year, although management is still comfortable with the aforementioned range of revenues. However, no assurances can be provided that Logiq will enter into any strategic transactions with companies in the pipeline, or that the results of any such transactions will allow the Company to reach this goal.

Conference Call

Logiq management will host a conference call on Friday, August 12, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (8:00 a.m. Pacific time).

To access via webcast:

https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1564186&tp_key=3f6b33c8b2

To access by phone:

Toll-free dial-in number: 1-888-394-8218 International dial-in number: 1-323-701-0225

Please dial into the conference 15 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization.

Replay

A replay of the call will be available after 2:00 p.m. Eastern time on the same day through Friday, August 26, 2022, as well as available for replay via the Investors section of the Logiq website at www.logiq.com/ir

Toll-free replay number:1-844-512-2921 International replay number: 1-412-317-6671 Replay ID: 4016120

About Logiq

Logiq Inc. is a U.S.-based provider of e-commerce and digital customer acquisition solutions by simplifying digital advertising. It provides a data-driven, end-to-end marketing through its results solution or providing software to access data by activating campaigns across multiple channels.

Connect with Logiq: Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook The Companys Digital Marketing business includes a holistic, self-serve ad tech platform. Its proprietary data-driven, AI-powered solutions allows brands and agencies to advertise across thousands of the worlds leading digital and connected TV publishers.

Important Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This press release also contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation that relate to Logiqs current expectations and views of future events. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as will likely result, are expected to, expects, will continue, is anticipated, anticipates, believes, estimated, intends, plans, forecast, projection, strategy, objective and outlook) are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this press release should not be unduly relied upon.

These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Forwardlooking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Logiqs control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. In particular and without limitation, this press release contains forwardlooking statements regarding our products and services, the use and/or ongoing demand for our products and services, expectations regarding our revenue and the revenue generation potential of our products and services, our partnerships and strategic alliances, potential strategic transactions, the impact of global pandemics (including COVID-19) on the demand for our products and services, industry trends, overall market growth rates, our growth strategies, the continued growth of the addressable markets for our products and solutions, our business plans and strategies, and the valuation and success of the businesses after completion of the transaction, if any, and other risks described in the Companys prior press releases and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent public filings, and filings made pursuant to Canadian securities legislation that are available on www.sedar.com, including under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Canadian Prospectus.

Logiq undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Logiq to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Media & Investor Contact

ir@logiq.com

(Financial tables follow)

LOGIQ INC.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

June 30, December 31, 2022 2021 (Unaudited) (Audited) ASSETS Non-current assets Intangible assets, net 12,770,005 14,797,196 Property and equipment, net 128,560 153,973 Goodwill 5,577,926 5,577,926 Total non-current assets 18,476,491 20,529,095 Current assets Amount due from associate - 7,208,700 Accounts receivable 2,309,247 3,966,086 Right to use assets - operating lease 104,542 91,571 Prepayment, deposit and other receivables 650,750 804,011 Financial assets held for resale - 681 Restricted cash 20,004 22,513 Cash and cash equivalents 396,385 1,563,752 Total current assets 3,480,928 13,657,314 Total assets $ 21,957,419 $ 34,186,409 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Liabilities Accounts payable 1,854,497 2,293,858 Accruals and other payables 1,807,996 1,804,131 Deferred revenue 705 10,500 Lease liability - operating lease 104,542 91,571 Deposits received for share to be issued 88,932 401,028 Total current liabilities 3,856,672 4,601,088 Non-Current Liabilities Other loan 10,000 10,000 Total non-current liabilities 10,000 10,000 Total liabilities $ 3,866,672 $ 4,611,088 STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 250,000,000 shares authorized, 33,401,334 and 26,350,756 shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively 3,340 2,635 Additional paid-in capital 85,768,372 82,473,004 Capital reserves 25,010,514 29,349,795 Accumulated deficit brought forward (92,691,478 ) (82,250,113 ) Total stockholder's equity 18,090,748 29,575,321 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 21,957,420 $ 34,186,409





LOGIQ INC.

Consolidated Statements of Operations
Atlanta, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Porsche and Pixar Animation Studios have revealed a special Porsche inspired by one of the most beloved 911 models of all  Sally Carrera, from Disney and Pixars Cars. Named the 911 Sally Special, the car is like Sally Carrera herself, unique. Only one 911 Sally Special will ever be made  and its creation marks the first time Pixar has collaborated on such a project.

Vehicles need a face and a story. And Pixars film Cars did just that, by bringing them to life on the big screen, said Dr. Sebastian Rudolph, Vice President Communications, Sustainability and Politics at Porsche AG. The story conveys values such as friendship, love and mutual support  and in the middle of it all is a Porsche: Sally Carrera. Together with Pixar we have brought the spirit of Sally to life in a new way, not on the screen, but off the screen. With this one-off street legal 911, the Sally Special, which we are auctioning for charity, we want to help people who urgently need support, quite in keeping with the spirit of the film character.

The 911 Sally Special will be auctioned by RM Sothebys on Saturday, August 20 during Monterey Car Week.

My own daughters grew up watching Sally, and so its a special moment to be working so closely with Pixar on a project that has meaning and will directly help a new generation of children to both realize their potential and, in the case of the UNHCR, find safety and start new lives, said Kjell Gruner, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Inc.

The project, which began in November 2021, reunited members of the original Cars team who created both the movie car and the life-size Sally Carrera based on a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera two decades ago. That team included Jay Ward, Creative Director of Franchise at Pixar Animation Studios, and Bob Pauley, who, as Production Designer for Cars, sketched Sally for the first time 20 years ago. They were joined by key members of Porsche Exclusive Manufakturs Sonderwunsch team in Stuttgart, designers from Style Porsche in Weissach and Porsche Cars North America. Over a span of 10 months, the team worked together to create just one unique car.

The 911 Sally Special has been so much fun to create and is truly a first for us and for Porsche, said Jay Ward, Creative Director of Franchise of Pixar Animation Studios. We decided early on that we wanted to make a drivable 911, inspired by, but not a direct copy of Sally Carrera. After all, she loved to drive  and this helped guide us. If Sally Carrera was built today in life-size, for the road, what would she look like?

The Sally Special is based on the fastest, most engaging and agile 911 Carrera there is  the 473 hp 911 Carrera GTS  equipped with a manual gearbox to appeal to those who love driving, just like Sally Carrera. The changes to transform it into the Sally Special proved to be extensive, explained Boris Apenbrink, Director Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur Vehicles. This was one of the most intense, emotional and detailed Sonderwunsch projects our team has ever worked on. For example, the car is finished in a new and unique color  Sally Blue Metallic  developed specifically for the 911 Sally Special. Taking our inspiration from Sally Carrera, we finished as much of the car as possible in the new color, meaning dozens of tiny changes, many of which were carried out by hand, such were their intricacy. Of course, we didnt forget about Sallys pinstripe tattoo, which was an interesting challenge.

The Turbo inspired wheels fitted to Sally Carrera have been redesigned by Style Porsche designers in Weissach and created specifically for the 911 Sally Special. The five-spoke design has been subtly modified to match the 20/21-inch diameter of current-generation 911 wheels, but remain true to the Type 996 Porsche.

Porsche designer Daniela Milosevic led the team working with Pixar to develop not only the unique paint color but also almost every surface inside the car. All of which was either re-trimmed or changed in some way. We had a completely blank canvas to work from, which was great! In the movie, Sally was a former-lawyer from California who appreciated style and elegance. But she was also down to earth and had a sense of fun, said Milosevic. We continued the Sally Blue Metallic theme inside the car, with the obvious highlights and much more subtle elements too many little touches that will hopefully make the winning bidder smile. Everything had to be usable and practical  we really want this car to be driven. We created special cloth trim for this car and wove subtle blue highlights into it. Then we matched this with Chalk leather and Speed Blue and Chalk stitching. The best part has definitely been working on the details  including many little nods to the movie Cars, and to Sally Carrera herself.

Two charities will be the beneficiaries of the sale of the 911 Sally Special, with the entirety of the sale price being donated. Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold through direct service and advocacy. Operating from 76 sites across the United States and in Canada, Girls Inc. equips girls with the knowledge and skills to effect positive changes in their lives and become leaders who will change the world. We are grateful to Porsche and to Pixar for their commitment to this project, which will directly benefit our work, said Stephanie J. Hull, Ph.D., Girls Inc. President and CEO. The character of Sally, and what she represents, is a great role model for young girls and it is fitting that she should be helping a new generation achieve their dreams.

The project will also support USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which is working to provide urgent help to nearly 6.2 million refugees who have been displaced across Europe since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The majority of those forced to flee Ukraine are women and children, among them unaccompanied children and those separated from their parents, said Anne-Marie Grey, Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR. But there is reason to hope with the critical support of companies like Porsche and Pixar who have generously stepped up to help ensure their safety and protection in months to come.

The 911 Sally Special will be auctioned by RM Sothebys at its Monterey Sale on Saturday, August 20. Many special, and in most cases handmade, items amassed during the creation of the car will be presented in the car and included in the sale. It starts with a timepiece of which only one will be made, created by Porsche Design in collaboration with Pixar. As a suitable contrast to the natural titanium of the watch and a perfect match for the vehicle, the colored ring on the dial is painted in Sally Blue Metallic. The Chalk-colored leather strap with decorative stitching in Speed Blue underlines the sporty design of the Cars-inspired one-of-a-kind item. This strap can be exchanged quickly and without tools for an additional, second leather strap in Speed Blue with decorative stitching in Chalk if desired. A closer look at the chronograph reveals limited-edition numbering 001/001 to match the vehicle on the case back  mirroring the attention to detail exhibited on the car itself. The chronograph is powered by the COSC-certified Porsche Design chronograph caliber WERK 01.100, which was developed at Porsche Design Timepieces AG, Porsche Designs own watch Manufaktur in Solothurn, and designed and manufactured with Swiss craftsmanship.

In addition, the winning bidder will receive a second set of wheels in the Carrera Exclusive Design  mounted on a custom made rack  intended for track use, should the owner wish to fully exploit the performance of the car. Supporting this is an array of smaller items created during the development of the 911 Sally Special. These include a bespoke indoor car cover made by Porsche Tequipment, the original color molds used to finalize the paint for the car, the show plates for the car, a very special book charting the design and development of the car with images of its construction and a selection of original sketches by Porsche designer Suichi Yamashita and Pixars Cars Production Designer Bob Pauley. As with many elements of the project, only one book will be made.

Bidding for the car is open to U.S. residents, with more information to be found at https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mo22/monterey/lots/r0133-2022-porsche-911-sally-special/1270549. The 911 Sally Special can be seen at Monterey Car Week in the lead up to the auction.

Further information, film and photo material in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com

Attachments
All amounts expressed in US dollars.

TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD)(TSX:ABX) is contributing $150,000 to Balochistans Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to support its relief efforts in the wake of unprecedented floods in the region. Remote communities in the province were hardest hit by the heavy monsoon rains which killed more than 500 people in Pakistan.



In a phone call today with the provinces chief minister, Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow expressed the companys condolences on the loss of life and suffering inflicted on the people of Balochistan.

He said the contribution to the emergency fund was a demonstration of the spirit of partnership in which Barrick, Balochistan and Pakistan had embarked on the reconstitution and restart of the Reko Diq project, which holds one of the worlds largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits. Balochistan will have a 25% fully funded share in the project (10% free carried and 15% to be funded by the federal government). Pakistani state-owned enterprises will hold another 25% and Barrick, with 50%, will operate the mine.

Balochistan will benefit enormously from its stake in the mine. Even before construction starts, once the legalisation process has been completed and the project reconstituted, we will start implementing social development programs representing an estimated investment of $70 million over the construction period. In addition, Reko Diq will advance royalties of up to $5 million in the first year, up to $7.5 million in the second and up to $10 million thereafter until construction starts, Bristow said.

During peak construction the project is expected to employ approximately 7,500 people and once in production it will create 4,000 full-time jobs. Its policy of local procurement will stimulate the development of a robust local economy.

Reko Diq has an estimated life of at least 40 years, so it will be generating substantial benefits for its Balochistan stakeholders for generations to come, Bristow said.

Enquiries:

Kathy du Plessis

Investor and Media Relations

+44 20 7557 7738

Email: barrick@dpapr.com

Website: www.barrick.com

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

Certain information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release, including any information as to our strategy, projects, plans or future financial or operating performance, constitutes forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words embark, spirit, implement, reconstitute, estimate, approximately, future, plan, will and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to: Barricks planned contribution to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority in Balochistan; Reko Diqs status as one of the worlds largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits and the potential benefits for Balochistan from its development; the future ownership of the Reko Diq project, including the 25% fully funded share to be held by Balochistan; the proposed fiscal terms applicable to the Reko Diq project and the joint venture through which it will be held; the timeline and process for the reconstitution of a joint venture to carry out the future development and operation of the Reko Diq project; the contemplated life of mine of the Reko Diq project; the anticipated sharing of the benefits from the Reko Diq project with Barricks host governments and communities including investments in social development programs and the payment of advance royalties as well as potential levels of local employment during project construction and operation; and expectations regarding financial performance and other outlook or guidance.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions including material estimates and assumptions related to the factors set forth below that, while considered reasonable by Barrick as at the date of this press release in light of managements experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, copper or certain other commodities (such as diesel fuel, natural gas and electricity); the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; changes in mineral production performance, exploitation and exploration successes; risks associated with projects in the early stages of evaluation and development and for which additional technical, engineering and other analysis is required; disruption of supply routes which may cause delays in development, construction and mining activities; diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; increased costs, delays, suspensions and technical challenges associated with the construction of capital projects; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities, including geotechnical challenges and disruptions in the maintenance or provision of required infrastructure and information technology systems; failure to comply with environmental and health and safety laws and regulations; the failure to obtain key licenses by governmental authorities; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls or regulations and/or changes in the administration of laws, policies and practices; expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan or the Province of Balochistan; timing of receipt of, or failure to comply with, necessary permits and approvals; lack of certainty with respect to foreign legal systems, corruption and other factors that are inconsistent with the rule of law; risks associated with illegal and artisanal mining; risks associated with new diseases, epidemics and pandemics, including the effects and potential effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic; damage to Barricks reputation due to the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, including negative publicity with respect to the Barricks handling of environmental matters or dealings with community groups, whether true or not; the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with Barricks expectations; risks that exploration data may be incomplete and considerable additional work may be required to complete further evaluation, including but not limited to drilling, engineering and socioeconomic studies and investment; risk of loss due to acts of war, terrorism, sabotage and civil disturbances; litigation; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties, or over access to water, power and other required infrastructure; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, Barrick; risks associated with working with partners in jointly controlled assets; employee relations including loss of key employees; increased costs and physical risks, including extreme weather events and resource shortages related to climate change; and availability and increased costs associated with mining inputs and labor. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and gold bullion, copper cathode or gold or copper concentrate losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks).

Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Specific reference is made to the most recent Form 40-F/Annual Information Form on file with the SEC and Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors underlying forward-looking statements and the risks that may affect Barricks ability to achieve the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MCI Onehealth Technologies Inc. (MCI) (TSX: DRDR), a clinician-led healthcare technology company focused on increasing access to and quality of healthcare, and eye health specialist Euclid Telehealth, are collaborating to increase access to care that can curtail and potentially prevent vision loss among Ontario patients. The approach contributes to improved health outcomes, better quality of life and significant cost avoidance for the healthcare system.



Quick, convenient access to specialists with top-quality continuity of care is a cornerstone of the patient experience in MCIs high performance healthcare network. Through data-driven screening, MCI is helping physicians connect with patients that have potentially heightened risk of certain diseases, so our physicians can get them onto the right care pathways, said Jennifer Foster, Chief Operating Officer of MCI. MCI is firmly committed to our mission to make healthcare more accessible, affordable and ultimately safer and were grateful for innovative partners like Euclid who share this goal.

MCI is using its data insights infrastructure to help family physicians identify patients within their practices that might be at risk for eye disease. Patients are then contacted by MCI to confirm their interest in attending a diagnostic session provided by Euclid at the MCI clinic. Euclid brings its portable diagnostic equipment and expert Ophthalmologists. This physician-directed care pathway is so convenient and personalized that it encourages patient uptake of the service, with MCI and Euclid seeing up to 20 patients at each screening day. After the eye health assessment, Euclid ophthalmologists coordinate with the patient and their MCI physician for further appropriate monitoring, or any follow up care with a local optometrist or ophthalmologist. To date, hundreds of patients have gone through the program, including several for whom blindness might be prevented. Euclid-day clinics MCI sites happen based on patient need, currently occurring about once per week at multiple sites.

Early on, eye disease is not apparent to a person, and without screening can go undiagnosed until the disease is more advanced and vision loss is irreversible. Early detection, diagnosis and timely management of many eye conditions minimizes vision loss, and in some cases, can even restore vision, said Dr. Delan Jinapriya, Ophthalmologist, Surgeon & Founder Euclid Telehealth. Through a partnership with MCI, were identifying specific patient need and bringing the specialist to them. Through this innovative, patient-centered approach that improves access to eye health services, were reducing the incidence and slowing the progression of vision loss in the population.

Additionally, MCI and Euclid promote awareness of the risk factors and diagnostic options to potential patients outside of the MCI network and among MCI staff and physicians, such that even first-time patients with appropriate risk factors can be flagged and offered the right care pathway.

Prevention of eye disease is an important health and economic initiative

1 in 5 Canadians will develop significant, preventable, vision loss in their lifetime





More than 8 million Canadians are currently living with eye disease from one of the four defined main conditions, of which, 1.2 million have vision loss from their disease



The prevalence of eye disease doubles every decade over the age of 40, which underscores the need for vision screening,





Increasing prevalence of vision loss for patients leads to increased falls, motor vehicle accidents, depression, loss of mobility, and earlier death. There is a 29% higher risk of mortality for those with vision loss compared to those with unimpaired vision.





It is estimated that the total cost of vision loss in Canada was $32.9 billion in 2019, and is expected to grow to $56 billion by 2050





Approximately 71% of the total costs (wellbeing & healthcare system) due to vision loss are preventable.





With screening and early diagnosis, disease progression and vision loss often can be curtailed for prevalent eye diseases, including:



Age related macular degeneration (AMD), which left untreated leads to blindness



Cataracts



Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) a complication of diabetes



Glaucoma, a group of diseases that, while initially asymptomatic, damage the eye's optic nerve and results in blindness





MCIs collaboration with Euclid is another example of MCIs data-driven approach making a real impact for actual patients: disease screening, quick referral to specialists and personalized treatment. This approach helps identify, treat and monitor illness before it can further progress, creating economic savings on many levels. Similar data-driven programs are under way within the MCI network related to other speciality areas.

About MCI

MCI is a healthcare technology company focused on empowering patients and doctors with advanced technologies to increase access, improve quality, and reduce healthcare costs. As part of the healthcare community for over 30 years, MCI operates one of Canadas leading primary care networks with nearly 260 physicians and specialists, serves more than one million patients annually and had nearly 300,000 telehealth visits last year, including online visits via mciconnect.ca . MCI additionally offers an expanding suite of occupational health service offerings that support a growing list of nearly 600 corporate customers. Led by a proven management team of doctors and experienced executives, MCI remains focused on executing a strategy centered around acquiring technology and health services that complement the companys current roadmap. For more information, visit mcionehealth.com.

About Euclid Telehealth

Euclid Telehealth is an eye care telehealth company founded on the belief that every person deserves access to expert eye health care delivered by leading medical professionals. Preserving ones vision of the future allows people to maintain their independence to fully participate in their work, their personal relationships, and the chance to enjoy a higher quality of life. Utilizing cutting edge diagnostic technology, in convenient locations, in combination with our telemedicine platforms, Euclid aims to reduce the barriers to access expert Canadian Ophthalmologists, with the mission to reduce preventable vision loss. For more information, visit euclidtelehealth.org.

For media enquiries please contact:

Nolan Reeds | nolan@mcionehealth.com

Alan Banting | alan.banting@euclidtelehealth.org

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release, constitute forward-looking information and "forward looking statements" (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and are based on assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to the anticipated health benefits, cost savings and other advantages of MCIs collaboration with Euclid Telehealth, and references to other similar programs that are underway. The words to increase, potentially, to help, can be, expected, estimated, underway or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain future conditions, actions, events or results will, may, could, would, should, might or can, or negative versions thereof, occur, continue or be achieved, and other similar expressions, identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon managements perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as a number of specific factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by MCI as of the date of such statements, are outside of MCI's control and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies which could result in the forward-looking statements ultimately being entirely or partially incorrect or untrue. Forward looking statements contained in this press release are based on various assumptions, including, but not limited to, the following: MCIs ability to maintain its relationships and continue to implement its collaborations with Euclid Telehealth and other potential collaborators; the effects of competition in the industry; the requirement for increasingly innovative product solutions and service offerings; trends in customer growth; sufficiency of current working capital to support future operating and working capital requirements; the stability of general economic and market conditions; currency exchange rates and interest rates; MCI's ability to comply with applicable laws and regulations; MCI's continued compliance with third party intellectual property rights; the anticipated effects of COVID-19; and that the risk factors noted below, collectively, do not have a material impact on MCI's business, operations, revenues and/or results. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved.

Known and unknown risk factors, many of which are beyond the control of MCI, could cause the actual results of MCI to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include but are not limited to those factors which are discussed under the section entitled Risk Factors in MCI's annual information form dated March 31, 2022, which is available under MCI's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The risk factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect MCI and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about managements expectations and plans relating to the future. MCI disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements.
English Lithuanian

Extraordinary General meeting of LITGRID AB shareholders, initiated and decided by the Board, is summoned on 5 September 2022, 10:00 a.m. (company code 302564383, registered at Karlo Gustavo Emilio Manerheimo str. 8, Vilnius). The meeting will be held in room 229, at Karlo Gustavo Emilio Manerheimo str. 8, Vilnius. Beginning of shareholders' registration: 5 September 2022, 9:30 a.m. End of shareholders' registration: 5 September 2022, 9:55 a.m.

The record date of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders has been set for 29 August 2022. The right of participation and voting in the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders can be exercised only by the persons who remain shareholders of LITGRID AB by the end of the record date of the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.

Agenda and proposed draft resolutions of the general meeting of shareholders:

Regarding approval of LITGRID AB Boards decision of 12 August 2022 (minutes No. 18)

Proposed resolution:

1.1. To approve the creation of fixed assets by concluding the Design-Build Contract for the Construction of 330 kV switchyard "Musa" with Zilinskis ir Co, UAB, legal entity code 304317232, with registered office at Ateities pl. 31, Kaunas,

1.2. To approve the essential conditions of the Design-Build Contract for the 330 kV ETL Vilnius-Neris:

1.2.1. Parties to the Contract - LITGRID AB, legal entity code 302564383, registered office at Karlo Gustavo Emilio Manerheimo str. 8, Vilnius, and Zilinskis ir Co, UAB, legal entity code 304317232, registered office at Ateities pl. 31, Kaunas;

1.2.2. Object of the Contract: Design and construction works of 330 kV switchyard "Musa" (according to the conditions of contract for plant and design-built for electrical and mechanical works and for building and engineering works designed by the contractor, issued by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (Federation Internationale des Ingenieurs-Conceils, FIDIC) (Yellow Book), First Edition, 1999).

1.2.3. Term of the Contract - the Works must be performed in full scale and properly completed by 30 November 2025. The Contract is valid until the complete fulfilment of the contractual obligations by the Parties or termination of the Contract.

1.2.4. Contract Price and pricing, payment procedure, reserve:

1.2.4.1. The Contract Price is  15 177 000 excluding VAT

1.2.4.2. Pricing - price calculation method of fixed price with a review shall be applied.

1.2.4.3. Contract Price adjustments due to changed cost prices - Amounts payable to the Contractor for the Contract Works may be recalculated only if the value of the monthly construction cost price index Engineering Structures (Index) published by the Department of Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania changes more than 5 % in any period of execution of Works.

1.2.4.4. The Contract price can be recalculated no more than every 3 months after the last recalculation.

1.2.4.5. Reserve - not applicable.

1.2.5. Performance guarantees:

1.2.5.1. Performance Security (bank guarantee)  10 % of the Accepted Contract Amount (excluding VAT).

1.2.5.2. Guarantee of the Warranty Period:

1.2.5.2.1. for the first year after the date of the Construction Completion Certificate must be 10 % of the Contract price (excluding VAT),

1.2.5.2.2. for the second and third year after the date of the Construction Completion Certificate must be 5 % of the Contract price (excluding VAT).

1.2.6. Other conditions:

1.2.6.1. The existing 330 kV overhead line Viskali-Siauliai tap to Telsiai outage due to the built 330 kV switchyard "Musa" and part of the 330 kV overhead lines from the 330 kV switchyard "Musa" to the intersection with the existing overhead lines connection, as well as tasks in other transformer substations, which can only be performed with the existing 330 kV overhead lines mentioned above outage, possible up to a maximum of 3 months period. This outage is planned for the period from 2025.07 to 2025.09, but may change depending on the circumstances, independent/not entirely dependent on the Employers will.

1.3. To authorize the General Director of LITGRID AB without a separate decision of the Board of LITGRID AB to make decisions on changing the essential condition of the Contract  Contract Price  by reducing the price without any restrictions or increasing the price by concluding agreements on additional works and/or reasonable increase of the prices of materials/equipment, if the sum of the prices of all agreements on additional works does not exceed 10 % (i.e., EUR 1 517 700 excluding VAT) of the initial Contract Price.

1.4. To oblige the General Director of LITGRID AB to inform the Board by e-mail before the adoption of such decisions taken under the Clause 1.3 of the Decision on the amendment of the essential condition of the Contract.

Regarding approval of LITGRID AB Boards decision of 12 August 2022 (minutes No. 18)

Proposed resolution:

2.1. To approve the creation of fixed assets by concluding the Design-Build Contract for the 330 kV Electric Power Transmission Line (ETL) Vilnius-Neris with Zilinskis ir Co, UAB, legal entity code 304317232, registered office at Ateities pl. 31, Kaunas;

2.2. To approve the essential conditions of the Design-Build Contract for the 330 kV ETL Vilnius-Neris:

2.1. Parties of the Contract - LITGRID AB, legal entity code 302564383, registered office at Karlo Gustavo Emilio Manerheimo str. 8, Vilnius, and Zilinskis ir Co, UAB, legal entity code 304317232, registered office at Ateities pl. 31, Kaunas;

2.2.2. Object of the Contract: Design and construction works of 330 kV overhead power line Vilnius-Neris (according to the terms and conditions of the contract for construction and engineering works designed by the contractor, design and construction of electrical and mechanical devices and equipment, issued by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (Federation Internationale des Ingenieurs-Conceils, FIDIC) (Yellow Book), first edition 1999).

2.2.3. Term of the Contract - the Works must be performed in full scale and properly completed by 3rd November 2025. The Contract is valid until the complete fulfilment of the contractual obligations by the Parties or termination of the Contract. The term of completion of the Works may be extended by written agreement of the Parties due to the Force Majeure Circumstances or the performance of the Amendments in accordance with the procedure specified in the Contract.

2.2.4. Contract Price and pricing, payment procedure, reserve:

2.2.4.1. The Contract Price is  48,900,000 excluding VAT;

2.2.4.2. Pricing - price calculation method of fixed price with a review shall be applied.

2.2.4.3. Contract Price adjustments due to changed cost prices - Amounts payable to the Contractor for the Contract Works may be recalculated only if the value of the monthly construction cost price index Engineering Structures (hereinafter - Index) published by the Department of Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania (www.stat.gov.lt) changes: (A) by more than 3% in any period of execution of the Works. The Contract Price can be recalculated no more than every 3 months after the last recalculation. The period is any period, the beginning of which is no earlier than the date of the end of the deadline for submission of final offers to the Procurement, and the end of which is no later than the date of the conclusion of the last Act of Works performed under the Contract. The deadline for revision of the first Contract Price does not apply. After that, the Contract Price can be revised no more often than every 3 months.

2.2.4.4. Contract Price changes due to changes in quantities (scopes) - when the scope of Works (and in certain cases - quantities) are changed in cases provided for by the Laws or the Contract, the Contract Price must be increased by adding the price of Additional works, and reduced by subtracting the price of rejected works.

2.2.4.5. Reserve - not applicable.

2.2.4.6. Advance payment (advance) - The Contractor will have the right to receive advance payment (advance) - up to 40% of the Accepted Contract amount excluding VAT. Advance payment is divided into two payments:

2.2.4.6.1. 10% (disbursement terms  prepayment invoice submitted within 30 days from the date of conclusion of the Contract, if this invoice is not submitted on time, no prepayment is made);

2.2.4.6.2. 30%* (disbursement terms - prepayment invoice and prepayment bank guarantee are submitted no later than 8 months from the date of conclusion of the Contract, if this invoice and bank guarantee are not submitted in time, no prepayment is made).

*The Contractor has the right to choose the amount of advance payment to contact the Customer.

2.2.5. Measures to secure the obligations:

2.2.5.1. Ensuring the performance of the Contract (bank guarantee)  10% of the accepted Contract amount (exclusive of VAT) for the entire Project.

2.2.5.2. Ensuring the warranty period:

2.2.5.2.1. for the first year after the date of the Construction Completion Act - 10% of the Contract price (excluding VAT).

2.2.5.2.2. for the second and third years after the date of the Construction Completion Act - 5% of the Contract price (excluding VAT).

2.3. To authorize the General Director of LITGRID AB without a separate decision of the Board of LITGRID AB to make decisions on changing the essential condition of the Contract  Contract Price  by reducing the price without any restrictions or increasing the price by concluding agreements on additional works and/or reasonable increase of the prices of materials/equipment, if the sum of the prices of all agreements on additional works does not exceed 10% (i.e., EUR 4,890,000 excluding VAT) of the initial Contract Price.

2.4. To oblige the General Director of LITGRID AB to inform the Board by e-mail before the adoption of such decisions taken under the Clause 2.3 of the Decision on the amendment of the essential condition of the Contract.

2.5. Determine that this decision will come into force if the Central Project Management Agency will coordinate the completed Public Procurement procedures and the procurement documentation.

Regarding approval of LITGRID AB Boards decision of 12 August 2022 (minutes No. 18)

Proposed resolution:

3.1. To approve the creation of fixed assets by concluding the 330/110/10 kV Kruonio HAE 330 kV switchyard reconstruction design and contract works contract with AB Kauno tiltai, legal entity code 133729589, with registered office at Ateities pl. 46, Kaunas,

3.2. To approve the essential conditions of the 330/110/10 kV Kruonio HAE 330 kV switchyard reconstruction design and contract works contract:

3.2.1. Parties of the Contract: LITGRID AB (hereinafter - "Customer No. 1"), a company established and operating under the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, legal entity code 302564383, registered office at Karlo Gustavo Emilio Manerheimo str. 8, Vilnius, AB Ignitis gamyba (hereinafter - "Customer No. 2"), a company established and operating under the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, legal entity code 302648707, registered office at Elektrines g. 21, Elektrenai, and AB Kauno tiltai (hereinafter - "Contractor"), a company established and operating under the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, legal entity code 133729589, registered office at Ateities pl. 46, Kaunas.

3.2.2. Object of the Contract: 330/110/10 kV Kruonio HAE 330 kV switchyard (Kauno apskr., Kaisiadoriu r. sav., Kruonio sen., Vaiguvos k. 1) reconstruction design and contract works contract (according to the standard terms and conditions of the LITGRID AB standard design and construction works procurement contract, approved by the Order No. 21IS-223 of the General Director of 1 December 2021).

3.2.3. Term of the Contract  Customer No. 1 until 2026 December 31. Customer No. 2 until 2023 March 31. The Contract is valid until the parties have fully fulfilled their contractual obligations or terminated the Contract.

3.2.4. Contract Price and pricing, payment procedure, reserve:

3.2.4.1. The Contract Price  51 898 900  excluding VAT (The Contract Price consists of Customer No. 1 and Customer No. 2 separate parts: Customer No. 1 Part of the Contract Price - 51 861 000,00  excluding VAT; Customer No. 2 Part of the Contract Price - 37 900,00  excluding VAT).

3.2.4.2. 10% of the Customer No. 1 Part of the Contract Price (excluding VAT) advance payment is paid to the Contractor when, according to the Contract, the Contractor must prepare a Technical Project and perform reconstruction or new construction Works.

3.2.4.3. Pricing - price calculation method of fixed price with a review shall be applied. If the value of the monthly construction cost price index "All buildings" (hereinafter - Index) published by the Statistics Department of the Republic of Lithuania (www.stat.gov.lt) within 3 months or longer, which is calculated from the conclusion of the Contract (or from the last recalculation of the Contract Price due to a change in the Index, if the Contract Price was recalculated), changed by 1.25% or more, the Contract Price may be recalculated at the initiative of either Party.

3.2.4.4. Reserve - not applicable.

3.2.5. Measures to secure the obligations:

3.2.5.1. Ensuring the performance of the Contract (bank guarantee)  A first demand, unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantee is acceptable to the Customer. The amount of insurance - 10 percent. from separate Customer No. 1 part of the initial Contract Price to be paid (excluding VAT).

3.2.5.2. Ensuring the warranty period - The Contractor, after the day of handing over all the Works under the Contract to the Customer No. 1 or after the termination of the Contract, must provide to the Customer No. 1 a three-year Bank guarantee, which ensures the Contractor's warranty and other obligations, which are valid from the date of handover of all Works under the Contract to the Customer No. 1, including in the event of the Contractor's insolvency or bankruptcy, ensuring the payment of the costs of removing defects caused by the Contractor's fault, identified during the first 3 years of the construction warranty period, to the Customer No. 1. The amount of guarantee obligations is 5 percent. from Customer No. 1 part of the Contract Price (excluding VAT).

3.3. To authorize the General Director of LITGRID AB without a separate decision of the Board of LITGRID AB to make decisions on changing the essential condition of the Contract  Contract Price  by reducing the price without any restrictions or increasing the price by concluding agreements on additional works and/or reasonable increase of the prices of materials/equipment, if the sum of the prices of all agreements on additional works does not exceed 10% (i.e., EUR 5,186,000 excluding VAT) of the Customer No. 1 part of the Contract Price.

3.4. To oblige the General Director of LITGRID AB to inform the Board by e-mail before the adoption of such decisions taken under the Clause 3.3. of the Decision on the amendment of the essential condition of the Contract.

The shareholders may familiarize themselves with the Draft Resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders and supplementary material thereof, also with the implementation of the shareholders rights on the Central Database of Regulated Information www.crib.lt and at Companys website www.litgrid.eu.

The shareholders of the Company, whose shares are entitled to at least 1/20 of the total number of votes, shall have the right to supplement the agenda for the General Meeting of Shareholders. The proposal to supplement the agenda shall be submitted in writing and sent by registered mail or delivered to the head office of the Company to the address: Karlo Gustavo Emilio Manerheimo st. 8, LT-05131 Vilnius (the Head Office). Draft Resolutions on the proposed issues or, when it is not mandatory to adopt resolutions, explanatory notes on each proposed issue of the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders must be presented alongside with the proposal. The agenda will be supplemented if the proposal is received not later than on 14 August 2022.

The shareholders entitled to at least 1/20 of the total number of votes shall have the right, at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders or during the Meeting, to propose in writing new draft resolutions on the items put on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders. Such a proposals must be executed in writing and sent to the Company by registered mail or delivered to the Head Office of the Company. The proposal submitted during the course of the Meeting must be executed in writing and handed over to the Secretary of the General Meeting of Shareholders.

The shareholders shall have the right to submit questions to the Company in advance, but not later than on 30 August 2022, in relation to the issues on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on 5 September 2022. Questions must be executed in writing and delivered to the Company by registered mail or to the Head Office of the Company. The Company will not present any answer to the question submitted by a shareholder personally to him in the case relevant information is available on the Companys website www.litgrid.eu.

Any shareholder shall be entitled to authorize a natural or legal person to participate and vote in his name at the General Meeting of Shareholders. The proxy of the shareholder must present the document confirming the persons identity and the certified Power of Attorney issued and valid in accordance with the law, which must be delivered to the Head Office not later than before the end of the registration of the attendees of the General Meeting of Shareholders. During the General Meeting of Shareholders, the proxy exercises the same rights as the shareholder he is representing should. The form of the Power of Attorney to represent at the General Meeting of Shareholders is available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu .

The shareholders who have the right to take part in the general meeting of shareholders shall have the right to authorize, by electronic communication means, a natural person or a legal entity to take part and vote in their name in the general meeting of shareholders. This proxy shall not be certified by a notary. The Company shall acknowledge the proxy issued by electronic means of communication only in case where the shareholder signs it using electronic signature created using secure signature software and approved by the appropriate certificate valid in the Republic of Lithuania, i.e. if the security of transmitted information is ensured and the shareholder can be identified. The shareholder is obliged to notify the Company in writing about the proxy issued by the means of electronic communication sending it by e-mail at info@litgrid.eu until the close of business day (4:30 p.m.) of 2 September 2022.

On the issues on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Shareholders may vote in writing by filling in a General Ballot Paper. On the shareholders request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the day of the General Meeting of Shareholders, will send a General Ballot Paper by registered mail free of charge or submit it in person against signature to the shareholder. The shareholder or his proxy must undersign the filled in General Ballot Paper. If the General Ballot Paper is signed by a person who is not a shareholder, a document certifying his right to vote must be appended to the filled in Ballot Paper. The duly filled in General Ballot Paper must be delivered to the Company by registered mail or submitted against signature at the Head Office not later than before the end of registration of the attendees of the General Meeting of Shareholders. The form of the General Ballot Paper is available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu.

On the day of convocation of the General Meeting of the Shareholders the total number of shares was 504 331 380. All these shares grant voting right.

Information referred to in Articles 262 of the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania shall be available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu. Information about the additions to the agenda, as well as decisions made by the general meeting shall be also available on the Central Database of Regulated Information www.crib.lt .

No electronic communication means will be used for participation and voting in the general meeting of shareholders.

The shareholders shall have the right to submit questions to the Company in advance, but not later than on 30 August 2022, in relation to the issues on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on 5 September 2022. Questions must be executed in writing and delivered to the Company by registered mail or to the Head Office of the Company. The Company will not present any answer to the question submitted by a shareholder personally to him in the case relevant information is available on the Companys website www.litgrid.eu.

Any shareholder shall be entitled to authorize a natural or legal person to participate and vote in his name at the General Meeting of Shareholders. The proxy of the shareholder must present the document confirming the persons identity and the certified Power of Attorney issued and valid in accordance with the law, which must be delivered to the Head Office not later than before the end of the registration of the attendees of the General Meeting of Shareholders. During the General Meeting of Shareholders, the proxy exercises the same rights as the shareholder he is representing should. The form of the Power of Attorney to represent at the General Meeting of Shareholders is available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu .

The shareholders who have the right to take part in the general meeting of shareholders shall have the right to authorize, by electronic communication means, a natural person or a legal entity to take part and vote in their name in the general meeting of shareholders. This proxy shall not be certified by a notary. The Company shall acknowledge the proxy issued by electronic means of communication only in case where the shareholder signs it using electronic signature created using secure signature software and approved by the appropriate certificate valid in the Republic of Lithuania, i.e. if the security of transmitted information is ensured and the shareholder can be identified. The shareholder is obliged to notify the Company in writing about the proxy issued by the means of electronic communication sending it by e-mail at info@litgrid.eu until the close of business day (4:30 p.m.) of 2 September 2022.

On the issues on the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Shareholders may vote in writing by filling in a General Ballot Paper. On the shareholders request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the day of the General Meeting of Shareholders, will send a General Ballot Paper by registered mail free of charge or submit it in person against signature to the shareholder. The shareholder or his proxy must undersign the filled in General Ballot Paper. If the General Ballot Paper is signed by a person who is not a shareholder, a document certifying his right to vote must be appended to the filled in Ballot Paper. The duly filled in General Ballot Paper must be delivered to the Company by registered mail or submitted against signature at the Head Office not later than before the end of registration of the attendees of the General Meeting of Shareholders. The form of the General Ballot Paper is available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu.

On the day of convocation of the General Meeting of the Shareholders the total number of shares was 504 331 380. All these shares grant voting right.

Information referred to in Articles 262 of the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania shall be available on the website of the Company: www.litgrid.eu. Information about the additions to the agenda, as well as decisions made by the general meeting shall be also available on the Central Database of Regulated Information www.crib.lt .

No electronic communication means will be used for participation and voting in the general meeting of shareholders.

Annexe:

1. General ballot paper.

The individual authorized by LITGRID AB to provide additional information on the material event:

Jurga Eivaite

Communications Manager

tel. +370 613 19977

e-mail: jurga.eivaite@litgrid.eu





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Waxahachie, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Waxahachie, Texas -

The Iskandar Complex Hernia Center, based in Waxahachie, TX has published a new article on Abdominal Core Health. The Center primarily focuses on treating hernia patients, and their team makes it a point to keep up with the latest advances in all associated fields. As such, they believe Abdominal Core Health can prove to be immensely useful in future treatments.

According to the article, the abdominal core is made up of the muscles and supporting structures in the front, sides and back (in addition to the diaphragm above and the pelvic muscles below). There are a total of 29 muscles that are considered the abdominal core. An individual tends to utilize their core muscle strength  and the support these muscles provide the rest of their body  to participate in most activities, even those as simple as walking, and low abdominal core health can drastically reduce their quality of life as well as the function and stability of the abdominal core.

A new concept in the treatment of abdominal wall diseases is abdominal core health, the article states. Members of the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative (ACHQC; previously the Americas Hernia Society Quality Collaborative, or AHSQC) aim to redefine the hernia care field in surgery as abdominal core health, noting that abdominal core health encompasses more than just hernia repairs. In the past, diseases that affect abdominal strength or diseases of the abdominal core were treated separately.

This concept now requires that due consideration be given to the interactions between the abdominal wall, diaphragm, pelvic floor and lower back since they can have an impact on the bodys overall health. In fact, the article goes so far as to encourage people to take measures to maintain the strength of their core muscles, simply to sustain a reasonable standard of everyday function. However, it also aids in injury prevention, posture improvement, lower back pain relief (since it reduces the load on the spine) and more.

According to The Iskandar Complex Hernia Center, their team needs to keep abdominal core health in mind because any issues here could influence or even lead to adverse reactions in the front section of the abdomen, which is where hernias and other conditions tend to develop. A seemingly basic problem may become rather challenging if not addressed with a holistic multidisciplinary approach, the article notes. Because all of these sections are interdependent and associated with one another, they have the potential to affect other, more remote regions of the body. This is the reason why every patient should start out with a treatment plan and an individualized approach that has been carefully planned by a team of specialists.

Another reason abdominal core health should be considered is the simple fact that non-surgical, non-invasive treatments are generally given preference when addressing a specific condition. A patient, for instance, may wish to engage in physical therapy that strengthens their abdominal core in certain situations. In fact, this is often required after surgery to ensure the muscles and tissues rebuild as intended. The article clarifies, preoperative rehabilitation to help you build strength would be beneficial, as would quitting smoking, losing weight and managing your diabetes. Postoperative physical therapy will help speed your recovery.

There are many methods by which abdominal core health can be maintained. In addition to core exercises and physical therapy, the article says medical therapy, yoga (also known as alternative medical therapies), surgical intervention and disease prevention strategies can contribute to this goal. If the patient has undergone surgery, it is vital that they take measures to rehabilitate their abdominal core, preserving function and flexibility as they heal.

Should surgery be required, however, a patients best hope of a successful outcome would rest in the hands of a qualified, experienced surgeon. Dr. Mazen Iskandar of The Iskandar Complex Hernia Center, for instance, specializes in resolving hernias, and he has long been aware of how the abdominal core impacts the whole body.

The article provides more information on abdominal core health, but Dr. Iskandar and his team encourage all interested parties to get in touch if they have a pressing health concern that may involve a hernia. The Centers website also hosts many other articles on hernias and related topics.

###

For more information about The Iskandar Complex Hernia Center, contact the company here:



The Iskandar Complex Hernia Center

Mazen Iskandar

info@iskandarcenter.com

The Iskandar Complex Hernia Center

2460 I-35E Suite 215-B

Waxahachie, TX 75165
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Florida's premier executive membership organization, Vistage Florida, has announced the selection of its new Chief Executive Officer, Cindy Hesterman.

Hesterman, a Tampa Bay-area chair for more than 20 years, succeeds board member Mike Earley, who was named CEO when Kelly Scott passed away unexpectedly in October 2021. Kelly Scott, the son of Horatio Alger award winner Red Scott, had headed the Florida operation owned by his father for nearly 10 years. Vistage Florida was established in 1984.

Prior to becoming a Vistage Florida Chair, Hesterman had a successful career as a CPA and CFO with both privately held and public companies. She participated in IPOs and privatizations and has extensive M&A experience. Controlling stakeholder, Katherine Scott, emphasized the company's intent to work closely with the 27,000-member international organization, Vistage Worldwide, while remaining privately owned. "Our goal," said Scott, "is to help lead the state's business community and continue to grow our Florida economy."

Statistics show Vistage Worldwide members outperform nonmember companies by double digits. Vistage Florida now has 42 chairs providing services to more than 800 executive members who lead companies employing more than 100,000 workers in 13 Florida markets and grossing $30 billion in sales.

Commenting on her appointment, Hesterman said, "Having been involved in this organization for over 20 years, first as a member, then as a Chair, I am passionate about Vistage Florida and the impact we have on businesses throughout the state. It will be a privilege to be able to work with this talented team to achieve our vision of growth in order to help even more CEOs become better leaders, make better decisions, and achieve better results."

Regarding recession concerns, Hesterman continued, "While the doomsayers may prompt some into making fear-based, short-term decisions in their businesses, our Vistage Florida members are choosing to seek opportunities to invest for the long term. As a result, many of them are enjoying record years. Our goal," the new CEO said, "is to leverage Vistage's successful peer group model, which has been proven over six decades, and take Vistage Florida to a new level."

Hesterman is taking over as Vistage Florida CEO immediately. Mike Earley, who retired as CEO of Metropolitan Health Networks in 2013, will maintain his position on Vistage Florida's board of directors, serving as its Chairman.

For additional information or media inquiries, call (904) 636-0770.

Related Images











Image 1: Cindy Hesterman





Cindy Hesterman, newly appointed CEO of Vistage Florida









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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English French

August 12, 2022

Conditions of availability of information prepared

in connection with the Combined Shareholders Meeting

to be held September 6, 2022

Shareholders are invited to participate to the Combined Shareholders Meeting to be held on:

Tuesday September 6, 2022 at 2:00 pm,

Espace Saint-Martin  199 bis rue Saint-Martin  75003 Paris (France)

The Preliminary Notice of Meeting worth Notice of Meeting (avis prealable de reunion valant avis de convocation), including agenda and proposed resolutions was published in the French Bulletin des annonces legales obligatoires (BALO) on August 1st, 2022.

The documents referred to in article R. 225-83 of the French Commercial Code are made available to shareholders as of this date, in accordance with applicable regulations:

any shareholder holding registered shares may request that the Company sends these documents at no charge, up to and including the fifth day prior to the Meeting (for shareholders holding bearer shares, the exercise of this right is subject to the submission of a certificate of participation issued by their financial institution);





any shareholder may consult these documents at the Companys registered office, up to the fifteenth day prior to the Meeting.





Documents referred to in article R. 22-10-23 of the French Commercial Code may be consulted on the Companys website: www.technicolor.com.

* *

*

About Technicolor

www.technicolor.com  Follow us: @Technicolor  linkedin.com/company/technicolor

Technicolor shares are on the Euronext Paris exchange (TCH) and traded in the USA on the OTCQX marketplace (OTCQX: TCLRY).

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TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alkaline Fuel Cell Power Corp. (NEO: PWWR) (OTCQB:ALKFF) (Frankfurt: 77R, WKN: A3CTYF) (AFCP or the Company), a diversified investment platform developing affordable, renewable, and reliable energy assets and cleantech, is pleased to announce today that the Company has filed its financial and operating results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2022. Select financial and operational information is outlined below and should be read in concert with AFCPs consolidated financial statements and managements discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the second quarter and first half 2022, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on AFCPs website at www.fuelcellpower.com.



AFCP is diversifying its investments into more immediate revenue generating investments such as its CHP assets, and improving its ability to bring its fuel cells to market, quicker, commented Frank Carnevale, Chief Executive Officer. Investors want a more de-risked investment platform, and were on our way to delivering.

Q2 2022 Financial Highlights

AFCP realized significant progress and advancements during the second quarter of 2022, including the following highlights:

~5% increase in Total Assets of over first two quarters of 2022 from $8.968 million to $9.413 million;

Achieved a 71% reduction in year-over-year quarterly operating expenses compared to Q2 2021, positioning AFCP to benefit from a much lower monthly cash burn rate;

Recorded a significantly lower net loss of $1.4 million in Q2 2022 compared to a net loss of $5.0 million during the same period in 2021, primarily due to a decrease in stock-based compensation with partial offsets attributable to increased activities during 2022;

Initial preliminary revenue generation of $46.5 thousand from the partial quarter from the PWRR Flow business and the corresponding ~$1 million in equipment value from operating entity; and

Exited the quarter with working capital of $2.2 million and cash on hand of $3.1 million compared to working capital of $6.1 million and cash on hand of $5.9 million at December 31, 2021.



Outlook

As reported on June 20, 2022, the Company provided an outlook for the for balance of 2022 and over the longer-term. The Company will continue to update on the success over the coming months. Outlined below are a few of the objectives:

Corporate Initiatives

Enhance financial flexibility by exploring opportunities to leverage the use of flow-through shares to minimize AFCPs equity requirements for ongoing development and advancement of CHP projects;

to minimize AFCPs equity requirements for ongoing development and advancement of CHP projects; Identify, nurture and execute on strategic acquisitions of additional attractive energy assets, earnings-positive service companies in the power and energy space, and/or synergistic clean technology assets or companies; and

Source and secure working capital for acquisitions and growth capital, as may be required.



Ongoing Growth of PWWR Flow Streams

Expand the Companys asset installation base leveraging our ongoing revenue and earnings generated through PWWR Flow as we continue to develop the $50 million worth of PWWR Flow projects in our pipeline over the next two years.



Continue to Progress Commercialization of Fuel Cell Power NV

Achieve next critical milestone on the path to achieving a fully functioning 4kW fuel cell system within a laboratory configuration;

Further accelerate and ramp up efforts to bring fuel cells to market, globally;

Develop and implement strategies to establish large-scale and cost-effective fuel cell manufacturing capabilities; and

Secure additional strategic partnerships for the piloting and deployment of fuel cells in North America.

ABOUT ALKALINE FUEL CELL POWER CORP. (NEO: PWWR)

AFCP is a diversified investment platform developing affordable, renewable, and reliable energy assets and cleantech. We bring Power to the People today, combining a stable revenue stream with a future-forward vision to commercialize our advanced hydrogen fuel cell technology to meet the massive global market need, and ultimately generate compelling returns for investors.

AFCP operates through two global entities: Fuel Cell Power NV, a wholly owned subsidiary in Belgium, and PWWR Flow Streams (PWWR Flow), an AFCP brand in Canada.

Fuel Cell Power NV is focused on the development, production and commercialization of micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems based on advanced alkaline fuel cell technology that generates zero CO2 emissions. Fuel Cell Power NV is working through milestones to deliver a commercialized alkaline fuel cell in 2024.

is focused on the development, production and commercialization of micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems based on advanced alkaline fuel cell technology that generates zero CO2 emissions. Fuel Cell Power NV is working through milestones to deliver a commercialized alkaline fuel cell in 2024. PWWR Flow is focused on the development, ownership and operations of combined heat and power (CHP) assets. PWWR Flow assets deliver efficiency improvements of over 20% with reduced costs to customers in multi-residential and commercial applications. PWWR Flow has contracted existing CHP assets in Toronto, Canada, and has an additional pipeline of potential contracts valued at over $50 million currently in development.

AFCP is well positioned to deliver Power to the People in the global energy transition while offering a diversified cleantech growth platform for investors.

Further information is available on the Company website at https://www.fuelcellpower.com/, and the Company encourages investors and other interested stakeholders to follow it on:

LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Common shares are listed for trading on the NEO Exchange (NEO) under the symbol PWWR, the OTC Venture Exchange OTCQB under the symbol ALKFF and on the Frankfurt Exchange under symbol 77R and WKN A3CTYF.

For further information, please contact:

Frank Carnevale

Chief Executive Officer

+1 (647) 531-8264

fcarnevale@fuelcellpower.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking 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 forward-looking statements or information. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, believes or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might, occur or achieve. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Companys technology, intellectual property, business plan, objectives and strategy.

Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward- looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

NEITHER THE NEO EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE NEO EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Washington, D.C., Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed its first lawsuit challenging vaccine mandates over a year ago on behalf of George Mason University law professor Todd Zywicki. This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finally followed the science and acknowledged the scientific fact that NCLA has defended all alongit makes no sense to treat people who are naturally immune to Covid-19 differently from those who have been vaccinated against the virus. This science was known and available to everyone this time last year when NCLA relied on the expert testimony of renowned epidemiologists, including Drs. Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, who have long explained that forcing a Covid-recovered person with natural immunity to take a vaccine that provides virtually no benefit, while risking adverse effects, is not rational.

CDC eased its Covid-19 guidance on Thursday, stating that Covid-19 prevention recommendations no longer differentiate based on a persons vaccination status. Despite being comprised of unelected bureaucrats and lacking rule-making power from Congress, CDC has issued edicts during the entirety of the pandemic that have disrupted American life. Governments and employers alike have followed this guidance uncriticallywhich was hard to challenge in court since it was not final agency actiontreating it as though it carries the force of law. Now, in a sudden about-face, the agency claims that due to breakthrough infections and naturally acquired immunity, there is no reason to treat vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals differently. CDC earlier chose to ignore or discount the voluminous proof, available for well over a year, that naturally acquired immunity was as or more protective than that achieved through vaccination. The agency chose to promote politically-motivated, flawed studies that reached unwarranted conclusions.

NCLA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, has advocated for recognition of natural immunity in numerous lawsuits, demand letters, op-eds, and on radio and television for over a year. We have sued over government-mandated vaccines or quarantine policies based on CDCs flawed guidanceNorris v. Michigan State University, Rodden v. Fauci, Skoly v. McKee, Vanderstelt v. Biden, Zywicki v. George Mason University, and McArthur v. Brabrand. In each lawsuit, Plaintiffs argued that given their demonstrated natural immunity, the government cannot claim a compelling interest in overriding their long-recognized constitutional rights to bodily autonomy and to decline medical treatment by forcing them to be vaccinated or punishing them for refusing.

To add insult to injury, these unconstitutional, unscientific mandates were accomplished not through democratic means, but through usurpation of legislative authority by unelected, unaccountable administrators. All public and private employers who have fired naturally immune people, including NCLA clients, should rehire them ASAP.

NCLA released the following statements:

From the very beginning, NCLA challenged discrimination against the naturally immune by the government and employers. We consulted top scientists and poured over multiple studies, which all confirmed that natural immunity is at least as effective as a vaccine. Unfortunately, it is too late for tens of thousands of Americans, who lost their livelihoods for merely exercising their constitutional rights to bodily autonomy by declining an experimental vaccine that was medically unnecessary for them. CDC should apologize to all naturally immune Americans who were coerced into getting vaccinated or fired because of the agencys deceptive, irrational, unscientific guidanceand employers should rehire those workers immediately.

 Jenin Younes, Litigation Counsel, NCLA

It is a scandal of the first order that it took CDC more than a year to admit the science around natural immunity. Worse, it appears CDC knew the science but deliberately misled the American people in order to wield unlawful administrative power.

 Philip Hamburger, Founder and Chairman of the Board, NCLA

Government scientists at multiple federal agencies told a Big Lie about natural immunityand silenced those speaking the truthto encourage everyone to get vaccinated. Congress never gave CDC rulemaking authority, yet federal courts bowed down to CDC guidance like it was holy writ. Never again should black-robed judges stand by while white-coated bureaucrats trample individual liberties in the name of compliance.

 Mark Chenoweth, President and General Counsel, NCLA

ABOUT NCLA

NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.

###
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McLaren is busy behind the scenes putting together the team for next season. Where Daniel Ricciardo seems to be leaving, there is a significant chance that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will form a team together. According to Mario Andretti, however, there is another talent who could handle that, he told Motorlat.

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Andretti sees a great talent in Colton Herta, who races at Andretti Autosport. The 22-year-old American signed a contract with McLaren at the beginning of this year to take part in the test programme. The driver was also allowed to test the 2021 McLaren car in Portugal in July.

"Just recently the test that he had in Portugal with McLaren, I know a little bit more about it than what has been revealed," Andretti let us know. "And its pretty darn good. As far as his Formula One ambitions, he will do well there. His future is bright, no question."

Goodbye Ricciardo not easy for McLaren

For now, however, McLaren seem to be going for Piastri, although it won't be easy to buy out Ricciardo's one-year contract. It has been reported that the Australian will receive around 14 million euros if the team wants to end the partnership prematurely.

Nevertheless, the British team is determined to bring a breath of fresh air to the team next season. With Norris and Piastri in its ranks, McLaren hopes to usher in a new era, allowing it to fight for the world title again.
China denounces Lithuanian official's visit to Taiwan

(People's Daily App) 16:29, August 12, 2022

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Thursday denounced a Lithuanian official's visit to China's Taiwan region, warning that China will take resolute countermeasures.

According to media reports, Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute arrived in Taiwan with a delegation on Aug. 7 for a five-day visit.

"China strongly condemns the Lithuanian anti-China forces for their deliberate violation of China's sovereignty and gross interference in China's internal affairs," Wang told a daily news briefing.

Wang said the one-China principle is one of the basic norms of international relations and the political foundation for China to develop bilateral relations with other countries, including Lithuania.

The communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Lithuania states clearly that the government of the Republic of Lithuania recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and Taiwan as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and that the government of the Republic of Lithuania undertakes the obligation not to establish official relations or engage in official contacts with Taiwan, according to the spokesperson.

"However, the Lithuanian side repeatedly breaks its promises, which is a blatant breach of faith," said Wang, adding that China will firmly retaliate against the vicious provocation by the Lithuanian side, as it harms the one-China principle and undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We urge the relevant people on the Lithuanian side not to continue serving as pawns of 'Taiwan independence' and anti-China forces, still less head further down the wrong path," Wang said.

(With input from Xinhua; Subtitles by Li Peitian)

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)


Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition has filed an urgent court application to challenge polices refusal to grant it permission to hold a prayer rally against human rights violations and criminalization of human rights work.

In a tweet, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said, We have filed an urgent chamber application against @PoliceZimbabwes decision to block our prayer rally.

The organization said the police have become judges in their own trial by banning its prayer rally.

Zimbabwean police on Wednesday refused to grant Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition permission to stage the protest on Friday.

In a letter signed by Harare Central Districts Chief Superintendent, G. Moyo, and addressed to Peter Mutasa, police said the demonstration will break some local laws.

The letter reads in part, This office brings to your attention that your intended demonstration violates section 10(1)(a) of Maintenance of Peace and Order Act Chapter 11:23 therefore the demonstration is not sanctioned.

The same police chief on July 18, 2022, also declined to sanction the march, noting that Im not in a position to sanction the demonstration. You did not comply with section 7 of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act chapter 11:23.

Crisis in Zimbabwe appealed against the first police ban, stressing that they will go ahead with the demonstration if their request for a peaceful march is turned down again by the police. voa
XPENG unveiled the interior and major features of the G9, the companys next all-electric SUV, prior to its launch in China this September. The G9 features XPENGs new powertrain system using Chinas first 800 V mass-production Silicon Carbide (SiC) platform, allowing it to add up to 200 km of CLTC range in as little as five minutes; G9 offers a maximum CLTC range of 702 km (436 miles), leading the class of mid-size SUVs.





To take full advantage of the 800 V platform, XPENG is also rolling out its new 480 kW S4 supercharging piles to deliver a superior charging experience for customers.

XPENG G9 has a peak motor power of 405 kW (front: 175 kW; rear: 230 kW) and a peak torque of 717 Nm. The chassis is tuned by specialist engineers based in Germany; G9 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in around three seconds.

The SUV adopts an advanced multi-link suspension system at the front as well as double-chamber air suspension. This provides a wider range of stiffness adjustments that, in combination with XPENGs Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), helps the car handle complex road conditions with ease.





G9 incorporates the industrys first full-scenario ADAS. Featuring 31 lidar sensors, dual NVIDIA DRIVE Orin-X intelligent assisted driving chips, and Gigabit Ethernet communication architecture, the G9 has powerful sensing capabilities and up to 508 TOPS of computing power.

The ADAS in G9 allows for a smooth transition between different driving scenarios, from passing through car parks and low-speed areas to driving on city roads and highways.

The G9 is equipped with the first mass-produced interactive 3D user interface system in the industry, providing a unique and intuitive experience. The 14.96" dual screen is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip; both primary and secondary displays can be switched and shared seamlessly. The 3D multimedia system projects the real world onto the screen, providing real-time feedback during driving, thus enhancing the immersive experience.





The G9 also features a brand-new voice assistant that responds to dialogue from all four zones of the car while delivering millisecond response and a fully-deployed local voice system that enables easy communication even when the network is unavailable.

XPENG G9 will be officially launched in China this September, with deliveries starting in Q4. Timing for the XPENG G9s launch in Europe has yet to be announced.


ZIMBABWEAN immigrants residing in South Africa have blasted Foreign Affairs minister Fredrick Shava for not consulting them before meeting his counterpart Naledi Pandor.

Shava met the South African International Relations minister, at the mid-term review meeting of the third session of the ZimbabweSouth Africa bi-national commission in Pretoria on Wednesday where they also talked about the permits.

Pretoria has said it will not renew the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) when they expire in December.

After the meeting, Shava said government was ready to welcome back citizens who fail to meet requirements for new permits.

But the chairperson of Zimbabwe Community in South Africa (ZCSA), Ngqabutho Mabhena told NewsDay Weekender in an interview that they were troubled by the ministers conduct.

We only came to know of minister Shavas visit through the media. The minister went straight to meet his South African counterpart without consulting us, Mabhena said.

Even when part of the issues to be discussed involved the documentation of ZEP, it was incorrect for the Minister to meet Minister Pandor before meeting us for a briefing.

After the meeting, Shava also called out on Zimbabweans in South Africa to desist from committing crime in that country.

Because he (Shava) was not informed, he failed to distinguish between the criminal networks from Zimbabwe and the ZEP holders who abide by the South African laws, Mabhena said.

Zapu leader Sibangilizwe Nkomo added: This man (Shava) is a good example of how not to be a Minister of Foreign Affairs. How does he say they are ready to welcome back Zimbabweans without first solving the problems that pushed them (people) away. Zimbabwe is worse now than the last time when ZEPs were renewed.

South Africa has been tightening screws on foreign immigrants including Zimbabwean nationals residing in that country.

The neighbouring country has been witnessing pockets of protests against foreign immigrants. Some of the protests have been led by the vigilante Operation Dudula group.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) president Peter Mutasa commented: The African National Congress (ANC) must choose to stand with Zimbabweans and assist them when we raise alarm against repression. It cannot continue to aid Zanu PF and cover up its repression at international forums while deporting citizens forced out of the country due to its allys poor governance. Newsday
In the recent year or so, discussions about the whole green bubble versus blue bubble debacle have intensified. The discussion is that iPhone users who send and receive messages from Android users do not get a nice experience. This Thursday, @Android Tweeted about a new campaign for Apple to #GetTheMessage about RCS.

I text my iMessage friends from my MacBook and everybody else from my Android phone. The experience is so broken. Please fix this @tim_cook  https://t.co/VTLJa4Gn0B  Carl Pei (@getpeid) August 10, 2022

Google even launched a landing page explaining the issue that explains what RCS is and how it could solve the green/blue bubble issue. It also explains to Android users what the issue even is and why iOS users often complain about sending messages to Android users.

The campaign calls for Apple to adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) standard on iPhones, so that both iPhone and Android users can have a better experience when messaging cross-platform. Granted, this is a non-issue in most markets outside of the US where cross platform messaging apps are preferred. In the US, the default messaging platform (either iMessage or Android Messages) is preferred by most consumers.

Aside from the dreaded green bubble, iPhone users experience a downgrade in messaging by reverting to the decades-old standards: SMS for messages and MMS for video and photos. This means there are no typing or delivery notifications, messages are not securely transmitted, all while images and videos are compressed to pixelated messes.

Apple could theoretically adopt the RCS messaging standard since it is universal  unlike iMessage that only works on iPhones and other Apple devices. By adopting RCS into its messaging app, Apple could improve the messaging experience of its users by making the default messaging standard more secure with end-to-end encryption, allow for typing and read notifications, and it would significantly increase the quality of images and videos from MMS current video/photo size limitation of less-than-a-megabyte. Also, MMS does not have the capability of allowing users to leave a group MMS chat.

Apple relies on its users to get hooked on its services and platforms, iMessage being one of the biggest driving factors, for iPhone sales and to keep customers on Apple devices. It is no secret that iPhone users despise green bubbles, enough to keep telling their Android friends to switch to iPhone so they can be allowed to join the group chat.

Source
Did you know that a study published just a few years ago showed CHamorus having higher rates of psychological distress than any other demographic living on Guam?

Jonathan Unpingco Guerrero, a 35-year-old doctoral student in the clinical community psychology program at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, is investigating these findings with his current research project, but he needs help.

CHamorus all over the globe are invited to participate in his anonymous online survey through Aug. 20.

The study, published in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health in 2019, was titled, Ethnic Inequalities in Psychological Distress: A Population Data Linkage Study on the Pacific Island of Guahan/Guam.

The study was based on data from the Guam Census and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System health survey for Guam.

It referenced past research that proved indigenous populations under colonial rule experienced higher levels of psychological distress, similar to migrants living in sovereign countries.

It also found that CHamorus were at a higher risk of psychological distress and suicide than White/Caucasian and other Pacific Islander populations on Guam.

More data about the CHamoru population is needed to understand why this is happening, according to Guerrero, who earned his masters in clinical psychology from the University of Guam in 2012.

The former Dededo resident believes his work will help fill in gaps in traditional clinical psychology about CHamorus. He also views his survey as a way for CHamorus to support each others mental health.

Colonial mentality

The survey asks a series of questions about how one generally feels about their heritage, attitudes about their social groups and experiences with anxiety and depression.

Colonial mentality is just a form of internalized oppression that people have wrote about for a long time outside of Psychology, said Guerrero.

He added that though internalized oppression has been studied in other fields, in psychology theres little literature on the psychological consequences that come from different types of oppression.

Colonial mentality can be broken down into how we view our physical traits; maybe sometimes we want to have blue eyes or green eyes, we want our kids to have lighter skin, whatever it is, because it looks like our colonizer, he said.

Guerrero will use the survey results to inform his dissertation. After he graduates, he plans on moving back to Guam to help further develop programs committed to the communitys wellness.

The more we know about ourselves, the more we can create programs that are meaningful to who we are and our values, said Guerrero.

Taking the survey

Participants should be at least 18 years old and give themselves time to fill out the survey, which will require some self-reflection.

The survey can be found at bit.ly/3ddAYN5. For additional information, email juguerrero@alaska.edu.

Those with questions about their rights for being part of the study can email uaa_oric@alaska.edu or call 907-786-1099.

Those who experience distress from taking the survey can contact the 24-hour national suicide and crisis helpline at 988.
Lt. Cmdr. Christine Igisomar, one of the highest-ranking CHamoru women in Coast Guard history, has returned to the Marianas to serve the Pacific Island community.

The 38-year-old arrived on Guam in July to start her job as the maritime advisor in the U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam.

As a CHamoru, I want to have a hand in shaping our islands, so I considered taking this role to fulfill my desire in helping our community, said the former resident of Capitol Hill, Saipan.

In her new role, she will be ensuring that the Coast Guards partnerships with Compact of Free Association nations are impactful and meaningful for the communities within the region, as well as for the Coast Guard.

The Compact of Free Association is the political relationship between the United States and the countries of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.

This is a really big deal for me and my family because being CHamoru, its important that Im surrounded by a community of CHamoru people, said the first woman from the CNMI to graduate from the Coast Guard Academy in 2008. In addition to just being stationed closer to Saipan, I feel like Im already home in the Marianas.

The fluent CHamoru speaker is also excited to use the native language more frequently on Guam and in the CNMI, and partake in cultural activities.

Prior to this job, I would probably say I traveled to Saipan maybe once a year, and that was nowhere near enough for me, she added. Now, I can travel home more frequently.

Last-minute changes

An officer for the past 14 years, Igisomar is content with her role on Guam, though it was never part of the plan initially. When she was instructed to provide her preferences for work location by September 2021, she did not include Guam on her resume.

After some reflection over the Christmas holidays, she decided to go back and change her top selection to the maritime advisor position on Guam.

I just felt a very strong pull to being part of what is happening in the western Pacific, Igisomar said. At the last minute in January, I was so grateful when I got the permission from my superiors to make this change.

Making history

Before taking on the role as the maritime advisor in the U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam, Igisomar became the first CHamoru woman to be promoted to lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard in 2019.

The next year, she became the first Pacific Islander to serve as aide to the U.S. Coast Guard commandant.

It was a very unique position where I did not supervise anyone, and my direct supervisor was the senior most officer in the United States Coast Guard, Igisomar said. The benefit of having that job is being in the room for so many meetings that the commandant took with regards to what is happening in the Pacific.

Being able to listen to the Coast Guard senior leadership team form their ideas about service in the Pacific is going to be very helpful for me in my new position as a maritime advisor, she added.

Pacific Islands values

Throughout Igisomars 20 years of service in uniform, she came to understand that the Coast Guard mission dovetails with the values of Pacific Islanders.

I like to say that when for so many years you thought the world was flat, Pacific Islanders were already sailing back and forth, discovering new islands and settling in them, Igisomar said.

In addition, we as Pacific Islanders learn to take only what we need from the sea and understand that its bounty is not meant for just us, but for future generations, and nowadays thats called conservation.

All these things are part of the Coast Guards mandatory statutory missions, and so I think that my personal values as a Pacific Islander and as a person comport so well with the missions of the Coast Guard.

Inspiration from family

Although Igisomar is a veteran in her field, holding a leadership position in the Coast Guard can be demanding. She credits her ability to thrive in her job to her familys support.

Ive had some very challenging assignments where Ive had to travel away from home quite a bit, Igisomar said. I dont think I would have had the mental bandwidth to succeed and thrive in my career if I didnt know for sure that my husband, Sylvan, was at home and able to take care of our two young boys, Landon and Max, and do it well.

So, I credit my success in large part because of their ability to take care of business while Im not home, she added.

When Igisomar can spend the day with her boys, she tries to show them where she works and brings them along to Coast Guard events.

I try and make them understand that the Coast Guard has kind of been our family in all the places weve been stationed where we havent had blood relatives living there, Igisomar said.

So, I hope my boys see the Coast Guard as a community that they may want to be part of one day when they grow up, she added.
Police were diverting traffic on Route 6 due to an accident on Aug. 12, 2022.
In a Dec. 2016 summary, DEA said meth and marijuana are the two main illegal drugs on island, and that meth use amongst high school students is higher than in the mainland U.S.
A woman who reportedly slipped and fell in the lobby of the Oceanview Hotel and Residences more than four years ago can continue to pursue her federal civil lawsuit against the hotels owners, according to District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood.

The judge on Friday rejected a motion by hotel owner Core Tech Resort to decide the case in the hotels favor.

According to the judge, it should be up to a jury to decide the key elements in the case, including what exactly caused Angeline Sablan to slip and whether Core Tech knew a dangerous condition existed.

The judge stated there are genuine issues of material fact that must be decided at trial so the court cannot grant Core Techs request for summary judgment.

'Genuine dispute'

There is a genuine dispute as to whether there was a dangerous condition within defendants lobby at the time that plaintiff slipped and fell, the judges order states.

Sablan, who lives in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, was a guest at the hotel and suffered serious personal injuries which required hospitalization, when she slipped in the lobby while trying to check out the morning of July 16, 2018, her complaint states.

According to her complaint, the hotel failed to keep the floor safe or post adequate warning signs and she fell violently to the floor.

In September 2019 she sued the hotel, asking for at least $75,000 in compensatory damages; at least $75,000 for other damages, including pain and suffering; and attorney fees.

According to the court, Sablan has argued that she likely slipped and fell in the water because it had been raining the evening before and that morning.

Core Tech has argued that it is unclear what caused Sablan to slip  Sablan cannot say for certain  which means negligence cannot be proven in the case.

Defendant uses evidence of plaintiffs inability to recall whether the floor was wet, and her inability to see or identify what she slipped on, to support its argument that a dangerous condition cannot exist, the judge stated.

Conversely, plaintiff testified that she was, pretty sure the floor was wet, and a hotel manager has testified the hotels entrance sometimes gets wet, depending on the wind, the judge stated.
Local law enforcement agencies will work closely together to enforce Guam entry requirements, according to a joint news release from Adelup, the attorney general and Guam Customs and Quarantine.

Earlier this year, agencies reported a number of boats carrying Chinese nationals from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands had landed on Guam.

Because the migrants did not arrive at authorized ports of entry  the port or the airport  federal officials said they were powerless to deal with the situation.

Immigration law is a federal matter, so the local government has no authority to remove people who have entered the United States illegally.

Guam law, however, has requirements that all vessels must meet, including the submission of a notice of arrival.

Individuals who violate these requirements are subject to civil and criminal penalties, according to the news release.

In response to recent events, we established a task force led by Guam Homeland Security to engage our law enforcement agencies and enhance security measures along our islands coasts, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said in the news release.

At my directive, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General and (Customs and Quarantine), we have bolstered our border patrols with the assistance of the Guam Department of Agriculture, Guam Department of Labor, Guam Fire Department, Guam Homeland Security, Guam Police Department and Port Authority of Guam.

Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio said that although immigration enforcement is exclusively under the control of federal officials, Guam agencies are actively monitoring our maritime borders for suspicious activity through increased land surveillance and sea vessel patrols.

Officials encourage anyone who notices suspicious activity, including boat docking and entry, to call Customs and Quarantine dispatch at 671-642-8071/72 or contact the Guam Police Department.
Make-A-Wish Foundation co-founder Linda Pauling visited members of the Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands chapter Thursday at the CarsPlus Showroom in Maite.

The meet and greet with Pauling was in advance of a fundraiser gala that she will attend Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Guam Resort ballroom in Tamuning.

Make-A-Wish

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is an international nonprofit organization that helps fulfill the wishes of children who have a critical illness who are between the ages of 2-1/2 and 18.

Pauling helped start Make-A-Wish in 1980 after her 7-year-old son, Chris, died from leukemia.

He wanted to be a police officer, so in April of that year, family friends who were in the Arizona Highway Patrol volunteered to give him the experience of being an officer of the law for a day  including a helicopter ride and police motorcade.

After Chris died in May, Pauling committed herself to help other seriously ill kids have the chance to make their dreams come true.

This led to Make-A-Wish Foundation being established, and the Guam and CNMI chapter was founded in 1988.

The hearts are just there. They are there for the kids, said Pauling.

All the Make-A-Wish chapters help each, said Pauling.

She said if a child on Guam wants to go to a Disney park, either in California or Florida, a chapter in those states is contacted to help make the wish come true when the family arrives.

'Quality wishes'

Some local wishes the organization has granted are shopping sprees at Ross, Macys and GameStop, said Jason Miyashita, board chair of the Make-A-Wish Guam and CNMI chapter.

We really want to grant quality wishes of what the kid wants to do, said Miyashita.

He said they are returning to their pre-COVID-19 numbers of granting between 15 to 20 wishes a year. Each can cost about $3,000 to $5,000.

During the pandemic, the organization could only grant 8 to 10 wishes per year because of social distancing and travel limitations.

Eric Tydingco, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Guam and CNMI, said it was an honor to have Pauling come to the island. She plans to tell her story and meet sponsors, supporters and kids in attendance at Saturdays gala.

About 400 people will attend the gala.

Donations needed

Although tickets are sold out for the event, Tydingco said donations are always needed.

We appreciate the support of the community. We are 100% supported by the generosity of corporate sponsors and individuals here on Guam who feel that our mission to grant wishes is important, he said.

To donate money or airline miles to the regional chapter, call 671-649-9474 for Guam and 670-483-9474 for the CNMI or visit their website at wish.org/guamcnmi.
Nine-year-old Yeonwoo Jang picks up a drink order from Juice Zip at Puntan Dos Amantes, or Two Lovers Point, in Tamuning Aug. 5, 2022.




Haiti - FLASH : Results of the single baccalaureate (2021-2022) for 1 department





The Ministry of National Education has made available the results of the single baccalaureate exams for the 2021-2022 academic year for the North-East Department.



However, the Minister of National Education informs that the marks will be available by seat, by series, by school and for each subject. Adding that the 2022 baccalaureate holders will soon be able to withdraw their transcript until the legalized diploma on https://menfp.gouv.ht



For the moment only the information below are available...



North-East Department : 3,633 participants, 2,555 admitted / Success rate 70.33%



Result per seat :

1- Fort-Liberte: 503 participants, 361 admitted. Success rate: 71.77%

2- Mombin-Crochu: 151 participants 145 admitted. Success rate: 96.03%

3- Ouanaminthe: 1,910 participants 1,210 admitted. Success rate: 63.35%

4- Terrier-Rouge: 378 participants 286 admitted. Success rate: 75.66%

5- Trou-du-Nord: 691 participants 553 admitted. Success rate: 80.03%



Figures provided by the National Bureau of State Examinations (BUNEXE).



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Haiti - News : Zapping...





The OAS for a return of peacekeepers

Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) in an interview with the Miami Herald, questioned on the situation in Haiti declared that he was in favor of the return of the blue helmets "[...] It is the one of the lines of action to be considered very seriously. It is much more difficult today than at the start of the Minustah [...] The conditions today are much more worrying than they were, and the work will be much more difficult and with many more complications [...]"



Rare and expensive the US dollar in Haiti

The US dollar is becoming increasingly difficult to find in Haiti for economic operators. Some financial institutions sell the US dollar at 125 gourdes (BRH : 126.7647 average acquisition rate August 12, 2022 for 1 dollar) while on the informal market, the rate has crossed the bar of 150 gourdes for 1 dollar...



Crime : Statement by the Minister of Justice

"The Government will spare no effort in the fight against banditry and crime. The efforts of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) and the collaboration of the population are to be congratulated in the fight to restore order" Berto Dorce, Minister of Justice and Public Security.



The BRH seeks to stop the fall of the Gourde

The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) meets with the heads of commercial banks and transfer houses around the exchange rate, the informalization of foreign exchange transactions and circular 114-2. This meeting is part of the BRH's efforts to complete its set of information that should lead to decision-making in order to curb the drop in the exchange rate.



Canada : Armored vehicles ordered by Haiti are on their way

On Wednesday, August 10, 2022, the Government of Canada approved the export permit for armored personnel carriers ordered by Haiti. This equipment should arrive soon in Port-au-Prince, but no date has been announced.



End of the strike at the "La Paix" university hospital

Thursday, August 11, the strike observed by the resident doctors of the hospital. "La Paix" in Delmas 33 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-37368-haiti-news-zapping.html since the beginning of the week, to claim 11 months of arrears of residence fees has been lifted. An agreement having been reached with the officials of the Ministry of Health.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















(Hier finden Sie die deutsche Version des Beitrags)

Back in 2017, researcher Camilo Mora looked at the effects of heat waves on human health. Together with his team, he described 27 ways in which a heat wave can kill a person. Mora, who researches biogeography, biodiversity and the environment at the University of Hawaii, has now extended this approach and examined the spread of many pathogens in the context of climate change. The result: climate change can exacerbate 58 percent of the ailments caused by pathogens.

The study, published in the journal "Natural Climate Change", not only focused on the general warming caused by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, but also on the extreme weather events such as droughts, floods or heat waves. A total of 830 studies were evaluated for Mora's study, which looked at 286 diseases resulting from ten climatic hazards. 277 of these diseases spread faster or worsened in severity due to at least one climatic hazard.

Transmission by mosquitoes, ticks and wild animals

The authors then examined a list of health authorities documenting 375 infectious diseases that affect people. For 218 diseases, 58 percent, the researchers conclude that they are aggravated by climate hazards. The triggers here are pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, but also plant pollen or fungi. The pathogens were primarily transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks or other (wild) animals. Global warming promoted 160 diseases, floods 121 diseases, drought 81 diseases.

There are many ways in which natural extremes can expose humans to infectious diseases: For example, the probability of zoonoses, i.e. the transmission of pathogens from animals to humans, increases when they come together in one area, which is the case when, for example, droughts push wild animals closer to residential areas. But humans are also forced to look for new places to live during floods, for example, and in the process move to areas where they are confronted with new pathogens. The risk of virus transmission from animals to humans in the course of rapid environmental changes was recently calculated by a team of researchers from Georgetown University in Washington DC. According to this, even with a warming to the targeted 2 degrees, at least 10,000 virus species could potentially become dangerous to humans by 2070.

The spread of certain mosquito species that feel at home in warmer areas is another link between climate change and the spread of disease. The President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Lothar Wieler, had already pointed out this impending danger. "Climate change is leading to an expansion of habitats for mosquitoes and ticks in Germany," Wieler told the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe. "Many mosquito and tick species can transmit viral, bacterial and parasitic infectious agents," Wieler said. These could be Zika or dengue viruses, for example. "It is also possible for malaria to return, which is caused by plasmodia." An important concern of the RKI is therefore to sensitise doctors to these diseases.

1,006 different connections due to climate change

Renke Luhken, ecologist at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, also sees the spread of insects as problematic: "In Germany and in Europe, we are already observing the influence of climate change-related events on pathogens. Pathogens transmitted by vectors (editor's note: such as mosquitoes or ticks) also play a major role here," Luhken told the Science Media Center. "Exotic mosquito species like the Asian tiger mosquito are becoming established in large parts of Europe. The Asian tiger mosquito is particularly responsible for outbreaks of chikungunya virus and dengue virus in the Mediterranean region."

The researchers from Hawaii identified a total of 1,006 different pathways, i.e. connections, between climate change-related events and the spread of diseases. Camilo Mora has published an interactive overview of the pathways on gitHub. The diversity makes it so difficult to prevent the spread and worsening of diseases. The researchers' plea is therefore simply to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(pavb)
A COUPLE who came to South Oxfordshire after fleeing the war in Ukraine have become engaged.

Bogdan Karashevskyi proposed to Svitlana Korovina on Saturday as her 28th birthday present and she accepted.

The couple were in London with their hosts, Rosie and Jeremy Brazil, from Newnham Hill, near Highmoor, who had given them tour bus tickets and a river trip as a gift for Miss Korovinas birthday on Friday.

She said: I was in shock  I really had no idea it was going to happen. I was just dancing around all relaxed and loving London.

We were in Parliament Square and I was getting ready for a photo in front of Big Ben and then he just ran to me and got down on one knee with the ring and said, I love you so much. I hugged him and we were both crying a lot and it was after hugging that he asked me if I wanted to be his wife. Of course I said yes.

Mr Karashevskyi, also 28, had been planning to propose to his girlfriend of three years since June but waited for the right occasion.

He had asked her what her favourite place to visit had been and she said Big Ben so he asked the Brazils if they would mind going back. He gave as an excuse that he didnt like the photos they had taken there and wanted some more.

Mrs Brazil, who suspected that he wanted to propose, was happy to play along.

Mr Karashevskyi said: It was the perfect time. We were having such a good time sightseeing and when I saw how beautiful London is, I thought it was perfect.

I was so nervous. I was shaking and my legs went like jelly and when I said I loved her my voice cracked and I couldnt speak  I just cried.

On Miss Korovinas birthday, the couple drove to Manchester to see her twin brother, who is in the Merchant Navy, at the airport as they hadnt seen him since New Year. They spent 90 minutes with him before he had to fly off again.

The couple moved to England in May from Warsaw, where they had been staying for two months, through the Governments Homes for Ukraine scheme.

They had left the capital Kyiv on February 23, the day before the country was invaded by the Russians.

As this was before the war, Mr Karashevskyi did not need to fight but he took flak jackets, supplies and vehicles to the border to help soldiers and collected people who were crossing the border, including one of his friends who had been shot. In Poland they were joined by the wife and child of one of his friends who was still in Ukraine when men were told they had to join the war effort.

Mr Karashevskyi would drive the child to school and worked for Uber Eats while Miss Korovina and her friend did hairdressing and nails from home.

Now Mr Karashevskyi works at a BMW warehouse in Oxford and Miss Korovina has continued working as a beautician. The couple plan to wait until they can go back to Ukraine to have a big traditional wedding with their family and friends and want their English hosts to join them as they say they have become like family.

Mr Karashevskyi was off work this week and the couple were able to spend more time together as he usually works many hours. They named it their week-moon.

On Tuesday, the four of them went to Henley to David Rodger-Sharp jewellers to see if they could make the engagement ring a bit smaller.

Mr Rodger-Sharp told them it would be best for them to go to the shop where it came from.

Mrs Brazil, a part-time dog trainer, said: We admire their positivity and their gratitude despite everything that is happening in their country.

They refused to sign up to Universal Credit even though they were advised to. They wanted to work and the money they get they send to their parents and grandparents in Ukraine. We are so happy that they are engaged. I cried with them when it happened. Its wonderful and it still makes me well up to think about it.

Mr Brazil said: They are like our surrogate children  they are like family to us. We get on so well and we are very happy for them.

 While at the jewellers, Mr Brazil bought his wife an eternity ring.
Digital economy new growth engine for old industrial base

Xinhua) 16:42, August 12, 2022

HARBIN, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- In Yanjiagang farm, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, all kinds of advanced machines are working on the rice fields silently and diligently, thanks to an entire coverage of 5G network in the farm.

A device uses its probe to extend into the field and conduct timely intelligent diagnoses of rice leaf age and disease identification. At the same time, it monitors the growth cycle of the rice through the 5G network and an HD AI camera.

Meanwhile, the automatic water level meter, with the help of sensors and IT technology, automatically irrigates the crops according to the level of soil moisture.

Yanjiagang farm is an epitome of Heilongjiang's attempts to build digital farms. This major grain producer in China, also an old industrial base, is actively embracing the digital transformation in recent years.

In a production management center of a production plant in Daqing Oilfield, operators immediately issued a well-flushing instruction after detecting abnormal data of a well 10 km away.

"In the past, we could only rely on experience when flushing wells. But now, through real-time parameters, we can know when and which well needs to be flushed. This has greatly improved the working efficiency," said Li Guoxin, a worker at Daqing Oilfield, one of China's largest oil production bases.

Cheng Jiecheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that as the global energy industry faces comprehensive and profound changes, Daqing Oilfield is vigorously promoting a three-step strategy of building a "digital, smart and intelligent oilfield," with the first step of digital oilfield now taking shape.

As the old industrial base of Heilongjiang is getting a digital makeover, the digital economy is becoming a new growth engine for the province.

"There are more than 100 projects currently under discussion concerning the development of digital economy in Heilongjiang, including the acceleration and expansion of 5G infrastructure," said Han Xuesong, head of the provincial industry and information technology department.

China has some 1.85 million 5G base stations and more than 450 million 5G end users, both accounting for over 60 percent of the global total, according to the 2022 World 5G Convention that kicked off Wednesday in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang.

Li Kai, vice head of China Academy of Northeast Revitalization, said at the conference that the 14th Five-Year Plan Period (2021-2025) is critical for the large-scale deployment of 5G networks in China. Northeast China, which is home to many old industrial bases, should further accelerate the digital transformation and upgrading.

"Now, Heilongjiang has given priority to the development of digital economy. This is not a 'choice' but a 'must' for the province," said Zhang Yazhong, director of the provincial development and reform commission.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun)
With more than 26 years of experience in the culinary industry, Chandra Swamy will lead the culinary efforts and menu innovation for the Guyana Marriott Hotel Georgetown three restaurants; he will also oversee all culinary operations for the hotel's corporate and social catering services.

Swamy dabbled in cooking at a young age in his native India, inspired by his family, and graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management Bangalore in 1995. Since then, he has worked in many hotels and organizations, s uch as Carnival Cruise Lines.

The chef joined Marriott International as sous chef at the Marriott Beach Resort Grand Cayman in 2006. During his tenure at this hotel, he was awarded Associate of the Year in 2008. His participation in the Cayman Islands culinary competitions each year earned him six gold medals in different categories, and he was also awarded Chef de Chasseur for the most innovative Caribbean dish in 2008.

In 2010, Swamy joined the Dubai Marriott Harbor Hotel as sous chef and headed its rooftop restaurant The Observatory. In 2012, after two years at the property, he was promoted to executive chef at the Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites, thanks to his great dedication and passion.

He was awarded the Middle East and Africa Rising Star Award in 2012 and the MEA ACE Executive Chef of the Year Award in 2013 and 2014 by Marriott International. In 2013, under his leadership, the hotel won the best HACCP award in Dubai Municipality and achieved an A rating.

In 2015 he was part of the opening of the Marriott Hotel Downtown in Abu Dhabi, UAE as Executive Sous Chef and two years later, in 2017 he moved to the Courtyard by Marriott World Trade Centre, Abu Dhabi - UAE as Executive Chef, responsible for the overall success of the kitchen's daily operations.

Chandra's mission is to work on the creation of new flavors to bring them to all the gastronomic spaces of the Guyana Marriott Hotel Georgetown. It's this dedication to quality and care in every step of the culinary process that elevates Chef Chandra's approach to the highest possible level.

Chandra Swamy is a Commerce graduate from the University of Mysore and holds a degree in Hospitality Management from Bangalore University.
Rosewood Hotel Group is delighted to announce the promotion of Hoss Vetry to Vice President of Operations for the Group's Asia Pacific region. Hoss previously held the title of Regional Vice President and Managing Director of Rosewood Hong Kong and was responsible for managing the ultra-luxury property in addition to overseeing other Group hotels in the area including Rosewood Beijing, Rosewood Sanya, and New World Millennium Hotel in Hong Kong. Moving forward, Hoss will oversee all operations for Rosewood Hotel Group properties in the Asia-Pacific region including Greater China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Philippines.

Hoss is a seasoned hospitality professional with over 32 years of global luxury hotel experience. Before joining Rosewood Hotel Group in 2020, he worked with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in North America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East for 25 years. Hoss held several senior executive leadership positions during his tenure with Ritz-Carlton including multi-property vice president, cluster general manager, and hotel general manager.

Hoss has held leadership roles in hotel and tourism associations including vice chairman of East China Marriott Business Council, executive chairman of Sanya Tourism Association and board member of Qatar Tourism Association. He is a graduate of Arizona State University and was recognized with the Asia-Pacific Continent Guardian Award for his exceptional leadership.
From humble beginnings of guilds and roadside inns in the early middle ages over the first a la carte restaurant opening in France in the 18th century up until todays multi-trillion dollar industry, food and beverage service industry has grown to become a major factor in shaping the world we live in. Influential restaurateurs and bar owners have a huge impact on consumption trends and can help shape the future of food. Never before has the sector known such rapid change in consumer behavior as now in times of digitalization, social media and growing ecological awareness. The challenges and opportunities ahead are manifold. This article aims to give a definition: "what is the food service industry" and an overview into whats at stake in F&B as we move into a new decade full of uncertainties.

What is the food and beverage service industry made of?

Food service industry definition

The food supply chain generally starts with agricultural businesses producing the food stuff that is then processed and served to individual consumers. Therefore, the F&B service stands for the integral last step of a long chain that ends with a meal on a plate or a drink in a glass. Full-service restaurants, bars, pubs, fast food outlets, caterers, and other places that prepare, serve and sell food or drink to the general public are all part of the industry. The choice of self-service, full-service and take-away means many service delivery options. While the different categories of outlets serve a variety of different customer segments and each has its particular challenges, recent developments are having a global impact on all players in this space.

Development of the modern food service industry

Global awareness about the harmful impact of our current food system on climate and world hunger is rapidly increasing. As a result, the opinions and behaviors of consumers around the globe are changing  and the industry must change with it. A growing number of restaurant patrons place a lot of importance on organic and local production of their meals ingredients. There are many examples to show a shift in customer interests. Veganism, for instance, is a trend that has shown no slowing down in virtually all major markets as illustrated by the surge in Google search numbers for the term over the period of 2015-2020. In 2020, the global vegan food market reached a value of about USD 15.4 billion. The global vegan food market size is projected to be worth around USD 65.4 billion by 2030 and registering growth at a CAGR of 10.41% over the forecast period 2022 to 2030, according to a report published on Global Newswire.

Many diners are also becoming more conscious when it comes to the impact of what they eat on their personal health. Already, finding vegan, GMO, gluten- and dairy free options on menus is more of a norm than an exception. This shift in interests combined with the advent of food delivery apps, social media food influencers, and self-order kiosks has resulted in an industry at a crossroads. Businesses will have to continuously adapt to these growing new trends. Additional pressure on incumbent food corporations is coming from a soaring number of F&B start-ups. Agile and innovative, these newcomers are chomping at the bit to disrupt an industry that has been dominated by established behemoths for a long time.

Food and beverage industry: What are its different sectors?

From the snack bar at the local cinema up to the gastronomic restaurant in a Hong Kong skyscraper, the F&B service industry offers a lot of diversity. In general, there are two categories of commercial food service and non-commercial food service.

Commercial operators

Commercial operators have the primary goal of selling F&B products. They represent the main segment of F&B operations.

Quick-service restaurants

Drive-through outlets

Outlets within retail stores

Fast food restaurants

Limited service restaurants

Self-service restaurants

Takeaways

Food trucks

Full-service restaurants

Fine dining restaurant

Family restaurants

Ethnic restaurants

Casual restaurants

Catering & banqueting

Catering companies

Conference centers

Wedding venues

Festival food coordinators

Drinking establishments

Bars

Pubs

Nightclubs

Cabarets

Non-commercial operators

Non-commercial food service establishments serve F&B products, either as an addition to other services or for non-profit reasons.

Institutional

Hospitals

Educational institutions

Corporate staff cafeterias

Cruise ships

Airports and transportation terminals & operations

Accommodation foodservice

Hotel restaurants and bars

Room service

Vending machines and automated food service

How big is the food service industry?

The global market for Food Service Industry was estimated at $3 Trillion USD in the year 2020, which had taken a tumble due to the Covid pandemic according to research in this report. The global food service market size is growing again and is forecast to reach a whopping $4.1 Trillion USD by the Year 2026 growing at a CAGR of 5.4% over the analysis period. Making up more than 4% of the worlds GDP, the industry is a major contributor to economic development worldwide. Across all continents, F&B service outlets are part of the daily lives of billions of customers as a place for them to get food or simply spend some quality time with their friends and family.

The following section aims to give some current statistics that will help to appreciate the awesome impact of the industry as well as insight into future growth and developments.

Key food and beverage service industry statistics

There are more than 14.9 million jobs in the US restaurant industry alone.

There are an estimated 16 million restaurants in the world.

Every second, McDonalds alone serves 69 million customers.

More than 2,691.0m customers are expected to order food online by 2026.

Is the food and beverage service industry growing?

Currently, there are about 7.9 billion people living on this planet. The UN projects that this number will rise by 2 billion by 2050. Global wealth is also projected to increase by about 26% with emerging markets accounting for up to one third of that hike. These factors will inevitably lead to a substantial increase in worldwide food consumption. The F&B service industry will continue to benefit from this growth. More specifically, the F&B service market size is expected to steadily grow at a rate of 5.4% annually.

The global food service market size is growing again and is forecast to reach $4.1 Trillion USD by the Year 2026, a slightly scaled back projection due to the pandemic recovery. A large portion of this growth will be contributed by the surge in dining-out activity in emerging markets. Global consumption is forecast to reach $62 trillion by 2025, twice its 2013 level, with half of this increase coming from emerging markets countries.

The future of food: Where is food and beverage heading?

A paradigm shift has been observed in the perspective of the masses with respect to the food and beverage industry. People are now more nutrition-savvy, prefer sugar-free products, and are generally more inclined to maintaining good health. Supporting this is the fact that food products are not judged on quality alone, but also the nutritional content, the origin and the way they are produced. These new criteria have forced businesses to incorporate changes in the existing process and tackle some of the major challenges of the food and beverage market. The whole food industry has been evolving quickly over the past few years (and still is), trying to cope with these changes in consumption habits. In the race to remain competitive, food service businesses are adapting according to the main trends outlined below.

What are the top trends in the food and beverage industry?

Food and beverage online sales

Food delivery has become a global market worth more than $150 billion, having more than tripled since 2017 - in part due to Covid-19. Researchers have forecasted a drastic increase of over 65% in delivery demand. This means that food delivery, which was ranked 6th in outlet preferences for 2018, is expected to become the second preferred option after table service for 2030. According to the survey, there is also a growing demand for takeaway service (31% increase from 2018 to 2030). Consequently, the meal delivery service market is expected to grow by 15% in 2020. Expect delivery driver access, short-term parking, and delivery-specific menus to be commonplace at your favorite eateries very soon.

Delivery will gain even more momentum thanks to automation. Companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash have already started trials for their delivery drones or incorporated food delivery robots into their offering respectively. Businesses that want to stay relevant in this space will need to develop skills in search engine optimization and delivery applications as main tools.

Every customer experience should fill personal reviews on all large sites and should be viewed regularly. Furthermore, the instagramability of dishes will further grow in importance thanks to the increase in Generations X and Ys buying power. Making their menu delivery-friendly will also be key. Food that can be transported easily and sustainable options such as organic and locally sourced products delivered in reusable or compostable packaging ordered through smartphone channels will drive growth in the future.

Here are some more tips on how businesses can get mobile-food-ready.

Health conscious food products

A new type of consumer is here: conscious and well-informed about what they buy. The decision to consume a product will be increasingly based on how it was made, where it came from and what processes were used to produce it. F&B businesses will have to show this new generation of customers that they are invested in creating a more sustainable future. This means more than just implementing lofty marketing campaigns. Every product and service will need to meet the expectation of ethical buyers. A study by Cone Communication showed that these practices can have a direct impact on the bottom line. It found that 88% of consumers will be more loyal to a company that supports social or environmental issues. Whats more, they are also willing to pay more for F&B operations that deliver on their claims.

The growing interest in ethically and organically sourced foods is not only linked to the impact on our ecosystems but also on the impact on consumers personal health. L.E.K. Consultings F&B study found that 63% of consumers are trying to eat healthy most or all of the time. This is giving lead to an unprecedented rise in organic food consumption. Case in point: the increasing popularity of organic wines in fine dining restaurants. Prepare to see a lot more similar products making their way onto your plates.

Future Meat Technology

In October 2019, an Israeli start-up with the telling name of Future Meat Technology (FMT) raised 14 million USD for their pilot manufacturing plant. The company aims to reduce the cost of growing meat to as little as 10 USD per pound. This price tag could mean that we might encounter lab-grown meat on restaurant menus as early as 2022.

Another approach to reducing the environmental impact of our consumption aims at replacing meat products altogether. Impossible Meat and Beyond Meat are the firms at the forefront of this trend. Thanks to partnerships with restaurant chains such as TGI Fridays or Burger King in the United States, their plant-based patties containing proteins sourced from peas or soy are surging in popularity.

Technology in food and beverage industry

Research by BRP Consulting found that 38% of dining experiences now involve smartphone or mobile devices - from initial research to sharing the experience on social media. A trend that restaurants have to take note of is how much millennials are looking for convenience. As proven by their reaction to mobile apps, particularly in the quick service segment, it is clear what this change in behavior means for restaurateurs. The more connected we get, the more often we are taking to solutions on our phones for decision making, ordering, paying, sharing and reviewing.

But technology is not only changing the way outlets are interacting with customers. Back-of-house operations are also streamlined through the application of big data and the Internet of Things (IoT). Large restaurant chains are already gathering data on customers to better understand their demographics, needs and wishes ultimately boosting satisfaction and average spending. Of course, the most crucial equipment in a kitchen like stoves, freezers, grills, etc. remain analog. By introducing IoT sensors in their appliances, restaurants can use real-time information to save resources and improve the longevity of their investments.

Main challenges in the Food & Beverage industry

Responsible solutions to ecological issues

The excessive consumption of single-use plastics when serving drinks and food and their improper disposal is going to be one the major challenges of the future in the F&B service industry. Particularly in the age of food delivery, food businesses will have to step up their game when it comes to using recyclable materials and encouraging their proper discarding. Whats more, restaurants and bars should start sourcing their entire supply from sources that do the same. In the long run there will be no alternative to this school of thought if consumers are to be continuously attracted and satisfied.

Waste management also makes up a part of this problem. The way food businesses use their raw products will have to evolve to include more responsible solutions. From Starbucks to McDonalds, many corporations are opting to ditch single-use plastics from their day-to-day operations - and the hospitality space is no different. Hotels and airlines find themselves with a unique opportunity to really impact the effects of global plastic consumption as they often provide disposable products on a mass scale.

Customer attention to product traceability

In past years, consumers have been paying increasing attention to the ingredients of their food. Distrust in how F&B service businesses source their produce is growing and has given rise to a demand for more traceability. Companies are more often than ever being asked to keep reliable data records throughout all production stages. The growing deployment of advanced technology, such as IoT to help with various tasks from weight measurement to temperature monitoring will be key in tackling this issue.

Public opinion and social media

The amount of information on the world wide web knows no bounds. Yet, all it takes for the reputation of a F&B business to get tarnished is one negative post on a social network going viral. Legal steps like defamation lawsuits often prove ineffective ways to tackle the problem. Rating culture has profoundly changed the character of customer interactions. Few guests will consider the implications of a negative review posted in a situation of momentary discontent. To improve the scores, managers may revert to pampering in particular already critical guests. Consequently, guest expectations and additional service offerings to gain positive reviews stimulate each other, ultimately working to the disadvantage of businesses. This challenge will further increase the importance of effective reputation management strategies for F&B businesses.

Why choose a career in the food and beverage industry?

Few industries are as diverse and fast-paced as the F&B service sector. In millions of restaurants, bars and pubs worldwide, customers are enjoying new delicious creations by innovative chefs and mixologists every day. Serving as a connector of people across all cultures, the industry is at the center of most human interaction. Everyone needs to eat and drink, so being in the business of providing these services will never go out of fashion. In fact, with the global population pushing ever-evolving consumer opinions and behavior, this places the industry at the forefront of innovation.

Choosing such a career puts you in the perfect position to make an impact on a large scale  and there are plenty of skills that can be acquired along the way. The non-exhaustive list below gives a small idea of how a career in F&B can aid your personal development.

Skills that working in the F&B industry can teach you

Working an entry-level job in the F&B industry might appear unappealing to some, but the skills you will pick up through this experience can be varied and surprising. You will certainly realize the importance of a professional work ethic and many other skills that will make you attractive for your future employers!

An agile mind

In an F&B service setting, a lack of problems to solve will never be an issue. Whether it is a hair in a clients plate of pasta, the kitchen equipment not working or a lack of personnel to cover a shift  it will be down to you to come up with solutions on the hop to ensure guests never find out how truly difficult running a smooth F&B service really is. Additionally, taking care of orders, adding up items for the bill and remembering daily specials will work wonders for your memory and mental fitness turning the next Sudoku into a piece of cake.

Become a true social chameleon

F&B service is a peoples business. On a daily basis you will be facing colleagues in your service or kitchen crew, suppliers and a multitude of different customers. Dealing with all these different types of interactions, whether its a difficult regular guest that always asks the most ridiculous questions or a head chef that keeps bossing you around at lightning speed, you will always have to find the right way to manage relationships of all types. Eventually you will learn to adapt your approach and always have the right thing to say.

Multitasking skills

Taking orders while clearing tables or preparing multiple dishes while processing incoming orders at the same time will have your multitasking skills up and running in no time. There truly is no better way to learn this skill than to get a job in a busy restaurant and deal with everything thats thrown at you at once.

Become a time manager

The typical F&B outlet has very few days off. Rotating shifts will have you working during festive seasons and on weekends. Multiple tasks to be done and sudden changes to your work schedule are part of the regular issues that have to be managed. To get a hold of it all, you will quickly learn to manage your personal and professional calendar like a pro.

Learn how to make a sale

Is the bar you work at offering a holiday special or did the chef come up with a new creation that he/she wants everyone to try? It will be up to you to convince your guests to choose the options your employer wants to sell. Selling has always been an invaluable skill for anyone willing to succeed professionally. Like most great business people, you will have to start small. However, getting your first sales will not only feel great, but also get you noticed by management. And thats the easiest way to move up the ladder.

Get the most out of working in a team

If you believe that true success can only be achieved if you handle everything by yourself, working in an F&B service environment will show you the opposite. In this industry you will quickly realize how important it is to be able to function as a team member. In fact, the highly collaborative approach of F&B businesses can teach you a lot about how to function with a large variety of colleagues, cultivating one of the most sought-after skills by employers.

Better your communication skills

On a busy night it can get pretty hectic in any F&B service establishment. So when you are communicating a clients order to your colleagues or briefing your subordinates on the set-up of a large event, you will undoubtedly have to learn how to bring across your message as effectively as possible. Furthermore, in an industry where you face customers from every possible country, you will have plenty of opportunities to brush up your language skills. After all, just a few words in their native language can immediately make guests feel that they are well taken care of.

Pick up insider F&B skills

Even if you are not directly involved in preparing the drinks or dishes that are served to customers, you will form part of the production chain that gets those products done. Constantly being around a creative kitchen crew or barkeeper will in no time have you picking up new knowledge on how to store food appropriately to keep it fresh for another day, or how to prepare a delicious cocktail that you can use to impress your guests with when having your friends or family over for dinner.

Keep up the cleanliness

Keeping everything clean and in the right place is key when you are planning on serving hundreds of customers at an outlet. In the F&B industry you will learn from the best on how to organize your supplies and equipment to ensure a smooth operation. This way, making sure things are orderly and clean will become second nature to you in no time.

About EHL Group

EHL Group is the global reference in education, innovation and consulting for the hospitality and service sector.

With expertise dating back to 1893, EHL Group now offers a wide range of leading educational programs from apprenticeships to master's degrees, as well as professional and executive education, on three campuses in Switzerland and Singapore. EHL Group also offers consulting and certification services to companies and learning centers around the world. True to its values and committed to building a sustainable world, EHL Group's purpose is to provide education, services and working environments that are people-centered and open to the world. www.ehlgroup.com

EHL Hospitality Business School

Communications Department

+41 21 785 1354

EHL

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One of the most important lessons we learned during COVID-19 was that hotthe el now has to start working with a customer where they are, not where the Hotel wants the customer to be.

New digital ways of doing business embraced by customers are now the norm. Indeed, customer expectations for digital experiences have only escalated, and hotels that fail to keep the momentum going risk alienating those they seek to serve.

To keep pace with consumers rising expectations, hotel brands will need to continue building out and coordinating their digital transformation processes to help understand the customer experience journey.

Lets get your hotel started on a new journey working with your customer where they are.

The Customer Experience Journey and Digital Transformation: A New Opportunity for Hotels

I will start with repeating an important digital transformation principle  this represents a process where people and technology work in harmony to serve customers with excellence at every touchpoint within a given journey that involves your hotel.

Amid the pandemic, more people worked, shopped, and made travel arrangements from home or via mobile devices, forcing hotels to rely more on digital technology.

How important is it that your hotel get a good understanding of the customer experience journey?

In an ideal world, the customer experience journey people take to become loyal customers with hotels would be a straight shot down a highway: See your service offers. Book your service offer. Use your service offer. Rinse and Repeat.

In reality, the customer experience journey is more like a jigsaw puzzle with stops, exploration, and discussion along the wayall important moments where your hotel needs to convince people to pick your brand and stick with it instead of switching to a competitor.

The question is how do your hotel convince people to pick your brand and stick with it instead of switching to a competitor within their customer experience journey?

The short answer is You Dont!

Why??

We have to start with seeking to understand first, then to be understood.

As I started with today we have to learn how to work with people where in their customer experience journey they are.

Today we have to meet both employees and customers where they are. As hoteliers, we have to innovate and start thinking outside the box to attract and retain employees and the same goes for the customer.

Listen to and collaborate with your employees

Customers expect a quality experience while utilizing your hotel's products and services. Giving customers what they wanted and providing service beyond expectations usually is a winning combination.

Your hotel employees are your eyes and ears. And if you dont collaborate with employees you will set your hotel up for failure. Every employee matter and make up for an unbreakable chain of servants.

Today the customer experience is a journey that starts long before any hotel is in the picture. Data from Google has shown that within 126 days of a potential journey the customer will visit about 2000 touchpoints. Within 64 days they will have narrowed it down to 200 touchpoints.

I have talked about the importance of;

Being found

Being seen

Being experienced

Being share

This means that hotel marketers should tailor messaging to the need being expressed at that moment. Whether the customer is in the planning stage or the educate-me stage hotels need to learn how to communicate with the customer at these stages.

Customers today want to achieve stuff at the moment. And they want hotel brands to work with them at the moment. They dont care who it is that is helping them, just that someone is helping them.

Your employees are the ones that are in the best position to help your hotel reach people within their customer experience journey.

Turn your employees into partners and brand ambassadors for your hotel.

The customer experience Sweet Spot

One essential key to being found, being seen, being experienced, and being shared is that your hotel has to start reverse engineering these principles.

This means you have to take an active role in finding the customer, seeing what they are doing, experiencing what they are experiencing, and sharing their content.

Utilize your employees as brand ambassadors to identify the sweet spots where employees' and customers' goals align with your hotel's goals. Often brands find that their employees goals are closer to customer goals than the brand's goals. That is why you want to utilize employees to help customers to achieve theirs and learn how this can help them get closer to your hotel's goals.

Your hotel's communication portal

At what point does your hotel normally communicate with customers?

It is important that you have a good understanding of what points the customer starts to involve your hotel in their customer experience journey. Is this pre-booking, at-booking, or post-booking?

Today we live in a real-time disruptive society. And the communication that involves your brand will happen at times most hotels are missing out on today.

Abandonment rates on hotel websites were 2019 at 84.63%. And the majority of the time it can be boiled down to a lack of communication with the right message.

Start to create a hotel communication portal where you empower your employees to start identifying why this is happening and understand customers intent and actions.

Recognize new pain points

By creating a communication portal with your employees your start understands the why of the customers intent and actions.

But it also opens a new way for hotels to understand how customers feel during all touchpoints that involve your hotel.

It is important to understand all negative experiences customers feel during these touchpoints.

Customers might have built up a set of anticipation from various touchpoints before they arrive at your hotel's website. And when they arrive at your hotel's website none of these anticipations match with what is presented to them at your website.

This is why it is so important that hotels utilize their employees to play a more active role in the customer's experience journey.

Experience the journey

Data from new digital tools and from utilizing your employees as hotel ambassadors will give your hotel a good picture that helps you understand the customer experience journey.

But experiencing the journey will provide high-valuable insight.

Allow your employees to go through every step in the customer journey with your hotel. And also let them do the same with some competing hotels in the area to learn if their customer experience is different.

Customer Experience journey map

By now you have a team of employees that can provide you with a goldmine of information.

Start creating a customer experience journey map together with your employees where you use sticky notes to plot down data from all touchpoints.

I recommend using a Kanban board as part of your digital transformation huddle. This will help your hotel team with a birds eye view of the customer experience journey.

The reason I use it in context with the digital transformation huddle is to implement daily growth mindset questions to test out.

We know the customer experience journey is not static and we all have different preferences about what matters at the various touchpoints. So it is essential to give some room for flexibility.

Working with employees and customers will help improve your hotel's digital transformation processes. You will put your hotel in a better position to differentiate and become more cost-effective when you understand your employees and your customers.

Digital Transformation Framework Partnership for Hotels

Hotels today have to invest in people and technology in a context that adds value to everyone involved.

Dont continue to neglect or take the people's transformation for granted. Technology is a digital tool that will help your hotel when implemented in collaboration with your employees.

Partner with your employees and they will help with retaining and hiring people.

I also invite you to work with me as your hotel partner to help implement a new innovative digital transformation framework that opens the digital gateways to more direct bookings without competing with the OTA.

Shoot me an email at: [email protected]

Are Morch

Digital Transformation Coach

Are Morch, Digital Transformation Coach

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Robert Brockman, a Houston billionaire who built his fortune as a software entrepreneur and investor before he was indicted in a landmark tax-evasion case, has died. He was 81.

Brockman, who was suffering from dementia and undergoing home hospice care, died late Friday, said Kathy Keneally, his attorney. Hed been fighting tax-evasion charges since 2020, but his attorneys said his dementia meant he wasnt competent to stand trial.

A judge, however, ruled in May that Brockman was competent. At a hearing a month later, the judge tentatively set his trial date for Feb. 23.

In his younger days, Brockman was known as an inexhaustible worker with a passion for physical fitness, fly fishing in Colorado and dove hunting in Argentina. Forbes estimated his net worth to be $4.7 billion.

A Florida native of modest origins, Brockman was selling computing services to auto dealers on behalf of International Business Machines Corp. when, in 1970, he founded a company that helped revolutionize how the industry operates.

Brockman, a self-taught programmer, developed a software system that helped car dealers run virtually every aspect of their operations. He obtained more than a dozen patents, and grew his software company, Reynolds & Reynolds, into a 5,000-person operation worth $5 billion.

As Brockman built his firm into an industry force, he also defended numerous lawsuits accusing him of bare-knuckled business practices.

Salespeople accused his company of stiffing them on payments; auto dealers said he tricked them into expensive multiyear contracts. The Federal Trade Commission investigated whether he engaged in anti-competitive practices.

A former Marine reservist who surrounded himself with loyal lieutenants, Brockman had an intense desire for personal privacy that extended to his dealings with the Internal Revenue Service.

Brockman had one rule: Dont do business with the government, said Robert Tyson, an entrepreneur who won a lawsuit against Brockman for unpaid compensation.

In October 2020, the US charged Brockman in the largest tax-evasion case ever against an individual, as well money-laundering.

Burner phones

Brockman helped launch the private equity career of Robert F. Smith, Americas wealthiest Black citizen, by providing the initial investment in his firm, Vista Equity Partners.

Prosecutors alleged Brockman used a web of offshore entities, code names and burner phones to hide $2 billion in income from the IRS, most of it earned through Vista investments.

Smith admitted committing tax crimes but avoided prosecution by cooperating with prosecutors against Brockman.

The case against Brockman hinged on whether billions of dollars in an offshore charitable trust were secretly controlled by him, as prosecutors alleged, or were independently managed, as he claimed. Prosecutors said he used untaxed proceeds from offshore entities to buy a Colorado fishing lodge, a private jet and a 200-foot yacht, which his lawyers denied.

I have not seen this pattern of greed or concealment and cover-up in my 25-plus years as a special agent, James Lee, an IRS official, said when the charges were filed.

Brockman pleaded not guilty.

Robert Theron Brockman was born in St. Petersburg, Fla., on May 28, 1941. His father, Alfred Eugene Brockman, owned a gas station. His mother, Pearl, was a physiotherapist.

With the family struggling financially, Brockman decided he didnt love that and went out to make something of himself, his younger brother, David, told the Wall Street Journal in 2021.

Seeding Vista

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Florida in 1963, Brockman worked as a marketing trainee at Ford Motor Co. before moving to IBM, where he became a top salesman in Washington and Houston.

In 1970, he set up his own firm, Universal Computer Systems.

As Brockman built his company, he met Smith, then a rising Goldman Sachs technology investment banker. Brockman later seeded Smiths firm, Vista, with at least $1 billion in funds to buy out enterprise software firms. The partners structured their arrangement to keep profits offshore, prosecutors say.

In 2006, Brockman brought his software and investing interests together to engineer the acquisition that thrust UCS into the big leagues. Brockmans closely held firm bought Reynolds & Reynolds, a public company nearly twice its size. Part of the equity financing came from Vistas original fund, in which Brockman was the sole outside investor.

The combined firm took the Reynolds & Reynolds name and was controlled by a Bermudian charitable trust set up in the name of Brockmans father.

In addition to the $5 billion worth of software company holdings, they included $1.3 billion in investments made through an entity based in the British Virgin Islands and $1.4 billion in a Swiss bank, his wife, Dorothy, said in an affidavit filed in a Bermudian court.

Support for opera

The Bermudian trust and the Brockmans also became active philanthropists.

Their gifts included tens of millions of dollars to the Baylor College of Medicine, where Brockman was a trustee, and the Brockman Hall for Opera at Rice University in Houston.

He is survived by his brother David; his wife of 53 years, Dorothy; a son, Robert Brockman II; a daughter-in-law; a grandson and a granddaughter.
As do many people who use social media, I have a love/hate relationship with its various platforms.

I use all the major services, and for the most part, they serve me well and I enjoy them. But there are times when they annoy, upset and even anger me, and I want to walk away from them.

In July, I did just that.

For most of that month, I stopped using the Big Three: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It wasnt easy. Ive been involved with social media since 2007, shortly after Twitter burst on the scene, and I was the Chronicles first social media manager. All these platforms are woven into the fabric of my daily life, an important part of my work, play and relationship routines.

Would I describe myself as addicted? Using social media had certainly become a habit, mainly because they worked so well for my uses. But over time I was unhappy with the way I reacted to what I saw, and my interactions with friends and colleagues became less than collegial.

Im not alone. People interacting online say and do things to one another that theyd never do in face-to-face encounters. Ive long likened this to the kind of behavior seen in motorists, in which a vehicles barriers of glass and steel grant them license to be jerks. Distance begets contempt.

A pair of researchers from Cornell Tech, writing last week on the Technology Review website, argues that social media is polluting society, beyond simply the kinds of issues typically dealt with by content moderation. Nathaniel Lubin and Thomas Krendl Gilbert propose a policy framework  perhaps through something akin to an Environmental Protection Agency or Food and Drug Administration for social media  to identify and evaluate the societal harms generated by these platforms.

Part of my social media job at the Chronicle was to train reporters who were not digital natives to navigate these often prickly landscapes. But over time, I found myself falling into the behaviors Id cautioned against. I did not like what I was becoming on social media, and so I unplugged from the Big Three for the month, with some exceptions.

CANT LET GO: Facebook is despicable. So why can't I quit?

Heres how I make use of the three platforms, and what I did to step away from each:

Twitter is my preferred social medium. I use it to keep up with news, particularly in the tech realm, as well as share my own stories and columns. Your Twitter experience is really shaped by who you follow  and who you block or mute  so careful curation can turn what some refer to as a hellsite into something useful and entertaining. (Though there are big caveats here, as many women or marginalized individuals can attest; harassment, trolling and threats can be horrific.)

On Twitter, I felt as though too many of my replies to posts with which I didnt agree were snarky and unnecessarily barbed. I also found myself replying before going back and looking at previous posts in a thread, or before reading a linked story, and wound up deleting too many tweets that seemed foolish.

But Twitter also is a key channel for promoting what I write, so I allowed myself to tweet links to my columns and stories, and for briefly checking reactions and commentary on days I posted. I banished the Twitter app from my the home screen of my iPhone, disabled all notifications and only used the Twitter web page to post.

To keep up with news, and particularly tech developments, I relied instead on email newsletters and Apple News, the aggregation service on my Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Facebook, whose corporate name is now Meta, is the social network with which I have the most fraught relationship. In October I wrote that I find Facebooks actions as a business despicable, and it has long been the platform Id most love to dump. Since I have retired, I find myself relying on it to keep track of the lives of people I worked with for years, as well as members of my family.

But Facebook is also where I most felt my behavior was increasingly less than kind. I found myself too often correcting friends when they misspoke, particularly when they posted incorrectly attributed quotes on images. My lovely wife says I sometimes act like a member of the Safety Patrol, and she is not wrong.

When a former Chronicle colleague blocked me after I made an oafish joke about a statue he found inspiring, I knew it was time to take a break.

I also took Facebooks app off my phones home screen, but this was a platform where I still needed to share my work, so I continued to post my writing. The toughest part of staying away came when I learned that Steve Gonzales, a Houston Chronicle photographer and possibly the nicest person on the planet, had succumbed after a yearslong battle with cancer. I had stories I wanted to tell, but could not.

Instagram was not hard to give up at all. All I do there is post photos of my cats, photogenic meals or interesting images captured around Houston. And because Instagram is undergoing a metamorphosis to be more like TikTok, the social video service thats eating Facebooks and Instagrams lunch, its not as much fun as it used to be.

I did post one image related to a column Id written (link in bio!) but otherwise, this was the easiest service to kiss goodbye for a month.

There are two platforms I did not give up.

TikTok, which I first wrote about in August 2020, serves the same function for me as mindless TV. When I just want to let my brain take a seat behind my face and zone out, TikTok is a go-to, but I never post there. Dont follow me  youll be disappointed.

If anything, my TikTok time increased during my social media break.

LinkedIn has been described as an endless business networking mixer. Most people use it to look for another job, and since Im certainly not in the market anymore, I use it primarily to post links to my writing and look for sources. My behavior on LinkedIn didnt change at all in July.

A few days before the end of the month, I jumped back in to the Big Three. I feel like I achieved my goal of reining in my worst tendencies. Im more deliberate and thoughtful before posting on Twitter, less apt to be snarky and sarcastic. Im no longer the corrective scold on Facebook.

Im still posting photos of my cats on Instagram (I had several nice private messages from folks saying Venus and Milo were missed!). But that platforms changes, including an annoying increase in ads and unwanted suggested posts, likely means Ill participate less and less over time.

In summary, what did I do on my social media vacation? Hopefully, I became a nicer person online.

dsilverman@outlook.com

twitter.com/dsilverman
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Texans have questions about an unprecedented rate hike that is starting to show up on their phone bills, adopted by the Public Utility Commission of Texas PUC) last month.

On the surface, the explanation is straightforward. In June, a judge ordered the PUC to pay rural telecom providers roughly $200 million in back payments theyre owed from the Texas Universal Service Fund; in July, the PUC voted to rustle up the money necessary by raising a fee charged on voice services, and typically passed along to consumers, from 3.3 percent to 24 percent.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas phone bills will soon see an 'unprecedented' rate hike

But that explanation raises more questions. Why did the PUC owe rural telecoms $200 million in the first place, for one thing? Is a roughly 700 percent rate increase the best way to go about it?

Lets start with some basics.

What is the Public Utility Commission of Texas?

The Public Utility Commission of Texas, or PUC, is the state agency charged with regulating the state's electric, telecommunication, and water and utilities, as well as implementing legislation and fielding consumer complaints concerning those utilities. It was established in 1975 by an act of the Texas Legislature.

The commissions five members are appointed by the governor, in this case Gov. Greg Abbott. All three of the commissioners are relatively new, appointed to their posts after their predecessors resigned during the fallout from winter storm and power grid failure of February 2021.

What is the Texas Universal Service Fund?

The Texas Universal Service Fund was established in 1975, by the same law that established the Public Utility Commission itself. Its designed to help Texas residents access basic telecommunications services, regardless of where they live or what they earn.

The low population density of rural areas makes it difficult for telecom companies to turn a profit. Without subsidies paid from the Universal Service Fund, many telecom companies would not enter rural markets, or would charge exorbitant rates if they did.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Tomlinson: Texas' phone bill rate hike is a good move that helps rural residents stay connected

Since 1987, the fund has been financed by fee assessed on telecommunications providers receipts for voice services. PUC commissioners voted to increase that charge to 24 percent charge from 3.3 percent  an increase that most of the states telecoms pass the cost on to consumers in the form of a Texas Universal Service surcharge on voice services. The higher rate went into effect Aug. 1.

Why did the Universal Service Fund run into trouble?

Of course, 1987 was a different era when it came to basic household communications. Texans still used landlines, and often had to answer a ringing phone without the slightest idea of who might be on the other end of the line.

Since then, voice services have declined as a share of communications services  which is one reason why this rate hike, as dramatic as it is, will only translate to a few extra dollars a month for a typical consumer with an individual cell phone plan.

But by the same token, the relative decline of voice services has undermined the health of the Texas Universal Service Fund, even as the states population has grown.

In May 2020, then-Commission Chair DeAnn Walker sent a memo to other PUC members, noting that receipts supporting the Universal Service Fund had dropped by $1 billion between 2018 and 2019, and that the fund itself could become unable to fully fund its programs by December of that year. She explained that staff were therefore proposing that the commissioners vote to increase the Universal Service Fund charge, then set at 3.3 percent, to 6.4 or even 6.9 percent at their next meeting. Such a move would have kept the fund solvent through August 2021giving the Texas Legislature time to come up with a different solution.

But at the June 2020 meeting, Walker joined the other commissioners in punting on the question, agreeing that it involved policy issues that should be decided by the Legislature.

By December 2020, with the funds balance dwindling below $100 million, the commissioners were moved to act: as of January, they agreed, payments to rural service providers would be slashed by 60-70 percent.

Wait, they can just do that?

Not according to the judge.

Rural legislatorsjoined by most of their colleagues, Republican and Democraticdid take action after the PUCs decision to slash the payments. The Legislature passed a bill in the 2021 session that would have extended the universal service fee to voice over internet protocol service providers  which allow users to make phone calls over the internet, but didnt exist in the 1980s  to raise more money. But Abbott vetoed that bill, saying, in a statement: It would have imposed a new fee on millions of Texans.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Abbott appoints chair of Public Utility Commission

In June of this year, the Third Court of Appeals ruled in favor of rural providers who had sued the PUC and sought to have the payments restored. The court ordered the PUC to pay back the money it had cut  roughly $200 million, by that point.

The PUC had, according to Justice Gisela Triana, essentially abdicated their responsibility to carry out the Legislatures stated policy of supporting telecom providers who provide an essential service to Texans.

Rusty Moore, chairman of the board of the Texas Telephone Association and general manager/COO of Alpine-based BBT Telephone Company, says that rural providers were left puzzled by PUCs decision to stop making payments in full as required by law.

Thats been a challenge for all of us, to really determine the why, when it was statutorily required by the Legislature, he said.

During the court process, the PUC argued that commissioners had acted within their discretion. The commissioners had previously stated that as the Universal Service Funds balance dwindled it would be necessary to triage certain programs; the fund also supports the Lifeline program, for example, which provides assistance to qualified low-income families.

Moores own company, BBT Telecom, plans to absorb the increased fees this month, at least, while continuing to work with PUC in hopes of finding an alternative.

Our position is like, look, lets let cooler heads prevail, Moore said. Lets let common sense bubble up to the surface on this situation.

erica.grieder@chron.com

This story has been updated to correct the number of commissioners serving on the Public Utility Commission.
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A new restaurant specializing in Nikkei-style cuisine, merging Japanese and Peruvian food cultures, is opening today from a chef who is re-launching his efforts to bring Nikkei dining to Houston.

Chef Masaru Fukuda celebrates his own Japanese Peruvian heritage with Pacha Nikkei, 10001 Westheimer.

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Fukuda first brought Nikkei cuisine to Houston several years ago when his original Pacha Nikkei opened at the short-lived Politan Row food hall in Rice Village. That initial Pacha Nikkei was one of many start-up casualties from the halls pandemic closing in November 2020.

The new Pacha Nikkei allows Fukuda to fully realize his Nikkei ambitions. Having worked at Latin Bites and Kata Robata, as well as hosting Nikkei pop-ups throughout the city, Fukuda has created a seafood-forward menu that includes classic ceviche, lobster ceviche, Nikkei sushi rolls, and grilled octopus. The iconic Peruvian lomo saltado is also represented on the menu that includes Peruvian and Japanese beers, Japanese whiskey, Peruvian pisco, sake, and cocktails such as Wagyu Old Fashioned (wagyu fat-washed bourbon and Japanese plum liqueur), Pisconic (pisco, yuzu liqueur and tonic), and El Tunche (pandan-infused vodka, Midori, cocoa and banana).

NEW TEX-MEX: Armandos owners to open casual Mandito's next year

The dishes play out within a 64-seat dining room, full-service bar and lounge with seating for 32, and a 10-seat ceviche bar. The decor is clean and modern, decorated with murals depicting four generations of Fukudas family and the Japanese migration to Peru in the late 1800s.

Fukudas venture is being assisted by consultant Sebastien Laval (La Table, Le Colonial, MAD, Musaafer) of Laval Hospitality, and general manager Kellyn Ferman (Miyako, Kata Robata).

Pacha Nikkei will be open Monday through Thursday 4:30 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 4:30 to 10 p.m.

Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.
Some Kingwood parents are demanding what they call pervasively vulgar and obscene books be removed from Humble ISD libraries, challenging current district policy that allows students to check out controversial books with their parents permission.

If the book is bad enough to require it to be labeled as mature content due to the sexually explicit nature of the book, then it should be removed entirely, Tracy Shannon said Tuesday at the districts school board meeting.

CHRONICLE DATABASE: See every book Texas schools banned and challenged in our interactive database

Shannon was among three parents who presented their concerns to the board, adding that they already have a working list of what they called 30 dirty books and plan to go through hundreds of others they plan to challenge.

Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said the policy is designed to allow parental input.

Humble ISD aspires to provide a personalized education for every single child in partnership with their families," Fagan said. "When a family comes to us and has a concern about a material or an item, we want to make sure that we can come to a compromise remedy that makes that family feel comfortable with what were doing.

Humble joins other districts across the state dealing with book ban requests. Several Houston area districts such as Katy, Fort Bend, and Cy-Fair have developed policies in response to calls for the review and removal of books containing topics such as sexuality, LGBTQ+ subjects and critical race theory.

CHRONICLE INVESTIGATION: Most efforts to ban books in Texas schools came from 1 politician and GOP pressure, not parents

In a news release, Shannon claims Humble ISDs process  involving a form to request the reconsideration of instructional materials  is designed to wear parents down.

Some of us have started the reconsideration process, which is currently very arduous, and does not really result in what we want, which is to remove these books completely from these libraries, because they have no redeeming educational value, she told board members during public comment.

With a child in the board room at the time, Shannon stopped short of reading aloud some of the more explicit excerpts they provided board members.

Our taxpayers do not want to be complicit in the corruption of minors, she said.

We have every faith and confidence that our district will do the right thing and take the lead on getting these books out. Currently, the process right now safeguards books, not children, and we'd like to safeguard children instead, she said.

Meagan Fast said she had begun the process to have one of about 40 books removed from the Kingwood High School library.

I went through the process with the reconsideration form. I read the book front to back, I met with a committee, they decided to keep the book on the shelf," Fast said. "They said (it was) restricted but in my opinion from the language, it wasn't really restricted, because it still allowed the child access from the bookshelves without parent involvement.

She appealed and ultimately, the decision was made to lock the book up in a room and accessible only with written parental permission.

She used her remaining time to read excerpts from The Bluest Eye, in which she had concerns about the book describing the rape and molestation of a young girl by her father.

Fagan said the district offers alternative resources or materials for children whose families request them.

We do have a review process for library books and sometimes the committee doesnt feel that the book should be removed for every child, but we always partner with that family. Absolutely, your child cannot check out that book if its not OK with you. And weve even added some safeguards to that, she told parents and the board.

Every parent has an account in the Home Access Center, an online portal that allows them to track information such as grades, attendance, and library books checked out by their child, according to Jamie Mount, chief communications officer for Humble ISD.

Making a decision to remove something for every single high school student is a decision that no one takes lightly," Mount said. "But we want to make sure every family feels secure and safe in what their children are doing and what they're reading.
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As time passes since World War II, fewer veterans of the war are alive today. However, one of those veterans is Katy resident Thelma Williams.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, of the more than 16 million servicemembers from 1941 to 1945 who could claim to be World War II veterans there will be about 168,278 by Sept. 30 this year.

Williams, 103, recently attended the American Legion state convention in Austin and was honored while there.

I had the privilege of meeting Legionnaire Thelma Williams at The Wreaths across of America in Katy last year, State Commander Bret Watson said, according to a news release. I was told that she was planning to attend the Department convention in Austin, and I was delighted to see that she was able to attend. It was my honor to present her and James Watson (my 25-year-old son) with the oldest and youngest delegate on the floor. It just shows you the range of ages of veterans that support our great organization. Ms. Williams is one of the veterans of the greatest generation and I hope she can make it back next year.

The American Legions Department of Texas represents 453 posts in the state with more than 53,000 veteran members.

Williams was born in September 1918 in Lancaster, Pa. She joined the Womens Army Corps in 1943 when she was 24 years old. The WAC recruited women to work in jobs that would free men up to fight the war.

Williams started at the WAC army administration school in Arkansas. Then, she was transferred to Fort Oglethorpe. She did office work for a motor transport company that taught WACs to drive jeeps, trucks and staff cars. Two years later, she went through overseas training and was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean en route to Germany when the Japanese surrendered.

During her four and a half years of service, Williams worked her way up from assistant supply sergeant to supply sergeant to acting first sergeant and finally to first sergeant.

I was very fortunate to serve in the occupation forces in Germany and Japan and in all, I had a very good experience, Williams said. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat if I were many, many years younger. At first, I joined the American Legion for the dinners that they had, but then later I came to enjoy the camaraderie and worked a lot with the American Legion Auxiliary.

Katy American Legion Post 164 Commander Peter Batura lauded Williams service during her military service and continued support in the following years.

Thelma Williams is a treasure, exemplifying the best characteristics of the United States military  duty, honor, fidelity  in both her uniformed service as well as civilian life. She represents an era when selfless acts were commonplace, not the exception, Batura said. Reaching the milestone age of 103, Thelma remains active and is an encouragement to virtually everyone she comes in contact. Engaging conversation and great stories are your reward for spending time with her.

To watch an interview with Williams, go to https://youtu.be/1JLPCg4z9OI.

The American Legion was founded in 1919. It is a national service organization with a membership comprised of war-time veterans.

Katy American Legion Post 164 meets at 6:30 p.m. every third Tuesday of the month for a social mixer and then business meeting at 7:30 p.m. at 22125 Kingsland Blvd. in Katy. To review a schedule of activity of American Legion Post 164 visit www.LegionPost164KatyTX.org.

rkent@hcnonline.com
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Christopher Wilsons current monthly water bill for his home in the Mill Creek subdivision northeast of Magnolia is $466  an amount he said he cannot fathom.

Nor is it an amount Wilson, who moved into the house with his wife in June, he says he can pay.

"I'm a disabled vet," a visibly frustrated Wilson recently told Magnolia city council members. "I'm on a fixed income. We (have) been there for two months and already this is changing our entire budget. Our entire lifestyle has changed."

About a dozen residents in the same subdivision, in south Montgomery County, said they are in the same bucket, dealing with a high water bill and not understanding how it happened. The monthly bill has reached $1,700 for one resident, who along with Wilson and the others at the meeting shared her outrage over the cost.

"The thing is, if it was just one home with this outrageous water bill, that could be understandable," resident Bridgit Spencer said before the Aug. 9 council meeting. "But ... it is literally everyone in the subdivision."

The subdivision gets its water from the city of Magnolia. Mayor Todd Kana said city leaders are looking into whether the problem is a transmission issue with the electronic reading of the smart water meters used. Residents are charged out-of-city rates: $40 for the first 1,000 gallons of water and then $5.50 per gallon.

We are working through this, and we will resolve any issues, Kana said.

Kana said he was first made aware of the high bills in July, however, residents like Spencer said they have been receiving high water bills for more than a year.

She added that one bill stated she used 125,000 gallons of water in a month  enough to fill six average swimming pools.

My house is not flooding, my grass is dead  I live in a two-story home, Spencer said. If I had that much water in there, my home would be flooding without a question."

Several residents said they were told by the water and wastewater department that it could be their neighbors water passing through their meters, their sprinkler system, or a water burst  described as when a person uses the shower and toilet at the same time.

Residents also said they were told to contact the home builder, Arlington-based D.R. Horton. Residents also said the builder told them to call the city of Magnolia. D.R. Horton did not return messages for comment.

Documents provided by Spencer showed that city workers came to her home to inspect her water meter for leaks in November, while a a commercial lawn care services based in Magnolia inspected the sprinkler system on her property. No leaks were found.

Between October to November, Spencer was charged $794.80 after a reading indicated she used 137,000 gallons of water.

Resident Chris Turner said that while other communities in the state have also dealt with high water bills, like Williamson County, his neighborhood and the city need to be able to work on a solution together.

A small city like this should be able to stand up for each other, Turner told city council members. We should be able to talk to each other and figure out problems together. We shouldnt have to fight  we dont want to pit us against you.

Kana said the city will not be cutting anyones water supply in Mill Creek but encouraged customers to pay what they believe to be a fair amount in order to maintain their account.

Were not cutting people off until we get to the bottom of this, he said.

Kana said a representative of Kamstrup, the smart meter manufacturer, will be in the city this week to verify the accuracy of the devices. A third-party company that calibrates and verifies accuracy of the meters, will also visit homes.
HOUGHTON, Mich. (AP)  The family of a Michigan woman who was killed after an air bag module exploded in her SUV following a crash filed a lawsuit alleging negligence.

The complaint was filed Thursday in Houghton County Circuit Court and names Arc Automotive Inc., General Motors and Toyoda Gosei North America Corp. It seeks a jury trial and more than $25,000 in damages.

The lawsuit claims that pieces of the air bag inflator, steering wheel and steering column from Marlene Beaudoin's Chevy Traverse pierced her chest, neck and head after her vehicle was struck Aug. 15, 2021 by a car in Calumet in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Police reports show that a metal inflator fragment hit her neck in the crash. Beaudoin, 39, died at a hospital.

Four of Beaudoin's 10 children also were in the SUV.

The Associated Press left emails Friday seeking comment from Arc Automotive Inc. and Toyoda Gosei North America. General Motors declined to comment Friday.

ARC Automotive makes air bag inflators that are sold to air bag manufacturers. ARC Automotive, GM, Ford and Volkswagen were named in May in a federal class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco.

That lawsuit accuses the companies of knowingly selling vehicles containing air bag inflators that are at risk of exploding. Two deaths and at least four injuries have been linked to such explosions.

Five plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are owners of vehicles with ARC inflators who contend the defective air bag parts were not disclosed when they made their purchases.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has been investigating ARC inflators for nearly seven years without a resolution, has estimated that 51 million such vehicles are on U.S. roads. Thats somewhere between 10% and 20% of all passenger vehicles.
GULFPORT, Miss (AP)  A Mississippi chiropractor accused of selling fentanyl and being in possession of drug paraphernalia was taken into custody after an undercover investigation.

Joseph Joey Andrew Rogers, 53, of Long Beach, faces charges including possession of meth, tampering with evidence and sale of a controlled substance. The fentanyl charges came from "previous undercover operations," Harrison County Sheriff Troy Peterson said in a news release.
Houston Chronicle

A maintenance worker was shot and killed Thursday night in Montrose after a brief altercation with a gunman, police said.

The man, who has not been publicly identified by police, was working outside an apartment complex with a woman on the 1400 block of Marshall Street near the University of St. Thomas when the two went upstairs to cool off, according to Lt. Ignacio Izaguirre. The shooter confronted the woman inside the worker's apartment and demanded keys, firing a warning shot when she told him she didn't have them, Izaguirre said.
Houston-area schools with lower percentages of families in need of financial assistance are transitioning back to an application process for free meals for the first time since the pandemic began, under new federal regulations.

Schools with student populations made up of 40 percent or more kids eligible for free and reduced meals will continue to serve free lunches to all students without a mandatory application process.

When COVID-19 upended learning for millions of school children, federal money made it possible for districts to feed all students for free, regardless of families incomes, as they returned to in-person learning.

With COVID relief programs set to expire just before the start of the 2022-23 school year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on July 22 announced another $4.3 billion for school system and child care meal programs. The money, which comes from the federal Community Eligibility Provision, will allow schools in under-served communities to continue serving free breakfasts and lunches to all students, regardless of individual household incomes.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Most efforts to ban books in Texas schools came from 1 politician and GOP pressure, not parents

Texas will receive more than $731 million in federal funding for student meal assistance programs this school year.

The new regulations have caused at least three districts in the region to offer universal free lunches only at some campuses, causing confusion among parents.

Houston ISD, for example, has nine campuses  Harvard, Horn, Mark Twain, Oak Forest, River Oaks, West University and Roberts elementary schools as well as its High School for the Performing and Visual Arts  that will require families to fill out eligibility forms for free lunches. The districts remaining 267 campuses will continue to offer free meals to all students.

HISD Chief Operating Officer Wanda Paul this week said all schools will continue offering free breakfast and at-risk after-school supper to all students, including at the nine schools that will require applications for free lunch.

"HISD will provide a household income application to all enrolled students at the nine schools," Paul said.

In Fort Bend ISD, 28 of the districts 75 schools qualify for universal free lunches and breakfasts this school year. Thirty-four of Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs 93 campuses qualify to provide free meals to all students.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston ISD again to deploy staffers, administrators to fill teacher vacancies

Barbers Hill and Alvin ISDs, as well as Goose Creek Consolidate ISD will not offer universal free lunches at any of its campuses, but still will provide free lunches to students who meet income eligibility requirements.

Goose Creek officials, however, said the district will make free breakfasts and after-school snacks available to all students.

Friendswood ISD will continue to collect applications for free lunches, as it did during the last school year.

The district did not receive waiver funding last year to extend free lunches to all students, said Amber Petree, the districts chief financial officer. The district continued its operations under the (National School Lunch Program) for K-5 campuses for the 2021-22 school year and will continue the same for the 2022-23 school year.

Deer Park ISD will serve free breakfast and lunch to all pre-kindergarten students at the Early Childhood Center and Parkwood Elementary, said Matt Lucas, the districts director of communications.

Breakfast will be offered at no charge at all schools except Deer Park High School-South Campus (grades 10-12), he added.

Aldine ISD, where 87.9 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, meets the threshold to serve free meals to all of its roughly 67,000 students spread across 83 campuses.

Were pleased that this program allows us to continue offering all students access to nutritious food so they can come to class well-nourished and ready to learn, Susan DAmico, AISD executive director of child nutrition services, said in a prepared statement.

Though not necessary to receive free meals this year, the district encouraged families that have qualified for free meals in the past to fill out annual income surveys as they usually would during the registration process.

The annual income survey is extremely important and helps fund many different programs at Aldine ISD, DAmico said. Data from this survey can increase technology funding and offer learning assistance programs to students in need.

hannah.dellinger@chron.com

Alejandro Serrano contributed to this report.
Houston Independent School District trustees have approved a measure to buy 200 rifles, ammunition and 200 ballistic shields for the districts police department, which Superintendent Millard House II said last week was not prepared with its current equipment to stop an active shooter.

Trustees voted 6-3 on the purchase Thursday evening after spending roughly an hour in closed executive session discussing the item and about 20 minutes of intense discussion from the dais. Trustee Dani Hernandez proposed postponing the measure by a week because she was not willing to proceed without more specific information. That effort, however, failed on a 6-3 vote.

Earlier in the meeting, about a dozen speakers urged the board to delay the vote or to vote no.

I need more information about the broader safety plan for the district in general. At this time, I dont believe I have all the information I need, Hernandez said before the vote. I dont think that we have explored all options at this point  safety is essential for HISD.

HISD Police Chief Pete Lopez told the board last week that he was confident in the training the police department had received but did not have a lot of confidence in preparing our officers to encounter a suspect without the proper equipment. The equipment to be purchased would be used to help with scenario-based training to learn how to respond to an active shooter threat.

My officers are dedicated to our students and to our staff, and regardless if we have the equipment or not, we are still going to respond, Lopez said after the vote. This act tonight will allow us to respond in a safer manner.

The police gear will be for specific situations and will not be items that police will walk around with, House said.

The bigger issue here is ensuring that they have all the tools possible so that they can be as safe as possible, House said, and provide the kind of safety that we want to provide on campuses.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston ISD police not prepared for Uvalde-like active shooter, superintendent says

The purchase comes as schools across Texas and the nation assess their safety protocols after a May mass shooting in a Uvalde elementary school. The gunman, a former student, killed 19 children and two teachers before Border Patrol officers entered the classroom and killed him.

A Texas House committee investigating the police response found 376 officers rushed to the school but a disastrous series of communication breakdowns and other systemic failures led to that army of police standing down for more than an hour before the Border Patrol officers entered the classroom and killed the 18-year-old gunman.

More Education news: Most efforts to ban books in Texas schools came from 1 politician and GOP pressure, not parents

Texas Education Agency officials told school systems to take various measures before school returns, including audits. HISD is working on completing its audit before its first day of school, Aug. 22.

Schools in Texas will also be expected to conduct weekly checks of exterior doors.

I see the emotion on this dais, but there are no emotions like looking at your child in a casket, said Trustee Kathy Blueford-Daniels, whose son was shot to death by a man who mistook him for another young man about 16 years ago. If the chief will have enough ammunition to slow down someone coming in ... Im all for it.

alejandro.serrano@chron.com
An autopsy report released Thursday by Harris County medical examiners concludes that Roderick Brooks, a Houston man shot by a Harris County sheriff's office deputy in July, was killed by a single gunshot to his neck that exited his face and that he suffered blunt force trauma to his face and body.

A lawyer representing Brooks' family said the autopsy report, which they also received this week, supports calls for the shooting to be investigated by the federal government.

"We knew the autopsy report was going to match up to what we saw in the video, and that is the execution of Roderick Brooks," said Sadiyah Evangelista Karriem. "We just now have a scientific, official report to tell us he was shot in the neck and the bullet came out of his face."

The Harris County Sheriff's Office responded Friday the department "released our community briefing detailing our official statement and video. It does not represent a formalized verdict or opinion as this investigation is ongoing and active."

Now Playing: BodyCam footage shows Sgt. Hardin shooting and killing Roderick Brooks on July 8. Video: Houston Chronicle

Brooks was shot July 8 in a parking lot on FM-1960. Harris County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Garrett Hardin chased Brooks after he was reported to have shoplifted an item from a nearby Dollar General.

While chasing Brooks, Hardin shot him with a stun gun and forced him to the ground. Brooks fell face first in the takedown, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which on July 20 released body camera video of the encounter between Brooks and the deputy.

While the men were on the ground, Brooks grabbed the stun gun, which was near his head, with his right hand, the video shows. The deputy told Brooks to let go of the stun gun, and the two continued to struggle. The deputy then fired one shot, killing Brooks.

The autopsy report concludes that Brooks was killed by a gunshot wound to the neck that went left to right and out of the front part of his face.

Evangelista Karriem has contended that the body camera video released by the sheriff's office was edited to obscure views of the deputy punching Brooks. The family has twice seen a different, unedited version the video, she said, but didn't have a copy of it in their possession.

"The angle of the camera prohibits viewers from seeing everything the deputy saw and experienced," Assistant Chief Mike Lee with the sheriff's office said in the Friday, July 22, community briefing.

She said the autopsy reported supported claims Brooks was punched in the face. The report doesn't say where the blunt force injuries came from.

Evangelista Karriem said the medical examiners' office refused to answer the families' questions about the autopsy report, citing the ongoing investigation.

"One of the questions the family wants to know is how long was he conscious," Evangelista Karriem said. "Did he suffer any pain? That's something the sisters really want to know."

Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

On Thursday evening, she also claimed that the deputy broke protocols by placing the stun gun on the ground next to Brooks and that Hardin "was creating peril for his own self."

The family intends to have an independent expert review the autopsy reports, Evangelista Karriem said. She plans to send the information and other concerns the family had about the shooting to the Justice Department. She said she and the family do not trust the Sheriff's office to investigate itself.

Brooks' body was released to the family in July and he has been buried, she said.

She said the family plans to sue over the shooting. As of Thursday night, no lawsuit had been filed.
A dual citizen from Nigeria and Britain on Wednesday was extradited to the United States to face charges that he tried to scam Harris County, Galveston County and a local community college out of more than $3 million by using email accounts to pose as contractors and vendors.

Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo, 43, was indicted in March on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to federal court records. A British court last month denied extradition appeals made by Adeagbo and two other men who are accused of running email scams from 2016 to 2018, according to the Justice Department.

Adeagbo is accused of participating in an email scam that attempted to steal more than $3 million from Texas government entities, construction companies and a Houston-area community college. In at least one case, the scammers collected more than $525,000 that has never been recovered.

According to an federal indictment unsealed this week, Adeagbo and others would register domains that looked similar to legitimate companies, and then send emails from those domains pretending to be employees seeking payments from clients and customers.

The scammers "impersonated and deceived those customers into sending wire payments to bank accounts they controlled," according to the Justice Department.

The indictment doesn't name the victims of the scams, but Galveston County officials confirmed that one of the accusations in the indictment was related to the theft from the county in 2018. County officials in March 2018 sent $525,282 to an account they thought belonged Lucas Construction Co., a Houston company doing road work for the county. An employee reportedly wired a payment to the company after receiving an email asking the county to update its banking information for the construction company.

The deception was discovered after the company called the county to complain about not being paid. Galveston County never recouped the money it paid to the scammers, officials said.

Galveston County wasnt the only local entity allegedly targeted by the scammers. According to the indictment, an unnamed community college in the Houston area sent about $2 million to the scammers in March 18 and another county government wired two payments totaling more than $888,000 to the scammers.

The amount paid by the unnamed county in the indictment matches the amount reportedly almost stolen from Harris County in September 2017, just weeks after Hurricane Harvey struck the city. At that time, Harris County officials said a county employee sent payments to a person posing as an accountant with D&W Contractors, Inc. The county was able to recover the money after being alerted that the bank account and employees were fakes, officials said at the time. Still, the close call prompted demands for cybersecurity upgrades in Harris County.

The indictment also says that a community college in the Houston area sent about $2 million to the scammers posing as an employee of the Tellepsen Group, a Houston-based construction company. Its not clear from the indictment if the money was recovered. Tellepsen on its website advertises work done with both Houston Community College and Lone Star Community College. Neither college responded to requests for comment on Thursday night.

The scams also targeted entities outside of Texas, according to the Justice Department.

Adeagbo and another man, Donald Ikenna Echeazu, are also accused of defrauding Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, of nearly $2 million, according to the Charlotte Observer.

A third man, Olabanji Egbinola, was accused of defrauding Virginia Commonwealth University of nearly $470,000, according to the Washington Post.

All three men were arrested in the United Kingdom in 2020. Adeagbo faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted on the fraud charges against him, according to the Justice Department.

john.ferguson@chron.com
A photo of a Thrall police officer posing with Kyle Rittenhouse that was posted to the Texas departments official Facebook account has begun circulating on social media, sparking outrage.

The photograph, posted on Thursday, shows Rittenhouse grinning next to an unnamed Thrall officer in front of a vehicle.

Make those stops, you never know who you might meet, the post reads. Today it was Kyle Rittenhouse, welcome to Texas.

About six hours later, the post was edited by the Central Texas police department after intense backlash.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Kyle Rittenhouse says he will attend Blinn College, transfer to Texas A&M

The edited post read: I must have missed something, I believe that this young man was arrested, charged, indicted and then found not guilty by a jury of his peers. Is this not how our country works anymore? The hate in these comments is terrible, if you have information that is contrary to that I would honestly love to hear it.

In 2020 at age 17, Rittenhouse drove from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in response to protests for the shooting of a Black man by a white officer. Rittenhouse had said he wanted to help law enforcement protect property amid civil unrest. He was accused of fatally shooting two men and injuring another with his rifle. He was acquitted last year of multiple felony charges during his high-profile trial in which he argued he acted in self-defense.

Now 19, Rittenhouse recently made headlines in Texas after he said he was attending Texas A&M University. A school spokesperson later said Rittenhouse had not been accepted at the university. Rittenhouse later tweeted that he was moving to Texas this year to attend Blinn College in Brenham, a two-year institution that has a strong transfer rate to A&M. Acceptance, however, is not guaranteed.

The Thrall Police Departments Facebook post received nearly 1,800 comments.

Also on HoustonChronicle.com: Tasty but extremely large and invasive crawfish discovered in South Texas

Sick you are making him out as a hero, one person wrote. Shame on your officer and this department."

Another added: Get pulled over for a traffic violation, get a selfie taken instead. Is that service extended to everyone?

Its unclear how Rittenhouse and the officer met. Chief Whitney Whitworth did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The city of Thrall is about 40 miles northeast of Austin.

timothy.fanning@express-news.net
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Federal investigators are probing the Southern Baptist Convention over its handling of sexual abuse following the publication of an explosive report that found top officials had for two decades silenced abuse survivors and fought reforms out of fears of lawsuits, leaders of the nations second-largest faith group said on Friday.

In a statement, the SBCs top leadership body, the Executive Committee, confirmed that the Department of Justice is looking into multiple Southern Baptist entities.

The statement was signed by all of the leaders of the SBCs seminaries and main entities. They said they will cooperate fully with the criminal investigation and continue to grieve and lament past mistakes.

Leaders also noted that the faith group has taken numerous steps towards rectifying the abuse problem in the wake of a 2019 investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.

Individually and collectively, each SBC entity is resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation, the SBCs Nashville-based Executive Committee said in a statement.

The Executive Committee received a federal subpoena from the Justice Department, but no individuals have yet been subpoenaed. Justice Department officials couldnt be reached for comment.

Albert Mohler, the longtime president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, told the Chronicle Friday afternoon that he was awaiting specifics of the inquiry, but like other leaders vowed that his school would cooperate with law enforcement.

I don't know anything specific about the investigation other than what's been relayed to me by the Executive Committees counsel, Mohler said in an interview before the investigation was made public. But as far as we are concerned, we believe in the rule of law. We respect law enforcement and we will be fully cooperative with federal authorities.

The federal investigation introduces an unprecedented level of scrutiny on the 47,000-church coalition. The SBC is the world's largest Baptist group.

ABUSE OF FAITH: 20 years, 700 victims: Sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms

The SBCs handling of abuse has been in the public spotlight since 2019, when the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News published the first of an ongoing series, Abuse of Faith, that found hundreds of church leaders and volunteers had been convicted of sex crimes.

They left behind at least 700 victims, nearly all of them children.

The newspapers reporting prompted Southern Baptist church members to request a third-party review last year of the SBCs Executive Committees handling of abuse reports dating back to 2000.

FALLOUT: As ex-Southern Baptist figure alleges criminal conspiracy, prominent leader defends abuse response

SBC church representatives also demanded that the Executive Committee grant the firm, Guidepost Solutions, unprecedented access to confidential, attorney-client records for its review.

Guidepost spokesman Montieth Illingworth declined to say Friday whether the firm had been subpoenaed or answer other questions about the federal investigation. Per the firms agreement with the SBC, Guidepost is required to alert Southern Baptist officials when it receives law enforcement requests for documents.

Guidepost shall notify the SBC of any effort ... either by subpoena or otherwise to gain access to information, documents, materials, or work product, or information of any kind in the possession of Guidepost that has been generated, obtained, or learned as a result of the work performed by Guidepost, the agreement says.

FROM MAY: Bombshell 400-page report finds Southern Baptist leaders routinely silenced sexual abuse survivors

In May, Guidepost revealed that a handful of longtime Southern Baptist leaders and attorneys had mishandled sexual abuse complaints, disparaged victims and rejected proposed reforms that could have protected children from predators.

Among the revelations was that a longtime SBC lawyer, August Augie Boto, had secretly maintained a list of accused sexual abusers in Southern Baptist churches. The Chronicle identified 75 ministers on the list who had worked in Texas churches.

SURVIVORS SPEAK: Christa Brown spent decades warning Southern Baptists about abuse. Recent revelations brought her no joy.

Meanwhile, Boto said a public version of such a database wasnt feasible and dismissed efforts by advocates to create one as a backgrounding tool for churches to weed out problematic employees and volunteers.

Guidepost also uncovered sexual assault allegations against a former SBC president, Johnny Hunt, that allegedly occurred just after he left office because of term limits in 2010. Hunt has admitted to an impropriety, but maintains it was consensual. He resigned from a top leadership position at an SBC entity ahead of the Guidepost report, and numerous SBC organizations have since cut ties with him.

RELATED: Explosive report alleged sex abuse by SBC leader Johnny Hunt. His accuser still waits for justice.

Response to the Guidepost report was swift. One former SBC official, prominent evangelical leader Russell Moore, called it the Southern Baptist apocalypse and said the findings amounted to a criminal conspiracy.

As fallout from the report continued this summer, SBC church representatives overwhelmingly approved safeguards at their June meeting, including a database of accused ministers that churches could consult when making hiring decisions.

The SBC also elected new leaders that have been particularly outspoken on the need for abuse reforms, including Texas pastor Bart Barber, who vowed to turn the SBCs 47,000 churches into places where predators were hunted.

robert.downen@chron.com

john.tedesco@chron.com
Think back to 2015, in the moments after Donald Trump descended that prophetic escalator and announced his plans to run for president at the Trump Tower in New York City. What was your first thought? Woohoo, perhaps? Just like The Simpsons, maybe? Or: is that guy going to have the nuclear codes?

It was a chilling thought for many  and a concern that was unexpectedly renewed this week, more than a year and a half after he left office.

As speculation swirls around the FBI search of Trumps Florida residence on Monday, facts have been hard to come by  which, frankly, is often the case with ongoing criminal investigations that dont always benefit from law enforcement spilling the beans about evidence and accusations that havent been substantiated.

That didnt keep us from wanting answers and Trumps defenders from demanding them. Even though it was Trump himself who announced the raid from the rooftops, the prevailing Republican narrative seemed to suggest the FBI and Department of Justice were out to humiliate Trump with some dramatic, unprovoked incursion on his private property.

After much back and forth, we now know more about the warrant and the list of items retrieved during the search. The details, reported by the Wall Street Journal, confirmed just how serious the situation that has unfolded at Mar-a-Lago is. Agents reportedly found 11 sets of classified documents, including some marked as top secret and meant to be only available in special government facilities.

There is still plenty of room to wonder as to just what those documents contained or what they were doing at Trumps house but the information shared so far only serves to bolster our faith in the job that Attorney General Merrick Garland has done in proceeding cautiously but surely.

Trump could have, as we wrote earlier, quelled some of this speculation before it ballooned all the way into a violent confrontation in Cincinnati Thursday that left one person dead. Trump had a copy of the warrant. He knew why the officers were there, what they were looking for, and why they were going to such lengths to get it.

Instead, after days of escalating rhetoric, Garland held a press conference Thursday to confirm that he had approved the warrant and filed a motion to have it unsealed in the name of substantial public interest. According to the Justice Department, notice had been given to Trumps counsel and the search took place with minimal fanfare. .

Garland rebuffed accusations of the searchs illegitimacy, unfairness or political motivation: Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor, he said. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.

Certainly, an FBI search of a former presidents home appears unprecedented and the FBI isnt without blemish, having applied the law questionably and even unjustly in the past. In this case, though, the agencys director, Christopher Wray, was appointed by Trump. Garland, who directly signed off on the search, remains highly respected by members of both parties and has appeared to handle any probes involving Trump discreetly and professionally.

Were inclined to give Garland the benefit of the doubt mostly because he hasnt given us any reason not to. We cant say the same for the twice-impeached former president who is currently under multiple criminal, civil and congressional investigations and stands credibly accused of plotting a coup against American democracy.

Trump has every right to defend himself, in a court of law and in the court of public opinion. But rampant assertions of Trumps victimhood appear baseless.

In fact, 15 boxes worth of documents had already been found at his home months prior to this weeks search. Trumps lawyers claim that he had declassified some of the documents before he left office but whether he followed proper procedure to do so is another matter. He has also reportedly been known to destroy documents, just ripping them up in plain sight of staff. Remember the White House toilets that just wouldnt flush right? And though Trump tried to claim the search came out of nowhere and with no warning, Garland said it was conducted only after less intrusive efforts to secure more documents failed.

So, yes, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of Trumps claim that the search was prosecutorial misconduct and the weaponization of the Justice Department. But now theres also, perhaps, a reason to be scared.

According to reporting from the Washington Post, officials suspected that nuclear documents might have been among the highly confidential materials they believed were at Mar-a-Lago, according to people familiar with the investigation. The claim hasnt been confirmed by an attributable source. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation, according to the Post. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search.

We support the release of information in an investigation of great national importance barring the release of anything that would compromise the process itself.

While the new information shared Friday underscores the seriousness of the investigation, there are limits to what the warrant and search item list can do. Trumps own double speak has undercut the agency he claims to be cooperating with and his supporters insisted from the beginning that the FBI planted evidence. What would persuade them otherwise at this point?

But for those who are open to facts, Garlands statements, details of the warrant and the list of some 20 boxes worth of documents should confirm that the search was founded on evidence that there were not only federal documents at Trumps house but highly classified ones. And for now, Garland has earned the benefit of our doubt. Trump has earned our gravest of doubts.
The execution of the search warrant at former President Donald Trumps Florida home caused consternation for some that the warrant was politically driven. Serving a search warrant on President Trump has political implications, but that does not mean that it was done without a proper constitutional basis.

As an initial matter, the individuals seeking the search warrant made a determination that President Trumps home contained evidence of a crime or items that were illegally possessed. In other words, officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in conjunction with attorneys at the United States Department of Justice, concluded that such evidence probably was inside the home. Given that this search warrant was unprecedented, it is hard to imagine that those officials or attorneys took the decision lightly.

Even if one believes that those officials and attorneys engaged in rampant political misconduct, an external check exists. In order for federal law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant, they had to obtain such authorization from a neutral United States magistrate judge. The FBI agent had to present an affidavit, swearing under oath and penalty of perjury to all of the details in the affidavit that supported the assertion that there is probably evidence of crime. It cannot be any vague assertion that some crime happened. Instead, the affidavit must have information that particularly describes the expected discoverable evidence in support of the allegations related to the specific crime.

In order for the magistrate judge to sign the search warrant, that person had to find that probable cause existed based on the totality of the circumstances. Federal magistrate judges are not political nominees; they are highly trained legal experts who are selected to work for a federal court based on merit.

As a former U.S. magistrate judge, I signed countless search warrants, but never one as high profile as this one. Each time I reviewed an application for a search warrant, I read and analyzed all of the documents carefully, ensuring that there was full compliance with the Fourth Amendment before I signed the warrant. I can only imagine that if I was reviewing a warrant application for a former president that my standard high level of diligence would have somehow increased even higher. I would expect whoever signed this search warrant exercised a similar exacting level of legal analysis.

If somehow the oversight and review by the FBI and the Department of Justice as well as the magistrate judges analysis all failed, President Trump still had options. He could have gone to federal court seeking to quash the search warrant with arguments that it violated the Fourth Amendment. Another federal judge would have then reviewed the search warrant to ensure that it complied with Fourth Amendment requirements. President Trump, with his legal resources, did not choose to have a federal judge immediately review the warrants constitutionality, which likely indicates that nothing readily appeared to be unconstitutional.

As search warrants are a law enforcement tool in criminal investigations, the Fourth Amendment authorizes their issuance provided they meet a number of parameters including particularity and reasonableness. The execution of the warrant may not lead to any charges against any individual, including President Trump, as there is no certainty that the FBI agents will find evidence of a crime. Probable cause based on a totality of the circumstances is the standard, as opposed to certainty.

However, if President Trump is charged with a crime based on any evidence obtained from the search of his home, he will have another chance to challenge the search warrant. He can file a motion to suppress with the federal judge overseeing the charges against him that could challenge the allegations and information in the agents sworn affidavit, any shortcomings in the magistrate judges review of the warrant application, or any problems with the execution of the warrant at his home. Finally, President Trump can appeal any unsuccessful motion to suppress to the federal appellate court as well as to the United States Supreme Court.

Many of President Trumps supporters decried the execution of the search warrant. None of these supporters, however, pointed to any concrete Fourth Amendment violations in the warrant. President Trump chose to forgo filing a motion to quash. A number of constitutional safeguards exists if necessary. Ultimately, the search warrant, while shocking given its target, appears to comply with the Fourth Amendment based on what we currently know.

Brian L. Owsley is an associate professor of law at UNT Dallas College of Law where he teaches, among other topics, federal criminal procedure, which concerns the Fourth Amendment. He served as federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas from 2005 until 2013.
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W.E.B Du Bois Center to Host Elizabeth Freeman Roundtable

SHEFFIELD, Mass.  The W.E.B. Du Bois Center for Freedom and Democracy of Great Barrington will present a roundtable discussion on the life and legacy of Elizabeth Freeman, the first enslaved African American to successfully sue for her freedom in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The roundtable will take place Friday, Aug. 19, at 4 p.m. at Dewey Hall. A reception will follow the roundtable.

This the first in a series of events honoring Freeman's journey to freedom that will take place in Sheffield from Aug. 19-21. A full schedule of events can be found here.

In recent years, Freeman's life and legacy have been interpreted through exhibits at the Colonel John Ashley House in Sheffield, a stop on the Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail, and numerous books and publications.

Much of her public story was shaped by an 1853 biography written by Catharine Maria Sedgwick, the daughter of Freeman's longtime employer. Nationally, Freeman has been memorialized by a statue at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture; her portrait appeared in The 1619 Project, the New York Times' 2019 exploration of the history and legacy of American slavery.

"But Freeman never told her own story," writes Sari Edelstein in "'Good Mother, Farewell': Elizabeth Freeman's Silence and the Stories of Mumbet, an article published by the New England Quarterly in 2019. "The recent proliferation of children's books on Freeman vividly demonstrates the desire for a celebratory national story, one that can be seamlessly woven into grade school curricula that enshrine the founding ideals and ennoble exceptional individuals.

"And yet, Freeman's story is more complex than such accounts allow, and the instrumentalization of her life narrative raises questions about the stories told in the absence or suppression of archival material and about how narrative serves as one tool among many for the containment of black lives, even those that are celebrated."

Edelstein, an associate professor of English at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, will be joined at the roundtable by three historians  Kendra T. Field, an associate professor of history and Africana Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts University; Kerri Greenidge, an assistant professor of race, colonialism, and diaspora and co-director of the African American Trail Project at Tufts University; and Frances Jones-Sneed, professor emeritus of history at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts  to engage the myths and realities of Freeman's life as an entryway into a larger conversation about stories, silences, and the ethics of African American public history.

Suggested donation at the door: $20. A light reception will follow the talk.

Elizabeth Freeman and the Telling of Black Stories is cosponsored by Dewey Memorial Hall, Housatonic Heritage and the Upper Housatonic African American Heritage Trail, and the African American Trail Project at Tufts University, with support from the Sheffield Historical Society.
Automation is everywhere. But nobody wants to be put out of a job by a robot. The idea that the workplace skills that any of us have developed over the years could be digitally encoded and then delivered by a hardware or software robot is always a little disquieting.

But perhaps we should have understood these trends a long time ago. Automotive manufacturing plants in the UK have been using robots since the 1970s - hence the famous hand-built by Roberts sketch on Not The Nine OClock News back in the day. Moving into the 1980s, Japan has been levying union dues on deployed robots for some time now. This stuff is real.

The modern eras software robots, chatbots and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) automations were on the table a long time ago. Today, its a question of which job will get automated next and how well humans will embrace autonomous virtual workers and look to move to higher-value tasks and roles not yet within robotic reach, so-to-speak.

Ripe for automation?

At this risk of touching a tender nerve, the practice of press public relations has (arguably) a number of operational practices that may soon be automated-out of the purview of the keen-eyed PR executive.

Automation is great for building manual pattern-heavy reports outside the chaos of media relations but, when it comes to human creativity and relationship building, automation sometimes falls flat. Its hugely useful for pattern recognition, but doesnt perform in environments with extreme unpredictability where the nuances of human behaviour are at the fore, said Jack Buckley, technology PR manager and member of the admin team on UK social media press-PR channel TechJPR.
Every week the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is compiling a list of the top news articles from across the world in which it is mentioned. Check all the international media coverage of IFJ, divided by language, in the period from August 6th to August, 12th 2022.
Afghanistan: Afghan women know that if we stay quiet, our rights will never be restored, says Lailuma Sadid, an Afghan journalist exiled in Belgium

Lailuma Sadid is an Afghan journalist and a political refugee due to the threats that she received from the Taliban for her journalistic work. She has been living in Belgium for more than a decade and is a correspondent at the Brussels Morning newspaper. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan one year ago, Sadid has been working with Afghan women and has become their voice, raising awareness of their situation in Europe and beyond.

IFJ. One year has passed since your appeal to NATOs Secretary General , Jens Stoltenberg, in which you asked him: please, dont recognise the Taliban and dont put us again in the same situation. What will you tell him today, one year after the Taliban takeover?

If I had the opportunity to attend a NATO press conference today, I would say to the Secretary General and everyone present in the room: you forgot Afghanistan and the Afghan people. The international pull-out of Afghanistan was badly organised, and Afghan people are the ones suffering its consequences, particularly women. The Taliban have removed women from society, relegating them to private space, and they have closed schools for girls, forcing them to stay at home. If I had the opportunity, I would like to ask the international community how they feel about the threats that Afghan women are facing.

I would also warn them not to commit the same mistake in other countries. When you sign a peace agreement, like the United States did with the Taliban in February 2020, you must involve the entire society. Signing a peace agreement with a terrorist group is unacceptable, and Afghan people are facing terrible consequences because of it. We must not forget that the Taliban are not the only terrorist group in Afghanistan. There is also Al Qaeda and the Haqqani Network, which are both blacklisted in the United States and Europe. And the fight against them has not ended yet. There is still fighting in some provinces such as Panjshir and Baghlan, and women are organising actions of resistance to fight for their rights. Afghan people must be supported!

IFJ. How would you describe the current situation in Afghanistan?

One year later, I see that there is no hope for the future - the dark days have come back. The situation is getting worse every day. Some weeks ago, the Taliban sent a letter to women who were still working warning them not to come to the office and to send a man to replace them. If women, who are half of the Afghan society, are being erased from the political, economic, social and public sphere, it is impossible to be optimistic about the future.

IFJ. Several groups are at risk under Taliban rule such as journalists, human rights defenders, women and those who oppose the regime. What are the most pressing needs for them?

Humanitarian aid and evacuations are the most pressing needs. However, humanitarian aid must not end in the hands of the Taliban because they are only distributing it among their supporters. We need international organisations that work independently, and ensure that the Taliban do not receive funds for humanitarian support. Another important point is not to focus all the humanitarian assistance in Kabul, and take into account the rest of the provinces.

Of course, evacuations are still needed. It is essential to help evacuate women and men who are under threat. There are many collectives at risk in the country, such as journalists, activists, artists, workers of the former government, women in general and everyone who dares to oppose the regime. The international community must not forget them.

IFJ. Female journalists are a target of Taliban violence for being women and working as journalists. What threats are they facing on a daily basis?

Before August 15, 2021 we had more than 10.000 people working in the media, and around 3.000 of them were women. At present, there are only around a hundred women working in the media in Afghanistan, and some journalists say that the number is even smaller. It is challenging to be a journalist because there is no freedom to work, and it is even harder for women. They are barred from covering events; they are not given access to information, and sometimes they are even prevented from going to their offices. Some months ago the Taliban issued a decree obliging female journalists that appear on TV to cover their faces, only leaving visible their eyes.

The Taliban are flooding news bulletins in Afghanistan with their propaganda. So it is difficult for Afghan citizens and the outside world to know what is happening. They are also cutting off the internet from time to time. We only know about some of the killings and detentions that are taking place in the country.

Women journalists are facing many threats but, at the same time, women journalists, activists, human rights defenders and others are the ones leading the resistance and fighting for their rights. Although they are risking their lives, women are not staying quiet. Hundreds of them have been arrested and many killed by the Taliban, but they say they will not give up until their rights are restored.

IFJ. You have been working tirelessly to shed light on the situation of Afghan women, to bring it to the attention of the international community. How is your activist work going and how is the moral of the activists in Afghanistan?

We work through WhatsApp and Signal groups to be discreet. Women in Afghanistan are really afraid because they know that their actions can entail terrible consequences. They cannot go out of their homes without a male guardian and they cannot protest against the Taliban. Women are organising themselves from their own rooms. We draft slogans, send letters to the UN and leaders of the international community, and shed light on the injustices happening in the country. I know it is not enough, but there is not another way to support them than raising awareness of the situation. I hope that the international community can help them to stay strong and raise their voices.

Many women activists have been beaten, arrested and abused by the Taliban. Some of them cannot stay in their homes because they fear the Taliban will arrest them and they change places every day. And even in these terrible conditions, they are fighting because this is the only way to restore their rights. The international community must evacuate women who are under the Taliban threat.

IFJ. You were once a political refugee because of the threats you received for your journalistic work in Afghanistan. At present, you are receiving threats for your activist work, standing against the Taliban regime. How are you coping with the situation?

I am not the only female journalist receiving these threats and, if I compare myself with my colleagues in Afghanistan who are targeted by the Taliban, I cannot stay silent. Throughout these 20 years of war, I have lost more than 35 people in my family. However, I am not going to stay quiet. Afghan women know that if we stay quiet, our rights will never be restored.

I really see a change in this new generation of women, who are stronger and braver. They are fighters. And we must support them.

IFJ. How can people abroad help Afghan citizens?

People must not close their eyes to what is happening in Afghanistan, and they must listen to Afghan people. To support the Afghan people it is necessary to urge our governments to evacuate citizens in danger and send international observers to report on what is going on on the ground.

On another level, governments should not recognise the Taliban. It is shocking for me that the government of the United States signed a peace agreement with a terrorist organisation. Do they really believe the promises of the Taliban? Were they so naive to believe that they have changed? Criticising the Taliban today could easily entail being arrested and even being assassinated. Governments should not legitimise the Taliban. The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to several actions from the international community, and I have not seen any towards the regime in Afghanistan. How many more deaths does the international community need to act? Now it is time to stop talking and start acting. We do not want to remain under Taliban rule for an additional year.
Armed Taliban militants assaulted and intimidated members of an Al-Hadath TV crew during a live broadcast in Kabul on August 10. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), condemn the attack and urge the Taliban to cease its vilification of Afghan media workers.

Members of the Taliban harass an Al-Hadath TV crew in Kabul on August 10. Credit: Al-Hadath TV

On August 10, Al-Hadath correspondent Christiane Baissary and her crew were reporting on the delivery of humanitarian aid by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in Kabul.

During the live broadcast, several armed men in civilian clothing can be seen approaching Baissary, physically harassing and intimidating the crew and instructing the group to move away from the scene.

Footage depicts Baissary accusing one Taliban member of attacking the cameraman with a whip, which can be seen in his hand. The reporter begins to explain that the team had been told they could film a story on the aid distribution, however, one member of the Taliban pushes the camera away.

After returning to their car, the television crew were again approached by an armed Taliban officer who spoke to the driver.

Under the Talibans rule, strict censorship of the media has become commonplace, with increasingly frequent incidents of harassment and attacks against journalists and media workers.

On August 4, correspondent Anas Mallick and his camera crew were abducted and assaulted by the Taliban for covering a story for WION News on the first anniversary of the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan, on August 15, 2021.

The week prior, on 27 July, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced a new decree forbidding journalists and media workers from making false accusations or publishing criticism of Taliban officials.

The AIJA said:The AIJA condemns the attack on members of the Al-Hadath TV crew. Stopping journalists from covering public gatherings and aid distribution is a violation of the access to information law.

The IFJ said: The Talibans ongoing persecution of journalists and media workers has critically undermined press freedom in Afghanistan, with media rights violations increasingly common. The IFJ condemns this attack and urges the Taliban to allow journalists and media workers to carry out their work without hindrance.
Independent citizen journalist, Do Cong Duong, has died in detention on August 2 while serving an eight-year sentence for reporting on land seizures in Vietnams Bac Ninh province. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns Duongs death in custody and urges the Vietnamese authorities to end their assault on human rights and press freedom.

On August 2, Do Cong Duong died at a hospital in Vietnams coastal Nghe An region, where he was serving an eight-year sentence at the provinces Detention Centre No. 6. The Prison Administrator has since rejected Duongs familys request to bring his body home and instead conducted a local funeral.

Duong developed various illnesses throughout his imprisonment, including heart disease, pneumonia, and respiratory failure. His family first noted his decline in health in April 2018, petitioning the prison superintendent for medical assistance which was continually refused.

When Duong finally received medical treatment at a hospital in Thanh Choung district, he was too ill to recover.

Duong was originally arrested in January 2018 after he recorded a forced eviction in Bac Ninh, his home province. A land rights activist who often live streamed video reports on the Tieng Dan TV Facebook page, Duong was charged with disturbing public order and abusing democratic freedoms.

A court originally sentenced him to 48 months in prison, the harshest sentence available under Article 331 of Vietnams 2015 penal code. Following two further trials and a successful appeal, Duong was sentenced to a total of eight years.

Following Doungs death, an open letter from families of political prisoners demanded proper access to medical treatment and called for the human rights of prisoners to be upheld. Duong is the second political prisoner to die at Nghe Ans Detention Centre No. 6 since his imprisonment.

In December 2019, Dao Quang Thuc died while he served a 13-year sentence on charges of subversion. While officials claim he died of a stroke, the family said his body was never released from the autopsy. Like Duong, Thucs body was not returned to his home, and he was buried in the prisons cemetery.

Jailed journalists, activists and political prisoners in Vietnam can face harsh conditions in jail, including cramped, humid cells and a lack of proper medical care. In March 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Committee published three recommendations to Vietnamese authorities concerning the death penalty, freedom of speech, and the treatment of human rights activists.

The IFJ said:The inhuman treatment and denial of basic care for journalists and media workers in detention is a grave violation of human rights. The IFJ strongly condemns the deplorable death of Do Cong Duong in custody and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to immediately release all journalists in prison. Swift international action must be taken to ensure that other journalists jailed in Vietnam are able to survive their sentences.
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As digital payments rapidly become a staple for many Filipinos, GCash, the leading mobile wallet in the Philippines and the countrys first ever double unicorn has achieved yet another milestone as it grows its number of registered users to 66 million as of June 2022. This was one of the key highlights shared by the GCash president and CEO Martha Sazon during the recent Mobile 360 Asia Pacific FinTech Summit held at JW Marriott South Beach in Singapore.

The latest Globe Financial Briefing showed GCash continuing its lead as the #1 Finance App now with over 66 Million registered users.

During the summit, Martha shared how collaborations with banks and other fintech providers have helped GCash maintain a strong growth momentum amid the pandemic which has enabled it to add six million users from the first quarter to 66 million at the end of the second quarter of 2022.

Were not a digital bank. We are an e-wallet. But whats good about that is were able to partner with any bank and any financial institution. This is a conscious thought that we make because we know that financial inclusion is a complex, difficult journey. So, we choose to collaborate rather than compete, Sazon said.

GCash CEO Martha Sazon shares GCash's milestone of reaching 66 Million registered users at the recent GSMA Mobile 360 Asia Pacific Fintech Summit in Singapore

With this in mind, GCash has partnered with the most innovative and the biggest financial institutions -- such as BPI, ATRAM and CIMB, as well as various government agencies, insurance, and fintech companies -- to address the populations need for more accessible financial services. GCash also teamed up with Ant Group Financial, allowing the app to access global and best-in-class platforms and capabilities and enabling GCash to scale up rapidly and ensure user security.

Driven by its goal to deliver fast, safe, and convenient digital products and services to the masses, most especially the millions of unbanked Filipinos at the height of the pandemic, GCash became a key partner of the government for the Department of Social Welfares Social Amelioration Program (SAP) which was disbursed via the GCash app with over P16 billion received by more than 2 million recipients. Moreover, GCash also empowers micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by partnering with different insurance providers to offer convenient digital business solutions such as business insurance products. More similar services will soon be launched on the GCash app.

As financial inclusion is the core of its business, Sazon also said that GCash continuously democratizes financial services by adding strategic collaborators to help innovate its game-changing products such as Send Money, Pay Bills, Cash-in, Cash-out, GInsure, GLoan, GInvest, GGives, GCredit. This has enabled them to deliver solutions that meet every Filipinos needs and demands.

The people that we need to include are the masses. We are talking about riders, tricycle drivers, sari-sari stores, and even market store vendors. This is very important because these are the very people who comprise our MSME industry, Sazon shared.

For more information, visit www.gcash.com.ph
The magazine provides a general overview of the options available to foreign firms to sell to the online India...
Amid the ongoing protest and controversies around Laal Singh Chaddha, Kareena Kapoor has appealed to people to not boycott their film.

The Herione of Bollywood opened up about the intentions behind her statement on people trolling and calling for a boycott of her latest outing with Aamir Khan.

web screen grab

During a conversation with RJ Siddharth Kannan, Bebo talked about the ongoing cancel culture in Bollywood. She said she thinks that a good movie can surpass everything.

Recalling how people reacted to her words, in a recent interview, the actress said,  I think its only a section of people that are trolling. But genuinely, I think that the love the film is getting is very different. These are just a section of people who are probably on your social media, which is probably like 1%, when asked by RJ Siddharth if she was being disrespectful towards the audience with her recent remarks.

Aamir Kareena

She went on to say that people people should not boycott Laal Singh Chaddha as she claims "it's such a beautiful film."

"I want people to see me and Aamir (Khan) on screen. Its been three years, weve waited so long. So, please dont boycott this film, because its actually like boycotting good cinema. And people have worked so hard on it; weve had 250 people work on this film for two-and-a-half years, she added and urged the audience to not boycott their latest release.

Dharma

In another interview, the actress had also stated that stardom cannot guarantee the commercial success of a film anymore.

web screen grab

Laal Singh Chaddha is an official remake of Hollywood's Oscar-winning 1994 film Forrest Gump, which featured Tom Hanks in the lead role. The Hindi remake of the film Laal Singh Chaddha stars Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Mona Singh, Naga Chaitanya.

The film also marks south star Naga Chaitanya's debut in Bollywood. The actor plays an extended cameo character of Laals buddy Bala in the army.

Instagram/Naga Chaitanya

Speaking about social media feedback, the actor told Mashable India, I do during the film release but its very toxic also out there. Its mad. But if you learn to filter it out the right way and use it as a tool, it can help you immensely."



(For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment, and let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.)
A unique case has been filed in the Delhi High Court where a woman has sought to stop her friend from travelling to Switzerland to undergo euthanasia.

According to the petitioner, a resident of Bengaluru, her friend who lives in Delhi has been granted a medical visa to Switzerland for getting treatment Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Representational Image

Got visa for treatment, not euthanasia

However, the woman claims that her friend, who is in his late 40s is travelling to Switzerland for physician-assisted suicide, and not for treatment.

The complainant has sought direction from the court to the central government not to grant "emigration clearance" to her friend and that a medical board should be constituted to examine his condition.

What is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a "complex, debilitating, long-term neuro inflammatory disease" and the petitioner's friend, who had the first symptom of the disease in 2014, is "now completely bed bound" and can only "walk a few steps inside home", the plea informs.

The petitioner has stated that her friend was earlier receiving treatment at AIIMS but the same could not continue during the pandemic due to "donor availability issues".

What the complainant said

"There are no financial constraints for providing respondent No.3 (petitioner's friend) with better treatment within India or abroad. But he is now adamant on his decision to go for euthanasia, which also affect the life of age old parents miserably. It is humbly submitted that there still persists a ray of hope for the betterment of his condition," said the plea.

Stock Image

The parents, family members and friends of the petitioner's friend would suffer an irreparable loss and hardship and will be going through an agonising moment if the prayers are not allowed, the plea said.

Euthanasia rules in India

In March 2018, in a historic verdict, Supreme Court ruled that human beings have the right to die with dignity and allowed passive euthanasia for terminally ill people, under strict guidelines.

Passive euthanasia is a condition where there is a withdrawal of medical treatment with the deliberate intention to hasten the death of a terminally-ill patient.

Representational Image

The court had also set strict guidelines for carrying out the mandate of a 'living will by specifying who is authorised to give effect to it.

The Delhi, resident, who is allegedly seeking euthanasia in Switzerland can't do it in India as his medical condition is not terminally-ill.

A law for allowing passive euthanasia - 'Treatment of Terminally Ill Patients Bill, 2016' is still pending in Parliament.

For more on news, sports, and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
The Kerala High Court has called for urgent action from the Central Government and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to compensate the families of those who died of adverse effects from the COVID-19 vaccine.

A bench of Justice VG Arun on Wednesday said that guidelines should be formulated for the disbursement of compensation to the families of people who died due to reactions to the COVID vaccine.

BCCL

Formulate a proper guideline

"Similar issues are cropping up in other states also. There has to be an effort to formulate a proper guideline, a proper scheme for compensating these persons and that is being done. Let them bring on record what steps have been taken so that I can pass a reasoned and considered order," the court said.



The court was hearing the plea by a woman who lost her husband, following the administering of the COVID-19 vaccine in August 2021.

The petitioner sought that the Court should issue directions to NDMA for issuing guidelines within a fixed timeframe.

BCCL

Petition seeking Rs 1,000 crore for vaccine death

In February a similar petition was filed in the Bombay High Court by the father of a medical student seeking Rs 1,000 crore compensation alleging that his daughter died due to side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.



The petitioner, Dilip Lunawat had alleged that his daughter Snehal Lunawat, a doctor, who was given Covishield in January 2021 and died March 1 due to cerebral venous thrombosis, bleeding in the brain and thrombocytopenia.

Lunawat's plea said health workers like his daughter were compelled to take the vaccine due to the "false narratives created by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), Director of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), the Maharashtra government, and the Union government that vaccines are safe."

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The first confirmed case of death due to anaphylaxis following COVID-19 vaccination was confirmed in June 2021, when the National AEFI (Adverse Events Following Immunisation) committee said the death of a 68-year-old man had been attributed to a severe allergic reaction following vaccination on March 8.



AEFI committee had also confirmed that Lunawat died due to vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia.

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167 confirmed deaths in India

In February this year, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar had informed the Lok Sabha that 167 deaths have been reported as Adverse Events Following Immunization after the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

The highest number of 43 fatalities has been reported as AEFI from Kerala, followed by 15 from Maharashtra, 14 from West Bengal and 12 each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

For more on news, sports, and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
China has overtaken the US as the world leader in both scientific research as well as high-impact studies, reveals a report published by Japans science and technology ministry (highlighted by The Guardian).

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Published by Japans National Institute of Science and Technology Policy, the report discovered that China now publishes the highest number of scientific research papers, after the US and Germany.



The numbers were based on yearly averages between 2018 and 2020, extracted from data compiled from data collated by Clarivate, an analytics firm.

How many research studies every year?

As per the report, Chinese research comprised 27.2 percent of the worlds top one percent most frequently cited papers -- a common metric in academia where the more times a study is cited, the greater is its impact.

The US accounted for 24.9 percent of the top one percent of most highly-cited research studies, whereas UK research was third at 5.5 percent.

The report also highlighted that an average of 407,181 scientific papers were published on average in China in a year, compared to the USs average of 293,434 -- around 23.4 percent of the worlds research output.

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Most of the Chinese research was into material science, engineering, chemistry and mathematics. The US on the other hand was more on the side of clinical medicine, basic life sciences as well as physics.



Shinichi Kuroki of the Japan Science and Technology Agency told Nikkei Asia, China is one of the top countries in the world in terms of both the quantity and quality of scientific papers. In order to become the true global leader, it will need to continue producing internationally recognised research.

For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com
The menace of Chinese Manjha continues to claim lives in India. For a family in Delhi, the festivities of Raksha Bandhan turned into a day of horror after a person in the family died after being hit by an illegal Chinese Manjha.



According to a Statesman report, the event occurred in Delhi's Shastri Park area as the deceased, Vipin Kumar (35), drove his bike to see his in-laws with his children and wife.

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The report states that the accident happened on Thursday at around 5 p.m. A case has been registered at the Shastri Park Police Station under the relevant section. An investigation has also been launched.



The tragedy:

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Manjha suddenly struck him and grabbed his neck. By the time he stopped the bike, his neck had been seriously slashed and was profusely bleeding. His daughter and wife both sustained severe injuries due to the tragedy.



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With the aid of bystanders, he was quickly taken to the Trauma Center in Civil Lines in a severely injured state, where he succumbed to his injuries. Vipin, the deceased, reportedly lived in Nangloi's Rajdhani Park neighborhood, according to a police official. His family consists of his wife, Annu, and Siya (12), Radhika (9), and Shruti (6 years old).



The deceased used to work as a supplier of bread.

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A senior police officer filed a case against those who continued to use Chinese Manjha kites, violating the ban on Thursday at the Shastri Park police station. Mohammad Farhan, 18, and Anwar, 20, have been named as the accused, and a case has been filed against them by the relevant laws.



Did you know the Chinese Manjha is hazardous for birds too?

According to a fire department official, they got 318 calls to save the birds this year in just a month of July alone. If statistics are to be believed, 445 calls were made about birds getting stuck in the manjha in July, 909 in August, and 714 in September last year.

The role of the police and other related institutions has come under scrutiny due to several accidents involving Chinese manjha despite the strict ban on it issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

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Cover Image Attribute: A file photo of a German soldier in Mali / Source: picture alliance/dpa





Germany discontinued most of its military operations in Mali after the local military-led administration (junta) denied United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission flyover privileges. As a result, Christine Lambrecht, the German minister of defense, has declared that the German military operation in Mali remains suspended until further notice.





The termination of flyover privileges occurred not long after Mali barred foreign forces, among them those from Germany, from entering a portion of the airport in the capital city Bamako that is home to a UN base.





"Again, those in power in Mali have not allowed the UN MINUSMA mission* access to its airspace. A planned rotation of personnel is therefore not possible. That has effects on our engagement, given that the security of our soldiers has the highest priority," the German Defense Ministry said on Twitter.





Last month, the Bundeswehr "withdrew around 60 soldiers" from the country because of a similar dispute, when Bamako stopped German soldiers from getting on a civilian flight, which Berlin called "harassment" at the time.





Since 2012, Mali, a country with a population of approximately 20 million, has experienced three military coups and is regarded as extremely unstable. Since the most recent coup in May 2021, the country has reportedly been governed by a transitional military administration with close ties to Russia. Initially, it promised swift elections. Currently, it states that an election will be held in February 2024.





For many years, relative numbers of Western military personnel, mainly from the former colonial power France, have been present in the turbulent country. However, relations with the junta deteriorated with Mali's decision late last year to bring in Russian mercenaries from the controversial "Wagner Group." This resulted in the gradual, ongoing withdrawal of European troops in counterterrorism operations against armed rebels.





*Germany has participated in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), a peacekeeping mission established to bolster security following the Tuareg rebellion of 2012, an early phase of the country's ongoing armed conflict.
Launched in 2016, the Zurich Apprenticeship Program was the first RAP in commercial insurance. Since the inception of the program, Zurich has shared its model with companies inside and outside the insurance industry. The program has more than tripled in size since its launch.

Were honored to be recognized as an Apprenticeship Ambassador by the US Department of Labor, said Kristof Terryn, CEO of Zurich North America. When we launched our program nearly seven years ago, apprenticeships in the US were largely limited to manufacturing and the trades, and it was difficult for people to launch a career in corporate America without a four-year college degree.

Our US business decided to adapt the apprenticeship model used at Zurich Insurance Group in Switzerland. The programs growth speaks for its value. It has greatly expanded our talent pipeline, attracting the diverse talent we need to continue to innovate for our customers. Apprenticeship benefits our business and our communities. It can do the same for many more companies.

In its role as an Apprenticeship Ambassador, Zurich will support the DOLs goals of increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in RAPs, including for underrepresented and underserved populations. Zurich will also help communicate the business case for RAPs as a mainstream workforce strategy for high-demand industries.

Read next: Zurich unveils platform to shield organizations from toxic work culture

We look forward to serving as an Apprenticeship Ambassador, said Al Crook, head of HR business partners and apprenticeship at Zurich North America. We believe that apprenticeships are going to become more critical in increasing access to debt-free degrees and in developing skilled workers across industries. We also believe that every business and every function has apprenticeable work.

In 2017, Zurich co-founded the Chicago Apprentice Network (CAN) with Aon and Accenture. All three firms have since helped other companies create apprenticeship programs. Since 2019, Zurich has hosted the annual National Apprenticeship Week Summit at its Chicago-area headquarters or virtually. Zurich leaders and apprentices have also spoken at many business functions and CAN events about the value of apprenticeship.

These are the types of actions the Department of Labor looks for from its Apprenticeship Ambassador designees, Crook said. Recognition of Zurich as an Apprenticeship Ambassador acknowledges what weve accomplished to date and our commitment to contribute to a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable society well into the future.
According to the New York-based Kneller Insurance Agency, insurers typically use a persons address to gather crime reports from local law enforcement to be able to assess the risks.

Areas that experience a high volume of break-ins and vandalism also raise claims and rates, the firm wrote in a blog on its website. Since insurers operate in risk, they see high crime rates as more of a chance that you will file a claim for vandalism or theft. As a result, the premium increases to account for this higher level of risk.

Insurtech CoverHound, meanwhile, explained that policyholders do not need to experience a crime for their premiums to rise.

Even if you are not a victim of crime yourself, your rates may increase, the firm noted. Thats because insurance companies offer rates based on collective risk, and if you live in a bad neighborhood, then your neighbors could file more claims, which will impact your rates.

Read more: "Unprecedented" rise in auto thefts  insurance crime bureau issues warning

Violent crimes on the rise

A recent analysis of crime trends by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) revealed that reports of violent crimes have been rising in the countrys major cities. Data gathered by the group has shown a rising number of homicides in the past few years, with 2021 figures ticking up 5% from 2020 but jumping 44% from 2019.

According to the study, the increase was primarily due to pandemic pressures and change in policing tactics.

Murder rates, meanwhile, have declined significantly since the 1990s, with CCJs research recording just almost half the volume of incidents compared to 29 years ago. In 2021, the rate was 15 deaths per 100,000 residents, down from 28 per 100,000 in 1993.

Richard Rosenfeld, criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and author of the study, noted that the reasons for increases, particularly in the number of homicides, vary from year to year. In 2020, for example, incidents rose following the killing of George Floyd, which sparked calls for racial justice and police reform, and caused unrest in cities across the country.

The social unrest after the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis very likely played a role in [increased homicides], but differences across cities in 2021 suggests that local factors are now becoming more important, Rosenfeld told CBS News in an interview.

Read more: Sharp jump in violence could make this product the industrys next cyber

Top 10 safest cities in the US in 2022

To identify the safest cities across America, fintech firm SmartAsset analyzed data from 200 of the countrys largest cities using five metrics  violent and property crime rates, vehicular and drug poisoning mortality rates, and the percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking.

To work out the average annual home premiums in each area, meanwhile, Insurance Business used Insurance.coms home insurance calculator. The figures below are for a $200,000 dwelling with a $1,000 deductible and $100,000 liability coverage. For auto insurance rates, we referred to The Zebras car insurance calculator. Coverage is for a 40-year-old homeowner with a fully paid 2020 model vehicle who currently has an existing plan.

Here are the cities that made it to the top 10 of SmartAssets list.

1. Frisco, Texas

Violent crime rate: 86 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 972 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 6.3 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 7.3 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 18.66%

Safety index: 100

Average annual home insurance rate: $2,980

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,464 to $1,788

2. McKinney, Texas

Violent crime rate: 134 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 936 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 6.3 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 7.3 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 18.66%

Safety index: 98.63

Average annual home insurance rate: $3,080

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,500 to $1,836

3. Santa Clarita, California

Violent crime rate: 131 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 907 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 8 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 10.5 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 17.81%

Safety index: 98.13

Average annual home insurance rate: $886

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,416 to $1,740

4. Sunnyvale, California

Violent crime rate: 149 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 2,062 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 6.5 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 9.4 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 16.92%

Safety index: 97.63

Average annual home insurance rate: $634

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,368 to $1,668

5. Glendale, California

Violent crime rate: 103 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 1,597 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 8 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 10.5 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 17.81%

Safety index: 95.26

Average annual home insurance rate: $809

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,860 to $2,268

Read more: Where is your clients car most likely to be stolen?

6. McAllen, Texas

Violent crime rate: 85 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 1,931 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 10.2 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 3.8 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 14.65%

Safety index: 94.13

Average annual home insurance rate: $3,146

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,200 to $1,476

=7. Cary, North Carolina

Violent crime rate: 66 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 946 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 7.3 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 12.4 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 18.31%

Safety index: 93.88

Average annual home insurance rate: $1,106

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,356 to $1,656

=7. Santa Clara, California

Violent crime rate: 156 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 2,501 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 6.5 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 9.4 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 16.92%

Safety index: 93.88

Average annual home insurance rate: $628

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,320 to $1,608

9. Plano, Texas

Violent crime rate: 155 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 1,645 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 6.3 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 7.3 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 18.66%

Safety index: 93.63

Average annual home insurance rate: $3,043

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,464 to $1,788

10. Torrance, California

Violent crime rate: 191 per 100,000 residents

Property crime rate: 2,046 per 100,000 residents

Vehicular mortality rate: 8.0 per 100,000 residents

Drug poisoning mortality rate: 10.5 per 100,000 residents

% of population engaging in excessive drinking: 17.81%

Safety index: 88.26

Average annual home insurance rate: $722

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,344 to $1,644

Top 10 most dangerous cities in the US in 2022

A separate study by analytics firm NeighborhoodScout, meanwhile, revealed the most dangerous cities in America based on raw crime data it compiled from all 18,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. The company ranked each city according to violent crime rates and the likelihood of a person becoming a victim. These are the ones that came out on top.

1. Monroe, Louisiana

Violent crime rate: 29.4 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 34

Average annual home insurance rate: $2,166

Average annual auto insurance rate: $2,280 to $2,784

2. Memphis, Tennessee

Violent crime rate: 24.2 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 41

Average annual home insurance rate: $2,615

Average annual auto insurance rate: $4,296 to $5,256

3. Saginaw, Michigan

Violent crime rate: 23.8 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 42

Average annual home insurance rate: $1,964

Average annual auto insurance rate: $2,196 to $2,688

4. Detroit, Michigan

Violent crime rate: 22.6 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 44

Average annual home insurance rate: $2,720

Average annual auto insurance rate: $3,312 to $4,044

5. St. Louis, Missouri

Violent crime rate: 20 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 50

Average annual home insurance rate: $2,641

Average annual auto insurance rate: $2,064 to $2,532

Read more: Fatal shootings boost demand for active assailant insurance

6. Alexandria, Louisiana

Violent crime rate: 18.8 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 53

Average annual home insurance rate: $2,185

Average annual auto insurance rate: $2,796 to $3,420

=7. Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Violent crime rate: 18.1 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 55

Average annual home insurance rate: $3,030

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,788 to $2,184

=7. Little Rock, Arkansas

Violent crime rate: 18.1 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 55

Average annual home insurance rate: $3,032

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,428 to $1,740

9. Albany, Georgia

Violent crime rate: 17.7 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 56

Average annual home insurance rate: $2,086

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,404 to $1,704

10. South Bend, Indiana

Violent crime rate: 17.1 per 1,000 residents

Chance of being a victim: 1 in 59

Average annual home insurance rate: $1,854

Average annual auto insurance rate: $1,386 to $1,668
We have always been in growth mode. We have grown every single year that we've been in business, Elizabeth Davies (pictured), chief executive officer of Stonemark, told Insurance Business.

As first-generation CEO of Stonemark, Davies has led the firms steady year-on-year growth. In 2018, the firm was acquired by H.W. Kaufman Group, via a merger with the groups subsidiary Royal Premium. Davies now leads the combined organizations, continuing to operate and integrate the business with specialists deployed throughout the group of companies.

Read more: What the hot M&A market means for buyers and sellers

Recently, being part of the Kaufman group has truly accelerated our growth. Being independently owned by H.W. Kaufman has given us so much flexibility, Davies said. She said the company is focused on doing what bank-owned finance companies cannot, such as offer competitive financing solutions for cannabis, personal lines, commercial lines, and hard to place financial risk.

As part of its growth, Stonemark brought several strong additions to its salesforce: Brooke Bouy from Louisiana, Jerry Smith from Florida, Del Walter from Texas, and Tram Mascia from California. The executives, who joined from competitor First Insurance Funding, bring a wealth of experience to Stonemarks team, and help the firm expand its market across the US.

The hard market conditions are driving an increase in the types of policies that are being financed, said Davies. We thought it was very important to hire great top talent. We're so excited to bring on these highly regarded premium finance professionals.

Stonemark is also building a network of partnerships via Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA) and Smart Choice, with the aim of strengthening and broadening relationships with independent agents, and in many cases, offering them preferred rates. The partnerships complement the expansion of Stonemarks salesforce from California through the Gulf Coast.

We have several national partnerships that we have recently been signed on as their preferred finance company. Those are areas that are exciting for us to grow in. Partnering with experienced groups makes us stronger and more knowledgeable, said Davies.

According to Davies, traditional bank financing companies have many national partnerships but cannot handle the personal lines or the cannabis policies, which allowed Stonemark to get through the door.

With these national partners, their agents may be going someplace else to find financing, so we said, Let's work on a collaboration where we can handle 100% of their business and they won't have to search for another finance company, so everyone will be happy with the relationship because of our flexibility, our rates, and our hands-on knowledge of the industry, she added.

Providing solutions for cannabis insurance has also given Stonemark an important edge as a premium financing company. We have never had a product come onto the market with so many levels of insurance involved: the crops, the building, and the D&O (directors and officers insurance) policies. Theres also trucking companies transporting cannabis, and fertilizing companies - so many other firms that have spun off from this industry, commented Davies. There so many opportunities to finance cannabis policies, and it's such a new sector. It's very exciting.

Read more: Premium financing critical for agencies to offer as businesses recover

For Davies there's always a need for premium financing in the insurance industry, even in todays economic environment. She talked to Insurance Business about Stonemarks holistic approach to growth: When we help everyone grow and become stronger, we become bigger and stronger ourselves. What can we do to help the agent sell their policy? What can we do to help the insured afford their policy? We have always, during any type of economy, found ways to grow and to help the customer.

Since our inception, weve had every type of economy that you can imagine. When the markets get hard and the premiums increase, we are often able to offer better terms, longer payment options, or lower down payments to help the insured afford their premiums.

Looking forward, Davies said that she chooses to see challenges as opportunities. I've always lived through rose-colored glasses. I tend to focus not on the challenges, but where we can excel and grow, she said. Our expectations are that we hire great people, give great services, and look for great opportunities. And if those opportunities are harder to find, we're just going to look harder.
Conway has more than 15 years of experience in climate and conservation finance. She served as lead climate finance negotiator for the US delegation to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including at COP21 in Paris. During her time at the US State Department, Conway also supported US involvement with the Green Climate Fund and GEF, and helped design and launch the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance and the Pilot Auction Facility for Methane and Climate Change Mitigation.

Most recently, Conway ran her own consultancy, focusing on innovative climate and conservation finance solutions.

Conways appointment coincides with WTWs submission of its inaugural report on aligned activities as a signatory to the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles (SBEFP), a UN Environment Program Finance initiative that provides a framework for banks, insurers and investors to finance a sustainable blue economy and support a healthier ocean.

Read next: WTW bolsters North American natural resources business

As the Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) gains traction, we are delighted Sarah has selected WTW as the best platform to serve the growing climate and conservation finance sector, said Rowan Douglas, head of WTWs Climate and Resilience Hub. We look forward to her leadership and expertise as we integrate natural capital assets into mainstream finance and protect that value via risk management solutions.

WTW is committed to securing a nature-positive future for coastal communities and the healthy oceans that they thrive on through investment and risk advisory, as evidenced in our SBEFP report, said Simon Young, senior director at the Climate and Resilience Hub. Sarah takes us to the next level, bringing a wealth of experience across climate, nature, finance and policy, making her a perfect fit for our growing Disaster Risk Finance and Parametrics team and the pioneering work we are doing on ecosystem resilience, helping to further advance WTWs role in shaping the global agenda for private-sector efforts for a sustainable blue economy.

This new role presents a unique opportunity to design, deploy and scale financial instruments that offer a triple win, benefiting people, nature and climate, Conway said. I look forward to working with the hugely experienced and talented CRH team and the wider WTW business, supporting our clients and other stakeholders to further strengthen their ecosystem resilience capabilities.
WTW has announced the appointment of Blake Koen as managing director and global client advocate, natural resources, for its North America business. Koen joins the companys rapidly growing energy team in Houston.

Koen has more than 20 years of experience in the energy liability market. Prior to joining WTW, he served as senior vice president at Locktons North America energy team. Koen has also held positions at Aon, Gallagher and Liberty Mutual. He was responsible for dealing with complex upstream and midstream companies and has expertise in the oil and gas segments.
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The New York State Insurance Fund reported that it returned more than $550 million over the past year to businesses through its workers compensation safety discounts and dividends programs.

The state agency provides dividends for companies that belong to a NYSIF safety group, where employers in similar industries pool together to reduce workers compensation costs.

Under New York law, businesses must secure workers compensation coverage, which most companies obtain through NYSIF or a private carrier. But unlike a private insurer, NYSIF must cover any employer that applies for coverage regardless of risk at the lowest possible cost to maintain a solvent fund.

The state considers the distribution of dividends and discounts as central to NYSIFs role as a safety net for workers compensation coverage.

Workers Compensation Board Chair Clarissa Rodriguez said the NYSIF hopes that the announcement will encourage even more employers to implement strong safety protocols to reduce on-the-job injuries and illnesses.

Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation to help employers with unpaid workers compensation premiums regain access to coverage through the NYSIF. NYSIF insures any employer that applies for coverage regardless of risk. NYSIF may only cancel a policy for non-payment of premium and until the new law was precluded from re-issuing a policy to a business that owed it premium

Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance New York
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MEMIC Names Hoff Vice President of Loss Control and Safety

The MEMIC Group has named Maryann Hoff, a 17-year insurance industry veteran, its new vice president of loss control and safety.

Hoff comes to MEMIC from Safety National Casualty Corp., where she served as senior risk control manager before being promoted to managing director of client engagement. Her previous experience includes time with carriers including Travelers and Zenith.

Hoff replaces Karl Siegfried, who led MEMICS loss control team and retired from MEMIC after 24 years in June.

The MEMIC Group includes MEMIC Indemnity Co., MEMIC Casualty Co., and parent company Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Co.

Delaware to Name New Captive Insurance Chief as Kinion Departs

The Delaware Department of Insurance is planning a leadership transition following the upcoming departure of long-time Captive Bureau Director Steve Kinion.

The department said it will announce the new chief as soon as a contract is finalized, which it hopes will occur in the next few weeks.

As of year-end 2021, the state had 759 total active captive insurer licenses, making Delaware the third largest U.S. captive domicile.

Arthur Hall Names Mackarevich VP and Shareholder

Arthur Hall Insurance has named Dan Mackarevich as a principal shareholder for the firm.

Mackarevich joins James Denham, Glenn Burcham, Mark Sammarone, Nicole Grebloskie, Josh Isler and Karen Leary as an agency partner and member of the managing leadership team of the West Chester, Pa., firm.

He assumes the title of vice president.

Mackarevich advises clients all over North America. He also serves as the agencys cyber insurance practice leader.

Mackarevich began his career with Arthur Hall Insurance in 2014 as a producer and commercial lines account executive. Prior to his career at Arthur Hall Insurance, Mackarevich worked in finance in New York City and Atlanta.
Weakening the independence of regulators would undermine reforms to bolster Britains finance industry, the head of the Bank of England said on Thursday, in a rebuff to proposals from the leading candidate to be the countrys next prime minister.

The Conservative government proposed a welter of reforms last month in a bill to boost Londons appeal to global investors in the wake of Brexit, increase investments by insurers in infrastructure, and regulate some cryptoassets.

On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported that Liz Truss, the front-runner to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister next month, would add new powers to the bill, giving ministers the ability to override financial regulators like the Bank of England (BoE), if deemed in the public interest.

Britains Proposed Post-Brexit Financial Reform Explained

BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said in a letter to parliaments Treasury Select Committee that he welcomed the financial services bill as initially proposed, which is intended to establish a strong, responsive and internationally respected approach to regulating financial services in Britain.

Regulatory independence is important, not least because our international standing, and therefore the competitiveness of the UK financial sector which the reforms are aimed at enhancing, depends on it, Bailey said.

Anything that would weaken the independence of regulators would undermine the aims of the reforms, Bailey added in the letter dated July 27 and published by the committee on Thursday.

Bailey said the BoEs banking regulatory arm would publish a discussion paper next month, setting out the BoEs vision for implementing the reforms as they currently stand in terms of strong standards, accountability to parliament, stakeholders, and the public at large.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Sinead Cruise and Mark Potter)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Indiana Department of Environmental Management announced a settlement on August 5 with Metalworking Lubricants Co. for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its used oil processing facility in Indianapolis. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will pay a penalty of $155,000 to the United States and $155,000 to the state of Indiana.

In the complaint, EPA and IDEM alleged that Metalworking Lubricants emitted more than 25 tons of hazardous air pollutants per year, including naphthalene, ethylbenzene, xylene, phenol, and toluene, in violation of its existing permit. The company also allegedly failed to operate its scrubber at specific times when its oil-processing tanks were in operation; failed to respond when the scrubber malfunctioned; failed to keep required records; and underestimated the amount of hazardous air pollutants in incoming oil, which affected its emissions. The company also allegedly failed to apply for a major source operating permit.

In addition to the penalty, Metalworking Lubricants will install a carbon adsorption system to control total organic compound and hazardous air pollutant emissions. The company will connect all oil and wastewater processing tanks to the system and scrubber. The system must recover more than 95% of the total organic compound emissions and emit no more than eight pounds per hour of sulfur dioxide. The company will also have to meet certain testing, monitoring and recordkeeping requirements and comply with a revised federally enforceable state operating permit to keep its emissions less than 25 tons per year.

The Indianapolis facility is located near a community with environmental justice concerns. EPA is committed to addressing the impacts to human health from pollution and other stressors, such as poverty and housing conditions. EPA works toward the goal of environmental justice, which is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

The settlement terms are included in the proposed consent decree. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

Source: EPA

Topics Indiana
The nearly $50 million defamation verdict against Alex Jones for his years of lies about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is far from a final reckoning.

Jones attorneys plan to appeal and try to lower the price tag a Texas jury put on his false claim that the nations deadliest school shooting _ which killed 20 students and six teachers _ was a hoax. The conspiracy theorist faces bankruptcy and other defamation lawsuits. And the courtroom conduct of Jones and his lawyers has exposed the Infowars host to new legal perils, including possible sanctions, allegations of perjury and renewed scrutiny in the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Heres a look at the fallout from the successful suit against Jones by the parents of one of the child victims in the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at the school in Newtown, Connecticut.

WILL JONES PAY AND HOW MUCH?

A Travis County jury last week ordered Jones to pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis $4.1 million in compensatory damages for the suffering he put them through by saying the shooting that killed their 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was staged to increase gun controls. The jurors also leveled $45.2 million in punitive damages against Jones, bringing the total fine to roughly a third of the $150 million the couple had sought.

Its the first time Jones has been held financially liable for repeatedly claiming the Sandy Hook shooting was faked. Lewis said after the trial that Jones had been held accountable. His lawyers plan to appeal and to seek to reduce the damages.

Legal experts say Jones probably wont pay the full amount.

In most civil cases, Texas law limits how much defendants have to pay in exemplary, or punitive, damages to twice the economic damages plus up to $750,000. But jurors are not told about this cap, and eye-popping verdicts are often hacked down by judges.

Russ Horton, an Austin attorney, said its almost a surety that the damages against Jones will be cut to conform with the law, either by an appeals court or the trial judge.

A Virginia judge did just that in Johnny Depps defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Under a cap similar to Texas law, the judge in July cut the $10 million in compensatory damages that a jury awarded Depp to $350,000.

What Jones can afford is also disputed.

He testified that any award over $2 million would sink us, and Free Speech Systems _ which is Infowars Austin-based parent company _ filed for bankruptcy protection during the first week of the trial.

But economist Bernard Pettingill testified that Jones and his company are worth up to $270 million. He said Jones withdrew $62 million from the firm in 2021, when default judgments were issued in that case and two other Sandy Hood defamation suits.

Since the verdict, Jones has urged Infowars supporters to buy the nutritional supplements, survival gear and other products he sells, saying he needs funds to continue the show and his legal fights.

If we dont get solvent and get enough money to come out of this bankruptcy, theyll appoint a receiver and start selling off the equipment, he said Monday.

PERJURY?

There would be extensive court wrangling before the Infowars studio could be sold for parts. But Jones has more immediate risks and may see his legal bills mount.

Jones appeared to be caught in at least one lie while on the witness stand, when a lawyer for the parents suing him revealed he had digital copies of texts and other content from Jones cellphone. The messages, including communications about Sandy Hook, were accidentally emailed to the plaintiffs attorneys by one of Jones lawyers.

Jones sought to shrug the revelation off in cross-examination, ridiculing an opposing lawyer and denying that he lied. But legal experts say the episode could open Jones up to a possible perjury charge.

Criminal charges of perjury are rare and difficult to prove, but Jones prominence may make him an attractive target, especially in liberal Austin.

It would be very hard to imagine a state prosecutor going after someone in a civil case for perjury, said Benson Varghese, an attorney in Fort Worth, Texas. The chance are slightly higher for Jones, given the high-profile case.

Aggravated perjury, the charge frequently brought in Texas for lies on the witness stand, is punishable with up to 10 years in prison.

A spokesman for the Travis County District Attorneys Office, which would handle a potential criminal case against Jones, declined to comment.

SANCTIONS?

Even if prosecutors never pursue a case, Jones could face further consequences from Judge Maya Guerra Gamble.

Before the trial, lawyers for the parents suing Jones filed a motion asking the judge to sanction him for failing to produce evidence. Gamble is set to take up that motion.

And in court, Gamble repeatedly admonished Jones to tell the truth.

At one point, she sent the jury out of the room and scolded him for telling jurors he complied with pretrial evidence gathering when he hadnt. And the judge scolded him further for testifying that hes bankrupt, which has not been determined by a court and prompted fury from the lawyers opposing Jones.

This is not your show, Gamble told Jones. Your beliefs do not make something true. You are under oath.

Judges have wide discretion to set sanctions  including fines, imprisonment and other punishments  but its rare to see them imposed.

Avi Moshenberg, a lawyer for the parents, declined to say whether they would seek other sanctions but said there were certainly some troubling things that happened during trial.

Jones attorney, Andino Reynal, did not respond to a request for comment.

JONES AND THE JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION

Jones lawyers accidentally handing over his text messages in the case also exposes him to further scrutiny from the U.S. House committee examining the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot that sought to overturn Joe Bidens victory in the presidential election.

The committee, which has spent months showing how former President Donald Trump relentlessly pushed his false claims of a rigged election, subpoenaed Jones to testify. And the panels chairman accused him of helping to organize a rally near the Capitol that preceded the insurrection.

Now, the lawmakers reportedly have Jones texts.

An attorney for the parents suing Jones, Mark Bankston, gave the committee two years worth of Jones messages, CNN reported Monday, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Bankston told The Associated Press that he was cooperating with the committee but did not comment further.

On his Tuesday show, Jones downplayed the significance of the messages. He showed a photo of his wife in a swimsuit that he had sent to Roger Stone, a Trump confidant who was also subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee, and said the messages didnt include anything past April 2020.

Its six months of limited texts, Jones said. Its a fraction of my phone.

OTHER CASES

Before the trial in Austin, Jones had already been found liable in a separate defamation lawsuit in Texas and another in Connecticut by relatives of some of the Sandy Hook victims.

The other Texas case was filed by Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, whose son Noah was killed in the shooting. The Connecticut case has the potential for a larger award because it consolidates three lawsuits filed by 15 plaintiffs, a former FBI agent who responded to the school and the relatives of nine Sandy Hook victims.

It will be up to a Connecticut jury to decide what, if any, damages Jones owes in that case, although law there could also limit what he would have to pay.

Trials for damages were scheduled to begin in both cases next month, but their progress has been complicated by Free Speech Systems July filing for bankruptcy protection, a process that freezes pending litigation.

Horton, the Austin lawyer, said the cases could potentially proceed against Jones personally while Free Speech Systems is in bankruptcy court, and he warned that filing for Chapter 11 gives the bankruptcy court tremendous power to examine Jones finances.

Bankruptcy is not a place to hide out if you have anything to hide, Horton said.

___

Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut, and Tarm reported from Chicago. Associated Press writer Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers Compensation (DWC) announced last week that Francis Hall, the former co-owner of Bill Hall Jr. Trucking turned herself into Bexar County authorities. There had been a warrant out for Halls arrest since June 30 of this year when a Travis County grand jury indicted her for fraud.

Fraud investigators with the DWC discovered that between 2009 and 2016, Hall allegedly provided false payroll information to Texas Mutual Insurance Company and concealed payroll reports to get lower insurance premiums on their extensive gravel hauling business.

The scheme allowed the company and its owners to avoid more than $9 million in premium payments.

Travis County prosecutor, Jessica Bergeman obtained the indictment. Bergeman is a member of DWCs prosecution unit embedded in the Travis County District Attorneys office.

She says workers comp fraud is far from a victimless crime.

The Texas workers compensation system is funded through premiums that employers pay, says Bergeman. The system relies on the integrity of all who participate to ensure that workers compensation is viable and able to protect injured workers.

If Hall is convicted, she could face up to life in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Source: DWC

Topics Texas Workers' Compensation Fraud Trucking
New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles!

Tradespeople who call themselves and their workers independent contractors have long been an issue for the workers compensation industry, often cutting carriers out of premium and leaving injured workers without coverage.

Some in the industry now worry, though, that at least a few carriers have taken anti-fraud precautions too far, charging premiums for subcontractor company officers, who, by law and industry rule, are exempt from workers compensation coverage requirements in several states.

When a carrier includes an exempt subcontractor officer or owner on payroll, it can end up costing the general contractor perhaps $2,000 more per year in premium for a tile craftsman, for example, or $6,000 more per year for a carpenter, agents calculated. And when that happens, commercial agents feel the blowback from unprepared employers.

The key is for agents to make sure that the employers are fully prepared and have all their documentation together at audit time, said Steve Hall, principal at East Coast Insurors, an agency in Daytona Beach.

Some 16 states allow comp exemptions for small businesses, including skilled trade workers who have few or no employees. Owners and officers of firms can opt out of coverage. Ten of those opt-out states are in the South, according to information from the Workers Compensation Research Institute. Florida, which allows construction company exemptions for firms with three or fewer employees, may be the epicenter of the controversy, according to a recent blog posting by the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.

We have received numerous phone calls from FAIA members regarding work comp premium audit problems arising from clients use of contractors with exempt officers, wrote Frank Pennachio, a longtime comp expert and consultant who works with Florida agencies. Some carriers are charging premium for exempt officers in a similar way as uninsured subcontractors.

Its just wrong, Pennachio said.

He noted that the National Council on Compensation Insurance in 2019 put out a memo explaining that its basic manual for Florida employers dictates that officers of a corporation who elect to be exempt from comp insurance must not be included in premium calculation.

Despite that, some carriers appear to have pressed ahead with the practice in recent years. A 2017 letter to agents from Summit Insurance indicated that, without complete documentation, general contractors will be charged premium for subcontractors, particularly if they earn above a threshold amount.

Your clients should be aware that if any exempt subcontractors who receive $50,000 or more in compensation, do not have their own workers comp coverage, and cannot verify that any additional employees  were not used, then the entire amount paid to the exempt employee can be included for audit purposes, reads the letter from Summit Vice President Mike Arnold.

Summit and four other carriers did not respond to request for information about this practice. Only FCCI Insurance Group commented.

We have checked with our SVP of corporate underwriting and our director of premium audit and they both confirm FCCI follows NCCI rules and Florida statues, wrote Lisa Adamaitis, director of marketing and communications for FCCI, based in Sarasota, Florida.

Some employers, knowing the subs exempt status, simply arent expecting carriers to be so strict, agents said. And retroactively proving an independent contractors officer status can be easier said than done.

To be considered independent, and not an employee, a subcontractor must meet several of 10 requirements spelled out in Florida statutes. The most important factor, according to the Florida Department of Revenue, is that the worker maintains some decision-making authority and his methods are not subject to the control of the employer.

To prove exemption from workers comp, a tradesperson may also need to provide his or her companys federal identification number  not just a Social Security number, Hall explained. It also helps at audit to have a copy of the subs company check or invoice or other documentation showing who the owner or officer is, along with 1099 tax forms, payroll journals, and other financial records. The Florida Division of Workers Compensation allows exempted contractors to print their exemption certificates, which regulators said can be crucial in an audit.

Still, one Florida agent commented on the FAIA site that all appropriate documents were provided at audit but the carrier is coming back stating that the subcontractor exceeds the standard allowance to be exempt.

Summits 2017 letter suggested that extra premiums can often be avoided if the right information is provided.

To help your clients prepare for this please remind them that, as always, documentation is key, Summit wrote.

Others have said that employers have reported getting hammered more often in recent audits, but agents can help with that.

Its part of the relationship with clients for agents to report these things and make sure that clients provide all the documentation required, said Clayton Fischer, an agent with Blue Marlin Insurance, in Coral Gables.

Pennachio said that the OIR has received complaints about carriers charging premiums inappropriately, but the office said it needs specific instances to investigate. Some insurance agents may be reluctant to rat on their carriers. OIR officials had not commented to the Insurance Journal on that by late Thursday.

Part of the problem is industry-wide and a sign of the times, agents and others said. With workers comp loss costs and rates dropping every year for more than a decade in most states, many employers and agents may not be paying attention to the details that could save even more on payroll and experience modifications.

Is the C-suite still paying attention to workers comp? Pennachio asked at a session at the FAIA convention in June. Has comp become just a rounding error now?

Topics Carriers Workers' Compensation
A federal judge ruled this week that Walgreens can be held responsible for contributing to San Franciscos opioid crisis for over-dispensing opioids for years without proper oversight and failing to identify and report suspicious orders as required by law.

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the pharmacy chain continually violated what they were required to do under the federal Controlled Substances Act, failing to track opioid prescriptions, preventing pharmacists from vetting prescriptions and nor did they see the many red flags of physicians and others who were dramatically over-prescribing.

Pharmacists were pressured to fill, fill, fill, he said, and as a result, Walgreens filled our streets with opioids.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that for 15 years, Walgreens dispensed hundreds of thousands of pills, eventually contributing to the citys hospitals being overwhelmed with opioid patients, libraries being forced to close because of syringe-clogged toilets, and syringes littering childrens playgrounds in San Francisco.

A Walgreens spokesman said the chain is disappointed in the outcome, which he said is not supported by the facts and the law.

As we have said throughout this process, we never manufactured or marketed opioids, nor did we distribute them to the pill mills and internet pharmacies that fueled this crisis, spokesman Fraser Engerman said in a statement. The plaintiffs attempt to resolve the opioid crisis with an unprecedented expansion of public nuisance law is misguided and unsustainable. We look forward to the opportunity to address these issues on appeal.

Several drug manufacturers and pharmacies opted to settle with the city previously as part of the case, including opioid makers Allergan and Teva, which agreed to pay $54 million on the eve of closing arguments in the trial, leaving Walgreens as the sole defendant.

Wednesdays ruling did not include a ruling on monetary damages, which will be determined in a future trial.

Drug overdose deaths have surged in the country, including in San Francisco. Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency last year in the Tenderloin neighborhood, saying something had to be done about the high concentration of drug dealers and people consuming drugs in public.

The city attorneys office says San Francisco saw a nearly 500% increase in opioid-related overdose deaths between 2015 and 2020 and that on a typical day, roughly a quarter of visits at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Emergency Department are opioid-related.

Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. runs a network of around 9,000 drugstores in the United States. Walgreens and other prescription drug distributors have faced a slew of lawsuits over the opioid crisis.

In May, Walgreens reached a $683 million settlement with the state of Florida in a lawsuit accusing the company of improperly dispensing millions of painkillers that contributed to the opioid crisis.

The company also faces litigation in Alabama, Michigan and New Mexico, among other states.

___

Associated Press writer Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this story

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation
San Diego, CA., August 12, 2022  The local chapter of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) will host their annual non-profit fundraiser event on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at Mira Mesa Lanes (8210 Mira Mesa Blvd., 92126) from 1 to 4:30 pm. The San Diego chapter of IICF established an annual event in 2008, inviting local insurance professionals to come together to support the Foundation in their mission to help communities and enrich lives.

Each year, agents, carriers and vendors from the San Diego insurance community show support for the Foundation by participating in our events with all proceedings benefiting local non-profits. This event not only provides a common ground for the insurance community to come together to network and have fun, but it also allows us to fulfill our mission and support very important causes. Due to participant generosity, over $350,000 has been raised to help support our local community nonprofits and make a difference.

Previous Grant Recipients

Grossmont Colleges Office Professional Training (OPT) Program; Community Resource Center; United Through Reading; Interfaith Shelter Networks El Nido Program; San Diego Youth Services; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; National Psoriasis Foundation; John Brockington Foundation; Gigs Playhouse; Impact Teen Drivers.

Click Here to join us for an afternoon of bowling or to become a sponsor.

About Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation seeks to help communities and enrich lives by combining the collective strengths of the industry to provide grants, volunteer service and leadership. In 1994, the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation was formed to support nonprofit programs throughout California. Today, the Foundation has a national reach with the establishment of Northeast, Midwest and Texas/Southwest Divisions and an international reach with the addition of London. The Foundation is funded and directed by insurance industry professionals representing a broad spectrum of the industry: reinsurers, insurance agents and brokers, property/casualty companies, health/life companies and related advertising, public relations, law, accounting, computer and other companies that work closely with the insurance industry.
A leader in the UK e-commerce retail market, successful entrepreneurs and business leaders are among the new recruits joining sustainable e-commerce firm Thriftify.

Dublin-based Thriftify acts as an online retailer for 98% of Irelands charity shops, with a strong focus on preloved clothing. Backed by 1.6m from angel investors, the company has big expansion ambitions for the UK market.

The primary goal for Thriftify is to help social enterprises to develop their digital capabilities, building their online presence in order to serve a growing public demand to move away from fast fashion and into the used, sustainable fashion space.

Within a few days of starting its search to fill 20 vacancies, Thriftify has already received more than 1,700 applications. Many among those are seriously experienced executives willing to take a pay cut to work in a more ethical environment, contributing to the circular economy.

It has been uplifting and humbling to see the calibre of people looking to join us, said Thriftify CEO, Ronan O Dalaigh. Its amazing, but not really surprising. People are tired of the rat race and tired of working in environments that are adding to climate change.

Fashion is a big contributor to climate change. Our goal is to revolutionise the fashion industry, to move from the current destructive economic model to a cleaner, more sustainable model.

Trying to have a positive impact, its a huge responsibility. We have around three years to change the way we are damaging the planet, and what we are doing with fashion is one part of the biggest global challenge currently facing society.

Ronan founded Thriftify in 2018, along with Timur Negru and Rahil Nazir. It was then the only dedicated online marketplace connecting charity shops with consumers. It has grown 300% each year since its launch and is currently investing in expansion across Britain.

Thriftify has offices in both Dublin and London and employs 30 people full-time across Ireland, Britain, Moldova, India, Pakistan and Spain. The 20 new hires will be across the tech, e-commerce and sales and marketing sides of the business.

The company has recently signed a 1.6m investment deal, led by the very first HBAN Impact Syndicate, with participation from Themvar VC and leading angel investors, such as Ben Lewis, ex CEO of River Island, all of whom are backing the circular economy and preloved clothing industry.

To meet our ambitions, we are going to need great people to join us, said Ronan. Sometimes meeting peoples salary expectations can be a challenge, but we are seeing people who want to be part of a more impactful model.

Fashion is a good example of an industry where talented people no longer want to be part of a model that is worsening climate change.

The people we are just now taking on include a very senior e-commerce manager from a large UK retailer. She is moving from managing a team of 45 people to joining a startup. We are also taking on a very experienced entrepreneur, joining us as our chief growth officer.

As part of its UK growth strategy, Thriftify has invested heavily in technology that can automatically value charity shop donations, list them on dozens of marketplaces online, and handle the end-to-end e-commerce journey, including customer care and fulfilment.

The 1.6m angel investment is helping Thriftify bring on board the new talent that it needs to progress its ambitions.

Ronan said: "We've been boot-strapped and lean for a long time and while we'll still stay true to that, we're going to invest in some remarkable new hires and areas that we know are going to generate a major impact, so overall it's definitely the most exciting period in our journey so far.

The challenge we all face is changing how and why we do business, because from a climate perspective, our economic model is completely broken. Growth for growth's sake has destroyed large parts of our planet and made us unhappier as a society.

Seeing those with major capital come on board with our radical vision of disrupting one of the largest culprits, the fashion industry, gives me huge hope and optimism."

The Thriftify website is aiming to have all the registered charity retailers in Britain selling on the site by the end of 2023.
Prada is considering seeking at least 1bn from a second listing in Milan, people familiar with the matter said, as the Italian fashion house looks to diversify its investor base away from Hong Kong.

The Milanese maker of luxury clothing, fragrances and accessories is working with Goldman Sachs on preliminary preparations for a potential offering, according to sources. A listing would likely take place next year, they said.
The Irish health services did relatively well during Covid-19 but, as in other countries, the pandemic unmasked existing problems, a renowned patient safety expert has said.

Peter Lachman of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), was one of nine international experts who consulted on a new World Health Organization (WHO) report on the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for patient safety.

Dr Lachman said the impact is only starting to be understood.

Ireland did very well early on [in the pandemic], then opened up over Christmas [2020] which led to our numbers going sky-high, then we clamped down again, he said.

"We did well on some things and not so well on others. We have done relatively well when compared with other countries."

The WHO analysed global studies on patient safety, picking out 10 common observations.

Covid-19 was an event which around the world unmasked problems which were there already rather than creating them necessarily, he said.

The findings start with safety problems  weve had safety problems in Ireland but things are getting better. There is a good strategy coming on. Ive worked with hospitals around the country on this. Its no worse than other countries.

A paediatrician who previously worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, he said studies are now starting on the impact of lockdowns on children here. Dr Lachman said:

So what happened is, during the Covid period because of lockdowns, a lot of childhood infections went away.

Throughout the country, attendances at the emergency rooms went down.

What happened to those children? They were at home, the mortality rate didnt go up, but they just werent going to hospitals.

"I think isolation decreases the infection rates.

Dr Lachman pointed to a new UK report finding that Type 2 diabetes rates increased among children.

Was it due to obesity? Was it due to lack of exercise, or to Covid itself? Over time we are going to find out the impact Covid has had on overall health, he said.

Person-centered care decreased around the world at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Peter Lachman, Lead QI Faculty at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. File picture

The effects of health shutdowns are also now emerging.

That is really of concern because, at the very beginning, no one knew how infectious it was," said Dr Lachman.

"Person-centered care decreased around the world. At that stage, international organisations were very concerned that people were dying alone, and families were separated.

More positively, the rapid growth of telemedicine seems to be here to stay which, he said, could go a long way toward tackling lengthy waiting lists.

However, for health workers, the pandemic also revealed pressures seen as manageable kind-of before, said Dr Lachman:

There has been some amazing work by the health workers in Ireland in responding to Covid.

That is a big positive, the negative on that is there is a lot of stress and burnout that goes with it. The healthcare services need to face up to that reality, staff worked really hard and that can cause stress.
The all-time maximum temperature in August has been exceeded this afternoon as the heatwave continues.

Met Eireann's provisional data shows that the temperature in Oak Park, Co Carlow reached 31.7C this afternoon.

The previous record of 31.5C was set in Ballybrittas, Co Laois in 1975 and again in Oak Park in 1995.

A status yellow high-temperature warning is currently in place for the entire country. Met Eireann is warning it will be "very warm or hot on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with maximum temperatures generally of 27C to 30C and locally higher".

The warning is in place until 6am on Monday.

Speaking earlier today, Gerry Murphy, a senior forecaster at Met Eireann, told RTE radio that there is "really hot weather" in store for the next few days.

"Temperatures did get over 30C yesterday. And we can expect those temperatures to go possibly higher today and certainly higher in few places tomorrow.

"Certainly parts of the southern half of Leinster, the midlands and parts of Munster will be getting the highest temperatures."

Mr Murphy said we will see a change on Sunday in that temperatures will be slightly lower. However, it still looks like it will be "quite hot."

"As we go through Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening we will see showers breaking out across the country. And some of those could be quite heavy. Temperatures will drop back then on Monday to the low 20s. And then on Tuesday to the high teens and low 20. So we will see much more average weather."

People enjoying the sunny weather on Portmarnock Beach. Picture: Collins Agency

Meanwhile, Cathal Nolan, UCC climate scientist and weather analyst, told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk that what is unusual this year is that we have had two occasions in which temperatures are likely to exceed 30C.

"It is pretty rare in an Irish sense and looking at the temperatures today it is likely we will breach the thirty-degree barrier again. The all-time August record is potentially at risk.

"2005 and 2006 were two good summers and we had the heatwave conditions we experienced in 2018.

"What we are looking at from a climatological point of view is looking at these individual cases where we have temperature extremes and looking at the latest guidance and research.

"It does seem to be that we are experiencing more of these types of conditions whereby we get temperatures breaching all-time records.

"We experienced 33.1C already this year in Phoenix Park which was the highest temperature recorded in a hundred years in Ireland.

"It is likely over the next couple of years we will see the all-time record being broken. That does seem to be on the cards."

Irish Water preparing for 'challenging' weekend

It comes as Irish Water has warned that 37 water supplies around the country are now officially in drought with dozens more in potential drought.

The National Incident Management Team at Irish Water has been meeting this morning to discuss the "escalating" situation.

Head of Asset Operations at Irish Water, Tom Cuddy, told RTE radio that the numbers in drought are likely to increase.

"The weekend in particular is going to continue to be challenging. We have no rain at the moment. It is very hot and it is going to be ongoing. We have a rainfall deficit here today. The ground is very dry. Rivers are very low.

"Demand is extremely high. In the urban areas in the Greater Dublin area, the usage is over 40 million litres greater per day today than this day last week. In holiday resorts and agricultural areas, it is much higher."

Mr Cuddy said that they can undertake short-term interventions to make up the difference between supply and demand. However, that is not a realistic long-term strategy.

"We are taking quite a number of interventions. For example we are tankering water from supplies that have sufficient in to supplies that are in deficit. We can reduce the pressure on the overall network. We are doing quite a bit which is having little impact on people."

Drier summers; wet winters

Mr Nolan said the flip side is that arising out of climate change we are looking at experiencing more wet winters.

"We are likely to see drier summers. But the flip side is that we are expecting to see an increase in terms of winter precipitation."

Kevin Rahill, RNLI Safety Lead, urged members of the public on the same show to go to beaches which have lifeguards.

"The key thing is if you can go to a lifeguarded beach or waterway. It is the best place to go because there is of course supervision. They (the lifeguards) will also put the flags out to make sure people stay away from some of the local dangers but I suppose not everywhere is lifeguarded.

"There are a number of things people can do to ensure that they stay safe. One is ideally try to swim within your depth. If things do go wrong you can stand up and wake out. Rips are very common on beaches. They are not always very easy to see.

"Rips tend to form where there are differences of depth or they form around land-based structures like piers or walls. But if you do find yourself caught in a rip it is very hard to swim against it. It is not worth trying.

"The trick is if you feel you are being dragged out swim parallel to the shore until you feel you are not being dragged out again. Then you can swim ashore."

He also said that cold water shock can still occur amid high temperatures.
In June, striking black and pink posters flew up around pubs and nightclubs in Ireland, followed by an intense volunteer outreach programme. For many people this was how they first heard about the monkeypox threat.

That campaign  led by advocacy and community groups partnering with the HSE  has been recognised as best practice by the World Health Organisation and the European Centre for Disease Protection and Control.

However, more than three months since this outbreak began in Europe, these same advocates say the State is not applying the same urgency to getting vaccines into arms.

Up to Wednesday, August 10, there were 101 cases in Ireland with one in 10 hospitalised. There have been no deaths reported here.

Excruciating pain

However, the illness can bring excruciating pain, as a seminar hosted on Youtube by Gay Community News magazine heard.

An Irishman living in Berlin, identified only as Stevie and wearing an ActUp Dublin shirt, said he tested positive for the virus in mid-June, four days after symptoms first appeared.

That was a rough weekend, I thought I was kind of OK but on the Saturday night I just had excruciating pain, going to the toilet was excruciating, he said.

I couldnt really sleep that night, a mixture of discomfort and emotions.

He was put on stronger painkillers for about a month. Skin lesions appeared late in July, but were not painful, he said.

Its a different ballgame to Covid, in Covid people were uploading pictures of their negative tests, or positives tests, I felt like this thing is really in the shadows, he said, explaining why he chose to speak out.

That wasnt really a nice place to be in.

'We are in a situation where theres one company making the global supplies of this vaccine, that calls into question how we allowed one company to be in control of a vaccine during a public health emergency of international concern.' Picture: Francois Lo Presti/AFP via Getty Images)

The seminar reflected widely-held concerns about vaccine access here.

Programme manager with MPower at HIV Ireland Adam Shanley said: As it stands we need urgent access to vaccines in Ireland.

It is understood a vaccine plan could be ready next week, but for now vaccines can be given to close contacts of confirmed cases within four days of exposure. This can prevent people getting ill or decrease the severity of their illness.

A HSE spokesman said it does not have figures yet for how many doses have been used, and said advice is widely shared on its websites.

Mr Shanley said they were aware the HSE was working on a plan.

But we are aware that access to the vaccine, in the HSEs words, is low and limited, he said. And so really we need to be sure the Government is doing everything in its power to procure enough vaccines.

Both the Imvanex and Jynneos smallpox vaccines approved for use in Europe and America against monkeypox are made by one company, Bavarian Nordic.

We are in a situation where theres one company making the global supplies of this vaccine, that calls into question how we allowed one company to be in control of a vaccine during a public health emergency of international concern, he said.

Global race for vaccines

So there is a global race to access whats there. Ireland needs to be at the table when seeking procurement.

Director of communications with the Gay Health Network, which partners with MPOWER on advocacy, Padraig Burke shares these worries.

It is challenging watching our neighbours and partners rolling out their programmes while we languish, he said.

As yet, the Government hasn't announced the plan but realistically we feel it will leave a lot of people disappointed as they have clarified that the number of vaccines is low and limited.

It is increasingly frustrating for the gbMSM (gay, bisexual, men who has sex with men) community here that other European countries have started wider rollouts.

Dr Ralph Hurley ODwyer was able to get the monkeypox vaccine while on holidays in France: 'Im very grateful to France that I was able to get it. It was completely free.' Picture courtesy of Ralph Hurley O'Dwyer

Dr Ralph Hurley ODwyer, a registrar in infectious diseases, saw this in action while on holidays in France this week when he was able to get a vaccine quite easily.

The pharmacy that I got it in was one of the first pharmacies to give it in France, that was done by the French government to make it more accessible and people may be more likely to get it in a pharmacy, he said.

Im very grateful to France that I was able to get it. It was completely free. This works through the Doctolib app which is usually used to book GP appointments.

So to get the monkeypox vaccine here you type into that app and a list of all the centres in France will come up, with all available appointments, he said.

All I had to do was just click on the place that was most convenient for me, on a day that is convenient for me and press a button .

EU citizens are entitled to access healthcare in other EU countries, and the only document he showed was his Irish passport.

Hopefully things will change soon in Ireland, and the vaccine will be rolled out. There is a huge amount of anxiety, and I know that among my own friends and patients that Ive had as well, he said.

Im in the position of being a doctor working in the area, and being a gay man myself, I can see it from both perspectives.

He sees structural issues contributing to the slow rollout.

I know lots of the people involved [in Ireland] in coordinating a response to this, people at the top are working very hard and have been working absolutely relentlessly for over two years, he said.

My own view is that we dont have a sufficiently funded and well-structured national healthcare service and public healthcare service to be able to respond to outbreaks appropriately and at the necessary speed. We need a good national system to implement policy quickly.

Social Democrats health spokesperson Roisin Shortall has also highlighted differences between the French and Irish approach.

We have a vaccine that is effective against monkeypox  but communities most at risk have no idea about how they can be inoculated. This confusion is causing a huge amount of concern and frustration, she said.

In contrast, France has already administered 42,000 doses of the vaccine, while a dedicated vaccination centre was opened in Paris this week. Britain announced its vaccination programme as far back as June.

Long isolation times

Another issue of growing concern is the impact of long isolation times.

The HSE advises confirmed cases to isolate at home until their rash is healed as they are infectious until then, saying this can take up to four weeks.

High-risk asymptomatic close contacts do not need to restrict activities but they are advised to restrict travel outside area of residence.

Mr Burke said various supports outside the vaccine should be explored now.

This should include psychosocial support and possibly monetary support if people's livelihoods are affected due to isolation, he said.

Programme manager with MPower at HIV Ireland Adam Shanley: 'As it stands we need urgent access to vaccines in Ireland.'

Mr Shanley agreed, saying help was not just about recovering from monkeypox.

There are huge impacts in terms of having to isolate for 21 days or more, the impact that has on work, on family, on home structures, he said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Welfare said monkeypox was treated in the same way as other illnesses, meaning people cannot access the enhanced illness benefit, which is only available for Covid-19.

Illness benefit is the social welfare payment available to those who are medically certified as unfit for work, including in cases of monkeypox, she said.

People queue to receive the monkeypox vaccine in Lille, northern France, last weekend. Picture: Francois Lo Presti/AFP via Getty Images

This is a weekly payment with a maximum rate of 208.

These concerns are being shared against a background of Ireland having been first off the blocks with an information campaign about the risks of the virus.

This involved digital and face-to-face communications across Ireland focused on high-risk groups.

Mr Shanley presented on this to the ECDC and a meeting of the European Commission Health Directorate General, with the ECDC loving it so much they included the campaign in July guidance issued to all member states tackling the virus.

Posters went up in bathrooms of clubs and pubs frequented by the gbMSM community and direct messages were sent to the popular dating app Grindr.

Informational notices were also placed on Grindr, along with the Gay Community News website.

Members of the campaign include MPOWER, man2man.ie/Gay Health Network, the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme and the HSE. Information is also available in Portuguese and Spanish.

It is too soon for data on the impact of this campaign on case numbers, but he is hopeful there is a link between its success and Irish numbers being so much lower than across the UK.

I would really hope that has been the case, because we ramped up this campaign before the first cases were identified in Ireland, he said.

I do think we mobilised very quickly. And in parallel to the communications campaign, we did training around monkeypox with our volunteers, we hit all of our bars and clubs across the city. We were doing that every single day throughout the month of June.

The Dublin Pride celebrations, which could have been the focus of a mass outbreak instead saw mass communications on the risks, he said.

Mr Shanley points out so far 98% of cases globally, outside the West and Central African countries the virus has been endemic in, are among gay and bisexual male communities.

It would be wrong of us not to focus our efforts on gay and bisexual men, thats not to say that theyre doing anything wrong. This is a virus, it doesnt discriminate.

It has just found its way into a network of closely connected individuals.

These communities have a high awareness of health risks and a strong legacy of health campaigning are helping boost understanding, he said.

WHO technical lead for monkeypox Dr Rosamund Lews has repeatedly stressed how contagious the virus is, and can be spread in several different ways, including skin contact, talking at very close quarters, kissing, contact with infected bed-clothes or in a household setting. Picture: WHO / Pierre Albouy

WHO technical lead for monkeypox Dr Rosamund Lews has repeatedly stressed how contagious the virus is, with its data now showing household contacts among children under four.

She reported the virus can be spread in several different ways, including skin contact, talking at very close quarters, kissing, contact with infected bed-clothes or in a household setting.

The way it is spreading in this global outbreak has never been seen before so we are seeing new manifestations of illness, she said, referring to cases of encephalitis, inflammation of the brain, linked to monkeypox in Europe.

Declared a public health emergency of international concern on July 23 by the WHO, there were 17,897 cases across 41 European countries up to Wednesday.

Among these, 455 people were hospitalised (5.8%), with three cases reported to the ECDC as needing ICU care. Two of these people have since died.

Dr Lews also said that outside of this recent outbreak, several thousand cases are suspected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but with limited testing facilities and health services, that remains uncertain.

She said some 16.4m vaccines were available in bulk by July 26 but needed to be finished, with manufacturing only in Denmark, Japan and America.
The organisers of this weekend's Ironman Cork festival in Youghal say a warm-weather plan normally deployed in mainland Europe will help offset the effects of the high temperatures on athletes over the weekend.

A total of over 4,000 runners competing in Saturday's 70.3 (half) triathlon and Sunday's full Ironman will have access to an aid station "about every 10 minutes," according to race director John Wallnutt.

"The stations will be stocked with cold water, ice packs, isotonic drinks, energy gels and salty snacks," he said.

Additionally, three 'wet zones' will be set up on the running course around the town's environs.

Once again, the Youghal people have entered into the spirit of the event and helpfully volunteered to hose down the athletes  which I've no doubt will be welcomed."

Mr Wallnutt said athletes have personal responsibility for their own wellbeing but the advice for cyclists who may not realise how dehydrated they become, is to "bring plenty of water and isotonic drinks and drink, drink, drink".

Liam and Katie Herbert from Dublin write good luck message to Ironman competitors. Picture: Howard Crowdy

He said "cyclists, wearing light clothing and moving at speed, may feel a cool breeze but not realise they are also maybe being dehydrated.

The director said while some cases of exhaustion and dehydration might be expected, he did not expect serious issues such as heatstroke to arise.

"Most of the athletes will be used to dealing with this type of weather from competing in European races," he said.

Should an emergency arise however, a highly proficient medical team will be on hand, including "paramedics, advanced paramedics, nurses and ambulance service."

Thankfully, the sea hasn't reached boiling point yet! "The water is perfect, at about 17C and non-wetsuit around 24.5C, Mr Wallnutt said, adding that with the traffic management plan now in full flow, "everything is going to plan".

The weather conditions for this second Ironman event could not be more in contrast to the inaugural one in 2019, when there was also copious water about, but it largely fell from the sky.

Rachel Schwaab, Maryland, and Kara Clark from Pennsylvania, USA, in Youghal. Picture: Howard Crowdy

In 2022, Youghal's embrace of Ironman is hotting up in every sense with the now colourful, pedestrianised main street echoing to foreign accents and assuming the most cosmopolitan of atmospheres.

The economic windfall is also instantly apparent.

Amongst the voices, bunting and shop window displays, pop-up stall holders vie with locals in offering everything from hats and balloons, to wood carvings, home crafts and food variations.

Cerri Moynihan from Skibbereen is selling homemade jewellery and finds the ambience, on only her second ever visit to the town, "just fantastic".

Volunteers Aisling Pierce, Karen Buckner and Margaret Hennessy at the Ironman registration area in Youghal. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Kenneth Moynihan from Montenotte in Cork, selling aptly named hot dogs, welcomes trade as benefiting "ordinary, grass-roots people".

Tony Gallagher, who would normally be running Blackwater mini-cruises with his 28ft half-decker, is delighted to be charged with ferrying Ironman camera crews to the 6am front strand swim stages.

"Ironman is a massive event. The atmosphere is absolutely wonderful. Youghal is relishing it," he said.
THERE is some good news for the Irish chapter of womankind this week. The Government is reviewing the utterly daft decision to remove the word woman from the legislation surrounding women giving birth in Ireland.

The fact this has been officially contemplated in the first place never gets any less weird. Before the Dail broke up for the summer, proposed amendments to the Maternity Protection Act 1994 were to have been made involving the replacement of woman with person.

The official reason given for this is it would ensure that a trans man giving birth would be entitled to the benefits of that Act. A spokesman for the Department of Equality said this was the simplest way of dealing with the issue in legislation. Those amendments, he said, are now scheduled for around the second half of September. Crucially, though, the spokesman added, when asked about the disappearance of the word woman from this legislation that this issue is being looked at.

He did add that the proposed change may stay as it is, but there is no doubting the significance of this rethink on the official side, given that previous calls for change were adamantly resisted. We were told this was legal advice and the way things had to be. In fact, in early July, Roderic OGorman, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth of Ireland, in response to a Dail question from Denis Naughten TD, said his department has received legal advice to the effect that a transgender man who has had his gender recognised under the Gender Recognition Act 2015, and subsequently becomes pregnant, would not at present be entitled to leave under the maternity laws as they currently stand.

He said: There is of course no proposal, nor any attempt, to more broadly erase women from legislation. Women, quite obviously, continue to enjoy the full suite of social supports and protections around pregnancy that is enshrined in our laws and will continue to do so.

Such a characterisation insinuates a bizarre motivation on the part of the Government, when in fact the only motivation is to ensure the fair application of the law to the very small, but real, number of individuals.

First off, well done to Denis Naughten for asking about this plan to remove the word woman. Other national politicians say privately they would really like to speak out about this, but are afraid of the prospect of being cancelled by the sometimes vicious and very vocal online lobby which polices discourse about trans issues.

While Mr OGorman speaks of bizarre motivations being insinuated on the part of the Government, surely he might have reflected on the utter bizarreness of a State with maternity legislation that would not mention the word woman. It is of course important to be mindful and protect the very small, but real, number of individuals  the trans men who give birth  involved here.

But in doing so why would you not also consider half of the entire population  women?

Rights do not exist in isolation, they also compete. You cannot simply disappear the word woman in order to accommodate what must be a handful of trans men, if even that, who give birth each year. We know that trans people are particularly vulnerable. We must do all we can to protect them  but not at the expense of women.

Honestly, it seems ridiculous to even have to make that argument; that it has come to this. The National Womens Council of Ireland states that it has always advocated for the word woman or women to be retained in policy and legislation. In June, I heard a board member of Transgender Equality Network Ireland (Teni) on Newstalk saying similar. It has to be said, though, that neither organisation had been shouting this fact from the rooftops.

How has so much of officialdom been captured by this ideology? Could it simply be fear of the keyboard warriors, or as simple as dumping on women in general in order to solve an issue elsewhere? We really need to think hard about what is being done here and why.

There have been very significant related events in the UK of late.

The Tavistock review An independent review was highly critical of the Tavistock Clinic, the only dedicated gender identity clinic there for children and young people. The report by paediatrician Hilary Cass on the Tavistock Clinic cited a lack of understanding about why the type of patients the clinic was seeing was changing. File picture The NHS is to close the Tavistock Clinic and new regional centres are to be established. The Tavistock, which had operated a satellite service in Ireland based at Crumlin childrens hospital, needed to be transformed, the report said. The current model of care was leaving young people at considerable risk of poor mental health and distress, and having just one clinic was not a safe or viable long-term option. This review by Hilary Cass, a paediatrician, began in 2020 and earlier this year an interim report stated there was a lack of understanding about why the type of patients the clinic was seeing was changing with more female-to-male patients (previously it had been the other way around), more autistic children, as well as the prescribing by the clinic of puberty blockers. Among a number of findings, Dr Cass also said the clinic was not keeping routine and consistent data on its patients and, crucially, how health staff there felt under pressure to adopt an unquestioning affirmative approach when dealing with the young patients.

This column has previously addressed how, as far back as 2018, the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland made a submission to the consultation on the Gender Recognition Act 2015. In it, Donal OShea, a consultant endocrinologist who has treated people with gender issues for 25 years, raised a number of issues of concern.

Last Sunday, the Sunday Independent reported that, between 2011 and 2021, 234 Irish children, two as young as five, were referred to the Tavistock for treatment. It

reported how concerns about the standard of care for those Irish children were again raised by Prof OShea and Paul Moran, a consultant psychiatrist with our National Gender Service in 2019, stating the Irish operation at Crumlin was unsafe, and should be immediately shut down.

Dr Moran raised fears about an ideological desire in the HSE to continue the Tavistock-type model of care. Now his view is that significant numbers of patients will regret transitioning or have other adverse outcomes because they were put on puberty blockers too quickly.

We were coming across children who were clearly unwell and who had none of their underlying mental health problems addressed, said Dr Moran.

Many of them were not suitable or ready yet to be on hormone treatment.

He believes the Cass report is a watershed moment. Hopefully, Mr OGorman, the Government, and the HSE take time over the summer to reflect on it and other matters transgender, recognising this moment for what it is.
The man suspected of stabbing Sir Salman Rushdie has been arrested for attempted murder and assault, New York state police have said.

The suspected attacker, 24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, has been transported to Chautauqua County Jail and will be arraigned later today.

A statement shared on the New York state police website said: On August 12, 2022, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrested Hadi Matar, 24 of Fairview, NJ for Attempted Murder 2nd degree (B Felony) and Assault 2nd degree.

Matar was processed at SP Jamestown and transported to Chautauqua County Jail and will be arraigned in centralised arraignment on August 13, 2022.

Author on ventilator and may lose eye

Mr Rushdie is reportedly on a ventilator and may lose an eye after he was stabbed on stage in New York state.

Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and stabbed in the neck on Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.

New York state police have named the suspected attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, and he has been arrested for attempted murder and assault.

An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Mr Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced.

The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the man was arrested.

Mr Rushdie was then taken by helicopter to a hospital, state police said.

"Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged," his agent Andrew Wylie said.

A statement from New York State Police said: On August 12 2022, at about 11am, a male suspect ran up on to the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer.

Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known.

The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. The Chautauqua County Sheriffs Office assisted at the scene. More information will be released when it is available.

Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the hundreds of people in the audience. Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheatre.

Mr Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. Picture: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File

This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr Rushdie. At first youre like, Whats going on? And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten, Rabbi Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.

A bloodied Mr Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.

Mr Rushdie was due to speak to Henry Reese, from the City of Asylum organisation, a residency programme for writers living in exile under threat of persecution.

They were due to discuss Americas role as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.

Mr Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. He is a former president of PEN America, which said it was reeling from shock and horror at the attack.

The moment Salman Rushdies attacker was led off stage at the @chq. Via @AP.



For more than a century the Chautauqua Institution has been a summer oasis for reflection, study and prayer. Today its also a crime scene. pic.twitter.com/wP6J7doF1Y  Joshua Goodman (@APjoshgoodman) August 12, 2022

We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil, CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.

Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered, she added.

New York governor Kathy Hochul told a press conference that a state police officer saved his life and that of the moderator, who she said was also attacked.

He is alive, he has been airlifted to safety. But here is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power, someone whos been out there unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life.

Jeremy Genovese, 68, from Beachwood, Ohio, a retired academic from Cleveland State University, told the PA news agency he arrived at the amphitheatre as it was being evacuated and that people were streaming out.

He said: People were in shock, many people in tears. Chautauqua has always prided itself as a place where people can engage in civil dialogue.

"The amphitheatre is a large outdoor venue where people have given lectures since the late 1800s. You need a pass to access the grounds but it is not too difficult get in.

Mr Rushdies publisher Penguin Random House said they are deeply shocked and appalled to hear that he was stabbed at the event.

The chief executive of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement to the PA news agency: We are deeply shocked and appalled to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie while he was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.

We condemn this violent public assault, and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this distressing time.

The Chautauqua Institution, which was hosting the lecture tweeted about the incident, writing: We ask for your prayers for Salman Rushdie and Henry Reese, and patience as we fully focus on co-ordinating with police officials following a tragic incident at the Amphitheater today.

All programs are canceled for the remainder of the day. Please consult the NYS Police statement.

An officer with the Chautauqua Sheriff's Department speaks to a person at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y. Picture: AP Photo/Joshua Bessex

British prime minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter he was appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend.

He added: Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay.

His 1988 book The Satanic Verses was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims. Often-violent protests against Mr Rushdie erupted around the world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.

The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Mr Rushdies death.

A bounty of over three million US dollars has also been offered for anyone who kills the British-Indian author.

The death threats and bounty led Mr Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection programme, including a round-the-clock armed guard.

Mr Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.

Irans government has long since distanced itself from Khomeinis decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered.

The Index on Censorship, an organisation promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016, underscoring that the fatwa for his death still stands.

In 2012, Mr Rushdie published a memoir, Joseph Anton, about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.

Mr Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnights Children, but his name became known around the world after The Satanic Verses.

The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles south-west of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, is known for its summertime lecture series.

Mr Rushdie has spoken there before.
Asia Sri Lankan Ex-Leader Arrives in Bangkok After Fleeing Protests

Former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa (right) arrives at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok on Aug. 11, 2022. / AFP

BANGKOK, ThailandFormer Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday arrived in Bangkok after his visa ran out following a month-long stint in Singapore, where he had taken refuge from protesters at home.

The deposed leader landed on a private jet at Don Mueang International Airport around 8 p.m. local time, a senior Thai official said.

He left the airports VIP section around 40 minutes later with his wife and got into a black sedan, local media reported.

Rajapaksa flew into Singapore from the Maldives on July 14 after fleeing a deepening economic crisis and widespread protests in Sri Lanka. He tendered his resignation shortly after his arrival.

Sri Lankans arriving in Singapore normally receive a 30-day visa, but authorities said they had initially given Rajapaksa only two weeks and later extended the visa by another two weeks.

The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) confirms that Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Singapore on 11 August, Singapores immigration office said in reply to an AFP query.

The Thai Foreign Ministry, as well as a source in Colombo, said Wednesday that he was seeking a new safe haven in Thailand.

Rajapaksa fled his nation after tens of thousands of protesters overran his official residence last month angry about acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine endured by Sri Lankas 22 million people since late last year.

An international human rights group last month formally asked Singapore to indict Rajapaksa for crimes against humanity during his countrys decades-long civil war that ended in 2009.

The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project said it had urged Singapore to exercise universal jurisdiction to arrest the former president for grave breaches of international humanitarian law.

Rajapaksa helmed Sri Lankas Defense Ministry while his brother Mahinda was president when the countrys brutal Tamil separatist conflict came to a bloody end.

The Singapore Attorney-Generals Chambers confirmed it had received a complaint from the rights group without giving details.

His Singapore visa runs out on Thursday, a close associate of Rajapaksa told AFP in Colombo on Wednesday.

He had applied for an extension, but it had not come through as of Wednesday morning.

No political asylum

The source said Rajapaksa planned a short stay in Thailand and would return to Singapore.

The Thai Foreign Ministry confirmed it had received a request from Colombo for the 73-year-old deposed leader to visit and an assurance that he would not seek political asylum.

The Thai side received a request for the former president to enter Thailand from the current government of Sri Lanka, ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said in a statement.

The stay is temporary in nature with the aim of onward travel. No political asylum has been sought.

The Rajapaksa confidant told AFP that the former leader was keen to go home as protests against his administration had fizzled out, but his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe had advised him against an early return.

Singapore officials had said he was on a private visit to the city-state and the foreign minister stressed that he was not given any special privileges.

In general, the Singapore government does not accord privileges, immunity and hospitality to former heads of state or heads of government, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a written reply to a question in parliament last week.

Consequently, former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was not accorded any privileges, immunity or hospitality.
Burma Japan Lawmaker Meets Regime Chief in Myanmar Capital

Regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing meets Hiromichi Watanabe, an MP from Japans Liberal Democratic Party, on Thursday in Naypyitaw. / Myawady

Following last months arrest by the Myanmar junta of a Japanese filmmaker, a lawmaker from Japans ruling party met with coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday, the military regime announced.

Hiromichi Watanabe, an MP in Japans lower house for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is the first Japanese lawmaker to visit Myanmar since last years coup ousted the civilian government.

A junta statement said that at the meeting in the capital Naypyitaw the men discussed bolstering bilateral friendship and encouraging investment, as well as Japans donation of cherry trees which are being planted at the Naypyitaw site of what will be the worlds largest Buddha sculpture, a pet personal project of junta boss Min Aung Hlaing.

The regimes announcement of the visit made no mention of filmmaker Toru Kubota, who was detained in Yangon last month while documenting an anti-regime rally protesting the executions of four pro-democracy activists.

Kubota, 26, faces charges of incitement and violations of visa and immigration rules for filming the anti-regime demonstration.

Tokyo has called for the release of the filmmaker.

Toru Kubota is the second Japanese national detained by the junta since the coup. Yuki Kitazumi, a freelance journalist, was arrested in April last year and accused of spreading fake news regarding anti-regime protests. The junta released him in May for the sake of the friendship between Japan and Myanmar.

Japan condemned last years military takeover and has since put on hold new official development assistance to Myanmar, although it has not imposed sanctions on individuals or institutions involved in the coup as the United States and many other western nations have done.

Japans government has also been criticized for maintaining military ties with the regime by continuing to train Myanmar military officers. Two cadets and two officers from Myanmar were accepted for training in Japan this year.

Some of the officers trained by the Japanese military have since been found to be involved in junta attacks on civilian targets.

Earlier this week, rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that soldiers commanded by Brigadier General Tin Soe, who attended Japans Ground Self Defense Force Staff College from August 2016 to March 2017, were involved in a massacre of civilians in southeast Myanmars Kayah State on Christmas Eve last year.

In May, HRW and Justice for Myanmar, a group of covert activists campaigning for justice and accountability, said that air force Lieutenant Colonel Hlwan Moe, who was trained in Japan, launched possible indiscriminate airstrikes in Magwe Region, an anti-regime stronghold.

Since 2021, HRW has urged Japans government to suspend immediately training programs for Myanmar military personnel because they risk making Tokyo complicit in junta atrocities.
Burma Over 70 Civilians Trapped by Myanmar Junta Airstrikes on Sagaing Village

People fleeing their villages in Tabayin Township, Sagaing Region on Wednesday night ahead of regime raids. / Tabayin Assistance Association for IDPs.

More than 70 civilians, including wounded villagers and some resistance fighters, were trapped on Thursday in a village in Sagaing Region after the Myanmar military launched airstrikes.

At around 2pm on Thursday afternoon, military regime MI-35 helicopter gunships launched a surprise attack on a crowd gathered in Yin Paung Taing Village in the south of Sagaings Yinmabin Township. The villagers were preparing a meal for several dozen fighters from local Peoples Defense Forces (PDF).

Another junta helicopter made three flights to airlift around 60 regime troops to surround the village, which has some 700 houses and is home to around 3,000 people.

The airstrikes came 15 minutes after the PDF fighters arrived in the village, Ko Bala of local resistance group Young Ranger Force told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

Ko Bala said that two junta gunships attacked the village for up to 45 minutes using machine guns and rockets.

Some 20 people including senior citizens, youths and PDF fighters were wounded by the airstrikes. Another 15 injured people managed to flee the village, including a teashop owner and his daughter who suffered wounds to their heads and bodies, according to Young Ranger Force.

However, another 50-odd people including children and elderly people are hiding in their homes and remain trapped in the village.

After the two junta gunships returned to their base, another MI-35 helicopter continued to attack the village and nearby area for several minutes, according to local residents.

Most of the PDF fighters managed to escape late at night after a firefight with the regime troops surrounding the village.

Currently, 7,000 to 8,000 people from Yin Paung Taing Village and six nearby villages have fled their homes out of fear of potential airstrikes and regime raids.

As of Friday, junta soldiers are still deployed in Yin Paung Taing and the condition of the trapped villagers is unknown.

On Friday, the pro-regime Telegram social media channel Fifty Two News reported that seven PDF members were killed in the raid, and that weapons and ammunitions, including some made by the Kachin Independence Army, were seized by regime forces.

Resistance fighter Ko Bala said that civilians in Sagaing are now living in fear due to the mounting number of indiscriminate junta airstrikes. Previously, locals were able to get advance warning from PDFs of regime soldiers traveling through their areas by foot and had been able to avoid them.

We dont know when the junta airstrikes will happen, so we cant prevent them [junta gunships] making raids, said Ko Bala.

He added: The Myanmar junta doesnt care about rules and regulations, no matter that they prohibit the use of airstrikes on civilian targets. We need weapons that can prevent the regime airstrikes.

In early August, 10 villagers were killed by helicopter gunships and regime soldiers during a raid on Latpankyin Village in Sagaings Myinmu Township.

The military regime has been conducting airstrikes on both civilian targets and resistance forces in Chin, Kachin, Shan, Kayah, Mon and Karen States and Magwe and Sagaing regions.

On Wednesday night, thousands of residents from four villages in Sagaings Tabayin Township were forced to flee their homes when a detachment of 150 junta troops headed to raid the villages, according to a Tabayin assistance group for internally displaced people.

During previous raids, the detachment killed villagers, burned down houses and destroyed peoples property, the Tabayin assistance group said.

Amid near-daily attacks from PDFs and ethnic armed organizations, regime forces across the country have relentlessly committed atrocities including the arbitrary killings of civilians, extrajudicial killings of resistance detainees, burning people alive, using civilians as human shields, air and artillery strikes on residential areas, looting and burning houses and acts of sexual violence.
Burma Suu Kyis Australian Advisor Denies Junta Charge of Possessing Secret Documents

Australian economist Sean Turnell. / The Irrawaddy

Australian economist Sean Turnell, who has been charged by Myanmars military regime with violating the countrys colonial era Official Secrets Act, said on Thursday at a court hearing that the documents found in his possession when he was arrested contained nothing confidential.

Turnell, a former key economic advisor to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was detained shortly after last years coup which ousted the Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

At the court hearing on Thursday at Naypyitaw Prison, the Australian professor said that the documents were his recommendations regarding Myanmars economy that he presented in his role as an economic adviser to the NLD government and are not secret, said a court source.

The exact details of Turnells alleged offense have not been made public, although junta-controlled television has said that he had access to secret state financial information and had tried to flee the country.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, her planning and finance ministers U Kyaw Win and U Soe Win and deputy planning and finance minister U Set Aung have also been charged along with Turnell in the case.

All five are being held at Naypyitaw Prison, and all were present at the court hearing on Thursday and are in good health, said the source.

Australias government has repeatedly called for Turnells release. Coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing also turned a deaf ear to Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sens request to free the professor, made when he visited Myanmar in February this year.

If found guilty, Turnell faces a maximum of 14 years in prison. His co-accused Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is set to testify at the next court hearing on August 18.
Burma U Tin Tut, Elder of Myanmars Democracy Movement, Dies Aged 92

U Tin Tut

U Tin Tut, who was one of the elders and original members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as a former parliamentarian, former political prisoner, and former student leader, died at his home in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 8 at the age of 92. U Tin Tut was my fathers first cousin, someone I called aba or older uncle. He was also the first political prisoner I ever met, the person whose life inspired my scholarship on Myanmars democracy movement.

When I was reunited with my Uncle Tut in 2014, after many years apart, I would ask him to tell me stories about his political struggles and his run for parliament in 1990. After dinner, when the entire family would sit around the living room, my uncles middle son, who seemed just as excited to talk about the topic as I was, would say: Dad, tell her about Aung San Suu Kyi; do not forget about that, or What about the meetings you had with the Thakins, tell her about that. Thakins were members of the influential Burmese nationalist group Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association) set up to oppose British colonial rule in the 1930s.

My Uncle Tut would lean back in his chair, smile, and nod, but said relatively little about politics or his participation in it. Instead, we talked about other family membersmy father, my other uncles, my aunts, my cousinswhat they were doing, who was pursuing this or particularly talented at that, and how much they reminded him of other relatives I had never met. And what about Thant, he would say, He is just like his father. And May Than, oh your grandfather loved her so.

I knew Uncle Tut needed time and space to tell his storyaway even from his children and grandchildrenand in the right moment, he would recount what he knew. So, after many nights in Sydney, I walked with my uncle and aunt to the hotel where I was staying, a half-mile from where they lived. My aunt had knee surgery a few years back and my Uncle Tut, his hips failing him, also walked with a cane. I did not want them to walk such a great distance. I told them that I would hire a taxi even for a few blocks, but they would not have it. Then I told them we could do it on another occasion. I told them that we had plenty of time; I could come back to Sydney next summer and spend more time with them. But once my uncle had it in mind that he would tell me what he knew, he could not be persuaded to turn back.

Born in the Irrawaddy Delta in 1931, in the village of Einme, U Tin Tut lived through British colonialism; lived through the Japanese occupation and their eventual overthrow; lived through the era of the Thakins and the fight for independence; lived through the parliamentary era; lived through General Ne Wins dictatorship; lived through the 1988 pro-democracy movement and Ne Wins own overthrow; his own election to parliament in 1990; six years in prison; and then migration to Australia.

U Tin Tuts father was the headmaster of a government school, first in Einme, and then in Pyinmana, where Uncle Tut received his primary education. He recalled to me in 2014 that living in Pyinmana made all the difference, because there were a lot of politically active people, you see. There was not any one political cause that they all gathered around, but because my father was a teacher at the [government-run school] we always entertained guests from different places. And when they met they would talk about political issues. Even though at first I did not understand what they were saying, I would sit on the floor and listen to them. In that way, I came to be interested in politics.

During the Japanese occupation, Uncle Tut was not able to attend school, but continued to be politically socialized by his fathers friends: Many political types continued to come to our home in the evenings, drank tea, and talked about the occupation with my father. There was the Dobama Asiayone led by the Thakins. The Thakins from Dobama were actually older people, not terribly educated or intellectual, unlike the Thakins who were university students, but I learned a lot from them nevertheless.

After the war ended, Uncle Tut was sent to Pathein to attend high school at the Cosmopolitan Po Karen High School. It was in Pathein that Uncle Tut first became involved with the student union. This was how Tin Tut became part of the long tradition of student leaders (the kyauntha gaungzaungs as they are called) and activists in Myanmar.

After he entered university, his involvement in a student strike in 1953 landed him his first stint in prison. Uncle Tut recounted that his experience of imprisonment in the 1950s did not have the same dehumanizing qualities that he would later experience as a political prisoner under the military regime known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Doctors made regular visits to the prisons and as the resident physician felt Uncle Tut was too thin, he was put on a regiment of fresh cows milk. He recalled that prisoners were not only allowed to read, but that books and newspapers were plentiful, and they could order whatever they needed from the outside. Indeed, he seemed to recall this period of his life with great fondness. My own father, who was six years younger than Uncle Tut, and tasked with bringing food and supplies to the prison, remembered it differently. He told me that they would both sit and cry during the prison visits.

In 1988, Uncle Tut once again became involved in national politics. Along with U Win Tin, with whom he was contemporaries and had a close, lifelong friendship, he became one of the earliest members and leaders of the NLD. During this period, he spent copious amounts of time in Daw Aung San Suu Kyis home. In 1990, he ran for parliament as the NLD candidate for Einme. He won a resounding victory against his military-backed opponent but was never allowed to take office. Instead, along with hundreds of other elected parliamentarians, U Tin Tut was illegally detained and then imprisoned for six years, much of which he spent in solitary confinement.

At different points during his imprisonment he found himself crossing paths with a younger generation of activists, including members of the 88 Generation, such as Ko Jimmy, who was among the four democracy activists hanged by the regime in late July, Ko Pyone Cho, and Ko Min Ko Naing. Ko Pyone Cho recalled in interviews I conducted with him in 2013 that much of his own political socialization during his first year in Insein Prison involved listening to my Uncle Tin Tut talk with his contemporaries, including figures such as Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw, who had been chair of the Student Union in the 1950s, and the leftist writer and former student leader U Lay Myint. Uncle Tut seemed to have a particular soft spot for Ko Jimmy, often recalling with dismay how the prison guards would not let him share some of his food provisions with his younger prison mate. Both in the movement and in prison, Uncle Tut was known for his quick temper, raspy voice, passion, and authenticity. He was also known for his loyalty and warmth as a friend and comrade.

U Tin Tut was one of the few parliamentarians who made the difficult decision to migrate out of Myanmar. After his release from prison in 1996, his wife beseeched him to leave and he reluctantly agreed. Indeed, were it not for his wife, I believe Uncle would have stubbornly stayed on in Myanmar, continuing to struggle against the dictatorship, as many of his peers and comrades did, until the very end.

While he never fully articulated it to me, I do not doubt that it pained him to go into exile. Yet, if he had never migrated out of Myanmar, he certainly would not have lived until he was 92, such that he could pass away peacefully at his home, with his wife by his side, and his four children and six grandchildren close by. He would not have seen his sons marry, his grandchildren graduate. And he certainly would not have been able to tell mehis nieceabout his time in prison. His stories would have never planted a seed inside of me that grew into the many friendships that I would have with democracy activists and former political prisoners. His narratives of political strife and imprisonment would not have compelled me to return to Myanmar to search out his history and, in doing so, to document the democracy movement in the many imperfect and incomplete ways that I have.

I am told that had my Uncle Tin Tut died in Myanmar before the coup, the community of political prisoners in Yangon would have gathered and given him the heros burial that he deserved. His coffin would have been draped in a flag of the NLD, for all the sacrifices that he made. Responsible members of the community would have read proclamations that the political organizations to which he had belonged over the course of his lifetime, including the NLD and student unions, released him from all future obligations and duties, allowing his spirit to be set free. While I cannot perform this rite for him, there is a part of me that recognizes that, in the last decades of his life, he needed no such release, no such liberation. He had become free on his own terms.

Seinenu M. Thein-Lemelson, PhD, is lecturer in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Commentary The Worst Sinners Against Democracy in Myanmar

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When it comes to elections in Myanmar, there have been three main sinners.

Yes, they were sinners. Because they banished elections, they rigged elections, and they annulled the results of elections. As a consequence of their actions, the country lost its parliamentary democracy; the people lost their right to vote; elected governments disappeared; elected parliaments vanished; and the practice of democracy was systematically eradicated.

Given the gross nature of their violations, we commit their names to the historical record as the chief sinners against the electoral process in Myanmar.

The lines above were from an article I wrote just two weeks before our countrys election was held in Nov. 8, 2020, hoping that Myanmar would be free from more sinners, and not have to endure further crimes against democracy.

Just three months later, we all were doomed to witness a new sinner who, on Feb. 1, 2021, destroyed the results of yet another election, disregarding millions of peoples votes, overthrowing an elected government and terminating a parliament.

Thus, the previous list of sinners wont be complete without the new sinner, coup maker Min Aung Hlaing, who stole the votes the people cast in the recent election. He must be included here in the list of the chief sinners. He is the last but perhaps the worst sinner in our history.

The original sinner against elections and democracy

The people of Myanmar enjoyed the right to vote for more than a decade after the country restored its independence in 1948. Three elections were held to select governments in 1951-52, 1956 and 1960. All were free and fair. Through the elections, citizens of the country were able to elect the government or leader they preferred. The country was run by elected governments and laws were enacted by elected representatives in parliaments.

Myanmar was one of the earliest countries in Southeast Asia, perhaps in Asia, to introduce democratic elections. It was a proud nation before the first sinner destroyed it.

General Ne Win was the original destroyer of elections and the electoral system in the country. March 2, 1962 was doomsday for Myanmars elections and all the fruits that elections are expected to bearelected government, elected parliaments and the whole system of parliamentary democracy.

Shortly after the stroke of midnight on the morning of March 2, Gen. Ne Win sent his troops and tanks into Yangon with orders to seize all important government buildings, including the presidential residence and the parliamentary building, and the houses of all cabinet members of the elected government.

Before dawn, Gen. Ne Wins mission was accomplished. President Mahn Win Maung (an ethnic Karen), the elected Prime Minister U Nu and his 11 cabinet members were arrested and sent to detention centers. The only two ministers who escaped arrest were traveling at the time.

Gen. Ne Wins verbal order to arrest officials extended to many elected members of parliament. More than two score lawmakers were arrested in Yangon, including all ethnic Shan MPs, one of whom was Sao Shwe Thaike, who had served as the countrys first president after independence. In November, eight months after his arrest, he died mysteriously in prison. Many people believe he was killed.

The president, prime minister and all the arrested cabinet members were imprisoned for several years. The general claimed the coup was a last resort as the country was on the brink of a civil war between the central government and ethnic armed groups. But if such was the case, he should have engaged in dialogue with the elected government rather than staging a takeover.

In the decades that followed Gen. Ne Wins doomsday, Myanmar held no elections, formed no elected governments, convened no parliaments. The dictator uprooted and abolished the parliamentary democracy that had been put in place 14 years earlier. Along with democracy, the countrys open market economy also came to an end, as an era of nationalization was ushered in.

Gen. Ne Win introduced an authoritarian one-party system controlled by the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) and ruled the country for the next 26 years without holding any real elections. The only voting that took place was in bogus polls in which people were compelled to cast ballots for his single party.

He was the original sinner against elections and democracy in Myanmar.

We cannot ignore the generals deputies and followers, who, as pillars of his authoritarian system, joined him in his sins. Ne Win, however, was the chief sinner, and it was his legacy of authoritarianism that endured for so long.

Due to his sinful actions over the course of 26 years, dictator Gen. Ne Win faced a political storm, known as the 88 uprising. The nationwide pro-democracy movement forced him to step down on July 23, 1988, after promising to hold a multiparty, democratic election.

The original sinner had finally fallen into disgrace.

Successors sin more harshly

In the wake of the 88 uprising, new rulers came to power, promising elections.

The successors to Gen. Ne Wins regime, General Saw Maung, Lieutenant General Than Shwe and Brigadier General Khin Nyunt, staged a coup following the uprising and installed their own regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).

Publicly, the new generals said their main duty would be to hold elections as an interim government and to hand over power to the winning party. The junta announced that multiparty elections were to be held on May 27, 1990.

Gen Saw Maung, the head of the SLORC, repeatedly promised in speeches that the military government was just an interim administration that would hold the election and hand over power to the winning party before returning to the barracks where they belonged. He also said that drafting a constitution was not their duty.

Brig-Gen Khin Nyunt, the powerful secretary-1 of the junta, said in a meeting with foreign military attaches four days after the junta staged its coup on Sept. 18, 1988 that elections would be held as soon as law and order had been restored, after which the military would hand over state power to the winning party.

The new generals kept their promises. The election was held on May 27, 1990, 30 years after the country had last gone to the polls in 1960. A total of 93 parties contested the election.

And the elections were considerably freer and fairer than expected. The National League for Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory, claiming 392 seatsover 90 percent of the 492 seats on offer.

It was at this point that a pattern established by Gen. Ne Win was repeated.

Prior to the election, the SLORC was convinced that the National Unity Party (NUP), a reincarnation of Gen. Ne Wins BSPP, would gain a significant number of seats in the election. But the NUP won a paltry 10 seats.

Embarrassed by the result, the ruling generals appeared less than enthusiastic about handing over power to the winning party, though Snr-Gen Saw Maung reportedly intended to keep the promise. Its believed this led to his later removal as junta chief.

A few months after the election, the junta had still shown no signs of handing over power, though the NLD urged the junta to let it enter parliament and form a government as the winning party. The juntas response was to crack down on the winning party and its elected members.

Following the election, Major General Khin Nyunts Military Intelligence arrested over 200 elected members of the NLD along with leaders of ethnic parties that contested the elections and stood with the NLD. Hundreds of party leaders and elected members were given lengthy prison terms.

Breaking their word, Maj-Gen Khin Nyunt said the winning party was not elected to convene parliament or to take power immediately. Actually, the junta led by Senior General Than Shwe and Gen Khin Nyunt never honored the elections resultever.

The new sinnersSnr-Gen Than Shwe and Gen. Khin Nyuntwere harsher than their predecessor Gen. Ne Win. They arrested hundreds of elected members of parliament and political party leaders. Blatantly refusing to honor the election result, they continued to rule the country without legitimacy for the next 20 years. As in the period after Gen. Ne Wins coup, there were no elections, no parliaments and no elected governments from 1990 to 2010. During that time, many of the lawmakers elected in 1990 passed away. It was as if the election result had simply evaporated.

The story doesnt end there, though.

The junta led by Snr-Gen Than Shwe held another election in 2010, partly as a way of officially annulling the result of the 1990 election. (By that time, Khin Nyunt was no longer a player, having been purged in 2004.). The larger motivation was to facilitate Snr-Gen Than Shwes exit strategy: the senior general had carefully plotted for himself a route to a comfortable retirement after 2010. As long as his underlings were in power, he would be safe. To legitimize his successors, he handed them a pro-military Constitution that he had drafted, orchestrated an election, and forced some of his subordinates to swap their uniforms for business suits and run in it.

The election of 2010 was totally different from the one in 1990. Many dismissed it as neither free nor fair, and lacking inclusiveness. The main parties, including the NLD, boycotted the election, saying it was undemocratic. Election observers said advance voting across the country was rigged.

The result turned out as the old senior general expectedthe junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won a landslide victory. Thats what Snr-Gen Than Shwe (together with Gen. Khin Nyunt) planned to achieve after the 1990 election. His handpicked man, General Thein Sein, became the president and ruled the country for the next five years. Here again, Snr-Gen Than Shwes deputy generals helped to commit this electoral sin, but he was the sinner-in-chief, as he had masterminded it all.

Reformists are sinners too

Under President Thein Seins government, the by-election of 2012 and the general election of 2015 were recognized as free and fair. For this merit though he became president though a controversial electionhe at first seemed not to be a main sinner against elections.

However, Thein Sein turned out to be among the main supporters of the last coup staged by Min Aung Hlaing in 2021. Some ministers from his cabinet (2011-2016) joined the new juntas cabinet and his close aides such as ex-admiral and former minister of the presidents office Soe Thane and ex-chairman of the election commission and ex-general Tin Aye publicly supported the coup too.

Whatever the case, it should be noted that the demise of democracy lasted in Myanmar for nearly two generations due to these three sinners. In the absence of democracy, universal norms of human rights vanish. Such was the case in Myanmar, where the military dictatorship oversaw rampant infringements of civil liberties. People were forced to take orders from the generals, who knew nothing apart from how to bark orders. No one born after 1990 had even heard of an election until 2010.

The consequences are still palpable today, even under a democratically elected government. All we can hope is that Myanmar will now be free of sinners against elections, like those mentioned above.

In case youd forgotten: In the history of elections in Myanmar, there are three main generals who banished elections and annulled elections and rigged elections. Their names are Gen. Ne Win, Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Gen. Khin Nyunt.

Three months after I wrote the above, there came the coup on Feb. 1, 2021less than three months after the NLD won a landslide victory in the election on Nov. 8, 2020.

The last, perhaps worst, sinner ever

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, handpicked by previous sinner and dictator Than Shwe as the military chief, seemed to have waited to stage a coup while undermining the elected government and its parliaments in many ways since 2016. His military appointees in the parliaments were the main opponents of elected representatives from the NLD and their allies. He had full authority over security matters, according to the military-drafted 2008 constitution.

A coup detat is still the best solution for generals when they are about to lose all of their power. As for Min Aung Hlaing, he seemed most ambitious to be president and, outdoing his predecessors, became the most sinister of all.

In this category, he deserves to be recorded as the worst of the worst, as his coup was completely without any grounds and the atrocities he has committed in order to cling to power exceed all the crimes his senior generals committed since 1962.

First, he shamelessly accused the NLD of vote riggingdespite the fact that local and international monitors said differentlyand annulled the electoral results.

Furthermore, following in the footsteps of his predecessors after they staged the 1988 coup, Min Aung Hlaing claimed he would hold elections after an emergency period and hand over power to the winning party.

Then, when people unanimously rejected his military rule, he brutally cracked down on them. Unlike his predecessors, Min Aung Hlaing has still failed to consolidate his power more than 18 months on. He has been facing widespread popular armed resistance against him of a kind that his predecessors never experienced. In response, he has resorted to sending fighter jets and troops to resistance strongholds, killing civilians old enough to be his parents and kids as young as his grandchildren. So far he has killed more than 2,000 people, at a conservative estimate.

Demonstrating that he is more evil than his former bosses, Min Aung Hlaing ordered that detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi be moved from house arrest to solitary confinement in a prison. Its a totally unprecedented move that even ex-dictator Than Shwe never made.

Then, he outperformed his predecessors by resuming the executions of political prisoners, something Myanmar hadnt seen since the 1980s. He hanged four democracy activists, including lawmaker Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw from the NLD and prominent activist Ko Jimmy from the 88 Generation Students group, in July, simply because they opposed his rule.

A rogue tyrant the likes of which Myanmar has never seen before, Min Aung Hlaing did it all just to seize power, justifying it by falsely claiming electoral fraud by the NLD in the 2020 election.

His coup to overthrow the elected government was completely illegitimate and destructive against Myanmars entire society. His coup has now disrupted the lives of every single one of Myanmars 54 million people.

Min Aung Hlaing is the epitome of evil in Myanmar.

Naing Khit is a commentator on political affairs.
A lot of school districts opened their classroom doors this past Wednesday - Miami-Dade County public schools open Wednesday August 17  all with hopes of a more normal school setting following a rocky two years that included the COVID pandemic, remote learning, mask controversies, an overhaul for statewide testing and prohibitions on certain school topics.

It feels like this year is closer to how it was in 2019, as far as getting the school year started, said Russell Bruhn, a communications staffer with the Brevard County school district on Floridas Atlantic Coast. He had visited two district schools, an elementary and middle school, to assess their first day of school.

Compared to last year, theres a little bit more ease, it feels, Bruhn said.

However, there are some uncertain elements looming around the corner.

For one, the COVID pandemic is not over, and as a new subvariant becomes the predominant strain, districts will have to be on the lookout for potential flareups in cases.

In a November special session, the Florida Legislature prohibited mask mandates and voluntary mask use is down significantly, some school districts reported Wednesday.

I saw some attached to backpack straps this morning, but I dont think I saw anyone wearing masks, Chris Petley, with Leon County, said.

But theres a new threat this year: the monkeypox outbreak, which started to greatly increase in cases in Florida over the summer, when kids and teachers were not in school regularly. So far, schools may not be a big spreader of monkeypox, the Phoenix previously reported, but school districts will need to keep an eye out.

Meanwhile, the Florida education system will be making a major testing shift: multiple assessments throughout the school year in whats called progress monitoring.

There will be three statewide exams throughout the school year. Two of them are considered diagnostic exams to see how students are progressing. But the third exam is the end-of-year cumulative and comprehensive assessment for reading and math.

For the 2022-23 school year, the first window to implement the progress monitoring assessment runs from Aug. 15 through Sept. 30. The second assessment is planned to occur sometime between December 5 through January 27, 2023, saddling the days off students get for winter break. The final assessment will occur in the window from May 1, 2023 through June 2, 2023.

But for Andrew Spar, president of the statewide Florida Education Association, the progress monitoring system may not actually reduce testing time and teachers may not have enough time to incorporate the data into their classroom instruction.

If were not reducing testing, and were not getting that information to teachers and giving teachers the time to to actually implement strategies in the classroom  then its all for naught, Spar told the Phoenix. And thats part of the problem because teachers do not have the time they needto actually take data, thats usable data, and be able to craft strategies of lesson plans to help every child succeed.

In addition, polarizing education policies from the 2022 legislative session have some teachers concerned about the Florida education system, Spar said. That includes new laws that limit discussions around the LGBTQ+ community and history or race.

Certainly, its hurting keeping people in the profession all of that impacts kids, Spar said.

There are some 2.8-million public school students in Florida.

Portions of this story appeared on the website of the Florida Phoenix, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to coverage of state government and politics from Tallahassee. You can visit them by clicking here.
Young man in China's Guangxi strives to revive intangible cultural heritages

People's Daily Online) 16:49, August 12, 2022

Li Changlong, a young man in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has dedicated himself to promoting intangible cultural heritages of the Zhuang ethnic group for several years.

Li was born in Banchitun in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of Guangxi in 1995. The village is known for its rich intangible cultural heritages, such as the Tianqin, a traditional musical instrument of the Zhuang ethnic group, and Zhuang brocade, a brocade technique specific to the ethnic group.

An embroidery master teaches students how to weave Zhuang brocade, an intangible cultural heritage, in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Pang Wanwen)

Li's love for these two intangible cultural heritages started when he was a little boy. His brother is an inheritor of Tianqin, and his aunt is a promoter of Zhuang brocade. Under their influence, Li chose to return to his hometown to promote the Tianqin and Zhuang brocade after he graduated from college in 2016.

Since then, Li has been committed to enabling more people to learn about these two intangible cultural heritages.

In February 2021, Li was elected as secretary of the Shuangmeng village branch of the Communist Youth League of China, boosting his confidence to encourage young people to be the new force of carrying forward intangible cultural heritages.

In recent years, Jinlong township has vigorously promoted rural tourism with tourism products and activities related to Tianqin and folk culture to boost rural vitalization.

Li has established a Tianqin cultural performance team, worked with China International Travel Service (Guangxi) Co., Ltd., to provide study tours about intangible cultural heritages, and invited senior people who can play Tianqin and weave Zhuang brocade from his village to teach these skills to students and young volunteers.

Senior villagers who can play Tianqin, a traditional musical instrument of the Zhuang ethnic group, teach students how to play Tianqin in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Pang Wanwen)

Since last year, Li's performance team has staged more than 30 shows, and five batches of study tours about Tianqian and Zhuang brocade have been organized in his village.

In June 2021, Li established a Zhuang brocade workshop with inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage, attracting 21 embroidery masters from Banchitun.

"Many embroidery masters have joined the workshop. Consequently, we have improved the efficiency of weaving Zhuang brocade and increased the quantity of brocade products, which can better meet the needs of the market," Li said.

Li and embroidery masters have also incorporated fashionable elements into traditional Zhuang brocade and developed cultural and creative products including handbags, sachets, and interior decorative pendants.

Li Changlong (1st R) shows college students in Shuangmeng village, Jinlong township, Chongzuo city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region how to operate a loom. (Chinanews.com/Pang Wanwen)

The village's diversified and market-oriented Zhuang brocade products have attracted an increasing number of customers, who buy them via China's popular social media platform WeChat and online fairs. Since 2016, the annual sales revenue of Banchitun's Zhuang brocade products has reached about 100,000 yuan (about $14,822.7).

"Cultural innovation and online fairs will inject more vitality into intangible cultural heritages," Li said.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
It looks like JavaScript is either disabled or turned off. Please enable JavaScript to correctly view this web site.

Parece que JavaScript esta desactivado o apagado. Por favor, activar JavaScript para ver este sitio de web.

Afigura-se o JavaScript esta desativado ou desligado. Por favor ative o JavaScript para visualizar este site.

Il semble que JavaScript est dasactive. S'il vous plait, activer JavaScript pour visualiser ce site.
The global IP authority has granted ownership of the "debian.community" domain name to the Debian GNU/Linux Project and decided that it should be transferred to the community Linux distribution.

A statement from the project, which lodged a complaint about the domain name, said the decision had been taken by the World Intellectual Property Organisation under its Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy.

The panel that made the decision said it had found that "the disputed domain name is identical to a trademark in which the Complainant has rights."

The project, an association of free software developers who produce the Debian distribution, said it was committed to the proper use of its trademarks and would take action when there was any violation of its policy.

It added that the content of thehad been replaced by a page explaining what had happened.

In its decision, the panel noted that the disputed domain name was identical to the Debian mark, which carried a high risk of implied affiliation with the complainant.

"Given that the complainant prominently describes Debian on its homepage as a 'community' and not just an operating system, [the.community] suffix actually reinforces that the disputed domain name will resolve to a site operated or endorsed by [Debian]," it added. "The disputed domain name contains no critical or other terms to dispel or qualify that false impression."

The panel also said the evidence submitted by the complainant showed that some posts presented the Debian mark together with information about a notorious sex cult, notorious sex offenders, and enslavement of women, and one post displayed photographs of physical branding allegedly on victims genital skin.

"The segues from information about the complainant to this type of information are contrived and the scale of this information is not merely incidental on the website," the panel noted.

"In the panels view, these posts are deliberately intended to create a false association between the Debian trademark and offensive phenomena and thereby tarnish the mark."

In conclusion, the panel said that "nothing in the Debian Social Contract or elsewhere indicates that the complainant has ever consented to the type of false associations with its mark published by the respondent on its website.

"The respondent points out that the Debian mark is registered only in respect of software. However, while the relevant posts attack members of the complainant who make available Debian software, rather than the software itself, these posts use the mark in combination with the disputed domain name in a way that intentionally seeks to create false associations with the mark itself."
In 2 July 2022, WayAWay, a defunct narco forum, resurfaced on the Russian-language dark web after a long period of dormancy. While the return of a forum is not usually newsworthy, WayAWay was co-administered with LegalRC  two forums that partnered in 2015 to form what would become the largest darknet marketplace, Hydra.

Hydra marketplace was shut down by German and US law enforcement on 5 April 2022, leading to a competition for market share in the Russian language underground  which is quickly developing into a split between Russian and Ukrainian venues.

Hydras demise resulted in seismic shifts in the Russian-language underground, which have been forming for the past four years. Thousands of vendors and customers that relied on Hydra for cybercrime operations began congregating on the Russian-language forum RuTor.

This increased activity invited competitors to target RuTor, causing it to strike a partnership with marketplace Omgomg. This partnership was struck in opposition to WayAWay, which quickly associated itself with Kraken, a planned marketplace that has been advertised as Hydras successor.

The rivalry between RuTor/Omgomg and WayAWay/Kraken mirrors the Russia-Ukraine war, with RuTor/Omgomg viewed as pro-Ukraine and WayAWay/Kraken viewed as pro-Russiademonstrating how geopolitical concerns have invaded a space formerly viewed as entirely financially motivated.

Background: The Russian-language underground

WayAWay and another narco forum, LegalRC, formed a partnership in 2015 and their cooperation led to the emergence of Hydra Market, which grew to be the dominant darknet market and an emerging cryptocurrency laundering hub between 2017 and 2022 when it was taken down by German and US law enforcement. According to statistics following the takedown, Hydra received US$5.2 billion ($7.3 billion) and accounted for 80% of darknet market related cryptocurrency transactions during its operation.

Hydra was vertically integrated, meaning that it offered multiple services for example, cryptocurrency mixing and cashout, as well as the sale of various goods and services. While RuTor is more of a forum than marketplace, Hydras users quickly flocked to its platform to organise and strategise next movements following the takedown. It was on RuTor where the first major marketplaces vying to take the place of Hydra started advertising almost immediately following the takedown.

Flashpoint initially assessed that other smaller marketplaces like Blacksprout, Omgomg, Mega, and Solaris would play a role in competing for Hydras market share with the competition characterised by the liberal use of DDoS attacks, breaches, and black PR. This came to pass, with the first wave of DDoS attacks directed at Omgomg, which had previously emerged as the dominant new marketplace. Then threat actors associated with Solaris, a new platform where unlike Hydra, all shops and vendors are directly associated with the marketplace, breached RuTor.

Along with this, marketplaces were busy accusing each other of unsafe security practices and association with law enforcement. Amid this conflict, RuTor formed a close cooperation with the marketplace Omgomg and integrated the marketplace into the forum.

WayAWay, a forum originally associated with the now-defunct Hydra, went dormant in 2019, but resurfaced on 2 July under a new domain, apparently in an attempt to challenge the dominance of RuTor.

In May, rumours had started to surface on RuTor about a replacement marketplace to Hydra called Kraken, which would be operated by its former administrators.

WayAWay, as it was set up in July, shows signs of association with both Kraken and Hydra, including a similar logo and registration process as Hydra and a built-in cryptocurrency mixer, which was one of the most popular features of Hydra. Additionally, the forum is only accessible from IP addresses inside Russia.

On 23 July 2022, WayAWay was breached. Threat actors associated with RuTors administrators posted screenshots of messages from the forum with commentary, criticising WayAWays data collection practicesalleging that the forum is putting users at riskand sharing information suggesting that it was indeed Hydras management that set up the new platform.

Killnet and WayAWay

Writing on its Telegram channel, the pro-Kremlin cyber collective Killnet openly rejoiced at the breach of RuTor, which they described as a narco forum controlled by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). While the forum is not overtly pro-Ukrainian, several users of RuTor had expressed support for Ukraine after the invasion. At the same time, Killnet has repeatedly declared support for WayAWay, indicating that it was probably opposed to RuTor not by its narcotics aspect as by its pro-Ukrainian leanings. An account seemingly associated with Killnet was also recruiting new members for the collective on WayAWay.

RuTors admins have also mentioned the Russia-Ukraine war. One of the admins comments on the WayAWay leaks compared the practices of that forums managementwhich apparently hired 40 administrators with no clear responsibilitiesto hiring interns at Starbucks, which, the commenter pointed out, is not present in Russia anymore.

The fact that a politically motivated, pro-Russian hacktivist group is taking the side of WayAWay and Kraken will likely fuel further speculation that the former Hydra administrators are linked to Russian law enforcement. In parallel, some threat actors will likely avoid RuTor and Omgomg because it is seen as pro-Ukraine, for fear of the marketplace cooperating with the Ukrainian security serviceswhich have strengthened their cooperation with Western law enforcement in recent years.

Even if the arguments referencing an ideological Russian and Ukrainian split is only a cover for a rivalry that is driven primarily by financial interests, the fact that these arguments are used at all confirms the deep splits in the Russian-speaking cybercriminal underground. In a space where, as recently as last year, transnational cooperation was not only commonplace but often the recipe for success, and where financial interests usually trumped political view, mutually hostile ecosystems seem to be emerging and some links may have been severed beyond repair.
GUEST OPINION: What makes collaboration apps unique is also what makes them hard to monitor, but this is changing.

Users have grown accustomed to rich yet straightforward digital experiences.

It's often said users don't need to understand or care about what goes on behind the scenes to make an experience function.

The only thing that really matters is they can connect and collaborate with one another, and that the app or website that enables this performs well and offers a frictionless experience.

To a large extent, that's still true.

But there are also times when performance is impacted, when the tens of thousands of networks that make up the Internet, and the many SaaS and collaboration applications that rely on it, aren't delivering to their usual standard, or as intended.

This can happen unexpectedly, mid-meeting or mid-call.

When it comes to troubleshooting performance issues in live meetings, it pays to know a bit about the backend and the service delivery chain that is required to deliver the experience so that bottlenecks can be easily identified, and guesswork is minimised.

This can be challenging, though, as today's collaboration applications by design are built to provide best-in-class functionality across multiple feature-sets including voice, video, screen-share, and real-time collaboration like whiteboarding, translations and more. To achieve the functionality that users demand and need, these apps are architected to be distributed and dynamic, capable of being served out of locations across the globe.

An example of this dynamic architecture in collaboration apps happens right as a call or meeting is started. The infrastructure configuration supporting a meeting isn't determined in advance. Instead, as people join the meeting, they are given what looks like the most efficient connection path to and from the collaboration app's servers.

There's a lot of intelligent routing involved in that, but it cannot cater to every eventuality on the Internet.

Not every link in the meeting delivery is under the control of the collaboration app maker, the business customer of that service, or the meeting participant that ultimately uses it.

Suppose one or more participants is impacted by degraded performance. It's practically impossible for central IT to diagnose and remediate the issue without visibility into every connection for every session for every end user.

However, this is changing with the advent of automated session testing.

This new technology allows IT to monitor real-time collaboration applications as they are being used, by testing the connection to the destination host on-the-fly. IT can see all participants in a meeting, monitor the quality of the connection path for each participant dynamically, and identify issues that crop up for a single user, or for multiple users. That evidence can be used to expedite problem resolution, keeping workers engaged, connected and productive.

Real-time tests

We know how important collaboration apps are for organisations operating with hybrid workforces. The Cisco Hybrid Work Index 2022 shows a 54-fold increase in the volume of tests being run on collaboration apps in order to maintain some oversight of their performance.

Clearly, visibility is something that organisations put a premium on, even if these applications or experiences have been historically difficult to track.

Many of the problems that remote workers experience tend to be "environmental" rather than application-specific. Nearly half (45%) of home-based workers consider an unreliable or weak Internet their most significant issue. They may not understand why the Internet connection is weak, however, nor that a fix is possible that doesn't necessarily involve changing providers.

It could be that there are multiple concurrent users on a single home Wi-Fi channel, or that another user in the home starts consuming a lot of bandwidth, such as by uploading a large file, that suddenly degrades the local performance of a home-based worker's meeting midway through. Central IT can see it is degraded, but not why.

Employee experiences matter. They always have but in a hybrid work world, they've come to matter even more as the multitude of issues that may now impact connectivity, reliability and productivity have grown exponentially.

Collaboration apps remain the one business critical application that knowledge workers and hybrid workforces need to operate effectively. By tracking and understanding how meetings are functioning as they are in-progress, organisations can keep their hybrid workers focused on what really matters.
Dada will leverage Catchpoints unique technology and market leadership to create strategic growth for the brand and global client base while further establishing Catchpoints authority in digital experience observability.

A seasoned marketer and experienced technologist, Dada has over 20 years of experience in digital strategies and web technologies and has been at the centre of the web, mobile, social, and cloud revolutions. He has led marketing positions at SolarWinds, Microsoft, Rackspace, DataCore, and BazaarVoice. Before joining Catchpoint, Dada was the CMO for Keeper Security.

We are excited about Dadas arrival based on his deep experience in building brand presence and transforming organizations, said Catchpoint CEO Mehdi Daoudi. World-class brands, innovation and digital marketing expertise are critical to the success in the digital experience observability market. Dadas experienced marketing leadership gives him the ability to understand and meet the changing needs of the digital experience.

Every major brand today needs a digital experience observability platform, said Dada. Catchpoint is the clear leader in that space  I want to help the company in this journey, its a great opportunity to leverage my 20+ years of experience in web technologies and be part of a company with phenomenal people and great technology.

Former colleagues describe Dada as having a strategic mind and deep knowledge of the industry  making him a great marketing strategist.

The appointment comes at a time of high demand for Catchpoint, as delivering an outstanding digital experience is critical for great customer experiences and a healthy digital business. Spotting issues and fixing them immediately is now at the core of every digital business. More companies are switching to Catchpoint to stop blind spots from ruining the user experience.
Global sales of electric vehicles totalled 4.2 million in the first half of 2022, a 63% increase year-on-year, the technology analyst firm Canalys says, adding that this included battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

The firm found that while many new EVs had been launched during the first six months of the year, supply lagged and long wait times for delivery were common.

China was the leader in take-up during the period in question, with 2.4 million EVs delivered, equating to 26% of the total passenger cars and a rise from 10% year-on-year.

The delivery figures were much smaller for Europe (1.1 million  20% of all passenger cars) and the US (414,000  6% of passenger cars).

Canalys principal analyst Jason Low said: EV sales in Mainland China more than doubled in 1H 2022 and it is now by far the biggest EV market. Fifty-seven percent of global EV sales were in Mainland China. With 118% year-on-year growth, it is the fastest-growing market as well.

Twenty-six percent of new cars sold in 1H 2022 in Mainland China were EVs, and more brands and models keep hitting the market.

"Chinas auto industry is showing signs of recovery from supply chain and lockdown challenges, with car companies accelerating production and the government offering tax benefits.

"With this momentum and strong consumer demand, EV sales should top five million by the end of 2022.

Models from Chinese companies BYD and SAIC were the top-sellers in that country with Tesla taking the third spot a good way behind.

Commenting on the Europe figures, research analyst Ashwin Amberkar said: "European markets, such as the Nordics, have the highest EV penetration in the world, and might even see signs of market saturation until a new wave of EVs is launched.

Tesla holds the top two spots in Europe, with the Model Y SUV ahead of the Model 3 sedan. There have been no new EV launches in Europe to get close to the demand for the two Teslas.

Chris Jones, vice-president and chief analyst, pointed out that while there were more brands put on sale in the US, Tesla still grabbed about 60% of the deliveries.

"Popular car brands in the US, such as Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Nissan and Toyota, currently sell very few EV models between them. The sooner this changes, the better, and the US EV share will grow, Jones added.
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Today

Mainly sunny. High 108F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Mostly clear skies. Low around 85F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunny along with a few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 105F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.
President Alassane Ouattara last week lifted the shadow of a jail sentence over his erstwhile bitter rival Laurent Gbagbo, but the measure may only go a short way towards lowering Ivory Coast's political temperature.

Gbagbo, who once fought a brief but bloody conflict with Ouattara for the presidency, came home last year after a battle at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague that ended in his acquittal on war-crimes charges.

Ouattara has since given him a friendly reception, alloting him the role of statesman to ease turbulence that flared during presidential elections in 2020 and claimed scores of lives.

Ouattara's latest move has been to pardon Gbagbo for a 20-year term he received in absentia for the "looting" of the local branch of the Central Bank of the West African States during the 2010-11 crisis.

But, say analysts, this is only a partial concession for Gbagbo.

At 77, the veteran political fox and powerful left-wing orator is still widely believed to have eyes on a return to the presidency.

Jean Alabro, a political commentator based in Ivory Coast's economic hub Abidjan, said Ouattara, 80, would have carefully "weighed" whether to pardon or amnesty Gbagbo.

A pardon under Ivory Coast law does not confer the same force as an amnesty: a person who has been convicted of a crime is barred from contesting the elections, due in 2025.

Without an amnesty, "Gbagbo will have constitutional problems being a candidate," said Alabro.

Kone Katinan, spokesman of Gbagbo's African Peoples' Party (PPA-CI), said the pardon, "such as has been issued, is a step forward, but this is not what we expected. We want an amnesty."

- 'Dialogue' -

The pardon was issued on Ivory Coast's independence day, August 7.

It came with an announcement that Gbagbo's bank accounts were being unfrozen and annuities from his decade as president were being paid in arrears -- an amount worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Katinan said Gbagbo had "never" requested a pardon, adding however that Ivory Coast was engaged in a political dialogue "which should in the end culminate in an amnesty."

The West African state remains deeply scarred by the 2010-11 conflict, which erupted after Gbagbo refused to concede electoral defeat to Ouattara.

Several thousand people were killed and the country was divided on north-south lines.

Memories of the bloodshed revived in 2020, when Ouattara bid for a third term in office -- a plan that stoked violent protests that he was circumventing the constitution.

The "dialogue" brings together the government, political parties and civil society, with the aim of ensuring that local elections due next year and the 2025 presidential ballot unfold peacefully.

- Prisoners issue -

Another stumbling block in relations between Gbagbo and Ouattara is the demand by his supporters that "all civilian and political prisoners" held in connection with the conflict be freed.

About 30 people are still behind bars, including soldiers convicted for acting under the orders of Gbagbo, who has since been acquitted by the ICC.

Katinan said this issue was why Gbagbo snubbed an invitation to attend independence day celebrations in Yamoussoukro, the political capital.

"It would have been difficult for president Gbagbo to watch the parade by the national armed forces... when soldiers who served under his orders are still in prison," the spokesman said.

Another notable absentee was former president Henri Konan Bedie, who at 88 still retains political clout. He invoked "personal reasons" for not attending the parade.
Rising star Park Ji Hu joins the high scale drama "Little Women" with Kim Go Eun and Nam Ji Hyun this 2022! After the success of her apocalyptic Netflix series "All of Us Are Dead," the actress is ready to diversify her acting roles through the upcoming work!

Park Ji Hu Transforms Into An Aspiring Artist in 'Little Women'

From "Beautiful World" to "All of Us Are Dead," rookie actress Park Ji Hu is now ready to take on a new acting role as an aspiring painter in the upcoming drama "Little Women"!

"Little Women" is based on the novel of the same name written by Louisa May Alcott. It depicts the stories of three poverty-stricken sisters who dream of a lavish and exciting life.

Park Ji Hu plays the role of Oh In Hye, the youngest of three sisters to want to dreams of becoming a renowned painter.

Meanwhile, Kim Go Eun joins the drama as Oh In Joo, her older sister who will do anything to protect their family. Nam Ji Hyun portrays Oh In Kyung, the second born daughter who works as a dedicated journalist.

On Thursday, August 11, tvN released photos of Park Ji Hu in her new starring role, Oh In Kyung, capturing her sensitive and dedicated side as an artist.

Oh In Hye, like her sisters, wishes to live a luxurious life one day. This is why she wants to enter the prestigious art school and become a great painter.

In the next photo, she exudes a unique reserved personality, raising curiosity as to what kind of thoughts and secrets she's hiding from her sisters.

Through "Little Women," Park Ji Hu is expected to show a different side of her that she hasn't shown in her previous works before. In particular, Park Ji Hu is excited to work with her co-stars in a family melodrama.

Park Ji Hu Reveals Similarities With Her New Acting Role in 'Little Women'

Thankful for the opportunity to work with big stars, Park Ji Hu expressed her gratitude to everyone who believes in her talents.

"I took my time flipping through the script and practiced day in and day out," Park Ji Hu revealed. "Because of the production team's trust in me, I found things about myself that I didn't know I possessed."

As for preparing for her new acting role, the young actress shared that she learned painting prior to filming. Since Oh In Hye is a genius full of artistic cells, she wants to show how her character expresses herself through paintings.

"I feel a lot for Oh In Hye as she's the youngest but the most mature and realistic in the family," Park Ji Hu stated. "Because she has to grow up early, she became strong and independent."

Park Ji Hu gave emphasis that Oh In Hye tries to do great things with her sisters' guidance and love. She guarantees that her acting performance will give strength and healing to people who are as lost as her and her sisters.

Furthermore, "Little Women" airs for the first time on September 3 at 9:10 p.m. KST on tvN and Netflix! Watch the teaser here:

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Finally, the long wait is over as "Confidential Assignment 2: International" starring the captivating trio Hyun Bin, Daniel Henney, and Yoo Hae Jin announces its premiere date.

CJENM, the movie's distributor, introduces familiar faces and new ones through intriguing character posters.

'Confidential Assignment 2' Introduces Lead Stars Hyun Bin, Daniel Henney, Yoo Hae Jin, More

Viewers will get to see the irresistible charm of North Korean detective Rim Chul Ryung, played by Hyun Bin, as he returns with a bigger and bolder mission.

Reprising his role is Yoo Hae Jin as South Korean detective Kang Jin Tae showcasing his team-up with Rim Chul Ryung.

Interestingly, "Confidential Assignment 2: International" welcomes a new character, Jack, an FBI detective from the United States played by Daniel Henney. He will be working on the duo as he follows a North Korean criminal organization, causing chaos worldwide.

Of course, viewers will also get to witness Girls' Generation YoonA's versatility, returning as Park Min Young, the sister-in-law of Kang Jin Tae.

In addition to the new characters, Jin Sun Kyu took the role of villain Jang Myung Joon, the criminal organization's big boss.

'Confidential Assignment 2': Hyun Bin's Comeback Movie Premieres on THIS Date

Besides the character posters, CJ ENM also announced the premiere date for "Confidential Assignment 2: International." The much-awaited sequel joins a slew of movies that viewers are looking forward to seeing on the big screen.

As for "Confidential Assignment 2: International" it is slated to debut on September 7, in time for the Chuseok holiday.

Following the success of the first installment, the upcoming sequel is helmed by Lee Seok Hoon of "The Pirates" and "The Himalayas."

'Confidential Assignment 2' Cast Praised For Synergy, Impressive Performance

Director Lee Seok Hoon showed the lead stars with good words when asked about his thoughts regarding the cast members.

In a report cited by IMBC News, he described Hyun Bin as a "very meticulous and professional actor" lauding how detailed he is, and was able to point out his concerns with his character.

"Confidential Assignment 2; International" is Hyun Bin's comeback movie after the 2018 film "Rampant."

In a separate report, the director hints at Daniel Henney's bromance with Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae Jin in the movie. Moreover, he said that he wrote the character of Jack with the actor in his mind.

Lastly, Director Lee Seok Hoon praised Girls' Generation YoonA's acting and pointed out that she has a "special ability to make a scene unfold in a fun and entertaining way."

In addition, the director also mentioned how her "unparalleled ad-libs, "created a very witty character."
"Extraordinary Attorney Woo" episode 14 takes viewers to a bittersweet tour in Jeju Island. While the Hanbada lawyers learn a thing about Kang Ki Young, Park Eun Bin and Kang Tae Oh face a new obstacle in their relationship. Read on to know what happened!

'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Episode 14: Hanbada Lawyers' Search For Noodle Genius

In the previous episode, attorney Jung Myeong Seok (Kang Ki Young) was rushed to the hospital due to a severe stomachache.

In "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" episode 14, it is revealed that the senior attorney is suffering from stage 3 stomach cancer.

To make the attorney happy, Woo Young Woo (Park Eun Bin), Lee Jun Ho (Kang Tae Oh) and the rest of their friends go on a hunt for the noodle genius who once ran the famous Haengbok Noodles.

Unfortunately, they couldn't find the owner of the noodle restaurant. According to his former crew, the business went down after their competition, BuBu Diner, which is now named as Haengun Noodles, stole their recipes and claimed them as their own.

Woo Young Woo and Lee Jun Ho Part Ways

Because of what Lee Jun Ho's sister said about her, Woo Young Woo feels discouraged and small.

Although Lee Jun Ho makes her happy, she isn't confident that she can return the happiness to him. She deeply reflected on their relationship, and she was worried that Lee Jun Ho would have to take care of her forever.

While waiting for the dolphins to appear in the ocean, Woo Young Woo decides to break their relationship off, leaving Lee Jun Ho alone in tears.

In episode 14, the two mourn their broken hearts with karaoke and alcohol.

Meanwhile, Kwon Min Woo (Joo Jong Hyuk) and Choi Su Yeon (Ha Yoon Kyung) grow closer than ever in Jeju.

A Winning Justification

Thanks to Woo Young Woo's perseverance and dedication, the case of the illegal collecting of admission fees in Hwangjisa is closed.

To appease the monks at the temple, the Hanbada lawyers pay a visit. Jung Myeong Seok also offers the monks to negotiate with the government with Hanbada's guidance.

This way, the Hwangjisa monks could preserve the natural beauty of the temple, as well as collect reasonable funds for the improvement of the tourist attraction.

During their feast of a lunch at the temple, Woo Young Woo realizes that the Haengbok Noodles owner is actually at the temple, cooking for the monks.

After seeing the beauty of Hwangjisa that is similar to the place that the noodle genius described, Woo Young Woo rushes to the kitchen and asks for a favor.

Jung Myeong Seok's Small Happiness

One of the things that made Jung Myeong Seok's time in Jeju Island was Haengbok Noodles' flavor-rich noodles and savory boiled pork.

Woo Young Woo asks the owner for a favor to cook for Jung Myeong Seok, who has been suffering quietly by himself.

The noodle genius complies, making not only the attorney but everyone happy. The Hanbada lawyers also offer to help the poor man to file a lawsuit against the Haengun Noodles owner who stole his crew and his secret recipe.

While they are celebrating, Han Seon Young (Baek Ji Won) starts moving in taking down Tae Su Mi (Jin Kyung) using Woo Young Woo.

KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
The A-list court drama "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," starring Park Eun Bin, Kang Tae Oh and Kang Ki Young, successfully recovers from the plummeting ratings of the drama in its seventh week of broadcast.

'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Ratings Rise With Brand New Episode

In its penultimate week of broadcast, ENA managed to rise above the stagnant ratings of "Extraordinary Attorney Woo."

Since its premiere, the series gained massive popularity not only in South Korea but also in other parts of Asia.

The drama enjoyed an all-time high rating, however, Park Eun Bin's comeback drama failed to record a new personal best with its latest episodes.

"Extraordinary Attorney Woo" released its latest episode on August 11, which scored an average rating of 14.7%.

The rating was 1.2% higher than the previously recorded rating. Unfortunately, the new score was unable to surpass the highest viewership rating of 15.7% which was recorded during the ninth episode.

The brand new episode of the series featured how lead actor Kang Ki Young reflected on his life, as well as the bittersweet beauty of love for the highly loved Whale Couple.

With only one week till its conclusion, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is expected to recover from the bumps and score a new high for the series to end on a positive note.

'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Production Responds To Speculations

"Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is recently under fire for using real life problems and real figures for its topics in every episode.

In episode 12, the drama tackled the issue between an insurance company and married couples, with the wives being subject to dismissal under the impression of restructuring.

After the broadcast, Lee Bong Ryun's character, a female lawyer, was said to be based off former mayor-turned-lawyer Park Won Soon.

Despite being an accomplished lawyer and politician, and winning South Korea's first sexual harassment conviction, Park Won Soon was accused of sexual harassment in July 2020 by his secretary.

Because of the speculations that Lee Bong Ryun's character was inspired by Park Won Soon, ENA avoided further issues by releasing a statement.

The production unit stated that just like the other episodes, the story that was featured in the series is an excerpt from the drama's case book.

"We ask everyone to refrain from over-analyzing the cases as they aren't related to any particular person," a representative added.

Furthermore, "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" will air its final two episodes on August 17 and 18 at 9:00 p.m. KST on ENA Channel and Netflix.





KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
The Kenosha Police Department said they issued $4,301 in citations to a 56-year-old Kenosha man accused of spreading hundreds of anti-Semitic flyers across the city.

ANTI-SEMITIC MESSAGES Anti-Semitic leaflets blaming the Jewish community for profiting off the COVID-19 pandemic were left in bags of rice and beans in the Allendal

In December of 2021 Kenosha Police Department began to investigate complaints of anti-Semitic flyers being distributed throughout some Kenosha communities. The flyers were showing up on vehicle windshields, in driveways and walkways.

Technically, the flyer is a form of free speech, protected by First Amendment; however, many members of the Kenosha community had very deep concerns regarding the materials, even questioning if the distribution qualified as a hate crime. It does not, pursuant to WI 6 939.645 which covers crimes committed against certain people or property, Kenosha Police Public Information Officer Joseph Nosalik said in a release. Recognizing the fear and concerns surrounding the flyer distribution, KPD committed to continuing the investigation, which we did.

On Wednesday, Kenosha Police issued 23 citations to the man, whose identity has not been released as it is an ongoing case. The citations are for violations of the citys littering ordinance.

The ordinance reads: Littering: Throw, place or deposit any paper, glass, bottle, cans, containers, grass clippings, rubbish, waste, filth or other debris upon private property without consent of the owner or occupant, or upon the streets, alleys, highways, sidewalks, parks, or beaches, or into any pond, stream, river or lake.

CUSH CLEANSING WALK Rabbi Dena Feingold speaks in front of Beth Hillel Temple during a demonstration and walk to cleanse the community of antisemitism organized b

Each citation carries a fine of $187. The citations can be argued in Municipal Court.

Rabbi Dena Feingold, who leads the Beth Hillel Temple, 6050 Eighth Ave., said she is very, very pleased with the work of the Kenosha Police Department.

We still dont know if this is the only person dropping off leaflets, Feingold added.

Feingold said citations against those spreading such materials is something that weve long wanted in the interfaith community. She said members of Congregations United to Serve Humanity began partnering with the Kenosha Police Department by alerting them to new anti-Semitic document sightings with a rapid response number.

The Kenosha News first reported on the disturbing propaganda in February.

Feingold said she was made aware of pamphlets placed in bags of rice in both the Sunnyside and Allendale neighborhoods in late 2021.

One of the pamphlets, obtained by the Kenosha News, claims every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish. The pamphlet had a Star of David printed on the top of it and listed numerous falsehoods about the Jewish community. Other pamphlets spread falsehoods about the media and politicians.

Anti-Semitism has been on the rise in our country for quite some time, Feingold said at the time.

The flyers continued to make appearances throughout the first half of the year.

In April, Kenosha City Council voted unanimously to support the Jewish community and condemn anti-Semitism, as portions of the city continued to be inundated with hate propaganda.

In June, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and state Rep. Tip McGuire were at Beth Hillel Temple to meet with community members and discuss hate crimes.

Feingold began the discussion talking briefly about the rise in anti-Semitic activity in Kenosha, specifically the distribution of anti-Semitic leaflets in city neighborhoods peddling various falsehoods about Jewish people.

This year has been the most difficult year for the Jewish community in Kenosha, Feingold said.
Some put their paychecks in the bank to save up for necessary life expenses as they become adults.

Others help their families to get by. And, of course, some like to use their hard-earned money to treat themselves from time to time.

No matter how they approach it, participants in Kenosha Countys Summer Youth Employment Program gained more than a little spending money.

The program, now in its 14th season, offers at-risk youth a productive way to spend time during the summer while teaching valuable work and life skills for the future.

These youth are taking so much more than a paycheck from their experience with the program, Kenosha County Executive Samantha Kerkman said. Theyre learning skills that will help them throughout their adult lives.

The Summer Youth Employment Program represents a successful public-private partnership between Kenosha County, the Kenosha Unified School District, the Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha, Community Impact Programs and the participating worksites, said Donna Rhodes, Kenosha County Gang Intervention supervisor.

Rhodes said the goals of the program include: improving employment skills and learning appropriate work conduct; developing strong work ethic and learning the value and pride of an honest days work; increasing knowledge of career interest; and decreasing gang involvement and juvenile crime in the community.

Participants, ages 14-21, are referred by social workers, counselors or other professionals knowledgeable about their risk levels. Once in the program, they work 20 hours per week for eight weeks, earning $9 per hour. Kenosha Unified students also earn a half credit toward their high school graduation after completing the program and a related work-skills curriculum.

About 125 youth are participating in the program this summer, stationed at mentor worksites representing government and private, nonprofit agencies, as well as private businesses.

Kenosha County itself is a user of the program, putting youth to work in the county parks. Among other things, youth in the program are painting playground equipment and park shelters, weeding, mulching and performing trail maintenance  tasks Parks Division staff do not have the time to perform amid their daily maintenance duties.

At Fox River Park, for example, a team of Summer Youth Employment participants restored a sand volleyball court that had become overgrown with grass and weeds.

Sam Nachtigal, an incoming freshman at Harborside Academy and one of the youth working on the team that revitalized the court, said making connections with new people is one of his favorite parts of working in the program.

Im going to get a job after this, Nachtigal said. I want to save up for a car.

Amayah Houston, an incoming junior at Indian Trail High School & Academy, is spending her summer at an entirely different type of worksite, but her objective is similar to Nachtigals.

I want to save for drivers school, and for clothes for the new school year, Houston said of her plans for her summer earnings.

Houston is part of a team that worked on another annual beneficiary of the program: The Youth Employment in the Arts initiative, in which participants create a mural for public display in Kenosha County government facilities. They also paint smaller signage as a thank you to private businesses and other organizations that support the program.

This program is just a wonderful example of public and private entities collaborating, all for the benefit of these youth and the community, said Rhodes, who coordinates the Summer Youth Employment Program.

Rhodes also noted an important preventative benefit of the program: Summertime youth arrests have declined sharply during the years Summer Youth Employment has been operating  from 1,140 in 2008, to 117 in 2021.

At the current Wisconsin Department of Corrections daily rate of $1,178 for a minimum nine-month stay in juvenile corrections, one youth deferred from that system saves Kenosha County over $300,000.

This program is a good investment in prevention and setting a positive path forward for many youth and families in our community, Kerkman said.
On Saturday, Lois McDonald officially turns 100.

On Friday, McDonald celebrated her birthday with friends and family at her residence at St. Catherine Commons.

LOIS MCDONALD 100TH BIRTHDAY Lois McDonald, right, talks with Brad Weinstock and his wife Jeanette during her 100th birthday party at her home in St. Catherines Commons o

McDonald has lived in the St. Catherine Commons community for nine years after moving from Arizona.

LOIS MCDONALD 100TH BIRTHDAY Lois McDonald, center smiles as she talks with folks who came to wish her a happy 100th birthday during a party at her home at St. Catherine's

Some of McDonalds fondest memories come from her time traveling the world with her husband, who was an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force.

My husband was in the service, so I traveled with him, McDonald said.

Through her travels, McDonald had the opportunity to observe war crime trials, including that of Japanese general Tojo Hideki, who was prime minister of Japan during most of the Pacific theatre portion of World War.

LOIS MCDONALD 100TH BIRTHDAY Lois McDonald celebrates her 100th birthday at her home in St. Catherine's Commons on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.

She said security (personnel) went through her purse, which she wasnt expecting, and it was full of used Kleenex, said Maureen Glynn, McDonalds daughter.

Thank God I didnt have anything embarrassing, McDonald said.

McDonald also had memories of living in the Philippines during her husbands service, where she worked as a registered nurse after graduating nursing school in 1943.

She recalled a time when she made seven dollars from an eight-hour private duty shift.

The first thing I bought was a coat, McDonald said. A new red coat with a fur collar.

Also while living in the Philippines, McDonald helped to distribute the polio vaccine to enlisted servicemembers in 1953.

Mom helped out in the Philippines when they began dispensing the original polio vaccine to enlisted men, Glynn said. The nurses club (was asked) if they would help and not too many volunteered but mom did, but she said the condition for her helping was that the three of us would get vaccinated.

McDonald was a stay-at-home mother and homemaker taking care of three children.

Today, though, she likes to pass the time by reading from her Kindle, going for walks outside her home, which overlooks the lake, watching the news and enjoying the view from her window. At her home in Arizona, there was a higher concern for safety all well-being for people enjoying time outside, according to Glynn.

She mostly reads and she likes to sit by the window and look out at the park and the children with the playground and people riding their bikes walking their dogs and the geese people feeding the seagulls down there, Glynn said. Its been a cultural difference for her because in Phoenix there was escalating vandalism and crime in her area, and here shes just amazed that people are out with their children, buggies and dogs and leaving the door open.

There is nothing left on McDonalds bucket list. She said her greatest accomplishment was raising her three children and feels she has lived a fulfilling life.
Kilkenny is in for a major jobs boost in the coming months, with global healthcare company Abbott announcing a new state-of the-art manufacturing facility for the city.

Abbott will invest 440 million in the manufacturing facility in the IDA Business and Technology Park, which will create upwards of 800 new jobs. Abbott is a well-established US multinational medical devices and health care company with existing plants in a number of locations across Ireland.

The proposed facility in Kilkenny will focus on the manufacture of the company's Freestyle Libre 3 product - a cutting edge product to continuously monitor glucose levels for diabetic care. The project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

Acting Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council Sean Mckeown says the councils executives will now proactively engage with Abbott to expedite the development.

Mayor of Kilkenny David FitzGerald has also welcomed the news.

As Mayor of Kilkenny I warmly welcome the decision by @AbbottNews to locate their new 250,000 square ft facility in Kilkenny city. Well done to everyone involved @IDAIRELAND @DeptEnterprise @KilkennyNotices

Welcome to Kilkenny @AbbottNews pic.twitter.com/GqdeP4Z6Rr  David FitzGerald (@davidfitzg) August 12, 2022



"The news today of Abbotts investment of the new manufacturing facility is fantastic for Kilkenny and indeed the South East region. This will significantly boost our local economy and create many high tech jobs. I would like to welcome the Abbott team to Kilkenny and wish them every success on their new venture," he said.
The announcement by US MedTech giant Abbott that they plan to invest 440 million in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the IDA Business & Technology Park in Kilkenny is warmly welcomed by Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce.

This is a huge vote of confidence in Kilkenny by a global tech firm that is already a significant employer in the country. Decisions of this magnitude are not made lightly, and it is a tribute to everyone involved to have achieved this outstanding outcome for Kilkenny. I want to thank the IDA and all the people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make this happen. said Chamber President Brian Keyes.

This investment will realise hundreds of highly skilled and well-paid jobs for Kilkenny. It is also a huge endorsement for Kilkenny as a great place in which to do business and an acknowledgement that we have the infrastructure, the skills and the connectivity that make it a great location in which to invest said Chamber CEO John Hurley.

We wholeheartedly welcome Abbott to Kilkenny and look forward to working with them for a long and successful future in Kilkenny.
US medtech giant Abbott are to invest 440 million in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the IDA Business & Technology Park in Kilkenny City, which will create upwards of 800 new jobs.

Abbott are a well established US multinational medical devices and health care company with existing plants in a number of locations across Ireland.

The proposed facility in Kilkenny will focus on the manufacture of the company's Freestyle Libre 3 product - a cutting edge product to continuously monitor glucose levels for diabetic care.

Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr Pat Fitzpatrick commenting on the announcement said:

I whole heartedly welcome the announcement by Abbott today. This multi-million euro investment is fantastic news for local economy of Kilkenny and the whole south east region. I am thrilled and I know the people of Kilkenny will be delighted, in particular with the hundreds of job opportunities that will come on stream in the next couple of years. The decision is a huge vote of confidence by Abbott that Kilkenny has the infrastructure, the skills and is a quality location in which to invest. I want to congratulate and thank Abbott for choosing Kilkenny. I look forward to meeting the management team of Abbott in Kilkenny in the near future. I wish them every success with the project and I am confident this will be a mutually beneficial relationship."

Acting CEO of Kilkenny County Council, Sean Mc Keown said that the Councils executives will now proactively engage with Abbott to expedite this exciting development.

Deputy John McGuinness also welcomed the announcement.

This is a fantastic announcement for Kilkenny with 1,000 jobs split between Kilkenny and Donegal and a multi million Euro investment.

"I want to commend the IDA for their efforts and thank Abbott for their substantial commitment to Kilkenny. This will come as a significant boost to our local economy while also providing quality jobs in Kilkenny, concluded Deputy McGuinness.

Speaking about todays announcement Mayor of Kilkenny, Cllr David FitzGerald said, The news today of Abbotts investment of the new manufacturing facility is fantastic for Kilkenny and indeed the South East Region. This will significantly boost our local economy and create many high tech jobs. I would like to welcome the Abbott team to Kilkenny and wish them every success on their new venture.

The new 250,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, which will be located on the IDA Business and Technology Park in Loughboy, Kilkenny, subject to planning permission.

The project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.
Local writers, Nuala Roche and Caoileann OMahony, have been selected by the Irish Writers Centre to receive professional literary mentoring over the next eight months from an acclaimed Irish writer of their choice.

After a national call out, 37 writers have been selected from a total of over three hundred applicants.

County Kilkenny Arts Office funded the literary mentorship along with the Arts Council of Ireland to guarantee that the best applicant from the county would be selected. Their support will ensure that the chosen mentee receives this potentially life-changing support free of charge. It is also an investment in the long-term literary reputation of the region.

The mentoring process involves four meetings between the selected mentee and their chosen professional writer. In advance of each meeting, the mentor reads up to 10,000 words / 180 lines of poetry of the awarded mentees writing, then shares their critical feedback and advice.

Nuala Roche writes poetry and fiction and more recently, creative non-fiction. She won Dromineer Festivals 2017 Poetry Prize and her chapbook was Highly Commended in the Patrick Kavanagh Competition. For stage she wrote and presented the play Bridie at The Watergate Theatre and a womens monologues show at Cleeres Theatre. Her work is published in The Cormorant Broadsheets Anthology, Doghouse Press, The Milk House, Pendemic.ie and Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheets. Her poem, Lumber, was nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.

Caoileann OMahony is a Kilkenny-based writer with a love of all things science fiction and fantasy. Originally from Dublin, where she completed a BA in English Literature and an M Phil in Popular Literature, shes currently working on a fantasy novel and is very excited to have won a place on the National Mentoring Programme.

[Kilkenny-based writer Caoileann OMahony has been selected to receive professional mentoring]

The Irish Writers Centres mission is to support a vibrant and diverse community of writers of all types and talents to develop their craft, capacity and confidence to thrive as a writer in the world. The hope is that the chosen mentees will go on to write great works of literature to match or best the quality of their mentors.

Its a form of peer to peer teaching that is increasingly popular in literature, formalizing the process whereby masters pass on their craft to students.

Running since 2017, the national mentoring programme has already numerous published authors among its

alumni, including Doireann Ni Ghriofa, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Fiona Scarlett, and Victoria Kennefick.
Suspect in killings of 2 Muslim men in Albuquerque is described as volatile by community members and police reports
National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, left, speaks with Alina-Stefania Gorghiu, acting speaker of Romania's Senate, during their meeting in Bucharest, Aug. 8, in this photo released by Kim's office. Yonhap



National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo promoted South Korean arms and nuclear reactor exports to Romania in his meeting with the country's Senate leader, his office said Tuesday.



Kim held talks with Alina-Stefania Gorghiu, acting speaker of Romania's Senate, in Bucharest on Monday. Romania is the second leg of a two-nation trip that has also taken him to Poland.



"South Korea participating in Romania's arms modernization project is one way the two countries can cooperate as strategic partners," he said. "South Korean arms are excellent for their price and are compatible with those of NATO nations."



Romania, which has increased its defense budget to 2.5 percent of its GDP this year, is expected to raise it to 3 percent as it moves to modernize its arms system.



Kim proposed that South Korea and United States take part in a Romanian nuclear reactor business valued at 11 trillion won (US$8 billion).



Gorghiu responded that cooperating in the energy sector would be meaningful, adding that the countries should also work together to increase bilateral trade that currently stands at $1 billion.



Stressing that the two countries should expand high-level exchanges, the Romanian speaker requested a South Korea-Romania summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this fall.



Both countries took part in a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in June but a separate summit between the two countries did not take place.



Kim said he will deliver the request to President Yoon Suk-yeol.



On South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the southeastern port city of Busan, Kim asked for Romania's support in the vote. Gorghiu said while the country remains undecided, she understands that Busan is a highly eligible candidate and promised to try her best considering that the two countries have helped each other in international competitions.



Kim thanked Romania for its help during South Korea's COVID-19 vaccine shortage, while Gorghiu voiced gratitude for the country's alliance with Ukraine during Russia's invasion. (Yonhap)


BTS-who is the brand ambassador for Samsung- recently became the main attraction in New York City and London, drawing massive crowds made up of ARMYs and locals. Wanna know why? Then, keep on reading!

BTS Becomes Main Attraction at Samsung's Events in New York City & London

On Aug. 10 at 4 p.m. EST, Samsung held its annual Unpacked event in New York City wherein it revealed its newest Galaxy devices, Galaxy Z Flip 4. They also released brand new HD photos of Samsung ambassadors BTS.

The electronics company set up a pop-up event not only in New York City but also in London. It will take place from Aug. 11 to 31, and visitors might even get a special surprise.

While the highlight of the event is Samsung's latest product Galaxy Z Flip 4, BTS also became the main attraction at Times Square in New York City and Piccadilly Circus in London. Why? It's because the agency's new electronic billboard advertisement featuring BTS was unveiled in both cities on the same day.

ARMYs who were present at the event took videos of the incredible crowds paying attention to the new billboard advertisement featuring the global boy group. At Times Square, BTS' signature color (purple) decorated the buildings as Samsung's ad was displayed on multiple screens.

In the videos, people can be seen with their phones out, recording the beautiful advertisement. Apart from videos of BTS, a QR code was shown on screen intermittently.

In a tweet, Samsung revealed that those who scanned the QR code and showed it to Samsung staff will be able to get a limited edition BTS poster.

Fans who were at the event were able to see the first world premiere of BTS' "Yet to Come" music video with Samsung Galaxy.

Meanwhile, at Piccadilly Circus, fans and locals were also treated to a purple Samsung ad featuring BTS.

The launch of Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip4 is extra special for BTS and ARMYs as one of the color options has been named "Bora Purple," which was derived from BTS' signature phrase "borahe (I purple you)."

BTS' 'Proof' Steadily Ranks on Billboard 200 and Other Charts

In other news, BTS' anthology album "Proof" once again secured a spot on Billboard 200, a weekly album chart ranking the most popular albums in the United States.

For the week ending on Aug. 13, "Proof" ranked No. 62, marking its eighth consecutive week on the tally. The album has not left the top 70 since it came out in June.

BTS' "Proof" also came in at No. 53 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart and ranked No. 5 on the World Albums chart in its eighth consecutive week as well. The septet's English hit "Dynamite" claimed No. 100 on Billboard's Global 200, spending its 100th week on the chart. Additionally, the boy group placed 83rd on Artist 100.

In South Korea, BTS' "Proof" has received a triple million album certificate from Circle Chart, which naturally means the anthology album has impressively sold three million copies in South Korea alone. This is their fifth album to be certified triple million seller, following "BE," "LOVE YOURSELF: Answer," "Butter," "LOVE YOURSELF: Tear."

Meanwhile, BTS has one quadruple million-seller album in South Korea, and that's "MAP OF THE SOUL: PERSONA."

Congratulations to BTS!

For more K-pop news, follow and subscribe to KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article

Written by Maria Scott
[Trigger Warning: Mentions of rape and sexual assault]

Former EXO member Kris Wu surprisingly updated his social media accounts. This comes after the idol was accused of raping fans and underage girls. Keep on reading for all the details.

Kris Wu Updates Social Media

Chinese star and former EXO member Kris Wu, who was detained for sexually assaulting minors, makes a shocking update.

On August 10, several Chinese media outlets reported that Kris Wu's Facebook page uploaded a new photo. This shocked many, as the star was previously arrested in 2021 on charges of sexually assaulting minors.

In the photo, Kris Wu's back is seen facing the camera. He is in head-to-toe winter attire, holding a board as he faces the snowy field.

The former K-pop idol also shared a photo of a car to his social media accounts back on July 28.

Chinese media and internet users believe that Kris Wu's sentence has ended and has been released. Fans of the rapper are speculating that he is planning to return to the industry, which leads to the social media update.

However, this is not confirmed. Aside from his Facebook update, Kris Wu has not spoken up about his scandal since his sentencing.

What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comments below!

Kris Wu's Sexual Assault Scandal

In July 2021, 19-year-old Chinese student Du Meizhu took to Weibo to accuse Kris Wu of a pattern of sexual assault. His victims allegedly involved several women, some underage. She claimed Kris Wu would take advantage of them by getting them drunk and assaulting them while unconscious.

ALSO READ: Alleged Video of Former EXO Kris Handcuffed During Visit to Hospital Surfaces

Du Meizhu claimed to be one of the victims, saying she was raped while drunk in December 2020. She was 18 at the time. The student spoke up for at least seven victims, with two being minors.

Kris Wu denied the allegations. The Beijing Public Security Bureau then investigated the crimes. As a result, several companies, such as Lancome, Bvlgari, and Porsche, cut ties with Kris Wu.

Authorities detained Kris Wu on July 31, 2021. He was formally arrested on August 16.

For more K-Pop news, follow and subscribe to KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Alexa Lewis
New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that International Youth Day celebrates the power of partnerships across generations
SC orders status quo, says Delhi HC-appointed three-member CoA will not take over affairs of Indian Olympic Association.
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 12 (ANI/NewsVoir): On the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav of India's Independence, various activities are being implemented by the Government. To mark this momentous occasion, the government has encouraged every citizen to fly the national flags at their homes under the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign. The campaign will be implemented in our city from August 13 to 15, 2022.

To celebrate 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', a program of handing over 5 lakh National Flags to the Pune Municipal Corporation by Bajaj Group was organized on August 12, 2022, at the Pune Municipal Corporation. Vikram Kumar, Municipal Commissioner and Administrator, Ravindra Binwade, Additional Municipal Commissioner, Vilas Kandae, Additional Municipal Commissioner, SachinIthape, Deputy Commissioner (General Administration), All HoD's and Employees of Pune Municipal Corporation and representatives of Bajaj Group - Shefali Bajaj, Chairperson of Bajaj Finserv CSR Steering Committee, Ajay Sathe, Head of Bajaj Finserv CSR and Customer Experience along with other members of the Bajaj Group of companies were present at the event.

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Commenting on the occasion, Ajay Sathe, Head of Bajaj Finserv CSR and Customer Experience, said, "This is the 75th year of India's Independence and as proud Indians, we are all excited to be a part of this momentous occasion. Bajaj Group has a strong legacy of being a part of India's freedom struggle and on its evolutionary journey of becoming an Atmanirbhar Bharat. The Group continues to support the next generation of India, through its CSR programmes that are focussed on children and youth."

Vikram Kumar, Municipal Commissioner of the Pune Municipal Corporation said, "We would like to thank the Bajaj Group for providing the 5 lakh National Flags, which will be distributed across the city. This has been a great support to reach Har Ghar for celebrating the 75th Glorious year of Independence. The Bajaj Group of companies have always been a strong supporter for PMC in many critical initiatives and their support during the pandemic for the vaccination drives and other healthcare support has been truly noteworthy. It is one of the remarkable contributions that the PMC could handle the pandemic situation effectively. The Bajaj family is a family of freedom fighters. They have been committed towards progress of the society. I am confident they will continue this relationship with PMC and help the civic body in the future as well."

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India's 'Amrit Mahotsav' is an initiative of the Government of India to commemorate 75 glorious years of progressive India and its rich history, culture, and great achievements. The Indian national flag is a symbol of national pride for the entire nation. To further honor our flag, 'Har Ghar Tiranga' will be organized as part of Amrit Mahotsav of Independence to mark the 75th year of India's independence. This event is an inspiration to all Indians to raise the national flag at their homes. The aim of this initiative is to inculcate a sense of patriotism in the minds of the people and increase respect for the national flag.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, Aug 12 (PTI) With a view to utilise the services of cadets in creating awareness against single use plastic, the Punjab Pollution Control Board on Friday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, NCC Additional Directorate (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh) Major General Rajiv Chhibber and Punjab Pollution Control Board Member Secretary Krunesh Garg signed the MoU at the NCC headquarters in Sector 31 here.

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Around one lakh NCC cadets will participate in the initiative, which is part of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's campaign against single use plastic launched statewide on August 5, Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said. The department will also launch awareness programmes at several places in districts, sub-division towns and villages to shun plastic bags and adopt alternates, he said.

Assistance from government officers and employees, and officials and cadets of various NCC units will also be sought to make the state free of single use plastic and plastic carry bags, he said.

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The focus is to make Punjab the healthiest state with a clean and pollution-free environment, he said.

Major General Chhibber expressed hope that the MoU would go a long way in ensuring a clean and green Punjab.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Amritsar, Aug 12 (PTI) A five-year-old girl was found dead near the Golden Temple here, police said on Friday, suspecting mother's role behind the incident.

The footage from CCTVs installed outside Golden Temples showed a woman carrying the child in her lap, police said.

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The footage has since been shared widely on social media having been leaked to the public.

Police said that preliminary investigations point out that the victim was left there by her mother Maninder Kaur on Thursday.

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The child's body was found in the Golden Temple Plaza.

Police got a breakthrough in the case on Friday, when the woman seen in the CCTV footage reached Punjab's Rajpura city Police Station, about 230 km from Amritsar, to report her daughter missing.

The woman was also carrying her daughter's photograph.

SHO Harmanjit Singh Cheema acting swiftly detained the woman and subsequently informed the Amritsar police.

The CCTV footage showed that the woman was accompanied by a boy and was walking with the girl in her lap.

The suspect was seen in the Amritsar area at different locations, also outside the Golden Temple area, and she was carrying a child, who appeared to be in a motionless state in her lap all the time, police said.

The woman has been identified as Maninder Kaur. She is being brought to Amritsar by a police party from Rajpura. She went to Rajpura police Station to lodge the missing report of her daughter where she was detained, Inderjit Singh, SHO at Kotwali Police Station here, said.

During preliminary interrogation, the woman gave different statements which didn't match with her previous statement. Sometimes she says that her daughter died due to asphyxia in her lap. In another statement, she told police she had been in an affair with someone and her husband caught her red-handed chatting on mobile and she left the house in a fit of anger, the SHO said.

The truth will be out when she reaches Amritsar and police here take her into custody, he said.

The deceased child was a resident of Yamuna Nagar in Haryana, Inderjit Singh said.

The victim's father and other family members were also on their way to Amritsar, having been informed by the Rajpura police, 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)
Anand (Gujarat) [India], August 12 (ANI): At least six persons were killed after a car rammed into an auto rickshaw and motorbike in Gujarat's Anand district on Thursday and the accused has been arrested, police said.

As soon as the information was reported, police reached to spot.

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During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused named Ketan Kumar Padhiyar (42) was driving the car and due to his mistake, the accident took place, police said.

According to the Anand district police, the accused Padhiyar who is a relative of Congress MLA Poonam Parmar has been arrested under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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The Police said that four people on the auto-rickshaw and two on the bike died on the spot while the driver of the car is under treatment in a hospital.

The family members were returning after celebrating Rakshabandhan when an accident happened near Anand's Sojitra.

Abhishek Gupta, Assistant Superintendent of Police of Anand said, "Six people died in an accident that took place between a car, bike and auto rickshaw at around 7 pm in Anand. Four people on the auto and two on the bike died on the spot and the driver of the car is under treatment in a hospital." (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], August 12 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate a one-day National Conference of Rural Cooperative Banks organized by the Ministry of Cooperation and the National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) on Friday.

Union Minister of State for Cooperation BL Verma will address the valedictory session of the conference.

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Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation Gyanesh Kumar, NAFSCOB Chairman Konduru Ravinder Rao and NAFSCOB Managing Director Bhima Subrahmanyam shall also be present.

An official release said that the short-term cooperative credit structure in India comprises 34 State Cooperative Banks, 351 District Central Cooperative Banks and 96,575 PACS.

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The National Federation of State Cooperative Banks was established on May 19, 1964, with the broad objective to facilitate the operations of state and central cooperative banks and the development of a short-term cooperative credit structure.

NAFSCOB provides a common forum to its members and their affiliates, shareholders and owners to project their achievements, focus their concerns and promote their interests.

Amit Shah will also present Performance Awards to select State Cooperative Banks, District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) and PACS, and felicitate a few short-term cooperative credit institutions for 100 years of service.

The release said that the government has been working for the betterment of agriculture and rural areas and as the government's investment in agriculture infrastructure increases, so does the role and potential of cooperatives. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jammu, Aug 12 (PTI) The Army on Friday paid rich tributes to its four personnel killed in a terrorist attack on its camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, after which their mortal remains were taken to their respective native places.

"In a solemn wreath-laying ceremony held at Air Force Station in Jammu, the Army paid rich tributes to four gallant soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice during the counter-terrorist operation in Parghal in Rajouri," a defence PRO said.

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The Army's northern commander, Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, and senior military and civil officials paid tributes to the slain personnel by laying wreaths.

The four soldiers were killed on Thursday in pre-dawn strike by two terrorists on the Army camp in Rajouri district, which marked the return of 'fidayeens' (suicide attackers) to Jammu and Kashmir after more than three years.

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The two attackers, believed to be from the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), were gunned down by security forces personnel.

The slain Army personnel were identified as Subedar Rajendra Prasad of Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, Rifleman Lakshmanan D of Madurai district in Tamil Nadu, Rifleman Manoj Kumar of Haryana's Faridabad, and Rifleman Nishant Malik of Haryana's Hisar district.

After the wreath-laying ceremony, the mortal remains were taken to Delhi in a military aircraft. From there, these will be taken to their respective hometowns for performing the last rites, the defence PRO said.

The nation will always remain indebted to the gallant soldiers for their supreme sacrifice in the service of the motherland, the PRO said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 12 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakhs each for kins of people who died in a boat mishap in Banda.

Following the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given instructions for immediate help and relief to the victims and proper treatment to those injured in the accident.

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Cabinet ministers Rakesh Sachan and Ramkesh Nishad are likely to arrive on the spot.

Earlier on Thursday, a boat carrying 30 to 40, carrying them in the Yamuna river from Fatehpur to Marka village people capsized in the Banda district.

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Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the location promptly and launch a search operation for missing people and are tracing the people for the last 18 hours.

As of now, around 20 people have been rescued and 17 are still missing. Three bodies have been also recovered.

District Magistrate Anurag Patel said that the administration is trying its best to rescue as many people as possible.

"NDRF, SDRF, a team of local divers are searching for 17 missing people. We are trying our best to rescue as many people as possible from those who have gone missing. The rescue operation has been stopped now, it will resume in the morning," said Anurag Patel, DM, Banda on Thursday.

After the incident, Chief Minister Adityanath condoled the loss of life and directed the District Magistrate (DM) and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the district to conduct a search and rescue operation immediately.

According to a native on the spot, "In the boat, around 40 people were on-board, as many as 15 people have returned. The boat capsized after one of its flanks broke, there were 8 women and 4 children on board."

Deputy Inspector General of Police, V.K. had said, "Due to rain, it has been slippery which is causing issues in rescue, bur still teams are working hard to trace the missing people."

"Boatman has been detained and a rescue operation is underway. We all are trying our best and the rescue operation is being conducted under the direction of senior officers," ACS Home Awanish Awasthi had said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who is in the national capital for the first time after taking the oath of office, held meetings with Opposition leaders here on Friday.

Yadav's visit to Delhi holds significance as Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad is here and the finalisation of names of ministers is set to be high on the agenda during discussions between the two.

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The cabinet, which at present comprises only Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Yadav as his deputy, is due for expansion early next week.

The Bihar deputy chief minister met CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI General Secretary D Raja here and is learnt to have discussed the developments in Bihar as well as the way forward.

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After the meeting, Tejashwi said in a tweet that he met the two Left leaders and had a positive discussion on the current social, economic and political scenario prevailing in the country and Bihar.

"Bihar, the land which gave birth to democracy, has again shown the way to the country," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

Yadav, who arrived here last night, is also expected to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi later in the day.

Earlier, he celebrated Rakshabandhan with his sisters here.

Yadav is likely to be back in Bihar soon for the cabinet expansion expected immediately after Independence Day.

The expansion would be followed, later this month, by a special session of the assembly when the new government will prove its majority on the floor.

The RJD leader served as deputy chief minister of Bihar from 2015 to 2017.

Kumar and Yadav had taken oath on Wednesday, a day after the JD(U) snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD, the Congress and some other parties to form a Mahagathbandhan' government.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Aug 12 (PTI) The Congress on Friday claimed that an 18 per cent GST on rent even for residential property has been applied and called it "asli kaala jaadu", even as the government clarified that GST does not apply on residential units if they are rented out to private persons for personal use.

The 'kaala jaadu' dig was in apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of the Congress for wearing black dresses on August 5 in protest against price rise. Modi had said those who believe in "kaala jaadu" will never be able to win the trust of the people again.

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In a tweet, Delhi Congress vice president Mudit Agarwal said 18 per cent GST on rent even for residential property is an example of 'acche din' by the Modi government.

Tagging Agarwal's tweet, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said after "senseless GST on food items of daily consumption now this. This is asli kaala jaadu".

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The government dismissed media reports claiming that it has imposed a 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on house rent paid by tenants.

In a fact check on Twitter, the government said GST would be levied only when the residential unit is rented out to a businesses entity.

"No GST when it is rented to private person for personal use. No GST even if proprietor or partner of firm rents residence for personal use," the tweet said.

(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], August 12 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has conducted searches at various premises of a private company in Bengaluru and froze assets worth Rs 370 crore.

According to ED, a large amount of funds to the tune of Rs 370 crore were deposited by 23 entities including accused NBFCs and their fintech companies into the INR wallets of Yellow Tune Technologies held with crypto exchange Flipvolt Technologies Private Limited. These amounts were nothing but proceeds of crime derived from predatory lending practices. Cryptocurrency so purchased was transferred to various unknown foreign wallet addresses, ED said.

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Further, searches were conducted at various premises of Yellow Tune Technologies Private Limited between August 8-10 in order to locate the beneficial owners of this company and that of the recipient wallets. But the company's promoters went untraceable.

ED said this shell entity was incorporated by Chinese Nationals Alex and Kaidi with the active connivance of willing CAs/CSs and the bank accounts were opened in the name of dummy Directors. These Chinese nationals left India in December 2020 and later the Bank internet credentials, digital signatures of dummy Directors etc were shipped abroad and were used by the said Chinese nationals to launder the proceeds of crime. ED could trace the assets of Yellow Tune to the extent of Rs 2.31 crore and has issued the freezing order under PMLA, said the probing agency.

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Yellow Tune by using the assistance of Flipvolt Crypto-Exchange which has very lax KYC norms, no EDD mechanism, no check on the source of funds of the depositor, no mechanism of raising STRs, etc assisted the accused fintech companies in avoiding regular Banking channels, and managed to easily take out all the fraud money in the form of crypto assets, ED said.

Furthermore, despite giving repeated opportunities, Flipvolt Crypto-exchange failed to give the complete trail of crypto transactions made by Yellow Tune Technologies. Nor could it supply any form of KYC of the opposite party wallets. The Lax KYC norms, loose regulatory control of allowing transfers to foreign wallets without asking any reason/declaration/KYC, non-recording of transactions on blockchains to save costs etc, has ensured that Flipvolt is not able to give any account for the missing crypto assets. It has made no sincere efforts to trace these crypto assets, said ED.

The agency further said by encouraging obscurity and having lax AML norms, Flipvolt has actively assisted Yellow Tune in laundering the proceeds of crime worth Rs 370 Crore using the crypto route. Therefore, equivalent movable assets to the extent of Rs 367.67 Crore lying with Flipvolt Crypto-exchange in the form of Bank and payment gateway balances worth Rs 164.4 crore and crypto assets lying in their pool accounts worth Rs 203.26 crore, are frozen under PMLA, 2002, till complete fund trail is provided by the crypto-exchange.

Further investigation is underway. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ranchi, Aug 12 (PTI) Eleven children and a woman trafficked from Jharkhand have been rescued from Delhi, an official release said on Friday.

Of the 12 people, 10 children and the woman belong to West Singhbhum district, while a boy hails from Simdega district, the release said.

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The nodal officer of Integrated Rehabilitation Resource Center (IRRC), New Delhi, Nachiketa, said that there is a one and half-year-old girl among the children.

The child's mother was pregnant when she was brought to Delhi. Due to some reasons she developed a mental disorder and gave birth to the girl in this condition in Delhi, the release said quoting the nodal officer.

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After birth, the woman was not even able to recognise her child.

Delhi Police handed over the woman to a short stay home and the baby to a welfare home under Child Welfare Committee, the release said.

After receiving treatment for almost a year, the mother expressed a desire to meet her baby.

With the help of the West Singhbhum district administration and IRRC, the mother and the baby girl were reunited.

They are being brought to Jharkhand, the release said.

The rescued children are being sent back to West Singhbhum by train.

They will be linked to various schemes run by the Social Welfare Department so that they do not become victims of human trafficking again, 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)
Noida, Aug 12 (PTI) A private firm employee and his elderly father were Friday arrested for assaulting his wife and her family inside their apartment in a high-rise Noida society allegedly over dowry demands, police said.

The brother of the accused man has also been booked but is on the run since the assault that took place inside the 14th-floor Cleo County flat under Phase 3 Police Station limits on Thursday, officials said.

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CCTV footage from inside the house has also surfaced on social media, purportedly showing the woman's father-in-law and her husband attacking her, her sister, her brother, and her mother, with others also chipping in during the fight.

The video also showed a young boy inside the same room witnessing the violence.

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On the basis of a complaint by the woman, an FIR has been lodged and the husband along with his father has been arrested.

The husband's brother is at large and efforts are on to arrest him, Phase 3 Police Station in-charge Vijay Kumar told PTI. Further investigation into the allegations is underway."

In her complaint, Smiti Kashyap, 36, said she and Vivek Kumar, 40, had got married in 2018, but ever since she was being pressured for dowry and property by her husband and in-laws.

My husband and my father-in-law also hurled taunts at me all the time, Kashyap alleged.

My elder sister, elder brother and our mother had come to my house and today (August 11) during talks my husband and father-in-law launched an attack, assaulting all of us, she alleged.

Kashyap claimed that on July 17 too, her husband and his brother Vikas had tried to smother her and the marks of the assault were still visible on her neck, according to the FIR.

On the basis of the allegations, Kashyap's husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 498A (harassment of women over unlawful demands), police said.

Charges under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 have also been invoked in the case, police 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 [India], August 12 (ANI): Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Panchayati Raj Minister of Odisha Pradip Amat met Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday regarding the issues relating to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Odisha.

"Met with Hon. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan ji & Pradeep Kumar Amat, Housing Minister and PR, Odisha on Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at Krishi Bhawan. Assured all support to Odisha if 3C- (Compliance, Convergence, Cooperation) is followed & implemented by the State Government," Singh tweeted adding that the Centre is "committed to the Prime Minister's vision of Antyodaya and Housing for All".

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Speaking to the reporters, Singh said, "Unfortunately there is a dearth of transparency in Odisha because of which many discrepancies have been found in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Vikas Yojana. But it has been decided in the presence of Dharmendra Pradhan that there has to be transparency and monitoring so that the poor are given their rightful homes."

The Union Minister said that his Ministry will release the funds when the Odisha government will write a letter to the Centre regarding the transparent implementation of the Yojana.

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"We had a discussion with Odisha Minister Pradip Amat. He will convey our exchanges to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. When they send me a letter, then I will release the funds for the remaining number of houses to be built for the poor in Odisha," he said.

Alleging that the Central team which visited Odisha found "irregularities" in the implementation of PMAY, Singh complimented Dharmendra Pradhan for assuring transparency.

"I compliment Dharmendra Pradhan for his assurance that he would meet the Chief Minister and ensure transparency. A central team had visited Odisha and found irregularities in the implementation," he said.

"The 18 lakh houses that we built earlier, there were irregularities in the beneficiaries of the houses and their bank accounts. The Minister (Pradip Amat) has assured me that improvements would be made and there would no more be any discrepancies," Singh added.

Meanwhile, Pradeep Amat said that talks were held in a cordial atmosphere.

"Talks were held regarding the poor who do not have homes in Odisha. Houses will be given to all in the coordination of the state and the Central government," he said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chennai, Aug 12 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday expressed happiness that the state got its fifth elephant reserve at Agasthyamalai in Tirunelveli district and said the mammals play a critical role in balancing the forest ecosystem.

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Responding to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav's announcement on accepting a proposal of the Tamil Nadu forest department to notify 1,197.48 sq km area of land as an elephant reserve, the Chief Minister said, "On World Elephant Day 2022, I am glad that Tamil Nadu gets its 5th Elephant Reserve at Agathiyamalai in Tirunelveli District."

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The Chief Minister further said in a tweet "elephants play a critical role in balancing the forest ecosystems. The majestic mammals are nature's assets that we must conserve at all costs."

Nilgiris-Eastern Ghat, Nilambur Silent Valley in Coimbatore, Srivilliputhur and Anamalai are the four existing elephant reserves in the state.

Speaking at the World Elephant Day celebrations at the Periyar National Park in Kerala's Idukki district, Union Minister Yadav had announced that the Central government will establish an elephant reserve at Agasthyamalai thereby adding another 1,197 sq km of protected area dedicated for protection and conservation of elephants in India.

India has 31 elephant reserves. In the last three years, Dandeli Elephant Reserve has been notified by Karnataka, Singphan Elephant Reserve by Nagaland and Lemru Elephant Reserve in Chhattisgarh. These efforts brought a total of 76,508 sq km across 14 states in the country under elephant reserves, 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, Aug 12 (PTI) The Union Environment Ministry has decided to set up a high-level committee to probe deaths in human-elephant conflicts in Odisha and Jharkhand, sources said on Friday.

The decision was taken at the 17th meeting of the Steering Committee of Project Elephant at Periyar in Kerala which was chaired by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav.

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According to government data, Odisha has reported 322 human deaths in elephant attacks in the last three years, the highest in the country.

A total of 291 people died in such attacks in Jharkhand.

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The panel will have to submit a report by September 10.

"Regional workshops of stakeholders will be organised for mitigation of human-elephant conflicts. Four such workshops will be held soon," a source said.

At an event in Periyar to mark World Elephant Day, Yadav said human-elephant conflicts are increasing due to competition for resources with around 500 people dying in elephant attacks and 100 jumbos "killed in retaliation" annually.

"Managing human-elephant conflict is the major focus of the government... To find a long-term solution, we are revisiting the elephant corridors of the country and have finished more than 50 per cent of the task involving key stakeholders," he said.

Sources also said an inter-ministerial meeting will be convened with the Railways soon to discuss the issue of elephant deaths due to train hits.

Forty-five elephants have died in train accidents in eight states in the last three years, according to government data. Nineteen pachyderms died in 2018-19; 14 in 2019-20 and 12 in 2020-21.

At the meeting, it was also decided to celebrate 30 years of "Project Elephant" along with 50 years of "Project Tiger".

The Steering Committee also ratified the approval given by the ministry for the creation of the 32nd elephant reserve -- Agasthyamalai in Tamil Nadu -- in the country.

(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, Aug 12 (PTI)

The Supreme Court has said that it is important for all courts to remain sensitive to the trauma, societal shame, and unwarranted stigma attached to victims of sexual harassment while ensuring that the process of attempting to bring perpetrators to justice is not onerous for the aggrieved persons.

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It said that especially in cases where the police fail to address the grievance of such sexual complainants, the Courts have an important responsibility and the trial court should complete cross-examination in one sitting, as far as possible.

The apex court said police should put the complainant at ease and try to create an atmosphere free from fear.

The top court said, "The Courts must try to ensure that the process of attempting to bring alleged perpetrators to justice is not onerous for the victims. Aggrieved persons should not have to run from pillar to post for the mere registration of a complaint and initiation of investigation especially when a cognizable offence is prima facie made out in their complaint".

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala in its recent verdict laid down a slew of important directions for the courts to deal with sexual assault cases and said that it is the duty and responsibility of trial courts to deal with the aggrieved persons before them in an appropriate manner.

"Finally, we wish to once again reiterate the importance of courts dealing with complainants of sexual harassment and sexual assault in a sensitive manner. It is important for all courts to remain cognizant of the fact that the legal process tends to be even more onerous for complainants who are potentially dealing with trauma and societal shame due to the unwarranted stigma attached to victims of sexual harassment and assault", it said.

The bench said that at this juncture, especially in cases where the police fail to address the grievance of such complainants, the Courts have an important responsibility.

The top court verdict came while dealing with an appeal filed by an alleged sexual assault victim from Madhya Pradesh challenging an order of the High Court by which it had dismissed her plea against the magistrate court's order for a police probe into her charge against a person at her workplace.

The bench said that the court should "Allow proceedings to be conducted in camera, where appropriate, either under Section 327 CrPC or when the case otherwise involves the aggrieved person (or other witnesses) testifying as to their experience of sexual harassment /violence".

It said that the trial court should allow the installation of a screen to ensure that the aggrieved woman does not have to see the accused while testifying or in the alternative, direct the accused to leave the room while the aggrieved woman's testimony is being recorded.

The bench said that the trial court should ensure "that the counsel for the accused conducts the cross-examination of the aggrieved woman in a respectful fashion and without asking inappropriate questions, especially regarding the sexual history of the aggrieved woman. Cross-examination may also be conducted such that the counsel for the accused submits her questions to the court, who then poses them to the aggrieved woman".

The bench, which set aside the direction of the judicial magistrate of not ordering the police probe on her complaint and the High Court order, said that this court has not expressed any opinion on the allegations which have been levelled in the complaint.

The top court said that especially in cases alleging sexual harassment, sexual assault, or any similar criminal allegation wherein the victim has possibly already been traumatized, the Courts should not further burden the complainant and should press upon the police to investigate.

Dealing with the police action in the instant case, the bench said, "We cannot help but note that the police's inaction, in this case, is most unfortunate. It is every police officer's bounden duty to carry out his or her functions in a public-spirited manner".

It said that the police must be cognizant of the fact that they are usually the first point of contact for a victim of a crime or a complainant and they must abide by the law and enable the smooth registration of an FIR.

"Needless to say, they must treat all members of the public in a fair and impartial manner. This is all the more essential in cases of sexual harassment or violence, where victims (who are usually women) face great societal stigma when they attempt to file a complaint. It is no secret that women's families often do not approve of initiating criminal proceedings in cases of sexual harassment. Various quarters of society attempt to persuade the survivor not to register a complaint or initiate other formal proceedings, and they often succeed", it said.

The top court said that finally, visiting the police station and interacting with police officers can be an intimidating experience for many and this discomfort is often compounded if the reason for visiting the police station is to complain of a sexual offence.

"This being the case, the police ought not to create yet another obstacle by declining to register an FIR despite receiving a complaint regarding sexual harassment", it said, adding that they should put the complainant at ease and try to create an atmosphere free from fear.

(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, Aug 12 (PTI) India's exports rose by 2.14 per cent to USD 36.27 billion in July while the trade deficit almost tripled to USD 30 billion during the month, according to official data released on Friday.

Imports shot up by 43.61 per cent to USD 66.27 billion in the month compared to July 2021, the data showed.

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The trade deficit was USD 10.63 billion in July 2021.

Preliminary data released earlier this month had shown a 0.76 per cent contraction in exports at USD 35.24 billion for July against USD 35.51 billion in July 2021. The trade deficit was pegged at a record USD 31 billion in the month fuelled by over 70 per cent rise in crude oil imports.

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(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 12 (ANI): The Karnataka High Court on Thursday abolished the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), formed by the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah in 2016 and transferred all pending cases before the ACB to the Lokayukta Police division.

In 2016, the Siddaramaiah government formed the ACB, curtailing the powers of the Lokayukta.

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A division bench comprising Justice B Veerappa and Justice K S Hemalekha said that all pending cases before the ACB will now get transferred to the Lokayukta Police division.

The order was passed in connection with the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Chidananda Aras, advocates' association and social activist SR Hiremath's Samaj Parivartan community challenging the formation of ACB.

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Reacting on high court order Siddaramaiah said, "I have not yet seen the order on the issue of High Court quashing the ACB".

Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, said that after seeing the order, he will respond.

"ACB was formed by separating Lokayukta. We respect the decision of the High Court. Haven't seen what the order is. He said he will respond after seeing the order. ACB was an independent investigative body. ACB is there not only in Karnataka but also in many states. ACB should be in Lokayukta," said Siddaramaiah.

He said that now the High Court has decided that there is no need for independent existence. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhopal, Aug 12 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh on Friday recorded 141 new cases of coronavirus, taking the overall count to 10,51,986, while no fresh death linked to the infection was reported in the state, a health department official said.

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The statewide COVID-19 toll remained unchanged at 10,763, he added.

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At least 169 patients recovered from the infection during the day, taking the count of recoveries to 10,40,120, the official said.

With this, the state is now left with 1,103 active cases, while the positivity rate, or cases detected per 100 tests, stood at 2.5 per cent, he said.

As many as 5,626 swab samples were examined during the day, pushing up the number of coronavirus tests conducted in the state so far to 2,98,00,432, the official said.

According to a government release, 12,65,91,957 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far in the state, 26,520 of them on Friday.

Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 10,51,986, new cases 141, death toll 10,763, recoveries 10,40,120, active cases 1,103, total tests 2,98,00,432.

(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, Aug 12 (PTI) India on Friday described as the "most uncalled for" China blocking a proposal at the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as a global terrorist.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India will continue to pursue its principled position of bringing the terrorist to justice including through UN Security Council's sanction regime.

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"It is unfortunate that when it comes to our collective battle against terrorism, the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice," he said at a media briefing.

Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, has been involved in planning and executing numerous terror strikes in India including the hijacking of Indian Airlines aircraft IC814 in 1999, the attack on Parliament in 2001 and the targeting of the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016.

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China on Wednesday put a technical hold on a joint proposal at the UN Security Council by India and the US to blacklist him. All other 14 member states of the top UN body supported the move.

The Chinese action came less than a month after Beijing blocked a similar joint proposal by India and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based deputy leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Abdul Rehman Makki.

Makki too has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youths to resort to violence and planning and executing attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror strikes.

The proposal to designate Abdul Rauf was moved in the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee and the documents related to it were circulated among all the member nations.

In the past, China repeatedly blocked proposals to designate Pakistan-based terrorists.

After China blocked the proposal to designate Makki as an international terrorist, government sources said that the action ran counter to Beijing's claim of combating terrorism.

Makki is the head of the political affairs of LeT and Jamat ud-Dawa (JuD), and served as head of LeT's foreign relations department.

The LeT has been involved in major attacks in India such as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Red Fort Attack in 2000, Rampur CRPF Camp attack in January 2008, Khanpora (Baramulla) attack in 2018, Srinagar attack in June 2018 and Gurez/Bandipora attack in 2018, according to sources in the security establishment.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhopal, Aug 12 (PTI) A 35-year-old woman who was swept away while crossing a swollen river in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district was found clinging to a log of wood 16 km away and rescued after more than eight hours of efforts on Friday, an official said.

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The incident took place in Betwa river in Vidisha around 8 pm on Thursday, he said.

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Sonam Dangi was travelling with her brother on a motorcycle to her parent's place in Padaria to celebrate Raksha Bandhan and when they got swept away in the swollen Betwa river through Barrighat bridge, additional chief secretary (ACS) home Dr Rajesh Rajora Friday said.

While Dangi's brother was immediately rescued, she was found stuck in an under-construction pillar of a bridge around 11 pm and a rescue team was deployed to save her, but couldn't due to strong currents, he said.

The team of five divers finally reached the woman in their fifth attempt around 4.30 am and gave her a life-jacket and pulled her in the boat, he said.

As the boat started moving towards the bank, it overturned due to strong currents. While the divers somehow swam to safety, the woman was again swept away, Rajora said.

However, Dangi found a large log to hold on to and stayed afloat about 16 km away from the original spot, he said.

The authorities had alerted villages downstream, and people in Rajkheda village spotted her and rescue her to safety with the help of a tube, the ACS said.

The woman suffered from hypothermia and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, where her condition is said to be stable, the ACS 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 [India], August 12 (ANI): In a case related to the death of two labourers in a stone mine accident in Koderma, Jharkhand, the National Human Rights Commission's intervention resulted in allocation of a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each deceased by the mine owner.

"Even as the court proceedings in the matter are pending, the mine owner on 26 October 2021, paid Rs. 10,00,000 each to the NoK of the two deceased labourers since the Commission sent the first notice on 13th November 2020 to the District Magistrate, Koderma calling for reports into the matter," read a statement by NHRC.

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The incident had happened in 2019, in which one of the co-owners of the mine had also died.

The Commission had registered a case on basis of a complaint on September 16, 2020, alleging that the rescue operation was taken up only after five hours of the incident to look out for the trapped labourers and the others, who were trapped.

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In response to the notices of the Commission, the Deputy Commissioner, Koderna informed that a case under various sections of the IPC had been registered on November 10, 2019, against the mine owner for his negligence.

After investigations, a Charge sheet was filed in the court on July 30, 2020. (ANI)

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New Delhi [India], August 12 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday sharpened its verbal attack against Aam Aadmi Party over the latter's stand on freebies culture. In a fresh development, Union Minister Anurag Thakur called AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal 'Jhootmantri', the one who spreads lies.

"Arvind Kejriwal is 'Jhootmantri' and spread lies and fears. He fought an election on the issue of corruption but is running a corrupt government. Their health minister is in jail, while the health system including Mohalla clinics are in shambles," told Union Minister Anurag Thakur to ANI today.

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The BJP has taken on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with its full force in refuting his claims about the BJP seeking withdrawal of subsidies in the education and health sectors.

Kejriwal came under heavy attack from BJP on Thursday with BJP hitting out against the "perverse twist" given by him on the debate on freebies and alleging that his politics was all about "revdi (freebie) culture". BJP leader Amit Malviya said that successive governments have been caring for the poor and Kejriwal cannot claim the credit for measures taken by a welfare government.

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"In what seems like an inadvertent slip, Kejriwal admits that various governments, for the last 70-75 years, have been providing free education, food and healthcare to the poor. That is a welfare state. Arvind Kejriwal can't claim the credit. His politics, however, is all about 'revdi culture'," he said.

BJP spokesperson RP Singh also accused Delhi Chief Minister of "unbridled spends on only ads".

"Kejriwal has perfected a model which is about freebies for the certain media and allied ecosystem. Unbridled spends on only ads and ads and nothing else. This is what allows @ArvindKejriwal to blatantly lie in full public glare knowing media won't expose him," Singh said.

Former Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said Kejriwal has been "resorting to lies" and said he had failed to fulfil his promises. He alleged that Kejriwal is not a man of his words.

"He has become a lying machine and he is not hesitant about it. A number of times, he made a U-turn over controversial statements made by him. A number of times he has apologized for his statements. Despite this, he continues to make such remarks. Whenever the central government makes schemes, it aims to serve people for their overall development. Earlier, during the days of election campaigning, Kejriwal said 'sabke paani ke bill maaf, bijli half'. Did it happen for all people of Delhi? This is called revdi culture. He (Kejriwal) is not a man of his words," Tiwari said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that promising and distributing freebies by political parties during elections is a "serious issue" and an amount has to be spent on infrastructure etc. The apex court was hearing a plea seeking direction to seize election symbols and deregister political parties that promised to distribute irrational freebies from public funds.

A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Krishna Murari told parties in the case: "Economy losing money and welfare of people, both have to be balanced. That is why, this debate and there must be someone who can put their vision and thoughts. Please submit something." (ANI)

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Anand (Gujarat) [India], August 12 (ANI): As many as six persons were killed after a car rammed into an auto rickshaw and motorbike near Dali village of Sojitra tehsil of Anand district of Gujarat on Thursday evening, police said.

The Police said that four people on the auto-rickshaw and two on the bike died on the spot while the driver of the car is under treatment in a hospital.

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The family members were returning after celebrating Rakshabandhan when an accident happened near Anand's Sojitra.

Abhishek Gupta, Assistant Superintendent of Police of Anand said, "Six people died in an accident that took place between a car, bike and auto rickshaw at around 7 pm in Anand. Four people on the auto and two on the bike died on the spot and the driver of the car is under treatment in a hospital."

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He further said that the accident happened by car.

"The car is owned by a person named Ketan and he has been admitted to the hospital. The car owner has been asked to report. Further information about the accident when will be known after the interrogation," he added.

Further investigation is underway. (ANI)

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Bengaluru, Aug 12 (PTI) BJP National General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh on Friday termed speculation regarding replacing Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as "ridiculous", and asserted that the party will contest the 2023 assembly polls under his leadership and come back to power in the state.

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Calling the speculation as a "creation" of the Congress, he alleged that the opposition party that is divided due to infighting between its leaders, was raking up such issues to create "confusion".

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"All these are tricks of Congress, it is raising such issues. It is the creation of Congress, as there is a big fight between Siddaramaiah (opposition leader) and D K Shivakumar (state president). It is a ridiculous question," Singh said in response to a question on speculation about CM replacement.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said good works are happening under the leadership of Chief Minister Bommai.

"As in-charge I'm telling you, you have to rely on me. I'm saying 100 per cent we will contest the next election under Bommai's leadership...we will come (to power) with full majority. We have a target of 150 seats and we will achieve it. Congress is a divided house, they are not on the ground and are just creating confusion," he added.

There has been some buzz on and off within the state BJP in recent times, regarding some kind of an overhaul including at the top level, especially after the recent visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to the state.

Adding to it, the Congress in a series of tweets had speculated about the possibility of the state having a third chief minister in this tenure with Bommai being replaced, and has even called him a "puppet CM".

Bommai has termed the speculations as "baseless" and "falsehood".

When pointed out to him that some BJP leaders were also speculating about changing the CM, Singh said, "Please also look at what I and several of our party leaders and ministers have said (on supporting Bommai)."

"Bommai is a common man. He is working for farmers, youth, and SC/ST. We will form a government under his leadership, don't worry about it," he said, adding that the Congress, which is a "leaderless party", was raking up such things with a plan, as they don't have any other agenda against the BJP. "There is no truth in it."

Former BJP MLA B Suresh Gowda's recent statement indicating some changes and that the high command will take a call on replacing the chief minister and other matters in the interest of the party and to win the elections in future had added to the speculation.

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Thane, Aug 12 (PTI) Thane district of Maharashtra recorded 212 new coronavirus positive cases, which took its overall infection tally to 7,36,029, a health official said on Friday.

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With the addition of these cases on Thursday, there are now 1,206 active cases in the district, he said.

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As no patient succumbed to the infection during the day, the death toll remained unchanged at 11,936, while the recovery count rose to 7,23,426, he added.

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Puducherry, Aug 12 (PTI) Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday said she would always be in total support of the territorial government to implement all welfare measures.

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The L-G said she was according approval to all decisions taken by the government to provide flood relief, monthly assistance to the elderly beneficiaries and several other welfare measures.

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Talking to the media after participating in a function here, Soundararajan said: "I would tell the people with utmost firmness that I will always stand by the government and extend full cooperation for implementing good welfare measures."

She voiced concern over "politicisation" of all the steps the Central government was implementing. "The Central government was taking certain policy decisions relating to GST but these decisions were being politicised," she said.

The Lieutenant Governor contended that Puducherry would make "very big progress because of her efforts and also the efforts of the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues".

Puducherry is poised to emerge as the "best Union Territory" as has been stated by the Prime Minister in all sectors", she pointed out.

The Puducherry Assembly, which began its budget session on Wednesday, had adjourned sine die for the first time ever following the address by the L-G. The House is yet to present the budget for the financial year.

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Pune, Aug 12 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said that he and other rebel Shiv Sena MLAs would have ended up as "martyrs" had there been any "sabotage" during their coup against the party leadership.

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He was speaking on Thursday after visiting his native village Dare in western Maharashtra's Satara district for the first time after becoming chief minister.

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In a bold move that brought down the government headed by Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shinde and other Shiv Sena MLAs supporting him left Maharashtra in the third week of June and camped in Guwahati for almost ten days.

Referring to the episode, Shinde said he was not worried for himself, but was aware that he had the responsibility of 50 MLAs.

"Till the last moment everyone was keeping the fingers crossed. Had there been any sabotage, we would have been martyred," the chief minister said.

Speaking at the same program, he assured that the issues related to the rehabilitation of the people affected by the Koyna dam project will be resolved on a "war-footing".

The Dare village, where Shinde did his primary schooling before shifting to Thane, is among the ones affected by the Koyna irrigation and hydroelectric project, constructed in the 1960s.

Decisions will also be taken to improve the connectivity between western Maharashtra and Konkan, the chief minister said.

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Mangaluru, Aug 12 (PTI) Customs sleuths at the Mangaluru International Airport have seized 24 carat gold weighing 831 gm from a passenger who arrived by an Air India flight from Dubai on Wednesday.

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A Customs communique here said the male passenger, hailing from Kasaragod in Kerala, was carrying the gold in paste form.

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He had packed the gold in a white tape pouch and had concealed it inside a stitched pocket of the undergarment that he had worn. The seized gold is valued at Rs 43.29 lakh.

In another seizure on Thursday, officials of the air intelligence unit seized assorted foreign currency equivalent to Indian currency value of Rs 5,97,040 from a male passenger hailing from Bhatkal who was to travel to Dubai by a SpiceJet flight.

The passenger had concealed the currency in a handbag carried by him, the communique said.

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Bristol, Aug 12 (The Conversation) The Earth is approximately 1.1 degree Celsius warmer than it was at the start of the industrial revolution. That warming has not been uniform, with some regions warming at a far greater pace. One such region is the Arctic.

A new study shows that the Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the rest of the world over the past 43 years. This means the Arctic is on average around 3 degree Celsius warmer than it was in 1980.

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This is alarming, because the Arctic contains sensitive and delicately balanced climate components that, if pushed too hard, will respond with global consequences.

Why is the Arctic warming so much faster?

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A large part of the explanation relates to sea ice. This is a thin layer (typically one metre to five metres thick) of sea water that freezes in winter and partially melts in the summer.

The sea ice is covered in a bright layer of snow which reflects around 85% of incoming solar radiation back out to space. The opposite occurs in the open ocean. As the darkest natural surface on the planet, the ocean absorbs 90% of solar radiation.

When covered with sea ice, the Arctic Ocean acts like a large reflective blanket, reducing the absorption of solar radiation. As the sea ice melts, absorption rates increase, resulting in a positive feedback loop where the rapid pace of ocean warming further amplifies sea ice melt, contributing to even faster ocean warming.

This feedback loop is largely responsible for what is known as Arctic amplification, and is the explanation for why the Arctic is warming so much more than the rest of the planet.

Is Arctic amplification underestimated?

Numerical climate models have been used to quantify the magnitude of Arctic amplification. They typically estimate the amplification ratio to be about 2.5, meaning the Arctic is warming 2.5 times faster than the global average. Based on the observational record of surface temperatures over the last 43 years, the new study estimates the Arctic amplification rate to be about four.

Rarely do the climate models obtain values as high that. This suggests the models may not fully capture the complete feedback loops responsible for Arctic amplification and may, as a consequence, underestimate future Arctic warming and the potential consequences that accompany that.

How concerned should we be?

Besides sea ice, the Arctic contains other climate components that are extremely sensitive to warming. If pushed too hard, they will also have global consequences.

One of those elements is permafrost, a (now not so) permanently frozen layer of the Earth's surface. As temperatures rise across the Arctic, the active layer, the topmost layer of soil that thaws each summer, deepens. This, in turn, increases biological activity in the active layer resulting in the release of carbon into the atmosphere.

Arctic permafrost contains enough carbon to raise global mean temperatures by more than 3 degree Celsius. Should permafrost thawing accelerate, there is the potential for a runaway positive feedback process, often referred to as the permafrost carbon time bomb. The release of previously stored carbon dioxide and methane will contribute to further Arctic warming, subsequently accelerating future permafrost thaw.

A second Arctic component vulnerable to temperature rise is the Greenland ice sheet. As the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere, it contains enough frozen ice to raise global sea levels by 7.4 metres if melted completely.

When the amount of melting at the surface of an ice cap exceeds the rate of winter snow accumulation, it will lose mass faster than it gains any. When this threshold is exceeded, its surface lowers. This will quicken the pace of melting, because temperatures are higher at lower elevations.

This feedback loop is often called the small ice cap instability. Prior research puts the required temperature rise around Greenland for this threshold to be be passed at around 4.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Given the exceptional pace of Arctic warming, passing this critical threshold is rapidly becoming likely.

Although there are some regional differences in the magnitude of Arctic amplification, the observed pace of Arctic warming is far higher than the models implied. This brings us perilously close to key climate thresholds that if passed will have global consequences. As anyone who works on these problems knows, what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic. (The Conversation)

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London/Islamabad, Aug 12 (PTI) Pakistan's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, currently on an official visit to the UK, on Friday said the primary reason for the armed forces to exist today is to ensure that wars do not take place.

Bajwa made the remarks while addressing the passing out parade at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) as the first-ever Pakistani chief guest.

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The Pakistan Army chief expressed his gratitude for having been granted the unique honour to address the Sovereign's Day Parade at Sandhurst, and considered it proof of the deep-rooted relationship that exists between Pakistan and the United Kingdom".

Bajwa said the primary reason for armed forces to exist today is to ensure that wars do not take place.

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"Mankind's destiny, more than ever before, hinges on our collective capacity to come together and take the route of peace and cooperation instead of conflict, communication instead of clash and multilateralism instead of self-preservation," he said.

In the interest of world peace, we must strive to preserve the vitality, relevance and internal sense of impartiality in multilateral institutions, maintain consensus on the collective defence of global commons and uphold the prestige of international law. In case we fail to do that, I am afraid we may end up destroying the beautiful world that we have, he cautioned.

Bajwa said as a direct consequence of the onset of the fourth industrial revolution, dual-use technologies and niche capabilities led by artificial intelligence are fundamentally altering the character of future war.

The battlefield of tomorrow would be characterised by extreme precision, lethality and transparency which would be particularly challenging for military leaders, especially young officers in the battle, both mentally and physically, he said.

Bajwa also recognised the deep-rooted ties between Pakistan and the UK, expressing the hope that relations between the two countries would reach "historic heights" in the future.

My presence here today bears testimony to the deep-rooted relationship that exists between Pakistan and the United Kingdom, based on mutual respect and shared values which have been carefully nurtured by both the nations over many decades. Our huge Pakistani diaspora in the UK displays the strength of our historic relationship. I am sure that this relationship will scale greater heights in times to come, he said.

Similarly, the bondage between the two Armed Forces is uniquely special as well, forged on the battlefield of great wars and kept alive over the years through extensive regimental affiliations and close professional contact in training and myriad of other military activities, Bajwa noted.

Quoting the UK Defence Ministry, the Geo News reported that Bajwa represented the Queen at the sovereign's parade for commissioning course 213 (CC213) of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) during a ceremony that attracted military leaders from dozens of countries of the world.

Given the ongoing heatwave, the timing of the ceremony had been moved forward to the day time to avoid cadets fainting after long hours in the scorching sun.

Bajwa was accompanied at the parade by Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Iftikhar Babar.

During his stay in the UK, Bajwa is expected to call on the British military leadership.

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Baghdad, Aug 12 (AP) Supporters of Iran-backed Shiite groups rallied in Baghdad on Friday to denounce their rivals, followers of an influential Shiite cleric who stormed the parliament last month and have since been holding a sit-in outside the assembly building in the Iraqi capital.

The rivalry between the two sides shows the deep divisions within Iraq's Shiite community, which makes up about 60 per cent of Iraq's population of over 40 million people. Unlike Iran-backed groups, cleric Muqtada al-Sadr wants better ties with Arab countries, including Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which is Shiite Iran's main rival in the region.

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Al-Sadr has also been a harsh critic of widespread corruption in the oil-rich country torn by decades of violence, with a crumbing infrastructure, an impoverished majority and lack of basic services.

During their rally Friday, the protesters from the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Iran-backed parties, did not try to enter Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraq's parliament, government buildings and foreign embassies  and where al-Sadr's followers are camped out. Ahead of their gathering, authorities had closed off the road leading into the Green Zone with giant cement blocks.

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The counter-protest came after al-Sadr issued a deadline on Wednesday to the judiciary, giving it a week to dissolve the legislature. Al-Sadr, whose camp won most votes in last year's parliamentary elections last October, has not been able to form a majority government and after eight months of stalemate and jockeying with rival, Iran-backed Shiite factions, he abandoned those attempts.

Members of al-Sadr's parliamentary bloc resigned but instead of allowing his rivals  the Coordination Framework  to try and form a government, al-Sadr has demanded the parliament be dissolved and that early elections are held. It's unclear whether he has any legal basis for those demands.

The inter-Shiite power struggle has left Iraq in political limbo and exacerbated the economic crisis. The impasse, now in its tenth month, is the longest in the country since the 2003 US-led invasion reset the political order.

We are protesting against the occupation of parliament and those who threaten the judiciary, said university student, Abbas Salem, who was part of the rally Friday by Iran-backed groups.

Salem carried a poster of a top Iranian general, Qassim Soleimani, and a top Iraqi Shiite militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.

He said he worries that if al-Sadr forms a government, he will disband the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella of mostly Iran-backed Shiite militias.

Another protester, Ahmad al-Maliki, 52, said they are opposed to al-Sadr followers' occupation of parliament" and added that Iraq needs a new government as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, al-Sadr's supporters in Baghdad and most Iraqi Shiite-dominated provinces  except for the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala  held their own rallies and preformed Friday prayers outdoors in a show of strength.(AP)

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Kyiv, Aug 12 (AP) A ship docked in a Ukrainian Black Sea port on Friday to begin loading up with wheat for hungry people in Ethiopia. It will be the first food delivery to Africa under a UN plan to unblock grain trapped by Russia's war on Ukraine and bring relief to some of the millions worldwide who are on the brink of starvation.

For months, fighting in Ukraine and a Russian blockade of Ukraine's ports meant that grain produced in Ukraine, one of the world's key breadbaskets, piled up in silos.

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That sent global food prices sky-high and led to hunger in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. In recent days, several ships carrying grain have left Ukrainian ports under the new deal  but most of those shipments were animal feed and went to Turkey or Western Europe under previous contracts.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the ship named Brave Commander will carry its wheat to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, where it will be unloaded and sent on to Ethiopia.

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The wheat will go to the World Food Program's operations in Ethiopia, supporting the Horn of Africa drought response as the threat of famine stalks the drought-hit region," he said.

It is one of many areas around the world where the near-complete halt of Ukrainian grain and food on the global market has made life even harder for the families already struggling with rising hunger.

The ship was expected to take on more than 23,000 metric tons, according to Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry  still only a tiny portion of the 20 million tons of grain languishing now in Ukraine. It docked in the port city of Yuzhne late Friday, the ministry said.

Ethiopia, along with neighbouring Somalia and Kenya, is facing the worst drought in four decades in the Horn of Africa. Thousands of people across the region have died from hunger or illness this year.

Forecasts for the coming weeks indicate that for the first time, a fifth straight rainy season will fail to materialize. Millions of livestock, the basis of many families' wealth and food security, have died.

Millions of households will struggle to cope with these shocks in Ethiopia, according to a new assessment by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Food assistance needs are at record levels, with up to 15 million people in need of food assistance.

While one shipment won't solve the crisis, the World Food Program still heralded it as an important step" in getting Ukrainian grain out of the country to the worst-affected countries. Ethiopian officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Yet on Ukraine's front lines, the fighting was incessant, especially in the eastern region of the Donbas, where much of the fighting has been centered as the war approaches the six-month mark. The town of Kramatorsk was hit by 11 rockets overnight. Seven people were killed and 14 others were wounded in and around the town, which remains cut off from gas, running water and electricity.

Three quarters of the population of the region have already been evacuated, because incessant shelling by the Russian army doesn't leave civilians any choice  it's either to die from wounds, or from hunger and cold in winter, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television.

The threat of a nuclear accident also loomed in southern Ukraine, where shelling has hit near Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Shelling near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant continued overnight. Russian forces fired more than 40 rockets at the city of Marhanets, which is across the Dnieper River from the power plant. Three people were wounded in the most recent shelling, including a 12-year-old boy.

The neighbouring city of Nikopol was shelled as well, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The UN nuclear chief warned late Thursday that very alarming military activity at the nuclear plant could lead to dangerous consequences.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi urged Russia and Ukraine, who blame each other for the attacks at the nuclear plant, to immediately allow nuclear experts to assess damage and evaluate safety and security at the sprawling nuclear complex. He said the situation at the plant has been deteriorating very rapidly.

He pointed to shelling and several explosions at Zaporizhzhia last Friday that forced the shutdown of its electrical power transformer and two backup transformers, forcing the shutdown of one nuclear reactor.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said authorities were drafting plans to evacuate residents from towns and villages near the plant.

There is a high-level threat, so there are plans for any possible development, including release of radiation, Monastyrsky said Friday. We all have seen the Russian shelling of the plant. It's horrible.

He said Russian forces have stationed weapons at the plant and have denied Ukrainian nuclear workers access to some areas in the complex.

It's hard to even imagine the scale of tragedy if the Russians continue their action there, he said. We have become convinced that there is no restraining factors. There is a deliberate stand declared by the Russian authorities that they are ready for any action, regardless of consequences.(AP)

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Ohio [US], August 12: Ohio Police officers killed an armed man who tried to breach the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Cincinnati field office on Thursday.

The armed man was eliminated after a long standoff and the investigation is on to find out the motive behind the breach of the highly guarded area.

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The investigators, looking into the case, are looking into whether that armed man had ties to extremist groups, including the one that participated in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, according to The New York Times citing two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.

In what appeared to be one of his social media accounts, the suspect posted a message earlier this week, just days after federal agents searched the Florida home of former President Donald J Trump, threatening to kill employees of the FBI.

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The attack in Cincinnati came a day after the FBI director told the reporters that there were online threats against federal law enforcement which were "deplorable and dangerous."

The man wearing body armour tried to enter the visitor screening facility around 9 am, said Todd Lindgren, an agency spokesman. After fleeing, the man headed northbound onto Interstate 71, leading officers on a car chase near Wilmington, Ohio, state Highway Patrol Lt. Nathan Dennis said as quoted by the Washington Times.

Police officials first tried to negotiate with the man and then tried to take him into custody with "less-than-lethal tactics." Those efforts failed, as the officers fatally shot him after he raised a gun toward the police.

The confrontation comes days after the FBI executed a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's Florida estate. Since the search, threats of violence against the FBI from Trump supporters online have increased, and Republicans have intensified criticism of the agency.

Senator Rick Scott likened the government to "the Gestapo," and the New York Young Republican Club called for the arrest of those involved in the search.

Residents and businesses within a one-mile radius of the standoff scene were told to lock doors and stay vigilant, according to the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency. At about 4:30 pm, the local agency said the law enforcement response ended, according to the Washington Times.

In May, a Twitter user named Ricky Shiffer said he was present at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and suggested the attack was carried out by left-wing radicals in a reply comment to a photograph that showed rioters scaling the walls.

"I was there," the user posted. "We watched as your goons did that."

In a separate reply that day, the user referred approvingly to the Proud Boys, an extremist right-wing group, several of whose leaders face charges in the Capitol riot, in response to a comment about the Supreme Court. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kyiv [Ukraine], August 12 (ANI): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community to force the Russian army to leave the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after multiple strikes hit the compound.

"The entire world must react immediately to chase out the occupiers from Zaporizhzhia. Only the Russians' full withdrawal... would guarantee nuclear safety for all of Europe," Zelenskyy said in his daily video address.

Also Read | Legoland Park Tragedy: Roller Coaster Crash at German Amusement Park Injures 34.

This statement came after Ukraine accused Russia of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) again on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier, the Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanded access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "as soon as possible" for their safety.

Also Read | French Air Force Contingent Stops Over in India for Technical Stopover During Indo-Pacific Deployment.

"I ask that both sides cooperate... and allow for a mission of the IAEA to proceed as soon as possible," Rafael Mariano Grossi said in an address to the UN Security Council.

Grossi said the IAEA had received updates from both Ukraine and Russia, but that the information provided was often contradictory, according to Al Jazeera.

"So I propose, I plead to call this mission as soon as possible," he said, adding that preventing a nuclear disaster was a "collective responsibility."

Ukraine's interior minister said that Kyiv is making contingency plans to face any scenario at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, including evacuating people from the area.

"The plant is as of today not only in the hands of the enemy but in the hands of uneducated specialists who could potentially allow for a tragedy to happen," interior minister Denys Monastyrsky told Reuters in an interview.

"Of course, it's difficult to even imagine the scale of the tragedy which could come into effect if Russians continue their actions there," he said.

Meanwhile, the UN Chief has called for an immediate end to all military activity around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, warning that any damage could lead to "catastrophic consequences" in the region and beyond, reported Al Jazeera.

In a statement issued before a UN Security Council meeting to discuss security at the plant, Antonio Guterres appealed "for common sense and reason" to avoid any actions "that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant".

Guterres issued a separate statement earlier in the day before the site of the nuclear plant was struck five times, according to Ukraine's state nuclear operator.

Moscow and Kyiv have each accused the other of striking the compound on Thursday and over the weekend.

Notably, Russia launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, which the West has termed an unprovoked war. As a result of this, the Western countries have also imposed several crippling sanctions on Moscow. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
As Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany gears up for the release of her upcoming streaming series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, she recently reached out to her Indian fans over the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Ahead of the release, Tatiana Maslany wished her Indian fans a very Happy Raksha Bandhan in a special social media video. Starting off with signature Indian pleasantry 'Namaste', she said in the video, "I hope you guys had a very happy Rakhi." She-Hulk Attorney at Law: Daredevils Lighter Side to Be Explored in Tatiana Maslanys Disney+ Marvel Series.

In line with the sentiment of the festival surrounding the theme of brother and sister bond, she spoke about her character's relationship with her famous cousin, The Hulk. She said, "Being She-Hulk isn't easy, but I have great support from family, friends and co-workers, including The Hulk. As annoying as he can be, being She-Hulk wasn't quite possible without him." Meet Nikki Ramos Aka She-Hulks Bff Aka Paralegal Extraordinaire  Latest Tweet by Marvel Studios.

Exploring the legacy of The Incredible Hulk in detail for the first time since 2008, the series will introduce one of the most iconic actors Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk. With her specialisation in superhuman-oriented legal cases, Tatiana Maslany will navigate her new smashing green persona and her role as a lawyer in the series.

The nine-episode comedy series stars Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination, and Benedict Wong as Wong. The series will be available to stream on OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar from August 18 in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 12, 2022 05:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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A migrant worker from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said on Friday.
The Indian Coast Guard Ship in a joint operation with the ICG Chopper braved through the rough sea & strong winds to rescue 05 crew members, including foreigners, from a distressed Switzerland Flag Yacht Poorima at Mandwa off Alibaug on the 12th of August 2022. All the crew members are safe as per reports.

Check ICG's Tweet:

Braving the rough seas and strong wind, @IndiaCoastGuard ship Agrim and #ICG helicopter in a joint operation rescued 05 crew (including foreigners) from a distressed #Switzerland flag yacht #Poorima at #Mandwa off #Alibaug today. All Crew safe and healthy. pic.twitter.com/qbjPXpZS40  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) August 12, 2022

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It has been banned throughout the Muslim world, and at least six people have died in riots against it. Protesters in England have burned it. And on Tuesday, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for Muslims worldwide to rise up and kill its author.

The object of this outcry, The Satanic Verses, is a fanciful, sprawling novel in a style critics liken to that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Thomas Pynchon. Its author, Salman Rushdie, describes the book as primarily a chronicle of the immigrant experience--hardly the sort of work that could be expected to set off a worldwide furor.

But Rushdies novel has struck a deep chord among a wide spectrum of Muslims--not just fundamentalists in theocratic countries but moderates and intellectuals in the West as well--who see it as a thinly disguised, blasphemous assault on their religion. Among themselves, they appear to disagree mostly on how best to respond to it.

Mockery, Derision Cited

That such a book would be written and receive widespread attention in the West, many Muslims say, is yet another instance of how they are mocked and derided by cultures that make no effort to understand or appreciate them.

Islam is seen as something that the Western media makes fun of and distorts, contended Yvonne Haddad, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The author is Islamic, but Muslims are holding the West responsible for not censuring (the book).

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Indeed, even before protests against the book erupted in violence in Pakistan earlier this week and in Khomeinis death threat Tuesday, the books publisher, Viking Penguin, had received a series of bomb threats at its New York headquarters, and a number of U.S. Muslim groups had mounted a letter-writing campaign against it.

Tour Being Reviewed

So intense was the reaction that Viking is reviewing Rushdies scheduled 11-city book tour, which has been due to bring him to Los Angeles on March 8 for a reading at UCLA.

A Viking spokesman, asking that his name not be published, said Tuesday that no decision has been made on whether to go ahead with the tour. But Viking issued a statement deploring the violence and death and disavowing any intention to offend. We very much regret the distress the book has caused, the publisher said.

Sensitivities among Muslims to their portrayal in the West have been heightened during the past two decades, beginning with depictions of greedy Arabs during the OPEC oil embargo of the 1970s and continuing through the fundamentalist revolution in Iran a decade ago and continuing strife in the Middle East.

Yet, even against that backdrop, say Muslims in the United States, Rushdies novel stands out as insulting, and the common denominator of their ire is its characterization of the prophet Mohammed and other figures of early Islam. Many say the book reveals its true agenda by using the pejorative medieval Christian name, Mahound, first used during the Crusades, for Mohammed.

In that respect, the protest over The Satanic Verses is reminiscent of last years furor over the movie, The Last Temptation of Christ, which was assailed by conservative Christians for its portrayal of Jesus Christ as a vulnerable human being.

To a greater degree, The Satanic Verses depicts Mohammed as momentarily weak--a characterization that is especially offensive to a faith in which visual images of Mohammed are not permitted and, for the most part, truths revealed by the Koran are not to be questioned.

I think it is an attack on the miracle of the Koran itself, said one Southern California Muslim.

Thought Police

Responding to the attacks in a statement in the current issue of The New York Review of Books, Rushdie contends he is the victim of contemporary Thought Police.

One may not discuss Mohammed as if he were human, with human virtues and weaknesses. One may not discuss the growth of Islam as a historical phenomenon, as an ideology born out of its time, he complained.

These are the taboos against which The Satanic Verses has transgressed. . . . It is for this breach of taboo that the novel is being anathematized, fulminated against and set alight.

The controversy over The Satanic Verses apparently has not hampered the books popularity in the United States.

Its been selling like hot cakes, said Julie Protze, cashier at a B. Dalton outlet in Hollywood. Everybody is buying it--housewives, students, people who like to read. I sold one last night to a guy who looked like a guitar player from a rock n roll band.

The novel, which took Rushdie--an India-born British citizen--five years to write, begins as a jumbo jet explodes over England after a terrorist attack, and two passengers miraculously survive. One is a major Indian movie star, the other a radio celebrity.

Plummeting to Earth, they find their identities gradually altering. The movie star is sprouting a halo, while the radio actor is growing horns and a tail.

Moving back and forth between Bombay and London, the book tells their stories by interweaving fables, folk-tales, magic and social commentary.

Though Rushdie is much admired for such previous books as Midnights Children, published in 1981, critics were not universally kind to The Satanic Verses. Writing in The Times, Richard Eder found altogether too much plot in the book and concluded that too many characters are drawn spectacularly but hastily.

The Washington Posts Jonathan Yardley called it an odd, uninvolving book that shows only intermittent flashes of its authors considerable gifts.

The title refers to an incident in the life of Mohammed reported by two Arab historians of the 9th and 10th centuries but later discredited by commentators on the Koran.

Controversial Incident

According to the story, Mohammed, meeting with resistance from the merchants of Mecca to his new monotheistic faith, makes a pact to accept three local deities as angels, or daughters of Allah. But then he withdraws this concession, saying Satan had put words in his mouth.

Rushdie revives this story, which Muslims view as blasphemous, by having Mohammed appear as Mahound to one of the novels characters in a dream sequence.

Other passages in the book are also very obscene, according to Muzammil Siddiqi, director of the Islamic Society of Orange County. Under what Siddiqi called a thin veil of fiction, Rushdie describes the patriarch Abraham (a patriarch in Islam as well as Judaism and Christianity) as a bastard and labels the wives of the prophets whores.

The African Bilal

One of the followers of Mohammed, the African Bilal, and a figure much admired by black American Muslims, is called an enormous black monster.

The book is not available in the Muslim world. In the United States, there are as many as 3 million to 4 million believers. In interviews Tuesday, American Islamic leaders uniformly characterized Rushdies novel as insulting, but disagreed widely over what the appropriate response should be.

Some key U.S. Muslim leaders are urging restraint, saying that Islam is capable of withstanding vicious attacks. Others say they simply would like to see the book ignored.

Some denounce the reaction of Khomeini, Irans supreme leader, to The Satanic Verses. Others point out, however, that Islamic law can be interpreted as calling for severe punishment--even death--for anyone who defames the Prophet Mohammed.

There is a sort of perception by Muslims that if this book was anti-Semitic, it would have been censured in this country but because it is anti-Muslim, it is being distributed freely, said Haddad, organizer of a major conference on Muslims in America last year.

The Orange County center joined many American Muslims--as many as 100,000, Siddiqi claimed--in writing letters of protest to Viking late last year. It is not right to keep silent, regardless of the publicity generated, he said.

Ammar Abdulhamid, manager of the Islamic Center of South Bay-L.A. in Lomita, also took part in the letter-writing campaign. Publication of the book is a new step taken by the Western media to attack our religion, he said.

A more passive response was recommended by Dr. Maher Hathout, a physician who is spokesman for the Los Angeles Islamic Center, who said he has almost finished reading Rushdies book.

I dont feel very threatened by the fact that someone is attacking Islam, Hathout said. Islam has and does tolerate vicious attacks. Our Arabic literature is full of opinions--those of some philosophers, for instance--that some consider blasphemous but they were never confiscated.

So I dont think the (Rushdie) book deserves that big fuss. It only helps in advertising a book which is not really worthy of that widespread attention, Hathout said.

Similarly, M. T. Mehdi, president of the New York-based National Council on Islamic Affairs, said the book should be ignored--to ban it or commit violent acts is counterproductive.

Rushdie is not the first writer to have a work banned in a Muslim country. For example, Children of Gebalawi, a novel by Naguib Mahfouz of Egypt, the 1988 Nobel laureate in literature, is considered sacrilegious for its allegorical treatment of the history of monotheism. The Egyptian publishing house that has exclusive rights to his works omits mention of this 1959 novel in its catalogue.

As for Khomeinis threat, some Islamic leaders were reluctant to comment directly. But Abdulhamid, despite his strong feelings about the book, remarked: To say that he (Rushdie) should be killed is ridiculous. That is stretching the matter too far.

Meanwhile, booksellers in the Los Angeles area reported no complaints for carrying the book.

We havent received any political or negative reactions to the book, said Nola Butler, co-owner of Butler/Gabriel Books in Westwood, where the book was sold out Tuesday. Maybe thats to come, she said. I dont plan to stop selling it.

Even before the recent riots in Pakistan, The Satanic Verses had been selling consistently well, according to Vikings publicity department and local booksellers.

But now, said Ed Conklin, manager of Dutton Books in Brentwood, There is a frenzy to get the book. We ordered 40, I think there is one copy left.

Gary Pierson of Book Soup in West Hollywood said he sold his last copy at 2 p.m. and planned to order more.

We are going to continue sales of the book, and if there are any threats, we are still going to continue selling it, Pierson said. I suspect we are just seeing the beginning of interest in the book.

Staff writers John H. Lee and Hector Tobar contributed to this article.
Preliminary efforts to save the trapped miners of Mexico in the Coahuila mine failed this week due to the unexpected structure inside.

Mexico News Daily reported that the actual rescue efforts began on Wednesday, but no trapped miner was brought out of the mine as of Friday.

In the past week, authorities tried pumping out water from the mine to let the divers safely enter and start the rescue efforts.

A total of four attempts to rescue the trapped miners were done on Wednesday.

Divers reportedly entered and exited the area through a 60-meter-long shaft that led them to one of the mine's shafts. However, one diver reported that tunnels leading to the part of the mine that is believed to house trapped miners cannot be accessed due to wood and rocks.

"We can't get in, [access] is blocked. It's completely collapsed," one of the divers said.

Mexico's Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval also noted o Thursday that the lights carried by the army divers did not provide the visibility they need to identify what they found.

More than a dozen pieces of wood and some 15 yards of hose were removed by the authorities from the mine.

READ NEXT: Mexico: Underwater Drone To Be Used in Rescue Efforts for 10 Miners Trapped in Coahuila

Family of the Trapped Miners 'Still Hoping' That the Trapped Miners Are Alive

Families of the trapped miners, who set up camps in the mines, are still hoping that their relatives trapped inside the mines are still alive, despite being disappointed with the result of the initial rescue efforts.

"It's been a very long, very painful, very nerve-wracking wait, Magdalena Montelongo Perez, sister of one of the trapped miners, told a local media outlet. Montelongo Perez acknowledged the effort of the rescuers and stressed that her family still has hope that trapped miners will be found alive.

Meanwhile, Plutarco Ruiz Loredo, who also has a relative in the mine, hoped that the trapped miners were able to take shelter in a higher part of the mine away from the waters. Ruiz Loredo was also trapped in a mine for seven days 12 years ago.

Mexico Miners Trapped in Coahuila Mine

The 10 miners from Mexico were trapped in El Pinabete Mine on August 3 when excavation works caused a tunnel wall to collapse, flooding the mine in Coahuila. Fiver miners were able to escape the mine with injuries after the tragedy occurred.

Military personnel and rescue dogs were deployed to the scene on Wednesday, per Al Jazeera.

Coahuila Governor Miguel Riquelme said in a statement that more pumping would be carried out before making any additional attempts of entering the mine.

Meanwhile, Mexico's Defense Ministry underscored that they will work nonstop until the 10 trapped miners are found.

READ NEXT: Brazil: Police Finds $59 Million Tarsila do Amaral Painting Under Bed of Suspected Trickster

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Rescuers Race Against Time to Save 10 Miners Trapped in Mexico Coal Mine - From South China Morning Post
Supporters of former President Donald Trump have been sending law enforcement, particularly the FBI, some threats following their raid on Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, despite claiming they support the police. Some of these threats are even violent. However, FBI Director Christopher Wray has some strong words against those people sending these threats.

In a speech inside an FBI field office in Omaha, Nebraska, Wray pushed back on these threats made on social media, where several Trump supporters threatened a mass uprising and even a civil war. He called these threats "deplorable and dangerous."

He said that he was concerned about threats to law enforcement and added, "Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you're upset with."

The threats were made on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, a majority of them were made on sites popular with far-right groups and white supremacists like Gab, as well as Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, according to NPR.

Fox News reported that many of these were death threats aimed not only at Wray and FBI agents but also at Attorney General Merrick Garland. They now travel with armed security.

FBI Director Christopher Wray Declines to Comment About Mar-a-Lago Raid

The Mar-a-Lago raid was certainly historic, as this was the first time the FBI ever raided the home of a former president. However, when asked about the raid, the FBI director declined to comment about it as investigations are still ongoing.

The search at Mar-a-Lago is part of an ongoing investigation into whether Trump took classified records from the White House. The Department of Justice is currently looking into whether or not Trump mishandled classified information. It was denounced by many of Trump's supporters and the Republican establishment but widely hailed by Democrats and critics of the former president, both from the left and from the right.

READ NEXT: Donald Trump Says FBI Agents Raided Mar-A-Lago Home; Agency's Visit Unannounced

Attorney General Merrick Garland Asks Court to Unseal Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant

Attorney General Merrick Garland acknowledged the "extraordinary public interest" in the case. In a press conference, he said he is asking a federal court to unseal the warrant the FBI used to search Mar-a-Lago. The Associated Press noted that such a request is striking because these documents usually remain sealed during a pending investigation.

However, the Justice Department recognized that bitter verbal attacks and posts from Trump and his supporters and allies had created a huge public interest in the matter, thus deciding that the public was entitled to know what the search was actually for.

Court documents filed in Florida have shown that "[t]he public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances" was the reason for the DOJ to file the request to unseal.

The Associated Press has reported that the request is now with the Federal Judge in Florida, and Trump could object to unsealing it should it reveal unflattering information about the former president.

Donald Trump is having trouble not just with the handling of classified documents as he also has a litany of other cases to contend with. This includes the civil and criminal cases by New York state and Manhattan against the Trump Organization, the Georgia investigations into his election interferance attampts, and of course, the January 6 House Committee investigations.

READ NEXT: Donald Trump Refuses to Answer Questions From New York Attorney General, Invokes Fifth Amendment Rights

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: FBI Director Christopher Wray condemns threats | USA TODAY
SNAP benefits 2022 for August will be distributed as a supplemental payment on or about August 3, with a household size of one allowed to receive a maximum SNAP allotment of $250.

In addition, each additional member over a household size of 8 will receive an extra $188.

Recipients should be on the lookout for various schemes and scams to fraud you of your SNAP benefits.

The Department of Transitional Assistance in Massachusetts issued a warning to residents of skimming SNAP benefits scams that have affected some DTA clients. The department and its probing arm became aware of banks and retailers who appear to have had their ATMs and card processing terminals compromised.

The SNAP benefits scams are focused on obtaining credit, debit, and Electronic Benefits Transfer card information, including Personal Identification Numbers.

Skimming is the use of an electronic device to obtain card information from a card reader and create a fake card to steal money or benefits.

The DTA advises clients to change their PIN on their EBT cards at this time and before each scheduled benefit issuance date.

The DTA in Massachusetts has assured clients that they had taken preemptive steps to protect the SNAP benefits of clients, such as multiple targeted text messages and creating a notice to inform clients.

READ NEXT: Stimulus Check 2022: $300 Per Month Child Tax Credit Extension Fails in Senate Voting

SNAP Benefits Scams

The DTA created a webpage dedicated to advising clients on how to better protect their benefits, including a hotline to report their concerns.

To change the EBT card's PIN, they can call 800-997-2555, choose their preferred language, and enter the number on the front of the recipients' card.

Recipients are instructed to press 2 to PIN EBT card and to enter the last 4 Social Security numbers.

Cardholders will then be asked to choose a different PIN after entering their date of birth.

Aside from Massachusetts, Connecticut has also warned SNAP benefits recipients about SNAP Benefits scams.

The state's Department of Social Services warned that skimming scams are trying to obtain EBT card information at retail and grocery stores, according to a Go Banking Rates report.

Beneficiaries do not have guaranteed protections against loss or theft of their cards or benefits under federal law.

The department has also received reports of phishing. In this scam, recipients receive text messages about their SNAP benefits.

It was reported that these text messages connect recipients to a phone number that asks them to provide their EBT card number and PIN.

The Social Services noted that the department does not communicate through text.

New York City Human Resources Administration joined the calls of warning about SNAP benefits scams.

Documented NY reported that the department had identified 2,297 instances of fraud so far this year in its July newsletter.

There is also a recent rise in SNAP thefts in the Chinese community in Brooklyn in recent months.

Protect SNAP Benefits 2022

To protect your EBT card, it is advised to never leave it anywhere out of your physical control while you are outside. Recipients should not also leave it lying around your house unattended either.

Yahoo Finance noted that if your EBT card is stolen, you should call customer service right away. Once reported, your EBT card is disabled and you will be told to get a new card.

READ MORE: Stimulus Check 2022: $250 Payments in New Mexico Coming Soon, Delayed Rebates Being Resolved

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Snap & EBT Phishing Scam Warning - from WTAJ News


Five illegal immigrants were injured after the SUV they were riding crashed at a restaurant in El Paso, Texas on Thursday.

According to Border Report, the crash occurred around seven in the morning along North Mesa Street, shortly after authorities started tracking the said vehicle.

KFOX 14 noted that the white SUV, with the migrants inside, crashed into the Italian Como's restaurant near the said street in Waymore Drive.

El Paso Police Spokesman Enrique Carrillo confirmed that the five migrants were brought to the hospital. One of the migrants reportedly sustained serious injury.

The identities, including the nationalities, of the illegal migrants, were not mentioned by the authorities.

Meanwhile, the driver of the white SUV attempted to flee from the officers who responded at the restaurant on foot. However, he was captured by the officers and arrested.

The identity of the driver was not disclosed by the officials. However, reports noted that the driver was a male in his 20s.

The driver of the white SUV that crashed in El Paso, Texas is now facing charges of evading in a motor vehicle, evading on foot, and human smuggling, per Carillo.

READ NEXT: Mexico: Initial Efforts to Rescue Trapped Miners in Coahuila Mine Fail | Here's Why

Other Migrants Discovered in El Paso, Texas

It was not the first time this week that illegal migrants were discovered by authorities in El Paso, Texas.

On Monday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the discovery of 44 migrants in a human smuggling stash house located in El Paso. Border Patrol agents from the El Paso Station Anti-Smuggling Unit received information about three properties that are possibly used as a stash houses for migrants.

CBP underscored that the first two locations on Alameda Avenue and North Carolina Drive had no migrants. But the third location near Geronimo Drive and Townbridge Drive had housed the 44 migrants.

"U.S. Border Patrol in the El Paso Sector continues to disrupt dangerous human smuggling stash houses located throughout our border community," El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez underscored.

The migrants encountered by the CBP agents were from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Colombia. A 17-year-old unaccompanied migrant was among the migrants discovered.

Those who were amenable to Title 42 were sent back to Mexico while others are transferred to Central Processing Center.

One Mexican was also arrested in connection to the stash house discovery and will face charges under Title 8 USC 1326.

Why Are Migrants Engaging in Human Smuggling?

According to reports, migrants are allowing themselves to be smuggled to the U.S. due to several issues, such as violence, poverty, and even the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human smugglers are also reported to be using riskier methods, such as utilizing 18-wheeler big rigs to bring migrants into the United States.

Data from the United Nations suggest that vehicle transport-related border deaths grew more quickly than any other cause between 2020 and 2021.

READ NEXT: Texas vs New York City: Eric Adams Suggests Busing New Yorkers to Lone Star State to Unseat Greg Abbott

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Exploring How and Why so Many Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border - From PBS NewsHour
Oregon's Big Swamp Fire has claimed the life of a firefighter who was battling the wildfire.

The U.S. Forest Service said on Thursday that the firefighter who died while responding to the blaze was Collin Hagan from Craig Interagency hotshots, per NBC News.

Hagan was a wildland firefighter based in Colorado.

READ NEXT: California Wildfire Today: 2 Victims Burned to Death After Failed Attempt to Escape McKinney Fire

Colorado Firefighter Dies After Responding to Oregon's Big Swamp Fire

The Sacramento Bee reported that Hagan, who is originally from Michigan, was critically hurt around 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday after he was hit by a falling tree in the Big Swamp Fire. The 27-year-old Colorado firefighter died after he succumbed to the injuries he sustained from the incident.

Several officials extended their sympathies in connection to the death of the hotshot firefighter.

"We are devastated by the tragic loss of a cherished firefighter working on our forest to save our communities and beloved recreational areas," Willamette National Forest's Acting Forest Supervisor Duane Bishop said in a statement.

Sheriff John Hanlin from Douglas Sheriff's Office said Hagan's death was a sad day in public safety.

"I extend my heartfelt sympathies to Firefighter Hagan's family, friends, co-workers, and all who knew this brave young man," Hanlin said.

Fox 13 reported that several agency members, including those from the Bureau of Land Management, United States Forest Service, and Roseburg Fire Department, gathered at the Roseburg Regional Airport to honor the firefighter who died while responding to the Big Swamp Fire.

The firefighters then did an honor escort to the funeral home.

Oregon's Big Swamp Fire

Incident Information System Inciweb noted that the Big Swamp Fire in Oregon erupted on August 1 at around 5:30 in the afternoon.

The said wildfire occurred 6.5 miles north of Lemolo Lake and was caused by a lightning.

Big Swamp Fire is reportedly fueled by several materials, including closed timber litter, medium logging slash, and fuels ranging from open hemlock stands in upper elevations to mixed conifer stands with the brush.

As of Thursday, the Big Swamp Fire charred around 119 acres of land and the size reached the southeast of Oakridge. The said town is known to house around 3,200 people. Furthermore, the blaze is currently 0% contained.

The United States Forest Service prohibited access to several Forest Service Roads and trails in Willamette National Forest on Thursday, according to KEZI 9. The move was done to protect the public and allow firefighters to focus on containing the Big Swamp Fire.

Authorities underscored that anyone found to be in the closed areas will be fined up to $5,000.

The USFS noted that the roads will stay closed until October 1. Inciweb estimated that Oregon's Big Swamp Fire will be completely contained on October 30.

READ NEXT: Texas Human Smuggling: SUV Crashes in an El Paso Restaurant; 5 Illegal Migrants Hurt

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Colorado Wildland Firefighter From Craig Hotshot Crew Killed While Battling Big Swamp Fire in Oregon - From CBS Colorado
Almost a million citizens in Brazil have signed a manifesto declaring that the Brazilian democracy currently faces "immense danger" with growing fears that the nation's President Jair Bolsonaro could refuse to accept defeat in the upcoming presidential election.

The Guardian reported that the declaration comes after Bolsonaro escalated attacks on Brazil's election system. He also urged supporters to be on the streets "for the last time" before the October election.

The manifesto noted that Brazil is facing "a moment of immense danger to democratic normality."

Brazilians who signed the manifesto also stated that any attempt to incite violence or encourage "a rupture with constitutional order" would be "intolerable."

The manifesto was inspired by a 1977 declaration, which denounced the dictatorship Brazil was placed under in the years 1964-1985.

The document was signed by three former presidents, as well musicians such as Caetano Veloso, Milton Nascimento, and Brazil's pop star Anitta.

Anitta has described October's election by referencing JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.

The document noted that they saw how "authoritarian follies" had placed U.S.'s centuries-old democracy at risk, adding that the same tactic will not succeed in Brazil.

READ NEXT: Brazil: U.N. Experts Call for Urgent Reforms Against Police Brutality Following Killings of 23 Brazilians in Raids

Brazilian Democracy

Jose Carlos Dias, a former justice minister who helped write the 1977 letter and the two documents, noted in an Al Jazeera report that Brazil is at risk of a coup, "so civil society must stand up and fight against that" to ensure democracy in the country.

Thousands of Brazilians gathered at a law school on Thursday to defend the country's democratic institutions.

Drivers were stuck in traffic in Sao Paulo on one of the main roads to the law school, applauding and honking at marching students clamoring with pro-democracy slogans.

The same incident happened in 1977, wherein the mass flocked to the University of Sao Paulo's law school to listen to a reading of "A Letter to Brazilians," which is a manifesto calling for the immediate rule of law.

Bolsonaro has started expressing a want for the armed forces to be greatly involved in election oversight. Army officials visited the electoral authority's headquarters last week to inspect the source codes of voting machines.

Jair Bolsonaro and Brazilian Army

Bolsonaro has consistently questioned the integrity of voting systems, issuing warnings that if he loses October's election, it will be most likely a result of a stolen vote.

The New York Times noted that Bolsonaro has enlisted the nation's military in his fight against the electoral process. Army officials have suddenly started raising similar concerns about the election process despite having little evidence of past fraud.

Military leaders were also given a spot on a transparency committee that election officials created to address fears that Bolsonaro has triggered about the election.

Bolsonaro also suggested that on Election Day, the military should do an independent count of the votes.

The Brazilian president is a former army captain and has spoken fondly about the dictatorship.

Almir Garnier Santos, the commander of the Brazilian Navy, announced to the media last month that he supports Bolsonaro's view, adding that the president is his commander and "has the right to say whatever he wants."

READ MORE: Brazil: Human Remains Found in Area Where British Journalist and Brazilian Indigenous Expert Were Last Seen

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro officially launches his re-election campaign | World News - from WION


U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart signed a search warrant earlier this week that allowed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to search former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

The raid has been one of this week's most explosive headlines, especially with the ongoing investigation of the January 6 Capitol riot.

Reports revealed that the FBI raid was related to an ongoing investigation wherein the former president allegedly took classified documents from the White House after his presidency.

With the commotion that the raid has caused, Bruce Reinhart now faces threats from Donald Trump supporters because of his instrumental involvement in the raid.

READ NEXT: Justice Department Ordered to Unseal Warrant Used in FBI Raid in Donald Trump's Mar-A-Lago Home

Judge Bruce Reinhart Faces Heat From Donald Trump Supporters After Inking Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant

According to The Florida Times-Union, Bruce Reinhart's biography and contact information were removed from the U.S. District of Court for the Southern District of Florida's website.

The exact reason why Reinhart's information was removed from the website has yet to be answered by officials.

However, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told the outlet that it was in response to the threats Reinhart had received after inking the search warrant.

"I hear he's getting threats, that his information was taken down from the judicial directory, and he's the object of vitriol from supporters of the former president," Aronberg noted.

VICE News reported that Donald Trump supporters' message boards and social networks were already filled with violent and antisemitic threats against the judge.

Some even posted what appeared to be Reinhart's home address, phone numbers, and names of his family members.

"Let's find out if he has children... where they go to school, where they live... EVERYTHING," a supporter wrote on one of the message boards.

Another user wrote on the pro-Trump message board: "This is the piece of sh*t judge who approved FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago... I see a rope around his neck."

Advance Democracy, a non-partisan organization that conducts public-interest investigations, discovered that these far-right extremist message boards were all over 4chan, Telegram, Gettr, Gab, and Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social.

One of the message boards where Reinhart's private information was leaked was also reportedly the same thread where details leading to the January 6 Capitol attack were given out.

"In addition to the antisemitic and violent slurs, we're seeing his address and other personal information being shared online-with the implied or explicit purpose of 'real-life' action," Advance Democracy founder Daniel Jones told VICE News.

Trump's supporters found Bruce Reinhart's signing of the search warrant as a political move. Donald Trump echoed this sentiment, saying that the unannounced raid was an "attack" orchestrated by "Radical Left Democrats."

Mar-A-Lago Raid Planned Timely on Donald Trump's New York Visit

According to Newsweek, the Mar-A-Lago raid last Monday was "deliberately timed" when the former president was away.

Multiple sources reported that Donald Trump was at the Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York while the raid on his Florida mansion took place.

The Washington Post reported earlier that the raid aimed to recover classified documents, including those regarding nuclear weapons.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago Raid: FBI Director Fires Back at 'Deplorable' Threats After Controversial Trump Search

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

WATCH: What We Know About the FBI Search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Home - From CBS News
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
The Swan is one of 24 locatons nationwide where Irish Water has supply shortages due to the hot weather.

Irish water said: There are currently 24 areas impacted by shortages and Irish Water has implemented a range of measures such as tankering and/or night-time restrictions to protect supplies and ensure water keeps flowing to homes and businesses.

In addition there are approximately 60 supplies around the country that are being closely monitored by Irish Water to ensure that normal supply is maintained for the rest of the Summer and into Autumn.

Irish Waters Head of Asset Operations, Tom Cuddy said, We would ask the public that they continue to conserve over the coming weeks. It can sometimes be difficult to know where to start, but even small changes can make a significant difference  and we can all play our part. By reducing our water use, for example turning off the hose and avoiding power washing, we can all help ensure there is enough water for everyone as we go through the rest of the Summer and into Autumn."

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To help people learn more about saving water we have developed an easy-to-use conservation calculator so they can work out how much water they are currently saving and how they can conserve even more. The free calculator is available on the Irish Water website at www.water.ie/calculator where you can also find lots of useful water saving tips."

The other areas impacted by water shortages are in counties Cork, Kerry, Galway, Clare, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Limerick, Tipperary, Wexford and Wicklow.
A 'pioneer' in the field of graveyard recording has died.

Dr Jane Lyons from Clough, Ballacolla died in her sleep at home on Saturday, August 6.

Her contribution to the field of grave recording and digitisation has and will help many people to trace their family roots in Laois and across Ireland.

Laois Heritage Officer Catherine Casey has paid tribute to the legacy of Dr Lyons.

"Dr Jane Lyons was a pioneer in the field of Graveyard recording. For many years she drove the length and breadth of the country photographing headstones and transcribing family names for her website.

"She made all of the material she collected on a voluntary basis freely available to those seeking information on their family tree and I know she helped hundreds of people connect with their heritage. She will be a great loss in the field of cultural heritage, may she rest in peace," Ms Casey said.

Dr Lyon shared her records on a dedicated website run by her, called https://www.from-ireland.net/.

It is described by Laois County Council as "a tremendous resource for anyone interested in the history of Ireland. Gravestone inscriptions and photographs from all over the country are included with a large number from Laois. There is also information on researching genealogy in Ireland, with information on official sources, including civil birth, marriage and death registers, census records and more."

She had a BSc from University College Cork, a PhD from University College Cork and a Diploma in Environmental Engineering.

Dr Lyons' wake will take place in O'Sullivan's Funeral Home, Rathdowney, Co. Laois (R32 NY24) on Friday, August 12th, from 6pm to 8pm.

Her family and friends will then celebrate Jane's life with a humanist ceremony in Newlands Cross Crematorium at 10.40am on Saturday, August 13.

She is the beloved mother of Sinead, Shane and Kate; and big sister to Kate, Sarah, Helena and Matthew. She is sadly missed by her family, son-in-law Conor, many friends and adoring pets.

Her memorial service will also be live streamed online . (https://www.dctrust.ie/location/newlands-cross/chapel-webstream.html). Her family request donations to Dog's Trust in place of cards or flowers.
A Laois homelessness charity is appealing for donations of bottles of sunscreen, as well as runners.

Portlaoise Action to Homelessness (PATH) volunteers travel without fail every weekend and now Wednesdays too, up to Dublin's streets. They bring local donations of food and other items for people living rough, hail rain or snow, or heatwaves.

They have made a special appeal for their trip this Saturday as Ireland continues to bake in a heatwave of up to 30c.

PATH made their request in a update on their trip to the city on Wednesday, August 10.

"It was a very warm night in Dublin tonight and our homeless friends were extremely grateful to see us. We had plenty of water and cool drinks to give them as well as fresh sandwiches, buns and chicken curry for those who needed a hot meal.

"We were asked for sun cream which we didn't have so if anyone would like to donate some we can bring it up on Saturday.

"A lot of our homeless friends were saying how they are trying to find as much shade as possible during the day but that they won't complain about being out in the heat as they will have many cold wet nights ahead for the rest of the year.

"We have a lot of people looking for runners. If you have runners in decent condition please consider donating them to us. We need all sizes for both men and women. Please make sure they are in wearable condition."

The group gave examples of the people they helped.

"In Inchicore a young mum came to our van. She was just passing with 2 young kids and asked if we would have any spare food. We gave her a big bag with fruit, sandwiches, treats and drinks. She also got some hot dinners.

"In the city centre we met a young girl who was very distraught, looking for clothes as everything she had was taken. We were able to look after her.

"Another chap will be spending his first night on the streets and was quite nervous. We told him to ring the free phone number to see if there are any beds available for him. We gave him a sleeping bag and tent just in case.

As always they are supported greatly by Laois volunteers and by donations from local restaurants.

"Thanks to our sandwich makers tonight Collette, Margaret, Sheila, Catriona and Phyllis. Thanks also Marie and Wendy for their donations and to the Hares Corner for their delicious Chicken curry. Thanks to Kathleen/Mary for the garlic bread which always goes down a treat!. Thanks to the person who left a box of toiletries to our van today. Thanks also to Nicole and Carmel who travelled with us tonight and Shane did our teas/coffees. Until Wednesday stay safe and be kind. Regards Irene, Seamus and Martin".

Donations can be dropped to Portlaoise Parish Centre or to their van any Wednesday or Saturday. If anyone wants to donate money to their Revolut account PATH will buy runners, 0876418358)."
The lack of toilet facilities at Newbridge Train Station has been criticised by a Senator based in Kildare.

Newbridge native Senator Fiona O' Loughlin has said that the lack of toilet facilities at Newbridge train station is 'simply not good enough' and has written to Irish Rail about the issue.

The announcement follows after Senator O' Loughlin previously welcomed government funding directed towards Horse Sport Ireland and the Special Olympics earlier this week.

The Fianna Fail politician said: "The fact that toilets at Newbridge train station have still not reopened is just unacceptable at this point.

Senator Fiona O' Loughlin, Fianna Fail

"People have been calling for this for years and still they remain closed, its simply not good enough."

She continued: "Commuters and travellers can expect at the very least for the basics, such a functioning bathroom; it is a huge issue for everyone, but especially for parents with young children."

Senator O' Loughlin concluded her statement by saying that she has written to Irish Rail and has called on them to once again re-open the bathrooms to the public.

RESPONSE

A representative for Irish Rail responded to Senator O' Loughlin's statement, telling the Leader: "The toilets and waiting rooms at Newbridge station were the focus of extensive and ongoing repair a number of years ago, due to the repeated incidents of vandalism.

"We took the decision to close the facility permanently as a result, and have no plans to reopen the toilets.

"However, staff at the station have been fully briefed to assist customers with access if they require emergency use. All trains which serve the station have toilets on board."

The representative added: 'Typically at our commuter stations in general, toilet facilities are not provided.'
Local writers Catherine Gander and Siobhan Hoy have been selected by the Irish Writers Centre for the National Literary Mentoring programme over the next eight months from acclaimed Irish writers.

Catherine and Siobhan are among a total of 37 writers who have been selected from a total of over three hundred applicants nationally

Kildare County Council funded the literary mentorship along with the Arts Council of Ireland. The support of both will ensure that the chosen mentee receives this potentially life-changing support free of charge. It is also seen as an investment in the long-term literary reputation of the region.

Kildare County Council Arts Officer, Lucina Russell congratulated the award recipients and commented; This collaboration with The Irish Writers Centre is part of our ongoing commitment to support the professional development of artists in the county. We look forward to hearing where the mentoring brings the writers practice.

The mentoring process involves four meetings between the selected mentee and their chosen professional writer. In advance of each meeting, the mentor reads up to 10,000 words / 180 lines of poetry of the awarded mentees writing, then shares their hard-earned critical feedback and advice.

Catherine Gander is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Maynooth University. Her poems have placed in several competitions and been published in journals and anthologies internationally. She is the co-author of Sea Between Us (Nine Pens Press, 2022), is completing another pamphlet, Matches, and working toward her first collection.

Siobhan Hoy is a physiotherapist and writer. She grew up in Co. Fermanagh, near the border, a place and time influential in her writing. Her fiction, poetry & prose have been shortlisted in Fish International Awards, published in The South Circular & Hammered Glass (an anthology) and aired on RTE's Sunday Miscellany.

The Irish Writers Centres mission is to support a vibrant and diverse community of writers to develop their craft, capacity and confidence to thrive as a writer. The hope for the National Mentoring Programme is that the chosen mentees will go on to write great works of literature to match or best the quality of their mentors. Its a form of peer-to-peer teaching that is increasingly popular in literature, formalizing the process whereby masters pass on their craft to students.

Running since 2017, the programme now has numerous published authors among its alumni, including Doireann Ni Ghriofa, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Fiona Scarlett, and Victoria Kennefick to name just a few.
A man who was found driving with no lights on and with four dogs in the boot appeared at Naas District Court.

Patrick Casey, 25, whose address was given as 10 St Aidans Park, Brookfield, Tallaght, was before the court on July 20 for dangerous driving on the N7 at Greenhills, near Kill, on November 29, 2020.

Garda Alwyn Howard said he was made aware of a car being driven without lights coming from the Kildare direction towards Dublin.

He said the gardai went to junction 8 at 4.40pm when they saw a car with no headlights ang no backlights.

The road was wet and the car was being driven up to the bumper  of the car ahead and then accelerating forward to the next vehicle.

Read more Kildare news

He said the gardai were driving at 120 km/h, the speed limit was 100 km/h and the car was accelerating away from us so it was doing more than 120 km/h

He said the windows were fogged up apart from part of the windscreen.

There were three other males in the vehicle and four dogs in the boot.

Gda Howard said they were told that the men were walking the dogs and the vehicle was insured.

He said the defendant said he forgot to turn on the lights. The lights were in working order.

Barrister Aisling Murphy said the vehicle is equipped with a sensor which activates the lights in darkness.

The defendant told the court that dimmed lights were on at all times and the car lights come on automatically.

He also said the back windows were partially open.

He said he was in the fast lane but was not speeding adding I dont drive like that.

He also said he had been walking the dogs in Sallins.

He said he was not driving close to any cars and was going at under 100 km/h.

The court heard the defendant had 17 previous convictions and 10 are related to road traffic.

The court heard he is currently serving a term.

Judge Michele Finan said she preferred the evidence of the prosecution.

She disqualified the defendant for two years and imposed a 500 fine.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) have warned business owners of an increased threat of ransomware. In a letter sent to Ibecs Small Firms Association, the NCSC and GNCCB noted that they had observed a trend of small and medium-sized businesses being increasingly targeted by ransomware groups. In the past, these groups typically focussed on larger organisations. However, they noted that recently there have been several smaller Irish businesses impacted by ransomware.

The Director of the NCSC Richard Browne said: We have been dealing with the threat of ransomware for some time; however, we have seen a noticeable change in the tactics of criminal ransomware groups, whereby rather than largely focussing on Governments, critical infrastructure, and big business, they are increasingly targeting smaller businesses. This is a trend that has been observed globally, and Ireland is no exception with several businesses becoming victims of these groups in the past number of weeks.

In the letter sent to Ibecs Small Firms Association, the NCSC and GNCCB reiterated the measures that small and medium-sized businesses can take to prevent and recover from cyber-attacks such as ransomware, referring to several guidance documents that have been published by the NCSC on the topic. Referring to the advice Dr. Browne said: Whilst we appreciate that many business owners are understandably nervous of the threat ransomware poses, there are some straightforward security measures that can be put in place to ensure that an organisations data and systems remain secure.

Ransom Payments

The cyber authorities also cautioned against the payment of ransoms to criminal groups saying that they do not encourage, endorse nor condone the payment of ransoms. Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary, Head of Bureau at the GNCCB, said: There is no guarantee that paying a ransom will lead to your data being successfully being decrypted or prevent the data from being leaked online. In fact, it may lead to your organisation being targeted again, with some research showing that up to 80% of organisations that pay are attacked again.

He encouraged business owners to report the incidents to both the NCSC and An Garda Siochana who may be able to support victims of cyber-attacks. Detective Chief Superintendent Cleary added that reporting incidents allows us to fully investigate these cyber-crimes and helps us to identify trends and methods used by attackers so we can provide cyber safety and network protection advice to the public and the corporate sector.

In response to the letter, the Director of Ibecs Small Firms Association, Sven Spollen-Behrens, said: This warning from the NCSC and GNCCB tallies with what we are hearing from our membership who are increasingly worried about the threat posed by cybercrime. The advice provided is very helpful and were eager to work with the authorities to ensure our membership are putting in place the right protections to defend against these attacks.
Local TD, Sinn Fein Deputy, Martin Kenny, has criticised the government for ongoing delays in delivering on a promised Covid bonus payment for frontline health staff.

During the pandemic, frontline workers across Sligo and Leitrim went above and beyond as they worked in extremely stressful circumstances to protect us all, pointed out Deputy Kenny.

It has been more than nine months since the cabinet signed off on a pandemic bonus payment for frontline health staff. Despite this, many still have not received this payment.

The Sinn Fein TD said that staff across Sligo and Leitrim - including caterers, cleaners, security staff, and agency staff - have contacted him to express concerns over delays in receiving this payment.

I was recently contacted by catering staff in a local care home who still have not received this payment, and they informed me a number of nursing staff are also still awaiting their payment, said Deputy Kenny.

The Government announced this payment to much fanfare, but have failed to follow through on their promises. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Deputy Kenny said that Sinn Fein's Health spokesperson, David Cullinane T.D. has recently written to the Taoiseach, Micheal Martin, urging him to intervene directly to ensure this payment is paid promptly.

A Sinn Fein government would stand up for healthcare workers to ensure that they are treated with dignity, fairness and respect, said Deputy Kenny.

We are committed to ensuring that workers across Sligo, Leitrim, and indeed across the country, receive the payment they were promised by the government.
With Met Eireann forecasting high temperatures, combined with lower-than-average rainfall, Inland Fisheries Ireland is warning that there is a high risk of fish kills due to thermal stress and reduced oxygen levels in lakes and rivers. Also known as deoxygenation, reduced oxygen levels in a river or lake make it very difficult for fish to breathe and survive.

The state agency, which is responsible for the protection and conservation of freshwater fish and habitats, is concerned that water levels in many rivers are low and approaching drought conditions. Therefore, it is appealing to anglers, the farming community and the general public to report any sightings of fish under thermal stress, which may be caused by the extreme heat combined with low water levels and other pressures.

Anglers are also being asked to voluntarily stop using keep nets while high-temperature warnings from Met Eireann are in place, as these nets may cause unintentional distress to fish. In addition, anglers that practice catch and release fishing are asked not to fish during the heat wave where possible, as this may put undue pressure on fish populations.

Dr Gregory Forde, Head of Operations at Inland Fisheries Ireland explains: Unfortunately low water levels and high water temperatures can lead to fish kills, especially as there is less oxygen in the water to allow fish to breathe. Once the water temperature exceeds 20 degrees Celsius, fish species such as salmon and trout suffer thermal stress. During the current heat wave, air and water temperatures are approaching dangerous levels and fish kills may be unavoidable. In some instances, moving fish in and out of the water may also prove too stressful. Thats why were asking anglers practicing catch and release fishing to consider taking a break from fishing while high temperature warnings are in place. Were also asking anglers to voluntarily stop using keep nets, until conditions become more favourable.

In July, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Office of Public Works data buoy* recorded a surface water temperature of 21.84 degrees Celsius at Lough Sheelin in County Cavan, coinciding with the hottest air temperature that month of 30.75 degrees Celsius. Inland Fisheries Ireland notes that significant thermal stress can occur in brown trout and other cold water fish species at temperatures at or above 20 degrees Celsius.

Forde said: Inland Fisheries Ireland staff are continuously monitoring water bodies, such as rivers and lakes, for any signs of fish suffering thermal stress in shallow water or drying out rivers and streams. Were encouraging the public to report any sightings of fish suffering thermal stress to our 24-hour confidential hotline on 0818 34 74 24 so we can respond as quickly as possible to help rescue or relocate these fish.

It is also a good time to remind all those using pesticides that these should be used only as a last resort, always in accordance with product instructions and always respecting statutory no use zones, being mindful at all times of proximity to water bodies such as ditches, streams, ponds, rivers, lakes and springs. Even a very small amount of pesticide can be highly toxic to the aquatic environment, he added.

To report sightings of fish suffering from thermal stress or fish kill incidents, members of the public are encouraged to call Inland Fisheries Irelands confidential 24-hour hotline number on 0818 34 74 24, which is open seven days a week.
As part of its Summer Made X NW series The Dock will host a free family day from 11am to 2pm on Saturday, August 13, with events taking place both inside and outside the venue.

Events will include a Sculptural Family Arty Party with Andy Parsons, Family Art BUZZ with artist Lisa Cannon, Songs and Lore of the Sea with Tom Lewis and a very special kids show by the Ukrainian clown Mythalio.

Andy Parsons wants families to join him to work together to make sculptural figures using simple yet imaginative sculptural techniques and everyday materials. When the room is full of all the different figures he will turn on the disco lights!

Collaborative and energetic, this workshop will be great fun and a nice introduction to how sculptures are made for all the family!

Lisa Cannon is going to make a big buzz by working with family members to make a large-scale piece to honour the industrious bee. The workshops are designed not just for kids but for all members of the family so we would encourage mums, dads, aunts, uncles and even grandparents to come alone and get involved.

Another event aimed at young people of all ages is Tom Lewiss Songs and Lore of The Sea performance. Whilst Tom does not bill himself as a "Children's Performer", he is a skilled and entertaining presenter of his programme for young people.

As an ex-sailor dealing with the traditions and lore of The Age of Sail, he makes them come alive, demonstrating their transition to the present day and explaining their current relevance, with sailors stories, songs and humour.

We are thrilled also to welcome the amazing clown Mythalio who will entertain you all with balloon-based fun, music, games and more. Originally from Ukraine and now living in Drumshanbo we are delighted that he can join as we celebrate creativity and family.

The fun will begin at 11am with events running until 2pm so feel free to drop in at any time. There is no need to book in advance.

The event times are 11am-12.00 noon for the Sculptural Family Art Party, 11:30am -12.30pm, Family Art BUZZ with artist Lisa Cannon, 12:45  1:30pm, Songs and Lore of the Sea and 1.30pm to 2pm for the clown show with the marvellous Mythalio!

Oh, and there will be free ice cream!

We hope you can join us for some or all of the events. All events are free of charge, and everyone is welcome.

You can find out more by visiting www.thedock.ie
Pro-democracy activists gathered in the patio of the Law School of the University of Sao Paulo, August 11, 2022. ANDRE PENNER / AP

A long table had been set up on Thursday, August 11, at the entrance of the Law Faculty of the University of Sao Paulo to distribute breakfast to homeless people, who are now abundant in the center of the megalopolis. Behind them, volunteers from the Landless Movement were busy serving coffee. The organization supported, like many others, the "Letter to Brazilians in Defense of Democracy,"written by members of the law school and signed by more than a million people and many schools and universities.

The campaign gained momentum on Thursday when thousands of Brazilians took to the streets in several major cities across the country to "defend democracy." The movement, supported by lawyers, trade unions and employers' organizations, intends to respond to the attacks of by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro against the nation's institutions, less than two months ahead of the presidential election, scheduled for October 2.

"Distributing food is a way for us to remind ourselves that our democracy will never be perfect as long as 33 million of our compatriots are hungry," said Joao, buttering rolls at a remarkable pace. In the patio of the faculty, speakers took turns at the podium to talk about the social situation and the racism suffered by blacks in the young Brazilian democracy. The walls were covered with banners calling for "Democracy without hunger" and "No more dictatorship."

The letter at the origin of this effort is inspired by the one written in the same faculty of Sao Paulo in 1977 in opposition to the dictatorial regime. This heritage is mentioned in the first lines of the text, which reminds us later that "the threats against the rule of law, the incitement to violence and the destruction of the constitutional order are intolerable," without ever mentioning Mr. Bolsonaro by name.

Read more Subscribers only Brazil: In front of foreign ambassadors, Jair Bolsonaro attacks the electoral system

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The letter does make clear reference to Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the United States, a model that his Brazilian counterpart seems to be emulating in his rhetoric. "We have recently witnessed authoritarian excesses that have endangered the secular democracy in the US. There, attempts to destabilize democracy failed. They won't win here either," the letter reads.

"It is a democratic awakening that feels really good. The tension is palpable on a daily basis, and it has become vital to oppose, loudly and clearly, the delirious diatribes of the president about supposed fraud," said Wellington Messias Damasceno, member of the ABC Metalworkers Union of Sao Paulo.

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A TEACHER at Limerick School of Music has released an album in aid of Irish the Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA).

John O'Shea, who resides in Pallasgreen released the album titled From the Road on Monday, August 8 and consists of live tracks that he has recorded over the past 15 years.

A classical guitar player John spoke to Limerick Live about releasing the album: Around the beginning of lockdown in April 2020 my uncle died of Motor Neurone Disease so I wanted to create this album as a way to raise funds for people who are going through the same struggle.

John found the most interesting part of creating the album was going over all his previous recordings for the last number of years and picking his favourite repertoires and combining them in an almost greatest hits fashion.

The music featured on the album is a wide range of pieces from the modern age to transcriptions of early Baroque music by composers such as Handel so its a good mix of classical music for anyone who isnt that familiar with it, John said.

The album is available for purchase on bandcamp with 100 percent of proceeds going to the IMNDA.

Because of the connection with the IMNDA the album is reaching probably the most unusual of audiences as people who dont know anything about classical music are purchasing it to support the cause and its really interesting hearing their feedback because they would have no idea that you can play the guitar in that way, John concluded.
A MOTORIST who was recorded by a passenger during a high-speed pursuit, across Limerick city, has been jailed for four years.

Robert ODonoghue aged 30, of St Judes, Pennywell, Garryowen, Limerick had pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including endangerment and dangerous driving, relating to an incident during the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Sergeant Caimin Treacy told Limerick Circuit Court the pursuit began a short time after gardai encountered a silver Peugeot car in the Moyross area at 9.25am on April 31, 2020.

He said the vehicle took off at speed but that gardai recognised the driver as being Mr ODonoghue.

Judge Tom ODonnell was told there were numerous incidents of dangerous driving as gardai pursued the vehicle across the city.

Sgt Treacy said the Peugeot was deliberately driven into a garda van in Ballynanty and that it narrowly missed a number of private cars and pedestrians as it made its way towards the Garryowen area where it was abandoned by the driver.

He drove in a reckless and dangerous manner in built up areas, he told prosecuting counsel John OSullivan adding that at one point - at Pa Healy Road - Mr ODonoghue drove the wrong way around a roundabout.

When arrested a number of months later, the accused denied driving the car as alleged. However, Sgt Treacy reiterated that a number of gardai had identified him on the day and, he said, video footage recorded by a passenger on his mobile phone shows Mr ODonoghue driving.

Thats very helpful for gardai, commented Judge ODonnell when informed of this.

Pat Barriscale BL, defending, told the court his client was off his head on drugs at the time and that he has no idea what happened.

He said his client was not offering any other explanation and he said he accepts its a miracle that nobody was injured.

Mr Barriscale said his client is currently serving a separate prison sentence for a similar offence which happened a number of months later and he urged the judge not to extend his time in prison.

He is due out in August 2025, he said.

Imposing sentence, Judge ODonnell said the behaviour of the accused on the day was utterly appalling and he said his previous record was a concern to the court. He imposed prison sentences totalling four years - all of which were back-dated to February 2021.

Mr ODonoghue was also disqualified from driving for 15 years.
A JUDGE congratulated a concerned citizen who came to the aid of a woman who had her handbag stolen in broad daylight in Limerick city.

Callum Quinn, aged 21, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery at William Street at 10am on November 7, 2021.

Prosecuting barrister, John O'Sullivan, instructed by state solicitor Padraig Mawe, said a woman in her twenties was walking in the direction of the city centre.

A man grabbed her handbag forcefully causing the strap to break. She pursued him on foot. An unknown male intercepted the defendant causing him to drop the bag. The victim went straight to the garda station. Gardai accompanied her to the scene, said Mr OSullivan.

CCTV from a business was harvested. Mr Quinn was arrested on suspicion of robbery said the investigating garda, James ODonoghue.

The garda said Mr Quinn denied any involvement but when he was charged said: I did it. Im sorry. Please dont object to my bail.

The injured party declined to make a victim impact statement but Mr OSullivan said when she came to the station she was crying and shaking for 45 minutes.

We consoled her and gave her cups of tea, said Garda ODonoghue.

Mr OSullivan said the woman had parked her car and was walking into the city centre to do some shopping.

It is thanks to the unidentified citizen who restrained the accused that she managed to get her bag back, said Mr OSullivan, who added that Mr Quinn has 40 previous convictions including for assault, criminal damage and theft.

Liam Carroll BL, who represented Mr Quinn, said his client had given an early plea. He said the defendant was in and out of care during his childhood and is relatively immature.

He had a fractured childhood. He went from care home to care home. He was the third oldest of 11 children. His parents were not around to look after him, said Mr Carroll.

The barrister said Mr Quinn started smoking heroin at 15 and then injecting it.

The drug consumed his life. Most of his convictions are thefts to get heroin. On this morning he didnt have heroin in two days. The withdrawals were severe. Every fibre in his body was pushing him to get heroin. He apologises to the woman who was going about her day, said Mr Carroll.

Mr Quinn has made contact with Merchants Quay and regarding residential treatment.

If he finds himself using heroin he will be back in custody, said Mr Carroll.

Judge Tom ODonnell said unfortunately this type of street robbery is all too prevalent.

The misfortunate victim was walking the streets of Limerick when her handbag was grabbed. This lady didnt know anything until she felt her handbag being pulled. The accused was stopped thanks to a concerned citizen. He is to be congratulated, said Judge ODonnell, who added that while the injured party did not give a victim impact statement she needed the counselling of gardai in the station.

The judge spoke of Mr Quinns personal circumstances and heroin addiction being one of the worst addictions as mitigating factors.

They are driven to do things they wouldnt normally do, said Judge ODonnell, who also took into account there was no physical injury.

He sentenced Mr Quinn to three years in prison backdated to March 8, 2022 when he first entered custody. The last 12 months were suspended.
AS PRESSURE rises for accommodation ahead of the college year, students are knocking on doors in Limerick in the hope of securing a room.

Thats according to local businessman Colm Moore who has predicted an Armageddon scenario where more than 1,000 students will be left without accommodation when term-time begins.

Its as a result of this, he says, that they are resorting to the measure of arriving weeks ahead, and making door-to-door enquiries with their parents in the hope of securing a roof over their head.

It comes as Limericks third level institutions launch a joint effort to persuade homeowners to let out any spare rooms they have.

With college attendance set to be higher than the last two years due to the end of Covid-19 restrictions, a University of Limerick (UL) spokesperson has said demand for accommodation is at its highest in living memory.

Mr Moore, who lives in Ashbrook, believes up to 4,500 new people will descend on Limerick next month, and has collated data from enquiries to his own web site, StandOutRenters, which matches people seeking a room to potential landlords.

From a number of applicants per room perspective, a decent room in a decent home at a decent rate in Raheen would have 400 to 450, with 180 to 200 for Corbally, he said, adding in Castletroy, around UL, demand is a lot higher.

He said many landlords have had to turn their phones off due to the sheer volume of calls they are receiving from people interested in taking a room.

Theres generally about 2,000 people looking [at StandoutRenters] for a room at any one point, added Mr Moore.

He said students can increase their chances of securing a room if they are prepared to live further afield.

If a renter is willing to cycle or drive 15 minutes, they might 10x [increase by ten-times] the number of properties they could live in, he said, outlining areas llike Lisnagry, Ballingarry, Patrickswell and Kildimo, where he added there are many empty rooms.

For the first time, UL has appointed a student accommodation officer in order to assist in identifying off-campus accommodation for its students. A spokesperson asked all students to keep an eye on a dedicated part of its website which also provides this detail.
NATIONAL Heritage Week, this year celebrating the full return of in-person events, takes place across Ireland from this Saturday, August 13 to Sunday, August 21.

And Ballyhoura Country  situated at the crossroads of Limerick, Cork and Tipperary  marks this vibrant celebration of culture with a jam-packed schedule of free events celebrating the regions history, art, heritage and biodiversity.

With a range of indoor and outdoor activities  plenty of them family-oriented and for those on staycations  there is something to pique everyones interest in this beautiful region, in the heart of the Golden Vale of Munster.

On 17th August, from 7.30-8.30pm, Brian Collopy of Lough Gur Development, presents a talk in the Lough Gur Visitor Centre, the culmination of his many years of research and tour-guiding in the area, shining a light on one of the regions lesser-known ancient monuments.

Scholar and author Dr Donncha MacGabhann is offering Guided Tours of the Book of Kells (the Verlag version is an exact copy of the manuscript) at St Johns Church, Knockainey, Co Limerick.

This interactive experience begins with a general introduction to the Book of Kells and continues by exploring the main features of the manuscript.

You can have fun trying out your cupla focal on Saturday, August 13 from 7-8.30pm starting at the Church of Ireland in Bruff, and enjoy Comhra, Ceol agus Stair ag Tobar Ui Choilleann / Chat, Music and Local History at Collins Well.

The walk and talk is from the old Church of Ireland, Bruff to Collins' Well, and encourages people to chat with each other in Irish to the best of their ability followed by the craic with a traditional sing song.

This event is kindly supported by LAWPRO, Local Authorities Water Programme and hosted by Bruff Tidy Towns. All welcome no matter the level of Irish language ability or none. Just be sure to bring your singing voice!

Painting in the Park  a free art class in the Morning Star Park facilitated by local artist Kathy Tiernan and kindly supported by LAWPRO, takes place on 16th August from 6.30pm-8pm.

Capture the beautiful and newly-restored Morning Star River, or various heritage focal points seen from the Park such as Church of Ireland, Two Bridges, Washerwomen's Stones, Carberry Arms (Victorian Quarter), Adelaide House.

Bring your preferred equipment/media and settle in for an evening of painting under the guidance of our artist or under your own steam!

The Maigue Rivers Trust invites you to discover the natural heritage of the Mahore River in Hospital, Co. Limerick on Wednesday 17th August from 7 - 8pm.

Ballyhoura Outdoor Classroom Wildlife Tour, an all-ages free tour of the plants and animals found at Griston Bog takes place as part of National Heritage Week on Monday August 15th.

Find out about the wildlife found only in one of our oldest environments; see examples of unique and beautiful local plants; and learn about our shy local lizard.

Take part in an ecology scavenger hunt and see how many different plants or animals you can find! The event starts at 10am and running until 12pm.
THREE major artists have been unveiled to support Limerick superstar Denise Chaila at her much-anticipated hometown gig in King John's Castle.

Denise will take to the stage on Saturday, August 20 in what will be her biggest headline show to date.

Three support acts have been announced today - Le-Boom, Negro Impacto and Beedle the Bardcore.

In announcing the expanded line-up, John Hennessy of Seoda Shows said: "We are beyond excited to be able to host such a high-profile show with Denise Chaila. Seoda and Dolans have worked closely with Denise and Narolane over the last few years. She is truly an authentic and highly talented artist. We were lucky to run a number of very small socially distanced shows during Covid-19 with Denise. This show in the hallowed grounds of King Johns Castle will be a major highlight in Limericks musical history. We are thrilled to have artists of the calibre of Le Boom, Negro Impacto and Beedle The Bardcore joining the bill.

Mick Dolan, of Dolan's added: "This major show by Denise Chaila, joined by Le Boom, Negro Impacto and Beedle The Bardcore will, without doubt, go down in the annals of Limerick. We have worked with Denise from the start of her career. From Glastonbury to the Gaelic Grounds, she has already proven herself to be a major star. The Castle gig will be an opportunity to see Denise perform in this medieval setting prior to her Electric Picnic show. She will truly be the Queen of the castle!

Le Boom can boast over six million streams of his music, and has himself sold out shows at Dublin's Olympia Theatre, and played sets at Electric Picnic.

Dundalk duo Negro Impacto have quickly gained attention in the Irish music scene thanks to their alternative neo-soul sound, unique groovy sets and youthful energy.

And Beedle the Bardcore have already recorded catwalk tunes at London's Fashion Week.

Tickets are still available for the gig, priced 38 plus booking fee, with the drawbridge dropping at 6pm.

Please visit www.dolans.ie, or www.ticketmaster.ie for more information.
A CULT Limerick nightclub looks set to re-open later this year for the first time since the onset of Covid-19.

Flan Costello, who runs Costello's Tavern in Dominick Street is seeking an application for a public dancing licence from Limerick District Court.

It will be heard on Thursday, September 22 and could herald the re-opening of the popular night-spot for the first time since February 2020.

The premises has lain idle since the pandemic began, although an outdoor decking area was installed last summer - before being removed.

Popular with generations of Limerick people, Costello's boasts two floors, a late bar, plus indie and rock music. And if that wasn't enough, there's beer pong games!

Traditionally, entry to the premises has been 5, with the grinning face of Flan himself greeting many revellers as they paid their dues!

Earlier this week, another Limerick nightspot, Icon, announced it would be re-opening from next month.
THE GARDAI were called to a fast-food restaurant in Limerick this morning whose operator has had a long-running legal dispute with Supermac's founder Pat McDonagh.

Galway businessman Mr McDonagh attended the entrance of the Ennis Road branch of the Hungry Lyons where he handed an envelope through the door to its operator John Lyons.

After a high-profile dispute with Mr McDonagh, Mr Lyons dropped the Supermac's brand from the two restaurants he operates in Limerick - one at the Ennis Road, the other at Dooradoyle - and changed their name to The Hungry Lyons back in 2019.

While Mr Lyons, pictured below, owns the premises opposite University Hospital Limerick outright, Mr McDonagh remains the landlord of the building which houses the Hungry Lyons on Limerick's northside.

Dressed in a suit, Mr McDonagh approached the entrance of the Ennis Road premises at around 9.30am today alongside another individual in a suit, indicating he was present to take possession of the building.

Both Mr McDonagh and Mr Lyons held a brief conversation between a small opening in the door.

Mr McDonagh could be heard saying to Mr Lyons, I want to talk to you and ye wont hear me though here.

A brown envelope was handed by Mr McDonagh to Mr Mr Lyons through the door with Mr McDonagh saying: Were here to take possession, John to which Mr Lyons replied: Yer not taking possession, Pat.

Mr Lyons indicated that he would call the guards.

Following this, Mr McDonagh went into the neighbouring Funworld bowling alley, where he is also landlord.

Speaking to LimerickLive, the proprietor of the Hungry Lyons admitted to an error on our behalf in relation to High Court proceedings.

So the High Court, we found out yesterday, cancelled the arbitrator's ruling. As soon as we discovered this, and we knew a mistake was made, we then went and paid the rent up to date," he said.

He acknowledged there are other monies outstanding to Mr McDonagh, but these are currently the subject of disputes, and are not mentioned in the lease agreements.

LimerickLive understands this version of events is contested by Mr McDonagh's side.

Mr Lyons, who was present this morning alongside director of operations Mike Rabbitte and area manager Jatinder Singh, insisted they will not be quitting the building, and said his own lawyers were in contact with the Supermac's owner.

He indicated he will seek a High Court injunction to prevent their eviction if necessary.

"We admit there was an error made, somebody missed something. It's for us to solve. But on the same note, we paid the rent."

The Hungry Lyons branch at Ennis Road employs 25 people, with 70 staff in total working across its two outlets, with a third due to open in Clare Street.

Prior to the gardai's arrival, LimerickLive sought a comment from Mr McDonagh by approaching the staff in Funworld. He declined to meet this reporter.

Two officers arrived at the Hungry Lyons building at around 10am, and having chatted to both Mr McDonagh and Mr Lyons said they cannot do anything as it is a civil matter.

Mr McDonagh then left the area, and the restaurant opened as normal at 11.30am.

Mr Lyons was one of the original Supermacs franchisees since the firms infancy more than 30 years ago.

He previously operated branches in Charleville, Shannon and OConnell Street, before opening at the Ennis Road in the mid-1990s and Dooradoyle opposite University Hospital Limerick in 2004. The original dispute between himself and Mr McDonagh centred around refurbishment of the branch in the Ennis Road.

As well as local Supermacs outlets Mr McDonagh and wife Una own three local hotels - Castletroy Park Hotel, Castle Oaks House Hotel in Castleconnell and the Charleville Park Hotel.

A spokesperson for the Supermac's founder said: "Pat McDonagh and his solicitor issued a notice to vacate on the leasee on foot of unpaid rent and bills due over several months that had already been the subject of a hearing in the High Court."

It's understood some money was paid this morning, but it did not meet the full amount as requested by Mr McDonagh.
NEW DELHI: FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd., which operates online beauty marketplace Nykaa , on Friday announced the appointment of former Unilever executive Vishal Gupta as executive vice president of its consumer beauty brands.

Gupta joins Nykaa after nearly three decades of experience working across the FMCG sector. Prior to joining Nykaa, Gupta worked at Unilever Russia, where he led the beauty and personal care business.

Gupta, an alumni of IIT Delhi and IIM Bengaluru, has worked across businesses and brands in India, Indonesia, Southeast Asia and Russia. At Nykaa, he will lead the beauty retailers private labels business across colored cosmetics as well as skin care. These are products such as lipsticks, face masks and eye makeup that the company sells under the Nykaa brand.

Nykaas own beauty brands have been built on the principles of quality, authenticity, and inclusivity. This approach to brand building is what has led us to become much loved by the Indian consumer. Vishal now has the responsibility of carrying on its rich legacy, and taking brand Nykaa to even greater heights, and into more consumers hearts," said Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO, Nykaa.

I am excited to join Nykaa to help build its dynamic portfolio of consumer beauty brands that have become iconic in the Indian beauty ecosystem," Gutpa said.

Nykaa operates multiple online platforms including Nykaa Fashion, Nykaa Man, apart from its flagship beauty store. Nykaa offers over 4,500 brands and over 4.6 million product stock keeping units through its website and mobile applications.
Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee had his right to work at the company restored by South Korea, opening the way for him to formally take the helm of the countrys largest conglomerate roiled by global demand and supply shocks.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has cleared the heir to the countrys biggest company of bribery charges, for which Lee spent 18 months in prison before his release on parole a year ago. Samsungs shares rose 1.3% in Seoul on the news.

The move comes as the global economy faces successive shocks from rising inflation, market disruption from the war in Ukraine and logistics snarls triggered by Chinas Covid Zero lockdowns, raising the threat of uncertainty for export-oriented Korea. Rising geopolitical tensions between the US and China over chip technology also complicate long-term operation plans for Samsung, which runs major fabs in the two largest economies.

In a bid to overcome the economic crisis by vitalizing the economy, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, whose suspended prison term was ended recently, will be reinstated," the Korean government said in a joint statement from its ministries.

54-year-old Lee has been granted a special pardon effective as of Aug. 15, the countrys independence anniversary. He had initially been sentenced to 30 months for alleged attempts to bribe a sitting president and win government support for his succession. The reinstatement will allow him to rejoin the board at the tech giant as well as travel overseas for deals.

Samsungs in a crisis as it has lost its two strengths: technology leadership and strict management," said Park Ju-gun, head of corporate research at Leaders Index. Theres an absence of a control tower making the right decisions at the right time to keep its leadership in the semiconductor industry."

The pardon enables Lee to officially regain his leadership role. Under the conditions of his parole, he was prevented from taking up employment for a period of five years and has only been receiving reports from company executives without having a proper board title. Lee is widely expected to expedite major strategic decisions ranging from chipmaking deals to governance reforms.

Samsung, the worlds largest producer of memory chips, smartphones and mobile displays, warned during its earnings call last month that the war, inflation and waning consumer demand made it immensely challenging to forecast the year ahead.

One of the key outstanding questions around Lee is whether hell seek to take over as chairman of the tech giant. Ever since Lees father, Lee Kun-hee, passed away in October 2020, the post to oversee the $280 billion company has remained vacant. Still, Lees legal woes will not be cleared for the next few years as hes being separately prosecuted in relation to a merger of some Samsung subsidiaries and will be attending weekly hearings related to that case.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
Hyderabad based-Biological E Ltd (BE)'s recently approved heterologous Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax to be available as a booster dose on the COWIN App in both public and private vaccination centres from 12 August, the firm said on 11 August.

The Union Health Ministry approved Corbevax as India's first heterologous COVID-19 booster shot for 18 years and above after the six months of administration of the primary vaccination doses of Covaxin or Covishield. All the people  taken Covaxin or Covishield  can be administrated a Corbevax booster shot in "emergency use authorisation"

Following COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) recommendation, the ministry approved Corbevax for emergency use.

ALSO READ: Corbevax approved as booster for those jabbed with Covishield, Covaxin: Report

"This approval came after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the vaccine for emergency use as a heterologous COVID-19 booster dose for individuals aged 18 years on June 4, 2022," an official statement from the BE said.

Apart from this, the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company said that the Corbevax had received emergency use authorization as a primary two-dose vaccination regimen in adults, adolescents and children aged 5 years and above, in a series of approvals from December'21 to April'22.

"Pan-India roll-out of the booster shot vaccine in children aged between 12 to 14 years was initiated on March 16, 2022 and till now almost 7 crore doses have been administered and 2.9 crore children completed their two-dose vaccination regimen," it said.

The Corbevax manufacturer claims its vaccine has undergone comprehensive booster trials on Indian subjects and subsequently received approval from the Indian regulatory authority.

The Corbevax uses a traditional recombinant protein-based technology, which is also used for vaccines such as Hepatitis B.

"Corbevax has become the first vaccine in India to be approved as a heterologous COVID-19 booster. The approval by the Ministry of Health today is another important step in combating the pandemic. We are very pleased with this endorsement, which recognizes the safety and efficacy of our vaccine," Biological E. Limited's MD Mahima Datla said.

The price of Corbevax for private COVID-19 vaccination centres is 250, inclusive of the Goods and Sales tax. While, for the end-user, the price of the vaccine is 400, including taxes and administrative charges.

With PTI/ANI inputs.
A French Air and Space Force contingent, including three Rafale jets, made a strategically crucial stopover at the IAF's Sulur base in Tamil Nadu as part of a mega military operation it carried out in the Pacific Ocean.

The support provided by the Indian Air Force to the French force reflected the implementation of the reciprocal logistics support agreement signed by France and India in 2018 to boost military cooperation.

A French readout said on Thursday that the cooperation with the Indian Air Force demonstrated a high level of mutual trust and interoperability between the two sides.

It said the French contingent was hosted for a technical stopover at Air Force Station Sulur on August 10 and 11 during a long-distance deployment from metropolitan France to the Pacific Ocean.

The French Air and Space Force is carrying out a major long-range mission in the Indo-Pacific, code-named Pegase 22, from August 10 to September 18.

"The first stage of this mission aims to demonstrate France's capacity for long-distance air power projection by deploying an Air Force contingent from metropolitan France to the French territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean in less than 72 hours (10th-12th August)," the statement said.

"To achieve this unprecedented 16,600-km deployment, the Air Force contingent made a technical stopover in India, at Air Force Station Sulur," it said.

The contingent comprises three Rafale jets and support aircraft.

"Landing at Air Force Station Sulur on August 10th evening, it flew out in the early hours of 11th August after refuelling, en route to New Caledonia," the readout noted.

"The operation demonstrated a high level of mutual trust and interoperability between the French and Indian Air Forces, which has been further boosted by the fact that both Air Forces now fly Rafale jets," it said.

The readout mentioned the cooperation between the two air forces illustrated the "concrete" implementation of the reciprocal logistics support agreement.

"France is a resident power of the Indo-Pacific, and this ambitious long-distance air power projection demonstrates our commitment to the region and our partners," French Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said, lauding the IAF's role in the successful operation.

He said it is only natural that to carry out this mission, France relied on India, and described it as France's "foremost strategic partner in Asia".

In the following stages of Mission Pegase 22, the French Air Force contingent will take part in the "Pitch Black" air exercise taking place in Australia from August 17 to September 10.

The Indian Air Force will also participate in this multilateral drill, along with Australia, Japan, the US, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, the UK, and South Korea.

Mission Pegase 22 is a powerful demonstration of France's capacity for quick deployment in the Indo-Pacific.

"The mission is also proof that the security situation in Europe has not diminished the French and European commitment in the Indo-Pacific. In this respect, it also aims to strengthen ties with key strategic partners," the French readout said. PTI MPB ZMN

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Courtesy Goodwill San Antonio

Editor's note: The original version of this story included an address for the new Goodwill location as being located in Converse instead of Live Oak - Warren Brown, deputy editor

Goodwill, the consignment store where one could find a decent fit and other affordable items if they look hard enough, is laying the early groundwork for a new store in the San Antonio area. The new Goodwill store will come in at 25,104 square-feet, according to a recent filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Click here to read the full article.

Nineteen up-and-coming producers from 12 countries across Southeast Europe and the wider Black Sea region have been selected to take part in the first edition of the CineLink Producers Lab, a new networking and training program launched by the industry arm of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Taking place from Aug. 12-15 as part of the CineLink Industry Days program, the lab was conceived to help prepare emerging producers for a rapidly changing market, according to Sarajevos head of industry Masa Markovic. We really wanted to have something that is more catered to [the producers] needs, she said. This is a really unique generation, and its a specific moment in a producers career.

Markovic noted how the rise of both regional and global streaming services has brought fresh investment into the region, disrupted the traditional supply chain and afforded new opportunities to local producers.

She also pointed to the dramatic, paradigm-shifting events of the past two years, when the coronavirus pandemic upended the industrys typical approach to doing business.

You have young producers who entered the market, maybe in 2018 or 2019, and didnt manage to build their own network of peers. They spent two years behind their desk screens, said Markovic. A producers career is based on establishing contacts, and you have a bunch of emerging producers that didnt manage to do it.

The three-day training program will offer participants skill-building sessions with a host of veteran filmmakers and industry experts. They will also be granted access to all CineLink Industry Days events, presenting a chance to network not only with leading directors, producers, broadcasters, and financers from across the region, but industry players from around the world making the journey to the Bosnian capital.

Its not only a question of networking, but also giving them another perspective on the things they can work with more experienced professionals from the region, said Markovic. We were working with producers that were helping us to establish the market for 20 years, and these producers now have their own junior producers. And these junior producers are facing completely different challenges production-wise in the region than their bosses have been. Theyre creating [a new] industry.

The participants of the first CineLink Producers Lab are Nazl Bulum (Turkey); Diana Caravia, MicroFILM (Romania); Cagla Caglar, Caglar Motion Pictures & Film (Turkey); Mina Dreki, Marni Films (Greece); Lamija apo, SCCA/pro.ba (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Maria Ibrahimova, Cinex Productions (Azerbaijan); Goce Kralevski, DNF Films (North Macedonia); Marija Lero (Serbia); Milos Ljubomirovic, Servia Films (Serbia); Tekla Machavariani, Nushi Films (Georgia); Tea Matanovic, Antitalent (Croatia); Elena Martin, Manifest Film (Romania); Genoveva Petrovits, Kino Alfa (Hungary); Anja Sekulic, Roundabout Montenegro (Montenegro); Fani Skartouli, Either/Or Productions (Greece); Tadej Koren Smid, Studio Virc d.o.o. (Slovenia); Ana Vidovic, Digital Cinema Environment (Croatia); Ana Voicu, Tangaj Production (Romania); and Miljan Vucelic, Bitter Frames Production (Montenegro).

Below is a selection of projects from the rising producers slates:

Maria Ibrahimova (Azerbaijan)

Project: Hazel Eyes

Director: Maria Ibrahimova

Writers: Maria Ibrahimova and Lala Aliyeva-Klychkova

Producers: Maria Ibrahimova, Zeynep Atakan, Olga Matat, Silvana Santamaria, Adolf El Assal, Anna Maria Aslanoglu

After losing all he holds dear in a senseless war, Hasan, an elderly refugee, is evacuated to Baku. Despondent and suicidal he has survivor guilt and feels that he has nothing left to live for. On a rare trip to the bazaar, he encounters an old friend who has just returned from Iran and reveals something that makes Hasan want to live again. Re-born, he goes on a journey to recover the only thing he has left of his home: his best friend and beloved horse Hazel Eyes.

Elena Martin, Manifest Film (Romania)

Project: Tomorrow Is Not a Promise

Director: Monica Lazurean-Gorgan

Writer: Monica Lazurean-Gorgan

Producers: Monica Lazurean-Gorgan and Elena Martin (Manifest Film)

The film documents the practice of hunting, reflecting on the nature of humankind. While making this documentary, the director is questioning her ethical approach in relation to the characters, the theme and the entire filmmaking process.

Milos Ljubomirovic, Servia Films (Serbia)

Project: Misty in Roots

Director: Milos Ljubomirovic

Writers: Abdel Rahim Hherawi and Boris Grgurovic

Producer: Milos Ljubomirovic (Servia Films)

In mid-eighties Yugoslavia, a young, stubborn, know-it-all soldier is tasked with driving his superior officer across the country to an alcohol rehab clinic.

Anja Sekulic, Roundabout Montenegro (Montenegro)

Project: Searching for Lotika

Director: Irena Skoric

Writers: Irena Skoric, Jelena Djurovic, Kosta Pesevski

Producers: Predrag Jakovljevic (Oktobar Film, Serbia), Irena Skoric (Artizana Film, Croatia), Anja Sekulic (Roundabout Montenegro, Montenegro), Danijel Hocevar (Vertigo, Slovenia)

The film follows the mysterious Jewish widow Lotika, the first businesswoman in the Balkans and one of the most memorable characters in Nobel laureate Ivo Andrics famous novel The Bridge on the Drina. It is a road movie about finding Lotikas truth from Poland to Israel, but also about burying family wounds.

Miljan Vucelic, Bitter Frames Production (Montenegro)

Project: Nothing Will Be Named After Me

Director: Djordje Vojvodic

Writers: Maja Todorovic, Nikola Ljuca, Djordje Vojvodic

Producer: Miljan Vucelic

Maxim, once the most powerful man in the country, recovers from a stroke and tries to regain the power he lost during his recovery.

Fani Skartouli, Either/Or Productions (Greece)

Project: Glory B

Director: Konstantinos Antonopoulos

Writers: Konstantinos Antonopoulos and Luigi Campi

Producer: Fani Skartouli

703 A.D. Two pilloried convicts shipwreck on a deserted Mediterranean island. Zaharias is a peaceful beekeeper falsely convicted of heresy. Justinian II is a dethroned emperor, punished with nose mutilation. If they want to survive and reclaim their lives, they need each other. But they cant handle each other.

Tea Matanovic, Antitalent (Croatia)

Project: The Premise of the Ocean

Director: Tea Matanovic

Writer: Tea Matanovic

Producer: Tea Matanovic

A lovable but grumpy professor emeritus causes a university scandal with his insolent behavior in a small town near the Adriatic Sea. Forced by the college administration, he takes a break from work and embarks on a sudden adventure that will change his life circumstances, actions and relationships. Just like the ocean in which he will swim for the first time, he will realize what lay hidden in him all these years.

Tekla Machavariani, Nushi Film (Georgia)

Project: Milk & Honey

Director: Tornike Gogrichiani

Producer: Tekla Machavariani

In the suburbs of the Georgian town Kutaisi, the paths of teenage boys from the same school diverge from each other, as one struggles to become a rapper and the other the leader of a street gang. A strong attraction draws them together, but at the same time drives them apart.

Genoveva Petrovits, Kino Alfa (Hungary)

Project: Democracy Work in Progress

Director: Mihaly Schwechtje

Writer: Mihaly Schwechtje

Producer: Szabolcs Hajdu (Latokep, Hungary)

Robert Mraviks life turns upside-down when one of his examinees, the political activist Julia Polgar, refuses to pay him the usual bribe for getting a drivers license.

Mina Dreki, Marni Films (Greece)

Project: Paperplanes

Director: Selini Papageorgiou

Writer: Selini Papageorgiou

Producer: Mina Dreki (Marni Films, Greece)

When Nefeli finds herself locked up in the house of a stranger, the time spent in quarantine with him will change her for good.

Goce Kralevski, DNF Films (North Macedonia)

Project: Things Unsaid (pictured)

Director: Eleonora Veninova

Writer: Eleonora Veninova

Producers: Goce Kralevski and Mirjana Tomic (Lilith)

Photographer Anna and her husband Fillip are at their summer house when their peace is disturbed by the arrival of Maya, the daughter of their longtime friends, whom they havent seen in a long time. One night, when Maya returns to the house covered in blood, Anna and Maya share a strange moment of intimacy. Mayas secret infatuation with Anna uncovers all things unsaid that Anna and Fillip have kept from each other for years.

Ana Voicu, Tangaj Production (Romania)

Project: Vasiles Vacation

Writers: Bogdan Theodor Olteanu and Adrian Nicolae

Director: Bogdan Theodor Olteanu

Producer: Ana Voicu (Tangaj Production)

A forensic police officer has a seemingly trivial murder to solve, but as he nears the end of the investigation, he dives deeper into a bottomless pit of bureaucracy, political influence and organized crime.

Cagla Caglar, Caglar Motion Pictures & Film (Turkey)

Project: The Wealth

Director: Muzaffer Mehmet Caglar

Writers: Muzaffer Mehmet Caglar and Tahsin Yetkin

Producer: Cagla Caglar

The deathbed of Mr. Mehmet, who is a well-known and prestigious merchant in his Anatolian city, will turn into an opportunity for some. The expectations of his acquaintances and friends who visit him on his sickbed are in line with their own interests. His closest relatives are contemplating the inheritance that hell leave behind. Their conflicts of interest will mirror the sociological condition of Turkey, which has been changing and transforming for a long time.

Diana Caravia, microFILM (Romania)

Project: Still Nia

Director: Paula Onet

Writer: Paula Onet

Producers: Diana Caravia and Ada Solomon (microFILM, Romania)

Co-producer: Cedric Bonin (Seppia, France)

Stefania, called Nia as a child, emerges from a 15-year-long traumatic amnesia. She confronts the overwhelming memories of her childhood spent in Romanian hospitals due to a misdiagnosis. At 33 years old, she finds herself on the brink of an identity and existential crisis and undertakes an inner exploration through various bodily practices (contemporary dance, sensitive movement) and by taking refuge in her own imagination, mixing her childhood dreams with reinvented memories. On the border of reality and fiction, the film accompanies her in this path to resilience, of making peace with her own past, her own body and thus, her own present.

Nazl Bulum (Turkey)

Project: I Love You, Turkey

Directors: Ceren Ercan, Nazl Bulum

Writers: Ceren Ercan, Nazl Bulum

Producers: Yagmur Dolkun, Nazl Bulum

The citys water supply has been cut off, and at a laundromat, five people who have been questioning their sense of belonging to their country cross paths. The owner of the laundromat starts to fabricate strange evidence against them from their dirty laundry, claiming to have received certain instructions to do so. Stuck at the laundromat, they face memories that theyve long suppressed. As time and space begin to shift and reality increasingly fades away, music will either become their path to revolution, or another illusion they take shelter in to escape the truth.

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Day Shift is a vampire thriller stuffed with lock-and-load ultraviolence, starring Jamie Foxx in imperious badass mode. At heart, though, its a knowingly eccentric goof of a movie, to the point that its hard, for a while, not to find it agreeable, even as you register what a preposterous piece of fluff it is. Unfortunately, its also an arduous piece of fluff. , especially when the rules are applied as inconsistently as they are here. Directed by J.J. Perry, Day Shift wants to be a dessert drenched in blood. That gives it flavor but also weighs it down.

Foxx plays Bud Jablonski, a Los Angeles vampire hunter whose day job is driving around in an ancient pick-up truck to clean and service swimming pools in the San Fernando Valley. Buds one and only goal is to get his hands on $10,000, which he needs to pay for the braces and grade-school tuition of his 8-year-old daughter, Paige (Zion Broadnax). (If he doesnt have the money by Monday, his ex-wife, played by Meagan Good, will move the kid to Florida.) He plans to get the cash by selling vampire fangs, which, once extracted, can be quite valuable, depending on which bloodsucker they come from.

Sounds simple, right? But Day Shift, which is at once an undead action movie, a cheeky good cop/crazy cop buddy comedy, and the tale of a tough but saintly divorced dad out to save his family, is one of the more perversely twisty vampire flicks in recent memory. There are, in this movie, five types of vampires, organized by age: Southern, Eastern, Spider, Uber, and Juvenile. Got it? Dont worry if you dont, because none of it comes to much.

How do you kill the vamps? By blasting them through the heart with special African hard wood, then cutting their heads off with a silver blade. Theres a black-market sunblock that allows the vamps to be out in the SoCal daylight for maybe 20 minutes. (That doesnt come to much either.) And once theyre killed, they release a special gas that youve got to get off you. Bud has a special orange-yellow powder to use in the shower for that. Important rule: Dont let the powder get in your butthole!

That the vampires are killed by decapitation is the closest the film comes to having an inviolable law (sort of like Kill the brain and you kill the ghoul). Until, that is, a key vampire gets decapitated only to place his head right back on himself, like something out of An American Werewolf in London. There are also vamps who are loyal to humans rather than other vampires. Why even ask why?

Day Shift is the sort of movie where Bud enters a suburban house, and there are two teenagers playing video games (theyre juvie vamps), and after they get blown away, Bud realizes that the house is a vampire hive, at which point one of the vampire-hunter brothers he has hooked up with announces, Showtime, bro! Cue the vampire extras in pale makeup and what look like costume-shop fangs bursting through doors, dropping through ceilings, and clawing through walls to become instant ballistic fodder. The vampire combat scenes arent particularly suspenseful, because they all come down to the same thing: The gun blasts send the vamps hurtling backward, but they instantly repair and continue to come at you  spinning and doing spider-walks, attacking in a contorted frenzy. Until, that is, you can chop the head off, which this movie does with an abandon that becomes numbing.

The chief baddie is a glamorous vampire real-estate agent, Audrey (Karla Souza), who is out to colonize the Valley by setting up the houses there as vampire hives. Unfortunately for her, Foxxs Bud is a military veteran whos totally mercenary about vampire killing, fiercely cut-and-dried in his action mega-moves. His vampire-hunter-as-working-stiff vibe is tied to the films flakiest and, in a way, most original element. In L.A., it seems that theres a union of vampire hunters  literally a workers union, like the Teamsters. Bud used to belong to it but was kicked out for violating so many regulations. But his legendary mentor, Big John (Snoop Dogg), has the clout to get Bud reinstated.

Once youre in the union, you can sell vampire fangs for much more money. But to do so, Bud has to agree to go on the hunt with Seth (Dave Franco), a desk jockey whos there to make sure he doesnt violate any union codes. Hes like the rookie cop assigned to ride with the reckless veteran trasher of protocol, only in this case the newbie is a geek full of terror who keeps pissing his pants.

Jamie Foxx is such a good actor that he gives even a skewed product like this one the benefit of his quick-cut retorts and genre-hero mystique. But Day Shift, instead of becoming more invested in Buds situation, starts to leave the human story on the back burner. It turns into a free-for-all around the time that Big John shows up with a circular machine gun, which fires rounds with such a punishing show of velocity and force that after he rips through a roomful of vampires, it takes a moment for us to realize that they should all still be alive since none of them was decapitated. By then, its the movie that has lost its head.

Reviewed online, Aug. 10, 2022. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 113 MIN.

Production

A Netflix release of an 8711 production. Producers: Shaun Redick, Yvette Yates Redick, Jason Spitz, Chad Stahelski. Executive producers: Jamie Foxx, Datari Turner, Peter Baxter, Charles J.D. Schlissel, Alex Young.

Crew

Director: J.J. Perry. Screenplay: Tyler Tice, Shay Hatten. Camera: Toby Oliver. Editor: Paul Harb. Music: Tyler Bates.

With

Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Peter Stormare, Snoop Dogg, Meagan Good, Karla Souza, Steve Howey, Scott Adkins, Oliver Masucci, Eric Lange, Danielle Kennedy, Shai Debroux.

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Jennette McCurdys new memoir is a barrage of bombshells, beginning with its title: Im Glad My Mom Died. And people are taking notice, as the book soared to #4 on Amazons best-seller charts (and #2 in memoirs), before the physical copy sold out on Amazon, Target, and Barnes & Noble altogether. Luckily, you can still pick up the former Nickelodeon stars tell-all at Walmart.com, or buy the Kindle e-book on Amazon (Amazon is also expected to re-stock the book online here).

Buy: I'm Glad My Mom Died at $27.99

Im Glad My Mom Died centers around the abuse McCurdy suffered from her mother, but it also recounts the manipulative, inappropriate treatment of child stars at Nickelodeon. Although some have been critical of McCurdys title, the overall response has been positive. There shouldnt be no Jennette McCurdy discourse tbh  just endless support, reads one Tweet that received 120,00 Likes.

In the book, the iCarly star remembers anorexia-inducing body shaming, manipulation through her mothers religion (Mormonism), and falsified paternity  all at the hands of her mom.

Im in the ICU with my dying mother, writes the 30-year-old, and the thing that Im sure will get her to wake up is the fact that in the days since moms been hospitalized, my fear and sadness have morphed into the perfect anorexia-motivation cocktail and, finally, I have achieved moms current goal weight for me. Eighty-nine pounds.

The memoir also delves into the underbelly of Nickelodeon. McCurdy was one of the networks stars in the late oughts and 2010s, playing Sam in iCarly and the shows spin-off, Sam & Cat, with Ariana Grande.

At Nickelodeon, The Creator (who is likely iCarlys creator and producer, Dan Schneider) pressured McCurdy to wear bikinis, drink alcohol before she was of legal drinking age, and massaged her without consent. I want to say something, to tell him to stop, she writes, but Im so scared of offending him. At one point, McCurdy declined $300,000 in hush money from the network.

McCurdy also details frustrations with Ariana Grande, her co-star on Sam & Cat, who was allowed to ditch filming sessions for other opportunities, while McCurdy was not. So I have to turn down movies while Arianas off whistle-toning at the Billboard Music Awards? Fuck. This, writes McCurdy.

Pick up Im Glad My Mom Died now at Walmart.com, or buy the Kindle version on Amazon.com.
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Amazing Grace arrived in theaters in 2019, some 47 years after the Aretha Franklin concert film was shot in a South L.A. church. The path to the screen was strewn with litigation  including an aborted premiere at the Telluride Film Festival that was halted by an injunction.

The film won raves from critics and was one of the years top grossing documentaries. But three years after its release, the litigation goes on.

On Wednesday, producer Alan Elliott filed suit in New York, accusing indie distributor Neon of botching the films release and awards campaign.

Elliott alleges that Neon prematurely announced it had acquired the film, scaring off potential rivals, and then failed to live up to its obligations once the deal was done. The suit alleges that Neon failed to properly market the film, particularly in African American communities.

Neon kept the Picture out of theaters and away from the communities where its release would be most impactful, and instead licensed the Picture to streamers such as Hulu, the lawsuit alleges. The suit also accuses Neon of engaging in Hollywood accounting and of deliberately kneecapping the films success in order to avoid paying out performance bonuses.

In a statement, Neon denied the allegations.

We are extremely proud of the campaign and release weve forged for Amazing Grace,' the distributor said. Our goal was and remains to honor the iconic, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin by continuing to make this film as widely available as possible for all audiences to enjoy her raw, timeless talent. At this time we will refrain from making any comment on this meritless and baseless claim, and look forward to defending our quality of work and reputation.

Sydney Pollack shot the film in 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church. But technical problems with syncing the sound to the picture caused it to be shelved for decades. Elliott, described in the suit as a longtime admirer of Franklins, ultimately rescued the footage, acquired the rights and oversaw the completion of the film. Legal wrangling with Franklin and her family was not resolved until after her death in 2018.

That fall, Elliott announced that he would premiere the film at the DOC NYC festival, along with week-long Oscar-qualifying runs in New York and Los Angeles ahead of a general release in the spring of 2019. At the time, he said hed been told by agents and publicists that it might be better to wait a year, to give a distributor the chance to do a multimillion dollar awards campaign.

But he said he thought the film could contend in the documentary category  and for best picture  on just word of mouth.

The film was not nominated for best documentary  Free Solo won that year  nor was it nominated for best picture. It did receive nominations at a number of film festivals, and won an NAACP Image Award.

In the lawsuit, Elliott accuses Neon of having abandoned any effort to promote the Pictures awards run, despite the fact that the Picture was widely considered an Oscar contender, and heavy favorite, in its category. The suit also claims that Neon failed to submit the film for awards consideration.

The following year, Neon released Honeyland, which was nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary and best international feature, and Parasite, which won best picture and three other Oscars. More recently, Neon released the Oscar contenders Flee and The Worst Person in the World. The company is now exploring a sale.

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Former President Donald Trump is calling for the immediate release of documents related to Mondays federal raid on his Florida compound, saying he will not oppose the Department of Justices request to unseal all warrants and property receipts associated with the investigation.

In a characteristically rambling post on his Truth Social platform late Thursday evening, Trump called the search of his Mar-a-Lago property unAmerican [sic], unwarranted, and unnecessary, and doubled down on his claim that the investigation into whether he absconded from the White House with unauthorized materials and documents  a violation of the Presidential Records Act  is nothing but a partisan witch hunt designed to further tarnish his reputation. He stated the Justice Department documents have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, before boasting about his approval ratings.

This unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement is inappropriate and highly unethical, Trump wrote. The world is watching as our Country is being brought to a new low, not only on our border, crime, economy, energy, national security, and so much more, but also with respect to our sacred elections. Trump ended the post with a singular rallying cry: Release the documents now!

Earlier Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Justice Department would file a motion to unseal documents associated with the raid, citing substantial public interest in this matter. Later that evening, The Washington Post published a report citing numerous sources who revealed that documents relating to nuclear weapons and other classified intelligence were among the items federal agents sought to retrieve from Mar-a-Lago  although officials have publicly remained tight-lipped on the contents of the warrants pending Trumps approval of the motion.

Trumps statement comes as the beleaguered former president and his sycophants have grown increasingly paranoid of the federal governments intentions behind the raid  with Trump going so far as to suggest someone in his inner circle is leaking information to officials, or that his communications were being monitored by Biden, as revealed by a Rolling Stone report earlier this week. In recent days, prominent right-wing politicians called for the defunding of the Justice Department and FBI, while Trump-friendly media outlets perpetuated the notion that the investigation signals the crumbling of American democracy. When we get power back, its time to hold everyone accountable, Fox News host Laura Ingraham said Monday. The military leadership, the civilian leadership, the civil service, those in Congress who have abused their power  all of them have to be held accountable.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Courtesy/U.S. Border Patrol Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Courtesy/U.S. Border Patrol Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Courtesy/U.S. Border Patrol Show More Show Less 5 of 5









Federal and state authorities shut down a stash house with 14 migrants, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

The case unfolded on Aug. 10, when Laredo South Station agents assisted the Texas Department of Public Safety with a stash house located on South Meadow Avenue.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Whether it's the fitness tracker on your wrist, the smart home appliances in your house or the latest kids fad going viral in online videos, they all produce a trove of personal data for big tech companies.

How that data is being used and protected has led to growing public concern and officials outrage. And now federal regulators are looking at drafting rules to crack down on what they call harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security.

The Federal Trade Commission announced the initiative Thursday, seeking public comment on the effects of companies data collection and the potential benefit of new rules to protect consumers privacy.

The FTC defines commercial surveillance as the business of collecting, analyzing and profiting from information about people.

In Congress, bipartisan condemnation of the data power of Meta  the parent of Facebook and Instagram  Google and other tech giants that have earned riches by aggregating consumer information used by online advertisers, has brought national data privacy legislation to its closest point ever to passage.

Around the country, parents concern has deepened over the impact of social media on children. Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist, stunned Congress and the public last fall when she exposed internal company research showing apparent serious harm to some teens from Instagram. Those revelations were followed by senators grilling executives from YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat about what theyre doing to ensure young users safety in the wake of suicides and other harms to teens attributed by their parents to their usage of the platforms.

As concerns rise, social media platforms from Snapchat to TikTok to Instagram are adding new features they say will make their services safer and more age appropriate. But the changes rarely address the algorithms pushing endless content that can drag anyone, not just teens, into harmful rabbit holes.

The Democratic members of the FTC said Thursday its imperative for Congress to pass a new law, but that the agency was taking action in the meantime by issuing the notice of proposed rules.

Mass surveillance has heightened the risks and stakes of data breaches, deception, manipulation and other abuses, the FTC said..

Agency officials noted that the FTC has brought hundreds of enforcement actions against companies over the last two decades for violations of privacy and data security. They included cases involving the sharing of health-related data with third parties, the collection and sharing of sensitive TV viewing data for targeted advertising, and failure to put in adequate security measures to protect sensitive data such as Social Security numbers.

However, the officials said, the FTCs ability to deter illegal conduct is limited because it generally lacks authority to seek financial penalties for initial violations of law. That could change if the comprehensive privacy legislation were to clear Congress.

Firms now collect personal data on individuals at a massive scale and in a stunning array of contexts, FTC Chair Lina Khan said in an online news conference. Our goal today is to begin building a robust public record to inform whether the FTC should issue rules to address commercial surveillance and data security practices, and what those rules should potentially look like.

We are very, very eager to hear from the public, Khan said.

Topics of interest could include how companies use algorithms and automated systems to analyze the information they collect, and the potential effects of various data practices.

Khan, who was an outspoken critic of Big Tech as a law professor, was appointed by President Joe Biden last year to head the FTC  an independent agency that polices competition and consumer protection as well as digital privacy.

The rulemaking proposal was adopted in a 3-2 vote by the five FTC commissioners. Khan and the other two Democrats voted to issue it, while the two Republicans opposed it.

On Tuesday, Snapchat introduced new parental controls in what it calls the Family Center"  a tool that lets parents see who their teens are messaging, though not the content of the messages themselves. Both parents and their children have to opt into the service.

__

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The Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center Board of Directors and Joe Brand held a press conference at the luxury apparel store on Thursday where they announced the fundraising event Runway for a Cause.

The fashion show will take place on Nov. 10 at the Laredo Country Club.

Russell Cerda, who recently took over as the RBC Board of Directors president, announced the event and asked for the generosity of the community.

We are gathered here today to announce the fundraiser event that is hosted by Joe Brand and the Deutsch Family. We are here to ask for the support of the whole community to this event, he said.

Additionally, Cerda said that besides the fashion show, there will be raffles, live auctions and more.

Cerda also spoke about the increasing needs Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center has due to more people asking for services.

Because of the onset of COVID and the true number of people who continue to have issues with their illnesses or due to sequels of COVID, we have to expand our services, and therefore we have a real need to provide services to more and more people from Laredo, he said.

Cerda also said that due to this new situation, they added positions to the board of directors in order to raise more money and expand their efforts.

We are a young board, he said. I recently became board president, and we added some new board positions in order to expand our efforts.

We want to be able to have more of an impact on our fundraiser abilities. With more people we have helping us, the better chances we have to provide more services to the community through our rehabilitation center.

Cerda thanked Joe Brand and the community for their support.

We are also here to truly thank Joe Brand and the Deutsch family and their efforts to help support us and we also seek for the support of others in the community, he said.

Jacqueline Rodriguez, Executive Director at Ruthe B. Cowl, also asked for the support of the community.

Now, more than ever, Ruthe B. Cowl needs the help of the community. We have always helped patients who need rehabilitation, and as you know, no one is exempt to need the help of our center, she said. More than help and support to our center, it is an investment in the future of our families.

She said that they have seen an increase of people in need of rehabilitation services due to COVID.

Right now, besides our regular patients, we see patients who were infected with COVID and who have sequels, people who were left with disabilities, who sometimes have to learn to walk again, to learn how to talk, or how to eat. It's a tremendous life change and we try to get them to reach the highest goal so they can gain back the skills they lost.

She also thanked Joe Brand for their efforts in helping Ruthe B. Cowl with this fundraising event.

The Joe Brand family have done a lot of fundraisers. This, in particular, is a great event. It is like a fashion show in New York City or Paris with professional models and great designers, she said.

She added that the last time they held Runway for a Cause, they raised $200,000.

I want to thank Joe Brand and the Deutsch family for their support and thanks to our community who supports us, Rodriguez said. I invite you to attend this magnificent event.

Lisa Deutsch Hinojosa and Terri Deutsch, owners at Joe Brand, Inc., said that they have been supporting Ruthe B. Cowl since 1960.

They spoke about the fashion trends they will be featuring during this event.

We try to select those garments that are the most fashionable and we try to present new fashion designers from the city and from around the world, said Terri. This year we will have a Colombian designer, a French designer, and for the gentlemen, a Canadian designer. We also invite those designers to come and attend the event.

For more information about the event, contact Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilitation Center at 956-722-2431.

mcharur@lmtonline.com
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The defense attorney for an Austin-based OnlyFans and Instagram model, who was charged with murder after her arrest Wednesday, said she acted in self-defense, NBC 6 reported.

Courtney Clenney, who goes by Courtney Tailor online, was taken into custody in Hawaii Wednesday and charged with murder for allegedly killing Christian "Toby" Obumseli, the Hawai'i Police Department said in a press release. The charges stem from an April 3 altercation at their that ended in Clenney stabbing Obumseli, officials said.
Chattanooga police responded to calls about undocumented immigrants being dropped off at a local hotel on Friday morning.

Police received calls from residents claiming that undocumented immigrants were dropped off at Comfort Inn and Suites in Lookout Valley by a bus line called Coastal Crew Company.

This is the same bus company that tried to drop off immigrants on Wednesday in Dade County.

UPDATE: Second bus carrying undocumented immigrants found in Dade County on Friday According to the Dade County Sheriff's Office, the bus was found at the Pilot gas station in Rising Fawn, where the first one was found on Wednesday.

Sheriff Ray Cross told Local 3 News, the driver was taking the passengers from Texas to Washington, DC.

The governors of Texas and Arizona have been bussing migrants to the nations capital and some of those migrants were caught trying to enter the country illegally.

Chattanooga police say they responded to the scene but all parties had left by the time they arrived.

Police say any investigation that may come will be handled by the federal government.

Stay with the Local 3 News app for updates to this developing story.
The Senate recently passed Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff's legislation to boost solar manufacturing in America.

The Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act is aimed at strengthening American energy independence and reducing dependence of overseas imports, as well as creating more jobs, lowering energy costs, and more.

What this bill is going to do is incentivize direct manufacturing products in the United States. It is going to give us more control over our supply chains and that is how we strengthen our energy independence by producing more of these products at home, Scott Moskowitz said.

Scott Moskowitz is the Head of Public Affairs for QCELLS, a solar manufacturing company in Dalton.

He said the Senates decision is timely with the company's recent announcement.

It currently employs about 750 people and we are in the process of expanding and nearly doubling its capacity. We are going to bring on another 470 workers, well over a thousand people employed full time at that site in Dalton. That new investment of 171 million dollars is on top of what we originally invested. It makes that site the leading solar panel manufacturing facility in the country, Moskowitz said.

SEMA will help QCELLS produce other expansions in the future, continuing to help the industry grow.

Moskowitz said this is just one step in meeting the demand for solar energy.

Solar in most years is the leading form of new energy installed in the United States. We are installing more solar than we are natural gas, wind, and any other type of energy technology at the moment, Moskowitz said.

He thanks Senators Ossoff and Warnock for their on-going support of clean energy and clean energy manufacturing.

We have not had anything like this in the United States in a long time even though we want it to be a key manufacturer of advanced technology like this. Georgia remains a fantastic place to be in the advanced manufacturing industry. We have a diverse set of businesses and industries here and a great high quality workforce, Moskowitz said.
UPDATE: Another bus of undocumented immigrants was found on Friday in Dade County.

According to the Dade County Sheriff's Office, the bus was found at the Pilot gas station in Rising Fawn, where the first one was found on Wednesday.

The sheriff's office says deputies attempted to speak with the driver of the bus, but the driver refused and drove away.

Local 3 News is working to learn more.

Stay with the Local 3 News app for updates to this developing story.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Sheriff of Dade County witnessed a bus load of illegal immigrants being dropped off against their will at a rural gas station in Rising Fawn.

Sheriff Ray Cross says they were meant to be taken from Texas to Washington, D.C. and he believes the bus driver was encouraging the immigrants to get off the bus on the way.

"They were telling us the bus driver was encouraging them to get off here, and that it wasn't far from Chattanooga," said Sheriff Cross.

It was the Pilot gas station in Rising Fawn where immigrants were dropped off and told by the driver Chattanooga was within walking distance, when in reality its about a ten hour walk.

Sheriff Cross says when he talked with the immigrants, they didn't know why they were being dropped off and says they would have been stuck there in Rising Fawn with nowhere to go and no resources.

"I said that's like 20 miles away, I said 'do you want to get back on the bus and go to Chattanooga?' They said 'yes that's where we want to go is Chattanooga,' through the translator, so they did agree to get back on the bus," said Sheriff Cross.

Sheriff Cross says the bus load of immigrants he found were supposed to be taken to Washington, D.C. with Chattanooga being a destination on the way.

When he spoke with the bus driver, he said he was filling up gas in Rising Fawn and he could not legally stop the immigrants from getting off the bus.

"I'm sure this isn't the only small town this is happening at, if they shut that border down and do what they are supposed to do, this wouldn't be happening," said Sheriff Cross.

He says he contacted the Immigration and Naturalization Service who told him their hands are tied.

Cross blames the bus line for not handling the situation responsibly and also the federal government. He says his county can't throw them in jail and the government needs to do something to keep immigrants from migrating into rural towns.

"It's definitely small town becoming collateral damage based off the policy that is happening at the border," said Sergeant Chad Payne, with Dade County Sheriff's Office.

We did reach out to Coastal Crew Company, who own the bus line, to hear their side of the story but they refused to comment.
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The most recent flash flooding event on Wednesday dropped as much as 4-6" of rainfall across portions of the Tennessee Valley. Roadways, low-lying areas, and local farmland all took on excess flood water. The water has since receded, but the saturated ground left behind can slow down food production for local farmers.

"If the ground is really wet, a tractor can get stuck. Which means we have to wait to use the tractor to prepare our fields for fall, so it pushes back our planting and harvesting date," said Courtney Parker with Crabtree Farms.

Saturated grounds can put farmland at the risk of flooding, which can lead to additional issues.

"The way that it affects us is that it flows down the slope of the land into our backfield and completely saturates the soil. It also causes a lot of erosion in between our rows," said Parker.

Clay soil is the most common in our area and is known to drain poorly. Over time, farmers can balance their soil with organic compost such as manure to reduce the time that the ground remains saturated.

"Most of the soil around here is clay, which means that whenever it rains we are holding onto the water a lot longer compared to places that don't have clay in their soil," said Parker.

Farmers also plant cover crops such as clover and oats as a protective measure to reduce flood-related damages throughout the rainy season.
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Two Longford producers are among the Blas na hEireann, Irish Food Awards finalists.

The finalists shortlisted from Co Longford are Goodness Grains Gluten Free Bakery and The Farmhouse Bees and Trees Ltd.

The three-day Blas na hEireann, The Irish Food Awards, 2022 will take place from Thursday September 29 to Saturday, October 1 in Dingle with new and exciting additions for visitors and finalists to enjoy.

The team at Blas na hEireann have been hard at work to make sure an in-person event can go ahead, which will be the first time in two years that the great and good of the Irish food and drink industry can gather and enjoy the very best of Irish, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever before.

Now in its 15th year, Blas na hEireann saw a huge increase in entries across all categories along with many new producers entering the awards for the first time this year. During the judging, which took place over June and July, almost 3000 entries were judged, the highest on record.

Blas na hEireann Chairperson, Artie Clifford said, I cant tell you how thrilled we are to welcome everyone back to Dingle this year. We are in awe of the resilience of the people in our industry, and to see so many new producers and products come through again this year just makes the excitement for Blas 2022 even more palpable.

We have big plans for the return of Blas to Dingle and to our new location in the heart of the town. Whether youre a food lover in search of new tastes, a buyer looking for a trailblazing new product or a writer looking for a great story  Blas 2022 has it all, were ready to see our plans come to reality very soon and to be able to celebrate our amazing finalists and uncover the best of Irish food and drink for 2022.

This years Blas na hEireann awards in Dingle will see several new additions including the Eat Ireland in a Day tent and the Blas Village where the 2022 finalists will get the opportunity to showcase their products, engage with customers and meet key industry buyers.

With almost 3000 products entered in this years Blas na hEireann, making it as a finalist is a huge achievement and one to be very proud of. The competition ramps up year on year, meaning those producers who are short listed as finalists really are the creme de la creme of Irish food and drink.

For finalist producers it is not just their exceptional food & drink which will be celebrated in Dingle but the people themselves, the passionate producers who make the very best of Irish will be recognised and rewarded making this autumns Blas na hEireann a food event not to be missed!
Well known Longford D.J Oliver McNerney (aka Muldoon) is back on Irish soil for the next few weeks.

Oliver emigrated to Perth, Western Australia in 2009 where he lives with his wife Stella who unfortunately wasn't able to make the trip back to Ireland on this occasion.

It has been 5 years since Oliver has returned to his beloved Longford town due to Covid restrictions. He is delighted to be home on holidays and is looking forward to spending time with his son, daughter and grandchildren, three of which is the first time meeting them.

Freya Mary Sheridan, Skye Amaria McNerney and Lyra Faith McNerney are all delighted to meet their granddad in person for the first time. He is also looking forward to catching up with old friends and enjoying the best of Irish culture.

Many Longfordians tune in to Ollie's show Anything goes every Saturday morning from 8am to 10am Irish time on VCA Radio 88.5FM broadcasting online and mobile from Ellenbrook Western Australia. Listeners can text Ollie for requests to 0061450459217.

Ollie will be doing two farewell Golden Oldies Disco Shows, the first of which will be in Edward J Valentines on Friday 12th August from 9pm and again in Kane's Bar Longford on Saturday 20 August, both of which promises to be great nights.
Tech & Science, Local News, Business & Finance

By Chris Boyle Published: August 12 2022

First-in-the-Nation Legislation Offers Financial Assistance in Exchange for New Jobs, Capital Investment, and Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Governor Hochul has signed the groundbreaking, first-in-the-nation Green CHIPS legislation (S.9467/ A.10507) aimed at creating jobs, kick-starting economic growth and maintaining important environmental protections while making New York a hub for semiconductor (also known as "chips") manufacturing. Green CHIPS will help New York capitalize on a historic opportunity to attract chip manufacturers to the state, generating at least $3 billion investment, creating 500 new jobs per project, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions related to chip production. In doing so, the legislation will also help to make the everyday technologies that use these chips more affordable and improve the state's economic standing overall.

This new law also positions New York State to greatly benefit from the federal CHIPS and Science Act to increase domestic semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, which was signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden earlier this week. New York's Green CHIPS bill will help the State to conform to the requirements of the federal program, enhancing its competitiveness against other states looking to attract chip manufacturers, all while ensuring this expansion of advanced manufacturing is environmentally sustainable.

"New York is poised to lead the nation in semiconductor manufacturing  and as always, we're doing it in the cleanest, greenest way possible," Governor Hochul said. "This transformative legislation, in addition to longstanding investments in this industry and bipartisan action from the federal government, takes a significant step forward in creating jobs and sparking economic growth in New York. If you're looking for a high-tech job or trying to relocate your business, there's no better place than New York State."

Supply chain issues and a decline in the United States' share of global chip production are causing undue hardships to every aspect of the economy and putting our nation at a strategic disadvantage in several critical areas, including national security, technological innovation, and economic growth and independence.

Green CHIPS amends the longstanding, pay-for-performance, Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit program, which provides incentives based on job creation and company investment to better attract semiconductor manufacturing facilities by adding a new Green CHIPS category to the program. Green CHIPS projects must be in the semiconductor sector and must result in at least $15 of private investment for every $1 of state investment. To ensure transparency and accountability, all Green CHIPS projects will be listed on New York State's Database of Economic Incentives, as well as in Quarterly Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program reports.

Green CHIPS ensures:

At least 500 new jobs and at least $3 billion in qualified investment over a 10-year term. Projects in good standing can then enter a second 10-year term with at least 500 more new jobs and $3 billion more in qualified investment above and beyond the first phase.

An approved clean energy plan that mitigates the project's GHG emissions and other environmental impacts.

Significant investment in workforce and community development, including training and education benefits and programs to expand employment opportunity for economically disadvantaged individuals.

Prevailing wage rates for project construction.

Job creation and investment milestones must be met before claiming any tax credits, in line with the Excelsior Tax Credit Program's pay-for-performance model.

Since the start of her administration, Governor Hochul has stressed the importance of ensuring New York State's role in developing a robust ecosystem in advanced manufacturing, and as part of this year's State Budget, New York State will make up to $200 million available for the Focused Attraction of Shovel-Ready Tracts New York program. FAST NY is designed to jumpstart New York's shovel-readiness to attract high-tech manufacturing, particularly semiconductor manufacturing, to the state.
Local News, Business & Finance

By Chris Boyle Published: August 12 2022

Filed this week, the measures would nearly double the maximum income eligibility level.

The Nassau County Legislatures Minority Caucus has introduced legislation that will deliver much-needed tax relief to income-eligible senior and disabled homeowners in Nassau County.

Filed this week, the measures would nearly double the maximum income eligibility level for the Senior Citizens and Persons with Limited Incomes and Disabilities property tax exemptions by increasing the caps for both to $58,400. Previously, eligibility was capped at just $37,400. That changed on Monday, Aug. 8 when Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a measure, spearheaded locally by New York State Assemblywomen Michaelle Solages and Judy Griffin, that raises the maximum income eligibility cap and gives municipalities like Nassau County the opportunity to opt in.

Our regions high cost of living can make it tremendously challenging for seniors and disabled homeowners to make ends meet, Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages (D - Lawrence), who co-introduced the Senior Citizens Homeowners Exemption legislation, said. By making the Senior Citizens and Persons with Limited Incomes and Disabilities property tax exemptions available to more homeowners, we are providing vital support for our most financially vulnerable residents.

As a lawmaker, I am committed to doing everything in my power to make it easier for senior citizens and disabled homeowners who are living on a fixed income to stay on Long Island and in the communities where they have established deep roots and relationships throughout their lives, Nassau County Legislator Debra Mule (D - Freeport), who co-introduced the Senior Citizens Property Exemption legislation, said. We should immediately take full advantage of this opportunity to deliver meaningful tax relief to thousands of Nassau County homeowners.
Local News, Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: August 12 2022

James Domanico was involved in a dispute with his roommate Latoya Rolle when he stabbed her multiple times outside of 730 West Montauk Highway in Lindenhurst.

Suffolk County Police First Squad detectives are investigating after a man stabbed two people and crashed a stolen vehicle in Lindenhurst.

James Domanico was involved in a dispute with his roommate Latoya Rolle when he stabbed her multiple times outside of 730 West Montauk Highway in Lindenhurst at approximately 1:20 p.m. on Thursday. The two got into a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee owned and driven by an acquaintance, Arielle Itzkowitz, and drove to Miramar Boulevard where Domanico stabbed another occupant of the vehicle, Joseph Zuck.

On Miramar Boulevard, Domanico took the vehicle and fled the scene in the Jeep. Approximately 15 minutes later, Domanico crashed the vehicle into a tree on Albert Street in Lindenhurst. He then fled in the vehicle. The Jeep was found abandoned in the northbound left lane of New York State Route 231, near Hale Road, at 1:50 p.m. Domenico was transported by another acquaintance to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries sustained in the crash.

Both Rolle, 36, and Zuck, 37, were transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Itzkowitz was not injured. Domanico was released from the hospital on Thursday.

Domanico, 36, of West Santa Barbara Road, Copiague, was charged with two counts of Assault 2nd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, and one count of Grand Larceny 3rd Degree. He is being held overnight at the Third Precinct and was arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on August 11.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics

By Long Island Published: August 12 2022

Suffolk County Sheriff is seeking additional interested Suffolk County residents to join the Suffolk County Sheriffs Office Community Advisory Board.

Suffolk County Sheriff Dr. Errol D. Toulon, Jr. is seeking additional interested Suffolk County residents to join the Suffolk County Sheriffs Office Community Advisory Board. All interested residents must submit letters of inquiry and resumes to be considered for Board Membership. The Community Advisory Board meets to give residents an opportunity to meet monthly via Zoom with the Sheriff and his staff to discuss topics of interest and concern, be a conduit for information to local communities, and provide input on Sheriffs initiatives and policies relating to the Office and its relationship with the general public. The Board consists of members from across Suffolk County.

Ultimately, I want the public to have more opportunities to interact with the law enforcement community, and to have a direct line of communication, said Sheriff Toulon. He added, Over the last few years I brought together a diverse group of people to discuss issues, learn about the Sheriffs Office, and share ideas. I look forward to adding some new voices to this Board and continually seeking public input to best meet the needs of the people we serve.

Anyone interested in serving on the Board is encouraged to send a letter of inquiry directly to Sheriff Toulon at Suffolk_Sheriff@ suffolkcountyny.gov. Prospective members must be Suffolk County residents and 18 or older. The Community Advisory Board will continue to meet monthly via Zoom.
Local News, Health & Wellness

By Long Island Published: August 12 2022

Residents and visitors are advised to take precautions.

Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott announced today that 13 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus. The samples, all Culex pipiens-restuans, were collected 8/9/22 from Bohemia (1), Copiague (2), West Babylon (2), Port Jeff Sta (1), Selden (1), and 8/10/22 from Islip (1), Brentwood (1) BayShore(1) and Northport (3).

To date, 51 samples have tested positive.

West Nile virus, first detected in birds and mosquito samples in Suffolk County in 1999 and again each year thereafter is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito.

Most people infected with West Nile virus will experience mild or no symptoms, but some can develop severe symptoms including high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis. The symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological effects may be permanent. Individuals, especially those 50 years of age or older, or those with compromised immune systems, who are most at risk, are urged to take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

The confirmation of West Nile virus in mosquito samples indicates the presence of West Nile virus in the area, said Dr. Pigott. While there is no cause for alarm, we advise residents to cooperate with us in our efforts to reduce exposure to West Nile virus and other mosquito-borne diseases.

Dr. Pigott offers the following tips to avoid mosquito bites:

Minimize outdoor activities between dusk and dawn.

Wear shoes and socks, long pants and long-sleeved shirts when mosquitoes are active.

Use mosquito repellent, following label directions carefully.

Make sure all windows and doors have screens, and that all screens are in good repair.

Keep mosquitoes from laying eggs inside and outside of your home. Once a week , empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out containers that hold water, such as vases, pet water bowls, flowerpot saucers, discarded tires, buckets, pool covers, birdbaths, trash cans and rain barrels.

Download a copy of Suffolk Countys informational brochure Get the Buzz on Mosquito Protection, available in English and Spanish , and share it with your community.

Dead birds may indicate the presence of West Nile virus in the area. To report dead birds, call the Bureau of Public Health Protection at 631-852-5999 from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Residents are encouraged to take a photograph of any bird in question.

To report mosquito problems or stagnant pools of water, call the Department of Public Works Vector Control Division at 631-852-4270.

For further information on West Nile virus, visit the Department of Health Services website.
(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on AIM in London on Friday.

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AIM - WINNERS

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Ascent Resources PLC, up 7.3% at 4.13p, 12-month range 2.81p-5.36p. The natural resources company receives first payment from its Slovenian joint venture partner, following a dispute over revenue recognition. Ascent said it has received its first net cash payment of EUR650,560, in relation to the period from April 2020 through to December 2021. The net payment is calculated as EUR832,168 less EUR180,607 of joint venture costs relating to historic concession and legal fees, the company explains. The second and final payment, totalling a further net cash payment of EUR857,617, is expected "shortly".

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Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd, up 2.3% at 29.25p, 12-month range 17.38p-43.40p. The oil and gas exploration company says the rig owned by Island Drilling Company AS, has been released and mobilised for Gazania-1 in South Africa. Says the rig is now under contract to Eco and its joint venture partners. Eco adds the rig is expected to arrive and spud by the end of September this year. Says the Gazania-1 prospect is targeting a 300 million barrels light oil resource. It will take up about 25 days to drill.

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AIM - LOSERS

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Jadestone Energy PLC, down 9.3% at 90.75p, 12-month range 71.01p-110.00p. The oil and gas development company cuts annual guidance as it continues with repair works at its Monataro asset, offshore Australia. It has shut production down at Monataro to complete repair work. It expects production to be down during the remainder of August and potentially through September. It is now guiding for 2022 production to average between 13,000 and 14,000 barrels of oil per day, down from previous guidance of 15,500 barrels.

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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd - Toronto-based oil and gas exploration company - Says the rig owned by Island Drilling Company AS, has been released and mobilised for Gazania-1 in South Africa. Says the rig is now under contract to Eco and its joint venture partners. Eco adds the rig is expected to arrive and spud by the end of September this year.

Says the Gazania-1 prospect is targeting a 300 million barrels light oil resource. It will take up about 25 days to drill.

Further, company signs joint operating agreements with NAMCOR, the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia. The deal regards four operated offshore petroleum license interests in the country, namely PEL 97, PEL 98, PEL 99 and PEL 100.

Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder Colin Kinley says: "We are excited to get underway with our drilling campaign at Block 2B in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa. A successful outcome at the Gazania-1 well has the potential to be transformational for Eco and our JV partners."

Current stock price: 28.70 pence, up 0.4% on Friday morning in London

12-month change: down 1.9%

By Xindi Wei; xindiwei@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - HSBC Holdings PLC's largest shareholder Ping An Insurance will press on with its call for the bank to spin off its Asia operations despite pushback from executives, reports said.

The restructuring bid highlights HSBC's precarious position as US-China tensions rise, with some observers doubting whether Europe's largest lender can continue to straddle east and west.

Chinese insurer Ping An believes it is in need of urgent and radical change, and was not swayed by arguments against the move presented by the bank's leaders last week, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed source.

HSBC listed 14 reasons against changing its structure, including a lengthy transition period that could last up to five years, as well as loss of direct access to US dollars.

Chief Executive Noel Quinn said last week that an "alternative structure" would have a "negative" impact on the bank and would not deliver increased value to shareholders.

The lender had "considered many of these options over recent years", and recently updated its analysis with third-party financial and legal advice, Quinn added.

But Ping An, led by Chinese tycoon Peter Ma, was disappointed by HSBC's underperformance and is worried about geopolitical risks affecting the London-headquartered bank, according to Bloomberg.

Ping An insists a spin-off would generate additional market value of USD25-$35 billion, release USD8 billion in capital requirements, and save on headquarter and infrastructure costs, the report added.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-11/ping-an-sees-hsbc-overstating-the-challenges-of-a-spinoff

The Financial Times reported a source as saying: "HSBC only emphasised and clearly exaggerated the downsides and challenges of spinning off its Asia business, but did not mention the huge benefits and long-term value that a spin-off could create."

https://www.ft.com/content/5e393254-3a78-415c-903c-6de669228c78

Ping An did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

An HSBC representative said the bank had nothing to add beyond the executives' earlier remarks.

Last week, HSBC said its prtax earnings sank 15% to USD9.2 billion after it took a USD1.1 billion hit on possible credit losses, but added that it would revert to quarterly dividends in 2023.

HSBC was among a number of major banks to cancel dividends early in the pandemic after a de facto order from the Bank of England  a move that riled some Hong Kong investors.

Some retail investors have cited the dividends cancellation as a reason to back Ping An's spin-off proposal.

A face-to-face meeting between HSBC executives and Hong Kong investors last week turned chaotic as disgruntled shareholders protested outside the venue.

source: AFP

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
VK6WIA NewsWest



NewsWest for Sunday 14th August is the History of Amateur Radio edition. On this day 982 years ago, in 1040, King Duncan I of Scotland was killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth (not murdered in his sleep as in Shakespeare's play).

Macbeth succeeded him as King. I'm reliably informed that neither Duncan 1st nor Macbeth were Radio Amateurs.

Useless trivia aside, today were talking Amateur Radio history. Why was the morse code phrase ONOGO broadcast out of Perth? This sequence of morse characters is part of our radio history here in Western Australia. Keep listening for the full story.

We wish you well in the Remembrance Day Contest, or a restful recovery if youre listening to the news in the evening, and I hope the RD contest went well for you.

Our website is VK6.NET, and you can contact us by email.Our address is newswest at vk6.net.

NewsWest can be heard on air, online and on demand. Visit our website, vk6.net, to find out how. ** Now also on YouTube - search for VK6 NewsWest **

NewsWest invites programme contributions. You can send yours as email attachments to newswest@vk6.net - our editorial policy is that items should be about Amateur Radio, and relating to, or of interest to, Radio amateurs in Western Australia.

Originating in Perth Western Australia, NewsWest is produced by WA Amateur Radio News for listeners on-air, on-line and on-demand.

Whichever way you're listening, whether you're a licensed radio amateur or not, experienced or just a beginner, old or young, thanks for being here and thanks for joining us.

Web: http://vk6.net Email: newswest@vk6.net

Producer: Bob VK6POP
MANISTEE COUNTY  Law enforcement agencies around the state have started a Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign to encourage sober driving in the state, according to a Michigan State Police news release.

This comes after a report that in 2021, nearly 45% of fatalities on Michigan roadways involved alcohol and/or drugs, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

The end of summer is traditionally marked by the Labor Day holiday and is a time for friends and families to enjoy pool parties, backyard barbecues and late-summer road trips.

However, the Labor Day holiday weekend is also one of the deadliest times for impaired-driving fatalities.

That is why through the remainder of August and the 2022 Labor Day holiday weekend, police departments, sheriffs offices and the Michigan State Police are encouraging drivers to celebrate safely and make smart driving decisions.

From Aug. 12 through Sept. 5, there will be increased enforcement and additional messaging about the dangers of driving impaired.

In 2021, nearly 45% of fatalities on Michigan roadways involved alcohol and/or drugs, according to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Over the Labor Day holiday weekend periods from 2017 to 2021, there were 39 drivers killed in vehicle traffic crashes in the state. In those crashes, one-third of the drivers killed were alcohol-impaired.

Katie Bower, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, said in the release that the goal of the campaign is to drastically reduce deaths and serious injuries caused by impaired driving.

This should be a time for friends and family to enjoy the final days of summer. Impaired driving puts everyone at risk and is always unacceptable, Bower said.

Officers will be on the lookout for motorists under the influence of drugs and alcohol throughout the campaign enforcement period.

Michigan statistics The following were reported in 2021, in Michigan:  There were 9,557 alcohol-involved crashes, with 357 alcohol-involved fatalities;  There were 2,999 drug-involved crashes, with 275 drug-involved fatalities;  One person was killed in an alcohol-involved crash every 24 hours and 32 minutes; and  In all traffic crashes occurring over the Labor Day holiday period, 11 people died. See More Collapse

In Michigan, it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher  although drivers can be arrested at any alcohol level if an officer believes they are impaired.
After many failed attempts by filmmakers and screenwriters at bringing Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" to the screen, with Gaiman even preventing some himself, the story earned the title "unfilmable."

More than 30 years since the comic was published, "The Sandman" fans finally got the adaptation they deserved on Friday, Aug. 5, when Netflix dropped its version, according to a Neil Gaiman expert and professor of English at Central Michigan University, Joe Sommers.

Photo provided/Joe Sommers

"I've waited forever for this and it's a fascinating translation," Sommers said. "I really think he (Gaiman) hit the sweet spot."

In its first three days of availability on Netflix, "The Sandman" was watched for 69.5 million hours, landing it the number one position on the streamers Top 10 rankings during the Aug. 1-7 viewing window. It is one of the comics that helped bring a more mature tone to comic books, according to Sommers, a movement started by Alan Moore and Frank Miller.

But the streaming giant could not have made one of the "most successful comic book adaptations of all time" without help from Gaiman, according to Sommers.

Gaiman was heavily involved with the creation of Netflixs "The Sandman." As he tweeted, more involved than he was with Starzs "American Gods," but less so than with Amazons "Good Omens."

His involvement was necessary to produce the series since it's a "story about stories that young Neil Gaiman absorbed," according to Sommers. "You'll find Shakespeare at least twice and referenced more times than you'd imagine in there," he said. "You'll find the Arabian Nights and Ramadan, you'll find The Fates who are the graces or the three in one. It's amazing the amount of material."

"In many ways, 'The Sandman' is this beautiful new fabric that Gaiman is weaving from borrowed cloth. It's just gorgeous," Sommers continued. "It's a work of a great erudition of him just knowing all of these stories and wanting to write them up again."

Some Netflix users are wondering if they have to know about "The Sandman" to enjoy the show.

"No. Not at all," Sommers said. "It feels like somebody who's been watching/reading these things for 30 years and someone brand new can both enjoy."

"What I would honestly say is that the first episode goes out of its way to be very faithful to the original issue," he continued. "The changes, though, were made to give 'The Sandman' the show a cohesion that somebody that doesn't know what the fuss is all about might be able to grasp on to."

"Episode two might be a little jarring at first because it's trying to set up this crazy concept. But once you get the premise established this thing kicks into high gear."

Who influenced Neil Gaiman's writing?

"If you want to know the people that young Neil Gaiman read, just look at the people that are literally popping up in 'The Sandman,'" Sommers said. "So you've got Gilbert, who happens to read a lot of Chesterton. And if you ever want to go and take a picture of what G. K. Chesterton looks like. Well, he looks like Gilbert, because Gilbert is what the G in G.K. Chesterton stands for."

"He (Gaimon) grew up in a household that was originally a Jewish household that became a Scientologist household," Sommers continued. "He read mythology ad nauseam. And you find mythologies scattered all throughout 'The Sandman.'"

"He breathes his influences back to life in his show," Sommers said. "It's a lovesong to reading and a lovesong to literature. He's singing the things he loves for others to love and enjoy. And as a literature professor, I mean, all I can say is thank you."

If Netflix's "The Sandman" gets greenlighted for a second season, which seems likely considering its acclaim from critics out of the gate, Sommers said producers have ample material to work with.

"I'm begging with them (Netflix) throw more money at 'The Sandman' and give them you know, seasons two, three as many as they need," Sommers said.

"In what comes next you'll see Loki, Thor and Odin. You'll see Lucifer again. You'll see Oberon and Titania, whether you know them from Shakespeare or British Fairy Story. You'll see all these characters as they were, doing their thing. They're just living about as stories in the Dreaming."

More from Joe Sommers A biography of Neil Gaiman and "The Sandman" written by Sommers is set to be out later this year or early next year. The title has not been decided, according to Sommers. The book looks at Gaiman's life through the publication of "The Sandman" and how his life experiences show through his work. Check out Sommers' books available in all formats here. His titles include "The Artistry of Neil Gaiman: Finding Light in the Shadows" and "Critical Insights: Neil Gaiman," in addition to books about comics and video games. See More Collapse

Gaiman's creations will continue to be brought to the screen. Three weeks ago, his best-selling novel titled "The Graveyard Book" was picked up by Walt Disney Studios. It is the "first childrens book to win the Newbery and the Whitbread Awards at the same time," according to Sommers.

"Its kinda a privilege to work with and on him," Sommers said. "The man just makes joy and its cool to see him finally get the success he deserves."

"Just as a person who has interviewed him and as a person who has written about him. He is an incredibly kind, good-hearted and genuinely humane person," Sommers said. "It's so wonderful to see this man who has been waiting most of his life to get this thing done ideally the way he'd like to see it done. And Netflix made that happen. It better keep making it happen."

"I've never seen him so happy as he was at 'The Sandman' panel talk at San Diego Comic-Con," Sommers continued. "And I've read almost all of the interviews he's ever done and there are thousands. It makes my heart smile to see him so happy to see his work translated."

"As a thing that should, rightfully, be unfilmable, it did a pretty damn good job being filmed."
Quanquan Liu, a postdoctoral scholar in the Northwestern CS Theory Group mentored by Northwestern Engineerings Samir Khuller, won Best Paper Award at the 34th Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures (SPAA 2022), held last month in Philadelphia.

Lius winning paper, Parallel Batch-Dynamic Algorithms for k-Core Decomposition and Related Graph Problems, presents the first provably efficient parallel, batch-dynamic algorithm for approximate -core decomposition in dynamic graphs under large batches of edge updates. The k-core decomposition  or the largest subgraph of a network in which each node has at least k neighbors  is an important metric for detecting communities of individuals (nodes) which have close ties with one another.

Large-scale graphs are rapidly evolving with thousands or even millions of updates each second. Thus, Liu explained, it is important to find scalable algorithms that take advantage of parallel architectures.

Our experimental results demonstrate orders-of-magnitude speedups against state-of-the-art implementations on large real-world graphs, suggesting our algorithms are also practical in real-world systems, Liu said.

The paper is coauthored by Jessica Shi and Shangdi Yu [Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)]; Laxman Dhulipala (University of Maryland, College Park); and Julian Shun (MIT CSAIL).

Our paper gives algorithms in bounded arboricity graphs, which were studied quite a lot in the sequential setting but not in the batch-dynamic setting prior to our work, Liu said. Many real-world graphs have bounded arboricity and we hope our paper encourages more interest in batch-dynamic algorithms for bounded arboricity graphs.

The team also applied the parallel level data structure to obtain a set of new theoretical results for related graph problems, including low out-degree orientation, maximal matching, clique counting, and vertex coloring.

Liu is pursuing a faculty position in computer science or related fields. Long-term, she aims to continue research in scalable graph algorithms, in both theory and practice, and to explore connections between scalable graph algorithms and other algorithmic considerations like differential privacy.

Liu earned a PhD in computer science from the MIT Theory Group advised by Shun and Erik D. Demaine. Prior to joining Northwestern CS, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT mentored by Shun and was a student researcher with the Google Discrete Algorithms Group.

Additional Northwestern CS papers at SPAA 2022

National Science Foundation Computing Innovation Fellow Sami Davies presented her work in collaboration with her postdoctoral adviser Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at the McCormick School of Engineering, and visiting scholar Shirley Zhang. The paper, Balancing Flow Time and Energy Consumption, presents a batch scheduling model that provides dynamic programs which minimize flow time subject to active time constraints. Zhang presented the paper at the 15th Workshop on Models and Algorithms for Planning and Scheduling in June.

In addition, Andrew Crotty, incoming assistant professor of computer science at Northwestern Engineering, coauthored the paper titled HybriDS: Cache-Conscious Concurrent Data Structures for Near-Memory Processing Architectures, presented at SPAA 2022 by Jiwon Choe (Brown University). Additional coauthors include Tali Moreshet (Boston University), Maurice Herlihy (Brown University), and R. Iris Bahar (Colorado School of Mines).

To process data with traditional hardware, it must first be transferred from memory to the CPU. Near-memory processing (NMP) refers to a new type of hardware that adds compute capabilities to the memory, meaning that data can now be processed directly where it resides without transferring it to the CPU. The research team explored how best to redesign commonly used data structures, which allow applications to quickly find and retrieve data of interest, to leverage the unique characteristics of NMP architectures.

NMP architectures are particularly exciting because they can make workloads run faster while also significantly reducing energy consumption. However, since they are fundamentally different from traditional architectures, completely new techniques are necessary to take advantage of their unique properties, Crotty said. The results show that our techniques achieve more than double the performance of existing approaches. Our work redesigns two widely used data structures from the ground up to fully leverage emerging NMP hardware and lays a strong foundation for future work in this area.

SPAA 2022 was sponsored by the ACM Special Interest Groups on Algorithms and Computation Theory (SIGACT) and Computer Architecture (SIGARCH) and organized in cooperation with the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science.
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Tristan Alexander Webb, a member of the white nationalist group The Base, will serve a lengthy term of probation after being sentenced in Tuscola County on Wednesday.

Webb pleaded no contest in mid-May to one count of gang membership, a 20-year felony; one count of conspiracy to commit teaching use of firearms for civil disorder, a four-year felony; and one count of felony firearm, a two-year felony.

During Wednesday's sentencing, Judge Amy Gierhardt of Tuscola County's 54th Circuit Court deferred jail time, instead ordering Webb to serve five years of probation on the gang membership charge, three years of probation and one year in jail deferred on the civil disorder charge, and a two-year delay of sentence on the firearms charge, according to a press release from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office.

A charge of larceny of a building was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

The charges were issued by Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene's office in cooperation with Michigan Assistant Attorney General Sonita Doddamani.

"My department will hold accountable any individual that commits crimes as part of a domestic terrorist organization," said Nessel. "Make no mistake, these are violent gangs intent on harming others and their actions will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Webb and fellow Base members Justen Watkins and Thomas Denton reportedly broke into Michigan Department of Corrections properties  MDOC Camp Tuscola Annex and MDOC Tuscola Residential ReEntry Program  which were, and are, vacant in the city of Caro on Oct. 3, 2020  and stole state-issued clothing from one of the locations.

It is also alleged the sites were assessed as potential future training grounds for "hate camps," which is what the group named its paramilitary firearms training exercises.

Watkins pleaded guilty to gang membership in a Washtenaw County courtroom on April 18 for his part in a December 2019 incident in which he and another Base member, Alfred Gorman of Taylor, terrorized a family at their Dexter home after mistaking one of the residents as the host of an Antifa podcast.

Denton, 32, was sentenced to a maximum of 48 months on two felony charges in Tuscola County earlier this year. Denton had pleaded no contest to the charges of conspiracy to commit teaching use of firearms for a civil disorder and the felony firearm charge for committing larceny while in possession of a weapon Nov. 4. As a result of his plea, the prosecution dismissed his charges of larceny of a building and gang membership.

Accounting for Denton's previously clean record, sentencing guidelines suggested he be sentenced to a minimum of nine months and a maximum of 48 months for the conspiracy charge. However, the felony firearm charge has a flat penalty of two years in prison.

In January 2022, Gorman pleaded guilty to one felony count of gang membership for his role, and in February he received a suspended sentence of one year in jail and was also sentenced to four years of probation.

For one of those years, Gorman will have to work with an ethnic studies professor from the University of Michigan. If Gorman completes his probation, he will avoid serving time behind bars. The plea agreement stipulated that Gorman's other charges would be dismissed.

Webb, 19, became involved with The Base when he was 17 years old. In late 2019, Webb hosted a "hate camp" at his property just outside of Bad Axe for the Michigan cell of The Base. Members of The Base, "Invictus Youth," and "Aryan Resistance" attended. "Hate camp" is a term used by the group to describe firearms tactical training where various paramilitary-style techniques were taught to participants. Soon after, Webb underwent a vetting process to become a full member of The Base.

The convictions secured against Webb and other members of The Base in Tuscola County marked the first in Michigan history that conspiring to train for a civil disorder was charged.

Founded in 2018, The Base  which is the literal translation of "Al-Qaeda" in English  is a white supremacy gang that openly advocates for violence and criminal acts against the U.S., and purports to be training for a race war to establish white ethnonationalist rule in areas of the U.S., including Michigans Upper Peninsula. The group also traffics in Nazi ideology and extreme anti-Semitism.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by a handful of Creighton University students who sought to be exempt from the private Catholic schools COVID-19 vaccine mandate last year, arguing that getting the shots would violate their religious beliefs against abortion.

The states high court said it didnt have jurisdiction, citing its 150-year stance that people can't appeal orders denying or granting temporary injunctions. In this case, a judge last year declined to issue a temporary injunction that would have blocked Creighton Universitys requirement that all students get the COVID-19 vaccination.

Because the courts denial of a temporary injunction was not a final order, we lack jurisdiction of the appeal and must dismiss it, Justice William Cassel wrote for the court.

The 10 students who sought the injunction said they had religious objections to the vaccines because they "were developed and/or tested using abortion derived fetal cell lines.

Laboratory-grown cell lines descended from fetuses that were aborted decades ago were used in some early-stage testing of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and to grow viruses used to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The vaccines do not contain fetal cells.

The Vatican declared in 2020 that it is morally acceptable for Roman Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses when ethically irreproachable vaccines arent available.

Douglas County District Judge Marlon Polk said in his September 2021 ruling that he wouldnt order the mandate be temporarily blocked because he didn't think the students would ultimately prevail in court. That's because the students had signed a form promising to get vaccinated once regulators fully approved one, the judge noted. The students appealed.

An attorney for the students, Robert Sullivan, said Friday that while he wished the state's high court had decided the appeal on its merits, the fact that it was decided on a technicality allows the students to continue their legal fight.

The vast majority of the students want to move ahead with the case and see what we can get done, Sullivan said. Most of the students went on to enroll at other schools, he said, while one had enough college credits to graduate over summer.

An attorney for the university did not immediately return a phone messages left Friday by The Associated Press seeking comment.

The private university in Omaha is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church, which teaches that abortion is a grave sin.

The university issued its mandate for students in August 2021, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the vaccine made by Pfizer. At the time, Creighton allowed only medical, not religious, exemptions to its vaccine requirements. However, the school added a religious exemption ahead of the 2022-23 academic year, Creighton spokesman Sam Achelpohl said.

Students refusing a vaccine on religious grounds must fill out a form and get approval from the university, according to the school's website.

Achelpohl declined to comment on Fridays ruling or the ongoing lawsuit.
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Forty beagles rescued from a testing facility are scheduled to arrive in Midland after a successful effort this week to find 50 beagles from the same facility their forever homes.

Humane Society Director Beth Wellman drove across the country on Monday to bring 50 of the rescued dogs to Midland. All were adopted by visitors from across the state as of Thursday evening.

The Humane Society of Midland County is one of many groups nationwide that have collaborated to absorb the beagles from the breeding facility. The United States Department of Justice has opened a federal investigation into the lab. Humane Society of Midland County Board President Nikki Rayce was relieved to witness the beagles experiencing life outside of cages.

"They got a second chance," Rayce said. "They can be rehabilitated and become family members; it's fantastic."

Now, the facility will welcome an additional forty dogs in about a week-and-a-half.

More News 50 beagles saved from testing, adoptable in Midland

"We've had a great response from the community and from across Michigan," she said on Friday. "With a lot more people still interested in helping these dogs, we agreed to take more."

Wellman said beagles are commonly used in research because of their size and temperament. Prior to arriving at the shelter, she said the dogs were born and lived in the same cage.

"They do acclimate into making fairly easy pets, but they are often a bit more quirky than your average dog. (They) need a lot more patience and safety nets in place for fear and running away," Wellman said.

The adoption process requires an approved application. Wellman asks those interested to research care and other methods of preparation before consideration.

Potential updates on the 40 beagles will be announced on the Humane Society of Midland County's Facebook page, which can be found by searching for the organization by name on the social media platform.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York has amended several state laws to remove the word inmate and replace it with incarcerated person to refer to people serving prison time.

The changes, signed into law Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, are intended to reduce the stigma of being in jail. Prison reform advocates have said the term inmate has a dehumanizing effect. Prisoners say it can feel degrading when jail guards refer to them as inmates, especially in front of their families during in-person visits.

Language matters, said state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat who sponsored the bill. This is another concrete step our state is taking to make our criminal justice system one that focuses on rehabilitation, rather than relying solely on punishment.

Republicans ridiculed the measure as coddling criminals.

Parading around a bill that removes the word inmate from legal materials at a time when crime in New York continues to spike at an alarming rate shows you a lot about how misguided the Democrats' agenda is, said Assemblymember Chris Tague, a Republican from Schoharie, a town west of Albany.

The change is the latest in the state legislature's history of amending terms in state law that may be seen as outdated or offensive.

Last month, Hochul signed legislation replacing the term mentally retarded, or other variations, with developmentally disabled in state law. In 2018, the legislature passed a law replacing all instances of the words fireman or policeman with gender-neutral terms like firefighter or police officer in official documents and laws.

A similar measure to replace the word inmate in a slew of other state laws was signed in 2021 by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Michel DeGraff, a professor of linguistics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said, word choice to describe certain individuals does matter. Especially when it comes to individuals who are vulnerable in any way.

When you say someone is born a slave (for example), it can make someone think there is a category of people who are slaves by nature, but there is no such category, he said. No one is born a slave. You are a human being, and then you were enslaved.

DeGraff said language allows people to process the past and the present, and by changing words, you help people better understand who they are and how they got to be where they are.

Making changes to help people who have committed crimes, though, carries some political risks this election year.

Hochul's opponent in the governor's race, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, has made fear of crime a central issue of his campaign, as have other Republicans running for Congress. Violent crime rates have increased across the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hochul said social justice and safety can go hand-in-hand.

By treating all New Yorkers with dignity and respect, we can improve public safety while ensuring New Yorkers have a fair shot at a second chance, she said in a statement.

___

Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Maysoon Khan on Twitter.
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CETINJE, Montenegro (AP)  A man went on a shooting rampage in the streets of this western Montenegro city Friday, killing 10 people, including two children, before being shot dead by a passerby, officials said.

Montenegrin police chief Zoran Brdjanin said in a video statement shared with media that attacker was a 34-year-old man he identified only by his initials, V.B.

Brdjanin said the man used a hunting rifle to first shoot to death two children ages 8 and 11 and their mother, who lived as tenants in the attacker's house in Cetinje's Medovina neighborhood.

The shooter then walked into the street and randomly shot 13 more people, seven of them fatally, the chief said.

At the moment, it is unclear what provoked V.B. to commit this atrocious act, Brdjanin said.

Andrijana Nastic, the prosecutor coordinating the crime scene investigation, told journalists that the gunman was killed by a passerby and that a police officer was among the wounded. She said nine of those killed died at the scene and two died at a hospital where they were taken for surgery.

Cetinje, the seat of Montenegro's former royal government, is 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, the current capital of the small Balkan nation.

Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic wrote on his Telegram channel that the incident was an unprecedented tragedy and urged the nation "to be, in their thoughts, with the families of the innocent victims, their relatives, friends and all the people of Cetinje.

President Milo Djukanovic said on Twitter that he was deeply moved by the news of the terrible tragedy" in Cetinje, calling for solidarity with the families who lost loved-ones in the incident.
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MIDDLETOWN  Planning and Zoning Commission members have agreed to a settlement  pending court approval  that would pave the way for a methadone clinic to be built by The Root Center for Advanced Recovery.

In September 2020, the Manchester-based health care agency applied for a special zoning exception from a mixed-use area to a substance abuse/mental health floating zone at 392 Washington St., a 7,140-square-foot building occupied by Fine Tunes Auto Repair.

The commission supported Assistant Deputy Counsel Christopher Forte sending the stipulation agreement to state Superior Court during a 20-minute meeting Aug. 1, as long as 12 conditions were met.

Members had approved the site plan and the facilitys use as a methadone clinic, but not the zone change and special exception, Forte said.

The reason, the attorney said, is reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act supersedes zoning in certain instances.

In exchange, the Root Center agreed to a dozen caveats, including the court agreeing to vacate its Nov. 21, 2021, decision that overturned the provision of the city charter requiring five affirmative votes  or a super majority  on matters.

If the judge agrees, itll be like that decision never happened, the lawyer said, and the city charter would be reinstated to require five votes instead of a simple majority required by state statute.

The most notable stipulation, Forte said, is the parties agreed to work with the state Department of Transportation to determine what changes must be made to the exits and entrances of nearby businesses, considering it is a busy throughway.

Over the course of three public hearings in fall 2020, the proposal drew mixed reactions from some business owners who oppose its planned location, as well as support from those who see a need to combat opioid addictions, including St. Vincent DePaul Middletown.

Detractors said the spot, situated between businesses and on a heavily trafficked Route 66, was not ideal.

The new methadone clinic would primarily provide medication maintenance for those struggling with opioid addiction. The nonprofit agency primarily serves Medicare and Medicaid patients, CEO Steven Zuckerman said Wednesday.

The Root Center opened a location at 520 Saybrook Road in Middletown in September 2020, however, methadone treatment is not provided there.

That fall, the commission eventually voted 4-3 to approve the request. However, there were not enough votes to meet the citys requirement of a 5-2 super majority.

In November 2020, the agency appealed the decision to the Superior Court, claiming the 4-3 rejection was, in fact, an approval according to state statute.

In October 2020, Mayor Ben Florsheim said the decision was somewhat unsettling. I think well look back on this with embarrassment. This is kind of a black eye for Middletown, he said.

At the same time, its always going to be somebodys backyard, and if you dont want to have a community where you see the fact that people are struggling with addiction, then the way to rectify that is to get people access to treatment, he said at the time.

Its concentrated within our community whether people like that or not, Florsheim added.

The proposed stipulation takes the commissions concerns about health, safety and welfare of residents into consideration and allows both to work with the state on traffic concerns on a state road, Forte told commissioners earlier this month.

Middlesex County, the only area in Connecticut without a methadone facility, has been particularly affected by the opioid epidemic, Zuckerman said Wednesday. Although New Haven County had the highest percentage of overdose deaths in 2019-20, Middlesex had the greatest percent increase, he added.

The Root Center serves about 125 Middlesex County patients, who now must travel to other state sites six days a week for care, the CEO said.

When clients must seek care that far from home, he added, its more likely theyll drop out of the program, and wind up overdosing and dying.

The Middletown clinic will be modeled after the New Britain one, which opened in January, and took about a year to get up and running, the CEO said, a time frame that could be similar in Middletown.

Other locations are Bristol, Hartford, Manchester, New London, Norwich, Torrington and Willimantic.

The Aug. 1 motion passed 6-0, with member Hillary Thompkins abstaining from the vote. Commissioners Thom Pattavina, Shanay Fulton, Richard Pelletier, Sebastian Giuliano, Kellin Atherton and Kelly Sweeney were in favor of the measure.

During discussions, Thompkins cited public concerns, adding that she feels the location is not ideal  reiterating some earlier complaints.
BRISTOL  A long-running tradition of setting aside political differences for some comedic relief and a good cause - a dying art in todays partisan political landscape - returned after a two-year hiatus with some notable guests missing.

No Democrat running for statewide office showed up Friday for the 139th annual Crocodile Club luncheon at the historic ballroom at Lake Compounce.

Almost the entire top of the Republican ticket - including candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, Secretary of the State, Comptroller and Attorney General - appeared on stage before a crowd of 200 politicos, who sat at long tables lined with American flag-themed tablecloths, to make gentle fun of themselves and their opponents.

The event featured a few cancellations, Brian Shactman, of WTIC News Talk 1080, who emceed the event, said at the start, noting the no-shows were all Democrats. What are they afraid of? Schactman said.

Among those not in attendance were U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, who had to be in Washington, D.C. for a vote on his partys flagship climate change and health care bill, and Attorney General William Tong and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who mustve skipped the event because too few television cameras were there, Schactman joked of the men who are known for holding frequent press conferences.

Spokespeople for Blumenthal and Tong said they were invited but were not able to attend due to other commitments. Nancy DiNardo, chair of the state Democratic Party, said she wasnt aware of this years event but has attended in the past. DiNardo added that there was no coordinated effort by members of her party to not attend. Her GOP counterpart, Ben Proto, chair of the states Republican party was there.

On stage, Bob Stefanowski, of Madison, the GOP candidate for governor, picked up on a rumor that Gov. Ned Lamont, who showed up in 2018, did not know about the event hence why he wasnt there. Emails sent between staff at the New England Carousel Museum, which hosted the event, and Lamonts office show the governor was invited to attend.

Im disappointed that my opponent, the governor, is not here today, Stefanowski said, and I know the excuse is that he didnt give invited.

But the real reason for the governors absence, Stefanowski quipped, was because he did not meet the height requirement to ride on the rollercoasters at the oldest amusement park in America.

Stefanowski, who is making a second run for governor, then ticked off five reasons hes going to win the race in November with the biggest applause line coming from number 1 on the list, which he joked his wife told him not to use. Governor Lamont, hes actually thinking about withdrawing from the race, moving to Nashville, Tennessee because its simply too hard to do business in Connecticut, he said.

The line - said in jest this time - has been a frequent attack of Stefanowskis in the rematch between him and Lamont. Last fall, after facing repeated criticism for investments by his wifes venture capital firm in two companies doing business with the state, Lamont told his reporters, Annie Lamont was in Nashville setting up companies there because Connecticuts pretty complicated. The governor has since said he made the offhand remark out of frustration over the political complications of his wife to do business in a state that he governs.

Anthony Anthony, Lamonts director of communications, said after the event Friday afternoon that scheduling conflicts prevented the governor from attending. Governor Lamont keeps a very busy schedule and unfortunately cant make it to every event hes invited to, Anthony said.

When it was her turn on stage, Leora Levy, of Greenwich, who won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate earlier this week, played up Democratic attacks over her endorsement from former President Donald Trump. A lot of people are trying to make me into President Trump, Levy said. Well, Donald Trump and I do have something in common, we both love red meat. However, he likes his well done with ketchup. Ill take mine steak tartare.

Dominic Rapini, of Fairfield, the winner of the Republican primary for Secretary of the State, has been quick to make accusations of election fraud in Connecticut, many of which have proven to be baseless - and wasted no time making those same claims Friday when it was his turn to speak. Rapini said primary ballots in Litchfield County Tuesday mistakenly had his name crossed out so he called Staples, they sent over a box of white out, sharpies, problem solved, he said - highlighting how he would be a problem if elected to the job.

Other Republican candidates to address the crowd included Jessica Kordas, who is running for Attorney General, the states top law enforcement official, and Mary Fay, who is vying to be Comptroller, the states fiscal guardian, paymaster and chief of health services to state employees and retirees. Mike Reiss, writer of the Simpsons and a Bristol native, headlined the event. The rules for the afternoon were simple: no politicking and no stump speeches.

Several Democratic state lawmakers in the audience said they were disappointed that party leaders nor candidates running at the top of the ticket could make it. Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, and Reps Kerry Wood, D-Rocky Hill, and Edwin Vargas, Jr., D-Hartford, all attended the luncheon.

If I were running for statewide office I wouldve been there, Vargas said. You never give up an opportunity to have a good time, and let your hair loose a little, and not be so serious about politics every so often.

Wood first came to the event several years ago, an off-election year, when Larson was the only Democrat on stage. There was a lot of the Republicans and I said When this is a (big) election year, this is going to be great because were going to have bipartisan (attendance), lots of laugh, itll be great, she said. I was disappointed that a lot of people were cancelling.

Wood said she would make a more concerted effort to promote the event, which serves as a fundraiser for the carousel museum, to her colleagues ahead of next year.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
WASHINGTON (AP)  Former President Donald Trump called late Thursday for the immediate release of the federal warrant the FBI used to search his Florida estate, hours after the Justice Department had asked a court to unseal the warrant, with Attorney General Merrick Garland citing the substantial public interest in this matter.

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents. He continued to assail the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago as unAmerican, unwarranted and unnecessary.

Release the documents now! he wrote.

The Justice Department request earlier Thursday is striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, and that the public was entitled to the FBI's side about what prompted Monday's action at the former president's home.

The publics clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing, said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

Should the warrant be released  the request is now with the judge  it could disclose unflattering information about the former president and about FBI scrutiny of his handling of sensitive government documents right as he prepares for another run for the White House. During his successful 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

It's unclear at this point how much information would be included in the documents, if made public, or if they would encompass an FBI affidavit that would presumably lay out a detailed factual basis for the search. The department specifically requested the unsealing of the warrant as well as a property receipt listing the items that were seized, along with two unspecified attachments.

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed. Garland said he personally approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly given that standard practice where possible is to select less intrusive tactics than a search of one's home.

In this case, according to a person familiar with the matter, there was substantial engagement with Trump and his representatives prior to the search warrant, including a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago a couple of months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the documents were stored. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Neither Trump nor the FBI has said anything about what documents the FBI might have recovered, or what precisely agents were looking for. But the former president complained anew Thursday about the search.

Trump, who for years has lambasted the FBI and sought to sow distrust among his supporters in its decisions, said the warrant was served and the search conducted despite his cooperation with the Justice Department over the search.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said that his attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully prior to the search, and that government officials could have had whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, if we had it."

The Justice Department has until Friday afternoon to alert the judge about whether Trump will object to the release.

FBI and Justice Department policy cautions against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of probes and to avoid unfairly maligning someone who is being scrutinized but winds up ultimately not being charged. Thats especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court papers are routinely kept secret as the investigation proceeds.

In this case, though, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI search, as is his right." The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the court's functions.

Even so, Garland, in a hastily scheduled public statement delivered from the Justice Department podium, appeared to acknowledge the unusual nature of the department's request as he declined to take questions or provide any substantive details about the FBI's investigation.

Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations," he said. "Federal law, longstanding department rules and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time.

The Justice Department under Garland has been leery of public statements about politically charged investigations, or of confirming to what extent it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader probe into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The department has tried to avoid being seen as injecting itself into presidential politics, as happened in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton regarding her handling of email  and when he spoke up again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the probe was being effectively reopened because of the discovery of new emails.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year. The National Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information.

The attorney general also condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel over the search. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be defunded. Large numbers of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be released hoping they it will show that Trump was unfairly targeted.

I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them dedicated, patriotic public servants.

Earlier Thursday, an armed man wearing body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement. A law enforcement official briefed on the matter identified the man as Ricky Shiffer and said he is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol and may have been there on the day it took place.

_____

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Lindsay Whitehurst and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.

More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  An increase in turnout among Democrats and independents and a notable shift in Republican-leaning counties contributed to the overwhelming support of abortion rights last week in traditionally conservative Kansas, according to a detailed Associated Press analysis of the voting results.

A proposed state constitutional amendment would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban abortions outright. But Kansas voters rejected the measure by nearly 20 percentage points, almost a mirror of Republican Donald Trump's statewide margin over Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to repeal a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, the threat of new restrictions in the state galvanized Democrats and independents more than anticipated. At the same time, Republicans showed less interest in turning out to support the measure.

The findings reinforce a sense in both parties that the Supreme Court's decision may have altered the dynamics of this year's midterm elections. Here's how it played out:

OVERPLAYED THEIR HAND

In 2020, Trump carried Kansas by 18 points. Last week, not a single county in the state favored the ballot measure as much as it had supported the former president, the AP found.

In 99 of the states 105 counties, support for the abortion measure was more than 10 percentage points lower than its support for Trump against Biden. In 29 of those counties, that difference was more than 20 points.

And in 14 Kansas counties that Trump won, majorities rejected the amendment.

The anti-abortion politicians have just overplayed their hand on these bans, said Tamarra Wieder, director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates in Kentucky, where another abortion measure will be on the ballot in November.

The Kansas county with the largest drop from the presidential election to the abortion referendum was Greenwood, in rural southeast Kansas. Trump won nearly 80% of the vote there in 2020, but there was about a 30-point shift on abortion, with voters narrowly favoring no, the position that leaves abortion rights in place for women in Kansas.

Beyond counties that flipped entirely, dozens of deeply Republican counties saw voters favor the abortion amendment as expected, but by much narrower margins than their preference for Trump two years ago. Near Topeka, for example, 72% of voters in Pottawatomie County backed the former presidents re-election, while just 57% supported the amendment.

Abortion opponents said they were stunned by the margin of the results.

I was surprised for sure, said Ruth Tisdale, executive director of the Advice and Aid Pregnancy Center. I thought that it would be a closer outcome either way. I didnt have a strong sense of whether it would pass or not, but I thought that it would be closer, you know, 51 to 49 kind of thing. ... It was very sad.

HUGE TURNOUT, SURGE OF INDEPENDENTS

It wasnt just the amendments margin of defeat that jolted the political consciousness. It was also the seam-busting turnout in what otherwise should have been a normal, low-turnout primary in a midterm election year.

The latest AP tallies show that more than 922,000 votes were cast by Kansas voters on the abortion referendum. Thats roughly twice as many voters as turned out for the states previous midterm primary election in 2018, and its about as many as turn out for Kansas midterm general elections in some years. Overall turnout  48% of registered voters  outpaced the 34% turnout for the 2020 presidential primaries.

The most recent electorate also was considerably less Republican than in a typical Kansas primary. From 2010 through 2020, Republican primary ballots outnumbered non-Republican ballots by about 2-to-1. In last weeks election, according to the Kansas secretary of states office, the two groups turned out in nearly equal numbers.

Advocates on both sides of the amendment spent more than $14 million blanketing Kansas with ads and signs, knocking on doors and calling voters, according to state campaign finance reports.

That effort helped attract an unusual variable in Kansas primaries: independent voters. That group is eligible to vote on referenda but not for candidates running in any party primary. But campaign ads emphasized that no affiliation voters could indeed vote on the abortion question. It worked: Around 184,000 more votes were cast for the abortion amendment than voted for governor, a likely barometer to measure their portion of the electorate.

The decision to overturn Roe really was a wake-up call for more moderate voters, said Ashley All, a spokesperson for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, a group that fought against the ballot measure.

ENERGY AROUND BALLOT MEASURES

The result from Kansas is rippling into numerous other states.

In Georgia, the membership for NARAL Pro-Choice America jumped from 53,000 to more than 80,000 and could hit 100,000 by the November election, said Alicia Stallworth, the director of NARAL campaigns in the Southeastern U.S.

I dont think this is something that disappears, Stallworth said of the current energy among abortion rights advocates.

Abortion-rights advocates said the decision to strike down Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 case that recognized a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, energized many voters who had assumed abortion access was safe.

It was such a beacon of light in this moment, said Heather Shumaker, director of state abortion access at the National Womens Law Center, of the Kansas vote. I think there is energy around ballot measures for the foreseeable future.

In Ohio, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley has called for a statewide ballot question on a state constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights as soon as 2023.

In South Dakota, a group called Dakotans for Health is pushing a similar ballot initiative in 2024. And in Colorado, advocates want a 2024 referendum that could allow public funding for abortion.

But getting measures on ballots without going through a state legislature can be difficult. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which advises liberal groups on initiative campaigns, advises the process could take three years.

WHY WERE LOSING'

In half of the states, including Kansas, only lawmakers can put propositions on the statewide ballot. That means in Texas, which bans most abortions, the only options are to wait for legislators to put an initiative to a voteas anti-abortion lawmakers did in Kansas  or vote out the incumbents.

In Texas we know thats why were losing, said Delma Catalina Limones, communications director for Avow, an abortion-rights group in that state.

But despite the apparent confidence of Kansas legislators to put the abortion amendment on the ballot this month, their expectations were upended by the resounding defeat.

Value Them Both Coalition, the main group in Kansas that fought in favor of the amendment, called it a temporary setback and promised in a statement that our dedicated fight to value women and babies is far from over.

___

Kessler and Dolby reported from Washington. Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri. Tom Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

___

This story has been updated to reflect that the first name of the director of state abortion access at the National Womens Law Center is Heather, not Helen, Shumaker.
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An FBI agent who was working undercover told jurors Friday that he accompanied two men on a night drive to see the Michigan governor's vacation home, directly connecting the pair to a key step in an alleged plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

Mark Schweers also explained how he secretly recorded Adam Fox expressing contempt for the Democratic governor during their first meeting two months earlier in the basement of a Grand Rapids-area vacuum shop.

We want her flex-cuffed on a table while we all pose and get our pictures taken like we just made the biggest drug bust in ... history, Fox said of Whitmer, laughing and using profanities. Then you lock her ... up, even if we gotta go with her.

Fox, 39, who was living in the shop, and Barry Croft Jr., 46, a trucker from Bear, Delaware, are on trial for a second time for a kidnapping conspiracy. A jury in April couldn't reach a unanimous verdict while acquitting two other men.

Fox and Croft held anti-government views that reached a pitch during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic as Whitmer, like other governors, issued stay-at-home orders, closed schools and restricted businesses. Prosecutors allege the two men wanted to cause national mayhem by kidnapping her before the 2020 election.

Defense attorneys said conversations, text messages and social media posts sometimes were ugly but still protected by the First Amendment. As for a kidnapping scheme, they insist Fox and Croft were simply big talkers entrapped by undercover agents and shady informants inside the group.

Schweers said he got inside Fox's circle by posing as an ally from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In September 2020, after a day of gun drills, the agent said about a dozen people, including two informants, drove to Elk Rapids in three vehicles to look at Whitmer's second home and a boat launch.

Each truck was given a separate assignment, Schweers said.

He repeatedly said no when a prosecutor asked if it was the agent who proposed attacking the state Capitol, kidnapping Whitmer or blowing up a bridge in Elk Rapids. The questions were an effort to counter the defense's entrapment strategy.

In a separate matter, Croft's attorney, Joshua Blanchard, expressed concerns about whether a juror seated Tuesday will be fair.

In a court filing, Blanchard said he had a source who indicated a juror had hoped to be selected and would ensure a certain verdict. The document was seen by The Detroit News before it was sealed in the online file.

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker, fearing grounds for a mistrial, said any subsequent filings will be sealed and attorneys cant talk publicly about the issue. He said Blanchard didn't accurately and completely include available information. There were no changes to the jury.

On the third day of testimony, Jonker also expressed frustration about the ridiculous pace of the trial, fearing we'll be here until Thanksgiving if attorneys don't sharpen their approach, mostly a reference to the defense.

I'm going to think hard over the weekend about time limits. ... Look at the jury: You can see when they're checking out  and they're checking out, the judge said.

Whitmer has blamed then-President Donald Trump for stoking mistrust and fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn hate groups and right-wing extremists like those charged in the plot.

Trump last week called the kidnapping scheme a fake deal.

___

Find APs full coverage of the Whitmer kidnap plot trial at: https://apnews.com/hub/whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial
Booking.com

Greece has been one of the summers biggest travel destinations  who isnt dreaming of paradisiacal islands after two years of basically zero international travel?  and Hyatts just opened up one more reason to visit the idyllic island of Santorini to your bucketlist. The new Magma Resort Santorini is, yes, lava-themed, but think sophisticated grownup lava-themed, not amusement part lava-themed.

The five-star resort sits atop the lava slopes and among the vineyards of the quieter side of Santorini, and its surrounded by views of the sea  best taken in from the large terrace outfitted with a bonfire and plenty of seating. The property itself is designed to complement the landscape, with natural elements and colors inside and out that match the surrounding terrain.
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force will host a traveling tribute to Vietnam War veterans in coming days -- and a B-52 flyover is also on its slate of events.

The museum will host the American Veterans Traveling Tribute Vietnam Memorial -- an 80%-sized replica of the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C., bearing the names of more than 58,000 service members killed in Southeast Asia. -- Aug. 18 to 21.

The museum said it will also host an Aug. 19 B-52 flyover, Air Force Flight One pop-up concerts, historical displays, veteran presentations and more.

Also, the museum will have Panel 44 on display in its 4th building from Aug. 16 to 24.

Panel 44 is a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial containing the names of 337 American service members who died between March 9 to 16, 1968. The panel was originally produced in 1982 to go on display in Washington D.C., but was ultimately not placed because of a crack.

The B-52 Stratofortress flyover is scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug.19. It is weather-dependent.

The mighty B-52 has been in service since 1954. The Air Force describes it as the "backbone of the strategic bomber force for the United States."

The bomber can drop or launch the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory, the Air Force says, including gravity bombs, cluster bombs, precision guided missiles and more.

The Vietnam Memorial will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 18 to 21, located outside the museum near the flagpole.

Sept. 18 this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Air Force. A complete schedule of events and exhibits is available at https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Upcoming/Events/75th-anniversary/.

(c) 2022 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
As the USS Abraham Lincoln sailed into San Diego Thursday, Aug. 11, with two destroyers in tow and some 6,000 sailors and Marines aboard, it marked the completion of a U.S. military first: Navy Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt has now completed her first mission as the first woman to command a U.S. aircraft carrier.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier left for a routine deployment to the Indo-Pacific region  generally ranging from the Philippines to the South China Sea  on Jan. 3. Over the next eight months, the USS Abraham Lincoln and the other ships encountered everything from the Chinese military to whale-awareness training.

For the Marines, the exercise also included the first deployment of F-35C fighters aboard an aircraft carrier. The plane is widely viewed as an innovative weapon capable of both military and intelligence operations.

In a phone call from aboard the Lincoln, just a day before the strike group returned to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Bauernschmidt noted her accomplishment and spoke about the mission.

I dont think there is any greater responsibility than taking over an aircraft carrier and being responsible for 6,000 Marines and sailors, she said.

She described the crew  with an average age of 21.8 years old  as the backbone of the strike groups success and said they should be credited for their accomplishments. Bauernschmidt also threw credit to commanders aboard the other ships in the group and the support she got from them.

I woke up every day with a smile on my face knowing Im driving this incredible warship, she said.

What (sailors and Marines) did mattered, Bauernschmidt added. And their hard work made the difference.

Bauernschmidt termed the Marine aerial integration seamless and flawless.

Even when the F-35s were grounded (to check on possible issues with the pilots ejector seats) the strike group didnt miss a beat. The Air Force first discovered the problem in April and in late July and August, all military F-35s were grounded.

We had the right people and parts, she said. There was no impact to the warship at all.

The F-35s are known for their weapons systems and are being heralded as the jet fighter of the future. Bauernschmidt views that description as apt.

The situational awareness (the F-35s) were able to provide was incredible, she said.

The USS Abraham Lincoln was accompanied by the destroyers the USS Mobile Bay, USS Fitzgerald, USS Gridley, USS Sampson, and USS Spruance. The Mobile Bay and Spruance are homeported in San Diego, while the Gridley and Samson returned to Washington state Thursday. The Fitzgerald is expected to sail home back to San Diego in the next few months, U.S. 3rd Fleet officials said.

The strike group  which collectively was commanded by Rear Adm. J.T. Anderson  sailed over 65,000 nautical miles. During that time it helped with freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce on the seas. It also participated in international exercises Noble Fusion, in February, and Jungle Warfare, in March. In both exercises, sailors and Marines trained with the Japanese Self-Defense Force. In late June and July, the strike group participated in Exercise Rim of the Pacific, a joint training venture that included 26 nations.

In the South China Sea  among the most heavily navigated waters in the world  the Lincoln strike group joined the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group to demonstrate the U.S. Indo-Pacific Commands ability to deliver a powerful maritime force. Combined, those ships carried 14,000 Sailors and Marines.

While near China, in January, February and March, the ships were frequently shadowed by Chinese warships, Bauernschmidt said.

Though the shadowing isnt unusual there was no report of a threat or a fear of military escalation, the contact came during a year when tensions between China and the United States are comparatively high. Its unknown how close the Chinese ships were away from US military vessels.

Bauernschmidt characterized the interaction with the Chinese as safe and professional, adding that mostly they shadowed our ship just like they shadow any ship that operates in that area. She said some of the strike groups aircraft also had some interaction with Chinese aircraft but it remained safe and professional every time we interacted with them.

The mission, she added, demonstrated to countries in the region that we support them and their international rights. The crew directly contributed to the preservation of the freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in the region. What they did matters, and their hard work made the difference in the region and for our nation.

Though it was her first command aboard the carrier, Bauernschmidt said she didnt spend much time posing for pictures and kept the deployment all business.

She called the future for women in the Navy bright and added that the Navy was already ahead of other service branches in bringing women into combat and command roles.

The mission also included training that was more about animal and environmental protection than the military.

While the ships were off Hawaii and Southern California, the sailors under Bauernschmidts command participated in an international exercise aimed at raising awareness about how to protect marine mammals.

The waters where they were sailing are home to many species of whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine life. Last year, four whales in the area were struck by U.S. and Australian military vessels. And, in June, Navy officials asked the National Marine Fisheries Service for some wiggle room in a deal theyve struck over training in the Pacific Ocean, saying it would be hard to guarantee that Navy ships might not hit another whale before the agreement runs out in late 2025.

Two whales of unknown species were struck and killed by Navy ships last June and July. And in May 2021, two fin whales, determined to likely have been mother and calf, were struck and killed by a visiting Australian Navy destroyer. The ship sailed into San Diego Bay with the whales hanging off its bow and several days later, one washed up at Bolsa Chica Beach.

As part of new protocols enacted after those whales were killed, the Navy put its sailors through more training to recognize the presence of marine animals and avoid them.

We have environmental considerations in everything we do, Bauernschmidt said. We have multiple lookouts, and we record any marine mammals we see.

Bauernschmidt called the overall mission a success. She said despite growing tension over China and its interaction with Taiwan, she would have no concerns about returning to the area.

If I was out there right now, Id had no more concerns than I had before, she said.

Speaking on behalf of the strike group, Rear Adm. Anderson said the deployment underlines the importance of the U.S. relationship with its allies.

Throughout the Indo-Pacific, it is clear how significant our relationships are with our allies and partners and how impactful every single Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Sailor and Marine has been since we departed in January, he said.

2022 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit ocregister.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The gunman who tried to breach the FBI's Cincinnati office and engaged officers in a standoff that lasted hours before his death served on a nuclear submarine in the Navy and later in the National Guard.

Ricky Walter Shiffer Jr., 42, is accused of trying to break into the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday morning while armed, according to statements from the FBI and Ohio State Highway Patrol. Accounts appearing to belong to Shiffer posted numerous violent messages in recent weeks, escalating after former President Donald Trump's home was searched by the FBI on Monday.

Multiple reports citing unnamed law enforcement officials say he fired a nail gun and also had an AR-15-style rifle. He ultimately died after a shootout with police on a rural stretch of road.

Read Next: These Troops Bought Guns on Base. Then They Used the Firearms to Take Their Own Lives.

The Navy confirmed that Shiffer served in the branch between 1998 and 2003. After enlisting in Pennsylvania, he became a fire control technician and served a single tour aboard the submarine USS Columbia out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Navy records show he earned no awards or decorations and separated in June 2003 at the rank of E-5.

Submarine service is generally more secretive and restricted than serving on a surface ship, owing to the covert nature of submarine missions and the weapons and equipment they can carry. As a fire control technician, Shiffer would have been responsible for the maintenance and operation of the gear used to target and fire the Columbia's weapons.

After leaving the Navy, Shiffer served for three years in the Florida National Guard as an infantryman. During his time with the Guard, he deployed once to Iraq, before being honorably discharged in 2011 as an E-4, according to records from the National Guard.

Shiffer's social media posts on Twitter and Truth Social -- all of which have been removed since the shooting -- showed that he frequently engaged with right-wing conspiracies and suggested a need for violence. Experts have been warning that, following Monday's FBI raid, active calls for violence have skyrocketed on far-right social media spaces.

According to data gathered by extremist researcher Kris Goldsmith, Shiffer's tweets included a reply to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted in May that alleged "they got away with fixing elections in plain sight ... the next step is the one we used in 1775."

In another Twitter exchange in May, Shiffer said people should "save ammunition, get in touch with the Proud Boys and learn how they did it in the Revolutionary war."

Goldsmith, who runs Sparverius, a firm that analyzes domestic extremism data, found that Shiffer replied to other notable icons on the far-right like Dinesh D'Souza, Donald Trump Jr., and Sean Hannity.

On Truth Social -- a social media platform founded by former President Donald Trump -- Shiffer's rhetoric was far more violent. According to reporting from The Washington Post, shortly after the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, Shiffer wrote: "Be ready to kill the enemy ... Kill [the FBI] on sight, and be ready to take down other active enemies"

On Aug. 8, the day of the search, Shiffer wrote: "People, this is it. ... this is your call to arms from me. Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop ... opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one," the Post reported.

When Shiffer was unsuccessful in breaking into the FBI office, just days after his posts on Truth Social, he allegedly fled the scene in a Ford Crown Victoria, and Highway Patrol officers found him driving on Interstate 71.

After officers followed him on the highway for about 20 minutes, he pulled off, got out of his car on a rural road, and he and Highway Patrol officers exchanged gunfire, according to the Highway Patrol statement.

Shiffer and officers then engaged in a hours-long standoff. After what the Highway Patrol described as failed negotiations, officers tried to use "less lethal tactics" to get him into custody. But when Shiffer raised a firearm, officers fired at him, and he died from his wounds at the scene, the Highway Patrol said.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Military Spent $1 Million Addressing Extremism, Diversity and Climate Change Last Year
The Navy is offering potential recruits a new, eye-watering figure in exchange for joining its ranks: $115,000 in possible bonuses and loan repayment.

In a press release issued Saturday, the Navy announced that it is topping its already historically high $50,000 signing bonus, with the possibility of earning up to $65,000 in loan repayment as well.

Rear Adm. Lex Walker, head of Navy Recruiting Command, emphasized in the release that the two numbers are "not mutually exclusive, so if a Future Sailor maximizes both, that adds up to a life-altering $115,000, and the opportunity to serve in the world's finest Navy."

Read Next: These Troops Bought Guns on Base. Then They Used the Firearms to Take Their Own Lives.

There are, naturally, a few conditions that apply. For starters, the signing bonus is a maximum of $50,000 that requires enlisting in specific jobs and agreeing to ship out to boot camp quickly. The biggest bonuses are still for sailors who are eligible and interested in becoming part of the Navy's nuclear power program -- $38,000 just for the job. On top of that, you can layer more money to ship out quickly.

The Navy is offering $10,000 for a recruit in any job who is willing to go to boot camp between now and the end of September. Some jobs, however, see that bonus rise to $25,000.

The $65,000 loan repayment bonus has far fewer conditions. According to the latest Navy instruction, that offer is on the table for any job and regardless of when you ship out.

Under this latest offering, the Navy is also encouraging younger recruits who may not have loans, like high school seniors, to consider signing up by offering $10,000 just for entering the delayed-entry program by Oct. 31, 2022, with the condition that the recruit has to graduate from high school prior to shipping out in July 2023.

However, the Navy is also taking a relatively novel approach and speaking to former sailors and other enlisted veterans who are considering coming back to military service. The press release specifically notes that returning veterans are eligible for many of these bonuses as long as they come in at the rank of E-4 or below and did not receive a bonus in their first enlistment.

"If you are a Sailor, Marine, Airman, Soldier, Guardian, or Coast-Guardsman who recently separated, this is an opportunity without precedent," Walker noted in the release.

The statement also said that veterans of any branch would go through only a "three week Naval Orientation Course" at the Navy's boot camp facility at Great Lakes, Illinois, while former Navy veterans would be required to do even less -- just "in-processing."

Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for the Navy's Recruiting Command, explained that the high bonuses persist because the sea service recognizes "that young Americans today have more employment options and opportunities than ever before."

"We are offering record high enlistment bonuses to be competitive with the strong civilian labor market, recognizing that we are in competition for the best and the brightest young Americans from all walks of life," Benham added.

The high totals also reflect that the Navy, like all the branches, is struggling to attract recruits. In addition to the unprecedented bonuses, the service has instituted programs that tempt sailors near the end of their enlistment to keep serving longer, offer money to stay at forward-deployed locations, and, most recently, give promotions to senior enlisted to take orders to certain ships.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: Navy Will Offer Chiefs Promotions to Go to Sea -- or the George Washington -- in New Program
Sgt. Anthony Muhlstadt was pumped when he first arrived at Twentynine Palms, California. The 23-year-old Marine thought he had arrived among the "badasses of the world," according to his mother.

But that excitement faded last year as his relationships with his fellow Marines soured, turning into skirmishes. One night, he was jumped in the barracks because he helped a junior Marine clean up a room trashed by two other Marines, his mother Tanya Mort told Military.com.

"There was some bullying. I hate using that word, he was in the Marine Corps," Mort said. "I hate using that word, but that's really what it was."

Read Next: 'Top Gun' Boosted Recruiting and Brought the Tailhook Scandal. So What Happens After the Blockbuster Sequel?

Muhlstadt struggled with life in the barracks and eventually sought help on base for his depression. After more than two months of medication, the doctor he'd been seeing at Twentynine Palms reported progress in November and boosted his antidepressant prescription.

But the doctor and Marine Corps didn't know Muhlstadt had a gun he had bought weeks before at the Marine Corps Exchange store, or MCX, at Twentynine Palms. He had hidden it, like many Marines, in his barracks instead of checking the weapon into the armory as required.

Muhlstadt used the gun to take his own life on Nov. 19, two days after his checkup with the doctor. That day, he had gone shopping, even buying a trigger lock with plans of hiding the gun with a friend while out of town. To his mother, his death seemed extremely impulsive -- only possible because of her son's ready access to a firearm -- and pointed to a glaring loophole for those at risk of suicide.

"If somebody's going to buy a weapon at the MCX on base, why isn't there communication? Why can't the MCX shoot an email to the armory, shoot an email to the command?" Mort said. "Or for the MCX, say, 'You know what? OK, Muhlstadt, I'm going to shoot this over to the armory. We're going to deliver it to the armory, and you'll pick it up from there."

Muhlstadt's gun purchase was one of 113,200 firearms sales last year at stores on military bases, according to figures provided by the exchange services. The Army and Air Force have 81 store counters that sell guns at bases nationwide. The Marine Corps has 11 MCX sites, including the store at Twentynine Palms, that sell firearms.

Most service member suicides are tied to a personal firearm, according to the Pentagon's latest annual suicide report. And having guns immediately at hand is often a key factor in suicides, the Pentagon said, based on decades of research.

That's because suicide is often a sudden decision, as a 2018 Rand Corp. study concluded.

"Suicide attempts are impulsive acts that may never be repeated if the first attempt fails," the study found. "Because those who impulsively attempt suicide with a gun rarely get a chance to reconsider the decision, it is reasonable to suspect that when guns are less available, fewer suicide attempts will result in fatality."

Personal guns aren't allowed in barracks, but right now there's no requirement that base stores tell commanders when troops who live on base buy guns -- or that commands let those stores know if troops have been deemed a suicide risk ahead of a purchase.

Even as the military searches for ways to ease a years-long epidemic of suicides, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin creating an independent commission of suicide experts who are mulling policies to reduce the number of troops who kill themselves, little has changed in terms of gun purchasing, with Congress blocking attempts to curb gun access to at-risk troops.

Free offers of gun safes and trigger locks have served as the primary policy pushes to date.

"I would hope that, if there are going to be sales on military bases, that there's safe storage, training and some kind of basic education geared specifically toward active military," said Nick Wilson, the senior director for gun violence prevention at the Center for American Progress think tank.

Mort and other family members of those who have taken their own lives in barracks are pushing for more to be done.

After a command investigation of Muhlstadt's suicide, the 7th Marine Regiment at Twentynine Palms recommended his unit create a notification system for when a Marine living in the barracks buys a gun at the exchange store to ensure it is properly stored, according to an April letter obtained by Military.com. It's unclear whether the unit followed through on that recommendation, and there are no indications that similar initiatives are underway elsewhere in the military.

For troops, even those at risk for suicide, access to guns on base is mostly unfettered. Exchange purchases are a major source of firearms in the military community, and have been for decades.

Buyers are required to fill out a firearms transaction record with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as any paperwork required by state or local laws. But exchange stores do not contact a service member's chain of command when they buy a gun.

"Some installations require service members to register firearms within 24 hours of purchase," Chris Ward, a spokesman for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, wrote in an email to Military.com. "This process is not specific to military exchange purchases."

The Army and Marine Corps said they require troops to register personal guns with the Provost Marshal's Office on base, which oversees military police on any given facility but is unlikely to know about the mental health of individual service members.

"Service members living in the barracks are required to store their privately-owned firearms in the unit or installation armory," Capt. Ryan Bruce, Marine Corps spokesperson, said in a statement to Military.com. "All privately-owned firearms stored on base are required to be fitted with a trigger lock and stored unloaded in a locked, fully encased container."

The services also conduct what are called health and welfare inspections in the barracks, partly as a way to ensure troops are following the rules and keeping personal guns in the armory as required.

Still, Muhlstadt was able to hide the gun in the barracks for weeks after buying it at the exchange. Mort said Marines who served with her son told her it was easy to avoid the barracks inspections, and guns could be simply moved off-base temporarily.

It's unclear how many other service members have taken their lives with weapons purchased at base exchange stores, let alone how many of those were living in barracks and might have been helped by the notification measures suggested by Mort. That's mostly because the military doesn't release those statistics.

The Marine Corps, a relatively small branch, did provide a snapshot of suicide statistics for 2019, which it said is the most recent publicly released data on the question. There were 15 suicides in barracks or shared spaces, and four of those involved a personal firearm, it said. The other military services did not provide data on the suicides and referred questions to the Pentagon's annual suicide report.

"Suicide is a tragedy and we remain focused on preventing it. We cannot yet say that we fully understand the complexities involved," Bruce, the Marine Corps spokesman, said in his statement. "We continue to learn, study, and implement prevention and response measures."

Bruce said the Marine Corps Death by Suicide Review Board looks into each suicide, and if it finds evidence that suggests links or causes, it can make recommendations to service leadership.

'She Took the Gun Back to the Barracks'

Suicide, along with sexual assault, has become one of the hardest problems the military faces. The deaths among active-duty troops increased 44% from 2015 to 2020. Despite years of new policies and spending both from the Defense Department and Congress, suicides do not appear to be subsiding.

In Alaska, at least 11 troops committed suicide over the past year -- a number that alarmed the military and lawmakers. As the Army seeks a larger role in the Arctic, the frigid and remote environment of Alaska may be fueling the suicide epidemic.

The availability of guns on base may also make suicide an easier option for some in Alaska.

Spc. Kaylie Harris suffered trauma upon trauma during her assignment as a military police officer at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, according to her mother Carey Harris-Stickford.

Harris had just come out as gay in January 2021. Just days later, she was playing video games and drinking with a fellow service member. Harris became incapacitated and was raped, her mother said.

She went to a hospital emergency room for medical treatment and reported her assault, first in a restricted and then an unrestricted report, which allows commands and law enforcement to be notified. Harris started counseling through the military.

But the trauma of the rape persisted. Harris struggled at a training event and was found to have thoughts of suicide, Harris-Stickford said. She was placed under "do not arm" orders that barred her from using a service weapon.

"She broke off contact with most of her family, and I knew something was wrong," Harris-Stickford said. "We would FaceTime all the time, like two or three times a week, and then all of a sudden she couldn't FaceTime anymore and she said she got switched shifts."

Harris-Stickford tried raising the alarm through repeated phone calls with the base and to get somebody to check on her daughter, but was unsuccessful. A subsequent move by the Army and Air Force served as an additional trauma for Harris.

"They put her in a training building -- at the exact same building was the man who raped her because they removed him from his duty and put him in there for administration duties," her mother said. "So, she ran into him in the hallway."

"She called her special victims advocate. I guess she had an extremely emotional response; [that] is what their exact wording was," Harris-Stickford said.

A few days later, on a Friday, Harris had an evaluation over a Zoom call and was removed from the "do not arm" list, according to her mother. On Sunday, May 2, 2021, she went to the base exchange store with a fellow military police officer and bought a gun.

The friend suggested that Harris register the gun and put it in the armory. "She said, 'Oh no, I'm tired. I'm gonna go back and take a nap,'" Harris-Stickford said.

"Then, of course, she took the gun back to the barracks. Supposedly, she printed out a typed letter," her mother said. "And then she left, and she took her own life in her vehicle."

The Defense Department itself has ensured service members have easy access to firearms through the exchange store activities, which provide more than 113,000 personal guns per year to the military community.

Service members, like all Americans, have a constitutional right to own guns, and most personal gun owners who live on base reported responsibly storing their firearms, according to a first-ever department survey on gun attitudes and suicide that was folded into the annual suicide report.

Still, many others who live on base and have personal firearms do not follow storage and safety practices that reduce suicide risk, the survey found. About 20% of those troops said they always or frequently kept their guns loaded, and 28% said they kept ammunition with their firearms -- two factors that could increase the risk of suicide.

The common factor in the suicides of Muhlstadt and Harris was access. Both bought guns at exchange stores, and both broke rules designed to keep them safe.

'Red Flag' Laws and Gun Safes

The access to guns at exchange stores mirrors the wider society outside the base gates, where most Americans are free to purchase guns and firearms stores are numerous. Many troops could simply leave base to buy a personal gun, if they wanted. Guns also play a key role in suicide deaths throughout the country.

Any efforts by lawmakers to curb access to guns, either on military bases or in the civilian world, have typically fizzled or met stiff resistance despite raucous public debates following mass shootings, such as the massacre of 19 elementary school students and two teachers by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas.

In June, after decades of inaction, Congress passed gun legislation that partly encourages states to impose extreme risk protection orders, also known as "red flag" laws. The protective orders can take away a person's guns and bar them from purchasing firearms if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others.

But lawmakers have rejected proposals to allow military judges to issue protective orders that would temporarily take away a service member's guns if there was risk of suicide or domestic violence.

Over the past two years, red-flag legislation has been stripped from the annual must-pass defense authorization bill. Nearly 160 House Republicans opposed the measure last fall, saying it could violate troops' constitutional rights.

"This bill is supposed to be about funding our military and supporting our troops, not stripping law-abiding military members of their Second Amendment rights without so much as a hearing," Rep. Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, said in a December statement. "I'm glad we were able to get this poison pill stripped from this extremely important legislation."

Instead, the military has recently focused on safe storage, such as gun locks or safes, as a way to reduce its stubbornly high suicide rates. Defense Secretary Austin believes safe storage is a key factor when it comes to suicides, his spokesman said earlier this year.

The Air Force, for example, started giving away cable locks in 2019; last year, its bases in the U.S. ordered 71,100 of them.

"Putting time and distance between thoughts of self-harm and access to lethal means by using safes, locks or outside storage of lethal means can be successful in stopping an attempted suicide," Laurel Tingley, an Air Force spokeswoman, wrote in an email to Military.com.

Locks and safes prevent anyone without a key from firing a gun. In May, the Defense Department announced troops could ship gun safes to duty stations without it counting toward their household goods weight allowances. The House is proposing a pilot program that would give free gun locks and safes to troops who volunteer.

The latest push for safe storage comes after years of other efforts and programs -- none of which seem to significantly reduce suicides, according to the military's published statistics.

In March, Austin announced the creation of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee as an effort to finally get the department's arms around the problem. Dr. Gayle Iwamasa of the Department of Veterans Affairs was tapped to lead a team that includes an "expert on sexual assault and suicide, an epidemiologist, an expert on substance abuse, retired military personnel, a public health expert and a retired military chaplain."

Iwamasa and her experts were scheduled to begin touring bases this month, and are expected to eventually give Austin fresh recommendations to combat suicide.

For Mort, the mother of Sgt. Muhlstadt, at least one of the solutions is simple: Have exchange stores pick up a phone and notify commands when a service member buys a gun.

That could have enabled Muhlstadt's command to order his gun to the armory, and Mort believes it could have potentially saved his life.

"I'm not looking to place blame on everybody, that's not what I'm looking to do. I'm looking to hopefully make it harder for someone else in the future, to where if they had to go to the armory, they have those few extra minutes to think through this," she said. "Because in my son's case, it was extremely impulsive."

-- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten.

Related: Few Details from Pentagon, VA After White House Unveils Suicide Prevention Plan Focused on Gun Safety
Read the original article at theconversation.com.

Less than a month after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin took the extraordinary step of pausing all operations for 24 hours to address extremism in the ranks. Pentagon officials had been shaken by service members prominent role in the events of Jan. 6.

Of the 884 criminal defendants charged to date with taking part in the insurrection, more than 80 were veterans. Thats almost 10% of those charged.

More remarkable, at least five of the rioters were serving in the military at the time of the assault: an active-duty Marine officer and four reservists.

Service members involvement in the insurrection has made the spread of extremism  particularly white nationalism  a significant issue for the U.S. military.

Solving the Problem

A blue ribbon committee called the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group was quickly commissioned in April 2021 to evaluate the extent of the problem.

The group found about 100 substantiated cases of extremism in the U.S. armed forces in 2021.

The latest instance occurred in July 2022, when Francis Harker, a National Guard member with white supremacist connections, was sentenced to four years in prison for planning an anti-government attack on police. Harker, who carried a picture saying there is no God but Hitler, was planning to attack police officers in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with Molotov cocktails and semi-automatic rifles.

Worried, Austin has tightened the rules regarding political speech within the military. The new rules prohibit any statement that advocates for violence to achieve goals that are political  or idealogical in nature. The ban applies to members of the military both on and off duty.

Also, for the first time, the new rules prohibit statements on social media that promote or otherwise endorse extremist activities.

While the intent behind the new rules is laudable, political speech  even of an offensive or distasteful nature  goes to the core of U.S. democracy. Americans in uniform are still Americans, protected by the First Amendment and afforded the constitutional right of free speech.

In light of the stricter policy, it is useful to consider how courts apply the First Amendment in the military context.

Good Order and Discipline

While soldiers and sailors are certainly not excluded from the protection of the First Amendment, it is fair to say they operate under a diluted version of it.

As one federal judge observed, the sweep of the protection is less comprehensive in the military context, given the different character of the military community and mission.

The right to speak out as a free American must be balanced against providing an effective fighting force for the defense of our Country, a federal judge noted in a separate case.

These and other federal judges point to the militarys need for good order and discipline in justifying this approach.

While never precisely defined, good order and discipline is generally considered being obedient to orders, having respect for ones chain of command and showing allegiance to the Constitution. Speech that prevents the orderly accomplishment of the mission or promotes disloyalty and dissatisfaction within the ranks harms good order and discipline, and can be restricted.

In 1974, for example, the Supreme Court ruled that the Army can punish an officer for encouraging subordinates to refuse to deploy.

The officers comments included: The United States is wrong in being involved in the Vietnam War. I would refuse to go back to Vietnam if ordered to do so.

In 1980, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Army could legally fire an ROTC cadet for making racist remarks during a newspaper interview.

Explaining his political philosophy, the cadet said: What I am saying is that Blacks are obviously further behind the whites on the evolutionary scale.

In 2012, a San Diego district court ruled that the Marine Corps can lawfully discharge a sergeant who mocked president Barack Obama while appearing on the Chris Matthews Show. At one point the sergeant told the host: As an active duty Marine, I say screw Obama and I will not follow his orders.

While each of these statements is protected by the First Amendment in civilian life, they crossed the line in military life because they were deemed harmful to morale and represented what one federal court described as more than political discussion  at an enlisted or officers club.

The Militarys Job Is to Fight, Not Debate

In deciding these First Amendment cases, courts often hark back to why the military exists in the first place.

It is the primary business of armies and navies  to fight the nations wars should the occasion arise, the Supreme Court said in 1955.

In a separate case, the Supreme Court declared: An army is not a deliberate body. It is the executive arm. Its law is that of obedience.

U.S. soldiers stand to attention at the United States Army military training base in Germany on July 13, 2022. Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images

Quickly following orders can mark the difference between life and death in combat.

On a national level, the degree to which an army is disciplined can win or lose wars. A mindset of obedience does not come solely from classroom training but from repeated rehearsals under realistic conditions.

As a military judge observed in a 1972 decision, while service members are free to discuss political issues when off duty, the primary function of a military organization is to execute orders, not to debate the wisdom of decisions that the Constitution entrusts to Congress, the judiciary and the commander in chief.

New Policy Bans Liking Extremist Messages

The U.S. militarys revised approach to political speech prohibits retweeting or even liking messages that promote anti-government or white nationalist and other extremist groups.

Does a restriction this broad comply with legal precedent?

As a law professor who has served more than 20 years in the U.S military, I believe the broader rules will probably be upheld if challenged on First Amendment grounds.

The most comparable case is Blameuser v. Andrews, a 1980 case from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals where an ROTC cadet espoused white supremacist political views in a newspaper interview.

Amongst other extremist remarks, the cadet told the reporter: You see, I believe that in the final analysis, the Nazi Socialist Party will take over America and possibly the whole world.

Finding that the statements harmed good order and discipline, the Seventh Circuit ruled that the Army did not violate the First Amendment when it subsequently removed him from the officer training program.

The cadets views on race relations draw into question his ability to obey commands, especially in a situation in which he regards the military superior as socially inferior, the Blameuser decision said.

The military has wide latitude in deciding who is deserving of the special trust and confidence that comes with military employment. Military officials are free to consider political and social beliefs that are inimical to the vital mission of the agency in making hiring and firing decisions, the Blameuser decision said.

Social media posts expressing support for violent political activities will likely be treated in the same way.

As the Seventh Circuit said in Blameuser, by liking or retweeting an extremist message, a service members actions are demonstrably incompatible with the important public office they hold.
We may not fly our unit flags into battle these days, but the unit guidon is still an important military tradition. Atop those flags are battle streamers, also known as campaign streamers, long, distinctively colored ribbons bearing the names of battles or campaigns in which a unit participated.

There's nothing controversial about streamers noting the names of storied places from the past 200-plus years of American conflicts. These are places like Guadalcanal and Chateau-Thierry, or campaigns like Operation Iraqi Freedom. The conflict that does attract attention is the most uniquely American one: the Civil War.

A number of U.S. military units in operation today date back to the days of the Civil War -- and 48 of them were not on the winning side. Still, they were in storied battles and today carry the appropriate battle streamer, which is colored gray to indicate they were part of the Confederate Army.

The Naming Commission, a panel of current and former military leaders tasked with reviewing and eliminating the legacy of the Confederacy in the U.S. military, has found 457 Confederate battle streamers atop unit guidons and is recommending they be removed.

Read: Storied Military Unit Expected to Lose 'Battle Streamers' That Top Its Flag over Their Confederate Ties

The seven Civil War battles that follow is not an exhaustive list; 48 units flying 457 streamers across 12 states, three of those states that remained in the Union, are bound to have fought in more campaigns, battles and skirmishes than those listed here. These are just a few of the most important.

1. First Battle of Bull Run

Also known as the First Manassas (if you're a Confederate), the First Battle of Bull Run was fought just 30 miles from Washington and was the first major battle of the Civil War. The Union, both its military leaders and civilian population, were so unprepared for the ferocity of the Civil War that civilians actually came out to picnic and watch the battle, thinking it would be an easy win for the Federal troops.

The Union Army was just as disorganized as the Confederates, but the rebels were able to capture two Union guns; the course of the battle changed. The southern army fired within close range and charged with the rebel yell for the first time. The Union broke and ran -- even through the picnics.

2. Peninsula Campaign

By 1862, the Union needed a big win, so Gen. George B. McClellan decided to shoot for the moon. He landed a Federal army on the shores of the Virginia Peninsula to march his way to the Confederate capital of Richmond from an unexpected front.

As the Union forces approached the capital, they were caught off guard by numerous unexpected Confederate defenses and attacks. Before entering Richmond, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's cavalry surprised McClellan, inflicting heavy casualties. Johnston was wounded and replaced by Robert E. Lee, who went on the offensive and fought the Union off.

3. Shenandoah Valley Campaign

While McClellan made his way toward Richmond, Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was on the move farther west, in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Jackson's maneuvers in the valley not only routed four Union generals, but it also kept them from reinforcing McClellan in the Peninsula Campaign.

After nearly four months booting the Union Army around Virginia, Jackson moved his army toward the Peninsula Campaign, backing up Lee's offensive at Seven Pines to keep McClellan from capturing Richmond.

4. Battle of Gettysburg

If there's a battle on this list that needs no introduction, it's the Battle of Gettysburg. Long considered the major turning point in the Civil War, the Union's victory in the three-day battle not only ended Lee's hopes of invading the north, it gave President Abraham Lincoln a needed follow-up victory to the Battle of Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Gettysburg was the deadliest battle of the Civil War, wounding and killing around 50,000 troops. It also dashed a rebel plan to force Lincoln into a peace negotiation while Lee's army marched on Washington from the north.

5. Battle of Cold Harbor

By 1864, McClellan was out as the Union Army's commander and Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was in. Grant went after Lee's Army of Northern Virginia by moving his own Army of the Potomac between Lee and the Confederate capital in the Overland Campaign.

Lee was aggressive and constantly moved to block Grant from his goal, but rather than leave the area as his predecessors had, Grant stuck to his plan. His final battle came at Cold Harbor, where Grant assaulted heavily fortified Confederate lines, betting that the defenders were exhausted. He was wrong. The Union Army suffered more than 10,000 killed and wounded there.

6. Siege of Petersburg

Grant may have lost many of the battles of the Overland Campaign, but it was a strategic victory for the Union. The Army of the Potomac followed up by laying siege to Petersburg, Virginia, just 30 miles from Richmond. For almost 10 months, the Union dug and fought among miles of trench lines between the two cities.

Petersburg was a crucial target for the Union. If captured, Grant could cut Lee's army off from its supply lines and threaten Richmond -- which is exactly what happened. Grant launched a massive offensive on April 2, 1865, that forced Lee to abandon both cities.

7. Battle of Appomattox Court House

On the run after abandoning Richmond and Petersburg, Lee's army was making its way to North Carolina in an attempt to link up with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee. He never made it. Union Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry was hot on his tails. Lee decided to turn and fight him.

It was a mistake. Lee believed Sheridan's light cavalry was the only force in the area, but there were two corps of infantry following the Union cavalry. Outnumbered by the Union nearly three to one and his avenue of escape cut off, Lee was forced to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.

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The Astros announced Friday that outfielder Michael Brantley, who has been out since June due to a shoulder issue, underwent an arthroscopic procedure to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. The surgery will end his season.

Since Brantley was placed on the injured list, the Astros have been vague regarding the nature of Brantleys injury. General manager James Click said in July that there were no updates on Brantley other than that the team was waiting for inflammation in his shoulder to subside. Acting manager Joe Espada (filling in while Dusty Baker was out due to Covid-19) said earlier this week that Brantley was seeking a second opinion.

Todays announcement is the first indication of structural damage within the shoulder. This is the second time in Brantleys career that hes required surgery on this shoulder; he also suffered a small tear in his labrum late in the 2015 campaign and eventually underwent surgery that November.

Brantley, 35, is the second season of a two-year, $32MM contract with the Astros. Its the second consecutive two-year, $32MM deal hes signed with Houston, where hes now played since the 2019 campaign. Hes appeared in 64 games and taken 277 plate appearances this season, batting .288/.370/.418 with five homers, 14 doubles and a triple. In all, Brantley has batted a combined .306/.368/.464 in just over 1600 regular-season plate appearances as an Astro, plus an additional 211 plate appearances of .314/.376/.408 production in the postseason.

If thats the end of Brantleys run with the Houston franchise, hell go down as an immensely successful veteran signing. Theres no option on Brantleys contract, so hes set to become a free agent in a couple months time. The Astros did not provide a timetable for when he might return to playing. The Astros announcement added that Click will speak to reporters in a couple hours, so further updates could be provided at that time.

The Stros have been dealing with Brantleys absence for some time already, most regularly turning to Chas McCormick, Yordan Alvarez and Aledmys Diaz in his absence. Houston acquired Trey Mancini from the Orioles prior to the Aug. 2 trade deadline, but Baker has voiced a reluctance to play him in the outfield, given Mancinis limited outfield work in recent seasons. (More broadly, hes opted to sit Mancini nearly as often as start him since the trade, much to the chagrin of Astros fans.)

Subtracting Brantley from the outfield mix entirely puts a damper on the potential postseason roster, as players like McCormick and Diaz  generally viewed as depth/bench options  will now be pressed into more full-time duty. Add in the ongoing struggles of center fielder Jake Meyers, whos batting just .218/.260/.328 this season (and .147/.205/.221 over his past 23 games), and the outfield is at least a potential area of concern for the remainder of the year. It also stands out as a natural area of focus for Click and his staff in the coming offseason, whether they pursue a Brantley reunion or look for alternatives on the free-agent and/or trade markets.
The Rangers are signing reliever Tyler Duffey to a minor league contract, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The veteran righty was released by the Twins earlier this week. Darren Wolfson of SKOR North adds (on Twitter) that Duffeys deal comes with multiple opt-out opportunities.

Duffey had spent a decade in the Minnesota organization, entering pro ball as a fifth-round pick in 2012. He reached the majors three years later, initially struggling as a starting pitcher before finding success upon moving to the bullpen. Duffey broke out in 2019, when he posted a 2.50 ERA through 57 2/3 innings. That came with a stellar 34.5% strikeout percentage and a tiny 5.9% walk rate, kicking off a three-year run in which he was quietly one of the better high-leverage relievers in the league.

The Rice product pitched to a sterling 1.88 ERA during 22 appearances in the abbreviated 2020 season, followed by a 3.18 mark over last years full schedule. Duffeys strikeout and walk numbers went in the wrong direction last season, but that still marked a third straight solid campaign. He posted a 2.69 ERA over 144 innings between 2019-21, striking out 29.8% of batters faced while holding the opposition to a .200/.273/.316 slash line.

Minnesota surely hoped for more of the same this season, but Duffey hasnt been able to consistently get on track in 2022. He owns a 4.91 ERA across 44 innings with a 21.1% strikeout rate that is well below the marks hes posted in his best seasons. Hes also surrendered eight home runs and generated swinging strikes at an 11.1% clip that, while around the 11.7% league average for relievers, is about four points lower than Duffeys 2019-20 peak. Hed allowed runs in three of his four most recent appearances before Minnesota let him go.

Theres no downside for the Rangers in taking a shot to see if Duffey can recapture his pre-2022 form. The Twins remain on the hook for the rest of his $3.8MM salary, and Texas would only owe him the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum if he makes the big league roster. (Thatd be subtracted from the Twins payments). The 31-year-old is headed to free agency at the end of the season regardless, but hell be a late-season depth option for a Texas bullpen that ranks 11th in the majors with a 3.71 ERA.
Kwabena Boakye Asiamah, Founder and Leader of Universal Spiritual Outreach (Ajagurajah Movement), widely known as Prophet Ajagurajah, has revealed the number of women he wishes to marry.

Shockingly, the controversial prophet repeated his usual controversies saying he wanted to be the modern-day King Solomon by marrying 30 different women.

Speaking with Andy Dosty in an interview on his Daybreak Hitz show aired on the Accra-based Hitz FM and monitored by Modernghana News, he intimated that his father married 30 women but is still healthy and alive.

He further refuted the Christian claims that God doesn't support polygamy.

God is a polygamous God. My father is married to 30 women. He is alive and kicking and I also want to be polygamous because I believe in polygamy, he shared.

IProphet Ajagurajah added, "I don't want to be a Christian because Christians are hypocrites."

This leaves the question of which religion the man of God belongs to, if not Christianity.
Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh

12.08.2022 LISTEN

The Alliance of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance have expressed concern over plans by the Energy Ministry to relocate the Ameri Power plant.

The Energy Ministry led by Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh is planning to relocate the Ameri Plant from Takoradi to Kumasi to ensure a stable supply of power to the middle belt.

As revealed by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), although the relocation of the plant from Takoradi to Kumasi according to the Energy Ministry will cost $35.6 million, the cost involved is actually $25.48.

The Minister quotes $35.6 million as the cost of the relocation in his 17th December 2021 letter to VRA. However, ACEP has sighted the original proposal from Mytilineos SA dated 22nd March 2021 to the Ministry, quoting $25.48 million for the same.

Instead of negotiating the proposal of the sole-sourced offer downwards, the contract cost has instead increased by 40 percent. It is unclear what accounts for such a quantum leap from the proposal amount by Mytilineos SA, ACEP recently disclosed in a statement.

Following that revelation, Energy Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh in an interview alleged that ACEP is only against the relocation of the Plant because it has something against the people of Kumasi.

Reacting to the claims at a press conference in Accra today, the Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance has implored the Minister to desist from personal attacks on ACEP.

Accusing the Minister of diversionary tactics, the CSOs want him to instead respond to the real issues at hand with a focus on how best to solve the challenges facing the energy sector.

We demand that the Minister of Energy should constructively engage on the core issues raised rather than divert public attention from them. We understand that the overall aim is to stabilize power in the middle belt and hence discussion should focus on how to efficiently achieve this objective, Executive Director of the Centre for Extractive and Development, Africa, Samuel Bekoe told the media today.

Samuel Bekoe

He stressed that it is the view of the CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance that a competitive bidding process should be used to award the contract for the relocation of the Ameri Plant.

Through that, he says the country can save cost to reduce the growing debt crippling the energy sector.

The Ministry of Energy should revisit the concerns on the need for adopting a competitive bidding process to accommodate local contractors to achieve the most optimal contract cost, Samuel Bekoe shared.

He added, We maintain that the Minister should consider other options which we believe are far optimal option than the attempts to relocate plants and its attendant unnecessary cost additions. For instance, retooling National Interconnected Transmission Systems (NITS).

Additionally, the CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance want Cabinet and Parliament to assume critical responsibility for the efficient planning of the sector.

The CSOs argue that these decisions among others have contributed to the current economic difficulties being faced in the country.
11.08.2022 LISTEN

Among the elected governors in Nigeria in the current political dispensation, six of them were my colleagues at the University of Lagos. They went into public service, while the True Lord God Almighty destined me for a higher service as one of His prophets. So, I called one of them the other day and as he picked my call, I said; Your Excellency Sir His Excellency, Gov. Kayode John Fayemi of Ekiti State and current Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum answered jocularly: Is that not Fayee and you call me Excellency Sir obviously shocked. I had to explain to him that as a governor, that is what is called respect, for there are certain reverences attached to a person, position, or thing as noumenal. We often confuse Honor and Respect altogether, even using them interchangeably, but this is wrong. Respect is value and reverence accorded a person for the position that the person occupies or the purpose that thing serves. Honor is deeper than that, for unlike Respect which is situational and changes depending on position and or circumstances, Honor is a reverence and value accorded a person or a thing you cannot do without. In the above example, once my friend, Dr Kayode Fayemi ceases to be a governor, I will not address him as Your Excellency Sir, because he doesnt occupy that office anymore, but I will continue to accord him respect, nonetheless.

The Book of Life gave us seven people and things we must accord Honor to as we maintain vertical and lateral relationships between and among us on earth. As stated, these people and things are to be honored, and if you try to dishonor the people and things, you cannot make it in life, whether you are a believer or not. Here are the people and things that we must honor on earth: -

Honor The Creator: - Every product has a manufacturer; every house has a builder and for a soul there is a Maker. You are not a product of evolution. As Prophet Isaiah pointed out: Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay; You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand (Isaiah 64:8). If anyone told you that you are your Maker and Creator and that you dropped down from the sky; if you believe such malarkey, you are the most to be pitied. Each time I read a book, or an article and someone is described as a self-made person, I throw the trash away. No human being can be self-made; that is a lie from the pit of hell. We must honor the True Lord God Almighty, because we cannot do without Him and He said so plainly: I am the Lord, and there is no one else (Isaiah 45:18; See also Deuteronomy 32:39, Hosea 13:4 etc.). So, how are we supposed to honor the True Lord God Almighty? Here is how: Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops (Proverbs 3:9). Again, the True Lord God Almighty commanded you and I to honor Him in the following seven ways, because we cannot do without Him as our Maker. First, honor Him with your heart as He disclosed in Matthew 15:8: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Since He is the Giver of your life, you must give it back to Him to serve and obey Him, because He is the Only One Who has the Power and Authority to take that life of yours back as the Giver, Hallelujah! Repent and change from the way youre currently living that is not pleasing to Him, confess your disobedience and accept the sacrifices of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary by His Blood and get it right with your Maker. Whether you like it or not, He is going to take that life He gave you back one day and ask you to give account to Him, so do it right now wherever you may be reading this piece, because tomorrow is not guaranteed of your life. Second, honor Him with your 10 percent as He requested above in Proverbs 3;9. He is the One Who enables you to get that wealth, money, riches, paycheck or salary or profit from your business. Be careful with those ignorant teachers who tell you not to pay your tithes, because Papa Abraham paid his tithes (Genesis 14:20), Jacob paid his tithes (Genesis 28:22), even the children of Israel paid tithes in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land (Leviticus 27:30, Numbers 18:21-32). You dont want to incur Gods curse on the issue of tithes (Malachi 3:6-12), because you cant call yourself a son or daughter of Papa Abraham and Abrahams blessings cannot be yours, when Papa Abraham paid his tithes and you dont, period! Third, you honor our Lord Jesus Christ when you help by sowing into the spreading of the Good News thereby laying up for yourself treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).

Fourth, you honor the Lord when you help those in need as the early believers in the church at Corinth did to the victims of earthquake in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 9:1-15). Fifth, give and help materially to genuine and real men and women of God called to spread the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ as apostles, teachers, prophets, pastors, evangelists and missionaries, because our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles were supported by great men and women of faith from their own finances as we read in Luke 8:1-3 thus: After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herods household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. If youre a true believer and genuine son or daughter of my Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ, you must send money to those in the mission field since you cannot go physically, and so where you cannot go to personally to spread the good news, your money can reach those called to go. It is a commandment, because The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel (I Corinthians 9:14). Sixth, honor the Lord with your time. You must tithe your 24 hours by giving Him at least a minimum of 2hours 40 minutes daily in prayers and praise (More on this next week when we write on Glory). Seventh and lastly, help the poor with what the Lord God has blessed youth with, because Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done (Proverbs 19:17; See also Deuteronomy 15:7-9).

Your Life: - This is self-explanatory; value and revere your life and that of others, because as the local adage says way back in my native Nigeria; Life has no duplicate. This is why anyone who murders must also be killed, thus murder as a crime extracts the maximum penalty: death penalty in virtually all climes and traditions. You cannot create life and when you murder someone either physically or supernaturally via demons, you too must forfeit your life. The True Lord God Almighty decreed it thus:

Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death (Leviticus 24:17; See also; Genesis 9:6, Exodus 20:13, 21:12 etc.). That is why witches, wizards and other agents of Satan and demons that sacrifice their children and others for whatsoever must die! You also do not have the right to kill yourself, thus suicide is a serious sin, because life is sacred so honor it, because you cannot do without it.

Honor Your Parents: - As I have disclosed last week and sundry times elsewhere, our Lord, Master and Savior Jesus Christ is a God of Order, and He doesnt circumvent that Chain of Command. Also, as I disclosed above, anyone who discribe him or herself as Self-Made is stupid. Did you give birth to yourself? Did you clean up your diapers as a baby? Whose breasts did you suck? You wont be here on earth without your parents in the first place, hence the Commandment of our True Lord God Almighty is unambiguous: Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12; See also Leviticus 19:3, 32, Ephesians 6:2). There are three ways we are to honor our parents, because on those occasions, we cannot do without them, and you should reverence them. First, when youre about to get married, you must involve them as man in your choice of your future wife; ditto you as a daughter. The reason is simple; when the Lord God Almighty created Eve and brought her to Adam, the latter exclaimed: This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man (Genesis 2:23). Adam knew a part of him had become an entity which he must need in order to bring more of himself known as children to the world in fulfillment of the words of the Almighty God in Genesis 1:28:  Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth, and subdue it. Consequently, a man has to be brought up, nurtured, and prepared by his parents before he can now move to the next stage of his life to say as Adam said in Genesis 2:24: That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Since you as a man did not fall from heaven, but your parents took care of you from infancy till youre now matured to cleave to your wife and become one, is it not sensible to involve your parents in that pivotal moment of your life? The Holy Bible didnt say you should obey your parents or defer to them in your choice of spouse, but honor, because if they didnt take care of you from birth to the stage you will cleave onto your wife, you will not have been alive in the first place. The same thing you daughter; would any man have approached and asked your hand in marriage without your parents care and upbringing? The way to honor them is for them to be present on that day at your wedding and bless you as you go ahead to build your own nest. Any son or daughter who ignores this commandment of the law is cursed and the marriage is cursed as well. The second way you honor your parents is when you give birth to your first child, especially if the child is a boy. Hear what the Almighty God commanded Moses in the wilderness: Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal (Exodus 13:2; See also Luke 2:23). This is a form of tithing-as I have pointed out in previous articles here, - to tithe to the Lord also include your time, and the fruit of your womb as man and woman. Tithe is more than money. That was why Hannah gave her first son, Samuel to the Lord as a tithe and was rewarded with seven sons in return by the Lord (I Samuel 2:5). You must invite your parents to the dedication or naming ceremony of your first child, especially a boy as a form of honor, unless your parents are deceased. The third and final way or time you must honor your parents is when they are about to die. Whatever they say on their deathbeds as last wishes must be respected and carried out, otherwise the family will be under a curse. Read this in Genesis 49:29-33: Then he gave them these instructions: I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people. In our present day, this is called a Will. Legally, a mans or womans Will cannot be altered, it is a crime. So, it is also a spiritual matter. If you read further in Genesis 50, Jacobs Will was fully implemented thus: When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaohs court, If I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh for me. Tell him, My father made me swear an oath and said, I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan. Now let me go up and bury my father; then I will return. Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do (Gen. 50:4-6). Any child, son, daughter, relative, attorney or accomplice(s) that collude to alter a mans or womans Will is under Gods curse.

Money: - We all know that money is essential in all facets of human life. No one can do without it; hence it must be honored. As the local adage says way back in my native Nigeria among my Yoruba tribe; Money is like a visitor, it stays with you, or leaves based on how you treat it. How do you honor money spiritually speaking? First, you must not attempt to live your life without it. King Solomon got it with the wisdom the Almighty God gave him when he disclosed in Ecclesiastes 10:19: A feast is made for laughter, wine makes life merry, and money is the answer for everything. Since you cannot live in this life without money, you must not treat it as something you dont need. The reason why you are broke and poor even as a believer is that you have developed the habit or mindset that we will not spend money in heaven so it shouldnt be valued here during our temporary earthly sojourn. Yes, you are partially right; we will not need money in our eternal life in heaven, but we need it here now to carry out the work and assignment the Lord God Almighty gave to us as His redeemed children. The Almighty God did not create money, so when you pray to Him for money, He cannot answer such prayer, because He didnt invent money in the affairs of the human race. The Almighty God created wealth, because as I Chronicles 29:11-12 disclosed: Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head overall. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. As my good friend and classmate, His Excellency Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, Governor of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria would always say: There is a difference between money and cash, in the same vein, there is a difference between money and wealth. Satan created the former while the Almighty God created the latter. No wonder, the Word of Life says. But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, (not money)-and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today (Deuteronomy 8:18). Second, you honor money by spending and using it judiciously. Your value and reverence for money is determined by how you use it for your needs and desires. No amount of money can satisfy your desires and wants; consequently, a wise person who understands the spiritual principles of honor is called a miserly and abstemious person. This is wrong. Because money is part of the sinful nature of a fallen human race, Satan uses it to trap human souls, because no matter the amount of money you have, you can never be satisfied. That is why the Word of Life cautions: For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (I Timothy 6:10). As the late John D. Rockefeller, the first man to hit the billion Dollar mark worth $340billion, who gave the world the land the United Nations Building was built in New York and many other philanthropic gestures was once asked: How much money can a human being have to be satisfied? His answer: A little bit more. No amount of money in this world can satisfy the human desires and wants, because Mammon, the demon-god of money works with Death, the demon-god of the underworld and as Habakkuk 2:5 says: Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples. As Solomon, the wealthiest and richest person in human history says in Proverbs 27;20-21: Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes. A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise accorded him. Thirdly and finally, you honor money by giving it out. Because the desire for money gnaws at the very heart of human greed, you can be caged and enslaved by the demon-god Mammon in your relentless pursuit of it. There is only one way to ensure money does not master you; by walking away from it in large quantities through charity and helping others. Whatever you are able to walk away from after making it doesnt own you anymore. Anything you are unable to part away from owns you and thus become your god, for people are slaves to whatever has mastered them (2 Peter 2:19). It is what money can do for others that makes money relevant and not having money in itself, hence our Lord Jesus Christ told us plainly: It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35).

Food: We all know we cannot do without food. We must honor it. As the local adage says, I ate yesterday does not concern hunger, thus we must eat. Satan knew this and that was the reason he used it to tempt Eve, our First Mother who fell into it in tow with our First Father, Adam. Because eating is an inevitable daily act, your first demonstration of its importance and value is not to waste it. After feeding 5,000 people with two fish and five barley loaves, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded the disciples on the leftovers: When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted (John 6:12). It is a sin to waste food. Second, help the hungered and those in need of it. Food is the only thing God Almighty said a person can take from another in his or her farm and the person must not be prosecuted and punished. Many of the uprisings, peoples revolt, armed revolutions and rebellions that have occurred in human history were instigated by food shortages, examples, the 1789 French Revolution over food and consumer goods, notably bread, the 1775-83 American Revolution over increase in the price of tea, the 1648 Moscow Uprising over the costs of salts and other commodities, the Irish Potato Riot of 1830, the 1710-1713 Bread Riots in Boston Massachusetts, and many more. Thirdly and finally, preserve food and when you are eating it, accord it the necessary honor and bless it through prayers.

Water: - Like food, water is a necessity. Water is the equivalent to blood in the physical and supernatural realms respectively. That is why Satan, and the demons crave huma blood. You cannot do without water unless you want to die. Water has no enemy. We all need it. You must honor it just like food; value it, conserve and do not waste it. No wonder, our Lord Jesus Christ said He is the Water of Life to the woman at the well in Sychar: whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:14). The last punishment the Almighty God would visit on Satan and the rebels is total dispossession of water as Revelation 21:1 says: and there is no longer any sea. But water will be everlasting in the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ as Revelation 22:1-2 says: Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The Kingmaker: Unlike the king whose reward is power as pointed out last week, the Kingmakers reward is honor. A Kingmaker is a prophet of God who brings Gods messages to the king and people. There are three ways to honor the real, truly, and genuinely called prophet of the True Lord God Almighty. First, consult him on all matters. After King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah had agreed to go to war against Aram and Ahab had assembled 400 prophets of Baal that worshipped at the Table of Queen Jezebel, King Jehoshaphat asked: But Jehoshaphat asked, Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire? The king of Israel answered There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah. The king should not say that! Jehoshaphat replied (I Kings 22:7-8). It was Prophet Ahijah that the Lord God Almighty instructed to make Jeroboam king of the Ten Tribes of Israel leaving Judah and Benjamin for Rehoboam after Solomon messed up in keeping with His Promise to King David. Jeroboam fled into exile in Egypt because Rehoboam was after his life. Of course, the words of the Almighty God must be fulfilled as prophesied by Ahijah. Jeroboam eventually became King of Israel, but he forgot about Prophet Ahijah until he ran into trouble over his first son. At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam said to his wife, Go, disguise yourself, so you wont be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is therethe one who told me I would be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the boy. (I Kings 14:1-3). A king should not wait until there is fire in the mountain before consulting the Kingmaker as Jeroboam learned a bitter lesson much later. The second way a king must honor his kingmaker is to care for him. After a long time, in the third year of the drought, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the face of the earth. So, Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. (Now Obadiah greatly feared the LORD, for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.) (I Kings 18:1-4). When a king cares for his kingmaker, there is a special blessing from the Almighty God reserved for the king. This was the secret of the success of Joseph during his administration in Egypt. So, Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaohs, and Joseph reduced the people to servitude from one end of Egypt to the other. However, he did not buy the land of the priests, because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land. So, Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egyptstill in force todaythat a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaohs. (Genesis 47:20-22 & 26). The founding fathers of our nation, the United States of America adopted this Judeo-Christian Law that today, all faith-based organizations are tax-free and that is one of the reasons for our nations prosperity. Any society or nation that blesses the prophets of God and does them no harm shall be blessed in return by the Almighty God, Hallelujah! Thirdly and lastly, the king must confide in his kingmaker. Just as the husband and wife complement each other in marriage, the king and kingmaker must have confidence on each other, because; Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3). These are the 3 Cs of the king to the Kingmaker: Consult, Care and Confide. On the other hand, the Kingmaker has three obligations and duties too for the king in power. It is called the 3Bs: Back the king, Believe the king and Burden Not the King. No matter the decision taken by the king, no kingmaker must throw his king under the bus. Your job as a kingmaker is to finetune the decision of the king and back him at all times. That was the reason the Lord God Almighty answered the prayer of King David in 2 Samuel 15:21 that the counsel of Ahithophel should be turned into foolishness for joining Absalom in his rebellion against his father. A kingmaker crosses the spiritual line when he committed spiritual treason by betraying a king and that was the reason Ahithophel committed suicide (2 Samuel 17:23. Second, the kingmaker must never doubt the king and thirdly, the kingmaker must not burden the king with flimsy and unreasonable demands, like giving the impression he wants to exercise power and curry favors. That was the reason Prophet Nathan did not ask to be given any position in the administration of King David (2 Samuel 20:23). Kingmakers dont ask for favors, because they dont need power or become influence peddlers or wielders but are content with honor. TO BE CONCLUDED ABOUT GLORY NEXT WEEK

Dr Moshood Ademola Fayemiwo is the Spiritual Head & Founder, The Jesus Christ Solution Center, based in Cameron, TX USA. Call him at this number: 254-605-4035. You can send him email at [email protected] . You can also visit our websites at: - https://tocu.education/ and https://tocu.online/
New Delhi, Aug 12 (UNI) India on Friday said the technical hold placed by China on the listing proposal for Jaish e Mohammed Deputy Chief Abdul Rauf Asghar was the "most uncalled for" and the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice against terrorism.

China on Thursday came in defence of Abdul Rauf Asghar and thwarted India's bid to list him as the UN Security Council designated terrorist.

Reacting over the issue, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We note with regret that a technical hold has been placed on the listing proposal for Abdul Rauf Asghar. It's unfortunate that when it comes to our collective battle against terrorism, the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice."
The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen on Wednesday, August 10 stormed the residence of Citi TV/FMs Bernard Koku Avle to commiserate with him over the passing of his wife.

The Minister, who has already taken to his official Facebook page to sympathize with the journalist once again, penned down his signature in the book of condolences in honour of the late Mrs Justine Avle.

Mr Alan Kyeremateng on his Facebook page after his visit on Wednesday seen by Modernghana News, wrote, I conveyed my sympathy to the Avle and Senuvie families, today, through the signing of the condolence book in honour of Mrs Justine Avle.

He adds My thoughts and prayers are with Bernard, their children, family, and loved ones. God rest her soul.

It's been a week since the demise of Mrs Justine Avle, the wife of Bernard Koku Avle, General Manager of Citi FM and Citi TV on Thursday, August 4.

She died on the evening of Wednesday, August 3.

The award-winning journalist, Mr Avle host of the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM and Point of View Show on Citi TV, married Justine in 2011.

They have five kids; four boys and a girl.
Samuel Bekoe, Member of the Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance

12.08.2022 LISTEN

The Alliance of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance has attributed inefficiencies to challenges in the energy sector.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Thursday, August 11, member of the Alliance Samuel Bekoe charged the Minister of Energy, Matthew Opoku Prempeh to lead the way to address the challenges facing the sector.

He said the challenges in the energy sector are partly accountable for the current economic crisis.

Mr. Bekoe who is Executive Director of the Centre for Extractive and Development disclosed that losses in the energy sector alone have cost Ghana over GHS14 billion in the last two years.

He said the Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance demand that the Energy Ministry take steps to address the inefficiencies in the sector contributing to the collapse of the Ghanaian economy.

The challenges in the energy sector have contributed significantly to the current economic challenges that Ghana faces. The inefficiencies and losses in the sector have cost the country over GHS14 billion in 2020 and 2021, with an outstanding debt of about GHS17.6 billion.

Without a handle on debt accumulation and the fiscal challenges, the sector would continue to exacerbate the country's economic challenges and stifle social investments to fight poverty and inequality, Samuel Bekoe told the media at the press conference organised on the back of the recent controversy on the relocation of the Ameri Plant from Takoradi to Kumasi.

The member of the Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance further noted that addressing the debt accumulation challenges requires the government to be efficient in its decision-making and make changes to ensure system planning that employs sound policy, financial, and legal expertise to holistically examine the energy sector's problems.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance has urged the Ministry of Energy to adopt a competitive bidding process in its bid to award a contract for the relocation of the Ameri Plant to save cost.

The Alliance also wants the Ministry to engage stakeholders on plans to relocate the plant and prioritise other options that will stabilise the power supply in the middle belt without necessarily relocating the Ameri Plant.
French prime minister Elisabeth Borne led the tributes to the cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempe whose death was announced on Thursday.

The co-creator of Le Petit Nicholas, died at his holiday home surrounded by his family and friends, said Marc Lecarpentier, his friend and biographer. He was 89.

In a tweet showing the cover of one of his works, Borne hailed Sempe's range and humour.

"With Sempe, it was sometimes tears in your eyes because you were laughing. Tonight, it's tears of emotion," said Borne.

Born in 1932 in Pessac in the Gironde region in south-western France, Sempe dreamed of a career in music before pursuing his passion for drawing.

"It was easier to find a pencil and paper than a piano, he told the French newspaper Le Monde in an interview in 2018.

He left school at 14 and made his way after the second world war as a salesman and as a freelance cartoonist for newspapers.

Change

His change of fortune came In Paris in the mid 1950s when he met the cartoon caption writer Rene Goscinny in the offices of the Belgian press agency World Press on the Champs-Elysees.

The two developed a friendship and produced cartoons together. In March 1959 they conjured up Le Petit Nicolas for Sud Ouest Dimanche

The cartoons - offering up idealised vignettes of French society - became an international success.

Le Petit Nicolas sold five million copies before the series ended in 1964 after a fifth collection, Joachim a des ennuis.

Sempe continued to work on solo projects such as Marcellin Caillou in 1969 and L'Ascension sociale de Monsieur Lambert in 1975.

He also collaborated with top magazines such as Paris Match, Le Nouvel Observateur and The New Yorker, for which he created around 100 "front pages.

"The New Yorker was an unimaginable dream, like joining Duke Ellington's orchestra," he confided to Le Monde. "My first cover, it was a guy who hesitated to fly. I was lucky because it was very successful."

The last of his 30 books, Garder le cap, was released in 2020.

Considered by the younger generations of cartoonists as a model, he was particularly adored by Catherine Meurisse and Joann Sfa.

An ostensibly gruff man, Sempe admitted he was uneasy with the trappings of fame.

He told Lecarpentier in a 2011 documentary: "I am panicked as soon as I am asked a question. I'm afraid of making a mistake. I'm afraid of not telling the truth ... because there are things I don't want to say."
The Youth Employment Agency has warmly welcome its new Chief Executive Officer Mr Kofi Baah Agyepong as he begun his first day of work at the Agency on Thursday, 11th August 2022.

The young Chief Executive received a rousing welcome amidst cheers when he was introduced by the former Chief Executive Officer Lawyer Justin Kodua Frimpong who is now the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party.

Staff who were visibly happy having learnt of the humble but principled nature of the New CEO Mr Kofi Agyepong and his will to continue and improve the fortunes of the Agency expressed their gratitude in seeing the smooth transition and the assurance of a continuum in leadership.

During his introduction, the former Executive Officer (CEO) of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) Lawyer Justin Frimpong Kodua tasked the staff to lend the same support, cooperation and conducive environment he enjoyed to his successor for him to also succeed with the Agency.

He further assured that even with his new role as General Secretary he will remain an integral part of the Agency and promote the Agencys programmes even at the level cabinet. He was extremely grateful to all stakeholders for the support he enjoyed during his six-year tenure as CEO.

Handing over documents officially to the new CEO Mr Kofi Baah Agyepong, he urged a detailed assessment for review and continuation of the programs and modules rolled out so far in order to improve upon them for the benefit of the unemployed youth.

Mr. Kofi Baah Agyepong on his part, expressed appreciation at the warm reception received from the staff and assured of a great management and staff collaboration to implement the programmes of the Agency. He prlmised to further create employment for the youth of Ghana. He assured the former CEO of a continuation of the reformation agenda that has brought a renewed hope to the youth of Ghana.

The CEO urged the staff to disabuse their minds of any perceived reassignments as a result of the change at the helm of affairs.

For Mr Kofi Baah Agyepong, his main preoccupation was about achieving results and promised to encourage the staff to evaluate their individual roles and how best to improve upon them. Another important issue for the CEO is attitude and commitment to the course of youth development, hardwork and punctuality. He believes a great attitude by all staff will obviously inure to the mutual benefit of the Agency and its key stakeholders, beneficiaries and jobseekers.

The new Chief Executive Officer is also looking forward to run with speed and discipline to achieve the One Million Jobs Agenda of the Youth Employment Agency.

Mr Agyepong continued the day with a meeting with the governing Board of the Agency led by Rev. Mrs. Anita Kusi Boateng.
The names of diseases come from a variety of places, including Latin and Greek antecedents, geographical names, the names of the physicians who discovered them, or well-known individuals who had them. Here are a few ailments and the intriguing origins of their names.

Norovirus: In 1968, 150 pupils at Bronson Elementary School in Norwalk, Ohio, USA, contracted a severe case of diarrhea and vomiting. The cause of the problem was eventually identified after four years and numerous stool tests under the various names of "winter sickness," "vomit bug," and stomach flu.

The name of the city was adopted as the virus's moniker once it was isolated and discovered by the researchers. As similar viruses caused comparable outbreaks in the years that followed, doctors started referring to the Norwalk virus and its close cousins as norovirus. Sadly, norovirus is still frequently to blame for these mini-epidemics in schools.

Despite being a fairly rare disease in general, Kaposi's sarcoma is identified in 4060% of AIDS patients, and the prevalence of this type of cancer pathology has significantly grown since the 1990s due to the AIDS epidemic. Photo credit: dr-ma-ansaryscience-photo-library.

Listeria: Listeria, or Bocium monocytogenes, is a rod-shaped bacteria that is spread through contaminated food. It was initially detected in 1924, and E. G. D. Murray advocated naming it after Joseph Lister, a British surgeon who passed away in 1912. However, one of the mold kinds already had his name attached, so Murray ultimately chose another name (listeria).

The naming of a potentially lethal bacterium after a scientist or physician was regarded as an honor in the scientific and medical societies. But compared to how he was regarded during his lifetime, Joseph Lister had enormous fame after his death. Lister observed that between 1861 and 1865, half of the amputated patients on his ward perished from what is now known as surgical or operational sepsis while he was employed at the Royal Glasgow Infirmary.

Lister experimented with numerous methods to combat germs in the operating room with the presumption that illnesses and infections are brought on by germs. He recommended certain actions that now seem second nature, like washing your hands and disinfecting your tools with antiseptic. The surgical death rate in his unit fell to 15% by 1869, then to nil six years later.

The medical community in America and Europe started to gradually promote the use of sterilized instruments and gloves in operating rooms after Lister presented his findings in 1877.

Cholera: From roughly the third century BC through the late 1800s, humor theory was the dominant medical doctrine. This idea states that the body is made up of four primary elements known as humor, which are blood, bile, black bile, and sputum. The body becomes unbalanced if any of them are present in excess. Accordingly, everything that aids in eliminating the excess of one or more humor only serves to help the body's internal balance be restored.

 in Greek denotes bile, one of these humor. Initially, the name cholera was used to refer to any of several bacterial or viral diseases that caused vomiting and diarrhea, which, by humoral theory, was a filthy but efficient method of removing bile.

Legionnaires' disease: At their annual conference held at the Bellevue, Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, United States, members of the American Legion (Association of American Veterans) commemorated the bicentennial of the country's establishment in 1976. Participants soon started to experience chest discomfort, disorientation, nausea, and diarrhea. The fact that many veterans did not experience symptoms until they returned home was especially concerning.

Fears that the 'Philadelphia illness,' as it was initially known, would spread outside of the city were consequently raised. A total of 182 legionnaires got sick, and 29 of them passed away. A novel strain of bacteria called Legionella pneumophila was discovered to be the disease's cause a few months later by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They were reproducing, the researchers discovered, in the hotel's water cooling tower.

The system circulated air through the tower's cold water to chill the hotel rooms. The extra heat was subsequently discharged from the tower's top, and a cloud of steam and Legionella plummeted onto the hotel's guests who were gathering in the outdoor leisure area.

Dengue: Medical historians have discovered the first reference to the fever, headache, and rash symptoms of dengue fever in the Chinese Medical Encyclopedia from the third century BC. The Swahili phrase for a sudden convulsive attack brought on by an evil spirit is translated as "dengue" in Spanish.

However, the Chinese were already referring to dengue as "water poisoning" by the time it was mentioned in this book from the Qin Dynasty and were aware that flying insects were a contributing factor. Today, we know that infected mosquitoes, which frequently inhabit areas with a lot of standing water, are the carriers of dengue fever.

Influenza: The word influenza, which has been used to describe the flu for a long time, is Italian for "influence." The Latin word "influentia," from which the Italian word derives, means "to flow in," and it dates back to a time when people in the Middle Ages believed that you could be affected by liquid coming from the stars. However, science eventually revealed to the world that the flu is brought on by the effect of any virus belonging to a specific class.

Syphilis: Every nation in Europe in the fourteenth century, which was rife with perpetual conflict, tended to accuse its adversaries of disseminating deadly diseases and to give them specific names. Examples include the "Neapolitan disease" among the French and the "French disease" among the Italians for what finally came to be known as syphilis.

After the Italian physician and poet Girolamo Fracastoro published a poem about the illness in 1530, these name games came to a stop in the 16th century. The main character, named Syphil, had recently been diagnosed with it. The topic of how syphilis first came to remains unresolved, even though the fact that we now know what to call this sickness, and scientists have identified the organism that causes it, Treponema pallidum.

Asperger's syndrome: A disease of mental development known as Asperger's syndrome manifests itself in a variety of ways. Asperger's syndrome is frequently associated with difficulty in social interaction, which is why many people mistake it for high-functioning autism. The term "Asperger's syndrome" is not present in the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which was released in the US in 2013. Autism spectrum disorder is used as a substitute.

The syndrome bears the name of Hans Asperger, a physician and pediatrician from Austria (full name: Johann Friedrich Karl Asperger). He first identified such behavioral characteristics in kids who have trouble relating to others and are unwilling to use nonverbal cues in 1944. He used the Soviet doctor Grunya Sukhareva's account of childhood autism as a starting point.

Down Syndrome: One of the most prevalent genetic anomalies in the world, this one is unaffected by one's quality of life.

There is a misunderstanding that the name of the syndrome is connected to mental retardation because of the consonance between the surname Down and the English word down, which is pronounced "down," and signifies "down." However, this is untrue.

English physician John Langdon Down originally described the condition in 1862. He also published "Observations on the ethnic classification of mentally handicapped people" four years later. In this book, he was the first to describe the physical characteristics and general health of those who had the syndrome that bears his name. He was also the first to discuss the significance of articulatory gymnastics for such individuals.

Parkinson's disease: What is this disease in plain English, what causes it to develop, where does it come from, and how does it manifest itself?

When loved ones are seen who have trembling muscles at repose and who have shaking hands and shaking the head, relatives become highly alarmed. The progressive degeneration of brain cells responsible for motor functions is the pathology that results in this. The disease strikes when a person is at their most active, which is the worst possible scenario (50-60 years). All essential functions gradually slowly deteriorate as a result, including mental and physical ability.

Early in the nineteenth century, the British physician James Parkinson used the term "trembling paralysis" to identify and define the illness for the first time. Since then, this pathology has been the subject of intensive research. After Alzheimer's, the disease is ranked second in terms of prevalence by scientists. The number of tremor sufferers has dramatically increased up to this point. One percent of the world's population is over the age of 60, while between three and four percent are between 80 and 85. Unfortunately, young adults between the ages of 20 and 40 can occasionally develop the neurodegenerative illness.

Ebola, Marburg, Crimea, and Lassa fever: All the mentioned diseases are hemorrhagic because the victims bleed to death. On October 12, 1976, there were significant outbreaks of an unidentified disease in both Sudan and the Republic of the Congo (at the time, Zaire), and nearly all the patients died. Because the illness was a hemorrhagic fever, victims bled to death.

The research allowed for the isolation of a virus that resembled the Marburg virus morphologically. After a tiny river in Zaire, close to the settlement of Yambuku, where the epidemic was first noticed, the isolated causative agent of this sickness was given the name Ebola virus. Despite the territories' proximity, outbreaks in Sudan and Zaire had different mortality rates.

In Russia, the Crimea virus first surfaced in 1944. The Institute of Virology at the Philippe University of Marburg discovered the disease's primary agent, the Marburg virus, named after the city of Marburg in Germany, in 1967, before hemorrhagic fever infected the Congo in 1976.

In the same year, it also arrived in Belgrade, Serbia, and Frankfurt, another German city. The cities were given their names as a result of the finding. In 1969, Lassa feveranother hemorrhagic feveroccurred in this little Nigerian village. The name of the illness derives from this.

Burkitt's lymphoma: A Cancer of the lymphatic system, namely B-lymphocytes found in the germ center, is called Burkitt's lymphoma. It is named after Irish surgeon Denis Parsons Burkitt, who initially identified the condition in 1958 while conducting research in equatorial Africa. In developed nations, the overall cure rate for Burkitt's lymphoma is over 90%; but in low-income nations, the rate is significantly lower.

It is a non-lymphoma Hodgkin's that is extremely malignant. The major emphasis may be concentrated not just in the lymph nodes but also in several number of other organs and tissues, including the mammary glands, stomach, intestines, and bones of the facial skeleton.

Fever, jaundice, dyspepsia, skeletal bone abnormalities, and neurological diseases are the symptoms of Burkitt's lymphoma. The diagnosis is established using the results of previous studies, the biopsy, and the examination. Chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are all forms of treatment.

Kaposis sarcoma: A malignant tumor with a vascular origin, Kaposi's sarcoma affects the patient's skin and lymphatic system. About 30% of people with HIV/AIDS or other forms of the human immunodeficiency virus develop this type of cancer.

Although Kaposi's sarcoma is a very uncommon disease in general, it is diagnosed in 4060% of AIDS patients, and the prevalence of this form of cancer pathology has increased dramatically since the beginning of the 1990s as a result of the AIDS epidemic.

In European countries, the disease is noted more often in people of advanced age  from 50 years and above. Men are more susceptible to this disease than women. The disease was first described in 1872 by dermatologist Moritz Kaposi, from whose surname it got its name.

Nodding disease: Slanderous scientists who cover up medical fraud refer to it as a "strange disease," but God knows best. Nodding illness is a condition that struck Sudan in the 1960s. Only kids, typically between the ages of 5 and 15, are affected by this physically and intellectually crippling disorder. Currently, just a few tiny areas in South Sudan, Tanzania, and northern Uganda are affected.

The disease was initially identified in 1962 as existing in remote mountainous areas of Tanzania; however, the connection between this disease and nodding syndrome has only recently been made. Before the South Sudan outbreaks and subsequent limited spread, the disease was first described as existing in these areas.

Nodding illness causes a total and permanent development delay in children. Mental retardation results from the slowing down of brain development. The illness is so called because the sufferers continuously nod their heads when kids begin feeding or, occasionally, when they become cold. Patients with seizures are frequently restrained to items to prevent them from injuring themselves.

As I've previously stated, I never studied medicine in school. Before I became friends with the late Dutch scientist and micro-surgeon Johan van Dongen and the German doctor Wolff Geisler, I had no idea where many diseases came from. My capacity to write medical articles is improved by the books and medical documents I obtained from them during my visit.
President Alassane Ouattara last week lifted the shadow of a jail sentence over his erstwhile bitter rival Laurent Gbagbo, but the measure may only go a short way towards lowering Ivory Coast's political temperature.

Gbagbo, who once fought a brief but bloody conflict with Ouattara for the presidency, came home last year after a battle at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague that ended in his acquittal on war-crimes charges.

Ouattara has since given him a friendly reception, alloting him the role of statesman to ease turbulence that flared during presidential elections in 2020 and claimed scores of lives.

Ouattara's latest move has been to pardon Gbagbo for a 20-year term he received in absentia for the "looting" of the local branch of the Central Bank of the West African States during the 2010-11 crisis.

But, say analysts, this is only a partial concession for Gbagbo.

At 77, the veteran political fox and powerful left-wing orator is still widely believed to have eyes on a return to the presidency.

Jean Alabro, a political commentator based in Ivory Coast's economic hub Abidjan, said Ouattara, 80, would have carefully "weighed" whether to pardon or amnesty Gbagbo.

A pardon under Ivory Coast law does not confer the same force as an amnesty: a person who has been convicted of a crime is barred from contesting the elections, due in 2025.

Without an amnesty, "Gbagbo will have constitutional problems being a candidate," said Alabro.

Kone Katinan, spokesman of Gbagbo's African Peoples' Party (PPA-CI), said the pardon, "such as has been issued, is a step forward, but this is not what we expected. We want an amnesty."

'Dialogue'

The pardon was issued on Ivory Coast's independence day, August 7.

It came with an announcement that Gbagbo's bank accounts were being unfrozen and annuities from his decade as president were being paid in arrears -- an amount worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Katinan said Gbagbo had "never" requested a pardon, adding however that Ivory Coast was engaged in a political dialogue "which should in the end culminate in an amnesty."

The West African state remains deeply scarred by the 2010-11 conflict, which erupted after Gbagbo refused to concede electoral defeat to Ouattara.

Conflict: A mass burial of 100 victims of the fighting, in October 2011. By SIA KAMBOU (AFP)

Several thousand people were killed and the country was divided on north-south lines.

Memories of the bloodshed revived in 2020, when Ouattara bid for a third term in office -- a plan that stoked violent protests that he was circumventing the constitution.

The "dialogue" brings together the government, political parties and civil society, with the aim of ensuring that local elections due next year and the 2025 presidential ballot unfold peacefully.

Prisoners issue

Another stumbling block in relations between Gbagbo and Ouattara is the demand by his supporters that "all civilian and political prisoners" held in connection with the conflict be freed.

About 30 people are still behind bars, including soldiers convicted for acting under the orders of Gbagbo, who has since been acquitted by the ICC.

Ivory Coast. By Tupac POINTU (AFP)

Katinan said this issue was why Gbagbo snubbed an invitation to attend independence day celebrations in Yamoussoukro, the political capital.

"It would have been difficult for president Gbagbo to watch the parade by the national armed forces... when soldiers who served under his orders are still in prison," the spokesman said.

Another notable absentee was former president Henri Konan Bedie, who at 88 still retains political clout. He invoked "personal reasons" for not attending the parade.
A decade after her 30-year-old brother was killed when South African police opened fire on miners striking for better wages, Nolufefe Noki is still no closer to obtaining justice.

Mgcineni 'Mambush' Noki had become the face of the 2012 protests at the Marikana platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg, known as the "the man with the green blanket".

Leading from the front, he addressed thousands of fellow mineworkers with a commanding raised fist, a green blanket wrapped around his shoulders until the day he was struck dead.

The shootings, which killed 34 people in total and wounded 78 more on August 16, 2012, were the bloodiest police crackdown since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Workers at the platinum mine were demanding better wages. By STRINGER (AFP/File)

But Noki's sister says she is still waiting for answers as to what exactly occurred that day.

"We don't know what happened," the 42-year-old said, speaking inside the family home in Mqanduli, a village in the south of the country.

All she knows is that the police arrived to break up the wildcat protest on a hill, and then "many people were killed".

Television footage that day of police opening fire on protestors, raising a crest of dust at the foot of the hill, shocked South Africa and the world.

The violence evoked memories of apartheid-era police killings.

An official inquiry blamed the deaths and injuries on police "tactics", recommending that those responsible be investigated and prosecuted.

'Government doesn't care'

But a decade on, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, a police watchdog, said the case was "still under investigation".

The country's solicitor general, Fhedzisani Pandelani, said only around half of all claims made for compensation have been paid out.

Police gunned down 34 striking mineworkers on August 16, 2012. By Phill Magakoe (AFP)

"It's regrettable that we sit here and discuss things that happened 10 years ago," he said.

For survivors and the families of victims, the memories are still agonisingly fresh.

When Noki's remains were returned home, 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) away in the south of the country, his sister says she was unable to properly say goodbye.

"I was told I couldn't see him, because he was too badly hurt," she said in Mqanduli, where green hills stretch as far as the eye can see.

"I still have a lot of pain."

Many of the workers in South Africa's platinum mines come from remote parts of the country such as Mqanduli, only returning home for the Christmas holidays.

Noki was buried on a nearby hill, where his grave is now overgrown with grass.

But his family is still too traumatised to pay their respects at the burial site.

Mzoxolo Magidiwana, 34, was shot nine times but survived. By Phill Magakoe (AFP)

Fellow striker Mzoxolo Magidiwana, 34, was shot nine times during the same police crackdown, but survived.

He secured a pay increase, and today lives in a single room provided by his employer in a township near the hill where the miners were shot.

"The government doesn't care about us," Magidiwana said.

"It's 10 years now, our lives would have long changed for the better. Instead, our lives have become worse."

'Where is accountability?'

Tensions had been brewing for days before the shootings at the Marikana mine.

Strikers were unhappy with their representation, as two separate unions vied to take centre stage, and workers who didn't join the strike had been harassed.

Ten people had already died since the start of the protest.

Aisha Fundi says striking workers killed her husband Hassan, a mine security guard.

Mourners gather in Marikana on August 23, 2012, to remember those killed during the strike. By - (AFP/File)

As part of reparations, the 49-year-old mother of two boys was offered a job at the mine, but she says that isn't enough.

"Me and my kids want to see justice," she said.

She says she still does not know who killed her husband, and fears that they could be working alongside her.

She is also yet to receive any compensation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, a non-executive director of the mine at the time, was exonerated of any wrongdoing in the killings, after he called for a crackdown on the strikers.

Miners, activists and opposition groups want Ramaphosa to apologise.

The violence evoked memories of apartheid-era police killings. By STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN (AFP/File)

On May Day this year, he was forced to abandon a rally speech and bundled into an armoured police vehicle, after miners shouted him down in Rustenburg, a large town near Marikana.

Sociology researcher Trevor Ngwane said victims and their relatives lacked closure.

"There hasn't been justice," he said.

The community in "Marikana is still traumatised".

Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, a political commentator, at a memorial speech this week said the Marikana incident remained "an open grave".

"Where is the accountability?" he asked.
Joyce Bawa Mogtari, Special Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama has pointed out the reasons for President Akufo-Addo's refusal to heed calls for a ministerial reshuffle.

She blames the "too many family and friends" appointed in the Akufo-Addo's administration.

Miss Bawa claims in a tweet on Thursday, August 11, cited by Modernghana News that as a result, he (Nana Akufo-Addo) finds it difficult to reshuffle or fire anyone who is not performing.

One of the dangers of having so many family and friends in one government, like we are experiencing under an obviously uncaring Nana Akufo-Addo, is the sense of entitlement that comes with it, she stated.

She added that those ministers and appointees now act as if they own the ministries and sectors they oversee due to Nana Akufo-Addo refusal to fire them despite causing hardships in the country with their poor performances.

You literally create a pseudo-fiefdom and the persons who manage fiefdoms act as if they are owners of all that they survey.

Unsurprisingly, the leader of the fiefdom is unable to reshuffle them even after such an abysmal performance that has foisted on the people, economic hardship and hunger, she emphasised.

In the face of these increasing calls for the ministerial reshuffle, the President says never.

In a recent interview on North Star Radio in Tamale on Monday, August 8, President Akufo-Addo noted that his ministers have performed well.

He said those making the calls are attempts by the opposition NDC to destabilize his government.

Many of them for me have done outstanding work. Their output has been considerable, and that is what I look at.

If the output measures expectations, then I dont have any strong reasons to heed the call. The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilise the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs, the President stated.
France has voiced its concern by the serious threat posed by Russia to the

safety and security of Ukrainian nuclear facilities, specifically the Zaporizhzhia power plant. Russia and Ukraine repeatedly accused each other of shelling Europe's biggest nuclear facility as the UN proposes a demilitarised zone around the site amid fears of a catastrophe.

In a statement released Thursday, the French Foreign Ministry said Russia must immediately withdraw its troops from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and return full control of the facility to Ukraine, the

It added that "the presence and actions of Russian armed forces in the vicinity of the plant significantly increase the risk of an accident with potentially devastating consequences."

Kyiv and the local pro-Russian authorities have accused each other of being responsible for renewed bombing of the nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.

UN calls for demilitarisation of Zaporizhzhia

Ukraine's Energoatom agency said the Zaporizhzhia complex was struck five times on Thursday, including near where radioactive materials are stored.

Russian-appointed officials said Ukraine shelled the plant twice, disrupting a shift changeover, according to Russia's TASS news agency.

This comes as the UN Security Council met on Thursday to discuss the situation, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling on both sides to halt all fighting near the plant.

"The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarisation to ensure the safety of the area," Guterres said in a statement.

Russia seized Zaporizhzhia in March after invading Ukraine on 24 February.

The plant, near the front line of the fighting, is held by Russian troops and operated by Ukrainian workers.

Pressure mounts for IAEA to be granted access

Meanwhile, at the Security Council meeting, the United States backed the call for a demilitarised zone and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the site.

Meanwhile, Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said the world was being pushed "to the brink of nuclear catastrophe, comparable in scale with Chornobyl."

He said IAEA officials could visit the site as soon as this month.

For his part, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded that Russia return the plant to Ukrainian control.

Speaking in a video address, he said "Only a full withdrawal of the Russians ... and the restoration of full Ukrainian control of the situation around the station can guarantee a resumption of nuclear security for all of Europe."

France echoed Zelensky's demand, adding that Russia's occupation of the site endangered the world.
12.08.2022 LISTEN

The black mans misconception of Christianity and other foreign religions brought to their continent during the white mans scramble for Africa has left an indelible damage in their brain. For their lack of comprehension of the religions and what they entail; how to apply the principles therein for the benefit of humanity and their countries, Africans, and especially Ghanaians, have left themselves and their doors wide open for exploitation by not only the more intelligent and superior whites but also, their own pastors and prophets.

I shall by limiting myself to Ghana and Ghanaians in this write-up, actually addressing the entire black Africans, if not the black race, since they all behave the same when it comes to their veneration of foreign religions at the expense of their own.

Call me anti-Christ, for all I care!

I am not disputing the bible as to whether its contents are from God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Assuming without admitting that the bible is not from God but the white man to deceive us, at least, it contains some moral principles the honest application of which could help us develop as a human race. But for the fact the Ghanaian is too naive and mostly ignorant, lazy and devoid of intelligence, we have allowed our own fellow Ghanaians who are of course criminals, and portraying themselves as pastors and prophets, to misinterpret the bible to pave way for them to dupe us.

Does it make sense the incoherent noises they make purporting to be speaking in tongues? In Acts of the Apostles when the saints had gathered to pray, it said the Holy Ghost descended upon them and they spoke in tongues. They spoke in different languages other than their own and the speakers of such languages if they were around, could understand them.

Are the noises made at church services, or when Christians have gathered to worship or pray, the same as what happened on the Pentecost Day in the bible? No and No!

I hear every early morning or in the wee hours of every day on the Ghana radio during their morning devotion absolute rubbish purporting to be the speaking in tongues by those administrating the service. I cannot make a head or a tail of what they are saying. Is it how to worship God and is it what will take Ghanaians to Heaven?

Once in France and not far from where I lived, some black Jehovah Witness males and females went to the house of a certain white Frenchman to preach him the word of God. When they were let in by the house owner and were asked their mission, they started by saying, We have come to you with the word of God today because very soon the world is coming to an end and we have the obligation to save souls for God

As soon as they said the world is coming to an end soon, the white man chased them out of his house saying, Go away, you lazy black people. For your laziness and inability to do anything sensible, you are always praying for the world to come to an end. Were the world to come to an end any time soon, we, the white people, will see it fifty years ahead. Are we stupid to be putting up all these tower blocks and factories that you see around you if the world was coming to an end soon? Leave my house now!

Again, there was this occasion where a member of the Saviour Church of Ghana (the persons name withheld), said he would not cultivate cocoa farm because the world is coming to an end soon and that the cocoa trees may not grow to yield fruits for him to enjoy before the world comes to an end. He lived several years after his statement, then died almost a pauper about fifty years ago. The world has still not come to an end since his death. This is how bad the bible is being misinterpreted by us to deceive and cause damage to ourselves.

Assuming I say, Now I am writing this article for publishing. This statement is in the present continuous, meaning, I am in the process of writing. When this article gets published, for the next hundred years that I am dead and gone, the statement will still remain as though I am in front of my computer writing the article. So are the contents of the bible written many centuries ago.

Jesus is coming soon was written over a thousand years ago but he hasnt come yet. The world is coming to an end soon was said or written over a thousand years ago but the world has not come to an end. Why should we as lazy and good-for-nothing Ghanaians allow tenses to deceive us to do the unthinkable?

In present day Ghana, our criminal pastors and prophets do make us understand that certain names given to us are evil and must not be accepted. They claim certain names and people we name are children after do harm the future wellbeing of the children and as stupid as we are, we do agree with them, paving way for them to dupe us.

Does it make sense for a pastor or a prophet to charge you a fee before seeing them for prayers? No, yet Ghanaians do exactly that.

I had once been part of the congregation binding our ancestors for their ancestral curse come upon us but I do that no more. I dont even go to church to hear such nonsense let alone, partaking in them.

It is not the religion per se that is evil to destroy Ghanaians but our comprehension and application of what it entails. In the name of religion, some present day Ghanaian pastors and prophets do kill people, rob people, have sex with other mens wives and do all sorts of silly things unimaginable.

When at all will Ghanaians wise up to understand that our understanding and application of the numerous foreign religions in our country are the number one cause of our underdevelopment as a country and a people?

God may not be happy about the way we do worship Him to culminate in our impoverishment and denigration as a people created by Him.

Had it been the white race, how on earth could we see the glory of God to permit us to glorify Him?

Lazy Ghanaians, get off your ass, wise up and go to the ant to learn about his ways. If the insect is that intelligent, why should you a human being, behave as though you have water but not brain in your head?

Our criminal pastors have frightened us so much with the contents of the bible such that we cannot think, or reason properly, but to resign to fate and their manipulations for them to do to us whatever they like.

While they live in opulence at our expense, we live in utter penury. How wise that is?

Please fellow Ghanaians, I shall be back on this topic again and again until I see positive changes in you. Until then, brood over the messages contained in the two videos below. If you are ready to accept the veracity of the messages therein, you will never be the fool and easy target for exploitation by the so-called pastors and prophets. Shalom!

Rockson Adofo

Friday, 12 August 2022
New Delhi, Aug 12 (UNI) The Income Tax Department has carried out a search operation on a Jhansi based group, engaged in the business of civil contract and real estate development, an official statement said on Friday.







The department has claimed to have seized cash and jewellery exceeding Rs 15 crore.







The search operation carried out on August 3, 2022, covered around 30 premises located in Jhansi, Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Goa.







During the course of the search operation, several incriminating evidences have been found and seized including documentary evidence of several immovable properties of various third parties, the statement said.







'The preliminary analysis of evidences in the business of civil contract has revealed that the group was engaged in large scale tax evasion by suppression of its profits through manipulating the regular books of account at the end of every year. These manipulations were in the nature of claiming bogus expenses and bogus sundry creditors, etc. These sundry creditors were found to be non-existent and unverifiable,' the statement said.







'The claim of bogus expenses and bogus sundry creditors exceeding Rs 250 crore has been quantified from the seized evidences. The key person covered during the search has also voluntarily offered additional income exceeding Rs. 150 crore, out of the above,' it said.







'Another modus operandi adopted by the companies engaged in real estate, included receipt of on-money over and above the stamp duty value resulting in tax evasion. Further, these companies were not offering income to tax as per accounting standards, even when substantial construction work had been completed. So far, the investigation from evidences collected during the search has revealed the quantum of unaccounted receipts aggregating to more than Rs 150 crore,' the statement added.



UNI AKM SY SHK1750
Ms. Buah Asomah-Hinne

12.08.2022 LISTEN

Advocacy group, Corruption Watch Ghana has commended the Office of the Special Prosecutor for recovering over GHS1 million in unpaid import duty charges from Labianca Company Limited.

The recovery of the money was confirmed by the OSP in an official statement earlier this week, with the assurance that a wider investigation is ongoing into the matter.

In a press release, Corruption Watch Ghana is pushing for the owner of Labianca Company Limited, Ms. Buah Asomah-Hinneh to be removed from her position as Council of State member.

In addition, it also wants the Deputy Commissioner for Customs in charge of operations Mr. Joseph Adu Kyei sanctioned.

Ms. Buah Asomah-Hinneh must be asked to resign or be removed from her membership of the Council of State and the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.

Mr. Joseph Adu Kyei, the Deputy Commissioner for Customs in charge of operations, must be sanctioned regardless of the OSPs directive for the opening of a wider investigation in the respect of the issuance of customs advance rulings and markdown of benchmark values, a release from Corruption Watch Ghana has said.

Corruption Watch Ghana further calls on the government to as a matter of urgency release funds to the OSP to enable it to undertake its mandate to the fullest to become an effective institutional tool for fighting corruption.

Below is a copy of the release from Corruption Watch Ghana:

Corruption Watch Ghana has taken notice of the Office of the Special Prosecutors (OSP) recent report on an investigation into a complaint of corruption and corruption-related offences against Labianca Company Limited and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.

We commend the OSP for recovering an amount of one million, seventy-four thousand, six hundred and twenty-seven cedis, fifteen pesewas (GHC1,074,627.15) through the issuance of an interim directive to Labianca Company Limited, owned by Ms. Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh, a member of the Council of State and a member of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).

According to the OSP, Labianca Company Limited had evaded the payment of the said amount as a result of the issuance of an unlawful customs advance ruling by Mr. Joseph Adu Kyei, the Deputy Commissioner for Customs in charge of operations.

We note that the OSPs action fulfils one of its core functions, which is the recovery and management of the proceeds of corruption and corruption-related offences.

Corruption Watch Ghana welcomes the directive for the opening of a wider investigation in respect of the issuance of customs advance rulings and markdown of benchmark values between July 2017 and December 2021.

We further welcome the directive to the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to submit an Integrity Plan designed with the aim of preventing the corruption of the exercise of discretion by officials of the Customs Division by December 31, 2022. We believe that these directives are forward- looking.

Given the circumstances of this case, particularly, the OSPs determination of influence peddling, we draw attention to Section 179C of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), which makes it an offence for a person to use public office for profit. We note that the offence is committed by both the person who holds public office who dishonestly abuses the office for private gain or benefit and other persons who collaborate with the public officer to so abuse the office.

Therefore, we believe the following must happen to give effect and impetus to the course that the OSP has taken:

Ms. Buah Asomah-Hinneh must be asked to resign or be removed from her membership of the Council of State and the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.

Mr. Joseph Adu Kyei, the Deputy Commissioner for Customs in charge of operations, must be sanctioned regardless of the OSPs directive for the opening of a wider investigation in the respect of the issuance of customs advance rulings and markdown of benchmark values.

In addition, the fact that Ms. Buah Asomah-Hinneh is a politically exposed person (PEP) underlines the importance that the country must attach to developing a full-fledged, efficient and functioning beneficial ownership disclosure mechanism to assist in tackling corruption and its related state capture by influential persons in society.

In the wake of this report, it has been evidently clear that the OSP can become an effective institutional tool for fighting corruption if Government were to release to the Office all funds allocated to it. Therefore, the government must as a matter of urgency, cause the release of funds to the OSP to enable it to undertake its mandate.

About Corruption Watch Ghana

Corruption Watch Ghana is an initiative by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and a coalition of anti-corruption civil society organizations including, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Ghana Anti- Corruption Coalition (GACC), Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) and Multimedia Platforms Joy FM and Adom FM as our main media partners.
Former President John Dramani Mahama received the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, His Excellency Sugandh Rajaram to his office on Thursday, August 11.

The meeting between the two high-profile personalities superseded personal interests and relationships for the progress of the two countries, Ghana and India.

The 2020 NDC Presidential candidate, together with his running mate, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, applauded the immense contributions of the Indian government to the people of Ghana.

Some of such projects cited were: Tema-Akosombo Railway, the Komenda Sugar Factory, the Elmina Fish Processing Factory, and many other projects the Indian government has offered to Ghana.

As revealed by former President Mahama in a tweet today, Friday, August 12, cited by this portal, H.E. Rajaram used the opportunity to officially inform him about the pending 75th-anniversary celebration of the Indiana Republic.

I received Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, HE Sugandh Rajaram, to discuss issues of mutual interest to our countries. He also used the visit to formally inform me of activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India, Mr. Mahama shared.

The duo discussed issues of mutual interest such as affordable housing, agro-processing and rural industries, solar energy and electrification, scholarships, urban transportation, ICT, and health.
The Ghana Police Service is adopting several new measures to motivate officers to give their best in the discharge of their duties.

According to the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, relatives of officers who die on duty will now be given a chance to be recruited into the service.

Delivering a public lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday, August 11, the IGP explained that it will propel officers to serve Ghanaians better.

When a police officer dies on duty, we have put new measures in place to ensure that a relative of the deceased officer who is qualified is recruited into the service as part of efforts to urge our officers to do their best in protecting the public, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare shared.

He further emphasised that under his administration, the Ghana Police Service wants to become the best institution in the country.

We want a police service of the people, by the people and for the people. We want to make the service the best institution in the country and a reference point in the world, Dr. Akuffo Dampare added.

At the event at KNUST, the IGP spoke on the theme The changing face of policing in Ghana: expectations and the role of the university community.
Former President, John Dramani Mahama on Thursday, August 11, hosted the Indian High Commissioner to Ghana, HE Sugandh Rajaram.

The visit was to inform the former President of Indias 75th Independence Anniversary and discuss issues of mutual interest to both countries.

In his welcome speech to the Indian envoy led by the High Commissioner, ex-President John Dramani Mahama praised the strong ties between Ghana and India, recalling the friendship between President Nkrumah and President Nehru and successive leaders of the two countries thereafter.

The 2020 presidential candidate of the NDC also extended his appreciation to India for investing in the Tema- Akosombo Railway, the Komenda Sugar Factory, the Elmina Fish Processing Factory, among other projects when he was President.

During the engagement, there were discussions on housing made from affordable materials, agro-processing and rural industries, solar energy and electrification, scholarships, urban transportation, ICT and health.

Mr. Mahama used the opportunity to congratulate India on its 75th anniversary and wished the High Commissioner a successful tour of duty.

The High Commissioner, HE Sugandh Rajaram thanked Ghanas former President for his reception and assured him of Indias continued commitment to Ghanas development.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr

12.08.2022 LISTEN

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Germany Branch has descended on celebrated Ghanaian journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jnr.

This is in reaction to the analysis made by the managing editor of the Insight Newspaper on whether or not J.B Danquah should be celebrated on Founders Day.

Reacting to Kwesi Pratts argument in the above attachment, the NPP Germany says it was not sane.

Kwesi Pratt says JB Danquah deserves no accolades because he wasnt popular and that he couldnt win a seat in his hometown. This is crassness in the lowest pit. Which election did Dr. Paa Grant win, the ex-servicemen won no elections and of course the chiefs who fought won none.

If it was elections that made people worth celebrating then Kwesi Pratt deserves no attention, no right to speak on political issues, and never to write any publishing material because he lost miserably in 1996 when he contested to be parliamentarian, parts of the release from NPP Germany signed by Communications Director, Nana Osei Boateng reads.

Below is a copy of the release:

KWESI PRATT IS NOT SANE IN HIS ANALYSIS. HE CANT DECIDE WHO IS CELEBRATED IN GHANA

On the matter of founders day celebration on 4th August, Kwesi Pratt is on record to have opined that J.B Danquah needs not be celebrated for any sort of contribution to the independence of Ghana. He has based his arguments on several non-founded points over the years. His recent arguments is worth nothing intellectually and must be properly scrutinized.

Kwesis rundown of Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah is all aimed at making him less popular so Kwame Nkrumah will be spoken off as the sole person who owe the eulogies with respect to our independence. Nkrumahs actions towards independence is well acknowledged by Ghanaians and the world. Why cant JB Danquahs toil be recognized by our history too. It is sheer enmity for his persona and perhaps his origin.

The fact that Kwesi knows so well that if JB is not run down, Nkrumahs popularity may dwindle tells you how important JB Danquah is to the rise of this country. Talk of Paa Grant, Ako Adjei who brought Nkrumah back to Ghana, and all the six men involved in the formation of the first political party to rival colonialism. Why cant people with simple heads and brains acknowledge that these men worked too but always make it difficult for our history to accept the truth. Mandela is popular and eulogized worldwide but he has always given credit to the men who went to prison with him, counseled him, and his wife who fought with him.

Kwesi Pratt says JB Danquah deserves no accolades because he wasnt popular and that he couldnt win a seat in his hometown. This is crassness in the lowest pit. Which election did Dr. Paa Grant win, the ex-servicemen won no elections and of course the chiefs who fought won none.

If it was elections that made people worth celebrating then Kwesi Pratt deserves no attention, no right to speak on political issues and never to write any publishing material because he lost miserably in 1996 when he contested to be parliamentarian.

Ghana will forever celebrate the deserving, Anyone can keep their misgivings in them but we will still celebrate our Heroes.

God Bless Ghana And All Her Founding Heroes.

Signed

Nana Osei Boateng,

NPP Germany Branch Communications Director.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency has turned 42.

The MP, who also serves as the ranking member of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, was born in Aveyime-Battor, North Tongu District, Volta Region.

On his birthday, he received messages from loved ones and special gifts, one of which was a portrait of himself.

A day after the celebration, the legislator took to Twitter to thank everyone who showed him love on his special day.

I am deeply thankful to you all for your very kind birthday wishes, he expressed.

He also appreciated the creative prowess of the artist.

May I also express gratitude to the painter of this impressive artwork  he must have put in a lot of work and love which is duly appreciated, his tweet ends.

Brief background

After he was appointed the Deputy Minister of Information in Prof. Mills administration in 2009, Okudzeto Ablakwa became perhaps Africa's youngest serving Deputy Minister of State at aged 28.

He is currently the representative of the people of North Tongu in the Legislative Assembly (Parliament) and also the Minority Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament.

He is married to Mrs. Nuhela Seidu Ablakwa, a legal practitioner with a daughter and a son.

While studying at the University of Ghana Legon, he became the President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) from 2005 to 2006.

Hon. Ablakwa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from his studies at UG from 2002 to 2006.
Organised Youth Groups of Effutu

12.08.2022 LISTEN

International Youth Day celebration is held every 12th August globally as designated by the United Nations.

International Youth Day gives an opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young peoples' voices, actions and initiatives, as well as their meaningful, universal and equitable engagement.

It also serves as an opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges and problems facing the world's youth.

2022 Edition

The theme for this year's celebration is "Inter generational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages."

In line with the day, the Organized Youths of Effutu has also added its voice by sending messages of hope to Ghanaian youth and their future development.

Government Intervention and programmes

The Convener for the group, Nana Ato Takyi Ellis Otabil is enthused that most youths have been included in national policies and programmes to make them relevant in the nation's development.

He indicated that most youths in Ghana have benefited from many interventions and policies by the Akufo-Addo-led government and that shows there is much commitment on the part of policy makers.

"Advocacy for the youth has been made possible with the introduction of the Free SHS policy which gives opportunity to young BECE graduates to free secondary education no matter one's financial status. You also look at the health sector where most youth are given allowances and the needed equipment to boost their morale for education," he stressed.

Nana Ato Takyi Ellis Otabil stated, "Again, youth unemployment is also been dealt with the shameful Graduates Youth Association that persist in the erstwhile Mahama-NDC administration. Most youth benefited from the NABCO programme which saw over 100,000 graduates securing temporal jobs."

Resolution

"We the Organized Youths of Effutu will urge the youth to make themselves available in decision making and take up responsibilities to boost them for the future. Our message to the youth of Effutu and Ghana in general is to continue to engage political leaders to get in-depth knowledge of whatever they do.

"We are going to have a forum here in Effutu to discuss possible ways of ensuring the youth are made to be part of the development of their capabilities," the Convener emphasised.
The Municipal Chief Executives (MCE) for Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Korbo in the Eastern Region have assured residents of both areas power would be restored soon.

This follows a meeting between the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the traditional leaders of both areas, the Regional Minister and the National Security Ministry.

The meeting which was the second this week was necessitated by the two weeks power outage situation in the municipalities.

In an interview with Citi News, the MCE for Lower Manya Krobo, Simon Tetteh urged residents to be calm.

We are just urging our people to remain calm because the matter is being resolved and very soon we will see an end to the blackouts we are experiencing.

The MCE for Yilo Krobo, Eric Tetteh warned residents to desist from lawless acts.

As leaders, we must tell our people in the face that enough is enough; their reasons for rejecting the prepaid metres are untenable when there is an assurance.

There have been tensions between the resident and the ECG in recent times over the installation of prepaid metres.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the gunshots were targeted at workers of ECG who were in the community to disconnect power from the main transformer which was serving a number of illegally connected homes in the area.

The development, which is fast becoming a matter of safety and security, has attracted the attention of all stakeholders who seek a speedy resolution to the issue.

But ECG says it will only restore power in the Kroboland when its men feel safe enough to enter the community.

Public Relations Officer of ECG for the Tema Region, Sakyiwa Mensah says because of the interferences in connection done by some residents, the company was concerned about the safety of the power that would get to the end-user.

It was mainly for safety reasons. By safety, we mean our workers felt threatened. Also, the life and property of consumers within the enclave were at risk. We were working on restoring the power. While at it, we realised that some consumers had on their own started connecting to transformers in other communities which had light. This was done with careless abandon. They did not know the extent of possible damage their actions could cause.

citinewsroom
The Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare has admitted that some officers of the Service engage in corrupt practices.

However, the IGP insists that his administration will never accept the tag that the Ghana Police Service is the most corrupt public institution in the country.

Last month, a report by the Ghana Statistical Service and the Ghana Centre of Democratic Governance (CDD-Ghana) revealed that the Police Service is perceived by Ghanaians as the most corrupt institution.

Delivering a public lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday, August 11, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare stressed that the findings are not factual.

According to him, although some officers are involved in corruption that tarnishes the image of the service, it in no way means his outfit is the most corrupt institution.

They say we are corrupt, a problem identified has the solution. We have never said that there are not a couple of people who are doing things in a corrupt way tarnishing the image of the service, we have never said that.

We are doing all what we can to handle it but we will never accept the tag that we are the lead corrupt institution, it is unfounded because all those researches, I have challenged the methodologies, the IGP shared.

Dr. George Akufo-Dampare continued, At the appropriate time we will respond to them but we will also be working at the things that people over the years are using against us and make us feel so uncomfortable when it comes to the issue of corruption.
Former Deputy Finance Minister, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey has blamed the countrys current economic woes on what he describes as governments obsession to cling on power instead of prioritizing the interests of Ghanaians by stabilising the economy.

According to him, government has not been forthright and truthful and continues to lie to Ghanaians about the current state of the countrys economy, which he says, is making it difficult to find solutions to the worsening state of affairs.

For them, the only thing that matter is what can I do so when election arises I can win. Unfortunately, when you have that mentality, you will destroy a nation, he said.

According to him, the current economic conditions prove that President Akufo-Addo and the NPP Government have lost their credibility.

What you should be focusing on is, let me do what is right and let elections take care of themselves, because when I do what is right, the people will be able to repose confidence in me, Fiifi Kwetey added.

Speaking on 505 News analysis on Class91.3FM on Thursday, August 11, 2022, Fiifi Kwetey outlined that the solution to the current economic woes is for government to eat humble pie and to come clean to Ghanaians on the worsening state of the economy.

Come clean with the country, stop hiding under COVID and Russia-Ukraine conflict, and accept the fact that this problem has been coming because of the reckless manner you have managed things and they are too proud and arrogant to accept it.

He called on the government to put an end to its reckless spending and stop hiding behind COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He further added his voice to the growing calls for the reshuffling of certain appointees of the president in the health, finance and education ministries.

Source: Classfmonline.com
Beirut, Aug 12 (UNI) An armed man who held a bank in the Lebanon capital here hostage for over six hours after unable to withdraw savings, has been hailed a hero by the public.

Banks in Lebanon have put tight rules on how much money people can access, amid a deep economic crisis.

The suspect entered the bank with a rifle on Thursday, poured petrol and demanded his money for hospital bills, international media reported.

"You are a hero" chants were raised by the public gathered outside the bank as the crisis unfolded, the BBC reported.

The stand-off ended peacefully with no injuries, after negotiators struck an agreement allowing the suspect to receive $35,000 of his savings upfront, LBC TV channel reported.

Police escorted the hostages and suspect away from the Federal Bank branch near Hamra Street, in the west of the city. Officials have not yet said whether the man will face charges.

According to LBC, the suspect's family were in dire need of their savings, with some family members in hospital.

BBC quoted the suspect's brother saying: "My brother has $210,000 in the bank and wants to get just $5,500 to pay hospital bills."

His wife and brother, waiting outside the bank, also told the people and media: "everybody should do the same" to get access to what is "rightfully theirs".

There has been widespread anger in Lebanon over the strict controls over people's bank accounts, which came into force in 2019. There are also restrictions on transfers of money abroad.

Lebanon's local currency has lost more than 90 per cent of its value since the onset of the crisis - and the UN says four-fifths of the population are living in poverty, as per the BBC report.

UNI ING
YOUTH LEADERS will need to do more than protest to create permanent change, as evidenced by a recent march that crossed conventional ethnic and political divides. Young Ghanaians have been protesting bad governance under the hashtag #FixTheCountry since the beginning of May. The campaign was started on Twitter by social media personality Joshua Boye-Doe (a.k.a. Kalyjay) in response to rising fuel costs as a result of one of the many tax hikes. The #FixTheCountry protests might have fizzled out after a short time (public outcries in Ghana are rarely sustained) if not for the insensitive and combative posture of government supporters, who retorted with #FixYourself and #FixYourAttitude, inflaming protesters, drawing attention and support to their cause, and precipitating calls for demonstrations.

Such an outburst of youth activism is unusual for Ghana and hasn't been witnessed in recent times. Although Ghana is regularly praised for its stable democracyparticularly because of its largely free media and relatively peaceful elections and transfers of powercitizens hardly demonstrate, preferring instead to voice their frustrations among themselves or over the airwaves and social media. Many Ghanaians do not believe they can bring about change by putting pressure on political leaders. Many others feel disinclined to and instead direct their energy toward finding their own solutions to the myriad economic and societal problems that characterize life in a developing country like Ghana. The 2019 Afrobarometer Round 8 Survey revealed that during the previous year, 85 percent of respondents never contacted a member of parliament about an important problem or to share their views while 71 percent never contacted an assembly member. Instead, most Ghanaians typically wait until election time to punish politicians at the polls. Recent election results are telling in this regard.

Former Ghanaian President John Mahama of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) was voted out of office in 2016 following public disaffection over widespread corruption among party officials, economic mismanagement, and a debilitating power crisis that plagued the country for much of his term. The incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), narrowly won a second term in the December 2020 elections, which saw a voter turnout of 79 percent.

Akufo-Addo had been widely accused of constituting a family and friends government, made up of 126 ministersthe largest government in Ghana's history. In 2016, he campaigned on a promise to root out corruption, so Ghanaians were angered by the scandals that ensued under his watch, including him forcing Daniel Domelevo, the erstwhile auditor-general, out of office over his investigation of a payment the Ministry of Finance made to a British company. He also incurred the wrath of employees and depositors at the many financial institutions shuttered under his administration's financial sector clean-up exercise due to their poor regulation, insolvency, and fraudulent activities.

NPP members of parliament were also punished for poor performance. Ghanaians measure their politicians' performances through the development projects they carry out in their constituencies. The NPP lost their 63-seat majority in the 275-seat unicameral parliament. The party now holds 137 seats and forms a slim majority with an independent member of Parliament. #FixTheCountry protestersnow a full-fledged movementhave denounced both parties for their failings and declared the group to be nonpartisan. The movement has drawn together a throng of youth who, until now, have been seething on the sidelines, disillusioned by a system that has rendered them second-class citizens and left them facing a precarious future. Their grievances include high unemployment and underemployment as well as a high cost of living.

Only 10 percent of university graduates find employment a year after graduating, and it can take up to 10 years for a large number of graduates to secure employment, according to the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research at the University of Ghana. Many graduates end up doing menial jobs. The situation has deteriorated to the extent that male employers and recruiters commonly proposition young female jobseekers as a precondition for employment.

The government has introduced entrepreneurship and skills training programs to equip the youth with technical and financial support and enable them to tap into opportunities in priority sectors like agriculture and manufacturing. However, with 70 percent of Ghana's population of 31.8 million people under the age of 35, just a minute proportion of unemployed youth partake in and benefit from such programs.

Ghana's capital city, Accra, ranks as the 87th most expensive city globally and the 13th most expensive city in Africa, according to Mercer's 2021 Cost of Living City Ranking index. The costs of real estate and rent are particularly prohibitive for young Ghanaians. Real estate within parts of Accra costs as much as, or more than, real estate in developed countriesmainly because of high construction costs (finishing materials are imported, and construction is supervised by expatriate firms, which charge more than locals firms do), and their popularity as investment properties to rent to expats.

Landlords also request rent advances of up to two years from tenants. A lot of young Ghanaians therefore live on the outskirts of Accra or in neighboring regions where housing and rent are cheaper; during rush hour, they spend as much as two hours driving home from their workplaces in the city.

The NPP made a campaign promise to introduce a rental loan scheme for eligible workers in formal employment. The scheme will be introduced this year, but this intervention will leave out a large segment of the youth who are unemployed or in informal employment. The scheme is also an inadequate solution because it does not tackle the root of the problem: landlords breaching the national rental law by charging more than the maximum allowed rent advance of six months.

Protesters have also been tweeting against general poor living conditions, such as bad roads, substandard health care, erratic supply of water and power, and the lack of social amenities in rural parts of the country. #FixTheCountry is, in essence, a fight for decent living conditions for all Ghanaians.

In addition, the hashtag is a forum for protesters to react to and lambast government policies and actions, such as the recent assault of a journalist by national security operatives for unlawfully filming abandoned state-owned vehicles at the Ministry of National Security, the government's incessant borrowing from domestic and external sources, and the official approval of salaries for the country's first and second ladies.

[email protected]

BY Rosemary Akosua Adjeiwah
Popular Ghanaian pollster, Ben Emmanuel Ephson, has rubbished the assertions that the adamant posture of President Akufo-Addo on the ministerial reshuffle will affect NPPs chances in 2024 elections.

Mr. Ephson is of the opinion that refusing to reshuffle ministers has never been the reason for the electorate to punish the ruling government.

His remark was to debunk a claim made by the former Chief of Staff in Kufuors administration, Kwadwo Mpiani.

The journalist on a similar show, the Top Story on Joy News, aired on Thursday, August 11, said Ghanaians will rather weigh the policies of the NPP and NDC as well as the achievements of the government to make their decisions.

I disagree each person going to vote in 2024 is going to vote (based on) whether his life has improved since 2020, he is going to vote on whether he thinks that of the two parties, whose policies will benefit him, he stated.

The pollster continues, it is the bread and butter issues that will make the swing voters decide to vote for party A or B, not his inability to agree to calls for him to reshuffle.

In the face of the current economic hardships, many Ghanaians including governance and economic experts believe the finance minister and other non-performing ministers should be fired.

But the President rejected the increasing calls for the ministerial reshuffle.

He noted that his ministers have performed well, in a recent interview on North Star Radio in Tamale on Monday, August 8.

He said those making the calls are attempts by the opposition NDC to destabilize his government.

Many of them for me have done outstanding work. Their output has been considerable, and that is what I look at.

If the output measures expectations, then I dont have any strong reasons to heed the call. The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilise the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs, the President stated.
Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, GEPA Boss

12.08.2022 LISTEN

The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Export Promotion Authority, GEPA, Dr. Afua Asabea Asare says, with the necessary investment, Ghana can become a leading global supplier of coconut and generate significant export revenue for the country.

Ghana is set to hold the second edition of the International Coconut Conference Festival, ICF, from Tuesday, 20th to Friday 23rd September. The four day Trade and exhibition event will among others bring together key stakeholders in the coconut growing and processing industry

Speaking at the launch of the event in Ellembele in the Western Region, Dr. Afua Asabea Asare disclosed that in 2021 fresh coconut export amounted to US$1.44 million while its derivatives accounted for close to US$7 million.

She added that although modest, it shows a lot of prospects for growth. If the right policies and interventions are deployed to support the sector, it has the potential to generate some US$2.846 billion with a contribution of 84.35% from the semi-processed and processed sector, it has the potential to generate some US$2.8 billion in export revenue annually.

According to GEPA CEO, the desire to quicken the pace of development of the coconut industry as a whole, with emphasis on value addition is what informed this years theme of the festival, Repositioning Ghanas Coconut Sector for Accelerated Industrialization.

Employment

As Ghana continues to battle with the increasing rate of unemployment, Dr. Asare believes that investing in Ghanas burgeoning coconut industry could provide jobs for the teeming youth.

There are several SMEs in this value chain which are doing very well and when assisted both technically and financially would expand rapidly and be able to increase their market both domestically and internationally. Additionally, they would be in a better position to offer employment to the teeming youth who are seeking decent jobs to do. We believe the private sector needs to expand and we know this sector has one of the biggest potentials and absorptive capacity as far as employment is concerned.

Investment

The Ghana Export Promotions Authority boss used the opportunity to also woo local and foreign investors to take keen interest in Ghanas Coconut industry

Therefore, during this second edition of the ICF, we encourage local and foreign investors and SMEs looking to upscale their activities to be on the lookout for an extended range of innovative coconut products in cosmetics, food and beverages, medication, grooming products as well as art & crafts, she emphasised.

GEPA has since 2017 distributed close to seven hundred thousand seedlings covering some eleven thousand two hundred acres.
Burkina Faso's army will deploy a new strategy to push back jihadist insurgents and recapture lost territory, the defence minister said Friday.

The landlocked Sahel state is in the grip of a seven-year-old insurgency that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced some 1.9 million people to leave their homes.

Burkina Faso's insurgency has been concentrated in the north and east, led by assailants suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, but other regions have not been spared.

In January, disgruntled colonels led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba ousted elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, accused of failing to resolve the security crisis.

Defence Minister General Barthelemy Simpore told a press conference the army would reorganise fighting units to take back areas from rebels and allow displaced people to safely return home.

The aim was to "reduce the armed terrorist groups' ability to move and protect areas that are not yet at risk", he said.

"When complete, the operational reorganisation" will enable "the recovery of control over all the areas in the grip of terrorists".

The minister did not provide details on what the military reorganisation would look like in practice.

But he said government administration and "territorial integrity" would be restored.

The state does not have control over more than 40 percent of Burkina's territory, according to official data.

Security has not improved since Damiba's coup, with jihadist attacks multiplying in the past few months, targeting soldiers and civilians.

Between August 4 and 10, around 40 people including 20 soldiers were killed in several attacks blamed on armed jihadists in northern Burkina Faso.
The new General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Kodua has implored Ghanaians to remain calm and support President Akufo-Addo in the wake of pressure for a reshuffle.

In his view, although change is good, reshuffling ministers must be done when need be.

Speaking to Asempa FM on the Ekosii sen programme, Justin Frimpong Kodua noted that after government concludes its talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a reshuffle will follow.

Change is good but must be timely. Let us all believe in President Akufo-Addo to do what's best for the country and party.

I believe reshuffle should come after the IMF deliberations, the NPP General Secretary shared.

Speaking to North Star Radio in Tamale on Monday, August 8, the President explained why reshuffling may not be an option in his government.

According to him, most of his appointees have performed well.

The President said the calls for a reshuffle are being fueled by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) just to destabilise his government.

Many of them for me have done outstanding work. Their output has been considerable, and that is what I look at.

If the output measures expectations, then I dont have any strong reasons to heed the call. The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilise the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo shared.

Subsequently, the calls for a reshuffle have heightened with governance experts insisting that it is necessary, especially at a time when things are dire for the country.
A first-year student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), Moses Desire Kouyo, affectionately called MDK or Mr. President, has earned the most prestigious student journalist of the year nomination in the upcoming Universal Merchant Bank Ghana Tertiary Awards.

His journalistic agility, as well as the notable accomplishments he has achieved in the field of student journalism since his debut in February, make his nomination undeniable.

He sailed through the nomination process, thanks to his experience with media outlets such as 1957 Media, City Scoop, and others.

Following the nominee announcement, he told Modernghana news that "this is my first year in journalism, and it is so refreshing to receive such an honour. I will do everything in my power to win this award, and I will need your assistance to do so."

The prospective broadcast journalist adds, "Details on how to vote will be communicated soon. Thank you for all your support and love. Together we will change the world.

The Ghana Tertiary Awards sponsored by Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) are held annually and aim to provide tremendous recognition to approximately 300,000 students from roughly 340 tertiary institutions as a stepping stone to match their skills in their various sectors.

The 9th edition will provide Moses Desire Kouyo with enticing offers such as mentoring programs, job opportunities and plaques plus certificates if his exceptionality, particularly in the field of student journalism, propels him above all.
The head of Kenya's electoral commission has admitted the tallying of results from the country's presidential election is moving too slowly, blaming political parties for the delay.

Tuesday's election was largely peaceful but disputes over previous presidential votes have been followed by deadly violence, fuelling jitters as provisional results point to a tight race between frontrunners William Ruto and Raila Odinga.

After the Supreme Court annulled the 2017 presidential poll  citing irregularities and mismanagement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission  the election watchdog is under pressure to deliver a clean vote and release the results by 16 August.

However the complex process of verifying and tallying votes is now in its fourth day, with IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati accusing political parties of delaying the exercise by haranguing election workers with unnecessary questions.

Transparency is paramount

"We have observed that we are not moving as fast as we should. This exercise needs to be concluded as soon as possible," Chebukati said on Friday.

"Please don't interrogate the officers and slow down the process. If we do that we will not be able to finish this exercise," he warned.

The IEBC  in a bid to be transparent  has uploaded forms to its website showing the results from each polling station, enabling Kenyan TV channels to work out their tallies.

But the broadcasters suddenly stopped their tallies on Thursday, with around a million votes left to go, providing no explanation for the halt.

Chebukati has urged Kenyans not to worry about the different projections by various TV channels, saying the IEBC would release the results as soon as possible.

As the wait is likely to stretch into the weekend, some Kenyans say they were increasingly anxious to know who the country's next leader would be.

Low turnout

International observers, including from the United States, the European Union and the African Union, have hailed the IEBC for improving its procedures compared to earlier polls.

But turnout was lower than that seen in previous elections and some Kenyans said they were keen to move on from the vote and resume normal life.

No presidential poll outcome has gone uncontested in Kenya since 2002, and the disputes have led to bloodshed either involving ethnic clashes or police violence.

Social media has been swamped with disinformation about the results, with rights campaigners and civil society groups accusing both candidates' camps of sharing misleading posts.

Kenyans voted in six elections on Tuesday, choosing a new president as well as senators, governors, lawmakers, women representatives and some 1,500 county officials.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr George Akuffo Dampare may not be corrupt but he cannot say same for his men and women in uniform, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Institute for Security, Disaster and Emergency Studies, Dr Ishmael Norman has said.

Dr Norman said the IGP will be in a delusional situation to expect his people to be as incorrupt as he is.

His comments come after the IGP insisted that the Police service is not the most corrupt institution in Ghana. The IGP said he finds the methodology adopted by researchers who come to the conclusion that the service is the most corrupt and problematic.

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) together with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and other partners conducted a survey on people's views and experiences on corruption in Ghana and it found that the Ghana Police Service came top of the list of bribe takers.

Dissatisfied with the report, the IGP, Dr Dampre wrote demanding explanations as to how the research arrived at that conclusion and in parts, casting aspersions on the credibility of the research.

The IGP in his letter pointed out what in his view are anomalies which could have affected the results of the survey, and concluded that the survey could be accurate.

It is our considered view that the research and its findings are heavily challenged and corrupted from both the academic and practice point of view, part of the IGP's read.

Delivering a public lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday August 11, Dr Dampare reiterated his position that the Police service is not the most corrupt institution in Ghana although he admitted that there are a few bad elements in the service.

They say we are corrupt, a problem identified has the solution. We have never said that there are not a couple of people who are doing things in a currupt way tarnishing the image of the service, we have never said that.

We are doing all what we can to handle it but we will never accept the tag that we are the lead corrupt institution, it is unfounded because all those researches, I have challenged the methodologies. At the appropriate time we will respond to them but we will also be working at the things that people over the years are using against us and make us feel so uncomfortable when it comes to the issue of corruption.

Reacting to this on the Ghana Tonight show with Alfred Ocansey on TV3 Thursday August 11, Dr Norman said The Ghana Police is a big organization more than 30,000 people, the IGP no matter how good he is cannot represent the Ghana Police mentality and culture and ethos.

So what he is doing is basically a drop in the bucket, like a little drop in the middle of the ocean. He may not be corrupt but he cannot say the same things for all the Policemen that are working under him. To do that will be actually a delusional kind of situation.

I think the IGP has good intentions, he should motivate his people for better performance but he cannot expect that just because he wanted it means that he is going to have it.

---3news.com
The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama has warned that his outfit will deal with power thieves in the country without fear or favour.

Speaking to Asaase Radio in an interview, he said over the years, the company has been taken for granted by a lot of people who refuse to pay for the electricity they consume.

He has warned that those days are over and anyone who refuses to pay for power will be in trouble.

Customers of ECG have taken us for a ride for a very long time but no more. ECG is in serious debt because people dont pay as per the electricity they consume. This helps no one.

I have said this and I have continually been misconstrued but the truth is that electricity is a privilege; it is not a right. The moment you want it to be a right then you have to pay for it, ECG boss Samuel Mahama said.

He further disclosed that in the ongoing meter audit of the ECG, 1,000 illegalities have already been identified by the task force.

According to him, such people will be sanctioned accordingly.

While searching from house to house  my people found more than 1,000 illegalities [in terms of electrical connections] and we have just started. These people will be sanctioned accordingly.

The electricity that we enjoy comes at a cost and should that cost not be remedied then quite clearly, there will be repercussions. This is why I always plead with Ghanaians, to be honest with us, Samuel Mahama added.
Williametta E. Saydee-Tar, Social Protection Minister

12.08.2022 LISTEN

At the opening session of the ongoing West African Baptist Women Union Conference being held at Ricks Institute, Brewerville, Virginia, Montserrado County - Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr told delegates that women are the cornerstone of any nation and they should keep using their voices to advocate for the right things to be done.

She welcomed the delegates on behalf of His Excellency, Dr. George Manneh Weah, the First Lady, Her Excellency, Ambassador Clar Marie Weah, Vice President Chief Dr. Jewel Howard Taylor, and the Government of Liberia

"I would like to welcome all of you to Liberia for this 11th Biennial Conference of the Baptist Women Union of West Africa. It is our prayer that God will keep you all safe and allow this conference to be successful and that He, our Lord and God, will take the honor as we all joyously return to our various destinations". The Gender Minister said.

Minister Saydee-Tarr expressed delight to have delegates from across Africa and the United States of America to join Liberia at the point in time which coincides with the countrys Bicentennial Anniversary. Commenting on the Baptist Church historical ties with Liberia, the Minister said Liberia has a deeply rooted history with the Baptist Church. She asserted that when the first American freed slaves, led by members of the American Colonization Society, landed in 1822 on Providence Island at the mouth

of the Mesurado River, the Providence Baptist Church  also established in 1822 - played a very significant part in the history of Liberia as a nation to gain independence in 1847.

She informed the delegates that the countrys declaration of Independence was signed in the edifice of the Providence Church, which is a National Shrine. There, also, the original constitution of Liberia was debated and the national Flag was made. According to Minister Tarr, with a growing missionary impulse, the Triennial Convention, mission-minded Baptists soon saw Liberia as a viable opportunity for service. The story of Baptist missionaries who evangelized Liberia began with the conversion of two Virginia slaves, Lott Carey and Colin Teague, who both began Gods work through the Providence Baptist

Church.

"As a country deeply rooted with Christian principles through its formation, it is our prayer that your stay here shall be fruitful and that God will touch the lives of each and every one of you as He blesses this nation, Africa and the world". The Minister added.

She beseeched delegates to remember each other in prayer within the West African region especially Sierra Leone.

The 11th Biennial conference which has brought together hundreds of Baptist women from Across West Africa is being held under the theme: Understanding Life and Living Abundantly.
New Delhi, Aug 12 (UNI) Expressing concern over the Taiwan strait crisis, India on Friday called for restraint and avoidance of unilateral actions to change the status quo.

"Like many other countries India too is concerned at recent developments, we urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change the status quo, de-escalation of tensions and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said addressing a weekly media briefing.

India's relevant policies are well known and consistent, they do not require reiteration, he said answering a query on India's position on one China principle.
Sarah Kittoe, a nine-year-old British child with Ghanaian and South African parentage has become the toast of her Croydon community in London for writing two story books for children and one colouring book for toddlers.

The two books, published by Kolan Creative Services are "Friendship Club and Other Stories", which has three stories on 36 pages, and "Lindsey And The Blue Fox", which has 20 pages. The colouring book for toddlers has 38 pages of just plain pictures of all the stories in the two books, waiting to be coloured.

But there is more. At her young age, Sarah was smart enough to add a touch of suspense to one of the books, "Lindsey And The Blue Fox", with an intention to make it a series rather than just a one-time book.

The launch of the three books is set for Saturday, August 13, 2022. It will be attended by the Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, and Seyi Obakin OBE, the CEO of CentrePoint, a youth homeless charity chaired by Prince William.

Young Sarah is not only smart, but she has a heart too - she chose CenterPoint and the Wednesday Drop-in sessions of the Methodist Church as charities that she will support with some of the proceeds from the book. Wednesday Drop-in is where the vulnerable in society go to the Methodist Church on Wednesdays for free groceries.

Sarah is only in year 5 at Arc Oval Academy, but she wrote the books when she was in year 3 and was age 7.

Sarah Kittoe is excited about the first copies of her books

At that young age, Sarah says her vision is to "encourage young people within the ethnic minority to read more relatable stories and write their own stories."

On what inspired her to write the books, Sarah said her inspiration was her family life values, experiences from school, travelling to different places to explore different environments and food and the zeal to challenge inequalities in society.

"My love of writing and encouraging other kids to write is also a great inspiration for me," she added.

Sarah gave a sneak pick into the first sequel to "Linsey and the Blue Fox", saying, "Linsey and her brother still have to find the blue fox's family. Will they succeed?! Watch this space for Linsey and the Blue Fox Part 2."

The kid author also dropped a hint about what she called "a very special book" in the making.

Sarah Kittoe (second from right) with her family - Dad Albert Kittoe, mum, Nozipho Kittoe and little sister, Mary

Sarah is the first-born daughter of a Ghanaian-born British dad, Albert Kwame Kittoe, and a South-African-born British mother, Nozipho Kittoe. She has a little sister, Mary.

Meanwhile, she has plans of coming to Ghana soon to introduce her books and interact with her fellow kids in her dad's motherland. She has already been featured on TV3's Kids Arena via Zoom and the station has committed to hosting her life when she comes to Ghana.

Sarah's dad, Albert Kittoe simply said "that girl is something else and even we as parents are still living in wonderland watching her exhibit that level of smartness, clear vision and care for humanity at the age."
Angela Lusigi- UNDP Ghana Resident Representative

12.08.2022 LISTEN

Prejudice and discrimination based on a persons age is an increasing problem that affects young and old alike. This ageism devalues and limits the contribution of both younger and older populations to our collective development. The International Youth Day theme for 2022 is a bold call to action towards Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages so that no one is left behind.

There is a need to leverage the full potential of all generations towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). When age is used to categorize and divide people in ways that lead to harm, disadvantage, and cause injustice, it hampers sustainable, inclusive and equitable development. It is estimated that about 6.3 million cases of depression globally are attributable to ageism, and this has negative effects on peoples well-being and societies at large.

Ageism against younger people manifests across employment, health, housing, and politics where younger peoples voices are often denied or dismissed. In Ghana, young people are more likely to be unemployed. Up to 13.4% of Ghanaians over the age of 15 are unemployed. This figure is much higher for young adults aged between 15-24 years where 32.8% or nearly 1 in 3 are unemployed. Young people are also poorly represented in political institutions, public service, and decision-making. Older adults are also disadvantaged in workplaces and access to healthcare, specialized training and education. A recent UN global report on ageism, revealed that, globally, one in two people is ageist against older people.

Our future depends on breaking the barriers that contribute to ageism. Fostering inclusion requires an integrated approach that creates an enabling environment, innovative tools, mechanisms, and platforms that allow youth and people of all ages to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of the SDGs. We need three actions to combat ageism and its effects on peoples well-being and our prosperity.

Implement supportive policies and laws to end discrimination

First, we need effective implementation of existing and new legal instruments that protect against ageism in all spheres of life. Capable institutions and partnerships with traditional and religious authorities at local, regional and continental level can help to overcome discriminatory social norms that promote ageism and exclusion.

Develop educational interventions for empowerment

YouthConnektAfrica Summit in Accra, connecting youth to older generations. Photo Credit: @UNDPGhana

Second, actions to end ageism will require educational interventions that inform and build the capacity to overcome this challenge. This calls for engagement of diverse actors across the spectrum of education, from primary school to tertiary institutions. Working with all ages in both formal and non-formal educational contexts, can help to provide the tools to reduce the exposure and impact of ageism. When awareness is created among different actors, targeting students at different levels, we can help enhance empathy, dispel misconceptions about different age groups and reduce prejudice and discrimination.

Promote engagement across generations for collective action

Connecting both generations in the technological world. Photo Credit: @Kampus Production/Pixels

Third, we need to foster interaction between people of different generations. The UN Youth Strategy recognizes that young peoples empowerment, development, and engagement is an end in itself, as well as a means to build a better world. This is why the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with partners, continue to create platforms like the YouthConnektAfrica to connect young people to other generations, for them to tap into opportunities to unleash their innovative potential. In Ghana, through its youth empowerment interventions, UNDP has invested in many young entrepreneurs who are building on traditional knowledge from older family members like Keitu Enoc h and Rose Oduro , who are leading the charge towards economic freedom.

We all have a role to play in challenging and eliminating ageism and everyone must join the movement to reduce ageism. By coming together as a broad coalition, we can improve collaboration and communication between different stakeholders engaged in combating ageism.

We must all acknowledge that it is important not to despise and undermine anybody whether young or old. We must collaborate to foster successful and equitable intergenerational relations and partnerships to ensure no one is left behind.

By Dr Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana on International Youth Day
Daniel Asare, the Financial Secretary of the Parents Association of AngloGold Ashanti School has appealed to parents especially in the public schools not to leave the burden of promoting quality education solely on government.

Interacting with the media after he led the PTA of AGA School to handover over two projects to the AGA School, Mr. Asare said to ensure quality education, parents must play a supportive role to ensure government achieve that target.

The Parents Association in their quest to contribute to the enhancement of the standard of education in the school funded the construction of a Pre-school Play Center Project and a mechanised borehole with 20,000 liters water reservoir, all to the tune of One Hundred and Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis (Ghs110,000.00).

Mr. Asare mentioned that key pillars to promoting quality education include but not limited to providing quality teachers, ensuring the use of quality learning equipment and professional development, and creating secure and conductive quality learning environments for the students. Out of these pillars, he added, parents have a role to play in providing a massive contribution to achieving them.

PARENTS MUST CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF FREE SHS

Contributing to the ongoing debate for parents to support the sustainability of government's flagship program, Free Senior High School, Mr. Daniel Asare lauded the program and emphasized that parents can also contribute to assist the government in delivering quality education to break the cycle of poverty and improve the socio-economic development of the nation.

Citing the contribution of parents to the AGA school, he mentioned that the parents of the AGA School have over the years contributed massively towards the quality education of their wards  the recent amongst was a resolution by parents to contribute an amount of Four Hundred Ghana Cedis (Ghc400) per child per term as facility maintenance fee for the Junior High School which is a private/public partnership of government and AGA.

He appealed to the school authorities to take good care of the facility and make good use of it for the betterment of the students.

The Executive director of the school, Mr. Simon Peter Atta Cato lauded the Parent Association of the AGA School for their cooperation and contribution over the years to the quality education of their wards.

He underscored the strategic nature of the two projects. He said, "this modern playground has come at a right time; at a time where children will need a safe and sound environment to play. The borehole will also ensure constant supply of water to the school."

He added his voice to calls for parents to support the Government to promote quality education in the country.
TESCON President of the Tamale Technical University, Mr. Shaibu Ibrahim has finally been released from police detention at the Northern Regional Police Command.

This has therefore brought calm among members of the youth wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the University.

Addressing Journalists after a peaceful protest on the school campus, Mr. Agona Elisha said the Northern regional Minister and his cohorts succeeded in allegedly arresting their TESCON President over a comment he made against the Minister on Facebook.

He revealed that the TESCON President among hundred of Facebook users expressed worried over how the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Shaibu improperly dressed to welcome President Akufo-Addo into the region at the Tamale International Airport on Sunday, August 7.

We wish to state in clear and in unambiguous terms that this unlawful arrest was orchestrated by the Regional Minister, Hon. Shani Alhassan Shaibu, since his car (The V.8) was used to perpetrate the illegality, he stated.

Mr. Agona however dismissed media reports that the TESCON President assaulted a student from the University for Development Studies, hence his arrest. Those claims are concocted, fabricated and a calculated attempt to tarnish the hard earned reputation of our President, he stated.

He said all TESCON activities at the Tamale Technical University have been suspended including handing over, biometric registration and weekly meetings due to the alleged inhuman treatment.

He however thanked some respected senior members of the party including Kennedy Aygpong, the National Chairman of the party and the National organizer for getting the TESCON President released.

TESCON is the student wing of the New Patriotic Party of Ghana founded on 8 January 2000. It was inaugurated by the 2nd President of the 4th Republic of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor.
Lawyer Patrick Kojo Yamoah

12.08.2022 LISTEN

Assembly Member for Agona Abodom Anaafo-Adansi Electoral Area in the Agona West Municipality of the Central Region, Hon. Alex Donkoh has lauded Lawyer Patrick Kojo for his role in youth development in Agona Abodom and its surrounding communities.

According to the Assembly Member, the barrister who is also a native of the area was doing well in youth development especially in job creation and opportunities.

Interacting with some youth groups in Agona Abodom last Sunday, Hon. Alex Donkoh called on them to emulate Lawyer Kojo Yamoah's examples and strive to be like him for a brighter future.

Recounting the positive impact of the son of the land, Hon. Alex Donkoh outlined a number of projects Lawyer Patrick Kojo Yamoah was undertaking to support Agona Abodom community especially the youth in the educational sector.

He noted that Lawyer Patrick Kojo Yamoah operates a transport business that has employed over 40 young men such as drivers, artisans who work on the fleet of his commercial vehicles while others serves as bus conductors.

"This kind gesture of Lawyer Yamoah has attracted the youth to also contribute their quota towards the development of Agona Abodom community.

"Even though the road network is very bad, he chose to keep all his vehicles here to offer services to the people who are mainly farmers, an achievement we can not overlooked it.

"Apart from the above, our adorable Lawyer is equally supporting effective teaching and learning in our schools by donating teaching and learning materials for Basic and Senior High Schools in Agona Abodom and the Agona West Municipality as a whole," he stated.

According to the Assembly Member, the law barrister has supplied over 2,000 exercise books, writing materials as well as teaching materials to all the basic schools in Agona Abodom to cushion parents the burden of buying those items for their children.

Still on education, Hon. Alex Donkoh disclosed that the learned lawyer had established a foundation to support students in Agona Abodom in particular and Agona West .

Through Yamoah Foundation, Lawyer Patrick Kojo Yamoah, he noted has been giving financial assistance to students in tertiary education institutions across the country and also facilitate their admissions.

The Foundation was established basically to cater for the basic needs of children of school going age ranging from K.G to the tertiary Level.

"Our cherished son of the land periodically organises orientation classes for final year students preparing to write Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West Africa Secondary School Education Certificate Examination (WASSEC) respectively to enable them get better results and grades.

"This kind gesture of Lawyer Patrick Kojo Yamoah is spread across both public and private schools in the Agona West Municipality. He is a blessing to Agona West Municipality and Abodom community in particular," he intimated.

The Assembly Member was also thankful to Lawyer Patrick Kojo Yamoah for supporting his electoral area in terms of social amenities.

"Am being encouraged by Lawyer Patrick Kojo Yamoah to discharge my duty as Assembly Member through various supportive ways.

"During the Covid-19 era, I was able to get veronica buckets to all the 18 communities under the Anaafo-Adansi Electoral Area. Additionally, I provided six of the communities with household toilet facilities to eradicate open-defecation under the Open Defecation Free project (ODF), an initiative of the Central Government through the Agona West Municipal Assembly," he stressed.

Hon. Alex Donkoh further stated that the youth who wants to learn an apprenticeship have been enrolled in various places to aquire vocational training.

He emphasised that enough street bulbs have been fixed to boost security situation in his electoral Area.
We woke up on Wednesday, August 10th 2022 to rather disturbing news that Ms. Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh a member of the Council of State who also doubles as a member of the of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authorial (GPHA) has used her position of influence to exact a favorable decision from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA) leading to a reduction in taxes liability to her benefit.

This finding was the direct result of an investigation conducted by the Special Prosecutor into the operations of the Ghana Ports Authority (GPHA).

A deputy Commissioner in charge of operations Joseph Adu Kyei was cited by the OSP for issuing what it described as an unlawful customs advance ruling. This according to the report reduced the benchmark values of the goods imported by Labiance Limited translating to reduced tax obligation the company to the state.

The OSP was very emphatic in drawing a straight line from the advance tax ruling to the influence and position of Ms Asamoa Hinneh as the Chief Executive Officer of Labianca Limited and most importantly a member of the Board of Directors of GPHA. She is also a member of the Council of State. Part of the report read The OSP finds that there is strong evidence to suggest that Mr Kyei decision to issue a customs advance ruling for the applicant, Labianca company was procured through influence peddling or trading of influence by Ms Asamoah-Hinneh.

The purpose of this article is to discuss this issue from the perspective of Ghanas fight against fraud and corruption and to examine the implications from the perspective of influence peddling, conflict of interest and moral ethics.

Commenting on and advocating against corruption and corruption related offenses in Ghana is very exhausting. There is always something going on. Its incessant, back to back and unrelenting. Anti -Corruption warriors like my organization sometimes face the temptation of giving up - but this fight is not for the weary and when the going gets tough, the tough has to get going.

As a spokesperson for CAFAC - an anti corruption educational establishment dedicated to education, training and capacity building I wish to shed some intellectual light on the issues involved in this case, examine the deleterious effects on Ghana and proffer some solutions going forward.

The first issue is influence peddling. Influence peddling is the act of promising or giving a benefit or payment to a person who has real or potential influence on the decision making of a public official for the benefit of a third party.

The second issue is that of conflict of interest. A conflict of interest occurs when an individuals personal interests - family, friendships, financial or social - could compromise his or her judgment, decisions or actions in the workplace for marketplace.

Finally overarching both influence peddling and conflict of interest is the issue ethics. Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE ) which is the mother organization of CAFAC takes ethics very seriously. Acting ethically is important in every profession, but its particularly important for fraud examiners. Ethics has to do with good and bad. A right and wrong way of doing things. When the Asamoa-Henney case is put under the microscope of right and wrong it becomes abundantly clear that something fundamentally wrong happened. Whatever happened clearly fails the smell test , which is one simple rule of thumb to use as a measuring yardstick to assess fraud and corruption incidents and scenarios. So this Ms Henney who is the owner of this company(Labianca) is also a member of the board of GPHA which has oversight responsibility for the work of Mr Kyei who issues a questionable favorable decision for Ms Henneys company (She is the CEO) - a decision which subsequently has to be reversed and the liability waiver reinstated and exacted.

A list of all the deleterious effects of such influence peddling and conflict of interest on nation building is not far fetched but let us focus on the most significant which is the fact that Ghana lost much needed tax revenue - which in turn impacts negatively on the development and management capacity of the country. Ability to provide social amenities, pay for the administration of the country, meet financial obligations and even the defence of the country are all on the line and in the current period of austerity this is very damning. In fact it is a breadth of fresh air to note that the OSP was able to retrieve the lost tax revenue. We must shout Kudus!!! for a job well done. We need more of such!!!

As I bring this article to a conclusion let me humbly proffer a few solutions.

First conflict of interest is proscribed by the 1992 constitution of Ghana in Article 284 which states A public officer shall not put himself/herself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the office.

Also Act 29 of the criminal Code makes it a crime for a public officer to put himself or herself in situation where their personal interest will conflict with the performance of their duty.

So what is needed is strict and better enforcement of the constitution and the laws of Ghana.

In addition to enforcing this legal regime, every work place should have policies and procedures covering influence peddling and conflict of interest. The policies should be clear and unambiguous and in many instances specific situations should be spelt out and affected individuals made to know exactly what to do in each scenario.

Second people should be given competent training and education to understand fully what is involved in conflict of interest and influence peddling. That awareness is a preventive control for these transgressions.

Third people should be encouraged to declare their interests and put them out in the open. The best medicine for corruption is sunshine - transparency. When that happens it takes away all the negative connotations of conflict of interest. Management then has to make a determination on the conflict of interest. Whether to assume the risk or take steps to do away with it.

Finally when investigations unearth conflict of interest and influence peddling, the sanctions should be swift and decisive to serve as a deterrent. And in this regard we join the call by Anti-Corruption Campaigner Vitus Azeem that the President of the republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo should request the resignation of Ms Asamoa.

By Hector Boham, CEO and Co-Founder of Corruption and Fraud Audit Center (CAFAC) Ghana

CAFAC offers courses in :- Fraud Examiner; Forensics Auditing; Internal Auditing; Oil and Gas Accounting; IT Auditing and IT Security.

Website is Cafacgh.com
The Willing Ways Foundation Ghana in collaboration with the Ashanti Regional Mental Health Authority under the auspices of the Regional Health Directorate has commenced a project for the removal of destitute, mentally ill or mad people from the streets of the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi.

This follows series of reports by some residents in Kumasi being terrified and attacked by these persons who have been roaming the streets. The project dubbed Operation remove vagrants from streets seeks to remove most mentally deranged persons to the foundations constructed rehabilitation centre for treatment and transformation.

On Thursday, August 11 morning, Chief Executive Officer of the Willing Ways Foundation, Madam Lydia Abena Manu together with the Ashanti Regional Mental Health Coordinator Madam Faustina Nuako with the support of some police personnel picked up about 10 mentally deranged women of which two were pregnant from various streets in Kumasi.

Speaking in an interview with this reporter on Thursday, August 11, 2022, Madam Abena Manu described the exercise as tough as they had to spend much time before the mentally challenged persons agreed to go with them to the centre. She added that despite the difficulties, the foundation is not giving up as plans are made to clear the streets.

Today we have decided to start with the females but sooner, we will come for the men too. We chose to start with the women because we feel they are the most vulnerable," she added.

The Ashanti Regional Mental Health Coordinator Madam Faustina Nuako on her part called on stakeholders and philanthropists in the region to lend helping hands to the Willing Ways Foundation and others since treatment for such persons costs much. She also advised families who have such mentally challenged relatives not to give up on them as mental diseases are curable just as other illnesses.

The Willing Ways Foundation and Rehabilitation Centre since its existence for over a decade has joined hands with the Ashanti Regional Health Service in the rehabilitation of people suffering from alcohol and drug addiction problems. The Foundation has also supported the health service in advocacy, awareness creation and capacity building for students, police and other bodies as far as mental health is concerned.
In its quest to improve the quality of education, The Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation has donated Prof. Quarms Science Textbooks and Workbooks to 24 deprived schools in the Akrofuom District of the Ashanti region.

The Foundation in consultation with the Ashanti Regional Directorate of Ghana Education Service (GES) selected the 24 deprived schools in the district to benefit from a donation of these NaCCA-approved science textbooks and workbooks.

The beneficiary circuits include Akrofuom, Ampunyase, Adamso, Mensonso and Grumesa.

Kwabena Owusu Ababio, who is the stakeholder relation and capacity building manager at the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation called on benevolent individuals and institutions to collaborate with the Foundation to reach out to more deprived schools.

Speaking to this reporter, Mr Kwabena Owusu Ababio said a total of 5,760 books from Primary 1 to 6 were presented to the beneficiary schools in five circuits of the district.

This kind gesture exhibited by the Kings Foundation, according to Mr Ababio, is the first phase of a series of science textbooks and workbooks to be presented to selected deprived schools in the Ashanti region in fulfillment of promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) interest at the basic level of education in Ghana.

Head of Inspectorate at the Akrofuom District Education Directorate, Mr Daniel Kwaku Gyasi who received the books on behalf of the schools commended the foundation for the kind gesture.

He said the books were going to aid the smooth delivery of teaching and learning in the district.

He however appealed to other stakeholders to support the district with more text books for the deprived schools.

Prof. Albert Quarm of Prof Quarm Publications gave 12,000 Basic School Science Textbooks and Workbooks valued at GHC 400,000 to the Foundation as his Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The books will be distributed to 24 schools in the district from primary 1 to 6 pupils to enhance teaching and learning. This donation is aimed at promoting science education at the basic levels.
12.08.2022 LISTEN

An RTI request by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has revealed that the opinion of the Attorney General was not sought by the Energy Ministry in the contract to relocate the Ameri Plant.

The Ministry is said to have entered a deal with a South African company, Mytilineos SA for the relocation of the Ameri Plant from Takoradi to Kumasi at a cost of $35.6 million.

After citing an original proposal from the Ministry which pegged the cost of the relocation of the plant at $25.48 million, ACEP has taken an interest in the matter and requested more information from the Attorney General.

In response to an RTI request from ACEP, the Attorney General has categorically stated that its opinion was not sought on the EPC contract to use sole sourcing to relocate the Ameri Plant.

We are unable to provide the information requested on account of the fact that the advice of the Attorney-General was not requested for the Sole sourcing of the EPC contract on the relocation of the Ameri Power Plant to Kumasi and accordingly the Attorney General did not issue an opinion on the procurement, part of the reply to ACEPs RTI request from the Attorney General reads.

This ACEP Director, Benjamin Boakye insists contradicts the Minister of Energys Statement before Parliament, that the Attorney General gave an opinion.

Meanwhile, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) is requesting GHS1,000 from ACEP before it provides the centre with its records on the Ameri Plant relocation.
Jerred Selected as UW IMPACT 307s Senior Director

Derrek Jerred

Derrek Jerred has been selected as the new senior director of IMPACT 307, the University of Wyomings statewide network of innovation-driven business incubators committed to growing and strengthening Wyomings entrepreneurial community by providing resources and support for founders to thrive.

Jerred will begin in his new position Sept. 6.

He comes to UW after almost nine years working in economic development in southeast Wyoming, most recently as director of business attraction for Cheyenne LEADS, where he supported the attraction, relocation and expansion of domestic and international businesses. During his time at LEADS, Jerred worked closely with IMPACT 307, helping businesses transition from its incubators to new community locations in Wyoming.

As senior director, Jerred will be responsible for coordinating the activities of UWs business incubators across the state, working collaboratively with UW Business Resource Network (BRN) leadership, Wyomings community colleges and various state agencies. In addition to current incubator locations, Jerred will work with the states community colleges to expand IMPACT 307s model statewide as part of the Wyoming Innovation Partnership.

I am looking forward to having Derrek as a senior member of the BRN team as we build and expand our business startup and innovation resources statewide, says UW Associate Vice President for Economic Development Steve Farkas. I have had the pleasure of tracking Derreks successes in Wyomings economic development. In addition to a passion for assisting new and existing businesses, he brings a wealth of knowledge, expertise and a statewide network of resources to support our business communities. In this new role, Derrek will ensure the success of UWs commitment to supporting economic development by facilitating entrepreneurship, innovation and small business development.

We appreciate the passion and enthusiasm Derrek has for economic development and wish him the best of luck in his new position, says Betsey Hale, CEO of Cheyenne LEADS. Wyoming is fortunate to have him in this new role.

In addition to being an alumnus of UWs College of Business and Leadership Wyoming, Jerred is a certified Professional Community and Economic Developer.
Chinese automotive brand Chery is showcasing five premium and luxury cars at the 2022 Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show held from Aug. 11 to 21 at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition in BSD City.

The cars on display are TIGGO 7 PRO and TIGGO 8 PRO, as well as EQ-1, marking Chery's return to the Indonesian market, following other Chinese automotive brands Wuling and DFSK.

TIGGO 7 PRO and TIGGO 8 PRO are luxury business class cars, with a capacity of seven passengers and high-tech configurations suitable for urban lifestyle.

Chery has 20 outlets in Indonesia, which will grow to 70 in the coming year. Enditem





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
UW Faculty Member Wins Grant to Develop Study-Abroad Program in Brazil

A University of Wyoming faculty member is developing a study-abroad program that will bring UW undergraduate students together with members of the Pataxo Indigenous community in Brazil who are working to revitalize their endangered language.

A grant from the U.S. Department of States Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program will help Assistant Professor Jessica Nelson complete an initial site visit for the project. Shes a member of the faculty in UWs Native American and Indigenous Studies Program in the School of Culture, Gender and Social Justice.

Nelson will be accompanied by Reinette Curry Tendore, director of UWs Native American Education, Research and Cultural Center and Native American Program adviser; and Robyn Lopez, an Arapaho language instructor and specialist in language revitalization methods.

The planned study-abroad course will be developed collaboratively with the Pataxo so that it can contribute to community language goals while providing UW students with an opportunity to experience daily life in Bahia and learn from the Pataxo firsthand about their experience of language loss, colonization and mobilization, Nelson says. Through this experience, students will gain insights into Indigeneity in Brazil, language revitalization as a human rights issue, and how education and other language revitalization methods can be used to help maintain Indigenous cultural and linguistic sovereignty. Another primary goal of the program will be to foster dialogues between Indigenous youth from Brazil and the United States.

UW is one of 44 colleges and universities across the United States that will use the IDEAS grants to create, expand and/or diversify American student mobility overseas in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. The Department of State is committed to supporting U.S. colleges and universities as they continue to rebuild study-abroad capacity impacted by the global pandemic.

We are thrilled that Dr. Nelson received this grant to support the development of faculty-led programming in a critical part of the world, says Shelley Jewell, director of UW Education Abroad. Dr. Nelsons commitment to developing opportunities for more UW students -- in this case, students in an underrepresented major -- to study abroad is commendable, and we are very excited to see the program take shape over the coming months.

Since 2016, the IDEAS Program has awarded 145 grants to 139 institutions in 48 states and territories to create, expand and diversify their U.S. study-abroad programs in 71 countries across all world regions. In addition to the IDEAS grant competition, the program also offers opportunities for faculty, staff and administrators at U.S. colleges and universities to participate in a series of free virtual and in-person study-abroad capacity building activities.

One such activity is scheduled Oct. 7 at UW, as Jewell and Nevin Aiken -- an associate professor in the School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies -- were selected to host a one-day workshop on best practices for faculty-led programs under the IDEAS Program.
August 12, 2022

Ukraine's Mystic Kherson Offensive Did Not, And Will Not Happen

There has been much talk in 'western' media about a Ukrainian offensive in the southern Kherson region. However most of the claims made about it seem to be divorced from the observable realities on the ground. The detailed look below provides that there is no such offensive and that there is little chance that there will ever be one.

The purported offensive has for months been a core talking point:

Lets look at the map of the Kherson area and how it has changed over time. LiveUAmap, the source used here for these maps, is know to be more in favor of Ukrainian claims than Russian ones. The red parts are held by Russian forces.

This is the Kherson area as depicted on May 13, 2022:

This is the Kherson area as depicted on May 14, 2022:

We see that the maintainers of LiveUAmap kept the front line as it was, but added a gray zone on the Ukrainian side. I am not sure what it is supposed to show. It may designate the extend to which forward Russian reconnaissance units had been observed during their February-March offensive in the area. Since then the gray area has for some become the 'success' of a 'Ukrainian counter-offensive'. But Russian forces had never held onto that gray zone nor was there any significant fighting about it.

This is the Kherson area as depicted today, August 12, 2022:

I see two small differences between the May 14 map and the current one. On the west side the minor settlement of Pravdyne and the fields around it have changed hands.

May 14



Source LiveUAmap 14.5. - bigger

Aug 12



Source LiveUAmap 12.8. - bigger

Another change happened around a small river at the norther part of the front line south of Kvkaz. The May 14 front line there was simplified as being straight. The real front line ran along the winded Ingulets river in that area.

May 14



Source LiveUAmap 14.5. - bigger

At the beginning of June Ukrainian forces crossed the river around the towns Davydiv Brid, Bilohirka and Adriivka only to get slaughtered by Russian artillery. The area has since been no man's land.

Aug 12



Source LiveUAmap 12.8. - bigger

One small town retaken and a failed river crossing attempt is all the much vaunted Kherson offensive has achieved since May.

That may well be because, despite the noise, there has been and will be no Ukrainian Kherson offensive. For the Ukrainian leaders in Kiev that offensive is only a joke.

On August 9 Zelenski advisor Mikhail Podolyak talked with a Ukrainian language BBC outlet. The Ukrainian Ctrana online news site reported about it (machine translation):

Podolyak called the words about the counterattack on Kherson "part of the information and psychological operation" Reports of counteroffensives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the southern direction are part of the "information-psychological special operation." This was stated by adviser to the head of the OP Mikhail Podolyak in an interview with the BBC. "Was it the IPSO? Of course, today all public comments are part of the IPSO. We need to demoralize the Russian army. They must understand that there will always be a territory of fire," he said. Nevertheless, Podolyak clarified that "the events on the Antonovsky bridge show that it is essential for us to liberate Kherson" (as the only regional center that was under the occupation of the Russian Federation after February 24). "And therefore, our army is already taking certain actions for this today," he said.

That news did not reach the Washington Post propagandist David Ignatius. On August 11 he still lauded the non-existing 'southern offensive':

A southern offensive opens in the Ukraine war

The grinding war of attrition in Ukraine might be entering a new phase as the Ukrainian military prepares an offensive to recover occupied land in the southern region surrounding Kherson, and Russia escalates its rhetoric by charging that the United States is directly involved in the conflict. Ukraine appears to have begun its new southern campaign with a bold attack Tuesday on a Russian air base in Crimea, along the Black Sea coast.

...

With its long-anticipated southern offensive, Ukraine evidently hopes to regain momentum against Russian forces that have suffered heavy losses of soldiers and equipment since they invaded on Feb. 24. At a time when Russia is strained and vulnerable, Ukrainian leaders want to show that they can reclaim lost ground and ultimately prevail.

On August 12, a day after the Ignatius screed was published, four Washington Post reporters painted a different picture:

On the Kherson front lines, little sign of a Ukrainian offensive

MYKOLAIV REGION, Ukraine  On the front line in southeast Ukraine, there is little sign that a major counteroffensive is brewing. For weeks, Western intelligence and military analysts have predicted that a Ukrainian campaign to retake the strategic port city of Kherson and surrounding territory is imminent. But in trenches less than a mile from Russias positions in the area, Ukrainian soldiers hunker down from an escalating onslaught of artillery, with little ability to advance.

...

The progress Ukrainian forces had made here in recent months  recapturing a string of villages from Russias control  has largely stalled, with soldiers exposed in the open terrain. The roads that soldiers zip along among the scorched wheat fields at the front lines are pockmarked with craters from previous strikes, guided by Russias Orlan drones that allow them to pick and choose targets. There is nowhere to hide, said Yuri, who has fought here without a break since the beginning of the war, and like other soldiers did not give his last name, in line with protocol. His unit has a hodgepodge stock: modern antitank weapons and a Soviet machine gun manufactured in 1944, and the focus here is holding the line. Ukrainian military officials are tight-lipped on any timeline for a wider push, but say they need more supplies of Western weapons before one can happen. Ukraine lacks the capacity to launch a full-scale offensive anywhere along the 1,200-mile front line, one security official conceded.

The area north of Kherson is flat land with open fields. There is no place where one could securely assemble a force big enough to punch through the frontline. Ukrainian units went into hiding in Mykolaiv (Nikolaev in Russian writing) where they have dispersed among the civilian population after several of their concentrations had been attacked by Russian missile forces:

One woman took me to see her daughters school, smashed by Russian missiles. Through the broken concrete you could see a shelf of library books exposed to the sun and rain. Instead of blaming Russia for firing missiles at the school, she blamed Ukraine for quartering soldiers there. (..) When I asked her about Putins aims, she said: I dont know. He must have his reasons for what hes doing. Did she think what he was doing was right? I never get involved in politics. She mentioned that salaries in Russian-annexed Crimea were higher than in Ukraine. Shed been angry, earlier on in the fighting, when Russian troops were approaching Mykolaiv, about how close Ukrainian armoured vehicles were to her house. She was Russian-born. She was unhappy that Russian language teaching was disappearing from Ukraine. She said people were punished for using Russian.

...

Another well-informed man told me what most locals would not say, that after a devastating strike on a Mykolaiv barracks in March, which killed scores and perhaps hundreds of marines, the authorities adopted a policy of dispersal, with small groups of Ukrainian personnel spending the night in a wide array of buildings, including schools.

The above quoted LRB piece, which mostly takes the Ukrainian side, details the difficulties the Ukrainians have in launching any offensive. (Sorry for the length of the quote but the details matter as they confirm the take above):

When Sashas company got to Posad-Pokrovske, they spent the first night in a school. The next day it was flattened in an air strike. They spent the next three and a half months living in concrete pipes under a bridge. Im already used to it, he said. A typical day is they shell and bomb us from morning to night. Mum says, Where are you? and I say: Im home. Its our home now. People say, Were looking forward to you coming home, and we say: We are home. Bodies of dead civilians have been lying unburied in Posad-Pokrovske for months. The soldiers arent allowed to collect them; since theyre civilians, it has to be done by the police, and the police dont come.

...

A handful of villages have been liberated in the north of the Russian bridgehead, and Ukraine has won a toehold on the hostile side of a smaller river, the Ingulets. But mainly the two sides remain a few miles apart, with more lines of artillery further back. In the flat, open landscape, with little cover except the trees along the roads, any attempt by one side to breach the others lines is subject to withering fire from anti-tank missiles and guns, or shelling. Both sides launch drones to spy out artillery targets; when the artillery fires, it becomes the target for the other sides artillery. Russia has an overwhelming advantage in all these areas. It has more artillery guns and rockets than Ukraine, by a large margin. It has more attack planes and helicopters. It has more anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down Ukrainian drones, and a crushing advantage in electronic warfare systems to jam them. Its easier for them, Sasha said. They haul in shells by rail, by the wagonload. They unload them with cranes. They dig shelters with bulldozers. They shoot rockets from morning till night as if they came out of a machine. Its shameful to admit  they have drones flying over us 24/7 and we have one. Sometimes we can see what theyre up to ... but its embarrassing. We dont have the capability. Ukraine has been good at hiding its military, but even so, the absence in Mykolaiv and the surrounding countryside of the signs of a build-up of equipment, troops and supplies that you might expect for a counter-offensive is striking. Theres only so much you can move by night. If Ukraine is using its much vaunted mobilisation to expand its army with new units to retake Kherson, its being done with extraordinary stealth  or its simply taking a long time to integrate a chaotic array of foreign weapons and untrained recruits. Sasha was coy about his units losses, but he did say they hadnt been replaced.

No new weapons are coming into the Mykolaiv area. Front line units are depleted and have not been rotated out since March. Russian forces have overwhelming material superiority in the area.

There is no Ukrainian Kherson offensive. There will be no Ukrainian Kherson offensive.

If there will be an offensive in the general area it will be launched by the Russian side which will overrun the few exhausted Ukrainian forces which hold that frontline.

The few Ukrainian operations, missile strikes on bridges that are easily replaced by ferries, sabotage acts on a Crimean air base, are minor pin pricks to the Russian side. They will not change the imbalance of forces or the outcome of the war.

Posted by b on August 12, 2022 at 10:17 UTC | Permalink

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PHOENIX (AP)  Arizona began moving in shipping containers to close a 1,000-foot gap in the border wall near the southern Arizona farming community of Yuma on Friday, with officials saying they were acting to stop migrants after repeated, unfulfilled promises from the Biden administration to block off the area.

The move by Arizona comes without explicit permission on federal land, with state contractors starting to move in 60-foot-long (18.3-meter-long) shipping containers and stacking two of the 9-foot-tall (2.7-meter-tall) containers on top of each other early Friday. They plan to complete the job within days, and the containers will be topped with 4 feet (1.2 meters) of razor wire, said Katie Ratlief, Republican Gov. Doug Duceys deputy chief of staff.

The state plans to fill three gaps in the border wall constructed during former President Donald Trump's tenure in the coming weeks totaling 3,000 feet (914.4 meters).

"The federal government has committed to doing this, but we cannot wait for their action," Ratlief said.

John Mennell, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the agency had just learned of Arizona's action and "is not prepared to comment at this time.

The move is the latest pushback by a Republican-led border state to what they contend is inaction by Democratic President Joe Biden on immigration. It was immediately prompted by the announcement of the end of the Remain in Mexico program that was announced this week, Ducey's top lawyer, Annie Foster said. That program required asylum-seekers to return to Mexico and await a court date, although thousands of migrants who make it into the country were not returned.

Arizona has been sending two to three buses of asylum seekers from Yuma to Washington over the last three months to make a political statement as the number of arriving migrants overwhelmed local resources. Ducey began the program in May and has said everyone on the bus trips are going voluntarily to the capital with intended final destinations in East Coast cities.

Texas also is busing migrants to the East, and the mayors of New York and Washington sought federal help last month to deal with the influx, a request that brought a gleeful response from Republicans who say the pleas are evidence the U.S. is in an immigration crisis.

As of Aug. 11, the state of Arizona had sent 1,425 asylum seekers to Washington, according to the governors office.

Ducey is using $6 million for the project out of $335 million the Legislature authorized in June to construct virtual or physical fencing along the border with Mexico.

Ducey, who co-chairs the Republican Governors Association, and other GOP politicians have tapped into border security as a potent political foil in an election year. He packed a signing letter for the budget with criticism of Biden.

Arizona will not sit idly by as the Biden administration fails to do its job and safeguard our state and nation from the clear and present danger of an unsecure border, Duceys letter said.

The Biden Administration announced late last month that it had authorized completion of the Trump-funded U.S.-Mexico border wall near Yuma. The area has become one of the busiest corridors for illegal crossings, and they planned to fill in four wide gaps. Arizona officials said they did not know why there was a discrepancy between the three gaps they identified and the federal government's plans.

Biden had pledged during his campaign to cease all future wall construction, but the administration later agreed to some barriers, citing safety. The Department of Homeland Security planned work to close four wide gaps in the wall near Yuma to better protect migrants who can slip down a slope or drown walking through a low section of the Colorado River.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas authorized completion of the project near the Morelos Dam in July, a move officials said reflected the administrations priority to deploy modern, effective border measures and also improving safety and security along the Southwest Border.

Arizona points to a rising number of migrants coming into the state and accompanying drug smuggling as a major reason for their action. Agents stopped migrants more than 160,000 times from January through June in the Yuma sector, nearly quadruple from the same period last year. The only other Border Patrol sectors with more traffic were Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.

Despite the federal promise to fill in the gaps, Arizona officials said no action had been taken to actually close the gaps. The federal government apparently put the project out to bid this week, but that may takes weeks or months.

Foster said he decided to act even if the federal government later objects.

At this point, we are closing that gap and we'll figure out the consequences as we move forward, Foster said at a briefing for reporters. But bottom line is that the federal government has a duty to protect the states  that's part of the contract, that's part of the constitution. They failed to do that.
SAO PAULO (AP)  Thousands of Brazilians flocked to a law school Thursday in defense of the nations democratic institutions, an event that carried echoes of a gathering nearly 45 years ago when citizens joined together at the same site to denounce a brutal military dictatorship.

In 1977, the masses poured into the University of Sao Paulos law school to listen to a reading of A Letter to Brazilians, a manifesto calling for a prompt return of the rule of law. On Thursday, they heard declarations defending democracy and the countrys elections systems, which President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly attacked ahead of his reelection bid.

While the current manifestos dont specifically name Bolsonaro, they underscore the countrys widespread concern that the far-right leader may follow in former U.S. President Donald Trumps footsteps and reject election results not in his favor in an attempt to cling to power.

We are at risk of a coup, so civil society must stand up and fight against that to guarantee democracy," Jose Carlos Dias, a former justice minister who helped write the 1977 letter and the two documents read Thursday, told The Associated Press.

In Sao Paulo, drivers stuck in traffic on one of the main roads to the law school applauded and honked as marching students chanted pro-democracy slogans. A huge inflatable electronic voting machine by the buildings main entrance bore the slogan RESPECT THE VOTE.

Inside, hundreds of guests gathered in the universitys Great Hall to hear speeches, while others stood outside watching on big flat screens.

The proclamations are contained in two letters. The first went online on July 26 and has been signed by nearly 1 million citizens, including ordinary people; popular musicians such as Caetano Veloso and Anitta; high-profile bankers and executives; and presidential candidates, among them former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who leads all polls ahead of the October election.

The second letter, published in newspapers last Friday, carries the endorsement of hundreds of companies in banking, oil, construction and transportation  sectors that traditionally have been averse to taking public political stances, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. They appear to have made an exception now, given the fear that any democratic backslide would be bad for business, he said.

Democracy is important for the economy, he said.

Bolsonaro's commitment to democracy has been scrutinized since he took office, in large part because the former army captain has insistently glorified the countrys two-decade dictatorship, which ended in 1985. Earlier this year he met with Hungarys autocratic leader, Viktor Orban, and Russias Vladimir Putin.

The president only spoke about the event late Thursday, saying it was crafted to support da Silva's campaign. He also criticized the Workers' Party party for supporting leftist authoritarian regimes in Cuba and Venezuela.

For over a year, in actions that appear to be lifted directly from Trumps playbook, Bolsonaro has claimed Brazil's electronic voting machines are prone to fraud, though  like Trump  he never presented any evidence. At one point, he threatened that elections would be suspended if Congress didn't approve a bill to introduce printed receipts of votes. The bill didn't pass.

Bolsonaro also began expressing desire for greater involvement of the armed forces in election oversight. Last week, army officials visited the electoral authoritys headquarters to inspect the voting machines source codes. Bolsonaro has alleged that some of the authority's top officials are working against him.

At the law school on Thursday, Carlos Silveira carried a sign that read: The military doesnt count votes.

We are here because it is riskier not to do anything," said Silveira, 43. "Bolsonaro has suggested a big anti-democratic act before the election, and the military has remained on his side, it seems. We want to show them we are the majority, and that our quest for democracy will win.

When Bolsonaro launched his campaign, he called on supporters to flood the streets for Sept. 7 independence day celebrations. On that date last year, he declared before tens of thousands who rallied at his behest that only God can remove him from power. That same day, he declared he would no longer heed rulings from a Supreme Court justice, threatening to plunge the country into an institutional crisis. He later backtracked, saying his comment was made in the heat of the moment.

Bolsonaro's rhetoric resonates with his base, but is increasingly alienating him politically, Melo said.

Since last year, the electoral authority has been proactive in countering claims against the voting system. Its top officials, who are also Supreme Court justices, have made repeated statements in its defense. Behind the scenes, they have been working overtime to recruit allies in the legislature and private sector, though many had been loath to echo their public pronouncements.

A turning point came last month, after Bolsonaro called foreign ambassadors to the presidential residence to lecture them on the electronic vote's supposed vulnerabilities. Since then, both leaders of Congress and the prosecutor-general, all of whom are considered Bolsonaro allies, have expressed confidence in the system's reliability.

The U.S. also weighed in, with its State Department issuing a statement the day after the ambassadors' meeting to say the Brazilian electoral system and democratic institutions are a model for the world. In a July conference with regional defense ministers in Brazil's capital, Brasilia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said militaries should carry out their missions responsibly, especially during elections.

The letters  which at any other time might have been a dry exercise relegated to academia  have struck a chord with society. Television stations in recent days have aired clips of artists reading the pro-democracy pledge, and rallies are being called in 22 cities nationwide.

One of those invited to speak at the university law school was Arminio Fraga, a prominent asset manager and former central bank chief during a previous, center-right administration.

I am here today ... with such a diverse group that sometimes fought on opposite sides, doing all we can now to preserve what is sacred to us all. Thats our democracy, said Fraga, an outspoken Bolsonaro critic.

Bolsonaro, for his part, has played down concerns, deriding the manifestos as little letters" and insisting that he respects the Constitution. On Thursday, in a public swipe to the law school rally on Twitter, he remarked: Today, a very important act took place ... Petrobras reduced, once again, the price of diesel."

On Twitter, he added Thursday night: Brazil already has its letter for democracy; the constitution. That is the only letter that matters to assure the democratic rule of law, but it was precisely the one that was attacked by those who promote a parallel text that, for legal effects, is worth less than toilet paper.

Still, concern about Bolsonaro's fiery rhetoric has spread even among some allies and has undermined their efforts to keep the peace between the administration and other institutions, two Cabinet ministers told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity, as they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Bolsonaro's party has distanced itself from claims that the election could be compromised. The party's leader sought out the electoral court's president to assure him of his trust in the voting system, Augusto Rosa, the party's vice president, told the AP.

In any case, the election will be an uphill battle for Bolsonaro. More than half the people surveyed by pollster Datafolha said they wouldn't vote for him under any circumstance, though support has perked up recently amid lower unemployment, reduced gasoline prices and higher welfare spending. Analysts said they expected da Silvas lead to fall as the election nears, given that incumbents tend to benefit from the state machine. A close race would make preelection promises to respect results all the more relevant.

___

Jeantet reported from Rio de Janeiro and Alvares from Brasilia.
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BERLIN (AP)  The German government said Friday it regrets plans by families of Israeli athletes killed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich to boycott a 50-year anniversary ceremony next month and said it was prepared to continue talks on further compensation.

Eleven Israelis and a German police officer were killed after members of the militant Palestinian group Black September broke into the Olympic Village on Sept. 5, 1972. They took Israelis hostage, hoping to force the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and two left-wing extremists in West German jails.

The victims' families announced Thursday that they would not attend the memorial ceremony, underscoring ongoing friction between Germany and Israel. The two countries have built strong ties despite the enduring legacy of the Holocaust, in which German Nazis systematically killed 6 million Jews during World War II.

Relatives of the athletes have long accused Germany of failing to secure the Olympic Village, refusing Israeli help and botching the rescue operation in which the German police officer and five of the attackers died.

While Germany has apologized for mishandling the response to the attack and opened previously sealed archives, relatives of the victims say the amount of compensation offered by the government so far is an insult.

German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Friday that Germany was committed to thoroughly reviewing what had happened 50 years ago and prepared to continue discussing the issue of recognition payments to the relatives.

Of course, we very much regret the decision by the relatives to cancel their attendance at the event," he told reporters in Berlin. "The government hopes that a way will be found so the relatives can decide to attend the memorial event on Sept. 5 after all.

Hebestreit declined to comment on how much compensation Germany was willing to offer. So far, the country has provided about 5 million euros; German media report that the government is prepared to double that amount, while relatives are seeking considerably more.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  Samsung's de-facto leader secured a pardon Friday of his conviction for bribing a former president in a corruption scandal that toppled a previous South Korean government, an act of leniency that underscored the tech company's huge influence in the nation.

Lee Jae-yong's pardon is partially symbolic since he was released on parole a year ago after serving 18 months of a prison term that would have ended in July, and critics say the billionaire has remained in control of Samsung even while behind bars. Still, the pardon will allow the heir to the electronics juggernaut to fully resume his management duties and could make it easier for the company to pursue investments and mergers.

The Justice Ministry said President Yoon Suk Yeol, who as a prosecutor investigated the corruption scandal involving Lee, will issue the pardon Monday, a national holiday when some 1,700 people are set to receive clemency, including other top business leaders.

Lee, 54, was convicted in 2017 of bribing former President Park Geun-hye and her close confidante to win government support for a merger between two Samsung affiliates that tightened Lees control over the corporate empire. Park and the confidante were also convicted in the scandal, which enraged South Koreans, who staged massive protests for months demanding an end to the shady ties between business and politics. The demonstrations eventually led to Park's ouster from office.

While some civic groups criticized the decision, recent opinion polls have indicated South Koreans  years removed from the protests in 2016 and 2017  largely favored granting Lee a pardon. That reflects the continuing hold Samsung has in a country where it makes not just smartphones and TVs but also issues credit cards, builds luxury apartment buildings and runs the country's most sought-after hospital.

Business leaders and politicians had also called for Lees pardon, which they said would allow Samsung, one of the worlds largest makers of computer memory chips and smartphones, to be bolder and quicker in business decisions by fully reinstating his rights to run the business empire.

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said the pardons of the business tycoons were aimed at overcoming the economic crisis through encouraging business activity at a time when South Koreans are grappling with rising prices, high personal debt and a faltering job market.

Lee's detractors say he already fully resumed his management duties once out on parole  even though South Koreas law bans people convicted of major financial crimes from returning to work for five years following the end of their sentences. Former Justice Minister Park Beom-kye defended Lees involvement in Samsungs management, insisting that his activities werent in violation of the ban because the billionaire wasnt receiving wages from Samsung.

In a statement released through Samsung, Lee said he was grateful for receiving an opportunity to start anew.

I want to express my apologies for causing concerns for many people because of my shortcomings. I will work even harder to fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a businessperson, Lee said.

Lee still faces a separate trial on charges of stock price manipulation and auditing violations related to the 2015 merger.

Among others set to be pardoned is Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who received a suspended prison term in 2018 on similar charges of bribing Park, whom then-President Moon Jae-in pardoned in December. Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill, and former STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo will also receive clemency.

A coalition of civic groups, including Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, issued a statement criticizing the move to pardon the business leaders, accusing Yoon of cozying up to chaebol, referring to the family-owned conglomerates that dominate the countrys economy.

President Yoon Suk Yeols sell-out (to business) sends a signal to chaebol chiefs that they are free to commit all the crimes they want, the groups said, accusing Yoon of damaging the rule of law.

Former President Park was convicted of a broad range of corruption crimes, including colluding with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to take millions of dollars in bribes and extortion from Samsung and other major companies while she was in office.

She faced a prison term of more than two decades before Moon pardoned her in December, citing a need to promote unity in the politically divided nation. Choi remains in jail. Chang, of Dongkuk Steel Mill, was released on parole in 2018 with about six months left on a 3 1/2-year prison term on charges that he embezzled millions of dollars in corporate funds and used some of it to gamble in Las Vegas.

South Koreas Supreme Court last year confirmed a suspended prison sentence for Kang, who headed STX from 2003 to 2014, on charges of embezzling corporate funds and other crimes.

A notable exclusion from Yoons pardons was former President Lee Myung-bak, who in June was granted a temporary release from a 17-year prison term after prosecutors acknowledged his health problems.

Han, the justice minster, said that the government did not consider the pardons of any convicted politicians or government employees this time, saying that the focus was on the economy.

Lee, a CEO-turned-conservative hero before his fall from grace, was convicted of taking bribes from big businesses including Samsung, embezzling funds from a company that he owned, and other corruption-related crimes before and during his presidency from 2008 to 2013.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  A gunman who died in a shootout after trying to get inside the FBIs Cincinnati office apparently went on social media and called for federal agents to be killed on sight following the search at former President Donald Trumps home, a law enforcement official said.

Federal investigators are examining social media accounts they believe are tied to the gunman, 42-year-old Ricky Shiffer, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

At least one of the messages on Trumps Truth Social media platform appeared to have been posted after Shiffer tried to breach the FBI office. It read: "If you dont hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I.

Another message posted on the same site this week from @rickywshifferjr included a call to arms and urged people to be ready for combat after the FBI search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Authorities also are looking into whether Shiffer, a Navy veteran, had ties to far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys, the official said.

Shiffer was armed with a nail gun and an AR-15-style rifle when he tried to breach the visitor screening area at the FBI office Thursday, according to the official. Shiffer fled when agents confronted him.

He was later spotted by a state trooper along a highway and got into a gunbattle that ended with police killing him, authorities said.

The burst of violence unfolded amid FBI warnings that federal agents could face attacks following the search in Florida.

The FBI is investigating what happened in Cincinnati as an act of domestic extremism, according to the law enforcement official.

Shiffer is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and may have been at the Capitol that day but was not charged with any crimes in connection with the riot, the official said.

Officials have warned of a rise in right-wing threats against federal agents since the FBI entered Trump's estate in what authorities said was part of an investigation into whether he took classified documents with him after leaving the White House. Supporters of the former president have railed against the search, accusing the FBI and the Justice Department of using the legal system as a political weapon.

FBI Director Christopher Wray denounced the threats as he visited an FBI office in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, saying, Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who youre upset with.

The FBI on Wednesday also warned its agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards are not visible outside FBI space, citing an increase in social media threats against bureau personnel and offices.

A now-suspended Twitter account, @rickyshiffer, shared the same profile picture as the Truth Social account and similar opinions, including a call for armed conflict in the U.S. this past spring.

It included posts saying that elections are rigged against conservatives and that the country faces tyranny.

I dont think its a one-off incident, said Amy Cooter, a researcher at Middlebury College who is an expert on militias. Im afraid theres going to be a pocket full of people who feel compelled to act.

Courthouses, government offices and election headquarters all could be targets, she said. Anywhere is fair game now because these folks feel this a personal issue for them, Cooter said.

Shiffer worked as an electrician, according to one of his social media profiles. He was a registered Republican who voted in the 2020 primary from Columbus, Ohio, and in the 2020 general election from Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to public records.

Court records show the Ohio Department of Taxation filed suit against him in June, seeking a $553 tax lien judgment, according to court records listing him at an address in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also previously lived at several addresses in Columbus and in Omaha, Nebraska.

He graduated from high school in central Pennsylvania in 1998 and enlisted in the Navy that same year, later serving on the USS Columbia submarine until 2003, according to military records. He was an infantry soldier in the Florida Army National Guard from 2008 to 2011, when he was honorably discharged.

I know he was way into World War II and the military," said Lori Frady, a classmate at West Perry High School in Elliottsburg, who had not seen Shiffer since graduation. "He didnt have a lot of friends, but the friends he did have were big into history and military history.

___

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, John Seewer in Toledo, Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, and Jim Mustian and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

___

Hendrickson 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.
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BATURAJA, Indonesia (AP)  Soldiers from the U.S., Indonesia and Australia joined a live-fire drill on Friday, part of annual joint combat exercises on Sumatra island amid growing Chinese maritime activity in the Indo-Pacific region.

A total of more than 5,000 personnel from the U.S., Indonesia, Australia, Japan and Singapore are participating in this years Super Garuda Shield exercises, making them the largest since they began in 2009.

The expanded drills are seen by China as a threat. Chinese state media have accused the U.S. of building an Indo-Pacific alliance similar to NATO to limit Chinas growing military and diplomatic influence in the region.

The United Kingdom, Canada, France, India, Malaysia, South Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and East Timor also sent observers to the exercises, which began early this month.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific commander, Adm. John C. Aquilino, said the 14 nations involved in the training are signaling their stronger ties as China grows increasingly assertive in claiming virtually the entire South China Sea and holds exercises threatening self-ruled Taiwan.

The destabilizing actions by the Peoples Republic of China as it applied to the threatening activities and actions against Taiwan is exactly what we are trying to avoid, he said at a joint news conference with Indonesian military chief Gen. Andika Perkasa in Baturaja, a coastal town in South Sumatra province.

Well continue to help deliver a free and open Indo-Pacific and be ready when we need to respond to any contingency, Aquilino said.

Indonesia and China enjoy generally positive ties, but Jakarta has expressed concern about what it sees as Chinese encroachment in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

Despite its official position as a non-claimant state in the contested South China Sea, Indonesia has been dragged along in the territorial dispute since 2010 after China claimed part of Indonesia's exclusive economic zone in the northern region of the Natuna Islands, said Connie Rahakundini Bakrie, a security analyst at the University of Indonesia.

The edge of the exclusive economic zone overlaps with Beijings unilaterally declared nine-dash line demarking its claims in the South China Sea.

Increased activities by Chinese coast guard vessels and fishing boats in the area have unnerved Jakarta, prompting Indonesia's navy to conduct a large drill in July 2020 in waters around Natuna at the southern portion of the South China Sea.

Indonesia sees the current exercises with the U.S. as a deterrent in defense of the Natuna Islands, while for Washington, the drills are part of efforts to forge a united front against Chinas military buildup in the South China Sea, Bakrie said.

"Indonesia wants to send the message that it is fully prepared for any high-intensity conflict in the South China Sea area, she said.

The joint combat exercises end Sunday.

___

Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Facebook photo of Kifirtson Aiken. The father of three was beaten and stabbed to death in Dededo early Monday.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier

CARLINVILLE  The West Central Illinois Hamfest will be from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Macoupin County Fairgrounds.

The family-friendly amateur radio event will feature displays; exams by ARRL: The National Association for Amateur Radio; and a swap meet led by Sangamon Valley Radio Flyers Club.
A 4,100-acre solar power farm is scheduled to begin construction soon in west-central Illinois.

Construction on the Double Black Diamond Solar Project is expected to start near Waverly by the end of the year. It will be constructed over a period of 12 to 18 months on land in Sangamon and Morgan counties. Project Manager Daniel Sheehan said the plant will last 35 years.

The solar farm would be one of the largest in the state upon completion, with a capacity of 592.8 megawatts of power, enough for more than 85,000 homes.

By comparison, Illinois has installed 1,492 megawatts worth of solar energy  enough power for more than 217,000 homes  as of the first quarter of 2022, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association.

The project is being developed by Boston, Massachusetts-based renewable energy company Swift Current Energy. Established in 2016, Swift Current has generated 1.1 gigawatts worth of renewable energy thus far via wind and solar farms in Illinois and Texas.

The company has numerous other green energy projects in the works across the country, including two more solar farms  the Black Diamond and the Triple Black Diamond  in Illinois.

Other cities in Illinois already have elected to use the Double Black Diamond's power after it is finished.

Swift Current announced this week that it has teamed with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to source power from the Double Black Diamond in 2025 as part of an agreement made between the city and retail energy supplier Constellation, which is partnering with Swift Current.

The deal is part of a five-year supply agreement with Constellation, itself a part of Lightfoot's plan to convert 100% of Chicago operations to renewable energy by 2025. The energy from Double Black Diamond would be used to power airports, libraries, water purification plants and other large-scale energy users in the city.

At the November meeting of the Sangamon County Board during which the solar farm was approved, Sheehan said it would generate $71 million worth of tax revenue for the county and create almost 1,000 jobs during construction.

Some Sangamon County citizens voiced their concerns with the project during the meeting, including the use of farmland to build the solar farm and how quickly the project was given the go-ahead.
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he is reaching out to businesses in Indiana and other states that recently have passed restrictive abortion laws in hopes of luring those companies to Illinois.

Well, already I've reached out to companies that are affected in Indiana. I want to make sure that they know that they're welcome in Illinois, any expansion that they may be looking to do, that we welcome their employees, Pritzker said.

His comments came just days after Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, signed into law a near-total ban on abortions in that state, making Indiana the first state to enact a new law restricting abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade which previously had legalized abortion nationwide.

Indianas new law bans the procedure except in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies or when the pregnant persons life is at risk.

The day after Holcomb signed that bill, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., one of the states largest employers, issued a statement saying it would look to expand its workforce outside of its home state.

We are concerned that this law will hinder Lillys  and Indianas  ability to attract diverse scientific, engineering and business talent from around the world, the company said. While we have expanded our employee health plan coverage to include travel for reproductive services unavailable locally, that may not be enough for some current and potential employees.

That statement helped highlight the growing fallout from the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, the decision that overturned Roe, exposing both the political and economic consequences of the ruling.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports abortion rights, Illinois is one of only a handful of states  and the only state in the Midwest  with laws specifically protecting access to abortion services.

Although Indiana was the first state since the Dobbs decision to enact a new law restricting abortion, several other states had so-called trigger laws on the books that only went into effect once Roe v. Wade was overturned. Others, including Wisconsin, had dormant laws on the books that predated Roe and were unenforceable until Roe was overturned.

But on Aug. 2, voters in the conservative state of Kansas overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have given their state legislature broad power to enact abortion restrictions, a response to a 2019 state supreme court ruling that found the states constitution protected abortion rights.

In Illinois, Pritzker has worked with abortion rights advocates to expand access to the procedure, even promoting the states more permissive laws to encourage patients from other states to travel here for services.

On Aug. 4, Pritzker announced the state would increase its Medicaid reimbursement rate for abortion services by 20%, effective Sept. 1, as a way to provide increased resources to abortion providers who are seeing increased patient loads because of women coming to Illinois from other states.

Illinois abortion providers have been working overtime since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Pritzker said in a statement announcing the change. They need support as they take on this new burden on the front lines of this fight. Supporting them with reimbursement increases allows them to focus on their important work without worrying about rising costs of supplies and services.

That move drew a sharp rebuke from Illinois Right to Life, a group that opposes abortion rights, which called the action an incredible misuse of funds by the government in Illinois.

Like most Illinois abortion law, this increase in taxpayer-funding of abortion is in direct opposition to what a majority of Americans believe about the issue, the groups executive director Amy Gehrke said in a statement.

Pritzker also has tried to make abortion rights a central issue in his campaign for reelection to a second term, contrasting his support for those rights with the views of the Republican candidate, state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, who in 2017 compared abortion in the United States to the Nazi Holocaust.

The attempted extermination of the Jews of World War II doesn't even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization, Bailey said in a video statement at the time.

Other Illinois Republicans have distanced themselves from such remarks while still endorsing Bailey for governor. State Rep. Tom Demmer of Dixon, the GOP candidate for state treasurer, said during a Tuesday news conference that he doesnt want abortion to be a major issue in the election.

You know, we're talking about, again, some of the things that Illinois Republicans have fought for  fair maps, term limits, rejecting (the) graduated (income) tax. These are things that have widespread bipartisan support, he said. These are the kinds of things we're going to fight for and build a majority coalition around.
A St. Louis man is facing prison time after admitting to robbing several businesses in the area.

Leonard Love, 53, pleaded guilty to robbing five St. Louis-area gas stations and a Walgreens store in 2021.

A U.S. Department of Justice press release said Love also pleaded guilty of two counts of brandishing a weapon during a robbery.

"In each of the robberies, Love handed a note to a store employee and pointed a gun at employees or, in one case, displayed the gun," the release reads. "Three of those notes were written on pages from a "Relapse Prevention Counseling Workbook" that was being used in a drug treatment class Love was attending. Loves DNA was on the notes and he left his cell phone behind after one robbery."

Love admitted to robbing the following establishments:

Walgreens, 4218 Linbergh Boulevard in St. Louis - cash and 20 cartons of Kool brand cigarettes

Circle K, 10691 St. Charles Rock Road in St. Ann - cash and two cartons of cigarettes

Mobil gas station, 2600 Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County

U-Gas, 10743 Watson Road in Sunset Hills - cash and multiple cartons of cigarettes

Circle K, 1514 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis - cash and several cartons of cigarettes

Mobil on the Run, 1401 South Fifth Street in St. Charles, cash

During the robbery at the U-Gas July 9, the clerk initially refused to comply with Love's demands.

"Love pulled a gun, pointed it at the employee and asked, Do you want to die,"" the release reads.

FBI agents and police found two guns and the clothing used in the robberies during a search of Love's home in July.

Love is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 8, 2022.

"Both prosecutors and Loves lawyer have agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 years in prison, but the decision is ultimately up to Judge (Henry E.) Autrey," the release reads.
On 1-5 August 2022, Nepal Department of Customs (DoC) organized a series of workshops with the support of experts from the WCO Anti-Corruption & Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme, and the Federal Board of Revenue of Pakistan.

The meetings held between Customs officials and different stakeholder groups were very constructive. The meetings allowed for positive conversations during which the stakeholders played an active role by providing their views and perspectives on key issues. Both parties agreed on a series of next steps in improving the overall partnership and, in particular, in continuing working together to fight corruption and promote integrity.

This activity particularly contributed to DoC objectives under the A-CIP Programme to improve public perceptions of and confidence in DoC operations and administration through active external communication. It also aligned with Nepals National Anti-Corruption Strategies and Action Plan, and DoC Customs Reform and Modernization Strategy and Action Plan for 2021-2026, aiming to promote integrity and good governance.

In addition, the results of the Customs Integrity Perception Survey (CIPS), conducted early 2020 in the country, were thus largely discussed with DoC officials, as well as with importers and exporters, customs agents and other government agencies working at the border.

The WCO A-CIP Programme currently supports more than 20 countries in five WCO regions, with funding from Norad and Canada. For more information, please, contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.
Latvia, Estonia leave China-backed East Europe forum View Photo

BEIJING (AP)  Latvia and Estonia say they have left a Chinese-backed forum aimed at boosting relations with Eastern European countries, in what appears to be a new setback for Chinas increasingly assertive diplomacy.

The move follows Chinas boosting of its relations with Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine is seen as a possible first step in a series of moves against countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. China has refused to criticize Russia and has condemned punishing economic sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West.

Weeks before the invasion, Chinese President and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing and declared their bilateral relations had no limits in a joint statement.

The move also comes after Beijing launched economic and diplomatic retaliation against another Baltic state, Lithuania, in retaliation for its expanded ties with the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory and threatens to annex by force. Chinas increasing assertiveness and recent threatening military exercises near Taiwan have brought a sharp backlash from the U.S., the EU, Japan, Australia and others.

In view of the current priorities of Latvian foreign and trade policy, Latvia has decided to cease its participation in the cooperation framework of Central and Eastern European Countries and China, Latvias Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The country will continue to strive for constructive and pragmatic relations with China both bilaterally, as well as through EU-China cooperation based on mutual benefit, respect for international law, human rights and the international rules-based order, the statement said.

Estonia issued a similar statement, saying it would continue to work towards constructive and pragmatic relations with China, which includes advancing EU-China relations in line with the rules-based international order and values such as human rights.

Estonia participated in the cooperation format of Central and Eastern Europe and China from 2012. Estonia has not attended any of the meetings of the format after the summit last February, the statement said.

China set up the forum to strengthen relations with members of the EU as well as Serbia and others, partly to further Xis signature Belt and Road campaign to build bridges, railways, power plants and other infrastructure across the Eurasian continent.

China originally styled the forum as a 17 plus one arrangement, but the number of European partners has now fallen to 14. Critics say the forum was an attempt to exploit differences among those states as part of a larger campaign to join with Russia in undermining the current rules-based international order dominated by the U.S. and its allies.

Along with its stance on Ukraine, China has come under strong criticism for firing missiles and sending ships and warplanes off the coast of Taiwan in response to a visit there by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China strongly opposes all government-to-government contacts between Taiwan and countries which, like the U.S., maintain only informal ties with the island in deference to Beijing.

China issued no immediate comment on the move by Latvia and Estonia, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Friday again defended the threatening military exercises.

To defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity  China has every right to take resolute countermeasures in response to the U.S. provocations, and such measures are absolutely necessary under those circumstances, Wang said at a daily briefing.

Britain summoned Chinas ambassador to register its over the increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months, which threaten peace and stability in the region, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was quoted as saying. The United Kingdom urges China to resolve any differences by peaceful means, without the threat or use of force or coercion.

Beijings threats against Taiwan are a major contributing factor in the deterioration of U.S.-China relations to their lowest level in decades. China has also engaged in a lengthy feud with Australia and its firing of missiles last week drew condemnation from Japan, whose exclusive economic zone includes waters where the projectiles landed.

In another rejection, South Korea on Wednesday said it will make its own decisions about strengthening its defenses against North Korean threats amid Chinese calls that it continue the polices of Seouls previous government that refrained from adding more U.S. anti-missile batteries, which are strongly opposed by Beijing.

Asked about the developments, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said we respect and support Estonia and Latvias sovereign decision to no longer participate.

Estonia and Latvia are important and valued NATO allies and key U.S. partners across a number of issues, including through our strong defense ties, our strong economic ties, as well as the promotion of democracy and human rights, Patel told reporters.

Over the past year, weve seen countries around the world express deep concern about the PRCs strategic alignment with Russia as well as Beijings support for Moscows war against Ukraine, Patel said. There is a growing convergence about the need to approach relations with Beijing with more realism, he said, citing previous comments from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Concluding a five-day visit to Taipei on Thursday, Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute emphasized the importance of economic ties with Taiwan and endorsed a statement issued by the Group of Seven industrialized nations criticizing the Chinese military exercises surrounding Taiwan. The European Union issued a similar statement, prompting China to summon the groups ambassadors to register a protest.

Lithuania is a democracy. Taiwan is our very close friend, and Taiwan is a booming economy, Vaiciukeviciute said.

Lithuania chooses to cooperate with countries that are willing to cooperate with us. So, Taiwan is one of those countries and they are reliable partners, she said.

In response to her visit, Chinas Foreign Ministry on Friday announced it was suspending all forms of interaction with her ministry as well as exchanges and cooperation with Lithuania in the area of international roadway transport.

China has already banned trade with Lithuania, with little apparent effect on the country that is a member of both the EU and NATO. The EU has raised a complaint over the Chinese action with the World Trade Organization.
Give and take: West gives Ukraine weapons, bans Russian coal View Photo

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  On a day of give and take, Western nations made more pledges to send arms to Ukraine while the European Unions full ban on Russian coal imports kicked in Thursday, adding to the sanctions against Moscow that intelligence claims are hurting its defense exports.

Germany, seen early in Russias invasion as a lackadaisical Ukrainian ally, is making what Chancellor Olaf Scholz described as a massive break with its past by sending weapons to the war-ravaged country.

Scholz said Germany is shipping arms  a great, great many, sweeping and very effective. And we will continue to do so in the coming time. His government has approved military exports of at least $710 million and plans to provide further financial aid to Ukraine, the chancellor said.

At a conference in Copenhagen, Britain and Denmark also made additional commitments to help Ukraines defense against Russias invasion, which has devastated the nation and reverberated across the world.

We will not let you down, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said as she opened a daylong international donors conference. Denmark said a new contribution of $113 million would push the total amount of funding from the small northern nation of 5.8 million to over $500 million. She called it a huge donation.

In comparison, Ukraines top donor, the United States, has committed $9.1 billion in security aid since Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24.

To put more pressure on Russia, Britain announced it will send additional multiple launch rocket systems and guided missiles to Ukraine. The missiles can hit targets up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away with pinpoint accuracy, the U.K. government said.

The new weapons, whose number wasnt specified, come on top of several rocket-launch systems Britain provided earlier this year after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the bolstered military support shows the West will stand shoulder-to-shoulder, providing defensive military aid to Ukraine to help them defend against Putins invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking by videoconference to the meeting of mostly northern European countries, pleaded for more aid. The sooner we stop Russia, the sooner we can feel safe, he said.

Britain said Moscow was already strained by the need to produce armored fighting vehicles for its troops in Ukraine and hence is highly unlikely to be capable of fulfilling some export orders, in a sector it has long taken pride in.

The British defense intelligence update, highlighting the increasing effect of Western sanctions, dovetails with Western belief that the series of measures imposed on the Kremlin since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine are increasingly having an impact on the Russian economy.

The update said that because of the war and sanctions, its military industrial capacity is now under significant strain, and the credibility of many of its weapon systems has been undermined by their association with Russian forces poor performance.

As the war nears the half-year point, Russia faces other challenges. Amid reports that hundreds of Russian soldiers were refusing to fight and trying to quit the military, covert recruitment efforts are underway that include using prisoners to make up for a shortage in trained troops.

Russias military credibility came under more pressure on Wednesday when Ukraine said nine Russian warplanes were destroyed following explosions at an air base in Russian-controlled Crimea that appeared to be the result of a Ukrainian attack.

Russia denied any aircraft were damaged in the blasts  or that any attack took place. But satellite photos clearly showed at least seven fighter planes at the base had been blown up and others probably damaged.

The U.K.s Wallace dismissed Russian explanations of the blasts, including a wayward cigarette butt, as excuses.

When you just look at the footage of two simultaneous explosions not quite next to each other, and some of the reported damage even by the Russian authorities, I think its clear that thats not something that happens by someone dropping a cigarette, the British minister said.

Ukrainian forces mounting a broad counter-offensive in the south have recaptured 54 settlements in the Kherson region, overrun by Russia in the early days of the war, the governor said Thursday.

Speaking on Ukrainian TV, Yaroslav Yanushevych also accused Moscow of shelling the areas it lost in retaliation, creating a catastrophic humanitarian situation in towns and villages along the regions northern boundary. The governor said 92% of the Kherson region remains under Russian occupation.

In the east of the country, the Ukrainian military said it had repelled Russian attempts to advance on the city of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscows offensive in the Donetsk region. It also said Russian troops had tried and failed to break through Ukrainian defensive lines near the cities of Kramatorsk and Avdiivka, also in the Donetsk region.

The military also reported Russian shelling of dozens of towns and villages in Ukraines north, south and east.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians not to divulge details about the countrys military operations.

If you want victory for Ukraine, then thats another matter, and you should feel your responsibility for every word you say about what our state is preparing in terms of defense or counter-offensives, he said.

Russia, meanwhile, was taking apparent steps to strengthen its control over the eastern Luhansk region after driving out the last Ukrainian troops last month. Luhansk and Donetsk make up the Donbas, the industrial heartland.

Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, said he was joined on a visit to the region by Russias top law enforcement and security officials and also the minister in charge of construction.

Medvedev, in a post on a messaging app, said they met with local Kremlin-backed officials to discuss restoring infrastructure, repairing hospitals and preparing schools for the start of the school year, solving social problems and supporting civilians.

In other developments Thursday:

 Burial services were held for 11 more unidentified bodies found in Bucha, the town outside the Ukrainian capital that saw hundreds of people slaughtered under Russian occupation early in the war.

 The governments of Ukraine and Russia traded more accusations over which side was responsible for shelling the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to Moscow and Kyiv to stop military action around Europes largest nuclear plant to avoid a catastrophe.

 The European Unions ban on coal imports from Russia took effect following a long phase-in that started in April. The 27-nation EU said it will affect about 25% of Russian coal exports and create a loss of about $8 billion a year. The EU is also trying to wean itself off Russian gas imports, but is too dependent to impose a full ban.

 And in perhaps the most symbolic example of give and take on Thursday, McDonalds announced plans to start reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months. The fast-food giant shuttered and sold hundreds of its Russian restaurants in March.

Looking beyond a hoped-for return to peace, Scholz said Germany was working with the EU to develop plans for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

That is going to be a big, big task which can hardly be described as a Marshall Plan, he said, referring to the massive U.S. aid plan for Europe in the wake of World War II. Its bigger.

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Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By SUSIE BLANN

Associated Press
UN demands end to military activity at Ukraine nuke plant View Photo

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. nuclear chief warned Thursday that very alarming military activity at Europes largest nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine could lead to dangerous consequences for the region and called for an end to attacks at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia facility.

Rafael Grossi urged Russia and Ukraine, who blame each other for the attacks at the plant, to immediately allow nuclear experts to assess damage and evaluate safety and security at the sprawling nuclear complex where the situation has been deteriorating very rapidly.

He pointed to shelling and several explosions at Zaporizhzhia last Friday that forced the shutdown of the electrical power transformer and two backup transformers, forcing the shutdown of one nuclear reactor.

Last week, Grossi said in an Associated Press interview that the situation at Zaporizhzhia was completely out of control.

On Thursday, he demanded a halt to military actions that have even the smallest potential to jeopardize nuclear safety at such an important installation. While a preliminary assessment by experts found no immediate threat to nuclear safety at the plant from the shelling and military actions, this could change at any moment, he warned.

Grossis appeal echoed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres call earlier Thursday for an end to all military activity around the Zaporizhzhia plant, warning that any damage could lead to catastrophic consequences in the vicinity, the region and beyond.

Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, gave a virtual briefing to the U.N. Security Council at a meeting called by Russia to discuss what Moscow claims were Ukrainian attacks on the plant.

While the plant is controlled by Russia, its Ukrainian staff continues to run the nuclear operations. It is in Enerhodar, a city seized by Russian troops in early March soon after they invaded Ukraine.

Grossi said statements received from Russia and Ukraine are frequently contradicted and the IAEA cant corroborate important facts unless its experts visit Zaporizhzhia.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council that Kyivs criminal attacks on nuclear infrastructure are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe.

He accused Ukrainian armed forces in recent days of repeatedly using heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems to shell the Zaporizhzhia plant, including on Thursday.

The background radiation at the nuclear power plant at the moment is within limits, but if the strikes continue it is only a question of time, Nebenzia warned. We call on states that support the Kyiv regime to bring their proxies into check to compel them to immediately and once and for all stop attacks.

Ukraines U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, accused Russia of using elaborate plans of deceit, sabotage and cover-ups to stage the shelling at Zaporizhzhia, including on Thursday, which poses an unprecedented threat to nuclear security for Ukraine, to Europe and the world as a whole.

The Ukrainian state company operating the plant, Enerhoatom, said there was renewed Russian shelling of the Zaporizhzhia facility and nearby buildings Thursday.

Five (hits) were recorded near the plant managements office  right next to the welding site and the storage facility for radiation sources, Enerhoatom said in a post on its official Telegram channel. The grass caught fire over a small area, but fortunately, no one was hurt.

Ukraines ambassador told the council the only way to remove the nuclear threats is by withdrawing Russian troops and returning the plant to Ukraines control.

Nebenzia said Russia supported an IAEA visit in June to Zaporizhzhia, which was given a red light at the last minute by U.N. security experts. Moscow is ready to provide all possible assistance to resolve any issues for a visit even before the end of August, he said.

Yevhen Balytskyy, the Kremlin-installed temporary head of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Thursday that the Russia-backed administration there stood ready to ensure the safety and security of any IAEA delegation sent to investigate conditions. He said in an interview on Russian state TV that the Kremlin-backed authorities had prepared armored vehicles for the international envoys.

Kyslytsya blamed Russias unjustified conditions for the delay in getting IAEA experts to Zaporizhzhia, and said Ukraine stands ready to provide all necessary assistance to facilitate the nuclear teams travels through Ukrainian-controlled territory, which is just five miles from the plant across the Dnieper River.

Bonnie Jenkins, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control, called the situation at Zaporizhzhia another tragic result of Russias invasion of Ukraine. She said the solution is straightforward: Russia should immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine so Ukrainians can to restore the impeccable safety, security, and safeguards performance it upheld for decades at the facility.

At the end of the council meeting, Grossi said there was a common denominator among the 15 members: Everybody agrees that nuclear safety and security must be preserved.  And everybody believes that this mission must take place.

So, its no longer a matter of if, its only a matter of when, the U.N. nuclear chief said. The when must be as soon as possible.

Guterres appealed in a statement for common sense and reason to avoid any actions that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant, and for the withdrawal of all military personnel and equipment.

The Russian capture of Zaporizhzhia renewed fears that reactors at the largest of Ukraines four nuclear plants could be damaged, setting off another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the worlds worst nuclear disaster. That happened about 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told defense leaders at a conference in Copenhagen on Thursday that the consequences of a radiation accident at Zaporizhzhia could be even more catastrophic than Chernobyl, and essentially the same as the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, but without a nuclear strike.

If the Soviet authorities tried to hide the Chernobyl disaster and its full consequences, Russian authorities are much more cynical and dangerous, he said. They are doing everything themselves to maximize the risk of a nuclear disaster, and lie to the whole world that someone else is allegedly to blame.

___

Associated Press writer Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.

By EDITH M. LEDERER

Associated Press
American tourist dies in Rio after being hit by stray bullet

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  An American tourist died in Rio de Janeiro on Friday, three days after he was shot during a confrontation between local drug dealers and vigilantes.

The U.S Consulate in Rio and hospital Samaritano Botafogo confirmed Trey Barbers death in separate statements. The consulate did not offer more details due to family privacy issues.

Barber was initially identified by police and the hospital as 28-year-old Joseph Trey Thomas. He was shot in the neck in an apartment in Northern Rio.

Police said Barber was visiting a friend when he was shot. Brazilian media reported he was in Rio on vacation since July and taught Portuguese language classes in Los Angeles.

Local police also found another dead man after the same shootout.

According to Instituto Fogo Cruzado, which counts shootings in several Brazilian cities, 116 people were shot in Rios metropolitan area in 2021. Twenty four of them died.
Statewide Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER) program flyer View Photo

Tuolumne County, CA  Funds to replace old agricultural equipment and vehicles with cleaner equipment that helps reduce emissions and greenhouse gases are now available for 17 of Californias smaller air districts.

In the fiscal year 202122, the statewide Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions, or FARMER, program received $212 million. About $8.5 million is designated for districts that contribute less than 1% of total statewide emissions from agricultural equipment. FARMER funding is administered by Californias regional air districts, and agricultural entities apply by submitting an application to their local air district. The Tuolumne County Air Pollution Control District Grant Program is underway and runs through the end of the month, Wednesday, August 31st.

District officials provided this list of eligible vehicles and equipment that must be engaged in agricultural operations:

On-road heavy-duty trucks;

Off-road vehicles, such as tractors;

Logging and forestry operations equipment

Stationary and portable engine sources, such as agricultural pumps; and,

Infrastructureengaged in or supporting agricultural operations.

*The term Agricultural Operations are defined, in part, as:

(1) the growing or harvesting of crops from soil (including forest operations) and the raising of plants at wholesale nurseries, or the raising of fowl or animals for the primary purpose of making a profit, providing a livelihood, or conducting agricultural research; or

(2) Agricultural crop preparation services include only the first processing after harvest, not subsequent processing, canning, or other similar activities. For forest operations, agricultural crop preparation services include milling, peeling, producing particleboard and medium-density fiberboard, and producing woody landscape materials.

For more details and applications, click here or call the Tuolumne County Air Pollution Control District at 209-533-5693.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Vote-tallying in Kenyas close presidential election isnt moving fast enough, the electoral commission chair said Friday, while parallel counting by local media stopped or dramatically slowed amid public concerns about censorship or meddling.

Differing tallies by media outlets fed anxiety as longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga, backed by former rival and outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta in his fifth attempt at the presidency, was in a race with Deputy President William Ruto, who fell out with the president years ago.

Three days after Tuesday's vote, Kenyans wondered whether the presidential election would go to a runoff for the first time.

The head of the government-created Media Council of Kenya told The Associated Press that no one has asked anyone to stop" their tallies, but added that we want to align the numbers with each other and I think lets peer review our numbers. David Omwoyo was going into a meeting with media leaders as he spoke.

With no clear winner emerging and perhaps days more to wait, social media hummed with unverified claims by both candidates' supporters, which rights groups called dangerous in a country with a history of political violence.

Even the official count was sluggish, adding to impatience. We're not moving as fast as we should," electoral commission chair Wafula Chebukati said.

That surprised a senior electoral expert who has observed the election and told the AP that looking at things right now, they should have no problem finishing by the constitutional limit of seven days after the vote. The expert spoke on condition of anonymity without authorization to speak publicly.

You want to move as fast as the speed of trust, the expert said, adding that "this is going much smoother than we anticipated, and thats a good thing. They suggested posting a spreadsheet to make it easier to see the numbers from the more than 46,000 results forms posted from around the country.

The public posting of the forms was meant to be a groundbreaking exercise in transparency for the electoral commission, which is under pressure after the high court cited irregularities and overturned the results of the previous presidential election in 2017, a first in Africa. Kenyatta won the new vote after Odinga boycotted it.

The commission chair even appeared to tease local media houses a day after the election, saying they were behind in tallying.

But transparency is also a double-edged sword if caution and responsibility is not exercised, the Kenya Human Rights Commission said Friday, saying the various media tallies without explanation have caused anxiety, fear, unrest and in extreme cases, violence. Meanwhile, social media is awash with false information, it said.

The media council on Wednesday noted growing concerns about the varying tallies and said it was consulting with media owners and editors to find an urgent solution to this to ensure Kenyans receive synchronized results.

But their slowdown brought criticism. For media to be silent and opaque on their own counts and why they've stopped is yet another betrayal of their duty to Kenyans, cartoonist and commentator Patrick Gathara tweeted Friday.

The editor of the Nation media group, Mutuma Mathiu, published a commentary saying the slow count has given rise to a whole raft of conspiracy theories and complaints" and adding that media occupy different positions in relation to political interests. He cited the need to remain independent and do accurate work.

Ochieng Rapuro, the editorial director at the Standard group that includes the Kenya Television Network, told the AP that stopping is our own decision. We have finished tallying, but given the murky fights around the outcomes of our elections, we have decided to stand on the side of caution."

The editorial director with the Citizen media group did not respond.

To win outright, a candidate needs more than half of all votes and at least 25% of the votes in more than half of Kenyas 47 counties. No outright winner means a runoff election within 30 days.

Seeking answers, some Kenyans have turned to counting a far smaller set of results forms, also published by the electoral commission, for 291 constituencies. Almost 80% of them were posted as of Friday night.

Turnout dipped sharply in this election, to 65%, as some Kenyans expressed weariness with seeing long-familiar political leaders on the ballot and frustration with economic issues including widespread corruption and rising prices.

___

Follow all of AP's coverage of Kenya at https://apnews.com/hub/kenya
Wayland Baptist Universitys faculty, staff and administration entered a time of reflection Wednesday, hearing from Dr. Bobby Hall, president, and Dr. George Yancey, professor of Sociology at Baylor University.

Hall focused on the coming academic year, while Yancey addressed dealing with racial awareness in a Christian manner. Their comments came during the opening session of three days of professional development at the university. Yancey is a senior fellow at Baylors Institute for Studies of Religion and the author of Beyond Racial Division: A Unifying Alternative to Colorblindness and Antiracism.

Donnie Brown, Director of Spiritual Life, set the tone for the session as he offered stories about how Wayland has fueled the flame this past year. Its a new semester, and it is all about Jesus, he said. Brown introduced JesusI am as the theme for Wayland chapel and spiritual life programming this year.

Hall announced a new three-year strategic plan, stating WBU had succeeded with portions of the previous three-year plan, which was primarily carried out during the COVID pandemic.

We have accomplished a lot of that plan, the president said, noting that the primary focus had to do with infrastructure needed to be successful. We have made good strides.

Hall said the plan targets those things that will drive enrollment and fundraising growth and includes major strategies and tactics supporting each of those.

We will be pushing involvement and leadership in this plan deeper in the organizational chart than we have before, he said. So, some of you will have the opportunity to show your leadership and investment, and I am looking forward to working directly with many of you.

Noting that Wayland is designing the universitys next fundraising campaign, Hall said the campaign will be tied directly to elements in the strategic plan as it should be.

The president said he is thrilled by several facility improvements, mentioning the start of construction on the Mabee Laboratory Sciences Building, new carpet in Harral Memorial Auditorium, signage at the Amarillo campus and the opening of the Flying Queens Museum in February 2023.

Hall touted Waylands success in securing federal grants, then turned to expectations. We are encouraged by what we hope will be some solid enrollment growth, he said. Listing improvements, such as financial aid and information technology, the president said, We hope that all of these things together can create the kind of momentum we would like to see, and that similar growth on external campuses will follow.

Hall also spoke of legislative and regulatory activity that could potentially have a drastic effect on all of higher education. He noted Title IX and overtime rule changes as well as religious freedom issues that could affect Waylands federally approved religious exemption. He described the exemption as the most powerful tool we have to do what we do  be a Christian institution practicing our sincerely held religious beliefs.

I hope we will be more intensely dedicated to our Christian mission than ever before, he said. Thank you for putting your shoulder to the wheel that drives this mission that drives the university.

Yancey followed Hall, focusing on dealing with racial awareness in a Christian manner. He identified a racialized society as one wherein race matters profoundly for differences in life experiences, life opportunities, and social relationships. He asked, How do we correct for the historical and contemporary racial dysfunctions in our society in a way that is fair to everyone? How do we recover from our history of racial abuse in ways that most of us can consider those efforts to be fair?

Only by accounting for our desire to protect our self-interest can we deal with group conflict, he said. Only holding each other accountable can we find solutions for racial alienation.

Noting we are both a creature of depravity and a child of God, Yancey said, a Christian solution must take into consideration both our depravity and status as a child of God.

He advocated for mutual accountability, a Christian-based approach whereby we recognize that people of all races have a sin nature that has to be accounted for. Thus, everyone has an obligation to work toward healthy interracial communications to solve racial problems.

Yancey said studies on healthy interracial relations show under the right conditions interracial contact helps to alleviate bias. Having a common group identity increases positive feelings, he said. Families with a collaborative orientation have more positive interactions and relations with each other; collaborative communication in an atmosphere of mutual support creates volitional compliance. Motivational interviewing, which uses collaborative conversations, has been shown to be effective in creating lifestyle change.

The sociologist said power is necessary at times but carries serious shortcomings.

Moral suasion, not power, is necessary to produce lasting change, he said. Moral suasion builds community, power builds compliance. Collaborative conversations are about using moral suasion instead of power.

Yancey called for teaching collaborative conversation by building rapport and identifying areas of agreement. Admit when your opponent has a good point, understand your opponents arguments, and look at what the person wants below the surface, he said.
Abigail Im, Multimedia producer

The nation's largest and most realistic dinosaur exhibit, Jurassic Quest, has roared back into San Antonio for the weekend from Friday, August 12, to Sunday, August 14, at the Freeman Coliseum. With over 100 life-sized dinosaur replicas in the traveling tour, families and friends can see what the fantastic species looked like millions of years ago.

Since 2013, Jurassic Quest has been touring epic dinosaur experiences to millions of people across North America for an as-close-as-you-can-get look at the giants that once ruled the Earth. Safari trainer Carolyn Barker told MySA that the event will offer an opportunity to learn about creatures from the Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous eras.
A familiar San Antonio name is back in Texas, but this time in Austin. Former KENS 5 anchor Chelsey Khan (formerly Hernandez) marked her first day at We Are Austin, the lifestyle show of CBS affiliate KEYE, on Friday, August 12.

Khan previously worked at KENS as a traffic anchor before moving to KTRK, an ABC-owned station in Houston, in 2018. While in Houston, she covered ways residents there could save money in her role as a consumer reporter.

In June 2021, she was hired as co-host of the Hampton Roads Show alongside Chris Reckling. The program covered happenings in Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Hampton, and Newport News.

The University of Texas at San Antonio graduate interned at Fox 29's daytime show with Kimberly Crawford before joining the KENS team in 2015

Khan seems to be having no issue getting acquainted in Austin. Her first day on air was shared across social media channels, featuring co-host Trevor Scott.

"Thank you all for your sweet and kind messages + for watching this morning!! Hope you have a great weekend," her online message to viewers read.

The station introduced its audience to Khan with a post on Friday morning.

"Today is the day," a post on the We Are Austin Facebook page reads. "We are so excited to welcome our new co-host to the 'We Are Austin' family!"

Scott echoed the excitement of having Khan onboard on his personal Instagram account.

"Sweet, friendly, motivated, and talented," his post reads. "She is a great addition to the @weareaustin gang and we are so excited for all the fun ahead!"

If you're in Austin, Khan's show airs at 9 a.m. on weekdays.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 84F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
It's officially festival season in San Antonio again, and that means Taco Rumble festival is officially returning next month, with a who's who lineup of taqueros and chefs: the swath of society that has secret taco knowledge, skills, and insights.

Per festival tradition, the chefs and taco experts will face off in a taco competition to see who has the best tacos in the Lone Star State. Guests, of course, will get to sample them all.

The festivities will kickoff on September 15 from 7:30 to 10 p.m. The annual event is a fundraiser for Texas Food & Wine Alliance, a nonprofit that seeks to provide support to the South Texas food and beverage community.

Tickets are on sale now, and are $75 a piece. In addition to the torrential amount of tacos falling into guest's laps, plenty of wines, craft beer, and premium spirits will be flowing. This year, it will all go down on the grounds of downtown's San Antonio Museum of Art.

Here's everything else to know that happened this week in the local food and beverage world:

Courtesy of Taco Cabana

Taco Cabana has a spicy new marg

Every year, H-E-B rolls out a selection of pre-prepped meals featuring this green spicy pepper. Now, Taco Cabana has wised up and incorporated it into some of their meals and their beloved booze.

Jody Horton

Carriqui sets opening date

The highly anticipated Pearl-area restaurant Carriqui, inspired by the flight path of the eponymous bird, has announced an opening date for next month. Find out when you can make dinner date reservations for this regionally inspired fare.

Downtown bar The Local closed

Unfortunately, this downtown bar called it quits. After its 10-year run, find out what went down with The Local Bar.

SeaWorld San Antonio

SeaWorld is celebrating beer

If you've been waiting for the perfect time to take the kids to SeaWorld, this is it. SeaWorld's Bier Fest returns this weekend with Oktoberfest flair, beginning Friday, August 12 through Labor Day. For five weeks, enjoy 50 domestic and international brews from 19 different breweries. Enjoy your brews with speciality food pairings at the local theme park Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through September 10. Festivites are included with standard SeaWorld admission.

Bill Miller Iced Tea

Are you a fast-food junkie, lover of iconic iced teas/refreshing beverages? Well, homegrown chain Bill Miller is giving away free iced tea this month. There is of course a catch. Find out how to get yours.

Courtesy, Fiume

A unique pizza concept hits the River Walk

Have you ever feasted on 'Texapolenta' style pizza? Are you confused? Scared? Find out what it's all about.

Las Palapas is eyeing a new location

Popular San Antonio Tex-Mex spot Las Palapas is preparing to open a new location across town. Will it open doors in your neighborhood?

We explored Sojourn, a new local restaurant and bar

A new restaurant called Sojourn opened near the Alameda Theater, on the banks of San Pedro Creek. Our Food and Culture editor explored this local "escape" the other night. Read everything she had to say.

Photo by Gabriel Romero

Downtown San Marcos revives an old favorite

For 40 years, Valentino's pizza shop in San Marcos was a local favorite. Then it shut down in 2020. In the two years since it shuttered, the restaurant has been renovated and revived. Find out if lives up to the original's legacy.
Living in the big  and growing  City of Austin can be tough. Parking is expensive, the rent is too damn high, nothing gold can stay. But those who want to live in the Austin of 1982 in 2022 can do just that, from time-to-time, if they know where to look. On Reddit recently, a user asked "What is your Austin specific hack youre willing to share?" More than a thousand Austinites weighed in on how to get by in the city.

Weeding through the obvious and impossible ("Don't ever use I-35. EVER.") and the shade-filled and humorous ("Move out of Austin to have a more affordable, enjoyable life. Skip the tacos in Austin. Most of them are garbage. Strip club chicken tendies are the best food in the city.") to find actual good advice provided some true gems. Here's the best of the best.

Free Paint

Yes, the city will give residents free paint as part of Austin Resource Recovery's Austin ReBlend program. Available in 3.5 gallon containers, the only drawback is it comes in just three colors, and two of them are beige: Texas Limestone, Balcones Canyonland, and Barton Creek Greenbelt.

Free Plumbing

Have a backup in your drain? One user suggests trying to get Austin Water out to the house before calling a plumber and spending potentially hundreds of dollars. You know, when they're not busy making sure the water is drinkable.

Free Trees

Tree-trimming can be prohibitively expensive. One user suggested trying Austin Energy's Tree Trimming request service, writing: "They removed several ligustrums and hackberries on my lot that would have cost hundreds of dollars to remove. They also offer replacement trees. They gave me mountain laurels to plant in their place."

Free Money

The City of Austin charges residents a "transportation user fee," based on traffic levels near residences. It's $14.96 per house per month, so if you are over 65 or do not use a car, you can fill out an exemption form and save hundreds per year.

Free Time

We love the non-renewable resource known as time, don't we folks? We're hearing more and more about it every day. As the sand in the hourglass continues its inevitable descent, why waste that time in line, especially during inferno season (most of the year)? Order ahead at Franklin Barbecue and skip the line. This requires some planning, and there is a minimum, but you shouldn't have any trouble finding a few friends to take some brisket off your hands.

Free Parking

One user mentioned that drivers can park for two free 15-minute sessions every 24 hours. The sessions can't be combined, but can be handy when you need to run into a store and don't want to pay for parking that you won't use. In the PartATX app, use codes FREE15ATX1 and FREE15ATX2 to activate.

Free Parking, Airport Edition

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has a Frequent Parker Program in which people can earn points toward days of free parking. One user wrote: "The card they send you also just makes getting in and out of the lot very quick."

Free Parking, Downtown Edition

One user mentioned a free parking lot near the Townlake YMCA. "Hardly no one seems to know about it and no risk of being towed," wrote one user. "I have never failed to be able to park there for any major event. That includes SxSW and ACL."

Free Parking, Chaos Edition

This is less of a #lifehack and more of a Seinfeld-esque premise to avoid paying for parking. One user writes: "I never pay to street park after 5pm. I work downtown off 6th on Friday & Saturday nights. I only pay during SXSW. Thus far I have received 1 ticket in 3 years." Proceed at your own risk.
BATON ROUGE (AP)  After much speculation, Republican Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser has confirmed that he plans to join the wide-open 2023 race to succeed Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Nungesser, who has long been considered likely to throw his hat into the gubernatorial race, addressed the rumors during a visit to Lake Providence on Tuesday, WAFB-9 reported.

I am planning on running, Nungesser said. I want to get through the midterm elections, and Ive got a lot of work to do before the end of the year. And the minute I announce, I wont be spending tax dollars advertising tourism with me.

Louisiana is the rare conservative state to have a Democratic governor. The moderate Edwards won hard-fought races in 2015 and 2019, but he is unable to seek a third consecutive term due to term limits. That means 2023 is a huge opportunity for Republicans to take control of the state that voted for Donald Trump by wide margins in the past two presidential contests.

Nungesser said he plans to hit the campaign trail in January 2023. He has spent more than 15 years building his political resume, serving two four-year terms as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission before being elected to his current position in 2015. He was reelected to a second term as lieutenant governor in 2019.

As lieutenant governor, which is the second-highest elected state position, Nungesser oversees the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Individuals who held the office in the past used it as a stepping stone to governor.

While the gubernatorial race is still a more than a year away, a list of politicians interested in the position is slowly growing.

In January, Louisiana Republican Treasurer John Schroder told supporters in January that he plans on running for governor. Attorney General Jeff Landry, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy  all Republicans  are also possible candidates.

New Orleans City Council President Helena Moreno recently emerged as a possible Democratic candidate.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  A sheriffs deputy was killed after stopping along a dark stretch of road in North Carolina, prompting authorities to launch a manhunt for whoever fired the shots late Thursday night.

We will find whos responsible for this loss. Even in the midst of the hurt and the pain, we ask for prayers, we ask for patience as we go about finding out what happened and whos responsible, Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker said at a news conference early Friday morning.

The sheriffs office identified the slain deputy as Deputy Ned Byrd, 48, a K-9 officer who had been with the office for 13 years. Byrd was fatally shot in the line of duty after 11 p.m. Thursday on a dark section of Battle Bridge Road adjacent to open land about a quarter mile (0.4 kilometers) from a gas station, sheriffs office spokesperson Eric Curry said by telephone.

We're trying to gather why the deputy stopped where he did, Curry said.

Earlier in the evening, Byrd had responded to a domestic call less than a mile away and then entered his notes into the system, Curry said. There was no radio traffic to indicate that Byrd was making a traffic stop, since procedure would have dictated that he check in, he said. However, it appears that as Byrd patrolled the area, something caught his attention along the road, since his vehicle was positioned as if to illuminate something, he said.

When Byrd didnt respond to several attempts to check-in, another deputy was sent to check and found Byrd shot outside his vehicle with his K-9 still inside the vehicle, Curry said.

Law enforcement officers from multiple agencies were in the area Friday to join a manhunt for the perpetrator or perpetrators, Curry said.

Several sheriffs deputies have been shot and wounded in recent weeks in North Carolina. Sgt. Matthew Fishman of the Wayne County Sheriffs Office was killed last week. He was one of three deputies shot while trying to serve involuntary commitment papers at a home south of Goldsboro on Aug. 1.

Attorney General Josh Stein said in a statement that he's troubled by the recent spate of violence against law enforcement officers.

Officers put their lives on the line to protect our communities  we must do everything in our power to keep them safe, he said. I thank the many public-spirited officers who are serving and protecting the people of North Carolina all over the state.

Byrd joined the sheriff's office as a detention officer in 2009 and was sworn in as a deputy in 2018, according to the sheriff's office.

Former Sheriff Donnie Harrison remembered that Byrd's goal was to be a deputy, WNCN-TV reported.

I allowed my detention officers, if they qualified to go out for the deputy position," Harrison said. "He tried a couple times and finally made it. He was one happy person and I was one happy person for him. Thats what makes it so hard.
In a development that may finally get more Americans to pay attention to climate change, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced earlier this week that beer production in the northern regions of his country will cease due to severe water shortages, according to Fortune.

Heineken and Mexican beer giant Grupo Modelo, which is controlled by AB InBev and produces beers like Corona, Modelo and Montejo, have production facilities in the north that will ostensibly be non-operational moving forward.

This is not to say we wont produce any more beer, its to say that we wont produce beer in the norththats over, Obrador said at a press conference. If they want to keep producing beer, increasing production, then all the support for the south or southeast.

Due to factors including a lack of rain and water mismanagement, northern Mexico has experienced abnormally dry to exceptional drought conditions and water shortages have become increasingly dire as temperatures have risen in the hotter summer months, according to The Washington Post. We should really change water management not only in terms of climate change and what may result from it, but also in terms of water demands. Our population has grown. Water demands grow. So things should change, Victor Magana-Rueda, a climatologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told The Post.

Until that change happens, beer production in Mexico will have to shift south or cease altogether. Either way, thats a major issue for both Mexico and its neighbor to the north as the former provided 76% of all the beer imported by the U.S. last year. Imported beer makes up close to 18% of all the beer consumed in the United States, according to the Beer Institute.

You cant give permits in places where theres no water, Obrador said. So, were going to intervene and thats what the state is for.

Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.

The post Worlds Largest Beer Exporter Will Cut Production Due to Climate Change appeared first on InsideHook.
This story was published in partnership with THE CITY, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, digital news platform dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.

When he appeared on Fox News Hannity last week, Gov. Greg Abbott kept smiling.

Four months prior, he had announced that the state of Texas was planning to bus migrants from near the Texas-Mexico border to Washington, D.C., a move that drew mixed reviews  even among conservatives  and soon fell off the political radar. But then New York City Mayor Eric Adams began raising alarms about the impact on his city.

This just shows the hypocrisy of these liberal leaders up in the northeast who think, That border crisis created by Joe Biden, thats fine as long as Texas has to deal with it, Abbott told the host, Sean Hannity. But as soon as they have to deal with the real consequences of Bidens border-caused crisis, they are up in arms.

For days, Abbott had denied Adams claims that Texas was even sending migrants to New York. But that Wednesday night, he told Hannity that he was looking at new cities to send them to.

Well, New York sounds like a good one, Hannity said. Then one of the highest-rated hosts in cable news reminded his viewers the importance of reelecting Abbott this fall.

Two days later, Abbott announced the arrival in New York of the first bus from Texas. And ever since, the two politicians have traded barbs through the media. For Abbott, the bickering has been a political boon. Its an opportunity to turn the focus on an issue that he views as a strength for him in the state, while Democrats try to energize voters over abortion rights, the states precarious power grid and the fallout from the Uvalde school shooting.

Meanwhile, in New York, Adams continues to ring the alarm about the real human cost of sending the migrants on a cross-country trek, though there are signs the shelters he says are being strained faced overcrowding problems before any migrants arrived on a bus from Texas.

I think that Gov. Abbott, what hes doing is just so inhumane, Adams said Monday at an unrelated news conference, accusing Abbott of putting them on a bus for the 44-hour ride, very few breaks, no food, no direction and clear information.

Adams then vowed: Our goal is every asylum-seeker that comes to New York, we're going to give them shelter and support that they need.

New Yorks mayor has been scrambling to deliver on that promise  relying on volunteer mutual aid groups and notorious for-profit homeless hotel operators to provide the basics of clothing, food and shelter.

Credit: Gabriel Poblete/THE CITY

Counting on the Grannies

With three buses carrying asylum-seekers set to arrive in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, New York City immigration and social service officials waited inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in a makeshift barricaded welcome area.

Joining them in the cordoned-off space were volunteers from the immigrant aid group Grannies Respond. With no communication between the state of Texas and New York City, the nonprofit organization has become a key link in the Adams administrations chain of response.

Grannies Respond was founded in 2018, when 30 people from upstate Beacon, New York, formed a caravan to the southern border, said Catherine Cole, its executive director. She said Grannies Respond now has a presence in at least 13 states.

Ilze Thielmann, director of Team TLC NYC, a Grannies Respond affiliate, corresponds with the Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs whenever she learns of a new bus headed to New York.

Thats the only way the city is finding out about these buses, through me personally, she said.

During a New York City Council hearing Tuesday, the commissioner of the Mayors Office of Immigrant Affairs, Manuel Castro, acknowledged that the Adams administration was completely in the dark about when the buses were arriving and how many passengers they carried because the bus company doing the transporting refused to communicate with New York officials.

Thielmann said she has a lot of different sources of information through the Grannies Respond volunteer network and others, but she and Cole declined to share the specifics of how theyre finding out about the bus arrivals.

Meanwhile, a band of volunteers, including members of South Bronx Mutual Aid and No ICE NYC, set up an ad hoc distribution center Wednesday on the Eighth Avenue sidewalk, loaded with clothes, menstrual products, COVID tests and other supplies the new arrivals might need. Volunteers said city officials did not allow them into the welcome center inside the terminal.

Ninety-two asylum-seekers landed in the city Wednesday, according to MOIA, the most to come to NYC in a single day since Abbott announced the first New York City-bound bus Friday.

One of the travelers, Luis Villegas-Alvarado, 36, carried with him papers issued by the Department of Homeland Security after he was apprehended on Aug. 7 at the border, listing two New York addresses. One is for the immigration office in lower Manhattan, where he has an October check-in date, and the other for a mens homeless shelter on West 168th Street in Manhattan  listed as his local address. (In fact, single men can apply to enter the system only at a different location miles south on 30th Street in Manhattan.)

That means the federal government under President Joe Biden made the first move to send Villegas-Alvarado to New York City.

Ive always wanted to get to know the United States, and more so this city, he said in Spanish. In my country if youre against the government, theyll tell you youll follow the rules or here are the doors of the prison open for you. With that pressure you prefer to leave the country voluntarily so nothing bad happens to you.

Castro excoriated Abbott outside of the bus terminal after the buses arrived.

Governor Abbott is weaponizing the situation, trying to cause as much harm, disruption, by not communicating with us, said Castro. So the nonprofit organizations that are working both in Texas and along this journey who communicate with us are essential in knowing when the buses will be arriving and the people that are boarding and really understanding the situation.

Abbott has said hes sending the buses north so that the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border.

The plan came in response to Bidens attempt to lift Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allows authorities to turn away migrants, including those seeking asylum.

The arrival of asylum-seekers to New York City came into focus when the mayor said in late July that they were the primary reason for a sudden rise in the number of people looking for shelter beds. At the time, Abbott denied sending any migrants to New York. He sent a letter to Adams and Bowser inviting them to the Texas-Mexico border region to see firsthand the dire situation. Adams declined the invitation, saying Abbott should focus on helping asylum-seekers in Texas as we have been hard at work doing in New York City.

The first busload of migrants arrived soon after.

In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city, Abbott said. I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.

Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

National appeal

For Abbott, who is running for reelection this year and is considered a potential presidential candidate for 2024, the busing appeals to a national audience, said Jeronimo Cortina, an associate professor of political science at the University of Houston.

Its trying to elevate his political stance in the sense of being a governor that gets things done, Cortina said.

Cortina said the busing program will be popular among the far-right enclave of the GOP party, particularly those in former President Donald Trumps voter base. Trump, after all, was one of the first to raise the idea of busing migrants to so-called sanctuary cities, saying in 2019 that Democrats were unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws.

If youre talking about the MAGA GOP, I think its going to be extremely, extremely, extremely popular, Cortina said. I mean, its one of the greatest hits, perhaps within their top five policy preferences.

And the subsequent fighting with the mayor of a city that looms large in the imagination of a lot of conservative Texans is an added bonus. Adams has at times played into that with his criticism.

I already called all of my friends in Texas and told them how to cast their vote, Adams quipped Tuesday when asked if he would campaign for Abbotts Democratic gubernatorial rival Beto ORourke, according to the New York Daily News. I am deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good old-fashioned door knocking.

The governor shot back in another appearance on Fox News on Wednesday, saying New York is flummoxed now that theyre getting a taste of what were having to deal with. He said the New York City and Washington mayors are engaging in rank hypocrisy.

Clogged shelter system

When Adams first claimed Texas was busing migrants to New York, his administration was already aware of a homeless shelter bed shortage that had been taking shape since late spring, in a city with a legal right to shelter on demand.

The number of families in shelter began climbing from around 8,100 in mid-May to top 9,400 by July 19. At that point, the family shelter vacancy rate had dropped to around 1%, well below the 5% rate the city strives to maintain.

This was the backstory when on July 19, Adams suddenly came forward to claim a dramatic spike in the number of asylum-seekers was triggering a crisis in New York Citys shelter system.

For the first time, Adams alleged that in some instances, families are arriving on buses sent by the Texas and Arizona governments. In some cases it appears nonprofit groups in Washington had sent asylum-seekers on to New York.

Advocates for homeless people have persistently questioned Adams claim about the scope of the migrant exodus to New York. They attributed much of the wave to the usual spike in families applying for shelter that occurs every summer, along with the end of the states pandemic-related eviction moratorium.

The capacity crisis, they contend, was caused not by an increase in migrants but by the Adams administrations failure to plan ahead to maintain an adequate supply of beds.

The focus by City Hall on asylum-seekers was, they say, misdirection to divert attention away from what was already happening on the ground. It coincided with revelations that families were forced to sleep overnight on chairs and the floor in a Bronx intake center  in violation of city laws requiring that all families that arrive at the center by 10 p.m. be placed in shelter by 4 a.m.

They knew they had a problem a long time ago. Thats the thing thats shocking to us, said Shelly Nortz, deputy executive director for policy at the Coalition for the Homeless. The accusation of the governor sending asylum-seekers  without proof, when it wasn't happening  that just adds to the problem. Thats just not how the system should be operating.

In a sense, Nortz said, Adams got gamed by Abbott. Responding to Adams claim of a Texas-sponsored asylum-seeker pipeline to the Big Apple, Abbott apparently decided to turn Adams fictional narrative into nonfiction.

As far as Im concerned, she said, if politicians accuse politicians of something theyre not doing, they run the risk of them doing it.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins told the Council on Tuesday his agency was performing a reconciliation that had confirmed the number of asylum-seekers requesting shelter by inquiring about whether they have an out-of-state address and fear returning to their home country.

For months, the Adams administration had been placing homeless families in hotel rooms paid for by city government, including some whose owners have a history of substandard conditions  undoing years of city efforts to stop using hotels as shelters. As of last week, 11 hotels across the city are involved.

And more are coming. Scrambling to fill the need for more beds, the mayor waived competitive bidding rules to hire providers who will open what he said would be shelters specifically designated for asylum-seekers. A Department of Homeless Services request for providers asks for up to 5,000 units in facilities such as commercial hotels or other similar facilities throughout NYC.

City Hall is now negotiating with New York Gov. Kathy Hochuls administration to waive state regulations to quickly open new shelters  though as of Thursday, a day after vendors deadline to submit proposals, the Adams administration had yet to submit a specific request to the state.

When a formal proposal is submitted, OTDA will undertake a detailed review and coordinate with the city to ensure individuals and families can access the services they need, said state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance spokesperson Anthony Farmer.

Both Adams and Hochul have been pressing the Biden administration for federal funding to address the emergency.

Just doing our best

In the meantime, its the Spanish-speaking aid group volunteers who are ensuring new arrivals get their bearings in a strange city after their lengthy ride and find their way to the city-run shelters. Some are growing increasingly frustrated with the Adams administration  with one displaying a handwritten sign at the bus station reading: Eric Adams has no plan!

On Wednesday, Team TLC NYC and Grannies Respond helped escort migrants off the buses and into Port Authority, provided them with boxed meals, helped them fill out forms, offered them medical care and let them fill bags with toiletries.

On the sidewalk, volunteers sorted the travelers into small groups and supplied them with rides to their next destination, including Uber trips booked with city-provided codes.

Ariadna Phillips, founder of the South Bronx Mutual Aid, said that as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, she and her colleagues were still with the asylum-seekers to ensure that they were accepted into the shelter system  nearly 11 hours after the volunteers had arrived.

We dont work for the city, she said. Were just doing our best.

She sees Adams efforts as falling far short.

There needs to be a coordinated government response to handle this responsibly  this is urgent, this is time-sensitive  or we're going to have a massive humanitarian crisis on our hands in the city, Phillips said.

Disclosure: University of Houston has been a financial supporter 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.
Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

Wednesday's Uvalde City Council saw a heated session of public input from residents asking for more police accountability. It also attracted a known January 6 rioter who smoked marijuana in the Congress buildings and was later turned in because he bragged about it.

Daniel Warmus, who took a plea deal for unlawful parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building in May, was at the meeting on Wednesday, August 10, asking for accountability from the local police over the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Yves here. While you were busy being agitated about Russia or China or Trump (again!), some positive things are happening elsewhere. It looks as if voters in Brazil are on track to turf out the authoritarian President Jair Bolsonaro. I wish the article gave more detail about the voting methods dispute. Bolsonaro wants paper ballots, but if theres no public supervision of transfers and counting, they are as cheating-friendly as other approaches.

By Brett Wilkins. Originally published at Common Dreams

Protestssome of them massivein defense of democracy and education and against far-right President Jair Bolsonaros coup-mongering were held in cities across Brazil Thursday, less than two months before the first round of the South American nations presidential election.

Demonstrations took place in at least 23 of Brazils 26 state capitals, as well as in the national capital of Brasilia. Many of the protests featured readings of a pair of pro-democracy manifestos, including the Letter to Brazilians in Defense of Democracy and Rule of Law. The missive, which has been signed by nearly one million people, was inspired by a similar 1977 document that helped bring down a 21-year, U.S.-backed military dictatorship admired by Bolsonaro, who served in its army.

During the reading event at the University of Sao Paulo (USP) School of Lawwhere large banners read dictatorship never again and state of rights, alwayspresidential candidates spoke out in defense of Brazils electronic voting system, which has been the target of baseless allegations of fraud by Bolsonaro and his allies. The right-wing president, who is pushing for paper ballots, has threatened to reject the results of Octobers first-round presidential election if he loses under the current electronic voting system.

Defending democracy is defending the right to quality food, a good job, fair wages, access to healthcare, and education, said Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the former leftist president who is running again representing the Workers Party and leadsBolsonaro by double digits in aggregate polling.

Fizemos historia hoje! BOLSONARO SAI DEMOCRACIA FICA  Eduardo Knapp pic.twitter.com/xyrllY9tb1  PSOL 50 (@psol50) August 11, 2022



[This is] what the Brazilian people should have, da Silva added. Our country was sovereign and respected. We need to get it back together.

Bolsonaro mocked the massive nationwide rebuke of his rule, tweeting that today, a very important act took place on behalf of Brazil and of great relevance to the Brazilian people: Petrobras once again reduced the price of diesel.

A broad range of leftist activists spoke at and about the demonstrations across Brazil.

Running over democracy is not as simple as the militiaman imagined, tweeted Ivan Valente, leader of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) in Brazils Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress. Bolsonaro is much closer to jail than to the coup Brazilian society does not accept setbacks or coup bravado.

Democracia hoje e sempre! E assim que respondemos ao golpismo: ocupando os espacos. Seguiremos em marcha defendendo o Estado Democratico de Direito e eleicoes livres. E pra voce que esta em Sao Paulo, nos vemos daqui a pouco, as 17h, no MASP.#11A #11ApelaDemocracia pic.twitter.com/WmYrFhinKw  Sonia Guajajara (@GuajajaraSonia) August 11, 2022



Beatriz Lourenco do Nascimento of Black Coalition for Rightsone of the few Black faces in the room during the USP readingrecited her groups anti-racist manifesto during the event.

Brazil is a country in debt to the Black population, she asserted. We call on the democratic sectors of Brazilian society, institutions, and people who today show emotion over the ills of racism and claim to be anti-racist: Be consistent. Practice what you speak. As long as there is racism, there will be no democracy.

No Rio de Janeiro ta chovendo MUITO, mas mesmo assim o ato em defesa da democracia ta rolando com muita energia nas ruas da cidade! BOLSONARO SAI DEMOCRACIA FICA  Duda Dusi pic.twitter.com/arp3DCrzmp  PSOL 50 (@psol50) August 11, 2022



Economist and social activist Joao Pedro Stedile, a co-founder of the Landless Workers Movement (MST), saidmembers of the group took part in Thursdays historic event in defense of Brazilian society.

We are in the process of building this broad front, representing all Brazilians who defend democracy, he continued. Democracy involves changing the government and eliminating neo-fascism, but above all, ensuring that the working class, the people, have the rights guaranteed in the Constitution. Right to work, income, land, education, health.

#11APelaDemocracia em Salvador-BA  Dia do Estudante na luta em defesa da liberdade e do Brasil!  @isepitacio | @UJSBRASIL pic.twitter.com/mR6IqO27NW  Uniao da Juventude Socialista (@UJSBRASIL) August 11, 2022



Todays act is just the start of a great journey of activities centered around 200 years of Brazilian independence, Stedile added, referring to Brazils bicentennial on September 7. We are organizing to continue with demonstrations and mobilizations, especially in the week of September 7th to 10th, when we take to the streets to defend democracy, sovereignty, and the Brazilian people.
Germanys health minister unveils plans to launch a color-coded digital app to confirm citizens COVID-19 vaccination status. Different colors will confer different rights.

The German peoples vaccination status will soon be recognizable by color, thanks to an upgrade to the Health Ministrys Corona-Warn-App, reports German newspaper Berliner Zeitung. Different colors will give different rights in the future, the article notes, adding that a similar system already exists in China. Which is hardly comforting, especially given how some Chinese authorities appear to be abusing that system.

While many EU countries, including even neighboring Austria, have softened or suspended their COVID-19 vaccine passport restrictions, Germanys Health Minister Karl Lauterbach seems determined to take them to a new level. This week, he unveiled Germanys Corona plans for the autumn in the latest iteration of the so-called Infection Protection Act. Some of the proposed plans have not gone down well with the public. Even politicians and some newspapers are kicking up a stink.

Different Colors, Different Rights

Most controversial of all is the Health Ministrys plan to repurpose the Corona-Warn-App into a color-coded system as a means of more easily corroborating peoples vaccination status. As already mentioned, the apps different colors will confer different rights in the future. Those rights will apparently include the ability to access certain public places as well as the right not to wear a mask in hospitality venues. In order to qualify, you need to have been vaccinated in the past three months or have recently recovered from infection.

Lauterbach has previously stated that forcing the unvaccinated or undervaccinated to wear a mask in public  almost like a badge of shame  might cause them to reconsider their position on the vaccines: It will certainly be an incentive to think about whether they would like to be vaccinated.

All of this no doubt sounds familiar to American readers. After all, it is a virtual replica of the Biden Administrations Mission Accomplished mask reversal back in May 21. As Yves noted at the time, the CDC [thought] it was reasonable to operate on a vaccination honor system and have the vaccinated ditch masks and social distancing. That was despite the fact that only 35% of Americans were fully vaccinated and it was not yet known whether breakthrough asymptomatic cases could spread the disease.

Now, we know they can. We also know that the current crop of vaccines do precious little when it comes to actually protecting against transmission of the virus. Lauterbach himself knows this from first-hand experience, given he is currently grappling with his second COVID-19 infection  despite having received four shots of COVID-19 vaccines. Given what he knows about the vaccines leaky nature, encouraging, or perhaps better put, compelling recently vaccinated people to dump their masks makes zero sense from a public health perspective  unless, of course, the only goal is to maximize vaccination.

Of course, by the time the draft law is in place, in early October, Pfizer-BioNtech may have already launched its new Omicron-adapted vaccine. For the moment, the average rate of uptake for a second booster among adults in the EU is extremely low, at just 7.5%. That compares to 64% for the first booster. Of course, Lauterbacks policy proposals may help to boost demand for the largely German-manufactured product once it does hit the market.

Color-Coded Control

Germanys color-coded app was developed by SAP and T-Systems, the IT services arm of Deutsche Telekom, and is an update on the previous system that showed whether someone falls into the 3G, 2G or 2G-plus (Germanys Covid pass rules) category. A color coded system will apparently make it quicker and easier to process vaccine passport holders.

With the contract for the app set to expire at the end of 2022, its developers have been lobbying for the contract to be extended and its applications expanded, reports Der Spiegel. They argue that the apps high level of support among the scientific and medical communities and its wide installation base mean that it is far too good for a place in the Museum of Communication. They would much prefer it either to be recalibrated as a general federal warning app or to be expanded to include the electronic patient file (ePA) of every citizen. So far the health ministry has rejected these proposals.

Its worth noting that T-Systems has already played a key role in making the EUs vaccine passport systems interoperable and was recently chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO) to do the same at a global level.

Of course, Germany would not be the first country to roll out a color-coded app as part of its COVID-19 response. Beijing has been operating one for some time, albeit not to denote a citizens vaccination status but rather the state of each persons health, proximity to COVID-19 cases, abnormal PCR test results and failure to take a PCR test within the 3-7 day cycle (h/t bonks). Unlike Germany, China does not have a vaccine mandate. But as the article in Berliner Zeitung notes, the so-called Health Code apps do play a crucial role in the country:

The apps create movement profiles and display the state of [each persons] health. Depending on the color, the users have different rights. A green code allows free movement while orange and red mean quarantine for up to two weeks In China, you are not allowed to work, shop or ride the train without the right app colour.

The Health Code apps, now universally installed and accepted, can also be used to control citizens for other purposes, as the German state broadcaster Tagesschau reported in February (machine translated):

Wang Yu has not been able to move freely for some time. She is a lawyer in China  and a critic of the authoritarian Chinese regime. She has often been placed under house arrest. But recently the regime appears to have developed a different method: her health app does not show the green code  despite receiving three negative PCR test results. As a lawyer, I had to deal with a case in court. But they changed my code to yellow, says Wang Yu. I was completely helpless. You cant move at all, you cant go anywhere. In the meantime, nothing works without the health app in Chinas big cities: Wang Yu is turned away at the supermarket without the green code. She cannot board a taxi, bus, subway or train. In Beijing, even the entrances to apartments are monitored. Everyone lives within a gated compound with only one entry. Guards have set up their border posts there. Everyone has to scan the QR code with the health app and show the green code. At first, Wang Yu couldnt go to her home either. Because their app didnt work again and again. The guards at the barrier to Wang Yus condominium would not let her in. After a heated argument, the guards let them pass. But you dont know what tomorrow will bring. Maybe the guard wont let me through then. And I cant break in here, says the lawyer. What drives Wang Yu almost insane: Everything is based on arbitrariness. There are no laws governing the use of the health app. Im a lawyer. I love the law. I need precise rules to follow. However, the Chinese parliament has not decided on this. There is nothing. No paper, no regulations. The restrictions imposed by the app are completely illegal, Wang Yu concludes.

In recent months local authorities in Central China even used the COVID-19 health app to prevent account holders from seeking access to funds that have been frozen by their banks. According to Asia Times, more than 400,000 depositors of six rural banks in Henan Province have been unable to withdraw their money since April. Yet when some of those depositors tried to travel to the banks headquarters to take part in protests, they suddenly found that the health code on their app had turned red, making them ineligible for travel.

As Ive previously noted, the Western press tends to shine a bright light on the Chinese governments deployment of new digital technologies to expand its surveillance and control of the Chinese population. That was certainly the case with the recent events in Henan Province. The BBC, Bloomberg, the New York Times, CBS, CNN and France 24 all covered the story at least once. Myriad reports, some absurdly overblown, have also been published over the years on Chinas creeping introduction of a Social Credit System. Yet whenever the same highly intrusive technologies are being rolled out in so-called liberal Western democracies, the Western media is nowhere to be seen.

Back in Germany

Lauterbachs proposals are meeting strong resistance, both in the media and in political circles, particularly within the ranks of the SDPs junior coalition party, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the two main opposition parties, the CDU and AfD. Like them, Germanys widest read tabloid, Bild Zeitung, accuses Lauterbach of adopting panic measures. One article even posits that the renewed pressure to get vaccinated may form part of a plan to get rid of Germanys huge stockpiles of surplus vaccines before they expire.

The small details of the proposals have been well set out in many newspapers, including the Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz, which carefully dissects the various measures before commenting clearly on each proposal. There are, it says, few objections to a proposal to reimpose FFP2 mask wearing on long-distance trains and flights from German airports from October 1 this year to April 7, 2023 (Good Friday). Where the paper takes issue is that the new measures will place a huge strain on hospitality, sport and cultural events if their respective staff and security guards have to check who is freshly jabbed (i.e. within the past 3 months), who is in recovery (i.e. have had the virus in the previous 3 months) and who needs to be tested on site (at the expense of the hospitality business).

The three-month period is out of step with other European countries applying six or nine-month periods. It also clashes with recommendations from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which warned in January that boosting every few months is not a long-term option since it risks adversely affecting the immune system. It also goes against the recommendations of Stiko, the body of public health experts who report to the government.

I dont understand why you should be vaccinated every three months, said CDU health expert Erwin Ruddel. In all other European countries, planning for the Corona winter is handled differently.

Even Lauterbach himself says he doesnt expect people to get vaccinated every three months. Yet why set the limit for eligibility at three months? The new laws, if implemented in their present form, will provide an overarching need for compliance tempered by each of the 16 federal states having the right to add their own measures depending on the severity of any localised outbreak. But according to Ruddel, the draft proposals will probably be heavily watered down by the time they have completed their passage through the Bundestag.

Some civic-minded Germans may feel affronted by an article likening

what some would regard as relatively modest, if somewhat unenforceable, measures

with elements of Chinas creeping high-tech dystopia. But it is worth remembering that Germany and Austria led the way back in 2021 in introducing (or at least trying to) lockdowns of the unvaccinated and universal vaccine mandates, even as it was becoming clear that the vaccines themselves offered zero hope of controlling the spread of the virus.
(Natural News) A leading national security expert believes China has devised a shocking plan to take Taiwan by force that would first involve a massive strike against the United States in the vein of Japans Dec. 7, 1941 surprise attack.

According to Prof. Oriana Skylar Mastro, a fellow at Stanford University, China has decided it must hit the U.S. hard and early in order to severely cripple America and either stunt or prevent any response ahead of launching an invasion of Taiwan.

In an interview with The Sun, Mastro said that China increasingly views war with the United States as being unpreventable and even necessary in order to capture Taiwan and bring the renegade province under Beijings Communist control.

The warning comes on the heels of a visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), which highly angered the ChiCom regime leading President Xi Jinping to order snap military exercises involving dozens of aircraft sorties and the firing of missiles in the direction of Taiwan.

The outlet adds:

Mastro told The Sun Online these types of blockade war games are set to become more commonplace as the threat of war increasingly looms.

She explained that Beijing now believes it also has to fight the US if it is to fulfill its long cherished goal of invading Taiwan and reuniting with the mainland.

Mastro believes the most likely way such a conflict would play out is with a Pearl Harbor-style attack on US forces in the region.

Any such surprise attack, which would likely infuriate most Americans despite our current political divide, would be designed to destroy as much offensive American military capability in the Indo-Pacific Region as possible in order to deter operations aimed at stopping or shunting Chinas Taiwan invasion.

The Stanford University expert also surmised that China would launch such an attack as a means of stopping a wider war, as Japan thought when the imperial government attacked Pearl Harbor  an attack that merely drew the U.S. immediately into World War II after remaining neutral despite Hitlers assaults on Europe.

Its about hitting hard and early so we can get boots on the island before the United States can launch a response, Mastro told The Sun Online.

My argument is that the more people like Pelosi try to make the US commitment clear, then the more certain the Chinese are of our commitment  and the more likely a Pearl Harbor-style attack is, she added.

For decades, the U.S. has maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity over whether it would support Taiwan militarily should China invade. But the bumbling idiot in the White House, Joe Biden, responded unequivocally yes when asked earlier this year if the U.S. would come to Taiwans aid if the island democracy fell under attack by Beijing.

Pelosi is a vocal supporter of Taiwan  and her trip to the island earlier this week made her the most senior US politician to visit Taiwan in a quarter of a century, which infuriated China, The Sun reported. During her trip the Speaker of the House of Representatives voiced Americas support for Taiwan and seemed to have called Beijings bluff after it hinted it might shoot down her plane.

Following Pelosis visit, China launched massive military exercises and now has essentially placed a naval blockade around Taiwan.

As for Mastro, earlier this year she estimated that the U.S. could lose a war with China in a week as the Pentagon struggled to get forces into position to aid Taiwan following a Chinese sneak attack that would no doubt target U.S. Navy aircraft carriers as well as troops in South Korea, Japan and on Guam.

But any attack by China on U.S. forces will surely draw a heavy response  perhaps from a coalition of nations aligned with the U.S. because they cannot afford to leave the world to the Communist Chinese.

Sources include:

The-Sun.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) An independent Dutch researcher has published a paper revealing that all-cause mortality has increased substantially in the Netherlands ever since Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines were introduced.

The preprint study looks at about 350 municipalities across the Netherlands, evaluating excess death rates in comparison to jab uptake. Every area where lots of people got injected has seen all-cause mortality skyrocket, the data shows.

Since the second half of 2021, study author and computer scientist Andre Redert discovered, the Netherlands has seen a sharp uptick in his countrys vaccination-correlated mortality-rate, which now averages around 5 percent.

This means that 5 percent of the deaths were distributed in ways consistent with vaccination rates, explains Patrick Delaney, writing for LifeSiteNews.

While this pattern does not prove these deaths were caused by the shots, it does prove that there is correlation between them, and plenty of evidence already exists of excessive death rates in highly vaccinated nations around the world.

EuroMOMO Bulletin says an elevated level of excess mortality persists across Europe

All this time, government authorities both in Europe and the United States have claimed that as more jabs get into more arms, sickness and death will decrease. What the data actually shows, however, is the opposite.

The EuroMOMO Bulletin continues to publish reports indicating that an elevated level of excess mortality is being seen all across Europe. Just in the last several weeks, some 8,000 unaccounted-for deaths have been reported  and the jabs appear to be the culprit.

Though a 5% increase may seem modest, historically it is significant, Delaney adds. When applied to the United States, this would indicate an extra 175,000 deaths per year, and for Europe likely more than 400,000  Furthermore, indications of these trends are not lacking.

The insurance industry has corroborated this with data showing a massive increase in death claims ever since Operation Warp Speed was launched by the Trump administration.

OneAmerica, an insurance carrier based out of Indianapolis, reported a 40 percent increase in death claims for the third quarter of 2021 when the jab campaigns were in full swing.

Just to give you an idea of how bad that is, a three-sigma or a one-in-200-year catastrophe would be 10 percent increase over pre-pandemic, announced company president Scott Davison. So, 40 percent is just unheard of.

Steve Kirsch performed his own calculations on the various numbers that have been released or drudged up, leading him to the conclusion that covid jabs are, in fact, responsible for most, if not all, of the excess deaths that are being reported all around the world.

The likelihood of this phenomenon happening by pure chance rather than as a result of covid injections is basically never, the MIT graduate declared, citing his work.

In other words, the event that happened [to bring this about] is not a statistical fluke,' he added. Something caused a very big change.

In the third quarter of 2021 across the entire insurance industry, the Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA) discovered a 37.7 percent spike in life insurance death claims, which corroborates with OneAmericas data.

That figure included an approximate 50-50 split between claims related to COVID-19 and those caused by other factors, Delaney clarifies about how this figure was calculated.

In Europe, German health insurer BKK ProVita reported to government officials a very considerable under-recording of suspected cases of vaccination side effects after [patients] received the [COVID-19] vaccine.

According to board member Andreas Schofbeck, around 4%-5% of the vaccinated were under medical treatment for side effects, which represents a rate about 10 times higher than what the German government was reporting.

Fauci Flu shots are deadly. To keep up with the latest, be sure to visit VaccineDeaths.com.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

ResearchGate.com
(Natural News) The Vaccine Injury/Side Effects Support Group was created to support not only individuals who have been injured by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, but also the family members, friends and everyone going through the nightmare.

However, the groups posts are now being censored by Facebook.

We will be moving our group over to a new uncensored TrialSite News soon due to the growing censorship we are facing, said Catherine Parker, the groups founder. She stressed the need for support groups like these to not be taken down from social media sites. (Related: Global campaign aims to break silence around COVID vaccine injuries.)

Parker, who was injured by Johnson & Johnsons COVID-19 vaccine, added: A lot of us have anxiety and depression from this now. And I hear people who just want to give up or they feel like they are dying or that [they] wanted not to wake up.

She said she was never an anti-vaxxer. As a requirement for her job, she took the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 1, 2021 and the Pfizer booster on November 9, 2021.

Within two to three weeks of receiving the first shot, she began having chronic insomnia and exhaustion. But she ignored these and proceeded to have the Pfizer booster. Less than two weeks after getting the booster, she began losing hair and was diagnosed with dysautonomia, pseudoparkinsonism and Epstein Barr virus, also known as human herpesvirus 4.

Parker, 49, wanted to help others enduring similar experiences and founded the support group. Within two weeks, over 200 members from all over the world joined to tell their heartbreaking stories and also inspire resiliency to keep going through the health conditions.

It has been difficult to get out our stories to the world, Parker said. Everywhere we turn, we are blocked and banned on social media. Our videos are removed for community standards violations, which makes no sense when they are videos of our pain and suffering or us going through tremors and brain fog.

She added that groups like hers are ridiculed and made fun of as crazy, lying pigs, anti-vax and people with agendas to stop others from getting the vaccine.

It breaks my heart, how far humanity has fallen that it is okay to make fun of others suffering and downplay what others are going through, she said.

COVID-19 vaccine brings physical and emotional injuries

Donna Zuk Adley, 64, is a 33-year nurse from Connecticut and holds degrees in criminal justice and legal studies. She is the co-administrator of the vaccine injury support group.

In an exclusive interview with the news website Defender, she said that she was reluctant to get the coronavirus vaccine from the get-go because she had two previous reactions to vaccines, one of which [tetanus] left her with a permanent partial disability. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after a tetanus shot.

I had restricted my lifestyle, and did all the protocols to avoid COVID, she stated. I had been working on a COVID floor with up to 32 COVID patients, and never got COVID.

However, in August 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont mandated all workers in a broadly defined list of medical and long-term care facilities to get vaccinated. Adley got her first dose of the mRNA vaccine in August and her second dose in September 2021.

After the first Moderna [dose], I had severe lower back pain that felt like shattered glass. I did not realize at the time that many have this symptom after the vaccines. [On] September 17, eight hours after my second dose, I began to get the initial symptoms that I had expected (fever, muscle aches), [but] I felt very strange and weak as if I had a mono relapse, which I hadnt had in over a decade. she said, adding that her symptoms worsened after that.

She began to have lapses in memory and blurred vision. She also began to feel confused and felt like she has a brain disconnect as she lost the ability to think right, comprehend and follow directions.

Adley likened the experience to feeling like a voodoo doll where someone keeps taking turns stabbing me in my different body systems, and a pinball machine in slow motion.

She kept a notebook of her symptoms and injuries and categorized them broadly as brain and cognitive, gastrointestinal, lungs (respiratory), muscular and skin.

These symptoms affected everything, she said. She was terminated from her job of 10 years because she took too long to return from the leave due to her vaccine injuries.

Finding a new job has also been a challenge as she often received feedback that her medical [vaccine] exemption was denied by corporate. The loss of her employment also meant the loss of her health insurance and she added that walk-ins were not accepting me.

Visit VaccineInjuryNews.com for more news related to the COVID-19 vaccine adverse events.

Watch the below video that talks about the overwhelming evidence of vaccine injuries.

This video is from the New American channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Aussie air carriers suppressing vaccine injuries, persecuting unvaxxed pilots.

Canadian hospice group pushes to normalize euthanasia of children who are suffering  many due to vaccine injuries.

Wall of silence: Did Brown University bury COVID vaccine injuries to continue their injection mandate.

Media absurdly insists COVID shots are safe and effective as vaccine injuries and deaths mount.

Sources include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

TrialSiteNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Former President Donald Trump told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) that the next president must remove rogue bureaucrats and root out the Deep State, and be laser-focused on destroying the New World Order to thwart the plans of the elites to destroy the United States of America.

As we secure the border, another key priority for the next Congress and the next President will be to drain the swamp once and for all to remove rogue bureaucrats and root out the deep state. Congress should pass groundbreaking reform, empowering the president to ensure that any federal employee who is corrupt, incompetent, or unnecessary for the job can be told, Youre fired. You ever heard that? Youre fired, he said.

Trumps comments come after recent reports asserted that he would use his schedule F executive order to fire nearly 50,000 government bureaucrats if he returns to the White House in 2024.

Schedule F was a job classification system that would take current federal workers in policy-related positions out of the competitive service, effectively stripping them of civil service protections and making them at-will employees.

Authorized via executive order in 2020, the Trump administration failed to implement the measure before he left office in January 2021. President Joe Biden also rescinded the edict as one of his first acts in office.

Trump also seemingly confirmed these reports when he referenced the said executive order in a recent speech at Turning Point USAs Student Action Summit in July.

He explained that the current process to remove a federal bureaucrat from a post involves a lengthy process that takes an average of five years per stage  in the 15 years that it will take, most of these people are already out of office.

This lengthy time frame dissuades other politicians from starting the bureaucrat removal process because it takes longer than their terms in office.

In other words, to fire someone who is doing a bad job, if the government wins, will take more than a decade under the current system. Almost all politicians wont start that process because theyll be gone and they know it, the former president said. (Related: Mary Trump brazenly suggests it may take an armed uprising to remove her president uncle from office.)

A federal employee has 30 days to file an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board upon getting fired. An administrative judge is assigned within a week and usually issues a decision within months, stretching to a year if the case is escalated to the full MSPB or federal court.

Majority of Republicans still support Trump

Although Trump has not officially announced his plans for the next presidential election, he is expected to have the majority support of Republicans, as per a straw poll conducted at CPAC in Dallas, Texas.

Trump won a massive 69 percent of the votes, which was 45 percent higher than his next closest challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who only received 24 percent support among the attendees.

Democrats reviled Schedule F when it was unveiled in 2020, but they failed to act accordingly to prevent its implementation. Others warned that it might still return in some form with the next Republican administration.

Visit Trump.news for more news related to Donald Trump.

Watch the video below for more updates about the CPAC and Trumps possible 2024 presidential bid.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Insider attorney says decision already made: Trumps 2024 running mate will be Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Donald Trump plotting return to White House in 2024, makes major pledge to military members discharged for refusing COVID vax.

Is it a set-up? Company that Trump teamed with for his social media platform said to have ties to Communist China; 2024 presidential run could be endangered.

Sources include:

NewsPunch.com

InfoWars.com

GovExec.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Just two days after the IRS ran a help wanted ad that demanded new hires be willing to kill Americans as part of collecting tax money, illegitimate AG Merrick Garland goes on live TV and lectures the American people, demanding they stop bullying the FBI and the DOJ.

Garland astonishingly claims to be upholding the rule of law as his lawless cabal of armed tyrants run roughshod across America, terrorizing anyone connected to Trump or the America First movement.

As this is happening, the IRS is building a massive army of heavily armed executioners whose job description requires they be willing to fire upon  and kill  private American citizens.

A recent job posting on USAjobs.gov listed the Major Duties of the new IRS employees as including a willingness to use deadly force to fire upon American citizens and kill them.

No doubt the dangerous assignments described by the IRS include assaulting and murdering American citizens, then confiscating their property.

Notably, the IRS doesnt need to exist at all since taxes dont even fund the government. America is so deep in debt that its mostly funded by money printing, not tax collection. Taxes are not in any way necessary to keep the US government funded. It can simply print the money it needs at any time, essentially without cost.

The real purpose of the IRS is not to collect taxes but to terrorize the American people and prevent people from ever retiring on assets theyve saved.

IRS rifle teams and police impersonators

Adding to the disgust of all this, the IRS Criminal Investigations annual report from 2021 brags about IRS rifle fire teams and IRS police shooters taking aim at rows of targets that represent American taxpayers. These photos are taken from that IRS report, which seemingly celebrates the mass shooting of Americans in cold blood:

Note that IRS agents being trained to kill Americans are also impersonating police by wearing POLICE shirts even though they have zero actual police authority. They are not police. They are a runaway, power hungry, thuggish federal agency thats building its own private paramilitary force to go to war with the American people.

Those paper targets in the following photo, as you might notice, are not simply target circles. They are images of people. American people:

And heres a close-up, zoomed in image of some of the targets:

Note that these targets are shaped like people, not merely circular target zones for rifle accuracy:

What these targets prove is that the IRS is deliberately training to shoot American citizens, and they are desensitizing their troops to be able to pull the trigger when they are shooting people.

So just as AG Garland is lecturing Americans to stop being mean to the FBI, the IRS is raising a massive, heavily armed military-like army of tax agents who will shoot to kill on command.

This is wildly unconstitutional and extremely dangerous to our republic, yet Garland and the illegitimate Democrats currently running this regime pretend that they are the victims, and that the American people deserve to be assaulted and shot by federal agents.

Whats clear is that the DOJ, FBI and IRS are waging a hot war against the American people, literally training their agents to murder Americans on command.

IRS buys millions of rounds of ammunition and deploys weapons of war against the American people

The IRS even purchased over 5 million rounds of ammunition just this year alone, arming up its paramilitary troops with ammunition for the very same AR-15 rifles that Democrats claim are weapons of war. As the NY State Firearms Association explains:

In just the last few months, the Internal Revenue Service has bought almost 5,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition  spending almost $700,000 in the process.

The obvious question is why would a bunch of bean counters who spend their days staring at computer screens need to stock up on millions of rounds of ammo?

3,151,500 rounds of pistol ammo.

Over 350,000 rounds of shotgun ammo.

Almost 1.5 million rounds of rifle ammo.

The answer is obvious: The IRS is raising a massive army to wage war against the American people. This war has already begun with the DOJ and FBI conducting an illegal raid on President Trumps private residence while terrorizing other conservatives who represent the America First movement.

Heres my comment on all this at Brighteon.social:

To hear the full details on Bidens hot war against the American people, listen to my Situation Update podcast here:

Brighteon.com/40bb7acf-cf56-4248-acfb-d32053a5851b

Discover more information-packaged podcasts, raw intel reports and interviews each day:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/HRreport

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(Natural News) A doctor friend of mine in Canada heard about 15 deaths of Canadian doctors over the last 9 months. Hes been in practice for 30 years. Hes never heard of any such unusual deaths before of doctors. Zero in 30 years. Why is he now, all of a sudden, hearing of so many deaths, and why are these deaths all happening very soon after vaccination?

From July 13 to July 28, 7 doctors died an average of one doctor every other day for 2 weeks straight. And the causes of death were statistically unusual: two died swimming (which is very rare), one died in her sleep (very rare), etc.

The fact checkers assure us all that all of these doctors died for other reasons; the fact that they all died right after the vaccine was simply bad luck. Thats not the right metric. The fact checkers need to tell us the last time this happened where 7 doctors died in 14 days from unusual causes. They cannot. This is unprecedented.

The Canadian doctors continue to ignore the deaths in plain sight and continue to believe what they are told to believe. I predict the next shots will be even worse.

Sadly, I dont think the Canadian doctors are ever going to figure this out.

(Article by Steve Kirsch republished from SteveKirsch.Substack.com)

Canadian doctors keep lining up to get the shots to be protected from a disease which is easily treatable with a combination of drugs with little to no side effects.

A doctor friend in Canada has been passively noticing the untimely death of doctors in Canada shortly after they were forced to get the third and fourth doses of the vaccine. He sent me these images below which had been sent to him. Hes not proactively researching these. There are likely a lot more deaths he doesnt know about.

Guess how many similar deaths (young doctors dying unexpectedly of odd causes) hes noticed in the past 30 years in practice? Yup, zero.

Whats astounding is that this is a vaccine, which according to this CDC study, makes it nearly impossible for you to die after the shot. Yet, these doctors all died shortly after the shot. The doctors are dead, so the CDC study must be wrong.

Oddly, none of the deaths were covered in the Canadian mainstream media, so I thought you should know about them.

There was coverage of six recent deaths in Health Impact News: 6 Canadian Medical Doctors Died Within 2 Weeks After 4th COVID Booster Shots for Employees Started at One Hospital.

Let me be very clear. You cannot have 14 Canadian doctors die shortly after the vaccine if there isnt something wrong with the shot. Period. Full stop. Each of these is a very rare event. Having them clustered like this is a sure sign the vaccines killed them.

Any honest scientist would start with this hypothesis as the most obvious hypothesis and only reject it if there was compelling evidence to the contrary.

Two of the most popular methods used by the vaccine to kill people are accelerating a cancer (which may have started from an earlier dose) and by causing a sudden death which, if the person is driving or swimming, appears to be a car accident or drowning.

Nearly all the medical examiners all look the other way when assessing a vaccine-caused death.

For example, I know a technician who works for a medical examiner who is seeing all these odd blood clots, but he says the pathologists wont listen or investigate!

Why are people looking the other way? Its because they want the pandemic to go away and they are told that the vaccine is the only way out of the pandemic so they look the other way when there is bad news.

According to the fact checkers, none of these doctors died from the shots, they all died of other causes. Duh. The vaccine always kills people by stopping their heart, brain, etc. so it always looks like they died from something else because they did.

But when normally healthy people all of a sudden die like this in rapid succession, you are being totally disingenuous if you rule out the vaccine as the likely instigator of the death.

What the fact checkers fail to point out is that in many cases, the diseases often first started after the first vaccine shot, and then got worse with progressive shots. Somehow, they always miss that point that the vaccine accelerated the death. The fact that all these doctors died in close proximity to the shots is just too coincidental.

My doctor friends in Canada simply cannot believe how brainwashed his colleagues are. Zero deaths in 30 years, now all of a sudden 14 deaths in 9 months each happening shortly after their shots. Come on. Thats not bad luck. No way.

The Canadian docs will continue to ignore the stats, believe the fact checkers, and line up for the shots. It will get worse in the next round.

From July 13 to July 28, 7 doctors died an average of one doctor every other day for 2 weeks.

Died August 3rd, 2022 at 12:45pm. My friend knew him. Covered here and here.

March 14, 2022. His death went unnoticed.

There are certainly many more like this.

Doctors, athletes, celebrities are all very visible.

This problem is happening everywhere. The only question is whether people are paying attention.

Read this post by Anita Jader. Shes paying attention.

Ask yourself: have you ever seen a post like this in your life? Do you think this is normal?

Read this post about Wayne Roots wedding. He basically did the post-marketing randomized clinical trial that the CDC never did. Only 200 people were enrolled in his trial which lasted just 8 months. The results are stunning and cannot be explained by just bad luck. There is no other possible explanation: the vaccines are a disaster.

Waynes vaccinated friends had a 26% risk of severe injury and a 7% chance of death compared with a 0% level for his unvaxxed friends in the same time period. This is the type of observational study the CDC should be doing but they arent for obvious reasons (it would create vaccine hesitancy).

Does that sound like a safe vaccine to you?

Surveys 10% of people have buyers remorse on the vaccine, 15% have a new medical condition post vaccine.

An NIH study finds 40.2% of women experienced menstrual changes post vaccine.

The evidence just doesnt seem to matter, even when it is in plain sight. 40.2% of women had their reproductive organs affected by the vaccine and we still are mandating this vaccine?!?!

When I looked for anecdotes that are opposite to this one (where it was the unvaxxed who were being injured or dying), I couldnt find any.

Apparently, I am not alone. This poll is as lopsided as it gets; it tells you everything you need to know:

Its up to the fact checkers now to produce hundreds of extreme reverse anecdotes (e.g., Wayne Roots wedding anecdotes, but where ONLY the unvaccinated were dying and injured).

This is a partial list of Canadian doctor deaths. Im sure there will be more in the comments.

The key point is the sheer number of events are simply too high in the doctor category alone. These doctors all dying shortly after the jab suggests a most likely hypothesis be that the jab killed them, e.g., by accelerating their existing medical condition, or creating a new medical condition, or by a mysterious sudden death.

So while it could be that one or maybe two of the deaths were just coincidences, odds are that the rest were not. This sort of pattern has not happened before.

Science is about figuring out which hypothesis is a better match to the data. For the data Im seeing, its always that the vaccines are too unsafe to use.

Read more at: SteveKirsch.Substack.com
(Natural News) The IRS Criminal Investigations annual report from 2021 touts photos of IRS rifle fire teams and IRS police shooters taking aim at rows of targets that represent American taxpayers.

A close inspection of the targets reveals they are not circular rifle targets that might be used in rifle competitions. They are people-shaped targets that are used to desensitize federal agents to the shooting and killing of human beings.

The human beings represented by these targets are, of course, American taxpayers.

Even after the IRS collected a record $4.1 trillion in recent months, its never enough. The American taxpayer must be threatened at gunpoint, raided with rifle teams and terrorized with the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents who will of course selectively target conservatives, Christians and Trump supporters.

Heres one of the IRS rifle teams practicing an armed assault on a taxpayer, wielding what Democrats call weapons of war that they claim dont belong on the streets of America:

This photo, also from the 2021 report, shows IRS agents impersonating police while firing handguns at paper targets:

Heres a close-up, zoomed in image of some of the targets:

Note that these targets are shaped like people, not merely circular target zones for rifle competitions or sighting in:

What these targets prove is that the IRS is deliberately training to shoot American citizens, and they are desensitizing their troops to be able to pull the trigger when they are shooting people.

Under Biden, the federal government is waging a hot war against the American people. They have started a domestic war, using the power and unlimited financial resources of the federal government to raise literal armies of heavily armed federal agents who will seek out and execute Americans who refuse to comply with the tyranny.

As all this is happening, AG Merrick Garland is lecturing the American people and demanding citizens stop being mean to the FBI.

You cant make this up

Share these photos everywhere. Heres the source of these photos, via Jobs.IRS.gov:

https://www.jobs.irs.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg-uploads/files/2021_Annual_Report.pdf

They will probably pull this PDF, so we have saved off a copy and will post that if needed.
(Natural News) If you thought that the IRS was a militant agency with far too much power to disrupt the lives of ordinary Americans, often on a whim, you havent seen anything yet.

According to a provision in the latest gargantuan spending bill negotiated by Democrats Chuck Schumer of New York, the Senate majority leader, and West Virginias Joe Manchin, the IRS will be provided nearly $80 billion in new funding to hire up to 87,000 new employees, a great many of them tax auditing agents.

As noted by 100 Percent Fed Up:

More than half of this new funding is meant for enforcement or, in other words, auditing and digital asset monitoring.

This bill also represents a 600% budget increase to the dreaded agency from 2021.

While the Democrats claim that this expansion of the IRS is meant to take on tax cheats and millionaires and billionaires who hide money, only 4-9% of new revenue raised will be from people making more than $500,000/year. The vast majority of new money raised through taxes will come from people making less than $200,000/year, despite Biden and Democrats promises not to raise taxes on the middle class.

Joe Biden is building an army of IRS agents to harass and bully the middle class. Its something that should concern every American taxpayer. The IRS targeted conservatives during the Obama Administration, so its fair to wonder whether Joe Biden will use his new IRS Army to attack conservatives, said National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota in an exclusive statement to Fox News.

But are Republicans just blowing smoke? Is there really anything to fear about a beefed-up IRS? Of course, there is.

You may recall that in 2013 during the Obama regime, the agency was accused of delaying and adding additional approval layers to conservative non-profit organizations the previous year  just in time to prevent them from being able to engage in tax-free political activities ahead of Obamas reelection. It was an overtly political move that the agency got away with.

Not surprisingly, despite this being plainly illegal behavior, following a two-year investigation (which was about 18 months too long) by the FBI, Obamas Justice Dept. refused to pursue criminal charges against anyone.

Democrats are making the IRS bigger than the Pentagon, the Department of State, the FBI, and the Border Patrol COMBINED! Those IRS agents will come after you, not billionaires and big corporations! Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) noted on Twitter in a post containing a video clip of an interview he did this week with Fox News.

Democrats are making the IRS bigger than the Pentagon, the Department of State, the FBI, and the Border Patrol COMBINED! Those IRS agents will come after you, not billionaires and big corporations! pic.twitter.com/HYq5cIjXay  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 7, 2022

A lot of this is on Manchin, the moderate who, in February, declared Bidens horrific build back better fiasco dead  while he continued to negotiate with Schumer behind closed doors.

CNN correspondent Manu Raju noted on Twitter that he asked Manchin about the legislation, then roughly $2 trillion in spending, mostly on garbage climate issues, to say that the West Virginia Democrat made it clear: Its dead.

What Build Back Better bill? I dont know what you guys are talking about, Raju reported that Manchin said in response to whether he had been holding any talks on the issue since December. No, no, no, no. Its dead.

Sen. Joe Manchin, asked about Build Back Better, said: What Build Back Better bill? I dont know what you guys are talking about. I asked him if hes had any talks on the matter since December. No, no, no, no. Its dead.  Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 1, 2022

Apparently, the only thing that is really dead in D.C. is integrity.

Sources include:

ConservativeBrief.com

FoxNews.com

100PercentFedUp.com
(Natural News) An insanely angry woman, who claimed to be working in a hospital, yelled at a man and his children saying she hopes they die for not wearing masks. The mad woman said she is worried about her health being compromised, but the incident happened when she was in line waiting to be served junk food at a fast food restaurant.

In the video posted on Twitter and now circulating on other social media platforms, the alleged healthcare worker noticed the man and his children were not wearing masks while waiting for their turn.

Crazy mask lady wishes this mans kids would die. pic.twitter.com/UMj4AScTJu  Anthony ???? (@Antman0704) August 7, 2022

A customer nearby began to film the dialogue where the mask Nazi was heard telling the man, If this was my business, I wouldnt serve you, to which the father calmly replied, Well thats up to them. They can tell me to leave if they want.

The woman fumed and cursed the man making the older child back out a little farther as she was beginning to be upset about the interaction. I hope your mother gets sick and dies and your kids too, the woman said.

The man was still calm and asked her, You hope people die? The woman became angrier and said, I hope your kids do because they dont have masks on.

In disbelief, the man asked again, You hope my kids die? The insane woman turned to his daughter and told her to just go, and the little girl walks out of the restaurant crying.

The person filming the interaction interrupted and said, You made the little girl cry.

As if going out of her mind, the woman insisted while looking toward the camera that the man and his children should wear a mask. The person taking the video told the angry woman that what she did was wrong.

As the exchange was happening between the woman and the one filming the video, the man with the kids appeared to be in an argument with the angry womans companion. This other person is not within the video frame as it was recorded. After the discussion, the father got too upset and walked out with his distressed children who can be heard crying as they went out of the establishment.

At this juncture, one of the fast food employees approached the woman and chastised her for not considering the emotions of the children. That is not your place to judge. Let him deal with that, he scolded her.

The woman just yelled back, So I can get sick and die? And you can die? And these people can die? I work in a hospital, I see people die every day, its bad, she was hysterically displeased as if dying in a hospital is not a natural occurrence even before the pandemic.

You wanna see your father dying? Its not fun, the woman continued.

She then warned the fast food employee that shell tell Ohio Governor Mike DeWine that the establishment does not mandate customers to wear masks and threatened to shut them down.

Ohio has actually lifted the mask mandate for both vaccinated unvaccinated individuals starting June 2.

Study: Masks not able to reduce COVID-19 transmission

The womans rage toward the father and his children for not wearing masks could be deemed unnecessary as it is no longer mandated in the state.

Also, a study back in April concluded that countries with high levels of compliance to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) mask mandate did not perform better than those with low mask usage, based on the analysis of a moderate positive correlation between mask usage and deaths.

The peer-reviewed study titled Correlation Between Mask Compliance and COVID-19 Outcomes in Europe was authored by Beny Spira, whose research focuses on the molecular genetics of microorganisms.

The research published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science involves a total of 602 million people. Data from 35 European countries on morbidity mortality and mask usage during a six-month period were gathered and analyzed.

The findings presented in this short communication suggest that countries with high levels of mask compliance did not perform better than those with low mask usage in the six-month period that encompassed the second European wave of COVID-19, Spira said in the summary.

He added that the lack of negative correlations between mask usage and COVID-19 cases and deaths suggests that the widespread use of masks at a time when an effective intervention was most needed was not able to reduce COVID-19 transmission. (Related: Yale professor scoffs at the idea that mask mandates are based on science.)

Watch this video of a mask Nazi going psycho on a Delta flight.

This video is from the Rev1776 channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Germany to revive mask mandate in September despite declining COVID-19 cases.

COVID cases overwhelming New Zealand and Singapore despite strict mask mandates.

Lancet study DEBUNKS CDC argument for mask mandates in schools.

Sources include:

100PercentFedUp.com

Twitter.com

USNews.com

TheNationalPulse.com

Cureus.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a U.S. government watchdog agency, sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash on Monday, August 8. The OFAC said Americans could no longer use the app because it launders the proceeds of cybercrimes.

Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a press release.

Tornado cash is a virtual currency mixer that operates on the Ethereum blockchain and indiscriminately facilitates anonymous transactions by obfuscating their origin, destination and counterparties, with no attempt to determine their origin, the statement included.

The app receives a variety of transactions and mixes them together before transmitting them to their individual recipients. Though the purpose is to protect the privacy of the users, these crypto mixing service apps are rampantly used to launder funds, especially those stolen during significant heists.

Virtual currency mixers that assist criminals are a threat to U.S. national security, the finance department said.

Earlier this year, Tornado was involved in a high-profile virtual currency theft. This included the $615 million heist of tokens from Ronin, a network supporting the nonfungible token game Axie Infinity as well as a $100 million attack on U.S. startup Harmony. Both incidents were tracked by security researchers to the Lazarus Group, a cybercrime group made up of an unknown number of individuals run by North Korea.

According to blockchain analysis provider Elliptic, at least $1.5 billion in proceeds from crimes such as ransomware, hacks and fraud as well as $100 $100 million stolen from the Harmony bridge in June have been laundered through Tornado Cash. A total of just over $7 billion in crypto assets have been sent through the platform.

The United States will continue to pursue actions against mixers laundering virtual currency for criminals and those who assist them, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a statement released on Monday. (Related: California regulator to investigate crypto companies for not disclosing risks of crypto lending activities.)

Anonymous user sends money to celebrities via Tornado Cash

As per OFAC, Tornado Cash and its associated crypto wallet addresses have been added to its specially designated nationals list, and anyone interacting with these wallet addresses could now face criminal penalties.

These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person, the press release stated.

Penalties for willful noncompliance can range from fines of $50,000 to $10,000,000 and 10 to 30 years imprisonment.

However, an anonymous entity is still sending Ethereum cryptocurrency to celebrities from a Tornado Cash wallet. The platforms design makes it impossible to trace the source of the transactions.

As per Etherscan, a decentralized smart contracts platform, Ethereum wallets of celebrities Jimmy Fallon, Shaquille ONeal, Dave Chappelle, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and YouTuber Logan Paul were reportedly dusted or received small amounts of the cryptocurrency.

Other notable companies that just received funds from a government-sanctioned entity is clothing brand PUMA, the Ukraine crypto donation wallet and pop culture crypto figure Beeple.

Analysts say this may be a statement from users or even syndicates that it would be difficult for the government to enforce the ban on the crypto app due to its privacy design.

Visit CryptoCult.news for more news related to cashless societies and digital currencies.

Watch the below video that talks about the cryptocurrency collapse.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

NYDFS fines Robinhoods crypto division $30M over anti-money laundering and cybersecurity-related issues.

SEC ignores Paul Pelosi but charges 11 in alleged $300 million crypto Ponzi scheme.

Tales from the crypto: Trapped Celsius customers share financial horrors.

Major crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital files for bankruptcy and fires 25% of workforce as crypto implosion spreads.

Sources include:

CNBC.com

Home.Treasury.gov

Hub.Elliptic.co

Decrypt.co

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Parents are still skeptical of the safety of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) experimental injection for children six months to four years old more than a month after it has been recommended for use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the most recent data and population estimates from the American Academy of Pediatrics, only five percent of children nationwide have been vaccinated. As a result, some doctors say theyve actually had to throw some of these vaccines out because theyre not being used.

I was expecting it to be a slow uptake, but I was not expecting it to be this slow, said Dr. Alexy Arauz Boudreau, chief of pediatrics for primary care at MassGeneral Hospital for Children. Anytime that a parent has to make a choice whether to put something in their childs body, they always want to think twice to make sure the risk to benefit ratio is an accurate one.

Back in June, when COVID-19 cases were said to be soaring, many parents were eager to vaccinate their youngest kids. But the recent data suggests that some parents stances may have changed. They are now concerned about the safety of the jabs for their young ones.

Parents are worried about the long-term effects of the vaccine, said Dr. Robyn Riseberg, founder of Boston Community Pediatrics. They are worried that the studies were smaller numbers than the adult studies.

Meredith Bonner, a Roxbury resident, said that while her six-year-old son is vaccinated, she is going to wait it out to vaccinate her two-year-old.

We have not vaccinated our little one yet. He just goes to a babysitter so hes close to home and still in our bubble. Were not feeling anxious or in a hurry to do that, she said.

Poll reveals 83% of parents doubt efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines

Pediatricians say they were expecting some hesitancy. A recent survey found that only around one in five parents would actually plan on getting their toddlers and pre-school children vaccinated.

The recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll titled COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor concluded that a total of 83 percent of parents are refusing shots for their young children. (Related: Not safe for kids: 80% of American parents are doubtful about the safety of COVID pediatric jabs, survey reveals.)

Broken down, KFFs survey showed that 43 percent of the parent-respondents with children five years and younger will definitely not have their babies take the experimental vaccines and another 40 percent would prefer to wait before allowing their children to be jabbed or they would have their child inoculated only if required.

The parents deduced that the vaccine is very new and that not enough testing and research were done to prove its efficacy. There were also concerns about the adverse effects, and most of them worry about the safety of their children in general.

Eight in 10 parents of the unvaccinated children say they are very or somewhat concerned that their child might experience serious side effects from the injections and that not enough is known about the long-term effects of the vaccine in children, the poll stated.

The poll also found that among parents who are vaccinated, but have not yet vaccinated their child, 79 percent express concerns about side effects while 74 percent are worried about the unknown long-term effects.

Even though a study found that mRNA vaccines can cause children to suffer from serious vaccine-associated enhanced diseases, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the mRNA jabs from Pfizer and Moderna for children aged six months old and up on June 17 via a press release.

The agency announced the fast-tracked emergency use authorization despite the vaccines clinical trials being determined not to be reliable due to the low number of COVID-19 cases that occurred in the study participants.

Visit VaccineInjuryNews.com for more news related to the severe adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines for all ages.

Watch the below video that talks about the FDAs critically flawed risk analysis on vaccine for children.

This video is from the alltheworldsastage channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Parents DO NOT want COVID-19 vaccines for their kids.

Biden regime frustrated as parents refuse to sacrifice their children to COVID vaccine industry.

Pfizers COVID shot KILLS 9-year-old with no pre-existing conditions just two weeks after vaccination.

Pathologist Dr. Clare Craig: Pfizer vaccine clinical trial for kids should be null and void.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

NBCBoston.com

KFF.org

LifeSiteNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Pfizer on Monday said it launched the final phase of testing for an experimental vaccine to prevent Lyme disease.

(Article by Megan Redshaw republished from ChildrensHealthDefense.org)

The company plans to create a seasonal vaccine that people age 5 and older can get during the months when ticks are most active.

If approved, the vaccine could be the first human vaccine available for Lyme disease in the U.S. in more than two decades after LYMERix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, was withdrawn from the market in 2002, due to lawsuits, safety concerns and dwindling sales.

According to a press release, Pfizer and French partner Valneva are enlisting 6,000 participants ages 5 and older for a late-stage clinical trial that will test the vaccine, VLA15, against the tick-borne illness.

According to ClinicalTrials.gov, 18,000 healthy participants 5 years and older were recruited for the study. In its press release, Pfizer did not explain the discrepancy in the number of trial participants.

VLA15 is a multivalent protein subunit vaccine targeting the outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The vaccine is supposed to protect against six forms of the protein expressed by the bacterial species present in North America and Europe.

During the Phase 3 clinical trial, participants will receive three doses of VLA15 or a placebo, followed by one booster dose or another placebo, The Washington Post reported.

The study will be held in as many as 50 sites where Lyme disease is highly endemic, the drugmakers said, including Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the U.S.

Pending successful completion of the trials, Pfizer may request approval for its vaccine from regulators in the U.S. and Europe in 2025.

With increasing global rates of Lyme disease, providing a new option for people to help protect themselves from the disease is more important, Annaliesa Anderson, senior vice president and head of vaccine research & development at Pfizer, said in a press release.

Anderson told The Associated Press the company is really looking at something thats a seasonal vaccine, so people have high antibody levels during the months when ticks are most active.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 476,000 people in the U.S. each year are treated for Lyme disease, which is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and rarely, Borrelia mayonii. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks.

Typical symptoms of the illness include rashes, fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches and swollen lymph nodes.

Lyme disease can be treated effectively and rapidly with antibiotics. If left untreated, it can cause damage to joints, facial palsy or drooping.

About 1 in every 100 cases can result in Lyme carditis, which occurs when Lyme disease bacteria enter the heart tissues. Yet, only 11 fatal cases of Lyme carditis were reported during a 34-year period between 1985 and 2019.

In Phase 2 of the study, the companies tested the experimental VLA15 vaccine at two different administration schedules: a two-dose regimen six months apart and a three-dose regimen with follow-up shots administered at two and six months after the initial administration.

Both schedules involved 180 ?g doses.

Similar to claims Pfizer made about booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, the drugmaker said that while the two-dose regimen of VLA15 demonstrated immunity, a third VLA15 dose increased the level of antibodies against an outer surface protein.

According to data obtained after the Phase 2 trial, Pfizers Lyme disease vaccine saw a drop-off in protection after 18 months and vaccine recipients will need a booster, Fierce Biotech reported.

Antibody titers, which can show how one part of the immune system is remembering the shot, declined thereafter across all groups, remaining above baseline but confirming the need for a booster strategy.

Lyme disease to become lucrative market for drugmakers

As The Defender reported in April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July 2017 issued biotech company Valneva a fast-track designation that specifically allows for expedited review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need.

Valneva sold the rights to VLA15 to Pfizer for $130 million in 2020, at which time the two companies announced a collaboration for the continued development and commercialization of the vaccine.

Pfizer penned the $308 million deal with Valneva in May 2021. Under the terms of the two companies agreement, the first dose in the Phase 2 study triggered an additional $10 million payment from Pfizer to Valneva.

Pfizer agreed to make an additional $25 million milestone payment to Valneva at the start of Mondays trial.

According to Fierce Biotech, a successful Phase 3 trial could give Pfizer a clear run at a growing opportunity and offers Pfizer the chance to add a growth driver to its mammoth vaccine unit.

VLA15 is the only Lyme disease vaccine candidate in active clinical development, according to Pfizer, however it does not represent the first attempt to develop a Lyme disease vaccine.

Pasteur Merieux Connaught (now Sanofi Pasteur) developed an OspA Lyme vaccine called ImuLyme and tested it in a large study, but the company never applied for a license to market the vaccine.

Baxter International in 2013 released data about a vaccine for Lyme disease it was developing but sold off its vaccine portfolio. Today, Takeda, the largest drug company in Asia, owns the vaccine but has not taken it forward.

Merck in 2019 said it was working on a vaccine for Lyme disease.

According to Gregory Poland, the director of the Vaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic, every manufacturer that has considered bringing a Lyme disease vaccine to market has determined its unlikely to make a profit. However, this is likely to change as the demand for a Lyme vaccine is greater than ever before.

Read more at: ChildrensHealthDefense.org
(Natural News) Soaring temperatures and lack of rainfall, we are told, are causing the Rhine River, which flows through Germany, to drop to dangerously low levels.

As we reported, Germany has had difficulties producing coal as a replacement for lost energy from Russia because of dropping water levels on the Rhine. Now, there is a serious risk of other commodities not being able to make it through the critical shipping route.

In addition to coal transport, the Rhine is needed to move other necessities such as food, minerals, chemicals and oil products. If it dries up, as it appears to be doing, then ships will no longer be able to get through, resulting in a shipping halt.

As if damaged supply chains were not already bad enough, now the Rhine situation is exacerbating the situation  watch the DW report below to see it with your own eyes:

Sky News also published a series of images showing just how little water remains in the Rhine.

Many German factories have to use the Rhine to receive and deliver supplies and goods. If the Rhine goes, so do these businesses  and so does the German economy at large.

The waterway  one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe  runs from the Swiss Alps through Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands, Sky News explains.

If the Rhine becomes impassible, Germanys economy goes bye-bye

More than one ton of freight for each resident of the European Union (EU) is delivered via the Rhine every single year. This is a massive volume that illustrates just how important the Rhine is to all of Europe, covering $80 billion worth of Germanys economy.

This is particularly the case for the Rhine, whose nautical bottleneck at Kaub has very low water levels but which remains navigable for ships with small drafts, said Tim Alexandrin, a spokesman for Germanys transport ministry.

Back in October 2018, the water level at Kaub reached a record low of 27cm. It is currently higher than that at 40cm, but could reach new lows in the coming weeks without rain to save the day.

With each passing day, it becomes increasingly more difficult for larger vessels to pass through the worst spots on the Rhine. Navigators must carefully dodge sandbars and other obstructions while trying to maintain course through the deepest and safest spots.

The situation is quite dramatic, but not as dramatic yet as in 2018, said Christian Lorenz, a spokesman for the German logistics company HGK.

Currently, ships bringing salt from Heilbronn to Cologne, which typically carry about 2,200 tons of cargo each, are only able to transport about 600 tons each.

Of course we hope that shipping wont be halted, but we saw in 2018 that when water levels got very low the gas stations suddenly had no more fuel because ships couldnt get through, he added.

Normally, a ship moving through the Rhine would have about two full meters of clearance underneath it. Now, however, the worst spots only have 40cm, which is dangerously close to hitting the bottom.

And then for us, the challenge is to get past those points without touching, without damaging the ship, said Servian captain Peter Claereboets.

Because of the low water levels, the sailing route gets narrower, and we actually start travelling like trains, in a convoy, he added.

There is already talk of having to modify shipping paradigms to accommodate a new normal for the Rhine. New ships will reportedly be built for much lower water levels, suggesting this is a prolonged event.

As Western civilization falls apart in real time, you can keep up with the latest at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

StrangeSounds.org

NaturalNews.com

News.Sky.com

Bloomberg.com
(Natural News) While it might seem like Facebook and other social media platforms that censor content and steer the narrative through fact checking are simply tools of the left-wing political machine, the reality is that the hidden hand of power that controls both major political parties in this country is their true owner.

Alan MacLeod unpacked this in a new article for Mintpress News that identifies the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as the entity behind Facebook fact checking, particularly as it pertains to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Most of the fact-checking organizations Facebook has partnered with to monitor and regulate information about Ukraine are directly funded by the U.S. government, either through the U.S. Embassy or via the notorious National Endowment for Democracy (NED), he wrote.

The same CIA that controls Facebook today through such means has been doing this kind of thing for decades  though it used to be much more covert. The CIA used to quietly circulate propaganda in targeted nations, as well as secretly fund foreign uprisings, including the 2014 coup in Ukraine that set in motion what we are now seeing happen there today.

Today, all the CIA has to do is control the social media environment with an iron fist in order to accomplish its goals. Facebook alone boasts three billion active users, which is about one-third of the total global population. (Related: It has been known for at least a decade that Big Tech is a massive government spying operation posing as private sector innovation.

Meta, Facebooks parent company, is a CIA honeypot that polices information

MacLeod has been on a roll lately outing Big Tech as the government psychological operation that it really is. He continues to highlight the direct ties between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., that most Americans are woefully ignorant about as they scroll through their profile newsfeeds.

Last month, MacLeod released a report about how Meta, Facebooks parent company, has been hiring many CIA veterans and other U.S. intelligence cartel participants to police the information that makes it through the censors on its platforms, another of which is Instagram.

Metas senior product policy manager for misinformation was hired straight out of the Central Intelligence Agency in 2019 and now helps Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp sort out information from misinformation, reported the Strategic Culture Foundation (SCF).

Google is another tech giant that is hiring CIA veterans to determine which search results are true and thus allowed, and which are false and thus have to be removed to maintain the narrative.

Google is easily the single most influential corporation on the planet when it comes to public access to information, SCF said about the scope of these government operations.

Then we have Twitter, which has been actively hiring Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents to work in the fields of security, trust, safety and content, according to MacLeod.

Even TikTok is now infested with government agents, including several former North Atlantic Treaty Organization employees. Why on earth would TikTok need such people in its ranks if not to control what gets posted there and possibly even punish users who engage in wrongspeak?

Silicon Valley is at least as fundamental a component of U.S. imperial narrative control as the legacy media and Hollywood, and is becoming even more so, SCF warned. Together they comprise the empires narrative control apparatus, which is just as essential to the functioning of the empire as its military or economic might.

Silicon Valley is filled with spooks and liars for the same reason the mainstream news media support every U.S. war and continually normalize the freakish injustices of our society: because whoever controls the narrative controls the world.

The latest news about Big Tech spying and surveillance can be found at Technocrats.news.

Sources for this article include:

Strategic-Culture.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) One of the fiercest voices against a congressional investigation into the true origins of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) was just outed as a major financial contributor to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in communist China where many believe the Fauci Flu was created and released.

Peter Hotez, dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine, reportedly directed $6.1 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant money he received straight to the WIV, which then used it for illegal gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.

Hotez claimed that the money was spent on trying to develop a vaccine for the Wuhan Flu, as well as address any accidental release from a laboratory of the bat coronaviruses that were being tampered with at the facility. He is also vehemently opposed to a round of hearings scheduled for next year aimed at uncovering the full truth about Chinese Germs.

What is Hotez trying to hide so badly that he does not want anyone to probe this important matter? And why is he still employed at Baylor if he is embroiled in what appears to be a criminal conspiracy that funneled American taxpayer dollars to the Chinese Communist Party? (Related: Remember when Hotez called for people skeptical of Fauci Flu shots to be tyrannized by medical fascists?)

Hotez says inquiries into COVID origins are part of a plan to undermine the fabric of science in America

Those hearings are invalid and should not occur because they are part of a plan to undermine the fabric of science in America, Hotez wrote in a Twitter post decrying the idea.

He called all investigation into COVIDs origins an outlandish conspiracy and pushed the long-debunked narrative that the Fauci Flu was just some random accident that had nothing to do with any U.S.-funded research.

What we know for sure is that Hotezs NIH grant, which spanned from 2012 to 2017, was used for some hidden purpose in China that he does not want to be identified. Hotezs grant, meanwhile, raised the very real possibility of deliberate spreading of the virus by a bioterrorist attack, calling SARS outbreaks a serious concern mainly due to possible zoonotic reintroduction of SARS-CoV into humans.

Its not clear why Hotez has dismissed a possible lab release of SARS-CoV-2 as preposterous, after having conducted research for years to prepare for a possible accidental or deliberate release of SARS-CoV, reported the Defender, adding that Hotez did not respond to any of the questions that were emailed to him about the matter.

It turns out that bat lady Zhengli Shi, also known as the virus hunter, was head of the projects that Hotez funded. Hotez specifically subcontracted research on combined or chimeric coronaviruses, as well as underwrote two of Shis collaborators on the project.

Hotez also co-funded a 2017 paper that revealed success among Shi and her colleagues in generating a recombinant (genetically engineered) virus from two SARS-related coronaviruses. They called that recombinant mutant virus rWIV1-SHC014S.

Its not clear whether the paper co-funded by Hotez should have been stopped under a temporary pause on gain-of-function work before 2017, the Defender added.

However, some independent biosecurity experts have said research on this chimeric virus in some ways epitomizes lapses in NIH oversight of risky research in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Richard Ebright of Rutgers University said the construction and threat-characterization of rWIV1-SHC014 unequivocally shows that illegal gain-of-function research was taking place at the WIV, and that Hotez was directly funding it.

The latest news coverage about the plandemic saga can be found at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) India held its first March for Life to commemorate almost 800 million victims of abortion in the Hindu-majority nation.

The march took place last Aug. 10 in the capital New Delhi, under the purview of Western Roman and Syro-Malabar Rite Catholic bishops. Present were Syro-Malabar Rite Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of the Diocese of Faridabad and Auxiliary Bishop Deepak Valerian Tauro of the Archdiocese of Delhi. Tauro also serves as chairman of the countrys Pro-Life Commission.

The event included a 2.5-kilometer Jericho march that began at the Jantar Mantar landmark in the capital. It ended at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, where Mass was subsequently celebrated. Funeral bells were then rung in remembrance of the millions of aborted babies over the last five decades. Given this, the march also served as a day of mourning.

According to LifeSiteNews, the March for Life was organized by the Delhi Catholic Charismatic Service of Communion and CHARIS India  the official body of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services in the country.

Moreover, the march also served as a protest against Indias Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTPA) of 1971. Bharanikulangara pointed out that since the laws passing 51 years ago, India has seen an estimated 15.6 million abortions annually. This added up to a total of almost 800 million innocent children victimized by infanticide.

Prior to the march, both Tauro and Bharanikulangara issued circular letters to priests in their respective dioceses.

Let us pray that the unjust killing of innocent and helpless children in wombs comes to an end, the prelate for New Delhi wrote in a July 16 letter. He quoted St. Theresa of Calcutta, who said: If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?

The prelate for Faridabad, meanwhile, expressed great joy and exultation over the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of the Roe v. Wade ruling in an Aug. 6 letter. He added that he hopes to see a similar day in India with the overturn of the MTPA. (Related: Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, sending issue of abortion back to states where it always belonged.)

Bharanikulangara concluded his letter by echoing his fellow bishops sentiments: Let us pray that the war in [the] womb also [comes] to an end.

Pro-life pushing back in India through the march

It is an exciting time for the pro-life movement. As were seeing, the end of Roe v. Wade presents an opportunity and a cause for hope  because it demonstrates to countries like India that such unjust laws can be overturned, said Right to Life U.K. spokeswoman Catherine Robinson.

Robinson expressed optimism that the March for Life will begin to create more of a pro-life culture and pave the way for India to experience its own overturning of its abortion laws.

March organizer Sister Paulina Melite told Right to Life UK that she hopes the event will carry on for years to come until the MTPA is completely revoked, in the same manner as Roe v. Wade.

Abortion is legal in India, thanks to the MTPA. The original version of the law decriminalized infanticide for up to 20 weeks of gestation, but the Indian parliament increased it to 24 weeks in 2021.

Sex-selective abortion  in which baby girls are aborted due to their biological sex  is also a significant issue in parts of India. Because of this practice, the country has an imbalanced sex ratio with significantly fewer girls being born than boys. A 2018 government report acknowledged this imbalance, noting that an estimated 63 million women were missing from the Indian population.

In a bid to fix this gender imbalance and the issues that accompany it, New Delhi outlawed sex-selective abortion and prenatal sex detection in 1994.

Visit Abortions.news for more stories about abortion in India and other countries.

Watch this LifeSiteNews report about pro-life men in Florida marching against abortion.

This video is from the LSNTV channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

March for Life cancels annual expo, demands vaccine compliance for indoor event, pushing same jabs that are murdering babies and causing spontaneous abortions.

Media networks had 13X more coverage of March For Our Lives compared to March For Life  and no coverage at all of the March Against Monsanto.

PUSH BACK: 600,000 Mexicans erupt in massive public march to stop abortion genocide, LGBT indoctrination assault on their children.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

RightToLife.org.uk

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Kari Lake won the Republican nomination for Arizona governor, despite irregularities that may have cost her thousands of votes. Melissa Red Pill talked about the election fraud that happened in the recent Arizona primary and Lakes victory during the Aug. 3 episode of the Freedom Force Battalion on Brighteon.TV.

Election investigators Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht of True the Vote said the Republican National Convention and Republican Party of Arizonas poll observer program documented and reported multiple failures by Pinal Countys elections administrators during the states primary election.

Most notable among the reported irregularities were the 63,000 mail-in ballots delivered to the wrong voters and the multiple Republican-heavy precinct locations that have run out of ballots. This is a comprehensive failure that disenfranchises Arizonans and exemplifies why Republican-led efforts for transparency at the ballot box are so important, Red Pill said.

The host said Lake is a great leader and is no doubt a winner. She gives every American a backbone aside from having a strong faith in God. Lake is a former anchor for Fox 10 News in Phoenix.

According to Red Pill, Lake winning as Arizona governor in the coming midterm election means that all the people involved in election fraud in the state are going to prison. She added that these people are fighting for their very lives now because they have committed treason and election fraud is a federal crime. (Related: Melissa Red Pill: George Soros moving to legitimize, legalize voter fraud in America  Brighteon.TV.)

Red Pill showed a video clip of Lake promising that she will fix the election system once and for all if she gets elected as governor of Arizona.

In the video, Lake thanked the people of Arizona and former President Donald Trump for their support in enabling her to win the nomination of the Republican primary for governor in Arizona. The former Fox News anchor mentioned that Arizonas elected officials failed their citizenry when they never put in order the states election system.

Red Pill lauds Arizona for picking the right candidates

Red Pill also cited Mark Finchem, who got the secretary of state nomination for the GOP in Arizona. Finchem has also been talking about and exposing election fraud in the state.

She then took a shot at Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who was blown out by Trump-backed David Farnsworth in the Republican primary election. She said Bowers was trying to stop Trump from giving the American people a free and fair election.

The host lauded the people of Arizona for voting good people to run in positions for governor, legislators and secretary of state. Americans need to have good people in federal government positions who will rule and judge with righteousness, she said.

Red Pill went on to say that the primary is just the beginning of a gigantic red wave, which is indicative of what is going to happen in November. Everything that is happening right now in the Joe Biden administration has made the American people realize what this present federal government is doing.

Follow VoteFraud.news for more news about Americas coming midterm elections.

Watch the August 3 episode of the Freedom Force Battalion below. Freedom Force Battalion with Melissa Red Pill airs every Wednesday at 11 a.m.-12 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Melissa Red Pill: There was clear corruption during 2020 US elections  Brighteon.TV.

Melissa Red Pill: County clerks latest bombshell report is proof of election fraud  Brighteon.TV.

Media now admits Dominion voting systems have software vulnerabilities which could allow them to be tampered with.

Vote fraud looms: Biden administration plotting a federal takeover of the 2022 midterm elections.

We have serial numbers for money, cars and guns, but NOT for ballots for elections? Time to end election fraud.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

KariLake.com

FreedomForce.live
(Natural News) The media stopped describing the search of Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate as a raid after a top former FBI agent complained about the wording during an appearance on MSNBC.

(Article by Paul Joseph Watson republished from Summit.news)

Federal agents ransacked Trumps Florida home, even going through his wife Melanias wardrobes, in a bid to find classified records Trump allegedly took from the White House.

Trump supporters assert that the boxes recovered during the raid contain files that were already declassified by the time Trump left office.

The raid was carried out after an FBI informant had infiltrated Mar-a-Lago and discovered the precise location of where the files were being kept.

Despite widespread anger at the raid from both Trump supporters and Republicans in general, one former FBI agent tried to language police by insisting that the raid, timed for when the feds knew Trump wouldnt be home, was not in fact a raid.

Agents, by the way, dont like the word raid, they dont like it, former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi told MSNBC.

It sounds like its some kind of, you know, extra judicial non legal thing. Its the execution of a search warrant. Its a court authorized search warrant, he added.

MSNBCS Frank Figliuzzi says FBI agents do not like the term raid. Moments later, MSNBC updates their lower third to executes search warrant pic.twitter.com/KHCXTzJf6p  Kayvon Afshari (@KayvonAfshari) August 9, 2022

Figliuzzi insisted that the FBI would want the incident described as them having executed a search warrant and that calling it a raid helped Trump define what happened as prosecutorial misconduct.

Almost instantly, the media followed orders.

MSNBC changed their chyron, from FBI Raids Trumps Mar-A-Lago Home, to FBI Executes Search Warrant At Trumps Mar-A-Lago, moments after Figliuzzis appearance, notes Jack Hadfield.

The New York Times also changed the word raid to search.

Change in Headline pic.twitter.com/5XMRVDBNf3  Editing TheGrayLady (@nyt_diff) August 9, 2022

Twitters trending tab description of the incident was also changed to omit the word raid.

Twitter Monday night vs Twitter Tuesday morning. Spot the difference! pic.twitter.com/SctOhcs0L1  Jack Hadfield ?? (@JackHadders) August 9, 2022

Meanwhile, Trump himself said on Truth Social last night that the FBI had already visited Mar-a-Lago in June to view the records after they asked Trump to secure them with an extra lock.

Then on Monday, without notification or warning, an army of agents broke into Mar-a-Lago, went to the same storage area, and ripped open the lock that they had asked to be installed, wrote Trump.

Read more at: Summit.news
(Natural News) National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle, the head of the biggest union of educators in the U.S., is showing her colleagues how to brainwash children. Katie Petrick and David Fiorazo made this revelation during the Aug. 8 episode of The Dr. Duke Show. Pesta and Fiorazo filled in for the shows regular host Dr. Duke Pesta.

The president of the largest and most powerful teachers union in the country is brainwashing the minds of todays educators, so that they can then brainwash the minds of our children, Petrick said. Fiorazo, on the other hand, warned that Pringle is mobilizing her fellow educators to groom potential social justice warriors for the Left.

A description of Pringle on the NEAs website mentioned that she was a fierce social justice warrior, defender of educator rights, unrelenting advocate for all students and communities of color and a valued and respected voice in the education arena. Prior to becoming the union president, the teacher with more than three decades of experience under her belt served as NEA secretary-treasurer and vice president.

Fiorazo cited the NEA presidents infuriating speech during a conference in July, which was filled to the brim with woke agenda items and progressive language. These issues, he remarked, have little to do with the proper education of American children.

The NEA is a social justice union thats really a female and transgender non-conforming. Its just a combination of idiocy, but this is what theyre passing on to the kids, stated Fiorazo, who added that the teachers union was voting on mandatory masking, creating an enemies list and rejecting words such as mother and father.

The show presented video clips of Pringle giving her speech during the NEA conference in Chicago. Pringle mentioned that Americans are now feeling the effects of a radicalized Supreme Court issuing decisions that do not reflect the views or the values of America.

She added that the ground has shifted and the stage has been set to move the American people away from the promise of America for all Americans.

Educators are no longer hiding their political bias

Pringle also touched on several issues, such as decisions on school prayer that attack religious freedom and vouchers that threaten the right to universal public education. She also mentioned the long-term devastating impact of the Supreme Courts decision to hijack the fundamental freedom to decide when and how to have a family.

Fiorazo noted that Pringle and the NEA are no longer hiding their political bias or agenda.

According to Petrick, the purpose of education is to teach students how to think for themselves. Its not possible when the educators themselves are pushing certain agenda.

During her July 2022 speech, Pringle remarked that the NEA will fight unceasingly for the rights of LGBT students and educators. She promised that the teachers union will encourage them to walk in their authenticity and to love themselves fully to be who they are meant to be. Fiorazo, however, expressed skepticism as this went against the image of how God made these students and teachers.

Pringle also mentioned in her speech that she and other educators will continue to take seriously their responsibility as educators to teach students about Americas true and complete history through the so-called 1619 Project. (Related: Teachers union head defends indoctrinating children with critical race theory.)

Fiorazo lamented that the 1619 Project pushed by Pringle and the NEA is not true American history, but leftist and social justice woke history. Ultimately, Petrick said that leftist educators have been rewriting and revising history for decades.

Follow EducationSystem.news for more news about wokeness in the American educational system.

Watch the video below to know more about the woke agenda of the NEA and its president.

This video is from the FreedomProject Media channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

NEA goes full Marxist: American school teachers say they will teach anti-white CRT agenda regardless of laws.

Dr. Duke Pesta tells Dr. Daniel Bobinski: Americans not paying attention to shocking changes in schools  Brighteon.TV.

Public schools arent just grooming your children to become transgenders: Theyre also drugging them with mind-altering pharmaceuticals.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

NEA.org
(Natural News) In an appalling display of delusion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) claimed that China is one of the freest societies in the world.

She put forward this claim during an Aug. 9 interview on the NBC News program Today, in response to program host Savannah Guthries question regarding the speakers visit to Taiwan a week earlier on Aug. 2. Pelosi also shared her thoughts on Beijings escalating military action toward Taipei.

We didnt go [to Taiwan] to change our policy; we still support the One China Policy. We go there to acknowledge [that] the status quo is what our policy is. There is nothing disruptive about that, the top lawmaker told Guthrie.

It was only about saying China is one of the freest societies in the world. Dont take it from me, thats from Freedom House. Its a strong democracy [with] courageous people, and its just  I dont know why it is  except theres some commercial interests who would like to diminish the relationship.

However, the Washington, D.C.-based democracy think tank begs to differ.

According to its Freedom in the World index that observes 210 countries, Taiwan is ranked with a high 94 percent free rating. Meanwhile, mainland China only has a measly nine percent rating  putting it among more than 60 countries classified as not free.

Interestingly, Pelosis claim during the Aug. 9 interview may have been a gaffe as she rightfully dubbed Taiwan as belonging to the freest societies in the world a week earlier.

The gaffe came amid the House speakers ill-advised trip to the island nation. President Joe Biden echoed the sentiments of military officials, who said the visit to Taipei was not a good idea.

The White House later reversed course, saying that the chief executive respects Pelosis visit. It added that the visit aligns with American foreign policy going back decades.

Dems flip-flopping on their stance toward China

Beijing pushed forward with its threats of military action during and after Pelosis two-day visit to Taipei. Despite the U.S. insisting on the One China Policy, which considers Taiwan as a province of the mainland, this failed to mollify Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping. (Related: China suspends dialogue with US following House Speaker Nancy Pelosis Taiwan visit.)

However, Washington has been inconsistent with its stance toward Taiwan. Many U.S. officials, including Biden himself, have said it may be necessary to deploy military assets in defense of Taiwan if China attempts to take the island by force.

In usual fashion, a White House spokesperson came to the presidents defense.

He reiterated our One China Policy and our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the spokesperson said. He also reiterated our commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.

Meanwhile, Chinese tabloid Global Times responded to Pelosis visit by saying that U.S. politicians only cause chaos and disaster to every nation they stand with. The tabloid is well known as a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.

History repeatedly proves that US politicians will only bring about chaos and disaster to the people they said they stand with, said the tabloid, quoting Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

The spokeswoman said during an Aug. 4 press conference: Look at Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan  the beautiful sight to behold that Pelosi once said she would stand with  and the secessionists in Chinas Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. What happened to them now?

According to Hua, Beijings military exercises launched near Taiwan serve as a warning to provocateurs and Taiwan independence secessionists. She added that the exercises have nothing to do with regular people and will not cause any harm  as long as they do not support Taiwanese independence.

Watch Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) insist that Pelosis visit triggered Beijing to launch military exercises.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

China flies fighter jets into Taiwanese airspace, escalating tension following Pelosi visit.

China surges forces toward Taiwan, conducts live-fire drills as Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits.

Chinas military begins surrounding Taiwan as it conducts largest live-fire drills in over two decades.

China deploys de facto naval blockage around Taiwan under the guise of temporary military exercises following Pelosi visit.

Sources include:

HeadlineUSA.com

MyNBC15.com

FreedomHouse.org

GlobalTimes.cn

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) If all goes as planned, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will soon be dispensing seasonal Lyme disease vaccines  the first of their kind. But first, the company wants to test them on little children.

Lyme injections are the latest pharmakeia brew to be unveiled by Pfizer, which is reportedly in the final phase of testing. The only thing left to do is give the experimental jabs to kids as young as five to see how their bodies respond. (Related: Pfizer was also successful in convincing the Food and Drug Administration to approve covid injections for children as young as five.)

According to a press release, Pfizer and its French partner Valneva are enlisting 6,000 people age five and older to take VLA15, as the jab is called. If successful  meaning if Pfizer is able to hide enough of the negative data to make the shots appear safe  then it could be the first drug manufacturer to launch a vaccine for Lyme.

A description of the trial at ClinicalTrials.gov reveals that 18,000 healthy participants 5 years and older were recruited to participate. There was no explanation given as to the disparity between the 6,000 number used in the press release and the 18,000 number filed with the government.

Pfizer describes VLA15 as a multivalent protein subunit vaccine that targets the outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia, the bacteria that allegedly causes Lyme. The jab supposedly protects against six forms of the protein expressed by the bacterial species that is most prevalent in North America and Europe.

All new vaccines are apparently becoming seasonal to ensure constant profits for Big Pharma

According to The Washington Post, the phase 3 clinical trial participants will receive three doses of VLA15 or a placebo, followed by one booster dose or another placebo.

It seems that seasonal shots and boosters are the new normal when it comes to vaccine injections, all thanks to the fraud that is Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines and the plandemic that made them happen.

Pfizer is clearly hoping to bank on this new format for vaccines, which have to keep getting jabbed in peoples arms at regular intervals in order to work. No longer do vaccines provide actual immunity against disease, apparently.

Now, they function much like heroin needles that need to constantly be injected in order to get a hit. Once the effects wear off, it is time for another hit  which, of course, means a steady stream of new profits for Pfizer.

There is very little money to be made from a once-and-done injection format  you know, like how vaccines used to be. Now, everything is becoming seasonal, which assures Big Pharma an easy repeat of profits year after year.

Pfizers goal is to obtain government approval both in Europe and North America for VLA15 to be commercially unleashed. Until then, the company plans to recruit trial participants at upwards of 50 different sites in both regions of the world.

Pfizer senior vice president and head of vaccine research and development Annaliesa Anderson claims that her company needs to unleash these new jabs because of increasing global rates of Lyme disease.

The reason they have to be seasonal, she told The Associated Press (AP), is supposedly because recipients will need a boost of antibodies every year when ticks, which are said to spread Lyme, are most active in the environment.

There is also the tiny little problem of the shots effectiveness waning over time. This was discovered in phase 2 testing  or so we are told. It is convenient that protection wanes because, once again, this means more profits for Pfizer with everyone having to take booster after booster every year for the rest of their lives.

The latest news about Pfizer can be found at Evil.news.

Sources for this article include:

ChildrensHealthDefense.org

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The United Nations would like everyone to be on the lookout for worrying and dangerous conspiracy theories  especially those that might lead people to the conclusion that COVID-19 escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China you know, the thing the WHO just admitted could very well be the case, and which Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has launched recent investigations into.

(Article by Tyler Durden republished from ZeroHedge.com)

Some background

Before we get into the UNs latest salvo in the war over narratives (feel free to scroll down if youre a regular reader); We know from government contracts, FOIA records, and leaked emails that the US government was conducting risky gain-of-function research on US soil until former President Obama banned it in 2014 over ethical questions raised by the scientific community. The research included manipulating bat Covid to be more transmissible to humans, and following Obamas ban, was funneled overseas through New York nonprofit, EcoHealth Alliance  whose CEO Peter Daszak secured lucrative contracts to study and manipulate bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China four months before Obamas ban.

Daszak was the guy behind The Lancets it couldnt have come from a lab Natural Origin statement  for which he reportedly engaged in a bullying campaign  before generating significant controversy over conflicts of interest involving many of its authors and co-signatories, to which the Lancet later admitted.

And then I see the scientists. Oh, nothing here to look at. We know its the market. Did we find an animal? No. Do we have an explanation of where that furin cleavage site came in? No.https://t.co/SsgzzPxZc6  Yuri Deigin (@ydeigin) August 5, 2022

The first $666,442 installment of EcoHealths $3.7 million NIH grant was paid in June 2014, with similar annual payments through May 2019 under the Understanding The Risk Of Bat Coronavirus Emergence project.

Then, in 2017, a subagency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)  headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci  resumed funding a controversial grant to genetically modify bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China without the approval of a government oversight body.

Notably, the WIV had openly participated in gain-of-function research in partnership with U.S. universities and institutions for years under the leadership of Dr. Shi Batwoman Zhengli, according to the Washington Posts Josh Rogin.

We also know (thanks to a FOIA lawsuit by The Intercept) that Daszak wanted to release Chimeric Covid Spike Proteins Into Bat Populations Using Skin-Penetrating Nanoparticles, only for the DEFUSE proposal to be denied by DARPA on the grounds that it was too risky.

I just wish one of the defenders of the market theory would seriously address the DEFUSE proposals details rather than just mischaracterising and dismissing them. https://t.co/Rbjm4wUlhE  Matt Ridley (@mattwridley) August 6, 2022

Further reading:

Based on the circumstantial evidence, the stonewalling and silence, deleted database, and the leaked DEFUSE grant proposal, the possibility of lab leak of FCS engineered virus is too high too ignore. pic.twitter.com/KGT3YrnEAx  victor tan (@Victorhashira) August 5, 2022

We challenge the UN to debunk any of the above.

Now that youre up to speed

Enter the UNs new #ThinkBeforeSharing campaign, which helps people learn how to identify, debunk, react to and report on conspiracy theories to prevent their spread.

To aid gullable individuals navigate the information highway without hitting any conspiracy potholes, UNESCO provides some helpful infographics  one of which thanks Stephen Lewandowsky  Australian psychologist and co-author of a March 2022 Scientific American report complaining about how The Lab-Leak Hypothesis Made It Harder for Scientists to Seek the Truth.

So the default position of those behind the UNs watch out for conspiracy theories campaign is that the lab leak is a conspiracy theory. Right.

They recommend taking action when youve identified a conspiracy theory, but that you dont get lured into an argument with a conspiracy theorist.

Any argument may be taken as proof that you are part of the conspiracy and reinforce that belief, which will cause the conspiracy theorist to argue hard to defend their beliefs.

So what to do? Show empathy, and avoid ridiculing them.

If you are certain you have encountered a conspiracy theory, you must react immediately and post a link to a fact-checking website in the comments.

In short  this (from 2020):

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: We will continue to be your single source of truth Unless you hear it from us it is not the truth.pic.twitter.com/WV7ZfdP2RR  Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 25, 2022

Stay safe out there citizen!

Read more at: ZeroHedge.com
(Natural News) Start doing everything the corrupt government tells you to do and you will be broke, sick and starving in no time flat. In America, fear is big business, and within just two years, the propaganda machine of virus mania hand-walked 270 million Americans right to the poison well  submission by vaccination. Like David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear live on television, the vaccine industrial complex used smoke and mirrors to make Constitutional liberties disappear and medical freedom go up in flames, right before your very eyes.

Thats right folks, step right up and witness the impossible!  lockdowns, depopulation, stay at home orders, halting port operations, printing stimulus money to keep everybody at home, the supply chain collapsing, mass joblessness and the bankrupting of small businesses, it was all hinged on the vaccine agenda. If you cant see the forest for the trees, its time to get a helicopter view. You will be astonished.

The REAL REASONS why COVID-19 vaccines are not manufactured to function like all other infectious disease jabs

Ask yourself two simple questions about the so-called COVID-19 vaccines and the answers will surprise you in the biggest way. The vaccine industrial complex does not want anyone asking these questions ever, and these two questions will never be posed on national media or answered by the CDC. Question #1: Why didnt Big Pharma create the COVID-19 vaccines to function in the same way all other vaccines have functioned to this day? Question #2: Why are so many fully vaccinated people catching, spreading and dying from COVID-19?

Answer to question #1: The COVID-19 vaccines are NOT vaccines at all. They are designed to cause severe inflammation and exacerbate pre-existing diseases and disorders in order to make Big Pharma big bucks and lower the worlds population significantly.

Answer to question #2: The COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent contraction or transmission of the virus. They also do not prevent the more grave cases of it, or even death from it, because the spike proteins are not the same as the so-called wild virus, that was genetically modified in a Wuhan laboratory.

How does all of this play into crashing the economy? Simple. As the workforce dies off or is too sick to be employed, they collect disability and stay-at-home-for-free checks from the OBiden Administration.

That keeps them all voting for more free money while decimating all of their liberties, including medical choice and gun ownership. Meanwhile, the clot shots go to work on everyone, sending them to doctors, hospitals and graveyards by the millions.

Inflammation, blood clots and heart problems are not side effects of COVID-19 jabs; they are exactly WHY the injections were created

In order to fully crash the economy, it is very important for the Democrats in Washington DC, working side-by-side with Big Pharma, to incapacitate as much of the work force as possible. Got pericarditis or myocarditis? Off to the hospital you go for the most expensive diagnostic tests youve ever seen. You might even need a pacemaker.

Got rare blood clots out of the blue? Thats why all of independent media calls them the clot shots. Time to have those removed. Could cost a few hundred thousand dollars? Got that? The New World Order IRS agents will make sure you pay, or go to jail for not paying.

The vaccine agenda was designed to bring down the economy. Can you see it? By submitting to the vaccines, the majority of the populace is also submitting to the entire virus mania agenda. Are you wearing your mask like a good little peon? Are you getting tested regularly with fake, false-positive PCR test kits you have conveniently at your home? Will you blame the chronic inflammation, blood clots and irregular heartbeats on the lab-made disease or the lab-made vaccines?

All other vaccines function differently than COVID-19 jabs

COVID-19 gene therapy injections are designed to make the sick sicker, to prevent births of new children (vaccine-induced spontaneous abortions and miscarriages), and to keep todays children from reproducing more humans in the coming years (thats why spike proteins target the ovaries).

All other vaccines contained contaminants to make people sick and dumb, including genetically modified viruses and mercury (think multi-dose flu shots). But the Fauci Flu jabs contain nanotechnology for invading and crippling vital organs, including the heart, brain, liver and ovaries/testes. This is the ultimate population reduction mechanism and will ultimately cripple the US economy.

Got Spike Protein Syndrome? Billions of humans are infected now. This helicopter will be landing soon. Beware of the clot shot boosters. And watch out for a Chinese (CCP) land invasion, magically coming from the farmlands they are purchasing while you read this. Bookmark Censored.news to your favorite websites for truth news thats being censored from the rest of media as you read this.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

Censored.news
(Natural News) California certainly has its faults. But when it comes to putting up a fight against Big Pharma and its drug dispensaries, the Golden State is often the leader of the pack.

This was demonstrated once again with a recent court ruling out of San Francisco declaring the Walgreens pharmacy chain as a substantial contributor to the opioid crisis in the city.

Walgreens shipped hundreds of thousands of suspicious orders, according to U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, demonstrating its fill, fill, fill culture of drug distribution.

Walgreens pharmacies in San Francisco dispensed hundreds of thousands of red-flag opioid prescriptions without performing adequate due diligence, Breyer ruled using non-jury trial means  meaning Walgreens can be held liable for much of San Franciscos opioid epidemic.

Another trial will be held in the future, Breyer indicated, to determine the full extent of Walgreens liability. (Related: An Ohio jury also found both Walgreens and CVS guilty of fueling the opioid epidemic across the entire country.)

Walgreens pharmacies in San Francisco dispensed hundreds of thousands of red-flag opioid prescriptions without performing adequate due diligence, Breyer wrote in his ruling, which stems from the case of City and County of San Francisco v. Purdue Pharma, also known as the Opioid Trial.

The evidence showed that Walgreens did not provide its pharmacists with sufficient time, staffing, or resources to perform due diligence on these prescriptions.

Big Pharma and its drug dispensaries need to PAY for all the lives theyve destroyed

The Opioid Trial is considered to be a bellwether case by federal courts because it has potential nationwide implications. If a success, drug chains like Walgreens could face convictions all across the land, possibly impacting the pharmaceutical industry as well.

In San Francisco, Walgreens was the only drug chain to not reach a settlement with the city. Thus, Breyer is holding the company liable for its crimes.

Walgreens has hidden, covered up, and run from the truth throughout the entirety of this five-year litigation, said Peter Mougey, an attorney representing San Francisco and other municipalities in the area.

Walgreens knew its system to detect and stop suspicious orders was nonexistent but continued to ship opioids at an alarming pace to increase profits. San Francisco is now one step closer to starting the healing process.

Between 2015 and 2020, overdoses of heroin and fentanyl skyrocketed in San Francisco. Data from the city shows a 478 percent increase in opioid-related deaths during that period, as well as a tripling of opioid-related emergency room visits.

In 2020 alone, some 3,000 people in San Francisco had to be rushed to the hospital for an opioid overdose, a phenomenon that Breyer concluded was substantially contributed to by Walgreens prescribing habits.

Some people like to joke that California has a drug problem because of its left-wing politics. But the reality is that Big Pharma, which is supported and promoted by both the left and the right, is directly responsible for needles littering parks, as one example.

City officials in San Francisco testified during the recent trial that at the height of the opioid crisis there, which was largely driven by pharmacies such as Walgreens, needles were being removed from city parks like changing out the toilet paper in the restrooms, to quote one park ranger.

Whenever someone was spotted passed out and not breathing, rangers simply assumed that it was an opioid overdose because it typically was. And between 2006 and 2020, Walgreens dispensed more than 100 million prescriptions for opioid pills while failing to take appropriate actions to ensure they were legal, directly contributing to the citys drug problem.

According to reports, San Francisco is also pursuing $120 million in damages from seven drug manufacturers including Allergan, Teva, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and Johnson & Johnson, along with distributors McKesson, Cardinal, and AmerisourceBergen.

The latest news about the opioid epidemic can be found at BadMedicine.news.

Sources for this article include:

BlacklistedNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Monsoon rain in the Southwest and a cold front in the Southeast will be the main weather conditions of these quadrants in the United States this week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) on Thursday, August 11.

The so-called active monsoon season in portion of the Western US could trigger thunderstorms and flooding.

Meanwhile, the cold air in the east will lead to a heat relief in the Eastern US.

Since June, a vast portion of the US experienced a series of heat waves or heat domes, including the Pacific Northwest, Central US, Northeast, and Southeast.

While there had been instances of severe weather and flooding, the lurking cold front could lead to a heat relief in the Eastern US in the short-term period.

Weather forecasts point out the North American country is heading toward its fall season.

In the Southwest, the recurring localized heavy rain and flooding related to the so-called "monsoonal moisture" will continue in some locations.

This could also be the case for the Southeast and its adjacent regions in the Gulf Coast; since the cold front is expected to produce rain and storms.

The NWS weather forecast was issued approximately two weeks after Eastern Kentucky witnessed severe flooding due to torrential rain, killing at least 37 people.

The weather outlook also follows the widespread "dangerous heat," which the US weather agency previously described and forecasted to travel from the West Coast into the East Coast.

NWS Weather Forecast

On Thursday, the NWS' Weather Prediction Center (WPC) in College Park, Maryland, released another short range forecast that is valid from Friday to Sunday, August 12 to August 14.

The weather agency reiterates there is a renewed risk of monsoonal storms and potential flooding brought by the Southwestern Monsoon in some areas from the Southwest and into the Great Basin and Rockies.

Showers and thunderstorms with heavy rainfall is also anticipated in locations along the Gulf Coast until the early weekend.

Below-average temperatures and drier air will be behind an advancing cold front towards the south.

The agency added that this will bring a "comfortable" weekend in the Eastern region.

Also Read: Cold Fronts with Rainfall and Strong Winds to Batter Southern Western Australia in the First Week of August

Heat Relief

Fox Weather through its "FOX Forecast Center" reported that millions of Americans from the Northeast to the Midwest will receive the needed extended break from the recent heat, as cooler air from Canada into the eastern half of the country.

Manifested through the cold front, these large masses can stretch a thousand mile across and stay either on high latitudes or at low latitudes for several days, American Geosciences Institute (AGI).

The AGI said that the air mass could either be very cold or very warm, also referred to as a warm front.

The institute also explained the coldest winter weather in the US transpired when the cold air mass from the arctic regions of northeast Asia, Alaska, or northern Canada moves toward the lower parts of North America.

Related Article: Developing Storm System and Cold Front to Cause Strong Winds, Winter Storm, and Torrential Rain Across the US
In Yellowstone, furious torrents wiped out a whole structure and roadways, while people in St. Louis are swimming frantically from their homes.

There have also been numerous fatalities in Kentucky during severe rainstorms recently.

With that, scientists have warned that the climate problem is intensifying the havoc caused by the catastrophic flooding that occurred in the US during this summer.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport saw severe thunderstorms on Wednesday, which resulted in 100 American Airlines flight diversions and hundreds of cancellations that continued into Thursday's schedule.

Flight interruption due to the unexpected storm

By mid-afternoon on Thursday, 10% of American Airlines' scheduled flights had been canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

By Thursday afternoon, there had been a total of nearly 700 US airline cancellations. By Thursday afternoon, more than 4,500 planes were running late.

Furthermore, the company canceled over 370 flights on Wednesday.

According to FlightAware statistics, more than 1,200 US flights were canceled just on Wednesday alone.

The main hub of American Airlines is DFW airport.

According to FlightAware, the Dallas-based Southwest Airlines recorded roughly 250 cancellations on Wednesday. On Thursday, Southwest canceled around 100 flights.

The airline made preparations for thunderstorms that were predicted for Wednesday afternoon south of the airport, according to American's Chief Operating Officer David Seymour.

However, an unexpected second wave arrived.

In a message to workers obtained by CNN Travel, Seymour said that the storms "then regenerated and developed a completely new, and unannounced, line of storms north of the airport, which unexpected storm activity stopped all arrivals into DFW for a three-hour period."

The second-longest run without measurable rain at DFW Airport was 67 days, and such weather can seriously disrupt the aviation business.

Seymour said that this storm was the worst to hit DFW this summer and that there was no warning it was coming.

He acknowledged the efforts made by the American Airlines team to recover from the weather delay and noted that cancellations have a significant negative impact on their customers.

Flight cancellations are a last option, according to the COO's message to the personnel.

Also Read: Flooding Due to Heavy Rain Kills Five People, Displaces Thousands in Tanzania

Deadliest flood barrage in Kentucky

US President Joe Biden called the deadliest of the recent floods, in Kentucky "heartbreaking" as he looked at destroyed homes and submerged automobiles on Monday.

Five days of relentless record rain, which scientists believe occurs only once every 1,000 years, swept down mountain slopes and swamped entire communities, resulting in at least 37 fatalities.

However, after St. Louis broke its one-day rainfall record on July 26 by 8 am, flooding city streets and homes, and an equally catastrophic storm hit Illinois, such extremes are no longer outliers.

A year's worth of rain fell in three hours in Death Valley, California, on Friday, generating vast sheets of water that swept away and destroyed hundreds of miles of roadways.

Death Valley is notorious for its scorching dry heat.

The US suffered at least four flooding episodes within an 11-day period, each of which would typically be anticipated once per 1,000 years or had a 0.1% probability of occurring in any given year.

According to scientists, excessive rainfall brought on by climate breakdown is making many of these traditional patterns obsolete.

The summer of floods in America has produced remarkable spectacles, including the enormous structure in Yellowstone in June that was uprooted from its foundations and swept away by floodwaters in June.

It took a month for the major road gates to the national park to fully reopen after they were cut off by flooding that officials described as "unprecedented."

Although flooding has always happened in the US, the current climate issue is making it more common and aggravating it.

According to the most current national climate assessment conducted by the federal government, heavy precipitation occurrences have grown by 55% in the northeastern US during the 1950s, and by 27% in the southeast, including Kentucky.

Related article: Flash Flooding with Mud and Debris Led to Road Closures Within and Around Death Valley National Park
A multinational team of experts has figured out why certain cows in a herd are affected by bovine digital dermatitis (BDD), a painful, contagious illness of the hoof that affects cattle worldwide, while others in the herd seem immune to it.

One of the most common illnesses affecting dairy cattle worldwide is BDD. The infection has an effect on animal welfare and is linked to infertility, mastitis, and decreased milk supply.

While various prevention measures used at farms have failed to appreciably curb the spread of the disease, treatment alternatives like topical antibiotics and chemical footbaths can cause bacterial resistance and harm the environment.

Bovine Digital Dermatitis affects dairy cows more

Scientists from Germany's Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of Gottingen teamed up with researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US to conduct a detailed study to examine why some cows, usually from the same herds, does not suffer from BDD while others do.

They examined data from 5.040 genotyped animals and discovered that two gene mutations are the likely culprits causing cows to contract the disease.

The findings can be used in cattle breeding programs to breed disease-resistant animals and to develop a pre-screening test.

The German system for health trait evaluations in dairy cattle has already implemented the findings, DairyReporter highlighted.

Professor Hermann Swalve of MLU, one of the research's authors, noted that this was not their first publication or study on the genetics of claw disorders in cattle as they have spent a lot of work over the past 15 years researching the genetics of claw disorders.

He stated, "Digital dermatitis is a major problem on dairy farms all over the world. The disease is exceedingly unpleasant for the cows, and only very seldom would a farm be unaffected by it. From a tiny proportion to up to 80% of cows in every herd might be infected."

The study only took into account Holstein cows that were raised among 13 commercial herds in North Eastern Germany.

Following a visual examination of the animals using the M-scoring method, the researchers utilized DNA and sequence studies to determine why the afflicted cows were genetically prone to contract the disease.

The identification of two potential genes-CMPK2 and AS816-followed by further analysis revealed two minor gene alterations that were subsequently shown to affect disease susceptibility.

Also Read: Cows and Cropland to Help Save the Planet

Managing and controlling Digital Dermatitis

Due to the causative bacteria's ability to survive for up to a year without a host, the environment is crucial in the spread of digital dermatitis.

Cows kept in manure-filled conditions are more likely to contract germs.

These habitats are often damp, which results in an atmosphere devoid of oxygen and promotes the rapid growth of certain bacteria.

Manure builds up on the cow's lower legs, giving the germs time to combine and infect the feet. When cows have access to stalls, their hooves have more time to dry and are less exposed.

The occurrence of digital dermatitis is inversely correlated with how clean and dry the foot is kept.

A Wisconsin study showed that scraping three times a day was the minimum frequency needed to control infectious foot diseases, such as digital dermatitis.

Potentially, automatic scrapers maintain a cleaner lower limb cow than conventional scraping, but only if "operated continuously and over short distances".

If automatic scrapers are used across long distances, the cow is exposed to compounding waves of manure.

Due to cows being confined to concrete throughout the winter, which increases the stress on their feet, the prevalence of digital dermatitis tends to rise at this time.

The amount of manure deposited in the concrete area rises as less time is typically spent away from the concrete areas.

The cows stand in more dung throughout the winter if scraping frequencies are not altered.

As it decreases the number of accessible free stalls while increasing the amount of manure in the freestall area, overcrowding should be avoided.

Due to this situation, there is rivalry for a free stall.

Cows who are afraid to enter the stalls miss out and have more foot issues. Since the causative bacterium is disseminated by the increased presence of nervous cows, they make foot issues worse.

Related article: The Return of the Manatees! Singapore-Born Sea Cows Back in the Caribbean After a Century of Extinction
On August 10, the reporter learned from the Administration of Key Projects Construction of Hefei City that the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) campus in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone, Phase I, will be completed in mid-August. By then, it can accommodate about 8,000 teachers and students.

USTC high-tech zone campus is located in the enclosed area of Chuangxin Avenue, Xiyou Road, South Shilian Road and Fuxing Road in Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone. It covers an area of about 595 mu (about 40 hectares) and has a total construction area of about 483,000 square meters.

The project includes 20 individual buildings such as the Book Education Center, the academic building, the administrative and service center, and supporting facilities.

At present, 16 individual buildings, such as the Book Education Center, have been put into use, and about 3,000 students have moved in. The three academic buildings and the administration and service center are being inspected and cleaned and will be completed in mid-August, which marks the completion of all construction work for the campusfirst phase.

This project is vital for building Hefei into a comprehensive technology center and an important support for making USTC a world-class university. It is also a fundamental project for the USTC and local government to cooperate in developing strategic emerging disciplines and high-tech industries.









Reported by Tan Meiling, He Jianxuan

Translated by Zheng Chen
The Arctic global warming rate is occurring nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet, according to a new study led by researchers in Finland and Norway.

The new research showed that the Arctic polar region has warmed in an unprecedented rate during the past several decades.

The said warming rate is alarming since it is greater than what climate scientists previously estimated.

In a climatic phenomenon called the "Arctic amplification," the Finnish-Norwegian research found the process is consistent with previous research that the Arctic is losing its reputation as one of the coldest polar regions of Earth.

However, the heating rate suggests associated environmental repercussions, including glacier melting and global sea level rise.

Last year, scientists have found the Arctic Ocean has been warming since the onset of the 20th century; almost during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, marked by increased human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

The Arctic Ocean warming is reportedly fueled by a separate yet related natural phenomenon called the "Atlantification."

For decades, scientists have warned against the increasing risk from burning of fossil fuels and the emission of various greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

In April, over 1,000 scientists from 25 countries engaged in a week-long global climate protest.

The enraged scientists expressed their frustrations after being ignored of their dire warnings of the worsening climate change.

Arctic Global Warming

According to the new paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment on Thursday, August 11, the Arctic global warming has increased almost quadrupled from 1979 to 2021 and this has been the cast in most parts of the icy continent.

The research discovered such rate has a significantly high ratio than what was generally reported in existing and previous scientific literature.

The latest findings suggested that the Arctic warming is exponential, highlighting the real-world threats posed by the ongoing climate crisis.

The collaborative study was made possible through researchers from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the Center for International Climate Research in Oslo (CICERO), and the University of Eastern Finland's Department of Applied Physics.

Also Read: Climate Change: Antarctica and Arctic Simultaneously Experiencing More than 30 to 40 Degrees Celsius Increase in Temperature

Arctic Amplification and Atlantification

Arctic amplification values known as "AA" have been the measurement used to determine the warming.

According to researchers, the most extreme AA values transpired in the sea areas near Novaya Zemlya, as cited by AccuWeather.

The research team used several observational datasets based on climate model simulations.

The results yielded those previous assessments regarding the Arctic warming was underestimated, according to the study.

The new study came almost a year after scientists revealed in November 2021 that the Arctic Ocean has warmed since the 1900s due to the said Atlantification mentioned earlier in this article.

The 2021 research highlights the correlation between the North Atlantic and the Arctic, where warmer, saltier water from the south moves to the northern water.

Last year's study was published in the journal Science Advances, as cited by the United Press International (UPI).

Related Article: Arctic Global Warming Could Lead to Disappearance of the Siberian Tundra by 2500
How the harmful fungus Ustilago maydis able to form in the aerial parts of the corn plant and weakens it has been investigated by a research team led by the University of Bonn.

According to the experts, the release of molecules by the fungus known as effectors, which control the metabolism of the plant and suppress its immune defenses, causes enormous tumor-like tissue growths--known as galls--to form at the site of the infection.

Smut is a plant disease that primarily affects grasses, such as corn (maize), wheat, sugarcane, and sorghum, and is brought on by various fungi species.

Although in Mexico, the immature galls of infected ears of corn are eaten as a delicacy recognized as huitlacoche, the disease lessens corn yields and can result in economic losses.

Interaction of Ustilago maydis fungi to Corn Plants

Armin Djamei, a specialist in plant pathology at the University of Bonn, is the study's senior author.

The fungus uses an auxin signaling pathway to serve its own purposes, as per Earth.com.

Therefore, they were interested in learning how the fungus encourages these processes of proliferation.

To accomplish this, they looked for genetic components in the fungus that would allow it to regulate the auxin signaling pathway of its host plant and thereby its cell growth.

This is due to the enormous tissue growth that uses resources and energy that would otherwise be needed for Ustilago maydis defense..

The lead author, Janos Bindics, a researcher at the IMBA Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna, explained that the proteins encoded by five Tip genes can bind to a protein in the corn plant is also known to experts as Topless.

Topless is a key switch in the plant that inhibits a number of signaling pathways.

This suppression is overridden by the fungus-specific effectors made by the Tip gene cluster, especially for auxin- and other helpful signaling pathways.

Further study is required to better comprehend the infection process in various plant diseases because a variety of pathogens disrupt the auxin signaling pathways of both the host plants that they infect.

Also Read: Climate Change Possibly Responsible for Increase in US Corn Production

Corn Smut

Corn smut is a plant disease that affects teosinte and corn (maize) plants and is brought on by the fungus Ustilago maydis, as per Britannica.

Any above-ground plant part can be affected by corn smut, and symptoms only appear where the infection is present.

Although heavily infected plants frequently look distorted, corn smut is typically not fatal.

White galls that later burst to start releasing dark spores that can infect other corn plants are the first signs of an attack.

Warmer weather is when the illness is most active.

The spores infect the planting the following year after overwintering in the soil and also in corn litter.

Corn smut cannot be chemically controlled, but it can be kept in check by trying to remove galls before they mature and removing corn litter every fall.

Related Article: Caterpillars Bypass Corn Plant Defenses to Grow Bigger and Faster, New Research Shows
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning against people attacking monkeys, in a perceived attempt to stop the monkeypox outbreak.

The health authorities emphasized that the monkeypox virus is transmitted between humans and not by monkeys; which is based on reported incidents of some people believing the global outbreak can be mitigated or stopped by eliminating the primates.

The WHO warning came after several cases have been reported involving people who attacked, poisoned, and killed a number of monkeys in Brazil.

The said monkey killings were deemed to be triggered by fears that the simians could be carrying the virus, according to Brazilian authorities.

The attacks apparently occurred in the wild, where the authorities increased their measures since then.

Multiple sources attributed the incidents that are caused by the literal interpretation of the viral disease, which was coined after its first two outbreaks were identified from lab monkeys decades ago.

In fact, the so-called poxvirus, which causes monkeypox, was commonly found in rodents.

While it is a zoonotic disease, there has been no evidence suggesting the current outbreak is also spread by monkeys.

The recent outbreak was first reported in early May 2022 in countries where it is not endemic or outside the continent of Africa.

Since then, cases have affected thousands of people in dozens of nations worldwide, with Europe being the epicenter of the infections.

The WHO recently declared monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).

WHO Condemnation

At a press briefing in Geneva, Dr. Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the WHO, stated that people should know the monkeypox transmission is happening between humans.

The briefing on Tuesday, August 9, was made available by the United Nations through its UN Web TV.

Harris urged the public not to attack any animals.

She also highlighted the concern should be focused on where the transmission is in the human population and what humans can do to protect themselves from acquiring and spreading the virus, as cited by NBC News.

The WHO spokesperson further explained monkeypox also got its name because the virus was first found in a group of monkeys kept for research in a laboratory in Denmark back in 1958.

Also Read: Monkeypox Virus Can Live on Refrigerated Food and in Water for Weeks

Brazil Monkey Killings

According to Brazil's local television channel Globo News, the Environmental Military Police believe that the cases of monkey intoxication were driven by fear of the "new smallpox."

As a result, security forces reinforced its patrolling in the woods.

Since the start of August, a total of at least 10 monkeys belonging to the marmoset and capuchin species were rescued by the local officials, who found signs of aggression and intoxication from the simians, in the Rio Preto region of Brazil.

The authorities are also investigating some animal organs to determine the origin of their death.

The probe was conducted as there were also cases of people stoning or shooting the monkeys, raising concerns that its wildlife population could be at risk.

The attacks on monkeys in the South American nation transpired after a spike of monkeypox cases which have already reached 2,131 with one reported death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Related Article: WHO Declares Current Monkeypox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern
A brand-new animal virus with human infection potential has been discovered in eastern China.

However, because the virus does not appear to be particularly contagious and does not appear to be lethal, scientists claimed they are not concerned.

China's New Identified Virus

The virus, known as Langya henipavirus (LayV), is closely related to two other henipaviruses known to infect people, the Hendra virus and Nipah virus, as per Nature.

It can produce respiratory symptoms like fever, coughing, and exhaustion. These can be lethal and cause respiratory infections as well.

Researchers believe that shrews, which may have infected humans or indirectly through another animal, are carriers of the LayV virus.

On August 4, the New England Journal of Medicine1 described the virus.

Only 35 people have been infected with LayV, according to researchers, and none of the cases appear to be connected.

Edward Holmes, an evolutionary virologist at the University of Sydney in Australia, said there is no particular reason to be concerned about the new discovery, but continuous surveillance is vital.

To comprehend the risk of zoonotic illnesses, or those that can be transmitted from other animals to humans, he argued, both people and animals should be routinely tested for new viruses.

According to Emily Gurley, an infectious-diseases epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, significant epidemics of infectious diseases often begins after numerous false starts.

People are in a much better position to halt or identify anything early if they are actively looking for those sparks, the researcher said.

Between April 2018 and August 2021, the research team that discovered LayV monitored patients at three hospitals in the eastern Chinese provinces of Shandong and Henan.

If a participant had a fever, they were invited to participate in the study.

The researchers discovered 35 LayV-infected individuals, predominantly farmers, throughout the investigation, with symptoms ranging from severe pneumonia to a cough.

In a questionnaire, the majority of patients acknowledged having come into contact with an animal within a month of their symptoms developing.

The researchers looked for LayV antibodies in goats, dogs, pigs, and cattle living in the villages of infected patients, and they collected tissue and urine samples from 25 species of wild small animals to look for LayV RNA.

They found LayV antibodies in a few goats and dogs, and they found LayV viral RNA in 27% of the 262 sampled shrews.

According to Gurley, this demonstrated that shrews are a virus reservoir, spreading LayV among themselves and accidentally infecting people occasionally.

Furthermore, according to Gurley, it is unclear whether people contracted the disease directly from shrews or through an intermediary species.

She thinks a lot of research is still needed to determine how the virus spreads in shrews and how humans become affected.

To prevent any pandemics like the one brought on by COVID-19, Holmes says there is an urgent need for a global surveillance system to detect virus spillovers and quickly disseminate those results.

These zoonotic spillover occurrences occur frequently, he claimed.

Also Read: Bats are a global reservoir for deadly coronaviruses

How Is The Langya Virus Spread and How To Treat It?

Since the Langya virus is a zoonotic infection, it spreads from animals to people.

However, since none of the cases in China were close to one another, medical professionals think that human-to-animal virus transmission is still infrequent, as per Euronews.next.

The virus was undoubtedly transferred from an animal to a human, but it is still unknown whether human-to-human transmission is even conceivable.

The contact tracking of 9 patients with 15 close family members showed no virus spread, according to the Chinese researchers.

The same researchers, however, contend that the sample examined is insufficient to conclude whether human-to-human transmission is likely to occur.

Henipavirus vaccines are not yet available for humans, however, there is a horse vaccination against the Hendra virus.

Related Article: Monkeypox: How you can protect yourself from the virus and what to do if you have symptoms
AWS says its private 5G managed service is now available  however, it currently only supports 4G LTE and doesnt yet support 5G.

With AWS Private 5G, which was previewed last November, customers will be able to specify where they want to build a mobile network and its capacity, and AWS will deliver and maintain the small-cell radio units, servers, 5G-core and RAN software, and SIM cards. The idea is to let enterprises quickly procure, deploy, and scale their own private 5G mobile networks without having to acquire, integrate, and maintain hardware and software from multiple third-party vendors.

This cool new service lets you design and deploy your own private mobile network in a matter of days, wrote Jeff Barr, chief evangelist for AWS, in a blog about the now available service. But he also stated: The private mobile network makes use of CBRS spectrum. It supports 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) today, and will support 5G in the future.

AWS Private 5G automates setup and deployment so enterprise customers can kick the tires on a private mobile network without overinvesting IT resources.

private mobile network deployments require enterprises to invest considerable time, money, and effort to design their network for anticipated peak capacity and procure and integrate software and hardware components from multiple vendors, AWS stated. Even if enterprises are able to get the network running, current private mobile network pricing models charge for each connected device that makes it cost prohibitive for use cases that involve thousands of connected devices.

Pricing for the AWS managed service is based on need and consumption, eliminating some overhead costs.

Cost isnt the only hurdle to deploying a private wireless network, according to AWS. In addition, CBRS spectrum in the United States requires Certified Professional Installation (CPI) of radios, Barr stated. To address these needs, we are building an ecosystem of partners that can provide customers with radio planning, installation, CPI certification, and implementation of customer use cases.

In terms of specifics, the AWS Private 5G package includes a radio unit and ten SIM cards. The radio unit requires AC power and wired access to the public Internet, along with basic networking (IPv4 and DHCP). Each network supports one radio unit that can provide up to 150 Mbps of throughput spread across up to 100 SIMs.

We are working to add support for multiple radio units and greater number of SIM cards per network, Barr stated. Each radio unit is billed at $10 per hour, with a 60-day minimum.

The service can use the AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) package to control access to devices and applications, according to Barr.

AWS Private 5G is being launched in the US East (Ohio), US East (N. Virginia), and US West (Oregon) Regions, and AWS says it is working to make the service available outside of the United States in the near future.

Interest in deploying a private 5G network is growing among enterprises, but mainstream deployment faces a number of obstacles, including competition from less complicated and more widely available wireless options such as Wi-Fi 6/6E.

Private 5G could garner a ton of interest from some enterprise organizations, particularly in the industrial, automotive, and energy segments. A private 5G network can guarantee throughput and latency levels that next-generation use cases require, but it is still very early in development, according to research firm Gartner.

As interest in the private 5G grows, so is the number of traditional enterprise IT vendors looking to enter the market. Cisco, HPE/Aruba, and Microsoft, as well as service providers such as NTT, Comcast and Verizon, are all offering services to implement private 5G in enterprise settings.
OK, youre a CIO and when you go down to the data center, you see racks of routers, each with a maze of cabling. When you hear virtual routers you think of all of that gone, replaced by mystical router instances floating about somewhere in the ether, and you smile.

Or youre a CFO who gets a bill for hundreds of branch routers, each picking your pocket on service charges and maybe software licenses. You hear virtual routers and think of all those little hands going out of your pocket, and you smile.

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One reason CIOs and CFOs have reason to smile is that virtual functions in the telecom space are now really replacing some physical devices. The 5G wireless standards even call for virtual functions as part of the full deployment of 5G features. Surely if the network operators can use virtual routers, enterprises could as well, and if these virtual devices could reduce capex for operators, it follows they could do the same for every budget-conscious CIO, right?

A virtual router in todays network lexicon is a software instance of router functionality, generally designed to run on a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) server, so you have to pull those virtual routers out of the ether and host them. Virtualizing routers doesnt virtualize hosting costs.

White boxes and virtual-router software

Commercial servers arent designed to be large-scale packet switches. You can get specialized interface cards and special software drivers to improve performance, and you should expect to do that for any large-scale application of virtual routing. But for those kinds of application its probably smarter to think of a white-box solution; the architecture and chip set combination will offer higher performance.

Then theres the virtual router software itself. While open-source router software is available, enterprises are often concerned abour support and integration costs. Commercial virtual-router software can be less expensive than a real router, but if you get the software from your router vendor to ease integration and pay for a server or white box for hosting, the cost savings may be less than youd hoped for.

Virtual networking, cloud applications, lower cost

So what can you do with virtual router technology? The number one application, according to enterprises, is virtual networking, especially SD-WAN. All virtual-network technologies build an overlay network that has its own on- and off-ramp elements, which are really access routers. While many vendors offer this technology as appliances, most will also provide virtual routers for hosting on servers. That may make sense in the data center, where there are already racks of servers installed. Using virtual routers means that if one fails because its server went down, another can be easily spun up to take its place.

Virtual routers are also essential in many cloud applications. Public cloud providers are understandably unenthusiastic about your sending your techs to install routers in their data centers, but you may need a virtual router there if you want to use virtual networking and SD-WAN optimally. For this type of cloud virtual routing, make sure your virtual router is compatible with the virtual network or SD-WAN technology youre using.

Virtual routers are also very useful in collecting cloud components of applications in a private subnet and then connecting that subnet to the internet or a VPN. Cloud providers will assign your application elements a private, in-cloud, address, and they may offer a service to expose application on-ramps. You can use a virtual router instead. Theyre hosted like any application component, you can deploy as many router instances as needed, and cloud technology will make them resilient.

Even when youre not using virtual networks, virtual routers can benefit enterprises by offering a lower-cost access router for branch locations and campus facilities. Often these applications dont demand the high performance and traffic handling that would be needed in the data center, and since branch locations also usually have security appliances, its often possible to host both a virtual router and other edge features in the same server.

The same-server approach should be limited to virtual network device hosting. Beware of sharing a server between a virtual router and a business application. This can expose network elements to hacking and also may require you to do more software maintenance on your server, which will then take your network site offline.

Virtual data centers

All these virtual router applications are good, but the real, even dramatic, game-changer for virtual routers is an application in the data center. More and more companies are looking at virtual data center (VDC) technology as a means of creating a data center architecture thats more cloud-like in its agility and elasticity. There are multiple models from multiple vendors to support VDC, but they revolve around the use of virtual networking and virtual routers to create ad hoc subnetworks and traffic paths that can be quickly adjusted if workloads change because of application usage or failures.

VDC allows applications and application groups to be segmented in terms of resources and traffic, and depending on the vendor, may also provide explicit connection control and zero-trust connectivity. Because VDC can enhance security at the point of application connection, its a valuable tool in securing critical data and applications, and VDC can also improve application availability and performance. Using hosted router instances means that routers can be joined with subnets wherever theyre created and hosted locally to the components, something that would require network reconfiguration if traditional routers were used.

Each of these exemplar applications for virtual routing will have a dominant routing model, and often a dominant vendor. SD-WAN applications should be supported using virtual routers from, or compatible with, the SD-WAN technology. Branch applications of virtual routers may be easier to maintain if they use the same router software your company is already familiar with in using router devices. VDC virtual routing is often implemented with data-center software or virtual network vendors.

Even VDC wont let your virtual routers roam the ether, wild and free. What it and other virtual router applications will do is let you treat routers as applications, offering you the same benefits in availability and agility that virtualization and the cloud offer other software. Theres little doubt that virtual routing is going to expand, even radically expand, and CIOs need to be watching for technology developments and missions to apply the technology to. While you really dont want roaming routers, you dont want to tie virtual routing down so tightly you lose real benefits.
College Football Reporter/Columnist

Bob Asmussen is a college football reporter and columnist for The News-Gazette. His email is asmussen@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@BobAsmussen).
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).
AP

Authorities say a man accused of firing shots inside the Mall of America before fleeing the suburban Minneapolis shopping complex with the help of several accomplices has been arrested in Chicago
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe to use in pregnancy and pregnant women experienced lower rates of health events post vaccination than similarly aged, non-pregnant vaccinated people, suggests a large Canadian study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected pregnant women, who are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease compared with similarly aged non-pregnant individuals. COVID-19 vaccines were recommended for use in pregnancy in many countries early on in vaccine deployment, based on established prior safety of inactivated vaccines in pregnancy and reassuring data from the small number of pregnancies occurring during pre-authorization vaccine trials.

This study is one of the first to look at vaccine side effects in a group of vaccinated pregnant women at the same time as both an unvaccinated pregnant group and a vaccinated non-pregnant group to enable comparisons between the three.

In the early stages of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout there was low vaccine uptake among pregnant people due to concerns about data availability and vaccine safety. There still is lower than average uptake among non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Large, observational studies like ours are crucial for proper understanding of the rates of adverse health events in pregnant women after different doses of COVID-19 vaccination. This information should be used to inform pregnant women about the side effects they may experience in the week following vaccination." Dr Manish Sadarangani from the British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute and first author on the study

This new study, from The Canadian National Vaccine Safety (CANVAS) Network, looked at data from participants across seven Canadian provinces and territories between December 2020 and November 2021. All vaccinated participants were asked to self-report any health events during the seven days following each dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The unvaccinated pregnant control group was asked to record any health problems over the seven days before they filled out the survey. In total, 191,360 women aged 15-49 years with known pregnancy status completed the first dose survey and 94,937 completed the second dose survey.

A 'significant health event' was defined as a new or worse health event which was enough to cause the participant to miss school/work, require medical consultation and/or prevent daily activities in the previous seven days. 'Serious health event' was defined as any event resulting in an emergency department visit and/or hospitalization in the previous seven days.

The researchers found that 4.0% (226/5,597) of mRNA-vaccinated pregnant females reported a significant health event within seven days after dose one of an mRNA vaccine, and 7.3% (227/3,108) after dose two. The most common significant health events after dose two in pregnant females were a general feeling of being unwell, headache/migraine, and respiratory tract infection.

In comparison, 3.2% (11/339) of pregnant unvaccinated participants reported similar events in the seven days prior to survey completion. In the vaccinated non-pregnant control group, 6.3% (10,950/174,765) reported a significant health event in the week after dose one and 11.3% (10,254/91,131) after dose two. Serious health events were rare in all groups (fewer than 1%) and occurred at similar rates in vaccinated pregnant individuals, vaccinated non-pregnant people and unvaccinated controls after dose one and dose two.

Miscarriage/stillbirth was the most frequently reported adverse pregnancy outcome with no significant difference between the rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated women; 2.1% (7/339) of unvaccinated pregnant women and 1.5% (83/5,597) of vaccinated pregnant women experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth within seven days after dose one of any mRNA vaccine.

"The lower rate of significant health events amongst vaccinated pregnant people, compared with vaccinated non-pregnant individuals, is unexpected and requires more research. Previous studies on other vaccines in pregnant women have mostly reported no significant differences in health events between pregnant and non-pregnant women or have found higher rates in pregnancy. Further studies of non-COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are required to identify if the reduced side effects observed in pregnant people in this study is a feature of the mRNA vaccine platform, or of these specific vaccines." says Dr Julie Bettinger, senior author on this paper and also from the British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute.

The authors caution that most participants who reported ethnicity in this study were white and these data may therefore not be fully generalizable to other populations. Additionally, this study focused on health events occurring within the first seven days following vaccination and so cannot conclude anything about longer term reactions. However, longer-term follow-up of this cohort is ongoing. A further limitation of this study is that data are based on self-reports from study participants, without verification by medical records.

Writing in a linked comment, Dr Sascha Ellington and Dr Christine Olson from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA (who were not involved in the study) note, "These findings are consistent with and add to the growing body of evidence that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe during pregnancy. [] COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant people continues to be lower than among non-pregnant females of reproductive age. Given the risks of significant illness and adverse pregnancy outcomes, it is imperative that we continue to collect and disseminate data on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy and to encourage healthcare providers to promote vaccination during all trimesters of pregnancy."
In a recent report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists discuss their discovery of the novel Langya henipavirus (LayV) in eastern China. To date, a total of 36 patients have been diagnosed with acute LayV infection in the Shandong and Henan provinces.

Study: A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China. Image Credit: CI Photos / Shutterstock.com

The current outbreak

While monitoring febrile patients who reported recent contact with animals in eastern China, LayV infection was first identified through metagenomic analysis of a patients throat swab sample. This analysis revealed that the LayV genome consists of 18,402 nucleotides and is phylogenetically related to the Mojiang henipavirus that was previously discovered in southern China in 2014.

After their initial discovery of this infected patient, the researchers identified an additional 35 patients with acute LayV infection. Notably, 26 of these individuals were infected with LayV alone.

Of these 26 patients, 100% presented with fever, 54% with fatigue, 50% with anorexia and cough, 46% with myalgia, 38% with headache, and 35% with vomiting. Thrombocytopenia and leukopenia were reported in 35% of patients, whereas liver and kidney function were reported in 35% and 8% of these patients, respectively.

The researchers who identified the first LayV virus also surveyed 25 species of wild small animals as potential hosts for this virus. To this end, LayV ribonucleic acid (RNA) was identified in 27% of the surveyed shrews, thus suggesting that this animal is the most likely reservoir for this virus. Other domestic animals that were seropositive for LayV included 2% and 5% of surveyed goats and dogs, respectively.

A review of other henipaviruses

Other notable viruses of the henipavirus genus include the Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV). Both NiV and HeV are naturally found in Pteropus spp bats; however, their spillover into mammals ultimately led to their ability to infect human beings.

During a 1994 HeV outbreak, the infection initially presented with influenza-like symptoms following a seven to 16-day incubation period. Of the seven infected individuals, two recovered, and one developed pneumonitis and died from organ failure. The remaining three patients experienced encephalitic manifestations, including confusion, and ataxia, with fatal seizures reported in two patients.

NiV was first discovered in 1999 following an outbreak reported among both pigs and people in Malaysia and Singapore. Since then, several NiV outbreaks have been identified in Bangladesh, India, and Malaysia.

Whereas the Malaysia strain of NiV (NiV-M) is associated with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 40% and primarily causes neurological symptoms, the Bangladesh strain (NiV-B) typically causes severe respiratory distress and has a CFR of 90%.

NiV and HeV infections arise following exposure to infected human or animal secretions and respiratory droplets. Notably, previous NiV outbreaks in Bangladesh found that human-to-human transmission occurred among patients experiencing respiratory symptoms of the infection. Comparatively, both NiV-M and HeV outbreaks have not been associated with human-to-human transmission.

Approaches to mitigate LayV outbreak

In previous NiV outbreaks, public health officials have urged the widespread use of sensitive rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to quickly identify and isolate potentially infected individuals. Several preventative and non-pharmaceutical measures can also be implemented to effectively reduce the R 0 until medical countermeasures become available.

NiV and other henipaviruses are associated with high pathogenicity and, as a result, are considered to be pathogens of notable epidemic potential. Although there are no therapies currently available to treat henipavirus encephalitis, several broadly active antiviral therapeutics that target different RNA and DNA viruses could potentially be used against henipavirus infection. However, many of these drugs require additional pre-clinical and clinical investigation in order to determine their efficacy against henipaviruses.

Several monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are also under development against henipaviruses. Thus, these agents could be used as both pre- and post-exposure prophylactic measures until a vaccine becomes available.

Conclusions

Since LayV was the only pathogen identified in a majority of the patients with acute LayV infection, the researchers are confident that LayV was the primary cause of their febrile illness. Notably, contact tracing of 15 people who interacted with nine LayV-infected patients did not reveal that human-to-human transmission occurred; however, the small sample size of the study does not eliminate the possibility that human-to-human transmission of this virus is possible.

Sentinel surveillance of similar febrile illnesses reported among people who recently interacted with shrews or other potential reservoirs of LayV is essential to better understand this human illness. Due to the sporadic and often unpredictable nature of henipavirus outbreaks, it is essential to isolate suspected cases of LayV infection and maintain open communication with public health agencies on new data as it becomes available.
A portable diagnostic device designed by researchers at Cornell Engineering and Weill Cornell Medicine has been deployed in clinical tests in Uganda to identify cases of Kaposi sarcoma, a common yet difficult-to-detect cancer that often signals the presence of HIV infection.

Now, thanks to a $4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute Center for Global Health, the rollout is expanding to 11 sites throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including locations in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Botswana and Malawi  where a shortage of diagnostic testing and pathology experts has led to long waits and sometimes erroneous results.

The diagnostic, which has been deployed in Africa since 2017, is shown to be highly accurate.

By generating results within the hour at the point of care, the portable system, KS-COMPLETE, is accelerating the speed of accurate diagnosis, and eventually treatment, for patients.

"We are looking to deploy a technology that can change the paradigm of the way Kaposi sarcoma is diagnosed in sub-Saharan Africa," said project lead David Erickson, the Sibley College Professor of Mechanical Engineering in Cornell Engineering, who developed the technology with Dr. Ethel Cesarman, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

"We can hopefully reduce the amount of time-to-result by returning the diagnosis right there where the patient is, without having to send it out to an external expert," Erickson said. "If we're able to do that, hopefully that quicker return of a result can get the patient access to care quicker, and improve clinical outcomes."

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a cancer of the cells that line blood or lymphatic vessels, and it usually appears as lesions on the skin, inside the mouth, lymph nodes, or in the lungs or digestive tract. One of the most common and deadly cancers in sub-Saharan Africa, KS is frequently driven by immune suppression from HIV.

While pathologic diagnosis is critical for KS diagnosis, unfortunately KS is most common in a part of the world there is a critical lack of pathologists and highly variable standards. The molecular approach provided by our new technologies should address the need of accurate and fast diagnosis of KS." Dr. Ethel Cesarman, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine

The KS-COMPLETE platform will consist of two components: SLICER and TINY.

The SLICER system automatically processes a biopsy sample into "micro-cores" that can be entered into the pint-sized TINY  short for Tiny Isothermal Nucleic acid quantification sYstem. The TINY diagnostic then identifies the presence of the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus by isolating and magnifying its DNA through a process called loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

In clinical tests based on 506 biopsies collected from patients at three HIV clinics in Uganda, TINY has achieved 97% sensitivity, 92% specificity and 96% accuracy, according to a forthcoming study from the project team, which includes researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and the Infectious Diseases Institute in Kampala in Uganda.

In addition to expanding the KS-COMPLETE deployment, the five-year grant  awarded June 1  will focus on refining the SLICER system.

"The really challenging part is that upstream sample processing," Erickson said. "Once that biopsy comes out of a person, how do you mash it all up and get it into a condition that it can be suitable to go into the TINY? That turns out to be a really hard problem. A COVID test, for example, is just a little swab coming out of your nose and a few cells. Here, we have a big chunk of skin that we've got to somehow process quickly and efficiently."

The researchers are hopeful the KS-COMPLETE platform could eventually be used to diagnose other skin diseases beyond Kaposi sarcoma, as well as to provide large-scale screening, in areas such as wastewater treatment, for the coronavirus.
An analysis of millions of SARS-CoV-2 genomes finds that recombination of the virus is uncommon, but when it occurs, it is most often in the spike protein region, the area which allows the virus to attach to and infect host cells.

The study, led by scientists at UC Santa Cruz, was published August 11 in the journal Nature. It details a new software created by the researchers to search the COVID-19 phylogenetic tree, a diagram of the virus's evolutionary history, for instances of recombination. This software is open source, allowing public health officials to use it to track instances of recombination within their communities.

Recombination occurs when two genetically distinct forms of the virus hybridize. This study focused on detectable recombination, when the hybridization results in a sequence that is genetically new, and not on instances where two sequences combine to form a sequence identical to an already existing one.

It's really important for reconstructing the virus's evolutionary history. When there's recombination it's not one tree, it's many trees, and being able to trace that accurately is really crucial for understanding evolution of the virus." Russell Corbett-Detig, senior author on the study and associate professor of biomolecular engineering at the Baskin School of Engineering

Findings on recombination

The researchers analyzed 1.6 million samples of COVID-19 and found 589 recombination events, which indicates that only about 2.7% of sequenced genomes result from recombination. These sequences were sourced from the UC Santa Cruz SARS-CoV-2 Browser, a repository for COVID-19 genomic data, which is now the largest collection of genomic sequences of a single species ever assembled, currently at nearly 12 million sequences.

While results show that recombination occurs more frequently in the spike protein region, it is not yet known why this is. This could potentially be the result of a mechanistic bias, indicating it is the natural tendency of all coronaviruses to recombine toward the three-prime region of the viral genome, which contains the spike protein, or that positive natural selection for COVID-19 is favoring recombinants that occur in this region.

While recombination does occur, there is no evidence that the resulting strains are more likely to be epidemiologically important. In fact, most recombinant variants die out, as do most of the thousands of mutated variants of COVID-19.

A new software, written primarily by UC San Diego Assistant Professor Yatish Turakhia during his postdoctoral training in Corbett-Detig's lab, enabled the computational feat required for the analysis of millions of genomes. The software, called Recombination Inference using Phylogenetic PLacEmentS (RIPPLES), can efficiently search a massive phylogenetic tree of COVID-19 genomes to find instances where a new sequence appears to be a combination of two distinct sections of the tree. The COVID-19 phylogenetic tree, called UShER, was created by UCSC researchers and is the primary tool used by health officials worldwide to track the spread of variants in their community.

The researchers found recombination most often shows up on the COVID-19 phylogenetic tree in the form of "long branches," making it appear that several mutations happened sequentially, which is quite rare.

"In a tree of millions of sequences, you find these long branches, which reduce the possible instances of detectable recombination down to only about 10's of thousands of branches," Turakhia said. "These long branches make recombination much easier to spot on the tree, which enables the efficient performance of the new software."

Turakhia and his team aim to continue to improve RIPPLES' speed and performance and to create visual tools to make it more accessible for a wider audience.

Use for public health

Knowing when recombination occurs is crucial for understanding the evolutionary lineage of a sequence of the virus. Recombination can complicate the process of tracing back the phylogenetic tree of a particular sequence because its genetic material is a result of two joining areas of the overall COVID-19 family tree.

This can help public officials understand when a lineage of COVID-19 which appears to be novel is truly an independent mutation introduced for the first time, or rather just a combination of two lineages that already existed in the community. Understanding when recombination occurs is also important from a public health perspective as it can potentially make the virus more adept at evading immunity.

Furthermore, the RIPPLES software's availability and ease of use has positive implications for genomics experts and public health officials alike, who can efficiently search a set of COVID-19 genomic samples for recombination in just minutes.

This reflects a larger theme of the work of scalable translation of pathogen genomics data at Corbett-Detig's lab and the UCSC Genomics Institute. Researchers are focused on creating tools that enable public health officials to automate and translate the questions they want to ask, and receive answers that are easy to act on and dependable.

"A big part of the success of our work has been that the software is extremely accessible and computationally cheap in the grand scheme of things," Corbett-Detig said. "Anybody could take their hundred new SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences and figure out if there were potentially recombinant samples in just minutes on a basic laptop. Global public health needs to be democratized, to the point that anyone can do it, even if they're not a super wealthy lab with giant servers."
In a recent Eurosurveillance study, researchers seek to raise awareness of a potentially impending Sindbis virus (SINV) epidemic due to its high incidence throughout Finland in 2021.

Study: Sindbis virus outbreak and evidence for geographical expansion in Finland, 2021. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock.com

What is SINV?

Although ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses are not typically found in humans, they are responsible for many zoonotic diseases that eventually reach humans. Different types of birds, especially migratory and game birds, act as amplifying hosts for the SINV, which is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes.

Among these RNA viruses includes alphaviruses like SINV, which originated near Sindbis, Egypt. The Pogosta disease, which is caused by infection with SINV, manifests as a rash, myalgia, arthralgia, and fever. Arthralgia and myalgia due to this disease may persist for up to several months or years, which can have a detrimental impact on the affected individuals quality of life.

Enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) is typically used to diagnose the Pogosta disease, with positive results reflecting the presence of either SINV immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG antibodies in a single serum sample or when seroconversion has occurred between two serum samples. As of 1995, laboratory-confirmed cases of Pogosta disease have been reported to the National Infectious Diseases Register (NIDR).

The Finland SINV outbreak

Although SINV has been detected in mosquitoes and birds throughout the globe, symptomatic human infections are primarily reported in Finland, Russia, Sweden, and South Africa. Notably, in 2021, the transmission of SINV in Finland led to a major outbreak involving 566 laboratory-confirmed human cases that were distributed throughout the country.

Reported cases of Sindbis virus infection by month, Finland, 2021 (n = 566)

Late-winter heavy snowfall in 2022 rendered surplus melting water, which facilitated the early breeding of mosquitos. Thus, the weather throughout 2022 has been conducive to mosquito breeding.

Furthermore, there has been an increase in bird populations in Finland, which also provides more amplifying hosts for SINV. Taken together, these elements rendered favorable conditions for increased SINV transmission in 2022.

The Pogosta disease is likely underrecognized in Finland, particularly in places where the condition is scarce. The definitive diagnosis of SINV patients is crucial due to the potential burden of long-lasting joint discomfort. In Finland and Sweden, 24.5% and 39% of diagnosed patients, respectively, have experienced these symptoms.

Considering this looming threat, surveillance is currently being conducted to raise awareness of an impending SINV outbreak in 2022.

Pogosta disease incidence per 100,000 inhabitants, by the hospital district, Finland, 2021 (n = 566)

About the study

The current study involved the use of laboratory-confirmed data from the National Infectious Diseases Register (NIDR) between 2002 and 2021. The period of sample collection, as well as the location of residence of the patients at the time of diagnosis, were analyzed.

In 2021, August and September witnessed the greatest number of SINV cases at 175 and 309 cases, respectively. Significantly fewer cases were reported in June, July, October, November, and December as compared to previous months.

In 2021, the incidence of Pogosta disease in various hospital districts ranged from 0 on land Islands to 40.6 in North Savo per 100,000 inhabitants. Most of these cases were reported in hospital districts in central, eastern, and western Finland.

Hospital areas in Lapland, which is along the southern coast of Finland, as well as the western coast south of Central Ostrobothnia, reported the lowest incidences of the Pogosta disease.

While several hospital districts reported considerable numbers of cases during both outbreaks in 2002 and 2021, clear disparities in cases were reported in the Western and Southern coastal hospital districts in 2021 as compared to 2002 within the range of 26-64%.

The incidence of SINV infection decreased by 71% in North Karelia; however, the incidence rate in this area remained high. SINV infections were also significantly higher in hospitals located in Lapland, Kainuu, Lansi-Pohja, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Kanta-Hame, Paijat-Hame, and Kymenlaakso.

Conclusions

Among mosquito-borne viruses in the EU in 2021, SINV was responsible for the largest outbreak, including a total of 566 confirmed cases in Finland alone.

It remains difficult to determine the factors that contribute to and facilitate SINV outbreaks. Thus, there is an urgent need to raise public awareness about the Pogosta disease and preventive measures capable of minimizing mosquito bites, especially in areas with a high incidence and forecasted risk, such as central, eastern, and western Finland.

As reported cases tend to fluctuate from one region to another, symptom identification and diagnosis remain difficult. Thus, virus-specific diagnostic testing of febrile patients who present with disease-specific symptoms is warranted.
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is responsible for a third of pneumonia cases around the world and is the second leading cause of infant deaths. RSV also affects older people above the age of 60 years, causing both illness and death on a scale similar to that of influenza in this patient population.

Over 99% of infant and child deaths from RSV occur in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries. In high-income countries (HIC), premature infants, as well as those with congenital heart disease, chronic lung disease, neuromuscular disease, or Down syndrome, are at an increased risk for RSV infection.

Study: Respiratory Syncytial Virus Prevention Within Reach: The Vaccine And Monoclonal Antibody Landscape. Image Credit: BonNontawat / Shutterstock.com

About the study

A new The Lancet Infectious Diseases study reviews recent advancements made in the development of RSV immunoprophylactic measures.

The current paper describes the various vaccine and antibody strategies being pursued. Such reviews are helpful in providing a birds-eye-view of the research landscape so that further development can be guided by failures and lessons learned from prior trials.

An earlier review of RSV vaccines in 2018 by the same authors emphasized the superiority of controlled human infection models to elicit rapid proof of concept of vaccine protection as well as a detailed exploration of the immunologic features of the post-vaccination subject.

This may have led to the use of this model for six vaccines that are being tested today against RSV. Altogether, 11 of the 19 vaccines covered in that review are still under development, while 19 new ones have entered the testing phase.

Background

Earlier RSV vaccine candidates produced antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of disease in infants infected following vaccination due to the generation of non-neutralizing antibodies and T-helper type 2 (Th2) biased T-cell responses. An ideal vaccine would induce potent neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) without this inflammatory response.

Correlates of protection offered by vaccines are unclear; however, they are often associated with cell-mediated immunity, as well as the generation of mucosal immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies and nAbs. Vaccination during pregnancy may not protect very preterm infants due to the very low rates of antibody transfer from maternal to fetal circulation through the placenta until the end of the third trimester.

Several platforms have been explored for their potential utility in RSV prevention. These include monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and vaccines based on five different technologies, including recombinant vector, subunit, particle-based, live attenuated virus (LAV), chimeric virus, and nucleic acid (NA) vaccines.

Currently, researchers are looking to identify the viral epitopes that induce nAbs to avoid the development of ADE of disease. The approach has shifted to using rational structure-based designs for both mAbs and vaccines.

Currently, nine vaccines are undergoing Phase III clinical trials. One mAb, nirsevimab, may be introduced sometime in the next year for infants in HIC.

For babies older than six months of age, LAV vaccines are being developed. Subunit vaccines are also being tested for use in pregnancy with the goal of achieving neonatal immunity.

Vaccine groups

There are three vaccine-eligible groups for RSV, which include children, pregnant women, and older adults. For children, mAbs are preferred up to six months of age, whereas LAVs are preferred for older infants. Such babies may also benefit from passive immunity generated from maternal vaccine-induced antibodies.

Pre-fusion subunit vaccines are being developed for pregnant women. Subunit, NA, and viral vector (VV) vaccines are being tested for older adults. Several subunit and NA vaccines are currently in Phase III clinical trials.

Earlier failures

The researchers examine three previous late-phase clinical trial failures that occurred after 2018.

PREPARE

The PREPARE trial involved a maternal RSV vaccine that entered a Phase III clinical trial for the first time. While this met safety criteria, it also provided evidence that maternal RSV vaccination could protect against severe RSV disease in infants. However, it did not meet the preset efficacy criteria.

Over half of the participants in the PREPARE trial were protected against clinical lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) by RSV, whereas about 75% were protected against severe hypoxemia due to RSV LRTI. The vaccine was also found to reduce about 50% of all-cause infant mortality at one year from maternal vaccination.

The efficacy varied between countries by their income levels. This could be due to the different rates at which babies in HIC and LMIC are hospitalized for milder symptoms, as well as lower overall rates of severe RSV disease in HIC.

The researchers also found a correlation between the induction of RSV nAbs and F surface glycoprotein binding antibodies with protection against RSV LRTI with severe hypoxemia. Notably, a 16-fold rise in maternal IgG to the F protein two weeks following vaccination was linked to a vaccine efficacy of 75%.

Drug development was discontinued because prespecified criteria for efficacy were not met. A rollover trial might be considered to confirm efficacy and develop this vaccine for LMICs.

REGN2222

A mAb called suptuvumab or REGN2222 failed to prevent RSV hospitalization or outpatient RSV LRTI in a multinational Phase III study. This was because of a natural mutation in the circulating dominant strain of the RSV subgroup B, which evaded antibody binding and neutralization. Meanwhile, subgroup A continued to be unchanged, and the mAb was associated with relative efficacy.

This highlights the need to monitor the susceptibility of escape mutants during the clinical development of a vaccine or mAb. This risk is magnified when using a single viral antigenic epitope, as it offers the potential for mutational escape at specific sites.

ChAd155.RSV

The pediatric VV vaccine ChAd155.RSV was also halted after a Phase II trial showed no evidence of adequate efficacy. However, this vaccine was found to be safe and effective in human adults.

Current developments

LAVs

More recently, research on LAVs, which induce both humoral and cellular mucosal immunity, has increased. While earlier LAV candidates had the risk of reversion to wild-type pathogenic virus, newer findings are making it possible to engineer the genes required for RNA synthesis. LAVs are also advantageous for their intranasal route of administration.

RSV LAV candidates have not shown evidence of ADE of disease after seven Phase I trials. Moreover, these vaccine candidates were associated with an efficacy of nearly 70% against clinical RSV acute respiratory illness and 90% against RSV LRTI that was maintained for at least one year.

Chimeric vaccines

Chimeric live virus vaccine candidates are preferred because of their better antigenic profile that is capable of inducing a robust adaptive immune response. Two chimeric vaccine candidates are currently being investigated in Phase I clinical trials.

Subunit vaccines

Protein subunit vaccines are not used in children without a prior history of RSV infection due to previous reports of ADE of disease. The pre-F protein is being used in most candidates currently under development, as the post-fusion subunit candidate failed in a previous Phase I trial.

Non-F viral antigens are being used in three subunit vaccine candidates, of which include the RSV G protein, part of the RSV-A-She protein, and VAGA-9001a.

Particle-based vaccines

Particle-based vaccines have a unique advantage in their ability to display numerous antigens on a self-assembled particle resembling a virus. These nanoparticle platforms can stabilize the pre-F protein with the right antigen density and simultaneously carry antigens from different viruses. Needle-free particle-based vaccines are currently being investigated in clinical trials.

NA vaccines

NA vaccines built on the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) platform have been widely used throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Their rapid development was based on extensive RSV vaccine research.

Recombinant VV vaccines

Recombinant VV vaccines have used replication-defective viruses to induce an immune response. Three RSV vaccine candidates use such vectors to express target viral antigens.

Proof of concept was obtained in earlier studies, with one candidate that has received breakthrough therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

mAbs

One of the most important advantages of mAbs is their ability to target pathogens with high specificity. With RSV mAbs, the structure and immunogenicity of the RSV F protein have been delineated, with the identification of viral epitopes that induce potent nAbs.

Newer RSV mAbs incorporate mutations that prolong their half-life, thereby conferring LRTI protection for a full RSV season. This is unlike the currently used palivizumab, which requires a monthly injection and is reserved for high-risk infants. Notably, newer RSV mAbs will likely be cheaper, thus allowing for the universal protection of infants.

Affordability is crucial for RSV mAb development, as this would allow LMICs to benefit from these technologies. One RSV mAb that is currently being investigated in early trials is targeted to cost less than $5 USD per dose.

Palivizumab could be given intranasally rather than intramuscularly each month; however, this still poses difficulties in low-resource settings. Biosimilars could also be developed at a much lower price than palivizumab.

Future directions

RSV prevention appears to be on the horizon.

Several mAbs and vaccines are expected to obtain regulatory approval over the next several years. The next challenge will be to achieve global access to mAbs with an extended half-life, especially with limited supplies.

With a two-decade-long successful experience of using palivizumab, it may remain the default preventative while HIC experience with mAbs accumulates to yield real-world viral resistance data.

Maternal vaccines could be used along with mAbs in infants to prevent severe RSV disease in infants. Their use in these young children could extend the period of protection and be useful in preterm and full-term infants alike. Moreover, mAbs can also be used to treat infants whose mothers did not receive the vaccine and during non-RSV seasons.

Several ongoing studies are exploring the durability of maternal vaccine-induced protection, especially since this is much cheaper than mAbs. Vaccination of older children will likely serve a complementary role.

Further research is needed to address logistical and shelf stability issues once mAbs become more affordable for LMICs, as well as provide a better understanding of circulating RSV strains.

Globally representative studies of these vaccines are also urgently needed. Such studies will establish vaccine efficacy in high- and low-burden settings, identify and measure the correlates of protection, monitor for escape variants, and expand the access of LMICs to these vaccines.
The community of Bristol is proud to straddle the border between two states.

Tennessee flags fly on the south side of State Street, Virginia flags on the north. A series of plaques down the middle of the main downtown thoroughfare mark the twin cities' divide. A large sign at the end of town reminds everyone they're right on the state line.

After the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which gave regulation of abortion back to states, such borders make all the difference in what care is available. In Tennessee, most abortions will soon be illegal. In Virginia, they won't be.

For staff members at Bristol Regional Women's Center, an OB-GYN practice that offers abortions in Bristol, Tennessee, the proximity to Virginia created an opportunity. They could ensure access by helping open a clinic on the other side of the state line in Bristol, Virginia.

"Why did we choose Virginia?" asked Diane Derzis, who owns the clinic, which opened in July about a mile across town. "It just made sense."

Clinics across the country are still adjusting to the new legal landscape created by Dobbs. Some have shut down completely. Others have scaled back the services they offer. Still others have relocated hundreds of miles away.

A federal appeals court allowed Tennessee's six-week abortion ban to take effect, and a near-total ban is set to begin in late August. Meanwhile, Virginia still allows most abortions through the second trimester.

The adjoining towns govern independently and are subject to different state laws, said Anthony Farnum, mayor of Bristol, Virginia. The covid-19 pandemic, he said, provided a good example. "It was interesting," Farnum said as he sat outside the Burger Bar, a diner just a stone's throw from the state line. "The bars on the Virginia side closed at 10 p.m., and masks were required. The bars were open to 2 a.m. on the Tennessee side, no masks required."

Also, each state handles sales and income taxes differently, Farnum said. And his city is home to Virginias first casino, something that can't be found in Tennessee. What's happening with abortion is just the latest example.

Derzis said a doctor at the Bristol Regional Women's Center reached out to her with the idea for the Virginia clinic. Derzis owned Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Mississippi clinic at the heart of the Dobbs case. She said she's working to offer abortions to people across the Southeast who have lost access as states restrict the procedure. She opened Las Cruces Women's Health Organization in southern New Mexico in late July after closing her clinic more than 1,000 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi.

"Its like a game of dominoes. Its just a huge swath of states not offering the service any longer," Derzis said. "So those women have to go north or west."

Derzis opened the clinic in Bristol, Virginia  registered with the state as Bristol Women's Health  in late July and said she's already had a few patients. Derzis said the Tennessee and Virginia clinics are separate, distinct operations.

Moving a medical practice across state lines presents several costly logistical challenges.

Deborah Jo Adams, who works at Bristol Regional Women's Center, has raised more than $100,000 for the new clinic through an online fundraiser. The money will help cover "extra legal fees, new certifications, licenses, and regulations to practice in Virginia, a raise in prices of certain medical equipment, and unexpected building repairs," she wrote on the fundraiser page.

In the past, Dr. Howard Herrell, an OB-GYN in Greeneville, Tennessee, referred women to clinics in the Tennessee cities of Bristol and Knoxville and in the North Carolina city of Asheville  all about the same distance from his practice.

But even those clinics  at least an hour away by car  are not guaranteed to be there forever, he said. In recent months, both clinics in Knoxville that offered abortion services have closed, one of them after an act of arson, and the future of clinics in nearby states is uncertain.

"All of that is dependent upon what might happen with laws over time in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia," said Herrell, the incoming chair of the Tennessee chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Bristol Regional Women's Center, the Tennessee clinic, sits along a busy, four-lane highway that rumbles with heavy truck traffic. But that doesn't stop protesters from gathering outside on the few days a week the clinic provides abortions.

On a recent weekday morning, a handful stood on the sidewalks around the clinic holding large anti-abortion signs. On the clinic property, a group of volunteers who call themselves the Pink Defenders had put up pro-abortion rights signs and hung large sheets in various shades of pink and purple around the clinic parking lot. They're here regularly, in an effort to keep patients from being bothered by anti-abortion protesters.

"Honk twice for choice," read one of the signs, which faced oncoming vehicles. Pink Defenders cheered when drivers obliged.

Erika Schanzenbach, who opposes abortion and whose longtime protests outside the Tennessee clinic have led to civil lawsuits, said she heard about the Virginia clinic from the online fundraiser. This summer, she distributed flyers in the neighborhood around the new clinic encouraging locals to call city officials and the property owner to complain.

"As we were informing people about this clinic coming to their neighborhood, there were quite a few people that didnt know," Schanzenbach said. "A lot of people dont want it in their neighborhood." She said she plans to protest there, too.

Farnum, the Virginia mayor, said he received dozens of calls and emails  "a lot for a city this size"  from residents concerned about the clinic. But he told them he can't do much to stop it. "Its really more of a state decision. And currently, right now, the state law is that it is legal to operate that in the state," Farnum said. "Our hands are sort of tied. We dont really have anything to vote on."

For now, there's not much activity at the Virginia clinic. The low-slung brick building sits at the end of a residential street. On a recent weekday morning, a small pile of empty boxes, formerly full of new office supplies, sat outside. While Pink Defenders and protesters gathered at the Tennessee clinic about a mile away, the Virginia one sat quiet, empty.

To Max Carwile, it's a symbol of resilience. She's the director of programs at Abortion Access Front, a national abortion rights group, and a co-founder of Mountain Access Brigade, an abortion fund that works in East Tennessee.

She grew up in the region, which she called a "desert of health care access," and said the clinic opening in Bristol, Virginia, will mean a "world of difference to patients"  even if the people running it can't keep the doors open forever.

"For the ones who have the chance to move a short distance, thats amazing," said Lori Williams, chair of the National Abortion Federation's board of directors. "For the ones that are able to move great distances, thats also amazing. But theres many of us who wont be able to make that move."
Clinicians' reluctance to discuss possible harms of anal sex is letting down a generation of young women who are unaware of the risks, warn researchers in The BMJ today.

Surgeons Tabitha Gana and Lesley Hunt argue that as anal intercourse becomes more common amongst heterosexual couples, failure to discuss it "exposes women to missed diagnoses, futile treatments, and further harm arising from a lack of medical advice."

They say healthcare professionals, particularly those in general practice, gastroenterology, and colorectal surgery, "have a duty to acknowledge changes in society around anal sex in young women, and to meet these changes with open neutral and non-judgemental conversations to ensure that all women have the information they need to make informed choices about sex."

In Britain, the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyle shows participation in heterosexual anal intercourse among 16 to 24-year-olds, rose from 12.5% to 28.5% over the last few decades. Similar trends are seen in the USA, where 30-44% of men and women report having anal sex.

Young women cite pleasure, curiosity, pleasing the male partners and coercion as factors. Up to 25% of women with experience of anal sex report they have been pressured into it at least once.

Anal intercourse is considered a risky sexual behavior because of its association with alcohol, drug use and multiple sex partners. But it is also associated with specific health concerns, explain the authors.

For example, increased rates of fecal incontinence and anal sphincter injury have been reported in women who have anal intercourse. Women are also at a higher risk of incontinence than men, due to their different anatomy,

"The pain and bleeding women report after anal sex is indicative of trauma, and risks may be increased if anal sex is coerced," they write.

Effective management of anorectal disorders requires understanding of the underlying risk factors, and good history taking is key, they say. Yet clinicians may shy away from these discussions, influenced by society's taboos.

What's more, NHS patient information on anal sex considers only sexually transmitted diseases, making no mention of anal trauma, incontinence, or the psychological aftermath of the coercion young women report in relation to this activity.

"It may not be just avoidance or stigma that prevents health professionals talking to young women about the risks of anal sex. There is genuine concern that the message may be seen as judgmental or even misconstrued as homophobic," they note. "However, by avoiding these discussions, we may be failing a generation of young women, who are unaware of the risks."

"With better information, women who want anal sex would be able to protect themselves more effectively from possible harm, and those who agree to anal sex reluctantly to meet society's expectations or please partners, may feel better empowered to say no," they conclude.
Stopping children undergoing chemotherapy from feeling pain and other debilitating side-effects is the focus of research underway at The University of Queensland.

Dr Hana Starobova from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience has been awarded a Fellowship Grant from the Children's Hospital Foundation to continue her research to relieve children from the side-effects of cancer treatments.

Although children have a higher survival rate than adults following cancer treatments, they can still be suffering side-effects well into their adulthood." Dr Hana Starobova, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland

"A five-year-old cancer patient could be suffering severe pain, gastrointestinal problems or difficulty walking 20 years on from treatment.

"There has been a lack of studies on children, which is an issue because they are not just small adults -; they suffer from different cancers, their immune systems work differently and they have a faster metabolism, all of which affect how treatments work.

"Our aim is to treat children before the damage happens, so that the side-effects are dramatically reduced or don't occur in the first place."

In her previous research Dr Starobova found an anti-inflammatory drug substantially reduced nerve pain associated with a chemotherapy drug, and did not reduce the effectiveness of the cancer treatment.

Dr Starobova is currently analysing how specific drugs could prevent a cascade of inflammation caused by chemotherapy drugs, which lead to tingling and numbness in hands and feet, and muscle pain and weakness that makes everyday tasks, like walking and doing up buttons, a challenge.

She is focusing on Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in children, with over 700 children diagnosed in Australia each year.

In collaboration with Brisbane's Queensland Children's Hospital and Mater Children's Private Brisbane, and Perth's Telethon Kids Institute, Dr Starobova and her team share a strong motivation to improve quality of life for children.

"We are studying the most commonly used chemotherapy treatment for children, which is a mix of drugs that are very toxic, but have to be used to treat the cancer fast and stop it becoming resistant to the drugs," Dr Starobova said.

"It's a fine balance -; too little chemotherapy and the cancer won't be killed but sometimes the side-effects are so bad, patients have to stop the therapy.

"I hope that by having a treatment to reduce side-effects, it will be one less thing for these kids and their families to worry about."

Children's Hospital Foundation CEO, Lyndsey Rice, said she was proud the Foundation could fund such vital research.

"No child should suffer pain from the treatment which is trying to help them. Dr Starobova's research will make a tangible difference to sick kids," Ms Rice said.
Individuals with blood-related cancers are more likely to experience a COVID-19 infection even after being vaccinated, a University of Kansas Cancer Center study has found.

Researchers of the study, published in the Journal of Hematology & Oncology, discovered that patients with blood-related cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, are 1.6 times more likely than other cancer patients to have breakthrough infections of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Additionally, researchers found that patients who were receiving anti-cancer therapy at the time they were vaccinated for COVID-19 were 2.7 times as likely to have breakthrough infections resulting in COVID-19, regardless of what type of cancer they were fighting. Anti-cancer therapies include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation.

Anthony Rooney, M.D., is a fellow in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at KU Medical Center, under the mentorship of Qamar Khan, M.D., professor of medical oncology. Rooney said this breakthrough-infection study provides valuable information for cancer patients, their family and friends.

These patients and their loved ones should be sure to talk to their oncologists about strategies to prevent infection, including vaccination, avoidance of high-risk activities and accessing currently available pre-exposure preventative therapies." Anthony Rooney, M.D., Fellow in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at KU Medical Center

One such pre-exposure therapy is the drug combination packaged under the name of Evusheld. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration provided emergency authorization of Evusheld for anyone who may not be able to mount an adequate defense against of SARS-CoV-2.

Impact of the study

Rooney said numerous studies have been done to find out just how much more susceptible cancer patients are to SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections than the general population. What makes this study important is its findings regarding patients with blood-related cancers, also known as hematologic malignancies, which are defined by the cancer's start in the blood or blood-producing tissues.

This particular study did not compare vaccinated blood cancer patients with the general population, but Rooney pointed to a recent study in Washington state that examined breakout infections in the general population during the same period as KU Medical Center's study. The Washington study reported a breakthrough rate of only 0.02% of vaccinated individuals. Blood cancer patients studied as part of the KU Medical Center inquiry had a breakthrough rate of 1.1%.

The two percentages seem dramatically different, but Rooney cautioned against direct comparison, since COVID-19 affects geographic areas differently, even if the regions are measured at the same time. Also, the direct comparison doesn't account for human behavior within the populations. "Cancer patients may be more cautious or more likely to practice social distancing than other populations," Rooney said.

Why blood cancers?

Figuring out why blood-related cancers have a higher rate of COVID breakthrough infection than other cancers was not the focus of the study either, but Rooney said he can hypothesize. Blood-related cancers hit the immune system harder than other types of cancers because "they are often cancers of the immune cells themselves," he said.

"As such, patients with blood-related cancers are often not able to mount as robust of a response to vaccination and may not have the same degree of protection after receiving vaccines," Rooney said.

Another reason might be the type of treatments used in these types of cancers, which can suppress the immune system even more than other cancers' methods of treatment, he added.

Timeliness of the information

The researchers were able to produce study results quickly in part because they had access to a special database already in existence. Instead of having to poll cancer patients individually and then analyze the results, researchers requested information from the University of Kansas Cancer Center Curated Cancer Clinical Outcomes Database, also known as C3OD.

David Streeter, director of cancer informatics for The University of Kansas Cancer Center and a co-author on the study, gathered and quantified information from cancer patients and maintained these statistics in C3OD with a team of informatics specialists.

"It is our belief that as a small, agile team, we were first to provide COVID cancer-specific data to our organization," Streeter said. "Using the power of C3OD, we were able to provide very specific data that (otherwise) could not have been abstracted without it or in the time required."

Rooney, too, gave credit to C3OD and the informatics team. "With the help of our C3OD team, we were able to quickly identify our vaccinated patient population and obtain the information we needed to study breakthrough infections in this group of patients," he said.

C3OD was originally created to match cancer patients to suitable clinical trials, and it has since become a valuable resource for researchers at the KU Cancer Center.

"Today's clinical trial landscape includes trials with increasing complexity and decreasing patient treatment windows. Both aspects require a solution that can abstract data quickly, that is accurate, and that can curate complex data in such a way that makes it searchable and consumable," Streeter said. "It is our belief that there must be technological intervention to provide solutions to these problems within the cancer research and analytics domains."

The researchers are hoping the results of this study can provide a starting point for the medical community to improve institutional practices in reducing the risk for infection in the vulnerable cancer population.

"Understanding the rate of breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections and the outcomes of cancer patients who develop breakthrough infections is critical to make sure that we can properly counsel our patients about the risks of developing infection," Rooney said.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Many seems to be unaware of the extensive sewer system running beneath the streets of Bahrain. If you are one among them, know that these systems are instrumental in clearing our sewage and keeping our lives smooth.

However, modern society seems to ignore this and is flushing the drains with fats, grease, oil and other things. The result - all of them congeal together to form, what experts call, a fatberg.

What do they do?

They block drains, break pipes, and cause localised flooding. Went it happens, lives go awry. Authorities here say they are fighting this menace here in the Kingdom too. They have also pinpointed the troublemakers.

Works Ministry says cafeterias, restaurants and kitchen units are greatly responsible for feeding the fatbergs choking the sewers in the Kingdom. This issue vexes public works officials and costs tax-payers thousands of dinars.

Eateries in the Kingdom, a Works Ministry report says, are contributing to the clogging by failing to instal grease traps and other control measures. This means that fat, oil and grease from such places are finding their way directly into the networks pipes and drains, destroying it.

During the first half of the year, the ministry detected and took legal actions against 70 such violators, the report said. Judicial control officers at the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments detected the violations.

Of the 70 violations recorded, 60 were for feeding the network with prohibited materials, six for unlicenced connections, three for working without a permit and one for unauthorised discharge. The judicial control officers served notices to all violators after inspecting the site. Officers also met the people responsible for the action and asked them to correct them within a prescribed time.

In this regard, the Works Ministry stressed the importance of awareness campaigns on the proper use of control mechanisms and their significant impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of wastewater transportation and treatment process.

The works ministry said it had involved the Ministry of Trade and Industry in issuing and renewing commercial registrations to ensure compliance, especially where fat traps are a must.

What does the law say?

Law No. 33 of 2006 aims at regulating sewage disposal and surface water drainage to protect the environment against pollution.

Article 7 deals with precautions to be taken by the licensee to prevent damages to the environment and public health. The law also states that it is illegal to link drainages to public sewage facilities without obtaining a licence and throw, dispose or allow discharge of materials that could damage the network.

The ministry says its also illegal to feed public sewage networks with discolouring materials, petroleum, alcohol, calcium carbide, yeast, highly acidic or alkaline substances, industrial detergents, cyanide and sulphide compounds, tar, oils, greases and similar substances.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Posting videos insulting religious signs on social media platforms, including Tik Tok, landed two people in the dock. One of the suspects, police said, is a 17-year-old. Police arrested them following an investigation into a report from the Cybercrime department on social posts insulting religion.

The Public Prosecution said it identified the suspects soon and took them into custody. During interrogation, cops said both the suspects confessed to their crimes. The suspects confessed to publicly insulting religious symbols and misusing telecom devices.

The Prosecution ordered one of the suspects to the Minor Criminal Court for trial. Prosecutors referred the other suspect to the Correctional Justice Courts after presenting him to a social worker to prepare a report on him.

The Head of the Family and Child Prosecution affirmed that Bahrain guarantees freedom of opinion and expression. However, one should exercise such rights in a manner that does not undermine the sanctity of religion and should not provoke and sow divisions in society.

However, in this case, what happened is contrary to that policy. Their acts were meant to cause tensions and are thus criminal in conduct. They deserve the penalty proposed by the law, said the official.
Gambling is not something new in Asia. There are some Asian nations that fall in the top gambling destinations in the world such as Macau and Singapore.

Resort casinos have also popped up in countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines. But have online casinos also found their way to Asian players?

The quick answer is yes. There are many online casinos that are based in Asian countries, and there are online casinos based elsewhere that are also available for players in Asia. A quick Google search would reveal a number of options such as  UFABET.

Here are some other things that you should know when it comes to online casinos in this part of the world:

1. Gambling is rooted in a lot of Asian cultures

Brick and mortar casinos can be found in a lot of Asian countries because gambling, while regulated, is considered an accepted practice in a lot of Asian cultures.

Aside from locals, Asian casinos are popular among tourists. Asia is known to be home to great tourist destinations, such as beautiful beaches and land formations. Tourists can enjoy visiting these tourist spots, as well as their grand casinos.

There are some countries though such as South Korea where casinos are only available for foreigners, and not for their own citizens.

2. There are some legal technicalities in online gambling in Asia

The legality of online gambling in Asia is quite complex. There are countries which ban online gambling in its entirety such as in Cambodia, China, and South Korea among others. Some workaround that interested players do in order to is using Virtual Private Networks or VPN. It is always best to know the online gambling law from where you are playing from so that you wouldnt be risking yourself from being penalized.

3. Asia is considered a huge online casino market

Statista.com estimates that Asia houses almost 1.5 billion online gamers. While there is no clear number as to how much of these play on online casinos, even just a percentage of this figure is roughly 15 million players. And with online casinos offering various games, its not hard to attract this profitable market.

4. Asia is also a huge market for mobile devices

GSM association estimates that some 1.2 billion people in Asia Pacific will be connected to the mobile internet in 2020. With seventy percent of online gambling transactions estimated to come from mobile gamblers, the region really is a great market for online casinos.

5. Asian online gambling operators are growing

Online casinos are expanding their operations in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia. For the Philippines for example, the growth of the online gambling industry popularized the concept of offshore gaming in the late 2010s. Before the pandemic, what they call Philippine offshore gaming operators or POGOs have taken-up millions of square feet of office and commercial spaces to house online casinos as well as their customer support facilities. Even condo and apartment rentals skyrocketed as demand rose as POGOs usually employ Chinese immigrants.

Later on, stricter regulations on the industry caused a considerable fraction of POGOs to relocate to other Asian nations such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

POGOs have been big in the news for a long time, giving the industry a huge publicity boost.

The Future of Online Gambling in Asia

Currently, the online gambling landscape in Asia is quite muddy but it hasnt stopped online casinos from growing. Similarly, the growth of Asian players doesnt seem to be slowing down so the future of online gambling in Asia seems to be bright. Check out the growing number of Asian online casinos, as international gambling platforms today!

... continue reading
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One weekend in June, a group of people gathered at an underpass in New Haven to help artist Demeree Douglas paint her 18-foot-tall mural. Towering over them was the outline of the murals central image: a Black female astronaut with braids kneeling down and placing a crown onto a child, the younger version of herself.

MiAsia Harris, one of the project organizers, saw a young girl with her father point to the drawing of the child.

Daddy, thats me, the young girl said.

The piece on Front Street is one of the three murals painted in New Haven this summer as part of a project organized by the Nu Spiral Collective, an anti-racism public art collective. Harris, a member of the collective, said the murals are not only meant to beautify the city but to reflect the culture and people living in the neighborhoods.

We want people to look up at the mural and actually be able to see themselves in the mural, she said.

Nu Spiral Collective members Harris, Isaac Bloodworth, Joy Meikle and Ala Ochumare-Harris worked with New Havens Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism and the Connecticut Department of Transportation to organize the project, which is funded by a $100,000 donation from the IKEA U.S. Community Foundations Pay It Forward campaign.

The projects lead artists created images based on the theme What does liberation for Black, Brown, and poor folx look like?

The collective wanted images that represented feeling happy and free from a world of prejudice. Members also organized community paint days where residents could help the artists with the mural, and Harris said the events were a success.

I think [the event] just brought a lot of that joyous liberating feeling for the community that we were going for, she said.

D.Douglas Mural on Front Street & Middletown Avenue

Demeree Douglas, known as D.Douglas, wants her paintings images to show people they can do anything if they put their mind to it. After finishing her first outdoor large-scale mural on July 30, she is even more confident in that message.

I applied [to the project] because I wanted to challenge myself. I think as an artist, we're always trying to, you know, see what else we can do, she said.

The inspiration behind the piece stems from her experiences as a child growing up in Connecticut and how she felt she was deprived of certain opportunities her counterparts had due to her financial status.

The crown in the mural symbolizes the belief that she could be anything if she puts her mind to it, despite the circumstances or background.

My interpretation of liberation for Black and brown people is instilling that worth at a younger age versus having to do that yourself when you get older," she said.

Douglas portrays the beauty of that feeling through abstract images of nature and vibrant colors. The pink lotus flowers, a plant that grows in darkness, on the two figures, show how one can flourish in any environment, Douglas said. She drew a hummingbird, the national bird of Jamaica, representing beauty and Douglas Jamaican descent.

The jagged lines stemming from the central image represent the infinite possibilities and opportunities had her path been different, such as if she went to a different school or chose a different career. Artist Alana Ladson helped her paint abstract crystals with various light beams and angles.

For Douglas, one of the most notable components is the womans braids. In her past works, Douglas has added real hair, jewelry and flowers to her paintings to celebrate various hairstyles of Black women and oppose the stigma against natural Black hair.

I wanted to further show Hey, she's a Black girl, she's an astronaut and she has braids. And she's still doing big things with her life, she said. That shouldnt be something that deters her from achieving what she wants to achieve.

Douglas hopes people will view the murals character as their younger sibling or child. For her, the best part about having a public canvas is that anyone can stop by and share their interpretations.

It touched my heart because a lot of people that stopped by were of different races, different genders. And it was amazing to see that my piece was inspiring or just caused people to stop and say thank you. Just simple two words were enough for me, she said.

Some people told Douglas they rarely see a Black female muralist. She hopes her work will encourage more Black women to pursue art since she didnt learn about Black female artists in school and couldnt relate to the material.

Although she's not a self-taught artist, Douglas considers her style and technique self taught because it does not fit into the artistic mold she was taught in school. Shes starting to see more Black female artists create new styles and represent Black women in famous works.

I think that's amazing. Because growing up or in school, that wasn't in the history books.

Perezs mural on Grand Avenue by Hamilton Street

Carlos Perez, who goes by his last name, wants his piece to mimic a world inside Cartoon Network. But his original vision was quite different.

I took [the prompt] very literally and came up with a man in chains, but Nu Spiral said by liberation we mean think of something or somewhere that will make your day happy and free and liberating, he said.

With the help of artist Madelyn Elizabeth and Ruby Gonzalez Hernandez, Perez created a 175-foot-long mural of a public park at sunset with the New Haven skyline at the top. He added animated stick figures including two women on a date, a person playing the bongos and man selling piragua, Puerto Rican shaved ice. Perez drew a path stretching into the center to give the effect of driving into a Toon world. The stick figures reminded one spectator of when he used to doodle in his notebook as a kid, Perez said.

I wanted to give everybody that feeling, like when people used to watch cartoons... there were no worries, you had no bills, you just sat there and you watch cartoons, he said.

The artist said he has always preferred animated drawings inspired by Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon shows. He has been painting murals since the summer of 2020, and his works include the Black Lives Matter mural on Temple Street. The artist signs his work with the drawing of a gecko in memory of his niece, who died before he could draw her a tattoo of the animal.

So now I'm going to use her first tattoo that she wanted on all my art so everybody can see it," he said.

Feedback from residents has allowed Perez to draw a scene that was more inclusive and representative of the city. A runner asked if he could draw a runner in the mural. A man with dreadlocks requested he draw a stick figure with the same hairstyle, so he did.

One of the spectators even included Gov. Ned Lamont, who Perez described as a really cool guy, who asked about the mural and praised public art.

It brings smiles, and even on some controversial pieces, it makes you think, he said. It brings awareness to a lot of stuff that's happening not only here in our city but in our state, and even around the world. To me, the more public art it just brings out messages.

Jesse Wolf and Candyce "Marsh" John Mural on Pond Lily and Whalley Avenues

Under Route 15 on Whalley Avenue, artists Jesse Wolf and Candyce "Marsh" John created a vibrant mural of a kid looking through a magnifying glass into a scene of people dancing, cooking and even reading on a cloud.

Wolf said the mural incorporates elements of Afrofuturism, the intersection of African Diaspora culture and science fiction, and surrealism, the clash between the dream world and reality.

The mural represents Black liberation because it allows the murals characters to be free and dream big without having to think about racism, according to John.

There's a little girl standing on the top of a crate, and she's blowing a bubble... She's seeing her future self, John said.

John said public art is a powerful form of communication and wants to continue inspiring artists to beautify their cities.

There are messages all around. There's something that I may not get from the people or social media, but I happen to go outside and see this, and it inspired me. So I just want to continue that, she said.

Editors note: This story has been updated to correct a quote describing Candyce Marsh Johns mural.
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WILMINGTON, Ohio (AP)  An armed man clad in body armor who tried to breach the FBIs Cincinnati office on Thursday was shot and killed by police after he fled the scene and engaged in an hourslong standoff in a rural part of the state, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

The confrontation came as officials warned of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following a search of former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The man is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and may have been present at the Capitol on the day of the attack, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The suspect was identified as Ricky Shiffer, 42, according to the law enforcement official. He was not charged with any crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, the official said. Federal investigators are examining whether Shiffer may have had ties to far-right extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, the official said.

Shiffer attempted to breach the visitors screening area at the FBI office at around 9:15 a.m. and fled when agents confronted him, according to federal authorities account of the incident. After fleeing onto Interstate 71, he was spotted by a trooper and fired shots as the trooper pursued him, said Lt. Nathan Dennis, a Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesperson, at a press conference.

Shiffer left the interstate north of Cincinnati with police in pursuit, and got out of his car on a rural road. He exchanged gunfire with police and sustained injuries, although no one else was hurt, Dennis said. A separate highway patrol statement said Shiffer had used his car for cover during the standoff.

Shiffer was shot after he raised a gun toward police at around 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Dennis said. The fatal encounter with police happened after negotiations failed and police tried unsuccessfully to use less lethal tactics, Dennis said, without providing details.

State highway workers blocked off roads leading to the scene as a helicopter flew over the area. Officials locked down a mile radius near the interstate and urged residents and business owners to lock doors and stay inside.

There have been growing threats in recent days against FBI agents and offices across the country after federal agents executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. On Gab, a social media site popular with white supremacists and antisemites, users have warned they are preparing for an armed revolution.

Federal officials have also been tracking an array of other concerning chatter on Gab and other platforms threatening violence against federal agents. FBI Director Christopher Wray denounced the threats as he visited another FBI office in Nebraska on Wednesday.

Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who youre upset with, Wray said Wednesday in Omaha.

The FBI on Wednesday also warned its agents to avoid potential protesters, and to ensure their security key cards are not visible outside FBI space, citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities.

The warning did not specifically mention this weeks search of Mar-a-Lago but attributed the online threats to recent media reporting on FBI investigative activity.

___

Welsh-Huggins reported from Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Washington and Jim Mustian in New York contributed to this report.
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NEW FAIRFIELD  Residents may no longer have to leave town to get their bubble tea fix because a shop specializing in the popular beverage may come to New Fairfield.

New York resident Zhelong Lin looks to open a bubble tea shop in the 900-square-foot space formerly occupied by Peachwave in the Heritage Plaza shopping center off Route 39.

Lin said hes never owned a business before, but decided to pursue opening the shop with a friend who knows how to make the drink  the recipe for which originated in Taiwan and became popular in the U.S. over the last several decades.

Bubble or boba tea is a type of tea-based beverage thats sometimes mixed with milk and other ingredients like fruit, and features chewy tapioca pearls known as bubbles.

The closest bubble tea shop to New Fairfield is Papa Tea at the Danbury Fair Mall.

The New Fairfield Zoning Commission voted Wednesday to accept the site plan application for the proposed bubble tea business, with two stipulations  one being that all required department approvals and permits are obtained for the establishment.

The members also stipulated that the applicant return to the commission for approval before putting up any permanent signage.

Lin said the store would have five employees and its hours of operation would be from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.

Since it would be considered a fast food business under the towns zoning regulations  which require one parking space for every 50 square-foot of commercial space for such an establishment  the shop would need a total of 18 spaces.

New Fairfields zoning enforcement officer, Evan White, said parking at Heritage Plaza shouldnt be an issue for the proposed bubble tea business.

The total site has 195 parking spaces and with the parking schedule, I think were still in excess of over 45 spaces, he said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  An off-duty Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, with a fellow officer was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in prison, matching the longest prison sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

Former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison. Cooper also sentenced Robertson to three years of supervised release after his prison term.

Federal prosecutors had recommended an eight-year prison sentence for Robertson. His sentence equals that of Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who attacked the Capitol while armed with a holstered handgun.

Robertson gets credit for the 13 months he has already spent in custody. Robertson has been jailed since Cooper ruled last year that he violated the terms of his pretrial release by possessing firearms.

The judge said he was troubled by Robertson's conduct since his arrest  not only his stockpiling of guns but also his words advocating for violence. After Jan. 6, Robertson told a friend that he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war and he clung to baseless conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump, the judge noted.

Sentencing guidelines calculated by Cooper recommended a prison term ranging from seven years and three months to nine years.

It's a long time because it reflects the seriousness of the offenses that you were convicted of, the judge said.

In April, a jury convicted Robertson of attacking the Capitol to obstruct Congress from certifying Joe Bidens 2020 presidential victory. Jurors found Robertson guilty of all six counts in his indictment, including charges that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick.

Robertsons lawyers said the Army veteran was using the stick to help him walk because he has a limp from getting shot in the right thigh while working as a private contractor for the Defense Department in Afghanistan in 2011.

The judge said he agreed with jurors that Robertson went to the Capitol to interfere with the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6. Robertson was an active and willing participant, not some bystander who got swept up in the crowd, Cooper said.

Robertson traveled to Washington on that morning with another off-duty Rocky Mount police officer, Jacob Fracker, and a third man, a neighbor who wasn't charged in the case.

Fracker was scheduled to be tried alongside Robertson before he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in March and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. Cooper is scheduled to sentence Fracker next Tuesday.

Prosecutors have asked Cooper to spare Fracker from a prison term and sentence him to six months of probation along with a period of home detention or community confinement. They said Fracker's fulsome cooperation and trial testimony was crucial in securing convictions against Robertson.

Robertson's lawyer, Mark Rollins, sought a prison sentence below two years and three months. He questioned the fairness of the wide gap in sentences that prosecutors recommended for Robertson and Fracker given their similar conduct.

Robertson served his country and community with distinction, his lawyer told the judge.

His life already is in shambles, Rollins said.

Robertson and Fracker were among several current or former law enforcement officers who joined in the riot. Prosecutors say Robertson used his law enforcement and military training to block police officers who were trying to hold off the advancing mob.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi said Robertson was prepared for violence when he went to the Capitol and did a victory lap inside the building, where he posed for a selfie with Fracker.

The defendant is, by all accounts, proud of his conduct on Jan. 6, she said.

Jurors saw some of Robertsons posts on social media before and after the riot. In a Facebook post on Nov. 7, 2020, Robertson said being disenfranchised by fraud is my hard line.

Ive spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. (Im) about to become part of one, and a very effective one, he wrote.

In a letter addressed to the judge, Robertson said he took full responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6 and any poor decisions I made. He blamed the vitriolic content of his social media posts on a mix of stress, alcohol abuse and submersion in deep rabbit holes of election conspiracy theory.

I sat around at night drinking too much and reacting to articles and sites given to me by Facebook algorithms, he wrote.

The town fired Robertson and Fracker after the riot. Rocky Mount is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Roanoke, Virginia, and has about 5,000 residents.

Roughly 850 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 350 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses, and more than 230 have been sentenced so far.

Robertsons jury trial was the second for a Capitol riot case; Reffitts was the first. Jurors have unanimously convicted seven Capitol rioters of all charges in their respective indictments.

___

For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is returning ancient sculptures and other works of art that were illegally exported from Italy, the museum announced Thursday.

The Getty will return a nearly life-size group of Greek terra-cotta sculptures known as Orpheus and the Sirens," believed to date from the fourth century B.C., according to the museum.

The sculpture group was purchased by J. Paul Getty in 1976 shortly before his death and had been on display for decades.

However, the museum now believes they were illegally excavated and taken out of Italy, based on evidence uncovered by the Manhattan district attorney's office, the Getty said in a statement.

Its just extremely rare and theres nothing similar in our collection, or closely similar in any collection, Getty Museum director Timothy Potts told the Los Angeles Times. It does leave a hole in our gallery but with this evidence that came forth, there was no question that it needed to be sent back to Italy.

The fragile sculptures will be sent to Rome in September to join collections designated by the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Getty said.

The museum also is working with the Ministry of Culture to arrange the return of four other objects at a future date. Those include a colossal marble head of a divinity" and a stone mold for casting pendants, both from the second century A.D., along with an Etruscan bronze incense burner from the fourth century B.C. and a 19th century painting by Camillo Miola entitled Oracle at Delphi," the Getty said.
Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Model and actor Jerry Hall and media mogul Rupert Murdoch have agreed to the terms of their pending divorce, her attorney said Thursday.

Hall filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday to dismiss her original petition for divorce from Murdoch, which she filed last month, with permission to file a new one.
Missouris health department on Thursday announced findings of a lengthy examination of the troubled Bridgeton Landfill in suburban St. Louis, determining that the foul odor emitting from the landfill created health problems but did not increase the risk of cancer.

The finding of the yearslong investigation by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services was validation for people who live near the landfill in northwestern St. Louis County, said Dawn Chapman, co-founder of the activist group Just Moms STL.

We knew we were facing physical symptoms on a day-to-day basis from exposure to the odors, Chapman said. We knew it could exacerbate illnesses because that's what we were seeing.

The landfill has been a source of concern for well over a decade for multiple reasons. Uranium refined in St. Louis as part of the Manhattan Project, the World War II-era program that produced the first nuclear weapons, was illegally dumped at the adjacent West Lake Landfill in 1973.

Meanwhile, a smolder was discovered underground in 2010 at Bridgeton Landfill, just a few hundred yards away, creating worry about what could happen if the smoldering reaches the nuclear waste. The cause of the smolder remains unknown, but the resulting odor was so pungent that many nearby residents complained of illness and were often forced to stay inside.

Bridgeton Landfill has spent millions of dollars to mitigate the odor, which has decreased significantly in recent years.

The state health department, in its final health consultation document, determined that before the odor-reducing actions, breathing sulfur-based compounds may have aggravated existing respiratory and cardiopulmonary conditions, and caused headaches, nausea and fatigue. Children, the elderly and those with chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma faced the greatest risk.

Estimated cancer risks from living and breathing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) near the landfill are similar to the risks from living in other urban environments in the United States, the report stated.

Chapman recalled a day in the summer of 2013 when she took her kids to a nearby Target store.

The odor was so strong it came inside the building, she said. As we were checking out everybody was gagging. People were puking in the parking lot and moms were trying to put their groceries away with their noses bleeding.

The odor was so bad that then-Attorney General Chris Koster filed a lawsuit in 2013. The suit was settled in 2018 when the current and former landfill owners agreed to pay $16 million.

A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency declined comment on the Missouri report.

The EPAs Superfund project to address the nuclear waste was announced in 2018, but has been delayed while the agency refines its cleanup plan, initially estimated to cost $205 million. The agency has not issued a new timeline.

The landfills owner will shoulder the cost along with other responsible parties, which include the U.S. Department of Energy and Exelon Corp. of Chicago, whose subsidiary once owned uranium processor Cotter Corp.
MIAMI (AP)  Prosecutors in South Florida announced a second-degree murder charge Thursday against social media model Courtney Clenney in connection with the fatal stabbing of her live-in boyfriend.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced the charge against the 26-year-old model during a news conference. Clenney was arrested Wednesday in Hawaii. Fernandez Rundle said Clenney, who goes by the name Courtney Tailor on such platforms as Instagram and OnlyFans, remained jailed in Hawaii while authorities seek her extradition to Florida.

She appeared in a courtroom on Hawaii's Big Island Thursday, where she waived her right to an extradition hearing and agreed to return to Florida.

Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered her held without bail pending extradition.

Fernandez Rundle characterized Christian Obumseli's April 3 death at the couple's Miami apartment as the culmination of a tempestuous and combative relationship that began in November 2020. The county medical examiner said in an autopsy report that Obumseli, who worked in cryptocurrency, died from a forceful downward thrust from a blade that went 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) into his chest, piercing a major artery.

According to an arrest report, Clenney acknowledged killing Obumseli but said she acted in self defense. She said Obumseli had pushed her and thrown her to the floor, which prompted her to grab a knife and throw it at Obumseli from about 10 feet (3 meters) away. The medical examiner said Obumseli's wound could not have been caused by a knife thrown from that distance.

Clenney's Miami defense lawyer, Frank Prieto, said the medical examiner's opinions won't stand up to scientific scrutiny when they argue self-defense at trial. He acknowledged that Clenney and Obumseli had a tumultuous relationship but said Obumseli was the primary aggressor.

Obumseli was the abuser, the worst kind of abuser, Prieto said in a statement. He would manipulate and abuse Courtney in private when he thought nobody was around.
Ashish Shelar, 49, a BJP member from Bandra West and Shiv Sena foe, has been named the BJPs Mumbai unit president. Shelar, who was not appointed to the government, has been handed this important job ahead of the BMC elections. Since 1985, the Shiv Sena has controlled Indias richest civic body.

It is critical for the BJPs sustained success in Maharashtra to seize control of the BMC from the Sena, and Shelar is the right guy for the task.

Shelar has to work hard to get Marathi Manoos as well as people from other groups in order to defeat Thackerays Shiv Sena.

Even while the party intends to ride the Modi wave, it will need to strengthen ties with Marathi Manoos in particular, as the Thackeray group, following the Shinde-led mutiny, has already begun poll preparations by reaching out to traditional vote bank the Marathi Manoos.

Although the BMC elections will be contested on local concerns such as roads, connectivity, water, and sanitation, the BJP may need to be prepared to appease the people who are being struck by rising commodity costs and rising unemployment.

Furthermore, Shelars BJP would have to convincingly refute Thackeray factions claim of separating Mumbai from Maharashtra and diminishing its role as the countrys financial centre.

Also Read: MLC Chandrashekhar Bawankule appointed as the BJPs Maharashtra unit president
Chief Minister Himanta Sarma blames the secular people for Assam becoming a hotbed of Islamic Fundamentalists.

Chief Minister alleged that the People Front of India (PFI), has developed an ecosystem in the state, in which terror modules located in Bangladesh and linked to the Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) are being garnered.

While addressing a press conference to elucidate details of a series of arrests in the past five months. There have been several arrests in the past few days alone, including the demolition of a Madarsa run by Mustafa Alias Mufti Mustafa.

According to the Chief Minister, The state is becoming a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalists, I firmly believe that the Muslim population of the state will help us in this tussle, we have to scrutinize and inspect closely migrants who are teaching at the Madarsa.

Mohammad Suman, a Bangladeshi national who migrated to Barpeta, Assam, in 2018, is among those detained since April. He is accused of being a member of the first module and working as an Imam at a nearby mosque.

He further added that he is not targeting anyone and seeks to protect the lawful citizens of the nation, and blamed the so-called secular people who try to victimise Muslims for creating a scenario in which organisations like PFI Ancash the victimhood.

Recently, in a probe, the Jamiul Huda Madrasa was demolished, under Disaster Management Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. This demolition came amid 11 people who were detained in a major crackdown in Assam for their alleged links with global terror outfits including AQIS and ABT.

Also Read: Assam: Morigaon admin knocks down Madrasa owned by a man with Al-Qaeda links
Patricia Lacina, Charge dAffaires of the US Mission in India, met with business executives and entrepreneurs in Bengaluru to highlight the strong economic and commercial links between the US and India.

Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin joined the Charge in Bengaluru.

Glad to have held talks with Ms. Patricia A. Lacina, Charge d Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in India.



U.S tech companies have partnered with Karnataka for decades. Our Govt. looks forward to more such collaborations to strengthen business partnerships & commercial interests. pic.twitter.com/COLjujR1Nk  Dr. Ashwathnarayan C. N. (@drashwathcn) August 11, 2022

Lacina highlighted the enormous contributions of over 650 US enterprises in Bengaluru, which employ tens of thousands of people in the formal sector, during a reception for commercial and business executives on Wednesday.
The Bihar BJP voiced its displeasure with Nitish Kumars decision to quit as Chief Minister, claiming that the JD(U) had abandoned Bihar and the peoples mandate.

Addressing a press conference today, Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said, In the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, all of us contested under the NDA alliance and the majority and mandate was given by the people to JDU and BJP. However, as on date, Nitish played with the public mandate. JD(U) betrayed Bihar. We were successful in winning 74 seats, but we fulfilled the promise made by the Prime Minister and Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister of this NDA alliance. However, whatever happened today is a betrayal of the people of Bihar and the BJP, he said.

Nitish Kumar, who resigned as Bihar Chief Minister on Tuesday, said he has presented a list of 164 MLAs to the Bihar Governor and staked his claim to establish a new government.

We submitted a list of 164 MLAs to the governor and staked claim to form a new government. He will let us know when oath-taking can take place, Nitish told reporters.

Notably, Nitish Kumar, the chairman of the JD(U), has been voted as the leader of the Mahagathbandhan, or Grand Alliance.

On Tuesday, Nitish Kumar called off the JD(U)-BJP coalition in Bihar and resigned as the states chief minister. After quitting as Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar met with Tejashwi Yadav, and the two met with the Governor to lay their claim to the government.

After meeting the Bihar Governor, JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar said, We have the support of seven parties and one Independent MLA. The letter of support has been signed by all.

Former Union minister RCP Singh, who left the JD(U) after a spat with Nitish Kumar, claimed the partys break with the BJP and alliance with Tejashwi Yadav is a betrayal of the 2020 mandate.

Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, resigned on Tuesday, shattering his partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Earlier in the day, Kumar met with JD(U) leaders to discuss his future political movements.

He then asked Governor Phagu Chauhan for time. Kumar came at Raj Bhavan about 4 p.m. and informed Governor Phagu Chauhan of his decision to resign as state chief minister.

Earlier today, during the JD(U) meeting, all MLAs and MPs endorsed Chief Minister Kumars decision and stated their support for him. They also stated that they will continue to back Kumars choice.
After being identified in the chargesheet submitted by Enforcement Directorate in the Rs 200 crore extortion case against conman Sukesh Chandrashekar, Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandez posted a mysterious message on her Instagram.
A French Air and Space Force force, comprising three Rafale fighter planes, made a strategically important stopover at the Indian Air Forces Sulur station in Tamil Nadu as part of a massive military operation in the Pacific Ocean.

The Indian Air Forces assistance to the French force represented the implementation of a reciprocal logistical support agreement inked by France and India in 2018 to strengthen military cooperation.

According to a French readout, the collaboration with the Indian Air Force exhibited a high level of mutual confidence and interoperability between the two sides.

The French force was welcomed for a technical stopover at Air Force Station Sulur on August 10 and 11 as part of a long-distance deployment from metropolitan France to the Pacific Ocean, according to the statement.

From August 10 to September 18, the French Air and Space Force is conducting a massive long-range operation in the Indo-Pacific known as Pegase 22.

The first stage of this mission seeks to demonstrate Frances capability for long-distance air power projection by deploying an Air Force contingent from metropolitan France to the French territory of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean in less than 72 hours (10th-12th August), according to the statement.

The French Air Force contingent will participate in the Pitch Black air exercise in Australia from the 17th to the 10th of September in the following stages of Mission Pegase 22. Along with Australia, Japan, the United States, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, the Indian Air Force will take part in this multilateral exercise.

Mission Pegase 22 is an impressive demonstration of Frances ability to deploy quickly in the Indo-Pacific. The expedition also demonstrates that the French and European commitment to the Indo-Pacific has not been reduced by the security situation in Europe. In this regard, it also seeks to improve connections with major strategic allies like as India, as well as to emphasise Frances support for regional security and stability.

India and France have always had cordial relations. Apart from a tight and expanding bilateral connection, the two nations entered into a Strategic Partnership in 1998, which is illustrative of their convergence of views on a variety of international problems.

Also Read: China refuses to allow India and the US to censure the leader of the JeM at the UNSC
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WETHERSFIELD  Police are asking for the publics help in finding a suspected shoplifter who they said managed to escape custody Thursday afternoon.

Ryan Burton, 37, was last seen fleeing police in the area of Middletown Avenue and Mill Street in Wethersfield, police said.
WEST HARTFORD  Zaytoons Bistro failed two routine health inspections in the last six months, records show.

The first report from Feb. 23 details unlabeled sauces, food stored in employee hand sink, heavy grease buildup and a dead mouse in the basement. The report noted general cleaning of establishment needed.

The second report from July 13 again mentioned the grease buildup, employees not washing hands, fruit flies and raw beef and chicken stored over ready to eat items in the walk-in cooler.

Some violations were corrected on the spot and others I dealt with it within a week, said Zainab Hayajneh, owner and manager of Zaytoons. I did my best to correct each violation and follow the inspectors instructions and regulations. I have to train my employee on how to use safety procedures and follow up with them.

Zaytoons, a Lebanese restaurant on Park Road, passed its reinspection on July 27.

To pass inspections, restaurants must have a score of 80 or above out of 100 and no four-point violations, which are considered the most severe.

Zaytoons scored an 84 with four four-point violations in February. In July, the restaurant had a score of 74 with four four-point violations.

The grease trap, one of the recurring problems cited in the health reports, is not working, according to Hayajneh.

Both reports indicated heavy grease buildup on the floor behind the cookline.

In the comment section on the July report, the inspector noted there were no employees missed work due to illness in the previous two months. Hayajneh said this is not a result of employees working when they are sick.

My policy with the employees is to create a safe space for them and encourage them to be honest about illnesses and to take some days off and they can get pay for that day, Hayajneh said. I would send a sick employee home and won't keep him serving my customers. My goal is to keep customers safe from food borne illnesses and outbreaks. I will continue to do my best to improve the food safety without any violations.
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NEW HAVEN  City officials joined the developer of the Aububon New Haven apartments Wednesday both to dedicate 135 new units and break ground for 66 new apartments around the corner on Audubon Street.

Both sections are part of a total 470-unit complex that takes up more than an entire block bounded by Audubon, Orange, State and Grove streets. The latest Audubon Street section is on the opposite side of Audubon Street from the part thats already completed.

The first phase was completed in 2020 and included 269 units at 367 Orange Street and retail space for the El Segundo Mexican restaurant.

The recently completed second phase includes 135 units and 6,900 square feet of retail space at 335 Orange Street. The third phase will be a townhouse-style building, which will consist of an additional 66 apartments at 29 Audubon Street.

The complete complex also will about 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, with an Orangetheory Fitness also on the way.

Were about building communities, said Clay Fowler, CEO and founding partner of developer Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, during a ribbon-cutting at the buildings Grove Street entrance. He thanked the city for allowing us to be part of the growth of New Haven, which has been stunning.

He called Connecticut a rising star and New Haven the best city between Boston and New York and said, We are pleased to be here. Were proud of what we do and we hope it shows.

This wouldnt happen without a lot of help from a lot of people, Fowler said.

General Manager Ann DEugenio said rents in the complex range from $1,850 for a studio apartment to $3,800 for a three-bedroom.

We are on the higher end of the market, appealing both to people connected with Yale, medical students and other professionals, she said. In recent months, theres definitely been an increase of demand for apartments in the market.

City Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli called the complex a connection between the innovation economy and a high quality of life. It is part of a total of 2,6000 units of new housing in our pipeline right now, he said.

Over the next year, were going to be on State Street a lot as other projects  including one Spinnaker is involved in on the former site of the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum  take shape, begin construction and are completed.

Its not lost to any of us that this is being done on old parking lots, Piscitelli said.

New Haven is hopping, said Mayor Justin Elicker. We see each other so often because there is so much going on.

Elicker pointed out that the Aububon New Haven complex will have 470 units total. Thats more than 500 new residents, he said.

The complex pre-dated passage of the citys new inclusionary zoning ordinance, designed to promote construction of affordable housing by requiring it as a percentage, ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent depending on location, of all market-rate housing projects.

From now on, any new housing built in New Haven will include an affordable component, said Alder Eli Sabin, D-7.

Right now, the city is still short about 3,200 units of market-rate housing  and 8,000 units of affordable housing  from the total that it needs, he said.

He pointed out that nearby restaurants such as Sitar and Zois get new business from having new development on this block.

When I was growing up just 1.5 miles down, this property was a parking lot, Sabin noted.

He thanked Spinnaker for investing in our neighborhood.

Asked about whether the Audubon New Haven complex could have been built had inclusionary zoning been in place when it was approved, Fowler said as long as its 10 percent, its doable. (The citys ordinance requires 15 percent in certain area, such as downtown.)

If you add affordable housing to the mix, it is more difficult, Fowler said. I would tell you that its a burden that most developers take on heartily, if not happily.

Elicker said its not just affordable housing that the city wants to attract. The integration into market rate complexes is really important, he said.

The Audubon New Haven complex has an array of amenities on the first floor, including a pool with cabanas, grills, a fitness center, a dog run adjacent to Trinity Baptist Church on State Street, an indoor dog spa, an art room and a communal kitchen.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Republicans in Congress who are relying on Donald Trump to excite voters in the fall elections are not only defending the former president against the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home but politically capitalizing on it with grave and potentially dangerous rhetoric against the nations justice system.

The party that once stood staunchly for law-and-order has dramatically reversed course, stirring up opposition to the FBI and tapping into political grievances and far-right conspiracies that fed the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

It's all part of the GOPs election year strategy to harness voter outrage over the unprecedented search, quickly and unequivocally set in motion as Trump hosted a dozen Republicans for dinner of steak and scallops at his private Bedminster club the day after the FBI action.

One Republican at the table, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, a former sheriff, said he told the former president loud and clear that it's time to protect himself politically by declaring his 2024 campaign for the presidency.

"Mr. President, I said, the American people, your supporters, are concerned with this corrupt DOJ and the FBI."

If I were you, sir, announce youre running for president," Nehls recalled telling Trump. "Take that doubt, take that anxiety away from the people that want you to be our 47th president.

The escalating rhetoric comes amid stark warnings of violence against law enforcement, including the Ohio police shooting Thursday of an armed man clad in body armor who tried to breach the FBIs Cincinnati office and engaged in an hours-long standoff. The day before, FBI Director Christopher Wray had called the threats to agents and DOJ deplorable. The FBI has warned its agents to take precautions, citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities. In some extreme cases, GOP lawmakers and others are demanding the FBI be dismantled and defunded.

It's all coming at a time of blistering attacks on the nation's civic institutions that experts say is worrisome, if not dangerous, for the future of U.S. democracy. With no branch of government unscathed, the discord risks sowing distrust in the White House, the Congress and the Supreme Court. It has kept security tight in Washington, limiting public access to the government.

All of this rhetoric is being thrown around without any consideration for possible consequences, said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI special agent who led the bureaus field offices in Seattle and Honolulu.

All that does is stir up that minority within the base that arent satisfied with just words, they actually want to act it out.

Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said, "The vitriol coming from extremists, white supremacists and others, has been overwhelming, pointing to rhetoric from Trump's former campaign manager Steve Bannon and others warning of assassinations or calling for civil war.

"We usually expect that from these quarters, but the same kind of rhetoric is coming from prominent Republicans and Trump allies," she said by email. These comments coming from Republicans are really worrying as they are mainstreaming violent rhetoric.

Asked Friday at the Capitol about the responsibility leaders have to tone down the rhetoric and keep the nation calm during times of uncertainty and distress, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy demurred  and blamed Attorney General Merrick Garland.

I think the attorney general has a real problem here, McCarthy said.

McCarthy, who is in line to become speaker if his party wins House control, revived Republican concerns that Trump is being treated unfairly, as the first former president to have his home searched by the FBI, and he criticized the attorney general for delivering only a few minutes' explanation during a press conference.

In McCarthy's view, it was Garland, not his own party's rhetoric, that was dividing the nation.

Why would you pause and not talk to the American public, knowing where the American public is at, that he is just inflaming the public, and why would you only speak for a few moments? McCarthy said. So I think the attorney general has a lot of explaining to do.

Republicans believe the Justice Department has been overly tough on Trump going back to the Russia investigation into allegations the president was colluding with a foreign entity, including when he called on Russia to release emails it had stolen from the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential election.

The Republicans contrast the FBI search of Trump's private club and residence with its treatment of Hillary Clinton, who was investigated for using a private email server in violation of government rules during her time as secretary of state  an offense the led to long chants of Lock her up! during Trump rallies.

The No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, claimed without evidence the Biden administration was weaponizing the Justice Department against Trump, a top potential 2024 rival for the White House.

She joined fellow House Republicans on the Intelligence Committee on Friday in demanding information, and vowed if their party wins control in the November election they will find out what happened.

The House Republican majority will leave no stone unturned when it comes to transparency and accountability into the brazen politicization of Joe Biden's Department of Justice and FBI targeting their political opponents, Stefanik said.

Congressional Republicans have said their office phone lines are ringing from constituents outraged over the raid and they said they've never seen their colleagues more fired up to fight back  all the way to the November midterm elections.

Rep. Jim Banks, the Indiana Republican who organized the dinner with Trump, said they encouraged the former president to kick off the campaign now to seize the moment.

Banks said Trump will be a big part of the House Republicans' campaign to win back the House majority.

House lawmakers returned to session Friday to vote, walking through metal detectors to screen against firearms, a legacy of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Lawmakers had a security briefing earlier this week to address ongoing threats against lawmakers.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that Trumps role inciting the insurrection at the Capitol was sufficient cause to have concerns about inflammatory political rhetoric.

"You would think there's an adult in the Republican room who would say, 'Just calm down and see what the facts are and let's go for that,'" Pelosi said, instead of again instigating assaults on law enforcement.

One republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a former FBI agent, called on lawmakers to cool it.

I dont think any of this is okay, Fitzpatrick told reporters.

Were the worlds oldest democracy, and that can go away very quickly, he said. As our adversaries have said so many times: The only way you defeat America, youre never going to beat America from the outside, ever. The only way you beat the worlds greatest democracy is from within  turning American on American."

He said, So its incumbent upon everybody to act in a way thats becoming of the office they hold  and thats not casting judgment on anything until you know all the facts.

__

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston, Michelle Price in New York and videojournalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.
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ATLANTA (AP)  The Rev. Al Sharpton demanded a full accounting of how a Georgia woman fell from a moving patrol car after her arrest, saying at her funeral Thursday that he would seek a Justice Department review of her case if the family didn't get answers.

Brianna Grier, 28, suffered significant injuries on July 15 and died July 21 at an Atlanta hospital. Authorities had been called to her home in Sparta, Georgia, as she experienced a mental health crisis, a family attorney has said. Sparta is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta.

Sharpton, noting reports Grier was having what he called a mental health episode, said the issue was not what she was thinking, but what police were thinking.

She may have had an episode. What were they having that they had not secured who they arrested in the back of the cruiser, he asked at the funeral service for Grier in Atlanta.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said deputies who put Grier in the back of a patrol car to take her to the Hancock County Sheriffs Office failed to close the rear passenger-side door before driving off. Grier was not wearing a seatbelt and her hands were cuffed in front of her, according to GBI investigators.

Grier fell out of the moving patrol car and suffered a fatal brain injury that put her in a coma until she died, according to family attorney Ben Crump.

Crump also has represented the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Taylor's mother attended the funeral service and briefly stood next to Crump in the pulpit.

We're going to make the world know that she matters, Crump said of Grier.

Authorities had said Grier kicked the door and jumped out, her father, Marvin Grier, noted. He said the family seeks justice and accountability and wants to tell Griers twin daughters the truth about her death. The family planned to march to the state Capitol after the service.

The night that this happened, we called the police for help, he said. For help, not death."

Sharpton, who pledged $5,000 for the education of Grier's daughters, used his address to urge Black people to continue the fight for racial justice, blasting members of the community who don't vote and who engage in self-aggrandizement on social media.

Cases such as the fatal shooting of Taylor and the murder of George Floyd continue to occur because some members of the community have not kept up the struggle of the civil rights era, he said.

We must be worthy of our ancestors that paid the price for us, that never was going to get any of what we did but they paid it anyhow, he said.

But he also said law enforcement must be held to a higher standard. In Grier's case, he said, officers were supposed to take her safely for medical treatment.

If you couldnt do the job, then you shouldnt have signed up for the job," he said.
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WEST HAVEN  Javan Anderson of Ansonia wants to pursue a career in graphic design, but a free summer design program at the University of New Haven gave him more than just a useful skill set for the career.

Through the 4-week-long Summer Studio course, he and five other students from Greater New Haven also received support for their artistic passion  as well as college credits and a Microsoft Surface Pro with an Adobe subscription  as they completed the course Friday.

I like graphic design because of things that Ive seen from people, like, on Twitter, you can see Twitter banners and stuff, like, animated. I want to do something like that in my free time, Anderson said.

The course, sponsored by advertising agency Haddad & Partners, the Connecticut Professional Association for Design and UNH, aims to diversify future artistic talent in the graphic design field while sending a message to parents that the field is sustainable.

Throughout the program, students learned skills of making posters, collages and magazine covers with different software including Adobe products such as Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

D.J. Haddad, who heads Haddad & Partners, said there is a lack of diversity in the field so he didnt want to sit passively and wait for diverse resumes to come, but rather train the next generation of designers in order to create a pipeline.

What we want to do is try to show these kids like, Hey, look, you could take your passion for drawing and painting and turn that into an actual career, Haddad said, noting he also didnt know the career path existed when he was young.

This is the second year Haddad hosted the Summer Studio; last years was held at Sacred Heart University.

Students in the program were chosen based on their portfolio and referrals from their art teachers to ensure their passion for arts, according to UNH Arts & Design Department Chair Guy-Serge Emmanuel.

My hope is that they actually go to school and study graphic design, Emmanuel said.

Ken Lalli, an instructor for the program and a full-time graphic design professor at Norwalk Community College, said many students have passion but dont know of the avenue to commercialize their talent.

Ruby Millet of West Haven was one of them. She described herself as a fantasy drawer. She said her biggest takeaway from the course was that being dramatic isnt always the answer when it comes to design.

I want to do a business-type of my drawing and stuff, like put it out there, Millet said of her future plan. If she hadn't learned about the design principles, she probably would have done it all dramatically without knowing that simple would have gone right, too.

Since design is in all aspects of society, whether it be street signs or movies, AIGA CT Co-President Jacina Serbalik said representation matters in the field, so people can connect with designs more authentically.

Well have a more well-educated, well-rounded approach to graphic design for different groups and demographics, Serbalik said. Unfortunately, the design industry has the tradition of being white and also male.

According to Data USA, 72.7 percent of designers nationwide are white.

A shared concern the organizers raised was that some parents might not support their children pursuing arts because it isnt a financially sustainable field. The camp was designed to challenge that perception.

As a son of immigrants, Lalli said he also grew up with the idea that if he didnt become a doctor or a lawyer, he wouldnt be successful in life. However, If you have a passion and you have the drive, there will be work, and it can be a profitable experience, he said.

It might take a little bit of convincing of your family members to say that this is what I can do, but its a viable path and its one that youll be happy in, Lalli said.

Serbalik said creative skills will land these students into the right careers that also will give them a happy life.

Design is not a fine art, starving artist kind of career, she said. There is real opportunity everywhere, from local government positions to working in-house at a big corporation to working at an agency, freelance.

chatwan.mongkol@hearstmediact.com
LONDON (AP)  The World Health Organization says it's holding an open forum to rename the disease monkeypox, after some critics raised concerns the name could be derogatory or have racist connotations.

In a statement Friday, the U.N. health agency said it has also renamed two families, or clades, of the virus, using Roman numerals instead of geographic areas, to avoid stigmatization. The version of the disease formerly known as the Congo Basin will now be known as Clade one or I and the West Africa clade will be known as Clade two or II.

WHO said the decision was made following a meeting of scientists this week and in line with current best practices for naming diseases, which aims to avoid causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional, or ethnic groups, and minimize any negative impact on trade, travel, tourism or animal welfare.

Numerous other diseases, including Japanese encephalitis, Marburg virus, Spanish influenza and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome have been named after the geographic areas where they first arose or were identified. WHO has not publicly suggested changing any of those names.

Monkeypox was first named in 1958 when research monkeys in Denmark were observed to have a pox-like disease, although they are not thought to be the animal reservoir.

WHO said it was also opening a way for the public to suggest new names for monkeypox, but did not say when any new name would be announced.

To date, there have been more than 31,000 cases of monkeypox identified globally since May, with the majority of those beyond Africa. Monkeypox has been endemic in parts of central and west Africa for decades and was not known to trigger large outbreaks beyond the continent until May.

WHO declared the global spread of monkeypox to be an international emergency in July and the U.S. declared its own epidemic to be a national emergency earlier this month.

Outside of Africa, 98% of cases are in men who have sex with men. With only a limited global supply of vaccines, authorities are racing to stop monkeypox before it becomes entrenched as a new disease.
As a teacher and proud member of the Connecticut Education Association for more than 30 years, I was disappointed with the Aug. 3 letter to the editor encouraging educators like me to ditch my union.

Throughout my career, CEA has been a huge source of support for educators. The work we do every day with our students is possible because of this support.
The Akwa Ibom state government has reportedly charged Moses Armstrong, the Nollywood actor, with the alleged rape, intimidation, conspirac...

The Akwa Ibom state government has reportedly charged Moses Armstrong, the Nollywood actor, with the alleged rape, intimidation, conspiracy, and supplying of drugs or instruments to procure abortion.

According to Premium Times , Emmanuel Pantaleon, counsel to Armstrong, said the charges were filed when the actor was arraigned before a high court in Uyo, the state capital, on Wednesday.

The film star, who is an ex-aide to Udom Emmanuel, the state governor, was said to have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

This is the first time the actor would be officially charged in the case since he was arrested in June.

The police had arrested Armstrong for allegedly raping a minor. He was said to have committed the act with a 16-year-old girl about three years ago.

The alleged victim, who was said to have been schooling outside Nigeria, returned to the country recently and thereafter petitioned the wife of the state governor with respect to the rape allegation.

Last month, a magistrate court in the state had transferred the case to the high court and struck out a suit by the prosecution seeking to remand the actor.

During the court session on Wednesday, Pantaleon reminded the court of the actors bail application filed on July 25.

But I.U. Robert, the prosecution counsel, opposed the bail application. Robert asked the court to dismiss the application, describing it as an abuse of court process.

In his ruling, Ntong Ntong, the judge, upheld Armstrongs application and granted him bail in the sum of N5 million.

When contacted Abubakar Yakubu, national secretary of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), said the body cant comment on the matter since it is already in court.

No update on the matter for now. The case is before the court so we cant comment on it, he said.

Odiko Macdon, the state police spokesperson, also declined to speak on the matter.

Thats not a recent case, he said before ending the call abruptly.
Former Senate Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba said the All Progressives Congress (APC) would win the 2023 presidential elections. ...

Former Senate Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba said the All Progressives Congress (APC) would win the 2023 presidential elections.

The ex-chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also expressed confidence that the party would retain Cross River State.

On the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) described it as a very emotive issue.

I wish the APC had options open to it. As it is now the Christian community should present its charter of demand to the party.

Not everyone is happy (about the Muslim-Muslim ticket) but APC will win nevertheless, he told reporters.

Ndoma-Egba added that APC flagbearer Bola Tinubu has what it takes to govern Nigeria and move the country to the next level given his pedigree and record.

For the state election, he stated that the geopolitics of Cross River favours the APC candidate Bassey Otu.

Ndoma-Egba said the notion that the people only support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will come under first severe test in 2023.

For once it is not and the PDP in the State is not used to being out of power. It will be a fish out of water, the ex-lawmaker asserted.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja launched the National Crisis Management Doctrine (NCMD) aimed at bridging the gap created by t...





President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja launched the National Crisis Management Doctrine (NCMD) aimed at bridging the gap created by the extensive deployment of security services through fostering collaboration amongst Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).





The NCMD, which was developed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in coordination with relevant MDAs, would ensure greater success in tackling national crises.





Speaking at the launch, the President commended the efforts of the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), his staff, and members of the working group from various responder MDAs for the remarkable work in developing the doctrine.





A statement by Femi Adesina, Buharis media aide, described the feat as a significant milestone in recognition of the need for collective efforts toward achieving coordinated, effective, and efficient national crisis management.





This shows the renewed promise and commitment of this administration to managing crisis in the country, the President said, urging ONSA to continue to play its coordinating role amongst crisis response stakeholders, to achieve greater successes.





President Buhari also thanked the British Government for its collaboration in the development of the Doctrine as well as the United States Government for its support, urging them to sustain the relationship.





The President recalled that at the inception of the Administration, Nigeria was faced with multiple security challenges ranging from terrorism, kidnapping, to armed banditry, ethnic militia attacks, oil theft, rape, gun running, and various acts emanating from violent extremism.





The emergence of the Boko Haram terrorist group, as well as bandits and kidnappers in Nigeria, considerably changed the countrys security situation leaving panic in the minds of the populace.





These and other security challenges confronting the nation tend to stretch the deployment of our security agencies, resources, and national security apparatus.





Owing to the dynamics of these crises, the Office of the National Security Adviser revised the National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) which I endorsed in August 2016.





Within this strategy are certain works streams which include the Prepare and Implement strands that seek to mitigate the impact of terrorist attacks by building resilience and redundancies to ensure continuity of business; a framework for the mobilization of coordinated cross-government efforts respectively.





I am glad that the Office of the National Security Adviser has not relented in its efforts to implement the NACTEST by coordinating relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to develop the National Crisis Management Doctrine, he said.





In his remarks, the NSA explained that work on the doctrine started in 2014 but was given impetus after the President endorsed the revised NACTEST, which has five work streams namely: Forestall, Secure, Identify, Prepare and Implement.





Further, Monguno said the NCMD, which is a subset of the NACTEST, fulfills the work streams to Prepare and to Implement.





The doctrine provides a detailed methodology for national crises response, outlining how the various relevant MDAs should interact at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.





It is to be noted that the NCMD can be used to manage both malicious threats and civil emergencies owing to the general principles set out within it, he said.
A 25-year-old boutique owner, Muhammed Soliu, from Woru, Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State, has bagged an 18 month jail term ...





A 25-year-old boutique owner, Muhammed Soliu, from Woru, Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State, has bagged an 18 month jail term over offences bordering on internet fraud.





He reportedly benefitted over N28m from the illegal internet business he was involved in.





Justice Ibrahim Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin found Muhammed guilty on the three-count charges levelled against him by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.





He consequently pronounced a prison term of 6 months on each count, to run concurrently.





Muhammeds journey to prison started on August 2, 2022, when operatives of the EFCC, while acting on intelligence on the infamous activities of some internet fraudsters in Ilorin, the state capital traced him to his house located at the Oke-Ose area of the metropolis, where he was arrested.





A statement by the Media Unit of the anti-graft agency in Ilorin on Friday said investigations into the case by the Commission revealed that Muhammed, in the course of his illegal deals benefited over N28 million, part of which he used to build a house, establish a boutique and purchase a Toyota Camry Car.





The defendant pleaded guilty when the three-count charges were read to him.





Justice Yusuf, while sentencing the convict, fined him N100,000 on each count.





The judge also ordered the forfeiture of a 3 bedroom bungalow located at Yangamu, Oke-Ose, Ilorin, a Toyota Camry Car with registration number KSF 846 HG; 78 pieces of new clothes recovered at his boutique; one standing fan; the sum of N1,482,516.90 proceeds of the crime found in the convicts bank account and the two phones, which he used to perpetrate a crime to the Federal Government.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has declared that its National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, wont quit the party. PDPs National Publi...

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has declared that its National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, wont quit the party.

PDPs National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said removing Ayu is a distraction to the party.

Ologunagba said Ayus removal would ignite a constitutional crisis in the party.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and a former Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Olabode George, had called for Ayus removal from office.

However, Ologunagba, in a chat with journalists in Abuja, said: Those calling for Ayus removal ought to be aware of the implication of their demand. Are they now saying that the present Deputy National Chairman (North), who is from the same Northeast zone as our presidential candidate, be made to replace Ayu, in line with the PDP constitution?

On the other hand, we would be courting more crisis if we sideline provisions of the constitution by replacing Ayu with another officer from the South.

We dont want to go into the election with a constitutional crisis. We have barely six months to the election.

Even if you say Ayu should go today, his replacement will come from the same North.

Elections are coming and we dont need a distraction. You cant destroy the whole for a part. We respect peoples rights and positions but going into negotiations, you cannot say it is either this or nothing.

It means youre not ready to negotiate. We are all interested in the survival of our party and our nation Nigeria. We will look at the need to do the balancing.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has insisted that the Nigerian government will not interfer...





The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has insisted that the Nigerian government will not interfere in the legal battle involving a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who is facing trial in the UK for alleged organ harvesting.





Malami disclosed this while speaking to journalists on Thursday at the 46th Session of the State House Briefing at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.





It has never been the tradition of the Nigerian government to interfere in anything judicial, local or international. And that stands the position of the government.





On the intervention of Senator Ekweremadu, I have stated in the course of my presentation, that there has been in existence, a mutual legal assistance request and collaboration between Nigeria and other countries across the world. We will address it if there is such a request on the part of the senator, Malami said.





Ekweremadu was charged by the UK Metropolitan Police with conspiracy to facilitate the travel of another person for organ harvesting.





The 60-year-old and his wife, Beatrice, 55, allegedly arranged the travel of a 21-year-old man from Nigeria to the UK.





The prosecutors claim the couple were planning to have his kidney removed, so it could be given to their ailing daughter.
Devotees of the Osun deity were on Friday spotted drinking from the Osun River despite warnings from the Osun State Government that the wate...





Devotees of the Osun deity were on Friday spotted drinking from the Osun River despite warnings from the Osun State Government that the water had been contaminated by activities of artisan miners.





As the Osun-Osogbo festival comes to a climax on Friday, August 12, thousands of Osun devotees and visitors had converged on the Osun grove.





It was reported that many of them were seen fetching water from the river in different containers and also drinking the water on their way out of the grove.





Devotees and visitors, who had trooped out to the riverside in their white attires and beads, were seen singing and dancing to traditional songs.





The Osun State Commissioner for Health, Rafiu Isamotu, speaking earlier with journalists, said public health officials would be at the grove during the festival to further sensitise people on the dangers of drinking the water.
Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says federal government is on course to implement the five percent excise...

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says federal government is on course to implement the five percent excise duty on telecommunications services.

The development is coming despite criticism over the implementation of the tax.

Last week, Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy, faulted plans to implement a five percent excise duty on telecommunication services in Nigeria.

In a statement on Thursday, Yunusa Abdullahi, spokesperson to the ministry of finance, budget and national planning, quoted Ahmed as saying at a stakeholders meeting, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Ahmed, represented by Musa Umar, assistant director, tax policy, federal ministry of finance, budget and national planning, noted that all relevant agencies, including the communications ministry, were informed of the implementation of the tax approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Against the comments by Isa Ali Pantami, honourable minister of communication and digital economy, concerning the five percent excise duty hike on telecoms services, it is worth noting that there was a circular stating the planned hike which was addressed to the communication minister and other relevant ministries and agencies of government, the statement reads.

The circular Referenced No. F. 17417/VI/286, dated 1st March 2022, and titled Approval for Implementation of the 2022 Fiscal Policy Measures and Tariff Amendments was addressed to different ministers, including the honourable minister, communications and digital economy and other heads of government agencies.

The minister further faulted the ministers disapproval, adding that he was involved in the Finance Act.

In view of the above position of Prof. Pantami, there could be the question of whether he was absent in the whole process that resulted in the Finance Act, which is a product of both the National Assembly and Federal Executive Council (FEC), the statement adds.

Suffice this to say that before the Act, the Finance Bill would have been through the FEC of which Prof. Pantami is a member and the National Assembly. In other words, he was involved in the making of the Finance Act, which spells the said excise tariff hike policy.

Therefore, he could not obviously have had a point in his dissenting views even as the national assembly could not have contradicted itself on this matter because the parliament had passed the Finance Bill before President Muhammadu Buhari signed it into law.

Although Nigeria is celebrated as the largest economy in Africa, translating this wealth into revenues remains a challenge. Considering this in line with the provision of the revised National Tax Policy, which provides the framework for a sustainable tax system that would ensure reliable sources of revenue to government and support economic development.
A constitutional lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, said former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, is not ready to be the President of Nigeria. T...

A constitutional lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, said former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, is not ready to be the President of Nigeria.

The former National Secretary of Labour Party (LP) noted that the presidential candidate is not going about his campaigns properly.

Ajulo called Obis manifesto rhetorical analysis with no viable plans to solve the myriad of problems facing the country.

In a chat with reporters, the rights activist said Obi has not been able to convince discerning Nigerians of his readiness for the job for which he campaigns.

Ajulo said even the street hawker knows the problem with Nigeria, adding that solutions to the issues are what Obi should tell Nigerians in concrete terms.

Obi merely complains, which he and his uncritical followers mistake for a manifesto, he added.

Ajulo also faulted Obis choice of running mate, stressing that he did very little consultations with northern leaders.

He said inputs from certain prominent persons in the North would have helped Obi to make his decision.

The lawyer described LP vice presidential candidate Datti Baba-Ahmed as an intelligent and a good man, qualified for the job of even the President

He however said the present situation of the country is not only about looking good on ones certificates or in the bank.

Obi would need the support of northern stakeholders, revered religious clerics like Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, Rev Fr. Mathew Kukah, labour leaders as well as former military leaders if he is really serious.

The former LP scribe frowned at the strategy deployed by Obis fans, adding that years of experience in politics have taught him that mob actions do not translate to genuine support.

Ajulo observed that the supporters, especially the ones on social media, are always in brawls with an individual or group.

The legal practitioner added that bullying fellow contestants or possible voters is not and cannot be a part of political campaign strategies that can win votes.
Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has suspended the transition committee chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Hon Mbaz...





Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has suspended the transition committee chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Hon Mbazulike Iloka.





Iloka, who is popularly known as Mba Mba, was suspended over the circumstances surrounding his wifes death last Sunday morning.





Ilokas wife, Chidiebere, was said to have slumped and died on Sunday morning, after serving her husband breakfast.





But those who know the couple insisted that Iloka may have killed his wife, as he has a record of consistently battering her.





Signs of violence was also found on her body, while a huge wound on her head aroused suspicion, leading to public outcry over her death.





In a letter of suspension, which was signed by Anambra State Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affair, Tony Collins Nwabunwanne, the chairman was asked to hand over to the head of Local Government administration, to avoid interfering in investigation.





The letter read: Following the sad news of the death of your wife, late Mrs Chidiebere Iloka on 7th August 2022, there have been a massive outcry over the circumstances leading to her death, including alleged possible homicide.





While you are presumed innocent until the completion of investigations, it has become imperative that you step aside to allow unfettered investigation and justice.





Consequently, you are directed to step aside and to hand over the affairs of the local government to the head of local government administration, not later that 12th August 2022, until further notice.





Iloka has only recently been appointed chairman of the local government. He has only been in office for about a week before his eventual removal.
Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), says the country must look for ways to run beyond oil. Obi disclosed thi...

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), says the country must look for ways to run beyond oil.

Obi disclosed this on Thursday on his verified Twitter page, warning that Nigeria must put an end to fuel subsidy.

From where I stand, I dare to proclaim that Nigerias democracy must survive. The new alliance that we seek is between Nigerian youths, the Labour Party, which represent Nigerian workers, and like minds, he tweeted.

Going forward, we must look for ways to move Nigeria beyond oil. We must end this criminality called oil subsidy.

Nigeria today is vastly polarised and wrecked by divisions that run deep along religious, ethnic and regional lines.

There is a staggering level of corruption. Our universities have remained closed for over five months. While our healthcare system remains comatose, power generation and distribution are also at an all-time low.

After we win the 2023 elections, we intend to use the instruments of job creation and regenerative investments to drastically reduce the high incidence of insecurity and poverty while moving the economy from the consumptive to the productive mode.

This year, the federal government projected to spend N4 trillion on petrol subsidy.

In the first half of 2022, petroleum subsidy claims surpassed oil receipts from Nigerian National Petroleum Company(NNPC) Limited by N210 billion.
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Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 81F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
For close to 40 years, Cafe Degas has been a mainstay for French cuisine in New Orleans. Soon, the Faubourg St. John restaurant will have a new way to showcase those flavors.

Co-owner Jacques Soulas confirmed plans to take over the former home of the Fair Grinds Coffeehouse just across the street, at 3133 Ponce de Leon St.

The move will serve two purposes. First, it will expand the kitchen capacity for Cafe Degas itself, which right now operates from a shoe box-sized galley kitchen.

The next phase will add a casual cafe with a counter service deli. The focus will be on French style sandwiches and pastries with coffee drinks.

Soulas said many of the particulars of the new concept are still in development, including the name.

Soulas said breakfast is a possibility at the new cafe, depending on staffing. He said the lunch menu would bring sandwiches like filled with pate, French salami, and ham and Brie (the jambon-beurre, which had been a specialty of Mayhew Bakery, a nearby neighborhood bakery cafe that just closed for good).

Were delighted that Cafe Degas is taking it on and excited to see what theyll do there, said Wade Rathke, who ran Fair Grinds from 2011 until the coffee shop closed this spring.

Soulas and business partner Jerry Edgar started Cafe Degas in 1986 in the tiny confines of a one-time barbershop on Esplanade Avenue. It has grown progressively and become essential neighborhood restaurant.

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But its kitchen space has not much expanded. From a seat at the bar or one of the outdoor tables, its common to see cooks ferrying supplies across Ponce de Leon Street from a tucked-away storage pantry.

The home of Fair Grinds Coffeehouse had long then a cafe, going back to at least the 1970s when it was the original location for True Brew Coffee.

It became Fair Grinds in 2000, originally opened by Robert Thompson and Elizabeth Herod. Rathke, who leads activist group Acorn International, took over in 2011.

The coffee house, and especially its second floor room, had been used for many years for art shows, meditation groups and other community organizations.

The coffee shop shut down after Jazz Fest, and soon the property was on the market.

A second location of Fair Grinds at 2221 St. Claude Ave. also closed during the pandemic. Rathke said its possible this second location could return sometime in the future but had no immediate plans to reopen.

+12 Mayhew Bakery, neighborhood hero after Hurricane Ida, to close. It keeps getting harder When Mayhew Bakery opened in Faubourg St. John in the fall of 2019, it was part of a hopeful wave of small artisan bakeries helping revive the

+10 Bagels, coffee and new Skeeta Hawk Brewing combine on one corner on Lafitte Greenway Heading down the Lafitte Greenway by foot or by bike, or maybe on the adjacent street with the windows down, you first get a whiff of roasting

+18 Ian McNulty: Cafe Degas is New Orleans' most French place, and that goes beyond the food One of my favorite windows in New Orleans is beside the bar at Cafe Degas, the French bistro in Faubourg St. John, overlooking a close block o
Metro Ports took over handling bulk cargo at the Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan five years ago.

The stevedore, the largest bulk cargo stevedore in the United States with operations up and down the coasts, invested millions at the deepwater port in Portage, brought in more environmentally friendly equipment and helped drive the port to record cargo volumes.

It came as a shock to the company and the longshoreman unions that represent workers there when the port told Metro Ports its lease would not be renewed at the end of this year.

"It's been a huge success," Metro Ports Vice President of Operations David Parrott said. "There's been a high quality of work, a lot of volume added, jobs for families and environmentally friendly equipment."

Parrott estimated Metro Ports boosted bulk traffic at the port by 50%.

"We've put in millions. We've invested a lot in eco-friendly equipment and machines. Anyone else that came in would have significantly older pieces of equipment, odd pieces of junk that would pollute the air and water," he said. "It was surprising to hear the port doesn't want us anymore and wouldn't renew our lease for another five years."

Metro Ports also has a good relationship with the unions that represent dockworkers.

"They're good guys. They're hard workers. They know their jobs," Parrott said. "They are committed to the community."

Leases typically get renewed in the maritime industry unless the stevedore is falling short somehow, whether not bringing in enough traffic, polluting the environment or creating unsafe work conditions that get workers hurt.

"We've utilized our existing customer base throughout North America to encourage new business into Burns Harbor and the Great Lakes," he said. "We're disappointed in the way the port has approached this. We've done everything asked of us. We've increased working hours. We've brought more cargo. We've been a good steward of the environment. We've done it all and the port still says no, they're going to bring in someone else. I've been in this business 32 years and never seen anything like this."

Metro Ports operating agreement expires at the Burns Harbor port at the end of the year, port spokesperson Jennifer Hanson said.

"Ports of Indiana will use this expiration as an opportunity to assess interest for the bulk cargo dock operator in Burns Harbor," she said. "As part of this process, Ports of Indiana will seek a long-term business partner to provide stevedoring and distribution services to existing customers, grow and diversify cargoes, make investments into facility expansions and drive projects that create significant economic benefits for the regional economy."

Union leaders with the International Longshoremen's Association questioned why the stevedore that brought record traffic to the port would be let go and expressed dismay that the ports system, a quasi-governmental agency based in Indianapolis, has not answered their questions.

"We haven't been able to find out why," International Longshoremen's Association Local 2038 President Rusty White said. "There's no transparency."

Hanson said the port policy was not to discuss the matter with the union.

"Our contractual relationship is with our tenant, Metro Ports. We do not discuss contracts or tenant business with anyone other than tenants, including its employees," she said. "In this case, Metro Ports hires union employees. Any conversations with unions would be handled by the employer  Metro Ports."

White said Metro Ports employs 25-30 full-time workers and got regular hours loading and unloading ships for most of its 180 workers.

Local 1969 Business Agent Joseph Perez III said Metro Ports was a great employer that brought job opportunities to the Region.

"Over the course of five record-breaking years, they've brought in eco-friendly equipment, investing in the city and had very good employment for the union," he said. "The union is concerned we will no longer have a shot to continue with these jobs. To be honest, they're union-friendly. They pay well and give overtime."
CROWN POINT  At least one of the men charged in the execution-style killing of an 18-year-old Lynwood man in Gary in 2020 won't face a Lake Criminal Court judge anytime soon because he's being held on a separate murder charge in Illinois.

Devin S. "Devo" Barron, 21, has been in custody at the Cook County Jail since late 2020 on charges linked to the fatal shooting of a retired Chicago fire lieutenant during an attempted carjacking, officials said.

Barron and two others were charged in connection with the homicide of 65-year-old Dwain Williams, a retired Chicago fire lieutenant, during an attempted carjacking Dec. 3, 2020, outside the Let's Get Poppin shop in the 11700 block of South Western Avenue, NBC 5 Chicago reported.

Barron was arrested Dec. 28, 2020, on one count of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, misdemeanor drug possession and one count of being a fugitive from justice due to an out-of-state warrant, according to NBC 5's report.

Cook County sheriff's police said this week Barron had been in custody without bond since Dec. 28, 2020, on murder charge linked to a Chicago case.

At the time of Barron's arrest in 2020, Chicago police told NBC 5 he and three other suspects were part of "a carjacking crew" involved in multiple crimes.

Barron was at the center of a two-day bench trial this week in Lake Criminal Court for Jason D. "Lafa" Hinton 26, of Chicago Heights, who was convicted of murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.

Lake County prosecutors said Hinton and Barron gunned down 18-year-old Jacquice Baylock of Lynwood on July 1, 2020, in Gary because Baylock had a sexual relationship with the mother of Barron's children.

Lake County's case against Barron remains sealed, but attorneys have said during court hearings that he and co-defendant Dwain E. "Glizo" Cunigan, 19, are both in custody in Cook County.

Barron's girlfriend, Jazmin J. Garcia, 21, testified this week that Barron had a gun in his hand and threatened to kill her and her children when he ordered her to contact Baylock, setting into motion a series of events that led to Baylock's homicide.

Garcia said Barron ordered her to take Baylock to the location in Gary under the pretense of going to a hotel party, and Barron and his friends followed the silver car she was driving in a black car.

When Baylock asked to return to his home to pick up money, Barron texted her, "What the (expletive) are you doing?" and warned she "better not (expletive) this up," she said.

Barron ordered her out of the car after she parked near 19th Avenue and Taney Place, and she saw Barron and Hinton standing in an alley with guns, she testified.

Garcia said she got into a black car and watched as Barron and Hinton shot Baylock multiple times. Hinton then began picking up the money Baylock had been holding after it went flying during the gunfire, she said.

Baylock was shot eight times, including once in the head, twice in the back, twice in the arm and shoulder, once in the upper chest and neck, and twice in the chest, according to trial testimony.

Garcia pleaded guilty earlier this year to aggravated battery, a level 3 felony. If Lake Criminal Court Judge Samuel Cappas accepts her plea agreement, she could face a sentence of three to 16 years in prison.

She's likely to serve a substantial portion of any sentence she receives in the Lake County Jail, because she agreed she could be not sentenced until all of her co-defendants' cases are resolved.

Barron and Cunigan were not expected to be extradited to Lake County until their cases in Illinois are resolved, attorneys said.

A fourth co-defendant, Laquan M. Tolliver, 20, of Chicago Heights, has pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery. He's in custody at the Lake County Jail, but a trial date has not yet been set.

Cappas scheduled a sentencing hearing for Hinton, who was also found guilty of a firearm enhancement, for Sept. 23.

Outside court after Cappas found Hinton guilty, Baylock's mother, LaToya Newman, said she was happy to have justice in her son's case.
HAMMOND  Police are seeking tips in the wake of a shooting Thursday night that left two injured, one seriously enough to be transported to a Chicago-area hospital.

Hammond police responded at 7:55 p.m. Thursday to a report of a shooting the 1000 block of Lyons Street, police Lt. Steven Kellogg said.

"Upon arrival, officers located a subject that had been shot multiple times," Kellogg said. "He was immediately treated by the Hammond Fire Dept. and then transported to a Chicago-area hospital."

The person, who was not identified by police, remained at the hospital Friday and his condition is unknown.

"Officers located items leading them to believe there were several subjects involved," Kellogg said. "A short time later, another victim arrived at the hospital who was also present on Lyons."

"Information is still being gathered at this time," according to police.

Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to contact Hammond police Detective Sgt. Rich Ray at 219-852-2970 or Detective Lt. Mark Tharp at 219-852-2988.
Michael Gableman has been fired, marking an end to the more than $1.1 million taxpayer-funded, GOP-ordered review that has failed to uncover any evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who hired Gableman last summer to lead the review, said in a Friday statement that the Office of Special Counsel headed by the former state Supreme Court Justice has been closed. Gableman's firing comes three days after Vos narrowly defeated his primary opponent Adam Steen, who was endorsed by both Gableman and former President Donald Trump.

After having many members of our caucus reach out to me over the past several days, it is beyond clear to me that we only have one choice in this matter, and thats to close the Office of Special Counsel, Vos said in a statement issued first to The Associated Press on Friday.

Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday that several state Republicans wanted to see Gableman's review come to "a natural conclusion," but at the time still planned to caucus next Tuesday to decide the fate of the review.

I would have fired his keister a long time ago, said Sen. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, who chairs the Senate elections committee. Bernier has long criticized the election review.

As to why Gableman had remained under contract for so long, Robin may not have fired him prior to the primary for political reasons, and I don't blame him, Bernier said, clarifying that she was only speculating about Vos intentions.

Facing pressure from Trump, who continues to make baseless claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election, Vos unveiled plans to embark on the election review at the Republican Party of Wisconsin's annual convention in June 2021.

"I think for most of calendar year 2021, Justice Gableman did a good job," Vos told the State Journal Thursday.

The review was initially intended to conclude by the end of last year, but Gableman himself admitted in June  while providing testimony in one of four public records lawsuits related to the probe  that he spent the first several months of his efforts getting up to speed on Wisconsin elections.

In August, he attended a South Dakota event hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell billed as presenting "irrefutable" proof that Chinese-backed hackers helped steal the 2020 election for President Joe Biden. Gableman later said he was "very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims." He also traveled to Arizona that month to observe the widely discredited election audit conducted by Cyber Ninjas.

"He couldn't help himself and in the end he was going to rallies, he was attending political events which clearly looked like there was a partisan tinge to the investigation," Vos said. "We stopped most of that, but then here we are where he does not just attend a political event but chooses to be involved in a very partisan way and then lie about it."

In March, Gableman recommended the Legislature take the legally impossible step of decertifying the results, a proposal he described as a "practical impossibility" just two weeks later in a private memo to Vos.

Gableman's biggest misstep came days before Tuesday's primary, when he recorded a robocall for Steen, an election denier who was seeking to oust Vos in the 63rd Assembly District, claiming that Vos "never wanted a real investigation."

State Journal reporter Alexander Shur contributed to this report.
Jean-Jacques Sempe, the French cartoonist known in America for childrens book illustrations and for covers for The New Yorker portraying tiny, gentle people with big noses at poignant moments, often dwarfed by monumental backgrounds, died on Thursday. He was 89.

His wife, Martine Gossieaux Sempe, announced the death to Agence France-Presse. His biographer, Marc Lecarpentier, said Sempe  as he signed his work and was known universally  died at a vacation home, but did not specify where that was, AFP reported. Sempe had a home and studio in Paris.

In a nighttime panorama of sleeping city skyscrapers, Sempe illuminated a ballerina in a window. On the soaring span of the Brooklyn Bridge, a lone Sempe bicycle rider churned bravely. And before a large blackboard choked with Einstein calculations, his scruffy little genius soft-boiled an egg.
Young people today dont understand the significance of this simple word, freedom. But then they have never lived through a dictatorship.

IOLE MANCINI, a comrade of Mario Fiorentini, Italys most decorated resistance fighter, who died at 103.
A Twitter account under the name of @RickyShiffer expressed approval for the far-right group the Proud Boys. Law enforcement officials said they were investigating whether he appeared in a video posted on Facebook on Jan. 5, 2021, showing him attending a pro-Trump rally at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington the night before the Capitol was stormed.

In May, the @RickyShiffer Twitter account replied to a photograph of rioters scaling the walls of the Capitol on Jan. 6 with a message that claimed he was present at the building and that seemed to blame people other than supporters of Mr. Trump for the attack.

I was there, the message read. We watched as your goons did that.

Mr. Shiffer was not charged with any crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. At an address in Columbus, Ohio, believed to be linked to Mr. Shiffer, police cars were parked outside on Thursday evening and crime scene tape was blocking access.

In the rural area where the standoff took place, daily life was thrown into chaos on Thursday. For hours, residents of Clinton County, Ohio, watched as police officers swarmed and helicopters hovered overhead. When Rob Thompson left to run errands shortly after 10 a.m., he was greeted at the end of his driveway by a speeding white Ford Crown Victoria being pursued by several police officers.

I thought, since we are by the interstate, that they were just chasing a speeder, said Mr. Thompson, who said his family had owned and farmed 4,000 acres near Wilmington, Ohio, for three generations.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland moved on Thursday to make public the warrant used in the F.B.I.s search of former President Donald J. Trumps residence in Florida  and said he had personally approved the search after less intrusive attempts to retrieve documents taken from the White House by Mr. Trump failed.

In a clipped, two-minute statement to reporters at the Justice Departments headquarters in Washington, Mr. Garland, who previously declined to comment on the search, said he decided to make a public statement because Mr. Trump had confirmed the action. The attorney general also cited the surrounding circumstances of the case and the substantial public interest in this matter.

Minutes before Mr. Garland took the podium, a top official in the Justice Departments national security division filed a motion to unseal the warrant  along with an inventory of items retrieved in the search  redacted to prevent the release of national security information.

It is not clear how quickly the warrant and the other documents could be made public or whether Mr. Trump will object.

The former presidents lawyers have the opportunity to challenge the motion. His legal team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Judge Bruce Reinhart, the judge in the case, issued an order requiring the Justice Department to serve a copy of its motion to Mr. Trumps lawyers. Mr. Trump and his legal team have until 3 p.m. tomorrow to oppose the motion.

Mr. Garlands decision to make a public statement came at an extraordinary moment in the Justice Departments 152-year history, as the sprawling investigation of a former president who remains a powerful political force gains momentum. Prosecutors from an array of the departments divisions and regional offices are taking new actions, seemingly every day.

Mr. Garland, a laconic former judge, had come under increasing pressure this week to provide more public information about why the Justice Department decided that a search was necessary and who approved it  or at least to offer an explanation of the legal processes undertaken by his subordinates.

But he seemed, even on Thursday, to do so with considerable reluctance. And he reiterated his oft-stated commitment to conducting the inquiry within the confines of the legal system rather than in public, with a goal of protecting the rights of targets of the investigation and its integrity.

Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy, said Mr. Garland, who refused to answer reporters shouted questions as he walked slowly out of the seventh-floor briefing room.

Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye, the attorney general added. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all.

His move is less noteworthy for its legal import than its political significance: By giving Mr. Trump the right to oppose the motion in court, Mr. Garlands team is aiming to shield the Justice Department from accusations that it is unilaterally releasing material intended to embarrass him.

Mr. Garland will also be able to claim to his critics that he has publicly addressed the F.B.I. search and shown the public his legal justification for the action, even though the documents being released are likely to contain minimal new details and be riddled with redactions.

Nor does the department plan to release affidavits  which contain much more information about the behavior of Mr. Trump and evidence presented by others  that were used to obtain the warrant, officials said on Thursday.

Mr. Garland did not directly address an episode earlier on Thursday, in which a man in body armor tried to breach an F.B.I. office outside Cincinnati. Justice Department officials said at the time that Mr. Garland did not have enough information to determine his motive. After fleeing the F.B.I. office premises, the man, who had a gun, was killed Thursday evening in a standoff with law enforcement officers, according to a spokesman for the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Investigators are looking into whether he had ties to extremist groups, including one that participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.

Mr. Garland, a former midlevel prosecutor, went out of his way to counter claims by Mr. Trump and his supporters that agents with the bureau or Justice Department lawyers were motivated by politics or behaved inappropriately in the course of requesting and executing the search warrant.

I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Mr. Garland said.

He added: The men and women of the F.B.I. and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them.

Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, said in an internal email earlier in the day said he would adjust the bureaus security posture as needed. He also defended the work of the agents involved in the Trump case.

We dont cut corners, he wrote. We dont play favorites.

Mr. Trumps aides and allies have questioned why a search was necessary, saying that the former president was cooperating with requests to return the materials he had taken with him when he left the White House. Several prominent Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, had called for Mr. Garland to offer an explanation of his actions.

The F.B.I. search was undertaken after federal prosecutors subpoenaed documents that were believed to be improperly removed from the White House and stored in a room at Mar-a-Lago without appropriate security safeguards, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of them are believed to be classified.

Mr. Garland did not say how or when it became clear to his team that 15 boxes of material that Mr. Trump turned over this year was insufficient. But he cast his decision to approve the warrant as a necessity.

The department does not take such a decision lightly, Mr. Garland said. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken.

The attorney generals public reticence on the status of the various investigations involving Mr. Trump and his supporters is rooted in the searing experiences of the departments recent past. Mr. Garland and his inner circle are eager to avoid the approach adopted by James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, whose public statements about investigations into Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign were seen as a political and legal disaster.

The Justice Department had previously provided no information about the precise nature of the material it was seeking to recover, but it signaled that it involved classified information.

The search of Mar-a-Lago added an explosive dimension to the array of investigations into Mr. Trump, including separate inquiries by the Justice Department into his efforts to remain in office despite his loss in the 2020 election.

A senior White House official said that President Biden and his top staff members were not given advance notice of the attorney generals remarks and learned about it through the news.

Adam Goldman and Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting.
Mr. Garland and the investigators working on the case had made no public comments after the search, which allowed Mr. Trump and his supporters to make ever more elaborate claims of official wrongdoing and abuse of power.

But on Thursday, Mr. Garland broke his silence.

Speaking from a podium at the Justice Department, the attorney general said he had personally approved the request for a search warrant. He denounced the unfounded attacks on the professionalism and integrity of the F.B.I. and prosecutors.

And  most importantly  he announced that the Justice Department had filed a motion to unseal the warrant used in the search, as well as the inventory of what the F.B.I. took away, so that the government could make them public.

In so doing, the attorney general alluded to the fact that Mr. Trump was free to release the documents himself, but has chosen not to do so. Copies of both the warrant and the F.B.I. property receipt were provided on the day of the search to the former presidents counsel, who was on site during the search, Mr. Garland said.
Joseph V. Cuffari, the agencys inspector general, also did not include the alert in a June semiannual report even though that report must disclose when an agency has resisted or objected to oversight activities or restricted or significantly delayed access to information, according to a report from the Project on Government Oversight on the draft alert.

The group said the language never made it into the agencys semiannual review after it was sent to an office run by the inspector generals chief of staff, Kristen Fredricks.

The inspector generals office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The notification also contains new details about how the Secret Service resisted scrutiny into its actions around the Jan. 6 attack.

The Secret Service had blamed a phone system update for losing key data from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021. But the Secret Service has not explained why it did not preserve the texts prior to migration, the draft notification stated.
BAKHMUT, Ukraine  Ukrainian soldiers scurried around the howitzer in a field one recent morning. In a flurry of activity, one man lugged a 106-pound explosive shell from a truck to the gun. Another, using a wooden pole, shoved it into the breach.

Loaded! the soldier shouted, then knelt on the ground and covered his ears with his hands.

The gun fired with a thunderous boom. A cloud of smoke wafted up. Leaves fluttered down from nearby trees. The shell sailed off toward the Russians with a metallic shriek.

It is a scene repeated thousands of times daily along the frontline in Ukraine: artillery duels and long-range strikes from both sides on targets ranging from infantry to fuel depots to tanks.
A beautifully preserved grouping of three life-size terra-cotta figures dating to 300 B.C. that was seized from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles by the Manhattan district attorneys office will be sent back to Italy after the museum agreed that it had been illegally excavated, museum and law enforcement officials said.

The three objects were confiscated in April as part of an investigation into an accused Italian antiquities smuggler, Gianfranco Becchina, 83, who has been convicted of receiving stolen antiquities by Greece, officials said. The warrant listed its current value at $8 million. The Getty Museum announced the return on Thursday.

Once we notified the museum of the investigation and the evidence we had, they cooperated fully, said Matthew Bogdanos, the head of the district attorneys Antiquities Trafficking Unit. Mr. Bogdanos said his office was able to reach across state lines with the help of federal Homeland Security agents because the investigation is in his jurisdiction.
LUCERNE, Switzerland  The Lucerne Festival here, one of classical musics premier events, has long had a reputation for exclusivity.

For much of the events 84-year history, women and people of color have struggled to be heard onstage, and audiences have remained overwhelmingly white and wealthy.

But this summer, the festival, which officially begins on Friday, is trying to remake its image, programming its season with an emphasis on diversity: a series of concerts featuring Black and Latino artists, as well as women.
Garland moves to unseal Trump search warrant

Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general, moved to unseal legal authorization for the F.B.I.s search of Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trumps home in Florida. He said yesterday he had personally approved it after less intrusive attempts to retrieve documents taken by the former president failed and cited the substantial public interest in this matter.

A person briefed on the matter said investigators were concerned about material from what the government calls special access programs, a designation typically reserved for sensitive operations carried out by the U.S. abroad. There was concern that allowing those highly classified documents to remain at Mar-a-Lago would leave them vulnerable to efforts by foreign adversaries to acquire them, a source said.

Trumps lawyers have until 3 p.m. E.D.T./8 p.m. B.S.T. today to oppose the motion to release the warrant and the inventory, a step that could delay or block release of the material. Some of his aides were reportedly leaning toward doing so. But in a late-night post, Trump said he would not oppose the release. I am going a step further by encouraging the immediate release of these documents, he said.
Still, the latest measures are unlikely to be especially painful for an economy that is roughly the size of Switzerlands and features a sophisticated manufacturing base.

Understand the China-Taiwan Tensions Card 1 of 4 Understand the China-Taiwan Tensions What does China mean to Taiwan? China claims Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy of 23 million people, as its territory and has long vowed to take it back, by force if necessary. The island, to which Chiang Kai-sheks Chinese forces retreated after the Communist Revolution of 1949, has never been part of the Peoples Republic of China. Understand the China-Taiwan Tensions What does Xi Jinping want? Chinas leader has made it clearer than any of his predecessors that he sees unifying Taiwan with China to be a primary goal of his rule  and a key to what he calls Chinas national rejuvenation. Mr. Xi is also keen to project an image of strength ahead of his expected confirmation to an unprecedented third term this fall. Understand the China-Taiwan Tensions How is the U.S. involved? In an intentionally ambiguous diplomatic arrangement adopted in 1979, the United States maintains a one China policy that acknowledges, but does not endorse, Beijings claim over Taiwan. U.S. leaders have remained vague about how they would help Taiwan if China attacked, but President Biden has pledged to defend the island. Understand the China-Taiwan Tensions Why are tensions rising now? Speaker Nancy Pelosis recent trip to Taiwan  the highest level visit to the island by an American official since 1997  has ignited regional tensions, prompting China to conduct its largest-ever military exercises near Taiwan. A chorus of official Chinese bodies portrayed her trip as part of an American effort to sabotage Chinas efforts at unification with Taiwan.







The political message is greater than the economic hit, said Chiao Chun, a former trade negotiator for the Taiwanese government.

Even though about 90 percent of Taiwans imported gravel and sand comes from China, most of that is manufactured. China accounted for only about 11 percent of Taiwans natural sand imports in the first half of this year, according to the Bureau of Mines.

The two types of Taiwanese fish exports that China restricted last week  chilled white striped hairtail and frozen horse mackerel  are collectively worth about $22 million, less than half the value of the Taiwanese grouper trade that was banned earlier this year. They are also less dependent on the Chinese market.

As for Taiwans half-a-billion-dollar citrus industry, its shipments to China account for only 1.1 percent of the islands total agricultural exports, according to Taiwans Agriculture Council. A popular theory is that Beijing singled out citrus farmers because most orchards are in southern Taiwan, a stronghold for the governing political party, the Democratic Progressive Party, a longtime target of Beijings anger.

Future bans may become more targeted to punish industries in counties that are D.P.P. strongholds, said Thomas J. Shattuck, an expert on Taiwan at the University of Pennsylvanias Perry World House. There may also be less retaliation against counties run by the Kuomintang opposition party in an attempt to put a finger on the scale for Taiwans local, and even national, elections, he added.
Their L.N.G. venture at one point looked like a failure. As it turns out, the millions of dollars and years of frustration meant that when Estonia and Finland agreed in April to share the cost of renting an L.N.G. processing vessel and build floating terminals, the preliminary research and development was already done.

In the months leading up to Russias invasion, Mr. Haal said, soaring gas prices had already begun to change the economics of investing in an L.N.G. terminal. Now, his major concern is ensuring that the Estonian government completes the pipeline connection to the national gas network on time.

Over the years, the question of building more L.N.G. facilities  in addition to the two dozen or so already in Europe  has been repeatedly debated in ports and capitals. Opponents argued that shipping the chilled, liquefied natural gas was much more expensive than the flow from Russia. The required new infrastructure of port terminals and pipes aroused local opposition. And there was resistance to investing so much money in a fossil fuel that climate agreements had eventually targeted for extinction.

One of the countries saying no was Europes largest economy, Germany, which was getting 55 percent of its gas from Russia.

The general overview was that Europe had more L.N.G. capacity than it needs, said Nina Howell, a partner at the law firm King and Spalding. After the invasion, projects that had not been considered commercially viable, and probably wouldnt have made it, then suddenly got government support.
In a statement referring to the election results in Minneapolis, a Trader Joes spokeswoman, Nakia Rohde, said, While we are concerned about how this new rigid legal relationship will impact Trader Joes culture, we are prepared to immediately begin discussions with their collective bargaining representative to negotiate a contract.

Sarah Beth Ryther, a Trader Joes worker in Minneapolis who was involved in the organizing campaign, said her co-workers had been motivated in part by dissatisfaction with pay and benefits, issues that helped prompt the union campaign in Massachusetts. Workers have complained that the company has made its benefits less generous in recent years, though some benefits have improved more recently.

But Ms. Ryther said she and her colleagues were also concerned that the store, which is in an area where some residents struggle with drug dependency and mental health challenges, appeared not to have protocols or systems in place to handle certain emergencies. She cited a person who came into the store last fall with what appeared to be a gunshot wound and collapsed into her arms.

Police officers arrived quickly, Ms. Ryther said, but Trader Joes did little to address the aftermath, such as explaining to workers what had happened. Several days passed before she was told that she could collect workers compensation while taking time off to deal with the trauma, she said.
Peloton plans to raise the price of some products, eliminate its North American warehouses, close stores and slash jobs as part of a cost-cutting strategy, the company said Friday.

The maker of stationary bikes, which found runaway success during the pandemic only to struggle with excess inventory as people headed back to gyms, will cut roughly 784 jobs by reducing its retail footprint and ending its last-mile delivery network, relying on partners instead, it said in a statement. It did not say how many of its 86 stores in North America it would close.

These are hard choices because we are impacting peoples lives, Barry McCarthy, Pelotons chief executive, wrote in a note to employees, which was viewed by The New York Times. These changes are essential if Peloton is ever going to become cash-flow positive.
SEOUL  President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday pardoned Lee Jae-yong, the de facto head of the Samsung conglomerate, who served prison time after being convicted of bribing one of Mr. Yoons predecessors.

Mr. Lee was released on parole last August. The pardon gives him a free hand to run Samsung, because it ends what had been a five-year ban on his return to management. But many South Korean business analysts believe that Mr. Lee had continued to control his empire through loyal subordinates, though Samsung has never explicitly confirmed that.

Mr. Lee was one of nearly 1,700 people pardoned by Mr. Yoon on Friday; most had been convicted of white-collar crimes and traffic violations. South Korean presidents often issue mass pardons to mark major holidays, like National Liberation Day, which falls on Monday, when the pardons will take effect.
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In Washington, D.C., the Anacostia River acts as both a physical and figurative divide. To the west of the river are the wealthy and predominantly white neighborhoods of Navy Yard and Capitol Hill; across the river sit the predominantly Black and low-income Ward 8 neighborhoods of Anacostia and Fairlawn. For over a decade planners have been developing an elevated park, called the 11th Street Bridge Park, to span the divide. Wary of gentrification, residents of Ward 8 have advocated that the bridge be used to bring equity and investment to the existing community instead of pricing it out. If successful, the project could serve as a blueprint for future responsibly developed civic spaces.

Andre D. Wagner, a Brooklyn-based photographer and a Gordon Parks Foundation fellow, traveled to Anacostia for a recent Times Headway project on the park. Below, he writes about his process, sharing the parallels he drew between his experience and that of Mr. Parks, a photographer known for his work documenting American life, race, civil rights and more.

Anacostia, a neighborhood synonymous with working-class families, is a place in which the pride of being a resident is evident. That was clear to me as soon as I entered Anacostia at one of its northern corners, where Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Good Hope Road meet.
In 2014 we didnt even have a website. There was no online reservation system, and everything was done via fax, he said. It hadnt been renovated in a long time. There definitely needed to be new bedding, soundproofing.

Mr. Daunt became more and more committed to the Albatross and officially took it over in 2018. Three years later, he hired Home Studios, the Brooklyn-based design firm behind the Spaniard, a stylish gastro pub in the West Village, and Elsa, a cocktail bar with Art Deco flourishes in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, to oversee a full renovation. Soon, the courtyard had bonfire pits and the guest rooms sported vintage furniture and flagstone floors. In May, Mr. Daunt took over Bird on the Roof, the restaurant across the street, turning it into an all-day brunch spot.

Properties in Montauk are worth a fortune right now, Mr. Daunt said. But it was more important to all of us to continue the family tradition.

Its something longtime Montauk visitors, some stunned by the influx of young partygoers, appreciate.

I dont want to go to one of those motels where I am just a number, and there is nothing personal, and no one knows me, said Maureen Benckwit, a 72-year-old retiree who lives in Massapequa and has visited Daunts Albatross every year since 1983, including during the pandemic. I would be devastated if this place changed hands. I dont know if I would continue with my tradition of coming to Montauk anymore if this place changed.

Shes even fine with the modern updates to the place. I always put aside how old the accommodation was because everything else was good, but now Leo has done a fantastic job.
Literary figures and public officials said that they were shocked by the news that the author Salman Rushdie had been stabbed in the neck on Friday morning while onstage to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York.

We cannot immediately think of any comparable incident of a public violent attack on a writer during a literary event here in the United States, said Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive officer of the nonprofit literary organization PEN America, who noted that the motivations for the attack and Mr. Rushdies current condition were unknown as of Friday late morning.

Mr. Rushdie is a former president of PEN America, which advocates for writers freedom of expression around the world.
Ecologists are urging people to squish them on sight. They seem to be all over New York this summer. New York Times readers reported killing them in parks, patios, even in the Union Square subway station. Carrie from Brooklyn said in an online comment that lanterflies had taken up residence on the backstop at the stadium where the Staten Island Ferryhawks play, only to be knocked off by balls the catcher didnt catch. The lanternflies then descended on the fans, to much screaming and flailing of limbs, followed by hot pursuit.

Other readers shared tips about tools  fly swatters, dishwashing detergent in a sprayer bottle, even bare hands  and tricks. My technique is to wiggle my fingers, a reader identified as Christo explained in a 37-second YouTube video. Get em on a horizontal space and freak em out with a finger roll, and then, get closer and snuff em.

The trick to stomping them is to stomp them in your natural walking stride, another reader wrote. If you raise your leg to stomp them, they will usually elude you. If that happens, run in order to stomp them as soon as they land.

Lanternflies, originally from Asia, have two distinct pairs of wings. Theyre small, only about an inch long. They arrived in the United States roughly a decade ago and have been documented in 12 states. In New York, they have turned up on Long Island, and in the Hudson Valley and western New York. They are within range of upstate orchards and Finger Lakes vineyards  which the adult lanternflies can damage by feasting on leaves and stems.
To the Editor:

Like many other Americans, Im curious to know more about the Justice Departments investigation of Donald Trump, and I understand why Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced that he personally approved a search warrant and that the department has now requested its unsealing. He struck just the right tone, especially in his defense of his department and the F.B.I.

That said, I think Mr. Garland has been right to keep silent about the details of his investigation, and Im glad he emphasized that the department will continue to work out of the public eye.

In due time, I suspect, well know a lot more about this probe. For now, lets be patient and let the Justice Department do its job. The list of reasons for it to avoid extensive public comment at this stage is longer than the list of reasons for it to do the opposite.

Jeff Burger

Ridgewood, N.J.

To the Editor:

A whip-smart, soft-spoken and gentle man who passionately and fearlessly believes in the rule of law and bends over backward to be fair may finally be the undoing of Donald J. Trump.
Keeping up with vaccines and boosters is so important.

I feel Covid is now like our annual flu strains. Is there a new type of vaccine coming this fall or winter to help with future variants?  Gerry Moss, Naples, Fla.

Akiko Iwasaki: Although it may feel like Covid is now like annual flu, data show it is still causing more hospitalizations and deaths than the flu does. This is why keeping up with vaccines and boosters is so important. There will likely be an Omicron-matched booster in the fall or winter to help protect against the current variant. Myself and others are also working on nasal booster vaccines and universal coronavirus vaccines designed to reduce infection and spread from future variants. Nasal vaccines will not be available this winter, but if there is government support and coordination, they can be available in the near future, potentially in a couple of years.

The Omicron-focused vaccine will contain new targets for the immune system.

Im 64, in good health, havent had Covid and have a family wedding coming up, so I went ahead and got a second booster in July. Now Im afraid that if an Omicron-focused vaccine arrives in the fall, I wont be eligible. Did I make a mistake?  Mary Murphy, Kansas City, Mo.

Marion Pepper: Getting a booster in July before a big family wedding was a good idea and certainly not a mistake, even with Omicron-focused vaccines likely arriving this fall. The C.D.C. recommends that non-immunocompromised individuals 18 years and older wait for at least five months after their primary Pfizer or Moderna vaccine doses, and people 50 and older wait for at least four months after receiving a first booster prior to getting a subsequent one. These delays are suggested for several reasons, including the fact that immunity wanes over time  so more frequent boosting with the same vaccine is not needed  and because the immune response also evolves over time and getting an additional vaccine within a shorter time period may impact that response and reduce protection.
The public relations maven George Regan was pretty sure but not convinced that Elizabeth Akeley would say yes when he asked her to marry him on Aug. 19, 2021. Days before he dropped to one knee in the sand next to the Great Point Lighthouse on Nantucket, his crisis management expertise kicked in.

Mr. Regan commissioned two signs that would be placed prominently at the entrance to Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee, Mass., where he planned a surprise engagement party for 175 vaccinated or tested guests later that evening. One read, She said yes! The other, She said no.

If he had to post the latter sign, he figured he would just regroup. I thought, if worse comes to worst, well still have a heck of a party, said Mr. Regan, 70. Ms. Akeley, 43, eliminated that worst-case scenario by strolling through the clubs door with a three-and-a-half carat oval diamond engagement ring on her finger. Mr. Regan wore a relieved grin.
The summer after my freshman year of college, I decided to live for a few months in the basement of my schools library. I was by no means the first student to live there, as the university I went to offered scant financial aid and Manhattan rent is sky high.

When I heard that other students had survived rent-free for a summer by living illicitly in the schools underbelly, I thought that this arrangement might be perfectly suited to my flexible summer canvassing job.

And it was. I showered at the gym and squirreled away canned food in fire extinguisher boxes. My co-workers didnt remark upon my limited wardrobe. The security and maintenance workers didnt seem to think much of a few students sleeping on couches. When they did occasionally shoo me away, I would sleep on couches in my friends dorm suites. In my free time, I would splurge on dollar slice pizza and then read books for hours at Barnes & Noble.
SAN FRANCISCO  Tech industry titans have navigated a lot to get where they are today  the dot-com bust, the 2008 recession, a backlash against tech power, the pandemic. They have overcome boardroom showdowns, investor power struggles and regulatory land mines.

But this summer, some of them encountered their most threatening opponent yet: multifamily townhouses.

Their battle took place in one of Silicon Valleys most exclusive and wealthiest towns: Atherton, Calif., a 4.9-square-mile enclave just north of Stanford University with a population of 7,500. There, tech chief executives and venture capitalists banded together over the specter that more than one home could exist on a single acre of land in the general vicinity of their estates.
An account bearing the name of Ricky Shiffer, the man who was killed in Ohio by the police on Thursday, ending a standoff that officials said started after he tried to breach the F.B.I.s Cincinnati office, had posted messages on Truth Social recommending that patriots go to Florida and kill federal agents. On Thursday, the same account also appeared to confess to an attack on the F.B.I.

In a series of recent posts, the account had railed against law enforcement and issued a call to arms, saying that for two years, they have been conditioning us to accept tyranny. When someone asked whether he was proposing terrorism, the account responded: I am proposing war. The Times could not immediately confirm whether the Truth Social account belonged to Mr. Shiffer, 42, of Columbus.

Truth Socials community guidelines note that its preference is that the removal of users or user-provided content be kept to the absolute minimum but say that it will take action in cases where the platform is being used as a tool for crime or any other unlawful acts. On a list of reasons to report problematic content, Truth Social includes content that depicts violence or threat of violence.

The sentiments on Trumps social media network extended to other platforms as well. One Proud Boys Telegram channel, used by hundreds of members of the militant group, posted in the hours after the search that civil war is imminent. On Twitter, there was a tenfold increase in tweets mentioning civil war in the 24 hours after the raid, according to Dataminr, a tool that analyzes Twitter data.
But onstage on Friday, Mr. Fetterman also came across as high-energy, and his remarks sometimes took on the feel of a stand-up routine, fueled by a supportive crowd of 1,355 people, according to an organizer whose information was provided by the campaign.

Theres a lot of differences between me and Dr. Oz, Mr. Fetterman said to laughter, as he wondered how many mansions his opponent owned.

Before the event, the line to get into the convention center snaked deep into the parking lot, drawing both older voters  including at least two who said they had voted for Mr. Trump in 2016  and a young woman in a glittering sash, who said she had chosen to spend her 19th birthday at his campaign rally. Several attendees of varying ages cited abortion rights when discussing their votes in the Senate race, after the Supreme Courts overturning of Roe v. Wade.

To watch, at my age, to have it taken away from my great-granddaughters, my granddaughters, my daughters, is just so upsetting to my heart, that Im here for Roe v. Wade, said Judy Pasold, 80, who thought Mr. Fetterman sounded very well. Thats why its going to be Democrat all the way through. Probably. Because most of the Republicans have gone the other way, so far the other way.

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.

Mr. Fettermans remarks were light on policy, though he nodded to his support for issues including abortion rights, raising the minimum wage and eliminating the filibuster.

Public polling has shown him with a strong lead over Dr. Oz, and he has far outpaced the Republican nominee in fund-raising. Outside spending from both parties is expected to be significant, though, and many strategists expect a close race in a narrowly divided state.
Through their work in the White House Counsels Office, several of Mr. Trumps representatives had helped fight requests from Congress for White House records during Mr. Trumps first impeachment in 2019.

Mr. Trump left the White House on the morning of Jan. 20, just hours before President Biden was inaugurated. Accounts of the former presidents departure described a highly disorganized exit with slapdash packing, especially as aides had spent the weeks before focused on contesting the results of the 2020 election and preparing for Mr. Trumps defense in a second impeachment trial that was held in February.

The National Archives said it received a collection of documents from the White House at the end of the administration. It later said that many had been torn up and taped back together, and that others were handed over in scraps that officials had never reconstructed.

January 2022

It was later revealed that in mid-January, the National Archives had succeeded in retrieving 15 boxes of materials taken from the White House at the end of Mr. Trumps term and stored at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trumps private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. The agency said it had negotiated with Mr. Trumps lawyers throughout 2021 to have the materials returned.
It was about to get worse.

Most of the embassys staff left Afghanistan that night or early the next day. But Mr. Wilson and about 30 other American diplomats stayed on for two more weeks, trying to find and evacuate other U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and foreign allies, among the tens of thousands of panicked Afghans just outside the airport, begging to be rescued.

Theyre having to make choices: Yes, you can come in, or No sir, you cant, Mr. Wilson recalled of the diplomats work at the airport gate during 12-hour shifts, amid gunfire and explosions, and against the constant roar of the crowd. And you know, thats really hard.

No one who wasnt out there really can imagine how awful it was, he said.

Mr. Wilson was among the four last diplomats to leave Kabul, departing on the final American military plane that flew out shortly before midnight on Aug. 30. The flight headed to Doha, Qatar, where he was taken to a military hospital for tests and was told he had the coronavirus. Few people wore masks during the long and devastating days at the Kabul airport, but Mr. Wilson had assumed the fatigue and other symptoms he had been experiencing were the result of working 20-hour days for five straight weeks.

He flew to his home outside Minneapolis to isolate and formally resigned his post at the end of September. That part had always been the plan: Mr. Wilson had retired from the Foreign Service in 2008 after a 30-year career as a diplomat. But he had never served in Afghanistan before he was asked, to his surprise, to fill in as the charge daffaires in January 2020 while the Trump administration and Congress fought over who to send as a permanent ambassador.

To be honest, my reaction was, they should be asking other people who had served there, Mr. Wilson said. But once asked, it was my duty to do it.

Nearly a year later, Mr. Wilson remains in touch with American diplomats who were with him during the final weeks in Kabul, many of whom he said were still shaken. The brutal memories have, in some cases, overshadowed the silver lining of an evacuation mission that spirited more than 124,000 people from Afghanistan.
At an election-night party after his narrow victory on Tuesday, Mr. Vos said that Mr. Gableman was an embarrassment to the state.

In the following days, Mr. Vos defended his decision to start the Gableman investigation but signaled that he would soon end it.

There were problems with the 2020 election that we need to fix  all of those things are real, he said Wednesday on a conservative talk radio show in Milwaukee. But somehow, Justice Gableman, as the investigation began to come to an end, decided it was more important to play to Donald Trump and to play to the very extreme of our party who thought we could unconstitutionally overturn the election than it was to be responsive to his client, which was the Legislature.

Mr. Vos said in that interview that he had given Mr. Gableman some very clear direction: You cant be involved in politics, you cant go to rallies. We want you to be an independent voice. And he broke that.

Yet when Mr. Vos announced the hire in June 2021, he did so at the Wisconsin Republican Partys annual convention. And he did not publicly discipline Mr. Gableman when the former justice attended a political event with Mike Lindell, the MyPillow chief executive who has funded many attempts to overturn the election, or when he appeared at campaign events with local Republican Party chapters.

Mr. Vos and his spokeswoman did not respond to messages on Friday. Mr. Gablemans spokesman, Zak Niemierowicz, said he had resigned from the investigation last month. Mr. Gableman did not respond to messages.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  A man whom the police say they killed hours after he tried to breach the F.B.I.s Cincinnati office had been on the radar of the federal authorities for months, two law enforcement officials said on Friday.

The officials said federal investigators had been looking into whether the man, Ricky Shiffer, 42, of Columbus, had been involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They also said the F.B.I. had received a tip about Mr. Shiffer in May that was unrelated to Jan. 6, and agents opened a separate inquiry that included conducting interviews in Florida and Ohio.

The F.B.I. acknowledged in a statement that it had received information about Mr. Shiffer before Thursday, but said that the information did not contain a specific and credible threat. The bureau said agents from multiple offices had tried to find and interview him, but had not been successful. A neighbor at an apartment complex in Columbus where Mr. Shiffer lived, who declined to give his name, said federal agents had visited the property a few weeks ago and had asked him questions about Mr. Shiffer, including what time he left home most days and when he returned.
The F.B.I.s search at former President Donald J. Trumps Florida home was driven in part by the governments effort to ensure the security of the nations most highly sensitive information, including, according to a person briefed on the matter, material designated Special Access Programs  a category that limits some to a tiny group of top military and intelligence officials.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that federal agents had removed 11 sets of classified documents during the search, including some classified as top secret and designated to be available only in secure government facilities.

Historically, special access programs have been reserved for extremely sensitive operations carried out by the United States, or for closely held technologies and capabilities. That could include covert programs against adversaries, or the development of special surveillance and weapons technologies, such as new kinds of stealth aircraft and hypersonic missiles.
Reporter: According to Taiwan media reports, after Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan region, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has organized high-intensity live-fire exercises and training in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island, just like "blockading Taiwan", and in which several missiles flew over the island. This is probably just a beginning, and Taiwan's strategic space has been squeezed and will not come back. What's your comment on this?

Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Senior Colonel Tan Kefei: The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has recently conducted a series of countermeasures in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island, which is a solemn deterrent to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces engaging in collusion and provocation with external forces. It is also a legitimate and necessary step to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Related exercises and training are open, transparent and professional, and in line with Chinas domestic laws, international laws and international practices.

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi insisted on visiting China's Taiwan region, which has flagrantly challenged and jeopardized China's core interests, and seriously damaged the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Tsai Ing-wen and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, soliciting foreign support to seek "independence" and making provocations, brushing aside the safety of the Taiwan people and pushing Taiwan into the abyss of disaster, are bound to be etched into the historical pillar of shame.

The historical course of cross-Strait reunification is unstoppable. The momentum towards and circumstances surrounding the resolution of the Taiwan question are always in favor of the power to promote the national reunification. For the well-being of the Taiwan people, we are willing to pursue the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts, but the Chinese PLA will never leave any space for any form of "Taiwan independence" separatist behaviors and interference by external forces. For the selfish interests of one party or oneself, the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces ignore national interests and go against the trend of the times. They are doomed to take the road of self destruction. At present, the cross-Strait relations are faced with a choice between two futures once again, and the right choice must be made by the Taiwan authorities for what path to follow.
Kenya is an anchor for stability, security and democracy  not just in the region, or on this continent, but across the globe, the embassies of the United States and 13 other Western countries said in a statement on the eve of the election.

Seared by criticism of its failings in previous votes, the national election commission went to great lengths to make this an exemplary election.

With a budget of over $370 million, one of the highest per voter costs in the world, the commission sourced printed paper ballots from Europe that had more security features than Kenyas currency notes. It deployed biometric technology to identify voters by their fingerprints and images.

The election commission has done a very professional job, said Johnnie Carson, a former U.S. ambassador to Kenya who is serving as an election observer. The biometric system worked better than many people anticipated and has proved to be a useful model to build on.

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.

The commission began posting online results from over 46,000 polling stations within hours of the polls closing on Tuesday, a move of radical transparency intended to ward off fears of potential vote rigging.

But in the counting, things havent gone entirely to plan.

The election commissions decision to post the results online  allowing the news media to do the first, unofficial tally of the results  has proved to be problematic. Media organizations tallied in different sequences, leading to conflicting reports of who was ahead.
In Afghanistan, there are greeting customs everyone follows before actually having a conversation. How are you? Hows your family? How is your job going? We always laughed about it back in Kabul, but now I miss it dearly.

This was a year of anxiety, worries and sorrows for so many Afghans. And with the distance between my new American neighbors and myself almost tangible, I reached out to my Afghan friends who have been scattered around the world.

They, like me, invested so much in a government and way of life that we never expected to collapse, or for the United States to leave behind as the Taliban closed in.

When I asked my friends how they were doing a year after we fled, their responses brought me to tears. I was never known as an emotional person, and almost prided myself on always being stoic. Even when I was a child, my parents took me to the doctor because I never cried.

But now, almost no one I know in Afghanistan or outside the country is doing well.

And I cry. Often.

Khalid Abidi, a school friend of mine, was leading an enormous project for Afghanistans state-owned electricity company. He was doing very well in his career before the Taliban takeover.

Despite receiving several offers to work abroad, he preferred to stay in Afghanistan. But last month he told me he had lost everything after the new Taliban government canceled the project.
In Afghanistan, August 2021 began ominously.

The Americans and their allies were leaving the country, finally ending their long war after striking an agreement with the Taliban, and leaving the countrys defense to the security forces they had trained and supplied for years. But the Afghan forces were already beginning to buckle. By the end of the summer, the insurgents had seized dozens of districts, rapidly sweeping across the countryside as outpost after outpost folded.

But none of the 34 provincial capitals had fallen. Yet.

The United States was providing limited air support to the beleaguered Afghan forces below and there remained a small hope that the U.S.-sponsored firepower would continue after the United States withdrew completely. President Ashraf Ghani had reshuffled his military leadership, and militia units led by the powerful and notorious warlords of Afghanistans past had taken up arms to defend their economic fiefs.

Then, on Aug. 6, Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz Province on the border with Iran, suddenly fell to the Taliban. Like dominoes, other provincial capital cities began toppling as well, even in places like Kandahar where the Afghan forces had defended well for months.
Omar Ahmadi, 26

I was born in 1996 during the dark days of the Talibans first regime in Afghanistan. My father was the Kabul Bureaus chef for The New York Times. When the family was in the most difficult economic situation, my father could have sent us to do hard labor to support the family, but he chose to educate us instead. My life path was shaped by his choice.

My brothers, little sister and I all went to school. After graduating from high school and earning an associate degree in technology, I decided I wanted to study international relations and diplomacy, to try to understand what was going on in my country in the name of war and terrorism.

My dream was for my homeland to move toward the light of peace and prosperity. It is a dream shared by thousands of my classmates in Afghanistan.
This is a unique situation, Mr. Hatten, the spokesman, said. Its the first time an animal has stayed out of their natural habitat for so long.

Experts think that Freya is on her way back north, where she belongs. But finding her way may prove difficult, because Oslo Fjord, where she was most recently spotted, is a dead end on the way north. To get home, she first has to go back south, down to Denmark to cross over to Britain, before going back north.

She has to turn around, and so far, she hasnt done so, Mr. Aae said. She doesnt have a map, she doesnt know its a dead end.

Its not entirely unusual for a walrus to show up in northern Europe, and similar incidents have occurred before. Most years, at least one walrus can be spotted in European waters, said Dan Jarvis, the director of welfare and conservation at British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

Last year, another walrus, Wally, showed up off the coast of southwest England for about six weeks and climbed up on boats in a busy area of the Isles of Scilly, an archipelago of more than 150 islands. Local officials provided him with a floating dock to lie on, because he destroyed the boats with his roughly 1,760-pound weight. There, too, people got too close and took pictures with him, causing potentially dangerous situations and leading to calls for his removal.
She looked up the partys address in the phone book and headed over to the local headquarters.

She was a godsend, said Ernest Kaltenegger, her mentor and predecessor as the partys local head. Not like other young people who burn bright for a little while  she was serious.

When the bank branch she was working at closed when she was 24, Mr. Kaltenegger persuaded her to become the second employee of Grazs K.P.O. During a six-month study in Moscow in 1989, she followed the passionate debates there on reform, and believed that theyd turn the corner.

Two years later, the Soviet Union dissolved.

Ms. Kahr consoled her older comrades, and focused on her young son, Franz.

In the 1990s, Mr. Kaltenegger campaigned on installing bathrooms in all of Grazs social housing apartments, and turned the Communists into a local political pillar. He later moved on to the state level on the condition that Ms. Kahr took over the Communist mantle in Graz.

She did, and got off to a stumbling start. Leading the party in the 2008 election, she lost half his voters.

But within five years, she had turned the Communists into the citys second-strongest party. One likely factor in the partys win last year was growing discontent in Graz over a construction boom that was snapping up the last plots of undeveloped land. In a K.P.O.-organized referendum in 2018, an unusually high voter turnout effectively blocked the rezoning of an agriculture schools land, a memorable victory for the party.
There is growing concern that Europe, so proud of its privacy protections and rule of law, is rampant with listening devices and espionage at a moment when its democracies are being threatened by Russian aggression. So much so, the European Union is regularly checking devices.

Investigations into spyware should now involve a check of the phones of all politicians and top level officials, Sophie in t Veld, the chairwoman of the European Parliaments special committee on spyware, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. To get a full picture of the spying activity by governments.

Greece has now vaulted to the top of the worry list. Allies of Mr. Mitsotakis, a staunch defender of Ukraine, have argued that the scandal is not just a threat to Greek stability, but to the common cause against Russia.

If I were Mr. Putin, I would be very happy if the governments that were so opposed to Russia would fall,  said Adonis Georgiadis, a government minister and the vice president of Mr. Mitsotakiss New Democracy party. While he stressed he was not blaming Russia for the hacking, he added that Russia had exerted influence in Greece before, So if they did it in the past. Why not do it now?

Turkey, too, he said, could be behind it all.

Mr. Mitsotakis, in his speech, also talked cryptically of the possibility of shady forces outside Greece working to destabilize the country.

Opponents say the governments insinuations amount to a desperate smoke screen to avoid the obvious issue  that it had gotten caught spying on its own citizens and political rivals.
BELGRADE, Serbia  A gunman in Montenegro killed 10 people, including a mother and her two children, ages 8 and 11, before a civilian shot him on Friday in the city of Cetinje.

When we arrived at the scene, we saw nine dead bodies, including two children, and another two passed away on their way to the hospital, Andrijana Nastic, the state prosecutor investigating the shooting, told TV Vijesti.

Ms. Nastic said that six people had been wounded in the attack, including a police officer.

The gunman first targeted the mother and her two children, who were tenants staying on his property, according to Zoran Brdanin, the director of Montenegros police administration.
Those fears flared last week when an esoteric dispute over license plates between Serbia, which is bound to Russia by history, religion and deep hostility toward NATO, and the formerly Serbian province of Kosovo led to unruly protests, roadblocks and gunfire  setting off alarm bells in the Atlantic alliance.

The unrest in Kosovo, and strains in nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina caused by Milorad Dodik, the belligerent, Moscow-backed leader of the ethnic Serb enclave there, and by hard-line Croat nationalists have led to warnings that Russia is trying to stoke tensions, stilled but never really resolved, from the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Russia calculates that the more time the West spends sweating in the Balkans, the less time it will spend sweating in Russias backyard, said Vuk Vuksanovic, a researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy.

But there are limits on what Russia can do, Mr. Vuksanovic added. It needs local elites and these dont want to be sacrificed for Russian interests.
BRUSSELS  Turkeys mercurial president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is in political difficulty before elections next year, with his economy imploding, a central bank nearly out of foreign exchange and volcanic inflation running at about 80 percent annually.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has his own troubles, with the war in Ukraine bogging down and tough economic sanctions hitting Russias industry and broader economy.

The mutual challenges have pushed the two men closer together than ever. They have met twice in the last three weeks, most recently last weekend in Sochi, Russia, hoping to lessen their vulnerabilities by expanding their partnership and agreeing, Mr. Erdogan said, on economic cooperation that he hoped would total $100 billion.
Im curious, do you ever read fiction? an editor asked me this week. And I do! I tend to write about nonfiction in this space, in part because Im often writing about work that contributes to or shapes my reporting. But fiction can do that too.

The way that a persons pursuit of status can have radical effects on society is a theme that runs through my reporting on everything from Putins Russia to social media in rural Sri Lanka, but it is of course one of the great themes of literature as well. And I dont think anyone has ever portrayed that phenomenon better than Jane Austen.

Here I admit to having very basic tastes: My favorite book of hers is Pride and Prejudice. Although its text is imprinted onto my weary synapses because of my habit of picking it up whenever I cant sleep, I always manage to find something new whenever I reread it. Most recently I was struck by the way that a few short lines about Mr. Bingleys fortune being made in the north of England, so recently that his father hadnt had time to buy an estate before he died, contain an entire arc of socioeconomic history. At the time when Austen was writing, the industrial revolution was generating fortunes outside of the landed aristocracy, fracturing the class system that was then the backbone of society. Suddenly the new-money Bingleys of the world had something that the landed-gentry Bennets needed. And because the rules of the new era were still in flux, a small misstep could leave either party mired in poverty or disgrace.

The wealthy family at the center of Austens Mansfield Park appears respectable, but their fortune derives from a slave plantation in the Caribbean. Between the beats of the marriage plot, Austen skewers not only the hypocrisy of such people lecturing others about propriety, but also a society that holds enslavers in higher esteem than poor people doing ordinary jobs.

The scrim of Austens romantic plotlines only partly obscures the grim violence of the gender hierarchy of the time. In Sense and Sensibility, Colonel Brandons first love is forced into an unhappy marriage to another man, who treats her cruelly and then abandons her to poverty and death when she becomes pregnant with another mans child. Her illegitimate daughter is later seduced  Austens term for what might now be called statutory rape  at age 16 by an older man who likewise impregnates and abandons her. (The men in those scenarios are fine.)

Turning away from Austen, on the recommendation of one of my editors at The Times, this week I picked up Venomous Lumpsucker, by Ned Beauman. Its set in a near future in which corporations can purchase extinction credits for the right to extinguish a particular species from the earth. The book does a particularly good job of introducing its high-concept premise through the story of dirtbag characters, giving it the kind of high concept/low plot mix that is a particular favorite of mine. The main characters base motivations (lust and greed within the first few pages alone) make it all feel chillingly familiar.

Books that gave you an aha! moment

Iris (Yi Youn) Kim, a reader in Los Angeles, recommends Nuclear Family by Joseph Han:

A genre-bending release that explores themes of long-lasting effects of American imperialism, the painful division of the Korean Peninsula and separation of families, the fragility of the American dream and the complexity of Korean American identity in a haunting and hilarious sequence of magical realist events. Hans story as a queer writer who was born in Korea and raised in Hawaii effortlessly translates to sumptuous details  the taste of sizzling pork belly during Jacobs return to the motherland, and the fusion of Korean and Hawaiian cuisines served in the Cho family delis. Theyre achingly familiar for a Korean American writer like myself who often contends with the stories passed down from my grandparents  about war, survival and ancestral debt.

Isabella Lazzarini, a reader in Edinburgh, recommends Matrix by Lauren Groff:
The most pressing concerns focus on the risk of a meltdown.

While they are designed to withstand a range of risk  from a plane crashing into the facility to natural disasters  no operating nuclear power plant has ever been in the middle of active fighting, and this one was not designed with the threat of cruise missiles in mind.

There are several main concerns.

The concrete shell of the sites six reactors offer strong protection, as was the case when the No. 1 reactor was struck in March, officials say. More worrying is the chance that a power transformer is hit by shelling, raising the risk of a fire.

Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of hiding dozens of military vehicles with an unknown amount of munitions on the premises of at least two reactors. If a fire were to break out at the power transformers and the electric network was taken offline, that could cause a breakdown of the plants cooling system and lead to a catastrophic meltdown, said Edwin Lyman, a nuclear power expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a private group in Cambridge, Mass.

He noted that the loss of coolant during the Fukushima accident in Japan in 2011 resulted in three reactors undergoing some degree of core meltdown.

If the cooling is interrupted, Dr. Lyman said, the nuclear fuel could become hot enough to melt in a matter of hours. Eventually, it could melt through the steel reactor vessel and even the outer containment structure, releasing radioactive material.

According to Ukrainian officials, a shell hit a power transformer at the No. 6 reactor at the same time the No. 1 reactor was struck. It did not explode, according to Ukrainian officials.
Republicans endorsed Dominic Rapini, the former chairman of a group that was criticized for making bogus complaints about the 2020 election, in the two-way primary for this open seat. Stephanie Thomas, a state representative, is the favorite to win the Democratic primary  she was endorsed by the departing incumbent, Denise Merrill, and the party, which has not lost a statewide election since 2006.
Donald G. Sullivan was lying in bed one night, early in his career as a scientist, when he realized his data might hold a startling secret.

For his masters research at the University of California, Berkeley, he had sampled the sediment beneath a remote lake in the Sacramento Valley and was hoping to study the history of vegetation in the area. But a lot of the pollen in his sediment cores didnt seem to be from nearby. How had it gotten there?

When he X-rayed the cores, he found layers where the sediment was denser. Maybe, he surmised, these layers were filled with sand and silt that had washed in during floods.

It was only late that night that he tried to estimate the ages of the layers. They lined up neatly with other records of West Coast megafloods.

Thats when it clicked, said Dr. Sullivan, who is now at the University of Denver.

His findings, from 1982, showed that major floods hadnt been exceptionally rare occurrences over the past eight centuries. They took place every 100 to 200 years. And in the decades since, advancements in modeling have helped scientists evaluate how quickly the risks are rising because of climate change.

For their new study, which was published in the journal Science Advances, Dr. Huang and Dr. Swain replayed portions of the 20th and 21st centuries using 40 simulations of the global climate. Extreme weather events, by definition, dont occur very often. So by using computer models to create realistic alternate histories of the past, present and future climate, scientists can study a longer record of events than the real world offers.

Dr. Swain and Dr. Huang looked at all the monthlong California storms that took place during two time segments in the simulations, one in the recent past and the other in a future with high global warming, and chose one of the most intense events from each period. They then used a weather model to produce detailed play-by-plays of where and when the storms dump their water.

Those details matter. There are so many different factors that make an atmospheric river deadly or benign, Dr. Huang said.

Xingying Huang of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. Rachel Woolf for The New York Times

The New Don Pedro Dam spillway.

Wes Monier, a hydrologist, with a 1997 photo of water rushing through the New Don Pedro Reservoir spillway.

In the high Sierras, for example, atmospheric rivers today largely bring snow. But higher temperatures are shifting the balance toward rain. Some of this rain can fall on snowpack that accumulated earlier, melting it and sending even more water toward towns and cities below.

Climate change might be affecting atmospheric rivers in other ways, too, said F. Martin Ralph of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. How strong their winds are, for instance. Or how long they last: Some storms stall, barraging an area for days on end, while others blow through quickly.

Scientists are also working to improve atmospheric river forecasts, which is no easy task as the West experiences increasingly sharp shifts from very dry conditions to very wet and back again. In October, strong storms broke records in Sacramento and other places. Yet this January through March was the driest in the Sierra Nevada in more than a century.

My scientific gut says theres change happening, Dr. Ralph said. And we just havent quite pinned down how to detect it adequately.

Better forecasting is already helping California run some of its reservoirs more efficiently, a crucial step toward coping with wetter wet years and drier dry ones.

On the last day of 2016, Wes Monier was looking at forecasts on his iPad and getting a sinking feeling.

Mr. Monier is chief hydrologist for the Turlock Irrigation District, which operates the New Don Pedro Reservoir near Modesto. The Tuolumne River, where the Don Pedro sits, was coming out of its driest four years in a millennium. Now, some terrifying rainfall projections were rolling in.

First, 23.2 inches over the next 16 days. A day later: 28.8 inches. Then 37.1 inches, roughly what the area normally received in a full year.

If Mr. Monier started releasing Don Pedros water too quickly, homes and farms downstream would flood. Release too much and he would be accused of squandering water that would be precious come summer.

But the forecasts helped him time his flood releases precisely enough that, after weeks of rain, the water in the dam ended up just shy of capacity. Barely a drop was wasted, although some orchards were flooded, and growers took a financial hit.

The next storm might be even bigger, though. And even the best data and forecasts might not allow Mr. Monier to stop it from causing destruction. Theres a point there where I cant do anything, he said.
The Amazon rainforest is home to many frightening creatures, like giant Anacondas, flesh-eating piranhas, just to name a couple, and now you can add a new one to the list, a species of wasp that lays its eggs on the abdomen of spiders and then hijacks their brain, essentially turning them into zombies.

The previously unknown wasp of the Zatypota genus was discovered by researchers with the University of British Columbia (UBC) working in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin. They documented its symbiotic relationship with a species of so called social spiders and recently published some truly terrifying findings in the Ecological Entomology scientific journal. This newly discovered wasp is apparently able to hijack the nervous system of its host, forcing it to leave its colony, which it otherwise rarely does, protect the wasps larva and ultimately get eaten alive. It essentially turns the social spider into a zombie-like drone that then does the wasps bidding.

Photo: jodeng/Pixabay

Wasps manipulating the behavior of spiders has been observed before, but not at a level as complex as this, said Philippe Fernandez-Fournier, lead author of the study. Not only is this wasp targeting a social species of spider but its making it leave its colony, which it rarely does.

Thats really what makes this new species of wasp different from other members of the Zatypota genus, and most other parasitoid insects  its ability to completely alter the behavior of social spiders. The influencing and commanding of solitary spiders by Zatypota wasps has been documented before, but this is the first time the same time of behavior has been observed in the the highly social Anelosimus eximius spider.

Fernandez-Fournier and his team were in Ecuador to study the parasites living in the nests of Anelosimus eximius spider, one of only 25 known species of social spiders worldwide. They are known for living in large colonies from which single individuals rarely stray, working together on catching prey and even sharing parental duties. So when scientists noticed some spiders moving a few feet away from their colonies and weaving cocoon webs, they knew something was wrong.

It was very odd because they dont normally do that, so I started taking notes, Philippe Fernandez-Fournier told UBC News. So he and his colleagues took some of these weird cocoons back to their laboratory to see what would emerge from them. To everyones surprise, it was a wasp.

Gathering data from various research projects conducted in Ecuador between 2012 and 2017, the UBC researchers were able to piece together the entire life cycle of this elegant and gracious wasp and its frightening parasitic relationship to the tiny Anelosimus eximius spider.

Photo: Spider Hosts Study/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

It all begins with an adult female wasp laying its eggs on the abdomen of one of these social spiders. A larva hatches soon after that and attaches itself to the hapless arachnid. This is when the nightmare begins for the spider. The larva starts feeding on its blood-like haemolymph, steadily growing and taking over the body of its host. At one point, the spider will leave its colony and start weaving a protective cocoon web for its tormentor. When its done, the spider will patiently wait to be killed and eaten. After feasting on its host, the parasite will enter the cocoon and emerge as an adult wasp, nine to twelve days later, ready to begin the cycle all over again.

Samantha Strauss, co-author of the study, acknowledged that other parasitoid wasps have discovered before, but pointed out that the mind-control technique of this new species is much more hardcore.

The wasp completely hijacks the spiders behavior and brain and makes it do something it would never do, like leave its nest and spinning a completely different structure. Thats very dangerous for these tiny spiders, Strauss added.

How exactly this new wasp species turns its hosts into zombies is still a mystery, but researchers believe that it might inject hormones into the spider, making it think that its in a different life stage and cause it to separate from their colonies.

As to why the wasps target large colonies of social spiders instead of solitary species, the UBC team believe that its just a practical choice. A colony simply ensures a large and stable supply of hosts. In fact, they observed that the larger a colony of Anelosimus eximius spiders was, the higher the chances that it would be targeted by the wasps.

This new and terrifying species of wasp is just the latest insect body-snatcher weve featured on Oddity Central. If you find this sort of behavior fascinating, you may also want to check out this tiny fly that makes bumblebees dig their own graves, this wasp that turns cockroaches into zombies or the fly that turns bees into mindless drones.
Cymothoa exigua, popularly known as the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod that attaches itself to the tongue of its fish host, severs circulation, causing the organ to necrose and fall off, and then becomes the new tongue.

Weve covered a bunch of terrifying parasites on Oddity Central, but few can hold a candle to the tongue-eating louse in terms of creepiness. This critter is one of the few that actually does the phrase what nightmares are made of justice. It enters fish through the gills, attaching to them until it matures, at which point it changes sex from male to female. Once this process is complete, the parasite starts to make its way to the fishs mouth, where it attaches itself to its tongue using its incredibly powerful legs. It then pierces the hosts tongue with its strong bite and begins to suck the blood out of it. The blood vessels cant keep up with their appetite, and the tongue eventually withers and detaches from the fish.

Photo: Elkin Fricke/Wikimedia Commons

Losing its tongue does not kill the host. Remarkably, the tongue-eating louse becomes a replacement for the organ, sort of like a prosthetic. It sounds hard to believe, but the fish can survive just fine and even thrive with this rather large parasite for a tongue. Cymothoa exigua is the only known organism to replace an entire organ of its host without killing it in the process.

After replacing the tongue of its host, the louse remains permanently attached to the stump of the tongue, surviving on mucus and bits of blood it finds in the mouth. As gross as it may sound, the mouth of the fish is the place where this creepy parasite reproduces. If any male louse enters the fish through the gills, it makes its way to the mouth, where it mates with the tongue-female, which then gives birth to a host of new parasites, causing the disgusting cycle to begin anew.

Cymothoa exigua is fairly widespread  from the Gulf of California to the Gulf of Guayaquill, in Ecuador, as well as in parts of the Atlantic  and prefers snappers as hosts, although it has so far been discovered as the tongue of seven species of fish.

The tongue-eating louse poses no serious danger to humans, except for the possibility of biting their fingers if they attempt to detach them from their hosts. That said, they used to be the main pretext for a lawsuit against a large supermarket chain in Puerto Rico, because many of the snappers commercialized by it had lice for tongues.

Plaintiffs claimed to have been poisoned by eating the isopod cooked inside the snapper, but charges were eventually dropped on the grounds that isopods are not poisonous to humans. Still, imagine finding one of these things inside the mouth of a cooked fish while youre eating it
A Chinese woman recently took a work colleague to court, after they allegedly broke three of her ribs by hugging her too hard.

This bizarre story started back in May of 2021, when the plaintiff, a woman from Yueyang city, in Chinas Hunan province, was chatting with a colleague at her workplace. At one point, a male co-worker came over and greeted her with a hug, which allegedly caused her to scream in pain. The man had apparently hugged her so hard that she continued feeling pain in her chest even after leaving work, but she didnt seek medical help right away preferring to rub some hot oil on her chest and go to bed instead.

Photo: Anastasia Sklyar/Unsplash

Five days after the ultra-tight hug, the pain in the womans chest intensified, so she finally went to a hospital for a checkup. An X-ray exam revealed that she had not one, but three broken ribs, two on the right side of her rib cage and one on the left. She was forced to take time off from work, which resulted in lost income, and also spent considerable sums of money on medical bills and nursing services.

During her recovery period, the woman reportedly met up with the male co-worker who accidentally broke her ribs, and tried to negotiate a kind of settlement with them. However, they failed to reach any kind of agreement, because the man claimed that she had no proof her injury had been caused by his friendly embrace.

In the end, the woman decided to file a lawsuit against her co-worker at the Yunxi Court of Yueyang City, asking to compensate her for the financial losses she incurred because of their strong hug.

A judge recently ordered the man to pay his co-worker 10,000 yuan ($1,500) as compensation for accidentally breaking her ribs with a hug. Although the damage to the ribs was discovered after 5 days, the court said that there was no evidence to prove that during those 5 days the woman took part in any activities that could have caused the broken bones. Plus, there were the testimonies of co-workers who recalled the womans painful reaction after the hug.

The story sparked a debate on Chinese social media, but most people expressed sympathy for the womans situation and advised others to restrain their actions when greeting friends and colleagues.
For over 700 years, the Indian state of Bihar has been hosting a unique groom market where women and their families come to shop for husbands.

Every year, thousands of men gather under the Pipal trees in the local market area of Madhubani district, Indias Bihar state, and wait to be chosen by prospective brides. Called Saurath Mela or Sabhagachhi, the 9-day groom market was allegedly started by Raja Hari Singh of the Karnat dynasty over seven centuries ago to make it easier for women to find the right husband from a diverse group of men. Each groom is priced based on their capability, including their educational qualifications and family background.

Photo: Sachin_G/Pixabay

Imagine going to a market to pick up your life partner. That sounds crazy, especially in this day in age, but its exactly how some Maithili women in Bihar choose their husbands. Accompanied by their families, they browse the available offers, ask for proof such as birth certificates and school certificates, and if they find someone they like (and they can afford), they start discussing the details.

Al Jazeera recently documented Bihars traditional groom market, reporting that engineers, doctors and government employees are most sought after, with the young ones being the most popular. Even though dowries are officially illegal in India, and that one of the main goals of the groom market was to eliminate the dowry, its still common practice for young, eligible bachelors to demand considerable dowries from the family of the bride.

Apparently, the brides themselves hardly have a say in choosing the groom. Its their families who have the last word, ultimately choosing the bachelor that strikes a good balance between affordability and an impressive resume.

Although the groom market of Bihar isnt nearly as popular as it was only a few decades ago  mainly because of more convenient options, like online dating apps  it still draws thousands of bachelors, some of whom travel hundreds of kilometers in the hopes of being selected.

Interestingly, India also has a bride market. In Haudati, brides are available for various prices, depending on their qualifications and homemaking skills.
Rebel Media Productions of Miami has signed on to produce television content for Russias RT International for distribution in China, India, South Africa and South America.

The firm is not involved in the broadcasting or distribution of the content, which will not air in the US market.

Rebel Media will work on the English language program, The M.O W/Manila Chan, which deals with how the US and NATO spread war around the world and how that affects people across the globe, according to its Justice Dept. filing.

War isnt just about bombs; however, we will also look at the economic warfare waged by the US and its allies and the impact of sanctions on the lives of people globally, it says.

Rebel will produce 50 episodes of the program. Each costs $25K.

The firm also will produce 50 episodes of The Whistleblowers, 360 View, and Cost of Everything.

Rebel Medias contract with Moscows TV Novosti went into effect on Aug. 4.
A group of Offaly teenagers joined 250 other young people from around the world in Kildare recently for Foroiges Leadership for Life Youth Conference.

The conference, which was launched on Tuesday Auguts 2 on the grounds of NUI Maynooth, brought together young people from the USA, Ukraine, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa and Ireland to learn how to become leaders in their own lives.

During the week-long conference the teens learned crucial life skills such as empathy, decision making, communication skills, critical thinking and team-work.

Barbara Daly, Co. Offaly, Chairperson of Foroige, said Young people are playing a greater role than ever before in highlighting the issues that really matter and youth activism and community action are central pillars of our Leadership programme. Im always in awe of what young people can achieve when given the opportunity.

When opening the event Eoghan Flood, 18 from Truagh Foroige Club, Co. Monaghan said Im so excited to be continuing my leadership journey! I have learnt so much from this programme so far and feel so privileged to be here again this week.

As part of the week-long conference, the delegates met inspirational guest speakers including:

Yemi Adenuga, the first black woman to be elected as a public representative in Ireland. Yemi is an outspoken anti-racism advocate and campaigner.

Professor Mark Brennan, the UNESCO Chair for Rural Community, Leadership and Youth Development at Pennsylvania State University.

Jordan Lee, professional high jump athlete on the Irish Paralympic team.

When asked about speaking at this years event Yemi Adenuga commented, As a woman who is very passionate about building women and young people, I am always thankful for every opportunity to inspire, empower and impact the youth so their future can be brighter and their lives better than ours.

Jordan Lee explained how important it is for young people to learn from each other My story is one of resilience, perseverance and determination, Im looking forward to speaking to these young leaders and give them a detailed insight into my life story and what Ive learnt from my experiences to help people learn to thrive in perceived difficult circumstances and be able to achieve their goals

Professor Mark Brennan stated Im very excited and honoured to have been invited to be part of the Foroige leadership conference. After a few years away during Covid, itll be amazing to see young people back where they belong: Being active leaders for positive social change.
HOMES and businesses in Tullamore are enjoying a safer, more reliable water supply following the completion of a major project involving the construction of new watermains in the town.

Irish Water, working in partnership with Offaly County Council prioritised the replacement of this watermain, through the national Leakage Reduction Programme.

Homes and businesses in the town were often impacted by unplanned water outages. These works, which were complex given the size of the watermain and the urban surroundings, included the construction of over 1.3kms along Clara Road to future proof the water supply in Tullamore.

The works also involved the laying of new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers property boundaries and connecting it to the customers water supply. The works were delivered by Ward and Burke Construction on behalf of Irish Water.

Speaking about the collaboration involved in delivering the project, Anthony Hanniffy, President of the Tullamore & District Chamber of Commerce said "Irish Water's completion of water mains replacement works under the Leakage Reduction Programme on Clara Road, Tullamore, is a very welcome development for our town. Our town needs modern utilities in order to attract new business to our area and also to be able to keep the world class businesses that we currently have. We welcome Irish Water's ongoing commitment to our area.

Joe Carroll, Regional Delivery Lead at Irish Water said, Replacing these old watermains that had a tendency to burst will help to safeguard the water supply for customers that previously experienced unplanned interruptions. The installation of the new watermains will also help to conserve water and reduce water lost to leakage. We would especially like to thank the community and businesses for their patience and cooperation as we worked to deliver this vital water network improvement project.

Joe added This project is one example of how Irish Water is working in partnership with Offaly County Council to reduce leaks every day. Fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000km of water pipe in Ireland. Most leaks arent visible, resulting in precious water being lost but we are making progress. In 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46% by the end of 2021 it was 38%. We are on track to achieve a national leakage rate of 25% by the end of 2030.

Martin Quinn, Senior Executive Engineer, Water Services, Offaly County Council, welcoming the completion of the project said, These interruptions were causing significant disruption for residents and businesses in the town. These remedial works will ensure the town has a secure and stable water supply which is a great result for the people of Tullamore.

Irish Water is responsible for the delivery of all public water and wastewater services in Ireland. We are committed to continuously upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support the growth needed in housing and across our economy, while protecting the environment and safeguarding water supplies.
IT is an issue that just isn't going away and in the past week, the MBTW has received several complaints from people about access to Offaly GAA games.

Patrons must purchase tickets online before going to a club game in Offaly and there is no facility for paying cash or tapping your bank card at venues.

With Ireland fast heading towards becoming a cashless society, it makes sense for Offaly GAA to have a ticketing system in place. It cuts out handling cash and makes gate returns very simple. It streamlines their flow of income and it gives them complete control over games instead of the old system when host clubs managed the gates  you then had to wait for those clubs to submit their gate returns, this was not always done in a timely fashion and there is absolutely no doubt that over the years some clubs did not return full gates and kept a bit back from themselves  years ago, there were rare but occasional incidents of people standing on gates pocketing a bit for themselves as well. I saw it happening with my own eyes at games in O'Connor Park back in the 1990s and that did happen.

The new system is very efficient and it removes all that nonsense from the equation. That is a very welcome development but it is leading to real frustration among some older people.

It is accurate to say that they will have to get online tickets for other events they might wish to attend, concerts etc; that almost everyone has someone who can sort a ticket if they are not technological friendly themselves or don't have a smart phone.

However, the GAA has always been much different and bigger than a mere business. They play a pivotal role in community life in their areas and the mental well-being of people of all ages. It is a great shame to see older people in particular not attending games because it just isn't worth the hassle for them.

They are a generation who have seen the new technology come into play but have not embraced it like younger people. Some of them just can't or just won't make online purchases; they want to be able to go to games on the spur of the moment, to make a late decision without needing someone to get a ticket for them.

They want to be able to pay into games and it would be a very good thing if Offaly GAA could provide some way of facilitating these people  it may not be easy to do this without opening it up for everyone, and the old system should not return in full but it would be great if some accommodation could be provided for senior citizens.
A TRUCK has picked up two massive figures representing the founders of Concern and transported them from Rhode to Limerick in advance of next week's unveiling of the Finucane Memorial Bench.

The bench commemorates brothers Jack and Aengus Finucane, the brothers who set up the international aid agency more than 50 years ago.

An artistic representation of both men has been made from steel and stone by Rhode-based environmental campaigner and craftsman Tom Roche in collaboration with furniture maker Knut Klimmek.

Roche, a native of Chapel Street, Tullamore who once ran a woodturning workshop in the town where Klimmek was his apprentice, has been involved in sustainable awareness programmes for decades and as founder of Just Forests he was delighted to be commissioned to work on the memorial.

The late Aengus Finucane officially opened one of his exhibitions, the Wood of Life in St Mary's Youth Centre, Tullamore.

The 50th anniversary of the foundation of Concern by the Finucanes, both priests, fell in 2018 and a few years ago ideas for a permanent public tribute to the brothers were sought and Roche was delighted when the entry he jointly submitted with Klimmek was selected.

I find it hard to put words on this and I have to pinch myself every now and again to realise I'm doing it. It's a privilege, that's the only thing I can say, Roche told the Tullamore Tribune recently. It's a lovely legacy to leave behind me in the public arena.

It was back in the 1980s when his partner in the memorial project was his trainee at the Tullamore furniture workshop.

Knut is a fabulous artist and between us, his artistic skills and my development education mentality, we were able to graphically convert the concept of the design brief into actual understandable shapes, said Roche. Then Knut, using his technology skills, converted all our thoughts and scribbles into a 3D graphic which we submitted to the Concern selection committee as our interpretation of Concerns design brief.

The Offaly man trained in welding so he could craft the steel frames which represent the two men, having first made timber mock-ups of the shapes. One of the brothers is depicted in deep thought while the other appears to be using all his force against a stone wall.

They're only representative of a human, they're not a lookalikes, they're not meant to be, he explained. They're larger than life figures to reflect the two Finucanes' life. Aengus was the action man in Concern, that's why he's pushing the wall, and Jack was the thinker.

Concerns vision for this tribute to the Finucane brothers was that it should be a place where passers-by stop to rest, a place of quiet reflection, but also where one might be inspired to act for the poor of Africa.

While the representations of the Finucanes and the stone wall will be the most visually striking parts of the memorial (designers' impression reproduced below), it will also feature a wooden bench, shaped to mirror the bend of the river Shannon.

The figures made by Roche are 2.2m high and weigh about a tonne. Sponsor, Tullamore businessman Seamus Kane, owner of Palfinger, assisted with the arrangements for moving them and they were lifted onto a truck (see picture below) by O'Grady Crane Hire & Transport, Clonbullogue.

The memorial will be located on Barrington's Pier in Limerick city and it is sponsored by Limerick City Council and others, including a Concern supporter who wishes to remain anonymous.

Next Thursday (August 18), the bench will be officially unveiled by Mayor of Limerick Cllr Francis Foley.

Aengus and Jack Finucane were Holy Ghost missionaries based in west Africa in 1968 when Concern shipped powdered food, medicines, and batteries to aid victims of the war in Biafra. In 1970 Concern organised help when a cyclone hit Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) and it grew to become a global organisation.

The Finucane brothers dedicated their lives to the work of Concern and were honoured as Freemen of Limerick City in 2005.

Fr Aengus Finucane died in 2009 at the age of 77 and Fr Jack Finucane was 80 when he passed away in 2017.
SHINRONE Heritage Group was formed some years ago by a tiny group of like minded parishioners and over the years it has gone on to run a lot of varied projects in the area of South Offaly.

On Tuesday next August 16th, the Group will host Mr Caimin O'Brien, who will give a lecture on 'Glassmaking in Ireland' at the restored 16th century glass furnace at Glasshouse, just 3km south of Shinrone village, with a start time of 7pm.

The site dates from the 1620s and is listed as part of the European Year of Culture project and is the only intact structure of its kind in the world. The group are very grateful to the Cleary family for access and good will. The site will be signposted and please car share if possible. Refreshments will be served back in Cloughmoyle old schoolhouse, Shinrone, and will be a chance to have a chat over a 'cuppa'.

During the Covid lockdown it proved to be a very difficult time for many people and voluntary groups such as the Heritage Group found it very trying, with meetings and projects halted. However, all is in the recovery stage now and with increased membership the future is looking good with new faces and ideas.

Shinrone is famous as the birthplace of the Kearney family, President Obama's ancestors, who are buried in the village graveyard.

Also Edward Hand, born in 1752, went on to become one of George Washington's Irish generals and later a Congressman. He is one of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence.

In the Year of the Gathering, 2013, the Group hosted a very successful day to honour the Rolleston family, and especially the Offaly poet, Thomas William H. Rolleston, whose work appeared on the Leaving Cert for many years. After cleaning up the family's burial site, a most wonderful day was had, with family members travelling from the UK and around Ireland.

In 2016 the Group hosted an ecumenical Service to remember Dr P.J. Doyle, who fought in the 1916 Rising under Comdt Colbert, was imprisoned in Frongoch and later was, for 44 years, the local Dispensary Doctor for the area.

In 2018 the Group joined with the Church of Ireland, under Canon Ruth Gill, to commemorate the 38 men from the area who died in the First World War, and this event took almost 10 months of work. On November 11th, 2018, the Church was overflowing with people coming from near and far, as well as overseas, to pay their respects. Even President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, and Queen Elizabeth II sent good wishes to the group on the day. The Group were awarded the 2018/19 inaugural Offaly Person of the Year 'Unsung Hero' award for this event.

The Shinrone Heritage Group are holding a pub quiz in the Castle Bar Inn on the October bank holiday weekend, Friday October 28th, and hope to enlist your support to raise some much needed funds.

They will also host a series of quality lectures in the Autumn/Winter period and will publish details later on their facebook page.

In the meantime, they are all looking forward to hosting renowned archaeologist Caimin O'Brien's lecture at Glasshouse on August 16th. It promises to be an interesting event and please arrive early, follow the signs and please respect the good will of the landowners. Full details from Group secretary Ann Maria on (087) 9000737.
Lemanaghan Bog Heritage and Conservation Group have issued an invitation to people to visit the area on Sunday August 14 to mark National Heritage Week.

Leamanaghan Monastic Site is listed in the Discover Ireland website as an interesting place to visit and describes it as occupying a peaceful setting that is ''rich in history and good for the soul.''

The area also has a pilgrim path which is devoted to St Manchan and is the location of a holy well.

Diarmait, King of Ireland, granted this site to the monks of Clonmacnoise, after they reputedly prayed for his victory in battle.

Soon afterwards, St Manchan who was a respected scholar, left Clonmacnoise and arrived in the area where he founded a monastery at Tuaim nEirc, described as ''an island of dry land surrounded by bogs.''

Manchan contracted the yellow plague of 664 and died. Thereafter the area has been known as ''Lemanaghan, the grey lands of Managhan.'' During the 12th century the monastery flourished and it was during this time that the church was built along with a shrine to St Manchan.

According to Discover Ireland ''The war torn 13th century took its toll on the church. However, its fortunes revived in the 15th century, when it was patronised by the MacCoghlans, a ruling Gaelic family. For the next 200 years, the church became embroiled in the politics of this family and was sometimes a target of its enemies. During the rebellion of 1641, the church was damaged. By 1682, the church was no longer used as a place of worship. However the holy well and tree continue to be a site of pilgrimage and prayer. The feast day of St Manchan is celebrated on 24th January each year and St Manchan's Shrine is still venerated at the Catholic church in Boher.The site is open all year and admission is free.''

A series of wooden roads, or toghers, have been uncovered during peat works, these were often used by pilgrims and other travellers.

As part of the heritage week event, local community members will share with you the rich history and folklore of the area. Presentation and tour will start at 6.30 pm after the annual blessing of the graves in Lemanaghan graveyard. Mass at 6 pm for anyone wishing to attend.

National Heritage week runs from tomorrow Saturday August 13 to 21 with over 40 events taking place across Offaly.




Rivian Automotive, Inc. is an American electric vehicle automaker and automotive technology company founded in 2009. Rivian is building an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) and pickup truck on a "skateboard" platform that can support future vehicles or be adopted by other companies. An electric delivery van is also being built as part of a partnership with Amazon. Rivian started deliveries of its R1T pickup truck in late 2021. As of March 2022, the delivery van and R1S SUV were still in development. The company plans to build an exclusive charging network in the United States and Canada by the end of 2023.
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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, breaks down the key takeaways from the FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and Republican efforts to hold the DOJ accountable.
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The Verdi union ordered the walkout at the Amazon distribution center in the central town of Bad Hersfeld in a row over wage increases. The US retail giant has refused a collective labor agreement for its workers.
Four police operations, four deaths. All in one week. Germany is once again discussing police violence and racism. The latest victim was a 16-year-old refugee who was shot with a machine gun.
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South Korea's Justice Ministry said billionaire Lee Jae-yong will be "reinstated" to help the country overcome its economic crisis. The Samsung heir was convicted of financial crimes last year.
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A judge on Friday released the warrant that allowed the FBI to search Trump's Mar-al-Lago home in connection with a probe on classified documents.


SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Walgreens can be held responsible for contributing to San Francisco's opioid crisis for over-dispensing highly addictive drugs for years without proper oversight and failing to identify and report suspicious orders as required by law.



San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the pharmacy chain continually violated what they were required to do under the federal Controlled Substances Act, failing to track opioid prescriptions, preventing pharmacists from vetting prescriptions and nor did they see the many red flags of physicians and others who were dramatically over-prescribing.



Pharmacists were pressured to fill, fill, fill," he said, and as a result, Walgreens filled our streets with opioids.



U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that for 15 years, Walgreens dispensed hundreds of thousands of pills, eventually contributing to the city's hospitals being overwhelmed with opioid patients, libraries being forced to close because of syringe-clogged toilets, and syringes littering children's playgrounds in San Francisco.



A Walgreens spokesman said the chain is disappointed in the outcome, which he said is not supported by the facts and the law.



As we have said throughout this process, we never manufactured or marketed opioids, nor did we distribute them to the pill mills and internet pharmacies that fueled this crisis, spokesman Fraser Engerman said in a statement. The plaintiffs attempt to resolve the opioid crisis with an unprecedented expansion of public nuisance law is misguided and unsustainable. We look forward to the opportunity to address these issues on appeal.



San Francisco in 2018 sued Walgreens and drug manufacturers and distributors over the city's worsening opioid epidemic, saying...
By Alexia Russell of RNZ If a 12-year-old is accused of killing someone in New Zealand, they will go to court. Even if their childhood has been miserable, and one long punishment for no reason - if they're found guilty, they'll...
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House Republicans on the Intelligence Committee expressed support for law enforcement. As for lawmakers saying otherwise? Question them, not us.
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Jerusalem Post 14 Aug 2022

Why did Hamas, which enjoyed significant concessions, not impose its will on PIJ? How did PIJ manage to fire rockets at high rates?..
The Prime Minister Hon. James Marape says he will take no more complacency from heads of Government departments and agencies to move Papua New Guinea forward.

He said this in no uncertain terms during a meeting with them on Loloata Island today (Thursday August 11 2022).

PM Marape said heads of departments and agencies who failed to perform would be removed immediately.

The Caretaker Cabinet of PM Marape, Deputy Prime Minister Hon. John Rosso, Hon. William Duma, Hon. Ian Ling-Stuckey and Hon. Soroi Eoe are now into checking on Government departments and agencies.

The Prime Minister said fundamental guides such as Vision 2050 and the Eight-Point Plan were already in place to guide heads of departments and agencies and there should be no more excuse for complacency.

"Every department and agency should now have handover-takeover notes for the transition of Government," PM Marape said.

"We must be equipped with up-to-date statistics and correct information.

"I'm assuming that you have all this ready, and by next Tuesday (August 16 2022), all these reports should be handed in.

"I intend to appoint a full Cabinet by next Thursday (August 18 2022) and heads of departments and agencies should have all these ready for the new ministers.

"I bluntly tell heads of departments and agencies that continution in your job hinges on what you have achieved over the last three years, and your plans for the future, consistent with views of Government.

"There is no gurantee of you continuing your job if you fail to comply with these by next Tuesday

"The days of free rides and complacency are over.

"I have had three years of experience as Prime Minister, from 2019 to 2022, to know who's who in our political and administration systems.

"I have 15 years of experience as a political leader now, and am well-versed in Vision 2050, and our hopes and aspirations for PNG.

"Before the full Cabinet is appointed, I want to check the work of all department and agency heads, to see whether or not you have been performing."

PM Marape said the onus was on this current generation of leaders to fix up the country.

"I want to grow the economy to a K200 billion economy at the very earliest," he said.

"Pangu Pati went into the elections campaigning on economic independence.

"Albert Einstein once said, 'doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results, is insanity'.

"I've been talking, and talking, for the last three years and I now want to see tangible outcomes.

"I want results to be placed on the table for all to see.

"We want to better our country as we journey into 50 years of Independence at 2025 and beyond."





Media statement/One PNG News





Next: PM Marape thanked opposition for his unopposed re-election as PM
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Photo provided/Donna Frawley Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Photo provided/Donna Frawley Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Donna and Nile Frawley are celebrating their 50 anniversary. They were married on Aug. 12, 1972 at First Evangelical Lutheran Church of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. They held their reception in Donnas parents backyard where they received over 100 family and friends on a beautiful summer afternoon.

They have three daughters, Sabrina, Samantha and Veronica who are all married. They also have 10 grandchildren, with another on the way. They celebrated with family and friends on July 23 with about 50 friends and family, including their best man and maid of honor, who witnessed their renewing of vows with Pastor Gerald Ferguson officiating.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A judge revoked house arrest Thursday for the man authorities say agreed to kill disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh so he could get a life insurance settlement for Murdaugh's son but ended up just grazing his head with a bullet.

The decision by Circuit Judge Clifton Newman revoking bond and requiring Curtis Eddie" Smith to await trial in jail involves a new set of charges linked to Murdaugh  allegations that Smith helped the disbarred attorney with a drug and $2.4 million money laundering ring.

Before Newman even finished announcing his decision, the sound of a deputy clicking handcuffs across Smith's wrists behind his back could be heard across the courtroom. Smith had walked into the Richland County courthouse a free man through the front door.

An officer escorted Smith, 62, out a protected courtroom side door. He was being taken to the Richland County jail  the same where Murdaugh is awaiting trial without bail on two murder charges in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in June 2021 as well as more than 80 other counts of fraud, stealing money from clients, drug charges and other alleged misdealings.

Newman said he might reconsider granting Smith bond again in the future.

Smith's bond had been set at $250,000 in June and during that hearing, Smith and his lawyers failed to tell the judge about a nearly $80,000 insurance settlement he received a week earlier  and that he had nearly $60,000 in the bank.

He said I ain't got no money.' He said it twice," deputy state attorney general Creighton Waters said in court Thursday.

Smith was supposed to be on house arrest, but Waters said GPS records from two weeks of Smith's monitor showed 26 trips he didn't have permission to make, including stops at a Walmart and several private homes.

Defense lawyers said many of the trips were from a plant where Smith would collect industrial waste. They said he visited stores to get prescription medicine or supplies for his truck and private homes to work odd jobs or help the father of his girlfriend clear fallen trees. They promised they had a come to Jesus" discussion about following the judge's rules.

Smith told the judge he wasn't intentionally trying to break his bond rules and said he didn't have the money because he thought he was being asked what happened to the $2.4 million authorities said Murdaugh gave him to launder the money.

In no way did I ever have any intention to thumb my nose at the court," Smith said.

Newman spent less than a minute explaining his reasoning to send Smith to jail to await trial.

Mr. Smith has also willfully violated the house arrest condition of his bond," Newman said. His bond is revoked. He is put back in jail."

A deputy was already pulling Smith's wrists behind his back.

Smith met Murdaugh when he hired the lawyer to handle a lawsuit over a work injury. Prosecutors said Smith started cashing checks to hide Murdaugh's theft of money from clients  at least 437 of them worth $2.4 million over eight years. Many of the checks were just under the threshold where a bank would have had to report the transaction.

Prosecutors said Murdaugh reached out to Smith in September when he wanted to kill himself but make sure his surviving son got his $10 million life insurance policy. The two met on a lonely Hampton County road and investigators said Smith shot at Murdaugh's head, but the bullet only grazed him.

Smith has denied all the charges against him. He said he did not try to shoot Murdaugh in the assisted suicide attempt, saying instead the gun fired as he tried to wrestle it out of Murdaugh's hands. Murdaugh first told police someone shot at him as he tried to change a flat tire before revealing the insurance plan, authorities said.

Murdaugh's lawyers want him to stand trial within six months on charges he killed his wife Maggie, 52, and their younger son Paul, 22, at the family's Colleton County home. Both victims were found shot to death with different weapons. Alex Murdaugh, 54, was charged last month  13 months after the killings.

The June 2021 deaths prompted authorities to look into all corners of Murdaughs life. He is charged with stealing $8.5 million from people who hired him as an attorney.

Murdaughs family dominated the legal scene in tiny Hampton County in the southern part of South Carolina for nearly a century. Murdaughs father, grandfather and great-grandfather were the areas elected prosecutors for 87 years straight. Murdaugh once worked for the century-old, family-founded law firm, which said in September that he was stealing money.

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

mr smith came to me from jail.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Thursday, Aug. 11

11:39 p.m. - A deputy spoke with a 37-year-old Warren Township woman who reported a vehicle parked in her farm fields. A deputy spoke with the 40-year-old Edenville Township male driver who advised he stopped on the edge of the road to try and watch the meteor shower.

9:49 p.m. - A deputy spoke with a 56-year-old Greendale Township woman and her 59-year-old husband regarding a possible scam. They advised someone on Facebook Market Place was trying to get them to reimburse them money that they never sent the complainant and threatened them when they refused. The complainants advised they wanted the incident documented and wanted to show they never received money from the suspect.

7:18 p.m. - Police responded to the 1400 block of Lincoln Street for a warrant arrest.

2:49 p.m. - A deputy was called to Coleman for a report of three teenagers riding a quad recklessly in their yard. The quad was not located, and the yard was vacant upon arrival

2:31 p.m. - A 27-year-old Lee Township woman reported an unauthorized transaction on her Petco account for $27.88. The woman is working with Petco to dispute the charge.

2:35 p.m. - Deputies were called to assist Michigan State Police Troopers with a disorderly juvenile.

1:39 p.m. - Police were called to the 2700 block of Waldo Avenue for a forced-entry burglary.

12:27 p.m. - Deputies responded to a Hope Township residence to speak to a 37-year-old regarding her doctors concerns about her mental state. The woman requested to be checked out by EMS, who transported the woman to ER for evaluation.

9:28 a.m. - A 31-year-old Greendale Township woman found a vehicle parked in her driveway. A deputy was able to contact the vehicle owner, a 28-year-old Greendale woman, who stated she would have the vehicle removed. The owner had a friend come get the vehicle and the complainant was satisfied.

7:30 a.m. - Police responded to Waldo Avenue and E. Patrick Street for a property damage crash.

4:47 a.m. - An unknown vehicle, failed to pay for $37.00 in fuel from a Warren Township gas station. No suspect information was obtained.

4:47 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to Greendale Township regarding a possible intoxicated driver. Deputies located the driver and investigated the report. Deputies found no evidence of the report.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan prime minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, said Friday that the electronic voting elections for the Youth Parliament in Libya are an important precedent that can be built upon in referendums, and even replace traditional elections whenever necessary
Photo: (Photo : Manfred Kain)

Emily Parker, 28, and Jennie Parker, 31, a married same-sex couple in Louisana, told their adopted daughter, Zoey Parker, that she could no longer attend kindergarten at the Bible Baptist Academy (BBA) due to their lifestyle choices.

The same-sex parents learned they needed to find a new school for Zoey as the couple's marriage didn't adhere to the teachings of the religious school in DeQuincy. The Parkers were informed about Zoey's status in the school in a meeting with a pastor and the school's director two days before the school year began.

The pastor told the couple that the academy was a religious-based institution that teaches kids more than just academics. He also told them that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

According to the couple, Zoey attended pre-school at the school last year, gained many friends there, and was loved by the teachers, per NBC News.

The institution's belief was different from the couples'

According to the statement posted on the school's website, BBA is committed to instructing and living in accordance with the teachings of the Scripture. According to them, the Bible teaches that every life has value and there is dignity in all people as we have been created in the image of God. T

he Bible teaches everyone to display love with the love of God despite personal choices. The institution strives to teach these learnings to the students and encourage them to show love and compassion to everyone. They are also committed to providing an environment that is consistent and firm to their beliefs.

"Regarding personal relationships, we hold that those relationships, whether in dating or marriage, should be between a man and a woman."

The statement concluded that there are times when their Christian values or the beliefs they believe in will not line up with the values of other people, but it should not be interpreted that the school has any hatred or malice toward them.

Zoey's biological aunt, Emily Parker, adopted the young girl on August 3 after the five-year-old's father died at 22 due to an accident at his job in September 2020.

Read Also: California's Faith-Based Colleges Protest Pro-LGBTQ Bill, Says It Violates 'Religious Freedom'

The couple showed love despite the incident

The Parkers were married in 2016. Emily said that she was dishonored and became self-conscious. The love, marital relationship, has constantly felt all-natural. The family members had constantly made them feel more than enough.

The partners said they are glad their child is not being educated at the Scriptures Baptist Academy. For them, the academy spreads hate for couples like them. There are Christian values that accept them, and they believe that excellent Christian values are the ones that do not teach hatred, such as what the school is doing, and they are the reason that the couple maintained their beliefs.

According to Future News For You, Zoey is now enlisted at the Hamilton Christian College in Lake Charles.

The couple had never been confronted so bluntly about the relationship they have.

Related Article: Alabama Foster Mom Denied Adoption Because of Her Secular Beliefs
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong bows to reporters at Seoul Central District Court Friday: Photo Credit: Yonhap

Five years ago this month, Samsung's Vice Chairman Lee Jae-young was sentenced to a five year jail term after being found guilty on five charges over his involvement in the corruption scandal that led to the impeachment the nation's former president. After serving 207 days in jail he was released on placed on parole.

Today, The Korea Herald reports that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol who came to power earlier this year pardoned Lee Jae-young who will now return to leadership of Koreas largest family-controlled chaebol and the worlds largest memory chipmaker.

Set to be granted on Aug. 15 Liberation Day, the clemency will lift the employment restriction placed on him that was effective until 2027. This would open the door for the 54-year-old third-generation chaebol chief to be promoted to the chairman of Samsung Electronics and to rejoin boardroom.

While Lee was fighting in the court room for the last five years, Samsung has largely kept a low profile in its decision to carry out mergers and acquisitions. The $8 billion acquisition of connected car solution firm Harman International completed in 2017, just a few months before Lee was indicted over the scandal, was the last major spend. In the first quarter, its net cash reached 107 trillion won. For more on this, read the full report by The Korea Herald.
The Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) President of Tamale Technical University, Sayiby Afa Yaba has reportedly been arrested by police in the Northern Region over comments he shared on social media about the minister for the region.



According to a report by Radio Tamale, the TESCON president was arrested on the night of Wednesday, July 10, 2022, after he made a Facebook comment to the effect that Alhaji Saani Alhassan; the regional minister, did not take his bath when he led a delegation to welcome President Akufo-Addo during his visit to the region.



The arrest has been confirmed by the TTU Students Representative Council (SRC) President, Dauda Gafaru who spoke to Radio Tamale on the morning after the arrest.



We were on campus when one police officer led a team to arrest our colleague. From the introduction, we thought it was a joke. Only for him to be handcuffed and sent to the police station, he told radio Tamales Fuseini Safianu.



Dauda further alleged that the arrest of their colleague was in connection with his comment about the minister on Facebook.



We were asked if it was appropriate to speak the way our colleague wrote about the minister, he stated.



A photo of the Northern Regional Minister meeting the president on Monday, August 8, at the Tamale Airport went viral on social media.



The minister who was wearing a shirt with khaki trousers and sandals was deemed by some social media commentators as inappropriately dressed for the occasion.



Commenting on the viral picture shared on the Facebook page of Tamale Radio, Sayiby Afa Yaba wrote that, I want to believe our Northern Regional Minister didnt bath before he came out.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare has removed the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy commissioner of police, (DCOP) Iddi Seidu.



DCOP Iddi Seidu, has been moved to the National Patrols Department to deputize Commissioner of police, (COP) Paul Manly Awini.



DCOP Dr Sayibu Gariba, the Upper East Regional Commander takes the position as the Accra Regional Commander.



The Head of the Anti-Land Guard Unit at the Police headquarters, Superintendent Atullub Karimu, has also been moved to the Western Region to be in charge of operations.



The Central Regional Commander, DCOP Antwi Tabi, the Central Regional Police Commander has also been moved to the Legal Unit of the CID.



It is however unclear, who is going to occupy the Upper East Regional Command and the Anti-Land Guard Unit as the reshuffle is said to be done in batches.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com









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Former President John Dramani Mahama and his wife, Lordina, have visited Mr Julius Debrah, a former Chief of Staff, to commiserate with him and his family on the death of his brother, Kwabena Nkansah Debrah.



A statement issued by the Office of the former President, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said Mr Mahama, accompanied by his siblings, Peter, Alfred, Hawa and Ibrahim, expressed the condolences of the Mahama Family to Mr Debrah, the wife of the deceased, and the larger Debrah Family.



It said the deceased, popularly known as Cambodia, was a younger brother of Mr Julius Debrah, who is presently a Senior Adviser to President Mahama.



The funeral, the family said, would take place in Accra in early September.

Source: GNA









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Police in Sierra Leone say dozens of civilians and six police officers have been killed in anti- government protests.



The Reuters news agency puts the number of dead civilians at 21, citing multiple sources.



It also says smoke clouds and tear gas can be seen in the capital Freetown where large crowds have been throwing rocks, burning tyres and armed officers are patrolling the streets.



Journalist Umaru Fofana says the unrest is highly unusual for Sierra Leone, especially in Freetown



Hundreds of people have been taking part in the demonstrations in Freetown - and in places such as Makeni and Kamakwie in the opposition's northern stronghold - because they are fed up the high cost of living, corruption and police brutality.



A night-time curfew enforced on Wednesday will remain in place, police say. According to the internet watchdog NetBlocks, there were intermittent cuts yesterday and overnight.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday promised the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) of the necessary financial clearance to fully pursue its mandate.



He said the University had exhibited excellence in standards and would continue to receive the needed support from the Government to carry out its activities.



President Akufo-Addo said this at the UHAS in Ho during the investiture of Professor Lydia Aziato as Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University, who had become the first nurse to head a university in West Africa.



The VC, in an address following her investiture, had listed financial clearance for staff among the needs of the University and appealed for funding for the completion of ongoing projects, including the laboratory complex.



The President said: As the Vice Chancellor, indeed, I want you to know that I will be your advocate with the Minister of Finance to get you your financial clearance to strengthen your capacity to deliver.



He professed his personal commitment to the University and celebrated the VCs place in the world of academia.



It appears the female leadership of our premier tertiary education institutions, which has been long overdue, is now very much the flavour of the moment, he said.



President Akufo-Addo congratulated the outgoing Vice Chancellor, Prof John Owusu Gyapong, and Registrar, Dr Cynthia Kpeglo, for their outstanding leadership and encouraged the new leadership to carry the University higher.



The UHAS continues to set high standards of behavior and promotes traditional values, which underpin lifelong learning. Long may they continue, he said.



I believe that the new Vice-Chancellor is a person capable of not only steering the affairs of the University for the next four years but also sent the Institution to greater heights.



Her induction into office today is a mark of the trust the Governing Council of the University had reposed in her and Im confident that this trust will not be broken.



He said Prof. Aziatos wealth of experience and dedication to service made her the appropriate person for this all-important assignment and congratulated the Council for the appointment.



You have my support and the support of government to pursue this aggressive transformative agenda you outlined in your speech, President Akufo Addo added.



Prof Aziato had outlined eight thematic areas she would strategize for further elevation of the University, and which included improved financial management and enhancement, a digitization drive, motivation for staff, and collaboration, both nationally and internationally.



She took office on August 01, 2022, and replaces Prof. John Owusu Gyapong, who had headed the University since 2016.



The investiture was witnessed by hundreds of dignitaries, who filled the Cedi Auditorium of the University to capacity, including individuals from academia, students, traditional leaders, and heads of assemblies, and Members of Parliament from the region.



A new Registrar, Ms Yaa Amankwaa Opuni, was appointed with the VC and replaced Dr Cynthia Kpeglo.



Justice Jones Dotse, the Chairman of the University Council, said the VC and Registrar were approved following a search committees recommendation and their appointments had been without controversies.



He robed and swore them into office and conferred on the VC the position of Chief Operation Officer of the University, saying she would be responsible for developing its overall strategy.



Nicknamed Professor One, the new VC is hailed as the first nurse to become a professor in Ghana, and the second nurse to head a University in Africa.



Prof. Aziato has over 70 publications to her credit with more than 1000 citations in renowned academic and research works.



She has a large portfolio of several awards and fellowships accrued over years for dedicated service in her academic and professional career.



There were loud cheers as she took her seat beside the President of the Republic after her swearing-in, with fraternity messages from the Education Ministry, and Vice Chancellors of Ghana.



The colourful ceremony featured cultural displays during which queen mothers in the Volta Region made a presentation to the new VC.



Mama Attrator II, Queenmother of Ho Dome, said they came to celebrate the breaking news of a female being appointed to head the institution, and presented beads of bravery as symbols of achievement.





Source: graphic.com.gh









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Police officers who die in the line of duty will now have qualified relatives recruited into the service to compensate for the loss, the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare has disclosed.



According to the IGP, the initiative is part of a broad range of measures being taken by the leadership of the Police Service to encourage officers to give off their best.



When a police officer dies on duty, we have put new measures in place to ensure that a relative of the deceased officer who is qualified is recruited into the service as part of efforts to urge our officers to do their best in protecting the public, the IGP said while delivering a public lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday.



The IGP who spoke on the theme The changing face of policing in Ghana: expectations and the role of the university community said his vision is to make the Police the most efficient institution in the country despite the challenges they are confronted with.



We want a police service of the people, by the people, and for the people. We want to make the service the best institution in the country and a reference point in the world.



Dr. Dampare also urged the public to criticise the Police but do so constructively since destructive criticisms could destroy the morale of the officers.



Criticise us but please do so constructively so that the men and women of the service are not demoralised, he said.

Source: Ghanaweb









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Young people are receiving critical skills development, particularly much-needed entrepreneurship skills to empower youth to start and build their businesses, thanks to investments by Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) as the African continent celebrates International Youth Day today.



The theme for this years International Youth Day is Intergenerational Solidarity, and acts as a reminder of the need to collaborate to strengthen key partnerships across Africa to ensure that no one gets left behind.



According to the United Nations, small businesses run by youth and young women account for close to 60 percent of Africa's GDP, creating about 450 million jobs.



Tshidi Ramogase. Group Director Public Affairs, Communication, and Sustainability at CCBA, says economic inclusion plays a critical role in providing economic opportunities to the youth by providing them access to markets and other economic activities.



Developing entrepreneurs for the future creates the possibility to link them to the Coca-Cola value chain today or in the future, said Ramogase.



CCBA directly empowers thousands of young people every year through various programmes across its markets, enabling their inclusion in the economy. In 2020, CCBA empowered over 11,000 young people through various programmes enabling their inclusion in the economy.



Ramogase added: Our aim is to boost income, provide decent earning potential and improve skills and business knowledge for youth, and in particular women, resulting in them accessing other opportunities.



For instance, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) has spent more than R105 million towards its Bizniz in a Box initiative and most recently, its Study Buddy Fund. The company launched Bizniz in a Box in 2016, primarily aimed at transforming aspirant entrepreneurs into fully-fledged business owners who can create a livelihood for themselves and others.



Through Bizniz in a Box, CCBSA has financially supported and provided training to over 700 entrepreneurs across the country. The Study Buddy Fund was launched in 2021 and has enabled 55 young people from 14 host communities where its facilities are located to access tertiary education. The fund pays for full tuition, accommodation fees and a monthly stipend.



In Ghana, Voltic (GH) Limited  a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa  has supported the career development of young women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Earlier this year, Voltic joined the non-profit organisation Girls in Science and Technology (GIST) to launch the GIST- University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa chapter.



The programme introduces GIST to women students at the university and promotes their participation in STEM, while sparking their interest in the endless career opportunities available to them.



In the Ngong Hills of Kenya we have onboarded the Go Green Youth Club, which has a team of over 19 members. Supporting them by installing segregation stations across Ngong Hills, the youth collect, aggregate and deliver recyclable waste to respective recyclers in Nairobi for processing. The project has seen the youth group deliver approximately 500kg of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastics to recyclers in Nairobi monthly, therefore conserving the forest by reducing pollution and creating livelihoods for them.



The Kuza Kazi initiative was launched in 2019 to harness the power of The Coca-Cola Companys supply chain to create jobs for Kenyan youths every year in partnership with like-minded private sector entities and with support from County Governments. By the end of 2021, the initiative was able to empower over 1000 youth across Kericho, Kisii, Migori, Kwale and Nyeri counties in Kenya.



Ramogase concludes By investing in youth economic inclusion, we have created shared value in hopes of a better shared future - enabling improved livelihoods for young people, their families and their communities, while inclusively expanding our business.



ABOUT CCBA



CCBA is the 8th largest Coca-Cola bottling partner in the world by revenue, and the largest on the continent. It accounts for over 40% of all Coca-Cola products sold in Africa by volume. With over 17,000 employees in Africa, CCBA services more than 600,000 customers with a host of international and local brands. The group was formed in July 2016 after the successful combination of the southern and east Africa bottling operations of the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages businesses of The Coca-Cola Company, SABMiller plc and Gutsche Family Investments. CCBA shareholders are currently: The Coca-Cola Company 66.5% and Gutsche Family Investments 33.5%. CCBA operates in 14 countries, including its six key markets of South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique and Namibia, as well as Tanzania, Botswana, Ghana, Zambia, the islands of Comoros and Mayotte, Eswatini and Lesotho. Learn more at https://www.ccbagroup.com

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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President Muhammadu Buhari has met families of passengers kidnapped during a train attack in late March in northern Nigeria.



It was the first time such a meeting between government officials and families of the hostages has been held.



Mr Buhari said rescue efforts were being complicated by the risk of collateral damage.



"My primary concern is to get everyone released safe and unhurt," the president said.



We have received several suggestions about the deployment of lethal military force in extracting those still being held in captivity...However, the condition to guarantee a successful outcome and minimize potential collateral damage could not be assured and therefore that course of action had to be reluctantly discarded.



Recently relatives of the hostages held protests in the capital, Abuja, to call on the government to rescue their loved ones.



At least 31 passengers are still being held by their abductors, who have threatened to kill them if the government failed to meet their demands.



The abductors have been releasing hostages in batches. On Wednesday, seven hostages were freed - including six members of the same family and an elderly woman.



Those released spoke of horrific experiences and trauma under captivity.

Source: BBC









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An Ashaiman-based Evangelist, Togo Jesus, has made a cash donation of GH500 to the National Cathedral project.



The gesture according to him was to thank God for saving him from a fatal accident he was involved in.



The National Cathedral Secretariat via a Facebook post said it received the donation on August 11, 2022.



It further stated that Evangelist Togo Jesus had intimated to them that he had always wanted to do something for God since surviving the accident thus the donation.



An evangelist in Ashaiman, a suburb of the Greater Accra Region named Togo Jesus, has donated to the construction of the National Cathedral. He gave 500ghc as a thank you to God for saving his life on the 11th August 2022 at the Secretariat. According to him, he survived a fatal accident and was declared dead by doctors at the hospital. To him, God saved his life, hence this donation. He said he had always wanted to do something for God, and he felt the best thing to do was to donate to the building of God's house to show gratitude for giving him another chance to live, the post read.



The construction of the Cathedral project has come under intense scrutiny particularly it funding following revelations that the government has doled out in excess of GH200 million towards it construction.



This was revealed by North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who says monies paid by the government were illegal and contrary to its initial stance that the project will be financed by the Christian community.



Meanwhile, construction works at the Cathedral site has stalled over funding challenges.

Source: Ghanaweb









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The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has said that prices of food have become expensive the world over and Ghana is not an exception.



He, therefore, said questions about the high prices of food in Ghana should be put into context.



Speaking on TV3s New Day on Thursday, August 11, Dr Afriyie Akoto stressed that Ghana is not experiencing food shortage as perceived and that the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative is paying dividends.



This, he stressed, has seen Ghana export so many varieties of food though imports are also being done as a result of the open market being run.



People wrongfully say there is food shortage, there is no food shortage in Ghana, he told host Johnnie Hughes.



If you look at all the sectors, the agric sector stands out as the sector which is doing well.



On his notorious assertion made in 2020 that a bunch of plantain cost between GH3 and GH5, he said: I said that 2 years ago. Things have changed.



But on the current price of kenkey, a staple produced from maize, he said he cannot tell for certainty as there are external factors that influence the pricing.

Source: 3news









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Mr Kwame Agbodza, Member of Parliament for Adaklu Monday urged the National Identification Authority (NIA) to as a matter of urgency consider another mass registration in the country.



He said this would enable as many people as possible who were not able to register and were finding it difficult to travel from the remotest areas to the district offices to register.



Mr Agbodza made the suggestion when he paid a familiarization visit to the Adaklu district office of the NIA at Adaklu Waya.



His reports reaching him indicated that only about two thousand people had received their cards in the district out of over 25,000 people who were 15 years and above.



"This creates the impression that we are not yet there, but we are putting a lot of things on the Ghana card, thereby, denying a lot of people from accessing government services and also their accounts at the banks," he said.



Mr Agbodza wondered how many people could pay GH250 for the premium service of NIA to enable them to acquire the cards.



He intimated that registering people was not the same as people receiving their cards and said though the NIA claimed to have registered over 20,000 people in the district only few people actually had their cards.



"Some people want to use the power they have to suppress the majority of us, though Ghana is a peaceful country we will fiercely resist such oppressive moves to the hilt," he noted with concern.



He said the data being held by NIA was so important and crucial, so, they needed a very conducive and convenient office space to operate.



Mr Agbodza while congratulating the staff for their efforts and agreeing to work in that office environment, urged them to use the two FM stations in the district to educate the people on the acquisition of the card.



Mr Dennis Okyere Antwi, Adaklu District Head of NIA said double registration was a challenge in the district, which he described as a "very complex and challenging district."



He said this could be due to ignorance and frustration and many people wanted to use the card to change their identities adding that it became a complex issue for the staff and the people.



Mr Okyere Antwi said because of the connectivity challenges, it sometimes took them eight minutes to print a card instead of two and half minutes.



He confirmed that the data of most people were not captured during the mass registration so they needed to be re-registered before they could have their cards.



Mr Okyere Antwi said they had registered 1,959 people since the office was opened and that they had 622 unclaimed cards.



He said office accommodation was another challenge saying, "some of our equipment are still in their boxes due to non-availability of space," but added that the District Chief Executive had promised to provide them with a more spacious one in an office complex being put up by the Assembly.

Source: GNA









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Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of China is a shared aspiration of all Chinese people. It is indispensable to the realization of China's rejuvenation and a historic mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China published a white paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" on August 10. This new white paper is being released to reiterate the fact that Taiwan is part of China, to demonstrate the strong will and resolve of the CPC and the Chinese people and their commitment to national reunification, and to emphasize the position and policies of the CPC and the Chinese government in the new era.

The CPC's consistent efforts, achievements and experience over the decades to resolve the Taiwan question and achieve complete national reunification have fully proved itself to be the spine of the Chinese nation exercising strong leadership in realizing national rejuvenation and reunification.

As General Secretary Xi Jinping said, the Taiwan question arose as a result of weakness and chaos in our nation, and it will be resolved as national rejuvenation becomes a reality. The realization of complete national reunification is driven by the history and culture of the Chinese nation and determined by the momentum towards and circumstances surrounding our national rejuvenation. Chinas development and progress is not only an effective curb against "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and interference from external forces, but also provides broad space and great opportunities for cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation.

The CPC has united the Chinese people and led them in embarking on the new journey of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. We will have a more solid foundation for resolving the Taiwan question and a greater ability to do so. This will give a significant boost to national reunification.

There is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. This is an indisputable fact supported by history and the law. Taiwan has never been a state, and its status as part of China is unalterable. The Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi recently visited China's Taiwan region at the US government's connivance and in defiance of China's strong objection and stern representations. Her provocative move seriously infringed upon China's sovereignty, interfered in China's internal affairs, broke the US sides commitments, and gravely endangered peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

In response, the Chinese government has adopted a series of vehement countermeasures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and forcefully combat the interference by external forces and the "Taiwan independence" separatist activities. China's rightful countermoves have received extensive support from the just forces in the international community. Facts have once again proved that "leveraging the Strait for Taiwan independence" is a dead end and "containing China with Taiwan" is doomed to failure.

The future of Taiwan lies in China's reunification, and the well-being of the people in Taiwan hinges on the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. On the new journey toward national rejuvenation, the CPC and the Chinese government abide by the basic policy of upholding "One Country, Two Systems" and promoting "peaceful national reunification", make the utmost efforts for peaceful and integrated development of cross-Strait relations, take firm steps to smash the attempts at "Taiwan independence" and foreign interference, and unite with the Taiwan compatriots in the joint pursuit of national rejuvenation and reunification.

Once peaceful reunification is achieved under the policy of "One Country, Two Systems", it will lay new foundations for China to make further progress and achieve national rejuvenation. At the same time, it will create huge opportunities for social and economic development in Taiwan, bring tangible benefits to the people of Taiwan, and promote peace and development in the Asia Pacific and the world at large.

National reunification is an inevitable step toward national rejuvenation. We are ready to create vast space for peaceful reunification, but will leave no room for "Taiwan independence" separatist activities in any form. The Taiwan question is an internal affair that involves China's core interests and the Chinese people's national sentiments, and no external interference will be tolerated.
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.
The outgoing Deputy General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen says he disagrees with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos stance not to reshuffle his Ministers after a call from the Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA).



According to him, the Presidents posture will make things difficult for the NPP to Break the 8.



Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA), a grass root wing of the ruling NPP, called on President Akufo-Addo to urgently reshuffle his appointees to energize the economy.



According to the group, some notable appointees of the government are dormant in their discharge of the duty which is slowing the economic growth.



But President Nana Akufo-Addo during a radio interview on North Star radio in Tamale as part of his tour of the Northern Region said those calling for the reshuffle of his Ministers may be persons looking for job opportunities.



The calls come for all kinds of reasons; NDC wanting to destabilize the government is one. There are people who are also looking for jobs, the President said.



But Nana Obiri Boahene in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show, 'Ghana Montie' said the Presidents response was unfortunate.



Not responding to them would have been right. Politically, we cannot brush aside the role of the foot soldiers. They are very instrumental in the partys victory. Lets listen to them. We want power, he added.







Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









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The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has commended its members for the smooth conduct of the branch elections of the party so far held in the northern and middle zones of the country.



The party said it had, however, observed the emergence of some malpractices and irregularities that threatened to mar the beauty and effectiveness of the partys branch election processes, particularly in the southern zone of the country.



It cited the Central, Greater Accra, Oti and Volta regions as some of the areas these malpractices and irregularities had been recorded.



Malpractices/Irregularities



These malpractices and irregularities, the party said, had to do with the non-payment of dues and filing fees through the established payment platforms.



A statement signed by the partys General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu-Nketiah, had, therefore, urged party members and executives to take notice that it was mandatory for party dues and filing fees to be paid through either of the following platforms; www. Ghanandc.com or the short code *920*25#.



It is only the entry of the payment code generated from such payments that validate the nomination form and any elections conducted with invalid forms shall be declared null and void and shall be re-run in due course, the statement said.



Those who pay money to persons seeking the assistance of such persons to process the payment through the platform must demand verification of the payment through the payment checker system, it stressed.



Monitoring



It further stated that composite teams made up of national and regional executive members had been deployed to monitor the elections in each constituency and to give directives to deal with any exigencies.



It, therefore, stressed that all constituency executives must comply with such directives, adding that anybody aggrieved by them might appeal to the general secretary for redress.



Constituency executives must take note that any actions or inaction done in contravention of such directives may result in the cancellation of the elections in the affected branches, the statement said.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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As part of activities earmarked by the NDC Glasgow branch going into election 2024, the leadership in tandem with members held a maiden hybrid meeting on Sunday, 7th August 2022 to cement and foster unity within its rank and file and also seize the opportunity to deliberate on pertinent issues that would potentially help NDC win back power in January 2025.



In attendance were other UK/Ireland chapter executives to grace the occasion. Notable among them were the chapter Chairman, Alhaji Alhassan Mbalba, the chapter Secretary, Comrade Michael Kudiabor and the deputy chapter Secretary, Alhaji Awudu Sanni. The special guest of honour for the occasion was Hon. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah (MP), Ho West constituency.



The programme commenced with an opening prayer said by Mrs. Janet Bapanaye, followed by welcome address from the branch Chairman, Dr. John Ayanaba.



In his address, the Chairman expressed enormous appreciation to all branch members and executives towards their relentless effort and readiness to respond to the call to duty whenever the need arises. This, according to Chairman Dr. Ayanaba, is a positive feat that must be protected at all costs if we want to see the party come to power in 2024.



Chairman Ayanaba further encouraged members to continue the good work to serve Mother Ghana and the party and with God in the helm of affairs, their effort will not be in vain but rather crowned with resounding victory in 2024.



The Chairman for the occasion, Mr. Frank Nyame was very delighted to play such an honourable role in the capacity as chairman for the event.



Mr. Frank Nyame, one of the founding fathers of the NDC Glasgow branch in his acceptance speech urged members gathered to use the occasion to fraternise and get to know each other very well going into 2024. With all the level of corruption scandals in the country, Mr. Nyame tasked members to see it as clarion call to rescue the country from the clueless NPP Government.



Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, MP for Ho West Constituency was very much excited to join the Glasgow branch in person and applauded the leadership of the branch for such good job done in the diaspora. Despite being a budding branch, he enumerated some of the remarkable successes chalked by the branch since its inauguration at the beginning of this year.



Hon. Bedzrah took members present through the modus operandi of the Ghana parliament and succinctly touched on all the scandals in the country where there are new every morning.



He explained to members the role of the MPs from the minority caucus on how they are keeping the government in check in spite of all the attacks they receive on daily basis for just doing their duties enshrined in the constitution.



Issues relating to the Techiman South shootings and the position of the minority caucus was also clearly explained by the honourable member of parliament. One of the key questions asked by the NDC South London branch organiser, comrade Malik Dramani Mahama, was on how the delay in the organization of the partys internal elections could have on the fortunes of the NDC in 2024.



There were some concerns also noted on the position of the party regarding the MP for Dome/Kwabenya and NDC MP for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson. Hon. Bedzrah meticulously addressed these concerns highlighted by the Chapter Secretary, Comrade Michael Kudiabor.



A leading member of the NDC Glasgow branch, Comrade Marian Danzerl also touched on the partys position on how to tackle social media slandering by the NPP on the NDCs flagbearer, President John Dramani Mahamas persona. She noted that these uncouth behaviour by some members in the NPP, played crucial role in the outcomes of the 2020 election.



Again, the Member of Parliament responded that some of her thoughts were already being actioned by the minority caucus to ensure history do not repeat itself in 2024.



An executive member of the branch, comrade Ebenezer Essien also thanked the minority caucus for all their effort especially with the level of hostility bestowed on them by the ruling NPP government.



The MP rounded up his session by entreating members in the diaspora not to give up on the NDC as it is the only hope to salvage the country from its present predicaments. He tasked members to continue to avail themselves to activities of the party and also be willing to adopt a branch in Ghana to support the party through provision of logistics.



In the Chairman of the occasions (Mr. Frank Nyames) closing remarks, he thanked everyone who made the programme a success but again reminded members to be fishers of men for the NDC. He highlighted on the need for proactive membership drive programme going into 2024 and also used the opportunity to advice all contesting comrades in the upcoming branch elections to threat each other with respect and show some decorum where the need be especially when there is any form of incongruity. Mr. Joy Ngorgbeatsi delivered the vote of thanks and the closing prayer was said by Mr. Salim Awudu.









Source: Tabbi Wilberforce Awotwe (Ph.D), Communication Officer, NDC Glasgow(Scotland) branch









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The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has said a nonperforming Minister should be sacked for a new person to be appointed.



Nonperformance is not about reshuffling, he told TV3s Berla Mundi on the New Day show on Wednesday, August 10.



If you are not able to perform, it is not a matter of reshuffle, you should be fired by the President and a new person brought in, he said.



I am talking about the general principle now, he further stated when Berla asked whether he knew about nonperforming appointees who should be fired.



He added, You must do a critical analysis about the performance, the person who conducts the test is the person who nominates.



The Suame Lawmaker further proposed that henceforth, Ministers who are moved to serve in other ministerial positions should be vetted again by the appointment committee of Parliament.



This, in his view, will test whether or not they are fit for the new assignment that has been given to them.



He explained that the initial screening of a minister centers on the works of a particular ministry. It is only appropriate to re-examine the person if he is moved to another ministry, he added.



If there should be a reshuffle, those people should be come back to Parliament for us to assess them whether they are competent in the new areas that they are going so, he said.



Parliament agrees that once you are vetted for a position you should stay there, he added.



Touching on what President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said regarding calls on him to reshuffle his appointees, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the President does not want to advertise it even if he intends to change some of his appointees.



He explained that the President has his own backroom advisors and also does a critical assessment of the performance of his ministers on what he requires of each of them.



President Akufo-Addo decided not to change his appointees because in his view, most of his ministers have worked up to expectation.



Mr Akufo-Addo said the output of his ministers has been considerable and that is what he looks at. He said these when asked for his views on calls to reshuffle his ministers while speaking on North Star Radio in Tamale as part of his two-day tour of the Northern Region on Monday August 8.



Many of them for me have done outstanding work, he said.



Their output has been considerable, and that is what I look at, he added.



The president further indicated that If the output measures expectations, then I dont have any strong reasons to heed the call.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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A Governance Lecturer at the Central University, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Antrah, has called the Electoral Commission (EC) to take punitive measures against political parties that only become effective when it is time for elections.



Dr. Otchere-Ankrah wondered why the EC allows such political parties to exist while the constitution has clearly spelled out the qualifications and duties before one can establish a political party.



Speaking on Peace FMs Kokrokoo programme, he asked the Commission to weed out those that do not deserve to call themselves political parties.



He made this comment in relation to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) boycott of IPAC meeting with the Electoral Commission.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former NPP Member of Parliament(MP) for Manhyia North, Collins Owusu Amankwah says those calling for a reshuffle should cut the President some slack.



To him, the President knows what he is doing and doesn't need this pressure to reshuffle his Ministers.



Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, Collins Owusu Amankwah argued that it is at the President's discretion to change his Ministers or not, therefore those making such calls shouldn't make it feel its mandatory.



"Let me put on record that it's not constitutional injunction that the President should do a reshuffle whether he likes it or not. It's not in any law in Ghana. It is rather an advice from some people that Mr. President, from where we sit, we suggest you changing some appointees will help . . . Nobody can begrudge him."



Alliance For Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA), a grassroot wing of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), says the President should reshuffle his appointees as they argue that some of the appointees are dormant in the discharge of their duties.



The group adds that the reshuffle will ensure the appointees execute their duties effectively.



Also, the outgoing Deputy General Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen says the Presidents posture will make things difficult for the NPP to Break the 8.



In an interview with NEAT FMs morning show "Ghana Montie", Nana Obiri Boahene said; "Politically, we cannot brush aside the role of the foot soldiers. They are very instrumental in the partys victory. Lets listen to them. We want power."



But the former MP is of a strong belief that President Akufo-Addo is "focused", thus needs Ghanaians to cooperate with him.



"I still believe Ghana is in competent hands," he emphasized.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Former Head of Monitoring Unit at Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu, has slammed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and former Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Afari Gyan, over their position on the use of Ghana Card for 2024 elections.



The Electoral Commission has indicated that it will be using the Ghana Card for the next elections.



This is aimed at eliminating electoral irregularities.



But the NDC Minority in Parliament have dissented to the EC decision, arguing that such move will disenfranchise a lot of Ghanaians since many citizens are yet to receive their Ghana Cards.



The Ministry of Communication has issued a deadline of 30th of this month, that [from the] first of July, theyre going to deactivate SIM Cards.



The Bank of Ghana says that your money that is in your account that you paid in, from the 1st of July, you cannot access it without a Ghana Card. And theyre all [making] references to a legislative instrument from this House, LI 2111.



Even the Electoral Commission is preparing to bring us a CI that is to create a new Voters Register using the Ghana Card. But majority of our constituents have registered since 2018. The National Identification Authority (NIA) is unable to provide them their Ghana Cards, NDC Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George, stated on the floor of Parliament.



Dr. Afari Gyan, on his part, also says, Ghanaian citizens dont lose their citizenship if they are 18 years or older but do not have the Ghana Card. So, the moot question is: why make the Ghana Card the only means of identification for purposes of establishing eligibility to register to vote".



But to Charles Owusu, it is rather a moot point for any person to think using the Ghana Card will deprive voters of their voting right.



He argued that those who haven't acquired their cards have a 2-year period to register and get it.



To him, the focus should not be on the EC's plans for Ghana Card to be used as voter's ID but rather people should be encouraged to register for the card.



"Are we voting tomorrow?. . . what's the crime in the EC saying they will use the Ghana Card?", he exclaimed.



He called on the NDC to hold a "press conference and tell the people to go and register".





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Former General Secretary for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has told the President of Ghana that no one wants the job of Ghanas Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in an interview in the Northern region, insisted that his appointees deserve commendation.



He indicated that he is aware of calls for a reshuffle, but he thinks its unnecessary.



The president indicated that the calls are coming from members of the opposition party and some jobless people in his party.



But speaking in an interview with Accra-based Kessben TV, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong told the president that no one wants Ofori-Attas job, but rather they seek the economic health of the country.



Nobody is looking for Ken Ofori-Attas job. We are looking for the economic health of this country.



He said he would continue to speak the truth to leadership.



Some of us have to stand up and be counted. I will rather die speaking the truth than be populist because Im a member of the NPP.

Source: Ghanaweb









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The New Patriotic Party's Director of Research and Elections, Evans Nimako, has described some comments made by former Special Prosecutor (SP), Martin Amidu, in his latest epistle as needless.



He claims the form SP is just seeking attention to be relevant after accusing President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of making national security adjustments with an eye on the 2024 elections.



You dont make such a needless comment because you want to be relevant, it cannot be accepted, he noted.



In an interview with NEAT FMs morning show, 'Ghana Montie', Evans Nimako wondered why Martin Amidu thinks the national security appointments could be related to national elections.



So, what is the need for Martin Amidus article? he questioned.



According to him, Amidu's unnecessary ranting is his strategy to gain popularity and contest for the 2024 flagbearership slot of the NDC.



It is unfortunate his outburst is coming with a lot of confusion; he just wants to make himself relevant. He should rather prepare himself to contest for the NDC ticket, go out with Mr Mahama and have their battle, he claimed.

Below is the full statement by Martin Amidu

NEW LEADERSHIP APPOINTMENTS TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY APPARATUS AND AKUFO-ADDOS LONG GAME OF BREAKING THE EIGHT



The press release issued by the Communications Directorate of the Jubilee House, Accra on 5 August 2022 announcing the appointment of new leadership for the National Security apparatus was the eventual actualization of an intentional and purposeful strategic decision by President Akufo-Addo since he lost the second round of the 2008 Presidential Election to ensure that if he ever ascended the Presidency he would not behave like former President John Kufuor to allow an election under his watch to be won by any other political party.



Consequently, upon his assumption of office as the President of Ghana on 7 January 2017 Nana Akufo-Addo activated his long game to break the 8 at the 2024 Presidential Election. He determined to ensure that by the middle of his second term in office all the instruments of law enforcement, state security and intelligence power of the Republic of Ghana should be led by persons with proven political dedication and loyalty to his person, and his family and friends.



The appointment by the President of Mr. Edward Asomani, Deputy National Security Co-ordinator, to act as National Security Co-ordinator, with effect from Monday, 8th August 2022 subject to the confirmation of his appointment to the receipt of the constitutionally required advice of the National Security Council, given in consultation with the Public Service Commission gives finality to Nana Akufo-Addos long game to capture the National Security Secretariat apparatus towards his electoral agenda for the 2024 parliamentary and presidential elections.



The President by the same press release also appointed Nana Attobrah Quaicoe, Deputy Director-General of the NIB, to act with effect from Monday, 8th August 2022, as the Director-General of National Intelligence Bureau, with his confirmation also being subject to the receipt of the constitutionally required advice of the National Security Council, given in consultation with the Public Service Commission as part of Nana Akufo-Addos long game to capture the National Intelligence Bureau apparatus towards his electoral agenda for the 2024 parliamentary and presidential elections.



A casual reading of the press release signed by the Communications Director of the Jubilee House does not disclose that it was purposefully written to hide a covert sequence of events in which the Presidents Family and Friends Non-Governmental Organization, the Danquah Institute, was positioned since the 2008 elections as the strategic family instrument for producing Nana Attobrah Quaicoe and Edward Kwaku Asomani for the leadership of the two critical National Security apparatus in anticipation of the 2024 Elections.



The antecedents and true sequences of events in the rise of the new leadership of the National Security apparatus shows that Nana Attobrah Quaicoe had sharpened his teeth as the Executive Director of the Presidents Family and Friends Danquah Institute before his purposeful appointment as the Deputy Director of the then Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) in May 2019. Mr. Edward Kwaku Asomani also sharpened his teeth at the same Family and Friends Danquah Institute before his appointment in February 2021 by the President as the Deputy National Security Coordinator, in fulfilment of the pursuance of the important research work, which will lead to another assignment. See Citi Newsroom online publication of 21 October 2019: also, the Daily Guide Network online publication of 23 October 2019 on the research work that was to lead to another assignment.



It is important for the reader to keep at the back of his mind the unspoken facts and evidence that Nana Attobrah Quaicoe, and Mr. Edward Kwaku Asomani were recruited into Nana Akufo-Addos Danquah Institute under the Chairmanship of his maternal cousin, Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, an indispensable member of the familys planning and strategies cohort.



In a statement issued by Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and reported on 3news.com/Ghana on 9 September 2015 the Danquah Institute named Nana Attorbrah Quaicoes who had worked with the Danquah Institute since its inception and rose to the position of Head of Research as its new Executive Director with effective from 1 September 2015. Nana Attobrah Quaicoe was taking over from Mustapha Abdul Hamid to enable him to fulfill other commitments. The strategic location and positions occupied by Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid within the Nana Akufo-Addo government of Family and Friends are now matters of notorious public knowledge. These are factors to consider in Nana Akufo-Addos electoral long game.



Mr. Edward Asomani was appointed the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute with effect from 2 November 2018 to lead the Institute by promoting the Danquah-Dombo tradition and providing its effective leadership. A statement signed by the acting Chairman of the Governing Board of the Institute, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, stated, inter alia, that: He will also be expected to undertake important research, policy advocacy, training and most importantly actively seek and mentor the next generation of leaders. His research interests were also stated to include the political economy of Africa, US foreign policy towards Africa, political leadership, elections and electoral democracy. (Emphasis supplied)



However, under a year Mr. Edward Kwaku Asamoni strategically exited the office of Executive Director of the Danquah Institute with effect from 21 October 2019 to enable him pursue important research work, which will lead to another assignment. Mr. Richard Ahiagbah, now a Deputy Director of Research in the Office of the President at Jubilee House, who was appointed to succeed Mr. Asomani as the acting Executive Director of the Institute: comes in with a strong public policy background. Also significant is his experience in electoral research and campaign strategy. Mr. Ahiagbah is reputed to have been a field organizer for President Obamas re-election campaign in 2012: a role he is said to have performed on other senatorial and gubernatorial elections in the United States. (Emphasis supplied).

The strategic subtility and craftiness of placing dedicated and loyal members of Nana Akufo-Addos Family and Friends of the Danquah Institute in critical positions within the constitutional apparatus of the Republic towards the actualization of turning Ghana into a private family estate can be discerned by any reasonable and critical thinking citizens who have followed appointments into the Republic of Ghanas state institutions since the Presidents assumption of office in January 2017.



Suffice it to reiterate that in the case of Nana Attobrah Quaicoe, and Mr. Edward Kwaku Asamoni, Nana Akufo-Addo had appointed Nana Attobrah Quaicoe, a former Executive Director of the Danquah Institute as the new Deputy Director in Charge of Operations, and One Timothy Coleman, a career BNI officer as the Deputy Director in charge of Administration at the Bureau of National Investigations in May 2019 on the opportunity of the removal of Ambassador Rasheed Seidu Inusah as the Director of the BNI and the elevation of his then Deputy Director, Mr. Kwaku Domfeh as the substantive Director of BNI.



Mr. Edward Kwaku Asamoni who strategically exited the office of Executive Director of the Danquah Institute with effect from 21 October 2019 to enable him pursue important research work, which will lead to another assignment was appointed in February 2021 by the President as the Deputy National Security Coordinator, in fulfilment of the pursuance of the important research work, which will lead to another assignment. As a result of this appointment of Mr. Asomani in February 2021 intelligence began circulating in September 2021 of the intended appointment of Mr. Edward Kwaku Asomani as the substantive National Security Coordinator to replace Major General Francis Adu Amanfo (Rtd) who had been appointed to replace Joshua Kyeremeh who died in January 2021. The intended appointment of Mr. Asomani to the substantive position in September 2021 was reported to have been creating internal friction within the National Security Secretariat staff.



By way of an aside which reinforces Nana Akufo-Addo long game to break the 8 at the 2024 Elections, it ought to be said that Nana Akufo-Addos Family and Friends radio station, Asaase Radio on 17 November 2021 announced the appointment of Mr. Richard Ahiagbah (who was appointed to succeed Mr. Asomani as the acting Executive Director of the Institute with effect from 21 October 2019 to replace Mr. Edward Kwaku Asomani) as the Deputy Director of Research in the Office of the President with retrospective effect from October 2021 to assist Dr. Isaac Owusu-Mensah the Director of Research in the Office of the President to monitor and evaluate the work and output of all presidential appointees, providing continuous feedback for the president and ultimately contributing to the development and execution of strategic decisions of the second term of Akufo-Addo government. His profile as published by Asaase Radio stated that:



Profile of Ahiagbah



Richard Ahiagbah was a field organiser for the former US president Barack Obamas re-election campaign in 2012. He has also undertaken similar roles in senatorial and gubernatorial elections in the United States. (Emphasis supplied).



Many a citizen who do not have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the working of the Republics law enforcement, security and intelligence apparatus designed under the 1992 Constitution to be applied with utmost integrity, transparency and accountability for the protection of the constitutional and democratic regime for the good governance of citizens may not appreciate the abuse of constitutional power involved when a disingenuous president subtlety uses the power and instruments of state in capturing the essential institutions designed to ensure free and fair elections.



The events and circumstances of the 2008 Presidential Elections instead of enhancing Ghanas democratic credentials created in the loser of that election, Nana Akufo-Addo, a fixation and paranoia that former President John Agyekum Kufuor could have rigged the elections for him but failed or refused to do so out of personal spite. Nana Akufo-Addo appears to have carried the post-traumatic stress disorder generated by losing the results of the 2008 elections and determined that never under his watch as a President of Ghana will he supervise the smooth changing of government from one political party to another in Ghana. No matter what happens, his political party must win the exiting election under his watch. Those with eyes, minds, and ears to see, think and listen discerned Nana Akufo-Addos long game since 2017 to ensure that he left the Presidency on 7 January 2025 handing over power to his own political party, no matter what happens. His actions and pronouncement upon becoming president with our support vindicate the perception of his fixation and paranoia of supervising the winning of the 2024 elections by his chosen presidential candidate and successor at whatever cost to the preservation and defence of the 1992 Constitution.



An interview former President John Kufuor gave to the Financial Times on or about 25 October 2010 alluded to the dissatisfaction of Nana Akufo-Addo and his supporters with the alleged manner he supervised the second round of the 2008 Presidential Election. Mr. Kufuor was accused of not doing enough to support his partys candidate even though he had no option than to obey the final declaration of the results by the Electoral Commission. Mr. Kufuor said:



When my term ended, and the votes were declared by the electorate, I obeyed. Even with some of my people questioning. But I said that was the constitution. If anyone felt aggrieved let them go to court.



After the Electoral Commission had given notice of a re-run of the presidential election for the outstanding Tain Constituency, a faction within the NPP supporting its candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, with his tacit blessings sought an injunction in the High Court to restrain the Electoral Commission from holding that election and frustrating the handing over of power on 7th January 2009. President Kufuor summed up the implication of the restraining order sought by the supporters of his partys candidate against the electoral commission when he said in an interview with the Financial Times that:



Suppose I had sided with my side going to court to restrain the electoral commission it would have meant frustrating the electoral commission from holding the election and then we couldnt have met the constitutional deadline of 7th January. So the only way for me to stay on would have been to declare a state of emergency. And on what basis? So I had to consider the whole thing. Then I said 7th of January I will hand over power to whoever the electoral commission announced. Anyone who felt aggrieved could go to court. So I drove back to Accra a distance of some 100 miles. Thats what happened. The implication was that I would be staging a coup.



Nana Akufo-Addo has used every major political conference and event of the New Patriotic Party during his second term as President to underscore his long game of playing his part to ensure that the constitutional institutions of the Republic are positioned in such a way with politically loyal leadership appointees as to deliver his fixation to winning the 2024 elections for his chosen successor. He has consistently underscored the fact that despite his determination, without the variable condition of a united NPP behind the chosen presidential candidate his determination to break the 8 will come to naught. As the Daily Graphic of 19 December 2021 reported, Nana Akufo-Addo told the partys delegates in Kumasi on Sunday that: Every step taken now leading to 2024 is going to be decisive either to give us victory or not. He is reported to have reckoned that it would require discipline and a united front; promising a level playing field for all presidential aspirants to produce an acceptable leader to be backed by all.



Nana Akufo-Addo is also reported by the Daily Guide Network on 14 April 2022 to have shared his dream when he met the National Executive Committee (NEC) members of the New Patriotic Party in Accra on Tuesday by reiterating his strong desire to hand over power to another New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in 2025 to ensure continuity of the good work done by his administration. Mr. John Boadu, the then General Secretary was reported to have quoted to journalist at a press conference in Kumasi the words of the President at the NEC Accra meeting as follows:



The NPP members should remain steadfast and united around the sterling leadership of the government which is steering through these difficult times. The party can only realise its ambition of retaining political power in 2024 when the party members eschew all forms of bickering, antagonism and all other things that tend to divide us.If we adhere to my wise counsel and remain united as one elephant family with a common destiny, definitely we shall win the elections and I, Nana Akufo-Addo, will hand over political power to another competent NPP person in 2024 (sic), the President purportedly stated.



On 30 July 2022, at the occasion of the New Patriotic Partys 30th Anniversary and National Thanksgiving Service held at the Kofi Ohene-Konadu auditorium of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, under the theme; [email protected]: Our Shared Traditional, Holding and Working Together a Stable and Prosperous Nation, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo concluded his speech to the party gathering as follows:



I want to end by making one appeal, I want you to help me to achieve the last great political feat of my career in Ghanaian politics, that on the 7th of January 2025, I will go to Black Star Square and hand over the baton to our next NPP President of the Republic who we would have chosen, supported and brought to victory. (Emphasis supplied).



Akufo-Addo said further that: Victory in 2024, that is our goal, that is our task and that by the Grace of God, we will achieve. (Emphasis supplied).



And as if to thump a finger in the eyes of the electorate and people of Ghana on 5 August 2022, the Communications Directorate of the Jubilee House, Accra then issued a press release announcing the appointment of Mr. Edward Kwaku Asomani, and Nana Attobrah Quaicoe as the new leadership for the National Security apparatus. Then on 8 August 2022 in an interview with the North Star radio in Tamale Nana Akufo-Addo relived his post-traumatic stress disorder of losing the 2008 presidential elections. He is reported on Ghana Web of 9th August 2022 to have said, inter alia that:



A lot of people are forgetting that in 2008, we almost broke the 8 then. The elections of 2008 which is the first one with me as a candidate of the NPP, I won the first round and in fact, I was short of outright victory by 23,000 votes. Very narrow. 23,000 votes should have gone the other way round wherever and I would have been president in the first round in 2008. It didnt happen. We went into a second round and in that second round, the NPP lost by 40,000 votes. President Mills was elected with 50.01% of the overall votes. It is the narrowest margin of victory in any presidential contest of the 4th Republic. That tells you the NPP was extremely close to making that statement [of breaking the 8] as far back as that (time) We have all learnt our lessons from what happened. Those that came from our own side, the problems that we had ourselves and those that were external to our party. We are determined this time round that not only will it be a victory, it will be a decisive victory because this National Democratic Congress, they should spend more time in opposition so they can organize themselves better for the future of Ghana than what they are today. (Emphasis supplied)



The groundwork to facilitate the accomplishment of the dreams of Nana Akufo-Addo to abuse the constitutional process through the appointing powers vested in him to load the institutions of state power responsible for impartial law enforcement, security and intelligence of the electoral process with the new leadership of the National Security apparatus appointed by Nana Akufo-Addo had already been laid during his first term in office as President when he captured the commanding heights of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization and its associate regulatory authorities and agencies responsible for information technology, and communications.



The biometric data of all citizens of voting age who use SIM cards as instruments of ICT are to be captured and stored in a database at the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) pursuant the authority of the Minister and the National Communications Authority (NCA). It is imperative for citizens to remember that the Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Mr. Joseph Anokye, was purposefully brought or encouraged to returned home to facilitate the winning of the 2016 elections by Nana Akufo-Addo and was duly rewarded with that appointment in January 2017. For those who do not know or remember: the Director-General of the National Information Technology Authority (NITA), Mr. Richard Okyere-Fosu, was a former group head of information technology at cousin Ken Ofori-Attas Data Bank Financial Services Limited who went along to the Ministry of Finance with Ken Ofori Atta as the Minister of Finance and was later transitioned to NITA first as Director of Finance and Administration and subsequently elevated to lead the agency.



And for those who understand the power of controlling voters and citizens biometric data and means of information technology communications during the 2024 elections the possibility of surveillance of political opponents could not have been far from the main reason for the insistence and railroading of Ghanaian on the Ghana Card registration, and the SIM Cards re-registration exercise using the unconstitutional and infamous process of the Establishment of Emergency Communications Instrument, 202 (E. I. 63). Nana Akufo-Addos long game to use the instruments of state power disingenuous and opaquely to prepare an uneven electoral playing field in such a manner as to realize his fixation and paranoid of winning the 2024 elections, no matter what happens, is being gradually achieved. Interested readers of further details may wish to re-visit my article: Nana Akufos Dictatorship  Illegal Sim Card Re-Registration and Solidarity for Boycotting the Use of Mobile Phone of 10 February 2022 which is available online.



The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana demands a fair and transparent governance process based on merit and participation by every qualified citizen and enjoins each of us who are citizens to ensure that the Presidential oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and do justice to all citizens without fear or favour, affection or ill will is respected by the President Nana Akufo-Addo. Former President Rawling did not use the instruments of state power to prevent former President Kufuor from winning the 2000 elections against the late Vice President Mills as the governing partys candidate and I as his Vice-Presidential candidate during the second round of that election. Former President Kufuor also underscored the importance of not interfering with the electoral process when he stated in 2008 that:



When my term ended, and the votes were declared by the electorate, I obeyed. Even with some of my people questioning. But I said that was the constitution. If anyone felt aggrieved let them go to court.



The 1992 Constitution has endured the longest in the democratic history of our dear nation and enjoins all citizens to defend it against any attempts to undermine its spirit or to establish by any subterfuges a one-party state by an elected President entrusted with the levers of state power of the Republic of Ghana. President Nana Akufo-Addos long electoral game while appearing to follow the letter of the law in making appointments to public office substantively breaches the fundamental spirit of the Constitution of integrity, transparency, accountability, and merit and is leading to the actualization of a calculated and deliberate intention to undermine the 2024 electoral process.



It is in consideration of the foregoing that I hereby break my silence from public political discourse which I imposed upon myself to call on all patriotic citizens to come together in defence of the 1992 Constitution to ensure that the processes leading to the 2024 elections are not undermined by Nana Akufo-Addos penchant for impunity and abuse of constitutional power that may lead to the jeopardy of the Constitution that we as citizens are enjoined to protect and defend. Ghana must always be put first.



Martin A. B. K. Amidu

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Northern Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Mohammed Bantima Samba, has claimed that he used the party's influence to secure the release of the TESCON President for Tamale Technical University (TaTU) who was arrested some days ago.



Sayibu Ibrahim was arrested some two days ago over a controversy surrounding a comment he made about the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Saani Alhassan, on social media.



Some aggrieved TESCON members and students of TaTU alleged that Sayibu was arrested for suggesting that the regional minister did not take his bath when he led a delegation to receive President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Tamale Airport.



However, the police say the TESCON president was arrested in connection with an attack on a lady who had a banter with him over his comment on the regional minister.



Addressing the media after securing Sayibu Ibrahim's release from police custody, Chairman Bantima said he broke the law by using his influence as a party executive.



"When I heard the news that one of my darling boys was in police custody, I said that it would never happen. Ghana has a constitution, and the police have their principle  do not bail somebody in the night. But chairman Samba broke it (the law)," the NPP regional chairman bragged.



A photo of the Northern Regional Minister meeting the president on Monday, August 8, at the Tamale Airport, went viral on social media.



The minister, who was wearing a shirt with khaki trousers and sandals, was deemed by some social media commentators as inappropriately dressed for the occasion.



Commenting on the viral picture shared on the Facebook page of Tamale Radio, Sayiby Afa Yaba wrote, "I want to believe our Northern Regional Minister didn't bath before he came out."



He was later arrested, leading to speculations that the arrest was connected to the minister's comment.



His arrest is said to have sparked outrage amongst some supporters of the New Patriotic Party in the Northern Region and students of the Tamale Technical University.



The TaTU branch of TESCON, a student group affiliated with the NPP, on Thursday announced a suspension of their activities in connection with the arrest of their president.



The group, at a press conference on Thursday, demanded an unqualified apology from the Northern Regional minister and the entire NPP executives over what they referred to as an unlawful arrest of the TESCON president.



"This unlawful arrest was orchestrated by the Regional Minister, Alhaji Saani Alhassan since his car was used to perpetrate the illegality. We want to bring to the notice of the party that if TESCON members continue to be subjected to this inhumane treatment, we will be forced to suspend party activities on the TaTU campus. We however call on members to stand down on party activities, the group alleged.



The group later attributed the release of their colleague to Assin Central MP Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, National Chairman Stephen Ntim and the party's National Organiser.

Source: Ghanaweb









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Rwandan government is disputing findings in a leaked United Nations report that says the countrys military joined with the rebel M23 group to attack security forces in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A spokesperson for the government of Rwanda, Yolanda Makolo, responded on Twitter, calling it a tactical distraction. Based on allegations revealed in the report, that is not the case.

On August 4, multiple news outlets carried stories saying a U.N. panel had fund solid evidence that Rwandan forces fought alongside M23 rebels. Said Frances LeMonde:

The confidential report by the United Nations group of experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), transmitted to member states of the U.N. Security Council  accused the Rwandan army of having participated in attacks against Congolese soldiers and supplying reinforcements to the insurgents of the 23-March Movement (M23). This rebellion, born in 2012, took up arms against the state in late 2021 in eastern DRC, along the border with Rwanda.

The U.N. experts, who conducted on-site inspections and analyzed available images, claimed to have solid evidence of Rwandan military involvement in several attacks on Congolese soldiers in North Kivu province, the stronghold of the M23, between November 2021 and July 2022.

M23 is responsible for an insurgency in the eastern DRC that the U.N. has characterized as a serious threat to peace, security, and stability in the region, causing massive displacement of civilians and widespread violence.

M23 was all but defeated in 2013, but the group recently reconstituted, launching several attacks this spring on government bases and civilians. In late June, VOA reported that a resurgent M23 was attempting to capture cities in the eastern DRCs North and South Kivu and Ituri provinces.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the violence in the region during visits to Kinshasa and Kigali this week. According to The New York Times, Blinken called for an end to violence by all parties and cited credible reports of Rwandan support for M23:

 Whoever its by, whoever its to, that support has to cease, Mr. Blinken said at a news conference in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Its a matter of principle that applies equally. Its not a matter of weighing one group against another.

American and Rwandan officials estimate that more than 130 armed groups are operating in eastern Congo, which has become a battleground for militias who have maimed and murdered while profiting from the billions of dollars of minerals smuggled out of the resource-rich region. Many of the groups get weapons and financial support from the Congolese government or from other African nations.

M23 has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the targeting civilians and sexual violence. Last month, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report blamed M23 for 29 deaths since mid-June. In a summary online, HRW said:

Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that on June 21, following fighting around the village of Ruvumu, M23 rebels summarily killed at least 17 civilians, including 2 teenagers, whom they accused of informing the Congolese army about their positions and hideouts. Some were shot dead as they attempted to flee, while others were executed at close range.

Deliberate killings of civilians are serious violations of international humanitarian law, including Common Article 3 to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and are war crimes.

HRW noted that M23 disputed the allegations, blaming other armed groups operating in the region. The report noted, however, that on June 14, "the United States embassy in Congo said it was, extremely concerned about the recent fighting in eastern [Congo] and the reported presence of Rwandan forces on [Congo]s territory. 

U.N. experts in June also reported the presence of individuals wearing uniforms of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) in M23 camps located in [Congo], [had been] confirmed by aerial footage and photographic evidence, HRW said.

Successive Rwandan governments have denied cross-border activities. In May, Makolo told the New Times, a Rwandan news outlet, that Rwanda has no intention of being drawn into fighting in the Congo.

Blinken and Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta held a news conference in Kigali on August 11, at which Biruta said Rwandas security concern is with ethnic Hutu fighters and terrorist violence. Rwanda is not the cause of longstanding instability in eastern DRC, Biruta said.

In the Rwandan genocide of 1994, majority Hutus killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis, an ethnic minority, and moderate Hutus. After his news conference, Blinken visited a memorial where the remains of 250,000 Rwandans killed in the holocaust are buried.
Aiken City Attorney Gary Smith has denied violating state ethics laws regarding Project Pascalis and asked for the court to dismiss him from a lawsuit challenging the actions of the city, its municipal development corporation and design review board on the project.

Aiken attorney Clarke W. McCants III filed an answer on Smith's behalf Thursday afternoon in the Aiken County Court of Common Pleas.

Project Pascalis is the city's name for an estimated $75 million redevelopment project focused on the block bounded by Laurens Street, Richland Avenue, Newberry Street and Park Avenue in downtown Aiken.

Current plans call for the demolition of the vacant Hotel Aiken and a building next to it on Laurens Street and the construction of a 100-room hotel in their place. The Holley House and several buildings located between it and Newberry Street would be demolished to make way for an apartment complex and a parking garage. The city's former municipal building would be expanded into a conference center.

A lawsuit challenging the actions of the Aiken City Council, Aiken Municipal Development Commission, Aiken Design Review Board, RPM Development Partners, Raines Company, Aiken Economic Development Director Tim O'Briant and Smith on the project was filed July 5.

The plaintiffs in the suit are David Blake, Luis Rinaldini, former City Councilman Dick DeWar, Jenne Stoker, Beatrice McGhee, Gail King, the Historic Aiken Foundation, the Green Boundary Foundation and the South Carolina Public Interest Foundation.

In the answer, Smith denies advising Aiken City Council on the project after he became aware that his law partner, Ray Massey, had a financial interest in the project. He later adds that if he provided any advice after that point it was a mistake and that such advice was innocently offered.

Massey is the registered agent for RPM Development Partners and one of the owners of properties adjacent to the properties that would be redeveloped if Project Pascalis goes forward.

Smith admits he was present for a March 28 Aiken City Council meeting but denies providing any specific legal advice to the city council at the meeting.

"This defendant further states that if he did provide any such advice, such advice was offered innocently and by mistake, and without any intent on his part to create and/or violate any conflict of interest he may have had in his role as serving as the attorney for the city of Aiken," McCants said.

Smith says he stopped providing legal advice to the Aiken Municipal Development Commission after June 2020 and that he has never provided legal advice to the Aiken Design Review Board during their consideration of the project.

He also argues that the court does not have the authority to hear the case and that the lawsuit fails to state a claim on which relief can be granted.
AUGUSTA  U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., said he's disgusted and disappointed by the FBI's execution of a search warrant on the home of former President Donald Trump.

Wilson and Congressman Rick Allen addressed the FBI's execution of a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago, the home of the former president, after touring Fort Gordon on Thursday afternoon.

Wilson, a Republican, represents South Carolina's Second Congressional District which includes Aiken, Barnwell and the western suburbs of Columbia.

Allen, also a Republican, represents Georgia's 12th Congressional District which includes Fort Gordon, Augusta and several surrounding counties.

The FBI executed a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago on Monday morning. Reports have said they were searching for classified material Trump may have taken to the Palm Beach, Florida, mansion when he left the White House. Trump was in New York City during the search but his lawyers were allowed to be on the property during the search.

"I am absolutely disgusted," Wilson said. "The Biden raid on the Trump home, this should never occur in America. "

Wilson said it was inconceivable to him that the leader of the party in power would "go after" the leading challenger.

"I'm so disappointed," Wilson said. "This should be bipartisan. I would never approve a raid on the Biden family or the Obama family. This is just inconceivable in how dangerous it is."

Wilson said he appreciated the positivity of the former president and his wife.

"You had the Russian hoax which was proved to be nonsense," Allen said. "You had the impeachment over a phone call that is nonsense. They have done everything they can to demonize a former president of the United States. And then to enter his private home. What is this country coming to?"

It was alleged before and after the 2016 election that the Trump campaign had colluded with the Russian government during the campaign. These allegations were mostly discredited by the release of the Mueller report.

In 2019, Trump called Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reportedly threatened to withhold military aid if the Ukrainians didn't investigate Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his family's business interests in the country.

Allen pledged to investigate the execution of the search warrant if Republicans retake majorities in Congress in November.

Democrats are currently slightly favored to retain a majority in the Senate and Republicans are favored to win a majority in the House.

"If the American people choose to put us [the Republicans] in the majority, we will get to the bottom of this for the American people," Allen continued. "I'm going to tell you: if it can affect a former president, it's going to affect every person."

"Every person," Wilson added.

Allen said the media needed to investigate how the warrant was issued and "find out what the heck is going on this country."

"This is outlandish," Allen continued. "This is a banana republic. This stuff goes on in Venezuela. It should never be allowed When we get to the bottom of this, you're going to see some heads roll."

U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, a Republican whose district includes southwestern South Carolina and Edgefield County have also recently addressed the execution of the search warrant.

Graham said at a Tuesday press conference that the FBI had lost its way when it came to Trump.

"This unending desire to destroy Trump and his family is frustrating," Graham continued.

Scott told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the search warrant execution was shocking and unprecedented and raised serious concerns for him.

"Just last week in the Judiciary Committee there was a hearing over the FBI becoming too political," Scott added according Yahoo News. "Our country needs a simple, clear message from the FBI: We have no interest in politics whatsoever. And it seems like we're getting the exact opposite message."

"The FBI just raided a former Presidents home  but failed to ever go to Hillarys home for the private server, get Hunters laptop, or investigate the Clinton Foundation," Duncan said in a news release. "And we KNOW the 'BIG MAN' met with the Chinese, facilitated Hunters business dealings, and probably got kick-backs! We have a two-tiered justice system in this country: one for the liberal elites and one for everyone else. The weaponization and politicization of federal agencies is egregious and scary. These are Gestapo-like tactics. If the FBI can do this to President Trump, what do you think 87,000 new IRS agents will do to the American people? Did Biden sign off on this raid? The American people deserve answers."
Columbia, SC (29201)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 68F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.
COLUMBIA  Despite a staffing shortage exacerbated by Columbia firefighters calling out sick that led to three engines being taken out of service and 13 others running understaffed on Aug. 5, the fire department is not considering changes in its leave policy.

Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said a change in policy is unnecessary because sick leave is not the only contributing factor. The department also has a number of unfilled positions and employees out on other types of leave, he said. Firefighters calling out sick was a tipping point.

"It's not just sick time," Jenkins said. "It's just all the permission leave that people have. And also, due to the fact that we need bodies. We need to get people in the department."

The department had enough people to cover 23 absences Aug. 5., but 34 people were out. Six of those were on sick leave; the other 28 were out for vacation time, military leave, worker's compensation, family and medical leave, COVID-19 or a training class.

It was a high number of absences, Jenkins said, but in most cases, they were unavoidable.

"I do understand your concern. I share your concern," Jenkins said. "But we just have to manage that risk right now until we can get through this."

The Columbia Firefighters Association posted about the shortage on Facebook, saying "the residents and guests of the City of Columbia and Richland County are at a disservice" because of the engines not running.

Mayor Daniel Rickenmann isn't pushing for any policy changes but would entertain the idea if the association came forward with a proposal, according to his office.

"We've been talking for months about how we are open to new ideas, and if you have them, come have a seat at the table," Rickenmann said in a statement. "Choosing to post on social media instead of having a dialogue is just creating problems instead of working to solve them."

While the fire department does sometimes put engines out of service, Jenkins said he makes sure every station has at least one truck with a ladder running at all times. Staffing shortages also mean some crews have to run with three firefighters instead of four.

The International Association of Fire Fighters recommends each truck have an average of four firefighters for most emergencies, though it says that number can be reduced in lower-risk situations.

Jenkins said he wants to do everything he can to make sure firefighters are safe, including sending fully staffed trucks, but he does not think having three-person teams creates a significant danger.

"While we do have challenges, staffing challenges, I don't want anyone to think we're not going to step up to the plate," Jenkins said.

Even when a significant number of people call out of work, like the six on Aug. 5, Jenkins said he trusts that they have a legitimate reason and isn't going to question them on it. He added that COVID-19 has been a contributing factor to firefighters taking more sick days, as well.

"My thing is this: If a firefighter is sick, we don't want them to come to work," Jenkins said.

The city's sick-leave policy does not require employees to submit a doctor's note, though some departments can make that a requirement. The city manager expects "sick and annual leave are managed appropriately to maintain the highest level of service delivery," according to an email from city staff.

The fire department totaled 4,000 hours of sick leave in June, which is in line with its average for the past year, according to data provided by the mayor's office. Its annual leave amounted to 6,100 hours, which is slightly higher than the past year's average of about 6,000 per month.

Jenkins said the solution to the shortage would be to hire more people. Of 454 positions in the department, 54 remain unfilled, he said. That means the department is 88 percent staffed, without accounting for those on long-term leave.

Next week, Jenkins said, the department plans to add 11 people, with seven more following in the weeks after that. By January, Jenkins said he hopes to be training a full class of 30 people, which would leave only six positions left unfilled.

Finding enough people to hire is a problem many fire departments are facing, Jenkins said. The starting salary for the Columbia Fire Department ranges from $33,669.37 to $35,942.05, depending on education level, and does not include mandatory overtime amounts. Jenkins said he and city officials have discussed increasing the starting salaries to make them more competitive.

"It's just that we're trying to weather the storm, too," Jenkins said. "And we're still going to try and do the best we can, we're still going to try to recruit people, bring in bodies, encourage people to apply for the fire department."
Charleston County School District has a new leadership position overseeing schools  and a new person in the role.

Anthony Dixon will be the districts interim chief of schools. Hes returning to CCSD from Berkeley County School District where he served as chief of academics and innovation and chief of secondary schools for the last two years.

We are excited and grateful to have such a highly accomplished educator and innovative leader such as Dr. Dixon join our leadership team, Don Kennedy, CCSD superintendent, said. His diverse experience and vision for student, teacher, parent, and family support and success inside and outside of the classroom will undoubtedly help us accomplish our goal of all students reading on grade level by fifth grade by 2027.

The chief of schools role is new this year. Andy Pruitt, district communications director, said Dixon will oversee all learning communities from early learning through high school.

Pruitt said Dixons role will not replace the districts chief of staff position, which was terminated earlier this month, as it has different responsibilities.

Dixon began his career as a special education teacher at Berkeley as well as Charlestons Memminger Elementary School.

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Dixon joined Berkeley County administration as a principal after five years in the classroom. He became principal of Memminger Elementary in 2008, where he remained for three years.

During that time, he helped facilitate one of the districts first partial magnet programs, established a higher education partnership with College of Charleston and merged Memminger with another community school.

He then moved to Sanders Clyde Elementary Middle School in 2011, where while he was principal, the school made big academic gains.

Dixon returned to Berkeley after, where he moved up the administrative ladder.

He was named CCSDs Elementary Learning Community Principal of the Year in 2014 and received the U.S. Department of Education American Star of Teaching for South Carolina in 2006.

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Charleston County School District has managed to keep its school buses fully staffed during an ongoing statewide driver shortage.

James Lynch, district executive director of transportation, said during an Aug. 9 interview that's because the district has partnered with well-paying vendors.

This strategy can be emulated by districts suffering from driver shortages, something many are experiencing right before the start of the school year. The S.C. Department of Education recently found that state schools are still missing about 15 percent of the drivers they need.

Bus driver shortages have been plaguing the state for well over a year. The issue reached a head last fall when COVID-19's delta variant was spreading across the country.

The Education Department rules for how drivers should deal with unmasked students had differed from many school districts. As a result of the confusion, some districts were missing more than a third of their bus drivers, according to a Post and Courier survey of 36 districts last year.

Currently, no masks are required on CCSD buses. Theyre still being disinfected daily and any student with COVID-19 must follow district protocol.

Lynch said bus driver shortages cause a chain reaction that harms students' academic progress. Fewer bus drivers mean routes get longer, which means that students miss valuable classroom time.

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Its an unfortunate reality for some school districts. You might have to use one bus to cover two routes," Lynch said. "In turn, that will create a longer bus route and more stops.

The Education Department is trying to mitigate the crisis with a new campaign called Step Up, SC, which includes a website that highlights open positions in each district.

CCSD skirted the issue by partnering with the transportation company First Student, one of the vendors it uses to staff the majority of its buses. First Student pays around $21 an hour with significant signing bonuses  $4,000 for people with commercial drivers licenses and $2,000 for those without. The company also offers benefits and $1,000 employee referral bonuses.

While all of the district 363 bus routes are staffed, Lynch said hed love to have 36 more drivers "on the bench  just for emergencies.

First Student vets drivers and is always hiring. The vetting process includes passing background and drug screens, as well as going through several training and certification programs. The company also hosts monthly safety meetings for its drivers.

In the safety meetings, Lynch tries to remind drivers that they are likely the first adult that students see every day, and their interaction sets the tone for many students days.

Parents who want to keep an eye on their children this year on their way to and from school can use the FirstView app, which allows them to track bus routes in real-time.

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ANDERSON  Eleven employees at an Anderson Starbucks, one of three unionized locations in South Carolina, remain on paid leave following an incident on Aug. 1.

In a video posted Aug. 2 on TikTok, the unionized employees at the 4868 Clemson Blvd. cafe presented the store manager with a list of demands. They called for pay raises and the replacement of coffee equipment.

Store manager Melissa Morris filed an incident report with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, alleging simple assault and kidnapping. It was her first day managing the store, a Starbucks spokesperson said.

The 24-second clip had amassed 9.9 million views on the video sharing app as of Aug. 11, even catching the attention of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who is a staunch labor supporter  including the movement to unionize Starbucks locations around the country.

After a Buffalo, N.Y., Starbucks won its union election in December 2021, 187 Starbucks locations have unionized and called for improved workplace conditions. South Carolina, with some of the country's lowest union membership rates, currently has three unionized Starbucks locations in Greenville, Columbia and Anderson.

In the incident report, written by Deputy Noah Litteer, Morris said the employees "would not let her leave until they got a raise. She stated that one employee also assaulted her. This incident was captured on video."

Anderson County Staff Sgt. JT Foster wrote in an email to The Post and Courier that the report was turned over to a detective and is under investigation.

A Starbucks spokesperson said law enforcement directed the company to refrain from talking with the involved employees during the investigation. The spokesperson was unsure when the investigation will be completed.

Starbucks Workers United, a subsidiary of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, posted the short video to TikTok. The video began with the employees around the store manager, who was on the phone. The manager closed a laptop and shuffled some papers, which were the letters of demands from the employees. The manager stood up and nudged past the circle. Employees called out why are you pushing him? The video ended as the manager, still on the phone, walked toward the door.

Aneil Tripathi, an incoming junior at Clemson University studying management and marketing, has worked for the Seattle-based coffee chain for three years. He was one of the organizers of the Anderson union. He started at a Columbia Starbucks and transferred to the store 10 miles south of Clemson's campus when he started college. He is a shift supervisor, a lower management role he has held since March 2021.

The union was formed on May 31 by an 18-0 vote. It has gone on strike twice  once in June and again in July.

Tripathi said Starbucks increased pay for non-union stores on Aug. 1, but delayed the raises for union locations until Aug. 28. That prompted the letters of demand handed to the manager.

Starbucks rolled out new benefits on Aug. 1, giving employees either a 3 percent raise or bringing them up to $15 an hour, with the new national average for Starbucks employees being about $17 an hour, a spokesperson said.

"The law is clear: once a store unionizes, no changes to benefits are allowed without good faith collective bargaining," according to a statement made by the company on July 19. "Partners still have access to all Starbucks benefits already in place when the petition was filed, but any changes to your wages, benefits and working conditions that Starbucks establishes after that time would not apply to you and would have to be bargained."

As for the report filed by Morris, Tripathi disputed the claim she was kept from leaving.

In the video, you can see that shes going right towards the front door, which was unlocked," said Tripathi, who is among the 11 placed on leave. "Nobody was blocking the front door or anything. She could have left at any time but decided to stay inside the store and talk to our district manager.

He said Morris asked at one point if she could leave.

And, of course, all of us say yes," he said. "We're not going to block her in the store. We were pretty well-trained by Workers United for direct actions.

The Starbucks spokesperson said Morris called the district manager because she was not experienced in how to handle the situation.

Morris "felt threatened and unsafe as a result of conduct by 11 store partners," the company said in a statement on Aug. 8. "This was the store managers first day working at this location. Consistent with our longstanding policy, we opened an investigation and suspended with pay the partners involved in the incident."

The store reopened Aug. 10 with eight employees operating the drive-thru only. The spokesperson said the employees placed on paid leave were the ones involved in the incident. Tripathi said the eight employees working at the store include seven union members and one person from another store.
Editors note: Now Open is a weekly series highlighting recently-opened restaurants in the Greenville area and around the Upstate. Look for a new restaurant every Friday at postandcourier.com/greenville/food. Have a suggestion? Email Eric Connor.

GREENVILLE  The husband-wife team behind Overbrook's newest eatery aimed to bring a taste of Philadelphia to Greenville. The people have responded.

Harry's Hoagie Shoppe is now open, with customers out the door.

The shop is the creation of Andrew Fallis and Michelle Pavlakos, who moved to Greenville five years ago.

The two have experience in the service industry. Their first foray in Greenville was Mike's Cheesesteaks, which opened two years ago in a 300-square-foot shipping container as part of the Gather GVL food collective downtown.

Originally from Philadelphia, Fallis knew the intricacies of two Philly staples: the cheesesteak and the hoagie. He began to hear requests to offer hoagies.

Like the Gather GVL space, Harry's new 1,000-square-foot space in a non-descript shopping center in Overbrook east of downtown isn't meant as a dine-in experience, though there are a handful of tables.

When it's busy, customers receive a text when their sandwich is ready.

A classic hoagie is a sandwich on a seeded roll almost cut in half. Meats, olive oil, red wine vinegar, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and sharp provolone are the base ingredients.

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The bread is imported from New Jersey, and the meat and cheese comes from Philadelphia.

The menu features the classic collection of ingredients with a choice of various meats, but also specialty hoagies that come in six or 12 inches.

The Tommy Gunn  a reference to Rocky's opponent in the Philadelphia streets in the movie Rocky 5  is made up of prosciutto, sweet cappicola, genoa salami and sweet pepper. The Godfather includes prosciutto, coppa, spicy soppressata, finocchio and roasted red peppers. The Porchetta has arugula pesto cream, fresh mozzarella, seasonal jam and sweet and hot peppers.

The menu offers side items like macaroni salad, potato salad, pickled cucumber and red onion, three bean salad or Utz chips.

The specialty to top off every sandwich? A Dum Dums sucker.

The shop is located at 1700 E. North St., just up the street from the Fork & Plough restaurant.

Hours are listed as summer hours  11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. The shop is closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

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BEAUFORT  Archaeologist Chester DePratter looked beyond the edge of the city. From the park at the bottom of The Point, he could see 5 miles down the Beaufort River.

"This is the highest point around," DePratter, a research professor at the SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, said to colleagues who assembled Aug. 10 to learn more about his dig underway. "Can you see that hazy thing in the far distance? That's Parris Island."

The park's dramatic location makes it a popular place for photos. But for earlier residents, DePratter reasoned, it would have been a great place to build a fort.

He poked his toe in the turf. A few feet below, he hoped to find evidence of a lost 17th century Scottish colony known as Stuarts Town.

The story of Stuarts Town

History buffs eager to educate the public about the search for Stuarts Town taped up a sign posing the natural question: What the heck is it?

Here's the story.

In 1684, a few dozen Presbyterian Scots came to today's Beaufort area, seeking freedom from religious persecution in Scotland.

The British noblemen who claimed the lands of Carolina welcomed the Scots. Among other things, they wanted a buffer between the English settlement of Charles Towne and the Spanish territorial capital of St. Augustine.

In a few years, the British expected thousands of Scots to settle the area.

Initially, a few hundred crossed the Atlantic to Charles Towne. Just 51 straggled onto Port Royal Island, ill and anxious about a Spanish attack.

Nevertheless, the leader of the group, Henry Erskine, Lord Cardross, imagined a thriving community.

He named the settlement after his wife, Catherine Stuart Erskine, and wrote that the group planned to clear 220 lots, each with a small adjacent farm. Within six months, the Scots, along with a few Englishmen who'd joined them, had established at least 40 houses, a church and a fort.

A fateful turn

Because almost all the Scottish settlers had been imprisoned in their homeland for their beliefs, they particularly wanted peace in Carolina. They hoped to establish friendly relations with the Spanish and become trading partners. Already they had allied with the Yamasee in the area, even providing the Natives with shotguns and pistols.

But the Spanish had a different attitude about the Scots: They saw the newcomers as intruders on their territory, which they had claimed since the time of Christopher Columbus.

In March 1686, events took a fateful turn.

A group of Yamasee, armed by the Scots, raided a Spanish mission. They killed some people, burned several towns, stole items from a church and brought back prisoners, whom they sold as slaves.

Six months later, the Spanish took revenge.

In August, they launched a surprise attack on Stuarts Town. About 150 men drove the Scots into the woods. Then they plundered the houses, slaughtered the livestock, and torched the town.

From there the Spanish troops continued on toward Charles Towne. They planned to invade the English settlement, but managed only to wreak havoc on the south end of Edisto Island before a hurricane stopped their progress.

As for the Scots, a few of the survivors integrated into Charles Towne. Most returned to Europe. No effort was made to resettle Stuarts Town.

'Crossroads of colonialism'

For a short-lived settlement, surviving only between 1684 and 1686, Stuarts Town has attracted a fair amount of attention.

"People are always interested in the earliest examples of whatever," said Jon Marcoux, an archaeologist from Clemson University who had come to Beaufort to learn more about DePratter's search for Stuarts Town. His face shone with sweat as he followed DePratter through downtown Beaufort's restaurant-and-shopping district. "In this case, (Stuarts Town) is one of the earliest colonial examples of a settlement here in the area."

The Scots' story also expands people's understanding about American history, said Charles Cobb, a professor of historical archaeology at the University of Florida and DePratter's partner leading the dig.

While DePratter showed visitors around, Cobb sifted dirt from a neat, rectangular hole at the busy intersection of Craven and Carteret streets. It was one of more than 100 shovel tests a team of 10 archaeologists performed in the last week across a 400-acre section of downtown.

"I think we all have the same experience whenever it gets into 'the Puritans arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony,' and 'the first Thanksgiving,'" Cobb said. "It seems to be really one-sided."

In fact, America's Colonial past included many more players than just the English.

"The farther south you live in the South, you realize what an important presence the Spaniards were. The French were an important presence here, and the Scots were as well," Cobb said. "I mean, this area was a crossroads of colonialism."

An unexpected clue

Despite scholars' interest in Stuarts Town, no one knew its exact location. Until recently, conventional wisdom placed it about a mile and a half down the river from downtown Beaufort, in a neighborhood called Spanish Point.

Yet evidence of it had never been found there.

On a break from his hosting responsibilities, DePratter settled onto a park bench with a homemade ham sandwich and explained that he had been curious about Stuarts Town since the late 1980s.

As an archaeologist, DePratter has been called a jack of all trades, knowledgeable about South Carolina from thousands of years ago to the 1800s, and everything in between. But he has a particular reputation as an expert on Colonial times. In 1995, he helped find remnants of a 1562-63 French settlement at Santa Elena, on today's Parris Island. A few years ago, he uncovered evidence of the 1577 Spanish fort of San Marcos in the same area.

Earlier in his career, DePratter hadn't exactly expected to look for Stuarts Town. But in 2000 he attended a conference at the College of Charleston and found himself sitting next to a researcher who studied Scottish colonies in America.

"And he said, 'Oh, I've got a map. You might be interested,'" DePratter said.

A few days later, the researcher emailed DePratter the map, created centuries ago in Carolina, sent to England, and filed in some archives. It seemed to show Stuarts Town below today's downtown Beaufort.

"So I've been sitting on that map for 22 years waiting to come do this," DePratter said. "This is a search to see if we can find clues as to whether it's really there."

In a best-case scenario, DePratter can imagine finding the perfect artifact.

"Maybe we'll get lucky. We'll dig a hole and we'll hit a burned floor and then we'll find a glass bottle embossed with the name Henry Erskine, Lord Cardross."

But that's unlikely.

For one thing, the Scots simply didn't occupy Stuart Town long enough to lose or throw away a lot of material goods, DePratter said.

For another, whatever comes out of the ground will be dirty. Identifying it will require washing and examination. Even if archaeologists uncovered the perfect artifact, it would be a matter of weeks before "we could say yes or no, we think we found Stuarts Town," DePratter said.

Putting the town on the map

Three days into the dig, the team had mostly found modern-day detritus: nails, oyster shells, a broken whiskey bottle.

As far as earlier artifacts went, there was some whiteware pottery from the early 1800s, Cobb said.

But he didn't expect to uncover too many intact objects from Stuarts Town anyway.

"The Scots abandoned the place so rapidly, they were leaving their dinner on the table, that kind of thing," Cobb said. Given that scenario, Cobb thought archaeologists might find carbonized wood, with household goods buried in the mix. "The smoking gun we would be looking for is burns."

"We're looking for a layer of charcoal, essentially," DePratter said.

But it's always possible the team won't find anything at all. As DePratter describes it, archaeology requires tremendous patience and persistence for an outcome that may never materialize.

So what motivates people to put in the hours, peering into dank pits during some of South Carolina's hottest days?

"That's how knowledge proceeds," DePratter said. "People don't want to go into (a museum) and see a bundle of things without any good information on where those things came from or how they fit into the big picture. ... Putting places like Stuarts Town on the map makes it a more complete record."

Right now, DePratter said, few people even know Beaufort had a Scottish settlement. He hopes that by interpreting some of the subtle clues about the past, providing context to pieces of ceramics or metal or glass, he can provide a clearer history of this part of the world.

"You can say, 'This was taken to Stuarts Town by Scots, destroyed by Spaniards in 1686 and then found by archaeologists in 2022.'"
Kingstree, SC (29556)

Today

Mostly cloudy in the morning then periods of showers later in the day. High 82F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain after midnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
CONWAY  A Horry County jury convicted a Loris man of murder and attempted murder in connection to a 2018 fatal shooting on Aug. 10.

Tyshawn Brown, 28, of Loris, was convicted of murder and attempted murder in an April 24, 2018, shooting that killed 20-year-old Charles Bo Durant II and severely injured Durants 19-year-old girlfriend at the time, said Joshua Holford, the senior assistant solicitor who along with Adam Harrelson, an assistant solicitor, prosecuted the case for the 15th Circuit Solicitors Office.

Circuit Court Judge Thomas Cooper presided over the trial and sentenced Brown to life in prison, which means he will serve the rest of his natural life incarcerated. Brown was also sentenced to the maximum of 30 years in prison for the charge of attempted murder.

Durant and his girlfriend were in a vehicle at Spring and Church Streets in Loris when Brown drove up, jumped from his vehicle and fired multiple times into the car, striking Durant and the woman, according to a press release from the circuit solicitor's office. Multiple people saw the shooting and provided police with information regarding the incident.

Brown shot Durant because Durant did not want to be a part of the street gang  a Blood set  of which Brown was a member. Brown burned his clothes, got rid of the murder weapon, and immediately fled Horry County following the shooting. He was not found until he was detained on drug charges in February 2020 in New York. Brown was then returned to Horry County and held in jail until the trial this week.

Mr. Durants family have been really involved in this case from the beginning. He was their only son, a good kid, and loved by so many in the community. That was made evident by the number of friends and family who showed up to trial in support of Durant, the female victim, and their family, Holford said.

Out of respect for her privacy, we have not named the female victim in this release. She and her family have also been involved from day one. It takes a lot of strength and courage it took to stand up and face the man who shot and killed her boyfriend and tried to kill her, Holford said. There wasnt a fight between them, this wasnt over drugs, this wasnt a robbery, and Durant did not have any weapons. There is really no reason for it. This was a truly senseless murder.

Brown was identified as the only person who shot Durant, but charges remain pending for his co-defendant Heath Reaves, who was also in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

We appreciate all the people who came forward and said what they saw and what they knew because without them doing so there would be no justice for this young man and his family, Holford said. Horry County Police officers and detectives did a great job in this case and although they were not able to take Brown into custody right after the shooting, they immediately knew who was involved and continued to look for him.
Charleston publishing company founder Charles Lloyd "Pete" Wyrick Jr., who spent decades shoring up the city's distinct character, died on Aug. 5 at the age of 83.

Wyrick worked expansively, if unassumingly, to offer a spotlight and a platform for the Lowcountry's artists and cultural leaders, as well as its intrinsic attributes. He did so through his book publishing company, through his arts leadership and through his advocacy of numerous local organizations.

Widely regarded for his deep reserves of knowledge that he kept in gracious check, the accomplished Wyrick cut a wide swath through the arts, culture and conservation world in Charleston and beyond. He was equally versed in literature and photography, in fine art and in music. He was as committed to the heights of Charleston civilization as he was to the coastal wilds.

In 1986, he founded Wyrick & Company, serving as editor and publisher and enlisting his literary-minded wife Connie in the enterprise. There, they shone light on all manner of cultural people and pursuits. He regularly strove to highlight artists like Mary Whyte, culinary stars such as Craig Deihl and Nathalie Dupree, as well as a range of charismatic, culturally-minded local figures from Gertrude Sanford Legendre to Dawn Langley Simmons.

Harlan Greene, scholar in residence in Special Collections at the College of Charleston, came to know Wyrick when the two spent time securing the Wyrick & Company archives in the Nathan and Marlene Addlestone Library.

Greene cites the publisher's numerous contributions to the Lowcountry by way of the books he created, which were never compromises to the bottom line, but were instead elegant combinations of form and content. Greene also commended the company's willingness to help authors break into often-elusive print.

Another of Wyrick's print endeavors was the continuation of Poor William's Omnibus, the cheeky Charleston newspaper conceived by artist William van Hettinga. Wyrick kept it going after its founder died  an endeavor that Greene surmised was likely more of a labor of love than a business venture.

With their shared interest in books, and in local history, Greene and Wyrick crossed paths regularly. The archivist was often struck by the modest charm of his polymath friend. Wyrick could lay claim to being a former art and architecture critic, an award-winning poet, a lifelong athlete, a casual guitarist, a former chairman of the city of Charleston's Board of Architectural Review and a great wing shot, too.

"He never displayed his broad knowledge and deep understanding of the humanities and human beings unless it came up in conversation, and then you realized what depth and breadth he had," Greene said.

Prior to founding his publishing company, Wyrick and his family landed in Charleston in 1980 when he was appointed director of the Gibbes Museum of Art, after previously holding that position at the Delaware Art Museum.

As museum director at the Gibbes, he was also member of the Art Museum Directors Association of America, representing the United States in cultural exchanges with China and Costa Rica.

"He was my go-to person," said Angela Mack, executive director and chief curator of the Gibbes Museum of Art. Mack started working with Wyrick at the Gibbes in 1981, and came to value both the heft of his expertise and his perennial kindness  as well as his support of working mothers at a time when they were more often the exception than the norm.

Mack credited Wyrick for modernizing the museum and bringing a broader perspective to it, while also diversifying its collection by adding a range of South Carolina artists. The two continued to work together through the years, with Wyrick becoming a board member and a supporter of the museum.

At the same time, Wyrick cultivated a deep commitment to safeguarding the singular aspects of South Carolina, from its historic buildings to its barrier islands. He possessed a profound reverence for the natural world, traveling each summer with his family to Wrightsville Beach to relish surf-side interludes.

He became a founding member and first president of the Coastal Conservation League, joining forces with founding Executive Director Dana Beach to raise the profile of the then-fledging organization based in Charleston.

But those who knew him say that it was his unobtrusive approach to cultural advocacy that was his subtle secret weapon, one that allowed him to make a significant impact without wielding overt displays of his vast wisdom.

"If you brought up any topic, he could speak to it, never in a battle of wits, but always in a kindly, yet authoritative way, meeting you at your level, but suggesting there was much more to be explored," Greene said, observing that the idea of the gentleman publisher, which is thought to have vanished in the gilded age or the early 20th century, lingered longer in Charleston in the person of Pete Wyrick, who kept culture in so many formats in the forefront of the Lowcountry.

Wyrick's gentle approach was known to move mountains in Charleston's cultural sector. "He got other people to think about things that they normally might not think about," Mack said. "That was the beauty of Pete."

Born in May of 1939, Wyrick was raised in Greensboro, N.C. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Davidson College and a master of arts degree in creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He continued his pre-doctoral studies at the University of Missouri while serving on the faculty of Stephens College. He served a four-year term of duty in Army Intelligence at Fort Holabird in Maryland and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Wyrick is survived by Constance Wyrick, his wife of 59 years; his sons, Charles (Katherine) of Little Rock, Ark., Christopher (Sandi) of Los Angeles; grandchildren, Charles Harrison, Helen Constance and Silas McSween; brother Louis, sister, Melinda Ogburn (Jim) and many cousins, nephews and nieces.

Services will take place in the fall at First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro. Memorial contributions can be made to the Coastal Conservation League, Gibbes Museum of Art, Historic Charleston Foundation or the American Heart Association. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr.
A man wielding a hatchet attacked a couple, killing one person and injuring another while they were sleeping in a wooded area behind a Walmart on James Island, according to authorities.

Theodore Wagner was arrested Aug. 12 in the attack. The 42-year-old Charleston man was booked into the Charleston County jail on charges of murder, attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. He waived his 2 p.m. bond hearing.

Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo ONeal identified the deceased as Sean Strojny, a 36-year-old Ohio man who was residing in Charleston.

It was the first of two homicides Charleston police investigated that night.

No arrests have been made in the second homicide, which occurred at the Bridgeview Village apartments on North Romney Street.

Hatchet slaying

Police officers responded after 8 p.m. Aug. 11 to the Walmart parking lot located off Folly Road on James Island for a report of an ongoing assault, according to arrest warrant affidavits.

In a wooded area at the end of the lot, they found a 34-year-old woman with a large cut on her upper arm, affidavits state.

The woman told officers she and her boyfriend were asleep in a tent when she heard another man approach asking for a cigarette.

Seconds later, the man "shredded the tent," attacking the couple with what was later identified as a hatchet, affidavits state.

The woman escaped and ran to a nearby parking lot screaming for help. A witness dialed 911 and waited with the woman for police. Meanwhile, the assailant "emerged from the woods, stood facing them silent for several seconds, then turned around, and went back into the woods," according to the affidavit.

The woman told police she recognized the man. He'd approached the couple hours earlier, asking about another nearby tent. It belonged to the couple, but they offered to let him use it.

The stranger stayed in the tent during a storm earlier that day, she told officers.

The woman was taken to the hospital for injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. The laceration on her arm required several stitches, affidavits state.

After hearing her account, Charleston police dispatched officers and canine units. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office sent deputies and a helicopter to search for the male victim, Charleston police Inspector Mike Gillooly said. They soon found the shredded tent, blood smeared on its sides, according to the affidavits.

Officers followed a blood trail from the tent for about 40 yards until they found Strojny. He had suffered "multiple wounds to his head ... inflicted by a weapon with a large sharp blade," the affidavits state.

Officers found nearby a Hart-brand hatchet with fresh blood and hair on the blade.

Strojny was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives next searched the tent the stranger used that day.

Inside, they found packaging materials for three items: a hatchet, a box cutter and a flashlight, according to affidavits.

A sheriff's deputy detained Wagner before 2 a.m. Aug. 12 while he was walking along Folly Road, about 2 miles from the crime scene. A box cutter and some of its packaging was found in his backpack, affidavits state. It matched the materials that were found in the stranger's tent.

Wagner had a run-in Aug. 8 with Charleston police. During that encounter, Wagner wore clothing similar to that described by the surviving victim, according to the affidavits.

The woman identified Wagner as their attacker from a photo lineup. A composite sketch was drawn based on her description of the stranger. It also resembled Wagner, affidavits state.

Crime scene tape still closed off part of the shopping center's parking lot at 9 a.m. Aug. 12. Dirty rags, smashed beer cans and a shopping cart containing a loaf of Italian bread lay inside the taped off boundary.

James Island resident Bobby Carter, who identified himself as a former employee of the Walmart, said people have lived at the edge of the parking lot or in the woods that surround the store since at least 2015.

Bridgeview shooting

A second homicide in the city was reported at 1:30 a.m. Aug. 12.

Officers dispatched to a shooting at the Bridgeview Apartment Complex, 102 North Romney St., located a 31-year-old woman in the breezeway suffering at least one gunshot wound. Officers attempted to resuscitate the victim, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The coroner identified the victim as Jasmine Benjamin, of Summerville.

Neighbors gathered later that morning outside the two-story apartment building where the shooting occurred, chatting about what might have went down. They declined to speak on the record about the shooting.

Strojny and Benjamin were the sixth and seventh homicide victims reported this year in Charleston.

Anyone with information about the homicides is asked to call the Charleston Police Department at 843-743-7200 and ask to speak with an on-duty central detective. Anonymous tips can be made by contacting Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111.
A Charleston sex offender who swapped sexually explicit photos with a 14-year-old girl in West Virginia has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.

Scott Ashley Cascone came under scrutiny from federal authorities in November 2015, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Shoemake. An undercover federal agent was monitoring an online chatroom when a member with the screenname "unclebaddy" posted a web link to a child pornography video. The agent traced the user's IP address to Cascone's home in Charleston.

Cascone was already known to local law enforcement at that time. The 48-year-old man was on bail while awaiting trial in Charleston County on charges of criminal sexual exploitation of a minor and criminal sexual conduct with a minor, both first-degree felonies.

Cascone pleaded guilty in February 2016 to third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, court records show. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but five years were suspended for probation. He was required to register as a sex offender as a result of the conviction.

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations continued their probe into Cascone's online activities as the state case unfurled. They learned West Virginia State Police were also investigating Cascone for online communications he had with a 14-year-old girl.

On three occasions, the Charleston man had enticed the girl to send him sexually explicit images, authorities say. HSI agents executed a search warrant at Cascone's residence, as well as his online file-sharing account, where they found "numerous images and videos of child pornography," Shoemake said.

Cascone admitted in an interview he sent sexually explicit images to the girl, in addition to receiving them, the federal prosecutor added.

In July 2018, Cascone was arrested on a 12-count indictment that included charges of child pornography possession, child enticement, child pornography distribution and transferring obscene materials to a minor.

He pleaded guilty in August 2019 in Charleston's U.S. District Court to one count of production of child pornography.

Judge Margaret Seymour sentenced him Aug. 3 to 25 years in prison followed by a lifetime of court-ordered supervision. He was also ordered to pay $27,500 in restitution.
ORANGEBURG  An Eutawville police officer shot and killed a man Aug. 11 following an exchange of gunfire, according to state officials.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents are investigating the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Tyler Mendez.

Mendez, who police said was armed, died at the scene. No officers were injured, according to SLED statement.

SLED did not provide any further details in the incident.

This is the 23rd officer-involved shooting in South Carolina this year, according to SLED. It is the first this year in the rural town, which gained national attention following the May 2011 shooting of Bernard Bailey.

In 2015, the town's ex-police chief, Richard Combs, faced two murder trials, each ending in hung juries and mistrials, before he pleaded guilty to a misconduct charge. He was sentenced to five years probation and one year of house arrest.
KIAWAH ISLAND  The long legal fight over plans to build homes on a strip of land at the southern tip of the island is heading back to court.

A year after a state Supreme Court decision stopped developers from building 50 homes on Captain Sam's Spit, conservationists are appealing the town of Kiawah Island's decision last month to grant developers an extension to update their plans.

The lawsuit agues that the plan, known as a preliminary plat, doesn't qualify for the extension the Planning Commission approved, and even if it did, developers missed the legal deadline to ask for it.

We must do everything we can to ensure that the Spit remains a protected resource for current and future generations of South Carolinians who benefit from having such a valuable natural area to recreate in and enjoy, said a statement from Amy Armstrong, executive director at South Carolina Environmental Law Project, which filed the appeal in Charleston County circuit court this month on behalf of the nonprofit group Preserve Kiawah. The plan cannot even be accomplished as proposed because of the significant changes to the Spit over time, as anyone who visits the Spit frequently is keenly aware.

Captain Sam's Spit is an undisturbed teardrop-shaped piece of land on the southern tip of Kiawah situated between the Kiawah River and Atlantic Ocean. It's one of three publicly accessible barrier islands in the state that is free of development.

Town leaders last month said the extension doesn't allow Kiawah Development Partners to start with any construction in the area.

"We take these concerns very seriously and intend to fully defend the Planning Commissions actions in a court of law," Town spokesman Chris Makowski said in an email. "The Town and its attorney are reviewing all the information and will continue to keep the community updated."

The battle over whether to build on it or preserve it first entered the courts in 2009, resulting in three cases that made it to the state Supreme Court. Last year, the court ruled that state regulators were wrong in their approval of permits for a 2,380-foot steel wall along the narrow neck connecting Captain Sam's to Kiawah. The wall is needed to protect the area where the road to get to the homes would go, but conservationists fear it could cause erosion at a nearby sandy bank on the Kiawah River side of the spit.

The Supreme Court ruling found the state placed too much emphasis on the economic benefits and too little on the environmental risks in light of state law that protects tidal areas like beaches and marshes. A lawyer for the developers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Leslie Lenhardt, a lawyer for SCELP, said it's not clear what the developers want to build or how they would accomplish it after losing last year in court, but "every avenue we have to challenge it, we will do it."
COLUMBIA  Curtis Smith, an alleged accomplice of disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh, will be jailed indefinitely for violating conditions of his house arrest and misrepresenting his net worth during a previous bond hearing, a judge decided Aug. 11.

And in the same hearing, the S.C. Attorney General's Office announced fraud charges against another man alleged to have received checks from Murdaugh, the former Hampton County lawyer accused of stealing millions of dollars from his clients and murdering his wife and son.

Circuit Judge Clifton Newman revoked Smiths bond after state prosecutors disclosed that the 62-year-old trucker left his Lowcountry home more than two dozen times over a two-week span in July. Creighton Waters, a prosecutor in the Attorney General's Office, also revealed that Smith had nearly $58,500 in his account when he claimed to be broke in a June bond hearing before Newman.

Newman had released Smith from jail on bond to await trial on a slew of drug trafficking, money laundering and fraud charges tied to his association with Murdaugh.

The charges against Smith carry a possible penalty of decades in prison, if convicted. The disabled logger and handyman has repeatedly claimed he did nothing wrong.

His defense attorneys, Jarrett Bouchette and Aimee Zmroczek, said their client didn't fully understand what it meant to be on house arrest. Most of his trips were for his work as a trucker, which are allowable, they said. Others were to grocery stores to pick up prescriptions for his back injury. One, they said, was to help a 77-year-old friend after trees fell in his yard.

Bouchette and Zmroczek said their client didn't mean to mislead Newman when he told him, "I ain't got no money" at his June bond hearing. They said Smith was merely trying to explain that he wasn't the ultimate beneficiary of an alleged drug trafficking and money laundering scheme in which Murdaugh wrote Smith hundreds of checks worth more than $2.4 million between October 2013 and February 2021.

Newman ruled that Smith had willfully violated his bond and ordered the man jailed. He said he could revisit his decision later.

Smith is one of three Murdaugh associates to be ensnared in the ongoing criminal investigations into the once-respected trial lawyer, who himself has been detained at the Richland County jail since last October.

Grand juries also have issued indictments against former Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte and suspended Beaufort lawyer Cory Fleming. Both are charged with helping Murdaugh as he discreetly stole some $8.5 million over the past decade from legal settlements owed to his law clients and others who trusted him.

Yet state prosecutors might have a fourth Murdaugh associate in their sights.

Just before Smith's hearing, Waters announced the state grand jury, which is currently investigating Murdaugh, had brought fraud charges against Spencer Roberts. The lifelong Walterboro resident is accused of lying to the government to collect more than $40,000 in unemployment benefits and government business loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roberts claimed he had been laid off from a company that didn't actually exist, Waters said. He also applied for and received federal coronavirus aid to cover payroll for a fictitious small business he claimed to run, the prosecutor alleged.

Roberts' attorney, Mark Peper of Charleston, all but admitted his client's wrongdoing.

He decided there was a quick and easy way to make some money, and hes going to man up to that," Peper said.

But Peper told Newman his client is not a flight risk and has no criminal history over the past decade.

That prompted Waters to publicly connect Roberts to the Murdaugh cases. Waters said Roberts had received a number of checks that "allegedly originated from Alex Murdaugh." Waters also mentioned that a trio of search warrants executed at addresses associated with Roberts turned up cash, drugs and a Glock 22 handgun.

Newman set his bond at $200,000 and required Roberts to be placed on house arrest, if released.

Reached after the hearing, Peper said he thinks Waters brought up Murdaugh in an effort to drive up Roberts' bond amount, which Peper called "a bit excessive." Peper said he suspects authorities are charging his client in order to pressure Roberts to testify against Murdaugh.

Roberts would be the newest defendant investigators have publicly tied to Murdaugh's alleged web of criminality.

Smith, a distant cousin of Murdaugh's, was the first.

Smith began playing a starring role in the Murdaugh saga last September, when state police arrested him on charges of shooting Murdaugh in the head as part of a botched insurance fraud scheme.

The bizarre shooting, which came three months after Murdaugh's wife and son were murdered on the familys spacious Colleton County hunting property, quickly made national news. Murdaugh initially claimed he was shot by an unknown assailant who drove by while he stopped to inspect a flat tire on the side of a rural Hampton County road.

Days later, Murdaugh retracted that story. He told State Law Enforcement Division agents he enlisted Smith to kill him so he could leave behind a $10 million life insurance payout for his remaining son, Buster Murdaugh Jr.

Murdaughs attorneys said their client fell into a deep, drug-fueled depression in the months after finding Maggie and Paul Murdaugh shot to death. Murdaugh would have killed himself, but he mistakenly believed his life insurance policy wouldn't pay out for a death by suicide, they said.

Smith vigorously denied Murdaughs version of events. He said he agreed to meet Murdaugh, his former lawyer, but never signed up to kill him. Smith said Murdaugh began acting erratically and pulled out a gun. Smith claimed he tried to stop the lawyer from shooting himself, but he conceded the gun might have gone off while they wrestled for control of it.

Murdaugh survived the shooting, and Smith took the gun and ditched it, all sides agreed.

In an interview with NBC's Craig Melvin, Smith insisted if he had meant to kill Murdaugh, the lawyer would be dead.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey and his wife, Debbie, conspired to sideline and then terminate a longtime city staffer in July after the employee's son posted a negative social media comment about the mayor's son, a new federal lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit also alleges Summey and the employee, DeLisa Reynolds, had "past sexual contact," and that the mayor's wife knew about it and tried to intimidate Reynolds.

"By standing up to habitual abuse of power, I hope to make the work environment safer for others," Reynolds said Aug. 11, moments after filing a 13-page complaint in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

The lawsuit follows a report in June by The Post and Courier that detailed Reynolds' explosive allegations of unwanted sexual advances, as well as what she described as a petty campaign of retribution after her son wrote a brief Instagram comment about Elliott Summey, head of the Charleston International Airport.

Reynolds coordinated special events at the former Navy base but was moved to an archival job earlier this year.

Keith Summey, 75, declined to comment Friday, and officials had yet to be formally served with the lawsuit.

But in June, Summey strenuously denied that he had a sexual relationship with Reynolds, had made any sexual advances toward her and other women, or engaged in any workplace retaliation. On Friday, the city's attorney, Derk Van Raalte, said in a statement: "Mayor Summeys previous comments regarding this matter have not changed." City officials wouldn't be making any other comments, he added.

The new lawsuit casts a harsh light on the Summeys, one of the most powerful political families in the Charleston area. And it does so at the twilight of Summey's long career in local politics.

First elected mayor in 1994, Summey has steered North Charleston with a mix of geniality and force, occasionally generating criticism over his close relationships with developers and moves to place his children in positions of power.

Reynolds' lawsuit also echoes another legal battle more than two decades ago.

In that lawsuit, city employees Paula Williams and Dianne Greer-Chapman alleged that Summey repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances toward them.

Among the more specific allegations: Summey French-kissed pieces of candy into Williams' mouth against her will and cornered Greer-Chapman in a vault next to her office and ran his hand up her leg, under her skirt, toward her private parts. The city in 2000 settled the cases for $150,000.

In recent interviews with the The Post and Courier, Williams and Greer-Chapman said they weren't surprised by Reynolds' allegations.

"I totally believe her," said Williams, of Charleston. She said North Charleston employees ostracized her after she filed her lawsuit. She said that during that stressful period she developed severe health problems that still affect her.

Greer-Chapman recalled that many Charleston attorneys refused to take her case because they didn't want to butt heads with the Summeys.

She eventually moved to Tennessee, where she continued to work in government. Even then, she said, North Charleston officials began a whispering campaign, calling her new employers in failed attempts to discredit her.

"I was lucky because I had a good support structure, and people here basically backed me up," she said. She was left feeling that some North Charleston public officials "really want to do what's best for the city. And there are others who want to use their power to get what they can."

The new lawsuit alleges that the mayor and his wife began a campaign of retaliation on Oct. 3. That day, The Post and Courier published a story about Elliott Summey and his work in Awendaw.

The report revealed how Elliott Summeys company, Jackson Development, mined millions of dollars in sand and dirt from a future park site in Awendaw, then left the town in the dark about how much money taxpayers should have received in royalties. One of Reynolds' children posted a comment about the story on Instagram: "I wouldn't expect anything less. Crooked ass wanna be politician."

That evening, Reynolds received a phone call from the North Charleston finance director asking about her department's finances, the lawsuit said.

City officials then created a toxic work environment over the coming months, leading to Reynolds' removal from her Navy base position and, eventually, a July 6 email saying that she was being terminated, the lawsuit alleged. Several hours after that email, the city sent a tow truck driver to her home and hauled off her city vehicle, the lawsuit said.

In June, Summey told The Post and Courier that he and his wife had been longtime friends and former business partners with Reynolds.

He said that when he moved her out of the Navy base job, the city didn't cut her pay. Shes a smart girl," Summey said previously. "Shes capable of doing a lot of things. But I dont know if its a lack of confidence that puts her in a position where she feels people challenge her."

But David Massey and Summer Tompkins, Reynolds' lawyers from Columbia, said in a statement that Summey and the city "violated the rule of law for personal advantage." Their lawsuit asks for unspecified damages.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms in the morning becoming more widespread in the afternoon. High 83F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 73F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Partly cloudy in the morning. Thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 82F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 73F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
COLUMBIA  U.S. Rep. William Timmons will run unopposed in November under a split ruling by South Carolina election commissioners, who decided Democrats can't replace their candidate who withdrew this week.

In a 3-2 vote Aug. 12, the State Election Commission ruled that Kenneth Hill's reason for dropping out didn't meet the "legitimate, nonpolitical" standard in state law for substituting him on the ballot.

Commissioners did not take testimony, but rather only considered Hill's short explanation for exiting the race.

"After much thought and self-reflection, I have determined that my work responsibilities in NY State preclude me from running an effective campaign and responding to concerns by citizens of the 4th District," Hill wrote in an Aug. 9 email to the commission.

The majority of commissioners argued Hill didn't show anything had changed in his situation to warrant reopening the candidate filing process. If the vote had gone the other way, a primary could have been necessary to decide who would challenge Timmons in the congressional district that includes Greenville and Spartanburg counties.

State Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson contends the ruling was wrong, and the party may challenge it in court.

"It was obvious the votes were known before the meeting occurred," he said. "We think the commission got this wrong by denying the people of the 4th District a choice."

The state Democratic Party sued earlier this week to keep Labor Party candidates for governor and the 1st Congressional District off ballots, arguing that party's convention missed a state deadline. A hearing in that case is set for Aug. 16 in Richland County Court, though gubernatorial candidate Gary Votour told The Post and Courier he's requesting a delay as he still needs to hire a lawyer.

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Hill, a nuclear inspector, began working full-time at the Indian Point nuclear power station north of New York City last month, he told The Post and Courier ahead of the meeting.

"It's hard to keep your finger on the pulse when you're working way up here," he said by phone from his job site near Peekskill, N.Y.

When he filed for the office in March, he said, he was working in Augusta, and going home to Simpsonville on the weekends.

"I did not anticipate working up here," he said.

As to the timing of his withdrawal, Hill said he decided he should do so before Labor Day, when campaigns really start catching voters' attention.

"Its the dog days of summer," he said. "Labor Day is when people would start pounding the ground, and thats when my job was really going to ramp up. So it wasnt feasible to keep the campaign going, even though I had people reach out to me to volunteer."

Timmons won a four-way GOP primary in June with 53 percent of the vote in a region considered a Republican stronghold. Hill had no opponent in June and never filed a campaign report with the Federal Election Commission.
COLUMBIA  The woman who robbed a Forest Acres credit union in 2019, one of the most high-profile cases in the area, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison. She and her accomplice also are accused of robbing a bank in Connecticut, running off with around $83,000 just a few months before the Forest Acres heist.

On Aug. 9, Daisy Feliberty, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery and six counts of kidnapping before Richland County Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman, who sentenced her.

In March 2022, Feliberty's accomplice in the Forest Acres robbery, Samual Neathery, 32, was sentenced to 29 years in prison after pleading guilty to armed robbery and six counts of kidnapping, according to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court Solicitors office.

Feliberty and Neathery, both from Florida, robbed the South Carolina Federal Credit Union in Forest Acres in February 2019. They corralled the credit union employees into the lobby and then forced them at gunpoint to take the pair to the vault, according to the solicitors office. They were able to get more than $10,000 from a cash dispenser.

One employee who was working the drive-thru at the credit union saw a man pointing a gun and demanding money. The employee called 911 and escaped through the back door.

Feliberty and Neathery were leaving out the front door as law enforcement officers pulled up. Feliberty attempted to drive off, but crashed on Forest Drive. The solicitors office said a large amount of cash and multiple firearms were found in the vehicle, including a pistol that had been reported stolen in Florida.

Neathery ran back into the credit union and left through the back door. He was arrested 17 days later at a motel in Kissimmee, Florida, according to the solicitors office.

Feliberty and Neathery were also both charged by a federal grand jury with armed bank robbery for allegedly robbing the Peoples United Bank in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in December 2018. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

The two brandished firearms and, by force, violence and intimidation, took approximately $83,000 from the bank, according to a 2019 statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Connecticut announcing the indictment.

A federal jury in Hartford also charged them with one count of brandishing a firearm during a violent crime, which carries a prison sentence of at least seven years.

Neathery had previously been sentenced in Florida to 10 years in prison in May 2009 for robbery with a gun or deadly weapon charge in Polk County, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. He was released in 2018.

Click here for more news from Columbia, South Carolina.
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

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The energy crisis in Great Britain, and across Europe, continues to deepen. The concept now in the news is load shedding. The Telegraph reports:

[L]oad-shedding looks likely to become the buzzword of this winter amid warnings that blackouts of the developing world are making their way to Britain. As chaos in energy markets picks up pace and supplies falter, the UK faces a similar crisis of having to choose how to distribute demand for electrical power across multiple power sources. The spectre of organised blackouts risks Britain being dragged into a crisis to match the power cuts of the 1970s. Now, industry is pushing Government officials to finalise plans for reducing demand on the electricity grid to provide certainty ahead of winter. It would be the first managed decline of the countrys energy system for decades.

Consider that phrase: managed decline of the countrys energy system.

Yet the reality of life under energy rationing may be difficult for families in an advanced economy to swallow. Mark Nelson, managing director of consultancy Radiant Energy Group, says: Many developing countries have load-shedding, billions of people know what this means, its just rich countries have not had to deal with it. Nelson adds that while load-shedding is commonly described as blackouts, plans currently being put in place in Britain are very different. Blackouts we associate with sudden, accidental bad performance of the grid, but load-shedding is a planned, longer-term failure, he says. Load-shedding means the grid is fine but there just isnt enough power for everyone. Its a slower, managed decline of the country.

This is the path that the U.S. is now going down, in one of the most catastrophically stupid policy decisions in history. From the liberal Bloomberg: The US Industrial Complex Is Starting to Buckle From High Power Costs.

Europes fertilizer plants, steel mills, and chemical manufacturers were the first to succumb. Massive paper mills, soybean processors, and electronics factories in Asia went dark.

Now soaring natural gas and electricity prices are starting to hit the US industrial complex.

On June 22, 600 workers at the second-largest aluminum mill in America, accounting for 20% of US supply, learned they were losing their jobs because the plant cant afford an electricity tab thats tripled in a matter of months.

Much more at the link. The scale of the human tragedy we will witness if we do not reverse our current green course is incalculable.
There is much to be said about the FBIs raid on Donald Trumps home. I wont try to say it all here. These are a few observations, based on what we know currently:

* To get a search warrant, you have to identify a crime that has been committed, and explain how evidence you are looking for is relevant to that crime. At this point, we dont know what purported crime was the basis for the Mar-a-Lago search warrant.

* Earlier today, Attorney General Merrick Garland delivered a brief statement to the press, and declined to take questions. He looked remarkably nervous and said hardly anything. Only two points emerged: 1) he ordered the raid himself, and 2) the Department of Justice will unseal the documents that were filed in connection with the search warrant.

* No one doubted that the raid was ordered, at a minimum, by the Attorney General. I think it is virtually certain that Garland had authorization from his boss, Joe Biden.

* Multiple parties, including Judicial Watch, moved the Florida court to unseal the filings related to the search warrant. The magistrate gave the government until close of business on Monday to respond. In effect, Garland said today that DOJ will accede to these motions and unseal the records. It remains to be seen how informative they will be.

* President Trump, like other presidents before him, took files with him when he left the White House. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this. The Presidential Records Act, passed in 1978, says that the official records of a president are public property and belong to the National Archives. But a president can take with him, when he leaves office, personal papers as well asa point that I havent seen madecopies of documents, as long as they are marked as such and he leaves a copy for the Archives.

* Trump, like prior presidents, has negotiated with the National Archives about the materials he took with him. Earlier this year, he sent 15 boxes to the Archives. Subsequently, it is reported that representatives of the Archives came to Mar-a-Lago to review approximately 15 more boxes that Trump still had in his basement. While they were doing the review, Trump came downstairs to greet them. I dont think the contents of those boxes, the apparent target of the search warrant, are a mystery to the Archives or to DOJ. Maybe they were hoping to discover something new in Melanias closets.

* The DOJ, in its many press leaks, mostly to its in-house media organ the New York Times, keeps talking about classified information. This is because no penalty attaches to violation of the Presidential Records Act. The Biden administration has to allege the commission of a crime, and that most likely explains its references to classified information.

* I have no idea whether classified information is included in the 15 boxes that Trump has in his basement or not. It wouldnt be surprising. The serious criminal statutes on classified information relate to passing it on to, say, the Russians or Chinese. As far as we know, there is no suggestion that Trump gave classified information to anyone. He was perfectly entitled to know it and to view it himself; the issue is that he may have taken it to an unauthorized location, i.e., Mar-a-Lago. Until now, this has generally not been considered a serious offense. Sandy Berger is an exception, although he got a slap on the wrist. But in his case, the point was that he stole a document from the Archives, apparently something damaging to the Clinton administration, so as to delete it from the historical record. There is no such suggestion, as far as we know, with regard to Trump.

* Many people have drawn analogies between what Hillary Clinton did and whatever misdeed Trump may now be charged with. I dont see any comparison. Hillary, while Secretary of State, conducted official business on an illegal, off-the-books server located in her home, apparently for the purpose of evading the Freedom of Information Act. Most notably, the server was insecure, and the Russians, Chinese or others could have, and likely did, intercept her official communications as Secretary of State. Trump, on the other hand, has 15 boxes of documents in his basement. There is no comparison.

* It might be worth noting that 15 boxes, if that really is what is at stake, is a ridiculously small number of documents. As a lawyer, I supervised exchanges of hundreds or even thousands of boxes of documents. Fifteen boxes are a pittance, although it depends, of course, on what is in them.

* We will know more about the Mar-a-Lago raid within a few days, when the search warrant filings are unsealed. My guess, though, is that those documents will leave a lot of questions unanswered.

* The Democrats crossed the Rubicon when they raided Donald Trumps home. Never before in American history has anything like this happened. I think the consensus of the commentariat is correct: the Democrats had better have something really good up their sleeve, or the blowback will be intense. Hence Merrick Garlands sad performance today.
Negotiations with the Iranian regime facilitated by our Russian friends have culminated in a final text of a new nuke deal announced in Vienna this week on August 8. FDDs Richard Goldberg reviews the state of play in the disheartening essay Five minutes from disaster. Under the terms of a new deal:

Iran would receive $275 billion of sanctions relief in the first year and $1 trillion by 2030, including the lifting of U.S. terrorism sanctions imposed on the top financiers of a group President Joe Biden recently reaffirmed as a terrorist organization: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Tehran would face no changes in the old deals sunset clausesthat is, expiration dates on key restrictionsand would be allowed to keep its newly deployed arsenal of advanced uranium centrifuges in storage, guaranteeing the regime the ability to cross the nuclear threshold at any time of its choosing. As with the 2015 agreement, Iran would face no restrictions on its development of nuclear-capable missiles, its proliferation and sponsorship of terrorism throughout the Middle East, and its abuse of the Iranian people. And worst of all, Iran would win all these concessions while actively plotting to assassinate former U.S. officials like John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Pompeo adviser Brian Hook, and trying to kidnap and kill Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad on U.S. soil.

Emanuele Ottolenghis Tablet column Totalitarians Inc. supplements Goldbergs essay. It is hard to understand the thinking behind the promotion of such a deal in terms of the national interest of the United States. Brain death doesnt explain it. Suicidal self-delusion might do it.

The Biden administration waited until this week to unseal the August 5 criminal complaint against the IRGC operative charged with seeking the murder of former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton. The Iranian defendant was not in the United States and has not been taken into custody.

I cant think of any reason other than the finalization of the prospective deal to have sealed the complaint. The defendant appears to be beyond the reach of American justice (at large abroad, in the terms of the press release linked below), and the defendants superiors in the IRGC chain of command remain unnamed and uncharged.

Boltons colleagues in the AEI office cant be too thrilled with the plan as described in the charge. Moreover, the IRGC operative had a second (unnamed) target in mind. I gather it was Secretary Pompeo. It is apparent even from the Department of Justice press release on the case that the Iranians have operatives working on American soil.

The press release includes links to related materials and is posted here. The affidavit supporting the criminal complaint, for example, is posted here. The AP reported on the case here.

In an interview with FOX News digital reporter Brooke Singman, Bolton characterized the plot as an act of war, which of course it is, and called on Biden to give up the ghost of the deal with his prospective assassins. The AP quotes Boltons statement on the charge: While much cannot be said publicly right now, one point is indisputable: Irans rulers are liars, terrorists, and enemies of the United States. The FOX News interview quotes Bolton on this salient point that remains implicit in the complaint:

It is not just me, Bolton said. The regime in Tehran has targeted a lot of Americans. The aim here is to kill Americans on American soil, and its former government officials, Bolton explained. This is a broad threat to private American citizens on American soil, and I think it is, essentially, unprecedented.

The Biden administration cannot admit that the Iranian regime is at war with us any more than the Obama administration could. That death to America thing is simply boob bait for the Iranian bubbas, or something like that.

Im afraid that this will not be the final installment of the Iran edition of this series. More to come.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, says the ministry has secured no fewer than 1000 convictions on terrorism within 18 months.

Mr Malami disclosed this on Thursday at the 46th session of the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team in Abuja.

He said within the period under review, the ministry had been involved in 312 cases ranging from terrorism to maritime offences, armed robbery, cyber-crime and kidnapping, among others.

The minister said the justice sector encompassed all institutions of government involved in the administration, enforcement and dispensation of justice.

This sector extends beyond the federal level and cuts across sub-national entities and the three arms of government, namely the judiciary, the executive and the legislature.

Effective collaboration and coordination are therefore at the crux of the mandate of the Federal Ministry of Justice, he said.

Mr Malami said the briefing highlighted not only the policy initiatives of the ministry but also extended to critical achievements in the justice sector through policies and initiatives.

They are targeted at improving legislative policies, the judicial system, correctional system, law enforcement, constitutional guarantees and other critical component of the entire justice sector system.

All these are fundamental to ensuring access to justice, safety, security and in combating corruption as well economic and financial crimes in Nigeria, he stated.

Mr Malami said the justice sector, as with every other sector, had continued to witness some challenges which constituted impediments to justice.

He said through the instrumentality of the Office of the Attorney General, all justice sector stakeholders had built consensus.

He added that they had led to the identification of the challenges and resulted in the development and adoption of the first-ever National Justice Policy in 2017.

Mr Malami said: Following this landmark achievement of consensus among the justice sector stakeholders, all justice sector institutions across the country have continued to collaborate.

They have also provided frameworks for the realisation of the objectives set out in the National Justice Policy.

It is our firm expectation that the full implementation of the proposals in the national policy on the justice sector would lead to greater synergy and shared knowledge among all stakeholders involved in the administration of justice.

But, whatever successes we are about to unfold under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari are the products of that consensus.

We are happy to state for the first time in the history of this nation, we are doing wonderfully well arising from the consensus that has been built among these stakeholders in the administration of justice.

He said his focus was on criminal prosecution by the ministry in the last 18 months.

Mr Malami said that at a point, the country was confronted with the challenge related to the speedy administration of justice.

He said the Federal Ministry of Justice, through consensus building by the legislature, the executive and ministries, came up with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and its implementation to speed up prosecution.

We were confronted further with the challenge that high profile anti-corruption cases.

Those involved in it were using the proceeds of the crime in question to pose a greater challenge to what we are doing.

This is arising from their movements, arising from the deployment of such resources, we also came up the Executive Order No 6 which restricts their access to funding, the minister said.

He said that based on the act and the executive order, the foundation for the prosecution was laid.

The minister said that aside from collaborative achievements, the ministry had made exclusive landmark achievements.

So, arising therefrom, for example, by way of criminal prosecution, the Federal Ministry of Justice, exclusivelyI am not talking about the entire prosecution because other agencies of governmentEFCC, NDLEA, ICPC are equally involved in direct prosecution.

So, the Federal Ministry of Justice, within the 18 months period, I am talking about, was actively involved in the prosecution of 312 criminal cases.

These were for various offences including terrorism, maritime offences, armed robbery, cyber-crime and kidnapping, among others.

We have so far, as a ministry secured over 1000 convictions on terrorism within the period in consideration, he said.

(NAN)
The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the outcome of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary.

It comes as a signal that recent efforts by the party to reconcile him with the partys presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has not yielded positive result.

Mr Wike seeks, among other prayers, the courts pronouncement declaring him the PDPs presidential candidate for the 2023 election.

In the suit, Mr Wike sued the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Atiku, and Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State as defendants.

According to court documents, the PDP is listed as the first respondent while Atiku is the 2nd respondent.

Punch newspaper reports that the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022, has Mr Wike and a PDP chieftain, Newgent Ekamon, as the plaintiffs.

Mr Wike came second behind Atiku in the partys presidential primary election held in May. Mr Tambuwal, who was also a presidential aspirant, stepped down for Atiku at the last minute.

Mr Tambuwals last-minute withdrawal from the race is believed to have helped to secure victory for Atiku. Mr Tambuwal at the venue of the election urged his supporters to cast their votes for Atiku.

The former vice president ended up defeating 12 other aspirants including Mr Wike to emerge as the partys presidential flagbearer.

Of the 767 accredited ballots at the election, Atiku polled 371 votes while his closest challenger, Mr Wike, came second with 237 votes.

Nigerias former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, scored 70 votes to come a distant third while Governor of Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel, came fourth with 38 votes.

Mr Wike has fallen out with the party, and until recently, refused to meet with Atiku in the aftermath of the primary election. The subsequent choice of Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa as the partys presidential running mate over Mr Wike was also said to have deepened the Rivers State governors grievances against the party.

The party recently embarked on a move to reconcile Mr Wike and Atiku ahead of the 2023 election. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Wike demanded the resignation of the national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, as part of his conditions for reconciliation with Atiku.

But with Mr Wikes suit, it is clear the reconciliatory move has failed to mend the crack between the duo.

In his suit challenging the outcome of the primary election, Mr Wike cited the transfer of votes meant for Mr Tambuwal to Atiku as his major grouse.

Wike won the primary election

In a supporting affidavit that he deposed, Mr Ekamon, the co-plaintiff, noted that he was a member of the PDP and attested to the fact that Mr Wike won the presidential election.

He maintained that Mr Tambuwal withdrew from the contest after voting had commenced and directed that his votes be assigned to Atiku.

The third respondent (Tambuwal) speaking twice before stepping down from the contest, persuaded all his delegates who were going to vote for him to vote for the 4th respondent (Atiku).

The 1st (PDP) and 4th (Atiku) respondents who also wanted the votes desperately agreed with the 3rd (Tambuwal) and assigned 3rd (Tambuwal) respondents votes to the 4th (Atiku) respondent and increased his votes to win the 2nd applicant (Wike).

The 2nd applicant (Wike) won the primaries if the votes of the 3rd respondent (Tambuwal) had not been transferred or assigned to the 4th respondent (Atiku).

Issues for determination

The plaintiffs are asking the court to adjudicate on eight issues including whether the purported transfer of Mr Tambuwals votes to Atiku by the PDP was illegal.

They urged the court to determine if Mr Tambuwal lost his claim to votes the moment he stepped down for Atiku.

Another issue for the courts determination is whether the governor having stepped down during the primaries ought to lose his votes.

Prayers

In their prayers, Messrs Wike and Ekamon asked the court to declare that the purported transfer of Mr Tambuwals votes to Atiku is null and void.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs asked the court to declare that the PDP acted negligently and in bad faith by transferring Mr Tambuwals votes to Atiku at the primary.

They prayed the court to cancel the transfer of votes and a corresponding order restraining Mr Tambuwals withdrawal from the primary.

Messrs Wike and Ekamon urged the court to order INEC to reject or remove Atiku from its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election.

They asked the court to order the PDP to recount the votes of the primary that was held on May 28 and May 29.

The plaintiffs are seeking an order of the court directing the 1st respondent (PDP) to declare the 2nd applicant (Wike), a presidential aspirant in the May 28 and May 29 primary as the winner of the aforesaid primary with a corresponding order directing the 1st respondent (PDP) to forward his name as the candidate to contest the presidential election in 2023.

The suit has yet to be assigned to a judge for a hearing.
In spite of the state governments warning against drinking water from Osun River during the grand finale of the Osun Osogbo festival due to contamination, many devotees and visitors were sighted on Friday defying the warning.

Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the grove reports that some of the worshippers, who fetched the water in different sizes of Jerry Cans, were seen drinking the water on their way out of the grove.

Devotees and visitors, who had trooped out to the river side in their white attires and beads, were seen singing traditional songs and dancing.

One of the worshippers, Abidoye Osungbenro, told NAN that she has a strong faith that nothing would happen to her inspite of the fact that the water is contaminated .

Ms Osungbenro said the deity would protect her and others from any ailment as a result of drinking contaminated water.

She said the state governments warning against drinking the water would not be beneficial to those who believe in the efficacy of the water.

Another devotee, Adeoye Ifadayo, who also spoke with NAN, described the Osun River as divine, adding that it could heal and protect.

Mr Ifadayo said goverment warning would not stop them from drinking the water even if contaminated.

Also speaking, Sadiq Adeoso, another devotee, said with the divine power in the river, nothing would happen to those who drink the water because of its sacred powers.

NAN reports that those selling the Jerry cans made brisk business at the entrance of the grove.

Prices of the Jerry cans ranged from N150 to N350, depending on size.

During the festival, tourists, visitors and devotees usually drink from the Osun River for its perceived divine healing properties while some take the water home to bathe with.

NAN reports that government on Thursday had advised tourists and devotees to the grand finale of the festival to refrain from drinking the water because of contamination.

The Commissioner for Health, Rafiu Isamotu, gave the advice in an interview with NAN.

He said government embarked on sensitisation to discourage people from drinking the water during the festival as it had been contaminated by the activities of artisanal miners.

Mr Isamotu said public health officials would be at the grove during the festival to further sensitise people on the dangers of drinking the water.

According to the Curator and Site Manager of Osun Osogbo Grove, Adekunle Fatai, no fewer than 60,000 devotees and tourists are expected at the grand finale.

The river is said to have been heavily contaminated with mercury, lead, cyanide and other injurious elements that are poisonous to human health.

A Geographical Information Analysis and Laboratory Tests carried out by a Non-governmental Organisation, Urban Alert, also affirmed the presence of heavy elements in the water.

Final day

Meanwhile, traditionalists and Osun goddess devotees continued to troop to the river in their numbers as early as 7 a.m. to celebrate the grand finale of the festival.

Traditional entertainers and cultural troops were also seen entertaining guests and visitors at the grove.

The Osun-Osogbo festival, whose history dates back to many centuries, is usually celebrated in an ancient grove believed to be among the last of the sacred forests among Yoruba cities.

In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

NAN further reports that for the people of Osogbo land, the festival symbolises the traditional cleansing of the town and cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of Osogbo kingdom.

(NAN)
Boko Haram terrorists based in parts of Kaduna and Niger states have a definite plot to destroy critical electricity infrastructure supplying the North-west region, Governor Nasir El-Rufai wrote in his late July letter to President Muhammadu Buhari. The governors statement is believed to be the first known official confirmation of Boko Harams presence in Kaduna.

He said that the total darkness threat fits the violent extremists agenda of further crumbling the socio-economic life of the region. Thousands have been killed, tens of thousands forcibly uprooted from their homes and cut off from farms, and communities destroyed by terrorists and armed bandits alike in the region.

In the letter to the president, Mr El-Rufai said an enclave straddling villages in Chikun Local Government Area (LGA) in Kaduna State, as well as Shiroro and Munya LGAs in Niger State controlled by Boko Haram terrorists, hosts Shiroro-Kaduna 330kV Double Circuit Transmission Lines (R1M and R2M), which supplies bulk electricity to Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto, and Zamfara. The seven states constitute the North-west.

Credible intelligence reports indicate that the Boko Haram elements in the area have targeted the lines as part of a plot to plunge the North-West into total darkness, he said.

It is noteworthy that on 19th May 2022, the R1M line shut down for unknown reasons. The presence of terrorists on the line route has made it inaccessible to technicians for investigation and possible repair.

The power load for the North-West now rests solely on the R2M line, which has resulted in a drastic drop in supply due to the limited capacity of only one line. Any mishap or damage to the solely functioning R2M line will immediately enshroud the North-West in darkness, playing directly into the plan of the terrorists.

Niger State had since last year disclosed the presence of Boko Haram terrorists in the state. Another terrorist group Ansaru has been in the Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna since 2012 when it broke away from Boko Haram.

In the PREMIUM TIMES earlier story on Mr El-Rufais letter to the president, we reported how Mr El-Rufais described the consolidation of Ansarus grip on Kaduna communities with a parallel government and planned permanent operational base.

Access to electricity workers cut

In an indication that the extension of Boko Haram to the Chikun area of Kaduna was not very recent, Mr El-Rufai said in the last years the terrorists had consistently attacked electricity workers trying to work on the Shiroro-Kaduna Transmission Line.

He wrote: On 4th April 2019, a team of technicians patrolled the line up to Damba in Chikun LGA but could go no further because of the presence of terrorists ahead. On 13th June 2019, a repair team was attacked by terrorists at Kusasu, Shiroro LGA after working on the Shiroro end of the line. Three policemen were killed.

On 5th December 2020, another maintenance team was attacked around Kurmi settlement, Chikun LGA, and two workers suffered gunshot injuries. On 16th August 2021, terrorists attacked another team of technicians just after Damba, Chikun LGA. The terrorists were repelled by troops, who recovered three motorcycles.

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This consistent pattern of attacks to forcefully prevent the maintenance and adequate functioning of the transmission lines in the area, has crystallized into a clear intention to make a grand statement by destroying them altogether. This will generate the widespread impact craved by the terrorists, by shutting down the entire North-West with one blow.

Suffice it to say that this critical national infrastructure currently lies at the mercy of terrorist elements dominating the axis with impunity. The notable communities along this route are listed as follows:

Chikun LGA, Kaduna State  Ungwan Kanti, Kwate, Masaka, Damba, Kadi, Shanupe, Garu, Kabama and Apituko.

Shiroro LGA, Niger State  Kaure, Maigu, Kusasu, Nakunna and Iburro, all in Galadima-Kogo Ward.

That Boko Haram and ISWAP, originally North-east-based extremist groups, are active in the North-central and North-west, debunks the Buhari administrations repeated claims of progress against insecurity.

Government insiders in the states ravaged by terrorist violence worry the president is not demonstrating the required political will to combat the problem that clearly threatens Nigerias democracy and makes people throughout the country live and work in fear.

Mr El-Rufais letter, PREMIUM TIMES understands, is to rouse Abuja to come to grips with the enormity of the insecurity in the North-west region and deliver certain operational responses.

Other states in the region have written similar letters to federal authorities.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the United States (US) and European governments have been scrutinising Africas reactions. Views from the continent vary from country to country, with many states taking a non-aligned position. How should this stance be understood in a multipolar and highly interdependent world?

African votes in the United Nations (UN) on the war revealed sharp divisions between countries.

Djibouti endorsed the UN resolution for Russia to end its offensive, while Algeria, Tanzania and South Africa underscored the importance of diplomacy without condemning Russias actions. The high number of abstentions was widely interpreted as a sign of Russian influence or evidence of the growing anti-Westernism of African governments and citizens.

This view wrongly assumes that Africa is a political monolith. It also suggests an underlying expectation by the West that states on the continent should align with them because of the Wests pre-eminence in development and humanitarian aid, and their shared historical past.

Does Africas tentative stance on the war show a rejection of key African Union (AU) principles, such as respect for territorial integrity, the inviolability of borders and the peaceful settlement of disputes?

The joint visit of Senegalese President Macky Sall and AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat to Russia in June increased Western perceptions of a Russia-leaning neutrality. Mr Sall said his trip aimed to minimise the conflicts impact on Africas supply of agricultural products and fertilisers, but Western diplomats were not convinced. The lukewarm reception received by President Volodymyr Zelensky when he addressed the AUs Bureau of Heads of States fuelled perceptions that African countries were indifferent to Ukraines occupation.

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In recent years, Russia has used various means to disseminate anti-Western propaganda that aligns with African peoples deep anti-colonial and anti-Western resentment. The legacy of 1960s and 1970s Third-Worldism still shapes the views of Africas governments and citizens. Russias colonial past did not extend to Africa, and its backing of some liberation movements means that Russia elicits more support than Ukraine from Africans. Ukraine is often seen as a pawn of the West.

Western surprise at most African countries limited emotion towards Russias invasion, and Africas neutral stance, point to a self-centredness on both sides. The West wants its African partners to share its condemnation of Russia. African states meanwhile cling to their monopoly on victimhood and historical resentment of Western domination in world affairs.

To justify their indifference towards the Ukraine conflict, some African authorities compare it to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq or Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafis ousting by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2011. An infringement of international law (Iraq) or a generous interpretation of a UN Security Council resolution (Libya), is considered similar to Russias war of occupation in Ukraine  an infringement of the international order.

How do African states benefit from proclaiming non-alignment? Although the conflict reveals the extent of the continents dependence on grain and fertiliser from Ukraine and Russia, it does not compare with the Western aid that enables African countries to function.

The increasing price of hydrocarbons is affecting Africas most fragile states. While European countries imposed sanctions against Russia despite the costs to their energy supplies, many African countries feel less able to adopt a principled and values-based foreign policy.

The divide, however, runs deeper  extending to perceptions about the international order itself. Western states defend a rules-based system in which they are pre-eminent. African states have a more cynical view of a global order whose rules seem to be determined by the West. This difference in outlook may explain Africas leniency towards Russia, even though the latter has violated a cardinal AU principle on territorial integrity.

African states position is not without contradictions  which is not surprising given the many norms and values on a continent of 54 states. They aspire to an international order based on rules, not force, while at the same time sympathising with Russia and China, which challenge this order for different reasons.

These contradictions illustrate the crisis of African multilateralism. While some countries propose a rules-based international order that favours consistency and predictability, others prefer coercion and force. This suggests a dividing line in the AU, but that line is blurred. For example, while some states pushed for Chads suspension from the AU following the unconstitutional transition in April 2021, the same countries pushed back against Zimbabwes suspension following the 2018 coup that overthrew late president Robert Mugabe.

Divisions on peace and security were already visible in responses to the 2011 Libyan uprising and the cancellation of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) decision calling for military intervention to stop the 2015 conflict in Burundi.

What would the AUs reaction be if a powerful African country invaded another? The precedent of the Organization of African Unitys resounding silence during the military escalation between Cameroon and Nigeria regarding the Bakassi Peninsula in the late 1990s does not foster optimism. Neither does the PSCs ambiguous position on the maritime dispute between Somalia and Kenya.

Rather than schadenfreude, or the vengeful anti-imperialism that seems to guide many Africans, the Ukraine war should inspire a self-assessment of Africas ability to agree on how to solve conflicts. In the absence of principled consistency, non-alignment may look like short-sighted opportunism.

Paul-Simon Handy, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Regional Director for East Africa and Representative to the AU and Felicite Djilo, independent researcher

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).
The police in Ondo State have summoned parties involved in the alleged rape of a 500-level student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

The Commissioner of Police, Oyediran Oyeyemi, had earlier ordered a full investigation into the matter, following the confusion that ensued after the alleged victim denied she was raped.

A Twitter user, @SamzyVG, had on Tuesday alleged that Awoyinfa Ipeoluwa, an executive of the National Association of Nigerian Students, was involved in a case of rape. He said Mr Awoyinfa was arrested but that the victim was allegedly paid N300,000 as compensation.

RAPE: An alumnus of the Federal University of Technology Akure identified as Awoyinfa Opeoluwa, who is also a NANS executive, has been accused of drugging, raping and blackmailing a 500L female student from the Department of Animal, Production & Health, the post read.

While the issue was trending, the alleged victim broke her silence and told the Punch on Wednesday that the rape story was untrue.

She said she had issues with Mr Awoyinfa, who is her ex-boyfriend, and had to report him at a police station as a result of some issues she wanted to be resolved.

I had issues with my boyfriend and we broke up, she said.

The reason was due to some misunderstanding. I came to report him to the police because of some issues that were going on, I wanted it to end. I reported him after we broke up.

Rape? I was very surprised to hear rape online, I dont even have anything like rape in my statement (at the police station). How is rape coming up?

It was the rumour of rape that brought me back to the station.

I have tried to make my story go out online too that there was no rape.

However, the management of FUTA, in a statement, said it was not officially aware of the development, as no formal report was made to it.

It, however, said it would investigate the matter.

Meanwhile, the leadership of NANS has suspended Mr Awoyinfa pending the conduct of an investigation on the matter.

The police spokesperson in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami, said the Commissioner of Police had asked the alleged rape victim and the alleged assailant to report to the command for interrogation.

The command has invited all concerned parties including NANS executives and the person who posted the story online on the alleged #RAPE case involving an Alumnus and an undergraduate of FUTA, Mrs Odunlami said in a tweet on Thursday.

The CP has ordered that a thorough investigation be carried out on the case as the lady involved insisted that she was not raped by her alleged ex-boyfriend as reported on social media.
The police in Osun on Thursday said it arrested three suspected kidnappers while trying to abduct a businesswoman, Falilat Oyetunji, popularly called Ero Arike, in Iragbiji town.

Yemisi Opalola, Osun Police spokesperson, made this known in a statement, adding that the suspects attempted to forcefully kidnap Mrs Oyetunji at her residence.

On Monday, at about 5.45 p.m., upon intelligence, three kidnappers, were arrested while trying to kidnap one Mrs Falilat Oyetunji, a.k.a Ero Arike at her residence in Olorunda Temidire Area of Iragbiji.

However, in the early hours of Saturday, August 6, an informant had gone to inform Oyetunji, that some people, led by her former employee, one Basiru from Iragbiji were arranging and planning to kidnap her.

Oyetunji came to inform the Police about the plan and operatives of the Anti Kidnapping Squad from Osogbo were detailed for the assignment and surveillance was emplaced.

The informant too was asked to play along with the kidnappers and on Wednesday, when consummating their plan, men from the Anti Kidnapping Squad swung into action and nabbed the three suspects while their driver escaped with the vehicle.

Two dane guns, one long knife and one Jack knife were recovered from the arrested suspects, Ms Opalola said.

She said one of the suspects wounded himself in the stomach with his knife and had been taken to Osun State Teaching Hospital Osogbo for treatment.

She said investigation was, however, ongoing on the incident. (NAN)
The Lagos State government has placed an indefinite ban on the operations of its enforcement team  called MOT (Ministry of Transportation) Taskforce.

Jubril Gawat, a media aide of the governor, made this known in a statement via his Twitter handle on Friday.

There has been a series of allegations against some officials of the MOT Taskforce by road users.

According to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, the decision to disband the team was reached after a thorough appraisal and review of the enforcement teams operating under the Ministry of Transportation.

Mr Giwa explained that the ban is part of measures initiated to streamline transport enforcement activities in Lagos State to achieve the required effectiveness in line with global best practices.

He urged motorists to obey traffic rules while warning that the ban is not an excuse for drivers to disobey the traffic laws of the state.

The Special Adviser averred that Traffic Management and Transportation is a cardinal pillar in the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, stressing that the readjustment of the enforcement strategy was to enhance service delivery to the people of the State, Mr Gawat said.

He, therefore, enjoined the general public to report the activities of any unauthorised enforcement team still operating with the tag M.O.T Taskforce to the Ministry of Transportation, for prosecution.

Appealing to Lagosians to cooperate with the State Government in its effort to improve the traffic situation across the metropolis, the Special Adviser gave an assurance that a lot is ongoing behind the scenes to bring the much-desired change in the transport sector.
Pat Utomi, a renowned Economist, has announced Charles Odigbo as the leader of the communication team for the Labour Party campaign team.

Mr Utomi made the announcement at a special announcement session of the Media Team for the Peter Obi Campaign team, which held in Lagos on Thursday.

According to him, the team comprises media veterans who are professionals, passionate, and committed to the Nigerian people.

Mr Utomi also said that the Big Tent Platform for Peter Obi campaign team would begin a Listening Clinic from August 16.

He explained that the Big Tent Platform comprised several political parties working together to present the candidates that all of Nigeria would embrace.

Mr Utomi, who is also a management expert, said the listening clinic would highlight the fact and the way government of the people and for the people had to begin with the sharing of what the people thought and felt.

This, he added, was how to solve their problems, noting that it was the person who wore the shoes who knew where it pinched.

The clinic would be handled by a communication team who are professionals, passionate and committed to the people.

Mr Utomi also disclosed that a ceremony would hold on Friday in Owerri, Imo State, where members of the Rescue Nigeria Project (RNP) in all of the South East states would come together to declare for the Labour Party.

He said he would be receiving members of the RNP on behalf of the Labour Party.

It is a point of convergence for the RNP, National leaders of Labour Party, Civil Society Movements, streams of social movements and other political parties.

They are all coming together so that we can change our countrys politics fundamentally, for good, he said.

(NAN)
Glory Ogbonna, a Super Falcons defender, has signed a one-year contract with the Turkish women league champions, ALG Spor Kulubu.

Ogbonna disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Calabar.

She said that the contract signed on Wednesday would see her play the womens version of the champions league with the club this season.

The former Edo Queens player said that the desire to play in the champions league motivated her to sign for the Turkish champions.

Ogbonna said she turned down an offer to renew her contract with her last club, Santa Teresa in Spain, and other offers before her decision to put pen on paper for the Turkish side.

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I have always been desirous to play in the champions league, as such, I couldnt resist the offer from ALG after rejecting several others across Europe.

I want to make history with this club and I am happy to be here. I am feeling at home already with the warm reception I got when I came in.

Santa Teresa was good for me but I needed a fresh start so I had to reject their offer, she said.

The defender featured for the Super Falcons in the just concluded Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.

NAN reports that ALG Spor Kulubu, based in Gaziantep, South Eastern Turkey, was founded in 1998 with Batur stadium as their home ground.

NAN
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja said entrepreneurs and the business community, whose investments align with the priorities of the government in value and job creation, will continue receiving the full support of his administration, noting that the huge growth experienced by conglomerates like BUA Group is evidence of the correctness of government policies.

The President, who received the Management of BUA Group at the State House led by the Chairman, AbdulSamad Rabiu, said the governments focus on import substitution to encourage local production and export stimulates growth and stability, urging investors to take advantage of the vision.

Let me assure you and the entire business community that this government remains ready, willing and able to support all well-meaning Nigerian entrepreneurs whose investments align with our import substitution and domestic job creation policies and programs, he said.

President Buhari commended the Chairman of BUA Group for concentrating investments in the country and transiting from trade to manufacturing.

I am impressed and proud of the transformation BUA has made from trading concern to a manufacturing conglomerate.

A key pillar of our administrations policy thrust is import substitution especially when it comes to essential items such as food, household consumables and shelter. A nation of our size and with our natural and human resources is exhibiting its weakness if it continues importing essential commodities.

For every grain of rice, wheat or maize we import, we destroy the livelihoods of our local farmers while creating jobs abroad. It is because of this that seven years ago, our Government introduced numerous laws, executive orders and incentives that support businesses with import substitution projects, the president said.

He stressed that the focus of the administration stays on job creation and economic security.

In the medium term, our hope was to see Nigerian companies expand their production expertise and capacity to other African nations helping them to also achieve their food and economic security goals. In the long term, our desire is to create a peaceful and prosperous continent with its young and talented population feeding, clothing and housing themselves.

Today, through the BUA story, it is clear that we are on track! The company has continued to invest in domestic production and processing leveraging our local raw materials and youthful talent.

It is always heartwarming to see and learn of Nigerian companies doing so much within Nigeria. Most of this phenomenal growth was achieved during this administration, he added.

President Buhari noted that the successes recorded by entrepreneurs and the business community, like BUA, were clear testaments to the correctness of our programs and policies.

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We have also seen similar successes, especially in the food and agri-input value chain, he said.

The president extolled the chairman of BUA for his resilience, steadfastness and patriotism, affirming that the government would continue to encourage small businesses to grow.

You have shown through your efforts at BUA, what is possible in our country and this is what I have always been working towards, a situation where we have businesses that can add value, create employment opportunities and reduce our dependence on imports whilst positioning ourselves for exports and global competitiveness.

I am therefore not surprised to hear that two of your group companies  BUA Cement plc and BUA Foods Plc, are now amongst the top 10 most valuable publicly listed companies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Your success story and those of many more Nigerian entrepreneurs, give us the motivation to do more as a Government to support the aspirations of all businesses big and small, he submitted.

President Buhari also thanked the businessman for his philanthropy.

Furthermore, you did not stop at what your country has enabled you to achieve, but you also continue to give back. The Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative has been implementing philanthropic programmes not only in Nigeria but across Africa.

A good example is the Police National Reference Hospital building in Abuja which you recently donated to the Nigerian Police Force. Such exemplary and impactful gestures are needed to support our security agencies who are working very hard, day and night, to secure our lives and properties. On behalf of the Nigerian Government, I want to thank you for your patriotism.

In his remarks, Mr Rabiu said the BUA Group is very mindful of where it was at the advent of the Buhari administration, and the giant strides it has taken today.

He counted the blessings of the group to include: three new cement factories of 7.5 million metric tonnes capacity in Edo and Sokoto states to the already existing plants, a new 750,000 metric tonnes sugar refinery in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, a 20,000 hectares 4-in-1 fully integrated sugar plantation in Kwara State with a sugar mill refinery and ethanol plant, four flour and pasta factories, a 200,000 barrels per day refinery with a petrochemical plant, among others.

He submitted further: We have continued to build and invest extensively in Nigeria and all these new projects were made possible because of the immense opportunities your government has created in ensuring industrialization and self-sufficiency by supporting serious businesses across many industries to fully harness our locally available resources and potentials.

Your Excellency, I must say that you have done so much and tried in creating an enabling environment for businesses across Nigeria going by the strides we  and many others  have made. The results can and will speak for themselves long after you have left office. We know where we were in 2015 when you came in.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)
The Nigeria Police Force has dismissed one of its officers found guilty of assault and disobedience of lawful order.

Opeyemi Kadiri, a corporal attached to the Dolphin Divisional Headquarters in Lagos, was dismissed for gross misconduct, disobedience to lawful order and assault, the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi said in a statement on his Twitter handle on Friday.

Video

The officer was captured in a viral video on 3 August searching a commuters phone. The police said his behaviour was contrary to the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba.

According to the male voice in the video, the dismissed police officer and his colleague had asked him to pull over and attempted to search his phone.

But he resisted saying that it was against the law.

So, I was going for a job, this policeman stopped me, collected my phone and was searching me. But the Inspector-General of police said on Twitter that you should not search my phone. Why are you searching my phone? he said.

ALSO READ: Police dismiss personnel over brutality

Shortly after the video surfaced, the police in Lagos said the officer had been identified and recommended for disciplinary action.

According to the police, no police officer has the right to check ones phone anywhere except the phone is an exhibit in a case under investigation.

Dismissal

He equally assaulted the commuter who attempted to bring the order to his notice. His dismissal takes effect from today the 12th of August, 2022, the statement read.

The Police hereby calls on officers and men of the Force to maintain professionalism and civility to members of the public in the discharge of their duties in line with extant laws.

The Force equally calls on members of the public to ensure proper conduct in all encounters with police officers to avoid infractions which may be subject to prosecution.
Popular cleric, Mattew Kukah, has taken a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for assenting to the same faith presidential ticket for the 2023 elections.

He weighed in on the issue when he appeared on Politics Today a programme on Channels Television, on Thursday, to discuss the state of the nation and choices before Nigerians ahead of the coming polls.

Despite the criticisms trailing its Muslim-Muslim ticket, the ruling APC has not shown a sign of dropping Kashim Shettima, a Muslim, from the North-east as its vice presidential candidate.

Both the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and Mr Shettima are Muslims.

Mr Kukah, against the backdrop of the much-criticised performance of the current administration, said the ruling party was insensitive to arrive at such a decision despite squandering power and misallocating opportunities given to them in 2015.

In 1993 that you were talking about I think Nigerians have gotten to a point like we have under Abacha, where we do whatever is required to get the military out. Were going to do it. I think we have exaggerated our interpretation of what happened in 1993. Because we always have this dubious interpretation that this is evidence that Nigerians dont care about religion, he said.

Maybe that was what was illustrated, but moving forward, the question Im asking my friends who are Muslims and its a very simple question, especially those of us who are from northern Nigeria. Will Muslims in Nigeria or northern Nigeria be ready to make the same concession that Christians made in 1984, in 1993, and they have now been asked to make the same constitution.

You have to understand this against the backdrop of what has happened to this country in the last seven years. You know, when you look at the squandered opportunities when you look at the way power has been distributed, when you look at the way this government has allocated opportunities in the broad spectrum of Nigeria against the wider backdrop of the crisis that were in now, ordinarily, the least we should be talking about is whether our next president is going to be a Christian or a Muslim.

But as a Christian, I can tell you very frankly that the decision that the APC took, naturally, I felt astonished. The candidates in question and I might also say without sounding arrogant that I know all the presidential candidates, at least the prominent presidential candidates that are out thereIt is unfortunate that two illustrious people like Asiwaju Tinubu and my friend, Kashim Shettima, should have to face this whole dilemma because its not their own making. But I feel that the sheer insensitivity that brought us to this point speaks to the fact that somehow our people are not aware of the volatility they have created in the system.

I think that as a Christian, this is totally reprehensible and is not acceptable to me because of the sort of the decision the APC has made. When the campaign started, well hear what people have to say, but it has just laid the foundation for what has taken us back after the kind of progress that we made in terms of national integration.

He said the countrys politicians have been at liberty to operate at their current height of wanton corruption because of citizens tolerance, a disposition not common in other parts of the world.

Let me put it very clearly, we still have a terribly long way to go. The tragedy that afflicts our country now is not a tragedy that were going to resolve so quickly. But our politicians must also realise that they are lucky to live in a country like Nigeria, where we have internal instruments and mechanisms of restraint that stop us from going out and picking up the violent option.

Nigerians deserve tremendous credit for the ability to live with the rascality that passes for governance in this country. The humongous amount of theft of states resources has become the reason why people are struggling to get to power, the cleric, who is the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, said.

He described the countrys much-discussed division as largely artificial which has never been more mismanaged by any government than Mr Buhari-led government.

The cleric agreed that religious manipulation by politicians has become part and parcel of our politics but challenged Nigerians who voted on such grounds to evaluate the dividends of such a decision.

So I think the most important thing is for Nigerians to become much more circumspect to appreciate the fact that politicians will do what politicians do everywhere in the world, that is to play on the sentiments of people and use them as instruments for mobilizing cornering power, but increasingly as such, if you live in Nigeria, you know that that Nigerian politician is concerned with three things myself, myself and myself.

So its really a question of what they made just getting wiser and sidestepping some of these landmines, Mr Kukah said.
United States (US) authorities have announced the extradition of three Nigerians from the United Kingdom (UK) to face charges in America for defrauding different American universities and other victims to the tune of $5 million.

The suspects are Oludayo Adeagbo (alias John Edwards and John Dayo), 43, a Nigerian citizen and UK resident, and Donald Echeazu (aka Donald Smith and Donald Dodient), 40, a dual UK and Nigerian citizen, and Olabanji Egbinola, 42.

According to a statement released on Wednesday by the US Attorney Generals Office for the Southern District of New York, they are charged with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.

They allegedly defrauded a North Carolina University (The University) of more than $1.9 million via a business email compromise scheme.

The US authorities said they took part in a $5 million cyber-enabled business email compromise (BEC) scheme to defraud unsuspecting victims, including universities in North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

The statement described the suspects as members of transnational criminal organizations, which originated in Nigeria but have spread throughout the world.

The US government said the three suspects were arrested and detained in the UK by the UK police in April 2020, and an order for their extradition to the US was granted in September 2021.

The suspects were said to have filed an appeal challenging the judgment, but a UK high court denied the suspects plea to overturn the extradition ruling on July 12, 2022, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said, in the statement.

According to the statement, the DoJs Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of all three defendants.

It added that FBI agents from several divisions across the country took part in the investigation and the United Kingdoms National Crime Agency, Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police and Crown Prosecution Service also provided substantial assistance.

Charges

The US government filed several criminal charges against the trio in connection with their alleged criminal acts in three US states the eastern district of Virginia, the southern district of Texas, and the western district of North Carolina.

In the indictment unsealed before the Charlotte federal court, North Carolina, Messrs Adeagbo and Echeazu were accused of conducting the crimes between 30 August, 2016 and 12 January, 2017.

According to the charge, the US government accused the two Nigerians of conspiring to defraud a US university of more than $1.9 million. It added that they allegedly registered a domain name similar to that of a legitimate construction company where money was wired to a bank account controlled by an individual working under the direction of the defendants.

Mr Adeagbo, a Nigerian citizen and UK resident, is also charged in the Southern District of Texas with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud to steal over $3 million in an indictment which was unsealed on 3 August 2022, before he was extradited to the United States.

While Mr Egbinola, 42, is charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to the indictment, Mr Egbinola is said to have committed the offence between 26 September, 2018 and 26 December, 2018. He is alleged to have defrauded is alleged to have conspired with others to defraud an undisclosed Virginia-based university.

The US authorities said Mr Egbinola and co-conspirators deceived the university into transferring $469,819.49 to a bank account controlled by Egbinola and co-conspirators.

To execute the scheme, the defendants allegedly registered a domain name similar to that of the legitimate construction company in charge of the Universitys project and created an email address that closely resembled that of an employee of the construction company. Using the fake email address, the co-conspirators allegedly deceived and directed the University to wire a payment of more than $1.9 million to a bank account controlled by an individual working under the direction of the defendants. Upon receiving the payment, the co-conspirators allegedly laundered the stolen proceeds through a series of financial transactions designed to conceal the fraud, the statement reads.

Accused persons face 20 years in prison

According to the statement, if found guilty of the charge, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.

The wire fraud conspiracy charge and the money laundering conspiracy charge each carry a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence consecutive to any other term imposed.

According to the US government, the charges in the indictment are only accusations, and the defendants are deemed innocent until proven guilty.
The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has led a special delegation to a former governor of the state, Joshua Dariye, to congratulate him on his release from prison.

Mr Dariye was recently released from Kuje prison where he was serving a 10-year-jail term for stealing public funds. He was released after he was pardoned by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Lalong in a statement on Friday by Makut Macham, director of press and public affairs to the governor, said the delegation was meant to rejoice with Mr Dariye over the pardon granted him by Mr Buhari and his release from prison.

Mr Lalong also paid the same visit to a former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, who was also freed after being pardoned by the president.

Mr Nyame, like Mr Dariye, was convicted and sentenced to prison for stealing public funds while he was Taraba governor between 1999 and 2007.

The statement noted that Mr Lalong alongside his wife, Regina, National Assembly members as well as members of the State Executive Council first visited the residence of Mr Dariye to appreciate God for his release and encourage him and his family.

Mr Lalong told Mr Dariye that the entire state received the news of his release with joy because they have been praying for him since his travails and incarceration happened.

He said prayers and appeals were made to secure the pardon granted the ex-governor.

The governor, while appreciating Mr Buhari for giving Mr Dariye another opportunity, said this is the time for Mr Dariye to reflect and forgive people that may have offended him as has been his practice during previous challenges.

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Responding, Mr Dariye said he was full of appreciation to God for making his release possible and also using people like Governor Lalong and President Buhari to make his release possible.

He narrated his ordeal in prison and said it was a difficult moment but God saw him through and made him survive.

Dariye debunks Senate ambition, calls for support for Lalong

Meanwhile, Mr Dariye has debunked speculations that he intends to contest for Plateau Central Senatorial District on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections.

There were reports on social media, on Thursday, that the former governor had been given the ticket of the LP to contest in the forthcoming senate elections.

Mr Dariye debunked the rumour that he was running for Senate, describing it as unfounded and untrue as he has not bought form or done anything to that effect.

He advised politicians in the state to unite and rally around Mr Dariye in promoting the interest of citizens, saying governance is an opportunity for those in charge to do their best and leave posterity to judge their efforts.

Delegation visits Nyame

After the visit to Mr Dariye, the statement said the delegation also visited the residence of Mr Nyame, who also expressed deep appreciation for the role Mr Lalong played to secure his pardon and release.

Mr Nyame said he was encouraged by the love and care shown towards him and Mr Dariye, saying the experience of the past will be put behind so that they can forge forward.

Governor Lalong, while congratulating him on his freedom, said the people of Taraba and Plateau states are excited about their release because both states share historical ties that have bonded them together over many years.

While urging Mr Nyame to also forgive anyone that might have offended him in the course of his ordeal, Mr Lalong said the act of forgiveness brings total healing and freedom.

The statement said prayers were offered at both visits for the good health, protection and safety of the two former Governors.

The news of the presidential pardon given to Messrs Dariye and Nyame by Mr Buhari has continued to generate public outcry from Nigerians who condemned the pardon granted the the ex-governors.

While Mr Dariye was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for laundering public funds to the tune of N1.162 billion, Mr Nyame was convicted and sentenced to a 12-year-jail term for stealing N1.6 billion belonging to the Taraba State.

President Buhari, however, pardoned the two ex-governors on 14 April using his presidential prerogative of mercy.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has denied reports that he sued the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The governor said he did not go to court neither did he ask anyone to file a suit on his behalf.

He also said reports of the suit emanated from Atikus people.

He made the comments in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Friday during the official commissioning of some projects in the state.

He was reacting to reports that he sued Atiku, the PDP and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who was a presidential aspirant at the partys primary.

Mr Tambuwal had stepped down during the primary and urged delegates from his state to vote Atiku  an act which aided Atikus victory and stirred crisis in the party and a rift between Mr Wike and the presidential candidate.

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Atiku is a former vice president of the country.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Wike, in the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, sought the courts pronouncement declaring him the PDPs presidential candidate for the 2023 election.

He also asked the court to determine if Mr Tambuwal lost his claim to votes when he stepped down. He also asked the court to declare that the PDP acted negligently and in bad faith by assigning the Sokoto governors votes to Atiku at the primary.

Atikus people behind report

While he denied suing Messrs Atiku, Tambuwal and the PDP, Mr Wike said mischevious people in Atikus camp had produced the report.

I want to state categorically that if I wanted to go to court, I will go to court. I have kept quiet and busy delivering dividends of democracy.If I wanted to, I would have gone to court within two weeks after primary. Because that is pre-election matter.

It is the candidates group doing all these. And theyre not doing him any favour. But I wish them good luck.

The governor recalled that he called Atiku and said he (Atiku) will win or lose the 2023 election because of the people around him.

He further warned the people behind the suit to let him be and allow peace to reign, even as he urged Atiku to caution his people.

Tell those supporting you to go and commission projects to win their statesI have no reason to go to court. Those of you who put my name, shame will be on you. Leave Wike alone.

Mr Wikes denial to the suit comes amid plans to reconcile him and Atiku.

The two had fallen apart after the primary and Mr Wike was further aggrieved after Atiku named Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, as the partys vice-presidential candidate.

Although the two have men met physically for the first time in months, this paper understands that the governor is asking that the partys National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, be removed and the National Working Committee be reshuffled.
The incarcerated human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has been abused in the Uyo prison, with his hair and beard forcefully scraped by prison officials, a lawyer has said.

The lawyer, Augustine Asuquo, is the head of the Inibehe Effiong Chambers in Uyo.

When I met him that yesterday (Wednesday) I hardly could recognise him if not that he is a familiar person to me, Mr Asuquo told PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday, while narrating how Mr Effiongs right to human dignity has been allegedly abused by prison officials.

You know, he has his identity through his beard. So, when he came out walking barefooted, I said, why are you like this? He said, Look at me, they just brought me here and I was forced to sit on the bare floor. They brought a clipper to scrape my hair and my beard.

He said he did not consent to it. He said he insisted he doesnt want his hairs to be cut, he doesnt want his beards to be scraped, and they said no, that for medical reasons he must not keep his beard, while he is inside the prison, Mr Asuquo said.

They pushed him to sit on the bare floor, brought out a clipper and cut his hair, and beard.

The lawyer said the person who came to cut Mr Effiongs hair and beard ironically had long hair and beard.

It was so pathetic that I deliberately refused to write about this on Facebook, he said. He has used that beard for several years. It had become his identity.

Someone who had committed no offense shouldnt be subjected to this kind of treatment, Mr Asuquo said, adding that the action of the prison officials was clearly to demoralise and weaken the human rights lawyer.

He (Effiong) said the prison officials were telling him, here we dont care about who you are. Here, we dont treat you as a human being.

The Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State, Ekaette Obot, committed Mr Effiong to prison on 27 July after the lawyer, who is handling a defamation suit for a client, objected to the presence of two armed police officers in the court.

Mr Effiong was meant for Uyo prison, but because of COVID-19 he was taken to Ikot Ekpene, where he served for 14 days.

He was moved to Uyo prison on Wednesday, where he would serve the rest of his 30 days imprisonment.

The lawyer, Mr Asuquo, said prison officials handcuffed and assaulted Mr Effiong while being transported from Ikot Ekpene to Uyo.

He was handcuffed and bundled inside the van as if he were a common criminal, Mr Asuquo said. They didnt even give him time to take his bath.

Why we cut his hairs, beard  Prison official

A spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service in Akwa Ibom, Richard Metong, said in a statement on Friday that Mr Effiongs hairs and beard was scraped as a security measure as well as a routine practice in the facility, and that the lawyer obliged and willingly allowed the barber using a clipper and not a blunt instrument as speculated on the social media.

He said it was not true that Mr Effiong was handcuffed and assaulted while being transported from Ikot Ekpene to Uyo.

For the purpose of clarity, Barr. Inibehe Effiong is safe, secured, unhurt and not tortured or humiliated. His dignity and human rights are not violated in any way, Mr Metong said.
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja launched the National Crisis Management Doctrine (NCMD), aimed at bridging the gap created by extensive deployment of security services through fostering collaboration amongst Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The NCMD, which was developed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in coordination with relevant MDAs, would ensure greater successes in tackling national crisis.

Speaking at the launch, the president commended the efforts of the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, a retired major general, his staff and members of the working group from various responder MDAs for the remarkable work in developing the doctrine.

He described the feat as a significant milestone in recognition of the need for collective efforts towards achieving coordinated, effective and efficient national crisis management.

This shows the renewed promise and commitment of this administration to managing crisis in the country, the President said, urging ONSA to continue to play its coordinating role amongst crisis response stakeholders, to achieve greater successes.

READ ALSO:

Mr Buhari also thanked the British Government for its collaboration in the development of the Doctrine as well as the United States Government for its support, urging them to sustain the relationship.

The president recalled that at the inception of the administration, Nigeria was faced with multiple security challenges ranging from terrorism, kidnapping, to armed banditry, ethnic militia attacks, oil theft, rape, gun running and various acts emanating from violent extremism.

The emergence of the Boko Haram terrorist group as well as bandits and kidnappers in Nigeria considerably changed the countrys security situation leaving panic in the minds of the populace.

These and other security challenges confronting the nation tend to stretch the deployment of our security agencies, resources and national security apparatus.

Owing to the dynamics of these crises, the Office of the National Security Adviser revised the National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) which I endorsed in August 2016.

Within this strategy are certain works streams which include the Prepare and Implement strands that seek to mitigate the impact of terrorist attacks by building resilience and redundancies to ensure continuity of business; and a framework for the mobilisation of coordinated cross-government efforts respectively.

I am glad that the Office of the National Security Adviser has not relented in its efforts to implement the NACTEST by coordinating relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies to develop the National Crisis Management Doctrine, he said.

In his remarks, the NSA explained that work on the doctrine started in 2014 but was given impetus after the president endorsed the revised NACTEST, which has five work streams namely: Forestall, Secure, Identify, Prepare and Implement.

Further, Mr Monguno said the NCMD, which is a subset of the NACTEST, fulfills the work streams to Prepare and to Implement.

The doctrine provides a detailed methodology for national crises response, outlining how the various relevant MDAs should interact at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.

It is to be noted that the NCMD can be used to manage both malicious threats and civil emergencies owing to the general principles set out within it.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 12, 2022
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja launched the National Crisis Management Doctrine (NCMD), aimed at bridging the gap created by extensive deployment of security services through fostering collaboration amongst Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The NCMD, which was developed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in coordination with relevant MDAs, would ensure greater successes in tackling national crisis.

Speaking at the launch, the president commended the efforts of the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, a retired major general, his staff and members of the working group from various responder MDAs for the remarkable work in developing the doctrine.

He described the feat as a significant milestone in recognition of the need for collective efforts towards achieving coordinated, effective and efficient national crisis management.

This shows the renewed promise and commitment of this administration to managing crisis in the country, the President said, urging ONSA to continue to play its coordinating role amongst crisis response stakeholders, to achieve greater successes.

Mr Buhari also thanked the British Government for its collaboration in the development of the Doctrine as well as the United States Government for its support, urging them to sustain the relationship.

The president recalled that at the inception of the administration, Nigeria was faced with multiple security challenges ranging from terrorism, kidnapping, to armed banditry, ethnic militia attacks, oil theft, rape, gun running and various acts emanating from violent extremism.

The emergence of the Boko Haram terrorist group as well as bandits and kidnappers in Nigeria considerably changed the countrys security situation leaving panic in the minds of the populace.

These and other security challenges confronting the nation tend to stretch the deployment of our security agencies, resources and national security apparatus.

Owing to the dynamics of these crises, the Office of the National Security Adviser revised the National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST) which I endorsed in August 2016.

Within this strategy are certain works streams which include the Prepare and Implement strands that seek to mitigate the impact of terrorist attacks by building resilience and redundancies to ensure continuity of business; and a framework for the mobilisation of coordinated cross-government efforts respectively.

I am glad that the Office of the National Security Adviser has not relented in its efforts to implement the NACTEST by coordinating relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies to develop the National Crisis Management Doctrine, he said.

In his remarks, the NSA explained that work on the doctrine started in 2014 but was given impetus after the president endorsed the revised NACTEST, which has five work streams namely: Forestall, Secure, Identify, Prepare and Implement.

Further, Mr Monguno said the NCMD, which is a subset of the NACTEST, fulfills the work streams to Prepare and to Implement.

The doctrine provides a detailed methodology for national crises response, outlining how the various relevant MDAs should interact at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.

It is to be noted that the NCMD can be used to manage both malicious threats and civil emergencies owing to the general principles set out within it.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 12, 2022
Nigerias Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, is set to address Nigerians on the lingering industrial crisis rocking the countrys public university system, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

This is coming many days after the expiration of the deadline set by the minister to address the conflicts between the striking university workers unions and the Nigerian government.

The new development was confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday in an exclusive telephone conversation with the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Education, Ben Goong.

Ministers pledge

Mr Adamu had on 19 July told President Muhammadu Buhari that he could address the issues within two to three weeks if allowed to do so.

He said this when the concerned ministries, departments and agencies of government met the President to brief him on the status of the negotiations with the striking unions and the efforts to get the affected public universities reopened.

The minister had claimed he had folded his arms all along following an alleged claim by his counterpart at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, that the laws governing labour disputes empower him to be solely responsible for negotiations on behalf of the government.

The President had immediately ordered Mr Ngige to hand off the negotiation with the striking workers and that Mr Adamu should be supported by appropriate individuals and agencies to deploy his magic wand.

However, more than three weeks after the pledge, which was confirmed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, via a statement, the affected public universities have remained shut.

In fact, more than a week after the ministers pledge, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) 1 August, announced further extension of the then five-month-old strike by four more weeks.

New update

According to Mr Goong, the Minister would address the media at the State House on Thursday, 18 August.

Reacting to PREMIUM TIMES invitation extended to the minister to appear on its planned Twitter Spaces scheduled for Wednesday, 17 August, over the unending ASUU strike, Mr Goong said Mr Adamu would also speak to the media on Thursday.

Yes you can quote me, the honourable minister will address the State House journalists on Thursday, next week, Mr Goong said.

Asked about the details of the planned briefing, the spokesperson said he only knew that the minister would speak on the university workers strike, among other issues.

Background

ASUU had on 14 February declared a nationwide strike for initial four weeks to demand better funding for the university system and improved remuneration for its members.

Other unions within the university system- Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and other Associated Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have also at different times declared separate industrial actions.

The unions are demanding the adoption of the replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) currently in use for the payment of their members entitlements with those designed by the unions.
The Coalition for Whistleblower Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) has called on the Federal Civil Service to protect a whistleblower, Richard Oghenerhoro, who exposed an alleged employment scam in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Abuja.

The call came on the heels of the reported disciplinary action taken against Mr Oghenerhoro for uncovering the fake employment and making his findings public.

The whistleblower was found guilty of misconduct, breach of oath of secrecy, unauthorised disclosure of official information and copying of official documents, contrary to the provisions of the Public Service Rules, according to Punch newspaper.

The rule recommended termination of appointment or forced retirement for the offences.

CWPPF has taken up cases of victimisation of whistleblowers over the years and we certainly demand that Mr Oghenehoro be protected, reinstated, and appreciated for exposing irregularities and weak employment data systems in the Federal Civil Service rather than focus on the petition, the coalitions statement issued on Thursday read in part.

It said the action taken against Mr Oghenerhoro contradicted the anti-corruption posturing of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

You would think that a government that lays so much emphasis on fighting corruption would be appreciative of citizens who are willing to expose irregularities and corruption in the public interest, the statement by 18 members of the coalition, including Premium Times, reads in part.

The coalition said Mr Oghenerhoro is one among numerous cases of violations and stigmatisation of whistleblowers since the policy was introduced by the Federal Government in 2016 as a strategy to curb corruption in Nigeria.

It added: Whistleblowing is an important tool for fighting corruption. Mr Oghenehoros disclosure is timely and important considering the recent report about delisting 70,000 ghost workers in the Federal Civil Service.

Members of the coalition include media houses, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and civil society organisations concerned with anti-corruption and free media.

Some of them are Premium Times, OrderPaper Advocacy Initiative, The Cable, Daily Trust Newspaper, International Press Institute, Nigeria; Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL).

The rest are Civic Media Lab

Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) International Centre for, Investigative Reporting (ICIR), International Press Centre (IPC), International Press Institute, Nigeria, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), NUJ, Paradigm Initiative, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), and HEDA Resources Centre.

Read Coalitions Full Statement:

COALITION CALLS ON THE FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE TO PROTECT WHISTLEBLOWER

11 August 2022 The Coalition for Whistleblower Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) calls on the Federal Civil Service to protect whistleblower, Richard Oghenerhoro.

The CWPPF regards the disciplinary action against the petitioner, Mr Richard Oghenerhoro, for breach of oath of secrecy, and unauthorised disclosure of official information, as a risible attempt to stifle freedom of expression and a total disregard for the 2016 whistleblowers policy.

This is one among numerous cases of violations and stigmatisation of whistleblowers since the policy was introduced by the Federal Government in 2016 as a strategy to curb corruption in Nigeria.

Whistleblowing is an important tool for fighting corruption. Mr Oghenehoros disclosure is timely and important considering the recent report about delisting 70,000 ghost workers in the Federal Civil Service.

You would think that a government that lays so much emphasis on fighting corruption would be appreciative of citizens who are willing to expose irregularities and corruption in the public interest.

CWPPF has taken up cases of victimisation of whistleblowers over the years and we certainly demand that Mr Oghenehoro be protected, reinstated, and appreciated for exposing irregularities and weak employment data systems in the Federal Civil Service rather than focus on the petition.

CWPPF condemns the disciplinary actions against Mr Oghenehoro and calls for the immediate withdrawal of the punitive actions. This would boost citizens confidence in reporting irregularities that put the country in danger.

We shall continue to oppose all forms of attacks on human rights and press freedom in Nigeria and across the world and hold the government, individuals, and organizations accountable.

We shall continue to take the necessary measures to prevent violence against journalists and media workers and we will also fiercely demand accountability and bring perpetrators of crimes against journalists and media workers to justice.

CWPPF Secretariat

The Coalition for Whistleblower Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF)is a group of media and civil society organisations committed to upholding democracy and good governance by protecting the ethos of whistleblowing, freedom of expression and press freedom.

CWPPF members

Premium Times

OrderPaper Advocacy Initiative

The Cable

Daily Trust Newspaper

International Press Institute, Nigeria

Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism

Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)

African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL)

Civic Media Lab

Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC)

International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR)

International Press Centre (IPC)

International Press Institute, Nigeria

Media Rights Agenda (MRA)

Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ)

Paradigm Initiative

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)

HEDA Resources Centre.
While we focus our energies on stereotyping the other, our real enemies, the terrorists, are consolidating their grip on communities in the country. PREMIUM TIMES has recently drawn the attention of its readers to a memo allegedly sent by the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai to the president stating that terrorists have essentially established a parallel government and permanent operational base in the North-western state near Nigerias capital, Abuja.

This week, there was a big story. Some of the perpetrators of the massacre at the Owo Catholic Church were arrested but, sadly, that was not the big story. The big story was that they were not Fulani. Immediately the dastardly act happened, opinion leaders had asserted that they were Fulani marauders doing what they know best  engaging in atrocities against innocent people. Let me state that there are indeed Fulani gangs that do that, there are also religious extremist groups who are not Fulani that engage in such acts. The reality in Nigeria today is that many among the 100 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty are also discovering that criminality, violence, kidnapping and wanton killing of innocent souls is the fastest route to power and wealth, and they are being sucked into what we can call equal opportunity operations. At the same time, Jihadi ideas are spreading and gaining adherents.

In a couple of weeks, the monograph by Ibrahim Muazzam of Bayero University, Kano will be launched. It is an extensive literature review of ethnic profiling in Nigerias politics and it is a reminder that nothing we are seeing and hearing today is new. He draws our attention to the incident of the 1st of November 1965 when one of the main political party alliances, the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA), put out a release in Ibadan entitled, Fulanis are a great threat to Yoruba: seven facts to prove it. Today, we hear similar statements repeatedly.

Muazzam draws our attention to one of the early and significant incidents of ethno-political violence, the Kano Riots of 1953. The immediate cause of the riots was the motion for self-government, which polarised the Northern and Southern members of the House of Representatives. All sorts of abuses were exchanged on the floor of the House and outside, due to the Northern leaders amendment of the motion, leading one of the leaders to gravely remark about the mistakes of 1914 coming to light. On their way back to the North, the leaders were booed, jeered and abused by a crowd composed mainly of supporters of the major Southern political parties. The crowd, amid shouting, called(the Northern leaders) thieves, imperialist stooges, stupid Hausas, the men who have no mind of their ownetc. The result was the ensuing riot.

Ibrahim Muazzam draws attention to the habit of reducing people to fixed types, stereotyping those different from us, and fixing the identities of others in manners that reject metanarratives and varied nuances through a homogenisation that draws imaginary political maps and markers, which end up victimising or pushing these others to the margins. Absurd traits are assigned to some national (or sub-national?) groups and these have implications for intergroup relations. He draws attention to the analysis of the problem of tribalism, leading to ethnic power tussle done by Obaro Ikime (1969) in relation to events at the University of Ibadan. The basic problem, as he observed it, was the lack of a grasp of the historical factors and accidents that determined the development of various groups in the country.

At the same time, the Northerners, who take pride in their cultural development due to the Islamic influence on their worldview, never feel inferior to the Southerners but desire a sympathetic understanding of the factors that have influenced their lives. When the Igbo emerged as a group to challenge the Yoruba dominance, conflict arose. The Ibo-Yoruba struggle for supremacy was rendered more complex with the arrival on the national scene of minorities from the Midwest and the east, says Ikime.

Professor Ikime had argued that the average Southern Nigerian views the Northerner through a stereotypical lens as a Gambari, who is not just a herdsman but a complete nincompoop, incapable of any higher intellectual development. The implication of this is that a whole group of people are branded as fools in an unfounded manner. In addition, when Southerners meet a Northerner whose education or situation comparatively equals their qualification, they are irritated beyond words that a mere Gambari could dare to seek a place in the sun. In like manner, the Igbo-Nigerian is considered as selfish, grasping, ubiquitous avaricious and unscrupulously competitive he is always seeking a place for his brother and the password is Kedu Dianyi. As for the Yoruba, he is regarded as cowardly, untrustworthy, lazy, cunning and diplomatic but self-seeking dirty in his habits and full of tricks, according to Obaro Ikimes analysis.

At the same time, the Northerners, who take pride in their cultural development due to the Islamic influence on their worldview, never feel inferior to the Southerners but desire a sympathetic understanding of the factors that have influenced their lives. When the Igbo emerged as a group to challenge the Yoruba dominance, conflict arose. The Ibo-Yoruba struggle for supremacy was rendered more complex with the arrival on the national scene of minorities from the Midwest and the east, says Ikime.

Muazzam reminds us that way back in 1947, Obafemi Awolowo was assertive in stereotyping the Fulani as autocrats and the Igbo as individualistic people. For him, in terms of receptiveness to Western culture: the Yoruba take the lead and have benefited as a result. The Efiks, the Ijaws and the Ibibios and Ibos come next and are doing all they can do overtake the Yorubas. The Hausa and the Fulani are extremely conservative and take very reluctantly to civilization.

According to intelligence reports and human sources consulted in further reporting for this story, the terrorists that formed Ansaru were responsible for some of the high-profile attacks claimed by Boko Haram before the split. Such attacks included the bombing of the UN building in August 2011 and the kidnap of some foreigners.

Such labels have therefore been in circulation for over seven decades and might therefore still be stuck in the minds of some of his followers.

While we focus our energies on stereotyping the other, our real enemies, the terrorists, are consolidating their grip on communities in the country. PREMIUM TIMES has recently drawn the attention of its readers to a memo allegedly sent by the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai to the president stating that terrorists have essentially established a parallel government and permanent operational base in the North-western state near Nigerias capital, Abuja. The terrorists apparently belonging to Ansaru al-Musulmina fi Bilad al-Sudan, or Ansaru for short, are believed to have moved to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State in 2012 when they broke away from Boko Haram.

According to intelligence reports and human sources consulted in further reporting for this story, the terrorists that formed Ansaru were responsible for some of the high-profile attacks claimed by Boko Haram before the split. Such attacks included the bombing of the UN building in August 2011 and the kidnap of some foreigners. The group pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in 2020, and is responsible for many of the high-profile abductions, as well as armed attacks on the police, in Kaduna State. As jihadi terrorist groups form alliances with bandits and begin to take over and control territory, it is high time we get out of our comfort zone of ethnic profiling and team up to save our country and our 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.
The highly innovative factor that the Akin Fadeyi Foundation has brought to bear on this is in taking a proactive lead by offering a platform for the voices and ideas of women to be heard, on how they would remake Nigeria when they come into opportunities for this in positions of leadership. More than mere affirmation, this bold initiative of AFF not only advances the enlightened course of balance and healing in the Nigerian society, but also indicates  very importantly  how truly female the future could be.

Reconstituting the Template for Greater Engagement

What can woman really do to reform Nigeria? If availed the reins of governance in the country, what would they do differently at the various levels and tiers of government that will add value to our society, and promote the attainment of the public good in a fundamental sense?

Yet, another way of considering the foregoing and the raft of cognate questions they inspire is through the following appraisal: What do women represent as essential stakeholders in the Nigerian society? And, in extending the correlative logic of the aforesaid: What have they been doing so far? Or, what have they not been able to do, and why have these been so?

If women constitute about 50% of the Nigerian population and are claimed to be 75% of voters at elections, then it becomes crucial to reconsider why the interests of women barely come through in the design of public policy, or why they are hardly present within the structures of decision-making, where difference can be made.

Some of the concerns expressed above  and which possibly indicate why Nigeria has come to its present sorry pass, in which the state has become all but dysfunctional, evincing considerable manifestations of poor management, and punching way below its weight, with disheartening outcomes for the populace  is what motivated the Akin Fadeyi Foundation (AFF) to host a recent conversation in July around the situation of women in the Nigerian public space.

More so, this is within the frame of how Nigeria women could be that missing reformist link to good governance in the country, particularly as the predominantly patriarchal orientation of public sector actors has consistently failed, and is in dire need of reinvention if Nigerian is going to break out of its current social conundrums.

It is about cutting the ground differently and reconstituting the template for another dimension of engagement. Through this newer conversation around and programme hinged on what women can do, Akin Fadeyi Foundation seeks to build a mass of critical female perspectives on governance, what the female folk would do in running the country differently and better, as a way of unlocking real, sustainable change, through a gendered re-thinking and re-making of the Nigerian reality.

If a male driven ontology has bequeathed to us social and political violence, climate change, wars, upheaval and instability, etc., it is definitely crunch time enough for Nigeria to consider flipping the coin, and contemplating a collaborative or even female-led direction into the future. This is the context that energises AFF to canvass Nigerian women to make video pitches of what they will do if, and when, in public office, that would make a difference to governance, as a competition that would be ranked and awarded prizes.

The very crucial of notion of what women can do towards the end of the public good, if they take charge of processes and structures of decision-making, is as timely as it is vital, and the entourage of noteworthy speakers assembled by AFF  from Dr Amina Salihu of MacArthur Foundation, which supported the event, to Mrs Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, and Mr Simon Kolawole, who chairs the Board of AFF, among others  plumbed the interstices and depths of the issues involved. They probed the frameworks of this question, inverted its premises and interrogated its assumptions, while offering insights on the necessary obligation of dismantling the boundaries erected by patriarchy to restrain women from engaging in public decision-making processes.

In Ms Salihus incisive reformulation of the operative question, it is not so much of about what women can do, but how much of how what they have been doing can be supported and mainstreamed for greater outcomes. It is about deepening the various levels of organising done by women in upturning the patriarchal ordering of society, and this would involve acknowledging their incremental wins, even if these have not yet gotten them to the Promised Land, and enhancing their capacities to gain economic power, which is the springboard for attaining political power.

Representation and the Politics of Power

In as much as a significant plank of the conversation in Nigeria is about creating newer strategies for gender inclusion within structures of governance and decision-making, this could equally be regarded as unfortunate in a world in which many are already attaining gender parity and equity in political and social representation, with evenly split public offices between men and women. This formed an entry point of Mr Simon Kolawole, who is also the Publisher of The Cable newspaper, into the discourse. For him, why has the gender gap continued to widen in Nigeria, and women dropping out, in terms of political participation? That there has been a significant reduction in the number of women in public office in Nigeria in more recent times is without doubt.

The huge gender gap in the participation of women in public office and in Nigeria, at an average of 6.7% across elective and appointive posts, is quite disconcerting, if not outright shameful, and occurs far below a West African average of 15%, an African average of 23.4%, and the global average of 22.5%. It has, more so, been pointed out that of the 193 countries ranked in the Gender Equality Index in 2020, Nigeria occupies the 181st position, which is highly unfortunate.

The representation of women and their participation in governance in Nigeria, whether on the level of elective or appointive positions have been nothing short of appalling, since the earliest period of nationhood. While 1922 marked the commencement of electoral politics for men in the country at the national level, women were only able to come into the same space in 1951, although some of them had participated at the local level (such as Funmilayo Kuti who won an election into the Egba Council) in Abeokuta in 1949, and in Lagos in 1950.

This tokenism gained a bit of expression in January 1953, with the election of Remilekun Aiyedun into the regional legislature, and in 1961 with the winning of seats by Margaret Ekpo and Janet Mokelu in the Aba Urban District and the Enugu East constituencies, respectively. Equally, a sprinkling of others like Hajiya Gambo Sawaba in Zaria, Hajiya Laila Dogonyaro in Tudun Wada, Kaduna, and Hajiya Murjanatu in Dutsinma were successful in local council elections.

Women were largely missing in major general elections in Nigeria, such as in 1979 when only three women won seats into the 450-member House of Representatives, with no woman getting into the Senate in that era. The pattern was fairly similar in 1983, with three women making it into the House of Representatives again, whilst one woman managed to become a Senator. During the National Assembly of 1991/92, out of a 589-member House of Representatives, 13 of them were women, while there were eight female senators.

In the ongoing Fourth Republic of democratic rule in Nigeria, beginning from May 1999, the gender gap in governance in the country has been particularly unfortunate, with the participation of women in all elective offices  from the national to sub-national parliaments and state executives  hovering between an abysmal 3% and 9%. The Republics first electoral cycle in 1999 witnessed three women in the Senate and 12 in the House of Representatives, alongside the election of one female deputy governor and 22 members of state parliaments. This constituted a 3% representation.

While three women were elected into the Senate, 21 into the House of Representatives, two as deputy governors and 30 into state parliaments in 2003, making for 4% of women in all, in 2007 there were nine female senators, 25 federal Representatives, six deputy governors and 30 members of state houses of assembly, making for a total female representation of 9%.

In 2011, the Senate had seven females; House of Representatives, 24 women; three female deputy governors and 45 state parliamentarians that were women, making a 7% representation, while 2015 witnessed eight women senators, 23 female House of Representative members, four women deputy governors, and 37 female state assembly members, all adding up as 7% of representation. Presently, in the uncompleted 2019 electoral cycle, we have eight women in the Senate, 13 in the House of Representatives, two female deputy governors, and 30 women in the state parliaments.

The huge gender gap in the participation of women in public office and in Nigeria, at an average of 6.7% across elective and appointive posts, is quite disconcerting, if not outright shameful, and occurs far below a West African average of 15%, an African average of 23.4%, and the global average of 22.5%. It has, more so, been pointed out that of the 193 countries ranked in the Gender Equality Index in 2020, Nigeria occupies the 181st position, which is highly unfortunate.

Accentuating the foregoing view is the fact that although a bit of progress was recorded in the appointment of women by earlier administrations, particularly into the federal executive, and a policy of affirmative action, allotting at least 35% of cabinet positions to women, had been officially adopted, the current government of President Buhari has violated these sorely. Of about 43 ministerial positions, only seven women were appointed, representing a measly 16%. And, in emphasising this disregard for gender affirmation, when eight cabinet members who had resigned were being replaced recently, none of the newer appointees was a woman.

It was this continued disdain for female representation in national decision-making that made a coalition of womens groups sue the Buhari administration for its failure to honour the affirmative action policy in its cabinet appointments. While the alliance won this case in court, revealing the gender insensitivity of the government, loud speculations that the judicial decision would be appealed by the administration is unquestionably regrettable.

The dominant patriarchal outlook in the governance space appears to pander to the illogic of a federal parliamentarian, Senator Kazaure, who had stated that since women already dominate men in the home front, they should not be allowed to consolidate on this by dominating them in the public sphere also! Hence the need to keep womens participation in governance as limited as possible. This was given expression to earlier in the year by lawmakers, who overwhelmingly voted against five gender empowering bills in the National Assembly.

For the majority of women in society, gender politics is a life-cycle which starts from being born female and is entrenched through the acts of socialisation, and for MacArthur Foundations Amina Salihu, there has to be a conscious effort at breaking the ossifying construct around gender roles in society. And, to gain greater political access for women, as mentioned earlier, this would require their economic empowerment in order to change outcomes sustainably.

Rebuilding the Power Pyramid for Inclusiveness

With the necessity of women having their voices at the decision-making table, coming on the back of necessary economic empowerment, the Executive Director of AFF, Mr Akin Fadeyi more so pointed out  during the conversation on July 19  that while Nigerian women were not alien to leadership and being key actors in the public space from the earlier periods of figures like Queen Amina of Zaria, etc., yet it has become of major concern that there has been a steady decline of female participation in governance since 1999.

Still, there is the abiding obligation to challenge the patriarchal dominance of political bodies, and pull down all obstacles erected against women, while enabling organised structures to push the agenda of women, as observed by Mrs Bamidele Ademola-Olateju in the panel on What Women Can Do. For her, women are essential mobilisers for political activity in the country and as such would need to also support each other in attaining public office, in the way they rally to vote men into power. Moreover, as much as the political empowerment of women would largely be achieved incrementally, yet like men do, she was of the opinion that the female folk will also need to learn how to build power pyramids from the bottom to the top.

In order to achieve more gender inclusiveness in the political space, there has to be an intentionality of raising and nurturing a generation of women leaders, through capacity-building and mentorship systems for women, alongside deliberate policy interventions. Whilst making these points during the panel discussions, Dr Lilian Anomnachi, the Executive Director of Technical Advice Connect equally pointed out how such an intentionality of purpose has reached fruition in countries like Senegal, and Rwanda, which has attained gender parity in representation in federal cabinet and national parliament.

For the majority of women in society, gender politics is a life-cycle which starts from being born female and is entrenched through the acts of socialisation, and for MacArthur Foundations Amina Salihu, there has to be a conscious effort at breaking the ossifying construct around gender roles in society. And, to gain greater political access for women, as mentioned earlier, this would require their economic empowerment in order to change outcomes sustainably. Salihu outlined how despite 80% of MSMEs in the country being run by women, yet only 4% of these get any form of support. Hence, while there are already too many women at the base of the pyramid of unemployment, without real economic power, women will never get appointed into boards and be part of decision-making. To her, being about 75% of voters, women have a very strong social capital that needs to be converted into political capital that enables other women to get into positions of leadership and political power.

Central to the lack of gender inclusive governance in Nigeria is the phenomenon of power asymmetry, as informed by an essential patriarchal orientation. The media has equally been complicit in this regard, in terms of the kind of stories being written, and their perspectives, as put by Dr Chido Onumah, the Coordinator of the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in one of the panels. As illustration, he calls up the terrible reporting done by one of Nigerias prominent newspapers on the actress and deputy governorship candidate in Lagos, Funke Akindele, who was asked to go and fix some aspects of her personal life before thinking of coming to fix the state!

Canada offers one of the most progressive stories of gender representation in public affairs, with the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau having a 50% representation of women, who equally hold powerful portfolios as the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Finance, Defence, and Foreign Affairs. This was the comparative and aspirational experience for Nigeria brought to the panel by Tracy Docheff, the Director for Marketing and Communications at Toronto New Life Wellness Place, who has been engaged in advocacy for women through sports.

The irony of the private sector being in the leadership of affirmative action processes and principles, as against the public sector, which ordinarily ought to set the template for governance across social institutions and structures, was alluded to in the panel presentation of Adekunle Shotubo, an expert in the energy industry. As he elucidated upon, it has been discovered that companies with women in top management positions have better returns on investment, and overall better operating results, and he wished that many of the lessons from industry on how diversity enhances outcomes would be taken up in politics and governance.

He spoke about the intentionality of the industry in reserving at least 25% of top management and board positions for women, in addition to getting more of them involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), with this leading to the qualification of more women engineers. More so, there has been the promotion of inclusive work places by ending unfair practices that affect female workers more, creating performance targets that enable parity, the granting of paternity leave so that women can resume work earlier, in addition to the discouragement of harassment in the workplace.

One crucial step towards the attainment of greater gender inclusiveness in the public space and governance in Nigeria, as mentioned by Simon Kolawole and affirmed by Hajiya Saudatu Mahdi of the Womens Rights Advancement & Protection Alternative (WRAPA) is through deliberate policy targeting and the design of pertinent legislation. Such targeting has borne lauded results in places like Rwanda and Senegal that have been referred to above. Further to this, Mahdi spoke about the need for constitutional review to legally affirm roles and slots for women, while they equally need to change strategy for better political engagement and taking on more radical actions to achieve the goal of more inclusive female representation in governance.

What can women do? Without doubt, they have definitely been doing a lot  as pointed out by speakers in the panel discussions  and are capable of much more in salvaging and pulling Nigeria back from the tipping point to catastrophe that it is presently plodding towards. The highly innovative factor that the Akin Fadeyi Foundation has brought to bear on this is in taking a proactive lead by offering a platform for the voices and ideas of women to be heard, on how they would remake Nigeria when they come into opportunities for this in positions of leadership. More than mere affirmation, this bold initiative of AFF not only advances the enlightened course of balance and healing in the Nigerian society, but also indicates  very importantly  how truly female the future could be.

Ololade Bamidele is the Secretary of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.
In its early years, Al Qaedas operational fund came mostly from affluent donors in oil rich Middle Eastern countries, but later on counterterrorism officials discovered that the bulk of money the group used for its recruitment, training and arms purchases actually came from Europe in form of ransom payments.

On the 5th of June 2017, the Middle East nations of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates announced that they had severed ties with Qatar, a fellow member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). They were later joined by Jordan, while a host of other non-GCC nations including Mauritania, Djibouti, Maldives, Israel and the Comoros stood behind in solidarity. In the ensuing diplomatic face-off, Qatar-registered planes and ships were banned from utilising those nations airspaces and sea routes. Saudi Arabia even went a step further to block Qatars only land crossing.

The State of Qatar was accused of supporting terrorism. But the issue in that conflict was not just about Qatars culpability or lack of it. The big question was whether the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a nation regarded as the birth place of Wahhabism, the reformist doctrine that underpins puritanical Islam, was in any position to lay such an accusation. Islamic charities tied to both Riyadh and Doha have frequently been accused of sponsoring radical madrassas that serve as a breeding ground for jihadists and so play a key role in terror financing globally.

Located on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar has a population of 2.6 million, of which a little over 300,000 are Qatari citizens and 2.3 million, expatriates, according to a 2017 census figures. Its the worlds largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and, in terms of income, the country has the fourth highest GDP per capita in the whole world. Consequently, Qatar has had an oversized influence in world politics in general and Arab politics in particular, establishing its global media network, Al Jazeera in November 1996.

Qatars influence peddling has not always been for good. It has been alleged to sponsor Islamic movements with links to terrorism and did at least agree to supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. The nation was also accused by Israel of supporting Hamas, as well as funding rebel groups such as al-Qaedas affiliate in Syria, the al-Nusra Front. As a small country, Qatar believes that for its security and in order to carve its own identity as distinct from being seen as an appendage of Saudi Arabia, it needs to cultivate and nurture certain types of alliances.

In its strategic alliance with the United States, the Al Udeid Air Base, located west of its capital, Doha, is home to the largest US military installation in the Middle East. Established in 1996 and covering an area of 24 hectares, the base can accommodate close to 100 aircraft, as well as drones and, at some point, it played host to an estimated 11,000 American and coalition service members. It was also not by accident that during the peace talk between the US and Afghan Talibans brokered by the Trumps White House, the latter favoured Qatar mediating, rather than any other country on earth. Qatar is also friendly with Iran, Saudi Arabias arch enemy in the region, which was one of the main reasons that made the Kingdom lead the coalition to punish it. But to be fair, its not only money from the Middle East that funds terrorism.

When northern Mali fell into the hands of terrorists made up of local jihadists and supported by foreign militants, many believed that it was simply a direct consequence of NATOs 2011 intervention in Libya, which sent thousands of well-armed fighters across the Sahara to Mali and the rest of Africa. While that may be partially true, no mention, however, was made of a great many other nation states who continue to water the seed of insurgency globally, unwittingly or intentionally.

The United States of America and, to a certain extent Britain, have a long-standing policy of not paying ransom to kidnappers. But that is not the case with others. Whereas many European governments deny paying ransom, an investigation by New York Times a few years ago found that Al Qaeda and its affiliates had taken in revenue in excess of $125 million from kidnapping since 2008 and in one particular year alone, $66 million was paid out to them.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar who also goes by the name The One-Eyed, is an Algerian jihadist known as the leader of a terrorist organisation that operates mostly in North and West Africa called the Al-Mulathameen, a group he founded in December of 2012. Born in northern Algeria, Belmokhtar, at the age of 19, traveled to Afghanistan in 1991, to fight alongside the mujahideen against the communist government in the Afghanistan civil war, following the withdrawal of Soviet troops. It was there that he honed his skills as a terrorist and lost his left eye, while mishandling explosives.

Upon his return to Algeria, Belmokhtar joined a group called the Islamist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in 1992. The group, which later rebranded as Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM), had a goal of overthrowing the Algerian government and instituting an Islamic state. As the military commander, Mokhtar Belmokhtar was quick to realise that without funding, the groups operations would be grounded. He therafter established an elaborate smuggling network for drugs, diamonds, stolen cars, covering most of southern Algeria and used the proceeds to buy weapons and supplies for his groups. But that was until he discovered an easier and a much more lucrative option; kidnapping for ransom.

In 2003, 32 European tourists made up of 16 Germans, 10 Austrians, four Swiss, a Dutchman and a Swede went missing in the UNESCO-listed Tassili NAjjer region of southeast Algeria. Initial report was that they lost their way but it was later confirmed that they were abducted by members of Belmokhtars GSPC terror cell in the Algerian Sahara Desert. The families of the victims were frantic and the German Foreign Minister held several talks with the Algerian president. A few weeks later and following a raid of the terrorists hideout by the Algerian Army, 17 out of the 32 hostages were freed. The other remaining 15 were led by the terrorists across the desert to neighboring Mail and were later released after a huge ransom payment was made by the German authorities.

Quoting one account of what transpired, The German official charged with delivering this cargo arrived here aboard a nearly empty military plane and was whisked away to a secret meeting with the president of Mali, who had offered Europe a face-saving solution to a vexing problem. But in all, three suitcases filled with cash to the tune of 5 million, officially disguised as humanitarian aid to Malis poor, were delivered to the terrorists. The suitcases were reportedly loaded onto waiting pickup trucks and driven hundreds of miles north into the Sahara Desert.

The United States of America and, to a certain extent Britain, have a long-standing policy of not paying ransom to kidnappers. But that is not the case with others. Whereas many European governments deny paying ransom, an investigation by New York Times a few years ago found that Al Qaeda and its affiliates had taken in revenue in excess of $125 million from kidnapping since 2008 and in one particular year alone, $66 million was paid out to them. At the time, the United States Treasury Department reported a total of around $165 million in ransom payment over the same period.

Money is the oxygen that nurtures, as well as sustains global terrorism and unless the issue of financing is effectively tackled, all pretensions to addressing the problem is but a waste of precious time. As long as those paying for the spread of extremist ideology go unpunished, there would be thousands of willing buyers in a world where the global poverty rate has gone up.

Mr Belmokhtars success in the kidnapping business has turned northern Mali into a Mecca of sorts for aspiring jihadists, and since 2004 many radicalised youths from across North and West Africa flock to Mail to get trained in the art. Kidnap for ransom has become such a lucrative business for terror groups and from those proceeds, their operations across the globe are bankrolled. Al-Qaeda, for example, is said to own a how-to operational manual that explains the process, from the actual kidnap all the way to the nitty-gritty of negotiating ransom payments.

In its early years, Al Qaedas operational fund came mostly from affluent donors in oil rich Middle Eastern countries, but later on counterterrorism officials discovered that the bulk of money the group used for its recruitment, training and arms purchases actually came from Europe in form of ransom payments.

Money is the oxygen that nurtures, as well as sustains global terrorism and unless the issue of financing is effectively tackled, all pretensions to addressing the problem is but a waste of precious time. As long as those paying for the spread of extremist ideology go unpunished, there would be thousands of willing buyers in a world where the global poverty rate has gone up.

Across the globe, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) leads and coordinates the world bodys approach to preventing terrorism and violent extremism, which is good. Its Security Council Resolution 2462 (2019) under Chapter VII, seeks to address some new avenues of terrorist financing, including but not limited to targeting the nexus between terrorists and organised crime groups. Its also tackling fundraising through kidnapping for ransom. The reality, however, is that the effort hasnt really moved the needle much in this fight.

In the home front, there is no doubt that funds from foreign donors and their local collaborators have continued to pour in to support the efforts of the Islamic States West African Province (ISWAP), an increasingly emboldened terrorists group whose goal is to conquer Nigeria and turn it into a Muslim theocracy. Sadly, many months after Abubakar Malamis Ministry of Justice informed Nigerians of being in possession of a list of sponsors of terrorism, nothing else has been said or done about it. Every passing day, the prospect of Nigeria becoming another Afghanistan gets more real. This indeed is a very interesting time.

Osmund Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project. Email: Eagleosmund@yahoo.com
Since NITDA has called for public contributions, this is the time for human rights activities, public commentators, tech analysts, ICT specialists, the media and the general public to provide their perspective and insights towards a workable National Artificial Intelligence Policy.

It is no more news that the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) can be attributed to digital innovation and the evolution of technology. Globally, countries are grappling with ways of managing the exponential growth of new and emerging technologies to advance their economies.

AI remains one of the most significant technologies for business, the economy, and society, and the engine of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This calls for a comprehensive understanding of AI that takes into account its technical, organisational, legal, social, and philosophical dimensions.

In the history of commerce, the economy, and society, artificial intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly one of the most potent technologies. There are many different kinds of AI algorithms and systems, but two of them are frequently used in business: those that use predetermined, possibly human-defined rules to make predictions, suggestions, and decisions, and those that learn these rules (which are in general mathematical functions) from data.

The entire range of governmental laws, rules, court rulings, and municipal ordinances are characterised by a well-designed policy. Such public policies implemented by the federal, state, and local governments affect everyone because a government naturally has impact on every part of our lives.

Also in cognisance of the exponential growth and potential value of digital technologies, which is in line with the vision of President Muhammad Buhari to diversify the Nigerian economy through the utilisation of digital technologies, the President launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), developed by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, to reposition the countrys economy and leverage the many opportunities provided by these digital technologies.

I am therefore delighted that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mallam Ali Isa Pantami recently directed the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to develop a National Artificial Intelligence Policy (NAIP).

On the other hand, governments must also react to the societal and economic problems that the development of AI has created. Automation, algorithmic bias, data exploitation, and wealth inequality are just a few of the numerous issues that need policy solutions from governments all over the world.

In a press statement signed by the spokesperson of NITDA, Hajia Hadiza Umar, the development of the NAIP is envisaged to maximise the benefits, mitigate possible risks, and address some of the complexities attributed to using AI in our daily activities.

According to her, it would provide directions on how Nigeria could take advantage of AI, including its development, use, and adoption to proactively facilitate the development of Nigeria into a sustainable digital economy.

NITDA is responsible for developing standards, guidelines, and frameworks for the IT sector in Nigeria, as enshrined in Section 6 of the NITDA Act 2007. The Agency has therefore invites the public to contribute and participate in developing Nigerias National Artificial Intelligence Policy (NAIP).

While inaugurating the establishment of the National Centre for AI and Robotics (NCAIR) in 2020, Pantami listed the immense and immeasurable benefits derivable from the project. He disclosed that the Federal Government had indicated its willingness to partner with the Nigeria Computer Society on Artificial Intelligence to boost the nations economy.

During the maiden edition of the Artificial Intelligence Summit, Pantami, who was represented by the Director, National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Yau Garba, said research on AI and other emerging technologies was ongoing with researchers in various universities across the country.

He said, AI is ushering new ways of planning, traveling, and working. Its innovative use has been changing lives for the better, creating new jobs and augmenting some existing ones while entirely replacing others.

The goal of the AI policy is dual. To ensure AIs numerous advantages for the economy and society, governments should, on the one hand, invest in its development and implementation. Governments can accomplish this by funding basic and applied research, the training of specialists in AI technologies, the development of digital infrastructure and related technologies, and initiatives that support the adoption and use of new AI technologies by both the public and private sectors. On the other hand, governments must also react to the societal and economic problems that the development of AI has created. Automation, algorithmic bias, data exploitation, and wealth inequality are just a few of the numerous issues that need policy solutions from governments all over the world.

But there is a story of competitiveness beyond this technological advancement. It is now obvious that there is much more demand than there is supply for AI skills. Only 22,000 PhD-trained AI researchers are present worldwide, with the majority (40%) concentrated in the US, according to a report by Element AI. Countries are hurrying to create AI Masters and Ph.D. programmes

In the last six years, computers have learnt to speak and interpret all of the languages spoken on the planet, to recognise faces and objects, and even play challenging video games. In the coming years, industries, as varied as transportation and healthcare, are expected to undergo significant change. Some of our favourite services, like Netflix and Google Search, are already based on AI algorithms. Simply put, governments are now aware of the disruptive potential of AI and are attempting to prepare for it.

But there is a story of competitiveness beyond this technological advancement. It is now obvious that there is much more demand than there is supply for AI skills. Only 22,000 PhD-trained AI researchers are present worldwide, with the majority (40%) concentrated in the US, according to a report by Element AI. Countries are hurrying to create AI Masters and Ph.D. programmes, short-term training initiatives, massive open online courses, scholarships, and fellowships in order to train domestic talent and draw in international expertise. Nearly every recent national strategy incorporates a mix of these programmes to draw in, keep, and advance AI talents.

Policymakers cant leave AI to computer scientists alone because it is so crucial to do it correctly.

They have to consult with legal professionals, economists, ethicists, psychologists, philosophers, and of course the communities they serve as they formulate policy. NITDA has taken that step forward to seek for everyones contributions to make this policy benefits the country and the people.

Since NITDA has called for public contributions, this is the time for human rights activities, public commentators, tech analysts, ICT specialists, the media and the general public to provide their perspective and insights towards a workable National Artificial Intelligence Policy.

Fom Gyem writes from Abuja.
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy

All praise is for Allah, we praise Him, we seek His help, we ask for His forgiveness, and we seek refuge with Allah from the evils of our own souls and the wickedness of our actions, whoever Allah guides, there is none that can lead him astray, and whoever Allah allows to go astray, there is none that can lead him to the right path.

I testify and bare witness that there is no deity worthy of worship in truth but Allah, alone, without any partners. And I testify and bear witness that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is His Servant and Messenger.

Dear brothers and sisters! Know that, World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is a global campaign held annually from 1 to 7 August in more than 170 countries to promote breastfeeding and improve infant health.

The World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) coordinates World Breastfeeding Week activities with the support of a network of individuals and organisations.

Breastfeeding is the best way to provide infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development. It also improves the bonding between the mother and child. Also there are many health benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and babies. Breast milk and breastfeeding play an important role in the childs overall growth.

Respected brothers and sisters! This weeklong event was first celebrated in 1992 and has since become an important awareness day for many countries. It is an opportunity to promote and support breastfeeding, as well as to raise awareness of the importance of breastfeeding for the health of both mother and child.

The World Breastfeeding Week is also a time to educate people about the importance of breastfeeding and to provide information and resources to help mothers breastfeed successfully.

During these week-long celebrations, people should join hand and get involved in the fight for better breastfeeding support and policies. There are many ways to get involved, from attending events and rallies to writing letters to your elected representatives, to sharing information and resources with others. No matter how you choose to participate, your involvement can make a difference in the lives of mothers and newborn babies around the world.

My beloved people! Exclusive breastfeeding for six months provides the following significant health benefits for both mother and child:

1. Helps to create a strong bond between mother and baby. This leads to complete physical and emotional recovery for the mother after childbirth;

2. Reduces the risk of certain diseases and conditions for both the mother and baby, including obesity, diabetes, respiratory infections, and ear infections;

3. Develops a strong immune system for the baby;

4. Increases IQ of the baby;

5. Lowers the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome);

6. Brings back the pre-pregnancy weight in mothers.

Dear servants of Allah! Early initiation of breastfeeding should start within 1 hour of birth. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life; and continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.

Optimal breastfeeding could save the lives of over 820 000 children under the age of 5 years each year.

Breast milk can provide half or more of a childs energy needs between the ages of 6 and 12 months, and one-third of energy needs between 12 and 24 months.

Breastfeeding burns between 500-600 calories a day.

The smell and taste of your breast milk change depending on the foods you eat. Premature babies are fed more breast milk in the first 28 days of life. At the end of six months, breastfeeding rates fall to 43%, and only 13% of babies are exclusively breastfed.

Respected servants of Allah! Know that, with your babys arrival, the first part of his provision arrived too and that is breast milk! Allah Almighty ordained breastfeeding for humans and many animals and people have been breastfeeding from the beginning of their existence.

Allahs Messengers too were breast-fed. Allah inspired Prophet Musas mother to put her baby Musa in a basket in the river to save him from Pharaohs killing decree, Pharaohs family found him and wanted to keep him and looked everywhere for a wet-nurse to breastfeed him and Allah caused Prophet Musa to refuse to be breast-fed by any woman except his own mother.

Also the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in his childhood, suckled from his mother Aminah, Thuwaibah  a slave girl of his uncle Abu Lahab, Umm Aiman and Halimah as-Sadiyyah.

The Prophet (Peace be upon him)s children too were breastfed. His son Ibrahim had a wet-nurse as occurs in a Hadith and when his son passed away he was only 1 year and 10 months old so there were two months of suckling left for him so the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said as narrated by Al-Bara Bin Azib. The Prophet, after the death of his son Ibrahim, said:

There is a wet-nurse for him (i.e. Ibrahim) in Paradise.

It is only in modern times that the wide use of artificial forms of baby-feeding, cows and goats milk formulas, have been used and that women have left their homes in pursuit of careers which make them leave the superior role that Allah has given them and pulled them away from the home to serve others and leave their own families.

Allah Almighty tells us the recommended time of suckling a child in the Noble Quran:

And the mothers are to suckle their infants for two years, for those who wish to complete the suckling. [Quran, 2:233]

We have enjoined upon the human being to treat his parents kindly. His mother bore him with weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. [Quran, 31:14]

Dear brothers and sisters! Look at the importance of breastfeeding! Our Creator even mentions it in the Quran a number of times! Breastfeeding is widely acknowledged now as being the best food for babies. It provides everything your baby needs: it is clean and sterilised, the right temperature, its fresh, its easily digested, contains antibodies and anti-allergens and is designed by Allah perfectly for your babys needs. As a result, breast fed babies have better immune systems, and less infections. But that is not all. Scientists agree that babies gain many psychological and emotional benefits through breastfeeding too. Some Islamic scholars say that the good characteristics of the mother are transferred to the child through breastfeeding. The child feels ultimate comfort and security through being so close to his mother and their special bond is strengthened, so much so that in Islam if a non-related woman breastfeeds a child she becomes a foster mother to him and her children are foster sisters and brothers to him who he cannot marry! As the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said as is related in a number of Hadiths:

Indeed, Allah has prohibited (marriage) among suckling relatives, as He has prohibited it among birth (or blood) relatives.

What more proof do we need of the bond that is created through breast-feeding?

It is permissible with the parents joint agreement to have a child breastfed by another woman and that wet-nurse is entitled to a wage. It was the custom at the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to be breastfed by other women, which strengthened relationships and made more mahram men for women etc. This also took the strain off one woman if she was finding it difficult.

In Islam, unless there is a legitimate excuse, the mother is required to breastfeed her baby. It is an obligation upon both parents  the mother provides the milk and the father provides the material support for the mother even if they are divorced. If a parent thinks there is a need to wean the baby before the end of two years it is permissible after consultation and joint agreement.

In the West, although breastfeeding is regarded as the best way to feed a child, still, some health professionals do not hesitate to advise women to give their babies formula milk top ups or to part breast feed- part bottle feed, even without a serious reason. And unfortunately many Muslim Women take this up too. Of course if there is a serious reason then this is unavoidable (although reviving the tradition of other women feeding our children would be very useful in this case). But all too often our sisters are talked into bottle-feeding for convenience reasons or because a babys weight is not picking up as quickly as the chart says it should. However many women have found that even if it seems difficult at first, if they persevere, breastfeeding becomes easier. Yes you may have some discomfort early on and it is physically demanding at times because as the mother, you alone must wake up often and feed your baby whereas with bottle-feeding someone else can do it for you. But we must ask ourselves: Why has Allah given the mother such an honoured and lofty status in Islam? Why does she have so many rights upon her children, even more than the father in many cases? Is it not because of the sacrifices she made? The pain she endured? The nights she stayed awake?

Your new baby has just come from a very secure environment where all his needs were being met and he was so close to you and now he is suddenly in this very sensuous world where he may be feeling hunger, thirst, separation, pain for the first time. He needs you and that closeness, nourishment and security that suckling gives him. Sheikh Suhaib Hasan so aptly puts:

the child should be suckled for the first two years of his life, instead of being given powdered milk which has been stored in tins for months. Few adults would abandon fresh fruit and vegetables for stale, tinned foods, yet they are quite happy to feed nothing but tinned milk and foods to their infants. Secondly, just as the mothers blood in the womb passes nutrients and her emotions through to the blood of her child, so her milk also passes her characteristics and emotions to her child while she is suckling him, causing him to feel immense comfort and confidence.

The scholars of the past too knew the importance of breast milk and the following is just a snippet of Imam Ibn Qayyims advice regarding breastfeeding:

Babies should only be fed the (mothers) milk until their teeth appear. Their stomach and digestive system (in the early months) are incapable of handling (solid) food. When the babies teeth come out, its stomach becomes strong and ready for food. Indeed, Allah delays the growth of teeth until the baby needs the food. This is from His wisdom and kindness, and out of mercy toward the mother and her breasts nipples, so that the baby would not bite them with its teeth. The babies should be given solid food in a gradual manner, starting with soft foods, such as wet bread, (animal) milk, yoghurt, meat broth The parents should not be too disturbed by the babys crying and screaming, especially when it is hungry for milk. That crying benefits the baby tremendously, training its limbs, widening its intestines, broadening its chest The complete breast-feeding term is two years. This is a right for the baby  if it needs it and cannot do without it

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.

Wassalamu Alaikum

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.
Nigeria is about to be plunged into a mess because there is no one to call them both to order! The reader might argue that Nigeria is already in a mess, which would be spot on. But the mother of all calamities is yet to come if her political elites do not quickly arrive at a political settlement to their squabbles before we move too deeply into electioneering campaigns for 2023, as by then, the clamour for a street fight would be so deafening that nothing but an act of God could stop it.

Elites from Northern Nigeria are political heavyweights; this is difficult to dispute. Elites from Southern Nigeria are economically heavy weights, which is also hard to dismiss. The two have been incessantly at each other like squabbling sisters very close in age. This had gone on for as far as anyone can remember but notably since 1960 when Nigeria became an independent state. They seem hell-bent on seeing this through till the bitter end as they each want what the other one has, selfishly carrying on and ignoring the consequences of their battle of attrition on the rest of the house. To complete the African adage suggested by the title of this piece, When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers!

The Northern elites distrust their Southern sister and have traditionally done everything they can to monopolise public policy platforms. In contrast, the Southern sister (who doubts them in return) has clung to her economic platforms. In the past six decades, they have fought each other for control of the use of force (only choosing to keep a fragile peace like the two nuclear powers during the Cold War, through assurances of mutual destruction). They have also fought each other in a propaganda war, employing threats of imposing religious fundamentalism from the Northern side (like the Sharia movement during the Obasanjo years, Boko Haram and ISWAP, all seen as a thinly veiled cover for the search for economic independence from the South) countered by threats of restructuring by pushing for a return to a blank sheet to either renegotiate Nigeria afresh or retreat to 1963-type regional governments or the outright secession from and parcelling up of Nigeria into several independent states (thinly veiled cover for the search for political independence from the North).

Make no mistake about it, the rhetoric used by each side has a significant impact on and traction, each with their local supporters, thus egging them on towards a climax, a show-down like two school girls who have been exchanging insults publicly all day at school and are now ready to fight it out on the way home after school, only that it will be in front of a massive, excited crowd of their classmates who cheer the fight on. At this point, no one is ready to back down. Anything goes with sticks, stones, dust in the eyes, ripping the opponents clothes off to cause disgrace. Our elites have used nepotism, corrupt enrichment, abuse of office etc. to gain a competitive advantage over each other; they have even sabotaged and subverted the state by allowing insurgents to run riot to maintain the upper hand in a bid to ensure if you carry out your threat, we all go down!

Does Nigeria need to call a timeout? You decide. If so, how long? How would the sisters be encouraged to reach a political settlement? What would a political settlement involve? They agree to dialogue out their differences, only this time the citizens will umpire the process and call the shots. When two elephants fight, perhaps it is genuinely the grass that suffers, but it is time to stand and show that the citizens are trees and make up the forest; they are not the grass for their elites to stomp on!

Nigeria is about to be plunged into a mess because there is no one to call them both to order! The reader might argue that Nigeria is already in a mess, which would be spot on. But the mother of all calamities is yet to come if her political elites do not quickly arrive at a political settlement to their squabbles before we move too deeply into electioneering campaigns for 2023, as by then, the clamour for a street fight would be so deafening that nothing but an act of God could stop it. The consequence could be to push Nigeria over the precipice finally. Luckily, we have seen potentially catastrophic street fights aborted through the intervention of individuals from the same crowd who wanted to be entertained by the battle but realised soon enough that the result wouldnt be funny. They typically did this by pulling the warring parties away and taking them in opposite directions to cool off before attempting to resolve the conflict.

This points to the role of the citizenry in this whole mess. Their cheers have aggravated the choices of the elites and boxed them into what seems like a path to doom, and it feels like the country is approaching a point of no return. It appears from the analogy of the squabbling sisters that it is from within the ranks of the same citizens that the power lies to pull them back from the brink! The failure to engage, the seeming detachment from processes that determine and shape their collective future, and their readiness to take nonsense from their leaders have lulled them into a position where they think the citizens are indeed the grass or worse, the grassroots! It is time to call them to order by protesting waste and mismanagement, opposing ill-gotten gains, exposing the treasonable lack of patriotism andcalling them to account. Citizens can force them to understand there is a powerful umpire in this issue  the people. This might cause a timeout on both sides to consider the error of their ways.

Does Nigeria need to call a timeout? You decide. If so, how long? How would the sisters be encouraged to reach a political settlement? What would a political settlement involve? At this stage, there are more questions than answers. Whether or not a timeout is called, a political settlement that prevents further degeneration of the conflict must be reached. It would at least put one sister in a position to absorb the hefty punches of the other one, without keeling over while retaining the certainty of delivering her similar blows back to her sister without let, or hindering her from inflicting equal pain till both see the futility of the fight continuing. They agree to dialogue out their differences, only this time the citizens will umpire the process and call the shots. When two elephants fight, perhaps it is genuinely the grass that suffers, but it is time to stand and show that the citizens are trees and make up the forest; they are not the grass for their elites to stomp on!

Soji Apampa is co-founder, The Integrity Organisation; email: soji.apampa@integritynigeria.org
Launch builds on 2020 program which marked first-in-the-US agreement with corporate partners to reduce business travel emissions through sustainable aviation fuels.

SEATTLE, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines is taking the next step in advancing sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) as part of Alaska's Ever Green program for improvements in environmental sustainability. Today, Alaska launched a program to engage its corporate customers in the decarbonization journey through purchase of SAF credits and continued efforts to expand education and awareness about opportunities to improve the sustainability of business travel including through use of SAF. The program builds on a first-in-the-US program launched with Microsoft in 2020 to reduce corporate business travel emissions through corporate partnerships.

Alaska Airlines launches new program to advance sustainable aviation fuels through corporate partnerships, shared learning

"Launching this program is another step toward our net zero goal and an important step to bringing SAF to scale," said Diana Birkett Rakow, senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability, Alaska Airlines. "While SAF is imperative to aviation's decarbonization journey, there are multiple barriers we must overcome to make SAF commercially-viable at scale. We believe these barriers are best addressed when we work together within the aviation community and across sectors. Our goals with this program are to support our customers' sustainability goals by providing SAF credits, to continue increasing awareness of the barriers and opportunities to advancing SAF, and to leverage the knowledge of this growing community to accelerate our collective progress."

The program launches with participation from Microsoft, Boeing and Washington State University (WSU). Microsoft has also committed to reducing the scope 3 emissions of their business travel with Alaska. Program participants will further deepen the experience with pilot book and claim systems and build upon those efforts to advance awareness and education on sustainable travel topics among all corporate customers.

"We are proud to build on our long-standing partnership with Alaska, along with other corporate and academic leaders like Microsoft and WSU, to help catalyze the scaling of sustainable aviation fuel," said Sheila Remes, vice president of environmental sustainability, Boeing. "We will need 700-1,000 times increase in the amount of SAF if we are to meet the industry's commitment to net zero by 2050 and partnerships and new ideas like these are critical to meeting that goal."

Alaska's program includes Boeing and WSU as aviation and academic value chain partners to share knowledge and advancements in sustainable business travel with corporate participants. Together, participants will collaborate to advance sustainability in business travel, increase education and awareness, and identify and act on opportunities for collective action.

"WSU has long been a national leader in climate and sustainability research, including in the development and adoption of SAF," said Kirk Schulz, president of WSU. "We look forward to supporting this coalition of forward-looking companies committed to decarbonizing air travel."

SAF is currently available in volumes amounting to less than one percent of total fuel use but is a safe, certified fuel that meets all jet fuel standards and can reduce carbon emissions by as much as 80% on a lifecycle basis. Through the program, Alaska intends to expand understanding of and action to address some of the key barriers to scaling SAF production such as feedstock accessibility, facilities, transportation and storage, pricing, engine infrastructure and demand from operations and customers. Additionally, participants may tackle other topics related to sustainability in travel.

Last year, Alaska announced its commitment and five-part roadmap to reduce the company's carbon emissions to net-zero by 2040, including SAF as the most significant opportunity to reduce carbon emissions over the next few decades. Additionally, Alaska set 2025 goals to improve its impact relative to carbon, waste, and water.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines
SACREMENTO, Calif., Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Senator Anthony Portantino's Senate Appropriations Committee killed good government legislation today using one of the Legislature's most undemocratic tactics, the "suspense file," which legislative leadership uses to bury bills without public debate or a vote, said Consumer Watchdog today.

AB 2370 (Levine) would have required all state agencies to retain public records for a minimum of two years. The bill had previously passed through the Assembly and through Senate Judicary with overwhelming bipartisan support, and without a single No vote.

State agencies currently have no minimum time requirement to keep records, placing the public's right to access those records at risk, said Consumer Watchdog.

"Shame on Senator Portantino for using the secretive 'suspense' process to quietly kill a good government bill that had nearly unanimous legislative support. AB 2370 would have ensured Californians have access to information about the workings of their government. The irony is, Senator Portantino used the most un-democratic tactic to do so, shelving the bill without explanation or a vote," said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog.

AB 2370 was supported by California News Publishers Association, Californians Aware, Consumer Watchdog, First Amendment Coalition, and Oakland Privacy.

The bill arose from the government corruption scandal involving the Department of Insurance and the workers' compensation insurer Applied Underwriters.

A second bill prompted by the scandal, AB 1783 (Levine) to require "consultants" influencing administrative actions of state agencies to register as lobbyists, was passed by the committee and now moves to the Senate Floor.

California's landmark Public Records Act reflects the principle that government transparency is essential in a democracy. Yet, there is no minimum retention period for such records that applies to state agencies. As a result, records may be deleted or destroyed before the public or journalists are able to access them.

AB 2370 would have applied to state agencies the same minimum two-year retention period for public records that is already in place for California counties and cities.

Just this year the Department of Insurance adopted a record deletion policy that would have automatically deleted agency email after 180 days unless individual staff manually archived each email.

The email deletion policy, which was pulled back in the wake of media attention, was developed following statewide news coverage of the pay-to-play scandal involving Applied Underwriters and cloaked campaign donations to Insurance Commissioner Lara's 2022 re-election campaign.

Failure to retain public records is a problem that reaches beyond the Department of Insurance. For example,

As recently reported, the chief administrative officer of a state agency testified that she routinely shredded scoring worksheets that she no longer considered "relevant," even though they were central to a contract bidding dispute.

CalPERS began automatically deleting email older that 60 days in 2011 after a different government scandal.

In 2016, CalTRANS's 120-day auto delete email policy was determined to constitute spoilation of evidence.

The California Environmental Protection Agency currently considers emails transmitting "informal information" to be "transitory," and are deleted after 90 days.

The Medical Board destroys "physician licensing files . . . . not necessary to establish qualifications for licensure" upon the time the physician's license is issued.

The DMV destroys records regarding a driver's failure to establish insurance coverage following an accident after just 30 days.

The Department of Forestry destroys records regarding hazardous material (Hazmat) property upon expiration of the relevant contract regardless of the time period, and records of fire safety inspections after one year.

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog
COPPELL, Texas, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Costar Technologies, Inc. (the "Company") (OTC Markets Group: CSTI) announced today that the Company's 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on September 29, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Central Standard Time at its corporate headquarters located at 101 Wrangler Drive, Suite 201, Coppell, Texas 75019. The Company also announced that it has set the close of business on August 10, 2022 as the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to receive notice of and vote at the annual meeting.

The Company anticipates mailing its proxy statement to stockholders on or around August 25, 2022 which will include a description of the matters to be considered at the annual meeting. Stockholders may also obtain a copy of the 2022 proxy statement when it is available, as well as other information concerning the Company, at www.costartechnologies.com.

About Costar Technologies, Inc.

Costar Technologies, Inc. develops, designs, manufactures, and distributes a range of security solution products including surveillance cameras, lenses, digital video recorders and high-speed domes. The Company also develops, designs, and distributes industrial vision products to observe repetitive production and assembly lines, thereby increasing efficiency by detecting faults in the production process. Headquartered in Coppell, Texas, the Company's shares currently trade on the OTC Markets Group under the ticker symbol "CSTI". Costar was ranked as the 40th largest company in a&s magazine's Security 50 for 2020. Security 50 is an annual ranking by the magazine of the world's largest security manufacturers in the areas of video surveillance, access control and intruder alarms, based on sales revenue.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's ability to grow revenue and earnings, that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to risks related to the ability to diversify business across vertical markets, secure new customer wins, and launch new products. You can often identify forward-looking statements by words such as "believe," "may," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "expect," "predict," "potential," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, but they involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of the risks and uncertainties.

You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable laws.

SOURCE Costar Technologies, Inc.
The first Lear's Macaw hatchling has been born in the wild (in situ) from a pair born and raised in a conservation centre (ex situ).

CANARY ISLANDS, Spain, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A transcendental milestone for the conservation of endangered species has just taken place: the first Lear's macaw chick was born in situ (in its natural habitat) from birds born and raised ex situ (outside of their natural habitat).

The reintroduced birds that were born and raised under human care at the Loro Parque Fundacion have not only been able to survive in their natural habitat and fully adapt to their environment, but have also been able to reproduce.

Lear's Macaw pair with its offspring

More than 40 birds have been born in the Foundation's breeding centre, 19 have already been sent to Brazil, of which 8 were successfully introduced into the wild.

This is one of the major projects of the Loro Parque Fundacion, which has succeeded in changing the category of this species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from "critically endangered" to "endangered". This achievement meant its salvation from their imminent extinction, something that Loro Parque Fundacion has managed to do with a total of 10 species to date.

The protection and progressive recovery of the Lear's Macaw has been a long and hard-working process, in which the ex situ work carried out by Loro Parque Fundacion stands out, to whom the Brazilian Government transferred two pairs 16 years ago, in 2006, with the aim of breeding and saving a species that was in a very vulnerable situation.

In 198, there were only 60 specimens of this species left in the wild and thanks to the dedicated work of the Loro Parque Fundacion their numbers are now much better, exceeding 1,200 individuals.

It also reinforces the key role of zoos as protectors of endangered wildlife, as they provide the animals with a safety net, which they often lack in the wild.

These actions are part of an integrated project with birds bred ex situ and in situ in which Loro Parque Fundacion collaborates with more than 10 institutions around the world.

More information at: https://www.loroparque-fundacion.org / https://www.loroparque.com

Follow Loro Parque on: https://www.facebook.com/loroparque/

https://www.instagram.com/loroparque/ / https://twitter.com/LoroParque

Follow Loro Parque Fundacion on:

https://www.facebook.com/loroparquefundacion

https://twitter.com/LP__Fundacion

Photo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1876891/Macaw_pair_with_its_offspring.jpg



Contact : Natalya Romashko, [email protected], +34922373841 ext 319

SOURCE Loro Parque Foundation
Next-gen partnership with close to $800 million AUM is Sanctuary's third this year from UBS

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanctuary Wealth, home to the next generation of elite advisors, welcomes Marble Wealth, its first team in Alabama. Based in Montgomery, the four-person team had more than $770 million in client assets under management as of July 31, 2022. The firm includes Chief Executive Officer, Partner Matthew Murphy, CFP and Chief Operating Officer, Partner Rebecca Baker, CFP, who previously operated as Longleaf Wealth Management at UBS, and Chief Investment Officer, Partner Adam Rogers, previously Portfolio Manager at The Retirement Systems of Alabama.

"We're pleased to welcome Marble Wealth as our first partners in Alabama, but what's really important is what this team represents," said Jim Dickson, CEO and Founder of Sanctuary Wealth. "They are a highly credentialed next generation team with long careers ahead of them. Matthew and Rebecca built an incredible practice as UBS employees and have now unlocked that asset becoming business owners. Adding Adam's portfolio management expertise into the mix will allow them to serve clients even more fully."

Marble Wealth's CEO Matthew Murphy spent his entire career of more than 14 years with UBS rising to the position of Senior Vice President, Wealth Management. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a graduate of Auburn University where he earned a BS in Finance with a minor in Accounting. Matthew's professional accomplishments include being named to the Forbes Top Next-Gen Best-in-State Wealth Advisors and Best-in-State Wealth Advisor lists as well as the UBS Top 35 Under 35.

"I started my career with UBS, learned the business there and had a great experience overall, but we feel that we are now ready to take the next step by establishing our own firm to serve clients in the manner that they and we think is best for them," explained Matthew Murphy, CFP, Chief Executive Officer, Partner, Marble Wealth. "After extensive due diligence, we are convinced that aligning with Sanctuary is best for our clients and for us as business owners. The Sanctuary Wealth model of partnered independence provides tools and resources that will allow our team to go deeper with our clients."

"We chose independence because we wanted to be able to offer our clients more solutions and advise them on all facets of their financial life," added Rebecca Baker, CFP, Chief Operating Officer, Partner, Marble Wealth. "Sanctuary Wealth offers us a wide range of resources as well as support with compliance and other back-office functions that don't directly touch our clients. Partnering with Sanctuary Wealth will allow us to focus much more of our time and energy directly on our clients."

Chief Operating Officer Rebecca Baker spent more than six years with UBS as a Financial Advisor. She also held a similar position with Morgan Stanley after beginning her career and spending a decade with the full-service CPA firm of Aldridge, Borden & Company. Her credentials include Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Exit Planner Advisor (CEPA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She has earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting from The University of Alabama and an MBA in Accounting from Auburn University at Montgomery.

The firm's third partner, Adam Rogers, spent more than 17 years as Portfolio Manager and Equity Analyst with The Retirement Systems of Alabama, the administrator of the pension fund for employees of the state of Alabama and one of the 20 largest internally funded pension funds in the world. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a graduate of the University of Alabama with a BS in Finance, Banking and Financial Services and a MA in Financial Risk Strategy from University of Alabama, Manderson Graduate School of Business.

"I've spent my career helping thousands of people prepare for retirement without ever meeting many of them, so the opportunity to work face to face with clients and put my investment experience to work for them is very exciting for me," said Adam Rogers, Chief Investment Officer, Partner, Marble Wealth.

"Going independent is a bold decision and this is a relationship business. While a robust platform is a must-have, often times trust and culture are the deciding factors for breakaway advisors who choose Sanctuary Wealth. The team at Marble Wealth and our Regional Director Dylan Isaacs developed a strong relationship during their years together at UBS. I'm sure that made a difference." said Vince Fertitta, President of Sanctuary Wealth.

To learn more about Marble Wealth, please visit: www.marblewealth.com.

About Sanctuary Wealth

Sanctuary Wealth (sanctuarywealth.com/) is the advanced platform for the next generation of elite advisors, who have the entrepreneurial spirit to build and own their own practices and desire the freedom to deliver the tailored service their clients deserve. Sanctuary Wealth's ecosystem of partnered independence provides a complete technology and operations platform, as well as support from a community of like-minded advisors and the resources of invaluable affiliated businesses. Currently, the Sanctuary Wealth network includes partner firms in 27 states across the country with approximately $25 billion in assets under advisement. Sanctuary Wealth includes the fully owned subsidiaries; Sanctuary Advisors LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, Sanctuary Securities, Inc. a FINRA member broker-dealer as well as Sanctuary Alternative Holdings, Sanctuary Asset Management, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Global, and Sanctuary Global Family Office.

CONTACT: Michaela Morales

JConnelly

973 224 7152

[email protected]

SOURCE Sanctuary Wealth
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Since its launch in February, Marshall Inu has grown to well over 10,000 holders, partnered with 500+ MMA fighters, and donated over $4.5 million to support MMA fighters worldwide no matter what stage they are in their careers.

The Marshall Inu team knows that getting to the top in MMA is extremely hard - and it only makes it more difficult when fighters struggle financially to pay for essentials like comps, trainers, and general living expenses.

Marshall Inu is coming in hot with their MMA-based meme coin community focused on funding MMA fighters globally.

That's where Marshall steps in: this is a project created by dedicated MMA fans to help fighters with that extra bit of income, with no strings attached, so they can focus on what they do best fight!

More than a meme token, MRI has manifold utility; holders can buy exclusive Marshall Inu merch using MRI and can bet on a variety of sporting events through their partnership with Mystic Bets.

Additionally, this "Fight Club" NFT series grants revolutionary benefits and exclusive access to holders including income generated from their nascent OTC trade desk which will be split between NFT holders.

Another exclusive benefit NFT holders enjoy is perpetual entries into a lossless lottery where loyal holders can have regular chances to win UFC tickets, win a trip to Fighter meet and greets, and win access to exclusive events such as the Marshall Mansion nights where MMA superstars, crypto legends & #MRIFC holders party and mingle in luxury.

The most recent Marshall Mansion experience was just last weekend at UFC Texas and was a resounding success. Holders of three or more MRI: FC NFTs can have their chance to win this all-inclusive experience for the highly anticipated UFC280 in October headlined by Oliveria v Makhachev!

In the near future, $MRI will launch their own sportsbook and release a P2E game exclusively for MRI: FC holders and there are plans afoot to develop Marshall Inu's very own grassroots fight league! The future is bright for MMA athletes and the Marshall Inu family, don't fade this crypto dog!

About Marshall Inu:

Marshall Inu was designed to help MMA fighters succeed with an extra source of income. As a passionate group of MMA enthusiasts, the Marshall Inu team is on a mission to merge the worlds of MMA and meme coins to do something good with the Marshall Inu community. Marshall Inu is currently partnered with over 500+ MMA fighters, and has gifted over $4.5 million to these talented fighters from all walks of life to support the present and future of MMA!

Connect With Marshall Inu!

Twitter | Telegram | Website

SOURCE Marshall Inu
OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. ("Tetra" or the "Company") (TSX: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) (FRA: JAM1), a leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development, announced today that it has entered into a subscription agreement (the "Subscription Agreement") with Global Corporate Finance Opportunities 16 (the "Investor"), an investment vehicle advised by Alpha Blue Ocean Inc. ("ABO"), whereby Tetra has agreed to issue to the Investor (i) senior unsecured convertible debentures ("Debentures") in the aggregate principal amount of up to $6,000,000, and (ii) warrants ("Warrants") to purchase common shares ("Common Shares") in the capital of the Company (collectively, the "Offering").

Created in 2017, ABO is a pioneer in alternative financings, providing innovative financing solutions for companies across the globe. In less than 5 years, ABO, founded by Pierre Vannineuse, has executed more than 1.5 billion in financial commitments and more than 90 transactions, with a high focus on the life science sector.

"The Company is pleased to announce our financing agreement with Alpha Blue Ocean," says Guy Chamberland, CEO of Tetra. "This agreement gives us capital to fund our operations and further pursue the development of our drug candidates".

"We are excited to partner with Tetra, a leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development," says Amine Nedjai, CEO of ABO. "This financing agreement, ABO's first on the TSX, will provide funds for the Tetra team to accelerate its drug development pipeline."

Terms of the Subscription Agreement:

The Investor has agreed to subscribe for up to $6,000,000 aggregate principal amount of Debentures and accompanying Warrants. The Debentures will be convertible into, and the Warrants will be exercisable for, Common Shares, at prices to be determined at each closing of the 15 separate tranches (each, a "Tranche") pursuant to which the Debentures and accompanying Warrants are issuable.

Upon closing of each Tranche, the Company will issue the Debentures in the principal amount of $400,000.

The subscription price for each Debenture is 100% of its face value and the Debentures will not bear interest. Each Debenture matures 12 months following the applicable issue date (the "Maturity Date").

The Debentures will be automatically converted into such number of Common Shares as is equal to the aggregate principal amount of the Debentures being converted, divided by the applicable conversion price immediately following the earlier of: (i) five business days after delivery by the holder of a conversion notice, or (ii) the Maturity Date.

In the event of a default under the Debentures, the holder has the right to accelerate the Maturity Date and immediately convert all or any of its Debentures into Common Shares or to require the Company to immediately redeem in cash all or any of its Debentures. The Debentures may also, at Tetra's option, be redeemed in cash prior to the Maturity Date subject to a 5% premium.

Each Tranche will include three-year Warrants to acquire Common Shares of the Company at an exercise price equal to 130% of the volume weighted average price of the Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "Exchange") observed over the 5 trading days immediately preceding the date of issuance of the Warrants.

The closing of the first Tranche for $400,000 principal amount of Debentures (the "First Closing") is anticipated to close shortly and the closing of additional Tranches, if completed, will take place during the 36-month commitment period. Details of the conversion price for the Debentures, the number of Warrants and exercise price of the Warrants issued pursuant to the First Closing will be disclosed in a subsequent press release.

The Company will pay ABO commitment and service fees in the amount of $40,000 each in connection with the closing of each Tranche, representing $600,000 in fees in the aggregate assuming the completion of all 15 Tranches, or 10% of the full aggregate principal amount of the Debentures, and will reimburse ABO for its expenses in connection with the Offering.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to finance the manufacturing costs of its QIXLEEF drug candidate, to repay indebtedness and for working capital. The Offering and listing of the Common Shares issuable on the conversion of the Debentures and on the exercise of the Warrants have been conditionally approved by the Exchange. The Offering remains subject to the receipt of final approval of the Exchange.

The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release will not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not approved the contents of this press release. Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About:

Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) (FRA:JAM1) is a leader in cannabinoid-derived drug discovery and development with a FDA and a Health Canada cleared clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. Tetra's evidence-based scientific approach has enabled them to develop a pipeline of cannabinoid-based drug products for a range of medical conditions, including pain, inflammation, and oncology. With patients at the core of what they do, Tetra is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing biopharma industry by regulators, physicians, and insurance companies.

For more information visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com

Forward-looking statements

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information, including statements regarding the use of proceeds of the Offering and the listing of the Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among other things, statements about: the terms of the Offering and the Debentures and the Warrants issuable in connection therewith, including applicable maturity dates; the use of proceeds from the Offering; future issuances of Debentures and Warrants; the timing of any future Tranches, if any, and the satisfaction of the related closing conditions in connection therewith; and statements regarding management's expectations on the Company's future performance. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company's business plan, competition, regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company's research and development strategies, including the success of this product or any other product, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions, the risk that the conditions precedent to future Tranches are not satisfied, the risk that the conditions to the issuance of the Debentures pursuant to the Subscription Agreement will not be satisfied, the risk that the anticipated benefits from the receipt of funds from the Investor will not be realized as contemplated, or at all, and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.

SOURCE Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.
(File photo)

By Lyu Desheng

The Abyei is one of the disputed areas between Sudan and South Sudan. In June 2011, the UN Security Council decided to form a United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to oversee Sudan and South Sudan to withdraw their troops from Abyei. When President Xi Jinping attended the UN Peacekeeping Summit in September 2015, he announced that China will send its first peacekeeping helicopter squad to UN peacekeeping operations in Africa. On July 14, 2022, local time, the 2nd Chinese helicopter squadto Abyei performed four flights delivering jet fuel to multiple UNISFAmission positions.

Chinese Blue Helmets setting out for world peace

Since 2013, the Chinese military has dispatched guard contingents, infantry battalions, and helicopter squads to join the UN peacekeeping operations in Mali, South Sudan and Sudan in addition to the original engineering, medical, and transportation contingents. At the moment, there are more than 2,200 Chinese peacekeepers deployed in seven peacekeeping mission areas and at the UN Headquarters. The force structure of the Chinese peacekeeping troops have expanded from a single service to multiple services and arms;the missions transformed from the supportive mission to comprehensive, multi-functionalones; and the mission objectives expanded from stopping armed conflicts to building lasting peace. The Chinese peacekeeping forcehasbecome a key force for UN peacekeeping operations.

Honoring honesty and loyalty, Chinese Blue Helmets demonstratethe responsiblemilitaryof a major country

China has registered at the UN an 8,000-strong peacekeeping standby force, dispatched multiple batches of engineering and medical peacekeepers to participate in the UNpeacekeeping missions, and held 20 training sessions for more than 1,500 senior officers of special peacekeeping missions, peacekeeping trainers, professional peacekeeping personnel, female peacekeepers, etc. from over 60 countries... In the new era, the Chinese military, committed to serving the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, has consistently increased its supportfor and participationin the UN peacekeeping operations, winning extensive acclaim in the international community.

Chinese wisdom injects new vigor into UN peacekeeping operations

In recent years, the Chinese military has assigned personnel to lead or join the formulation and revision of multipleaction manuals forspecific peacekeeping fields. The first draft resolution on the safety and security ofpeacekeepers initiated and submitted by China was passed unanimously at the UN Security Council in March 2020. On August 24 and 25, 2022, the Chinese military will host the first Shared Vision international peacekeeping forum. This, together with the previously heldShared DestinyUNpeacekeeping field training exercise and the Shared Missioncommand postexercise for UN peacekeeping operations, constitute the Shared series an international brand of peacekeepingoperations regularly held by the Chinese military, it will play an important role in the development of UN peacekeeping operations.

The stronger China is, the safer the world will be

Peace is a common wish and lofty goal of the whole humanity. It is generally believed that the UN peacekeeping operations, like a mirror, reflect the fact that China is a peaceful force, and that the stronger China is, the safer the world will be.

As a main fund-contributing country (FCC) for UNs peacekeeping operations and the largest troop-contributing country (TCC)amongUN Security Councils permanent members, China has provided a greater variety of public security products for the world in the new era. It is because of its significant contributions to world peace that China has been widely reputed as a key factor and key force for peacekeeping operations.

Facts have proven that the Chinese military is always a staunch force in the efforts of preserving world peace, and a growing Chinese military means the growth of peace-guarding forces. As messengers of peace representing the Chinese people, the Chinese Blue Helmets will surely make greater contributions to the UN peacekeeping operations.
Blumenfeld  California Secretary for Environmental Protection under Governor Gavin Newsom and a senior leader at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama Administration  will head Waverley Street Foundation's multi-billion-dollar efforts to support climate solutions and community priorities.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Waverley Street Foundation, a more than $3 billion climate and community organization, today named California's Environmental Protection Secretary Jared Blumenfeld as its inaugural president. Jared is a national climate leader with a track record of delivering results for frontline and underserved communities. At the Waverley Street Foundation, Jared will champion actions that support the groundbreaking work being done in communities across the globe to urgently reduce carbon pollution.

"We have ten years to drastically cut climate pollution which is already causing extreme heat, mega-wildfires, destructive droughts, and sea-level rise. Our best solutions and climate heroes are in local communities that are struggling for survival. Waverley Street will place community voices at the center of our work" said Blumenfeld, who starts his new role in September. "Together with Lisa Jackson, Laurene Powell Jobs and the Waverley Board, we will supercharge efforts that result in an equitable and livable planet for all humankind."

He added: "I'm deeply grateful to Governor Newsom for the opportunity to serve the people of California, and proud of everything we accomplished at CalEPA. Governor Newsom has set the global standard for bold climate leadership. He has stood up against polluters and provided billions of dollars to help Californians tackle the climate emergency."

Waverley Street Foundation invests at the intersection of climate solutions and community priorities, supporting local leaders and organizations at work in the trenches of the battle for a livable planet. The Foundation will advance climate efforts grounded in the day-to-day lives of people and communities, while also responding to the growing challenges of those living on the frontlines of climate change.

"Jared has spent his career engaging with the people on the ground, working in urban neighborhoods, in rural areas, in tribal communities and beyond to directly address the challenges that climate change brings," said Waverley Street Foundation Board Chair Lisa P. Jackson. "He knows progress and innovation are possible when we put the voices and work of local communities at the forefront of climate action, and we're thrilled that he's going to be guiding Waverley Street's mission going forward."

Prior to his leadership at CalEPA, Blumenfeld served as Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Pacific Southwest, which covers Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands and 148 tribal nations. Jared hiked from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail, hosted an environmental podcast Podship Earth , has worked in China, India, Europe, Africa, and the Americas to protect more than 8 million acres of wildlife habitat. Blumenfeld served as Director of San Francisco's Department of Environment. During his tenure San Francisco was named "the most sustainable city in the nation."

"Our planet, and all of us who inhabit it, face no greater threat than our climate crisis. The Waverley Street Foundation was formed to address this crisis with the kind of bold, innovative ideas that are urgently needed," said Waverley Street Foundation Vice Chair Laurene Powell Jobs. "In Jared, the Waverley Street Foundation will have a proven leader with the vision and experience that this complex global challenge demands. His leadership at the city, state, and regional levels will prove invaluable as we seek to translate local action into worldwide impact."

The voices, experiences, and innovations of neighborhoods and communities around the world have a central place in protecting people, nature, health, and our planet. Waverley Street Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, supports grantees working closely with farmers, students, investors, Indigenous peoples, advocates, and many others. By 2035, the Waverley Street Foundation has committed to invest the entirety of its endowment  more than $3 billion as of 2022  to support organizations working on solutions at the intersection of climate change and community priorities. In the coming weeks, the Foundation will launch its website to provide more details on its mission, grantees, and the impact of their work.

SOURCE Waverley Street Foundation
CHICAGO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ALD Equipment Market is projected reach USD 6.0 billion by 2027 from USD 4.1 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 8.2% during forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Constantly developing semiconductor industry, proliferation of 3D NAND SSDs, and the advantages offered by ALD are some of the major factors driving the market growing during the forecast period.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=96683066

Browse in-depth TOC on "ALD Equipment Market"

165  Tables

62  Figures

192  Pages

Plasma-enhanced ALD to account for the largest share of the ALD equipment market during the forecast period

The growing demand for logic and memory devices for various applications is expected to create opportunities for the adoption of ALD. Plasma-enhanced ALD is highly suited for thin film encapsulation of OLED displays and wafer processing for manufacturing logic and memory devices. In recent years, there has been a significant rise in demand for plasma-enhanced ALD due to the advantages it offers, such as facilitating the deposition of thin films at low temperatures and a higher growth rate compared to conventional deposition methods such as thermal ALD.

More-than-Moore applications to register highest growth in the ALD equipment market during the forecast period

The emergence of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G has significantly increased the demand for semiconductor devices. To meet this increasing demand, market players are manufacturing various More-than-Moore devices such as MEMs and sensors, RF devices, advanced packaging, power devices, photonics, and CMOS image sensors. The adoption of these devices facilitates higher device scaling and cost reduction. For More-than-Moore applications, ALD can be used for various front-end processes such as surface passivation, wafer level encapsulation, nucleation layers, and gate dielectric deposition.

Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=96683066

Asia Pacific to account for the largest share of the ALD equipment market during forecast period

Financial support by various governments is a major factor driving the market growth in Asia Pacific. For instance, the South Korean government announced an expenditure of USD 451 billion by 2030 to strengthen the country's domestic semiconductor production capabilities. Moreover, the growing number of research facilities and growing advancements related to the semiconductor industry in Asia Pacific are expected to provide growth opportunities for market players offering ALD equipment. The availability of inexpensive skilled workforce in Asia Pacific is also a major factor driving the market growth.

The report profiles key players such as ASM International N.V. (Netherlands), Tokyo Electron Limited (Japan), Applied Materials, Inc. (US), Lam Research Corporation (US), Veeco Instruments Inc. (US), Kurt J. Lesker Company (US), Optorun Co., Ltd. (Japan), CVD Equipment Corporation (US), Eugene Technology Co. Ltd. (South Korea), and Beneq (Finland)

Get 10% Free Customization on this Report: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=96683066

Browse Adjacent Market: Semiconductor and Electronics Market Research Reports &Consulting

Related Reports:

Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Market by Front-end Equipment, Back-end Equipment, Fab Facility Equipment, Product Type, Dimension, Supply Chain Participant, Region (2021-2027)

Compound Semiconductor Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Type (GaN, GaAs, SiC, InP), Product (LED, RF Devices, Power Electronics), Application (Telecommunication, General Lighting, Automotive, Power Supply), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025

About MarketsandMarkets

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Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

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Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/atomic-layer-deposition-ald-equipment-market.asp

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Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/atomic-layer-deposition-ald-equipment.asp

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
Travel Insurance and Assistance Provider to Exhibit at its First GBTA Conference

RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allianz Partners USA, a leader in travel insurance and travel assistance, will exhibit at the Global Business Travel Association convention scheduled for August 14 to 17 in San Diego. This is Allianz Partners' first time exhibiting at the annual conference, which is expected to draw thousands of travel industry professionals at its 53rd iteration. The company is attending the event to provide information to attendees on travel protection products that offer travel brands increased customer satisfaction and brand loyalty as well as significant opportunities for ancillary revenue.

Travel protection has become increasingly important to both businesses and their traveling employees as the COVID pandemic has increased attention on the corporate duty of care for travelers as well as the increased trend in "bleisure" travel. A 2021 survey of business travelers and travel managers found that almost a third of business travelers (31 percent) would ask to limit travel if their company does not implement policies or measures to help protect their health and safety and 89 percent say they will add personal vacation time to their business trips over the next 12 months.

Travel protection products* from Allianz Partners can provide protection against financial losses that result from trips that are canceled or interrupted due to a reason covered by the policy, as well as provide coverage for medical emergencies while on your trip. Allianz's 24/7 travel assistance team can help with almost any travel-related problem, including health and safety issues. The company's medical assistance team can help arrange emergency medical transportation if deemed necessary, consult with a traveler's treating medical professional to make sure the patient receives appropriate care, relay updates to family members and more.

"We're thrilled to be exhibiting at the 2022 Global Business Travel Association's annual convention," said Richard Aquino, Vice President and Head of Sales at Allianz Partners USA. "Since the pandemic began in 2020, travel protection has risen to the top of traveler checklists. We look forward to meeting with industry professionals who want to learn more about how we can protect business travelers' trips."

Allianz Partners offers a number of different products to match the needs of travelers, including per trip and annual insurance products. Some products include coverage for rental car damage or theft.

Allianz Partners is located at booth 2050, directly across from the SkyTeam + Delta Partners booth.

About Allianz Partners: In the United States, Allianz Partners USA (AGA Service Company) offers Allianz Travel-branded travel protection plans and serves millions of customers each year. In addition to travel protection, the company offers event ticket protection, registration protection for endurance events and unique travel assistance services such as international medical assistance and concierge services. AGA Service Company is doing business as Allianz Global Assistance Insurance Agency in California (License # 0B01400) and Massachusetts. Allianz Partners USA is part of the Allianz Partners group. Allianz Partners is a world leader in B2B2C insurance and assistance, offering global solutions that span international health and life, travel insurance, mobility and assistance. Customer driven, our innovative experts are redefining insurance services by delivering future-ready, high-tech, high-touch products and solutions that go beyond traditional insurance. Present in over 75 countries, our 19,400 employees speak 70 languages, handle over 58 million cases each year, and are motivated to go the extra mile to offer peace of mind to our customers around the world.

Terms, conditions, and exclusions apply to all plans. Plans are available only to U.S. residents. Not all plans are available in all jurisdictions. Products may not include all benefits or covered reasons described here. Benefits, coverage, exclusions, and limits vary by plan and by state. All benefits are subject to maximum limits of liability, which may in some cases be subject to sublimits and daily maximums. Rental Car Damage Protector does not provide coverage for vehicles driven in Jamaica; other location-based restrictions may apply, see your plan for details. Rental Car Damage Protector provides benefits that may cover loss, damage or theft to the insured's rental car, subject to the plan's terms, conditions and exclusions. It does not provide bodily injury or property damage liability coverage or comply with any financial responsibility laws or laws mandating motor vehicle coverage. Rental Car Damage and Theft Coverage, when purchased as part of an annual plan, is not available to KS, TX, and NY residents. For WA residents, Rental Car Damage and Theft Coverage may not be available in all plans. For a complete description of the coverage and benefit limits offered under your specific plan, carefully review your plan's Letter of Confirmation/Declarations and Certificate of Insurance/Policy. Insurance coverage is underwritten by BCS Insurance Company (OH, Administrative Office: Oakbrook Terrace, IL), rated "A" (Excellent) by A.M. Best Co., under BCS Form No. 52.201 series or 52.401 series, or Jefferson Insurance Company (NY, Administrative Office: Richmond, VA), rated "A+" (Superior) by A.M. Best Co., under Jefferson Form No. 101C series or 101P series, depending on state of residence. A+ (Superior) and A (Excellent) are the 2nd and 3rd highest, respectively, of A.M. Best's 13 Financial Strength Ratings. Except as otherwise specified, AGA Service Company d/b/a Allianz Global Assistance is the licensed producer and administrator of Allianz Travel-branded travel protection plans in the U.S. and an affiliate of Jefferson Insurance Company. Allianz Global Assistance and Allianz Partners are marks of AGA Service Company or its affiliates. The insured shall not receive any special benefit or advantage due to the affiliation between Allianz Global Assistance and Jefferson Insurance Company. Plans include insurance and assistance services. Noninsurance benefits/products are provided and serviced by Allianz Global Assistance.

SOURCE Allianz Partners
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- America First Political Committee today announced that polling shows Republican KW Miller has a double-diget lead over RINO Carlos Gimenez in Florida's 28th Congressional District Primary Race. America First projects that KW Miller will handily win the Republican Primary on August 23.

RINO Gimenez otherwise known as a Socialist Democrat, has a long record of supporting radical socialist policy, dating back to his time as Miami-Dade Mayor.

KW Miller For Congress KW Miller For Congress

As Miami-Dade Mayor, RINO Gimenez locked down and destroyed small businesses during Covid. Gimenez was also tainted with corruption and ethics accusations including unauthorized business dealings with Communist China.

In Washington, D.C., RINO Gimenez has voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical leftists. Gimenez defended disgraced Liz Cheney after she voted in favor of the 'Sham Impeachment' against Donald Trump. Gimenez doubled down in defending Cheney after the Republican Caucus censored and removed Liz Cheney from Republican Party Leadership.

RINO Gimenez has openly voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats in Congress on critical 'Unconstitutional Issues' far too many times and continues to support a socialist agenda:

RINO Gimenez openly supported and Voted for Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Agenda in 2016;

and the Clinton Agenda in 2016; RINO Gimenez also voted for the ' January 6 ' Democrat 'Witch Hunt' against American Citizens and Republican voters;

'Witch Hunt' against American Citizens and Republican voters; RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats on H.R. 550, to allow the federal government to create a database, track unvaccinated Americans, who could be targeted, segregated, discriminated against, and forced to comply with vaccination mandates;

on H.R. 550, to allow the federal government to create a database, track unvaccinated Americans, who could be targeted, segregated, discriminated against, and forced to comply with vaccination mandates; RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats on Anti-Second Amendment legislation HR-8, making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase, own, carry, and use a firearm;

on Anti-Second Amendment legislation HR-8, making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to purchase, own, carry, and use a firearm; RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats on H.R. 6 for 'Open Borders and Amnesty' to over 20 million criminal illegal aliens, which would permanently avoid deportation, obtain a pathway to citizenship, and full voting rights;

on H.R. 6 for 'Open Borders and Amnesty' to over 20 million criminal illegal aliens, which would permanently avoid deportation, obtain a pathway to citizenship, and full voting rights; RINO Gimenez also voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats to strip Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of all Congressional Committee positions.

to strip Republican Representative of all Congressional Committee positions. RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats on the wasteful $1.5 Trillion wasteful socialist spending bill packed with billions in earmarks (Pork);

on the wasteful wasteful socialist spending bill packed with billions in earmarks (Pork); RINO Gimenez voted with Nancy Pelosi and the radical Democrats to codify homosexual marriage into federal law, overturning voter-approved measures in more than 30 states, including Florida , that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

About America First Political Committee:

Our mission is to protect the integrity of the U.S. Constitution, promote conservative political candidates and policy that puts America First.

America First Contact:

Contact: J. Stephens

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.americafirstpc.org

Phone: 202-495-1505

SOURCE America First Political Committee
BOSTON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A team from Analysis Group, one of the largest international economics consulting firms, supported affiliated expert Professor Edward A. Snyder, who provided testimony on behalf of defendants in a criminal antitrust price-fixing matter brought by the federal government. The defendants were former executives at leading poultry processing companies.

In the matter (US v. Penn, et al.), the US Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that the defendants engaged in an agreement to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chickens between 2012 and 2019. The DOJ charged the defendants with a criminal violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act for an alleged conspiracy to restrain trade. Following a hung jury in two prior trials, the DOJ took the unprecedented step of trying the case a third time.

In all three trials, an Analysis Group team led by Managing Principal Andrea Okie, and including Principal Mark Lewis and Vice Presidents Kevin Gallagher and David Smith, supported the defense and Professor Snyder, William S. Beinecke Professor of Economics and Management, Yale School of Management.

In his expert analysis assessing whether there was economic evidence consistent with a price-fixing agreement, Professor Snyder testified that his analysis of objective economic data did not support the DOJ's theory of price-fixing and bid rigging. He testified that information exchanges are expected in the broiler chicken industry and do not indicate price-fixing. He also showed that pricing patterns were inconsistent with the DOJ's theory and that the at-issue prices were not systematically higher than benchmark prices analyzed for the case. Professor Snyder, instead, found that the at-issue prices and price changes were consistent with the supply and demand conditions in the broiler chicken industry.

Following the third trial, spanning five weeks in the US District Court for the District of Colorado, a jury acquitted all defendants.

To learn more about Analysis Group's capabilities, visit AnalysisGroup.com.

About Analysis Group:

Analysis Group is one of the largest international economics consulting firms, with more than 1,000 professionals across 14 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since 1981, we have provided expertise in economics, finance, health care analytics, and strategy to top law firms, Fortune Global 500 companies, and government agencies worldwide. Our internal experts, together with our network of affiliated experts from academia, industry, and government, offer our clients exceptional breadth and depth of expertise.

Contact:

Analysis Group

Eric Seymour

978 273 6049

[email protected]

SOURCE Analysis Group
BANGALORE, India, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Asset Performance Management Market is Segmented by Type ( Asset Integrity Management , Asset Reliability Management ), by Application (Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Transportation, Machine Manufacturing, Energy & Utilities): Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20222028.

The global Asset Performance Management (APM) market size is projected to reach USD 8315.3 Million by 2028, from USD 3691.9 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 12.1% during 2022-2028.

Major Factors Driving the Growth of the Asset Performance Management Market

The rising need to increase ROI on asset management, the advent of industry 4.0 , and covid 19 led changes will fuel the market's growth during the forecast period.

The importance of maintaining asset integrity will drive the growth of the market.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE GLOBAL ASSET PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT MARKET

Asset performance management solutions are helping organizations save a huge amount of money by streamlining maintenance operations to better understand the health of the equipment and keep it running safely for meeting production/manufacturing targets. The software constantly monitors crucial health indicators for determining asset health and allowing predictive maintenance. This will fuel the demand for the asset performance management market in the coming years. The utilization and value of the assets increase drastically through efficient decision-making and cost transparency. Managing services and tracking vendor or supplier performance through transparent metrics lead to optimum allocation of assets for enhanced Return On Investment(ROI).

Industry 4.0 and operational AI are boosting industrial productivity as asset performance capabilities are scaling up along with a user-friendly interface. The data generated through connected assets helps in round-the-clock monitoring and auditing. The activities such as Downtime, Uptime, Mean time between failures, Planned and Unplanned maintenance, condition monitoring, and performance analytics help provide exact feedback to manufacturers on operating conditions and the design of assets. This will bolster the growth of the asset performance management market. An accurate picture of inventory levels ultimately aids in cash flow optimization.

Covid 19 has increased the need for maintaining complete control and visibility of all the assets in businesses. Industries are leveraging blockchain, IIoT , machine learning, AI , and digital twin technology to improve the efficiency of asset reliability management systems in turn driving the growth prospects of the global asset performance management market. Digital twins work in tandem with ARM solutions for simulating asset behaviors to understand the harmful and critical working conditions of the equipment beforehand. This helps to avoid situations of unplanned damage thereby increasing the production ability.

Assets need to be tracked throughout their entire lifecycle. Asset integrity management measures the integrity of equipment from design, prototyping, and implementation to decommissioning. It checks for pre-set faulty areas such as corrosion, cracks, fatigue, and erosion to maintain the integrity of the machinery. All the information regarding maintenance, design, location, and status is centralized with instant access to specification standards, instruction manuals, operational tolerances, and maintenance logs. This will expand the growth of the asset performance management market. Decisions are made quicker with less time wasted on information searching. The software provides quality assurance regarding a facility's design, fabrication, installation, procurement, and maintenance.

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ASSET PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT MARKET SHARE

Based on type, the asset reliability management segment is expected to dominate due to the extensive offering of reliability solutions by key players and the need to decrease excessive operational costs.

Based on application, the energy and utility segment will witness considerable growth in the asset performance management market share due to the growing demand for energy services. Officials are increasingly deploying asset performance management solutions for proper conditioning and predictive maintenance.

Based on region, Asia-Pacific will be the most lucrative during the forecast period due to rising investments, rapid digital transformation , and growing adoption across several industry verticals.

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Key Companies:

GE

Schneider Electric

ARC Advisory Group

Bentley Systems

AspenTech

ABB

Nexus Global

SAP

IBM

UpKeep

Aveva

Siemens

Infor

Oracle.

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SIMILAR REPORTS:

- The global Asset Integrity Management market size is projected to reach USD 27280 Million by 2028, from USD 18910 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 4.9% during 2022-2028.

- The global Plant Asset Management market size is projected to reach USD 7652.4 Million by 2028, from USD 4913.2 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 6.1% during 2022-2028.

- The global Pharmaceutical Asset Performance Management (APM) market size is projected to reach USD 148.9 Million by 2027, from USD 103 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 5.3% during 2021-2027.

- The global Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Software market size is projected to reach USD 9130.7 Million by 2028, from USD 4719.3 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 9.7% during 2022-2028.

- The global Asset Tracking and Inventory Management Solutions market size is projected to reach USD 5174 Million by 2028, from USD 3040.2 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 7.4% during 2022-2028.

- The global Managed Services market size is projected to reach USD 271640 Million by 2028, from USD 142300 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 9.2% during 2022-2028.

- The global predictive analytics market size was valued at USD 7.32 Billion in 2019, and is projected to reach USD 35.45 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 21.9% from 2020 to 2027.

- The global Industrial Controls and Factory Automation market size is projected to reach USD 208150 Million by 2027, from USD 128090 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 7.2% during 2021-2027.

- The global big data and business analytics market size was valued at USD 198.08 Billion in 2020, and is projected to reach USD 684.12 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.5% from 2021 to 2030.

- The global Business Intelligence market size is projected to reach USD 27870 Million by 2026, from USD 18720 Million in 2019, at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period 2021-2026.

- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global Manufacturing Execution System (MES) market size is estimated to be worth USD 12550 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 19270 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 7.4% during the review period.

- The global Smart Manufacturing market size is projected to reach USD 397120 Million by 2028, from USD 203530 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 9.9% during 2022-2028.

- The global Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market size is projected to reach USD 241370 Million by 2027, from USD 180440 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 4.2% during 2021-2027.

- The global Industrial Automation market size is projected to reach USD 212410 Million by 2027, from USD 130710 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 6.7% during 2021-2027.

- The global IoT in Manufacturing market size is projected to reach USD 1148.9 Million by 2028, from USD 550.2 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 10.6% during 2022-2028.

- The global Factory Automation market size is expected to reach USD 368,372.4 Million in 2025, from USD 190,882.2 Million in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 8.8% from 2018 to 2025.

- The global Healthcare Asset Management market size is projected to reach USD 34270 Million by 2028, from USD 12780 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 15.0% during 2022-2028.

- The global Software Asset Management market size is projected to reach USD 2252.6 Million by 2028, from USD 1243 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 8.4% during 2022-2028.

- The global Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) market size is projected to reach USD 1881.9 Million by 2028, from USD 1284.2 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 5.5% during 2022-2028.

- The global Industrial Services market size is projected to reach USD 32300 Million by 2027, from USD 28360 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 4.4% during 2021-2027.

- The global Risk Analytics market size is projected to reach USD 36670 Million by 2028, from USD 20230 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 8.4% during 2022-2028.

- Global Asset Reliability Management Market Insights and Forecast to 2028

- Global Asset Performance Management (APM) Software Market Insights, Forecast to 2028

- Global Asset Performance Management Solutions Market Insights, Forecast to 2028

- Global Asset Performance Management Services Market Insights, Forecast to 2028

Click here to see related reports on Asset Performance Management Market

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The contract agreement and ratification followed months of bargaining and a community campaign involving hundreds of local people calling on Baystate Health to prioritize nurses and patient care over profits

GREENFIELD, Mass., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Baystate Franklin Medical Center, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, voted overwhelmingly on August 11 to ratify a new contract with the hospital that makes critical investments in nurses and their ability to provide safe, quality, and local patient care.

"We are proud of this agreement and what it will do to help us recruit and retain the nurses we need to provide quality patient care," said Suzanne Love, BFMC ED nurse and MNA Bargaining Committee Co-Chair. "We fought hard together  as nurses and our community  to convince Baystate Health executives to agree to important patient care protections and competitive wage increases."

"Our community has shown amazing support for our nurses and our contract negotiations," said Marissa Potter, BFMC OB nurse and MNA Bargaining Committee Co-Chair. "This agreement will help us protect our ability to provide safe patient care and address staffing shortages that have caused healthcare worker burnout and moral injury."

Contract Agreement Highlights

The contract includes strong language protecting nurses from inappropriate floating. Nurses are specialized to certain care areas and should not be forced to care for patients independently in areas where they are not competent.

The new language ensures the hospital makes all efforts to appropriately staff patient care areas through regular assignments.



When this is not possible, the hospital may require floating using a specified procedure that is fair and transparent, including an inverse seniority rotation specific to this issue that safeguards newly licensed nurses.



Nurses will be able to determine if they are competent to care for patients in the new area. If not, they will be able to be clinically supervised by a nurse competent in that area.

Extended through the new contract is staffing language secured during previous negotiations that prohibits the hospital from diminishing RN staffing grids. This is important to maintaining a minimum level of nurse staffing in each hospital unit and providing patients with the care and attention they deserve.

Wages: 4% across-the-board increase for all nurses (ATB) retro to January 2022 ; 5% ATB January 2023 ; 3% ATB January 2024 ; 3% ATB January 2025 .

; 5% ATB ; 3% ATB ; 3% ATB . Nurses on the top wage scale step will receive: a 2% bonus based on hours scheduled retro to January 2022 ; and a 2% bonus based on hours scheduled January 2023 .

; and a 2% bonus based on hours scheduled . There is a wage scale adjustment to address nurses having to wait three to five years (or in certain cases as many as 15 years) on certain wage steps for an increase.

This has been a serious issue negatively impacting morale and nurse retention and recruitment, and we are glad to have addressed it during these talks.



No longer will anyone have to wait 35 years to get to the top wage scale step. Now the top step will be reached in 18 years and nurses will advance a step each year.

This contract agreement is the result of tremendous unity among nurses, other hospital staff and the public. Nurses and community leaders held a virtual community forum, put up lawn signs, held pickets, and hosted a Baby Brigade before Mother's Day and during National Nurses Week focused on community solidarity, fun and advocacy. The brigade followed delivery of a community petition in April to Baystate Health Board of Trustees Chair Robert Bacon seeking immediate action from Baystate on valuing BFMC nurses, protecting patients and keeping care local.

MassNurses.org  Facebook.com/MassNurses  Twitter.com/MassNurses  Instagram.com/MassNurses

Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
TAMPERE, Finland, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a summary of Bioretec Ltd's half year report 2022. The complete half year report with tables is attached to this release and available at company web pages at https://bioretec.com/investors/investors-in-english/releases

January-June 2022 in brief

Net sales increased by 35.9% and amounted to EUR 1,422 thousand (1-6/2021: EUR 1,047 thousand ).

(1-6/2021: ). Sales margin was EUR 1,018 (778) thousand or 71.6% (74.3%) of net sales, up by 30.8%.

(778) thousand or 71.6% (74.3%) of net sales, up by 30.8%. Net profit (loss) amounted to EUR -1,367 (-2,791) thousand. Net loss for the comparison period was affected by the costs related to the equity funding expenses in June 2021 .

(-2,791) thousand. Net loss for the comparison period was affected by the costs related to the equity funding expenses in . Earnings per share (undiluted) were -0.10 (-0.26) euros .

Key events in January-June 2022

In January 2022 , Bioretec entered into a supply agreement with Meotec GmbH in Germany for magnesium alloy raw materials for bioresorbable RemeOsTM products.

, Bioretec entered into a supply agreement with Meotec GmbH in for magnesium alloy raw materials for bioresorbable RemeOsTM products. In May 2022 , Bioretec announced having submitted a market authorization request for its bioresorbable RemeOs magnesium screw in the U.S. and specified the estimated timing of granting the market authorization. Bioretec estimates the market authorization in the United States to be granted during the second half of 2022.

, Bioretec announced having submitted a market authorization request for its bioresorbable RemeOs magnesium screw in the U.S. and specified the estimated timing of granting the market authorization. Bioretec estimates the market authorization in to be granted during the second half of 2022. In May 2022 , Bioretec entered into a distribution agreement with AMI Medical Technologies for bioresorbable Activa products in Israel .

This half-year report is unaudited. Full year 2021 figures are audited.

Key Figures

EUR 1,000 H1 2022 H1 2021 Change, % Vuosi 2021 Net sales 1,422 1,047 35.9 % 2,003 Sales margin 1,018 778 30.8 % 1,376 Sales margin, % 71.6 % 74.3 %

68.7 % EBITDA -1,196 -1,157 3.4 % -2,497 EBIT -1,285 -1,227 4.7 % -2,666 Net profit (loss) -1,367 -2,791 -51.0 % -6,017 R&D spend on total costs, % 30.7 % 39.0 %

34.7 % Equity ratio, % 52.5 % 57.3 %

50.6 % Cash and cash equivalents 3,847 865 344.7 % 6,621 Earnings per share (undiluted) -0.10 -0.26

-0.43 Earnings per share (diluted) -0.07 -0.15

-0.31 Number of shares at the end of the period (undiluted) 14,111,858 10,747,858

14,111,858 Number of shares at the end of the period (diluted) 19,679,006 19,099,006

19,679,006 Personnel (at the end of the period) 27 24 12.5 % 26

Timo Lehtonen, Bioretec Oy:n toimitusjohtaja:

" In December 2021, we took the first significant step in the commercialization of the RemeOs trauma screws based on bioresorbable magnesium alloy by filing for the CE mark under the new Medical Device Regulation (MDR) for the market authorization in the European Union and we estimate to receive the market authorization in EU during this year. Submitting the De Novo request for market authorization for our new products in the United States was a strategic step for us, as the United States is the world's largest individual market for orthopedic trauma products. Our goal is to be the first to commercialize bioresorbable metal implants in the U.S. market. I believe there is demand in this growth market for our products that contribute to patient healing, safety, and cost-efficiency in clinical care. The De Novo request provides a registration pathway for novel medical device for which there is no predicate device available in the U.S market. Based on the past discussions under the Breakthrough Designation program we estimate to receive the approval of the market authorization in the United States during this year.

Even though our net sales were record high in 2021, the first half of the year brought double digit growth of 36 %, and the positive trend strengthened further in the challenging global conditions where the global orthopedic market is estimated in 2022 to remain largely on the same level as in 2021. According to the estimate, the trauma market is likely to sustain growth in the low 4% range under these conditions. The industry expectation is that the orthopedic market and revenue will stabilize in 2023. The orthopedic market is navigating a time of significant change. It has steadily adapted to the new market realities and societal shifts in the wake of the pandemic while also managing the acceleration of underlying trends like the value-based healthcare and shift to outpatient procedures. We have a golden opportunity to modernize the industry to avoid prominent and costly hardware removals as it prepares for a likely future with fewer resources and more patients.

Our long-term sales and marketing efforts in Asia in particular in China, started to bear fruit. In Europe, the growth was somewhat impeded by staffing shortages of healthcare personnel especially in Scandinavia lowering the number of elective surgeries. The hospital staffing shortages seem to be one of the biggest wildcards globally in orthopedics currently after the pandemic. We currently have sales in approximately 40 countries globally, and we keep identifying new market opportunities all the time. In May, we signed a distribution agreement with AMI Medical Technologies for bioresorbable Activa products in Israel. The world opening after two years of corona restrictions has made it possible for us to again participate in several conferences and trainings for medical personnel and to meet our existing and new customers.

Our sales margin for the first half also grew especially due to increased sales in Asia, while the sales margin percentage of net sales was slightly lower than in the comparison period, because raw material and logistics costs increased. Our supply chains have undergone an unprecedented stress test throughout the pandemic and lately also due to the global political situation. Therefore, we have co-operated closely with our suppliers and signed new supplier agreements such as the one with Meotec GmbH in January to manage this disruption, but the price and availability of raw materials may remain challenging. Logistics and freight costs are another item where we see significant increases. Strong sales and higher sales margin, on the other hand, contributed positively to the EBITDA, which was roughly on the same level as in the first half of 2021.

We are continuing to gather the clinical evidence and experience of our bioresorbable polymer based Activa products and to further expand the indication areas of those products. A post-market clinical follow-up study of bioresorbable intramedullary nail (Activa IM-Nail) in pediatric diaphyseal forearm fractures continues on schedule, and the first interim results from 76 patients were published in the distinguished scientific journal Children in May with good clinical outcome. An investigator-initiated clinical trial to treat pediatric wrist fractures with Activa IM-Nail is also proceeding as planned, with 50% of patients treated at the end of June 2022. Additionally, good clinical results were reported from retrospective clinical studies of using the Activa Pin in fixation of children's wrist fractures and elbow fractures.

I would like to thank the entire Bioretec team for their commitment to active sales and product development in the first half of the year, our distributors for their smooth co-operation, and our customers and investors for their trust in us. Together we will enable better care for orthopedic patients."

Tampere, 12 August 2022

Board of Directors

Bioretec Ltd

For additional information about the report:

Timo Lehtonen Johanna Salko

toimitusjohtaja talousjohtaja

+358 50 433 8493 +358 40 754 8172

[email protected] [email protected]

Certified advisor:

Nordic Certified Adviser AB, p. +46 70 551 67 29

Information about Bioretec

Bioretec is a globally operating Finnish medical device company that continues to pioneer the application of bioresorbable orthopedic implants. The company has built unique competencies in the biological interface of active implants to enhance bone growth and accelerate fracture healing after orthopedic surgery. The products developed and manufactured by Bioretec are used worldwide in approximately 40 countries.

Bioretec is developing the new RemeOs product line based on a magnesium alloy and hybrid composite, introducing a new generation of strong bioresorbable materials for enhanced surgical outcomes. The RemeOs implants are resorbed and replaced by bone, which eliminates the need for removal surgery while facilitating fracture healing. The combination has the potential to make titanium implants redundant and help clinics reach their Value-Based Healthcare targets while focusing on value for patients through efficient healthcare. With the U.S. and EU market authorization for the first RemeOs product expected in 2022, Bioretec is positioning itself to enter the addressable USD 7 billion global orthopedic trauma market and become a game changer in surgical possibilities.

Better Healing  Better Life. www.bioretec.com

Appendix

Bioretec Ltd half year report January  June 2022 (PDF)

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/bioretec/r/bioretec-ltd-s-half-year-report-2022--unaudited--strong-sales-growth-and-remeos--registrations-on-go,c3613176

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/20509/3613176/1613975.pdf Bioretec Half year report 2022_12082022

SOURCE Bioretec
BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Crown Products, Inc. ("Crown") an industry leading distributor of flooring and flooring installation products, announced today the acquisition of Blakely Products Company ("Blakely"), headquartered in Warren, MI. Founded in 1946, Blakely is a leader and innovator in the distribution of flooring and flooring installation products with seven locations in Michigan (6) and Ohio (1).

Crown CEO, John DeYoung commented, "Blakely Products is a natural fit with Crown. It adds renowned distribution experience and capabilities in Michigan and Ohio with many common strategic manufacturers. This acquisition aligns with our mission to build one of the premier sundries and flooring distributors in the country. We are excited to partner with the Blakely team and work together to further distinguish Crown as an industry leader."

Everett Blakely founded the company near downtown Detroit, MI on the principles of honor, integrity, and superb service. Today, Blakely has grown to seven locations serving all of Michigan's Lower Peninsula and Northwest Ohio.

Dan Blakely commented, "Blakely Products has had a blessed 76-year history since my father and mother, Everett and Wilma Blakely, founded the business. Considering current industry consolidation trends and increased competition, it became apparent we needed to join forces with a solid strategic partner with a vision for future success. It is important to ensure our dedicated employees and their families, our faithful customers and vendors, along with the Blakely legacy and core values continue to prosper in the future. I am confident Crown Products will be trustworthy stewards of all that Blakely Products Company has stood for since 1946."

"Blakely has a sterling reputation and a talented team that shares Crown's passion and desire to provide excellent quality, service, and value to the customer. We are committed to delivering the best customer experience and the combination of Blakely Products and Crown is yet another step closer to achieving our goal," said DeYoung. "This is our fifth acquisition since 2018 as we continue to expand the number of markets where we provide a full range of flooring and flooring installation products to our customers. It is a very exciting time for both Crown and Blakely."

About Crown Products:



Crown, headquartered in Bloomington, MN, is an industry leading distributor of flooring and flooring installation products, serving the Upper-Midwest, Mountain West and Great Lakes geographies for over 75 years. Crown's knowledgeable team and 27-location distribution network serves residential and commercial flooring contractors, builders, and retailers across 10 states. With over 23,000 items from more than 100 manufacturers, Crown manages a distinguishable vendor portfolio for its dynamic customer base.

SOURCE Crown Products
MIAMI, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line today announced protocol updates that meet public health goals but recognize the evolving nature of COVID-19. With these changes, America's Cruise Line is making it easier for more guests to sail with simplified vaccination and testing guidelines, including no testing for vaccinated guests on sailings less than 16 nights, and eliminating the exemption request process for unvaccinated guests, who will only need to show a negative test result at embarkation. All new guidelines are effective for cruises departing on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 or later, and include:

Vaccinated guests must continue to provide evidence of their vaccination status prior to embarkation. Pre-cruise testing is no longer required, except for cruises to Canada , Bermuda , Greece and Australia (per local guidelines), and on voyages 16 nights or longer.

, , and (per local guidelines), and on voyages 16 nights or longer. Unvaccinated guests are welcome to sail and are no longer required to apply for a vaccine exemption, except for cruises in Australia or on voyages 16 nights and longer.

or on voyages 16 nights and longer. Unvaccinated guests or those who do not provide proof of vaccination must present the results of a negative PCR or antigen test taken within three days of embarkation.

All policies are subject to local destination regulations.

Note: Guests under the age of five years are exempt from vaccination and testing requirements from the United States and under the age of 12 from Australia.

Voyages 16 nights and longer will continue to have vaccination and testing requirements that are specific to the itinerary. Requirements for long voyages and destination-specific protocols are available on Carnival's Have Fun. Be Safe. page on Carnival.com.

For guests who have a pending vaccine exemption application and are awaiting confirmation for cruises departing Sept. 6 or later, the booking is confirmed unless booked on a sailing that calls on Canada, Bermuda, Australia or if the voyage is 16 nights or longer.

"Our ships have been sailing very full all summer, but there is still room for more of our loyal guests, and these guidelines will make it a simpler process, and make cruising accessible for those who were not able to meet the protocols we were required to follow for much of the past 14 months," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "We've got lots happening, with Carnival Luminosa and Carnival Celebration joining our fleet this November and more to come in 2023. Whatever the ship, homeport or itinerary that works for you, our great onboard team is ready to deliver a fun vacation  something we all look forward to even more nowadays!"

Duffy added that Carnival is in the process of updating its website, communications, and processes, and sharing more details with guests and travel advisor partners to reflect these new, simplified policies. "We appreciate the patience of our guests and travel advisor partners as we update all materials, but the end result is a very positive one for all who are looking forward to cruising with us," she said.

For additional information on Carnival Cruise Line and to book a cruise vacation, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, visit www.carnival.com, or contact your favorite travel advisor or online travel site.

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
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced that it has imposed an interim suspension of the CFP certification against Jason Cooke, which is effective as of August 5, 2022.

On July 11, 2022, CFP Board filed a Motion for Interim Suspension Order pursuant to Article 2.1.a.1 of CFP Board's Procedural Rules requesting the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (DEC) issue an Interim Suspension Order against Mr. Cooke. On April 28, 2022, Mr. Cooke was arrested and charged with five counts of felony dealing in child pornography in the Kent County (Delaware) Court of Common Pleas (Case No. 2204014557). His firm terminated him as a consequence of those charges, and press reports described the charges. A Hearing Panel of the DEC reviewed the matter on August 4, 2022, and then granted the Motion and issued the Interim Suspension Order on August 5, 2022, after determining that CFP Board Counsel demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Cooke's conduct poses a significant threat to the public or significantly impinges upon the reputation of the profession or the CFP certification marks. Under the Interim Suspension Order, the right of Mr. Cooke to use the CFP marks is suspended pending CFP Board's completed investigation and possible further disciplinary proceedings.

An interim suspension is a suspension of a CFP professional's certification and trademark license during the pendency of proceedings. A Respondent subject to an Interim Suspension Order must not use the CFP certification marks or state or suggest that Respondent is a CFP professional while the Interim Suspension Order is in effect. An Interim Suspension Order is a temporary sanction and does not preclude CFP Board from imposing a final sanction. An Interim Suspension Order will remain in place until the DEC or, if an appeal is filed, CFP Board's Appeals Commission, issues a final order. CFP Board Counsel may vacate an Interim Suspension Order if a criminal conviction, civil liability or professional discipline is vacated or reversed or if Respondent provides sufficient evidence indicating that Respondent was not the subject of a criminal conviction, civil liability or professional discipline. A Hearing Panel of the DEC may issue an Order to vacate an Interim Suspension Order upon a successful Petition to Vacate an Interim Suspension Order by Respondent.

The basis for this decision also may be found on CFP Board's website at CFP.net/verify. At that website, CFP Board provides the public with:

The ability to check on any individual's CFP Board disciplinary history and CFP  certification status.

certification status. Links to other sources of information about CFP  professionals that may be more recent or that may contain information that has not led to CFP Board discipline and does not appear on CFP Board's website. This information may include customer disputes, disciplinary actions taken by a regulator or employer, certain criminal matters and certain financial matters (such as bankruptcy proceedings and unpaid judgments or liens).

professionals that may be more recent or that may contain information that has not led to CFP Board discipline and does not appear on CFP Board's website. This information may include customer disputes, disciplinary actions taken by a regulator or employer, certain criminal matters and certain financial matters (such as bankruptcy proceedings and unpaid judgments or liens). Links to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.'s (FINRA's) BrokerCheck and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Investment Adviser Public Disclosure databases for individuals who are subject to FINRA or SEC oversight.

CFP Board's Enforcement Process

As part of their certification, CFP professionals make a commitment to CFP Board to abide by CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (Code and Standards) or its predecessor, the Standards of Professional Conduct (Standards), which included the Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Rules of Conduct and Financial Planning Practice Standards. CFP Board's Procedural Rules set forth the process for investigating matters and imposing sanctions where violations have been found.

CFP Board enforces its ethical standards by investigating alleged violations and, where there is probable cause to believe there are grounds for sanction, presents a Complaint containing the alleged violations to CFP Board's DEC. The DEC meets at least six times a year to review any matter in which CFP Board has alleged that a CFP professional has violated the Code and Standards or its predecessor Standards. The DEC functions in accordance with the Procedural Rules and reviews all matters on a case-by-case basis, considering the details specific to an individual case. If the DEC determines there are grounds for sanction, then it may impose a sanction. DEC orders may be appealed by a CFP professional or CFP Board pursuant to the Procedural Rules.

In certain circumstances, such as when a CFP professional is in default due to failure to acknowledge receipt of a Notice of Investigation or file an Answer, CFP Board staff must deliver an Administrative Order of Suspension, Temporary Bar, Revocation or Permanent Bar. Administrative Orders also are subject to appeal.

More information on CFP Board's enforcement process can be found at CFP.net/ethics/enforcement.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP certification  one of the most respected certifications in financial services  so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public's awareness of CFP certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planning, CFP certification is held by nearly 93,000 people in the United States.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
Tenants looking for more affordable places to live, leading to a growing demand for cheap and affordable removalist services such as CItyremovalist, one of Sydney's largest interstate removalist companies

SYDNEY, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This year, Cityremovalist customers mentioned soaring rent prices as the number one reason for needing to relocate to more affordable accommodation, followed by looking for a suburb where the cost of living is reasonably priced, COVID and job loss being the other reasons. People are realizing that all these factors bite, and bite hard impacting 10,000's of tenants and homeowners alike. Interstate Removalist Sydney is seeing this come to the fore with a noticeable increase in removals this year.

Ms Cohn is the senior writer and editor for Pew who published the findings from the coronavirus moving study. She says she asked residents who relocated during COVID-19 to identify the driving factor behind their move.

"About a quarter (28%) told us [they chose to move] because they feared getting COVID-19 if they stayed where they were living," Cohn says. "About a fifth (20%) said they wanted to be with their family, or their university campuses closed (23%). A total of 18% gave financial reasons, including job loss.

With health and safety, a top priority, Cityremovalist has adapted its services to offer COVID free and vaccinated removalists, along with an innovative payment system to be completed without direct contact. In addition, Cityremovalist has taken proactive steps to keep their customers and teams safe, including social distancing, regular hand washing, disinfecting regular touch surfaces, and wearing gloves.

How can Cityremovalist be so affordable when fuel prices and cost of living is soaring?

Cityremovalist Sydney do not outsource their interstate removalists jobs

A great reputation has had them in high demand for over 20 years, especially for their interstate removalists relocations

With innovative ways to supplement their revenue streams, it has Cityremovalist to keep prices affordable for most when other companies simply cannot.

About Cityremovalist

It's hard to believe they started out over 20 years ago when one man purchased his first removalist truck. Fast forward to today and their fleet of over 45 trucks move entire households and offices across eastern Australia within 48 hours. They know the city of Sydney and its surrounding suburbs better than most as they have served not only Sydney, but Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, and Melbourne for over 20 years with quality service, professionalism, fairness, and integrity.

For more information, visit us at https://www.cityremovalist.com.au/services/ call on 1300 441 331 and our friendly staff will be more than happy to assist you.

[email protected]

SOURCE Cityremovalist
Company Increasing Production to Meet Dealer Demand

EUCLID, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cortes Campers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US Lighting Group, Inc. (OTC:USLG), today announced it delivered its first shipment of 17-foot towable travel trailers to Beartooth Ford, its dealer in Columbus, Montana. Montana is an extremely popular RV destination.

Cortes Campers exclusive dealer, Beartooth Ford, sells the Cortes Campers brand in both Montana and Wyoming. Cortes Campers 100% molded fiberglass body is lightweight and strong, perfect for the outdoor RVing life.

"We are very excited to deliver a shipment of sea foam green travel trailers, with updated interiors, to Beartooth Ford. This was made possible by streamlining our manufacturing process, thereby making it easier to ship more campers to satisfy our growing backlog of dealer orders," said Anthony Corpora, CEO and President of US Lighting Group. "In addition, we have increased our staffing to include more skilled talent in fiberglass lamination and assembly, which has helped us tremendously to meet demand for our product."

"One benefit of having a broad dealer network is that we can receive orders from all across the United States, where they can be sold and serviced near the customer. Dealers have been advertising the Cortes Campers brand in their territories and received significant interest from consumers, who particularly like the design and construction of the product. This is great news for Cortes Campers as we move forward with new features and concepts for future models."

Cortes Campers uses no wood in its state-of-the-art camper construction, and it has a powder-coated frame which makes its RV travel trailers impervious to corrosion, rust and rot. The campers are lightweight and very strong with a competitive price, making them very attractive in today's marketplace.

About US Lighting Group, Inc.

US Lighting Group, Inc. (OTC:USLG) has three subsidiaries which design and market various products: Cortes Campers, LLC, for molded fiberglass travel trailers and campers; Fusion X Marine, LLC, for high-performance boats; Futuro Houses, LLC, for fiberglass houses; and one subsidiary, Mig Marine Corp., which manufacturers composite products. The Company and its subsidiaries have manufacturing and R&D facilities in Cleveland, Ohio.

For additional information: uslightinggroup.com

About Cortes Campers, LLC

Cortes Campers is a revolutionary designer and marketer of state-of-the-art recreational vehicles, utilizing the highest quality marine materials to create lighter, stronger, and more durable RV travel trailers and campers.

For additional information: cortescampers.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release, including, but not limited to, reference to orders, sales goals, design effects, growth of the production and industries, may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. Statements included in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically, but not always, identified by the words: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, and similar expressions or which by their nature refer to future events. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these statements.

Investor Relations Contact:

Chris Witty

646-438-9385

[email protected]

SOURCE US LIGHTING GROUP
The crack proof paint market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 5.5% during 2022 to 2031

A rise in the demand for moisture-resistant paints is propelling the market for crack proof paint

Increasing government projects pertaining to infrastructure developments in emerging economies of Asia Pacific are propelling the regional market

WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The market share for crack proof paint market is prognosticated to reach a valuation of US$ 195.0 Bn by 2031, as per analysts at Transparency Market Research (TMR). Furthermore, the crack proof paint market demand analysis states that the market is expected to develop at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2031.

Key players in crack proof paint market are investing heavily in R&Ds in order to develop superior quality products. Such efforts are helping them to expand their product portfolios. Moreover, major players operating in the global crack proof paint market are concentrating on the residential and commercial industries in order to increase their revenue numbers, note analysts of a TMR analysis.

Asia Pacific is prognosticated to contribute largest revenue share in crack proof paint market during the forecast period. The expansion of the Asia Pacific market is attributed to many factors including a surge in the investments by regional governments including India and China in infrastructure development activities.

Request a Sample: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=84891

Crack Proof Paint Market: Key Findings

Crack proof paints are gathering impetus in the construction industry owing to different properties including their eco-friendly nature and resistance to extreme weather conditions. Hence, a rise in the utilization of these paints is expected to help in boosting the sales growth in the crack proof paint market during the forecast period. This aside, crack proof paints are in high demand owing to their ability to help in the retaining the structure of paints even when the coated material (usually wood) contracts or expands on exposure to abrasive conditions or due to the temperature changes.

Over the period of past few years, the demand for advanced level of roof and wall finishes with no dampness and cracks is being increasing specifically for exterior applications. This factor is expected to drive the sales growth in the global crack proof paint market in the forthcoming years.

The government authorities of several developing nations across the globe are increasing government-sponsored public housing programs. As a result, there has been a surge in the number of construction projects in these nations. This, in turn, is likely to boost the demand opportunities in the global crack proof paint market during the forecast period, note analysts at TMR.

The demand for water-based paints is being increasing in the recent years owing to many factors including low levels of volatile organic compounds in these paints. Moreover, these paints are in high demand globally as they can dry rapidly. In addition, they do not require additive thinners and hardeners and hold superior adhesion qualities. Hence, rise in the use of these paints in the exterior and interior wall paints is boosting the sales growth in the global crack proof paint market.

Make an Enquiry Before Buying: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=EB&rep_id=84891

Crack Proof Paint Market: Growth Boosters

The rapid expansion of the global building and construction industry is expected to drive the sales growth in the crack proof paint market

Surge in the demand for moisture-resistant paints across the globe is prognosticated to fuel the business avenues in the market

Crack Proof Paint Market: Key Players

Some of the key players profiled in the report are:

PPG Industries, Inc.

Akzo Nobel N.V.

Polisan Kansai Boya

Asian Paints Limited

Berger Paints India Limited

The Valspar Corporation

Dunn-Edwards Corporation

StarShield Technologies Pvt.Ltd.

California Paints (ICP Building Solutions Group)

Ask References: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=ARF&rep_id=84891

Crack Proof Paint Market Segmentation

Resin

Polyurethanes



Acrylic



Epoxy



Nitrocellulosic



Alkyd



Others

Technology

Water-based



Solvent-based

End-use

Residential



Interior





Exterior



Commercial



Interior





Exterior



Industrial



Interior





Exterior

Regions Covered

North America



Latin America



Europe



Asia Pacific



Middle East & Africa

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Flexographic Printing Inks Market - Flexographic Printing Inks Market is likely to register a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a Flexographic Printing Inks Market share of US$ 7.7 Bn by 2031

EVA Resins & Films Market - EVA Resins & Films Market is likely to register a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a EVA resins & films market share of US$ 7.4 Bn by 2031

Butyric Acid Derivatives Market - Butyric Acid Derivatives Market is likely to register a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a butyric acid derivatives market share of US$ 1.4 Bn by 2031

Naphthenic Base Oil Market - Naphthenic Base Oil Market is likely to register a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a naphthenic base oil market share of US$ 3.6 Bn by 2031

Silicone Rubber Market - Silicone Rubber Market is likely to register a CAGR of 5.52% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a silicone rubber market share of US$ 2.6 Bn by 2031

Soft Magnetic Composite Market - Soft Magnetic Composite Market is likely to register a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a soft magnetic composite market share of US$ 9.8 Bn by 2031

Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) Pipes Market - Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) Pipes Market is likely to register a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period and is anticipated to reach a glass reinforced epoxy (GRE) pipes market share of US$ 2.9 Bn by 2031

About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. The firm scrutinizes factors shaping the dynamics of demand in various markets. The insights and perspectives on the markets evaluate opportunities in various segments. The opportunities in the segments based on source, application, demographics, sales channel, and end-use are analysed, which will determine growth in the markets over the next decade.

Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision-makers, made possible by experienced teams of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants. The proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques we use always reflect the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in all of its 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
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- EDCON, a non-profit annual global Ethereum conference and De University of Ethereum (UETH), a decentralized global educational platform initiated by the Ethereum community announced today that its interactive symposium, "Ethereum a New Era", will take place on August 28th at CHASE CENTER in San Francisco. This highly anticipated FREE event will be the first time Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum's core researchers and developers have come together in public to openly deliberate future plans of action and direction.

Ethereum: a New Era will bring attendees the opportunity to learn from and exchange ideas with the top minds of Ethereum. This event is open to blockchain enthusiasts as well as industry experts. The attendees will have unparalleled access to inspiring keynote speeches, panel discussions, Q&A sessions and networking opportunities.

Keynotes and panels at the event are set to address some of the most important questions from the community  from the process of PoS to consensus safety, layer 2 decentralization, blockchain regulation, and Ethereum's road to mass adoption.

"UETH is dedicated to helping all members of the community that are motivated to learn while also creating an environment that will foster the development of the future leaders of Ethereum," said Cy Li, the director of UETH. "We are thrilled to host this symposium in San Francisco and bring together the best and brightest of our community. With Ethereum entering the new proof of stake era and the amount of innovation it's channeling globally, there has never been a more important time for Ethereum and its core team members to come together and address the future of the blockchain."

Please find a link below to sign up and redeem your ticket for Ethereum: a New Era

https://go.ueth.org/

About UETH

De University of Ethereum (UETH) is a decentralized non-profit community educational organization. UETH carries the mission for mass adoption of the Ethereum network. The goal for UETH is to establish a systematic and intuitive learning process for students of Ethereum at all levels.

For more details visit: https://ueth.org/

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deUETH

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/deUETH

SOURCE De University of Ethereum
California-based Peak 1031 Exchange says actions would adversely affect whole economy, not just investors.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of President Biden's 2023 budget, the administration proposed severe limitations to 1031 exchanges. The proposal would allow taxpayers to defer up to $500,000 of capital gains ($1 million in the case of married individuals filing a joint return) for each sale of investment property. Any gains in excess of $500,000 (or $1 million, as the case may be) would be recognized by the taxpayer in the year the real property is sold.

President Biden's proposal would, of course, severely limit the property values that investors can use in an exchange. However, it would also adversely impact the economy as a whole. While this proposal is intended to generate $1.95 billion in revenue for the government through taxing the sale of investment real estate, other businesses that generate income as a result of 1031 exchanges were estimated to have produced approximately $7.8 billion in tax revenue last year, according to a May 2021 study by Ernst & Young.

There are numerous ancillary parties involved throughout the 1031 exchange process, including real estate investors, escrow specialists, qualified intermediaries, lenders, attorneys, and appraisers. In total, the Ernst & Young study projected that businesses related to 1031 exchanges would produce 568,000 jobs, create $27.5 billion of labor income and add $55.3 billion to GDP during the course of last year. As a result, if exchanges are limited as President Biden proposes, the negative impact would extend far beyond the prospective sellers.

"Given the overall economic impact of Section 1031, I think it is doubtful that Congress would enact such an aggressive cap on 1031 exchanges," says Kevin M. Levine, Partner and Executive Vice President at Peak 1031 Exchange. "However, we also should not take it for granted that Section 1031 will remain intact as it now is. Each one of us must do our part to ensure that we and the economy as a whole can continue to reap the full benefits of 1031 exchanges."

As a result, we at Peak 1031 Exchange encourage readers to contact their representatives and express their concerns about limiting IRC Section 1031 in the manner described above. This can be done easily by clicking the following: https://1031buildsamerica.org/take-action/

ABOUT PEAK 1031 EXCHANGE:

Peak 1031 Exchange is a leading national provider of tax-deferred 1031 exchange services, specializing in all like-kind transactions including simultaneous, delayed, reverse, improvement and personal Property exchanges. It is part of the Peak Companies (peakcorp.com), a network representing a group of companies providing a comprehensive array of commercial and retail real estate services nationwide including mortgage lending, loan servicing, short sale services, foreclosure services, insurance, real estate brokerage and escrow services. Peak 1031 Exchange does not provide legal or tax advice. Always consult your tax or legal advisor regarding your specific transaction.

CONTACT:

Aaron Tozier

The Peak Companies / Peak 1031 Exchange, Inc.

+1 (818) 591-3300 x7013

[email protected]

SOURCE The Peak Companies
MANILA, Philippine, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading Philippine digital solutions platform Globe, premier telecommunications and ICT solutions provider Eastern Communications, and growing telecommunications and digital solutions provider InfiniVAN marked a milestone on Thursday, July 14, as they kickstarted the deployment of fiber cables to build the country's longest submarine fiber cable network.

The $150-million Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network (PDSCN), a joint project among the three companies, aims to improve both mobile and broadband connectivity and fiberize previously unserved areas across the country's three main island groups.

In ceremonies at Subic Bay in Zambales, executives of Globe, Eastern Communications, InfiniVAN, and Japanese vendor partner Kokusai Cable Ship Co. Ltd. (KCS), gave a simple sendoff to state-of-the-art ship Cable Infinity, the "number one high-technology cable ship in the world," according to KCS.

The ship will ferry cables, manufactured by global fiber optic cable maker Nexans, that will cover the PDSCN, which has a total cable distance of roughly 2,500 kilometers or about the same distance between Manila and Singapore. It will be landing at several points across the country, including Sorsogon, Masbate, Marinduque, Camiguin, Siargao, Boracay, and Zamboanga, for undersea laying in 24 segments over the next 9 months.

"We persevered and we're now almost there. This is the start of the cable laying. This is really exciting, it's such a beautiful milestone. May we always keep the connections strong," said Arlene Jallorina, Vice President for Strategic Infrastructure Investments for Globe Business, Enterprise Group.

"We know there may be other challenges along the way. We hope we'll be able to work through them quickly and very much solidly as a group. We are doing this so that our customers will get equitable access to connectivity, wherever they may be in the country," said Jallorina at the kickoff event.

Eastern Communications Co-coordinator Vince Tempongko cited the importance of the joint effort to boost life-enabling connectivity across the country.

"What we are doing is not just for Globe, Eastern, or InfiniVAN but for the Filipino people. Providing equitable access to mobile and internet connection in all parts of the country has been our dream, and through this cooperation, we are finally at the cusp of realizing this goal," Tempongko said.

Eastern Communications Co-coordinator Atty. Aileen Regio shared the many benefits this brings to the Filipino people.

"We are very much hopeful that this project can be the answer that will open doors to great outcomes, solve the many challenges we are facing and be bigger than it already is," she said.

InfiniVAN Chief Technology Officer Alberto "Abet" Espedido expressed gratitude to the companies and the working team. Together, Globe, Eastern Communications, and InfiniVAN took the crucial first step towards laying the cables after two years of planning and coordination.

"I'd like to thank everyone for their perseverance, professionalism, experience and patience, we were able to get through all the challenges. And now we are finally starting this project to bring much needed connectivity all over the country," he said.

Segments for the submarine cable network are expected to be completed by April 2023, and fiber connections will be activated thereafter.

PDSCN is in line with the common goal of Globe, Eastern Communications, and InfiniVAN to expand their coverage across the Philippines to better serve their customers.

To know more about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph . Learn more about Eastern Communications via www.eastern.com.ph . And to know all about InfiniVAN, please visit www.infinivan.com/ .

About Globe:

Globe is a leading full-service telecommunications company in the Philippines and publicly listed in the PSE with the stock symbol GLO. The company serves the telecommunications and technology needs of consumers and businesses across an entire suite of products and services including mobile, fixed, broadband, data connectivity, internet and managed services. It has major interests in financial technology, digital marketing solutions, venture capital funding for startups, and virtual healthcare. In 2019, Globe became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, committing to implement universal sustainability principles. Its principals are Ayala Corporation and Singtel, acknowledged industry leaders in the country and in the region.

About Eastern Communications:

As one of the premier Philippine telecommunications companies, Eastern Communications has evolved into a world-class telecommunications and ICT solutions company providing an extensive portfolio of services that include Connectivity Solutions, Network Solutions, Security Solutions, Cloud and Data Center Solutions, and Business Applications. It continues to be the solutions partner of choice for the biggest industry players in the country through its unique brand of "High Tech" and "High Touch" service. Eastern Communications was awarded Telco of the Year in the 2020 Asia Leaders Awards and has received accolades from prestigious award-giving bodies such as The Stevie Awards program, Best Employer Brand Awards, Philippine Quill Awards, and the Anvil Awards, among others.

About InfiniVAN:

InfiniVAN, Inc. provides a business Internet user experience that is at par with global standards, delivered via end-to-end Fiber Optic Network Infrastructure that is fully redundant and backed up by experienced and reliable management as well as technical support team. InfiniVAN, Inc. also offers remarkable services at competitively-priced rates delivering quality Internet for business and ensuring ultrafast speed, reliable, and convenient connection to various types of businesses. InfiniVAN, Inc. commits to giving guaranteed Internet services by continuously harnessing its technology to showcase valued business Internet experience.

SOURCE Globe Telecom, Inc.
BAODING, China, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, GWM HAVAL DARGO was launched in Chile and Peru in South America, bringing a brand-new driving experience to local customers.

GWM HAVAL DARGO Unveiled in South America, Igniting Passion for Diversified Driving

To let locals have a more real feeling of this car's power, the GWM held a long-distance test drive for HAVAL DARGO in Chile. The test drive models are all-wheel-drive edition, combining coziness of urban SUVs and driving performance of off-road SUVs. The test drive route starts from Puerto Montt and ends at Puerto Varas via the Alerce Andino National Park, covering different driving environments, such as off-road terrain and paved roads.

The multi-scenario experience activities attracted a large number of test drivers to participate enthusiastically, and many well-known media gave positive comments.

Chileautos, the top local automotive website, commented that "HAVAL has introduced an SUV with an off-road gene, HAVAL DARGO seeks to conquer the adventure-loving masses."

During the test, HAVAL DARGO performs well in the off-road section, which allows test drivers to experience great off-road fun. The model's off-road capability is enhanced by equipping an intelligent all-wheel-drive system and rear axle electronically-controlled differential locks. The all-wheel-drive system can intelligently adjust the power output of all four wheels and works with the differential locks to fully utilize the grip of each wheel, helping test drivers pass through complex environments smoothly.

One of the test drivers said, "the driving performance of HAVAL DARGO on mountainous roads far exceeded my expectations, and the vehicle's grip and chassis performance are both excellent. It can provide steady support when cornering and a comfortable driving experience."

Also, in the test drive on paved roads, the model provides impressively comfortable experience. The test drive vehicles feature a variety of intelligent devices, such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keeping Assist (LKA). These configurations provide test drivers with a technology-supported comfort and convenience. For example, ACC can accurately identify the distance to the car in front and automatically control the speed, allowing the driver to enjoy a more relaxed and convenient way of driving.

HAVAL DARGO combines an off-road exterior with a technology-inspired interior, presenting test drivers with both the roughness of its appearance and exquisite details. In terms of the interior, the model has a spacious space, which is installed with shift knobs and a large center control screen, elevating the sense of refinement and comfortable atmosphere.

"Its unique styling, exquisite interior workmanship, and rich intelligent technology configurations are very eye-catching, making it outstanding among other products at the same class in the market", commented La Tercera, an authoritative Chilean media.

According to the latest sales data released by GWM, HAVAL DARGO achieved excellent sales results in July 2022, with global sales increasing by up to 45.36% year-on-year.

Soon, GWM will launch this car in other markets, including the Middle East countries, bringing a diversified driving experience to more customers.

SOURCE GWM
LONG BEACH, Calif., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Harbor Associates, LLC ("Harbor") has completed the lease up on the Bungalows Del Mar Office (https://www.thebungalowsdelmar.com/) despite the pandemic and work from home trends that have slowed traditional office leasing. The Bungalows Del Mar Office is a 39,537-square-foot trend setting low-rise office building in the highly desirable coastal San Diego submarket of Del Mar. Harbor vacated the building and recently completed a major $4 million trend setting and stunning renovation.

The Bungalows Lobby

Harbor, in joint venture with the Bascom Group, LLC acquired the Del Mar office property located at 2010 Jimmy Durante Boulevard with the plan of repositioning the asset to appeal to a broader tenant base. Improvements included a complete exterior redesign, new creative office spec suites with exposed vaulted ceilings, skylights, and operable windows. To leverage the building's location less than one mile from the beach and the Village of Del Mar, Harbor upgraded the expansive outdoor space and patio areas to create "outdoor meeting rooms" and installed a locker room with showers, and electric car chargers.

The building's location, design, and functionality in coastal Del Mar have contributed to the leasing success during the pandemic and work from home trend, according to Harbor Principal Rich McEvoy. "Del Mar office tenants have been drawn to the exterior entries rather than enclosed hallways, restrooms accessed from outdoor common space, excellent circulation with operable windows throughout, expansive outdoor patio and meeting space, independent HVAC systems, and social distancing design plan," said McEvoy.

Harbor also retained innovative interior designers like Tamara Romeo of San Diego Office Design who has designed several of the tenants' spaces at the property. Tamara is one of San Diego's most sought-after niche experts in the industry, with focused expertise in commercial interior design and brand development. "There is no shortage of office tenants searching for light, bright & modern environments. Add to that the gorgeous surrounding of the Del Mar racetrack, the restaurants and shops at the Plaza, and the coastal views from the property, and it makes our job as interior designers as easy as adding 'frosting on the already delicious cake'" added Tamara. "As a design firm that caters to clients looking for strong cultural connections in their offices, attraction & retention of high-valued staff is part of the ROI necessary to make our services worth the investment. Our completed projects for clients in the Bungalows continue to get rave reviews, which translates to happy clients, and that makes us happy too!"

Despite office buildings being out of favor among institutional investors, Harbor continues to seek out select and contrarian opportunities in the sector to create value. "We're pursuing acquisition strategies for similar well located and differentiated office projects that will be in demand as workers continue to return to the office, we have a robust pipeline of activity and look forward to adding to our Southern California portfolio," added Harbor Principal Justin Loiacono.

About Harbor: Harbor Associates, LLC (www.harborassociates.com) is a value-add operating platform focused on acquiring and repositioning under-performing commercial real estate assets throughout Southern California and Denver. Harbor has been involved in the renovation, repositioning, and development of thirty-four office projects totaling over 4.0 million square feet with a portfolio value more than $1.0B. The company is a joint venture with The Bascom Group, LLC.

About Bascom: The Bascom Group, LLC (www.bascomgroup.com) is a private equity firm specializing in value-added multifamily, commercial, and non-performing loans and real estate related investments and operating companies. Bascom sources value-added and distressed properties including many through foreclosure, bankruptcy, or short sales and repositions them by adding extensive capital improvements, improving revenue, and reducing expenses by realizing operational efficiencies through implementation of institutional-quality property management. Bascom, founded by principals Derek Chen, Jerry Fink, and David Kim, is one of the most active and seasoned buyers and operators of apartment communities in the U.S. Since 1996, Bascom has completed over $21.0 billion in multifamily and commercial value-added transactions including more than 354 multifamily properties containing over 100,000 units. Bascom's commercial transaction volume is $4.0 billion in total and amounts to over 22.0 million square feet. Bascom has ranked among the top fifty multifamily owners in the U.S. Bascom's subsidiaries and joint ventures include the Bascom Value Added Apartment Investors, Shubin Nadal Associates, Spirit Bascom Ventures, REDA Bascom Ventures, Bascom Northwest Ventures, Bascom Arizona Ventures, Harbor Associates, Village Partners Ventures, and the Realm Group. Bascom's subsidiaries also include Premier Workspaces, one of the largest privately held executive suite, coworking and shared workspace companies in the U.S.

Contact:

Rich McEvoy

(562) 215-4849

[email protected]

SOURCE The Bascom Group
Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights share evidence of racial discrimination for formal U.S. review at UN gathering

GENEVA, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights applaud the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) for asking poignant and demanding questions to the U.S. government about its racially discriminatory immigration practices, particularly those impacting non-citizens of African descent. On August 11 and August 12, the CERD committee evaluated the U.S. government's compliance with its obligation to adopt measures to eliminate racial discrimination under international human rights law.

Referencing a well-documented history of suffering and human rights abuses at the U.S.-Mexico border and in immigration detention centers throughout the country, CERD committee members asked the U.S. delegation about concrete measures taken to guarantee free and effective access to asylum. The Committee also questioned U.S. efforts to eliminate racially-biased detention practices and laws that particularly harm Black immigrants when compared to other racial groups, keeping them detained for longer periods of time and subjecting them to harsher treatment in immigration detention, including the highest rates of solitary confinement and other forms of torture.

UN representatives also raised questions regarding excessive use of force by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against Haitian and Cameroonian migrants, the racially inequitable application of Title 42 exemptions (particularly when compared with Ukrainian nationals), the systemic targeting of Black immigrants for collective expulsions without access to humanitarian protection, and the devastating impact of the 287(g) program, which relies on racist state and local criminal legal policing to impose the harshest federal immigration penalties.

CERD members also asked the US delegation to address the issues of racial profiling, high and inconsistent immigration bonds, and the collateral impacts of racialized criminalization that disproportionately impact migrants of African descent due to the anti-Black racism and implicit bias of local law enforcement, ICE, and CBP.

Supported by reports and evidence gathered over the course of years, the human rights groups urged CERD officials to ask hard-hitting questions to US delegates at the review.

"As documented in our report on the violent expulsion of Haitian immigrants that took place at the Del Rio border last year, there is an obvious double standard applied to Black asylum seekers versus their white counterparts," said Anthony Enriquez, Vice President of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. "The CERD review demanded real accountability from the US for these and other abuses against Black immigrants. And it made clear that racial discrimination in our immigration system is a systemic issue that requires a systemic overhaul."

"We are pleased with the CERD interventions on various systemic patterns of discrimination and erasure of people of Indigenous and African descent. Too often, their realities, particularly those of Black migrants, are either overlooked or nonexistent," said Guerline Jozef, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. "We are looking forward to the Committee's conclusions and will continue to advocate and hold the United States accountable to their international and domestic obligations."

"One the eve of yet another deportation flight to Haiti, the CERD committee expressed concern to the U.S. for targeting people of African descent for collective expulsions, as well as categorically approving Title 42 exemptions for Ukraine nationals but not for others fleeing conflict," said Nicole Phillips, Legal Director at Haitian Bridge Alliance. "We are encouraged by the CERD Committee's sharp and timely concerns and questions, and we look forward to the Committee's forthcoming concluding observations."

Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, expressed hope that the "Committee follows up with the US delegation's lack of transparency regarding their police-to-deportation pipeline. It is well documented that 76 percent of Black migrants are deported on criminal grounds compared to 45 percent of the immigrant population overall," says If you are from the Caribbean, it goes up to an average of 83 percent. The U.S. continues to implement and promote enforcement priorities and relationships with local law enforcement agencies that openly flaunt its obligations under the CERD convention."

CERD is one of the few UN treaties the U.S. has ratified, but the U.S. has failed to adopt legislation allowing several of the treaty's provisions to have domestic legal effects. This U.S. review of compliance with CERD represents one of the only opportunities on the international stage to encourage U.S. legal culture and norms to align with international human rights law.

About Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights:

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Robert F. Kennedy's dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues championing change makers and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure change that lasts, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment and educate millions of students about human rights and social justice. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook: @RFKHumanRights

About Haitian Bridge Alliance:

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as "the Bridge," is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and build solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men, chay pa lou ("Many hands make the load light"). Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook: @haitianbridge

About Black Alliance for Just Immigration:

Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) is a US-based national organization that fights for the rights of African American and Black migrants through organizing, legal advocacy, research, policy, and narrative building to improve the conditions of Black communities by advancing racial justice and migrant rights. Follow us on social media: @instabaji @bajitweet

SOURCE Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands were recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) with a Salute to Excellence Award for its OKAY Hyundai campaign. The award was announced this past weekend at the Salute to Excellence Awards ceremony which took place during the 2022 NABJ Convention in Las Vegas.

"We're thrilled by this recognition for the work we do to engage with our multicultural consumers," said Angela Zepeda, CMO, Hyundai Motor America. "To be honored by NABJ in this way is not only an endorsement of our efforts, but also validation of our commitment to engage with our African American consumers in a culturally authentic way."

The OKAY Hyundai marketing theme was first launched in Fall 2021 and is designed to strengthen the connection between Hyundai and the African American community through the embedding of cultural references and nuances in the creative messaging. The campaign was developed by Culture Brands under the leadership of Eunique Jones Gibson, founder and chief creative officer.

"We are incredibly excited and honored to receive this important peer recognition by NABJ," said Gibson. "To be recognized by the country's largest media organization for journalists of color, this speaks volumes of our work, our creative and our commitment to represent African Americans in media with content that inspires those audiences by ensuring they feel seen, heard and valued."

Erik Thomas, senior group manager, experiential & multicultural marketing, Hyundai Motor America added, "Through our partnership with Culture Brands, we continue to look to connect with people on their own terms and in relevant ways, which we know then leads to longstanding relationships. As we increase our share of voice with the African American market and communicate successfully, this tremendous honor and recognition from NABJ is further affirmation we're on the right path."

Founded in 1975, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), is the oldest advocacy organization for journalists and media professionals of color in the nation. The Salute to Excellence Awards honors journalism and communications that best cover the Black experience or address issues affecting the worldwide Black community. Entries are judged on content, creativity, innovation, use of the medium, and relevance to the Black community.

Culture Brands

Culture Brands is an independent, minority and female-owned agency that exists to authentically celebrate, reflect and represent African Americans in media. Founded in 2017, by 15-year advertising veteran Eunique Jones Gibson, we create culturally relevant and affirming campaigns and content that inspire African American audiences by ensuring they feel seen, heard and valued. At Culture Brands, we are constantly engaged in a two-way conversation with the African American community through our owned and operated media platforms and consumer brands such as the award-winning Because of Them We Can, Because of Them We Can Box (Just For Kids), #CultureTags and Dream Village. Culture Brands is headquartered right outside of the nation's capital in Hyattsville, MD. www.culturebrands.co

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America focuses on 'Progress for Humanity' and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles. Our 820 dealers sold more than 738,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2021, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. and QUAD CITIES, Ill., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance King has announced the opening of two new locations in Illinois.

The first of the two locations to open will be October 2022 in Springfield, IL. This location is currently under renovation and having the systems installed. A long time Insurance King agent is relocating to Springfield to open this location which allows for an immediate opening.

Insurance King

The Quad Cities, IL location is currently undergoing a full buildout. But, is expected to open in the Summer of 2023 depending on the construction completion.

Insurance King is excited to announce these two locations as we have several clients already in both markets. "We are very active on our Facebook page and clients can stay up to date on the progress by following this page https://www.facebook.com/insurancekingcorporate." says president Dan Block.

Insurance King also has plans to open more locations in the states of IL, IN, OH, TN and WI. If you are a licensed agent and would like to know more about opening locations, please reach out to Insurance King to discuss the opportunities.

Insurance King founded in 2001 is headquartered in Rockford, IL offering affordable Auto, Motorcycle, Renters, and SR-22 currently in CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, MO, MS, OH, TN, TX, and WI. Insurance King is a sponsor of NASCAR driver Josh Bilicki. www.insuranceking.com/

Media Contact:

Dan Block

[email protected]

888-839-1365

SOURCE Insurance King
XUZHOU, China, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Themed with "Time Travelers," the seventh season of XCMG's (SHE:000425) immersive experience and innovative education program, XCMG Apprentice, was held in five countries for the first time. Young talents from China (Team Globe), Germany (Team Europe), Brazil (Team America), Thailand (Team Southeast Asia), and India (Team South Asia) joined the program to learn about XCMG as well as its people, products, technologies, industries and value chains in the two-weeks tour.

Themed with "Time Travelers," the seventh season of XCMG's (SHE:000425) immersive experience and innovative education program, XCMG Apprentice, was held in five countries for the first time.

"XCMG hopes to join hands with more young people from around the world to explore engineering science and technology, and contribute to the global constructions and sustainable development," remarked Wang Min, chairman and CEO of XCMG.

The five teams presented reports about XCMG's strengths in R&D, construction, operation, marketing and intelligent manufacturing, unfolding XCMG's global roadmap and strategies to an international audience. The apprentices completed a comprehensive journey across XCMG's business sectors as well as XCMG Research Institute.

XCMG engineers set up a series of events and challenges for the five teams, including a session about XCMG Europe R&D Center's intelligent control systems, and the apprentices completed three challenging tasks: intelligent safety system identification that to operate two excavators to experience the difference between having the intelligent safety system, an intelligent ground system that controls and operates the system to complete tasks in a fixed area, and error-free handling of the intelligent loading and shovel system, which is set to complete soil load and unload of the fixed weights of 50kg and 100kg with the intelligent system.

At XCMG's soil mechanics laboratory in China, Priyasha Sharma, an apprentice from India, operated the JY20G2 multi-functional rescue vehicle and completed her challenge successfully under the guidance of XCMG technicians.

"The joystick is very well-designed with high operation precision, the cabin is very comfortable and overall design is ergonomic and human-centric," she said.

Team Europe's theme of the program was "R&D capabilities," and apprentices operated the 22-ton XCMG XE220E excavator equipped with the latest intelligent assistive technology, which greatly improved working efficiency and the apprentices were able to complete basis tasks like leveling and grading with just minutes of training.

Through the XCMG Apprentice program, the group is able to demonstrate the different sides of the industry pillars and anchor the future development of the construction machinery industry in unique and innovative ways.

As of now, XCMG has provided excellent products and services in 191 countries and regions, integrating export trade, overseas factories, cross-border mergers and acquisitions as well as global R&D. XCMG now has five R&D bases, 15 overseas manufacturing bases and KD factories as well as over 2,000 service points and 40 large-scale spare parts centers overseas.

For more information, please visit www.xcmg.com, or XCMG pages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.

SOURCE XCMG
BOSTON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Z Zurich Foundation (ZZF) announced todayInternational Youth Daythat it will partner with JA Worldwide and JA Africa, building on relationships already established with JA Canada and Junior Achievement Espana (JA Spain) and expanding them globally.

JA Worldwide and JA Africa announce partnership with Z Zurich Foundation to create bright, boundless futures for African youth

According to the African Development Bank, each year, 10 to 12 million African students finish their education and compete for three million jobs, resulting in sub-Saharan African youth becoming entrepreneurs by necessity, not by choice. The ZZF-JA partnership empowers young people in Africa to succeed as both innovative job creators and well-qualified job seekers, following the path best suited to their economic realities.

"The partnership integrates the education and economic ecosystems of the countries in which we work," said JA Worldwide CEO Asheesh Advani, "leading to long-term sustainability. Over the course of the next three years, this partnership will impact the lives of more than 550,000 young people across nine countriesBurkina Faso, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, and Ugandaresulting in greater capacity in four current JA Africa countries and brand-new operations in five more."

"JA Africa is a trusted and well-respected NGO that has partnered with local leadership and communities across the African continent for over 40 years," added Brandie Conforti, Global Chief Development Officer at JA Worldwide. "And, as part of the global JA network, JA Africa has the advantage of drawing on the best practices, curricula, pedagogies, effective governance models, fundraising, communications, and financial-management capacity of over 100 JA member locations, five additional JA regions, and a global headquarters, all of which provide the solid foundation upon which this partnership is built."

Gregory Renand, Head of Z Zurich Foundation, agreed. "JA is best known for utilizing volunteers to deliver educational experiences. We are very proud of this new partnership, delivering interventions and skill-based expertise with the aim to create brighter futures in Africa, building on impactful programs we've already built with JA around the world. The Z Zurich Foundation's expertise on social equity and mental well-being nicely complements JA's track record in building resilience and self-efficacy in more than 12 million young people every year."

JA Africa CEO Simi Nwogugu has led efforts in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa for more than 25 years. "Many young Africans are entrepreneurial by nature," she said, "but may be limited in their ability to develop solutions to the challenges around them and capture value from those solutions. The ZZF-JA partnership will help African youth develop the resilience, problem-solving and design-thinking skills, and mental well-being they need to understand the complex problems in the region and design sustainable solutions, and mentorship will play an important role.

"Exposing African youth to Zurich Insurance Group employees as global mentors," Nwogugu continued, "as well as to JA Africa alumni and role models such as Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, who has founded not one but two unicorns in Nigeria, will help build the critical social skills and confidence necessary to validate their ideas and communicate them to a global audience of funders and clients."

The announcement was made today at an event through which members of African media were able to ask questions, with a special interest in scaling and fast-tracking entrepreneurship education in Africa. The panelists noted that Z Zurich Foundation, JA Worldwide, JA Africa, and JA member countries in Africa are working to create a new breed of partnership that develops an ecosystem of role models and mentors who work with youth through a mix of high-tech digital learning experiences; low-tech options like television, radio, and podcasts; and face-to-face experiences. Then, after students graduate, regional and local vehicles that either match students with employers or help youth launch businesses through incubators and seed grants.

"For Africa to be successful as a continent," said Nwogugu, "all our youth need access to immersive education that leads to economic success. Through this partnership, we'll create entrepreneurship ecosystems that work together to fuel young Africans to become changemakers, creating businesses that solve the continent's challenges with climate change, food shortages, and inadequate infrastructures for health and education."

About JA Worldwide

As one of the world's largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA Worldwide delivers hands on, immersive learning in work readiness, financial health, entrepreneurship, sustainability, STEM, economics, citizenship, ethics, and more. Reaching more than 12 million young people each year through over 400,000 teachers and business volunteers, JA Worldwide is one of few organizations with the scale, experience, and passion to build a boundless future for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Visit us at jaworldwide.org and read alumni impact stories at jaworldwide.org/alumni.

About JA Africa

As one of the Africa's largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA Africa has a presence in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and collectively reaches over 300,000 youth in more than 3,000 schools each year. JA Africa works in Cote d'Ivoire, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Visit ja-africa.org for details.

About Z Zurich Foundation

The Z Zurich Foundation works alongside Zurich Insurance Group employees and other stakeholders as well as with governments and NGOs in pursuit of a future where people can thrive in the face of increasing climate hazards, where those of us feeling the stresses of life are empowered to speak up, and where the marginalized in our society can reach their full potential.

The Z Zurich Foundation is a Swiss-based charitable foundation established by members of the Zurich Insurance Group. It is the main vehicle by which Zurich Insurance Group delivers on its global community investment strategy. Visit the Z Zurich Foundation's website to learn more about its work: https://zurich.foundation.

Contact

Tere Stouffer

Chief Marketing Officer

JA Worldwide

+1-212-641-0747

[email protected]

SOURCE JA Worldwide
Advanced Placement Program Prepares Students for College-level Courses and Boosts Students' College Applications

WEST CHESTER, Pa. and OJAI, Calif., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Laurel Springs School , an accredited, private online school offering K12 and postgraduate education, announced it is eligible to offer the AP Capstone Diploma Program and is accepting applications for the fall 2022 semester. The advanced diploma program, which provides students an advantage in college applications, requires students to complete consecutive year-long AP courses, AP Seminar and AP Research, in addition to four AP elective classes.

The achievement helps students stand out to colleges, become independent thinkers, develop key academic skills, and more. Laurel Springs is one of three fully-online schools to offer this program.

"The AP Capstone Diploma is highly regarded by colleges and universities for its academic rigor and distinction. It's a great opportunity for students to stand out on their college applications and explore topics that interest them most," said Dean of The Academy at Laurel Springs, Cory Plough. "Our limitless learning approach empowers students to follow their passions and discover new opportunities, and the AP Capstone program reinforces our mission as we continue to grow and expand our offerings."

AP Seminar and AP Research use an interdisciplinary approach to develop critical thinking, research abilities, collaboration, time management, and presentation skills, all of which are important criteria in college admissions. The courses are hands-on and allow students the opportunity to explore subjects of personal interest.

According to the AP-cited research from Crux Research Inc., 85 percent of selective colleges and universities report that a student's AP experience favorably impacts admission decisions.

Laurel Springs students are among the most highly sought after students by colleges and universities. Among the Laurel Springs Class of 2021, 76 percent of graduates were accepted to the U.S. News and World Report's Top 50 Colleges and 75 percent scored 3 or higher on AP exams.

The AP Capstone degree is another valued addition to The Academy at Laurel Springs . The rigorous academic program is tailored specifically for students who require a high-powered curriculum coupled with connections to other intellectually curious and like-minded peers from around the world.

Curriculum: Academy students receive a custom, personalized education built around their interests, passions, and talents to encourage engagement, collaboration and community.

College Credits: Students will have dual enrollment opportunities to earn college credits.

College Preparation: Students engage in grade-specific seminar courses and receive support from college counselors to prepare for future college and career goals.

Student Life: Most Academy students supplement their high school academic resumes with clubs offering leadership, collaboration, and real-world opportunities exploring areas of interest and passion alongside their peers.

Enrollment is underway for AP Seminar courses starting in September 2022. AP Research courses will be available during the 2023 academic year.

For more information please visit www.laurelsprings.com .

About Laurel Springs School

Laurel Springs School is an accredited, online private school offering a challenging K12 curriculum and postgraduate academic program. Our mission is to engage global learners in an education that values them as individuals, integrates their passions and pursuits into academic and career pathways, and fosters inquiry, growth, mastery, purpose, and independence. The school is designed for the college preparatory student who desires a personalized education to help them grow and excel academically and personally. We offer a flexible schedule that can support the early pursuit of careers in professional athletics, the entertainment industry, or wherever the student's passions take them. Laurel Springs School offers more than 30 clubs, activities and extracurricular programs. With 100 percent of faculty members holding at least a master's degree, students are offered more than 230 college preparatory courses taught by experts in their field, and score higher than the national average on the SAT and ACT. For 30 years, Laurel Springs School has an outstanding record of placing graduates into selective colleges and universities of their choice. In 2021, 76 percent of graduates were offered admission to U.S. News and World Reports Top 50 Colleges and earned more than $17 million in merit scholarships. Learn more at laurelsprings.com .

SOURCE Laurel Springs School
LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AARP Pennsylvania joined Lehigh County officials and PA Dole Fellow Georgette Wenton as Lehigh County became a Hidden Heroes County, joining the Elizabeth Dole Foundation's network of nearly 200 communities nationwide committed to identifying military caregivers and increasing awareness and support.

Lehigh County Hidden Heros Signing

The Hidden Heroes Cities and Counties Program is part of The Elizabeth Dole Foundation's Hidden Heroes Campaign. The program was launched in 2016 by Senator Elizabeth Dole, Campaign Chair Tom Hanks, and nearly 200 military caregivers representing virtually every state in the union as a way to engage with leaders at the local level to raise awareness about the issues military caregivers face, bring critical resources to our nation's "hidden heroes" caring for wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans, and connect military caregivers to a community of their peers.

AARP has a long history of supporting those who have served in the United States armed forces and has partnered with the Dole Foundation for several years. This partnership has included creating the Respite Relief Program for Military and Veteran Caregivers nationwide in February 2021. This free program grants family caregivers access to no-cost, short-term assistance to help those caring for wounded, ill or injured veterans or service members at home.

"Whether a parent, spouse, sibling, or other loved one, a veteran's caregiver needs to know they are supported as they help those who sacrificed the most for us," said AARP PA State Director Bill Johnston-Walsh. "On behalf of our 1.8 million members, AARP Pennsylvania is proud that another Keystone State community is making that support more visible in Lehigh County."

Lehigh County Executive Philips Armstrong signed the Resolution Friday, making Lehigh County the 5th Hidden Heroes county in Pennsylvania, joining the counties of Allegheny, Berks, Monroe and Wyoming, along with the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

"Lehigh County is pleased to have been recognized for our work to help veterans and members of our armed services," said Armstrong. "These brave men and women fought for us, so in Lehigh County, we fight for them."

As a 2021 Dole Caregiver Fellow, Georgette Wenton represents a select group of Dole Foundation in a formal capacitity, including advocacy, sharing their stories, and connecting other caregivers with information and resources. In recognition of the Lehigh County designation as a Hidden Heroes County, Ms. Wenton commented, "Being a part of the Hidden Heroes Caregiver Community reinforces that I am not alone in this journeyin both the emotions I feel and the challenges of being a caregiver Being my husband's caregiver means I have the opportunity to make sure he feels loved and cared for on a daily basis."

Individuals caring for someone who served, or those who wish to support the campaign can visit HiddenHeroes.org for more information.

About Elizabeth Dole Foundation and Hidden Heroes

The Elizabeth Dole Foundation is the preeminent organization empowering, supporting, and honoring our nation's 5.5 million military caregivers  the spouses, parents, family members, and friends  who care for America's wounded, ill or injured service members and Veterans at home. Founded by Senator Elizabeth Dole in 2012, the Foundation adopts a comprehensive approach in its support and advocacy, working with leaders in the public, private, nonprofit, and faith communities to recognize military caregivers' service and promote their well-being. The Foundation's Hidden Heroes campaign brings vital attention to the untold stories of military caregivers and provides a network for military caregivers to connect with their peers and access carefully vetted resources. Visit www.hiddenheroes.org for more information.

About AARP

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members - including 1.8 million in Pennsylvania - AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org, www.aarp.org/espanol or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspanol @AARPadvocates and @AliadosAdelante on social media.

CONTACT: TJ Thiessen, (202) 374-8033, [email protected]

SOURCE AARP Pennsylvania
Earlier this morning Lil Durk announced that the company will be giving away a Tesla Model S, and over $50,000 worth of cash prizes.

TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lil Durk ("LilDurk.com" or the "Company"), a Canadian news & technology company enhanced by A.I.-driven neural networks, announced today that the company will be hosting a giveaway with cash prizes.

Why it matters: The Canadian startup company said in celebration of the upcoming launch of their mobile news app available on Android and iOS, they have decided to give away a Tesla Model S, and $50,000 CAD worth of additional cash prizes.

Zoom in: Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Lil Durk, Alexander Elder, explained to our source in an interview that the company is proud to give back to the community while also remaining committed to the best interest of our investors.

"In perspective, some may never experience the same business opportunities and success that our team is so privileged to have achieved in such a short period of time," said Mr. Elder

"On behalf of the board members, secretaries, marketing staff and legal department, I am very honored to be providing our investors and clients with an incredible experience on the app launch date." Mr. Elder continued.

"To conclude to this meeting, at this time we are expecting the app launch party to take place on Friday, January 27th, 2023 in the heart of downtown Toronto." Mr. Elder added.

The intrigue: Chairman and co-founder of Lil Durk, Dylan Fawcett, noted that the $50K in cash will be divided between 50 winners, and the Model S will be given away in person at the app launch event coming next year.

About Lil Durk

Lil Durk operates as a news and technology company providing comprehensive, up-to-date news coverage, aggregated from sources across the world.

For more information on Lil Durk and their giveaway, visit www.lildurk.com

Contact:

Alexander Elder

(516) 253-4398

[email protected]

SOURCE Lil Durk
(All dollar amounts are in United States dollars unless otherwise indicated)

TSXV: MTA

NYSE American: MTA

VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. ("Metalla" or the "Company") (TSXV: MTA) (NYSE: MTA) announces its operating and financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022. For complete details of the condensed interim consolidated financial statements and accompanying management's discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, please see the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or EDGAR (www.sec.gov). Shareholders are encouraged to visit the Company's website at www.metallaroyalty.com.

Figure 1: Table showing updating Gold Production Profile for the Cote Gold Project. (Source: IAMGOLD Corporation. Announces Results of Cote Gold Project Update, issued August 3, 2022) (CNW Group/Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.) Figure 2: Cross Section showing high grade intervals below the Garrcon resource pits (Source: Moneta Gold Inc. press release on Step-out drilling at Garrcon, Tower Gold Project, issued July 7, 2022) (CNW Group/Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.) Figure 3: Chart showing projected production profile of the Wasamac project (Source: Yamana Gold Inc. Second Quarter Operating Results, issued July 7, 2022) (CNW Group/Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.)

Brett Heath, President, and CEO of Metalla, commented, "In the second quarter of 2022, we saw several significant advancements and milestones achieved within our royalty portfolio. G Mining's Tocantinzinho project secured a $481M financing package, expected to reach production in the second half of 2024. Wasamac's production profile was increased to 250k oz Au per year by Yamana Gold, making it an expected top 10 gold producer in Canada. We also saw discoveries made at Moneta's Garrison project and Canadian Malartic's Camflo property that look to provide even more potential upside. We are pleased to see our assets continue to advance and benefit from our strong counterparties at a time when equity and debt markets remain constrained."

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

During the six months ended June 30, 2022, and the subsequent period up to the date of this news release, the Company:

Noted the following key milestones announced by operators of certain properties in its portfolio of royalties and streams (please see the 'Asset Updates' section of this press release for the details of these announcements):



Monarch Mining Corporation (" Monarch ") announced that new production has started at the Beaufor Mine (1.0% Net Smelter Returns (" NSR ") royalty) to bring the total number of producing assets in which the Company has an interest to six, with the first royalty payment from Beaufor expected in the second half of 2022;





") announced that new production has started at the Beaufor Mine (1.0% Net Smelter Returns (" ") royalty) to bring the total number of producing assets in which the Company has an interest to six, with the first royalty payment from Beaufor expected in the second half of 2022;

G Mining Ventures Corp. (" G Mining ") announced a $481 million financing package to fully fund the construction of the Tocantinzinho (" TZ ") Gold Project (0.75% Gross Value Return (" GVR ") royalty), targeting production for the second half of 2024;





") announced a financing package to fully fund the construction of the Tocantinzinho (" ") Gold Project (0.75% Gross Value Return (" ") royalty), targeting production for the second half of 2024;

Yamana Gold Inc. (" Yamana ") announced its second increase in the projected annual output from its Wasamac Mine (1.5% NSR royalty) since acquiring the project in 2021. Originally slated to produce 169 Koz annually when acquired by Yamana, the projected output has subsequently been raised to 250 Koz annually until at least 2030 and over 200 Koz annually over the initial 15 years. Bulk sample permit approvals are expected in early 2023 and ramp development could begin in spring 2023;





") announced its second increase in the projected annual output from its Wasamac Mine (1.5% NSR royalty) since acquiring the project in 2021. Originally slated to produce 169 Koz annually when acquired by Yamana, the projected output has subsequently been raised to 250 Koz annually until at least 2030 and over 200 Koz annually over the initial 15 years. Bulk sample permit approvals are expected in early 2023 and ramp development could begin in spring 2023;

Moneta Gold Inc. (" Moneta ") announced a new discovery at the Garrison project (2.0% NSR royalty), where drilling to the west of the Garrcon Starter pit hit 50.09 g/t gold over 5.05 meters, highlighting the continued potential to significantly expand the Garrcon resource base and support an underground operation at the mine. Moneta expects to release an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment in the second half of 2022; and





") announced a new discovery at the Garrison project (2.0% NSR royalty), where drilling to the west of the Garrcon Starter pit hit 50.09 g/t gold over 5.05 meters, highlighting the continued potential to significantly expand the Garrcon resource base and support an underground operation at the mine. Moneta expects to release an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment in the second half of 2022; and

Yamana recently reported that the Canadian Malartic partnership had identified a porphyry-hosted gold mineralization that could potentially be mined via an open pit from the Camflo property (1.0% NSR royalty).





Amended an existing 1.0% NSR royalty on Monarch's Beaufor Mine. In consideration for $1.0 million paid in cash to Monarch, Monarch agreed to waive a clause stipulating that payments under the NSR royalty were only payable after 100 Koz of gold have been produced by Monarch following its acquisition of Beaufor Mine. Payments under this NSR royalty will commence shortly as Monarch announced the start of production during July 2022 (see below).

For the three months ended June 30, 2022 , received or accrued payments on 560 attributable Gold Equivalent Ounces (" GEOs ") at an average realized price of $1,844 and an average cash cost of $9 per attributable GEO (see non-IFRS Financial Measures). For the six months ended June 30, 2022 , received or accrued payments on 1,284 attributable GEOs at an average realized price of $1,839 and an average cash cost of $7 per attributable GEO (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





, received or accrued payments on 560 attributable Gold Equivalent Ounces (" ") at an average realized price of and an average cash cost of per attributable GEO (see non-IFRS Financial Measures). For the six months ended , received or accrued payments on 1,284 attributable GEOs at an average realized price of and an average cash cost of per attributable GEO (see non-IFRS Financial Measures); For the three months ended June 30, 2022 , recognized revenue from royalty and stream interests, including fixed royalty payments, of $0.5 million , net loss of $1.4 million , and adjusted EBITDA of negative $0.2 million (see non-IFRS Financial Measures). For the six months ended June 30, 2022 , recognized revenue from royalty and stream interests, including fixed royalty payments, of $1.1 million , net loss of $3.6 million , and adjusted EBITDA of negative $0.2 million (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





, recognized revenue from royalty and stream interests, including fixed royalty payments, of , net loss of , and adjusted EBITDA of negative (see non-IFRS Financial Measures). For the six months ended , recognized revenue from royalty and stream interests, including fixed royalty payments, of , net loss of , and adjusted EBITDA of negative (see non-IFRS Financial Measures); For the three months ended June 30, 2022 , generated operating cash margin of $1,835 per attributable GEO, and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 , generate operating cash margin of $1,832 per attributable GEO, from the Wharf, Joaquin, and COSE royalties, the New Luika Gold Mine (" NLGM ") stream held by Silverback Ltd. (" Silverback "), the Higginsville derivative royalty asset, and other royalty interests (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





, generated operating cash margin of per attributable GEO, and for the six months ended , generate operating cash margin of per attributable GEO, from the Wharf, Joaquin, and COSE royalties, the New Luika Gold Mine (" ") stream held by Silverback Ltd. (" "), the Higginsville derivative royalty asset, and other royalty interests (see non-IFRS Financial Measures); For the three months ended June 30, 2022 , recognized payments due or received (not included in revenue) from the Higginsville derivative royalty asset of $0.6 million , and for the six months ended June 30, 2022 , recognized payments due or received from the Higginsville derivative royalty asset of $1.2 million (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





, recognized payments due or received (not included in revenue) from the Higginsville derivative royalty asset of , and for the six months ended , recognized payments due or received from the Higginsville derivative royalty asset of (see non-IFRS Financial Measures); On May 12, 2022 , the Company filed a new final short form base shelf prospectus and a corresponding registration statement on Form F-10 that replaced the base shelf prospectus and Form F-10 registration statement previously filed by the Company in 2020, and to enhance the Company's financial flexibility. In connection with this transition, the Company terminated its At-The-Market (" ATM ") program announced on May 14, 2021 (the " 2021 ATM Program "). From inception on May 14, 2021 , to the termination on May 12, 2022 , the Company distributed 1,990,778 common shares under the 2021 ATM program at an average price of $8.18 per share for gross proceeds of $16.3 million , of which 20,170 common shares were sold during the three months ended June 30, 2022 , at an average price of $7.13 per common share for gross proceeds of $0.1 million ;





, the Company filed a new final short form base shelf prospectus and a corresponding registration statement on Form F-10 that replaced the base shelf prospectus and Form F-10 registration statement previously filed by the Company in 2020, and to enhance the Company's financial flexibility. In connection with this transition, the Company terminated its At-The-Market (" ") program announced on (the " "). From inception on , to the termination on , the Company distributed 1,990,778 common shares under the 2021 ATM program at an average price of per share for gross proceeds of , of which 20,170 common shares were sold during the three months ended , at an average price of per common share for gross proceeds of ; On May 27, 2022 , the Company announced that it had entered into a new equity distribution agreement with a syndicate of agents to establish an ATM equity program (the " 2022 ATM Program ") under which the Company may distribute up to $50.0 million (or the equivalent in Canadian Dollars) in common shares of the Company. From inception to the date of this press release, the Company did not distribute any common shares under the 2022 ATM program; and





, the Company announced that it had entered into a new equity distribution agreement with a syndicate of agents to establish an ATM equity program (the " ") under which the Company may distribute up to (or the equivalent in Canadian Dollars) in common shares of the Company. From inception to the date of this press release, the Company did not distribute any common shares under the 2022 ATM program; and In August 2022 , the Company and Beedie Capital entered into an agreement to extend the maturity date of its loan facility from April 21, 2023 , to January 22, 2024 (the "Loan Extension"). In consideration for the Loan Extension the Company incurred a fee of 2.0% of the currently drawn amount of C$8.0 million , the C$160,000 fee will be convertible into common shares at a conversion price of C$7.34 per share, calculated based on a 20% premium to the 30-day Volume Weighted Average Price of the Company's common shares on the trading day immediately prior to the effective date of the Loan Extension. The Loan Extension is subject to stock exchange approvals which are pending.

ASSET UPDATES

Beaufor Mine

On July 5, 2022, Monarch announced that it had begun processing ore from its Beaufor Mine at its wholly-owned Beacon Mill, it reported it had stockpiled a total of 30,549 tonnes of ore averaging 4.76 g/t gold and would start feeding the mill with that ore and expected to pour its first bar of gold in July 2022. On July 27, 2022, Monarch further announced the production of its first gold bar from the Beaufor Mine, and announced it expects to reach commercial production in the coming months.

On June 16, 2022, Monarch reported results from recent drilling at the Q Zone where significant intercepts include 122 g/t over 1.4 meters, 20.74 g/t over 3.3 meters, 83.2 g/t gold over 0.5 meters and 18.87 g/t gold over 1.2 meters. On July 25, 2022, Monarch reported high grade results from drilling at the Q Zone that included 37.59 g/t gold over 2.5 meters, 29.79 g/t gold over 2.45 meters and 418 g/t gold over 0.63 meters, highlighting the potential to expand the Q Zone at depth.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Beaufor mine.

Wharf Royalty

On August 3, 2022, Coeur Mining Inc. ("Coeur") reported second quarter production of 20.4 Koz gold at 0.47 g/t gold, in line with the 70-80 Koz full year guidance for Wharf disclosed by Wharf on February 16, 2022. During the quarter, one reverse circulation ("RC") drill rig had completed a resource conversion program at the Portland-Ridge-Boston claim group and at the Flossie area.

On February 16, 2022, Coeur reported that Wharf's updated Proven and Probable Reserves totaled 852 Koz at 0.73 g/t. Total Measured and Indicated Resources were reported at 412 Koz at 0.63g/t with an Inferred Resource estimate of 90 Koz at 0.75 g/t. In addition, Coeur reported in their Q4 2021 financial statements, an updated mine life of 8 years for Wharf. Additionally, Coeur reported the continued exploration success at Wharf where a total of 6,625 meters of drilling was completed in the Portland Ridge  Boston claim group, Flossie and Juno areas. Coeur spent $4 million on exploration at the mine in 2021, its largest since acquiring the asset in 2015.

Metalla holds a 1.0% GVR royalty on the Wharf mine.

New Luika Silver Stream

On July 21, 2022, Shanta Gold Limited ("Shanta") reported that it produced 17.5 Koz of gold at its NLGM in Tanzania in the second quarter of 2022, in line with full year production guidance of 68-76 Koz gold. On July 19, 2021, Shanta announced a new mine plan for NLGM, where average annual production is expected to be 73.6 Koz gold with the potential to extend mine life beyond 2026 through conversion of significant known resources and the expanded 2,450 tpd mill throughput. Shanta expects total gold production from NLGM for the five-year plan to total 368 Koz from both open pit and underground mine sources from the mining license.

Metalla holds a 15% interest in Silverback, whose sole business is receipt and distribution of a 100% silver stream on NLGM at an ongoing cost of 10% of the spot silver price.

Cote-Gosselin

On August 3, 2022, IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD") reported that construction had reached 57% completion at the Cote Gold Project. It also reported completion in the second quarter of 2022 of approximately 10,500 meters of the 16,000 meter drill program is planned in 2022 to further delineate and expand the Gosselin mineral resources and test selected targets along the deposit corridor. In addition, IAMGOLD completed a project update to the Cote life-of-mine plans where the update proposes an 18-year mine life with initial production expected in early 2024. Average annual production during the first six years is expected to be 495 Koz gold and 365 Koz over the life-of-mine.

Metalla holds a 1.35% NSR royalty that covers less than 10% of the Cote reserves and resources estimate and covers all of the Gosselin resource estimate.

Castle Mountain

Castle Mountain is slated to become one of Equinox Gold's ("Equinox") largest assets. Metalla's 5.0% NSR royalty covers the South Domes portion of the deposit which will be part of the Phase 2 expansion slated to begin in 2026.

On August 3, 2022, Equinox reported production in the second quarter of 6.7 Koz gold and exploration expenditure in the second quarter of $0.5 million at the Castle Mountain property. This was in addition to the exploration announced on May 3, 2022, where drilling in the first quarter included 7,948 meters of RC drilling across the South dump area to assess the continuity and distribution of grade. Equinox also completed 1,448 meters of RC drilling in the area between the JSLA and South Domes pits.

Equinox also announced that in March 2022 it had submitted applications to amend existing permits to accommodate the Phase 2 expansion. On February 24, 2022, Equinox announced they expect to spend $7 million for Phase 2 permitting, optimization studies and metallurgical test work and nearly $2 million for exploration. As of August 3, 2022, the Phase 2 permitting timeline was on schedule with the San Bernardino County having determined the application was complete. Equinox expects the U.S. Bureau of Land management to complete its completeness review by the end of July with the application reviews to run through to the end of 2022. Both agencies will determine the appropriate level of state and federal environmental review required with the resulting review process anticipated to begin by early 2023.

Metalla holds a 5.0% NSR royalty on the South Domes area of the Castle Mountain mine.

Garrison

On July 7, 2022, Moneta released the results of exploration drilling at the Garrison deposit in their Tower Gold project. Drilling results tested new areas all within the Tower Gold project, including east and west of the Garrcon resource, south of the Westaway resource at South Basin, east of the Windjammer South resource at Halfway, and west of the 55 deposit. Drilling has confirmed significant gold mineralization beyond the current resource. Highlights include a drill hole that intercepted significant mineralization with 50.09 g/t gold over 5.05 meters and 0.66 g/t gold over 16 meters. The holes highlight the potential to expand the Garrcon resource pit shells and open new targets for future exploration drilling.

On May 11, 2022, Moneta released an updated resource estimate for the Tower Gold project, including 4.27 Moz gold in the Indicated category and 7.5 Moz gold in the Inferred category. Moneta plans to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the project scheduled for completion later in the second quarter of 2022. The Garrison deposit forms part of the Tower project and is comprised of three zones, Garrcon, Jonpol, and 903. At Garrcon, the open pit Indicated Resource is 841 Koz at 1.02 g/t gold with an Inferred Resource of 15Koz at 0.67 g/t gold, the underground portion has an Indicated Resource of 87 Koz at 5.08 g/t gold with an Inferred Resource of 120 Koz at 4.98 g/t gold. The Jonpol zone has an Indicated Resource of 297 Koz at 1.4 g/t gold and an Inferred Resource of 114 Koz at 0.99 g/t gold. The 903 zone has an Indicated Resource of 610 Koz at 1.01 g/t gold and an Inferred Resource of 600 Koz at 0.74 g/t gold. The Garrison starter pit now has an Indicated Resource of 1.75 Moz at 1.07 g/t gold. Moneta is slated to release a PEA in the second half of 2022.

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the Garrison project.

Wasamac

On July 7, 2022, Yamana announced the approval of the Wasamac bulk sample program, providing for earlier access to the deposit and to increase the level of confidence in the future mining of the project. Permit approvals are expected in early 2023 with ramp development potentially beginning in Spring 2023. A reassessment of the Wasamac project highlighted an improved gold production profile compared to the feasibility study with new projections of ramp-up to 200 Koz in 2027 and up to 250 Koz in 2028. Ongoing mine design and sequence optimizations could position Wasamac with the option for future incremental expansion of the mill to 9,000 tpd from 7,000 tpd in year 3 of operations which will extend the gold production profile of 250 Koz per year until at least 2030. Yamana also highlighted additional opportunities not included in the strategic plan which include processing flow sheet optimization to increase metallurgical recoveries by approximately 3%, optimized configuration of the tailings filter plant and paste backfill plant. Yamana also announced that bulk sample permits are scheduled for submission in the third quarter of 2022, with the approval expected in early 2023 and ramp development could begin in spring 2023.

On July 27, 2022, Yamana announced positive results from infill drilling at the Wasamac project where grades continue to exceed expectations with significant results include 5.05 g/t gold over 54.06 meters and 5.45 g/t gold over 16.8 meters. Exploration drilling at the Wildcat South target continued to expand on the discovery with a significant intercept of 7.31 g/t gold over 3.37 meters and 1.46 g/t gold over 12.3 meters.

Metalla holds a 1.5% NSR royalty on the Wasamac project subject to a buy back of 0.5% for C$7.5 million.

Amalgamated Kirkland Property

On July 27, 2022, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico") reported that an assessment was ongoing at the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit to provide incremental ore feed to the Macassa mill with annual production of 40 Koz as soon as 2024. The Macassa underground ramp had been extended by 615 meters and twenty-four drill holes had been completed in the higher-grade portion of the deposit. Significant intercepts from the underground drill program include 14.1 g/t gold over 6.5 meters, 23.9 g/t gold over 2.0 meters and 14.9 g/t gold over 3.0 meters. Drilling from the surface drill program designed to infill near surface mineralization proves to be successful in confirming grade thicknesses with significant intercepts of 6.9 g/t gold over 6.7 meters, 5.9 g/t gold over 6 meters and 9 g/t gold over 9.2 meters.

In 2022, Agnico plans to spend $8.6 million on a 1.3 kilometre exploration ramp from the Macassa near surface zones, designed to carry out infill drilling and a bulk sample of the higher-grade regions of the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit. On April 28, 2022, Agnico reported that the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit hosts an Indicated Resource estimate of 265 Koz gold at 6.51 g/t gold and an Inferred Resource of 406 Koz at 5.32 g/t gold. The deposit remains open at depth and extends laterally.

Metalla holds a 0.45% NSR royalty on the Amalgamated Kirkland property.

El Realito

On July 27, 2022, Agnico reported that pre-stripping of the El Realito pit was approximately 81% compete. Pre-stripping activities at El Realito pit are in line with forecast are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022. The production guidance in Agnico's February 23, 2022, press release for the La India mine which hosts the El Realito pit were positively revised to 82.5 Koz gold in 2022, 70 Koz gold in 2023 and 22.5 Koz gold in 2024. The increase in the production guidance was due to pit optimization and increase in mineral reserves at the El Realito deposit.

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the El Realito deposit which is subject to a 1.0% buyback right for $4.0 million.

Del Carmen

On May 4, 2022, Barrick Gold Corporation reported that drilling at Del Carmen resumed in the second quarter of 2022, drilling will continue until the winter season. Results received at Carmen Norte, located to the north of the Rojo Grande target, confirmed gold mineralization with an intercept of 0.5 g/t gold over 39 meters, which opens up a new area with upside potential to add resources to Del Carmen. In addition, all geological models grade estimates and geometallurgical models with be updated and rebuilding in the second quarter to inform future steps for the project.

Metalla holds a 0.5% NSR royalty on the Del Carmen project which is the Argentine portion of the Alturas-Del Carmen project in the prolific El Indio belt.

Fifteen Mile Stream

On July 27, 2022, St. Barbara Limited reported that the Fifteen Mile Stream project has been extended to include all four identified resource open pits and enable development of the full potential of the project. Permitting application for Fifteen Mile Stream under the Canadian Federal protocol have been made and will be determined in August 2022.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Fifteen Mile Stream project, and 3.0% NSR royalty on the Plenty and Seloam Brook deposits.

Tocantinzinho

On July 18, 2022, G Mining announced a $481 million financing package, which included a gold stream, term-loan, and equity placement from Franco-Nevada Corporation for $353 million, for the development of the TZ Gold Project located in Para State, Brazil, providing for full financing required for the project. In addition, Eldorado Gold and La Mancha participated for $89 million in equity placements. Project financing is now in place for full construction to begin in Q3 2023 and targeting production for the second half of 2024.

G Mining had previously announced a feasibility study for the TZ Gold Project was completed in the previous quarter, which confirmed a 10.5-year mine life producing 1.8 Moz of gold in total resulting in an average annual gold production profile of 174,700 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $681/oz.

Economics were favourable, at a $1,600/oz gold price the study demonstrated an after-tax NPV 5% of $622 million and generated an after-tax IRR of 24%. Also of note, G Mining increased the reserves at TZ by 12% to 2.0 Moz and saw an increase in the capital cost at the project of only 7% since the last study was conducted. Project optimization and detailed engineering is expected to occur from Q4 2021 through to Q4 2022. G Mining also expects to complete two drilling campaigns totaling 10,000 meters beginning in Q4 2021 through to Q1 2022, these include a grade control drilling program to de-risk early years of production and an exploration drilling program to test for potential extensions of the known mineralization at depth and below the current pit.

G Mining is a precious metals development company with a leadership team which has built four mines in South America, including the Merian mine for Newmont Corporation and Fruta Del Norte for Lundin Gold.

Metalla holds a 0.75% GVR royalty on the Tocantinzinho project.

Fosterville

On July 27, 2022, Agnico reported that gold production from Fosterville for the first six months of the operation was 168 Koz gold. During the quarter, the Robbins Hill and Phoenix exploration declines were completed allowing for the advancement of exploration drilling in the prospective areas.

On February 23, 2022, Agnico reported that they expect to spend $34.6 million for 121,400 metres of drilling and development to replace mineral reserve depletion and to add mineral resources at the Fosterville mine. Agnico announced that another $19.7 million will be spent on underground and surface exploration with the aim to discover additional high-grade mineralization, with $2.9 million to be spent on regional exploration drilling on the land package surrounding the mine.

Metalla holds a 2.5% GVR royalty on the Northern and Southern extensions of the Fosterville mining license and other areas in the land package.

CentroGold

On July 25, 2022, Oz Minerals stated that the relocation plan required for progressing the court injunction removal for CentroGold was still in review with the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA). In addition, exploration expenses of $0.9 million were spent on the project for the quarter.

Metalla holds a 1.0-2.0% NSR royalty on the CentroGold project.

Camflo

On July 27, 2022, Yamana reported the Canadian Malartic partnership has identified porphyry hosted gold mineralization that could potentially be mined via an open pit at the Camflo property and provide tonnage to the Canadian Malartic operation. Additional studies are underway to fully evaluate the mineralization and additional potential in adjacent rock types. An aggressive drill program is planned in 2023. The Camflo property covers the past producing Camflo mine which had historical production of approximately 1.6 Moz of gold.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Camflo mine, located ~1km northeast of the Canadian Malartic operation.

Montclerg

Through press releases dated July 20, 2022, and June 23, 2022, GFG Resources Inc. ("GFG") reported high grade intervals at the Montclerg Gold Project located 48 km east of the Timmins Gold District. Significant intercepts include 1.32 g/t gold over 33.5 meters, 1.6 g/t gold over 70.4 meters and a 4.95 g/t gold over 8.3 meters. Step-out drilling has demonstrated the Montclerg deposit continues for 530 meters to the east and remains open. GFG are planning to complete a 8,000-10,000 meter drill program in 2022.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Montclerg property.

Detour DNA

On July 28, 2022, Agnico reported that exploration plans will investigate the Sunday Lake deformation zone along strike to the west and east of the mine. In addition, step out drilling two kilometres west of the current pit out has encountered significant intersections including 32.3 g/t gold over 4.8 meters outlining the potential for an underground operation.

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the Detour DNA property which is ~7km west of the Detour West reserve pit margin.

Green Springs

On August 9, 2022, Contact Gold reported results from the first 3 drill holes from the 2022 step-out drill program at the Green Springs oxide gold project in the Cortez Trend, Nevada. Significant results from the X-Ray zone include 1.66 g/t gold over 28.96 meters and 0.82 g/t gold over 35.05 meters. Results from the remaining 20 holes are pending.

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the Green Springs project.

Red Hill

On June 21, 2022, NuLegacy Gold Corporation reported an updated exploration plan for Red Hill for 2022-2023 with a 29-hole program expected to have begun in July 2022.

Metalla holds a 1.5% GOR royalty on the Red Hill property which is in close proximity to Nevada Gold Mines Cortez operations.

QUALIFIED PERSON

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Charles Beaudry, geologist M.Sc., member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and of the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec and a director of Metalla. Mr. Beaudry is a QP as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT METALLA

Metalla is a precious metals royalty and streaming company. Metalla provides shareholders with leveraged precious metal exposure through a diversified and growing portfolio of royalties and streams. Our strong foundation of current and future cash-generating asset base, combined with an experienced team gives Metalla a path to become one of the leading gold and silver companies for the next commodities cycle.

For further information, please visit our website at www.metallaroyalty.com

ON BEHALF OF METALLA ROYALTY & STREAMING LTD.

(signed) "Brett Heath"

President and CEO

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Non-IFRS Measures

The items marked above are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to non-international financial reporting standards ("IFRS") financial measures in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website for further details. Metalla has included certain performance measures in this press release that do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS including (a) attributable gold equivalent ounces (GEOs), (b) average cash cost per attributable GEO, (c) average realized price per attributable GEO, (d) operating cash margin per attributable GEO, which is based on the two preceding measures, and (e) adjusted EBITDA. In the precious metals mining industry, this is a common performance measure but does not have any standardized meaning. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow. The presentation of these non-IFRS measures is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Other companies may calculate these non-IFRS measures differently.

Technical and Third-Party Information

Metalla has limited, if any, access to the properties on which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest. Metalla is dependent on (i) the operators of the mines or properties and their qualified persons to provide technical or other information to Metalla, or (ii) publicly available information to prepare disclosure pertaining to properties and operations on the mines or properties on which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest, and generally has limited or no ability to independently verify such information. Although Metalla does not have any knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be no assurance that such third-party information is complete or accurate. Some information publicly reported by operators may relate to a larger property than the area covered by Metalla's royalty, stream or other interests. Metalla's royalty, stream or other interests can cover less than 100% and sometimes only a portion of the publicly reported mineral reserves, resources and production of a property.

Unless otherwise indicated, the technical and scientific disclosure contained or referenced in this press release, including any references to mineral resources or mineral reserves, was prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"), which differs significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to U.S. domestic issuers. Accordingly, the scientific and technical information contained or referenced in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

"Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Historical results or feasibility models presented herein are not guarantees or expectations of future performance.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. The forward-looking statements herein are made as of the date of this press release only, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them except as required by applicable law.

All statements included herein that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "does not expect", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "projects", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to: the successful completion of certain milestones in respect to the CentroGold project; the satisfaction of future payment obligations and contingent commitments by Metalla; the effectiveness, and potential use and benefit of, the Company's final short form base shelf prospectus and Form F-10 registration statement; the future sales of common shares under the 2022 ATM program and the value of the gross proceeds to be raised; the completion by property owners of announced drilling programs, capital expenditures, and other planned activities in relation to properties on which the Company and its subsidiaries hold a royalty or streaming interest and the expected timing thereof; production and life of mine estimates or forecasts at the properties on which the Company and its subsidiaries hold a royalty or streaming interest; the closing of the Loan Extension; future disclosure by property owners and the expected timing thereof; the completion by property owners of announced capital expenditure programs; the estimated production at Beaufor, Wharf, Higginsville, Beta Hunt, NLGM and La India;; the results of the permitting application for Fifteen Mile Stream under the Canadian Federal protocol; the anticipated results from the recently completed RC drill rig resource conversion program at the Portland-Ridge-Boston claim group and at the Flossie area; the completion of the drill program to further delineate and expand the Gosselin mineral resources and test selected targets along the deposit corridor;; the completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Tower Gold Project, and the timing thereof; the completion of pre-stripping activities at El Realito and the expected timing thereof; the future start of mining operations at Beacon Mill and the expected timing thereof; the progression of the court injunction removal at the CentroGold property; expectation that the U.S. Bureau of Land management will compete its completeness review by the end of July with the application reviews to run through to the end of 2022 with respect to the Phase 2 permit application for Castle Mountain; future opportunities for Equinox Gold to move South Domes earlier in the mine plan at Castle Mountain; the potential for Castle Mountain mine to become one of Equinox Gold's largest assets; expected timing of the preliminary economic assessment at the Tower Gold project by Moneta; the completion of two drilling campaigns at Tocantinzinho and the anticipated timing thereof; anticipated results of the completed exploration declines at Fosterville mine, including the feasibility for the advancement of exploration drilling in the prospective areas; the expectation that G Mining's $481 million financing package will fully fund the construction of the TZ Gold Project, and the anticipated timing thereof; the potential for product at the TZ Gold Project and the timing thereof; the anticipated timing of the bulk sample approvals in respect to the Wasamac Mine; engaging in ramp development at the Wasamac Mine and the timing thereof; the potential to significantly expand the Garrcon resource base and support an underground operation at the mine; the release an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment by Moneta with respect to the Garrison Project, and the anticipated timing thereof; the potential that the porphyry hosted gold mineralization identified by the Canadian Malartic partnership may be mined via an open pit from the Camflo property (1.0% NSR); continuation of the drilling at Del Carmen; receipt of permits for Fifteen Mile Steam under the Canadian Federal protocol, and timing thereof; investigation of the Sunday Lake deformation, and anticipated results thereof; the completion of project optimization and detailed engineering at Tocantinzinho and the anticipated timing thereof; the replacement of mineral reserve depletion and addition of mineral resources at the Fosterville mine; the potential production at the Wasamac project; the future production at the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit and the anticipated timing thereof; the amount and timing of the attributable GEOs expected by the Company in 2022; the future production at El Realito and the anticipated timing thereof; the increase of producing royalties to seven; future expectations regarding the royalties and streams of Metalla; royalty payments to be paid to Metalla by property owners or operators of mining projects pursuant to each royalty; the mineral reserves and resource estimates for the properties with respect to which the Company has or proposes to acquire an interest; future gold and silver prices; other potential developments relating to, or achievements by the counterparties for Metalla's stream and royalty agreements, and with respect to the mines and other properties in which Metalla has, or may acquire, a stream or royalty interest; and estimates of future production, costs and other financial or economic measures.

Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Metalla to control or predict, that may cause Metalla's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: risks associated with the impact of general business and economic conditions; the absence of control over mining operations from which Metalla will purchase precious metals or from which it will receive stream or royalty payments and risks related to those mining operations, including risks related to international operations, government and environmental regulation, delays in mine development, construction and operations, actual results of mining and current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans are refined; problems related to the ability to market precious metals or other metals; industry conditions, including commodity price fluctuations, interest and exchange rate fluctuations; interpretation by government entities of tax laws or the implementation of new tax laws; regulatory, political or economic developments in any of the countries where properties in which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest are located or through which they are held; risks related to the operators of the properties in which Metalla holds a royalty or stream or other interest, including changes in the ownership and control of such operators; risks related to global pandemics, including the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) global health pandemic, and the spread of other viruses or pathogens; influence of macroeconomic developments; business opportunities that become available to, or are pursued by Metalla; reduced access to debt and equity capital; litigation; title, permit or license disputes related to interests on any of the properties in which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest; the volatility of the stock market; competition; future sales or issuances of debt or equity securities; inability to obtain stock exchange approvals or otherwise satisfy the conditions to close the Loan Extension; use of proceeds; dividend policy and future payment of dividends; liquidity; market for securities; enforcement of civil judgments; and risks relating to Metalla potentially being a passive foreign investment company within the meaning of U.S. federal tax laws, as the other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form, annual report on Form 40-F and other documents filed with or submitted to the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that 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. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. For the reasons set forth above, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

Website: www.metallaroyalty.com

SOURCE Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.
New sustainable option for shiplap and board & batten siding applications

FERNWOOD, Miss., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Modern Mill , manufacturer of innovative wood alternative ACRE, adds siding to its product offering.

Wooden siding is a classic popular option for building exteriors. As more and more people are interested in sustainable and low-maintenance building products for the home ACRE siding delivers two classic design and installation options for siding: shiplap and board & batten.

Modern Mill Introduces ACRE Siding

Made with upcycled rice hulls in Mississippi, ACRE siding is a sustainable, durable alternative that looks and feels like real wood. It's an ideal material for outdoor applications since it is water-, weather- and pest-resistant and guaranteed not to rotor splinter.

ACRE is lightweight, easy to cut and can be installed and treated just like wood. It accepts paint or stains, accommodating different styles and color schemes. For a seamless appearance, it allows for blind fastening.

"We're excited to be able to offer homeowners and businesses a sustainable siding option," explains Kim Guimond, Modern Mill's Chief Marketing Officer. "ACRE Siding delivers the elegant look of popular wooden siding like cedar without harming a single tree. It helps protect your home, helps sustainability leaders achieve their goals and offers the world a practical solution to deforestation.

Opting for one pallet of ACRE saves one acre of rainforest or hardwood species. ACRE has other environmental benefits, like being 100% recyclable and produced in a zero-waste manufacturing environment.

ACRE Shiplap Siding is available in 12-, 16- and 20-foot planks.

About Modern Mill

Modern Mill is a manufacturing company based in Fernwood, Mississippi, and the maker of ACRE, a groundbreaking new building material made from upcycled rice hulls in a zero-waste environment, offering the warmth and beauty of real wood with all the conveniences of composites. ACRE is available as trim boards, dimensional lumber, sheet goods, decking and siding. For more information, visit modern-mill.com.

Press Contact

Mirjam Lippuner

920-395-8998

https://modern-mill.com/

SOURCE Modern Mill
ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Navy Mutual Aid Association ("Navy Mutual") is proud to announce its sixth year of participation with Military Makeover with Montel airing on Lifetime TV. This season follows the renovations of the Stupar family home. Staff Sergeant Michael Stupar retired after 20 years of service in the U.S. Army; he deployed four times and the process to award him a Purple Heart for an injury received while deployed in Iraq is underway. SSG Stupar lives with his wife, Crystal, and their two daughters.

Navy Mutual staff members Bill Wooten and Michelle Ramos Domingue, Esq. travelled to Michigan City, Indiana, where the Stupar family home is located, to meet with the Stupar's and offer their support and gratitude for each family member's service.

"As an organization that was created by military members for military members, we appreciate the ability to give back to the military community in a personal way," said Ramos Domingue. "We are honored to provide the lighting fixtures for the Stupar family's home. Coming home and having the lights on provides a sense of comfort and safety, and that's what we're all about at Navy Mutual."

Season 31 of Military Makeover airing on Lifetime TV premieres on August 12 at 7:30 a.m. ET/PT. Navy Mutual features in episode 4, which airs on September 2. All episodes can be watched on YouTube after airing on Lifetime TV.

Navy Mutual is a nonprofit, member-owned mutual association established in 1879 to provide affordable life insurance and peace of mind to members of the military and their families. As the nation's oldest federally recognized Veterans Service Organization, its mission and commitment to protect those who defend us remains unwavering. Financially strong, Navy Mutual is proud to be a first-choice provider of life insurance to servicemembers and their loved ones. Through quality life insurance products, no-cost educational and veterans services programs, and unparalleled service, Navy Mutual has earned the loyalty and support of its membership. For more information, visit navymutual.org.

SOURCE Navy Mutual
CARLSBAD, N.M., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NextMart, Inc. (the "Company" or "NXMR" - Pink Sheets Alternative Reporting Pink: NXMR)  NXMR would like to announce it completed the acquisition of Black Widow Permian Energy, Limited Liability Company, that provides oil field services in the Permian Basin ("Black Widow").

The Company acquired 100% of the ownership equity of Black Widow pursuant to a share exchange agreement dated August 11, 2022, for 10,000,000 shares of Common Stock of the Company (Restricted). Black Widow is in Carlsbad, New Mexico, which is in the prime oil and gas fields of the Permian Basin, and provides oil field services, which includes a specialized hot oiler, an end dump truck, and three Super Vac Trucks. Black Widow has approximately $1.5 USD in top line revenue since its inception in 2020. It is expected that Black Widow is on pace to record top line revenue of $1.5M USD in fiscal year 2020.

Mr. Maldonado (CEO of the Company), states" We are happy to acquire Black Widow in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Michael Rogers has over twenty years' experience in the oil field service industry in the Permian Basin and was previously part of one of our subsidiaries, Emco Oil Field Services, LLC. We plan on immediately expanding Black Widows service footprint with internal financing of additional equipment and also allow it to utilize various assets of the Company to increase its top line revenue ongoing. The acquisition of Black Widow fits our current business model to grow our oil field service business in the Permian Basin, one of the hottest areas domestically for oil and gas production."

The Company has now acquired three oil field services operations located in the Permian Basin with the current acquisition of Black Widow. The next planned step to amplify our footprint in the Permian Basis oil field service industry will be to form a leasing program for oil field service equipment for the benefit of our wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company plans on completing this action during the month of September 2022 and will be announcing the full details of this proposed leasing company at that time.

Forward Looking Statement

Certain statements that we make may constitute forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements contained herein may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to NXMR that are based on the beliefs of NXMR's management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to NXMR's management. These forward-looking statements are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the NXMR's business prospects, future developments, trends and conditions in the industry and geographical markets in which NXMR operates, its strategies, plans, objectives and goals, its ability to control costs, statements relating to prices, volumes, operations, margins, overall market trends, risk management and exchange rates.

ABOUT US

NextMart, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, is a public quoted Pink Sheet issuer under the ticker symbol "NXMR". Currently, NXMR currently is a shell company with a new management team with plans to become a current alternative reporting issuer with OTC Markets. The Company is currently looking for an appropriate business acquisition.

CONTACT:

4602 West Pierce Street

Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220

(602) 359-2231

Company Web Site: https://nextmartcorporation.com/

Emco Oilfield Services, LLC Web Site: https://emcooilfield.com/

Twitter: @CorporationNxmr

Company Email: [email protected]

SOURCE NextMart, Inc.
Expert tips for overcoming corn rootworm, soil compaction issues resulting from a late planting

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers are adept at making the most out of less-than-ideal conditions, whether it's an abridged growing season, pest pressure or marginal acres. This summer, many are facing challenges wrought by a cold start and a late planting, which set the stage for corn rootworm pressure and other issues.

"While no two growing seasons are alike, this one is unfortunately shaping up to be similar to the last few in terms of corn rootworm pressure, which has been trending upwards," says Joe Bollman, NK Seeds Corn Product Manager. "It's a billion-dollar-a-year issue and is arguably the No. 1 challenge that farmers contend with. It's intensified by a late planting, which gives corn rootworm a head start and younger plants to feed on."

The NK Seeds corn portfolio features DuracadeViptera trait stacks to protect yield potential from 16 above- and below-ground pests while helping to produce cleaner ears for improved grain quality. The Duracade component is a novel Syngenta corn rootworm trait to help farmers limit the effects of corn rootworm and to maximize their yield potential.

"Significant corn rootworm pressure can rob farmers of yield potential," warns Bollman. "On top of that, it limits the plant's ability to take up nutrients, especially in drought conditions. Thus, this increases the risk for stalk lodging in the fall on top of the root lodging risk from the reduced root mass due to corn rootworm feeding. These inefficiencies make corn rootworm a fundamental challenge  one that DuracadeViptera was created to combat."

In addition to recommending hybrids that offer corn rootworm protection, Bollman encourages farmers to monitor and manage corn rootworm this summer. Scouting or trapping corn rootworm beetles with sticky traps can help to determine whether economic thresholds have been surpassed and what future management plans are needed. Farmers should also develop multi-year, field-by-field management plans that, in addition to trait stacks, may consist of crop rotation and soil- or foliar-applied insecticides.

Mitigate Soil Compaction

If you planted your 2022 corn crop late, you were likely in a hurry to take to the field when Mother Nature finally allowed. And if you ran your planters or tillage equipment over wet soil last spring, you may be noticing the ramifications of soil compaction this summer.

Running planters or tillage equipment across wet soil can cause soil compaction issues that reduce the size and amount of pore space and decrease water and oxygen movement  causing issues that you'll contend with all season long.

"We now have the ability to plant a crop in a hurry, compared to 10 or 15 years ago, which is both a blessing and a curse," says Bollman. "If you were lucky to get good conditions after planting, you probably got off to a strong start and made up for lost time. But if you were forced to plant into marginal conditions, your acres may now be susceptible to issues like soil compaction. Everyone knows, we only get one chance to plant, and a mistake can affect an entire season."

While the best way to manage soil is to prevent compaction from happening, there are steps farmers can take to make the most out of their compacted soil this summer.

Tips for Managing Compacted Soil

Diagnose the depth of compaction before deciding on the right compaction management tool.

In a no-till environment, consider planting an aggressively growing cover crop to break compaction layers.

A deep tillage pass at an angle to the normal cropping rows may be considered in the fall.

For late-season management, monitor the fields for any potential stalk or root lodging, and plan to harvest those fields early to help minimize losses.

To see the NK Seeds lineup of corn hybrids with DuracadeViptera, consult the 2023 NK Seed Guide. To get help assessing and managing soil compaction, contact your local agronomist.

About Syngenta

Syngenta Crop Protection and Syngenta Seeds are part of Syngenta Group, one of the world's leading agriculture companies. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet. We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources.

The content of this release is for information purposes only. This release is not, and should not be construed as an offer to sell or issue or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or other property interests.

To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/syngenta.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.

 2022 Syngenta, 2001 Butterfield Road, Suite 1600, Downers Grove, IL 60515. Duracade, DuracadeViptera, NK and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. LibertyLink, Liberty and the Water Droplet logo are registered trademarks of BASF. HERCULEX and the HERCULEX Shield are trademarks of Corteva Agriscience LLC. HERCULEX Insect Protection technology by Corteva Agriscience LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective third-party owners.

SOURCE NK Seeds
BEIJING, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 28, in the prolonged applause, the performance of the original fairy tale ballet "The Nine-Colored Deer" came to a successful conclusion at the "Tianqiao Theater" in Beijing. The choreographer of the play Daxue Yu from Beijing Tao Li Wu Yan Culture & Art Co., Lt adapted and sublimated the mysterious, fantastic, childlike and thought-provoking ancient mythology in the Dunhuang mural "Jataka of the Deer King", and presented it on the stage for the first time in a unique form of ballet art, interpreting this legend with a brand new interpretation and exquisite perspective. When the fairy tale ballet "The Nine-Colored Deer" was first adapted, Daxue Yu spent nearly a year to bring this mysterious and thought-provoking story to the ballet stage, conveying the values of harmony between man and nature and the honesty and trustworthiness between people. Although this year is the fifth time that "The Nine-Colored Deer" has been performed, it is still fresh and enduring in the minds of the audience.

Daxue Yu, the choreographer of "The Nine-Colored Deer", took a group photo with all the young actors

Ms. Ying Feng, director and artistic director of the National Ballet of China, mentioned many times in interviews and articles: "the ballet 'The Nine-Colored Deer' is a model of local ballet in China, which has broken the stylized dance language of Western Ballet, formed the unique charm of Chinese ballet, creatively presented Chinese culture in the form of Western Ballet Art, and played an exemplary and guiding role in the development of Chinese ballet in the future."

For more than 20 years, Daxue Yu has always adhered to the exploration of dance innovation, and applied his innovative ideas to the choreography, making his works more innovative and distinctive. His diversified style of dance choreography is to shape the image of dance characters in the profound cultural connotation, and show the bright charm of cultural images through body language, hence many excellent works has also been created.

In addition to the representative work "The Nine-Colored Deer", Daxue Yu also created another fairy tale ballet "Swan Lake". He made a new interpretation of the classic works in a unique way, adapted the original story plot with love as the theme into a more educational theme of environmental protection, and told the children's good morality of caring for the nature. Through the re-creation of the theme of his works, he perfectly realized the combination of plot and characters' fate, and the combination of psychological emotion and concrete life, which made the works have a distinctive artistic form and made the characters in the dance more lively and vivid. The play has been performed 12 times in China with the audience of 24,000 people in total and has also appeared at the Edinburgh International Art Festival in the UK to promote environmental awareness to the world.

Another innovative representative work of Daxue Yu, the fairy tale Peking Opera "Pinocchio", adopted the performance form of Peking Opera for the first time to interpret the world's classic fairy tales, and displayed the styles and characteristics of different characters through the authentic tune, action and gorgeous costumes of Peking Opera. The play not only told the world's classic fairy tales, but also inherited the quintessence of Chinese art treasures, which was deeply loved by children, and even Peking Opera professionals were full of praise for the play. The play has also been staged at the Mermaid Theatre in London as part of a series of activities to celebrate the Chinese New Year in the UK. Londoners who came to see the show praised the play, describing it as refreshing with its Oriental charm.

Shortly after the public performance of these two representative works of Daxue Yu, a "diversified creative style" was set off in the domestic dance art circle, and his works were regarded as two phenomenal dance works. Professor Zhitao Pan, a famous dance educator, once commented on the dance creation of Daxue Yu: "Many works of Daxue Yu show the perfect integration of culture and art. By combining traditional cultural materials with modern creative ideas, he shows the innovation of cultural ideas in modern art forms. Daxue Yu's works also endow the new era with exploration and entry point, and try novel ways of expression in modern dance forms. Its unique artistic style of dance is the goal pursued by every dance choreographer. In the works of Daxue Yu, bold innovations were made in both dance forms and movements, as well as artistic expression techniques."

For the dance creation and choreography, Daxue Yu made a comprehensive consideration of imagination, space, strength, behavior and visual impact, which made his works unique and left an extraordinary feeling for the audience. Looking at Daxue Yu's continuous innovation along the way in the field of dance, Beijing Tao Li Wu Yan Culture & Art Co., Lt believe that he will bring more excellent works to audiences of different ages in the future.

SOURCE Beijing Tao Li Wu Yan Culture & Art Co., Lt
DUBLIN, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Gas Chromatography Market Size, Share & Industry Trends Analysis Report By End User (Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Company, Food & Beverage Company, Academic & Research Institutes, and Others), By Product, By Regional Outlook and Forecast, 2022-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Gas Chromatography Market size is expected to reach $3.7 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 5.4% CAGR during the forecast period.



The method of separating specific compounds from compositions of volatile organic molecules is known as gas chromatography. Starting with a low oven temperature and progressively raising the temperature in a certain duration to dissolve the high-boiling point constituents is how components with a varied range of boiling points are extracted.



The rise in adoption of gas chromatography chromatography techniques in the drug discovery process, and also growth in uses of gas chromatography in different fields like environmental testing laboratories, chemical & food industry, pharmaceutical industries, and forensic science, are some of the factors driving the gas chromatography market growth. Additionally, the adoption of hyphenated chromatography techniques like GC-MS is boosting the market size for gas chromatography. Developments in gas chromatography techniques for petrochemical applications, on the other hand, is expected to open lucrative opportunities for the market players.



For drug detection, explosives investigation, identifying unknown substances, environmental analysis, and fire investigation, gas chromatography has been integrated with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Gas chromatography is expected to witness a considerable upsurge in the near future due to its wide range of applications. Governments all around the world are investing in the development of sophisticated chromatographic technologies. A variety of cooperation among academic institutes and research laboratories were seen around the world in recent years. Furthermore, gas chromatography testing has become a requirement for drug approval.



With rising GDP and rising healthcare spending due to a big population base, emerging economies have a higher development potential for the global gas chromatography industry. Micro gas chromatographs are becoming increasingly popular, which is a big market development. The majority of businesses are focusing on the usage of small instruments, reducing space, and making large investments. In addition, micro gas chromatographs include advantages such as quicker results acquisition times, lower energy usage, fewer sample gas volumes needed, procedure precision and accuracy, and better operational reliability.



COVID-19 Impact Analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on health-care workflows all around the world. Various industries, along with numerous sub-domains of health care, have been forced to temporarily close their doors because to the disease.

In addition, the gas chromatography industry is expected to then experience a period of short-term negative growth in 2020, that can be contributed to factors like a decrease in product demand from main end, limited operations in most industries, insufficient funding for research & academic institutes, temporary closure of top research institutes, disrupted supply chain, and challenges in providing essential/post-sales services.



Market Growth Factors

Rising improvements in gas chromatography columns for numerous petrochemical applications

In the petroleum industry, gas chromatography is one of the most often utilized analytical procedures. Its great sensitivity to volatile components is the reason behind this. The use of specialized gas chromatography columns in petroleum analysis is increasing, and the industry continues to demand better columns that increase overall analytical performance and chromatographic efficiency. Aside from that, numerous businesses and academic institutions are spending heavily in various segregation techniques and methodologies.



Increase in the usage of gas chromatography in Food and Beverage industry

Gas chromatography is used in the food industry for a variety of applications, including quantitative and qualitative food analysis, food additive analysis, flavor and aroma component analysis, and the detection and analysis of contaminants like environmental pollutants, fumigants, pesticides and naturally occurring toxins. Additionally, the expansion of food industry due to the growing population is increasing the chances of food adulteration and hence, creating the requirement for gas chromatography method.



Market Restraining Factors

Huge cost of gas chromatography instruments

Chromatography instruments contain a variety of complex functionality and features, resulting in a hefty price tag. The price of these instruments, however, varies depending on the application. These instruments are also used in the pharmaceutical industry since they use capillary columns to separate chemicals like hydrogen, oxygen, and methane. Small and medium-sized businesses in industries such as food and beverage, oil and gas, biotech and pharmaceuticals, as well as research and academic institutions, are requesting more of these systems for their procedures. As a result, the amount of money being spent on these systems has expanded significantly.

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology



Chapter 2. Market Overview

2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Overview

2.1.1.1 Market Composition and Scenario

2.2 Key Factors Impacting the Market

2.2.1 Market Drivers

2.2.2 Market Restraints



Chapter 3. Global Gas Chromatography Market by End User

3.1 Global Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Company Market by Region

3.2 Global Food & Beverage Company Market by Region

3.3 Global Academic & Research Institutes Market by Region

3.4 Global Others Market by Region



Chapter 4. Global Gas Chromatography Market by Product

4.1 Global Consumables & Accessories Market by Region

4.2 Global Instruments Market by Region



Chapter 5. Global Gas Chromatography Market by Region



Chapter 6. Company Profiles

6.1 Trajan Scientific and Medical Pty Ltd.

6.1.1 Company Overview

6.1.1 Financial Analysis

6.1.2 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.2 LECO Corporation

6.2.1 Company Overview

6.3 Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

6.3.1 Company Overview

6.3.2 Financial Analysis

6.3.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.3.4 Research & Development Expense

6.3.5 Recent strategies and developments

6.3.5.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions

6.4 Agilent Technologies, Inc.

6.4.1 Company Overview

6.4.2 Financial Analysis

6.4.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.4.4 Research & Development Expense

6.4.5 Recent strategies and developments

6.4.5.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions

6.4.5.2 Acquisition and Mergers

6.5 PerkinElmer, Inc.

6.5.1 Company Overview

6.5.2 Financial Analysis

6.5.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.5.4 Research & Development Expense

6.5.5 Recent strategies and developments

6.5.5.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements

6.6 Shimadzu Corporation

6.6.1 Company Overview

6.6.2 Financial Analysis

6.6.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.7 Teledyne Technologies, Inc.

6.7.1 Company Overview

6.7.2 Financial Analysis

6.7.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.7.4 Research & Development Expenses

6.8 Merck Group

6.8.1 Company Overview

6.8.2 Financial Analysis

6.8.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.8.4 Research & Development Expense

6.9 Xylem, Inc.(OI Analytical)

6.9.1 Company Overview

6.9.2 Financial Analysis

6.9.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis

6.9.4 Research & Development Expense

6.10. Restek Corporation

6.10.1 Company Overview

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dk6t2n

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Surge in use of big data platform, strict measures taken to reduce office paper usage, and strengthened information security drive the growth of the global printing software market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Printing Software Market by Component (Software, Services), by Deployment Model (On-premise, Cloud), by Organization Size (Large Enteprises, Small and Medium-sized Enteprises), by End User (Retail, BFSI, Food and Beverages, Travel And Hospitality, Healthcare, IT and communication, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031." According to the report, the global printing software industry generated $1.2 billion in 2021, and is expected to reach $6.3 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 18.4% from 2022 to 2031.

Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

Surge in use of big data platform, strict measures taken to reduce office paper usage, and strengthened information security drive the growth of the global printing software market. However, recurring expenses restrain the market growth. On the other hand, the emergence of innovative software and services along with lowered IT workload and costs present new opportunities in the coming years.

Download Report Sample (301 Pages PDF with Insights) at:

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Covid-19 Scenario

Owing to economic uncertainty that occurred with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, business organizations began to find ways for reducing overall operational costs. This led them to adopt print software for tracking printer usage and reduce department costs.

In addition, post-pandemic, companies are searching for software capable of optimizing and consolidating their printer fleets. Therefore, the need to manage costs during the post-pandemic era will lead to high adoption of print management software across various enterprises.

Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the printing software market:

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/17489

The software segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on component, the software segment accounted for the largest market share in 2021, contributing to more than three-fifths of the global printing software market, and is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This is due to its ability to join the existing printing infrastructure and save a vast amount of money on toner, paper, electricity, and costly maintenance. However, the services segment is estimated to witness the largest CAGR of 20.1% from 2022 to 2031, owing to its assistance in determining true cost per-page, discovering actual cost of ownership for each printer, and delivering history reports to offer information to improve fleet management and optimize fleet for improved workflows.

The on-premise segment to maintain its dominant share during the forecast period

Based on deployment model, the on-premise segment contributed to the highest market share in 2021, accounting for nearly three-fifths of the global printing software market, and is expected to maintain its dominant share during the forecast period. This is attributed to offering users more control over how security is established, monitored, and contained. However, the cloud segment is projected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 20.0% from 2022 to 2031. This is due to cloud-based print services dramatically lowering the IT workload and costs related to print server management.

The large enterprises segment to continue its dominance during the forecast period

Based on organization size, the large enterprises segment held the largest market share in 2021, contributing to nearly three-fifths of the global printing software industry, and is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period. This is attributed to adoption of managed print services to monitor their IT costs, human resources, and almost every other area of their business. However, the small and medium-sized enteprises segment is projected to register the largest CAGR of 19.7% during the forecast period, owing to adoption of printing software by SMEs for transitioning toward control their services.

The retail segment to maintain its lead in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period

Based on end user, the retail segment held the largest market share in 2021, accounting for more than one-fourth of the global printing software market, and is projected to maintain its lead in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period. This is due to improved customer communications, content management, and operational workflow automation. However, the food and beverages segment is projected to register the largest CAGR of 21.5% from 2022 to 2031, owing to adoption of printing software to reduce the price of document generation, printing, and dissemination.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our analyst at:

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/17489

North America to maintain its lead status by 2031

Based on region, North America contributed to the highest market share in 2021, holding nearly two-fifths of the global printing software market, and is expected to maintain its lead status by 2031. This is due to surge in the adoption of advanced technology by several business verticals to optimize operational efficiencies, improve the financial situation, and enhance security. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 19.7% from 2022 to 2031, owing to adoption of third platform technologies, notably regarding cloud, big data, and mobility.

Leading Market Players

Canon Inc.

ePaper Ltd.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Maprinter

Nuance Communications

PaperCut Software International

Pcounter

Print Manager

Printix.net

Ringdale UK Ltd.

Xerox

Epson

Honeywell

Lenovo

Canon

TE

HID Global

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DALLAS, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Another exceptional home represented by Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty has garnered media attention. Represented by expert agent Joan Eleazer, 27 Robledo Drive in Dallas was chosen by the editors of Traditional Home magazine for a 12-page feature in its summer 2022 print issue and for an online feature on bhg.com. Recently and completely updated, the Montecito-inspired stunner in gated Los Arboles  an idyllic enclave of architect-designed homes just 12 miles north of downtown Dallas  features spacious living areas, cozy nooks, charming courtyards and the most inviting pool and outdoor living areas.

From Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty: 27 Robledo Drive in Dallas, which stars in a feature story in the Summer 2022 edition of Traditional Home magazine

The magazine feature focuses on the homeowners and their designer, Dallas-based Kristin Mullen of Kristin Mullen Designs, who called for a clean aesthetic as a backdrop to the owners' collection of antiques. The magazine's style and design editor, Krissa Rossbund, writes in the story: "Step one was to strip down Italianate features, including elaborate moldings, lavish decoration, and cast stone on the exterior." Rossbund calls out the home's "white walls in a textural finish [that] recall a sense of age matched by decorative appointments" and its elegant kitchen, writing "casement windows from France work as doors in upper cabinets.  Beams add charm on the ceiling and frame the nearby breakfast nook, where a custom banquette offers a cozy spot to look out to the pool. Outlined by old beams and corbels, the breakfast nook glows with natural sunlight that streams through a wall of windows."

A home of remarkable beauty, 27 Robledo Drive features many unique touches, including antique mantels, reclaimed doors and French and Italian stones. Redesigned in 2019-20 by noted Fusch Architects in Dallas, with interior design by Mullen, the 7,973-square-foot home offers four bedrooms, four full baths, a temperature-controlled wine room and a primary suite complete with spacious closets, limestone-floored bath, exercise room and adjacent study.

The aforementioned kitchen features a barrel-vault ceiling, wide island, farm sink, dual dishwashers and a vintage-inspired Ilve range, handmade in Italy.

A rare balance of extreme elegance and absolute ease, "this home is noteworthy both from a design perspective and for its livability," says Eleazer, a fourth-generation Dallasite and unparalleled expert in the area's premier neighborhoods and towns, including Highland Park, University Park, Preston Hollow, Turtle Creek, Uptown and Downtown. She is representing 27 Robledo Drive in Dallas for $7,995,000. More information and more than 40 high-resolution photos of this exceptional home are at briggsfreeman.com.

LISTING:

https://www.briggsfreeman.com/sales/detail/610-l-599-20097695/27-robledo-drive-central-dfw-dallas-tx-75230

MAGAZINE STORY:

https://www.bhg.com/decorating/decorating-style/traditional/antique-architecture-dallas-home/

SOURCE Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty
MISSION, Texas, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rio South Texas, located at the heart of the North American supply chain, has always been hailed for its multimodality. Major U.S-Mexico border crossings, international airports, deep-water seaports, and interstate highways have made the region the ultimate intermodal trade hub for businesses with North American operations. In addition, the region's connection to the North American Class 1 Rail Network is responsible for the export and import of hundreds of millions of products annually. This North American railway access, in combination with the opportunities provided by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), further optimizes the logistical advantages that Rio South Texas offers manufacturers and logistics providers located in the region.

Rio South Texas offers a robust international Class 1 railway infrastructure with US services through Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway Co., Mexico service via Kansas City Southern de Mexico, and local short line services via Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railroad (BRG), Border Pacific Railroad, as well as Rio Valley Switching. Thousands of carloads are reported via the BRG annually (more than 40,000 in 2019). Furthermore, the pending merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern will take Rio South Texas' railway logistics to the next level by providing streamlined services across the US, Mexico, and Canada, meaning trade volumes will likely continue to grow with Canadian Pacific's and Kansas City Southern's commitment to our region.

Rio South Texas offers a robust international Class 1 railway infrastructure Tweet this

Freight rail also serves as the major connector to the rest of the logistics options in the region. Short-line rail services connect to local seaports, facilitating waterborne transport via the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (which itself channels more than 500 million tons of cargo) and the global seas via the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio South Texas region's railways also offer intermodal connections to interstate highway transport as well as air cargo, connecting the region to the world, with Rio South Texas' Valley International Airport ranking in the top 80 U.S. for air cargo.

If you are shipping globally, into the United States or out of it, or if you are looking to manufacture products in North America for North America, take a look at what Rio South Texas has to offer. Our team at COSTEP would be glad to assist you, so please visit us at www.costep.org or connect with us at @COSTEP to learn more.

Contact: Matt Ruszczak, +1.956.682.6371, [email protected]

SOURCE Council for South Texas Economic Progress
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Rodan + Fields, a leading skincare brand powered by a direct selling business, announced the second round of donations from the Youth Empowerment Fund through their support of the Prescription for Change project. Launched in August 2021, the Fund will invest a total of $5 Million USD over 3 years to empower young people to lead social and environmental change.

In 2022, donations totaling $1.55 Million USD will support 11 nonprofits to advance career readiness and life skills training, provide mental health services and foster environmental conservation across historically underserved communities in North America and Australia. Donations will go to existing partners, After School Matters, Inc, buildOn Inc., Posse Foundation, Student Energy and The Smith Family as well as new partners, Boys & Girls Club of Puerto Rico, Green Guerillas Inc., Huckleberry Youth Programs Inc., Mending Matters, Residential Youth Services & Empowerment, and Save the Bay.

Rodan + Fields' support of The Youth Empowerment Fund builds on its proud legacy of changing lives together with its Independent Consultant Community, having invested nearly $18 Million USD in nonprofit partners that have provided educational and career assistance, service learning and disaster relief to 1.7 million young people globally since 2008. The Company is proud to have donated a total of $2.8 Million USD from the Youth Empowerment Fund since 2021 to advance the Company's commitment to giving, marking that they are over halfway to their 3-year goal.

"We believe that philanthropy is a powerful tool to empower young people to become leaders and positive change agents in their communities," said Lindsay Vignoles, Director of Environmental, Social, and Governance, Rodan + Fields. "Giving back is a fundamental part of our Do Good strategy, and we are honored to support existing and new partners to create a more inclusive and sustainable future."

As social and environmental challenges continue to grow, Rodan + Fields sees its investments in young people as a part of the solution and has aligned with its mission to have a life-changing impact on people and the planet. According to Jessica Raefield, Chief Human Resources Officer, Rodan + Fields, "The next generation will inherit what the current one leaves behind. Equipping young people with the tools and resources they need to create a better tomorrow is what the Youth Empowerment Fund hopes to achieve."

To learn more about Rodan + Field's philanthropic investments, please visit rodanandfields.com.

About Rodan + Fields

Rodan + Fields was launched in 2002 and founded by Stanford-trained dermatologists Dr. Katie Rodan and Dr. Kathy Fields with the mission of providing dermatology-inspired skincare and an entrepreneurial opportunity to change lives. Rodan + Fields is the #1 Dermatologist Founded Premium Skincare Brand in North America in 2021* and the #1 Premium Skincare Regimen Brand in the U.S. for 4 consecutive years, (2018  2021)**. Rodan + Fields is proud of its regimen-based skincare and award-winning innovation, powerful direct selling business model and global Independent Consultant Community. Products are available through R+F Independent Consultants or on the Rodan + Fields website at rodanandfields.com.

*Source Euromonitor International Limited; Beauty and Personal Care 2022 Edition, retail value RSP terms; all channels, Premium Skincare.

**Source Euromonitor International Limited; Beauty and Personal Care 2022 Edition; all channels; Premium Skin Care Regimen includes Sets and Kits; retail value RSP terms.

SOURCE Rodan + Fields
- Medical platform that converges Cloud, AI, and 3D bioprinting expected to dramatically improve treatment rate and medical access.

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ROKIT Healthcare, a company specializing in bio-healthcare, today announced it will provide a hyper-personalized medical platform that uses 3D bioprinting and AI technology built on Google Cloud, to innovate the treatment of osteoarthritis and diabetes feet (diabetic foot lesion ulcer). ROKIT Healthcare's AI solution accurately recognizes the affected area of the patient, using computer vision and deep-learning technology, and then outputs a patch with the same size and shape as the affected area to a 3D printer. The goal for this platform is to increase the treatment rate for chronic and complex diseases, improve access to medically underprivileged areas, and lower medical expenses.

Scene of the surgical treatment using Google Cloud and ROKIT AI organ regeneration platform

ROKIT Healthcare moved its existing infrastructure to Google Cloud and used Google Cloud's AI tools to expand its medical platform and other solutions. ROKIT Healthcare has established a system that can reliably expand and operate medical platforms in various regions using Google Cloud's scalable, high-performance load-balancing service Cloud Load Balancing and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) , which provide a fully managed Kubernetes service.

The efficient Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) environment is another reason why ROKIT Healthcare chose Google Cloud. ROKIT Healthcare can now more quickly build, deploy, and scale machine-learning models by using Google Cloud's integrated AI platform, Vertex AI , and serverless multi-cloud data warehouse, BigQuery . In addition, ROKIT Healthcare strengthened the security of its medical platform by introducing Google Cloud's network security solution Cloud Armor, which protects applications and services from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks using machine-learning technology. Moreover, it deployed VPC Service Control , a managed networking functionality for Google Cloud resources, to mitigate the risk of data exfiltration by allowing only authorized networks to access sensitive information.

Currently, ROKIT Healthcare has signed 10-year contracts with its customers worth about KRW 2.5 trillion in 20 countries around the world, increasing the number of countries in which it operates, such as Dubai in 2021 and Brazil, Malaysia, and India in the first half of 2022. The company is already in the process of treating patients through cloud-based telemedicine in countries that it has entered and plans to further advance and expand in the global market.

Andrew Chang, Managing Director of Google Cloud Korea, said, "This cooperation with ROKIT is very meaningful in that the company will be able to provide innovative treatment solutions for chronic diseases that have not previously been treated sufficiently. I'm pleased that we can help increase the reliability and scalability of ROKIT Healthcare's medical platform with Google Cloud solutions, including Vertex AI."

You Seok-hwan, CEO of ROKIT Healthcare, said, "We are confident that ROKIT Healthcare has introduced a leading system in the field of personalized regeneration including skin and cartilage. Through this cooperation with Google Cloud, ROKIT Healthcare expects to realize its vision to transform the medical paradigm more quickly. ROKIT Healthcare will build a medical platform that can tap the collective intelligence of doctors all over the world and quickly spread solutions that can cure disease in a short time at a low cost."

SOURCE ROKIT Healthcare
CHICAGO, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SIGGRAPH 2022, the 49th annual conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques, closed the in-person portion of the conference, 8-11 August 2022 in Vancouver, Canada, with more than 11,700 attendees, 90-plus exhibitors from 16 countries, remarkable featured speakers, and a variety of panels, programs, and hands-on experiences. Access to the virtual component of SIGGRAPH 2022 will continue through 31 October 2022.

SIGGRAPH 2022 shared exceptional offerings in digital art, technology, computer science, and various innovations. Tweet this SIGGRAPH 2022 Electronic Theater, photo by Andreas Psaltis @ 2022 ACM SIGGRAPH

SIGGRAPH 2022 offered a platform to share exceptional offerings in digital art, technology, computer science, and various innovations from more than 2,400 contributors. The conference and virtual experience were enjoyed by an international audience from 74 countries and garnered 30,000-plus views during the livestream sessions across the four-day, in-person conference. The top five attended programs in the virtual platform included Technical Papers, Birds of a Feather, Talks, Courses, and Production Sessions.

"Every year we gather our global community to showcase how computer graphics and interactive techniques shape the future," said Munkhtsetseg Nandigjav, SIGGRAPH 2022 Conference Chair. "After two years of meeting virtually, I was thrilled to host our return to a live, in-person conference in Vancouver. The city was a wonderful host, from the amazing location to the warm welcome from the local community. SIGGRAPH participants were incredibly joyful and excited to reunite and see the latest developments in our field. Being face-to-face at these SIGGRAPH conferences is an annual recharge. It's an opportunity to come together to learn, share our passions, and enrich our skills. I'm honored to be a part of this celebration as we continue to encourage the development and innovation in the arts and sciences that impact the world around us. And I'm looking forward to seeing how our work continues to evolve headfirst into the future."

Highlights from the conference included:

Featured Speakers : Sougwen Chung, Ed Catmull , Pat Hanrahan , Sarah Bond , and Ime Archibong

: Sougwen Chung, , , , and Production teams behind some of the year's top films took part in the Production Sessions , including DNEG, Pixar Animation Studios, Weta FX, and Walt Disney Animation Studios

, including DNEG, Pixar Animation Studios, Weta FX, and Walt Disney Animation Studios New for 2022, the inauguration of Conference Papers , where exciting emerging ideas were presented in a shorter format than traditional Technical Papers

, where exciting emerging ideas were presented in a shorter format than traditional Technical Papers Technical Papers showcases the latest industry advancements and scientific contributions. A total number of 247 papers were selected out of a record number of submissions, and five "Best of" honors were awarded

showcases the latest industry advancements and scientific contributions. A total number of 247 papers were selected out of a record number of submissions, and five "Best of" honors were awarded Roundtables allowed participants to connect directly and hold intimate conversations with Technical Papers, Art Papers, Courses, and Talks contributors, and interact in small group settings

allowed participants to connect directly and hold intimate conversations with Technical Papers, Art Papers, Courses, and Talks contributors, and interact in small group settings Emerging Technologies and Immersive Pavilion showcased the latest in VR, AR, and mixed reality innovations

and showcased the latest in VR, AR, and mixed reality innovations Metaverse discussions and workshops were covered in the Featured Speakers , Frontiers , Appy Hour , Real-Time Live!, and Courses programs

, , , and programs VR Theater presented the evolved storytelling and growth of virtual reality content

SIGGRAPH 2022 also celebrated this year's contributors by honoring some "Best of" from various programs, including:

Art Gallery

Best in Show  "Ray"

Weidi Zhang, Media Arts and Technology Program (MAT), University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Art Papers

Best Art Paper  "Traditional African Dances Preservation Using Deep Learning Techiques"

Adebunmi Odefunso, Purdue University/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Esteban Garcia Bravo, Purdue University; and Yingjie Chen, Purdue University

Electronic Theater

Best in Show  "The Seine's Tears"

Yanis Belaid, Pole 3D (France)

Jury's Choice  "The End of War"

Lei Chen, Tsinghua University (China)

Best Student Project  "Yallah!"

Nayla Nassar, Rubika (France)

Audience Choice*  "Alternate Mesozoic"

Lucie Laudrin, ESMA (France)

Emerging Technologies

Best in Show  "HDR VR"

Nathan Matsuda, Yang Zhao, Alex Chapiro, Clinton Smith, and Douglas Lanman, Reality Labs Research, Meta

Immersive Pavilion

Top Selection  "Journal of My Journey: Seamless Interaction in Virtuality and Reality With Digital Fabrication and Sensory Feedback"

Miguel Ying Jie Then, Ching Lui, Yvone Tsai Chen, Zin Yin Lim, Ping Hsuan Han, National Taipei University of Technology

Real-Time Live!

Best in Show  "A Showcase of Decima Engine in Horizon Forbidden West

Hugh Malan, Maarten van der Gaag, Guerrilla

Audience Choice  "AI and Physics Assisted Character Pose Authoring"

Florent Bocquelet, Boris Oreshkin, Dominic Laflamme, Felix Harvey, Louis-Simon Menard, Jeremy Cowles, and Bay Raitt, Unity Technologies

Technical Papers

Best Paper Awards

"Instant Neural Graphics Primitives With a Multiresolution Hash Encoding"

Thomas Muller, Alex Evans, Christoph Schied, and Alexander Keller, NVIDIA

"DeepPhase: Periodic Autoencoders for Learning Motion Phase Manifolds"

Sebastian Starke, University of Edinburgh/Electronic Arts; Ian Mason, University of Edinburgh; and Taku Komura, University of Hong Kong

"Spelunking the Deep: Guaranteed Queries on General Neural Implicit Surfaces via Range Analysis"

Nicholas Sharp, University of Toronto; Alec Jacobson, University of Toronto/Adobe

"Image Features Influence Reaction Time: A Learned Probabilistic Perceptual Model for Saccade Latency"

Budmonde Duinkharjav, New York University; Praneeth Chakravarthula, Princeton University/UNC Chapel Hill; Rachel Brown, NVIDIA Research; Anjul Patney, NVIDIA Research; and Qi Sun, New York University

"CLIPasso: Semantically Aware Object Sketching"

Yael Vinker, Tel Aviv University/Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Ehsan Pajouheshgar, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Jessica Y. Bo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne/ETH; Roman Christian Bachmann, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Amit Bermano, Tel Aviv University; Daniel Cohen-Or, Tel Aviv University; Amir Zamir, EPFL; and Ariel Shamir, Reichman University

VR Theater

Best in Show  "On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World)"

Steve Jamison, Mike Brett, Archer's Mark and Astrea; Pierre Zandrowicz, Atlas V and Astrea; and Arnaud Colinart, Atlas V

*Vote tallied on-site via survey poll.

Best in Show awards determined by a six-member jury; Audience Choice awards determined by the live audience.

The SIGRRAPH 2022 virtual experience is available until 31 October 2022. To learn more and register for the ongoing virtual conference, go to https://s2022.siggraph.org/.

About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH

ACM , the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The SIGGRAPH conference is the world's leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques

SOURCE SIGGRAPH
SINGAPORE, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SignalPlus Ltd. (www.signalplus.com), a leading enterprise technology company looking to democratize options trading for digital and crypto assets, announced today the closing of its Series A fundraising round led by HashKey Capital.

SignalPlus Ltd.

A strong mix of crypto institutional and native investors participated in the Series A and Seed rounds, including HashKey Capital (Series A lead), GBV Capital (Seed round lead), Stratified Capital (advisor), Incuba Alpha, Chiron Partners, Paradigm Co, SNZ Holding, and Baboon.VC, with over $12M raised in aggregate. The Company is looking to develop an enterprise-level solution to bridge the immense infrastructure gap that currently exists in both CeFI and DeFI option platforms.

The crypto options space has been severely underdeveloped versus the impressive growth in listed linear derivatives, with subpar liquidity and volume over-concentration in a mere handful of platforms. The Company is looking to fix this shortcoming with a technology stack that centers around a Wall-Street caliber options trading dashboard, with a full suite of modular and powerful toolkits wrapped around a user-centric interface. Furthermore, the platform's open API services will allow for user subscriptions into an advanced suite of functions including automated option market making, dynamic delta hedging, and structured products pricing.

SignalPlus's Series A lead investor, DC, CEO of HashKey Capital, "SignalPlus is developing an institutional, one-stop technology platform that will address a large number of pain points in the burgeoning crypto options space. The Team boasts an exceptional background of cross-industry talent from investment banks, technology leaders, and venture builders. Furthermore, the Company's flagship platform promises an impressive mix of crypto product market fit, Wall Street caliber risk controls, and a user-centric interface that is reflective of their domain expertise. We are highly excited by SignalPlus's growth trajectory and look forward to benchmarking their product as the gold standard for crypto options."

SignalPlus's Seed round lead investor, Leslie, Co-founder of GBV Capital, "I have known the core team for many years and am very impressed with their knowledge of derivatives combined with their dedication to building infrastructure for the volatility product. We expect this market to continue to grow and for SignalPlus to be at the forefront of this market."

"They have a first-rate team of Wall-Street professionals and technology veterans with the potential to make a transformative difference and lasting contribution to the crypto industry. We are confident of and assured by their conviction in the crypto options space, and the long-term promise of institutional adoption and investor participation," said Katrina WANG, Founding Partner of Stratified Capital.

Media Contact:

Corri Wang

+852 53967796

[email protected]

SOURCE SignalPlus Ltd.
Major Price Models in the Sodium Bisulfite 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 Sodium Bisulfite Sourcing and Procurement Market

Volume-based pricing model



Spot pricing model

Spend Growth and Demand by Region

The Sodium Bisulfite Sourcing and Procurement market will register an incremental spend of about USD 104.75 Million 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.

Subscribe to our "Free Limited Period Starter Procurement Plan" to get the following:

View 6 full reports

View 800+ report samples

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Most Adopted Procurement Strategies by Buyers Across the Sodium Bisulfite 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.

https://spendedge.com/sample-report/sodium-bisulfite-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report

This Sodium Bisulfite Sourcing and Procurement Market report answers help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers, for instance:

Am I engaging with the right suppliers?

Which KPIs should I use to evaluate my incumbent suppliers?

Which supplier selection criteria are relevant for?

What are the workplace computing devices category essentials in terms of SLAs and RFx?

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Vulnerability Management Sourcing and Procurement Report: Vulnerability Management Procurement Market, prices will increase by 4%-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.



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About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contact

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
Earnings Call Scheduled for 7:30 a.m. ET on August 18, 2022

BEIJING, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company"), a leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education, today announced that it will report its second quarter 2022 unaudited financial results on Thursday, August 18, 2022, before the open of U.S. markets.

Sunlands' management team will host a conference call at 7:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, (7:30 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time) on August 18, 2022, following the quarterly results announcement.

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

International: +1-412-902-4272 US toll free: +1-888-346-8982 Mainland China toll free: 400-120-1203 Hong Kong local-toll: +852-3018-4992 Hong Kong toll free: 800-905-945

Please dial in 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin. When prompted, ask to be connected to the call for "Sunlands Technology Group". Participants will be required to state their name and company upon entering the call.

A live webcast and archive of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations section of Sunlands' website at http://www.sunlands.investorroom.com/.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until August 25, 2022, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

International: +1-412-317-0088 US Toll Free: +1-877-344-7529 Replay Access Code: 8806614

About Sunlands

Sunlands Technology Group (NYSE: STG) ("Sunlands" or the "Company"), formerly known as Sunlands Online Education Group, is the leader in China's online post-secondary and professional education. With a one to many, live streaming platform, Sunlands offers various degree and diploma-oriented post-secondary courses as well as online professional courses and educational content, to help students prepare for professional certification exams and attain professional skills. Students can access its services either through PC or mobile applications. The Company's online platform cultivates a personalized, interactive learning environment by featuring a virtual learning community and a vast library of educational content offerings that adapt to the learning habits of its students. Sunlands offers a unique approach to education research and development that organizes subject content into Learning Outcome Trees, the Company's proprietary knowledge management system. Sunlands has a deep understanding of the educational needs of its prospective students and offers solutions that help them achieve their goals.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Sunlands Technology Group

Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Phone: +1 (212) 481-2050

Email: [email protected]

Yang Song

Phone: +86-10-6508-0677

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Sunlands Technology Group
NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Tax Advisory Services Market by Top Spending Regions and Market Price Trends " report has been added to SpendEdge's offering.

In-depth analysis and data-driven insights on the impact of COVID-19 on the Tax Advisory Services market, predicts that this market expects a price change of 5%-8% during the forecast period.
CEO surprises every Customer aboard milestone flight with a free roundtrip ticket

One lucky traveler will receive free flights for a year

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Just 16 months after making history as America's first new airline to take flight in more than a decade, Avelo Airlines announced it is flying its one millionth Customer today. To celebrate the milestone, Avelo Founder, Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy will be aboard the milestone flight  surprising every Customer with a free future roundtrip ticket anywhere Avelo flies.

BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 28: Avelo Airlines takes off with first flight between Burbank and Santa Rosa at Hollywood Burbank Airport on April 28, 2021 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Avelo Air) (PRNewsfoto/Avelo Airlines)

The one millionth Customer will be aboard Avelo Flight 165 from Los Angeles' popular Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) to Boise Airport (BOI). However, Levy will thank all of the nearly 160 Customers aboard the Boise-bound Boeing 737-800 milestone flight with a free roundtrip ticket.

At the BUR departure gate surrounded by Avelo Customers and Crewmembers Levy said, "From the start, Avelo has been on a mission to Inspire Travel by making flying affordable and easy so you can travel more. Since our first flight 16 months ago, one million Avelo Customers have enjoyed the everyday low fares and convenience of flying with us. On this momentous occasion, all of us at Avelo are grateful to you and every Avelo Customer who has chosen Avelo. I'm also very appreciative of our Avelo Crewmembers who deliver the smooth, reliable and caring travel experience that keeps our Customers coming back. Thanks a million!"

Avelo will also be awarding one lucky traveler with a year of free tickets to any Avelo destination. The winner will receive 12 pairs of roundtrip Avelo tickets that are valid for one year. Inspired travelers can enter the Avelo One Million Sweepstakes*at Avelo's Instagram page (@AveloAir) or by visiting AveloAir.com/OneMillion through September 12, 2022.

America's Affordable and Convenient Airline

Avelo was founded with a vision to help its Customers save money and time. In addition to offering Customers everyday low fares on every route, Avelo Customers can always change or cancel their itineraries with no extra fees. Avelo also offers several unbundled travel-enhancing options that give Customers the flexibility to pay for what they value, including priority boarding, checked bags, carry-on overhead bags, and bringing a pet in the cabin.

Levy added, "Our Customers tell us  more than anything else  they value Avelo's very low fares, our use of convenient hometown airports and our all-nonstop routes. The affordability, flexibility and simplicity that attracted our first one million Customers will attract our second million Customers even faster. We know our Customers love to travel and we will continue to focus on finding ways to save them time and money so they can travel even more."

Additionally, the American-made Boeing 737 jets Avelo flies offer a more spacious and comfortable experience than the small regional aircraft historically operating at many of the small hometown airports Avelo serves. Customers who value an advance seat assignment can choose from several modestly priced seating options, including seats with extra leg room, as well as pre-reserved window and aisle seating. One third of seats on Avelo aircraft are available for Customers who appreciate the comfort of extra legroom.

Avelo now serves 30 destinations across the U.S. The airline has unlocked a new era of convenience, choice and competition in air travel by flying unserved routes to primarily underserved communities across the country. At least one airport on every Avelo flight is a small hometown airport  making every Avelo journey easier and more enjoyable.

At Avelo, every flight is also nonstop. This connection-free travel experience not only provides Avelo Customers with a faster and simpler travel experience, but also minimizes delays, cancellations and lost bags. In fact, Avelo has established itself as one of America's most reliable airlines with a year-to-date flight cancellation rate of 1% and a year-to-date checked bag handling performance rate of .09 mishandled bags per 100 bags.

Avelo is distinguished by its Soul of Service culture. The culture is grounded in Avelo's "One Crew" value which promotes a welcoming and caring experience. By caring for one another and owning their commitments, Avelo Crewmembers focus on anticipating and understanding Customer needs on the ground and in the air.

About Avelo Airlines

Avelo Airlines was founded with a simple purpose  to Inspire Travel. The airline offers Customers time and money-saving convenience, low everyday fares, and a refreshingly smooth and caring experience through its Soul of Service culture. Operating a fleet of Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft, Avelo serves 30 popular destinations across the U.S., including its three bases at Los Angeles' Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), Southern Connecticut's Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN) and Orlando International Airport (MCO). Avelo Airlines is also home to "Free Ticket Tuesdays"  to learn more, follow Avelo on Instagram at @AveloAir. For more information visit AveloAir.com or the Avelo Newsroom at AveloAir.com/Newsroom.

Media Contacts:

Avelo Airlines

Courtney Goff

501-258-2931

[email protected]

*NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE OR PAYMENT DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. The One Million Sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia 18 and older .Void elsewhere and where prohibited. Promotion ends September 12, 2022. Subject to complete Official Rules. This Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram. You understand that you are providing your information to Sponsor and not to Instagram. Your personal information will only be used in accordance with Sponsor's Privacy Policy and as permitted by law.

SOURCE Avelo Airlines
As part of its global Be Seen. Be Heard. campaign, The Body Shop is removing barriers for first-time voters in the U.S. through education and access.

$1 from each sale of the brand's new 'Flex Your Power' pack will benefit civics education organization Generation Citizen.

To help spread the word, The Body Shop is rallying Be Heard ambassadors across North America .

NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This International Youth Day, The Body Shop U.S. announces bold action to drive youth voter engagement and registration across the country, ahead of the midterm elections this November.

Starting today, visitors to The Body Shop's U.S. stores and website can learn about the importance of voting in this year's elections, check their current registration status and register to vote through the brand's virtual voting hub, made possible by Impactree and TurboVote.

Flex Your Power Pack available in retail stores nationwide August 12, 2022.

This effort is an extension of Be Seen. Be Heard, the global campaign from The Body Shop and the United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth focused on amplifying youth perspectives and representation in public life in more than 75 countries. The campaign was launched at the UN headquarters in May in conjunction with the extensive joint report Be Seen Be Heard: Understanding young people's political participation, which demonstrated a significant appetite for sweeping political reform from youth around across the United States and around the globe.

Young voters in the U.S. typically participate in elections at rates of 20 to 30 percent lower than older voters and routinely face structural barriers to doing so, including complicated rules about absentee voting, state-by-state ambiguities and lack of civic education.

"The Body Shop believes that youth need a seat at the table where important decisions are being made, especially rulings that directly affect them," said Hilary Lloyd, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Responsibility for The Body Shop North America. "Over the last few years, we have been deeply inspired by how young people have flexed their political voice through direct protesting, lobbying their representatives and advocating for causes online. Now, we're proud to help amplify their voices at the ballot box."

The Body Shop U.S. is partnering with Generation Citizen, a national nonpartisan organization that equips and inspires young people to exercise their civic power, to educate and motivate young people to engage in the democratic process in this year's midterm elections and beyond.

The retailer also is launching a 'Flex Your Power Pack' made up of its skincare and body care products to encourage young activists to practice self-care and give them the confidence they need make their voice heard. The pack includes travel-size versions of the brand's bestsellers including Ginger Shampoo, Tea Tree Oil, Hemp Hand Cream and Shea Body Butter. For every pack sold, The Body Shop will donate $1 up to $25,000 to Generation Citizen to support the organization's vital work in civics education.

"We're excited to partner with The Body Shop to ensure that the most diverse generation in American history can make their voice heard and exercise the most fundamental American right, which is the right to vote," said Elizabeth Clay Roy, CEO of Generation Citizen. "Through this campaign, we hope to not only provide young people with the tools to engage in our democracy, but also to help them feel eager and empowered to do so."

To spread the word about Be Seen. Be Heard, The Body Shop is rallying 'Be Heard' ambassadors across North America who prove to their communities that you are never too young to make a difference. The list of changemakers involved include reproductive rights activist Deja Foxx, equity and climate justice organizer Larissa Crawford, sustainability and low-impact lifestyle champion Karishma Porwal, education equity advocate Marley Dias and UNICEF ambassador and actress Saara Chaudry.

Additionally, from August 12-14, 2022, The Body Shop will be sponsoring and exhibiting at the Women's Convention Event in Houston, Texas, hosted by Women's March. The conference will act as a place for women and allies to engage on issues of civic participation and bring thousands of activists together to works towards social change as it relates to reproductive healthcare, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, racial justice and more. The Body Shop will be in the Social Justice City, an exhibition hall packed with feminist vendors, community groups, interactive art spaces and more. Visitors to the booth can learn more about the campaign, register to vote and check their voter registration.

For more information about The Body Shop's Be Seen. Be Heard. campaign, please visit: https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-us/about-us/activism/be-seen-be-heard/a/a00072

ABOUT THE BODY SHOP

As a B Corp business, The Body Shop is committed to ambitious social and environmental targets. Earlier this year, it established a Youth Collective to help amplify youth voices within its own business. The Body Shop Youth Collective is formed of 10-12 people from inside and outside the business, all aged under 30. They will advise The Body Shop Executive Leadership Team with the views and voices of young people.

The Body Shop invests heavily in activism and has a dedicated activism team, focused on research and tactics, operating around the world. Long before activism was an industry buzzword, The Body Shop has pushed for change where other brands saw risks. It has mobilized its global collective and campaigned for over 20 years on issues such as the rights of indigenous peoples, animal rights, sex trafficking and the burning of the Amazon rainforest.

For more information follow @thebodyshopnorthamerica on Instagram or visit, thebodyshop.com.

ABOUT GENERATION CITIZEN

Generation Citizen (GC) works to ensure that every student in the United States receives an effective action civics education, which provides them with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate in our democracy as active citizens. For more information follow @generationcitizen on Instagram or visit, generationcitizen.org.

ABOUT IMPACTREE

Impactree is a purpose-driven engagement platform that empowers organizations to build and measure meaningful impact, making it easy to engage communities and drive collective action on key social and environmental causes. Impactree's user-friendly platform and tech-enabled solutions unlock the power of purpose so people and organizations can discover, share, and support meaningful action that drives positive change in the world. For more information, visit impactree.com or contact [email protected].

MEDIA CONTACT

Brooke Buonauro

[email protected]

973-219-0108

SOURCE The Body Shop
ARLINGTON, Texas, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1) will graduate 19 9-1-1 telecommunicators from its Regional Telecommunicator Academy (RTA) Class #013 on August 12, 2022 in Arlington. This class includes recruits from 13 different agencies, including Cockrell Hill Police Department, Collin County Sheriff's Office, Mineral Wells Police Department, Rockwall County Sheriff's Office, among others.

RTA #013 Graduating class group picture

The graduating recruits will have completed a rigorous four-week program that teaches equipment use, state mandates and regulations, how to handle emergency communications situations such as active shootings, and more. Texas is the only state in the country that requires its telecommunicators to be licensed alongside peace officers and jailers, and NCT9-1-1 hosts the only 9-1-1 telecommunicator academy in the state. The district welcomes recruits from outside its region to participate and this year includes participants from Dallas ISD Police Department, Freestone County Sheriff's Office, Irving Police Department, and Red Oak ISD Police Department.

"At the academy, we're not just training people to fill positions," said NCT9-1-1 Training Coordinator Bret Batchelor. "We are building a community of resiliency and camaraderie with our recruits. I want them to walk away with the skills to not only be successful at their new jobs, but to build a lifelong career as a 9-1-1 telecommunicator and to one day pass on their experiences to the next generation of dispatchers."

The program has graduated recruits from all over Texas and Arkansas since its inception in February of 2016 and continues to grow with classes held twice a year in the winter and summer.

About the North Central Texas Emergency Communications District

The North Central Texas Emergency Communications District (NCT9-1-1) is responsible for 40 plus Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs) in the 13 counties surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The district supports these ECCs through maintaining and upgrading 9-1-1 equipment, providing up-to-date mapping information, training 9-1-1 telecommunicators, educating the public on the proper use of 9-1-1, and monitoring ECC functionality and compliances. NCT9-1-1 serves a population of 1.7 million and 10,000+ square miles.

Media Contact:

Destanie Ontiveros

Communications Coordinator

O. 817-704-5681

C. 682-666-2502

[email protected]

www.NCT911.org

SOURCE North Central Texas Emergency Communications District
PHOENIX, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Trutankless, Inc. (OTC: TKLS), a manufacturer of the Trutankless brand of tankless, is currently trading in the "Expert Market" which is available to broker-dealers, institutions, and other sophisticated investors.

SEC amendments to Rule 15c2-11 became effective on September 28, 2021. One result of the amendments is that Companies which are not current with their filings with the SEC may be moved to the Expert Market. Trutankless, Inc. was moved to the Expert Market tier and can apply to relist on the OTC Pink or other OTC Markets tier once it has filed the requisite current financial information on the SEC's EDGAR database.

The Company is optimistic that it will be able to regain current filing status and is working diligently to be able to do so.

Additionally, the Company has recently secured financing to help sustain its product and technology development and ongoing business operations.

This release will be filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to Form 8-K.

About Trutankless, Inc.:

Trutankless, Inc. (OTC: TKLS ) is a technology-driven developer of accessible, next-generation home automation and efficiency systems. The Company's primary products are a line of electric tankless water heaters that outperform other water heaters that are sold exclusively through to plumbing wholesale distributors and dealers. Trutankless, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Please visit www.trutankless.com or call 855-TO-BUY-TRU.

Forward-Looking Statement: The statements in this press release regarding any implied or perceived benefits from the release are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks of the key strategic sales and distribution partners ability to sell our product, and effects of legal and administrative proceedings and governmental regulation, especially in a foreign country, future financial and operational results, competition, general economic conditions, and the ability to manage and continue growth.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those indicated. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this news release include market conditions and those set forth in reports or documents we file from time to time with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect current events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. There is no guarantee that any specific outcome will be achieved. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

SOURCE Trutankless, Inc.
The project evolves the creative sustainability concept in the digital environment, strengthening its positioning in society and the market

NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- UNESCO-SOST's Global Sustainability Committee, Barcelona headquarters, reaffirms its commitment to Brazil and formalizes an innovative partnership with Transcriativa. Engaged in creating a journey in the metaverse, UNESCO-SOST Transcriativa, dedicated to Education, Science, and Culture in Brazil (UN's SDG), has chosen Compass UOL to develop a Future Hacking project.

Driven by the famed creativity of the Brazilian people and their 'borogodo', the secret ingredient, this partnership aims to launch a platform as a meeting point for entrepreneurs and their audiences, sharing knowledge about topics related to sustainability and creativity in a diverse, inclusive way to praise our culture. For that, a study was carried out to analyze trends and how non-governmental companies have been connecting to the theme.

"We realized the relevance of Compass UOL's work through the significant results of its successful case studies in the metaverse and digital transformation on a global scale. The combination of the company's different competencies and points of view made us very eager to move forward with this project together," explains Alex Lima, president of UNESCO-SOST Transcriativa.

Four Compass UOL Innovation Studios

Compass UOL counted on four of its Innovation Studios to carry out a discovery. The Future Hacking Innovation Studio analyzed trends and the market to understand how companies of the same segment have been navigating the metaverse. Afterwards, Compass UOL conducted a brainstorming session to define the virtual persona. Then, the User Experience, Agile Transformation, and Gaming & XR Innovation Studios developed a prototype, which led up to the technical plan to build the new space.

"Entering in the metaverse has been the greatest technological evolution ever made by UNESCO-SOST Transcriativa. We want to show that relevant issues can be treated in an immersive way and become even more interesting to the public," emphasizes Alexis Rockenbach, CEO of Compass UOL.

Discovery was based and structured on the analyzed trends, creating a basis for the organization's universe in the metaverse. Just as Compass UOL supports the project, UNESCO-SOST Transcriativa hopes other companies will take part to enable the metaverse initiative. Launching of the immersive digital platform is scheduled for later this year.

SOURCE Compass UOL
This latest S-K 1300 report marks an important milestone, reconfirming UEC's position as America's leading ISR uranium company with South Texas and Wyoming Hub & Spoke platforms containing 12 satellite projects, 7 of which are fully licensed, and over 71,000,000 lbs of Measured and Indicated resources and 17,000,000 lbs of Inferred resources

Total South Texas Disclosed M&I Resources are 9,126,700 lbs with 4,738,000 tons grading approximately 0.101% U 3 O 8

Total Disclosed Inferred Resources for South Texas is 9,924,000 lbs with 5,469,000 tons grading approximately 0.120% U 3 O 8

The South Texas Hub & Spoke platform is production ready with fully licensed ISR projects

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE: "UEC") ("UEC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has filed a Technical Report Summary ("TRS") on EDGAR, disclosing mineral resources for the Company's Texas Hub & Spoke In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") Project (the "Project").

Background:

Figure 1-1: Texas Hub and Spoke Project Area Location Map, Texas S-K 1300 Technical Report, Karnes, Duval, Bee, and Goliad Counties, Texas (CNW Group/Uranium Energy Corp)

As a U.S. domestic and domiciled company, UEC is now reporting all mineral resources in accordance with Item 1302 of Regulation S-K ("S-K 1300");

S-K 1300 was adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to modernize mineral property disclosure requirements for mining registrants and to align U.S. disclosure requirements more closely for mineral properties with current industry and global regulatory standards;

The mineral resource estimates set forth in this TRS have not previously been reported under the S-K 1300 format; and

The Project geology is considered amenable to low-cost, environmentally friendly ISR mining methods.

The TRS was prepared under S-K 1300 and was filed on August 11, 2022, with the SEC through EDGAR on Form 8-K and is also available on SEDAR as a "Material Document" filed on August 11, 2022. The TRS was prepared on behalf of the Company by Western Water Consultants, Inc. d/b/a WWC Engineering, of Sheridan, Wyoming.

Amir Adnani, President and CEO, stated: "The disclosure of resources in the new S-K 1300 format at our South Texas Hub and Spoke production platform reconfirms the robust nature of the Project. Our database of drilling results, containing decades of exploration logs, shows strong potential for Project expansion and also dovetails well with our initiative to increase the production license at the Hobson Plant. We are pleased with the progress of the Company's domestic ISR profile in Texas and Wyoming as we continue to advance these projects towards near term production. UEC has recently submitted an offer to the U.S. government to supply the uranium reserve ("UR") and we are looking forward to our production ready projects providing future needs of the UR as well as the utility industry."

Andy Kurrus, V.P. of Resource Development, Texas, stated: "We are delighted with the expanded production prospects for our Hub and Spoke production platform in South Texas. We see significant potential in this region and will look to advance our exploration and resource delineation efforts which will benefit from our extensive resource database, containing results from 5,232 drill holes, including survey coordinates, collar elevations, depths and grade of uranium intercepts. The quality of this comprehensive data has enabled us to identify promising resource areas without extensive new drilling costs and has accelerated our exploration processes in defining new production areas for our near-term production strategy."

About the Texas Hub & Spoke Project

The Project consists of five Project areas ("Figure 1-1"): Hobson Central Processing Plant ("CPP"), Burke Hollow, Goliad, Palangana and Salvo; and is located in Karnes, Bee, Goliad and Duval Counties, Texas. The Hobson CPP will serve as the 'hub' of the Project, with the other Project areas serving as satellite facilities, or the 'spokes'. The Hobson CPP will process all the mineral mined on each of the other Project areas. The Project is in the South Texas Uranium Province ("STUP"), which is part of the South Texas coastal plain portion of the Gulf of Mexico Basin ("GMB").

Mineral rights for the Project are all private (fee) mineral leases. Fee mineral leases are obtained through negotiation with individual mineral owners.

The Project resides in the GMB. The GMB extends over much of South Texas and includes the Texas coastal plain and STUP where the Project is located. The coastal plain is bounded by the Rocky Mountain uplift to the west and drains into the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal plain is comprised of marine, non-marine and continental sediments ranging in age from Paleozoic through Cenozoic.

Uranium mineralization at the Project is typical of Texas roll-front sandstone deposits. The formation of roll-front deposits is largely a groundwater process that occurs when uranium-rich, oxygenated groundwater interacts with a reducing environment in the subsurface and precipitates uranium. The most favorable host rocks for roll-fronts are permeable sandstones with large aquifer systems. Interbedded mudstone, claystone and siltstone are often present and aid in the formation process by focusing groundwater flux.

To date, UEC holds data from 5,232 drill holes that have been completed by UEC and previous uranium exploration companies on and nearby the five Project areas held by UEC. Data from the drilling, including survey coordinates, collar elevations, depths and grade of uranium intercepts, have been incorporated into UEC's database.

Recent Developments

Recent developments and operations include all work that has been done to develop and operate the Project properties since the last technical reports were written to update the resources and development at each Project area.

Summary capital and operating cost estimates are not included with this TRS, since UEC is reporting the results of an Initial Assessment ("IA") without economic analysis. No new construction/development has occurred at the Hobson CPP or at Salvo since the 2010-2012 drilling campaign. However, UEC initiated drilling projects on Palangana, Goliad and Burke Hollow in 2010-2015, 2014 and 2019-2021, respectively. UEC also activated several wellfields at Palangana to produce uranium from 2010 to 2016.

Palangana

From 2010 to 2015, UEC drilled 891 drill holes at Palangana. Most of the drilling occurred in 2010 (391 holes), 2011 (281 holes) and 2012 (186 holes) and the remaining holes were drilled from 2013-2015. The majority of these wells were drilled for delineation purposes and the rest were drilled for monitor and production wells. In 2010, UEC activated wellfields in Production Area ("PA") PA-1, PA-2 and PA-3 at Palangana. From 2010 to 2016, 563,600 lbs of uranium were produced by ISR methods.

Goliad

In 2014, UEC conducted a drilling program at Goliad for exploration and water wells. 35 holes were drilled and logged for exploration and water supply purposes with a majority of the holes being drilled in PA- 1 and PA-2.

Burke Hollow

In 2019, UEC completed 129 drill holes, mostly focusing on delineating the Lower B1 and Lower B2 sands in the proposed PA-1. In addition, UEC began installing perimeter monitor wells in PA-1. In total, 57 holes were drilled solely for delineation and exploration purposes and 72 holes were drilled for monitoring purposes.

From 2021 to 2022, UEC conducted another drilling program to upgrade a portion of their resources from inferred to measured and indicated, to better define the ore body in proposed PA-1 and to install monitor wells. 168 delineation and exploration holes were drilled as of March 7, 2022. 24 of these holes were also used as monitor wells. This drilling program is ongoing for the purpose of completing more monitor wells.

No historic data was used in this estimate which includes only data from drilling projects conducted by UEC from 2012 to 2022. 297 new holes were drilled and logged in 2021 and 2022 to complete this estimate.

Mineral Resources

This IA for the Project has been prepared in accordance with the regulations set forth in S-K 1300 with the objective of disclosing the mineral resources at the Project.

Based on the density of drilling, continuity of geology and mineralization, testing and data verification, the mineral resource estimates meet the criteria for indicated or inferred mineral resources as summarized herein.

The in-place resources were estimated separately for each Project area. The Project contains a measured resource of 2.78 million lbs and an indicated resource of 6.34 million lbs of U 3 O 8 in-place. The Project contains 9.92 million lbs of inferred mineral resources in-place. Tables 1 and 2 below list the Project resources by the Project area. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. However, considerations of reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction were applied to the mineral resource calculations herein.

Table 1: Texas Hub and Spoke Project Measured and Indicated Resource Summary

Mineral Resource GT Cutoff Average Grade

(% eU 3 O 8 ) Ore Tons (000s) eU 3 O 8 (lbs) Burke Hollow Measured 0.30 0.082 70 114,700 Indicated 0.30 0.087 1,337 2,209,000 Total Measured and Indicated 0.30 0.086 1,407 2,323,700 Goliad Measured 0.20 0.053 1,595 2,667,900 Indicated 0.20 0.102 1,504 3,492,000 Total Measured and Indicated 0.20 0.085 3,099 6,159,900 Palangana Measured - - - - Indicated None 0.134 232 643,100 Total Measured and Indicated None 0.134 232 643,100 Salvo All mineral resources at Salvo are classified as Inferred. Project Totals Measured 2,782,600 Indicated 6,344,100 Total Measured and Indicated 9,126,700

Notes: 1. Pounds reported with Disequilibrium Factor (DEF) applied. 2. Measured and indicated mineral resources as defined in 17 CFR  229.1300. 3. All reported resources occur below the static water table. 4. The point of reference for mineral resources is in-situ at the Project. 5. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. 6. Delineation drilling conducted at Palangana after 2010 was not incorporated into this resource estimate, as in the experience of the QP this type of drilling does not generally substantially change the resource estimates.

Table 2: Texas Hub and Spoke Project Inferred Resource Summary

Mineral Resource GT Cutoff Average Grade

(% eU 3 O 8 ) Ore Tons (000s) eU 3 O 8 (lbs) Burke Hollow Inferred 0.30 0.095 2,494 4,859,000 Goliad Inferred 0.20 0.195 1,548 1,224,800 Palangana PA-1 and PA-2 Inferred None 0.100 96 192,500 Dome, NE Garcia, SW Garcia,

CC Brine, Jemison Fence,

Jemison East Inferred 0.10 0.110 - 0.300 206 808,800 Salvo Inferred 0.30 0.091 1,125 2,839,000 Project Totals Total Inferred 5,469 9,924,100

Notes: 1. Pounds reported with DEF applied. 2. A range of grades is presented for the Palangana inferred mineral because the resource estimation methods differed between PA-1/PA-2 and the rest of the trends. There was no cutoff for PA-1 and PA-2 block models. See Section 11.1 of the TRS for a more detailed explanation. 3. Inferred mineral resources as defined in 17 CFR  229.1300. 4. All reported resources occur below the static water table. 5. The point of reference for mineral resources is in-situ at the Project. 6. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. 7. Delineation drilling conducted at Palangana after 2010 was not incorporated into this resource estimate, as in the experience of the QP this type of drilling does not generally substantially change the resource estimates.

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed by WWC Engineering, a consultant to the Company, and by Clyde L. Yancey, P.G., Vice President-Exploration for the Company, being a qualified third party firm and a Qualified Person under Item 1302 of Regulation S-K.

About Uranium Energy Corp

Uranium Energy Corp is America's leading, fastest growing, uranium mining company listed on the NYSE American. UEC is a pure play uranium company and is advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly In-Situ Recovery (ISR) mining uranium projects. The Company has two production ready ISR hub and spoke platforms in South Texas and Wyoming, anchored by fully licensed and operational processing capacity at the Hobson and Irigaray plants. UEC also has seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all of their major permits in place. Additionally, the Company has other diversified holdings of uranium assets, including: (1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of U.S. warehoused U 3 O 8 ; (2) a major equity stake in the only royalty company in the sector, Uranium Royalty Corp.; and (3) a pipeline of resource-stage uranium projects in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Paraguay. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

Stock Exchange Information:

NYSE American: UEC

WKN: AJDRR

ISN: US916896103

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp
Continued investment in workforce includes recognizing exemplary plant, distribution center employees

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Instant Brands, maker of consumer favorites like Instant Pot, Pyrex and more, continues to expand its employee rewards program to recognize its plant and distribution center employees' commitment. As part of Instant Brands' continuing investment in its workforce, the company is awarding 10 employees an all-expense paid vacation for two.

Instant Brands will hold two vacation rewards drawings at each of its five U.S.-based field locations over the next six months. The 10 winning employees may each select a predetermined 'warm weather' (Hawaii, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego) or 'cold weather' (Alaska, Boston, New York City, Seattle) location within the U.S. for their well-earned getaway.

"Our employees' commitment to helping us deliver our products is something we prioritize and reward within our culture," said Ben Gadbois, President and CEO of Instant Brands. "We appreciate our employees, and our expanded rewards program is designed to evolve so we can best celebrate their contributions in tangible ways."

The first vacation rewards drawings are for best attendance records from March 7 through June 30, 2022. More than 15 percent of Instant Brands' U.S.-based plant and distribution center workforce qualify for the first drawings.

The first vacation rewards drawing was held yesterday at Instant Brands' Byhalia, Miss., distribution center, where 25 of 156 employees qualified for the drawing.

Byhalia-based employee, Angela Savage, won the local drawing. Savage is a Quality Control Inspector with two years of service with Instant Brands. She is a resident of Memphis, Tenn.

Beyond Byhalia, Instant Brands will hold vacation drawings in the coming weeks at each of the company's additional U.S. manufacturing and distribution centers. The second round of vacation rewards drawings are for best attendance records from July 1  Dec. 31, 2022, and winners will be announced in early 2023. As part of the company's 2021 recognition program, Instant Brands gave five employees a new 2022 Jeep Compass.

Instant Brands continues to grow its workforce to keep pace with consumer demand. To learn more about employment opportunities, visit Careers  Instant Brands.

About Instant Brands

Instant Brands designs, manufactures and markets a global portfolio of innovative and iconic consumer lifestyle brands: Instant, Pyrex, Corelle, Corningware, Snapware, Chicago Cutlery, ZOID and Visions. With people-first and purpose-driven solutions in mind, Instant Brands is reimagining how people live, eat, connect, and play inside the homeand in the spaces where people gather. The Cornell Capital-backed company is headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill., and employs more than 2,000 people across four continents. Today, Instant Brands' products are in millions of homes worldwide. For more information visit Instant Brands or join the community at LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Instant Brands
SINGAPORE, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The IVAR Coin (IVAR) is now listed on XT.com as an IVAR and Tether (USDT) trading pair. For all traders, the most promising crypto trading experience of IVAR/USDT is available on the exchange's Main Zone (Metaverse). Participants who haven't traded the coin yet can go ahead and deposit their crypto assets and start trading on the go.

IVAR Coin is a fundamental currency responsible for all transactions within the Ivarex ecosystem. As a utility coin in the ecosystem, IVAR can be used on both decentralized and centralized exchanges. Due to its utility and vast use cases, the coin can be exchanged for in-game items used on GameFi or used to buy digital assets in the metaverse.

IVAR can be staked. The coin has a well-vesting period, allowing crypto lovers to lock their holdings and be rewarded. Additionally, this new listing gives users an opportunity to enter into derivative trading seamlessly using IVAR/USDT. Anyone who has never traded the coin has the option to do so without any restrictions by simply creating a trading account on the platform.

Moreover, crypto enthusiasts and investors are encouraged to take advantage of this listing to trade and help push the coin's presence and usability to the mainstream. IVAR/USDT spot trading is open for traders on the exchange. This allows traders to practically trade the coin using a reserve fund from their cryptocurrency wallet on the platform. Meanwhile, traders will have the withdrawal option from August 8, 2022, at 10:00 (UTC).

Jonathan Shih, the Head of MEA (Middle East & Africa) at XT.com, shared his delight, "As IVAR Coin is listed on our platform, we will help Ivarex achieve its sustainable excellence with its long-term goal of becoming a home for gamers to build projects, own, and monetize their assets with a high resolution of virtual experience."

About Ivarex (IVAR Coin)

Ivarex is a metaverse gaming platform having its own validator network called Ivar Chain. The platform allows players to build, own, and monetize their assets and virtual experiences. It also empowers artists and creators through blockchain.

The native currency that powers the Ivar Chain network is IVAR Coin. Specifically, the coin is used to reward block validators for ensuring the security of transactions. Users who use the network pay a gas fee using the IVAR coin.

The team behind the Ivar Chain is vocal based on the platform's potential to become the next generation of blockchain for the multiverse. The Ivar Chain solves the interoperability, scalability, and metaverse trilemma. The company believes the Ivar Chain ecosystem has what it takes to grow significantly in the blockchain industry because of its interoperability features.

Website: https://ivarex.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ivarexofficial

About XT.com

By consistently expanding its ecosystem, XT.com is dedicated to providing users with the most secure, trusted, and hassle-free digital asset trading services. Our exchange is built from a desire to give everyone access to digital assets regardless where you are.

Founded in 2018, XT.com now serves more than 4.5 million registered users, over 500,000+ monthly active users, and 30+ million users in the ecosystem. Covering a rich variety of trading categories together with an NFT aggregated marketplace, our platform strives to cater to its large user base by providing a secure, trusted, and intuitive trading experience.

As the world's first social infused digital assets trading platform, XT.com also supports social networking platform based transactions to make our crypto services more accessible to users all over the world. Furthermore, to ensure optimal data integrity and security, we see user security as our top priority at XT.com.

Website: https://www.xt.com/

Telegram: https://t.me/XTsupport_EN

Twitter: https://twitter.com/XTexchange

SOURCE XT.com
HUHHOT, China, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 10, Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy, issued its Food & Drink 2022 report, identifying the most valuable and strongest brands in the food and beverage industries. Yili has been recognized as the World's Most Valuable Dairy Brand, retaining its leading position in the global dairy industry.

Yili Remains the Worlds Most Valuable Dairy Brand in Brand Finance 2022 Report

A company's brand is among the most valuable intangible assets it holds. While the Covid-19 pandemic has posed major challenges for the global dairy market, Yili still maintained strong growth of its brand value, increasing it by 10% to $10.6 billion and extending its lead in the ranking. Such growth was attributed to the company's robust business performance and social value.

Commercial value grows steadily

Yili's market capitalization has expanded 553 times since its listing in 1996, from RMB 421 million ($62.5 million) to RMB 232.8 billion ($34.56 billion) in 2022. It has remained one of the world's top five dairy producers for three consecutive years, with the annual revenue exceeding RMB 100 billion ($14.85 billion) last year. Over the years, Yili has maintained consistent business growth, generating solid and appealing returns for investors. The company has issued dividends 22 times totaling RMB 36.59 billion ($5.43 billion) since its listing, making it a preferred target for A-share value investors.

Yili aims to empower industrial development by focusing on modern industry clusters. The company has established several contemporary dairy industry clusters in Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Heilongjiang, Henan, Shandong, and Hebei, among other areas. The Yili Future Intelligence and Health Valley, known as the "Dairy Silicon Valley," is home to the world's largest intelligent production bases for liquid milk and infant formula, featuring the industry's highest level of digitization and the most advanced technologies. The National Center of Technology Innovation for Dairy (NCTID) and National Dairy Metrology and Testing Center have also settled into the Valley.

Social value boosts sustainable development

Commercial and social value are inextricably linked. Yili has incorporated sustainability into company strategies and has actively taken initiatives to create social value. The company is at the forefront of energy conservation, emission reduction, and other innovative carbon reduction practices. In addition, Yili is working with its partners to create a more sustainable future by carrying out initiatives in areas such as environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, youth health, poverty alleviation, and disaster relief.

In 2022, Yili has committed to achieving carbon neutrality across the entire industry chain by 2050. It has also launched China's first net-zero carbon dairy product series, including milk, yogurt, organic milk powder, and ice cream. Yili follows a green, low-carbon, circular development path by constructing smart green farms, promoting integrated farming, and carrying out other initiatives. In terms of eco-friendly manufacturing, Yili's brand Satine uses FSC-certified packaging on all of its goods. The brand is committed to promoting green consumption and healthy lifestyles.

"Yili's insight into the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic through the promotion of their brand's health benefits and the responsiveness of their supply chain allows them to reach over 2 billion consumers worldwide, which has resulted in a 23% increase in brand value since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020," the Brand Finance report noted. Its consumer-focused technological and product innovations also contribute to the brand's success and fuel the company's growth. As the world's most valuable dairy brand, Yili endeavors to achieve robust corporate growth and drive high-quality industrial development by creating commercial and social value.

($1  RMB 6.74)

SOURCE Yili Group
LONDON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Youniverze Finance, whose mission is to make crypto markets as accessible as possible, announced its presale.

In the first part of the presale, strategic buyers will have the option of joining the project.18% of the Yuni coins with a 30% bonus for all first purchases will be allocated in Stage 1 with 2.34 M of the 13.5 M coins available. In the second part of the presale, based on their capital commitment, all users will have access to the token so that everyone gets a fair share.

Youniverze Token Youniverze Token

The overall vision for Youniverze is to create a platform for end-users to have a seamless experience without the stress of complex transactions. This will hopefully encourage a wider range of people to join cryptocurrency trading.

The Youniverze is beginner-friendly and has a streamlined, user-friendly interface. The company focused on building up its community spirit and comradery. To achieve this, Youniverze has a series of incentives in place so that early users can earn rewards for their contributions via different programs.

One of the best features of Youniverze is its ability to ensure cheap rates. Youniverze will identify the most cost-effective bridge or DEX with the cheapest swap rate for its community to utilise.

The project also benefits from enhanced security, as chains are enabled to engage meaningfully with one another, maintaining their autonomy in terms of government and united in security features. Currently, its multichain capacity allows users to transfer assets across two blockchains, however, it has future plans to increase this amount. At the moment, Youniverze allows its users to access numerous liquidity providers at once, both in-chain and across multichain providers.

Users can also stake tokens to receive rewards while participating in decisions made on the Youniverze Finance ecosystem. These decisions could be regarding transaction costs, release timetables, or project migration to a new network. The users who stake tokens will receive a share of fees collected by Youniverze Finance from the ecosystem's liquidity pools.

Youniverze plans to launch on both centralised and decentralised exchanges, and within one year they plan to be listed on Binance.

Youniverze (YUNI)

Presale: http://join.youniverze.io/

Website: http://youniverze.io/

Telegram: https://t.me/YouniverzeOfficial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Youniverze_

SOURCE Youniverze Token
Scotland-headquartered investment company abrdn has acquired a stake in London-based digital asset exchange Archax for an undisclosed sum, according to a Reuters report.

The stake acquisition makes abrdn the largest external shareholder with a seat on the Archax board.

"Blockchain technologies are inevitably going to form a big part of the future of financial markets," abrdn chief executive Stephen Bird said.

The news follows a dramatic recent push into the crypto space for global institutional investors including BlackRock, who recently launched a spot Bitcoin private trust.

When Archax launched in 2018, it became the first digital asset exchange to be regulagted by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Archaxs board of advisors includes Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) chairman David Bucklet, and David Lester, former chief strategy officer of the London Stock Exchange.
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Shares in Kingfisher PLC, Dunelm Group PLC (LSE:DNLM) and DFS Furniture PLC (LSE:DFS) fell on Friday morning after being downgraded by UBS over the gloomy economic backdrop for the coming 12 months.

Kingfisher shares dropped 2.2% to 250.30p as the Swiss bank cut its rating to 'sell' from 'hold' and cut its price target for Kingfisher to 203p from 338p.

UBS also slapped a 'sell' rating on DFS and slashed its price target to 100p from 241p. The shares fell 3.8% to 135.8p.

Dunelm was downgraded to 'neutral' from 'buy' and the target chopped to 850p from 1,761p, leading to its shares declining 2.4% to 821p.

For Kingfisher, the broker said the downgrade reflected weak industry data and comments from peer groups in the sector, such as Wickes.

UBS said it expects competition to intensify in an already tough market and it sees Screwfix underperforming Toolstation in the medium term adding its analysis suggests a 71% downside to base case EPS.

Whilst we like Kingfisher's turnaround potential, against the current backdrop, we think the downside potential will be a drag on valuation, given no catalysts for a re-rating in the next 12 months UBS concluded.

UBS cut pre-tax profit forecasts for 2022 to 719mln from 760mln and for 2023 to 516mln from 783mln.

For DFS, PBT estimates were cut 33-60% out to 2024 as although it has a "solid" expansion strategy, including its Sofology digital arm and entry into Homewares, caution is driven by various macro factors.

The first is the weakness in housing transactions (which drives around a fifth of furniture transactions) estimated to be down 5% in 2023, combined with falling consumer confidence (recently highlighted in ScS' trading update).

Second and third are forecasts that the upholstery industry will decline by 0.3% in 2022 and 1.6% 2023 "given no structural drivers" after the unprecedented growth during the pandemic.

For Dunelm UBS said it likes the growth story but is cautious in the near term reflecting weakening industry data.

The broker believes that Dunelm can continue to gain share in the medium term and grow its online business but are cautious in the near term as industry data has been weak for Home Accessories and House Textiles with consumer credit card transaction volumes falling below pre-pandemic levels and value spend tracking lower year on year for Furniture.

Analysis of Dunelm's categories suggests that pricing has held up during recessionary periods, while retail sales declined ahead of other categories but UBS said recent data points suggest that data has started to turn negative, with Barclaycard data showing that furniture store volumes have declined to below 2019 levels.

UBS also cut its revenue forecasts for Dunelm by 10-17% for 2023 and 2024.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwartengs recent comments spell bad news for Drax Group (LSE:DRX) PLC, say analysts at Citigroup.

Kwarteng reportedly questioned the sustainability of Draxs biomass imports from the US to a cross-party group of backbench MPs.

The business secretary said it is a huge cost financially and environmentally to the point that the situation doesnt make any sense.

All this, the Citi analysts believe, points to a potential hardening of government legislation concerning biomass strategy, with a paper to be published imminently.

Roughly 80% of the biomass burned at Drax power station comes from the US, so any potential ban or restrictions would be terrible news for the FTSE 250 company.

Add into this pressure from environmental groups regarding the green status of electrical production, and analysts see this as negative for the companys prospects.

As a result, the shares are rated a sell, with a target price of 616p.
Drug development for smaller, innovative life sciences companies is the corporate equivalent of a high wire act.

Ensuring the cash taps remain open is one challenge. The other is finding the balance between risk and reward.

Very few businesses listed on AIM will or indeed ever have hit a home run  this involves discovering, developing and taking to market a unique new treatment.

Why is this? Well, its not because these businesses or their principals lack vision or the courage of their convictions (quite the opposite sometimes).

Its that costs and time associated with the development and launch of a new drug are often more than a fledgling company with limited means can bear.

To put it into context, on average it takes ten years to bring a new pharmaceutical product to market. The estimated costs associated with this effort are put anywhere from 800mln to 2bn.

Your average junior drug developer will be lucky to rustle up 10mln at any given point in their journey.

So, what you do if you are of limited means is get your asset as far through the clinical trial process as possible. After that you find a partner with pockets deep enough to finish the work started by the small-cap R&D specialist.

Conventional wisdom puts the sweet spot  that intersection of the risk, reward and capital investment curves  at the end of phase II clinical trials.

Getting to this point isnt as financially onerous as the later stages of drug development tend to be, and at the same time there should be enough data at hand to convince a potential partner to take a punt.

More and more, however, we are starting to see drug developers tie up partnerships earlier in the process  sometimes before the drug candidate has actually entered the clinic.

In part, this is down to the larger drugs companies wishing to snap up new technologies or promising treatments before the competition  and being willing to pay well for the privilege.

In this environment, the cash-constrained minnows of the industry have looked to go early too, seeing an opportunity to crystalise value for investors in a more timely way than has been the norm.

RedX Pharma, which has risen phoenix-like from administration, is one of those companies to break with convention. It sold a pre-clinical cancer programme to Jazz Pharma for up to 170mln, and has licensed its phase I porcupine inhibitor for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis to AstraZeneca in a deal worth as much as 309mln.

Silence Therapeutics, the gene silencing specialist, has struck deals with AZ and the American-Irish group Mallinckrodt worth potentially  if my maths is correct  well over 1bn. Admittedly, a lot would have to go right for that jackpot to be struck.

You can add to the list C4X Discovery, which has two partnered programmes: one with anti-addiction specialist Indivior worth up to 230mln; the other with French giant Sanofi that has a headline value of 350mln.

C4X is interesting because the business model is built around discovery using DNA-based target identification and then out-licensing as soon as is practicable.

In other words, it isnt particularly interested in the process of clinical trials as a basis of adding value to the newly uncovered asset.

We have some proprietary technologies that allow us to find molecules that have the potential to be highly valuable medicines for our sector, chief executive Clive Dix told Proactive last month.

Our model is that we then partner them at some stage during this discovery process with companies that then take them on to full development and to the market.

In doing that, therefore, we get early revenues which we can use to build our portfolio and I'll tell you more about that later.

Whats interesting about C4X is it is becoming something of a production line for new, valuable small-molecule drugs that have the sort of attraction to big pharma that a shiny object has to a magpie.

It has a programme called NRF, which is an anti-inflammatory and for which, by the end of the year, it hopes to have found a partner.

This is a very important product for us, said Dix. We are in late-stage discussions now.

But the story doesnt end there. It also has a further two near-term partnering opportunities  one in the cancer area, while the other is being developed for inflammatory bowel disease.

Because we've been making such good progress, we've been looking at other new targets because we want to feed the portfolio to fill the pipeline, explained Dix.

So soon as we partner with these [current] programmes we want to have others in line to move forward.

We announced recently that we've got six new programmes, all relatively early, but very exciting and we've done a lot of work to make sure that the right programmes to take forward into the next phase.

On Thursday, C4X unveiled plans to raise 5.7mln to fund the next droplets out of the development pipeline, with cornerstone investor, the Polar Capital Biotechnology Fund, standing its end for 3mln of that figure.

It was interesting to see that the companys advisors havent been forced to offer stock at a discount to get the share placing away.

This is both unusual in the current sketchy market environment and a vote of confidence in the company, its management and its plans.

With a market capitalisation of 59mln it is a fraction of the worth of RedX (200mln) and Silence (500mln), which suggests C4X isnt yet on the radar screen of most investors.

It will be interesting to see how long that remains the case if the production line keeps churning as successfully as it has to date.
Pure Gold Mining Inc (TSX-V:PGM, LSE:PUR, OTC:LRTNF) CEO Mark O'Dea joined Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with details of an updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the company's PureGold Mine in Ontarios Red Lake Gold District that incorporates new data and knowledge gleaned from the mines first 18 months of operations.

The new estimate, prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc, includes 1.65 million ounces of gold at 7.4 grams per tonne (g/t) in the Indicated Mineral Resource category, and 0.37 million ounces of gold at 6.3 g/t in the Inferred Mineral Resource category.

"One of the big conclusions that have come out of this new resource estimate is that we still have a multi-million ounce, high-grade ore body that's very much intact," he added. "It has in its geometry and certain variability here and there but it's very much intact and it forms a solid foundation to actually build a real business."
Australian Gold and Copper Ltd (ASX:AGC) has strengthened its board with the appointment of experienced mining industry executive Dr Adam McKinnon as a non-executive director.

Dr McKinnon is an exploration and mining professional with an extensive record of discovery in central western New South Wales.

Notably, He has more than 18 years of industry and academic experience in gold and base metal exploration, evaluation, development, mining, metallurgy and approvals.

Dr McKinnon is currently the managing director of Magmatic Resources Ltd (ASX:MAG), which is AGC's second-largest holder with 5.61% of the shares on issue.

Adding value through discovery

AGC chairman David Richardson said: I am delighted to welcome Adam to Australian Gold and Copper.

His track record of adding value through discovery and evaluation in NSW aligns perfectly with AGCs business model.

We look forward to him applying his skillset to advancing our attractive gold and base metal portfolio

Notable experience

Prior to Magmatic, Dr McKinnon served as the general manager - exploration and business development at Aurelia Metals, which saw him manage a +$20 million yearly exploration budget, including the discovery and subsequent growth of the exceptionally high-grade Federation deposit in the south-eastern Cobar Basin.

He has also previously held roles with CBH Resources (ASX:CBH) and KBL Mining (ASX:KBL) in the Central West, which includes the discovery of the high-grade Pearse gold-silver deposit at the Mineral Hill Mine near Condobolin, New South Wales.

Outgoing director

AGCs outgoing non-executive director Ranko Matic provided his resignation effective August 12, 2022.

He joined the board in November 2020 and has played an active role in developing and executing the companys corporate strategies.

Richardson adds: I would like to thank Ranko for all of his efforts and support of the company, especially helping the company during the IPO process.

He has provided invaluable support and guidance to the company and the board  and during the challenging circumstances of COVID and lockdowns. We wish him well in his future endeavours.
Po Valley Energy Ltd (ASX:PVE) executive chairman Kevin Bailey tells Proactives Elisha Newell about its recent $4.5 million capital raise, which means the company is now fully funded to gas production in April next year at the Podere Maiar gas field at the companys 63%-owned Selva Malvezzi concession in Italy. Bailey gives insight into the construction contracts for Podere Maiar, the production concession the company received for the project from Italys Ecological Transition Ministry (MiTE) late last month and how the company intends to bring production plans to fruition. Notably, the company has already locked in a below-estimates price for construction of the pipeline and installation plant and will benefit from current gas prices once in production.
Take a look at any market index from around the world over the past year and youre likely to see a similar trend: volatility, and share prices lower now than they were 12 months ago.

Its been a bumpy ride for investors and companies alike, but as always, there are success stories to be found, and the ASX had plenty.

The breakdown

Of the 100 best-performing companies across the 2022 financial year, 97 of them more than doubled their share price.

The vast majority  83  were resources companies, with software, biotech and medical tech companies making the bulk of the rest.

The top 39 companies all at least tripled their share price over the course of the year, while the top 21 all managed to increase their share price fourfold or more.

The best five

Viagold Rare Earth Resources Ltd had a stellar FY22, watching its shares jump a mammoth 2,339% over the course of the year, from lows of just 4c to $2.

Remarkably, the company has had very little in the way of newsflow in that time, although rare earth minerals are generating significant interest as a key ingredient of the energy transition, and Viagold has a strong connection to China, considered the global giant in rare earths.

Resource Mining Corporation was the second-best performer in FY22, up an impressive 733% to 13c at the end of July, though it has hit peaks of 19c.

The company is exploring the Kabulwanyele Nickel Project in Tanzania, and in May announced a transformational acquisition of several promising Nickel projects in the country.

As for Kabulwanyele, a month ago RMI intersected a lateritic nickel profile in its maiden drilling campaign. Assay results are imminent, and previous rock and soil sampling returned highly encouraging nickel and cobalt results and delineated a nickel-cobalt anomaly with a strike length of 2 kilometres, which is broadly coincident with a historically mapped nickel laterite.

All samples collected returned grades equal to, or exceeding, 500 parts per million (ppm) nickel and 200 ppm cobalt, with grades of up to 1.27% nickel tested in a rock sample, and up to 0.85% nickel in soils.

Quantum Graphite Ltd had a belter of a year, rising 723% to highs of 52%, gaining significant momentum in May as its shares were requoted on the local bourse amid renewed interest in graphite as a material of the future.

Cardno (ASX:CDD) Ltd, an engineering and environmental services firm, was the only non-resources company in the top five, jumping 669%, and Santana Minerals (ASX:SMI) Ltd rounded out the top five with a 663% increase.

Metals of the future

Looking through the top 100 list, its clear to see the rising interest in metals, minerals and materials that are being heavily used in the global energy transition.

Take Latrobe Magnesium Ltd, for example  its shares have jumped 383% as it develops a 1,000 tonne-per annum plant to produce magnesium from the waste products of coal-fired power plants using a proprietary hydromet technology.

It has kicked a number of significant goals towards that aim of late; sealing a financing deal for a demonstration plant, commencing construction, and the tender of the pre-feasibility study for the plant to global engineering, construction and project management company, Bechtel.

Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX:GAL), exploring for nickel, palladium, copper, and cobalt resources in Western Australia, had an excellent 12 months, with its shares up 261%.

Its Norseman project is generating significant interest  the company returned its best-ever drill results from the project just a month ago.

The latest assays from our Callisto discovery demonstrate the extensive continuity of mineralisation intercepted, Galileo Mining managing director Brad Underwood said.

We are very pleased to report significant thicknesses over 20 metres at the 1.0 g/t 3E cut-off grade and over 30 metres at the lower 0.5 g/t 3E cut-off.

Loving lithium

Core Lithium Ltd (ASX:CXO), one of several booming Australian lithium miners, gained 320% over the past year, with the company on the precipice of becoming our next major lithium producer.

Just this month it received exceptional drilling results at its flagship Finniss Lithium project in the Northern Territory. Its chairman Greg English described the results as outstanding.

We are in the middle of our largest ever drill campaign and these latest results more than justify our decision to expand our exploration efforts.

These new world-class lithium drilling results reflect the confidence we have in delivering significant resource growth from Finniss that will add to our life of mine and our capacity to materially increase lithium production from northern Australia in the future to keep up with rapidly growing global demand.

Fellow lithium players AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) (up 321%), European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR, OTCQB:EULIF) (up 150%) and Lithium Power Ltd (up 98%) also delivered excellent returns for their shareholders.

And a mention for the health sector

Though the top 100 is dominated by resources companies, biotech and medical research companies still made their presence felt.

Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:NEU) gained 251%, having made plenty of progress in clinical testing for its two drugs in development for multiple serious neurological disorders that emerge in early childhood.

Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR, OTC:AMEUF) also more than tripled its share price, having cemented its position as a serious player in the heart valve replacement market with in-vivo demonstration of its ComASUR Transfemoral Delivery System, and recent trial results showing improvement in blood flow and quality-of-life markers.

We continue to be excited about the superior haemodynamic performance of the DurAVR system despite small annuli and complex anatomy, said Anteris chief medical officer Dr Chris Meduri.

Its remarkable flow characteristics are as close to a normal human aortic valve as we have seen, a testament to the unique 3D tissue design.

The data so far is extremely encouraging and fulfilling the hypothesis that DurAVR works better and lasts longer, CEO Wayne Paterson added.

The top 100

Written by Daniel Paproth.
Aldoro Resources Ltd (ASX:ARN) has confirmed the presence of lithium and rubidium mineralisation from recent test studies performed on Niobe and Wyemandoo samples by the University of Western Australia (UWA).

The Niobe Lithium-Rubidium-Tantalum Project and the Wyemandoo Lithium-Rubidium-Tungsten Project in Western Australia are Aldoros flagship projects.

The results of the UWA study will be used to assess the areas of mineralisation potential and assist in developing the exploitable metallurgical properties in the recovery of metals from the ore.

Niobe

At Niobe, a total of fourteen pegmatitic samples were analysed from the main pegmatite to the northeast pegmatite, within a total area of 2.5 hectares.

Key findings include:

The primary mineralogy of the samples included quartz, albite feldspar, and Fe(iron)-rich muscovite. Li(lithium)-rich phases include zinnwaldite and small amounts of petalite. Secondary mineral phases include orthoclase, oligoclase, monazite, topaz, zircon, nepheline, kaolinite, corundum, almandine, and grossular garnets.

Overall mineralogy is relatively simple with the presence of medium to coarse crystal grains, with some replacement and small amounts of replacement and intergrowth. Spatial distribution of the studied samples does not show significant variation of the dominant mineral assemblage (albite-quartz-muscovite/zinnwaldite), perhaps due to the small areas sampled.

Wyemandoo

At Wyemandoo, a total of forty-one pegmatitic samples were analysed from an area of 259 square within the Fairway Corridor of the pegmatite swarm.

Key findings include:

Interpretation of the TIMA spectra found the dominant mineral phases for the Wyemandoo samples include albite, oligoclase, plagioclase, orthoclase, quartz, and muscovite. The accessory mineral phases include but are not limited to garnet (almandine, spessartine, grossular), monazite, zircon, and corundum. Lithium-rich minerals present include Li-rich muscovite and petalite. Ta(tantalum)-rich minerals include microlite and tantalite.

Albite, quartz, muscovite and orthoclase are the dominant hosts for the Li-Rb (rubidium) Wyemandoo prospect. Other feldspars associated with the prospect include oligoclase, plagioclase and anorthosite. Li-Rb-Ta minerals include lepidolite, petalite, muscovite, tantalite and microlite. Variable amounts of polymorphs, apatite, and garnets are present, and a small number of samples contain hematite and magnetite.

Next steps

The above analyses will provide aid to metallurgical processing studies conducted by renowned specialist Professor Zhiguo He at Chinas Central South University School of Minerals Processing & Bioengineering.

These studies are expected to commence shortly.
Tech unicorn Calm.com Inc is sacking a fifth of its employees, as venture-backed companies seek to reduce their headcount amid a slump in available follow-on funding.

The sleep, meditation and relaxation app maker was founded in 2012 and completed its last financing round of undisclosed size last month, according to data provider Pitchbook.

In 2019, it raised US$88bn from investors such as actor Ashton Kutchers venture fund Sound Ventures, TPG Growth, Insight Venture Partners in a funding round that valued it at US$1bn, making it one of the first meditation apps to achieve unicorn status.

The app provider bought healthcare company Ripple Health in February this year, when boss David Ko joined as co-chief executive to run the app alongside co-founder Michael Acton Smith.

Ko issued a memo to Calms staff yesterday saying the company was reducing our overall workforce by 20%, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The cull is estimated to amount to 90 lay-offs out of a total headcount of about 400.

The memo said that the leadership team had revisited the investment thesis behind every project before taking the decision.

Calm is expected to hold an ad hoc meeting today to discuss the future of the business.
FTSE 100 opened higher, up 24 points to 7,490. This was despite the UK economy shrinking by 0.1%, although this was better than previous forecasts of 0.2%. AstraZenecas drug Enhertu was given the green light in America. The drug is to be given to patients with inoperable tumours and advanced cell lung cancer. Flutter reported losses in the first six months of 2022 as the bookmaker continued to pour money into US operation FanDuel. Excluding it, underlying profits dropped only 11%. 888 reported a fall in revenue and profits in the first half of the year. However, it believes the business is on a stable trend for the rest of 2022. Among the small caps, IQGeo said it acquired its Belgian rival, turning to investors to help part-fund the deal. The purchase of COMSOF accelerates the companys move into wide fibre networks. Eco (Atlantic) said the rig that will drill a well in offshore South Africa is currently making its way to the site. Work is expected to get underway towards the end of next month and will take 25 days. ADM Energy announced the completion of the 17th cargo lifting at the Aje Field, offshore Nigeria. Proceeds of the lifting will be used to continue work on the development plans for the Aje field.
A new gas pipeline between Spain and France may be ready within eight or nine months, according to Spanish energy minister Teresa Ribera.

With Russia threatening to pull its gas from Europe, attention has moved to other solutions. The new pipeline is set to potentially ease the situation, governments said.

"This new interconnection, this gas pipeline could be operating in about 8 or 9 months on the southern border side, that is, from the Pyrenean to Spain," Ribera said in an interview with national station TVE.

Launched in 2003, the pipeline was originally designed to transport gas from Algeria to Spain through Europe, but after several years of work, the project was abandoned in 2019 due to concerns about its environmental impact and profitability.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz also recalled a project from the past that he regrets not realising, as he spoke at a press conference on Thursday about a proposed gas pipeline that would pass through Portugal and Spain before reaching Germany via France.

"I have been very busy thinking about a gas pipeline that unfortunately we have let pass us by," he told the media gathering. "The one that should have been built between Portugal, Spain, through France to central Europe"

Scholz suggested he needs to speak with his "colleagues in Spain and Portugal, with the French president, and the president of the European Commission, so that we tackle such a project".

This winter's gas supply is not guaranteed since the Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom recently reduced its flow to Germany to 20% of its normal capacity due to alleged turbine problems.


Phoenix Copper Ltd (AIM:PXC, OTCQX:PXCLF) said it is engaging a syndicate of US broker-dealers to work with its existing brokers and advisers to carry out a placement of non-dilutive loan notes to fund the development of its Empire open pit copper mine in Idaho, USA.

The AIM quoted base and precious metals explorer said it expects to raise a minimum of US$60mln from issuing loan notes to institutional and other investors.

There can be no certainty that the proposed fundraise will proceed, it noted.
The deal is expected to close on or about August 15

Nomad Royalty (TSX:NSR) Company Ltd announced it has received approval for its acquisition by Sandstorm Gold Ltd (TSX:SAND) from the Superior Court of Quebec.

The court issued a final order approving the previously announced acquisition by way of a plan of arrangement in accordance with the Canada Business Corporations Act.

Under the terms of the arrangement, Sandstorm will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Nomad for a consideration of 1.21 Sandstorm shares per Nomad share.

Nomad said it has now received all regulatory and competition approvals required to complete the arrangement.

The deal is expected to close on or about August 15.

Following completion of the arrangement, Nomad expects to delist its common shares from the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and to delist its listed warrants from the TSX.

Nomad has also applied to the Canadian securities regulators for it to cease to be a reporting issuer in the applicable jurisdictions following completion of the arrangement.

Montreal-based Nomad owns a portfolio of 21 royalty, stream and other assets, of which 8 are on currently producing mines.

Sandstorm is a gold royalty company that provides upfront financing to gold mining companies that are looking for capital and in return, receives the right to a percentage of the gold produced from a mine, for the life of the mine. After the closing of the Nomad acquisition, Sandstorm will hold a portfolio of 250 royalties, of which 39 of the underlying mines are producing.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
Aden : , Aug 12 (IANS) The toll from the clashes between rival security forces in the Yemeni oil-rich province of Shabwa increased to 28, and the injuries to 68, a medical official told Xinhua.

"Figures by the local medical centres confirmed that a total of 28 people were killed and more than 68 others injured following days of fighting across Shabwa's streets," the local medical source said on condition of anonymity on Thursday.

"All the wounded from both sides are receiving medical care in the public and private hospitals in Shabwa," he added.

On Monday, deadly clashes erupted between rival security units across residential neighbourhoods in Yemen's southern province of Shabwa, Xinhua news agency reported.

Security units loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah Party launched an attack against the government security forces in Ataq, the provincial capital, triggering intense street battles.

The infighting occurred after a new commander was appointed to lead the security units loyal to the Islah Party, according to local Yemeni officials.

On Wednesday, the Governor of Shabwa ordered the southern Giants Brigades troops to carry out a military operation to crack down on the rebellious troops and secure the local state facilities in the province.

Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council voiced its full support for the Governor of Shabwa and urged the pro-government forces to impose security and stability in the strategic province.

Following the infighting, the Yemeni Council issued new decisions that included dismissing a number of security and military leaders accused of organising a rebellion against the local authorities in Shabwa.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.

The war has killed thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the poorest Arab country to the brink of starvation.
Freetown, Aug 12 : A statement issued by the Sierra Leone police said that four police officers were killed in the nationwide protest, while 113 protesters were arrested by the police.

The statement on Thursday added that four police officers were severely injured and scores of public and private properties were destroyed.

According to the statement, three of the four police officers were killed in the northeast region of the country, two in the township of Kamakwie and one in Makeni, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Wednesday, thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital Freetown and some other parts of the country, calling on the government to grapple with the issue of the economic hardship and high cost of living.

Sierra Leone declared an indefinite nationwide curfew from Wednesday to calm down the situation.
Moscow, Aug 12 : Moscow has asked Western countries to contribute to the full implementation of the Istanbul grain deal, which includes the export of Russian food and fertilisers.

The package of agreements not only allows grain export from three Ukrainian ports but also stipulates the promotion of Russian food and fertilisers on global markets, which is not implemented, said Ivan Nechaev, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

"We expect that all provisions of the food agreements will be implemented in full and Western countries will create the necessary conditions for access of Russian fertilisers and food to global markets," Nechaev told a briefing.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertiliser exports from Ukraine and Russia. The shipment of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports started on August 1, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Unfortunately, not a single vessel with (Ukrainian) grain has yet reached the shores of starving countries in Africa or South Asia. They went mainly to Western ports," the diplomat told reporters.

He said the cargoes consist mainly of corn and sunflower oil, rather than wheat, which calls into question the sincerity of Western statements that global food security depends on the Istanbul deal.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Prayagraj, Aug 12 : In a major twist to the alleged suicide case of former Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP) President, Mahant Narendra Giri, two of his close disciples, who had lodged an FIR in this connection, have moved an application before the trial court, seeking to withdraw their FIR against the accused, police said.

The two disciples -- Amar Giri and Pawan Maharaj -- claimed that they had only informed the police about the death of Narendra Giri at Baghambari Ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and did not name anyone as an accused.

"Neither did we express apprehension of suicide or murder. We had not even mentioned the name of Anand Giri or any other person as an accused. Our intention was never to implicate anybody in the case," the duo said in their application.

Earlier, the High court had adjourned the hearing of the bail application of the Mahant's disciple Anand Giri till August 18.

On September 20, 2021, Mahant Giri was found allegedly hanging from the ceiling of his room at Shri Math Baghambari Gaddi near George Town police station area of Prayagraj.

Narendra Giri was the President of ABAP, the largest organisation of seers in India.

In his suicide note, the Mahant had charged Anand Giri and two others allegedly with mental harassment.

An FIR was lodged against the three accused under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at George Town police station.

Thereafter, Anand Giri and two others were arrested. They were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court on September 22 and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.

Later, on the recommendation of the Uttar Pradesh government, the investigation was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

After 60 days of investigation, the CBI submitted its charge-sheet on November 20, 2021, saying that Narendra Giri was under "grave mental trauma" from his estranged disciple Anand Giri and two others such that he ended his life to "avoid defamation and insult".

On November 11, the special judge rejected the bail application of Anand Giri, saying that as per the case diary, the witnesses have by and large supported the prosecution.

However, Anand Giri is still in jail.
United Nations, Aug 12 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that he is "gravely concerned" about the unfolding situation in and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

"I have appealed to all concerned to exercise common sense and reason and not to undertake any actions that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant," he added on Thursday in a statement.

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged accusations over a strike on the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is one of the largest atomic power complexes in Europe and generates a quarter of Ukraine's total electricity, Xinhua news agency reported.

In his statement, Guterres said the UN continues to fully support the critical work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its efforts to ensure the safe operations of the Zaporizhzhia plant.

"I urge the parties to provide the IAEA mission with immediate, secure and unfettered access to the site," he added.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that instead of discussing absurd remarks such as setting up a no-fly zone over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, it is necessary for the IAEA to inspect the plant.

Zakharova said that Russia requested a UN Security Council meeting on the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia plant, and the international community should comprehensively assess the situation.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Washington, Aug 12 : The FBI agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons, among others, in the unprecedented search they conducted of the premises of former US President Donald Trump earlier this week in Florida, according to a stunning news report.

Neither the US Justice Department, which oversees the FBI, nor the investigating agency denied or confirmed the Thursday evening report by The Washington Post.

The newspaper sourced the report to multiple officials "all unidentified" involved in the investigation of the case that caused the search but gave no further details of the kind of nuclear weapons' documents sought by the agents.

Government officials are worried that these documents could fall in the wrong hands at Trump's Florida home that is also a club frequented by members.

Trump has held on to an undisclosed volume of documents from his presidency that he is required to have turned in for archiving by the government. The National Archive, which is the repository of these documents, has been following up with him and his aides for months.

The FBI agents searched Trump's home in an unprecedented first for a US President on Monday, according to a statement from Trump, who called it a "raid" in a political ploy to both discredit it and rile up his base with a familiar story of victimhood he had used against the Russia investigation and his double impeachment.

As allies and followers predictably poured scorn and outrage on the "raid", Trump and his lawyers did not tell them and the country the details that were available to them by way of the search warrant issued by a federal judge, which would have contained the grounds for it, or the itemized list of articles taken by the FBI "at least 15 boxes" that were duly provided to them.

Trump was once again the hounded hero for his followers "including many lawmakers" who had no idea why his premises were searched.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland, who heads the Justice Department that has oversight of the FBI, called the former President's bluff.

Garland in rare public remarks said "the Justice Department doesn't comment on ongoing investigation" said the government has filed a motion in a Florida federal court asking for unsealing the search warrant and all related documents. He offered no details of the investigation.

The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favour of unsealing, the motion said.

"That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any "legitimate privacy interests" or the potential for other "injury" if these materials are made public." There was no comment from Trump and his lawyers to this development for hours after Garland's statement.
Beirut, Aug 12 : Amid a severe economic crisis in Lebanon, an armed man held hostages inside a bank in Beirut, demanding access to his frozen assets, security officials and witnesses said.

On Thursday, the man initially entered the Federal Bank of Lebanon in Beirut's business district of Hamra and demanded to withdraw some $200,000 from his bank account allegedly to pay for his father's hospital treatment, dpa news agency reported.

Banks in Lebanon have been applying strict withdrawal limits on foreign currency assets since 2019.

The curbs have resulted in the freezing of many depositors' savings, leaving most Lebanese struggling to make both ends meet.

A security source at the scene told dpa news agency that the man, believed to be in his 40s, was holding around seven people hostage inside the bank.

The Lebanese army and security police have cordonned off the area, but the gunman could be seen walking angrily with a machine gun in the bank and smoking a cigarette.

According to Lebanon's state news agency NNA, the man threatened to set himself on fire with petrol if the money was not paid to him.

Security sources said the bank had offered him $10,000, but he refused.

Head of the Lebanese Depositors Association, Hassan Mughniyeh, who arrived to negotiate with the gunman, called on him not to harm anyone.

"If the depositors' issue is not solved and matters are not handled quickly, the situation will worsen further and we will witness many cases of this kind," Mughniyeh said, referring to the curbs on cash withdrawals.

Some depositors at the scene expressed sympathy with the gunman and chanted: "This man has the right to do this." The stand-off eventually ended peacefully with no injuries, after negotiators struck an agreement allowing the suspect to receive $35,000 of his savings upfront, the BBC quoted the LBCI TV channel as saying in a report.

Police escorted the hostages and suspect away from the bank.

Officials have not yet said whether the man will face charges.

The World Bank has described the crisis in Lebanon as among the world's most severe since the mid-1800s.

Poverty in Lebanon has drastically increased during the past year and now affects about 74 per cent of the population, according to a UN report.

The Lebanese pound has lost 95 per cent of its value.
Srinagar, Aug 12 : In yet another step towards empowerment of rural women in 'Naya Jammu and Kashmir', the government has opened up "Umeed Market Place" under AVSAR (Airport as Venue for Skilled Artisans of the Region) Scheme of Airport Authority of India at Srinagar and Jammu airports.

The outlets will exhibit products manufactured by the Self Help Groups (SHGs) from all the 20 districts across the Union Territory. More than five lakh women, associated with SHGs, will get benefited due to the setting up of "Umeed Maket Place" as stalls will be offered to them for 15 days on rotational basis. These counters will also serve as a point for passengers to place bulk orders and request for customized demands for corporate gifting as well.

The marketplaces at the airports for the products manufactured in the rural areas are steps towards increasing the visibility of the SHGs in J&K and make the rural handicrafts available to the travellers at reasonable rates.

The "Umeed Market Place" will also provide an opportunity to the women artisans from rural areas to get accustomed with new market trends and modify their products as per the requirements of the customers.

The products of the SHGs will get exposure to the national market and would also provide the rural women artisans an opportunity to promote their products in a completely different environment.

Huge influx of tourists has turned the Srinagar and Jammu airports as the busiest places in J&K. Massive footfall at airports is a plus point for the "Umeed Market Place".

Self Help Groups At present, there are more than 56,000 SHGs in J&K and the government has set a target of forming 11,000 more SHGs by the end of this year. Soon after the Centre abrogated Article 370, a temporary provision in the Constitution of India in August 2019, the government embarked on a mission to empower the J&K women, who were the worst victims of the 30-year long Pakistan sponsored terrorism in the Himalayan region. Forming new Self Help Groups and activating the old ones were a part of the initiatives to empower women in the erstwhile princely state.

After the abrogation of J&K's so-called special and its transition into a Union Territory, the Himalayan region has witnessed renaissance in Cooperative movement to address the developmental needs of underprivileged sections of the society.

Slogan of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi 'Sahkar se Samriddhi' is being implemented in letter and spirit with the focus on agri-marketing, food processing, branding, supply of seeds and other innovative activities in dairy and handicrafts. Women have become an integral part of PM Modi's mission.

Reforms after Aug 5, 2019 Reforms introduced by the government after August 5, 2019, have led to J&K women becoming the fountainhead of the change. They have turned the SHGs in J&K as vibrant enterprises and have led from the front to bring the much needed development and empowerment in the region. The initiatives like Saath, Hausla, Umeed, Tejaswini, etc., have laid a strong foundation for financial independence of the women.

The J&K government has established MahilaShakti Kendras in all districts across the Union Territory with One Stop Center connected with helpline 181.

The Mahila Shakti Kendra scheme under the umbrella Scheme Pradhan Mantri MahilaSashaktikaranYojana (PMMSY) provides an interface for rural women to approach the government for availing their entitlements and for empowering them through awareness generation, training and capacity building.

Rural women prove their mettle During the past three years the women from rural areas by the dint of their hard work and sincerity have proven it beyond doubt that they are no less than the women in urban areas.

Just a few years ago women, especially in rural areas across J&K, had only one role to play, i.e., to remain busy with the household chores. Becoming financially independent was not even an option for them. The bold decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led regime to end the so-called special status of J&K led to overall improvement in J&K's ground situation and the results are evident. J&K women, who were treated as commodities till August 5, 2019, have emerged as role models and inspirations for their counterparts across the country.

The women in J&K are no more scared of gun-totting terrorists, who used to throw acid on them for not wearing a burqa (veil). The helping hand extended by the government has led to the real potential of the women in the Himalayan region coming to fore.

Disparities End The products manufactured by the SHGs run by the women have carved a niche in a fiercely competitive market. The women in the far-flung rural areas are keeping the wheels of socio-economic progress moving. The disparities and inequalities that existed in the J&K society for the 70-years have ended and women are being provided equal opportunities along with men. Many women, who used to remain confined within the four walls of their homes, have become successful entrepreneurs by getting a chance to work on their ideas.

The SHGs in the rural areas have brought women from different sections of the society closer to each other. They have become confident and are treading on a path which has made them believe that hard work, dedication and sincerity are keys to success.

The government is all set to honour 75 progressive women entrepreneurs from Rural Livelihood Mission Self Help Groups on the Independence Day as an acknowledgment for their contribution towards women empowerment.

Another big step The initiatives taken by the government have infused a new sense of security among the women in rural areas. The women are actively participating in political activities also. They have become panchs, sarpanchs and the members of District and Block Development Councils. They are supporting men in all their endeavors and are sharing equal responsibilities.

The rural J&K has changed and women have been instrumental in bringing this change. They have given a befitting reply to terrorists and their supporters by shedding away the taboos and social stigmas. The "Umeed Market Place" at Srinagar and Jammu airports has provided them with yet another opportunity to showcase their talent and drive home a point that women from rural areas in J&K can compete with anyone in the world.
United Nations, Aug 12 : India has expressed concern over the shelling near Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, the biggest in Europe and among the world's largest, as Moscow and Kiev traded charges over the incidents and the international atomic agency head warned of "serious consequences".

Addressing the Security Council on Thursday, India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said: "Any accident involving nuclear facilities could potentially have severe consequences for public health and the environment.

"India expresses its concern over the reports of shelling near the spent fuel storage facility of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant." The Council session was convened at the request of Russia to consider the shelling around the facility.

India is "carefully following" the situation and "attaches high importance to ensuring the safety and security of these facilities", Kamboj added.

"We call for mutual restraint so as not to endanger the safety and security of nuclear facilities." Constrained by its military and economic dependence on Moscow, New Delhi has walked a fine line neither condemning Russia outright nor directly supporting Ukraine.

In repeating what could be interpreted as diplomatically-worded criticism of Russia, Kamboj said: "We continue to reiterate that the global order should be anchored on international law, the UN Charter and on respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states".

The Zaporizhzhya plant in south-eastern Ukraine has been occupied by Russia, but Ukrainian technicians continue to work at the nuclear plant.

Briefing the Council, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that the August 5 shelling caused several explosions near the electrical switchboard and resulted in a power shutdown.

"These military actions near such a large nuclear facility could lead to very serious consequences," he warned.

At the same time, he also assured that IAEA experts' initial assessment was that the shelling or other military actions did not pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety.

"This could change at any moment." Russia's Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya accused Ukraine of using heavy artillery against the plant during a shift change to intimidate its citizens operating the plant.

He alleged that there was an attack using cluster munitions on August 6 and another ont the following day caused a power surge.

Ukraine's Permanent Representative Sergiy Kyslytsya accused Russia of "militarising" the site of the nuclear plant.

He said that an international mission that includes military experts should be sent to the plant.

Only a Russian withdrawal by Russia from Zaporizhzhia would end the threat to the plant, he said.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement calling on all "to exercise common sense and reason" and stop all military activities around the nuclear plant.

"Regrettably, instead of de-escalation, over the past several days there have been reports of further deeply worrying incidents that could, if they continue, lead to disaster," he said.

This is the second standoff between Ukraine and Russia involving a nuclear facility.

In the first wave of the invasion in February, Russian forces captured the Chernobyl nuclear facility, which had suffered the worst atomic disaster in 1986 while Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union.

But Russia withdrew from Chernobyl in March after failing in its attempts to advance on Ukraine's capital Kiev.

During the attack on the remnants of Chernobyl's nuclear plant that has been shut down, there were fears of radiation leaks.

Nuclear accidents are an extremely sensitive matter for Ukraine because large amounts of radiation escaped from the Chernobyl plant after an explosion and fire destroyed a reactor in the 1986 disaster rendering a 30-km radius uninhabitable.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at aru.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

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Chennai, Aug 12 : The Department of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) bureau was conducting raids and searches at 26 premises of former AIADMK MLA, K.P.P. Baskar since Friday morning.

The former MLA is a close associate of the AIADMK interim general secretary and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

Sources told IANS that the raids were being conducted at places linked to the MLA and his wife. The DVAC, according to sources, had conducted a study on the former MLA's properties and found that his wealth had increased several times during the period from 2016 to 2021.

Baskar was an MLA from Namakkal in Tamil Nadu from 2011 to 2021. The DVAC in its FIR said, "The Ist accused Thiru K.P.P. Baskar is native of Namakkal district. The second accused, Tmt B. Uma is his wife and they have three daughters. namely, 1, Selvi B. Ragavarthini, 2, Selvi B. Yogavarthini, and 3, Selvi B. Jayavaani. The first accused Thiru KPP Baskar was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Namakkal Legislative Assembly Constituency from 2011 to 2021.

"During that period, he was a public servant as defined by u/s 2(c ) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Prior to 2011, he was doing transport business and his economic condition was not good. The first accused has accumulated more assets by intentionally enriching himself illicitly during the period from 2016 to 2021 in his name and in the name of his family members. The discreet collection of bank account details and registration documents revealed the quantum of movable and immovable properties of the accused", the FIR further read.

Ever since the DMK government under M.K. Stalin assumed office in Tamil Nadu in May 2021, the DVAC had conducted raids at the premises of several senior leaders of the AIADMK, including many former ministers.

The AIADMK had cried foul stating that the raids were part of the victimisation and arm-twisting tactics of the DMK government and 'that the party could not be cowed down by such acts'.
Berlin, Aug 12 : German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has denied exerting political influence over a bank, in a probe concerning the largest tax scandal in the country's history.

The government is thought to have lost some 30 billion euros ($31 billion) in the so-called cum-ex scandal involving the shifting of shares back and forth for refunds that were not always due, reports dpa news agency.

It was long unclear whether the financial manoeuvring was legal or not but a slew of cases are in the works as the tax authorities try to claw back some of the cash.

The Hamburg-based Warburg Bank has also come under scrutiny and a committee in the northern city is investigating whether lawmakers in Hamburg may have influenced decisions concerning taxes, at a time when Scholz was the city's mayor.

Scholz said he was confident that the state acted properly in collecting taxes, referring to the so-called cum-ex deals in which shares with (cum) and without (ex) dividend entitlements were shifted back and forth around the dividend payment date.

In the confusion about who owned the shares when the dividend was due, tax offices refunded taxes that had actually not been paid at all.

"There are no findings that there was any political influence," Scholz said in comments that come a week before he is due to be questioned on the issue.

"I am sure that this finding will not be changed."
Hyderabad, Aug 12 : Cyberabad police have cracked the mystery behind the murder of two migrant workers from Jharkhand.

A man, also from Jharkhand, has been arrested for killing the duo during a fight over returning home. After the murder, the accused thought of committing suicide and switched on two cooking gas cylinders and lit the fire but got scared on seeing the flames and jumped out from a window.

The case was initially suspected to be an accidental gas leak, but after 17 days of probe the police arrested the accused -- Bhuvaneswar Singh.

The incident occurred on July 26 on the first floor of a three-storied building at Ram Reddy Nagar under Jeedimetla police station of Cyberabad Police Commissionerate.

Locals had heard a loud explosion in the flat with smoke and fire. After fire tenders rushed there to put out the flames, police recovered two bodies. They were identified as Beerender Kumar Singh (27) and Ibadath Ansari (37).

Bhuvaneswar Singh, Imamuddin and Kaleemuddin had jumped out of the windows to save themselves from the fire.

After the autopsy reports, which revealed injury marks on the bodies, police suspected foul play and began questioning the survivors. The subsequent investigation revealed the shocking details.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Gangaram said Bhuvwaneswar Singh was arrested from the house of his relatives in Jharkhand, where he was hiding. During questioning by police, he confessed to the crime.

Beerander Kumar was working in an industry in Jeedimetla. Last month, he visited his home state and brought nine workers from there. He took them to a factory for employment. However, only five of them were selected. He took the remaining four to his rented house.

Bhuvaneswar wanted to return home but Beerander Kumar insisted that he stay back. There was a fight between the two over the issue in the presence of three others. Imamuddin and Kaleemuddin later went into another room and locked it from inside.

The police investigation revealed that amid the heated argument, Bhuvaneswar lost his cool and hit Beerander Kumar on his head with a wooden log. When Ibadath Ansari tried to intervene, Bhuvaneswar also thrashed him indiscriminately. Both Beerander Kumar and Ansari died in the fight.

Bhuvaneswar told the police that he thought of committing suicide. He switched on two gas cylinders in the kitchen and lit the fire. Terrified by the loud explosion and leaping flames, he jumped out of the window. Imamuddin and Kaleemuddin also jumped out from the window of their room.
Rome, Aug 12 : Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and former minister Carlo Calenda have agreed to form a centrist alliance ahead of the September 25 general election.

Renzi's small party Italia Viva (Italy Alive) and Calenda's Azione (Action) party are looking to win over moderate voters,reports dpa news agency.

In the Italian electoral system, which allocates part of its seats in parliament according to pure majority voting, such alliances are crucial for success.

According to opinion polls, the centre-right alliance led by the right-wing party Brothers of Italy, is currently in the lead and has the best prospects of winning.

Meanwhile, the centre-left alliance led by the Social Democrats (PD) will fail to win a majority even if it joined forces with the centrist group, the polls predict.

The new alliance is hoping to win over voters from Forza Italia, led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as two of his party's most prominent faces, the ministers Mariastella Gelmini and Mara Carfagna have already left and will join the alliance's election campaign, led by Caleda.

The former Minister still hopes to convince outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi to stay on after the elections.
Moscow, Aug 12 : Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, whose residence was raided earlier this week, has been put under house arrest until October 9 over her criticism of Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine.

Russian news agencies reported the decision by a Moscow court on Thursday, reports dpa news agency.

It is part of a criminal case against 44-year-old Ovsyannikova for the alleged spreading of false information about Russian armed forces.

She faces between five and 10 years in prison, according to Interfax news agency.

Her home was raided by security officers on Wednesday after which she was arrested.

Ovsyannikova worked for Russian state television's Channel One and had been considered loyal to the Kremlin until she held an anti-war banner up to the camera in a news broadcast in March.

The banner read: "Stop the war. Don't believe the propaganda. You are being lied to here." She spent several months abroad afterwards working for German newspaper Die Welt.

In July, she again protested the war near the Kremlin.

Under Russian law, Moscow's war on Ukraine can only be referred to as a special military operation and penalties for criticizing the army's actions were made tougher in March.

Ovsyannikova has only been issued with fines on the smaller end of the scale so far.

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Los Angeles, Aug 12 : Film production company Warner Bros. has apparently realised that the problem with actor Ezra Miller's erratic behaviour is more serious than it initially seemed.

The studio has reportedly weighed options for 'The Flash' amid the actor's mounting legal issues, reports aceshowbiz.com.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, WB has come up with three different scenarios.

First, the studio hopes that Miller will seek professional help after returning home to their farm in Vermont after being away.

If that happens, the actor could give an interview at some point explaining their erratic behaviour over the past few years and is expected to do limited press for 'The Flash', while the movie would open in cinemas as planned.

The second option is, if Miller doesn't reach out for help, their role would be reduced prominently in terms of marketing and publicity.

While the movie would be released, the 29-year-old will likely not return as The Flash in any future movies as the role would be recast in future projects.

The third and worst scenario is if Miller deteriorates further, Warners. will likely scrap the $200 million movie altogether. The 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' star reportedly plays multiple characters and is in almost every scene, so it wouldn't be possible to keep the movie and reshoot with a different actor.

Miller was recently seen at their mother's home in Vermont.

In pictures obtained by Daily Mail, the actor looked relaxed while lounging on the porch of the Stamford farm home with their mom Marta and another woman. They appeared to be unfazed by the controversies surrounding them and their erratic behaviour, flashing a smile to the camera.

Prior to that, Miller was accused of hiding the whereabouts of a 25-year-old mother and her three kids who were staying at their farm house. Police visited the actor's house over the weekend to serve the mother an emergency car order that demanded the children's removal from her care and the home over fear of their safety. However, Ezra claimed the family hasn't lived there in months, which contradicts information received by the authorities.

Miller was also arrested back in March for disorderly conduct following an alleged physical altercation with patrons after having hurled obscenities at clients at a karaoke bar in Hawaii.

Earlier this week, Miller was charged with felony burglary in Vermont. The New Jersey native was accused of stealing bottles of alcohol from a private property in May and is due to be arraigned on September 26.
Berlin, Aug 12 : Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder is suing the country's Parliament in a bid to restore special privileges he was stripped of in May, his lawyer confirmed on Friday.

The 78-year-old is demanding he be given back a parliamentary office in the lawsuit filed with the Berlin Administrative Court, his Hanover-based lawyer Michael Nagel told dpa news agency.

A German parliamentary budget committee in May ruled Schroder, long the subject of fierce criticism in Germany for his ties to Russia, must give up his right to an office at the Bundestag, though he was to continue to receive his pension and security detail.

The former Chancellor's legal team is arguing that the Bundestag budget committee's decision to cut funding for Schroder's parliamentary office and wind it down was illegal, according to a statement from the law firm obtained by dpa news agency.

It is "claimed that retired Chancellor Gerhard Schroder is no longer exercising his so-called 'remaining official duties'. However, it is not specified what 'remaining official duties' are at all, how to determine whether they are exercised or not exercised and furthermore which procedure must be adhered to in this regard", the statement read.

The former Chancellor, who was in office between 1998 and 2005, has been criticized for years for his involvement with Russian state-owned companies and is considered a close personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The pressure on Schroder to distance himself from Putin increased after Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

In May, he finally announced that he would leave the supervisory board of the Russian energy giant Rosneft. He also turned down a nomination for a supervisory board position at Gazprom, another Russian energy giant.

His centre-left SPD party decided there were no grounds to expel him from the party on Monday after several weeks of consideration.

The committee in the northern German city of Hanover said that Schroder did not violate the party rules of the SPD by engaging with Russian state-owned companies, meaning there is no basis for expulsion or even reprimand.

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Kolkata, Aug 12 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the cattle smuggling case in West Bengal has now summoned two doctors attached to Bolpur Sub- Division Hospital in Birbhum district in connection with the 14-day bed rest medical advice, which Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal tried to use as shield to escape the central agency summons for interrogation.

The first doctor is Chandra Adhikari, attached to Bolpur Sub-Division Hospital, who reportedly went to the residence of Mondal a day before the latter's arrest on Thursday morning and issued the 14-day bed rest advice on white paper. The CBI sleuths will question him about the details of the circumstances under which he issued that on paper medical advice, which violates all medical ethics.

The second doctor to be questioned is Dr Buddhadeb Murmu, the superintendent of Bolpur Sub-Division Hospital, who, as claimed by Adhikari, directed the latter to visit Mondal's residence and issue the bed rest advice in white paper.

Murmu had told the mediapersons that he was compelled to do that following the direction of his higher authorities.

CBI sources said that their sleuths will question him on what he actually meant by 'higher authorities'. "By quoting higher authorities did he mean his reporting officer, who is the chief medical officer of health in Birbhum district, or any top brass in the state health department headquarter at Swastha Bhawan at Kolkata," a CBI associate said.

Meanwhile, Mondal was brought to CBI's Nizam Palace office in Kolkata late at around 3 a.m. Sources said that a devastated Mondal broke down into tears a couple of times during the course of the journey. After reaching the Nizam Palace office he was offered a camp- cot for rest. CBI will start questioning him on the cattle smuggling scam from Friday only.

Meanwhile, as per directive of the special court of CBI at Asansol, in case of medical emergencies, Mondal has to be treated at the Command Hospital in Kolkata. CBI sleuths have already interacted with the Command Hospital authorities, who have constituted a three- member medical board for that purpose and has also earmarked a separate bed in a secluded corner of the hospital.

As per the court order, Mondal will be taken to the Command Hospital for medical check up at an interval of every 48 hours.
Istanbul, Aug 12 : The first grain ship that left Ukraine after a deal was signed between Kiev and Moscow in July, docked at a southern Turkish port following the rejection of the cargo by the buyer in Lebanon.

The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will unload some of its cargo at the port of Mersin, Turkish news agency DHA reported.

The vessel left Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa on August 2, carrying about 26,000 tonnes of corn to the port of Tripoli in Lebanon, reports Xinhua news agency.

The cargo ship was first inspected off Istanbul by a joint monitoring centre team according to the agreement before heading to Tripoli.

However, the Lebanese buyer rejected the cargo, citing the delay in delivery "for more than five months", the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon said on Monday.

"The shipment supplier is now looking for another buyer who could be in Lebanon's Tripoli city, or in another country or port," the Embassy added.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine signed a deal with Turkey and the UN to allow food and fertilizer exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.

The deal aims to allow safe passage for ships carrying grain to world markets amid concerns about food shortages because of the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both major global wheat suppliers.

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Chennai, Aug 12 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has announced a solatium of Rs 20 lakh to the family of soldier Lakshmanan. D (24), who was killed in a gunfight with the terrorists at Pargal in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

The mortal remains of Lakshmanan were expected to arrive at his hometown in Padupatti, Thummukkundu in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district on Saturday.

Stalin and Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi expressed condolences to the family of the soldier, who was a rifleman in the Indian Army.

The hometown of Lakshmanan, fell in a pall of gloom after the news broke out that he was martyred in the encounter.

R.K. Mukundasamy, a local farmer in Thummukundu panchayat while speaking to IANS said, "Lakshmanan and his twin brother Ramar were hard-working youngsters and both wanted to join the Army. Lakshmanan did his B.Com while Ramar completed a BBA course. While Lakshmanan got into the service and joined the Army in 2019, Ramar is looking after the family's agriculture." The local people said that the mother of Lakshmanan, Andal was inconsolable after the news was conveyed to her.

His brother Ramar told the mediapersons that their parents, father Dharmaraj and mother Andal had given full freedom to them to pursue their choicest profession. He said that Lakshmanan regularly called home.

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi in a condolence message said, "The nation will always be indebted and grateful for his devotion of duty and supreme sacrifice for sovereignty and integrity of the nation." He said, "In this hour of enormous grief, I pray to the Almighty to rest his soul in eternal peace and give his family strength to bear this irreparable loss."
London, Aug 12 : The British economy contracted in the last three months, further stoking fears that a recession might be around the corner, new data revealed on Friday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1 per cent during the second quarter, dpa news agency quoted the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as saying.

It is a big step down from the first quarter of the year, when GDP rose 0.8 per cent.

The service sector was particularly badly hit, falling by 0.4 per cent over the quarter, ONS experts said.

A large part of this was in health and social work, and came as less money was spent on the fight against Covid-19.

The GDP fell 0.6 per cent in June, and the ONS revised its May estimate from growth of 0.5 per cent to just 0.4 per cent.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: "With May's growth revised down a little and June showing a notable fall, overall the economy shrank slightly in the second quarter.

"Health was the biggest reason the economy contracted as both the test and trace and vaccine programmes were wound down, while many retailers also had a tough quarter. These were partially offset by growth in hotels, bars, hairdressers and outdoor events across the quarter, partly as a result of people celebrating the Platinum Jubilee." The Bank of England has warned that Britain might enter recession later this year.
Kolkata, Aug 12 : A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court turned down the plea from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to freeze the assets of Rashmi Metaliks Limited and also gave a clean chit to the company in a money laundering case filed against it by the central agency.

Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya observed that the ED raids in multiple premises of the company and subsequent freezing of bank deposits worth Rs 95 crore were conducted after seven years from the date on which all pending proceedings in the matter were stayed by the Supreme Court.

Justice Bhattacharya also observed that the impugned orders cannot be sustained either in law or in fact.

"This court is therefore inclined to hold that the ED could not have initiated any action against the petitioners during the subsistence of the order of stay of the pending proceedings against the petitioner no. 1 by the Supreme Court dated 14th December, 2015," Justice Bhattacharya's order said.

The single-judge bench also maintained that the prayer for stay made on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate was considered and refused given the findings and observations made in the judgment," read the court order.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice on a plea by Aumkareshwar Thakur, who allegedly created the Sulli Deals mobile application, seeking to club all FIRs against him.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh wondered whether the plea can be allowed since the accused has been charged for different offences for distinct acts and also in connection with the development of two apps -- Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai.

The bench observed, "There are different offences. One is Sulli deals and another is Bulli bai. Can different offences be clubbed?" The bench further queried, if with respect to each website there is different proceedings, could it be possible to say whatever uploaded is confined to one place? Justice Kaul told the petitioner's counsel, "You have uploaded photos of various people and each is an aggrieved party".

However, the top court sought response from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra governments. The bench noted that there were multiple uploads on the app, and there were different FIRs in connection with it. The top court refused to stay the probe. In the Sulli deals case, a Delhi court had earlier granted bail to Thakur, who was arrested in January this year.

Thakur allegedly developed Sulli Deals, an open-source app containing photographs and personal information of Muslim women. Thakur was represented by senior advocate Rajeev Sharma along with advocates Sahil Bhalaik & Tushar Giri.

Thakur's plea said, "The relief sought in the present writ petition is in terms of the judgment passed by this court in 'TT Antony vs. State of Kerala' for quashing of all the same or similar FIRs except the first one i.e., and that a single investigation may be proceeded with. In the alternative, the petitioner prays for clubbing of all the subsequent FIRs with the first FIR i.e registered at the PS Special Cell, Delhi".

The petitioner submitted that the FIR registered first in point of time dated July 7, 2021 at PS Special Cell, Delhi, may be treated as the main FIR and successive FIRs may be quashed.
San Francisco, Aug 12 : Drought-stricken California has announced a new water strategy to adapt to hotter, drier conditions, as officials believe extreme weather could diminish water supply by up to 10 per cent by 2040 in the most populous US state.

To replace and replenish what the state will lose to thirstier soils, vegetation, and the atmosphere, California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled the actions to increase water supply and adapt to more extreme weather patterns, reports Xinhua news agency.

The actions, outlined in a strategy document, calls for investing in new sources of water supply, accelerating projects and modernizing how the state manages water through new technology.

Newsom's announcement followed $8 billion in state investments over the last two years to help store, recycle, de-salt and conserve the water it will need to keep up with the increasing pace of climate change, generating enough water in the future for more than 8.4 million households by 2040, according to a statement from the Governor's office.

"To help make up for the water supplies California could lose over the next two decades, the strategy prioritizes actions to capture, recycle, de-salt and conserve more water," it noted.

"The best science tells us that we need to act now to adapt to California's water future. Climate change means drought won't just stick around for two years at a time like it historically has extreme weather is a permanent fixture here in the American West and California will adapt to this new reality," Newsom was quoted as saying in the statement.

According to the statewide survey "Californians and the Environment" published last month by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, Californians are most likely to name water supply and drought, followed by wildfires and climate change, as the most important environmental issue facing the state today.

The survey showed that 68 per cent of Californians say the supply of water is a big problem in their part of the state, while strong majorities feel that neither the state and local government nor people are doing enough in response to the drought.

Droughts in the US West have led water levels in many major lakes to drop dramatically.

Shasta Lake, the largest reservoir in California, was reportedly at less than half of where it usually should be in early May.

The megadrought that has gripped the southwestern US for the past 22 years is the worst in at least 1,200 years.
Chennai, Aug 12 : A sustained campaign by animal rights activists has finally led to the arrest of a mahout who was caught on video, cruelly beating an elephant named Jetmalyatha.

The Srivilliputhur Nachiyar Thirukovil temple reportedly kept Jeymalyatha in captivity illegally for more than a decade, as she was never returned to the Assam forest department after her six months' lease expired.

Two viral videos show the mahouts beating her. In the latest one, apparently recorded in the sanctum sanctorum of the Krishnan Kovil temple, the elephant can be heard crying in pain.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, who had filed the complaint, are now pushing for the temple elephant to be shifted to a sanctuary.

"Elephant Jeymalyatha deserves to be safe at a sanctuary, where she could live free from chains, pain, and fear," said PETA India Manager of Cruelty Response Projects, Meet Ashar. "Abused elephants commonly attack their mahouts, devotees, and others around them when cruelly kept in captivity. But at a sanctuary, Jeymalyatha could get the mental relief, veterinary care, and company of other elephants she needs." The arrest of the mahout comes following the intervention of the Animal Welfare Board of India.

Mahout was arrested and thereafter released on bail.

The first video, which surfaced in February 2021, showed Jeymalyatha being beaten at a rejuvenation camp and led Tamil Nadu's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department to suspend the two mahouts involved. The Tamil Nadu forest department booked them under Rule 13 of the Tamil Nadu Captive Elephants (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2011, and Section 51 of the WPA. Despite these actions, the second video shows that Jeymalyatha's abuse continued, at the hands of another mahout, PETA India stated.
Kolkata, Aug 12 : The assets of some of the eight Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and five Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from West Bengal, who have been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to New Delhi for questioning in the coal smuggling case, are under the scanner of the central agency.

ED sources said that these officers have been summoned as their names surfaced during the various phases of interrogation of the coal smuggling kingpin, Anup Majhi alias Lala, who is currently in the ED custody. All these IAS and IPS officers have been asked to reach the ED headquarter in New Delhi on different dates from August 21 to August 31.

The sources said that some of the bureaucrats and police officers will be questioned about their assets and would be asked to specify the source of income for the purchase of such assets.

One of the important IPS officers summoned by the ED in this connection is the additional director general of criminal investigation department (CID) and special task force (STF) of the state police, Gyanwant Singh, who will face the second round of questioning by the central agency sleuths in this connection.

ED sources said that Singh was questioned first when the coal smuggling case had broken out. As the erstwhile additional director general (law & order) of the state police, did he receive any report from the range deputy inspector general and district police superintendents in this matter.

The probable question for Rajeev Mishra, the additional director general of state intelligence branch, would be whether there was no intelligence input on the coal smuggling in the matter. Sukesh Kumar Jain, currently the deputy inspector general of the traffic division, would be asked about how the traffic department was totally unaware of the smuggled coal being transported by trucks through the national highways.

The ED has already questioned Trinamool Congress's national general secretary and party MP, Abhishek Banerjee (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew), as well as his wife Rujira in connection to the case.

A Thailand-based bank account, purportedly held by Rujira, is currently under the ED scanner.
Tokyo, Aug 12 : Japan's weather agency said on Friday that more rain was expected in the prefectures of Aomori and Akita as typhoon Meari, the eighth of this season, was approaching the country.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), rain clouds developed over the two northeastern prefectures overnight into Friday owing to a low-pressure system approaching.

Weather officials said the accumulated amounts of rainfall since Monday through Friday in some of the northeastern regions have been as much as two times higher than the average amount for the month of August, reports Xinhua news agency.

Landslide alerts have been issued for the two prefectures, as well as Iwate prefecture, as a result of the deluge and the further downpours expected, the JMA said.

Up to 120 mm of rain is expected in Tohoku region, in the 24 hours through Saturday noon, while a further 50 to 100 mm of rain could fall in the 24-hour period through Sunday noon, the weather agency said.

In addition, the JMA also warned of possible landslides and flooding in low-lying areas as Meari moves northwards in the seas south of Japan.

Meari is on course to hit the Pacific side of eastern Japan on Saturday, the weather agency said.

The JMA said between 200 to 300 mm of rain could hit the Tokai region, while 100 to 150 mm is expected to drench the Kanto-Koshin region, over the next 24 hours.

Meari was upgraded to typhoon from a tropical storm on Friday morning, the weather agency said.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : The Congress on Friday attacked the Centre over the writing off loans amounting to Rs 10 lakh crore and termed it as the "Gajak culture".

Addressing a press conference on Friday Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh said that based on the Food Security Act 2013, the BJP government distributed free ration to 80 crore citizens during the corona epidemic. Indirectly, the National Food Security Act also obliged the government to buy foodgrains from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

"So if the distribution of foodgrains to 80 crore citizens (approximately 60 per cent of the population) and buying the same foodgrains from farmers at MSP is a free Rewari culture, then in the last 5 years Rs 9.92 lakh crore (about 10 lakh crore) was written off by the banks. Why is the government silent on this free Gajak culture?", he said.

Vallabh said, "Of the Rs 9.92 lakh crore loan written-off by banks in the last 5 years, Rs 7.27 lakh crore is the share of public sector banks. In the reply given in Parliament, the government admitted that in the last 5 years, out of the amount written off by the public sector banks, only Rs 1.03 lakh crore was recovered, public sector banks recovered 14 per cent of the amount written off in the last 5 years.

"If we also assume that the recovery from the written off loan will increase to 20 per cent in the coming time, the public sector banks have not recovered the loan of Rs 5.8 lakh crore. It is important here that if the debt of public sector banks sinks, then the money of the country's taxpayers sinks," he said.

The Congress leader said, "If MNREGA is a free 'Rewari' for the government, then why not the reduction in the corporate tax rates announced by the government in 2019 is free Gajak? Net impact of the decrease in these corporate tax rates is Rs 1.45 lakh crore of less tax collection. This is twice the MGNREGA budget in the current financial year.

Vallabh said, "Why small amounts or assistance given to the poor are 'freebies' (Rewari), while the freebies that the rich friends get all the time through low tax rates, write-offs and exemptions are 'necessary incentives' (Gajak)?"
According to the consensus reached by the air forces of China and Thailand, the two sides will hold a joint training exercise code-named "Falcon Strike 2022" at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand on August 14. Key training courses such as air support, strikes on ground targets, and small- and large-scale troop deployment will be included. Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will dispatch fighter jets, fighter-bombers and airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, and the Royal Thai Air Force will send its fighter jets and AEW aircraft for the training exercise.

The joint training exercise aims to enhance mutual trust and friendship between the air forces of the two countries, deepen practical cooperation and promote the continuous development of China-Thailand comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
New Delhi, Aug 12: Soon after Bangladesh raised the red flag about Chinese projects that fall under Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China is now pushing Nepal to fall in line, despite Kathmandu's reluctance.

Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister and state councilor, called for finalisinng a BRI implementation plan when he met Nepali counterpart Narayan Khadka in Qingdao city on Wednesday evening, according to two Nepali officials who attended the meeting.

Khadka is on a three-day official visit to the northern neighbour at the invitation of Chinese foreign minister since Tuesday. This is the first high-level visit from Nepal to China since the five-party coalition government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba came to power in July last year.

In its statement, the Chinese foreign ministry said that the two foreign ministers agreed to negotiate and sign the implementation plan for the joint construction of the Belt and Road as soon as possible.

On the contrary, Nepal's foreign ministry, in its statement, refrained from taking any reference to the BRI implementation plan that the two sides discussed during the delegation level talks held on Wednesday.

"Yes, the Chinese side pressed for selecting projects under the BRI by giving final touch to the BRI implementation that Beijing sent to us last year. But, our foreign minister refrained from making any clear commitment towards it," said an official who attended the meeting between Wang and Khadka.

A source at the Nepal's foreign ministry clarified that the foreign minister chose not to make specific deals on the BRI believing that the country needs additional negotiations for finalising connectivity projects including the much-hyped cross-border Kerung-Rasuwagadhi railway.

"We need only grants not commercial loans under the BRI for developing connectivity projects. There is a deep fear among the political leadership that Nepal also may slip into a debt trap like another South Asian neighbour Sri Lanka if it accepts commercial loans from China," the source clarified.

Nepal had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Belt and Road with China in May 2017. However, it has not implemented a single project under the BRI yet.

During Wednesday's talks, foreign minister Khadka, however, agreed to expedite China-supported development projects in Nepal.

Nepal reiterates One China Policy In his talks with the Nepali foreign minister also expressed the country's commitment to "One China Policy", days after China sought international support for its position on the Taiwan issue which flared up after the unannounced visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled island earlier last week.

"Minister Khadka reiterated Nepal's unwavering commitment to One China Policy and assured that the Nepali territory will not be allowed to be used for any activity against China," read a statement issued by Nepal's foreign ministry.

Earlier on August 3, Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi sought Nepal's support on the Taiwan issue, recalling the country's long-standing commitment to One China Policy. The envoy appreciated Nepal's longstanding commitment to the One-China principle and resolute opposition to "Taiwan Independence".

During Wednesday's delegation level talks with the Nepali counterpart, Wang reiterated China's continued and unconditional support to Nepal's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and assured to support in Nepal's development endeavours as per the priority of the Nepali government, the ministry stated.

Nepal-China agree to expedite projects other than BRI The two foreign ministers took stock of overall aspects of Nepal-China relations and cooperation and agreed to promote further cooperation in various sectors including trade, connectivity, investment, health, tourism, poverty alleviation, agriculture, disaster management, education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges, among others.

"Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made in a range of matters of bilateral cooperation since the official visit of the State Councillor to Nepal in March, 2022," read the statement issued by Nepal's foreign ministry.

China to provide 800 million Chinese Yuan grant During the bilateral talks, Chinese foreign minister Wang announced to provide 800 million Chinese Yuan grant assistance to Nepal for the year 2022, according to the ministry.

Apart from other issues, the two foreign ministers expressed their commitment for the timely implementation of the agreements signed and understandings reached during high-level visits in the past.

"They agreed to expedite the implementation of China-assisted projects in Nepal. On this, the Chinese side assured the Nepali delegation that China will soon start the construction works of the second phase of Kathmandu Ring Road Improvement Project," read the statement.

Even as Nepal and Kathmandu have yet to finalize the investment modality of Nepal-China cross border railway project, Chinese side agreed to carry out the feasibility study of Keyrung-Kathmandu Railway under the grant assistance.

During the talks, the Chinese foreign minister assured support for pre-feasibility study of Nepal-China cross border transmission line as agreed during his official visit to Nepal in March this year.

On Wednesday, China also announced to provide 3 million Chinese Yuan worth of disaster relief materials in the support of people being affected by disasters and natural calamities in different parts of Nepal.

Additionally, China will also provide Nepal with additional 2 million RMB worth of medical items and logistics, according to the Nepali foreign minister.

Wrapping up a three-day visit, the Nepali foreign minister is returning home later Thursday.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, Aug 12: Alleging that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine is being used by Western countries in their own interests, Russia on Thursday expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the Black Sea Grain Initiative it signed along with Ukraine and Turkey in Istanbul on July 22.

As many as 12 ships have left three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea - Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny - with 375 thousand tonnes of agricultural products since August 1.

However, after reports emerged of the first shipment from Ukraine carried by the Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni being abandoned in Lebanon's Tripoli, Moscow said today that "it was wheat that the Lebanese needed and not corn and fodder".

The Razoni was carrying 26,527 metric tonnes of corn and, as the Ukrainian embassy in Lebanon revealed on Tuesday, the cargo is waiting for new buyers with the seller company studying other orders to buy grain.

"Unfortunately, so far not a single ship with grain has reached the shores of the starving countries of Africa or South Asia. They go mainly to Western ports, and the range of exported goods is mainly not wheat, but corn grain and sunflower oil, which casts doubt on the sincerity of the theses voiced in the West that world food security depends on the grain deal,"

Deputy Director of Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department, Ivan Nechaev said in Moscow on Thursday.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative has been launched with a hope that it will help reduce soaring food prices worldwide, and avert the possibility of famine afflicting millions in the months ahead.

Razoni was the first commercial ship to leave Ukraine since February 24 when Russia began its 'Special Military Operation' in the neighbouring country.

Commenting on the shipment, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said that ensuring existing grain and foodstuffs can move to global markets is a "humanitarian imperative" and the ship was loaded with two commodities in short supply - "corn, and hope".

Russia emphasised that long before the agreements on grain were reached, its Defence Ministry kept the sea humanitarian corridors open and now their length has been increased to 307 nautical miles with the the operation being carried out around the clock.

Nechaev reminded that the package of documents signed in Istanbul included agreements not only on the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports that began a week and a half ago, but also on the promotion of Russian food products and fertilizers to world markets, which, he said, is currently not being implemented.

"We hope that all package agreements will be implemented in full and Western countries will create the necessary conditions for access to world markets for Russian fertilisers and foodstuffs," he said.

The senior foreign ministry official, while affirming that Russia will continue to participate in the work of the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul for the shipment of grain from Ukrainian ports, also highlighted the role being played by large American multinational companies in Ukrainian grain production and its export.

"Another revealing aspect was published by the Australian National Review. According to it, out of 64 million hectares of Ukrainian arable land, 17 million hectares were bought by the three largest American transnational corporations, food and chemical suppliers Cargill, Dupont and Monsanto. These companies grow grain in Ukraine, they also sell it," Nechaev stated.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- Syndicated from IANS
Bhubaneswar, Aug 12 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday inaugurated two irrigation projects worth Rs 1,508 crore in Mayurbhanj district, which will provide irrigation facilities to more than 27,000 hectares of land, benefiting more than 2.5 lakh farmers.

Patnaik visited the district for the first time following Droupadi Murmu's swearing-in as 15th President of India. Murmu is a native of the tribal district of Odisha.

Attending a programme organized at Tikpada in Rasgovindpur block, Patnaik inaugurated Deo and Subarnarekha irrigation projects and laid foundation stones for several developmental works in the district.

According to officials, the Subarnarekha project will provide irrigation facilities to 17,121 hectares of agricultural land in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts. Over 55,000 farmers of both the districts will benefit from the project, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 685 crore.

The target is to provide irrigation facilities to 70,000 hectares of land through the project, they said.

Similarly, about 10,000 hectares of land in Mayurbhanj will be irrigated through the Deo project. It will benefit 2 lakh people of 100 villages of the tribal district.

Under the project, a dam of 1,280 meters length has been constructed on Deo river at Hatibari of Karanjia block at a cost of Rs 823 crore.

Highlighting his state government's developmental programmes on agriculture, education and health, the Chief Minister said that all such programmes have empowered the people.

On transformation of schools, Patnaik said that it has increased confidence among the children.

He said that Mayurbhanj district has a unique identity for its art and culture throughout India. The Mayurbhanj tribe has a rich tradition and President Murmu has further enhanced its glory. "We all are proud of her," he added.

Stating that Mayurbhanj has a special contribution to the development of the state, Patnaik appealed to everyone to work hand in hand for the development of the district and the entire state.
New Delhi, Aug 12: Social activist and Unani doctor, Faiyaz Ahmad Fyzie, has ruffled many feathers among India's Muslim community. He has become a marked man with his mother getting threatening phone calls about the safety of her outspoken son.

Hailing from a family of freedom fighters, who were closely aligned to the Congress, Fyzie has been often found supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is also the man who is putting the hitherto hidden problem of casteism among Muslims on the frontline of debate and discussions in India.

On the occasion of India's 75th independence anniversary, India Narrative speaks with Fyzie about raging topics like Hindu-Muslim relations, social harmony, the Modi government's relations with the minority community and why the Muslims do not discuss caste discrimination within the community as fervently as the Hindus discuss their own relationship with caste. Fyzie says that almost all Muslim bodies are undemocratic and represent the views of the miniscule upper caste Muslims.

Excerpts from the interview: IN: We complete 75 years of independence. Where has Indian society reached in these decades? Fyzie: Socially India has progressed. We have completed a satisfactory journey till now. I will say we have done better than average.

I say this because the political dispensation and the administration have tried to deliver social justice in the country. Efforts at eliminating social inequity were more pronounced among the Hindus than among the Muslims because even the Brahmins agreed that the upper castes have wronged the low castes. But the leaders among the Muslim community do not allow the low caste Muslims to break out of the social barriers because they deny caste and discrimination among Muslims.

I will say that people professing the ideologies of the Left, liberal and Muslim right wing did not allow the Muslims at the lowest socio-economic ladder to come up in the social hierarchy because of personal selfish gains.

I, as an Indian, as a Muslim and as an individual from a low socio-economic class would say that the country is on the right track in terms of uplifting the society. This is because government schemes have benefited low caste Muslims while schemes targeted at minorities have only benefited the upper caste Muslims because they garnered the gains from such schemes.

IN: You speak about caste-based fissures among Muslims. Can you elaborate about casteism in the community? Fyzie: We look at this from the context of caste among the Hindus-which is largely-occupation based discrimination.

Among the Muslims the highest caste of people are the Ashraafs-which comprise the ruling classes in India who came from abroad. Here we also have the Rajputs who had converted as they too were the ruling class in India.

Next come the Ajlaaf-most of the working class of people comprising weavers, ironsmiths and artisans.

The lowest in the Muslim castes are Arjaals-sweepers, scavengers and those who work with leather.

Among these three castes in the Muslims, we have clubbed the Ajlaafs and the Arjaals together as the 'Pasmanda' Muslims. I call them 'desaj samaj' or indigenous Muslims. These are the Hindus from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), the SCs and STs who converted to Islam.

The Ashraafs-the upper caste Muslims say that casteism in the community seeped in from the Hindus. This is a widely-accepted view among the Left, the Hindus and everyone else. But I do not agree with this argument-I ask them that after having lived with the Hindus for centuries you only absorbed the vice of caste from the Hindus. Why did Muslims not absorb the positives-liberal values, secularism and harmony, from Hinduism? It is because the Muslims had their own discriminatory practices based on classes, races and sects as it spread from the Arab world.

IN: Do the Muslims in the other countries of the sub-continent also practice casteism, for example, in Pakistan and Bangladesh? Fyzie: Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are basically India. Therefore, the caste issues that we see in India are to be found there also. However, in India, the constitution and government schemes have improved our social condition. In Pakistan, the Pasmanda Muslims are in a bad shape because the rulers treat them like slaves.

Pakistan is a heaven for the ruling Ashraaf Muslims while it is a hell for the Pasmanda Muslims.

We have to go back to the Arab world and the pre-Islamic tribes to understand casteism and discrimination among the Muslims. Though Prophet Mohammed tried to control racism related issues, he could only succeed partly.

We have to understand that the Saudis, the Turks, the Iranians, and now the Afghans, have practiced discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity. What I am trying to say is that discrimination exists in Islam from ancient times. It is not entirely a Hindu import.

IN: Why is it that casteism among Muslims is not discussed by the community as it has been discussed and debated within the Hindus? Fyzie: The Muslims do not want to discuss casteism in Islam. The Ashraafs-the Muslim upper castes, want to protect their turf. They feel that social justice in India will take the power out of their hands. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) does not hold elections because its luminaries fear that they will lose control. In fact, no Muslim organisation has democracy.

Even if the Muslims are a minority in India, the benefits go to a small section of upper caste Muslims. A low caste Muslim finds it easy to get admission to the Benaras Hindu University (BHU) but not in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) because the Muslim leaders have cornered the benefits for themselves.

That is why the low caste Muslims-the Pasmandas, do not want minority status. We do not want benefits based on our religious identity. We can only uplift ourselves through government schemes that provide us socio-economic benefits.

IN: You say that Indian society has made progress. We also have many Muslim activists and NGOs, so how is it possible that Muslims from the lowest classes and castes have not progressed? Fyzie: No social reforms exist among the Muslims. There is no concept of social justice in the community because it is led by the upper caste Muslims. There is no discussion or acceptance of criticism in the community.

The NGOs are all run by the Ashraafs. They run such organisations under the garb of ideologies-Left, minority and some are run by Maulanas. Yeh sab log aapna varchasv banaye rakhna chahtein hain (They all want to maintain their hegemony).

When I contrast the situation with the Hindus, I find they realise the need for social reforms. That is why they accept the evil of casteism and debate its elimination. Indians have always been diverse for 5,000 years. They do not bother about the differences and have accepted diversity.

We feel that we are still being led by Mughal rulers. Would you believe that the low caste Muslims were not allowed to go to madrasas by the Mughal rulers. Similar examples of discrimination and racism against the low caste Muslims abound in times of Islamic rule.

IN: Is India becoming communal? Fyzie: If the Hindus are becoming communal, they talk about it and then take steps to eliminate it. But then we also see that communalism among the Muslims is not discussed. The fact is that communalism among the Muslims is very strong.

For example, the Muslim League was formed much earlier than the Hindu Mahasabha.

My take is that if you want to finish off communalism from India, then you have to eliminate Muslim communalism first. The communal thinking among the Hindus will reduce on its own.

IN: Do you think India is becoming Islamophobic? Fyzie: Regarding Islamophobia in India, the Ashraafs use Islamophobia as a tool. The moment you talk about social reforms and social justice among the Muslims, the upper caste Muslims begin alleging Islamophobia. If you ruffle the Muslim society by talking about reforms, the Muslim right wing immediately labels you Islamophobic.

These concepts are harming the Indian social fabric. The secular, Left and liberal establishments accept whatever is said by the upper caste Muslims.

There are Hindus who are communal but they are very less in number.

IN: The BJP government has been criticised over a number of policy decisions it has taken related to the Muslim community. What is your take on these? Fyzie: I think the Modi government has taken steps to bring about reforms in the community.

Banning triple talaq has benefited the Pasmanda Muslims, particularly women. Divorce among the lower levels in the community brings shame not just to the woman but her family also. Divorce and remarriage are acceptable among the upper classes, but not among the people at the bottom of the hierarchy.

The elimination of Article 370 will benefit the Pasmanda Muslims. Certain castes or sections of Muslims like the Bakkerwals, the Gaddis and the Van Gujjars will be benefited. Till now all the political power in Kashmir was with the Ashraafs. The low caste Muslims did not enjoy the benefits of government schemes in Kashmir.

IN: Can there be truth and reconciliation among the Muslims and Hindus? How can we see religious harmony among the communities? Fyzie: Jab aap Pasmanda samaj ko aage karanege tab aasani se Hinduon aur Mussalmano mein samjhota hoga (If you uplift the Pasmanda Muslims, harmony will happen automatically between the Hindus and Muslims).

We have to remember that the low caste Muslims have always identified themselves with Hindu customs and traditions because they have co-existed with the Hindus for ages. The Pasmanda Muslims will wear sarees, use sindur, and gift shringar during weddings-all of which are Hindu customs. But the high caste Muslims call these Hinduana (Hindu beliefs), therefore, gair-Islamic (non-Islamic).

This cultural discrimination has remained within the Islamic society because of Ashraafs.

Truth and reconciliation will happen if the Ashraafs are controlled. They still act as if they are the rulers, therefore, they look at us with the same mentality. When they go abroad, they give hate speeches against India and portray the Hindus in a negative light.

I think India has progressed well till now. In my opinion, the country has a bright future in terms of social progress and harmony between faiths. Meri rai mein 1947 se aab tak ka safar aacha hai (In my opinion, the journey from 1947 till now has been good).

I am optimistic about a bright future of India. Inshaallah! (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
New Delhi, Aug 12 : Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav will be meeting Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Friday, the first time after the formation of a coalition government in the state, sources said.

Tejaswi will apprise Sonia Gandhi on the recent political developments, and the two may talk about the probable share of the Congress in the new coalition government, which has 19 MLAs in the state.

The meeting gains significance as the cabinet expansion is due in a few days. After taking the oath as the Bihar Chief Minister for the eighth time, Nitish Kumar passed a proposal to call a special session of the Assembly on August 24 -- for him to prove his majority -- and in the Legislative Council on August 25.

Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan has been intimated of the proposal and his approval is awaited.

Leaders of the Mahagathbandhan also brought in a no-confidence motion against Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, of the BJP. Since he has the support of only 77 MLAs of his own party, it is most likely that he would resign from the post before the motion.

RJD's Awadh Bihari Chaudhary is the front-runner for the Speaker's post. On August 25, the Legislative Council will also elect a new Chairman.
Chennai, Aug 12 : Facing the ire of the Ministry of Ayush for degrading medical degrees -- Bachelors of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) and Bachelors of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) -- public sector general insurer The National Insurance Company Ltd has withdrawn its recruitment advertisement.

The National Insurance had recently come out with an advertisement for hiring 13 medical officers and 37 paramedics on contractual basis.

Pointing out the mentioning of BAMS and BHMS under the 'paramedics' category, the Ministry of Ayush in a letter to the Chairman and Managing Director of The National Insurance Suchita Gupta said it is inappropriate and misleading regarding Ayush system of medicine.

The Ministry told Gupta that BAMS and BHMS graduates are equivalent to MBBS graduates and also cited relevant provisions of the law and a Supreme Court judgement.

The Ministry had asked The National Insurance to withdraw the advertisement and consider BAMS and BHMS as the eligibility criteria for the Medical Officers position.

The National Insurance Company has now withdrawn the advertisement.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
New Delhi, Aug 12 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBl) on Friday said that they have filed the second supplementary charge sheet in a case relating to a chit fund fraud case before the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup (M), Guwahati against the then Managing Director and three then Directors of a private Group of Companies.

The second supplementary charge sheet was filed against Chandan Das, Managing Director, Jeevan Suraksha Group of Companies, its three Directors -- Arju Acharjee, Ashok Chakraborty and Uttam Acharjee.

The CBI had registered the case in 2016 on the request of the Assam government and took over the investigation from the Assam Police.

The Assam Police had also submitted a charge sheet in the case.

During further investigation, it was found that the accused in conspiracy with each other and with intention to cheat, established the company and became Directors thereof.

The accused collected huge public funds from Barpeta district of Assam in the form of deposits by issuing certificates in the name of Booking of Rooms in Hotels to huge investors, in violation of Companies Act and SEBI (CIS) Regulations.

The accused misappropriated the investors' money to the tune of Rs 23,87,76,140 for their personal use.

The CBI had submitted the first supplementary charge sheet in the instant case in 2018 against four accused, including Directors and three accused companies.
Los Angeles, Aug 12 : As the world sails past eight months of 2022, the Malaysian government still seems to be stuck in ancient times.

The Malaysian government has revealed the reason behind banning the Marvel film 'Thor: Love and Thunder' - the film's LGBTQ+ elements, something that is prohibited in the country.

According to 'Variety', a minister said on Wednesday that the government is committed to curtailing gay culture. Both 'Thor' and Pixar animated film 'Lightyear' were submitted by distributor Disney for classification and censorship by the country's Film Censorship Board (LPF).

In both cases, the LPF asked for cuts that the studio chose not to make, effectively depriving the pictures of a theatrical release.

'Lightyear' was banned in 16 or more Muslim-majority countries.

Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin, said in a statement accessed by 'Variety', "Recently there was a film that did not pass censorship, that is the new 'Thor' film. (The movie) touched on LGBT but we see right now there are many films with LGBT elements that slip past the censorship." 'Variety' further states that Zahidi said that the government and the religious department (correctly known as Islamic Affairs Department or JAKIM), were committed to curtailing the spread of LGBT culture in the country. He blamed foreign elements for the problem, claimed that LGBT films were becoming more subtle in their methods and asked for public vigilance.

"I am frustrated because the outside world was the one promoting LGBT," he said responding to a question in Parliament. Zahidi said the government was always monitoring films and social media platforms for LGBT content and "would take severe action against individuals found promoting such elements."
Lucknow, Aug 12 : Former BJP minister and now Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, Swami Prasad Maurya has said that he will soon file a defamation case against the Noida Police Commissioner, who had announced that he (Maurya) had provided a VIP car pass to self-proclaimed leader Shrikant Tyagi, without investigating the matter.

"The police commissioner has taken my name without investigation. I will file a defamation claim against the police commissioner. It was the police commissioner and not Shrikant Tyagi who took my name," said Maurya.

He further alleged that since his support base had increased, the BJP was scared and this was the reason why his name was being raised again and again.

"When I was in the BJP, how did Shrikant Tyagi get membership? It should be checked. This is the politics of the BJP, that is why my name was raised. Sometimes in the STF case and sometimes in the Shrikant case. How did he get the pass on his Fortuner car, BJP should tell this," Maurya said.

He also claimed that, "I, myself, was issued the car sticker today. That too of 2022. How can I give the pass to anyone?" Shrikant Tyagi, arrested on Tuesday for allegedly assaulting a woman in Noida, was seen flaunting a sticker on his vehicle that falsely identified him as an MLA. During questioning, he allegedly revealed that the sticker on his car was provided by Swami Prasad Maurya.

Swami Prasad Maurya earlier staunchly refuted Tyagi's allegation. He accused the BJP, the party Tyagi claimed to be associated with, of misleading the people with lies and deception.

Maurya, who is a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, said he last met Tyagi in 2017. At the time, Tyagi had introduced himself as a BJP leader. Since then, there has been no contact between him and the self-proclaimed BJP worker, asserted Maurya.

"I have not met him for the last four years. Why is the BJP repeatedly saying that I am related to him? He had a photo with several BJP bigwigs. Now that they stand exposed before the public, they are casting blame on others," he charged.

Maurya was a minister in the previous BJP government in the state. He quit the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls earlier this year and joined the Samajwadi Party. He claimed there is a conspiracy afoot to defame him.

"Shrikant had got more than half a dozen security personnel. This is not possible without the grace of the BJP government. Today, when the heat is on him, he is taking the name of Swami Prasad Maurya under a well-thought-out conspiracy," Maurya claimed.

The Noida Police on Tuesday arrested Shrikant Tyagi, who identifies himself on social media as a national executive member of the BJP's Kisan Morcha, along with three others in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district.

After his arrest, Tyagi was sent to 14-day judicial custody. He was booked under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code after he was seen in a video abusing and assaulting a woman for objecting to his alleged illegal construction at a housing society in Noida.
Hyderabad, Aug 12 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and legislator K. Kavitha celebrated Raksha Bandhan on Friday by tying rakhi to her brother and state minister K. T. Rama Rao.

Kavitha, a member of Telangana Legislative Council, tied the rakhi to his brother at Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the chief minister.

Their mother Shobha Rao, KTR's wife Shailima and other family members were present.

The minister for industries, information technology, municipal administration and urban development is yet to recover fully from minor leg injury he suffered due to a fall at the residence last month. Doctors had advised him rest for three days.

Meanwhile, KTR took to Twitter to share some old photographs of the brother-sister bond.

"Some bonds are so special," he tweeted. The minister posted a childhood photograph with Kavitha. He also shared an old picture of his daughter and son celebrating Raksha Bandhan.

Meanwhile, several state ministers celebrated the festival with women leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) tying rakhis to them.

Brahmakumaris met ministers Koppula Eshwar and E. Dayakar Rao and tied them rakhis. They also invited the ministers to international Yoga convention to be held at Mount Abu in September.
Gadag, Aug 12 : Authorities on Friday banned Sri Rama Sena chief Pramod Muthalik's entry to Karnataka's Gadag district saying his visit might disturb the peace in the area.

Muthalik was planning to meet Somu Gudi, an arrested activist of Sri Rama Sena in connection with a stabbing case that took place during the celebration of Muharram festival.

District Commissioner M.L. Vaishali has issued orders prohibiting the entry of Muthalik till August 14 midnight to Gadag district in the view of maintaining peace, law and order. The orders have been issued as per IPC Sections 133, 143 and 144. The directions have been given to the police department in this regard to initiate action in case of violence of orders.

Toufeeq Hosamani (23) and Mustaq Hosamani (24) were stabbed in Mallasamudra village near Gadag during a Muharram procession on Tuesday. The youth had sustained injuries in abdomen, chest and legs.

The condition of Toufeeq Hosamani, who is undergoing treatment at GIMS hospital of Gadag, is stated to be serious. The cauused Somesh Gudi, Yallappa Gudi and their associates are in police custody.

Meanwhile, in retaliation to the stabbing incident, family of the victims along with hundreds of community members including women had attacked the house of accused Somesh Gudi. The violent mob had smashed the doors, windows of the house and assaulted the family members.

Security has been intensified in the sensitive areas of the district.
Chennai, Aug 12 : Police in Tamil Nadu's Tiruchi have arrested a 21-year-old youth for raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl.

According to the Tiruchi police, the two were in love.

The youth, Prathap was a final year student of a private college and the girl was studying in class 12.

Police said that Prathap was arrested under the Prevention of Children against Sexual Offenses (Pocso) and remanded to judicial custody.

According to the police, Prathap and the girl had been in a relation for a year and he used to visit her whenever she was alone at home and raped her several times by promising her to marry her.

After she developed some health issues, the girl's family took her to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial government hospital (MGMGH), where it was revealed that she was four months pregnant.

Immediately the hospital authorities informed the police and Prathap were arrested and produced before a court which remanded him to judicial custody till August 24.
Srinagar, Aug 12 : A special police officer (SPO) was injured in a militant attack on Friday in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district.

Police said the militants fired at SPO Ghulam Qadir from a close range in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district.

"He was shifted in an injured condition to Bijbehara hospital where attending doctors described his condition as critical. He is posted in police station Bijbehara town.

"The area has been cordoned off for searches," police said.
Geneva, Aug 12 : More than 140 aid workers were killed over the course of 2021, the Geneva-based UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday.

The figure for aid workers killed in conflict or as a result of attacks was the highest since 2013, the organization, which coordinates the global emergency response in humanitarian crises, said.

Most of those killed died as a result of being shot, with the second most common cause being airstrikes or shelling, most of them in Syria, dpa news agency quoted OCHA as saying.

During the same period, 203 aid workers were injured and 117 were abducted.

So far this year, 168 aid workers have been attacked while attempting to provide humanitarian aid, leading to 44 fatalities.

"Humanitarian needs are at an all-time high, and aid workers are working in ever more dangerous environments," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths said.

According to the OCHA, the most dangerous countries for aid workers are South Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria.

More people around the world than ever before are in need of humanitarian assistance, with 300 million people living in crisis regions, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said.

"Never before have humanitarians been called to respond to this level of need, and they are doing so in ever more dangerous environments," he said.

While donors had pledged more aid than before, needs were rising even more sharply, Laerke said.
Chennai, Aug 12 : Director Vignesh Shivan on Friday announced that his wife, actress Nayanthara, and he were on their way to Barcelona in Spain for a holiday.

Posting pictures of both himself and Nayanthara inside an aircraft on Instagram, Vignesh Shivan wrote, "After a continuous streak of work, work, work, here we take some time for ourselves! #Barcelona here we come !" The director then went to add another picture with another post that said, "Enroute to Barcelona with my wifey!"

The director, who was an integral part of the team that planned the opening and closing ceremonies of the Chess Olympiad that was recently conducted in Chennai, has been working hard the last few weeks. He is in a celebratory mood as the part he played in making the event a success has been noticed far and wide.

In fact, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin too had mentioned the director's name while thanking all those responsible for making the global event a grand success.

Referring to the Chief Minister taking his name, the director had, on Instagram, said, "Unforgettable moment in life when the honourable Chief minister M K Stalin mentioned my name with the kindest and the most encouraging words! Shows the humbleness and the magnanimity of him. My mom and sister being present and my wife watching it on TV and a whole bunch of family members and my friends felt so happy and proud at this moment. Thank you sir. All the hard work was worth this one sweet moment."

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Hyderabad, Aug 12 : The sleuths of the Hyderabad Narcotic Enforcement Wing (H-NEW), along with Narayanguda police, apprehended a Nigerian for drug peddling, an official said on Friday.

The peddler, identified as Osigwe Chukwuemeka James, 37, was found in illegal possession of 30 grams of MDMA at Niyaz Khana near King Koti Hospital under Narayanguda police station limits.

Police also seized four cell phones, Rs 4,000 cash, two one-dollar notes of Cayman Islands currency and a Qatari riyal note.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Zone, M. Rajesh Chandra told reporters that the accused was residing illegally in Hyderabad.A Police found that he was frequently visiting Goa, procuring narcotic drugs MDMA, and selling the same to needy consumers in Hyderabad to earn easy money.

In charge Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad-Narcotic Enforcement Wing (H-NEW), Sneha Mehra said the police so far identified 108 consumers, who were purchasing drugs from the accused. Investigations were on to identify other consumers.

The police investigation revealed that during this visit to India, the accused arrived on November 9, 2021 at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad by using a fake passport with the name Alamanjo Nmasichukwu. The visa expired on April 6, 2022.

During earlier visits to India, the accused used his original passport with the name Osigwe Chukwuemeka James. In order to avoid police cases and whenever he is caught by police, he produces a fake passport.

During March 2022 he was arrested by Goa police under NDPS Act. He identified himself as Alamanjo Nmasichukwu by showing his fake passport.

--IANS ms/vd

A
New Delhi, Aug 12 : Referring to recent incidents of crime after formation of 'Grand Alliance' government in Bihar, the BJP on Friday said that 'jungle raj' has returned in the state.

Addressing a press conference in party headquarters here, BJP national spokesperson Dr Sambit Patra said that several people, including journalists, have been killed since the two parties -- JD(U) and RJD -- joined hands to form the government.

Patra also mentioned about the cases of sexual assault and the deaths in Chhapra due to spurious liquor.

"It will not be wrong to say that 'jungle raj' returns to Bihar," Patra said.

He claimed that the BJP's presence in the NDA government in the state had worked as a restraining influence on crime even though the party did not have home or excise departments.

Patra also hit out at Bihar deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav over his reported comments on his party's promise of providing 10 lakh jobs.

"Tejashwi Yadav claimed that he was not the chief minister when asked about the promise of 10 lakh jobs. He should clarify about it," the BJP spokesperson said.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : As we hear sobbing stories on LinkedIn about employees being fired amid the global meltdown, the Microsoft-owned professional networking platform itself has laid off workers from its global events marketing vertical, the media reported.

According to an Insider report, LinkedIn has laid off "all the employees on the professional social network's global events marketing team amid continued economic uncertainty".

According to the report that came out on Thursday, a LinkedIn spokesperson did not disclose the exact number of employees affected.

"They confirmed the entire team was impacted. Affected employees are being encouraged to apply for roles on a new internal team focused on creating virtual, hybrid, and in-person experiences," the report mentioned.

The layoffs at LinkedIn came as its parent company Microsoft, which laid off 1 per cent or 1,800 employees in July, asked around 200 more employees to go, this time from one of its customer-focused R&D projects.

According to posts on Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, the recent layoffs have also impacted contracted recruiters across several locations.

A Business Insider report first mentioned that the additional job cuts were concentrated in Microsoft's Modern Life Experiences (MLX) group, which was put together in 2018 with the goal of "winning back consumers".

"Around 200 employees on the Modern Life Experiences team have been told to find another position at the company within 60 days, or take severance," the report claimed.

Last month, Satya Nadella-run Microsoft became the first tech giant to lay off employees as part of a "realignment".

The layoffs at Microsoft affected nearly 1 per cent of its 1,80,000-strong workforce across its offices and product divisions.

Microsoft has also slowed hiring in the Windows, Teams and Office groups.

Other tech companies that have either laid off employees or slowed hiring in the current economic downturn include Google, Meta, Oracle, Twitter, Nvidia, Snap, Uber, Spotify, Intel and Salesforce, among others.
Mumbai, Aug 12 : As Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany gears up for the release of her upcoming streaming series 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law', she recently reached out to her Indian fans over the festival of Raksha Bandhan.

Ahead of the release, Tatiana Maslany wished her Indian fans a very Happy Raksha Bandhan in a special social media video.

Starting off with signature Indian pleasantry 'Namaste', she said in the video, "I hope you guys had a very happy Rakhi." In line with the sentiment of the festival surrounding the theme of brother and sister bond, she spoke about her character's relationship with her famous cousin, The Hulk.

She said, "Being She-Hulk isn't easy, but I have great support from family, friends and co-workers, including The Hulk. As annoying as he can be, being She-Hulk wasn't quite possible without him." Exploring the legacy of The Incredible Hulk in detail for the first time since 2008, the series will introduce one of the most iconic actors Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk. With her specialisation in superhuman-oriented legal cases, Tatiana Maslany will navigate her new smashing green persona and her role as a lawyer in the series.

The nine-episode comedy series stars Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/the Abomination, and Benedict Wong as Wong.

The series will be available to stream on OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar from August 18 in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.
Jammu, Aug 12 : The Army paid rich tributes on Friday to the gallant soldiers who died in the line of duty while foiling the suicide attack by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri.

A defence statement said, "Today, in a solemn wreath laying ceremony held at Air Force Station, Jammu, rich tributes were paid to the gallant soldiers who made supreme sacrifice during the Counter Terrorist Operation in Parghal in District Rajouri on 11 August 2022." Lt. General Upendra Dwivedi, Army Commander, Northern Command laid wreaths to pay tributes to the bravehearts in Jammu, before the move of the mortal remains to their respective hometowns. In addition, rich tributes were paid by the senior officials from the Indian Army, Air Force and Civil Administration of Jammu.

"The mortal remains of Subedar Rajendra Prasad of Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan and three soldiers: Rifleman Lakshmanan D. of Madurai, Tamil Nadu; Rifleman Manoj Kumar of Faridabad, Haryana; and Rifleman Nishant Malik of Hisar, Haryana were taken in service aircrafts from Jammu to Delhi. Thereafter the mortal remains will be taken to their respective hometowns for performing the last rites with full military honours.

"The Nation will always remain indebted to the gallant soldiers for their supreme sacrifice in the service of the motherland," the defence statement said.

On Thursday, alert troops of the Army foiled a terrorist 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack in Rajouri in which two terrorists and three soldiers were killed. The terrorists tried to cross the fence of the army camp. The sentry on guard duty challenged the intruders and an exchange of gun fire took place.
Sydney, Aug 12 : The Federal Court in Australia on Friday ordered Google to pay over $40 million in penalties for making misleading representations to consumers about the collection and use of their personal location data on Android phones.

According to Australia's Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), the data was collected between January 2017 and December 2018.

The Court previously found that Google breached the Australian Consumer Law by representing to some Android users that the setting titled "Location History" was the only Google account setting that affected whether Google collected, kept and used personally identifiable data about their location.

In fact, another Google account setting titled "Web & App Activity" also enabled Google to collect, store and use personally identifiable location data when it was turned on, and that setting was turned on by default, the ACCC said in a statement.

"This significant penalty imposed by the Court sends a strong message to digital platforms and other businesses, large and small, that they must not mislead consumers about how their data is being collected and used," said ACCC Chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb.

Personal location data is sensitive and important to some consumers, and "some of the users who saw the representations may have made different choices about the collection, storage and use of their location data if the misleading representations had not been made by Google," Cass-Gottlieb added.

The ACCC estimated that the users of 1.3 million Google accounts in Australia may have viewed a screen found by the court to have breached the Australian Consumer Law.

Google took remedial steps and had addressed all of the contravening conduct by 20 December 2018, meaning that users were no longer shown the misleading screens.

"Companies need to be transparent about the types of data that they are collecting and how the data is collected and may be used, so that consumers can make informed decisions about who they share that data with," Cass-Gottlieb noted.

The ACCC instituted proceedings against Google and Google Australia in October 2019.

In April 2021, the Federal Court found that Google breached the Australian Consumer Law.
Mumbai, Aug 12 : Actor Amit Sadh's upcoming short film 'Ghuspaith' - Beyond Borders' honours photo journalists of the world.

Amit Sadh says, "When Mihir came with the story, I found that we are making the short film to honour the photo journalists of the world, like Danish Hussain who was killed by the Talibanis in Afghanistan while reporting.

"I knew about Danish from before, and I think it is very courageous and brave of all people who report war and crime. It takes lot of guts to be in that kind of a scenario where bombs are blasting and bullets are being fired from all the directions," he added.

Written and directed by Mihir K. Lath, 'Ghuspaith...' is a film set at the border between India and Bangladesh. In a land ravaged by militancy and an urgent, devastating refugee crisis; the worth of human life becomes a question many struggle to answer.

Amit said: "As an actor, it is a great opportunity and honour to explore and make this short film, as Mihir looked well prepared and full of enthusiasm. The way he had done his prep and planned things, it looked like we are going to make something nice." "Honestly, I am very fulfilled and happy that I made 'Ghuspaith' with Mihir and now that it is coming out, we are going to Sundance Film Festival and show it to audiences," Amit adds.

Mihir was attracted to tell this story in a quest to bring a humane understanding of a complicated, global issue of refugee crisis.

He chose to tell it from the prism of a photo-journalist named Manav (portrayed by Amit Sadh). The short film salutes the spirit of renowned brave photojournalists like Danish Siddique, who put their life on the line to serve the people who went through this catastrophe.

Mihir knew he had found his Manav when Amit Sadh agreed to take on the role.

He said: "Amit (Sadh) and I were aligned from our very first meet when I explained my vision to him, the kind of themes my movie was dealing with and the way I wanted to invigorate the viewer into this high tension human drama. Even before reading the script, he said yes to me. It is that decision of his that has allowed 'Ghuspaith' to be made." The principal photography of the short film took place in Maharashtra over four days with Amit Sadh, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Pamela Bhutoria forming the ensemble.

The disturbing but potent revelations of 'Ghuspaith', found an early support in Sadh, who considered the story a necessary one to tell and filmmaker Shakun Batra, who is presenting 'Ghuspaith' under his banner Jouska Films.

He says "Ghuspaith is a brave attempt to understand the pain and horror that must have filled the last moments of Danish Siddique. I think it takes immense courage to bear witness and Ghuspaith is an effort for all of us to understand the strength it takes to cross borders in pursuit of humanity. That is our intention with the film".
New Delhi, Aug 12 : Days ahead of Independence Day, Delhi Police have recovered a large cache of ammunition and arrested six persons in connection with the case, an official said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Ajmal Khan, Rashid allias Lallan, Parikshit Negi, Saddam, Kamran and Nasir.

In a special media briefing on Friday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Priyanka Kashyap said that on August 6, two police personnel were on patrolling duty in the East district area.

"At around 6.30 a.m., they spotted two suspects with a trolley bag. On seeing the police personnel, they got flustered and started moving briskly," the DCP said.

However, the police personnel intercepted them and searched the duo thoroughly, which led to the recovery of 2,251 live cartridges, including different types of imported ammunition.

Accordingly, a case under Arms Act was registered against the duo identified as Ajmal Khan and Rashid alias Lallan.

On sustained interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that they had received the ammunition from a person in Dehradun, and the same was to be delivered to a man in Lucknow.

"The accused duo also disclosed that they had supplied similar consignments four-five times in the past," Kashyap said.

Considering the gravity of the matter ahead of the country's 75th Independence Day, multiple police teams were formed to unearth both the source and the receivers of the consignment.

A police team was dispatched to Lucknow, where it raided several places and finally one of the proposed receivers, Saddam, was nabbed from Suetha Kalan village in Jaunpur district.

Simultaneously, another team was sent to Dehradun to trace the source of the illegal ammunition. Through technical surveillance, the team identified one accused named Parikshit Negi, who ran a gun house in Dehradun.

"The police team raided his place and arrested him. He was brought to Delhi and on sustained interrogation, Negi disclosed that he had procured the ammunition from several gun houses in Uttarakhand as well as other sources and after manipulating the records of his gun house, he further supplied the ammunition to the accused persons who were already under police custody," the officer said.

Negi also disclosed that he had earlier supplied similar consignments to the accused persons four-five times.

Kashyap said that three more members of the syndicate were later identified and arrested by the police.

"Some more arrests are likely to be made and more ammunition are likely to be seized," she added.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : Amid the speculation on change of guard in the state, BJP's Karnataka in-charge and general secretary Arun Singh on Friday said that the party will contest the next assembly election under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Singh blamed the Congress for creating confusion by raising "non issues" such as change of guard.

"We will form the government in Karnataka next year. There is no change of guard and the entire issue was created by D.K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah because they don't have an issue... Congress is a leader-less party. They don't have any agenda against the BJP... so they are trying to create such an issue that the CM will be changed. There is no truth into it." When asked about some party MLAs talking about change of guard, Singh asserted that as state in-charge, he has said it many times that BJP will contest under leadership of chief minister Bommai and one has to believe him.

"I told you... that we will contest the next election under the leadership of chief minister Bommai. He is doing good work for farmers, for youth, SCs and STs. We will come back with a full majority. We have set a target of 150 seats and we will achieve it," he said.

Hitting out at the Congress, Singh said: "Congress is a divided house and they are not on the ground. They are creating confusion. Congress is a party which believes in 'tape' and 'conspiracy' in Karnataka." The issue of change in guard cropped up with the statement of Suresh Gowda, a former MLA from Tumakuru constituency.

Gowda had hinted that there could be changes in the leadership before August 15.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : Farhatullah Ghauri, a terrorist recruiter and financier for Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), has been using a network of accounts on Facebook, Telegram and YouTube to call on Muslims in India to revolt against the country, a detailed investigation by artificial Intelligence (AI) startup Logically has found.

Ghauri is listed among 38 individuals as a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (amended in 2019).

The three encrypted Telegram channels, two associated Facebook pages, and three YouTube channels, operated by the Ghauri group, were all created this year.

The network was identified by Logically before it could accrue a significant audience peaking with 200-400 subscribers across all the accounts.

During the course of the investigation, the content moderation teams took down one Telegram channel and one Facebook page linked to the group.

"The terrorist propaganda has circulated across other encrypted messaging channels on Telegram, including those affiliated with Islamabad-backed proxy terror groups claiming to operate in the Kashmir region, such as the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and The Resistance Front (TRF)," Logically said in a statement.

The company said that a closer scrutiny of the amplification patterns of the videos on Facebook since January 2022 suggests a concerted attempt by malicious actors to post the videos in Facebook groups and pages dedicated to socialism, Islam, and minority rights.

"These groups are frequented by larger, more mainstream audiences of domestic users who are critical of the BJP-ruled government," said the report.

Moreover, these coordinated online campaigns coincide with off-line incidents of communal violence in the country, revealing how malicious actors abroad are leveraging major social media platforms to exploit domestic tensions and radicalise the minority population.

"The terrorist propaganda amplified via these channels consists of professionally-edited videos with voice overs by Ghauri. Some of the videos engage with the rhetoric of Muslim minorities allegedly facing human rights violations by Indian security services in Jammu, Kashmir and other parts of the country," said the report.

"There are explicit calls by Ghauri to Indian Muslims to revolt and take up arms against the Indian state," the report mentioned.

An analysis into the spread of the videos on Facebook between January 1 and July 1, 2022, via social media analysis tool CrowdTangle, revealed that videos from Ghauri's network were amplified across several mainstream Facebook groups and pages devoted to Islam, socialism, and minority rights.

"While platform officials took down these posts, the time-stamps on the posts in these groups and the use of similarly written captions and descriptions accompanying the video suggest the presence of a copy paste campaign by a single entity," said Logically.

As with its other accounts managed by the outfit, the extremist recruitment videos amplified on the Telegram channels were also accompanied by targeted hashtags to expose the content to Indian-Muslim users frequenting the platform.

Also known as Abu Sufiyan, Ghauri is originally from Kurmaguda area of Hyderabad and primarily known for being a terrorist financier.

He fled to Saudi Arabia in 1994 and finally settled in Pakistan in 2015.

"In addition to being a close associate of Masood Azhar, a United Nations designated terrorist and the founder of JeM, Ghauri is personally implicated by Indian intelligence services for planning and facilitating a series of terror attacks in the country," the report mentioned.

The report said that Pakistan-backed proxy terror groups will seek to capitalise on the clash between communal groups and these offline incidents of unrest and incorporate them into propaganda videos, then disseminate those across major social media platforms.
Hong Kong, Aug 12 : More surveillance is needed of a new virus detected in dozens of people in eastern China that may not cause the next pandemic but suggests just how easily viruses can travel unnoticed from animals to humans, scientists say, a report said.

The virus, dubbed Langya henipavirus, infected nearly three dozen farmers and other residents, according to a team of scientists who believe it may have spread directly or indirectly to people from shrews -- small mole-like mammals found in a wide variety of habitats, the CNN reported.

The pathogen did not cause any reported deaths, but was detected in 35 unrelated fever patients in hospitals in Shandong and Henan provinces between 2018 and 2021, the scientists said -- a finding in tune with longstanding warnings from scientists that animal viruses are regularly spilling undetected into people around the world.

"We are hugely underestimating the number of these zoonotic cases in the world, and this (Langya virus) is just the tip of the iceberg," said emerging virus expert Leo Poon, a professor at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health, who was not involved in the latest study, CNN reported.

The first scientific research on the virus, published as a correspondence from a team of Chinese and international researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, received global attention due to heightened concern over disease outbreaks. Hundreds of thousands of new Covid-19 cases are still being reported worldwide each day, nearly three years since the novel coronavirus behind the pandemic was first detected in China, CNN reported.
Mumbai, Aug 12 : The Indian rupee and the government bond yield ended almost flat on Friday as most traders remained on the sidelines ahead of the long weekend.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee ended at 79.66 against the US dollar, as against 79.64 at the close of the previous trading session.

The 10-year benchmark 6.54 per cent-2032 bond yield ended at 7.2894 per cent, marginally higher than 7.2673 per cent close on the previous trading session.

"Looking at the long holiday ahead, there may have been lot of short term USD demand, pushing the USD-INR pair higher. Also, traders usually prefer to be squared during long holidays where liquidity has also been thin," said Kunal Sodhani, Vice President, Global Trading Centre, Shinhan Bank.

Indian financial markets will remain closed on August 15 and 16 on account of Independence Day and Parsi New Year, respectively.

Brent crude oil prices in the international market has risen sharply in last few days and by the close of market hours it was trading at $100.15 per barrel.

Meanwhile, at the weekly bond auction, the Reserve Bank of India raised Rs 28,000 crore through three bonds viz 7.38 per cent-2022, 7.54 per cent-2036, and 6.99 per cent-2051.

However, the central bank did not accept any bids in GOI FRB 2028 gilts.
Kolkata, Aug 12 : Three ministers of the West Bengal cabinet approached the Calcutta High Court on Friday with a plea to review and reconsider the court's earlier decision directing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to be party to a public interest litigation (PIL) on the growth of assets of 19 Trinamool Congress leaders including a number of state government ministers.

On August 8, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court's chief justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj directed the ED to be party in the PIL regarding the assets and property details of 19 heavyweight leaders, including seven incumbent ministers in West Bengal.

On Friday, three "heavyweight" ministers of the state cabinet -- Municipal Affairs & Urban Development Minister and Kolkata Mayor, Firhad Hakim; Forest Minister, Jyotipriyo Mullick, and Cooperation department minister, Arup Roy, approached the same bench with a plea to reconsider the decision.

Soon after the directive of the Calcutta High Court's division bench, Education Minister Bratya Basu, who has also been named in the PIL, said that names of Trinamool leaders were selectively included in the PIL, whereas the names of several Congress and CPI-M leaders, including some former ministers in the Left Front regime, are currently under judicial scanner for sudden rise in the quantum of their properties and assets.

He specifically named CPI-M politburo member Suryakanta Mishra and state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on this count.

Opposition leaders have ridiculed Trinamool Congress over the issue.

"It is the legal right for anyone to approach any court with an appeal for reconsideration of any decision. But the desperation of the ministers shows how frightened they are of ED, after the same agency arrested one former heavyweight cabinet minister in connection with the teacher's recruitment scam," said BJP's West Bengal spokesman, Samik Bhattacharya.

Senior Congress leader and former party legislator, Manoj Bhattacharya said that if the ruling party ministers consider themselves to be clean, they should not have any objection to inclusion of ED as a party in the PIL.
Uttara Kannada, Aug 12 : The BJP-led Karnataka government on Friday withheld appointment of Paresh Mesta murder accused to Wakf board after its order drew condemnation by party activists and Hindu organisations.

The party workers and Hindu activists condemned the order awarding the post of Vice President for District Wakf Board to Zamaal Azad Annigeri.

Zamaal is named as the main accused in the murder case of Paresh Mesta, a young Hindu activist. Zamaal was arrested and released on bail. The case is presently being probed by the Central Investigation Agency (CBI).

Withholding the appointment until further orders, the government said that the order has been given against the backdrop of public complaints.

The party had already been facing the backlash following the death of BJP Yuva Morcha activist Praveen Kumar Nettare.

The BJP, which projected Paresh Mesta murder case as attack on Hindus and made it a poll issue in the state especially in the Uttara Kannada district, had managed to sweep the elections.

The party workers and Hindu activists chided the BJP, saying that the party which came into power after making the murder case of Paresh a big issue, has now nominated and appointed the main accused in the case to the Wakf Board.

"Where is the morality of the BJP?," they said.

Social media is abuzz with messages ridiculing the stand of BJP as "champion" of Hindus.

Paresh had disappeared following an incident of mob violence in Honnavar city on December 6, 2017. After two days, his body was found near a lake. It was alleged that Paresh was killed in the mob violence and assailants had dumped the body later.

The BJP, which was in the opposition then, raked up the issue at the state level and carried out protests throughout the state. The incident of murder led to large-scale violence in Honnavar, Kumta and Sirsi towns.

The BJP and the family of Paresh demanded a CBI probe into the murder case and then the Congress government had handed over the case to the CBI.
Gandhidham, Aug 12 : Kutch Sadhu Samaj president on Friday claimed to have received a death threat for appealing to 'sanatanis' to boycott Shahrukh Khan's upcoming film 'Pathan'.

Sadhu Devnath, the guru brother of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, will soon file a criminal complaint in Bachau police station against the person who threatened him on social media.

Speaking to local media, Sadhu Devnath stated: "One Saleem Ali (SRK fan) has posted a beheaded poster of mine on Twitter. He is from Shahrukh khan's PR team, this is in reaction to my Thursday's tweet in which I had appealed to Sanatanis to boycott Shahrukh's new movie 'Pathan' like Aamir Khan's 'Laal Singh Chaddha'." The sadhu said he wants police to expose the syndicate or gang behind this threat and not simply investigate against Saleem.

"I am not against any movie, but against actors who flourish on Indian fan followers and abuse the nation," he said, adding that he is also not against any caste, creed or community, but will not tolerate those who speak against the nation and its people.
Guwahati, Aug 12 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged Bollywood actor Aamir Khan who expressed his willingness to visit the state on the eve of Independence Day to plan the trip after the conclusion of 'Har Ghar Tiranga' celebrations.

"Aamir Khan spoke to me and he intended to come to Assam during the Independence Day celebration. But it may shift focus from Azadi Ka Amrit Mohatsav... hence I told him to fix a date after August 15," Sarma told the mediapersons here on Friday.

The Chief Minister, however, said that he has good terms with Khan and they often speak over the telephone.

Though the intent to visit Assam is unknown, sources said Khan wanted to promote his latest release 'Laal Singh Chaddha', which is a remake of the iconic film 'Forrest Gump'.

It could not be known if the actor has agreed to come to Assam after Independence Day.

Khan's latest film has been embroiled in controversy for the last few days. Some sections were calling for a boycott of the film claiming that the Aamir Khan-starrer was disrespectful towards the Indian Army.

Notably, Khan had earlier extended a helping hand to the flood-affected people of Assam by making a contribution of Rs 25 lakh towards the CM Relief Fund.

Sarma then took to Twitter to thank the Bollywood actor.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Aug 12 : A Go First flight, from Bengaluru to Male, on Friday made an emergency landing in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore due to a false alarm, according to regulator DGCA.

The flight with 92 passengers on board was flying over Tamil Nadu's textile city when the pilot detected the warning.

A Directorate General of Civil Aviation official said that it was a "false alarm".

As per airport officials, the flight had an emergency landing at Coimbatore airport after the engine overheating warning bell rang, nearly an hour after the takeoff. All passengers safely disembarked.

"The matter is being inspected by the Go First engineering team and rectification is underway," said an airline spokesperson.

A total of 18 emergency landing incidents have occurred within the country with aircraft operated by Indian scheduled airlines during the last two years.

On July 2, a plane operating from Delhi to Jabalpur was forced to return to Delhi airport after the crew noticed smoke in the cabin while at 5,000 feet. No untoward incident was reported and the passengers disembarked safely after emergency landing.

Similarly, a Calicut-Dubai flight was diverted to Muscat and made an emergency landing on July 16 after a burning smell was observed in the cabin mid-air.
Los Angeles, Aug 12 : The son of Hollywood legend Robin Williams, who passed away on August 11, 2014, remembered his father eight years after his demise.

Zak Williams, 39, shared a throwback photo of the actor and wrote: "Dad, on the eighth anniversary of your passing, I'm remembering how incredibly kind and joyful you were," 'People' magazine reported.

He added: "I deeply miss you, you wonderful, hairy man and will be celebrating your life today. Love you so so much!" Williams had ended his life on August 11, 2014. His final autopsy report, released in November 2014, concluded that Williams' death was a suicide resulting from "asphyxia due to hanging".

According to 'People', the 'Mrs. Doubtfire' star's only daughter Zelda Williams, 33, also penned a sweet message in the form of a quote from Japanese writer Haruki Murakami.

"And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in." 'People' further stated that she went on to share suicide resources, saying: "I don't ask for much, but if I may be gentle to your hearts today. I know I'm trying." Williams was also father to son Cody Alan Williams, 30.

In July 2021, Zak, a mental health advocate, opened up to 'The Genius Life' podcast host Max Lugavere about the "frustration" his father experienced after being misdiagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

"What he was going through didn't match one to one [with what] many Parkinson's patients experience. So, I think that was hard for him," Zak said.
Kolkata, Aug 12 : Exactly nine months after joining Trinamool Congress from Janata Dal-United, former Rajya Sabha member, Pavan Kumar Varma, on Friday, announced his decision to resign from the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

He has announced his decision to quit the Trinamool through a Twitter message, where he did not cite any reason for his decision.

"Dear @MamataOfficial ji, Please accept my resignation for the @AITCofficial. I want to thank you for the warm welcome accorded to me, and for your affection and courtesies. T look forward to remaining in touch. Wishing you all the best, and with warm regards, Pavan K Varma," his Twitter message read.

The diplomat-turned-politician's joining the Trinamool in presence of the West Bengal Chief Minister, in November last year was perceived as an important development for Bengal's ruling party in its effort to make a footprint in national politics.

Besides being a former Rajya Sabha member, Varma, as a former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) has served as Indian Ambassador to Cyprus and Bhutan. He had also acted as the spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs. He was also the chief advisor to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar during his days with the JD-U.

In November last year, when he joined the Trinamool, he described Banerjee as the frontrunner in leading the opposition forces against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Officially, Trinamool had not given any comment on this development. However, a section of party insiders said he was unhappy with Trinamool on two counts.

The first issue was that after nominating Yashwant Sinha, a former bureaucrat-turned- politician and former Trinamool national Vice President, as the Presidential candidate, Banerjee's statement said that she could have considered supporting NDA candidate, Droupadi Murmu, had BJP informed her of its choice earlier.

The second issue, according to sources, was obviously on the issues of corruption which is the key headache for the party leadership. And now as Nitish Kumar has severed his ties with the BJP, speculations are also rife that Varma might reestablish his old ties with the JD-U.
Islamabad, Aug 12 : The severe isolation of Afghanistan since the Taliban captured the country's capital a year ago has provided China an opportunity to become a major player in the country, the media reported.

Beijing has joined the international community in urging Kabul's new rulers to implement reforms, such as forming an inclusive government with representation for all Afghan ethnicities and respect for women's rights, particularly when it comes to education and work, VOA reported.

But China has also promised the Taliban regime economic and development support in exchange for attention to Chinese security concerns -- especially in restraining any Uyghur militant groups in Afghanistan from targeting Chinese interests, particularly Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, in the region, VOA reported.

Before the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani-led government, Beijing had a close working relationship with Kabul, and Afghan security forces helped monitor and target Uyghur militant groups at China's request. But since the Taliban's takeover in August last year, Beijing has begun to engage with the new rulers because it does not want terrorism to spill over from Afghanistan into China or target its interests in the region.

As no country has yet recognised the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate rulers, the millions of dollars in aid that helped prop up the previous government have vanished, billions in state assets are frozen, and economic sanctions have led to a near-collapse of the country's economy.

In this situation, the Taliban administration actively courts Chinese investment and financial support, VOA reported.

More than seeking a role in post-US Afghanistan, Beijing is worried about the possibility of attacks planned by militant groups such as the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), a Uyghur militant group that Beijing blames for unrest in its western province of Xinjiang and refers to by its former name, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

The TIP seeks to liberate Xinjiang and the Uyghur people from Chinese government control and carries out attacks on Chinese interests.

The Taliban have also been very consistent in their messaging about not allowing Afghanistan to become a haven for international terrorist groups looking to launch attacks against regional states, particularly China.

Recently, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, at the international conference in Tashkent, offered assurances that "the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not allow any of its own members, or any other individual or group, including Al-Qaeda, to pose a threat to the security of others from the soil of Afghanistan." Ashraf Ghani's administration was long being accused of hosting members of Islamist militant groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch ethno-separatist groups, which target BRI-linked development projects and Chinese nationals in Pakistan. Islamabad and Beijing had hoped that threats from Baloch insurgents would subside once the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

Following the Gwadar attack, the Taliban detained and expelled a large number of families of separatists from Nangarhar and Nimroz neighbouring provinces, according to Baloch separatist groups, VOA reported.
Chennai, Aug 12 : If rumours doing the rounds are to be believed, actor Vadivelu will be reprising his immensely popular character, Murugesan, from director P. Vasu's blockbuster "Chandramukhi", in the upcoming horror comedy "Chandramukhi 2" as well.

The first part of "Chandramukhi", which was produced by Sivaji Productions as its 50th film in 2005, had Rajinikanth, Prabhu, Jyothika, Nayanthara, Nasser and Vadivelu among others.

A remake of Malayalam super hit "Manichitrathazhu", it had gone on to emerge as a phenomenal success.

Murugesan, the character that comedian Vadivelu played in the first part, in particular, became very popular.

Now, director P. Vasu, who directed the first part, is making "Chandramukhi 2", featuring actor Raghava Lawrence in the lead.

Rumours doing the rounds in the industry suggest that although "Chandramukhi 2" will be a different story and will not be a continuation of the first part, the makers will retain Vadivelu's character only.

The unit of "Chandramukhi 2" recently wrapped up the first schedule of shooting.

Sources close to the unit said that the first schedule was shot in Mysuru and was wrapped up on Tuesday.

The film has music by M.M. Keeravaani, cinematography by R.D. Rajasekar and art direction by Thotta Tharani.
Hyderabad, Aug 12 : Every eight minutes a woman succumbs to breast cancer in India and with 165,000 new cases being annually reported, breast cancer has overtaken cervical cancer to become the commonest cancer affecting women in the country, said leading breast surgeon Dr P. Raghu Ram.

"Even more alarming is that, when compared to the West where breast cancer presents most often after 50 years, in India, breast cancer presents at least a decade earlier with peak incidence in younger women between 40-50 years. More than 70 per cent present in the advanced stages," said Ram, the Director of KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases.

In his address at 10th annual Conference of The Association of Breast Surgeons of India (ABSICON 2022), inaugurated by KNR University of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor, Dr Karunakar Reddy, Ram said since breast cancer can't be prevented, the only way to fight the disease is through early detection.

The government must focus upon creating much more awareness about the importance of early detection by addressing the "taboo" issue surrounding the disease, particularly in rural India where more than 70 per cent of the population reside in addition to streamlining the pan-India implementation of the population-based Breast Cancer Screening programme, which is already functional through the National Health Mission, he said.

Ram said that the Association of Breast Surgeons of India (ABSI) must play a lead role in developing the concept of breast care nurses, who will play a pivotal role in supporting, comforting and reassuring patients and their relatives.

"I look forward to ABSI evolving into a truly multidisciplinary organisation with integration of breast radiologists and breast pathologists in its fold, who are, in fact, the eyes and ears to a breast surgeon," he said.

The ABSI represents general surgeons, surgical oncologists and plastic surgeons and has rapidly emerged to become the voice for surgeons all over India practicing the art and science of breast surgery.

For the first time, it is ABSI is partnering with The Association of Breast Surgery in the UK (ABS UK), and the Breast Imaging Society of India (BISI), which represents radiologists.

Ram, who is Chairman of Organising Committee for ABSICON 2022, said a conscious effort has been made to bring together three Associations under one platform to emphasise the importance of multidisciplinary care in assessment and management of breast cancer.

ABSI President Dr S.P. Somashekhar commended Ram for his outstanding leadership role in nurturing ABSI since its inception. "Most breast cancer surgeries in the country are done by general surgeons. I am proud of the various initiatives implemented by the Association to improve the knowledge and skill sets of Surgeons, particularly in smaller towns across India through the implementation of ABSI Training Module in addition to funding bright young surgeons to train at world renowned centres of excellence in the UK." Dr Karunakar Reddy said he was happy to note that the three-day conference will deliberate about the best evidence based practice guidelines covering every aspect of breast cancer care, advocacy, early detection and benign non cancer related breast health issues as well.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death in full public view in the national capital, the police said on Friday.

The deceased, identified as Mayank Panwar, was a hotel management student.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Benita Mary Jaiker said a PCR call was received on Thursday evening reporting the incident that took place near Gate No. 3 of DDA market in Begumpur, after which a police team was rushed to the spot.

"On reaching the crime spot, the police found that the injured person had already been shifted to the hospital. Later, information was received from the AIIMS trauma centre about the death of Mayank," Jaiker said.

According to the police, a friend of the deceased revealed that at around 7 p.m. on Thursday, the two of them were sitting in Begumpur when suddenly four-five unknown persons came and started arguing with Mayank.

"The suspects then went away, only to return later and pelt stones on both of them. The complainant and the victim tried to flee from the spot, but the accused chased Mayank, overpowered him near DDA market's Gate No. 3 and stabbed him multiple times," the officer said.

The police have registered a case under the relevant sections of the IPC and taken up the probe.

In the CCTV footage, three persons could be seen chasing the victim and then stabbing him multiple times on a busy road.

Jaiker said that all the accused persons have been identified and searches are on to nab them.
Rajkot, Aug 12 : Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi on Friday handed over citizenship certificates to 24 Pakistani Hindus who were living in India on long-term visa in Rajkot and had applied for Indian citizenship.

Addressing all 24 individuals, Sanghavi said: "I welcome you all as brothers and sisters of this big country... hope like all of us here, you too will join the development motto, and we promise you all that we will extend support to you all for your growth and progress." Describing it as the happiest moment of her life, Kesarbhai Sankalchand, a 22-year-old Pakistani Hindu after receiving Indian citizenship, said: "Now I will be able to complete my graduation and fulfill our dreams in my country India."
Srinagar, Aug 12 : The national flag will be hoisted on all government buildings/offices, including educational institutions, across Jammu and Kashmir this Independence Day.

A circular issued by the General Administration Department in this regard read, "In connection with 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and commemoration of 75 years of India's Independence, it has been decided that all government buildings/offices across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, including universities, colleges, schools, urban local body offices, tehsils, blocks, panchayats, patwar khanas etc. shall hoist the national flag on Independence Day, 2022." The circular also said it has to be ensured that the national flag is hoisted in an appropriate and befitting manner with due regard to flag code, for which the Information Department shall generate awareness among all the stakeholders.

The circular added that all the administrative secretaries/divisional commissioners/heads of departments/deputy commissioners should strictly adhere to the above instructions in letter and spirit.
New Delhi:Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar receives a parliamentary delegation from ASEAN led by First Vice President of the National Assembly of Cambodia Kittisethabindit Cheam Yeap during a meeting at Parliament House annexe Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi:Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar receives a parliamentary delegation from ASEAN led by First Vice President of the National Assembly of Cambodia Kittisethabindit Cheam Yeap during a meeting at Parliament House annexe Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi:Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar receives a memento from parliamentary delegates from ASEAN country during a meeting at Parliament House annexe Building in New Delhi on Friday August 12,2022.(Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Aug 12 : An ASEAN parliamentary delegation met Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar here on Friday.

On the occasion Dhankhar said India's relationship with ASEAN is full of promise and potential, and engagement with ASEAN is a critical element of India's 'Act East' policy.

This is the first international parliamentary delegation he met in his capacity as Vice President.

Commemorating 30 years of the establishment of relations with ASEAN, Dhankhar stated that the cultural and civilizational connect between the two is visible in the monuments, architecture, languages, food habits, culture and people that have laid the foundation for a strong strategic partnership.

Dhankhar said that India is celebrating the 75th year of its Independence as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' and added that this year also marks the establishment of India's diplomatic relations with the individual ASEAN member states such as the 75th anniversary with Thailand, 70th anniversary with Cambodia, 65th anniversary with Malaysia and 50th anniversary with Vietnam.

Highlighting the importance of ASEAN as a 'gateway' into and out of the Indian Ocean region, Dhankhar said that India's relationship with ASEAN is full of promise and potential since it is one of the most economically and politically dynamic regions of the world today.

He underscored the need for deeper engagement with ASEAN given its critical interface in India's 'Act East' policy.

Recollecting the growth of India's ties with ASEAN which has been upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2012, Dhankhar expressed satisfaction about the progress of India's relationship with ASEAN ever since India became a Sectoral Partner of ASEAN in 1992.

Advocating a strong ASEAN-centered regional architecture, Dhankhar said that India fully supports ASEAN unity and centrality that provides a natural platform to promote a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo Pacific region.

The delegation led by Kittisethabindit Cheam Yeap appreciated the friendly relationship between India and ASEAN countries and hoped that such visits would further strengthen the existing bonds.
United Nations, Aug 12 : China has again come to the rescue of a Pakistani terrorist by blocking a UN committee proposal to put sanctions on Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leader Abdul Rauf Azhar.

At the Security Council's committee dealing with sanctions on the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and linked groups, China on Wednesday put a technical hold on placing travel restrictions and freezing the assets of Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Masood Azhar, the head of JeM.

India and the US had made the proposal to the panel known as the 1267 Committee for the Council resolution setting it up.

In New Delhi on Friday, India's External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi called Beijing's action "unfortunate" as it prevents the international community from speaking with one voice in "our collective battle against terrorism".

Decisions are made by consensus in the UN sanctions committees giving any of the 15 members of the Council a veto.

This was the second time in two months that China has moved to protect a Pakistani terrorist from sanctions.

It vetoed a proposal in June to sanction Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Abdul Rehman Makki.

After blocking four efforts to place sanctions on Masood Azhar, Beijing finally relented under international pressure in 2019 to add him to the list.

Rauf was involved in the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight in 1999.

The JeM, of which he is a senior commander, has been conducting terrorist actions against India.

Its terrorist activities include attacks on the Pathankot Indian Air Force base and an Army command post in Uri in 2016, and the 2019 attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy in Pulwama killing 40 of its personnel in Pulwama in 2019.

The JeM has also "declared war on the United States", according to the office of the US Director of National Intelligence.

Its operatives were involved in the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist working for The Wall Street Journal in 2002.

Washington had put Abdul Rauf Azhar on its own sanctions list in 2010.

India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj denounced at the Council on Wednesday what she called the "hypocrisy" and "double standards" in the sanctions process that is sapping its credibility.

"It is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold", she said.

"Double standards and continuing politicization have rendered the credibility of the Sanctions Regime at an all-time low," she said.

Without naming Pakistan, she criticised it for giving sanctuaries to terrorists.

"We have had firsthand experience of crime syndicates venturing into terrorism and, immediately thereafter getting state hospitality in a neighbouring country despite being listed under the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee'" Kamboj said.

China has defended its decision to block sanctions on Rauf Azhar.

China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in Beijing on Thursday: "We need more time to assess the relevant application. We hope media outlets will not be led by rumours and make unwarranted speculations." (Arul Louis can be contacted at aru.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
Islamabad, Aug 12 : Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday condemned India's Supreme Court's decision to provide former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma protection from getting arrested in the Prophet Muhammad case, the media reported.

The Pakistan Foreign Minister said that this decision of not arresting the former BJP spokesperson shows that India not only has hatred towards Pakistan but also towards Islam, Geo News reported.

He added that the BJP promotes hatred and extremism toward the Muslims living in India.

"We have minimal influence on India's Supreme Court, however, we need to raise this issue at the international level including the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations (UN) to raise awareness and we have raised this issue," he added.

Bilawal said that the people are now seeing India's real face through these actions, Geo News reported.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday transferred all the FIRs lodged against suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad to Delhi Police.

The top court gave her the liberty to approach the Delhi High Court for quashing of the FIRs, and also declined to entertain a plea moved by the West Bengal government for a court-monitored SIT probe.

A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and J.B. Pardiwala ordered clubbing of all the FIRs registered across the country against Sharma, which will be probed by the Delhi Police.
Patna, Aug 12 : Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar slammed the Narendra Modi government on Friday and said that the issue of equal participation at the Centre was one of the reasons for separation with the BJP in the state.

"When the 2019 Lok Sabha election ended and Narendra Modi formed the government at the Centre, at that time the JD-U had 16 MPs and the BJP had 17 MPs from Bihar in the Lok Sabha. We demanded at least 4 cabinet ministers at the Centre but the BJP refused. I told them that the BJP has 17 MPs from Bihar and is giving ministerial berths to 5 MPs and allotting the JD-U just 1. Hence, we refused to take a ministry at the Centre," Kumar said.

"I told them (BJP top leadership) you are making five MPs from Bihar union ministers and offering one to us, what would you want to create (communal atmosphere) in Bihar," Kumar told the BJP.

"During the 2020 assembly elections, we helped the BJP candidates to win and they have not given support to us. Those JD-U candidates who lost the 2020 assembly election said that due to the BJP workers campaigning against them, they lost the election. Even those who won said that BJP workers did not support them. The BJP during the 2020 assembly election back-stabbed us," Kumar said.

Reacting to RCP Singh, Kumar said: "I gave my seat of national president to that man and see what he did with us. He started anti-party activities. I authorised him to negotiate with the BJP during the second expansion of the Narendra Modi government and he put the party interest aside and became a union minister on his own. I never allowed him to take just one ministerial berth at the Centre. At that time, I decided to give him just 6 months and then he would be dumped." "When he became a union minister, I asked him to give the national president post to Lalan Singh," Kumar said.

"What was his (RCP Singh) status, I kept him in the ministry at the Centre and when I came to Bihar as chief minister, I brought him and made him secretary. I sent him to the Rajya Sabha twice and see what he did. He was involved in anti-party activities and was working for the BJP. I gave him huge respect and he is making inappropriate and objectionable statements against me. My party workers are pained when they see his objectionable statements," Kumar said.

Reacting to Sushil Modi's allegation of not providing him Z plus security despite being deputy chief minister of Bihar for 12 years, Kumar said Modi's allegation was baseless.

"We have given him whatever he wants. Even after the 2020 assembly election, I wanted him to stay in Bihar and become the deputy chief minister again but his party brought him to Delhi. I was thinking that he might get an important responsibility (ministerial berth) at the Centre but his party sidelined him. Now he is levelling allegations against me. I never mind his allegations. His party might take notice of the statements he is making against me. I would be happy if he would get some role in the central government," Kumar added.
Kohima, Aug 12 : Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said on Friday he is hopeful that the Central government and the NSCN-IM would soon resolve all aspects relating to the protracted Naga political issues.

The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-led Nagaland government had earlier on a number of occasions urged the Central government to conclude the ongoing Naga peace talks before the Assembly elections scheduled early next year.

Talking to the media, Rio, the top leader of the NDPP, said that the core committee on Naga political issues had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and discussed the Naga peace talks issue.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also present in the meeting.

The Nagaland Chief Minister asserted that the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) and Centre's interlocutor A.K. Mishra would hold discussions to resolve the all-important Naga political issues.

Mishra, the former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau, had since last year visited Kohima, Dimapur and the headquarters of the NSCN-IM camp, Hebron (near Dimapur), and held discussions with Thuingaleng Muivah, General Secretary of NSCN-IM, and many other Naga leaders.

The NSCN-IM's repeated insistence on a separate Naga flag and Constitution has become a big hurdle in resolving the Naga issue.

After signing a formal ceasefire agreement with the NSCN-IM in 1997, the Central government has held more than 85 rounds of negotiations with the NSCN-IM and other Naga groups.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said that there should be no double standards in dealing with terrorists after China blocked a proposal by the US and India to designate Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Deputy Chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as a "global terrorist" in the UN Security Council.

Abdul Rauf is the brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar who is the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

"It is unfortunate that the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice on our collective fight against terrorism. There should be no double standards in dealing with terrorists. The practice of hold and block without any justification must end," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during his weekly press conference.

Abdul Rauf, born in 1974, in Pakistan, has been involved in the planning and execution of several terror attacks in India, including the 1999 Indian Airlines plane IC-814 hijack, the 2001 Parliament attack and 2016 Pathankot attack.

The foreign ministry said it was "most regrettable" that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals relating to some of the world's most notorious terrorists were withheld.

"Double standards and continued politicisation have destroyed the credibility of the Sanctions Committee to an all-time low," Bagchi said.

On India and China relations, Bagchi said: "We have consistently upheld the need for mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest as the basis for the development of relations." China on Wednesday put a "technical hold" on a joint resolution in the UN Security Council to designate Azhar as a global terrorist and impose an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, which all the other 14 member states of the apex UN body supported.

China said it needs more time to assess the application for designating Azhar as a global terrorist.

This is the second time, in less than two months, that China has blocked the blacklisting of a Pakistan-based terrorist by the US and India at the UN.

In June, China had blocked a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

In May 2019, the UN designated Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist", a decade after India first approached the global body on the issue.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : The level of water in the Yamuna river crossed the danger mark on Friday posing a risk to the people residing near it banks in the national capital.

Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena appealed to the people of not to enter the river and also take precautions.

"Due to heavy rains in the catchment area of Yamuna, the water released from Hathni Kund is likely to reach Delhi this evening. The river may cross the danger mark. I appeal to Delhiites not to enter Yamuna and take precautions," he said.

He also said that the administration is taking necessary steps from the security point of view.

According to the flood control room, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge rose from 203.86 metres to 205.38 metres.

"The water level will likely be 205.60 m at Old Railway Bridge between 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. thereafter likely to rise," the Flood Control Department said in its update at 5 p.m.

The highest flood level at Old Railway Bridge was recorded in 1978 at 207.49 metres.

The department reported a peak discharge from the Tajewala or Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar at 1,95,905 cusecs during the last 24 hours. It issues the first danger warning at 1 lakh cusecs, 2nd at 3 lakh cusecs and the third and final warning at 5 lakh cusecs discharge.

According to the department, as many as 34 boats have been deployed for any untoward situation.
Berlin, Aug 12 : Paris Saint-Germain striker Arnaud Kalimuendo has joined Rennes, penning a five-year deal with the Ligue 1 side.

Kalimuendo, a France Under-21 international who signed his first professional contract with PSG as a 17-year-old in 2019, had been strongly linked with Premier League side Leeds United after they missed out on Belgian forward Charles De Ketelaere to Milan.

The pacey forward has spent each of the last two seasons on loan at Lens, scoring 12 league goals in the 2021-22 campaign as they recorded an impressive seventh-placed finish, reports DPA.

Only nine players, including PSG stars Kylian Mbappe (28) and Neymar (13), outscored Kalimuendo last term, earning the 20-year-old a big-money move to Europa League qualifiers Rennes.

PSG boss Christophe Galtier had confirmed Kalimuendo's move was imminent earlier on Thursday, while Mauro Icardi is also expected to leave the Parc des Princes to make room for another attacking recruit.

Rennes lost their Ligue 1 opener to Lorient last Sunday and face a trip to Monaco in their second game of the campaign on Saturday.
Chennai, Aug 12 : The Madras High Court on Friday came out strongly against the practice of an orderly system in Tamil Nadu Police and called for the Director General of Police to provide a report to the court before August 18.

A bench of Justice S.M. Subramaniam said that it was painful to write about the colonial orderly system in state police even when the country was celebrating its 75th year of Independence.

He also expressed displeasure over a report filed in the court that only 19 orderlies were withdrawn despite the court giving time for six months to abolish the orderly system in toto.

The judge said that the continued practice of using trained policemen in the residences of top police officers to perform menial work and household work at the cost of taxpayers' money was a slap on the constitution.

Justice Subramaniam wondered how the policemen who were trained to shoot with guns were ultimately used to cook dosas and chapatis at the residences of top police officers of the IPS cadre.

The court suo moto impleaded the state DGP in the case as a respondent and directed him to provide a report to the court before August 18, listing out the effective measures taken to abolish the orderly system in letter and spirit.

The judge told Additional Advocate General, P. Kumaresan that the DGP must actually strive to abolish the orderly system by Independence Day and let his department's flag fly high before joining the nation in hosting the national flag.

He also called upon the state government to have more control over the police force and to keep the top police officers also under check. Justice Subramaniam said that there was no point in punishing the constables and Sub Inspectors alone for indiscipline.

He added that the government could certainly add one or two appointed residential assistants for doing household work in the residences of each top police officer, but uniformed policemen could not be used for such menial works.

The Judge disclosed in the open court that he had been receiving several letters complaining about the use of orderlies in the residences of top police officers.

"The Constitution of India in its spirit, philosophy, and ethos declare that every citizen of our great nation is a Queen or a King. No public servant can imagine living in a world of Mughal Emperors. The executive authorities are mere public servants," he said.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday said the Covid pandemic has provided the fillip to the ecosystem of digital medical care while citing the examples of electronic ICUs or tele-ICUs, and tele-consultations.

Reiterating the implications of pandemic on medical teaching and medical care, Bhushan said the Central government is expanding these services by taking technical advantage of internet and mobile technology penetration in the country.

"These avenues are being pushed forward at the ground level for ensuring accessibility, affordability, equity along with quality of healthcare services," said Bhushan.

The Health Secretary was speaking at the inauguration of 3rd National Conference "ERMED Consortium: Digital Health Resources: A reality" in the presence of Dr. (Professor) Atul Goel, DGHS at National Medical Library, here on Friday.

National Medical Library's Electronic Resources in Medicine (NML-ERMED) Consortium is the flagship electronic resources consortium by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, wherein access to 228 e-journals are being provided round the clock to 71 states and Centrally-funded government institutions including all the AIIMS.

Building on this strong ground work, libraries must also come up with innovative best practices so that it can help cater to the needs of our medical professionals, he highlighted while inaugurating the conference.

He said that rapid transition has been taking place be it from print and manual learning resources to electronic forms.

"But, we must not lose sight of the bigger picture that India is perhaps one of the few countries in the world that is observing significant expansion of medical institutions in the recent times. Hence, we must be careful in adopting global technological practices and must take into account our local needs." While highlighting the presence of vibrant research community in India and technological prowess which needs to be further encouraged, Union Health Secretary mentioned about the CoWIN platform that has been able to robustly serve not just our citizens with more than 2 billion vaccine doses recorded digitally but has been hailed as a global best practice.

He urged the stakeholders to come up with similar digital platforms and create homegrown best practices where Indian methods and Indian solutions dominate the digital spaces.

The prime focus of ERMED is helping medical colleges to comply with NMC guidelines, standardize care across all clinicians, reduce variability in care, enable safe patient care, drive appropriate drug use and prescribing behaviour, decrease medical errors, stop unnecessary diagnostic testing, shorten length-of-stay, lower mortality rates, exposure to the latest research, information development, scientific and technological progress.
Kohima, Aug 12 : Nagaland Chief Minister and Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader Neiphiu Rio on Friday categorically said that his party would not merge with the BJP.

Talking to the media here, he said that the BJP is the NDPP's electoral ally since 2017 but there is no question of his party merging with it.

Rio was reacting to Nagaland Congress President K Therie's assertion that the NDPP is mulling over merging with the BJP after the 2023 Assembly polls.

"I or any other leader of NDPP never said anything like that (merger of NDPP with BJP).Congress has cooked up the baseless story. They have no moral position to raise any question about our integrity," the Chief Minister said.

Therie on Thursday claimed that the NDPP is contemplating to install a BJP government in the state.

The BJP and the NDPP last month finalised the seat sharing deal to contest for the 60-member Nagaland assembly elections early next year.

BJP's in-charge for Nagaland, Nalin Kohli and NDPP's General Secretary Abu Metha announcing the deal in New Delhi had announced that the NDPP would contest in 40 seats and the BJP would fight in the remaining 20 seats.

The seat sharing deal was done after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Rio met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital.
Islamabad, Aug 12 : Pakistan's Ministry of Interior has cancelled the NoC of ARY News, the television network said on Friday.

The coalition government led by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has taken one more step towards the economic murder of the journalist fraternity by cancelling the NoC of ARY News, the channel reported.

The cancellation of NoC will mean economic murder of more than 4,000 media professionals associated with the news channel, ARY News said.

The move came after the airing of a controversial statement delivered by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Imran Khan's Chief of Staff Shahbaz Gill on ARY News.

The channel had also issued a clarification that Gill's statement was his personal opinion and had nothing to do with the channel's policy.

The channel's administration condemned the suspension of its transmissions, saying the network is being victimised by the federal government.

On August 10, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to immediately restore the channel's transmission across Pakistan.

The channel had gone off air in many parts of the country on Monday evening without any prior notice by the authorities.

The SHC bench heard the plea related to the suspension of ARY News and issued directives to the cable operators for the immediate restoration of the TV channel's transmission, ARY News reported.

In a 10-page order, the court had also suspended the show-cause notice issued to ARY News by Pemra. The SHC also stopped the media regulatory authority from suspending the licence of the TV channel till the next hearing.

The court had also issued notice to Pemra and the deputy attorney general and adjourned the hearing until August 17.
Guwahati, Aug 12 : Three police personnel have been suspended in Assam's Darrang district for allegedly showing negligence in duty while handling the case of the death of a 13-year-old minor girl, officials said on Friday.

On June 11, the girl was found hanging in the house of one Krishna Kamal Baruah in Dhekiajuli area of Darrang. She was working as a maid in Baruah's house.

There were widescale allegations against the top brass of the local police officers about the "improper handling" of the case.

It has been alleged that the police displayed extreme dereliction of duty in collecting photographic and videographic evidence of the incident.

It has been further alleged that a police officer had also put pressure on the family members of the deceased to not file a written complaint.

While on a visit to Dhekiajhuli on Friday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma interacted with the relatives of the deceased and inquired about the allegations they had labelled against the police.

Following that, Sarma has ordered the immediate suspension of Darrang Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajmohan Ray, Additional SP Rupam Phukan, and the Dhula Police Station Officer-in-charge for negligence in duty.

He has also asked the Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a thorough investigation into the incident. Two of the three members of the SIT shall be women.

Sarma has assured the family members of the deceased to get their house built by the government and also assured to give the state government's flagship scheme 'Orunodoi' to them.
New York, Aug 12 : Controversial author Salman Rushdie, whose fourth book 'The Satanic Verses' brought him to notoriety in 1988 and led to death threats against him for blasphemy, was stabbed while participating in an event in New York state, media reports said.

He was flown to a hospital after purportedly being stabbed in the neck, according to a New York State Police statement, the BBC reported, but there was no update on his health condition.

India-born Rushdie, 75, was speaking at an event of the Chautauqua Institution when a man ran onto the stage and appeared to have punched or stabbed him and his interlocutor, the BBC reported citing eyewitnesses.

According to reports, amid gasps of horror from the audience, a few people ran onstage and managed to restrain the assailant, while others rushed to the aid of the author who had collapsed on the stage.

The assailant has been arrested.

"A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene," the police said.
Washington, Aug 12 : The Taiwan visit last week by US lawmakers led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was intended to make sure what happened in Ukraine - invaded by Russia - was not repeated with China invading Taiwan, says Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the US House of Representatives.

In an exclusive interview, Krishnamoorthi, who had accompanied Pelosi, says the Chinese "tried to interfere with our trip, even while we were in the air".

The lawmaker, who was born in Delhi, also said while there is disappointment in the US with India's refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it will affect "our desire to work more closely with the Indians".

Excerpts from the interview: Q: Good to be back, Congressman?

A: Yeah, thanks.

Q: How long were you there in Taiwan? A: Less than 12 hours; may be a lot less than that. I forgot.

Q: Did you feel unsafe at all during those hours that you all were there? A: We were in the excellent hands of the United States Air Force and US Navy personnel.

So I felt very, very good about our safety.

Q: Do you think the Chinese could go ahead and do something unfortunate or something stupid at any stage? A: I can't get into details but they absolutely tried to interfere with our trip, even while we were in the air. But thankfully, as I mentioned, our United States Armed Forces personnel are incredibly adept at dealing with this type of mischief with the PRC's actions, and so we were able to arrive safely.

Q: Congressman, what was the purpose of this visit? A: Two reasons. One is, especially in light of what we've seen in Ukraine to make sure that what happened with Ukraine doesn't happen with Taiwan. So it's all the more reason why we have to stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends and partners and allies in their hour of me as they face Chinese Communist Party aggression. And then the second reason we were there was to expand our economic ties with these countries, including Taiwan, especially in light of the passage of the CHIPS Act (it seeks to incentivise US production of semiconductors), which really encourages semiconductor manufacturing here in the United States. It turns out those countries are very excited about this particular law. And, for instance, Taiwan has already pledged to invest $20 billion in manufacturing facilities here in the United States.

Q: I'm not sure if it came up during a trip to Taiwan or Asia, but in a similar situation, as you know, the Chinese have been very aggressive on the LAC (Line of Actual Control) with India. Any thoughts? A: I think that that's just another example of Chinese Communist Party aggression. It's throwing its elbows militarily in the neighborhood.

We see that in the South China Sea with regard to several of its neighbours, whether it's Philippines, it's Vietnam, whether it's Malaysia. Of course, we all know about Taiwan.

And the same is true with regard to India. And I think that is absolutely the reason why, you know, we have to make sure that countries comply with an international rules-based order where their disagreements are. solved peacefully, resolved peacefully, not through the use of force.

Q: India-China tensions along the LAC have not received as much attention in the US as Taiwan's China problem. Do you think more is needed to be highlighted? A: Well, as you as you know, I actually included language within the last NDAA that was signed into law - the National Defense Authorization Act (US defense budget for 2021), talking about the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the aggression that is taking place toward India on that line. (The Act has expressed significant concerns over the border clashes and urged India and Chin to resolve their differences peacefully).

You are correct. I think that most most people who follow these issues believe that India is an incredibly strong country, and it is fully capable of dealing with the People's Republic of China in a way that, for instance, Taiwan, which is a tiny country of 23 million people compared to the 1.4 billion-strong PRC, is not. It is well positioned.

All that being said, I do think that what is happening with regard to India is part of a much bigger pattern of behavior that needs to be dealt with. And I'm hopeful that over time, we'll get to a better place.

But in the meantime, I think the Quad initiative with us -- Japan, Australia, United States and India -- along with what's happening on our other initiatives with (South) Korea and Japan, ASEAN countries will will bear fruit in reducing tensions.

Q: Congressman, one last question. Do you think India's refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine has kind of impacted its credibility in the US and that its ability to call on for help if, for instance, China were to get more aggressive. A lot of people in the US are a little disappointed with it (India's position on Ukraine)? A: I think the short answer to your question is I think that what India has done relative to Ukraine does influence people's thoughts about where India stands in connection with countries that are potentially attacked by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or other authoritarian dictators.

However, in the case of the People's Republic of China, and the Chinese Communist Party, I don't think that the position on Ukraine affects our desire to work more closely with the Indians and the others in the neighborhood to deal with this aggression and to contain it and to hopefully, as I said, get to a better place, achieve an international rules based order in the Indo-Pacific region, as we wish in the entire world, because that is essential, you know, for the peace and prosperity of the planet.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New York, Aug 12 : Author Salman Rushdie, who has a multi-million-dollar bounty on his head, was stabbed on Friday while he was on stage readying to speak at an event in New York State on the US as the home of creative expression.

State Police said Rushdie, who appeared to have been stabbed in his neck, was flown by helicopter to a hospital from the remote education and spiritual centre in Chautauqua about 550 km from New York City, but did not disclose his condition.

The alleged assailant, who pushed him to the floor and attacked him, was taken into custody by a state police trooper who was there, police said.

The attacker's identity was not immediately known.

An eyewitness told the Daily Beast that the attacker was "heavy set and wearing a black headpiece".

The witness, Ward Pautler, said that he thought the attacker was "punching Rushdie, but then I realised he was stabbing him".

Ironically, Rushdie was participating at the Chautauqua Institution in a "discussion of the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression", according to the organisation's website.

Following the publication in 1989 of his novel, "Satanic Verses", which some Muslims considered blasphemous, the then Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death.

Various Iranian organisations put rewards of more than $3 million for killing the 75-year-old India-born writer.

Rushdie went underground with British government protection for several years and moved to the US in 2000 and has since been in public.

He escaped an assassination attempt in 1989 when a bomb went off at a London hotel where he was thought to be staying and demolished two floors of the building.

The Mujahidin of Islam group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al Qaeda also put him on its hit list along with several literary and media figures it claimed insulted Islam.
Panaji, Aug 12 : Goa BJP on Friday claimed to have made a clean sweep in the panchayat elections held on Wednesday by winning more than 150 out of 186 panchayats, while the Congress said that it is waiting for details from the party MLAs and workers.

The counting of votes for the panchayat polls held through ballot papers was taken up on Friday. Though the elections were not held on party lines, the candidates were backed by different political parties. The results are yet to be announced officially.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters that BJP has won over 150 panchayats out of 186. "The elections were important for democracy. I hope that the newly-elected members work towards strengthening democracy," he said.

State BJP President Sadanand Shet Tanavade said that at various places, BJP supported candidates have won. "Around 800 to 900 of our panch members have been elected," Tanavade said.

"While the elections were not held on party lines, people have supported the candidates backed by the BJP," he claimed.

Amit Patkar, President of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, told IANS that he is yet to receive the final data. "Right now our MLAs are busy collecting the details," Patkar said.

The panchayat elections on Wednesday had recorded a voter turnout of 78.70 per cent.

Around 5,038 candidates were in fray from 1,464 wards. While the 186 panchayats of Goa have a total of 1,528 wards, 64 candidates had won unopposed.
Bengaluru, Aug 12 : External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday stressed that if China disturbed peace in the border areas, this will have impact on the bilateral relationship.

Replying to a query on the troubled relationship with China after the clash in Ladakh two years ago, he said: "We have had 15 rounds of talks at the (Corps) Commanders level and there are experts also attending along with the commanders. We have made some progress, some substantial progress in terms of the sides pulling back from places where they are very close." "There are still some places where they have not, but we have consistently maintained the position that if China disturbs the peace and tranquility in the border areas, it will have an impact on the relationship," he added.

"I have said in 2020 and 21 and I continue to say in 2022 -- our relationship are not normal. It cannot be normal if the border situation is not normal and the border situation right now is not normal," Jaishankar said.

He said that the border situation remained a big problem as the military has been holding its ground for two winters.

"It's something which has been a very resolute and strong position by the government which has been implemented on the ground by the armed forces. Obviously, because our positioning is very close, it's a very tense situation, it also could be a dangerous situation, so we are having talks," the Minister said.
New Delhi, Aug 12 : Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar's unexpected move to snap ties with the NDA and form the government in the eastern state in alliance with the RJD and Left parties has prompted the BJP to come up with a concrete strategy to counter the eight-time chief minister.

Nitish Kumar has been claiming of late of contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections along with the Opposition parties. In fact, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, after taking part in a meeting with CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D. Raja and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Friday, said that all the opposition parties should form a strategy together.

The recent statements of Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav drop an apparent hint that both leaders are trying to bring all Opposition parties on a single page to counter the BJP in the 2024 general elections.

Even as Nitish Kumar is yet to make any official statement in this context, he could emerge as a potential prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Parliamentary battle. And the BJP is not unaware of such probabilities.

The BJP was a long-standing political ally of Nitish Kumar's JD-U. Both had worked together in the Central as well as state arena. The BJP believes that one of the weak spots of the Bihar CM where it could target him is his alliance with Lalu Prasad's RJD -- a party that does not enjoy a "clean" image on several counts.

The party has been targetting Nitish Kumar over the corruption-related allegations levelled against Lalu Prasad and his family members since he is currently running the government along with the RJD.

Interacting with mediapersons at the BJP headquarters here, party spokesperson Sambit Patra said: "'Jungle Raj' is back in Bihar. In fact, it was Nitish Kumar who had coined the term 'Jungle Raj' when Lalu Prasad was in power. Today, he has joined hands with his party to run the government." According to sources, the BJP's strategy to target Nitish Kumar will mainly be related to issues of corruption charges against the Lalu Prasad's family. The party would be posing questions to the Bihar Chief Minister and take them out to the people (voters) of other states as well.

--IANS stp/pgh/

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Washington, Aug 12 : Former US President Donald Trump demanded that the Department of Justice (DoJ) release all documents seized by the FBI since the raid on his Florida residence as he alleged it could be planted evidence, even as a former Secret Service special agent claimed the raid on a former non-sitting commander in chief was "unprecedented".

Trump took to his social website Truth Social to claim that the FBI could have planted evidence during the raid earlier this week on his Mar-a-Lago residence, without however backing up his claim with any shred of evidence.

His accusation came on the back of what some sources told The Washington Post last Thursday that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents were looking for in Florida.

"Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more. Same sleazy people involved," Trump said in his website as quoted by the Fox News, known to be partisan to the ex-President.

"Why wouldn't the FBI allow the inspection of areas at Mar-a-Lago with our lawyers, or others, present. Made them wait outside in the heat, wouldn't let them get even close - said 'ABSOLUTELY NOT'. Planting information anyone?" he asked.

Trump on Thursday said his team was "cooperating fully" in the Justice Department's investigation into his alleged improper handling of classified records when he left office, stressing that the FBI's raid at Mar-a-Lago was "out of nowhere and with no warning." His post came moments after Attorney General Merrick Garland made a rare public statement from the DOJ, announcing that he personally approved the warrant to search the former President's private residence in Palm Beach, Florida, to search for classified materials he allegedly took with him from the White House when he left office.

"My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established," Trump posted. "The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it." The FBI's decision to execute a search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on Monday is "unprecedented" - especially for a non-sitting commander-in-chief and one who has indicated he might run again, a former special-agent-in-charge told Fox News Digital.

Representative Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., slammed the Department of Justice for "blatant politicisation" after the Attorney General said he approved the Trump raid. Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee held a news conference on the Trump FBI raid.

After a federal judge gave the Justice Department a deadline to determine whether the former President supports or opposes unsealing the search warrant and property receipt used by the FBI to search his Mar-a-Lago home on Monday, Trump said he heartily supports the move. "Release the documents now!" Trump wrote on TRUTH Social, just hours after the judge's decision was announced.

In a pair of posts, Trump called the raid on his Florida estate "un-American, unwarranted, and unnecessary" and said he approved of the "immediate release" of the warrant.

Republican Senators James Lankford and Rick Scott are demanding that the Senate be briefed by the FBI, Department of Justice and National Archives regarding the "unprecedented" raid on Trump.

Trump raid changed how Americans see America, claimed Fox News digital, as Lara Trump blasted the FBI raid, saying Garland's presser raised more questions on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.' Trump's attorney Christina Bobb blasted Garland's address on the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago on "The Ingraham Angle", while Fox News host Brian Kilmeade voiced his concerns about the FBI's raid, the Attorney General's role and its implications on "Tucker Carlson Tonight".

FBI Director Chris Wray retorted, saying "unfounded attacks" on the agency "erode respect for rule of law".

"Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman scorched Trump supporters in a Thursday op-ed for seeing the former President's struggles as symbolic for their own. Titled "Why Trump has to sell a fantasy of collective persecution", his piece claimed that Republicans are using cynical victim narratives to rally their base: "Right now, with investigations potentially closing in on Trump from multiple directions, they've homed in on a vital message: This isn't about Trump. It's about you."
Bengaluru, Aug 12 : Karnataka Health Minister Dr K. Sudhakar on Friday appealed to people to, amid this Azadi Ki Amrit Mahotsav, pledge to donate their organs which could be the "amrit" of someone's life.

"Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will also take an organ donation pledge. I too along with other officials will also take a pledge along with CM Bommai at the event on Saturday," he said at a press conference here.

"We call blood donation a great donation. I would like to go one step ahead and say organ donation is the most superior donation. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi also has appealed to citizens of India during one of his Mann Ki Baat addresses." The minister said that an awareness programme will be held where a human chain will be formed from Bengaluru's Mekhri Circle to Freedom Park on Saturday to mark the World Organ Donation Day. The human chain will consist of over 5,000 which would include students, youth and ASHA workers to express cooperation amongst people, he added.

In addition to this, several stakeholders from the field of health and medicine will stand in the shape of kidneys at Tripura Vasini grounds from 8 to 8.15 a.m. to raise awareness, Sudhakar said.

Also, CM Bommai will be felicitating family members who donated the organs of their loved ones who unfortunately had been declared brain dead, at an event that will be held in Vidhana Soudha. Additionally, those who were the recipients of the organs will also share their thoughts on the occasion, he added.

Calling for Karnataka to become a role model in organ donation, Sudhakar said that is heartening to see so many come forward to pledge for this.

"Even our beloved Puneeth Rajkumar's eye donation has helped restore vision to five people. Organs of actor Sanchari Vijay have helped save five people," he added.
New York, Aug 12 : Former US President Donald Trump's companies ex-Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Allen Weisselberg, the long-time business associate at the Trump Organization, is still facing a variety of criminal charges related to tax evasion allegations after he failed in a New York court this week at getting the charges levelled against him by the District Attorney (DA) dismissed.

Manhattan Judge of New York district Juan Merchan rejected arguments from Weisselberg that insufficient evidence underlined his charges. Weisselberg's lawyers also previously suggested his prosecution was the result of vendetta-fuelled witness testimony from someone who, although apparently unnamed in publicly available arguments.

Revelations sat behind key investigative efforts targeting the Trump Organization, including the Manhattan-based criminal investigation that culminated in part in the criminal charges against Weisselberg in a case in which the Trump company itself was included as a co-defendant.

Weisselberg stands accused of evading the required taxes on hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits related to his work for Trump, the Bipartisan Report said.

Bipartisan is a liberal bias website founded by the owners of Costco Wholesale stores chain in the US which accepts emails from people.

It calls itself Bringing the News portal even as Republicans have accused the portal of being partisan and lacking transparency.

Over 15 years, Weisselberg allegedly benefited from $359,058 covering tuition costs for multiple family members of his, $196,245 for car lease charges, $29,400 in unreported cash, and a variety of additional personal expenses.

The Trump company itself alleged the charges, which were filed by the Manhattan district attorney's office, as a case "neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing".

The district attorney's team says the case "at its core, is ordinary" -- rather than an angry, anti-Trump political initiative.

The Trump company and a connected company dealing with payroll saw a charge of criminal tax fraud in the fourth degree dismissed -- seemingly with prosecutors' agreement, because of the relevant statute of limitations, but all of Weisselberg's charges stand after his motions to dismiss failed. Weisselberg's trial is scheduled for the near future, with jury selection slated to begin on October 24.

Weisselberg's charges, as reported by 'Law & Crime', include conspiracy, grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and falsifying business records.

Previous revelations from Cohen also helped drive a civil investigation into the Trump family business from New York state Attorney General Letitia James, whose probe is focusing on issues including the Trump Organization's apparent "deceptive representations of values of key assets, including conservation easements at Trump-owned properties in California and New York".

Those "deceptive valuations" were posed to provide financial benefits for the Trump company like tax breaks, which the company obtained through providing the deceptive values for the conservation easements to tax authorities.

After losing a multi-stage judicial fight to stop depositions of Donald and two of his adult children, the former president recently sat for questioning in the James investigation -- and pleaded the Fifth Amendment over 400 times.

This week's hearing in the Manhattan criminal case at which Weisselberg lost his attempt to undo the charges against him was the first time he and the Trump Organization appeared in court in this case in almost a year. Another hearing in the case will be taking place September 12, where a motion from Weisselberg will be deliberated over.

The Trump exec's push is to suppress statements he made while initially in custody in July of last year from usage in the proceedings against him. At that time, he evidently admitted to living in Manhattan -- within the bounds of New York City -- since 2005, and spoke of the cost of education, which he seemingly defensively referred to as "expensive", the Bipartisan report claimed.

In the meantime, Merchan indicated a written order outlining his decision-making process regarding this week's matters would be forthcoming. Weisselberg's indictment includes 15 felony criminal charges. He is also accused of hiding his New York City residency and thereby evading city income taxes.
Srinagar, Aug 13 : The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is poised to become India's most prosperous and highest foreign exchange earner if all the efforts to exploit its tourism potential proceed on time.

Encouraged by unprecedented rush of tourists, the government has expanded its tourism policy not to leave out any area of seemingly least tourism importance.

No visitor can contest the description of Kashmir as the paradise on earth-its tall snow-clad mountains, tall swinging chinars, birds, animals, flowers, trees laden with fruits and, above all, its tall and beautiful people endowed with talent and grace.

The present government believes Kashmir has no spot, howsoever neglected hitherto, which is without tourism potential. It has earmarked four such areas for this purpose. It includes the farm sector which, perhaps, nowhere in the world is included among tourist attractions. It is a new idea which certainly will attract tourists - depends how the publicity material is designed for different target countries.

Eco-tourism is another area. It is a very wide area. It will include the whole economy activity by which the Kashmiris live. The eco-tourism will show tourists their talent of carving and designing motifs on wood, woollens, carpets and warm clothes- all reflecting their inner soul.

Tourists can also see that a Kashmiri is not only a talented artiste but also a friendly soft-spoken, suave and persuasive salesman.

The government proposes to include Wild life among tourist attractions.

Also will be included tribal life. This part of life in Kashmir is seldom (or never) talked about.

Tourists have shown great interest in mountain biking, para-gliding, hot-air balloon, riders, river rafting, tracking and camping. This has inspired the government to provide for more adventure tourism and equipment needed.

To attract more and more tourists the government has prepared a scheme to scout for hitherto undiscovered areas of tourists interest. Tourism festivals in health resorts are among these. They have proved a great success in terms of tourist inflow from abroad and from within the country.

The Tourism Department has prepared different tourist circuits with emphasis on adventure tourism, tracking activities, pilgrimage spots and others. It includes participation of villages in the tourism programmes.

Recently, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha declared open a Jammu and Kashmir Tourist village network under Mission Youth. This programme aims at turning 75 villages of the Union Territory into tourist villages. These villages are famous for their history, cultural life and beauty.

The success of all the above tourism programmes greatly depends on the participation of youth who are sure to gain from them.

Sinha said all these tourism programmes would be strengthened with the participation of the youth.

These programmes will generate job opportunities for boys and girls.

But indirect benefits to the economy of Jammu and Kashmir will be massive.

Each individual and each household, which is engaged in handicraft in villages, is going to benefit greatly. There will be jobs for those who want to take advantage of these developments.
New Delhi Aug 13 : Santideva was an 8th century Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet and scholar in the erstwhile Nalanda University.

The Tibetan historians Buton and Taranatha tell us that Santideva was a Brahmin prince, the son of the King Kalyanavarman and Queen Vajrayogini from Saurashtra, a western coastal region that now forms part of Gujarat.

He went by the name Shantivarman. He renounced the princely life and became a monastic. He was an adherent of the Madhyamaka philosophy and is also considered to be one of the 84 mahasiddhas.

Legends say that at the age of six, he met with a yogi from whom he received his first initiation and teachings on the practice of Manjushri. It is said that on the eve of his enthronement, Manjushri and Arya Tara appeared in his dreams. When he woke up, he saw his impending kingship as a poisonous tree and hastily fled the kingdom.

He is believed to have received teachings directly from Arya Manjushri and also carried a wooden sword which symbolised the wisdom sword of Manjushri. He travelled to the Kingdom of Pancamasimha and was appointed by the king as a minister. During his tenure, he introduced the skill of various crafts and urged the king to rule his kingdom always in accordance with Dharma and suggested 20 Dharma foundations be established.

Then Santideva left for the great Nalanda University. At Nalanda, he received ordination of a monk from Abbot Jayadeva and was given the name Santideva. Though there, he came to be known as a Bhu-Su-Ku, a kind of Sanskrit acronym derived from words meaning "eat", "sleep", and "defecate" as that was all anyone had seen him do.

None knew he was receiving teachings from Manjushri and realised all important points of both Sutra and Tantra. In an attempt to encourage their apparently lazy student to return to his proper path, some of the monks in authority at Nalanda decided to assign him to recite a text at an upcoming religious festival; and, just to humiliate him even more, built him an elaborate throne from which to speak.

On the day of the festival, Santideva ascended the throne and asked the audience whether they would like to hear something old or something new; or in other words, whether he should recite something he had memorised, or an original composition of his own Bodhicaryavatara.

During the recitation, while seated in meditation posture, the master began to levitate above the throne. At the recitation of verse 34 of chapter 9, he levitated in the air and vanished. Later those who possessed clairaudience noted down the remaining chapters of which two versions came up -- one had 700 stanzas (Pandits of Kashmir) while some had a thousand (Magadha, Central India) or more.

Later Acharya Santideva confirmed that the correct version corresponded to what the scholars of Magadha had produced.

Works of Santideva Two major works are unanimously attributed to Santideva: Bodhicaryavatara (A Guide to a Bodhisattva Way of Life) written in 700 AD in Sanskrit, the most widely-read philosophical poem, and Siksa-Samuccaya, valuable and intellectually rich anthology of quotations from the Mahayana sutras with commentary by Santideva.

Two major versions of Bodhicaryavatara exist, one comprising thousand verses that was regarded as canonical in Tibet (see Buton 2013: 259). The Bodhicaryavatara has been translated into several modern languages, including Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, German, Hindi, Newari, and Spanish, for a total of at least 27 contemporary translations (as surveyed by Gomez 1999: 4-5).

It has 10 chapters dedicated to the development of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the six perfections (Skt Paramitas). Chapters 1-3 comprises the practice of Perfection of Generosity; Chapters 4-5 is on Perfection of Ethical Discipline; Chapter 6 is on Perfection of Patience; Chapter 7 is on Perfection of Enthusiasm; Chapter 8 is on Perfection of Meditative Concentration; and Chapter 9 is on Perfection of Wisdom.

Siksa-Samuccaya contains a number of passages of ethical and philosophical interest in Santideva's own voice, as well as numerous beautiful and moving poems and a wide variety of scriptural materials drawn from over a hundred sutras. Textual scholars have often relied on Siksa-Samuccaya as a crucial source, as it preserves passages in Sanskrit from dozens of sutras that have been lost in their original language. It also contains 27 "root verses" that express important themes of the book.

Bodhicaryavatara is a widely-taught and studied by South Asian Buddhists community. The 14th Dalai Lama has been teaching this text to a wide audience of all Buddhist communities on their request. It is one of the treasures of the Indian wisdom that is pertinent in today's modern world.

Acharya Santideva is one of the greatest masters of the Indian sub-continent whose work is still influencing millions of Buddhist across the globe.
Kolkata, Aug 13 : West Bengal BJP will organise a march to the state secretariat Nabanna on September 7 over the issue of corruption at all levels in the state government, demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The Bengal BJP organised a protest demonstration at Esplanade on Friday where state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar announced the party programme on September 7.

According to Majumdar, the BJP is planning to organise a statewide protest on the issue of corruption.

"The march to Nabanna is part of the agitation. The Chief Minister cannot deny the responsibility of the huge financial embezzlement for which Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mandal are currently behind the bars. However, she is trying to shrug off all her responsibilities on this count. So our continuous agitation will continue demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister," Majumdar said.
Jaipur, Aug 13 : Nearly one crore school children in Rajasthan created a world record by singing patriotic songs at the same time under the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' campaign to celebrate the occasion of 75th Independence day in India.

These students from different districts across the state sang patriotic songs simultaneously from 10:15 to 10:40 a.m.

The main event took place at Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur in the presence of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot along with 26,000 school children of the state capital. This achievement of children has been accorded a place in the World Book of Records.

Pawan Kumar Goel, Additional Chief Secretary, Rajasthan Education Department, said that 67,000 government and 50,000 private schools of the state were included in this singing programme.

Nearly one crore children studying from class 9 to 12 from all over the state simultaneously sang six patriotic songs for 25 minutes, Goel added.
"I believe in self-advocacy and created a collaborative joint effort with doctors, advocates, and scientists on the edge of research to bring this patient community resource to life," Cox says.

Christie Cox, a patient and advocate who suffers from hypermobile Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS), announced today the release of her new book titled Holding It All Together When Youre Hypermobile. Her story sheds light on the plight of many disabled people who turn to crowdsourcing for their healthcare when the medical system doesnt serve them well.

The new book highlights her 17-year journey to getting a correct diagnosis of a once-thought to be rare disorder that wrecked her life as she knew it. She, like many other chronically ill people, has been forced to turn to online forums and fellow patients instead of trained doctors to learn all they can about their diseases, what Cox terms "crowdsourcing your care." Medical crowdsourcing sites and apps are gaining momentum and are powered by AI, including patient-focused sites like CrowdMed, StuffThatWorks, and PatientsLikeMe.

Initial response by the patient community has been overwhelming with five star reviews rocketing the Amazon new release to #1 in its category and ranked #3 in the free Kindle downloads of the week!

A long-time EDS medical provider, Dr. Alan Spanos, says, "People with EDS, and certain other conditions, are sidelined or completely ignored by the medical profession. For these conditions, patients themselves have to become the experts, then search for the few educable doctors who will take the time to learn from them and have enough interest in them to want to help them. These doctors are a dwindling population, an endangered species, threatened by extinction due to the nature of our health system: a profit-based industry rather than a community service."

In her book, Cox outlines why medical researchers now believe at least 1 in every 500 people is afflicted by hypermobile EDS, often going undiagnosed (average time to diagnosis: 1214 years). The multi-systemic nature of EDS is rooted in a genetic abnormality causing faulty collagen, which is found everywhere in the body and can prove elusive to many medical professionals today. This can complicate connecting the uncorrelated symptoms previously only recognized by hyperextending skin and joints.

Cox explains to patients and their caregivers who are looking for help not only the basics of hypermobility but also its common comorbidities, such as autonomic dysfunction of dysautonomia or POTS (similar to long-COVID) and joint instability, such as craniocervical issues, which happen when your brain drops into your spinal canal and causes mild Chiari. All of these side effects are ones that Cox herself experiences. Her passion project in writing this book has been to collect guidance from other patients and community members to share resources along with suggestions to get diagnosed, potential provider specialists and treatment options, plus lifestyle management tips to enhance quality of life.

"I believe in self-advocacy and was graciously joined by others in this joint effort with doctors, advocates, and scientists on the edge of research to bring this patient community resource to life." Cox says the result is a powerful guide with insights from medical professionals who understand the disease and advocacy leaders who support research into potential testing, treatment, and hope for a cure. Many patients long for these needed resources that could change the dismissive approach many doctors have to invisible illnesses like EDS. Patients empowered to help other patients.

Cox was joined by the below list of distinguished medical experts, including researchers investigating the disorder at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Working together, they aim to help make a difference.



Dr. Sunil Patel, Neurosurgery Chief (MUSC)

Dr. "Chip" Norris, The Norris Lab (researching hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS)), MUSC

Dr. Cortney Gensemer PhD, Norris Lab (inspiration behind the lab and has hEDS)

Dr. Amanda Miller, Progress Physical Therapy (specialty in hypermobility)

Dr. Eric Singman, Former Chief of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins and Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuro-ophthalmology at the University of Maryland Medical School

Cox was joined by a number of community leaders who worked to get information directly into the hands of patients who were looking for answers.
NEWNESS Puts the CARE in Skincare with Skincare Summer School "As an esthetician, I'm happy to be part of this platform that helps provide fellow skincare and beauty enthusiasts a safe place to ask questions, learn in fun ways and support each other," - Jordan Samuel Pacitti, founder and CEO of Jordan Samuel Skin.

NEWNESS, a social livestreaming platform that celebrates authenticity in the beauty industry, today announced Skincare Summer School  a new series that is breaking down barriers (just not skin barriers!)

The three month program, hosted exclusively on NEWNESS, is just one of the ways the platform is empowering creators, viewers and brands to crowdsource their shared knowledge and experiences in an effort to bring genuine human connection and trust back to social media. Skincare Summer School welcomes all opinions and recommendations as a valued part of the lesson plan.

A word Id use to describe NEWNESS is refreshing, says aspiring esthetician and NEWNESS creator Melody Jones (also known as Melroseglow online). It's a safe space to connect with other beauty lovers that feels more intimate than other social media platforms. With Skincare Summer School, I get to engage with brands in this same approachable way.

Through Skincare Summer School, participants are given the opportunity to chat with leading skincare brands via fun and educational content, alongside like-minded skintellectuals. Other benefits include livestreams from relatable creators, challenges, giveaways, and so much more.

One of our goals with Skincare Summer School is to help bridge the gap in trust between beauty seekers and brands, said Jenny Qian, Founder and CEO of NEWNESS. Social media has helped to cultivate a new generation of skincare lovers myself included!but its still hard to know if that product or technique is right for me. Ive always wanted a place online where I could go to have real discussions with brands and other skincare lovers who were just as passionate about skincare as me. Were thrilled that NEWNESS be that home by providing an intimate space for the beauty community to meet and converse with each other, other creators, and now their favorite brands in an authentic, jugement-free way.

And for brands, studies show that 81% of consumers say that trust is a deciding factor in purchase decisions, continued Qian. We want to help brands build trust and create long-term relationships with beauty seekers by offering them a platform to spark authentic dialogue thats intimate and transformative.

Beauty and skincare lovers can tune in for:



Deep Dive into Cleansers and Retinols with Jordan Samuel Pacitti of Jordan Samuel Skin (8/16 at 6pm ET)

Debunking Fragrance Myths with I Dew Care (8/25 at 6pm ET)

Finding your Nighttime Skincare routine with Glow Recipe (9/7 at 5pm ET)

Self Care Rituals with Superegg founder Erica Choi (9/15 at 6pm ET)

Affordable & Fun Skincare Tools with I Dew Care (9/22 at 6pm ET)

If you missed it, you can watch:



Indie Lees Top 5 Skincare Secrets you need to know, here.

An Introduction to Experiment Beauty & Reusable Face Mask 101 with founder Lisa Guerrera, here.

Korean Wellness Focused Summer Skincare Tips with Riley House founders Mina Jang & Grace Son, here.

Lymphatic Drainage Techniques with Noelle Valera from Kana Skincare, here.

OSEA, Wander Beauty, Matter of Fact, and Kiramoon are also scheduled to participate, with more brands being added each week!

"As an esthetician, I'm happy to be part of this platform that helps provide fellow skincare and beauty enthusiasts a safe place to ask questions, learn in fun ways and support each other," said Jordan Samuel Pacitti, founder and CEO of Jordan Samuel Skin. I cant wait to share tips and tricks that I have learned in both theater dressing rooms and skin treatment rooms as part of NEWNESSs Summer School, starting with proper cleansing and retinol usagetwo of the foundational aspects of a solid skincare routine.

As part of the program, products from the participating Skincare Summer School brands will be included in a monthly skincare box available to qualifying creatorsallowing them to continue the conversation long after the brand livestreams have ended.

The concept is so fun, and you can just give your honest opinions without any obligations or approval needed, shared aspiring esthetician and NEWNESS creator Rachel Russell (known as skincarewithrae online). Youre here to talk about products and brands, but you get to be yourself!

Click here to learn more and enroll in Skincare Summer School.

About NEWNESS

NEWNESS is a social livestreaming platform created for beauty lovers, by beauty lovers. Born from the belief that there is a special magic in livestreaming, NEWNESS empowers its community to create meaningful moments together by celebrating all things beauty.

Whether theyre going live with their daily makeup routine or connecting with other beauty enthusiasts in the chat, NEWNESS creators and viewers are empowered to authentically express themselves.

Backed by leading investors including Sequoia Capital, NEWNESS' mission is to provide the beauty community with an inclusive space for exploration, connection and conversation. Where one might see an audience to engage, we see a community of best friends inspiring one another. See you in the chat! Learn more at http://www.newness.com.
Customers located in Columbia, South Carolina, can get oil change services for their vehicle done at Bluff Road Auto Sales.

Oil change services are part of routine maintenance services that should be conducted for every vehicle. At Bluff Road Auto Sales, oil change services are available to customers located in the Columbia, South Carolina area.

The presence of oil in the engine ensures that all vehicle parts are well lubricated, and the chances of a breakdown owing to worn-out parts are reduced. Carmakers recommend that an oil change service be conducted every 5,000 miles depending on vehicle use. Car owners can also refer to their owners manual for a proper timeline based on their vehicle model.

Getting an oil change service would ensure that there is improved engine performance, increased fuel efficiency, and extended engine life.

Bluff Road Auto Sales uses high-quality oil which meets the standards set by the manufacturer. The dealership possesses a team of certified technicians who conduct the oil and filter change process of the service according to the specifications of the car.

Customers are required to schedule a service appointment at Bluff Road Auto Sales by visiting the dealerships website at http://www.bluffusedcarscolumbiasc.com.

The dealership is located at 1400 Bluff Road in Columbia, South Carolina, and can be reached at 833-939-1508. Feel free to contact the dealership for further assistance.
A $15 rebate is available with a purchase of wiper blades at Carl Black Orlando

Carl Black Orlando, a Chevrolet, Buick and GMC dealership, is offering drivers a rebate with the purchase of three wiper blades. Drivers must purchase three to take advantage of this offer, and the wiper blades must be ACDelco Original Equipment, ACDelco Gold or ACDelco Silver for this rebate. The rebate is up to $15 that drivers can get back.

The type of wiper blade purchased will determine the total rebate amount. The full rebate is available for the ACDelco Original Equipment wiper blades, at five dollars per wiper blade. ACDelco Gold wiper blade purchasers will receive a $4 rebate per wiper blade for a total $12 rebate. Drivers who purchase ACDelco Silver wiper blades will receive a $3 rebate per wiper blade totaling $9. Wiper blades are a relatively inexpensive vehicle part to purchase, and these rebates represent a large percentage of the total cost.

To receive the rebate, drivers will need to fill out the rebate form after their purchase. The rebate form can be found online at mycertifiedservicerebates.com. The rebate form must be submitted by September 30, 2022. The rebate will be sent back in the form of a debit card, and drivers should allow six to eight weeks for the delivery of the card. Wiper blades must be purchased by August 31, 2022, to be eligible for the rebate.

Drivers who wish to learn more and view the service special coupon can do so on the dealerships website, carlblackoforlando.com.
Every time I visit Frederick County, I am struck by the commitment to innovation and advancement I see in the region and its residents." - Senator Chris Van Hollen

On Wednesday, August 9, 2022, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Congressman David Trone (MD-06) joined the Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Maryland MEP) for a visit of Maryland MEP client Ellume, a medical diagnostic manufacturer located in Frederick, Md. The event served to support, promote, and celebrate manufacturing in Maryland.

MD MEP and Ellume were pleased to welcome the congressional delegation as well as Dr. Laurie E. Locascio, Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), for a tour of Ellumes state-of-the-art facility. The guests also participated in a roundtable conversation with Ellumes leadership and workforce.

This event took place on a monumental day for U.S. manufacturing. Earlier that morning, the CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law, authorizing $9 billion for NIST and tripling the funding for Manufacturing Extension Partnership programs across the country. To help commemorate the occasion, Maryland MEP presented each member of the Congressional Delegation with a Proud to Make it in Maryland banner, a program designed to highlight and showcase the nearly 4,000 manufacturers that are proud to call Maryland home.

Today, I got the opportunity to speak with Frederick and Washington county residents about my top priorities in Congress. We need to invest in manufacturing, medical research, local businesses, mental health, and our first responders, said Congressman David Trone. Im fighting every day in Congress to expand resources and funding for these initiatives and Im proud to say that weve been able to make significant progress by passing both The Public Safety Officer Support Act and the CHIPS and Science Act. This progress is important but its only just the beginning.

I very much enjoyed the opportunity to join Congressman Trone, Senator Van Hollen, NIST Director Locasio and the many constituents who joined us in Frederick for several candid discussions about current events, said Senator Cardin. Every time I visit Frederick County, I am struck by the commitment to innovation and advancement I see in the region and its residents. From its small businesses to cutting-edge medical science installations, Frederick has found ways to preserve its historic character while positioning itself for a strong regional economic future.

Having both Senators Cardin and Van Hollen as well as Congressman Trone take time out of their busy schedules to visit Ellume and talk about the opportunities that exist in manufacturing demonstrates the importance of our industry to Marylands economy, said Maryland MEP Executive Director Michael Kelleher.

About the Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Maryland MEP)

The Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MD MEP) is a Maryland 501c3 non-profit organization committed to supporting and growing manufacturing in Maryland. The organization is funded in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technologys Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Maryland Department of Commerce and Industry to support the manufacturing industry in Maryland.

For more information, follow Maryland MEP @mdmep on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.


Mike Brandner Injury Attorneys - Hot August Night Wine Walk Stop Mike Brandner Injury Attorneys takes part in a Downtown Hammond tradition by joining other local businesses as a Wine Walk stop during the Hot August Night celebration.

Mike Brandner Injury Attorneys takes part in a Downtown Hammond tradition by joining other local businesses as a Wine Walk stop during the Hot August Night celebration on Friday, August 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The law firms table will be set up outside its new Hammond law office at 117 E. Thomas St., found between N. Cypress Street and N. Cate Street. Hot August Night Wine Walk participants are invited to stop by the law firms table to enter a raffle for the chance to win a tailgate package that includes a YETI cooler, two YETI 30 oz. travel mugs, and two YETI wine tumblers.

Additional free-to-attend Hot August Night activities include live musicians, local musical performances, LionPawLooza (parade, pep rally, and meet and greet with SLU student-athletes), and more.

Learn more about Hot August Night and how to purchase Wine Walk tickets on the Hammond Downtown Development District website.

About Mike Brandner Injury Attorneys

Mike Brandner Injury Attorneys has successfully represented victims from a variety of backgrounds in lawsuits against large insurance companies, Fortune 500 companies, large corporations, condominium associations, labor unions, and more. Many of these cases involve injuries related to traffic accidents, hurricane insurance claims, defective products, workplace accidents, maritime accidents, railroad accidents (FELA), and other accidents. Find out more about Mike Brandner and his team of Louisiana injury attorneys by calling (504) 345-1111. You can also interact with the law firm by connecting with them on Twitter and Facebook.

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Transformation: The Journey from I Do to Well Done!: a heartfelt look into the highs and lows of marriage. Transformation: The Journey from I Do to Well Done! is the creation of published author Mishay Lavine, a certified biblical counselor and widow who seeks to help encourage strong marriages.

Lavine shares, are you ready for marriage? Preparation for a wifes big day includes the dresses, flowers, venues, invitations, cake, and of course, the rings. After the big day comes preparation for a lifetime of transformations; and unfortunately, the process can really take one by surprise. After the ceremony is concluded, the guests have shared gifts and returned to their individual lives and spaces, now what? There is help for every stage of the marriage process of becoming one flesh like the Holy Bible teaches. As each person relinquishes singleness to unite as one, for both husbands and wives, transformations must occur. As these adjustments commence, there is a sure model by which every wife can mold her service to her husband from I Do-2-Well Done!

The responsibilities of being married and a parent all within a two-day process required responses and adjustments that the author never considered necessary. Where does one turn for the right answers? Contained here are Biblical answers to questions, challenges, and false expectations that were experienced early in the authors marriage. Difference of opinions and unrealistic expectations resulted in a plethora of disputes between the happy couple; what appeared to work for Hollywood marriages and on television exacerbated the chaos between two strong-willed individuals, predominantly where the wife was determined to have things her way.

There is hope! With faith, prayer, humility, and practice, transformations for this union resulted in a seamless happily-ever-after bond until, at the end of lifes journey, honoring their vow to GOD, the two did part. Every marriage will experience transitions from the day I Do is promised until death separates the two; however, healthy transformations are the outcomes when the applied model is Biblical.

There is hope and a model for the happily ever after couples long to experience. Mrs. Lavines transparency is evidence that it is possible. Shine On...from I Do-2-Well Done!

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Mishay Lavines new book is a helpful resource for those looking to explore ways to support their spouse.

Lavine offers personal reflection and relevant scripture in hopes of empowering others to put in the necessary work to achieve successful, long-lasting marriages.

Consumers can purchase Transformation: The Journey from I Do to Well Done! at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Transformation: The Journey from I Do to Well Done!, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The Millard Fillmore Presidential Silver Medal will be available for purchase directly from the United States Mint (Mint) starting on August 15 at noon EDT. Fillmore was the nations 13th U.S. President, serving from July 10, 1850, until March 3, 1853.

The Department of the Treasury has a long-standing tradition of honoring each President of the United States with an official bronze medal struck by the Mint. The Mint is now replicating this series of medals in 99.9 percent fine silver, each measuring 1.598 inches in diameter.

The obverse design is by sculptor Salathiel Ellis and the reverse by artist Joseph Willson.

The obverse (heads) depicts a portrait of Millard Fillmore with the inscriptions MILLARD FILLMORE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and 1850.

The reverse (tails) depicts a farmer, leaning upon a plow, and conversing with an Indian Chief, an American flag in the background, and above it is inscribed LABOR, VIRTUE, and HONOR. At the base J.WILLSON is inscribed.

Each medal is encapsulated and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

The Millard Fillmore Presidential Silver Medal is priced at $65. To set up a REMIND ME alert for this product, visit https://catalog.usmint.gov/millard-fillmore-presidential-silver-medal-S813.html/ (product code S813).

To view additional medals in this series, visit: https://catalog.usmint.gov/medals/presidential/silver-presidential-medals/.

Presidential Silver Medals are also available for purchase via the Mints Product Enrollment Program. Enrollments work like a magazine subscription. Once enrolled, you will receive the next product released in the series and continue to receive products until you end your enrollment. Visit the catalog site to learn more.

The Presidential Silver Medals are also available at the Mints sales centers at the Philadelphia Mint, 151 N. Independence Mall East, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (on 5th Street between Arch Street and Race Street); at the Denver Mint, 320 West Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80204 (on Cherokee Street, between West Colfax Avenue and West 14th Avenue); and from the Mint Headquarters Coin Store in Washington, D.C., 801 9th St. NW, Washington, DC 20220. Please visit the Denver Mint or Philadelphia Mint websites for information on the operating status of those sales centers. Sales centers will be closed when the COVID-19 community level is HIGH to ensure the health and safety of our employees and the public.

About the United States Mint

Congress created the United States Mint in 1792, and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nations sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.

Note: To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, the United States Mint will not accept and will not honor orders placed prior to the official on-sale date of August 15, 2022, at noon EDT.

Please use the Mints catalog site at https://catalog.usmint.gov/ as your primary source of the most current information on products and services, or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:



Visit https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/medals/presidential for information about the Presidential Medals Series.

Visit https://www.usmint.gov/about for information about the United States Mint.

Visit and subscribe to the United States Mints YouTube channel to view videos about the United States Mint.

Visit https://catalog.usmint.gov/email-signup to subscribe to United States Mint electronic product notifications, news releases, public statements, and our monthly educational newsletter, Lessons That Make Cents.

Sign up for RSS Feeds from the United States Mint and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

United States Mint  Connecting America through Coins
Author Salman Rushdie, 75, was attacked on August 12 as he was being introduced for a lecture he was giving at the Chautauqua Institution, a gated community near Erie in western New York. Witnesses told the New York Times that Rushdie was punched and stabbed, suffering multiple wounds. He was evacuated to a local hospital by helicopter.

Rushdie was placed on a ventilator after surgery on Friday, but his agent, Andrew Wylie, told the New York Times that the author was recovering, and was able to speak again on Saturday. Rushdie was punched or stabbed roughly 10 times and, according to Wylie, suffered liver damage, nerve damage to one arm, and damage to one of his eyes, which he was expected to lose. A suspect, Hadi Matar of New Jersey, has been arrested; while no motive for the attack has been discovered, authorities say the assault was premeditated.

Rushdie is the respected and sometimes controversial author of 14 novels. His most celebrated work is Midnight's Children, the 1981 Booker Prizewinning epic novel about the partition of India and Pakistan; it is considered among the best novels of the last half-century. The book was initially banned in India, where Rushdie was subsequently barred from traveling for more than a decade.

A subsequent novel proved more contentious: 1988's The Satanic Verses incorporated elements of the Holy Quran and fictionalized parts of the life of Muhammad. Deemed blasphemous to Islam, the book prompted the late leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to issue a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death in 1989. (Iran, which has not removed the fatwa, denied involvement in the attack, but has blamed Rushdie for its occurrence.)

Following the news, the book briefly became a bestseller, until death threats were extended to publishers and translators of the bookas well as to booksellers, many of who opted not to stock the book out of fear of reprisals. At the time, PW covered the news extensively, with editor-in-chief John Baker calling Khomeini a "gangster" and implored the industry to rally around Rushdie and his U.S. publisher, Viking Penguin.

Rushdie spent much of the next decade in hiding or traveling with security, only emerging and attending public events again in 2000, when the threat appeared to have been lifted. Until this year, his life had been relatively incident-free, despite his continued and open criticism of Islamic violence, especially in the wake of the September 11 attacks. He was knighted by the Queen of England in 2007 for his services to literature. His new novel, Victory City, is being published by Random House in February next year.

Speaking of the attack, Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, said in a statement: We can think of no comparable incident of a public attack on a literary writer on American soil. She added: Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman had emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers in need of safe refuge from the grave perils they face. Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades, but has never flinched nor faltered. (Rushdie is a past president of PEN America.)

Other organizations have issued statements condemning the attack and offering support for Rushdie. Authors Guild president Doug Preston said he was "horrified and shocked to learn that our valued member and longtime friend." He added that, while no motive has been unearthed, the Guild "can and will say this: the assault on Rushdie was an attack on all writers and on free speech itself. We are all Salman Rushdie. In its statement, the National Coalition Against Censorship called Rushdie "a brave defender of free speech," and said it is hard to not think that the assault was in retaliation for Rushdie writing The Satanic Verses.

In addition, numerous authors have offered their support for Rushdie on Twitter, including Neil Gaiman, who wrote on Twitter: "I'm shocked and distressed to see my friend @SalmanRushdie has been attacked before a talk. He's a good man and a brilliant one and I hope he's okay." Following her own tweet of support, author J.K. Rowling was threatened on Twitter; a police investigation in the U.K. is now ongoing.

This story has been updated.
The family of Anne Heche said Friday that the actress' chances of survival are slim following a fiery car crash last week in Los Angeles.

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"Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition," a representative for the family told CNN in a statement. "She is not expected to survive."

"It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable," the statement added.

The statement went on to "thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne's recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital."

"Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit...she will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light," the statement said.

The 53-year-old actress has reportedly been in a coma since last Friday, when she crashed her Mini Cooper at a high rate of speed into a house in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles, according to officials from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

The fiery crash resulted in the near-total destruction of the house, though a woman inside the home at the time sustained only minor injuries, the LAPD said.

An initial statement following the crash said that Heche was intubated, but in "stable condition."

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However, in the days after, her representatives told People Magazine that Heche's injuries were more severe than first reported, saying that she had suffered "a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention."

They added that the actress was "in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident."

Officials continue to investigate the cause of the crash, but have confirmed that drugs had been found in Heche's system.

"The case is being investigated as felony DUI traffic collision," the LAPD said in a statement on Thursday. The department added that they could "not comment right now on [the] presence of cocaine, fentanyl or alcohol at this time."

Heche first became prominent in Hollywood for her role in the soap opera Another World in the 1990s, for which she would win a Daytime Emmy Award.

She is also known for her work in films such as Donnie Darko, Return to Paradise and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Heche would also earn a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2004 for her performance in the television film Gracie's Choice.

She was also seen on television in more recent years on shows like Quantico and Chicago P.D.

Support for Heche was seen across social media in the aftermath of the crash, with her ex James Tupper -- with whom she has one son -- writing on Instagram, "Thoughts and prayers for this lovely woman, actress and mother tonight Anne Heche. We love you."

Another one of her exes, Thomas Jane, told the Daily Mail that he offered his "thoughts and prayers" to "one of the true talents of her generation."
Actress Emily Blunt is reportedly set to co-star alongside Ryan Gosling in an upcoming film adaptation of the 1980s TV series The Fall Guy.

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The news was first reported by Deadline on Friday, with sources telling the outlet that the film, which is to be produced by Universal Pictures, will be released on March 1, 2024.

Universal has not confirmed Blunt's casting, though the news was further corroborated by The Hollywood Reporter.

Production on the untitled film is set to begin in Australia this fall, according to Deadline.

The film will reportedly be a loose adaptation of the original television program The Fall Guy, which revolved around a professional Hollywood stuntman who secretly also worked as a bounty hunter.

The series ran on ABC from 1981 to 1986, and starred Lee Majors , Douglas Barr and Heather Thomas

Plot details remain slim, and it is unknown if Blunt or Gosling will be portraying any of the characters from the original show.

The film will be directed by David Leitch, known for helming action-heavy projects like Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, John Wick and the recently released action-comedy Bullet Train.

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Leitch will also executive produce the film with his partner Kelly McCormick, along with Drew Pierce, who Leitch collaborated with for his film Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

Gosling will also serve as an executive producer.

The Canadian actor is known for his work in a variety of blockbuster films, such as La La Land, First Man, Blade Runner 2049, Crazy Stupid Love and The Notebook.

He can currently be seen in the action film The Gray Man on Netflix alongside Ana de Armas and Chris Evans.

For Blunt, the film will give her another shot to show off her action abilities, as the British actress has previously done in films like Looper, Sicario and Edge of Tomorrow.

Blunt was most recently seen in the Disney film Jungle Cruise alongside Dwayne Johnson.

Her next film appearance will come in July 2023, when she stars alongside Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan 's highly anticipated film chronicling the early days of the Manhattan Project.

She is also well-known for her marriage to John Krasinski, with whom she has starred alongside in Krasinski's horror series A Quiet Place.
Type-12 anti-ship missile of Japan Self-defense Forces (JSDF)

By Wen Weiru

Japanese media reported that the Japanese government recently decided to deploy its anti-ship missile that is still under development in 2023, three years earlier than the planned 2026, a move thats interpreted as symbolizing Japans accelerated steps to break the restrictions on its military development.

Japan is strengthening mid-range assault capacity.

It is learned that the missile to be deployed in advance is the modified version of the type-12 anti-ship missile, a weapon that started R&D in 1992 and was deployed in 2015. The missile is 5m long, 350mm in diameter, and about 700kg in weight, with a maximal speed of Mach 0.9 and a maximal shooting range of 200km.

Since the type-12 anti-ship missile was deployed, the Japanese government has all long been dissatisfied with its 200km range. Therefore, it decided in December 2020 to put forth a program to upgrade the missile in three aspects and deploy it in 2026.

First, Tokyo wants to increase the missiles shooting range. The initial target is to double the range to 400km; in the long term, it plans to reach 900km and 1,500km in two stages, meeting the standard for mid-range missiles.

Second, Tokyo wants to expand the launching platform. At present, the type-12 anti-ship missile is launched from a land-based launching pad, but Japan wants to develop sea-based, air-based, and even submarine-based missiles if possible to make type-12 a tri-purpose weapon.

Third, Tokyo wants to enhance the missiles attack performance. The type-12 anti-ship missile is mainly used to hit targets on the sea. After being upgraded, it is a ship-borne ballistic missile targeting land objects and can attack enemy port or missile-launching site, thus forming the so-called enemy base strike capability.

Japan is coordinating Americas military deployment.

Japan is so eager to deploy a weapon before its even completely developed because it cannot wait to achieve the following strategic intentions.

For one thing, it can revise the weapon development plan and make modifications along the way. Japan has announced a so-called agile development approach to test missiles when they are still under development but have acquired some functions. The testing of missiles by frontline troops in real combat can help improve the performance. Moreover, Japan has sped up the R&D of its hypersonic missile in recent years and announced breakthroughs in key technologies. Its compression of the time for testing and evaluating the anti-ship missile and the earlier deployment this time is aimed at filling the blank in mid-range defense and attack before the hypersonic missile is fully developed.

For another, it is looking for an opportunity to break the restrictions on its military development. Japans earlier deployment of the anti-ship missile, on the pretext of a complicated international situation and serious security threats to the region, is in fact intended to pave the way for lifting the restrictions on its military strengths. Its Tokyos usual trick to gradually upgrade its weapons and equipment and break through restrictions by hyping up regional security threats.

For a third thing, Japan is coordinating the US military deployments. As the US military has adjusted its deployments in the West Pacific, Japan has kept intensifying the strategic coordination with its big brother, sparing no effort to serve as a pawn in Americas Indo-Pacific strategy. The earlier deployment of anti-ship missile this time is not just an eager answer to Americas request for Japan to play a bigger role, but also a declaration of their military alliance to the outside world.
At 6 p.m. on Monday evening, many Athenians were celebrating the birth of American independence in 1776. Others were on the steps of the Athens-Clarke County courthouse calling attention to a government structure that they believe is actively paring away that independence.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Cloudy with occasional light rain...mainly in the morning. High 79F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower throughout the evening. Low 57F. Winds light and variable.
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 light rain this morning. High 77F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Slight chance of a shower throughout the evening. Low 57F. Winds light and variable.
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The Fairfield University Art Museum will present an art exhibition, Out of the Kress Vaults: Women in Sacred Renaissance Painting, from Sept. 16 through Dec. 17 in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries. It will also be accessible through the museums website at https://www.fairfield.edu/museum as a virtual tour.

The exhibition will include devotional images and alterpieces that were displayed in churches. It explores representations of feminity and virtue in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Virgin Mary, saints and nuns.

The works of art intertwine depictions of idealized beauty with messages of virtue and piety, presenting the women as models of virtue and devotion for emulation and admiration by their Renaissance viewers.

The exhibit is curated by Fairfield University Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Culture Michelle DiMarzo.

This is the first exhibition curated with undergraduate students.

The exhibition will open with a lecture by DiMarzo at 5 p.m. on Sept. 15 in the Diffley Board Room of Bellarmine Hall.

The Fairfield University Art Museum has organized a full roster of public programs to be offered in conjunction with the exhibition that will be presented in person and, where indicated, streaming online via https://quickcenter.fairfield.edu/thequicklive.

The National Gallery of Art, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Harvard Art Museums, the Austin Art Center at Trinity College, the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., and the Lowe Art Museum, at the University of Miami are lenders to the exhibition.

Fairfield town beaches staffed with lifeguards through Sunday

The Sasco, Southport and South Pine Creek beaches will be staffed with lifeguards through Sunday, according to information from the town.

There will be no lifeguards on duty at the beaches as of Monday.

The Jennings, and Penfield beaches, and the Lake Mohegan will be staffed with lifeguards daily through Aug. 28, and then again over the Labor Day weekend.

Beachgoers are asked to obey the lifeguards and to swim in permitted areas only. Beaches may have reduced swim areas.

Fairfield Rotary Club to put on paddle fest for skills

The Fairfield Rotary Club is hosting its family friendly 2022 Paddle Fest event at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 10, at Jennings Beach.

The event features three opportunities for stand up paddlers, and kayakers to compete, or simply enjoy time paddling on Long Island Sound.

There will be a six mile competitive race for elite paddlers to test their skills.

There will be a three mile course, and a half mile course for youth to try out their skills and have fun.

There will be music and fun for people of all ages.

Visit https://paddleguru.com/races/fairfieldpaddlefest for more information and to register.

Funds raised are put back into the community. Grants are awarded to local non-profit organizations. Scholarships are awarded to local high school students.
One woman had her nose broken after being punched in the face by a police officer.

Authorities in Cambodias capital Phnom Penh violently clashed with some 100, mostly female former casino workers demanding to be reinstated to their jobs on Thursday, breaking the nose of one woman and leaving several others injured, according to sources.

The former workers are from a group that has been holding regular protests since they were among 1,300 laid off by the NagaWorld Casino in December 2021. The workers say they were unfairly fired and offered inadequate compensation, although only around 150 continue to protest, as an increasing number have accepted payouts after months of no salary and repeated confrontations with police.

At around 2 p.m. on Thursday, dozens of authorities blocked the group from holding a protest outside the casino with metal barricades, and rained blows down on those who tried to remove them, according to Bun Sina, one of the former workers.

I came to demand the right to seek justice, [as the situation] has not yet been resolved, but I was kicked in the thigh by the authorities, she told RFA Khmer, adding that she was shocked by the brutality of the officers.

How much more of this violence and torture will we have to suffer from the authorities before this dispute is resolved?

Police and striking NagaWorld protesters struggle over a barricade in Phnom Penh in a screengrab from a video, Aug. 11, 2022. Credit: Citizen journalist Another worker named Sun Sreynich told RFA she was punched in the face by a police officer during the scuffle, causing her to bleed from the nose and pass out.

We were kneeling in front of the security forces and begging to be allowed to go to the NagaWorld building, but they assumed we were attacking them and fought us, she said.

The officer hit me full force with his fist, breaking my nose and making me bleed. The blow knocked me unconscious, she added, saying she is still in pain from the injury.

The two sides clashed for around 15 minutes before resuming a verbal confrontation across the barricade line. The former workers eventually left the area around 5 p.m.

They created an event to put the blame on the government, inciting and provoking anger by cursing and insulting public officials before smashing 20 barricades and using violence against security forces who tried to block their path, the statement said.

All workers should stop their unlawful demonstrations and try to resolve the dispute with the authorities, it added.

More than eight months since the layoffs, NagaWorld has said it will only discuss severance packages with former workers and Cambodias Ministry of Labor has deferred the matter to the courts. But the workers say they cant afford to bring a lawsuit against the company and have urged the government to intervene in the dispute.

Petition submitted

Earlier on Thursday, a group of around 50 former NagaWorld workers and trade union representatives gathered to submit a petition to the Ministry of Labor, requesting that authorities drop charges against Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions President Yang Sophorn, who the ministry has accused of organizing the protests.

The petition also requested a meeting with Labor Minister Ith Samheng to find a resolution to the dispute.

Fellow NagaWorld strikers attempt to revive Sun Sreynich, who says a police officer punched her in the nose and knocked her out. Credit: Citizen journalist NagaWorld Union President Chhim Sithaw met with Labor Ministry officials on Thursday and told RFA she was disappointed by their response, although she did not provide details of what was discussed.

We only see that the government  through City Hall, the Ministry of Labor, the judiciary, the Ministry of Health, authorities at all levels  is standing by the NagaWorld company, which is prohibited by law, she said.

They have a role in mediation, not in protecting one side, and they must remain independent in this dispute.

Attempts by RFA to contact Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour for comment went unanswered Thursday.

Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
UPDATED at 12:05 p.m. EDT on 8-12-2022

China and Thailand are to kick off a major joint air force exercise on Monday after a two-year suspension due to COVID, the Chinese Defense Ministry announced, on the heels of U.S.-backed military drills elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

The ministry said in a statement on Friday that the Falcon Strike 2022 training exercise will be held at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Udon Thani province, northeastern Thailand.

The exercise will begin on Sunday and RFA sources say it will last until Aug. 24. It will include training courses such as air support, strikes on ground targets, and small and large-scale troop deployment, according to Chinas defense ministry.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) will dispatch fighter jets, fighter-bombers and airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, and the Royal Thai Air Force will send its fighter jets and AEW aircraft, the ministry said.

The renewed exercise marks a new effort to enhance mutual trust and friendship between the two air forces, the ministry said, as well as to further the strategic cooperation between Thailand and China, as the latter seeks to project power and expand its influence in the region.

Falcon Strike begins on the same day that a major U.S.-backed military exercise, Super Garuda Shield, ends in Indonesia after a two-week run. That exercise has been joined by troops from several countries in the region. On Friday, troops from Indonesia, the U.S. and Australia participated in a live-fire exercise on Sumatra island, according to the Associated Press.

Also, the Chinese military has just finished a week-long air-naval exercise around Taiwan as an angry response to a visit to the island by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

Thailand cannot deny Chinas military role in this region. The combined exercise enables Thailand to better understand and be more familiar with the PLAs command and control system and its military doctrine, Dulyapak Preecharush, deputy director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at Thammasat University in Bangkok told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

Growing military links

Reuters quoted an anonymous Thai air force source who said that Thailand will not deploy its F-16s for Falcon Strike 2022. Instead it will use its Swedish-made Saab JAS-39 Gripen fighters as well as German-made Alpha Jet light attack aircraft.

It is unclear which types of aircraft China will be deploying for the exercise.

Chinese fighters have been seen taking part in recent Sino-Thai Air Force joint training exercises, said Andreas Rupprecht, an expert on Chinas military aviation, in a recent interview with RFA.

Thailand has been shifting more towards China in recent years, Rupprecht said.

Fighter jets from China's PLA Air Force and the Royal Thai Air Force fly in tactical formation during joint training exercise Falcon Strike 2019. Credit: Chinese Defense Ministry





Since the Thai military increased its power after coups in 2006 and 2014, Bangkok bought tanks, armored personnel carriers and entered into a controversial multi-billion-dollar contract to procure submarines from China.

China's arms exports to Thailand increased five-fold between 2014 and 2018 compared with the preceding five years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden.

The Thai-U.S. relationship has encountered some turbulence because of the growing ties between Bangkok and Beijing, despite Thailand being the U.S.s oldest treaty ally in Asia.

The Thai air force expressed a strong interest in buying some F-35 stealth fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of F-16A/B Fighting Falcons but Washington so far seems reluctant to consider the purchase, fearing the fighters sensitive technologies could be compromised by China, its biggest military and strategic rival.

However the upcoming Falcon Strike exercise should not increase tension between China and the U.S. if it doesnt have a scenario such as an attack on U.S. interests or let China become familiar with U.S. military hardware, argued Thammasat Universitys Dulyapak.

"Both the U.S. and China can take turns to hold joint drills with Thailand," the analyst said, adding: There is no monopoly in Thailands defense policy.

Falcon Strike joint training exercises have been held annually since 2015 but were suspended in 2000 because of the global COVID pandemic. This years event is the 5th training exercise between the air forces of China and Thailand.

Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok contributed to this story.

This story has been updated with background about a U.S.-backed military exercise in Indonesia.
Factory after factory lays off staff, suspends production, furloughs employees or shuts down altogether.

Workers enter an industrial park in Houjie, in Dongguan China's southern Guangdong province on September 30, 2021.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s zero-COVID measures are forcing large numbers of private manufacturers to close in the Pearl River delta region this month, RFA has learned.

Last month, Cooper Electronics, based in Guangdong's manufacturing hub of Dongguan, announced it would close this month.

Hong Kong-owned toymaker Dongguan Kaishan Toys has announced it will follow suit, while Dongguan Jingli Plastics and Electronics will suspend production on Aug. 31 after laying off all of its staff, according to ChinaToysNet.

Other private businesses have told RFA they plan to furlough all staff for six months after a massive slump in new orders made it impossible for them to meet their payroll bill.

The moves come as foreign-invested manufacturers are increasingly relocating to Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, as costs continue to skyrocket in China.

Financial commentator Cai Shengkun said the hollowing out of Dongguan as a manufacturing base has been a long time coming.

"Dongguan used to be China's manufacturing base, and in its heyday was the production base for products sold by the world's largest companies," Cai said. "During its heyday, Dongguan maintained high GDP growth for over a 20-year period ... and accumulated enormous wealth."

"But now with the relocation of some industries and the continuous migration of foreign capital, there are not many high-end factories in Dongguan left," he said.

Cai said CCP leader Xi Jinping's insistence on a zero-COVID approach, meaning individuals and entire cities can be placed under lockdown at a moment's notice, with mandatory quarantine and testing for all, have also struck a major blow.

"Rising shipping costs and the impact of the pandemic have meant that [these] industries are no longer profitable," he said. "With shipping costs getting higher and higher, these products will no longer have any export advantage."

This photo taken on July 13, 2022 shows cargo containers stacked at Yantian port in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong province. Credit: AFP Logistical challenges

Kaishan Toys, established in 1998, was once one of Hong Kong's most prestigious toy manufacturers, with more than 2,000 employees.

But the company has seen a sharp drop in orders since 2021, with most toy production now outsourced to Southeast Asia. At the time of its closure announcement, just 100 employees remained.

Meanwhile, Dongguan Jieying Precision Hardware Products has also announced it will close at the end of the month, citing additional costs and logistical challenges under the zero-COVID policy.

Other companies are pausing operations, in the hope of making a comeback if business improves.

Huizhou Wanzhisheng New Energy Technology announced a five-day furlough for most departments, citing the impact of disease control and prevention restrictions.

The problem isn't confined to Dongguan or Guangdong province, either.

Shandong Guangfu Group, a private iron and steel joint venture established in 1983, suspended production on July 19, with no date for resumption given.

And a technology company based in the eastern province of Anhui furloughed all of its staff from July 14 to Jan. 22, 2023.

Financial analyst Guan Min said the government has failed to offer any policy incentives or financial support to private enterprises hit by the zero-COVID policy, and that this could be a deliberate choice.

"This is a great opportunity for the state sector to expand, and for the private sector to shrink," Guan said. "Private enterprises have good technology and so much equipment, which can benefit state-owned enterprises if there are mergers."

Retreat from market economics

Guan said he has been warning of a total retreat from market economics under Xi for the past decade.

"Based on the indicators 10 years ago, I said that only large state-owned enterprises would still be operating in China 20 years down the line," he said.

The government does appear willing to boost the property market, where a slump fueled by a massive backlog in unfinished buildings has started to affect the economy.

Since Xi Jinping's recent comment that "housing isn't for speculation," a number of local governments have announced preferential policies for homebuyers, encouraging rural residents to buy in cities.

Homebuyers across China are withholding mortgage payments in protest at stalled construction of properties by major developers across the country until developers resume construction of pre-sold homes, local media and social media reported.

Japan's Nomura has estimated that developers have only delivered around 60 percent of homes sold before actual construction between 2013 and 2020. China's outstanding mortgage loans rose by 26.3 trillion yuan during that period.

Social media posts have indicated that, far from moving to ensure that unfinished property is completed, local authorities may be hiring actors to make it look as if work is being done on abandoned construction sites.

"Hiring: actors for a construction site, 100 yuan/day," reads a screenshot of a job advertisement that RFA was unable to verify independently.

"Requirements: To bang on the steel pipes, pull trolleys around and pretend to be engaged in construction work if someone comes to check," the advertisement reads.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
A Beijing court has once more ruled against former CCTV intern Zhou Xiaoxuan in a landmark #MeToo sexual harassment case, saying there isn't enough evidence to support her claims against state broadcaster CCTV anchor Zhu Jun. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court rejected Zhou's appeal on Aug. 10, upholding the original judgment of the Haidian District People's Court in September 2021. Backed by supporters, Zhou filed a second appeal later the same day, after making an impassioned statement to the court asking some tough questions of China's judicial and law enforcement agencies:

On June 9, 2014, I was a third-year university student and 21 years old. My first internship was with CCTV's program "Art Life." At the time I was being sexually harassed by Zhu Jun in that dressing room, I had feelings of shame around sex, and there was no way I was going to be able to resist in the moment or call for help. I knew how powerful Zhu Jun was, so I daren't tell any of the staff who came into the dressing room at that time what I was going through. I think what happened to me is also a common occurrence for women in higher education and in the workplace. The only difference for me was that I had a university lecturer who was willing to help and I made my report to the police with support from that lecturer, a lawyer and my roommate on the day after the incident. Both our lived experience and hard statistics tell us that very few women choose to go to the police when they have suffered sexual harassment or sexual assault.

At the time I made my report to the police in 2014, they told my parents that I should withdraw it, citing Zhu Jun's status in society. At the time the case came to court for the first time in 2020, court officials told me that it was impossible to lay hands on surveillance camera footage or written evidence supporting my case. In the 2021 judgment document, the court said the burden of proof in such cases falls on the plaintiff, and that the evidence I had supplied was insufficient.

Today, this case is back on appeal, in what will probably be my last appearance in court. I have already given an account of the facts of the case to this court, so now I would like to ask the court this: how is a woman who is sexually harassed in a closed space, who hasn't expected it, and who has no recording device on her, nor any way to fight back supposed to prove that the harassment took place? Is she just supposed to put up with it, and act like it never happened?

Back when I reported this to the police four years ago, in the hope that they would help me, their first response wasn't to interrogate the person accused of being the perpetrator. Instead, it was to travel to Wuhan two days later to talk to my parents into having me drop the case. They didn't actually go to CCTV to talk to Zhu Jun until a week after I had filed the report, and even then they only took the simplest of statements.

Four years later, as I filed my case with the court, officials refused to accept a complaint of sexual harassment, refused to call Zhu Jun in for questioning even when it was confirmed that the person who had taken me into that dressing room and the one who had been in the dressing room that day had lied to back him up. Instead, they told my parents that none of the witness statements, the surveillance footage from the corridor, my dress nor photos or me and Zhu Jun together were admissible as evidence, so I didn't have enough evidence to support my case.

I would like to ask the court what kind of evidence it would deem admissible? I didn't know I was going to be sexually harassed, so I didn't bring a secret recording pen on a pinhole camera. I didn't feel able to face down Zhu Jun in the middle of CCTV headquarters, neither did I immediately cry for help. I didn't feel able to go back to CCTV after filing my report with the police, nor to interview him myself, and I didn't have access to the surveillance camera footage. I wasn't able to analyze my DNA or Zhu Jun's. I was 21, and this was the first time I had ever reported anything to the police. I didn't even know to ask for proof of a police report or a receipt for the evidence I gave them.

I want to ask those people who backed up Zhu Jun's story why they did it. Why they even refused to describe what Zhu Jun was wearing in that dressing room that day. I want to ask the police why they went to Wuhan to talk to my parents, and why they didn't go to find Zhu Jun until a week afterwards. I haven't seen them once in all the times I have appeared in this courtroom. I haven't been able to ask them anything. I don't have the wherewithal to find my own evidence: to offer up proof of my own suffering. The university lecturer's statement spoke of my sobs, while my roommate's statement said I was crying that same evening. Yet they seem to have evaporated.

At the age of 21, I chose to go to the police. At the age of 25, I decided to take it to court. I thought the judicial system would help me, and I believed that I had a citizen's right to justice. I thought the police would investigate in a timely manner, take steps to preserve all the evidence, and respond to me as required by law. I believed that the court would at least understand the complexities of workplace sexual harassment, and understand the unequal power relationships between me, Zhu Jun, the police and CCTV, and that it would at least investigate the accused, who was visible on the closed-circuit TV footage. I didn't think that the court would once again decline to investigate the second time around, and just issue its judgment after hearing statements from both parties again.

Today, at the age of 29, this is the third time I have heard a legal judgment, yet I have yet to see a full investigation. All I have are regrets that I didn't foresee my own sexual harassment back then, and come ready with that recording pen or that hidden camera. It seems that this would be the only evidence the court would accept. However, regardless of the outcome, I still want my day in court, to say the things I want to say. I hope the judge won't regard it as meaningless.

I want to say that the judicial system's authority isn't a natural kind of authority; nor are all of its judgments the same thing as the truth. As citizens looking for help from the courts, as victims offering our bodies and the accuracy of our memories up to total strangers in this courtroom for judgment, we must trust. That trust doesn't come out of nowhere; it is earned through the actions of every person who wields power in this system. That power should offer help to the weak, otherwise it can hardly be called justice.

It would be hurtful to lose this case, but it's not just me who should be cross-examined. The essence of the law isn't in its written laws and documents, or its judges. It lies in the processes that seek out the truth and that achieve justice, or it means nothing. It depends on a deep sense of fairness and morality in every single person in the system, and on whether the vulnerable people who call on the system for help are treated with dignity. The real crisis doesn't lie with an absence of truth; it's about our shared doubts in humanity at this juncture.

In the face of failure, I would still like to ask the court one more thing: if a woman is sexually harassed in an enclosed space in the absence of complete surveillance footage, and everyone around her denies it, should she just keep quiet, with no recourse to the law? I have spoken about my fear at the time of the incident, and about my feelings of helplessness afterwards. I don't think this is uncommon at all. I think it's a very common predicament for women to find themselves in.

There may well be forces at work that have prevented me from getting justice here today, but I still believe that processes like this will let people know the sort of difficulties women face, and contribute to some sort of recognition that sexual harassment cases should be fully investigated by those in power when they happen. I hope that the next person who comes to this court with such a case will be met with greater understanding, which is why I believe that this statement of mine is meaningful.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
The death toll is probably much higher after a week of fighting between junta forces and pro-democracy militia.

At least 15 civilians died during fierce fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and junta forces in Hpakant township, in Myanmars northernmost Kachin state.

The battle has been raging since Monday, residents of Se Zin village told RFA.

Two children were among the civilians killed in airstrikes and ground offensives and the number of casualties may be much higher.

Although it is estimated that there are many dead, I can only confirm 15 bodies at the moment as the situation is still complicated, a local, who fled the village and did not wish to be named, told RFA on Friday.

There are many dead and we got out of there as quickly as possible. We are trying to make contact with people who have reached Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, and those who returned home, to confirm the casualties.

Some local media outlets reported the death toll was between 30 and 50 people, but RFA was unable to independently verify the numbers because phone and internet access to Hpakant township has been cut off for the past year.

One resident told RFA people fled the village empty-handed and are in urgent need of food and clothing

Win Ye Tun, Kachin states Military Council Minister for Social Affairs, told RFA efforts were being made to provide supplies to IDPs and confirm the number of casualties.

Details of the death toll are not yet known but we will confirm them step by step, he said. We are ready to assist but if a region is at war we can only help when we are allowed. There will be support [in the village] and support for those who fled.

Earlier this week junta troops burned down as many as 400 homes in Se Zin.



The fighting came in response to an attack on Monday by KIA and Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs), who captured a military camp in Se Zin and a pro-junta Shanni Nationalities Army camp at a village in Homalin township.

In mid-July troops and opposition militia fought for a week near Se Zin.

Famous for its jade mines, Hpakant is one of the most heavily-armed townships in Kachin state and the scene of frequent battles. The township is close to the border with Sagaing region, where there is also strong armed resistance to junta forces.

Se Zin used to house more than 3,000 people in around 600 homes but most residents have fled to other villages around 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.

Some 7,400 people have been forced to flee their homes in Kachin state since the February, 2021 coup, according to the UNHCR. That is less than one percent of the 903,000 IDPs across Myanmar.
Maj. Hoang Van Minh has allegedly confessed to using his cell phone when he hit and killed a high school student.

Police reenact the scene of the traffic accident in which a high school student died after she was hit on her scooter by a driver in a military vehicle on June 28, 2022, in southeastern Vietnam's Ninh Thuan province.

Vietnamese authorities on Thursday said they arrested an air force major involved in a fatal accident in late June in southeastern Vietnams Ninh Thuan province after determining he had been using his cell phone when his car hit and killed a high school student on a scooter.

Maj. Hoang Van Minh of the 937th regiment, 370th division, of Vietnam People's Air Force, formally called the Air Defense-Air Force, was driving a seven-seat military vehicle when he ran into 18-year-old Ho Hoang Anh on June 28.

Minh is being temporarily detained for three months while investigators look into the crash, according to the Criminal Investigation Agency of Division 2 of the Air Defense-Air Force, authorities said.

The provincial public security and information and communications departments held a press briefing on Aug. 2 to announce the action against Minh.

Sr. Col. Ha Cong Son, deputy chief of the Phan Rang-Thap Cham city police, said that Minh has confessed to using his mobile phone while driving.

Son also said the initial investigation indicated that before the accident Minh had changed lanes in an unsafe manner, causing Anhs death as she drove her scooter along the right lane of the street and within the speed limit.

He added that he believed there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Minh.

Security camera footage shows that on the day of the crash, Minh turned the military vehicle right into the driveway of a bank office, colliding with Anhs scooter. The impact knocked Anh off the scooter and into an electricity pole, smashing her head. She died en route to the hospital.

The video also shows Minh still holding his mobile phone and talking while getting out of his car following the collision.

Medical authorities at Ninh Thuan Provincial General Hospital initially reported that Anhs blood-alcohol concentration level was 0.79 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood. That led to fears among her family and the public that the release of the test result was a part of an effort to exonerate Minh by placing the blame on Anh.

Ahns father filed a complaint asking for a review of claims that his daughters drinking caused the crash, and spoke with newspapers to make the point that alcohol was not to blame, according to an RFA report earlier this month.

After receiving his petition, the People's Committee of Ninh Thuan province asked provincial police to verify the young womans blood-alcohol test result.

On July 29, the hospitals director apologized to the family for issuing an incorrect alcohol test result, blaming a technician for not following test regulations.

A week later, hospital administrators visited the students family to apologize in person and promised to invalidate the test result. On Tuesday, the hospitals disciplinary committee said it would discipline those responsible.

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Two Vietnamese refugees held by authorities in Thailand say they fear for their safety after being visited in detention by Vietnamese embassy staff who urged them to return home, where they face charges as political activists.

Nguyen Thi Thuy and Ho Nhut Hung, both members of the civil society Constitution Group promoting freedom of expression and assembly in Vietnam, had fled as refugees to Thailand in September 2018.

Both had taken part in protests against proposed laws on cybersecurity and the granting of Special Economic Zones to foreign investors that rocked major cities across Vietnam four years ago, leading to mass arrests.

Living on expired UN-issued refugee cards in a province north of Bangkok, Thuy and Hung were detained by Thai Royal Police on July 24, 2022, charged with illegal immigration and residence and sent to an Immigration Detention Center in the capital.

Speaking to RFA by phone this week, Thuy said that she and Hung were visited in detention in early August by staff from Vietnams embassy in Bangkok who tried to persuade them to return to Vietnam.

Surprisingly, they knew my room number and my prison identification number, Thuy said. They told us they would create the best conditions for our repatriation, and warned us that if we did not agree and waited instead for help from the UN, we would be in trouble.

Both Thuy and Hung refused the embassys request, she said.

We told the embassy that we now use UN identification cards instead of Vietnamese passports, and that we would therefore wait until hearing from the UN, even if we have to die here, she said.

In February 2019, UN refugee officials issued cards with ID codes to Thuy and Hung, but the cards expired last year, Thuy said. Restricted by the COVID pandemic from visiting UN offices in person, the pair were told by phone that their cards had been renewed, but they were unable to pick them up and were still using their old cards when they were arrested, she said.

Detainees held at Bangkoks IDC have only intermittent access to water and are served food lacking nutrition, Thuy said. Her cell normally housing up to 60 women is now less crowded, though, as half of the detainees held there have been moved to other facilities, she added.

Social activists in Thailand have raised funds from different sources, including Vietnamese living overseas, to help Thuy and Hung pay around 114,000 baht ($3,233) for bail, fines for illegal immigration, and charges for COVID tests, Thuy said.

Release date uncertain

Two weeks have now passed since Thuy and Hung were detained, but they still dont know when they will be released, and Thuys calls to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangkok have rung unanswered, she said.

Calls seeking comment on Thuys and Hungs case from Vietnams embassy in Thailand received no response this week, but an employee at the UNHCR office in Bangkok said they were aware of the situation and promised to report it to a senior official.

Also speaking to RFA, Nguyen Hoan An  a Vietnamese social activist also living as a refugee in Thailand  said that refugees held in detention are normally freed on the same day their bail is paid.

Detainees cannot be forced home if they refuse requests from their embassy to repatriate, An added. He noted however that Thai police have recently entered rented rooms without a warrant to arrest illegal immigrants, reporting falsely that the arrests took place in the street.

Refugees requests to UNHCR and law firms for help are often handled slowly or receive no reply, An said.

We are calling on communities, media groups and especially the organizations responsible for protecting refugees to pay more attention, An said. We hope that they will take action quickly whenever refugees are arrested or face security risks so that they are not intimidated and extradited back to Vietnam.

In January 2019, RFA blogger Truong Duy Nhat was arrested by Vietnamese police agents in Bangkok and forced back to Vietnam just a day after submitting an application for refugee status to UNHCR. He was later taken to court and sentenced to 10 years in prison for abusing his official position in a purchase of real estate under Article 356 of Vietnams Penal Code.

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Activists say the move is unconstitutional as there is no Law on Protests.

More than a dozen provinces and cities in Vietnam have set up Riot Police Regiments or Battalions to be held in reserve to crack down on people accused of "disturbing public order" and carrying out "illegal demonstrations."

RFA research shows at least 15 provinces and cities had launched forces as of Oct. 10, 2021.

They include Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Nghe An, Lao Cai, Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa and Gia Lai.

The riot squads have been formed to crack down on worker protests at the many industrial parks in southeastern Vietnam, in places such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai.

They could also be used to stop demonstrations by ethnic and religious minorities such as the Protestant Ede and Duong Van Minh sect in provinces like Cao Bang and Gia Lai.

On Wednesday the Ho Chi Minh City Police held a launching ceremony for its Reserve Riot Combat Police Regiment. State media said the force was established under a ruling by the Ministry of Public Security to set up Reserve Riot Police Battalions in province-level localities. News sites did not publish the full text of the ministrys Decision No.1984, which called for the regiments formation.

According to the Cong an Nhan dan (People's Police) online newspaper, the regiments and battalions must be ready to fight in any situation when they receive orders from the Ministry of Public Security or directors of province-level police departments.

The Ho Chi Minh City Police Department outlined the riot squads duties to the media. They include preventing and suppressing cases of public disorder and illegal demonstrations, conducting rescue operations, protecting important political events of the Party and State and [maintaining order during] major holidays, ensuring political security, social order and safety of the locality, and performing other tasks as required.

Police try to stop protesters demanding clean water in Hanoi on May 1, 2016. CREDIT: Reuters





Suppression of protests unconstitutional

A Ho Chi Minh City-based lawyer, who did not wish to be named for security reasons, said "suppression of unlawful protests" goes against Vietnams Constitution.

I think Vietnam doesnt yet have a Law on Protests, so it can't be said that demonstrations are illegal, the lawyer said. The right to protest is a constitutional right, so repression is unconstitutional.

The Vietnamese state does not mention a Law on Protests, perhaps because it does not want to because it is afraid people will protest [against it].

A woman, who asked only to be named as Phung, participated in protests against China's placement of the HD981 oil rig in Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone in 2014.

She told RFA the government has been suspending the Bill on Protests for too long.

According to the Vietnamese Constitution, people have the right to protest, but the bill on demonstrations has been frozen for many years, she said.

Basically, in Vietnam, every protest is suppressed, because they have not passed a bill which would allow people to ask for permission to organize demonstrations like in other countries.

Article 25 of the 2013 Constitution stipulates that Citizens have the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, access to information, assembly, association, and demonstration.' The exercise of these rights is prescribed by law.

Government drags its heels on protest law

In 2013, the government directed the Ministry of Public Security to take primary responsibility and coordinate with relevant agencies to develop a draft Law on Protests.

The bill has been repeatedly withdrawn from the National Assembly's agenda for further study and amendment.

In 2017, national legislator Truong Trong Nghia, from Ho Chi Minh City, told the National Assembly that the promulgation of a Law on Protests was necessary in order to implement the 2013 Constitution on ensuring human and citizens rights.

Since 2018, no National Assembly member or domestic newspaper has mentioned the Bill on Protests.

Strengthening the suppression of resistance

According to Hanoi-based journalist Nguyen Vu Binh, in Vietnam what is written in the Constitution is one thing, how it is implemented is another.

Binh said the establishment of a specialized agency and riot police force is intended to quell all resistance by the people and comes after a series of fierce crackdowns on protests.

Following the trend of increasing repression in the past four-to-five years, the professionalization of these forces to suppress protests and people's resistance is normal in my opinion, Binh said.

Oil rig protester Phung told RFA the repression and suppression of protests has always taken place in Vietnam. She said Vietnam does not need to sign any more international agreements so the government is not interested in respecting human rights.

At this stage Vietnam does not need to join any treaty or agreement, so they want to deal with [whichever protest] they want. Now they are also bolder, she said.

I believe that even if a force is formed, they will not use uniformed forces to take action to suppress protesters because that will affect the image of the Vietnamese government. They don't want to show their true face to the world."

Human Rights Watch's latest report on Vietnam, published in February, said: "fundamental civil and political rights are systematically suppressed in Vietnam. The government, under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam, tightened its grip on the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association, peaceful assembly, freedom of movement, and freedom of religion.
Salman Rushdie remains hospitalized on a ventilator, with a damaged liver and nerve damage, his agent says, after the author was attacked as he prepared to give a lecture in rural New York state.

Police identified the man who allegedly stabbed Rushdie on August 12 as Hadi Matar, 24, of New Jersey. He was arrested at the scene in Chautauqua, New York by troopers providing security for the event.

No charges have been filed against Matar yet; police told reporters they have yet to determine a motive.

Andrew Wylie, Rushdie's agent, said in a statement that Rushdie had undergone surgery and had suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in his arm and that he was likely to lose one eye.

Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses drew death threats from Irans leader in the 1980s and spent years in hiding, was stabbed just before he was to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, a spiritual retreat center in a rural corner of southwest New York State.

The center is known for its summertime lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before.

The suspect stormed the stage as Rushdie was being introduced and attacked him and moderator Henry Reese, New York State Police said in a statement.



"Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known," the statement said.



A state trooper who had been assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody, the statement added. Reese suffered a minor head injury.



Eyewitnesses said the attack lasted for nearly 20 seconds, with Hatar allegedly continuing to punch and stab Rushdie even as onlookers rushed to restrain him.



Rushdie, 75, is the author of The Satanic Verses, a book banned in Iran because many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous. A year after it was published in 1988, Irans leader at the time, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdies death.



Irans government has distanced itself from Khomeinis decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered. In 2012, a semiofficial Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million.



Rushdie, who was forced into hiding for many years because of the fatwa, dismissed that threat at the time, saying there was no evidence of people being interested in the reward.



The Swedish institution that awards the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 denounced the fatwa, saying reward money for Rushdie's death was a "flagrant breach of international law.



Rushdie published a memoir about his life under the fatwa called Joseph Anton, the pseudonym he used while under British police protection. His second novel, Midnight Children, is set during the 1947 partition of India and won the Booker Prize. His new novel, Victory City, is due to be published in February.



Rushdie was at the Chautauqua Institution to take part in a discussion about the United States serving as asylum for writers and artists in exile and "as a home for freedom of creative expression," according to the institutions website.



Rushdie was Born in Mumbai, India, and holds British and U.S. citizenship. He has lived in New York since 2000, according to Politico.



Since dropping his alias and partially coming out of hiding in 2001, Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes. He is a former president of PEN America, which said it was reeling from shock and horror at the attack.



We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil, CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.

With reporting by AP, Sky News, CBS, and Politico
Two steps one way, two steps the other.

That's the size of Syarhey Tsikhanouski's prison cell, where he has spent most of the past two years, according to his lawyer. The Belarusian blogger and critic, who was the first person arrested in Alyaksandr Lukashenka's heavy-handed crackdown leading up to his internationally contested presidential win in August 2020, has nowhere to sit. Instead, there's a ledge on the wall.

There's no rest for the prisoner who could have been president.

Tsikhanouski was detained in May 2020 after announcing he'd decided to make the leap from blogging about life and tribulations in increasingly authoritarian Belarus to being someone who could bring about tangible change for his countrymen. His YouTube channel, Country For Life, had more than 130,000 subscribers.

In Belarus, a presidential hopeful had to garner 100,000 signatures in order to become an official candidate. Tsikhanouski was detained before he was able to get a single one, and the video of his violent detention -- broadcast on state television -- spread like wildfire in a country poised as a tinderbox of political discontent.

People immediately rallied to his cause.

"It was obvious how unfairly he'd been treated," says Natalya Matskevich, one of Belarus's top lawyers in human rights cases. Despite Tsikhanouski's wife, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, asking whether she'd be afraid to represent them, Matskevich knew she'd take on the case.

"He was immediately treated as the victim of a grandiose injustice. Everyone could see he'd done nothing wrong," she says.

Tsikhanouskaya went ahead and ran for president herself, using a power of attorney to set up an initiative group in her husband's name. She quickly rallied voters, and all of the main opposition campaigns united behind her bid. After the polls closed, Belarusian authorities said Tsikhanouskaya only secured 10 percent of the August 9 vote, but independent election monitors reported that she had, in fact, won.

When Lukashenka claimed the presidency, the opposition had grown so strong that the country was on the brink of mass revolution. But the strongman's security apparatus came down hard; since the vote, many of Belarus's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to flee the country. Several protesters have been killed, and some rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture by security officials against those detained.

After receiving threats against their children, Tsikhanouskaya fled to Lithuania, where she became the leader of the democratic opposition in Belarus.

Tsikhanouski, meanwhile, stood in his cell, waiting for the few hours a day he was allowed out to meet with his lawyers.

"His legs hurt. It was hot. We tried to at least physically help him, to work together longer so that he could spend less time in confinement," Matskevich says.

Being alone all the time in a closed room, and an extremely small one, at that, was a difficult test for a person whose main business was communicating with people. He was given a television -- only showing state channels -- which at least allowed him to glean an understanding of what was going on outside the prison.

Over the course of 2021, before his trial commenced, state television began airing purported exposes about the crimes the blogger had committed. The state channel ONT broadcast a film titled Kill Lukashenka about how the opposition was allegedly preparing to assassinate the president. It contained footage, obtained illegally via hidden camera, of Tsikhanouski consulting with Matskevich.

WATCH: Popular video blogger Syarhey Tsikhanouski, who once intended to run for president against Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by a court in Homel on December 14, 2021. Tsikhanouski is also the husband of opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The recording of such footage and its publication violated numerous international principles and the laws of Belarus. The defense was hopeful the court would see that the charges were baseless and that the case against Tsikhanouski was wrong from the start and mishandled ever since.

"Any line of internal logic delegitimizes these accusations," says Matskevich. If he allegedly organized mass riots, she added, then surely the court could show evidence of what he said, what he did, and how he did it. And yet it did not.

The court, however, convicted Tsikhanouski. And Matskevich, who had 27 years of legal experience, was disbarred over another case -- that of Viktor Babariko, another former presidential candidate. Lawyer groups expressed concern that her disbarment would only serve to hinder Babariko's case -- and that of Tsikhanouski. The same fate has befallen many independent lawyers in Belarus under Lukashenka's iron rule.

Tsikhanouski wasn't formally charged until March 2021, when he was accused of organizing mass disorder, inciting social hatred, impeding the activities of the Central Election Commission, and organizing activities that disrupted social order. In December 2021, he was sentenced to 18 years in a high-security prison colony.

Taking into account his pretrial detention, his prison term is slated to end on May 27, 2037. Tsikhanouski is forced to repeat this date twice a day to his prison guards.

Cut Off From Family

For Tsikhanouskaya, his wife, the sentence was unthinkable.

"No one thought a person could be sentenced to 18years for words, for peaceful deeds, for wanting to join politics. When Syarhey was detained on May 29, [2021], no one thought it would drag on for so long," she says.

From that day until now, she has only talked to her husband once on the telephone, for several minutes. The rest of the time, she can only correspond with him through a lawyer once a week.

"In this way, no one can discuss personal or political issues, or even just chat," says Tsikhanouskaya, adding that this is still her lifeline. "I live from Thursday to Thursday. Before I talk to the lawyer, there is so much anticipation to find out how he is doing."

Not a single letter of hers has reached him for more than two years. But their children, Kornei, 12, and Agnia, 6 -- both of whom live in Vilnius with their mother -- are able to write to him, even if the youngest can only say, "I love you, Daddy."

"Syarhey's letters to the children are very heartfelt," Tsikhanouskaya says. "He asks them whether they are behaving and if they listen to me. He tells our son that he is now my protector, or he sends our daughter a postcard with a cat and asks her to draw the same for him."

Kornei understands where his father is, and he often cries upon receiving his letters. Tsikhanouskaya encourages him to describe everything in his life: a recent fishing trip, a day at school.

"Dad is interested in everything. He wants to be present in your life, to feel that he is next to you, despite the fact that he is far away," she recalls telling her children.

She says she was struck by how well a 12-year-old is able to understand the level of censorship that surrounds them.

"'I went to the country with my mother. I won't write the name, but there is a museum there'," she recounts as an example of her son's carefully chosen words. "He doesn't yet know where the line is, and it's scary that you have to hide facts or try to disguise them in order to convey something to Dad that no one else will guess."

On June 28, the Belarusian KGB added Tsikhanouski, along with 22 others, to its list of terrorists. Last month, he was transferred to Mogilev Correctional Labor Colony No. 15. Previously, his children wrote every two weeks, and he was able to write back. Now, it's not known whether he can have any communication with his family.

Carrying The Torch

On August 9, the second anniversary of Lukashenka's reelection, which has not been recognized by the opposition or the West, Tsikhanouskaya named an interim cabinet of Belarus after a consensus by opposition groups. She has called on the people of Belarus, too, to join them in ensuring a peaceful transition to a democratic country.

On August 11, the Viasna Human Rights Center of Belarus reported that a court in Mogilev had decided to transfer Tsikhanouski from the labor colony where he is currently carrying out his sentence to a prison for three years for alleged "violations" of his regimen.

He will most likely be placed once again in solitary confinement.

Tsikhanouskaya wrote on her Telegram channel on August 11 that she did not know the reasons for the decision or which prison he will be sent to. She also shared a poem that Tsikhanouski had written previously about his imprisonment:

There is no air, no heat, only silence,

Often pierced by a rude cry.

And you can easily get drunk here without wine

In a stinking cage, I'm like a beast, and the door is closed.

My friends won't let me sleep again:

Cold and damp, bright lights and ringing in the ears.

I live on 3 square meters,

But not alone -- with you I'm within four walls.

Now it's time for us to talk.

Look, without undressing, I sleep on the floor.

But that's not what I want to ask you.

You know that I pray for Belarus.

Let the walls fall, let the fear go, let the evil disappear.

Like a dream, let the country of slaves go into the past.

Tsikhanouski never intended to go into politics, his wife says. But once he started talking with entrepreneurs on his blog and began to see what life for many was really like, "he realized that everything rests on politics."

"Syarhey has no regrets," Tsikhanouskaya says. "He believed in what he did. He believed in Belarusians, because he saw their support. He realizes he can do nothing now [from prison], but the people who were with him back then, and who were with other candidates at that time, now have the opportunity to continue.

"For this reason, he reiterates his common phrase: 'I will stay in prison as long as my people allow me to.'"

With additional reporting by RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Current Time
TASHKENT -- Uzbekistan and Switzerland have agreed on the return by Swiss authorities of $131 million in assets seized during criminal proceedings against Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of longtime Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

The Uzbek Justice Ministry said on August 16 that Minister Ruslanbek Davletov and Swiss President Ignazio Cassis signed an agreement in Bern to place the confiscated assets for a UN fund for sustainable development in Central Asia's most populous nation of 35 million.

The breakthrough is one of a handful of efforts by Tashkent to agree on the return of some $1 billion in illicit funds, in some cases slowed by foreign authorities' desire to ensure transparency in the funds' return to public coffers.

"The fund will allow the returned assets to be used for the benefit of the population of Uzbekistan," Cassis said at the signing ceremony.

Switzerland froze around 800 million Swiss francs ($842 million) in 2012 in connection with criminal proceedings against Karimova, a pop diva and businesswoman who had a public falling-out with her late father and is currently in an Uzbek prison on embezzlement and criminal conspiracy charges.

The Uzbek Justice Ministry said in February that it was working with authorities in Switzerland, the United States, France, Russia, and several other nations on the return of Karimova's assets that it said were "earned through criminal activities."

The ministry said at the time that Uzbek and Swiss authorities had agreed to create a multiparty trust fund with the United Nations to work on the return of assets that were confiscated under a court decision as part of the probe against Karimova.

It said that assets worth about $131 million and confiscated in 2019 were ready to be transferred to Uzbekistan.

In 2020, the Swiss government said a nonbinding framework agreement signed between Switzerland and Uzbekistan meant any returned assets "shall be used for the benefit of the people of Uzbekistan."

Tashkent has sought over $1 billion from foreign jurisdictions since announcing Karimova's imprisonment in 2017.

Once seen as a possible successor to her father, Karimova was placed under house arrest in Tashkent in 2014 while he was still alive and running the country. Karimov died in 2016 and Shavkat Mirziyoev succeeded him soon afterward.

Criminal investigators in Switzerland, the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands have linked Karimova to a massive, years-long bribery scheme that revolved mainly around foreign telecommunications companies gaining access to the Uzbek market.

In December 2017, Karimova was sentenced to a 10-year prison term but the sentence was later commuted to house arrest for five years. She was detained in March 2019 for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest.

In February 2020, Karimova sent a letter to Mirziyoev offering to return $686 million to the country's treasury in exchange for the dismissal of the court case against her at home.

But a month later she received an additional 13-year sentence after being found guilty of extortion, money laundering, and other crimes.
New or modified Ukrainian-designed missiles? Shipborne, U.S.-made HIMARS? Armed drones? Ukrainian special forces? Sabotage?

While the preponderance of evidence points to a Ukrainian operation, there is still no clarity on exactly what caused a series of blasts that sent plumes of black smoke rising from a Russian naval air base on the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

The explosions at the Saky Air Base on August 9 destroyed at least nine military aircraft, including Su-30SM fighters and Su-24M bombers, as well as a few buildings that may have contained ammunition and fuel, an analysis of satellite imagery by Schemes, an investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, indicated.

Officially, Ukraine has been silent about the cause of the blasts, but anonymous Ukrainian military sources told media outlets, including The New York Times, that Kyiv was behind it. And whatever sparked the conflagration, Ukraine is making the most of it with gloating, trolling social media posts -- such as one from a Defense Ministry account mocking Russian vacationers in Crimea to the tune of the 1980s pop hit Cruel Summer.

As it did when the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet was sunk by what are widely believed to have been Ukrainian missiles, Russia has denied an attack even occurred, saying fire-safety violations caused ammunition to explode -- a version that has been rejected abroad.

At least one thing is clear, however: Its a blow to Russia in its war against Ukraine, particularly as both sides gear up for what may be a major counteroffensive by Kyiv in areas north of Crimea, aimed in part to retake the city of Kherson from Russian forces.

Its bad news for Russia regardless of who struck and how they did it. It expands a dangerous front in the war, said Robert Person, a professor of international relations at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The fact that Ukraine can and will destroy key targets in Crimea will make it more difficult for Russia to use the peninsula to support its occupation forces in southern Ukraine, Person, who does not speak for the U.S. military, told RFE/RL in an e-mail.

This could make a significant difference in Ukraines efforts to retake Kherson if Ukraine can wreak logistical havoc for Russia in Crimea, he said.

'Tough Choices'

In 2014, Russia seized control of Crimea, which belongs to Ukraine but is the home of the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and quickly moved to militarize the peninsula, known for its beach resorts. It has been using air bases there, including Saky, to strike Ukrainian positions in the south ever since President Vladimir Putin launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

In the run-up to the invasion, Russia deployed tens of thousands of more combat-ready troops to Crimea, along with heavy equipment. Those troops poured north from the peninsula as the invasion began and quickly captured parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions.



The importance of the blasts at the Saky base goes beyond the destruction of a handful of planes, analysts said.

The Russians are rushing everybody into Kherson to defend it against a possible Ukrainian offensive, so opening up another front in Crimea makes perfect military sense, and its long, long overdue, Glen Howard, a military analyst and president of the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, told RFE/RL.

Since the invasion, the Ukrainian military has been able to slow the advance of Russian forces in the south and east by bogging them down along front lines that run hundreds of kilometers, pressuring their supply routes. If the blasts at Saky were a Ukrainian attack, it amplifies those problems and vulnerabilities, analysts said.

This places the Russians in a real quandary, Mick Ryan, a retired major general in the Australian Army and a fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote on Twitter.

The Ukrainians clearly can now hold large parts of Crimea at risk. And not just airbases. The Black Sea Fleet, its fuel, munitions, repair yards and infrastructure are now vulnerable, he wrote.

It will force the Russians to make tough choices about the deployment of their focus across the south and east of Ukraine, Ryan remarked, adding that the loss of ammunition and fuel at Saky is much more serious for the Russians than the loss of the planes.

It will have a longer-term impact on aviation operations, he wrote.

Special Op?

Saky is located on Crimeas western shore, more than 225 kilometers from the current front line in Kherson, a distance believed to be beyond the range of missiles in Ukraines possession.

The United States and its NATO allies have declined to give Ukraine weapons that can travel such a distance because Kyiv could potentially use them to strike targets inside Russia, possibly leading to an escalation of the war.

WATCH: Massive explosions hit a military airfield in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The United States, NATO, and the vast majority of the worlds nations reject Russias claim to Crimea.

In its daily update on the conflict on August 10, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said it could not determine what caused the explosions at the base.

The craters and scorch marks visible in satellite images taken the day after the blasts could have been caused by many things  special forces, partisans, or missiles, on-site or from a distance, ISW said.

While Ukraine claims to have been behind a recent strike in a part of Kherson that is about 170 kilometers from the front, its armed forces have not demonstrated they have the capability necessary to reach Saky, ISW said.

Person said he is leaning toward the theory that the blasts were the result of a special operation, in part because of the limited range of its weapons.

Im quite confident that if [Ukraine] did have those weapons, the world would know about it already, he said. Ukraines information strategy all along has been to give the appearance of strength in their David versus Goliath struggle against Russia.

Howard said that if it was a special operation, this would imply that Ukrainian forces had infiltrated the air base, likely at night, placed explosives at key locations, and then detonated them remotely.

'Morale Disaster'

He said the Ukrainian special forces may have chosen to detonate the explosives during the middle of the day, when thousands of Russian vacationers were relaxing on Crimean beaches, to maximize the propaganda effect.

The explosions, which sent huge fireballs and mushroom clouds of smoke skyward, blew out windows and could be heard miles away.

Analysts said that for Ukraine, the incident represents a major propaganda victory comparable to or surpassing the April sinking of the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva. As the explosions that crippled the Moskva occurred out at sea, there are few videos of its sinking, enabling the Kremlin to obfuscate.

That is not the case with the Saky blasts, which occurred before the eyes of Russian vacationers and Crimea residents and were captured in videos that quickly started circulating on social media.

Russia cant cover it up, Howard said.

Ryan called it a morale disaster for Russia, making the military look incompetent at defending bases far from the front and denting the morale of both Russian troops and civilians at home who have rarely seen such disasters in their media.

But we should not overestimate this, given public opinion held up even after the sinking of [the] Moskva, he added.
BISHKEK -- A leading Russian hospital has said it would provide treatment to former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev, whose health is reportedly deteriorating as he serves an 11-year prison sentence in Bishkek.

It's unclear if Kyrgyz authorities will authorize Atambaev's departure, even for medical treatment offered by the Central Clinical Hospital of the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation.

Atambaev's defense team officially requested that prison authorities transfer Atambaev to the elite Moscow hospital, defense lawyer Sergei Slesarev told RFE/RL on August 11.

There was no immediate comment on the request by prison authorities or government officials.

Atambaev, who was convicted and sentenced in 2020 for his role in the illegal release of a notorious crime boss, has in the past complained of numbness in his limbs. Another lawyer said that he had lost weight, had low blood pressure, and looked unwell.

Although Kyrgyz authorities typically cede to Moscow's requests, the government may be more reluctant to let Atambaev go, fearing he would not return to Kyrgyzstan, where he faces multiple other investigations.

Kyrgyzstans first president, Askar Akaev, has been living in Moscow openly since being ousted in 2005 by anti-government protests.

Bishkek authorities still want him on corruption charges and he visited Kyrgyzstan last year for the first time since he fled the country, and he was questioned in an investigation involving a major gold mine operation.

However, he was allowed to return to Moscow.

The 65-year-old Atambaev is currently involved in another trial linked to 2019 violence at his compound near Bishkek involving an Interior Ministry summons. A standoff between security forces and his supporters resulted in the death of a senior security officer and more than 170 injuries.

In that case, Atambaev and 13 others have been charged with murder, attempted murder, and other charges.

In June, prosecutors filed another charge against Atambaev over deadly ethnic clashes in 2010 that claimed almost 450 lives.

At that time, Atambaev led an interim government, which took over following anti-government protests that toppled then-President Kurmanbek Bakiev.
5 Trek Kelly, a Los Angeles-based muralist, and Olena Yanko, a Ukrainian artist involved in the project, say they respect the concerns but hope the site will become a place for reflection.



"Yes, there are people who didnt understand us. They think that we are dancing on the graves of those who died," Yanko says. "But we want to show that...life will go on. We will win [the war] and we can beat the enemy, whether its with a paintbrush or with weapons."
After a series of explosions on a Russian military airfield on Ukraine's occupied Crimean Peninsula, Kyiv officials told Western media that the blasts marked a new phase in the nearly six-month war and the start of a long-awaited counteroffensive in southern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian officials who spoke of the August 9 attack did so anonymously but said their countrys forces had a direct role in the blasts. Publicly, Kyiv has denied responsibility but also spoken coyly about the explosions in Crimea, which was forcibly annexed by Moscow in 2014.

I'm the most concerned about Russian annexation. Looking from the Russian side, there [are] several structural factors for why they need the fighting to stop.... My concern is that they might see annexation as the quickest way to achieve that."

On August 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on officials to stop talking to reporters about military tactics, announcing an investigation would be held into the disclosures.

Still, the blasts are the latest sign that a Ukrainian campaign to retake territory in southern Ukraine, including the port city of Kherson, may be approaching.

Military analysts and Western intelligence agencies have predicted such a push is coming following earlier statements by Ukrainian officials, although reporting shows that Ukrainian troops largely remain in their positions and face steady Russian artillery fire.

A successful counteroffensive would be a decisive loss to the Kremlins wider Ukraine ambitions, including potential Russian plans to annex parts of southern and southeastern Ukraine. But as time passes, analysts also warn that the war risks settling into a stalemate, decreasing Kyivs chances of recapturing its occupied land.

To find out more, RFE/RL spoke with Dara Massicot, a senior researcher at the U.S.-based RAND think tank and a former senior analyst at the Pentagon, where she focused on the Russian military's capabilities.

RFE/RL: Ukrainian forces claim to have destroyed several Russian airplanes recently and are believed to be behind the explosion at an air base in Crimea. How does an attack on Crimea change the war?

Dara Massicot: Well, I think the nature of the attack is what's different.

I'm still trying to determine what could have caused that, but it does look pretty precise. This is the largest attack that Russian naval aviation has had to deal with, so I think that really changes the dynamic. In terms of operational impacts, these types of [Russian] aircraft were used -- just like everything else in the region -- to launch attacks on Ukraine. It's one of many bases in Crimea.

But while this is a loss [for Russia], it's not overwhelming for them to deal with. I think it's more of an embarrassment and symbolic loss to them.



RFE/RL: There's been a lot of talk over the last several weeks that Ukraine is preparing for an offensive in the south. Are these attacks in Crimea the beginning of that long-awaited push?



Massicot: That's the rumor from the Ukrainian side. I don't have insight into their plans, but they've been talking about this counteroffensive for weeks.

I think there's a psychological aspect to what happened in Crimea. The Russian Ministry of Defense has been very quiet about it. They have not really come forth with a lot of details. I think they're still trying to find how they're going to spin this [and] where they're going to go from here. They clearly don't have that narrative defined yet.

RFE/RL: Russia also appears to now be targeting the south and building up its forces there. How is this likely to culminate and are we seeing different strategies under way from Kyiv and Moscow as their sights are fixed on the southern front?



Massicot: I've been watching what the Russian forces have been doing since the beginning of the summer [and] they certainly seemed the most vulnerable in Kherson. Since that time, however, they've moved significant assets into place there [and] they've doubled what they've got in that area, taking it from elsewhere in the Donbas.

So the question for me is: What's the status and health of those Russian units?

We know they've taken uneven, but significant, losses across all of their units. They're filling them rapidly with different groups of individuals who don't have a ton of training. It's now a numbers game, but then there's also a qualitative aspect to what the Russians are doing.

It's a little hard to predict the future, and theres so many intangibles for when these Russian troops are tested on the battlefield. We also have very little insight into the health of Ukrainian units right now.

RFE/RL: In what ways are time and different time frames a factor here for how things will develop on the ground? We have seen commentary about colder weather limiting fighting in the fall and winter, as well as concerns over Russia using gas as a weapon to weaken the resolve of Ukraines Western backers, especially in Europe, and potentially annexing parts of southern Ukraine. Do you see those contributing to the strategy under way now?



Massicot: There [are] two sides here that are on a collision course.

Russia is heading towards attempting to annex parts of Ukrainian territory. I think they want to do that through sham elections in the fall, with talk of doing so as early as September. So there's a strategy there on the Russian side. They've done that before in the past with Crimea, where they just annex a territory and hope to shock everybody into being too afraid to continue to support Ukraine or challenge that declaration.

The Ukrainians, meanwhile, have every incentive not to let that happen. Kyiv wants to push forward and deny Russia the ability to have a toehold or to have something to annex. So I understand the focus on Kherson city. The rest of Kherson Oblast is quite rural, so the Ukrainians are really going to focus on retaking control of the city itself.



RFE/RL: Whats on your radar right now that could be an important factor moving forward that you think people should be paying attention to?

Massicot: In the immediate term, I'm the most concerned about Russian annexation. Looking from the Russian side, there [are] several structural factors for why they need the fighting to stop, and they need to take a pause to repair and regenerate their forces. My concern is that they might see annexation as the quickest way to achieve that.

If there is a Ukrainian counteroffensive, it would benefit them the most if they were able to do that before annexation happened -- so that makes the fall a pretty decisive time.



RFE/RL: Explain how annexation can achieve that for Russia. It would only be recognized by a handful of countries and it would be contested militarily on the ground. So how does it lead to that outcome?

Massicot: After Russia annexed Crimea, there were basically no countries that recognized Crimea as Russian.... Its still considered an illegal annexation, although de facto its treated as if it is Russia.

In this case, if Russia attempted to annex such a large part of really important pieces of Ukraine in the south, [Kyiv] has already stated they will contest it. So the Russian strategy relies on the assumption that if they declare it as Russian, that will change the dynamic, and it will make people more reticent to provide support to attack an area they now claim is Russia.

That's their plan, and if you go back in time and look at Crimea [in 2014], you can see why they would have such an assessment. But Ukraine has every incentive to continue to contest it and ensure that it is not recognized.

RFE/RL: Do you think from what you're seeing from the Ukrainian side that theyre capable of breaking through and regaining territory in the south and southeast?



Massicot: There are methods for them to cause a lot of problems for the Russians.

I would say meeting them in the open road for a massive artillery duel is not going to play to Ukraine's strengths, [and] I don't expect them to try that. The Russians are vulnerable at certain times when theyre on the move or when they're transporting weaponry. I think Ukraine has some ability to impact that and cause attrition, but I don't see either side really having a lot of strength left for a massive offensive.



RFE/RL: Are you saying that we're effectively in a stalemate now?



Massicot: I think we're settling into that -- although nothing is predetermined. The Ukrainians have been able to launch really damaging attacks against Russia with new weapons that they have, so there is still a state of flux. But I see things continuing to slow down this summer and into the fall.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
They paid us 205,000 rubles ($3,365) a month, said Aleksandr, a middle-aged man from Tatarstan who recently returned from two months of fighting in Ukraine as a volunteer. They didnt give us our combat pay  8,000 rubles ($130) a day. They didnt pay any bonuses either.

We were nothing to them. Zero. It was shameful, he said.

Aleksandr was one of several volunteer fighters from the Volga River region who agreed to speak to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity. Like the others in this report, his name has been changed due to fears of repercussions.

I was shocked that they didnt put regular officers in command. Our unit commander was a former police officer who had never held a weapon or fought at all. In fact, he had been dismissed from the police!"

All of the volunteers had similar stories of their experiences in Moscows unprovoked war against neighboring Ukraine, experiences they say left those who survived feeling mistreated and deceived.

Viktor, another Russian volunteer, recalled that after his two-month term of service was complete, he and the other volunteers in his unit were bussed out of Ukraine to Russias western Rostov region. The vehicles stopped in a field about 10 kilometers from the nearest road. An officer distributed plastic bags to the men containing their documents, their telephones, and other personal belongings they had surrendered before heading to the conflict zone.

And how are we supposed to get to Rostov? Viktor recalled asking the officer.

The highway is that way, came the reply.

After the men made their way to the road and began hitchhiking toward Rostov-on-Don, an empty military truck marked with the Latin letter Z -- a symbol of Russias war against Ukraine -- stopped to pick them up. Viktor had the impression this wasnt the first time the driver had met such stranded fighters.

The driver let them out on the outskirts of the city and the men quickly made their way to a bank machine, hoping to withdraw some of the payments they had been promised would be waiting in their accounts, in order to make their way back home.

Some guys had absolutely nothing in their accounts, Viktor told RFE/RL. We were later told that the bank had lost the information of dozens of men in our battalion. I had a few thousand rubles in my account. We all withdrew whatever we could and divided it up among us so the guys could get home. Thats the way we treated one another.

They could have at least taken us to the station, he said about the way the Russian military left them to make their way home on their own. We voluntarily went to help our army, and that was the way they treated us.

Viktor said he was paid 330,000 rubles ($5,420) of the 410,000 ruble ($6,725) salary that he was promised. He received no combat pay or other premiums.

Some of the guys in my battalion didnt get anything, he added. Some got 20,000 [$330].

The men who spoke with RFE/RL were all members of BARS battalions, an acronym that stands for the Russian phrase military army reserve of the country. In some references, however, it stands for special military army reserve.

We werent even given medical checks. If you were sick, they took you anyway.... They dressed us in old disused army uniforms. Our rifles were rusty, and we had to fix them up ourselves."

President Vladimir Putin signed the order creating the BARS system in 2015, but has never spoken publicly about it since. It was rarely mentioned until the fall of 2021, when the military started sending more troops to western Russia and Belarus for exercises that turned out to be the prelude to the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

That assault did not turn out to be as quick and successful as Russian military planners apparently anticipated, and the war is grinding on nearly six months after the invasion. Moscow has been stingy with casualty statistics: Its last official tally came in March, when officials reported that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed. Western intelligence estimates put the number of Russians killed at around 20,000 and total causalities at 70,000-80,000.

BARS battalions have become one of the tools the Russian military has used to meet its growing demand for combat troops. BARS units are made up of volunteers, many of whom are demobilized former officers and soldiers. Searching through military documents, open online sources, and speeches by Russian officers and Russia-backed separatists in parts of eastern Ukraine, RFE/RL has documented reference to at least 20 such battalions -- often referred to by numbers such as BARS-1, BARS-2, and so forth. Experts consulted by RFE/RL estimate that they represent about 10,000 volunteers.

According to official recruiting announcements, volunteer fighters up to the age of 42 are accepted into BARS units. Former officers can be up to 57 years of age. However, all of the volunteers who spoke to RFE/RL served as soldiers and all of them were aged 45-50.

Some BARS battalions are funded by the Defense Ministry, while others are attached to the Union of Donbas Volunteers, a semiofficial organization headed by Aleksandr Borodai, a Russian parliament deputy who formerly headed Russia-backed forces in Ukraines Donetsk region.

We werent even given medical checks, Aleksandr recalled of his experience showing up to volunteer at a military commission in his hometown in Tatarstan. If you were sick, they took you anyway. They gave us rucksacks, fed us, and shipped us off to Novocherkassk, in the Rostov region near Ukraine.

When we signed the documents, the information at the top of the form about the parties to the agreement had been left blank so they could later write in whatever they wanted.

There they dressed us in old disused army uniforms. Our rifles were rusty, and we had to fix them up ourselves. We were there for seven days and then they sent us toward the front line, he said.

We signed our contracts in Novocherkassk, he continued. But they didnt give us any time to read them. They just gave them to us and told us to hurry up and sign them.

None of the men who spoke to RFE/RL had a clear understanding of whether they were signing contracts with the Defense Ministry or some other organization.

When we signed the documents, Boris, another demobilized volunteer, said, the information at the top of the form about the parties to the agreement had been left blank so they could later write in whatever they wanted.

Viktor said he signed his contract after he arrived in the Rostov region. He said he asked the colonel who distributed the forms if he was signing a contract with the Defense Ministry.

When the others understood that there was nowhere to wash their clothes and nothing to change into, they started going through abandoned [Ukrainian] homes looking for shoes and stuff.

He answered me: You have no relationship with the armed forces. You are partisans, Viktor said.

The former volunteers all complained about poor supplies during their combat service.

They didnt feed us well [at the front], Aleksandr said. We didnt have any cigarettes or anything like that.

Boris was experienced -- This wasnt my first war, he said -- and brought a lot of gear with him.

Naturally, I took my own stuff. I had a uniform still from the Soviet times, my berets, my shoes, my rubber boots, he said. I had two rucksacks. I also took food -- condensed milk, sausage, canned goods.

When the others understood that there was nowhere to wash their clothes and nothing to change into, they started going through abandoned [Ukrainian] homes looking for shoes and stuff, he added, echoing widespread reports of looting by the Russian military in Ukraine.

The men also complained that their units suffered losses because of unqualified leadership.

I was shocked that they didnt put regular officers in command, Viktor said. Our unit commander was a former police officer who had never held a weapon or fought at all. In fact, he had been dismissed from the police! He didnt know tactics. He didnt understand anything. And we suffered casualties because of it.

Some of the families of BARS fighters who were killed in action also faced ill-treatment from the military, the men said.

I have a friend who was there with me, Aleksandr said. He died right at the beginning. I just found out that his family didnt get any help at all. They buried him at their own expense and didnt receive any compensation for his death.

RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson contributed to this report.
Ukrainian soldiers say they found bodies on the battlefield with uniforms bearing Grim Reaper patches near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. The patches also bore the slogans, "Death is our business -- and business is good," and, "I don't believe in anything. I'm here for violence" -- calling cards for the Vagner Group, a mercenary paramilitary organization. There have been widespread reports of Vagner forces fighting in Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of risking nuclear disaster by shelling the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which the United Nations says should have a demilitarized zone declared around it.

Western countries have called for Moscow to withdraw its troops from the plant, but there has been no sign so far of Russia agreeing to move its troops out.

"The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarization to ensure the safety of the area," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also weighed in on the situation, echoing Guterres in saying the power plant must not be used as part of any military operation.

"I support call for demilitarisation of area starting with full withdrawal of Russian forces, and urge the @iaeaorg to visit," he said on Twitter, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"Russia must immediately hand back full control to rightful sovereign owner Ukraine," he said.

Ukraine's Enerhotam agency said the Zaporizhzhya complex in south-central Ukraine was struck five times on August 11, including near where radioactive materials are stored. The governor of the Zaporizhzhya region said the plant was hit again on the evening of August 12.

Russian-appointed officials, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of shelling the plant twice, disrupting a shift changeover, the state-run TASS news agency said.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Moscow-installed regional administration, said on August 12 that Ukraine's strikes may lead to an emergency reactor shutdown.

The Ukrainian military denies having struck the plant, saying Russian troops struck it themselves and are using it as a shield to provide cover while they bombard nearby towns and cities.

Shelling overnight of one of those towns, Marhanets, injured three civilians, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Ukrainian forces control Marhanets and other towns and cities on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River, and they have come under intense bombardment from the Russian-held side in recent days.

A UN Security Council meeting on August 11 discussed the situation, and Guterres called on both sides to stop all fighting near the plant.

The United States backed the call for a demilitarized zone and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the site.

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said IAEA officials could visit the site as soon as this month.

Speaking at the Security Council meeting, he said the world was being pushed "to the brink of nuclear catastrophe" comparable in scale with the 1986 Chornobyl disaster.

Ukrainian UN Ambassador Serhiy Kyslytsya accused Russia of using "elaborate plans of deceit, sabotage, and cover-ups" to stage the shelling, which he said poses "an unprecedented threat to nuclear security for Ukraine, to Europe, and the world as a whole."

The Ukrainian militarys General Staff, meanwhile, on August 12 reported widespread shelling and air attacks by Russian forces on scores of towns and military bases, especially in the east where Russia is trying to expand territory held on behalf of separatist proxies.

Other parts of the main front line have been comparatively static in recent weeks, but fighting has been intensifying in anticipation of a planned counteroffensive in the south.

In the province of Mykolayiv, the governors press officer said the region is still experiencing shelling, but it has become "a little quieter."

Dmytro Pletenchuk, the press officer of the Mykolayiv military administration, said this is because there is currently a shortage of ammunition in the Russian military.

Ukrainian forces have hit Russian ammunition warehouses, and the Russian forces have now switched to more outdated weapons systems, he said on Ukrainian television.

"Now the situation has changed. There is a shortage of ammunition among the Russians. And that is very good. We feel the result of the work on their warehouses -- it has become a little quieter in Mykolayiv, but the region is being shelled," he said.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, shelling killed two civilians and wounded 13 others in Kramatorsk, the last major city under Ukrainian control in the eastern Donetsk region.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, said on Facebook the bombardment damaged at least 20 buildings and caused a fire to break out. He called for remaining residents to evacuate.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, AP, and Reuters
By Zhang Zhe, Li Zhulin

BEIJING, Aug. 12 -- The second-echelon 205 peacekeepers of the 21st Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon set out from Kunming, southwest Chinas Yunnan Province, on August 10. They will join up with their 205 fellow peacekeepers, who arrived in Lebanon on July 28 as the first echelon.

The 21st Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon has 410 members in total, consisting of a 180-member multi-role engineering contingent, a 200-member construction engineering contingent, and a 30-member medical contingent. The three contingents will mainly undertake the tasks of mine clearance and explosives disposal, engineering construction, medical rescue and humanitarian assistance.

In the past 16 years, China has cumulatively dispatched more than 7,000 peacekeepers to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Chinese peacekeeping engineers have conducted mine hunting and clearing in nearly two million square meters of suspected landmine areas and around 15,000m of patrol roads, and removed more than 10,000 landmines and explosives of various types with zero casualties.
Start the semester cocky

Whether its your first time on UofSCs campus or youre an old pro, the first week back in August can give you butterflies. New classes, new people and, for some, a new city. Luckily, the university offers a plethora of events and activities that week to help welcome students and boost their cocky spirits!

August 15

Find out why Russell House is the heart of campus at Bustle at the Russell. There will be snacks, activities and games, and a chance to win cash!

August 17

Before classes start, visit Popsicles, Planners and Peers to learn about the Student Success Centers resources while enjoying gourmet popsicles and get a new UofSC academic planner.

Its tradition for new Gamecocks to attend New Student Convocation. Join other new students and their families, along with UofSCs president and other esteemed staff, to commemorate your inclusion as a new student at the university.

Dont spend your first night before classes stressed. Join Student Life on the Historic Horseshoe for this years First Night Carolina and another year of spirit and tradition on campus.

August 19

For students looking to earn some extra money or extra career experience, the Part-Time Job Fair features both on- and off-campus employers who are hiring. Its a casual, drop-in event  no need to dress up.

Join the Association of African American Students at the annual welcome back AAAS Cookout on Greene Street. Enjoy fantastic food fresh from the grill and meet new people.

August 20

Start the school year off right by participating in the years first Service Saturday. This monthly day of services allows you to choose from a range of service sites. Take this time to engage with the Columbia community and fellow Gamecocks!

August 22

If you are looking for volunteer or service opportunities, check out the Community Service Fair to connect with local and national nonprofit partners. These organizations help make Columbia a better place and sometimes are looking for interns and employees.

August 23

Welcome to Well-Being is a great event to learn more about the health and well-being resources on campus from the experts at University Health Services and Campus Recreation.

Start the first full week of classes right by joining Carolina Productions for the PaintU paint party. There will be music, fun lighting and of course paint! Plus, the Cockstock artist will be revealed at the party!

August 24

Jumpstart your journey on becoming a Columbia insider. The Discover Columbia Vendor Fair on Greene Street is a business showcase to help students get taste of all the unique shops, restaurants, communities and activities Columbia has to offer.

August 25

Join the Leadership and Service Center on Greene Street for the Student Organization Fair. Meet representatives from student organizations and learn about all the opportunities to get involved on campus. If you cant find your people here, they can show you how to create your own organization for like-minded students.

August 27

Celebrate making it through the first week of classes with Cockys Quest  a series of fun and interesting challenges scattered all over campus that can win you prizes and bragging rights.

For the full listing of events, visit the welcome website.

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A candidate running unopposed for one of the seats on the Morgan Hill school board wrote that modern descendants of slaves are so much better off than if their ancestors had been left in the country that they came from.

Dennis Delisle also opposes homosexuality and gay marriage, according to a self-published book he wrote in 2012, and likes to quote a founding father who believed the number one purpose of public schools is to teach youth, young people, the Word of God.

Unless another candidate steps forward in the next few days, Delisle will automatically win the seat, his race for the Area 3 position not even appearing on the November ballot  a cost-saving state policy that applies to unopposed candidates in school board and special elections.

Yet Delisle is one of more than 100 candidates across the Bay Area currently running unopposed for a seat on a school board. If no challengers step forward at the 11th hour, their names will never even appear on a ballot because their sure-thing win will become official three months before election day.

As school board races have become increasingly politicized, finding citizens to run for the time-consuming, low-paying position can often be a hard sell, especially in smaller communities. In unopposed races, voters will learn about a candidates potentially extreme positions only after they are in jobs that affect the educational fate of thousands of children.

Given the huge time commitment if you do it well, given the amount of work involved, the amount of scrutiny and sometimes hostility school boards are experiencing, its not exactly an enticing position, said Troy Flint, spokesperson for the California School Boards Association. My fear is that if the position becomes less appealing, the only people who will run will have self-interested reasons for doing so.

In an interview this week, Delisle said he just wants to make a difference and that he has the skills, from his work as an accountant and business owner, to help the district.

I can, so I decided I will, he said of his candidacy. I want transparency. I want to know what youre teaching my kids.

He said hes frustrated seeing lower proficiency rates despite increased district spending.

Statewide, the deadline to declare candidacy in school board races was end-of-day Friday, but if the incumbent for a seat declines to run, that deadline is extended five days  until 5 p.m. Wednesday.

In the case of Morgan Hills Area 3, in which Delisle is the only candidate, incumbent Heather Orosco has said she will not run. Four years ago she ran unopposed and was automatically elected.

About half of the 64 school board races in Santa Clara County were unopposed as of Thursday, as were more than a third in Alameda County and more than 3 out of 4 seats in San Mateo County.

Parent David Weekly just threw his hat into the ring for the Area 2 seat on the Redwood City School District Board of Education.

Its something Ive been thinking about for a long time, but I was leaning toward no, said the tech industry CEO. I saw what an enormous time commitment it really was.

He has been involved in local politics for years but knew the commitment would take him away from his family. Still, when he heard the incumbent for the seat wasnt running, he decided to run, with support from local elected officials and others in the community.

I thought well, jeez, somebody has to do it, he said. I care about public schools being vibrant and healthy and providing a good education for everyone.

Serving on a school board is a demanding position that doesnt pay well. Only in Los Angeles is it a full-time job. Elsewhere its a side job. In Morgan Hill, board members get $240 per month, and in San Francisco, $500, despite the dozens of hours required to prepare for and participate in board meetings.

Jan Soule, a member of the countys Republican Central Committee, has been recruiting people to run for school board in Santa Clara County, including Delisle.

The people Ive recruited are all people who have been fed up with what is happening in the schools  kids being lured to change gender. Are you aware of that? she said.

Soule said she doesnt believe theres an unwillingness to run, but rather significant costs associated with the effort, which for many are covered by labor unions backing the candidate. Those without significant endorsements or political donations have to pay the fees themselves.

That can include a school board candidate spending $700 to more than $7,000 for a 200-word candidate statement in the voter guide, depending on the district and county. Costs vary, based on the number of registered voters, language translation requirements and printing costs, as well as whether the school district shares the cost.

For people who just want to make a difference, who have principles, family values and they want to run because its about the kids, coming up with all that money is a big thing, Soule said. Thats one of the key deterrents for people running.

Delisle, on his candidate website, said he wants schools to get back to basics, and less time on social engineering and more time on the basics of education.

With faith, integrity, persistence, moral character, and hard work, you can accomplish your dreams in America, he said.

His book, Calling the Called, offers a more in-depth perspective of his beliefs, which center on a Christian nation, including a Biblical presence in public life.

That would include opposition to homosexuality and gay marriage, as well as more restrictive divorce laws, because God hates divorce, and women who are divorced rather than being better off are sicker and poorer and sadder.

He agrees in his book that keeping the state of government limited and in check is the responsibility of our churches.

Delisle said he wrote the book 10 years ago, his second after a Bible study book he wrote with his wife.

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.

Were Christians, and were not trying to hide anything about that, he said. I think we need to get moral and ethical standards back.

Delisle did not respond to additional questions regarding how or if he would advocate for his personal beliefs as a school board member.

Morgan Hill school board President John Horner is also running unopposed so far, one of many school board incumbents across the region who wont face a challenger.

He said hes been on the phone a lot trying to recruit people to run for his districts school board.

I just want decent people that are hardworking, that have integrity and have the best interest of students in mind, he said. Its a time-demanding job.

Horner noted that publicized scandal and drama among some Bay Area school boards is also a deterrent. Yet he added that hes seeing a big push nationwide to tilt school boards to one political perspective or another.

Steve Bannon, former President Donald Trumps onetime political strategist, has said the path to save the country goes through school boards.

That gives Horner pause.

If good people dont step up, then you get whats left, he said. When you only have one, then you get somebody whatever their perspective and politics are, who can be wildly non-representative of the community.

Horner said he isnt familiar with Delisle and didnt comment specifically on his candidacy. He did say hes been working the phones to recruit more candidates for the seven-member school board before the deadline.

For democracy to function, there are multiple candidates with different viewpoints and programmatic objectives, he said. Thats how its supposed to work.

Flint echoed that.

Ideally, the public should have a choice, he said. At the same time if no one is interested in running or only one candidate is willing to run, thats a statement from the public of a different kind.

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker
Amid disquieting revelations about District Attorney Brooke Jenkins financial disclosures, her former boss blasted an email out to his supporters.

Brooke Jenkins failed to meet the standards the people of San Francisco deserve, former District Attorney Chesa Boudins wrote last week. Jenkins has faced scrutiny for presenting herself as a volunteer for the recall effort that booted Boudin from office, while accepting more than $100,000 in consulting fees from organizations linked to the campaign to oust him.

Those activities, he said were unbecoming of the office of District Attorney.

At the end of the email was a large, blue contribute button, though it was not clear what cause he was fundraising for. The email was paid for by the political committee Boudin for District Attorney 2023.

Boudin has said he would not enter this falls special election that will decide who will finish out the rest of what would have been a four-year term. But he has also not ruled out reentering next years scheduled district attorneys race.

Although Boudin isnt running in November, the shadow of his embittered recall election continues to animate the upcoming race, where Jenkins is facing off against two main contenders  John Hamasaki and Joe Alioto Veronese.

In a statement to The Chronicle, Boudin said the 2023 contest is a long way off and there are too many variables involved to make a statement on running, but I am committed to fighting for justice and a safer San Francisco.

Boudin said attorneys were directing him on how the donations can be legally used.

Jim Ross, a political consultant on Boudins campaign against the recall but no longer working for him, said the funds could help build a war chest should Boudin decide to run again, but that there are several other places they could be used as well.

In general, campaign funds also can be moved to another political or public affairs entity, like a ballot measure committee or political organization, or to certain eligible nonprofits, Ross said. Committees can also return the unused funds to donors.

The contributions cannot be used to support the candidates run for a different office. The funds could help support another candidate, but donations would be limited to $500, Ross said.

The Boudin for District Attorney 2023 committee was created shortly after his January 2020 swearing-in as top prosecutor  long before the recall. Boudin would have been up for re-election in 2023. The race could ultimately be held in 2024 if San Franciscans pass a November ballot measure that would move the citys local races to presidential election years.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Jenkins, who quit Boudins office to lead the effort to unseat him, was at the center of her own controversy this week after financial disclosures revealed she raked in over $100,000 during the time she worked as a self-titled volunteer for the recall campaign. The bulk of these funds came from a 501(c)(3) organization that has ties to  but is legally separate from  a group that bankrolled the recall.

Ethics experts said it didnt appear Jenkins broke any laws, but voters may see her claim to be a volunteer for the recall as a misrepresentation. Jenkins was a powerful force for the campaign, in part because of her contention that she quit Boudins office due to her personal convictions and was not swayed by financial incentives.

While its unclear how much weight voters will place on Jenkins financial disclosures, the revelations have already provided fodder for opponents Hamasaki, a criminal defense attorney and former police commissioner, and Alioto Veronese, a civil rights attorney.

Boudin has not officially endorsed any candidate. Jenkins was appointed by Mayor London Breed following Boudins recall.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
The state Supreme Court says apartment owners in Oakland can challenge a waste-hauling fee that was passed along to them after the city negotiated it with garbage-collection companies. Though the case is not over, the ruling could be a first step toward substantial court-ordered refunds in many California cities and counties if the fees are found to be illegal tax increases.

Oakland and its trash collector, Waste Management of Alameda County, first agreed on the fee, initially $25 million, in 2013 as a price for the company to use city streets and pick up and dispose of solid wastes. The city later reached a separate $3 million annual contract with another company, California Waste Solutions, for recycling.

Similar fees for trash collection and a variety of other services have been approved by local governments across the state, which classify them as payments for exclusive franchises to do business on streets and other public property. But a suit by apartment owners in Oakland contends the waste-hauling fee was actually a tax that required two-thirds approval from city voters under Proposition 26, an initiative passed by California voters in 2010.

The state Supreme Court did not resolve that issue Thursday but refused to dismiss the suit, and rejected a central argument by Oakland and other municipalities: that the fees could not be considered a tax because the companies were paying for the right to use city property.

Prop. 26, sponsored by the same property-owning groups that backed the tax-cutting Proposition 13 in 1978, required two-thirds voter approval for any levy, exaction or charge by a local government, but exempted certain types of fees, including those charged for use of government property. The court said the exemption would apply to a fee for use of a government-owned park or bridge, or for the right to build over, under or alongside a public roadway  payments that could not be considered taxes.

But Oakland has not established that the use (granted to the waste-haulers) means anything more than the generally available prerogative to drive on roads and public rights of way that visitors already enjoy, Justice Goodwin Liu said in a portion of the ruling endorsed by all seven justices.

The city said the fees also gave the companies special permission to use heavy vehicles and waste receptacles on the streets. Liu said those claims were the subject of factual disputes and would not justify dismissing any of the lawsuit at this stage.

Oakland also argued that the licenses it provided to the companies, classified as franchises, were themselves government property exempt from Prop. 26. But Liu said property generally refers to tangible objects, such as land or buildings, and that even if the franchises could be considered property, they belong to those who paid for them.

And he rejected the citys contention that the fees could not be taxes because they were negotiated with the companies. Oakland enacted the results of those negotiations into law and required the companies to pay them, Liu said.

The court returned the case to lower courts to decide unresolved issues, including whether the fees are protected by another exemption in Prop. 26 that allows cities and counties to recover reasonable government costs of the benefits they are granting. But a lawyer for the Oakland apartment owners said the ruling was a step toward invalidating such fees throughout California.

The franchise fee is a disguised tax, not really paid by Waste Management but by customers and ratepayers, said attorney Andrew Zacks. The city is not using money for garbage services but for its general fund, which is what taxes are supposed to do. ... And this is not unique.

Zacks said the trash fees primarily affected owners of rental property, whose garbage-collection rates climbed while homeowner and business rates have remained relatively stable.

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Richard Kellner, lawyer for property owners who are challenging similar fees in Los Angeles, said the ruling means a city cant just sell monopoly rights to the highest bidder, pass the costs along to consumers, and not consider it a tax.

The Oakland City Attorneys Office did not respond to requests for comment. But representatives of local governments told the court the case could have serious consequences.

Franchise fees, for the right to haul wastes, supply natural gas and provide other services, are common throughout the state, and have remained an important source of funding for public services, the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties said in a court filing last year. They cited a state report that franchise fees for 480 cities in 2018-19 amounted to more than $1.3 billion, nearly 4% of their total revenue.

Noting that local governments in California are already suffering from significant revenue shortfalls, the filing said franchise fees are the product of contracts between sophisticated and capable parties and should not be considered involuntary taxes.

The case is Zolly v. Oakland, No. S262634.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
A state agency is investigating allegations made last year by supporters of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin that a group funding the recall campaign against him violated campaign finance laws.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission opened an investigation into allegations against San Franciscans for Public Safety Supporting the Recall of Chesa Boudin and three other organizations on Sept. 21 after receiving a complaint from an attorney representing San Franciscans Against the Recall of Chesa Boudin.

The Chronicle received the complaint and letter initiating the investigation, which are public documents, through an agency spokesperson.

The state agency opens an investigation when it determines a complaint has indications of potential violations. Last year, the agency received about 2,300 complaints and referrals, with 1,200 opened into investigations. It assessed about $472,000 in fines in 2021.

The complaint filed on Aug. 6, 2021, names four organizations as respondents  Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy, San Franciscans for Public Safety Supporting the Recall of Chesa Boudin, San Francisco Common Sense Voter Guide and Stop All Asian Hate.

The complaint alleges that Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy funneled donations from nine major donors to the recall directly and through the two other organizations days after they were received. California law prohibits contributions made on behalf of another or through an intermediary unless properly disclosed and reported as earmarked for that purpose, which the complaint said the organizations did not do.

The complaint alleged that committees created an earmarking scheme to hide crucial information about the largest contributors funding the recall effort from the public.

The recall campaign did disclose earmarked funds from two organizations and listed them as major contributors, but did not name individual donors.

Representatives for the four organizations did not immediately respond to requests for comment or could not be reached Thursday evening.

The complainant is Becky Bond, treasurer of Real Justice PAC which sponsored the anti-recall campaign. The campaigns lawyer Dave Mitrani from the law firm Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock sent the complaint.

We made this complaint over a year ago in hopes (to) inform voters about who was funding all the misinformation on crime during the recall, Bond said. That didnt happen. I absolutely believe that if at that time voters had more information about the funders behind the recall it could have made a difference in the outcome.

Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy, a 501(c)(4) political organization, is currently under scrutiny because of its close connection to a similarly named nonprofit, Neighbors for a Better San Francisco. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit paid District Attorney Brooke Jenkins more than $100,000 for consulting work she did before taking office, and both groups are linked to a billionaire who backed the recall.

The allegations made by San Franciscans Against the Recall of Chesa Boudin came while Jenkins was still working under her former boss Boudin, before she quit to join the recall and work for Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, and do not mention her.

The complaint claims that Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy, the political organization, received $720,000 from nine donors between June 4 and June 30. At least $450,000 of those funds found their way to San Franciscans for Public Safety Supporting the Recall of Chesa Boudin within days of being donated, according to the complaint. Roughly half the funds were contributed directly and others through San Francisco Common Sense Voter Guide and Stop All Asian Hate.

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According to the complaint, as a result, San Franciscans for Public Safety Supporting the Recall of Chesa Boudin failed to report the three highest contributors in its disclaimers who had given to Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy.

The complaint claims that the organizations violated multiple campaign finance laws that prohibit a committee from creating another to avoid, or that results in the avoidance of, the disclosure of any individual, industry, business entity, controlled committee, or sponsored committee as a top contributor and that require committees to disclose the names of top contributors.

The complaint said theres a strong likelihood the donors knew their funds were being used for the recall, but its not clear.

Two individuals  recall campaign chair Mary Jung and Jay Cheng, who was also involved in the recall  either have past connections with or operate the four organizations. Stop All Asian Hate and San Francisco Common Sense Voter Guide list the same phone number on ethics filings and share a treasurer. Three of the organizations share the same address.

Jung and Cheng did not respond to requests for comment Thursday evening.

Mallory Moench (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench
Mountain View Police Department

Mountain View police are seeking the publics help in finding three French bulldog puppies that were stolen from a home several weeks ago.

The puppies were taken from a home on the 800 block of El Camino Real. Two were snatched from the backyard, and the third was stolen when someone broke into the home, authorities said.
The one-day deluge that soaked San Francisco in 4 inches of rain last October is just a damp teaser of what is coming when it rains torrentially off and on for 30 days, according to a harrowing study.

As much as 60 inches of rain (not snow) in a warming Sierra Nevada storm could wash down the delta and flood every river and stream in the Bay Area. The rising waters could then meet with a coastal storm surge that raises the level of San Francisco Bay by several feet to wash out low-lying roadways and overwhelm urban areas from the East Bay to San Jose.

These are the inferences from a research article in the journal Science Advances that was published Friday under the headline Climate change is increasing the risk of a California megaflood, by UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain and colleague Xingying Huang of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

The kinds of scenario we are talking about is What if the worst storms that you can remember in California all occurred back to back in one month? Swain said in an interview.

Storms seem hard to fathom now, with California in its third year of drought. But climate change is making both drought and rainstorms more prolonged and intense, climatologists believe.

The dense 13-page treatise uses the Great Flood of 1862 as its model. An overwhelming series of storms turned the entire Central Valley into an inland sea and washed out what is now Los Angeles and the cities of Orange County. That flood caused an estimated 4,000 deaths as the equivalent of 10 feet of rain fell over a span of 43 days, according to references.

The study says that climate change is dramatically increasing the risk of megastorms like the one that spawned the 1862 flood, so that an event that would have occurred only once every two centuries is becoming one that might occur around three times each century. Just as worrisome, the consequences could be worse now because of the combined conditions of human-induced global warming, sprawling development and wildfires.

Recent analysis has suggested that such an event would likely produce widespread, catastrophic flooding and subsequently lead to the displacement of millions of people, the long-term closure of critical transportation corridors and ultimately to nearly $1 trillion in overall economic losses, the study states.

For Swain, the worst storm in his memory came in December 1995, with rain blown from the Pacific on wind so strong it nearly destroyed the more than century-old Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

It is one of my most distinct childhood memories, said Swain, who grew up in San Rafael and was 6 at the time. Windows rattled. The power was out.

For many people, the worst storm was the atmospheric river of last October. Atmospheric rivers, which occur during Californias winters, are long bands of water in the sky that fall as rain or snow over the course of several days. But Swain noted that wet as the storm was, it followed a long dry spell and was followed by dry weather afterward. The ground could absorb the runoff.

It brought the single wettest day on record, but it was an isolated event, he said. In the scenario he is modeling, based on his study of the flood of 1862, we would see a storm like last Octobers in the middle of winter, followed by more atmospheric rivers, and that is the problem, he said. A sequence of five or six strong and extreme atmospheric rivers. They just keep coming.

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And when they do, there will be more rain than snow, because of the warming winter climate, in the middle elevations of between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. That means less snowpack and more runoff. That runoff will hit a mountain landscape denuded by wildfire, so there will be nothing to slow it and no trees or undergrowth to keep the hillside from coming down with the rainfall.

To compound the downfall, rising temperatures are exponentially increasing the capacity of clouds to hold water vapor. This increases the propensity of the atmosphere to act as a giant sponge, Swain said. He expects extreme storms in the Sierra Nevada to create 200% to 400% more runoff. Rain accumulation in lower elevations could be 30 to 35 inches, with 10 to 15 inches in the driest parts of the state.

The rain itself will flood every river and stream significantly worse than before and in new places that have never flooded this century, he said.

The report released Friday investigates a plausible worst case scenario. It addresses the big picture, statewide and does not get into regional or urban specifics Swain addressed in the interview. But that report is coming. He has funding from UCLA and the California Department of Water Resources and is already at work on part two.

For that, we will simulate the flooding itself, he said. The follow-up report should be delivered in a year or so. Get ready.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @samwhitingsf
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Californias top environmental regulator is stepping down at the end of the month, leaving the task of confronting climate change and pollution under Gov. Gavin Newsom to a respected environmental justice advocate.

Jared Blumenfeld, a seasoned policy guru and San Francisco resident who was tapped by the Newsom administration to serve as secretary for environmental protection four years ago, said hes vacating his post to run a new billion-dollar climate foundation launched by Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Frankly, I love working for government, and the scale of what weve been able to do is huge, Blumenfeld told The Chronicle. However, he said, the opportunity to work outside of the bureaucratic red tape on climate issues with an enormous sum of money was not one he could pass up.

As a key adviser to Newsom, Blumenfeld is credited with helping establish some of the nations most ambitious targets for reining in climate pollution, such as requiring all new cars to be zero-emissions by 2035. He also worked to expand access to safe drinking water for state residents and oversaw the $2 billion cleanup of the Camp Fire in Paradise.

Blumenfeld, 52, will be replaced by Yana Garcia, 38, a litigator who lives in Oakland and works as legal and policy adviser on environmental law matters for the Attorney Generals Office. She will be the first Latina to serve as state secretary for environmental protection.

Garcias resume is steeped in community organizing and environmental justice advocacy and includes a stint in the state offices she will oversee. From 2017 to 2021, she worked as deputy secretary for environmental justice, tribal affairs and border relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Prior to that, she worked as an attorney for the environmental legal nonprofit Earthjustice.

I come to this work with a vision of how our environmental programs can be made meaningful for everyday Californians, she said in an interview. And that includes the most vulnerable Californians.

Garcia grew up in Oakland, and shes now raising a 9-month-old daughter there.

As a member of Newsoms cabinet, Garcia will help set the agenda for a half-dozen state offices, including the California Air Resources Board, State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

These agencies have implemented often nation-leading policies on climate change, water shortages, dirty air and social justice.

Garcia said that among her priorities will be ensuring Californias climate programs benefit disadvantaged communities and working to make the state more resilient to drought.

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Blumenfelds last day working for the state will be Aug. 31. He plans to begin the new job of president of the Waverley Street Foundation the following week.

The climate startup, based in San Francisco, has an endowment of $3.5 billion that it plans to spend over the next decade. The focus will be preparing communities, particularly those that are underserved, for the impacts of climate change.

Every scientist on the planet says we have 10 years to get this right, and this feels like it matches the urgency and intensity, Blumenfeld said. It will be one of the biggest climate funds in the world.

Prior to joining the Newsom administration, Blumenfeld, who raised two children in San Francisco, worked in the city as the regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Pacific Southwest. Before that, he was director of San Franciscos Department of Environment.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
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One person was killed after an early morning shooting in Vallejo on Friday, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly before 4:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of Arkansas Street, according to police.
Provided By GoodVibez Presents

Rebels & Renegades, a 2-day music festival taking place October 15-16 at the Monterey Fair & Event Center in Monterey, CA, the once home to the famous Monterey Pop Festival. The inaugural 2022 lineup includes performances by hippie and cowboy fan favorites Cody Jinks, Trampled by Turtles, Orville Peck, Houndmouth, The Cadillac Three, Shane Smith and The Saint, Nikki Lane, Sierra Hull, Fruition, Charles Wesley Godwin, Kat Hasty, Myron Elkins, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.



The festival, a multidimensional experience, will feature, in addition to mainstage performances from the aforementioned artists, interactive art stations, a local makers marketplace, and delicious food from some of Monterey Bays most creative chefs. Intimate acoustic pop up performances will be scattered throughout the famed grounds and craft beer, wine, cider and spirit bars. Limited onsite RV sites, exceptional VIP experiences, and travel packages are available to those who want to elevate their festival experience.



Rebels & Renegades celebrating the outlaws in all of us! Tickets On Sale Now at RebelsandRenegadesFest.com



WHEN

Saturday, October 15-16, 2022

Check-in time:12:00 pm

Event Start time: 1:00 pm

WHERE

Monterey County Fairgrounds

2004 Fairground Rd, Monterey, CA 93940
WASHINGTON (AP)  The FBI recovered top secret and even more sensitive documents from former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the sudden, unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday.

The seized records include some marked not only top secret but also sensitive compartmented information, a special category meant to protect the nation's most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

The property receipt also shows federal agents collected other potential presidential records, including the order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone, a leatherbound box of documents, and information about the President of France. A binder of photos, a handwritten note, miscellaneous secret documents and miscellaneous confidential documents were also seized in the search.

Now Playing: Attorney General Merrick Garland says the Justice Department asked a court to unseal the warrant the FBI received before searching the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump, acknowledging the extraordinary public interest in the case. (Aug. 11) Video: Associated Press

Trumps attorney, Christina Bobb, who was present at Mar-a-Lago when the agents conducted the search, signed two property receipts  one that was two pages long and another that is a single page.

In a statement earlier Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents were all declassified, and argued that he would have turned them over if the Justice Department had asked.

While incumbent presidents generally have the power to declassify information, that authority lapses as soon as they leave office and it was not clear if the documents in question have ever been declassified. And even an incumbent's powers to declassify may be limited regarding secrets dealing with nuclear weapons programs, covert operations and operatives, and some data shared with allies.

Trump kept possession of the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trumps home earlier this year. The Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records.

It remains unclear whether the Justice Department moved forward with the warrant simply as a means to retrieve the records or as part of a wider criminal investigation or attempt to prosecute the former president. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information, with both criminal and civil penalties, as well as presidential records.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed off on the search warrant, unsealed the warrant and property receipt Friday at the request of the Justice Department after Attorney General Merrick Garland declared there was substantial public interest in this matter, and Trump said he backed the warrants immediate release. The Justice Department told the judge Friday afternoon that Trumps lawyers did not object to the proposal to make it public.

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.

The Justice Department's request was striking because such warrants traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies, and felt that the public was entitled to the FBIs side about what prompted Mondays action at the former presidents home.

The publics clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing, said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

The information was released as Trump prepares for another run for the White House. During his 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed. Garland said he personally approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly given that standard practice where possible is to select less intrusive tactics than a search of one's home.

In this case, according to a person familiar with the matter, there was substantial engagement with Trump and his representatives prior to the search warrant, including a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago a couple of months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the documents were stored. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

FBI and Justice Department policy cautions against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of the inquiries and to avoid unfairly maligning someone who is being scrutinized but winds up ultimately not being charged. Thats especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court papers are routinely kept secret as the investigation proceeds.

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In this case, though, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI search, as is his right." The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the court's functions.

The Justice Department under Garland has been leery of public statements about politically charged investigations, or of confirming to what extent it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader probe into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The department has tried to avoid being seen as injecting itself into presidential politics, as happened in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton regarding her handling of email  and when he spoke up again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the probe was being effectively reopened because of the discovery of new emails.

The attorney general also condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel over the search. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be defunded. Large numbers of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be released hoping they it will show that Trump was unfairly targeted.

I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them dedicated, patriotic public servants.

Earlier Thursday, an armed man wearing body armor tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement. A law enforcement official briefed on the matter identified the man as Ricky Shiffer and said he is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol and may have been there on the day it took place.

_____

Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.

___

More on Donald Trump-related investigations: https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump
Nearly two years and several ill-fitting assignments into her vice presidency, Kamala Harris may have found her voice as the nations leading advocate for abortion rights.

She tried out that voice Thursday in the safest of environments  her former home city of San Francisco, where abortion opponents are rarer than sunny July days. Her tone was measured as she led a roundtable discussion of two dozen state legislators and local officials, many of whom have held key roles in trying to make California a national haven for abortion-seekers.

A package of 13 abortion-related bills crafted by the states Future of Abortion Council that was created last fall in anticipation of the fall of Roe v. Wade is moving swiftly through the Legislature, and voters are expected to support a constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights on the November ballot.

Harris spent equal time Thursday praising California for its leadership and railing on other states for their unconscionable moves to ban abortion without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalizing doctors and other health care providers. Last week, Indiana became the first state to ban abortion since the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in June. Other states have banned the procedure through trigger laws that went into effect once Roe fell.

What we have seen from around the country are extremist so-called leaders who are passing laws designed to criminalize health care providers and punish women, Harris said Thursday.

Harris and the group, which included Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, spoke for 22 minutes publicly Thursday at the Fairmont Hotel, part of a two-day Bay Area stop for San Franciscos former district attorney. Then, after the media was ushered out of the ballroom, the group met behind closed doors to further discuss what policies from California could be exported nationally.

Seizing the national abortion rights megaphone makes political sense for Harris, Democrats and the reproductive health movement. The vice president needs a win, as her approval rating is a dismal 36%, and there are doubts that she could beat other Democrats for the partys nomination if President Biden doesnt seek re-election.

Democrats need someone with a national platform to lead the charge other than Biden. While the 79-year-old observant Catholic supports abortion rights, Biden didnt oppose a ban on federal funding for abortion until three years ago  when he was running for president and needed progressive support, leading some to say that he lacks the fire that the moment and the movement is demanding.

Harris is wired for the moment. Not only has maternal health been a consistent focus of her work going back to her days in San Francisco, she can speak with a credible voice to those most affected by abortion. The abortion rate for Black women is nearly three times as high as it for white women, and nearly twice as high for Latinas, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

She is passionate, and very potent leader in this space, Bonta said. When you hear her talk about it, its not intellectual or academic, its something that she feels. Theres a pain in it and a motivation and a commitment for change.

Plus, Harris is best when she is in fight mode. The former prosecutor was elected to the Senate in 2016 on the same night that Donald Trump was elected president. Harris discarded much of her prepared victory speech and instead focused on the battle ahead.

When we have been attacked and when our ideals and fundamental values are being attacked, do we retreat or do we fight? Harris said that night. I say we fight!

Bonta and other legislators dismissed the notion that there was little value in Harris preaching about abortion to the liberal choir in California, where 70% of likely voters oppose overturning Roe, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Bonta said there was value in the vice president hearing about some of the successes that weve had here and export them to other states.

This isnt just window dressing. Its substantive and meaningful, Bonta said. Harris has discussed reproductive health issues with legislators from 18 states, according to her office, including red ones like Kansas, Texas, South Dakota, Indiana and Utah.

During the 30-minutes private discussion with lawmakers, Harris offered to connect Legal Alliance for Reproductive Rights, a group of over 60 law firms with hundreds of lawyers ready to help those facing legal issues related to the loss of abortion rights, into a national network of similar organizations, said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, who was there Thursday and leads the alliance.

It was an example, Chiu said, of how Harris can use her national platform to connect disparate parts of the abortion rights movement.

Were going to be deployed as part of a national army of lawyers to help defend patients and providers, Chiu said.

Atkins said Harris encouraged California to collaborate with other states because we are going to have to grapple with a number of very practical issues that you wouldn't necessarily think about.

Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, wanted to make sure that Washington knew the nation needs a law that provides comprehensive access to reproductive health care, including abortion, for every state in the nation.

But that doesnt seem likely, given that Democrats dont have 60 votes to break the Senate filibuster.

They got the votes on the biggest climate bill in history, so lets try to get the votes on this, said Bauer-Kahan, who is part of a national group of state legislators working with the White House on reproductive health legislation. A girl can dream, cant she?

Harris new role wont be without its challenges, as many have been critical of the Biden administration for not doing more in the wake of the decision striking down Roe v. Wade. Progressives ripped the administration for being caught flat-footed by the high courts decision  even though a draft version of it leaked months before.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a leading progressive voice, called on Biden to step up on abortion, including by opening abortion clinics on federal lands.

After Biden said he would support overturning the Senate filibuster to pass a law ensuing access to abortion, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: Now were talking! Time for people to see a real, forceful push for it. Use the bully pulpit. We need more.

Unlike other items in Harris VP portfolio like tackling the root causes of illegal immigration, abortion is a winning issue for Democrats. Most adults (61%) want the laws in their state to guarantee access to abortion, according to a July poll from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. That same survey also found that 73% of women between the ages of 18 and 49 said that abortion will be very important to their midterm vote, an increase of 14 percentage points since February. Last week, voters in Kansas rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that said there was no right to abortion in the red state.

Chiu, who has known Harris for 24 years since they were young lawyers in San Francisco, said he saw Harris in her comfort zone during the meeting.

She is absolutely in her zone here, Chiu said. She is exactly where she should and needs to be at this moment.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
San Francisco is used to fighting its housing wars under the gilded dome of City Hall.

No longer: Now all eyes are on Sacramento.

On Tuesday, in a dramatic one-two punch, the state Department of Housing and Community Development announced that it was initiating a review of San Franciscos housing approval and permitting process, an intervention meant to cure the city of its addiction to the endless debate, legal wrangling and community process that has made the city dead last in California when it comes to approving projects in a timely manner.

In a related matter, HCD also told the city it had to go back to the drawing board on its so-called housing element, that once-every-eight-year residential development plan every California city must provide as a road map to reaching state housing goals. The housing element must be certified by Jan. 31 of next year.

While the investigation of the citys housing practices will likely take more than a year, the housing element is more pressing. San Francisco planners have five months to sell state housing officials on one simple idea: that the city has a realistic plan to build 82,000 housing units by 2030.

That effort will in part succeed or fail based on the citys ability to convince the state that the 72,000 units in San Franciscos pipeline can be converted from architectural plans to actual apartments.

In other words: How real is the plan to redevelop Parkmerced, scheduled for 5,600 apartments, which sits dormant more than a decade after it was approved? Will the dream of the 12,000-unit community at the San Francisco Shipyard development and Candlestick Point  stalled due to economic downturn and a scandal involving the clean-up of toxic waste  ever get back on track? What about the 1,700 unit at Schlage Lock, on the Brisbane border?

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2019

While the HCD had kind words for much of the citys housing element  saying it proposed bold and meaningful actions to reduce barriers to higher-opportunity neighborhoods  it suggested that city planners were perhaps over-reliant on the pipeline.

In a letter to the city, HCD said city planners must come up with a Plan B in case those mega-projects dont work out. The element directs the city to come up with alternative actions  including additional rezoning  if assumptions are not realized.

Laura Foote, executive director of YIMBY Action, said HCD had poked a hole in the citys pipeline capacity claim.

San Francisco is claiming credit for 35,000 units that are in the pipeline but functionally dead, she said. HCD is saying, No, the pipeline is imaginary.

Chris Elmendorf, a professor at UC Davis who focuses on housing law, said San Francisco planners are not being realistic about how many of the approved units will materialize.

The city is using really far-fetched projections to avoid to committing to rezoning, he said. The reality is a constellation of city requirements and fees and mandates have cumulatively made development economically infeasible in most of the city.

Elmendorf said the city should analyze the accumulative effect of all these development restrictions and come up with a plan to make projects work. That could involve deferring fees or lowering affordable housing requirements.

Planning Director Rich Hillis said the notion that the pipeline is imaginary is misleading. Big, multiphase projects require years of planning and infrastructure, but once vertical construction starts  actual buildings rising from the ground, as opposed to streets or sewer lines  production can be rapid. That was the case with Mission Bay, which went through decades of debate, multiple economic cycles and doubts about its viability, before taking off. That neighborhood has produced more than 6,000 housing units.

And some of the citys most complicated and long-stalled mega-projects have finally started rolling. On Treasure Island as many as 1,000 units should be complete or under construction by the end of the year. Infrastructure work is under way at Pier 70 and the adjacent Potrero Power plant. And 537 apartments are under construction in two towers at Mission Rock, a multiphase development across from Oracle Park.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Even without the pipeline, plans to rezone transit corridors around the city would add about 20,000 units.

Pipeline or no pipeline, we are being aggressive in our housing element to add capacity, particularly in high-resourced areas that have not seen much housing, Hillis said.

Rudy Gonzalez, secretary treasurer of the San Francisco Building Trades Council, said that he doesnt have a problem with the states aggressive stance but said the city should force property owners to act.

Id like to take it one step forward and put a timeline on breaking ground, Gonzalez said. Cracking down on approvals sounds good, but lets be clear that entitlement doesnt equal production.

Meanwhile, the states push to force San Francisco to speed up approvals and plan for a lot more housing is an unwelcome intrusion for city progressives who have long used the politicized process to squeeze developers for more low-income units, open space and funding for nonprofits.

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.

Lee Hepner, an attorney for the American Economic Liberties Project and former aide to Supervisor Aaron Peskin, said the state is beholden to developer interests who are maximum profit at any cost.

They would be better off directing that energy to cities like Milpitas and Cupertino that are way less dense and adding thousands of jobs while failing to build the housing to house those workers. That burden is put on San Francisco.

He added: We are exceeding our market rate housing goals by a long shot, but that doesnt seem to be enough for the state. Its frustrating.

In a letter to HCD, Supervisor Dean Preston criticized the state for appearing to conflate all forms of housing, a favored framing of the luxury housing developer lobby, but not what one would expect from an affordable housing agency.

There is certainly a discussion to be had about luxury housing development in an expensive city like San Francisco, but it would seem strange if that were your priority at a time when most of the working class cannot afford a roof over their heads, he said.

Preston called the states approach neo-liberalism at its worst.

While San Francisco will always receive heightened scrutiny as the economic center of the Bay Area, its housing production  affordable and market rate  has actually been significantly better than other parts of the region.

In the current housing cycle, San Francisco exceeded requirements above moderate rate goals by 39%, producing nearly 18,000 units of market rate housing. On affordable housing, the city fell well short of its goals, producing 4,700 units of low income and very low income units. But that output  33% of its very low income goals and 58% of its low income goals  far outpaced other regional hubs. San Jose, for example, produced 4% of its low income goals and Oakland came in at about 12%.

If the city doesnt get state approval for its housing element it risks losing billions in state affordable housing money. Supervisor Ahsha Safai said that his fellow board members will have to recognize that.

We have supply-side deniers in our city, and many on the board of supervisors, who believe at the end of the day there will be no consequences for our actions, he said. And now the state is saying, There will be consequences. 

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
The pending eviction of a 61-year-old chef from his Western Addition home of more than half a century was indefinitely delayed Friday after a series of protests calling attention to the situation, according to Supervisor Dean Preston, who is fighting the eviction.

The eviction of Richard Henegan is one of five pending at the Martin Luther King-Marcus Garvey Apartments, a 211-unit co-operative in the Western Addition.

Henegan said he was packing up boxes in the apartment on Pierce Street when he heard the news.

I immediately dropped to my knees and thanked the Lord for bringing the people into my life who are working so hard and diligently to keep me housed, he said.

A lawyer representing Kalco Properties, which manages the property, confirmed that the property management company has taken the eviction off-calendar with the Sheriffs office so that the parties, the City and HUD can have time to engage and consider alternatives, according to text correspondence shared by Prestons office.

Kalco CEO Barry Levy and its attorney John Zanghi did not return calls seeking comment.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

The eviction machine is not set up to stop, said Preston, a longtime tenant attorney. But community members came together with my office and other elected leaders to bring this severe injustice to a halt.

The decision to halt the eviction  at least for now  came a week after more than 100 people gathered to protest the evictions at the co-op, which was built in the 1960s as opportunity for low-income individuals to build equity and stake ownership in their community. Many of the families who bought into the complex had been displaced during the redevelopment of the Fillmore District, once the heart of San Franciscos Black community.

More than 40 Black-led organizations and 400 San Francisco residents signed a petition seeking to halt the eviction.

None of the five cases involve unpaid rent or just causes. Rather, they center on disputes over alleged violations of regulations imposed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provides the subsidies that allow working-class families to stay on the King-Garvey complex.

In a letter sent to Prestons office two weeks ago, Kalcos Levy said that all of the pending evictions relate to unauthorized occupants that took possession of units after a long term resident had passed away.

These unauthorized occupants were never approved for occupancy or co-tenancy under the Occupancy Agreement for the unit nor did they participate in annual HUD required recertifications, the letter said.

But several of the residents facing eviction, including Henegan, say they have filled out the paperwork required to get recertified, but that the management company didnt process the forms. Several accused the management company of wanting to replace longtime residents with higher-earning residents who are able to pay higher rents.

Under the HUD rules, occupants pay 30% of their income in rent, although, as a co-op, residents of the complex earn some equity in the property that is paid out when they leave. Residents who are evicted, however, arent eligible to pull out equity.

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.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Henegan moved into the complex when he was in first grade and has worked for decades as a chef. He currently is employed at the Village Project, which provides groceries for low-income families. For the last decade Henegan moonlighted as the caretaker for his mother, who died last October. He said he was devastated by her death and was slow to deal with warnings from the management company informing him that he was no longer in the apartment legally.

To be perfectly honest, I was totally unprepared for her to pass. Its tough navigating out there  things come at you fast and furious, he said. She always did the legwork, and I did the heavy lifting.

Mr. Henegan at least has some breathing room to work with HUD and the Mayors Office of Housing to find a solution that keeps him housed, said Kelsey Merrick, attorney for Henegan. As of right now, theres still an eviction on his record and were not yet sure what the future holds.

Henegan said he will continue to pack because even if he avoids eviction and is allowed to stay, he will likely downsize to a studio or one-bedroom unit. On Friday he was going to borrow a dolly so he could move some furniture.

Ive got these big moving bags out back, he said. Im sure my mother is turning in her grave looking at that mess.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
Calm, the meditation and relaxation tech startup featuring a medley of celebrity voices, has laid off a fifth of its staff. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and employs around 400 people, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The affected employees were laid off Thursday, a company spokesperson told SFGATE. Laid-off employees were notified in one-on-one meetings, according to a company-wide message.

While some of you will be impacted, all of you will be affected, Calm CEO David Ko said in the message Thursday. I can assure you that this was not an easy decision, but it is especially difficult for a company like ours whose mission is focused on workplace mental health and wellness.

Calm, like direct competitor Headspace and digital therapy services like BetterHelp and Talkspace, capitalized on the recent uptick in demand for mental health care and wellness  a demand that was only intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. But Calms big draw over its competitors was its reliance on mega-celebrities, from boy-bander turned pop dreamboat Harry Styles to actor Matthew McConaughey, to read sleep stories on the platform.

By 2020, it was valued at $2 billion  making it one of the largest unicorns in the mental health tech space. But it, too, has been forced to pare back as a more-constrained tech industry has seen demand drop after profits  and hiring  soared during the pandemic.

We did not come to this decision lightly, but are confident that these changes will help us prioritize the future, focus on growth and become a more efficient organization, Ko said.

A spokesperson did not provide additional details on laid-off employees' severance packages.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ Boston Omaha Corp. (BOC) on Friday reported a second-quarter loss of $11.5 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company said it had a loss of 39 cents per share.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A ship docked in a Ukrainian Black Sea port on Friday to begin loading up with wheat for hungry people in Ethiopia. It will be the first food delivery to Africa under a U.N. plan to unblock grain trapped by Russias war on Ukraine and bring relief to some of the millions worldwide who are on the brink of starvation.

For months, fighting in Ukraine and a Russian blockade of Ukraine's ports meant that grain produced in Ukraine, one of the world's key breadbaskets, piled up in silos. That sent global food prices sky-high and led to hunger in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. In recent days, several ships carrying grain have left Ukrainian ports under the new deal  but most of those shipments were animal feed and went to Turkey or Western Europe under previous contracts.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the ship named Brave Commander will carry its wheat to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, where it will be unloaded and sent on to Ethiopia.

The wheat will go to the World Food Programs operations in Ethiopia, supporting the Horn of Africa drought response as the threat of famine stalks the drought-hit region," he said. It is one of many areas around the world where the near-complete halt of Ukrainian grain and food on the global market has made life even harder for the families already struggling with rising hunger.

The ship was expected to take on more than 23,000 metric tons, according to Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry  still only a tiny portion of the 20 million tons of grain languishing now in Ukraine. It docked in the port city of Yuzhne late Friday, the ministry said.

Ethiopia, along with neighboring Somalia and Kenya, is facing the worst drought in four decades in the Horn of Africa. Thousands of people across the region have died from hunger or illness this year. Forecasts for the coming weeks indicate that for the first time, a fifth straight rainy season will fail to materialize. Millions of livestock, the basis of many families wealth and food security, have died.

Millions of households will struggle to cope with these shocks in Ethiopia, according to a new assessment by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Food assistance needs are at record levels, with up to 15 million people in need of food assistance.

While one shipment won't solve the crisis, the World Food Program still heralded it as an important step" in getting Ukrainian grain out of the country to the worst-affected countries. Ethiopian officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Yet on Ukraine's front lines, the fighting was incessant, especially in the eastern region of the Donbas, where much of the fighting has been centered as the war approaches the six-month mark. The town of Kramatorsk was hit by 11 rockets overnight. Seven people were killed and 14 others were wounded in and around the town, which remains cut off from gas, running water and electricity.

Three quarters of the population of the region have already been evacuated, because incessant shelling by the Russian army doesnt leave civilians any choice  its either to die from wounds, or from hunger and cold in winter, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television.

The threat of a nuclear accident also loomed in southern Ukraine, where shelling has hit near Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Shelling near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant continued overnight. Russian forces fired more than 40 rockets at the city of Marhanets, which is across the Dnieper River from the power plant. Three people were wounded in the most recent shelling, including a 12-year-old boy. The neighboring city of Nikopol was shelled as well, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The U.N. nuclear chief warned late Thursday that very alarming military activity at the nuclear plant could lead to dangerous consequences.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi urged Russia and Ukraine, who blame each other for the attacks at the nuclear plant, to immediately allow nuclear experts to assess damage and evaluate safety and security at the sprawling nuclear complex. He said the situation at the plant has been deteriorating very rapidly.

He pointed to shelling and several explosions at Zaporizhzhia last Friday that forced the shutdown of its electrical power transformer and two backup transformers, forcing the shutdown of one nuclear reactor.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said authorities were drafting plans to evacuate residents from towns and villages near the plant.

There is a high-level threat, so there are plans for any possible development, including release of radiation, Monastyrsky said Friday. We all have seen the Russian shelling of the plant. Its horrible.

He said Russian forces have stationed weapons at the plant and have denied Ukrainian nuclear workers access to some areas in the complex.

Its hard to even imagine the scale of tragedy if the Russians continue their action there, he said. We have become convinced that there is no restraining factors. There is a deliberate stand declared by the Russian authorities that they are ready for any action, regardless of consequences.

-

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

Search the internet for student debt stories, and youll easily find dozens of anxiety-ridden tales of student loan borrowers struggling to keep up with enormous debt balances that have swelled out of control due to compounding interest.

Very few of those stories, however, end in total debt forgiveness. But thats exactly what happened with Kristin Eliason, legal director at Network for Victim Recovery of D.C., or NVRDC, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit; she saw her $413,000 in student loan debt disappear overnight.

Eliason had her debt discharged through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, or PSLF. The federal program has a waiver in effect that counts previously ineligible past payments.

The original amount she borrowed for public undergraduate school and private law school was around $180,000, and the interest grew too quickly to pay down any of her principal over the years, she says.

Eliason describes watching her debt balloon without any certainty it would ever be forgiven as a mental burden. That weight was lifted when her application was approved under the waiver.

Once the shock wore off of not believing this was real, it was such a huge relief that I truly never thought it was going to happen, she says.

A forgiveness program that rarely pays off

The waiver worked out for Eliason, but as for the program itself, she describes it as a benefit on paper  not a benefit in practice.

Most borrowers who apply to Public Service Loan Forgiveness are rejected. The approval rate since the programs inception in 2007 hovered around 2.4%, according to an analysis of federal data.

Getting full debt discharge requires 120 qualifying payments made while working full time for an eligible employer, such as a public school, public hospital, eligible nonprofit or the government.

Borrowers have been left to their own devices to fight, sometimes for years, for payments to count toward the 120 total needed for forgiveness of their remaining debt.

As a result of public criticism, the Biden administration sought to make temporary improvements in an effort to rectify some of the flaws in the execution of the original program. Hence, the PSLF waiver: It offers borrowers the opportunity to receive credit for past payments that didnt meet the programs stringent rules. Since the waiver was put in place in October 2021, federal data show approvals through June 2022 have climbed to 10%.

Whats a couple extra thousand when youre in a six-figure hole?

Eliason took out less than $15,000 in federal student loans to attend as an undergrad at the University of Virginia. She went on to study law at the Catholic University of Americas Columbus School of Law, where she says taking out large loans was common practice.

She finished law school in 2009 with $180,000 in debt. She then took out an additional private loan to help pay for her expenses while she studied for the bar exam.

Eliason made most of her payments on an income-driven repayment plan  its the only plan that usually qualifies for PSLF. The repayment plan kept her payments lower than they would have been on a standard 10-year repayment plan, but those lower payments allowed interest to keep accumulating.

After passing the bar, she participated in a postgraduate fellowship, a clerkship, and then experienced six months of unemployment.

There were a few periods of forbearance where I wasnt making monthly payments because I couldnt afford to make monthly payments and eat, says Eliason.

In September 2012, she began working as a legal services attorney earning $43,000 each year. Her payments were $600 per month. It was unmanageable in the D.C. area, she says.

When she started working at NVRDC in 2013, Eliason was able to qualify for D.C.s loan repayment assistance program, which helps pay for the student loans of lawyers at 37 nonprofit employers. But in order to receive the tax-free benefit, her income had to stay at or below $90,000. In D.C., the current median household income as of 2020 was $90,842, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Eliason says as she inched closer to PSLF discharge, she started submitting employment certification. But her servicer miscalculated the number of payments that she believes should have counted. They said I only made 90 payments, but I had been working at nonprofit organizations for eight years, she says. I knew that didnt translate.

She continued submitting her employment certification, and by March 2022, Eliason was notified she had reached 119 payments, but she had to submit additional forms to certify employment. In April, she was told she had made 124 qualifying payments  four more than needed  and she was now owed money. Soon thereafter, her servicer account showed a $0 balance, and she received a letter notifying her of the full discharge.

Eliason says loan forgiveness will make a big difference in her life. She wont need the loan repayment assistance program anymore, which means no more income cap.

It means I can get a pay raise at my job. It means if I want to do extra contract work I can do that to supplement my income. It means if work gave me a bonus it wouldnt impact my ability to get repayment assistance, says Eliason.

How to get the PSLF waiver

More than 128,000 borrowers have seen a collective $8 billion in loan debt forgiven through the temporary waiver. If you think you may qualify for PSLF through the waiver, there's no downside to applying.

The PSLF waiver counts past payments that previously didnt qualify, including:

Late payments.

Payments equaling less than the full amount due.

Payments made on an incorrect repayment plan.

Payments made on loans that previously did not qualify, such as Federal Family Education Loans, or FFEL, and Perkins loans.

Payments not made during forbearance periods of 12 consecutive months or greater.

Months spent in deferment, other than in-school deferment, before 2013.

Use the PSLF Help Tool to search for a qualifying employer and generate a form. It has been updated to align with the waiver.

To qualify, borrowers must already have direct loans or must consolidate their federal debt into a new direct loan. The consolidation step is critical: Borrowers can submit a combined PSLF/Employer Certification form before consolidating, but they must consolidate to be eligible for forgiveness. To find out if you qualify for additional payments and learn more about the waiver, log in to the federal student aid website.

If youre hoping to get the waiver, make sure to submit before it expires Oct. 31.

Anna Helhoski writes for NerdWallet. Email: anna@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @AnnaHelhoski.

The article How I Got My Student Loans Forgiven: Legal Director in D.C. originally appeared on NerdWallet.
VENTURA, Calif. (AP)  A man once briefly married to Britney Spears has been convicted of aggravated trespassing and battery at the pop stars June wedding.

Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded no contest to the two misdemeanor counts in a California court, prosecutors in Ventura County announced Thursday. The Ventura County judge sentenced him to the 64 days he has already served in jail.

Prosecutors dropped charges of felony stalking and misdemeanor vandalism.

Spears married longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari at her home in Thousand Oaks, California, on June 9, in front of several dozen guests including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton and Madonna.

Alexander, a childhood friend of Spears to whom she was married for less than three days in 2004, appeared uninvited at the house before the ceremony while livestreaming on Instagram.

He got inside the house and up to the locked door of Spears' bedroom when she was inside getting ready for the wedding, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.

Alexander refused to leave the property when told, battered a security guard who tried to remove him, and damaged a door, prosecutors said.

After he entered his plea, a judge issued a new protective order forbidding him from coming within 100 yards of Spears or the security guard.

Alexanders attorney, Sandra Bisignani, did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. She previously said in court that there was no evidence he had any intention of harming Spears.

Spears' lawyer declined comment.

___

This story has been updated to show that the conviction was announced Thursday, not Friday.
Two popular Bay Area businesses, and soon-to-be neighbors inside the Ferry Building, have collaborated on a new ice cream flavor inspired by two classic desserts.

Humphry Slocombe shared an Instagram post on Thursday showcasing its latest ice cream flavor in collaboration with Senor Sisig. Its called churron, which is a mashup between the words (and flavors) of a churro and turon, a popular Filipino fried dessert typically made with banana, jackfruit, brown sugar, and lumpia wrappers.

With our soon-to-be Senor Sisig location at the Ferry Building, this sweet collab couldn't have come at a better time, Evan Kidera told SFGATE in a statement.

Kidera added that Humphry Slocombe reached out to Senor Sisig ahead of its Ferry Building grand opening sometime this summer with a pitch to craft a flavor together. Kidera shared that for the collaboration he wanted to focus on Mexican and Filipino flavors (much like Senor Sisigs existing menu) and that the team decided on churros and turon.

After our first test bite in the kitchen, the sample was spot on and ready to go, Kidera said.

Its not the first time weve seen Bay Area restaurants collaborate on a unique dish either. Square Pie Guys and Souvla created a pizza mashup reminiscent of Souvlas classic chicken salad in March. The crispy Detroit-style pizza was topped with tender chicken, red onion, mizithra cheese, and Souvlas Granch dressing, which was part of a fundraiser that benefited San Franciscos nonprofit food incubator, La Cocina.

Last year, renowned chef Dominique Crenn collaborated with burger chain Shake Shack for a grilled cheese sandwich made with Boho Belle cheese from Bohemian Creamery, onion jam and tomatoes tucked between two slices of Tartine Bakery bread. That specialty item was only available for one day and, like the Souvla and Square Pie Guys collaboration, was also part of a fundraiser for La Cocina.

Humphry Slocombe and Senor Sisigs decadent ice cream flavor is available at all Bay Area Humphry Slocombe stores.
Last week, McDonalds confirmed to CNBC that its U.S. test of the McPlant burger has ended. Yes, that means the fast food corporations first ever meatless burger is no more, absent any announcement of a nationwide launch.

This news may be disappointing news to some fans of the burger, but as a mostly-vegetarian, I say good riddance.

When I tried the McPlant burger back in February, when it first launched in Bay Area restaurants, I declared it a McNope. The Beyond Meat patty made with peas, rice and potatoes was lacking in flavor, and its presentation conjured the words "floppy," "soggy" and "gloopy." I concluded that I would only eat it under dire circumstances.

So I can't say I'm too sad to see it go. But it is a little disappointing to see how little interest Americans seem to have in eating plant-based burgers.

J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman told CNBC that McDonald's employees claimed the burger wasn't selling very well. According to analysis from BTIG, restaurants in the Bay Area were only selling 20 McPlant sandwiches per day, and stores in more rural areas of the country were only selling three to five burgers per day. That's a far cry from their expectation of 40 to 60.

Bon Appetit had all sorts of compelling theories as to why the McPlant failed, including that vegans and vegetarians are too environmentally conscious to spend their money at a morally bereft corporation like McDonalds. The McPlant also was cooked on the same grill as regular beef patties, making it not technically vegetarian, and with cheese and mayonnaise, it definitely wasn't vegan.

And finally, there's some indication that carnivores are more likely to dismiss fake meat burgers as gross and woke than to be converted to the plant-based side.

While all of this sounds plausible, my theory is this: No vegetarian in their right mind would choose McDonald's over Taco Bell, the plant-based haven where beans can be substituted in any item. I don't eat fast food often, but when I do, it's the best bet.

If you were to give me the choice between a floppy McDonald's fake meat patty that imitates beef, a thing that I have never eaten in my whole life and grosses me out, and a cheesy Crunchwrap Supreme with beans, a protein I know and love, I'll choose the Crunchwrap every time.
Earlier this week, iconic Potrero Hill rock venue Bottom of the Hill launched a petition protesting a proposed bike lane improvement that would pass by the venue. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's 17th Street quick-build project would upgrade the bike lane between Potrero and Pennsylvania streets to a protected bike lane.

According to the petition, SFMTAs current intentions to add a protective barrier to the bike lanes would eliminate more than half the parking on the street, which the petition deems a serious problem, considering the neighborhood has primarily residential permit parking and a lack of parking garages. Given the need for bands to load equipment into the club, Bottom of the Hill said on Twitter that the specific change would destroy their venue, causing them to close.

Thats when bike advocates piped up, leaving more than 200 comments on the post, including from some users who said they planned to boycott the venue.

Co-owner Kathleen Owens has operated the venue for 31 years. Located at 17th and Missouri streets, Bottom of the Hill is known as a launching pad for local bands, as well as a smaller room to see touring acts (notable upcoming bookings include Homeboy Sandman, Mustard Plug and the Black Lips). Owens thinks there was some context lost in the concert venue's tweet.

Somehow this has become Bottom versus bike coalition, which is not the way it is, Owens said.

Leslie Hampton

The proposed change could affect many other businesses in the area. Weve got the skateboard factory, repair shops, theres a food distribution center and apparel production, Owens said. A lot of these people have worked at these places for a long time, so it would be just devastating for them, citing the needs of employees who travel from outside the city.

There is already a bike lane on that stretch of 17th Street, although it is not protected by a physical barrier, and delivery vehicles frequently obstruct the lane. Kepa Askenasy, a former cyclist who lives in the neighborhood, co-founded the Save the Hill neighborhood advocacy group, which in the early 2010s lobbied for the existing bike infrastructure.

What we saw on Twitter yesterday was fear, Askenasy said. You see Kathleen, fearful that shes going to lose her business. You see the bike people fearful that theyre going to get killed. Those are two extreme reactions to whats going on, and whats going on is that SFMTA is not doing their job, not talking to stakeholders, and not making sure everybody has a happy and safe compromise.

The SFMTA agreed that theres been misinformation spreading, leading to the misconception that the project is further along in the development process. An SFMTA representative said that there currently isnt yet an official design proposal, and that a mockup that has been shared around the neighborhood has not been submitted for official review. The outreach program is just now beginning, with informational mailers going out to residents. Businesses are being contacted for input, and a public forum is expected to take place in late fall. SFMTAs website states that construction is planned for spring 2023.

However, regardless of the status of a design plan, BOTH co-owner Lynn Schwarz said that shes been told all versions of the plan will eliminate parking.

Nesrine Majzoub, spokesperson for the SF Bicycle Coalition, expressed support for the new protected lanes. She called 17th Street a crucial bike connector for the Mission and Mission Bay neighborhoods, while acknowledging the concerns of businesses like Bottom of the Hill.

We are hopeful that the new designs that come from this project will address the existing curb management issues to mitigate the effects on businesses, as well as protecting the safety and lives of people biking along 17th Street, Majzoub said.
BOSTON (AP)  A man serving life in prison for murder in Alabama was arraigned Thursday in Massachusetts on charges in connection with the rape and killing of a woman in a Boston hotel 40 years ago.

Steven Fike was arraigned Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court after his extradition from Alabama, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

Fike pleaded not guilty to rape and first-degree murder charges in the March 1980 killing of Wendy Dansereau. He was ordered held without bail. His court-appointed attorney said it would be premature to comment on the case Friday.

Fike is serving a sentence of life with the possibility of parole for a 1982 rape and murder in Alabama.

He was charged in Massachusetts in 2019 after a sample of DNA collected during the early stages of the investigation was entered into an FBI database and matched to Fikes genetic profile, the district attorneys office said. Fikes DNA had been entered into the database because of his conviction in Alabama.

An employee of the Hotel Diplomat in Bostons South End discovered Dansereaus body on March 18, 1980. The 19-year-old had been sexually assaulted and strangled, authorities said.

Hayden's office said the investigation gathered evidence showing that Dansereau, who had engaged in sex work, met Fike the previous night, and Fike used a fake name when he checked into the hotel with her.

Fike returns to court Sept. 13 for a pre-trial hearing and his trial is currently scheduled to start Dec. 5.
ATLANTA (AP)  A federal appeals court on Friday ordered that statewide elections for two Georgia public service commissioners be put back on the November ballot, only a week after a federal judge postponed the elections after finding that electing the five commissioners statewide illegally diluted Black votes.

A three judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the lower court's order after an appeal by the state, which follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision saying judges shouldn't order changes close to elections.

The 2-1 split decision came at the state's deadline for finalizing ballots ahead of the election, so there is enough time to print ballots before the first ballots are mailed to voters living outside the country in late September.

District 3 Commissioner Fitz Johnson and District 2 Commissioner Tim Echols, both Republicans, are seeking reelection to six-year terms. Johnson is being challenged by Democrat Shelia Edwards while Echols faces Democrat Patty Durand and Libertarian Colin McKinney.

Circuit Judges Robert Luck and Adalberto Jordan found that U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg's decision came too close to the election, that having Johnson and Echols remain on the commission past the end of their terms is an improper fundamental alteration of the state's election system, and that not only did Grimberg need to issue his decision before the ballot printing deadline but far enough in advance to allow for meaningful appellate review.

Friday's decision is not the 11th Circuit's final word on Grimberg's decision, but only a stay. Luck and Jordan clearly anticipate the plaintiffs will appeal to the nation's highest court, writing in a short opinion that if we are mistaken on this point, the Supreme Court can tell us."

Circuit Judge Robin Rosenbaum dissented, saying the other judges were extending the doctrine barring changes close to an election to a whole new category of cases without a sufficient explanation. She said the majority is, in effect, letting the state conduct an election under a system that a judge already determined is illegally discriminatory.

If we (as I think likely) determine that the current system violates the Voting Rights Act, then Black Georgians in Districts 2 and 3 are stuck  for the next six years, until 2029  with commissioners whom they didn't have their full role in selecting," Rosenbaum wrote.

Grimberg broke new ground in finding that statewide elections violate the Voting Rights Act, although his decision hinged on Georgia's decision of having candidates live in particular districts and run statewide. He found that illegally handicapped Black-favored candidates, and that such candidates would have a better chance of winning if only voters in a district voted on each candidate, making it possible to draw at least one Black-majority district.

Attorney General Chris Carr appealed, arguing that that Grimberg fundamentally erred in his decision by concluding that race and not Democratic partisanship drove the defeat of the candidates preferred by Black voters. It also says the judge overstepped in concluding that only state law and not the state constitution requires statewide elections. Grimberg considered and rejected both those arguments.

Plaintiffs have said district elections would bring to the forefront concerns of Black voters, including people with lower incomes who pay high utility bills. The lawsuit was brought by leaders of the NAACP, Georgia Conservation Voters and Black Voters Matter.

The commission regulates Georgia Power Co. and other utilities, determining how much companies are allowed to bill millions of ratepayers.

If Grimbergs ruling stands, state lawmakers would have to draw single-member districts for the commission.

Another federal judge earlier this year allowed Georgia's congressional elections to go forward in redrawn districts even though he preliminarily found that the redistricting was likely to illegally harm Black voters.

Voting rights advocates have decried decisions that say allowing elections to go forward is most important, saying it allows states to proceed with illegal elections and sparking fears that the U.S. Supreme Court will gut the part of the Voting Rights Act that lets people win lawsuits challenging district lines and other voting provisions.

___

Follow Jeff Amy at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.
An armed man who attempted to breach the FBI's Cincinnati office was killed by law enforcement after fleeing into a rural area, authorities said Thursday.

The confrontation came as officials warned of an increase in threats against federal agents in the days following a search of former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The man is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and may have been present at the Capitol on the day of the attack, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The suspect was identified as Ricky Shiffer, 42, according to the law enforcement official. He was not charged with any crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, the official said. Federal investigators are examining whether Shiffer may have had ties to far-right extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, the official said.

Shiffer attempted to breach the visitors screening area at the FBI office at around 9:15 a.m., and fled when agents confronted him, according to federal authorities account of the incident. After fleeing onto Interstate 71, he was spotted by a trooper and fired shots as the trooper pursued him, said Lt. Nathan Dennis, an Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesperson, at a press conference.

Law enforcement officers attempted to negotiate with Shiffer, but were unsuccessful.

Officers also attempted to move forward and take him into custody but those efforts were also unsuccessful, Ohio State Highway Patrol officials said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray released the following statement after the attempted breach and fatal standoff:

"Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans. Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. I am proud to serve alongside them."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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NEW DELHI (AP)  The Aug. 5 demonstrations by Indias main opposition Congress party against soaring food prices and unemployment began like any other recent protest  an electorally weak opposition taking to the New Delhi streets against Prime Minister Narendra Modis massively popular government.

The protests, however, quickly took a turn when key Congress lawmakers led by Rahul Gandhi  Modis main opponent in the last two general elections  trooped to the Parliament, leading to fierce standoffs with police.

Democracy is a memory (in India), Gandhi later tweeted, describing the dramatic photographs that showed him and his party leaders being briefly detained by police.

Gandhis statement was largely seen as yet another frantic effort by a crisis-ridden opposition party to shore up its relevance and was dismissed by the government. But it resonated amid growing sentiment that Indias democracy  the worlds largest with nearly 1.4 billion people  is in retreat and its democratic foundations are floundering.

Experts and critics say trust in the judiciary as a check on executive power is eroding. Assaults on the press and free speech have grown brazen. Religious minorities are facing increasing attacks by Hindu nationalists. And largely peaceful protests, sometimes against provocative policies, have been stamped out by internet clampdowns and the jailing of activists.

Most former colonies have struggled to put a lasting democratic process in place. India was more successful than most in doing that, said Booker Prize-winning novelist and activist Arundhati Roy. And now, 75 years on, to witness it being dismantled systematically and in shockingly violent ways is traumatic.

Modis ministers say Indias democratic principles are robust, even thriving.

If today there is a sense in the world that democracy is, in some form, the future, then a large part of it is due to India, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in April. There was a time when, in this part of the world, we were the only democracy."

History is on Jaishankar's side.

At midnight on August 15, 1947, the red sandstone parliamentary building in the heart of India's capital echoed with the high-pitched voice of Jawaharlal Nehru, the countrys first prime minister.

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom," Nehru famously spoke, words that were heard over live radio by millions of Indians. Then he promised: To the nations and peoples of the world, we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.

It marked Indias transition from a British colony to a democracy  the first in South Asia  that has since transformed from a poverty-stricken nation into one of the worlds fastest-growing economies, earning itself a seat at the global high table and becoming a democratic counterweight to its authoritarian neighbor, China.

Apart from a brief interruption in 1975 when a formal emergency was declared under the Congress party rule that saw outright censorship, India clung doggedly to its democratic convictions  largely due to free elections, an independent judiciary that confronted the executive, a thriving media, strong opposition and peaceful transitions of power.

But experts and critics say the country has been gradually departing from some commitments and argue the backsliding has accelerated since Modi came to power in 2014. They accuse his populist government of using unbridled political power to undermine democratic freedoms and preoccupying itself with pursuing a Hindu nationalist agenda.

The decline seems to continue across several core formal democratic institutions... such as the freedom of expression and alternative sources of information, and freedom of association," said Staffan I. Lindberg, political scientist and director of the V-Dem Institute, a Sweden-based research center that rates the health of democracies.

Modi's party denies this. A spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, said India has been a thriving democracy under Modi's rule and has witnessed reclamation of the republic.

Most democracies are hardly immune to strains.

The number of countries experiencing democratic backsliding has never been as high as in the past decade, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance said last year, adding the U.S. to the list along with India and Brazil.

Still, the descent appears to be striking in India.

Earlier this year, the U.S.-based non-profit Freedom House downgraded India from a free democracy to "partially free. The V-Dem Institute classified it as an electoral autocracy on par with Russia. And the Democracy Index published by The Economist Intelligence Unit called India a flawed democracy.

Indias Foreign Ministry has called the downgrades inaccurate" and distorted. Many Indian leaders have said such reports are an intrusion in internal matters," with Indias Parliament disallowing debates on them.

Globally, India strongly advocates democracy. During the inaugural Summit for Democracy organized by the U.S. in December, Modi asserted the democratic spirit is integral to Indias civilization ethos.

At home, however, his government is seen bucking that very spirit, with independent institutions coming under increasing scrutiny.

Experts point to long pending cases with Indias Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of key decisions taken by Modi's government as major concerns.

They include cases related to a controversial citizenship review process that has already left nearly 2 million people in Assam state potentially stateless, the now revoked semi-autonomous powers pertaining to disputed Kashmir, the opaque campaign finance laws that are seen disproportionately favoring Modis party, and its alleged use of military-grade spyware to monitor political opponents and journalists.

India's judiciary, which is independent of the executive, has faced criticism in the past but the intensity has increased, said Deepak Gupta, a former Supreme Court judge.

Gupta said Indias democracy appears to be on the downswing due to the courts inability to uphold civil liberties in some cases by denying people bail and the misuse of sedition and anti-terror laws by police, tactics that were also used by earlier governments.

When it comes to adjudication of disputes... the courts have done a good job. But when it comes to their role as protectors of the rights of the people, I wish the courts had done more, he said.

The countrys democratic health has also taken a hit due to the status of minorities.

The largely Hindu nation has been proud of its multiculturalism and has about 200 million Muslims. It also has a history of bloody sectarian violence, but hate speech and violence against Muslims have increased recently. Some states ruled by Modis party have used bulldozers to demolish the homes and shops of alleged Muslim protesters, a move critics say is a form of collective punishment.

The government has sought to downplay these attacks, but the incidents have left the minority community reeling under fear.

Sometimes you need extra protection for the minorities so that they dont feel that they are second-rate citizens, said Gupta.

That the rising tide of Hindu nationalism has helped buoy the fortunes of Modis party is evident in its electoral successes. It has also coincided with a rather glaring fact: the ruling party has no Muslim lawmaker in the Parliament, a first in the history of India.

The inability to fully eliminate discrimination and attacks against other minorities like Christians, tribals and Dalits  who form the lowest rung of Indias Hindu caste hierarchy  has exacerbated these concerns. Even though the government sees the ascent of an indigenous woman as India's ceremonial president as a significant step toward equal representation, critics have cast their doubts calling it political optics.

Under Modi, Indias Parliament has also come under scrutiny for passing important laws with little debate, including a religious-driven citizenship law and controversial agricultural reform that led to massive protests. In a rare retreat, his government withdrew the farm laws and some saw it as a triumph of democracy, but that sentiment faded quickly with increased attacks on free speech and the press.

The country fell eight places, to 150, out of 180 countries in this years Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, which said Indian journalists who are too critical of the government are subjected to all-out harassment and attack campaigns.

Shrinking press freedoms in India date to previous governments but the last few years have been worse.

Journalists have been arrested. Some are stopped from traveling abroad. Dozens are facing criminal prosecution, including sedition. At the same time, the government has introduced sweeping regulatory laws for social media companies that give it more power to police online content.

One has only to look around to see that the media has certainly shriveled up during Mr. Modis regime, said Coomi Kapoor, journalist and author of The Emergency: A Personal History, which chronicles Indias only period of emergency.

What happened in the emergency was upfront and there was no pretense. What is happening now is more gradual and sinister, she said.

Still, optimists like Kapoor say not everything is lost if India strengthens its democratic institutions" and "pins its hopes on the judiciary.

If the independence of the judiciary goes, then Im afraid nothing will survive, she said.

Others, however, insist Indias democracy has taken so many body blows that the future looks increasingly bleak.

The damage is too structural, too fundamental," said Roy, the novelist and activist.

___

Associated Press journalist Rishi Lekhi contributed to this report.
An armed suspect is dead after an attempted breach of a Cincinnati FBI building led to an hourslong standoff in rural Clinton County, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The suspect has been identified as 42-year-old Ricky Shiffer.

The tense seven-hour situation started at the Cincinnati FBI field office in the Kenwood neighborhood.

Investigators say Shiffer tried to breach the building's visitor screening facility around 9 a.m. Thursday morning.

The attempted breach led to a pursuit and hourslong standoff in Clinton County before Shiffer was shot and pronounced dead at the scene. OSP has not released a possible motive for the breach.

According to the Associated Press, Federal agents are looking into whether Shiffer may have had ties to far-right extremist groups.

A law enforcement official says Shiffer was at the capitol on Jan. 6 but was not charged with any crimes.

Sister station WLWT has been digging to learn more about Shiffer.

A man with an account with Shiffer's name has been taken down from the Truth Social platform.

The last post happened during the standoff with police, it read, "Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn't. If you don't hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I., and it'll mean either I was taken off the internet, the F.B.I. got me, or they sent the regular cops while..." The post apparently ended mid-sentence.

And he replied to another person on Thursday, saying, "I do not expect to save America, I do expect to die trying. If, when I am gone, you stick to this pseudohistorical line that America doesn't use violence, you deserve what happens to you. Your children, unfortunately, do not."

Before the account was disabled, it said Shiffer was a construction mechanic in Columbus, Ohio. WLWT is working to confirm that information.

According to reporting from the AP, a now-suspended Twitter account, rickyshiffer, shared the same profile picture as the Truth Social account and similar opinions, including a call for armed conflict in the U.S. this past spring. It included posts saying that elections are rigged against conservatives and that the country faces tyranny.

The incident comes days after federal agents searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

FBI Director Christopher Wray released a statement following the attempted breach and fatal standoff:

"Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans. Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. I am proud to serve alongside them."



The Cincinnati FBI office released a separate statement about the incident Thursday night and said they will be investigating the shooting.

On August 11, 2022, at approximately 9:15 a.m., an armed male subject attempted to breach the Visitor Screening Facility at the FBI Cincinnati Field Office. The subject eventually fled and was encountered by the FBI, Ohio State Highway Patrol, and local law enforcement near Wilmington, OH. The subject shot at law enforcement officers. During the incident, law enforcement also fired their weapons. At approximately 3:45 p.m., the subject was shot and is deceased. The FBI is now reviewing this agent-involved shooting. The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously. In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under investigation by the FBIs Inspection Division. The review process is thorough and objective, and is conducted as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP)  A legal filing by a Black firefighter in western New York alleges he was pressured by a superior into going to a party that contained racist imagery.

In a notice of claim filed Thursday, Jerrod Jones said the party occurred last month at a private home in a wealthy section of Rochester. He and two other firefighters attended after their captain, Jeffrey Krywy, allegedly told them they should all go to the party.

Jones, a 14-year department veteran, became uneasy when he arrived at the house and saw a cardboard cutout figure of former President Donald Trump, since firefighters aren't supposed to attend partisan political events while on duty, his attorney, Nate McMurray, said Thursday.

Jones then saw a display mocking the Juneteenth holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the 19th century, with Juneteenth flags displayed over buckets of fried chicken.

In addition, a woman allegedly impersonated a local Democratic official and performed a sexually suggestive dance, and pictures of Democratic politicians were attached to stakes in the yard.

The incident cut me very deeply, Jones said at a news conference. "I decided to speak up today because I have two children who maybe one day will aspire to become firefighters, and I dont want them to experience what I experienced.

Jones said he told superiors about the incident and requested to not be assigned to work under Krywy, but was denied.

The notice of claim, which is a notice of intent to file a lawsuit, names the city of Rochester and the fire department. Jones will seek at least $3 million for emotional distress and at least $1 million in compensatory damages. Jones is currently on leave and fears retaliation, McMurray said.

Email and phone messages were left with the Rochester fire department Thursday. In a statement, Fire Chief Felipe Hernandez Jr. called the incident "unacceptable and an affront to everyone who works with the RFD and in City Hall, and said Krywy has been suspended, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.

An email message seeking comment was left with Krywy on Thursday.

The filing listed the address of the party, which is the home of Nicholas Nicosia, a dentist and member of the board of directors at Highland Hospital, an affiliate of the University of Rochester Medical Center. A phone message was left Thursday at Nicosias office.

In a tweet Thursday afternoon, the hospital said it was appalled at the allegations and was trying to reach Dr. Nicosia.
BRICKEYS, Ark. (AP) 

Authorities were searching Friday for a convicted rapist who escaped from an east Arkansas prison.

Samuel Hartman, 38, escaped Friday morning from the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, 96 miles (155 kilometers) east of Little Rock, the state Department of Corrections said.

The DOC said Hartman escaped from a work detail in a field near the prison. DOC spokeswoman Cindy Murphy said Hartman and a suspected accomplice fired at correctional officers who were chasing them, but the officers weren't injured.

Hartman is considered armed and dangerous, and the department is working with local, state and federal law enforcement to follow up on leads, she said. Murphy said the suspected accomplice was not an employee or another inmate.

The department said they were looking for two women identified as persons of interest in the escape. Hartman has ties to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, the department said.

Hartman had been in state custody since 2013 serving a life sentence for a rape conviction out of Franklin County. The prison has a capacity of 1,624 inmates, according to the DOC website.
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  The Montana Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a proposal to change the way state Supreme Court justices are elected is unconstitutional and cannot appear on the November ballot.

The 5-2 ruling upheld a March decision by District Court Judge Peter Ohmann of Butte in a challenge over a legislative referendum that sought to ask voters if they wanted to elect Supreme Court justices from smaller districts instead of on a statewide basis.

The Constitution specifically requires the election of Supreme Court justices on a statewide basis.

The proposal would deny each Montanan their right to vote in the election of six out of the seven justices on their state Supreme Court and in the selection of chief justice, Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote for the majority.

The measure was among several passed last year by Republicans in the Legislature seeking to remake what they consider an activist judiciary and to appoint more conservative judges. Over the objection of Democrats, they passed a law allowing the governor to directly appoint a replacement if a Supreme Court seat becomes vacant between elections.

Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, had said he would use the new law to appoint judges who will interpret laws, not make them from the bench.

The proposed referendum was similar to another that passed in 2011 seeking to ask voters if they wanted to divide the state into seven districts for the election of Supreme Court justices. Under that proposal, the justices would have had to live in the districts they sought to represent. But the Montana Supreme Court said that law was unconstitutional.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen, whose office has sparred with the Montana Supreme Court over several issues  including legislative subpoenas seeking certain emails sent or received by the court administrator and justices  said the latest state Supreme Court decision was perhaps (the court's) most shameful and self-serving ruling yet.

In order to protect their own jobs," a majority of justices deprived every Montanan of their right to decide how we elect Supreme Court justices, Knudsen said in a statement.

Knudsen, who represented the Secretary of States office, and Republican Rep. Barry Usher of Billings, who sponsored the bill, said the justices should have disqualified themselves from hearing the case so that other judges could hear it and make a decision. The Supreme Court denied the request.

Justices Beth Baker and Jim Rice argued the court should have waited until after voters made their decision to rule on the case.

In my view, it is far from a given that Montanans would choose to vote themselves out of the process for selecting the members of this court, Baker wrote. If they do not, the issues raised here will not need our review.

Baker added: Instead, in an ironic turn, the court denies Montanans the right to vote so that they cannot be denied the right to vote."

The majority argued that proceeding with an election on a clearly unconstitutional proposal would create a false appearance that a vote on a measure means something.
As worldwide heat, drought and extreme storms this summer punctuate the reality of climate change, Connecticut continues to wrestle with its reality that it is falling behind on its goals to reduce the carbon emissions responsible for global warming.

The state has also long been out of compliance with national ambient air quality standards for the pollutants that result in the high ozone levels we consistently record here.

After several high-profile failures, state lawmakers in the most recent session took some of their most significant actions in years to shift Connecticuts trajectory on its climate change goals.

The most comprehensive legislation was called the Connecticut Clean Air Act, a huge bill that mostly focused on clean transportation as a means for addressing climate change. It included more robust programs to accelerate use of electric vehicles with investments in, and faster and more stringent electrification of, public transit and school bus fleets in particular.

The measure passed with only the tiniest amount of bipartisan support.

Here are some of the details of whats poised to change as a result of Connecticuts newest climate change policies:

What is the Connecticut Clean Air Act?

The Connecticut Clean Air Act contains a mix of mandates and incentives to establish or strengthen clean transportation programs and provides funding mechanisms for many of them.

The legislation emerged after the General Assembly in 2021 declined to even consider a bill to authorize developing a state plan for the Transportation and Climate Initiative, a proposed multi-state concept to reduce motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and provide funds for transportation projects. Republicans called the prospect that gasoline prices could increase as a result a tax, and the label stuck.

The Connecticut Clean Air Act sets up many of the same programs TCI would have  but got lucky, to some extent, on the funding component. The federal bipartisan infrastructure law will provide nearly $5.4 billion to kick-start most of the initiatives  so no pressure on gas prices, which most folks figure are high enough at the moment.

How does the new climate change law expand clean transportation?

Most of the focus is getting electric vehicles to more individuals across a broader socio-economic spectrum and getting a bigger bang for the buck by getting EVs into public and commercial fleets.

In addition to the obvious  expanding the existing electric vehicle program known as CHEAPR in several ways including adding e-bikes  it also tackles at-home charging hurdles, establishing a right to charge component. Under it, landlords, condominium associations and others must allow installation of electric charging stations when other stipulations are met, though tenants or unit owners would have to pay for them.

The law requires that half of the state-owned or leased motor vehicle fleet to be zero-emission by the start of 2026, 75% by the start of 2028 and 100% by the start of 2030. The state must stop purchasing or leasing diesel buses by Jan. 1, 2024. The current electric bus fleet was recently taken out of service after a fire in one of the buses.

The law sets deadlines for moving school systems away from diesel-powered school buses with special focus on environmental justice communities. They must have zero-emission buses by 2030. By 2035, other districts need to have at least alternative-fuel vehicles. By 2040, every school bus will have to produce no emissions. The first tranche of EPA funding for this is open to applications right now.

What are some of the new climate change policies in the law?

- Authorizes DEEP to adopt the more stringent California emissions standards for medium- and heavy-duty motor vehicles. And it allows DEEP to establish a voucher program that supports zero-emissions medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

- Sets requirements for EV charging infrastructure in new construction.

- Set standards for smart traffic lights to reduce unnecessary idling at red lights and provides grants for such programs.

- Includes a non-transportation component that prevents planned communities from prohibiting owners from installing solar panels.

What were opponents criticisms?

Almost all GOP lawmakers voted against it, citing cost especially for electric school buses and for what renters in particular may have to pay for home chargers. They also cited their longstanding arguments that Connecticut as a single state wouldnt have much impact on climate change and that market forces, not state mandates, should drive the transition to cleaner technologies.

What other environmental bills passed during the last legislative session?

Climate Change Mitigation (Senate Bill 10) puts into statute the 2040 zero-carbon target for all electricity supplied to Connecticut customers. It had been in place via executive order after the legislature failed to approve it in 2021.

Clean Energy Tariff Programs (Senate Bill 176) expands certain existing solar programs by raising the caps that held back their adoption and allows full use of commercial rooftops for solar generation beyond what the structure itself need to operate.

Hydrogen Task Force (House Bill 5200) establishes a group that will study the use of hydrogen  in particular green hydrogen, made without the use of natural gas the way it is now  as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia Democrats want voters to be able to decide whether abortion should continue to be allowed in the state.

The call comes after residents in Kansas, another state with a GOP-controlled Legislature, rejected a ballot measure earlier this month that would have allowed lawmakers to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure outright.

The West Virginia Republican party recently failed to pass legislation criminalizing abortion during a special session initiated by Republican Gov. Jim Justice late last month.

During the session, West Virginias House of Delegates passed a sweeping abortion ban that would have made providing the procedure a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The measure included exceptions for victims of rape and incest, as well as for medical emergencies, but failed to move forward in the Senate.

Democratic leadership on Friday asked Justice and the states GOP leadership to call lawmakers back to the Capitol to consider a resolution to let the people vote on a constitutional amendment for reproductive freedom.

The legislature had its chance to clarify the laws and failed, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin said in a press release. "The session was a slow-motion train wreck that spectacularly went off the rails. Compassion and common sense are in short supply in the capitol right now, so lets put it before the people to decide.

Justice did not respond publicly to Democrats request Friday and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

House Minority Leader Doug Skaff said that in the past, the Legislature has approved ballot measures dealing with gambling, Sunday hunting and taxation.

Why should the deeply personal issue of abortion be any different? he said. There are half a million women in our state, and they should have a voice on this issue.

Abortion had been banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy in West Virginia until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion. After that ruling, the states Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said abortion was banned in the state because of an 1800s-era law that had been unenforceable while abortion was federally protected.

But a Charleston judge barred the state from enforcing the ban, ruling it had been superseded by a slew of conflicting modern laws like the 20-week ban. Morrisey has appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court, which is expected to take up the case this fall.

In 2018, West Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment saying that nothing in the state Constitution "secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of abortion.
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KAFR MALIK, West Bank (AP)  European representatives on Friday visited a small schoolhouse serving an impoverished Bedouin community in the occupied West Bank that is under threat of demolition by Israel.

The EU funds such construction in order to help Palestinians maintain their presence in the 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli control, known as Area C, where the military routinely demolishes homes and other structures built without hard-to-obtain permits.

EU Representative Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, who led the delegation, said it's entirely unacceptable for the authorities of Israel to destroy this and demolish that.

It violates their obligations under international law, notably international rights law, where they have to protect and promote the rights of the children under their responsibility in Palestine to enjoy education services, he said.

The schoolhouse was built in January and currently serves 17 students. COGAT, the military body responsible for civilian affairs in the West Bank, did not respond to a request for comment.

Area C was demarcated in interim peace agreements signed in the 1990s, which granted the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority limited self-rule in the remainder of the West Bank  scattered enclaves known as Areas A and B.

Earlier this year, Israel's Supreme Court approved the expulsion of some 1,000 Palestinians from Masafer Yatta, a group of Bedouin communities in Area C that are inside a live-fire training area established by the military in the 1980s. Residents say they have been there for decades, practicing traditional agriculture, while Israel says there were no permanent structures at the time the firing range was established.

In a separate development, the Israeli rights group B'Tselem said Friday that Nasser Nawajah, one of its Palestinian field researchers in the southern West Bank, was detained by the military last weekend, blindfolded and handcuffed, and held for 12 hours. B'Tselem said he was told by an interrogator to stop causing trouble and engaging in friction with the military.

There was no immediate comment from the military.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built more than 130 settlements there that are home to nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers. Authorities tolerate several additional settlement outposts built without official authorization.

The Palestinians want the West Bank to form the main part of their future state. They and most of the international community view all settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Right-wing Israeli groups are sharply critical of the EU support for the construction in Area C, accusing it of furthering Palestinian claims to land that Israel officially views as disputed territory. The peace process broke down more than a decade ago.

Khader Kaabna, a member of the Bedouin community where the schoolhouse is set to be demolished, said 28 families comprising some 200 people have lived in the area for four decades.

He said that without the school, children would have to travel 15 kilometers (9 miles) away to another school  which is also threatened with demolition  to get an education, passing near outposts established by hard-line settlers.

If this schoolhouse is demolished by the occupation, a large number of the students will stop going to school because their parents fear settler attacks, he said. "The settlers are seeking to uproot this community from the area.

___ Krauss reported from Ottawa, Ontario.
GREENWOOD, Ind. (AP)  Data cannot be recovered from the laptop of the 20-year-old man who allegedly shot five people in a suburban Indianapolis shopping mall, killing three of them, the FBI said Thursday.

Agents were unable to recover data from the laptop found in the gunmans oven, Herb Stapleton, the special agent in charge of the FBIs Indianapolis office, said during a media briefing.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  Federal officials have agreed to recognize Connecticut pardons as legally valid again and stop deporting people who have been pardoned for their crimes by a state board, reversing a hard-line stance taken by the Trump administration, authorities announced Friday.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the departments of Justice and Homeland Security under Trump had abandoned six decades of practice by singling out Connecticut and refusing to acknowledge its pardons  because they are issued by a board instead of the governor.

Five other states  Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, South Carolina and Utah  have similar pardon systems, but the federal government did not stop recognizing their pardons, Tong said. The five states are more conservative than liberal Connecticut.

Several Connecticut residents who were pardoned suddenly got swept up into deportation proceedings and detained. Tong's office filed legal challenges to the federal government's refusal to recognize the state's pardons and prevailed in the courts.

This agreement affirms, with full force of law, what we have known to be true for well over a century  Connecticuts pardons are legitimate and lawful, Tong, a Democrat, said in a statement. There was no reason for the federal government ever to single out Connecticut and deny our residents the second chance we chose to grant to them.

Messages seeking comment were left with Justice and Homeland Security officials. The U.S. attorneys office in Connecticut, which also is part of the settlement, referred questions to the Justice Department.

Federal officials had previously agreed to start recognizing Connecticut's pardons again in 2020 after Tong sued the federal agencies. But the Department of Homeland Security did not grant final approval to that deal and continued to refuse to honor the state's pardons, Tong said.

Two Connecticut residents pardoned by the state, Wayzaro Walton and Richard Thompson, were detained in federal deportation proceedings and later released after Tong's office won legal challenges.

In 2019, the Board of Immigration Appeals terminated deportation proceedings for Walton, after ruling her pardon was valid. The Hartford resident, who came to the U.S. from England when she was 4, was detained for nearly eight months as federal officials tried to deport her. She had been a legal permanent resident for 25 years until she lost her legal status in 2012 over larceny charges.

In 2020, a federal appeals court reversed a decision by immigration authorities to deport Thompson because he was convicted of felony assault 19 years before when he was 18, despite his state pardon.

Thompson, who lived in Bridgeport, came to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1997 when he was 14 to live with his father, who is a U.S. citizen.

____

This story corrects that Wayzaro Walton was a legal permanent resident, not a U.S. citizen.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP)  Gov. Andy Beshear called out the Federal Emergency Management Agency for denying too many requests for assistance in flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky, where the number of people who died as a result of the disaster has risen to 39.

The official death count rose Thursday when an additional death was counted in Breathitt County, Beshear said. He didn't identify the person or provide other details.

I ask the commonwealth to join me in praying for our fellow Kentuckians during this difficult time, the Democratic governor said in a tweet.

Earlier this week, a high school athlete who spent days helping his fellow eastern Kentuckians clean up from the historic flooding was added as the 38th person to die as a result of the disaster.

Aaron Mick Crawford fell ill suddenly and died a few days later. His mother, Ronda Crawford, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that her son went into cardiac arrest, but the family still does not know what caused her son's death.

Surging waters last month swept away homes and inundated communities in the Appalachian region.

On Thursday, the governor reported that the stricken area was likely out of the emergency phase of responding to this disaster. Search-and-rescue teams that remained in the region to wait out additional threats of heavy rains have been given the green light to go home, Beshear said.

That is a major step that we have been waiting to reach this moment, basically since the start of this, the governor said.

As the massive cleanup continues, the governor ramped up pressure on federal emergency officials to do more to help more people rebuild their lives.

Beshear complained Thursday that FEMA is denying too many requests for assistance, and urged people getting turned down to take their cases directly to agency personnel in the region. The governor said we need to see better outcomes for more eastern Kentuckians applying to FEMA for recovery assistance.

Beshear said he conveyed his concerns to President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and top FEMA administrators. Beshear accompanied Biden during a visit to the region Monday, when the president declared the federal government would provide support until residents were back on their feet.

The governor criticized the application process, saying flood victims were being denied assistance when lacking necessary documents.

FEMA Press Secretary Jeremy Edwards responded Thursday night that agency personnel will be in the flood-stricken region as long as it takes to help Kentuckians recover. Edwards said the agencys leadership is working to reduce barriers and cut red tape.

If you were denied assistance, that is not necessarily the end of the road, Edwards said. Something as simple as a missing document can cause an application to be deemed ineligible. The system isnt perfect, and we know that the bureaucracy can be frustrating.
BELFAST, Maine (AP)  A private shipyard is preparing for a painstaking stem-to-stern restoration of a floating piece of presidential history.

The Sequoia is a 1925 motor yacht that served eight presidents before being sold by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.

French & Webb, a custom boat building company, was tapped for the restoration by the current owner. Strict guidelines must be followed because the vessel is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Its slowly happening, but the needle is moving, Todd French told the Bangor Daily News.

For now, the 104-foot vessel remains under a white tarp. Behind the scenes, workers have created a three-dimensional model because the original design plans couldn't be found, and assembled materials including longleaf pine from the Southeast and white oak from Denmark.

Once the physical work begins, likely in the spring, the restoration of the Sequoia should be a three-year project, he said.

Over the years, several different vessels have served as a floating White House for presidents.

The Sequoia was designed by a Norwegian-born naval architect and went through a couple of owners before going up for sale following the stock market crash of 1929.

President Herbert Hoover encouraged the Navy to buy the vessel, and began using it as a presidential yacht.

This Sequoia holds plenty of presidential history: John Kennedy celebrated his last birthday aboard the vessel; Harry Truman held atomic arms talks with the leaders of Canada and Great Britain after World War II; and Richard Nixon hosted Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

The vessel, which is owned by FE Partners LLC, a private investment firm based Washington, D.C., has been in Belfast since 2019. The pandemic delayed the start of work.
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DENTON, Texas (AP)  A man on trial in Texas died Thursday after drinking from a large water bottle containing a cloudy liquid as a jury found him guilty of child sexual assault, officials said.

Edward Leclair, 57, was on trial in Denton, located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Dallas, on five counts involving one victim. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office doesn't yet list his cause or manner of death. Leclair had been released on bond following his arrest.
NEW YORK (AP)  Fox News' Brian Kilmeade said Friday that he had aired in jest a doctored photo that appeared to depict the judge who approved the FBI search warrant of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

The false photo showed U.S. Magistrate Bruce Reinhart superimposed into a real photo of Jeffrey Epstein receiving a foot massage from his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. The image of Reinhart used showed him holding a bottle of bourbon and package of Oreo cookies.

Kilmeade, who was subbing for Tucker Carlson on Thursday night, showed the picture at the end of the hour-long show.

This is the judge in charge of the, of the, um, as you know, of the warrant, and we'll see if he's going to release it next, Kilmeade said. He likes Oreos and whiskey.

Sean Hannity, whose show was about to begin, appeared to correct Kilmeade.

I think that's actually a picture of Jeffrey Epstein with somebody putting his head on there, Hannity said.

Kilmeade said, it might be his plane. Who knows?

In a tweet on Friday, Kilmeade said the image was sourced on screen to a meme pulled from Twitter and wasn't real.

This depiction never took place and we wanted to make clear that we were showing a meme in jest, Kilmeade wrote. ___

This story first moved on Aug. 12, 2022, and was corrected on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, to reflect items Reinhart was holding in a real photo that was altered and turned into an online meme.
BERLIN (AP)  Germany announced Friday that it was suspending its participation in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali after the West African nation refused to grant a civilian aircraft carrying German troops permission to use its airspace.

The flight was part of a troop rotation, and German officials said it was not the first time Mali has denied overflight permission.
NORWALK  A Dallas-based health care firm this week posted notice of layoffs that will include employees in its Norwalk office.

The expected terminations were prompted by Signify Health LLCs decision to end Episodes of Care services, which was driven in turn by changes in federal policy on health care pricing, company officials said. A total of 489 workers are expected to lose their jobs, according to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor.

Terminations are to begin Oct. 1 in Norwalk, Dallas, Austin, Rapid City, South Dakota and New York City, according to the notice. Of the total workers who are to lose their jobs, 342 are not assigned to a specific office, the notice says. The notice does not break down how many workers are based in Connecticut.

Affected workers have been notified, company spokesperson Lynn Shepherd said. The company is offering some workers other positions and severance and outplacement services to others, Shepherd said.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that CVS Health is seeking to buy Signify Health as the companies look to expand in-home health services.

Signify has a market value of around $4.7 billion after its shares rose on the news of the potential sale, the Journal reported. In its most recent quarterly report, Signify Health posted revenue of $246.2 million in the period, which did not meet analysts forecasts of $249.6 million.

Signify Health defines itself as a leading health care platform that leverages advanced analytics, technology, and nationwide health care provider networks to create and power value-based payment programs... Through our platform, we coordinate what we believe is a holistic suite of clinical, social and behavioral services to address an individuals health care needs and prevent adverse events that drive excess cost, all while shifting services towards the home.

The company defines episodes of care as a model in which one payment covers all services for treatment of an illness, condition or medical event rather than a separate fee-for-service model. In such an approach to a pregnancy, for example, care would include the prenatal period, delivery, 60 days after delivery for the mother and 30 days after delivery for the baby.

Having a single price for all phases of care for the mother and the baby creates a convergence of interests between all clinicians during the entire episode-of-care, focusing their efforts on getting the best possible outcome for mother and child, the company explained on its website.

However, due to recent policy changes at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the company announced last month that it was winding down the episodes of care services. The federal center lowered targeted prices for health care episodes, thereby reducing opportunities for savings, Signify officials said. The centers pricing methodology for bundled payments for care improvement-advanced, or BPCI-A, has changed repeatedly over the years and cannot be accurately forecast, Signify officials said, making it impossible to take real-time action.

Jesse.Leavenworth@hearstmediact.com
BOGALUSA, La. (AP)  The home that served as the base of operations for the Bogalusa Civil Rights Movement is now recognized with a marker along the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Office of Tourism on Thursday dedicated the seventh marker on the trail at the Robert Bob Hicks House in Bogalusa.

We are proud to tell the extraordinary story of Robert Bob Hicks and the importance of his house," Nungesser said. It's a privilege to honor Mr. Hicks, his family and all those from Bogalusa who strived to make rights real in Louisiana.

The house was a regular meeting place for the officers of the Bogalusa Civic and Voters League and the local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, Nungesser's office said in a news release.

The house was a safe place for civil rights workers and served as an emergency triage station. The breakfast room became the communications center for the Bogalusa chapter of the Deacons of Defense and Justice, an armed self-defense group who protected civil rights workers from violence, the news release said.

Hicks founded the Deacons of Defense and Justice chapter in Bogalusa and later served as president of the BCVL. Hicks joined with civil rights activists A.Z. Young and Gayle Jenkins to help lead the Bogalusa-to Baton Rouge March in 1967. The march grew from 25 to 600 people over the course of its 105-mile (170-kilometer) journey and required protection from National Guardsmen and police. Last August, a similar marker was installed at A.Z. Young Park in Baton Rouge honoring those who participated in that march.

Hicks' house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

The markers are placed in cities and towns across the state to depict the state's role in shaping the country during the 1950s and 60s, including one at Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport, Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans and Louisiana Maneuvers and Military Museum in Pineville.
NEW YORK (AP)  Jon Batiste, his career soaring after winning multiple Grammys this year, is leaving his perch as bandleader of The Late Show after a seven-year run backing up host Stephen Colbert.

Weve been so lucky to have a front row seat to Jons incredible talent for the past seven years," Colbert said on Thursday's show. "But were happy for you, Jon, and I cant wait to have you back on as guest with your next hit record.

Louis Cato, who has served as interim bandleader this summer, will take over on a permanent basis when the show returns for its eighth season. He has been with the show since its launch. Cato has worked with the likes of Beyonce, Mariah Carey and John Legend and is working on a new album. Colbert called him a musical genius.

He can play basically every instrument over there, Colbert said. Give him an afternoon, hell learn how to play Mozart on a shoehorn.

Batiste has toured globally with his band Stay Human and made a memorable stop at Comedy Centrals The Colbert Report in 2014. When producers of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert were considering having a house band the following year, Batiste and Stay Human were a natural fit.

The mutual respect Colbert and Batiste shared was obvious. The bandleader often cheered the comedians nightly monologue from the piano, appeared in segments and accompanied the musical guests. Batiste stuck with the gig even during the pandemic, coming up with tunes, both original and covers, on the spot.

The multi-instrumentalist won five Grammys this year. Batiste composed music, consulted on and arranged songs for Pixar's animated film Soul, a mid-life crisis movie mixed with a New York jazz fantasia and a body-swap comedy. He won a Golden Globe for the music alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails; and the trio also earned the Academy Award for best original score. For their work on Soul, Batiste, Reznor and Ross won the Grammy for best score soundtrack f or visual media.

___

AP Media Writer David Bauder contributed to this report.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  A federal judge on Friday reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump, in an order that marked a major setback to the already struggling coal industry.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris requires government officials to conduct a new environmental review before they can resume coal sales from federal lands. Morris faulted the government's previous review of the program, done under Trump, for failing to adequately consider the climate damage from coal's greenhouse gas emissions and other effects.

Almost half the nations annual coal production  some 260 million tons last year  is mined by private companies from leases on federal land, primarily in Western states such as Wyoming, Montana and Colorado.

Few coal leases were sold in recent years after demand for the fuel shrank drastically. But the industrys opponents had urged Morris to revive the Obama-era moratorium to ensure it cant make a comeback as wildfires, drought, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change worsen.

Coal combustion for electricity remains one of the top sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, even after many power plants shut down over the past decade because of concerns over pollution and changing economic conditions.

The coal program brought in about $400 million to federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments in 2021, according to government data. It supports thousands of jobs and has been fiercely defended by industry representatives, Republicans in Congress and officials in coal- producing states.

Among President Joe Bidens first actions in his first week in office was to suspend oil and gas lease sales  a move later blocked by a federal judge  and he faced pressure from environmental groups to take similar action against coal.

The administration last year launched a review of climate damage from coal mining on public lands as it expanded scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. But no changes had been announced as a result of that review.

This decision gives the Biden administration the opportunity to make good on its commitment to seriously battle the climate crisis, said Earthjustice attorney Jenny Harbine, who represented environmental groups and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in the case. No progress has been made to reform the program or do what's needed to phase out existing leases.

The Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana is near several major strip mines. Tribal members have long fought against further development. Tribal President Serena Wetherelt said in a statement that Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland need to fulfill their trust obligation and take a hard look at the effects of the U.S. federal lands energy program.

Our lands and waters mean everything to us, Wetherelt said.

Interior Department officials were reviewing the ruling, spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said.

National Mining Association President Rich Nolan said the industry lobbying group would appeal Friday's ruling.

This is a deeply disappointing decision with energy-driven inflation, energy affordability and energy security top concerns for Americans, Nolan said. Denying access to affordable, secure energy during an energy affordability crisis is deeply troubling.

Officials from Montana and Wyoming had intervened in the case on the side of the federal government and argued against reviving the moratorium.

A spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said the Biden administration's defense of the federal coal program was only half-hearted because of its close alignment with environmentalists. Knudsen spokesperson Kyler Nerison added that the decision was an example of environmentalists taking advantage of federal laws to endlessly delay energy development.

Extracting and burning fossil fuels from federal land generates the equivalent of 1.4 billion tons (1.3 billion metric tons) annually of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Geological Survey. Thats equivalent to almost one-quarter of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.

Obama Interior Secretary Sally Jewell suspended coal sales in large part over climate concerns in 2016. After Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke revived the program in 2017, California, New York, New Mexico and Washington state sued. The Northern Cheyenne, joined by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, also filed a legal challenge.

In 2017 and 2018, the most recent years for which data was available, the U.S. government sold leases for 134 million tons of coal on public land in six states, according to figures provided by the Interior Department. Thats a relatively small amount compared with previous years, for example 2011 and 2012, when more than 2 billion tons were sold in Wyoming alone.

Demand for coal has plummeted as many utilities switch to natural gas or renewables to generate power.

___

Follow Brown on Twitter: @MatthewBrownAP
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP)  A judge turned down a request to have Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testify next week at a hearing about Michigan's 1931 anti-abortion law.

A judge said Whitmer is suing a group of county prosecutors in her role as governor, not a private citizen. An appeal is being pursued by lawyers representing prosecutors in Kent and Jackson counties.

Oakland County Judge Jacob Cunningham will hear arguments Wednesday about whether to issue an injunction and further suspend enforcement of the law, which makes it a crime to perform abortions unless the life of the mother is in danger.

A restraining order has been in place since Aug. 1.

Cunningham got involved when the state appeals court said a May decision suspending the law applied to the attorney general's office but not prosecutors.

Most prosecutors in counties where abortion services are offered said they don't plan to enforce the law. But Republican prosecutors in Kent and Jackson counties said they can't rule out a case if police investigate and possibly seek a warrant.

Whitmer and others in favor of abortion rights say the 1931 law violates the state constitution. The law was dormant until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, leaving abortion policy to states.

The law is the focus of much litigation. The governor has repeatedly asked the Michigan Supreme Court to step in immediately and settle the matter.

Voters in the fall could get an opportunity to add abortion rights to the constitution.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  A federal judge temporarily ordered a South Dakota county to work with the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe to implement by November a redistricting plan to allow for the election of tribal candidates to the County Commission.

The tribe had sued Lyman County, alleging a delay to a new redistricting plan until 2024 or 2026 violated federal law by keeping Native American voters from electing county commissioners who represented them.

The chief judge for the U.S. District Court in South Dakota, Roberto A. Lange, issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday, which was requested by the tribe, and suggested the court could come up with a plan to implement the new voting districts if the county does not.

Cooperation between the Tribe and the County, between Tribal members and non-Tribal members, is crucial to the future of Lyman County, Lange wrote in his order. If the County does not come forward with an appropriate remedial plan, this Court can impose its own.

Lyman County has had an at-large election process since 1992. That means candidates running for the five commissioner seats can live anywhere within the county.

Lyman County contains part of the Lower Brule reservation and has a Native American population of 38%. But with the at-large commissioner seats, no Native American candidate has ever succeeded in winning a seat on the commission, South Dakota Public Broadcasting reported.

To avoid a lawsuit, Lyman County and Lower Brule agreed that the county must establish two commissioner positions chosen by Native American voters. In October 2021, Lower Brule proposed five single-candidate districts, two of them with a Native American majority and three with a white majority.

But in February, the Lyman County Commission enacted an ordinance establishing just two voting districts, one white with three commissioners and one Native American with two commissioners. The commission also voted to delay the changes until after the next election, leaving the at-large system in play.

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Vice Chairman Neil Russell said in a statement, that the tribe remains ready to help Lyman County make positive changes on and off-reservation: lets get started.

The county commission did not immediately respond to the ruling. It plans to meet Monday.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  A federal jury awarded Republican Roy Moore $8.2 million in damages Friday after finding a Democratic-aligned super PAC defamed him in a TV ad recounting sexual misconduct accusations during his failed 2017 U.S. Senate bid in Alabama.

Jurors found the Senate Majority PAC made false and defamatory statements against Moore in one ad that attempted to highlight the accusations against Moore. The verdict, returned by a jury after a brief trial in Anniston, Alabama, was a victory for Moore, who has lost other defamation lawsuits, including one against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Were very thankful to God for an opportunity to help restore my reputation which was severely damaged by the 2017 election, Moore said in a telephone interview.

Ben Stafford, an attorney representing Senate Majority PAC, said in an emailed statement that they believe the ruling would be overturned on appeal.

Moore, a former Republican judge known for his hardline stances opposing same-sex marriage and supporting the public display of Ten Commandments, lost the 2017 Senate race after his campaign was rocked by misconduct allegations against him. Leigh Corfman told The Washington Post and said Moore sexually touched her in 1979 when she was 14 and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. Moore denied the accusation. Other women said Moore dated them, or asked them out on dates, when they were older teens.

The accusations against Moore contributed to his loss to Democrat Doug Jones, the first Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate in a quarter-century. The seat returned to Republican control with the 2020 election of Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach.

Senate Majority PAC funded a group called Highway 31 that ran a $4 million advertising blitz against Moore.

The lawsuit centered on one TV commercial that recounted accusations against Moore. Moore's attorneys argued the ad, through the juxtaposition of statements, falsely claimed he solicited sex from young girls at a shopping mall, including another 14-year-old who was working as a Santa's helper, and that resulted in him being banned from the mall.

The advertisement began with: What do people who know Roy Moore say? It followed with the statements Moore was actually banned from the Gadsden mall ... for soliciting sex from young girls and One he approached was 14 and working as Santas helper.

Wendy Miller has previously testified that she met Moore when she was 14 and working as a Santas helper at the local mall. She testified Moore told her she was pretty, asked her where she went to high school and offered to buy her a soda. He asked her asked her out two years later, but her mother told her she could not go.

Moores attorneys argued the juxtaposition of statements in the ad painted Moore in a false light and falsely made it look like he was soliciting sex from girls at the mall.

In their ad they strung quotes together to make a single statement. Thats what the jury found offensive. They got up and lied and said they didnt intend that, Jeffrey Scott Wittenbrink, an attorney for Moore, said.

The Senate Majority PAC had argued the ad was substantially true and that there were widespread reports about Moores inappropriate behavior at the mall. An attorney said they planned to appeal.

According to a Thursday court filing from Senate Majority, a Gadsden police officer who worked as security at the Gadsden Mall in the late 1970s  J.D. Thomas  testified that he told Moore not to return to the mall after receiving complaints from store managers that Moore was asking out teen employees or making them uncomfortable. Moore maintained he was never banned from the mall.

No amount of deflection or distraction from Roy Moore will change the fact that multiple individuals testified under oath to corroborate credible accusations against him. Many others have come forward to make their allegations public, at serious personal cost. We do not think this verdict is the right decision, but we believe the facts are clear and this ruling will be overturned on appeal," Stafford, an attorney representing Senate Majority PAC, said in an emailed statement.
WASHINGTON - Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of former president Donald Trump's Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands.

The people who described some of the material that agents were seeking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search. A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he could not discuss the investigation on Thursday. But in an unusual public statement at the Justice Department, he announced he had personally authorized the decision to seek court permission for a search warrant.

Garland spoke moments after Justice Department lawyers filed a motion seeking to unseal the search warrant in the case, noting that Trump had publicly revealed the search shortly after it happened.

"The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing," the motion says. "That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any 'legitimate privacy interests' or the potential for other 'injury' if these materials are made public."

Material about nuclear weapons is especially sensitive and usually restricted to a small number of government officials, experts said. Publicizing details about U.S. weapons could provide an intelligence road map to adversaries seeking to build ways of countering those systems. And other countries might view exposing their nuclear secrets as a threat, experts said.

One former Justice Department official, who in the past oversaw investigations of leaks of classified information, said the type of top-secret information described by the people familiar with the probe would probably cause authorities to try to move as quickly as possible to recover sensitive documents that could cause grave harm to U.S. security.

"If that is true, it would suggest that material residing unlawfully at Mar-a-Lago may have been classified at the highest classification level," said David Laufman, the former chief of the Justice Department's counterintelligence section, which investigates leaks of classified information. "If the FBI and the Department of Justice believed there were top secret materials still at Mar-a-Lago, that would lend itself to greater 'hair-on-fire' motivation to recover that material as quickly as possible."

The Monday search of Trump's home by FBI agents has caused a political furor, with Trump and many of his Republican defenders accusing the FBI of acting out of politically motivated malice. Some have threatened the agency on social media.

As Garland spoke Thursday, police in Ohio were engaged in a standoff with an armed man who allegedly tried to storm the Cincinnati office of the FBI. The man was killed by police later that day; authorities said negotiations had failed.

State and federal officials declined to name the man or describe a potential motive. However, a law enforcement official identified him as Ricky Shiffer.

According to another law enforcement official, agents are investigating Shiffer's possible ties to extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, whose leaders are accused of helping launch the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

A person using Shiffer's name on TruthSocial, Trump's social media site, posted a "call to arms" message shortly after Monday's FBI search became public.

"People, this is it," the message reads. "Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop/Army-Navy store/pawn shop opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one. They have been conditioning us to accept tyranny and think we can't do anything for 2 years. This time we must respond with force."

The Washington Post could not confirm whether the account actually belonged to Shiffer.

In his statement on Thursday, Garland defended FBI agents as "dedicated, patriotic public servants" and said he would not "stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked . . . Every day they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them."

It was Garland's first public appearance or comment since agents executed the warrant at Mar-a-Lago Club, taking about a dozen boxes of material after opening a safe and entering a padlocked storage area. The search was one of the most dramatic developments in a cascade of legal investigations of the former president, several of which appear to be growing in intensity.

The investigation into the improper handling of documents began months ago, when the National Archives and Records Administration sought the return of material taken to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. Fifteen boxes of documents and items, some of them marked classified, were returned early this year. The archives subsequently asked the Justice Department to investigate.

Former senior intelligence officials said in interviews that during the Trump administration, highly classified intelligence about sensitive topics, including about intelligence-gathering on Iran, was routinely mishandled. One former official said the most highly classified information often ended up in the hands of personnel who didn't appear to have a need to possess it or weren't authorized to read it.

That former official also said signals intelligence - intercepted electronic communications like emails and phone calls of foreign leaders - was among the type of information that often ended up with unauthorized personnel. Such intercepts are among the most closely guarded secrets because of what they can reveal about how the United States has penetrated foreign governments.

A person familiar with the inventory of 15 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago in January indicated that signals intelligence material was included in them. The precise nature of the information was unclear.

The former officials and the other individual spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.

This spring, Trump's team received a grand jury subpoena in connection with the documents investigations, two people familiar with the investigation, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details, confirmed to The Post on Thursday. Investigators visited Mar-a-Lago in the weeks following the issuance of the subpoena, and Trump's team handed over some materials. The subpoena was first reported by Just the News, a conservative media outlet run by John Solomon, one of Trump's recently designated representatives to the National Archives.

People familiar with the probe have said it is focused on whether the former president or his aides withheld classified or other government material that should have been returned to government custody earlier. The people, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said that as authorities engaged in months of discussions on the subject, some officials came to suspect the Trump team was not being truthful.

Pressure had been building for Garland to say something so that the public understands why the Justice Department - and a federal magistrate judge - believed the extraordinary step of executing a search warrant at the home of a former president was necessary. But Garland has stuck with his practice of not discussing ongoing investigations.

"Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor," Garland said Thursday. "Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing."

Trump and his allies have refused to publicly share a copy of the warrant, even as they and their supporters have denounced the search as unlawful and politically motivated but provided no evidence to back that up.

Lawyers for the former president can respond to the government's filing with any objections to unsealing the warrant, leaving it to the judge overseeing the case to decide. He also could publicly release the warrant himself.

The judge ordered the Justice Department to confer with lawyers for Trump and alert the court by 3 p.m. Friday as to whether Trump objects to the unsealing.

After Garland's appearance, Trump took to his own social media network to again decry the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. But he made no indication of whether he would lodge an objection to the government's filing.

If made public, the warrant would probably reveal a general description of what material agents were seeking at Mar-a-Lago and what crimes they could be connected to. A list of the inventory that agents took from the property would also be released. Details could be limited, however, particularly if the material collected includes classified documents.

In addition to the anti-law enforcement threats and vitriol on social media sites and elsewhere this week, the furor over the search warrant has led to threats against the judge who approved the warrant request.

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association - the professional association representing 31,000 federal law enforcement officers and agents - said in a statement Wednesday evening that its agents had received "extreme threats of violence" this week.

"All law enforcement understand their work makes them a target for criminal actors," wrote the group's president, Larry Cosme. "However, the politically motivated threats of violence against the FBI this week are unprecedented in recent history and absolutely unacceptable."

Republicans around Trump initially thought the raid could help him politically, but they are now bracing for revelations that could be damaging, a person familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jacqueline Alemany, Spencer S. Hsu, Meryl Kornfield and Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.
Damian Dovarganes/AP

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles County has dropped out of the high COVID-19 community level under federal guidelines, as infections and rates of hospitalizations continue to fall, a top health official said Thursday.

The move to the medium tier under criteria set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention comes two weeks after the nation's most populous county dropped a plan to impose a universal indoor mask mandate as the latest coronavirus surge eased.
BEIJING (AP)  Latvia and Estonia say they have left a Chinese-backed forum aimed at boosting relations with Eastern European countries, in what appears to be a new setback for China's increasingly assertive diplomacy.

The move follows Chinas boosting of its relations with Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine is seen as a possible first step in a series of moves against countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. China has refused to criticize Russia and has condemned punishing economic sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West.

Weeks before the invasion, Chinese President and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing and declared their bilateral relations had no limits" in a joint statement.

The move also comes after Beijing launched economic and diplomatic retaliation against another Baltic state, Lithuania, in retaliation for its expanded ties with the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory and threatens to annex by force. Chinas increasing assertiveness and recent threatening military exercises near Taiwan have brought a sharp backlash from the U.S., the EU, Japan, Australia and others.

In view of the current priorities of Latvian foreign and trade policy, Latvia has decided to cease its participation in the cooperation framework of Central and Eastern European Countries and China," Latvia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The country will continue to strive for constructive and pragmatic relations with China both bilaterally, as well as through EU-China cooperation based on mutual benefit, respect for international law, human rights and the international rules-based order," the statement said.

Estonia issued a similar statement, saying it would continue to work towards constructive and pragmatic relations with China, which includes advancing EU-China relations in line with the rules-based international order and values such as human rights."

Estonia participated in the cooperation format of Central and Eastern Europe and China from 2012. Estonia has not attended any of the meetings of the format after the summit last February," the statement said.

China set up the forum to strengthen relations with members of the EU as well as Serbia and others, partly to further Xi's signature Belt and Road campaign to build bridges, railways, power plants and other infrastructure across the Eurasian continent.

China originally styled the forum as a 17 plus one" arrangement, but the number of European partners has now fallen to 14. Critics say the forum was an attempt to exploit differences among those states as part of a larger campaign to join with Russia in undermining the current rules-based international order dominated by the U.S. and its allies.

Along with its stance on Ukraine, China has come under strong criticism for firing missiles and sending ships and warplanes off the coast of Taiwan in response to a visit there by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China strongly opposes all government-to-government contacts between Taiwan and countries which, like the U.S., maintain only informal ties with the island in deference to Beijing.

China issued no immediate comment on the move by Latvia and Estonia, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Friday again defended the threatening military exercises.

To defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity ... China has every right to take resolute countermeasures in response to the U.S. provocations, and such measures are absolutely necessary under those circumstances," Wang said at a daily briefing.

Britain summoned China's ambassador to register its over the increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months, which threaten peace and stability in the region, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was quoted as saying. The United Kingdom urges China to resolve any differences by peaceful means, without the threat or use of force or coercion.

Beijing's threats against Taiwan are a major contributing factor in the deterioration of U.S.-China relations to their lowest level in decades. China has also engaged in a lengthy feud with Australia and its firing of missiles last week drew condemnation from Japan, whose exclusive economic zone includes waters where the projectiles landed.

In another rejection, South Korea on Wednesday said it will make its own decisions about strengthening its defenses against North Korean threats amid Chinese calls that it continue the polices of Seouls previous government that refrained from adding more U.S. anti-missile batteries, which are strongly opposed by Beijing.

Asked about the developments, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said we respect and support Estonia and Latvias sovereign decision to no longer participate."

Estonia and Latvia are important and valued NATO allies and key U.S. partners across a number of issues, including through our strong defense ties, our strong economic ties, as well as the promotion of democracy and human rights," Patel told reporters.

Over the past year, weve seen countries around the world express deep concern about the PRCs strategic alignment with Russia as well as Beijings support for Moscows war against Ukraine," Patel said. There is a growing convergence about the need to approach relations with Beijing with more realism," he said, citing previous comments from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Concluding a five-day visit to Taipei on Thursday, Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute emphasized the importance of economic ties with Taiwan and endorsed a statement issued by the Group of Seven industrialized nations criticizing the Chinese military exercises surrounding Taiwan. The European Union issued a similar statement, prompting China to summon the group's ambassadors to register a protest.

Lithuania is a democracy. Taiwan is our very close friend, and Taiwan is a booming economy," Vaiciukeviciute said.

Lithuania chooses to cooperate with countries that are willing to cooperate with us. So, Taiwan is one of those countries and they are reliable partners," she said.

In response to her visit, Chinas Foreign Ministry on Friday announced it was suspending all forms of interaction with her ministry as well as exchanges and cooperation with Lithuania in the area of international roadway transport.

China has already banned trade with Lithuania, with little apparent effect on the country that is a member of both the EU and NATO. The EU has raised a complaint over the Chinese action with the World Trade Organization.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  The Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday denied an appeal filed by plaintiffs in the ongoing legal battle over the states abortion ban, allowing the ban to stay in effect.

The ruling marked a major blow to abortion-rights advocates and providers, who had hoped the ban would be blocked for a third time, allowing Louisianas three abortion clinics to begin performing procedures again.

While it is disappointing that four of the seven justices, without any written explanation, issued a ruling that will effectively deny critical care to women throughout Louisiana, the litigation continues and we are confident we can affect meaningful change, Joanna Wright, an attorney for the plaintiff, said Friday afternoon in addition to confirming the court's ruling.

Following news of the ruling, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry  a defendant in the case  tweeted that he was pleased with the court's decision and will continue fighting to end this legal circus.

Since the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to end constitutional protections for abortion in June, access to abortion has fluctuated as the states three clinics relied on rulings and temporary restraining orders that allowed them to continue operating.

Plaintiffs challenging the ban dont deny the state can now prohibit abortions but argue that the laws provisions are contradictory and unconstitutionally vague.

On July 21, state Judge Donald Johnson issued a preliminary injunction that allowed clinics to continue providing abortions while the lawsuit over the ban plays out in court. But, eight days later, procedures came to a halt when a state appeals court ruled in favor of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, granting a suspensive appeal and ordering Johnson to reinstate enforcement of the ban.

The plaintiffs appealed the 1st Circuit Courts decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court but were unsuccessful.
AP

NEW YORK (AP)  A man arrested in New York City last month near the home of an Iranian opposition activist and writer has been indicted on a weapons count.

The indictment charges Khalid Mehdiyev with one count of possessing a firearm, a Chinese-made AK-47-style assault rifle, with an obliterated serial number.
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MANISTEE COUNTY  Chris Banicki, Manistee Countys jail administrator, is a man who is being sought after by other jails around the state because of how great he is at his job.

That is according to Manistee County Sheriff Brian Gutowski who reported at the August public safety committee meeting for the county after Banicki shared the results of the jails latest inspection audit.

Our jail administrator, hes just the best in the state and hes ours, Gutowski said. The auditor came in and at the end of the audit he comes in to meet with me to do an exit overview of how it went. He told me, Im not going to lie to you sheriff, youre one of the leaders in your jail facility and a lot of that credit goes to your jail administrator.

Gutowski credited Banicki as being a guy who knows what he is doing.

He eats, sleeps and breathes it, Gutowski noted. Hes a tremendous asset for us, for our jail, for the county. A huge thank you to him for everything that he does. It really means a lot to me to have somebody like that in that position.

According to agenda materials included in the public safety committee meeting, the Aug. 2 audit was conducted by the Michigan Department of Corrections.

The jail was listed as being in full compliance, per the memo from regulation agent Ron Trachet, with the corrections department, to Gutowski.

It should be noted that this agent found excellent preparation and documentation for this audit and inspection, part of the memo reads.

The audit results of 100% compliance are the same as recent years when the jail has passed the inspections, but Gutowski said the work is also an example for others in the state.

Banicki noted that the preparations for each annual audit start as soon as the previous audit is completed.

Big thanks to the staff, they work their tails of getting the floors, painting (etc.) Theres a lot to this (audit), Banicki said. It realistically starts over the day the other one ends and it lasts all year. Ive got two books  Im guessing 500 pages, theres 36 administrative rules which is the paperwork end of it. Then youve got your physical plan with the audit. Its pretty intense.

The jail also has two open positions it is working to fill, Banicki reported.

The jail is also still dealing with COVID-19 impacts to staffing.

Last week we were down three officers out of our 12, Banicki said. Thankfully, were still testing at the door. Before a shift they have to test and we caught it before it got brought in the jail.

Jail statistics

Manistee County Jail repeat visitors The Manistee County Jail monthly report shows the number of times a repeat visitor to the jail had been to the jail:  29 had been to the jail 2 to 3 times;  7 had been to the jail 4 or 5 times;  1 had been there 6 or 7 times;  3 had been there 8 or 9 times; and  5 inmates had been to the jail 10 or more times. See More Collapse

At the committees meeting, Banicki also gave a report on what the jail had seen in July.

He said the jail averaged about 34 inmates at one time with 50 being the total for the month.

Of the 50 arrests, most came from the Manistee County Sheriffs Office.

Julys arrests are as follows:

 Manistee County Sheriffs Office  25

 Manistee City Police Department  12

 Michigan State Police  7

 Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Public Safety Department  5

 Probation office  1

Of the 50 arrested and lodged at the jail, 40 were men.

Of the people arrested last month, 20 had previous felony charges, 40 had previous misdemeanor charges and 25 of them had been charged with the same charges as when they had been lodged previously.

Thirty-eight of the 50 had a record at other jails, the report shows.

The report also shows the number of times a repeat visitor to the jail had been to the Manistee County Jail:

 29 had been to the jail two to three times;

 Seven had been to the jail four or five times;

 One had been there six or seven times;

 Three had been there eight or nine times; and

 Five inmates had been to the jail 10 or more times.

Comparing the average stay between men and women shows men had an average stay of 11 days compared with 27 for women.

In total, 18 inmates were being charged with felonies and 25 with misdemeanors. Five of the inmates had alcohol-related charges.

Over the month, 39 were released, according to the report.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  A search and rescue operation was conducted on Friday for a third day for migrants reported missing after their boat capsized south of the Greek island of Rhodes, the coast guard said Friday.

A Greek frigate and three merchant ships were searching the area roughly 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers, 46 miles) south of Rhodes and 33 nautical miles southeast of Karpathos, the coast guard said Friday.

A total of 29 survivors, all men, were picked up by a merchant ship and a Greek air force helicopter in the early hours of Wednesday after the boat sank. Survivors had initially indicated that between 60 and 80 people had been on board, but that figure was later revised, and the coast guard said Friday that a total of 50-60 people were now believed to have been on board.

Two of the 29, who the coast guard said were Turkish nationals, were rescued by helicopter and flown to Karpathos, while the other 27, all nationals of Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, were picked up by the merchant ship and transported to Kos.

The Turkish coast guard had also said on Wednesday that they had rescued five people. No further survivors or bodies have been located since the initial rescues.

It wasnt immediately clear why the boat sank, but weather conditions in the area were rough at the time, with strong winds and choppy seas, Greek authorities said.

The most common sea route for asylum-seekers from the Middle East, Asia and Africa has been from Turkey to the nearby Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

But with Greek authorities increasing patrols in the area and facing persistent reports of summarily deporting new arrivals to Turkey without allowing them to apply for asylum, many are now attempting the much longer, and more dangerous, route directly to Italy. Greek authorities deny they carry out illegal summary deportations of asylum-seekers.

___

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ABERDEEN, Miss. (AP)  A Mississippi woman allegedly sexually assaulted by an on-duty policeman is suing the former officer, the police chief and a north Mississippi city for unspecified damages.

The lawsuit says that while a former Booneville officer was on duty, he detained a woman and assaulted her in a warehouse parking lot. The lawsuit also alleges the police department did not have adequate training and supervision of officers on how to interact with citizens.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock set a jury trial date of Oct. 2, 2023, for the woman's civil case against the city of Booneville, the former officer and Police Chief Michael Ramey, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.

The woman at the center of the suit alleges the officer picked her up near a motel in August 2020 and placed her in a patrol car. He allegedly told her to lie down in the back seat while he drove to a warehouse parking lot. She believed she had been arrested and said she was dragged out of the patrol car and sexually assaulted.

When she told the officer she would report the assault, he allegedly told her no one would believe her over him. She said she was able to run away while he was putting his clothes back on. According to court documents, she said she later gave a statement of the events to the Booneville Police Department.

In the lawsuit, she argues she was arrested and unlawfully confined without due process. In addition to the assault, the lawsuit claims the city knew or should have known about the officer stealing money and drugs from citizens he encountered while on duty.

The officer was forced to resign from the Mississippi Department of Transportation law enforcement division in 2013 after admitting he took money collected for fees, taxes and permits.

In June 2020, the FBI initiated a civil rights investigation of the officer. But the lawsuit said he was not suspended, put on leave or terminated by the city. He was let go in January 2021 and later arrested on federal charges for those incidents, the newspaper reported.

The officer later pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor counts in federal court for the on-duty thefts. The sexual assault charge was dropped and replaced with a felony charge of lying to a federal agent. By dropping the sexual assault charge, he will not have to register as a sex offender.

The officer is currently in a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, serving a 16-month sentence.

An attorney for Booneville Police Chief Michael Ramey declined to comment on the ongoing legal proceedings. An attorney for the officer could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP)  The trial of a Virginia police officer charged in the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man has ended in a mistrial.

Edmund Ryan Hoyt, a patrol officer with the Norfolk Police Department, was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the 2020 death of Kelvin White near a Chesapeake grocery store. Hoyt, who was off duty, claimed he acted in self defense, while prosecutors argued he overstepped and wrongly killed White.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico's emergency public health order was streamlined Friday, with state health officials saying the changes were in order given the evolution of the virus, the changing nature of the pandemic and new recommendations adopted by the federal government.

The move comes after the nations top public health agency relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines and dropped the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet away from others.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Nicaraguas police have prohibited a religious procession scheduled for Saturday in the capital, the latest sign of tensions between the government and the Roman Catholic Church.

The Managua Archdiocese urged the faithful to come directly and peacefully to the cathedral Saturday to pray for the church and Nicaragua.

The National Police have advised us that for reasons of internal security the procession scheduled for 7 a.m. this Aug. 13, an activity planned on the occasion of the Marian Congress and conclusion of the pilgrimage of the image of Our Lady of Fatima in national territory, is not permitted, the archdiocese said in a statement.

On Aug. 1, the government announced that Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Alvarez was under investigation for allegedly promoting hate and inciting violence. It said he would not be permitted to leave the church compound that includes his residence while the investigation continued. Police have kept the compound encircled.

Alvarez has been an outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortegas government.

Prior to that, the government closed seven radio stations owned by the Catholic Church in Matagalpa province.

The police have not allowed large public gatherings, except those sponsored by the government or the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front party, since September 2018. Earlier that year, in April, huge street protests became a call for Ortega to step down.

Ortega has maintained that it was a coup attempt carried out with foreign backing and the support of the church. Since then his government has moved against voices of dissent, including political opposition leaders and more than 1,000 nongovernmental organizations.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  The school board in North Dakota's largest city decided to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, prompting a Republican lawmaker to vow to push for a voucher program that would allow public money to pay for private school tuition.

The Fargo School Board voted 7-2 Wednesday to halt the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, saying it doesnt align with the districts diversity code, largely because it says "under God in one phrase.

The state Republican Party called the boards action laughable and an affront to our American values. Grand Forks state Sen. Scott Meyer said Friday that he would begin working on a school voucher bill draft next week.

These positions like by the Fargo School Board just dont align with North Dakota values, he said. The logical solution is to just give parents that option to help educate their kids.

Nick Archuleta, who heads North Dakota United, the union that includes teachers and other public employees, said even without the Fargo School Board action, he fully expected at least one school choice bill when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Right now, every North Dakota family has the right to send their kids to public schools to parochial schools to private schools or to homeschool them  so they already have school choice, Archuleta said. What theyre asking for is for the public dollars to pay for those decisions. Our position has been and always will be that money raised from the public tax collections should be used for public purposes, including public education.

The Legislature previously failed to pass similar measures due to pressure from public school advocates, but Myers said he believes the Fargo district's decision could provide the catalyst for passage.

Last year, GOP Gov. Doug Burgum signed a bill designed to protect schools and teachers from lawsuits that might arise from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Hoping to fend off legal challenges, the bill includes a requirement that the Ten Commandments be part of a display with other historical documents.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP)  Pakistani authorities on Friday revoked a broadcast permit for a private television station after it was taken off air following an interview during which an opposition party official allegedly incited troops and officers against the military leadership.

The development came after ARY TV in the southern port city of Karachi on Monday aired the interview with Shahbaz Gill, a close aide of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the chief of staff for his Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party.

In the interview, Gill urged Pakistani troops and officers to refuse to obey illegal orders from the military  remarks that were seen by authorities as incitement to revolt. He was subsequently arrested on treason charges and could face the death penalty.

The TV station's news director, Ammad Yousaf, was detained following the interview but then released on Thursday, after an outcry from a media watchdog, rights defenders and top opposition leaders.

ARY has distanced itself from Gills remarks, stressing that it is not part of any campaign against the army. Still, Pakistan's media regulatory took the station off air and on Friday suspended its license amid what it described as adverse reports from agencies.

The move drew condemnation from journalists and opposition leaders. ARY's founder, Salman Iqbal, also denounced the suspension.

Asad Kaleem, an executive producer at ARY, told The Associated Press that the action means that 4,000 employees at the TV are now without work. He pleaded with the government to reverse its decision and bring the hugely popular ARY back on air.

Khan came to power in 2018, promising to break the pattern of family rule in Pakistan, but his opponents said he was elected with help from the powerful military, which has ruled the country for half of its 75-year history.

After his ouster in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April, Khan has blamed army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, claiming the general took part in an alleged U.S. plot to oust him. Washington, the Pakistani military and the government have denied the charge.
Ron Chapple / Getty Image /

PLAINFIELD  A 5-month-old infant was admitted to the hospital Wednesday night after suffering severe injuries in a home in Wauregan village, according to police.

The state Department of Children and Families called Plainfield police around 11 p.m. Wednesday to report that an infant was admitted to Connecticut Childrens Medical Center in Hartford, police said in a news release Thursday night.
Dreamstime / Dreamstime/TNS

A 20-year-old Port Arthur man was hospitalized after being shot at an apartment complex last week, according to information from the Port Arthur Police Department.

Shortly after midnight on Aug. 5, officers were called out to Southeast Texas Medical Center, where they found the 20-year-old victim shot in his buttocks.
LISBON, Portugal (AP)  European authorities are considering a liquefied natural gas pipeline from Spain to Italy as a way of getting around Frances opposition to a gas link-up across the Pyrenees between the Iberian peninsula and central Europe, Portugal's prime minister said Friday.

Portugal and Spain could send a lot of the liquefied natural gas, or LNG, they receive from around the world to other European Union countries, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said. He gave no further details, but such an undersea pipeline would likely take years to complete.

EU countries have struggled to find common ground on how to wean the bloc off its reliance on Russian natural gas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized gas exports to pressure the bloc into reducing its sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Putin has already cut off gas exports to more than a dozen EU nations and reduced exports to key industrial powerhouses like Germany. Many European officials fear he could cut off gas exports to most of Europe over the winter, a time of key demand.

The two Iberian countries receive LNG via pipeline from Algeria and Morocco, as well as by ship from countries such as the United States and Nigeria. But there are currently scant energy connections between Spain and Portugal and rest of Europe.

The Iberian peninsula has capacity to replace a large part of the liquefied natural gas that central Europe today imports from Russia, Costa told reporters.

With six LNG plants in Spain  including Europes largest, in Barcelona  and one in Portugal, the Iberian neighbors account for one-third of Europes LNG processing capacity. The port-based terminals turn boatloads of supercooled LNG back into gas that then flows into homes and businesses.

Costa said the Iberian plants could also send more LNG by ship to other European ports while a pipeline is being built.

Costa said the French government is still against a pipeline across the Pyrenees, citing environmental concerns, and added that the European Commission is assessing a link to Italy.

Costas comments came after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking Thursday in Berlin, said, I have spent a lot of time dealing with a pipeline that we sorely lack, namely the pipeline that should have been built between Portugal, Spain through France to central Europe.

He added: It would now make a massive contribution to relieving and easing the supply situation.

Scholz said he had been in talks with Spain, Portugal, France and the European Commission about the project.

The German chancellor's comments were welcomed by Portugal and Spain, which could reap the benefits of their investments in LNG.

Spain is well prepared, Spanish Industry Minister Reyes Maroto told Antena 3 television on Friday. We hope that if the German chancellors proposal prospers, we will have better gasification and more interconnections in Europe so as not to depend on Russian gas and be self-sufficient energy wise.

The U.S. government and businesses have long been eyeing Portugals deep water Atlantic port of Sines as a springboard for expansion. They have identified Sines as a potential gateway to Europe for gas from fracking in the United States, which has allowed the U.S. to boost LNG exports and offer low prices.

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Ciaran Giles in Madrid and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.

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Follow all AP stories on the fallout from the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A protester has filed a federal civil lawsuit against the city of San Francisco claiming that a paramedic, under the direction of a police sergeant, injected her against her will with a sedative while she was handcuffed after being removed from a Golden State Warriors championship game for demonstrating in favor of abortion rights.

Kareim McKnight and a friend, Amanda Piasecki, were at Game 5 of the Warriors series against the Boston Celtics at Chase Center on June 13 when they walked onto the main floor and displayed a banner that read Overturn Roe? Hell No!" A draft of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade was leaked in May.

Video shared by McKnight's attorney, John Burris, who filed the lawsuit this week, showed security guards dragging McKnight and Piasecki by their feet out of the venue.

McKnight said that once they were outside, a San Francisco Police sergeant threatened to have her sedated.

She said San Francisco Fire Department employees then strapped her to a gurney and wheeled her toward an emergency vehicle.

"While I was on the ground, handcuffed in front of the emergency vehicle, one of the firefighters came with a needle towards me and I couldnt believe what I was seeing and I flinched and I said, No! what if I'm allergic, you can't just inject me,' she said.

McKnight said the paramedic didn't ask her any medical questions and wouldn't tell her what she was injected with. She said she felt dizzy and began slurring her words.

Giving an injection to a protester against her will is shocking and illegal, Burris said, adding that officials violated McKnights Fourth Amendment right to control her own body.

She was taken for observation to a Kaiser Permanente hospital, which gave her a document showing she was given 5 milligrams of a drug called Versed, a sedative often prescribed to reduce anxiety. McKnight shared a photo of the document with The Associated Press that also described her as being in a distressed emotional state after an altercation with SFPD.

McKnight said she was not in emotional distress.

San Francisco's policy on dealing with adults with severe agitation posing a danger to self or others" allows for the use of the drug midazolam, a short-acting sedative sold under the brand name Versed, according to the county's emergency medical services protocols.

The San Francisco Fire Department wouldn't say when the county approved the sedative to be used on people being detained or how many times the sedative has been used on detainees. Both the San Francisco Police and Fire Department referred all questions to the city attorney.

Jen Kwart, a spokeswoman for City Attorney David Chiu, said the office couldn't comment on the lawsuit because it had not yet been served.

The use of sedatives by authorities first got national attention in 2020 when protesters seeking police reform highlighted the death of Elijah McClain, a Black man who was stopped by police in suburban Denver in August 2019. Paramedics were called and injected McClain with the powerful sedative ketamine, but they incorrectly estimated his weight, giving him more than 1.5 times the dose he should have received.

McClain, 23, suffered cardiac arrest, was later declared brain dead, and taken off life support.

A 2020 analysis by The Associated Press of policies on the use of ketamine and cases when the drug was used during police encounters uncovered a lack of police training, conflicting medical standards, and nonexistent protocols that have resulted in hospitalizations and deaths. The review found there are no federal standards for law enforcement or emergency medical personnel on the drugs use. State policies and reporting requirements vary, so its not clear how regularly its used during police encounters and why.

Burris said that in his more than four decades as an attorney, he has never heard of authorities sedating a fully restrained protester.

The worst part of giving her the injection was that she was strapped to a gurney, handcuffed, and therefore was not a danger to herself or anyone else, he said.
ISTANBUL (AP)  Hundreds of Syrian opposition supporters rallied Friday in northwestern Syria, including outside a Turkish army post, to denounce remarks by Turkeys foreign minister urging for a reconciliation with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that Turkey supports a political reconciliation between Syrian opposition factions and Assads government  for the sake of peace.

Though this stance by Ankara is not new in principle, Cavusoglu's remarks were interpreted by some as a betrayal of the Syrian opposition after years of Turkish support.

Since Syria's civil war broke out following an anti-Assad uprising in 2011, Turkey has been the main backer of the opposition. Turkey also hosts 3.65 million Syrians who fled the war at home.

Turkey has also long negotiated on the international stage on behalf of Syrian factions opposed to Assad and has supported armed groups while bringing parts of northern Syria under Turkish and Turkish-backed opposition control through cross-border military operations.

In the protest Friday outside a Turkish military post in the northwestern Syrian town of Mastoumeh, demonstrators chanted that the Turkish army is a traitor and that Syrian people are not for sale.

We dont want to reconcile with the killer of children, read a placard carried by a Syrian boy in Mastoumeh, a reference to Assad.

There were also reports of overnight protests in the northern Syrian towns of Azaz, al-Bab, Afrin, Tel Abyad as well as Idlib, which is the last-remaining rebel-held area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said angry protesters in the town of Azaz stormed security headquarters and then marched to the local council building where they brought down the Turkish flag and burned it.

In Azaz, protesters sprayed graffiti on the walls, reading, Down with Turkey and down with the regime! while others carried posters denouncing Cavusoglu.

There were calls for the removal of all Turkish flags from the northern parts of Syria, the Observatory said.

In his remarks, Cavusoglu also stated that Turkey has had no diplomatic contacts with Syria since their ties were severed in 2012, but added that in 2021, he had an informal conversation with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement summit in Belgrade, Serbia.

We have to somehow reconcile the opposition and the Syrian regime. Otherwise there can be no lasting peace, Cavusoglu said Thursday.

His remarks followed a question on whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might speak with Assad soon. Cavusoglu said Russian President Vladimir Putin has for years urged the two leaders to speak and that Erdogan has preferred the two countries' intelligence services communicate with one another  which they have done on and off, and have now resumed.

On Friday, the foreign ministry published a statement reaffirming its support of the Syrian opposition and saying that Turkey has worked hard to find a solution for Syria's conflict in line with the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.

"Our solidarity with the Syrian people will continue," the statement said.

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Mroue reported from Beirut.
A 32-year-old Saginaw man is facing several felonies involving the possession and distribution of child pornography.

Michigan State Police said Clinton Lee Wilson Jr. appeared in the 70th District Court on July 21 where he was arraigned on two counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive material, four counts of using a computer to commit a crime, one count of aggravated distribution or promoting of child sexually abusive material and one count of possession of child sexually abusive material.

Police began investigating Wilson Jr. when it was learned that he was viewing files of child sexually abusive material on the internet, according to MSP in a recent press release.

Police searched his home and digital evidence was reportedly seized.

In light of the crime, the MSP Computer Crimes Unit encourages parents to speak to their children about the safe use of the internet.

There are many resources available to parents to assist in keeping children safe online. The MSP Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force provides resources at michiganicac.com.

Anyone with information regarding possible child sexual exploitation should report it to the CyberTipLine at missingkids.org/cybertipline.

The CyberTipLine, run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has helped solve cases in Michigan.

For instance, Michigan State Police began investigating a Rogers City man after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said he possessed child sexually abusive material. MSP searched his home and found more than 100 images of child sexually abusive material on his internet-capable devices. He is facing several felonies.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  With voting already under way in Florida's Aug. 23 election, officials in a county where about one in four voters are Hispanic are scrambling to fix a Spanish translation error that can't help efforts to raise more money for education.

The Broward school district  the nation's sixth largest serving 271,517 students  is asking voters to double the tax rate to help cover the costs of teacher raises and more school security staff and to bolster mental health programs. The proposal would increase a tax from one half a mill  which is about $50 per $100,000 in home value  to a full mill.
METZ, W.Va. (AP)  Three people were killed when a small plane crashed in northern West Virginia, authorities said.

Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Riffle told WV News that the pilot and two passengers were found dead at the scene. The aircraft was found on a steep incline in a heavily wooded area, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

The single-engine plane was flying from Bloomfield, Indiana, to Myerstown, Pennsylvania, when it went down Thursday in the Marion County community of Metz, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a news release.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

Metz is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Pittsburgh.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  An American Indian tribe has won a court order blocking Lyman County officials plan to hold an at-large election for county commissioners in November.

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported Friday that the county has developed a plan that would give American Indian voters the chance to be represented by two county commissioners on the five-member board. The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe filed a federal lawsuit in May alleging the county was delaying implementation, meaning the the November election would be under the current at-large system.
Midlands average price of gasoline continued to fall this past week  15 cents, according to AAA Texas weekly report.

Midlands average price decline also continues to trail others across the region.

AAA Texas reported this week that Midland is last of the seven larger metropolitan areas in West Texas, trailing other cities by 7 to 39 cents. The average in Midland was $3.66, according to the organization, and that price was not only 39 cents more than Abilene but also 7 cents higher than Odessa.

The state average was $3.49  17 cents lower than Midland which was the same spread last week. AAA Texas reports prices are down 72 cents in Midland over the last five weeks. The state average has dropped by $1 during the same period of time.

AAA Texas reported this week that national gas price average dropped below $4 per gallon overnight for the first time since March 5. Also, for the eighth consecutive week, the Texas statewide fuel price average has fallen.

Retail gasoline prices in Texas fell for the eighth consecutive week, AAA Texas spokesperson Daniel Armbruster said. While gas prices will likely keep dropping in the near term, it is unclear how long the trend will last. Demand for fuel jumped 7% across the U.S. this week and regional fuel supplies fell by around 3%.

Midlands average was not the highest average of the 27 larger metropolitan areas across the state. College Station-Bryan took that honor with an average of $3.72. The lowest average was $3.19 in both McAllen and Brownsville/Harlingen.

AAA Texas also reported that the price compared to the same time in 2021 has increased 65 cents in Midland. The state average is up 64 cents during the same period.

Averages across the region

This week

Abilene $3.27

Lubbock $3.40

Amarillo $3.41

El Paso $3.45

San Angelo $3.49

Odessa $3.59

Midland $3.66

Highest averages across the state

This week

College Station-Bryan $3.72

Midland $3.66

Odessa $3.59

Victoria $3.58

Beaumont-Port Arthur $3.58

Texas $3.49

National $3.99

Last week

College Station-Bryan $3.85

Midland $3.81

Odessa $3.73

Beaumont-Port Arthur $3.73

Galveston-Texas City $3.72

Wichita Falls $3.72

Victoria $3.72

Texas $3.64

National $4.14

Source: AAA Texas.
Navigating the U.S. housing market in summer 2022 is seeming a bit like a high-stakes game of Perception vs. Reality.

Perception: After two years of wildfire growth, the real estate businessbuffeted by inflation and higher mortgage rates is coming to a screeching halt. Reality: There are still way more people looking for homes than there are homes themselves. Perception: After unprecedented shortages of homes to buy, new listings are now flooding the market. Reality: Inventory levels, while improving, are still at historic lows. Perception: Finally, home prices have stopped going upand are maybe coming down! Reality: Price growth is slowing downbut certainly not everywhere.

Just as sellers are slowly learning to downshift expectations and buyers are collectively hoping for a break, there are still places across the country seeing huge year-over-year increases in median home list pricessome well over 30%.

Realtor.com set out to find the cities that are defying price expectations with prices continuing to go up and up.

"There are several indicators that the national housing market is rebalancing in a more buyer-friendly direction," says Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. But "in these top 10 markets with the biggest price growth, we're generally seeing signs that the rebalancing seen elsewhere has not progressed as far."

To find the places with the greatest protracted price increases, the Realtor.com data team analyzed the 100 largest metropolitan areas and calculated which ones in July saw the highest percentage of home listings with price increases on Realtor.com. The data team looked at all active listings (not including sales) for single-family and multifamily homes in July 2022 versus July 2021. To achieve geographic diversity, we included only one metro per state. (Metros include the main city and surrounding towns, suburbs, and smaller urban areas.)

Besides rising prices, the most common aspect among these 10 cities is affordability, says Hale.

Eight of these 10 markets have median home list price well below the U.S. average, she says. The two exceptions, Miami and Honolulu, are warm-weather spots benefiting from ongoing remote work trends and the resumption of domestic and global travel.

Lets take a look at the top 10 cities where sellers are still ruling the roostfor now, anyway.

Where home prices are rising the most Realtor.com

Miami, FL Getty Images

Median home list price in July: $$625,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 36.2%

Florida saw some of the strongest home price appreciation and rent increases in the country due to an influx of demand from out-of-state buyers spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, says Brad OConnor, chief economist for the Florida Association of Realtors.

With work-from-home policies becoming more entrenched and Floridas relative affordability to wealthy markets in California and the Northeast, the demand for homes by out-of-state buyers will remain higher than before the pandemic for some time to come, OConnor says.

This demand is also contributing to Miami having the highest percentage of year-over-year growth in rent, at 37.4%.

The high increase in median home prices is also likely in part due to the disproportionately large luxury homes on the market in South Florida, compared with the other metro areas, OConnor says.

Youll find a greater share of these high-end properties than you did last year, and thats having the effect of pulling up the median list price, he says.

Lesley Deutch, a real estate consultant for John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Boca Raton, FL, points to the lack of developable land in the Miami metro as also contributing to the high demand for existing homes.

While buyers can still find homes for sale that are less than the national median list price, for the true Miami experience, there is this three-bed, three-bath penthouse condo with a spectacular view of Biscayne Bay, listed for $1.3 million and located in downtown Miami.

Median home list price: $318,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 32.7%

The Memphis real estate market is hot. How hot is it?

Last year, Realtor.com noted that an inordinate amount of first-time homebuyers is battling investors for the best homes on the market. Thanks in part to these investors driving up home prices, the median list price in Memphis has seen a huge jump year over year.

The limited selection, low rates, and entry of numerous cash buyers have prompted sellers to try to take advantage of the market, fueling higher prices, says Kelly Erb, a real estate agent with Marx Bensdorf Realtors in Memphis.

Historically, Memphis has been an undervalued market and, combined with no state income tax, has created many people moving here, adds Erb.

Add the citys location along the Mississippi River, the Blues Hall of Fame, and some arguably amazing barbecue, and its no surprise people are flocking to Memphis.

On average, homes in Memphis are spending 31 days on the market, which is five fewer days from last year.

For $735,000, buyers can grab this stunning Victorian with four bedrooms and 3.5 baths located about a block from the river.

Omaha, NE Getty Images

Median home list price: $379,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 31.3%

The pandemic forced a lot of people to reevaluate what was important to them and what kind of life they wanted to live. Plenty chose to leave cramped city apartments for wide-open spaces, like in Omaha.

Its this change that spurred Nebraskas newest tourism campaign, The Good Life Is Calling, which highlights the states welcoming communities, work-life balance, and booming Silicon Prairie tech scene.

The median list price of a home in Omaha is $260,000, well below the national average. Most homes are spending about 32 days on the market, which is down from 34 days a year ago.

Buyers looking for some space could consider this three-bed, 1.5-bath, 1,600-square-foot home that sits on a little over a quarter-acre. Its listed for $265,000.

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Watch: 10 U.S. Markets Where Home Sales Are Slowing

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Median home list price: $275,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 25.2%

Record-low inventory led to bidding wars and quickly rising list prices in this breadbasket city

Last year, a housing frenzy created a stressful experience for both buyers and sellers. Especially buyers.

Things might finally be cooling down, as home sales in South Central Kansas fell by 13.4% in June this year compared with the prior year, according to the Realtors of South Central Kansas.

The birthplace of both Pizza Hut and White Castle, Wichita is also home to 220 days of sunshine, the largest dinosaur theme park in the country (!), and an air quality index that is 21% better than the national average.

It also happens to have one of the lowest amounts of traffic congestion in the country, with an average one-way travel time of 19 minutes (a quarter of the national average).

For $209,999, buyers can snag this three-bed, 2.5-bath, 2,800-square-foot brick charmer that sits on a quarter-acre lot on a cul-de-sac.

Median home list price: $319,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 25.1%

From April 2020 through July 2021, North Carolina added 112,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It ranks fourth in total population gains in the country.

Affordability is the most frequently cited reason people give for moving to North Carolina. Also making the list: rising property values, overall job growth, and a booming tech hub.

Homebuyers have to act fast if they want to grab one of the affordable homes listed for sale, including this three-bed, two-bath, 2,000-square-foot home on close to an acre of land for $275,000.

Honolulu, HI Getty Images

Median home list price in July: $849,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 23.5%

Its never a surprise to see Hawaii on a hottest markets list.

Hawaii real estate is a global commodity with a forever finite scarce supply, says George Krischke, principal broker at Hawaii Living. Just like Manhattan, except we dont have a commuter train from New Jersey."

The inventory of homes and condos in Honolulu County (island of Oahu) has increased slightly since January, he says, but it is still close to record low levels.

The never-ending desire from individuals from all corners of the world to own a piece of paradise keeps the Honolulu real estate market largely insulated from the national housing trends, he notes.

You're either in paradise or you're not, he says. Hawaii is still a relative bargain compared to San Francisco and San Jose, as Honolulu real estate prices have been comparatively lagging since 2012.

For high net worth buyers, there is this two-bed, two-bath, 1,600-square-foot condo that features ocean-front views (in a building with one owner per floor)all yours for a sweet $4,150,000.

Median home list price: $385,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 23.2%

There were 895 single-family home sales closed in Kent County (where Grand Rapids is located) in June 2022 with an average of nine days on the market, according to the Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors.

Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan, is one of the fastest-growing communities in the state thanks to its affordability and employment growth. Its proximity (roughly 85 miles) to beautiful Lake Michigan and its world-class beaches only adds to its appeal.

In May this year, real estate agents were getting 50 offers on a single home listed for under $400,000, according to local news site Bridge Michigan.

Low inventory remains a factor, although the situation is improving.

According to GRAR, inventory is improving slightly with 13.9% more homes listed in June 2022 than in June 2021.

For $260,000, buyers can get this three-bed, 1.5-bath, 1,300-square-foot home nestled in a charming neighborhood. It comes with a sunroom, a back patio, and a home warranty.

Median home list price: $360,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 23.1%

According to the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors, the housing market is cooling slightly from the fever pitch of 2021.

Unfortunately, the scarcity of inventory is predicted to continue for the foreseeable future.

The pressure of high demand on low supply can only be expressed through increasing prices, notes GMAR.

Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, is tucked along the western shore of Lake Michigan and is less than a two-hour drive from Chicago.

Homebuyers looking for a house within walking distance to parks, schools, and restaurants should check out this three-bed, 2.5-bath, 2,100-square-foot house listed for $350,000. Built in 1905, the house now features original charm and modern conveniences.

Median home list price: $315,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 22.8%

The past two years in Tulsa can be summed up best this way: insanity.

Weve done some of our best numbers these last two years in sales, says Tiffany Johnson, a real estate agent with Chinoweth & Cohen Realtors. People were just blowing comp numbers ... out of the water.

She said houses were going for $15,000 to $20,000 over the asking price with 15 to 20 offers at a time. And most of the buyers were coming from out of state, especially California.

She said the beauty of the area coupled with extremely affordable housing was drawing folks from California, Oregon, Washington, and Florida.

Most homes in Tulsa are staying on the market on average for 33 days, which is five fewer days than last year at this time. However, Johnson notes, inflation and rising mortgage prices are dampening the real estate frenzy.

Buyers can still get a lot for their money in Tulsa, including this 3,468-square-foot house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms asking for $450,000. It comes with a private pond.

Harrisburg, PA Getty Images

Median home list price: $295,000

Percentage list price increase, year over year: 22.3%

Like many Pennsylvania metro areas, Harrisburg is in a remote-work housing boom, with swelling rents and still-rising home prices. Even so, the place is still a bargain compared with nearby Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, DC.

As prices have climbed higher in other markets, our market tends to look even more attractive for its location and comparatively affordable housing, says Joy Daniels, a real estate agent with Joy Daniels Real Estate Group in Harrisburg. Our proximity to those major cities also makes for a more affordable living option when home prices spike in surrounding areas.

Homes are staying on the market on average of 41 days in Harrisburg, where buyers are starting to see some price-reduced homes pop on the market.

For $214,900 (reduced from $215,900), buyers can get this three-bed, one-bath brick house with hardwood floors, shiplap, and a new kitchen.

As more people discover the rural yet sophisticated area that gives a small-town feel, Daniels says, the high demand and low inventory of homes will keep prices strong.

The post Slowdown? What Slowdown? Here Are the 10 Cities Where Home Prices Are Still Soaring appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Las Vegas saw severe flooding and a rash of lightning again Thursday night, with more thunderstorms on the way Friday, as the popular travel destination sees its wettest monsoon season in 10 years. The heavy rain that dumped sheets of water onto the Strip came after the city saw a similar event on July 28 when rain fell inside casinos.

A weather gauge at the Las Vegas airport recorded 0.58 inch in a downpour Thursday night, bringing the total for this year's monsoon season to 1.28 inches, making it the wettest season since 2012, the National Weather Service said.

The monsoon season, which runs June 15 through Sept. 30 every year, usually sees about 1.03 inch on average, said Brian Planz, a forecaster with the weather service's Las Vegas office.

The monsoon season is "a little above normal, but its by no means extraordinary," Planz said.

Chris Vagasky, a meteorologist with the company Vaisala, which maps lightning strikes around in the world, told SFGATE that there were 2,200 lightning strikes (772 cloud-to-ground and 1,428 in-cloud) detected on Thursday.

Amid this season's active monsoon, Vagasky said 79,699 strikes have been detected within 50 miles of Las Vegas since June 15. About 40% of those occurred between July 28 and August 1.

Videos posted on social media showed the Strip light up from a lightning strikes Thursday night.

"Its like 4th of July with this lightning at the Strip," wrote one Twitter user.

Planz said one tree caught fire due to lightning.

The weather service issued a flood advisory for Las Vegas Valley on Thursday night, warning of nuisance flooding, heavy rain, frequent lightning and gusty winds. "Never attempt to drive through flood waters," the weather service warned.

Footage from Thursday night showed rivers of water flooding some roadways.

"There was lots of nuisance flooding and standing water and larger puddles," said Planz.

Planz said that people on social media often share images of a lake of water in the Linq Hotel and Casino parking lot during heavy rain.

"That parking lot is designed to flood," he said. "Thats part of the drainage. It's built over the natural drainage basin ... the natural wash, it runs through the bottom of the garage. There are signs posted."

A Twitter user who was at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort and Casino on Thursday night posted a clip of rain falling inside the casino.

"Youre not going to believe this, but Im not sure if its raining more inside @PHVegas or outside," they wrote.

More stormy weather is on the way Friday with thunderstorms and flash flooding possible across southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and far eastern California. A flash flood watch is in effect through Friday night.

"We're starting to sound like a broken record here," the weather service said.

George Rose/Getty Images

Planz said it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where the thunderstorms will hit within the region, but the unsettled weather remains in the forecast through the weekend.

This is a developing story and details will be added as they become available.
Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during a UN Security Council briefing on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at the UN headquarters in New York, Aug. 11, 2022. Zhang on Thursday said that China is "deeply concerned" by the recent shelling on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. (Xinhua/Xie E)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Thursday said that China is "deeply concerned" by the recent shelling on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

"We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint, act with caution, refrain from any action that may compromise nuclear safety and security, and spare no effort to minimize the possibility of accidents," he told a UN Security Council briefing.

Zhang chaired Thursday's meeting on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as president of the Security Council for the month of August.

Speaking in his national capacity, the envoy said that the shelling did not pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety, and the radiation level remained normal, citing information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from Ukraine's nuclear regulator.

"Nevertheless, the shelling did cause damage to the physical integrity of the plant, its safety and security system, power supply and personnel safety, which sounded a nuclear alarm to the international community," he said.

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged accusations over shelling the Zaporizhzhia plant, which generates a quarter of Ukraine's total electricity.

Zhang pointed out that if a large scale accident occurs at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the largest such plants in Europe, the consequences would be more devastating than that of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

The leakage of massive quantities of radioactive materials caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the resulting nuclear-contaminated water have far-reaching consequences for the marine environment, food safety, and human health, thereby sparking widespread interests and concerns, he said.

"China does not want to see the same risks playing out again," he said.

While urging the parties concerned to exercise restraint, the envoy expressed hope that existing obstacles can be cleared as soon as possible, so that the planned mission to the Zaporizhzhia plant by IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi and the agency's team of experts can materialize without delay.

He noted that Russia has undertaken to provide necessary assistance to the visit, and Ukraine, in a recent letter to Grossi and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also underscored the increasing necessity of organizing such a visit.

The Ukraine crisis has been dragging on for over five months. The security risks posed by the conflict to nuclear facilities are looming large throughout, Zhang said.

"Only by defusing the situation and restoring peace at an early date, can we fundamentally remove nuclear risks, reduce misjudgment, and avoid accidents," he said.

The envoy called on all parties concerned to resume negotiations as early as possible, seek a solution to the Ukraine crisis in a cool-headed and rational fashion, address each other's legitimate security concerns, and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, so as to achieve common security.

He reaffirmed China's consistent position that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be upheld, and countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected.

"We call upon all parties in the international community to act responsibly to facilitate a proper solution of the crisis, and step up political and diplomatic efforts in order to create conditions for the parties concerned to return to the negotiating table. China will continue its constructive role in this regard," said Zhang.
WFO PHOENIX Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

Severe Weather Statement

National Weather Service Phoenix AZ

422 PM PDT Thu Aug 11 2022

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM PDT

FOR RIVERSIDE COUNTY...

At 422 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 17 miles southeast

of Desert Center, and is nearly stationary.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.

This severe thunderstorm will remain over mainly rural areas of

Riverside County.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

The National Weather Service in Phoenix has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Riverside County in southern California...

* Until 830 PM PDT.

* At 425 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of

rain have fallen. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin

shortly.

HAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms

producing flash flooding.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams,

urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Cottonwood Visitor.

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

Flooding is occurring or is imminent. It is important to know where

you are relative to streams, rivers, or creeks which can become

killers in heavy rains. Campers and hikers should avoid streams or

creeks.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO PHOENIX Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in Phoenix has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Riverside County in southern California...

* Until 830 PM PDT.

* At 530 PM PDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of

rain have fallen. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin

shortly.

HAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms

producing flash flooding.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams,

urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

mainly rural areas of Riverside County

This includes the following highways...

CA Interstate 10 between mile markers 96 and 101.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

Please report observed flooding to local emergency services or law

enforcement and request they pass this information to the National

Weather Service when you can do so safely.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SAN DIEGO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Saturday, August 13, 2022

_____

HEAT ADVISORY

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service San Diego CA

134 PM PDT Fri Aug 12 2022

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PDT SATURDAY...

* WHAT...Temperatures up to 104.

* WHERE...San Bernardino and Riverside County Valleys-The Inland

Empire County.

* WHEN...Until 8 PM PDT Saturday.

* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures may cause heat illnesses to occur.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out

of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young

children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles

under any circumstances.

Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When

possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or

evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat

stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when

possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational

Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent

rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone

overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.

Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO BROWNSVILLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Brownsville has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Southwestern Hidalgo County in Deep South Texas...

* Until 715 PM CDT.

* At 644 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Citrus City,

or near Palmhurst, moving southwest at 25 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage

to roofs, siding, and trees.

* Locations impacted include...

Mission, Palmview, Penitas, La Joya, Palmhurst, Sharyland, Alton,

Narciso G. Cavazos Elementary School, Abram-Perezville and Doffing.

This includes US Highway 83 between mile markers 844 and 850.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

...FLOOD ADVISORY HAS EXPIRED...

The Flood Advisory has expired for a portion of western Texas,

including the following county, Hudspeth.

The heavy rain has ended. Flooding is no longer expected to pose a

threat. Please continue to heed remaining road closures.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO CORPUS CHRISTI Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Corpus Christi has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

North central Jim Wells County in south central Texas...

Southwestern Live Oak County in south central Texas...

* Until 815 PM CDT.

* At 748 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near River Creek

Acres, or near George West, moving south at 15 mph.

HAZARD...Quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

George West, Midway, River Creek Acres, Annarose and Clegg.

This includes the following highways...

US Highway 281 between mile markers 634 and 654.

US Highway 59 between mile markers 724 and 736.

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 SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northwestern Benewah County in the Panhandle of Idaho...

Southwestern Kootenai County in the Panhandle of Idaho...

Northeastern Whitman County in eastern Washington...

Southeastern Spokane County in northeastern Washington...

* Until 515 PM PDT.

* At 433 PM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 17 miles north of

Colfax, or 27 miles north of Pullman, moving northeast at 45 mph.

HAZARD...Quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

Harrison, Tekoa, Fairfield, Rockford, Oakesdale, Worley, Latah and

Belmont.

This includes U.S. Highway 95 in Idaho between mile markers 397 and

413.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

To report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement

agency. They will send your report to the National Weather Service

office in Spokane.

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHEASTERN WHITMAN COUNTY IS

CANCELLED...

The storm which prompted the warning has moved out of the area.

Therefore, the warning has been cancelled. However small hail is

still possible with this thunderstorm.

agency. They will relay your report to the National Weather Service

Spokane.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
WFO SPOKANE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Friday, August 12, 2022

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Central Adams County in eastern Washington...

* Until 930 AM PDT.

* At 846 AM PDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 10 miles north of

Kahlotus, or 12 miles northeast of Connell, moving north at 25 mph.

HAZARD...Half dollar size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

Lind, Ralston, Pizzro and Paha.

This includes Interstate 90 in Washington between mile markers 208

and 218.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather




Currently, Vietnam's export products are available in most markets in the EU and have recorded good growth, focusing strongly on products such as textiles, footwear, coffee, seafood, vegetables and fruits, black pepper, and rice. Among these, coffee posted the strongest growth, with an increase of 75.2 percent, followed by seafood and black pepper, with 42.1 percent and 43.9 percent, respectively, over the same period last year.According to experts, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which took effect from August 2020, has created leverage to promote two-way trade between Vietnam and the EU, significantly helping Vietnamese goods improve competitiveness and expand market share in the EU market.On August 11, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Ho Chi Minh City Branch (VCCI-HCM) coordinated with Polish departments in HCMC to organize the Vietnam - Poland Trade Exchange.A representative of VCCI-HCM said that in 2021, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Poland reached nearly $2.6 billion, up 22 percent over the same period in 2020. Export value from Vietnam to Poland exceeded $2.1 billion, up 17 percent over the same period in 2020, and Vietnam's import value from this market topped $500 million, up 49 percent over the same period.In the first quarter of 2022, the two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Poland reached nearly $900 million. Items that account for a large proportion in the structure of Vietnamese export products to Poland include garments, seafood, cereals, coffee, and footwear. Meanwhile, Poland has strengths in pharmaceuticals, dairy products, animal feed, and cosmetics.

By Minh Xuan, Minh Hai  Translated by Bao Nghi
Page Content

The chain restaurant Chipotle Mexican Grill signed a $20 million settlement with New York City employees over allegations of labor law violations, Mayor Eric Adams announced Aug. 9. This is the largest fair workweek settlement in the nation and the biggest labor protection settlement in the city's history, Adams said.

"We have implemented a number of compliance initiatives, including additional management resources and adding new and improved time-keeping technology to help our restaurants, and we look forward to continuing to promote the goals of predictable scheduling and access to work hours for those who want them," said Scott Boatwright, Chipotle's chief restaurant officer.

We rounded up relevant articles from SHRM Online and other trusted news sources.

Schedule and Overtime Violations

The city's investigation found that Chipotle did not give employees advance notice of their work schedules, required employees to work extra time without their advance consent, did not properly compensate workers for schedule changes, did not offer available shifts to current employees before hiring new employees, and did not allow employees to use accrued sick leave, according to the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga. The settlement may impact as many as 13,000 Chipotle employees.

(The Hill)

Sick Leave Violations

New York City law requires employers to give workers their schedules 14 days in advance and pay premiums for schedule changes or shifts with less than 11 hours of rest in between. It also requires large employers to offer 56 hours of paid leave each year. Chipotle capped workers at 24 hours of paid sick time, according to court filings.

(The Washington Post)

Case Spans More Than Four Years

The settlement covered violations of scheduling and sick leave laws from late November 2017 to late April 2022. Under the settlement, hourly employees of Chipotle in New York City will receive $50 for each week that they worked during that period. The city filed an initial legal complaint in the case in September 2019, involving a handful of Chipotle stores, then expanded the case last year to include locations across the city.

(The New York Times)

Making Schedules Predictable

Predictable-scheduling laws usually target the retail and hospitality industries, where "on-call" or "just-in-time" scheduling has become commonplace. The laws generally require companies to post employees' work schedules in advanceusually seven to 14 days ahead of timeand provide "predictability pay" penalties when employers make last-minute schedule changes. New York City's Fair Workweek Law, which includes predictable scheduling provisions, has been in effect since May 2017.

(SHRM Online)



On-Call Scheduling

An on-call scheduling system can help businesses meet customer service needs by designating certain employees to be available to report to work on short notice or with no advance notice. The designated employees will usually call at a certain time to see if they should report to work. Often, on-call workers are those that are sent home first if guest traffic is slower than expected. Such practices have come under fire in recent years, however, by worker advocates. A growing number of jurisdictions, including San Francisco and Seattle, have enacted predictive scheduling laws.

(SHRM Online)


India is completing the 75 years of Independence on 15th August 2022, and it will celebrate the 76th Independence Day. The Indian Government decided to celebrate the 75 years of Independence of India with great excitement and tribute to freedom fighters. The celebration is named Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav - A great Celebration for the Amirtham of Independence, under the theme Nation First, Always First.

Amrit Mahotsav signifies Nectar of grand celebration, which symbolizes the 75 years of India's independence from the British Raj. The overall celebrations commenced on 12 March 2021 and will continue until 15 August 2023. It includes diverse programs, rallies, performances, community carnivals, etc. On 31 July 2022, in Man Ki Baat PM Narendra Modi requested Indians to replace their social media display picture with the Indian Flag from 2 August to 15 August. The Indian government has begun a campaign Har Ghar Tiranga, where it is enabling the delivery of a 20 x 30 inch National flag to every family at a subsidy rate of Rs 25. They have intended to hoist over 200 million Tricolours to mark this special occasion.

The aroma of patriotism can be sensed in every corner of the nation from dawn to dusk as it gets ready to mark 75 years of Independence from British rule in India. The country has dipped into the ocean of tricolour, and so the citizens are. The ramparts of the Red Fort have also been settled down to mark the auspicious occasion. Persisting the nation's customs, the Prime Minister will host the flag, address the citizens from the rampart and present the roadmap to boost the nation's growth.

What is expected to be included in PM's speech?

While addressing the nation from Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to devote considerable time to ongoing and proposed initiatives in the health care segment. He may also emphasize financial inclusion and digital banking, as well as the resilience of the Indian economy in the face of external challenges. His speech will also not be short of applauding the outstanding efforts of Indian athletes who have added medals, making the nation proud during the Commonwealth Games 2022 and those who missed out this year.

During the third national committee meeting on 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,' PM Modi said that Amrit Mahotsav is a golden opportunity to create youths' emotional connections with nation-building. The patriotic zeal which was witnessed during the freedom struggle was remarkable. The same enthusiasm is required to be imbibed in the present generation and channeled for nation-building. The national unity must be nourished and nurtured to boost India as "Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat" because a united nation is progressive. India is going through an epoch of "Amrit Kaal" discovering its resolves, leading the country to the "peak of success" in the next 25 years. The public would be looking forward to the same.

On the eve of Independence Day, President Droupadi Murmu will greet the citizens in her first ceremonial address to the nation after becoming President of India. The President, too, will host the Indian contingent, whom she has invited over for high tea.

India Ki Udaan

In support of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, tech giant Google has launched an online project, India Ki Udaan. The project executed by Google Arts and Culture celebrates the country's achievements and is themed on the unwavering and undying spirit of India over these past 75 years. As part of the country-wide celebrations, Google collaborated with the Indian Ministry of Culture focused on reaching informative online content that showcases the contributions of Indians and the evolution of India since 1947.

The centerpiece of its celebrations is available on the Google Arts and Culture website. It pays tribute to Indias rich cultural history and includes iconic moments from the last 75 years. This initiative proposes a unique view of Indias incredible moments and lets people uncover some of the most unforgettable moments in Indias modern history, its iconic personalities, proudest scientific and sporting accomplishments, and how women in India continue to inspire the world.

In its 10th year in India, Google Arts and Culture showcased the countrys rich culture differently. Working with more than 100 partners in India, Google has brought the countrys cultural heritage to people worldwide. This commemorative collection will be grown with a unique blend of archives and artistry for people in India and across the globe.
FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd., which operates online beauty marketplace Nykaa, on Friday announced the appointment of former Unilever executive Vishal Gupta as executive vice president of its consumer beauty brands.

Gupta joins Nykaa after nearly three decades of experience working across the FMCG sector. Prior to joining Nykaa, Gupta worked at Unilever Russia, where he led the beauty and personal care business.

Gupta, an alumni of IIT Delhi and IIM Bengaluru, has worked across businesses and brands in India, Indonesia, Southeast Asia and Russia. At Nykaa, he will lead the beauty retailers private labels business across colored cosmetics as well as skin care. These are products such as lipsticks, face masks and eye makeup that the company sells under the Nykaa brand.

Nykaas own beauty brands have been built on the principles of quality, authenticity, and inclusivity. This approach to brand building is what has led us to become much loved by the Indian consumer. Vishal now has the responsibility of carrying on its rich legacy, and taking brand Nykaa to even greater heights, and into more consumers hearts," said Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO, Nykaa.

I am excited to join Nykaa to help build its dynamic portfolio of consumer beauty brands that have become iconic in the Indian beauty ecosystem," Gutpa said.

Nykaa operates multiple online platforms including Nykaa Fashion, Nykaa Man, apart from its flagship beauty store. Nykaa offers over 4,500 brands and over 4.6 million product stock keeping units through its website and mobile applications.
The education minister is quoted as saying that India's advantages are its youthful population, substantial body of knowledge and also there is a lot of potential ready to be developed in numerous institutions located in various parts of the nation

According to a formal announcement, the US National Science Foundation has indicated an interest in extending its partnerships with India in the fields of education and skill development. NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan yesterday met with Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi to talk about shared interests and India's goals for STEM education under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The education minister is quoted as saying that India's advantages are its youthful population and substantial body of knowledge. He continued by saying that there is a lot of potential ready to be developed in numerous institutions located in various parts of the nation. In addition to the top institutions in the nation, he continued, "NSF should consider strengthening its engagement with lesser known and previously underrepresented institutions such as NITs, Central Universities, and State Universities." The statement went on to say that Pradhan had stressed the need to include the skill sector in this type of partnership when referring to the education-skill continuum that is being developed by NEP 2020. He asserts that this can be accomplished by connecting with organisations like polytechnics, ITIs, and community colleges. He added that it was the government's top priority and duty to guarantee that all young people, whether they are enrolled in traditional academic programs or work in the formal or informal skill sectors, have equal access to high-quality education and skill development so they are prepared to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

The NSF, which has a USD 8.8 billion budget, is the primary federal funding source for disciplines including mathematics, computer science, and the social sciences. The NSF and India have six Technology Innovation Hubs where 30 projects, including several on cyber security, are being worked on by eight institutions, including the IITs and IISc Bangalore. The Director of NSF is in India to look into ways to improve these engagements. According to the official release, the education minister also requested that the Ministry of Education, under the direction of AICTE, create a framework for future interactions with the NSF while discussing with other pertinent ministries.
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Investor attitude to Melbournes office market is set for a big test with the listing of Garda Property Groups two buildings at Botanicca Corporate Park on Swan Street.

The buildings - No.7 and No.9 - on Richmonds eastern flank are expected to fetch more than $120 million but are for sale individually.

The Botanicca 9 building in Richmond. Credit:

They are the first of the new tranche of fringe and suburban office buildings constructed in the past 10 years to come up for sale in the new era of rising vacancy and worker wariness. Vacancy rates in Melbourne offices increased slightly to 12.9 per cent in the latest survey by the Property Council of Australia.

Building 9 has 6960 square metres over five levels and returns around $3.9 million a year from tenants including Fujifilm and Servier Pharmaceuticals.
Just how psychologist Cyrus Haven came to befriend damaged teenager Evie Cormac is a complicated story. It begins in the first book of Michael Robothams new series, of which this is the third, but you can start right here: Robotham is skilful enough to give you all the backstory you need without making it obvious.

On the other hand, a backflip wouldnt hurt given that Good Girl, Bad Girl won the British Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger in 2020, to be followed by the also impressive When She Was Good. This latest instalment is even better and may just be Robothams best book so far. Lying Beside You is not just a cleverly constructed crime novel about a forensic psychologist who works with the police, its also an achingly beautiful story about trust, redemption and love that had me intermittently catching my breath.

Michael Robotham hits top form in Lying Beside You. Credit:Wolter Peeters

Front and centre is the relationship between Cyrus and Evie, who have both experienced childhood trauma that has made them who they are. Cyrus is the boy who survived the day his psychotic brother killed their mother, father and twin sisters, while Evie is the little girl found hiding in the walls of a dilapidated house where a man had been tortured to death.

But Evies 21 now and Cyrus thinks she should find a job and be more independent. Cyrus meanwhile is dealing with the prospect of his brother being released from hospital after 30 years. Evie thinks Cyrus should have a girlfriend and has been trawling the dating sites masquerading as him in exchanges that are very funny. More importantly, Cyrus is trying to manage Evies interactions with the outside world that are complicated by the fact that she is an inveterate liar, and a good one at that.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Book critics Cameron Woodhead and Fiona Capp cast their eyes over recent fiction and non-fiction titles. Here are their reviews. Fiction pick of the week Credit: Life Ceremony

Sayaka Murata, Granta, $34.99 A collection of short fiction from Sayaka Murata, author of the 2016 bestseller Convenience Store Woman, offers some variety, but fans of the ice-cool tone, the wild conceits and the melancholy estrangement of that novel wont be disappointed. The title story follows corporate drudge Maho as shes invited to a life ceremony involving cannibalistic funerary practices to honour a deceased manager. The bizarre intimacy of the societys death rituals contrasts with its alienation from procreation: the story ends with sperm in a jar. Other striking tales include A First-Rate Material, in which the latest Tokyo fashions have stretched to clothing, accessories and even furniture made from human remains, and Body Magic, which lends a lighter, more affectionate touch to two adolescent girls discovering sexual desire at different paces.

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Credit: Time and Tide in Sarajevo

Bronwyn Birdsall, Affirm Press, $29.99 This novels portrait of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is imagined from experience. Bronwyn Birdsall lived there in the aftermath of the extended siege and horrific war crimes committed during the 90s, as does her protagonist Evelyn. The high school English teacher finds a welcoming but fragile city where traumatic history still simmers into social tension. Ev throws herself into preparing her students for a prestigious scholarship, but when the teenage son of a heroic local figure is stabbed to death, she cannot help but become involved. Fears of a cover-up to protect the perpetrator lead to public protests. A powderkeg situation erupts, and Ev finds herself in possession of crucial evidence that could catch the killer at the risk of igniting violence. Time and Tide in Sarajevo is elegant and finely wrought, achieving an intimate sense of place before ramping up the suspense. Credit: Conviction

Frank Chalmers, Allen & Unwin, $32.99

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Frank Chalmers takes us to the remote Queensland town of Royalton in the mid-1970s. Honest cop Ray Windsor has been banished there for standing up to abuses within the force. This is Sir Joh Bjelke Petersens Queensland, well before the Fitzgerald inquiry: corruption is rife, and the new police chief doesnt seem much interested in solving crimes. But when two immigrants are raped and murdered, and another disappears, Ray resists the indifference, teaming with a new partner, Arshag, to catch a killer. Chalmers has written an absorbing period crime novel. A slow burn with elements of police procedural that bleed into a brutal strand of outback noir, Conviction comes drenched in the paranoia and menace of Queenslands dark days as a police state. Credit: Friends Like These

Meg Rosoff, Bloomsbury, $16.99 Award-winning YA author Meg Rosoff (How I Live Now) has written a vivid coming-of-age novel set in New York in 1982. Friends Like These sees 18-year-old Beth arrive in the Big Apple for a summer journalism internship, where she meets a range of young New Yorkers and falls under the spell of the rich, wild and charismatic Edie. An all-consuming friendship develops as they navigate the world of journalism, share the exhilaration of a summer of firsts and misspend their youth, but their relationship sours as the stifling Manhattan summer drags on.

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Its a novel that a broad range of adolescents should find appealing. With its keenly observed characters, retro atmosphere and urban setting, Friends Like These reminded me strongly of the Judy Blume books that used to fly off school library shelves when I was young. Non-fiction pick of the week Credit: The Patient Doctor

Ben Bravery, Hachette, $32.99 When 28-year-old Ben Bravery was receiving treatment for bowel cancer, he felt more like a problem than a patient. His body was being well tended but at some point in the delivery of healthcare, they had forgotten I was a human. This insight inspired him to retrain as a doctor and show his patients the compassion he felt the system lacked. It has also enabled him to shine a light on the shortcomings in medical education and the failure to prioritise communicating well with patients. Raised by a single mother, Bravery reflects on how the selection process for medical school favours students from privileged backgrounds, entrenching a lack of diversity and life experience in the profession. In this spirited and often funny memoir, Bravery shows himself to be the kind of well-rounded doctor that every patient deserves: one who sees the whole person not just the symptoms.

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Credit: The Man Who Loved Pink Dolphins

Anthony Ham, Allen & Unwin, $34.99 Given that pink dolphins hardly feature in this suspenseful tale of one mans attempt to preserve a magical, untouched backwater of the Amazon, one can only assume that someone in marketing dreamed up the title. The shame is that it does no justice to Chris Clarks audacious, decades-long battle to protect this Edenic place or the larger, urgent story Anthony Ham tells about the forces of development destroying the Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous peoples. Hams initial assumption that Clark was a benevolent, modern-day Kurtz with a devoted band of friends and followers evolves into a more nuanced portrait of a dedicated and fearless, if flawed, environmental campaigner, social activist and family-man. Most importantly, his story is a compelling vehicle for drawing the worlds attention to just how dire the threat to the Amazon has become. Credit: Big, Beautiful Female Theory

Eloise Grills, Affirm Press, $35 In these self-consciously out-there graphic essays, Eloise Grills confronts us with the depths of our fear of the human body, especially the fat body that lives outside the bounds of the discrete body. She simultaneously celebrates her voluptuousness, skewers societys prejudice towards bodies that are perceived as excessive, and embodies the conflicting feelings of abjection that these attitudes instil.

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Matthieu Aikins is a journalist who has spent extended periods in Afghanistan, including stints with The New York Times. Early this year, he told The Columbia Journalism Review that his whole profession had often failed when reporting on the conflict and were surprised when the Taliban resumed control of the country in August 2021.

Even though I always tried to be sceptical of the US and Afghan governments and power in general, he said, I realised as a result of what happened last summer [the collapse of the US-backed government] the depths of this bubble world that we had all been part of.

Andrew Quilty and, right, the cover of August in Kabul. Credit:Tim Marshall/The Walkley Foundation

As Western journalists in Afghanistan, he went on, we always had this funny duality. On the one hand, we were objective journalists, right? Which is a very Western conceit that involves travelling to someone elses war and observing it from above. On the other hand, we were materially and socially grounded in  and ideologically linked to  one side of the war.

Its a powerful rebuke to journalists in a time of war, too often uncritically embedded with the Western agenda, and highlights how rare it is for any reporter to understand truly the nature of a messy and brutal war.
Patriarchal religion is dying. And by patriarchal I mean the worship of the father god, that big guy in the sky, the bowing, the submission, the hierarchy of domination implicit in language, symbol and story. Mostly, I refer to Christianity (my lived experience), but also to a lesser extent Judaism and Islam.

Christianity is male supremacy. Women were seen as second-class for hundreds of years; while most denominations now permit women pastors, the Australian Catholic Church still does not allow women to be deacons or priests. This faith is also historically intertwined with white supremacy and colonisation.

Louise Omer: Are you like me - have you killed the god in your head? Credit:Sia Duff

Its all getting a little old, isnt it? No wonder millions have left the church. I was a Pentecostal for 13 years and now that Ive washed that away, I believe Australia should abandon the cosmological bondage to daddy god.

Apostasy may not come easy. Among those unwilling, unready or unable to leave, I see an ambition to reform the system from within.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Somewhere between the carpaccio of kingfish and the squid-ink spaghetti, Emma Thompson tucks into the female orgasm. Women have to perform orgasms all the time, she says. Maybe you dont want to make loud noises and thrash about like a f---ing electric eel. Her mother, and mine and yours, might have advised against discussing such matters at the dining table, but thats just because were ashamed of it, were deeply disrespectful about sex, she insists. Here we are having a meal, and well talk about the food until kingdom come, but we dont talk about sex, or at least we dont talk about pleasure. And I feel its a big mistake to cut it so entirely out of our life. I think it leads to a great deal of unhappiness, mental illness, and indeed is part of the problem of violence. Thompson first came to Australia in the early 1980s with the Cambridge Footlights comedy revue, and her husband briefly went to school in Sydney, but this is her first visit to Melbourne. I love it here, she says. Credit:Justin McManus Forthright as she is, I suspect not every meal with Dame Emma Thompson, the first and, so far, the only person to win Oscars for both acting and writing, gets so fleshy so fast. And much as I might like to think it owes something to my, ahem, stimulating company, in truth its been the topic du jour for the past week and a half, as she has toured the country, done endless media interviews and answered a vast range of questions at Q&A screenings to support her new film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Thompson doesnt need to traipse across the world to spruik an English indie comedy-drama, no matter how charming it is. Shes here because she thinks its Australian director, Sophie Hyde (52 Tuesdays, Animals, SBS series The Hunting), is an extraordinary talent who handled the intimate and very challenging material with great finesse.

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This film could have been so many different things, but I think the reason its doing what its doing is because of Sophie. Shes just so delicate. Thompson plays Nancy in Leo Grande, a widowed former teacher of religious education who hires a male escort to help tackle a long-standing regret: shes never had an orgasm. In fact, its just one of the many sex-related things she didnt experience in her otherwise happy-enough marriage. But with the help of Leo (young Irish actor Daryl McCormack), she sets about tackling the list with a good deal of will this be on the exam Miss gusto. Tick it off, move along. Gnocchi with ragu of pork neck, fennel seeds and leek. Credit:Justin McManus What shes really been missing, though, is a sense of ease in her own skin, and thats where Hyde and screenwriter Katy Brands body- and sex-positive arc is leading her, literally. The film ends with the 63-year-old Thompson fully naked, appraising her own body with a hard-won sense of acceptance and, yes, pleasure. I felt like I knew exactly who she was, says Thompson of Nancy. I think shes everywhere. Shes in every woman. Is she even in you?

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No. I couldnt do it if it was me. Nancy is so different to me. The exciting thing about acting, she says, is playing someone whos not like you at all. Sometimes theres a little bit of cross-hatching, a little bit of a palimpsest, but generally the thrill is to get as far away from yourself as possible. Nancy is a pleaser, she says. The real Emma Thompson has more in common with the talk show host she played in the 2019 comedy Late Night, written by Mindy Kaling. Independent, interested, a bit irritable, didnt suffer fools, said what she meant. Thompson with her Leo Grande co-star Daryl McCormack in Sydney last week. Credit:Oscar Coleman I was told by her publicist that Thompson is exactly as youd expect, and its true. Shes warm, smart, fierce, funny. The discreet-but-unmissable glances from other diners reinforce the fact shes also a bit of a legend, but her down-to-earth manner, and her earthy sense of humour, make it easy to forget that. Our lunch date is Thompsons last interview of an eight-day Australian tour, with just the evenings screening to follow, and shes ready to unwind. I wish I didnt have to work tonight, she says as the first sip of a very easy-to-drink soave slides down. Id be here for hours. Even so, theres a brief moment when I fear Ive made a terrible mistake in booking Caterinas for lunch. Its not that this gorgeous cellar restaurant in the heart of Melbournes legal district isnt classy enough. Its just that it specialises in Venetian cuisine  and Thompson and her actor husband Greg Wise have an apartment in Venice, so I fear Ive accidentally invited her on a busmans holiday.

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But the second she takes her first bite of the complimentary baccala  a creamy codfish spread atop a perfectly toasted oval of bread  any chance of that evaporates. Oh my God, thats so good, she says, her whole face squinting in delight. Theyve got that so right. Thats made me very happy. Kingfish Carpaccio with cream, blood orange, citrus oil and radish. Credit:Justin McManus Thompson doesnt like fussiness, but she does love food. My entree of gnocchi with a white ragu of pork neck, fennel and leek has her reaching over for a forkful, then later another spoonful, and as our host weaves her hospo magic over us, its clear there are two stars in the room. Shes amazing, Caterina. Shes super cool, Thompson observes. Shes someone who can really do this, who knows food and knows how to inhabit it but also make it feel light-hearted. Thompsons daughter Gaia is 22 and studying drama, but shes also a very good cook. And I keep saying, I know you like acting, but, you know, perhaps running a restaurant can be as exciting. Theres something very theatrical about restaurants; when you get it right, you feel so happy and lucky to be in it. The bill Credit:Karl Quinn For sure. But theres something theatrical about  well, the theatre and film and television too, right? Yeah, youre absolutely right. I love my job so much, Im so lucky to keep being given opportunities to do it. And Im just about to go back and do theatre.

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Shes been working on the stage musical adaptation of her 2005 film Nanny McPhee for about five years now, and can finally see what looks like the finishing line. I think its about 18 months away, she says. Ive done many, many drafts. The composer, Gary Clark, has written many, many songs. She gave him just two musical reference points: English cabaret rock band The Tiger Lillies and Tom Waits album SwordfishTrombones. A sort of steampunk Victoriana, thats what were going for, she says. Something really muscly and dark and a little bit sinister in that way that makes children very happy. Thompson has been developing Nanny McPhee for the stage for about five years, and hopes it will be ready in another 18 months. With acting credits in more than 90 films and series and writing credits on seven movies  including the Oscar-winning Sense and Sensibility, Nanny McPhee and its sequel, Bridget Joness Baby and Last Christmas  I wonder what it is that makes her most happy, career-wise. Acting is more fun, she says. You get energy from other people, whereas [with] writing youre on your own. But I would say my favourites are the ones Ive written. Because if youve started with a blank piece of paper and youve ended up in the Curzon [an English cinema chain] its just such a journey. You cant really fathom it, but the satisfaction, the sense of purpose for starters, and then disbelief when it actually happens, is so enormous that the pleasure is out of all proportion to any other experience. Better than sex even?

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First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on August 13, 1987

The State Pollution Control Commission, the Department of Aviation, and the Bond airship are locked into a series of trials that could determine the future of the airship in Sydney s skies.

Rod Stevens of the State Pollution Control Commission tests the level of noise emitted from the Bond airship on August 7, 1987. Credit:David Porter

Since the two airships started $200-a-flight joyrides three months ago, they have generated more complaints to the State Pollution Control Commission and Department of Aviation than any other recent issue except Oran Park motor racing.

The complainers say the airships have been disturbing suburban peace, invading privacy, and offending people with beer and cigarette advertising.
Commuters have been urged to tap on and off at electronic Opal readers at train stations over the coming weeks when staff are expected to leave ticket gates open as part of escalating industrial action over train safety and pay.

The potential loss to the state of ticketing revenue  if commuters fail to tap on and off over the next three weeks  is estimated at up to $10 million.

Station staff who are rail union members have warned they will leave ticket gates open for three weeks from this Saturday. Opal gates are primarily located at Sydneys main train stations.

Train passengers have been urged to tap on and off at station gates. Credit:Peter Rae

Two ministers who met union leaders on Thursday night agreed to provide them a deed next week guaranteeing that the government will make modifications to the states new intercity train fleet. The new trains have been at the centre of the prolonged dispute between the two sides.
A nine-year-old girl has been rushed to a Gold Coast hospital with a serious head injury after she was struck by a car believed to be travelling about 50 kilometres an hour near a school.

Paramedics responded to the crash on Dixon Drive, near Pimpama State Primary College on the Gold Coast, about 8.20am on Friday.

The girl was allegedly hit by a car travelling at 50 kilometres per hour. Credit:QAS

The girl was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital with a serious head injury, but was in a stable condition.

At the time of the incident the girl was with a family member, and her parents met her at the hospital.
Six arrested after stolen car crashes into Melbourne art gallery

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The University of Melbourne Student Union has stirred up a fresh legal storm amid claims that it is promoting anti-Semitism as it revived a motion calling for a ban of Israeli institutions.

The original motion, passed in April and withdrawn the next month amid threats of court action, called on the university to divest, boycott and cut ties from Israeli institutions, researchers and academics who support the Israeli oppression of Palestine.

The University of Melbournes student union is again embroiled in a row about boycotting Israel. Credit:Wayne Taylor

The proposed motion has been rewritten and was sent to the student unions 22 council members on Thursday  with a vote pencilled in for Monday.

On Friday, University of Melbourne student Justin Riazaty, 22, who is represented by Corrs Chambers Westgarth, sent a letter to the student unions lawyers demanding they do not put the new motion to a vote. He said it was entirely disrespectful and indeed anti-Semitic and inconsistent with the purposes of the union.
The sum of the linguistic and military signalling from Beijing in the past week, he tells me, was to communicate that we are moving to do this. Theres more of a tone of inevitability about it now, Barme says, with this being the seizure of Taiwan, by force if necessary. Nancy Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during their meeting in Taipei. Credit:AP The military drills freaked everyone out. They have given every indication that they have the capability to invade and to blockade Taiwan. They have obliterated the median line, which since 1955 bisected the Taiwan Strait into a mainland zone and a Taiwan zone, as Beijings forces refused to recognise it, and by firing missiles over the island theyve shown that they do not recognise Taiwans airspace  thats a big deal. Theyve indicated more aggression, no doubt. As it did so, the US navy kept a respectful distance. In the 1996 Taiwan crisis, the US sailed an aircraft carrier battle group through the Taiwan Strait in a stark warning against any Beijing adventurism. This time, it made no effort to intervene.

The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) had spent a long time preparing this weeks operations. The South China Morning Post quoted an unnamed retired senior colonel and a military historian as saying Pelosi had given the PLA the chance for full-scale real combat training for a Taiwan contingency: The PLA Air Force and Navy finally got the legitimate chance to stage their close reconnaissance along the coastline of Taiwan. Loading The US House Speaker, in conducting her own political campaign for re-election in the November mid-term elections, had walked into it. The US military had advised that she not make the trip at this time, President Joe Biden revealed. She did it anyway. Pelosis project of political vainglory made the US the destabiliser, not China. It handed the Chinese Communist Party an opportunity to tighten its grip on Taiwan under the pretext of an outraged response to an American provocation. On her return to Washington, Pelosi told reporters: What we saw with China is that they were trying to establish sort of a new normal. And we just cant let that happen. Oh yes? What is the US going to do to prevent it? Answer: Nothing. Anything it might attempt would be a further inflammation. Barme also points out two changes to Beijings rhetoric this week. One was a change in the mainlands White Paper on Taiwan. Previous versions have promised that Beijing would not station military forces on Taiwan once it had been reunified. That undertaking has been removed. The Chinese Communist Party may be planning to rule Taiwan under martial law, or use it as a base for military operations, or both.

The other was when Chinas ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, confirmed a statement by Chinas ambassador to France that the people of Taiwan might need to be re-educated, meaning brainwashed, once theyd fallen under CCP rule. All of this talk is designed to convey that this is not some distant, far-off day but that plans are advancing, says Barme. Loading He says Beijing is being driven towards action, at least in part, by its own rhetorical momentum: The contempt and fear of Taiwan as a China that cannot be allowed to exist has built up for 73 years and has reached fever pitch. Its an existential issue for the CCP: What is China? Who are Chinese and who are not? The existence of the Republic of China is an affront to them, because it is living proof that Chinese people can live and flourish in a free and democratic society. And have no need of the Chinese Communist Party. In recent weeks, Xi Jinping has given a series of long speeches about Chinese culture. Barme says his central message is that China is a unique civilisation, and that Chinese people are uniquely built for autocracy. The existence of democratic Taiwan just 160 kilometres offshore makes a mockery of Xis claims.

Of course, Xi would prefer to win without firing a shot, but if theres going to be a conflict at great human cost, he will accept it as inevitable and acceptable. The CCP has overseen policies that have resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people. Loading And Xi is every bit as ruthless as Mao Zedong, he contends. He is the first Chinese leader to grow up during the Cultural Revolution, a time of ceaseless political purges and mass violence. He is the son of Mao, ideologically speaking. The Taiwanese people increasingly recoil from Xis thuggishness. A poll published this week found that 65 per cent of Taiwanese voters want to keep the status quo. Another 23 per cent favour formal independence. Just 7.7 per cent said they wanted unification with the mainland. And the poll was conducted by the Foundation for the People, founded by a politician of the pro-Beijing Kuomintang party, Johnny Chiang. The more violently Xi threatens Taiwan, the more likely hed need to use violence to annexe it. Fifty-three per cent of Taiwanese said theyd be willing to take up arms to fight any mainland Chinese attack.

Ambassador Xiao told the National Press Club in Canberra this week that Beijing wanted to reset relations with Australia to be more constructive and that substantive measures were required. But, when probed by reporters, it became clear that China was not offering any such measures. Beijing had no intention of removing its punitive trade boycotts on more than $20 billion of Australian exports; no intention of releasing the Australian citizens held for trumped-up national security violations; no intention of expressing regret over the dangerous interception of a RAAF plane in international airspace, where a PLA jet released small pieces of aluminium chaff at the Australian aircraft. Adding insult to injury, Xiao likened the RAAF plane to somebody driving around, carrying a gun and trying to peep into your windows to see what youre doing with your family. And he reiterated that Beijing was ready to take Taiwan by force if necessary: When compelled, we are ready to use all necessary means. As to what does it mean all necessary means? You can use your imagination.

Not much need for that, ambassador. If your appearance at the press club was supposed to be a peace offering, it was more like a gift of flowers from the mafia. Beijing has made its intentions very clear. We must take the rhetoric seriously, and the military intimidation, too. Loading The head of the ANUs National Security College, Rory Medcalf, concluded of the weeks activity: Theres no inevitability of all-out conflict, but China has shown a disconcerting willingness to play with risk. Whats changed is that we have a permanently heightened level of risk. Australias political class, to its credit, responded with unity and calm resolve. But Australia is poorly prepared for heightened Beijing aggression. It is just as reliant on China for its export income as it was two years ago, and just as under-equipped militarily. If war breaks out in the Indo-Pacific, Edgars Rinkevics will not be surprised. Unless democracies worldwide combine energetically to confront both Russia and China, he says, there will be a lot of challenges in this region, believe me. Military force could be used more and more.
Energy regulators will be forced to focus on reducing emissions alongside their existing goals of keeping power affordable and reliable after a rewriting of the rules governing the electricity market agreed to by state and federal energy minsters.

In the latest sign of accelerating political momentum on climate change since Labor won the federal election, energy ministers met in Canberra on Friday and agreed to change the electricity markets official objectives for the first time in 15 years to enshrine the environmental clause.

State and federal energy ministers met in Canberra on Friday and agreed on reforms to drive the clean energy transition. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the measure would provide greater certainty to drive large-scale clean energy investments that would be vital to achieving targets for net zero emissions.

Australia is open for business, Bowen said on Friday afternoon following the meeting.
Last weekend former Indi independent Cathy McGowan ran an online post-federal election convention to promote community independents. It attracted 467 participants from more than 100 federal electorates, and the discussion groups included one on each of the two state elections. Stuart Ayres resigned from his role as minister, and as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party. Credit:Rhett Wyman Loading Simon Holmes a Courts Climate 200, which provided crucial funding for the teals, will likely be a player in the state contests. In July it polled key Victorian seats. It found potential support for teal-type independents in the Liberal seats of Sandringham, Brighton, Caulfield and Kew, and the Labor seat of Hawthorn. Climate and integrity resonated. For example, integrity in politics was nominated as the most important issue by the second or third-largest number of voters in Caulfield, Brighton and Sandringham. Local groups have been searching for candidates. An August 7 advertisement in The Sunday Age declared Bayside deserves independent voices and encouraged potential candidates to come forward.

Our communities made history in May when we elected an independent Zoe Daniel to represent us in the federal seat of Goldstein, the advertisement said. Polling shows that an independent can also win the Victorian seats of Brighton, Sandringham and Caulfield. We see from this how the push for state independents is leveraging off the federal success. But its notable the Voices of Goldstein group that supported Daniel will not back a state candidate. Federal teals have a political interest in reinforcing the message of their personal independence. Member for Goldstein Zoe Daniel. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Regardless, in state areas where teal-type candidates will run, therell likely be ready-made volunteer cohorts to support them. Many citizens, energised by the federal successes, seem anxious to take part in what they see as a new brand of politics. In NSW, the group North Sydney Independent (NSI), which chose successful federal teal candidate for North Sydney Kylea Tink (but is now at arms length from her), is looking at the three Liberal seats in the area  Lane Cove, Willoughby and North Shore. NSI co-founder Denise Shrivell says the group could back community candidates in one or even all three seats. The group will have a launch on August 28.

Shrivell says the group is finding a mismatch between the views of the MPs  two of whom are conservatives and one a moderate  and the views and interests of the local community. People are dissatisfied, she says. Unsurprisingly, issues around integrity are very top of mind. People are looking at what is happening in NSW and are fed up, although health, education, over-development and privatisation are also concerning these voters. More generally, people in North Sydney have caught the democracy bug, she says. One major problem for the community candidates in NSW is the states optional preferential voting system: this means they could not rely to the extent the federal teals did on preferences bumping them over the line. As in the federal election, Climate 200 will wait until candidates emerge. It will then assess their individual suitability, the viability of their campaign structure, and their prospects of victory, before deciding whether to provide support. Holmes a Court says it could support three to six candidates in Victoria and possibly more in NSW.

It needs to choose carefully. One reason for the teal successes at federal level was that the candidates were so impressive  mediagenic professional women. It could be more difficult to find equivalent talent for state contests, which are less attractive to high-flyers. Climate 200 has its own credibility to preserve. It doesnt want a triumph at the federal election to be followed by state pushes that flop spectacularly. Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Stricter funding rules at state level impose greater constraints on the assistance Climate 200 can give. Beyond modest donations, the organisation will have to encourage donors to directly support particular candidates. If community candidates do well at these elections, there might be potential down the track in Western Australia, where one would expect a swing in 2025 against Labors massive majority. The WA Liberal Party has been almost wiped out at a state level, and there is a teal federal MP, Kate Chaney, in Curtin.

Although she personally wouldnt be involved, Chaney says some of her supporters have expressed an interest in a state effort. By 2025 the community independent movement may have developed in a way that makes it an attractive option for communities who want to see a different type of representation, Chaney says. Loading Independents have long had significant presences, and often been in the balance of power, in various state parliaments. In Victoria and NSW, both sides are said to be concerned about independents generally at the coming elections. Whats special about the teals and other community candidates, arising from voices and similar groups, is they are part of a loose web, linked by some common funding, networking and the issues on which they campaign. This doesnt make them a party, as their opponents claim, but it does make them a democracy movement of sorts. Success in the Victorian and NSW elections would create fresh momentum for this movement, including at the federal level for the next election. Federally, the community-candidate movement has eaten away at the Liberal Partys progressive wing, cutting a swathe through the moderates in the parliamentary party.

The federal Liberals now face the existential question of how to juggle appeals to outer suburbia, where Peter Dutton feels most comfortable, and to the urban areas, currently lost, that used to be the partys blue ribbons (including for fund-raising), and which are vital to winning government. We should introduce a caution. Just as many people underestimated the chances of the teals federally, there is a risk of over-estimating their state prospects. But if the independent movement does erode the Liberal base in core areas at state level, it will be all the harder for the party to re-group nationally. Loading Although part of the federal teal success was due to strategic voting by some Labor supporters, victories for state community candidates in Victoria and NSW would reinforce the message that Liberal supporters are migrating to a new political force. For the Liberal Party, the implications would be alarming for the long term.
Teal independent MP Zali Steggall has asked supporters to crowdfund additional staff for her office after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slashed the number of taxpayer-funded parliamentary staff for crossbenchers from four to one.

The Warringah MP emailed subscribers soliciting donations to fund the extra staffer and told the Herald it looked likely she would reach her goal  though she disliked involving money in politics. She also said she had obtained legal advice and run it past the Department of Finance.

Independent MP Zali Steggall has asked supporters to crowdfund an additional staff member for her office. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Steggall said the prime minister should be stripped of the power to decide MPs staffing allocation, and will make a submission to the governments review of the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act to that effect.

She said other teal independents had made similar submissions and would likely follow her lead on crowdfunding for staff. Non-senior advisers to federal MPs are typically paid between $95,796 and $141,372 under the MOPS Act.
More than a third (38 per cent) of the incidents people had heard about or witnessed occurred in NSW Parliament House itself. The next most common location (18 per cent) was at a work-related social event, such as after-work drinks or a function. 2. One in five people experienced sexual harassment Twenty per cent of workers experienced sexual harassment in the past five years and 21 per cent heard about or witnessed incidents. This represents a significant proportion of the NSW Parliamentary workforce, the report said. Sexual harassment was experienced mostly by women, people who identified as having a diverse sexuality and younger people. Female MPs were the group most likely to say they had experienced sexual harassment in the past five years (46 per cent). Most sexual harassment was perpetrated by a man (85 per cent) and someone at a more senior level (67 per cent).

The most common behaviours were intrusive questions about someones private life or comments on physical appearance (52 per cent), sexually suggestive comments or jokes (43 per cent) or inappropriate staring or leering that made the person feel intimidated (40 per cent). The amount of MPs that I saw try to make sexual advances on young men and women at party social events was pretty much constant. Unfortunately, when the people seen as leaders in political parties are acting in such a manner it permeates to a culture that is hard to fix. 3. MPs were perpetrators of bad behaviour, and most occurred in Parliament House itself The review found that half of the bullying incidents took place at NSW Parliament House itself. Just over half (52 per cent) of all bullying incidents were perpetrated by a member of parliament. When it came to sexual harassment, 44 per cent of incidents occurred in NSW Parliament House and 41 per cent were perpetrated by an MP.

Female MPs were often on the receiving end of bad behaviour. Several of these described experiences of bullying both from within their own party and from other MPs across the political spectrum, the report said. There is a real drive among some MPs to humiliate staff in front of others. They are pretty dismissive, with an attitude of Im elected, and you are not. 4. More than a quarter of workers were bullied More than a quarter of workers in a parliamentary workplace said they were bullied in the past five years (28 per cent), with men and women reporting their experiences at a similar rate. Almost one-third of those people said they were bullied for a year or longer, in a pattern of long-term and sustained behaviour.

The most common forms of bullying involved frightening, humiliating, belittling or degrading someone, including criticism that was delivered by yelling or screaming (74 per cent). Three-quarters of people who experienced bullying said they were subject to unjustified criticism or complaints, while 54 per cent reported abusive, insulting or offensive language. In 81 per cent of cases, the bullying was perpetrated by someone at a more senior level. The report said bullying was systemic and multi-directional and workers had low confidence in protections that would stop it happening. In a nutshell, my [MP] is highly emotional, super aggressive, rude and abusive towards staff. To give you some examples, [they] will walk into the office and wont acknowledge or talk to you at all, go straight to [their] office and just shut the door... The Member set up a toxic work environment. It was very hierarchical with [them] at the top and [they] would pit staff against one another. 5. Devastating impact on staff wellbeing

Many review participants said these behaviours affected their mental health, wellbeing, relationships and careers. The impact was profound, devastating and long-term, with many electing to move away from parliamentary workplaces, the report said. This was often because of their lack of confidence in, or poor experience of, reporting mechanisms and a resulting lack of confidence that it was possible to protect workers against harmful behaviours. The report said the cost to NSW parliament was also high because it was losing smart, talented and passionate individuals from the workplace. NSW Parliament House is the countrys oldest parliament. Credit:Louise Kennerley

6. Uneven power dynamics a driving factor The majority of participants said the unequal distribution of power in parliamentary offices was a key driving factor both in problematic cultural dynamics and in the patterns of harmful behaviours. More than half of the NSW parliament workforce (60 per cent) agreed that the hierarchical nature of parliamentary workplaces made it difficult to call out unacceptable behaviour. The groups most likely to agree with that statement were women (65 per cent) and younger staff (64 per cent). I would say the culture, as a whole, is very hierarchical, exclusionary, brutal and elitist. I mean, you only have to look at how [Members] behave towards each other in Question Time and how such behaviour is celebrated to see how that culture is set from the top, which then flows down to the staff and others in Parliament.

7. Well-known hotspots of bad behaviour Some MPs offices were described as well-known hotspots with high rates of staff turnover linked to harmful behaviours. Many people linked this to low levels of leadership skills held by parliamentarians and, occasionally, their senior staff. Participants spoke of a range of office environments that included those where staffing needs and interests were overlooked, to those that were overtly toxic, led by parliamentarians who were variously described as bullies, nasty, gaslighters and, on occasion, sexual harassers, the report said. For many staff of MPs, in particular, working for a good leader was akin to a leadership lottery. In other words, the type of leadership that staff experienced was dependent on the Parliamentarian for whom they worked.

Some offices have a revolving door of staffers and nothing changes. People leave traumatised, there is no justice and no fairness. There are some MPs that are known to be the worst office to work in. Some MPs just dont have any boundaries at all. 8. People from diverse backgrounds more likely to be affected The Broderick review said the impact of bad behaviours such as bullying and harassment was heightened for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and for those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It said many people remarked that parliament did not reflect the cultural diversity of the community in NSW, while non-binary people who responded to the survey said they felt particularly vulnerable. Almost three-quarters of heterosexual respondents said they agreed NSW Parliament workplaces were safe and respectful, and that people behaved respectfully towards others. However, this figure dropped to 57 per cent for people who identified as having a diverse sexuality.

The thought of going into Parliament House fills me with dread. There are MPs who dont believe that non-binary people exist, they can walk into the Chamber and say literally anything about anyone. Would I ever feel safe in my workplace? 9. Low levels of trust in reporting mechanisms There were low levels of confidence and trust in the formal policy and complaints process. The review said this needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Half of people agreed that complaints about inappropriate behaviour were taken seriously, but only about a third thought fair and reasonable action was taken against people who engaged in that behaviour regardless of their status. Just 4 per cent of people who were sexually harassed reported the incident  which the report said was an extremely low figure  while 25 per cent of people who were bullied made a complaint.

Of those who reported their bullying, only about a quarter said their report was finalised. The most common outcome of those addressed matters was an apology (28 per cent). However, 12 per cent of people said they were ostracised or ignored by colleagues as a result of reporting. 10. Recommendations to create substantial change The review found there were many areas where substantial change is required. These were the six key recommendations: Make prevention and early intervention a priority in all NSW parliamentary workplaces, including through a statement of acknowledgement created with victim-survivors.

Address the cultural factors that contribute to bullying, sexual harassment and misconduct. The parliament should strengthen its approach to diversity and inclusion, review staffer workloads and develop an alcohol policy.

Review and strengthen MPs code of conduct and develop a standalone policy on bullying, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. Political parties should also review their internal policies.

Encourage people to speak up and take action, including by improving training and leadership development for MPs and senior staff.

Create a safe reporting environment that is human-centric and trauma-informed. This should involve formulating options for an independent body to receive and investigate reports.

Transparent monitoring. There should be an audit of the actions taken by MPs to create safe work environments, with an annual report tabled in parliament. Hot spots of bad behaviour should be identified by monitoring data on staff turnover. The Broderick Review The review was conducted by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, and all MPs and staff employed at parliament within the past five years were invited to participate voluntarily. Almost 500 people  27.7 per cent of the parliamentary workforce  participated in the review online. More than 100 gave confidential one-on-one interviews and seven confidential group sessions were conducted. The review also received 58 confidential written submissions. You can read the full report here.
Five people have said they experienced attempted or actual sexual assault while working in a NSW parliamentary workplace, while almost half of sexual harassment incidents in the past five years were perpetrated by MPs.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Friday released the landmark Broderick investigation into workplace culture in NSW parliament and said it had unearthed sobering, confronting and completely unacceptable findings.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Women, Minister for Regional Health and Minister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Every workplace across our state should be free from harassment, sexual harassment and sexual assault but this is not the case in the NSW parliament, the premier said.

Parliamentarians are leaders and role models in our society. They should lead from the front. Clearly, we have a culture in the NSW parliament that over time has become in many instances toxic and is wrong.
In a nutshell, my [MP] is highly emotional, super aggressive, rude and abusive towards staff ... I lived in constant fear because I never knew when I was going to get the next slaughtering, said one respondent. Loading Most participants identified the unequal distribution of power as a key cause of a problematic culture and patterns of harmful behaviours across parliament. They can do whatever they want, whenever they want. Thats the part I cant handle. These people write laws that abuse cant occur in society, but it goes on in parliament, a respondent said. Others spoke of inappropriate settings that exacerbated risk, such as offices with single staff members working for an MP.

When parliament is sitting, they might be in with their MP with the door closed until 1am. It is abhorrent that that is the experience of workers, another respondent said. Almost half the incidences of sexual harassment (44 per cent) occurred inside NSW Parliament House itself, while the rest were spread across electorate offices, work travel, social functions and online. One participant described the parliamentary precinct as feeling like the 1970s, with old rich white men employing these beautiful young women in their 20s. People would come to the office and joke [this member] always employs the lookers. The parliament precinct was described as having hotspots where sexual harassment occurs. Credit:Brook Mitchell Hours after the review was handed down, upper house Labor MP and opposition police spokesman Walt Secord released a statement responding to allegations made against him by parliamentary staffers.

Secords statement came after Labor leader Chris Minns was confronted with a series of questions regarding allegations of bullying against a shadow cabinet member. Minns said he had not received reports about a specific MP, or seen instances of actual bullying, but insisted all reports of harassment or bullying were taken seriously. Its very difficult to make a summary judgment about events or circumstances in which I havent been provided the detail, he said. Walt Secord revealed that he was the subject of staff complaints. Credit:James Brickwood Secord later released a statement identifying himself as the subject of the complaints, acknowledging he could be too blunt and too direct and apologising for any offence he had caused. If any parliamentary staff members feel that my conduct in the workplace was unprofessional and caused offence or distress and was unacceptable, I unreservedly apologise, he said. I do acknowledge that I can be too blunt and too direct in a fast-paced workplace ... I want to be part of repairing the culture in state parliament, and addressing my behaviour as part of that.

Key recommendations of the Broderick report include regular monitoring of staff turnover or expenditure on redundancies related to harmful behaviours, to respond to well-known hotspots, including MPs offices. Loading Other recommendations include reviewing access to alcohol, altering office arrangements during late-night sittings and introducing new systems to rebalance an unequal distribution of power and under-representation of women. The premier said he would seek advice about the five people who said they had experienced actual or attempted sexual assault because these are crimes. If youre involved in this behaviour you should leave immediately, he said, conceding there had not been structure in place to deal with concerns that arise.

Almost 500 people  27.7 per cent of the parliamentary workforce  participated in the review online. More than 100 gave confidential one-on-one interviews and seven confidential group sessions were conducted. It also received 58 confidential written submissions. Loading Greens MP Jenny Leong said the contents of the report revealed an immediate need to address the power imbalance that exists in the halls of parliament, where an aggressive boys club culture existed. She said the shocking findings within the report may not reflect the full extent of the sexual harassment and bullying on Macquarie Street as some staff might not have come forward with their accounts. I think that there needs to be an unpacking of that data to recognise that maybe members of parliament felt more confident and less fearful of losing their jobs in participating in the survey, Leong said.
Bangkok: Sean Turnell, an Australian academic who is being tried with ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on charges of violating the countrys official secrets law testified in court for the first time on Thursday, a legal official said.

Turnell, an economist and professor at Sydneys Macquarie University, had served as an adviser to Suu Kyi, who was arrested when her elected government was ousted by the army on February 1 last year.

Sean Turnell is vaccinated against COVID in prison in Myanmar in this image released by the military. Credit:Twitter/@RvlBurma2

He was arrested five days later and is now being held in the main prison in Naypyitaw, the capital, as is Suu Kyi. Three of Suu Kyis former cabinet members are being tried with them in a special court at the prison.

A legal official familiar with Thursdays proceedings said Turnell denied the allegations against him and pleaded not guilty. Further details of his testimony were not available because his lawyers have been barred from talking about the case. All the trials involving Suu Kyi have been held under similar restrictions, with the proceedings closed to the media and the public.
Never before have we been so close to, confident in, and capable of achieving the goal of national rejuvenation, Chinas state council said in a white paper released on Wednesday. The same is true when it comes to our goal of complete national reunification. Both goals are intrinsically linked. In the Communist Partys eyes, China cannot be whole until Taiwan is totally under its control. The party has never ruled Taiwan but spent half of the white paper on a history lesson  tracing Chinas links to Taiwan back to 230AD. Its claims are strongly refuted by Taiwan, which points to thousands of years of indigenous history and the fact it draws its government from the nationalists who fled Mao Zedong in 1949 to establish their base in Taipei. Chinas patriotic tourists travel to watch the rocket launch in Hainan. Credit:Sanghee Liu Only 11 per cent of Taiwanese now want to unify with the mainland, but Beijing has made it clear that it is willing to use any means necessary to get its way.

Use your imagination, Chinas ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said on Wednesday. Xiao compared Taiwan to Tasmania in a 90-minute appearance before the National Press Club in Canberra. Tasmania was [and] will be part of Australia, he said. This involves territorial integrity. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen urged residents to stay calm and live as normal during Chinas military drills. Credit:AP But he denied the existence of dozens of polls that showed the Taiwanese want to remain separate from China. In doing so, he also dismissed the landslide victory for Tsai Ing-wens government in 2020 on the same promise.

Tsai, a bookish trade policy bureaucrat, who rose to become president in 2016 and extend her lead four years later, said she was proud of Taiwans resilience. Taiwan has always faced many internal and external challenges, but it has always overcome them, she said on Thursday. Faced with Chinas military exercises, the people of Taiwan have been calm, mature, confident, and supportive of the army. But China remains determined to chip away at that confidence through a daily psychological and diplomatic assault on the resistance to unification. By 2027, the US Department of Defence says, China could be ready for war. John Culver, a former US national intelligence officer for East Asia says it feels surreal that the past week of Chinese military drills actually happened.

China conducted unprecedented blockade rehearsals, for the first time firing missiles over Taiwan, and into waters right off Taiwans main commercial ports, without regard to Taiwans claimed territorial waters, he wrote for the Lowy Institute. It flew dozens of fighters over the Strait centre line  long a mutually agreed sensitive area. And it likely will keep doing these things, making such actions the new normal. In Asia, where proximity to any future conflict means that regional leaders are acutely aware of how volatile the situation is, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia were alarmed at how far both China and the US were prepared to go. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Credit:Joe Armao Australias Foreign Minister Penny Wong refused to endorse Pelosis trip, an unusual break from bipartisanship with America, and pointedly said: All parties should consider how they contribute to de-escalating current tensions. It was only when Chinas military response escalated sharply last week that she accused Beijing of being disproportionate and destabilising.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was more direct. [Xi Jinping] has been very clear about their intention to go into Taiwan by hook or by crook, the former defence minister said. Thats a reality that we just cant ignore. Loading In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was preparing to step out under a parade of paratroopers, helicopters and air force jets for the countrys national day when he warned a cold geopolitical wind was blowing. Around us, a storm is gathering. US-China relations are worsening, with intractable issues, deep suspicions, and limited engagement, Lee said. This is unlikely to improve anytime soon. Furthermore, miscalculations or mishaps can easily make things much worse. Indonesia said it was deeply concerned with the increasing rivalry among major powers.

If not managed well, it may lead to open conflict and disrupt peace and stability, including in the Taiwan Strait, its foreign ministry said in a statement. Indonesia calls on all parties to refrain from provocative actions that may worsen the situation. Japan had been among the strongest voices to condemn Chinas military actions after missiles landed in its exclusive economic zone  a patch of water south-west of Okinawa that China also claims as its own. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Mori Takeo got Chinas ambassador to Japan, Kong Xuanyou, on the phone to tell him immediately to get Beijing to implement a ceasefire. Then at the Association of South-east Asian Nations meeting in Cambodia, Japan went further by publicly lobbying members to take a stronger stance, a departure from Tokyos usual tactic of making its grievances known behind closed doors. [This was a] grave incident concerning the security of Japan and safety of its people and its people, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said after the meeting. But a split in North Asia was emerging.

On Tuesday, China hosted South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin in Shandong. Its relatively new President Yoon Suk-yeol had earlier refused to meet with Pelosi because he was on holiday. Park told Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi that he was open to strengthening relations between the two countries as Beijing announced it would continue its military exercises around Taiwan. We should be more mature, independent and stable, Wang told Park. The two spent a considerable amount of time on supply chains, according to statements from the meetings. For China, this means one product in particular: semiconductors. The vital chips that help run the worlds consumer and military devices. More than 50 per cent of the worlds supply is made in Taiwan. South Korea is another key exporter, and the US wants Seoul to join its chip alliance, with Japan and Taiwan but South Korea has so far been hesitant. Taiwan has been holding live-fire drills in response to Chinas military exercises around the island. Credit:Getty Parks visit is a win for China, which has actively been trying to court recently elected Korean President Yoon, said policy research firm Trivium China. Most countries in Asia  including US allies  dont want to pick sides between Beijing and Washington.

The trajectory of Chinas ambitions may not leave them much choice. The US Navy is set to send ships into the Taiwan Strait within the next month, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. The Chinese armys Eastern Theatre Command declared an end to the official exercises on Thursday but said it would continue military training for war preparedness indefinitely. The day before Chinas state council released its white paper on Taiwan  the first in 20 years. The tide of Chinese nationalism is now going to be very difficult to put back in the bottle. This is a significant policy document, said Amanda Hsiao, a senior China analyst at the International Crisis Group.

Hsiao said it showed the Communist Partys plans were not only about overcoming the national humiliation of losing Taiwan but also its future strategic interests in establishing control over the most important parcel of land in the first island chain, the gateway to the Pacific. The paper emphasised rewards for collaborators in Taiwan and punishment for those who resisted Chinese occupation in a push to further divide the local population. It proposed implementing the one country, two systems model used in Hong Kong that is supposed to guarantee a high degree of autonomy but has bound Hong Kongs legal, education and political systems to the mainland over the past three years. [The] details suggest one country, two systems may involve less political autonomy for Taiwan than before, making an untenable political proposition even more untenable for Taiwan, said Hsiao. Tourists gather in Hainan to watch the Long March 5B rocket take off. Credit:Sanghee Liu Significantly, the document removed a commitment contained within the two previous Taiwan white papers in 1993 and 2000 that guaranteed Beijing would not send troops and administrative personnel to Taiwan if it unified with the mainland.

And it burnished Xis legacy in the lead-up to the National Party Congress expected to take place in November where he will secure a third term as president. Perhaps China got what it needed, said Culver. A big strong show for its domestic audience, richly covered on domestic media, that sates nationalistic appetites and will keep things calm through the 20th Party Congress expected in November, when Xi Jinping will begin his third term as leader of everything. But the show of force, war propaganda and exultation of national destiny has unleashed a tide of Chinese nationalism that is now going to be very difficult to put back in the bottle. Patriotic tourists dress up as astronauts to watch the rocket launch in Hainan. Credit:Sanghee Liu Hu Xijin, the jingoistic former editor of The Global Times, had whipped Chinese nationalists into a frenzy by suggesting Pelosis plane was going to be shot down by the PLA. Online, commentators described the response as weak as they struggled to come to terms with military exercises that for now were all smoke, no fire.

In Hainan, Zhu Yaling, a public servant from Kunming, watched with her son as the Long March 5B blasted off in late July. Her four-year-old spontaneously started singing the national anthem as the rocket soared into the atmosphere. Loading Ive never taught him about this, so I guess he watched too many relevant videos and learnt at kindergarten, she said. Zhu is lyrical about what it means to see it in person. It was like an arrow off the bow, soaring into the space, leaving a cluster of orange-red flames from the powerful blast, she says. At that moment, everyone started cheering and felt proud of the powerful motherland!

Nearby, Du Rufeng, a former PLA sailor from Guangzhou, was overcome with emotion. At the moment of the rocket blast-off, I choked up, he says. I felt the powerfulness of our country, efforts and sacrifices made by scientists and technicians, and the unity of the Chinese people. Loading Chinese, Western and Asian analysts believe the Communist Party is getting closer to having the military capability to take Taiwan. If it chooses to act, it will need the loyalty of its people for a war that could cost hundreds of thousands of lives. There is no shortage of patriotism on the beach in Hainan, in Chinas universities or its institutions. Pelosis visit helped light a fuse that could lead to a powderkeg. Ive seen very little acknowledging that so many things taken for granted that contributed to peace, commerce and stability on the strait can now be challenged as China seeks to test how far it can go, in every domain, said Culver.
FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home in Florida this week removed 11 sets of classified documents including some marked as top secret, the US Justice Department said, while also disclosing it has probable cause to believe he violated the Espionage Act.

The bombshell disclosures on Friday (US time) were made in a search warrant and accompanying legal documents released four days after FBI agents carried out the search of Trumps residence based on a warrant approved by a federal magistrate judge.

An aerial view of former president Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate. Credit:AP

Trump, in a statement on his social media platform, said the records at issue were all declassified and placed in secure storage.

They didnt need to seize anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago, the Republican businessman-turned-politician said.
Washington: After four years of President Donald Trumps raging against his intelligence services, posting classified information to Twitter and announcing that he took the word of President Vladimir Putin of Russia over that of his own spies, perhaps the least surprising thing he did during his final days in office was ship boxes of sensitive material from the White House to his oceanside palace in Florida.

The FBI search of Mar-a-Lago on Monday was a dramatic coda to years of tumult between Trump and US intelligence and law enforcement agencies. From Trumps frequent rants against a deep state bent on undermining his presidency to his cavalier attitude towards highly classified information that he viewed as his personal property and would occasionally use to advance his political agenda, the relationship between the keepers of American secrets and the erratic president they served was the most poisoned of the modern era.

Donald Trumps MaraLago home and club in Palm Beach, Florida. Credit:Getty

Trumps behaviour led to such mistrust within intelligence agencies that officials who gave him classified briefings occasionally erred on the side of withholding some sensitive details from him.

It has long been common practice for the CIA not to provide presidents with some of the most sensitive information, such as the names of the agencys human sources. But Douglas London, who served as a top CIA counterterrorism official during the Trump administration, said that officials were even more cautious about what information they provided Trump because some saw the president himself as a security risk.
A man has been sentenced to life in prison for strangling an Australian United Nations aid worker in Fiji to death before placing coins on her eyes and sending a photograph of her body to her father.

Jennifer Downes, who worked as a logistics officer for the UN World Food Program in Suva, had just returned from an overseas assignment when her husband Henri Lusaka murdered her in their house while their three children were at home in July 2019.

Jennifer Downes, who was known professionally as Jenna Lusaka, said she found work at the World Food Program amazing. Credit:WFP/Jemma Pietrus

Fiji High Court Justice Gihan Kulatunga said Lusaka had most likely pinned her to the ground while looking her straight in the eyes, strangling her for between three and eight minutes until her life was squeezed out of her.

Lusaka, who migrated to Fiji with Downes from Congo in 2017, had sent a series of messages to Downes father, Christopher Downes, in the days leading up to her murder accusing his daughter of having an affair with a co-worker. The 42-year-old had also abused the UN official in charge of security Charles OHanlan when he went with Fijian police to check on the house while Downes was away.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Monday, August 15 will mark the start of the active part of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, where the islands of the Lesser Antilles traditionally see more storm/hurricane activity up until mid-October.



The Office of Disaster Management (ODM) which falls under the Fire Department (Ministry of General Affairs) headed by Fire Chief/National Disaster Coordinator Clive Richardson, said on Thursday that all residents and businesses need to remain vigilant and prepared.



ODM calls on residents to review the content of their Disaster Supply Kit to make sure it is stocked with the essentials that are necessary to ride out the hurricane season.



Every households Disaster Supply Kit should be able to support members of the household for a minimum of seven days after the hurricane has passed.



The Disaster Supply Kit should contain non-perishable food, water and medicine (fill prescriptions before the storm); non-electric can opener; first-aid kit; extra cash (ATM machines and credit cards wont work if there is no electricity); a battery powered radio and flashlights as well as extra batteries; make sure cell phones are all charged prior to the arrival of the hurricane; fill up your car/truck with gas; check if your home and automobile insurance are up to date; put ID cards, passports and drivers license, insurance papers in a waterproof bag along with other important documents.



If you are a parent with an infant or young child (ren), you also need to have essential items as part of your disaster supply kit: baby formula; diapers; bottles; powdered milk; medications; moist towels; and diaper rash ointment.



Your Disaster Kit must also include hand sanitizer, a soap bar or liquid soap; two cloth face coverings for each person; disinfecting wipes, or general household cleaning supplies to disinfect surfaces.



Continue to ensure that tree branches around your home are trimmed; cut all dead or weak branches on any trees on your property; clean-up your yard and put away items that could blow away during the passing of a hurricane; re-check your roof and storm shutters to make sure they are secure, and the latter are working.



For those whose homes are not yet storm/hurricane ready, you should make alternative housing arrangements to stay at family or friends.



The community is urged to learn more about hurricane hazards and how to prepare for a storm/hurricane strike by visiting the Government website: www.sintmaartengov.org/hurricane where you will be able to download your Hurricane Season Readiness Guide and Hurricane Tracking Chart.



Listen to the Government Radio station  SXMGOV 107.9FM - for official information and news before, during and after a hurricane.



For official weather-related information, check out the website of the Meteorological Department of St. Maarten (MDS): www.meteosxm.com or visit their social media page Facebook.com/sxmweather/



Remember, it only takes one hurricane to make it a bad season. Remain vigilant and prepared!



The hurricane season runs through November 30.
SABA:--- The Island Council is demanding more transparency from the Saba Government, and unanimously adopted a motion on Wednesday, August 10, obligating the Executive Council to give clarity on its decisions.

The motion of Members of the Island Council Carl Buncamper and Vito Charles of the WIPM party reminded the Executive Council that it has an obligation to provide information to the Island Council. This information is not only important in the interest of transparency, but it is also essential in order for the Island Council to duly carry out its tasks and fulfill its supervisory role.

This is known as the active information obligation, and it is stated in the general law that regulates the Caribbean Netherlands, called the WolBES. This law explicitly states that the Island Council may regulate which decisions of the Executive Council will be provided to the Island Council. This is not something that we are making up; it is clearly stated in the law, said Charles.

The motion resolved that, effective from its next meeting, the Executive Council will provide the decisions in the format that the Island Council has provided. Furthermore, the decision lists will be provided to the Island Council and published on the website of the Public Entity Saba weekly and no later than 6:00 pm of the day preceding the next scheduled meeting of the Executive Council.

The motion works retroactively: all outstanding decision lists must be provided to the Island Council no later than October 1, 2022. This will create another level of transparency and it will give clarity on the reasoning behind decisions. It is a good step forward, said Buncamper, who read the motion during the 2021-year report meeting.

We have been asking for years to get the decision lists of the Executive Council. By publishing the decision-lists, the information becomes public and we, the people, can hold the government accountable, said Charles.

WIPM Island Council Member Eviton Heyliger said that this would help the Island Council to better understand why decisions were taken and possibly even revise some decisions that proved to have a detrimental effect. I can fully support this motion. I hope it will lead to more transparency and communication, said independent Island Council Member Hemmie van Xanten.
SABA:---The Island Council on Wednesday, August 10 unanimously adopted the year report for the budgetary year 2021. The financial statement for 2021 showed a positive balance of US $1.333.350.

Commissioner of Finance Bruce Zagers pointed out in his presentation to the Island Council that Saba is again able to achieve an unqualified audit opinion on the financial statements as well as an unqualified audit opinion of the financial compliance of the income and expenses from the independent auditor EY.

These achievements signify that strong financial management remains one of the fundamental governing principles of this administration, said Zagers, giving a big compliment to the Finance Department for its consistently solid financial management. As far as I know, Saba remains the only island in the Dutch Caribbean that has achieved such audit results and for this, the public entitys reputation for strong financial management is well known. This is a direct result of the efforts from our financial team.

Both in 2020 ($962,000) and 2021 ($1.333.350), the public entity had positive balances, but this was directly linked to the amounts that were received in incidental funding from the Dutch Government during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, considered to be a normal year without abnormal influxes of incidental funding, the public entity closed with a considerable deficit.

Skeleton budget

This not only shows how fragile our financial position has been for the past years, but it also proves that by working with a skeleton budget, it is rather difficult to remain within the budgetary boundaries even when a very conservative spending approach is taken. Had it not been for the additional incidental funds which are outlined in the reports, it can safely be assumed that 2021 would have ended with a negative balance, said Zagers.

Zagers said that although the budgetary year ended with a positive balance, the budget in itself offered little flexibility and opportunity for the government to grow its operations or to facilitate improved services. He remarked that in order to balance the 2021 budget, the Public Entity needed special permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom relations BZK to release over $600,000 from the general reserve.

Conservative spending

Just as in previous years, in 2021 the Public Entity Saba operated with a skeleton budget, which was balanced on paper, but was far from realistic. Only because of non-structural funding and a very conservative spending policy was it possible to deliver many of the listed results, said Zagers.

Using incidental funding to finance structural tasks has become the norm for this administration. For 2021, the finance department managed 70 different incidental subsidies, many of which branched off into multiple projects. Had it not been for these incidental funds, the quality of government and its ability to function would be further severely hampered, said Zagers.

A large number of projects from incidental funding, 70 in 2021, but as high as 86 in the past, puts a big strain on the public entitys human resources. Zagers explained that during the meeting of the auditor with the Island and Executive Council earlier this week, the auditor pointed out that 15 incidental projects would be considered normal for a small-sized municipality in the Netherlands.

Free allowance

With the signing of the Saba Package 2.0 in June this year, the public entity will receive more than 4 million euros extra free allowance structurally from the Netherlands, an increase of almost 50% of the total free allowance that Saba has received annually since becoming part of the Netherlands.

According to Zagers, this increase is a direct result of Sabas strong financial management and a testament to the good relations that have been established over the years resulting in trust between the local and the national government. This also shows that with significant lobbying efforts from both the Executive and Island Council, the Saba agenda and it's most urgent needs remained relevant with the decision-makers, he said.

However, it took very long for The Hague to agree to the increase of the free allowance. If it had not been for the good relations built by this administration, a strongly consistent, and stable government, and the public entitys ability to ensure that strong financial management remained a core governing principle even during the most difficult governing periods, this result could have been significantly lower and with many more restrictions, said Zagers.

Energy subsidy

One significant development which was possible due to the increased free allowance is the subsidy that was provided to the Saba Electric Company (SEC) which ensures that electricity bills only increased by 10% rather than the anticipated almost 30%. Although energy prices remain high, without this subsidy the energy rates would have been significantly higher for the remainder of this year. This measure will provide some relief for the entire population during these very difficult times where the cost of living is extremely high, said Zagers.

Of the 2021 surplus, $600,000 was allocated to the buffer capital, bringing the amount of this reserve that can be converted to cash to cover any substantial unexpected expenditures to an amount of $2 million. Furthermore, $300,000 was allocated towards a reserve for general maintenance of government buildings, $300,000 towards creating a reserve for infrastructure projects to start tackling the substantial backlogs in maintenance on government properties, and the remaining $133,000 to the general reserve.
PHILIPSBURG:--- His Excellency the Governor of St. Maarten Drs. E. Holiday paid a working visit to the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM on Thursday, August 11, 2022.. The management team of KPSM delivered a state of affairs presentation of the organization to the Governor.

During a guided tour of the Police Headquarters, the Governor greeted and talked with members of the various departments including Detectives and Uniform Divisions, Intelligence Department, Central Dispatch, Camera Surveillance, and Administration.

KPSM Press Release.
~Republic Bank pledges a more proactive approach in the future.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry of Finance was recently the recipient of a courtesy visit from the General Managing Director of Republic Bank Sint Maarten, Sterl Lyons, and the Republic Bank (EC) Limited Managing Director Mrs. Michelle Palmer-Keizer.

The Directors sat with Minister of Finance, Ardwell Irion to discuss the recently launched, Power to Make A Difference (PMAD), Republic Banks approach to corporate social responsibility designed to transform communities and enable sustainable futures. Republic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL) is signed to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Banking  a single framework for a sustainable banking industry developed through a partnership with banks worldwide and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI).

In joining UNEPFI, RFHL committed to improving its positive impact and contribution to society by incorporating sustainable practices and strategies across all business areas. The Principles of the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require banks to be transparent and accountable. Banks are required to set impact targets in line with the UN SDGs and report on their progress toward those targets.

Given the recent questions in the media regarding the glitches prompted the bank to elaborate on the recent challenges and growing pains experienced during the previous months. There was also an outline of the new and innovative solutions set to be launched by January 2023; this includes e-commerce solutions.

In response to questions by the public, the Directors provided answers to the length of time taken to open accounts on the island. They also shared the positive and growing state of retail and corporate banking in St. Maarten.

While we did have a lot of questions for Republic Bank, especially regarding recent issues, the management team is stepping up to improve acknowledge and improve on the situation. It is very important for our financial institutions to be transparent and hold themselves to a higher standard of accountability. I appreciate the updates and look forward to future implementations of the corporate responsibility strategies. said Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion.

About The Ministry of Finance

Mission

Efficiently oversee the countrys finances by adopting new methods and technology to improve, standardize, streamline and automate processes. Provide accountable advice to the government in its policy areas and execute it by providing the public with exceptional service. The Ministry is focused on lifelong learning for its staff and the general public to empower persons to reach their full potential.

Vision

To execute balanced macroeconomic fiscal policies and initiatives that aid in the expansion and diversification of Sint Maartens economy, provide fiscal sustainability and to be the catalyst for innovation regarding government operations.

Values

Integrity and CARE. The Ministry of Finance runs on the structural values of I.C.A.R.E., and acronym standing for the following:

 Integrity: always do the right thing

 Collaboration: None of us is as smart as all of us

 Accountability: we take ownership and accountability

 Respect: We value our colleagues and the people we serve

 Excellence: We always give our best
Bridgetown, Barbados:--- The bright eager faces of enthusiastic young students and recent graduates once again fill the offices of CIBC FirstCaribbean across the region as the bank recently kicked off its summer intern programme and a new longer immersion programme.



Curtailed for the past two summers due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the banks executives and staff were more than eager to welcome a total of 35 interns at their offices in Barbados, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago for the 6-week internship programme.



The interns, drawn mainly from the University of the West Indies campuses at Cave Hill, Mona, and St. Augustine, are stationed across a number of segments including, Digital and Client Experience, Operations and Infrastructure Services, Cloud Infrastructure and Architecture, Enterprise Security, Data Wealth and Data Science.



In addition, to the summer internship programme, the banks Technology and Corporate and Investment Banking segments welcomed 16 recent graduates and final year students of the University of the West Indies into its inaugural Technology Innovation Immersion Programme (TIIP), which will see 12 young graduates working in all areas of the banks technology department for the next 18 months while another four will rotate through Corporate and Investment Banking for 12 months.



We are delighted to once again welcome creative and talented young people to our bank as part of our summer internship programme and our new and very exciting TIIP programme. In addition to the valuable experience which these interns will gain, we as a bank also benefit tremendously from the imaginative and energetic perspectives that they bring to our operations, said Chief Administrative Officer, Neil Brennan.



He added that the bank, located in 15 territories across the English and Dutch Caribbean, was particularly proud of the TIIP programme which is giving UWI graduates the opportunity to gain valuable and sustained work experience with our bank. The UWI is one of our treasured partners, and one of the first entities we signed a Memorandum of Understanding when the bank was formed back in 2002 and we are proud to continue to give these kinds of unique opportunities to their graduates.



TIIP participant Cody Jones, a BSc Computer Science and Accounting graduate of UWI, Cave Hill, was impressed from week one with the orientation sessions which introduced participants to the various segments in the bank, describing it as phenomenal.



It presented us with ample opportunities to network with fellow interns, to build lasting relationships that would flourish as we seek to contribute to the organization together. We had the privilege to benefit from a pool of knowledge from across various sectors of the business, from Risk and Wealth Management to Corporate and Investment Banking, he said.
Mawson\-s Subsidiary SXG Drills 42.0 m @ 4.8 g/t AuEq at Sunday Creek, Victoria, Australia

Mawson Gold Limited (aMawsona or the aCompanya) (TSX:MAW) (Frankfurt:MXR) (PINKSHEETS: MWSNF  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/mawson-gold-ltd/) reports that its majority-owned Australian subsidiary, Southern Cross Gold Ltd (aSXGa), has reported further results from its 100% owned Sunday Creek property, Victoria, Australia. Mawson owns 60% of SXG following its recent initial public offering (aIPOa) on the Australian Securities Exchange (aASXa).

Highlights for Mawson Shareholders:

a 2nd and 4th best holes ever drilled into Sunday Creek

o Project area now hosts fifteen >100 AuEq g/t * m intersections

a Wide and continuous zones of gold-antimony mineralization over 100 m in the plane of the Apollo shoot around drill hole SDDSC033. Highlights,

o 42.0 m @ 4.8 g/t AuEq from 166.0 m in SDDSC039 (3.5 g/t Au and 0.8% Sb, 30 metres below SDDSC033)

o 15.3 m @ 4.2 g/t AuEq from 141.0 m in SDDSC038 (2.8 g/t Au and 0.9% Sb, 60 metres above SDDSC033)

a Exceptional high grade zones with sometimes abundant visible gold (Photos 1-3). Highlights;

o 1.0 m @ 23.7 g/t AuEq from 197.6 m (19.8 g/t Au and 2.5% Sb, SDDSC039)

o 1.5 m @ 22.6 g/t AuEq from 199.3 m (14.9 g/t Au and 4.9% Sb, SDDSC039)

o 0.7 m @ 105.7 g/t AuEq from 202.0 m (84.0 g/t Au and 13.8%, Sb SDDSC039)

o 0.8 m @ 21.3 g/t AuEq from 98.5 m (0.3 g/t Au and 13.3%, Sb SDDSC038)

o 1.5 m @ 25.8 g/t AuEq from 149.6 m (19.9 g/t Au and 3.7%, Sb SDDSC038)

a Two new high grade veins intersected 70 and 100 metres to the east in SDDSC038.

a Mawsona?s 60% stake in SXG has a market capitalization of ~C$45 million based on SXGa?s 9th August closing price of A$0.54 per share a up 270% on its IPO price.

a Two drill rigs are now active at the Sunday Creek site. A further five holes are either in progress or pending assay.

Ivan Fairhall, Mawson CEO, states: aSunday Creek continues to deliver for its shareholders, of which Mawson is its largest. These results demonstrate the continuity of widths and grade in the Apollo shoot around the earlier spectacular result in SDSC0033.

Mawsona?s asset base is as strong as it has ever been, with its pre-PEA stage 1moz AuEq Rajapalot project and significant exploration upside in Finland, a brand new discovery in Sweden, and toping it off a controlling interest in SXG which has considerable market value as demonstrated by its ASX listing.a

Results Discussion

With 13,500 metres drilled at Sunday Creek in less than two years, the project now has fifteen (15) >100 cumulative grade x metres (aAuEq g/t x ma) holes intersected. The two new drill holes (SDDSC038-39) form the 2nd and 4th best drill holes, after SDDSC033, to be drilled to date at Sunday Creek based on AuEq g/t x m. The 3rd best hole (MDDSC025 11.7 m @ 18.0 g/t AuEq) lies 200 m below SDDSC033 showing the scale of the developing system. Mineralization remains open at depth and along strike.

A 10 km mineralized trend that extends beyond the drill area is defined by historic workings and soil sampling at Sunday Creek which has yet to receive any exploration drilling and offers potential future upside.

The Sunday Creek epizonal-style gold project is located 60 km north of Melbourne (Figure 2) within 19,365 hectares of granted exploration tenements. SXG is also the freehold landholder of 132.64 hectares that forms the key portion in and around the drilled area at the Sunday Creek Project. Geologically, the project is located within the Melbourne Structural Zone in the Lachlan Fold Belt. The regional host to the Sunday Creek mineralization is an interbedded turbidite sequenceA of siltstones, minor sandstones metamorphosed to sub-greenschist facies and folded into a set of open NW trending folds. Mineralization at Sunday Creek is controlled by veining, stibnite-gold-matrix breccias and brittle faults. The immediate host for mineralization is a zone of intensely altered white mica-pyritic siltstones, and white mica-pyrite-carbonate altered dyke rocks.

As is typical for epizonal deposits like Fosterville and Costerfield, gold (sometimes visible (Photos 1 a 3)) at Sunday Creek is hosted in quartz and carbonate veins, with a later intense stibnite-bearing vein and breccia overprint. A larger arsenic anomaly is associated with the gold mineralization, mostly represented by arsenian-pyrite but developing to arsenopyrite-bearing zones with a clear spatial relationship to high-grade gold.

Mineralized shoots at Sunday Creek are formed at the intersection of the sub-vertical to shallower dipping 330 degree striking mineralized veins and a steep east-west striking, north dipping structure formed by dioritic dykes and related intrusive breccias. The dimensions of each shoot will be uncovered with further drilling, but typically:

a In the down plunge orientation (80 degrees towards trend of 020 degrees), the shoots are extensive and have been drilled down over 400 m and remain open to depth, with grades improving (for example MDDSC025 11.7 m @ 18.0 g/t AuEq (12.4 g/t Au and 3.6% Sb) including 4.0 m @ 46.7 g/t AuEq (31.9 g/t Au and 9.4% Sb)).

a Visible gold in other epizonal deposits (for example Fosterville and Costerfield) becomes increasingly significant at depth below approximately 800 m, most likely representing the different temperatures of formation of Au-Sb and Au dominant mineralization.

a Are typically 20 m to 30 m wide in the up-dip/down-dip orientation but can blow out to be wider (ie around SDDSC033), and;

a Further drilling is required to establish the average thickness but drilling so far suggests a thickness of 20 m to 30 m.

SDDSC038 also identified two new veins drilled 70 m and 100 m further east than previously drilled. aVein 1a? intersected 1.0 m @ 11.5 g/t AuEq (7.5 g/t Au and 2.5% Sb) from 235.0 m and 0.2 m @ 10.0 g/t AuEq (8.2 g/t Au and 1.2% Sb) from 238.0 m. aVein 2a? intersected 0.6 m @ 28.3 g/t AuEq (0.9 g/t Au and 17.4% Sb) from 306.3 m.

Figures 1-4 show project location and plan, longitudinal and cross section views of drill results reported here and Tables 1a3 provide collar and assay data. The true thickness of the mineralised interval is interpreted to be approximately 60-70% of the sampled thickness. Drill results quoted have a lower cut of 0.3 g/t Au cut over a 3.0 m width, with higher grades reported with a 5 g/t Au cut over 1.0 m applied unless otherwise indicated* where 0.1 g/t Au over 7.0 m was applied for broader intersection through length of mineralised structure).

Additional information may be found in Southern Crossa? news release dated 9th August, and on its website at www.southerncrossgold.com.au.

Technical Background and Qualified Person

C$ conversions of A$ values completed at an exchange rate of 1.11.

The Qualified Person, Michael Hudson, Executive Chairman and a director of Mawson Gold, and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has reviewed, verified and approved the technical contents of this release.

Analytical samples are transported to the Bendigo facility of On Site Laboratory Services (aOn Sitea) which operates under both an ISO 9001 and NATA quality systems. Samples were prepared and analyzed for gold using the fire assay technique (PE01S method; 25 gram charge), followed by measuring the gold in solution with flame AAS equipment. Samples for multi-element analysis (BM011 and over-range methods as required) use aqua regia digestion and ICP-MS analysis. The QA/QC program of Southern Cross Gold consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, blanks within interpreted mineralized rock and quarter core duplicates. In addition, On Site inserts blanks and standards into the analytical process.

Gold equivalent aAuEqa for Sunday Creek is = ?? (?/?) + 1.58 A ?? (%) based on assumed prices of gold US$1,700/oz Au and antimony US$8,500/metal tonne, and total year metal recoveries of 93% for gold and 95% for antimony. Given the geological similarities of the projects, this formula has been adopted to align to TSX listed Mandalay Resources Ltd Technical Report dated 25 March 2022 on its Costerfield project, which is located 54 km from Sunday Creek and which historically processed mineralization from the property.

Gold equivalent aAuEqa for Rajapalot = Au+(Co/1005) based on assumed prices of cobalt US$23.07/lb and gold US$1,590/oz. Details of Mawsona?s Inferred Mineral Resource can be read in the Companya?s news release dated August 26, 2021.

About Mawson Gold Limited (TSX:MAW, FRANKFURT:MXR, OTCPINK:MWSNF)

Mawson Gold Limited is an exploration and development company with its flagship Rajapalot gold-cobalt project in Finland now entering technical study stages to de-risk its inferred resource and exploration growth program. Alongside ongoing exploration at Rajapalot, Mawson holds an option to earn up to 85% in the Skelleftea Gold Project in Sweden. Mawson also has a significant majority interest in the ownership or joint venture into three high-grade, historic epizonal goldfields covering 470 kmA in Victoria, Australia, through Southern Cross Gold Ltd. (aSouthern Crossa), which shares have successfully listed on the ASX. Mawson currently holds 60.3% ownership interest in Southern Cross. Mawsona?s holdings in Southern Cross are escrowed until May 16, 2024.

About Southern Cross Gold Ltd (ASX:SXG)

Southern Cross Gold holds the 100%-owned Sunday Creek project in Victoria and Mt Isa project in Queensland, the Redcastle and Whroo joint ventures in Victoria, Australia, and a strategic 10% holding in ASX-listed Nagambie Resources Limited (ASX:NAG) which grants Southern Cross a Right of First Refusal over a 3,300 square kilometre tenement package held by NAG in Victoria.

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, \forward-looking statements\). All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Although Mawson believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Mawson cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, Mawsona?s expectations regarding its ownership interest in Southern Cross Gold, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, including the current pandemic known as COVID-19 on the Companya?s business, risks related to negative publicity with respect to the Company or the mining industry in general; exploration potential being conceptual in nature, there being insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource on the Australian-projects owned by SXG, and uncertainty if further exploration will result in the determination of a mineral resource; planned drill programs and results varying from expectations, delays in obtaining results, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, local community relations, dealings with non-governmental organizations, delays in operations due to permit grants, environmental and safety risks, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading \Risk Factors\ in Mawson\-s most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Mawson disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
Rajant partnership with Accelecom brings wireless WAN and public access Wi-Fi to Kentucky for flood victims and ongoing alast milea communications

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

Malvern, PA a August 11, 2022: Rajant Corporation, the pioneer of Kinetic MeshA wireless networks, has partnered with Accelecom, the Kentucky-statewide ISP fiber optic company connecting all 120 counties in the Commonwealth, bringing wireless WAN (Wide Area Network) and public access Wi-Fi to aid both flood victim emergency communications and alast milea connectivity for rural downtowns. Health centers in hard-hit Eastern Kentucky now have outdoor Wi-Fi at each campus because of the partnership. Further, the first deployment of a aMain Street Mesha solution connecting Harrison Countya?s courthouse to Cynthianaa?s city hall is underway as the two entities integrate networking options to enable robust rural broadband. Playing a pivotal role is installation partner Eastern Telephone & Technology.

aThe idea for this project was generated very quickly and required assistance beyond Rajant and Accelecom,a shared Kathryn Robertson, Accelecoma?s Director of Business Development, about the free Wi-Fi for the flood zone. aThe Center for Rural Development played a key role in connecting Eastern Kentucky health departments to the Accelecom network, thus making it possible to install Wi-Fi zones at the centers.a

aRajant mobilized with technology, staffing, and financial support within the first 24 hours of the catastrophic flooding,a stated Justin Warren, Rajant Sales Director for Rural Broadband. aAs a natural extension of the work we are now doing with Accelecom and Eastern Telephone & Technology, we were ready to step up to meet the emergency communication needs Kentucky is facing. Cell service is spotty due to the high demand brought on by frontline response and outdoor Wi-Fi is non-existent. To get area health centers up and running with outdoor connectivity, we rapidly put up Rajant BreadCrumb multi-frequency radio nodes with integrated Wi-Fi access point service for compatibility with millions of laptops, tablets, and smartphones.a

In a deal inked June 30th before Julya?s flooding, the companies began working together to provide wireless WAN and public Wi-Fi between government buildings. Further, the wireless rural broadband extended and enhanced the wired networking already in place with seamless integration, which required no infrastructure. This combination gave the Cynthiana and Harrison County communities a network able to support aSmart Citya applications, such as cameras for public safety and traffic monitoring.
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Last year, the Ordinary in New Haven sent fans back to the Red Room with its "Twin Peaks" pop-up. Fans of the cult classic TV show enjoyed a "Twin Peaks" themed food and drink menu, decor and artwork that tied in with the series.

This year, Ordinary has returned with the pop-up idea but this time, spotlighting famed director Wes Anderson. The pop-up began last month and will continue through November.

What we found fun was that during the summer, New Haven would always slow down when the kids were gone, and we, not being able to have a patio and being in a dark cave, we started looking for concepts that would fit our space well," said co-owner Tim Cabral.

Anderson is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker who is known for his eclectic imagery and imaginative narrative styling. Some of Anderson's most famous movies include "The Royal Tenenbaums," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." Anderson is also known for using some of the same actors across his films, most notably Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman.

Contributed by Ordinary

Each month will have a different themed cocktail menu that will focus on one of five different Anderson movies spotlighted at the bar. Currently, "The Royal Tenenbaums" is the spotlighted Anderson movie for cocktails with drinks like the "Alteration of Glove" (1920 Brandy, Lillet Rose, Tempus Fugit Creme de Violette, Massenez Framboise) and the "Heinsbergen Syndrome" (Black Bottle Scotch, Green Tea Gomme, Carpano Bianco, Candied Bell Pepper) among other libations. There will also be some Anderson inspiration sprinkled throughout the food menu.

Menus will be rolled out through November in chronological order based on the release of the chosen movies, according to Cabral.

In addition to the food and drink menus being inspired by Anderson's work, Cabral said there is theming in different rooms throughout the establishment with the foyer inspired by "The Grand Budapest Hotel," the bar after "The Royal Tenenbaums," the back room after "Moonrise Kingdom," the men's bathroom after "Bottle Rocket" and the women's bathroom after "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." Other movies in Anderson's repertoire, such as "Rushmore," will also be represented throughout Ordinary with visual "Easter eggs."

Cabral said that Ordinary has also partnered with local businesses and artists to elevate the theming within the cocktail bar.

Fashionista Vintage & Variety has set up two mannequins within the cocktail bar dressed up as Gwyneth Paltrow and Luke Wilson's characters from "The Royal Tenenbaums," which coincides with the ongoing cocktail theme. Cabral said the looks on the mannequins will be swapped out to other costumes from the Anderson movies, with clothing sourced from Fashionista.

The Hope Gallery Tattoo has designed coasters for the pop-up that will feature artwork inspired by "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

Additionally, local muralist Jaime La Jones has contributed chalk art that currently adorns the walls of the Ordinary. Cabral said that Jones has stopped doing chalk art for some time but was able to do three different Anderson-inspired murals for the cocktail bar.

She adds so much to what we do," Cabral said.

Ordinary is located at 990 Chapel St in New Haven. The cocktail bar is open Wednesday through Saturdays from 5 p.m. to midnight.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Nevada's largest school district has its first case of monkeypox.

The Clark County School District in Las Vegas announced Friday that someone at Palo Verde High School has been diagnosed with monkeypox.

District officials did not say whether the person was a student or school staffer.

In a message to parents, the school principal said administrators are working with the Southern Nevada Health District. Health officials will contact any parents whose children may need to be tested or monitored.

Clark County School District is comprised of 300,000 students and 40,000 employees.

The Southern Nevada Health District has documented 75 cases of monkeypox in the region.

Monkeypox symptoms can include a rash, fever, chills, exhaustion, muscle aches, headaches, respiratory symptoms and swollen lymph nodes.
ECAD / Contributed photo

WINSTED  Five Service Dogs and one Facility Dog, along with their owners, received their diplomas and certifications during a June 23 ceremony at Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities, Newfield Road, Winchester.

Dale and Lu Picard, co-founders of ECAD, welcomed the audience to the Training and Wellness Center and congratulated the graduates for having completed an arduous two-week team training session.
STAMFORD Stamford has clinched more than $2 million in federal dollars, bringing it closer to a proposed redesign of one of the citys busiest corridors.

Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, alongside Rep. Jim Himes, all D-Conn., announced Friday that the Department of Transportation awarded Stamford a $2.1 million infrastructure grant meant to launch a comprehensive redesign of West Main Street on the West Side.

This significant infrastructure investment will help jumpstart the transformation and revitalization of Stamfords West Main Street corridor, replacing aging infrastructure, creating safer conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists and improving the quality of life for the neighborhood, Blumenthal said in a statement.

Mayor Caroline Simmons touted the West Main Street plan during her April State of the City address, but the project is only in its early phases. Though there are no renderings or formal plans, the proposal pitched by city transportation officials aims to create new opportunities for walking and biking along the corridor and improve public transit along the strip.

This funding will support the planning needed to advance the West Main Street Corridor project, which will improve the corridor with complete streets technology, with a focus on greater mobility access, pedestrian safety and added bike lanes, Simmons said in a statement. This funding and investment in the West Side is long overdue.

City officials have tried ushering in a more pedestrian-friendly version of West Main Street before. Mayoral spokesperson Lauren Meyer said the Transportation, Traffic and Parking Department had unsuccessfully applied for a federal grant in years past.

The Biden administration awarded more than $2.2 billion in similar grants through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, program. The RAISE grants support planning and capital investments related to roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports or intermodal transportation, according to the federal Department of Transportation. Half of all funding was designated for urban areas like Stamford. The rest went to rural communities.

With money in hand, the city still has a long road ahead. Plans provided by the mayors office to The Stamford Advocate in May show that physical improvements on West Main Street will not happen until at least 2025. For the three years leading up to that, city officials and consultants will draft designs for the corridor, meet with the community and ensure that the project meets regulatory demands, officials said.

veronica.delvalle@hearstmediact.com
Its not every day that a fully-equipped horse barn comes on the market. But when it comes to the property at 0 N Porchuck Road in Greenwich, its previous ownership might be more notable than the barn itself.

Nicknamed Hilfigers Fancy Barn, the barn and stables are part of fashion designer Tommy Hilfigers former estate. Around the corner from the barn is 591 Riversville Road in Greenwich, a home purchased by Hilfiger and his first wife, Susie, in 1995, according to Architectural Digest. The barn and main home at 591 Riversville Road are currently available to be purchased separately, according to Rachel Colletta, a public relations manager at Sothebys International Realty. The seven-bedroom home is currently listed for nearly $20 million.
Hazleton, PA (18201)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.
Ministry proposes keeping COVID-19 in Group A of infectious diseases

The Ministry of Health has proposed continuing to keep COVID-19 in Group A of infectious disease, not an endemic disease in its latest draft on COVID-19 prevention and control measures in the new situation.









A kid in Ho Chi Minh City is vaccinated against COVID-19.

Regarding the reason why COVID-19 has not been considered an endemic disease in Vietnam yet, the Ministry of Health said that most countries in the world are in a state of unstable cases and deaths, with an erratic increase and decrease trend when new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus appear. At the same time, acquired immunity (due to vaccines and infection) has not been stable for a long time and decreases over time.



In Vietnam, more than 9 million new cases were reported in the first seven months of this year, with over 33,000 cases in July alone, up 22.4% from June. Cases of sub variants BA.4, BA.5 have been recorded and began to account for a large proportion in southern provinces. Meanwhile, the rates of booster shot vaccination and vaccination among children were low in some localities.



The rise in new cases could cause overload of the health system, particularly in the context of other diseases such as influenza type A and dengue fever now entering peak season and the risk of new infectious diseases like monkeypox.



At the same time, it suggested step by step easing pandemic prevention and control measures in a flexible manner.



The ministry has also built plans to respond to different scenarios of COVID-19 in 2022 and 2023 based on the WHOs Strategic preparedness and response plan for COVID-19.



It urged enhancing vigilance against new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and staying prepared to respond to any possible pandemic scenarios, along with accelerating the pace of vaccination of booster shots and basic doses for children from 5 to under 12 years old.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suffered a "severe fever" while overseeing coronavirus quarantine efforts in the isolated country, according to his younger sister.

The official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday cited Kim Yo-jong as saying in a meeting, "Even though he was seriously ill with a high fever, he could not lie down for a moment thinking about the people he had to take care of until the end in the face of the anti-epidemic war."

That suggests the dictator contracted the virus himself. The National Intelligence Service told the National Assembly last May that Kim Jong-un did not appear to have been vaccinated.
The Sounds of Oradea festival will bring, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, from August 13 to 15, in Romania, world-renowned artists like violinist Phlippe Quint, the granddaughter of the great comedian Charlie Chaplin - Keira Chaplin, flamenco dancer Olga Llorente and tenor Charles Castronovo, the festival's artistic director, Catalan conductor David Gimenez Carreras, said on Friday.

"The first show, Charlie's Smile, has a fascinating music, which, I'm sure, will delight us all. It's not an easy programme at all, but conductor Vladimir Lungu does a great job, and the Oradea Philharmonic Orchestra sounds absolutely wonderful," the director of the festival told press conference.

Alongside David Gimenez, participating in the press conference was also violinist Philippe Quint, who also created the show, in the past five years, by researching documents about Chaplin's life, but also the comedian's granddaughter, Keira Chaplin, model, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian ambassador, who came especially to Oradea to share with the audience in the Unirii Square in Oradea lesser-known moments from her grandfather's history.

The violinist said that it all started in 2016, when he discovered some songs composed by Chaplin, and, while making the musical arrangements for violin and piano, he ended up having 13 songs from his films. Curious to know how Chaplin became a composer, Philippe discovered a series of influences from classical composers such as Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Verdi, but also from contemporary musicians such as Rachmaninoff, aspects that he used in the structure of the show, Agerpres.

Kiera Chaplin said that she is very happy to participate in the show, especially since it is the first time she has the opportunity to attend the event with a live orchestra.

"It is fantastic and special that even 43 years after his death, the world is interested in discovering him in other poses, other than those in the cinematography, but equally impressive," emphasized Keira, the granddaughter who did not have the opportunity to know her grandfather in life, as she was born after his death.

The artistic director David Gimenez also presented the other two performances, very different. Thus, the show of flamenco music and dance will be performed on Sunday by "the best young flamenco dancer in Spain right now," Olga Llorente, he pointed out, who has won all possible awards in Spain, her career being in full swing.

The third show, "Opera meets Broadway" has tenor Charles Castronovo as soloist, "one of the best tenors in the world, an Italian American, with whom he has a friendship of many years and a series of projects they did together." Extremely flexible in switching from one musical genre to another, tenor Castronovo and Romanian soprano Diana Tugui, whom he recently saw in Traviata and appreciated, will carry the audience on the wings of music, in an eclectic programme, with famous opera, operetta and musical arias, with "a very strong ending".

The Sounds of Oradea festival is organized by the Association for the Promotion of Tourism in Oradea and the Region (director Alina Toie) and the Oradea City Hall, together with the Oradea State Philharmonic.
Most of the proposals of the Romanian Alliance of Universities of Technology (ARUT) developed in order to improve the Educated Romania Higher Education draft law were approved following a meeting held on Friday with Minister of Education Sorin Cimpeanu, informs a press release sent to AGERPRES.

The proposals aim to strengthen university autonomy, elements related to the functioning and organization of higher education institutions and university study programs, to boost equity and access in university education, to provide qualified human resources in the field of sciences and engineering.

Among the approved proposals are: the establishment of the National Program for Education in the field of Science, Engineering and Technology and Mathematics PN-STIM, with the aim of stimulating young people to participate in university study programs in related fields, which will be supported by increasing scholarships and budgetary allowances per student; supporting students to get involved in volunteer programs; organising short-term study programs as a cycle of university studies, and recognising student status for students enrolled in such programs; clarifying the fields of university studies in which the scientific and professional doctorate studies are organized; making more flexible the framework for hiring human resources and financing the various types of projects carried out by higher education institutions.

According to the cited press release, ARUT aims to ensure that all higher education institution, as well as the branches of university studies, in various structures and advisory committees of the Ministry of Education are represented, without introducing the criterion of the number of teaching staff.

"As regards the field of pre-university education, the Ministry of Education particularly appreciated ARUT's proposals on the expansion of the National Education Program in the field of Science, Engineering and Technology and Mathematics, which aims at the development of extracurricular programs, the professional training of the teaching staff, the equipment of laboratories, the involvement of economic operators in the development of some programs, awareness campaigns regarding the importance of these areas," states the cited source.

ARUT expresses its support for the project of the Educated Romania Higher Education draft law and appreciates the openness of the leadership of the Ministry of Education regarding the submitted amendment and addition proposals, the press release also states. AGERPRES
Minister of Education Sorin Cimpeanu said on Friday in Ramnicu Valcea that the modifications proposed by the new draft laws on education will only have results through the allocation of financial resources, with about 50 percent of the budget necessary for the implementation of the measures envisaged needed for the appropriate remuneration of teaching staff.

"I am convinced that things can only change if they are accompanied by adequate funding. I have said it and I repeat it: no matter how brave, assumed, logical, brilliant the modifications are, even if each of you would like to get involved in a way that would represent a leap from what you have done so far, results could not be expected without allocated resources. So, if that article in the draft that says that for any teacher in the education system, starting with the beginner teachers and even the trainee teachers, the wage must be at least equal to the average salary in the economy would not be accepted, I will not come in front of all of you, not even one of you, to say that what is in the law can happen. But as long as this article stands, I would like to look each of you in the eye and tell you that what is written in this law can and will happen, with this condition: that there are resources," the Minister of Education told the teachers in Ramnicu Valcea present at the meeting.

Cimpeanu mentioned that for the implementation of the measures provided for in the new education draft laws, at least a doubling of the current budget of the Ministry of Education would be needed, Agerpres.

Sorin Cimpeanu was in Ramnicu Valcea on Friday afternoon to discuss with teachers and representatives of students and parents on the Education Laws - Educated Romania project.
New orders for Romania's manufacturing industry in H1 2022 were 19.7 percent up in nominal terms from the same period of the year before, on the back of growth in the intermediate goods industry (+28.9 percent), the durables industry (+26.9 percent), the FMCG industry (+20.9 percent), and the capital goods industry (+13.9 percent), the National Institute of Statistics (INS) informs on Friday.

Compared to May 2022, new manufacturing orders this June were 4.5 percent down overall in nominal terms due to the decline in the durables industry (-12.6 percent), the intermediate goods industry (-9.0 percent), the FMCG industry (-3.5 percent), and the capital goods industry (-1.0 percent).

Year-over-year, new orders in the manufacturing industry were 11 percent up in nominal terms this June due to growth in the intermediate goods industry (+15.9 percent), the FMCG industry (+10.2 percent), the capital goods industry (+8.4 percent), and the durables industry (+7.7 percent). AGERPRES
The itinerant photography exhibition "Noi, Poporul/We the People", which marks the 25th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between the United States of America and Romania, will be opened on August 17, starting with 18:00 hrs, in Mihai Viteazul Square, Craiova, informs a press release from the US Embassy sent to AGERPRES on Friday.

According to the cited source, the launch event will include the viewing of the exhibition in Mihai Viteazul Square, followed by the official opening, which will take place at the Craiova Art Museum in Calea Unirii no. 15, starting at 19.00 hrs.

Speeches will be delivered by Public Affairs Counselor Timothy Gerhardson, Mayor of Craiova Lia Olguya Vasilescu; President of the Dolj County Council Dorin-Cosmin Vasile, Prefect of Dolj County Dan Diaconu, Head of the Diplomatic Archives department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Doru Gheorghe Liciu, AGERPRES National News Agency Director General Claudia Nicolae and the project manager with the University of Craiova, Professor Leonardo Geo Manescu.

The exhibition, which focuses on the topic "Noi, Poporul"/"We the People", the famous Preamble to the United States Constitution, is meant to be a thematic photo essay that explores the diplomatic, security, economic, cultural relations between the Romanian and the American peoples.

"This collection of interactions between the two nations illustrates the fact that the Strategic Partnership between the United States and Romania is accessible to everyone. It is an exhibition that broadly captures the interactions between the two peoples, since the beginning of the Strategic Partnership in 1997. The 150 photographs contained in this exhibition create a personal framework for the Strategic Partnership, from the past and from the present, and offer the opportunity to experience the friendship and collaboration between the two peoples in a new way," the organizers state.

AGERPRES National News Agency contributed a number of 20 photos from the photo stream and from the Photographic Archive. The Diplomatic Archives Unit within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also contributed 13 photos.

The photography exhibition will be present in Craiova (August 17 - September 19), Timisoara (September 23 - October 24), Cluj-Napoca (October 28 - December 5), Sibiu (December 9, 2022 - January 9, 2023), Iasi (January 13 2023 - February 13, 2023), Constanta (February 17, 2023 - March 20, 2023), Bucharest (March 24, 2023 - April 24, 2023).

The event is organized by the US Embassy, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania - Diplomatic Archives Department, with AGERPRES National News Agency and in collaboration with the University of Craiova.
National leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu denied on Friday that there is any intention of a government reshuffle, noting that the evaluation of the ministers ended last month without any change proposals being made by the prime minister.

At a joint news conference in Bistrita with Development Minister Cseke Attila and Defence Minister Vasile Dincu, Ciolacu asked the two, in front of journalists, if they knew anything about any governmental reshuffle.

"But who should be reshuffled? Vasile [Dincu], are you being reshuffled? But who announced the reshuffle? Did the Prime Minister announce it? UDMR [Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania] , did you announce any reshuffle? I can't promise you that there are no reshuffles, because it's a natural thing, I told you that we have a subject we're talking about that no one has talked about. Don't ask me, because I haven't talked about this subject, and I see Mr Dincu, he's here with me and is not being reshuffled. Whay should we offer explanations to?" Ciolacu answered to questions related to the reshuffle.

The social-democratic leader added that the incumbent government coalition is working, and if the prime minister initiates discussions about a possible reshuffle, it will not be kept a secret.

"I wish for me and my child to live in a normal Romania to the end. This coalition is working and we all try to make it work normally. I've said it very clearly: the attribute of evaluating the ministers is primarily the prime minister's, I I'm just co-chairman of the coalition. There was a review of ministers a month or so ago where the prime minister didn't come up with any proposals within the coalition for a reshuffle. When there's going to be a reshuffle, after a discussion starts in the first place from the prime minister, I am firmly convinced that no one will keep it a secret. But what I said very clearly and correctly in the end is reshuffles are part of political life and governmental life," added Ciolacu.

Ciolacu, Cseke and Dincu participated on Friday in the pre-reception of works on a new multipurpose hall in Bistrita built by the National Investment Company with the contribution of the Bistrita-Nasaud County Council.
Two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft of the Strategic Airlift Capability operating from the Papa Air Base in Hungary and a C-27J Spartan aircraft of the Romanian Air Force performed emergency aerial missions on Thursday and Friday from the Otopeni and Timisoara airports to an air base in the Bordeaux area in France for the transport of teams of Romanian firefighters and rescuers together with related equipment.

According to the Romanian Defence Ministry (MApN), it is about 77 firefighters and 17 means of response that will act in support of the response forces of France to contain raging wildfires in France, Agerpres.

The C-17 Globemaster III aircraft took off from Otopeni Airport on Thursday, around 22:00hrs, EEST, and from the Timisoara Airport on Friday around 17:00hrs, EEST, while the C-27J Spartan aircraft took off on Friday morning from the Otopeni Airport, stopped over in Timisoara where it took off at around 10:00hrs for France.

The two flights with the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft was requested by the Ministry of National Defence as part of the quota of flight hours allocated to Romania, as a member state of the Strategic Airlift Capability, MApN says.

***

Following the activation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, Romania's Emergency Management Department (DSU), through the General Emergency Management Inspectorate (IGSU), in its capacity as the national contact point, received from the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the European Commission (ERCC), through CECIS, a request from France for international assistance, given the emergency generated by the spread of wildfires on its soil.

The decision to send the IGSU forces to France was taken within the National Emergency Management Committee convened on Thursday by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca at the proposal of DSU and after consulting with President Klaus Iohannis.
As many as 178 anti-hail rockets were fired in Romania August 5- 11, 2022, from five firing locations of the hail combat facilities in the counties of Prahova, Vrancea, Olt, Timis and Mures to protect two million hectares of agricultural crops.

"Between August 5 - 11, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, within the National Anti-Hail and Precipitation Increase System (SNACP), carried out 12 active interventions in the atmosphere to combat 29 convection cells - hail producing cloud formations. As many as 178 anti-hail rockets were fired from the firing location of the hail combat facilities in the counties of Prahova, Vrancea, Olt, Timis and Mures, to protect about 2 million ha of agricultural crops, as well as the local communities in the areas of response. No hail fell in the areas protected by the system's infrastructure," the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) reported on Friday.

Since the beginning of this season, between April 15 and August 11, 2022, a total of 89 active interventions in the atmosphere were conducted from the firing locations of the hail combat facilities within SNACP to combat 526 convection cells, using a total of 3,301 anti-hail rockets, Agerpres.

According to the data released by MADR on Friday, the total area affected by the drought increased to 337,267 hectares in 33 counties.

The counties that reported crops affected by the drought are Alba, Arad, Bacau, Bihor, Botosani, Braila, Brasov, Buzau, Calarasi, Cluj, Constanta, Dambovi?a, Galati, Giurgiu, Hunedoara, Ilfov, Ialomita, Iasi, Maramures, Mures, Neamt , Olt, Prahova, Sibiu, Salaj, Satu Mare, Suceava, Teleorman, Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Valcea and Vrancea.
The Romanian Naval Forces celebrate the Navy Day (15 August) in Bucharest, Constanta, Tulcea, Mangalia, Braila, Galati and Bicaz, informs on Friday the Ministry of National Defense.

** In Bucharest, the Romanian Naval Forces are present, until Monday, 15 August, at ARCUB - the Cultural Center of Bucharest, where the public will be able to visit an exhibition with marine painting works, signed by Alexandru Ghinea, ship models, navy uniforms and anniversary medals and those interested will learn to make sailor knots in an interactive workshop.

The Romanian Navy Day will be celebrated in the Capital City on Monday, through a military and religious ceremony that will take place at the Monument of the Sailor Heroes in the King Mihai I Park.

** The musical bands of the Romanian Naval Forces and the 101st U.S. Airborne Division, stationed at the 57th Air Force Base Mihail Kogalniceanu, hold a series of concerts in southeastern Constanta. On Saturday, in the military port of Constanta, the public is invited to the Open Doors Day, where military ships, a Puma Naval helicopter, technique and armaments exhibitions, stands with the educational offers of the military educational institutions can be visited, and ship enthusiasts can experience, free of charge, the tension inside the virtual naval battles, in a specially arranged space by the World of Warships team.

The military sailors will hold on Sunday, at the Monument of the Romanian Sailors (Sailors' Cross) in Constanta, a military and religious ceremony, to pay tribute to the sailors lost in mission, and in the evening they will be present in Tomis Port, with an exhibition of military equipment, with stands with the educational offers of the military educational institutions and simulators of naval battles.

The formation of military ships, anchored in front of the Fleet Command, will march to southeastern Midia and return, to greet the tourists on the coast. The parade will be concluded by the parade of tourist boats.

** In eastern Tulcea will take place, on Saturday, the Open Doors Day in the military port. On Sunday, a tribute will be paid to the sailor heroes, through a military and religious ceremony organized at the Heroes Cemetery, and on Monday, the Romanian Navy Day will be celebrated, in a small framework, in the military port, because of the rehabilitation works of the waterfront, which are underway.

**In southeastern Mangalia, the Military Circle organizes, until Sunday, the "Week of the Marine Spirituality", an event that includes cultural activities, interactive exhibitions, matelotage workshops, marine games and contests, light music performances and folk music. On Saturday, visitors will be able to interact with the crews of the military ships. The Day of Gratitude will be marked on Sunday by a military and religious ceremony, during which the Monument of the Sailor and Shipbuilder, located in the tourist port of Mangalia, will be inaugurated. At the end of the day, the Military Music of the 2nd Infantry Division Getica from Buzau will hold a concert in the tourist port.

** In eastern Braila, the series of events started with an exhibition of model boats and matelotage works, organized until Monday in a commercial complex. The public of Braila will be able to visit, on Saturday, the river military ships, which will be moored in the central area of the waterfront, as well as an exhibition of military equipment and armaments. On Sunday morning, the soldiers of the Mihail Kogalniceanu River Flotilla from Braila will pay homage to the sailor heroes and will deposit an anchor of flowers in the waters of the Danube, during a ceremony to be held in the military port. On Monday, the people of Braila are invited to the Danube waterfront to celebrate the Romanian Navy Day together with the military sailors.

** In eastern Galati, the military sailors will organize, on Sunday, on the waterfront of the city, the Open Doors Day, where the docked river ships can be visited, as well as an exhibition of weapons and military technique. At the same time, the Galati public will be invited to participate in marine games and to attend the demonstration exercises. On Monday, on the Danube waterfront, a military and religious ceremony is planned, during which an anchor of flowers will be thrown in the waters of the Danube, in memory of the sailor heroes. After this, the military vessels of the Mihail Kogalniceanu River Flotilla will present a demonstration exercise, and the activity will end with the parade of military ships and the parade of civilian ships.

** In eastern Bicaz, the County of Neamt, Moldavia region, the only mountain city in Romania where the celebration of the Romanian Navy Day has become a tradition since the '60s, military sailors will be present from Saturday to Monday and will organize interactive stands and exhibitions of technology and equipment for the public. On Monday, on the occasion of the Romanian Navy Day, the combat divers will carry out, on Izvorul Muntelui Lake, the largest reservoir in the country, a demonstration exercise.AGERPRES
As many as 5,710 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Romania, by 759 fewer than on the previous day, on over 21,700 RT-PCR and rapid antigenic tests performed, the Health Ministry informed on Friday.

Of the new cases, 1,040 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 - 883, and in the counties of Cluj - 316, and Timis - 304.

The 14-day COVID-19 notification rate at national level is 4.16 cases per thousand population. The highest incidence is in Bucharest - 8.9, followed by the counties of Cluj - 7.86, Sibiu - 7.2, Ilfov - 7.04 and Timis - 6,58.

As of Friday, 3,150,037 cases of people infected with the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Romania.

- Hospitalisations -

As many as 3,815 people with COVID-19 are hospitalised at specialist care facilities across the country, by 97 fewer than the day before; 479 of this total are children, of whom three are being treated in ICU.

Out of the total number of hospitalised patients, 293 are in ICUs. Of the ICU patients, 252 are unvaccinated for COVID-19.

- Deaths -

According to the Ministry, 20 Covid deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours - 10 men and 10 women. Three deaths were in the 50 - 59 years age category, five in the 60 - 69 years age category, five in the 70 - 79 years age category and seven in the 80+ age range. All deaths were in patients who suffered from underlying conditions, and six were vaccinated for Covid.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 66,311 people diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection have died in Romania. AGERPRES
Six Romanian and Moldovan citizens have been sent to court by Romania's Department for Investigation of Organised Crime and Terror (DIICOT) prosecutors in a case in which they are accused of establishing a criminal group specialising in the illegal production of cigarettes.

DIICOT reported on Friday that under a Wednesday's indictment, prosecutors of its Iasi local offices ordered six people to be sent to court (five in pre-trial detention and one under judicial control - three Romanian nationals, two Moldovan nationals and a dual Romanian-Moldovan citizen), for establishing an organised criminal group, unfair competition, the production of excisable products and the possession outside fiscal warehouse of taxable products.

The prosecutors note in their indictment that in September 2021 a trans-frontier organised criminal group consisting of Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian nationals was established in Romania with the aim of illicitly producing, outside the fiscal warehouse, counterfeit cigarettes by commissioning clandestine factories for the production and packaging of cigarettes, as well as the management of the processes related to the illegal manufacturing of cigarettes, namely the purchase/transport/manufacturing/making available of raw materials and equipment/machinery used in the clandestine manufacturing of cigarettes, which were later sold in other European Union member states.

In July 2021, the investigators say, the group purchased a cigarette factory that they set up and put into operation in December of the same year in a hall in a former livestock complex, located at Humulesti, Neamt County.

January-April 5, the organised criminal group would have illegally manufactured 1,907,944 cigarettes using a protected brand in order to mislead the other traders and the beneficiaries, Agerpres.

The fraud is put at 3,903,974 RON.

The prosecutors mention that the indictment requested the special confiscation of cigarettes, tobacco, assets used in the manufacture of cigarettes and the assets used in the transport of cigarettes (cigarette packing and wrapping, cigarette making, tobacco curing, tobacco shredding machinery, three vehicles, 3,865.60 kg of tobacco, the entire amount of cigarettes produced).

The case was submitted to the Neamt Court for a resolution.
AWARDS

The following award winners were recognized by the St. Louis Development Corp.:

Business of the Year: Clementines Creamery, Freddie Lees Gourmet Sauces, Fresh Thyme at the Foundry;

Developers/Developments of the Year: Centene Stadium (STL City SC), Globe Building, Lewis McKinney;

Innovation Award: Stereotaxis;

Tech Startup Award: Balto;

Quality of Life Award: Dr. Kendra Holmes, vice president and chief operating officer of Affinia Healthcare, and Andre Alexander of Tabernacle Community Development Corp. and its affiliated business and community partners;

Corporate Award: Mastercard, Deann Donohue, vice president business development

EXPANDING

Blueprint Coffee is now available in 23 Walmart stores throughout the Metro East area through a partnership with Coffee Collective Co.

AT Government Strategies, a subsidiary of Armstrong Teasdale LLP, entered into a strategic alliance with Company Garn. The alliance will enhance the presence of both ATGS and AT in Salt Lake City and Utah and extend the reach of the organizations involvement in Utah state and local government matters.

Halo + Cleaver, known for its low-sugar sauces and condiments, is expanding to nearly 600 stores through deals with Sprouts Farmers Market, Fresh Thyme Market and the Raleys banner of stores in California. Halo + Cleaver was founded in 2019 by St. Louis natives Matt Richard and Rob Garwitz.

HELPING OUT

Delta Dental of Missouri awarded more than $481,000 in grants to 16 organizations in Missouri and South Carolina to support oral health initiatives and educational programming. In the St. Louis area, Ready Readers and Child-Center Marygrove each received $25,000.

Through its national community philanthropic program, Spectrum donated $2,500 to Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis to support community programs such as Operation Backpack.

OPENINGS

Pedego St. Charles opened a new location offering electric bike sales and rentals:

603 South Fifth Street, St. Charles
ST. LOUIS  Months of debate over issues of homelessness, littering and drug use around the South City Schnucks went public this week when the grocer asked City Hall to beef up street sweeping and law enforcement.

In a letter Thursday, the Maryland Heights-based grocer cast its South Grand Boulevard store as one under siege: Aggressive panhandlers harass customers and employees. Vagrants use streets and sidewalks as outdoor restrooms. Trash proliferates amid rampant, open drug use.

It has become increasingly difficult to provide a safe and comfortable shopping experience, the letter read.

Schnucks said it spends more than $500,000 per year on security at the store and contracts out for cleaning services, and still cant keep up. The issues, Schnucks said, are threatening the long-term viability of the store and surrounding businesses.

Schnucks said it would be installing new, taller fencing along Cherokee Street and South Grand Boulevard, and partnering with officials to get help for people with behavior health issues.

But the grocer said the city should ramp up street sweeping it says has been lacking, add trash cans in the area and empty them regularly, and have police enforce ordinances on trespassing, public urination, public intoxication and loitering around the store.

Neighbors saw a cop-out. Alderman Megan Green, who represents the areas north and west of the store, said she and a number of people in the area have been trying to get Schnucks to do something about the trash and public urination for years.

They thought they had a solution, too: Schnucks could join other businesses in the South Grand taxing district. If Schnucks would pay about $10,000-$20,000 per year into the district, it could provide additional trash pickup and street cleaning, and hire a part-time social worker to reach out to troublemakers.

But Schnucks rejected that idea in its letter. It said the store already deals with high costs for security, maintenance and theft, and it isnt keen on passing on the cost to shoppers already grappling with rising food prices.

The company also said the taxing districts offerings wouldnt do enough to address root causes of the problems. It recommended the city pay for Schnucks requests instead, with federal coronavirus relief aid if needed.

Green, the alderman, was dubious.

If theyre spending $500,000 a year on security, its not working, she said. Its not much of an ask to contribute to a community response to the issues around the store.

Jeffrey Deutsch, who lives in Tower Grove South and regularly takes the bus to the store for groceries, agreed. The store sells 25 oz. cans of high-alcohol beer that people drink outside, he said, and its customers do much of the littering.

Theyre not committed to the community, he said. Theyre pushing all of this onto the city.

City Hall also sounded unimpressed. Mayoral spokesman Nick Dunne said the city has spent millions of dollars in federal aid to address the root causes of crime.

City officials will continue to work with businesses and residents along South Grand, he said, and welcome Schnucks to be part of the solution if they choose to join.

Schnucks said Thursday that it was reaching out to the mayors office to follow up.
The three numbers  314  that have signified phone calls to and from the St. Louis region since geographically based telephone area codes were created no longer have exclusive reign: Starting Friday, 557 will mean the same thing.

More than 70 years of shared history has given 314 outsized meaning, turning it into an ambassador synonymous with regional pride and identity, and inspiring odes in the form of song lyrics, tattoos, t-shirts and more.

But the introduction of the 557 area code could change the equation, if not allegiance.

Theyre pretty mad about it, said Kareem Haroun, a salesman at a downtown Boost Mobile store, describing the reactions of customers who mention the area code change. They want it to stay 314.

Backstock of 314s

Although the 557 area code officially activated Friday, the new numbers might not start to appear until the fall, some officials said. And the supply of 314 numbers  though dwindling  is not going to evaporate overnight.

Thats because in every area code, phone numbers are assigned to carriers, like a cellphone company, in blocks of 1,000 that all start with the same prefix  the first three digits dialed after the area code.

At this point, weve just run out of prefixes to assign, said Heidi Wayman, a data manager for the North American Numbering Plan Administrator  the entity that essentially acts as the phone number assignment overlord. It doesnt necessarily mean that all the numbers are gone.

Technically, NANPA currently has at least 57,000 phone numbers left to assign for the 314 area code, while carriers have their own 314 inventory that they can still give to customers.

But with no new prefixes left in the 314, NANPA is starting to assign prefixes for the 557 area code. Two blocks of them have been assigned thus far, though the numbers are not yet in service and will become effective starting Oct. 9, based on NANPA records.

Officials said the introduction of the 557 was unavoidable, and noted that it had been held off for more than 20 years, as area code overseers pursued conservation strategies to stretch out the finite supply of 314 numbers available.

For instance, 314 numbers were passed out more slowly than they used to be by NANPA, which used to assign blocks of 10,000 numbers at a time  10 times larger than they do now.

The original area codes created in the 1940s  including the 314  werent entirely random sets of numbers. To minimize dialing time and wear on rotary phones, more heavily populated areas were assigned small numbers, like 212 for New York City, 312 for Chicago, and 213 for Los Angeles. And cities like Detroit and St. Louis  then among the biggest in the country  received just slightly different numbers, like 313 and 314.

Meanwhile, sparsely populated places got bigger numbers, often with a zero in the middle  the digit that has to turn the farthest on a rotary dial.

Though new area codes are no longer crafted with rotary phones in mind, 557 wasnt a complete shot in the dark, plucked randomly  or suddenly  from thin air. NANPA said that it has been lined up, waiting to drop, for more than a decade and that they selected digits that are likely to avoid confusion with other neighboring area codes.

Officials said the change wont alter how people pay for local calls, nor how they need to dial, because 10-digit dialing is already a requirement. They said an overlay like this  where a new area code shares space with another  is an easier solution than a split, where newcomer digits carve out their own territory. No splits have occurred anywhere since 2007, according to NANPA.

314 will still be king

St. Louis certainly isnt the first region to require an additional area code. And, given how emotionally attached people can be to their numerically identifying digits, the transition isnt always smooth.

Theres been multiple places that have been pretty passionate, said Wayman, noting that shes seen the codes appear on tattoos, clothing and serve as the namesake of festivals. A lot of areas are very proud of their area code.

Around St. Louis, the impending arrival of the 557 has produced a wide range of reactions.

For instance, Dylan Foster, manager of a downtown T-Mobile store, said he didnt harbor strong feelings either way about the 557s debut. But he said that, since its announcement, some customers coming into the store have specifically requested the new digits, seeking something different.

He doesnt expect people to someday pay extra for a 314 number, as has happened in other cities where old area codes become veritable status symbols worth $1,000 or more.

But the outcry from some people might suggest otherwise. When Missouri officials announced in February that the days were numbered for the sole reign of the 314 area code, the news sparked an uproar online.

And Fosters coworker, Alyssa Zachow, expressed sadness about the change. She noted that the 314 holds a special place in the hearts of many  even weaving itself into the identities of many peoples online usernames, for example.

Its such a nostalgic number for the city, she said.

Local clothing companies like Arch Apparel are well aware of those ties, selling shirts and other items bearing the 314. But employees said it was unclear if 557 gear was soon to hit the shelves, or how much marketing appeal the new digits might have.

Either way, it will be tough to overshadow the areas obvious allegiance to the 314, according to Ellis Brodsky, the companys downtown store manager.

Its more of a name-brand thing for St. Louis, he said. He doesnt expect that to change, even with the 557s arrival as a new competitor in town. Even when that pops up, I think 314 will still be king of St. Louis.
Cynthia Changyit Levin prepared her 4-year-old to meet a congresswoman, dressing the child nicely and bringing along paper and markers to keep her occupied.

While Levin presented her message, she realized the quiet girl was up to something: coloring her hand with a red marker that also threatened to stain unsuspecting objects. Oops.

The bemused legislator, aides, parent and child all headed to a restroom sink to avert a mess. I never brought markers again, Levin says with a laugh. But those kinds of meetings can be memorable for parent and legislator alike, she notes.

Juggling motherhood and activism has been part of Levins family life for 15 years. A mechanical engineer and former project manager, shes now written From Changing Diapers to Changing the World, a book encouraging other mothers who want to work for a better future for themselves and their children.

In plain, easy-to-understand language, Levin writes about simple ways to get started making phone calls or writing letters for important causes and how to build toward what she says is a gold standard of advocacy  cultivating relationships with federal legislators from her state.

In the books introduction, she writes:

Although there are many dad-advocates I respect and admire, Im writing this book for mothers for two reasons. First, motherhood is my own personal experience and the one I know best. Second, I want to promote a new path for moms who have trouble seeing their own potential to influence.

I encounter a distressingly high number of mothers who wrestle with power and self-identity issues as they navigate shifting expectations in professional and domestic roles. While this can be frustrating, motherhood also enables women to redefine our roles in life and create new visions of ourselves.

Levin, now 50, has long been concerned about hunger and poverty issues. Although most of her non-partisan activism has been as a volunteer, she was employed for several years by RESULTS, which works to end poverty. She writes about tactics using respect, about hard-fought successes and about how her two children were involved (one, a freshman at Johns Hopkins University this fall, plans to major in global health).

With her book, the Town and Country resident says she wants to inspire women to do what they can: The more moms I can get involved, the better.

She talked in person and answered questions by email.

Q  Why is activism appealing to moms?

A  I think there are two main reasons. First, moms are naturally deeply driven to protect their children. Theyre quick to act when they see something that threatens kids such as gun violence in schools or lack of health insurance that would cover something their own child needs.

Second, they want their kids to have bright futures, so even an issue like climate change that might seem like a less immediate threat is troublesome since the worst effects of it will happen to our children long after we are gone if we dont act in the present.

Q  You became interested in activism because of poverty and hunger issues, right? But nobody is really for hunger. Does that make it an easy thing to advocate for?

A  No member of Congress campaigns on a pro-hunger platform, but unfortunately there are elected officials who are against increased funding for poverty and nutrition programs or those who simply assume that someone else will take care of it. Unlike a COVID-19 variant or war in the Ukraine, hunger and poor nutrition arent flashy new disasters to talk about, even though they are directly related to those recent crises. It can be tough to get the attention of members on new ways to thinks about fighting hunger  like protecting food systems (the whole process of how we get food from farm to fork)  in addition to providing direct shipments of food.

Q  Have you become involved in other issues?

A  I do advocate for other causes because so many issues are interrelated. My general area of advocacy is poverty, but that regularly intersects with climate, education, reproductive justice and gun violence, so it makes sense for me to speak out on those issues as well.

Q  I imagine that many mothers may now be interested in abortion/contraception in light of the Supreme Court ruling. Have you talked to any?

A  Sometimes these days, I feel like we talk about little else in my circle of mothers! Now that the Missouri primary elections are over, I expect well be talking about it more and more between now and November. I recently held a Zoom book discussion to talk about A Complicated Choice by abortion activist Katey Zeh to help us process our feelings about it.

I find older moms my age are personally worried about our reproductive freedom because an unexpected pregnancy would be a danger to health and mean raising a child as a senior citizen. We also worry about the rights of our high school and college-aged children. I hear younger mothers worrying about being able to get the health care they need for a miscarriage or wanting to keep their plans and dreams intact even if they experience an unexpected pregnancy. I feel like all moms across many ages and demographics are waking up to how abortion procedures are a part of health care necessary to protecting the physical and mental health of mothers.

Q  What other issues are mothers particularly interested in?

A  Top issues on the minds of moms reaching out to me in the last year have been gun violence, climate, education and COVID safety. Some workplace justice issues concerning working moms in particular include equal pay, paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave and breastfeeding rights.

Q  What are your goals now?

A  My goals used to focus on learning effective advocacy strategies and tools to grow the influence I could have as a regular person outside of the political machine. Yet it became clear to me that there are far too many needed actions on many different issues even for the very capable activists who are already volunteering.

My goal now is to reach out to as many mothers as possible and help grow the movement of people working toward a better future for us and our children. Publishing my book was a big step in that direction.

Q  Have you heard from more people since publishing your book?

A  Yes! I love it when moms reach out asking me to speak to their groups about how to be more engaged in advocacy. I was thrilled when a mom with a group of activists asked me to do a workshop on how to write letters to the editor. They are accustomed to making phone calls and meetings with state legislators but want to learn to take a next step. Also, Ive been able to speak to PTA groups in Illinois and Wisconsin that would not have been available to me before the book was released.

Q  Your books third part is about easy ways to become an activist. What are a couple of things to do without experience?

A  Phone calls to elected officials and writing handwritten letters are the easiest actions I recommend to novice activists. When you have a script from a reputable advocacy organization to follow, it can be both easy and empowering. Even as an experienced advocate, I still call Congress when I want a quick confidence boost. When everything else in my day is spinning out of control, I find it empowering to make a phone call to my representative. I can hang up the phone after leaving my 10-second message and think: There. I did that. I helped. Other things might still go wrong, but after Ive made that call, no one can take that feeling away from me.

Q  You write about meeting congressmen and women. Where on the scale does that fall in effective activism? Also, what are a couple of the most effective things one can do?

A  To me, meeting regularly with members of Congress to the point where you build a relationship is the gold standard of activism. Not everyone has the time to cultivate that kind of access, but if you can actually become a resource for your members of Congress and their aides, you know youre having great impact.
Anyone who has sat for a few minutes on the steps in front of the Gateway Arch can understand the pull the Mississippi River exerts  notably on lyricists, writers and adventurers.

T.S. Eliot called it a strong brown god. More prosaically, the Post-Dispatchs Marquis Childs, in a 1982 biography of the river, described it as a free highway.

For writer/historian/adventurer Rinker Buck, the river, and its biggest tributary, the Ohio River, are those things. But in his new book, Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure, one senses a personal mission  to just get away, to do something exciting. Buck quotes admiringly from an early 19th-century account of how river travelers experienced that expansion of mind that cannot fail to be produced by traversing long distances of country, and viewing different forms of nature and society.

Many Mississippi River journeys have made it to print. Mississippi Solo (1988) by Eddy Harris, formerly of Kirkwood, is at the high end of that genre. But Bucks, a rich mix of history, reporting and personal introspection, may be the first about a flatboat trip. Flatboats, Rinker writes, dominated river commerce from the early 19th century before steam travel took over in the 1830s and 1840s.

Bucks last book, The Oregon Trail (2015), had him and his brother following the trail of what is popularly considered this countrys preeminent western movement. But Buck says the inland rivers  not the wagon ruts crossing from Missouri to Oregon  were Americas first western frontier.

This countrys citizen-farmers, Buck writes, built America with logs.

First the logs were flatboats descending the Ohio, then they were converted into crude shacks on the frontier. If there was flatboat lumber after that, it was used to build furniture and simple barns.

Buck, now 71, had his flatboat constructed several years ago on a Tennessee farm, dubbed it Patience, and dropped it in the Monongahela River above Pittsburgh. He floated for 2,000 miles to New Orleans over four months. Although original flatboats had oars, Patience was mostly powered by a motor.

Patience had a crew of three or four, or none, as people left for a while and rejoined later on. One crew member, who Buck felt took his status as a re-enactor too seriously, was evicted and sent home to St. Louis.

One senses that the Ohio segment of the trip was the most enjoyable and interesting. A series of dams slows down the river, and there is little riprap on the shores to block the view from the river. While negotiating the locks is challenging, the accessibility to small towns and marinas is something the Mississippi lacked.

The Ohio, Buck writes, was a float through competing American spaces. The deep quiet and scenic contentment of endless conservation forests, with nothing in sight beyond the occasional osprey diving for fish ... would suddenly be ended by the wail of motorboat engines, island drinking melees. ... The Ohio River is a vast conservation space periodically interrupted by party venues.

Joining the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, feels like the entry ramp to an interstate highway. While Buck found that the warnings that hed heard about the Mississippi  that he would be crushed by barges, sucked into a whirlpool or run permanently aground  were unfounded, it did require constant vigilance. The neighborliness of tugboat captains helped too. (If Buck could have added a chapter, I would have enjoyed his conversation with someone who worked the river daily.)

Buck skips over nearly 500 miles of the Lower Mississippi  from near Caruthersville, Missouri, to Natchez, Mississippi. There he breaks the narrative to examine that citys role in American history. Boasting one of the countrys finest mansion districts, built by cotton barons, it was also a center for slave trading, second only to New Orleans. Flatboats were used to transport thousands of enslaved people from Virginia and Maryland to work at the cotton and sugar plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana.

When Buck rode his electric bike out to the site of the slave market, there was nothing there.

He writes, Only words can describe what the place once meant.

While Buck borrows his title from Mark Twains 1883 classic, there is only passing mention of him in Life. Buck relies more on earlier flatboaters like Harlan Hubbard and Timothy Flint to drive his imagination. (Bucks acknowledgements section is indeed a pleasure.)

I do, however, see Buck at the helm of the Patience when I read Twains description of a riverboat captain: A pilot, in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived on the earth.

Tim Bross is a retired Post-Dispatch editor. He lives in Kirkwood.
Aisha Sultan Aisha Sultan is home and family editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Aisha Sultan 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

When reproductive freedom was recently struck down by the Supreme Court, one of the first things I discussed with my teenagers was our religious beliefs about abortion.

My husband and I are Muslims and have raised our two kids in our Islamic faith. While there is a diversity of Islamic opinions on the issue, theres general consensus that the soul enters a fetus at 120 days. There are several conditions prior to this point in which abortion is permitted, and even after this point, abortion is permissible if the mothers life is in danger.

The complete abortion ban in Missouri, based on a minority religious view within Christianity, is in direct conflict with our own beliefs.

We are hardly alone in this situation. Clergy from across faiths are mobilizing to fight for their congregants religious freedom.

For years, evangelical Christian voices were dominant in Jefferson City as legislators reduced access and finally banned abortion in Missouri. They imposed their narrow theology on the state, threatening the religious freedoms of the rest of us, said Stacey Newman, who served as a state representative for nine years. Prior to the legalization of abortion in 1973, Missouri clergy of all faiths were part of an underground network to protect women, and many are vowing to do the same today.

Newman recently helped bring together Missouri religious leaders who support reproductive rights in an informal network of communication and support.

Jeffrey Stiffman, the rabbi emeritus at Congregation Shaare Emeth, was among that group. Before the legal protections offered by Roe v. Wade, there was a local clergy advisory council, he said. When women in Missouri needed an abortion, these Christian and Jewish faith leaders would help coordinate flights to New York or Colorado and transportation to clinics. In the Jewish faith, preserving the mothers life is paramount.

The imposition of a ban on abortion restricts not only womens rights, but also the rights of all religious minorities, he said.

Several faith leaders pointed out the hypocrisy of politicians claiming to be pro-life but refusing to expand health care access for mothers and children. Why arent the same politicians who fought to ban abortion working just as hard to lower Missouris high infant and maternal mortality rates?

For me, that is theologically an injustice, said Sonya Vann, an associate minister at Christ the King United Church of Christ. The states abortion ban tells her that if I am outside this very narrow interpretation of Christianity, then I have no rights within my own religious freedom to think about what life even is. I very much have a problem with that.

Religious leaders in Florida, including two Christians, three Jews, one Unitarian Universalist and a Buddhist, have sued the state over its abortion ban. The law violates their religious freedom rights, according to the lawsuits filed in Miami-Dade County, since the states ban also prohibits clergy members ability to counsel congregants about abortion in accordance with their faiths. Two-thirds of states that have limited abortion access or will soon do so also have Religious Freedom Restoration Act laws, which limit when the government can restrict someones religious liberty.

The Rev. Deb Krause, president of Eden Seminary, a Presbyterian minister and professor of the New Testament, says her study of the Bible does not find it to restrict access to abortion.

Im a New Testament scholar; it matters to me tremendously what the Bible says, she said. But when it comes to the legal right to abortion, it doesnt matter what the Bible says because we are not a theocracy.

Rabbi Andrea Goldstein, at Shaare Emeth, said she doesnt understand how the state can impose a singular religious value when there is no conclusive proof of when life begins. Her congregation has a monthly collection for the Missouri Abortion Fund.

Everyone is trying to figure out the best way to mobilize direct service, she said. There is a groundswell of people of faith who want to give of their time, in addition to donating money, she added.

They want to show people who are scared there are others who care about them, she said.

Religious scholars drew connections with the role clergy played to help guide enslaved people toward freedom and the current fight for womens autonomy and freedom. The proposals to ban travel for abortion care harken to fugitive slave laws.

Much like the Underground Railroad, religious denominations and leaders took actions against the law at the time, Vann said. The Rev. Rebecca Turner, of the United Church of Christ in Maplewood, points out that there has always been religious support for a womans right to choose an abortion. It is the duty of the clergy to help those in distress.

Im not afraid of standing up against unjust laws, she said. I think a lot of clergy may well have to do that to challenge the state on its treatment of women.

Amen, sister.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  A federal judge on Friday reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris requires government officials to conduct a new environmental review before they can resume coal sales from federal lands.

Almost half the nations annual coal production  some 260 million tons last year  is mined by private companies from leases on federal land, primarily in Western states such as Wyoming, Montana and Colorado.

Few coal leases were sold in recent years after demand for the fuel shrank drastically. But the industrys opponents had urged Morris to revive the Obama-era moratorium to ensure it cant make a comeback as wildfires, drought, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change worsen.

Coal combustion for electricity remains one of the top sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, even after many power plants shut down over the past decade because of concerns over pollution and changing economic conditions.

The coal program brought in about $400 million to federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments in 2021, according to government data. It supports thousands of jobs and has been fiercely defended by industry representatives, Republicans in Congress and officials in coal producing states.

Among President Joe Bidens first actions in his first week in office was to suspend oil and gas lease sales  a move later blocked by a federal judge  and he faced pressure from environmental groups to take similar action against coal.

The administration last year launched a review of climate damage from coal mining on public lands as it expanded scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. But no changes had been announced as a result of that review, said environmental attorney Jenny Harbine.

This decision gives the Biden administration the opportunity to make good on its commitment to seriously battle the climate crisis, Harbine said. No progress has been made to reform the program or do what's needed to phase out existing leases.

Interior Department officials were reviewing the ruling, spokesperson Melissa Schwartz said.

National Mining Association President Rich Nolan said the industry lobbying group would appeal Friday's ruling.

This is a deeply disappointing decision with energy-driven inflation, energy affordability and energy security top concerns for Americans, Nolan said. Denying access to affordable, secure energy during an energy affordability crisis is deeply troubling.

Extracting and burning fossil fuels from federal land generates the equivalent of 1.4 billion tons (1.3 billion metric tons) annually of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Geological Survey. Thats equivalent to almost one-quarter of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.

Obama Interior Secretary Sally Jewell suspended coal sales in large part over climate concerns in 2016. After Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke revived the program in 2017, California, New York, New Mexico and Washington state sued. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe, joined by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, also filed a legal challenge.

State officials from Wyoming and Montana argued against reviving the moratorium.

In 2017 and 2018, the most recent years for which data was available, the U.S. government sold leases for 134 million tons of coal on public land in six states, according to figures provided by the Interior Department. Thats a relatively small amount compared with previous years, for example 2011 and 2012, when more than 2 billion tons were sold in Wyoming alone.

Demand for coal has plummeted as many utilities switch to natural gas or renewables to generate power.

Follow Brown on Twitter: @MatthewBrownAP
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis judge Thursday dismissed a Spanish Lake man's six-year-old lawsuit that alleged St. Louis police and prosecutors unfairly targeted him because of his race.

On Thursday, Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser granted former Sgt. Gary Fosters motion to dismiss Ronald Gunns 2016 lawsuit claiming malicious prosecution by then-Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce. Gunns lawsuit also named Foster, who arrested Gunn in 2014 during a scuffle outside Foster's home.

Gunn, who is Black, told the Post-Dispatch in 2016 that he thought the white sergeant who arrested him targeted him because of his skin color.

Joyce was dismissed from the lawsuit about three weeks after Gunn filed it in June 2016.

The luggage courier from Spanish Lake had alleged that a simple GPS mix-up on Feb. 19, 2014, mistakenly led him in the driveway of a St. Louis police officer, who confronted Gunn while off-duty. After a scuffle, Foster arrested Gunn. Gunn was later charged with assaulting Foster and resisting arrest but those charges were dropped months later.

The judge dismissed the suit for failure to prosecute.

Reached by phone Friday, Gunn said he wasn't aware of the dismissal and that he plans to refile the suit. He said he tried to serve Foster with the lawsuit multiple times and that Foster "kept evading the subpoena," showing what Gunn called "a lack of character that further proves my claim that he should not be a police officer."

Foster worked for the city police department from 1992 until his retirement in March 2021, a police spokesman said.
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis convenience store clerk who fatally shot a customer during a dispute over a candy bar was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison.

At a bench trial in March, U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey found Taleb Rebhi Ali-Jawher guilty of a charge of being an undocumented immigrant in possession of a firearm.

On the night of Sept. 26, 2017, Jawher shot Christopher Simmons, 34, during an argument that began when Simmons didnt have enough money for a candy bar.

Jawher thought Simmons was trying to steal the candy and got a gun, Jawher said during a prior plea agreement.

Prosecutors said Jawher was notified multiple times that he was not legally in the country. Jawher entered the country from Jordan in 2007; his 2007 application to extend his visa was rejected.

Jawher was sentenced in February in St. Louis Circuit Court to a seven-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. The charge was reduced from first-degree murder.
These two deaths, plus another deadly shooting at Sweet Timez nightclub early Friday morning, brought the city's homicide number up from 113 on Thursday to 116 Friday afternoon.

Police records indicate before Friday's shooting there had been four homicides in the Carondelet neighborhood.

Last year in total, St. Louis police recorded 199 homicides.

In 2020, when the city had its highest homicide rate in at least 50 years, 263 people were killed.
School librarians across Missouri are pulling books from shelves as they face the potential for criminal charges under a new state law banning explicit sexual material.

The law goes into effect Aug. 28 and applies to both public and private schools. It was part of a state bill addressing various sexual assault and other crimes and creating a sexual assault survivors bill of rights.

The law defines explicit sexual material as any visual depiction of sex acts or genitalia, with exceptions for artistic or scientific significance.

It applies to any kind of images, which could include images in books or magazines in a library. It could apply to images on internet sites to which students are directed. It doesnt apply to the written word, said attorney Jim Layton of Tueth Keeney, a Clayton law firm that represents local school districts.

Violations of the law by school employees who provide such materials to students are considered a class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a fine of $2,000.

Earlier this week, the Missouri Association of School Librarians said it was aware that some schools were pre-emptively removing books but advised its members not to do so.

The new law makes an exception for works of art, when taken as a whole, that have serious artistic significance, or works of anthropological significance, or materials used in science courses, including but not limited to materials used in biology, anatomy, physiology, and sexual education classes.

School library collections contain both works of art and informational texts, and school library books, whether fiction or non-fiction, meet both of those requirements, reads the associations recommendation, which was published online Tuesday.

We understand the immense impact of facing a challenge and will support our librarians in solidarity to preserve intellectual freedom, the association added.

When they were debating bills related to education earlier this year, some Republican state lawmakers said they wanted to address concerns that students were being indoctrinated against their parents wishes. Rep. Dottie Bailey, R-Eureka, claimed at the time that school districts were grooming their children to be sex addicts by allowing them to read certain books.

The conservative activist group St. Charles County Parents Association recently posted book ratings on its website and links to file police reports to arm parents with as much knowledge as possible to combat the perversion agenda that is being forced on our children.

The group did not respond to a request for comment through its website, which cites the Wentzville School District as having the highest number of objectionable library books in the county.

A Wentzville School District administrator sent an email Monday to librarians, saying, Starting now we need you to review your libraries for materials matching the language in this state statute. If you come across a text that needs to be removed ... pull the book from the shelf.

A spokeswoman for the school district declined to comment, citing pending litigation. Two students represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued Wentzville in federal court in February for banning library books including Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye, which the school board then returned to shelves.

Regarding the new Missouri law, Tom Bastian, a spokesman for the ACLU of Missouri, said it was an attempt to silence viewpoints and stories from authors of marginalized communities.

He said school districts shouldnt pull books because they abide by nationally well-established selection criteria for choosing appropriate materials for their libraries. He also argued that the law defines explicit sexual material narrowly and does not criminalize materials that are currently in school libraries.

Joe Kohlburn, head of the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Missouri Library Association, called the new state law terrible and a move to criminalize librarians.

Its part of an unfortunate trend in our country to terrorize people who work in public service professions and to scapegoat them and make them pawns in the culture wars, he said.

The increased scrutiny aimed at school library books in Missouri is part of a national trend. A district attorney in Tennessee went viral this week for a video in which she said a question about prosecuting librarians is a tough one. Lawmakers in Idaho this spring cut funding to the states public library system, citing obscenity. Nationwide, nearly 1,600 books were pulled from libraries or classrooms in the last school year, according to the nonprofit PEN America, compared with about 300 challenges or bans in previous years.

Professional library associations have a long-held position: Parents can choose not to let their child read a book, but they shouldnt control other parents decisions on family reading.

Kohlburn of the Missouri Library Association also believes that the works of art reference in the new law could apply to many challenged books, which predominantly feature Black or LGBTQ characters.

They forget that there are progressive parents, queer people in the community and others, Kohlburn said. Many of these people are also taxpayers who want their kids to access a wide variety of materials.
JEFFERSON CITY  St. Charles County officials are reassessing plans to better protect the county-owned airport from flooding after Gov. Mike Parson cut funding for the project out of the state budget.

At the request of Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, budget writers inserted $3 million into the states spending blueprint in May for the St. Charles Smartt Field Airport in Portage Des Sioux, which is about a 15 minute drive north of downtown St. Charles.

The money was part of a massive infusion of federal pandemic aid made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act. Individual lawmakers were able to insert various projects into the budget. Some were acceptable to Parson. Others, like the airport project, were not.

The airport, which has 92 hangars for rent, offers flying instruction and small charter and air cargo services.

But, during floods on the Mississippi River, the airport often grapples with water on the property, said John Greifzu, assistant director of administration for the county.

Although the $3 million would have helped, efforts to protect buildings and businesses at the airport would have cost $8 million.

It was really centered around making the airport more resilient, especially during flooding events, Greifzu said.

Eigel, who frequently complains that the state budget is bloated, did not respond to a request for comment.

In his veto message of House Bill 3020, Parson said the investment was not worth it, given the airports location.

Due to the proximity of this airport to a major international airport and four other local airports, this investment will have minimal regional or statewide impact, he said.

In addition, Parson said the airport receives federal funding through a formula overseen by the Missouri Department of Transportation, and has received more federal funding over the past two years through various pandemic relief programs.

This funding was not part of my budget recommendations, and other funding mechanisms should be pursued in lieu of earmarked state funding for this project, Parson said.

Greifzu said the county has not made a decision on what to do next.

Parson said the airport is eligible for an estimated $715,000 in federal funding over the next five years, which could be used for some flood mitigation.

We are hopeful that will be the case, Greifzu said. Well also continue to look for other grant funding.
FERGUSON  Robert Velker added yet another bag to the pile of ruined furniture and debris outside his home along Paul Avenue here and wiped the sweat off his brow.

Ive got nothing left, said Velker, 62.

Outside his home, a dark line about 4 feet up the walls marked the floodwaters reach. He had been out of town the night of the rainstorm July 26 and learned hed been flooded when the water in his living room triggered a motion detector alarm. Hed spent days since cleaning out.

Similar scenes played out across the St. Louis region since the flooding from record rainfall last month. Debris, piled feet high, marked thousands of dollars in damaged belongings: mattresses, clothes, dressers, bed frames, refrigerators, washing machines, childrens toys, a wedding dress. On streets hit hardest by flooding, piles of wet and molding trash could be seen  and smelled  for days.

This week, more than two weeks after the floods, the cleanup continued, from one side of the region to the other.

In University City, residents on east Dartmouth Avenue greeted another curbside pickup of the trash piles out on their lawns. That included a refrigerator full of rotten food that had been put out on the side alley.

You could see maggots dropping off the door, said Talon Cooper, 26, who lives by the building. The smell was disgusting. The heat made it worse.

And in St. Peters, John Schrader and his mother filled a dumpster near their home on Main Street with a vans worth of broken chunks of wood, the remnants of an old backyard deck that had collapsed in the flood. Then they drove the van back down to load buckets of cracked cement from the basement stairs that had eroded away.

Ive probably moved like 100 buckets already, said Schrader, 43.

Pat Kelly, director of the Municipal League of Metropolitan St. Louis, said clean up efforts were interrupted by rain storms in the days following the first flood. And unlike flooding caused by river buildup, the rainfall caused sewers to back up and low-lying areas to flood, leaving some homes waterlogged while neighboring homes only a few inches or feet higher saw little to no damage, he said.

Its really kind of a different circumstance than weve seen before in the county, Kelly said.

Kelly said cities were paying hefty overtime costs to get trash picked up, while dealing with damage to their own public buildings and vehicles. Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse them for some costs, he said.

St. Louis spokesman Nick Dunne said the city has asked residents in the neighborhoods impacted by flooding to put damaged items out on the curb and call the Citizens Service Bureau to pick them up.

In Hazelwood, residents were filling dumpsters placed by city officials in the neighborhoods hardest hit by flooding, City Manager Matt Zimmerman said.

St. Charles County plans to make two final curbside pickups next week on Monday and Tuesday for residents in unincorporated areas. Afterward, residents are asked to throw items into dumpsters the county will put out in specific locations.

In St. Peters, officials began bulk pickups July 27. On Main Street, residents said the city had lined the roadway with about a dozen dumpsters the day after the flood and had cleaned out and returned them back each day.

They were running them back and forth like clockwork, Schrader said. I dont know what we would have done without that.

In Ferguson, Velker said refuse workers had been quick to pick up trash bags full of clothes and rotten food from his fridge and freezer. Neighbors lined up larger items for curbside pickup last week  then the city delayed pickup a week  which was helpful for some.

It gives me more time, said Jerome Clariett, 58, while taking a break between carrying out boxes of wet books. He and other residents said theyd had trouble throwing wet and heavy items out their homes while dealing with damaged basements, houses with no working utilities, and applications for insurance coverage and federal aid.

In University City, Manager Greg Rose said the city waited to send trash trucks out until Aug. 1 to give residents time to clean things out. The trucks will keep circling until there is no more trash to pickup, he said. That could take all month, or longer, he said.

This is not a normal bulk pickup for us, Rose said. The volume is exponentially larger. But were making progress.

The city is getting help from neighbors like Olivette, which sent trash trucks to help, Rose said.

On Vernon Avenue, Yvonne Redmond, 73, said she paid a private business $230 for help to clean out her basement, which had been packed with crockpots, kitchenware, rugs and other households supplies shed saved up since moving into the home 50 years ago.

It was a capital T total mess, said Redmond.

But the workers she paid came with no gloves, no tarps and no boxes.

They didnt even have any bags, she said. I did just as much work as they did.

She had better luck with a Christian ministry group that finished emptying her basement for free. They lined up the items neatly on her lawn to be picked up later.
Never ... a greater threat than Trump

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, that unlikeliest of pro-democracy heroes, has issued an ad for his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, in which he minces no words regarding ex-President Donald Trump. There has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump, Cheney says in the ad, referring to Trumps role in the Capitol insurrection.

He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward, Cheney says. A real man wouldnt lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.

Cheney and his daughter have enjoyed unlikely support from corners of the political landscape where their policy positions are unpopular but their defense of democracy in the face of a threat from their own party deserves respect.

Say what, Sen. Hawley?

Someone needs to check Sen. Josh Hawleys temperature. Fresh from voting for a Democrat-backed provision to cap the price of insulin for seniors, the Missouri Republican took to Twitter to praise  yes, praise  Democrats for actually getting stuff done in Congress. The praise was couched more in terms of an admonishment for Republicans to get their act together, but it was nonetheless an acknowledgement that his enemies on the left are actually accomplishing what they set out to accomplish.

Ill give the Dems this. With a 50/50 Senate & a historically unpopular president, they passed major (terrible) legislation. Lots of it. They came to do something. Theres a lesson there for the GOP. If they get back Congress, they better be willing to fight, Hawley tweeted.

It mustve been an exceedingly hard pill to swallow, but the guy who literally is writing the book on manhood took it like a  pill-swallowing person who identifies as male.

Perhaps the hardest pill for him to swallow was having to stifle cheers when his arch nemesis, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan and so angered China that it launched several days of invasion-threatening military exercises. Pelosi confronted China exactly as Hawley has urged the U.S. government to do. But praising her for it was simply out of the question. One tweet of praise for Democrats is more than any Republican Senate person identifying as male should be expected to stomach in a single week.

DontFundMe

Scammers intent on exploiting human compassion for their own enrichment got their comeuppance when a court in Pennsylvania sentenced the GoFundMe con artists to prison for defrauding donors. They had convinced donors around the country that they were raising money to help a homeless man who, as the scam went, had handed over his last $20 to help a woman after she had run out of gas. None of that actually happened.

There really was a homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr. And the couple, Katelyn McClure and her then-boyfriend, Mark DAmico, really did encounter Bobbitt outside a casino. McClure concocted a story designed to make people feel bad, while the others created a good-deed scenario  all of the ingredients they deemed necessary to generate sympathy from GoFundMe donors. It worked, and they raked in nearly $400,000 from more than 14,000 donors. But when Bobbitt didnt receive his full share of the money, he effectively blew the whistle.

Bobbitt was sentenced in 2019 to five years of probation and drug treatment, while DAmico pleaded guilty and received a five-year prison sentence plus an order to reimburse the donors. McClure last week was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, plus three years of supervised release, plus restitution to the donors.

First four-star Black Marine general

It shouldnt have taken this long, but the Marines just promoted the first Black four-star general in the services 246-year history. It took 43 years for the service to go from elevating its first Black brigadier general to reach the point last Saturday when Gen. Michael E. Langley received his fourth star. My daddy told me to aim high, so I aimed as high as I could and found the few and the proud, Langley told the crowd at a ceremony in Washington.

Langley took over the U.S. Africa Command this week, having previously served and commanded at every level around Asia, the Atlantic and the Middle East.

Fighting to defend democracy

Allies of outgoing Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois  one of the few congressional Republicans who has fought ex-President Donald Trumps attempts to undermine American democracy  have started a pro-democracy candidate recruitment program aimed at getting responsible Republicans to run for local offices that oversee elections.

The nonprofit Keep Country First Policy Action is positioning itself opposite Trumps efforts to stack election systems in key states with loyalists eager to circumvent the will of the voters and throw elections to Trump or other MAGA-ish candidates, Politico reported.

The new organization intends to recruit and train candidates for positions like county clerk, which in most states help ensure election integrity. An affiliated super PAC, Americans Keeping Country First, spent $1.4 million this year to help Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defeat a Republican primary challenger backed by Trump, who villainized Raffensperger for refusing to tilt that states results his way.
Mozambique is a small coastal nation in southeast Africa, north of South Africa and south of Tanzania that has become the most recent scene of Islamic terrorism developing and disrupting both the local economy and massive foreign investments to build a lucrative natural gas industry to supply local and export customers. Since 2019 the violence has increased to the point where most foreign natural gas operations have been shut down and neighboring countries have organized a peacekeeping force to restore order until local security forces are reformed and upgraded to do it themselves.

The Mozambique offshore natural gas fields up north in Cabo Delgado province halted their operation ashore in 2021 because of the growing violence. The unrest is not intense but it is widespread and persistent. The Islamic terrorists, most of them from outside the country, are not seeking to control territory but to disrupt economic activities. The purpose of this is to establish an environment where they can extort money from foreign firms This is a familiar pattern in Africa and experience has shown that making extortion payments makes the Islamic terrorists stronger and able to sustain themselves and grow stronger. The attacks are also expanding in the province and threatening existing mining operations.

Developing the extraction and export facilities for natural gas is expensive, complex and time consuming. The natural gas operation is managed by ExxonMobil and French firm Total. They are in the process of building onshore facilities for bringing natural gas from offshore natural gas fields to onshore LNG (liquid Natural Gas) facilities and a port for loading the very cold, but now liquid and concentrated, natural gas into special tankers that carry the 13 million tons of LNG a year to foreign markets. Demand, and the price for LNG has risen this year because of Russias invasion of Ukraine and European customers for Russian natural gas sharply reducing their imports from Russia. European nations are making this permanent and the only natural gas replacement available on short notice is LNG. Egypt is the major customer for imported LNG but several African countries in West Africa and South Africa are using more natural gas and thats why South Africa has been a major contributor to troops to keep the peace in Cabo Delgado province. Other neighboring nations are also contributing troops. Its a matter of self-interest, and preventing the Islamic terrorists activity from spreading to their territory.

LNG is still being shipped from offshore natural gas fields. A second, smaller (3.4 million tons a year) effort called Coral South and operated by Italian firm Eni, took a different, more expensive, approach and used floating LNG production and a loading platform. The Eni effort was not disrupted by the recent violence in Cabo Delgado province and is on schedule to begin LNG exports this year. Encouraged by that, Eni is building a second offshore platform that will begin LNG shipments in four years. Other firms, like South African SASOL, are handing local pipelines for overland export, mainly to South Africa but also to other neighboring countries as well as within Mozambique. Those pipelines are vulnerable to Islamic terrorist attack

Since 2010 natural gas related activity has grown in northern Mozambique. This meant more business for local firms and jobs for people in the area. That attracted the attention of criminal gangs in Mozambique and throughout East Africa. The current Mozambique government is something of a political gang itself, which is common in Africa and many other parts of the world. Local expectations soon exceeded reality so gangsters and the usual corrupt incompetent local politicians took advantage of this. They were joined by Islamic terrorists from other parts of East Africa where there are larger Moslem populations.

In Africa, there tend to be fewer Moslems the further south you go and eventually the majorities are Christian or ancient local religions. Mozambique, with 30 million people, is 20 percent Moslem and 60 percent Christian. Cabo Delgado is the only province with a Moslem majority.

To the north, Tanzania, with 56 million people, is 35 percent Moslem. You dont encounter a Moslem majority nation until you reach Somalia, which is currently the source of most of the Islamic terrorist activity in East Africa. For that reason, it was Somali Islamic terrorists who were attracted to northern Mozambique and played a role in creating some of the local Islamic terrorist groups. Some of these new groups borrowed names from existing Somali groups like al Shabaab for the new Mozambique terror groups. The Somalis included local chapters of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). In Somalia the Islamic terrorists are almost all locals and are taking a beating from AU (African Union) peacekeepers, the new Somali army and local militias. Over the last decade a growing number of veteran Somali Islamic terrorists have left Somali looking for a less lethal environment for themselves and their families. Some showed up in northern Mozambique and spoke or preached in favor of Islamic terrorism, but did not try to organize new groups because these exiles would be quickly identified, arrested or killed and end up in prison or in some other nation. This has been a common pattern for three decades and what made it easy for Islamic terrorism to develop quickly in Mozambique once there was something valuable enough to steal in the name of defending Islam.

Mozambique now realizes that the LNG bonanza wont happen unless the gas LNG producing areas are safe and secure for foreign as well as local workers. Neighboring countries planning to be customers for the natural gas also have a very real interest in a peaceful Cabo Delgado province. Despite over a decade of Islamic terrorist violence in Somalia, a stable government was recently achieved in part by suppressing most of the Islamic terrorist activity.

Currently work on the onshore LNG facilities is stalled and restarting work cannot take place until the area is safe. If that happens in the next year or two, onshore LNG shipments wont begin until 2025 at the earliest. Its up to Mozambique, currently rated as one of the most corrupt nations in the world, to overcome its past of civil wars, corruption and general inability to keep the peace. They have a major incentive, but often that is not enough.
I have often been accused by the editor of this magazine of having an uncanny memory. Thats probably only half right.

Living through 25 years of the streaming industry helps with recall, but so does being good at quick computer searches. I have a tendency to hoard emails, text messages, and business receipts, which comes in handy when every new company touts first ever or pioneer for something thats been done many times before. Advancements in OCR guarantee that Ill be able to extract words and phrases from trip photos and trade show receipts for years to come, jogging my memory about locations and dates where key conversations took place.

One such conversation centers on the 2004 arrival of this magazines editor, Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, on the streaming scene. From 1997 to 2001, Id written for several industry publications, including Streaming Media, but in the post-9/11 landscape, I shifted away from writing and consulting in the streaming industry to focus on teaching college-level courses on topics from my prior career (codecs, compositing, special effects, and crisis management public relations).

At the request of a multinational corporation that had been a prior client, I started consulting again in late 2003, naming my company Transitions as a nod toward the move back into the consulting field. Shortly after that, I got an email from Eric.

While the magazine had gone through a succession of editors at a fairly fast clip between 2001 and 2004, and Eric had not been through the first wave of streaming hype and overpromises, he was interested in bringing on a consistent stable of contributing editors to Streaming Media Magazine and StreamingMedia.com.

That group of writers included Christine Perey, Dom Robinson, Jan Ozer, and a few others. Eric told me I could write a column on whatever Id like, which led to Streams of Thought and my license to write this seemingly random column today. The majority of this writing stable has continued with him for the past 18 years, taking us through the first and second decades of streaming media as an industry and Streaming Media as a magazine.

Along the way, Eric provided a sense of stability in an ever-morphing industry that was fundamentally changing the way that we consumed content. And in late 2018, he was there to help assist in the creation of the industrys first charity, the Help Me Stream Research Foundation, which I run as executive director.

Eric was also instrumental in shaping conversations around power and sustainability. In 2020, he asked Robinson and me to co-author an article titled The Greening of Streaming, which has turned into a movement that had a public launch event at the U.K. Parliament in June 2022. Ever one to keep his finger on the pulse of whats needed, Eric also asked meas one of his last editorial assignments before handing the magazines reins over to another highly qualified editor, Steve Nathans-Kellyto write an article on cradle-to-grave sustainability that youll read elsewhere in this issue.

Our conversations havent always been about the industry, and for that Ive also been grateful. I remember one conversation on a particularly brisk mid-October 2009 walk through Hammersmith in London that ranged from religion to religiosity and from charlatans seeking power to charlatans seeking to perpetuate their power. Those kinds of conversations, even where we strongly disagree on both the premise and the endgame, are one part professional friendship and one part civil discourse, which is often lacking on social media and naturally emerges from face-to-face discussions.

As Eric does his own transition, stepping away from the magazine and online news portions of Streaming Media and into an industry position that hes a custom fit for, Im delighted to know that the stability he created will continue going forward. Eric will also keep chairing the Streaming Media conferences for the foreseeable future, which means weve not yet seen the last of him, and the industry will be better for that.
LAKE ZURICH, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ACCO) today published its 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, which outlines the companys commitment to ESG and includes an update on its publicly committed sustainability and diversity goals.

Every year we make good progress across a wide spectrum of ESG initiatives that are important to our stakeholders, and 2021 was no exception. We increased the percentage of female leaders in the company, reduced CO2 emissions from facilities, increased revenue from products certified to third-party environmental and social standards and recycled the vast majority of non-hazardous waste in our factories and warehouses, to name just a few, said Boris Elisman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ACCO Brands.

This year, ACCO Brands appointed an ESG Steering Committee, comprised of senior leaders across the company, to make our existing initiatives more impactful, accelerate our progress, and ensure that our ESG commitment is reflected in our business strategy, products and operations.

I am grateful and proud of the progress we have made thus far, noted Elisman. We will continue this important work to meet our stakeholders expectations, and position ACCO Brands to achieve our ESG goals and build a sustainable and robust business for a better tomorrow.

To learn more about ACCO Brands ESG efforts, read the full report by clicking here.

About ACCO Brands

ACCO Brands, the Home of Great Brands Built by Great People, designs, manufactures and markets consumer and end-user products that help people work, learn, play and thrive. Our widely recognized brands include AT-A-GLANCE, Five Star, Kensington, Leitz, Mead, PowerA, Swingline, Tilibra and many others. More information about ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ACCO) can be found at www.accobrands.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005404/en/

Julie McEwan

Media Relations

937.495.5717

[email protected]

Source: ACCO Brands Corporation
NORTHBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, focusing on Allstates investments strategy. This special investor event is in addition to quarterly earnings calls.

The special topic calls provide deeper insights into significant strategic and operational topics and offer additional perspective and transparency to investors as Allstate executes its strategy.

The hourlong call will start at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time and will include presentations, discussions with Allstates executive leaders and a question-and-answer opportunity.

An archived version of the webcast will be posted at www.allstateinvestors.com. The replay will be posted shortly after the end of the event.

To receive alerts about Allstate, enroll on the Email Alerts section of www.allstateinvestors.com. You can also get RSS feeds of news releases at www.allstatenewsroom.com.

Financial information, including material announcements about The Allstate Corporation, is routinely posted on www.allstateinvestors.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220811005789/en/

Al Scott

Corporate Relations

(847) 402-5600

Mark Nogal

Investor Relations

(847) 402-2800

Source: The Allstate Corporation
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Appili Therapeutics Inc. (TSX:APLI; OTCQX: APLIF) (the Company or Appili), a biopharmaceutical company focused on drug development for infectious diseases and biodefense, today announced its financial and operational results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2023, which ended on June 30, 2022.

As threats from both known and emerging infectious diseases loom around the world, Im proud that Appili is working to advance our pipeline of critical infectious disease and biodefense programs, said Armand Balboni, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Appili Therapeutics. Following our recent presentation at WorldLeish7, we are even closer to making available ATI-1801, an urgently needed treatment for those suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis, a disfiguring infection of the skin. We look forward to continuing this momentum and hope to announce reinforced support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for our biodefense tularemia vaccine candidate ATI-1701, and with the help of our partners, receive FDA Approval for ATI-1501, a liquid oral reformulation designed to help patients burdened by difficult-to-treat bacterial infections.

First quarter and recent operational highlights include:

Announcing commitment of over US$10 million in new funding from DTRA to advance for our biodefense tularemia vaccine candidate ATI-1701 to help combat the bacteria Francisella tularensis , the causative agent of tularemia and a top priority biothreat.

, the causative agent of tularemia and a top priority biothreat. Attending at the WorldLeish7 Conference in Cartagena, Colombia, and presenting update on new clinical program ATI-1801 for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis that may be eligible for a valuable Priority Review Voucher

Securing a non-convertible loan of US $3.6 million, and a licence and distribution agreement with Long Zone Holdings Inc.

Completing equity financing of $4,500,000 in gross proceeds.

Financial Results

The Company prepares its financial statements in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standard Board and Part I of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada HandbookAccounting. All figures are stated in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.

The net loss and comprehensive loss of $2.32 million or $0.03 loss per share for the three months ended June 30, 2021, was $5.04 million lower than the net loss and comprehensive loss of $7.36 million or $0.12 loss per share during the three months ended June 30, 2021. This relates mainly to a decrease in research and development expenses by $5.09 million, a decrease in business development of $0.4 million, and a decrease in income tax expense of $0.01 million. These decreases were offset by an increase in general and administrative expense by $0.08 million, an increase in financing cost of $0.15 million, a decrease of government assistance of $0.22 million and a decrease in interest income by $0.01 million.

As of June 30, 2022, the Company had cash and short-term investments of $5.55 million, compared to $6.66 million on March 31, 2022. As of August 13, 2022, the Company had 121,226,120 issued and outstanding Common Shares, 8,656,905 stock options, and 49,817,879 warrants outstanding.

This press release should be read in conjunction with the Companys unaudited interim condensed financial statements for the first quarter of the 2022 fiscal year and the related management discussion and analysis (MD&A), copies of which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Appili Therapeutics

Appili Therapeutics is an infectious disease biopharmaceutical company that is purposefully built, portfolio-driven, and people-focused to fulfill its mission of solving life-threatening infections. By systematically identifying urgent infections with unmet needs, Appilis goal is to strategically develop a pipeline of novel therapies to prevent deaths and improve lives. The Company is currently advancing a diverse range of anti-infectives, including, a vaccine candidate to eliminate a serious biological weapon threat, a topical antiparasitic product for the treatment of a disfiguring disease, a broad-spectrum antifungal, and two novel antibiotic programs. Led by a proven management team, Appili is at the epicenter of the global fight against infection. For more information, visit www.AppiliTherapeutics.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including with respect to the Companys development of its products and expected funding arrangements. Wherever possible, words such as may, would, could, should, will, anticipate, believe, plan, expect, intend, estimate, potential for and similar expressions have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations of the Companys management for future growth, results of operations, performance and business prospects and opportunities and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, without limitation, those listed in the annual information form of the Company dated June 23, 2022 and the other filings made by the Company with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities (which may be viewed at 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, performance or achievements may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. These factors should be considered carefully, and prospective investors should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to revise forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005408/en/

Media:

Danielle Raabe/APCO Worldwide

1-646-717-9915

[email protected]

Investor Relations:

Armand Balboni, CEO

Appili Therapeutics

[email protected]

Source: Appili Therapeutics Inc.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KBRA releases its RMBS Credit Indices (KCI) for July 2022. The indices track early-, mid-, and late-stage delinquencies, observed modifications, prepayment speeds, and other performance metrics across four major RMBS 2.0 subsectors.

Click here to view the report.

About KBRA

KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered in the U.S., the EU, and the UK, and is designated to provide structured finance ratings in Canada. KBRAs ratings can be used by investors for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005397/en/

Analytical Contacts

Brian Ford, CFA, Structured Finance Research

+1 (646) 731-2329

[email protected]

Jack Kahan, Senior Managing Director

+1 (646) 731-2486

[email protected]

Ashish Sharda, Managing Director

+1 (646) 731-2415

[email protected]

Armine Karajyan, Senior Director

+1 (646) 731-1210

[email protected]

Business Development Contact

Dan Stallone, Director

+1 (646) 731-1308

[email protected]

Source: KBRA
Renowned Fine Dining Steak House Debuts Seventh Location in Greater Los Angeles Area

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ruths Chris Steak House, famous for its unmatched dining experience and steaks served on 500-degree sizzling plates, announced its newest location in Long Beach, which is now open for business.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005376/en/

Ruths Chris Steak House announced its newest location in Long Beach, which is now open for business. The new Ruths Chris restaurant is located at 180 East Ocean Boulevard (Suite 160) and brings an unmatched dining experience to the area in its new 8,075-square-foot restaurant. (Photo: Business Wire)

The new Ruths Chris restaurant is located at 180 East Ocean Boulevard (Suite 160) and brings an unmatched dining experience to the area in its new 8,075-square-foot restaurant. The new space features three main dining rooms, a luxurious bar with ample seating and a variety of high tops, a spacious outdoor patio and two private dining rooms that can accommodate personal and family celebrations, business meetings and much more. The space is elegantly appointed and thoughtfully designed to provide a pleasurable and comfortable dining experience for every guest.

With over 150 restaurants, Ruths Chris has been in business for more than 57 years. As part of the pre-opening celebration for the newest location in Long Beach, Ruths Chris hosted a special dinner with community leaders, business owners and Ruths Chris executives to raise money for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

We are honored to bring this new Ruths Chris location to Long Beach and serve the community and those that live in and around the area, said Wendi Thompson, general manager for Ruths Chris in Long Beach. Ruths Chris offers its guests a one-of-a-kind experience  whether theyre celebrating a special occasion or enjoying an intimate dinner. We look forward to welcoming guests into our restaurant and showcasing the same top-notch service theyre accustomed to from the brand.

This location is our first in Long Beach, representing an exciting expansion in Southern California that further entrenches us in the areas fine dining scene, said Cheryl Henry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ruths Hospitality Group, Inc. We look forward to welcoming new guests, as well as those who are already familiar with and passionate about our brand.

At Ruth's Chris, the last bite is just as good as the first. The companys perfected broiling method and seasoning techniques ensure each cut of USDA Prime beef arrives cooked to perfection and sizzling on a 500-degree plate  just the way Ruths Chris founder Ruth Fertel liked it.

Representing the highest-quality beef, these cuts are well marbled and hand-selected for thickness and tenderness. Ruth only served her guests the finest, and thats why Ruths Chris serves custom-aged USDA Prime beef.

While Ruths Chris USDA Prime steaks and their signature sizzle may have put the restaurant on the map, guests can also enjoy fresh seafood, scratch-made side dishes and desserts, craft cocktails and choice wines, served with the sort of hospitality that would make its namesake proud.

Ruths Chris also offers its Sizzle, Swizzle, Swirl Happy Hour at the Long Beach location with mouthwatering food and full-size appetizers from 4:00p.m.  6:00p.m. every Sunday through Friday.

For more information and hours of operation, please visit RuthsChris.com/restaurant-locations/long-beach/ or call (562) 966-6777.

About Ruths Chris Steak House

Ruth's Chris Steak House was founded by Ruth Fertel 57 years ago in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ruth had a recipe for everything  from how to prepare her signature sizzling steaks to how to treat her guests. This timeless formula is a testament to how one neighborhood eatery has become the largest collection of upscale steak houses in the world, with more than 150 restaurant locations around the globe. Ruth's Chris remains true to its heritage, helping guests make their best memories on 500-degree sizzling plates.

Ruth's Chris Steak House. This is how its done.

For more information, visit RuthsChris.com, or find us on Facebook and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005376/en/

[email protected]

Source: Ruths Chris Steak House
WEST HARRISON, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sky Harbour Group Corporation (NYSE American: SKYH, SKYH WS) (SHG or the Company), an aviation infrastructure company building the first nationwide network of Home-Basing Solutions (HBS), for business aircraft, today announced financial results for quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Tal Keinan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, Sky Harbour continued to accelerate its development pace in the second quarter of 2022. The company entered into a new ground lease at Addison Airport, in Dallas Texas (ADS), and will soon commence construction of a Sky Harbour campus. Construction projects continue to advance, and we look forward to beginning flight operations at Nashville International phase 2 at the end of August, and at Miami OPA Locka phase 1 in October. Having demonstrated the Sky Harbour business model through its cycle, from site selection through to full flight operations, Sky Harbour looks forward to expanding its network aggressively in the quarters ahead.

Second Quarter 2022 Financial and Business Highlights:

On April 29, 2022, our wholly-owned subsidiary outside the Obligated Group for our Private Activity Bonds purchased the underlying ground lease at Miami-Opa Locka Airport from the sublessor for approximately $8.5 million, and now lease the property directly from Miami-Dade County (MDC). The transaction also required us to pay approximately $1.0 million in transfer fees to MDC. The transaction extends the term of our ground lease and is expected to decrease the Companys cash ground lease payments by at least $30 million over the term of the lease on an undiscounted basis.

On June 28, 2022, the Company entered into a new ground lease with the Town of Addison, Texas located at ADS ("ADS Lease"). The ADS Lease term is 40 years from the completion of construction with no additional extension options, which is the maximum allowable term permitted by the Town.

Form 10-Q

SHG filed in a Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q the unaudited consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. Investors can find the filing on the SECs website, www.sec.gov.

About Sky Harbour Group Corporation

Sky Harbour Group Corporation is an aviation infrastructure development company building the first nationwide network of Home-Basing Solutions (HBS) for business aircraft. We develop, lease and manage general aviation hangars across the United States, targeting airfields in the largest growth markets with significant aircraft populations and high hangar demand. Our HBS campuses feature exclusive private hangars and a full suite of dedicated services specifically designed for home-based aircraft. To learn more, visit www.skyharbour.group.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this release are "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about the financial condition, results of operations, earnings outlook and prospects of SHG may include statements for the period following the consummation of the business combination. When used in this press release, the words plan, believe, expect, anticipate, intend, outlook, estimate, forecast, project, continue, could, may, might, possible, potential, predict, should, would and other similar words and expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the management of SHG as applicable and are inherently subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances and their potential effects and speak only as of the date of such statement. There can be no assurance that future developments will be those that have been anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed and identified in the public filings made or to be made with the SEC by SHG, including the filings described above, regarding the following: expectations regarding SHGs strategies and future financial performance, including its future business plans, expansion plans or objectives, prospective performance and opportunities and competitors, revenues, products and services, pricing, operating expenses, market trends, liquidity, cash flows and uses of cash, capital expenditures, and SHGs ability to invest in growth initiatives; SHGs ability to scale and build the hangars currently under development or planned in a timely and cost-effective manner; the implementation, market acceptance and success of SHGs business model and growth strategy; the success or profitability of SHGs hangar facilities; SHGs future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; SHGs ability to obtain funding for its operations and future growth; developments and projections relating to SHGs competitors and industry; the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination; geopolitical risk and changes in applicable laws or regulations; the possibility that SHG may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; operational risk; risk that the COVID-19 pandemic, and local, state, and federal responses to addressing the pandemic may have an adverse effect on SHGs business operations, as well as SHGs financial condition and results of operations. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of the assumptions made by the management of SHG prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. SHG undertakes 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220811005815/en/

Investor Relations:

[email protected]

Attn: Francisco X. Gonzalez, CFO

Source: Sky Harbour Group Corporation
TYSONS, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced its stations have won six 2022 National Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence in broadcast journalism. The Edward R. Murrow Awards are sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and honor outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism.

Our purpose of serving the greater good of our communities empowers our journalists to tell stories that matter and make a difference, said Lynn Beall, EVP and COO of media operations, TEGNA. Congratulations to all our stations that were recognized for their impactful work.

The prestigious Murrow Awards recognize local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community.

TEGNA stations National Edward R. Murrow Award winners are:

KARE  Minneapolis: Hard News, Large Market Television for Pregnant & Shackled. Police raided a pregnant womans home wrongly suspecting her husband stole a snowblower. She ended up in jail, in labor, and experts say, illegally in shackles. Through their reporting, KARE 11 investigative reporter A.J. Lagoe, reporter/producer Brandon Stahl, photojournalist Gary Knox and executive producer Steve Eckert prompted policy changes in Hennepin County.

KARE  Minneapolis: Excellence in Writing, Large Market Television for reporter Boyd Huppert. In 2021, Huppert marked his 25th year as a reporter at KARE. Over his career, hes received 22 Murrows, including this years winning entry, which featured three stories from his signature Land of 10,000 Stories segment: Brads Rink, McDaniel, and Mrs. Kleins Greatest Lesson.

WFAA  Dallas: Breaking News Coverage, Large Market Television for Timberview High School Shooting. During its breaking coverage of the Mansfield Timberview High shooting, the entire WFAA newsroom focused on clear public safety information, exclusive reporting about the student suspect, and on-the-ground conversations with parents waiting to be reunited with their children.

KREM  Spokane: Feature Reporting, Small Market Television for Hyland Family Tragedy. In this report, KREM anchor Whitney Ward and senior photojournalist Brett Allbery share the Hyland familys story after the couple lost their young son and unborn child to a devastating wildfire in Washington state.

WCSH/News Center Maine  Portland: Excellence in Video, Small Market Television for Schooner Bowdoin: A Classroom Like No Other, in which photojournalist Kirk Cratty looks at the Maine Maritime Academy and the young men and women wholl serve as officers and engineers on everything from ferries to freighters, tugboats to tankers.

TEGNA stations were also honored with a record 96 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, more than any other local broadcast television group and the most in the companys history. KARE in Minneapolis received 11 individual awards, the most given in 2022, and seven stations received the overall excellence honor.

About TEGNA

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) is an innovative media company that serves the greater good of our communities. Across platforms, TEGNA tells empowering stories, conducts impactful investigations and delivers innovative marketing solutions. With 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, TEGNA is the largest owner of top 4 network affiliates in the top 25 markets among independent station groups, reaching approximately 39 percent of all television households nationwide. TEGNA also owns leading multicast networks True Crime Network, Twist and Quest. TEGNA offers innovative solutions to help businesses reach consumers across television, digital and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including Premion, TEGNAs OTT advertising service. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005086/en/

For media inquiries:

Anne Bentley

Vice President, Corporate Communications

703-873-6366

[email protected]

For investor inquiries:

Julie Heskett

Senior Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis

703-873-6747

[email protected]

Source: TEGNA
US$524.9 Million NPV10 (post-tax), 78.7% IRR (post-tax), 12-Month Capex Payback

Boron is critical for decarbonization as a high-impact, cross-cutting super material.

VICTORIA, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Temas Resources Corp. (Temas or the Company) [CSE: TMAS] and their partner Erin Ventures Inc. [TSXV: EV] are pleased to report the filing of an Independent Technical Report providing the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Piskanja boron project located in Serbia on SEDAR, as per the terminology, definitions and guidelines given in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves (May 2014) as required by NI 43-101 ("The CIM Code"). The CIM Code is an internationally recognized reporting code as defined by the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards. The filing follows press release dated June 28, 2022 summarizing the PEA including sensitivity analyses, highlights being repeated below.

PEA HIGHLIGHTS

Post-tax Net Present Value (NPV10%) $524.9 million Post-tax IRR 78.7% Initial capital cost (Capex) (including 30% contingency) $79.9 million Capex payback from commercial production 12 months Life of Mine (LOM) 16 years Gross Project Revenue $2.02 billion Net Project Cash Flow (post-tax) $1.21 billion Average Annual Gross Revenue $126.0 million LOM average annual EBITDA $91.3 million Net operating margin 72.4% Post-tax Operating Cost per t of product $167.45 Weighted average revenue per t of product $514.02 LOM Sustaining Capital (including 30% contingency) $50.8 million LOM average gross production 305,304 tonnes Profitability Index (NPV/Capex) 6.57X (post-tax) LOM Capital Intensity Index (Initial Capex/ROM tonnage) $16.36 LOM average C1 (cash operating) cost (run-of-mine production) $91.95/t Average annual production (sales grade) colemanite 258,272 t Average annual production of boric acid 25,000 tonnes LOM average C1 cost (colemanite) post-tax $154.50/t LOM average C1 cost (boric acid) post-tax $340.70/t LOM mining production 4.88 million tonnes LOM average grade B2O3 34.57 % Good potential for resource expansion

Note:

All values in this news release are reported in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted

Assumed price/t (colemanite 40% B2O3) for LOM: US$500

Assumed price/t (boric acid, technical grade) for LOM: US$700

Units expressed in metric tonnes

MINERAL RESOURCES

The basis for the PEA is the Mineral Resource Estimate prepared by Prof. Miodrag Banjesevic PhD. P.Geo, EurGeol.

The updated Mineral Resource Statement generated for the Piskanja Project is as followings:

Resource Category Geological Resource

(tonne) B2O3 % Contained B2O3

(tonne) Measured 1,391,574 35.59 495,251 Indicated 5,478,986 34.05 1,865,677 Measured + Indicated 6,870,560 34.36 2,360,928 Inferred 284,771 39.59 112,732

Reported at a cut-off grade of 12 percent B2O3, at a minimum mining thickness of 1.2 m, considering reasonable underground mining, processing and selling technical parameters and costs benchmark against similar borate projects and a selling price of US$700/tonne (boric acid) and US$500/tonne (colemanite 40% B2O3). All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have a demonstrated economic viability. The contained B2O3 represents estimated contained metal in the ground and has not been adjusted for metallurgical recovery, and may have discrepancies due to rounding.

The PEA was prepared independently by, and under the supervision of, Prof. Miodrag Banjesevic PhD. P.Geo, EurGeol, with contributions from Prof. Sasa Stojadinovic PhD. (mining engineer). The PEA was prepared in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 and is based on the Mineral Resource Estimate for Piskanja with an effective date of June 24, 2022 (see Mineral Resource above).

CAUTIONARY NOTE

The PEA summarized in this news release is considered preliminary in nature, contains numerous assumptions and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative, geologically, to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the results of the PEA will be realized. No Mineral Reserves have been estimated for Piskanja. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred Mineral Resources are that part of the Mineral Resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geologic evidence and sampling, which is sufficient to imply but not verify grade or quality continuity. Inferred Mineral Resources may not be converted to mineral reserves. It is reasonably expected, though not guaranteed, that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration. Mineral Resources are captured within an optimized mine plan (within the constraints of a PEA) and meet the test of reasonable prospects for economic extraction.

The effective date of the PEA is June 24, 2022, and a technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) in support of the PEA will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release.

Temas also wishes to announce that it has closed a non-brokered private placement (the Private Placement) of 500,000 common shares at a price of $0.06 per common share. The Private Placement constituted a secondary drawdown of the $5 million equity investment facility with Crescita Capital LLC.

QUALIFIED PERSONS

James E Wallis, M.Sc. (Eng), P. Eng., a director of Erin Ventures, and Nenad Rakic, EurGeol, a consultant to Erin Ventures, are qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101, have reviewed the technical information that forms the basis for this news release and have approved the disclosure herein.

Rory Kutluoglu, P.Geo and Robert W. Schafer, P.Geo, are Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101 and have reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this press release.

Prof. Miodrag Banjesevic PhD. P.Geo, EurGeol, is the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 for the Preliminary Economic Assessment and for the Mineral Resource Estimate, and is independent of the Company. He has reviewed the technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Michael Dehn, President & CEO

About Temas Resources

Temas Resources Corp. (CSE: TMAS) (OTCQB: TMASF) is focused on the advancement of mineral independence and processes by which mineral products (nickel, iron, copper, gold, ilmenite and other sulphide and oxide mineral ores and concentrates) are processed and recovered using sustainable hydrometallurgical technologies. The Company invests in and works to apply its green technologies across its mining portfolio to reduce the environmental impact and carbon footprint of metal extraction through advanced processing and patented leaching technologies. The Company is advancing Iron-Titanium-Vanadium projects in Quebec and soon expects to be active at its boron project in Serbia.

Pursuant to the Option Agreement, Temas Resources may earn a 50% interest in the Piskanja Project by (a) issuing to Erin Ventures 250,000 common shares (completed) and 250,000 Temas warrants (completed) (each exercisable to acquire a common share for a period of 48 months from issuance, at an exercise price equal to the market price of the common shares less the maximum allowable discount pursuant to stock exchange policies) within five business days after the effective date of the Option Agreement, and (b) incurring an aggregate of 10,500,000 in expenditures on the Piskanja Project. The Option Agreement may be terminated in certain circumstances, including by Erin Ventures if certain milestones are not met in accordance with specified timelines. Upon exercise of the option by Temas Resources, a joint venture will be formed and Erin Ventures and Temas Resources will become associated as joint venturers to further advance the Piskanja Project.

All public filings for the Company can be found on the SEDAR website www.sedar.com. For more information about the Company, please visit www.temasresources.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the results of the PEA, including the projected Capex, the estimated after-tax NPV and IRR, the estimated LOM and estimated concentrate grades, the potential production from and viability of Piskanja, the risks and opportunities outlined in the PEA, the potential tonnage, grades and content of deposits, the extent of mineral resource estimates, anticipated exploration program results from exploration activities, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believes, expects, anticipates, intends, estimates, plans, may, should, would, will, potential, scheduled or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that the Company will receive all necessary approvals required to develop Piskanja as outlined in the PEA, that the assumptions in the PEA are reasonably accurate, market fundamentals will result in sustained boron demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future development of Piskanja in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of the Companys projects and its ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

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 differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, requirements for additional capital, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, including on the Piskanja project, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, and there is no guarantee that such interests, will be certain, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of boron, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals (including of the TSX Venture Exchange), permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID19, including the impact of COVID19 on the Companys business, financial condition and results of operations, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the companys continuous disclosure documents. All of the Companys Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

Temas Resource Corp. prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Terms relating to mineral resources in this news release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended (CIM Standards). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) has adopted amendments effective February 25, 2019 (the SEC Modernization Rules) to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will now recognize estimates of measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources and inferred mineral resources, which are defined in substantially similar terms to the corresponding CIM Standards. In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of proven mineral reserves and probable mineral reserves to be substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Standards.

U.S. investors are cautioned that while the foregoing terms are substantially similar to corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral resources that Temas may report as measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources and inferred mineral resources under NI 43-101 would be the same had Temas Resource Corp. prepared the resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules.

In accordance with Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies, except in limited circumstances where permitted under NI 43-101.

NEITHER THE CSE 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220811005811/en/

For further information or investor relations inquiries:

Michael Dehn

President and CEO

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: 647-477-2382

or

Dave Burwell

Vice President

The Howard Group Inc.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 403-410-7907

Toll Free: 1-888-221-0915

Source: Temas Resources Corp.
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

In accordance with Article 5 of EU Regulation n 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation), detailed information is available on the website of Tikehau Capital (Paris: TKO): https://www.tikehaucapital.com/fr/shareholders/regulatory-information

Name of the issuer Issuer Identity Code (LEI) Trading Day ISIN Aggregated volume per day

(number of shares) Weighted average

price per day Market (MIC Code) TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 05/08/2022 FR0013230612 3,034 24.5418 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 08/08/2022 FR0013230612 1,600 24.9109 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 09/08/2022 FR0013230612 1,337 24.8027 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 09/08/2022 FR0013230612 64 24.7000 CEUX TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 10/08/2022 FR0013230612 3,197 25.0416 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 11/08/2022 FR0013230612 1,020 25.3054 XPAR TOTAL 10,252 24.8663

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005225/en/

Tikehau Capital

Source: Tikehau Capital
Longtime brokerage standout joins new generation of Georgia Properties award-winning leadership team

ROSWELL, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties, one of the largest and most successful real estate organizations in the country, recently announced Todd Tucker, formerly Georgia Properties Senior Vice President of Real Estate Operations, is now Executive Vice President for Real Estate Operations and Qualifying Broker. Tucker is a celebrated real estate leader with decades of experience in training, technology, and brokerage management. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties is a full-service brokerage with 29 office locations throughout Georgia and more than 1,600 sales associates.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005023/en/

Todd Tucker, Executive Vice President of Real Estate Brokerage | Qualifying Broker, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties (Photo: Business Wire)

Todd would easily make any list of whos who in real estate for Atlanta, said Dan Forsman, Georgia Properties Chairman. He has taken on so many roles in our company and I couldnt think of a better professional - and person - to lead our real estate operations and ensure our sales associates continued success.

Added DeAnn Golden, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties: Ive been working with Todd for more than 20 years and his dedication to our industry, company and sales associates is absolutely unmatched.

Tucker began his real estate career as a sales associate in April 1997 and quickly rose to a top producer. He joined the staff at Georgia Properties - then Prudential Georgia Realty - in 2003 as assistant broker in the North Cobb office (now Northwest Office). He then became the Managing Broker of the Douglasville West Georgia Office in 2004 and the broker of the East Cobb office in 2011. In addition to being managing broker for several of the Georgia Properties offices, he has also served as a trainer, technology trainer and safety officer. As part of his expanded role, Tucker oversees many facets of the organization, from the regional managers to facilities and commercial real estate to creator/facilitator of the Chairmans Circle top associates mastermind groups where he currently oversees five top associates groups that meet monthly. Most recently, Todd is a pioneer leader of the newly created BHHS Global Mastermind groups with associate participation from all over the nation.

Deeply involved with both his community and industry, Tucker has held many positions in local Realtor organizations. He served as President of the Cobb Association of REALTORS in 2004 and President of West Georgia Board of REALTORS in 2009. He is a former Governor for the Graduate REALTORS Institute (GRI), past RPAC Trustee and past RIAC Trustee for the Georgia Association of REALTORS (GAR). Tucker was awarded Realtor of the Year three times in his career with his local Realtor Board and was honored with the Young Achievers Award from the Young Professionals Network (YPN) of GAR. Tucker has served in many positions on the state level over the years but most recently he served on GARs Nominating Committee and Special Media Task Force. He also holds the Accredited Buyers Agent (ABR) national designation, the Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI) designation and a brokers license in Georgia and Alabama. He is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia.

I look forward to seeing Todd excel in this new role, said Gino Blefari, CEO of HomeServices of America. Hes an extraordinary leader with the experience to help guide Georgia Properties in this new and exciting chapter of their growth story.

I couldnt be prouder to take on this expanded role for our brokerage, Tucker said. We are more than a company, we are a family, and I am honored to take the responsibility of helping our family grow, thrive and prosper.

ABOUT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES GEORGIA PROPERTIES

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties is a full service real estate brokerage company offering residential, commercial and property management services. With over $5.2 billion in sales 2021, 29 office locations and more than 1,600 sales associates, the company continues to expand its footprint in the Atlanta Metro market, including North Georgia Mountain and Lakes and the Southern Crescent. To learn more, visit www.bhhsgeorgia.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005023/en/

Nicola Schwab

Marketing Manager

New Homes Division, CITY HAUS, Luxury Division

404.580.9755

[email protected]

Source: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- USA Compression Partners, LP (NYSE: USAC) (USA Compression) today announced that its senior management will attend the Citi One-on-One Midstream / Energy Infrastructure Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Senior management expects to participate in a series of meetings with members of the investment community on August 16, and presentation materials used during these meetings will be posted to USA Compressions website prior to the investor meetings. Please visit the Investor Relations section of the website at usacompression.com under Presentations.

About USA Compression Partners, LP

USA Compression Partners, LP is a growth-oriented Delaware limited partnership that is one of the nations largest independent providers of natural gas compression services in terms of total compression fleet horsepower. USA Compression partners with a broad customer base composed of producers, processors, gatherers and transporters of natural gas and crude oil. USA Compression focuses on providing natural gas compression services to infrastructure applications primarily in high-volume gathering systems, processing facilities and transportation applications. More information is available at usacompression.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220812005032/en/

USA Compression Partners, LP

Mike Pearl, CFO

(832) 823-7306

[email protected]

Source: USA Compression Partners, LP
Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE: SJR), Shaw Communications Inc. (NYSE: RCI) and Quebecor Inc. (Quebecor) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement (the Agreement) for the sale of Freedom Mobile Inc. (Freedom) to Videotron Ltd., a subsidiary of Quebecor (the Freedom Transaction), subject to regulatory approvals and closing of the merger of Shaw and Rogers announced on March 15, 2021 (the Rogers-Shaw Transaction).

The parties strongly believe the Freedom Transaction provides the best opportunity to create a strong fourth national wireless services provider and addresses the concerns raised by the Commissioner of Competition and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry regarding the Rogers-Shaw Transaction. With this Agreement, the new combined business of Videotron and Freedom will be well-positioned to launch a strong, competitive national 5G offering, using Videotrons 3500 MHz holdings. Accordingly, the parties believe the Rogers-Shaw Transaction should now be approved.

This definitive agreement is substantially consistent with the terms previously announced on June 17, 2022.

We are very pleased with this Agreement, and we are determined to continue building on Freedoms assets, said Pierre Karl Peladeau, President and CEO of Quebecor. Quebecor has shown that it is the best player to create real competition and disrupt the market. Our strong track record combined with Freedoms solid Canadian footprint will allow us to offer consumers in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario more choice, value, and affordability through discounted multiservice bundles and innovative products.

This Agreement with Quebecor brings us one step closer to completing our merger with Shaw, said Tony Staffieri, President and CEO of Rogers. We strongly believe that this divestiture solution addresses the concerns raised by the Commissioner of Competition and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and we look forward to securing the outstanding regulatory approvals for our merger with Shaw so that we can start delivering its significant long-term benefits to Canadian consumers and businesses, including improved network resiliency.

My family, our management team, and our people are extremely proud of what we built with Freedom Mobile. Over the past six years we invested billions of dollars and launched products and services that disrupted the marketplace and helped redefine what Canadians can expect from their wireless carrier, but theres much more that could be done as next generation networks are deployed, technology becomes more sophisticated and consumers demands for fast and responsive applications continue to increase, said Brad Shaw, Executive Chairman and CEO of Shaw. Bringing Freedom Mobile and Quebecor together will expand Freedoms scope to create a national provider with greater ability to invest and compete for the future growth and technology Canadians will need.

Required ApprovalsThe Freedom Transaction is conditional on, among other things, clearance under the Competition Act and approval of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. It is also conditional on, and would close substantially concurrently with, closing of the Rogers-Shaw Transaction. As previously announced, Rogers, Shaw and the Shaw Family Living Trust have agreed to extend the outside date of the Rogers-Shaw Transaction to December 31, 2022 (which outside date may be further extended to January 31, 2023 at the option of Rogers or Shaw, provided Rogers has committed financing available to complete the merger), demonstrating their commitment to completing this transformative combination.

The Rogers-Shaw Transaction, which would see Shaw merge with Rogers, has already been approved by the shareholders of Shaw and the Court of Queens Bench of Alberta, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, and remains subject to review by the Competition Tribunal and approval by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. The Commissioner of Competition has applied for an order of the Competition Tribunal that the parties not proceed with the Rogers-Shaw Transaction, and closing of the Rogers-Shaw Transaction is conditional on either agreement with the Commissioner of Competition or the Competition Tribunal disposing of the application on terms that allow the transaction to close.

Rogers standalone financial guidance for 2022, provided on April 20, 2022, remains unchanged.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking StatementsThis news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, statements about the terms and conditions of the Freedom Transaction, the anticipated benefits and effects of the Freedom Transaction and the Rogers-Shaw Transaction and the timing thereof, including the expected impact of the Freedom Transaction on competitive conditions in Canadas telecommunications industry or wireless markets and the ability of Quebecor to emerge as Canadas fourth national wireless competitor, the potential timing and anticipated receipt of the required regulatory approvals and clearances for the Freedom Transaction and the Rogers-Shaw Transaction, and the anticipated timing for closing of the Freedom Transaction and the Rogers-Shaw Transaction. Forward-looking information may in some cases be identified by words such as will, anticipates, believes, expects, intends and similar expressions suggesting future events or future performance.

We caution that all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information or could cause the current objectives, strategies and intentions of Rogers, Shaw or Quebecor to change. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the possibility that the Freedom Transaction or the Rogers-Shaw Transaction will not be completed in the expected timeframe or at all; the failure to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals and clearances in connection with the Freedom Transaction or the Rogers-Shaw Transaction in the expected timeframe or at all; the possibility that the parties will not be able to reach a resolution with the Commissioner of Competition or the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry regarding the Rogers-Shaw Transaction; the outcome and timing of pending or potential litigation or regulatory proceedings associated with the Rogers-Shaw Transaction or the Freedom Transaction, including the proceeding commenced on May 9, 2022 by the Commissioner of Competition before the Competition Tribunal to block the Rogers-Shaw Transaction and any appeals from any decision rendered by the Competition Tribunal; the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the Freedom Transaction and the Rogers-Shaw Transaction in the expected timeframes or at all; and general economic, business and political conditions. Accordingly, we warn investors to exercise caution when considering statements containing forward-looking information and that it would be unreasonable to rely on such statements as creating legal rights regarding the future results or plans of Rogers, Shaw or Quebecor. We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking information will materialize and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represent expectations as of the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. A comprehensive discussion of other risks that impact each of Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor can also be found in its public reports and filings, which are available under their respective profiles, as applicable, at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.

Forward-looking information is provided herein for the purpose of giving information about the Freedom Transaction and the Rogers-Shaw Transaction, their expected timing and their anticipated benefits. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The completion of the Freedom Transaction and the Rogers-Shaw Transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, termination rights and other risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, regulatory approvals and clearances. There can be no assurance that such closing conditions will be satisfied, that such regulatory approvals and clearances will be obtained or that either the Freedom Transaction or the Rogers-Shaw Transaction will occur, or that either will occur on the terms and conditions described herein or previously announced. The Freedom Transaction and the Rogers-Shaw Transaction could be modified, restructured or terminated. There can be no assurance that one or both of the Freedom Transaction or the Rogers-Shaw Transaction will be acceptable to regulatory authorities or will be completed in order to permit the other transaction to be consummated. There can also be no assurance that the outside date of the Rogers-Shaw Transaction will be further extended by the parties, or that the outside date of the Freedom Transaction will be extended by the parties to the extent necessary to permit closing of either transaction to occur. Finally, there can be no assurance that the anticipated benefits of either the Freedom Transaction or the Rogers-Shaw Transaction will be achieved in the expected timeframes or at all.

All forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbour provisions of the applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. None of Rogers, Shaw or Quebecor is under any obligation (and each of Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter any statements containing forward-looking information, the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. All of the forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements herein.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland takes questions following the announcement of the Justice Department's first affirmative litigation to protect access to reproductive healthcare following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wa

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. federal agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons when they raided former President Donald Trump's home in Florida this week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

It was not clear if such documents were recovered at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, the Post said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

The U.S. Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to make public the warrant that authorized the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, after Trump, a Republican, portrayed it as political retribution.

The request means the public could soon learn more about what investigators were looking for during the unprecedented search of a former president's home.

The search was part of an investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House as he left office in January 2021, some of which the Justice Department believes are classified.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, the top law enforcement officer and an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, told a news conference that he had personally approved the search. The Justice Department also seeks to make public a redacted receipt of the items seized.

"The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken," Garland said.

His decision to publicly confirm the search was highly unusual. U.S. law enforcement officials typically do not discuss ongoing investigations in order to protect people's rights. In this case, Trump himself announced the search in a Monday night statement.

Garland said the Justice Department made the request to make public the warrant "in light of the former president's public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter."

A source familiar with the matter said the FBI retrieved about 10 boxes from Trump's property during the search.

Trump was not in Florida at the time of the search.

Late on Thursday, Trump called for the immediate release of documents related to the search.

"Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last 6 years," he said on his Truth Social platform.

The government has until 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Friday to let the court know whether Trump's attorneys will object to unsealing the warrant. The case is before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who reviewed the warrant to ensure the Justice Department had sufficient probable cause for the search.

While seeking to unseal the warrant, the Justice Department has not asked the judge to unseal the sworn statement in support of the warrant, the contents of which could potentially include classified information.

Two of Trump's attorneys, Evan Corcoran and John Rowley, did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement earlier on his Truth social network, Trump said: "My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established. The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it."

LOCKED STORAGE ROOM

The unprecedented search marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state investigations Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business, including a separate one by the Justice Department into a failed bid by Trump's allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting phony slates of electors.

The investigation into Trump's removal of records started this year, after the National Archives made a referral to the department.

Former Archivist David Ferriero has previously said that Trump returned 15 boxes to the government in January 2022. The archives later discovered some of the items were "marked as classified national security information."

A couple of months before the search, FBI agents visited Trump's property to investigate boxes in a locked storage room, according to a person familiar with the visit.

The agents and Corcoran spent a day reviewing materials, the source said. A second source who had been briefed on the matter told Reuters the Justice Department also has surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago in its possession.

Garland's Justice Department has faced fierce criticism and online threats since Monday's search. Trump supporters and some of his fellow Republicans in Washington accuse Democrats of weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to target Trump.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday, an armed man suspected of trying to breach the FBI building died following an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement officers, an Ohio State Highway Patrol official said.

Garland condemned the threats and attacks against the FBI and Justice Department. "I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked," he said.

Some Democrats have criticized Garland for being overly cautious in investigating Trump over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Karen Freifeld; additional reporting by Andy Sullivan, David Morgan, Mike Scarcella, Kanishka Singh, Eric Beech, Steve Holland and Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Shubham Kalia; Editing by Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis, Howard Goller and Leslie Adler)
(Reuters) -U.S. drugmaker Seagen Inc said on Friday an arbitrator had ruled in favor of Japan's Daiichi Sankyo over an agreement between the two companies for using its drug technology.

The companies have been locked in a legal battle over patents on Daiichi and AstraZeneca Plc's breast-cancer drug Enhertu, which Seagen says violates its patents.

Seagen filed an arbitration demand in 2019, saying the technology used in Enhertu are improvements to its antibody-drug conjugate technology.

The company, which was reported to be an acquisition target for Merck & Co Inc, said the ownership of the technology was assigned to it under a 2008 agreement with Daiichi Sankyo.

In the patent fight, a Texas jury had in April awarded Seagen nearly $42 million from Daiichi Sankyo.

Shares of Seagen were down 2.4% at $169.89 in afternoon trading.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
FILE PHOTO: The Ford logo is pictured at the Ford Motor Co plant in Genk,Belgium December 17, 2014. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators said Friday they are investigating whether a 2020 Ford Motor Co recall for vehicles with front brake hoses rupturing prematurely is adequate.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is opening a recall query into 1.7 million U.S. Ford 2013-2018 model year Fusion and Lincoln MKZ cars after receiving 50 complaints alleging front brake hose failures. Ford recalled 488,000 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles in 2020 in the United States for brake hose failures.

Ford said it would cooperate with NHTSA's probe. NHTSA said many complaints reported brake hoses are rupturing, leaking brake fluid and occurring with little or no warning. The safety agency said it is aware of one alleged crash as a result of a failed brake hose.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jason Neely)
FILE PHOTO: The Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner sits on the tarmac before a delivery ceremony to Singapore Airlines at the Boeing South Carolina Plant in North Charleston, South Carolina, United States March 25, 2018. REUTERS/Randall Hill

By Tim Hepher and David Shepardson

PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner has returned to the world market for newly delivered aircraft at a time when demand for wide-body jetliners is finally stirring to life after a prolonged slump.

The U.S. planemaker delivered its first Dreamliner since May 2021 on Wednesday, in a significant milestone for the manufacturer after production problems with its wide-body jet.

Boeing must now wade through painstaking regulatory checks to get further 787s delivered while chipping away at a backlog of about 120 stored planes outside its plants.

But analysts say there is increasingly talk of demand for such jets after years of a market glut.

From East Asia to the Gulf, several airlines are renewing wide-body fleets.

Saudi Arabia is discussing a potentially significant order for wide-body jets, three industry sources said, though talks have fluctuated over several years without a deal being announced and the timing of a decision may be some way off.

But with Riyadh investing in tourism and aviation as part of its Vision 2030 blueprint to diversify the economy, one person following the matter predicted a decision "sooner rather than later," with Boeing 787 and 777X seen potentially among the mix.

Taiwan's government-backed China Airlines is weighing options to renew a fleet of 22 Airbus A330 jets in a competition between the 787 and Airbus A330neo.

Malaysia Airlines is poised to announce on Monday a deal to acquire 20 A330neo wide-body jets, roughly half of which would be bought directly from Airbus.

"I firmly believe that as borders fully reopen, we will see the same rebound in international travel that we saw in the domestic markets," Aengus Kelly, chief executive of AerCap, the world's largest leasing firm, said on Thursday.

"Given the level of inquiry and demand we are seeing for wide-body aircraft, it is clear that the airlines are also convinced of this."

International traffic has accelerated since the start of the year, though the International Air Transport Association says it has a long way to run before regaining pre-pandemic levels.

"What we're seeing right now is definitely a recovery that's taking hold in certain international markets," Ihssane Mounir, Boeing's senior vice-president of commercial sales and marketing, said after last month's Farnborough Airshow.

DEMAND REBOUND

"The transatlantic is live and doing well," Mounir told reporters. "You're seeing very robust demand between Europe and the U.S. and ... between the Middle East and Europe and U.S. So folks are sticking their heads above water again and ... making plans."

Part of the surge of interest stems from delays caused by manufacturers themselves as well as increased regulatory scrutiny following the recent Boeing 737 MAX safety crisis.

Boeing's large twin-engined 777X has been pushed back to 2025, five years later than originally planned, and the 787 has had a one-year pause in deliveries.

"There is a real rebound in demand for wide-bodies, but availability is short because of manufacturing and development delays. Therefore it is not yet back to pre-COVID levels," said independent aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski.

"The 777X is late and the programme has its own problems and the 787 availability has been patchy," he added.

Adding to the squeeze, Airbus faces supply-chain problems.

"The jury is out on whether Airbus will manage to reach their delivery target for the A350," Grabowski added.

Still keeping markets guessing, and perhaps the biggest part of the demand puzzle, is China, industry executives said.

Many had seen the door as being left ajar to a significant Boeing wide-body order after the last big Chinese order in July, which focused purely on smaller narrow-body models, went to Airbus.

In September, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the Chinese government was preventing its domestic airlines from buying "tens of billions of dollars" of Boeing airplanes. China tends to balance jet purchases over time but has effectively been off the market for five years, with demand hampered first by trade tensions and then by the pandemic, analysts said.

Now, potential trade with emblematic U.S. companies has been thrust into the furore surrounding U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan as well as Chinese military exercises around the China-claimed self-ruled island.

Reduced air traffic as millions remain under lockdown are also a drag on demand, Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor of FlightGlobal, said last week.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) and the CPA Western School of Business (CPAWSB) congratulate the 265 B.C. Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) candidates who passed the multi-day national Common Final Examination (CFE) written in May 2022. The exam was administered by CPAWSB.

Three B.C. students also made the National Honour Roll for their outstanding results on the CFE. They are: Chris Pop, Warren Rossing, and Caleb Steegstra.

Here is the full listing of successful B.C.-based CFE writers.

The outstanding level of knowledge and acumen that the 265 B.C. CPA students demonstrated in their CFE achievement will help them excel in any industry, said Sheila Nelson, CPA, CA, chair of CPABC. Attaining this success has been particularly challenging given the pandemic, and so this further demonstrates the tenacity and commitment to excellence of these individuals. On behalf of the CPABC Board of Directors and CPABC, I applaud and welcome them into the ranks of B.C.s CPAs.

In order to become designated, students must complete rigorous course work, pass the CFE, and fulfill relevant practical experience requirements. The national CFE ensures all Canadian CPAs meet the same high standards, which are recognized nationally and internationally.

On behalf of everyone at the CPA Western School of Business, I congratulate the 265 hard-working individuals from British Columbia who passed the CFE, said CEO of the CPA Western School of Business, Yuen Ip, MBA, CPA, CMA, PMP. I wish each of them the very best as they move into the next stages of their careers.

CPAWSB delivers the nationally-developed CPA professional education program in Canadas western region. Throughout the program, CPA candidates develop the competencies expected of professional accountants, developing technical skills and enabling competencies as they grow in professionalism and leadership.

About CPA British ColumbiaThe Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is the training, governing, and regulatory body for over 38,000 CPA members and 6,000 CPA candidates and students. CPABC carries out its primary mission to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy.

Media Contact: Vivian Tse, Director, Communications 604.488.2647 [email protected]

Source: Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia
MONTREAL, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (CSE: EMER) Emergia Inc. (the Corporation or EMERGIA) is pleased to update the status of the Corporations projects and assets.

We are pleased to announce that the Corporation is in line with its 2022 plan of action. Indeed, the Corporation managed to sell its property in Lac Brome for the expected price of $1.8 million indicated in its 2021 year-end and in its Q1-2022 financial statements and corresponding MD&As, which sale is expected to close in the coming weeks. We are also proud to announce that the management closed on the conversion of convertible debentures for an amount in capital and interests totalling $2.35 million in July. Since the proceeds of the sale of the Lac Brome property will be applied against debts, these transactions will allow Emergia to reduce its debt by $4.15 million in July and August, reducing its global debt ratio under 40%. said Henri Petit, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation.

Furthermore, we are pleased to announce that the Corporations development projects in Bromont and Dorval in the province of Quebec, and Alliston in Ontario, are progressing as expected. Additional information will be communicated in the coming weeks with respect to the advancement of the said developments added Henri Petit.

More detailed information is contained in the Q1-2022 Quarterly Report, available under the Corporations profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

ABOUT EMERGIA INC.

EMERGIA operates mainly in Canada in the development, acquisition, and management of multi-purpose real estate, including retail, multi-residential, industrial, and office buildings as well as land for future development. The Corporations investment platform is based on an integrated, agile and efficient develop-to-own strategy that enables EMERGIA to benefit from development profits and the value-add while securing stable long-term returns.

For more information, please visit www.emergia.com and www.sedar.com. EMER.CN

Source: Emergia Inc. For more Information, please contact:

Henri PetitCEOT: 1.888.520.1414 (Ext. 231)E: [email protected]

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All information and statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking information. Such statements and information may be identified by words such as about, approximately, may, believes, expects, will, intend, should, plan, predict, potential, project, anticipate, estimate, continue or similar words or the negative thereof or other comparable terminology. Such forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements pertaining to the expected acquisitions and expected completion of such acquisitions, the business strategy and plans, and objectives of or involving the Corporation. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Corporation, including expectations and assumptions concerning satisfaction of all conditions of closing, the receipt of required approvals and the availability of capital resources. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information since no assurance can be given that they will prove to be correct. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Corporations financial condition, the real estate industry, and society as a whole, the market for the common shares, volatility of market price for common shares and other risks generally attributable to the business of the Corporation. For additional information with respect to risks and uncertainties, refer to the annual MD&A of the Corporation for the year ended December 31, 2021 and to the other periodic filings that the Corporation has made and may make in the future with the securities commissions or similar regulatory authorities in Canada, all of which are available under the Corporations SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE CORPORATION AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE THE CORPORATION MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE SECURITIES LEGISLATION.

Source: EMERGIA Inc.
WABASH, Ind., Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FFW Corporation (the Corporation) (OTC PINK: FFWC) (8/11/2022 Close: $47.00), parent corporation of Crossroads Bank (the Bank), announced earnings for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022.

For the three months ended June 30, 2022, the Corporation reported net income of $1,523,000 or $1.33 per common share compared to $1,379,000 or $1.21 per common share for the three months ended June 30, 2021. Net interest income for the three months ended June 30, 2022 was $4,071,000 compared to $3,608,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021. The provision for loan losses was $200,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and ($150,000) for the three months ended June 30, 2021. Total noninterest income was $1,075,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2022 compared to $1,221,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021. Noninterest expense was $3,215,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and $3,391,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021.

For the twelve months ended June 30, 2022, the Corporation reported net income of $5,721,000 or $5.00 per common share compared to $6,476,000 or $5.67 per common share for the twelve months ended June 30, 2021. Net interest income for the twelve months ended June 30, 2022 was $15,409,000 compared to $14,697,000 for the twelve months ended June 30, 2021. The Company recognized a provision for loan losses of $405,000 for the twelve months ended June 30, 2022 and $345,000 for the twelve months ended June 30, 2021. Total noninterest income was $4,441,000 for the twelve months ended June 30, 2022 compared to $6,590,000 for the twelve months ended June 30, 2021. Noninterest expense was $12,933,000 for the twelve months ended June 30, 2022 and $13,303,000 for the twelve months ended June 30, 2021.

The three and twelve months ended June 30, 2022 represented a return on average common equity of 12.63% and 10.85%, respectively, compared to 10.37% and 12.42% for the three and twelve month periods ended June 30, 2021. The three and twelve months ended June 30, 2022 represented a return on average assets of 1.16% and 1.10%, respectively, compared to 1.12% and 1.36% for the three and twelve month periods ended June 30, 2021.

The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of gross loans receivable was 1.28% at June 30, 2022 compared to 1.43% at June 30, 2021. Nonperforming assets were $2,345,000 at June 30, 2022 compared to $3,242,000 at June 30, 2021.

As of June 30, 2022, FFWCs equity-to-assets ratio was 8.72% compared to 10.89% at June 30, 2021. Total assets at June 30, 2022 were $534,918,000 compared to $486,442,000 at June 30, 2021. Shareholders equity was $46,648,000 at June 30, 2022 compared to $52,954,000 at June 30, 2021. Crossroads Bank exceeds all applicable regulatory requirements to be considered well capitalized.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include expressions such as expects, intends, believes, and should, which are necessarily statements of belief as to the expected outcomes of future events. Actual results could materially differ from those presented. The Corporation's ability to predict future results involves a number of risks and uncertainties. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

Crossroads Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of FFW Corporation providing an extensive array of banking services and a wide range of investments and securities products through its main office in Wabash and six Indiana banking centers located in Columbia City, North Manchester, Peru, South Whitley, Syracuse and Warsaw. The Bank also provides leasing services at each of its banking centers. Insurance products are offered through an affiliated company, Insurance 1 Services, Inc. The Corporations stock is traded on the OTC Markets under the symbol FFWC. Our website address is www.crossroadsbanking.com. Crossroads Bank, Member FDIC.

FFW CorporationSelected Financial Information Consolidated Balance Sheet June 30 June 30 2022 2021 Unaudited Assets Cash and due from financial institutions $ 7,122,187 $ 4,779,188 Interest-bearing deposits in other financial institutions 48,456,109 51,646,720 Cash and cash equivalents 55,578,296 56,425,908 Securities available for sale 115,717,308 116,335,455 Loans held for sale 248,000 2,613,987 Loans receivable, net of allowance for loan losses of $4,342,121 at June 30, 2022 and $4,168,689 at June 30, 2021 335,672,317 285,643,064 Federal Home Loan Bank stock, at cost 1,289,700 1,462,500 Accrued interest receivable 2,105,470 2,131,744 Premises and equipment, net 8,481,385 8,949,842 Mortgage servicing rights 1,138,165 1,011,046 Cash surrender value of life insurance 9,767,792 9,459,746 Goodwill 1,213,898 1,213,898 Repossessed Assets 75,025 148,621 Other assets 3,630,737 1,045,876 Total assets $ 534,918,093 $ 486,441,687 Liabilities and shareholders' equity Deposits Noninterest-bearing $ 55,960,708 $ 49,510,375 Interest-bearing 428,550,708 380,084,790 Total deposits 484,511,416 429,595,165 Accrued expenses and other liabilities 3,758,195 3,892,719 Total liabilities 488,269,611 433,487,884 Shareholders' equity Common stock, $.01 par; 2,000,000 shares authorized; Issued: 1,836,328; outstanding: 1,140,305 - June 30, 2022 and 1,141,190 - June 30, 2021 18,363 18,363 Additional paid-in capital 9,940,774 9,809,754 Retained earnings 56,384,625 51,852,194 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (7,726,089 ) 3,058,832 Treasury stock, at cost: 696,023 shares at June 30, 2022 and 695,138 shares at June 30, 2021 (11,969,191 ) (11,785,340 ) Total shareholders' equity 46,648,482 52,953,803 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 534,918,093 $ 486,441,687

FFW Corporation Selected Financial Information Consolidated Statement of Income Three Months Ended June 30 Twelve Months Ended June 30 2022 2021 2022 2021 Unaudited Unaudited Interest and dividend income: Loans, including fees $ 3,562,772 $ 3,257,093 $ 13,660,543 $ 13,769,397 Taxable securities 341,548 313,689 1,317,675 1,308,266 Tax exempt securities 423,846 418,267 1,652,828 1,627,426 Other 128,452 14,860 197,815 38,650 Total interest and dividend income 4,456,618 4,003,909 16,828,861 16,743,739 Interest expense: Deposits 385,508 395,295 1,419,669 2,046,577 Borrowings 200 200 201 200 Total interest expense 385,708 395,495 1,419,870 2,046,777 Net interest income 4,070,910 3,608,414 15,408,991 14,696,962 Provision for loan losses 200,000 (150,000 ) 405,000 345,000 Net interest income after provision for loan losses 3,870,910 3,758,414 15,003,991 14,351,962 Noninterest income: Net gains on sales of securities - - - 98,467 Net gains on sales of loans 75,450 390,165 523,219 3,261,880 Net gains (losses) on fixed assets - - 34,283 9,204 Net gains (losses) on sales of REO (17,909 ) - (6,623 ) (23,498 ) Commission income 337,665 309,389 1,279,202 1,224,845 Service charges and fees 275,763 188,237 1,135,426 721,677 Earnings on life insurance 77,651 75,757 308,047 300,452 Other 326,669 257,103 1,167,426 996,765 Total noninterest income 1,075,289 1,220,651 4,440,980 6,589,792 Noninterest expense: Salaries and benefits 1,815,040 1,875,637 7,100,728 6,885,238 Occupancy and equipment 313,309 325,235 1,298,461 1,339,852 Professional 111,887 143,066 448,694 850,073 Marketing 90,882 104,293 394,013 431,982 Deposit insurance premium 38,304 33,000 140,752 132,000 Regulatory assessment 9,074 9,588 37,379 37,705 Correspondent bank charges 22,200 18,881 80,724 71,511 Data processing 337,292 391,172 1,584,725 1,613,051 Printing, postage and supplies 73,382 62,193 293,419 292,047 Expense on life insurance 21,132 20,518 85,128 72,827 Contribution expense 11,676 11,138 65,583 70,753 Expense on REO 5,412 5,626 7,505 18,683 Other 365,584 391,069 1,396,052 1,487,411 Total noninterest expense 3,215,174 3,391,416 12,933,163 13,303,133 Income before income taxes 1,731,025 1,587,649 6,511,808 7,638,621 Income tax expense 207,572 208,465 791,077 1,163,097 Net income $ 1,523,453 $ 1,379,184 $ 5,720,731 $ 6,475,524

FFW Corporation Selected Financial Information Key Balances and Ratios Three Months Ended June 30 Twelve Months Ended June 30 2022 2021 2022 2021 Unaudited Unaudited Per common share data: Earnings $ 1.33 $ 1.21 $ 5.00 $ 5.67 Diluted earnings $ 1.33 $ 1.21 $ 5.00 $ 5.67 Dividends paid $ 0.26 $ 1.25 $ 1.04 $ 2.00 Average shares issued and outstanding 1,141,763 1,141,717 1,143,428 1,142,448 Shares outstanding end of period 1,140,305 1,141,190 1,140,305 1,141,190 Supplemental data: Net interest margin ** 3.15 % 3.11 % 3.12 % 3.29 % Return on average assets *** 1.16 % 1.12 % 1.10 % 1.36 % Return on average common equity *** 12.63 % 10.37 % 10.85 % 12.42 % June 30 June 30 2022 2021 Nonperforming assets * $ 2,344,693 $ 3,241,581 Repossessed assets $ 75,025 $ 148,621 * Includes non-accruing loans, accruing loans delinquent more than 90 days and repossessed assets ** Yields reflected have not been computed on a tax equivalent basis *** Annualized

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact: Kirsten Pendarvis, Treasurer, at (260) 563-3185

Source: FFW Corporation
CAMP HILL, Pa., Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harsco Corporation (NYSE: HSC) a global, market leading provider of environmental solutions for industrial and specialty waste streams, today announced that Anshooman Aga has resigned as the Companys Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective August 24, 2022, to pursue employment with another company.

Mr. Agas departure did not result from any disagreement regarding the Company's corporate strategy, financial statements or disclosures.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and our 12,000 employees, we thank Anshooman for his many contributions to our Company, and we wish him well in his future endeavors, said Nick Grasberger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Harsco Corporation.

Pete Minan, Harscos former Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective August 29, until a permanent replacement for Mr. Aga is announced. Harsco will initiate a comprehensive search for a new CFO.

Having served as our CFO for seven years, I am confident that Petes intimate knowledge of our Company will serve us well in the interim as we focus on our key strategic initiatives and business improvement to drive shareholder value, said Mr. Grasberger.

About Harsco

Harsco Corporation is a global market leader providing environmental solutions for industrial and specialty waste streams. Based in Camp Hill, PA, the 12,000-employee company operates in more than 30 countries. Harscos common stock is a component of the S&P SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000 Index. Additional information can be found at www.harsco.com.

Investor Contact David Martin717.612.5628 [email protected] Media ContactJay Cooney717.730.3683 [email protected]

Source: Harsco Corporation
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (TSX: NVO, NVO.WT & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) is pleased to advise that it has completed repayment of its senior secured US$40 million credit facility (Credit Facility) with Sprott Resource Lending Corp. (Sprott) subsequent to the completion of the sale of the Companys New Found Gold Corp. investment1. The Company is now free of long-term borrowings, with an unaudited consolidated cash balance of C$76.6 million.

The Company paid an aggregate amount of US$40,144,029 to Sprott in satisfaction of all amounts outstanding, including all accrued interest, on the Credit Facility. No early repayment penalties were paid. The Company is in the process of discharging all security previously granted to Sprott in connection with the Credit Facility.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo operates its flagship Beatons Creek project while exploring and developing its prospective land package covering approximately 11,000 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In addition to the Companys primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its shareholders. For more information, please contact Leo Karabelas at (416) 543-3120 or e-mail [email protected].

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Novo Resources Corp.

Michael Spreadborough

Michael Spreadborough

Executive Co-Chairman and Acting CEO

1 Refer to the Companys news release dated August 8, 2022.

Source: Novo Resources Corp.
Trondheim, 12 August 2022: In the second quarter, NORBIT delivered its strongest financial performance to date. Revenues for the quarter came in at NOK 315.3 million, representing a growth of 66 per cent from the same period last year, and the EBITDA result was NOK 77.7 million, which represents a margin of 25 per cent.



In the second quarter, all business segments reported all-time high revenues, and first half of the year has moved forward according to plan. We are on track to deliver on our target to report revenues in excess of NOK 1.0 billion for 2022, supported by the fact that we over the last twelve months have generated revenues of NOK 1.0 billion, says Per Jrgen Weisethaunet, CEO of NORBIT.

The Oceans segment delivered revenues of NOK 131.4 million and an EBITDA margin of 41 per cent. The 29 per cent increase in revenues from last year was driven by higher sonar sales. The positive development is also a result of Oceans making good progress in capturing value from broadening the product portfolio.

The Connectivity segment reported revenues of NOK 83.0 million driven by strong demand for dedicated short-range communication technology and growth in recurring revenues in sub-segment Smart Data. The EBITDA margin was 24 per cent in the quarter.

The Product Innovation & Realization (PIR) segment delivered NOK 111.5 million in revenues in the quarter. The 42 per cent increase from last year is mainly explained by higher revenues from contract manufacturing. The EBITDA result came in at NOK 11.3 million, corresponding to a margin of 10 per cent.

The outlook for the third quarter is positive and activity is expected to remain high. The quarter has started on a positive note for segment Oceans, where the target is to deliver revenue growth compared to third quarter last year. In segment Connectivity, activity in the second half of the year is expected to remain at around the same level as in the first six months. PIR is expected to deliver revenues in the third quarter on par with that of second quarter, and up from third quarter last year.

NORBIT's long-term ambition is to deliver organic revenues of more than NOK 1.5 billion and an EBITDA margin of over 25 per cent in 2024.

Attached is the report for the first half of the year and the presentation material.

CEO Per Jrgen Weisethaunet and CFO Per Kristian Reppe will present the company's results today at 10:00. The presentation will be held at Pareto Securities in Dronning Mauds gate 3, Oslo. It is also possible to follow the presentation via the following link: https://invitepeople.com/events/4c3f6ebe686e258f

For more information:

Per Jrgen Weisethaunet, CEO, +47 959 62 915

Per Kristian Reppe, CFO, +47 900 33 203

About NORBIT ASA

NORBIT is a global provider of tailored technology to selected niches, solving challenges and promoting sustainability through innovative solutions, in line with its mission to Explore More. The company is structured in three business segments to address its key markets: Oceans, Connectivity and Product Innovation & Realization (PIR). The Oceans segment delivers tailored technology solutions to global maritime markets. The Connectivity segment provides wireless solutions for identification, monitoring and tracking. The PIR segment offers R&D services, proprietary products, and contract manufacturing to key customers. NORBIT is headquartered in Trondheim with manufacturing in Norway, has around 400 employees, and a worldwide sales and distribution platform.

For more information: www.norbit.com

This information counts as insider information and must be disclosed in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act 5-12.

This stock exchange announcement was published by Elise Heidenreich, Investor Relations in NORBIT ASA, 12 August 2022 at 07.00 CEST.

Attachments
Only one Porsche 911 Sally Special will ever be made. It will be sold by RM Sothebys on August 20 at Monterey Car Week, with auction proceeds supporting young girls through Girls Inc. as well as USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

Atlanta, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Porsche and Pixar Animation Studios have revealed a special Porsche inspired by one of the most beloved 911 models of all  Sally Carrera, from Disney and Pixars Cars. Named the 911 Sally Special, the car is like Sally Carrera herself, unique. Only one 911 Sally Special will ever be made  and its creation marks the first time Pixar has collaborated on such a project.

Vehicles need a face and a story. And Pixars film Cars did just that, by bringing them to life on the big screen, said Dr. Sebastian Rudolph, Vice President Communications, Sustainability and Politics at Porsche AG. The story conveys values such as friendship, love and mutual support  and in the middle of it all is a Porsche: Sally Carrera. Together with Pixar we have brought the spirit of Sally to life in a new way, not on the screen, but off the screen. With this one-off street legal 911, the Sally Special, which we are auctioning for charity, we want to help people who urgently need support, quite in keeping with the spirit of the film character.

The 911 Sally Special will be auctioned by RM Sothebys on Saturday, August 20 during Monterey Car Week.

My own daughters grew up watching Sally, and so its a special moment to be working so closely with Pixar on a project that has meaning and will directly help a new generation of children to both realize their potential and, in the case of the UNHCR, find safety and start new lives, said Kjell Gruner, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Inc.

The project, which began in November 2021, reunited members of the original Cars team who created both the movie car and the life-size Sally Carrera based on a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera two decades ago. That team included Jay Ward, Creative Director of Franchise at Pixar Animation Studios, and Bob Pauley, who, as Production Designer for Cars, sketched Sally for the first time 20 years ago. They were joined by key members of Porsche Exclusive Manufakturs Sonderwunsch team in Stuttgart, designers from Style Porsche in Weissach and Porsche Cars North America. Over a span of 10 months, the team worked together to create just one unique car.

The 911 Sally Special has been so much fun to create and is truly a first for us and for Porsche, said Jay Ward, Creative Director of Franchise of Pixar Animation Studios. We decided early on that we wanted to make a drivable 911, inspired by, but not a direct copy of Sally Carrera. After all, she loved to drive  and this helped guide us. If Sally Carrera was built today in life-size, for the road, what would she look like?

The Sally Special is based on the fastest, most engaging and agile 911 Carrera there is  the 473 hp 911 Carrera GTS  equipped with a manual gearbox to appeal to those who love driving, just like Sally Carrera. The changes to transform it into the Sally Special proved to be extensive, explained Boris Apenbrink, Director Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur Vehicles. This was one of the most intense, emotional and detailed Sonderwunsch projects our team has ever worked on. For example, the car is finished in a new and unique color  Sally Blue Metallic  developed specifically for the 911 Sally Special. Taking our inspiration from Sally Carrera, we finished as much of the car as possible in the new color, meaning dozens of tiny changes, many of which were carried out by hand, such were their intricacy. Of course, we didnt forget about Sallys pinstripe tattoo, which was an interesting challenge.

The Turbo inspired wheels fitted to Sally Carrera have been redesigned by Style Porsche designers in Weissach and created specifically for the 911 Sally Special. The five-spoke design has been subtly modified to match the 20/21-inch diameter of current-generation 911 wheels, but remain true to the Type 996 Porsche.

Porsche designer Daniela Milosevic led the team working with Pixar to develop not only the unique paint color but also almost every surface inside the car. All of which was either re-trimmed or changed in some way. We had a completely blank canvas to work from, which was great! In the movie, Sally was a former-lawyer from California who appreciated style and elegance. But she was also down to earth and had a sense of fun, said Milosevic. We continued the Sally Blue Metallic theme inside the car, with the obvious highlights and much more subtle elements too many little touches that will hopefully make the winning bidder smile. Everything had to be usable and practical  we really want this car to be driven. We created special cloth trim for this car and wove subtle blue highlights into it. Then we matched this with Chalk leather and Speed Blue and Chalk stitching. The best part has definitely been working on the details  including many little nods to the movie Cars, and to Sally Carrera herself.

Two charities will be the beneficiaries of the sale of the 911 Sally Special, with the entirety of the sale price being donated. Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold through direct service and advocacy. Operating from 76 sites across the United States and in Canada, Girls Inc. equips girls with the knowledge and skills to effect positive changes in their lives and become leaders who will change the world. We are grateful to Porsche and to Pixar for their commitment to this project, which will directly benefit our work, said Stephanie J. Hull, Ph.D., Girls Inc. President and CEO. The character of Sally, and what she represents, is a great role model for young girls and it is fitting that she should be helping a new generation achieve their dreams.

The project will also support USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which is working to provide urgent help to nearly 6.2 million refugees who have been displaced across Europe since the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The majority of those forced to flee Ukraine are women and children, among them unaccompanied children and those separated from their parents, said Anne-Marie Grey, Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR. But there is reason to hope with the critical support of companies like Porsche and Pixar who have generously stepped up to help ensure their safety and protection in months to come.

The 911 Sally Special will be auctioned by RM Sothebys at its Monterey Sale on Saturday, August 20. Many special, and in most cases handmade, items amassed during the creation of the car will be presented in the car and included in the sale. It starts with a timepiece of which only one will be made, created by Porsche Design in collaboration with Pixar. As a suitable contrast to the natural titanium of the watch and a perfect match for the vehicle, the colored ring on the dial is painted in Sally Blue Metallic. The Chalk-colored leather strap with decorative stitching in Speed Blue underlines the sporty design of the Cars-inspired one-of-a-kind item. This strap can be exchanged quickly and without tools for an additional, second leather strap in Speed Blue with decorative stitching in Chalk if desired. A closer look at the chronograph reveals limited-edition numbering 001/001 to match the vehicle on the case back  mirroring the attention to detail exhibited on the car itself. The chronograph is powered by the COSC-certified Porsche Design chronograph caliber WERK 01.100, which was developed at Porsche Design Timepieces AG, Porsche Designs own watch Manufaktur in Solothurn, and designed and manufactured with Swiss craftsmanship.

In addition, the winning bidder will receive a second set of wheels in the Carrera Exclusive Design  mounted on a custom made rack  intended for track use, should the owner wish to fully exploit the performance of the car. Supporting this is an array of smaller items created during the development of the 911 Sally Special. These include a bespoke indoor car cover made by Porsche Tequipment, the original color molds used to finalize the paint for the car, the show plates for the car, a very special book charting the design and development of the car with images of its construction and a selection of original sketches by Porsche designer Suichi Yamashita and Pixars Cars Production Designer Bob Pauley. As with many elements of the project, only one book will be made.

Bidding for the car is open to U.S. residents, with more information to be found at https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mo22/monterey/lots/r0133-2022-porsche-911-sally-special/1270549. The 911 Sally Special can be seen at Monterey Car Week in the lead up to the auction.

Further information, film and photo material in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com

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SPARKS, Md., Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TridentCare, a national leader of portable diagnostic services, announced the appointment of Daniel C. "Dan" Buning as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Buning has had a distinguished career both in the military and private industry where he has focused on business growth, operational excellence, and people development. Buning brings over 20 years of operational experience in the health services industry, including more than eight years as Chief Operations Officer for leading health companies, including AccentCare and Centria Healthcare, among others.

"We're very excited for Dan to join the TridentCare family. He brings a wealth of healthcare experience to TridentCare that will be extremely valuable as we continue to grow our business," says TridentCare COO, Jeff Hooper. "With Dan's operational know-how, TridentCare will remain well positioned for sustainable growth and, more importantly, to provide the highest quality care to our patients and customers."

"I am honored to have been chosen to lead TridentCare in this next chapter of growth in an ever-evolving U.S. healthcare delivery and reimbursement environment," says incoming CEO, Buning. "I absolutely love our motto of We Go Where You Are - it's this spirit of service and innovation that drew me to TridentCare. I look forward to working with the well-established leadership team to partner with payers, health systems, and other providers to deliver essential diagnostic services for our shared patients."

Buning will succeed David Velez, who will become a member of the Board of Directors and remain a hands-on advocate and voice for TridentCare. Velez's leadership has been instrumental during his 13 years with TridentCare, particularly over the past two and a half years with the many industry challenges brought on as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the next 60 days, Buning and Velez will push forward with the balance of year initiatives while completing a seamless transition into their respective roles as CEO and TridentCare Board Members.

About TridentCare

Based in Sparks, Maryland, TridentCare is the leading provider of portable diagnostic services in the Country, operating in 38 states, servicing a wide variety of patients and clients. Each day, the company deploys experienced medical professionals and leading-edge technology to provide imaging, phlebotomy, laboratory, oxygen, and vascular services to tens of thousands of patients nationwide. For more information about TridentCare, please visit TridentCare.com, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Company Contact:

Deborah Shelton

Director, Marketing Services

443-662-4101

www.tridentcare.com

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Canada banned psychedelics more than 30 years ago, outlawing the production, sale and use of psychedelics, including psilocybin, for decades. Most countries around the world followed suit and banned psychedelics. However, psychedelic drugs were still quite popular despite being prohibited due to their mind-altering effects.

In recent years, this mainstream popularity has reached an explosive level, especially regarding psychedelics ability to

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NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the companys newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN

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NAPLES, Fla., August 12, 2022 McapMediaWire

Pro Music Rights, Inc., one of the worlds largest music licensing companies, announces that it will close on the agreement to go public via a Reverse Merger with Nuvus Gro Corp (OTC: NUVG) on August 15, 2022.

Additional detailed information will be disclosed via Regulatory Filling.

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.

Contact:

[email protected]

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Britannia Mining Solutions will install and operate a total of 12 Chrysos PhotonAssay" units in strategically important mining centres globally using an innovative hub-and-spoke model

Positions Britannia as a leader in offering technology-enabled, data rich and ESG friendly assay solutions to the global mining industry

First PhotonAssay"unit to be deployed in Q3 2023 in Montreal, serving as an initial regional hub for eastern Canada

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 11, 2022) - Britannia Life Sciences Inc. (CSE: BLAB) (FSE: L020) ("Britannia") is pleased to announce that its partially owned subsidiary, Britannia Mining Solutions Inc. ("BMS"), has entered into Asset Purchase Agreements (APA) with Chrysos Corporation Limited ("Chrysos") pursuant to which Chrysos will deliver an additional ten Chrysos PhotonAssay" ("PhotonAssay"")units, bringing the total number of PhotonAssayTMunit lease agreements signed by BMS to twelve.

BMS, which is supported by a distinguished group of mining investors and advisors including Eric Sprott and Dr. Quinton Hennigh, was established to provide technology enabled solutions to the global mining industry by setting up laboratories to address the global backlog in minerals assays.

With respect to the additional PhotonAssayTMunits, Peter Shippen, CEO of Britannia, stated "Britannia is pleased to deepen its partnership with Chrysos in revolutionising the global minerals analysis industry. Like Chrysos, our Britannia Mining Solutions team has an unwavering commitment to the creation of exceptional market value. The signing of these ten new PhotonAssay lease agreements reflects the desire of both organisations to deliver unparalleled levels of customer service through faster, safer and more sustainable assaying technologies."

The first PhotonAssayTMunit is expected to be deployed in the September quarter of 2023. Based on its discussions with a variety of mining companies regarding their assay needs, BMS now expects to deploy the first PhotonAssayTMunit in Montreal, Quebec, where it will serve as a Britannias first regional hub. BMS expects to deploy the eleven additional PhotonAssayTMunits globally using this same hub-and-spoke market expansion plan to deliver assay services to strategically important mining centres across the United States, Canada, Central and South America, the Middle East and Europe.

Chrysos PhotonAssayTMtechnology addresses the many challenges of legacy assay processes, including safety and sustainability, with a significantly faster sample turnaround time. The PhotonAssayTMsolution provides results in as little as two minutes and eliminates the need for toxic chemicals used in the slower, more hazardous fire assay process. BMS PhotonAssayTMunits will be complemented with a variety of advanced technology solutions aimed at providing superior and more timely insights to geologists and mining executives, to better inform their ongoing drill programs and mine development plans.

On the expansion of its relationship with BMS, Chrysos Corporation Managing Director and Chief Executive, Dirk Treasure, stated These ten new PhotonAssay leases signal a significant expansion of the existing relationship between Chrysos and Britannia Mining Solutions. We are particularly excited by BMS targeted approach to the roll-out of its PhotonAssay units. Its proposed regional hub model offers flexibility for large and small miners globally and complements the existing mine-site and near mine-site deployment strategies of Chrysos other customers.

About Britannia Life Sciences Inc.

Britannia Life Sciences Inc. is a global platform offering an integrated suite of services to assist companies along their product development journey. Britannia's services, including product formulations, safety assessments, analytical and microbiological testing, global compliance, and consumer evaluations are offered to companies ranging from multinationals to startups particularly in the cosmetics, food, and wellness industries. Britannia has garnered significant expertise in the development and regulatory approval of topical and edible cannabis products, including preparation and support for novel food authorizations. Britannia's head office is located at 120 Adelaide Street West, Suite 2400, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 1T1.

For inquiries or more information on Britannia's growing suite of product development, analytical testing, regulatory and compliance solutions across a range of industries, please visit https://britannia.life or contact:

Peter Shippen, CEO

Tel: +1 416 930 7711 or +44 738 744 7441

Email: [email protected]

About Chrysos Corporation

Headquartered in Adelaide, with operations spanning Australia, Canada and Africa, Chrysos Corporation combines science and software to create technology solutions for the global mining industry. The Companys flagship product PhotonAssayTMdelivers faster, safer, more accurate and environmentally-friendly analysis of gold, silver, copper and other elements.

For more information about Chrysos or its PhotonAssayTMtechnology, visitwww.chrysos.com.au or email [email protected].

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133421
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 12, 2022) - Centurion Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: CTN) ("Centurion", or the "Company") reports that shareholders approved all proposed management resolutions at its Annual General and Special Meeting ("AGSM") held August 12, 2022. Below are the approved resolutions:

The number of Directors for the Company was set at four; The four members elected to the Board of Directors include: David G. Tafel, Jeremy Wright, Kenneth A. Cawkell, and Joseph Del Campo; Manning Elliot LLP, Chartered Accountants, was reappointed as auditor of the Company; The Company's New Long Term Incentive Plan was ratified; The Plan of Arrangement under section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) involving the Company and SpinCo. (The purpose of the Arrangement is to restructure the Company by creating SpinCo, which will become a reporting issuer in the Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta upon completion of the Arrangement. SpinCo will hold the Company's Cannabis Assets, as more fully set forth in the Management Circular. Centurion will retain its remaining assets and working capital and continue as a mineral exploration company.)

ABOUT CENTURION

Centurion Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian-based company with a focus on mineral asset development in the Americas. The Company's lead investment is its interest in the Ana Sofia Agri-Gypsum Fertilizer Project, and it is also reviewing additional prospective, precious mineral exploration projects.

"David G. Tafel"

President and CEO

For Further Information Contact:

David Tafel

604-484-2161

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 Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

All statements, trend analysis and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events or results constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding, the completion of the Arrangement, the Meeting, the Final Order hearing of the Court, the anticipated benefits of the Arrangement, the Company's plan to develop its business and provide Shareholders with additional investment choices and enhanced value, the Company's plans to complete the Consolidation and the Company's plans to apply to the TSX-V for a resumption of trading as a mineral exploration issuer following the Meeting; and future capital expenditures, anticipated content, commencement, and cost of exploration programs in respect of the Company's projects and mineral properties, anticipated exploration program results from exploration activities, resources and/or reserves on the Company's projects and mineral properties, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company; are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including the risks, uncertainties and other factors identified in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators, and assumptions made with regard to: the Company's ability to complete the proposed Arrangement on the terms and conditions contemplated, or at all; the Companies' ability to secure the necessary shareholder, Court and regulatory approvals required to complete the Arrangement; the estimated costs associated with the Arrangement; the timing of the Meeting, the Final Order hearing and the Arrangement; and that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious and base metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration of the Company's properties, that the COVID-19 global pandemic will not affect the ability of the Company to conduct the exploration program on the Project, the availability of financing on suitable terms, and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of operations to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company expectations include risks associated with the business of the Company; risks related to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions to the closing of the Arrangement; non-completion of the Arrangement; risks related to the Company failing to obtain the requisite shareholder approval required for the Arrangement; risks relating the number of dissenting shareholders requiring fair value for their securities in connection with the Arrangement; risks related to exploration and potential development of the Company's projects including the Company's option to acquire the Project, the proposed expenditures for exploration work thereon, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the TSX Venture Exchange), permits or financing, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations, currency and commodity fluctuations, title disputes or claims, environmental issues and liabilities, the need for cooperation of government agencies and indigenous groups in the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties, and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time and additional risks identified in the Company filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com). Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133727
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - August 11, 2022) - Dr. Kendall E. Williams, author and experienced executive, continues to enlighten leaders about the dangerous forces in American workplaces in his riveting book, Visions, Values, and Corporate Hypocrisy: the hijacking of corporate conscience. In this no-holds-barred book, Dr. Williams highlights the cost of putting profits before people and what it will take to change the working world.

Book cover ofVisions, Values, and Corporate Hypocrisy

Visions, Values, and Corporate Hypocrisy unveils how the hypocrisy of American corporations has contributed to the Great Resignation taking root throughout the country. As organizations make superficial and performative gestures toward inclusion, American workers are demanding more. Corporate "leaders" claim to have values of diversity, teamwork, and work-life balance, but that's too often a flimsy shield designed to protect profits.

Instead, Dr. Williams proposes a new brand of leadership built on authenticity, ethical behavior, and real core values. This is the only way to reverse the mass disillusionment currently taking place as more and more Americans quit in favor of healthier working arrangements. Visions, Values, and Corporate Hypocrisy explains how putting people first can be mutually beneficial and a profitable business move that results in greater employee engagement, greater productivity, and reduced operating costs.

Visions, Values, and Corporate Hypocrisy will benefit leaders at every level of an organization. Retention is about more than just paying fair wages. An engaged workforce takes ownership, buys into organizational initiatives, and improves profit over time. In return, these loyal workers demand greater transparency, accountability, and integrity. According to Dr. Williams, it's a small price to pay, and the return on investment is immeasurable.

Readers appreciate the clear language and actionable steps in this insightful book, with one reviewer stating, "I love the fact that Kendall Williams does not only talk about the hypocrite leader but also discusses what it means to be an authentic leader." In a time of great upheaval in the American job market, Dr. Williams's work is timely and relevant to virtually any industry.

Visions, Values, and Corporate Hypocrisy: the hijacking of corporate conscience is available for purchase on Amazon.com, and all major retail outlets.

Dr. Kendall Williams has a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Northcentral University, and a Certificate in Executive Leadership from Cornell University. He has taught management and leadership coursework at Penn State University and Fremont College, and serves on the Customer Advisory Board for University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Williams is the proud recipient of the Leadership Impact Award from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and lives and writes in California. He's also the father of three young adults: Ryan, Reid, and Kayla. Visit him online at humancapitalguru.com.

Author photo of Dr. Kendall E. Williams

Source:

Lisa Quinn

eBook or Print

lisa.quinn[at]ebookorprint[.]com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/133536
FILE PHOTO: China's President Xi Jinping gives a speech following a swearing-in ceremony to inaugurate the city's new leader and government in Hong Kong, China, July 1, 2022, Selim Chtayti/Pool via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Chinese officials are planning a possible trip by Xi Jinping to Southeast Asia in November for what could be the leader's first foreign trip since the COVID-19 pandemic and include a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Biden's team has long sought and has not yet confirmed an in-person meeting between the two leaders to lower tensions as the two countries spar over Taiwan, trade and a host of other issues.

The White House is continuing to work on doing so, according to one person familiar with the matter, who said Biden remains open to a face-to-face visit, including on the sidelines of November's meeting of the Group of 20 nations in Indonesia.

"We don't have any details on timing or location," said a U.S. official.

Xi and Biden discussed the possible meeting during a more-than-two-hour July 28 call that included tense talks over a visit to the Chinese-claimed island of Taiwan by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Michael Martina; editing by Grant McCool)
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.



Blintn announced that it has completed the construction of its own database for content information to provide better interaction experience to its networking community.

The database is known to put together various content-related metadata and company information to directly connect to the owner of content one is interested in. In addition, through this database construction, Blintn is known to create an integrated content database spanning from original IP, such as comics and novels, to video content.

Blintn expects that media companies will be able to utilize this database to easily discover various content information scattered throughout the internet in one place, interact more actively with one another, and expand their network more easily in this ever rapidly globalizing industry.

Through this construction, Blintn intends to provide its community an enhanced way of networking and communicating with each other while discovering good content and companies to connect to at the same time.

Peter Choe, CEO of Blintn, said that "Media companies all over the world looking for original IPs and video content will be able to find ones that exactly meet their needs, while they get to discover new good content through customized curation," showing its will to support the global media industry with more chances for meaningful connections.

We think of this database as the first step to support the media industry to become a true global community with more active interactions, Choe shared his idea behind the database construction. Everyone may start from searching content for their next creation and connect with the content owner, but I hope this becomes a stepping stone for each media company to knock on greater opportunities with far greater networks, and Blintn becomes a gateway to a greater world.

About Us: Blintn is a premium media community for global media professionals to find content and connect through content. Based in Korea, the United States, and China, and actively used in more than 50 countries, Blintn provides a groundbreaking integrated content information search database to get the best content for their business, from finding IPs for the next production to connecting with other media companies for airing rights. Through its IP and content data platform, Blintn makes the search of IPs and content intuitive with its filtered search and sophisticated curations. Blintn also links the content metadata with the content rights holder information to streamline the content search process and offer greater connection opportunities with global media companies. Blintn is committed to providing an integrated, serendipitous, and global content business environment. For more information, please visit blintn.com

Contact Info:

Name: Leah Hong

Email: Send Email

Organization: Contents Holdings Inc.

Website: http://blintn.com



Release ID: 89079982

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MILWAUKEE, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- To address the growing needs for corporations to attract qualified employees, manage project-driven travel movements, and support non-profiled travelers, Adelman Travel has introduced Elite Guest Travel Management (GTM), the end-to end solution designed to efficiently manage travel, payment, expense, and reimbursement for any guest or non-profiled traveler. The unique solution combines technology and high-touch service to deliver a superior travel experience for the guest traveler, and a simplified process for the travel coordinator.

Adelman's Elite GTM is ideal for all guest traveler types including contractors, vendors, clients, training attendees and new hires, field and crew workers, and traveling medical professionals. Its flexible design enables Adelman's customers, and companies who may use an alternative TMC for their business travel program, to take advantage of the solution's benefits.

"After listening to our customers, we identified there is more demand for a solution to manage the "guest" traveler," said Jason Horstman, President & COO of Adelman Travel. "Many companies lost employees during the pandemic and are now struggling to replace them. As a result, they are regularly bringing in candidates from remote locations for interviews. The initial travel experience can be a factor in how the candidate perceives the company and may determine whether or not they accept a job offer. Adelman's approach has always been to design innovative products, services, and solutions that will meet the changing needs of our customers, and we're dedicated to staying on this path."

Adelman's Elite GTM solution is backed by Elite VIP service and proactive travel disruption management through a dedicated agent service team. The team proactively manages the experience with the guest travel coordinator to ensure the needs of the customer and guest traveler are always met. With a "follow the traveler" model, Elite GTM delivers proactive support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for both agent-booked and self-service reservations, while fully incorporating an organization's travel policy, preferred vendors and contracts into the process.

"The responsibility for booking this type of travel often falls on the shoulders of the human resources department, costing them time they can often ill afford to spend on this task," said Jeff Ochaita, Adelman's Director of Customer Technology & Global Solutions. "Elite GTM simplifies the whole process. Plus, we design customized self-service options, allowing customers to integrate the best digital solutions to meet their needs. With a self-service option, travelers can make their own travel arrangements then easily capture receipts, submit their expenses, and receive automated reimbursements for any ancillary costs."

Other features of Adelman's Elite GTM include customized payment options including virtual and mobile; full reporting and traveler tracking; easy expense reconciliation; and simplified subscription pricing.

About Adelman Travel Group

Adelman Travel Group, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been providing clients with high-quality corporate travel management services for over 37 years, and continues to evolve into one of the largest and most respected TMCs in North America. Adelman specializes in creating customized travel, payment, and expense management programs to meet the unique needs of each corporate client. Adelman Travel is a wholly owned midmarket division of BCD Travel, operating in 109 locations worldwide, providing global, regional, and local expertise. To learn more about Adelman's Elite Guest Travel Management (GTM) solution, visit: https://www.adelmantravel.com/guest_travel_management/

Contact: Laura Schad[email protected]414-410-8382

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adelman-travel-enhances-the-guest-traveler-experience-launching-their-newest-solution-elite-guest-travel-management-301605096.html

SOURCE Adelman Travel Group
MIAMI, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Cruise Line today announced protocol updates that meet public health goals but recognize the evolving nature of COVID-19. With these changes, America's Cruise Line is making it easier for more guests to sail with simplified vaccination and testing guidelines, including no testing for vaccinated guests on sailings less than 16 nights, and eliminating the exemption request process for unvaccinated guests, who will only need to show a negative test result at embarkation. All new guidelines are effective for cruises departing on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 or later, and include:

Vaccinated guests must continue to provide evidence of their vaccination status prior to embarkation. Pre-cruise testing is no longer required, except for cruises to Canada, Bermuda, Greece and Australia (per local guidelines), and on voyages 16 nights or longer.

Unvaccinated guests are welcome to sail and are no longer required to apply for a vaccine exemption, except for cruises in Australia or on voyages 16 nights and longer.

Unvaccinated guests or those who do not provide proof of vaccination must present the results of a negative PCR or antigen test taken within three days of embarkation.

All policies are subject to local destination regulations.

Note: Guests under the age of five years are exempt from vaccination and testing requirements from the United States and under the age of 12 from Australia.

Voyages 16 nights and longer will continue to have vaccination and testing requirements that are specific to the itinerary. Requirements for long voyages and destination-specific protocols are available on Carnival's Have Fun. Be Safe. page on Carnival.com.

For guests who have a pending vaccine exemption application and are awaiting confirmation for cruises departing Sept. 6 or later, the booking is confirmed unless booked on a sailing that calls on Canada, Bermuda, Australia or if the voyage is 16 nights or longer.

"Our ships have been sailing very full all summer, but there is still room for more of our loyal guests, and these guidelines will make it a simpler process, and make cruising accessible for those who were not able to meet the protocols we were required to follow for much of the past 14 months," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. "We've got lots happening, with Carnival Luminosa and Carnival Celebration joining our fleet this November and more to come in 2023. Whatever the ship, homeport or itinerary that works for you, our great onboard team is ready to deliver a fun vacation  something we all look forward to even more nowadays!"

Duffy added that Carnival is in the process of updating its website, communications, and processes, and sharing more details with guests and travel advisor partners to reflect these new, simplified policies. "We appreciate the patience of our guests and travel advisor partners as we update all materials, but the end result is a very positive one for all who are looking forward to cruising with us," she said.

For additional information on Carnival Cruise Line and to book a cruise vacation, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, visit www.carnival.com, or contact your favorite travel advisor or online travel site.

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.

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SOURCE Carnival Cruise Line
BEIJING, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- China Life Insurance Company Limited (the "Company") (NYSE: LFC; SSE: 601628; HKSE: 2628) announces today that the Company has notified the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") on August 12, 2022 (Eastern Time in the U.S.) that it will apply for the voluntary delisting of its American depositary shares ("ADSs") from the NYSE and the deregistration of such ADSs and underlying overseas listed shares (the "H Shares") under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), due to a number of considerations, including the limited trading volume of its ADSs relative to the worldwide trading volume of its H Shares, and the considerable administrative costs of maintaining the listing of the ADSs on the NYSE, the registration of the ADSs and the underlying H Shares under the Exchange Act and complying with the periodic reporting requirements and related obligations of the Exchange Act.

The Company intends to file a Form 25 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on or after August 22, 2022 to delist its ADSs from the NYSE. The delisting of the ADSs from the NYSE is expected to become effective ten days thereafter. The last day of trading of the ADSs on the NYSE is expected to be on or after September 1, 2022. From and after that date, the ADSs of the Company will no longer be listed and traded on the NYSE.

Once the delisting has become effective and the criteria for deregistration have been satisfied, the Company intends to file a Form 15F with the SEC to deregister the ADSs and the underlying H Shares under the Exchange Act. Thereafter, all of the Company's reporting obligations under the Exchange Act will be suspended unless the Form 15F is subsequently withdrawn or denied. Deregistration and termination of the Company's reporting obligations under the Exchange Act are expected to become effective 90 days after its filing of Form 15F. Once the Form 15F is filed, the Company will publish the information required under Rule 12g3-2(b) of the Exchange Act on its website, https://www.e-chinalife.com.

The Company intends to terminate its ADS program after delisting its ADSs from the NYSE in due course in accordance with the deposit agreement. The Company does not intend to seek a listing or registration on a national securities exchange in the U.S. or quotation of the H Shares in the U.S. after the termination of its ADS program and the deregistration of its ADSs and the underlying H Shares. H Shares of the Company will continue to be traded on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Hong Kong Stock Exchange"). The Company will continue to comply with its information disclosure and other obligations as a listed issuer under the relevant rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange as well as other applicable laws and regulations.

The Company reserves its rights in all respects, for any reason, to delay or withdraw the aforementioned filings prior to their effectiveness and will issue any further announcement if required under the listing rules or other applicable laws and regulations.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/china-life-insurance-company-limited-301604914.html

SOURCE China Life
Conner Homes' newest community, Hudson, offers luxury homes on large homesites

BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Conner Homes, a homebuilder based in Bellevue that serves communities throughout Washington, today announced the grand opening of its newest community, Hudson. This six-home neighborhood is situated in the West Ridge area of Woodinville, bordering Kirkland. Hudson is the perfect location for Eastside or Seattle commuters, with easy access to I-405.

Residents will be able to enjoy Woodinville's charming selection of more than 130 wineries and take in the scenic recreational opportunities at the nearby Sammamish River Trail and Wilmot Gateway Park. The neighborhood is in the high-performing Northshore School District. Woodmoor Elementary and Northshore Middle schools are within walking distance.

Hudson homes range between 3,078 and 3,510 square feet and are priced from the high $1 millions. Homebuyers can choose their preferred floorplans, which include five bedrooms, up to 3.25 baths, and two or three car garages and covered outdoor living spaces. Each home was thoughtfully designed with fresh and clean finishes, all hand-selected by professional interior designers to maintain each home's individuality.

"Hudson offers a relaxing alternative to living in Seattle, Bellevue or Kirkland," said Michael Lorenz, President of Conner Homes. "These homes are beautifully appointed with luxury features that were hand selected by professional interior designers. What's best is the location: bordering Bothell and Kirkland in a quiet setting just minutes from I-405."

The neighborhood will have their grand opening on August 13th, where prospective homebuyers can enjoy refreshments, tour model homes and get a taste of the area. Guests will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for dinner for two at an award-winning restaurant by local chef John Howie and get a copy of his cookbook.

Conner Homes has been building a variety of homes in the Pacific Northwest for more than 60 years, making it the longest-standing local homebuilder in the region. Its designs prioritize natural light to create brighter, more welcoming spaces and incorporate eco-friendly technologies to minimize environmental impact.

For more information on new homes in Hudson or to make an appointment to tour the model home, call 1-888-302-1252 or visit https://www.connerhomes.com/communities/hudson.

About Conner Homes

At Conner Homes, homebuyers find something different. It's called strength of character. It's reflected in the homes Conner Homes builds, the communities they create, and the way they do business. As a local, multi-generational, family-owned business for over 60 years, Conner Homes shares the interests of their community in building homes responsibly, with an attention to design, a devotion to quality, and a level of integrity not found in the typical mass manufacturers. Their goal is to treat every customer with the kind of service that will make them a customer for life. That translates to a customer experience that's truly worth talking about. Learn more by visiting www.connerhomes.com

For media inquiries, please contact:Katie Lindquist or Drew Howland, Fearey for Conner Homes.(719) 352-1116, [email protected]

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/conner-homes-announces-opening-of-woodinville-community-301604768.html

SOURCE Conner Homes
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cymbiotika, a leading nutritional supplement brand known for creating pure, clinically backed supplements, today announced a new partnership with Dr. Pejman Taghavi, who joins the Board of Advisors as a medical consultant.

Dr. Taghavi, Medical Director of Hollywood Healthcare and Diagnostic Imaging, joins Cymbiotikas Board of Advisors.

"In order for Cymbiotika to continue evolving and guide our customers towards optimal health, we require a wide range of advisors with expertise in healthcare and medicine. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Pejman Taghavi, who brings a wealth of knowledge in the field of Diagnostic and Interventional Abdominal and Musculoskeletal radiology. As Medical Director of Hollywood Healthcare and Diagnostic Imaging and a former clinical instructor at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Dr. Taghavi is an experienced physician who has worked with professional athletes including the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers," said Shahab Elmi, CEO and founder of Cymbiotika.

"I'm very excited for this opportunity to partner with Cymbiotika," said Dr. Taghavi. "As a specialist in treating musculoskeletal injuries, I find that there is a lot of common ground between my approach to healing and Cymbiotika's approach to nutrition. Cymbiotika supplements are scientifically formulated with natural ingredients that are stringently tested for safety and purity. "

About Cymbiotika

Cymbiotika is an innovative wellness brand based in San Diego. With the motto, "Your mind and body deserve the best", Cymbiotika is driven by the higher purpose of inspiring everyday people to achieve their optimal health. Founded in 2017, Cymbiotika uses the most advanced bioavailable absorption technology and sources only the highest quality plant-based nutrients to resolve specific nutritional deficiencies and support healthy aging, detoxification and longevity. Cymbiotika never uses synthetics, GMOs, fillers, chemicals, preservatives, additives or sugars in its products. For more information, visit https://cymbiotika.com.

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SOURCE Cymbiotika
Teachers and Staff at Jefferson Union High School District Benefit from Measure J

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The design-build team of SVA Architects and J.H. Fitzmaurice recently joined Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD) in Daly City, CA for the district's Centennial Celebration and Grand Opening of 705 Serramonte, an affordable housing community specifically for district faculty & staff. Helping to bring housing equity to the region, JUHSD is the first K-12 school district to pass a bond exclusively to build an affordable housing community for teachers and staff. The $75 million project received $33 million in bond funds provided by the passage of Measure J in June 2018. The pioneering development unites SVA's dual strengths of partnering with educational institutions and designing affordable housing communities.

Coinciding with the JUHSD's centennial, the development team and district celebrated the completion of the housing community on May 13, 2022 with a ribbon cutting event. Throughout the summer, staff have been moving into the community in preparation for the fall semester, which began this week on Tuesday, August 9, 2022.

The 705 Serramonte community consists of 122 apartment homes, with 59 one-bedroom, 56 two-bedroom, and 7 three-bedroom units. Homes range from 560  1,174 sq. ft., with rental rates set at 50% of market rate at the time of occupancy. Homes feature vinyl plank flooring, stainless steel appliances, and generous windows with abundant light. Community spaces include a community lounge, a fitness center, and a central, landscaped courtyard with children's play structures, BBQ area, and ample seating.

Nathan Herrero, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal at SVA Architects, states, "SVA's vision was to design homes and community spaces that feel like a market-rate, luxury development. Along with the District, we wanted to honor the critical work of educators by offering comfortable spaces that feel like a haven at the end of the day."

Mohammad Hakimi, AIA, President & CEO at J.H. Fitzmaurice, Inc., states, "It's been our privilege to be a part of this trailblazing project with Jefferson Union High School District and SVA Architects. Many districts around the country are already looking to JUHSD as a model for this type of educator housing in their own communities."

Based on the distinct expertise of its founders, SVA Architects has a robust portfolio of both educational and affordable housing projects. Overseeing the firm's educational projects is Robert Simons, AIA, President of SVA Architects. Under his guidance, SVA designed the award-winning, Grid Neutral, CHPS Verified Leader School La Escuelita Educational Center in Oakland. Leading the design of affordable communities is Ernesto M. Vasquez, FAIA, CEO of SVA Architects. One of the firm's signature affordable projects is Celadon at 9th & Broadway in San Diego, which achieved LEED Gold and was recognized with the 2016 ULI Global Award for Excellence. A natural fit based on SVA's resume, 705 Serramonte uniquely unites the expertise of both of SVA's founders.

About J.H. Fitzmaurice, Inc.

Founded in 1922, J.H. Fitzmaurice, Inc. (JHF) has completed numerous projects in the Bay Area, with its headquarters being in the same location in the City of Oakland for the past 100 years. JHF's primary focus in the past 40 years has been partnering with non-profit housing developers in building affordable housing projects including: teacher & faculty housing; multi-family housing; senior housing; veteran's housing; and special needs & homeless housing. JHF's mission and philosophy is to continue to partner with non-profits to help solve the current need and demand for affordable housing. For more information, visit www.jhfitzmaurice.com.

About SVA Architects, Inc.

Founded in 2003, SVA Architects has become one of the Country's most innovative and respected design and planning organizations. The award-winning firm specializes in urban planning, architecture, and interior design of public, private, and mixed-use projects. Among the firm's portfolio are civic, educational, residential, commercial and mixed-use developments. SVA Architects values institutional and public environments as the foundation of a community and the backdrop against which we live, learn, work, worship, and play. The company is headquartered in Santa Ana with offices in Oakland, San Diego, Davis, and Honolulu. For more information, visit www.sva-architects.com.

Media Contact: Beth BingerBCIMobile: (619) 987-6658[email protected]

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SOURCE SVA Architects, Inc.
MONTREAL, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Dollarama Inc. (TSX: DOL) will issue its financial results for the second quarter of Fiscal 2023, covering the period from May 2, 2022 to July 31, 2022, on Friday, September 9, 2022 at 7:00 a.m. (ET).

Management will hold a conference call on the same day to discuss the results. Financial analysts are invited to ask questions by using the dial-in number provided below. Other interested parties may participate in the call on a listenonly basis via live audio webcast which will be available on Dollarama's website.

Call Details Friday, September 9, 2022 at 10:30 a.m. (ET) Webcast link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/nt5hrf8z Dial-in number (for financial analysts only): 514-392-1587 or 1-800-806-5484 Participants will need to provide the operator with the Service Confirmation Number: 4847274 Webcast replay will be available until September 8, 2023 in the "Investor Relations - Events - Archives" section of Dollarama's website.

About Dollarama

Dollarama is a recognized Canadian value retailer offering a broad assortment of consumable products, general merchandise and seasonal items both in-store and online. Our 1,431 locations across Canada provide customers with compelling value in convenient locations, including metropolitan areas, mid-sized cities and small towns. Select products are also available, by the full case only, through our online store at www.dollarama.com. Our quality merchandise is sold at select fixed price points up to $5.00.

Dollarama also owns a 50.1% interest in Dollarcity, a growing Latin American value retailer. Dollarcity offers a broad assortment of consumable products, general merchandise and seasonal items at select, fixed price points up to US$4.00 (or the equivalent in local currency) in 358 conveniently located stores in El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia and Peru.

www.dollarama.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dollarama-to-report-second-quarter-fiscal-2023-results-301605060.html

SOURCE Dollarama Inc.
Metallica, Mariah Carey, Jonas Brothers, Charlie Puth, Maneskin, Mickey Guyton and Rosalia set to perform at Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park on 24 September 2022 - Hosted by Global Citizen Ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas

NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Education Cannot Wait (ECW) - the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises - is proud to support and participate in the 2022 Global Citizen Festival.

Participants will call on world leaders at the UN General Assembly to step up and invest $600 million into the future of women and girls, close the annual $10 billion climate financing shortfall, deliver $500 million to help African farmers respond to the global food crisis, and provide relief from crushing debts to End Extreme Poverty Now.

"Decades of systemic and political failures have led humanity into the midst of converging and rapidly deteriorating crises  climate, hunger, health, war and conflict. Millions of lives, and the future of our planet, are at stake. We refuse to just stand by and watch!" said Hugh Evans, Co-Founder and CEO, Global Citizen.

In the last two years, more than 47 million women and girls have been pushed back into extreme poverty, and the pandemic has forced millions of girls out of the classroom and into unpaid care work. Donors can change this by pledging $600 million in financial support towards Education Cannot Wait and other partners to support new policies addressing access to education and other related issues.

"The number of crisis-affected, school-aged children requiring urgent education support has grown from an estimated 75 million in 2016 to 222 million today. This is unacceptable. With global citizens, and through ECW's #222MillionDreams campaign, we call on donors, the private sector, philanthropic foundations and high-net-worth individuals to urgently mobilize more resources to further scale up ECW and our strategic partners work to deliver quality education to crisis-affected girls and boys around the world," said Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait.

Performers on the Central Park stage in New York will include Metallica, Charlie Puth, Jonas Brothers, Maneskin and Mariah Carey. Marking the 65th anniversary of Ghana's independence and the 20th anniversary of the African Union, Accra's iconic Black Star Square will see live performances from Usher, SZA, Stormzy, Gyakie, H.E.R., Sarkodie, Stonebwoy and TEMS with more to be announced.

Tickets to the festivals are free and can be earned by downloading the Global Citizen app or visiting www.globalcitizen.org to take action on the campaign's issues.

Note to Editors

About Education Cannot Wait (ECW): Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. We support quality education outcomes for refugee, internally displaced and other crisis-affected girls and boys, so no one is left behind.

Additional information available at: www.educationcannotwait.org

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SOURCE Education Cannot Wait
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

News Advisory:

Event: A program to raise awareness of the case of Austin Tice, a journalist and Marine veteran who has been held in Syria for 10 years.

When: Sunday, August 14 at 2 p.m.

Where: National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20045. Ballroom, 13th Floor.

Who: Speakers will include the following:

Debra and Marc Tice;

Tony Hunter , CEO, McClatchy;

, CEO, McClatchy; President John DeGioia , Georgetown University;

, Georgetown University; Jen Judson , President, The National Press Club

, President, The National Press Club Anthony Blinken , Secretary of State (via video);

, Secretary of State (via video); Fred Ryan , Publisher, The Washington Post (via video);

, Publisher, The Washington Post (via video); U.S. Rep. Al Green (invited);

Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor (invited);

President Joseph R. Biden (invited).

Details:

This is a private, invitation only event organized by the National Press Club and the Tice Family. Press Coverage is welcome but please let us know you are coming by emailing [email protected].

The Event will be live-streamed: click here to watch on Youtube.

The Club has hosted awareness events on the anniversary of Austin's abduction for several years but, during the pandemic, safety issues precluded robust attendance and the Tices participated via video. This will be the first time they have joined us in person for this event. In the 2020 event the Club unveiled The Freedom Clock -- a 24/7 365 large display in the lobby dedicated to tracking the time of Austin's kidnapping in years, days, seconds.

We hope through this event we will raise awareness of who Austin is and discuss the current status of his case and what is being done to bring him home.

In the past year there have been significant breakthroughs in the case including a May 2, 2022 Oval Office meeting with President Biden. In that meeting, the President gave explicit instructions to his National Security team on exactly how they should proceed with respect to engaging with the Syrians. Also, in April 2022, the White House Correspondent's Assn. made Debra Tice a focus of their event and President Biden spoke of his interest in meeting with the Tices and bringing Austin home. Since last Fall The Washington Post has engaged in an unprecedented advertising campaign with dozens of full-page ads, first calling for a meeting with the President and now calling for the government to bring Austin home. In the current campaign they are unveiling a banner on their building. This is the most significant message support provided by The Washington Post for a press freedom case. And McClatchy Newspapers has prepared unprecedented news packages and coverage related to Austin's case. The Tices have made countless TV appearances including recent interviews with Jake Tapper and Lester Holt.

As a reminder, Austin Tice is the only U.S. journalist currently being held overseas. He has been held longer than any U.S. journalist  even Terry Anderson of the Associated Press. The position of the American government is that we have every reason to believe he is alive. The U.S. last sent a delegation to meet with the Syrians about releasing Austin in September of 2020 and there were significant steps taken during the meeting and more follow-up by the U.S. is now urgently required.

The Press Club has engaged in many campaigns to help obtain Austin's release over the years. In the last year these have included a 5k Run for Austin with participation in 13 states and four countries and a Change.org petition signed by 150,000 people as well as news conferences, panels, videos and social media. The National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club's non-profit affiliate has created an exhibit on Austin and launched important and successful letter writing campaigns to Congress.

Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534 for the National Press Club

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SOURCE National Press Club
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoegh LNG Partners LP (NYSE: HMLP) (the "Partnership") announced today that it has established a record date of August 22, 2022 for a special meeting of its unitholders currently planned to take place on September 20, 2022. At the special meeting, the holders of the Partnership's common units will vote on the previously announced proposed merger of the Partnership and a subsidiary of Hoegh LNG Holdings Ltd. ("Hoegh LNG"). Partnership common unitholders of record at the close of business on August 22, 2022 will be entitled to receive notice of the special meeting and to vote at the special meeting.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval with respect to the proposed transaction. This communication relates to a proposed business combination between Hoegh LNG and the Partnership. In connection with the proposed transaction, the Partnership filed a Report on Form 6-K on May 26, 2022, which contains, among other things, a copy of the merger agreement, and the Partnership will furnish to its unitholders a proxy statement and other relevant documents. WE URGE UNITHOLDERS TO READ THE MERGER AGREEMENT, PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE DISSEMINATED BY THE PARTNERSHIP BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED MERGER. Security holders will be able to obtain these materials (if and when they are available) free of charge at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. In addition, copies of any documents filed by the Partnership with the SEC may be obtained free of charge from the Partnership's website for investors at www.hoeghlngpartners.com.

Contact

The IGB Group, Bryan Degnan, +1 (646) 673-9701 / Leon Berman, +1 (212) 477-8438

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SOURCE Hoegh LNG Partners LP
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor America and its African American marketing agency of record, Culture Brands were recognized by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) with a Salute to Excellence Award for its OKAY Hyundai campaign. The award was announced this past weekend at the Salute to Excellence Awards ceremony which took place during the 2022 NABJ Convention in Las Vegas.

"We're thrilled by this recognition for the work we do to engage with our multicultural consumers," said Angela Zepeda, CMO, Hyundai Motor America. "To be honored by NABJ in this way is not only an endorsement of our efforts, but also validation of our commitment to engage with our African American consumers in a culturally authentic way."

The OKAY Hyundai marketing theme was first launched in Fall 2021 and is designed to strengthen the connection between Hyundai and the African American community through the embedding of cultural references and nuances in the creative messaging. The campaign was developed by Culture Brands under the leadership of Eunique Jones Gibson, founder and chief creative officer.

"We are incredibly excited and honored to receive this important peer recognition by NABJ," said Gibson. "To be recognized by the country's largest media organization for journalists of color, this speaks volumes of our work, our creative and our commitment to represent African Americans in media with content that inspires those audiences by ensuring they feel seen, heard and valued."

Erik Thomas, senior group manager, experiential & multicultural marketing, Hyundai Motor America added, "Through our partnership with Culture Brands, we continue to look to connect with people on their own terms and in relevant ways, which we know then leads to longstanding relationships. As we increase our share of voice with the African American market and communicate successfully, this tremendous honor and recognition from NABJ is further affirmation we're on the right path."

Founded in 1975, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), is the oldest advocacy organization for journalists and media professionals of color in the nation. The Salute to Excellence Awards honors journalism and communications that best cover the Black experience or address issues affecting the worldwide Black community. Entries are judged on content, creativity, innovation, use of the medium, and relevance to the Black community.

Culture BrandsCulture Brands is an independent, minority and female-owned agency that exists to authentically celebrate, reflect and represent African Americans in media. Founded in 2017, by 15-year advertising veteran Eunique Jones Gibson, we create culturally relevant and affirming campaigns and content that inspire African American audiences by ensuring they feel seen, heard and valued. At Culture Brands, we are constantly engaged in a two-way conversation with the African American community through our owned and operated media platforms and consumer brands such as the award-winning Because of Them We Can, Because of Them We Can Box (Just For Kids), #CultureTags and Dream Village. Culture Brands is headquartered right outside of the nation's capital in Hyattsville, MD. www.culturebrands.co

Hyundai Motor AmericaHyundai Motor America focuses on 'Progress for Humanity' and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles. Our 820 dealers sold more than 738,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2021, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

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SOURCE Hyundai Motor America
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Intellifluence, the largest warm contact influencer network by authenticated users, keeps getting bigger. The company recently reached a new milestone as a wave of new brand signups resulted in more than 25,000 active brand users on the platform.

"We feel validated with the growth of our free subscription plan," said Joe Sinkwitz, CEO and Co-Founder of Intellifluence. "The reality in the market is influencer marketing is still a misunderstood concept for a lot of B2C and B2B brands. By offering a low risk method that allows a company to explore working with influencers without the hassle of creating campaigns has been a boon to the business. Rather than being forced into an auto-renewing annual contract with tricky cancellation clauses it allows a company to take its time to test the proverbial influencer waters before committing any sort of sizable budget, which of course we provide the campaign tools and management capabilities to handle for when they are ready."

Intellifluence as a warm contact network provides match-making technology that makes it easy for brands to connect with and manage the workflow of campaigns with real influencers over all facets of social media who have opted-in to work with brands.

"The milestone also comes at a time when we've launched our next generation level of pricing guidance," Sinkwitz continued. "In the past the industry largely relied on rough penny-per-follower style metrics that didn't take into account the medium being used, the type of influencer, or any sort of historical context of what was deemed fair previously. To accomplish this we've married our 2021 Influencer Compensation Report survey information with actual transaction detail data from our past six years of operations in order to come up with qualitative curves that help a brand know exactly where the floor pricing should be for very specific use cases. We're very excited about it and are already currently working on the next industry report which we'll release in the upcoming months."

Intellifluence intends to continue in its mission of democratizing influence as a global leader in influencer transactions.

About Intellifluence

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona and established in 2016, Intellifluence is an influencer marketing platform that helps brands and influencers collaborate with ease. Intellifluence is also the home of the largest warm influencer network in the world, meaning each one of its nearly 200,000 opt-in influencers has joined the platform on their own and is ready to partner with brands. For more information on Intellifluence, please visit Intellifluence.com.

Media Contact:Andrew Evans855-476-1597[email protected]

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SOURCE Intellifluence
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- King's Hawaiian is voluntarily recalling its Pretzel Slider Buns, Pretzel Hamburger Buns and Pretzel Bites products out of an abundance of caution following a recall of an ingredient used in the pretzel products from one of its suppliers, Lyons Magnus. Lyons Magnus is recalling this ingredient due to the potential for it to cause microbial contamination including from the organisms Cronobacter sakazakii and Clostridium botulinum. While no illnesses associated with King's Hawaiian pretzel bread have been reported, and no pathogens have been found in any King's Hawaiian products to date, the recall is being conducted to ensure consumer safety.

This recall does not impact any other King's Hawaiian products, as no other products use this ingredient from Lyons Magnus. King's Hawaiian will resume producing all pretzel products once the company has ensured all current product has been disposed of and has confirmed the safety of all ingredients.

Consumers in possession of any King's Hawaiian Pretzel Slider Buns, King's Hawaiian Pretzel Hamburger Buns or King's Hawaiian Pretzel Bites should dispose of the product. Consumers can contact King's Hawaiian at 877-695-4227, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT, if they have any questions, or to request replacement product.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

King's Hawaiian advises that consumers in possession of any King's Hawaiian Pretzel Slider Buns, King's Hawaiian Pretzel Hamburger Buns or King's Hawaiian Pretzel Bites should dispose of the product. If there is a concern about specific Lot Codes, below is a list of Lots affected:

Description UPC Lot Code 800111 - King's Hawaiian Pretzel Hamburger Bun 73435000365 108222 109222 110222 111222 112222 164222 165222 166222 167222 168222 187222 188222 189222 199222 214222 215222 216222 217222 218222 800112 - King's Hawaiian Pretzel Slider Bun 73435000372 115222 116222 117222 118222 119222 120222 157222 158222 159222 160222 161222 162222 200222 201222 202222 203222 204222 220222 221222 800151 - King's Hawaiian Pretzel Bites 73435000525 1672IB 1682IB 1702IB 1712IB 1722IB 1732IB 1742IB 1752IB 1772IB 1782IB 1792IB 1802IB 1812IB 1842IB 1852IB 1862IB 1872IB 1882IB 1912IB 1922IB 1932IB 1942IB 1952IB 1982IB 1992IB 2002IB 2012IB 2022IB 2052IB 2062IB 2072IB 2082IB 2092IB 2122IB 2132IB 2142IB 2152IB 2162IB 2192IB 2202IB 2212IB

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SOURCE King's Hawaiian
LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa., Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AARP Pennsylvania joined Lehigh County officials and PA Dole Fellow Georgette Wenton as Lehigh County became a Hidden Heroes County, joining the Elizabeth Dole Foundation's network of nearly 200 communities nationwide committed to identifying military caregivers and increasing awareness and support.

The Hidden Heroes Cities and Counties Program is part of The Elizabeth Dole Foundation's Hidden Heroes Campaign. The program was launched in 2016 by Senator Elizabeth Dole, Campaign Chair Tom Hanks, and nearly 200 military caregivers representing virtually every state in the union as a way to engage with leaders at the local level to raise awareness about the issues military caregivers face, bring critical resources to our nation's "hidden heroes" caring for wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans, and connect military caregivers to a community of their peers.

AARP has a long history of supporting those who have served in the United States armed forces and has partnered with the Dole Foundation for several years. This partnership has included creating the Respite Relief Program for Military and Veteran Caregivers nationwide in February 2021. This free program grants family caregivers access to no-cost, short-term assistance to help those caring for wounded, ill or injured veterans or service members at home.

"Whether a parent, spouse, sibling, or other loved one, a veteran's caregiver needs to know they are supported as they help those who sacrificed the most for us," said AARP PA State Director Bill Johnston-Walsh. "On behalf of our 1.8 million members, AARP Pennsylvania is proud that another Keystone State community is making that support more visible in Lehigh County."

Lehigh County Executive Philips Armstrong signed the Resolution Friday, making Lehigh County the 5th Hidden Heroes county in Pennsylvania, joining the counties of Allegheny, Berks, Monroe and Wyoming, along with the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

"Lehigh County is pleased to have been recognized for our work to help veterans and members of our armed services," said Armstrong. "These brave men and women fought for us, so in Lehigh County, we fight for them."

As a 2021 Dole Caregiver Fellow, Georgette Wenton represents a select group of Dole Foundation in a formal capacitity, including advocacy, sharing their stories, and connecting other caregivers with information and resources. In recognition of the Lehigh County designation as a Hidden Heroes County, Ms. Wenton commented, "Being a part of the Hidden Heroes Caregiver Community reinforces that I am not alone in this journeyin both the emotions I feel and the challenges of being a caregiver Being my husband's caregiver means I have the opportunity to make sure he feels loved and cared for on a daily basis."

Individuals caring for someone who served, or those who wish to support the campaign can visit HiddenHeroes.org for more information.

About Elizabeth Dole Foundation and Hidden Heroes

The Elizabeth Dole Foundation is the preeminent organization empowering, supporting, and honoring our nation's 5.5 million military caregivers  the spouses, parents, family members, and friends  who care for America's wounded, ill or injured service members and Veterans at home. Founded by Senator Elizabeth Dole in 2012, the Foundation adopts a comprehensive approach in its support and advocacy, working with leaders in the public, private, nonprofit, and faith communities to recognize military caregivers' service and promote their well-being. The Foundation's Hidden Heroes campaign brings vital attention to the untold stories of military caregivers and provides a network for military caregivers to connect with their peers and access carefully vetted resources. Visit www.hiddenheroes.org for more information.

About AARP

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members - including 1.8 million in Pennsylvania - AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org, www.aarp.org/espanol or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspanol @AARPadvocates and @AliadosAdelante on social media.

CONTACT: TJ Thiessen, (202) 374-8033, [email protected]

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SOURCE AARP Pennsylvania
"Condo owners want answers," explains Voice NYC's Grace Fulton.

NEW YORK, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For Grace and Jesse Fulton the search for the perfect New York condo stopped when they came across the beautiful 10-storey midtown Manhattan brick condop, a condominium building with separate commercial and residential units, located at 142 East 49th Street. With its impressive neo-classical stone entrance, the couple was seduced by the elegant 1924 pre-war building and its five picturesque flower-box windows that feature on each floor. The compact proportions of the apartment and its central location meant that the couple could easily maintain the apartment while having enough room to enjoy life. The couple's joy soon turned to concern as construction meant to maintain and beautify their beloved condo began to drag on.

Construction on the 45-unit building began in March 2017. The couple initially embraced the planned renewal work. Coming home to the charms of the condo they loved soon became tinged with sadness and eventually with dismay. The chic facade and classic New York sidewalks are now filled with construction equipment that has been encamped at the locations for years and scaffolding completely impedes the entrance. Answers about the project's progress or its hoped for conclusions are elusive. Tenants have been left not only heartbroken, but worried about the building that once fulfilled their dreams.

Prior to the construction work beginning, the building had been such an attractive location that it caught the eye of Blo Blow Dry Bar, a celebrity-owned chain of salons. The never ending construction saw the salon relocate in 2019.

"It's like a bad facelift," explains Grace Fulton. "This construction was supposed to leave the building looking better and should have been over years ago. There's been no progress for years. The facade that was once sweet and full of charm now features bricks that are broken and cracked and stone that is badly in need of repair. We know we aren't the only residents of New York dealing with interminable construction, but it's been a struggle for us. We bought our condo because we truly fell in love with the beauty of the building but for more than five years we haven't been able to enjoy the charms that this pre-war building once exuded. We're now left wondering if the building is even structurally sound. We're unsure of where to turn for answers or help."

For more information about the plight of the residents of 142 East 49th Street, please visit www.voicenyc.org.

For the latest information, news, and updates on the ongoing situation, follow @voicenyc on Twitter.

About Voice NYC

For more than 20 years, married couple, Grace and Jesse Fulton have explored all that New York offers. During their adventures, they fell in love with Midtown Manhattan and the adorable pre-war condop at 142 East 49th Street. For the last 5 years, they have banded together with other residents of their building to demand answers about the completion of the construction project. Along with several residents, Grace and Jesse have come together to form Voice NYC, a group that advocates for New York's residential condos and empowers their owners.

About Dynamite Public Relations

Dynamite PR is a boutique public relations agency specializing in media relations.

PRESS CONTACT

Michelle Santoshttps://www.voicenyc.org/

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SOURCE Voice NYC
Leveraging experience from leadership roles at Finix, Google, Microsoft, and Uber, Satyavarapu will serve as the Nium's technology leader, driving the company's global engineering, strategy, and technology vision for Global Money Movement

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nium, the global platform for Modern Money Movement, today announced the recent appointment of Ramana Satyavarapu as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Satyavarapu will be responsible for driving global engineering, strategy and Nium's technology vision for Modern Money Movement. Satyavarapu will manage the company's core technology strategy and capabilities that support Nium's business programs and facilitate revenue growth, as well as organize the concepting and implementation of major technical decisions for the company. He will be based in San Francisco, California, and report to Prajit Nanu, Co-Founder and CEO of Nium.

"Ramana is an industry visionary with the ideal mix of finance, technology, and engineering expertise to propel Nium to the next level," said Nanu. "His deep knowledge of platform design and implementation will fuel our growth aspirations as we look to offer even more solutions to more parts of the world."

Satyavarapu brings with him over 20 years of software engineering expertise from companies, including Microsoft, Google, Uber, Two Sigma, and Finix. Prior to joining Nium, Satyavarapu served as the CTO of Finix, where he led engineering, product, and technical support. He started his career with Microsoft in 2001, serving as a founding member of Office 365, which was released globally in 2011. Following his time at Microsoft, Satyavarapu joined Google to spearhead Google Cloud Search effort, which was successfully launched in 2016. At Two Sigma, he led the pioneering effort to create a knowledge graph derived from over 71 petabytes of global finance data and successfully adopted clustering ML techniques to derive quantitative strategies.

"I have watched Nium for a while, and as the fintech landscape continues to evolve, I'm excited about the company's mission to redefine money movement for the modern age," said Satyavarapu. "Nium has built one of the most respected platforms for global payments and I look forward to making my mark on its future as we continue on this growth journey."

Satyavarapu holds a masters degree in computer science from Arizona State University and a bachelors degree in computer science from Andhra University. He also completed executive education programs in leadership and strategy from Harvard Business School.

About Nium

Nium is the global platform for modern money movement. It provides banks, payment providers, and businesses of any size with access to global payment and card issuance solutions. Its modular platform powers frictionless commerce, helping businesses pay and get paid across the globe. Once connected to the Nium platform, businesses are able to pay out in more than 100 currencies to over 190 countries  100 of which in real time. Funds can be received in 35 markets, including Southeast Asia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, India, and the US. Nium's growing card issuance business is already available in 34 countries, including Europe (SEPA), the UK, Australia and Singapore. Nium holds regulatory licenses and authorizations in over 40 countries, enabling seamless global payments and rapid integration, regardless of geography.

For more information, visit: https://www.nium.com or connect with a specialist here.

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SOURCE Nium
NOIDA, India, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BIOFACH INDIA and MILLETS INDIA organised by NuernbergMesse India in collaboration with APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority), will take place from 1  3 September 2022 at the India Expo Mart (IEML), Greater Noida, Delhi NCR, along with NATURAL EXPO INDIA, supported by Integrated Nutrient Management, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

The event trio will bring the leading companies as well as Start-ups from the Organic, Millets and Natural industry together.

The Indian organic food market has seen a surge with a market size touching $820 million in 2020 is likely to grow at a CAGR of 24% during 2022-2026. While the pandemic disrupted supply chains the world over and distressed the farmers across the globe, it has also pushed people to move towards organic choices.

MILLETS INDIA  the first focused trade fair for millets!

2023 has been declared the 'International Year of Millets' by United Nations. To provide a relevant forum for Industry in India, NuernbergMesse India will be presenting the premier edition of "MILLETS INDIA". The expo will have on display a wide range of Millet  based raw materials, products and services both Indian and international.

Connect to Re-Experience

Visitors can look forward to a diverse range of products on display, an engaging knowledge programme, along with relevant business and networking opportunities.

Sonia Prashar, Managing Director and Chairperson of the Board, NuernbergMesse India 'BIOFACH INDIA has established itself as the most important platform in the sector. This year we are excited to announce 'MILLETS INDIA'- the premier edition of the event, which will help organisations showcase this "SuperFood" to a global audience. The platform allows the entire industry to network, exchange information and ideas, fosters dialogue and business."

Further information can be found on BIOFACH India website  www.biofach-india.com

About NuernbergMesse India

NuernbergMesse is one of the 15 largest trade fair companies in the world. Its portfolio covers around 120 national and international trade fairs and congresses at the Nuernberg location and worldwide.

For further information, please contact:

EXHIBITION

Ravi VermaAssistant Director - ProjectsE: [email protected]T: +91-11-47168844

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SOURCE NuernbergMesse India Private Limited
LONDON, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Proprivex (PPX), a platform for crypto asset and currency management, helps to get an overview of investors portfolios and engage with trading all from one place. Built on Avalanche (AVAX), Proprivex (PPX) will help simplify the crypto investing process, so investors can have a better overview of their assets and what they can do to maximise them.

Crypto is on the rise, with the growing number of users mirrored by the number of blockchains and tokens entering the market. For investors, this can make keeping up with their assets challenging due to the sheer number available. However, this is what Proprivex (PPX) has been designed to combat.

Cryptocurrency has had issues with bad actors, leading to distrust. This uncertainty is something Proprivex (PPX) is fighting against with an asset management platform that emphasises transparency and security. The ecosystem of Proprivex (PPX) allows for trading and staking, which is secure and efficient. They will also employ expert asset managers to help investors make the best decisions, giving Proprivex (PPX) users the chance to make their assets go further. All this, combined with top-of-the-range asset management tools and advanced smart contracts, makes Proprivex (PPX) an incredibly trustworthy investment management solution.

As well as tackling the issue of trustworthiness in crypto, Proprivex (PPX) is also tackling issues faced by crypto investment management services. Ease of use and access to information is a major concern for Proprivex (PPX). They will tackle this through an AI algorithm that will deliver essential, personalised reports and market information to the user. Proprivex (PPX) also provides information regarding international crypto use, as many countries have laws on cryptocurrency. This information is curated for the investor's specific situation, for peace of mind for all involved.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the services provided by Proprivex (PPX). With their dedication to creating a safe, secure, and simple system for crypto investors to get on top of managing their assets.

Proprivex Token (PPX)

Presale: http://prop.proprivex.io/

Website: http://proprivex.io/

Telegram: https://t.me/ProprivexTokenOfficial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProprivexToken

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SOURCE Proprivex
CHICAGO, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SIGGRAPH 2022, the 49th annual conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques, closed the in-person portion of the conference, 8-11 August 2022 in Vancouver, Canada, with more than 11,700 attendees, 90-plus exhibitors from 16 countries, remarkable featured speakers, and a variety of panels, programs, and hands-on experiences. Access to the virtual component of SIGGRAPH 2022 will continue through 31 October 2022.

SIGGRAPH 2022 shared exceptional offerings in digital art, technology, computer science, and various innovations.

SIGGRAPH 2022 offered a platform to share exceptional offerings in digital art, technology, computer science, and various innovations from more than 2,400 contributors. The conference and virtual experience were enjoyed by an international audience from 74 countries and garnered 30,000-plus views during the livestream sessions across the four-day, in-person conference. The top five attended programs in the virtual platform included Technical Papers, Birds of a Feather, Talks, Courses, and Production Sessions.

"Every year we gather our global community to showcase how computer graphics and interactive techniques shape the future," said Munkhtsetseg Nandigjav, SIGGRAPH 2022 Conference Chair. "After two years of meeting virtually, I was thrilled to host our return to a live, in-person conference in Vancouver. The city was a wonderful host, from the amazing location to the warm welcome from the local community. SIGGRAPH participants were incredibly joyful and excited to reunite and see the latest developments in our field. Being face-to-face at these SIGGRAPH conferences is an annual recharge. It's an opportunity to come together to learn, share our passions, and enrich our skills. I'm honored to be a part of this celebration as we continue to encourage the development and innovation in the arts and sciences that impact the world around us. And I'm looking forward to seeing how our work continues to evolve headfirst into the future."

Highlights from the conference included:

Featured Speakers : Sougwen Chung, Ed Catmull, Pat Hanrahan, Sarah Bond, and Ime Archibong

: Sougwen Chung, Ed Catmull, Pat Hanrahan, Sarah Bond, and Ime Archibong Production teams behind some of the year's top films took part in the Production Sessions , including DNEG, Pixar Animation Studios, Weta FX, and Walt Disney Animation Studios

, including DNEG, Pixar Animation Studios, Weta FX, and Walt Disney Animation Studios New for 2022, the inauguration of Conference Papers , where exciting emerging ideas were presented in a shorter format than traditional Technical Papers

, where exciting emerging ideas were presented in a shorter format than traditional Technical Papers Technical Papers showcases the latest industry advancements and scientific contributions. A total number of 247 papers were selected out of a record number of submissions, and five "Best of" honors were awarded

showcases the latest industry advancements and scientific contributions. A total number of 247 papers were selected out of a record number of submissions, and five "Best of" honors were awarded Roundtables allowed participants to connect directly and hold intimate conversations with Technical Papers, Art Papers, Courses, and Talks contributors, and interact in small group settings

allowed participants to connect directly and hold intimate conversations with Technical Papers, Art Papers, Courses, and Talks contributors, and interact in small group settings Emerging Technologies and Immersive Pavilion showcased the latest in VR, AR, and mixed reality innovations

and showcased the latest in VR, AR, and mixed reality innovations Metaverse discussions and workshops were covered in the Featured Speakers , Frontiers , Appy Hour , Real-Time Live!, and Courses programs

, , , and programs VR Theater presented the evolved storytelling and growth of virtual reality content

SIGGRAPH 2022 also celebrated this year's contributors by honoring some "Best of" from various programs, including:

Art Gallery Best in Show  "Ray"Weidi Zhang, Media Arts and Technology Program (MAT), University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Art PapersBest Art Paper  "Traditional African Dances Preservation Using Deep Learning Techiques"Adebunmi Odefunso, Purdue University/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Esteban Garcia Bravo, Purdue University; and Yingjie Chen, Purdue University

Electronic TheaterBest in Show  "The Seine's Tears"Yanis Belaid, Pole 3D (France)

Jury's Choice  "The End of War"Lei Chen, Tsinghua University (China)

Best Student Project  "Yallah!"Nayla Nassar, Rubika (France)

Audience Choice*  "Alternate Mesozoic"Lucie Laudrin, ESMA (France)

Emerging TechnologiesBest in Show  "HDR VR"Nathan Matsuda, Yang Zhao, Alex Chapiro, Clinton Smith, and Douglas Lanman, Reality Labs Research, Meta

Immersive PavilionTop Selection  "Journal of My Journey: Seamless Interaction in Virtuality and Reality With Digital Fabrication and Sensory Feedback"Miguel Ying Jie Then, Ching Lui, Yvone Tsai Chen, Zin Yin Lim, Ping Hsuan Han, National Taipei University of Technology

Real-Time Live!Best in Show  "A Showcase of Decima Engine in Horizon Forbidden WestHugh Malan, Maarten van der Gaag, Guerrilla

Audience Choice  "AI and Physics Assisted Character Pose Authoring"Florent Bocquelet, Boris Oreshkin, Dominic Laflamme, Felix Harvey, Louis-Simon Menard, Jeremy Cowles, and Bay Raitt, Unity Technologies

Technical Papers Best Paper Awards"Instant Neural Graphics Primitives With a Multiresolution Hash Encoding"Thomas Muller, Alex Evans, Christoph Schied, and Alexander Keller, NVIDIA

"DeepPhase: Periodic Autoencoders for Learning Motion Phase Manifolds"Sebastian Starke, University of Edinburgh/Electronic Arts; Ian Mason, University of Edinburgh; and Taku Komura, University of Hong Kong"Spelunking the Deep: Guaranteed Queries on General Neural Implicit Surfaces via Range Analysis"

Nicholas Sharp, University of Toronto; Alec Jacobson, University of Toronto/Adobe "Image Features Influence Reaction Time: A Learned Probabilistic Perceptual Model for Saccade Latency"Budmonde Duinkharjav, New York University; Praneeth Chakravarthula, Princeton University/UNC Chapel Hill; Rachel Brown, NVIDIA Research; Anjul Patney, NVIDIA Research; and Qi Sun, New York University

"CLIPasso: Semantically Aware Object Sketching"Yael Vinker, Tel Aviv University/Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Ehsan Pajouheshgar, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Jessica Y. Bo, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne/ETH; Roman Christian Bachmann, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne; Amit Bermano, Tel Aviv University; Daniel Cohen-Or, Tel Aviv University; Amir Zamir, EPFL; and Ariel Shamir, Reichman University

VR TheaterBest in Show  "On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World)"Steve Jamison, Mike Brett, Archer's Mark and Astrea; Pierre Zandrowicz, Atlas V and Astrea; and Arnaud Colinart, Atlas V

*Vote tallied on-site via survey poll.Best in Show awards determined by a six-member jury; Audience Choice awards determined by the live audience.

The SIGRRAPH 2022 virtual experience is available until 31 October 2022. To learn more and register for the ongoing virtual conference, go to https://s2022.siggraph.org/.

About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPHACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. The SIGGRAPH conference is the world's leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques

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SOURCE SIGGRAPH
Blumenfeld  California Secretary for Environmental Protection under Governor Gavin Newsom and a senior leader at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama Administration  will head Waverley Street Foundation's multi-billion-dollar efforts to support climate solutions and community priorities.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Waverley Street Foundation, a more than $3 billion climate and community organization, today named California's Environmental Protection Secretary Jared Blumenfeld as its inaugural president. Jared is a national climate leader with a track record of delivering results for frontline and underserved communities. At the Waverley Street Foundation, Jared will champion actions that support the groundbreaking work being done in communities across the globe to urgently reduce carbon pollution.

"We have ten years to drastically cut climate pollution which is already causing extreme heat, mega-wildfires, destructive droughts, and sea-level rise. Our best solutions and climate heroes are in local communities that are struggling for survival. Waverley Street will place community voices at the center of our work" said Blumenfeld, who starts his new role in September. "Together with Lisa Jackson, Laurene Powell Jobs and the Waverley Board, we will supercharge efforts that result in an equitable and livable planet for all humankind."

He added: "I'm deeply grateful to Governor Newsom for the opportunity to serve the people of California, and proud of everything we accomplished at CalEPA. Governor Newsom has set the global standard for bold climate leadership. He has stood up against polluters and provided billions of dollars to help Californians tackle the climate emergency."

Waverley Street Foundation invests at the intersection of climate solutions and community priorities, supporting local leaders and organizations at work in the trenches of the battle for a livable planet. The Foundation will advance climate efforts grounded in the day-to-day lives of people and communities, while also responding to the growing challenges of those living on the frontlines of climate change.

"Jared has spent his career engaging with the people on the ground, working in urban neighborhoods, in rural areas, in tribal communities and beyond to directly address the challenges that climate change brings," said Waverley Street Foundation Board Chair Lisa P. Jackson. "He knows progress and innovation are possible when we put the voices and work of local communities at the forefront of climate action, and we're thrilled that he's going to be guiding Waverley Street's mission going forward."

Prior to his leadership at CalEPA, Blumenfeld served as Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Pacific Southwest, which covers Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands and 148 tribal nations. Jared hiked from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail, hosted an environmental podcast Podship Earth, has worked in China, India, Europe, Africa, and the Americas to protect more than 8 million acres of wildlife habitat. Blumenfeld served as Director of San Francisco's Department of Environment. During his tenure San Francisco was named "the most sustainable city in the nation."

"Our planet, and all of us who inhabit it, face no greater threat than our climate crisis. The Waverley Street Foundation was formed to address this crisis with the kind of bold, innovative ideas that are urgently needed," said Waverley Street Foundation Vice Chair Laurene Powell Jobs. "In Jared, the Waverley Street Foundation will have a proven leader with the vision and experience that this complex global challenge demands. His leadership at the city, state, and regional levels will prove invaluable as we seek to translate local action into worldwide impact."

The voices, experiences, and innovations of neighborhoods and communities around the world have a central place in protecting people, nature, health, and our planet. Waverley Street Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, supports grantees working closely with farmers, students, investors, Indigenous peoples, advocates, and many others. By 2035, the Waverley Street Foundation has committed to invest the entirety of its endowment  more than $3 billion as of 2022  to support organizations working on solutions at the intersection of climate change and community priorities. In the coming weeks, the Foundation will launch its website to provide more details on its mission, grantees, and the impact of their work.

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SOURCE Waverley Street Foundation
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 12, 2022

1933 Act File No. 333-150525

1940 Act File No. 811-22201

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-1A

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 [ X ] Pre-Effective Amendment No. [ ] Post-Effective Amendment No. 367 [ X ]

and/or

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 [ X ] Amendment No. 369 [ X ]

(Check appropriate box or boxes.)

DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), 28th Floor

New York, New York 10019

(Address of Principal Executive Office) (Zip Code)

Registrants Telephone Number, including Area Code: (646) 572-3390

Daniel D. ONeill

1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), 28th Floor

New York, New York 10019

(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

Copy to:

Angela Brickl Stacy L. Fuller Rafferty Asset Management, LLC K&L Gates LLP 1301 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue) 1601 K Street, NW 28th Floor Washington, DC 20006 New York, New York 10019

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box)

[ ] immediately upon filing pursuant to paragraph (b) [ X ] on August 22, 2022 pursuant to paragraph (b) [ ] 60 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) [ ] on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) [ ] 75 days after filing pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) [ ] on (date) pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Rule 485.

If appropriate, check the following box:

[ X ] This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Designation of New Effective Date for Previously Filed Amendment

Post-Effective Amendment No. 328 (the Amendment) was filed pursuant to Rule 485(a)(2) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, on February 17, 2022, and pursuant to Rule 485(a)(2) would become effective on May 3, 2022.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 338 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating May 23, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 340 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating June 6, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 342 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating June 28, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 345 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating July 19, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 347 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating July 20, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 349 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating July 21, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 351 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating July 22, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 353 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating July 25, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 355 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating July 26, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective with regard to the Direxion Daily META Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bull 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 2X Shares.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 358 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating July 28, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective with regard to the Direxion Daily META Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bull 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 2X Shares.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 360 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating August 2, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective with regard to the Direxion Daily META Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bull 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 2X Shares.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 362 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating August 8, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective with regard to the Direxion Daily META Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bull 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 2X Shares.

Post-Effective Amendment No. 364 was filed pursuant to Rule 485(b)(1)(iii) for the sole purpose of designating August 15, 2022 as the new date upon which the Amendment would become effective with regard to the Direxion Daily META Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily META Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bull 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NFLX Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AAPL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily AMZN Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily GOOGL Bear 2X Shares, Direxion Daily NVDA Bull 2X Shares and the Direxion Daily NVDA Bear 2X Shares.

This Post-Effective Amendment No. 367 incorporates by reference the information contained in Parts A, B, and C of the Amendment.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the Securities Act) and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the Registrant certifies that this Post-Effective Amendment No. 367 to its Registration Statement meets all the requirements for effectiveness pursuant to Rule 485(b) of the Securities Act, and the Registrant has duly caused this Post-Effective Amendment No. 367 to its Registration Statement on Form N-1A to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of New York and the State of New York on August 12, 2022.

DIREXION SHARES ETF TRUST By: /s/ Patrick J. Rudnick* Patrick J. Rudnick Principal Executive Officer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 367 to its Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Signature Title Date /s/ Daniel D. ONeill* Daniel D. ONeill Chairman of the Board August 12, 2022 /s/ Angela Brickl Angela Brickl Trustee August 12, 2022 /s/ Jacob C. Gaffey* Jacob C. Gaffey Trustee August 12, 2022 /s/ David L. Driscoll* David L. Driscoll Trustee August 12, 2022 /s/ Henry W. Mulholland* Henry W. Mulholland Trustee August 12, 2022 /s/ Kathleen M. Berkery* Kathleen M. Berkery Trustee August 12, 2022 /s/ Mary Jo Collins* Mary Jo Collins Trustee August 12, 2022 /s/ Carlyle Peake* Carlyle Peake Trustee August 12, 2022 /s/ Patrick J. Rudnick* Patrick J. Rudnick Principal Executive Officer August 12, 2022 /s/ Corey Noltner* Corey Noltner Principal Financial Officer August 12, 2022
WASHINGTON  The United States will deploy an additional 260 soldiers to Europe in support of its allies on the Continent as Russias war in Ukraine enters its seventh month, the Army said Friday.

The soldiers will come from the 101st Airborne Divisions Sustainment Brigade headquarters at Fort Campbell, Ky., according to an Army statement.

The soldiers will help support the United States unrelenting commitment to our European and NATO allies during the fall deployment, according to the service. This temporary deployment is in response to the invasion of Ukraine and is not a permanent change to the overall Army force posture in Europe.

Known as the lifeliners, the brigade specializes in logistics and personnel services to support deployed forces, according to the Army.

There are approximately 100,000 U.S. forces in Europe now  up from about 80,000 before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The Army did not say where the soldiers would deploy in Europe, but the Pentagon sent troops in the early months of the war to NATO countries near Ukraine, including Germany and Poland.
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BALTIMORE (Tribune News Service)  The tally of wasted COVID-19 vaccine continues to climb at the troubled Emergent BioSolutions plant in East Baltimore and now exceeds a half billion doses, according to findings a congressional panel released Thursday on the manufacturer once central to the U.S. coronavirus pandemic response.

The new total includes an additional 135 million doses dumped over quality deficiencies that were discovered after operators of the Bayview facility had pledged to address problems identified by federal regulators and had resumed manufacturing.

It is deeply disappointing that Emergent, after collecting millions in taxpayer dollars and having many months to fix the serious manufacturing problems plaguing their Baltimore facility, has yet to competently perform the essential task they committed to perform, said Rep. James E. Clyburn, the chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which has been probing the plants issue for more than a year.

Their continued failure has hampered vaccination efforts in areas of the world where vaccines are still in short supply, the South Carolina Democrat said in a statement. Emergent executives clearly have a great deal of work to do to eliminate these systemic problems at their company.

Rockville-based Emergent had been given $163 million in 2015 to build and prepare the Baltimore plant to produce vaccine for any pandemic. Despite early warnings about readiness, investigators say officials in the Trump administration awarded Emergent a $628 million contract to make COVID-19 vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

The Biden administration canceled the deal last year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration flagged manufacturing troubles and paused production. Since then, some batches of vaccines have been cleared for use, some overseas because AstraZeneca hasnt been given authorization for use in the United States.

The FDA asked AstraZeneca to move production elsewhere and had Johnson & Johnson take over manufacturing of its vaccine at the plant. The one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one of four vaccines now authorized here, but its used far less than the vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. The Novavax vaccine was only recently authorized.

The Congressional subcommittee has been sorting out what went wrong at Emergent BioSolutions and issued two previous reports. The findings released Thursday found the total discarded doses is now 525 million due to contamination, expiration or other issues.

Previous reports found quality control issues abounded and company officials had sought to hide some problems.

Emergent has said its been fully cooperating with inspectors and has disputed some of the findings, though officials have said they warned federal regulators about the difficulties of making two different vaccines at once.

On Thursday, Matt Hartwig, a spokesman, said in a statement that the company remains committed to being a trusted partner of the U.S. and allied governments helping to supply medical countermeasures for biological, chemical and nerve agent attacks.

He noted that Johnson & Johnson was in charge of manufacturing the vaccine at the plant from April 2021 until it stopped in early 2022.

Hartwig also disputed the number of discarded doses reported by the Congressional subcommittee, saying its difficult to estimate dose equivalents for discarded batches.

While unfortunate, a batch of drug substance may test out of specification for a variety of reasons whether during the manufacturing process or after the process is complete. Rigorous testing and reporting when such events occur is critical, and it is what happened in the case of the single batch of J&J drug substance found to be out of specification in March 2021, he said. To equate these quality control actions with a discarded dose figure displays a lack of understanding regarding the biomanufacturing process.

Emergent continues to produce other vaccines and therapeutics at other facilities for both the government and private vaccine makers.

One product gaining national attention is the smallpox vaccine ACAM2000 that Emergent has a long-term contract to supply to the Strategic National Stockpile. Its now being deployed to counter the monkeypox outbreak, though due to significant side effects, its not being as widely used as another vaccine.

The Bayview plant, which produces bulk vaccines that are put in vials and packaged at other facilities, remains at the center of the COVID vaccine controversy. In addition to the congressional investigation, Emergent faces lawsuits by shareholders who say officials made false claims about their capabilities to inflate the stock price.

The companys stock price had peaked at $134 in August 20202 but plunged after the news broke that the company needed to dump vaccine doses. It sank by about half as the lawsuit became known in April 2021 and has hovered in recent months around $30 a share.

Emergent officials previously said the lawsuits are without merit.

In the congressional committees latest release, officials said there was a batch from the 135 million Johnson & Johnson doses, made between August 2021 and February 2022, that failed inspection, rendering all the vaccine unusable. The vaccine had been sequestered at the time of the committees last report in May.

Johnson & Johnson said previously that it was cooperating with the investigators and Thursday said it no longer produces vaccine at Bayview.

Johnson & Johnson has provided formal notice of termination of our agreement with Emergent due to Emergents continued breaches, including its failure to supply drug substance for our COVID-19 vaccine, the company statement said. The quality and safety of our COVID-19 vaccine are paramount. No vaccine doses containing Emergent drug substance produced after the restart of the Bayview facility in August 2021 have been released to any market.

The committee found that Emergent officials said they had corrected deficiencies before resuming production in August 2021 but problems persisted. The European Union, South Africa and Canada also said Emergents processes did not meet quality standards.

The committee investigation, which began in April 2021, has relied on hearings with Emergent officials, site visits and documents from the company, vaccine makers and federal health agencies.

The latest release said Trump administration officials said during testimony that they were unaware of the extent of the companys failures before awarding Emergent the vaccine contract, though earlier inspections already had warned of substantial evidence of non-compliance with good manufacturing processes and mold, poor disinfection of plant equipment and inadequate training of Bayview employees.

Once again, our committees have found evidence that unacceptable and irresponsible business practices by Emergent BioSolutions have limited our ability to meet the urgent, global need for coronavirus vaccines, said Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Companies benefitting from taxpayer dollars intended to produce vaccines must put the public good first, the New York Democrat said in a statement. By repeatedly failing to meet quality standards even after being notified of serious problems, Emergent BioSolutions has wasted hundreds of millions of vaccine doses and violated the publics trust.

Officials say the Emergent investigation continues.

2022 The Baltimore Sun.

Visit at baltimoresun.com.

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(Tribune News Service)  As the USS Abraham Lincoln sailed into San Diego Thursday, Aug. 11, with two destroyers in tow and some 6,000 sailors and Marines aboard, it marked the completion of a U.S. military first: Navy Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt has now completed her first mission as the first woman to command a U.S. aircraft carrier.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier left for a routine deployment to the Indo-Pacific region  generally ranging from the Philippines to the South China Sea  on Jan. 3. Over the next eight months, the USS Abraham Lincoln and the other ships encountered everything from the Chinese military to whale-awareness training.

For the Marines, the exercise also included the first deployment of F-35C fighters aboard an aircraft carrier. The plane is widely viewed as an innovative weapon capable of both military and intelligence operations.

In a phone call from aboard the Lincoln, just a day before the strike group returned to Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Bauernschmidt noted her accomplishment and spoke about the mission.

I dont think there is any greater responsibility than taking over an aircraft carrier and being responsible for 6,000 Marines and sailors, she said.

She described the crew  with an average age of 21.8 years old  as the backbone of the strike groups success and said they should be credited for their accomplishments. Bauernschmidt also threw credit to commanders aboard the other ships in the group and the support she got from them.

I woke up every day with a smile on my face knowing Im driving this incredible warship, she said.

What (sailors and Marines) did mattered, Bauernschmidt added. And their hard work made the difference.

Bauernschmidt termed the Marine aerial integration seamless and flawless.

Even when the F-35s were grounded (to check on possible issues with the pilots ejector seats) the strike group didnt miss a beat. The Air Force first discovered the problem in April and in late July and August, all military F-35s were grounded.

We had the right people and parts, she said. There was no impact to the warship at all.

The F-35s are known for their weapons systems and are being heralded as the jet fighter of the future. Bauernschmidt views that description as apt.

The situational awareness (the F-35s) were able to provide was incredible, she said.

The USS Abraham Lincoln was accompanied by the destroyers the USS Mobile Bay, USS Fitzgerald, USS Gridley, USS Sampson, and USS Spruance. The Mobile Bay and Spruance are homeported in San Diego, while the Gridley and Samson returned to Washington state Thursday. The Fitzgerald is expected to sail home back to San Diego in the next few months, U.S. 3rd Fleet officials said.

The strike group  which collectively was commanded by Rear Adm. J.T. Anderson  sailed over 65,000 nautical miles. During that time it helped with freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce on the seas. It also participated in international exercises Noble Fusion, in February, and Jungle Warfare, in March. In both exercises, sailors and Marines trained with the Japanese Self-Defense Force. In late June and July, the strike group participated in Exercise Rim of the Pacific, a joint training venture that included 26 nations.

In the South China Sea  among the most heavily navigated waters in the world  the Lincoln strike group joined the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group to demonstrate the U.S. Indo-Pacific Commands ability to deliver a powerful maritime force. Combined, those ships carried 14,000 sailors and Marines.

While near China, in January, February and March, the ships were frequently shadowed by Chinese warships, Bauernschmidt said.

Though the shadowing isnt unusual there was no report of a threat or a fear of military escalation, the contact came during a year when tensions between China and the United States are comparatively high. Its unknown how close the Chinese ships were away from U.S. military vessels.

Bauernschmidt characterized the interaction with the Chinese as safe and professional, adding that mostly they shadowed our ship just like they shadow any ship that operates in that area. She said some of the strike groups aircraft also had some interaction with Chinese aircraft but it remained safe and professional every time we interacted with them.

The mission, she added, demonstrated to countries in the region that we support them and their international rights. The crew directly contributed to the preservation of the freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in the region. What they did matters, and their hard work made the difference in the region and for our nation.

Though it was her first command aboard the carrier, Bauernschmidt said she didnt spend much time posing for pictures and kept the deployment all business.

She called the future for women in the Navy bright and added that the Navy was already ahead of other service branches in bringing women into combat and command roles.

The mission also included training that was more about animal and environmental protection than the military.

While the ships were off Hawaii and Southern California, the sailors under Bauernschmidts command participated in an international exercise aimed at raising awareness about how to protect marine mammals.

The waters where they were sailing are home to many species of whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine life. Last year, four whales in the area were struck by U.S. and Australian military vessels. And, in June, Navy officials asked the National Marine Fisheries Service for some wiggle room in a deal theyve struck over training in the Pacific Ocean, saying it would be hard to guarantee that Navy ships might not hit another whale before the agreement runs out in late 2025.

Two whales of unknown species were struck and killed by Navy ships last June and July. And in May 2021, two fin whales, determined to likely have been mother and calf, were struck and killed by a visiting Australian Navy destroyer. The ship sailed into San Diego Bay with the whales hanging off its bow and several days later, one washed up at Bolsa Chica Beach.

As part of new protocols enacted after those whales were killed, the Navy put its sailors through more training to recognize the presence of marine animals and avoid them.

We have environmental considerations in everything we do, Bauernschmidt said. We have multiple lookouts, and we record any marine mammals we see.

Bauernschmidt called the overall mission a success. She said despite growing tension over China and its interaction with Taiwan, she would have no concerns about returning to the area.

If I was out there right now, Id have no more concerns than I had before, she said.

Speaking on behalf of the strike group, Rear Adm. Anderson said the deployment underlines the importance of the U.S. relationship with its allies.

Throughout the Indo-Pacific, it is clear how significant our relationships are with our allies and partners and how impactful every single Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Sailor and Marine has been since we departed in January, he said.

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FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii  Wildfire bolstered by high winds and dry conditions has burned more than 10,000 acres of military- and state-owned land on the island of Hawaii as of Thursday, the Army said in a news release.

The wildland fire was first seen at midday Wednesday on the western portion of the Pohakuloa Training Area, a 132,000-acre site operated by the Army and used for live-fire training.

The fire also continues to sweep across state land to the west of the training area. Its cause is under investigation, the release said.

The terrain is covered primarily with tall grass and shrubs.

The Hawaiian Islands have experienced higher than normal winds in recent days with sustained gusts of more than 30 mph. The islands leeward sides have gotten little rain in the past five months.

This fire is very significant, and it is taking this entire team of first responders to collectively contain its advances, the commander of Pohakuloa Training Area, Lt. Col. Kevin Cronin, said in Thursdays news release.

Firefighters with the Army, Hawaii County, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife and the National Park Service joined local volunteer firefighters to begin battling the blaze Wednesday.

Efforts have focused on creating firebreaks ahead of the blaze to curb its advance, with helicopters dropping buckets of water on the flames.

More than 30 people are working to contain the wildfire with equipment that includes three Army and two county helicopters, 10 fire engines and tankers and six earth-moving bulldozers, the news release said.

Working with the team of first responders here, our number one priority is the safety and well-being of the local community, Cronin said in the news release. The weather conditions are making this fight difficult to slow the advance of the fire, and our combined efforts are working to prevent it from reaching or crossing Highway 190.

Highway 190 traverses the northwest portion of the island, beyond which lies a more populated area near the coastline.

This wildfire follows a smaller one at the end of April that blackened more than 600 acres at the training area.
BATURAJA TRAINING AREA, Indonesia  The top U.S. commander in the Indo-Pacific joined the head of Indonesias armed forces atop a five-story tower Friday to watch their troops fire a lethal fireworks display, including Javelin anti-tank missiles and machine guns.

Artillery sounded in the distance and AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships sliced through the sky overhead.

The drill was the largest live-fire event of Super Garuda Shield, two weeks of field training on Sumatra by 2,000 U.S. and 2,000 Indonesian troops and smaller contingents from a dozen other nations. The exercise began Aug. 1 and officially concludes Sunday.

Adm. John Aquilino, the head of Indo-Pacific Command, arrived that morning at Baturaja, Indonesias largest military training area, and was greeted by Gen. Muhammad Andika Perkasa of the Indonesian National Armed Forces.

Aquilino took up a familiar refrain in his remarks to reporters afterward.

Peace and prosperity in the region have been in place for 80 years and underlined by the-rules based order, he said. This exercise is part of that.

It also strengthens ties between the two countries militaries as potential adversaries in the regions, especially China, become more aggressive.

Super Garuda Shield overlapped with a weeklong series of exercises by Chinas armed forces around Taiwan that also included live fire of artillery and ballistic missiles. Chinas exercises began Aug. 4 in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan on Aug. 3 and concluded Thursday.

Beijing punctuated its exercises with a white paper Wednesday that justifies using force to unite Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, with the mainland.

Destabilizing activities by China in Taiwan is exactly what we are trying to avoid, Aquilino said. Every day we try to prevent war.

Perkasa told reporters that his forces should be able to work with anyone who shares a common goal.

The commander, who studied in the U.S. at Harvard University and the National War College, told Stars and Stripes that training together created friendships between American and Indonesian soldiers despite the language barrier.

Baturaja Training Area is comparable to the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., said Perkasa, who helped develop the Sumatran range during his previous job as Indonesian Army chief of staff.

Its the militarys duty to prepare itself for future contingencies, he said. We dont know whats going to happen in the future.

Spc. Matthew Morales, 26, of San Antonio, Texas and Sgt. Jon Shifflet, 23, of Charlottesville, Va., both infantrymen with the U.S. Armys 3rd Brigade Combat Team, spent Friday moving personnel around the training area in a Dagor tactical vehicle.

The Dagor was made for the bumpy Sumatran terrain, which can be soft after rain, Shifflet said.

Its a lot better than a Humvee, he said of the dune buggy-style all-wheel-drive vehicle with sturdy suspension. Ive only got it stuck once.

Morales, whose specialty is attacking tanks, was interested in watching the Javelin, and AT-4 and Carl Gustaf rocket launchers.

Shifflet said he was impressed with the U.S. Army and Indonesian Apache helicopters firing overhead.
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, Okinawa  A former Harrier pilot with a Harvard credential took charge Friday of the Marine Corps only aircraft wing outside the United States.

Maj. Gen. Eric Austin assumed command of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing from Maj. Gen. Brian Cavanaugh during a flight-line ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

Austin comes to wing headquarters on Okinawa with the risk of conflict with China and North Korea at a 50-year high.

I couldnt have picked a better person to come behind me, Cavanaugh said as he addressed his replacement shortly after handing over the unit colors. I think youll make this wing more lethal and thats exactly whats needed out here.

The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing is the aviation element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force and consists of approximately 7,000 Marines and sailors in three aircraft groups at Marine Corps Air Stations Futenma and Iwakuni in Japan and Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii. The wing includes an array of aircraft from F/A-18 and F-35B fighters to MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters.

The wing provides offensive air support, anti-air support, aerial reconnaissance and electronic countermeasures.

Austin attended the Defense Departments Kubasaki High School at Camp Foster, where the wing headquarters are located, while his father served as a Marine officer on the island.

Austin most recently served as director of combat development and integration at Marine Corps headquarters in Quantico, Va., his official biography states. Earlier in his career, he was the wings assistant chief of staff for operations.

He earned a bachelors in aeronautical engineering at the Naval Academy in 1991 and finished flight school in 1994. He flew the AV-8B Harrier, the vertical or short takeoff and landing jump jet being phased out as the F-35B Lightning II assumes that role.

Austin has commanded attack squadrons and aircraft groups and deployed multiple times to Kuwait and Iraq.

He completed courses at the National War College in 2010, the Marine Corps University in 2012 and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2013.

Cavanaugh is bound for Hampton Roads, Va., to take over Marine Corps Forces Command and is already approved by Congress for promotion to lieutenant general, wing spokesman 1st Lt. Jude Hydrick said prior to Fridays ceremony.

At the flight-line ceremony beneath an unrelenting sun, III MEF commander Lt. Gen. James Bierman said he was sorry to see Cavanaugh go after only a little more than a year on the job.

Everything that this [Marine aircraft wing] does comes back to his quiet, steady leadership, his vision and his kindness, Bierman said.

Austin said he was eager to learn about the wings current posture and directed the crowds attention to the Marines in formation before him.

The worlds a dangerous place and we need men and women of courage and character to defend our freedoms and youre looking at them right there, he said.
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea  Complaints of mold growing inside buildings at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea have caught the attention of a Missouri congressman.

Photos shared Wednesday on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook group purported to show water spots, leaky ceilings and black mold growing in buildings on the air base about 115 miles south of Seoul.

The Facebook group is popular with airmen who anonymously submit messages about life in the military, including complaints and memes. It has more than 93,000 followers.

Information posted with the photos indicate some Kunsan dormitory occupants had no hot water or working air conditioners for several weeks.

There are hundreds of people on this base and in this building that are suffering from the same situation, said a post on Monday.

A representative for Rep. Billy Long, a Republican from Springfield, Mo., said Long's office has been in touch with service members from Kunsan. The congressmans director of constituent services, Lisa Taylor, told Stars and Stripes by phone on Friday that Long plans to request an inquiry into the complaints.

A post in the Facebook group Monday shows a flyer for a Bake and Raffle event in which residents of dorm No. 535 could win a new air-conditioning unit.

Temperatures in the rooms can reach over 90 F even with a fan running, the post said. Now they post these flyers all over the building as a solution.

A spokeswoman for the 8th Fighter Wing said the flyer was posted by a private organization, not sponsored or in coordination with the wing.

The health, safety and quality of life of our Wolfpack Airmen is one of 8th Fighter Wing's highest priorities, Capt. K. Paige Hankerson said in an email to Stars and Stripes on Friday. We are aware of the concerns regarding mold/mildew in Kunsan facilities currently circulating social media and as we continue to fight an uphill battle against a very moist climate we remain committed to ensuring our airmen are equipped with the proper tools to prevent and mitigate the presence of mold/mildew.

The fighter wing was distributing dehumidifiers to every airmans room and briefing them on ways to prevent mold and mildew, Hankerson said.

Kunsan is on the western coast of South Korea. The Korean Peninsula is in the middle of monsoon season, with torrential rains and high humidity that lasts for days.

Heavy rain and flooding in South Korea killed at least 12 people earlier in the week. Seoul received its heaviest rainfall in 80 years with about 5.5 inches of water an hour on Monday, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.
A U.S. Navy warship recently took part in a goodwill exercise with the Solomon Islands maritime police and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the first such operation between Tokyo and the Oceania nation.

The littoral combat ship USS Oakland, the Japanese destroyer JS Kirisame and the Solomon Islands patrol boat Taro practiced tactical maneuvering near the Solomons on Aug. 8, according to a news release the next day from Japans Ministry of Defense.

The maneuvers were followed by a separate exercise in the area by the Oakland and Kirisame.

The U.S. 3rd Fleet acknowledged Stars and Stripes request for additional details on Thursday but did not respond by Friday evening.

The exercises were a part of a two-day effort to build closer ties with the Solomon Islands, according to the defense ministry.

The Pacific archipelago in April signed a five-year security agreement with Beijing, raising concern in the United States and Australia that China might establish a military base there.

Australian and U.S. diplomats headed to the Solomons to mend the breach and by June Solomon Island Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare had pledged that his country would never host a Chinese installation.

Relations between the U.S. and the Solomon Islands remain relatively cold, however.

On Sunday, Sogavare skipped a memorial service commemorating 80 years since the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal, a service attended by several dignitaries, including U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, whose father died fighting in the Solomon Islands.

Local media described Sogavares absence as a snub, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Sherman on Tuesday concluded a trip to five Pacific nations, including the Solomon Islands, and told reporters in New Zealand that the U.S. is doubling down on our investment here in the Pacific, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in February that the U.S. would open an embassy in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, to deepen cooperation with Pacific Island partners, according to the State Department.

The U.S. closed its embassy in Honiara in 1993 and moved all diplomatic functions to the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Numerous Chinese military vessels and aircraft were spotted near Taiwan on Thursday, just a day after Beijing announced the end to a weeklong series of drills around the self-governed island.

Six Chinese warships and 21 aircraft were active in the Taiwan Strait and waters around the island, with 11 aircraft flying past the unofficial median line, Taiwans Ministry of National Defense said in a tweet that day.

The increased activity likely represents the new normal, according to Lyle Goldstein, director of Asia Engagement at the Washington, D.C.-based Defense Priorities think tank.

These deployments help familiarize [Chinese military] personnel with the islands geography and defensive capabilities, he said in a Thursday email to Stars and Stripes. Of course, they also have high intimidation value, as well.

China on Wednesday concluded a series of drills that began on Aug. 4 and included missile launches and live fire by land and naval forces. They were a response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan on Aug. 3.

The drills effectively surrounded Taiwan and had a serious impact on international trade and regional security, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Tuesday. He also speculated that the exercises could be a pretext for an invasion.

The same day the exercises concluded, 10 Chinese warships and 36 aircraft were operating in the region, Taiwans defense ministry said. Of those, 17 aircraft flew east of the median line.

Prior to Pelosis visit, Beijing routinely sent aircraft into Taiwans air defense identification zone on a near daily basis, according to daily updates by the defense ministry. The presence of warships in those incursions, however, was relatively rare.

Taiwan has remained functionally separate from China since 1949, but Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province that must be reunited politically with the mainland, by force if necessary.

The conclusion of Chinas exercises represents a temporary abatement, but the long-term outlook remains grim, Goldstein said.

China reaffirmed that it would not renounce the use of force in its efforts to bring Taiwan back into its fold, according to a white paper released Wednesday by the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing. It stated that while China will exert its utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification, it reserves the ability to take all necessary measures in achieving its goal.

The threat of force shouldnt be taken lightly, according to Goldstein.

I have been concerned for many years that Beijing is deadly serious about enforcing its claims to Taiwan, he said. I find it plausible that China will assume a more and more aggressive posture against Taiwan, commensurate with its rapidly growing military power.
While another heat wave rolls over Europe, Germany is preparing itself for a long, cold winter as an energy crisis caused in part by Russia's war on Ukraine drags on.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already reduced natural gas deliveries to the country via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 80% and has threatened to cut Germany off from gas supplies completely. Almost half of all households in Germany use natural gas as their primary means of heating, and Russia until recently accounted for 55% of the country's gas imports. Replacing the dwindling supplies from Russia with gas from elsewhere in a few months is next to impossible, given the lack of infrastructure such as pipelines or LNG terminals.

That's left Germans worried about freezing in the winter months: Already, some hardware stores are reporting that they're selling out of electric heaters. "I have the feeling that we are sleepwalking toward a catastrophe," said Lamia Messari-Becker, a professor of building technology and building physics at the University of Siegen in western Germany.

Germany's government has asked citizens, municipalities and industrial consumers to save energy, and efforts can be seen across the country.

Berlin has turned down the nightly illumination of the president's residence, Bellevue Palace, and the Reichstag building, the seat of the country's parliament. Officials are discussing whether to dim the Christmas markets in winter and debating how to keep public buildings like libraries open and warm. The Berlin Senate wants to cut at least 10% of its energy consumption, but decided against putting limitations on neon signs in public space.

Hanover, a city of 530,000 people and home to the headquarters of Germany's largest corporation, Volkswagen, has lowered the temperature of the water in heated public swimming pools and turned off warm water in all city buildings in an effort to lower energy consumption by 15%. Some streets are no longer lit at night and public fountains have stopped running.

So far, the public is broadly accepting of such changes. Axel von der Ohe, first city councillor in Hanover, told public radio station Deutschlandfunk that the steps are necessary and most people understand the measures "because the situation is serious, and that's why they show solidarity and go along with it."

Even smaller municipalities have begun to reduce their energy use. The 9,000-person town of Pritzwalk in the rural east of the country, has outfitted street lights with LED technology. But small towns do not have a lot of wiggle room, Mayor Ronald Thiel said. "There is little savings potential in the energy sector in small municipalities such as Pritzwalk in the case of compulsory tasks, such as schools," he said. "It would be more possible to make savings on voluntary tasks, such as cultural facilities. However, every contribution counts."

Unlike countries such as Spain, Germany has not made energy-saving measures binding. Behavioral appeals alone won't be enough, cautioned Karen Pittel, director of the ifo Center for Energy, Climate, and Resources and a professor of economics at the University of Munich. "In some areas, such as public buildings, offices, stores or even outdoor lighting, I can very well imagine such requirements," she said, although for private homes, "incentives to save energy would probably work better."

Vonovia, Germany's largest real estate group, owns hundreds of thousands of apartments around the country and plans to gradually reduce its heating in its properties at night to shave 8% off its energy usage.

In Germany, natural gas is mostly used for industrial purposes (37% of the total), followed by household heating (31%). High prices and the potential shortage pose a serious threat to the German economy, which relies heavily on manufacturing. New estimates by the International Monetary Fund predict a slower growth rate than previously expected of 1.2% for 2022 and 0.8% for 2023, partly due to the energy crisis.

German industry is also trying to help meet an EU-wide plan to reduce gas consumption by 15%. Volkswagen has its own plant at its factory in Wolfsburg where it burns coal or gas, and says it will use coal for longer than it had planned. Switching to other energy sources is more difficult for the steel industry. Industry leader ThyssenKrupp is already anticipating a temporary drop in production.

Consumption cutbacks should be supplemented by more energy generation, Messari-Becker said. "We won't be able to do it [preventing a gas shortage in winter] with savings alone. We also need to generate more [energy]. Every kilowatt hour that we produce extra creates security." Messari-Becker said she did not see a short-term alternative to coal. Last month the German parliament voted to reactive defunct coal plants as a temporary measure, despite this running counter to its climate goals.

But some experts say that the concerted attempts to save energy shift needed attention to areas of the energy transition that have been neglected - such as greener ways to provide heat, like heat pumps.

That neglect "is now harming us, because the number of experts who know about it is too small and the hidden potential is still misunderstood by potential users," said Stefan Buttner, an economist and expert in climate-neutral production at the University of Stuttgart. He said that while large companies have optimized their processes for efficiency, the same is not true for a lot of small and medium-sized businesses. Here, Buttner said, there is pent-up demand.
MYKOLAIV REGION, Ukraine - On the front line in southeast Ukraine, there is little sign that a major counteroffensive is brewing.

For weeks, Western intelligence and military analysts have predicted that a Ukrainian campaign to retake the strategic port city of Kherson and surrounding territory is imminent. But in trenches less than a mile from Russia's positions in the area, Ukrainian soldiers hunker down from an escalating onslaught of artillery, with little ability to advance.

"It's to our left side, our right side, over our heads," said Yuri, a 45-year-old soldier with the Ukrainian military's 63rd Mechanized Brigade said of the incoming fire, which has intensified over the past week. At night, Russian forces make reconnaissance missions that probe the tenuously held farmland. "It's a more tense situation," he said.

Retaking Kherson would mark a devastating blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions in Ukraine. The wider region is crucial to providing fresh water to Crimea, a problem that has cost Russia billions of rubles since its illegal annexation of the peninsula in 2014. It is also a key foothold for any future Russian military push in the south toward Odessa, the coveted jewel on the Black Sea.

But time is slipping if Ukraine is to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky's stated goal of winning the war by the end of the year, and the current situation on the ground raises the prospect of a long, grinding stalemate instead. Residents who have fled villages in the Kherson region have described Russian forces moving in reinforcements, and officials have eyed those troop movements warily.

"They've dug in," said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration in Kryvyi Rih, after returning from a trip to inspect the front lines on Sunday. "We know that they are trying to fortify their positions. The enemy has significantly increased its artillery along the entire line," he said of the 60-mile long front line, after returning from visiting positions on Sunday.

Lacking the basic artillery and armored vehicles needed to progress, Ukraine has focused on operations far behind the front lines. That includes a mysterious attack earlier this week on a Russian air base in Crimea, a major supply hub for Russian operations in Kherson previously assumed to be out of its enemy's reach.

The progress Ukrainian forces had made here in recent months - recapturing a string of villages from Russia's control - has largely stalled, with soldiers exposed in the open terrain.

The roads that soldiers zip along among the scorched wheat fields at the front lines are pockmarked with craters from previous strikes, guided by Russia's Orlan drones that allow them to pick and choose targets.

"There is nowhere to hide," said Yuri, who has fought here without a break since the beginning of the war, and like other soldiers did not give his last name, in line with protocol. His unit has a hodgepodge stock: modern antitank weapons and a Soviet machine gun manufactured in 1944, and the focus here is holding the line.

Ukrainian military officials are tight-lipped on any timeline for a wider push, but say they need more supplies of Western weapons before one can happen. Ukraine lacks the capacity to launch a full-scale offensive anywhere along the 1,200-mile front line, one security official conceded.

"We have to be honest - for now, Ukraine doesn't have a sufficient number of weapons systems for a counteroffensive," said a defense and intelligence adviser to the Ukrainian government who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.

"It's still possible to get a result, but if so it will be the result of smart Ukraine strategy more than of countering Russia with equal power," the adviser said. "It's very difficult to match them."

In an interview this week, Ukrainian army commander Major General Dmytro Marchenko also said "small batches" of Western military aid means carrying out offensive actions is "very difficult" but expressed optimism that the dynamic would change soon.

"I think once we get the full package of this aid, our counteroffensive will be very quick," he told RBC newspaper, urging people of Kherson to be "a little patient."

"It will not be as long as everyone expects," Marchenko added.

Others have appeared to temper expectations, stressing that the situation is dynamic. In recent days, Russia has launched a new assault on cities in Ukraine's east.

"It changes pretty much every day because the enemy moves their forces and we change our tactics and maneuvers," said Yuriy Sak, an adviser to the defense minister. "Things change and plans change."

The counteroffensive "is already happening" in the way that is feasible, said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military's Southern Command, adding that progress will be "little by little" and pointing out that the conflict is a "hybrid war."

Some have even hinted that the offensive here may have been trumpeted as part of a campaign of informational warfare, designed to draw Russian firepower away from areas farther east.

And Russia has been reinforcing. About 3,000 troops have arrived in the Kherson region over the past week alone, bringing to at least 15,000 the number of Russian troops on the western bank of the Dnieper River, the intelligence adviser said.

Most of them are elite airborne troops who are helping to bolster exhausted Russian forces who have been manning the front line for months, said Kirill Mikhailov, a Kyiv-based analyst with the Conflict Intelligence Team, a Russian research and investigative group.

Fleeing residents describe Russian troops as hunkering down.

"Two weeks ago they came in with big equipment," said one 42-year-old from Novovorontsovka, near Kherson, who is in touch with parents there. "They are setting up bases in houses." A 65-year-old who left the tiny village of Mar'ine on June 11 said Russian forces who had barely been visible earlier in its occupation began moving in large numbers in the days before she fled. "They were digging in trenches," she said.

The troop movements have raised concerns that Russia could be preparing its own new offensive in the area. But while Russia may try to recover some of the villages retaken by Ukrainian troops in recent months, they also lack the means to launch a large-scale operation, analysts and officials say.

The forces around Kherson city constitute Russia's only foothold on that side of the river, a natural defensive barrier that carves through Ukraine and requires supply routes to pass through several highly vulnerable chokeholds.

Those supply routes have proven vulnerable to Ukraine's new U.S.-supplied HIMAR rocket systems. And with its strike on Crimea, Ukraine has demonstrated the capacity to hit the heart of Russian military installations in the major military supply hub for Moscow's operations in the south.

But if Ukraine is to conduct a counteroffensive "the clock is ticking," Mikhailov said. It's going to be the muddy season by October, making military movements difficult.

Outgunned, Ukraine is also using hybrid tactics. In the city, much of the local population is hostile to occupation, said Konstantin Ryzhenko, a Ukrainian journalist in hiding there. Russian soldiers are already not visible on the streets of the city in fear of attacks, he said.

Those who remain, including officers from Russia's FSB intelligence service and police, have moved their bases to civilian locations under hospitals and in urban areas, in fear of HIMAR strikes, Ryzhenko said.

"It just takes one of them to turn around for five seconds for them to be distracted, for them to be hung up and drowned," he said of Russian troops. In late June, a senior Russian appointed official in the city was killed in a bomb blast.

Given the strike in Crimea, Russia's hold over Kherson is in jeopardy, said Dmitri Alperovitch, chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a Washington-based think tank.

"I think the Russians will pull out of Kherson soon," he said. "It's becoming untenable - really hard to resupply forces."

That would stymie any Russian goal, however unrealistic, to take all of Ukraine's Black Sea coast and create a connection to the Russian-controlled territory of Transnistria in Moldova. And others point to Russia's willingness to sacrifice its soldiers even for operations that don't make strategic sense, while Ukraine typically moves forward only with caution.

"The Ukraine army will never do anything stupid, like Russia, throwing people like cannon fodder into battle to satisfy the ambitions of their leaders," Sak said. "The question is the price."

Russia is less militarily vulnerable in areas of Kherson province that lie on the eastern banks of the Dnieper River. That territory is essential to Putin's long-sought "land bridge" to Crimea and its fresh water supply.

In the first days following the invasion, Russian forces blew up a dam in a canal in the region that had long infuriated Putin. Ukraine dammed the waterway in 2014 following Russia's occupation of the peninsula. Once-fertile farmland turned into parched barren flats, and the Kremlin was forced to pay out billions in subsidies and to invest in new water projects.

It's a region Putin is unlikely to relinquish without a ferocious fight.

Although Ukraine has enough manpower to launch a push, Sak said that without more sophisticated weaponry there is a risk of sending troops needlessly to their deaths in an offensive with marginal chances of success.

Some Ukrainian military units are already paying a price. For nearly six months, Ukraine's 28th Mechanized Brigade has fought along the southern front, stopping a lightning advance by Russian forces outside the city of Mykolaiv.

The unit's battle-hardened fighters continue to claw back territory as they inch closer to Kherson. Despite being some of the best equipped and most professionally trained units on the front lines, withering Russian artillery strikes across the open steppe have maimed and killed many of their fighters.

In late July, the 28th Mechanized Brigade's commander, Vitalii Huliaiev, was killed in action and his fellow soldiers intend to avenge his death.

"We will get to Kherson," said a battalion commander for the unit who goes by the call sign Zloi, which translates as Angry or Mean. "We will have our revenge."
The upcoming one-year anniversary of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan could serve as a trigger for troops and veterans suffering from what is known as moral injury, researchers and mental health advocates say.

Moral injury refers to the distress that people feel after committing an act that violates their sense of right and wrong or being forced to experience immoral actions by someone else.

Veterans suffering from moral injury struggle with reconciling their values with the way things can unfold in times of war, said Amy Williams, chief clinical officer at the New York-based Headstrong Project, which provides mental health treatment to veterans.

Current events often serve to add further insult to injury, Williams added.

The 20-year-long U.S. war in Afghanistan came to a dispiriting end, with a Taliban victory and often unsuccessful efforts to evacuate Afghans allied with the U.S. cause.

The anguish that combatants in Afghanistan felt in the wake of the American withdrawal led to increases last year in requests for therapy at Headstrong and calls to the crisis line run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, spokesmen said at the time.

Many U.S. troops who deployed to Afghanistan had to square their wounded pride or moral malaise with the events of the past year, mental health advocates said.

Some troops and veterans believed that not evacuating Afghans affiliated with the U.S. military as soon as possible was a violation of their moral code, said Brett Litz, a clinical psychologist at VA Boston Health Care System and Boston University.

If the feelings connected to these thoughts become debilitating, that condition can amount to a moral injury, a term coined in 1994.

Moral injury shares some similarities with PTSD, such as nightmares, unwanted recall of the experience, avoidance of thoughts or feelings related to the experience and reduced interest in things the person once enjoyed.

But symptoms unique to moral injury include withdrawal from social life as well as changes in peoples belief in their own goodness and their outlook on their purpose in life.

PTSD, that kind of trauma is about a racing heart. Moral injury is about a broken heart, Litz said.

He also believes that moral injury requires different treatment than PTSD, which is often alleviated through therapy that attempts to introduce new and less negative ways to think about a trauma.

Clinical psychologists like me, its a dead end to try to reframe (moral injury). Its now part of you, and how do you work on that? Litz said.

Treatment of moral injury can include ways for patients to balance the scales by doing what they see as good or just, he said.

The prevalence of moral injury is unknown, Litz said. And the condition is not yet recognized in the most recent Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Litz said he hopes a test he developed to measure moral injury can help define the term for troops, veterans and caretakers.

Despite the distinguishing characteristics, moral injury and PTSD are often linked, other researchers said.

We now know theres dozens of cancers. Different types of cancers have different types of treatments, said Alan Peterson, director of the Strong Star mental health research consortium in San Antonio. It makes sense that theres different types of treatments for different types of traumas.

The VA offers help on moral injury via mental health counseling and its chaplain service, as do groups like the Wounded Warrior Project.

The withdrawal from Afghanistan triggered a lot of emotions for troops and veterans, said Erin Fletcher, Warrior Care network director for the Wounded Warrior Project.

The existence of a concept that accounts for the lingering but unseen ailments can offer curative comfort, though.

Putting a name to somebodys experience that is incredibly difficult for them can be empowering, Fletcher said. And then we know that there is help, that youre not the only one feeling this thing.
WASHINGTON - The Smithsonia Museum in the (fictional) country of Pinelandia was about to be attacked by (pretend) enemy forces. Pinelandias president asked the cultural heritage specialists at the (also made-up) joint military task force to assist the museum staff in evacuating the museums priceless (!) collection.

Wearing neon-yellow vests over their Army combat uniforms, 21 specialists who are actually Army reservists packed up the artifacts (a motley assortment of thrift store vases, paintings and tchotchkes) for transport to a safe location three kilometers away (really at the edge of the museums entrance plaza). As the mission progressed, a soldier (not) accidentally stepped through a painting, ripping it from its frame, and the reservists were forced to use pieces of the museums (not-so-precious) textile collection when they ran out of protective wrap. Meanwhile, word arrived that (nonexistent) townspeople were alarmed that American soldiers were looting the museum. Work stopped to quell those (imaginary) fears.

For five hours on Wednesday in a large conference room at the National Museum of the U.S. Army in Fort Belvoir, Va., the reservists - who in their civilian lives are archivists, art historians, archaeologists and professors - completed a tense role-playing exercise to train for the evacuation of priceless artifacts from a museum under threat. The drill was the centerpiece of the 10-day Army Monuments Officer Training program, a new partnership between the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command that aims to boost the ranks of the Armys corps of cultural heritage specialists, the modern-day version of the famous World War II Monuments Men. The partnership was formalized in October 2019, and the first session was scheduled for March 2020. The pandemic delayed it until this week.

The world is falling apart around you. You have to argue for resources, coordinate with other elements of the task force, work with the populace, said Col. Scott DeJesse, the program director of the Strategic Initiatives Group in Civil Affairs, who led the program with Corine Wegener, the director of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. There is no right answer. You have to speak military language and museum language. Its an art more than a science.

Since the training began Aug. 3, the participants have been taught museum operations, risk assessment, collections documentation and the handling, packing, storing and moving of objects. Thursdays session focuses on salvage - how to recover collections that could not be protected - and working across government agencies and with local partners. The program ends with a graduation ceremony Friday.

We are looking at the disaster cycle - preparedness, mitigation, response when you have a disaster and the early recovery phase, Wegener said. Just like first aid for people, if you dont have training you freeze. We teach a basic first aid methodology for cultural heritage property ... and the principles of cultural first aid in crisis.

The 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict requires the military to have specialists on cultural heritage protection to coordinate with civilians in a crisis. The 21 participants in this first training session came from the United States, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Britain and Lebanon.

When it comes to talent and knowledge and education, you cant find a higher level of expertise, knowledge and networks anywhere else in the DOD [Department of Defense], DeJesse said.

Cultural heritage expertise is especially crucial now, in light of recent conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine. Aggressor forces target cultural heritage sites in their effort to dominate local populations. The commands objectives are peace and stability, and the destruction of cultural heritage undermines those goals, DeJesse said.

Culture is a unifier, but culture also causes conflict, he said. Conflict in the 21st century is people-centric. You need to understand their hearts and minds.

The training team included Melissa Weissert, an actual collections manager with the Armys museums who played an overwrought Smithsonia Museum collections manager, and Paul Morando, the chief curator at the host museum, who played the fictional Smithsonia Museum director. Lt. Col. Brian Lowery delivered an Oscar-worthy performance as the skeptical task force commander.

I dont have a lot of confidence in who is going to receive [the artifacts], he said of evacuating precious antiquities, adding that the team needed to consider all phases of the operation. Your job wont be done by moving them to another site.

Theres a big difference between hearing about it and doing it. The doing helps reinforce what we learned in the classroom, Capt. William Baehr, an archivist who lives in Fort Washington, Md., said afterward.

Capt. Sonia Dixon of Omak, Wash., a doctoral candidate in art history, described the exercise as stressful but important. It helped me think not only about what I can do, but how I will teach others, she said. I live in a small town, and if theres a wildfire, I have experience I could share with the community.

The afternoon ended with a 45-minute critique by staffers of the real Smithsonian and Army who observed the exercise. They commented on multiple aspects of the drill, including the flow of communication, the division of labor, the inventory numbering system and the soldiers packing skills. They offered praise and suggestions for improvement.

The Smithsonian has trained hundreds of museum professionals around the world and has worked with the military in the past. Although the participants will return to their civilian lives around the globe, they have formed a network and will remain connected by the training and supported by Smithsonian resources, Wegener said.

They know each others strengths and skills, and they may in the future be called upon to go on deployments or exercises where they might inject a cultural heritage perspective, she said. They are a team, even though they will be separated. Thats rare in the Army Reserve.
Classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of former president Donald Trump's Florida residence on Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Experts in classified information said the unusual search underscores deep concern among government officials about the types of information they thought could be located at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and potentially in danger of falling into the wrong hands.

The people who described some of the material that agents were seeking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. They did not offer additional details about what type of information the agents were seeking, including whether it involved weapons belonging to the United States or some other nation. Nor did they say if such documents were recovered as part of the search. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that he could not discuss the investigation. But in an unusual public statement at the Justice Department, he announced he had personally authorized the decision to seek court permission for a search warrant.

Garland spoke moments after Justice Department lawyers filed a motion seeking to unseal the search warrant in the case, noting that Trump had publicly revealed the search shortly after it happened.

"The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing," the motion says. "That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any 'legitimate privacy interests' or the potential for other 'injury' if these materials are made public."

Late Thursday night, Trump said on social media that he agreed the document should be made public. In another post early Friday, he called the nuclear weapons issue a "hoax" and accused the FBI of planting evidence, without offering information to indicate such a thing had happened. Trump said agents did not allow his lawyers to be present for the search, which is not unusual in a law enforcement operation, especially if it potentially involves classified items.

Material about nuclear weapons is especially sensitive and usually restricted to a small number of government officials, experts said. Publicizing details about U.S. weapons could provide an intelligence road map to adversaries seeking to build ways of countering those systems. And other countries might view exposing their nuclear secrets as a threat, experts said.

One former Justice Department official, who in the past oversaw investigations of leaks of classified information, said the type of top-secret information described by the people familiar with the probe would probably cause authorities to try to move as quickly as possible to recover sensitive documents that could cause grave harm to U.S. security.

"If that is true, it would suggest that material residing unlawfully at Mar-a-Lago may have been classified at the highest classification level," said David Laufman, the former chief of the Justice Department's counterintelligence section, which investigates leaks of classified information. "If the FBI and the Department of Justice believed there were top secret materials still at Mar-a-Lago, that would lend itself to greater 'hair-on-fire' motivation to recover that material as quickly as possible."

The Monday search of Trump's home by FBI agents has caused a political furor, with Trump and many of his Republican defenders accusing the FBI of acting out of politically motivated malice. Some have threatened the agency on social media.

As Garland spoke Thursday, police in Ohio were engaged in a standoff with an armed man who allegedly tried to storm the Cincinnati office of the FBI. The man was killed by police later that day; authorities said negotiations had failed.

State and federal officials declined to name the man or describe a potential motive. However, a law enforcement official identified him as Ricky Shiffer.

According to another law enforcement official, agents are investigating Shiffer's possible ties to extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, whose leaders are accused of helping launch the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

A person using Shiffer's name on TruthSocial, Trump's social media site, posted a "call to arms" message shortly after Monday's FBI search became public.

"People, this is it," the message reads. "Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop/Army-Navy store/pawn shop opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one. They have been conditioning us to accept tyranny and think we can't do anything for 2 years. This time we must respond with force."

The Washington Post could not confirm whether the account actually belonged to Shiffer.

In his statement on Thursday, Garland defended FBI agents as "dedicated, patriotic public servants" and said he would not "stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked . . . Every day they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them."

It was Garland's first public appearance or comment since agents executed the warrant at Mar-a-Lago Club, taking about a dozen boxes of material after opening a safe and entering a padlocked storage area. The search was one of the most dramatic developments in a cascade of legal investigations of the former president, several of which appear to be growing in intensity.

The investigation into the improper handling of documents began months ago, when the National Archives and Records Administration sought the return of material taken to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. Fifteen boxes of documents and items, some of them marked classified, were returned early this year. The archives subsequently asked the Justice Department to investigate.

Former senior intelligence officials said in interviews that during the Trump administration, highly classified intelligence about sensitive topics, including about intelligence-gathering on Iran, was routinely mishandled. One former official said the most highly classified information often ended up in the hands of personnel who didn't appear to have a need to possess it or weren't authorized to read it.

That former official also said signals intelligence - intercepted electronic communications such as emails and phone calls of foreign leaders - was among the type of information that often ended up with unauthorized personnel. Such intercepts are among the most closely guarded secrets because of what they can reveal about how the United States has penetrated foreign governments.

A person familiar with the inventory of 15 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago in January indicated that signals intelligence material was included in them. The precise nature of the information was unclear.

The former officials and the other individual spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.

This spring, Trump's team received a grand jury subpoena in connection with the documents investigations, two people familiar with the investigation, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details, confirmed to The Post on Thursday. Investigators visited Mar-a-Lago in the weeks following the issuance of the subpoena, and Trump's team handed over some materials. The subpoena was first reported by Just the News, a conservative media outlet run by John Solomon, one of Trump's recently designated representatives to the National Archives.

People familiar with the probe have said it is focused on whether the former president or his aides withheld classified or other government material that should have been returned to government custody earlier. The people, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said that as authorities engaged in months of discussions on the subject, some officials came to suspect the Trump team was not being truthful.

Pressure had been building for Garland to say something so the public could understand why the Justice Department - and a federal magistrate judge - believed the extraordinary step of executing a search warrant at the home of a former president was necessary. But Garland has stuck with his practice of not discussing ongoing investigations.

"Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor," Garland said Thursday. "Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing."

Trump and his allies have refused to publicly share a copy of the warrant, even as they and their supporters have denounced the search as unlawful and politically motivated but provided no evidence to back that up.

Lawyers for the former president can respond to the government's filing with any objections to unsealing the warrant, leaving it to the judge overseeing the case to decide. Trump also could publicly release the warrant himself.

The judge ordered the Justice Department to confer with lawyers for Trump and alert the court by 3 p.m. Friday as to whether Trump objects to the unsealing.

If made public, the warrant would probably reveal a general description of what material agents were seeking at Mar-a-Lago and what crimes they could be connected to. A list of the inventory that agents took from the property would also be released. Details could be limited, however, particularly if the material collected includes classified documents.

In addition to the anti-law enforcement threats and vitriol on social media sites and elsewhere this week, the furor over the search warrant has led to threats against the judge who approved the warrant request.

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association - the professional association representing 31,000 federal law enforcement officers and agents - said in a statement Wednesday evening that its agents had received "extreme threats of violence" this week.

"All law enforcement understand their work makes them a target for criminal actors," wrote the group's president, Larry Cosme. "However, the politically motivated threats of violence against the FBI this week are unprecedented in recent history and absolutely unacceptable."

Republicans around Trump initially thought the raid could help him politically, but they are now bracing for revelations that could be damaging, a person familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

___

The Washington Post's Jacqueline Alemany, Spencer S. Hsu, Meryl Kornfield and Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report.
(Tribune News Service)  This weeks Space & Missile Defense Conference in Huntsville is the 25th annual one, and regulars say it sometimes feels like a high school reunion to see friends and colleagues from past conferences on the big display floor.

They were especially glad to see each other this year as the pandemic eased enough to make the event seem more like normal. But this isnt any reunion. Its filled each year with briefings from the nations top military leaders on future needs and plans and booth after booth of systems, devices and simulators for demonstrating new defense technology.

Here are few of the companies that work with military commands in Alabama to bring that technology to this years conference and support Huntsvilles defense industry and the Army commands at Redstone Arsenal.

Blue Halo

Blue Halo is a privately owned defense and intelligence company based just outside Washington in Arlington, Va., but it has teams working in Huntsville on space defense, air missile defense, cyber security and counter-intelligence.

One of its products is a fully autonomous swarm of drones that communicate with each other to detect and defeat enemy drones on a battlefield. Its called the Hive program and all of the companys drone design and manufacture is done in Huntsville. At the show, Blue Halos popular training room let customers step into a virtual room and fire a shoulder-held missile at various threats in a simulation.

MOOG

MOOG is a 63-year-old company active in space, missiles and military ground systems and its main selling point is precision motion control. The companys founder invented the precision servo valve thats a key part of multiple systems in multiple vehicles. When the pilot lowers the flaps to land Boeing 737 flight, for example, he or she is pushing down on a servo valve invented by MOOG.

The company is competing now in Huntsville to build the turret that will go atop future Army field vehicles. For the symposium, it put everything on a big display turret: guns, missiles and lasers. The Army can pick the combination it needs and hire or train staff accordingly.

Parsons

Parsons is a global technology company with several thousand employees in Huntsville teamed with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

Huntsville lead James Lackey said the company is active designing weapons systems for MDA on Redstone Arsenal and satellite communications equipment that works ground-to-space and back. Satellites for communicating, tracking and performing other missions are increasingly numerous and critical to future defense, and they face classified threats that Parsons is also working to solve.

Parsons also brought what might have been the most popular booth attraction: a life-size Space Invaders game with side-by-side seats where gamers could fight wave after wave of aliens with bad intent. Just like in the late 1970s version before some of them were born.

ENERCON Technologies

ENERCON is working on the THAAD missile system (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) designed to shoot down ballistic missiles fired at America or its military installations.

ENERCON in Huntsville is an example of a familiar local structure. Based in Maine, it has 100 people in Alabama working directly THAAD. The missile is assembled in Troy, Ala. by Lockheed Martin. Its radar is supplied by Ratheon and its cooling equipment is supplied by Teledyne.

At the symposium, the company was showing its big mobile power unit for the system the Army will rely on in future field operations..

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WASHINGTON - The National Archives and Records Administration issued a statement Friday in an attempt to counter misstatements about former president Barack Obama's presidential records after several days of misinformation that had been spread by former president Donald Trump and conservative commentators.

Since the FBI search of his Florida home and club this week for classified documents, Trump has asserted in social media posts that Obama "kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified" and that they were "taken to Chicago by President Obama."

In its statement, NARA said that it obtained "exclusive legal and physical custody" of Obama's records when he left office in 2017. It said that about 30 million pages of unclassified records were transferred to a NARA facility in the Chicago area and that they continue to be maintained "exclusively by NARA."

Classified records from Obama are kept in a NARA facility in Washington, D.C., the statement said.

"As required by the [Presidential Records Act], former President Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the Presidential records of his Administration," the statement said.

Despite the official statement, Trump continued to peddle his claims in light of The Washington Post report that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items FBI agents sought in a search of Trump's Florida residence Monday, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Within minutes of the statement from the Archives, Trump again pushed his claim in response to the latest reports, saying, "What are they going to do with the 33 million pages of documents, many of which are classified, that President Obama took to Chicago?"
NEW YORK  Capping an extraordinary week in Donald Trump's post-presidency, a New York judge ordered Friday that his company and its longtime finance chief stand trial in the fall on tax fraud charges stemming from a long-running criminal investigation into Trump's business practices.

Manhattan Judge Juan Manuel Merchan scheduled jury selection for Oct. 24 in the case, which involves allegations the Trump Organization gave CFO Allen Weisselberg more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation, including rent, car payments and school tuition.

Lawyers at a hearing Friday suggested the trial could last several months.

Merchan denied requests by Weisselberg's lawyers and the Trump Organization to throw out the case, though he did drop one criminal tax fraud count against the company citing the statute of limitations. More than a dozen other counts remain. Weisselberg's lawyers argued prosecutors in the Democrat-led Manhattan district attorney's office were punishing him because he wouldn't flip on the former president.

Merchan rejected that, saying that evidence presented to the grand jury "was legally sufficient to support the charges in the indictment," and that those proceedings were properly conducted, their "integrity unimpaired."

If the schedule holds, Weisselberg and the Trump Organization will be on trial during the November midterm elections where Trump's Republican party could win control of one or both houses of Congress. At the same time, Trump has been laying the groundwork for a potential comeback campaign for president in 2024.

The criminal trial is just one of several legal concerns playing out in real time in Trump's orbit. FBI agents searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in an unrelated probe Monday, and on Thursday, he and the U.S. Department of Justice called for the public release of search warrant documents.

Trump sat for a deposition Wednesday as New York Attorney General Letitia James wraps up a parallel civil investigation into allegations Trump's company misled lenders and tax authorities about asset values. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 400 times.

Trump has not been charged in the criminal probe, but prosecutors have noted that he signed some of the checks at the center of the case. Trump, who has decried the New York investigations as a "political witch hunt," has said his company's actions were standard practice in the real estate business and in no way a crime. James is a Democrat.

Weisselberg and the Trump Organization have pleaded not guilty.

The most serious charge against Weisselberg, grand larceny, carries five to 15 years in prison. The tax fraud charges against the company are punishable by a fine of double the amount of unpaid taxes, or $250,000, whichever is larger.

Weisselberg, who turns 75 on Monday, is the only Trump executive charged in the yearslong criminal investigation started by former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who went to the Supreme Court to secure Trump's tax records. Vance's successor, Alvin Bragg, is now overseeing the investigation. Several other Trump executives have been granted immunity to testify before a grand jury in the case.

Prosecutors alleged that Weisselberg and the Trump Organization schemed to give off-the-books compensation to senior executives, including Weisselberg, for 15 years. Weisselberg alone was accused of defrauding the federal government, state and city out of more than $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds.

In the months after Weisselberg's arrest, the criminal probe appeared to be progressing toward a possible criminal indictment of Trump himself, but the investigation slowed, a grand jury was disbanded and a top prosecutor left after Bragg took office in January  though he insists it is continuing.

Although the criminal investigation is separate from James' civil investigation, which could lead to a lawsuit and fines for Trump and his company, her office has been involved in both investigations. James has dispatched several lawyers to work with Manhattan prosecutors, and it was evidence uncovered in the civil investigation that led to criminal charges against Weisselberg.
Donald Trump and his supporters are ratcheting up their claim that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents may have "planted" evidence when they searched his Mar-a-Lago home for missing White House records. But those claims are unlikely to stand up in court.

"Planting information anyone?" Trump said Friday in a social-media post criticizing the FBI for not allowing his lawyers to witness the search. In the post, Trump also denied a Washington Post report that the information sought by the FBI included records related to nuclear weapons.

In an effort to calm the outcry from Trump allies about the Monday search of the Florida compound, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday asked a judge to unseal the warrant. He also said criticism of the FBI agents was unfounded, without mentioning the conspiracy theory.

Trump on Friday also called for the search warrant to be released and cast doubt on the document by suggesting they were "drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me."

The allegation of planted evidence is being pushed by Trump to fire up "deep state" conspiracy theorists who make up a significant portion of his supporters, says Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor in San Diego.

"It's purely a PR statement with no legal ramifications whatsoever," Rahmani said. "No jury would ever accept that argument."

The claim could theoretically be used in Trump's defense if he were to be charged with any crimes, or he could raise the conspiracy theory in the search-warrant case. A judge ordered the Justice Department to report by 3 p.m. on Friday whether Trump intends to challenge the unsealing request.

Christopher Slobogin, director of the Criminal Justice Program at Vanderbilt University, said the planted-evidence claim is the sign of a "desperate man" and "doesn't make sense."

"It would be very stupid for the FBI to plant evidence," Slobogin said. "There are cameras all over the Mar-a-Lago compound. Plus, agents would have to have evidence to plant, and the whole point of the search is to find documents that are known not to be in possession of the government."

Still, the theory has gained traction with Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Sen. Rand Paul. They've expressed outrage over the unprecedented search of a former president's home, saying it was politically motivated and designed to destroy Trump's 2024 campaign to win back the White House from President Joe Biden.

"I'm worried they might have planted something," Trump's personal attorney Alina Habba said Tuesday, a day after the search, during an appearance on Fox News. "At this point, who knows? I don't trust the government." Habba didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump has floated the theory on his social-media app, complaining FBI agents wouldn't let his lawyers "anywhere near the areas that were rummaged and otherwise looked at during the raid on Mar-a-Lago."

"Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, 'planting,'" Trump said in the post.

Garland said he personally approved the request to search the former president's residence, and that the Justice Department asked a judge to unseal the search warrant.

"The department does not take such a decision lightly," Garland said during a press briefing.

The attorney general didn't respond specifically to claims that agents had planted evidence or were motivated by politics, but he did address what he called "unfounded attacks."

Garland said he would "not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants."

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said in a statement that "unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans."

A federal judge signed off on the search warrant after finding there was probable cause that the search would yield evidence of crimes.

Justice Department investigators had already conducted a voluntary search of Mar-a-Lago earlier this year and pinpointed the exact boxes they were looking for, according to a person familiar with the matter. At the time, the investigators left without the boxes and advised Trump's people to add another lock on the door where they were being kept, the person said.

In court, prosecutors are required to prove how it obtained each piece of evidence by having FBI agents testify, said former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade. "They keep a chain of custody by putting items into marked containers that they sign with their initials and date. Another agent then verifies it."

This isn't the only technical problem with the conspiracy theory.

The allegation of planted evidence "couldn't possibly be based on anything legitimate because there has been no evidence released about what was found in the search," said former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers.

The move by Garland to unseal the warrant "calls Trump's bluff and puts him on the defensive," Rodgers said. "He now has to decide whether to object to release of the warrant or not, and if he does, that will look pretty strange given that he's claimed there is no basis for the action."

___

Bloomberg's Zoe Tillman contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  An off-duty Virginia police officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021, with a fellow officer was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in prison, matching the longest prison sentence so far among hundreds of Capitol riot cases.

Former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to seven years and three months in prison. Cooper also sentenced Robertson to three years of supervised release after his prison term.

Federal prosecutors had recommended an eight-year prison sentence for Robertson. His sentence equals that of Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who attacked the Capitol while armed with a holstered handgun.

Robertson gets credit for the 13 months he has already spent in custody. Robertson has been jailed since Cooper ruled last year that he violated the terms of his pretrial release by possessing firearms.

The judge said he was troubled by Robertson's conduct since his arrest  not only his stockpiling of guns but also his words advocating for violence. After Jan. 6, Robertson told a friend that he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war and he clung to baseless conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump, the judge noted.

Sentencing guidelines calculated by Cooper recommended a prison term ranging from seven years and three months to nine years.

"It's a long time because it reflects the seriousness of the offenses that you were convicted of," the judge said.

In April, a jury convicted Robertson of attacking the Capitol to obstruct Congress from certifying Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory. Jurors found Robertson guilty of all six counts in his indictment, including charges that he interfered with police officers at the Capitol and that he entered a restricted area with a dangerous weapon, a large wooden stick.

Robertson's lawyers said the Army veteran was using the stick to help him walk because he has a limp from getting shot in the right thigh while working as a private contractor for the Defense Department in Afghanistan in 2011.

The judge said he agreed with jurors that Robertson went to the Capitol to interfere with the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6. Robertson was an "active and willing participant," not "some bystander" who got swept up in the crowd, Cooper said.

Robertson traveled to Washington on that morning with another off-duty Rocky Mount police officer, Jacob Fracker, and a third man, a neighbor who wasn't charged in the case.

Fracker was scheduled to be tried alongside Robertson before he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in March and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. Cooper is scheduled to sentence Fracker next Tuesday.

Prosecutors have asked Cooper to spare Fracker from a prison term and sentence him to six months of probation along with a period of home detention or "community confinement." They said Fracker's "fulsome" cooperation and trial testimony was crucial in securing convictions against Robertson.

Robertson's lawyer, Mark Rollins, sought a prison sentence below two years and three months. He questioned the fairness of the wide gap in sentences that prosecutors recommended for Robertson and Fracker given their similar conduct.

Robertson served his country and community with distinction, his lawyer told the judge.

"His life already is in shambles," Rollins said.

Robertson and Fracker were among several current or former law enforcement officers who joined in the riot. Prosecutors say Robertson used his law enforcement and military training to block police officers who were trying to hold off the advancing mob.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi said Robertson was prepared for violence when he went to the Capitol and did a "victory lap" inside the building, where he posed for a selfie with Fracker.

"The defendant is, by all accounts, proud of his conduct on Jan. 6," she said.

Jurors saw some of Robertson's posts on social media before and after the riot. In a Facebook post on Nov. 7, 2020, Robertson said "being disenfranchised by fraud is my hard line."

"I've spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. (I'm) about to become part of one, and a very effective one," he wrote.

In a letter addressed to the judge, Robertson said he took full responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6 and "any poor decisions I made." He blamed the vitriolic content of his social media posts on a mix of stress, alcohol abuse and "submersion in deep 'rabbit holes' of election conspiracy theory."

"I sat around at night drinking too much and reacting to articles and sites given to me by Facebook" algorithms, he wrote.

The town fired Robertson and Fracker after the riot. Rocky Mount is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Roanoke, Virginia, and has about 5,000 residents.

Roughly 850 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 350 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses, and more than 230 have been sentenced so far.

Robertson's jury trial was the second for a Capitol riot case; Reffitt's was the first. Jurors have unanimously convicted seven Capitol rioters of all charges in their respective indictments.
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WASHINGTON  Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough has tested positive for the coronavirus, the department announced Friday.

"I routinely test for COVID-19 every day, and today I tested positive, McDonough said in a prepared statement. My symptoms are mild, and I am following my physicians directions.

He said he will follow the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and isolate at home for the next five days. He also said he has informed his VA leadership team of his positive test result and will attend meetings and discussions virtually for the remainder of the week and early next week.

McDonough said his last meeting with President Joe Biden was Wednesday at the signing of The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, or PACT Act. The new law will expand eligibility for health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins.

Biden tested positive for the coronavirus on July 21, The Associated Press reported. The president isolated and took the antiviral drug Paxlovid. He tested negative July 26 and 27, but then came down with a rebound case of the virus on July 30. Biden ended his isolation Sunday.

McDonough said he tested negative on the day of the PACT Act signing, which took place at a crowded event at the White House.

An infected person can spread the virus two days before symptoms appear, according to the CDC.

"As I am fully vaccinated and 'boosted,' my physician expects my symptoms to be mild and my recovery swift, and I am grateful for that, McDonough said. "Vaccines work, and I continue to encourage everyone eligible for a booster shot to get one."
He was shouting f**k off and give me my f**king money, in front of up to 15 members of the public

A HOSPITAL guard became aggressive toward gardai after they intervened in a dispute he was having with an off-licence worker about a 15 refund, a court heard.

Olamide Adekunle (29) refused to give his name and address to gardai and refused to leave the area.

He was shouting f**k off and give me my f**king money, in front of up to 15 members of the public, who were waiting outside the off-licence after it closed.

Judge John OLeary imposed a four-month sentence suspended for six months. The judge also fined Adekunle 600, saying his behaviour had been outrageous.

The defendant, of Barons Hall Park in Balbriggan, was found guilty of threatening and abusive behaviour, failing to provide his details to gardai and failing to leave the scene at Castlemill Shopping Centre in Balbriggan on March 31, 2022.

Garda Cian OConnor told Swords District Court this incident arose over a dispute about a 15 refund which Adekunle had demanded from the off-licence.

Gda OConnor said he spoke to Adekunle, who was immediately aggressive, and refused to give his name or address.

He refused to co-operate or leave the area.

In his evidence, Adekunle accepted he was frustrated about being refused a refund, but claimed there was no need for Gda OConnor to get involved, as there were already two gardai in the off-licence.

Adekunle had denied he was aggressive or abusive, saying he did not speak to Gda OConnor, claiming up to five gardai manhandled him and grabbed him for no reason.

Adekunle was also found guilty of obstructing Garda Aaron Shanahan in an incident at Drogheda Street, Balbriggan on April 29, 2022.

Defence solicitor Fergal Boyle said his client worked as a security guard in the Mater Hospital.

He had lived in Ireland for 15 years, and had a wife and daughter.
He admitted that he had been drinking heavily the night before at the opening of the Mother Earth festival

A man who says he woke up trapped in a coffin following a drinking binge in Bolivia has claimed he was being offered as a human sacrifice.

Victor Hugo Mica Alvarez (30) managed to break out of the casket in the small, rural town of Achacachi which is located about 50 miles from where he passed out in the city of El Alto, Bolivia.

He admitted that he had been drinking heavily the night before at the opening of the Mother Earth festival that is staged every year by indigenous people.

As part of the rituals it is common for everything from live animals and sheep foetuses to sweets and coca leaves to be offered to the goddess, which local celebrants believe opens her mouth for offerings in August.

However, Victor claims he was among the human sacrifices some believe are still offered in ancient-style rituals to satisfy Mother Earth.

After his apparent escape he told local media, while still covered in mud and concrete: Last night was the pre-entry [of the festival], and we went dancing. And afterwards I dont remember.

The only thing I remember is that I thought I was in my bed, I wanted to get up to go urinate and I couldnt move.

When I pushed the coffin, I was able to break a glass that it had and that way I was able to get out.

When I pushed the coffin I barely broke the glass and, through the glass, dirt began to enter. They wanted to use me as a sullu.

The term sullu refers to the offerings commonly made to give back to Mother Earth during the festivities held throughout August in Bolivia.

While they often take the form of colourful sweets, desiccated llamas, medicinal plants, eggs, minerals, some suspect human sacrifices are still carried out.

However, Victor claims police refused to believe him when reported what had happen to him, saying he was too drunk to know why he ended up buried alive.

He explained We had gone dancing and I dont remember anymore.

I have broken out (of the coffin), my whole hand has been hurt, but when I went to the police and they told me that I am drunk.

Travel writers have previously described how the other worldy is everyday in Bolivia.
'Mopeds of the sea'

'Mopeds of the sea' |

Confiscate and make them sit a water safety exam. Return them next year

The Irish Coast Guard in Dun Laoghaire has slammed the unacceptable behaviour of jet ski riders for their dangerous behaviour near one of Dublin Bays most popular bathing spots.

The Coast Guard posted a video of jet skiers operating in the recent good weather and highlighted how they were operating dangerously at the Forty Foot.

Under DLR Beach Bye Laws 2012, Jet skis must not be operated within 300metres of the foreshore and can only operate before 10am and after 7.30pm, the Coastguard added.

The post has attracted dozens of people who have obviously felt aggrieved by the activities of the jet skis in the water near the coast.

They were also in Seapoint at 7.00pm but who do you call to stop them? asked one.

Typical, Ireland laws are passed and there is no one to implement them on a daily basis, on added.

Another person suggested: Confiscate and make them sit a water safety exam. Return them next year.

Very simple, another argued. Tow their cars and trailers.

Another swimmer said: I was outraged. Mopeds of the sea is all they are.
The absence of early detection and preventative interventions will lead to more serious difficulties being identified at a later period

The Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) has advised of the importance of public health nurse home visits to monitor the wellbeing of both parents and infants.

Public health nurse developmental checks for babies were recently withdrawn by the HSE in several areas around the country.

Rather than the standard early year developmental checks by a public health nurse, the PSI said this system is moving to one of prioritisation in certain areas, meaning that only young children with proven medical risk or need will be seen.

The PSI said this withdrawal of service will lead to more severity of illness and longer-term health conditions for these children and parents because of this delay as well as a costly burden.

PSI president Dr Vincent McDarby said the public health nurse system was a national service in Ireland, but this will now change.

The absence of early detection and preventative interventions will lead to more serious difficulties being identified at a later period and, therefore, have a costly impact on baby, child, and family, he said.

The PSIs special interest group in perinatal and infant mental health and special interest group in paediatric psychology have outlined the importance of public health nurse home visits in the early years.

The groups said these home visits are an essential community-based service to promote and protect the health of the population.

Public health nurses usually meet families during the first three days at home to assess and provide advice for a range of difficulties including feeding, safe sleep, child safety, bonding, and connecting with your infant.

They also identify and provide information and advice to parents experiencing postnatal anxiety or depression and support parents in having confidence in their own parenting role.

Visits are also available at intervals for the first three and a half years of a childs life to support the continued development, assess for developmental delay, and identify follow-up for any potential underlying conditions.

It is known that women and men are at risk for postpartum depression and anxiety in the first year following the birth of their baby.

The PSIs special interest groups said home visits provide an essential lifeline to the emotional wellbeing of new parents, supporting them to understand if their mood difficulties are more than just baby blues and advising them where to get help if needed.

The association said visits address practical and care concerns with a new baby but also highlight ways to connect and enhance the relationship between baby and parent.

It said there is an established body of research that indicates that early relationships lay the foundation and template for later social and emotional development.

This withdrawal of service will lead to more severity of illness and longer-term health conditions for these children and parents because of this delay.
The exiled UFF assassin would use the tired quip on drunken trips with his cronies on a hired boat called Tikiti Boo in the picturesque town of Ayr on the west coast of Scotland.

Our snap shows one of the moments the tattoo-covered triggerman  killed by a heart attack at the end of last month after a fall at his flat  made the gag that will sicken families of his victims.

McCrory on the fishing trip

We can also reveal openly gay skinhead Skelly, whos linked to at least eight murders:

 Died convinced his bloodshed had to be done

 Selfishly only got teary over the death of his lover Harry but not his victims

 Bragged he had a tatt of an anchor on his penis so he could tell partners to wind my anchor in during sex sessions

 Wanted to be buried at Roselawn as he was always moved by seeing the headstones of ex-C Company chums including Stevie Top Gun McKeags grave in the Belfast cemetery

 Loved playing with the huge guns attached to shoot em arcades when he made ferry trips from Scotland to Northern Ireland

 Enjoyed the happiest time of his life when jailed with his loyalist chums in the Maze, where the mob was allowed conjugal visits and threw

drug-addled orgiastic parties

 Was so paranoid he was going to be assassinated he kept a bullet proof vest in his wardrobe he thought would stop AK-47 rounds

 Reckoned he deserved to be forgiven for his murders.

The image here of Skelly fishing with Adair and shaven-headed heavies were captured in 2008 when Skelly was filmed in an an episode of Danny Dyers Deadliest Men.

It also showed the loyalist picking up the actor in a car blasting dance music and filled with his cronies.

Sam 'Skelly' McCrory (r) and Johnny Adair (l)

He intimidated Danny straight away by laughing to his pals: Take him for a f*****g drive  take him and kidnap him. Well hold him for ransom.

Moments later, Skelly stunned the EastEnders actor by telling him on the drive home he survived an assassination attempt at his Ayr flat by two gunmen.

He said: Ive been in my flat for seven years, with only one bit of hassle  two guys tried to shoot me dead outside it one night.

As soon as they got into Skellys grubby apartment, he pulled out his bulletproof vest from the bottom of his wardrobe, telling the actor:

Its a Mark 5  itll stop an AK-47 well I f*****g hope so

Jabbing at Dannys head, he says about assassins: If theyre anyway f*****g clever theyll shoot you in the head.

He adds about his vest: Its just a way of life, its just laid there, I havent worn it. I only wore it when I went to Belfast.

My dad was in hospital, I came up into the Shankill Road and my mates went like that, Here, put that on, because there was a loyalist feud on, and I put my jacket on over it, and that was that.

And they said, Take it back with you, and now its f*****g laying there.

Its not illegal  theres nothing illegal about it.

The one-time leading member of the UFF C Coy, headed by Skellys lifelong blood-brother pal Johnny Mad Dog' Adair, fled to Scotland with Adair

and fellow thugs amid a bloody loyalist feud.

He thought Ayr was beautiful and its residents lovely and loved shopping at a nearby clothes shop that catered for gay men.

A source said: Skelly loved appearing on that show as it let him relive his glory days and act hard in front of Danny  who is hard as custard

in real life and only a tough guy on screen.

His true colours really came through  he was a remorseless killer who only got teary when talking about his dead lover Harry and his fallen

loyalist comrades, but never welled up for his murder victims.

Conversations from the 2008 show unreported until now included Danny asking Skelly about the tatts that covered his body.

Skelly said: My first tattoo was a swift and my very last tattoo was one on my d**k  Im not winding you up. Its an anchor.

So when I use it, you can say, Wind my anchor in.

Skelly, who blamed his years of violence on his childhood, saying: My dad was a vigilante, and the men vigilanted the area, to protect me from what he believed was the enemy  republicans, Catholics, nationalists. We grew up in an age when you were five or six and you used to go round the doors and you used to collect all the milk bottles, to make petrol bombs that night to protect your area  throwing stones at the barricade.

It was drummed into you. You just fought Catholics  they were the enemy, and they felt the same as us; we were the enemy.

The IRA had the upper hand, so we decided to fight fire with fire and fight the IRA and have a battlefield  and they didnt like it. Skelly also takes Danny back to his Belfast stomping ground  where he admits if he had born a few yards from his home in a nationalist area hed have joined the IRA.

Stressing he had no remorse over his violence, he said: People will tell you violence is wrong, but I once had a policeman tell me, If you believe in it, you cant take that belief away.

AndI had a strong belief what I was doing was right. I didnt do it to fill my pockets with money, I risked my freedom and I risked my life to

do what I done.

McCrory also visited the spot that got him sentenced to 16 years jail.

In July 1992, the thug, along with Fat Jackie Thompson and two others were stopped by an RUC roadblock on their way to assassinate IRA chiefs

Brian Gillen and Martin Lynch  with Skelly armed to the teeth with an AK47 assault rifle, Browning double barrel magazine and a sledgehammer.

He said about having their path blocked on their military operation by a cop car: I seen the f*****g police car, and it was parked across the bridge.

We started firing and he car was sliding along the bridge, and there were all the bullet holes there were 33 rounds fired, it was basically

f*****g chaos on that brie  I thought it was all over.

Being sentenced to 16 years in the Maze, where he did time with his pal Adair, didnt leave Skelly reformed.

how they partied away their time in the prison before he was freed in 1998 along with 499 other prisoners under the Good Friday Agreement,

Skelly said outside the lock-up some of his happiest days were spent inside.

Before wandering around gazing at his dead loyalist partners in crimes graves at Roselawn, Skelly visited a mural to one of the most vicious of the

dead  Stevie Top Gun McKeag. gushed about the murderer  said to have killed 17-year-old Catholic

teenager Damien Walsh in the Dairy Farm killing of 1993 before dying of a drugs overdose aged 30 in 2000: He was a dedicated loyalist and a

good friend and a cracking volunteer for C Company.

Back in Scotland, he is also seen jokes around with Adair before they head out for a fishing trip in Ayr.

He pretends to box the ex-loyalist terror chief when he jokes about Skellys homosexuality by saying he has always been more of a giver

than a taker.

Adair said about their heyday as feared loyalists: Sammy was never one for rank. We just went on operations and never questioned the orders we were given.

He was more of a footsoldier he was more a giver than a taker.

Adair turned sincere when he added about their blood brother friendship: Its like being married to someone  in life you find that one true

love. If its your wife, you marry her. People like Sammy  as a friend, you only find that once in a lifetime, and thats a fact.

He went on to ask Skely if they could discuss their alleged crimes by prefacing the descriptions with the phrase rumour has it.

Fearing they could be implicating themselves about their past violence on camera, panicked Skelly is seen stepping in, flapping his hands and

laughing nervously, while warning: No, no, no rumour has it.

The pair also take a trip to The Mens Shop  Skellys favourite gay-friendly clothes store, where he was filmed hugging its owner and

standing proudly in front of stock including a T-shirt emblazoned with the message Sex Makes Me Come And Go  and pants saying I Want Out

and Heatseeker above the crotch.

Skellys only moments of regret and emotion are when discussing his dead loyalist pals and his long-term lover Harry, for whom he cared after he

suffered catastrophic injuries in a car smash.

The terrorist moved to Scotland on August 2, 1998, to nurse Harry, who died the following January from his injuries.

Skelly welled up as he called Harry  who visited him in the Maze where he revelled in conjugal visits  a lovely and wonderful man who he

wanted to gift with stars from the skies.

He concluded he loves how the gay pals he hung with at Pride festivals dont judge, while saying he could live with his past.

Dressed in a pink T-shirt while wearing a rainbow ribbon, Skelly rambled while watching drag queens and semi-clad men in leathers on a march: I just believe in equality for everybody  gay, straight, black, white, Asian,

Indian  we should all be able to live  were a multicultural society.

Lots of people in the gay community who knew what I was, they dont judge me. My past will be mine until the day I die.

I can live with what I done and I can move on.

Skelly died from a massive heart attack during a drinking binge after he fell off the wagon following the death of his only son Samuel Madine, aged in his 30s, who passed away last September from organ failure.

After hitting the bottle to try and numb his grief, the 17-stone killer fell forward and smashed his face off the steps of the communal area of his

flat complex at Stonecrop Place  leading neighbours who knew of his notorious past to mistake his bloodied body as the result of a revenge

hit for his bloodshed.
International visitors are returning to New Zealand at higher numbers than previously expected, are staying longer and spending more, Tourism Minister Stuart Nash says.

New data from Statistics New Zealand and MBIE show a strong uptick in international visitor numbers and overseas card spend, with June 2022 seeing the highest number of international visitor arrivals since the border was closed in March 2020.

Stuart Nash welcomed this weeks release as a positive sign of the tourism sectors recovery.

Our tourism operators have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19 but the data today show that the recovery is well underway. International visitors are coming back at a strong pace, with American and British visitors card spends at 2019 levels, says Nash.

The 94,600 overseas visitors that arrived in June 2022 represents a 30% increase from May 2022, and is more than double compared to international arrivals in June 2021. What is also really positive to see is that visitors from the US and UK are staying longer and spending more than in pre-COVID times  despite visitor numbers being far less than 2019, the card spend is back to the same level.

The hospitality sector will be happy to see that international accommodation guest nights totalled 272,000 for June 2022, up 43% compared to June 2021. Hotels have also shown a three-fold increase in guest nights compared to April of this year. I know there is still a ways to go to get back to pre-COVID levels but these numbers show a strong growth in demand and represent a higher-than-anticipated winter tourism season.

The first cruise ship returning this Friday is another boost for local communities. Pre-pandemic their visits were worth in excess of $500 million a year, of which $356 million was spent onshore, providing a valuable economic contribution to our regions. Were expecting cruise numbers to be similar to pre-COVID levels.

Our Government has supported the tourism sector throughout the pandemic, working with the industry to respond to the challenges of the past two years. This includes the $400m Tourism Recovery Package, the $200m Tourism Communities Plan, and the $54m Innovation Programme for Tourism Recovery. This support went to tourism operators most affected by the border closure, and has helped them to gear up for the return of international visitors.

Yesterday I also announced the first phase of the Tourism Industry Transformation Plan, which aims to strengthen the tourism workforce and create a thriving, regenerative tourism future for New Zealand. The Plan is a partnership between the Government, industry, unions, and Maori, and sets out a range of measures to improve education and training, provide more resources for business owners and operators, and seize the opportunities of innovation and technology, says Nash.
People booked with Air New Zealand over coming months are crossing their fingers they won't be among the thousands who will have their flights dropped as the airline deals with staff shortages.

The company says 100,000 customers will be affected by the reduced schedule, which is done so more staff could be on standby to cover for illness.

It has been six years since Sarah travelled overseas and now she is hoping a dream holiday she is taking this month goes to plan.

But when she heard Air New Zealand suggested those with cheap seats will be bumped first, she saw red.

"Pretty angry, I'd say don't bump me off, I booked my flights months ago, like they want you to do, then they go someone can come along and book in today and be ahead of me. That stinks, that's really unfair."

Sarah plans to travel from Christchurch to Auckland and then on to Singapore, where she will catch a flight to India.

"If they muck up any of those flights, I'm going to be buggered. I've only got a one-hour connection in Singapore to get onto the other flight."

The airline says when it cut flights, it will offer a credit or refund for those who can't be rebooked for the same day or with a day on either side for international travel.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy says the announcement omits important information about passengers' rights.

Would-be domestic travellers are entitled to claim up to 10 times the cost of the ticket or the actual cost of delay, whichever is lower, if the cancellation is within the airline's control.

Similar rules apply for international flights but vary depending on the airline and country the traveller is in.

"We recognise this is a challenging time for all airlines and commend Air New Zealand for proactively managing upcoming capacity and scheduling issues," Duffy says.

"We're not sure when this policy will begin impacting passengers - the more notice Air New Zealand can give its customers, the better.

"However, Consumer NZ has concerns that passengers affected by Air New Zealand's schedule changes may not be given the full picture about their rights."

If the airline offered a customer another flight that did not suit, they could ask for a refund and claim reimbursement for any additional costs such as accommodation and meals incurred getting to the destination, he said.

Auckland woman Kirsten Henry has eight domestic flights booked for different trips this year, including to Queenstown to do a Great Walk.

"The travel that I have booked is time sensitive, all of it, and particularly the personal travel where if I was forced to take a later flight then that would potentially then mean I wouldn't be able to do those things."

She has booked fully refundable flexible fares at top dollar, which she now regrets after spending hours waiting on hold to get through to Air New Zealand's customer service centre last week to get a refund for a family member's flight.

She gave up and opted for a credit online instead.

"It does annoy me that Air New Zealand's selling these fully refundable fares but they're not really unless you're willing to really put yourself out and spend hours on the phone waiting to speak to a person. You should be able to cancel them online."

Air New Zealand says its call centre had a maximum wait of five hours at one point last weekend, when fog delayed many flights.

House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas says airlines need to be much more upfront about passengers rights when there are cancellations.

"There hasn't been clarity given by Air New Zealand or others for that matter who fly through New Zealand. It is far clearer in certain other jurisdictions around the world."

The affected customers will require clarity, Thomas says.

"This is a big disruption, 100,000 people over the next few months is massive," he says.

"I understand it, they don't want to disappoint people closer to the time, they want to give as much notice as possible and that's to be applauded, but let's not sugar-coat it. It still is something that's going to be a bit of a downer for some people who are impacted and quite materially impacted."

-RNZ/Amy Williams.
The planned roundabout at the intersection of Omokoroa Rd and State Highway 2 is a good step forward, but locals would like a more permanent solution.

A new interim roundabout will be built at the intersection, Omokoroa Rd will be four-laned from SH2 to Prole Rd, and a second roundabout at the future Francis Rd intersection will also be built to service the industrial area.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council has secured $38 million from Kainga Ora and $5 million from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for the upgrade.

Plea for full TNL

Omokoroa General Carriers director John Leek says the roundabout is a good step forward, but he thinks the money should go towards completing the full Takitimu North Link that would see the road four-laned from Omokoroa to Tauranga.

I dont know why they dont just finish the road properly, says John.

Construction has started on stage one of the TNL, a 6.8km four-lane expressway from Te Puna to Tauranga. In June last year the Government announced stage two from Te Puna to Omokoroa would not happen within the next three years, with work said to be unlikely within the next 10 years.

John says the traffic at that intersection affects his business by eating into their drivers days and it can take him up to 15 minutes to turn right between 7am and 8am.

The transport service has a fleet of 35 trucks and does up to 100 vehicles movements per day through the SH2 intersection to the depot on Omokoroa Rd.

The congestion trying to get out onto the highway is horrendous. From 6.30am or 6.45am until 9am its hard to get out of Omokoroa Rd onto the state highway.

John says its worse turning right towards Katikati. A lot of people turn left and do a UE [U turn] down by Youngson Rd, which is dangerous as buggery.

John was in the Omokoroa Volunteer Fire Brigade for 40 years and has been to a lot of accidents at that intersection. He says the roundabout will definitely help with safety getting in and out of Omokoroa.

Dan Hesson started a petition calling for a roundabout at the horrible intersection a year ago out of frustration at the number of accidents happening there. Im sick and tired of pulling out of there and risking our lives, says Dan.

It sounds a bit dramatic, but it is a really hard place to turn out of and it is dangerous.

Dan has lived in Omokoroa for five years and is stoked the roundabout is happening. However, he is also sceptical if it will go ahead due to the number of times governments have changed their mind about the TNL.

Better than nothing

Hed like to see the full TNL constructed and says the roundabout may not be the ideal thing, but its better than nothing.

Its about keeping things safer and I just dont want a family or anyone to be wiped out because of how bad this road is at the moment.

Omokoroa Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Ian Blunt says it is great construction of the roundabout is programmed to commence this financial year. Any works to improve traffic flows and make the Omokoroa Rd/SH2 a safer intersection to negotiate is a bonus for emergency service workers, both paid staff, volunteers and commuters alike.

Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Garry Webber says: Being pragmatic, anything is better than what we've got at the moment.

Whilst we ideally want the interchange, the roundabout will be a big roundabout, where traffic is going have to slow down significantly and that will make it a lot safer leaving Omokoroa.

Webber, who is also an Omokoroa resident, says it goes hand in glove with stage one of the TNL and once that and the roundabout are complete there should be significant improvement in travel times into Tauranga. Once theyre both done, which will be about 2026/2027, that should make life in Omokoroa a lot easier than it is today.

The roundabout is a minimum 10-year interim solution to address the immediate needs of the intersection, until funding becomes available to build a full interchange.

Construction on the first stage of the roundabout may begin during the 2022/2023 construction season, with completion expected in 2025.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
Social media posts helped scientists to monitor one of Aotearoas rarest whale species, the infrequently sighted southern right whale, or tohora.

Photographs shared by members of the public, via Facebook and nature-watching network iNaturalist, helped scientists assess how the species is faring around the Aotearoa New Zealand mainland.

Carried out in cooperation with the Department of Conservation and published in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management, the study reveals that southern right whales are slower than expected at re-establishing a habitat in mainland waters.

The research was led by Annabelle Cranswick, a masters student in the Faculty of Science at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

Sightings of the whale rose between 2003 and 2010, but the increase wasnt sustained over the past decade, Cranswick found.

Thats despite some high-profile incidents such as the appearance of Matariki, the southern right whale which captured the nations heart while lingering in Wellington Harbour in 2018.

One possibility is that the species knowledge of mainland wintering grounds was lost when numbers crashed because of whaling.

Photos supplied on social media and by citizen scientists are proving so important for us to monitor populations of these recovering whales, says Cranswick.

Photo: University of Auckland/Tohora Research Team.

We can assess that yes, this is a southern right whale, and discover how long a whale stayed in a particular area.

Even a distant photo, showing just part of a whale, can be helpful, says Cranswick.

We can pick a southern right from just the white patches called callosities on the head, their flat back which lacks a dorsal fin, or even their large paddle-shaped pectoral fins.

Information on population demographics aids conservation efforts.

Facebook and iNaturalist photos supplemented a Department of Conservation  Te Papa Atawhai database that largely relies on citizen scientists whale sightings. Scientists focused on 116 sightings over 11 years (20112021) in the waters around mainland New Zealand, including the North (Te Ika a Maui), South (Te Waipounamu), and Stewart (Rakiura) islands.

We went through ten years of social media data to extract these sighting reports, says Hannah Hendriks, a marine biologist with the Department of Conservation.

There are very few whale researchers and rangers scattered across the country, so we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears.

Bobby Phuong, a postie in Christchurch whos an enthusiastic amateur wildlife photographer, shot one of the images to feature in the study.

Southern right whale. Photo: Bobby Phuong.

He drove for nearly an hour to see a whale and calf at Sumner in August last year, sharing his photos via Facebook.

They were remarkable to witness and Im glad my photos have helped in some way, he says.

In Gisborne, Wainui Beach resident Ian Ruru captured images of a southern right whale frolicking in the waves, metres away from surfers, in September 2018.

Photo: Ian Ruru.

She sat directly in front of our home for eight hours that day I guess she wanted her story to be told... Paikea we called her, says Ruru.

A note to would-be citizen-scientists: Photographers must stay 50m from adult whales and 200m from whales with calves.

Southern right whales were hunted to near extinction, with global numbers falling to as low as 500.

By 2009, an estimated 2200 of the whales were in New Zealand waters, moving between the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (Maungahuka) and Campbell Island (Motu Ihupuku), and occasionally being found around mainland New Zealand including Stewart Island (Rakiura). Numbers are slowly recovering.

Social media provided detailed information from areas with lots of people and lots of cameras, says Dr Emma Carroll, of Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, who is a co-author of the study.

Where there are fewer people, like the west coast of Te Waipounamu (the South Island), information from the public and Department of Conservation rangers recorded in the national database was more important.

Because southern right whales come close to shore, many photos were from clifftops or even the beach.

Southern right whales remain such a rarity around the New Zealand mainland that its possible there will be only a single sighting in a year.
Cruise ships are set to return to the Bay of Plenty in about three months time after two-and-a-half year hiatus when the Government closed the maritime border due to Covid-19 back in 2020.

Tourism Bay of Plenty is expecting the first cruiseliner to berth at the Port of Tauranga on October 26, and The Weekend Sun is investigating the economic impact this may have on our region.

According to Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan, the port bookings are subject to change, however they expect to welcome 102 cruise voyages into Tauranga in the upcoming 2022/2023 season.

Oscar says this will bring almost 332,000 passengers and crew into the Bay of Plenty. Its very exciting for our region  particularly for the businesses that used to predominantly cater for cruiseline passengers and have been struggling to survive for the past two-and-a-half years while our maritime border has been closed, says Oscar.

Onshore visit value

We know many of our residents will also be looking forward to seeing these impressive passenger vessels back in our waters, along with the vibe that all these international visitors will bring.

Oscar says during the most recent 2019/2020 cruise season  which was shortened by the March 2020 Covid-19 border closure  cruise visits contributed an estimated $74m to our region, and in 2018/2019 season brought $89m to the region.

A lot of this money was spent on passenger transport, tourism activities, retail, and replenishing onboard supplies, so these types of businesses are eagerly anticipating the return of cruise.

Oscar says while onshore visits might be short  usually just a day  research shows that many passengers use these voyages to try different port destinations and then return to their favourite places for a longer period later on. This highlights the value and importance of these short onshore visits.

He adds New Zealand is one of the last countries to fully open its borders  on July 31 this year which has caused the country to lose ground to other overseas destinations that resumed international bookings months ago.

Strongest ever sales

However, cruise companies around the world are experiencing their strongest ever sales right now and this is evidenced by the high number of voyages and passengers that have booked to visit Tauranga next season.

Theres a lot of pent-up demand from people wanting to do their bucket list holiday, as well as those that are holding credit for cruises that were cancelled earlier in the pandemic.

Tauranga Business Chamber is also welcoming the return of cruise ships to Tauranga.

The hardest hit business sectors will be gearing up for their return. Cruise ships are also very popular with local residents flocking to Pilot Bay to welcome and farewell the impressive looking vessels, says CEO Matt Cowley

When asked if this will have a drastic impact on other industries in Tauranga, Matt says the cruise ships provide a nice complement to the year-round domestic tourism market.

International tourism contributes a relatively small amount to the Western Bay economy, but it is targeted at those sectors who were most impacted during the pandemic restrictions.

Boost community morale

It will also likely trigger a noticeable boost in local community morale seeing cruise ships reconnect us with the world after the pandemic.

Matt adds its a shame the ships were not allowed to dock late last summer when our vaccination levels were high and rapid antigen tests were becoming common practice in NZ.
There are 4,126 new community cases of Covid-19 today with 191 of these cases in the Bay of Plenty.

There are 549 current hospitalisations with 21 people in Bay of Plenty hospitals and five in Lakes area hospitals, according to the Ministry of Health.

The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 4,581. Last Friday it was 5,812.

The seven-day rolling average of hospitalisations is 609. Last Friday it was 721.

There are now a total of 1,733 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. The seven-day rolling average increase in total deaths attributable to Covid-19 is now 12.

COVID-19 hospitalisations

COVID-19 Cases in hospital: total number 549: Northland: 31; Waitemata: 61; Counties Manukau: 51; Auckland: 61; Waikato: 62; Bay of Plenty: 21; Lakes: 5; Hawkes Bay: 40; MidCentral: 13; Whanganui: 11; Taranaki: 8; Tairawhiti: 1; Wairarapa: 10; Capital & Coast: 22; Hutt Valley: 12; Nelson Marlborough: 12; Canterbury: 82; West Coast: 2; South Canterbury: 15; Southern: 28.

Weekly COVID-19 Hospitalisations - 7 day rolling average: 609 (This time last week 721)

Average age of current COVID-19 hospitalisations: 62

Cases in ICU or HDU: 16

Vaccination status of new admissions to hospital*: Unvaccinated or not eligible (51 cases); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (2 cases); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (70 cases); received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (289 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/West Coast, Southern, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Capital & Coast/Hutt, Waitemata and Northland.

COVID-19 vaccinations administered

Vaccines administered to date: 4,029,480 first doses; 3,982,392 second doses; 33,956 third primary doses; 2,712,585 first booster doses: 405,529 second booster doses: 266,338 paediatric first doses and 146,448 paediatric second doses

Vaccines administered yesterday: 23 first doses; 33 second doses; 5 third primary doses; 480 first booster doses; 7,970 second booster doses; 31 paediatric first doses and 104 paediatric second doses

More detailed information, including vaccine uptake by District, is available on the Ministrys website.

Tests

Number of PCR tests total (last 24 hours): 3,583

Number of Rapid Antigen Tests reported total (last 24 hours): 9,685

PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days): 3,260

Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last seven days as of 11 August 2022): 700,000

COVID-19 cases

Total number of new community cases: 4,126

Number of new cases that have recently travelled overseas: 162

Seven day rolling average of community cases: 4,581

Seven day rolling average of community cases (as at same day last week): 5,812

Number of active cases (total): 32,055 (cases identified in the past seven days and not yet classified as recovered)

Confirmed cases (total): 1,666,801

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 1,733 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 12 deaths confirmed each day as being attributable to COVID-19. 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.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council has seen a surge in nominations for the Tauranga constituency compared to the last election when candidates were elected unopposed.

Nominations closed at midday Friday and as of 4.40pm there were 17 nominations for the Tauranga constituency, three times more than the 2019 regional council election.

Five people stood in 2019 and with five seats to be filled the candidates were automatically elected onto the council.

The Mauao Maori Constituency has one seat and two nominations for the upcoming election.

Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby says the increase in Tauranga constituency nominations was always going to happen.

That in my view, is because there is no city council election and there's no DHB [district health board] election, he says.

So, the Tauranga constituency of the regional council is the last person standing  but it's a good thing.

That's healthy and there should be more of it.

In March, Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced a commission would remain in charge of Tauranga City Council until July 2024, cancelling elections for the city this year.

The Governments health reforms on July 1 saw district health boards disbanded and replaced with Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand, removing the need for elected health board members.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder says it is encouraging to see the last-minute influx of nominations.

Clearly there is a lot of interest from Tauranga residents in terms of contesting the Tauranga seats and the electorate will ultimately make the decision, says Leeder.

Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby. Photo: Supplied.

Crosby is a current Bay of Plenty Regional councillor and was the mayor of Tauranga for 12 years.

He says regional and city council are structurally very similar because there is an elected body, chief executive and management team, but the issues were completely different.

Regional councils look after the environmental management of a region, while city and district councils provide day to day services like wastewater treatment, rubbish collection, community facilities and roads.

In his role as LGNZ president, Crosby says nominations across the country for local government were behind, prior to confirmation.

He says the vacancies were particularly at the smaller council and community board level which was quite concerning.

Crosby attributes the low number of nominations to a range of issues.

From the highest level, of the relevance of local government in people's minds, right through to people's time and ability to participate.

He says LGNZ, Taituara and other agencies were aware candidate turnout could be low many months ago, so the Vote 2022 campaign was formed.

Vote 2022 was in two parts, to make people aware of the election and their ability to stand as a councillor, as well as encourage more diversity of age, gender and ethnicity, says Crosby.

The other part will start soon and that is to encourage people to vote, he says.

LGNZ is a national body that supports Aotearoas councils and Taituara is the national membership organisation for local government professionals.

With nominations now closed, Crosby encourages people to take an interest in the upcoming election and vote.

Candidates will be officially declared by public notice on August 17.

Current nominations for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council

(As of 4.40pm August 12)

Tauranga General Constituency (5 Vacancies)

Baldock, Larry

Cooney, Matt

Crosby, Stuart

Deuchar, Bryan

Fogerty, Mark Adam

Guy, Murray

Love, David

Macmillan, Kat

Nagels, Jos

Nicholls-Faitele, Jason

Ross, Phil

Scott, Ron

Thompson, Paula

von Dadelszen, Andrew

Wassung, Mark

Wheeler, Stephen

White, Murray

Mauao Maori Constituency (1 Vacancy)

McDonald, Matemoana Janice

Mikaere, Buddy

Western Bay of Plenty General Constituency (2 Vacancies)

Fitter, Julian

Nees, Jane

Newland, Sean

Shirley, Ken

Rotorua General Constituency (2 Vacancies)

Dahya, Radhika

Gould, Mark

Paul, Katie Priscilla

Smith, Tim

Thurston, Lyall

Winters, Kevin

Okurei Maori Constituency (1 Vacancy)

Meha, Raina M.

White, Te Taru

Eastern Bay of Plenty General Constituency (2 Vacancies)

Campbell, Malcolm

Karetai, Mawera

Leeder, Doug

Orr, Russell (Independent)

van der Boom, Sarah Jane

Kohi Maori Constituency (1 Vacancy)

Iti, Toi Kai Rakau

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The wellbeing of people in Rotorua is getting worse by most measures, a new report says. An iwi leader says "you can't put any sugar over this" - but there are ways to address the issues.

The Rotorua Lakes Council pre-election report shows while the district and its people have been "extremely prosperous" in the past, over the past seven years an "increasing trend" of socio-economic deprivation has emerged.

The report states it is adversely affecting the people, visitor experience and "ability to function as a thriving destination to live, work, play and invest".

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick says the pandemic has "exacerbated" existing issues and the problems will not "disappear" with a new council.

Pre-election reports are a legislative requirement aimed at providing a factual basis for candidates' policy platforms.

The report stated the council was concerned measures of wellbeing - such as home and rental affordability, crime, income and secondary school retention - were worsening in Rotorua compared to other regions.

It said the district's overall deprivation rating was eight, where 10 was the worst, citing July data. Some urban suburbs were "amongst the most deprived communities in New Zealand".

Social issues disproportionately affected young people and Maori - the latter group making up 40 percent of Rotorua's population, the report said.

"This is not a picture of what wellbeing looks like for our community."

Almost 30 percent of households were considered to be in the top 10 percent of vulnerable NZ households and 78 percent were "performing below the national average".

About a third of working-age Maori were unemployed, almost 41 percent were not home owners and more than 18 percent of households did not have access to the internet, it said.

Housing quality for Maori ranked 56th out of 67 territorial authorities due to damp and mould. Crowding in Rotorua dwellings was in the 59th spot.

"Millions of dollars in welfare has to deliver the desired impact of hope and positive change, instead, Rotorua has seen a steady increase in deprivation since the onset of Covid-19, largely driven by increased benefit rates."

The report also expressed concern about increasing anti-social and criminal behaviour in the once-thriving tourism centre, noting it affected residents and visitors' experience of Rotorua.

Rotorua was 66th equal for crime out of 67, alongside Napier - "a far cry from the safe and thriving city that we aspire to be".

It was influenced by a national "culture of drinking and violence", methamphetamine, and "clusters of motels" used for emergency and transitional housing associated with anti-social behaviour and crime.

Gang culture was attracting young people and bringing "fighting, intimidation and drugs".

Housing was also a dire issue, with a large number of people in emergency accommodation in motels for a long time, it said.

The median household income was $75,000 per year and 11 percent of the district's population received the Job Seeker benefit.

Rental affordability was 32 percent with the median rent price $458, and home ownership at 43 percent.

Only 55 percent of students in the district left school with NCEA Level 3.

Photo: Rotorua Daily Post / Andrew Warner via LDR.

The report said if the council partnered with Te Arawa, the community and government agencies it would be "in a strong position to advocate for what works in our communities".

"However, if we keep doing the same things the same way, we will keep getting the same results."

Te Tatau o Te Arawa chairman Te Taru White said the report was a "recognisable picture".

"You can't put any sugar over this."

He said the district was not the same as it had been seven years ago "by a long shot" and he no longer felt safe at night.

The way to address inequities and deprivation among Maori was to effect mana motuhake (self determination), he said.

The government needed to fund Maori to find solutions, and build wellbeing objectives into policy.

"Let us lead it. Not them driving and we follow because that will fail. Get out of our way. We don't need a bureaucrat in Wellington telling us what to do."

Restore Rotorua spokesman Trevor Newbrook said the report was "scary and damning".

He believed crime and anti-social behaviour in the city had "reached an unacceptable level" and police needed "far more resources" to manage it.

In his opinion, there seemed to be "no thought or concern" for local people in emergency housing policies.

Newbrook, who has held roles in the National Party Rotorua electorate committee, said in his opinion there did not "seem to be a plan" from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Kainga Ora or the council to resolve the issues with emergency accommodation in motels.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said there were social issues emerging in Rotorua before Covid-19 and the pandemic exacerbated them.

"This is why we are focusing on our priority areas - housing, and community safety and wellbeing.

"The statistics reinforce the story we have been repeatedly telling, and we have gained the attention of government."

Chadwick, who is not running for re-election, said the challenges would not "disappear" with a new council, and the district needed leadership to "carry on with our plan", keep focusing on the three priority areas and work with partners to "build our way out of this situation and achieve better outcomes".

Council district development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston said he believed it was "not correct" to say there was no thought or concern for local people on emergency housing policy.

"Community safety funding [is in] our Annual Plan  and [the] council has taken regulatory action on [emergency housing] motels/accommodation providers."

Photo: Rotorua Daily Post / Andrew Warner via LDR.

Rotorua police area commander Inspector Phil Taikato said the police's role was to ensure everyone felt and was safe and it worked with community partners to achieve that and those social service providers were doing "great work" to support vulnerable residents.

Housing Minister Megan Woods said Rotorua had a chronic shortage of housing due to a "dire mismatch" between population growth and new housing, something she called a "hangover" from the previous National government.

The government was "pouring resource into the city" to fix it.

That included $146 million over four years for emergency housing contractors with wrap-around support and setting up the Te Pokapu housing hub.

Kainga Ora, the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development were approached for comment.

* Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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Advanced Polymer Coatings strikes series of new tanker deals

USA-based manufacturer Advanced Polymer Coatings (APC) is announcing a series of new chemical tanker deals in Turkey, one of its biggest exports markets.

Avon, Ohio headquartered APC is set to begin work this month supplying its MarineLINE tank coating system to the Dentas shipyard in Turkey. The team is undertaking two repair jobs at the yard for Turkish shipowner Veysel Vardal Shipping on its 6800 DWT MT BARBAROS ULUC VARDAL and MT BARBAROS HAYRETTIN VARDAL chemical tankers each with 12 cargo tanks and two slop tanks to be coated. APC has further just struck new deals to recoat six tankers owned by Turkish ship owner Mercan and a single tanker for fellow Turkish ship owner Transal. The work will be overseen by APCs Tuzla-based Turkish team led by Koray Karagoz. APCs Global Marine Manager Onur Yildirim said the jobs will see APC provide heat curing and inspection services in a variety of shipyards. It is very pleasing to see APC and MarineLINE being chosen and trusted to repair and recoat these vessels with a collection of owners and shipyards we know well, he said. Building long-term relationships with customers is key to our approach. We have a very able and experienced Turkish team and we are looking forward to starting work. Captain Yildirim said Turkey remains one of APCs most important export destinations where it now commands 80 per cent of the market. The latest deals follow a strong period for APC in Turkey after it sealed a contract to recoat 10 tankers for Turkish ship management company Chemfleet which followed the winning of two deals for new-build chemical tankers for Turkish shipping lines Nakkas and Ceksan. Elsewhere APC is working on a series of recoat and new build jobs in Greece and China. We believe MarineLINE is an X factor product with a sharp competitive edge, he said. Key to this is MarineLINEs proven ability to carry a wide variety of chemicals over a sustained period without risk of cross contamination even in older vessels. Moreover, operators are now much more aware that when tank coatings go wrong it can cost millions of dollars per ship to repair plus disruption and lack of availability. MarineLINEs established position and track record is able to give the industry far greater piece of mind. This is especially the case for charterers who are now taking a bigger role in selecting tank coatings, they can rely on, to help them secure long-term agreements with ship owners. APC now has more than 12 per cent of the global chemical tanker coating market with 700 ships coated worldwide with MarineLINE. In 2021 APC reported one of its most successful years of trading coating 56 ships equating to over 750,000 square metres of MarineLINE applied.




In context: It's been over three years since the Donald Trump administration placed Chinese tech firm Huawei on an export blacklist, and the company continues to feel the impact as revenue fell again in the first half of 2022. The one bit of good news for Huawei is that the speed of its decline has slowed slightly as it broadens the scope of its business.

As per the SCMP, Huawei reported revenue of 301.6 billion yuan, or around $44.7 billion, for the first half of 2022, marking a 5.9% year-on-year drop. That's an improvement over the first quarter results, which saw revenue down 13.9% YoY. Its profit margin declined to 5%, dropping by almost half compared to H1 2021. Huawei said the results are "in line with forecasts."

In the middle of May 2019, with US-China trade war tensions rising, Donald Trump declared a national emergency that effectively banned US companies from buying and using telecoms equipment from "foreign adversaries." Following the announcement of the order, the Commerce Department revealed that Huawei and 70 affiliates had been added to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List.

Being unable to access American-made technology or deal with companies that use US tools or designs, including TSMC, was a massive blow to a firm that was once the world's largest smartphone vendor. It can't even ship handsets with Android or Google's suite of apps pre-installed anymore. As such, the company's consumer division, which covers smartphones, saw revenue dip 25% YoY.

Huawei recorded its first-ever quarterly revenue decline in Q4 2020 and was forced to sell its Honor division so the budget phone maker could avoid the sanctions. This was soon followed by the company's largest ever revenue drop.

Huawei's share of the smartphone market in both China and the rest of the world continues to shrink, though its enterprise business, which covers cloud computing, software, and other services, did experience revenue growth, rising 28%.

"While our device business was heavily impacted, our ICT [information and communications technology] infrastructure business maintained steady growth," Ken Hu, Huawei's rotating chairman, said in a statement.

Huawei has also been expanding into other areas, from the more traditional wearables and smart cars to less familiar industries, such as coal mining and pig farming.

Masthead: Karlis Dambrans; center image by Yuangeng Zhang
In brief: SK Hynix is planning to select a site in the US for a future chip packaging plant and break ground as soon as the first quarter of 2023 according to sources familiar with the matter as reported by Reuters. The sources were not named as they are unauthorized to speak on the topic considering the details aren't yet public.

It'd be a major win for the US as it continues to compete with rival chipmakers in China and move more chipmaking facilities stateside. SK Hynix is a subsidiary of SK Group and is the second largest semiconductor maker in South Korea behind Samsung.

One source said the facility will have an estimated cost of several billions, and could be ready to enter mass production by 2025-2026. The plant would employ roughly 1,000 people and could be located near a university for access to fresh engineering talent.

An SK Hynix rep confirmed to Reuters that it plans to select a construction site next year but hasn't made a decision on where to build.

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill into law that aims to boost the country's competitiveness with China on the chipmaking front. The Chips and Science Act includes more than $52 billion in funding to boost research and manufacturing in the US.

As the South China Morning Post highlights, the law's passage could help the US create the so-called Chip 4 Alliance between itself, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, to put additional pressure on China among supply chains.

Notably, those who receive a subsidy under the Chips Act are barred from expanding production in China beyond "legacy" 28-nanometer products for a period of 10 years. If factories in China are unable to upgrade their manufacturing tech, they would seemingly lose their competitiveness.

SK Group in July said it would spend $22 billion on manufacturing, bio science research and green energy in the US. Of the investment, $15 billion will go directly toward semiconductor R&D and the creation of the aforementioned advanced packaging facility.

Image credit: Think Computers
On Thursday, Aug. 11, China's top chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) reported that its earnings for the June quarter were better than expected.

This is despite the US imposing stricter sanctions on foreign companies regarding semiconductors.

SMIC Reports Great Earnings

According to SCMP, SMIC's revenue during the three months increased 41.6% year-on-year to reach $1.9 billion, which is a bit better than Bloomberg's estimate of $1.89 billion for the company.

The net profits came in at $514.3 million under global accounting standards, down 25% from the same period in 2021, compared with $447.2 million in the last quarter. This is still a bit better compared to Bloomberg's estimate of $469 million.

SMIC's gross profit margin increased 39.4% year-on-year from 30.1% in 2021, compared with 40% in the March quarter, according to Business Times.

Also Read: Qualcomm orders 28nm chips from China's SMIC

The Shanghai-based tech company said its revenue and gross margin exceeded expectations during the period because the COVID-19 pandemic prevented some factories from conducting annual maintenance.

The financial results of SMIC came amid escalating tension between the US and China.

On Thursday, Aug. 10, former president of British chip design William Tudor Brown said in a LinkedIn post that he was leaving SMIC's board after nine years due to the "widened international divide."

The company confirmed Brown's resignation on the same day.

Export Ban on China

Last week, major American semiconductor equipment suppliers KLA Corp and Lam Research said that the US government wants to widen the scope of its export ban to China and is looking to include tools for making chips at 14-nm and below.

This is an escalation from the current restrictions, which only banned 10-nm technology and below for chipmaking.

According to SCMP, it followed reports that the Shanghai-based company may have also achieved the ability to make 7-nm chips despite having no access to any cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet lithography systems.

Currently, SMIC has the capability to produce 14-nm chips.

The US government also wants to block the export to China of electronic design automation software, which would take the restrictions to a whole other level.

Amid Beijing's push for Chinese companies to rely less on semiconductor equipment that is imported from other countries, SMIC has been trying to use more domestic alternatives, but there have been reports of failed attempts.

Earlier this week, a contract for the company dismissed a task force that repeatedly failed to deliver a home-grown computer integrated manufacturing system for the company's new factory in Beijing. However, the contract denied the report.

On Thursday, Aug. 10, SMIC also announced that its co-CEO Zhao Haijun has stepped down as an executive board member to focus on managerial duties.

Wu Hanming, a veteran Chinese microelectronic expert, was appointed an independent non-executive director on the same day that Haijun stepped down.

US Focus on Chips

As the sanctions rely less on China for semiconductors, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS law to provide $53 billion in assistance to chipmakers so semiconductors can be done domestically.

The new law can elevate the US chipmaking market from 2% to 10%, according to CNET.

Related Article: US Chips Are Helping China's Military to Become an 'AI Powerhouse' - New Study Claims

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Electric scooters are becoming a thing in many countries as they allow people to reach where they need to be without spending too much money.

(Photo : Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images)

A man rides an E-Scooter of rental company Tier in Berlin on April 17, 2019. - German ministers agreed rules for using battery-powered scooters on the country's roads.

These two-wheeled zero-emission vehicles also don't consume a lot of space while they are on roads. You can even use the bike lane to avoid four-wheeled automobiles.

However, some countries restrict electric scooters from running on roads. One of them is Quebec, which has laws that state e-scooters are only allowed on private properties.

Why Electric Scooters are Illegal in Quebec

According to Global News CA's latest report, Quebec highly discourages residents from using e-scooters on public roads.

"As of right now, the law is clear. You can not use low-speed electric scooters on a public road or on a bike path that is next to the public road," said Louis-Andre Bertrand, Quebec Transport Ministry's spokesperson.

(Photo : Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Jump e-scooters, an Uber subsidiary, are parked on a sidewalk on November 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Uber's permit to rent out Jump e-scooters and e-bicycles has been 'temporarily suspended.'

Also Read: Segway Reveals Lightning-Speed GT2 Electric Scooter Which Can Accelerate to 30 Mph in 4.2 Seconds | Is it Worth Buying?

However, there's still one electric scooter brand that can freely run on Quebec roads. GeeBee e-scooters are allowed on public roads as part of the country's province-wide pilot project.

This e-scooter program was launched back in 2019 and is expected to have an extension until September 2023.

Quebec explained that this pilot project is meant to study the security, safety, and integration concerns of vehicles, especially electric scooters.

Once the needed data is acquired, MTQ (Quebec Transport Ministry) will be able to know the effects of e-scooters on busy roads.

After that, officials can even create new laws that will allow electric scooters to operate safely alongside other vehicles.

How Dangerous are E-Scooters?

Since e-scooters are quite small compared to other vehicles, authorities are concerned that the safety of the users can be put in danger.

Previously, EuroNews reported that Finland conducted a study that shows how dangerous electric scooters are. In this research, more than 330 e-scooter-related injuries were recorded.

E-scooter rental firms also said that e-scooter riders took over 1.8 million trips between April 2019 and April 2021.

This means that around 18 emergency room admissions were made every 100,000 rides. Orthopedic surgeon Aleksi Reito interpreted this data, claiming that electric scooters are more prone to accidents than other vehicles.

Meanwhile, electric scooter maker Gogoro said battery swapping stations would soon take over gas stations.

On the other hand, the new partnership between Lyft and Spin is expected to make electric scooters.

For more news updates about e-scooters and other zero-emission vehicles, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Rentals of e-Scooters: Environmentally-Friendly or Not?

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Apple's macOS Ventura website quietly removes third-party apps' "Hide My Email" functionality from its list of features.

The Cupertino giant previously teased that the next-generation macOS would start bringing support for its Hide My Email feature beyond its built-in apps.

Apple's macOS Ventura Website: 'Hide my Email' for Third Party Apps

As per the latest news from Mac Rumors, the macOS Ventura section of the official Apple website says that its users could start to keep their "personal email address private" even against third-party apps.

The website of the iPhone maker further states that an iCloud+ subscription would allow macOS Ventura users to use its Hide My Email feature even beyond apps like Mail and Safari.

It is worth noting that Apple introduced the privacy feature when it released the macOS Monterey. But the email hiding function was exclusively limited to the built-in app of the Cupertino giant.

Apple has teased that the all-new macOS Ventura is expanding the said privacy feature. In fact, it even listed it as one of the functionalities to look forward to in the upcoming operating system version.

macOS Ventura Website Removes 'Hide My Email' for Third-Party Apps

But this time, it appears that the iPhone updated the features list of macOS Ventura on its website in the United States.

The French media outlet, Mac Generation, noticed the sudden change, noting that it has been removed from the list of features for the upcoming release of macOS.

Meanwhile, Mac Rumors notes in its report that the Apple website still listed the email hiding function last Aug. 3.

However, that was the last time the Apple US site included the feature on its macOS Ventura section. Since then, the Hide My Email for third-party apps is nowhere to be found on the list.

It is interesting to point out that the said feature still exists in the macOS Ventura website in other countries.

But Mac Rumors notes that it is likely that Apple might have been a bit slower in updating the macOS page in other parts of the globe.

Read Also: iOS 16: Apple Passkeys Could Soon Replace Traditional Passwords: Here's Where You Can Use Them

What to Expect from macOS Ventura

Despite that, there are other exciting new features that the new upcoming macOS Ventura offers.

According to a report by The Verge, the latest macOS brings tons of refinements in expanding the integration of Macs to iOS of iPhones.

It brings features like Continuity Camera, which allows iPhone users to use their smartphones as webcams seamlessly. The System Settings app looks completely like the Settings app on iPhones.

Related Article: Apple Releases New MacOS Ventura to Developers, Additional Security Measures Now Available

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Written by Teejay Boris

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
ESA now considers SpaceX rockets as replacements for Roscosmos' Soyuz spacecraft. The European Space Agency announced this plan after Russia decided to block Western access to its advanced spaceships.

(Photo : Photo credit should read NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

The Soyuz-TMA 11 rocket is transported to a launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome early 08 October 2007. The launch of an international space crew is set to take place from Baikonur in Kazakhstan 10 October 2007.

The Russian government decided to do this due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Now, ESA said that is already started its preliminary technical discussions with the American aerospace company.

However, this will still depend on the recovery of the delayed Ariane 6 rocket, the launch system project created by the partnership between ESA and ArianeGroup.

SpaceX Rockets To Replace Roscosmos' Soyuz?

Via CNBC's latest report, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher explained that there are two options that the European Space Agency is currently discussing.

(Photo : Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft attached takes off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Also Read: Researcher Demonstrates How To Hack SpaceX's Starlink Satellite With An Open Source $25-Hacking Tool

These are specified using the rockets of SpaceX and relying on Japan's launch systems.

"Japan is waiting for the inaugural flight of its next-generation rocket. Another option could be India," said Aschbacher.

He added that SpaceX is their main option since the launch systems of Elon Musk's independent company are more efficient compared to other models.

But, the ESA official clarified that they would check the compatibility of SpaceX's rockets before concluding. Of course, the aerospace company must also agree with the European Space Agency.

One of their concerns is if SpaceX's rockets are suitable for the interface of ESA's satellites. On the other hand, other payloads should also remain unaffected by the vibrations made by SpaceX's launchers.

ESA Being Reliant To Soyuz

Channel News Asia reported that ESA has been reliant on the Soyuz rockets of Roscosmos for the past few years.

The European Space Agency uses these advanced spacecraft to launch medium-sized payloads.

But, it also uses other spaceships, such as the Italian Vega. But, this rocket model can only bring small payloads into orbit.

On the other hand, heavy space packages of ESA are carried by the existing Ariane 5. As of press time, the space agency's officials are still waiting for the delayed Ariane 6.

This new launch system is expected to be completed around 2023. But, the efficiency of the development will still be the deciding factor.

Meanwhile, the SpaceX Falcon 9 crashed into a bridge, leading to serious damages.

Recently, the launch schedule of the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission was confirmed.

For more news updates about ESA and its upcoming SpaceX rocket usage, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: SpaceX Starship Completes Static Fire Test, Booster 7 Success-Static Fire Test Soon?

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GM's drivetrains will soon be integrated into Volcon's electric off-road UTVs, as confirmed by the Texan electric powersports firm.

(Photo : Volcon)

GM Drivetrain Integration in Volcon's Electric UTV to Offer New Off-Road Experience!

Drivetrains are also called propulsion systems, which consist of different car components that provide power to the vehicle.

But, the drivetrains of General Motors are different from the conventional propulsion systems since these car parts aim to eliminate the use of tailpipe emissions.

Now, Volcon also plans to take advantage of the automaker's tech to enhance its upcoming utility terrain vehicles.

GM Drivetrain Integration in Volcon's Electric UTV

Electrek reported that the first Volcon UTV to receive GM's advanced electric drivetrain is Stag, an off-road utility vehicle that was introduced in July.

(Photo : Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

A General Motors logo is shown at the General Motors Technical Center, where today Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra held a press conference on June 5, 2014 in Warren, Michigan. Barra spoke to provide an update on GM's internal investigation into the ignition switch recall at the General Motors Technical Center.

Also Read: GM Offers $6,000 for Chevy Bolt EV Users But It is a Condition to No Longer Sue on Battery Fire Risks

Aside from the upcoming Volcon Stag, another UTVs of the Texan powersports company is also expected to have the propulsion systems of General Motors.

These include the predecessors of Stag and the so-called Project X vehicle.

Once the GM drivetrain integration in Volcon's UTVs begins, it will allow the powersports company to be the first one to use American multinational vehicle manufacturer's propulsion components.

"Volcon will be the first, and currently only off-road powersports company to offer their full line of vehicles with GM's electric propulsion," said the UTV developer via its official press release.

Expect New Standard-Setting Off-Road Experience

Volcon's Chief Technology Officer Christian Okonsky said that the latest partnership of Volcon with General Motors is expected to offer an off-road experience that can set the powersports industry's standards.

He added that all Volcon's employees are doing their best to provide the best UTV models. Okonsky further explained that producing top-quality off-road electric cars can become a reality, thanks to GM's help.

As of press time, General Motors wants to remove the tailpipe emissions in light-duty cars as early as 2035. Since this is a promising enhancement, Volcon also wants to ride along in the efforts of GM.

If you want to see further details about the latest collaboration between Volcon ePowersports and General Motors, you can visit this link.

On the other hand, the GM warranty transfer limit has already started rolling out to prevent reselling activities.

Meanwhile, GM's EV mass production is expected to happen around 2025.

For more news updates about Volcon and General Motors, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: GM is Working on AVs as it Plans to Compete with Tesla

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
On Thursday, Aug. 11, Chinese telecoms equipment and smartphone maker Huawei's sales declined 14% from January to March from a year earlier as it pumped money into research and development while grappling with US sanctions.

Huawei's Affected Sales

According to Wall Street Journal, Huawei Technologies said that its revenue was 131 billion yuan or $19.8 billion in the first three months of 2022, compared to 152,2 billion yuan or $22 billion in 2021.

The net profit margin of Huawei for the quarter was 4.3%, down from 11.1% in the same quarter of 2021. The company's rotating chairman, Ken Hu, said that the figures were in line with forecasts.

Hu said their consumer business was heavily impacted, and their ICT infrastructure business experienced steady growth.

In 2019, the Shenzhen-based company was placed on a trade blacklist that restricted American companies from doing business with the major network equipment and smartphones provider.

The sanctions have hit the company hard since it relied on Google services and other essential technologies for its handset.

Also Read: US Files Charges Against Huawei Over Claims Chinese Telecoms Giant Stole Trade Secrets, Violated Iran Sanctions

The Decline of Huawei

Once the largest smartphone maker in the world, Huawei fell out of the top five brands in 2020 because of the sanctions. In 2021, the company also fell from China's top five as it struggled with the chip shortage.

The company has since invested heavily in research and development, spending 142.7 billion yuan or $21.6 billion to develop new technologies as it sought to carve out new business areas less vulnerable to sanctions.

Huawei's research and development spending is 22.4% of its sales, outpacing rivals such as Samsung and Apple, according to The Associated Press.

In early August, at the annual analyst summit, Hu said that Huawei's commitment to developing new business areas like cloud computing and 5G is on the way.

Since it was added to the US blacklist, Huawei has also developed its own Mobile Service platform as a workaround for its lack of Google services.

The platform allows developers to launch apps for several Huawei devices, although apps like YouTube can only be opened through shortcuts that take users to the mobile site.

Huawei also sold off its lower-priced Honor smartphone brand in 2020, hoping to revive its sales by insulating it from the sanctions on Huawei.

Huawei's Success in Indonesia

Despite struggling with the sanctions that the US had imposed on it, Huawei found success elsewhere. Indonesia have embraced the Chinese company and its products.

Huawei provides the tech and the training for much of the workforce and the government officials charged with Indonesia's cybersecurity, according to Foreign Policy.

The Chinese tech success in the country offers sobering lessons for the US, its allies, and its partners, not just in Indonesia, with a population of more than 270 million, but in other Indo-Pacific countries as well.

Unless US policymakers take some pages from the Huawei playbook, the Chinese tech giant will not face any serious competition as they maneuver to train vast swaths of the new digital workforce.

After all, the US and its allies and partners have been in the business of walling themselves off from the vulnerabilities of dependence on Chinese technology.

Related Article: Huawei Founder Urges Employees to Fight Until the Day that 'No One Bullies Them'

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Written by Sophie Webster

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More than half of the stranded passengers in Hainan have returned to Sanya, and the number of newly infected people has risen for two consecutive days
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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry speaks to media members outside outside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse in Baton Rouge, as abortion rights protesters hold signs and shout to try to drown him out, 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.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Theyre the slick orange-and-white cartons that have become a mainstay in Australian coffee culture. Championed by baristas, chosen by McDonalds, Starbucks and Muffin Break, and beloved by lactose-avoiding consumers, Milklabs plant-based products are a common sight in cafes across the nation. But few coffee drinkers would know that Milklabs manufacturer is at the centre of one of the most spectacular corporate implosions in recent Australian history. The future of cult favourite MILKLAB is in the hands of a Noumi shareholder vote on Wednesday. Credit:Janie Barrett/SMH Milklabs maker, an ASX-listed company once known as Freedom Foods, is still struggling to recover from revelations two years ago of significant accounting irregularities worth over half-a-billion dollars. The irregularities, preceded by the sudden resignations of two top executives, forced the company into a nine-month trading halt. Two class action lawsuits and an investigation by the corporate regulator, ASIC, have followed. Freedom Foods has changed its management team, secured support from a new cornerstone shareholder - the billionaire Perich family, one of western Sydneys biggest landowners - and rebranded itself as Noumi (pronounced new me). Despite this, the company behind a wide range of dairy and plant-based milk products and health supplements has failed to win back the trust of investors.

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Noumi was a market darling as recently as a few years ago, class action law firm Phi Finney McDonald associate Muhammad Arayne says. The financial irregularity revelations made in mid to late 2020 genuinely shocked the market and caused the company to lose a substantial amount of trust from investors. The share price collapse ... was catastrophic. Noumi shares, currently hovering around 28 cents, are about 90 per cent below a September 2018 peak price of $5.30. With a market value of $78 million, Noumi is worth less than 5 per cent of a company once valued at nearly $2 billion. Loading Throughout this turmoil, Milklab has been one bright spot for the company, enjoying stratospheric growth and strong customer loyalty among baristas. But now, even Noumis most prized brand, and the companys future prospects, are hanging on a knifes edge. And this week, the company disclosed that a separate legal battle has been launched by French tea and coffee company Sunday Collab over rights to distribute Milklab in Europe, claims Noumi says are without merit. Noumi had already been accused of fraud by its former supplier, Californian almond grower Blue Diamond, which sued Noumi for breaching a licensing agreement between the two parties relating to Milklab.

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The pair of companies have reached a settlement of $US35 million ($49 million)  more than the embattled Noumi can afford. So to pay it all off, Noumi wants to sell its stake in a separate company  but this needs shareholder approval. The future of Milklab rests in the hands of these shareholders, who will vote on whether to approve the stakes sale at an extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday. Spilt milk The first sign something was wrong at Freedom Foods came on Tuesday, June 23, 2020, when then chief financial officer Campbell Nicholas suddenly resigned. Milklab has seen success amid the booming popularity in non-dairy milk drinks. Credit:TRIBUNE The following morning, CEO Rory Macleod went on leave. Trading on the ASX was suspended, pending a further announcement, but not before shares dropped to a five-year low. An unusually high volume of 21.5 million shares traded hands (there have been no allegations of insider trading). Then on Thursday of that week, the company released a statement to the ASX revealing that its estimated value of useless assets, $25 million, had blown out to $60 million. A review of inventory levels showed there was more out-of-date stock, some from cancelled orders, than originally thought. Sixty-one staff positions were made redundant.

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Almost simultaneously, the company held a conference call. With the CFO and CEO gone, the unenviable task of hosting it fell to then-chairman Perry Gunner. The most pressing question from investors and stakeholders was: where did things go wrong? The outdated stock and cancelled orders went as far back as 2017. Why wasnt it picked up earlier? The company had been shifting stock from five external warehouses into its own facility, the chairman explained that. They knew there was some amount of stock that needed to be reworked (for instance, turned into dry powder) but didnt realise just how much there was. Over the years, vast amounts of milk had been going off in warehouses, and either no one had noticed or no one had reported it. Loading But getting rid of it was expensive. Simply put, there was so much milk that had gone off that it was cheaper to write it off than to rework it. The difficulty is the cost of getting that milk out of the packages and into a vat ... to allow it to be processed, does not justify the protein or the value of the milk powder that you would obtain from doing it, he said, according to transcripts of the investor call. Thats why the ... likely provision has been increased from $25 million to $60 million.

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Gunner was pressed by investors on why the company hadnt identified issues of such a scale with its inventory during a regular stocktake, and whether the company suspected fraud. His answers did little to defuse the investor unease. The revelations seemed as startling to him as they were for everyone else. This has only come to the attention of the board today effectively, said Gunner. Weve still got a lot of further investigation to undertake. Hitting rock bottom The trading halt in late June 2020 that was only supposed to last for a fortnight was extended until October 30, and then again. By the time trading eventually resumed in March 2021, the company was nearly unrecognisable. The wealthy Perich family  and Freedom Foods key backer, owning 52.5 per cent of company shares  stepped in to play a central role in the companys reformation.

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The Federal Court has ordered internet giant Google to pay a $60 million penalty for misleading Android users about its collection and use of their personal location data.

Between January 2017 and December 2018, Googles Android operating system suggested to some smartphone users that the location history setting was the only Google account setting affecting whether the tech giant kept and used personally identifiable location data. But there was another account setting called web & app activity that also let Google store and use data, which was on by default.

Google has been fined $60 million for misleading Android users about data collection. Credit:AP

The Federal Court found in 2021 that Googles conduct breached Australian consumer law which prevents misleading or deceptive behaviour, but on Friday issued penalties totalling $60 million for the $US1.5 trillion ($2.1 trillion) company.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, whose agency brought the litigation, said the web & app activity setting allowed Google to target ads to consumers even if they had Location History switched off.
The state governments shark net program aims to deter three species of sharks  the tiger, white and bull shark  but the nets efficacy has been debated for years. Many critics say the technology is almost 100 years old and alternative and less harmful methods should be used. For those who support the nets, they offer psychological comfort, says Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a marine predator researcher at Macquarie University. But they offer little protection. Shark nets are not designed to create a complete barrier between swimmers and sharks, but rather they aim to deter sharks from frequenting the site. Over the years, there have been significant advancements in technology, which include SMART drumlines and drone surveillance. Both are in place along the Central Coast. Earlier this year, the government announced $85 million to fund the implementation of other shark mitigation tools, including increased shark tagging, improving community awareness and installing shark listening stations that provide real-time tracking of tagged sharks.

Brendan Rogers, who supports the removal of shark nets, has swum for years along the Central Coast. Credit:Brook Mitchell Central Coast resident Brendan Rogers tries to swim most mornings but the possibility of bumping into a shark is never far from his mind. He says its a risk of entering the sharks habitat. Loading I think that maybe a long time ago, they were one of the better solutions, but I think there are so many other options now that are potentially safer to other wildlife as well, he says. There is no one silver bullet; the nets are old-fashioned. If we can use a combination of smart things  like technology [then that is better]. Perhaps one of the most controversial aspects of shark nets is how many marine animals get caught in the nets. Of the 376 marine animals caught in shark nets during the 2021-22 reporting period, only 51 were the target species. The remaining 203 were threatened or protected species, including sharks, turtles and rays. Of these animals, 156 died, data from the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) shows.

Among these were 16 leatherback turtles  the majority of which were caught on the southern Central Coast. There were also 28 white sharks, 19 green turtles and 52 smooth hammerheads caught, as well as 14 critically endangered grey nurse sharks. DPI oversees the shark meshing program and employs seven contractors, one in each region shark nets are installed: Hunter, north and south Central Coast, Illawarra and North, Central and South Sydney. The department hires contractors to inspect the nets every 72 hours and release animals. What happens to injured animals is not entirely clear. If a contractor finds a live animal caught in the nets, they are to free it using instructions from the Shark Meshing Supervisor and contractors may then disentangle, handle, treat and release any living marine mammal, marine bird or marine reptile in accordance with any relevant national or state guidelines where practical and safe to do so. A DPI spokesperson says the nets were actively managed to ensure minimal impact on marine animals and that since the shark nets were introduced in 1937, there had only been one fatality at meshed beaches.

The NSW government will continue to work with coastal councils to ensure that community preferences are balanced against effective shark mitigation for bathers, the spokesperson says. Contractors are required to check the shark nets within 72 hours of the previous inspection and release live animals with the least possible harm. If an injured marine animal is caught in the nets, DPI fisheries will liaise with Taronga Zoo directly and organise the potential drop-off of the injured animal for assessment and treatment. However, Taronga Zoo says their wildlife hospital accepts and treats many animals but their records indicate they have not received any wildlife impacted by shark nets for many years.

When pressed further, a government spokesperson provided no further clarification about the fate of injured marine wildlife. Sea Shepherd threatened and endangered species campaigner Lauren Sandeman says the true number of animals impacted by the shark nets is much higher than reporting shows. Any released animals that are still alive are left to nature and there is a strong likelihood that they will succumb to their injuries. But those deaths are not recorded in the program, she says. Weve seen footage from the program of animal releases that sink to the bottom of the water but they count those as a live releases. [The program] doesnt track animals after they are released. Pirotta says the combination of targeted and non-targeted species caught in nets highlighted the push to move towards less invasive shark mitigation methods.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Judith Carter had been rescuing animals for WIRES for five years when she fell into dispute with the organisation, which suspended her carers license and took the two possums she still calls my girls. When the little orphans had come into her care they could sit in the palm of her hand and shed raised them  waking through the night for feeds during the first months  until they were robust juveniles healthy enough for their pending release. The co-ordinator had signed off on their release and a location had already been selected for the big day. But shortly before their release date a dispute with head office deepened. Judith Carter with a possum she cared for. Not one of the ones that was taken away. Carter and another carer from the organisations Blue Mountains branch had complained about what they saw as poor practices by some of their volunteer colleagues  WIRES has over 3000 volunteers across NSW who are members of 28 regional branches. Carter, a retired teacher, and her friend believed some other volunteers were not taking proper care of animals in their charge.

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The way she tells the story, head office failed to respond to their concerns until finally the two volunteers told chief executive Leanne Taylor that if she did not act they would report the situation to National Parks and Wildlife, which has regulatory authority of WIRES animal welfare practices. As the dispute continued, Carter raised the issue of reimbursement for $4000 in expenses that she says WIRES had failed to provide. Money was tight at the time as Carters partner Julian was battling cancer. So what they then did was they turned around and started targeting us, Carter says. A complaint made by a less experienced volunteer who had an issue with Carters mentoring months earlier was raised with her. A WIRES volunteer carer holds a baby brush tail possum before it is to be released into the wild again. Credit:Wolter Peeters Then head office took issue with her record keeping. (Carter says she relied on paper rather than electronic logbooks after she had internet problems.) It raised concerns that she was not following instructions from her branch co-ordinator. Eventually, Carter and her friend were told WIRES wanted to make inspections of their facilities. Then their carers licences were suspended and the animals removed. Numerous animals were taken from the care of Carters friend, who had years of experience as a trained volunteer, work that she juggled with her nursing career.

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Asked what she believes became of the possums she raised, Carters voice breaks. Theyre dead! Theyre dead! I know they are, she says. I hate myself for what happened. I never should have let them take them. I put my heart and soul into them. In fact, Carter cant be sure what happened to the animals because WIRES did not respond to the emails she sent asking after them. But she does know that according to WIRES own guidelines ringtail possums cannot be released outside the area from which they were rescued. Theyre dead! I know they are. I hate myself for what happened. I never should have let them take them. I put my heart and soul into them. WIRES volunteer Judith Carter fell into dispute with the organisation, which suspended her carers license and took two possums. She believes they are now dead Without an appropriate release site or care, euthanasia is often the next option. Both women believe their care for the animals in their charge was questioned not because of evidence of neglect or mistreatment, but as a method of control by head office. It is an allegation that has been repeated by carers across the state, who tell stories of bullying and harassment that they say occurs both within the organisations branches, but also by the organisations executive leadership. Another common thread is the fear that carers will be accused of mistreating animals, that animals in their care will be removed and that some of those animals will then be euthanised.

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The voice on the recording is sombre and poised. It is that of one of four WIRES volunteers who have recorded their stories and shared them on a Facebook page hosted by a WIRES critic. The woman does not name herself but the Herald and The Age are aware of her background. In the wake of the 2019-20 summer fires wildlife rescuers conducted black walks, during which they explored the charred forests to euthanise those few animals that survived. Credit:Dean Sewell We have no assistance with fuel or car expenses, she begins. No assistance with basic triage and first aid supplies. No assistance with that help. No help with enclosures or housing, or even emotional support. It is traumatic dealing with a weeping human whos just hit a kangaroo with their car, traumatic when they hug you after you say that, Yeah, this one I can save, and you know how many hours it will take out of your day, five or six hours, only to have a vet euthanise the animal because theyre really just too busy that day, and its easier to euthanise than to treat. Its traumatic when you bring an animal home for rehab, and they die. The small percentage of animals that you can help is enough to keep you going. Imagine the elation when that treatment goes well, their wounds heal, and they begin the long process to be well enough for release?

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Now imagine what happened to me. With no warning WIRES unexpectedly turned up at my house with the RSPCA in tow, to charge me with animal cruelty ... Imagine the trauma of having those animals you work so hard to save taken away from you on the cusp of their release. And all you hear for months afterwards is rumours that those animals were euthanised. The weeks after fear and trepidation of just being in my own home feeling unsafe and vulnerable. I cant sleep. I go over and over everything in my head and I cant work, an acquaintances car turns up unexpectedly and my heart starts hammering, and my chest tightens. With no warning WIRES unexpectedly turned up at my house with the RSPCA in tow, to charge me with animal cruelty. Unnamed WIRES volunteer Whats happened to my animals, they will never cope with being handled by someone else. Trust is built between carer and animal. I feel so sorry that I let them down. Im trying to do the best I can. Where was my offer of help when I was rehabilitating my animals? Couldnt WIRES afford a vet to visit carers or provide centralised care facilities? When it comes to wildlife rescue, there are few organisations better known than WIRES. The charity has been the first port of call for Australians across greater Sydney, south-east Queensland and Tasmania for help with an injured or sick wild creature for more than 35 years. During the Black Summer bushfires, its name recognition saw it harvest $100 million in donations that flowed in from around the world. And yet, according to a Herald investigation, the organisation so many trust to care for injured native creatures, stands accused by some of the very people who are its bedrock  its volunteers  of causing harm. Both to those who care for animals and to some of the animals they have cared for. This masthead has spoken to more than a dozen sources who allege bullying and controlling behaviour and a culture of silence within the organisation. The critics include three members of the organisations state council, part of the groups governing structure. The WIRES board is drawn from the state council, and in turn its members represent each of the states branches.

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The tools that can improve our lives can also worsen them. This maxim is true for tech in general and can also be true for fitness technology. I am never more aware of this than in the lead up to a fun run or adventure race.

And this is because, for me, fitness tech can suck the fun and adventure out of the race.

When fitness technology interferes with our enjoyment of exercise, it might be time to stop using it. Credit:Getty

Take Strava, for instance. I love it because it makes me accountable to myself. On the days I feel lazy, recording my run will make me go the extra kilometre or push myself that bit harder. I love that it shows me my progress too. Im proud of myself for being a 41-year-old mother-of-two and running sub-50-minute 10 kilometres, something that seemed utterly unachievable only a few months ago.

Seeing others on Strava serves as inspiration, too, and encouragement to keep going.
Pressure to succeed: Caroline Kennedy and father John F Kennedy; Donald Trump and father Fred Trump, Rupert Murdoch and father Keith Murdoch. Credit:Getty That privilege and degree of power and social and financial capital that these families have means that they have an enormous advantage to be what I call high-level and high-impact transmitters of trauma, says Meera Atkinson, an adjunct lecturer at the University of Notre Dame Australia and a trauma researcher. Ill always remember one of them said, You cant control how many idiots you have as children. Michael Gilding, author of Secrets Of The Super Rich By this, Atkinson means that if powerful people become addicted to power and making money  possibly as a result of trauma theyve inherited from their ancestors  they can end up acting out in impulsive ways that, because of their influence, threaten the wellbeing of those of us lower down in the pecking order. My speculation is there is some order of obsessive-compulsive acting out here, Atkinson says of people like Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, who have denied or minimised the effect of climate change. What else can really explain the sort of headlong rush ahead, into continued climate crisis [denial]? What could be powerful enough to create blinkers around something as vital as the environment we live in, that sustains us, [and the need] to make sure its habitable?

As a result, governments and people in positions of leadership need to re-think who they consider successful, and stop privileging the wealthy just because they have power, she says. [Because] when we dont tax families like the Rineharts and the Murdochs, then what are we doing here? Were creating monsters that then do the damage, she says. The most privileged, the Kennedys, the Packers, the Rineharts, if [where they live] goes under [water]  due to climate change  they can colonise another place. Theyve got that kind of money. But other people are not going to have those options. But what is intergenerational trauma, exactly? And how does it relate to dynasties? Traumas absolutely passed down [through generations], says Dr Laura McLauchlan, an honorary environment and society lecturer at the University of NSW who has studied intergenerational trauma. This can be on the genetic level, with studies that have shown that one generations personal experience  say a war, or other traumatic experience  can be passed down to the next, through gene markings that are switched on or off, leaving offspring with dispositions aimed at helping them survive. For instance, one study shows that grandmothers in Holland who endured a famine passed down a predisposition to put on weight and store carbs to their maternal granddaughters. Dynasty trouble: Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli and her psychic Giuseppina Auriemma, left, were charged with the 1995 murder of Martinellis ex-husband, Gucci family scion Maurizio Gucci; mining magnate Gina Rinehart, right, pictured with children John and Ginia, has been battling two of her children over a $5 billion trust for 11 years. Credit:Getty As for the members of powerful dynasties, many have posited that they  who have frequently been berated and pressured into becoming ruthless money-makers, whether they like it or not  inherit trauma, either on the genetic level or through neglectful parenting.

Mary Trump, niece of former American president Donald Trump and a clinical psychologist, has written that her malignantly dysfunctional family, led by her late grandfather Fred Trump, destroyed his sons and, by extension, has helped break down American democracy. Fred Trump, who she says was a high-functioning sociopath, ridiculed his son, Fred Jr, for his desire to become a pilot, rather than joining the familys real estate business. He would be nothing more than a chauffeur in the sky, said Fred. (Fred Jr descended into alcoholism and died in 1981 at 42.) And he taught his son Donald to be a killer and a king, and destroyed him by crippling his ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion, as Mary Trump wrote in her 2020 book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The Worlds Most Dangerous Man. Even Donald Trump has said he regrets having put pressure on him [Fred Jr] to join the family business, as their father did. I think the mistake that we made was we assumed that everybody would like it. There was sort of a double pressure put on him. Its a scenario that has plagued some of Australias ultra-rich, too, says Michael Gilding. I interviewed people who grew up in really quite dire, poor situations, but their appetite for risk was relentless and just continued throughout their whole lifetime, says Gilding, author of Secrets of The Super Rich. In many cases, the children of barons did not share their parents passion, which led to their alienation from them. There are lots of you know, situations, where the people I interviewed often described quite traumatic situations of alienation between parents and children in that regard.

Loading When all is said and done, building a large fortune requires concentration, attention and focus, says Gilding. And it doesnt necessarily leave a lot of time for a generative relationship or a kind of nurturing relationship. And so that intimacy can be missing.... Ill always remember one of them said, You cant control how many idiots you have as children. (This wasnt the case for everyone he interviewed, and many magnates had stable family businesses and healthy family relationships, he says.) So how has Caroline Kennedy, the new American ambassador to Australia, dodged these common dynastic landmines? A woman who was only five years old when her father was assassinated, 11 years old when her uncle Robert Kennedy was assassinated, and therefore more qualified than most to be acting out from trauma? A Harvard Law School graduate who has held numerous political positions (most recently, the American ambassador to Japan), Caroline Kennedy has three children. One is a filmmaker, another a New York Times environmental journalist and the third a Harvard Business School graduate. Her fortune is intact. The difference between her and the children of other dynasties, says Neal Thompson, probably comes down to parenting.
Those candidates could be anyone and everyone and there are a mixed bag of candidates right across the board and well have more to say about that, but theyre confidential in those conversations, theyre confidential in the nature of those conversations and well have more to say. Loading Barilaros response further fuelled Labors suspicions. The party did not relish a byelection in McKays marginal seat of Strathfield and was also convinced the Coalition had its sights on it. Senior MPs and staffers started doing some digging into the trade jobs, which newly elected Labor leader Chris Minns had concerns about. Minns could not see the benefit of NSW having such roles. One month, after Berejiklians shock resignation, the new premier Dominic Perrottet was also pressed on a possible McKay appointment: Are you considering appointing Jodi McKay as a trade envoy? No, was his response before adding: There are always discussions, and I for one, believe that former members of parliament make good ambassadors and trade commissioners. I think it is a role that politicians, as unpopular as this may sound, thats a job that, I think, is well suited to former politicians and people who have provided years of service in public life should certainly be in the mix. But in terms of those appointments, they havent come before the cabinet.

After a late Friday afternoon announcement in June this year, which revealed Barilaro had snared the plum New York trade commissioners job, Minns was in his electorate of Kogarah with Mookhey for a budget-related press conference. Minns relayed to Mookhey that voters had approached him unprompted at his street stall to raise the Barilaro appointment, which had been reported in the media that day. The pair quickly decided that it was an issue that had to be pursued with rigour. Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown at the parliamentary inquiry. Credit:Kate Geraghty Within 24 hours, Mookhey and Labors leader in the upper house, Penny Sharpe, had referred the matter to the public accountability standing committee, which has a non-government majority, for an inquiry. Two more Labor frontbenchers were recruited to interrogate the trade appointment, John Graham and Courtney Houssos. Greens MP Cate Faehrmann chairs the inquiry. We took another look at those documents, Mookhey says of the papers already in his possession. We saw references to a mystery preferred candidate at the bottom of some email chains from August last year. Yet by December, mention of this mystery candidate had all but disappeared. These were the documents that revealed senior bureaucrat Jenny West had already been offered the job that Barilaro ultimately secured. Others also revealed that Barilaro, in fact, asked that McKay (and former Liberal minister Pru Goward) be interviewed for a trade role.

Mookhey, who has also prosecuted other problematic issues for the government (and Perrottet) such as the mass underpayment of injured workers exposed in the Icare scandal, admits the opposition stumbled across the trade appointment saga. The first witness the inquiry called was the bureaucrat responsible for appointing Barilaro, Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown. A parade of witnesses followed, including Jenny West  who was offered the New York role only to have that offer rescinded  and the public service commissioner Kathrina Lo, who was an independent member on Barilaros selection panel. Barilaro was also called. Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo was expected to be a friendly witness for the government. Credit:Kate Geraghty The evidence has been hugely damning for the government, although Perrottet has dismissed the inquiry as little more than a political hit job. One senior minister said the public service commissioner was assumed to be a friendly witness for the government. However, the experienced public servant delivered a searing assessment of the process that saw Barilaro appointed, with Lo saying she would never have signed off on a final selection report if she knew then what she knows now.

Brown also conceded that despite his denials, Ayres was not at arms length from the process, despite his insistence that he had no role. West, in her evidence, claimed she was told that the New York job would be a present for someone. Loading A NSW Labor senior source says the opposition has forensically reviewed all the documents, pursued questions in the inquiry and created a slow-burn scandal for the government. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the inquiry was a dress rehearsal for government. We have the best team on the park for this and Daniel Mookhey is shaping as the Macquarie Street version of John Faulkner as interrogator-in-chief, the source says. However, Coalition committee member Nationals MP Wes Fang, is scathing of the inquiry. He says it was designed to destroy Barilaro and has not uncovered any wrongdoing.

It is a political hit job in circumstances where the opposition and crossbench have the numbers on the committee using what should be extraordinary powers of parliament to political assassinate John Barilaro, Fang says. This is not an impartial committee, there has been no procedural fairness with this inquiry. Barilaro was due to appear at the inquiry for the second time on Friday, but cancelled due to poor mental health. His friend, Mental Health Minister Bronnie Taylor said Barilaro had not been treated fairly by the inquiry, which took three weeks to call him to give evidence. This constant, constant attention on him. Him waiting three weeks until he was able to give his side of a story at an inquiry. I say to you and I say to anyone out there, how would that make you feel and how do you think you would manage with that? Taylor said on Friday. Taylor praised Barilaro for always being very open about his own struggles. So I respectfully say to everyone, he has been very honest and very open, and he has put his case forward. He deserves correct process. He deserves independence [and] respectful behaviour, she said.
When the first City2Surf starting gun went off 52 years ago, runners had a strong incentive to record a good time: they had 100 minutes before police reopened the roads. Police cleared streets just 10 minutes ahead of the first racers, shutting a single direction of traffic for the famous CBD to Bondi track. Most cars, unaware of the event, pulled over and kept their lead-filled engines running, causing some coughing runners to vow never to return.

In all, 1576 people started. 1509 people finished. And 14 people crossed the finish line without officially starting.

A lot has changed: this year around 60,000 people are expected to take part in the race, and unlike in 1971, the Opera House and the Kings Cross Tunnel are fully built.

Runners make their way along William Street during the 2019 City2Surf. Credit:Brook Mitchell

But as the 50th race takes place early on Sunday morning (the City2Surf only took place virtually for the past two years, due to the pandemic), it appears one thing has remained the same: its always sunny at the City2Surf.
You find them working in the countless professions right across the country from high-end law, medicine to IT, tertiary, the arts industry, health, media. Theyre US Democrats, if you want to best describe them. Renters have always favoured Labor and the Greens  especially in, say, Sydneys western suburbs. The Australian National Universitys election study found that in 2019, 41 per cent of renters voted Labor, 20 per cent Greens and 27 per cent Coalition. Light Greens are not opposed to development of places like the Fish Market providing its done at a reasonable scale. Credit:SMH But this class of inner-city renters is more capricious. Theyre not comfortable voting Labor, they dont really find Labor a modern solution to their hunger for a different form of politics in this country, says Samaras. They may like the Greens rhetoric on climate change, but they are not necessarily enamoured with Green positions on housing and development at a local level, where not in my backyard attitudes constrain supply. They want medium, appropriate density development in the areas they actually want to live.

For example, Steele says the state governments original plan for 45-storey towers at the old Fish Market site in Pyrmont was excessive; the revised 35-storey version he finds more palatable. We need to accept that areas like that need more housing. It should be happening in a lot more areas close to the city as well, he says. Steele and his girlfriend have signed an $800-a-week lease for a two-bedroom Darlington terrace. They are interested in buying a home but dont believe its a realistic possibility in the next two or three years. Like most of their cohort, they are unwilling to move to suburbs further from the city. This is my home, this is where all my friends are, I want to keep living here, Steele says. That marries exactly with what Samaras picked up from his focus groups with the light greens. Kosmos Samaras wrote the Andrews playbook when it came to targeting young Greens voters. Credit:Wayne Taylor They do not want to relocate to the outskirts of western Sydney or Melbourne. They are happy to pay a premium to live in the community they want to live in, he says. During the last couple of years they really looked down on conservative politicians mocking them on their lifestyle choices. They want to own some sort of property, but they want to be able to own it where they live.

That creates clear incentives and opportunities for political parties seeking support from these voters  especially at a state level, which predominantly controls housing. The NSW Liberals are awake to elements of the issue; Premier Dominic Perrottet prioritised first home buyers in the budget by giving them the option to pay annual land tax instead of upfront stamp duty. Planning Minister Anthony Roberts regularly tells audiences increasing housing supply is his top priority, while Treasurer Matt Kean has enthusiastically spruiked a masterplan for his home base of Hornsby that will see 4500 new homes built around the railway station and transform Hornsby  in Keans words  into a thriving metropolis. Kean was approached for comment for this story. Loading Liberals are nervous about the implications of this years Willoughby byelection, in which the partys primary vote crashed 13.5 per cent  nearly enough to hand the seat to independent Larissa Penn. Previously held by former premier Gladys Berejiklian, the seat overlaps the federal division of North Sydney, which went teal in May. Samaras says NSW Labor could learn a lot from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews 2018 re-election. It was proof the light greens will vote Labor if it gives them what they want, he says.

Not only was Daniel offering them a palatable social agenda, Labor took to that election a very aggressive rental reform package, which included expanding the rights of renters, says Samaras. That was a deliberate tactic. I know because I put it together for them. We did the research to go after the renters. We were actually after Green voters because we knew they belonged to the rental class. Labor needed a way to talk to Green voters through an economic lens. In Samaras analysis, density is Labors friend, and the party has deliberately embraced it in Victoria. It has turned some of our marginal seats into safe seats. Its really about political demography, he says. By way of example he offers the state seat of Bentleigh, in south-east Melbourne. Its the knock-down capital of Victoria. In two years it had 400 homes knocked down, and 1600 townhouses were built in their place. The people moving into those townhouses are nurses, teachers, low-income professionals, Samaras says. You dont catch Labor down here arguing against density or development. The Liberals down here have been awake to this problem. Every time those homes get knocked down, they know whos moving in, and it aint their voters.

NSW Labor is yet to unveil its housing policies for the March state election but shadow housing minister Rose Jackson said the party was talking about the issue a lot  without regard for the possible political windfall. Rising house prices have created a fundamental break in the social contract, she says, because it can no longer be assumed that if you get a job youll be able to buy a home. Rental stress has also worsened, and both problems are no longer confined to Sydney. Rose Jackson says Labor accepts the need for a sensible conversation about density. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Jackson says Labor accepts the need for a sensible conversation about density, but understands people dont like it when their roads are suddenly more congested or their children are placed in demountable classrooms. It needs to be done fairly across Sydney, she says. Some areas of Sydney have been doing all the heavy lifting, some areas of Sydney have changed very little  and thats not fair.

Jackson says the basic proposition of building dense developments near transport infrastructure  such as new and forthcoming metro stations  makes sense to Labor, but the party is still concerned about having sufficient schools and open space. The Greens are also grappling with this dilemma. A new wave of younger Greens who now sit on metropolitan councils are making the case for sensible development and density, and sometimes clashing with their NIMBY elders. Two years on and I am still arguing with some Greens that the demolition of a dilapidated church for 55 [not-for-profit] and four social housing units was a good deal, inner west Greens councillor Dylan Griffiths tweeted this week. The 29-year-old called himself as a centrist on development. NIMBYism is real and a scourge, but ideological YIMBYism and the uncritical regurgitation of developer propaganda is also intolerable. Griffiths told the Herald many Greens members took a sensible approach to development, and the party was the only game in town for those who wanted real action on social housing. There was real interest in fleshing out the partys position on density, he said.

Everyone just needs to critically engage with development, not be afraid of it, Griffiths said. Steele says hes willing to engage with any political party or politician offering serious policy on housing affordability. That means not just density and development but renters rights, tax and negative gearing  the promise that spooked federal Labor following its 2019 defeat. Loading But when Steele looks at the political class, he sees wealthy landowners with investment property, not renters who know what its like to be in his shoes. They all seem relatively financially well-off and stable before they even got into politics. Even Albo is a landlord, he says. They dont know what its like to be renting in Redfern where youve constantly got fire trucks and police cars and all the other noise of inner-city life, and looking around at these houses and seeing little terraces go for $1.6 million.
A man who was repeatedly raped at a Christian Brothers school in the 1970s says his bid for compensation was almost thwarted by lawyers for the religious order, who incorrectly claimed two key witnesses in the case were dead.

Peter* received a payout after his own lawyers found the witnesses alive, but said his case highlights a fundamental flaw in the process of seeking redress for historical institutional abuse.

Im still terrified of them today, Peter says. Credit:Eddie Jim

He is one of five former students at St Thomas Mores College, in Nunawading, who claim they were abused by Brother Eric Robinson. Although Robinson has been dead more than a decade, Peter  who, as a victim of sexual abuse, asked not to be identified  launched legal action against the Christian Brothers in 2019.

In doing so, he provided a list of potential witnesses to the Christian Brothers who might support his case.
Frogs, lizards and the critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect will get a brief moment in the spotlight during Melbourne Museums newest exhibition.

Staged as part of National Science Week, the museum will display the critters rarely seen by the public.

Science On Show is returning to Melbourne Museum for the first time since 2019. Credit:Simon Schluter

What we bring up for Science Week are animals that people dont really get to see in front of house, Life Exhibits manager Maik Fiedel said on Friday.

We will be displaying living creatures...animals that are not on constant display or permanent display.
AFL boss Gill McLachlan received a birthday cake from US entertainment giant Paramount this week.

Happy birthday to outgoing AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, who celebrated his 49th birthday on Monday with a Paramount-themed cake delivered by the US entertainment giant.

Paramount is one of a group of companies (including Seven West Media, Foxtel and Nine Entertainment Co, the owner of this masthead) bidding for the broadcast rights to the AFL and AFLW once the current contract expires in 2024. The cake was just a sweetener on top of a multimillion-dollar bid offered by Paramount.

McLachlan is a Leo twin with the company, which also sent cupcakes, balloons and other delights to Australian media this week to celebrate its streaming services first birthday.

A picture of McLachlan cutting into an oversized Paramount cake  so big it fed up to 100 AFL staff  surfaced on social media with a happy birthday. We wonder what he wished for. Perhaps that a reported bid of $600 million  which Paramount boss Beverley McGarvey claims was plucked from thin air  was actually made?
Our new arts editor Elizabeth Flux has started with us, and I asked her to answer a few questions for you.

Why did you want to be arts editor of The Age?

The diversity of arts we have here is what made me move to Melbourne in the first place. Pick any day, any night, and something will be happening. Big or small, it doesnt matter  the arts arent a separate thing that fits around real life, theyre a reflection of all of us.

What are your favourite art forms?

I dont have a favourite  they each offer something completely different. My favourite works though  whether its a painting, opera or a show on TV  are ones that allow you to experience things through someone elses mind, giving you a glimpse into emotions and eras and moments in a way that otherwise would stay out of reach.

Favourite artist?

Ever since I heard about Eugene Von Bruenchenhein Ive been fascinated. He was an outsider artist who worked as a baker but over his life produced thousands of surreal paintings and sculptures and dramatic photographs of his wife. He became famous after his death, but how many stories like his are out there? How many people are producing work that would be loved if they just showed it to someone? A few years back, I went to an exhibition of Robert Klippels work and I loved it  especially the sculptures made from salvaged materials that would otherwise be thrown away  but it reminded me just how narrow the line is for creatives between being seen and being invisible.

What are you most looking forward to seeing over the next few weeks?

My calendar is always full of book launches and a few live shows and operas  before taking on the role of arts editor I was The Ages opera reviewer. Christopher Chens play Caught is starting in Melbourne soon, and Im looking forward to seeing how it twists and bends expectations. The Archibald Prize is travelling to Bunjil Place next month and it will be interesting to see these images Ive only experienced through a screen and see how they feel in real life.
The way the Chinese air force sent a J-16 fighter to intercept an Australian surveillance plane on May 26 is the essential backdrop to the intransigent message delivered with a smile by Chinas top emissary in Canberra this week. The timing of the interception said everything about a decision within the Chinese leadership to test Australia just five days after the May 21 federal election.

Chinas ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, during his address to the National Press Club on Wednesday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

So, while it is tempting to regard the speech this week by the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, as merely a restatement of belief from Beijing, it is part of a new and unsettling dynamic that seeks to shift debate inside Australia while the threat of war hangs over the region.

Will it work? So far, the federal government is showing no sign of changing the fundamental Australian position on China and Taiwan.

Yet the scrambling of the J-16 shows that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the cabinet will have to contend with direct and material challenges, not just rhetoric from the podium of the National Press Club, when Beijing pushes Australia to retreat on points of principle. What will those events be? Use your imagination, said Qian on Wednesday about the use of force against Taiwan. That ominous language puts all Australians on notice about an era of deepening conflict, even war.
It is just over a week since the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan, setting off a diplomatic firestorm with China. Any thought that the visit would be a temporary glitch in the relationship appears wishful thinking.

Soon after her visit, China turned its bellicose language into the largest display of military force it has ever carried out against Taiwan. During a four-day military operation, it launched long-range artillery live-fire shooting drills, flew dozens of warplanes over the unofficial line of control between the two nations in the Taiwan Strait and carried out what is believed to have been the first launch of missiles over Taiwan. Beijing also dragged Japan into the conflict when it fired missiles into areas inside Japans exclusive economic zone.

Nancy Pelosi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during their meeting in Taipei. Credit:AP

Along with the show of force, Beijing also announced it was ending all dialogue between senior-level military commanders and talks on climate change action with America. In response, Australia joined diplomatic protests from America and Japan over the show of force. Defence Minister Richard Marles urged an end to military operations and accused Beijing of breaching United Nations rules requiring countries to ensure peace and security in international waters. It had little impact.

There is a growing belief in America that the visit will be used by Beijing as a pretext to step up its operations to intimidate Taiwan for months or years to come, and may speed up its plans to take control of the island nation. That was backed by the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, who stated this week that the use of force was an option to achieve reunification so the people of Taiwan might have the correct understanding of China and after the state council in Beijing said it would use all necessary measures to achieve reunification.
An increasing number of GPs across Australia are opting to charge disadvantaged people a fee instead of bulk billing them because the Medicare rebate doctors receive to see patients isnt covering rising costs.

Up until recently, those practices that didnt bulk bill everyone, they would as a routine policy bulk bill pensioners and health care card holders, said Leanne Wells, chief executive of the Consumers Health Forum. But now some are starting to say Look, we cant even afford that guarantee any more.

Kathy Barr and her family love their local GP clinic, which has bulk billed them for the last five years. It recently started charging to see them. Credit:Nick Moir

Bulk billing is where medical practitioners charge the federal government for providing a service to patients, instead of the patient paying up front.

Health Minister Mark Butler on Friday said primary care was in its worst shape since Medicare began in 1984, and that stories were now common of Australians not being able to see a bulk billing doctor, or of GPs changing from bulk billing to charging a small fee, as well as getting the rebate.
Kyiv: Europes biggest nuclear power plant must be protected by a demilitarised zone urgently, the United Nations chief said, after Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling the site repeatedly.

Ukraines Energoatom agency said the Zaporizhzhia complex in Ukraine was struck five times on Thursday, including near where radioactive materials were stored. Russian-appointed officials said Ukraine shelled the plant twice, disrupting a shift changeover, Russias TASS news agency said.

A serviceman with a Russian flag on his uniform stands guard near the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant now controlled by Moscow. Credit:Reuters

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to halt all fighting near the plant.

The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarisation to ensure the safety of the area, Guterres said in a statement.
"I've always felt," composer Jason Robert Brown says, "that the joy of doing 13 is that there's no shortage of really talented teenagers. I wanted to make sure that, to do the show, you could take any kid and say, 'There's a spot for you. There's a place for your particular thing that you do.'"

13 the Musical, with an underrated Brown score and charming book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn, was born on Broadway just shy of 14 years ago. With a cast entirely made up of tweens and teens, it told the story of a young outsider, Evan Goldman, grappling with his parents' divorce on the eve of his Bar Mitzvah. The stage version, which ran just over 100 performances before closing in 2009, was most notable for being early resume items for co-stars Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies.

On August 12, Netflix will release Tamra Davis's film adaptation of the musical, which features a screenplay by co-book writer Horn and songs, old and new, by Brown. Here, he tells us about developing his baby for the big screen.

Jason Robert Brown

( David Gordon)

I feel like I've heard rumblings of a 13 movie for years. Tell me how it happened.

After the show closed in New York in 2009, Robert Horn and I went back to work on it, because we didn't feel like we had really finished it. While we were doing the new version, we thought we could make a movie of it, so why don't we write a screenplay and pitch it? We wrote a screenplay and got some notes, and did another version of it, and then I directed the show in London. While I was doing it there, I made some more changes and we integrated all of them. Then we got a call from a production company and they really wanted to make a movie out of 13, but they wanted to hire their own screenwriter. For about four years, they were developing it, and then, like with most movies, nothing ever happened.

When their option ran out, we got a call from Naketha Mattocks, who had just taken over the family films division at Netflix. She had seen the show at the Taper in Los Angeles, in its very first incarnation, and thought it should be a movie. She had worked for Disney and tried to get them to do it, but it wasn't their kind of thing. The minute she took over at Netflix, she said, "I'm gonna make a 13 movie." She came to us with an offer, which included that Robert would get to write it, and that's how it happened.

As with the movie of The Last Five Years, I think the thing that is most amazing to me is that it exists. This was a show that was not Hamilton and was not Mamma Mia! It was this weird little thing that played 100 performances and then went away, and now there's this huge movie on Netflix that's based on this show. Before I can even address anything else about it creatively, I'm just sort of like, "I can't believe that happened." So I'm just thrilled that it exists.

Khiyla Aynne as Charlotte, Frankie McNellis as Lucy, Shechinah Mpumlwana as Cassie, Kayleigh Cerezo as Molly, Lindsey Blackwell as Kendra, Luke Islam as Carlos, Liam Wignall as KC, JD McCrary as Brett, Ramon Reed as Eddie, Nolen Dubuc as Malcolm in 13 the Musical.

( Alan Markfield/Netflix)

Can you talk about the new songs and plot changes and what necessitated them?

There were a lot of plot things from the original show that don't make sense anymore. Kids aren't like that anymore, or we're more enlightened now about how things happen. There were story points that changed, and when they changed, there were songs that vanished.

The original show is very much informed by these 1980s tropes of what teenagers were like. The show clearly comes from the world of a guy who watched a lot of John Hughes movies. But that particular binary doesn't work anymore, in terms of, the jocks are mean, and the nerds are sweet and smart. Everything has gotten a lot more mixed up, so it was important that we were able to say that.

The new song "I've Been Waiting" was a real opportunity to introduce Brett and Kendra and the kids in this town in a way that was much more specific to who they are than what we did originally. We wanted to find out what these kids are really like. What were their struggles, and what were their joys? So that song introduced them.

There was a song called "The Bloodmaster" in the early versions of the show. In the Broadway version, it was called "All Hail the Brain," which was Evan figuring out how to pull off this big scheme and get the kids to show up at the movie at the same time. That song was problematic in a lot of ways, the first of which is that it relied on a specific theatrical device where he talks to the audience and narrates how things are supposed to work. We tried writing that into the screenplay and it wasn't any fun. So I started from the beginning and made a new version of it, and once we put it on Eli, it was so great to have a real kid be able to take control of the situation.

The key reason for "It Would Be Funny" was that we have grownups in the cast and we didn't before. I love having grownups in the movie. I don't want them in the show, but it would have been weird and arty and pretentious to make a movie where the grownups never showed up. The grownups are the barriers around the world. We got Debra Messing, and she sings great, and she's got this real connection, since she has a kid who's around Eli's age. The whole emotional crux of the movie is Evan's relationship with his mom, and we needed to let them sing about it, so I wrote that song, and now their relationship becomes a real thing because of it.

I'm sad "What It Means to Be a Friend" isn't in the final cut. But it is on the album.

It was filmed, it looks great, she sang the hell out of it, and it's out of my hands. I saw several cuts of the movie where it was in, and then they showed me a cut of the movie where it wasn't in, and I went "What happened?" but Grandpa's out of his league.

Rhea Perlman as Ruth, Debra Messing as Jessica, Eli Golden as Evan, Peter Hermann as Joel, Josh Peck as the Rabbi in 13 the Musical.

( Alan Markfield/Netflix)

I appreciated how Jewish the movie feels  which is the same way I felt about the show. It feels authentic.

The thing that I fought hardest for, and was most successful in pulling off  because I didn't have a whole lot of say about the movie. It's not my world and they weren't particularly interested. But the thing that I was able to be very strong about is that I didn't want the Jewish characters played by non-Jewish actors. If you're not Jewish and you see a non-Jewish actor play a Jewish part, you don't know the difference. But to the Jews in the audience, we know what the physical, emotional, gestural vocabulary is. We can tell when it's fake. I can tell when Mrs. Maisel is not Jewish, and it isn't actually negotiable. So to be able to get Eli and Rhea Perlman, and Debra Messing and Peter Hermann and Josh Peck, that the Jews in the movie are played by Jews, in a show that is really about the fact that Jews are outsiders, was so significant to me. It was a fight, but it's a fight that I'm really glad I had and that I won.
Tony winner Alan Cumming will take the stage of the Joyce Theater for the North American debut of Burn, Cumming's new solo dance piece about Scottish poet Robert Burns. The piece will open the new season of dance at the Joyce September 20-25.

Created in collaboration with Olivier Award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett, Burn uses movement and poetry to explore the life struggles of Scotland's most famous poet. "[It] tells us the absolute truth of who we are as Scots," said Cumming, "[and] is my attempt at trying to tell more of his story using my whole body."

The one-hour dance piece will feature music by Anna Meredith. Burn is a Co-Production with National Theatre of Scotland and Edinburgh International Festival

Burn made its world premiere this week at the Edinburgh International Festival. WhatsOnStage critic Simon Thompson described it as, "one Scottish icon reflecting on another." You can read his full review here.
Sometimes hindsight is 20/20. And sometimes it's the sentimental rendering of a past that never really was. On That Day in Amsterdam  written by Clarence Coo and produced by Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters  frames itself as a product of the artistic liberties memory likes to take with the past. But doesn't it sometimes take a liberty or two to bring out the real truth of an experience? A truth greater than truth one might say. It takes a gentle touch to make that saccharine point convincingly, and Coo's work (directed by Zi Alikhan), while presenting some truly poetic moments, genuflects to the wonder of art so much, that it's hard not to respond to the piece as you would an overexcited tourist.

In fairness, the play's central characters are just that  though one of them tries his best to play it cool. Kevin (Glenn Morizio) is a college freshman who skipped town over winter break with his mother's credit card and the foolish impression that becoming a "traveler" (not a "tourist," mind you) would cure the insularity of his life. During his time in Amsterdam, he has a one-night stand with a man named Sammy (Ahmad Maksoud), a Middle Eastern refugee, who, in an uncharacteristically confident manner for someone who just had his first sexual encounter, insists on staying for breakfast, followed by a romantic day of sightseeing.

As the day unfolds, Kevin periodically ventures beyond the stage's cloudy scrim (a lovely and simple design by Jason Sherwood, as well as a canvas for projection designer Nicholas Hussong) to type on a perpetually open laptop. He's indulging in that solipsistic exercise everyone bashfully considers, few follow through on, and even fewer succeed at: He's writing a book. From the margins of his mind, he digs for memories of this one magical day in which he roamed the streets of Amsterdam with his 24-hour lover whom he'd never see again. He acknowledges the narrative gaps and lost details: Was Sammy's English comprehensible? Did he name his country of origin? Who really pursued whom at that night club? Ensemble performers Brandon Mendez Homer, Elizabeth Ramos, and Jonathan Raviv circle the periphery of the stage, narrating these internal queries as Amsterdam's most recognizable historical figures: Rembrandt, Anne Frank, and Van Gogh (or Vincent as he is more familiarly called in the program). And Kevin, slowly but surely, gets his arms around this fleeting day  or at least a version of it.

Brandon Mendez Homer, Ahmad Maksoud, Glenn Morizio, and Jonathan Raviv in a scene from On That Day in Amsterdam.

( Carol Rosegg)

Coo's script (and Alikhan's direction of it) rarely skews from its self-serious tone  even when Coo's characters deserve some gentle mocking. As Kevin, Morizio (an actor with great poise and presence) speaks with the gentle earnestness of an introspective wanderer, while his actions paint a clashing picture of self-aggrandizing naivete. And yet Sammy (Maksoud giving a simple, grounded performance), a penniless refugee whose immediate future holds a dangerous boat trip to the UK, sees something in Kevin he would like to hold on to. Or is that merely the starry-eyed yarn Kevin spins in his mind as he puts his story to paper years afterward? That interpretation may make the most logical sense, but it would be a departure from the play's all-consuming tone of sincerity (set at the very start by Jesse Kovarsky's balletic movement direction)  one that projects the possibility of epiphany at every tourist trap in Amsterdam.

Herein lies the confusing contradiction of On That Day in Amsterdam. The tension between Kevin and Sammy is in their overarching worldview: Kevin, a child of a Filipino immigrant, is convinced in that oh-so-American way that an experience is only worth something if it can be turned into art for public consumption (Sammy snaps a pretty photo of a bird on his phone and Kevin sees this as a sign of his artistic calling). Sammy, meanwhile, lives life day by day out of necessity, and rejects this compulsion to leave behind relics of his existence for strangers to enjoy.

In a world where the line between content and art gets hazier every day, it's a thought-provoking debate to peer in on. There is also an undeniable splendor in the picture of youth devoid of cynicism  something Coo reveals a great fondness for in his protective handling of our dreamy college student. And yet, even as Kevin recalls being schooled by Sammy in the sharper edges of the world, he goes on to write his story with unschooled immaturity. He surrounds us with glossy versions of artists-turned-name-brands, and immerses us in a dreamlike world (lit ethereally by Cha See) where a tilt of the head turns everything into capital-a "Art." Both Kevin and Coo are free to see the world in such heightened tones, and even satisfy their craving to freeze experiences in amber. But it makes you wonder  what exactly did they learn on that day in Amsterdam?
The Wyoming State Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) is excited to announce the hiring of a project archivist through funds from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

This one-year grant award funds a part-time archivist to build an information network for records stewards from Wyomings libraries, museum, and archives to foster discussions on preserving and providing access to cultural heritage resources in the state. The projects first phase includes identifying and conducting a needs survey of Wyomings smaller repositories that house archival materials and creating an online directory from these survey contacts.

After a national search, Jordan Meyerl has been hired to conduct the first phase. She has a Bachelors in English Literature from Arcadia University and a Masters in History on the Archives track from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is currently an Archives Cataloguer with Historic New England. Previously she worked as a Business Systems Analyst at Harvard Business Schools Baker Library and as a Clinical Documentation Specialist with Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

I am passionate about collaborating with smaller institutions to ensure they have the appropriate resources to preserve and make accessible the cultural heritage resources in Wyoming, says Meyerl, adding, I am incredibly lucky to be part of the early stages of this project and look forward to seeing its evolution and growth over the course of this year.

Based on Meyerls work, a follow-up grant proposal to the NHPRC will be written with the intention of establishing a traveling archivist program (TAP) in Wyoming. The overall objective of this effort is to create a program that provides much needed support to Wyomings smaller historical societies and museums, as well as to public libraries with local history manuscript collections.

I have previously worked on the Mass Memories Road Show, a project aimed at empowering communities to preserve their own history when there are no cultural heritage organizations, says Meyerl. However, we also need to empower and support existing organizations to preserve their history and build stronger relationships to local communities. Establishing a TAP is a key step in this process.

The project is a collaboration between the Wyoming State Archives, the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, and WY SHRAB.

The Wyoming SHRAB promotes the identification, preservation, and dissemination of the states historical records, by encouraging and supporting ongoing training programs for state, tribal and local governments, local repositories, organizations, and others involved in records care in Wyoming. Grants are made available through the Wyoming SHRAB by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The program is administered by the Wyoming State Archives, which is part of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resource
What an amazing new experience I encountered this past week; I flew from Cheyenne Regional Airport to California, and I have to say it was brilliant. The trip started with free parking at our new airport terminal, a quick TSA security check, a 20-minute flight to Denver, and taking a connecting flight to Bakersfield.

Lately, I have come to hate the drive down Interstate 25 (I-25). I find when I travel, the hardest part is the drive home from Denver International Airport (DIA). When Im tired, the I-25 drive is intolerable. However, this trip was a smooth 20-minute flight from Denver and a 10-minute drive back to my house. I love supporting Cheyenne and our airport, and it was a great experience across-the-board. To anyone who flies, I highly recommend you fly from our airport.

Throughout the week, I receive a lot of letters from folks in our community. One letter that stood out from the rest was dedicated to praising Debbie Martinez and her photography that documents life in Cheyenne. Im not on social media, so our PIO pulled up her Facebook page, and immediately I was in awe of her work. It was like looking at a colorful pictorial history of events that happen in Cheyenne. I cant say it enough, I really appreciate folks with artistic abilities, and her pictures are definitely in this category. Thank you for alerting me about Debbies beautiful work.

Theres a huge number of unpaid parking tickets we have in Cheyenne. Last winter we did an amnesty period and then started to immobilize vehicles that had very large unpaid balances.

In the first four months, we installed the Barnacle System 21 times and collected $30,249 from parking tickets. The Barnacle System requires at least five installations monthly to break even on the cost of the system.

Today we have 3,400 unpaid parking tickets in the amount of $204,000. Starting immediately, the city will be looking at vehicles with three or more unpaid parking tickets. When we find them, they will be immobilized with the Barnacle or the old-fashioned boot. If you have unpaid parking tickets, you can avoid the boot by paying the tickets or entering a payment plan. Going forward, our parking officers have a new goal, five Barnacles installed each week, until we get the money owed.

We met with Jason and Sam from our Community Recreation and Events Department. I always enjoy our time together. A new home for our gymnastics program was one of the big topics. Currently, our program is housed in the old Carey Jr. High School gym. I am so thankful that the school district has allowed us to use this site. It is not perfect, but our gymnasts have a place to practice their craft. We reviewed the options and are now working to find a permanent solution. We also discussed the Civic Center and how we will manage the facility with Andrew and his family moving to Saratoga. Andrew has been a fantastic technical director for our team, and he will be missed. Our Civic Center has gone from a dozen shows a year to over 100. Our crew is vital to making the venue the experience we all expect.

The United Way is a vital part of our community that helps take care of the most vulnerable, as part of its mission. I had three meetings with them this week. First, we met to discuss the city taking part in this years campaign. I told them I was all in!

United Way has 24 partner agencies that are focused on helping with education, financial stability, and health. They focus not only on the programs but also the outcomes, ensuring our dollars are well spent.

Thursday, I attended the kick-off breakfast at Laramie County Community College (LCCC). I am so appreciative of the team who was there to volunteer. This year Bryan and Sara Pedersen along with their children are our campaign chairs. Our economy is tough and especially so for many in our community. I would ask you to consider donating to United Way this year, either through your job or just by calling and making a donation. Judy and I will join you.

The city has an investment committee and we met this week. We are blessed to have two community volunteers. Patrick Fleming and Jeff Prince are two investment professionals who volunteer their time to help make our program successful. Times are tough for investors, our 401Ks will show that. Nonetheless, I was pleased to learn the city is doing better than most, and our investment team beat the benchmark handily. I am talking about volunteers again, the people here rock!

The Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) is a private/public partnership between the Air Force and a private developer. I am excited about the EUL and the affordable housing that will be built there. It is located next to Little America, on the land where Frontier Days have its park-n-ride. I met with Tony OBrien and Daniel from Little America to discuss the project and how it might impact their beautiful facilities. I was pleased to learn they are willing to work together to see this important project move forward. It is always a treat to drive through Little America. The beautiful trees, lawns, and landscaping make it an oasis.

Neil Theobald used to be the president of the University of Wyoming. He retired from that position and wants to end his career teaching. Currently, he is traveling throughout the state to learn why teachers are leaving the profession. As part of that conversation, he came to interview me about my impressions of our school system and the challenges our teachers face. I really enjoyed the conversation. Neil has a love for teachers and the profession. I hope he figures out how to make teaching in our local schools more appealing to the best teachers in our region. What could be more important?

Chief Kopper, from our fire rescue department, stopped by to give me an update on the new fire stations we hope to start constructing this fall. As with every big project, there are ups and downs. What I appreciate most is the way our fire crew acknowledges the challenges in working to overcome them. The good news is we are almost done with be bidding process and hope to start the projects this fall. When we are completed with the construction of the three new fire stations, our emergency response will be improved.

The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is a federally funded program that funds the planning for our transportation system within the city and county-metro areas. We met this week with MPO, in a work session to discuss the proposed plans for the next fiscal year. Plans for county impact fees, greenway access to the base, Allison Road, Southwest Drive, and safe routes to school are just a few of the plans discussed. The MPO policy committee is made up of the mayor, Commissioner Thompson, and Ralph Tarango from the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT). I did not think I would enjoy being a part of this committee that much, but I have found the subject fascinating and the team fun to be with.

If you have a question for me, send it to media@cheyennecity.org. Ill continue to answer them, in the following Mayors Minute.


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Anne Heche arrives at the 74th annual Directors Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 12, 2022. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Actress Anne Heche Not Expected to Survive Car Crash Injuries

Actress Anne Heche, who has been hospitalized and in a coma since her fiery car crash in Los Angeles on Aug. 5, is not expected to survive, as her family prepare to take her off life support, according to reports.

Heches family thanked the actresss supporters and hospital staff for the dedication over the last week.

We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Annes recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital, a representative for Heches family said in a statement obtained by Deadline.

Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive.

It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable.

Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her lifes workespecially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light, the representative said.

Crash

Emmy award-winner Heche, 53, was hospitalized after crashing her blue Mini Cooper into a house in the Mar Vista section of Los Angeless Westside shortly before 11 a.m. on Aug. 5.

After plowing the car into the property, the vehicle burst into flames and prompted a heavy fire that took nearly 60 firefighters more than an hour to put out, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

The Fire Departments official Twitter account noted that one person, who was critically injured, was rescued and hospitalized.

No one inside the home was hurt, according to multiple reports, and no arrests have been made. However, police are still investigating the circumstances of the incident.

Ohio native Heche rose to prominence for her Emmy-winning work on the NBC daytime television drama Another World from 1987 to 1991 and starred in a string of films including Six Days Seven Nights, Wag the Dog, Cedar Rapids, and Donnie Brasco.

She also starred in the HBO series Hung.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
A file image of then National Security Council Senior Director of Counterterrorism Kashyap "Kash" Pramod Patel in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on Oct. 27, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

After Trump Raid, American Justice System Below Third-World Standards: Kash Patel

With the FBIs recent raid on one of the homes of former President Donald Trump, the federal justice system in America has sunk below the level of third-world countries, according to Kash Patel, a former national security official in the Trump administration.

The FBI executed a search warrant at Trumps Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida on Aug. 8 looking for White House documents Trump may have taken with him when leaving office, a lawyer for Trump told The Epoch Times. Trump said hes been cooperating with law enforcement for months and there was no need for a raid.

The unprecedented raid has been denounced by most Republicans and even some Democrats on the basis of it appearing politically motivated as well as overly aggressive for a matter usually resolved in a low-key fashion, if addressed at all. Some pointed out that the Obama administration failed to hand over White House documents to the National Archives on a dramatically larger scale without any repercussions.

Ive been in countries all over the world, prosecuted terrorists in Africa, Patel commented during a recent interview with Epoch Times senior editor Jan Jekielek. At this point, they have a far superior system of justice than we do in America.

The terrorist trials in east Africa he was involved in, he said, were handled more impartially than how the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) operates today.

They brought national security prosecutions and convicted everybody while maintaining due process. We dont have due process anymore here, he said.

America, he said, now suffers under a two-tier justice system that treats Trump and his supporters more harshly and Democrats more leniently.

He gave multiple examples, from the FBIs illegal spying on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2017 to the recent allegations by FBI whistleblowers that the bureau improperly shuttered a stream of evidence about the foreign dealings of Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden.

Trump lawyer Christina Bobb told The Epoch Times that the FBI agents searching his home were looking for presidential records, indicating that the warrant was based on laws governing retention of presidential records and possibly handling of classified information.

Such a justification doesnt hold water, Patel said.

President is the final arbiter of classification authority and has a unilateral authority to classify and declassify documents by just saying so, Patel noted.

Moreover, former presidents retain security clearances and regularly handle classified information.

A lot of these guys continuously, as former presidents, and I believe rightfully so, access classified information, because they used to be the commander in chief, and they do consulting work and people talk to them and seek advice, he said.

As for Trumps holding on to materials that should be handed over to the National Archives, Trump was in continuous communication with law enforcement on that matter, Bobb said, and even gave the FBI a tour of the storage room where he kept White House materials two months ago.

The agents asked at the time that a better lock be put on the storage room, only to come weeks later and break the lock during the raid, Trump said in an Aug. 11 post on Truth Social.

If it was related to that, why didnt they just do what we normally do in those situations and call and say, Hey, we think you have x, we want to review it. Can you return it? Patel said.

Search warrant? You could have just issued a subpoena. Do you need 30 armed, swatted-up FBI agents to go in there, maybe with counterintelligence, for nine hours?

The DOJ has agreed to publicly release the warrant application including attachments A and B, which describe the Location to be searched and Items to be seized, and also a redacted list of items seized. The attachments should reference criminal offenses in pursuit of which the warrant was issued. In a document filed with the court on Aug. 11, the DOJ made no mention of releasing the affidavit that explains the probable cause, the factual basis, for the warrant.
By American Heart Association News HealthDay

A visit to the dentists office could provide a glimpse into your heart and brain health.

More than an estimated 100 diseases can show symptoms in the mouth. For instance, periodontal disease, which results from infections and inflammation of the gums and bone that support and surround the teeth, is more common and may be more severe in people with diabetes.

Other times, prescription drugs may affect the mouth. For instance, some drugs used to treat hypertension can cause swollen, inflamed gums.

We see a lot of systemic diseases with oral signs and symptoms, said Dr. Jennifer Perkins, executive director of clinical education at the University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry.

Dentists might be able to pick up on red flags about a patients overall health before they even start poking around in the mouth. Perkins teaches in several courses that focus on evaluating and following up on patients medical health histories.

Through that process, we sometimes come across important medical findings, she said. Students who work with faculty at UCSF find symptoms or concerns in patients every day that might need a consult or referral to a health care professional. The following are some examples.

Hypertension

A persons blood pressure may be taken before a cleaning or a dental procedure that requires a local anesthetic, Perkins said. Most dental offices ask first-time visitors to fill out medical history forms that are updated periodically, much like at the doctors office.

Every contact that a patient makes with the health care system is another opportunity for prevention, and hypertension is a classic example of a condition where this may make all the difference, said Dr. Dhruv Satish Kazi, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Many dental clinics will check blood pressure, he said, and can therefore identify patients who need to be connected with care.

Dentist offices, he added, can serve as a touchpoint for other services, especially for residents of lower-income or rural areas that may not have as many health care professionals.

For people already diagnosed with high blood pressure, some hypertension drugs can cause dry mouth. When the salivary glands dont produce enough saliva to keep the mouth wet, tooth decay accelerates, since saliva protects against decay. In those cases, Perkins said, dentists work with the patients health care professional to manage side effects.

Diabetes

Untreated diabetes can lead to serious medical problems, including cardiovascular disease. In some patients, Perkins said high average blood sugar can lead to disruptions in the oral microbiome  the vast collection of friendly bacteria, viruses and other microbes that live in the mouth. That could mean gum disease, bone loss and losing teeth, she said.

We do see this phenomenon where people who perceive themselves to be healthy may not go to the doctor, Perkins said. Because (undiagnosed) diabetes and hypertension can present without clear symptoms, we may just happen to see them first. Unfortunately, its not uncommon for us to see.

HIV

Perkins has treated people later diagnosed with HIV after finding lesions in their mouth that would not appear in someone with a functioning immune system. The risk of cardiovascular disease for people living with HIV is about 1.5 to two times greater than for people without the virus, according to an American Heart Association scientific statement about cardiovascular disease and HIV.

COVID

Perkins said the UCSF School of Dentistry has tested patients for COVID-19 before dental procedures since shortly after the pandemic began in 2020 to protect students, staff and other patients from infection. Her clinic only recently shifted to not requiring testing before procedures for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted.

Research shows the coronavirus can hurt the heart and brain. And conditions such as HIV, diabetes and possibly high blood pressure are among those that can lead to severe illness from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although dentists can pick up on various health conditions, Kazi cautioned against thinking dentists are a one-stop shop for health.

Its magical thinking that our dental colleagues have the bandwidth to talk at length about heart disease, just like our cardiology colleagues dont have the time to talk about dental health more broadly, Kazi said. But there are enough synergies for the two to connect and improve cardiovascular screening and care.

American Heart Association News covers heart and brain health. Not all views expressed in this story reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. If you have questions or comments about this story, please email editor@heart.org.

By Genaro C. Armas, American Heart Association News
Alex Berenson Says Hes Going to Sue Biden Administration for Pressuring Twitter to Ban Him

Journalist Alex Berenson said on Aug. 12 that he plans to sue President Joe Biden and other government officials for pressuring Twitter to ban him.

I dont have a target date yet, but I would like to move as quickly as possible. I believe I have a powerful claim and I want federal courts to hear it, Berenson told The Epoch Times in an email.

Berenson plans to file the lawsuit in federal court and name Andy Slavitt, a onetime White House COVID-19 response official, as a defendant.

Among the evidence backing the alleged First Amendment violation: internal April 2021 messages from Twitter employees discussing a meeting with Slavitt and other White House officials.

How was WH, one of the workers wrote in an internal Slack channel, according to screenshots Berenson published on Friday.

Overall, pretty good! they had one really tough question about why Alex Berenson hasnt been kicked off from the platform, another worker responded.

In another set of messages, one worker asked if there were any high level takeaways from the meeting, prompting a colleague to say that they really wanted to know about Alex Berenson.

Andy Slavitt suggested they had seen data [visualizations] that had showed he was the epicenter of disinfo[rmation] that radiated outwards to the persuadable public, the colleague added.

Berenson obtained the messages as part of his suit against Twitter, which was voluntarily dismissed in July after Twitter agreed to lift the ban.

In that case, a federal judge had said evidence indicated Twitter violated its own policies in banning Berenson in 2021 for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

Berenson, formerly of the New York Times, was reinstated to Twitter on July 6.

The parties have come to a mutually acceptable resolution. Twitter has reinstated Mr. Berensons account. Upon further review, Twitter acknowledges Mr. Berensons Tweets should not have led to his accounts suspension at that time, a Twitter spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email at the time.

Twitter, the White House, and Slavitt did not return requests for comment on Berensons planned suit, and the reported internal messages.

Berenson said hes also obtained internal Twitter emails as well as missives to Twitter employees from outside parties and other documents, but has chosen not to post them at this time.

White House officials have publicly urged Big Tech companies to crack down on alleged misinformation and disinformation. Recently disclosed emails from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees to executives at the companies showed health officials highlighting specific posts they claimed were spreading false or misleading messages.

The attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, meanwhile, sued the Biden administration, Twitter, and other parties over alleged collusion, and are expected to receive discovery soon.
More than 200,000 kids in the United States lost a parent or primary caregiver during that same period. (Halfpoint/iStock)

American Kids in Mental Health Pandemic, Oregon Youth Hit Hard

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, children in America are struggling with anxiety and depression at unprecedented levels, according to the 2022 Kids Count Data Book.

Released on Aug. 8 by the Annie Casey Foundation, the annual 50-state report, tracks how children and families are faring nationally and in every state using 16 indicators in four domains: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.

The coronavirus upended everyday life to an extent not seen since World War II, wrote Lisa Hamilton, the foundations president and CEO in the report foreword.

It is no surprise that millions of parents, caregivers, and other adults are feeling overwhelmed. So are children, who face what the U.S. surgeon general has called a mental health pandemic for youth.

As schools went virtual and families isolated themselves, more than 1 million people in America died from the novel coronavirus, including more than 1,600 children.

More than 200,000 kids in the United States lost a parent or primary caregiver during that same period, the report states.

Children in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia were more likely to experience anxiety and depression during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis than in previous years, it claims.

Nationally, the number of kids ages 3 to 17 struggling with these issues jumped by more than 1.5 million, from 5.8 million to 7.3 million (or roughly 9 percent to 12 percent).

In Oregon, the increase was even higher.

In 2016, an estimated 11.5 percent of children in the state had anxiety or depression. By 2020, this number had increased to 16.1 percent, an increase of 40 percent.

Today, nearly 117,000 children in the state report struggling with these issues.

The states mandate-heavy approach to the COVID-19 pandemic that isolated our kids and disrupted learning has had devastating consequences on students mental health and wellness, gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan told The Epoch Times.

No parent is surprised by this. Unfortunately, we are just beginning to understand how much damage was done.

Kids in Oregon were some of the last to return to school in the entire country, so its no wonder that the increase in anxiety amongst students in Oregon is higher than in other states, Oregon Moms Union president and co-founder MacKensey Pulliam told The Epoch Times.

Parents saw firsthand the toll this took on our kids and its why we pushed back so hard.

In a state-to-state comparison of overall child well-being using the four indicators, Oregon ranks 26, according to the report.

The state is 41st in the nation for education, with 66 percent of 4th graders not proficient in reading and 69 percent of 8th graders not sufficient in math.

In the health domain, the state is 12th, with 32 percent of youth ages 10 to 17 being overweight or obese. That has increased 10 percent since 2017.

Oregon sits at 18 in the community wellness index, with 30 percent of children living in single parent families. That is slightly better than the national average of 34 percent.

It ranks 30th in economic well-being, indicating that 31 percent of children live in a household where high housing cost creates an undue burden, in which more than 30 percent of monthly household pretax income is spent on housing-related expenses (down from 43 percent in 2017), and 27 percent of parents lack secure employment.

Oregon 8th graders reported having unmet emotional or mental healthcare needs during the pandemic due to being unable to access a healthcare provider.

The inability to access mental health services took its heaviest toll on children that identified as gender diverse (49 percent) or having multiple gender identities (31 percent), followed by females at 18 percent and males at 6 percent, according to the report.

Overall, 4 percent of Oregon youth had no health insurance and 4 percent lived in areas with high poverty rates.

There are many nuances regarding youth mental health in Oregon and the United States, and each data point only tells part of the story, wrote Jyoni Tetuso Schuler, a research manager at Our Children Oregon wrote in response.

Gender identity, and race, and ethnicity play major roles in facing systemic and interpersonal marginalization, accessing quality mental health services, and navigating stigmas around accessing this care.

The report calls on lawmakers to heed the U.S. surgeon generals warnings and respond to this mental health crisis by developing programs and policies to ease mental health burdens on children and their families.

Those include prioritizing meeting childrens basic needs for basic nutrition and mental health.

Youth who grow up in poverty are two to three times more likely to develop mental health conditions than their peers, the report states.

It also asks that every child has access to mental health care by providing the 250-to-1 ratio of students to counselors recommended by the American School Counselor Association.

In 2020-21, the ratio of students to counselors in Oregon was 374-1.

As a parent, I have firsthand experience with how these issues impacted my own kids, said Drazan.

As governor, I will work to make the American School Counselor Associations recommendation that every child has access to mental health care by providing the 250-to-1 ratio of students to counselors a reality in Oregon.

Mental health is just as important as physical health in a childs ability to thrive, wrote Hamilton.

As our nation continues to navigate the fallout from the COVID crisis, policymakers must do more to ensure all kids have access to the care and support they need to cope and live full lives.

The Kids Count Data Book and Kids Count Index are compiled using data from the U.S. Census Bureaus Community Survey, among other sources.
Chief Superintendent Tyler Bates, of the RCMP's South District Management Team, speaks during a news conference about an Amber Alert in Regina on Aug. 9, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Michael Bell)

Appalled: Campers Say Sex Offender Was Staying With Children at US Campground

Campers say a convicted Canadian sex offender identified himself as security at a South Dakota campground, where he was staying with two children at the centre of a Saskatchewan Amber Alert with their mother.

Benjamin Martin Moore, 50, was located late Tuesday at a campground that takes part in the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the state. Glencoe Camp Resort posted on social media that its security team assisted in locating and apprehending Moore.

The campground did not respond to a request for comment.

Brian Lester said he and his wife stay in the Glencoe campground every year when they attend the rally. He said they were surprised to see children there on Sunday because they thought it was an adults-only campground.

I was kind of appalled, Lester said from Sioux Falls, S.D. I was shocked that a parent would think its OK to bring a kid to the rally, especially this campground.

Lester said the children and adults didnt have a tent and were sleeping in their car.

He reported their presence to campground authorities and was told there were no age restrictions.

Lester said he also brought up the issue with a security guard in the campground later Sunday. Thats when a man, whom Lester said he later recognized as Moore, came up and told him that he was with the children.

He says, Were down from Canada. Im working security the week of the rally,' Lester said.

The children didnt seem distraught, Lester said, and he saw no abuse taking place.

Moore was taken into custody at the campground late that night.

Lester said he and his wife learned of the Amber Alert Wednesday morning and their hearts sank when they recognized the children and Moore. They immediately called authorities and were told the children had been found.

We were relieved but we still had a pit in our stomach that we didnt follow through moredidnt follow our gut, he said.

Saskatchewan RCMP issued an Amber Alert on Monday for the seven-year-old girl and eight-year-old boy.

Mounties expressed concern that the children were with Moore, who has a history of sexual offences against children and was previously convicted of sexual interference with a minor.

RCMP have said Moore was being investigated by social services when he left with the children and their mother. Officers went last week to their home in Eastend, Sask., but found it abandoned.

The U.S. Border Patrol allege Moore drove through a barbed wire fence to cross the border. Agents found a cut fence near the Turner Port of Entry between Saskatchewan and Montana, the border patrol said.

RCMP said an arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for Moore for failing to report information within seven days of changing his address, which is required for convicted sex offenders.

Later that day, the Amber Alert was extended into South Dakota and Moore was taken into custody soon after.

The children, as well as their mother, were with Moore, police said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Moore, as well as the mother, remain in custody in Pennington County.

RCMP said it is working with U.S. authorities to co-ordinate Moores return to Canada, but no date has been confirmed. No additional charges have been laid but the investigation is ongoing, Mounties said.

The mother has not been charged in Canada, RCMP added.

By Kelly Geraldine Malone
Are Tiny Homes the Answer to Escalating US Home Prices?

Mary Kate Taliafarro, along with her husband and three children, have been living in a 350-square-foot tiny house in Ulster County, New York, since March 2021. Last year, they decided to ride the real estate wave and sell their large, two-story home in the Hudson Valley and live in the tiny home while having a new home built on nearby property.

Although squeezing an entire family into small living quarters may seem like a recipe for chaos, Taliafarro told The Epoch Times that downsizing has definitely had its upside.

Its been greatactually a lot better than I expected, she said.

Built and designed by Hudson River Tiny Homes in Ghent, New York, the 40-foot-long home offers two bedrooms and two loft spaces. It also boasts a dishwasher, washer, and dryer.

My two boys just love it, she said. The familys newest addition, her four-month old daughter, has not weighed in yet.

Because of their growing family, the Taliafarros are planning an addition to the tiny house that will afford them a master bedroom, bath, and a just a bit more living space.

Interior of a tiny home in Ulster County, New York, owned by the Taliafarro family. (Courtesy of MaryKate Taliafarro)

Right now, the house is on my husbands familys organic produce farm, so the kids have the farm as their playground, she said. The electrical system even provides air-conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter, including radiant floor heating.

We have already saved on utilities, and were very lucky to be living in such beautiful surroundings, she said. Taliafarro, a teacher, did her research before jumping head first into a tiny home.

You have to know exactly what you want so that you can work with the builder to accommodate your needs. Something as simple as a water heater can be a problem if that space isnt big enough to accommodate what you need.

Hudson River Tiny Homes, a family-owned and operated business, currently offers five different home models, ranging in cost from about $50,000 to $125,000.

Taliafarro and her husband, owner of tree service firm, did end up putting a lot of household items into storage for the time being. You have to determine what you need every day, and things like holiday decorations or seasonal clothes can go to storage, she said. In fact, I havent seen my patio furniture in almost two years!

Their home was designed with extra drawer space under the beds, as well as above the bathroom. The kitchen shelves are built up to the ceiling, and the childrens books and toys are rotated in and out of storage.

The family plans to continue living in the tiny home until their dream home is built, and then theyll rent out the tiny house. In the meantime, weve learned to simplify life, and it forces you to not buy things, so you save money that way as well.

Interior of a tiny home in Ulster County, New York, owned by the Taliafarro family. (Courtesy of MaryKate Taliafarro)

Rising Popularity

A recent Home Advisor survey of 1,800 Americans found that 86 percent would live in a tiny home, and 79 percent would put one on their property. Some 68 percent of those surveyed would consider buying a tiny home as their first home, and 40 percent disclosed their budget would be between $50,000 to $99,000.

Home Advisor, a digital marketplace connecting homeowners with local service professionals, defines the typical tiny home as one that is less than 600 square feet. Some of them are built on trailers so that owners can move them easily. Tiny homes come in all styles, including cabins, mobile homes, bus conversions, and even refurbished shipping containers.

Of those who answered yes to living in a tiny home, 48 percent reported they would seek a permanent foundation, and just 22 percent would prefer a trailer for mobility. Looking at the age of the respondents, 89 percent of Generation Z would be most likely to live in a tiny home, 86 percent of Generation X, and 81 percent of baby boomers.

Mischa Fisher, chief economist at Angi, the parent company of Home Advisor, explained that tiny homes started to become popular after the recession of 200809, when homes across the country lost a significant amount of their value. Millions of homeowners lost their houses due to foreclosure, and millennials entered the job market facing grim prospects, he told The Epoch Times. Tiny homes were appealing as a less expensive, more accessible option for people who couldnt find or afford traditional homes.

The majority of those surveyed said they would need one bedroom and one bathroom, while three in four shared that theyd live with two or fewer people. Among the most appealing aspects reported on tiny home living were affordability, efficiency, eco-friendliness, a minimalist lifestyle, and a downsized lifestyle. When it came to the most popular places for tiny homes, survey respondents named a plot of land they own, a dedicated tiny home community, and their yard.

A tiny home in Ulster County, New York, owned by the Taliafarro family. (Courtesy of MaryKate Taliafarro)

Fisher noted that affordability was the most attractive reason to buy a tiny home. These houses cost significantly less than typical homes, even though they have a higher price per square foot$150 per square foot on average and, in some cases, as much as $400 per square foot, he noted. That compares to $100 to $200 per square foot for mainstream homes.

Prices

Ready-made tiny houses cost an average of $45,000, but prices can climb to more than $150,000. Nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) said theyd pay as much as $60,000 for a move-in-ready tiny home. Those looking to build their own tiny house can expect to pay anywhere between $14,000 to nearly $55,000 for the materials alone, not including building permits, floor plans, and other costs.

Of those who would rather buy than rent, 63 percent would like to keep a budget under $60,000, but just over one in 10 would spend more than $100,000 for a tiny home, noted Fisher.

Home Advisors report also reviewed Instagram photos of tiny-home owners and found the largest number of them (695) in Portland, Oregon, with Austin (Texas), Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle also among the top 10.

Among states, California ranked first, with six of the top 10 either along the West Coast or in the Rocky Mountain states. The Golden State was followed by Florida, Colorado, Texas, and Oregon in the top five. Rounding out the top 10, in order, were Washington State, Arizona, North Carolina, New York, and Utah.

A tiny folding house made by Boxabl. (Courtesy of Boxabl)

Foldable Houses

One unique tiny-house manufacturer, Boxabl, in Las Vegas, has actually created a foldable home that can be shipped and then unfolded at the buyers location in less than an hour. Boxabl has been in business since 2017, and finished constructing its first factory last year. Its second factory is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.

Theres a huge need for affordable housing all over the country, and so far, we have fulfilled our first order of 156 units for the U.S. government, David Thompson, Boxabl social media manager, told The Epoch Times. To date, we have 120,000 reservations for orders that we plan on fulfilling in 2023 and 2024.

Currently, each 375-square-foot casita sells for $50,000 and offers a full-size kitchen with all appliances, a bathroom with a toilet, shower and sink, a living room, bedroom, plus a washer and dryer. Heating and air conditioning are also included. All the buyers need do is supply the land, arrange for utility hookups, and purchase living room and bedroom furniture, explained Thompson.

Described as real-life LEGOS, Boxabls casitas are also water-, fire-, mold-, and bug-resistant. People have never seen anything like this before, and theres a major wow factor when the see the casita unfold, he added. It definitely helps to solve the affordable housing crisis and gives people the opportunity to finally own a home.

As for the future of tiny homes, Fisher believes theyre not just a trend but also are likely to remain a fixture in the housing market. The biggest value in tiny homes comes from serving as an accessory dwelling unit in a high cost-of-living area, an in-law suite for aging parents, or as a wilderness escape on a cheap piece of vacation land, he said. But for the foreseeable future, its my bet that most Americans will still likely continue to desire larger homes as their primary residences.
Contractors begin stacking shipping containers in border fence gaps near Yuma, Ariz., on Aug. 12, 2022. (Courtesy of Arizona Governors office)

Arizona Has Had Enough, Starts Stacking Shipping Containers in Border Wall Gaps

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered 60 double-stacked shipping containers to be placed in border fence gaps near Yuma, the states busiest illegal border crossing area.

The containers will be reinforced with concertina wire at the top, according to the governor, who issued an executive order for the work to begin on Aug. 12.

Arizona has had enough, Ducey, a Republican, said in a news release.

We cant wait any longer. The Biden administrations lack of urgency on border security is a dereliction of duty. For the last two years, Arizona has made every attempt to work with Washington to address the crisis on our border.

Contractors started placing the shipping containers on Aug. 12 and expect to complete the 1,000-foot gap in the border wall on Aug. 14. Its expected to cost $6 million.

The stacked shipping containers will reach about 22-feet high and will be linked together and welded shut, Ducey said. The existing border wall constructed during the Trump era is 30-feet high.

Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector have experienced the largest spike in apprehensions along the southern border since President Joe Biden took office.

During fiscal year 2022, minus three months still to be reported, border agents have arrested more than 162,700 illegal crossers, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

In fiscal 2021, the total was more than 184,500, while in fiscal 2020 Border Patrol agents apprehended just over 8,700 illegal crossers.

Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls declared an emergency in his city on Dec. 9, 2021, due to an overwhelming influx of illegal aliens.

During that influx, the local 911 dispatch center was tied up for hours with calls from illegal aliens asking for transport, food, and clothing, Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot told The Epoch Times.

Nicholls said Yumawhich has nearly 100,000 residentsdoesnt have the resources to handle the thousands of people now crossing.

The surge of migrants the federal government has allowed to trek over the border has the grave potential to greatly impact and strain our community, Nicholls said on Aug. 12 in a press release. Washington must send a clear message that this is not the way to immigrate to our country.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly said the border is closed.

Border Wall Halted

Biden halted all border wall construction the day he took office on Jan. 20, 2021.

It shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall, Bidens executive order states.

Millions of dollars of unfinished border wall materials have lain in the deserts of Arizona since.

A report by Senate Republicans issued in July 2021 states that the construction stoppage is costing taxpayers $3 million per day.

The senators who produced the report estimated that the administration has spent between $618 million and $708 million on contractors between Jan. 20, 2021, and July 15, 2021, and will ultimately spend up to $1.2 billion more to exit the border wall projects.

Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines welcomed the shipping container wall.

National security starts with border security. Bidens border crisis deteriorates daily while the White House is silent, he said in a press release. Border communities like Yuma bear the burden of a broken border while narcotics poison our youth, human smuggling rises and mass amounts of migrants wear on our nonprofits.

Term-limited as governor, Ducey has pledged to support GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who will face Democrat Katie Hobbs in on Nov. 8.

Lake has pledged to declare the border crisis an invasion on day one, should she win.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued an opinion on the invasion clause in the Constitution on Feb. 7.

The on-the-ground violence and lawlessness at Arizonas border caused by cartels and gangs is extensive, well-documented, and persistent. It can satisfy the definition of actually invaded and invasion under the U.S. Constitution, the Brnovich opinion reads.

The federal government is failing to fulfill its duty under Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution to defend the States from invasion. The State Self-Defense Clause exists precisely for situations such as the present, to ensure that States are not left helpless.

As commander-in-chief for Arizona, Ducey has the power to engage in defensive actions within its own territory at or near its border, according to Brnovich.

Ducey has stopped short of enacting his power to use the National Guard and militia forces in such a way.
Armed Man Killed After Attempted Breach of FBI Office in Cincinnati

An armed suspect who tried to breach the FBIs Cincinnati office on Thursday morning was shot and killed by federal agents after the suspect fled, leading to a highway chase, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

At approximately 3:42 p.m., the suspect raised a firearm and shots were fired by law enforcement officers. The suspect succumbed to fatal injuries on scene, the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) said in a statement posted on Twitter Thursday evening.

The suspect was attempting to breach the visitor screening facility at the FBIs Cincinnati branch around 9 a.m. on Thursday morning, the Cincinnati FBI said in a statement this morning. The suspect fled to the Interstate 71 highway after federal agents responded to the event, and OSHP troopers were dispatched to chase the suspects vehicle.

OSHP located the vehicle around 9:37 a.m. and got behind the vehicle, and the suspect fled, leading to a car chase, the OHSP said, adding that the suspect stopped in Clinton County and exchanged gunfire with the trailing officers. No officers or bystanders were injured at the time, the OSHP said in a statement at 2:38 p.m.

Throughout the afternoon, troopers and our law enforcement partners attempted to negotiate with the suspect to bring the standoff to a peaceful end, the OHSP said in a separate statement.

Once negotiations failed, officers attempted to take the suspect into custody by utilizing less lethal tactics, the OHSP said.

The FBI, OSHP, and local law enforcement were involved in the chase and shootout, according to the Cincinnati FBI.

The suspect has yet to be identified by authorities as of 7 p.m. Thursday.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Australian Education Minister Jason Clare together with state and territory counterparts speak to media after a meeting at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Aug. 12, 2022. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Australian Education Ministers Discuss How to Address the Teacher Shortage Crisis

Australias state, territory, and federal education ministers met in Canberra to discuss issues causing teachers to leave the occupation in droves, including pay and workloads, and how governments can support new and mid-career professionals transition into the classroom.

Representatives of teachers from every state and territory were given a platform to bring up issues and suggest solutions.

Practice was one of the big things that came up again and again and again, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare told reporters on Aug. 12 following the meeting. Practical experience right off the bat when you first become a teacher as well as paid internships.

One school principal also highlighted how education courses in universities only spend 12 percent of the time focusing on teaching how to teach.

As a result, many new teachers lack proficiency in preparing lessons to teach children how to read and write and do maths.

Clare also noted that only half of the young people entering a teaching degree complete it, compared to 70 percent in other degrees.

The ministers were also advised by Mark Scott, the vice chancellor of the University of Sydney, that attracting mid-career professionals to switch into teaching was an enormous opportunity.

New South Wales (NSW) has created pathways to help fast track mid-career professionals, particularly in STEM fields, looking for a career change in 2021. The first cohort of teachers from this program entered classrooms in July.

I think what we all agree on is people mid-career in their 30s, with two kids and a mortgage cant afford to take two years out of the workforce without pay, Clare said. So if youre going to have a model that works  thats where that paid internship model is critical.

Visas for Overseas Teachers

Clare said the government needed to prioritise visas for teachers, including looking at potential work visas for existing international students studying in areas of skill shortage.

The type of work visas that we offer at the moment, are not as competitive as they used to be compared to what other countries are offering. And so I think itd be a good topic to have on the table at the Jobs and Skills summit, he said.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell supported this idea, adding that the federal government could also look at fast tracking citizenship for teachers in high demand subjects like STEM.

One of the concerns and challenges has been that wait for a visa and I think that has also been turning off these prospective people from coming, she said.

The meeting comes after NSW announced it would pay the states best educators higher salaries.

Clare said merit-based pay increases was a good place to start, but the teacher shortage issue also involved workload and working conditions.

The Victorian Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said teachers were leaving after feeling burnt out, making the workload issue a bigger focus than pay in the states enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations.
Writer Salman Rushdie in a file photo from an event in London last year. (Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Author Salman Rushdie Attacked at NY Event, Has Apparent Stab Wound in Neck: Police

Author Salman Rushdie, whose 1988 book led to death threats from the Iranian regime and other Islamists, was attacked during a lecture series in western New York, according to officials and witnesses.

The New York State Police confirmed Rushdie, 75, may have been stabbed. Rushdie was taken via helicopter to a nearby hospital, and information about his condition was not made available.

On August 12, 2022, at about 11 a.m., a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer. Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known, the New York State Police wrote in a statement Friday.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed at a news conference Rushdie and the event moderator were both attacked. Rushdie, she said, is getting the care that he needs although she did not elaborate on his condition. She said he was alive and a trooper stood up and saved his life and protected him as well as the moderator who was attacked as well.

Thank you to the swift response of state police and first responders following todays attack of author Salman Rushdie, the governor added on Twitter. Our thoughts are with Salman [and] his loved ones following this horrific event. I have directed State Police to further assist however needed in the investigation.

Officials told local media that the suspect, who was not identified, was apprehended by police after the alleged attack.

Witnesses Describe Incident

People who were in the audience told news outlets that as Rushdie was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, a man rushed onstage and attacked him.

I was looking down at my cellphone when I heard a scream from behind me, Daniel Stern, a witness, told the Wall Street Journal, adding that a man was making a punching motion toward Rushdie. Stern said Rushdie tried to get away, which is when Stern saw blood on the authors face.

The assailant jumped on him again when he stood up, Stern said, according to the paper.

Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the hundreds of people in the audience. As people gasped, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheater, he said.

This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie. At first youre like, Whats going on? And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten, Savenor told The Associated Press. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.

An AP reporter who saw the attack also said that the suspect was seen punching or stabbing Rushdie.

Author Carl LeVan wrote on Twitter that he saw the attack: Just witnessed the assassination attempt on Salman Rushdies life. Still in shock. Unsure of his condition. We are being evacuated.

He added: Just witnessed the horrific assassination attempt on #SalmanRushdies life. He was stabbed multiple times before attacker was subdued by security. Some intrepid members of audience went on stage. What courage will be expected of us next to defend even the smallest freedoms?

Another apparent witness, Carter Byham, wrote on the website: SALMAN RUSHDIE. WAS JUST ATTACKED BY KNIFE 10 yards away from me. Perp subdued. RUSHDIE BLEEDING HEAVLY. RUSHED TO HOSPITAL.

Born in India in 1947, Rushdies 1988 book The Satanic Verses was deemed blasphemous by some Muslims. Often-violent protests against Rushdie erupted around the world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.

The novel was banned in Iran, where former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa calling for Rushdies death. A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie by the Iranian regime.

In another high-profile attack in western New York, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), was attacked by a man several weeks ago who was holding what appeared to be a bladed weapon. Zeldin, a Republican candidate for governor, was giving a stump speech when a man attempted to attack the lawmaker with a sharp object.

According to footage of the attack, suspect David Jakubonis raised his arm toward Zeldin as he held a keychain with two sharp points. The congressman from Long Island then grabbed Jakubonis wrist and the two tussled to the ground as others jumped in to help.

AP contributed to this report.
A Verizon sign outside of a store in Chicago, on April 20, 2017. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Black Conservative Group Asks Verizon to Reinstate OAN

Black conservative group Project 21 is urging Verizon to reinstate One America News (OAN), saying deplatforming the network silencing black voices.

The United States largest pay-TV provider stopped carrying One America News (OAN), a conservative-leaning news channel owned by tech entrepreneur Robert Herring, on its channel lineup starting July 31.

Verizon has done a tremendous disservice to its subscribers, investors and free speech by this decision, said the group in a letter (pdf) dated Aug. 9 to Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg.

By cancelling OAN, you arent just silencing conservative voices, you are silencing black voices, reads the letter from Project 21, a network of black conservative and libertarian leaders established in 1992 to highlight the diversity of viewpoints within the black community.

Project 21 criticized the termination of the 17-year relationship between the news network and the carrier that appeased political special interests over viewers.

A reporter with One America News Network at a campaign rally with President Donald Trump at Williamsburg International Airport in Newport News, Va., on Sept. 25, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Campaign Pressure

The group noted that the announcement of the termination of OANs deal came after political pressure from left-wing politicians and allied special interest groups.

The group appears to refer to letters from House Democrats pressing 12 major television carriers, including Verizon and AT&T, to deplatform Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN.

Reps. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), who made the push, argued that OAN and two other news channels have been spreading misinformation related to COVID-19, an allegation all three denied. The move prompted OANs attorney Eric Early to write to the lawmakers last March demanding that they publicly retract their letters.

In July, Verizon announced it would drop OAN, one of three television networks favored by former President Donald Trump. In a statement at that time, Verizon said it had been unable to reach an agreement to continue carrying One America News (OAN), without elaborating on its reasons.

Project 21 suggests the decision could lead to the removal of other news channels in the future.

Allowing a political pressure campaign to decide which news and information programs Americans have access to undermines free speech and sets a precedent that will only encourage further demands, the group said in the letter. This is particularly dangerous as this pressure appears to only go one wayanti-conservative and, in this case, anti-black.

You have now projected weakness, inviting those further demands, they added.

The Epoch Times has sought comment from Verizon.
A student walks past a sign for the school's football team at Edison Highschool in Huntington Beach, Calif., on March 10, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

California Middle and High Schools Start the Day Later This Year

Middle school and high school students in California will be able to snooze a little longer before heading to class this year, due to a law delaying school start times that takes effect this year.

Citing research on the impacts of adolescent sleep deprivation and the benefits of a later school start time, the state Legislature passed a law in 2019 requiring public high schools to begin classes no earlier than 8:30 a.m., while middle schools can begin instruction no earlier than 8 a.m.

The average start time for high schools across the state prior to the pandemic was 8:04 a.m., according to a 2017-18 survey by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law in October 2019, allowing schools to wait until July 1, 2022 to implement the changes.

For years, health experts have warned of the negative health effects of insufficient sleep among teens.

A 2014 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics called for a later school start time for adolescents, saying the average teenager requires 8.5 and 9.5 hours of sleep to reduce the risk of obesity and depression and improve academic performance.

The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly supports the efforts of school districts to optimize sleep in students and urges high schools and middle schools to aim for start times that allow students the opportunity to achieve optimal levels of sleep and to improve physical and mental health, safety, academic performance, and quality of life, according to the study.

A similar school time-change bill was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 after the bill faced opposition from the California School Boards Association and the California Teachers Association, one of the largest teachers unions in the state.

When the bill was reintroduced and passed in 2019, the school board group expressed disappointment, saying the bill doesnt consider teachers or families who depend on schools for childcare.

Since then, the association has pivoted to finding ways to support schools and families ahead of the bills implementation.

Troy Flint, a spokesperson for the California School Boards Association, told The Epoch Times some schools that have begun implementing the law early have already experienced some challenges.

As schools have grappled with the implications of the law, they have encountered some of the problems we feared, such as revised schedules conflicting with after-school jobs, extracurricular [activities], and sibling childcare responsibilities, and issues with morning drop-offs for parents with inflexible work schedules, Flint said.

However, Flint said, schools have worked to find solutions to these challengesincluding adding transportation services and other programsand have been aided in this process by COVID-19 relief funding and increases to the states local control funding formula.

In addition, the association has supported state Assembly Bill 2933, which would more than double funding for school buses and is currently awaiting a hearing in the state Senate.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has been preparing for the transition to a new start time for two years, a district spokesperson told The Epoch Times, with some schools implementing a later start time last year.

While school start times differ for elementary, middle and high schools, all schools meet or exceed expectations for minimum instructional hours, which remain the same, and will be in compliance with state law, the spokesperson said.

The Capistrano Unified School District, Irvine Unified School District, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, and San Diego Unified School District did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Woodland Park schools in Colorado have been the subject of a bitter school board recall fight. (Courtesy of Woodland Park RE-2 School District website)

Colorado Recall Supporter Says She Seeks Ouster of School Board, Alleging Illegal Acts

The leader of a heated Colorado school board recall campaign has defended her groups conduct, denying the campaign has union ties and standing firm in claims that the recall is in response to allegedly illegal acts by the Woodland Park School Board.

Erin OConnell told The Epoch Times an alternative version of the events on July 24, which led to another leaders arrest. OConnell, though, says she didnt witness the incident.

Samantha Peck was arrested on Aug. 2 and faces a misdemeanor charge of a false report of an emergency to police and a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant. She is free on a $3,000 bond.

Woodland Park police say Peck called them, alleging that a womanthe wife of school board vice-president David Illingworthappeared drunk and about to drive off with children in her car.

Police, responding within minutes, found the woman sober and without children in the car, the police department said.

OConnell and Pecks lawyer, David Lane of Denver, both said there are two versions of what happened in the small town outside Colorado Springs.

She said Peck was with other recall supporters gathering petition signatures at a table outside a Safeway supermarket.

They needed to collect more than 2,900 signatures within 60 days on recall petitions for each candidate. OConnell said previously petitioners had been harassed by recall opponents.

Pecks lawyer said hed advised her not to talk about the case.

OConnell said there were other two other witnesses, but they dont want to come forward publicly yet.

The group has received a tape of a telephone call one of them made to police the morning of July 23, the day before the incident, asking for more protection after alleged harassment the previous day, OConnell said.

But Woodland Park police require those requesting public records attesting they want them for personal use only, and The Epoch Times has not been able to listen to it.

OConnell said they are also trying to obtain a recording of Pecks call on July 24 and body-camera footage from the police.

OConnell made many accusations against the board members she and Peck are trying to remove, including violating open meetings law, leaving items off the agenda to conceal what they were doing, threatening teachers, and creating such a hostile work environment that numerous teachers have quit.

She accused them of using the tactics to ram through approval of a charter school the community didnt support.

And she accused David Illingworth, vice president of the board and husband of the woman in the alleged July 24 incident, of derogatory remarks about unions.

OConnells wife is a former teacher and officer in the Woodland Park Education Association. They have three children in the Woodland Park schools.

OConnell, though, flatly denied union involvement in the recall attempt.

She stated she is a political independent and that the candidates running to become new board membersshould Patterson and Illingworth be ejectedinclude a Republican and an independent. She owns a restaurant.

They paint me as someone who hates charter schools and is a far-Left Democrat. None of that is accurate, she said.

Four conservative school board members were elected to the five-seat board last November amid declining enrolment36 percent in the previous decadeand growing parental concern about what children were being taught, and at what age, about controversial subjects like BLM, January 6, and transgenderism.

OConnell claimed the decline tracks nationally, including during COVID lockdown, but school board supporter Jameson Dion said the national average is closer to 8 percent.

Board member Sue Patterson, along with Illingworth, is still subject of the recall campaignthe recall attempt against a third failed to get enough signatures by the deadline last weekwouldnt comment on the Safeway incident as she wasnt present.

The board was elected with landslide majorities last fall in the first contested election in more than 15 years, she said. Patterson and her colleagues want to change the board from one that merely sets policies to one that governs.

The previous board had given up too much power to the superintendent and administration and was out of touch with what was happening in the schools, she said.

We want to be more involved, and we want the public to be more involved.

On union involvement, she said, Woodland Park Education Association members dues go to the Colorado Education Association and the National Education Association (NEA).

Were trying to get the teachers to understand where the dues are goingnot to help them, but to help leftist politicians get into office.

Its all policies from the Left driving this, Patterson said.

Woodland Park schools have been using the Summit Learning programs to teach children.

According to the National Education Policy Center, Summit has been funded nationally by $200 million philanthropy from the Chan-Zuckerberg Foundation.

The NEPC says theres little evidence the programs deliver better education or higher college admissions as claimed, and meanwhile violate student privacy as they gather personal data.

The program uses social-emotional learning theory, to which she objects, Patterson said.

Its not the jurisdiction of the schools to teach social-emotional learning. Its the jurisdiction of the family. This is a government grant paid for by leftists trying to separate school children from families.

Patterson said she has grown children who were raised in another state. She had only moved to Woodland Park a year or two before her election with 64 percent of the vote.

She denied the school board was going against community will in approving the Merit Academy charter school. Their landslide victory showed they had the communitys backing, and local schools steep drop in enrolment showed parents had lost faith in them, she said.

OConnell has been criticized for defending a middle school drag show on Facebook. She said she wasnt promoting one in Woodland Park.

It was hypothetical, she said of the social media discussion concerning a past event in another state. She denied drag shows constitute an inappropriate injection of sexuality into schools and primary education.

If you put a skirt on, she said, referring to a boy, how is that sexual? If I want to wear a pair of pants instead of a dress, thats an outfit.
Dancer: We All Stand Against the Communist Party; Americans Welcome End CCP Cross-Country Tour

Its been over a week since the fourth End CCP Tour of America started its cross-country journey, and on Aug. 3 it reached its westernmost destination, Seattle, Washington, where the tour participants met up with a local Polish group. Then they headed southeast, arriving at Salt Lake City, Utah on Aug. 7 and held a press conference in front of the Utah State Capitol.

The End CCP Tour, refers to a car tour of people who have fled China and are traveling across the United States, calling for an end to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

We All Stand Against the Communist Party

Former ballet dancer Lisa Fifield was among those welcoming the group at the Utah State Capitol. Fifield was the first-ever American to be contracted by a Chinese ballet company. She danced with the Guangzhou Ballet decades ago.

In both Chinese and English, Fifield said, Today is a very important day. Seeing all of you really moved me because we all stand against the communist party.

In 1999, I became Guangzhou Ballets first American ballet dancer. At that time, I had an immediate impression that China was also my country, Chinese people were my brothers and sisters.

However, she also realized right away that the rights she enjoyed in the United States were no longer available in China. I knew that my rights as an American were gone. I had not realized the blessing and the privilege that the U.S. Constitution provided me. For instance, in China I had no right to privacy.

Fifield said that as an American dancer in Guangzhou, her mail, email, and phone conversations were all monitored; and that she could not talk to her Chinese friends about her religious belief.

Furthermore, when I was told to report on any practitioner of qigong by the Chinese government, she said, and I expressed my opinion that they should have the right to do what they chose, I was warned that I would join them in the jail.

Unequal Collaboration

Fifield continued to talk about CCPs infiltration in the United States through the Confucius Institutes. Still I dont know many things, but I do know that the soft control of the Chinese communist government in our public schools, which makes me feel uncomfortable.

Fifield worked as a Chinese teacher at local schools. She gave the example of the Confucius Institute teachers. All of the Hanban teachers [at Confucius Institutes] that come to teach our students are from the CCP. Often times, they can criticize and oppose American freedom, culture, parents, students, teaching methods and government, but I could not open my mouth and tell them how I feel. Is this an equal collaboration?

Confucius Institutes are Chinese language institutes embedded in many American universities and public schools, but they are funded by the CCP. Through its agency called Hanban, the CCP selects and pays Chinese nationals to teach Chinese language and culture in the United States.

Fifield said that these so-called teachers are spreading the CCPs rhetoric in U.S. schools. I have seen American students learn the songs from Mao Zedong [the first generation CCP head]. The Chinese communist government also dictates what we teach. Right of privacy of the students is often violated. Even the other teachers who had Taiwan flags in their classrooms had to take it down because of the opposition of communist teachers.

Cult-like Regime

Utah State Rep. Kay Christofferson (R-District 56) also welcomed the tour participants outside the Utah State Capitol.

Utah State Representative Christofferson speaks outside the Capitol on August 7, 2022. (Sarah Lu/Epoch Times)

In his speech, Christofferson talked about communism and the influence of the CCP.

Through false promises of equality and liberation, communist regimes have, as a matter of government policy, robbed their own citizens of the rights of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of association through coercion, brutality, and fear.

Christofferson said, communism is based on atheism. It tells people not to believe in God and attacks human morality. Throughout its rule, the CCP has destroyed believers of all religions. Eventually the CCP wants its people to worship itself as the one and only idol. Truly a cult-like regime.

He condemned the CCPs persecution of Falun Gong meditators and the Uyghurs, its destruction of democracy in Hong Kong and its threats to Taiwan. Practices such as live organ harvesting, harassment, re-education camps, and torture, theft of intellectual property and coercing other countries to adopt CCP policies must stop.

Communism is a Complete Lie

Aug. 3, 2022 marked another significant milestone of the tuidang movement. Tuidang means quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, a grassroots movement started in late 2004. On Aug. 3, the number of Chinese people worldwide who cut their ties to the CCP, the Chinese Communist Youth League, the Communist Young Pioneers and other affiliated organizations reached 400 million.

Along with a local Polish immigrants group, the End CPP tour celebrated this milestone in Seattle.

Jerzy Radka, a Polish immigrant and business owner welcomed the End CCP tour in Seattle, Washington on Aug. 3, 2022. (Video screen capture by The Epoch Times)

Jerzy Radka, a business owner and a Polish immigrant, brought his friends from a Polish church and the youngest of his five children to greet the End CCP tour participants.

Radka was very moved to know that the group had travelled to Seattle all the way from New York to awaken Americans about the evil nature of communism.

He said that Seattle is a very important stop for the End CCP tour, because there are a lot of Chinese people from different backgrounds here [in Seattle]. Some poor, some very rich, some are working with the CCP. Seattle is also very liberal, they need to hear your voice. You drive around here to show people that there are people from china who are against the brutal regime.

We fought against communism under the banner of solidarity. Today, Chinese people and Polish people together in Seattle, thats a beautiful thing. Its God sent. We are all freedom loving people, we are together!

Radka, who experienced and fled communism, is concerned about what is being taught in schools in the United States. Today communism is taught in American universities, and the kids are buying lies such as, there will be paradise on earth, and you are going to get this and that for free. Communism is a complete lie. Nothing is free. Its paid for by blood and tears, he said.

Changing Peoples Hearts and Minds

Radkas youngest child, Marysia Radka came to meet with the End CCP tour wearing the traditional Polish girl scout uniform. She said that the girl scout was very important in Polands history of fighting against multiple regimes, be it the Nazis or communism, they understood that it was important to instill in young people the values, the love for God, for the country, for your fellow people.  These are the same things you [the End CCP tour] are fighting for.

Marysia Radka, daughter of Polish immigrants, welcomed the End CCP tour in Seattle, Washington on Aug. 3, 2022. (Video screen capture by The Epoch Times)

I Support the movement to End the CCP, as a daughter of Polish immigrants, I feel its important to get the message around the world about the importance of ending communism. A lot of young Americans dont understand the horrors of communism.

Marysia has talked to a lot of people about communism. She said, a lot of people think of the struggles of people in other countries [as] something far away from them or its just history and doesnt happen anymore. Other people say they just did it wrong, but [communism] is a good idea.

But it is not a good idea. Having one on one conversation with people and changing peoples hearts and minds is the number one thing. Thats where you are going to see real change.

The 4th End CCP cross-country tour started on July 23 from New York, arrived in Seattle on Aug. 3, Salt Lake City, Utah, in Aug. 7, and back to New York in mid-August. (Google map screenshot by The Epoch Times)

The End CCP car tour continues to travel eastward. They plan to return to New York by mid-August.
Australian journalist Cheng Lei is seen in Beijing, China, in this still image taken from undated video footage. Australia Global Alumni-Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/Handout via REUTERS

Detained Australian Journalist Cheng Lei Has No Access to Family: Partner

The partner of detained Chinese-Australian journalist Cheng Lei has accused Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian of lying when he said the journalist had access to her family.

Speaking at Australias National Press Club on Aug. 10, Xiao said the basic rights of Australian citizens detained in China were protected.

There are a couple of Australian citizens in China. They are under custody according to Chinese rules and laws, Xiao said. Their basic rights are well protected. Dont worry about that.

The ambassador said there were times when custody was not accessible to relatives because of the pandemic, but the situation had changed.

Now they can get easy to get access to their relatives either in Australia or also they have embassies in China, he said.

Chinas Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia on Aug. 10, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

However, Cheng Leis partner, Nick Coyle, disputes this, saying Cheng was allowed only one 30-minute consular visit a month from Australian Embassy officials and only via a video link provided by Beijings secretive Ministry of State Security. No family visits are allowed.

There have been no phone calls, no family visits at all, Coyle told The Daily Telegraph. Only consular visits and visits from her Chinese lawyer (at the time of her trial).

Cheng, 47, previously worked as an English-language anchor for China Global Television Network (CGTN), the international arm of the Chinese regimes state broadcaster, CCTV.

She was detained in Beijing on Aug. 13, 2020, on suspicion of illegally spreading state secrets overseas and was formally arrested in February 2021.

On March 31, Chengs case was tried in secret at Beijings Second Intermediate Court after 19 months in custody, with the authorities refusing to allow Graham Fletcher, Australias ambassador to China to attend.

Australian Ambassador to China Graham Fletcher (left) is turned away by court officials and police as he tries to enter the trial of Chinese Australian journalist Cheng Lei at the Beijing Number 2 Intermediate Peoples Court in Beijing, China, on March 31, 2022. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

This is deeply concerning, unsatisfactory and very regrettable, Fletcher told reporters at the time.

Coyle, who is the outgoing CEO of the Australian China Chamber of Commerce, revealed in June that monthly consular visits and regular 30-minute video meetings between Cheng and Australian officials had been suspended due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s tight COVID-19 restrictions.

I find that just totally unacceptable, Coyle told Sky News Australia. These monthly consular visits have literally been whats kept her going for 20 months.

Children: Not a Single Day Goes by Without Missing Mum

Cheng has a son and a daughter who have not seen their mother for two years.

On the eve of the first anniversary of Chengs imprisonment, Coyle revealed paintings and messages by the two school-age children of his partner.

Not a single day goes by without me missing the best mum in the whole world, one of the children wrote.

I will be strong, just like you taught me, please come home soon, I love you.

In one childlike drawing, Chengs son and daughter were smiling, and near a plane, boat, and TV microphone, saying: We miss u, mum!

Australian journalist Cheng Lei is seen on a television set in Beijing, China, in this still image taken from undated video footage. (Australia Global Alumni-Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/Handout via Reuters)

Being the second Chinese-Australian detained by Beijing since 2019 after writer Yang Hengjun, Cheng was detained just months after former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

Subsequently, diplomatic relations between Australia and China began to deteriorate after Beijing began imposing trade tariffs and restrictions on Australian exports.

On her last video call with Australian consular officials, Lei said she had been dreaming of the kids when they were little, Coyle wrote in an emotional letter to The Daily Telegraph.

Two years later, the kids still have not been able to hear mums voice or get anything close to a warm hug.

We all need those from mum once in a whileand so does mum.
Behavioral scientists who studied fear of contagion have found that it makes us more inclined to punish the other. During COVID, our natural sense of disgust was cynically used to manipulate our emotions and behavior

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

Behavioral immune system is a set instincts and acquired habits that help us avoid pathogens in the wild

Behavioral scientists and psychologists who studied fear of disease and contagion found that it makes us more inclined to punish those who dont follow the official rules

During COVID, our natural sense of disgust was cynically used to manipulate our emotions and behavior

Some of the scientists engaged in social engineering may have been well-intended but it was none the less a very wrong thing to do

In the end, its on each of us to overcome our trauma and our fear  and to make the mysterious transformation from a wounded child to a warrior

This story is about fear, contagion, instincts, love, and compassion. It is also about the ultimate triumph of freedom over darkness.

The Litmus Test of 2020

We often wonder why in 2020, some people came under the spell of the establishments bad magic  and some saw right through it and rejected fear.

I believe that one of the reasons why some of us were able to see right through the terrorists while others became spellbound is because by 2020, the rebels have been already initiated by life into knowing that succumbing to fear and trusting the abuser were costly  and the compliant had not yet been forced to acquire that knowledge. (For the record, I wrote my first pandemic Substack in April 2020  and yes, at the time I was scared but I was more scared of being a coward.)

In other words, the difference was not about being smart vs. stupid but about being experienced and knowing the cost of submission. The chasm between the two reactions exposed a developmental difference, the state of the soul at the moment  much like the difference between a child who has acquired confidence through being forced to stand up to bullies  and a child who, so far, has been spared and who is yet to learn it.

Both groups have acted very much out of self-preservation  but the rebels werent spooked for long by the fear of contagion and were instead disgusted by the propaganda  while the people who complied were completely overtaken by the fear of dying.

And as we know, a lot of money and effort has been invested by the beneficiaries of mass panic in creating exactly that sensation. The manipulators temporarily managed to surgically puppeteer peoples ancient instincts and turn them into weapons of mass self-destruction.

Resisting the manipulators required sensory knowledge. Some people had it, and some peoples didnt. The good news is that a lot of people are acquiring that sensory knowledge now. That really is the best part of the whole affair!

Behavioral Immune System

As it turns out, a number of scientists over the years have formally studied fear of contagion and the sense of disgust in humans  and the impact of those emotions on social behaviors. Sadly, it looks like some of that research went straight into the 2020 campaigns of manufacturing fear and engineering compliance.

The term behavioral immune system was coined by Mark Schaller, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. In 2012, he published a paper titled, Danger, Disease, and the Nature of Prejudice(s). In that paper, he analyzed two kinds of threats and how they turn into social prejudice and discrimination: the threat of interpersonal violence and the threat of infectious disease.

The inferred threat of interpersonal violence leads to a fear prejudice against members of coalitional outgroups. This prejudice (along with a set of cognitive consequences) emerges especially under conditions that connote vulnerability to interpersonal harm.

The inferred threat of infectious disease leads to a disgust prejudice against individuals whose morphological appearance or behavior deviates from normative standards. This prejudice emerges especially under conditions that connote vulnerability to infection.

Together, these lines of research yield insights about the origins of prejudices directed against many different categories of people (many of whom pose no real threat whatsoever [emphasis mine].

So, what happens when wealthy profiteers with ulterior motives decide to push through a shady reform under the guise of a dangerous pandemic  and put into motion a massive ongoing campaign to make everyone think about infection 24/7 and be perpetually scared? What happens is theft-enabling hysteria!

Deblasio: We tried voluntary. We could not have been more kind and compassionate as a countrythe voluntary phase is over. Voluntary alone doesnt work, its time for mandates pic.twitter.com/kYTarfjZlI  Wittgenstein (@backtolife_2023) July 27, 2021

Back to Schaller. According to author Kathleen McAuliffe, Mark Schaller coined the term behavioral immune system to describe thoughts and feelings that automatically spring to mind when we perceive ourselves to be at risk of infection, propelling us to act in ways that will limit our exposure.

Studies by Schaller and other researchers indicate that people who chronically worry about disease are especially prone to antipathy toward those whose appearances diverge from the normal template, and these people have a harder time moving beyond that reaction [emphasis mine].

Compared to people not plagued by such health concerns, they are less likely to have friends who are disabled; by their own accounts, they are less inclined to travel abroad or engage in other activities that might bring them into contact with foreigners or exotic cuisines, they more frequently display negative feelings toward the elderly on tests of implicit attitudes 

Schaller did some interesting psychological experiments to see how the feeling of disgust in the context of communicable diseases influenced peoples seemingly unrelated choices. In one of those experiments he showed two groups of Canadians different images (disease-related vs. general violence-related), and then asked them political questions.

In the first group, he revolted subjects with a slide show of snotty noses, faces covered in measles spots, and other disease-related stimuli that previous research had demonstrated evoked near-universal disgust. The control group saw pictures depicting threats unrelated to infection  for example, electrocution or being run over by a car.

All the subjects were then asked to fill out a questionnaire that assessed their support for allocating government funds to help immigrants from Taiwan and Poland (groups whom they ranked as very familiar)  versus immigrants from Mongolia and Peru (whom they rated as unfamiliar).

In comparison to the controls, the subjects who saw the germ-evoking photos showed a sharply elevated preference for familiar immigrant groups over lesser-known ones.

Schaller offered this interpretation of the findings: Over human history, exotic people have brought with them exotic germs, which tend to be especially virulent to local populations, so foreignness seems to trigger prejudice when we feel at greater risk of getting sick.

Also, it may be that lurking in the backs of our minds are concerns that the foreigner does not have as high standards of hygiene or that he doesnt follow culinary practices that reduce the risk of food-borne illness. Prejudice, Schaller points out, is all about shunning others based on superficial impressions, so the sentiment, ugly as it is, is ideally suited for the purpose of shielding us from disease.

That hypothesis can explain the illogical fear and strong negative sentiment against vaccine refuseniks felt by many proponents of COVID injections despite the fact that the injections did not stop infection or transmission (which was known right away  even though the narrative was released in phases).

Social engineers have manipulated disgust on purpose, and the illogical fear was there to confuse the senses, to push the establishment narrative, the societal reform, and the product!

Disgustology

Psychologist Paul Rozin, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, is considered to be the father of disgust. According to Kathleen McAuliffe, he theorized that the emotion of disgust evolved to protect us from food poisoning and bitter toxins but is otherwise largely, if not entirely, determined by culture. He also designed clever and provocative experiments to explore peoples sense of contamination.

For example, he offered subjects items like fudge in the shape of a dog turd or orange juice in which a sterilized cockroach floated. His human guinea pigs were not keen to partake  evidence, he concluded, that our views about contamination are shaped by the notion that we might become what we eat or that an objects essence can be imparted to anything that touches it.

Val Curtis, a Scientist and a Hygiene Missionary

Val Curtis was a British scientist, a passionate hygiene proponent and the Director of the Environmental Health Group at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Unfortunately, she passed away in October 2020.

Her work poses a number of philosophical questions because it seems like in her social engineering efforts, she meant well and sincerely believed that indigenous people in Africa needed her input and parental care in the form of changing their lifestyle habits to what she considered good. A philosophical question, however: Was she correct in her assumptions? Did she understand the culture and the reasoning of the people she educated?

How did she know that her knowledge was superior to theirs? And whats that thing that compels us to go out of our way and disrupt other peoples habits while they are minding their business?

In 2020, continuing her public health mission, as a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours and a contributor to SAGE, she advised the UK government on how to encourage people to adhere to recommendations. I find the social engineering ambition tragic but she is in the other world now, and she was probably a complex human being, so may she rest in peace.

In the video below, she talked about how objects controlled our behavior and about social engineering (settings disruption and social deviance control). This video is really interesting if you want to understand what we have been through in the past two years. And again, the philosophical question is, what if the managerial social engineer is well-intended but completely off in his understanding of reality? What then?

Interestingly, according to Kathleen McAuliffe, she found that the people who are the most repulsed by perceived unhygienic behavior scored higher than average on a test of orientation toward punishment  that is, they are the most likely to endorse throwing criminals into jail and imposing stiff penalties on those who break societys rules.

Moral Psychology

Another scientist by the name of David Pizarro, who teaches at Cornell University, has studied the correlation between disgust and moral and political outlooks. He has found that people who were more easily prone to feeling disgusted tended to be more politically conservative (in the pre-COVID definition, which is different from todays).

But even more interestingly, he found that temporarily grossing people out by exposing them to a foul odor or an unappealing image  or even just asking them to fill out the questionnaire next to a sign reminding them to wash their hands  strongly tilted their answers toward more rule-based political, moral, and sexual values.

Kathleen McAuliffe notes: Troublesome, a study of people serving as mock jurors found that those highly prone to disgust were more inclined to judge ambiguous evidence as proof of criminal wrongdoing, to impose stiffer sentences, and to see the suspect as wicked. Compared to their less easily revolted counterparts, they were also more prone to harboring an exaggerated sense of the prevalence of crime in their own neighborhoods.

A related study whose participants included law students, police cadets, and forensic experts similarly showed that disgust sensitivity correlated with a tendency to judge crime more severely and punish the perpetrators with longer sentences  and this association held up even for veteran forensic experts who were accustomed to seeing gruesome evidence.

Disgust as Weapon

As we see, the feeling of disgust is a strong motivator. And that is exactly the feeling they have been trying to evoke in us regarding biohazards, formally known as our felling human beings.

Using Instincts to Engineer Compliance

They say we cant judge another person without walking a mile in that persons shoes. Very true! As much as we flatter ourselves proclaiming that we are strictly rational beings, our actions are really determined by our feelings  and our feelings in each moment are determined by the experiences weve gone through, especially as children, and how weve processed them  and a myriad of adjacent and overlapping factors, such as, for example, the complicated dance of chemical, sonic, electrical, magnetic, and other signals generated by our own cells as well as our microbiome.

We clothe all this mysterious electricity in ideas but its really a sea of feelings! We act according to our sensory condition  and then, as rational people, we explain away our choices with logical structures. The reason I am bringing it up because since 2020, weve been under an intensive campaign designed to confuse our senses, attack us with fear, trigger our so called behavioral immune system and turn it against all reason or logic.

And Here Comes in the Kindness

Over the course of my life, I have come to believe that a good strategy is to keep our eyes on our protection  without panic  and on healing, and not to spend too much energy on judging others, especially if they are sincere but slow to figure things out. Why? Because we are all learners. We are all imperfect (I know I am).

And despite the zigzags, by design, all of us  perhaps with the exception of those born for predation  are on the way to honor our courage, whether it takes a short time or a long time, whether we learn though intuitive wisdom or through despair.

Focusing on protection and healing honors the Creator (regardless of how we commune with the sacred) and leaves no room for emotional toxins (that have a habit of hopping hosts and changing topics without changing their poisonous impact  which is why it is critical to stay even-headed, have faith in the meaning of the bigger picture, and keep our eyes on our ultimate destination, which is dignity and healing).

When the Establishment Is Just Like an Abusive Spouse

In my case, I leaned the price of not standing up to bullies when my abusive marriage suddenly turned surreal and dangerous. The adventure was so crazy and dramatic that the lesson stuck with me forever, and so when in March 2020, the proverbial television started using language similar to the language of my abusive ex-husband, I just couldnt trust it.

Having once been in denial, and having snapped out of denial only when I had to, Ive learned to not judge but instead, focus on the practical tasks of protecting myself and doing what I can to encourage healing.

So, when I look at mad lockdowners of today, I see my  yes, troubled, yes, dangerously agitated and sometimes annoying, but none the less  brothers and sisters who can use a pure-hearted prayer for healing in addition to whatever experience life may provide to them to restore their spiritual compass.

Predators

As far as the Schwabs and the Rockefellers, they are predators with an existential function of awakening us from slumber. They are so obnoxious because we are not all bonding together quite yet but instead, fighting with each other, reacting to our fears.

I believe that they are walking their own existential journey that fits into the big picture and spans lifetimes  but unlike their policies and actions, their existential journey is not of big interest to me at this moment. Their current military operation against the people is enough to think about.

Overcoming All Fear

We come from all walks of life, from different ancestries and different backgrounds. We may or may not admit to it but at some point weve all been damaged, and some of us healed, and some are still hurting. And weve all felt fear.

It is my passionate belief that there is a big difference between being alert and freaking out. In todays environment, it is easy to get scared  being it of synthetic biology pathogens or of the Fourth Industrial Revolution  but getting scared is exactly what we need to avoid.

Yes, we all occasionally feel fear  but the qualitative difference is in how we react to it, and how we act toward our sincere peers who trigger our fear. Personally, I have found that only love and help from the spiritual forces give us the power to remain cool-headed in the face of feeling threatened. It is that moment when a wounded child becomes a warrior  and then miracles happen.

About the Author

To find more of Tessa Lenas work, be sure to check out her bio, Tessa Fights Robots.

Republished from Mercola.com on August 12, 2022

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.
Stellantis employees work on the e-DCT electrified automatic vehicle transmission assembly line at the carmaker Stellantis factory in Metz, France, on June 29, 2022. (Gilles Guillaume/Reuters)

Eurozone June Production Grows Three Times More Than Expected

BRUSSELSEurozone industrial production in June grew three times more than expected, data showed on Friday, mainly thanks to a jump in the output of capital goods.

The European Unions statistics office Eurostat said industrial production in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.7 percent month-on-month in June for a 2.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2 percent monthly and 0.8 percent year-on-year gain.

Eurostat said that the production of capital goods, which include things like machinery, equipment, vehicles or tools, rose 2.6 percent on the month and 7.6 percent in annual terms.

This helped offset a 0.1 percent month and a 0.5 percent year-on-year fall in the output of intermediate goods and a 3.2 percent monthly and 1.1 percent annual drop in the output of non-durable consumer goods.

By Jan Strupczewski
Former FBI Assistant Director for Intelligence Kevin R. Brock testifies before the Senate Homeland Security Committee about the Crossfire Hurricane investigation in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 3, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

EXCLUSIVE: Former FBI Assistant Director Says Handful in Leadership Are Politicizing Bureau, Following Mar-a-Lago Raid

News Analysis

Years of investigations have led to claims by Republicans of partisan political power plays at the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

A raid on former President Donald Trumps home on Aug. 8 has sharpened the nations focus on what many Republicans have been raising alarms about for yearsthe politicization of the DOJ and its law enforcement arm, the FBI. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has been demanding answers about alleged politicization since well before the raid.

Unfortunately, a growing number of Americans have lost confidence in the bureau based on its inconsistent handling of politically sensitive investigations, its lack of cooperation with legitimate congressional oversight inquiries, and its failure to hold its own people accountable for their misconduct, Grassley told The Epoch Times.

Late in July, the senator sent a searing letter (pdf) to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray that states that if the allegations he has received from FBI whistleblowers are true, the Justice Department and the FBI areand have beeninstitutionally corrupted to their very core.

But not all agree. In an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times, former Assistant Director for Intelligence of the FBI Kevin Brock said Grassleys statement didnt fit the facts and that it is dangerous to plant seeds in the minds of the American people that the FBI is corrupt.

Partisanship at the Top

While Brock said Grassleys claims about the FBI went too far, hes also highly critical of the actions of what he refers to as a handful in leadership who he said are politicizing the bureau and doing damage to its image.

In response to the raid on Trumps residence at Mar-a-Lago, Brock told The Epoch Times: The use of armed agents to execute an invasive search warrant does not match up with the relatively low-level offensefor anyonelet alone a former and possible future president. Most Americans recognize this extraordinary search for what it is: an attempt by one political party that temporarily controls the DOJ to eliminate an adversary from the other party.

When asked how the FBI and DOJ could become politicized, Brock said, When justice is captured by the Democrat Party, it seeks to find criminality on the right, while Republicans have less of an appetite to reciprocate.

At a press briefing about the raid on Aug. 11, Garland confirmed that he approved the search warrant and also said the DOJ had filed a motion in the Southern District of Florida to unseal the search warrant that was executed. Garland noted that the department didnt take the decision to seek a search warrant lightly.

Similar Cases Involving Democrats

The raid at Trumps home in search of classified documents reveals what some consider to be a clear example of that which Grassley and Brock are referringa heavy Democratic Party influence at the DOJ. To some, the raid at Trumps quarters is reminiscent of a similar case.

In 2015, former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton came under FBI investigation for concealing classified information on an unauthorized email server she kept at her home. During that investigation, Clinton deleted emails that were under subpoena. The FBI, which was in charge of the investigation of Clinton, didnt conduct raids at any time and allowed Clinton and her attorneys to negotiate what evidence Clinton would turn over to the bureau and dictate the terms in which Clinton would be interviewed.

Just prior to the conclusion of that investigation, labeled Midyear Exam, then-Attorney General Lorretta Lynch announcedafter it had been revealed that former president Bill Clinton had met with her in secretthat she had appointed a career prosecutor to make the decision as to whether Hillary Clinton would be charged with a crime.

The Epoch Times has learned that the career prosecutor who made that decision was then-Deputy Chief of Counterintelligence Richard Scott, who had previously been an associate at the law firm of Williams and Connelly, the same firm that was representing Hillary Clinton in the matter. In 2018, former FBI attorney Lisa Page testified to the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI was inclined to prosecute Clinton for gross negligence in handling classified information on her private email server.

Separately, you know, we had multiple conversations with the Justice Department about bringing a gross negligence charge, she told the committee in July 2018.

Page went on to testify that it was Scott who made the decision to not charge Clinton with a crime. Scott left the DOJ in 2018 and couldnt be reached for comment.

At about the same time that the DOJ decided to not pursue charges against Clinton, the now infamous Crossfire Hurricane probe was being opened against then-presidential candidate Trump. While the predicate for that investigation has been debunked, the claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin preferred Trump over Clinton is frequently referenced as fact by Democrats and some in the news media. Brock disagreed with that conclusion, citing eight years of Obama and four years of Secretary of State Hillary Clintons appeasement of Putin.

If Putin preferred Trump over Clinton, hes a bigger idiot than anyone thought, Brock said, referring to a list of things the Obama administration did to appease Putin and Russia.

The list included Clintons reset with Russia, withdrawing missile defense systems from strategic allies Poland and the Czech Republic, the return of 10 Russian spies in 2010 before the FBI could interrogate the sleeper cell, and being conciliatory following Russias 2014 invasion of Crimea.

Brock said that it is in the face of all that it is beyond the scope of imagination that Putin would have preferred Trump.

Calls for Reform at FBI

While disinformation about Trump continues to circulate, Grassley said senior officials at the FBI went out of their way to classify evidence of criminal financial information found on the laptop computer of Hunter Biden as foreign disinformation.

The information provided to my office involves concerns about the FBIs receipt and use of derogatory information relating to Hunter Biden, and the FBIs false portrayal of acquired evidence as disinformation, Grassley wrote in the July letter to the attorney general and FBI director.

The FBI has an important mission, but they need credibility and public trust to be able to successfully execute that mission, he told The Epoch Times.

Critics say the raid at the Trump estate by the FBI has further undermined its credibility.

To be taken seriously, the FBI needs to take steps to earn back that trust, but I havent seen much interest by the bureau to make this a priority, Grassley said.

The FBI and the Department of Justice didnt return requests for comment on this report by press time.
Facebook Overturns Decision to Censor Pro-Women Group for Sharing Post Saying Men Cant Give Birth

Facebook has removed its censorship on an Australian independent think tank group for sharing a post saying men cant get pregnant.

The social media giant claimed it was an error following public backlash despite initially saying the decision to impose the ban was final.

Womens Forum Australia, which promotes a pro-women approach to social and cultural issues, became a target of censorship when it posted a screenshot of a tweet on July 22 which said: Exactly zero men have ever given birth in any year, in any country. The screenshot was accompanied by an affirming caption consisting of three underlined red 100 emojis.

The original post was published by Sall Grover, founder of women-only app Giggle, in response to a news.com.au article that stated, each year in Australia, several men give birth to children.

Screenshot of Womens Forum Australia post.

Banning for Hate Speech

Facebook removed the post a few days later, explaining that it goes against our Community Standards on dangerous individuals and organisations.

Facebook further warned the page is at risk of being unpublished and has reduced distribution and other restrictions due to continued Community Standards violations.

According to Facebooks guidelines, what is defined as hate speech includes content that directly attacks people based on  sex, gender or gender identity.

Looking back at the post, it is possible that the takedown was due to the usage of explicit words, Facebook said in a message to Womens Forum Australia.

Which were the explicit words? the womens group asked, to which the social media giant didnt answer.

The only clarity I have is that Facebook is censoring and discriminating against views regarding biological sex.

Facebook ended the conversation by saying that it wont look into the issue further because the decision to take down the post is final, and there is no option to appeal.

However, after the issue was reported by the Australian media on Aug. 11, Facebook reversed the ban and said it was a mistake.

Orwellian Move

Womens Forum CEO Rachael Wong called the ban Orwellian and criticised Facebook for censoring and discriminating against views affirming the reality of biological sex.

In a commentary on Aug. 10, Wong said since Facebooks censorship began, their page has visibility has reduced dramatically.

Does it [Facebook] consider the factual statement that men dont give birth to be hate speech? she wrote.

If there was ever a hateful ideology, it is the ideology that attempts to erase women and their sex-based rights.

According to the United Nations Human Rights Special Rapporteur, Facebooks definitions of terrorism and dangerous organisations are overly broad, which may lead to over-censoring and arbitrary denial of access.

While acknowledging the importance of regulating advocacy to violence, Facebook must make clear that the company maintains a robust protection of freedom of expression, including speech that may be offensive, distasteful or unacceptable to some, the report said.
Local law enforcement officers in front of the home of former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

FBI Claims It Found Classified Documents at Trumps Residence, Inventory Shows

The FBI said it seized multiple sets of classified documents from the Florida residence of former President Donald Trump, according to an inventory made public on Aug. 12.

Agents removed approximately 20 boxes, including materials marked classified, documents labeled top secret, and others designated secret, according to a property receipt obtained by The Epoch Times.

Four sets of documents were marked top secret. Three were marked confidential. Three were marked secret. And another entry was for various classified/TS/SCI documents.

Top secret, secret, and confidential are classification levels.

No other details were provided about the documents in the filing.

Agents also took binders of photographs, a handwritten note, the grant of clemency signed by Trump for Roger Stone, information concerning the President of France, and a potential presidential record.

They were executing a warrant that said law enforcement could take all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of three federal laws, including any government and/or presidential record created between Jan. 20, 2017, and Jan. 20, 2021.

The warrant was also made public for the first time on Friday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that all the documents were declassified.

The three laws that may have been broken, according to the newly disclosed documents: one that prohibits mishandling of defense information; one that bars concealing, removing, destroying, or attempting to conceal, remove, or destroy U.S. records; and one that makes illegal destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations and bankruptcy.

The laws carry potential jail sentences of 10, three, and 20 years, respectively.

The warrant materials did not mention the Presidential Records Act, which had been the focus of some speculation about the raid.

Under the act, presidential records are supposed to automatically transfer to the custody of the U.S. archivist as soon as a president leaves office.

The affidavit underpinning the warrant, or a form from a law enforcement officer explaining to the judge why a search warrant was necessary, remains shielded.

Records Found in January

Trump was previously found to have possessed classified records, according to former Archivist David Ferriero.

After the National Archives and Records Administration arranged the transfer of 15 boxes of presidential records from Mar-a-Lago in mid-January, an inventory of some of the items revealed items marked as classified national security information, Ferriero told Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) in a letter about a month later.

Ferriero also said that torn-up records were included in the boxes.

Administration staffers were in touch with the Department of Justice because of the discovery.

FBI agents in June visited Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, to look for classified materials, Trump lawyer Christina Bobb told The Epoch Times after the raid. They were allowed to inspect whatever they wanted.

Nothing had been hidden and nothing had been kept secret from them, which makes this all the more ridiculous, she said.

Trump said Friday that the FBI didnt need to seize anything, adding, They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago.
FBI, R.I.P.?

Commentary

The FBI is dissolving before our eyes into a rogue security service akin to those in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

Take the FBIs deliberately asymmetrical application of the law. Last week, the bureau surprise-raided the home of former President Donald Trumpan historical first.

A massive phalanx of FBI agents swooped into the Trump residence while he wasnt home to confiscate his personal property, safe, and records. All of this was over an archival dispute of presidential papers common to many former presidents. Agents swarmed the entire house, including the wardrobe closet of the former first lady.

Note we are less than 90 days out from a midterm election. This was not just a raid, but a political act.

The Democratic Party is anticipated to suffer historical losses. Trump was on the verge of announcing his 2024 presidential candidacy. In many polls, he remains the Republican frontrunner for the nominationand well ahead of incumbent President Joe Biden in a putative 2024 rematch.

In 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey announced that candidate Hillary Clinton was guilty of destroying subpoenaed emailsa likely felony pertaining to her tenure as secretary of state. Yet he all but pledged that she would not be prosecuted given her status as a presidential candidate.

As far as targeting presidential candidates, Trump was impeached in 2020 ostensibly for delaying military aid to Ukraine by asking Ukrainian officials to investigate more fully the clearly corrupt Biden familygiven Joe Biden at the time was a likely possible presidential opponent in 2020.

The FBI has devolved into a personal retrieval service for the incorrigible Biden family. It suppressed, for political purposes, information surrounding Hunter Bidens missing laptop on the eve of the 2020 election.

Previously, the FBI never pursued Hunters fraudulently registered firearm, his mysterious foreign income, his felonious crack cocaine use, or his regular employment of foreign prostitutes.

Yet in a predawn raid just before the 2020 election, the FBI targeted the home of journalist James OKeefe on grounds that someone had passed to him the lost and lurid diary of Ashley Biden, Bidens wayward daughter.

At various times, in Stasi-style, the FBI has publicly shackled Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro, swarmed the office of Trumps legal counsel Rudy Giuliani, and sent a SWAT team to surround the house of Trump ally Roger Stone. Meanwhile, terrorists and cartels walk with impunity across an open border.

FBI Director Christopher Wray last week cut short his evasive testimony before Congress. He claimed he had to leave for a critical appointmentonly to use his FBI Gulfstream luxury jet to fly to his favorite vacation spot in the Adirondacks.

Wray took over from disgraced interim FBI Director Andrew McCabe. The latter admitted to lying repeatedly to federal investigators and signed off on a fraudulent FBI FISA application. He faced zero legal consequences.

McCabe, remember, was also the point man in the softball Hillary Clinton email investigationwhile his wife was a political candidate and recipient of thousands of dollars from a political action committee with close ties to the Clinton family.

McCabe took over from disgraced FBI Director James Comey. On 245 occasions, Comey claimed under oath before the House Intelligence Committee that he had no memory or knowledge of key questions concerning his tenure. With impunity, he leaked confidential FBI memos to the media.

Comey took over from Director Robert Mueller. Implausibly, Mueller swore under oath that he had no knowledge of either the Steele dossier or of Fusion GPS, the firm that commissioned Christopher Steele to compile the dossier. But those were the very twin catalysts that had prompted his entire special investigation into the Russian collusion hoax.

FBI legal counsel Kevin Clinesmith was convicted of a felony for altering an FBI warrant request to spy on an innocent Carter Page.

The FBI, by Comeys own public boasts, bragged how it caught national security adviser designate Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn in its Crossfire Hurricane Russian collusion hoax.

As special counsel, Mueller then fired two of his top investigatorsLisa Page and Peter Strzokfor improper personal and professional behavior. He then staggered their releases to mask their collaborative wrongdoing.

Muellers team deleted critical cellphone evidence under subpoena that might well have revealed systemic FBI-related bias.

The FBI interferes with and warps national elections. It hires complete frauds as informants who are far worse than its targets. It humiliates or exempts government and elected officials based on their politics. It violates the civil liberties of individual American citizens.

The FBIs highest officials now routinely mislead Congress. They have erased or altered court and subpoenaed evidence. They illegally leak confidential material to the media. And they have lied under oath to federal investigators.

The agency has become dangerous to Americans and an existential threat to their democracy and rule of law. The FBI should be dispersing its investigatory responsibilities to other government investigative agencies that have not yet lost the publics trust.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A crew mops up a spot on the wildfire southwest of Penticton, B.C., in an Aug.6, 2022 handout photo. (The Canadian Press/HO/BC Wildfire Service)

Firefighters Brace for Lightning, High Winds Across Southern Interior as Storms Loom

Residents of the British Columbia community of Olalla are now allowed to return home after being forced out by a threatening wildfire last week.

But a fierce lightning storm that swept across the southern part of the province on Wednesday has sparked numerous new fires, with Environment Canada warning more storms were on the way.

Severe thunderstorm watches blanketed the B.C. interior from Prince George south to the U.S. border on Thursday.

BC Wildfire Service information officer Karley Desrosiers said the forecast of lightning, gusty winds and high temperatures could make firefighting a challenge.

But crews had plans in place to tackle new fires that may result from lightning strikes, she told a news conference.

The BC Wildfire Service website showed spot fires caused by lightning strikes on Wednesday dotting the Coastal, Kamloops, Southeast and Cariboo fire centres, including 10 starts on Vancouver Island, but all remain small.

Desrosiers said lightning is normal for July and August in parts of B.C., especially when temperatures get warm and there is more moisture in the air.

We have not had nearly as much lightning as we did last year, she said. It was an exceptional year for lightning.

Environment Canada posted heat warnings for the Fraser Canyon, north Thompson and inland sections of the north and central coast as temperatures in the mid- to high 30s were expected to continue through Friday in the Interior.

The weather office said Thursdays forecast thundershowers were likely to pack winds gusting to 80 kilometres per hour, conditions the wildfire service warned could complicate work on the fire that had been threatening Olalla.

The blaze is located 21 kilometres southwest of Penticton and has scorched about 67 square kilometres.

The fire remains uncontrolled, and while the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen rescinded almost half of the nearly 500 evacuation orders covering properties closest to the blaze, 273 remain in place.

Nearly 400 properties are under an evacuation alert, which means they have to be ready to leave at a moments notice.

The district said evacuation alerts for residents of the nearby village of Keremeos have been lifted, but the Apex Mountain resort and surrounding homes remain on evacuation order.

Winds will be light, however strong erratic and gusty winds should be expected near thunderstorms, the wildfire service said in its daily update.

Crews have therefore been instructed to be prepared for increased fire behaviour and change in fire spread direction.

The hillside above the Trans-Canada Highway between Lytton and Spences Bridge was also being inspected Thursday after heavy rain from the first round of storms caused mudslides that closed the route until further notice.
People walk by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on June 14, 2022, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Five Chinese State-Owned Firms to Delist From US Stock Exchanges

A number of Chinas biggest state-owned companies have announced plans to delist from U.S. stock exchanges after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned that hundreds were at risk of getting kicked off for possible non-compliance with audit rules.

In separate filings on the Hong Kong stock exchange where their shares are also listed, Aluminum Corp. of China, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, China Petroleum & Chemical, PetroChina, and China Life Insurance, stated that they would delist from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The five companies said they plan to file relevant documentation with the SEC by the end of the month, with a delisting of their American Depository Shares to take place shortly afterward.

All five firms were added to the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA) list in May after U.S. regulators identified them as not meeting auditing standards.

One of the companies, PetroChina, was cited by the Wall Street Journal as saying that there was a considerable administrative burden for performing the disclosure obligations associated with being listed on a U.S. stock exchange.

More than 150 Chinese companies are on the HFCAA list and face removal from U.S. exchanges if American regulators are unable to inspect financial audits for three years in a row.

U.S. regulators have been negotiating with their Chinese counterparts on achieving compliance with the HFCAA, but SEC Chair Gary Gensler recently expressed uncertainty around the prospect of striking a deal with Beijing.

I just really dont know right now, Gensler told Bloomberg during an interview in late July, referring to the likelihood of an agreement. Its going to be choices made by the authorities there, he added.

The HFCAA was adopted in 2020 with the aim of protecting U.S. investors from fraudulent activities by Chinese companies that are not subject to U.S. audit rules.

The legislative thrust around the bill came in response to Chinas long-running refusal to let American regulators access the audit documentation of its accounting firms, citing state secrecy.

The law gives Chinese companies until early 2024 to comply with U.S. auditing requirements, though Congress is considering a bill that would accelerate that deadline to 2023.

The HFCAA was signed into law by former President Donald Trump in December 2020 after Congress passed the measure with rare bipartisan support.

Former Trump administration trade negotiator Clete Willems told the Wall Street Journal in late May that unless China shows more flexibility around compliance with U.S. auditing standards, the delisting of some or all of its companies is inevitable.

Cathy He contributed to this report.
A protester wearing a Dont Tread on Me Gadsden Flag T-shirt listens to a speaker at a rally in support of medical freedom in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 3, 2021. (Allan Stein/Epoch Times)

Florida Rolling Out Dont Tread on Me License Plate

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.Florida is taking orders for a new state license plate that Gov. Ron DeSantis says sends a clear message to out-of-state carsDont Tread on Me.

The governor announced that the Gadsden flag specialty plates were in pre-order status, with the Florida Veterans Foundation, a veterans advocacy group, to receive $25 per plate.

The free state of Florida has a new license plate for pre-order that benefits the Florida Veterans Foundation and sends a clear message to out-of-state cars, Dont Tread on Me or Florida, DeSantis wrote on Twitter on July 30. Visit your local tax collector to purchase your presale voucher.

Love, love, love Florida Gov. DeSantiss new license plate; Dont Tread on Me!' one Twitter user said. This is how we feel about our great country. That is right now being systematically destroyed by the radical Left.

The Gadsden flag, depicting a coiled rattlesnake against a yellow background, dates back to Revolutionary times as a symbol of rebellion against government tyranny. More recently, for many it has come to symbolize a far-right ideology and the Stop the Steal movement contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Around the same time DeSantis announced the specialty plate, Project Veritas and Gun Owners of America leaked an FBI internal Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide.

According to the leaked document, the Gadsden flag has become synonymous with anti-government, anti-authority violent extremists and Militia Violent Extremists (MVEs).

MVEs justify their existence with the Second Amendment due to the mention of a well-regulated Militia, as well as the right to bear arms, the FBI internal guide said.

However, after the information became public, the FBIs National Press Office, which normally declines to comment on leaked documents, issued a press release saying, we would point out an online article referencing an allegedly leaked document on symbols that may be used by Militia Violent Extremists (MVE) contains the following words highlighted in bold near the top of the document: The use or sharing of these symbols alone should not independently be considered evidence of MVE presence or affiliation or serve as an indicator of illegal activity, as many individuals use these symbols for their original, historic meaning, or other non-violent purposes.

Not everyone welcomes the new license plate for Florida. On the governors Twitter feed, some compared it to the Confederate stars and bars and said the Free State of Florida is not Free at all, apparently in a reference to legislation that bans critical race theory in schools and the workplace, as well as the parental rights in education bill that DeSantis signed earlier this year.

Similar plates have been used as fundraising tools for various organizations. Dont Tread on Me license plates are already available in 11 other states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arizona, Montana, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia.

The Gadsden flag can be traced back to 1775 around the same time as the Boston Tea Party when the Continental Congress commissioned some privateers with the Marines stationed on the ships and the South Carolina delegate to Congress, Christopher Gadsden to design the flag, according to the book Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, by Joseph Ellis, an American history professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.

The original design had a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow background with the words dont tread on me beneath it. The flags design has become the seal of the U.S. Marine Corps, the book says..

Then came the Tea Party movement, which adopted the banner in 2010 that symbolized their antipathy toward the government. Ellis wrote. Since then, it has gone on to become a symbol for anti-government groups and individuals.

DeSantis previously said a minimum threshold of 3,000 plates must be pre-ordered before the state will start producing them. Currently, 1,800 have been pre-ordered, according to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) website.

The governors office could not be reached for comment before press time. In a statement released on July 30, it addressed the controversial aspects of the plate.

The freedom-fighting spirit the flag originally symbolized has guided America to this day, and Governor DeSantis likewise believes that freedom is a worthy pursuit and viable alternative to heavy-handed government, the statement said.

Many Floridians celebrate Florida as the vanguard of freedom, and countless others have moved here from across the country to live under a state government that enshrines freedom in its decision-making.
Local law enforcement officers in front of the home of former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

Former FBI Agent Says Mar-a-Lago Raid Was Governments Attempt to Embarrass Trump

Greg Shaffer, a retired FBI agent for the elite hostage rescue team, said that the agencys raid on former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Aug. 8 was completely and totally unprecedented.

I dont know what the FBI, Department of Justice, or this administration was thinking by doing this, Shaffer said in an Aug. 10 interview with NTD. It was an overt act meant to embarrass the former president. It just shows the total lack of optics on their end. The rule of law obviously does not play equal on both sides anymore.

During the raid, Trumps attorneys on the site were not allowed to watch what the FBI agents were doing, which Shaffer said was also unprecedented.

Shaffer said that during most of the search warrants he executed as an FBI agent, the owner of the property usually watched over the agents to monitor what they were doing as they looked for the items included in the warrant.

The ex-FBI agent said that a subpoena, which could have been done behind the scenes without embarrassing the Trump family or the Trump organization, would have been a much better course of action.

Shaffer said hes concerned about the heavy-handed way the raid was conducted, and that it was an intentional decision of the Biden administration as a show of force, he added.

Government Reacts to Public Outrage

On Aug. 11, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a federal court to make the materials of the search warrant public.

Speaking to The Epoch Times, John Malcolm, director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, said the governments move to unseal the documents might be a response to public outrage.

I think that this is an attempt by the Department of Justicewho may have underestimated the reaction to this through this raidto try to get out a little bit ahead of it by saying, Oh, see, what we did here was perfectly on the up and up, Malcolm said.

Following the raid at Trumps home, the FBI also seized the cellphone of Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) on Aug. 9. The circumstances surrounding the seizure are not known. In a statement, Perry called the action banana republic tactics.

In the NTD interview, Shaffer said the FBI must have special permission to seize the property of members of Congress, members of the clergy, attorneys, and other individuals who deal with privileged information.

For an FBI agent to go walk up to a sitting congressman and take his cell phone  that had to be approved at the highest level at the FBI and DOJ, Shaffer said. That is very, very difficult to do. Unprecedented.

Shaffer said that in his opinion, the seizure of Perrys phone was nothing more than a show of force from the Biden administration.

Zachary Stieber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
People are seen inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Former Police Officer Sentenced to Over 7 Years in Prison in Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

An off-duty former Virginia police officer who entered the U.S. Capitol with a fellow officer on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sentenced to over seven years in prison, a period similar to the longest prison sentence yet in cases related to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach.

On Jan. 6, 2021, proceedings at the U.S. Capitol for a joint session of Congress to count and certify electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election were temporarily interrupted when a sizable group of protesters and rioters entered the building and its surrounds. Thousands of other protesters, mostly peaceful, remained outside.

Thomas Robertson, 49, a former police sergeant with the Rocky Mount, Virginia, Police Department, declined to address the court in Washington on Aug. 11, before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to seven years and three months.

Robertson also faces three years of supervised release after his prison term. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution.

He gets credit for the 13 months he has already spent in custody; Robertson was initially released after he was arrested and charged in January 2021, but he was rearrested in July 2021 after Cooper ruled that he violated the terms of his pre-trial release by possessing firearms.

Specifically, the judge found that Robertson violated court orders and continued to purchase what prosecutors described as an arsenal of guns online. FBI agents also found a loaded M4 rifle and a partially assembled pipe bomb at his home during a search.

Cooper said he was troubled by Robertsons conduct since his arrest in January 2021not only his stockpiling of guns but also his words. The judge noted that after Jan. 6, Robertson told a friend that he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war.

Federal prosecutors had recommended eight years for Robertson, while his defense attorney had asked for a sentence of no more than 15 months.

Lengthiest Sentence in Jan. 6 Cases

The Justice Department noted that more than 860 people have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol since Jan. 6, 2021. This includes over 260 people who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

Robertsons sentence of 87 months is the lengthiest prison sentence yet in cases related to the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol, and is on par with that of Guy Reffitt, a 49-year-old Texas man who entered the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 while armed with a gun.

A jury in April this year had convicted Robertson of five felony charges: obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds while carrying a dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building while carrying a dangerous weapon, and tampering with a document or proceedings. Robertson was also found guilty of a misdemeanor offensedisorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

Robertson carried a large wooden stick and confronted members of the Metropolitan Police Department, who had arrived to provide back-up to U.S. Capitol Police officers who were defending the West Front of the Capitol from the mob, the Justice Department said, citing court documents.

Prosecutors argued that Robertson anticipated violence on Jan. 6, and he packed gas masks for himself and Jacob Fracker, as well as military food rations, water, and a large wooden stick.

Robertson used his law enforcement training to block Metropolitan Police Officers attempting to hold back the mob, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi wrote in the governments sentencing memo.

Robertsons lawyers said that the army veteran was using the stickdeemed a dangerous weapon by federal authoritiesto help him walk because he has a limp after being shot in the right thigh while working as a private contractor for the Defense Department in Afghanistan in 2011.

Fellow Officer Pleaded Guilty

Another off-duty officer with the Rocky Mount, Virginia, Police DepartmentJacob Fracker, 30was with Robertson on Jan. 6, 2021. Fracker was scheduled to be tried alongside Robertson, but in March 2021, Fracker decided to plead guilty to a federal conspiracy charge and agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 16.

Prosecutors have asked Cooper to spare Fracker from a prison term and instead sentence him to six months probation along with a period of home detention. They said Frackers fulsome cooperation and trial testimony was crucial in securing convictions against Robertson.

Court documents say that Robertson and Fracker headed for Washington in Robertsons car on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021. A third man, a neighbor who was not charged in the case, was also with them.

After arriving in Washington, Robertson and Fracker attended a rally in the Washington Monument area and later joined an advancing mob of rioters at the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol building, the Justice Department said.

The off-duty officers separately entered the Capitol building around 2:15 p.m. within minutes of each other, convening inside the Capitols Crypt where they took a selfie of themselves. The two men continued to use their mobile phones to document their activity throughout the day.

Both men were arrested on Jan. 13, 2021.

Prior to their arrests, federal law enforcement officers called them, informed them of their arrest warrants, and ordered them to turn themselves in later in the day, the Justice Department said. But Robertson destroyed Frackers phone and his own phone after learning of the criminal charges related to this conduct at the Capitol, the department noted.

In a letter to the judge, Robertson said that Fracker actually destroyed the cell phones, and later lied to the FBI and the court about it. Robertson also said that he never had any intention to disrupt Congress.

He told the judge that he takes full responsibility for his actions on Jan. 6, and any poor decisions he made. He also noted that the content of his social media posts before and after Jan. 6 were due to a mix of stress, alcohol abuse, and submersion in deep rabbit holes of election conspiracy theory.

In a Facebook post on Nov. 7, 2020, Robertson said that being disenfranchised by fraud is my hard line. He also wrote: Ive spent most of my adult life fighting a counter insurgency. [Im] about to become part of one, and a very effective one.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Findings showed that tai chi is an effective option to improve stroke survivors' balance, coordination, strength and flexibility. (Shutterstock)

Four Ways to Slash Your Risk of A Stroke

Australian experts say there are four things that everyone needs to know to prevent strokes, aside from not smoking, exercising regularly, and eating well.

More than 445,000 Australians live with the effects of stroke, and almost a quarter of victims were younger than 54, with strokes able to strike people at any age and even newborns, according to Stroke Foundation Australia.

Manage Your Blood Pressure

Leading stroke researcher, who co-led the development of the worlds first living stroke guidelines, Prof. Coralie English, says that managing your blood pressure can prevent strokes a good chunk of the time.

High blood pressure is the key risk factor for stroke, but many people dont know they have it because there are no symptoms, its asymptomatic, English said.

The only way you can know if you have high blood pressure is to ask your general practitioner or pharmacist to check it for you, or you can also access a free health check at more than 300 digital health check stations around Australia.

80% of strokes are preventable by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and taking more care of your health. (Shutterstock)

The Elixir of Exercise

Exercise is also a major factor in preventing strokes and mending the body after an episode, particularly for reducing extra weight and restoring muscle strength, coordination, sensation and balance.

Recently, researchers have discovered effective ways of exercising to heal strokes, including sitting tai chi and daily music engagement.

A new study published on April 7 in the journal Stroke found that sitting tai chi provides stroke survivors with recovery benefits similar to those achieved with standard rehabilitation.

Researchers examined 160 adults who had suffered their first stroke within the past six months. Half of the participants were assigned to the sitting tai chi program and another half to a standard stroke rehabilitation exercise program that included recommended upper limb movements (the control group).

After three months, patients in the tai chi group had equal or greater improvement in hand and arm strength, shoulder range of motion, balance control, symptoms of depression and activities of daily living than those in the control group.

Melodic intonation therapy trains stroke survivors to communicate rhythmically to build stronger connections between brain regions. (Shutterstock)

Another method of stroke healing comes in the form of music therapy to train stroke survivors to engage rhythmically to build stronger connections between brain regions.

These methods include singing, listening to music or teaching people to play musical instruments, such as the keyboard or drums.

The Aphasia Choir of Vermont, for instance, is one of a handful of choirs springing up around the world, giving stroke survivors and people living with dementia or other brain injuries a chance to tap into one of the few means of communication left to them.

Julie Stillman was 55 years old when a blood vessel in her brain suddenly burst. The hemorrhagic stroke left her unable to compose a simple sentence.

After joining the Aphasia Choir, she is regaining her voice and resuming her old hobbies, such as boating.

To hear that clarity and volume, its like magic, Stillmans husband, Jeff Nagle, said. Its amazing to see this happen.

Cut Out Liquid Courage

Drinking alcohol can also impact your recovery, worsen symptoms, such as fatigue, and increase your risk of having another stroke.

While there is some research to suggest that alcohol may offset some of the risks for cardiovascular disease, it is becoming increasingly clear that alcohol definitely increases your risk of secondary stroke, English said.

The risks still outweigh the benefits.

Think Fast to Detect Stroke Symptoms

An easy diagnostic test called F.A.S.T., is an acronym to help people recognise the signs of a stroke by asking these questions within the golden hourthe first hour after a stroke: Face drooping? Arm weakness? Speech difficulty? and Time to call an ambulance.

Stroke Foundations annual survey found that 40 percent of Australians do not recognise any of the signs of stroke and therefore may not call for an ambulance quickly enough to get medical care.

Our goal is to ensure that at least one person in every household and workplace in Australia can recognise the signs of stroke and knows that time is critical, calling triple zero is the very first thing you must do, chief executive officer Sharon McGowan said.

Over 27,400 Australians experienced a stroke for the first time in 2020that equates to roughly one person every 19 minutes having their first stroke.

Prof. Coralie English (Supplied by HRMI)

English and her team shared the tips in light of National Stroke Week (Aug. 8 to 14) and the launch of their new online program to support people on their path to living well after a stroke.

Designed by stroke victims, it aims to improve access to support for everyone but especially those living in regional and rural areaswhere people are 17 percent more likely to experience a stroke and generally have less access to health services.
Saginaw Steering Gear, a manufacturer of automobile parts, accepted the challenge of making machine guns faster, cheaper, and better. Their ingenuity helped equip Allied forces for victory

We laud as heroes men and women who fight for a cause, or speak moving words, or stand up for timeless idealsand rightly so. Yet some of the greatest heroes of World War II were the men and women on the home front, who applied their cleverness, tenacity, and famous American entrepreneurial innovation to equip the soldiers abroad with the tools needed for victory. Saginaw Steering Gear, a division of General Motors, was one such company: Its ingenious application of automotive assembly-line principles to the manufacture of the storied Browning M1919 machine gun gave the American GI and his allies the firepower to prevail over tyranny.

As the end of the 1930s approached, the United States faced an unprecedented crisis. The imperialist Empire of Japan, already deeply engaged in a brutal war with China, and Nazi Germany, having completed the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938 and immediately pivoting to gobble up the Sudetenland in October, both seemed likely adversaries as conflict loomed. But one critical problem remained: The United States had effectively erased its military power after World War I.

As soon as the soldiers came home from over there in 1918 and 1919, the United States, eager to avoid more European entanglements, shrank its military dramatically: from a height of several million conscripts during the war to an army of under 200,000a military smaller than that of Portugals. The weapons to be wielded by this tiny force, too, were hopelessly outdated and poorly maintained. Archival footage from the 1930s shows soldiers training with wooden sticks for bayonets and broom handles for machine guns. As the likelihood of war grew, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt quietly asked several civilian manufacturers to explore whether their factories could be converted to wartime production of armaments.

An engraving of World War II combat soldiers firing a Browning M1919 machine gun. (GeorgePeters/ DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images)

Saginaw Steering Gear, founded in 1906 as Jacoxthe Jackson, Church, and Wilcox Companyproduced its Jacox gear, first for Buick automobiles and then for all the vehicles produced by General Motors, after its acquisition in 1909. The division, renamed Saginaw Steering Gear in 1928, was renowned for its precision manufacturing and for manufacturing parts with the tight tolerancesthe permissible limits of variation of a part from the design specificationsnecessary for the modern automobile. The invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, galvanized the public into support for military spending, and by 1940 Saginaw Steering Gear was awarded a contract to produce the Browning M1919 machine gun, with the first pilot guns to be completed for review by December 1941.

The Browning M1919, designed by legendary inventor John Moses Browning, was an air-cooled improvement on the earlier water-cooled M1917, but the improved action had a major downside: It was a complicated firearm. Each weapon required 190 components, with 77 successive machining operations, and very tight tolerances down to 0.0005 inches. The engineers, accustomed to developing complex assemblies for automotive gearing, took a first principles approach to the firearm: At every stage, the engineers asked why a part was there, why was it made the way it was, and how that process could be removed or improved to speed up production.

A crewmember inspects the .30 caliber twin Browning M1919 machine gun of a Navy scout bomber, 1942. (Public domain)

A Reimagined Production Process

Saginaw Steering Gears brilliant engineers turned the manufacturing process on its head. Working in an environment that would not take no for an answer, the engineers disassembled the test guns, studied every component in microscopic detail, and developed an entirely new assembly-line process for firearms manufacturing. In the spirit of Henry Ford, the plant managers performed motion and time studies on their employees to work out the most efficient layout of the facility.

Having already developed a metal casting operation for gearing, they adapted the process to the M1919. They replaced some of the complex machined partsthose that required being formed on milling machines or lathes, which depended on skilled laborwith cast pieces that equaled or exceeded the strength of the original parts. This slashed the amount of time-intensive manual operations per gun. The barrel shroudthe component that protected the barrel, perforated to dissipate heatwas originally machined, each hole drilled in the cylindrical blank by a skilled machinist. The Saginaw team replaced this whole process with hole-punched sheet metal, an automated process that shaved crucial minutes off the production of each gun. Faced with a tedious but critical barrel washing process before each inspection, the engineers rigged up an automatic barrel washer, which alone increased production by 50 percent per hour.

Workers produce automobile parts for an ambulance at the Saginaw Products Corp. in Michigan, circa 1917. (National Archives and Records Administration)

Arsenal of Democracy

While some at the War Department had groused when the contract was awarded to a company with no firearm manufacturing experience, the delivery of the first pilot gun a full seven months ahead of schedule won over Saginaws detractors. The factory entered full production, with the production contract calling for 280 guns to be delivered at a price of $667 per gun by March 1942. Saginaw Steering Gear delivered more than 28,700 guns, and, in service of their country, reduced the price to only $141.44 per gunmore than 100 times the units at 20 percent of the original contract price. But they were just getting started. By wars end, with production at full swing in a plant dedicated to the task, Saginaw Steering Gear had built and shipped a staggering 412,000 Browning M1919s and unilaterally reduced the price to only $54.72 per unit8 percent of the original bid. They had managed to reduce the man hours per gun from 76 to 19; saved the war effort more than $240 million in 1945 dollars; and their clever use of casting, part simplification, and streamlining preserved untold hundreds of tons of steel for building aircraft, ships, and tanks.

By the end of the war, the United States of America had earned the title the arsenal of democracy. More than half of all Allied materielthat is, all the weapons, vehicles, ammunition, and other accoutrements of warwere manufactured in the United States and shipped overseas to her allies. Nearly all Americans played a part in this heroic feat of production and did so freely and with a sense of duty and patriotism. Saginaw Steering Gears machine guns were mounted to British aircraft and Soviet tanks and carried into battle by American GIs in the jungles of Guadalcanal and the hedgerows of Normandy. By applying the classic American entrepreneurial spirit to the problem of equipping an army, Saginaw Steering Gear proved that free men and women can achieve wondrous things.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
Solar panels are seen at the Desert Stateline project near Nipton, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2021. (Bridget Bennett/Reuters)

Green Energy Credits are Currently a Tax Shelter for Wall Street Banks

Tax credits have been a go-to move for the U.S. government to incentivize renewable energy project developers for years. Yet substantial profits are ending up in the pockets of the corporate banking industry.

As of last year, the renewable tax equity market represents a $20 billion industry for big banks.

The timing is auspicious for financial lenders since President Joe Bidens retooled Build Back Better Act includes an additional $550 billion in clean energy incentives.

Historically, credits for renewable projects have been used to entice new investors to jump on the green energy bandwagon.

Yet because of the lack of practical use on the front end, many entrepreneurs seek tax equity investment partners in exchange for working capital to get the project rolling.

Joe Biden walks past solar panels while touring the Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative in Plymouth, N.H., on June 4, 2019. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Similar situation as the movie industry; you need the banks to fund the projects, so they get the tax breaks, certified public accountant (CPA) Paul Miller told The Epoch Times.

Miller is the managing partner of Miller & Co, and explained energy projects can cost billions of dollars and its challenging to develop them without having a financial institution on board.

If you were an investor, youd benefit from these tax savings, which again why a lot of billionaires are [involved] in these investments.

When it comes to tax breaks, new companies looking to get into green energy usually dont owe money when they start building. So many solar and wind farm companies enter with a clean slate.

That means if the developers want to get any mileage out of the credits the government is offering, a third party financial partnergenerally known as a tax equity partneris needed.

And the majority of these are key players in the corporate banking industry.

Between 2020 and 2021, more than 50 percent of the tax equity market was controlled by two banks: JP Morgan and Bank of America.

Other legacy financial institutions with sizeable investments in the tax equity market include Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and Credit Suisse.

The exterior of the JP Morgan Chase corporate headquarters in New York on May 20, 2015. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

All tax credits in the United States are geared towards the largest taxpayers  This is because the tax code contains significant hurdles, Warren Kirshenbaum told The Epoch Times.

Kirshenbaum is the CEO of Cherry Tree Group, which specializes in helping people sell their tax credits while getting individuals, trusts, and closely-held corporations the same benefits enjoyed by more prominent financial players.

He explained larger taxpayers have routinely used the vast majority of available tax credits, making it harder for companies who pay fewer taxes to qualify and secure the incentive credits.

This has led to smaller developers not being able to secure tax equity financing, which can affect the marketplace, Kirshenbaum said.

Some industry experts think the current structure for tax credits is a hindrance for small developers and community-scale projects.

With the current set-up, most developers dont have the option to keep the credits, tax specialist Kari Brummond told The Epoch Times.

Brummond says developers usually need cash upfront for their projects, but if they were able to keep the credits, they would end up with more money in the long run.

They end up losing a lot in fees when they sell the credits to investors, she said.

Bank investors usually snap up low-income housing and historic tax credits first. However, Kirshenbaum notes that renewable energy credits have become a more popular investment in recent years because its claimable in one tax year. Low-income housing and historic tax credits are 10-year and five-year credits, respectively.

Additionally, the accelerated and bonus depreciation rules for solar assets allow the claiming of an enormous amount of depreciation in the first year or two which is quite advantageous to taxpayers, Kirshenbaum said.

And while many experts assert big banks have been offered an unintentional tax shelter in the form of green energy incentives, some disagree.

Director of renewable energy and sustainable technologies for the tax equity investment firm Foss & Company, Bryen Alperin, told The Epoch Times the government is still incentivizing renewable energy projects, which was the ultimate goal a the end of the day.

They [the government] have determined that rather than collecting the tax revenue, then writing cash grants to renewable energy projects, its more efficient to incentivize taxpayers to directly invest in the renewable energy projects.

The taxpayer is still paying into the social good with their money, they just have more control over how it is used, Alperin said.
FBI Crossed the Rubicon With Mar-a-Lago Raid on Trump, Heritage Oversight Project Chief Says

Heritage Foundation Oversight Project Director Mike Howell is demanding copies of all communications between the White House, Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI, and Donald Trumps staff about the Aug. 8 FBI raid on the former presidents Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

To that end, Howellwho is a veteran of major congressional oversight projects and a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which is the federal governments central custodian of official documents, and each of the relevant agencies.

The Biden Department of Justice has crossed the Rubicon. This raid showed that the administration is unafraid to weaponize the power of the deep state against its political enemieseven a former sitting president, Howell said in a statement issued shortly after Attorney General Merrick Garland declined to answer any questions about the raid during a brief appearance in the DOJ media conference room on Aug. 11.

We are filing this request because the American people deserve the answers Joe Biden and Merrick Garland will not give them. There is no reason NARA cannot fulfill our request for these documents, as they should have nothing to do with any ongoing investigation, he said.

Mike Howell, Senior Adviser for Government Relations at The Heritage Foundation. (Courtesy of Mike Howell)

Ultimately, it looks like the Biden administration raided President Trumps home over a document disputelets see if they comply with our legal document demand, or if theyre complete hypocrites.

Rest assured, we will fight to get the truth about this unprecedented act.

The Heritage Oversight Project requested that federal officials process the FOIAs on an expedited basis, which would allow 10 days before the agencies must either affirm or deny the requests, or face litigation.

The request to NARA was signed by Heritage senior investigative counsel Roman Jankowski, who is also a contributing writer for the conservative nonprofits Daily Signal.

This raid, and what transpired before and after it, has affected American public confidence, Jankowski said in the request. As per the Trafalgar Group poll conducted after the Trump raid, 53.9 percent of likely general election voters believe Trumps political enemies are behind the FBI raid on President Trumps private home, and only 35.3 percent of likely general election voters believe it is due to an impartial justice system.

Howell signed the lengthy, eight-page request to DOJ, which seeks all communications mentioning Trump since Jan. 20, 2021, between and among DOJs Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Associate Attorney General, Office of the Solicitor General, Office of Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, Criminal Division, U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Florida, the FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service.

The Mar-a-Lago raid represents yet another example of the federal government weaponizing law enforcement to punish political enemies, silence critics, and send a message to those whom it views as enemies, Heritage President Kevin Roberts said in a separate statement. The Biden administration and the D.C. swamp are making it very clear that they will use all the power of the state to intimidate anyone who stands in their way.

Roberts added that the timing is suspect at best, given the upcoming elections and the Senates passage of a bill that would authorize the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents, who will be unleashed to target working and middle-class Americans in order to fund the lefts radical agenda.

Robertss comment may have been a product of the multiple time-consuming and costly IRS audits during the Clinton administration to which the Heritage Foundation and other conservative think tanks were subjected; none ever turned up any wrongdoing.

In a related development, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, similarly demanded in an Aug. 10 letter that NARA turn over all communications and documents concerning the raid. Comer was joined on the letter by the panels 19 other Republican members.

Law enforcement raiding a former presidents residence is unprecedented, the Comer letter told NARA. Committee Republicans are concerned that NARA would utilize the FBI to gather documents that the president, by the very nature of his constitutional role, could declassify himself, if this was indeed the case as media has reported.

The Biden administration is continuing to weaponize the FBI against political rivals.
School children wearing masks walk outside Condit Elementary School in Bellaire, outside Houston, Texas, on Dec. 16, 2020. (Francois Picard/AFP via Getty Images)

Houston ISD Approves $2 Million Funding for More Firearms, Shields for District Police in Wake of Mass Shootings

Houston Independent School District (ISD) trustees on Aug. 11 passed a motion that will allow $2 million in funding for more firearms and shields for the district police.

The decision comes after Superintendent Millard House II said last week that the district was not prepared to handle an active shooter attack with its current equipment.

Trustees debated for an hour before voting 63 on the measure, The Houston Chronicle reports.

Specifically, the measure will allow for the purchase of 200 rifles, rifle ammunition, and 200 ballistic plate shields for the districts police department.

Trustee Dani Hernandez had initially suggested postponing the measure by a week pending further specific information regarding the decision, explaining: I need more information about the broader safety plan for the district in general. At this time, I dont believe I have all the information I need. I dont think that we have explored all options at this pointsafety is essential for HISD.

However, that suggestion was ultimately overruled by voters in a 36 vote.

The Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit organization that advocates for voter rights, racial and economic justice, and criminal justice reform had also opposed the measure providing funding for the rifles and shields.

We have repeatedly demanded that HISD stop over-investing in school policing, but time and time again, HISD has failed to act in the best interest of the community and its students. Rather than spending that money on counseling and social work services to serve their students more holistically, the organization said in a statement to ABC13 Houston.

No Emotions Like Looking at Your Child in a Casket

However, supporters said the funding would allow police to better respond to mass shootings or other emergency incidents.

I see the emotion on this dais but there are no emotions like looking at your child in a casket, said Trustee Kathy Blueford-Daniels, whose son was killed by a shooter roughly 16 years ago in a case of mistaken identity, according to The Houston Chronicle. If the chief will have enough ammunition to slow down someone coming in  Im all for it.

The motion to pass the latest measure follows the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas which left 19 children and two adults dead. That deadly shooting has prompted schools across Texas and the rest of the country to assess the safety protocols they currently have in place.

Thursdays vote also follows HISD Superintendent Millard House IIs comments last week that the police department would not be prepared if it were to be targeted by an active shooter.

I think there are very few school districts that are prepared for an active shooter with an automatic weapon, House said in a news conference Wednesday, ABC13 Houston reports. Thats a very different type of perpetrator.

The Superintendent praised Thursdays passing of the motion and said it would ultimately provide better protection to the district should an active shooter situation occur.

I mentioned last week were not increasing the number of guns that we have for a particular reason, House said during the meeting, according to ABC13. The bigger issue here is assuring that (officers) have all of the tools possible so that they can be as safe as possible and provide the kind of safety that we want them to provide for our campuses.

Meanwhile, HISDs Police Chief Pete Lopez told the news outlet that strict policies and procedures will be enacted to ensure that the rifles are only used in the event of an active shooter or emergency and not by police walking around campuses.

The equipment we purchase that the board approved is mainly for active shooter incidents, Lopez said. Officers are not going to be walking around campuses with rifles slung across their back or their shoulders, or carrying shields.

Lopez added that HISD, in addition to bolstering its equipment supplies through the vote, has also changed perimeter fences on campuses and further advanced its security camera system to better protect against an active shooter situation.

They are also conducting exterior door checks and will continue to do so once a week throughout the school year, according to Lopez.
Self-made writer Mark Twain drew inspiration from the rough and ready West

Twentieth-century American author William Faulkner called him the father of American literature. But few of his compatriots today know of his raucous literary upbringing in a silver-mining boomtown. Unaccomplished and undecided as to his future, he first took up writing as a career in Nevada, and there he adopted a pen name and attracted a readership.

Today, Mark Twain is esteemed as one of our nations most revered writers and humorists.

Riches in Words

Samuel Langhorne Clemens set foot in Virginia City to work at the newspaper Territorial Enterprise in September 1862, 15 months after he rode west on the Overland stage with his older brother Orion, the newly appointed secretary of the Nevada Territory. The 26-year-old adventurer spent most of that time prospecting for gold and silver, enduring hard manual labor and wretched quarters, and living on alkali water and whang leather.

He showed up at the newspaper wearing a scruffy slouch hat, a faded blue flannel shirt, and threadbare trousers that hung on his boot tops. A tangle of reddish-brown hair fell to his shoulders and a mass of tawny beard dropped half way to his waist, according to his first biographer.

In this extremity, Clemens turned to journalism. As it happened, the Enterprise had published breezy burlesques he had submitted with the pseudonym Joshpresumably intended as more verb than nounthat convinced co-owner and editor Joseph Goodman to offer him a job. Twenty-five dollars a week, Mark Twain would write, it looked like bloated luxurya fortunea sinful and lavish waste of money.

It was on the cusp of flush times when devilish spending and feverish mining activity shaped the Comstock Lode culture. Swelling to a population of more than 15,000 in the rush of 1863, Virginia City was poised to become a sagebrush metropolis. Even so, the Missouri son was under no illusions: We may want poetry, but the landscape looks something like a singed cat.

Mark Twain, before he adopted his signature mustache, 1863. (Courtesy of Mark Twain Papers & Project. Restored by Maria Coulson)

The Territorial Enterprise had just moved into its new, three-story brick building on bustling C Street crowded with quartz wagons and freight teams. The oldest and most prominent newspaper in the territory, it was a thriving daily, employing a fistful of columnists and a covey of reporters whom Goodman handled with a loose rein, nurturing their creative talents and high spirits. The brash and slapdash Sam Clemens thrived under the casual regime.

Sledgehammer Humor and Stirring News

His stint on the newspaper introduced him to journalists who would have great influence on his development as a writer. They were men who believed in robust, spirited journalism, who believed in giving full play to rough humor. Clemenss sledgehammer comic style evoked guffaws from the rambunctious miners that echoed off the mountains and coursed down the canyons of the mother lode. He grabbed their attention by either amusing or irritating them with writing as erratic as his moods, sometimes approaching brilliance, sometimes descending into banality.

Straight news was too mundane for the novice reporter. Stirring news was what a paper needed, and he considered himself peculiarly endowed with the ability to furnish it. He recognized such stories were easily concocted: Exaggeration could propel the most trivial event onto the front page. His first day on the job, he recalled a decade later in his rollicking memoir Roughing It:

I found one wretched old hay-wagon dragging in from the country. But I made affluent use of it. I multiplied it by sixteen, brought it into town from sixteen different directions, made sixteen separate items of it, and got up such another sweat about hay as Virginia City had never seen in this world. Presently, when things began to look dismal again, a desperado killed a man in a saloon and joy returned once more. I wrote up the murder with a hungry attention to details. Twains presumed desk in the Territorial Enterprise. It was rebuilt following the Great Fire of 1875. (Maria Coulson)

Around the newspaper, Clemens was known for a foul-smelling pipe that his colleagues dubbed The Remains and for a sulphurous temper that led them to call him The Incorrigible. Although he could be exasperating, the reporter and later city editor was liked and admired by his colleagues. Back in the old days Sam was the best company, Goodman said, the drollest entertainer and the most interesting fellow imaginable. His humor always cropped out.

Taunting Hunk of Stone

After about a month on the Territorial Enterprise, Clemens created the Petrified Man hoax to ridicule the flurry of dubious newspaper accounts of fossilized remains that had fired the publics imagination. The mania was becoming a little ridiculous. I felt called upon to destroy this growing evil. I chose to kill the petrification mania with a delicate, a very delicate satire.

With solemn absurdity, he recounted the discovery of a stony mummy in nearby Gravelly Ford, exemplified by his ingenious depiction of its pose. The body was in a sitting posture, and leaning against a huge mass of croppings; the attitude was pensive, the right thumb resting against the side of the nose, the left thumb partially supported the chin, the fore-finger pressing the inner corner of the right eye and drawing it back partly open. An inquest conducted by Justice Sewell of Humboldt City concluded the deceased came to his death from protracted exposure.

This and his subsequent humbugs were intended to be humorous. Success demanded they carry immediate conviction but only temporary deception. The trick was to achieve superficial plausibility; Clemens did that in The Petrified Man, employing his most sober reportorial style.

The story was quickly picked up by other newspapers and spread east. It bred hostility from editors who could not forgive themselves for their slow-witted failure to read the satirical tale intelligently. Through the hoax, Clemens ridiculed the local politician Sewall and mocked a gullible public and press with a taunting hunk of stone winking and thumbing its nose at them.

To find a petrified man, or break a strangers leg, or cave an imaginary mine, or discover some dead Indians in a Gold Hill tunnel, or massacre a family at Dutch Nicks, were feats and calamities that we never hesitated about devising when the public needed matters of thrilling interest for breakfast, Mark Twain wrote in 1868. The seemingly tranquil ENTERPRISE office was a ghastly factory of slaughter, mutilation and general destruction in those days.

Clemens gained a reputation in the Western press as half-cocked, ludicrous, smart-alecky, and maniacal. Some serious-minded editors dismissed him as a frivolous fool. Others gasped at his audacity but were eager to invigorate their columns with his provocative and uproarious words lifted from the Enterprise. Regrettably, most of the stories that gained him notoriety were lost in the Great Fire of 1875 that ignited Virginia City.

Two Whiskeys and Two Marks

A decade after the nom de plume Mark Twain first appeared in the Territorial Enterprise on February 3, 1863, the author claimed hed appropriated it from a Mississippi riverboat captain. More convincing, Comstock Lode legend holds he acquired the pen name before it ever appeared in print, derived from his habit of striding into the Old Corner saloon and calling out Mark Twain! in his Southern drawl to the bartender. It was a term from his Mississippi steamboat pilot days signifying two fathomssafe water. But in Virginia City, it meant set up two whiskeys for Sam Clemens and put down two marks against his account.

On major assignment late that fall, Mark Twain went to Carson City to cover the first Nevada Constitutional Convention ahead of anticipated statehood. Undoubtedly, it was satisfying for the former prospector to return to the capital, where a year earlier he had been regarded as no more than an amusing indolent fellow. The shabby clothes and scraggly beard of his mining days were gone. Now stylishly mustachioed and coiffured, he dressed for journalism in a frock coat and matching vest, starched shirt, and silk bow tie.

The dapper reporter could be affable and garrulous but was too reticent to be a grinning glad-hander. Straight-faced in his photographs, he avowed, There is nothing more damning to go down to posterity than a silly, foolish smile caught and fixed forever. A literary critic and close friend of young Mark Twain affirmed he did not relinquish himself easily. He glimmered at you from the narrow slits of fine blue-greenish eyes, and he was apt to smile in your face with a subtle but amiable perception, and yet with a sort of remote absence: you were all there for him, but he was not all there for you.

An 1864 lithograph

of the Territorial Enterprise Building. (Courtesy of Mackay School of Mines. Restored by Maria Coulson)

Outgrown Britches

By 1864, Mark Twain began to show signs of the doldrums, of craving a change of scene, of needing a new challenge. He was 29 when he left Virginia City in late May and immature for his age. Flat-out arrogant, he reprimanded the Enterprise owners in their own columns and gave public instruction in journalism to the editor of the Carson City Independent.

He had learned all he was likely to on the Comstock. Enterprise comrade and mentor Dan De Quille perhaps best took his professional measure: Mark Twain, as a reporter, was earnest and enthusiastic in such work as suited himreally industriousbut when it came to cast-iron items, he gave them a lick and a promise.

The Territorial Enterprise granted him a free hand to cultivate imaginative writing. This freedom was in some respects harmful. At times, he wrote with too little restraint, which could result in coarseness or overzealousness.

The 21 months Mark Twain spent in Nevada journalism were an important catalyst to his growing confidence for self-expression and clearly contributed to his development as a writer. His stories, hoaxes, and parodies grew into a thoroughly American literary genre. Through his keen wit, vivid imagery, and carefree writing style fully realized in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he fashioned a satirical and hilarious life on the Western mining frontier.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
Teddy bears and flowers are sit as a memorial outside of the Greenwood Park Mall food court, in Greenwood, Ind., on July 18, 2022. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

How the FBI Undercounts Armed Citizen Responders to Mass Killersand Media Play Along

The shooting that killed three people and injured another at a Greenwood, Indiana, mall on July 17 drew broad national attention because of how it endedwhen 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, carrying a licensed handgun, fatally shot the attacker.

While Dicken was praised for his courage and skillsqueezing off his first shot 15 seconds after the attack began, from a distance of 40 yardsmuch of the news coverage drew from FBI-approved statistics to assert that armed citizens almost never stop such attackers: Rare in US for an active shooter to be stopped by bystander (Associated Press); Rampage in Indiana a rare instance of armed civilian ending mass shooting (Washington Post); and After Indiana mall shooting, one hero but no lasting solution to gun violence (New York Times).

Evidence compiled by the organization I run, the Crime Prevention Research Center, and others suggest that the FBI undercounts by an order of more than three the number of instances in which armed citizens have thwarted such attacks, saving untold numbers of lives. Although those many news stories about the Greenwood shooting also suggested that the defensive use of guns might endanger others, there is no evidence that these acts have harmed innocent victims.

So much of our public understanding of this issue is malformed by this single agency, notes Theo Wold, former acting assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice. When the Bureau gets it so systematicallyand persistentlywrong, the cascading effect is incredibly deleterious. The FBI exerts considerable influence over state and local law enforcement and policymakers at all levels of government.

As many on the left seek more limits on gun ownership and use in response to mass shootings and the uptick in violent crime, and many on the right seek greater access to firearms for protection, the medias reliance on incomplete statistics in covering incidents such as the one at the Greenwood Park Mall takes on new significance.

The FBI defines active shooter incidents as those in which an individual actively engages in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated, public area. But it does not include those it deems related to other criminal activity, such as a robbery or fighting over drug turf.

The Bureau reports that only 11 of the 252 active shooter incidents it identified for the period 20142021 were stopped by an armed citizen. An analysis by my organization identified a total of 281 active shooter incidents during that same period and found that 41 of them were stopped by an armed citizen.

That is, the FBI reported that 4.4 percent of active shooter incidents were thwarted by armed citizens, while the CPRC found 14.6 percent.

Two factors explain this discrepancyone, misclassified shootings; and two, overlooked incidents. Regarding the former, the CPRC determined that the FBI reports had misclassified five shootings: In two incidents the Bureau notes in its detailed write-up that citizens possessing valid firearms permits confronted the shooters and caused them to flee the scene. However, these cases were not listed as being stopped by armed citizens because the attackers were later apprehended by police. In two other incidents the FBI misidentified armed civilians as armed security personnel. In one incident, the FBI simply failed to mention the citizen engagement at all.

For example, the Bureaus report about the Dec. 29, 2019 attack on the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas, that left two men dead does not list this as an incident of civic engagement because the perpetrator was fatally shot by a parishioner who had volunteered to provide security during worship. That man, Jack Wilson, told RealClearInvestigations he was not a security professional. He said that 19 to 20 members of the congregation were armed that day, and they didnt even keep track of who was carrying a concealed weapon.

As for the second factoroverlooked casesthe FBI, more significantly, missed an additional 25 incidents identified by CPRC in which the active shooters were thwarted by armed civilians (see full list here). These include:

An Aug. 31, 2021, incident in Syracuse, New York, in which a property manager pulled out a legally possessed 9mm handgun and fatally wounded a man who opened fire on a crowd outside a building. The district attorney credited the property manager with saving the lives of several individuals.

An Aug. 11, 2021 incident in San Antonio, Texas, in which a woman who crashed into a parked car in San Antonios West Side neighborhood climbed out of her vehicle and began shooting indiscriminately at people who came out of their homes to rush to her aid. An armed resident fired back and shot the driver to death.

A Feb. 13, 2019 incident in Colonial Heights, Tennessee, in which a man, after killing his wife, turned his gun on others in dental office where she worked. A patient who had a concealed handgun permit holder shot the murderer as he was aiming at another person.

These omissions and discrepancies are not surprising given the limits of data collection and the judgment calls involved in categorizing such incidents. Law enforcement agencies around the country do not provide comprehensive reports of active shooter incidents, so local news coverage is a crucial source of information. The FBI contracts out this work to the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University and then reviews and refines its findings.

The CPRC discovered cases the Center missed, but even the CPRCs approach almost certainly misses incidents. [T]heres no reason to think that the [CPRCs] list is complete, since there may well have been such incidents that werent covered in the news in a way that would come up on the Centers searches, UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh wrote in June.

Asked about these discrepancies, the FBI declined to address them. A representative from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, M. Hunter Martindale, suggested that its numbers were not definitive:

We do appreciate you sending potential active shooter cases for the FBI team to review for inclusion in the active shooter dataset. As promised, I sent the email chain to the FBI team yesterday. As Im sure you know, the FBI Active Shooter reports are released on an annual basis. My assumption is that any amendment retroactively adding cases would likely be included in a release with the annual report.

Although collecting such data is fraught with challenges, some see a pattern of distortion in the FBI numbers because the errors almost exclusively go one way, minimizing the life-saving actions of armed citizens.

Whether deliberately through bias or just incompetence, the FBI database of active shooters cannot be trusted, said Gary Mauser, an emeritus professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada who has extensively studied gun control and defensive gun uses. Mausers concern dovetails with those voiced by Rep. Jim Jordan in a July 27 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. Jordan alleged that whistleblowers have come forward claiming political biases in the FBIs domestic terrorism data.

Despite these problems, the FBIs numbers are routinely cited as authoritative by the news media. In its coverage of the Greenwood mall attack, the Washington Post linked to a Bureau report while informing readers, In recent studies of more than 430 active shooter incidents dating back to 2000, the FBI found that civilians killed gunmen in just 10 cases.

In its Greenwood article, the Associated Press reported, From 2000 to 2021, fewer than 3 percent of 433 active attacks in the U.S. ended with a civilian firing back, according to the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University.

When my organization emailed Ed White, the AP reporter who wrote that article, about omissions in the Texas State numbers, he responded: Our reporting, citing the specific research by Texas State U. over a 20-year period, was accurate. No correction was necessary.

News outlets often raise concerns that allowing concealed handgun carry will result in innocent bystanders being shot or in police accidentally shooting permit holders. Whites AP dispatch on the Greenwood shooting quoted Adam Lankford, identified as a criminal justice expert at the University of Alabama, who stated: While its certainly a good thing in this mall shooting that someone was able to stop it before it went any further, lets not think we can substitute that outcome in all past and future incidents. If everyones carrying a firearm, the risk that something bad happens just gets much larger.

Carl Moody, a professor at William & Mary who studies mass public shootings, told RCI that such warnings are misleading:

The media and gun control advocates always seem concerned with the worst possible outcomes when firearms are involved. We know that armed citizens do, in fact, stop active shooters. And while theres a possibility of a bystander getting hurt, the data show that an armed citizen has yet to accidentally shoot an innocent bystander. We also know that the police have accidentally shot the hero citizen just once. That was in Colorado on June 21, 2021. Thats not something that would normally happen, because the police usually arrive long after the incident is resolved.

Experts interviewed by the Washington Post and New York Times argue that stopping these attacks should be left to the police. I think you might get more individuals carrying, sort of primed for something to happen, which is particularly dangerous  in reality thats the job of the police, Indiana University Bloomington law professor Jody Madeira told the Washington Post.

In reality thats the job of the police: But in a 2013 survey, many in law enforcement begged to differ. (PoliceOne)

But many in law enforcement disagree. In March 2013, PoliceOne surveyed its 380,000 active-duty and 70,000 retired law enforcement officer members. Eighty-six percent of members believed that casualties from mass public school shootings could be reduced or avoided altogether if citizens had carried permitted concealed handguns in those places. Seventy-seven percent supported arming teachers and/or school administrators who volunteer to carry at their school. No other policy to protect children and school staff had such widespread support.

A deputy in uniform has an extremely difficult job in stopping these attacks, Sarasota County, Florida, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman told RCI. These terrorists have huge strategic advantages in determining the time and place of attacks. They can wait for a deputy to leave the area, or pick an undefended location. Even when police or deputies are in the right place at the right time, those in uniform who can be readily identified as guards may as well be holding up neon signs saying, Shoot me first. My deputies know that we cannot be everywhere.

Similarly, Massad Ayoob, a self-defense advocate who has taught police techniques to law enforcement since 1974, noted: When a life-threatening crisis strikes and seconds count, the real first responders are the citizens present.

The FBIs active shooting reports do not mention whether the attacks occur in gun-free zones. The issue is that when places are posted as gun-free zones, law-abiding citizens obey those rules and would be unable to stop the attacks in those areas, notes Professor Moody.

Surveys show that criminologists and economists had the same top four preferred policies for stopping mass public shootings. On a 1 to 10 scale where 1 was the least effective policy and 10 the most, American criminologists rated the following policies most highly: Allow K-12 teachers to carry concealed handguns (6.0), allow military personnel to carry on military bases (5.6), encourage the elimination of gun-free zones (5.3) and relax federal regulations that pressure companies to create gun-free zones (5.0). The top four policies for economists were the same, but in a different order: encourage the elimination of gun-free zones (7.9), relax federal regulations that pressure companies to create gun-free zones (7.8), allow K-12 teachers to carry concealed handguns (7.7), and allow military personnel to carry on military bases (7.7).

The general public seems to agree. An early July survey by the Trafalgar Group showed that a plurality of American general election voters believe that armed citizens are the most effective element in protecting you and your family in the case of a mass shooting. First on the list was armed citizens at 42 percent, followed by local police (25 percent) and federal agents (10 percent). [None of the above was the answer chosen by 23 percent of respondents.] A survey by YouGov in Maybefore the Uvalde, Texas, attackfound that by a margin of 51 percent to 37 percent American adults supported letting schoolteachers and administrations carry concealed handguns.
Mick Mulvaney (R) listens as then-President Donald Trump meets with members of the Republican Study Committee at the White House in Washington, U.S. on March 17, 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Informant Very Close to Trump May Have Tipped FBI: Ex-Chief of Staff

Trump lawyer refutes claims of an informant, says 'I'll believe it when I see it'

Former White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said that someone close to President Donald Trump may have tipped off the FBI before its raid Monday.

When asked by a CNN reporter Thursday about whether a person in Trumps orbit tipped off the FBI and knew where documents at Mar-a-Lago were, Mulvaney said that person would have been really close to the former president.

I didnt even know there was a safe at Mar-a-Lago, and I was the chief of staff for 15 months. This would be someone who was handling things on day to day, who knew where documents were, so it would be somebody very close to the president, he claimed.

My guess is there is probably six or eight people who had that kind of information. I dont know the people on the inside circle these days, so I cant give any names of folks who come to mind, but your instinct, I think, is a good one. If you know where the safe is, and you know the documents are in 10 boxes in the basement, youre pretty close to the president.

No Confirmation of Informant

The Epoch Times has contacted several Trump spokespeople for comment. Neither Trump, his lawyers, nor members of his family have publicly commented on whether they believe an FBI informant tipped off the raid.

A lawyer for Trump, Christina Bobb, told Fox News on Thursday that left-wing legacy media outlets are trying to sow division with the former presidents camp about an informant. Bobb said that regarding an informant, Ill believe it when I see it.

After serving as Trumps chief of staff, Mulvaney was appointed to a position as special envoy to Northern Ireland after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Mulvaney resigned from that position on Jan. 6 and has often criticized Trump.

In early 2022, Mulvaney was hired by CBS News as a political pundit and has been increasingly critical of the former president. Mulvaney in late June told the outlet to count me among one of the Republicans who hopes [Trump is] not the nominee at this point.

The former president confirmed the FBI Mar-a-Lago raid on Monday evening, accusing the Biden administration and Department of Justice of being politically motivated.

Since then, the FBI and Justice Department have issued no public comments on the search until Attorney General Merrick Garlands press conference on Thursday afternoon. The attorney general confirmed that he personally approved the FBI raid and said his agency is filing a motion to unseal a warrant that was used to search the former presidents property.

I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter  the Department does not take such a decision lightly, Garland said.
Judge Quashes Subpoena for Whitmer Testimony: Defendants File Emergency Appeal

A trial court judge has quashed a subpoena issued on Aug. 8 that would have required Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to testify in a lawsuit she brought to block county prosecutors from enforcing the states strict abortion law.

Whitmer, a first-term Democrat seeking reelection in November, filed a motion to quash the subpoena on Aug. 9, claiming that she was too busy to appear at an evidentiary hearing on her case scheduled for Aug. 17.

She suggested that the defendants in the case bring in other executive branch officials to testify instead and contended that her personal appearance at the hearing would pose security risks to herself and the court.

In an order issued on Aug. 10, Oakland County Circuit Judge James Cunningham agreed with Whitmers arguments and quashed the subpoena, writing in part, The Court finds good cause, for reasons stated in the motion, to grant the motion. As such, Plaintiff Gretchen Whitmer is excused from compliance with the subpoena filed on August 8, 2022.

Attorney David Kallman (Courtesy photo/Kallman Legal Group)

On Aug. 11, defense attorney David Kallman, representing Jackson County Prosecutor Jerard Jarzynka and Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker, filed for emergency leave to appeal the quashing of Whitmers subpoena.

He is asking the Court of Appeals to force Whitmer to appear and testify.

The appeal states in part, The Circuit Court issued the order without allowing Appellants to respond in any manner and did not hold hearings on this issue.

Kallman told The Epoch Times that this is not the first time the court left his clients out of the process.

Whitmer filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the Oakland Circuit Court at around 4 p.m. on Aug. 1, to restrain the defendants from enforcing MCL 750.14. The court granted the TRO and issued an order approximately one hour later without hearing from any other party in the case.

The appeal rests largely on the principle of American jurisprudence that a defendant can confront his accuser and contest the claims made against him.

Kallman stated, It goes against all principles of fairness and justice to permit anyone, let alone a government official, to bring a lawsuit, make serious claims against defendants, and then assert she is too busy to come to court to defend her claims.

My clients did not bring this suit, Governor Whitmer did. She brought this on herself.

It is the height of hypocrisy to bring a lawsuit, seek immediate relief, and then claim she is too busy to participate in her own suit when challenged.

The emergency leave to appeal filed by the defendants states in part, Plaintiff claims it is unusual to subpoena a high-ranking government official.

It is also unusual for a governor to sue a county prosecutor to cease enforcement of duly-enacted state laws with which the governor personally disagrees, said Kallman.

Kallman told The Epoch Times that Whitmer had no qualms about dragging the county prosecutors into court.

My clients are high-ranking elected officials in their jurisdictions. It flies in the face of fairness and due process for the governor to be permitted to force them to go to court, while she contends the same standard does not apply to her.

The legal battle with Jarzynka and Becker began on April 7, 2022, when Whitmer, in anticipation of the June 24 overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court, filed a lawsuit to keep state and county officials from enforcing the strict abortion statute that would be triggered into effect by the High Courts decision.

Whitmer simultaneously pressured the Michigan Supreme Court to expeditiously rule that abortion is a right protected by the state constitution.

On May 17, the Michigan Court of Claims issued a temporary injunction preventing state officials and county prosecutors from enforcing what Whitmer calls the extreme 1931 abortion ban.

The 1931 statute (MCL 750.14) makes it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion for any reason other than to save the life of the mother.

In an Aug. 10 press release, Whitmer said of the Court of Claims order, The court ruled that the 1931 law likely violated the Michigan Constitutions Due Process Clause and would result in irreparable harm if enforced.

Abortion advocates in the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort, Ky., demonstrate in April against a bill adopted by lawmakers to place on Novembers ballot a proposed amendment that declares there is no right to abortion in the states constitution, one of at least six abortion-related ballot measures that will go before voters in 2022. (AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner)

On Aug. 1, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued an order that the May 17 injunction from the Court of Claims applies to state officials only and does not extend to county prosecutors.

On the same day as the Court of Appeals ruling, Whitmer went to Oakland County Circuit Court and won a temporary restraining order that prevented county prosecutors from enforcing what she called the states draconian abortion law.

Commenting on the disarray and confusion of Michigans judicial system, Whitmer said in an Aug. 10 statement, The back and forth of these lower-court rulings just over the course of a single day confirmed that the Michigan Supreme Court must actto determine the constitutionality of abortion in Michigan.

Whitmer stated that she will continue to fight like hell to protect Michiganders from suffering irreparable harm to their rights and their health.

To that, Kallman responded, I wonder if Governor Whitmer has considered the irreparable harm done to the aborted babies.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk towards Marine One as they depart the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago, the President's private club, where they will spend Christmas and New Years Eve in Washington on Dec. 23, 2020. (Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images)

Judge Unseals Mar-a-Lago Raid Warrant, Reveals Why FBI Is Investigating Trump

The seven-page warrant that authorized the FBI to search former President Donald Trumps property earlier this week was unsealed Friday, and it shows that Trump is under federal investigation for obstruction of justice and other alleged violations.

Trump is under investigation for alleged violations of 18 USC 2071concealment, removal, or mutilation; 18 USC 793 of the Espionage Actgathering, transmitting, or losing defense information; and 18 USC 1519destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations, according to the warrant, which was unsealed by Judge Bruce Reinhart on Friday afternoon. A conviction under these statutes can lead to imprisonment or fines.

The search and seizure warrant shows FBI agents targeted the 45 Office, all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS (former president of the United States) and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate.

Agents were granted authority to seize all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed, according to the warrant. That includes documents with classification markings and presidential records that were drafted between Jan. 20, 2017, and Jan. 20, 2021when Trump was in office.

The FBI didnt try to obtain access to search private guest rooms, including members of Mar-a-Lago, according to the warrant. Earlier this week, the judge ordered the Department of Justice to file a response after several groups requested the warrant unsealed.

Federal agents also took a set of alleged top secret/SCI documents, four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents, and three sets of confidential documents, according to a property receipt unsealed alongside the warrant Friday. Its not clear what the documents entailed.

Response

Trumps lawyers have argued that the former president used his authority as president to declassify the material before he departed office in early 2021.

The Biden administration is in obvious damage control after their botched raid where they seized the Presidents picture books, a hand-written note, and declassified documents, Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich told Fox News as the warrant was unsealed Friday. This raid of President Trumps home was not just unprecedented, but unnecessaryand they are leaking lies and innuendos to try to explain away the weaponization of government against their dominant political opponent. This is outrageous.

Local law enforcement officers in front of the home of former U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

The Department of Justice on Thursday filed a motion to unseal the warrant unless Trump objects to the move. The filing came around the same time Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that he personally approved the FBIs search in Florida.

Not only will I not oppose the release of the documents, Trump wrote Thursday, referring to the FBIs warrant. I am going a step further by encouraging the immediate release of those documents, he said.

And on Friday, Trump posted that the documents the FBI alleged seized were all declassified and agents they could have had [the documents] anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago. He added, It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request.

Trump also wrote that Former President Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots!

The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that some documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items sought by the FBI. But Trump on Friday morning said the report is a hoax and a continuation of the Trump-Russia collusion narrative that was pushed by legacy news outlets starting in late 2016.

Republicans have said the unprecedented FBI raid is a politicized attempt to target a former president who is currently mulling a 2024 run. Since Monday, several GOP lawmakers have called on federal agencies to release the affidavit, which would provide more details as to what information the FBI was acting upon when it attempted to obtain the warrant.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote on Twitter Friday that the Department of Justice must release the information as to why a warrant was necessary, not what was taken  they can redact the names and other sensitive information, but DOJ must lay their cards on the table.
Long-Haul Trucks May Be First Fully Autonomous Vehicles

The race to achieve fully autonomous driving is on with companies like Tesla, Cruise, Uber, Googles Waymo, and others hoping to be first.

However, long-haul trucking may be the one to win the race, and the reason is simple: the need is great, and the reward is significant.

Indeed, the supply chain crisis will only worsen without moving to fully autonomous long-haul trucks, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA). Plus, fully autonomous trucks could reduce operating costs by approximately 40 percent.

Escalating Shortages

At the 2022 National Conference of State Legislators, State Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-Fla.) said he believes 2030 is the year of automation. Still, long-haul trucking could get there sooner. He said millennials dont want to be long haul drivers, and our drivers are aging, but yet we have to move products around this country.

According to The Trucking Industry: A Research Guide, published by the Library of Congress, theres currently a shortfall of approximately 50,000 qualified long-haul truckers.

Further, in 2018, the ATA released a report stating that by 2028, there could be a shortage of close to 160,000 drivers. ATAs Chief Economist, Bob Costello, commented about the lack. The combination of a surging freight economy and carriers need for qualified drivers could severely disrupt the supply chain, he warned.

In 2021, ATA updated its driver shortage forecast, At current trends, the shortage could surpass 160,000 in 2030, indicating that ATA believes the shortage is getting worse, not better.

A self-driving truck or autonomous truck is on display at the ITS World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services held at the CCH Congress Center in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Oct. 13, 2021. (AXEL HEIMKEN/AFP via Getty Images)

ATA said the trends influencing driver demographics are a high average age of current drivers leading to high retirement and women not wanting to work as truckers.

The failure of drivers to pass drug tests, federal mandates related to age, lifestyle issues (people not wanting to be away from home), and failure of candidates to meet carriers hiring standards have also been a problem.

Efforts to recruit more and better candidates are ongoing, but even adding higher pay and generous benefitsincluding paying for collegeand lowering the driving age requirement to 18 for 80,000-pound rigs havent solved the labor crisis.

And while some believe the above-added benefits will help resolve the driver shortage over time, others are less optimistic and look to automation to solve the problem.

Autonomous Long-Haul Trucks

According to technology insider IEEE Spectrum, more than a dozen companies are developing autonomous trucks. Plus, developing autonomous long-haul trucking technology is easier than developing the technology for passenger vehicles.

Spectrum reports that while the underlying technology for autonomous cars and trucks are the same, passenger vehicles need to go anywhere its passenger wants.

Conversely, long-haul trucks generally follow fixed routes and spend most of their time on highways that are more predictable, and thanks to Global Positioning Systems (GPS), already have semi-autonomous modes of operation, it said.

A trucks size is also helpful. Trucks are also a better platform for autonomy, with their large size providing more power for computers and an improved field of view for sensors, which can be mounted higher off the ground.

Still, while rigs have certain advantages, they also present unique challenges.

Chuck Price, chief product officer at TuSimple, a leading global autonomous driving technology company, said the dynamics and functions of a truck are different.

Specifically, Price said that trucks need to sense conditions farther out as their stopping distance is much greater than a passenger vehicle. However, TuSimple noted it has a solution that involves multiple HD cameras looking up to 1,000 meters ahead.

In an industry first, TuSimple completed a Driver Out run (no one in the vehicle and no remote control from a person) on Dec. 22, 2021. A fully autonomous class 8 semi-truck started its journey in Tucson, Arizona, and traveled over 80 miles to arrive at a high-volume distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona.

In its press release, TuSimple stated, TuSimple aims to transform the $4 trillion global truck freight industry.

Fully Autonomous in 2027?

Thanks, in part, to companies like TuSimple, reports indicate that fully autonomous trucksincluding truck platoons of two or more trucks in which all trucks have a driver, but only the driver of the lead truck has full control of the vehicleare anticipated to appear on highways by 2027.

However, experts agree this advance will come in waves as technology and federal regulations change to meet evolving safety standards.
Louisiana Supreme Court Rejects Challenge, Allows Abortion Ban to Remain in Effect

The Supreme Court of Louisiana rejected an emergency application from abortion providers on Aug. 12, a move that allows the states abortion ban to continue.

States have been dealing with a blizzard of legal challenges brought by abortion activists and providers since the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling on June 24 that struck down the nearly five-decade Roe v. Wade precedent and returned the regulation of abortion to the states.

Since 2006, Louisiana has had a so-called trigger law on the books that was to take effect in the event that Roe was overturned. The law, one of many abortion restrictions enacted in the state in recent years, prohibits abortions except when a pregnant womans life is in danger. Violations of the law count as felonies and can be punished by 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Louisianas abortion law has been ruled on repeatedly by the courts since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Along the way, various judges blocked the ban, allowing abortions to proceed. One state judge blocked the law on July 21, only to be overruled by a higher court a week later.

But Louisianas highest court brought some legal certainty on Aug. 12 when it refused (pdf) an application brought by Shreveport abortion provider June Medical Services, which does business as Hope Medical Group for Women, challenging the states law.

Those challenging the law acknowledge that the state can forbid abortions but say that the abortion statute is rife with overly vague and sometimes contradictory language.

Only four of the seven justices participated in the decision, which was delivered in the form of a three-word sentence: Writ application denied. The court didnt provide reasons for its decision, and no dissents from the ruling were recorded.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, celebrated the courts decision.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has denied June Medicals writ, he said in a statement after the court ruling. Abortion remains illegal in Louisiana. I am pleased with the Courts decision and will continue fighting to end this legal circus.

An attorney for June Medical said the legal fight isnt over.

While it is disappointing that four of the seven justices, without any written explanation, issued a ruling that will effectively deny critical care to women throughout Louisiana, the litigation continues, and we are confident we can affect meaningful change, lawyer Joanna Wright told the Associated Press.

On July 19, Landry called out the New Orleans City Council, as well as the citys mayor, police chief, district attorney, and sheriff for defiantly vowing to not enforce the states abortion laws. Landry urged that state funding for projects in New Orleans be halted until the city agrees to enforce state laws.

The officials in New Orleans took an oath of office to support and enforce the laws of our state, yet they appear to have decided that some laws are not worthy of enforcement, Landry said at the time.

Nothing in the statutes, the City Charter, or the State Constitution permits these officials to blatantly ignore State law, conspire not to enforce it, and violate their oaths of office in this manner. In fact, our State Constitution prohibits this very conduct.
Man Pleads Guilty to Cyberstalking, Threatening to Kill Rep. Kevin Hern and Family

An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty on Wednesday for threatening to kidnap and kill a Republican congressman and his wife, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

Keith Eisenberger admitted to cyberstalking and making threatening statements about Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) and his family between Nov. 27, 2018, and May 11, 2022.

The U.S. Attorneys Office and our law enforcement partners will not tolerate online threats of violence meant to intimidate elected officials or members of our community, U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson said in a statement. Keith Eisenberger now understands there are legal repercussions to committing these criminal acts.

Eisenberger began making concerning statements when Hern succeeded Republican Rep. Jim Bridenstine in November 2018, when Bridenstine resigned to become NASA administrator.

The DOJ said Eisenberger was known for showing up uninvited and lying to gain entry to political events. Over time, Eisenbergers statements, which were made on social media and during visits and phone calls to Herns DC and Tulsa offices, became more violent.

Keith Eisenberger was known for showing up uninvited to political events & attempting to get close to politicians. Today, he pleaded guilty for cyberstalking & making multiple threatening statements regarding U.S. Representative Kevin Hern & his family. https://t.co/JCI8GEW8Vu pic.twitter.com/sq7u65fvbT  U.S. Attorney NDOK (@USAO_NDOK) August 10, 2022

At times, Hern required increased security as a result of some of the threats, according to court documents.

While the First Amendment gives us the right to express our own opinions, it does not protect those who cross the line of making violent criminal threats, said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge, Edward J. Gray. The FBI will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure elected officials can perform the duties of their office safely.

Charges

According to court documents, Eisenberger was escorted by armed U.S. Capitol Police officer away from Herns Washington, D.C., offices in January 2019, after he appeared demanding to see the congressman.

He later told U.S. Capitol Police special agents that he was angry with Hern because he believed the congressman had been appointed to the seat without Eisenberger being considered for it. He then stated that he had flown to Washington, D.C., on a one-way ticket and would not be returning until Hern resigned, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ, Eisenberger admitted that he threatened and harassed Hern on social media intending to cause emotional distress to Hern and his immediate family.

In November 2020, Eisenberger suggested on social media that Hern and the state of Oklahoma deserved to be federally executed and that if that was not feasible, then the resignation, death, or Herns expulsion was acceptable, according to an FBI affidavit (pdf).

According to court documents, in October 2021, Eisenberger said in a lengthy video posted to Facebookand later deletedthat he would assault Hern when the cameras are on us, whether it be at a debate, a conference, or elsewhere.

In another social media post on May 11, Eisenberger stated that he hoped to kidnap Hern and his wife from their beds. He further wished harm would come to the congressmans family.

May the God I invoke bring sudden cardiac seizing blessings upon Tammy Hern and her Hern children, Eisenberger wrote.

The FBI agent said Eisenbergers post named the street Hern lives on and that extra security was assigned to the congressmans home after the post.

The DOJ said that Eisenberger further admitted that during the same timeframe, he threatened to assault and kidnap Hern with the intent to interfere with the congressmans official duties and to retaliate against him.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar is prosecuting the case. Eisenberger faces up to 25 years in prison for threatening a member of office.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include a hyperlink to the FBIs affidavit.
Man Who Attempted Murder of Supreme Justice Called Himself Trans Gamer Girl

The suspect charged two months ago with attempting to murder a conservative justice, had identified himself as a male-to-female and a trans gamer girl named Sophie, according to online posts he previously wrote.

Nicholas John Roske, 26, attempted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on June 8, but was arrested near the justices personal home in Maryland. Carrying a firearm and ammunition, the pro-abortion activist from Simi Valley, California, said he was upset by the then-potential overturning of Roe v. Wade, a 50-year-old court decision that legalized abortion nationwide in the United States.

A recent FBI application (pdf) for a search warrant said Roskes electronic and telecommunications services accounts on Reddit, Google, and Discord, contained evidence including the suspect vowing to remove some people from the supreme court.

I could get [kill] at least one, which would change the votes for decades to come, he told one Reddit user in a May 25 exchange.

A social media review by federal agents also revealed the biological male had also portrayed himself online as a transgender woman and advocated mandatory abortion as a means to wipe out the human race, according to the affidavit.

In some posts, Roske named himself Sophie and introduced himself as MtF, meaning male-to-female, and as F4F, meaning female for female. He had also identified himself as a trans gamer girl and femme on Reddit Townhall reported on Wednesday. He also expressed interest in working for the FBI and posted personal ads describing himself as a pet that wants to be treated as less than human but still loved.

Radical View

In October 2018, he called abortion mandatory a relief to humankind. If no new people are born, humanity will end and thus human suffering will end, he wrote. I am aware how radical this view is, but I do hold it sincerely.

In the wake of the leaked draft majority opinion from the high court to overturn Roe v. Wade early in May this year, the man found out the conservative justices address, which was first publicized online by a leftist group.

Protesters march past Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaughs home in Chevy Chase, Maryland on June 8, 2022. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Between May 5 and June 8 when Roske was arrested, the search history on his cell phone included the phrases quietest semi auto rifle, Reagan assassination attempt, most effective place to stab someone, assassin skills, and how to be stealthy, among others, said the July 26 filing. Another review of his web history unveiled his visits to the Current Members page of the Supreme Courts website and the List of assassinations page on Wikipedia, agents found.

Roske was indicted on one count of Attempt to Assassinate Justice of United States, according to a June 12 court filing, facing a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

The Supreme Court handed down the reversal of Roe v. Wade at the end of June.
Mayor to Ban Group From Holding Events Due to Their Dangerous Vaccination Misinformation

The Mayor of Australias iconic Blue Mountains has announced that he will ban the Australian Vaccination risks Network (AVN) from using public land to disseminate dangerous misinformation about vaccinations.

I believe any request by anti-vaccination groups to hold events in the Blue Mountains should be refused, Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said in a statement on Aug. 12.

Specifically, he said that the application by the AVN to park their tour bus at a public park in the Blue Mountains should be rejected by the Council.

AVN is a not-for-profit, incorporated association that questions the quality of scientific evidence purporting to support the safety, effectiveness and necessity of vaccination as a means of preventing disease and achieving good health.

A group of parents and health professionals who were concerned about vaccination and vaccination mandates founded the organisation in 1994 in New South Wales.

AVN had stated in their application: I wish to seek permission to use parking at a public park within your Council on the 3rd Sep. 2022. Our organisation is the Australian Vaccination risks Network Inc, and we are planning to tour your area.

Their tours give those who have been injured or the families of those who died as a result of vaccines and the COVID jabs a voice.

Most media, the medical community and the government want to pretend that they dont exist, Founder and past President Meryl Dorey told the Epoch Times.

But the bus is a mobile studio where they are able to tell their stories and be believed. They are not anti-vaxxers, nor is the AVN. They did what they were told and they paid a high price. They do not deserve to be bullied, discriminated against, censored or segregated.

This is not about freedomits about science, Mayor Says

As Australia is still in the midst of a global pandemic and more than 12,500 people have died from COVID-19, Greenhill said that this was not the time for freedom.

Cases are again currently surging, and globally we have seen more than six million deaths, Greenhill said.

Greenhill criticised AVNs holding of medical associations accountable as being unscientific.

It is a view that is not based on scientific fact. This is not about freedomits about science. When it comes to vaccines, as with climate change, we defer to science, he said.

A sign reads Go straight home and Isolate at the exit of a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at the Highpoint shopping centre in Melbourne, Australia, on July 4, 2020. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Other points Greenhill wants the Council to acknowledge are that:

The dissemination of dangerous misinformation about public health matters challenges the gains made over the twentieth century to eradicate diseases.

To achieve herd immunity, 95 per cent of the population must be vaccinated to protect those vulnerable people who cannot.

Antivaccination campaigns put at risk those vulnerable members of our community.

COVID-19 has provided a salient example of how dangerous diseases can be without a vaccine.

Science must be put first, and misinformation about vaccines must be countered with balanced information, especially when so many people are anxious about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Blue Mountains mayor on the issue but has not received a comment at the time of publication.
A healthcare worker prepares to administer a vaccine for the prevention of monkeypox at the Pride Center in Wilton Manors, Fla., on July 12, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Medical Activists Fight Floridas Public Health Emergency Laws After COVID-19 Unveils Concerns

Florida has a Republican governor, a Republican-led state House, and Republican-led state Senate. However, it also has some of Americas harshest forced quarantine and public health laws. Some activists plan to change this situation.

The freedom of Americans to go where they want is under attack from laws made to combat public health emergencies, said lawyer R. Shawn McBride, the president of the American Freedom Information Institute.

During the pandemic, state governments gave themselves unconstitutional amounts of power to quarantine every resident, McBride said. In Florida, these laws were revised in minor ways and re-signed into law.

In 2002, Florida passed Statute 381.00315. This law gives Floridas state health officer huge amounts of power in a public health emergency.

The law states that the state health officer can order people examined, tested, treated, isolated, or quarantined during a public health emergency. The state health officer can isolate or quarantine anyone who is believed to pose a danger to public health. Under Florida law, police can be compelled to enforce these laws even if they dont want to.

Florida also passed Statute 768.381 early in the pandemic. This law was designed to protect hospitals from medical lawsuits when patients died of COVID-19, McBride said.

It basically says you get a free pass as a hospital or medical provider if you follow a government-issued treatment protocol, he said.

But now, it has resulted in hospitals using older CDC guidelines even when better treatments are available, according to doctors.

California Dreaming

According to Tom Oltorik, Florida state director of the medical freedom group MoveFreelyAmerica.org, Floridas quarantine laws are severebeyond the wildest dreams of liberal states like New York and California.

Tom Oltorik, the state director of Move Freely America on June 2018 (Jay Maloney)

It is the worst forced quarantine, forced treatment language in the country, he said. Its worse than New York states laws. The people in Washington state and California would dream of having laws like this.

In New York, a judge recently overturned one of Americas harshest COVID-19 quarantine regulations. The rule allowed the commissioner of public health to quarantine anyone at any time. But even this law allowed quarantined people to access a lawyer or judicial review after the fact.

The Florida law doesnt mention any way quarantined people can appeal their sentence.

Theyre not constitutionally friendly, Oltorik said of the Florida medical laws. They dont protect the people. They protect the institutions.

Ironically, one of Americas harshest quarantine laws is on the books in a state where the current governor strongly supports loose COVID-19 regulations, he said.

Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida was one of the first states to reopen during the pandemic. DeSantis also signed executive orders and legislation to end local COVID-19 restrictions, vaccine mandates, and mask mandates.

Given this record on COVID-19, DeSantis and Floridas GOP-led House and Senate would likely not use Statute 381.00315, Oltorik said.

But the law is still on the books, he added. In the future, Floridians could face harsh crackdowns in the name of public health under different leadership.

When Gov. DeSantis leaves office, the statutes are very alarming and could be used by a more liberally minded governor to lock the state down, Oltorik said.

For the first 60 days after declaring a public health emergency, Floridas state health officer has immense power to urge health measures on Florida residents. If residents refuse, the state health officer can order them quarantined. In cases where quarantines arent practical, the state health officer can force treatments. A 2019 judges guide opines that the state health officer could force vaccinations under Florida Statute 381.003(1)(e), which remains on Floridas books.

Individuals who are unable or unwilling to be examined, tested, or treated for reasons of health, religion, or conscience may be subjected to isolation or quarantine, the law reads.

Misguiding Guidelines

Another COVID-19 law, Statute 768.381, has encouraged Florida hospitals and doctors to continue using less-effective methods to treat COVID-19 patients, said Dr. Avery Brinkley. Brinkley has over 40 years of experience in medicine.

The text of Statute 768.381 states that any patient suing hospitals for the mistreatment of COVID-19 must prove that doctors committed gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

But if hospitals prove they followed government protocols to the best of their ability, they arent liable for a lawsuit, the law states.

Brinkley said that this rule has encouraged hospitals to follow outdated CDC protocols instead of providing the best known care to patients.

Ive never seen in my entire career, such corruptionreally collusion and corruptionbetween the federal agencies and big pharma, he said.

A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine in Utrecht, Netherlands, on March 15, 2022. (Jeroen Jumelet/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

The CDC most recently updated its guidelines on April 29. For care of COVID-19 patients, it is recommending the use of COVID-19 vaccines, antiviral drugs, and monoclonal antibodies.

According to Brinkley, the CDCs approaches havent been the best from the onset of the pandemic. Although the vaccines worked to help patients infected with the first strain of the virus, they are less effective now, he said.

And the CDC recommends prescribing antiviral drugs too late in the disease, he said. They dont give it early when replication is occurring, which is over [after] about the first five days of the illness.

It also recommends getting COVID-19 shots. But compared to other vaccines, the COVID-19 ones have more unknowns about their safety and long term impacts, he said.

According to the CDC, the COVID-19 vaccine has, for a small percentage of people, caused heart conditions. Most vaccines dont do so.

We dont even know all the long-term side effects, Brinkley said. Now, we have vaccine injuries, which are an enigma. Now were seeing more and more of them: neurologic, vascular, infertility, early miscarries, increased incidence of cancers, although any direct link to the vaccine remains unclear.

Moreover, the CDC doesnt recommend drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, he said. These drugs have a good track record against COVID-19, as reported by doctors using them in independent approaches to COVID-19 treatment.

Brinkley got COVID-19, and credits hydroxychloroquine with his recovery.

I know it works because it cured me overnight, he said. It sounds miraculous, but its true.

For patients, Statute 768.381 has resulted in worse medical treatment and unnecessary COVID-19 deaths, he said.

Theres no reason the early treatment should have been denied or are still being denied, Brinkley said.

No Cases

Despite the issues these laws cause, repealing them isnt as simple as filing a lawsuit and going to court, McBride said. Statute 381.00315 has rarely seen use, and courts need cases.

Lawyer R. Shawn McBride, the president of the American Freedom Information Institute, on March 18, 2018. (Supplied/Rick Tauceda)

You cant just go to court and say, I dont like that law, lets try to make it unconstitutional, he said. Usually, they want to see it being used or in action.

In a court case, Statute 381.00315 would likely be invalidated because it violates due process, he said. But it cant go to court unless the government starts enforcing it. Lawsuits are also unpredictable, he added.

As a result, the legal fight against it must run on lobbying rather than lawsuits.

Theres just not a live case right now, he said. Theyre not actually using the law right now, but they did assert their knowledge of the law and willingness to potentially use it in certain state forms in 2020.

McBride, Oltorik, and others have run a lobbying campaign to change Statute 381.00315. Currently, the campaign is focusing on persuading legislators, but McBride said that with more resources, the group would like to amend Floridas Constitution.

Its expensive with a lot of paperwork, but weve looked at the possibility, he said.

On Statute 768.381, the situation is more complex, Oltorik said. Although the law was originally designed to expire in May 2022, last-minute lobbying efforts by hospitals got legislators to extend indemnity for hospitals.

We found out that they had rushed it through the House, the House tabled it, handed it to the Senate who  everything was passed unanimously, and [they] forwarded it to the governor for signature based on a bunch of inaccuracies.

Although Move Freely America and other activist groups urged DeSantis to veto the bill, the governor didnt veto the bill, Oltorik said.

It was very disappointing for us, he said.
Mexican Army Seizes 1.5 Tons of Meth, 328 Pounds of Apparent Fentanyl in Fruit Juice Truck

The Mexican army on Aug. 11 seized almost 1.5 tons of meth and 328 pounds of apparent powdered fentanyl in the northern border state of Sonora, officials said on Thursday.

Soldiers, who were acting on a tip, also found 816,486 pills apparently containing fentanyl that had been packed inside 46 drums aboard the offending truck.

The Defense Department said it had obtained information that a truck carrying powdered fruit juice concentrates to the border city of Tijuana was also carrying drugs.

The source of the information was not confirmed, however. Mexican cartels frequently pass on information to officials regarding drug shipments owned by rival gangs.

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid that was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat acute pain. It is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. As little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal. It is also extremely addictive.

Mexican cartels are known to import fentanyl from China before pressing it into pills or mixing it into other counterfeit pills made to look like Xanax, Adderall, or Oxycodone, and selling them to unaware buyers who then accidentally overdose.

Officials have said that synthetic opioids like fentanyl are contributing to a major increase in overdose deaths in the United States.

Earlier this year in April, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said mass overdose events involving fentanyl were increasing across the country and killing Americans at an unprecedented rate.

Drug Traffickers Driving Addiction

Mass overdose events are described by the DEA as those involving three or more overdoses occurring within the same location and within a close period of time.

Already this year, numerous mass-overdose events have resulted in dozens of overdoses and deaths, DEA administrator Anne Milgram said in April. Drug traffickers are driving addiction, and increasing their profits, by mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs. Tragically, many overdose victims have no idea they are ingesting deadly fentanyl until its too late.

While the Biden administration has vowed to tackle the fentanyl overdose epidemic in the United States through various methods, such as disrupting drug traffickers supply chains and expanding treatment programs, some lawmakers have blamed President Bidens failed immigration policies for increased sales of fentanyl across the country.

Back in March, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) pointed to lax immigration policies, which have seen an unchecked influx of illegal immigrants arriving into the United States, for the increase of fentanyl sales in the state.

Biden and the Democrats open-border policies have allowed for fentanyl to flow across our borders and into our neighborhoods, Rosendale wrote on Twitter in March. Montana experienced a major increase in fentanyl deaths as a consequence. Our communities are less safe because of Bidens failed leadership.

In July, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sent a letter urging President Biden to declare fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction due to the number of Americans who are dying due to the destruction caused by the drug.

Michele Holbrook holds a photo of her son Chandler Cook, who died of an overdose, at her home in Fernandina Beach, Fla., on May 19, 2021. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Read More Mother Warns of Lockdown Impact After Losing Son to Overdose

Provisional data released in July by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that more than 100,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending Feb 2022.

Fentanyl is now the No. 1 cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45, according to Families Against Fentanyl, and is responsible for more deaths than suicide, car accidents, or gun violence in 2021.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Missouri sheriffs say they would be breaking the law by allowing an FBI audit on concealed carry details. The file image is from a "USA Firearms Training" on December 19, 2015 in Provo, Utah. (George Frey/Getty Images)

Missouri Sheriffs Resisting FBIs Concealed Carry Weapon Audit

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has so far randomly audited 24 sheriffs offices in Missouri in search of concealed carry weapon (CCW) details, but they all refused to comply, according to law enforcement authorities.

None released anything pertaining to CCWs themselves, but some did partially comply by answering procedural questions on issuing CCWs, said Moniteau Countys Sheriff Tony Wheatley.

They answered two of those standard questions but nothing, as far as I know, was given from any sheriff pertaining to any CCW files.

As previously reported in The Epoch Times, the FBI informed several Missouri County sheriffs that they would be showing up during August for onsite reviews of CCW permits.

In a statement to The Epoch Times, the FBI said the the auditing program is routine and has been in place for years.

As part of the planned Missouri audit, a small sampling of system transactions is to be inspected for compliance and to ensure there is no misuse of CJIS systems, the bureau said.

At no point would auditors require access to lists such as state approved concealed carry holders, nor would the CJIS Division retain information beyond what is necessary to address a specific compliance concern. Missouri has been through this routine audit multiple times, most recently in 2018.

Wheatley is among the sheriffs who received an email from Missouris Attorney General Eric Schmitts office on Aug. 9 in which he reminded law enforcement officers not to comply.

Were the highest ranking freely elected law enforcement of the state and its up to us to stand up for the rights of Missouri citizens, Wheatley told the Epoch Times.

The federal government, they overstep some, and its our job to put them in check and stand up for what we know is right.

Scotland Countys Sheriff Brian Whitney is also vowing to follow Schmitts direction in not complying with the FBI.

We received a letter by email on Aug. 8 from general counsel in the attorney generals office that advised us to not comply with any audit, Whitney said. I would be committing a crime if I complied.

So far, neither the Scotland County Sheriffs Office nor the Moniteau County Sheriffs Office have been approached by the FBI about an audit.

The audits are ongoing, Wheatley added. They could still knock on my door, but it wont do them a whole lot of good.

Schmitts email this week was a follow up to a July 13 letter in which he told FBI director Christopher Wray that obtaining information about CCW permit holders is illegal statewide.

Under the Revised Statues of Missouri Law 571.101.9(2), sharing protected information retained in the concealed carry permit system with the federal government is prohibited.

Any person who violates the provisions of this subdivision by disclosing protected information shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor, the subsection states.

Schmitt was a state Senator when the law was approved.

I proudly voted for it, he wrote to Wray. In the Heartland, we elect our county sheriffs who are members of our communities. The same cannot be said for your out-of-touch FBI.

You may wonder why there is such strong suspicion of federal agents here in the Show Me state. Simply put Missourians are hardworking, law-abiding citizens who dont need a national nanny state keeping tabs on us.

But more than that, over the last couple of years, weve seen story after story of incompetence and corruption at the highest levels of the FBI.

Our trust in your agency is at an all-time low.

But not all Missourians are in agreement with Schmitts position to directly oppose the FBI.

Its unfortunate that we, as a country, have become so divided that we cant even get cooperation between local law enforcement and the FBI, said John Wood, a former attorney for the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol.

Its also unfortunate that law enforcement issues have become politicized when they really shouldnt, and we need to rise above politics and work together.

Both Wood and Schmitt are gunning to replace U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt in the November mid-term elections. Wood is running as an Independent while Schmitt secured the Republican primary on Aug. 2.

Federal law enforcement are rogue entities now, said attorney Mark McCloskey, who was among the Republican Senate candidates that Schmitt defeated in the GOP primary.

They are no different than the KGB or STASI. Theyre just the political enforcement arm of the Democrat party and the powers that be.

Schmitts email to sheriffs statewide was sent a day after the unprecedented search of former president Donald Trumps Florida residence in Mar-a-Lago by FBI agents.

What the federal government is attempting to do in Missouri with CCW audits is completely inappropriate, particularly in light of what the FBI and the DOJ did down in Mar-a-Lago this week, McCloskey told The Epoch Times.

McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, were charged two years ago in the wake of the 2020 George Floyd protests for brandishing guns in front of their St. Louis home while Black Lives Matter demonstrators marched towards former Mayor Lyda Krewsons home nearby.

The McCloskeys have been waiting since May 4 for 22nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Joan Moriarty to rule on a motion to return their assault rifle and semi-automatic pistol.

I think his [Schmitt] letter to the sheriffs is entirely appropriate, McCloskey added.

In an Aug. 8 tweet, Schmitt said that if elected he would take a wrecking ball to this overtly political DOJ and the administrative state.

In response, Woodwho is a former United States attorney for the Western District of Missouri serving as the chief federal law enforcement official in Kansas City, St. Joseph, Columbia, Jefferson City, Springfield, and Joplinaccused Schmitt of political posturing.

Schmitt claims to support law enforcement, but apparently his loyalty to Donald Trump is stronger than his commitment to law and order, Wood said.
A man measures oxygen levels near an aerator in the Darling River below weir 32 near Menindee Lakes, on February 13, 2019. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Murray Darling Basin Near Full at Various Points as Vic Farmers Chief Challenges Water Recovery Policy

Higher than average rainfall has resulted in water storage levels along the Murray-Darling Basin to be near full and/or spilling along various points, with one area hitting a six-year high, a report has found.

This comes as Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy criticises the federal governments policy to recover the controversial 450 gigalitres of water for the environment through efficiency measures.

According to the annual operating outlook report (pdf) by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), Hume Dam in the Riverina region of New South Wales is sitting at 95 percent capacity, Dartmouth Dam in North-Eastern Victoria recorded 97 percent, Menindee Lakes in South-West NSW has reached 115 percent, and Lake Victoria along South Australian border recorded 63 percent.

The total storage capacity of the whole basin recorded 92 percent, or 20,547 of 22,258 gigalitres, on Aug. 3, according to the MDBA.

This week, water flowing into South Australia reached a six-year high with 53 gigalitres flowing per day, with residents along the SA-Victoria border being issued with a flood risk warning, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The MDBA report also predicts a 50 percent chance for La Nina conditions later in 2022, with the Bureau of Meterology anticipating higher than median rainfall during late winter and into spring. La Nina events typically bring above average spring rainfall in eastern Australia.

Given the high levels of water in storage, the risk of a shortfall in water delivery to entitlement holders this year is relatively low, however the risk could increase if conditions dry off and water demands ramp up quickly during a period of hot weather, Andrew Reynolds, MDBA Executive Director of River Management said in a statement on Aug. 8.

Reynolds said that at the Hume Dam, the MDBA has been in and out of flood operations for the past 12 months, and this will likely continue into spring.

As always, well work closely with the Bureau of Meteorology and WaterNSW, and will communicate any significant changes to communities downstream of the dam, Reynolds said, adding that the MBDA will consider whether there is a need to start accessing water from the Menindee Lakes to fulfil demand in the Murray system as the year progresses.

The fact that we did not need to draw water from the Menindee Lakes last summer underscores how unusual this long period of wet weather and high flows has been, Reynolds said.

Recovery of Controversial 450 Gigalitres of Water

Meanwhile, a report (pdf) that was released by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) on Aug. 2 has found the full cost of recovering the full 450 gigalitres of water through the MDBAs efficiency measures will be between AU$3.4 (US$2.4) billion and AU$10.8 billion.

Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy said positive environmental outcomes were already being achieved without the need for a further 450 gigalitre water recovery.

Over 2,100 gigalitres of water has already been recovered for the environment and has delivered great benefit to our ecosystems. But we must acknowledge the huge toll on rural communities and agricultural jobs as a consequence, Leahy said in a statement.

Further recovery cant be achieved, will hurt farming communities and jobs, and wont provide any real environmental benefit.

Under the Murray Darling Basin Planwhich received bipartisan support in 2012 under the Gillard governmentthe basin states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory agreed to remove 2,750 gigalitres of water from irrigated agriculture and relocate that back into the basin by 2024.

Over the past decade, more than 2,100 gigalitres have been relocated back into the environment.

An additional 450 gigalitres of water is to be recovered through efficiency measures, which are also expected to be completed by 2024.

Criticising the Coalitions lack of will in delivering the Murray Darling Basin Plan, Australias Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said that the AU$1.575 billion the previous government had reserved for the plan was just sitting there.

It shows a move to program settings that could not have delivered the 450GL even if the previous government had wanted to, Plibersek said in a statement.

The WESA (Water for the Environment Special Account) funding expires on 30 June 2024it is clear from this Report that the Nationals were simply running down the clock on this money.

Indeed, the report shows that under current policy settings, there is virtually no way that the money can be spent in the remaining timeframe, she said.

In an email to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for the MDBA said that work to achieve the 450 gigalitres target, including Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) supply projects, needs to be doneonly then will we see a step change in the environmental health of the Basin.

This would benefit important wetlands like the Macquarie Marshes, Gwydir wetlands, Great Cumbung Swamp, Lower Murrumbidgee wetlands and the iconic Coorong.

If constraints were relaxed, this would further enhance the environmental outcomes achieved along the full length of our riversby connecting rivers to their floodplainsand allowing local communities right along our rivers to enjoy improved river health as well as social, cultural and wellbeing benefits.

Nationals leader David Littleproud and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young have previously accused federal Labor of being in breach of a key election promise in recovering the 450 gigalitres.

In July, Plibersek conceded that delivering the 450 gigalitres of water back into Murray Darling Basin before the 2024 deadline would be next to impossible and signalled a potential to extend the deadline.
A splash of green amid the dried out fairways of Ashton Court Golf Course, near Bristol, on Aug. 12, 2022. (Ben Birchall/PA)

National Drought Declared in UK After Driest Start to Year Since 1976

A national drought has been declared in England, after a prolonged period of low rainfall from January to July 2022, the lowest since 1976.

The decision followed a meeting on Friday by the National Drought Groupwhich includes the National Farmers Union (NFU), water companies, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)which was set up in 2012, after the driest 18 months for 100 years.

A statement on Defras website said: It does not automatically trigger actions itself, but moving to drought status means that the Environment Agency and water companies will step up their actions to manage the impacts and press ahead with implementing the stages of their pre-agreed drought plans.

Water Minister Steve Double said: All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe, and we have made it clear it is their duty to maintain those supplies. We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed.

Earlier Yorkshire Water announced a hosepipe ban, starting from Aug. 26, meaning their customers will join the 1.4 million people currently affected by South East Waters ban in Kent and Sussex. Welsh Water and Southern Water will also bring in bans later this month.

Companies have the power, under the Water Industry Act 1991, to impose a temporary bylaw to restrict the use of hosepipes to water flowers and lawns and wash cars but businesses are exempted if, for example, they need to water commercially-grown fruit and vegetables.

Amber Warning for Extreme Heat

An amber warning for extreme heat in most of southern England, the Midlands, and eastern parts of Wales, running through until midnight on Sunday, has been issued by the Met Office.

A dry winter and spring, combined with Julys record-breaking heatwave, has depleted reservoirs, rivers, and water tables, leading to concerns about whether domestic consumers would run out of water in the autumn.

In 29 percent of the English rivers which are regularly measured, levels are classed as exceptionally low.

The NFU said many farmers were reporting crops such as sugar beet and maize were showing signs of stress because of the drought and field vegetables and potatoes, which need irrigation, are also struggling. If crops fail it could lead to an increase in the price of sugar, potatoes, carrots and broccoli.

NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw said it was hugely challenging for farmers who were also having to use winter feed supplies for animals because so much of the grass in the fields has shrivelled up.

The Environment Agency said eight of its 14 areas Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent and South London, Herts and North London, East Anglia, Thames, East Midlands and Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshirewere experiencing drought.

PA Media contributed to this report.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet speaks to the media during a press conference at Rosehill Public School in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 31, 2022. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi)

New South Wales Parliament Has Become Toxic: Premier

One in five people who work in the state parliament of New South Wales (NSW) have experienced sexual harassment in the last five years, a report into Macquarie Streets culture has found.

Premier Dominic Perrottet has labelled the findings of the independent report into the culture at NSW parliament as sobering, confronting and completely unacceptable.

Five people reported being sexually assaulted, and just more than one in four people experienced bulling in the last five years.

The report also found several offices in parliament were hotspots for bullying.

Every workplace across our state should be safe from sexual harassment and sexual assault, that is clearly not the case, Mr Perrottet said on Friday.

Clearly, we have a culture in the NSW parliament that over time has become, in many instances, toxic and wrong.

He said the report only marked the beginning of cultural reform in NSW parliament and pledged to follow through on its recommendations.

They included strengthening internal policies and codes of conduct, reducing alcohol use, boosting support services and monitoring well-known hotspots for bullying.

This must end, it ends today, Perrottet said.

Only one in four people working in the building participated in the report, including MPs, cleaning, security and catering staff.

Health Minister Bronnie Taylor told people who were responsible for some of the behaviour to leave NSW parliament.

You know who you are, and my very strong advice to you is that you do not belong in the parliament of NSW, she said.

Conducted by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, the independent review was commissioned last year after several complaints were raised about abuse of staff.

It is so important that our public institutions like the parliament respond to workplace issues quickly and effectively, Broderick said last year.

Part of achieving this is to listen to people working in and interacting with the parliament, so as to better understand their experiences, the current culture and what needs to change.

Broderick has led 15 cultural reviews into major institutions, including NSW Police and the Australian Defence Force.

Perrottet earlier said there was zero tolerance for bullying days before firing fair trading minister Eleni Petinos on August 1.

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 dont feel safe, the premier said last month.

Petinos, who was responsible for keeping the states workplaces safe, last week rejected accusations of bullying linked to her office.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on July 21, 2022. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

New Zealanders Not Aware of Problems with Centralised Government, Says Economist

An expert has called for more decentralisation of New Zealands governing structures as the growing power of the central government in the capital city, Wellington is leaving the country unable to meet growing regional demands.

Economist Oliver Hartwich, the executive director of the New Zealand Initiative think tank, told The Epoch Times that New Zealand, already a highly centralised country, is growing more so and many of its citizens are not be aware of the problems associated with this form of government.

Recent moves to make the country further centralised include a new health system, where the 20 district health boards merged into one national health agency on July 1. Additionally, in 2020, all 16 polytechnics, the countrys vocational education and training provider, were also merged into a single entity.

One year after the merge, the polytechnic Deputy Chief Executive Merran Davis resigned, telling Newstalk ZB on July 28 that she quit her post because she had lost confidence in the organisation.

Currently on the agenda is the centralisation of water services, called the Three Waters Reform. Water services are currently managed locally by 67 councils, but if the bill is passed, they will be replaced by four new entities and governed in accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

So even though we are already one of the most centralised countries on the planet, the current government would make it even more centralised, Hartwich said.

Hartwich said the public has little awareness of how things could be run differently, meaning many people support the system or have an apathetic attitude.

The public believes that everything is just as it should be because the country is too small to even have local government, he said. Thats not true, by the way. I dont agree with that.

Small Countries Can Run With Decentralised Government

Hartwich said the concentration of the government was not a recent development but had been centralised for probably a century.

For a very long time, New Zealand has been very centralised, and government has centralised it even more. So in the 1980s, for example, they merge several local government entities into larger ones.

But basically, the picture we have today is actually one where the country is more than 90 percent centralised, he said.

The government in Wellington accounted for over 90 percent of taxes collected in New Zealand, according to Hartwich, who noted that there are other small countries out there that do manage their country differently and are very successful.

He noted Switzerland is as an example of a comparably small nation where each local council and canton is able to levy its own taxes to address local issues.

It would be much better if  we had strong local communities and local income taxes so the communities can actually plan for the stuff that they need. But unfortunately, the place is run like a very centralist country, he said.

Bayfield School in Herne Bay remains closed due to the COVID lockdown in Auckland, New Zealand, on Oct. 12, 2021. (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Muriel Newman, director of the New Zealand Centre for Political Research, said previous governments have always understood that a decentralised approach worked better for the community.

So what this government has done is theyve come in, and for a variety of reasons, theyve decided that centralisation of power and control is the better option for New Zealand, she told The Epoch Times. But theyve sort of impose it on the country. We didnt really have a proper debate about it.

But Newman explained that local government in New Zealand has always had functions limited to water, road infrastructure, rubbish collection, and building consent.

[Countries like the U.S. and Australia] are state-run countries, so theyve got state governments, whereas weve got local government, she said.

In some countries, state governments run the education system or they run the health system or whatever. In New Zealand, its not the same. Theyre run centrally.

Education

The education system in New Zealand is headed by the Ministry of Education that outlines what is taught at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Each school also has its own school board that controls the curriculum.

However, like many other Western nations, the education standard in New Zealand has deteriorated at an accelerating pace.

After the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, Chris Hipkins, the education minister, was also given the portfolio of COVID-19 response minister.

It is normal for all cabinet ministers in New Zealand to oversee multiple portfolios, but Newman said the general expectation is that ministers of large portfolios, such as health, welfare, and education, would receive additional ones that are lesser portfolios.

A recent trial of new secondary school exams revealed an alarming rate of failure, with two-thirds of students failing to reach the writing standards and one-third failing reading and numeracy standards.

Michael Johnston, an education expert for the think tank New Zealand Initiative, previously told The Epoch Times that the failure rate was not due to the difficulty of the exams but primarily caused by poor teaching standards.

However, school truancies have also become an increasingly serious issue, which accelerated during COVID-19 and has also contributed to other problems such as escalating youth crime.

Under the previous [government], they would raise this issue and they would explain what theyre doing to try to resolve it. But for this government, that hasnt been a priority at all, Newman said.

The Epoch Times contacted Minister Chris Hipkinss office for comment but did not receive a response.

A previous version of this article incorrectly quoted Oliver Hartwich. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
A Russian Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber and missile carrier (L) is seen being accompanied by a U.S. F-22 fighter jet in international airspace off the coast of Alaska in a file photo. (NORAD)

NORAD Tracks Russian Planes Flying Into Alaska-Area Air Defense Zone

Russian military aircraft flew into an area thats monitored by U.S. military officials in Alaska at least three times in recent days, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed this week.

NORADs Alaska division detected, tracked, and identified Russian surveillance aircraft entering and operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, according to a Twitter statement from the military agency. It occurred on three separate occasions in the past week, said NORAD on Thursday.

The Russian aircraft did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, NORAD officials said in a Twitter post.

On two separate occasions, over the past 2 days, the Alaskan NORAD Region detected, tracked and identified Russian surveillance aircraft entering and operating within the Alaskan ADIZ. The Russian aircraft did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. #WeHaveTheWatch  North American Aerospace Defense Command (@NORADCommand) August 10, 2022

Russian surveillance planes entering ADIZ is not seen as a threat nor is the activity seen as provocative by the U.S. military, NORAD said. NORAD monitors the movements of foreign military aircraft in the ADIZ and, as required, escorts them from the ADIZ.

The officials said NORAD uses a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based radars, airborne radar, and fighter aircraft to identify and track aircraft that enter certain military zones.

We remain ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America [and] Arctic sovereignty, Thursdays statement continued.

The military did not identify the types of Russian planes that entered the Alaskan air zone.

Amid Conflict

The three Russian flights come as the Kremlin has entered its sixth month of fighting in Ukraine. The conflict is primarily centered in the eastern portion of the country.

Reports say Russian forces are attempting to take over the entirety of the Donetsk region in the Donbass area, coming after Moscow took much of Lunhansk in July.

Ukraine and Russia accused each other on Friday of risking nuclear disaster by shelling Europes largest nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war.

Western countries have called for Moscow to withdraw its troops from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the United Nations called on Thursday for it to be declared a demilitarised zone.

The plant dominates the south bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro river that cuts across southern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under intense bombardment from the Russian-held side.

Kyiv has said for weeks it is planning a counteroffensive to recapture Zaporizhzhia and neighboring Kherson provinces, the largest part of the territory Russia took after its Feb. 24 invasion still in Russian hands. Moscow has installed regional officials who say they intend to stage votes to join Russia.

Reuters contributed to this report.
A man walks past the "missing child" poster for Harmony Montgomery in Manchester, N.H., on May 5, 2022. (Charles Krupa/AP Photo)

Officials: Missing Girl, Harmony Montgomery, Was Murdered

CONCORD, N.H.Investigators now believe a 5-year-old New Hampshire girl who disappeared in 2019 was murdered, authorities said Thursday.

The monthslong search for Harmony Montgomery, who was only reported missing last year, has become a homicide investigation, Attorney General John Formella said at a news conference Thursday.

Authorities believe she was killed in Manchester in early December 2019. Her case has prompted widespread outpouring of support around the state, including several vigils aimed at raising awareness of her case. Several Facebook groups also were created aimed at sharing news on her case.

At this point while Harmonys remains have not been located, we do have multiple sources of investigative information including just recently confirmed biological evidence that has led us to this difficult and tragic decision, Formella said.

Manchester Police Public Information Officer Heather Hamel holds two reward posters, that show missing girl Harmony Montgomery, in Manchester, N.H., on Jan. 4, 2022. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via AP)

Police first became aware that Harmony might be missing when they received a call from the girls mother, Crystal Sorey, in November. She had been unsuccessfully trying to locate the girl for months, police said.

Police said they contacted Harmonys father, Adam Montgomery, and other family members by the end of December. According to court documents, police told him that Harmony had not been seen in more than two years and there was concern over whether she was still alive.

Our commitment to bringing Harmony home has not wavered, nor will it, Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg said Thursday. He implored anyone with information to come forward.

Do it for this little girl. The time is now. Its time to step up and do the right thing, he said. Harmonys a sweet and innocent child who deserves to be brought home to her family and friends.

Sorey said in a statement that the news of the homicide investigation was beyond devastating.

Im gonna do whatever I can to get justice for her and make sure this never happens again to any other family, she said in a statement.

Harmonys father and stepmother, who have since pleaded not guilty to charges related to her well-being, told police that Adam brought Harmony to be with her mother in Massachusetts around Thanksgiving 2019. Her mother said she last saw her daughter during a phone video conversation at around Easter that year.

In January, police said they believed that Harmony had disappeared between Nov. 28Dec. 10, 2019.

Adam Montgomery (L) and Harmony Montgomery. (Manchester Police Department)

Adam Montgomery, 31, was indicted in March on an assault charge alleging that he struck Harmony in the face in July 2019. He pleaded not guilty and has been in jail since January.

Kayla Montgomery, 32, was charged with theft by deception after police said she falsely claimed that her stepdaughter was living with her in order to collect welfare benefits. She has pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.

Law enforcement agencies searched the couples former home on June 14. They completed a separate search on Jan. 10 of a home in Manchester that was the girls last known residence.

By Holly Ramer
The Shell logo and a stock graph are seen in this illustration taken on May 1, 2022. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Oil Leak Contained at Three US Gulf Platforms on Pipeline Outage, Shell Says

HOUSTONTop U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil producer Shell said on Thursday it halted production at three U.S. Gulf of Mexico deepwater platforms after a leak shut two pipelines connecting the platforms, adding it expected pipeline service to resume on Friday.

A failure at an onshore pipeline junction in Louisiana leaked about two barrels of oil, said Chett Chiasson, executive director of Greater Lafourche Port Commission. A fix is expected to take about a day, he added.

A Shell spokesperson said the leak, approximately two barrels of oil, has been contained, and the company expects the Mars and Amberjack pipelines to return to service on Aug. 12.

Shell said its Mars, Ursa, and Olympus platforms were shut because of the leak. The three are designed to produce up to 410,000 barrels of oil per day combined, according to data on the companys website.

Shell is coordinating with local authorities and mobilizing personnel and equipment to assess the situation, the company said in a statement. It did not estimate when the pipelines might resume operation.

The three platforms deliver Mars sour crude, a grade prized by oil refiners in the United States and Asia. Shell said it was evaluating alternative flow paths to move the oil to shore via other pipelines.

Prices for Mars sour crude strengthened to trade at a 50-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures. The grade has seen volatile trading as it competes with sour barrels released from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve domestically and with cut-priced Russian Urals barrels in international markets.

Shell shut the pipelines because of the leak at the onshore Fourchon booster station, it said. The station helps increase the pipeline pressure and advance crude oil flow to onshore storage facilities in Clovelly, Louisiana.

Fourchon Harbor Police Chief Michael Kinler said there was no sign of vandalism at the booster station and the amount of oil that leaked was not enough to halt traffic on the waterway or roads.

By Arathy Somasekhar and Laila Kearney
A federal government report says the next steps to advance the Liberals digital infrastructure is to introduce a Digital Identity Program.

The announcement was revealed in a government report published Aug. 4 titled Canadas Digital Ambition 2022, as first reported by True North.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for government services to be accessible and flexible in the digital age, the report said.

The next step in making services more convenient to access is a federal Digital Identity Program, integrated with pre-existing provincial platforms, it reads.

Digital identity is the electronic equivalent of a recognized proof-of-identity document (for example, a drivers license or passport) and confirms that you are who you say you are in a digital context.

The report gives a nod to various provinces that are also moving forward with plans for a digital identity.

The Ontario government hopes to implement a digital identity ecosystem this fall. The province announced last year it would create digital IDs as part of the provinces COVID-19 response and goal to be the most advanced digital jurisdiction in the world.

Privacy advocates and others, including former Conservative MP Derek Sloan, are concerned that any sort of digital ID could lead to a China-style social credit system, which evaluates citizens based on trustworthiness to the state.

In response to Ontario Premier Doug Fords digital identity efforts, Sloans Ontario Party submitted a petition calling on the province to ban implementation.

Central banks in Canada and elsewhere are developing digital currencies to be integrated into a Digital ID program, the petition states. It had received over 28,000 signatures as of Aug. 12.

The dangers that this new program poses to upholding civil liberties and privacy rights, and the clear opportunities for abuse of governmental authority it presents in terms of surveillance and compelled behaviour, using access to basic resources as a tool of coercion, are ominous, the petition reads.

They point toward progression to a dystopian communist Chinese-style social credit system.

The petition also says some Canadians already experienced coercion during the truckers Freedom Convoy protest, in which thousands of protesters descended on Ottawa in February to protest federal COVID-19 restrictions. In response, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history and froze bank accounts for those involved. Ontario declared a State of Emergency.

In a best-case scenario, a digital ID will make your personal details and identity less confidential and secure, Sloan told The Epoch Times.

In a worst-case scenario, it can be used, as it is in communist China to control citizens movement and access to basic social services. It could even be used to control what you can buy or where you can go if used in conjunction with a vaccine passport or lockdown rules like weve seen in the past.

The Alberta government, meanwhile, had a job posting in April for an executive director of platforms to oversee services like digital identity and digital payments.

The posting, which is no longer online, said the successful candidate would build and manage platform services like digital identity, digital payment, notification and engagement, user-experience data collection, and content and document management.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has said plans to implement a digital ID are an internet, urban legend.

I honestly dont know what youre referring to (or) what the digital ID is, he said during a Facebook-live Q&A in April, as reported by the Western Standard.

A Digital Identity and Authentication Council of Canada survey conducted in December 2020 found that 49 percent of Canadians are extremely or somewhat familiar with the concept of digital identity, but 88 percent are very or somewhat supportive of the concept.

Another 83 percent of respondents said they trust governments to keep personal information safe and 76 percent of Canadians said they would be willing to share more personal information online if it meant a more convenient experience.

The online survey of over 1,000 Canadians was conducted by Burak Jacobson Research Partners from Dec 14  31, 2020.

Former privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said theres potential for digital identity to be harmful to privacy if designed incorrectly, while testifying to the House of Commons Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in June.

It is certainly conceivable that digital ID could enhance the verification process and the authentication process, allowing citizens to have access to services, Therrien said, as reported by True North.

It is certainly possible that digital ID would lead to the data being available to many players or actors, corporate or governmental, that should not have access to all of this data, but it doesnt have to be designed that way.

The government also revealed its working with airlines to require digital identity documents and biometric data like facial recognition as boarding requirements, True North reported in May.

The governments next steps for digital identity include developing a common and secure framework and launching public consultations, says report says, which was signed by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier and Chief Information Officer of Canada Catherine Luelo.

Fortiers mandate letter charged her to work towards a common and secure approach for a trusted digital identity platform to support seamless service delivery to Canadians across the country.
The Tarawa atoll, the capital of the vast archipelago nation of Kiribati in the South Pacific. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images)

Pacific Nation Attempts to Deport High Court Judge

A tumultuous week for democracies in the South Pacific

Australian David Lambourne, who serves on the High Court of Kiribati, remains in immigration detention after authorities failed to deport him from the small Pacific country.

Lambournes ordeal comes during a tumultuous week for democratic institutions across the South Pacific with the Tongan Parliament ousting three MPs for bribing voters just a day earlier.

High Court Justice Lambourne was served a deportation notice on Aug. 11 and taken to the airport in Kiribatis capital Tarawa.

The Kiribati government accused him of breaching his visa conditions and of posing a national security risk, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

While his lawyers managed to secure an injunction against his deportation, authorities still tried to force him onto a Fiji Airlines plane destined for Fiji.

However, the pilot refused to fly an unwilling passenger, which led to a stand-off with authorities who relented and instead, confined Lambourne to a motel.

Such behaviour is unacceptable and risks putting the Attorney-General [of Kiribati] and the persons directly concerned in contempt of court. It must cease, according to a judgement from the Court of Appeal that handed down the injunction.

Lambourne is one of two High Court judges in the countrycomprised of 33 small islandsand is also the husband of opposition leader Tessie Lambourne, who he says faces pressure to quit politics.

Shes clearly a thorn in their side and as far as I can tell, all attempts to remove me are really an underhand means of trying to attack her, he told AAP. They think if I am forced out of the country, my wife will have to quit politics and follow me.

They obviously dont know her very well if they think thats what she would do.

Rule of Law Under Threat

Lambourne also warned that his attempted deportation was a breakdown in rule of law.

We have a government that has demonstrated a clear willingness to blatantly refuse to comply with orders of the court, he said. The rule of law here has broken down completely. Its a terribly sad situation for all of the people of Kiribati.

Once you have an authoritarian government that demonstrates its willingness to completely ignore orders of the court, then everybody is fair game.

The Australian government has contacted Lambourne.

The government may be reluctant to risk some of their diplomatic capital on a case such as mine, Lambourne said. I would certainly hope they are making representations through the usual diplomatic channels.

But theres probably limited value in the Australian government trying to shout at Kiribati about their treatment of me.

He also warned that his removal would hamstring the judicial system and prevent legal challenges to the national government from going ahead.

The situation in Kiribati comes just a day after Tonga removed three MPs for bribing voters in last years election. Their terms were cancelled by the Supreme Court of Tonga.

Earlier in the week in the Solomon Islands, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavares government began its attempts to delay the countrys election saying running the Pacific Games and national vote at the same time was too expensive.

On Aug. 8, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2022 was submitted to Parliament, which will delay the nations elections by six months until Dec. 31, 2023. Originally Parliament was supposed to be dissolved in May 2023an election must be held within four months of dissolution.

A change to the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority of the Solomon Islands Parliament, with the vote likely to occur next month, according to Reuters.

These problems have come to light as new data from the Australian Tax Office reveals that Kiribati residents hold $682 million in Australian banks across 876 accountshinting at issues of tax evasion or money laundering.
A member of the Secret Service in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

Raid on Trumps Mar-a-Lago May Be Legal but It Looks Suspicious, Legal Experts Say

Although the FBI raid of former President Donald Trumps home in Palm Beach, Fla., is shocking and may violate American democratic norms, it is still possible that it is a legitimate part of the law enforcement process, legal commentators told The Epoch Times.

But not enough is yet known about the facts of the case to say for sure, they added.

On the morning of Aug. 8, the FBI suddenly and without warning executed a search warrant for the premises at Mar-a-Lago, the private resort in Palm Beach where the former president now lives. The search warrant and the affidavit or affidavits supporting it have not been made public but U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the afternoon of Aug. 11 that he has asked the court to unseal the warrant. The White House has denied that President Joe Biden, who may be Trumps opponent again in 2024 should Trump obtain the Republican Partys presidential nomination, knew about the raid in advance. Trump himself has not said if he will run again.

Media reports based on confidential sources indicate the FBI was seeking materials that Trump may have brought home with him after his presidential term ended. The National Archives and Records Administration referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in hopes of retrieving 15 boxes of allegedly unaccounted for classified material.

Presidents routinely take documents related to their presidencies with them when they leave office. Former President Barack Obama reportedly had 30 million documents from his time in office sent to Chicago to his presidential library. Sometimes the legal status of the documents is unclearespecially since in the American system of government it is the president himself who can at will declassify sensitive documentsand the former president and the new administration enter into talks to get the documents back. Trump insists he has done nothing wrong and that he has cooperated with the administration regarding the documents in question. Trump argues there was no need for the FBI to raid his residence and that it was one in a series of witch hunts his enemies have carried out against him.

These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, was raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents, Trump said in an Aug. 9 email to supporters sent out by his Save America political action committee.

[I]ts important that you know that it wasnt just my home that was violatedit was the home of every patriotic American who I have been fighting for since that iconic moment I came down the Golden Escalators in 2015, Trump said, referencing the day he first announced he was seeking the presidency.

I stood up to the Radical Lefts corruption. I restored power to the people and truly delivered for our Country like we have never seen before. The establishment hated it, Trump said.

Trump has also accused his opponents of conducting other witch hunts against him, among them the Trump-Russia election collusion conspiracy theory, and the ongoing investigation by the House Select Committee of the Jan. 6, 2021, security breach at the U.S. Capitol complex.

According to the court docket in the case known as United States v. Sealed Search Warrant, court file 9:22-mj-08332 before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart issued the warrant for Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 5.

A magistrate judge is not nominated by the president or confirmed by the U.S. Senate but is chosen by federal district judges to carry out supporting judicial functions. A magistrate judge does not have the same powers as a Senate-confirmed judge, according to the Federal Magistrates Act of 1968.

In criminal proceedings, they may issue search warrants, arrest warrants, and summons, as well as review bail, set bail conditions, and schedule and conduct initial appearances of defendants. They also preside over pretrial conferences, preliminary hearings or probable cause hearings, administer oaths, and carry out depositions and extradition proceedings.

Reinhart contributed thousands of dollars to former President Barack Obamas campaign in 2008 and $500 to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bushs 2016 bid for the GOPs presidential nomination, according to a Fox News report which cited a New York Post article. Reinhart also reportedly provided legal representation to the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein during a sex-trafficking investigation. At one point Reinhart told the Miami Herald that he also acted for Epsteins pilots and his scheduler.

The Mar-a-Lago raid is probably legal by definition, in that courts say what the law is, legal commentator Curt Levey, president of the Committee for Justice, told The Epoch Times in an interview.

Assuming they were honest with the magistrate [who issued the search warrant], then I guess its legal, Levey said. But if the authorities lied about the facts of the case, thats a different story.

The raid at the Mar-a-Lago property where Trump lives could set a dangerous precedent, Levey said.

It certainly goes against democratic norms and eventually we will find out what they were after and whether it was warranted, he said.

You would certainly want to never say that you can never raid the home of a former president, if you suspect that hes murdered someone and theres a dead body there.

On the other hand, if what were talking about is just an everyday fight over what should go in the National Archives, I think most people would say thats not worth breaking a democratic norm, Levey said.

The problem with breaking democratic norms is theyre hard to restore. I mean, the next time we have a Republican president, theyre going to be very tempted to, say, indict Joe Biden or Hunter Biden, and its just not a road you want to go down.

Search warrants, Levey added, are generally sealed and their details are not normally made available to the public.

Leveys nonprofit describes itself as devoted to restoring the Founders vision of a federal judiciary governed by the rule of law and anchored by the Constitution.

Jim Burling, vice president of legal affairs for the Pacific Legal Foundation, a national not-for-profit public interest law firm that challenges government abuses, said that normally, the execution of search warrants isnt a big deal, but in this case the identity of the person targeted is relevant.

This is a former president of the United States who very well may run again in a couple of years for the presidency. So keeping that in mind, the whole thing is unprecedentedbizarrely unprecedentedto go after him and there is a question of whether the raid was proper or whether it was politically motivated or not.

Youre never going to get the DOJ to admit that theres any politics involved. But, as you know, in the past decade or so, the FBI and DOJ has done things that are rather odd, Burling told The Epoch Times in an interview.

But the circumstances here seem suspicious, he said, given that an attorney general appointed by the current president is targeting a former president who may run again.

The materials filed in support of the application for the search warrant, which presumably spell out in detail all the alleged crimes have to be credible enough.

And how credible are those allegations? And I dont think anybody out there, except the judge, and the people at DOJ who came up with it and wrote up the affidavit have a clue how good any of this stuff is. But who knows?

Like everybody else, I want to see the work, the affidavit, to determine how appropriate and proper this was.

If the raid was not justified, the Biden administration has done the country a disservice, Burling added.
Ray Epps encourages protesters to go into the U.S. Capitol the night before the breach of Jan. 6, 2021. (Villain Report/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

EXCLUSIVE: Ray Epps Told FBI He Expected Bomb Attack Near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Documents Show

Epps admitted to trespassing, directing protesters to go into the Capitol. 'I wish I could take that back,' he told agents.

When James Ray Epps Sr. first called the FBI regarding his January 2021 activities in Washington, he didnt mention how he implored protesters in several locations to go inside the U.S. Capitol, but he later told an agent that he expected that a bomb would detonate on a side street near the building.

Those are just two of the revelations in a collection of Epps-related material obtained by The Epoch Times, including FBI interview summaries, FBI audio recordings, transcripts, videos, and photographs.

In two interviews with the FBI in 2021, Epps explained his actions on Jan. 5, 2021, and Jan. 6, 2021. He admitted that he was guilty of trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds and confessed to urging protesters to go toand intothe Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Despite the admissions, the FBI never arrested Epps, and he wasnt charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with any Jan. 6, 2021, crimes. The nonaction has fueled theories that he might have been working for the FBI or another agency.

Epps, 61, has repeatedly denied those suggestions through his attorney.

Epps recently sold his house and land in Queen Creek, Arizona, because of threats and harassment and has moved to Colorado, he told The New York Times in July. According to online records, the Arizona property sold for $2.2 million on April 28.

Epps at one time was No. 16 on the FBIs Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach most-wanted page. His entry was later scrubbed from the list without explanation. Hes among a handful of persons of interest to have their photos deleted from the FBI site.

Like a Terrorist Act

In an interview with FBI agents on March 3, 2021, Epps said he brought a first-aid kit in his backpack to Washington because he expected a terror attack.

Yeah, I thought there might be a problem. Thats why I was there, Epps told an FBI agent and an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force officer in a meeting at the Phoenix office of Eppss attorney, John Blischak.

Blischak told The Epoch Times that he would comment after reviewing the FBI interview summary, but hadnt done so by press time.

I was afraid they were going to set off an explosion on one of the side streets, Epps said, according to a recording of the interview obtained by The Epoch Times. So we tried to stay in the middle, tried to get there early, tried to stay away from the sides. And if something like that happened, I had a first-aid kit. I could help out.

Epps told the agents that the possibility of violence weighed heavily on his mind and that he originally didnt plan to travel to Washington. It was only when learning that his son, James Epps Jr., was going to the Trump rally that the senior Epps decided to go and keep an eye on his son, he said.

Ray Epps is shown at the lower left on an early FBI wanted poster. His photo has since been scrubbed from the FBI website. (FBI.gov/Wayback Machine)

As time went on, I started getting a bad feeling, like somethings gonna happen, said Epps, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and former Oath Keepers leader in Arizona. Theres a lot of wackies out there. I thought something would happen in D.C. I thought there might be, what do they call them, EOD, something like that?

Epps might have been referring to an improvised explosive device (IED), which is a homemade bomb that was a favorite weapon of insurgents in Afghanistan during the long U.S. war there. In military parlance, an EOD refers to an explosive ordnance disposal specialistsomeone who defuses and destroys explosives.

An agent asked for clarification: Oh, you mean like a terrorist act?

Right, like a terrorist act, Epps said.

The agents didnt press Epps on what led him to believe there would be an explosion, nor did they ask about the two alleged pipe bombs found outside the Republican and Democratic party headquarters, each just blocks from the Capitol. The Republican National Committee pipe bomb was placed near the corner of the Capitol Hill Club facing a side street, similar to the description Epps offered.

The devices didnt detonate, and the FBI hasnt arrested anyone in those cases.

Epps told the FBI that he regretted the things he said in downtown Washington on the night of Jan. 5, 2021. He spoke to internet personality Baked Alaska and video podcaster Villain Report, both of whom recorded their exchanges.

In fact, tomorrow, I dont even like to say it because Ill be arrested.  Ill say it. We need to go into the Capitol, Epps told Baked Alaska, whose legal name is Anthime Gionet.

Epps shouted a similar theme to the crowd at large: Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol. Into the Capitol. Peacefully, he said. The crowd then started chanting, Fed! Fed! Fed! Fed!

The FBI agents told Epps that his statements on Jan. 5, 2021, were problematic. They said they found him often on video and in photographs from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021.

Im the tallest guy in the crowd, and I stick out, man. They followed me. Epps said. I could never be a bank robber.

One of the agents said, We said that the same way. We said, Its a big guy and every photo we find, hes in it. The night before, that video didnt help.

And the video the night before, what you said basically predicted what happened.

Epps said, I wish I could take that back.

He called the statements really stupid.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Epps was filmed near the Washington Monument, telling the crowd, We are going to the Capitol, where our problems are. Its that direction. Please spread the word.

When speaking to a young man in a red and black mackinaw jacket, he said, When we go in, leave this here [pointing to something]. You dont need to get shot, according to a video of the exchange.

First Call to FBI on Jan. 8, 2021

Epps first called the FBI on Jan. 8, 2021, after his brother-in-law notified Eppss wife that a photograph of Epps was on the FBI website. That call to the National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) lasted about 27 minutes, according to an audio file of the call obtained by The Epoch Times.

In describing his activities, Epps never mentioned that he had urged the crowds on Jan. 5, 2021, to go into the Capitol the next day. He said he went down to Black Lives Matter plaza to try to calm things down after people he suspected were Antifa activists were harassing police.

I tried to calm them down, Epps told the FBI operator. I tried to let them know that, you know, that this is not what were here for. Were here because of the Constitution, not the police. Police are on our side.

Nor did Epps mention getting on a bullhorn on Jan. 6, 2021, and encouraging people to go to the Capitol as soon as President Donald Trump was finished speaking. He would comment on those topics nearly two months later when interviewed by FBI agents.

On the January call, Epps insisted that his presence on Capitol grounds was to deescalate when things got violent.

I am guilty of being there and probably trespassing, he said. But I had a reason. I was trying to calm em down. I wanted to be there, but Im trying to calm em down. Anything I can do to help. Theres no call for that kind of behavior. I will be your witness.

Ray Epps at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, shortly before pepper gas is shot into the crowd. Been a long time, he said. Aah, I love it! (Screen Capture/Rumble)

Epps told the agents that he came to Washington to express his concerns about the 2020 presidential election. He said he received five ballots at his Queen Creek address: one each for him and his wife and three with names he didnt recognize.

Weve owned the property for 11 years now. Ive never heard of those three people that came there. I didnt recognize the names, he said. And then when the election went the way it did, I was a little concerned. I mean, how many apartments are there in Arizona, 3 million? And if theyre sending all these ballots to these different apartments. I mean, you know, thats a concern.

Epps said he also went to support Trump, although he didnt stay at the Ellipse for all of Trumps speech. He said he followed crowds that left the speech early and walked toward the Capitol.

People started leaving early after President Trump started speaking. So they were running and it was the same people that was, F Antifa, and this and that and the other, he said. I believe, just my belief, they were Antifa, the ones that were saying that stuff. And they were like running that way and Im like, Maybe I can calm this down. So I went with them.

Epps said it was his original intention to stay for all of the speeches at the Ellipse.

I planned on being [there] and word was being passed around that right after he gets done speaking, were gonna go to the Capitol. And it was a given, he said. So spread the word, spread the word. So I started spreading the word, and I said that to a lot of people there: Were going to the Capitol right after the president speaks.'

Perhaps the scene that drew the most attention and speculation about Epps on Jan. 6, 2021, was when he appeared at the first breach point of police lines. Roughly 20 minutes before Trump finished speaking at the Ellipse, an aggressive crowd gathered at a lightly defended barrier on a sidewalk not far from the Peace Monument.

As rioters began yanking at the bicycle-rack barriers, Epps pulled Ryan Samsel back from the front line and spoke in his ear. Seconds after that exchange, Samsel and others knocked down the barrier, causing one officer to fall back and hit her head on the concrete.

I walked up to him, and I put my arm on him and said, Hey, thats not why were here. Dont be doing that, you know, he said. I dont know who he was. No clue. I just tried to talk him out of doing what he was doing. And then all of a sudden, it blew up.

When interviewed by an FBI special agent and a detective on Jan. 30, 2021, Samsel corroborated Eppss description of their brief verbal exchange, according to a transcript of the session obtained by The Epoch Times. Samsel faces nearly a dozen Jan. 6-related charges in the U.S. District Court in Washington.

Now that guy I talked to, Samsel said, pointing to a photograph of Epps. He came up to me and he says, Dude, his exact words were, Relax, he says, The cops are doing their job. Thats exactly what he says to me right there in that picture.

Inconsistencies in Interviews

Eppss two interviews with the FBI included some inconsistencies and changed details, according to the recordings and FBI summary documents.

He told the FBI on Jan. 8, 2021, that his brother-in-law called him to notify him that his picture was on the FBIs Jan. 6, 2021, website. During his March 3, 2021, interview with FBI agents, Epps said, Someone contacted me and said, Hey, your pictures up.

When asked about his brother-in-law later in the interview, Epps said, He didnt call me, he called my sister.

Then, his wife interjected, That was me. And I can tell you exactly because he sent me a text, actually.

When asked about who was with him on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, Epps said, My son. A short while later, he said, I think he had a friend there. He did have a friend there. I dont know his name.

One of the agents said he recalled that on the Jan. 8, 2021, phone call with the FBI, Epps said he went sightseeing on Jan. 7, 2021.

No, we did that the day before, he told the agent.

A few minutes later, however, this detail changed.

Oh, you know what? Epps said. The next day we did, no, we got up that morning, and we went to the Vietnam Memorial.

In both contacts with the FBI, he asked if his photo could be removed from the FBIs Jan. 6, 2021, page. In the Jan. 8, 2021, call, the FBI operator said she had nothing to do with FBI web content. In the March 3, 2021, interview, he was given a more discouraging take.

That picture is probably still out there, will probably be there forever now, one of the agents told him.

Epps said the notoriety of being publicly listed as a person of interest had caused problems.

Well, weve felt the repercussions. I mean, weve had people come on our business site and try to destroy us, he said. Im an insurrectionist, Im a traitor. Ive been called everything in the book, but its dying down nowI hope.

The agents asked Epps if his views had changed since Jan. 6, 2021.

I still have concerns about the election. I do. I mean, I think everybody does, he said. I think our politicians, some of them need to be in jail. I think you guys need to investigate them. I dont know. How much of what we get is the truth? I dont know. Not even worth watching the news anymore. Because they just make it up as they go.

Epps met twice with the Houses Jan. 6 select committee, including a transcribed interview in January. Committee members seemed satisfied with what he told them. No transcript of the session has been released.

Mr. Epps informed us that he was not employed by, working with, or acting at the direction of any law enforcement agency on Jan. 5 or 6 or at any other time and that he has never been an informant for the FBI or any other law enforcement agency, a spokesman said in January.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) grilled top FBI officials about Epps in a January hearing, but received the repeated refrain, I cant answer that.
Residential buildings under construction are seen in Yichang, Hubei Province, China, on Oct. 20, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Real Estate Woes Could Sink Chinas Economy, Stability

Commentary

The real estate industry accounts for 25 percent of Chinas GDP, and more than one-third of local government revenues are tied to either land sales or home sales.

But mounting problemswith no obvious solutionsare threatening to destabilize not just the real estate sector but Chinas banks and industrial producers. Its a gray swan problem that has long simmered but may finally tip over.

Despite recent attempts by Beijing to bolster the countrys real estate markets, combined sales at Chinas top 100 property developers in July fell by 29 percent from June and by 40 percent year-over-year. This is after two consecutive monthly increases, according to data released by China Real Estate Information Corp. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has attempted to shore up housing demand since at least March, introducing measures such as reducing the required down payment and cutting mortgage rates.

There are question marks around whether the recent measures had enough time to make an impact or were too weak to offset negative market sentiments.

The average selling price of pre-owned housing across 100 Chinese cities also declined in July. It was the second straight monthly decline. Home price declines were most notable in smaller cities (third and fourth tier) while first and second-tier cities showed some resilience.

Mortgage boycotts continue to plague developers throughout the country, complicating Beijings efforts to rescue the real estate industry.

Many homebuyers boycotting paying mortgages complained that their monthly mortgage payments had not been held in escrow accounts as stipulated in the purchase agreements, but were siphoned out of those accounts by cash-strapped property developers.

Lets examine both the cause and effect of this phenomenon, which could further destabilize an already tottering real estate sector.

The issue is rooted in Chinas presale system, where buyers typically begin making payments to purchase an apartment before the apartment is built. Typically, a down payment is made and then the buyer begins making monthly mortgage payments during the construction process. This system helps developers raise cash quickly to buy new land and start new developments.

Until recently, developers had ample access to debt financing and were allowed to use the bulk of this presale revenue for whatever they wanted, only setting aside a small amount to finish the construction of the housing project.

But in the last 12 months, developers have become increasingly cash-strapped while Beijing has imposed more stringent restrictions on how the cash can be used. This created a catch-22 where many developers ran out of cash before fully finishing the apartments, leaving masses of angry customers in their wake.

Recently, lax supervision and oversight within some localities had allowed some developers to tap into this presale cash supposedly held in escrow accounts to fund new land purchases. Recall that it is in the best interest of local governments to unlock this cash, as land sales to developers are a key revenue source for municipalities.

Those transfers were also made through kickbacks from contractors, where developers moved more cash out of customer escrows than necessary to construction companies, which in turn transferred the excess back to the developers. Customers only saw that cash was used for construction, a permissible expense from the escrow accounts.

This underscores the deep-seated problems plaguing Chinas developers and their business model. Absent a massive bailout from the CCP regime, its impossible to envision how the real estate industry can pull itself out of this downward spiral.

Meanwhile, problems are compounding for developers. Developer Shimao Group Holdings Ltd. was sued by Singaporean bank United Overseas Bank Ltd. in Hong Kong for breach of contract concerning certain loans the bank had given the developer.

Chief Executive Officer Xia Haijun of China Evergrande was recently forced to resignalong with the firms CFOin the middle of a lengthy restructuring process. Evergrande has been the poster child of Chinas real estate sector woes.

People gather to demand repayment of loans and financial products as security personnel guard outside Evergrandes headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, on Sept. 15, 2021. (David Kirton/Reuters)

The other side of the coin is downstream customers. Buyers fed up with the status quo system and boycotting mortgages are creating issues for both banks and developers. The nationwide mortgage boycott began at an Evergrande housing project in Jiangxi Province.

Yet today, protests have spread beyond mere customers. Dozens of contractors such as construction companies and landscaping firms have also halted their debt payments, citing an inability to pay their debts due to money owed to them from developers.

The unanswered question is how much this turmoil in the real estate industry will impact Chinas broader economy, specifically the $50 trillion banking system.

Banks are caught in the middle of this crisis. The real estate industry is Chinese banks biggest source of businessproviding a stable foundation in prior periods of market disruptionsyet it could prove to be their undoing.

If banks dont step in and provide loans to developers to help finish projects and induce buyers to pay, they will stand to lose more money. But stepping in is also undesirableit is increasing their exposure to a failed industry and potentially more risks later.

S&P Global estimated that 2.4 trillion yuan (about $355 billion) of mortgages could be at risk of being unpaid. That amounts to around 6.5 percent of all outstanding mortgages.

Bloomberg reported that Chinas national auditor is investigating the countrys $3 trillion shadow banking sector. Among its top concerns are these financial companies outstanding loans to real estate developers and how they plan to recoup or dispose of such loans. Chinas top 20 trust companies and shadow banks are taking part in this investigation to assess the industrys impact on Chinas financial stability.

Chinas steel industry, an important employment pillar in the countrys northeast, has also struggled in the wake of real estate turmoil. Once seen as a major source of Chinas economic expansion into a global supplier and consumer, Bloomberg recently reported that almost a third of Chinas steel mills could go bankrupt, citing comments from the founder of Hebei Jingye Steel Group.

Weaknesses in the steel industry also have caused upstream issues such as lower iron ore prices hitting global miners, producers, and commodity traders.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Junto a mi esposa, @LiliaParedesN, me dirijo a la region San Martin para participar de la entrega de titulos de propiedad en beneficio de las familias mas vulnerables del pais. Evento se realizara en el centro poblado La Libertad, distrito de San Rafael en Bellavista. pic.twitter.com/b4sikVc0iO
American Civil War soldier Samuel Chapman Armstrong later became an ally and educator for freed slaves

Samuel Chapman Armstrong was the founder of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia). A native of Hawaii, he fought with the Union Army during the Civil War and was eventually awarded the brevet rank of brigadier general of volunteers. After working for the Freedmens Bureau in Virginia, he recognized that African Americans needed greater educational opportunities, prompting him to establish Hampton Institute. Some of the Institutes most notable graduates include civil rights leaders such as Booker T. Washington and Thomas Calhoun Walker.

In His Younger Years

Armstrong was born on January 30, 1839, on the island of Maui in the Kingdom of Hawaii. His parents, Richard Armstrong and Clarissa Chapman Armstrong, were Protestant missionaries sent out by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Massachusetts. The Armstrongs arrived in Hawaii in 1832 and began establishing churches. In 1840, Richard Armstrong was appointed Kahu (Senior Pastor) of Kawaiahao Church in Honolulu. King Kamehameha III appointed Armstrong as Minister of Public Insurrection in 1847 and, in 1855, he became President of the Board of Education. His teaching activities made him known as the father of American education in Hawaii.

Samuel attended Punahou School and then its collegiate branch, Oahu College. Although very studious, he was also a noted prankster. The young Armstrong secretly lowered the flag of the American consulate in Honolulu in honor of the death of a family pet. He also hanged his sisters dolls to halt their i-doll-try.

Samuel Chapman Armstrong devoted his post- Civil War years to providing educational opportunities for black students. (Public Domain)

A Useful Education

During his teenage years, Samuel worked as his fathers secretary. This gave him an understanding of the principle that students should engage in manual labor to pay for their education. Armstrongs methods enabled students to acquire valuable skills by farming or practicing crafts like carpentry. The younger Armstrong would keep these important lessons with him for the rest of his life.

Sadly, the senior Armstrong died as the result of a horseback riding accident on September 23, 1860. Samuel, following his fathers wishes, then attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. There, he lodged with, and obtained special lessons from, Mark Hopkins, the college president. This experience taught him the importance of a practical or useful education, as well as teaching students how to make a living and to be good Christians.

James Garfield, later a major general and 20th president of the United States, also graduated from Williams College. Both men later joined the U.S. Army and served together during the Civil War.

In the Army Now

Initially, the Civil War meant nothing to Samuel Chapman Armstrong as he identified himself as Hawaiian. His parents were anti-slaveryhaving ministered to the Polynesian people who, they thought, were, in many respects, like the Negro race. Although his pre-War experience with African Americans had been minimal, Samuels impression of them rose as he fought alongside the Unions black troops. He wrote that the War should not end until every slave  can call himself his own, and his wife and children his own.

Armstrong joined the 125th New York Infantry as a captain. His unit was captured at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862, but he was exchanged in December and returned to his unit. Armstrong fought during the Battle of Gettysburg, and on July 3, 1863, he helped to defend Cemetery Ridge against Picketts Charge.

The Protestant Church of Hawaii, Kawaiahao, where Armstrongs father was a pastor, was made with timber and indigenous coral blocks from ocean reefs. (Public Domain)

Serving With Black Troops

Armstrong wanted to serve with the newly-formed United States Colored Troops (USCT). In late 1863, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned as executive officer of the 9th USCT. While training at Camp Stanton near Benedict, Maryland, Armstrong established a school to educate his troops. Due to pre-War slave codes, most of his men could not read or write. Armstrong believed that literacy would make better soldiers.

Armstrong was reassigned to command the 8th USCT and led this unit during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. In November 1864, he was promoted to colonel for gallant and meritorious service. His troops were the first to enter Petersburg on April 3, 1865. Armstrong noted that the 8th USCT received a most cheering and hearty welcome from the colored inhabitants of the city, whom their presence had made free.

Armstrong and his men were mustered out of service on November 10, 1865. As a result of his outstanding war service, on January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Armstrong as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers to date from March 13, 1865. The United States Senate confirmed his new commission on March 12, 1866.

Supervising Freedmens Bureau

From 1866 to 1868, Armstrong served as superintendent of the Freedmens Bureau for a district covering the lower Virginia Peninsula. By that time, he was deeply committed to assisting the black population and sought to train these newly-freed citizens to better compete within the constraints of their circumstances.

On April 1, 1868, Armstrong opened Hampton Normal School and Institute, an educational institution to train black teachers who, in turn, would teach other African Americans. This was not to be just any ordinary school. Armstrong incorporated many of the educational principles that he had learned from his father and from President Mark Hopkins of Williams College, yet he also included thoughts of his own. Armstrong strongly believed in the need for racial uplift via schools like Hampton Institute.

An illustration depicts the Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil Wars bloodiest battle. (Public Domain)

Armstrong molded the Institutes curriculum to reflect his background as an abolitionist and as a child of white missionaries in Hawaii. He believed that several centuries of slavery in the United States had left many of its black citizens in an inferior moral and economic state, and they needed help and education to become fully active in American society. The solution, he believed, lay in a Hampton-style education: an education that combined cultural education with moral and vocational training. Armstrong believed in an education that encompassed the head, the heart, and the hands. Therefore, the primary means to advance blacks within society was by the moral power of literacy and labor.

Hampton Institute emphasized that students should take courses in English, arithmetic, geography, basic science, and history. In addition, all students were required to work in the schools shops or on the school farm. While some argued that Armstrongs methods reinforced the theory that blacks were only suited for manual labor, his vision was simply to provide a moral and practical education for these recently freed citizens.

Hampton Institute had no endowment, and most of its initial students were impoverished. Therefore, manual labor in the schools fields and shops subsidized their education. Furthermore, most graduates were expected to go into teaching, and they would need a supplemental income to support themselves and their families.

A health and hygiene class in session at the Hampton Institute, 1899. (Public Domain)

The Most Distinguished Early Graduate

One of the leading lights of the Hampton-style education was Booker T. Washington, who described Armstrong as the most perfect specimen of a man, physically, mentally, and spiritually the most Christ-like. Washington later recalled that he was admitted to Hampton, despite his ragged appearance after a long journey, based on the ability he demonstrated when the assistant principal observed him meticulously sweeping and dusting a room.

At the request of Armstrong, Washingtonafter leaving Hampton Instituteestablished Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he embraced his mentors principles of education and hard work. He considered the general to be the noblest, rarest human being that it has ever been my privilege to meet. Of Hampton Institute, he said: One might have removed from Hampton all the buildings, classrooms, teachers, and industries, and [given] the men and women still there the opportunity [of] daily contact with General Armstrong, and that alone would have been a liberal education.

The need for new facilities and teachers to support his educational activities required Armstrong to become a major fundraiser. He reached out to many Northern philanthropists like Collis Potter Huntington, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie, as well as abolitionist groups like the American Missionary Association.

The tremendous strain of fundraising and promoting his educational theories resulted in Armstrong suffering a debilitating stroke in 1892 while delivering a lecture in New York. Railroad and ship building millionaire C.P. Huntington provided his friend with a private railroad car so that the ailing Armstrong could return to Hampton, where he died on May 11, 1893.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
Resident Evil and the War of Memory Between Hong Kong and China

Commentary

I am not a TV fan, but upon my wifes recommendation, I watched some Netflix series. After Stranger Things, it was Resident Evil, in which I was absorbed. This is based on a Japanese video game, which has been adapted into movies and TV series over the years due to its popularity.

The story is about a pharmaceutical company that has developed a joy pill, which allows people to solve all their worries and feel no pain even after a knife cut. But the pill contains a virus that can turn people into zombiesand it does happen, making the globe a zombie world.

Albert, a senior from the company, has two twin daughters. Jade works hard to develop an antidote to save the old world, whereas Billie embraces the idea of the joy pill and the new society that it may create.

In a scene, the sisters argue. Billie says, Do you like your memories, Jade? I dont. That is why Im building a better future, making the world a better place.

This reminds me of the battle of memory between Hong Kong and the Chinese Communist Party.

The communists write history according to the historical materialist worldview, which, to put it simply, means that it draws a prior conclusion, and the conclusion can only be the same no matter what the specifics are. This approach, which is politically oriented, results in a history of disappearance, in which historical memories are drastically filtered under the guise of anti-colonialism and anti-feudalism, leaving only the parts that are advantageous to the communist regime.

The late Qing and the Republic of China did nothing but abandon sovereignty and humiliate the country, the Chinese Communist Party was the backbone of the war of resistance against Japanese aggression, and there would have been no new China without the Communist Partyall these manipulated assertions are regarded as historical memories under the communist rule.

Moreover, power struggles made the communists revise historical memories for obvious political reasons. The most well-known example is the Founding Ceremony oil painting, which depicts the announcement of the founding of Communist China at the Tiananmen Gate in 1949, and includes images of Gao Gang and Liu Shaoqi, who were prominent communists leaders.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Gao Gang and Liu Shaoqi were respectively removed from the painting after they were both purged. This shows that the recent disqualification of the district and legislative councillors in Hong Kong is merely a mild version of purging political enemies, which is a well-founded tradition of the Communist Party.

In Dengs era, Maos status declined drastically. Back then, I frequently went to mainland China for research purposes, and I heard quite some stories that people said Mao was a bad guy and Deng good.

Later on, in the anti-bourgeois liberalization campaigns Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang were criticized, and they gradually receded from public memories.

In Xis era, attempts of rewriting history become obvious. History textbooks describe the Cultural Revolution, which had long been characterized as a ten-year catastrophe, as an arduous probing of social construction, reverting its nature and obviously clearing historical obstacles for the ultra-leftist policies in the pipeline.

Once Hong Kong was returned to such a regime that regards historical memory as nothing more than a political tool, how the citys historical memory is to be interpreted, cannot be part of the promised high degree of autonomy, and any historical memory that is not conducive to Chinese communist rule needs to be rewritten.

Restrictions have not been imposed on harmless memories such as Hong Kong-style milk tea and Cantonese opera, but Hong Kong as a century-old colony can no longer claim to be a former colony, and for the 2003 SARS epidemic only the support from mainland China can be mentioned, and how the virus started has become a taboo.

In Resident Evil, Jade is working in a university ship specializing in the study of the zombie virus. In a scene, Jades daughter plays the piano, before which her teacher gives the following thought-provoking speech: So why teach children poetry, Shakespeare, dance, and music now, at this point of our history? Well, I think we are all dedicated to collecting everything we can from our past and preserving it in our collective memory because that is what the arts were in their most ancient forms. It is a way to imprint deep, emotional stories on our souls. Stories we dont want to lose, because even in times like these, we are the stories we tell.'

A civilized society should preserve all memories, both good and bad. It is a crime against humanity to tamper with memories in order to serve the regime.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The aftermath of a gas explosion in Thornton Heath, south London, on Aug. 8, 2022. (PA)

Residents Return to South London Homes After Gas Explosion That Killed Girl, 4

Residents of a street in south London are being allowed to return home four days after a gas explosion that killed a four-year-old girl.

Sahara Salman died when her house in Galpins Road, Thornton Heath, collapsed after the explosion, which occurred at 7 a.m. on Aug. 8.

Her mother, Sana Ahmad, has accused utility firm SGN of negligence for allegedly failing to respond to months of complaints by residents about the lingering smell of gas.

An 11-year-old boy and a woman, aged 54, were both seriously injured in the explosion, and dozens more suffered from shock.

Eighty houses were cordoned off since the incident and families evacuated but some residents were finally allowed back on Friday afternoon after 30 houses were declared gas safe.

Gas engineers and police officers wearing bodycams escorted the residents back to their homes as an investigation gets under way into what caused the disaster.

The Metropolitan Polices Specialist Crime Command has launched a probe into the explosion, although there is no suggestion foul play was involved.

SGNformerly known as Southern Gas Networksis a private company formed in 2005 and responsible for distributing gas in Scotland, London, and southern England.

Gas Company Boss Shocked and Saddened

On Thursday around 100 residents attended a meeting at a local community centre, where SGNs Martin Holloway, executive operations director, said he was shocked and saddened by Saharas death.

He said: Whilst I appreciate it is frustrating given the ongoing police investigation, Im unable to talk about what happened in the run-up to the explosion. I know thats difficult because people want answers about whats happening.

Sahara Salman died in a gas explosion in south London. (Met Police)

Several residents accused SGN of having blood on their hands and claimed they had made 18 calls to the company to complain about gas smells in the weeks leading up to the explosion.

SGN and the police will meet with representatives of the London Fire Brigade, Merton Council, and the Health Safety Executive on Friday to ascertain when the other evacuated families can return home.

Merton Council texted residents on Friday to let them know that gas inspections need to take place before they can return home.

Dozens of gas engineers are still digging up the street, inspecting a mains gas pipe to get to the cause of the explosion.

PA Media contributed to this report.
People participate in public comment at Anaheim City Hall in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 9, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Residents Urge Anaheim Officials to Address Crime After Teen Shooting Death

ANAHEIM, Calif.Dozens of Orange County residents spoke out against crime at the city council meeting on Aug. 9 following the murder of a 17-year-old boy in the city last month.

The residents said more needs to be done to improve community safety after Juan Carlos Renayga, an Anaheim High School student, was shot and killed on July 8, leaving the community devastated.

Police believed the shooting was gang-related, Sgt. Shane Carringer told The Epoch Times.

Ron Flores, president of Bastaan organization founded in 2021 to encourage voter participation among minorities, especially Hispanicsand a dozen members were some of the residents that gathered at the meeting to call for more action by city officials.

Basta members stand in front of Anaheim city hall on Aug. 9, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

My family has been here 83 years, and its sad to see where we are, Flores told the council.

Community members urged officials to address the citys gang activity and fund more street lighting in places with higher crime, such as the Edison Park area.

Among those in attendance at the meeting was Soo Yoo, president of the ABC Unified School Districts Board of Education in Cerritos. While she didnt speak to the city council, she agreed that crime is a big problem in Southern California.

Yoowho is also running for the state Assembly district 67, which covers part of Riverside County in Southern Californiasaid local police officers told her they are tired of risking their lives to arrest criminals who end up being quickly released.

A man is arrested by a Los Angeles police officer in Venice Beach, Calif.,on June 2, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

She said she wants to propose tougher penalties for repeat offenders, restrict district attorneys ability to drop cases, and stop releasing dangerous felons early.

A group of Anaheim residents and city officials also held a flashlight walk around the Edison Park area of the city on the evening of Aug. 5, taking note of sections that needed more lighting, law enforcement, or other city services.

While crime in Anaheim decreased by 17 percent from 2015 through 2019, the city had a higher crime rate than the countys average in 2019, according to the citys most recent data.

Citywide, 2,622 crimes were reported per 100,000 population, as opposed to 2,083 countywide and 2,489 nationwide.

People walk near Anaheim City Hall in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 9, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Undated handout photo issued by UK Ministry of Defence of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) firing at Kirkcudbright Ranges, Scotland, UK. (Cpl Nathan Tanuku/UK Ministry of Defence through PA Media)

Russia Unlikely to Succeed in Occupying Ukraine: UK Defence Chief

Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to succeed in occupying Ukraine, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said.

Speaking at a conference in Copenhagen on Aug. 11, Wallace said it is important to understand that fighting and loss of life was still taking place, but added Russia was starting to fail in many areas.

They have failed so far and are unlikely to ever succeed in occupying Ukraine, he said.

Their invasion has faltered and constantly been remodified to the extent they are really only focusing in parts of the south and in the east, a long, long way away from their three-day so-called special operation. Three days are now over 150 days and nearly six months in, with huge significant losses of both equipment and indeed Russian personnel.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace arrives to attend the government weekly cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, on March 8, 2022. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Continued Support

The defence secretary said Putin had gambled that the Western allies might have all got bored of the conflict and the coalition would have started to fracture within a few months.

But he said the continued commitment expressed by the allies at the Copenhagen Conference have proved the opposite.

At the conference, the UK and its key allies agreed to expand the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) to finance military training and equipment for Ukraine.

Britain has pledged to put 250 million ($303 million) into the fund. Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands have all announced they will be supporting the programme.

Wallace said: We have come out of this meeting with more pledges of finance, more pledges of training, and more pledges of military aid, all designed to help Ukraine win, to help Ukraine stand up for its sovereignty, and indeed to ensure that President Putins ambitions fail in Ukraine as they rightly should.

Depleting Stock

The defence chief said the allies will soon need to start buying weapons from other countries or placing orders to arms manufacturers as reserve stocks are depleted.

He said the Ukrainian armed forces will need many more weapons in the next few months and years, adding the new fund would allow allies to buy from wherever there is capacity.

The UK Ministry of Defence earlier confirmed it would send more weapons to Ukraine, including multiple-launch rocket systems, as well as precision-guided missiles which can strike targets up to 50 miles away, designed to defend against Russian heavy artillery.

Ukrainian troops have been trained in the UK on how to use the launchers, and the UK has also committed to training 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in infantry battlefield skills over the coming months.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Human consciousness is often brushed aside by scientists in favor of more relevant subjects of inquiry.

But is this dismissal warranted? Or is science missing out on a key component of the universe, one that is intrinsically tied to everything else? One off the beaten path California college aims to investigate what many scientists shy away from.

Consciousness was traditionally treated by what [psychologist] William James called tough-minded scientists or hard-nosed empiricists as trivial, or non-existent, or at best whats technically called an epiphenomenonsomething thats just produced by the brain somehow but doesnt mean anything, said Dr. Allan Leslie Combs, who is developing a consciousness studies Ph.D. program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).

The impact that conscious observation has on physical objectsas seen in quantum physics experimentshas drawn increasing interest into the study of human consciousness. If consciousness is part of the basic fabric of the universe at the quantum level, then its important everywhere and in everything, Combs said, adding with a laugh, Physicists are very serious about this, this is not just wacko stuff.

His courses on consciousness earn students nationally recognized academic credits. Though CIIS grew out of a casual wine and discussion group in the 1950sa forum traditionally suited to talk of spiritual or philosophical mattersit has since attained full accreditation and has for over two decades comprised a robust academic institution, albeit a somewhat unconventional one.

Standing at the CIIS campus in San Francisco, pointing out across the Bay toward the University of California-Berkeley, Combs proudly declares, We have the same accreditation they do.

A new worldview is emerging, he professes.

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Franciscos South of Market. (HaeB/CC BY-SA-4.0)

He cites late cultural historian and ecotheologian Thomas Berry, who viewed the universe as a community of beings rather than a collection of objects. Combs emphasizes the word community. Part of the new worldview is an increased awareness of interconnectedness.

Turning to science for explanations, the phenomenon of quantum entanglement reveals that particles, once in close contact, display signs of connectedness even after being separated by vast distancesappearing to break the rules of classical mechanics, where the speed of light is considered the fastest possible way for two particles to communicate. This instantaneous connection in entanglement throws a wrench in the whole classical model and has confounded scientists, including Einstein.

At the time of the big bang, everything was connected, Combs said. So, could all things in the universe stay connected somehow through quantum entanglement? Absolutely.

But not all particles in the universe change correspondingly to each and every other particleit seems. Could there still be a connection that isnt immediately apparent to us? One that exists but transcends ordinary perception? It has always been the domain of philosophy and religion to broach matters so transcendental as thisuntil more recently.

(Inset) Dr. Allan Leslie Combs, president and founder of the Society for Consciousness Studies, and professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). (Courtesy of Dr. Allan Combs; Shutterstock)

Although quantum entanglement has become mainstream today, popular colleges still dont teach consciousness studies, though Combs is confident they will eventually. CIIS could be the model for what colleges look like in the future, bridging the gap between science and mysticism.

Could entanglement and consciousness, taken together, explain the interconnectedness exhibited by the power of prayer, or other strange connections between people, such as twins or close relatives, who are far apart? Could the conscious phenomena of deja vu, or even more extraordinary claims of remote viewing, be explained in the world of quantum physics? Could the existence of other dimensions explain God or the afterlife? By joining these ideas, science and soul, CIIS could open doors to new discoveries.

Combs emerged as a consciousness professor by landing where empiricism meets mysticism. Identifying with the Chinese philosophy of Daoism and the practice of meditation, he was given reign to pursue new avenues into the study of consciousness at CIIS. Not all have that freedom. He knows of professors at other universities who have been dismissed for straying even marginally from their designated research.

Inside the CIIS campus, mandalas and pictures of spiritual leaders adorn the walls. Alternative ideas are given serious hearing here, an inlet to enter the mainstream. A tolerance of ideas prevails. But in the realm of academic science, maintaining tolerance has its challenges.

Its a little dicey sometimes, Combs said. One of the problems we have, [along with] other alternative schools  is that in some areas, like clinical psychology, in order to be fully accredited, you have to follow the standards of the APA [American Psychological Association]. That means not talking about spirituality, for example. [It means] sticking to a really basic empirical approach.

He added, This is a problem for alternative schools, because we do have a more spiritual orientation and a more humanistic orientation.

The doctor is president and founder of the Society for Consciousness Studies, which now boasts nearly 200 expert members, including famed medical doctor and holistic health advocate Deepak Chopra.

Combs likens the emergence of consciousness studies to the crescendo achieved in a symphony. He is but one of many musicians contributing in concert to its rise.

Michael Wing contributed to this report.
Senator Jim Molan delivers his first speech in the Australian Senate in Canberra, Australia on February 14, 2018. (Michael Masters/Getty Images)

Senator Says Press Club Should Not Give Chinese Ambassador Platform to Spread Lies and Disinformation

Former major general, now-Senator Jim Molan, has called on the National Press Club to refrain from giving the Chinese Embassy further opportunities to spread its lies and disinformation.

His comments come after the Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addressed the countrys Press Club on Aug. 10at the invitation of CEO Maurice Reilly and Director Peter Phillips.

Molan said he watched the address and was unsurprised by the thinly veiled aggression, deflection, and blame-shifting that has become common from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) representatives.

Disappointingly, the ambassador chose to take the platform extended to him by the National Press Club and use it to criticise Australias media for not glossing over Chinas human rights abuses, lies and war-like aggression in our region, the Liberal Senator said in a statement issued on Aug. 11.

Ambassador Xiao also said Beijing would not rule out using all necessary means to achieve reunification with Taiwan. He told attendees to use your imagination regarding what all necessary means could imply.

Further, Xiao alluded to the need for re-education of Taiwanese citizens if Beijing were to take over the island so that they could gain a correct understanding of China and the motherland.

In response, Molan said to the credit of the Press Club members, they recognised that the ambassadors speech was an outright threat of violence, cloaked in euphemistic and diplomatic tones.

The National Press Club is an iconic institution and symbol of our free and democratic media, he said. These values are not consistent with the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.

For this reason, I strongly urge the National Press Club to revoke all future speaking invitations to representatives of the Chinese Communist regime.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers responded to the ambassadors speech calling it concerning.

From our point of view, we will speak up for our national interest when thats necessary, and we will work cooperatively where thats possible as well, he told reporters on Aug. 11.

We want the relationship to be a stable one, we want the region to be stable, and prosperous and peaceful. From our point of view, that means calm and consistent language, and it means working with international partners where possible to make sure the region is as stable and prosperous and peaceful as it can be.

Facing Up to the Taiwan Problem

Meanwhile, Lincoln Parker, chair of the Liberal Partys Defence and National Security Policy Branch, said there were positives to be drawn from the Press Club event.

This is not like a press conference in Beijing where all of the questions are provided prior to the address and screened, he told The Epoch Times. The rules for the National Press Club are completely open so the media can ask whatever they want, and we saw the Australian media do a very good job.

I think the Australian public has seen now that war with Taiwan is certainly a real possibility and that Beijing looks to smash Taiwan however it can.

He also added that Australian governments needed to be more forthright on what the consequences were if an invasion of Taiwan were successful.

What does that mean for us? Whats the So what? to Australia and the public? Why should they care? he said.

First of all youve got a democratic countryessentially our allythat is defeated. Second, south and north Asia, and indeed the South China Sea, would all come within Beijings sphere of influencethey would be the superpower and hegemon.

Countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and indeed Japan, would recognise that the U.S. was no longer the worlds superpower and must now engage with China and bow down he added.

Parker also said Australia would be in a much more dangerous position, and it would face pressure to change its policies towards Beijing.
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, B.C.. (The Canadian Press/HO-Dutch Police)

Sentencing Hearing for Man Convicted in Amanda Todd Case Set for September

A sentencing hearing for a Dutch national convicted of harassing and extorting British Columbia teenager Amanda Todd before her suicide has been scheduled for next month.

Justice Martha Devlin set the hearing for Aydin Coban to begin on Sept. 20 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

A jury delivered a unanimous verdict on Saturday convicting Coban of extortion, harassment, communication with a young person to commit a sexual offence, and possession and distribution of child pornography in Todds case.

Amandas mother, Carol Todd, says she will deliver a victim impact statement during the hearing.

Todd was 15 when she took her own life in 2012 after posting a video that described being tormented by an online harasser.

She used flash cards to recount her ordeal in the video, which has since been watched by millions, shining a light on the issue of online harassment and cyberbullying.
FILE PHOTO: A Fox News channel sign is seen on a television vehicle outside the News Corporation building in New York City, in New York, U.S. Nov. 8, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/

Shannon Bream to Take Over Fox News Sunday, Replacing Chris Wallace

Fox News Channel veteran Shannon Bream will be the new anchor of the Fox News Sunday political talk show, replacing Chris Wallace who left the network after 18 years last December.

Breams replacement of Wallace will mark the first time the show has had a female correspondent in its 26-year history.

Bream, who is Foxs chief legal correspondent, announced the news in a joint statement with Fox on Aug. 11, and said that she was extremely grateful for the opportunity to host a Sunday show and look forward to this new role.

It has been an honor to cover major news throughout Washington over the last 15 years at FOX News, she added.

Fox bosses noted that Bream will continue to work as the networks chief legal correspondent in addition to the new role. A rotation of journalists will guest anchor Breams current program, Fox News @ Night, until a permanent replacement is named.

Bream will officially start the new role on Sept. 11.

Bosses at Fox said that Bream had over-delivered the 2021 average of FOX News Sunday by 20 percent each time she guest-hosted the show over the last several months.

Some of her appearances on that show also prompted significant viewership increases among the 25 and 54 demographic, which is the most coveted by advertisers in news programming, according to Fox.

Viewership up With Bream

In January, she netted double-digit increases across the board on FNS, up 32 percent in total viewers (1.35 million) and 45 percent over the previous in the advertiser-friendly 25-54 demo (343,000), marking the highest-rated FOX News Sunday episode of 2022, Fox said. In June, she ushered in week-to-week gains of 37 percent in the 25-54 demo, a 53 percent increase in the 18-49 demo along with 8 percent growth in total viewers.

Bream joined Fox News in 2007 as a legal correspondent and has served as the anchor of FOX News @ Night since 2017, during which time she has interviewed everyone from First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Prior to joining Fox News, Bream, who is an honors graduate of the Florida State University College of Law, worked as a weekend anchor for WRC-TV (NBC) in Washington, D.C. a late-night news anchor for WBTV (CBS) in Charlotte, NC, and wrote and reported for WFTS-TV (ABC) in Tampa, FL

Before launching her career in journalism, Bream practiced corporate law specializing in race discrimination and sexual harassment cases.

Fox News has relied on a rotation of anchors to lead Fox News Sunday since Wallace departed in December last year for CNN, which had come under fire for a string of controversies surrounding former anchor Chris Cuomo.

However, CNNs streaming service CNN+ collapsed months later in April amid reports that it had a low subscriber base.

CNN boss Chris Licht announced on Thursday that Wallaces show, titled Whos Talking to Chris Wallace? will take over the Sunday evening 7 p.m. slot on the cable channel this coming fall, according to multiple reports.

The Epoch Times has contacted a CNN spokesperson for comment.
By Kiersten Willis

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Theres been a boost in at-home renovation projects within the past year. While remodeling expenditures are slowing down, they are still a hot ticket item within the market.

The Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity released in July forecasts year-over-year gains in remodeling expenditures to owner-occupied homes will decelerate from 17.4% in 2022 to 10.1% by the second quarter of 2023.

While beginning to soften, growth in spending for home improvements and repairs is expected to remain well above the markets historical average of 5%, Abbe Will, Associate Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program, said in the report In the first half of 2023, annual remodeling expenditures are still set to expand to nearly $450 billion.

But before you make your next renovation, ensure that it will help and not harm your homes value. GoBankingRates has 20 examples of some. Start by skipping these five projects.

Unique Lighting Fixtures

Good lighting is essential, but it needs to be functional rather than ornate.

For example, an oversize hanging light is out of place in a small to medium size Great Room or living room  since the fixture will just overwhelm the entire space  just as a too-small fixture will be dwarfed by a space that too large and voluminous for it, house plan website The Plan Collection said.

Luxury Bathrooms

Its important not to go overboard with bathroom upgrades.

Potential buyers could be scared off by bathroom remodel mistakes like over-personalized finishes and over-the-top whirlpool tubs that are hard to clean and hard for some people to climb into, GoBankingRates reported. Keep it simple with a walk-in shower with a rain shower head.

Brightly Colored Rooms

Just because a color is popular in magazines doesnt mean it will add value to a house in your area, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based real estate agent Paul Wheeler told HomeLight. Cutting edge colors only work in cutting edge areas. Places like New York or L.A. pick up color trends first, then they trickle down to the middle of the country a few years later. So if were too far ahead of the trends, buyers arent going to like it.

Luckily, fixing it is just a matter of another paint job.

Guest Bedroom-Turned-Home Office

Many people have been working from home in the past year, but that doesnt mean you should get rid of your spare room in favor of an office.

Custom cabinet installation, rewiring for electric equipment and other improvements have been shown to cost $29,066 and result in a $14,155 value. It may not be worth it.

High-End Kitchens

Many people enjoy top-of-the-line kitchen appliances, but only to an extent. New Jersey-based retailer Designer Appliances says on its blog that not all homes will see an increase in resale value simply because of updated appliances. This could happen if it isnt in a high-end market.

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Via Twitter on Friday, the Head of State indicated that there will be a frontal fight against crime, since the Government cannot allow "Peruvian families, who deserve a quiet life in peace and freedom, to continue being hurt."

He ordenado que se inicie a traves del @MininterPeru, el programa Retorno a su pais para que se expulse a todos los extranjeros que cometan delitos en el Peru. Agradezco la disposicion de la embajada de Venezuela y demas embajadas con las que se viene coordinando.(1/9) pic.twitter.com/YL6VQ2ayUY
South Korea Says Use of US Missile Defense System Not Subject to Negotiation With China

South Korea said on Thursday that its deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system is not subject to negotiation, rejecting Chinas demand that it honors the previous Moon governments policies.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi raised this issue during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin on Tuesday. Beijing said the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and its radar capabilities would undermine Chinas strategic security interest.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides agreed in the talks to take the legitimate concerns of both countries to ensure that the THAAD issue will not become a stumbling block in their bilateral relations.

Wang also urged the new South Korean government of conservative Yoon Suk-yeol to honor the left-leaning Moon Jae-In administrations Three Nos policies, which stated that Seoul wouldnt deploy any additional THAAD systems, wouldnt participate in U.S.-led missile defense networks, and wouldnt form a trilateral military alliance with Washington and Tokyo.

However, the Yoon administrations Foreign Ministry has responded, saying that the previous administrations Three Nos pledge was not a formal agreement.

During the meeting, both sides confirmed their differences over the THAAD matter, but also agreed that the issue should not become an obstacle that influences relations between the countries, the South Korean side said its statement following the meeting.

Yoons office said that South Korea deployed the THAAD system mainly to counter the missile threat posed by aggression from North Korea, and that the past administration had provided no material regarding its pledge with China, according to local media Yonhap News Agency.

Our government clearly states that THAAD is a self-defense tool aimed at protecting our peoples lives and safety from North Koreas nuclear and missile threats and a matter of security sovereignty that can never be subject to negotiation, it added.

South Korea deployed the THAAD system in 2017 in response to Pyongyangs nuclear program. But China claimed that the THAAD system could be reconfigured to peer into its territory and retaliated by suspending Chinese group tours to South Korea.

Former President Moon, who together with former U.S. President Donald Trump pursued engagement with North Korea for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, also tried to repair relations with Beijing by pledging the Three Nos.

Moons dovish approach has been discarded by his successor, Yoon, who has vowed stronger security cooperation with Washington and expressed a willingness to acquire more THAAD batteries to counter North Koreas nuclear threats.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (C) speaks at a press conference following U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek chip factory on May 20, 2022. (Kim Min-hee/AFP via Getty Images)

South Koreas President Pardons Samsung Heir Convicted of Bribery

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday issued a pardon for Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong, who was released on parole in 2021 while serving a jail term for a bribery case, along with Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and other key business figures.

Nearly 1,700 people were included in the list of pardons.

Yoon said the amnesty was aimed at restoring the economy and stabilizing the lives of citizens, Yonhap News Agency reported. This will mark the first amnesty granted by Yoon since taking office in May.

With urgent needs to overcome the national economic crisis, we carefully selected economic leaders who lead the national growth engine through active technology investment and job creation to be pardoned, the ministry said.

Lee was released on parole in 2021 after serving 18 months in jail. He was convicted of bribing former President Park Geun-hye and her close confidante to win government support for a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates.

His prison sentence ended on July 29, 2022, but Lee still required a presidential pardon to regain full control of the corporation because South Korean law bans people convicted of major financial crimes from returning to work for five years following the end of their sentences.

In a statement, Lee welcomed Yoons pardon and pledged to start anew for the national economy.

I want to express my apologies for causing concerns for many people because of my shortcomings. I will work even harder to fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a businessperson, he said.

Critics say Lee has always been in control of Samsung, even when he was behind bars, and that he had already fully resumed his management duties when he was paroled. Lee was present during President Joe Bidens visit to Samsungs Pyeongtaek chip production facilities in May.

President Joe Biden (L), South Korean President Yoon Suk-youl (C), and Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong during their visit to the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus on May 20, 2022. (Kim Min-hee/AFP via Getty Images)

Lee still faces a separate trial on charges of stock price manipulation and auditing violations related to the 2015 merger.

A coalition of civic groups, including Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, issued a statement criticizing Yoons move to pardon Lee and the other business tycoons, accusing Yoon of cozying up to chaebol, which refers to the family-owned conglomerates that dominate the countrys economy.

President Yoon Suk Yeols sell-out [to business tycoons] sends a signal to chaebol chiefs that they are free to commit all the crimes they want, the groups said.

Recent opinion polls have indicated South Koreansyears removed from the angry protests in late 2016 and 2017 that ousted Park from officelargely favored granting Lee a pardon, reflecting Samsungs influence in a country that relies so heavily on its technology exports.

Park was released from prison in 2021 under a special pardon granted by then-President Moon Jae-in after shed served four years and nine months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Subpoena FBI If Bureau Doesnt Hand Over Trump Raid Documents, GOP Tells Schiff

The House Intelligence Committee should subpoena the FBI and the Department of Justice if top officials at the agencies refuse to hand over materials on the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump, the top Republican on the House panel said on Aug. 12.

Republicans on the committee, led by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), asked the bureau and its parent agency, the department, to share the search warrant FBI agents executed at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, as well as supporting materials like the affidavit outlining the reason for the raid.

But the agencies have not yet complied with the request, Turner told reporters in Washington.

We are requesting that the chairman of the committee support our request for the disclosure of this information to our committee and we are requesting that it be backed up if they do not comply with our request, by a subpoena from our committee, Turner said.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) chairs the panel. A spokeswoman for Schiff did not respond to a request for comment.

Our committee is intended to work with classified information. There is nothing that would be the subject matter of this that cannot be disclosed to our committee and we also are the committee that deals with the issue of national security threats, and we want to know what was this imminent national security threat upon which this was based, Turner said.

Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, speaks to reporters in Washington on Aug. 12, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Affidavit

The Department of Justice asked the same judge who approved the search warrant to unseal the warrant and some related materials, but some experts say the request does not appear to extend to the affidavit, a view Turner shares. Even if the judge agrees with the governments request, which Trump said overnight that he supports, then the committees request would thus remain relevant, lawmakers say.

Republicans want the affidavit shared with the committee. After reviewing the document, the lawmakers would decide whether to make any or all public.

It should be released to us, Turner said. A release depends on whats in it, he added.

Other GOP members of the panel decried the raid, saying that there were a number of steps that could have been taken instead of a search, such as a forthwith subpoena.

The search was reportedly based on the FBI believing Trump possessed classified materials.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), a former FBI agent, said that the public needs to know the law is being enforced equally and noted that former First Lady Hillary Clintons home was not raided when she was found to hold classified messages on a private server.

We love our law enforcement officers. We would protect and defend them. We thank them for their service, Fitzpatrick said. But when we have a brewing matter of distrust we have to get to the bottom of it and fix it, not just for the sake of this individual instance but the sake of our counterterrorism cases, our counterintelligence cases, our cybersecurity cases, all the critical cases that our federal law enforcement agencies are working on to keep us safe.
A helicopter and boat under the Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese army take part in a maritime rescue drill, as part of military exercises in the waters around Taiwan, at an undisclosed location on Aug. 9, 2022. (Eastern Theatre Command/Handout via Reuters)

Taiwan Says Chinas Threat Remains, Though Military Drills Ease

TAIPEIChinese regimes threat of force is undiminished, Taiwan President said Tsai Ing-wenon Thursday, even though Beijings largest ever military drills around the island seemed to be scaling down.

Furious about a visit to Chinese-claimed Taiwan last week by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Chinese regime launched ballistic missiles and deployed multiple aircraft and warships in recent days to simulate sea and air attacks.

The Chinese regime said on Wednesday it would keep up patrols but had completed various tasks around Taiwan, signaling a possible end to the war games even while keeping up pressure.

Taiwan has also been conducting relatively small-scale, annual exercises, scheduled before the flare-up and aimed at preparing to repel an invasion.

At present, the threat of Chinese military force has not decreased, Tsai told air force officers, according to a statement from her office.

Taiwan will not escalate conflict nor provoke disputes, her office quoted her as saying, adding: We will firmly defend our sovereignty and national security, and adhere to the line of defense of democracy and freedom.

Taiwans Defense Ministry said in a statement it had on Thursday detected 21 Chinese military aircraft and six Chinese naval ships in and around the Taiwan Strait, of which 11 planes had crossed over the median line.

That was down from the 36 aircraft and 10 ships detected the previous day, when 17 aircraft crossed the median line.

Military Provocations

Taiwan has lived under the threat of Chinese invasion since 1949 when the defeated Republic of China nationalist government fled to the island after Mao Zedongs Chinese Communist Party (CCP) won a civil war.

The Chinese regime says its relations with Taiwan are an internal matter and it reserves the right to bring the island under its control, by force if necessary.

Taiwans democratically-elected government says the CCP has never governed the island so has no right to decide its future or claim it for themselves.

In the face of Chinas recent military provocations, the nations armed forces are right on the front lines, and its duties will only be more onerous and the pressure will be even greater, added Tsai.

The Chinese regimes military did not make any new comment on its military activity around Taiwan on Thursday.

However, the two sides continued their war of words, with Taiwan reiterating a rejection of Chinas proposed one country, two systems model for bringing the island under Beijings control.

Only Taiwans people could decide its future, the spokesperson for Taiwans foreign ministry, Joanne Ou, told a news conference in Taipei.

The CCP was using Pelosis visit to Taipei as an excuse to create a new normality to intimidate Taiwans people, Ou added.
Chinas Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia on Aug. 10, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Taiwan Would Undergo Re-Education If Beijing Were to Take Over: Chinese Ambassador

Beijing Representative Says Regime Ready to Use "All Means Necessary" to Take Taiwan

The Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has told a room full of journalists that Beijing will use any force necessary to bring Taiwan under its control and that once under the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) rule would undergo some form of re-education.

The comments came during an address to the National Press Club on Aug. 10, when Australian journalists pressed the Chinese regimes representative about the current tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

When asked about the potential for China to invade Taiwan, Xiao told reporters that although the use of force was the last thing that Beijing wanted, it could never rule out the option to use other means.

So when necessary, when compelled, we are ready to use all necessary means, he said. As to what is the mean by all necessary means, you can use your human imagination.

Taiwan Would Undergo Re-Education

The CCP ambassador also said it was his personal understanding that if an invasion was successful, its citizens would undergo re-education.

He said that Taiwan had been run by a regional regime for many decades and that their perspective about Mainland China might have different views, requiring a process for the people in Taiwan to have a correct understanding of China.

This is the second time a representative of the Chinese Communist Party has said Taiwan would need to undergo some form of re-education if it came under the rule of Beijing. Shoppers walk beneath lanterns strung up as people prepare for Chinese New Year at Dihua Street in Taipei, Taiwan, on Feb. 10, 2021. (An Rong Xu/Getty Images)

The comments from the ambassador mirror those made on Aug. 7 by the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, who told French media outlet LCI that if Beijing were to take over Taiwan, its 23 million residents would undergo re-educationechoing the situation faced by Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Beijing Tries to Justify Aggression in Taiwan Strait

Xiao also declared that Taiwan was not an independent state, saying the matter was a domestic issue and referenced the 1943 Cairo Declaration.

The Cairo Declaration was an agreement made between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Cairo, Egypt, during the Pacific campaign in World War II. It recognised China as an ally and agreed that territories taken from China by Japan, including Manchuria, Taiwan, and the Pescadores, would be returned to the control of the Republic of China after the conflict ended.

Xiaos comments come as the Chinese regime launched live-fire military drills in the seas surrounding Taiwan on Aug. 4 in apparent retaliation to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis (D-Calif.) visit to the democratic island.

Beijing also declared six exclusion zones encircling the island for the war games. Warplanes and vessels have crossed the median line of the Strait.

In response, Taiwans defence ministry called the military drills highly provocative and deployed aircraft, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems to monitor the situation.

We seek no escalation, nor do antagonise others, Taiwans defence ministry said on Twitter, adding that its armed forces were committed to defending the self-governing island.

Soldiers fire 155mm howitzers during an annual live-fire military exercise in Pingtung county, southern Taiwan, August 9, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang

According to Reuters, the military drills are the biggest ever held by the CCPs military wing, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) with 11 ballistic missiles launched so far.

Five of the missiles were said to have landed in Japans Exclusive Economic Zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from the countrys coast.

The PLA also deployed 22 Chinese fighter jets, which crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. Unmanned aerial drones were also launched and flew over the Kinmen Islands1.3 miles from the Chinese coastlineforcing Taiwanese troops to fire warning flares to drive away at least four aircraft.

Three drones flew over waters near Taiwans east coast, according to an announcement (pdf) from Japans defence ministry.
Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich leaves the courthouse after being released from jail in Ottawa on July 26, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Tamara Lich Is a Political Prisoner, Says Tory Leadership Candidate Leslyn Lewis

Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich is a political prisoner targeted by the federal government for holding political views that run counter to its own, says Conservative leadership candidate and MP Leslyn Lewis.

[T]he answer is yes. Tamara does meet the definition of a political prisonershe was imprisoned for her political beliefs and actions, Lewis said in an email to her supporters on Aug. 11.

The Liberals penchant for weaponizing institutions to silence their political opponents is undermining the very pillars that should be holding society together.

Lich was released late last month after having been arrested for the second time on June 27 for allegedly breaching her bail conditions. In all, the 49-year-old Metis grandmother, who has no criminal record, spent 49 days in jail awaiting trial on charges stemming from her role as one of the key organizers of the Freedom Convoy.

Lewis, who is a lawyer and has tracked Lichs case, criticized how the Canadian legal system has been eroded by a political vendetta.

In a previous letter, I outlined the fact that the first judge who detained Tamara was a former Liberal candidate, and the crown attorney who prosecuted Tamara had donated over $17,000 to the Liberal Party since 2013, she said.

Lich was first arrested on Feb. 17 on charges of mischief, counselling to commit mischief, obstructing police, among other charges, after the Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act to quell the convoy protest this winter in Ottawa over federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

After initially being denied bail, she was released in March on a number of conditions, including having no contact with fellow convoy organizers.

In her second arrest on June 27, Lich spent nearly 30 days in jail after Crown prosecutors alleged she breached her bail conditions at a gala event organized by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms where she was presented with the 2022 George Jonas Freedom Award on June 16.

The Crown presented as evidence a photograph of Lich and fellow convoy organizer Tom Marazzo taken at the event, and a video briefly showing Lich sitting at a table where Marazzo and others were seated.

Lichs defence had argued that the less than three-second congratulatory interaction after Lich had delivered a speech at the awards dinner wouldnt lead to any illegal activity.

Her new bail conditions included not setting foot in Ottawa except for court appearances, tighter rules around communication with other convoy organizers, and another $37,000 bond. Her initial bond was $25,000.

Conservative leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis delivers remarks during a debate at the Canada Strong and Free Network conference in Ottawa on May 5, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Tamara Lich is just one example of what happens when government uses its power to control Canadians, to inflame hate and division and to infest independent institutions with political operatives, Lewis said in her email.

Sadly, over the past two years under COVID-19, [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have created an environment that has undermined our institutions for political gains, she added.

Under the guise of protecting peoples health and safety, we have seen the erosion of our constitutional rights, and seen our justice system, law enforcement, health system and media weaponized to silence political opponents.

Checks and Balances

The current political climate normalized acts such as charging and disciplining of doctors with dissenting views, freezing bank accounts, confiscating property of protesters, and publicly shaming and disclosing the addresses of people who donated to a democratic movement, Lewis said.

The only solution to cure the fragility of our democracy is to have citizens of all political stripes acknowledge the dangerous course that we are on, and to have courageous leaders involve checks and balances that will compel institutional actors to publicly declare conflicts as well as amend the Emergencies Act to require a minimum of 2/3 of parliament to invoke it, she said.

During a campaign stop on July 20, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre who is also running in the Conservative leadership race, said he will not control who goes to prison when asked what he would do to ensure Canada doesnt have any political prisoners if he becomes prime minister.

As a prime minister, I will not control who goes to prison, because I am not responsible for making arrests or making judgmentspolice and judges must make those decisions, Poilievre answered.

He added that it would be a disaster if Canada becomes a country where politicians have the power to choose who goes to jail.

Im not going to tell you  what kind of sentence anyone is going to get, because its not the role of a prime ministerthats the job of police to lay charges, for Crown attorneys to prosecute charges, for defensive lawyers to defend against the charge, and for judges and juries to deliver verdicts and sentences, he said.

Jean Charest, another leadership candidate, said in a tweet on July 14 that he will launch a public inquiry into the federal response to the pandemic if elected. He was responding to a commentary published in The Epoch Times written by former Reform Party leader Preston Manning who proposed instigating a national inquiry on those responsible for the unconscionable persecution of Lich.

I agree with Preston Manning. Under my leadership, Canada will conduct a National Commission of Inquiry into Trudeaus COVID response, including his unprecedented and irresponsible use of the Emergencies Act, Charest said.

Andrew Chen contributed to this report.
Few works of art are as well-known today as The Thinker by French sculptor Auguste Rodin. The monumental nature of this single monolithic figure seems to be all self-sufficient, capable of symbolizing the most sophisticated of human activitythinking. Its no wonder that this image, ever since its rise to popularity in 1903, has been the most frequently used work of art to represent philosophy.

Here, the nude male is lost in contemplation. His one hand rests easefully on his kneecap, while the other holds up his weighty head. His right elbow, reaching across his chest to the left, guides the entire body into a stressed but restrained torsion. Tensed muscles undulate on the figure, but they do not deform or disturb the silent pose and pensive mind. It is a simple image of a man sitting on a rock, with expression found solely in the language of the body.

Dante Contemplating Suffering

Before it became familiar to us as a large stand-alone figure, The Thinker was actually conceived as part of a larger sculptural group. In 1880, Rodin was commissioned to cast the entrance to the planned Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.

Inspired by his reading of Dantes Divine Comedy, Rodin modeled the monumental Gates of Hell with scenes from Dantes poetry. Embedded in turbulent waves of bronze, small figures from various episodes of the Inferno act out their respective sufferings: Paolo and Francesca, damned for their adulterous lust, are swept by violent winds; the starving Ugolino is driven to eat his children as punishment for treason and treachery.

Above the doors in the tympanum and among twisted and intertwined flesh, sits The Thinkera serene representation of the poet Dantecontemplating the vision of infernal suffering in which he finds himself.

The Thinker sitting above the doors, in the tympanum, of the monumental brass sculptural work The Gates of Hell inspired by a scene from the Inferno, the first section of Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy. (Allie Caulfield/CC BY 2.0)

This is no conventional depiction of Dante. Known to us as the red-robed poet laureate, the medieval Florentine had never appeared as a nude athlete. Rodins sculpture thus brings the specificity of the historical figure to a symbolic level, celebrating the great profundity of his thought through the force of classical figuration.

For this, the artist reached back to the sculpture of Greco-Roman antiquity and its intermediary, the Renaissance, through which ancient art was again expressed. Rodins admiration for the power of Michelangelos sculptures led him not only to imitate the masters style but also to go directly to the fountainhead of that classical movement.

In Rome, Rodin studied the citys wealth of ancient statues. He must have intimately known the famous fragment of the Belvedere Torso, present in Rome since the 1430s, which had inspired generations of artists from Michelangelo to Peter Paul Rubens. Created about 2,000 years ago, the broken torso still captures the restrained power that rests in the classical nude body, which can be glimpsed through its charged compression of the abdomen and the subtle turning of the shoulders.

Inspired by the fractured remains of antiquity and Michelangelos unfinished marbles, Rodin would later go on to explore that aesthetic with his intentionally fragmentary works. His later sculptural works, however, were not as traditional. But in The Thinker, the sculptor reinterpreted the powerful torso with limbs and a head, just as Michelangelo once did in his Sistine frescoes.

The fragmentary marble statue of the Belvedere Torso, circa 1430, signed at the base Apollonios, son of Nestor, Athenian on view at the Vatican Museum in Rome. Photograph taken by Adolphe Braun in 1869. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. (Public Domain)

In the end, what Rodin invented was something thoroughly unique, which endowed the ancient and the classic with new meanings. The heroic Greek nude passed through the tensed dynamism of Michelangelo to Rodin, who used all its simplicity and clarity to express the force of a poets creative idea.

Upon the jagged rock sits the thinker. Though each stripe of muscle is pronounced, the entire body remains still, expressing no explicit drama yet containing a sea of emotion. Paradoxically, the turning of the torso, facilitated by the crossing elbow, reveals a powerfully contorted pose of the seemingly tranquil image.

The man is lost in thoughtabsorbed in himself. The troubled thoughts that occupy his mind have no other visual outlet than the intense but subtle strain of his physical body. Such was the thought of Rodins Dantethe thought of heaven and earth, of death and sufferingwhich transcends secular time to deeply stir the mind of every human.
The Hidden Enemy Now Stares Us in the Face

Commentary

The most bizarre feature of the raid on former President Donald Trumps home wasnt its incredible invasiveness. It was how several days went by before anyone was willing to take responsibility for it. All inquiries to the White House were met with hand waves and shoulder shrugs. The FBI wouldnt comment. All we had were leaks and speculation.

The administration knew nothing about it, it said, and would instead defer to whatever the Department of Justice said and did. Somehow, in the White House ethos of our time, letting the deep machinery of the state run roughshod is seen as responsible governing.

It was only after public uproar without precedent that the head of the FBI, Attorney General Merrick Garlandfamously deferential to regulatory agencies and the administrative state generallyacknowledged that he personally signed off on the order. Hes a political appointee of the Biden White House. Its hard to imagine that he would have done so without telling the president or his staff, but maybe plausible deniability among this crowd comes at a premium.

Now that the warrant has been released, the public will have the opportunity to assess the evidence. All this seems to be forced by public pressure. One way or another, well get closer to the truth.

With good reason, vast numbers of people doubt that this move will be the same as all the others: not really the exercise of law enforcement, but rather the state deployed against political enemies.

All this provides a focus on what has become the main issue in American life today. Is this a constitutional republic with a government by the people that rules with transparency and complies with the rule of law? Or do we have a system in which the administrative state has essentially gone rogue, believing itself to have powers that are higher than that of any elected officeholder and exercising them with brutality and without oversight?

And by the administrative state, we dont just mean the deep bureaucracy of the FBI or the DOJ. Its also inclusive of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health, which were granted free reign over the entire country, managing somehow to festoon every public business in the United States with plexiglass, to slap masks on all our faces, to close schools and even churches, and even, for a time, to limit cross-state travel.

Only on Aug. 11 did the CDC finally relent with a convoluted and impenetrable paper that pulled back on its recommendations that the unvaccinated be treated unequally in employment and public spaces. This is because, it concedes, vaccine immunity wanes, and most of the public has natural immunity anyway. Meanwhile, people have lost careers and livelihoods. The CDC has also said theres no need to test people without symptoms.

Also, good news: Mere exposure should no longer trigger a 10-day quarantine. Thank you. All you scrupulous compliers and mysophobic paranoids can finally leave your homes after two and a half years. Its nothing short of grotesque that the CDC ever had the power to push such policies and even more appalling that someone such as Dr. Deborah Birx has bragged about having defied the whole Trump administration.

The CDC admits no prior errors. As the protocol demands today, all changes in regime demands are justified on the grounds that we have new tools or that the science has changed or some other malarkey. Not a word in this new document is somehow justified now but not two and a half years ago. One even senses that the authors of the CDC advisory took great pains to avoid language from the Great Barrington Declaration, even if the upshot runs in the same trajectory of advice.

When a Florida judge struck down the CDCs nationwide mask mandate on transportation as unlawful, the response from the deep-state actors controlling the Biden administration was that this wouldnt stand simply because it isnt the place of a court to reject the edicts of a federal bureaucracy. The appeal is still in process. This is how these people think: They want nothing short of dictatorship.

Two weeks before the 2020 election, Trump issued an executive order, which I count as among the most innovative in decades, if not in a century. It demanded that every agency revisit its personnel roster and classify in a new way every position that deals with policy. They would henceforth become Schedule F employees and therefore accountable to the president. They would face an at-will employment contract. Repealing this executive order was among the first actions of the Biden administration.

I first wrote about this extraordinary move by Trump in June. It wasnt until last week that I came to understand the details about how it came about. The genius behind the move was the White House assistant who specialized in labor relations in the civil service. His name is James Sherk and hes now a scholar at the America First Policy Institute. His article in The Wall Street Journal explains the background. Referencing several high-profile cases of bureaucratic incompetence and intransigence, he writes:

Career employees get away with this behavior largely because they have extensive removal protections. While it isnt impossible to fire federal employees, it is difficult, uncertain and time-consuming. Schedule F was developed to address this widespread misconduct and prevent its recurrence. We found a way for agencies to hold intransigent bureaucrats accountable. Schedule F would have madeand might still makesenior policy-influencing bureaucrats at-will employees. The order didnt let agencies dismiss them for political reasons, but it enabled agencies to remove senior employees swiftly for poor performance or policy resistance.

Sherk is also the author of one of the most damning and shocking personal accounts of life in government today that youll ever read. You can find it on the website of the institute for which he works. Its called Tales From the Swamp. I wish that every American would read it.

It tells the grim reality of government today. It reveals how Trump never stood a chance against the beast he tried to slay. The document shows you whos in charge, and it isnt the elected representatives, much less the people. Its the permanent bureaucracy. This is what rules this country. The politicians make promises in earnest, but they have no chance at all to implement their vision. A careful read of Sherks long expose reveals that most of what passes for American politics is pure theater.

Can something be done about this? Schedule F is a good start. For discovering, naming, and trying to slay the enemy, the administrative state has gone all-in on crushing not only Trump, but also any elected official or candidate for office who defends Schedule F. So far as the swamp is concerned, this is about its own survival. There are no lengths to which it will not go to assure that. It really is a turning point.

The beauty of our times is that now we know. The enemy has shown its face. Weve also all surely lost whatever political naivete that we once had. Its going to take far, far more than electing politicians with a good slogan to make the changes we need and get back to a constitutional government.

Knowing what we know now, we surely have a better sense of the necessary solutions. The Republicans, if they have any real principles and commitments, need to be fully united on the need truly to drain the swampnot just as a slogan, but as a focused agenda.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
The Rockefeller Foundation had two strategies for management that were distinct but complementary: to control human behaviour at the level of social structures: family, work and emotions, which the Foundation referred to by names such as psychobiology; and to control human behaviour at the level of molecules.

Many people date the DNA revolution to the discovery of its structure by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953. But really it began thirty years before, conceived by the mind of John D Rockefeller, Sr. Thus it is fitting that DNA is named after him. DNA stands for DeoxyriboNucleic Acid and ribo stands for Rockefeller Institute of Biochemistry (now Rockefeller University) where the chemical composition of DNA was first discovered in the 1920s. The Rockefeller Foundation had become interested in DNA because its trustees feared a Bolshevik-style revolution. Intense public resentment had already compelled the break-up of their Standard oil Company in 1911; so the Foundation sought ways, said trustee Harry Pratt Judson in 1913, to reinforce the police power of the state. They intended to find the ultimate key to human behaviour which would allow the resentful and envious mobs to be effectively managed.

The Foundation had two strategies for management that were distinct but complementary: to control human behaviour at the level of social structures: family, work and emotions, which the Foundation referred to by names such as psychobiology; and to control human behaviour at the level of molecules.

The Science of Man

To develop methods of control at the societal level, the Foundation more-or-less founded the discipline of social science in the early 1900s.

Max Mason, appointed as the Foundations director in 1929, described this double focus as their science of man project:

[It i]s directed to the general problem of human behavior, with the aim of control through understanding. The social sciences, for example, will concern themselves with the rationalization of social control; the medical and natural sciences propose a closely coordinated study of the sciences which underlie personal understanding and personal control (quote from Lily Kay, The Molecular Vision of Life, 1993).

For the social science arm the Foundation sought to inculcate within the social science research community specific mechanistic habits of mind and an ethos conducive to this goal of control: the validation of the findings of social science [must be] through effective social control, wrote the Foundations head of Social Science, Edmund E. Day. According to Warren Weaver, then director of the Foundation, this meant the recasting of prevailing ideas of human nature and conduct in line with the managerial needs of industrialisation for characters such as timeliness and obedience.

The restructuring of human relations in congruence with industrial capitalism as Lily Kay, biographer of the Foundation described it, was an agenda that was quite widely understood in the 1930sand widely disapproved of. One contemporary critic called the Foundations work a thinly disguised capitalistic manipulation of the social order (Kay, 1993).

The Rockefellers Construct the Gene

The second arm to the science of man strategy was seen as purely based on scientific rationality.

To the Rockefeller Foundation trustees, however, rationality meant eugenics. Eugenic theory, by definition, implies that humans contain hidden determinants for traits like civility, intelligence, and obedience. Logically, such determinants ought to be discoverable, reasoned the Foundations trustees. If science were able to peer deep enough it would discover those mechanisms and molecules that effected this upward causation of behaviour. Once identified, such controlling elementswhich were initially presumed to be proteinscould be understood and made use of.

However, to make such discoveries required a new science and a new concept: molecular biology. Molecular biology was a term the foundation invented for a reductionist science of the very small that was focused on discovering the nature of the gene.

The Foundation nevertheless did try out othereven nonreductionistapproaches to biology. It briefly supported the mathematical biologist Nicolas Rashevsky before finally dropping him (Abraham, 2004). Presumably, as a descriptive science, mathematical biology did not meet the Foundations desire to discover deterministic and controlling forces.

By testing out and sifting through distinct approaches, individuals, and institutions, the Foundation eventually developed a strategy to reinvent the science of biology that, by 1933, was fully elaborated. It concentrated on funding scientific cliques at a relatively small number of elite institutions (such as Caltech and the University of Chicago). These cliques trained up hundreds of scientists whose job was to find the molecules responsible for that upward causation; that is, to find the specific molecules and the specific mechanisms that determined the form and function of organisms. They would thus validate the Rockefeller eugenic thesis.

Institutionally, these efforts were extremely successful. After the search for these master molecules had eventually narrowed to DNA, George Beadle, Nobel Laureate in physiology and Rockefeller insider, noted that all but one of the 18 Nobel prizes awarded for genetic science after 1953 had been awarded to current or former Rockefeller-funded scientists (Kay, 1993). By Beadles death in 1989, largely thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation, molecular biology had become the dominant approach to all of biology. That is, medicine, developmental biology, neurobiology, and agriculture.

Almost the whole world nowadays assumes the overwhelming emphasis of biological science on genetics and reductionism to be a logical and inevitable scientific one. But what the history of the Rockefeller Foundation shows is that the virtual wiping out of whole organism biology and the sidelining of diverse other approaches such as Rashevskys; of nutritional biology; and of environmental determinism, was a carefully planned coup detat. It was an overt seizure of the scientific estate intended to substitute genetic determinism for competing ideas about causation in biology.

Genetic determinism is the idea that genes have a privileged level of causation and thus a special status in biology. As shown in the companion article Genetics Is Giving Way to a New Science of Life, the idea is clearly false. Causation in biology can take many forms and genetics is just one of them, but the robber barons who bought biology did so specifically in order to impose a genetic determinist paradigm.

A further consequence of their efforts was that they simultaneously seized and impoverished our idea of life. Thus, when Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA in 1953 they considered they had discovered the secret of life. The triumph of the Rockefeller Foundation was that no one contradicted them.

The Origins of Genetic Determinism: Huxley and the Victorians

The fear of unruly mobs was not unique to leaders of the Rockefeller Foundation. Victorian reviewers of the books of Charles Darwin, fifty years earlier, also lived in a tumultuous age. The advent of new technologies like trains and telephones, the growth of cities, and the rise of a mercantile class that threatened to displace the nobility, were destabilising their world.

To add Darwinism to this ferment, feared those reviewers, would shake society to its very foundations (Desmond, 1998). These mid-Victorians feared Darwinism primarily because it provided a set of powerful ideas that profoundly undermined God and the Church, the two rocks on which their world was largely built.

More than that, evolution specifically threatened to destroy the ancient and sacred concepts of inherited wealth and inherited merit. To Victorians, these were virtually synonymous with the benefits of order and hierarchy.

Evolution even threatened to unleash social upheaval directly: to free the slaves, to liberate the workers, and emancipate the female population; and Thomas Huxley, the leading advocate of Darwinism, calculated he would widen popular support for science by promising as much. He told enthusiastic Victorian workers that the ascent of species showed the inevitability of social improvement.

Huxley, however, couldnt go too far. Unlike all of his wealthy colleagues, he needed to make a living from science. But as Darwins de facto spokesperson, he was nevertheless in a unique position to shape the perception and interpretation of Darwinism.

Thus, in the presence of the dispossessed he emphasised sciences revolutionary qualities; but with the new industrialists he presented science as the driver of a new industrial era; and, for the stolid British establishment he emphasised that Natures old salique law will not be repealed, and no change of dynasty will be effected. Salique law was the ancient Frankish law ensuring inheritance only through the male line.

Huxley and his fellow scientists became adepts at such political manouevring. The key example, at least for genetics, was the taking of prescientific theories of inheritance, that were familiar to the establishment, such as salique law, and melding them with Darwinism. No evidence was available to anyone that the character traits prized by the establishment, such as intellect and social refinement, could be biologically inherited; and even if they could, it was surely unlikely to be only through the male line. Yet Huxley and his scientific fellows glossed over such inconsistencies so as to present evolution as minimally disturbing to the beliefs and values of the status quo. This required the nature of inherited traits to be essentially deterministic in nature. People did not acquire good characters, they were born with them.

Such interpretations meant that science thrived, but it was at the expense of undercutting Huxleys earlier promises of greater freedom for the underclasses. Thus it was that the scientists used their positions as experts to bend the science and to knowingly take the side of the establishment in the struggle for social power that surrounded Victorian science (Desmond, 1998).

These interpretations were crucial to the future of biology. Inherited deterministic factors were based on what Huxley called protoplasm and protoplasm was a controller of human behaviour. Protoplasm is now accepted by many historians as the intellectual father of eugenic theory. It became the intellectual justification for the subsequent Rockefeller search for molecules of social control; but, as a theory constructed more for political than scientific reasons, it had feet of clay.

The Entry of Big Tobacco

The railroading of biology away from the study of whole organisms by the Rockefeller Foundation (joined also by the Carnegie Foundation) proved relatively easy. Turning that understanding into social control was less so. The next stage required new impetus and even more money.

Starting in the 1950s the tobacco industry distributed $370 million among approximately 1,000 scientists in the US and British medical establishments. The long term plan was to construct another novel molecular science, that of human genetic variation (Wallace, 2009). The immediate goal was to attribute the diseases of smoking to genetic origins. The tobacco industry was determined to find gene defects that might lead to lung cancer and addiction. Tobacco executives thoughtcorrectlythat finding even limited evidence would keep blame from being placed entirely on their products. Genetic determinism thus could be used to neutralise negative public, professional, and even legal, opinion (Gundle et al., 2010).

Tobacco funding never uncovered any compelling genetic determinants of cancer or addiction. But the strategy did shift public opinion. Genetic researchers were therefore encouraged by industries and governments to apply their methods to other physical illnesses (such as diabetes), and for the same reasons (Vrecko, 2008).

So although eugenics practitioners, such as Adolf Hitler, had made the word eugenics abhorrent to most people by the 1920s and 1930s, the genome sequencing bandwagon eventually convinced the public that DNA was a master molecule, a governor of health and behaviour, even down to ones daily activities and decisions. The study of genes and genomes achieved acceptance of the eugenic premise through, as it were, the back door. The public was convinced to blame numerous illnesses and conditions, and not just lung cancer, on their own genetic weaknesses. Thus genetics was established as the presumptive primary cause of most human variation, chronic disease was normalised, and DNA was crowned the King of molecules by a Nobel Laureate (Mullis, 1997).

The Ever-expanding Domain of Science

Thomas Huxley once declared, in an editorial of 1865, that science had no intention of being content with anything short of absolute victory [over the Church] and uncontrolled domination over the whole realm of the intellect (cited in Desmond, 1998). So while Charles Darwin initially refrained from publicly pursuing what he supposed to be the intellectual implications of his ideas, from fear that doing so would prevent them being accepted, his apostles rarely showed such restraint.

From Huxley and Herbert Spencer, via EO Wilson, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, and many others, the presumed properties of DNA have formed the basis of great edifices of implication. EO Wilsons Sociobiology: The new synthesis (1975) and Dawkinss The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype (1982) extrapolated biology far beyond previously accepted domains of the physical body, to encompass human desires, human misbehaviour, human ethics, and human social structures. Relying on faint statistical associations between DNA genome markers and human traits, geneticists have claimed that hundreds of human attributes have genetic explanations, at least in significant part, including: sexual and religious orientation, voting preferences, sleepwalking, entrepreneurial behaviour, sexism, violence, and many others (e.g. Kales et al., 1980). These claims have provided a steady supply of juicy headlines to pronounce that genes play powerful deterministic roles in behaviour.

The Failure of Master Molecules to Explain Life

In 2016, Gary Greenberg, Professor Emeritus at Wichita State University, Kansas, reviewed a book that he plainly considered to be unnecessary. The reviewed was titled How many nails does it take to seal the coffin? The coffin in question is the science of behavior genetics. He cited fellow gravedigger Richard Lerner of Tufts University describing the counterfactual conceptualizations of the role of genes in behavior and development (Lerner, 2007) and genetic mortician Douglas Wahlsten (2012) that all hope has been lost in the search for genetic effects on normal human behaviour (Greenberg, 2016).

The basic issue identified by Greenberg, Lerner, et al., is that, if several hundred billion dollars of searching finds no evidence for genetic influences (except for rare traits like Down syndrome), then the only reasonable conclusion is that genetic influences on those traits are absent or minutely small. Yet the genetic zombie, to their exasperation, lives on, and for the simple reason that it is lavishly funded.

It is not just the study of human behaviours for which the long-sought genetic evidence is chronically missing. In 2013, the head of the Broad Institute at MIT, which is the most prominent global institution in the study of human genetics, called genetic influence on human disease a phantom (Zuk et al., 2013). This U-turn followed a succession of compelling critiques that focused on 1) the lack of replicability of putative genetic predispositions in humans (Ioannidis, 2007); 2) lack of evidence of broad effects on health (Manolio et al., 2009; Dermitzakis and Clark, 2009); 3) lack of effect size of all except a very few individual genetic predispositions (Ioannidis and Panagiotou, 2011); and 4) a general lack of experimental rigour of genetic methods and hypotheses (Buchanan et al. 2006; Wallace, 2006; Charney and English, 2012).

The media (including the science media) has barely reported these critiques, but they have left the discipline of human genetics in turmoil. Interesting as it is to watch billions of dollars of medical research funding generate nothing but negative results, (see Manolio et al., 2009), the really big question is the one now hanging over the underlying master molecule idea, since genetic determinism has become the central paradigm of all biology.

The fundamental defects of this master molecule concept were summed up perhaps most succinctly by Richard C Strohman of UC Berkeley; in a 1997 article The coming Kuhnian revolution in biology:

[W]e have taken a successful and extremely useful theory and paradigm of the gene and have illegitimately extended it as a paradigm of life. But, Strohman wrote, the broader paradigm has little power and must eventually fail.

Interestingly, the same logical flaw was identified by Lily Kay in her Rockefeller Foundation biography of 1993. In concluding, she noted the self-limiting nature of its reductionist method. By narrowing its epistemic domain, the new biology has bracketed out important animate phenomena from its discourse on life.

That failure is now fully visible. Thanks to emerging research findings such as those described in Genetics Is Giving Way to a New Science of Life, it is now hard to overlook that genetic reductionism has failed to explain important animate phenomena like: growth, self-organisation, evolution, consciousness, learning, health, and disease. These are the key elements of life that a successful paradigm ought to explain but somehow genetic determinism never has.

Its emerging replacement is a vastly different paradigm of life, one that conceives living systems as cooperatives and not dictatorships. To be clear, some facts about DNA are not in dispute. DNA exists. The mutation or addition of genes can have profound effects on the properties of organisms; but this doesnt make DNA special. The removal or addition (where possible) of most other components of organisms, such as RNA, or proteins, even water, has the same effect. Thus even the use of GMO crops, which might look like clear examples of upward causation, are consistent with the new paradigm because introduced transgenes are carefully designed to act as isolated modules, traits that operate independently of all the system level controls that organisms typically use to manage and integrate gene activity and biochemical function.

But what ultimately motivates this new paradigm is the lack of conceptual necessity for DNA to animate organisms. Molecular biologists routinely propose that DNA has properties of expression, of control, and of cellular governance, in some sense that other molecules do not. These are the properties that a master molecule paradigm requires, but asserting them does not rescue genetic determinism, it is merely prescientific vitalism.

What science is telling us, therefore, is that, in living systems, everything depends on everything else, and life bootstrapped itself out of the ooze. DNA did not lead the way.

The Societal Consequences of Genetic Determinism

Whether true or not, all belief systems have consequences. When news of Darwins evolutionary theory reached Germany in the 1860s, Ernst Haeckel, German prodigy biologist, constructed the first trees of life, with humans (for no scientific reason) at the apex of creation. Much like Huxley, Haeckel also stretched the implications of Darwinismus into a genetic determinist struggle, in this case one that drove peoples irresistibly onward. Darwinismusforetold, he said, a new Teutonic destiny.

As early as the death of Charles Darwin (1882) it was said that his thought (which for the most part meant Huxleys interpretations) could be found under a hundred disguises in works on law and history, in political speeches and religious discoursesif we try to think ourselves away from it we must think ourselves entirely away from our age (John Morley, 1882, cited in Desmond 1998)

Thus the belief system that humans are controlled by an internal master molecule has become woven into myriad areas of social thought. It is far beyond the scope of this article to describe the consequences of genetic determinism at either the personal or the societal level (see instead The DNA Mystique), but the two world wars, the holocaust, racism, colonialism, eugenics, inequity, are each stronger as a consequence of, or might never have happened without, the idea of genetic determinism. The reason is that genetic determinism moulded higher and lower, normal and abnormal, into intrinsic and unmodifiable scientific properties of biological organisms and groups, rather than being what they were previously: questionable prejudices and dubious conceits.

Genetic determinism thus became the defining idea of the twentieth century. Nothing was unmoved by it. It drove biology, it even drove science itself.

It began with the ability of outside institutions to impose long-term and overarching agendas on science. This alone is a breathtaking observation, both disturbing and profound, that wholly contradicts our normal presumption that science is driven by brilliant individuals, technical innovations, and collective intellectual rigour. Instead, to understand what occurred to DNA is as simple as following the money.

Science, and therefore all of society, was lured into a very specific DNA-centric interpretation of life that was predicated on magical thinking about the properties of genes. Once the initial conditions were set up, however, a key observation is that biological research fostered genetic determinist social thought and genetic determinist thought in turn made genetically determinist science seem more valid and desirable. A self-sustaining feedback loop was thus created.

One example of how genetic determinism participated in that loop was laid out in a 1975 letter from prominent geneticists to the NY Review of Books. They were replying to an uncritical review of EO Wilsons Sociobiology: a New Synthesis. The geneticists letter lays out a rationale for why a political establishment might fund sociobiology and genomics: to furnish interpretations of human activity that create and therefore determine behavioural and social norms. As the authors wrote: for Wilson, what exists is adaptive, what is adaptive is good, therefore what exists is good. The authors were pointing out, well before the tobacco industry strategy had been unmasked, that any scientific assertion that a societal aberration such as war, or an individual misbehaviour such as violence, has genetic roots makes it seem natural or normal. Thus, what appears to be a simple and apolitical scientific finding, say of a genetic predisposition to obesity, generates inferences that are highly valued by institutions (such as the food industry) that cause obesity but wish to resist pressure on them for social change.

It is scant wonder then that the publication of Sociobiology was followed by a funding boom in genetic research, in both the social and medical sciences. This boom happened even though human genetic research is rarely of value in the search for cures or the treatment of disease (Chaufan and Joseph, 2013). The bottom line is, even if genetic predispositions for obesity were to exist, everyone should exercise and not overeat.

Thus biological explanations have vastly expanded sciences intellectual realm, into the arenas of social affairs, economics, politics, religion, even philosophy and ethics. Bearing out the prediction of the NYRB letter, sociobiology has virtually driven out traditional academic interpretations of human activity, such as Marxism or Deconstructionism, that made life uncomfortable for the powers that be.

As Dorothy Nelkin and Susan Lindee observed for academia:

In the last few decades many universities have ceased to offer the grand survey courses in Western civilization that once seemed to explain so much about human culture and the human past. Postcolonialism, postmodernism, literary theory, and other trends in academic life called into question the legitimacy of the grand narratives that were built into the notion of Western civilization. Many college students will never take such a course. But most will take introductory biologyintroductory biology has become the cultural equivalent of the old Western civilization curriculum: explaining human culture and the human past, biological knowledge is seen as deeply relevant to social concerns, economic development, international relations, and ethical debates. Introductory biology is presented as a valid, truth-seeking endeavour, untainted by religious, political, or philosophical commitments. It places human beings in a meaningful universe, providing ways of understanding relationships between ethnic and racial groups and between identity and the body (Preface to the second edition, The DNA Mystique: The gene as a cultural icon, 2004).

Anyone not knowing the strategies of the Rockefeller Foundation and the tobacco industry might well imagine sociobiology to be valid and untainted. Plainly though, given their history, and the new scientific revelations, genetic explanations are just ones whose political commitments are better concealed, and it becomes highly relevant that genetic explanations are being made in academia, in policy circles, and in the public arena by scientists whose funders (whether governments or corporations) benefit from this neutering of public discourse.

The end result of Huxleys proposed intellectual expansion of biology is arguably already here. Students unversed in the history of thought and stewed in unsupported or unverifiable genetic explanations have become the intellectual core of a miseducated and compliant society. One that creatively participates in its own delusion by self-describing illnesses as genetic, even in cases where the only clear evidence of causation is environmental. A genetically determinist society is therefore one not capable of understanding itself as directly at risk from irresponsible corporate activities and government indifference. It is fundamentally defenceless against polluters, junk food marketers, community dislocation, and other threats to human integrity.

In a wider political frame, the history of the 20th Century shows that a genetic determinist society is also vulnerable to fascists, racists, dictators, and warmongers. All this too is the product of a century and a half of the manipulation of biological science.

Is it too strong to argue this? I do not think so. Consider, as a case study, Adolf Eichmann and the transportation of the Jews to the death camps during the second world war. The world mostly blamed Eichmann personally and Israel executed him. Hannah Arendt, however, famously attributed his crimes to a mystical banality of evil.

They were all wrong. Adolf Eichmann and his superiors were following the dictates, as they saw them, of science and genetics. Jews were, to them, a genetic problem of racial purity and the only solution to a genetic problem is extermination and the prevention of reproduction (see especially The War Against the Jews: 1933-194). Given the premises, the final solution was perfectly logical.

But the perfectly logical question for us (and the subject of The Meaning of Life Part II) is, why does hardly anyone see this? Why is it so hard to critique or challenge genetics? Not only do we attribute to genes a wholly unwarranted privileged level of causation in biology, we also give them a privileged level of discourse in society. The dominance of genetics is thus a phenomenon that does not originate in science.

Republished from GreenMedInfo.com

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George Washingtons efforts to forge an army during the French and Indian War

The unparalleled events of George Washingtons life could fill half a dozen biographies of men with standard accomplishments. It is natural that his exploits as a revolutionary general and president would overshadow his early experiences in the French and Indian War. But without these initial achievements, the later ones would not have been possible. During this time, Washington trained and led the American Colonies first professional military unit: the Virginia Regiment.

Creating an Elite Fighting Force

During the Battle of the Monongahela, Washington had witnessed the devastating defeat of Gen. Braddocks army and lived to tell about it, with four bullet holes in his coat as proof. He had seen neat rows of British soldiers fall to a smaller, unseen force of French and American Indians who fired muskets from behind rocks and trees. His experience convinced him that forest-fighting methods were more appropriate to the American terrain than European ones. After becoming a national hero as one of the only surviving officers of the Braddock Expedition, Col. Washington was named the supreme commander of Virginias colonial forces in 1755. He was only 23 years old.

The frontier had become a savage place to seek a meager fortune. American Indian war parties regularly emerged from the wilderness to terrorize settlers, then vanished as quickly as they came, leaving chaos in their wake. Every day, wrote Washington, we have accounts of such cruelties and barbarities as are shocking to human nature.  No road is safe. He was tasked with protecting Virginias nearly indefensible 350-mile western border, and he knew that his only chance of success was training his men to fight like American Indians.

Washington was given the authority to recruit troops for the newly created Virginia Regiment. He oversaw both officers and a few hundred men conscripted from along the border. These poor pioneers tested him as much as his invisible enemies. The men were insolent and mutinous. Factions formed among those he called indolent officers, incited by a captain who refused to obey orders. Acting governor Dinwiddie blamed Washington for the anarchy, and ambitious men envious of his position slandered him in print. Virginias House of Burgesses initially hesitated to pass laws for enforcing obedience and gave him insufficient resources.

Portrait of George Washington by Charles Willson Peale, 1772. Oil on canvas. Washington and Lee University. This painting, depicting the young colonel wearing his Virginia Regiment uniform, is the earliest authenticated portrait of Washington. (Public Domain)

In the face of these obstacles, Washington showed fortitude and maturity. He attended to every detail of camp life. Discipline was the soul of an army, and punishments were tough but fair. Deserters were to be tracked down, chained, and flogged. When this proved not enough, repeat offenders were hanged. He enforced a rigorous moral code, meting out lashes for swearing and for drunkenness.

Within a year of drilling these ragtag recruits in forest-fighting tactics and pitting them in endless skirmishes along the frontier, Washington made the Virginia Regiment the first in Arms, of any Troops on the Continent, in the present War. He himself had designed the officer uniforms: blue coats, scarlet waistcoats, and silver-laced hats of fashionable size. They both fought like an elite unit and looked the part.

It is worth noting that during this time Washington also recovered from dysentery, having previously survived smallpox, pleurisy, and malaria. His biographer Ron Chernow notes in Washington: A Life that he had not only dodged musket balls in battle but also overcame four serious illnesses by age 26. His immune system was as resilient as his bulletproof exterior. Was there any mortal threat this man of destiny could not endure?

The Forbes Campaign

Despite the Regiments unmatched combat expertise, the Ohio Territory had become a sideshow. The main action in the war shifted north to the Great Lakes region. Washington saw it as the perfect opportunity to take an offensive stance against the French. He would do what Gen. Braddock had died attempting: conquer Fort Duquesne, the key to the Ohio Valley. Acting governor Dinwiddie disagreed with Washingtons strategy, and their bickering over logistics and resources turned bitter. In their letters, each accused the other of duplicity. Washington defended his honor, stating, No man that was ever employed in a public capacity has endeavored to discharge the trust reposed in him with greater honesty, and more zeal for the countrys interest, than I have done.

After leaving for two months on a failed mission to seek a royal commission, Washington returned from Boston to find that American Indian incursions had escalated to crisis levels. Entire settlements had been depopulated, with so many frontier families murdered that everyone looked to Washington as their savior. Volunteers flocked to him as he championed the pioneers cause. The Virginia Regiment swelled to 1,000 men, and several hundred from the Catawba and Cherokee tribes also enlisted on the British side. Washington became ever more frustrated at the civilian legislators who ignored his strategic recommendations. As militiamen began to desert and he struggled to impose discipline, he resolved to resign.

An 18th- century engraving of Col. Washington planting the British flag at Fort Duquesne during the Forbes Expedition of 1758. (Andrew Howe/ E+/Getty Images)

Then, he received word that Britain was sending over a large force commanded by Gen. John Forbes. Its mission? To mount a new campaign in the Ohio Country and take Fort Duquesne. Washington offered his services, and the Virginia Regiment doubled to 2,000 men. Short on uniforms, he clothed himself and his men in American Indian-style shirts and leggings. Gen. Forbes acknowledged Washingtons strategic expertise with some annoyance, ordering that British soldiers also adopt Indian dress and comply to learn the art of war by training in forest-fighting tactics. Troops would split up when ambushed, head to the trees, and flank the enemy while Cherokee scouts attacked the rear. The superior Virginia Regiment would march in the vanguard.

They set out in the fall of 1758. On November 12, Virginians under the command of Lt. Col. George Mercer encountered a French reconnaissance party from Fort Duquesne. As Washingtons own column arrived to relieve his fellow colonials, the two groups of Virginians mistook each other for the enemy and began firing. Washington ran between them and hit their muskets with his sword, but not in time to prevent his men from being shot. He later said that during this moment, his life was in as much jeopardy as it had ever been before or since. The Virginia Regiment suffered 40 casualties, but it seemed that graces saving hand had intervened yet again to ensure Washington was not one of them. They captured prisoners who divulged that Fort Duquesne was not well fortified. Washington led the vanguard in an assault on the fortonly to find it burning down. The French had deserted it the previous day.

It was a hollow culmination to a difficult three-and-a-half year mission to defend his state. In December 1758, Washington resigned from the military and entered politics. Earlier that year, he had won a seat in the House of Burgessesa landslide victory he did not directly campaign for, or even show up to witness. He returned to Mount Vernon, ready to settle down with his new wife, Martha. Little did he know that in less than 20 years, his former experience managing the Virginia Regiment would make him the obvious choice to command the Continental Army in our nations war for independence, catapulting him to even further fame and glory.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
Via Twitter, the portfolio stressed that she is the first woman in the history of Peru's Bicentennial Diplomacy to assume this position, as well as to become Chief of the Diplomatic Service of the Republic.





Gervasi Diaz served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade a position she held until August 10, 2022.





The new Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister has a professional law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP). Similarly, she holds a postgraduate degree in International Relations and a professional degree in Diplomacy from the Diplomatic Academy of Peru.





Additionally, she has a Master's Degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics (LSE) in the United Kingdom; the specialization in multilateral diplomacy from the Institut de Hautes Etudes Internationales (IUHEI) at the University of Geneva, Switzerland; and doctoral studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.





Among the positions that she has held are: General Director of Economic Affairs, General Director of Economic Promotion, and Director of Investment Promotion at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ; Consul General of Peru in the Canadian city of Toronto and the U.S. capital, Washington D.C.





Gervasi Diaz also served as Minister Counselor at the Permanent Mission of Peru to the United Nations in New York; Political Counselor at the Embassy of Peru in Argentina; delegate of Peru at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Switzerland, where she represented Peru at the World Trade Organization (WTO).





La Embajadora Ana Cecilia Gervasi ha sido nombrada Viceministra de Relaciones Exteriores del Peru.  Cancilleria Peru???? (@CancilleriaPeru) August 12, 2022

(END) CVC/MVB
Police, including riot control officers and an armoured vehicle, take action to clear away Freedom Convoy protesters from downtown Ottawa on Feb. 19, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Trudeau Cabinet Told of Potential Breakthrough With Convoy Protesters Night Before Invoking Emergencies Act

The night before the Liberal government invoked the Emergencies Act to deal with the truckers Freedom Convoy protest, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus national security and intelligence adviser, Jody Thomas, told cabinet members that there was potential for a breakthrough in negotiations with the protesters.

This was revealed in newly released documents on how the cabinet weighed in on a response to the three-week protest in Ottawas downtown core, in place since late January seeking an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions.

The documents were released after civil liberties groups requested that the attorney general disclose documents relating to the governments decision to invoke the act. Heavily redacted and labelled as secret, the documents include minutes from three meetings of the Incident Response Group, a committee of ministers and senior officials chaired by Trudeau. The documents show that the committee had been discussing the possibility of invoking the act as early as Feb. 10, four days before Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act.

The documents also include minutes from a cabinet meeting at 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, during which Thomas briefed the cabinet on the situation of the protest in Ottawa as well as border blockades at several Canada-U.S. border crossings held in solidarity with the convoy. Thomas noted that one major blockade at the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, was being lifted after the police began making arrests a day earlier.

Thomas noted that law enforcement gains have been important and that there was potential for a breakthrough in Ottawa, the minutes shows, but the rest of the notes from that meeting are blacked out.

The documents also show that Thomas said the threat picture in relation to ideologically motivated violent extremisma term used by Canadas intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, to discuss threats to national securityremains stable and unchanged.

In a written statement, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicinos office told Toronto Star that the negotiations with the protesters were led principally by the city of Ottawa and were ultimately unsuccessful. Trudeau moved ahead to invoke the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, less than 24 hours after being told about the potential breakthrough.

At the Feb. 10 meeting, Mendicino said there was a broader challenge with law enforcement at the protests, as some officers may be sympathetic to the protesters cause, resulting in reluctance to enforce.

The Liberal governments decision to invoke the act drew criticisms from members of the opposition as well as the international community.

Civil liberties groups like the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), both of which question the legal justification for invoking the Emergencies Act, have filed legal challenges against Ottawa for making this decision.

Since that time our pro bono counsel have been trying to get answers from the government. What evidence did the government have to ground its invocation of the Emergencies Act, and what evidence justified the emergency orders they passed limiting constitutional rights across the entire country? the CCLA said in a statement on Aug. 8.

The group said that getting answers hasnt been easy.

The government is relying on short public summaries of meetings from the Incident Response Groupbut initially refused to even provide information of who attended at the meetings, meeting minutes, or notes. Only after months of pressure did they provide partial, highly redacted, disclosure of the information we had been seeking.

The act gave the police additional powers to clear out the demonstration, including powers to compel towing companies to remove the trucks and vehicles parked in Ottawas downtown core. The police, carrying assault rifles and rubber bullet launchers, arrested over 100 people in escalated operations over the next few days, and in some instances, mounted police were seen knocking down protesters.

The act also allowed financial institutions, without having to obtain a court order, to freeze the bank accounts of individuals and entities suspected of making financial contributions to the movement. It was later reported that some banks froze accounts beyond the list of names provided by the RCMP.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a "Save America" rally at Alaska Airlines Center on July 09, 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Trump: All Mar-a-Lago Materials Were Declassified

Former President Donald Trump on Friday said that the allegedly classified materials the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sought in the agencys raid of his Mar-a-Lago resort were all declassified.

Number one, it was all declassified, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday, shortly before the court unsealed the search warrant the FBI used for its Aug. 8 raid of his Florida resort.

Trumps comments directly contradict legacy media news reports following the raid that the documents were top-secret, with The Washington Post citing anonymous sources who claimed that the documents contained information about nuclear weapons. Trump panned the claim, calling it a Hoax.

Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday morning.

The Search Warrant

Trumps comments came shortly before Bruce Reinhard, the magistrate judge who approved the search warrant, unsealed the search warrant following requests from both the Department of Justice and Trump.

While the warrant did not pinpoint what probable cause the FBI established to conduct the raid, it showed the items that federal agents took from the former presidents resort, which included Various classified/TS/SCI documents, binders of photos, a Grant of Clemency to Roger Stone, a Confidential Document, Miscellaneous Secret Documents, and Miscellaneous Top Secret Documents.

The question becomes whether Trump, by simply possessing any of these documents, would have violated any federal codes listed in the search warrant, which the federal agents pursued:

18 USC 2071: Concealment, removal, or mutilation (of public records)

18 USC 793: Gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information

18 USC 1519: Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations and bankruptcy

Presidential Declassification Powers

According to Mike Davis, President of the Article III Project and a former law clerk under Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, the president of the United States can declassify records by simply leaving the White House with them.

The President of the United States has both the constitutional (and statutory) power to declassify anything he wants, Davis wrote on Twitter on Aug. 11. If President Trump left the White House with classified records, they are declassified by his actions.

As discussed, the Office of Former President Trumplike every other former presidents federal officeis equipped and secure enough to handle these declassified records, Davis added. This is a routine dispute with bureaucrats at the National Archives whether these are presidential records.

Davis cited Department of Navy v. Egan (ruling), a 1988 Supreme Court decision that Davis says shows the president possesses the constitutional power to classify and declassify records regardless of any statute passed by Congress.

The President, after all, is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States,' The Supreme Court ruled at the time. His authority to classify and control access to information bearing on national security and to determine whether an individual is sufficiently trustworthy to occupy a position in the Executive Branch that will give that person access to such information flows primarily from this constitutional investment of power in the President and exists quite apart from any explicit congressional grant.

When President Trump had the records sent to Mar-a-Lago, they were declassified, Davis explained. Former presidents dont have this power. But Trump did this as the president.

Trump: Its a Political Witch Hunt

Trump and his allies have characterized the raid as a witch hunt driven by political motives, especially considering no former presidents had been prosecuted for the reason that the FBI allegedly told sources close to Trump that motivated the raid; namely, Trump was nominally required by the Presidential Records Act to return the materials to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) upon the conclusion of his term, but allegedly didnt.

NARAs singling out of President Trumps handling of official records stands starkly in contrast to the way NARA has treated far clearer violations committed by politicians and officials who are not Republicans, 20 Republicans, including numerous Committee ranking members, wrote in an Aug. 10 letter addressed to U.S. Acting Archivist Debra Wall, first published by Politico. The lawmakers cited reports that point to recent U.S. administrations violations of the Presidential Records Act, listing Bill Clinton as an example.

The seeming weaponization of the federal government against President [Joe] Bidens political rivals cannot go unchecked, and if NARA is working to further these efforts, it will be only the latest agency to lose its credibility in the eyes of the American people under the Biden Administration, the Republican lawmakers wrote.

Meanwhile, Trump revealed earlier this week that the FBI had recently been given a tour of where the records were stored, with the FBI only suggesting that Trump further secure the storage space.

In early June, the DOJ and FBI asked my legal representatives to put an extra lock on the door leading to the place where boxes were stored in Mar-a-Lago  We agreed, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Aug. 10.

They were shown the secured area, and the boxes themselves, Trump added. Then on Monday, without notification or warning, an army of agents broke into Mar-a-Lago, went to the same storage area, and ripped open the lock that they had asked to be installed. A surprise attack, POLITICS, and all the while our Country is going to HELL!
Former President Donald Trump prepares to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference held at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Aug. 6, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Trump Calls for Immediate Release of FBI Raid Search Warrant

Former President Donald Trump said overnight that he supports the immediate release of any documents related to the FBIs search of his Mar-a-lago estate in Florida earlier this week, which he deemed to be politically motivated.

Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going to step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last six years, Trump said in a statement on Truth Social.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday asked a federal court to unseal the warrant itself, some supporting materials, and a receipt listing items taken by FBI agents from the Mar-a-Lago resort during the raid.

Now that the raid has been executed, the governments lawyers said in a new filing that making the warrant public would not impair court functions, including the governments ability to execute the warrant.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden appointee, said on Thursday that the DOJ filed the motion to unseal the documents in light of the former presidents public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter.

The DOJ has until 3 p.m. on Friday to notify U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart whether or not Trump agreed or opposed the unsealing of the warrant and any related documents.

Release the Documents Now!

Trump called the FBIs raid on his Palm Beach estate evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and a weaponization of the Justice System.

The former president alleged that the raid is motivated by people who dont want him to run again for president in 2024.

In his latest statement released on Truth Social, Trump referred to his popularity in the polls and reiterated his statements that the raid was political weaponization of law enforcement, something more commonly seen in developing countries with corrupt political systems.

My poll numbers are the strongest they have ever been, fundraising by the Republican Party is breaking all records, and midterm elections are fast approaching, Trump said.

This unprecedented political weaponization of law enforcement is inappropriate and highly unethical. The world is watching as our country is being brought to a new low, not only on our border, crime, economy, energy, national security, and so much more, but also with respect to our sacred elections! Release the documents now!

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Former President Donald Trump raises his fist while walking to a vehicle outside of Trump Tower in New York on Aug. 10, 2022. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Lawyer Alleges Democrats Create Fear via Report on FBI Seeking Nuclear Weapon Documents in Raid

Christina Bobb, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, dismissed a Washington Post report alleging that the FBI was looking for records including classified documents related to nuclear weapons during its raid of Trumps Mar-a-Lago property on Aug. 8.

Bobb alleged the report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the FBI investigation, was an attempt by the Democrats to cause fear.

This is what the Democrats do. They dont have any good reason for doing what they did. The pathetic presser that Merrick Garland held for three minutes was insufficient, so they had to create fear, Bobb told Fox News on Aug. 11.

Normally, they should come out with exactly what happened, and why, and explain themselves and if it was a good reason, they would have solid ground, Bobb continued. They are not on solid ground.

So they had to come up with something that would potentially terrify the American public into freely giving up their constitutional freedoms, Bobb added.

Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers a statement at the Department of Justice in Washington on Aug. 11, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters in a brief statement how he personally approved the FBI raid against Trumps resort in Florida.

I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter, Garland said. The Department does not take such a decision lightly.

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee also took notice of the close timing between Garlands press appearance and the Washington Posts publication of the report.

So hours after Merrick Garland says that DOJ [Department of Justice] only speaks through its filings in court, they go out and leak this story to the Washington Post, House GOPs on the Judiciary Committee wrote on Twitter.

Bobb said it would be a different scenario if the United States were on the brink of war.

If we are on the verge of nuclear war, giving up the nuclear codes, maybe its acceptable that they violated the presidents constitutional rights, she said. It was not acceptable, and theyre trying to come up with reasons to make it sound appropriate and make it sound OK, because they dont actually have a good reason for doing what they did.

Garland also told reporters on Thursday that the DOJ has asked a federal court to unseal the search warrant the FBI obtained and executed on Trumps property. The warrant was signed off by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, a judge at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Secret Service personnel are seen in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. on Aug. 8, 2022. The FBI raided the home reportedly to retrieve classified White House documents. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

Many Republican lawmakers have since criticized Garland for failing to tell the public more information on the FBI raid.

AG Garland spent four minutes reading an empty and inconsequential statement, and then refused to take questions, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) wrote on Twitter. We STILL dont know the reason for the raid, the nature and extent of probable cause, and why the DOJ felt it necessary to take such extreme and intrusive measures.

AG Merrick Garland gave a useless statement on the Mar-a-Lago raid that included zero useful information, then refused to take questions, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) wrote on Twitter. The House will be back in Washington tomorrow, he should come over and answer some real questions. And bring FBI Director Wray with him.

House lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene briefly on Aug. 12 from summer recess.

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee took exception to one of Garlands comments, when he said the Justice Department applies the law evenly without fear or favor.

Think Merrick Garland will apply the same standards to Hunter Biden? the Republicans wrote. Nope.
Former President Donald Trump waves while walking to a vehicle outside of Trump Tower in New York on Aug. 10, 2022. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Responds to Nuclear Documents Reports

Former President Donald Trump said reports that the FBI was allegedly searching for documents on nuclear weapons at his Mar-a-Lago residence is a hoax and likened it to years-long claims that he was a Russian agent.

Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday morning.

The former president alleged that the same sleazy people [are] involved in making allegations about nuclear weapons and questioned why FBI agents did not allegedly allow his lawyers to inspect their work at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. The FBI, he said, made his team wait outside in the heat and wouldnt let them get even close.

Anonymous sources told the Washington Post and other legacy media on Thursday night that classified documents related to nuclear weapons were being searched by the FBI. Its not clear if the FBI agents recovered anything.

Neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice has issued public comments on the latest allegation, and both agencies have not elaborated on why agents took the unprecedented step of raiding the home of a former president.

The former commander-in-chief also made reference to a dossier of mostly debunked claims penned by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, who was hired by an opposition research firm that was in turn, used by a Democrat-aligned law firm on behalf of Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. In late 2019, the Department of Justices Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, found there were numerous errors and omissions when the FBI applied for secretive warrants to surveil members of Trumps 2016 campaign.

Trump lawyer Christina Bobb told Fox News on Thursday that the Washington Posts reports are a bid to sow fear among the American population.

This is what the Democrats do. They dont have any good reason for doing what they did. The pathetic presser that Merrick Garland held for three minutes was insufficient, so they had to create fear, Bobb told the outlet, adding, They are not on solid ground  they had to come up with something that would potentially terrify the American public into freely giving up their constitutional freedoms.

More Details

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday said he personally approved the FBI search but could not discuss what or why federal law enforcement agents were investigating. He spoke just moments after the Department of Justice filed a motion to unseal the search warrant in the case, coming a day after a judge in the case ordered the agency to file a response in request to several groups requests to unseal it.

Local law enforcement officers are seen in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 9, 2022. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

Court documents filed by the Justice Department said that the publics clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing. The motion to unseal parts of the warrant, including a redacted Property Receipt listing items seized pursuant to the search, was signed off by U.S. Attorney Juan Gonzalez as well as a DOJ official on counterintelligence, Jay Bratt.

On Thursday night, Trump wrote on social media that he agreed the warrant could be made public.

Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats, wrote the former president.

It was Trump himself who confirmed the FBI raid on his Truth Social account on Monday evening. Following the disclosure, top Republicans called on the Justice Department to release documents and provide reasons for the escalation.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 21, 2021. (Graeme Jennings/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Supporters Will Be Targeted After Mar-a-Lago Raid, Part of Leftist Playbook as Seen in Latin America: Sen. Rubio

Following the raid at Donald Trumps Florida Home, those who support the former president may be targeted by the Biden administration, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) warned in a recent media interview.

This is shocking to Americans, but in Latin America and many of the countries around the world, heres what happens, Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, told Fox News. A group takes power. One of the first things that group does is they begin to persecute and go after their political opponents.

And then when the supporters of their political opponents begin to complain about it, they begin to target them and they criminalize opposition. And thats whats happening here now.

[The Democrats] took power, theyre demanding  they want Donald Trump arrested, they want him charged right now  And Im telling you, the next thing youre gonna see herebecause its the playbook  The next step in this process is going to be that people who are supporters of Donald Trump or just conservatives complaining about this  are going to begin to get labeled as potential insurrectionists and are going to begin to get harassed by law enforcement.

Thats the next step in this playbook, sadly, he said of the raid.

The FBI raided Trumps Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Aug. 8, an action the former president called the weaponization of the U.S. justice system and an attack by the radical left Democrats who he said are desperate to prevent him from running for president in 2024.

Rubio, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, demanding an explanation of the agencys actions.

The raid, which comes just three months before the November midterms, is eroding public trust in government institutions and electoral processes, Rubio warned in an Aug. 10 letter.

The FBIs actions against Trump are something the agency has never taken against any other president. All Americans have the right to know why the FBI raided Trumps residence.

Rubio asked for a meeting with the FBI to understand why the agency failed to inform the congressional intelligence committee leadership about the matter, as it has done with previous sensitive cases.

I expect an explanation as to why I, and to the best of my knowledge, every other leader of the congressional intelligence committee first learned of this raid on President Trumps residence via the media, despite the law requiring the committees to be fully and currently informed of all intelligence activities undertaken by the U.S. Government, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity, the letter said.

Third World Justice System?

The FBI has attracted severe criticism for its decision to raid Trumps home, with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) calling the search 3rd World country stuff, in an Aug. 9 post on Twitter. He demanded immediate answers from the FBI.

Calling the raid extremely troubling, Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) on Twitter warned that America must not go down the path of nations like Nicaragua and Cuba that have turned government agencies into weapons by those in power.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Kash Patel, a former national security official in the Trump administration, said that even countries in Africa now have a far superior system of justice than America.

The terrorist trials in east Africa that he was involved in were handled more impartially than how the U.S. Department of Justice now operates. They brought national security prosecutions and convicted everybody while maintaining due process. We dont have due process anymore here, Patel said.

America now has a two-tier justice system that treats Trump and his followers harshly while dealing with Democrats leniently, he added.
UK Online Safety Bill Likely to Impinge on Free Speech: Poll of Tech Experts

A survey by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, has found almost six out of 10 experts in the field believe the British governments Online Safety Bill will have a detrimental impact on freedom of speech.

Last month, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned, the government put the legislation on hold until his successor will be appointed.

The BCSwhich was founded in 1957 as the British Computer Societysaid many IT experts had concerns about whether the Bill was workable and only 14 percent thought it was fit for purpose.

The Bill would impose a duty on social media platforms to protect users from harm and make them develop systems to remove harmful and illegal material, such as abuse by trolls, links to suicide websites, and child abuse images.

Pornography websites would have to use age verification technology to stop under-18s from accessing their sites and social media platforms would be obliged not to allow misleading adverts.

The BCS said it received 1,296 responses to the survey (pdf) from tech professionals and found only nine percent were confident it would succeed in removing legal but harmful content and 74 percent felt it would do nothing to stop the spreading of disinformation and fake news.

Rob Deri, chief executive of BCS, said: There is real need to prevent online harm, but this law only goes part way to trying to achieve that. The aim should be to prevent hatred and abusive online behaviours, by stopping harmful material appearing online in the first placeand that takes a mix of both technical and societal changes.

Bill Leans Too Heavily on Tech Solutions

Deri said: The Bill leans too heavily on tech solutions to prevent undesirable content, which cant be relied upon to do that well enough and could affect freedom of speech and privacy in ways that are unacceptable in a democratic society.

He said the new prime minister, whether it will be Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss, should take the opportunity to fundamentally review the Bill, which was introduced by Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries, a Johnson loyalist who may not survive the new leaders Cabinet reshuffle.

In April, critics of the Bill said it would erode freedom of speech and could drive more people towards the darkweb.

At the time, cybersecurity and intelligence expert and CEO of Cybhorus, Pierluigi Paganini, told The Epoch Times: The removal of legal but potentially harmful speech from social media platforms requests an extraordinary effort from IT giants. The concept of harmful is questionable and leaves ample room for interpretation by the moderator.

In June, the former Brexit Secretary and Tory peer, Lord Frost, said: The best thing the government could do would be to slim down the Bill so they can proceed rapidly with the genuinely uncontroversial aspects, and consign the rest where it belongsthe waste paper basket.

PA Media contributed to this report.
UK PM Candidates Urged to Scrap Windfall Tax on Energy Profits as Soon as Possible

A British energy industry body has urged the candidates in the running to become prime minister to scrap the windfall tax on profits as soon as possible.

The temporary 25 percent profit levy on oil and gas giants was announced in May by then-chancellor Rishi Sunak to fund a relief package for households struggling with rising bills.

Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), which represents the offshore oil and gas industry, said the sector will pay about 13.8 billion ($16.7 billion) into the Treasury next year as a result of the windfall tax and corporation taxes.

Liz Truss during a hustings event in Darlington, County Durham, as part of the campaign to be leader of the Conservative Party and the next prime minister, on Aug. 9, 2022. (Danny Lawson/PA)

In open letters to Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who are competing against each other in the race to become Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister, the industry body urged both candidates to scrap it as soon as possible and not to extend it beyond the 2025 sunset clause.

In the letters, OEUK chief executive officer Deirdre Michie wrote that her organisation remains concerned at the negative impact on investor confidence and wants to work with the new cabinet to ensure that this is mitigated where possible.

Truss: Profit Not a Dirty Word

The two contenders are trying to strike a delicate balance between heeding the calls from the industry and addressing rising living costs, as the latest predictions suggest energy bills could top 5,000 ($6,065) by the spring.

Truss, the front-runner in the leadership race to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has made clear she opposes any new windfall tax.

At a hustings in Cheltenham on Aug. 11, Truss said she would absolutely not support a windfall tax, claiming it is a Labour idea.

Its all about bashing business, and it sends the wrong message to international investors and to the public, she said.

She insisted that profit is not a dirty word and argued that it being treated as such is a massive problem.

Rishi Sunak at the hustings event in Darlington (Danny Lawson/PA)

Black Hole

But Sunak defended the windfall tax he had implemented as chancellor, claiming it would automatically raise more money in tax to support struggling households as energy profits increase.

In an interview with Times Radio, the former chancellor said taxing the rising profits of the energy giants was the right thing to do.

He also claimed his opponents plans to cut taxes would do virtually nothing for pensioners or the least well-off.

A Sunak campaign spokesman added that Truss had blown a further 5 billion black hole in her plans by not backing the windfall tax.

PA Media contributed to this report.
A Russian serviceman patrols the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Energodar on May 1, 2022. (Andrey Borodulin/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine, Russia Trade Blame for Risk of Nuclear Disaster at Frontline Plant

KYIVUkraine and Russia accused each other on Friday of risking nuclear disaster by shelling Europes largest nuclear power plant, controlled by Russian forces in a region expected to become one of the next big front lines of the war.

Western countries have called for Moscow to withdraw its troops from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the United Nations called on Thursday for it to be declared a demilitarised zone. But there has been no sign so far of Russia agreeing to move its troops out of the facility they seized in March.

The plant dominates the south bank of a vast reservoir on the Dnipro river that cuts across southern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces controlling the towns and cities on the opposite bank have come under bombardment from the Russian-held side.

Three people were wounded in overnight shelling of one of those towns, Marhanets, Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said in the latest in a string of similar reports.

Kyiv has claimed for weeks it is planning a counteroffensive to recapture Zaporizhzhia and neighboring Kherson Provinces, the largest part of the territory Russia seized after its Feb. 24 invasion still in Russian hands.

Ukraines Energoatom agency, whose workers still operate the plant under Russian control, said the power station was struck five times on Thursday, including near where radioactive materials are stored. Both sides blamed each other for the blasts and Reuters could not verify either account.

Russia says Ukraine is recklessly firing at the plant. Kyiv says Russian troops struck it themselves, and are also using the plant as a shield to provide cover while they bombard nearby Ukrainian-held towns and cities.

Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya attends a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on Aug. 11, 2022. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.N. Security Council, where Russia wields a veto, met on Thursday to discuss the situation. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to stop all fighting near the plant.

The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarisation to ensure the safety of the area, Guterres said in a statement.

At the Security Council meeting, the United States backed the call for a demilitarised zone and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the site.

Russias U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the world was being pushed to the brink of nuclear catastrophe, comparable in scale with the 1986 Chornobyl disaster in then-Soviet Ukraine. He said IAEA officials could visit the site as soon as this month.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded Russia return the plant to Ukraines control.

The main Ukrainian front lines have been comparatively static in recent weeks, but fighting has been intensifying lately in anticipation of what Ukraine claims is a planned counter-offensive in the south.

Ukraines General Staff on Friday reported widespread shelling and air attacks by Russian forces on scores of towns and military bases, especially in the east where Russia is trying to expand territory held on behalf of separatist proxies.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region, said on Telegram seven people had been killed and 14 wounded in the past 24 hours.

By Natalia Zinets
Unvaccinated NYC Teachers Claim Deceit on Part of DOE

NEW YORKLate in 2021 New York City schoolteachers who refused to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate were placed on unpaid leave by the Department of Education. Almost all who submitted a religious or medical exemption were denied, which led to arbitration between the two groups.

The arbitration agreement provided a religious or medical exemption.

However, Jimmy Wagner, a Brooklyn-based attorney who represents several unvaccinated city employees, feels the DOE is not acting in good faith.

The DOE is being dishonest because they have no intention of giving these people the opportunity to apply for a religious accommodation, he told The Epoch Times.

A screenshot of the NYC Department of Educations online leave application system stating no COVID exemptions or accommodations for the 2022-23 school year in August 2022.

The DOE required as-of-yet unvaccinated teachers to fill out a form on its website stating what their intentions are regarding the vaccine for the upcoming school year. The deadline was August 11.

A special education teacher on the middle school level in Brooklyn spoke to The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity.

She considers herself a Bible-believing Christian and decided not to take the vaccination.

Late last year the DOE had an earlier version of the form on its website. The special ed teacher said she read the parameters of the religious exemption, and at the time, only specific faiths that have an established history of aversions to modern medicine such as the Christian Scientists were acceptable.

She uploaded all her information, including a statement from her pastor.

When she got to the final step of submit, a message popped up saying she was non-compliant to the mandate, and could not apply for this exemption.

She emailed human resources and the education chancellor for guidance but received no reply.

With no other viable option, she was put on unpaid leave.

Three-time plaintiff and unvaccinated New York City teacher, Rachel Maniscalco, and her daughter, Julia. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times)

Her hope was that over the summer of 2022, the mandate would be lifted and she could return to work for the 2022-23 school year.

The online form was modified this month with one enormous change: In bold, red letters it said, Please be advised at this time you cannot apply for a COVID vaccine related exemption/accommodation for 2022-2023 school year.

However, she discovered a COVID mandate option buried within a list of accommodations for those with disabilities.

Once again, she explained her situation in the form along with the letter from her pastor.

Once I clicked to submit, the same error popped up, right in my face, she said.

Jim Hogue and his wife, Jen Hogue, are both history teachers at Forest Hills High School. When the mandate was first issued, Jen Hogue willing took the jab. Jim Hogue was skeptical.

He had listened to a lot of conservative media that questioned the efficacy and spoke about the negative side effects of the vaccine, which gave him pause.

So I developed just a wait-and-see attitude for a while, he told The Epoch Times.

Over time he heard several doctors speak out against the shot. In addition to the physical aspects of the vaccination, Jim Hogue factored in a religious one in his decision.

The veteran teacher of 28 years decided against the shot.

The DOE insisted on the vaccination but offered three options: get vaccinated, retire, or go on unpaid leave for a year but without permission to take another job.

I took none of those, he said.

Retirement wasnt an option because before 30 years, there are substantial financial penalties, he said.

Arbitration between the teachers and the DOE followed, which included the option for a religious or medical exemption.

Jim Hogue chose religious and was denied without an explanation as to why. He appealed and was denied without an explanation again.

Soon after he filed the first of his two lawsuits.

They were supposed to be paying me by rules of the arbitration while the court case is being settled, he said. They very conveniently forgot that.

In the arbitration award obtained by The Epoch Times, it states teachers shall remain on payroll while the appeal is pending.

As reported by The Epoch Times, Rachel Maniscalco is another unvaccinated NYC teacher with three lawsuits in progress. The crux of her third one is she has not been charged with misconduct or anything that would bring about a 3020-A, disciplinary hearing, therefore if shes put on leave at all, it should be paid.

This argument is the basis of Jim Hogues first lawsuit against the DOE from October 2021. His second one is for the unpaid salary from last year.

Wagner represents both Maniscalco and Jim Hogue, as well as several, terminated NYPD officers, as reported by The Epoch Times.

While Jen Hogue is grateful to have a job to support their family of five, she has experienced a negative side effect of the vaccine.

I do have concerns about the fact that theres such censorship around this vaccine and the reporting of possible side effects, she told The Epoch Times. People are not allowed to freely talk about these things without being censored.

Officially, Jim Hogue has not been fired, although he was fired and reinstated twice after Wagner proved the terminations were in violation of the agreement.

They made a side deal with Jimmy Wagner to not terminate me until the case is over, he said.

Jim Hogue chose not to fill out the current form on the website since there was no option to request a religious exemption.

The special ed teacher pretty much knows if the mandate is in effect by the September deadline to be vaccinated, her career as an educator in the public schools is over.

Im going to resign, she said. Ive already come to that conclusion.
Mr. Castillo participated in a meeting with representatives of regional grassroots organizations at the Government Palace in Lima on Thursday night.

Con la participacion del premier Anibal Torres y los ministros del @MininterPeru, @MinjusDH_Peru, @MINCETUR y @MTPE_Peru, se realiza la reunion con dirigentes de bases sociales regionales, liderada por el presidente de la republica, @PedroCastilloTe, en Palacio de Gobierno. pic.twitter.com/JzoCsheTVT
Former President Donald Trump prepares to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference held at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Aug. 6, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

US Government Informs Judge Trump Doesnt Object to Release of Search Warrant Materials

Update: The warrant materials were unsealed.

Original story below.

U.S. government lawyers on Aug. 12 informed a federal judge that former President Donald Trump does not object to the release of the search warrant that FBI agents executed on Trumps resort on Aug. 8.

Counsel for Trump have informed the government that the former President does not object to the governments Motion, U.S. Department of Justice lawyers told U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who approved the warrant.

Because of Trumps stance, Reinhart should unseal the warrant and two attachments to the document, the lawyers added in the two-page filing.

Trump wrote on his social media website late Aug. 11 that he would not oppose the release of the documents in question.

Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going to step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last six years, Trump said on Truth Social.

The government on Thursday entered a motion to unseal, after the nonprofit Judicial Watch and multiple news outlets asked Reinhart to make public the filings.

The groups said the disclosure of the warrant and underlying materials, such as the affidavit outlining why a search was needed, was in the public interest and should not remain shielded.

The department filed the motion to make public the warrant and receipt in light of the former Presidents public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in Washington, reading prepared remarks.

The government has filed redacted versions of the materials it wants released. The redactions remove the names of law enforcement personnel who executed the search from the unsealed material, lawyers said in a previous filing.

Trump announced the raid on Monday, hours after FBI agents arrived at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach.

Trumps lawyers have said the raid on Mar-a-Lago stemmed from a desire to see if the former president possessed classified and presidential records.

Classified materials were found in boxes that the National Archives and Records Administration arranged the transfer of from Mar-a-Lago in January, then-U.S. Archivist David Ferriero has told the House Oversight Committee.

Trump wrote on Friday that all of the materials that were seized were declassified.
Walgreens Prescriptions Added to San Franciscos Opioid Epidemic: Judge

Walgreens Boots Alliance contributed to the opioid epidemic in San Francisco through its sale of prescription drugs in the city, a federal judge concluded on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said that Walgreens failed to properly investigate suspicious opioid orders for nearly 15 years. The amount the pharmacy chain must pay will be determined in a later trial.

Walgreens pharmacists filled hundreds of thousands of suspicious opioid prescriptions from 2006 to 2020 with pharmacists not given time, staffing, or resources to properly investigate red flags, Breyer wrote.

San Francisco in 2018 sued Walgreens, as well as several drug manufacturers and distributors, over the opioid epidemic in the city, saying they created a public nuisance by flooding the city with prescription opioids and failing to prevent the drugs from being diverted for illegal use.

A trial began in April, and all of the defendants except Walgreens reached settlements with the city before the court ruled.

Breyer said San Francisco had shown that Walgreens lax oversight led to illegal drug use that substantially contributed to the opioid epidemic in the city.

Walgreens said that it was disappointed with the ruling and intends to appeal.

We never manufactured or marketed opioids, nor did we distribute them to the pill mills and internet pharmacies that fueled this crisis, Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman said.

The opioid epidemic has caused more than 500,000 opioid overdose deaths over two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 3,300 opioid lawsuits have been filed nationally against drug manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies, culminating with many of the other companiesthough not the pharmaciesagreeing to proposed global settlements.

The opioid crisis has hit San Francisco hard, with opioid-related emergency room tripling from 886 in 2015 to 2,998 in 2020, according to the court ruling.

Paul Geller, an attorney who represented the city in the case, credited San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu for working to hold companies accountable for contributing to the horrific epidemic in the Bay Area.

Walgreens was found liable in 2021 for contributing to the opioid epidemic in a similar trial brought by two Ohio counties. Walgreens and its co-defendants, CVS Health Inc. and Walmart, are awaiting a ruling from the Ohio court on the amount they must pay to address the opioid crisis in those counties.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser attends March for Our Lives 2022 in Washington on June 11, 2022. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for March For Our Lives)

Washington, DC Mayor Asks US Military for 90 Days of Help With Illegal Immigrants

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser on Aug. 11 renewed her call for U.S. military assistance to deal with the surge of illegal immigrants the nations capital has encountered after governors of border states began busing the immigrants to the city.

The initial request for National Guard assistance from Bowser, a Democrat, was rejected by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a Biden appointee, earlier in August.

Instead of asking for an open-ended deployment, Bowser in the new request asked for 90 days of help, with a proposed reevaluation of the mission on Dec. 1.

If approved, Guard personnel would provide logistical support to the Washington government, helping establish and manage new sites to house and feed the illegal immigrants.

The Guard is uniquely resourced to provide emergency logistical support, Bowser wrote.

Bowser also wants the government to make the D.C. Armory or another federal site available as a respite center for the aliens, and to treat the immigrants like war refugees, referring to how the Biden administration has supported refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine in recent months.

We can confirm that the Secretary of Defense received a request from the office of the Mayor of DC, but as this is a pending request, we are not prepared to comment on the specifics of the request at this time. The Secretary takes this request for assistance very seriously. He and his team are working through the details, and will respond to the mayors office as soon as a decision has been reached, a spokesman for Austin told The Epoch Times in an email.

The spokesman said on Aug. 5 that the initial request was rejected because we have determined providing this support would negatively impact the readiness of the DCNG and have negative effects on the organization and members.

DCNG stands for D.C. National Guard.

Washingtons mayor cannot deploy the guard, but can ask the federal government to deploy personnel.

Grant Program

Washington Attorney General Karl Racine on Thursday said his office would start offering grants to local groups providing humanitarian assistance to the illegal immigrants, who are being transported to the District of Columbia by Texas and Arizona officials who are fed up with the surge in illegal immigration that has occurred under President Joe Biden.

The decision by the Governors of Texas and Arizona to bus asylum-seeking migrants to the District is causing a humanitarian crisis. The organizations and individuals who have shouldered the burden of providing basic needs and servicesincluding housing, food, transportation, and legal assistanceare understandably strained and simply cannot be expected to carry this responsibility alone, Racine, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Building on our offices strong track record of standing up for immigrants and reducing potential risks to public safety, we are pleased to offer grants in response to calls for additional resources and to assist this vulnerable population, he added.

At least 4,000 immigrants have been bused to Washington since April, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, ordered Texas authorities to start taking immigrants who accepted the offer of transportation to the nations capital.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, also a Republican, soon followed suit.

Texas recently started taking some of the immigrants to New York City, where Democrat authorities have also asked for federal assistance due to having support programs overwhelmed.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a virtual summit from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Nov. 15, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

White House: China Overreacted on Taiwan, Biden to Meet Xi Face-to-Face

President Joe Biden will likely meet with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping later in the year for the pairs first face-to-face, according to a White House official.

Kurt Campbell, White House Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, confirmed that Biden and Xi agreed to set up a face-to-face meeting during their last conference call in July, but that there were no details about the time and location for that meeting.

During that last call, Xi said that the United States was playing with fire by allowing congressional delegations to visit Taiwan, continuing a trend of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Beijing that has included outright threats of war against the United States.

Since that time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, an event which the CCP used as pretext to launch a series of escalatory military exercises around Taiwan which interfered with international travel and commerce.

Those exercises, which were widely condemned by the international community, also saw China launch several ballistic missiles that flew over Taiwan and landed in the waters of Japans exclusive economic zone.

The CCP maintains that Taiwan is a rogue province of China that must be united with the mainland, and has vowed to use force to achieve that goal if coercion fails. Democratic Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949, however, and has never been controlled by the CCP.

The United States formally recognizes, but does not endorse, Chinas position. It is also treaty-bound to provide Taiwan with the arms necessary for self-defense.

Campbell said Chinas provocative behavior following Pelosis visit to Taiwan was undermining peace and stability throughout the entire Indo-Pacific region.

Last week the PRC used a visit of the [U.S. Speaker of the House]  as a pretext to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan, Campbell said.

China has overreacted and its actions continue to be provocative [and] destabilizing.

Campbell added that the Chinese communist regime was attempting to unilaterally change the status quo regarding Taiwan, in violation of more than 60 years of U.S.-China agreements.

The regimes decision to abruptly cut military communications with the United States in the region and to back out of all climate ties represented a major escalation by the CCP, he said. Moreover, he added, the regimes continued military incursions across the median line of the Taiwan Strait were part of a systematic attempt to intimidate and coerce Taiwan and others to accept a new status quo in the region.

Chinas actions are fundamentally at odds with peace and stability, Campbell said.

Even today, several warships remain around Taiwan.

Campbell reiterated the United States ambition to preserve peace in the Taiwan Strait and the broader Indo-Pacific, affirming recent remarks by the White House that the U.S. military would continue to conduct freedom of navigation operations through the Taiwan Strait, undeterred by Chinese aggression.

Well continue to fly, sail, and operate where international law allows, Campbell said.

This is what the world demands of responsible powers.
Pilgrims including John Carver pray aboard the Wellbound, a sister ship to the Mayflower, during their voyage to the New World in 1620, in a painting by Robert Walter Weir. In the early years of European colonies, all education was faith-based. (Public Domain)

William Brooks: From Western Traditions to Political Indoctrination: A Cultural History of Education

Part 1: The Role of a 'Christian Paideia' in Western Education

Commentary

Education forms the minds of citizens at an impressionable age. What is taught and learned in school eventually effects the life and character of a nation.

Questions like who should control the schools, how education should be delivered, who should be teaching, what students should be learning, and how they should be taught have been with us for centuries.

Schoolteachers and educational reformers have always regarded themselves as both pioneers and revolutionaries. The issues they wrestle with, including faith, philosophy, pedagogical practice, psychology, law, and politics have longand often unsettledhistories.

Judeo-Christian Origins

At the dawn of European settlement in North America, formal education was generally organized by religious orders.

The culture of Western European colonists who settled in the present territories of the United States and Canada was anchored by Judeo-Christian traditions and faith. Religious practise played an integral part in the lives of French and English settlers.

In early French Canada, exploration and trading expeditions generally included a trifecta of merchants, soldiers, and priests, the first to pursue profit, the second to secure the interests of the Crown, and the third to temper the materialist impulses of the other two and spread Christianity among the indigenous peoples.

The development of Roman Catholic education can be traced to the year 1620 when the first school was founded by the Catholic Recollets order in Quebec. As a rule, until the 19th century, almost all schools in North America were operated under the auspices of one Christian denomination or another.

In the British colonies, the famous Mayflower Compact of 1620 established a Christian government in the North American wilderness as a religious act based on biblical law. In the presence of God and one of another, the colonists entered into a covenant for the better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of their ends in the new world.

Since the early pilgrims held a single Christian worldview, there was no immediate imperative to separate church and state. It wasnt until after several different denominations became established in America that the separation idea was imbedded in the 1789 Constitution of the United States of America.

In the early years of European colonies, all education was faith-based. Everyone had to read the Bible, and children were often taught to read more for religious than practical purposes.

Parents were generally encouraged to catechize their children in the principles of the Christian religion. Bible-based societies considered education to be the most important means of providing future generations with cultural and religious institutions that would preserve and advance civilization. Harvard University was founded in 1636 with a grant from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a training ground for Calvinist ministers.

One of the best-known American educators was Noah Webster, a devout Christian, born in 1758 in West Hartford, Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War, he was a student at Yale University. His Blue-Backed Speller, first published in 1783, taught millions to read. By 1820, the number of copies sold throughout the United States was about 20 million.

Webster, who had become a Congregationalist in his later years, saw the faculty of language as a gift from God. He considered the famous dictionary he compiled as the zenith of his work in a Godly endeavour.

By the time France and Britain had planted permanent colonies in America, practically every school and college had classical Christian roots. The Christian tradition set the tone in education for the better part of two centuries.

The Kingdom Without the King

In an important new book titled Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation, authors Pete Hegseth and David Goodwin contend that a persons vision of the well-ordered or good life is driven by a force they call paideia.

The authors say that this spirit has proven to be the strongest cultural force throughout all of human history. In the case of the Western Christian Paideia it is connected with traditional family life, worship, loyalty to country and community, personal industry and moral behaviour. Christian children discovered virtue within a worldview or paideia of faith and patriotism.

Hegseth and Goodwin assert that the Western Christian Paideia went unchallenged and unchanged for centuries. It combined faith with freedom and it influenced an entire civilization.

Today, however, we seldom think about the Judeo-Christian origins of our assumptions because we have been consistently taught to doubt the depth and value of all religious convictions.

The authors of Battle for the American Mind argue that: The great plume of smoke we see rising from selfishness and hyper-sexuality in our culture emanates from a fire built to worship the creation rather than the creator. We are trying to have the Kingdom, without the King.

Dissolving Attachments

In the early 19th century, the decline of the Western Christian Paideia began at New Englands elite Harvard University.

Harvard became a stronghold of Unitarianism which rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and other Christian teachings in favour of a rationalist and inclusivist approach to belief. Harvard and other prestigious universities went on to become the chief sources of anti-faith-based education.

While many university elites leaned toward atheism, the vast majority of ordinary North-Americans remained conservative in their faith and educated their children in the Biblical tradition up to the early decades of the 20th century. In their homes, and in small Christian or Jewish schools, some still do.

Conservative academics have argued that over the last two centuries, North American schools, colleges, and universities have come full circle from the Judeo-Christian daylight to a neo-pagan darkness.

Like Pete Hegseth and David Goodwin, many have noted that modern educational reformers undertook to change our cultural order and dissolve our attachment to the Western Christian Paideia.

Over the last two centuries, North American educators have been influenced by a so-called reform movement that has done little or nothing to improve the quality of teaching, the content of curricula, or the mission of our schools.

We will examine the portentous origins of the educational reform movement in Part 2 of this continuing series on the history of North American education.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Woman Charged With Murdering Boyfriend Caught on Camera Beating Him

A woman was arrested in Hawaii on Aug. 10 and has since been charged with murder in connection to the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend, officials have confirmed.

Courtney Clenney, 26, from Austin, Texas, was arrested by Hawaii police at an undisclosed location in Laupahoehoe on Wednesday following the death of Christian Obumseli on April 3, 2022.

She was arrested on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by Miami-Dade County, Florida, for the offense of murder in the second-degree with a deadly weapon, Hawaii Police Department said.

The woman, who goes by the name Courtney Tailor on social media platform Instagram and adult website OnlyFans, was being held by the police pending her initial court appearance in Hilo District Court on Aug. 11 and is expected to be extradited to Florida.

In court on Thursday, Clenney waived her right to an extradition hearing and agreed to return to Florida. Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered her held without bail pending extradition.

The Miami-Dade state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced the charge against Clenney during a news conference on Thursday and said that Obumseli had been the victim of domestic violence.

The violent and toxic 2-year relationship of these individuals did not have to end in tragedy with Christians murder as a victim of domestic violence. No personal relationship should ever involve domestic violence. Make no mistake about it, domestic violence is a crime, and no one should tolerate it, said Fernandez Rundle.

The Sequence of Domestic Violence Events Can Be broken

Men are often unwilling to come forward as victims of domestic violence or intimate violence, as it is sometimes called. The sequence of domestic violence events can be broken, but a first step must be taken. If anyone is caught in a dangerous domestic violence situation, please know that there is a strong safety net of resources and shelters available, the state attorney added.

Officials said that Clenney and Obumseli had been in a tempestuous and combative relationship that began in November 2020 and that the building management where Clenney and Obumseli lived together had reported multiple instances of loud arguments.

The on-off couple has only recently reconciled days before his death, according to reports.

The county medical examiner said in an autopsy report that Obumseli died from a stab to the chest; specifically a forceful downward thrust from a blade that went 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) into his chest, and pierced a major artery.

According to an arrest report, Clenney acknowledged killing Obumseli but said she acted in self-defense, stating that her boyfriend had pushed her and thrown her to the floor, which prompted her to grab a knife and throw it at Obumseli from about 10 feet (3 meters) away.

However, the medical examiner said Obumselis wound could not have been caused by a knife thrown from that distance.

At 4:57, defendant Clenney called 911 to tell the police that Christian was suffering from a stab wound and needed help, said Fernandez Rundle on Thursday. On that 911 call, Christian can be heard in the background repeatedly saying that he was dying, and he was losing feeling in his arm. Defendant Clenney is also heard saying, Im so sorry, baby.'

Caught on Camera

During the same press conference, Rundle also played video footage taken on Feb. 21 footage that shows Clenney attacking Obumseli in an elevator at the condo where the couple had been living together.

Footage shows Clenney initially whacking the buttons on the elevator with her hands before then turning to Obumseli and hitting him multiple times while grabbing his head. Obumseli can be seen trying to shield himself with his arms and pushing Clenney in an attempt to fend her off. At one point, he appears to get her into a headlock before she is able to break free.

The defendant was aggressively attacking Christian, said Rundle of the video footage.

Clenneys Miami defense lawyer, Frank Prieto, while acknowledging that the couple had a tumultuous relationship, said that Obumseli was the primary aggressor.

Prieto added that the medical examiners opinions wont stand up to scientific scrutiny when they argue self-defense at trial.

Obumseli was the abuser, the worst kind of abuser, Prieto said in a statement. He would manipulate and abuse Courtney in private when he thought nobody was around.

Her defense lawyer also told The Epoch Times that she was in Hawaii while in rehabilitation for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of her arrest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include comment from Clenneys lawyer.
Founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab delivers remarks at the Congress centre during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 23, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

World Economic Forum Publishes Article Calling for Global Censorship Using AI and Human Intelligence

An opinion article published on the World Economic Forum (WEF) website has proposed creating an artificial intelligence program that could end up acting as a comprehensive global censorship tool.

In the article, writer and cybersecurity expert Inbal Goldberger proposes combining a powerful AI network with input from human intelligence data to track and preemptively stop certain content from circulating online.

Since the introduction of the internet, wars have been fought, recessions have come and gone and new viruses have wreaked havoc, Goldberger writes. While the internet played a vital role in how these events were perceived, other changeslike the radicalization of extreme opinions, the spread of misinformation and the wide reach of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)have been enabled by it.

The article mentions the importance of deciphering the coded language used by child abusers and pornographers to disseminate CSAM and removing the content before its widely shared.

But along with this, Goldberger also mentions that the AI would be used to detect extremism, disinformation, and hate speech.

The proposed AI program would be supplemented by off-platform human intelligence gathering, Goldberger stated.

The article has been widely criticized on conservative news sites.

A report for The Daily Caller pointed out that social media companies are known to target conservative content online, including posts that are critical of gender ideology, climate change theories, COVID-19 policies, and vaccine safety. Some of this content is already labeled as misinformation and hate speech and is even blocked entirely on some platforms,

In response to the online backlash against the article, the WEF added a note to readers at the top of the page.

Please be aware that this article has been shared on websites that routinely misrepresent content and spread misinformation, the note reads, adding that the content of the article is the opinion of the author, not the World Economic Forum.

Please read the piece for yourself, the note says. The Forum is committed to publishing a wide array of voices and misrepresenting content only diminishes open conversations.

Globalist Agenda Pushing Leftist Social Engineering

The WEF is known for promoting a globalist agenda thats more social engineering than economics, China expert Antonio Graceffo wrote in an article published in The Epoch Times. The social engineering includes pressuring companies to comply with WEF social dictates.

The WEF also has ties with the Chinese Community Party (CCP), and its programs feature Chinese politicians and businessmen. In a virtual dialogue held in July, Ma Jun, a CCP banking official, called for mobilizing private capital to avoid funding activities that damage nature.

Basically, what Ma Jun is saying is that companies that do not comply with the globalist agenda will be cut off from borrowing, Graceffo wrote.

And at the WEF annual summit in March, the head of Alibaba Group talked about a system that will monitor peoples individual carbon footprints, calculated by analyzing their eating habits, travel habits, and other behaviors.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A south Louisiana school district has won the right to re-open a school that was closed under a federal judges order in a long-running desegregation case.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Foote that the St. Martin Parish School System cannot yet be declared unitary  meaning the desegregation efforts are sufficient to end the case that dates back to 1965.
NEW HAVEN  A Waterbury woman pleaded guilty Friday to creating fake COVID-19 vaccine records for more than a dozen people, including some state employees, according to federal prosecutors.

Zaya Powell, 25, of Waterbury, faces up to five years in prison. She waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to making a false statement relating to a health care matter, U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said in a news release.

Powells sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

Powell created fraudulent vaccination records while she was a data entry specialist for Griffin Health Services Corporation. In that role, she went to various COVID-19 vaccination sites throughout the state and, though she didnt administer vaccines, she had access to Griffin Healths electronic health record system and stacks of blank COVID-19 vaccination cards, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

She also had access to the vaccine administration management system, a database developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that tracked vaccines, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

From August to October 2021, Powell created false records in the management system stating that 14 individuals received single doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a Griffin Health location. None of these 14 individuals had actually received a vaccine from Griffin Health or from any other health care provider, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

Additionally, Powell gave the 14 individuals fraudulent COVID-19 vaccine cards. The cards included lot numbers of genuine vaccines that were administered to other Griffin Hospital patients, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

An investigation conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that four of the 14 individuals were state employees who worked at the Southbury Training School, a Connecticut Department of Developmental Services facility, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

Since these individuals were state employees, they were required under an executive order by Gov. Ned Lamont to meet certain vaccination requirements by Sept. 27, 2021, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

The four employees sought and used the fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards created by Powell and the false entries in VAMS [Vaccine Administration Management System] created by Powell to falsely document that they had received a COVID-19 vaccination, the U.S. Attorneys office said.

It was not immediately clear what, if anything, she received in return.

Powell is released on a $25,000 bond pending her sentencing scheduled for Nov. 4.
Mi reconocimiento al trabajo de las organizaciones sociales, sindicales y populares del pais.A los comerciantes, mototaxistas, maestros, enfermeras y dirigentes con quienes comparti tambien muchas luchas sociales.Cuenten conmigo,son los verdaderos voceros del pueblo.(1/8) pic.twitter.com/kdruEf1tcR
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)  The 4th Congressional District in Washington state is a land of snow-capped volcanic peaks and lush irrigated orchards that produce most of the nation's apples. It's also home to one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump and then won his next election.

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last year, and is one of only two to beat back GOP challengers this year.

Newhouse was the leading vote-getter in the race for his seat in the Aug. 2 Washington primary election, despite withering criticism from Trump and a Trump-backed challenger. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif. - who like Newhouse ran in a top-two open primary - also prevailed two months ago.

U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., who also voted to impeach Trump and represents the Vancouver area, conceded to Trump-backed challenger Joe Kent on Tuesday night.

Analysts say Newhouse had a couple of advantages that allowed him to beat back strong challenges from Republicans Loren Culp, who had Trump's backing, and Jerrod Sessler, who was in Washington, D.C., during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and poured a lot of his own money into the race.

Culp, a former small-town police officer, consistently blasted Newhouse as a RINO, or Republican in name only. That wasn't enough to defeat Newhouse, who came from a well-known farming family and was seeking a fifth term.

Newhouse had a lot more credibility in the agriculture community, Cornell Clayton, head of the Thomas S. Foley Institute at Washington State University, said this week. And Culp just doesn't. I think that did him in.

Sessler, a former NASCAR driver spent about $500,000  mostly his own money  but finished a distant fourth in the race.

Washington's primary system, in which all candidates run on the same ballot, and the top two vote getters advance to November, regardless of party, also helped Newhouse, analysts said.

The short answer is this: Newhouse benefitted from our Top 2 primary system, especially given there was a legitimate (if still long shot) Democrat running, Todd Schaefer, a political science professor at Central Washington University, wrote in an e-mail. And of course he had the power of incumbency that gave him the ability to tout his record and attack Biden and Culp.

With Republican votes split among six challengers, that allowed the lone Democrat in the race, farmer Doug White of the Yakima Valley, to finish second and advance to the general election.

White will be a longshot in November in what is arguably the state's most conservative district.

It encompasses a large area of central Washington, covering the counties of Klickitat, Douglas, Okanogan, Grant, Yakima, Franklin, Benton, and Adams. The district, dominated by the Yakima and Tri-Cities communities, is considerably more conservative than the western part of the state.

No Democratic presidential candidate has carried any county in the district since Bill Clinton in 1992 carried Okanogan County. None of the other counties in the district have backed a Democrat for President since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, while Adams County has not voted Democratic since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.

The last Democrat to represent the district was Jay Inslee, who won the seat in 1992 and lost it in the Republican wave of 1994. Inslee is now the governor of Washington.

Newhouse is the scion of a prominent farming family based in the Yakima Valley town of Sunnyside, and and is nobody's idea of a liberal. He has consistently received A ratings from the National Rifle Association and Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion organization. He also is fighting environmental groups who want to remove four big hydro dams on the Snake River to save endangered salmon.

The Newhouse family operates an 850-acre farm near Sunnyside where they grow hops for local breweries, grapes for local wineries, tree fruit, and alfalfa.

Of the 10 House Republicans who voted for Trumps impeachment, four opted not to run for reelection. Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer was defeated in a primary on Aug. 2 by Trump-endorsed John Gibbs and Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina lost to a Trump-endorsed challenger in June. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is bracing for defeat in her Aug. 16 primary against a Trump-backed rival.
NORWALK  A no-bid agreement between the city and a software company was pulled from the Common Councils meeting agenda this week amid concerns over the terms of the deal, officials said.

During the July 14 meeting, the Common Councils Finance and Claims Committee unanimously approved the $125,000 contract with Waterbury-based software company, Quality Data Service, according to city records.

But during the July 26 Common Council meeting, lone Republican member Bryan Meek voted against the contracts final approval, raising concerns over the lack of bidding process, according to city documents. Despite Meeks vote against the motion, the contract was approved.

I'm not suggesting any malfeasance here, but I will suggest people are not doing their job, Meek said in an emailed statement. My personal stake is that I would like to see some modernization in the assessment system. Many of our processes are still done on paper when tiny towns like Bethel have digitized years ago. Then there is the issue of the commercial appeals being adjudicated no one seems to have any idea about.

Following last months approval, however, the contract briefly appeared on the agenda for this weeks council meeting as a technical revision. The contracts agenda item and subsequent removal was confirmed by city spokesperson Michelle Woods Matthews.

The contract was sent back to the council over concerns about lack of clarity regarding the length of the agreement during its initial approval, Woods Matthews said.

The city has a very stringent process for entering a contract that ensures no contract is signed before all the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed, Woods Matthews said. When this contract came to the mayor for his signature, it was noted that the total cost of the contract was higher than the amount approved by the Common Council.

Mayor Harry Rilling then sent the contract back to city Tax Assessor Bill Ford for clarification, Woods Matthews said. Ford realized the council approved a dollar amount for a one-year contract instead of five years.

Mr. Ford then sent the total cost of the five-year contract to the Common Council for approval, referring to it as a technical amendment, but the mayor noted this change was too significant to be deemed a technical amendment and asked that it be pulled from the agenda, Woods Matthews said.

The city is working with the vendor, Quality Data Service, to determine whether to proceed with a one-year contract or draft a five-year agreement, Woods Matthews said. Quality Data Service did not respond to a request for comment.

If a five-year contract is required, the agreement will go back to the Finance and Claims Committee to restart the legislative approval process.

Meek said that while he supports acquiring a new software system, there should still be more transparency with city funds and contracts.

I've worked on financial information systems public and private now for almost 30 years. There is not one single monopoly on any aspect of information technology anywhere on the planet to my knowledge, Meek said.

The Quality Data Service program will allow the city to assess properties more efficiently and bring a more updated software to the department, Ford said during last months approval. The current software is out of date and limited.

We are the last community in the state of Connecticut using that particular software. It is a small module to a much larger accounting system, Ford said. We quite often have some issues because the software is very good at accounting, but not very user friendly for assessing and things like that. Any time theres a change to the state law, changes need to be made to the software. Since we are the last municipality using that software, at times it becomes difficult to work with.

Quality Data Service is one of three such software providers in Connecticut, and works with 90 percent of the states municipalities, Ford said.

There are only three providers in state, and one handles more than 90 percent. The other two providers in the state, they do not handle large municipalities, Ford said. Stamford, our neighbor to the south, also uses the software package were looking to use so you understand this is something thats well used.

abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com
It's National Farmers Market Week.

National Farmers Market week is an annual celebration of farmers markets nationwide coordinated by the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC). According to farmersmarketcoalition.org, the FMC is a nonprofit dedicated to working with farmers market operators to help strengthen farmers markets across the United States for the benefit of the farmers, consumers and communities.

We kind of feel like every week is National Farmers Market week for us, said Board President of Maryville Farmers Market Anne Matthews. We do definitely celebrate our farmers and personally thank all of them on National Farmers Market Week and we try to thank all of the people who come out and support us all year long.

Matthews added, every time you visit a farmers market you are supporting the local community in a way that you dont get from going to Schnucks or Aldis or Walmart, and I just think thats so important, for people to have that connection with the people who grow their food."

There are several farmers markets throughout the area, including weekly markets in Maryville, Edwardsville, Alton, East Alton, Wood River and Collinsville.

I think the biggest part of the popularity is that, while its metropolitan in some areas, we still live in areas where you can see agriculture on a daily basis, and I think people like to be connected with that a little bit more, Matthews said. Farmers markets are important because they connect that agricultural community, the farmers directly to the consumers and that local food infrastructure is really important.

The Maryville Farmerss Market is open the first and third Thursdays of the month at Firemans Park, Maryville from 5 to 7 p.m. and the second and fourth Thursdays at Herald Square at Old Herald Brewery and Distillery 115 E. Clay Street, Collinsville from 5 to 7 p.m.

The Land of Goshen Community Market will celebrate this Saturday with several activities, including the launch of the Feeding Illinois Farm to Food Bank Initiative, with ribbon cutting, photo opportunities, free yoga, farm-themed games for kids, a live radio broadcast and Mayors proclamation.

The Goshen Community Market will also include local produce and art from 50 vendors. The market consists of farmers and vendors selling a variety of products including organic produce, locally grown fruits and vegetables, locally raised meat, handmade art, fresh flowers, baked goods, local honey, body care and more.

The market will be open on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon in downtown Edwardsville across from the Courthouse. The Land of Goshen Community Market accepts SNAP/EBT and many vendors accept WIC, or Senior Farmers Market coupons. The Goshen Market is open every Saturday through Oct. 15.

The Land of Goshen Community Market has been a fixture in Edwardsville for 26 seasons, said Ann Herrington, Goshen Market Foundation Executive Director and Land of Goshen Community Market Manager. It engages our whole community, from growers and farmers, to makers, musicians and artists, local brick and mortar stores, schools, community organizations, and customers from all over. It brings people together to celebrate everything that is wonderful about this community.

With the addition of the Goshen Market Foundation in 2016, our mission expanded and now we look outward to share all of the wonderful parts of the Market with our broader community in Madison County, Herrington said. With our mobile Farmers Market, the Beet box, our Farm to School Program, and now our Farm to Food Bank Initiative, we are growing and supporting even more of our community. We are so fortunate to have the support of our farmers, vendors, customers and community members in all of our efforts.

The Alton Farmers & Artisans Market is also open every Saturday through Oct. 15 from 8 a.m. to noon. The Alton market is located at 501 Landmarks Blvd., Alton.

The Bethalto Farmers Market is open every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bethalto Park through October.

The East Alton Farmers Market is open every Tuesday in Eastgate Plaza from 3 to 7 p.m. through October 25.

Wood Rivers Farmers Market at 143 and 1st Street, Wood River is open Thursdays from 4 p.m. to dusk through September.

Farmers markets are abundant sources of food, connection and resilience in our communities across the country, but they dont just happen on their own. said Ben Feldman, Farmers Market Coalition Executive Director. Behind the scenes of every successful farmers market is a dedicated person or team working to make the market thrive. These farmers market operators are experts who need community and financial support to run their markets and resources specifically designed for their needs. Throughout National Farmers Market Week 2022, we will be highlighting the vital work of farmers market operators across the nation. Join us!
Action on the climate crisis is an urgent need. The level of CO2 measured in the atmosphere is higher than ever, higher than it can safely get, and is having clear effects on climate including drought, floods, hurricanes that are stronger, ocean level rises putting many populated areas at risk, and record heat.

Our state has passed a bill (on Sept. 15, 2021) that is noticed nationally as a significant step in the energy transition that is urgently needed. Originally called the Clean Energy Jobs Act, the name was changed to emphasize the climate justice aspect. Job training for the new careers required for a transition to clean energy sources and funding will be focused on the communities that have suffered most from the pollution caused by fossil fuel extraction (including Wood River, East Alton and East St. Louis).

There are eight major components to the bill. Jobs and economic justice is the first. There will be job hubs designed to provide training in Alton, East St. Louis and Carbondale.

The second component is renewable energy. Extending the Future Energy Jobs Act to include southern Illinois, funds will be available in communities that have experienced the closing of fossil fuel generation or mining plants. $380 million dollars is allotted for new renewable generation. The third component is Inclusive Financing.

Emergency aid will be offered for energy efficiency, the fourth component. Carbon-free power is the fifth component. Coal and oil used for power generation will be replaced, and funding is available for this to take place at speed.

The sixth component is electric transportation. As an alternative to more highways, the money will be used to incentivize mass transit, carpooling and bicycle paths. Just transition is the seventh component, providing financial assistance to restore and revitalize communities most affected by pollution and, also, most affected by the move away from extractive industries. $80 million will be directed toward workforce development (including such support as child care and transportation) and contractor equity. $40 million will be directed toward former fossil fuel communities in available grants.

The eighth component is utility accountability and grid planning, a vital aspect of this transition. A more responsive grid will make the transition possible, and upgrades to the grid have not been made by utilities, but are urgently needed. The Illinois Commerce Commission will oversee grid reliability issues, and there will be a new focus on the ethics of public utilities, including auditing and subpoena power as well as a chief ethics and accountability officer.

The implementation of this very forward looking act is beginning, and will require the cooperation of many moving parts. There may be more we can do locally to make this plan a reality. The Downstate Caucus of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition is in action, you could join in. Lets be ready.
Worried by the dimension the insecurity in the country is taking, northern group Arewa Youth Assembly has threatened to embark on a nationwide protest until President Muhammadu Buhari sack his National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen Babagana Monguno (retd).

To this group, the NSA whose primary responsibility is to counsel Mr President as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on the best approach to secure lives and property in Nigeria in addition to citizens' welfare has not been able to deliver creditably on his responsibility, hence, the need for his replacement as Buhari's second and last tenure winds down.

A copy of a letter signed by the Speaker of the group, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, dated August 8, obtained by Daily Sun on Wednesday intimated the security apparatuses and office of the NSA in the federal capital territory, Abuja of the planned protest.

Danlami who confirmed the authenticity of the letter via mobile phone added that the planned national protest became necessary in the interest of the Nigerian masses who cannot afford to hire the expensive services of private security to protect them against marauding criminal elements across the country.

Nowhere is safe in Nigeria as we are sleeping and waking up only by the grace of God. We expect patriotic Nigerians to come out and protest. Let's think Nigeria, let's think security.

We have also sent invitations to other civil society organisations and other regional organisations who have accepted to be part of the protest, he said.

Meanwhile, the letter titled notification of peaceful protest over rising in insecurity and the urgent need to sack the national security adviser read in part: We wish to notify you of our resolve to organise a peaceful protest at the Three Arms Zone, at the expiration of the two weeks ultimatum we issued to the National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno (rtd) to resign over his inability to come up with a workable strategy to tame the rising insecurity ravaging Northern Nigeria.

We are aware that President Muhammadu Buhari responded to calls by Nigerians to replace the then-service chiefs. We have equally observed that the change of guard yielded little or no significant improvement in the state of our country's security situation.

It is therefore our considered view that the NSA, who is in a position to offer counsel to Mr President on a workable template to stampede out the terrorist elements might have run out of ideas.

As lovers of Mr President, who desire to see him handover a more credible and prosperous Nigeria to his successor in a few months, we have resolved to organise a massive protest on our call on NSA to either resign or be sacked by Mr President. The protest is expected to start on August 17 by 8 am at the Presidential Villa.

(Daily Sun)


YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The Greek City Times newspaper published an article about the attacks on journalists in Azerbaijan.

Although Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the IGB natural gas pipeline, which connects the national natural gas transmission system of Greece with the Bulgarian network and will be able to transport billions of cubic metres of gas per year from Azerbaijan, as a pipeline of values, even if we ignore the continued ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakhs Armenians, how true is the Greek leaders statement? asks the author in the Attacks against Azerbaijani journalists continue unabated in 2022 article.

If we look towards the media sphere, as one example, there is a lack of these values that Mitsotakis talks about.

The very first thing the Azerbaijan page of Reporters Without Borders says is: President Ilham Aliyev has wiped out any semblance of pluralism, and since 2014, he has sought ruthlessly to silence any remaining critics.

No independent television or radio is transmitted from within the country, and all print newspapers with a critical stance have been shut down. Most independent news sites, such as Azadliq and Meydan TV, targeted by state censorship, are based abroad.

It also explains that no official or police officer in the past 20 years has been sanctioned for hitting or insulting a journalists and that the Baku regime tries to tame independent journalists in exile by pressuring their friends and family who remain in the country.

Even more alarmingly though is that the Aliyev regime exports its targeting of journalists outside of Azerbaijans own borders.

On May 31, Azerbaijani blogger Tural Sadigly, who lives in Germany but is currently staying in the UK, stated that a conspiracy was being prepared against him by the Azerbaijani authorities.

I assure you that my life is in serious danger. This time they are planning something against me. The instruction was given by the presidential administration.

For this reason, my parents will hold a protest in front of the presidential administration building in Baku tomorrow. I ask political parties, human rights activists, activists, journalists, everyone  to support them, Sadigly wrote on his Facebook page.

A little later, an Azerbaijani journalist, former political prisoner Afgan Mukhtarli, who lives in Germany, confirmed the threat to the life of the blogger on his social media.

Azerbaijani migrant and blogger living in Germany, head of the Azad soz (Free Speech) YouTube channel Tural Sadigly wrote about the serious danger to his life.

The Aliyev regime repeatedly arrested, kidnapped and blackmailed its opponents residing abroad. Ilham Aliyev used terrorist groups more than once against those whom he could not arrest.

Last year, among the oppositionists living abroad, Bayram Mammadov was killed in Istanbul, Vugar Rza in Belgium, Huseyn Bakikhanov in Tbilisi.

Attempts were made to kill Magomed Mirzali, Orkhan Agayev, Ordukhan Babirov, Gabil Mamedov.

French police arrested several individuals for an attempted murder of Magomed Mirzali.

The threat of murder against Tural Sadigly, the search for his address are quite serious. European law enforcement agencies must ensure the safety of Tural Bey, Mukhtarli said.

Another Azerbaijani opposition blogger was attacked in Europe. This time the victim of the attack was blogger Manaf Jalilzade, who is known for his criticism of Mehriban and Ilham Aliyev, according to Infoteka24.

Blogger Manaf Jalilzade, who lives in Switzerland, was brutally beaten by three Azerbaijanis in front of his house on April 29, 2022 at 23:00. His condition is very critical, another French-based opposition blogger, Mirzali Muhammad, tweeted.

These are just a few examples in 2022, but cases can be brought up in every year of Azerbaijans post-Soviet era.

Take some of these examples:
First Bank of Nigeria Limited has announced its commemoration of the 2022 International Youth Day, globally celebrated today, 12 August 2022 and themed Intergenerational solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages.

The International Youth Day is commemorated every year on 12 August, bringing youth issues to the attention of the international community and celebrating the potential of youth as partners in todays global society. The Day also amplifies the message that action is needed across all generations to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leave no one behind.

Leading up to the day, the Bank dedicated the week of 8  12 August with a lineup of activities to reiterate its commitment to Youth Empowerment.

As a Bank renowned for its role in developing the economy through sustainable employment and entrepreneurship endeavours, the 2022 edition of the Youth Week will promote economic empowerment and employment, digital technology, and education as its focus during the celebration.

The Youth Week comprises various activities, including a Fashion illustration workshop, Design skill training, Gen Z/Millennial Webinar and many more exciting activities. These activities would give participants opportunities to win various exciting gift items.

Under the [email protected] program, the Bank will empower the youths through Artistry Workshop Sessions & Arts Classes. Interested in the art of fashion design and illustrations, visit the Banks social media handles - Instagram: @firstbanknigeria, Facebook: First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Twitter: @FirstBankngr - for information on how you can be among 10 lucky winners to have the opportunity to learn the business of fashion at Claire Idera fashion studio.

Likewise, the Creative design workshop will enable youths design skill training; design thinking principles and their application in the context of layout, typefaces and colour. Interested youths can also participate on the FirstBank social media handles, where 25 lucky winners will be selected to learn the Art of Design at Geneza School of Designs.

Commemorating the Youth Week, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank said: We remain committed to celebrating the younger demography whose voices, actions, vigour, and tireless participation in the political, economic, and social activities have continued to birth major contributions towards the sustainable development of Africa and the world at large. The planned activities will promote better collaboration and solidarity across generations to foster successful and equitable relationships, and partnerships thereby ensuring no one is left behind and empowering everyone to leverage their full potential toward achieving the much-desired Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This Youth demography has a striking significance for us at FirstBank with the Millennials and Gen Zs constituting almost 60% of our workforce. This shows that youths are an integral part of our organisation and every country where we operate, he concluded.

For more information and participation in the Youth Week, kindly visit the banks verified social media platforms; Instagram: @firstbanknigeria, Facebook: First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Twitter: @FirstBankngr

About FirstBank

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the premier Bank in West Africa and the leading financial inclusion services provider in Nigeria for 128 years.

With over 750 business locations and over 180,000 Banking Agents spread across 99% of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services to serve its over 30 million customers. The Bank has an international presence through its subsidiaries, FBNBank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.

The Bank has been handy at promoting digital payment in the country and has issued over 10million cards, the first bank to achieve such a milestone in the country. FirstBanks cashless transaction drive extends to having more than 10million people on its USSD Quick Banking service through the nationally renowned *894# Banking code and over 4.5 million people on FirstMobile platform.

Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Governments privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.

FirstBank has been named Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria six times in a row (2011  2016) by the globally renowned The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group; Best Retail Bank in Nigeria for seven consecutive years (2011  2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards and Best Bank in Nigeria by Global Finance for 15 years. Our brand purpose is always to put customers, partners and stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in consonance with our brand vision To be the partner of the first choice in building your future. Our brand promise is always to deliver the ultimate gold standard of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in every respect
As part of an effort to promote civilian security and harm mitigation, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, has revealed its plan to heighten security measures by building the capacity of Corp members.

This was disclosed by the Deputy Commandant-General and Head, Directorate of Critical Infrastructure and National Assets, NSCDC, Mr Nnamdi Nwinyi, who Commandant-General of the Corp, Mr Ahmed Abubakar-Audi, at the one-day training session in Abuja on the 'Protection of Civilians and Civilian Harm Mitigation', organised by the Centre of Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC Nigeria).

Nwinyi noted that the high rising insecurity in the country calls for desperate measures for civilians' safety hence civilians must collaborate with the corps to ensure their safety

He said: The Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps have always been committed to ensuring the safety of Civilians however, with the new security trends, we must increase our level of interaction with the Nigerian civil populace, especially interns of education and training.

We are committed to continuous training and the commandant general assured us that measures such as this would continue to take place. He mentioned

Speaking, the Country Director, CIVIC Nigeria, Mr. Benson Olugbuo, stressed that the citizens should be involved in every decision that affects their security

He said: "There is a need for training and retraining of security agencies to ensure there is the reduction of civilian casualties during crises, especially during internal security operations. Agencies such as civilian protection committees need to be created where both the security agencies and the civilians in a crises area collaborate on the best security approach and measures to be taken

"We believe that civilian harm is not unavoidable even when eternal security has been planned, there is a need to check the collateral damage on the civilians. One of the principles of security is that security should be planned in such a way that civilians harm is avoided and reduced", he added

According to him, in cases where civilians are harmed the security agencies must ensure accountability, compensation and acknowledgement of such situations.

There are laws which give a penalty to security agencies whose operations harm civilians, citizens should seek redress whenever security agencies trespass by doing so, civilian harm would be mitigated."
Leading Nigerian Businessman, Industrialist, and Philanthropist, Abdul Samad Rabiu, paid a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari today in Abuja, to update him and to thank him for creating an enabling environment for business to thrive, and also brief him on the strides BUA Group has made in the past few years.

Thereafter, Rabiu briefed the President on the activities of his foundation, The Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) during which he also announced the donation of a N10billion Nigeria Security Support Fund from ASR Africa towards the provision of some security equipment, medical and other supplies, upgrade of health facilities and other infrastructure for families of those on the frontlines.

President Muhammadu Buhari, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria (Middle) Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder & Executive Chairman, BUA Group (Left), and Niyi Adebayo, Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (Right) during the visit of Abdul Samad Rabiu and BUA Group Management Team, to the State House in Abuja, today

According to Rabiu, the visit was in order to identify with President Muhammadu Buhari, during whose tenure BUA has built over 10 factories with two of the Groups subsidiaries now amongst the top 10 largest publicly listed companies in Africa, and to further support the efforts of his administration in business as well as in the security space.

President Muhammadu Buhari, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria (2nd Right) having a handshake with Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder & Executive Chairman, BUA Group (2nd Left) while Kabiru Rabiu, Group Executive Director, BUA Group (Left) and Niyi Adebayo, Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (Right) looks on during the visit of Abdul Samad Rabiu and BUA Group Management Team, to the State House in Abuja, today.

In his response, President Buhari said it was heartwarming to see and hear of Nigerian companies doing so much within Nigeria, and Africa, especially in the area of production using locally available raw materials. He also expressed his elation at the achievements of BUA which had led to phenomenal growth within such a short time. As a Government, we know we have done a lot in this regard, and we will continue to do more to support the aspirations of serious businesses, big and small, by providing an enabling environment as well as supporting value creation within Nigeria.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide led by Ambassador Professor George Obiozor urges the youths in the South East of Nigeria to eschew ethnic chauvinism as the 2023 general election draws nearer. The Ohanaeze admonition is in reaction to a statement issued by Igbo youths under the auspices of the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL). The group as quoted by the Guardian Newspaper of August 10, 2022, warned groups and individuals promoting the presidential ambition of Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu to stay clear of the zone. The group described as unfortunate how certain persons from Igbo land would allow themselves to be used to promote the ambition of a man who is outdated in all ramifications in the scheme of things to be voted as a Nigerian president come 2023

Ohanaeze Ndigbo acknowledges the inalienable rights of individuals and groups to express their views on national issues but advises that such rights should not infringe on the rights of other Nigerian citizens. Clarification is made that each of the presidential candidates has every right to campaign and canvass for votes in all parts of the country. In other words, since the presidential candidates of the South East or Igbo extraction enjoy untrammeled access and mass followership in other geopolitical zones of the country, it is a political self-immolation and indeed highly unreflective for COSEYL to embark on a misstep that may diminish the Igbo patina for inter-ethnic friendliness.

Emphasis is further drawn that the statement by the COSEYL is at variance with the Igbo character of liberality, hospitality, frontier spirit and accommodation of diverse interests. The South East constituency has sufficient political awareness or enlightenment to assess the presidential candidates as they visit the South East to market their manifestoes and canvass for votes.

As we celebrate the International Youth Day with the theme- generational solidarity; it is necessary that as leaders of tomorrow, instead of an archaic and implacable adherence to prosaic ethnic indulgences, it is much better to develop an inter-ethnic solidarity with an encompassing national ideology into which the productive energies of the youths from diverse parts of the country will coalesce. This is the ideal.

For further clarifications, it is a subversion of democratic process and indeed a potent source of national crises for candidates to perceive threats or hostility from groups within the country. While we share in the passion and grievances of the Igbo youth, maturity is still needed in our political activism to eschew ultra-ethnic chauvinism.

Chiedozie Alex. Ogbonnia, PhD; National Publicity Secretary Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide
The Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has tendered an unreserved apology to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) over his recent remarks about the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

The governor who is also the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council, admitted that it was an error on his part to have linked the Catholic Pontiff with Nigerias politics.

He, however, begged for forgiveness and understanding from the Catholic Church through the Bishops conference.

Recall that members of the Catholic Church had condemned him over his choice of words, even as a Papal Knight of St. Gregory and demanded his immediate suspension from the Church.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the CBCN President titled, Letter of Apology dated August 12, 2022, Lalong reaffirmed his commitment to the Catholic faith and promised to continue upholding the banner of the Christian faith in public life.

The letter read, I have followed with some shock and deep regret, the reactions that have trailed my appointment as the Director-General of the Campaign Council for the Presidential Candidates of our Party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Ibrahim Shettima.

The appointment, understandably was received with mixed reactions across the Christian community who genuinely feel aggrieved by the decision of our party to settle for a Muslim Muslim ticket.

While many people commended me for the appointment and saw it as a way of remaining within the system to fight for our own interests, others cast aspersions on it on the grounds that our faith had been insulted and denigrated.

In the course of this, many of my opponents turned the issue into a political weapon with some spreading rumours and questioning the integrity of my credentials as a Catholic and a Papal Knight.

In trying to make my case, I have granted interviews to justify why I believe that the appointment did not in any way undermine my commitment to the Catholic Church.

During the week, in the course of defending myself, I had cause to make reference to my credentials as a Catholic and a Papal Knight. In the process, I made reference to the Holy Father.

I now realise that this was an error on my part and has caused some level of concern and even embarrassment to many, especially the Members of the family of Papal Knights to which I belong.

I now understand that I may have overreached myself in the course of trying to defend my personal decision in accepting this appointment and thus, the reference to the holy father was not intended as an act of disrespect to his exalted and revered office.

Your Grace, by this written letter, I wish to tender my unreserved apologies and ask for their understanding and forgiveness from my brothers in the Catholic faith and, through you, the entire members of the Bishops Conference, our Fathers and our Leaders.

My commitment to the Catholic faith to which belong remains unreserved and undiluted. I will continue to uphold the banner of my faith in public life as I have done over the years.

You may recall, Your Grace that in the last five or so years, have been at the forefront of facilitating our dialogue as politicians with you our fathers in the faith. remain committed to this and pray that you will continue to encourage us as we ascend the slippery slope of politics.
Chinas ex-COVID patients live under dark shadow of stigma

SHANGHAI: When Zuo tested positive for COVID-19 while working as a cleaner in one of Shanghais largest quarantine centres, she hoped it wouldnt be long before she could pick up the mop and start earning again.

ChineseCoronavirusCOVID-19health

By AFP

Friday 12 August 2022, 09:30AM

Residents queueing to undergo nucleic acid tests for the COVID-19 coronavirus at a swab collection site in Guangzhou, in Chinas southern Guangdong province on July 31. Photo: AFP

But four months on, she is still fighting to get her job back - one of scores of recovering COVID patients facing what labour rights activists and health experts say is a widespread form of discrimination in zero-COVID China.

Using snap lockdowns and mass testing, China is the last major economy still pursuing the goal of stamping out the virus completely.

Those who test positive, as well as their contacts, are all sent to central quarantine facilities, while a flare-up in a factory can grind production to a halt.

Rights groups say the strict rules are feeding COVID-related discrimination and shutting out thousands of people from Chinas already bleak job market - with migrant workers and young people hit hardest.

People are afraid they might contract the virus from us, so they shun us, said Zuo, who only gave her last name for fear of retribution for speaking to AFP.

Recruiters check COVID testing history going back several months during an interview.

Chinas strict control measures have led to stigma against not just recovered patients, but also their families, neighbours, friends and even frontline healthcare workers, said Jin Dongyan from the School of Biomedical Sciences at Hong Kong University.

It is unscientific to think that people who were infected once will continue to carry the virus and be infectious long after recovering, Jin told AFP.

Due to the lack of awareness, some fear that those who have been infected are more susceptible to being reinfected, but in reality, its the opposite.

Zuo is now fighting a court battle with her employer, who has refused to pay her wages since she got sick, and who cites her disease history as a reason to bar her from returning to work.

Her employer, a service company named Shanghai Yuanmao BPO, declined to comment citing the pending court case.

Treated like a virus

He Yuxiu is a Chinese social media influencer who goes by a pseudonym and was living in Ukraine until Russia invaded.

She fled the war and returned home, then found a job as a Russian-language teacher in north Chinas Hebei province, relieved to have left her troubles behind.

But when her school learned that she had been infected with COVID-19 while in Ukraine, she was fired.

I never imagined Id lose my first job for this reason, she said in a video posted on Chinas Twitter-like Weibo.

Why should we be treated like a virus when we have defeated it?

The stigma is widespread - job ads for factory workers in Shanghai posted last month said applicants with a history of COVID-19 infection would be refused work.

The story of a young woman who lived in a toilet for weeks in Shanghais Hongqiao railway station since she was unable to find work or return to her village due to the stigma of having been infected went viral last month.

And a theatre in the southern Chinese city of Foshan was forced to apologise after a notice banning recovered patients from entering sparked a public backlash.

Little sheep people

Beijings National Health Commission and human resources ministry last month banned employers from discriminating against recovered COVID patients, while Premier Li Keqiang has called for heavy punishments for those breaking the rules.

But job seekers and activists are sceptical.

Factories in Shanghai continued to refuse to hire recovered workers even after the city announced strict anti-discrimination rules, employment agent Wang Tao said, because they fear a mass outbreak or health inspections.

Some factories give different excuses despite being short of workers, Wang added.

But all those who are turned down have tested positive in the past.

AFP contacted eight manufacturers named by Chinese state media as having engaged in discriminatory practices - including iPhone manufacturer Foxconn - but they declined to comment.

Its very difficult for workers to protect their rights since most employers offer different excuses and it is hard to prove that a labour law has been violated in these cases, said Aidan Chau, a researcher for the rights group China Labour Bulletin.

It is important for labour unions to step up. But many small and medium factories dont have one.

Those who have tested positive are often referred to as little sheep people on Chinese social media. In Mandarin, the word for positive and sheep are pronounced the same way.

It is very difficult for recovered patients to go back to our normal lives, said Zuo, the cleaner from Shanghai.

No matter where we go, our infection history will follow us like a dark shadow.
Police nab more drug and firearms offenders

PHUKET: Police continued their drive on tackling illegal drugs and firearms with five further arrests made in the Mueang area between Wednesday (Aug 10) and today.

drugscrimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Friday 12 August 2022, 11:35AM

The arrests were led by Pol Lt. Col. Pichit Thongto, the Phuket Provincial Police Commissioner, along with the Phuket Provincial Police Commissioners Office.

The first case was a Charin Arm Innum, 31, who was caught in illegal possession of 1,909 methamphetamine pills (ya bah), a hand-crafted, twin barrel handgun and two separate rounds of ammunition. He was arrested in Karon and taken to Karon police station for prosecution.

Nirand Nat Samu Lan Long Sa, 26, was arrested in possession of 15 ya bah pills and a hand made firearm. He was arrested at an address on Chaofa East Rd and taken to Wichit police station for prosecution.

Jirayu Benz Datjarit, 23, was apprehended at a rented accommodation in Ratsada with 0.08 grams of crystal meth (ya ice) and 41 ya bah pills and taken to Phuket Town police station for further action.

Nattapong Moss Hansantia, 30, was found in possession of 800 ya bah pills and an alleged stolen motorcycle. He was apprehended in the car park at Ao Chalong Pier and taken to Chalong police station.

Narongchai Oh Srisuksai, 30, and 39-year-old Sommai Mai Noppakao were caught in possession of 2.52 grams of ya ic, 608 ya bah pills, 30 ecstacy tablets, a revolver 85 rounds of differing ammunition and taken to Kathu Police station for prosecution.

Addition police officers involved in the five raids included Pol Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong, commander of Phuket Provincial Police; Pol. Col. Chaikiat Wiriyasathitkul, Deputy Superintendent of Phuket Provincial Police; Pol. Col. Bundit Khaosutham, Superintendent of Phuket Provincial Police; Pol. Lt. Col. Kiattisak Chanda, Deputy Superintendent of Police and Pol.Lt. Col. Thapanapat Jaturonphan, Deputy Superintendent of the Phuket Provincial Police.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. An Iranian diplomat, who is informed of the process of the ongoing talks in Vienna, told IRNA news agency that the European proposals would be acceptable if it makes credibility in various matters, including political claims linked to issues of IAEA safeguards, sanctions, and guarantees.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic is considering European proposals to make sure its demands are fulfilled, IRNA reports.

Iran must analyze whether these proposals will ensure Iranian demands in different fields, including political claims pertaining to issues of IAEA safeguards, sanctions, and guarantees to achieve a durable agreement, the source noted.

The Wall Street Journal had cited hours earlier quoting a European diplomat that the EU has presented Final Text to Iran for Reviving Nuclear Deal.

Ali Bagheri Kani who had met the EU's JCPOA negotiations coordinator Enrique Mora in Qatar, arrived in Vienna on Wednesday as the head of the Iranian delegation to continue the Vienna nuclear negotiations to terminate the sanctions.

Mohammad Jamshidi, in a tweet on Friday night, wrote that in entire phone talks between President Raisi and the French, Russian and Chinese presidents, his definite stand was that the final agreement can be reached only after the NPT claims are resolved and their files are closed.
Stephen J. Lyons is the author of five books of essays and journalism. His forthcoming book, Searching for A Way Home: Misadventures with Misanthropes and Family, will be published next summer. This first appeared in The Chicago Tribune.
YEREVAN, 12 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 12 August, USD exchange rate down by 0.18 drams to 405.91 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.22 drams to 417.56 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.04 drams to 6.66 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.42 drams to 492.25 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 11.15 drams to 23447.49 drams. Silver price up by 1.25 drams to 268.05 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.
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BETHALTO  Five $1,000 scholarships were recently awarded by 1st MidAmerica Credit Union to area high school graduates.

Anya Wilkie is a graduate of Classical Academy of Academic Excellence. She plans to attend Emmaus Bible College to pursue a degree in Computer Science and Counseling Psychology.

Alexis Buckner, a graduate of Blue Springs South High School, plans to attend Missouri State University and earn a degree in Nursing.

Kennedy Bickmore is a graduate of Civic Memorial High School in Bethalto. She plans to earn a degree in Nuclear Medicine from University of Missouri.

Haileigh Lenger, a Southwestern High School graduate, plans to attend Illinois State University to earn a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Monica Wendle is a graduate of Marquette Catholic High School in Alton. She plans to attend Lewis and Clark Community College to study Elementary Education.

Additional information on 1st MidAmerica Credit Union can be found at www.1stMidAmerica.org.
EDWARDSVILLE  An Alton man was charged Thursday with failing to register as a sex offender with the Alton Police Department.

Mark D. Mayes, 49, listed as homeless out of Alton, was charged Aug. 11 with unlawful failure to register as a sex offender (second subsequent offense), a Class 2 felony.

The case was presented by the Alton Police Department.

According to court documents, on Aug. 11 Mayes, a registered sex offender, allegedly failed to register his address with the Alton Police Department.

According to the Illinois State Police sex offender database, Mayes is listed as a non-compliant offender.

He has a 2017 conviction for failure to register as a sex offender out of Madison County.

Mayes has an extensive criminal record dating back to 1990, including drug, burglary, battery and weapons charges. In 2005 he was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

According to the state police database, he was 32 at the time of his offense and his victim was 20.

Bail was set at $45,000.

Other felony charges filed Aug. 11 by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Demetrius A. Sylvester, 24, of Creve Coeur, Missouri, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony; and unlawful possession of cannabis, a Class B misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Police Department.

According to court documents, on June 4 Sylvester allegedly had a Ruger handgun in his vehicle while engaged in a misdemeanor cannabis violation; and was found to be in possession of 10-30 grams of cannabis. According to SIUE police information, Sylvester was stopped at about 1:33 a.m. on New Poag Road near NW University Drive and was also cited for driving with a suspended drivers license and a warning was issued for improper traffic lane usage. Bail was set at $40,000.

 Jayden C. Henderson, 20, of Alton, was charged with resisting arrest, a Class 4 felony; domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor. The case was presented by the East Alton Police Department.

According to court documents, on Aug. 11 Henderson allegedly tried to pull away from, and scratch and kick, an East Alton police officer. Henderson allegedly struck a household or family member on the face and head with her hand and was walking into southbound traffic lanes on Illinois 3 at Lewis and Clark Boulevard, screaming and refusing to follow police commands. Bail was set at $30,000.
NEW YORK (AP)  Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants taxpayers to foot his legal bills as he defends himself against a workplace sexual harassment claim  and he's suing the state's attorney general over it.

Cuomo filed the suit against Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday. He's arguing that James violated state law by denying him public assistance for his defense.

In April  shortly after James held a news conference where she called Cuomo a serial sexual harasser and sick pathetic man, the suit says  she denied the ex-governors request for representation. James position is in violation of laws providing protections for Cuomo when the allegations stem from a time when he was acting within the scope of his employment or duties, the suit says.

The unnamed trooper filed the lawsuit earlier this year asking a federal court to find that Cuomo and others violated her civil rights. The suit seeks damages for severe mental anguish and emotional distress

Cuomo, the once-powerful Democrat who earned accolades for his response to the COVID-19 outbreak, resigned last year after an investigation by James found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and that he and aides worked to retaliate against one of his accusers. Those accusers included the trooper on his security detail, who said he allegedly subjected her to sexual remarks and on occasion ran his hand or fingers across her stomach and her back.

The Cuomo suit called James' investigation deeply flawed, misleading and one-sided.

James responded to Cuomos claim that she's abusing her authority regarding his legal defense costs with a statement saying, Sexually harassing young women who work for you is not part of anyones job description.

She added: Taxpayers should not have to pony up for legal bills that could reach millions of dollars so Mr. Cuomos lawyer can attack survivors of his abuse.
East Alton Fire Department

EAST ALTON  Village officials on Tuesday will recognize two East Alton firefighters for securing more than $75,000 in grants over the past year.

Lt. Andrew Mortland and Engineer Jeremey Diveley of the East Alton Fire Department have secured a total of $75,970.90 for the department.
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LUX, France (AP)  Once, a river ran through it. Now, white dust and thousands of dead fish cover the wide trench that winds amid rows of trees in Frances Burgundy region in what was the Tille River in the village of Lux.

From dry and cracked reservoirs in Spain to falling water levels on major arteries like the Danube, the Rhine and the Po, an unprecedented drought is afflicting nearly half of Europe. It is damaging farm economies, forcing water restrictions, causing wildfires and threatening aquatic species.

There has been no significant rainfall for almost two months in the continent's western, central and southern regions. In typically rainy Britain, the government officially declared a drought across southern and central England on Friday amid one of the hottest and driest summers on record.

And Europe's dry period is expected to continue in what experts say could be the worst drought in 500 years.

Climate change is exacerbating conditions as hotter temperatures speed up evaporation, thirsty plants take in more moisture and reduced snowfall in the winter limits supplies of fresh water available for irrigation in the summer. Europe isn't alone in the crisis, with drought conditions also reported in East Africa, the western United States and northern Mexico.

As he walked in the 15-meter (50-foot) wide riverbed in Lux, Jean-Philippe Couasne, chief technician at the local Federation for Fishing and Protection of the Aquatic Environment, listed the species of fish that had died in the Tille.

Its heartbreaking, he said. On average, about 8,000 liters (2,100 gallons) per second are flowing. ... And now, zero liters.

In areas upstream, some trout and other freshwater species can take shelter in pools via fish ladders. But such systems aren't available everywhere.

Without rain, the river will continue to empty. And yes, all fish will die. ... They are trapped upstream and downstream, theres no water coming in, so the oxygen level will keep decreasing as the (water) volume goes down, Couasne said. These are species that will gradually disappear."

Jean-Pierre Sonvico, the regional head of the federation, said diverting the fish to other rivers won't help because those waterways also are affected.

Yes, its dramatic because what can we do? Nothing," he said. Were waiting, hoping for storms with rain, but storms are very local so we can't count on it.

The European Commissions Joint Research Center warned this week that drought conditions will get worse and potentially affect 47% of the continent.

Andrea Toreti, a senior researcher at the European Drought Observatory, said a drought in 2018 was so extreme that there were no similar events for the last 500 years, "but this year, I think, it is really worse.

For the next three months, "we see still a very high risk of dry conditions over Western and Central Europe, as well as the U.K., Toreti said.

Current conditions result from long periods of dry weather caused by changes in world weather systems, said meteorologist Peter Hoffmann of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research near Berlin.

Its just that in summer we feel it the most, he said. But actually the drought builds up across the year.

Climate change has lessened temperature differences between regions, sapping the forces that drive the jet stream, which normally brings wet Atlantic weather to Europe, he said.

A weaker or unstable jet stream can bring unusually hot air to Europe from North Africa, leading to prolonged periods of heat. The reverse is also true, when a polar vortex of cold air from the Arctic can cause freezing conditions far south of where it would normally reach.

Hoffmann said observations in recent years have all been at the upper end of what existing climate models predicted.

The drought has caused some European countries to restrict water usage, and shipping is endangered on the Rhine and the Danube rivers.

The Rhine, Germany's biggest waterway, is forecast to reach critically low levels in the coming days. Authorities say it could become difficult for many large ships to safely navigate the river at the city of Kaub, roughly midway between Koblenz and Mainz.

On the Danube, authorities in Serbia have started dredging to keep vessels moving.

In neighboring Hungary, wide parts of Lake Velence near Budapest have turned into patches of dried mud, beaching small boats. Aeration and water circulation equipment was installed to protect wildlife, but water quality has deteriorated. A weekend swimming ban was imposed at one beach.

Stretches of the Po, Italy's longest river, are so low that barges and boats that sank decades ago are resurfacing.

Italys Lake Garda has fallen to its lowest levels ever, and people who flocked to the popular spot east of Milan at the start of a long summer weekend found a newly exposed shoreline of bleached rocks with a yellow hue. Authorities recently released more water from the lake, Italys largest, to help with irrigation, but halted the effort to protect the lucrative tourist season.

The drought also has affected England, which last month had its driest July since 1935, according to the Met Office weather agency. The lack of rain has depleted reservoirs, rivers and groundwater and left grasslands brown and tinder-dry.

Millions in the U.K. already were barred from watering lawns and gardens, and 15 million more around London will face such a ban soon.

U.K. farmers face running out of irrigation water and having to use winter feed for animals because of a lack of grass. The Rivers Trust charity said Englands chalk streams  which allow underground springs to bubble up through the spongy layer of rock  are drying up, endangering aquatic wildlife like kingfishers and trout.

Even countries like Spain and Portugal, which are used to long periods without rain, have seen major consequences. In the Spanish region of Andalucia, some avocado farmers have had to sacrifice hundreds of trees to save others from wilting as the Vinuela reservoir in Malaga province dropped to only 13% of capacity.

Some European farmers are using water from the tap for their livestock when ponds and streams go dry, using up to 100 liters (26 gallons) a day per cow.

In normally green Burgundy, the source of Paris' Seine River, the grass has turned yellow-brown and tractors churn up giant clouds of dust.

Baptiste Colson, who owns dairy cows and grows feed crops in the village of Moloy, said his animals are suffering, with the quality and quantity of their milk decreasing. The 31-year-old head of the local Young Farmers union said he has been forced to dip into his winter fodder in August.

That is the biggest concern, Colson said.

EU corn production is expected to be 12.5 million tons below last year and sunflower production is projected to be 1.6 million tons lower, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Colson expects at least a 30% drop in corn yields, a major problem for feeding his cows.

We know well have to buy food ... so the cows can continue producing milk, he said. "From an economic point of view, the cost will be high.

___

Dana Beltaji and Jill Lawless in London, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, and Bela Szandelszky in Budapest, Hungary, and Andrea Rosa and Luigi Navarra in Sirmione, Italy, contributed.

___

Follow APs climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
CARLINVILLE  A detailed history of Abraham Lincolns experiences and connections in Greene County is scheduled for release this fall.

Writer Tom Emery of Carlinville is releasing "Lincoln in Greene County, Illinois" which features a wide variety of stories on the sixteenth president in Greene County, many that have never been covered. The book is slated for release and distribution in September.

The fast-moving, illustrated, documented work analyzes the ties of Lincoln to some of the earliest names of Greene County history, including friendships with Jacob Fry, Edward Baker, C.M. Smith and David Woodson, as well as political relationships with prosecutor Josiah Lamborn and members of the Carlin family.

Lincolns speaking appearances in Carrollton are also discussed, as are voting records and the countys reaction to his assassination. The role of Greene County in Lincolns near-duel at Alton in 1842 is examined, as are his court cases in the county.

Topics include a hanging in Carrollton that induced Lincoln to change his speaking schedule during his 1858 Senate campaign against Stephen A. Douglas. Letters written to and from Lincoln in Greene County are also discussed.

The book is 160 pages with complete notes, index, and bibliography, and is the most in-depth, well-rounded look at Abraham Lincoln in Greene County that has ever been attempted. Lincoln in Greene County, Illinois sells for $19.95 plus $1.24 tax and $3.76 postage ($24.95 total).

Emery has produced a string of well-received regional studies on Lincoln, including his experiences in Alton, Macoupin County and Montgomery County, as well as Lincolns many connections to Illinois State University. Emery is a frequent contributor to many newspapers in the area, and has appeared at numerous speaking engagements in the region.

To reserve a copy, orders may be placed with PayPal (use the e-mail enjoyhistorytoday@gmail.com) or by mail by sending your name, address, phone, and check or money order to History in Print, 337 E. Second South, Carlinville, IL 62626. For more information, call 217-710-8392 or e-mail enjoyhistorytoday@gmail.com.


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.
John Badman

ALTON  Alton Public Works employees were paving parking lots Thursday in Alton's Rock Spring Park.

Plans call for some of the roads through the park to be paved as well, workers said.
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BAGHDAD (AP)  Supporters of Iran-backed Shiite groups rallied in Baghdad on Friday to denounce their rivals, followers of an influential Shiite cleric who stormed the parliament last month and have since been holding a sit-in outside the assembly building in the Iraqi capital.

The rivalry between the two sides shows the deep divisions within Iraq's Shiite community, which makes up about 60% of Iraq's population of over 40 million people. Unlike Iran-backed groups, cleric Muqtada al-Sadr wants better ties with Arab countries, including Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which is Shiite Iran's main rival in the region.

Al-Sadr has also been a harsh critic of widespread corruption in the oil-rich country torn by decades of violence, with a crumbing infrastructure, an impoverished majority and lack of basic services.

During their rally Friday, the protesters from the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Iran-backed parties, did not try to enter Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqs parliament, government buildings and foreign embassies  and where al-Sadr's followers are camped out. Ahead of their gathering, authorities had closed off the road leading into the Green Zone with giant cement blocks.

The counter-protest came after al-Sadr issued a deadline on Wednesday to the judiciary, giving it a week to dissolve the legislature. Al-Sadr, whose camp won most votes in last year's parliamentary elections last October, has not been able to form a majority government and after eight months of stalemate and jockeying with rival, Iran-backed Shiite factions, he abandoned those attempts.

Members of al-Sadrs parliamentary bloc resigned but instead of allowing his rivals  the Coordination Framework  to try and form a government, al-Sadr has demanded the parliament be dissolved and that early elections are held. It's unclear whether he has any legal basis for those demands.

The inter-Shiite power struggle has left Iraq in political limbo and exacerbated the economic crisis. The impasse, now in its tenth month, is the longest in the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion reset the political order.

We are protesting against the occupation of parliament and those who threaten the judiciary, said university student, Abbas Salem, who was part of the rally Friday by Iran-backed groups.

Salem carried a poster of a top Iranian general, Qassim Soleimani, and a top Iraqi Shiite militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in a U.S. drone strike in January 2020. He said he worries that if al-Sadr forms a government, he will disband the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella of mostly Iran-backed Shiite militias.

Another protester, Ahmad al-Maliki, 52, said they are opposed to al-Sadr followers' occupation of parliament" and added that Iraq needs a new government as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, al-Sadr's supporters in Baghdad and most Iraqi Shiite-dominated provinces  except for the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala  held their own rallies and preformed Friday prayers outdoors in a show of strength.
A man has admitted to threatening to blow up a St. Louis synagogue in 2021.

Cody Steven Rush, 30, of St. Louis, admitted to calling the St. Louis office of the FBI on Nov. 5, 2021 and said, Im going to blow up a church.

Rush gave his name and identified his target as the Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice Eastern Missouri District. He said he would take action the next morning, when people were inside.

Rush said he hated Jewish people. He called back later and again threatened to attack the synagogue while they are in service, the press release reads. Asked if had anything else he wanted to say, Rush said, Yeah, that I hate them with rage.

In a third call, Rush gave his location, which was on the same street as the synagogue. Authorities called Rush back, and he again made threats.

Officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI found Rush, who reportedly said to them, I am feeling suicidal and homicidal. I just feel like killing Jews. He was arrested without incident.

Rush pleaded guilty to the use of a telephone and instrument of interstate commerce to make a threat. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan held a meeting with Fly Arna airline CEO Antony Price and the companys Commercial Director Karine Andreasyan.

Sanosyan commended the Armenian national carriers launch and wished successes.

Fly Arna CEO Antony Price presented the first steps in entering the market, the problems that emerged during their activities, as well as the sequence of steps aimed at further developing the company. Price told the minister that they plan to acquire an additional two Airbus A320 aircraft by yearend.

The minister was briefed on the prospects of entering the Russian market in September this year. Sanosyan proposed to consider expanding the geography of flights and to pay special attention to the quality of service.

An agreement was reached to closely cooperate also in the issue of lifting the flight restrictions on Armenian airlines to European destinations. Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed.
Photo provided/Sean Gladwell/Getty Images

A 27-year-old woman who tried to set fires at a St. Louis 7-Eleven during a 2020 protest that followed the death of George Floyd was sentenced to 27 months in prison on Tuesday.

Nautica Turner pleaded guilty in February to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit arson, according to a recent press release issued by the United States Department of Justice. She was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark in St. Louis.
A police captain in Rhode Island shown on video smashing a handcuffed mans face into the pavement over the July 4 weekend has been charged with simple assault
GSK shares sank like a stone amid growing concerns over a possible lawsuit relating to a heartburn and stomach ulcer treatment called Zantac.

The stock tumbled 10.1 per cent, or 156.6p, to 1400p following reports of a court case in the US later this month where GSK will stand accused of not providing sufficient warning about the health risks of the over-the-counter drug.

GSK recalled Zantac in 2019 because it had an active ingredient that had been identified as a risk factor in the development of certain cancers.

Legal fears: GSK fell 10.1% following reports of a court case in the US where it will stand accused of not providing sufficient warning about the health risks

More trials of similar nature are scheduled for the early part of next year. Credit Suisse reckons there are more than 2,000 legal cases related to the medicine filed in the US and has warned that the shadow is likely to hang over the GSK share price for some time.

The damages from Zantac litigation could possibly reach $10.5billion to $45billion, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

Haleon, which was spun off from GSK in July, was caught up in the crossfire and shares lost 4.9 per cent, or 13.7p, to 265.8p, despite the company saying it did not believe it will suffer any fall-out from the court cases.

The news comes as another blow to GSK boss Emma Walmsley following the disappointing share price performance of Haleon over the past few weeks.

Haleon, which owns brands including Sensodyne and Panadol, has seen its share price fall around 19 per cent since its debut, taking its market value below City predictions ahead of the split.

A string of court cases is the last thing embattled Walmsley needs as she strives to repel activist investors fed up with the shares underperformance. The underperformance of Haleons shares will also provide more ammunition to the activists, some of whom previously said the consumer business should have been sold rather than listed on the stock market.

Stock Watch - Marks Electrical Marks Electrical said trading in the last four months had been vibrant, despite challenging market conditions. The online retailer claimed to be gaining market share, shipping televisions, vacuum cleaners, washers & dryers, and air conditioning units. Weve seen strong competitive activity both in pricing and marketing, said chief executive Mark Smithson. Revenue grew by 13.7 per cent to 37.7m in the period compared to a year earlier. Shares rose 5.9 per cent, or 4p, to 72p.

The share price weakness of GSK and Haleon contributed to a fall for the FTSE 100 of 0.55 per cent, or 41.2 points, to 7465.91.

The FTSE 250 was also in the doldrums, down 0.26 per cent, or 52.57 points, to 20,245.43.

Also weighing on the FTSE 100 were energy and oil companies after energy companies were told to use huge profits to help households with the rising cost of living or risk further windfall taxes.

Boris Johnson unexpectedly joined a meeting of big energy producers this morning to emphasise that they had to do more to help people with bills.

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi told electricity giants that the cost of living crisis was not just the governments problem and challenged them to come up with ways to ease the impact of rising bills, urging a spirit of national unity.

The possibility of extending a windfall tax levied on oil and gas companies to electricity generation was implied if action was not sufficient. Centrica fell 2.2 per cent, or 1.76p, to 77.76p although SSE did recover to finish up 0.4 per cent, or 6.5p, at 1773.5p.

GSKs plight would not seem so bad were it not for the continued success of rival AstraZeneca, although it was also out of favour, shedding 2.9 per cent, or 312p, to 10506p after it announced the completion of the takeover of biotech group TeneoTwo for $100million upfront.

The cost of the deal for the blood cancer drug maker could rise to $1.27billion if certain development milestones are met.

Antofagasta, the Chilean copper miner controlled by the Luksic family, dipped 2.2 per cent, or 26p, to 1167p as its half-year profits halved to $1.2billion.

Production was hit by a concentrate pipeline and a water shortage at its Los Pelambres mine but the company expects output will improve quarter on quarter in the second half of the year.
The Groucho Club, the private members' club famed for its bohemian clientele drawn from London's art and film scene, has changed hands in a deal worth 40million.

A favourite of the 'Cool Britannia' set  including Noel Gallagher, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Kate Moss  the Groucho's new owners are Iwan and Manuela Wirth, whose company Artfarm owns the world-renowned contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth and venues such as Roth Bar & Grill in Bruton, Somerset.

Artfarm said it had bought the iconic venue, located in London's Soho district, from a group of investors including Alcuin Capital Partners, a private equity firm that owns coffee chain Caffe Nero.

The Groucho has long been a favourite of the 'Cool Britannia' set - including Noel Gallagher, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Kate Moss (pictured).

The story was first broken by the Daily Mail's diary column back in May and the deal marks the third time the Groucho has changed ownership in its 37-year history.

The club's owners hope to increase its 5,000-strong membership by pursuing younger clients.

Founded in 1985, the venue pitched itself as an antidote to London's stuffier gentlemen's clubs, such as the Garrick Club, which still does not accept female members.
The owner of Ladbrokes will pay out 100million to investors this year despite worries about a rise in problem gambling amid the cost-of-living squeeze.

Entain, which also owns Coral and Foxy Bingo, unveiled the mammoth sum after reporting half-year profits of 246.5million, up 20 per cent year-on-year, while revenues grew 18 per cent to 2.1billion.

It is the first since the onset of Covid-19 that the gambling group has paid a dividend.

Dividend boom: Entain, led by chief exec Jette Nygaard-Andersen (pictured), unveiled the mammoth sum after reporting half-year profits of 246.5m, up 20% year-on-year

The figures were boosted by the companys bookmakers and betting machines, which performed strongly as punters flooded back into betting shops following the end of lockdown restrictions.

The trend had helped to offset a 7 per cent decline in revenues from online gambling as people spent less time at home than the previous year.

Chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen said: I am delighted that more customers are choosing to play with us as we focus on providing them with even better products.

The shares jumped 3.7 per cent, or 49p, to 1357.5p following the results.

But others warned Entain should be diverting cash to funding support services amid fears many will turn to betting to try and boost their incomes as price rises stretch household budgets.

AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson said with a recession on the way, Entain needs to monitor its customers behaviour.

History suggests a lot of people like to try their luck during hard times, in the hope of winning a big prize, Hewson said.

Data published in June from the Centre for Economics and Business Research for life insurance broker LifeSearch showed a quarter of gamblers had increased their habit over the previous 12 months, with just under a third of all Britons engaging in gambling.
Just over a year ago Revolution Beauty came to the market with much fanfare and a valuation of just a tad shy of half a billion pounds.

It was the culmination of a lot of hard work for Adam Minto and Tom Allsworth who founded the group in 2014.

And the IPO allowed them to cash in some of their chips as they and other existing investors netted around 186million from the IPO.

Revolution Beauty shares, which listed at 160p last July, went below 8p on Thursday

Little did the pair know just what lay in store for their business as it entered the roiling open seas of the public market.

Today, Revolution is less than a tenth the size it was when it made its debut (in market capitalisation terms, at least).

A profit warning earlier this month was followed on Thursday by an admission that auditors had flagged accounting issues that could have a material impact on Revolutions results for the full year.

The shares, which were listed at 160p last July, went below 8p at one point on Thursday in the wake of the latest blow to investor confidence.

Turning to the wider market, the AIM All Share advanced just seven points higher at 928.10 after a quiet week on the markets. That was only marginally behind the performance of its benchmark, the FTSE 100, which rose just under 1 per cent.

Sticking with the weeks losers, Eco Animal Health was down 22 per cent after the pet and livestock pharmaceuticals company said it expects to have to shell out 2.25million as part of a tax settlement.

Among the risers, Afentra stood out with a stunning return to trading that saw the shares double in value.

Suspended in October, the stock came back on Wednesday with a bang after the group said it secured two potentially transformational transactions in Angola.

Afentra, which is vehicle for a group of former Tullow Oil executives, said the acquisitions will bring with them a net 27.7million barrels of oil reserves and 4,700 barrels a day of production.

The latter has the potential to generate $36 million of free cash a year over the next five years at a conservative $75 barrel.

Sticking with the oil and gas sector, iGas continued its ascent in the wake of investment by Crispin Odeys hedge fund, which appears to have increased marginally in the past week.

The net effect was a further 49 per cent rise in the share price, which has shot up 462 per cent in the year to date and more than doubled in the past month.

At the same time, Egdon Resources, which is also a UK onshore play, was up 32 per cent amid hopes the government may allow companies to start exploit shale gas resources.

In Trinidad and Tobago, Touchstone Exploration submitted environmental clearance to begin work on a potentially transformation gas asset on the island. This, and a reassuringly solid set of quarterly results, primed the pump for a 32 per cent rise in the share price.

Also on the up this week was Artemis Resources, which advanced 68 per cent.

Providing the catalyst for interest were drill results, which revealed the Western Australia-based mine developer had intercepted copper and gold in decent concentrations.

Finally, heres one to watch over the next couple of months. Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas said a rig has been dispatched that will drill a potentially transformational oil well 16 miles off the coast of South Africa.

It is targeting 300million barrels of oil, though not blindly. Shell and Total have made significant discoveries in the area.

Shells Graff-1 well on the Namibia side of the sea border is said to have uncovered 2 billion barrels of crude, though this has not officially been confirmed by the Anglo-Dutch giant.

According to the oil and gas research team at City broker Peel Hunt, Ecos Gazania prospect, while south of the other two discoveries, is in the same geological basin. In fact, historic drilling in Eco Atlantics area discovered light crude.

The shares pootled around 5 per cent higher this week and are up 57 per cent in the year to date. It is a fair bet they will move even higher if Eco finds what it is looking for.
Auburn native Jeff Harter has illustrated a new children's book, "Mini Mighty Sweeps," which was released Aug. 2 by publisher Harper Collins.

Written by Lori Alexander, the book is about Sweeps, "a tiny cleaning machine with a mighty heart," according to the publisher's website. Left without any work to do by other, bigger trucks, it isn't until a storm hits that she finally gets her chance to put her brushes to use, and save the day. The book is available on most major retailers.

Some of the illustrations in the book pay homage to Auburn scenery, Harter told The Citizen, including the A.T. Walley & Co. building and the Phoenix Building, which can be seen on the book's cover.

Harter, an illustrator who created Disney XD show "Packages From Planet X," recently moved back to the Auburn area. He teaches illustration at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Another animated comedy show he created while working at American Greetings, "Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese," has also recently been greenlit for a third season in Europe.

For more information on the book, visit harpercollins.com.
Every Friday, The Citizen features a pet available for adoption from the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York. This week, we spotlight Athena.

AGE: 3 years old

BREED: Pit bull mix

COMMENTS: Our beautiful Athena has asked us to put her out in front of our good Citizen readers one more time  and so we are. This is Athena's interview from May of this year, with a few updates. Please read, then consider visiting Athena and giving her a second chance.

Athena has, unfortunately, been with us for quite some time. We are working really hard to make the remainder of her stay as short as possible, and as positive and productive as possible!

We have enlisted the great assistance of a professional dog trainer to work with Athena (and all of our other amazing canines). Athena is doing so well, and words such as "sweetest," "very smart" and many other superlatives are used to describe our Athena! We couldn't agree more! Athena's trainer would be more than happy to talk to anyone interested in adopting this amazing girl!

We were very hopeful a couple of weeks ago when a prior adopter was eager to make Athena a part of his family. He and our former shelter dog visited and had a "meet and greet," but Athena just wasn't having it. That cemented our feelings that Athena really wants to be the only child in her new home.

Athena is fully vaccinated (rabies, distemper, kennel cough), she is heartworm negative and on monthly preventives, and she is spayed and microchipped. Athena's bags are packed. She's waiting for you to pick her up!

Q: Who is your best friend?

A: I have the most awesome BFF! I love her and I think she loves me too. She is my trainer, and she is teaching me all kinds of amazing things that will help me be an incredibly awesome family member. I didn't give you her name in my last interview, but by now everyone knows my Sara  and you cannot have her! If you think you might be interested in meeting me and talking with Sara about me, I'm sure she would love to do that. She is the best and I love her! If you adopt me, she will provide a free consultation and will talk with you about continuing my training. Can't ask for anything better than that!

Q: What is your favorite toy?

A: My Sara gave me a new toy the other day. I knew it was going to be my favorite toy ever. I liked it so much, I loved it to pieces. BOL! Sara was not amused.

Q: What has been your worst experience?

A: You know, before I came here I had a very unfortunate living situation. I believe "unfortunate" is a rather weak way to describe it. I was confined to a small dog crate on a porch nearly 24/7. Sadly, I do not have a fondness for the feline species, and keeping me caged was the way my former person dealt with that. Those living conditions were my worst experience.

Q: What has been your best experience?

A: As you can imagine, coming to my shelter home has been my best experience. Now that I have had this best experience, I would really, really, really like to move on to my next best experience  with my new family. What are you waiting for?

Q: If you could have a job, what would that be?

A: I don't want a job. I want to be the pampered princess that I was meant to be! I want soft beds to lounge on, I want leisurely walks, I want fun toys and tasty treats, and most of all I want a family to love me like crazy! Is that asking for too much?

Q: If you could visit any place in the world, where would that be?

A: I know that many of my canine friends would tell you that they would like to visit some really exotic foreign destinations. I'm a simple girl, and my needs and wants with respect to travel are simple also. So, I heard about this fun dog cafe in Queens. It's called Chateau le Woof, and it has consistently received nearly five star ratings. I'm hoping that my new family and I will be able to take a road trip to Queens to visit Chateau le Woof!

Q: Do you have an interesting fact to share?

A: I do! Let me tell you about a pit bull named Wheela. In 1993, Wheela won the Dog Hero of the Year award for her heroic actions following a dam break along the Tijuana River. Over the course of three months Wheela rescued 30 people, 29 dogs, 13 horses and a cat. She also hauled food to stranded animals and led rescuers to 13 abandoned horses. Wheela was amazing, and these are facts.

Q: Do you have any advice for our readers today?

A: I do! We shelter canines and felines are always full of good advice! We have just come through a pretty hot spell, and it wasn't fun. Summer and hot days are not over yet, so please take our advice. Please ensure that your fur-friends are safe and cool in the comfort of your air-conditioned home. Also, plenty of fresh water is a must to keep them hydrated. We thank you for doing that. Much love and many licks, Athena and friends.
It was a really warm July, and August is starting out hot  the grapevines love it! Lots of 90-degree days, and some cooler nights.

Weve had just enough rain to fend off a drought, so grapevine growth and ripening are moving right along at a rapid pace. The hot, drier weather is great because it doesnt promote mildew growth, which is often a problem in the Finger Lakes. Last summer the constant rain was a real issue for grape growers, so thank you Mother Nature!

This time of the year we are seeing Japanese beetles in the vineyard. For an established vineyard, they are not really a problem, but more of a cosmetic issue. In a newly planted vineyard, it is a definite problem where a beetle infestation can defoliate young vines, killing them off! This year we planted some new vines, and put them in grow tubes, so we spray inside the grow tubes to protect the new vines. Last month I mentioned that several weeks after grape bloom, the grape berries become resistant to both powdery and downy mildew. That has happened; however, we still need to be on the lookout for mildew infestation on the grape leaves. Severe mildew on the vines can lead to defoliation, which will cause crop/vine loss. Local grape growers and winemakers are hoping for continued warm and dry weather into the early fall.

At CJS Vineyards we recently finished a crop estimation for the upcoming harvest. This is done about halfway through the growing season. We weigh some grape clusters, expecting the weight will double by harvest, then multiply by the number of clusters on the vine, then multiply by the number of vines in the vineyard. This is a rough estimate  change is possible depending on the weather, but at least it is a good starting point for harvest planning and winemaking preparation. In August, we make sure vineyard equipment is in good shape for harvest duties.

Since 2017 we've had five harvests come in with fairly good yields, letting us produce a lot of great wines. So Finger Lakes wineries are still bottling wines from past vintages. In July we released our 2019 Pinot Noir, and this month we will be releasing a dry red blend of Marquette and Frontenac (two University of Minnesota cold climate hybrids) from the 2018 harvest. A semi-dry and semi-sweet riesling from 2021 are also coming out. So there is always bottling to do as we plan ahead for this years winemaking.

We will calculate tank, barrel, yeast and yeast nutrient requirements. Orders are placed with our suppliers for delivery in time for harvest. We use different yeasts for the many wine varietals we produce. Yeasts come from around the world  there are two major types of wine yeasts, saccharomyces and non-saccharomyces, and probably more than 100 different strains. We use both in our winemaking operations, including a mixture of the two types, for a total of six different yeast strains. The choice is based on the winemakers experience. Over time, winemakers learn what strains work best for the grapes they use and the style of wine they produce. I counted 78 different yeasts in our supplier catalog, some recommended for white and rose, and others for red wines. Constant improvement of fermentation practices can help winemakers make consistent wines from year to year, even though the grapes are slightly different each harvest.

Many visitors came through our tasting room in July, from New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin. The farthest came from Germany, touring the U.S. on vacation. Were still not back to pre-COVID-19 tasting room traffic, but hoping things get better soon. Summer is a great time to visit vineyards and wineries, check out the grapevine growth and see the clusters on the vine. Just about all grapes look green right now, but soon they will start veraison," a French term for the period when the grape berry starts to ripen and soften. The sugars begin to rise and the acids fall in the berries, the grapes change color during this period, red grapes turn to a purple, deep red or almost black, and white grapes change to a yellow or golden color. This tells us harvest is only six to 12 weeks away, and we better get prepared!
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling Europes biggest nuclear power plant, compounding fears of a disaster as the U.N. chief said it should be made a demilitarised zone and Ukraine demanded that Russian forces withdraw from it.

Ukraines Energoatom agency said the Zaporizhzhia complex in south-central Ukraine was struck five times on Thursday, including near where radioactive materials are stored. Russian-appointed officials said Ukraine shelled the plant twice, disrupting a shift changeover, Russias TASS news agency said.

The U.N. Security Council met on Thursday to discuss the situation and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides to stop all fighting near the plant.

The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarisation to ensure the safety of the area, Guterres said in a statement.

Russia seized Zaporizhzhia in March after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24. The plant, near the front line in the fighting, is held by Russian troops and operated by Ukrainian workers.

At the Security Council meeting, the United States backed the call for a demilitarised zone and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the site.

Russias U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the world was being pushed to the brink of nuclear catastrophe, comparable in scale with Chornobyl. He said IAEA officials could visit the site as soon as this month.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports from either side about circumstances at the plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded Russia return the plant to Ukraines control.

Only a full withdrawal of the Russians  and the restoration of full Ukrainian control of the situation around the station can guarantee a resumption of nuclear security for all of Europe, he said in a video address.

France echoed Zelenskiys demand and said Russias occupation of the site endangered the world.

The presence and actions of the Russian armed forces near the plant significantly increase the risk of an accident with potentially devastating consequences, the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for attacks on the site. Ukraine has also accused Russia of firing rockets at Ukrainian towns from around the captured nuclear power plant in the knowledge it would be too risky for Ukrainian forces to return fire.

Ukraines General Staff on Friday reported widespread shelling and air attacks by Russian forces on scores of towns and military bases, especially in the east.

Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropentovsk region, said three civilians, including a boy, were wounded in the town of Marhanets in overnight shelling.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said on Telegram seven civilians had been killed and 14 wounded in the past 24 hours.

RUSSIAN BASE IN CRIMEA

Separately, satellite pictures released on Thursday showed devastation at an air base in Russian-annexed Crimea. It suggested Ukraine may have new long-range strike capability with potential to change the course of the war, Western military experts said.

Images from independent satellite firm Planet Labs showed three nearly identical craters where buildings at Russias Saki air base had been struck with apparent precision. The base, on the southwest coast of Crimea, suffered extensive fire damage with at least eight destroyed warplanes visible.

Russia has denied aircraft were damaged and said explosions at the base on Tuesday were accidental. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.

Referring to the damage, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters in a message: Officially, we are not confirming or denying anything  bearing in mind that there were several epicentres of explosions at exactly the same time.

Zelenskiy told officials to stop talking to reporters about military tactics, saying such remarks were frankly irresponsible. The New York Times and Washington Post newspapers cited unidentified officials as saying Ukrainian forces were responsible for the Crimea attack.

Russia, which seized and annexed Crimea in 2014, uses the peninsula as the base for its Black Sea fleet and as the main supply route for its invasion forces occupying southern Ukraine, where Kyiv is planning a counter-offensive in coming weeks.

COUNTER-OFFENSIVE

The Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian officials were framing the Crimea strike as the start of Ukraines counter-offensive in the south, suggesting intense fighting in coming weeks.

Exactly how the attack on the base was carried out remains a mystery but the impact craters and simultaneous explosions appear to indicate it was hit by a volley of weapons capable of evading Russian defences.

The base is well beyond the range of advanced rockets that Western countries acknowledge sending Ukraine, though within range of more powerful versions Kyiv has sought. Ukraine also has anti-ship missiles which could be used to hit targets on land.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said that Russian officials trained in Iran in recent weeks as part of an agreement on the transfer of drones between the two countries.

U.S. officials said last month that Iran was preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred drones.

Russia says its special military operation is going to plan, to protect Russian speakers and separatists in the south and east. Ukraine and its Western allies say Moscow aims to solidify its grip on as much territory as possible.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed, millions have fled from their homes and cities have been destroyed.

SOURCE: REUTERS
Greenpeace activists protested on the parched banks of the river Danube in Romania in a bid to draw attention to climate change and urge the government to lower emissions.

Campaigners dragged kayaks to a large stretch of shoreline exposed by low waters near the southern border town of Zimnicea  and held up banners saying We want Danube waves, not heat waves.

Record high temperatures, drought and deforestation have left rivers in Romania at half their usual level for August, data from the water management agency shows.

According to weather forecasts, the drought will be prolonged, putting pressure on the countrys energy system, food security and water access, Vlad Catuna, a campaign coordinator for Greenpeace Romania, said in a statement about Wednesdays protest.

Authorities are rationing water supplies for nearly 700 villages and farmers who rely on the Danube for irrigation have also taken a hit.

Romanian state hydro power producer Hidroelectrica said in late July its electricity output dropped by a third in the first half of the year. Port operators say barges carrying Ukrainian grains to Romanian ports cannot manage full loads because of the low river levels.

SOURCE: REUTERS
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ALBANY  Guy Cuomo did not want a federal jury in Albany to mistakenly identify him as a relative of the disgraced former governor of the same surname.

It did not keep the jury from quickly determining this Cuomo to be guilty of all charges  including aggravated identity theft, computer fraud, misuse of Social Security numbers and conspiracy charges. And now, the defendant will be identified as a federal prison inmate for nearly four years.

A federal judge sentenced the fast-talking fraudster to 45 months in prison Thursday for his role as a high-ranking player in an identity theft ring that tried to trick the state Department of Labor in a sophisticated unemployment insurance scam that impacted thousands of victims in 40 states.

Cuomo, a 54-year-old who used the alias John Monaco, was found guilty following a five-day trial, but not before his attorney at the time told the judge the defendant did not want jurors to mistakenly believe the Maryland man was related to Andrew M. Cuomo. The three-term Democratic governor resigned after Attorney General Letitia James released a report that concluded he had engaged in serial sexual harassment of multiple women, including members of his own staff.

The issue surfaced during a Nov. 21 trial conference inside the chambers of Senior U.S. Judge Thomas McAvoy. The defendant's attorney, Justin de Armas, told the judge that his client did not want to be labeled as the second-in-command to the scam's ringleader, Jason Trowbridge, known as "J.R."

"Maybe if he applied to the court to change his name, he would have a better chance," McAvoy said, according to transcripts

"He wanted me to bring that up," de Armas replied. "He wanted the court to instruct the jury that he was not related to Andrew Cuomo."

"There are people out there that would associate that, somehow hold it against him. I mean, it's completely irrational," the judge responded. "It's been so blown up in the Albany area over the last six months. I mean, it's like the governor is  everybody knows who he is and what he did or didn't do or tried to do."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rosenthal, citing the "notoriety of the former governor and some of the negative implications of that," told the judge he had no objection to the judge informing the jury that the two Cuomos were not related.

The judge said he could tell the jury the two men just happened to have the same name.

"That would make Guy happy," de Armas said. "He wanted it said, but I told him not to worry about it and that he shouldn't be concerned about it. He won't have any complaint about it."

There was no indication in court transcripts that the judge followed through and instructed the jury about the surnames.

Reached Friday, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said: Thats the dumbest thing I ever heard, but not the dumbest thing Ive ever read in the Times Union.

On Thursday, at his sentencing before a different judge, Guy Cuomo complained about de Armas, as well as prosecutors and his former co-defendants.

In a rapid-moving and rambling speech, Cuomo defended his actions with the Paymerica Corp. based in Frederick, Md., about 50 miles west of Baltimore  and then volunteered more information in the public courtroom.

Cuomo told the judge that he was accused of unfounded rumors that he raped women in his neighborhood. He also reminded the judge that prosecutors had highlighted his racially insensitive remarks. Cuomo began to cry as he discussed the pain of such allegations, then seconds later showed no outward signs of such emotion.

None of it moved U.S. District Judge Mae DAgostino. The judge confronted Cuomo with transcripts documenting numerous instances of conversations in which Cuomo used the N-word. In one conversation, he said America was a cesspool. In another, Cuomo said he wanted an excuse to beat some Black ass," the judge noted.

D'Agostino quickly reminded Cuomo he was being sentenced for his crimes, but that she felt the need to set the record straight in light of his downplaying the racist comments.

You brought it up. I finished it, DAgostino told Cuomo. Im not sentencing you for being a racist.

Cuomo's court-assigned counsel, Albany attorney Joseph McCoy, told his client, incredulously: "Didn't help yourself, did it?"

McCoy was visibly agitated at Cuomo's refusal to speak more slowly, as the judge had requested. As Cuomo continued his diatribe to the judge Thursday, McCoy stopped at one point and asked Cuomo, "What does this have to do with anything?"

Federal prosecutors said between December 2015 and April 2018, the identity theft ring sold place-of-employment information from at least 12,000 people from 40 states. They said members of the ring tried to use stolen information of people in debt  including their Social Security numbers  to pose as the victims to trick state agencies, including New York's labor department, into handing them over place-of-employment information. Once they were able to get the information, the scammers sold the information to debt collectors and companies that sell the information to debt collectors at $90 per debtor.

The case was in Albany because the ring created unemployment insurance accounts in the New York state unemployment insurance system. Prosecutors said the ring used virtual private networks to hide their internet protocol addresses from law enforcement.

Cuomo argued to D'Agostino that his actions did not hurt people financially. The judge noted that such crimes leave a lasting scar on victims.

"This is a violation of the human order," she told Cuomo. "I don't think that that scar goes away. ... You can continue to say that you're innocent. A jury found you guilty."

Trowbridge pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy, misuse of a Social Security number, and aggravated identity theft. Trowbridge is facing a lesser sentence of 39 months because he accepted responsibility, the judge told Cuomo. Trowbridge must forfeit almost $447,000 and a $30,000 fine.

Four other defendants still await sentencing. The case involved the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General.
ISLAMABAD (AP)  Nine Indian crew members whose vessel sank off the Pakistani port of Gwadar in the Arabian Sea have been rescued by a tanker and Pakistan's navy, a military statement said Thursday.

According to the statement, the sailing vessel Jamna Sagar sunk on Tuesday off Gwadar after sending a distress signal.
MENANDS  A puppy taken from a Schenectady home after police received reports of it being abused is recovering at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, but the dog faces likely surgery and her survival is uncertain, a shelter official said Friday.

Named Asha by staff, the dog is estimated to be 10 to 14 weeks old. Schenectady police responded on Tuesday after a neighbor reported seeing the dog being beaten, according to Whitney Philippi, the Humane Society's vice president for development, and a Schenectady police spokesman. Police brought the dog to Capital District Veterinary Referral Hospital in Colonie for an emergency exam that revealed severe injuries, including fractures and bruises at different stages of healing. The wounds suggest Asha was abused over an extended period, Philippi said.
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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.
Im scared. In fact, I am so terrified, my insides performed a backflip when I realized my new calendar ended with January 2024. In 2024, I will turn 16 and the COP  the UN's Conference of the Parties on climate change  will turn 30. In 2024, we will be nearly halfway through the most crucial decade for curbing the climate crisis. 2024 is the year of the next U.S. presidential election, and I will be too young to vote.

The fear  not of coming of age, but of the world I will come of age in  is far from uncommon among young people when it comes to the climate crisis. Last year, a study in The Lancet found that of 10,000 young people (16-25) in ten countries, over 45 percent said their feelings about climate change had a negative impact on their daily life and functioning. As the climate justice activist Jamie Margolin put it: We had no power in creating the systems that are destroying our world and futures  and yet we are and will be paying the biggest price for the older generations recklessness.

I will buy my next calendar in the year of the U.S. presidential election that will make or break my future. We will probably be choosing between candidates who will likely not be alive in the year they plan to reach net zero carbon emissions. And when I say "we," what I actually mean is "you"; I will be too young to vote in 2024.

While extreme weather devastates the U.S., I find it hard to rejoice over Sen. Joe Manchin IIIs surprise support of funding for climate and energy programs. Im definitely relieved by the West Virginia Democrats sudden change of mind, but we dont have time to feel like we  or rather, you  have done nearly enough. Until 2026, when I first vote, theres no "we," theres only "you," who havent yet earned my trust, even if youre getting there.

To an adult, those three and a half years until I first vote may not seem like much, but from the perspective of todays youth, those three and a half years are everything. I will have to wait 48 years until the Supreme Court Justices are my age, assuming the current average among the justices. If theres one thing the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has made clear, it is that that is far too long to wait. In the spirit of the UN International Youth Day, I ask for intergenerational solidarity. I  we  rely on it.

Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter.

We rely on you to vote and run for office and urge others to do the same. We rely on you to pressure your local and federal authorities to take immediate, decisive action to drastically cut CO2 emissions while uplifting communities along the way. We rely on you to volunteer in activist groups or form your own. We rely on you to pressure your workplace into cutting its emissions and to invest in climate-friendly initiatives. We rely on you to act in intergenerational solidarity with us now.

Im scared, but I refuse to sit back and watch silently as homes burn, cities flood, and wars break out. Like Greta Thunberg, Im watching our house erupt in flames and Im asking you, pleading with you, to listen. No matter how smart and creative we are, how hard we work, and how much we sacrifice for the cause, we are too young to save ourselves. We can call the fire department, but you need to come.

Ace Dufresne of Ithaca is a rising ninth-grader at Ithaca High School.
Surprising no one, some guy in Manhattan was able to get absentee ballots in the names of various media personalities and others, gleaning their identifying information from the web and securing the documents  not for any plan to use them to unduly sway an election, but rather as part of his "hobby." (Maybe try stamp collecting?)

Surprising to us, and likely to many others, has been the rather blase response of area election officials to this incident and others in which online portals to request absentee ballots have been used in allegedly fraudulent ways.

Their indifferent attitude, they insist, stems from the fact that most voters are honest.

Maybe so, but someone's been misbehaving: Voters in Rensselaer County need look no farther than the ongoing ballot fraud case in Troy in which dozens of people have been subpoenaed, and Troy Councilwoman Kimberly Ashe-McPherson pleaded guilty to a federal felony after admitting she had fraudulently submitted absentee ballots in last year's primary and general elections. Ms. Ashe-McPherson resigned from the council a day after making her plea. Federal and state investigators have been examining the filing of absentee ballots in multiple elections over the past two years.

Meanwhile, a federal judge has ordered oral arguments in an $8 million federal civil rights case stemming from another Troy absentee ballot fraud case. Rensselaer County Democrat Elections Commissioner Edward G. McDonough claims in the suit that evidence against him was fabricated by the prosecutor who in 2009 secured guilty pleas from five Democratic officials and operatives who had been accused in a fraud scheme in the Working Families Party primary election that year.

We could go on, but you get the idea: There is a flaw in the absentee ballot system that needs to be fixed, and has needed to be fixed for a long time.

Rather than being apathetic over the problem, local elections officials should be driving the state Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul to close the loophole that allows absentee ballots to be requested on someone's behalf. Shy of strict exceptions for people who need particular assistance voting, only voters should be able to request and then submit their own absentee ballots.

Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter.

Requesting absentee ballots for people has long been a tool of political parties to encourage voting for their candidates in a thinly veiled get-out-the-vote effort that's ripe for fraud. Elected leaders can, and must, close the door on that temptation.

They should also go back on efforts to change the state constitution to allow for "no-excuse" absentee ballots. By taking away the overly complicated list of required reasons, the state could remove this barrier to voting, which particularly hampers efforts by working parents and those without their own transportation to participate in our democracy. Last time around in November, the referendum to change to no-excuse absentee ballots failed at the polls, largely due to a Republican misinformation campaign and what could generously be called a Democrat forfeit  the state party largely sat out the campaign for its own reform.

It would indeed be a surprise if the state Legislature opened its session in January with tweaks to our state's absentee ballot system, but it's a surprise we would hail.
ALBANY  The search warrant authorizing the FBI to raid former President Donald J. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate confirms the Justice Department seized what it contends were "classified" documents but provides little insight about the probable cause of criminality that the agency cited to justify the intrusion.

The search warrant documents were ordered unsealed on Friday by a U.S. magistrate in South Florida after Trump's attorneys said they did not object to the public disclosure of the records.

The warrant cited three potential violations of federal criminal statutes that the Justice Department alleges may have been the result of the "illegal possession" of the records. They include destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; willfully concealing or removing an official record of a public office; and gathering, transmitting or losing defense information, which is a statute under the Espionage Act.

"The premises to be searched  is further described as a resort, club, and residence located near the intersection of Southern Blvd and S Ocean Blvd. It is described as a mansion with approximately 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, on a 17-acre estate," the warrant states.

"The locations to be searched include the '45 Office,' all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS (former president) and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate."

Trump issued a statement saying the documents had been "declassified" and that federal authorities would have been provided access to the records without a search warrant.

The warrant did not give explicit authority for FBI agents to search other areas of Mar-a-Lago, including areas occupied by guests and staff members, the network said.

The documents indicate that FBI agents had wide authority to search the sprawling estate and seized roughly 20 boxes of records.

The warrant indicates at least some of the materials involved records the Justice Department asserts are "top secret" and "sensitive" classified information  an assertion that Trump and his attorneys dispute. The documents, as expected, also show that Justice Department believed the possession of the records by Trump may have constituted a criminal act.

The warrant lists the property that was to be seized by FBI agent to include: "Any physical documents with classification markings ... as well as any other containers/boxes that are collectively stored or found together with the aforementioned documents and containers/boxes." It also sought the seizure of any "information, including communications in any form, regarding the retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defense information or classified material," and "any government and/or presidential records created between Jan. 20, 2017, and Jan. 20, 2021."

There are no references to nuclear programs or weapons. The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources, reported Thursday that some of the documents may involve classified nuclear programs. Trump called that information "a hoax." A spokesman for the former president said the unprecedented FBI raid was "unnecessary."

It's unclear when Trump may have declassified the documents before they were transported from the White House to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his term  or if the Justice Department disputes that the records have been declassified.

The details of the government's investigation are outlined in the affidavit in support of the warrant  most likely sworn to by an FBI agent  that remains sealed. Multiple news organizations, including the Times Union, have asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart to unseal all of the search warrant records. But courts rarely unseal affidavits in support of search warrants while an investigation is ongoing or if no charges have been filed.

The returns itemizing the records that were seized include an "Executive Grant of Clemency re: Roger Jason Stone, Jr.," the president's former political confidant, as well as a trove of boxes of records marked in the court records as "top secret," "classified," "secret," and "confidential." The returns indicate at least one "handwritten note" as well as two binders of photos also were seized.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced his office had filed a motion seeking to unseal portions of the search warrant documents that were filed in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach.

Garland, in a brief news conference in Washington, D.C., where he declined to answer questions, said that he had personally authorized the unprecedented search.

Earlier this week, the Times Union filed a letter motion with the federal magistrate, asking him to unseal the search warrants and the "returns," which is a receipt that itemizes everything that was seized. Trump, as a target of the search, was entitled to a copy of the search warrant and the returns. The warrant confirms that Christina Bobb, one of Trump's attorneys, signed a receipt indicating she had received a copy of the documents on the day of the raid.

The Times Union was the first news organization to request the unsealing. Roughly a dozen news organizations have since filed similar motions.

The affidavit in support of the warrant would detail the investigation and any potential crimes that may have provided the "probable cause" needed to justify the search. But search warrant affidavits are rarely made public during pending investigations or before any charges have been filed.

Garland's statements indicated the Justice Department will file arguments in U.S. District Court to keep the affidavit in support of the warrant sealed.

Trump did not opposed the unsealing of the documents.

The Justice Department must still file its motion to keep the affidavit sealed. Reinhart's initial order gave the agency until Monday to respond to the unsealing requests. But the government's argument for keeping that information sealed  including its details of any probable cause that a crime had been committed  may be filed under seal. (It's possible the Justice Department has already filed sealed arguments to keep the affidavit off-limits from public view.)

The New York Times on Thursday reported that the court-authorized search of Trump's residence was preceded by a subpoena that was issued after federal officials visited Mar-a-Lago in June and reviewed some of the materials. At that time, they had allegedly suggested that a storage room containing some of the materials should be outfitted with a stronger lock, which Trump's attorneys have said was done.

It's unclear whether negotiations between Trump's attorneys and the Justice Department or other federal officials broke down and triggered the decision to get a search warrant to retrieve any classified materials or other records they believe should be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

Trump's attorneys previously acknowledged that they were able to review the search warrant and that it indicated the seizures were based on potential offenses involving classified documents and the Presidential Records Act.
The Preservation Association of Central New York is accepting nominations for its 2022 awards, to be given at a ceremony at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, at the Oneida Community Mansion House.

The association's awards recognize owners, builders, designers, artisans, educators and activists who work to preserve the area's historic resources. All nominations are reviewed by the association's awards committee and approved by its board of directors. Several awards have gone to Cayuga County-area recipients in recent years.

For more information about the awards and the ceremony, visit pacny.net or email email@pacny.net.
ALBANY  Thousands of federal search warrants that are filed in 94 U.S. district courts across the country remain sealed indefinitely. Although some districts have rules that require sealed files to be opened after a certain period  with sealing often subject to a yearly review  most districts, including New Yorks Northern District that includes the Capital Region, allow the records to remain permanently sealed.

Trump search warrant confirms 'top secret' records were seized

As questions swirl around Monday's FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago  and the nation waits to see whether a federal judge will respond to the Department of Justices motion to unseal the search warrant that allowed it  here are answers to questions you might have about these documents and the legal procedures and protocols that surround them.

What is a search warrant?

When a federal law enforcement agency such as the FBI has a valid reason to believe a crime has been committed, they can petition a U.S. magistrate judge for a warrant to search your property. That search, which is not unlimited in scope, could range from a residence to an office or to electronic devices, including computers, mobile phones and even the records of a third-party provider such as a telecommunications company. Warrants also are used to search vehicles, vessels and airplanes.

Subpoenas are more frequently used by law enforcement agencies to access someone's electronic records, such as text messages and emails. Carriers usually do not notify a person if their phone records or emails have been subpoenaed.

Does the subject have the right to a copy when its executed?

Yes. Under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the subject of a search (or their attorney or another representative) are entitled to a copy of the warrant as well as an itemized list of what was seized  a document referred to as the returns. The returns document also must be filed with the court that authorized the search. If the subject of the search or their representative is not present during the search law enforcement are supposed to leave copies of the warrant and the list of items taken.

What will the warrant say?

Generally, the search warrant will only describe the premises or items to be searched and the criminal statutes that may have allegedly been violated. That description of what will be searched must be very specific. If FBI agents searching a residence want to expand their search  such as to break into a safe or scour an outbuilding  they should return to the court and obtain a second warrant.

Is the subject of a search entitled to know the probable cause FBI agents have for conducting a search?

No. Before a judge authorizes a search, they must review a sworn affidavit  which in FBI probes would usually be filed by a special agent  that will outline the basis of their allegation that a crime may have been committed. That document would also reveal the probable cause for their belief that a crime has been committed, that a search is necessary and that a less-intrusive option is not available.

When are search warrants unsealed?

Generally, the unsealing of a search warrant requires a party, which can include the subject of the search or an outside party such as a news organization, to file a motion asking the judge to unseal the search warrant documents. The Times Union has been successful in petitioning courts to unseal search warrants, although some of the requests have been denied. Often, the decision depends on the judge: Some U.S. magistrates are more likely than others to unseal the documents.

Are the affidavits in support of search warrants ever unsealed?

Yes, but rarely while an investigation is ongoing  such as in the Justice Departments probe of former President Donald J. Trump. The affidavits normally may be unsealed when there has been an indictment or a law enforcement agency has concluded its investigation and no charges were filed. In 2012, the Times Union successfully petitioned a U.S. magistrate to unseal search warrant affidavits that had been filed in connection with the search of the offices of a lobbyist and former New York GOP chairman  an investigation that did not result in any charges.

Will the affidavit in support of the search warrant used to raid Mar-A-Lago be unsealed?

Unlikely. Although the Justice Department filed a motion to unseal the warrant and returns  documents that Trump already has  it is expected the government will oppose motions filed by the Times Union and other news organizations to unseal any affidavits. The U.S. magistrate has also allowed the government to file at least part of its arguments for keeping the document sealed as an ex parte filing and under seal.

How long can the court keep the search warrant sealed?

It depends. Outside parties such as news organizations could re-file unsealing motions after a period of time has lapsed and if there is no indication an active investigation is ongoing or that an arrest will be made. But the Justice Department is not required to notify the public or subjects of investigations that it has concluded a probe and that no charges will be filed. In many districts, search warrants remain sealed indefinitely. However, some districts have instructed that search warrants will be unsealed after a set period  often a year  unless the government petitions the court to keep the record sealed for valid reasons.

What right does someone have against an invalid search?

The Constitutions Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches or seizures and requires that a search warrant be authorized by a judge who has reviewed the probable cause necessary to justify the intrusion. The amendment states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, will not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Are all search warrants filed under seal?

No. Thousands of search warrants are filed in federal court dockets annually and subject to public review. Those cases often involve search warrants that are being requested by law enforcement after someone is in custody or there is no risk that disclosure would imperil an ongoing investigation. But state courts, including in New York, do not docket search warrants as a matter of law and obtaining copies of state-level search warrants are much more difficult. In many cases, New Yorks state-level and local judges will sign warrants but not retain copies of the records.
WFO EL PASO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Thursday, August 11, 2022

_____

FLASH FLOOD WARNING

The National Weather Service in El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...

Southeastern Otero County in south central New Mexico...

North Central Hudspeth County in western Texas...

* Until 600 PM MDT.

* At 250 PM MDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing

heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of

rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts up to 1 inch are

possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected

to begin shortly.

HAZARD...Flash flooding caused by thunderstorms.

SOURCE...Radar.

IMPACT...Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban

areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as

other poor drainage and low-lying areas.

* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...

Cornudas and Cornudas Mountains, including portions of Highway

62/180 around Cornudas.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood

deaths occur in vehicles.

Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads.

In hilly terrain there are numerous of low water crossings which are

potentially dangerous in heavy rain. Do not attempt to cross flooded

roads. Find an alternate route.

_____

Copyright 2022 AccuWeather
Retired newsman JimmyC has been keeping up with the story of a locked up old codger better than any working newsie in Kansas City. (Apparently, pushing election coverage is far more important)

Meanwhile . . .



TKC is surprised the old dude didn't kick the bucket in jail given that the JaxCo prison was previously noted as a "human rights crisis" in a report to legislators.



Meanwhile . . .

The longtime local newsman finds a way to blame police for a case that has always been more focued on overwhelming negative local opinion amongst local middle-class professionals rather than the deets of the case . . .



One is that one of the two lead prosecutors, Dan Nelson, left the Prosecutors Office in February to take a job with a private law firm. I expect the lead prosecutor to be Lauren Whiston, a top assistant to Jean Peters Baker. From what Ive seen, Whiston is very good, but shes carrying a big load and will be under tremendous pressure.



Another concern is that I dont have much confidence in the homicide detectives at KCPD. The division has a low murder-solution rate, and, overall, the department has been poorly managed under the last two chiefs  Rick Smith and Darryl Forte.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Here's a note that shouldn't be ignored even if it reveals an uncomfortable trend.

Reality check . . .

Black trans women have been repeatedly targeted in Kansas City yet local media is too frightened to call out the consistent threat of urban violence against this group.

Part of this danger has become even more insidious because even our progressive friends don't like talking about an exceptionally sensitive topic . . .

Homophobia amongst and within so-called "communities of color" is rampant and more deadly than in any other demographic.

Reality check . . .

Amongst Latinos, African-Americans and, to a far less violent degree, even some Asian communities . . . Homophobia is commonplace and even part of a cultural identity.

On the east side for the past few years the murder of trans women has been reported cautiously with very little insight into the circumstances of the killings.

Even those who protest this violence don't like to talk about an uncomfortable fact:

In Kansas City the main culprit in killings of Black trans women have been Black men.



In fact . . .

There hasn't been one instance in nearly a decade where this statement hasn't proven accurate.

Sadly . . .

Instead of talking about the specifics of this problem and how we might address homophobia amongst communities of color . . .There's just a blanket charge of discrimination leveled at everyone.



Here's an example . . .

"Dee Dee was killed in Kansas City, MO on July 24, 2022. Dee Dee's death is at least the 25th violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2022. We say "at least" because too often these deaths go unreported - or misreported."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
The masks are mostly completely gone and concert season has been better than most had hoped.



Meanwhile . . . The dire public health warnings persist.

Here's the latest . . .



"Jackson County, Missouri, and Wyandotte County, Kansas, returned to the high level of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions COVID-19 Community Levels Tracker Thursday. Both counties improved last week to the medium level after holding steady at the high level the two weeks prior.As of Aug. 11, Johnson County, Kansas, remains in the low category."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

The community levels tracker is based on data of new cases per 100,000 from Aug. 4-10, as well as new hospital admissions and the percentage of COVID patients in inpatient beds from Aug. 3-9.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Jackson, Wyandotte counties return to CDC's 'high' COVID level KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jackson County, Missouri, and Wyandotte County, Kansas, returned to the high level of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 Community Levels Tracker Thursday. Both counties improved last week to the medium level after holding steady at the high level the two weeks prior.

With new guidance, CDC ends test-to-stay for schools and relaxes COVID rules With the coronavirus continuing to spread widely throughout the country, Americans are getting new advice from federal health officials on how to live with the virus. The revised guidance - released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday - lifts the requirement to quarantine if exposed to the virus, deemphasizes screening people with no symptoms and updates COVID-19 protocols in schools, eliminating a recommendation for test-to-stay after potential exposure.

Developing . . .
Right now we share a quick glimpse at local crime news, a few updates on court cases and info on police action from across the metro.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Teens recognized at Kansas City, Missouri, City Hall for proposing solutions to community violence KANSAS CITY, Mo - A group of Kansas City, Missouri, teens were recognized at the city's council meeting on Thursday. Eighteen youth leaders with an organization called MORE2 spent their summer finding solutions to violence in the community. MORE2 fights for racial equity through public policy.

Gladstone police believe teens shot early Thursday were targeted by someone they knew Gunfire erupted outside a Gladstone apartment complex early Thursday injuring two teenage boys.The boys, ages 16 and 15, were taken by ambulance to a Kansas City hospital, where they were expected to recover."We've been in touch with the victims, the victims' families, the neighbors," said Capt.

Authorities investigate after body discovered in Missouri River near Ameristar Casino Hotel KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Authorities are investigating after a boater discovered a body in the Missouri River near Ameristar Casino Hotel on Wednesday. Emergency crews first responded to the scene at around 2:56 p.m. The condition of the person was not immediately available. It's also not clear if any foul play is suspected.

Woman charged with attempted kidnapping, eluding Kansas City police Woman accused boy's father of kidnapping, then led police on high-speed chase KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City woman is charged with attempted kidnapping and eluding officers after being accused of trying to kidnap a 5-year-old boy as he walked down the street with his father.

Feds: Man defrauded millions from Kansas DCF contractor TOPEKA, Kan. - Federal officials allege that a New York man defrauded an organization that provides foster and adoption services to Kansas out of about $10.7 million. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas filed a civil asset forfeiture case Aug.

KC-area dad to be tried in toddler's death in Shawnee SHAWNEE, Kan. - A Kansas man charged with first-degree murder and arson pleads not guilty to the crimes. Nicholas Ecker, 28, entered the plea after a judge determined there is enough evidence to try him in the death of his 17-month-old son. In addition to murder and arson, Ecker is also charged with three other crimes.

Lee's Summit man sentenced to 15 years in prison for robbing 4 banks KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Lee's Summit man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole for robbing four banks in a span of two weeks. Joseph P. Hall, 33, pled guilty to two counts of bank robbery in January.

Kansas veteran convicted of defrauding VA for disability benefits KANSAS CITY, Kan. - A federal jury on Thursday convicted a Greely, Kansas veteran of wire fraud and theft of government funds in charges related to a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of disability benefits. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Bruce Hay, 53, a U.S.

Man accused of killing child in Shawnee fire bound for trial KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Johnson County judge ruled Wednesday there is enough evidence to try Nicholas Ecker for the murder of his infant son in a fire Ecker allegedly set . Ecker is accused of first degree murder and aggravated arson in the Feb.

Teens recognized at Kansas City, Missouri, City Hall for proposing solutions to community violence KANSAS CITY, Mo - A group of Kansas City, Missouri, teens were recognized at the city's council meeting on Thursday. Eighteen youth leaders with an organization called MORE2 spent their summer finding solutions to violence in the community. MORE2 fights for racial equity through public policy.

Developing . . .
Two state agency commissioners traveled to central New York on Thursday to present a Skaneateles farm with a prestigious award.

Greenfield Farms is the winner of the annual New York Agricultural Environmental Management-Leopold Conservation Award. According to the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, the award "honors a farm for its extraordinary efforts to promote and protect the environment through the preservation of soil and water quality while ensuring farm viability for future generations."

The 1,400-acre farm was recognized for its soil erosion prevention efforts and the changes the Greenfield family has made over the years to be good environmental stewards, such as planting cover crops and ditching their mold-board plow to adopt no-till drill technology.

Jim Greenfield was one of the first farmers who participated in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Agricultural Program, an initiative that was an alternative to constructing an expensive water treatment plant. Skaneateles Lake supplies drinking water to the city of Syracuse and other municipalities in Onondaga County.

There are other components to the Greenfields' environmental conservation strategy, including 12 miles of grassed waterways and grass buffers to prevent runoff along crop fields. The farm also has 20 water and sediment control basins to shift clean water underground and release it to an outlet. They also use smart technology to apply fertilizers and other products needed to grow crops.

Basil Seggos, the commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, was impressed by what he saw after touring the farm.

"Long before there was a potential award, they were pioneering some of these very sustainable practices at the farm," he told The Citizen. "Doing so because it's not just good for the environment and the community, but also for their bottom line. I think that's what became apparent to me today was seeing the investments they've made in controlling stormwater on their landscape and how that safeguards their most precious resource, which is soil."

Richard Ball, who is the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, said Greenfield Farms is "setting a great example" and "doing great work managing their farm in a financially responsible way and an environmentally responsible way."

"That's having real benefits to the farm and the overall community," Ball added.

The Leopold Conservation Award is presented in 24 states. It is named in honor of the famed conservationist Aldo Leopold. In New York, the state's soil and water conservation districts are encouraged to nominate farms for the honor. The three other finalists for this year's award included Humbert Farms in Wayne County and Lawnhurst Farms in Ontario County.

Along with the award, Greenfield Farms will receive a $10,000 prize.
Credit where it's due . . .

At least Mayor Q is smart enough to realize that he's not as popular as other KC leaders and needs to step up his legal & fun loving political payoff game.



Accordingly . . . Here's his latest gambit . . .



The proposal relaxes affordable housing requirements for private developers who get tax breaks and subsidies. It leans on borrowing $50 million for the Housing Trust Fund to subsidize affordable housing projects instead.



The money would be available only if voters approve a $175 million bond issue this November.



Lucas also wants to streamline the incentive process by allowing city staff to unilaterally approve a standard package of goodies for developers, apparently shutting out the City Council, several boards and commissions, and the public from the vetting process.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Mayor Lucas, don't bypass the public and City Council in KC incentive discussions OPINION AND COMMENTARY Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has proposed an audacious framework for changing the city's housing and incentives policy, including major adjustments in how projects are reviewed. The proposal relaxes affordable housing requirements for private developers who get tax breaks and subsidies.

Kansas City tenant advocates disagree with new housing ordinance proposed by mayor KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas announced a new package of legislation geared towards building more affordable housing in Kansas City. "$50 million for affordable housing being the most important part, for $7 million we created 500 units of housing," Lucas said.

Developing . . .
Former Missouri Sen. John Danforth seems to be working diligently to ruin his legacy as a moderate and Midwest statesman.

There's a million things he could be doing in his retirement . . .

- Build houses for po'folk.

- Warn Missouri conservatives that their kinfolk confront one of the worst drug epidemics the U.S. has ever witnessed that's still killing a lot of po'folk white people.

- Help develop new REAL leadership.

Instead . . .

He's meddling in senate politics and pushing a dude barely connected to the Show-Me State.



Credit to Missouri conservatives for doing the background on this story. Here's their takeaway on a dude who will struggle to get 1% of the vote . . .



Wood, whose own Missouri Bar license says he lives in Virginia, is running in Missouri as an independent in November, without the backing of a party, after only registering to vote in the state June 18, just 10 days before he announced his candidacy, and renting an apartment near the Plaza. Nor is there any sign that Wood intends to sell the five-bedroom, seven-bath, 6,579-square-foot home worth $4 million to $5 million his family built in the Washington, D.C. suburb of McLean, Virginia just three years ago  for which they obtained a $600,000 loan from Truist Financial Corp as recently as 2020..

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Heartlander: With just an apartment in KC but a multimillion-dollar home in Virginia, does Senate candidate John Wood even live in Missouri?
Credit to an old school denizen of Missouri politics . . .

EVEN AMID DIVISIVE TIMES DANFORTH FOUND A WAY TO REMAIN TOTALLY IRRELEVANT!!!



His pick won't be a factor in an upcoming contest against a Democratic Party newbie beer heiress and the middle-of-the-road front runner who voters will pick out of habit.

Still . . . He's the obligatory pitch . . .



Former U.S. attorney John Wood last week delivered 22,000 signatures to the Missouri Secretary of States Office in support of his petition to join the ballot. The requirement is 10,000 signatures. He will likely be added to the ballot in the near future upon verification of the signatures.



Showing viability is very important. As somebody who doesnt have the infrastructure of one of the two major parties behind them, I recognize that Im starting out with a disadvantage, Wood said. But I think the strength of my message, and the fact that resonates with most Missouri voters is whats going to propel me forward.



That message is a conservative one, but with an emphasis on governing and finding compromise in the mold of a traditional Republican in the U.S. Senate rather than the more Trumpian emphasis of going to the Capitol as a fighter who will drain the swamp. Wood said he believes his campaign will appeal to moderate voters, those who feel that both the Democratic and Republican parties are more focused on scoring political points than on governing.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
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After President Joe Biden signed federal legislation to invest at least $52 billion into semiconductor manufacturing, Gov. Kathy Hochul gave final approval to a bill that seeks to support the industry's expansion in New York.

Hochul on Thursday signed the Green CHIPS bill, which could provide up to $10 billion in tax credits for semiconductor manufacturing projects over a 20-year period. The credits are available through the Excelsior Jobs program. Projects must meet certain job creation goals to receive the tax benefits.

The Green CHIPS legislation complements the federal CHIPS and Science Act that was signed by Biden earlier in the week. That legislation could invest up to $280 billion into the semiconductor industry in the United States.

Hochul explained why federal and state investments are important. The U.S. accounted for nearly 40% of semiconductor production in the 1990s. Now, it lags behind China, Taiwan and South Korea.

"We're ready to raise those numbers up, but not just raise them up for this country, raise them up here in New York state," Hochul said at a signing ceremony in Albany. "And the implications are massive for national security, technological innovation, economic growth and independence."

New York is hoping to boost an industry that already has a significant presence in the state. Hochul said that the state is home to 76 semiconductor and electronics manufacturers, with those producers generating a $5 billion economic impact and more than 343,000 jobs.

There are discussions about more semiconductor manufacturers coming to New York. Central New York leaders are aiming to land a major company that could invest billions in the Syracuse area and create more than 10,000 jobs.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who attended Hochul's signing event, agrees that New York could become a leading hub for the semiconductor industry. The federal and state bills, he said, "will be the one-two punch upstate New York needs to land major investment and create thousands of good-paying jobs in an industry that will dominate this century."

The state legislators supporting the bill included state Sen. John Mannion, who currently represents parts of Cayuga and Onondaga counties. Mannion, D-Geddes, was a prime cosponsor of the bill and attended the signing ceremony on Thursday.

"Central New York is positioned to play a major role in the country's strategy and Onondaga County is already home to the best shovel-ready site in the nation for a computer chip fab and the thousands of jobs it will create," Mannion said.
Aug. 12, 2007

Between the Erie Canal, the Finger Lakes and the miles of rivers and streams throughout Cayuga County, tens of thousands of people rely on bridges each day.

No one knows better than the 60 residents of Haiti Island in Mentz the feelings of isolation when connections are broken. And with the recent tragedy in Minneapolis, in which at least eight people were killed when an interstate highway bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River, new worries have surfaced about bridge safety nationwide.

Engineers are trying to determine the cause of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, but reports state the structure was determined structurally deficient prior to the collapse. That status, however, is hardly unique.

Cayuga County boasts 146 bridges, and 13 percent are deemed structurally deficient, according Federal Highway Administration data.

This actually puts the county close to the statewide average of 12 percent. Neighboring Seneca County is among the worst in New York, at 22 percent. The county with the most structurally deficient bridges  Hamilton County  has nearly a quarter of its bridges named as structurally deficient.

The state Department of Transportation regularly inspects bridges across the state. Examiners send reports to the owner regarding the general condition of the bridge and rate the structures on a scale of one (potentially hazardous) to seven (new condition.) A rating of four or less results in a structurally deficiency.

But what does this mean?

Tony Ilacqua, spokesman for the state DOT central New York office in Syracuse, says this simply means the bridges have imperfections, but are still safe and secure.

It's not something people should worry about  We are aware of the condition of the bridges and we do (maintain them), Ilacqua said.

Drivers may not like the sound of it, but state authorities are vigilant and have updated documents as to the status of every bridge and the required repairs, Ilacqua assured.

We don't let our bridges get to a condition that the bridges are unsafe. It's unrealistic that every bridge in every county in New York, the region, is a seven, Ilacqua said.

The state has implemented a 30-day program to review the 49 bridges in New York with deck truss designs, the same design as the one in Minnesota, to ensure their safety, Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced during a press conference last week.

The central New York region of the DOT has one of these structures. An Ithaca bridge carries Steward Avenue and received a high rating, 5.8 out of 7, which is pretty good, said Ilacqua.

The regional office covers six counties: Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, Oswego, Cortland, and Tompkins. The half-dozen counties have 1,400 bridges total.

State regulations require inspectors to examine a bridge every two years. Four teams and one consultant team look into structures throughout the six-county central New York region daily.

They check the condition of up to 75 bridge components, from span, steel, section changes, welds, rivets, metal thickness, curbs, and even sidewalks, Ilacqua said. The examiners then average the scores, giving more significance to some elements, to come up with a rating of one to seven.

The workers can issue safety flags, ranging in importance. Some flags imply elements need improvement by the next inspection, while others allow crews up to six weeks to address an issue. A more serious infraction provides bridge owners to take prompt action and draft a plan of action within 24 hours.

This ensures people can prioritize defects and worrisome features. A structure receiving several warnings, or flags, translates to more frequent inspections, Ilacqua said.

All of the data from inspections is also used to come up with a federal sufficiency rating. Based on those ratings and the major elements' scores, Cayuga County has 19 bridges in need of replacing, with the worst identified as the Haiti Bridge in Mentz, which has been closed for more than two weeks.

Another roughly 40 bridges are in need some sort of repair. Some improvements can take as little as three hours and can be done in-house, Sterling Highway Superintendent Paul Kelley said, using the recent example of Onionville Road bridge.

Kelley's crew had to fix a post that a vehicle knocked over in the winter. Smaller concerns can affect a rating, but does not make the structure on the verge of collapsing.

Sterling owns five bridges, with many more within town limits maintained by the state park agency, state or county.

Kelley knows how expensive bridge repair can get. The Federal Emergency Management Agency just assisted the town in foundation repairs to the Old State Road bridge.

The spanning edifice was built to rest on the creek bed. During a flood in April 2005, water action moved stones and other objects from under the bridge and created a cavity, Kelley said. Contractors excavated down to the bedrock and created a solid foundation.

FEMA picked up most of the bill because the damage was connected to the flood, which took out another bridge in Mentz. The contractor cost about $70,000, Kelley said.

The town has about $10,000 tucked away for bridge improvements in the road repair budget, but that amount wouldn't even make a dent if they had to replace structures.

And getting federal and state funding for bridges is no easy task, said George Wethey, Cayuga County highway superintendent.

Definitely that's quite a challenge, he said. You're competing with other municipalities. Everybody has the same goals.

Many bridges in Cayuga County are at a disadvantage because they do not have high traffic counts, thanks largely to their rural locations. Funding decisions are often based on traffic volume.

It's not that we're not concerned of the safety of less traveled bridges, Ilacqua said.

But a bridge that carries 80,000 vehicles would deteriorate at a far faster pace than a similar structure that shouldered 8,000, he said.

With nearly 17,450 bridges statewide, authorities have to choose which structures undergo repairs and reconstruction first.

Inspectors prioritize by looking at several factors. Age isn't necessary a good indicator.

Auburn boasts the two oldest bridges in the county. However, the state replaced the one built in 1880 over the Owasco River on Genesee Street. Now the Auburn structure has an almost perfect sufficiency rating and the three main structural elements received high scores as well.

Another received a poor rating - the 121-year-old masonry arch bridge that carries Aurelius Avenue.

Auburn Superintendent of Engineering William Lupien said stone arch river crossings will hold the necessary weight as long as they don't lose the keystone, or stone in the middle where the two sides meet.

After a hurricane in 1972, they made some repairs that are holding up, he added.

Officials look to the type of bridge, location, and traffic patterns to rank the deserving structures.

The state saw an uprising in bridges in the 1940s and 1950s. However, two decades later, leaders didn't invest much money into the infrastructures. New York congress then defeated a Transportation Bond Act, which impacted the road system, including the thousands of bridges, Spitzer said. There's been a lack of investment in the bridges when the state shot down a bond in the late 1970s.

We're beginning to see in some levels the consequence of that inadequate investment, Spitzer said.

Some communities are looking at another option that saves money during construction, eases maintenance, and avoids state inspection.

Some agencies have installed large pipes to allow water to flow from one body to another, instead of a structure that spans over the waterway, but this could only happen over smaller waterways such as creek beds, Kelley said. A culvert covers the pipe and the road is fairly flat over the creek.

Municipalities can install culverts as long as the length is around 20 feet or less, Lupien added. Auburn's Walnut Street has an example of this spanning over Hunter Brook.

It won't be less or more safe, but you wouldn't have the problems, Kelley said.
Ukraine returned the bodies of 522 fallen defenders who were on the lists of missing persons.

Oleh Kotenko, the commissioner for people gone missing under special circumstances, said this on Ukrainian TV channels, Ukrinform reports.

There is an exact number of how many bodies of our defenders we have returned. We have already managed to return 522 bodies. We are taking them from different directions of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions," said Kotenko.

According to him, Ukraine is doing everything possible to return the bodies of all its fallen soldiers. However, the negotiations with the Russian Federation regarding the exchange of bodies differ much from those that took place in 2014-2015.

We held talks with the leaders of the DPR/LPR and resolved this issue directly. Now the negotiations are going differently. We have a mediator. This is the International Committee of the Red Cross, through which we communicate with the Russian Federation. These negotiations are going well. We are returning the bodies of our defenders," the commissioner said.

As Ukrinform reported, the bodies of 17 more fallen defenders were returned to Ukraine.

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Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinas chassis-by-wire developer, Global Technology, announced the completion of its pre-C financing round, raising hundreds of million yuan.

Photo credit: Global Technology

The round was jointly participated by China Securities International, Hygoal Capital, and others. The companys existing shareholder, Xinding Capital, increased its investment in the company through the round.

Upon completion of the round, Global Technology will accelerate the production of hydraulic decoupling GIBC (one-box), which is expected to reach a volume-production scale by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, the company plans to put three automatic production lines to work by the end of the year, ensuring the supply capability of high-performance linear magnetic valves, hydraulic component units, and electric control assembly EHCU.

Notably, the company currently has two production lines dedicated to magnetic valves, achieving an annual production capacity of 5 million units.

As one of the main players in the field of chassis-by-wire in China, Global Technology has successively realized large-scale production of mature products such as EPB, ESC, ESC+GIBS (two-box), among which the order of ABS/ESC has increased to the 1-million-set level, while the order of EPB brake assembly has reached hundreds of thousands of sets.
The Netherlands will join the program to help train Ukrainian soldiers in the United Kingdom.

Ukraines Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov wrote on his Twitter account, Ukrinform reports.

The Netherlands has joined the UK-led program of training servicemembers of Ukraines Armed Forces. Dutch personnel will start their mission this August. The more well-trained fighters we have, the closer our victory, he wrote.

The defense minister thanked Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren for friendship and support.

Read also: Additional M270 MLRS arrive in Ukraine from UK

As Ukrinform reported, the first group of Ukrainian military personnel arrived in the UK in early July to take part in a new major military training program. The course includes training in weapons handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft, patrol tactics, and the law of armed conflict.

Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway also joined the program to help train the Ukrainian military.

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A number of explosions on the territory of Russia, in occupied Donetsk, and at the Zyabrivka airfield in Belarus may be the result of provocations staged by the Russian special services, which will pursue such actions to create opportunities for announcing forcible mobilization for war with Ukraine.

This was stated by the adviser to the head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, who spoke in an interview with Channel 24, Ukrinform reports.

"Id like us to be aware that the war is hard for our country today and it will continue to be so for some time. Why? All these incidents: a brewery in Donetsk, a military unit in Russia, warehouses in Yeysk, Zyabrivka airfield in Belarus, from where planes constantly took off to bomb our territory All of them also have their roots in the Russian special services, who do this in order to arouse their population to say: Stand up, great country, stand up for war. They seek to try to mobilize public mood in a certain way because concealed mobilization is going on, but there are not many who are willing to fight," said Podolyak.

In his opinion, in this way the Russian Federation wants to influence its population and create grounds for mobilization. "To this end, they create all these conflicts  many in Belarus and also in the Russian territory," he added.

The advisor to the head of the Presidents Office recalled that in order to justify the unleashing of the Second Chechen War, the Russian special services blew up a number of residential buildings on Russian territory, which resulted in multiple civilian casualties. "They (the Russians - ed.) want to do the same today. Therefore, we have to understand it, work this situation out, be ready for the fact that there will be many such provocations," explained Podolyak.

At the same time, he expressed the opinion that the events similar to those that took place at the airfield in Novofedorivka in temporarily occupied Crimea, will affect Russias mobilization plans as they sow panic among ordinary Russians.

As reported, on August 9, explosions were recorded at the Novofedorivka military airfield near the city of Saky in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Russia illegitimately annexed in 2014.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation claimed that the explosions were caused by the "detonation of aviation munitions."

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said it was unable to establish the cause of the fire."

Russian warplanes used to take off from the Novofedorivka airfield on a daily basis. They constantly patrolled the airspace in the region, but opted not to cross into the zone controlled by Ukrainian air defenses.
France is very concerned about the serious threat to the security of Ukrainian nuclear facilities from the Russian Federation, emphasizing that Russian forces must immediately withdraw from the Zaporizhia NPP.

Thats according to a statement issued by the French Foreign Ministrys spokesperson on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

"The Russian Federation must immediately pull its troops from the Zaporizhzhia NPP and return to Ukraine full control over the plant and all the country's nuclear facilities," the statement emphasized.

At the same time, it is noted that Russia's control over Ukrainian nuclear facilities poses a threat to the Ukrainian people, as well as to the region and the entire international community.

It is also emphasized that France welcomes and supports the efforts of the IAEA chief from the very beginning, including by actively promoting his plan for technical assistance to Ukraine.

"We reiterate the importance of observing the seven basic pillars of nuclear safety highlighted by the IAEA chief, as well as deploying an expert mission to Zaporizhia," the statement reads.

In their Twitter post, the French Foreign Ministry emphasized that "the presence and actions of the Russian Armed Forces near the Zaporizhia NPP significantly increase the risk of an accident."

As Ukrinform reported, IAEA Director General Mariano Grossi said he was ready to lead a mission to the Zaporizhia NPP to strengthen its safety.
Germany will continue supplying weapons to Ukraine as the German government is actively engaged in the process, discussing with Ukrainian partners their current needs for armaments.

Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine, Anka Feldhusen, touched upon the issue in an interview with Ukrinform, commenting on the German contribution toward Ukraine's victory on the battlefield.

"I think that my country was, is, and will be Ukraines most reliable partner. We have been helping in all sectors since 2014 except arms, but we are doing that now. Before the interview, I looked through the list of the weapons that we have already delivered and are yet to deliver  it is in fact impressive, if you recall that until February 24, wed been saying that we would never do that in principle," said Feldhusen.

According to the diplomat, she understands Ukrainians' frustration over the pace of German arms deliveries and their communication.

"It also frustrates me sometimes. But if you look at the facts, today we, like other countries, also supply modern weapons that help Ukraine... Yesterday I saw a video of Ukrainian crews operating a Panzerhaubitze, so they say that the Russians no longer dare approach their positions as before. This is already a small success, and we must continue to work on it," the German ambassador noted.

With regard to a certain decrease in German public support for arms supplies to Ukraine, which is recorded by the latest polls, the diplomat recommended that not much focus be put on those.

"They reflect public sentiment one day, and the next day they might change. The fact is that the German government will continue to supply weapons to Ukraine. We are very actively looking into it and discussing with our Ukrainian partners their needs for armaments," the German ambassador assured the agency.

As reported, the German government in July released a complete list of weapons systems, equipment, and other lethal and non-lethal aid shipped to Ukraine to repel Russia's armed aggression. Among them are three "Mars II" MLR systems, 10 PzH 200 self-propelled howitzers, and five Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.
A member of the illegal military formation "DPR" discusses with a friend the recent explosions in Crimea and the issues observed in his armys ranks.

Thats according to the latest intercept released by Ukraines military intelligence, Ukrinform reports.

"In Crimea, the airport blew up, all the ammunition was destroyed. Our people say it was an accident due to careless handling. But its the vaunted anti-aircraft defense that didnt work, again," the soldier says in the call.

His friend is heard saying that it was the Ukrainians who fired missiles at Crimea.

The two also discuss the lack of infantry in the Russian proxy DPR army, as well as their future plans. "The DPR does not have enough infantry, which would be able to perform basic tasks. Maybe in another six months we will be disbanded and all go home, the man says.

Probably, we will go to the DPR, but Im not sure therell be our home there," the Russian says.
Britain is on track to train more Ukrainian troops than it first planned.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace made a corresponding statement at a news conference in Copenhagen after an international donor conference to provide aid to Ukraine, CNN reports.

I think we're committed now to really going beyond that. We are going to train more and for longer, he said when asked whether the UK could train more Ukrainian troops than the 10,000 by October as initially outlined.

Wallace noted that the conference in Copenhagen confirmed the readiness of many countries to help Ukraine.

In the lead-up to this we have Sweden putting in a significant number of troops [in the UK to train Ukrainian service members], Norway announced at the event today they will put some in, we've got obviously Denmark sending 130. We've got Finland sending. We've got an awful lot of Vikings now in England Most of the training mission seems to be Nordic, he said.

As reported, the Copenhagen Conference raised 1.5 billion euros in security assistance to Ukraine.

Earlier, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway announced their intention to join the Ukrainian military training program in Great Britain.

Photo credit: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

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This morning, two dry cargo ships left Ukraine along the grain corridor with 3,500 tonnes of grain heading for Turkey and 60,000 tonnes of corn heading for Iran.

"As part of grain shipments, Belize-flagged Sormovsky ship carrying 3,500 tonnes of wheat departed from Chornomorsk port to Tekirdag, and the Marshall Island-flagged Star Laura ship laden with 60,000 tonnes of corn left Pivdennyi port bound for Iran, the Ministry of Defense of Turkey posted on Twitter.

As reported, about 375,000 tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been already exported from Ukrainian ports through the humanitarian sea corridor.

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The international expert conference on the restoration and reconstruction of Ukraine will be held in Berlin on October 25, focusing on specific sectors in which the embattled nation can receive quick assistance.

German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen spoke of this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"Germans are very pragmatic and love specifics, so this will be a conference where we want to move forward, not repeat what has already taken place. You know that the plan for the reconstruction of Ukraine, presented in Lugano, is very extensive  about 3,000 pages. Wed like to see more specifically what can be done now with the money that is available and with those of our neighbors in Europe who really want to do something for Ukraine," said Feldhusen.

According to the ambassador, the Berlin conference will differ from that in Lugano. Germany, together with the European Commission, wants to find the sectors where it is possible to contribute more precisely and quickly.

"Our chancellor and also the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will be there. The idea is for Ukraine to see concrete support as soon as possible, because we have money, energy, and goodwill, but it should be directed toward the right projects," the ambassador said.

As reported, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said late July that the Ukrainian authorities expect to convene in Germany this autumn an international expert conference on the restoration of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian side could consider a compromise with Russia only after Russian forces leave all the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine within the borders recognized by the international community in 1991.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in an interview with DR Denmark, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

We will win this war, we will liberate our territories, all of them. Compromise could be if they go out from our lands, and we will discuss the next future of the neighborhood between Ukraine and Russia, Reznikov said.

In his words, Russians have to pay reparations for all the cities ruined and all the Ukrainians killed. They have to receive punishment for all the murders, rapes and other atrocities they committed.

Ukraines main goal is to liberate all the Ukrainian territories, because in 1991 it was recognized in all international community that its our border, and we are not a legitimate target for the enemy, Reznikov stressed.

Reznikov expressed confidence that the war would end with the victory of Ukraine and its partners. In his words, Ukrainian territories will be liberated step by step, just as the Ukrainian Army liberated Kyiv Region, Chernihiv Region, Sumy Region and Snake Island.

A reminder that, on August 11, 2022, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov participated in the Copenhagen Conference for Northern European Defense Allies in support of Ukraine.

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Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Dominican Republic Roberto Alvarez discussed the global repercussions of Russian aggression and ways to counter them.

Spoke with Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez. Grateful to Santo Domingo for its continued support for Ukraine, including within the UN. We focused on global repercussions of Russian aggression and ways to counter them, agreed to further develop Ukraine-Dominican Republic bilateral relations, Kuleba posted on Twitter.

On February 24, Russia launched a new stage of the war against Ukraine  a full-scale offensive. The enemy massively shells and bombs peaceful Ukrainian cities and villages. The defense forces of Ukraine resist the Russian troops and inflict heavy losses on them.

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With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

China's automobile parc reaches 312 million units

China's motor vehicle parc has to-date amounted to roughly 408 million units, 312 million of which were automobiles, according to China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

China likely to export over 2.4 million vehicles annually in 2022

According to data by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers ("CAAM"), China's monthly automobile exports hit an all-time high level in July 2022. The country's annual vehicle export volume is expected to exceed 2.4 million units this year.

Aulton completes 30 million battery swaps

Chinese battery swap station operator Aulton New Energy announced today that it had offered 30 million battery swaps cumulatively, setting a new record for the industry.

China's chassis-by-wire developer Global Technology completes Pre-C round

China's chassis-by-wire developer, Global Technology, announced the completion of its pre-C financing round, raising hundreds of million yuan.

HiPhi Z to hit market on August 26th

Chinese high-end new energy vehicle maker Human Horizons will see its second production model, the HiPhi Z, officially hit the market on August 26th at the Chengdu Motor Show 2022.

CATL plans to build power battery system production base in Hungary

CATL announced on August 12 that its board of directors had approved the proposal of building an industrial new energy vehicle ("NEV") battery base in Hungary.

Dongfeng Motor launches Hubei's first power battery safety storage base

On August 9, Dongfeng Motor's technology center started the usage of its power battery storage boxes, indicating the launch of the first power battery safety storage base in China's Hubei province.

Xiaomi's autonomous driving team has over 500 staff members

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi's autonomous driving team has grown to over 500 employees, Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Xiaomi, disclosed on August 11th.

Changan Automobile, Desay SV to co-develop domain controllers

China's leading auto part supplier Desay SV inked a strategic cooperation agreement with Changan Automobile in the field of domain controller.

GAC Group to build subsidiary for electric drive system production

GAC Group announced on August 11 it would invest a total of 2.16 billion yuan ($320.218 million) in building an electric drive technology subsidiary.
Jimmy Cliff for his new album 'Refugees'.  UNHCR

With a career stretching back over 50 years, Jamaican musician Jimmy Cliff is often known as the Grandfather of Reggae.

Now the 78-year-old is using his first album in over a decade to shine a light on people forced to flee.

Refugees  which includes a title track by the same name - is due to be released on 12 August. It continues Cliffs long tradition of penning thought-provoking anthems.

The lyrics are self-explanatory and inspired by what you see going on in the world with refugees, he says.

Cliff, best known for songs such as Many Rivers to Cross and The Harder They Come, helped popularize reggae music around the world. He is the only living musician to hold the Jamaican Order of Merit, the countrys highest honour for arts and science.

Writing on his Instagram account, he describes Refugees as not just a song, but a movement.

As a humanitarian, I wrote the song due to emotional feelings towards freedom taken away from human beings. None of us should be forced by violence, economics, war, or persecution to leave our country against our will.

Keen to ensure that everyone who hears the album knows how they can support refugees, Cliff teamed up with his record label, Universal Music Enterprises, and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to create a web page setting out some of the different ways.

They include volunteering and donating to refugee organizations, welcoming refugees into communities, and helping to raise awareness about issues affecting them, by amplifying their voices and breaking stereotypes around them.

Cliff says he views refugees as ordinary people who are also quite extraordinary people, because they make miracles happen. He describes negative attitudes towards them as stemming from ignorance and wrong judgement as well as the harmful effects of racism.

One of the 13 tracks on the album is called Racism and features a emotional collaboration with his daughter, Lilty Cliff.

In an ideal world, he says, refugees would not exist anymore. I know its utopian, he says, adding that for now he will settle for them having equality/equity, truth, and justice.


Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinese tech giant Xiaomis autonomous driving team has grown to over 500 employees, Lei Jun, founder and chairman of Xiaomi, disclosed on August 11th.

Photo credit: Xiaomi

Xiaomi plans to deploy an autonomous driving fleet of 140 test vehicles, preliminarily, to conduct nationwide R&D and validation works. By 2024, the company aims to stand among major players in this field.

According to the chairman, Xiaomi has formulated a technology strategy regarding proprietary full-stack algorithms, which covers the cover areas of autonomous driving, including perception, prediction, high-precision location, planning, and control. The company decided to built its own data-closed-loop system to effectively drive the iteration of core algorithms and products. Lei Jun disclosed, the company has achieved quite a bit of progress.

Photo credit: Xiaomi

In a video clip shown by the company, Xiaomis autonomous driving test vehicle realized such capabilities as making autonomous U-turn without protection, bypassing accident vehicle, stopping for pedestrians, circling roundabouts, autonomous parking and charging, etc.

Lei Jun said that Xiaomi plans to put in RMB3.3 billion ($489.222 million) into autonomous driving R&D, and is actively recruiting talents in the field. The existing 500-people team also include employees from DeepMotion, the autonomous driving startup it acquired earlier.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- CATL announced on August 12 that its board of directors had approved the proposal of building an industrial new energy vehicle ("NEV") battery base in Hungary.

According to CATL's announcement, the company intends to pour no more than 7.34 billion in constructing a power battery production base in Debrecen city, Hungary. The project will be managed by Contemporary Amperex Technology Hungary Projekt Menedzsment Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, which is 100% controlled by Contemporary Amperex Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL.

Signing scene in China; photo credit: CATL

At the new base, CATL plans to build a power battery system production line with an annual capacity of 100GWh. Construction works are expected to be completed within 64 months after the ground-breaking in 2022.

The new plant, which will be CATL's second in Europe, is built to further strengthen CATL's global strategic deployment, boost its overseas business development, and meet the ever-growing demands from overseas markets, according to CATL's statement.

In 2019, CATL founded Contemporary Amperex Technology Thuringia GmbH (CATT) in Erfurt, Thuringia, a state in east-central Germany, marking its first global expansion in EV battery manufacturing.

On April 4, 2022, CATT was granted the second partial approval for battery cell production from the government of Thuringia, obtaining an initial capacity of 8 GWh per year.
Bucha, Ukraine, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Aug, 2022 ) :Eleven coffins draped in purple cloth line freshly dug graves in the last row of Bucha's cemetery. Inside rest nine men and two women who were killed during Russia's occupation of the Kyiv suburb in March.

Almost all the dead had been hastily buried in mass graves by local residents as the fierce fighting left them with no other choice.

One body was found later after the Russian withdrawal from the region.

More than four months after AFP journalists discovered 20 civilian corpses in Bucha on April 2, the first evidence of war crimes in Ukraine, the local authorities have started burying the dead that no one has claimed.

Fourteen bodies were interred on Tuesday, with another 11 following on Thursday. Mykhailyna Skoryk-Shkarivska, an assistant to Bucha's mayor, told AFP another three ceremonies were planned.

Of the 458 civilians who died during the occupation of the town, around 50 have not been identified, she said.
Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Aug, 2022 ) :An armed man who fled after attempting to breach an FBI office in the US state of Ohio was killed in a standoff with police, authorities said Thursday.

The incident drew nationwide attention as it occurred only a few days after the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched former president Donald Trump's Florida home, infuriating right-wing circles, although there was no immediate indication the events were linked.

The FBI said Thursday morning that a person armed with a weapon had tried to "breach" the entry to the bureau's office in the Ohio city of Cincinnati.

"Upon the activation of an alarm and a response by armed FBI special agents, the subject fled," the FBI said in a statement.

According to local media, the man fired a nail gun and brandished an AR-15-style rifle before fleeing by car.

A police spokesman said the vehicle was pursued by law enforcement and that it stopped in a rural area.

"Once the vehicle came to a stop, gunfire was exchanged between officers on the scene and the suspect," the spokesman said.

Officers then attempted to negotiate with the suspect, but he did not surrender, the spokesman told a press conference after the standoff ended.

After the suspect raised a weapon towards the police, officers shot him and "he succumbed to his injuries at the scene," the spokesperson said.

NBC reported that the suspect, according to three people aiding law enforcement, could be seen in photos of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters, but it was unclear whether he went inside.

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday denounced threats made against the FBI following the raid on Trump's residence, calling them "deplorable and dangerous." "Violence against law enforcement is not the answer no matter who you're upset with," Wray said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday he had "personally approved" the search of Trump's palatial Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, but was awaiting a court order to unseal the warrant before discussing the circumstances further.

US media outlets said it was related to the potential mishandling of classified documents sent to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House in January 2021.
Caracas, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Aug, 2022 ) :An official Venezuelan delegation protested Thursday to Argentina's embassy in Caracas against the grounding of a plane and its crew in Buenos Aires since June.

The Boeing 747 cargo plane, owned by Venezuelan company Emtrasur, has been held in Argentina since it arrived on June 8 from Mexico with a shipment of auto parts, after having tried unsuccessfully to enter Uruguay.

Transport Minister Ramon Velasquez and pro-government lawmakers visited the embassy Thursday to protest, as a few dozen workers of state airline Conviasa gathered outside chanting: "Return the plane and crew!" The delegation was received by ambassador Oscar Laborde.

Back in Argentina, Judge Federico Villena on Thursday granted a request from the United States to seize the plane on the basis that laws were broken when it was sold by Iran to Venezuela -- both countries under US sanctions, Telam news agency reported.

Conviasa, which controls Emtrasur, is also sanctioned.

Last week, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro protested the US seizure request, which he said amounted to an attempt to "steal" the plane, and asked Argentina for backing.

The United States' entry into the fray has given rise to street demonstrations in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan delegation handed a document to ambassador Laborde in which it protested the plane's continued detention.

"We gave the ambassador some communications so that the authorities, the counterparts in Argentina, can sit down and talk about the situation, find the best alternative and the best solution to this problem," Velasquez said afterwards.

"We hope that the truth prevails, that the Argentine justice system reacts, that it does not take this situation plagued by illegality to new levels," he said.

The Boeing first entered Argentina on June 6 with a load of auto parts from Mexico.

Unable to refuel in Buenos Aires due to the sanctions, the plane left for Montevideo on June 8. But the Uruguayan authorities refused it access, and it flew back to Argentina.

A judge ordered the plane be detained in light of an investigation into the crew of 14 Venezuelans and five Iranians.

Last week, a judge gave the green light for 12 of the crew members to leave Argentina -- minus four Iranians and three Venezuelans. That decision is now being appealed.

Velasquez said the crew members were being investigated for "espionage and terrorism." "They have not yet been called to testify, their right to a defense is being violated," he charged.

The Paraguayan intelligence service has linked one of the Iranian crew members to the Al Quds Force, a group of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards classified as a terrorist organization by the United States.

But Velasquez said the intelligence report was "biased."On Wednesday, Venezuelan lawmaker Pedro Carreno urged Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez to "show if he is a puppet of the empire, if he is a puppet of imperialism or if he really governs that country."Argentine presidency spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti said at her weekly briefing Thursday that the outburst "does not imply a diplomatic incident."
Spain and Portugal backed Germany's call for a gas pipeline linking the Iberian peninsula to central Europe on Friday, and Madrid said its part of the project could be operational within months

Madrid, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Aug, 2022 ) :Spain and Portugal backed Germany's call for a gas pipeline linking the Iberian peninsula to central Europe on Friday, and Madrid said its part of the project could be operational within months.

The proposal came as Europe struggles to find ways to rapidly reduce its energy dependence on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, which has upended the power market and sent prices soaring and nations scrambling for supplies.

On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a pipeline running through Portugal, Spain and France to central Europe was "conspicuously absent".

If it existed, it could make "a massive contribution" to easing the supply crisis, he argued.

Spain currently has six liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals for processing gas that arrives by sea which could help the EU boost imports.

But it only has two low-capacity links to France's gas network, which has connections to the rest of Europe.

Madrid has been pushing to revive the pipeline project linking the Catalan Pyrenees with France, which could significantly increase its supply capacity.

Speaking to Spain's public television, Ecology Minister Teresa Ribera welcomed Scholz's remarks and expressed Madrid's "willingness to contribute to the energy crisis... using Spain's regasification infrastructure".

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa also said such a pipeline link to central Europe was "a priority" and said Germany's stance would increase "the pressure on European institutions" to make progress on this issue.

Ribera said that while there was a good gas network in the Iberian Peninsula, the problem was transporting it across the Pyrenees.

Spain and its gas network operator Enagas were working with the French authorities to develop "a more straightforward interconnection", she said.

"This pipeline across the Catalan Pyrenees would require an investment," the Spanish minister continued.

"Enagas estimates that the pipeline could be operational within eight or nine months on the southern side of the border." The pipeline would be similar to the defunct MidCat project which sought to link Portugal, Spain to France, but which drew opposition from environmental groups and was halted in 2019 when financing fell through.

- Vital link - An Enagas spokeswoman pointed out that, under its 2022-2030 strategic plan, the company aims to spend some 370 million Euros ($380 million) on the pipeline project.

"MidCat was envisioned for natural gas in a north-south flow, but this is different. In the initial phase, it will be able to transport gas, but in the future it will transport hydrogen," said a source with knowledge of the proposed pipeline.

Before being abandoned, the MidCat pipeline was built to Hostalric, a village near Girona, meaning "there is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) left to be built", the source said.

Ribera also said Spain was working to make better use of its existing pipelines by installing an additional compressor, which would allow it to increase the volume of gas exported by 20 to 30 percent.

This could take place within "two or three months", she said.

"Obviously it's not much -- through these interconnections, we can provide up 2.0-2.5 percent of the gas consumed in the European Union as a whole -- but it's relevant."Given their importance for the entire EU, such gas pipelines should be funded centrally, Ribera said.

"This interconnection, which improves the security of gas supply in the rest of Europe, should be financed as a European project which we have to work on simultaneously with the French government," she said.
PROVINCETOWN, Mass.Gay erotica resource Cybersocket is joining forces with Streamen to host a pair of events during Carnival in Provincetown, Massachusetts featuring Cybersocket Director of the Year Trenton Ducati along with Falcon exclusive Beau Butler and porn superstar Devin Franco.



On Monday, August 15, the festivities get underway with a pool party titled "The Myth of Medusa" taking place from 1 to 5 p.m. at The Brass Key Guesthouse. Tout promo materials, "This guaranteed sold-out event will not only feature a bevy of hot men, but will also feature limited edition giveaways from Cybersocket and Streamen, with a #STAREIFYOUDARE photo op that is bound to be bulge-ful with must-have accessories that will make anyone a stand out during Carnival week." JustFor.fans and Squirt.org will be co-hosting the party, and there are (confirmed) rumors that a cast member from Real Housewife of NY will be in attendance.



The party continues the next day with Cybersockets "Cocktails With the Stars," presented in partnership with Steamen and TopFanVids. Cybersocket director and on-air personality Alexander Rodriguez will moderate an intimate and candid fan Q&A at the event with Ducati, Butler and Franco, and there will be sex trivia, giveaways and photo ops. This event kicks off at 6 p.m. August 16 at Brass Key Guesthouses Shipwreck Lounge.



For more information, or to buy tickets, visit ptownpoolparty.com.
Violence against Bishops and clergy by armed groups aligned with the Nicaraguan government continues to affect the local Catholic Church, as Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa is kept under house arrest.

By Sophie Peeters

The Church in Nicaragua is marking 11 August this year with a day of prayer and Eucharistic Adoration in parishes across the Latin American nation.

It comes as part of the National Marian Congress taking place on 7-15 August, as the local Church faces ongoing difficulties with the closure of 6 Catholic radio stations and government pressure on the Bishop of Matagalpa.

Outspoken Bishop

The fate of Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who has been targeted by the regime of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, continues to remain uncertain.

The outspoken bishop was placed under house arrest after protesting the governments closing of Catholic radio stations in the country.

In a picture that went viral around the world, Bishop Alvarez was seen on his knees begging for mercy while a group of armed police officers surround him.

The incident occurred on 4 August when Bishop Alvarez, along with six priest and six lay Catholics, was banned from celebrating Mass and was locked inside his parish house.

Bishop Alvarez is accused by the authorities of allegedly using media and social networks to carry out acts of violence against the population and to destabilise the country.

Reaction to the arrest

Many human rights and Church-affiliated groups have condemned the arrest, while Bishops and other groups have expressed their closeness to Bishop Alvarez who is locked away in his home.

The Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) has expressed its solidarity and closeness to the Church of Nicaragua, noting that the Church "proclaims the Gospel of peace" and, in this light, is always open to collaboration with national and international authorities.

Conflict between Church and state

The Catholic Church continues to be the target of numerous attacks and attempts to silence Church leaders, including the harassment of Bishops and priests.

Since Bishop Alvarezs arrest on 4 August, the Nicaraguan government pursues its silencing of the Catholic voice in the country by closing yet another Catholic Radio station and one-hundred more NGOs.

The Nicaraguan government has been accused of seeking to silence Church representatives, having churches surrounded, and intimating clergy members and the faithful.
Nigerian authorities announce the arrest of several suspects connected to the 5 June attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State  a win for the nations military amid rising insecurity in the worlds most populous African nation.

By Benedict Mayaki, SJ

The Nigerian military says that some persons suspected to be behind the Pentecost Sunday deadly attack on a Catholic Church in Ondo State, Nigeria, have been arrested.

On 5 June, gunmen had stormed St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, killing no fewer than 40 worshippers and injuring at least 80 other persons.

Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, made an initial announcement of the arrest of four suspects on Tuesday during a meeting with the media.

Two days later, the Military High Command disclosed that two additional suspects linked to the Owo attack had been detained.

Arrests

General Irabor said that the initial arrests were made on 1 August in a joint military/DSS (Directorate of State Service) operation in Eika, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi state.

He explained that the authorities would have wanted to present the suspects to the public immediately but we could not do so because some investigations are still ongoing.

One of the arrested suspects is a high-ranking member of ISWAP - the so-called Islamic State in West Africa Province, General Irabor said, adding that the suspect was planning more deadly attacks and had perfected those plans with his accomplices before he was captured.

The Chief of Defense staff however gave his assurance that in due course, the world will see them and others who are behind other daring attacks in the country.

The 9 August arrest of the two other suspects was disclosed in a statement issued by the Nigerian Defense Ministry Press Office Chief Maj. Gen. Jimmy Akpor, who confirmed that they were arrested in Omialafara, Ose Local Government Area, Ondo State.

Meanwhile, Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Akeredolu, reported that another person who housed the suspects before the attack was also arrested.

Funeral Mass for the victims killed by gunmen during the Owo attack

The Popes closeness

Following the 5 June attack, Pope Francis sent a telegram conveying his sorrow and spiritual closeness to the people of Owo at the act of unspeakable violence.

The Holy Father also commended the souls of the dead to the loving mercy of God and implored divine healing and consolation upon the injured and those who were grieving.

The Owo attack also drew swift condemnation from several quarters, including civil and religious groups, who called on the government to do more to ensure the protection of the lives and properties of its citizens, especially in the face of the increasing daring attacks by bandits.

Insecurity

In recent years, Nigerian authorities have been faced with the challenge of battling insecurity which began with the activities of the Boko Haram extremist jihadist group, especially in the northern part of the country.

The insecurity challenges have more recently evolved to include clashes between nomadic herdsmen and stable farmers, and attacks from kidnappers and armed bandits, popularly referred to as unknown gunmen.
Ibtisam Habib Gorgis, a Franciscan Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, born in Qaraqosh, Iraq, recounts her vocation and the impact of Pope Francis' Apostolic Visit in 2021.

By Roberto Cetera  Jerusalem

Ibtisam Habib Gorgis is an Iraqi nun who belongs to the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We meet her in Jerusalem, where she is staying for a short period to do spiritual exercises.

She has a contagious smile, flowing speech, and a face that radiates serenity and inner peace, in spite of the atrocities that the war in her country has forced her to witness.

I was born and raised in Qaraqosh, an Assyrian town in northern Iraq, which is only 30 km from Mosul, and close to the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh. The dialect spoken there is a derivation of Aramaic.

We speak Jesus language, she says proudly, but she also speaks fluent and correct Italian, which she learned during her novitiate years. Qaraqosh is a small Christian enclave in northern Iraq, of both Assyrian and Chaldean tradition, but, she says, we have always lived in peace and mutual respect with our Muslim neighbours.

Q: How is it that an Iraqi girl decides to become a nun?

In truth, I had never thought about it, because although I live in a patriarchal and traditional environment, I have always been very independent. I am very jealous of my freedom. Even now (she laughs) that I wear this veil.

Q: So how did it happen?

I was attending the Catholic group of university students, where I was studying biology. At that time, I must say, we did not live badly: after the first Gulf War, we were isolated from the world, we did not understand what was happening outside our borders, but we lived in peace.

Tareq Aziz, the Foreign Minister  who was actually Prime Minister  was a Chaldean Christian and came from Tel Keppe, which is very close to Qaraqosh. There was one thing I really liked about my involvement among young Catholics: helping the poor. I found pleasure in doing good. It was not an egocentric gratification; rather, it gave me an inner peace, it gave me back the truest sense of humanity: living with others and for others.

But I still couldnt find a place where I could fully fulfil myself. A Franciscan friar came to visit us. I was deeply impressed; I read the life of Saint Francis and a small light lit up in my heart. Then two Italian nuns came and invited me to visit their convent in Jordan. By then, I was at what we call the age of marriage, but... but I wanted to be free. When my family sensed that I was looking elsewhere, they were not happy.

This is my daughter, not yours, my father said to the nuns at the doorstep, preventing them from entering. Eventually, after much insistence, he gave in and let me leave for Jordan. My uncle accompanied me on the journey, which lasted 18 hours because of the embargo our country was under.

Entry (into the Congregation) was not easy; I didnt understand the language very well, I had to learn Italian, the nuns followed the Syriac rite and not the Latin one, so I didnt understand anything at Mass, Lauds or Vespers, and above all, it was a lifestyle I did not know.

The point of no return, which may seem silly, was when they cut my hair; a real break with my previous life. But despite all the difficulties to overcome, I felt a growing inner peace. Changes in life usually create restlessness, anxiety; but this change, although so radical, on the other hand aroused such peace in me.

We were four girls from Qaraqosh, and that was a comfort to me; there was someone I could at least talk to and be understood. After nine months, they allowed me to go home and see my parents, and then they sent me to Italy to do my novitiate.

Q: Did you go back to the Middle East after?

Yes. First, I was sent to the Holy Land, to Bethlehem and Nazareth, and then to Baghdad, where for three years I worked on the educational front.

All until that terrible 6 August 2014. I was in my hometown. Daesh (so-called Islamic State) had entered the Nineveh region. There was no more water or light in the houses. Then we heard an explosion. A house on the outskirts had been hit by a missile. We rushed there and found only rubble and corpses. After the dead were buried, the great flight began.

Fifty thousand people, without religious or political distinction, left their homes and the city. The horror stories coming to us from the areas already occupied by Daesh left no other option but to flee. Upon entering Qaraqosh, Daesh should have found no one. We used all means to help as many people as possible escape. From the entire Nineveh region 120,000 people headed towards Kurdistan.

We sisters stayed until the end, partly to help the displaced people and partly because we did not know where to go. We slept on the streets so as to be ready to flee. Then the Bishop ordered us to leave. We were the last to leave Qaraqosh. We left around 2 oclock at night, and by 5 a.m., the first Daesh troops occupied the city. When the militiamen entered a town, they gave three options: either you become Muslim, or you pay us, or we kill you. Almost every family has a dead person to mourn. A quarter of the houses were burnt down, all ransacked and the churches destroyed.

We worked with the whole Catholic Church to help the displaced people, who lived for months under tents or in makeshift dwellings. Then we were sent back to the Holy Land, crossing the Jordanian border. It was a night that lasted more than two years. Qaraqosh was liberated on 19 October 2016, with the battle of Mosul. After that date, some of the inhabitants began to return. But many, especially those who had found refuge abroad, never returned. Today the situation is still painful, reconstruction is slow, there is no work, there is so much poverty.

Q: And what are you doing today, Sister Ibtisam?

Today I am back in my country. Together with two sisters, I run a kindergarten with over 500 children.

Pope Francis visit last year was a fundamental step in our experience. He gave us a breath of fresh air; for the first time in years, we felt that there is someone who really cares about us, someone who loves us. He made us feel that we are a precious value to the Church. We are alive and we have faith.

He made us feel proud to be near those who practice other religions, with the Muslims who had also fled like us from the atrocities of Daesh. It was only when we saw and touched Pope Francis in this land, here beside us, that we realised it was over. It was truly over, and now we can turn the page.

Pope Francis did not merely visit; he restored us to life.
Pope Francis speaks by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked the Pope for his constant prayers as the nation endures ongoing aggression.

By Andrea De Angelis

A telephone conversation between Pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took place on Friday, 12 August, nearly six months after the start of the war in Ukraine.

Their conversation came as part of the Popes oft-expressed solidarity with all the Ukrainian people.

Presidente Zelensky broke the news himself in a tweet. The two men spoke of the horrors being suffered by the Ukrainian people since Russia invaded on 24 February, and the president expressed his gratitude to the Pope for his prayers.

"Our people need support of world spiritual leaders who should convey to the world the truth about acts of horror committed by the aggressor in Ukraine," wrote the President.

Shortly thereafter, in a separate tweet, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, reiterated the news of the telephone conversation, adding that "Ukrainian state and society will be happy to greet the Holy Father, expressing hopes for a visit by Pope Francis to Kiev.

Other conversations

The Pope and the President have spoken twice before by phone and video call.

Speaking to the Italian Parliament on 22 March, President Zelensky spoke about his conversation with Pope Francis, adding that the Pope had said very important words.

Earlier, on 26 February, two days after Russias invasion, the two men spoke by phone.

During that conversation, Pope Francis expressed to the president "his deepest sorrow for the tragic events that are taking place in the country."

Shortly afterward, President Zelensky said, "I thanked the Pope for praying for peace in Ukraine and for a truce. The Ukrainian people feel the spiritual support of His Holiness."

The Pope's appeals

On numerous occasions since the beginning of the conflict, the Pope's thoughts have gone out to the people of Ukraine.

At his most recent General Audience, on 10 August, Pope Francis lamented the ongoing suffering of the Ukrainian people, "who are still suffering from this cruel war."

He also expressed a special thought for the "many migrants who are continually arriving."

Throughout these months, the Pope has continually appealed for the world not to forget the war in Ukraine nor to tire of welcoming those who are forced to flee their homes in search of peace.
Pope Francis will make his 38th Apostolic Journey abroad to Kazakhstan in mid-September, visiting the city of Nur-Sultan on the occasion of the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

Pope Francis will visit Kazakhstan this September.

In a statement on Monday, Matteo Bruni, the Director of the Holy See Press Office announced: "Accepting the invitation of the civil and ecclesial authorities, Pope Francis will make the announced Apostolic Journey to Kazakhstan from 13-15 September this year, visiting the city of Nur-Sultan on the occasion of the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions."

The Congress is to be held in the Kazakh capital.

The theme of this years event will be "The Role of Leaders of World and Traditional Faiths in the Socio-Spiritual Development of Humanity after the Pandemic".

Every three years, religious leaders from around the world gather at the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, in Nur-Sultan.

In 2003, former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev called for the first such Congress.

He drew inspiration from Pope St. John Paul II's 1986 Day of Prayer for Peace convened in the Italian hill town of Assisi, which brought together various religions and leaders to promote interreligious dialogue, peace and harmony.

The 'Spirit of Assisi' meetings became an annual tradition held each year in a different city in Europe.

Pope's continued interest in visiting

In early April, the Pope spoke about this possible journey during a live video conversation he held with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

On the return flight from his Apostolic Visit to Canada, the Pope reiterated his hope to go.

"For the moment, I would like to go to Kazakhstan. That wouldn't be too rigorous of a journey," he said.



He reaffirmed his interest in being present at the congress of religions, and observed that it would likely not be overly physically demanding.

Read also 30/07/2022 Pope Francis: It was a genocide against indigenous peoples On the return flight from Canada, Pope Francis speaks about his just-concluded Apostolic Journey and about old and new colonialisms. He says he has not yet thought of resigning, ...

Quick facts about Kazakhstan

On 16 December 1991, Kazakhstan gained its independence from the former Soviet Union.

According to the Pew Research Center, the country is at least 70% Muslim, and about 25% Christian, of which less than 1% is Catholic.

St. John Paul the II was the first Pope to visit Kazakhstan, 22-25 September 2001, with the motto of Love one other.
France has become the latest European nation to appeal for international help to respond to a massive southwestern wildfire that officials say has already destroyed nearly 7,000 hectares or 17,300 acres of forest. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said several nations are already assisting France to help contain raging fires. The blaze comes as Europe struggles with deadly wildfires triggered by record temperatures and droughts across the continent that authorities say killed at least 1,000

By Stefan J. Bos



More than 1,000 firefighters are battling what has been called a "monster" wildfire near the city of Bordeaux. As a result, some areas in the region now look like a war zone.



Authorities say the blaze has destroyed several homes and forced 10,000 residents to flee. Thousands of hectares of forests have been

destroyed as firefighters struggle to get the spreading flames under control.



Firefighters say strong winds and high temperatures are hampering their operation.



The massive wildfire in France's Gironde region has been raging for two days around the commune of Landiras, about 30 kilometers or 19 miles

south-east of Bordeaux.



French firefighters have had to be urgently redeployed from other regions to boost the ongoing operation. They are being backed by specialist aircraft that have been dropping water and flame retardant.



Amid the misery, French President Macron said he was pleased that Austria, Germany, Greece, Poland, and Romania "are coming to aid" France in battling the blaze. In a message on social media, Macron called it "European solidarity at work!"

OUT OF CONTROL

But despite their and international efforts, the blaze was still out of control on Thursday.



This summer France and several European countries have seen a wave of deadly wildfires triggered by record temperatures and droughts across the continent. Wildfires also rage in Greece, Spain, and Italy as heatwave moves across Europe.



More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the heat in Portugal and Spain alone. But across Europe, that death toll is believed to be even higher.



In Britain, an extreme heat warning has come into force, with temperatures forecast to hit 37 Celsius or 99 Fahrenheit in some areas over the next four days, unusually high temperatures for the island nation.



There is discussion among experts about what caused the latest heat and wildfires.



While several scientists link them to climate change, other experts say it is still hard to pick one reason for this year's trend for the whole of Europe.
Paul ONeill has been barred from the YES Network booth this season because of his vaccination status, and thus calls Yankees games from his Ohio home.

While not ideal, YES has worked to accommodate the unvaccinated former Yankees outfielder into its massive rotation of analysts. But things with ONeill are about to get a little more awkward later this month, as the Yankees prepare to retire his number on Aug. 21.

According to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, ONeill (seen above) is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and therefore not compliant with YES Networks vaccine mandate which required employees to get the jab by Jan. 1, 2022. YES has not made a statement on ONeills vaccination status, although they dont hide the fact that hes calling Yankees games from Ohio while the rest of their broadcasters are at the stadium.

Separate from the YES mandate, MLB protocols prevent unvaccinated people from having contact with any players, entering the dugout or clubhouse. ONeill will be allowed on the field for the celebration, provided all current players remain in the dugout. A visit to the broadcast booth, as is typical with these celebrations, will not be permitted because of his vaccination status.

Paul ONeill Day will feature all of the traditional elements that fans have enjoyed during previous number retirement ceremonies, including the introduction of special guests on the Yankee Stadium infield, a montage on the center-field video board and the unveiling of the retired No. 21 medallion in Monument Park, the Yankees told Marchand and The Post in a statement. ONeill and his family will then join the special guests in the infield, where he will receive a presentation of gifts, deliver a speech from a podium in front of the pitchers mound and throw out a ceremonial pitch to a catcher at home plate.

Despite the Yankees appearing to work hard in accommodating ONeill, the popular outfielder waited more than 20 years to see his number get retired, and its going to occur under unusual conditions. And as much as the celebration is about his accolades on the field, ONeills two decades as a broadcaster with the Yankees are equally important to maintaining relevance and popularity with the team, yet he wont be allowed to visit the booth on Aug. 21 to talk about it.

This situation will find itself through and Im sure Paul will find himself back in the booth at some point. YES president of programming and production John Filippelli told The Post. It is certainly not ideal, but we have managed to figure it out and work through it. I dont think we have suffered at all, I really dont. Have there been some hiccups? Do I think it is ideal if it keeps going? No, I dont, but I do think we have managed to make it work and I think our fans have accepted it.

The Yankees have watered down the idea of retiring numbers in recent years by eliminating the seemingly obvious requirement of being an all-time great player. And now ONeill has watered down his retirement ceremony by forcing the team to build an atypical celebration because of his vaccination status.

[New York Post]
The FBI's search this week of former President Donald Trump's Florida resort has led to a sharp spike in online extremist rhetoric, raising concerns about a fresh wave of political violence.

As FBI agents executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the former president took to his Truth Social platform to announce that "my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents."

"Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before," Trump wrote. "The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt must be exposed and stopped."

The backlash among his fans was swift.

"Lock and load," a user named HughJasske penned on patriots.win, a popular pro-Trump forum, in response to Trump's comment.

The widely reported comment was soon removed, but other users on the site continued to echo the sentiment.

"Locked and loaded  still no targets in sight but in full-on condition red," a user named Cutter wrote.

As Trump tore into the FBI for the "horrible thing" that took place at Mar-a-Lago, his supporters ratcheted up their vitriol, much of their ire directed at law enforcement.

"Kill all feds," user monkeylovebanana wrote.

Referring to Attorney General Merrick Garland, another commenter wrote, "I'm just going to say it. Garland needs to be assassinated. Simple as that."

Also targeted was the federal judge who signed the search warrant.

"I see a rope around his neck," Dckman, a known user on the site, wrote on a post showing a photo of the judge.

Some of the commenters on patriots.win are well-known users, according to Advance Democracy, a nonprofit research group that has studied them.

One has been identified as Tyler Welsh Slaeker, a Trump supporter who has pleaded guilty to breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In response to the "lock and load" comment, Slaeker, using the online persona bananaguard62, wrote, "Are we not in a cold civil war at this point?"

The administrators of patriots.win say they do not allow users to post violent threats and that no "violent incident" has been attributed to a poster on the site.

But extremism researchers say the site, previously known as TheDonald.win, served as a planning and mobilization platform for the attack of Jan. 6, 2021, on the U.S. Capitol.

Daniel Jones, president of Advance Democracy, noted that users on the TheDonald.win floated the idea of building a gallows outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and targeting former Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to certify Trump winner of the 2020 election.

"There is no doubt that the users have been involved in January 6 and are involved in making threats related to Mar-A-Lago," Jones told VOA.

Patriots.win is not the only fringe platform that has seen a spike in violent rhetoric. Many Trump supporters have turned to Telegram, Rumble, Gabb, Gettr, TikTok and Twitter to vent their anger, said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

"From my own monitoring, it's been a deluge, and the only real discussion that's going on in a lot of these sites is about the FBI raid," Beirich said. "There are definitely explicit calls for violence."

What is more alarming, extremism experts say, is that the attack on law enforcement is coming from influential mainstream supporters of the former president.

"These people are attacking the FBI, calling the Department of Justice corrupt, saying this entire thing was political, and that is filtering out into the ecosystem where people support Trump," Beirich said.

In an attempt to calm the furor, the Justice Department on Thursday asked a federal judge to unseal the Trump search warrant and related documents.

Top law enforcement officials pushed back against the Republican criticism that the Justice Department and the FBI have become "weaponized."

Garland, a former federal judge and Supreme Court nominee, called the attacks unfounded.

"I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked," Garland said in a televised statement. "The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants."

In a written statement, FBI Director Christopher Wray said violence and threats of violence against the FBI are "dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans."

"Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution," Wray said.
Reports from Sierra Leone say clashes between police and protesters have killed 13 people, with more than 100 others arrested during a curfew. A police spokesperson said Friday that normalcy is returning.

An interim report released by Sierra Leones police Thursday shows that 113 people were arrested in protests that began Monday. A majority were arrested in the northeast region of Makeni.

Police say public and private property has been vandalized in the protests and three police stations were burned.

No new protests were reported Friday and Sierra Leone's assistant police commissioner, Brima Kamara, told VOA in a telephone interview that normalcy was beginning to return.

All the banks are open, offices are open, both government and offices and private offices, save for some few shops, said Kamara.

Demonstrators took to the streets this week to express anger over the soaring cost of living in Sierra Leone, which has nearly doubled in months.

A 2020 World Bank report says 80 percent of Sierra Leones population is poor, the majority living in rural areas.

The Reuters news agency, citing a source in Freetowns city mortuary, said 13 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters.

In a Twitter post, Sierra Leone's president, Julias Maada Bio, termed the protests unfortunate and said the state would investigate their cause.


On July 21st, several dozen consular and diplomatic security officers of the U.S. State Department were given the agencys prestigious Award for Heroism for assisting in the relocation of 124,000 people from Kabul in August 2021, including American citizens, legal permanent residents and tens of thousands of Afghan allies.

They worked closely with the Department of Defense, and other key agencies, and provided the leadership structure that underpinned and facilitated the departments operations at Hamid Karzai International Airport between August 15-30, a State Department spokesperson told VOA.

One of the recipients, who spoke to VOA on condition of anonymity, likened the award ceremony to group therapy that helped put in context his feeling of helplessness during the grueling and dangerous two weeks of airlifting Americans and Afghans as Kabul swiftly fell to the Taliban.

We really beat ourselves up, he said. You disproportionally look at what you couldn't do, the lives you couldn't save.

After the operation ended, he said he worked through post-traumatic stress disorder therapy and spent much of the past year processing the sequence of events that capped the 20-year war with a chaotic withdrawal  bloodied by a suicide attack that killed 180 people, including 13 American troops  and left tens of thousands of Afghan allies behind.

He and others involved in the massive airlift expressed frustration at what they see as the administrations lack of transparency on the lessons learned from the U.S. military pullout after the country fell so swiftly into the hands of the Taliban.

I'm really angry that we did that. We put so many people in harm's way, he said. How did that happen? There are so many things that failed leading up to it.

After-action reports

The State and Defense departments are still conducting internal after-action reports on the withdrawal, according to U.S. officials.

Once they're done, we will give you the full  have the full picture in a way that will help inform future operations, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday. It's just still underway. Once we have that, we will  we will share our lessons.

Its unclear how much of the reports will be unclassified.

We expect that the agencies will be able to share lessons learned, in a manner consistent with operational classification and security, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, told VOA during an August 5 briefing with reporters.

Ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections, the Biden administration appears reluctant to delve into details of what went wrong in the last phase of Americas longest war. The administration has largely stonewalled calls for more transparency, including from congressional Republicans who are demanding a full committee, unclassified hearing open to the public.

We strongly believe the American people deserve to hear the significant amount of unclassified information about the relevant and important events before and after the disastrous withdrawal, House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans said in a June statement.

Republicans have also accused the administration of not cooperating with the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), an agency that provides oversight on the $150 billion Afghanistan reconstruction funds and produces congressionally mandated quarterly audits.

The Biden administrations decision to withhold critical information from SIGAR based on shaky legal interpretations is just another transparent attempt to sweep President Bidens chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan under the rug, House Foreign Affairs Committee lead Republican Michael McCaul said in a June statement.

In response, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said SIGARs latest report on the collapse of the Afghan forces does not reflect the consensus view of the administration.

Many parts of the U.S. government, including the State Department, have unique insights into developments in Afghanistan last year that were not captured in the report. And we dont concur with many aspects of the report, Price said.

Lessons from Afghan war

More broadly, there is a general disappointment from the rank-and-file members of the military that there hasn't been a more dedicated and resourced effort to learn from the Afghan war, said Jonathan Schroden, director of the Countering Threats and Challenges Program at the Center for Naval Analyses, a nonprofit military research group.

It's more important for long-term systemic learning and organizational learning. Revisiting in detail how did we end up in a situation where we had to do that withdrawal, to do an evacuation, is critically important, he told VOA. Right now, beyond what SIGAR is doing, there is no effort inside the U.S. government to do that systematically.

The war in Afghanistan killed more than 2,400 U.S. troops and cost taxpayers $300 million every day for 20 years. A holistic, interagency study that identifies best practices and challenges at various U.S. government entities as well as across the entire operation is crucial, said Mark Jacobson, who helped organize evacuees during the withdrawal and served as a deputy NATO representative in Afghanistan.

Jacobson told VOA there is no interagency lessons-learned process from current and previous administrations, and when individual agencies conduct internal reviews, they are reluctant to share the findings. Often, he said, avoiding embarrassment is more important than learning the right lessons.

With the Afghan war spanning Democratic and Republican administrations, the U.S. loss there is a bipartisan failure, Schroden said, which means there may not be much appetite for either side to drive review efforts.

This is a war we lost, he said. And it stings both sides of the political aisle pretty badly. And so, some amount of time is likely required to pass before people who were directly involved in the war are no longer in positions of power and it becomes less sensitive to actually look back at what happened and examine it critically.

In December 2021, Congress established the Afghanistan War Commission, a nonpartisan, independent body tasked with examining all military, intelligence, diplomatic and development activities of the U.S., its allies and partners, from June 2001 to August 2021.

The commissions 16 members, appointed in April, must submit their final report to appropriate congressional committees within three years of their first meeting and must make public an unclassified version of the undertaking.

Over-the-horizon capability

Administration officials said they will mark the anniversary by honoring the service and sacrifice of those we lost as well as recognize the many people we saved and focusing on how the U.S. is on a stronger strategic footing by ending the war. They highlighted the recent operation that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri as proof of Washingtons over-the-horizon capabilities.

The strike gave the administration a powerful counterterrorism-focused talking point, said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the South Asia Program at the Wilson Center. It enables them to say that we've left, we've brought our troops home, we've removed them from harm's way, but we continue to do everything we can to protect Americans the world over from the threat of terrorism, he told VOA.

Kugelman said with no known U.S. counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan before the strike that killed al-Zawahiri, the perception was that Washington did not yet have over-the-horizon capacity.

But we know that it is there now because of what happened with Zawahiri, he said.

Another factor the White House can leverage to mitigate the political impact of the withdrawal anniversary is President Joe Bidens real leadership and deft alliance management against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

That would lay to rest growing doubts about Biden's judgment and competence in foreign policy and restored allies faith in U.S. leadership, he told VOA. Had Ukraine not occurred, it would have been a very difficult, a much more difficult anniversary.

For their part, humanitarian groups are using the anniversary of the withdrawal to draw attention to the plight of the Afghan people facing staggering levels of poverty and desperation.

Afghanistan stands at a precipice, with its people being punished for the Talibans takeover of the country, Neil Turner, the Norwegian Refugee Councils country director, said in a statement. Despite repeated calls from humanitarian actors, nothing seems to have changed. Afghanistan's foreign reserves remain frozen, the Afghan Central Bank is still not functional, and development assistance remains withdrawn.

Refugee groups are also pushing the administration to speed up the relocation of Afghan allies still left in the country. Biden officials said in July there were 74,274 applicants in the Special Immigrant Visa pipeline, excluding their spouses and children.

VOA's Cindy Saine and Aline Barros contributed to this report.
We're not in competition: That was the line from both the United States and China as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Africa this week, but analysts said the trip was indeed aimed at, among other things, countering Beijing's massive influence on the continent.



Blinken denied repeatedly on his three-country tour that this was the case  stressing African agency and autonomy  while China dismissed his comments and accused the U.S. of having a contradictory sub-Saharan Africa policy.



Analysts said the trip was also aimed at trying to counter Moscows influence and shore up African support for Washingtons position on the war in Ukraine, after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited the region last month.



Russia came up time and again during Blinkens meetings with his counterparts in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, with the secretary of state blaming African food insecurity squarely on President Vladimir Putin and warning countries against Russians proxy force the Wagner Group. But it was Chinas far more influential presence on the continent that was the elephant in the room.

The continent as a whole has for some years now been seen by the great powers as a place to exert influence, said Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, head of the South African Institute for International Affairs in Johannesburg, pointing to Russia and China as the U.S.s main competitors.



Certainly there is concern from the American side on the growing influence of these two countries on the continent against the backdrop of heightened geopolitical rivalries, she told VOA.



Throughout his trip, Blinken was at pains to stress the U.S. was not making Africa choose.



Our commitment to a stronger partnership with Africa is not about trying to outdo anyone else. Weve all heard that narrative, that South Africa and the continent as a whole are the latest playing field in the competition between great powers. That is fundamentally not how we see it, he said at a news conference in Pretoria.



For her part, South Africas outspoken Minister for International Relations Naledi Pandor said she was glad the region was not being asked to choose, adding, African countries that wish to relate to China, let them do so, whatever the particular form of relationships would be.



We cant be made party to conflict between China and the United States of America, and I may say it does cause instability for all of us because it affects the global economic system.  These are two great powers, the two biggest economies in the world. Theyve got to find a way of working together to allow us to grow, she added.



Chinas response to U.S. strategy



At a regular Chinese Foreign Ministry news conference in Beijing during Blinkens visit, spokesman Wang Wenbin was asked about Blinkens comments that African countries didnt have to choose a side.



It is not important what the U.S. says. What matters is how [the] African people see China-Africa cooperation, he said, going on to list Chinese-built infrastructure on the continent as tangible results of practical cooperation. China is Africas largest trading partner.



The U.S. must not underestimate African countries judgment. We believe the African people are sharp-eyed. If the U.S. truly wants to help Africa, then it should take concrete actions, instead of using its Africa strategy as a tool to contain and attack other countries, Wang said.



While in South Africa, Americas top diplomat unveiled the U.S. Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa, which addresses a wide range of issues including conflict prevention, trade and climate change. It also advocates for democracy and human rights, whereas Chinas investment is no strings attached.



Despite Blinkens insistence that Washington is not competing with Beijing in Africa, one section of the strategy reads that China sees Africa as an important arena to challenge the rules-based international order, advance its own narrow commercial and geopolitical interests, undermine transparency and openness, and weaken U.S. relations with [the] African peoples and governments. The document also mentioned Russias interests and influence in Africa.



The United States is both responding to growing foreign activity and influence in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as engaging in a region undergoing significant transformations to its socioeconomic, political, and security landscape, stated the White House document.



China has dismissed the strategy outright.



An article in state newspaper The Global Times quoted Chinese analysts as saying the U.S. attitude to Africa was a contradiction, on the one hand saying Africa would not be forced to choose, while at the same time smearing China.



The Chinese Embassy in Pretoria also criticized the policy, saying: Africa is not an arena for superpower games but a major stage for international cooperation. It is hoped that the U.S. will abandon its Cold War mentality  and focus more on supporting Africa's urgent development needs, instead of basing its policy on containing other countries' influence in Africa.



Response from African countries

Pandor, South Africas minister for international relations, also criticized the West for sometimes taking a bullying attitude to the continent and raised issues of hypocrisy and political interference. But she was not the only official on the continent to push back somewhat against the U.S. during Blinkens trip.



In Rwanda, Blinken raised the issue of jailed dissident Paul Rusesabagina, expressing concern over his conviction. Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said, Rwanda will continue to abide by our rules, and the decisions that were made by our judiciary. And we request our partners to respect Rwandas sovereignty, Rwandas laws and its institutions.



Bob Wekesa, head of the African Center for the Study of the United States at Witwatersrand University, said that in terms of how African leaders saw Blinkens visit, they have learned how to play both sides.



African countries really have refined the art of playing all these powers, when they meet with U.S. leaders  they seem to say, Yes, we value the relationship with the U.S. When they meet with the Chinese, theyre likely to say the same, he told VOA.



So, its kind of a splintered world in which African leaders look in all direction(s) for whatever they can gain from these powers.


A power outage in Toronto's downtown core Thursday left the offices of Canada's top businesses in the dark, forced the evacuation of one of the city's biggest shopping malls, caused some bank branches to be locked and trapped people in elevators.

Hydro One, Ontario's biggest electricity distribution company, said in a tweet it was investigating reports that a barge carrying a crane came into contact with high-voltage transmission lines and it was trying to reroute power to Toronto Hydro, which distributes electricity in downtown Toronto.

In an update on Thursday, Toronto Hydro said that connections have been restored to about half of the nearly 10,000 customers that were affected.

Toronto is Canada's biggest city and its financial capital, and the central business district is home to the biggest banks, insurers and stock exchange operator.

The power failure saw workers from downtown towers spill onto the streets, taking to sidewalks and parks, while shutting down many cafes and restaurants during the peak business hours.

Toronto Fire Services said it had responded to "numerous calls" for people trapped in elevators during the power outage.

"Came to town for the day  hopped in an elevator just before the power went out. Still in here. Terrible timing," Canada's Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said in a tweet at 1:10 pm. He had since left the elevator.

Branches of the biggest banks, including Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal, in the area were locked, and staff were seen sitting in the dark in some locations, according to a Reuters witness.

Neither of the three banks made any immediate comment.

"It was 12:39, we were working in the office and suddenly it went blank," said Santiago Orazco, who works in Scotia Plaza, in downtown Toronto. "A bunch of people have exited from the emergency door along with us."

Underground subway operator TTC said its services were normal though the outage tripped air conditioning. TTC warned that streetcar customers might experience major delays.

The Toronto Stock Exchange said its offices temporarily lost power but its systems did not. University of Toronto said some buildings were affected.

The outage caused traffic lights to stop working in one area, according to a Reuters witness. Toronto Police told people to treat those intersections as four-way stops.

The outage started around noon EDT (1600 GMT). Some Hydro One customers aired complaints on Twitter.

The power failure comes just over a month after a system glitch at Rogers Communications Inc. crippled telecom services for large numbers of users and services across Canada for nearly 19 hours.
Chinese state media has stopped promoting a short film that depicted the everyday struggles of a disabled man in rural China and drew tens of millions of views before prompting widespread online criticism of Beijing's poor disability rights record.

Following the online criticism from Chinese people with and without disabilities, top Chinese video streaming website BiliBili removed the film from its recommended list as official promotion ceased.

The 11-and-a-half-minute film, titled How Erjiu Cured My Mental Friction after Being Back in the Village for Three Days, centers on a man identified as "Erjiu," or second-eldest uncle. Erjiu's relative, Tang Hao, shot the film after he visited his home at an undisclosed location in rural China. Tang said he would not release Erjiu's name or location for privacy reasons. Erjiu himself does not speak in the film.

Released near the end of July, the film follows the 66-year-old man, who has a disability in his left leg. Institutional barriers prevented him from all but a limited education, so he turned to carpentry.

After years working as a skilled carpenter, Erjiu now takes care of his 88-year-old mother and works as a handyman for their village. The film emphasizes that Erjiu doesn't complain or feel sorry for himself.

The narrative seems inspiring  but that's part of the problem, according to Shixin Huang, a scholar who focuses on disability studies in China. In her field, disability is viewed as a social and political construction, which is far from how it is often considered in China, she said.

"This film perpetuates the stigma attached to disability as a form of personal tragedy instead of a societal problem," Huang told VOA Mandarin in an interview. "It's a form of personal tragedy that lies on the individual himself. This kind of perception of disability actually then justifies all the suffering and barriers that Erjiu encounters in his life."

This view of disability essentially absolves the government of any responsibility to do more to help people with disabilities, according to Huang, who said that was one of the main critiques online. She pointed to Erjiu's limited education and limited career opportunities as examples of real barriers that people with disabilities face in China.

In 2006, the China National Sample Survey on Disability found the country's disabled population stood at just under 83 million, or 6.34% of the total 1.3 billion. The World Health Organization says 15% of the world's population is disabled.

Zhang Jianping, an independent legal worker in Jiangsu province who has paraplegia, or paralysis in lower parts of the body, agrees with Huang. After state media outlets including the People's Daily and Xinhua began promoting the film as a positive depiction of one man triumphing over adversity, viewers started to think more critically about what they were watching, he said.

Viewers grew frustrated that the government "seemed to have no responsibility for people with disabilities," Zhang told VOA Mandarin in an interview. "State media originally wanted to promote it as positive, but then the film lost its value. It seemed like public opinion was changing, so they quickly removed it."

This film is an example of a "supercrip" narrative, according to University of California, Santa Barbara professor Hangping Xu, referring to stereotypical stories about people who miraculously overcome their disability and succeed. These narratives are often intended to inspire able-bodied people, he added.

"In this film, suffering is fetishized and justified," Xu told VOA Mandarin in an interview. "The story seems to suggest that with enough stamina and fortitude, suffering can lead to greater wisdom."

China's disability rights record parallels its broader human rights record  both of which are poor. In a July submission to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern about the Chinese government's noncompliance with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which China ratified in 2008. Progress has been slow since.

The Chinese government still shackles people with psychosocial disabilities, according to HRW, and people with disabilities continue to face barriers to education. Over 40% of people with disabilities in China are illiterate, according to a 2013 HRW report.

"China attaches great importance to ensuring the basic livelihood of persons with disabilities, improving their quality of life and promoting their all-round development," Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington, told VOA Mandarin in an email.

"A special welfare system has been established at the national level, covering tens of millions of disabled people, including living allowances, nursing subsidies, and rehabilitation assistance for children," he continued.

Pengyu also told VOA that the enrollment rate of disabled children and adolescents in compulsory education exceeded 95%. In 2013, HRW reported that about 28% of children with disabilities were not receiving compulsory basic education. The report is the most recently available research.

About 15 million people with disabilities live on less than $1 per day in the Chinese countryside, according to HRW.

In China, "it's difficult for people with disabilities to survive," said Zhang, who has paraplegia due to a traffic accident many years ago. To the government, "people with disabilities are nothing at all."

Huang wasn't surprised that the film prompted so much backlash online.

Central to the film is the concept of self-reliance, something Beijing values. The depiction of that theme appears to have struck a chord among Chinese viewers, Huang said.

"There's a lot of social dissatisfaction," Huang said, pointing to China's economic downturn, rising unemployment rate and extreme COVID-19 restrictions as some recent factors. "So this film might be triggering people's dissatisfaction about those social problems."

Zhang, the legal worker, told VOA Mandarin that he thought state media initially hyped the film in an attempt to distract people from the country's current economic troubles. Lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as part of the official "Zero COVID" policy hobbled factories and exports and reduced consumer spending.

"State media had to use this seemingly positive story to make people feel hopeful. But state media did not expect people to reflect further," Zhang said.

"It is normal for people from all walks of life to have their own comments and opinions on videos," Pengyu of the Chinese embassy told VOA.

Despite the weight the Chinese government places on self-reliance, Huang said, Beijing also benefits from presenting itself as the protector of China's people. Since this film threatens that narrative, Huang wasn't surprised that state media worked to suppress it.

"The life story of Erjiu definitely does not fit into that state narrative of how well it protects the vulnerable portion of its population," Huang said. "It damages the moral legitimacy of the paternalistic state."
A gang riot inside a border prison that left two inmates dead quickly spread to the streets of Ciudad Juarez where alleged gang members killed nine more people, including four employees of a radio station, security officials said Friday.

The surge in violence recalled a far more deadly period in Juarez more than a decade earlier. Mexico's powerful drug cartels commonly use local gangs to defend their territory and carry out their vendettas.

The federal government's security undersecretary, Ricardo Mejia Berdeja, said the violence started inside the state prison after 1 p.m. Thursday, when members of the Los Mexicles gang attacked members of the rival Chapos.

Two inmates were killed and 20 injured.

Then suspected gang members outside the prison began burning businesses and shooting up Ciudad Juarez.

"They attacked the civilian, innocent population like a sort of revenge," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said. "It wasn't just the clash between two groups, but it got to the point in which they began to shoot civilians, innocent people. That is the most unfortunate thing in this affair."

Mejia said four employees of MegaRadio who were broadcasting a live promotional event outside a business were killed in the shooting.

Chihuahua state Attorney General Roberto Fierro Duarte said that a boy wounded in a shooting at a convenience store died later at the hospital, two women were killed in a fire at another gas station convenience store and two other men were shot elsewhere in the city.

Fierro said 10 suspects had been arrested.

Targeting civilians is not unheard of. In June of last year, a rival faction of the Gulf cartel entered the border city of Reynosa and killed 14 people the governor identified as "innocent citizens." The military responded and killed four suspected gunmen.

Known for violence

Ciudad Juarez has long had a reputation for violence. Gangs like those involved in the riot often serve as proxies and street-level enforcers for Mexico's powerful drug cartels who aggressively exert control over the border crossing routes they need to move their product to the United States.

While still high, murders in recent years were well below what they were more than decade ago  about 1,400 last year compared with more than 3,600 in 2010  according to data from Molly Molloy, a retired border specialist at the New Mexico State University Library, who has tracked the city's homicide data for many years and posts regular updates to her Frontera List.

Authorities said Juarez appeared calm Friday, but the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez moved all of its classes online Friday as a precaution.

The violence came two days after drug cartel gunmen burned vehicles and businesses in the western states of Jalisco and Guanajuato in response to the arrest of a high-ranking cartel leader.
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a statement that because Malian leaders of the U.N. mission to Mali, MINUSMA, denied overflight rights, the German mission must stop all reconnaissance and transport operations until further notice.

The comments from Lambrecht were posted Friday to the defense ministrys Twitter account.

In them, Lambrecht said she had spoken with Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara, to describe to him the irritations about problems with denial of flight permissions.

Lambrecht also said that Germany can only stay involved with MINUSMA in Mali if this doesn't happen again and we are welcome in the country.

Germany provides more than 1,000 soldiers to the U.N. mission to Mali.

There was no immediate comment from Malian and MINUSMA officials.

The episode is another sign of tension between Malis military rulers and foreign military forces stationed in Mali to help stabilize the country.

In July, Mali arrested 49 soldiers from Ivory Coast who came to Mali to support a U.N. contingent, calling them mercenaries. After MINUSMA spokesperson Olivier Salgado said on Twitter that Mali had been notified of the soldiers arrival, he was expelled from the country.

French forces are in the final stages of withdrawing from Mali, following increasing tensions with the government and concerns over Mali working with mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company with ties to the Kremlin. The government has said it works only with official Russian instructors.

Earlier this week, Mali received a shipment of military aircraft from Russia, the latest of multiple shipments of aircraft and weapons from the countrys new ally in the decade-long fight against Islamist insurgents.
August is a significant month for international human rights organizations and the Uyghur diaspora, who have been anticipating a long-promised report on Xinjiang from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

"As we have said, the high commissioner has committed to publishing the report before her term finishes at the end of the month," OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell told VOA.

Ahead of High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet's departure from her office and her planned release of OHCHR's human rights assessment in Xinjiang, China in recent weeks has ramped up its pressure on Bachelet to bury the Xinjiang human rights report through letter and email campaigns.

Pressure from China

Last week, the state-run publication China Daily reported that Uyghurs in Xinjiang sent emails to Bachelet, sharing their "personal stories and expressing anger" at learning about how the region is portrayed by "anti-China forces."

"Many witnesses and families of the victims of terrorism hope that Bachelet can learn more about the impact of the brutal attacks by reading their emails," the China Daily wrote, referencing a report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua. "From 1990 to 2016, separatists, extremists and terrorists plotted and carried out thousands of terror attacks in Xinjiang."

The China Daily said Beijing's solution to fighting terrorism is to set up "vocational education and training centers to help those who may be influenced by terrorism and extremism."

"[O]ur office receives a lot of emails, both from individuals and also more organized email campaigns, and we don't comment on such correspondence," Throssell told VOA when asked about the emails.

Last month, Reuters reported that Beijing sent a letter to the U.N. rights chief asking her not to release the assessment on the human rights situation in Xinjiang out of "grave concern" that if published it would further politicize human rights in China.

Human rights organizations

International human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as countries including the U.S. accuse China of human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang. The accusations include mass arbitrary incarceration of Muslims in internment camps, forced labor, forced sterilization of women, and forced separation of school-aged children from their parents. Beijing has repeatedly denied the accusations as "fabrication" by forces hostile to China.

After years of negotiations for "unfettered access" to the Uyghur region of Xinjiang, Bachelet finally traveled in May to China, including Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of the mass incarceration of nearly 2 million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim populations.

During her visit, international rights groups accused Bachelet of being soft on China and urged her to "publicly acknowledge the scale and gravity of human rights violations being committed by the Chinese government," Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary-general, said on the organization's website.

While in China, critics said, Bachelet referred to Xinjiang detention centers as "vocational and educational training centers," using China's own terminology, and asked the Beijing government to review counterterrorism measures. Bachelet also praised China's achievements in poverty alleviation and health care. She did not publicly denounce the widely reported accusations of human rights abuses faced by Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang since 2016, causing a firestorm on social media.

The U.S. State Department also raised concerns that Bachelet and her team's visit to China was restricted and manipulated by China.

"We are further troubled by reports that residents of Xinjiang were warned not to complain or speak openly about conditions in the region, that no insight was provided into the whereabouts of hundreds of missing Uyghurs and conditions for over a million individuals in detention," according to a State Department press statement.

Xinjiang human rights assessment

According to Bachelet's office, Beijing will be given an opportunity to comment on the final U.N. human rights assessment on Xinjiang before it is released.

"As with all reports by OHCHR, once it is final, the report will be shared with the authorities for factual comments before publication. The report will need to be updated with our interactions and observations from the visit," Throssell wrote to VOA in an email.

She told VOA Bachelet's "access was limited" and pointed out that the trip was not intended to be an investigation into the alleged rights violations in Xinjiang.

Last Friday, Republican Senator Marco Rubio called on Bachelet to "immediately release" the report and "reject" the pressure from the Chinese government.

"As you approach your departure as high commissioner on August 31, the report remains buried while CCP diplomats reportedly conduct a flurry of confidential lobbying to halt its release," Rubio said in a statement on his website. "Do not let the CCP further taint your tenure as commissioner by withholding the report a minute longer."

After her China visit, Bachelet told reporters in June that she would release the report before she stepped down at the end of her four-year term.
Hollywood screenwriter and director Michael Mann and veteran thriller writer Meg Gardiner have achieved a rarity with their novel Heat 2: a screen-to-page sequel that stands tall on its own.

When the screen goes dark at the end of Manns 1995 crime drama Heat, professional thief Neil McCauley (played by Robert De Niro) and most of his crew are dead, put in their graves either by police or rivals. The sole survivor, a wounded Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), leaves behind his wife and son to avoid capture.

The Los Angeles Police Department is bloodied, too, by a broad-daylight firefight outside a downtown bank. A robbery-homicide division detective, Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), has shot and killed McCauley mano-a-mano near the L.A. airport. Hanna had felt an affinity for McCauley, both professionals who sacrifice their personal lives to be true to themselves. They understood and respected each other.

In Heat 2 Mann and Gardiner return to these complex and compelling characters  McCauley, Shiherlis and Hanna  but watching the movie first isn't a must to enjoy the book, just a pleasure.

What can happen with one character dead, one on the lam and one emotionally drained? Mann and Gardiner play with time, weaving prequel tales for McCauley and Hanna with a present-day storyline for Shiherlis and Hanna. But such cleverness doesn't overlook expanding these characters, and each one gets a new facet to a self-destructive trait: McCauley's cynicism, Shiherlis' sensation-seeking and Hanna's anger.

Slick as a Neil McCauley heist and as intense as a Vincent Hanna chase, Heat 2 is just dynamite.
A member of Pakistan's minority Ahmadi community was stabbed to death in central Punjab province Friday after refusing to chant slogans in praise of a far-right Islamic party.



Police identified the victim as 62-year-old Naseer Ahmad, saying they immediately took the assailant into custody. The fatal attack happened in Rabwah, home to the country's long-persecuted minority community.



The chief spokesman for the minority group said the victim was waiting at the city's main bus stop to travel to a graveyard to pay his respects, a ritual for many Ahmadis.



Saleem ud Din said a "religious fanatic" approached and asked Ahmad to raise slogans of a radical Islamic party. He repeatedly attacked Ahmad "with a dagger and killed him for not chanting the slogans," he added.



The deceased was an active community member, the spokesman added, confirming the assailant had been arrested. Police officials said they had launched an investigation into the fatal stabbing incident.

Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, but the Pakistani parliament declared them to be non-Muslim in 1974 and further amended its laws in 1984 to prohibit community members from "indirectly or directly posing as Muslims." The minority sect is also barred from declaring or propagating its faith publicly and building places of worship in Pakistan.



The restrictions, critics say, have fomented both social and legal persecution of the community, leading to the killing of scores of Ahmadis across Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country of about 220 million.



The minority group blames radical Islamic leaders for often publicly denouncing Ahmadis and promising that their killing will earn a place in heaven.



Local and international rights groups have regularly expressed concern about the persecution of Ahmadis and criticized successive Pakistani governments for not doing enough to protect them.

"These repressive laws and policies largely contribute to the systemic and societal discrimination against Ahmadiyya [Ahmadi] Muslims in Pakistan  discrimination that government officials often publicly support and enflame," the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said last week.



The independent bipartisan U.S. government entity, which monitors and reports on threats to religious freedom, said that Pakistani hardline clerics, religious groups, politicians and political parties often use anti-Ahmadi laws as a rallying point.



"Officials' use of fiery language incites violence and harassment of Ahmadis, including targeted killings, desecration of graves, demolition of Ahmadiyya mosques, unofficial boycotts of businesses, hate speech including from government officials, and online harassment," it said.



Pakistan is often under fire for crimes against members of its religious minorities, including Christians, Ahmadi and Shi'ite Muslims, and Hindus.
Taiwans foreign minister said Friday that additional foreign delegations are more than welcome in Taipei, insisting his government will not be deterred by Chinas furious reaction to last weeks visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In an exclusive interview with VOA, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu also criticized Chinas military exercises held in response to Pelosis visit, accusing Beijing of wrecking the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

Wu said Taiwan will not be prevented from conducting its own foreign policy.

We need to remember that if we are doing the right things, the Chinese anger should not stop us from doing so," Wu said. They can always find excuses to threaten Taiwan militarily," he added.

After Pelosis visit, China surrounded Taiwan for several days with unprecedented, large-scale military exercises. Chinese state media described the drills as rehearsals to invade or blockade the island.

However, Chinas response does not appear to be deterring visits by similar high-level foreign delegations that want to show support for the democratically run island.

A senior group of British lawmakers plans to visit Taiwan later this year, according to The Guardian. U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also recently said he would visit Taiwan as House speaker, if his Republican Party wins November midterm elections.

Anyone who wants to come to Taiwan to show their support, they are more than welcome to visit us, Wu told VOA during the interview at Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

U.S. congressional delegations routinely make solidarity trips to Taiwan, though Pelosis visit was the first by a U.S. House speaker in 25 years.

China views such shows of support as violations of its sovereignty. It says Taiwan has been a part of China for hundreds of years and does not rule out force to retake it, even though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the island.

Rejection of China's claims

China has long proposed a one country, two systems policy for Taiwan, which would theoretically provide the island more autonomy following a hypothetical unification with China.

But earlier this week, China's government released a white paper indicating Beijing would offer even less flexibility to Taiwan than promised earlier.

The white paper, the first of its kind in about two decades, outlines the policies that China envisions for Taiwan.

Past versions of the document have included a line saying China would not send troops or administrative personnel to Taiwan after reunification. That line was removed in the latest iteration.

The document did not renounce the use of force to retake Taiwan but said China prefers to unify peacefully. It also vowed Taiwan would maintain its current social system and a high degree of autonomy.

The white paper reiterates lots of statements or principles that the Taiwanese people have no interest in, said Wu, calling the one country, two systems proposal a fantasy.

That kind of idea has been destroyed  totally destroyed  by the way the Chinese government is treating Hong Kong, Wu added.

China also promised a high degree of autonomy to Hong Kong when it retook the former British colony. But a wide-ranging national security law China imposed in 2020 largely eroded freedoms there.

The people here in Taiwan watched it andknow that that is something we dont want to accept, Wu said.

Just 1.6% of Taiwanese support unification with China, according to an opinion poll conducted in November. An overwhelming majority also said they oppose declaring independence, with 85% saying they support maintaining the status quo.

With Taiwanese public opinion firmly set against Beijing, some Chinese diplomats are resorting to threats. Earlier this month, Chinas ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, told a French television program that China would impose re-education programs to instill loyalty after China takes Taiwan.

The proposal prompted a mixture of anger and amusement in Taiwan, where residents have long dealt with Chinas threats. Asked about Lus comment, Wu said Taiwanese citizens will laugh him out of town.

Freedom and democracy have become part of our lives. And we believe in that. If the Chinese government wants to change that, the Taiwanese people are going to say no way, he said.

The Taiwanese people, he said, understand China is becoming very provocative and very reckless in its actions toward Taiwan.

China wrecking the status quo

Although China announced an end to the military drills earlier this week, Wu said the threat remains, noting that Chinese fighter jets continue to cross the so-called median line in the Taiwan Strait.

The median line, which serves as a de facto sea border, has for decades safeguard[ed] peace and stability, according to Wu. Recent provocations near the line are a clear sign of China wrecking the status quo, he said.

Observers are watching closely to see if China continues median line incursions and other provocations in the coming months. If China were to regularize its military presence closer to Taiwan, it would increase the chance of miscalculation and might result in less strategic space for Taiwans military to maneuver.

During Chinas recent drills, U.S. aircraft carriers and other military assets have stayed relatively far away. Pentagon officials have emphasized de-escalation, saying they do not want a war to break out. But that approach has allowed China's military to get closer than ever to Taiwan, some Taiwanese analysts warn.

While Taiwan "does not want to give an inch" to China, Wu said he understands the U.S. decision to stay calm. We are doing the same thing. We are not trying to provoke China, he said. We will stay calm, and we will stay confident at the same time. We want to be a responsible stakeholder in this region.
Journalists working for VOA had their live broadcast interrupted as authorities moved in to arrest them while they were covering a protest in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Sulaymaniyah.

Reporter Snur Karim and video journalist Mohammed Azad Majeed were filming with permission in a market area of the city on August 6 when security forces seized the journalists equipment and phones and drove them at high speed to the security headquarters, where they were questioned.

Karim said she was kept in a sweltering prison cell and forced to sign a document without knowing what it said.

VOA said that it was extremely dismayed by the detention and that Karims colleagues had sounded the alarm in Washington after seeing security disrupt the Facebook Live broadcast.

We remain very concerned about this incident, particularly given that our team was reporting on scene, with appropriate authorization, VOAs public relations team said in a statement.

At least 20 journalists were detained or harassed August 5-6 in relation to protests organized by an opposition political party over the rising cost of living, rights groups said.

In an account of her arrest, shared with VOA, Karim said she felt pressured by security forces. She said she believed authorities gained access to her confiscated phone without her permission.

Colonel Yasin Samei, a spokesperson for Sulaymaniyah Security Directorate, did not comment directly on Karims case. He told VOA that those who believed they were disrespected or had equipment taken should file complaints with the authorities.

The following account from Karim has been translated and edited for length and clarity.

--------

We were filming a Facebook Live broadcast inside a market in Sulaymaniyah when security agents suddenly grabbed the cellphone I was using, arrested me and my cameraman, Mohammed Azad, and seized our equipment.

Under pressure, I was forced to hand over the code of my mobile and was told we could not inform VOA or our families of our arrest.

The security forces put us in a minibus with tinted windows. Inside were teenagers and young people, who had been arrested for protesting.

One asked, What have we done? Why are you arresting us? But a security agent just told them to be quiet.

We were transferred to the security agency headquarters like members of a criminal gang and thrown around as the vehicle sped through the city at a high rate of speed. I worried we would be in an accident.

Taken from vehicle

Once the vehicle stopped, we were dragged out and shuffled through a large number of security men. We were escorted through a yard where I saw a large number of teenagers  young people who had been at the protests, many of whom appeared to be under 18  sitting on the ground with armed guards keeping watch.

According to one guard, a 12-year-old boy among the detainees cried in terror when he saw the armed men.

The way the security men looked at me, in a suggestive way, made me feel violated.

Several times I asked for my phone so I could contact my family. They refused.

We were taken in front of security guards, who started asking questions: our names and those of our family; where we lived and what we did. We were asked about political affiliations, even the model of our cars.

They asked stranger questions: Do we drink? Do we smoke hookah? What tribe do you belong to?

The tone was disrespectful and the questions prying. It scared me. I was thinking, What if they think I am a call girl? The questions about my car made me worry that I could be targeted later. What if someone recognizes it?

Forced to sign form

The guards then made me sign a form without giving me the chance to read it.

I was taken to the womens section of the building, where a female employee was told to watch me. I asked her for my phone so I could send a text message, but she refused.

The room they kept me in looked like an animals cage, with bars on the ceiling. It had no air conditioning and the temperature was around 95 F.

Another woman was in the same room. We both called out that it was too hot and asked for the door to be opened. The employees refused and told us to stop screaming.

More women were in a neighboring room. I asked an employee who they were and she said their cases varied but most related to drugs.

After around two hours, someone called my name.

I was taken to the head office, where I saw my cameraman, Azad. He had not been treated much better, held in the yard with other men and teenagers, all of them forced to sit on the ground.

At the head office, the official treated us with respect and said he had an order for our release. We asked for our equipment, especially my phone, but he said it was with the IT section and would be returned later.

We left but returned an hour later to see if we could get the phone. Again, we were told no.

We returned a third time, at 10 p.m., nearly four hours after the phone had been seized. The same official was there. I expressed my wariness that they had a copy of my data. He denied anything was done to my phone, but I have my doubts.

Phone returned, with note

When the phone was returned, a piece of paper was taped to the back. On it, someone had written my name, VOA, and the phones access code. With that information, anyone could easily have accessed the phone and seen my apps and personal folders.

For four hours, my mobile was in the hands of security forces. I worry that its data may have been copied. The guards themselves said the IT department had taken the phone.

They had forced me to provide the code to open it, but they should have had a judges order to do that.

Our treatment violated universal human rights, as well as local and international law. It was done without respect to media and, as a woman, I felt disrespected.

We were not harmed physically, but from the moment of our arrest until we were freed was a time of mental injury and violation.

Dilshad Anwa contributed to this report, which originated in VOAs Kurdish Service.
Senegalese President Macky Sall's coalition narrowly won last month's legislative election, according to final results, but has kept its absolute majority in parliament thanks to a new alliance.



The president's coalition, which includes his party Alliance for the Republic (APR) and other parties, won 82 seats of the national assembly's 165, the constitutional council, Senegal's highest court, said late Thursday.



The figure was down from the 125 it won in 2017.



But Sall's camp got an absolute majority of 83 seats after joining forces with an opposition MP, Pape Diop, a former president of the assembly and the senate.



Diop, whose coalition won one seat, told a press conference in Dakar Thursday he joined the coalition to ensure Senegal does not suffer "a block on the functioning of its institutions".



Since Senegal is led by the president, Diop warned "a national assembly placed under the control of the opposition will inevitably lead to an institutional crisis".



The opposition alliance won 80 seats in total, with 56 for "Yewwi Askan Wi" ("Liberate the People" in Wolof) -- a coalition led by the main opponent Ousmane Sonko -- and 24 for the "Wallu Senegal" ("Save Senegal") coalition, led by former president Abdoulaye Wade.



Two other members of parliament come from the ranks of two small party coalitions.



Senegal's main opposition alliance announced this week it would not appeal the results to the constitutional council because of a lack of confidence in the court's independence.



The council has rejected allegations that it is influenced by the ruling party.



Yewwi Askan Wi had complained on August 4 about the vote-counting commission "refusing" to let it verify the voting records in four localities in the north of the country, a stronghold of Sall.



With a presidential election due in 2024, the opposition had wanted to control parliament in hopes of imposing on the ruling camp an uncomfortable "cohabitation" arrangement.



The president, who was elected in 2012 for seven years and re-elected in 2019 for five years, has so far remained vague about his future plans.



He has promised to appoint a prime minister -- a position he abolished in 2019 and reinstated in December 2021 -- from the winning party in last month's election.
Authorities in the breakaway region of Somaliland say the death toll from clashes between police and opposition supporters this week has risen to five, with nearly 100 others injured. Despite the violence, opposition leader Abdirahman Irro said the protests will continue, raising activist fears of more casualties.

The president of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, said Thursday night that until further notice, anyone trying to hold violent protests and organize violence will be stopped and confronted. He said Thursdays protest was the first in 30 years that the government authorized, and that protesters were told where to go when demonstrating but they didnt recognize that, and it is a national treason to protest.

The president accused Irro, the leader of the main opposition Wadani party, of wanting to create a Sri Lanka-like protest to overthrow Abdi's government.

Thursdays protests in the regions main cities were called by opposition party leaders, demanding that elections be held as scheduled in November of this year.

At a news conference shared on Twitter, Irro vowed the protests will continue and said that security forces used "brutal" force and torture.

He said protesters were holding only signs, placards, and whistles while marching to express their feelings peacefully, but the government used all its power, including live bullets, poison, torture, imprisonment, intimidation, and obstruction of rights.

The leader of another opposition party, Faysal Ali Warabe, said after the clashes that the opposition will form a parallel interim government.

Warabe told VOA earlier on the phone that lawmakers constitutional terms have already expired and the people need to see the election held before November this year.

Human rights activists in Somaliland expressed concerns about the clashes and the election dispute, calling on the international community to intervene in the dispute between the two sides.

Ahmed Yusuf Hussien, a Somaliland-based human rights activist, told VOA that the situation has worsened since negotiations ended in failure.

"I want to send a call to the international community to intervene in the dialogue between the government and the opposition because previous negotiations that involved religious scholars, traditional elders and intellectuals were unfruitful," he said. "So, to avoid further failure, I call upon the international community to intervene.

The U.S. Embassy in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, urged the ruling party and opposition leaders in Somaliland to avoid violence during the demonstrations and return quickly to political dialogue.

In a short statement, the U.S. Embassy said failure to reach agreement on elections threatens Somalilands achievements in democratic governance.

Somaliland is a self-ruling region of northern Somalia that declared independence in 1991 but has not received recognition from the international community.
Twenty suspects were due in a South African court Friday to face charges of instigating riots and civil unrest that left hundreds dead and brought the country to a near-standstill last year.

Riots in July 2021 left more than 300 dead and shut down many of the countrys roads and ports.

More than a year later, police say theyre bringing the instigators of the unrest to justice. Twenty people were detained Thursday, South African police said in a statement.

They are due in court Friday afternoon in the eastern port city of Durban, which was the epicenter of the unrest.

The protests started when former president Jacob Zuma was arrested for refusing to appear before an inquiry panel into state graft under his tenure.

The marches quickly spiraled into violence and looting over several days, spreading from Zumas home province of KwaZulu-Natal to the financial center of Johannesburg.

Destruction of infrastructure and the looting of stores and malls cost the countrys economy an estimated $3.3 billion.

Last month, Defense Minister Thandi Modise told a news conference that only 50 people had been convicted in relation to the violence.

The perceived lack of justice has been a cause of frustration for victims and many across the country, fearing lawlessness without consequence.

More than 8,000 incidents were reported, leading to 5,500 arrests, the defense minister has said, with 2,435 cases still to reach court.

The 20 arrested on Thursday face charges that include conspiracy to commit public violence, incitement to commit public violence and incitement to commit arson.

Police say more arrests are imminent.
South Koreas president will pardon Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong with a year left on his sentence for bribing former President Park Guen-Hye as part of the massive corruption scandal that toppled Parks government, the justice minister announced Friday.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and two other top business leaders will be pardoned as well, extending South Koreas history of leniency toward convicted business tycoons and major white-collar crimes. They are among some 1,700 people President Yoon Suk Yeol will pardon Monday, a national holiday celebrating Koreas liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II.

The pardon of Lee, one year after he was released on parole, underscores Samsungs huge influence over a country that relies on its technology exports. He was convicted of bribing Park and her close confidante, who both were sentenced to lengthier prison terms, to win government support for a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that tightened Lees control over the corporate empire.

Lottes Shin received a suspended prison term in 2018 on similar charges of bribing Park, whom then-President Moon Jae-in pardoned in December. Other business leaders to be pardoned are Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill, and former STX Group Chairman Kang Duk-soo.

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said the pardons of the business tycoons were aimed at overcoming the economic crisis through encouraging business activity. Yoon earlier told reporters that his pardons could help create breathing room for struggling domestic livelihoods.

Lee, 54, runs the Samsung group in his capacity as vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, one of the worlds largest makers of computer memory chips and smartphones. He had a year left on his 30-month sentence when he was freed on parole in August last year by Moons government, which then defended its decision on unspecified concerns related to the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement released through Samsung, Lee said he expresses his sincere gratitude for receiving an opportunity to start anew.

I want to express my apologies for causing concerns for many people because of my shortcomings. I will work even harder to fulfill my responsibilities and duties as a businessperson, Lee said.

Lee still faces a separate trial on charges of stock price manipulation and auditing violations related to the 2015 merger.

Opinion polls have indicated South Koreans  years removed from the angry protests in late 2016 and 2017 that ousted Park from office  largely favored granting Lee a pardon, reflecting Samsungs influence in a country where it provides smartphones, TVs and credit cards people use, the apartments they live in and the hospitals where they are born or go to die.

Business leaders and politicians had also called for Lees pardon, which they said would allow Samsung to be bolder and quicker in business decisions by fully reinstating his rights to run the business empire. South Koreas law bans people convicted of major financial crimes from returning to work for five years following the end of their sentences.

Critics say Lee has always been in control of Samsung, even when he was behind bars, and pretty much fully resumed his management duties following his parole. Former Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, who served under the Moon government, had defended Lees involvement in Samsungs management following his parole, insisting that his activities werent in violation of the five-year ban because the billionaire heir wasnt receiving wages from Samsung.

Park Geun-hye was convicted of a broad range of corruption crimes, including colluding with her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, to take millions of dollars in bribes and extortion from Samsung and other major companies while she was in office.

She faced a prison term of more than two decades before Moon pardoned her in December, citing a need to promote unity in the politically divided nation. Choi remains in jail.

Chang was released on parole in 2018 with about six months left on a 3 1/2 year prison term over charges that he embezzled millions of dollars in corporate funds and used some of it to gamble in Las Vegas.

South Koreas Supreme Court last year confirmed a suspended prison sentence for Kang, who headed STX from 2003-14, on charges of embezzling corporate funds and other crimes.
South Koreas newly appointed human rights envoy for North Korea called upon the international community to cooperate with Seoul to improve the human rights of those living under the Kim Jong Un regime.

Lee Shin-hwa, a political science professor at Korea University in Seoul, said she believes such an effort is necessary for the survival of the people in what Human Rights Watch describes as one of the most repressive countries in the world.

Lee is two weeks into her new position that began on July 28 and holds the formal title of ambassador of international cooperation on North Korea human rights.

The position, created in 2016 as a part of the North Korean Human Rights Act, was left unfilled for nearly five years during the administration of former President Moon Jae-in, who prioritized inter-Korean reconciliation efforts.

In an interview with VOA in Seoul on August 3, Lee emphasized that the issue of North Koreas human rights is the issue of the international community.

The improvement of human rights issues and the growth of democracy are on a parallel path, Lee said. With that understanding in mind, we must approach North Korean human rights not only as an issue to be worked out between South Korea and North Korea but by [the] international community based on the values of universal human rights.

North Korea is recognized for violating the basic rights of its citizens such as the freedoms of movement, speech and assembly. The regime, ruled by three generations of the Kim family, uses torture, forced labor and extrajudicial killings to maintain control.

According to the final report that Tomas Ojea Quintana, former U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea from 2016 to July 2022, submitted to the U.N. in March, human rights in the country have deteriorated over the past six years.

To the people of North Korea, the issue of human rights is the issue of survival, Lee said. To the regime of North Korea, the issue is uncomfortable truth. It is truth the regime wants to hide.

She continued, We have come upon this important crossroad where democratic countries emphasize human security while Pyongyang wants to maintain the regime security.

She added that trying to improve human rights and inter-Korean ties should not be a paradoxical pursuit. She said failing to deal with human rights abuses for the sake of pursuing talks Pyongyang would find upsetting is not the right approach.

The Kim regime believes its tight control of the people and its nuclear weapon and missile developments are critical to its security. The Moon government was often criticized for pursuing inter-Korean reconciliation while overlooking human rights.

In March, Human Rights Watch and 29 nongovernmental organizations wrote a letter to Moon, criticizing his lack of human rights dialogue with the North and his failure to join the international community in co-sponsoring U.N. resolutions condemning North Koreas human rights abuses since 2019.

Repatriation

Lees appointment also comes amid renewed attention to the Moon governments repatriation of two North Korean fishermen who tried to defect to the South in 2019.

South Koreas Unification Ministry released photos in July showing the men being dragged across the inter-Korean border at the Panmunjom truce village apparently against their will.

The Moon government at the time said they were suspected of murdering crew members on the boat they used to come to the South.

Lee said forced repatriation violates both international law and domestic law. She pointed out that South Korea is party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol to that convention. She added that South Koreas judicial system, like that of the U.S., presumes innocence until proven guilty.

She said the international community should raise its voice against Chinas forced repatriation of North Korean refugees and continue to tell China it is violating international law.

The 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released by the U.S. State Department in April, said China repatriated approximately 50 North Korean escapees after July 14, 2021, when North Korea partially eased COVID restrictions on entry to the country to allow forcible repatriation.

North Koreans forcibly repatriated are likely to face severe punishment. The principle of non-refoulement under international human rights law says no people should be returned to countries where there are reasonable grounds to believe they will be subjected to persecution.

According to Human Rights Watch, China, which labels North Koreans as illegal economic migrants, is currently holding at least 1,170 North Koreans in detention.

Lee said one of the most crucial aspects of her job is documenting North Koreas human rights violations and, along with new U.N. special rapporteur Elizabeth Salmon, making efforts to hold the regime accountable for its abuses.

Although violations cannot be punished now, we can take legal actions later, said Lee. That in itself could put incredible pressure on the North Korean regime.

Lee, tasked with coordinating efforts of international organizations, nongovernment organizations and foreign governments, said further that stalled dialogue with Pyongyang should not hinder international efforts to improve human rights.

"It is wrong to think that we cannot improve human rights in North Korea when inter-Korean dialogue remains stalled, Lee said.

Inter-Korean dialogue, as well as talks between the U.S. and North Korea, have been stalled since 2019. This year, Pyongyang has conducted 18 weapons tests while preparing a nuclear test that the U.S. and South Korea said could happen anytime.

Lee believes improving human rights must be accompanied by humanitarian support but not at the expense of violating sanctions imposed to curb North Koreas nuclear and missile programs.

Humanitarian work is one of the most important aspects of improving human rights, she said.

However, she continued, We can never violate U.N. and [other] international sanctions put in place because of North Koreas nuclear weapons. No matter how hard it is  I believe denuclearization must be achieved.

Lee added, In providing the most basic humanitarian support through the U.N.s World Food Program and [the] Food and Agriculture Organization, as well as UNICEF, South Korea needs to lead the way, despite domestic economic difficulties.

North Korea suffers from chronic food shortages, and according to Quintanas U.N. report, food shortages seem to have worsened since January 2020, when the regime ordered strict COVID-19 lockdown measures. The quarantine measures led to the withdrawal of international aid groups.

Pyongyang proclaimed victory over the coronavirus this week, claiming zero cases of fever, the state Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday. It is unclear whether North Korea will further ease measures and allow aid groups to return.

Kim Hyungjin and Lee Juhyun contributed to this report.
A survey finds that Afghanistan has lost nearly 60 percent of its journalists, especially women reporters, and 40 percent of its national media outlets since the Taliban regained control of the country a year ago.



All this has happened amid a deep economic crisis and crackdown on press freedom, according to the survey published by Reporters Without Borders, a global media monitor group known by its French acronym RSF.



The findings have been released in connection with the radical Islamic groups first year in power in Kabul.



The impoverished, war-torn South Asian nation has lost 219 of the 547 media outlets it used to have prior to August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized the Afghan capital and subsequently installed an all-male interim government, RSF said. However, it noted that four new media outlets have since been created.



Of the 11,857 journalists tallied prior to the Taliban takeover, a total of 7,098 of them, 55 percent of whom were males, are no longer working in Afghanistan.



The survey noted that women have suffered most in the carnage inflicted on Afghan journalism. More than 76 percent of them have lost their jobs and disappeared completely from the media landscape in 11 of the countrys 34 provinces.



Accusations of immorality or conduct contrary to societys values are widely used as pretexts for harassing women journalists and sending them home, the report stated. Women TV presenters have been made to cover their faces while on camera.



Journalism has been decimated during the past year in Afghanistan, said RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire.



Media and journalists are being subjected to iniquitous regulations that restrict media freedom and open the way to repression and persecution, he lamented.



Deloire urged the Taliban to end the violence and harassment inflicted on media workers, and he said they must allow them to do their job unmolested.



Allegations denied



Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban foreign ministry spokesman, refuted allegations his government is cracking down on dissent or suppressing media freedom in the country.



In line with international practices, all reporters and networks operating inside a country have to respect and follow the media laws of that country, Balkhi told VOA.



The new government of Afghanistan has not requested anything extra nor has it used heavy-handedness in dealing with the media, he argued.

Last month, the Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, issued a new decree warning that defaming and criticizing government officials without proof and spreading false news and rumors are forbidden under Islam. It promised unspecified punishment for those who slander government employees.



The announcement by the highest Taliban official is indicative of the determination to suppress press Afghan media freedom, RSF said.



The survey also cited new economic constraints, such as the termination of international or national funding and the decline in advertising revenue as a result of the economic crisis, for some Afghan media to cease operating.



Of the 2,756 women journalists and media workers employed in Afghanistan prior to August 15, only 656 are still working, with 84.6 percent of them based in the Kabul region.



A large number of Afghan male and female journalists fled the country after the Taliban takeover and as the United States and NATO allies withdrew their troops in mid-August of last year.



Some women journalists, however, decided against leaving the country, RSF said. They include Mean Habib, the director of RouidadNews, a news agency based in the Afghan capital that she created after the August 15 leadership change in Kabul.



I preferred to stay in my country to report the news and to defend what women had achieved during the past 20 years, Habib told RSF.



She said living and working conditions for women journalists in Afghanistan had always been difficult, but they are experiencing an unprecedented situation under Taliban rule. Female media workers who have the opportunity to work are doing so for a wretched salary, Habib lamented.



They do their duty to report the news on an empty stomach. They work in conditions that are physically and mentally violent and tiring, without any protection. Today, all the associations defending journalists rights are made up entirely of men, and work for men!



Hafizullah Barakzai, who heads the Council of Journalists in Afghanistan, told RSF that the economy was the most important problem facing media outlets and workers. He noted that the number of cases of violence has decreased compared with recent years, despite the increase in threats during the first months after August 15.



In 2012, Afghanistan was ranked 150th out of 179 countries in RSFs Press Freedom Index.



The global monitor group said that the country had risen to 122nd out of 180 countries by 2021, citing a dynamic media landscape and the adoption of legislation protecting journalists. And in 2022, after losing nearly 40% of its media and more than half of its journalists, it has fallen to 156th.
While many countries cut diplomatic ties with Afghanistan after the Taliban's return to power last year, Turkey, the only NATO member with a diplomatic presence in the war-torn country, has been active on many fronts.



Recently, the second phase of the Kajaki hydroelectric dam in Helmand province was completed by the Turkish company 77 Construction, which has invested $160 million in the project.



Several senior Taliban officials attended the opening ceremonies for the dam, including Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi, acting deputy prime ministers of the Taliban government. Turkey's ambassador in Kabul, Cihad Erginay, also was present.



Although the Kajaki dam is an important investment in economic relations between our country and Afghanistan, our relations are more diverse and deeper, Erginay said during the ceremony, adding that total trade volume between the countries increased 23% in the first six months of 2022.

'Positive legacy'



Some experts think that Turkeys engagement with Afghanistan derives from the countries' shared diplomatic legacy, which dates back to modern Turkeys founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Afghanistans modernist king Amanullah Khan in the 1920s.



That positive legacy has throughout all these years never been interrupted, Alper Coskun, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told VOA.



From 2001 until the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, Turkey had taken part in NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.



"Turkey took a very deliberate position in ensuring that Turkish forces were not involved in [active warfare or lethal force] against the Afghan population in any way whatsoever, Coskun said. That, I believe, is something that the current regime in Afghanistan, the Taliban, are also cognizant of.



Turkey withdrew its troops from Afghanistan before the Talibans August 2021 deadline for foreign forces to leave the country.



Kabul airport



According to Turkey's Defense Ministry, one of the Turkish soldiers' final assignments in Afghanistan was to provide operational and force protection services" in Kabul at what was then known as the Hamid Karzai International Airport, since renamed the Kabul Airport.



Senior Turkish authorities have repeatedly shown interest in running the airport.



Last August, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that a secure, operational airport we feel is integral to our ability to have a functioning diplomatic presence on the ground. So, the safety, the security, the continuing operation of that airport  it is of high importance to us.



We are grateful that our Turkish partners have indicated a willingness to play a role in protecting that, Price added.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a NATO summit in Madrid in June that Turkey had offered to operate the airport with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates but was awaiting the groups response.



On July 7, however, Reuters quoted sources familiar with the negotiations saying the Taliban was close to handing all airport operations to the United Arab Emirates.



Some experts say Turkey's proposal was significant even though the bid fell through.



Its no small matter that Turkey was one of just a few countries in a position to be negotiating an accord to provide security at the Kabul Airport, said Michael Kugelman, the deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center.



That accord didnt work out, but the fact that Turkey was even involved was significant, especially as the Taliban have made clear that they wont allow any foreign security presence on their soil," he told VOA.



Recognition



Turkey has not formally recognized the Taliban, and Kugelman thinks that Turkey does not want to be the first to do so, considering some reputational costs.



On the other hand, Turkey hosted Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Talibans acting foreign minister, for high-level talks in October and the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, organized by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, in March.



On the sidelines of the forum, Thomas West, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, met Muttaqi and Qatars Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to talk about Washingtons Afghanistan policy.

West on Twitter thanked Turkey for hosting the event and said that I look forward to discussions with important partners regarding international engagement with Afghanistan.



Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after his meeting with Muttaqi, "We have told the international community about the importance of engagement with the Taliban administration. In fact, recognition and engagement are two different things.

Turkey has advised the Taliban to form an inclusive government and ensure girls' education under its rule. Ankara has also repeatedly talked about the importance of stability in Afghanistan to prevent additional refugee flow into Turkey.



Our country, which is currently hosting around 5 million foreigners  3.6 million of whom have come from Syria  cannot shoulder a new migration burden originating from Afghanistan," Erdogan said at the G-20 meeting on Afghanistan in October.



According to figures from Turkeys Presidency of Migration Management, Turkish authorities arrested around 70,000 irregular Afghan migrants in 2021.

Humanitarian aid



Speaking at the 15th annual summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization in November, Erdogan also said that the Afghan economy should be revitalized to prevent a refugee crisis, adding that Turkey supports efforts aimed at keeping basic state structures, including critical sectors such as health care and education, functioning.



Since the Talibans return to power a year ago, Turkeys state-run Disaster and Emergency Management Authority has sent five charity trains with 5,570 tons of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country. The Turkish Red Crescent, which has been operating in Afghanistan, has delivered aid assistance to people affected by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake on June 22.



Active in Afghanistan since 2005 and with offices in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif, Turkeys state-run Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency has recently delivered 2,000 aid kits to help malnourished Afghan children.



Turkey also exerts soft power in Afghanistan via the Yunus Emre Institute, a cultural center owned by the Turkish government; Diyanet, the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs; and at least 46 Afghan-Turk Maarif Schools in seven provinces.



Twelve of these schools had been owned by the Gulen movement, a group Turkey blames for a failed coup attempt in 2016, but the Afghan government transferred the schools to the Turkish governments Maarif Foundation in 2018.



Azarakhsh Hafizi, former head of the international relations committee at Afghanistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industries, calls the Turkey-run schools near to international standards, adding, "The youth of Afghanistan need these services.



Some analysts say, however, that one of the reasons Ankara has active public diplomacy in Afghanistan is because it wants to boost its domestic popularity.



Ankara likes to see itself as a world player, and so having its foundations and education apparatuses participating in Afghanistan is a good ... domestic political checkmark to show that it has an active foreign policy, said Aaron Stein, director of research at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.



But Stein thinks Ankaras Afghanistan policy does not resonate with the Turkish public.



They care about the cost of living rather than foreign policy in that sense," he told VOA. "They are a lot like everybody else around the world, like, Our cost of living is skyrocketing. Take care of that. We don't care about what's going on in Afghanistan.



This story originated in VOAs Turkish Service.
A Northern Arizona University researcher is in the process of developing a feedback tool to help second-language learners with their pronunciation.

Okim Kang, a professor of applied linguistics at the university, received a $300,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant last year to develop language acquisition technology.

The grant is from the Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research program (EAGER), which according to NSFs website, supports exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches.

John Hansen from the University of Texas - Dallas and Stephen Looney from Penn State University are co-principal investigators on the project alongside Kang.

Called Objective Speech Intelligibility Measures (OSIM), the project focuses on creating a program that can analyze language learners' speech and provide useful feedback to improve pronunciation.

Kang's hope is to create a free program eventually that could give learners feedback on speaking in a language they are trying to learn, as well as practical methods to help them improve.

The team will be submitting a follow-up proposal for an additional $850,000 of funding in October, with the hope for the project to take four years.

Kang said in the next three years she is trying to make a freely available, individualized pronunciation feedback program for language learners.

The team is currently developing one for English and might expand to other languages if it is successful.

My goal is to develop this specific computer program that can evaluate or assess students overall speaking skills, but especially on pronunciation and provide specific pronunciation features along with the intelligibility score. This type of information can be presented to both teachers and students so that they know what they are doing, Kang said.

There are more objective assessments for the other primary language skills: reading, writing and listening. Tests for speaking skills, however, often involve teachers making an assessment based on their speaking with students.

In the year since receiving the first grant, Kang has been working primarily with international teaching assistants, a group that typically has a high level of proficiency with English, but may have trouble with intelligibility.

The researchers chose a variety of speech features -- stress, pausing, speed -- and worked with the assistants to give feedback and see the ways they improved or changed their pronunciation in response.

It's not like one thing can determine your accent or pronunciation. Many of the speech components can play a role, Kang said.

When it comes to being understood, some features are also more important than others.

When you and I are communicating, I want to emphasize certain words because that word is important," she said. "So I pronounce it strongly and more slowly. ... This type of information and this kind of feature is way more important than teaching one consonant.

The tool compares a learners speech to that of second-language learners with the same native language, something Kang said was unique in automatic speech recognition (ASR) feedback programs. Rather than making a comparison to native speakers speech, it focuses on improving how well learners can be understood.

The learners target goal is not native speech, but a very, very intelligible speech level, so its much more achievable and its much more specific for them, she said.

Kang developed a patented pronunciation model years ago, focusing on 35 features that determine a speakers accent. The model for this project is more simplified, focusing on the features that have the biggest impacts on speech and based on the computers capabilities.

Two sets of data are put into the model: linguistics information on speech properties and human perceptual information. The first comes from biolinguistic analysis of speech, and the second from consultation with linguistic experts and teachers listening to the same speech files.

Eventually with the sets of data  like, lots and lots of speech data, we ultimately train the technology to produce the outcome that we want," she said.

The model can then also be used as the base for a program focusing on learners of a different language, or for those who have a different native language, using additional data sets to train the computer.

The finished product could be used for both individual study and as a supplementary material in language classrooms.

Language learning classrooms often use textbooks and informal conversation between students to teach speaking skills. The approach, and gaps in teacher training, can cause several issues.

Having taught classes myself, I know teachers are looking for a tool like this because, especially teaching a pronunciation or speaking class, evaluating learners progress is extremely hard ... . Its almost this instant, intuitive decision made by teachers," Kang said.

She said she hopes OSIM will be the first step in realizing her "big idea": a new kind of teaching tool for language learners. She has been working with pronunciation for years, and said she'd tried for this particular NSF grant several times.

Eventually, she hopes the project will lead to a personal AI tutor program that can work one-on-one with language learners on language skills, including pronunciation.

Traditional classrooms are important, but I realize nowadays, more and more people rely on technology, she said. Theyre more individualized and ... undocumented immigrants, they cant even go to classes and their resources are extremely limited. So I want a freely available language tutor program.

More about Kangs research is available here.
Ukraine's top cyber official addressed a room full of security experts at a hackers convention following a two-day trip from Kyiv to a casino in Las Vegas.

During his unannounced visit, Victor Zhora, deputy head of Ukraine's State Special Communications Service, told the so-called Black Hat convention Wednesday that the number of cyber incidents that have hit Ukraine tripled in the months following Russias invasion of his country in late February.

"This is perhaps the biggest challenge since World War II for the world, and it continues to be completely new in cyberspace," Zhora told an audience at the annual conference.

Ukraine faced a number of "huge incidents" in cyberspace from the end of March to the beginning of April, Zhora said, including the discovery of the "Industroyer2" malware that could manipulate equipment in electrical utilities to control the flow of power.

Russian hackers also hit Ukraine at the onset of the war though a cyberattack that took down regional satellite internet service.

Since the beginning of the year, Ukraine had detected over 1,600 "major cyber incidents," Zhora said.

Zhora told Reuters in an interview that Microsoft, Amazon and Google had offered pro bono cloud computing services to the Ukrainian government as it moves its data out of the country, away from the destruction wreaked by Russian bombs and missiles.

Some of Ukraine's data archives are being held within data centers across "multiple [European] countries," he added, without elaborating.

Zhora said his trip to Las Vegas took two days. He traveled to neighboring Poland to stay a night before flying to the United States.

Zhora said he would not waste time on the slot machines at the sprawling Mandalay Bay casino, where the Black Hat conference is being held: "It would be inappropriate for me to gamble here while Ukrainian soldiers are defending our land."
Editor's note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.



Alarm at shelling of Ukrainian nuclear plant



The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday that a preliminary assessment from his agencys experts concluded that there was no immediate threat to nuclear safety following shelling around a major nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, but he cautioned that could change at any moment. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the U.N. Security Council that he and a team of experts need to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as soon as possible.

U.N. encouraged by movement of grain ships from Ukraine



The U.N. representative at the Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center, which oversees the agreement among Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N. to export Ukrainian grain trapped in Black Sea ports, said Wednesday that 370,000 tons of food stuffs had moved in the first week since the deal was implemented.



On Friday, as we went to press, a U.N.-chartered ship was about to dock at Ukraines Yuzhny (Pivdennyi) port to collect wheat purchased by the World Food Program. It is the first shipment of humanitarian food assistance under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the other ships have been fulfilling pre-existing commercial contracts. The 23,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat will go to WFP operations in Ethiopia, that are supporting the massive Horn of Africa drought response, where more than 21 million people face high levels of food insecurity after four failed rainy seasons.

Truce between Israel and Palestinian militants holding, but fragile



U.N. Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland told Security Council members Monday from Jerusalem that a tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants was holding. The Egyptian and U.N.-brokered cease-fire went into effect late Sunday, after two and a half days of violence that killed 46 Palestinians, including 15 children. As we went to press Friday, the situation remained calm. It was the worst Israeli-Palestinian escalation in more than a year.

In brief



 The World Food Program and the U.N. Refugee Agency, joined by the Ethiopian government, appealed Tuesday for $73 million to provide food rations over the next six months to more than 750,000 refugees in Ethiopia. They warned that the WFP will completely run out of food for refugees by October. A lack of cash has already forced the WFP to cut rations for 750,000 refugees living in Afar, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, Somali and Tigray regions of Ethiopia.



 The World Meteorological Organization said this week that July was one of the three warmest months globally on record, despite a weak La Nina event, which is supposed to have a cooling influence. Meteorologists warn the heatwave that swept through large parts of Europe last month is set to continue in August. The WMO says Europe and other parts of the world will have to get used to and adapt to the kind of heatwaves WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas calls the new normal.



 The International Labor Organization says the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the youth labor market. The organizations Global Employment Trends for 2022 report released this week, found that job prospects for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are lagging behind other age groups. The data estimate the total global number of unemployed youths will reach 73 million this year. While that is a slight improvement from 2021 levels, the ILO says the number of young people without jobs is still 6 million above the pre-pandemic level of 2019. Arab states had the highest and fastest growing youth unemployment rate.



Good news



The World Health Organization said Wednesday that globally, the number of new COVID-19 cases remained stable during the first week of August, as compared to the previous week, with over 6.9 million new reported cases. Weekly deaths were down by 9%, with over 14,000 fatalities reported, as compared to the previous week. The WHO says that as of August 7, there were 581.8 million confirmed cases of the virus and 6.4 million deaths reported globally.



Quote of note



Any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing and I hope that those attacks will end, and at the same time I hope that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] will be able to have access to the plant and to exercise its mandated competencies.



U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to reporters in Tokyo Monday, responding to a question about shelling around Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.



What we are watching next week



August 15 will mark one year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The United Nations has warned that the countrys economic and financial crisis, as well as severe drought, has left more than 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. The U.N. has also criticized the Taliban for reneging on its pledge not to roll back the rights of women and girls, which it has done.



Did you know?



The U.N. secretary-general received the gift of a horse named Hope in Mongolia during a visit there this week that highlighted that countrys commitment to non-proliferation and disarmament as a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Mongolia, known for its vast steppes and deserts, has also embarked on the goal of planting 1 billion trees by 2030. Antonio Guterres spokesman said that Hope the horse would remain in Mongolia, where she would be well-cared for.
Chinas shutdown of several lines of military communication with the U.S. has left a heightened risk of dangerous miscalculation even after the conclusion of Beijings weeklong military drills around Taiwan, experts say.



Chinas Foreign Ministry announced eight countermeasures in response to the visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has a long record of challenging Beijing on democracy and human rights.



The measures announced last week included cancellation of three key bilateral military talks: the China-U.S. Theater Commanders Talk, the China-U.S. Defense Policy Coordination Talks and meetings on the China-U.S. Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, which focuses on issues of maritime safety at



Beijing also ramped up its retaliation with military action following Pelosis visit, and it sanctioned the House speaker and her family.



Washington said canceling bilateral military dialogues while tension is high was irresponsible, and China hit back saying the move was a necessary warning to the provocations from the U.S. and Taiwan region.



Shirley Kan, an adviser to the Global Taiwan Institute and a former specialist in Asian security affairs at the Congressional Research Service, told VOA Mandarin that cutting off communication at a time of crisis is reckless.



In an emailed response to VOA Mandarin, Kan set out why she believes Beijing canceled the talks.

The reason is because the weaker PLA [Peoples Liberation Army] must defer to the Communist Party of Chinas secretary-general, who is in control of communication with foreign countries, she wrote. But the PLA still should be mature enough to use open lines of communication with the Pentagon in a crisis.



Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, has been the secretary-general since 2012, and he is likely to be re-elected to the office this fall at the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).



While condemning Chinas decision to cut off communication, the White Houses National Security Council communications coordinator, John Kirby, noted there are still channels of communication remaining open between American and Chinese military officials.



Bottom line is were going to continue our efforts to keep opening lines of communication that are protecting our interests and our values, Kirby said in a briefing last week.



Jacob Stokes, a fellow for the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C., told VOA Mandarin the canceled talks are the lower-level dialogues that are generally more scripted and are more effective at building mutual understanding over time.



As the NSCs John Kirby noted, not all military-to-military communications have been cut off. The ones that remain are high level, he told VOA Mandarin in an email. By my count, communication channels between Biden and Xi, between Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, and between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and PLA Chief of the Joint Staff Department Gen. Li Zuocheng are all possibly still functioning.



Shortly before cutting off the military dialogues, China on August 4 launched a multi-day live-fire drill encircling Taiwan. The exercise included firing ballistic missiles and conducting exercises to organize a blockade around Taiwan. Chinas state-owned media CGTN said the drill by the PLA, involved personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force.



The PLA last held such a drill in 1996, aiming to send a signal to then-Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui for moving away from the One China policy  Beijing's position that there is only one Chinese government, and the self-governing island of Taiwan is a breakaway province.



On Wednesday, the PLA signaled an end to the drill, three days later than originally scheduled. Also on Wednesday, Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office reaffirmed Beijing's threat to use military force to bring self-ruling Taiwan under its control.



We will always be ready to respond with the use of force or other necessary means to interference by external forces or radical action by separatist elements. Our ultimate goal is to ensure the prospects of Chinas peaceful reunification and advance this process, according to an English-language version of the PLAs Chinese statement.



Chinas actions are clearly designed to increase the risk and spark concerns in Taipei, Washington, and other relevant capitals. China has created a crisis as a means of punishing Taiwan and the United States for Speaker Pelosis visit to Taiwan, Stokes told VOA Mandarin, adding that Beijings key goal is to convey the message that such visits are risky.



Amanda Hsiao, a senior analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview that Beijings crisis management mechanism is to deliberately keep its intention vague during a crisis.



She explained Beijings calculation in this way: If I don't tell you the limit to those risks, I will have a much stronger deterrent effect on your actions. By leaving it unknown and uncertain, there's a greater chance that I can deter you because it will influence your calculations, it will cause you to think twice about sending more aircraft or naval vessels into the area.



She also pointed out theres a cost in doing so.



We're in particularly fraught moments in the bilateral relationship. There's a tendency to be hostile toward each other, Hsiao continued. The potential to miscalculate and misinterpret each other's actions is high. And so, under this political environment, the chances of an unintended collision escalating are high.
U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said Friday that China "overreacted" to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and used it as a pretext to try to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.



The American response would be patient and effective, and the U.S. presence and posture in the region would account for China's more destabilizing behavior, Campbell told reporters in a call.



"China has overreacted and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented," Campbell said, calling it part of an "intensified pressure campaign" against Taiwan.



"It has not ended, and we expect it to continue to unfold in the coming weeks and months," Campbell said, adding that several Chinese warships remain around Taiwan, a self-governed island.



Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said Thursday that China's threat of force is undiminished, even though Beijing's largest-ever military drills around the island following Pelosi's visit last week seemed to be scaling down.



Campbell reiterated that the United States would conduct standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks, and that it would announce an "ambitious road map" for trade negotiations with Taiwan in the coming days.



"And we will ensure that our presence, posture and exercise account for China's more provocative and destabilizing behavior, with a view towards guiding the situation in the western Pacific toward greater stability," he said.
Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

Bipartisan Bill Could Help Afghan Evacuees Obtain Green Cards

Bipartisan legislation that would allow eligible Afghans to apply for lawful permanent residence in the United States was introduced in both chambers of Congress, days before the first anniversary of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Afghan Adjustment Act, introduced Tuesday, would establish a path to U.S. citizenship for Afghans whose immigration status will be uncertain when their temporary humanitarian parole expires.

Biden Administration Says 'Remain in Mexico' Policy is Over

The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it ended a Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court, hours after a judge lifted an order in effect since December that it be reinstated.

Rising Number of Somali Immigrants Face Homelessness in Seattle

Increasing numbers of Somali immigrants living in the Western U.S. city of Seattle are facing homelessness because of soaring rents that exacerbate other economic and refugee hardships, activists told VOA. The community activists say hundreds of Somalis have lost their places of residence over the past year, unable to pay the monthly rent. Some are lucky enough to move in with relatives or friendly families; others are forced into public shelters or are living on the streets.

Immigration around the world

Ukraine Refugees Help Ease Britains Labor Shortage

Like other countries in Europe, Britain is experiencing a labor shortage because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But for thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war in their homeland, the deficiency provides crucial opportunities as they resettle in their new homes. For VOA, Tommy Walker reports from Newcastle upon Tyne in England.

Without Documentation, Afghan Refugees in Pakistan Struggle to Meet Needs

As the Taliban seized control of their country last year, hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled to neighboring countries. In Pakistan, many Afghan refugees are facing difficulties because of lack of documentation. Malik Waqar Ahmed of VOA reports from Islamabad; Ayesha Tanzeem narrates.

In brief

 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) updated the COVID-19 vaccination requirements for beneficiaries paroled into the United States under Uniting for Ukraine.

 Border Patrol officers rescued 11 migrants from an El Paso, Texas, stash house.
The United Nations is calling for immediate access to a nuclear power plant under siege that Ukraine asserts is being hit by Russian rocket fire.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said in an address that "another shelling by Russia was recorded" around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest nuclear power facility. Reports of heavy fighting along with artillery shelling in the area were reported Friday.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency says there's "a real risk of nuclear disaster" unless the fighting stops, and inspectors are allowed inside the facility.

"This is a serious hour, a grave hour," said Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, during a U.N. Security Council meeting. "The IAEA must urgently be allowed to conduct a mission to Zaporizhzhia."

Russian forces who occupy the plant have been accused of using it as a shield to fire at Ukrainian army positions. There have been reports of heavy shelling in areas near the plant over the last two weeks.

"No one else has used a nuclear plant so obviously to threaten the whole world," President Zelenskyy said. "And absolutely everyone in the world should react immediately to expel the occupiers from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This is a global interest, not just a Ukrainian need."

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the shelling at the nuclear plant. Russian soldiers control the facility, but Ukrainian staff are continuing to operate the plant.

We know that the Russians have been there for some time. We also know that the Russians have fired artillery, I think specifically rockets, from around the power plant, a senior U.S. military official told reporters Friday, rejecting Russian allegations that the plant has been targeted by Ukrainian forces.

I don't have any belief that the Ukrainians, who know very well what the impacts of hitting that power plant would be, have an interest in hitting the power plant, the official added.

Separately, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a statement that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must not be used as part of any military operation.

Urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarization to ensure the safety of the area, he added.

In another development, a senior Ukrainian official claimed 60 Russian pilots and technicians were killed and 100 people wounded at the Russian-operated Saky military airfield in western Crimea on Tuesday.

Russian claims that only munitions stored at the airfield exploded but Anton Geraschenko, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs, told The New York Times on Friday that was "a blatant lie."

The U.S. on Friday said its own assessment indicated that several Russian fighter jets, several Russian fighter-bombers and a Russian surveillance aircraft were destroyed, along with a pretty significant cache of munitions.

Satellite images taken earlier this week showed several fighter jets and at least five bombers destroyed at the base, according to a British military intelligence report.

Humanitarian grain shipments

The first U.N.-chartered vessel set to transport grain from Ukraine to Africa is set to dock in Ukraine Friday, according to the United Nations. It is the first shipment of humanitarian food assistance under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal to relieve a global food crisis.

The previous ships with wheat grain that were allowed to leave under the deal were non-humanitarian, and their cargoes had already been purchased by other nations or vendors.

Two of those ships left Ukrainian ports Friday. Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine's minister of infrastructure, wrote in a tweet that one of the vessels would be loaded with 23,000 metric tons of grain bound for Ethiopia. The African nation, along with Somalia and Kenya, is facing the worst drought in four decades.

"The wheat grain will go to the World Food Program's operations in Ethiopia, supporting WFP's Horn of Africa drought response as the threat of famine stalks the drought-hit region," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday. "It is one of many areas around the world where the near complete halt of Ukrainian grain and food on global market has made life even harder for families already struggling with rising hunger."

The ship MV Brave Commander is due to arrive in Yuzhne, east of Odesa on the Black Sea coast.

On July 22, Kyiv and Moscow signed a landmark deal with Turkey to unblock Black Sea grain deliveries, following Russia's February invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey has opened a special facility in Istanbul at the mouth of the Black Sea to oversee the exports. It is staffed by civilian and military officials from the warring sides and delegates from Turkey and the U.N.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
KYIV, UKRAINE 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to Western allies Thursday for more money and munitions to keep fighting Russia 5 months after Moscow invaded.

"The sooner we stop Russia, the sooner we can feel safe," Zelenskyy, via a live link from Ukraine, told Western defense leaders meeting in Copenhagen. "We need armaments, munitions for our defense."

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who attended the conference in Denmark's capital, told journalists that acquiring more fighter planes is the country's priority right now.

"In the first stage, we need fighters. After that, demining," Reznikov said.

The Copenhagen conference followed an April meeting at a U.S. air base in Germany that established the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group to coordinate international military support for Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the goal of the meeting was securing "concrete steps" to provide more aid to Ukraine. He said Britain will send an unspecified number of new multiple launch rocket systems and guided missiles to Ukraine fighters to help it resist Russia's invasion.

Britain sent several rocket-launch systems to Ukraine earlier this year, and Ukrainian troops have been trained in Britain about how to use them.

"Our continued support sends a very clear message, Britain and the international community remain opposed to this illegal war and will stand shoulder-to-shoulder, providing defensive military aid to Ukraine to help them defend against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's invasion," Wallace said.

The Danish government said it would give Ukraine an extra $113 million in assistance, bringing its total war support to more than $413 million. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called it "a huge donation," with part of the money paying for 130 Danish troops to help train Ukrainian forces in Britain over the coming months.

"We will not let you down," Frederiksen declared.

Norwegian Defense Minister Bjrn Arild Gram said Western resolve in assisting Ukraine is undiminished.

"There still is a very strong support to help Ukraine, also on the long run. It is decisive for Ukraine to be able to defend itself against the Russian attack," Arild Gram said.

The Kyiv School of Economics said in a report Wednesday that the war damage to Ukraine's infrastructure totals more than $110 billion. The report said 304 bridges and more than 900 health care facilities have been destroyed or damaged.

As the Western defense leaders met, new independent satellite pictures released Thursday showed wide devastation at a Russian air base in Crimea, where Ukraine says nine Russian warplanes were destroyed on Tuesday.

Pictures released by the satellite firm Planet Labs showed three near-identical craters where buildings at Russia's Saki air base on the southwest coast of Crimea had been struck with apparent precision. The pictures showed there was extensive fire damage and the burned-out shells of destroyed warplanes were clearly visible.

Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attack or said exactly how it was carried out. But the extent of the damage suggested Kyiv may have obtained new long-range strike capability.

Russia has denied aircraft were damaged and said explosions seen at the base on Tuesday were the result of the accidental detonation of munitions stored there.

Some material in this report came from Reuters and the Associated Press.
WASHINGTON  The U.S. Justice Department asked a federal court on Thursday to unseal a warrant to search former president Donald Trump's home in Florida in connection with an investigation into Trump's handling of White House records.



Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the request, saying he had personally authorized the decision to seek the search warrant in connection with an ongoing investigation into Trump's handling of White House records.



In his first public comments about the controversial FBI search of Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort on Monday, Garland said the decision to unseal the search warrant as well as a property receipt given to Trumps representatives was made after Trump publicly disclosed the search.



The department decided to file the motion to make public the warrant and the receipt in light of the former presidents public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter, Garland said in a brief televised statement.



The search, during which FBI agents retrieved about a dozen boxes of documents related to Trump's presidency, has been condemned by Republicans as a weaponization of the Justice Department against the former president.



Saying the Justice Department does not take such decisions lightly, Garland indicated that the law enforcement agency was left with no other choice.



Where possible, it has standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken, Garland said.



Garland pushed back against Republican criticism of the Justice Department and the FBI for allegedly singling out the former president for political purposes.



I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Garland said. The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants.



While Garland did not disclose any details of the investigation, sources familiar with the probe have said it is focused on Trumps handling of White House documents.



The investigation was reportedly opened after the National Archives said that it had belatedly retrieved 15 boxes of White House documents, including some marked as classified, that the former president should have turned over upon leaving the White House in January 2021.



The probe of Trumps treatment of government records is separate from the Justice Departments examination of efforts by Trump and his associates to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.



A federal magistrate signed the warrant to search Trumps home after determining that the FBI had probable cause that a crime had been committed and that evidence of the alleged crime was present on the Trump property.



The Presidential Records Act requires that an outgoing president turn over all White House documents related to his presidency to the National Archives.



Trump was in New York when the FBI searched his Florida residence, but he took to his Truth Social platform to announce it as it was in progress, writing Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.
South African Police say they have arrested three Zimbabweans, who were found in possession of blasting cartridges and explosives.

In a tweet, SAP said, Intell driven sting op leads to the arrest of alleged supplier of explosives to illegal miners. 2 Suspects, a man and a woman were arrested in Putfontein on 10/08. #SAPS seized the explosives as well as their vehicle.

According to eNCA, the three were drove away when they were stopped by the police. The driver of the vehicle which was being used by the suspects lost control of the car and crashed onto a barrier.

Police claim that they fled on foot but were apprehended by police.

The suspects are expected to appear in court soon.

Thousands of foreigners are believed to be engaged in illegal mining in South Africa in disused mines. Most of them are from Lesotho and Zimbabwe.
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MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP)  Police in Somaliland said they fired on opposition protesters Thursday amid tensions over an upcoming election, killing three people and wounding 27.

During a media briefing, police officials asserted that some demonstrators were armed with knives and refused to follow instructions, and that officers feared for their lives and opened fire.

Two civilians were killed in the capital, Hargeisa, and the third in Erigavo town in the Sanaag region.

The protests occurred in major towns across Somaliland, the northern region that separated from Somalia three decades ago and seeks recognition as an independent country. They were called by the two main opposition parties, UCID and Wadani, which have asked President Muse Bihi Abdi not to delay the presidential election scheduled for Nov. 13.

The opposition parties are concerned about the management of the election and the registration of political organizations. The Somaliland government allowed the protests to occur in six regions but in limited areas, which the parties opposed.

Witness Idris Hassan confirmed to The Associated Press one death in Hargeisa after the demonstrators clashed with security forces. The governor of the Sanaag region, Ahmed Abdi Muse, confirmed the Erigavo death to local media.

Internet service was briefly cut off in Somaliland on Thursday morning.

The U.S. Embassy in Somalia said it strongly urged Somalilands ruling and opposition leaders to avoid violence in demonstrations and return quickly to political dialogue. It warned that a failure to agree on the election threatens Somalilands achievements in democratic governance.

The head of the British Office in Hargeisa, Lizzie Walker, also urged peace and dialogue.
The Bismarck Public Library will host "The Unique History of the Bank of North Dakota," a discussion set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Historian, author, and public humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson and historian and former Bismarck State College president Larry Skogen will explore the historical factors that led to the development of the Bank of North Dakota at a time of widespread agrarian discontent.

This event will be held in Meeting Room A and in coordination with the Thinking Money for Kids exhibit at the library through Aug. 22.
Man buried alive after tunnel collapses near Vatican.

A police investigation is underway in Rome after a man became trapped in a tunnel about six metres under a street near the Vatican on Thursday morning.

Firefighters worked throughout the day to rescue the man, allegedly part of a criminal gang, extracting him from the rubble after a complex eight-hour operation.

His four accomplices managed to free themselves from the collapsed tunnel but were stopped by police as they fled the scene. All had criminal records, including for robbery, according to Italian news reports.

It is believed that the gang was preparing to carry out a heist at a nearby bank, taking advantage of Italy's Ferragosto public holiday with the capital semi-deserted this weekend.

The man was extracted from the rubble on Thursday evening. Photo Corriere della Sera.

The dramatic incident occurred after part of the asphalt gave way on Via Innocenzo XI, off the busy Via Gregorio VII, just up the street from St Peter's.

After a member of the gang alerted emergency services of the collapse, firefighters and police detected a voice from beneath the rubble, about six metres down, in front of a vacant shop.

Rescuers dug a parallel hole to reach the man, who was critically injured, providing him with oxygen and liquids.

After eight hours they managed to extract the would-be robber alive, to applause from the large crowd of bystanders.

Police are working on the theory that the gang was preparing to use the tunnel, which started inside the empty shop, to reach the vault of one of two nearby banks.

Two of the gang members, from Naples, were arrested for resisting a public official and two others, from Rome, were cited for damage to public property, according to state broadcaster Rai News.

Cover photo Vigili del Fuoco
Rescued animals get stay of execution until Thursday.

Rome health authorities have postponed until 18 August the culling of 140 healthy pigs and wild boar on a farm sanctuary following a court order over the weekend.

The courts had initially rejected an appeal calling for the animals to be spared from the cull, part of measures to tackle African swine fever (ASF) in the Lazio region around Rome.

However on Sunday the animals got a temporary reprieve, until Thursday (not 14 September as first reported), pending "clarifications" regarding the risk of the epidemic spreading on the farm.

The animals living at the Sfattoria degli Ultimi, none of which has swine fever, are all either rescued from the wild or from mistreatment, and include young wild boar orphaned after their mothers were shot or killed in car accidents.

The cull is part of measures to stem the spread of swine fever - a highly contagious viral disease that is fatal to pigs and wild hogs but not transmitted to humans - while also drastically reducing the numbers of wild boar n the Lazio region.

The measures include slaughtering pigs and wild boar found near active cases of swine fever, first detected in Rome earlier this year, with the emergency measures focused on a vast "red zone" in north and north-west areas of the capital.

Last week the Sfattoria degli Ultimi was informed by local health authorities that its animals were to be slaughtered, an order the volunteers took to the Lazio regional administrative tribunal (TAR).

The courts initially upheld the order, with more than 210,000 people signing an online petition demanding the "absurd" cull to be stopped.

Animal rights groups have rallied to the defence of the sanctuary and activists from across Italy arrived in Rome to show their support.

The animals in the shelter are cared for by around 200 volunteers who issued a statement describing the culling order as "an incredible episode of injustice".

"Our animals are all checked, microchipped, absolutely healthy and registered" - the sanctuary stated - "They cannot be killed".

Photo RAI News
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The Iranian regime has a long, dishonorable history of assassination plots against dissidents and detractors abroad, but commissioning a hit against a former US national security adviser represents a raising of the bar in brazenness. The revelation that a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attempted to have John Bolton murdered  on American soil, at that  should serve as a sobering reminder for President Joe Biden of Tehrans depravity as he contemplates making a deal that will both enrich and embolden those behind the plot.

The US Justice Department said Shahram Poursafi, an IRGC member based in Tehran, offered $300,000 to individuals in the United States [to] carry out the murder in Washington, DC or Maryland. The hit was likely meant as retaliation for the 2020 US drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top IRGC commander designated by the US as a terrorist and also personally sanctioned by the European Union and the United Nations.

Poursafi began casting for an assassin last fall, even as Biden was reiterating his pledge to revive the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, that Iran signed with the world powers in the summer of 2015. President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the JCPOA in 2018, arguing it didnt do enough to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and slapped economic sanctions against Iran.

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Biden has made a return to the deal one of his foreign policy priorities. After several rounds of negotiations in Vienna, the US and Iran are now examining what is being billed by European mediators as the final text of an agreement to revive the nuclear deal. If they agree, the sanctions will be lifted, giving Tehran access to hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen assets and revenue from oil exports.

Like President Barack Obama, who championed the original agreement, Biden seems to believe that if Irans leaders are allowed to make money, they will tone down the aggression against their Arab neighbors as well as the US: more trade, less terrorism.

The opposite is more likely. In the years that the JCPOA was in effect, Iran increased its financial and material support for a network of militias and terrorist groups it uses to menace the Middle East and international trade. Bidens repeated assurances of his sincerity to revive the deal  and his administrations lax application of Trumps sanctions  have been met only with bad faith from Iran.

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While pocketing billions from oil exports carried out in contravention of the sanctions, the regime has grown more aggressive in its behavior. It has accelerated its uranium enrichment well past the point of any nonmilitary application. Tehran has also ratcheted up its program of hostage-taking, specifically targeting people with Western passports.

And, as the plot against Bolton demonstrates, Iran has grown more ambitious in its international assassination campaign. Much of it is directed at Israeli tourists and diplomats, apparently in retaliation for Israels killing of top IRGC figures connected to the nuclear program. In June, Turkey detained eight men in an Iranian operation to kill Israeli tourists in Istanbul.

Two months earlier, Israeli intelligence foiled an IRGC plot to assassinate an Israeli diplomat in Turkey, an American general in Germany and a French journalist.

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Iran has also grown more brazen in planning attacks in the US. In late July, a man carrying a loaded AK-47 was arrested outside the Brooklyn home of Masih Alinejad, a prominent critic of the regime. It was almost exactly a year after four Iranian agents were charged in federal court in Manhattan with conspiring to kidnap Alinejad.

By targeting Bolton, the regime is signaling that its recklessness knows no bounds. And the former national security adviser may not even have been the IRGCs top target: According to the Justice Department, Poursafi let it be known he would pay $1 million for another hit, presumably against someone of even higher profile. The State Department recently told Congress that it is paying to protect former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his point man on Iran, Brian Hook, both of whom face serious and credible threats from Tehran.

It is especially ironic that one of the Iranian demands that has stalled negotiations for the resuscitation of the nuclear deal was that Biden remove the IRGC from the State Departments list of designated terrorist groups. The president has, wisely, refused to make that concession.

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But Biden should now ask himself whether a regime this reckless can be trusted with any deal at all.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:



Biden Should Show Iran What Plan B Would Look Like: Editorial



Bidens New Gang of Four Targets Iran and China: James Stavridis



Iran Cant Afford to Avenge the Death of Soleimani: Bobby Ghosh

(Corrects former national security adviser John Boltons title in headline and 11th paragraph.)

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Previously, he was editor in chief at Hindustan Times, managing editor at Quartz and international editor at Time.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2022 Bloomberg L.P.

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Ethiopia has been at loggerheads with downstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan for years over a $5 billion mega-dam its building on the Nile River. A third phase of filling a 74 billion cubic-meter (2.6 trillion cubic-foot) reservoir behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was completed in August, a process thats reignited tensions. Egypt has described the unilateral action as a violation of international law and its foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, wrote to the United Nations Security Council in July, reiterating its objections and accusing Ethiopia of derailing attempts to resolve the standoff.

1. Why is the dam so significant?

The Nile is the most important source of fresh water in a largely arid region that is very vulnerable to drought and climate change and is experiencing rapid population growth. Egypt relies on the 4,000-mile-long river for as much as 97% of its supply, and much of eastern Sudans population depends on it for survival. Ethiopia is counting on a 5,150-megawatt hydropower plant on its new dam to help supply electricity to the 60% of its population that dont have access, and sustain its manufacturing industries. The plant began generating power in 2022, some of which will be sold to neighboring countries.

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2. Whats the issue with filling the reservoir?

Ethiopia first closed the dams gates in July 2020 and collected about 5 billion cubic meters of water in a week after the onset of the rainy season. A drought ensued in Sudan, followed by flooding that officials said could have been averted by a more measured approach. Ethiopia captured more water in 2021 and 2022, and the dam contained 22 billion liters -- almost a third of its capacity -- by August. Egypt has suggested that the filling should be drawn out over an extended period to ensure enough water still flows downstream.

3. Can the three sides reach an accord?

Doing so would be in their mutual interests, but a series of mediation efforts that have drawn in the U.S. and African Union have failed to yield a compromise. Ethiopia has argued that it isnt obliged to negotiate with anyone, even as it participated in the talks.

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4. How does Ethiopia justify building the dam?

Ethiopia has asserted its right to use water that traverses its territory and accused Egypt of acting as if it has the sole right to the Nile. It says it isnt bound by the terms of a 1959 bilateral treaty between Egypt and Sudan that divided most of its water between themselves. The dam and hydropower project, which began in 2011 and is due to be completed in 2024, underpins a development drive spearheaded by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who stands to lose support at home if he buckles to pressure to delay its commission.

5. What do Egypt and Sudan say?

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has stressed that access to water was a national security matter for his country and constituted a red line that cant be crossed. During Omar al-Bashirs rule, Sudan accepted Ethiopias assurances that the dam would help control flooding and that Sudan would benefit from the power generated. Since Bashir was toppled in 2019, Sudan has aligned itself with Egypt, saying the Nile is joint property and an agreement must be reached before the dam can be filled.

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6. Whats the potential for conflict?

Egypt has downplayed a military solution to the standoff, with Shoukry stating in 2021 that Sisis administration had no interest in fighting with Ethiopia. Most analysts consider it unlikely the Egyptians would stage an air strike or that Security Council members would intervene by force. The Arab League has sided with Egypt and Sudan and demanded that an accord be reached that protects their water flows.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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The two names that you have probably heard the most about as Democrats have taken a year or more to pass their big climate-health care-taxes bill have been President Joe Biden and Senator Joe Manchin. Now that the bill heads to the House for final passage, its time to focus on the other key players who made this happen. One is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The others? Democratic party participants who nominated Biden and the Democrats in Congress in the first place.

As the Plum Lines Paul Waldman put it: It tells you something about Nancy Pelosis skills as a legislator that there is absolutely no one who doubts she will deliver this bill, or really any bill Democrats want, even with the slimmest of majorities. Its just taken for granted that its not even worth worrying about.

Pelosi has now served four terms  eight years  as speaker, half with a Republican president and half with a Democratic president and unified party government. In those four years with a Democratic president, I cant think of a single bill that died because the House couldnt do its part.

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And yet especially during the current Congress, her partys margin has been extremely thin, with the majority needing to keep all but a handful of Democrats on board in order to pass anything that Republicans unanimously opposed. Thats only possible because there are no longer any conservative House Democrats.

But there is still a wide range of views, from some very moderate liberals to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs Squad. Nor are ideological groups the only potential problem. Regional or state-based interests can make something a hard vote for any number of small groups. And these are politicians who all want something; keeping 218 needed votes together out of 223 Democrats (or whatever the exact numbers have been, since they fluctuate over the course of a two-year Congress) is always difficult. But Pelosi makes it look so easy we dont even notice.

The last three of those four Congresses have been extremely productive, including the 2019-2020 Congress with a Republican-majority Senate and a Republican president. Indeed, Pelosi twice stepped up during national crises  the financial collapse in 2008 and the 2020 pandemic  and passed bills that probably hurt Democrats in the elections that year. As for the productive periods with unified Democratic government, Pelosi doesnt deserve all the credit  the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and a whole bunch of House and Senate committee chairs all did their parts. But Pelosi probably is first on the list.

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So why has it taken so long for major climate legislation to pass? To some extent, it was because its a difficult policy challenge for any democracy, as Congress scholar Sarah Binder points out. The problem is that politicians have short time horizons, while the big gains from climate action are mainly about the future, and the far future at that. Formulating a bill that delivered some short-term benefits, in subsidies for consumers and manufacturers that can be cashed in now, was a key to finding something Congress could pass (see also UCLA political scientist Michael Ross here).

Another reason is that for a long time, climate wasnt one of the Democratic Partys must-do priorities. That largely is a result of nomination politics. Climate as a policy question is still a relatively new issue, certainly compared with decades-old policy battles such as health care. In both 1992 and 2008, health care was the big unfinished agenda item for mainstream liberal Democrats, and that was reflected in the battles to choose presidential candidates in both those years.

By 2020, after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, other issues were able to move up on the partys agenda. And political participants, including organized groups and individual activists, donors and governing professionals, increasingly considered climate legislation one of the essential tasks for a unified Democratic government to tackle.

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The same process plays out in Senate and House elections. Even members of the House and Senate trying to win Democratic nominations in traditional energy-producing states wound up, by 2020, talking about climate.

It also mattered that climate and health care (but not voting rights) could be addressed using the reconciliation procedure that allows certain bills to be passed with a simple majority vote and avoid being subject to a Republican filibuster.

Issues that have emerged more recently, such as expanding the child tax credit, wound up getting excluded for now. That isnt because Democrats opposed it. Its just that its hard to fit too much into one bill, or even one Congress. And its a reminder that its usually tough for something to become a top priority very quickly.

Pay attention to policy during primary elections. It matters as much  or probably even more  than which candidate winds up getting nominated. And also? All that work that activists did tying to push presidential candidates and congressional candidates to take stronger stands on climate really did matter.

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For weekend reading, here are some of the best recent items from political scientists:

 Sarah Bauerle Danzman at the Monkey Cage on the CHIPs Act and industrial policy.

 Heather Yates on the Kansas abortion vote.

 Matt Grossmann talks with Jacob Grumbach about his new book on federalism and nationalized politics.

 Zack Scott and Jared McDonald on emotional appeals in electioneering.

 Natalie Jackson on Trumps support and his current legal troubles.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

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On Sept. 4, Chileans will vote on a new constitution, almost three years after the outbreak of civil unrest that led to the drafting of the potential replacement to a charter imposed by the military dictatorship that ruled from 1973 to 1990. Almost 80% of voters in a 2020 referendum favored the writing of a new constitution, but the latest polls show that ratification may be doubtful. Scrutiny of the document, which was composed by a left-leaning body, increased as some argue it will weigh on economic growth, deter investments and undercut political checks and balances.

1. Why are Chileans writing a new constitution?

Though the current constitution has been amended several times since Chile returned to democracy, many have long viewed the document as illegitimate because of its origins during the reign of General Augusto Pinochet, a violent dictator whose rule featured arbitrary arrests and political executions. Critics have also argued that elements of the constitution have entrenched inequality. When mass street protests began on Oct. 18, 2019, triggered by an increase in Santiago subway fares, demonstrators expanded their grievances to include problems with the pension, health care and education systems. In an effort to diffuse tensions, then President Sebastian Pinera agreed to the 2020 referendum to determine whether Chile would rewrite its charter and what type of body would be in charge of doing so.

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2. What happened then?

Voters delivered a massive surprise in May 2021 by spurning traditional political parties and electing a Constitutional Convention marked by the presence of left-leaning independents. At the same time, rightist members failed to secure the one-third of seats necessary to block articles. The body rushed to finish the draft after a year of work, writing and then re-writing clauses and going as far as holding weekend and late-night sessions to put forth a charter.

3. Whats in the proposed constitution?

The new constitution lays out a much more progressive and inclusive legal framework than currently, and it takes steps to hold the private sector more accountable while still enshrining fundamentals such as private property. On social issues, the charter presented in July includes measures that boost indigenous community representation, establish a national health care system, require gender parity in public institutions and toughen environmental safeguards. It broadens the central banks considerations in its policy decisions, authorizes expropriations with the condition that the property owner is fairly compensated and makes permits for the use of water temporary and revocable. A controversial proposal to nationalize the mining industry was rejected. The constitution would set up a parallel justice system for indigenous communities and also replace the senate with a weaker, regional chamber, thus leaving much of the legislative power in the hands of the lower house.

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4. Whats been the reaction?

The far-right Republicanos party, whose founder, Jose Antonio Kast, lost to President Gabriel Boric in Decembers runoff, became one of the first to publicly rebuff the conventions work. The party said the new text limits personal liberties and will make politicians too powerful. Hence, its authors failed in the mission of writing a constitution that represents the Chilean people and lays the groundwork for future development. Meanwhile, the influential ex-President Michelle Bachelet backed the charter, saying in a Bloomberg News interview that it offers a new social contract. Starting in late March, polls showed voters moving toward rejecting the new charter, an option now backed by nearly half of the population. According to pollster Cadem, which carries out surveys and market research, some of the public lost trust in the Constitutional Convention members and disagree with the approved articles. Still, since July, theres been a rise in those who say they will approve the document, to about 37%. Polling shows that supporters most praise the planned national health care system and social rights. People inclined to vote for the new constitution tend to be younger and live in Santiago, while detractors are older and live in other regions around the country. Polls show many voters remain undecided, with estimates running around 15%.

5. Where do things stand?

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Campaigns for and against the new constitution are in full swing. Debate on its main points feature prominently in local press, volunteers hand out pamphlets with information to passers-by on city streets and television ads started running on Aug. 5. Borics administration, which has expressed support for the new charter, is taking steps to inform voters about the proposal, going as far as distributing free copies nationwide. Still, a government watchdog is carrying out a probe into accusations officials used public funds to specifically urge people to approve the charter. Regardless, disseminating the new constitutions main ideas is no easy task, as it has 388 articles, 178 pages and roughly 54,000 words including the preamble and transitory rules though excluding the names of the convention members. By comparison, the US Constitution has about 4,500 words.

6. Whats next?

On Sept. 4, all eligible residents will cast ballots in a mandatory vote where a simple majority will be needed to either approve or reject the document. If it is shot down, the current constitution will remain in force. Boric has said his administration will push for another constitutional re-write if the proposal is rejected. At the same time, a bill lowering the legislative majorities needed to reform the current constitution was approved by congress.

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7. How have investors reacted?

In general, investors and top policy makers such as central bank President Rosanna Costa have said the constitutional process is weighing on local assets given the uncertainty it creates. There are disagreements as to how the new constitution would play out. This month, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA strategist Mario Castro wrote investor sentiment is generally very pessimistic over the political outlook and the proposed new charter. Earlier, Morgan Stanley economists wrote the draft constitution wouldnt disrupt Chiles macro policy framework, and the exclusion of extreme articles is positive for fixed-income assets.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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Drug task force officers have arrested a Bismarck woman they say has sold 2,000 fentanyl-laced pills in the last month and used some of her profits to buy a designer wallet.

Fawn Fox, 21, in addition to two felony drug counts also is charged with preventing arrest, court documents show. A Metro Area Narcotics Task Force affidavit states that Fox struggled with officers during her Wednesday arrest and reached into her pocket for a knife before she was placed in handcuffs.

Authorities over the course of a week conducted surveillance on Foxs Capitol Way apartment and received information from three sources that she was selling the pills, according to the affidavit. Fox allegedly bought pills from a group of men who traveled to Minneapolis to resupply.

Fox was arrested near a north Bismarck motel with 12 pills in her possession. She attempted to toss the pills, and as an officer secured her right hand she grabbed a large butterfly style knife with her left hand, the affidavit states. The officer was able to disarm her and place her under arrest.

Fox allegedly told police she had received and sold 2,000 pills in the last 30 days. The profits from the sale of several pills on Wednesday went toward her purchase of a Gucci wallet, the affidavit states.

No attorney is listed for Fox in court documents. The most serious charges against her carry possible 10-year prison sentences.

Task force officers during the investigation also arrested Antawon Baker, 38, of Chicago, on a federal narcotics indictment warrant. He was arrested at a motel near Foxs apartment building.
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MEXICO CITY  A gang riot inside a border prison that left two inmates dead quickly spread to the streets of Ciudad Juarez where alleged gang members killed nine more people, including four employees of a radio station, security officials said Friday. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The surge in violence recalled a far more deadly period in Juarez more than a decade earlier. Mexicos powerful drug cartels commonly use local gangs to defend their territory and carry out their vendettas.

The federal governments security undersecretary, Ricardo Mejia Berdeja, said the violence started inside the state prison after 1 p.m. Thursday, when member of the Mexicles gang attacked members of the rival Chapos.

Two inmates were killed and 20 injured.

Then suspected gang members outside the prison began burning businesses and shooting up Ciudad Juarez.

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They attacked the civilian, innocent population like a sort of revenge, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said. It wasnt just the clash between two groups, but it got to the point in which they began to shoot civilians, innocent people. That is the most unfortunate thing in this affair.

Mejia said four employees of MegaRadio who were broadcasting a live promotional event outside a business were killed in the shooting.

Chihuahua state Attorney General Roberto Fierro Duarte said that a boy wounded in a shooting at a convenience store died later at the hospital, two women were killed in a fire at another gas station convenience store and two other men were shot elsewhere in the city.

Fierro said 10 suspects had been arrested.

Targeting civilians is not unheard of. In June of last year, a rival faction of the Gulf cartel entered the border city of Reynosa and killed 14 people the governor identified as innocent citizens. The military responded and killed four suspected gunmen.

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Ciudad Juarez has long had a reputation for violence. Gangs like those involved in the riot often serve as proxies and street-level enforcers for Mexicos powerful drug cartels who aggressively exert control over the border crossing routes they need to move their product to the United States.

While still high, murders in recent years were well below what they were more than decade ago  about 1,400 last year compared to more than 3,600 in 2010  according to data from Molly Molloy, a retired border specialist at the New Mexico State University Library, who has tracked the citys homicide data for many years and posts regular updates to her Frontera List.

Authorities said Juarez appeared calm Friday, but the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez moved all of its classes online Friday as a precaution.

The violence came two days after drug cartel gunmen burned vehicles and businesses in the western states of Jalisco and Guanajuato in response to the arrest of a high-ranking cartel leader.

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KARACHI, Pakistan  Pakistani authorities on Friday revoked a broadcast permit for a private television station after it was taken off air following an interview during which an opposition party official allegedly incited troops and officers against the military leadership. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russia's war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The development came after ARY TV in the southern port city of Karachi on Monday aired the interview with Shahbaz Gill, a close aide of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the chief of staff for his Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party.

In the interview, Gill urged Pakistani troops and officers to refuse to obey illegal orders from the military  remarks that were seen by authorities as incitement to revolt. He was subsequently arrested on treason charges and could face the death penalty.

The TV stations news director, Ammad Yousaf, was detained following the interview but then released on Thursday, after an outcry from a media watchdog, rights defenders and top opposition leaders.

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ARY has distanced itself from Gills remarks, stressing that it is not part of any campaign against the army. Still, Pakistans media regulatory took the station off air and on Friday suspended its license amid what it described as adverse reports from agencies.

The move drew condemnation from journalists and opposition leaders. ARYs founder, Salman Iqbal, also denounced the suspension.

Asad Kaleem, an executive producer at ARY, told The Associated Press that the action means that 4,000 employees at the TV are now without work. He pleaded with the government to reverse its decision and bring the hugely popular ARY back on air.

Khan came to power in 2018, promising to break the pattern of family rule in Pakistan, but his opponents said he was elected with help from the powerful military, which has ruled the country for half of its 75-year history.

After his ouster in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April, Khan has blamed army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, claiming the general took part in an alleged U.S. plot to oust him. Washington, the Pakistani military and the government have denied the charge.

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For BHPs board and management, size has always mattered. The Big Australian has pursued a strategy of only holding mining assets that offer significant scale, are long-life and low-cost. Any mining assets deemed too small, or non-core, have been sold over the past two decades.

But has such a strategy resulted in it allocating capital well? Stockbroking analysts such as JP Morgan, Shaw and Partners, and Angus Aitken at Aitken Mount Capital, have criticised how BHP allocates capital, and questioned how good its board and management have been in their forecasts, especially since BHP announced this month an $8.4 billion bid for Oz Minerals, which controls a handful of copper mines.

One of Oz Minerals assets is Prominent Hill, a substantial copper mine in South Australia. Two decades ago, BHP owned a 51 per cent interest in Prominent Hill when it was a promising copper deposit that was still in its exploration phase. BHP had funded most of the exploration at Prominent Hill through a joint venture with Minotaur Resources, Sons of Gwalia and Newmont.

Despite funding the exploration, the Big Australian decided to exit the investment in 2003. At the time, Minotaur managing director Derek Carter explained BHPs decision and then added a caveat.
Its doing this for a reason. While this ambiguity remains official policy, the US, in particular, has had several startlingly clear moments of siding with Taiwanese sovereignty. Most spectacularly, this has involved repeated statements from President Joe Biden that the US would intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan, and even called Taiwan independent. White House officials were then forced to walk back those comments, becoming increasingly unconvincing. Particularly, once you add the fact that American marines have openly trained with Taiwans military, and that Donald Trump lifted restrictions on contacts between US and Taiwanese officials, emphasised commitments to Taiwan, and sent it advanced weapons systems. Meanwhile, Australias posture towards China has been more aggressive  sometimes provoked, but sometimes not  as we saw when the Morrison government called publicly for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. And while the Albanese government clearly wasnt enamoured of Pelosis visit to Taiwan, it would never publicly criticise it. All of which throws into sharp relief the Chinese ambassadors pointed remark that China and Australia should make independent judgments  free from the interference of a third party. Translation: stop subcontracting out your position to the US. And dont choose the US over China in the growing conflict between the two.

Here again, China is identifying a position Australia wont declare, but which everyone knows to be true. Australian politicians might repeat the mantra that we dont have to choose between China and the US, but should push come to shove, we already have. Loading That gets sharp around Taiwan because of a question no Australian politician will want to answer until they have no choice: if China invades, and the US decides to send its military, will we join them? Our approach to the US alliance says we probably would. But the real debate would be whether or not that would be in our national interest. And that would depend on what consequences were happy to wear. Are we happy for our economy to grind to a halt? Will we risk an invasion, assuming the US will defend us? Does it change things if Trump is elected in two years? Circumstances are asking us the question of a century. My reading of Chinas language is that it sees us really as US representatives in the Pacific. It would prefer this to change, and will apply pressure to that end, but otherwise is quite prepared to engage with us on those terms. Meanwhile, were acquiescing to that role. In doing this, were inevitably punting on the kind of unknowable future that foreign policy so often throws up. Were basically assuming that American power will continue to hold sway, that Chinese power will remain in check, and that in the event of open conflict, well be safest behind American shields.

This is becoming a hotly contested debate in foreign policy circles, between those who insist we stick even closer to the US, and those who think that, whether we like it or not, Chinese ascendance is inevitable and we should respond pragmatically to that fact  a bit like New Zealand is. Loading But whatever debates are occurring in foreign policy think tanks and universities, there is no democratic debate on the horizon. Our increasingly pronounced US tilt is bipartisan, so the pros and cons of that position never get agitated publicly. Even to do so would seem vaguely seditious at this point. I understand why. But the problem is that the Australian public has no idea what were meant to be walking into or what calculations are being made on our behalf. It may be that doubling down on the US alliance is the right path to take. But even if thats true, we are entering an era when that will come with costs. What are they? Or more precisely, what do our political leaders think they will be? What consequences are they signing up to accept? It is hard to think of a weightier political judgment being made in our lifetimes. And its extraordinary that if the public can be said to be making it at all, were doing so in the dark.
Nearly half of North Dakota counties are now considered to have a high risk for coronavirus transmission, and 17 people are reported to have died with COVID-19 in the past week.

The number of weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions has topped 100 for the first time since the state went to weekly pandemic reporting in mid-March. The total hit 102 this week, up from 91 the previous week, according to the state Health Department's coronavirus dashboard, which is updated every Friday.

The percentage of North Dakota hospital patients with COVID-19 also ticked up this week, to about 5.1% of occupied inpatient beds and 6.5% of intensive care unit beds statewide. That's up from 4.5% and 5%, respectively, a week ago.

The number of weekly COVID-19 cases in the state slid backward, however, totaling 1,820, down from 1,952 the previous week. That ended a six-week stretch of increases tied to highly contagious mutations of the omicron variant of the virus. The seven-day case total for Burleigh and Morton counties was 216, the fourth straight week of a decrease.

Both Burleigh and Morton remain at a high transmission risk, however, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty-one other North Dakota counties also are at high risk, and 17 are considered at medium risk. The other 13 counties are considered at low risk.

County risk levels can be found at https://bit.ly/3AfSY2A. The CDC recommends that people in high-risk areas wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation, regardless of vaccination status.

Federal data showed 17 new virus-related deaths in North Dakota in the past week, raising the state's pandemic total to 2,326. County-level death data is not available. There have been 261,045 confirmed COVID-19 cases in North Dakota during the pandemic that began in March 2020.

More information

Federal data shows that North Dakota continues to have some of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country: 67.2% of adults in the state are fully vaccinated, with the rate for all vaccine-eligible people -- age 5 and older -- at 60.8%. The national averages are 77.2% and 71.5%, respectively.

COVID-19 booster shots are recommended for people 12 and older. North Dakota's first booster rate is 46.4%, compared to 49.8% nationally. Second booster doses are available for three main groups of people:

All adults 50 years and older.

All people 12 years or older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

Adults 18 to 49 years who received two doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

State Health Department guidance and resources for businesses is at https://bit.ly/3w0DpKj.

Go to https://www.ndvax.org or https://bit.ly/3N3IMxb or call 866-207-2880 to see where COVID-19 vaccine is available. Information on free public testing and free test kits is at health.nd.gov/covidtesting. More detailed pandemic information is at www.health.nd.gov/coronavirus and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  The campaign committee for North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, facing trouble for a TV ad aired against a rival in 2020, plans to ask a federal court to block enforcement of a state law making it illegal to knowingly circulate false reports to damage a candidate's election chances.

The notice of appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was filed Wednesday by the campaign's attorney. It comes a day after a trial judge refused to bar Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman from potentially using the law to prosecute anyone over the disputed commercial. Lawyers for Stein have argued the law is overly broad and chills political speech.

By challenging the state law, Stein may put himself in a bind between his public duties and his political future. Steins campaign committee argues that the statute is unconstitutional, noting one of the attorney generals chief jobs is to defend North Carolina laws in court. Stein, a Democrat, is a potential 2024 governors contender.

The law, which dates to at least 1931, makes it illegal to knowingly circulate false derogatory reports about candidates to harm them at the ballot box. Freeman's investigation stems from a September 2020 State Board of Elections complaint about the ad, which was filed against Steins committee by his then-challenger, Republican Jim ONeill.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles, in canceling her July 25 emergency order that had stopped the laws enforcement, wrote Tuesday that the statute was permissible under the Constitution.

The ad talks about untested rape kits held by local law enforcement agencies, and a woman appearing in the commercial asserts that ONeill left 1,500 rape kits sitting on a shelf in Forsyth County, where he's been district attorney since 2009.

Steins committee and two other plaintiffs sued last month to attempt to the have the law struck down as Freemans office prepared to take its investigation of the commercial to a state grand jury, according to legal briefs. No one has been charged in the case, and its unclear who specifically would have been a possible target.

ONeill has said the 2020 ad was false because police agencies, not prosecutors, are responsible for testing rape kits. Stein, who defeated ONeill by fewer than 14,000 votes in November 2020, has defended the ad's accuracy. He said it countered false accusations by ONeill that he had failed to act on over 15,000 untested rape kits since becoming attorney general in 2017.

The voters deserved to be informed about the differences between how my opponent and I handled this critical public safety issue, Stein said in a statement Wednesday. "I am confident that this statute will ultimately be struck down and we will move forward.

After a state election board investigation, the matter was forwarded to Freemans office, after which the State Bureau of Investigation interviewed Stein, members of his campaign staff and the woman in the ad, who also worked in the attorney generals office, according to briefs.

Separately on Wednesday, the state Democratic Party wrote Freeman demanding that she investigate comments O'Neill made in the 2020 campaign's final months that it alleges were also false and derogatory. Party attorney John Wallace pointed to statements O'Neill made to the media, one that he said alleged Stein had done nothing about the rape kits and another that alleged Stein had sued then-President Donald Trump over funding for a border wall with Mexico.

Freeman, herself a Democrat, should apply equal protection under the law and open an investigation," party spokesperson Kate Frauenfelder said.

In an emailed statement Wednesday evening, Freeman said the Democratic Party was requesting unique treatment but instead needed to follow the normal procedure in a campaign case by filing a complaint with the State Board of Elections.

Freeman recused herself from investigating Stein's ad, leaving it with a senior assistant DA in her office. She said Wednesday her recusal would remain for any other 2020 attorney general campaign case. O'Neill didn't have a comment Wednesday.

The law at issue is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to 60 days in jail with fines. Someone with an otherwise clean record would avoid active time if convicted. Time may be running out on any prosecution, as the statute of limitations on the count is two years.

Another state law says a public official convicted of the misdemeanor at issue in the lawsuit must be removed from office by a judge. This directive appears to conflict with a provision in the North Carolina Constitution in which someone like the attorney general can only be thrown out of office through impeachment and conviction by the General Assembly.
On Monday evening news broke that the FBI searched the Florida home of Donald Trump, the former president. In fact, Trump himself informed the world, calling it a "raid" and an "assault."

While both words are colloquially defensible, it wasn't some Eliot Ness style breach with a battering ram or sledgehammer. The FBI called the Secret Service in advance and was let in. But that wasn't the image Trump and his echo chamber wanted people to have in mind. His statement begins, "These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents."

According to various accounts, including from his son Eric Trump, the warrant was to find classified materials the former president took with him, allegedly in violation of the Presidential Records Act. The National Archives had been in negotiations with Trump's lawyers for a long time in an effort to retrieve documents they say Trump improperly took with him.

Rather than proceed with those negotiations, the FBI obtained a warrant from a judge.

I'd say "these are the facts," but initial reports are often wrong, so it's probably safer to just say all of this is undisputed. Notably, nobody publicly commenting on the raid even knows the contents of the search warrant -- except Trump, and he's not talking about that. The Department of Justice, as a matter of policy, is not commenting on the case at all.

Legal experts on both sides of the political divide insist that such warrants in normal cases require a high degree of evidence and proof of probable cause that a crime has been committed. This, of course, is not a normal case. Trump is correct when he says, "Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before." It is reasonable to assume that the Department of Justice, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, considered and examined their warrant application with great care given the political stakes.

For some political commentators and politicians hostile to Trump, this supposition is proof that the Department must have a very good reason to seek a search warrant. If all the FBI -- which is currently led by a Trump appointee -- is looking for are some letters and other mementos, it would be crazy to do something so politically incendiary.

For other political commentators and politicians supportive of Trump, the extraordinary nature of the raid is proof that the Biden administration or the Department of Justice is persecuting Donald Trump as part of a political "witch hunt."

"I've seen enough. The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization," House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said. "When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned."

Such statements are a bit hard to take from Kevin McCarthy, who once boasted that Republican investigation into Hillary Clinton's role in the Benghazi terrorist attack were justified because it hurt her poll numbers.

Still, Garland had to know that he would be inviting exactly this kind of firestorm with partisans on both sides rushing to confirm their biases.

This battle of confirmation biases amounts to a fascinating political Rorschach test. The GOP House Judiciary Committee tweeted, "If they can do it to a former President, imagine what they can do to you." But that's the point, others argue. "They" can do the same thing to you. The FBI lawfully searches homes every day. If former presidents aren't above the law, then there shouldn't be a higher or different standard for them.

Rather than prove that America is behaving like a "corrupt" "third world country," as Trump and his defenders claim, the FBI's defenders argue that holding a former president accountable to the law just like everyone else proves we're the opposite of a banana republic.

I think they are right in theory, but wrong in practice. The very argument that Garland must have taken extra special care before proceeding demonstrates that we do, in fact, have different standards for former presidents. We have even stricter standards for sitting presidents, which is why the DOJ has a rule that a president cannot be indicted while in office.

Under normal circumstances, it's a good standard that the Department of Justice does not comment on ongoing investigations. But this is an extraordinary situation that requires extraordinary measures. The FBI search is now a very public fact, and its significance is not lost on anyone. Its meaning, however, in the absence of authoritative explanation, is open to manipulation and exploitation, both by partisan defenders of Trump eager to delegitimize an investigation and by critics determined to raise expectations unsupported by the evidence.

The DOJ should release the warrant. If Garland refuses, President Biden should overrule him, to calm the political waters for the good of the country.

Of course, Donald Trump can release the warrant for the good of the country, too. But he's already fundraising off the "witch hunt."

Interpret that Rorschach blot however you like.
FILE - A woman walks past an exchange office screen showing the currency exchange rates of U.S. Dollar to Russian Rubles in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, July 5, 2022. Russias gross domestic product contracted 4% in the second quarter of this year, the state statistical service said Friday, Aug. 12.
"There are no women in this sphere, and no women's voices are being heard."

-- Bismarck native and former Miss America Cara Mund, who is running for Congress in part because she believes there are not enough women leaders in government.

q q q

Were probably about six weeks out from this being a beautiful, painted machine that will walk right up that road and start digging coal.

-- Mike Heger, general manager of BNI Coal, which has purchased a $31 million dragline to replace an aging machine.

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"Gas prices have certainly taken a downward turn. North Dakota motorists can find gas for under $3.70 at some stations, and the state average could drop to that price point in the next week or two."

-- Gene LaDoucer, AAA's spokesman in North Dakota, after the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the state fell for the eighth straight week.

q q q

Our main objective is to educate rather than punish. Weve all been young and made mistakes. We arent trying to ruin peoples lives.

-- Bismarck Police Officer Caitlin Horne, leader of a local program that uses specialized scanners to detect fake IDs at businesses such as bars and restaurants.

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Red River Womens Clinic has found our new home. We could not be prouder to be able to continue to provide abortion care to our community and the region. This has not been an easy undertaking.

-- Tammi Kromenaker, owner of the Red River Women's Clinic in Fargo  North Dakota's only abortion clinic  which is moving to an office building in neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota, in advance of abortion becoming illegal in North Dakota.

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"We have to begin everything from zero, but at least we are safe."

-- Marzia Jafari, who with her husband, Nasim, resettled in Bismarck in May after evacuating from Afghanistan last year amid the Taliban's takeover.

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Law enforcement cannot arrest our way out of the opioid epidemic. There must be a way to get people help for their addiction at the time they need it. This program allows that to happen.

-- Bismarck Police Chief Dave Draovitch, on a new program that aims to bridge the gap between emergency services for overdose victims and treatment for opioid addiction, by putting Heartview Foundation officials in hospital emergency rooms.

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We expect this transaction to create significant value for our shareholders and believe it will enable us to achieve attractive shareholder returns at both companies.

-- David Goodin, president and CEO of Bismarck-based MDU Resources Group, which is spinning off its construction materials subsidiary Knife River Corp.

q q q

"Back in 2019, we had as many as six planes that would come in at night, sit on the ground and remain overnight. We had four gates."

-- Bismarck Airport Director Greg Haug, on a resumption of prepandemic plans to consider expanding the facility.

q q q

"Our entire climate record is an average of extremes."

-- James Telken, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Bismarck, explaining an abnormally cool weekend sandwiched between two weeks of high heat.

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I think more employers are opening their eyes and considering that, some for the first time.

-- Brian Ritter, president and CEO of the Bismarck Mandan Chamber EDC, on businesses across North Dakota increasingly looking to attract new American immigrants and foreign workers to address labor shortages.
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The seven cities shortlisted to host Eurovision have been revealed.

Earlier this year, the European Broadcasting Union has concluded that, after exploring the logistics of hosting the competition in Ukraine, it was not be possible for safety and security reasons due to current events during the ongoing Russian invasion.

However, Ukraine, winners of the 2022 contest, will automatically qualify (alongside France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, who all financially contribute the most to Eurovision) and the show itself will contain "Ukrainian elements", according to a press release.

Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield will compete to stage the event in May 2023.

Twenty cities expressed an interest, the BBC said, and those not making the shortlist include London, Aberdeen, Bristol, Darlington and Belfast. The host will be revealed this autumn.
The Health and Human Services (HHS) serves the monumental task of overseeing a wide array of programs and solutions to keep more than 335 million people in the U.S healthy and employed.

HHS is fraught with highly complex processes and paperwork that underlines everything from acquisition to distribution, compliance, requesting and receiving grants, and more.

The agencies must prioritize customer experiences when managing all the processes to ensure overall government success.

This blog looks at the different ways government health agencies are using digital transformation to provide a more efficient and personalized experience for their customers.
The Boston Globe recently printed an op-ed by former Ithaca, NY mayor Svante Myrick, who talks about his own city's approach to police reform. Myrick was originally elected when he was just 24 years old, and served in his position for 10 years, during which he dealt with a number of complications involving the police department in that 32,000-person city. I lived in Ithaca for two years during which Myrick was mayor; I thought he was generally a pretty good mayor, and while I personally had no negative police encounters during my time there, I'd heard plenty of horror stories  though none of them could quite compare to the various corruptions of the Boston Police Department.

The part of Myrick's op-ed that caught my eye, however, was his insistence that subjecting police force applications to a polygraph test helped to improve hiring:

Our goal was not to get applicants to confess to crimes. The test is for psychological characteristics with a focus on authoritarian tendencies, because we believe these, even more than other problematic factors such as racism or implicit bias, are both easier to detect and ultimately the most predictive of violent behavior down the road. Authoritarian individuals are those who feel they must be obeyed. They are bullies who demand subordination from others and display aggressive, impulsive traits. When we administered our combined polygraph and psychological screening, we found a sharp contrast between these unsuitable applicants' statements in their earlier job interviews and their answers during the final screening process. [] Once we added this step to our application process five years ago, it helped us eliminate a full 75 percent of applicants we otherwise would have hired. We were disturbed when we saw many of those applicants hired in other departments. Meanwhile in Ithaca, we reaped the benefits. The metrics are still coming in, but it quickly became evident that the officers whose conduct caused the city to be embroiled in lawsuits were hired before we instituted the new screening.

On one hand, I'm well aware that lie detector tests are generally bullshit. On the other hand, I'm intrigued by the idea that even the threat of a lie detector test might be enough to make some authoritarian bastards reveal their more authoritarian tendencies. The fact that these tests helped to eliminate 75 percent of potential job candidates is both wild  and, given the kind of people who tend to apply for policing jobs, not actually that surprising. While I'm certainly not convinced that the world needs more BS polygraph tests, I am still intrigued by these results, and Myrick makes some valid arguments. (Myrick notes that the Ithaca police union didn't oppose the test, but I suspect that would be some pushback in other places, not to mention some potential legal/discrimination claims.)

The city of Boston recently hired a new police commissioner named Michael Cox. Back in 1995, Cox, a Black man, was working on-duty as a plain-clothes officer, when a group of his colleagues on the Boston Police Department allegedly mistook him for a gang member, and assaulted him, beating him so bad that he was hospitalized for months. Cox stayed with the force, and diligently pursed a civil rights case against the officers who assaulted him; he ultimately won, and several of the officers involved in the attack were "disciplined," though none of them ever faced charges. As a result, Cox is vocally of reform  though obviously not defunding, as he's clearly stuck with his policing career  and it'll be interesting to see what kinds of changes he tries, and/or succeeds, to make.

To transform Boston policing, test for authoritarianism [Svante Myrick / Boston Globe]

Boston gets Police Commissioner who bad cops likely loathe. Let's see how this goes. [Chris Faraone / Dig Boston]

In the pre-dawn darkness of 1995, Officer Michael Cox became a crime victim  at the hands of fellow Boston police officers [John R. Ellement and Ivy Scott / Boston Globe]

Image: Lorie Shaull / Flickr (CC-BY-SA 2.0)
British singer and performer Darius Campbell Danesh has died at age 41. His family said Tuesday that he was found unresponsive in his apartment in Rochester, Minnesota, on Aug. 11 and pronounced dead by the local medical examiners office. The family says the cause of death hasn't been determined. Campbell Danesh shot to fame in 2001 on the reality-talent show Pop Idol" and topped British music charts the following year with his single Colourblind. He went on to a successful career in stage musicals, with roles in productions of Chicago, Guys and Dolls and Gone With the Wind. In 2010, he won another reality show, Popstar to Operastar.
JUNEAU  A 44-year-old Beaver Dam man was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of lewd and lascivious behavior on Thursday for an incident at Marshfield Medical Center  Beaver Dam where he made profane comments to the staff.

Bradley Toft entered a guilty plea to both misdemeanor counts and a felony counts of battery to a nurse. Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Martin De Vries placed Toft on a deferred prosecutors agreement for the felony count and found him guilty for the misdemeanor counts.

De Vries withheld sentencing and placed Toft on probation for 24 months. As conditions of his probation, he must undergo an AODA assessment and follow through with treatment suggested for a mental health assessment and maintain absolute sobriety.

According to the criminal complaint:

Beaver Dam Police were called to the hospital three times starting at 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 4 for a report of an unruly subject who was under the influence of drugs or other unknown substances and was presenting a danger to himself and the staff.

Toft was in the emergency room and was calmly speaking to police while allegedly getting agitated at times. He would say statements that did not make sense and attempt to walk to the door. Hospital staff said he had tried to remove his IV and medical equipment. He did listen to officers and returned to the bed and did not threaten the staff while officers were in the hospital.

A medical technician told police that Toft was brought in by his mother who was concerned because he had consumed THC edibles and was acting unusual. The medical technician said that Toft was also acting inappropriately toward staff and making sexual comments toward them. He had also grabbed a safety razor from the medical technician and placed it close to her neck. She was able to get the razor back from him.

A registered nurse reported similar incidents.

According to the criminal complaint, the officers left but were called back a few minutes later. Toft was running through the hospital around the emergency room area. When officers returned, Toft was surrounded by medical staff and a security guard while in a bed.

Police had to return around 5:30 a.m. after a 911 call following Toft allegedly striking a security guard.

According to the complaint, Toft made a comment that he was unaware of the laws in Wisconsin, since he actually lived in Illinois. He was told that striking someone was wrong no matter what state you lived in.
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Air combat training featuring advanced military aircraft and adversarial attack simulations is back at Volk Field Air National Guard Base, and if you live in Sauk County, you might just have heard it before you read about it. Military flight operations are taking place in the airspace here as well as over many other nearby counties.

The Northern Lightning Counterland exercise has been going on since Aug. 8 and will conclude on Aug. 19 at the Combat Readiness Center on the base. Fighter pilots, commanders, and other service members from four U.S. military branches are participating in the training event.

Its just such an honor to be able to host a huge exercise like this here in Wisconsin, said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, the states Adjutant General. We have people that come from all over the country, from all the components. We have active duty, (National) Guard, and reserve all here for two weeks for Northern Lightning.

Knapp added that the exercise requires everyone from the local community to service members and others from around the U.S. to make it function well, but says that it showcases all that the state has to offer from a military standpoint.

Aircraft at the exercise included training military jets like the T-38 and fighter planes including the F-35, F-22, and F-16. Fighter pilots such as 1st Lt. Sawyer Grit Murray of the U.S. Air Forces 7th Fighter Training Squadron are learning various aerial and ground combat tactics.

Were doing some large-force exercises out here, said Murray. Big style engagements and practicing both air-to-air and air-to-surface threats.

The 26-year-old Murray referred to her time operating military jets as a great experience and has grown to love her assignments in the Air Force.

Flying jets is about the single greatest thing I could ask for, said Murray. Its cool to be doing it out here with so many experienced pilots who know what theyre doing really well.

She added that exercises such as Northern Lightning gives her and other training pilots experiences that they have not previously had and serve as practice for different potential military air experiences.

Col. Ben Staats, the Northern Lightning exercise director, said that the focus is to give joint military units training in high-end fights, or combat against a potential adversary of equal strength.

We build our scenarios based upon what we see out when units are going in deployments, said Staats. They come back and tell us this is the type of training we need to get ready for those environments.

Skills learned at the training, according to Staats, include integrating fourth- and fifth-generation military aircraft, which are the jets at the base, in complex missions to maximize the ability of the planes. He added that the trainees engage in simulated activities based on the Air Training Reference Guide to get prepared for what they may encounter in potential combat.

We mimic that using our fighters, said Staats. We have F-22s and F-35s playing the bad guys, that would mimic stealth fighters from whatever adversary country that were fighting. We also have serviced air missile systems that simulate like theyre shooting at the aircraft and then were able to run that simulation in the debrief so that everyone can see what would actually happen if theyre shooting missiles.

Capt. Jenna Lenski of the Wisconsin National Guard discussed the importance of Northern Lightning and its benefit to the state.

This exercise here at Volk Field is kind of a golden nugget for Wisconsin because were bringing in all kinds of different aircraft, said Lenski. Were bringing in the different components of the Air Force and different services to train and basically practice for war. Its important to Wisconsin that they realize they have a place for all of these things to happen.

Lenski added that Wisconsin has National Guard bases in three locations: Volk Field, the 115th Fighter Wing in Madison and the 128th Air Refueling Wing in Milwaukee.
Steven Woodard has been involved in Special Olympics as a swimmer and Thursday night he showed off his gold medal for the Portage City Council to get a closer look.

Woodard competed as a member of Team Wisconsin during the 2022 Special Olympics USA games in June in Orlando, Florida. He won a gold medal in swimming in the 50-yard breaststroke.

He has been a Special Olympic athlete since 1994. On Thursday he thanked the city council for inviting him to speak. He said his time in Special Olympics has given him more confidence with public speaking.

Thanks for having me today, Woodard said. This feels amazing. All that training paid off.

Woodard has received a bit of fame and celebrity with a photo taken in Orlando during his competition when his goggles slipped down his face. The photo was captioned, Goggle mustache.

It was fun, Woodard said.

Woodards parents, Ron and Diane Woodard, were with their son on Thursday night as he received a standing ovation for his achievements.

Canal project delayed

On Thursday night the council was notified that the final phase of the Portage Canal project will be delayed a few weeks, but should be completed by the end of the year.

City Administrator Shawn Murphy told the council the project will start Sept. 6 instead of later this month. Murphy did not give a specific reason for the delay but said the project, being overseen by the Wisconsin DOT, is scheduled to be finished by Nov. 7.

Murphy has described the project as a big deal for the city and that completing it is the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people over many years.

The final phase of the project will include paving the path alongside the canal and will include installing lights and benches along the new path.

It will be delayed, but will be completed on time, Murphy said.

Last year a large portion of the canal was dredged which removed over 47,000 tons of sediment from the canal. A number of odd objects were also removed from the canal such as bowling balls and even a rifle.
Molli Babler and her mom are Pyrex people.

The pair began collecting the versatile vintage bakeware about six years ago, after a friend bought Babler a 1970s Butterfly Gold Pyrex mixing bowl set at an auction.

Then it snowballed, said Babler, who along with her mother, Tracy Wright, began scouring every place she could for vintage patterned Pyrex: Antique stores. Garage sales. Flea markets.

We followed so many Facebook pages devoted to decorative Pyrex pieces that once belonged to someones mom or grandma, she said, and started realizing that not only was there a group of people who love to collect them, but also to sell them.

One of those Facebook pages last spring announced a huge, single-day, vintage Pyrex swap taking place in Kentucky. We had never heard about these swaps before, and we wanted to do something new and exciting, Babler explained, something that wasnt just a flea market.

So she and Wright traveled to Bowling Green, and halfway into the swap swarming with Pyrex lovers and collectors, Both Mom and I looked at each other and said, Well, we probably should do one of these in Wisconsin this year.

On Aug. 20, they will. More than 30 vendors from across the country will join Babler and Wright for their first Wisconsin Vintage Pyrex Swap and Sale in McFarland, both trading and selling colorful stacks of vintage Pyrex bowls, rows of Pyrex spice bottles, and even rare vintage Pyrex sets worth hundreds of dollars.

And more.

Local link

The history of Pyrex has Madison ties. The fridge-to-oven kitchenware resulted from a legendary discovery by Jesse Littleton, a young physics professor from the University of Michigan who was hired to join the lab of the Corning, New York-based Corning Glass Works in the early 1910s.

According to the Corning Museum of Glass, Littleton was charged with helping to develop a new product based on Cornings thermal shock-resistant NONEX glass created for American railroad companies.

Most Pyrex fans know the near-mythological story that ensued, says an article on the museums website, pyrex.cmog.org.

Jesse brought a sawed-off NONEX battery jar home for his wife, Becky, to try for baking. She made a sponge cake in this glass, thus demonstrating the potential for a glass bakeware product line which was to become Pyrex.

The Littletons legendary son, Harvey, would go on to found the world-renowned studio art glass movement and the first studio hot glass program at an American university: UW-Madison.

Anything pink

And Pyrex would go on to become a kitchen staple, evolving from clear glass bowls to items like the Primary Colors Bowl Set, which retailed new from 1945 to 1949 at a cost of $2.50. Today the complete four-piece set can go for several hundred dollars.

The so-called opal ware bowls lent themselves to surface designs; according to the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning Glass Works released more than 150 different patterns on Pyrex between 1956 and 1987.

Those are the pieces often sought by collectors. For the Aug. 20 swap, Babler and Wright, who live in Barneveld, will bring along some 200 of their own items to sell, including complete sets.

But surely they have their favorite Pyrex pieces  the ones they would never part with?

Mine is anything pink, said Wright, who works as a patient experience adviser for SSM Health. Mainly the Gooseberry print  the bowl is pink, the pattern is white. But anything pink: Pink stripes, pink casseroles.

Bablers passion is the Butterprint pattern, a turquoise design on white. She also recently developed an affection for the Snowflake Garland design and 1960s-era polka dot bowls.

Collectors often find a niche, the two women explain: A Pyrex color, pattern or function, such as refrigerator sets, lasagna pans, or the Cinderella nesting bowls designed by the architect Philip Johnson, with a handle or spout on each side. Some people collect items for their sentimental value, because they remember a beloved parent or grandparent who owned a particular Pyrex piece.

You name it, Wright said. Different people (collect) different things.

Workhorses

The Wisconsin swap will also feature other vintage kitchen items with brand names such as CorningWare, Fire King and Federal Glass, plus vintage whisks, percolators, blenders and the like. Pyrex items will range in quality from pristine to workhorses  pieces that have been heavily used and well loved, Wright said.

These are things that you should never, never put in the dishwasher because it can ruin the visual and lower an items value, said Wright.

A single bowl at a swap can go from $5 to well over $200, depending on its rarity and condition, Babler said. Sets can run from $75 to $1,500.

The website vintagecookbooklover.com claims that the most expensive Pyrex ever sold on eBay was an Oh My Stars Gold Constellation bowl with lid that went for $5,655 in June 2020.

Some items when they were sold in the 1950s, cost $1.25, but that was expensive at the time, Babler said. People gave them as wedding gifts.

TikTok Pyrex

Most of the vendors expected at the Wisconsin Vintage Pyrex Swap and Sale are from the Midwest, but some are traveling from as far away as Texas and California. They will include at least two celebrities in the vintage Pyrex world: A TikTok personality from Iowa known for her Pyrex love, and a collector dubbed the Pyrex King from Pennsylvania.

Vendors get first crack at purchases and trades before the swap opens to the public at 10 a.m. Buyers are encouraged to pay in cash, but some vendors may also accept PayPal, Venmo and credit cards, Babler said. Buyers are welcome to bring their own Pyrex pieces for possible swap or sale to a vendor, she said.

While this years vendor spots are full, Wright and her daughter already are compiling a wait list for those who want to sell at the next Wisconsin swap, planned for spring or summer 2023, she said. And their own hunt will go on, with Babler and Wright continuing to look for that perfect Pyrex bowl or cup at yard sales and thrift stores.

I dont think its something you can ever stop, said Babler, a real estate agent and builder. All my clients and real estate friends know we are Pyrex people. So everyone has an eye out for us when they see Pyrex.
Federal prosecutors have charged two Minnesota men for allegedly participating in arsons and looting in Kenosha in August 2020 following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

It offers a detailed glimpse into what occurred inside some of the looted stores, and how such alleged criminals were organized.

The two most recent defendants join a handful of others already charged with serious crimes committed here after driving to Kenosha from the Twin Cities in a coordinated group, according to court records.

Anthony Clay, 24, and Antoine Eubanks, 30, each face the charge of conspiring to defraud the United States, among other things. Some of their co-conspirators have already been charged with criminal offenses.

Clay and Eubanks were charged in a sealed complaint in April. They were indicted Tuesday and the complaint was unsealed.

The 29-page complaint by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Milwaukee special agent Rick Hankins details their alleged crimes during the Kenosha unrest. It also details the alleged crimes of their co-conspirators.

Clay and Eubanks, along with Allen King, David Garner, Kevin Martinez and others allegedly drove to Kenosha from Minnesota on Aug. 24, the day after Downtown Kenosha experienced unprecedented chaos and violence over the Blake shooting.

Charlies Bar incident

On Aug. 26 , ATF and the Kenosha Police Department initiated a fire scene investigation at Charlies 10th Hole bar, 3805 22nd Ave. Investigators located two areas of separate fire damage, one on the outside of the building and one on the inside. The ATF determined both fires were incendiary in nature, according to the complaint.

As part of their investigation, law enforcement collected hours of surveillance videos from multiple locations.

Late Aug. 24, a male believed to be Garner was observed using an apparent ignitable liquid to set fire to the north exterior of the bar. A few minutes later, a male believed to be King is seen standing next to Garner holding an object that Garner pours liquid on. Soon after, surveillance cameras captured an illumination near the front window at the bar with King appearing near it, according to the complaint.

Interior cameras at the bar reportedly captured images of a flaming object flying through the air from the direction of the front window and landing behind the bar. The male believed to be King, along with others in his group, subsequently fled westbound across 22nd Avenue toward a CVS located at 3726 22nd Ave.

CVS store

Approximately 14 people unlawfully entered a closed CVS store around 11:30 p.m. that night. The unlawful intruders allegedly included King, Martinez, Garner, Clay and Eubanks.

Kenosha Police responded to the CVS burglary and observed the bottom half of CVSs glass sliding doors were shattered and entered the building to check for subjects. Officers reportedly located a silver hammer with a black handle and a flathead screwdriver with a black-and-red handle in the immediate area. Officers noted that cash drawers and pill bottles were strewn across the floor, and the store was in disarray.

The pharmacy section of the CVS had hundreds of pill bottles strewn across the floor, one shelf of medication was tipped over, and the medication refrigerators were opened. CVS pharmacy completed an inventory and found that about $1,250 of controlled substances and $10,825 of non-controlled substances were missing from the store.

A man identified as JM was charged with burglary. JM reportedly acknowledged that he had traveled with the group of people from the Twin Cities on August 24 to participate in the riots and tied King, Eubanks and Martinez to the burglary.

Citgo gas station

The Citgo gas station located at 2710 Roosevelt Road was also burglarized during the early morning hours of Aug. 25.

The glass of the Citgos front windows and door were broken and surveillance video captured multiple people entering the gas station and looting.

Shortly thereafter, a dark SUV approached the gas station and a man believed to be King exited the vehicle, with another individual believed to be Eubanks. King reportedly entered the store, possessing what appears to be a handgun.

At one point King took a shooting stance with both hands on the suspected handgun and aimed it at the office/cashier booth door, according to the complaint.

Shortly thereafter most of the other people inside the store quickly exited the store.

After he placed the handgun in his front pocket, King then reportedly attempted to open the sliding windows to the cashier booth. At about this same time, Eubanks allegedly entered the gas station. Both males subsequently began working together to force open the cashier window.

By around 12:25 a.m., King had exited the cashier booth with a metal garbage can containing cigarettes..

At approximately 1 a.m., a man believed to be Martinez entered the gas station. Martinez allegedly jumped onto the counter and entered the cashier booth. After he jumped into the cashier booth, Martinez assisted in collecting cigarettes. The Citgo gas station surveillance system also captured images of the male believed to be Eubanks collecting items, including cigarettes and lottery tickets, and removing those items from the store.

Facebook evidence

Law enforcement was eventually able to identify and obtain records of Facebook accounts maintained by Eubanks, Clay, King, Garner and Martinez.

In one Facebook post, created on the date of the suspected arson, King reportedly indicated that he, Garner and Martinez were on a money mission.

Kings next Facebook post was a video on his timeline at approximately 9:50 p.m. on Aug. 24 in which he announced that he and his group were in Kenosha. King himself is depicted wearing a red shirt and a covering over his head and face, consistent with his appearance during the arsons at Charlies 10th Hole bar.

Later that same day, King reportedly sent photos with listed prices for items believed to be stolen from Kenosha, according to the complaint.

Garner was arrested on Aug. 23, 2021. When questioned by investigators, Garner reportedly said they were just protesting when they first arrived, but that King started breaking stuff, and broke into car dealerships to try to steal cars. He also stated King started some fires with a flammable liquid he got from white men dressed as freedom fighters and who carried guns and were dressed like soldiers.
After 14 months, hundreds of headlines, more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars and a bitter, public feud, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Friday fired Michael Gableman, the former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice he hired last summer to review Wisconsins 2020 presidential election.

The speakers decision came just days after Gableman  and former President Donald Trump  endorsed Vos primary opponent, Adam Steen, whom the speaker narrowly defeated Tuesday. Speaking to reporters after unofficial results came in on election night, Vos called Gableman an embarrassment to the state and said he would speak with members of his caucus about the former justices future.

In a statement on Friday, Vos said, after hearing from members of his caucus since Tuesday, it is beyond clear to me that we only have one choice in this matter, and that's to close the Office of Special Counsel.

For those like me who remain concerned about ensuring we have election integrity, we have a simple solution; to focus on our efforts to elect a Republican governor in November so we can pass the bills that were vetoed by Gov. (Tony) Evers, Vos continued, referring to a flurry of changes to the states election laws passed by the Legislature that were vetoed by the governor earlier this year.

The Associated Press first reported Gablemans firing.

When the Office of Special Counsel was created in July of 2021, the goal was to use investigators to determine what happened during the 2020 election," Vos said. "Justice Gableman gave a report in November 2021, and his last report in March 2022. The reports, along with the Legislative Audit Bureau, clearly showed concerns and problems with the 2020 election. Thats why the Legislature passed 19 bills and three constitutional amendments focusing on the issues identified by the Audit Bureau and the Special Counsel."

Vos decision to fire Gableman leaves the former justices GOP-backed review in limbo. While Gableman was no longer probing the states 2020 presidential vote, he was still involved in a series of lawsuits. The speaker previously said Gableman should see those lawsuits through to their ends to help define the authority of the Legislature for potential future reviews.

Vos hired Gableman to lead the review of Wisconsins 2020 presidential election in June 2021. However, the former state Supreme Court justices work didnt start in earnest until late August last year, when Vos sought approval for an Office of Special Counsel to direct an elections integrity investigation.

I hired him on recommendations thinking we were going to hire somebody who was a good, articulate independent voice," Vos told reporters on Tuesday.

Gableman spent much of July and August 2021 familiarizing himself with election administration, searching for office space and traveling to learn about election issues in other states, he testified during a court hearing in June.

In the months following last summer, Gablemans review was haphazard. It focused primarily on voting at nursing homes in Wisconsin amid the COVID-19 outbreak and the use of grant money by local governments to help pay for election-related expenses during the pandemic.

In March, he told an Assembly committee that lawmakers should consider decertifying Wisconsins 2020 presidential election, despite the nonpartisan Legislative Council and Legislative Reference Bureau having determined that doing so is not legally possible. The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Gableman wrote in a memo to Vos shortly after his testimony that the legal obstacles to its accomplishment render such an outcome (of decertification) a practical impossibility.

Still, election deniers latched onto Gablemans recommendation, and the former justice began to regularly be seen alongside election conspiracy theorists. He also began making semi-regular appearances on far-right media, including a podcast hosted by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

All the while, Gableman racked up legal defeats. In separate lawsuits, three Dane County judges ordered him to stop deleting records related to his review, and one of those judges held him in contempt for violating a records-related order.

In May, after signing yet another contract extension with Vos, Gablemans salary was reduced from $11,000 per month to $5,500 as his role shifted from election reviewer to litigator, keeping him on the states payroll until lawsuits related to subpoenas he issued as part of the review are resolved.

The taxpayers were paying $11,000 for somebody to sit at the New Berlin Library to learn about election law because they had no experience in election law, Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn said of Gableman earlier this month, adding that his work uncovered absolutely no substantial election fraud.

Despite having been hired by Vos, Gableman followed in Trumps footsteps by endorsing Steen. Trumps endorsement came after months of unsuccessfully prodding Vos to pursue the futile task of election decertification.

The former president campaigned in Waukesha last Friday in support of Steen, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, congressional candidate Derrick Van Orden and gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels.

It took a personal endorsement in a primary against Speaker Vos in order for him to realize what Democrats have been saying since the start of this sham investigation: Mike Gableman is an embarrassment to the state of Wisconsin and taxpayers shouldnt be wasting money on him, said Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, in a statement.

Vos  who defeated Steen by 260 votes  has said he believes there were problems with the administration of the 2020 election, but that they must be addressed by passing legislation. He has urged voters to look ahead to future elections rather than remain mired in the past.

Several recounts, lawsuits and a nonpartisan audit have confirmed that President Joe Biden won Wisconsin in 2020 by about 20,000 votes and that there was no widespread voter fraud in the state.
The more than $1.1 million taxpayer-funded, GOP-ordered review of the 2020 election appears to be on its last legs, but the wheels began coming off five months ago when lead investigator Michael Gableman recommended the Legislature take the legally impossible step of decertifying the results.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who hired Gableman last year to lead the probe, in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday said that recommendation in a March interim report soured his opinion of the former state Supreme Court justice.

I think theres a pretty broad consensus that the tack that we were on needs to come to a natural conclusion, so we need to figure that out, Vos told the State Journal.

Vos, R-Rochester, said he offered Gableman clear parameters to follow before the investigation officially launched in July 2021: The review needed to be nonpartisan and Gableman should avoid both the limelight and political events.

I think for most of calendar year 2021, Justice Gableman did a good job, Vos said.

The review was initially intended to conclude by the end of last year, but Gableman himself admitted in June  while providing testimony in one of four public records lawsuits related to the probe  that he spent the first several months of his efforts getting up to speed on Wisconsin elections.

In August, he attended a South Dakota event hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell billed as presenting irrefutable proof that Chinese-backed hackers helped steal the 2020 election for President Joe Biden. Gableman later said he was very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims. He also traveled to Arizona that month to observe the widely discredited election audit conducted by Cyber Ninjas.

He couldnt help himself and in the end he was going to rallies, he was attending political events which clearly looked like there was a partisan tinge to the investigation, Vos said. We stopped most of that, but then here we are where he does not just attend a political event but chooses to be involved in a very partisan way and then lie about it.

Vos comments are in reference to what may be the final nail in the coffin for Gablemans review  his direct involvement in backing Vos primary opponent. Despite being the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history and one of the most influential Republicans in the state, Vos on Tuesday narrowly avoided a primary loss to election denier Adam Steen, who came into the race with juggernaut endorsements from both Gableman and Trump.

Unforgivable lie

While Vos launched the review at Trumps behest, the former presidents opinion of Vos has soured over recent weeks due to the speakers refusal to entertain Trumps calls to decertify the results of the 2020 presidential election  something that cannot happen under state law or the U.S. Constitution.

Vos ultimately won by about 260 votes, according to unofficial results, but not before Gableman recorded a robocall days before the primary claiming that the man who hired him a year ago never wanted a real investigation.

I never said we werent serious about the investigation, Vos said Thursday. Frankly, if you ask any Democrat and most Republicans in the state, they think I was pretty serious in spending the money and time and resources that we did. So for him to lie about it, thats kind of an unforgivable situation where you trust somebody because of their integrity and then at the end they lie.

Vos said he plans to meet with Assembly Republicans next Tuesday to decide the fate of the review, but didnt offer specifics on next steps.

Gableman did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Lost my confidence

Vos hired Gableman at a cost of $676,000, though legal fees and other court costs have pushed the price tag to more than $1.1 million  all of which will ultimately fall on taxpayers. Gableman was paid $11,000 per month for the first 10 months of the review, but Vos earlier this year paused the probe to allow time for pending lawsuits related to the review to play out in court and halved Gablemans monthly salary to $5,500.

Gablemans salary cut came two months after he released an interim report of his review on March 1 in which he told state lawmakers they should take a very hard look at decertifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Just two weeks later, on March 16, the former justice wrote in a private memo to Vos that decertification was a practical impossibility.

For whatever reason he felt the need to put in that interim report ... that we could decertify, or at least that we should explore it, Vos said. Well, thats unconstitutional and impossible. At that point, he kind of lost my confidence.

Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, like many state Democratic lawmakers, has long criticized Gablemans review and said Gablemans partisan views should have come as a surprise to no one, including Vos. Gableman attended a pro-Trump rally in November 2020, months before he was hired by Vos, and said a stolen election would be systematically unjust.

This is a monster that is continuing to grow more and more heads because of the way that Speaker Vos is choosing to spend the taxpayers dollars, Agard said. Now that he has been on the receiving end of that toxicity, he wants to make that change? Weve been waving white flags and trying to draw his attention to that from the very beginning because this is who Gableman is.

Sen. Kathleen Bernier, chair of the Senate elections committee and one of the few state Republicans to openly criticize Gablemans review, said I can only speak on the Senate and I think most of us regretted it, when asked about the probe.

Much of the negative comments directed at Vos, including by Trump and state Rep. Timothy Ramthun, who has repeatedly called for decertifying the 2020 elections results, have focused on the belief that Vos was holding back Gablemans efforts.

Did Robin want to let him loose on all kinds of harebrained ideas? No, he probably didnt, Bernier said. Did he hold him back from following some Ramthun conspiracy theories? Probably. But the fact of the matter is, that was a mistake, even hiring (Gableman). I mean, he is less than credible, in my opinion.

Election laws

While Bernier has long spoken about moving beyond the 2020 presidential election and the resultant election review, she also called for passing new election laws, which Republicans tried to do this past legislative session before Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed them.

A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. A report from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau last year found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election but made several recommendations for improvements.

Vos offered a similar sentiment, noting that hes convinced that practices followed in the 2020 election were clearly done wrong, but added that we dont have a silver bullet to say this would have resulted in 20,000 ballots being different, we dont know that.

We have to have it be that when an election is conducted, 99% of the people accept the result. Under the system we have right now, thats not true, Vos added. Somehow, we have to be better and that was my goal with the investigation, to show, yes there were problems, but in the end we have to move on and showcase how to fix it, not how to overturn it. I dont know how we get there.

Seeking audit

Agard, who along with a handful of Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday sent a letter to the Republican chair of the Legislatures Joint Legislative Audit Committee seeking a full audit of Gablemans review, said Vos holds some of the blame for the skepticism some Republicans still have over Wisconsins 2020 election.

When you peddle conspiracy theories and feed lies to the people of Wisconsin and then you say you want to put that to bed, thats like saying to the arsonist, Here, you can take the hose, you can put the fire out and guess what, were going to give you a gold star for extinguishing that fire, Agard said.

State Journal reporter Alexander Shur contributed to this report.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Friday fired Michael Gableman, marking an end to the more than $1 million taxpayer-funded, GOP-ordered review that has failed to uncover any evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

A day after telling the Wisconsin State Journal he wanted the election review to reach its natural conclusion, Vos, who hired Gableman last summer to lead the probe, ended the states contract with Gableman and closed the Office of Special Counsel headed by the former state Supreme Court justice.

Gablemans firing comes three days after Vos narrowly defeated his primary opponent Adam Steen, who was endorsed by both Gableman and former President Donald Trump.

After having many members of our caucus reach out to me over the past several days, it is beyond clear to me that we only have one choice in this matter, and thats to close the Office of Special Counsel, Vos said in a statement issued first to The Associated Press.

In an interview with WISN-12, Vos said he sent Gableman a letter on the matter, adding he hasnt personally spoken with the former justice in weeks.

I really dont think theres any need to have a discussion, Vos said. He did a good job last year, it kind of got off the rails this year and now were going to end the investigation.

Vos said his goal now is to help Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels defeat Democratic Gov. Tony Evers this November and pass a slew of election bills Evers vetoed last legislative session.

Vos hired Gableman at a cost of $676,000, though legal fees and other court costs have pushed the price tag to more than $1.1 million  all of which will ultimately fall on taxpayers. Gableman was paid more than $100,000 to lead the review.

Farce from start

The investigation was a farce from the beginning and did nothing but waste taxpayer dollars, demonize our local clerks and election officials, and further sow misinformation and doubt in our democratic systems, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said in a statement. Im relieved the Office of the Special Counsel is closed, but this action from Speaker Vos today is far too little, far too late.

Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday several state Republicans wanted to see Gablemans review come to a natural conclusion, but at the time still planned to caucus next Tuesday to decide the fate of the review.

I would have fired his keister a long time ago, said Sen. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, who chairs the Senate elections committee. Bernier, who is not seeking another term this year, has long criticized the election review.

As to why Gableman had remained under contract for so long, Robin may not have fired him prior to the primary for political reasons and I dont blame him, Bernier said, clarifying that she was only speculating about Vos intentions.

Gableman did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Trumps lie

Facing pressure from Trump, who continues to promote the lie of a stolen 2020 presidential election, Vos unveiled plans to embark on the election review at the Republican Party of Wisconsins annual convention in June 2021.

But while Vos launched the review at Trumps behest, the former presidents opinion of Vos has soured in recent weeks due to the speakers refusal to entertain Trumps calls to decertify the results of the 2020 presidential election  something that cannot happen under state law or the U.S. Constitution.

A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. A report from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau last year found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election but made several recommendations for improvements.

A brief history

The review was initially intended to conclude by the end of last year, but Gableman himself admitted in June  while providing testimony in one of four public records lawsuits related to the probe  that he spent the first several months of his efforts getting up to speed on Wisconsin elections.

He also attended a South Dakota event hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell billed as presenting irrefutable proof that Chinese-backed hackers helped steal the 2020 election for Biden. Gableman later said he was very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims. He also traveled to Arizona that month to observe the widely discredited election audit conducted by Cyber Ninjas.

He couldnt help himself and in the end he was going to rallies, he was attending political events which clearly looked like there was a partisan tinge to the investigation, Vos said Thursday. We stopped most of that, but then here we are where he does not just attend a political event but chooses to be involved in a very partisan way and then lie about it.

In March, Gableman recommended the Legislature take the legally impossible step of decertifying the results. Two weeks later he described the proposal as a practical impossibility in a private memo to Vos.

Vos paused the probe two months later to allow time for pending lawsuits related to the review to play out in court and halved Gablemans monthly salary to $5,500.

Gablemans most recent misstep came days before Tuesdays primary, when he recorded a robocall for Steen, an election denier who was seeking to oust Vos in the 63rd Assembly District, claiming that Vos never wanted a real investigation.

I never said we werent serious about the investigation, Vos said Thursday. Frankly, if you ask any Democrat and most Republicans in the state, they think I was pretty serious in spending the money and time and resources that we did. So for him to lie about it, thats kind of an unforgivable situation where you trust somebody because of their integrity and then at the end they lie.

Vos ultimately won by about 260 votes, according to unofficial results.

Speakers timing

Its astonishing that in a matter of weeks, a campaign emerged that almost unseated the most powerful Republican in Wisconsin state government, said UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky. If Gableman wants to continue having influence, hes certainly laid the groundwork for that because he has fans in the party and he has the backing of Donald Trump.

Several state Democrats, including Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, applauded Gablemans firing, but also pointed out the timing of Vos decision.

There were zero consequences for Gablemans buffoonery, mismanagement of state dollars, brazen violations of open records laws, temper tantrums, and constant lying  until he attacked Robin Vos politically, Wikler said in a statement.

Its unclear how the end of Gablemans contract impacts the several ongoing lawsuits related to the probe. All told, four lawsuits have been filed against Gableman, Vos and the state Assembly over records requests related to the probe. Another pending lawsuit in Waukesha County relates to whether Gableman has the authority to demand that the mayors of the states five largest cities and other officials be jailed for not cooperating with his subpoenas.

Gableman issued subpoenas to local and state election officials, the mayors of the states five largest cities and two companies that make vote-counting systems, Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Systems. Many of the subpoenaed parties have rejected Gablemans requests for in-person meetings or documents, while the former state Supreme Court justice has also withdrawn some requests, including one filed with immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera Action.

Vos office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the pending lawsuits.
MEDINA  Baxter International makes tens of thousands of infusion pump systems a year at its plant in Medina, devices which deliver fluids and medicines to hospital patients.

But a shortage of semiconductor chips used in the pumps has hampered Baxter's production, and the problem continues to overshadow its manufacturing.

It's a pressing matter for the Orleans County plant and its 271 employees. Earlier this summer, the company put some of its workers on paid furlough for a few weeks due to a chip shortage. The same thing could happen again in the near future, said Jose Almeida, Baxter's chairman, president and CEO.

"Whatever we cannot supply in terms of components, and we don't have enough work for the employees, then we will furlough them for a period of time, but we pay them," Almeida said at the plant on Thursday.

Baxter is capable of making 80,000 to 100,000 pumps a year at the Medina site, but that depends on receiving the components required to make them, Almeida said. Each pump system contains about 70 chips.

"The crisis is so acute that sometimes we don't have visibility two or three months down the road to what actually is happening with inventory," he said.

That creates a tough situation both for the workers and for the hospitals that need the pumps, Almeida said.

Almeida was joined at the Medina plant by Sen. Charles Schumer, who called for a key supplier, Texas Instruments, to provide more chips to the facility. Schumer said he sent a letter to Texas Instruments' CEO, Rich Templeton  an upstate New York native  and plans to follow up with a call in the next day or two to make his case.

"I am telling Mr. Templeton there's a desperate shortage," Schumer said. "And this isn't just like chips that would go into a dishwasher or something like that. These are chips needed to save people's lives."

Schumer said the chip shortage highlights the need for legislation he championed that was recently signed into law by President Biden. The CHIPs and Science bill creates incentives for semiconductor manufacturers to build plants in the United States. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed state legislation also aimed at promoting semiconductor investment and job creation.

In the short term, Almeida said more chips are essential to Baxter's Medina operations.

"This is extremely vital for the company, and I'm very confident [Senate Majority Leader] Schumer will get us what we need and we will continue to provide the healthcare system in this country what they need," he said.

Almeida is familiar with the region: he lived in Clarence for a short time, when he was chief operating officer of Greatbatch Technologies. He heaped praise on the workers at Baxter's Medina plant for their response at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, working multiple shifts to produce pumps that hospitals needed immediately.

"This plant had the most heroic workforce in Western New York, and I feel so proud," he said.
Calvin Caruso has run a successful car wash and detail business in what he considers a desirable area of East Amherst for more than 15 years.

That doesnt mean he wasnt still a bit shocked when he received two phone calls recently from larger out-of-state car wash operators inquiring whether hed be interested in selling his Bubble Boy Car Wash on Transit Road.

On top of that, growing national retailer GO Car Wash is planning to open a new car wash just a few doors down from Carusos shop, on the border with Clarence.

It's all part of the changing  and booming  nature of the car wash business. Once the bastion of mom-and-pop operators and local chains, it's now a fast-growing $30 billion industry that includes national chains with the backing of deep-pocketed investment firms.

That expansion includes the Buffalo Niagara region, where vehicles getting dirty during the winter months due to road salt and slush increases the appeal of being part of the industry in the area.

Car washes are becoming like a Tim Hortons and Starbucks around here, said Caruso, also the owner of Calvins Furniture in Williamsville, who noted he's not ready to sell his car wash yet.

Its a crazy world to be in right now, he said.

Denver, Colo.-headquartered GO Car Wash burst into the Buffalo Niagara market after its acquisition last fall of Royal Car Wash, a Rochester-based company that had four sites in the local market. Royal had plans to add even more sites locally, and those remain in place under GO, which will open new shops in Hamburg and West Seneca in September.

Local chain Delta Sonic is expanding, opening its 12th Buffalo Niagara site on Niagara Falls Boulevard this spring.

Splash Car Wash, headquartered in Milford, Conn., also is coming to Western New York, as it seeks town approvals to open in Lancaster, after acquiring 17 Classy Chassy Carwash locations, including three in Western New York.

And there are still mom-and-pop car washes that have either recently opened, plan to or have been in business for decades.

Unlike the bare-bones car washes of old, operators of today's modernized car washes view them as recession-proof and relatively Covid-proof. Another plus in today's tight job market is that the new facilities need fewer employees because of improvements in industry technology and a move toward more automation.

Its just good business and maybe less risky than, say, a tech startup or restaurant or something like that, said Brett Meinberg, chief operating officer of GO Car Wash, which entered the Northeast market with the 2021 acquisition of 14 Royal sites from Daniele Management and Development.

Its a fun business and creates great cash flow," he said. "As a few people did it, others saw it and at that point, it creates a little bit of a race.

The industry now has the attention of private-equity firms, which are backing new developments and pushing its car wash businesses to acquire even more.

Private equity has sort of caught up with the car wash industry and I think the pandemic brought our industry to the forefront because it was an industry that survived during the outbreak, said Walter Hartl, president of New York State Car Wash Association. I think the level of quality that car wash operators offer is way better than it was 20 to 30 years ago.

Customers at many of these touchless car washes can now use a touch-screen kiosk to customize their wash, pay at the machine and then move quickly through the tunnel.

Car washes are just trying to do a better job now, said Tyler Schmitz of Eden, who owns Apex Car Wash, which opened about eight months ago on Camp Road in Hamburg. Competition breeds the best of an industry, so were trying to raise the bar.

Explosive growth

The industry is going through a gold rush right now, Meinberg said, as big business has pumped money into a once underserved market.

What once made car washes seem like staid, highly local businesses now is seen as having sought-after traits.

It's a business that's hard to outsource, since its customers are mostly local.

It's an in-demand service, with many busy drivers increasingly preferring to pay to have their vehicles washed, rather than do it themselves. Subscription-based pricing also breeds customer loyalty and more predictable cash flows.

Its also become a real estate play.

The percentage of U.S. drivers frequently washing their vehicle at a professional car wash has increased from approximately 48% in 1994 to about 66% in 2021, according to the International Car Wash Association.

There are now more than 60,000 retail car wash locations in the U.S. and studies estimate this number will continue increasing at an annual growth rate of 3.8% through 2028. In 2021, Mister Car Wash became the first company in the industry to be traded publicly on the stock market.

Once a cottage industry, private equity firms realized these businesses are resistant to challenges during the 2008 recession.

It also has independent operators like Schmitz abuzz. He studied the car wash industry throughout college while earning an engineering degree and found the ideal location in Hamburg  one of the few areas still not being served by a major chain, Schmitz said.

We found one of the last spots that I thought could have used one, he said. Car washes are starting to build on top of each other.

Competition breeds innovation

Like any other industry, there are still challenges for car wash businesses. A nationwide labor shortage and minimum wage increases in New York have forced operators into more automation.

Theres also a lot more competition.

However, Hartl believes theres room in the industry for larger and smaller operators, saying competition will drive innovation and makes you a better operator.

Experts think theres still room for growth in the market as well  if more people stop washing their own cars.

The biggest competitor to the professional car washing world is people washing their cars in their driveways, said Bryan Hage, vice president for sales and distribution for Sonnys Direct, a former car wash operator that now makes conveyorized car wash equipment and supplies. That leaves a lot of folks that we can still draw out of their driveway.

Technology gets better

Many car washes have gone from providing extensive manual services by employees, such as vacuuming vehicles and cleaning windows by hand, to using new technology where employees do very little.

License plate recognition systems allow car washes to track vehicles who come in and out of the business and offer opportunities to sell other products and services to its customers, whose habits they now know a lot more about.

Sonar is used to direct the higher-pressure water sprays and brushes tuned to oscillate at certain speeds to clean each vehicle in the tunnel. Camera systems provide security and document previous damages to cars. More sophisticated touch screen pay station systems make the process of ordering a wash relatively seamless.

We want to do everything as quickly and efficiently as possible so the advancements in equipment technology have just been remarkable, Hartl said.

Many operators have also been working with equipment and solution manufacturers to promote cleaner and safer products that use less water. Some are recapturing their water with infiltration systems and reusing it.

Subscription-based programs popular

One of the other major innovations in the marketplace over the past decade has been the proliferation of car washes offering monthly membership programs.

Subscription-based providers use the unlimited washing concept to create a continuing revenue stream, said Hartl, who compared it to Netflix. Radio frequency identification tags stuck to the windshield of vehicles allow customers to be identified as members and wash their cars whenever they like for a monthly fee.

Delta Sonic, for instance, offers a monthly unlimited wash subscription for just under $20.

Operators are adding other perks, too.

GO Car Wash, which now operates in six U.S. markets and will soon rebrand the Royal Car Washes they purchased locally, offers express-style services and free self-serve vacuums with memberships that can be used at any of their 109 locations.

The average member comes in about once a week, Meinberg said, and there are about four to six employees working at a time to help process the vehicles.

But Caruso, the Amherst independent operator, doesnt believe in the subscription-based model. At his business, employees prep the vehicle before the wash and then towel dry it afterward  services that he said have become too costly for most car wash models that rely on less labor.

I like getting involved and thats a big advantage for me over corporate, he said. Im not really too concerned about competition, but I have to keep an eye on whats going around me.

Schmitz is also a believer in the importance of a personal touch. Hes at the shop often, as the business only full-time employee, to help and answer questions.

That way people know that youre around and you care, Schmitz said.
Revered for its waterfront skyline and islands, South Portland is a quaint harbor community on the Atlantic coast. Easily accessible by every means of transportation, South Portland has established itself as a retail hub of New England. Furthermore, on a state scale, it is the fourth-largest city by population. Nevertheless, locals and tourists alike will fall in love with green spaces like Bug Light Park and the Greenbelt Walkway. One can also snap some photos of the Spring Point Light Ledge, take up retail therapy at the Maine Mall, or enjoy an afternoon at the beloved Willard Beach while visiting South Portland.

Geography Of South Portland

Casco Bay Bridge spans Fore River connecting South Portland and Portland in Maine.

South Portland is situated in Cumberland County in the southern portion of the US State of Maine. The Fore River, Casco Bay, and Danforth Cove act as a natural boundary along the north and northwestern sides as a part of the Atlantic coastline. The state's capital city Augusta is about 58 miles to the northeast. As for other significant cities: Biddeford is about 19 miles southwest, Lewiston is about 41 miles north, and Bangor is about 132 miles northeast. Being centrally located to much of New England, numerous day trips are available from South Portland. These include Acadia National Park, which is 172 miles to the northeast, and Bar Harbor, which is about 177 miles to the northeast.

According to the Koppen Climate Classification, South Portland experiences a warm summer continental climate. It has snowy and windy winters and is primarily cloudy the rest of the year. The average annual temperature is 45.7 F. July is the warmest month, with an average high of 68.5 F, and January is the year's coldest month having an average low of 22.1 F. Of the 128.6 days that produce precipitation, there is an annual rainfall of 49 inches and snowfall of 55.8 inches. On average, 196 days of sunshine form an annual UV index of 2.8.

History Of South Portland

Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse in South Portland, Maine.

South Portland's humble beginning started in 1630 as a farmland village. About a century later, this small farming village was raided as part of the Dummer's War by Native Americans. In 1895, after breaking away from Cape Elizabeth, South Portland was incorporated as a town and then, three years later, became a city. Fort Preble, which lasted through the Civil War, World War I, and World War II, was built to protect Portland Harbor. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Spring Point Light Ledge was erected in 1897 near Fort Preble to warn of rocky dangers around the shoreline. As of today, it is an icon in South Portland's identity. Speaking of World War II, South Portland was at the forefront of the shipping industry. Sometime after 1940, the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corp and South Portland Shipbuilding Corp combined to form the New England Shipbuilding Corporation. At the height of its production, these shipyards were responsible for building 10% of all Liberty Ships manufactured. The yards closed in 1945, with pieces of its history still visible today.

The Population And Economy Of South Portland

According to the latest US Census, South Portland has a population of 26,798. This is an increase of 1.13% since the last reported Census in 2010, which saw a population of 26,498. Expanding over a total area of 36.29 sq. km, there is a population density of 849.49 people per sq. km. Of the population, the average age is 41.9 years old, with females attributing for 51.75% overall and males making up 48.25%. The median household income is $87,097, and a gross monthly rent of $1,346. Meanwhile, 6.95% of residents live below the poverty line. As for cultural or racial background: 88.71% were identified as white, 5.12% were African American, 2.50 were of two races or more, 2.46 were Asian, 0.67% were of another race, and 0.54% were Native American.

The primary industries that constitute South Portland's economy are healthcare and social assistance with 17.4% overall, retail trade at 14.5%, and accommodation and food services at 9.1%. The top-earning jobs are in the management of companies and enterprises making $70,729, finance and insurance with $65,407, and scientific and technical service with $63,910. Of the 14,800 employed, 2,962 work in retail trade, 1,926 work in food and accommodations, and 1,616 work in food services.

Attractions In And Around South Portland

Bug Light Park and Bug Lighthouse

Bug Light Park and Bug Lighthouse in South Portland, Maine. Editorial credit: Rich Bard / Shutterstock.com

The waterfront in South Portland is undeniably photo-worthy. Bug Light Park is 8.78 acres of outdoor space that contains the Greenbelt Walkway, Liberty Ship Memorial, Bug Lighthouse, and Cushings Point Museum. Historically, it was also the site of the shipbuilding yards of the 1940s. As such, it is a popular space for outdoor recreation, including picnicking, boating, saltwater fishing, and fly-fishing. It hosts several events all through the summer, including the annual kite festival, the Fourth of July, and summer movie nights.

Casco Bay

Tour boat Lucky Catch takes passengers past Sunset Marina on an afternoon sightseeing cruise in Casco Bay. Editorial credit: Ken Schulze / Shutterstock.com

Within Casco Bay, there is an archipelago of islands known as the Casco Islands. Enjoy a day out in one of these tranquil enclaves, which have their unique characteristics. The islands can be visited by availing private boat or by ferry that leaves from Portland. Deep-sea fishing is a favorite activity to do around the islands, as well as crabbing. An activity of note is whale watching, where whales are known to swim within Casco Bay. Harbor seals are a common occupant that can be found in abundance around the shorelines.

South Portland is a scenic harbor front community with a slow and laid pace of life. Although small, it boasts all the cosmopolitan attractions found in the larger cities of New England. It is a must-see for nature enthusiasts and history buffs alike, with many dedicated green spaces that gave way to the rich history of Maine. When passing through Maine, one must take the opportunity to visit the picturesque city of South Portland.
Revered for a towering set of waterfalls and being the highest vertical drop east of the Mississippi River, Crabtree Falls will leave one amazed at its grandeur. Consisting of five waterfalls that drop 370m, Crabtree Falls is a top attraction found in the George Washington National Forest. It is easily accessible by the Blue Ridge Parkway and is a beloved recreational area for hiking, birding, and being swept away by the scenic vista of the Tye River Valley and the overall natural beauty of Virginia.

Geography Of Crabtree Falls

Crabtree Falls on a foggy autumn day in George Washington National Forest near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.

Crabtree Falls is situated in Nelson County, in the George Washington National Forest in the west-central part of the US State of Virginia. Crabtree Falls is a chain of cascading waterfalls that contains five significant cascades, the tallest of which drops 120m, along with many other smaller cascades that are horizontally spread over a total distance of 760m. As for facilities around the waterfall, there is the main parking lot that offers ample space, with the first overlook only a couple of hundred feet away along a wheelchair-accessible paved trail. Vaulted toilets can also be found at the Crabtree Meadows.

Geology Around Crabtree Falls

Water cascading over rocks after passing over Crabtree Falls.

Along the western edge of Nelson County, where Montebello and Crabtree Falls are located, igneous and metamorphic rocks such as gneiss and granite can be found. Approximately 400 million years ago, the Blue Ridge region was formed when the North American Plate was upraised. This is evident along the Blue Ridge Parkway, where in addition to the noted geology, there is a bounty of greenstone, sandstone, and phyllite. Furthermore, it is an example of a hanging valley, where Crabtree Creek flows from the Crabtree Meadow, which then plunges over the hanging valleys ledge into the Tye River Valley below. As for outflow, 50 cubic feet of water descends over the Crabtree Falls every minute.

History Of Crabtree Falls

A man is standing near Crabtree Falls in Blue Ridge Parkway.

The name Crabtree has long been speculated to have originated after William Crabtree, who settled in the area around 1777. This makes sense since the Tye River is named after Blue Ridge Mountain explorer Allen Tye, who discovered the river of the same name. The 1960s saw the base of Crabtree Falls developed, intending to be a resort. But the proposal was blocked by LA Snead, a former US Assistant Fuel Administer who used personal and congressional funds to transfer land deeds into the National Forest system. This designation protected the falls from further development but also allowed for infrastructure to be updated, such as bridges, pathways, and overlooks.

Hikes Around Crabtree Falls

Fog and fall color on the Crabtree Falls Trail in George Washington National Forest near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.

The Crabtree Falls Trail is a 2.5 miles hike that contains nine switchbacks as visitors ascend to the Upper Falls. It commences via the paved trail left of the parking lot. At the 0.2-mile marker, a platform presents views of the Lower Falls before leading into a series of switchbacks and a staircase. Mile marker 0.9 grants hikers another overlook, but this time at the top of the Lower Fall. The trail then leads past a cave before the Middle Falls. The first mile rewards trekkers with views of the jaw-dropping 90-foot cascade of the Middle Falls. Continuing on forth to mile marker 1.6, the first glimmers of the Upper Falls come into sight. Just past that, at mile marker 1.9, visitors will cross a wooden bridge to a viewing area with sweeping vistas of the Tye River Valley. The top of the Upper Falls does not offer the best views of the 200-foot plunge below. However, it is important not to stray from the trail or the viewing area. In the past, lives have been lost because of the slipping of wet rocks or from those trying to gain a better vantage point. From here, hikers have the option of backtracking to the trailhead or picking up the trail past the Crabtree Meadow Campground for an additional 10 miles back to the trailhead.
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A pair of ambitious tasks tops Nick Langworthy's to-do list for 2022.

As chairman of the New York State Republican Party, the Wheatfield resident is leading the charge for gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin and the rest of the GOP state ticket. Despite gloomy poll predictions, Langworthy remains upbeat about Republican prospects for electing a governor for the first time since 2002.

But Langworthy faces another daunting objective  winning a tough GOP primary against Carl Paladino in the new 23rd Congressional District on Aug. 23, and then the general election against Democrat Max Della Pia on Nov. 8.

Langworthy claims no difficulties in juggling his assignments. But others say his hold on both jobs presents an inherent conflict that short shrifts them both  especially his statewide responsibilities as chairman. Paladino is leading the charge, claiming Langworthy's "vanity project" candidacy only divides his own party.

"Every dollar he raises from himself, is a dollar that is not going towards Lee Zeldins race," Paladino said in a statement. "Every moment he campaigns for himself is a moment not spent campaigning for other NY Republicans."

Langworthy remains atop his party organization without a major revolt against him. And not a peep of criticism stems from the Zeldin camp. Indeed, Langworthy on Thursday hosted a video town hall for Zeldin as part of the campaign for governor.

But some county chairs are raising questions, arguing that Langworthy cannot juggle two campaigns at once and that he should devote his full energies to one or the other.

Rockland County Republican Chairman Lawrence Garvey said the state committee backed Langworthy for chairman in 2019 by agreeing that former Chairman Edward F. Cox was not moving the party forward. Three years later, he says, the party may be squandering its best opportunity in a generation to elect a Republican governor.

"Instead of only focusing on electing our statewide candidates and candidates for Congress, he's taking this opportunity for himself and splitting his efforts between his own campaign and the statewide campaign," he said. "And if he has to make a distinction, he will make it in favor of his own race.

"That's not a good optic," Garvey added.

And Sue McNeil, chairwoman of the Fulton County GOP, said she would be glad even if Langworthy focused on winning a congressional seat for the party. She sees only futility in attempting to manage both efforts.

"To think you can do both is just arrogant," she said.

McNeil acknowledges her interest in becoming party leader, and Langworthy says such ambitions lie at the heart of complaints against him. Langworthy points to no groundswell of county chairs raising concerns, and calls Paladino's criticism a "distraction." His state party staff has nothing to do with his campaign, he says (though some may "volunteer" services), and points to Zeldin's landslide victory over three opponents in the June gubernatorial primary.

"If this were a swing seat this fall I would not do this," he said a few days ago, "but I felt so strongly about it I decided to do something," adding opposition stems from the "self-interest" of ambitious county chairs.

Langworthy said he will not continue as state chairman should he win the congressional election, promising to resign upon taking the oath of office in January.

"It's too much for one human being to do given the travel demands (of the chairmanship)," he said.

Leaders of some of the state's top Republican county organizations are backing Langworthy's dual roles. Karl J. Simmeth Jr., Langworthy's successor as Erie County GOP chairman, said Langworthy would not have assumed the congressional race if he thought he could not handle both jobs.

Is there a conflict in raising money for a congressional race that might have ended up in Zeldin coffers?

"He sure is out there raising money for Lee," Simmeth said. "I've known Nick too long to think he would do anything to jeopardize any Republican seat.

"He has a very good relationship with all the chairs in Erie County, and as state chairman, he has a good relationship with all the county chairs," he added, "and it's no secret this game is about loyalty."

Suffolk County Republican Chairman Jesse Garcia observes more energy in the New York GOP than at any previous time, even with Langworthy running for Congress. As chairman in Zeldin's home county, he sees an all-out effort on the statewide race.

"As chairmen we multitask, we oversee multiple campaigns, and that's a skill set Nick has," he said. "He's prepared to address multiple issues at multiple times."
24 hours in Wrexham City: Appeal to trace Winnie the Pooh style shoplifter after honeypots stolen

The police inspector for Wrexham town is appealing for a Winnie the Pooh style shoplifter to come forward to put an end to a sticky situation.

Insp Luke Hughes said an individual entered a shop in the town at 3:41pm on (Thursday 11 August) and stole two jars of honey valued at 62 each.

In his daily update Insp Hughes confirmed CCTV was available, stating: Winnie if you could just come forward and we can clear this one up discreetly.

Its a bit of a sticky situation at present and would be rather embarrassing if we were to circulate your images on social media?

Please contact 101 quoting B120209 if you are the honey fiend or have any further information.

In the remainder of his daily update, Insp Hughes said:

A rare missed daily update from me yesterday. I have no excuse other than lack of time, so please accept my apologies.

I will of course continue to provide updates through the working week and at the weekend when needed, but yesterday time ran away from me.

I can however reassure you that there was nothing significant of note.

The burglaries that I was so anxious about appear to have ceased but, remain vigilant please. And with the weather remaining very pleasant, do take care when leaving doors and windows open  especially at night.

Ive come in this morning to see that we have two in custody.

One male arrested for failing to appear in court, he had been charged last month for shoplifting then given a court day which he missed.

Its not hard, we gave him a piece of paper with a date and a time. He just needed to turn up, as a result he has a luxury room with metal toilet and pee proof mattress for his troubles.

Also in is a male arrested in the early hours yesterday after some shenanigans in the centre of town at around 4am. All caught on camera. His behaviour not acceptable and charged with a public order offence.

Turns out hes quite forgetful too as he was wanted, having failed to appear at an earlier court appearance too.

There must be some sort of mass amnesia taking place in Wrexham  .

Anyway, onto the review and have a good day all.

Please keep cool and also a close eye on anyone less fortunate than yourselves, we are one community, and we have to work together.

07:40hrs: Report of noise nuisance from a multi-occupancy dwelling  not strictly a police issues but NPT attend  its far too early for a party even if the weather is lovely.

09:08hrs: HGV collides with road furniture (police name for a bollard!) in the town centre  delivery vehicles are allowed at this time and bumps such as this rare so not factored into the current quest to make the city centre safer.

10:11hrs: Vehicle fails to pay for 75.05 of fuel from local garage. We do have quite a few making off incidents reported that are clearly accidents  someones paid for a coffee and not the fuel etc.

Registration obtained and follow up enquires will be made.

11:17hrs: Report of crashed / abandoned drone in the area of Kingsmill Road  (If its yours, get in touch quote B120049 ).

Caller was concerned as she had heard that criminals use these to observe empty properties and it had been flying around the night before.

Please dont panic, I cant recall any recent intel to suggest that might be the case.

I suspect someone has a new toy and is now panicking as they have lost it.

We will happily reunite if you come forward  and advise you to be more considerate.

12:38hrs: Report of elderly female who has fallen and has a head injury in the city centre. Local officers attend until ambulance arrives, hopefully superficial injuries.

13:50hrs: Report of a male and female who have entered a large retailer opposite water world and stolen a suitcase each.

Their description given as: Female was blonde, hair tied up, pink top and black shorts. Male had black shorts, cropped hair and had a dark t-shirt and grey shorts. Both large in build and in their early 50s.

If thats you and this is a genuine mistake, please pop into the station and have a chat  we have CCTV and it will be circulated in due course. Please quote B120139.
Calls for urgent action to ensure patients in North Wales can access safe healthcare

A health watchdog has called for urgent action to ensure patients in North Wales can access safe healthcare.

The comments by the North Wales Community Health Council (NWCHC) follow another damning report into the running of one of the regions three main hospitals.

Health Inspectorate Wales raised concerns into the operation of the emergency department at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd after finding significant issues relating to the timely provision of medical and nursing care.

It was also announced last week that some vascular patients in North Wales would have to travel to England to receive their treatment at either the Royal Liverpool University Hospital or the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

It came as Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) said it was facing immediate operational pressures due to consultant availability and nurse staffing in the department.

The Welsh Government has so far resisted calls to put the health board back into special measures over recent issues.

However, the chair and chief officer of NWCHC have written to Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan calling for Betsi Cadwaladr to have a more challenging and sceptical environment imposed upon it.

It follows claims that statements made by the health board should be treated carefully.

In their letter, Jackie Allen and Geoff Ryall-Harvey said: In preparation for our meeting on 31s1 March 2022, we wrote to your advisers about our concern that successive Health Ministers have continued to accept assurances from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board that are either not supported by evidence, that prove to be wildly optimistic or where we see a reversion to old patterns of behaviour almost immediately.

At the meeting we were clear that it is for BCUHB to take the necessary action to put their failings right on the ground but that we looked to the minister to hold them to account when they do not.

We remind you that following the Royal College of Surgeons report on vascular services, we wrote to you with a strong suggestion that complex vascular patients should be treated in Liverpool while the vascular service in North Wales was reconfigured and the safety recommendations made by the RCS were implemented.

We were concerned that progress towards the recommendations was unacceptably slow. This suggestion was rejected and in a few short weeks we had two Never Events.

Recently, following further investigations, more serious incidents and a raft of resignations, the service in North Wales has been closed to aortic aneurism patients  complex vascular services are now to be provided in Liverpool and Stoke.

The North Wales CHG provides a complaints and advocacy service and we often take those complaints to the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales.

At our meeting on 31st March I told you that the CHC has had to advise the PSOW on many occasions that evidence and statements given by BCUHB cannot be taken at face value and that they must always be tested.

We remind you of this and again offer the same advice to you, minister. We would like to see a much more challenging and sceptical environment for BCUHB when making claims that all is well.

You will recall that you expressed yourself satisfied with the reassurances you were receiving from BCUHB in March 2022 and felt it unnecessary to take any immediate action.

Your deputy minister expressed the same views in relation to mental health care in North Wales.

In the light of recent events, including a second adverse HIW report on ED at Glan Clwyd, we urge you to bring forward your planned review in October.

We believe it would be entirely inappropriate to let matters continue in the current fashion for a further two months. Urgent action is now required to secure the safe healthcare that people in North Wales expect and deserve.
The Royal Welsh to march through the streets of Wrexham town next month

The Royal Welsh, Comrades and Cadets will exercise their right to the Freedom of Wrexham by marching through the streets with bayonets fixed and Colours flying on September 3, 2022.

For the Reaffirmation of The Freedom of the Borough the parade will form up on Llwyn Isaf Green and after inspection will march through Wrexham on the following route:

Form up on Llwyn Isaf Green

Queens Square

Argyle Street

Hope Street

High Street

Chester Road

RWF Cenotaph where there will be a short memorial service.

The activities start at 10.40 on Llwyn Isaf where the Mayor, Cllr Brian Cameron and Major General Chris Barry will inspect the soldiers. The salute will be taken on Chester Street.

The march leaves Llwyn Isaf at 11.25 and will arrive at the Cenotaph at 12.10.

The Mayor Cllr Brian Cameron, said, Once again we will be privileged to welcome the Royal Welsh for their reaffirmation march and I am looking forward to being part of this event.

The Royal Welsh hold a special place in our hearts and Im sure the streets will be crowded with people wanting to show their support.

Major General Chris Barry said: The Royal Welsh are very proud of their close ties with Wrexham which has existed for a very long time. Wrexham is the spiritual home of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and now The Royal Welsh.

The 3rd Battalion of the Regiment is raising a company here in the City over the next year and values the support of the Council and the people of Wrexham.

Armed Forces Champion, Cllr Beverley Parry-Jones, said, Now more than ever we need to appreciate the sacrifice our armed forces make to ensure our freedoms and rights are protected.

Sometimes this means making the ultimate sacrifice. I am very much looking forward to showing my appreciation on 3 September.

The Royal Welsh were given the honour of the Freedom of Wrexham in 2008 and last exercised their right to march in 2019.
CHAUTAUQUA  By 10:45 a.m., the amphitheater of the Chautauqua Institution had mostly filled with patrons. They were there to hear a talk by world-famous author Salman Rushdie, who has been living under death threats from Iran for more three decades after the publication of his book "Satanic Verses."

Rushdie, 75, was on stage with his interviewer, Ralph Henry Reese, 73, when a man bounded onto the stage wearing a black Covid-19 mask and black and white jogging suit.

"I couldn't believe what was happening," said Linda Ulrich-Hagner, a retired teacher who spends her summers in the lakefront community.

State police early Friday evening identified the man as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, N.J., who is accused of stabbing Rushdie multiple times, at least once each in the neck and abdomen.

Investigators and prosecutors at a 5 p.m. press conference said they were considering what to charge Matar with as they gathered evidence and surgery to address Rushdie's wounds continued at UPMC Hamot trauma hospital in Erie, Pa., where he was flown by helicopter after the attack.

Andrew Wylie, Rushdie's literary agent, said just before 7 p.m. that the author was on a ventilator with critical injuries.

"The news is not good," Wylie said in a statement. "Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged," he said.

A state trooper assigned to security at the event grabbed Matar after the commotion began, and took him into custody with help from a Chautauqua County sheriff's deputy and several audience members who ran onto the stage.

A doctor in the audience and emergency medical technicians on hand tended to Rushdie before he was helped off the stage.

Reese, who suffered minor facial injuries, was treated at the same Erie hospital and later released.

The attack stunned the crowd and drew international attention.

"This has never happened in our entire history," said Michael E. Hill, the president of the Institution. "Chautauqua has always been an extremely safe place."

Unanswered questions

Questions remained Friday about the accused attacker's intentions, whether he acted alone or whether he was motivated by a three-decades-old fatwa against Rushdie, as well as how he carried out the attack.

Authorities said Matar had a pass to enter the grounds and his backpack was screened by a sheriff's deputy and K-9 assigned to the event.

State police said it appeared Matar acted alone. They continue to investigate, along with the FBI and Chautauqua County Sheriff's and District Attorney's offices.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt will determine charges as the investigation continues, depending, in part, on Rushdie's condition.

Book backlash

After the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988, often-violent protests against Rushdie erupted around the world, including a riot that killed 12 people in Mumbai.

The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the following year issued the fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdies death.

A bounty of $3.3 million was offered by a semi-official religious organization to anyone who killed Rushdie.

The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed guard. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism.

"We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil," PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel said of Friday's attack. The organization seeks to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. Rushdie is a former president.

"Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades, but has never flinched, nor faltered," Nossel said. "He has devoted tireless energy to assisting others who are vulnerable and menaced."

The shock

Just before the attack occurred at about 10:45 a.m. Friday, the Booker Prize-winning author was sitting on stage near Reese, co-founder of City of Asylum, a Pittsburgh residency program for writers living in exile under threat of persecution.

Introductory remarks had just begun before the men were to begin a conversation about the United States as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.

Then the attack began.

Witnesses said they saw a man rush from the left side of the stage wearing a black mask worn for Covid-19 and begin to assault Rushdie, who was on the same side of the stage.

"There was horror  the whole audience reacted, and probably 15 spectators raced onto the stage to try to attend to him, or so it seemed," said Tonawanda resident Paula Voell, a former Buffalo News reporter, who was in the audience. "It was pretty clear, instantly, that he was being attacked."

Voell said Rushdie was on the ground for possibly five minutes when two men, one on either side, helped him walk to the back of the stage and out of view.

A few minutes later, Deborah Sunya Moore, vice president of programming at the Chautauqua Institution, asked the audience to calmly leave the amphitheater. Shortly afterward, a group of about 40 people gathered for a prayer circle in English and Hebrew.

Steve Davies sat in the first row as the chaos broke out. He saw 10 or more spectators descend on the stage to subdue the attacker, who he said was "pummeling" Rushdie with his right hand. He couldn't tell if the attacker was holding a knife.

"I feel like I did after 9/11, that it was an attack on the Chautauqua Institution, and not just Salman Rushdie," said Davies, who lives in Brooklyn. "Hopefully, it is something we can overcome and get past. This is the antithesis of what Chautauqua stands for."

Liz Kolken, who lives year-round at Chautauqua, was running late and got to the main entrance when she heard gasps from the crowd.

She turned away.

"I had been at Tops two hours before the shooting, so I've had enough violence," Kolken said, referring to the May 14 attack by an avowed white supremacist that killed 10 Black people in a Buffalo supermarket.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, was at Chautauqua Institution earlier Friday and had just left when the attack occurred. He recalled buying "The Satanic Verses" when it was first published. He said his "thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Rushdie."

"I bought the book, as did so many others, as a show of support for Mr. Rushdie and for the basic human right of free speech," Borrello said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement on Twitter, calling Rushdie "an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power."

Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin called the incident a "horrific attack." He was attacked, but not injured, while on stage for a campaign event in Fairport last month.

"We must hold the perpetrator of this violence accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Zeldin said.

The attack was especially shocking to patrons of the Chautauqua Institution, known for drawing luminaries of the arts, humanities and religious worlds to its pastoral, lakeside getaway.

In the hours after the attack, yellow "crime scene" tape crisscrossed the front of the amphitheater.

Most events were canceled for the day.

Ulrich-Hagner, the retired teacher, ended up spending most of the day on a bench in the plaza trying to make sense of what she had just witnessed.

"It's almost like, where are you safe anymore?" she said.

Karen Rumsey of Eden said Friday was the first time she had been at Chautauqua since summer 2019.

"I so looked forward to coming back," Rumsey said. "And now I'm speechless."

News staff reporters Jon Harris and Lou Michel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
All London-based children aged between one and nine are to be urgently offered a polio vaccine booster. The decision was taken by the Johnson government following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

The move to vaccinate nearly a million children over the next four weeks follows the declaration by the government of a national incident in June, after poliovirus was detected in the London Beckton sewage plant.

The UK Health Security Agency announces that "All children aged 1 to 9 in London to be offered a dose of polio vaccine" [Photo by screengrab: gov.uk]

The samples were taken between February and May this year. The plant has a catchment area of about 4 million people spread throughout the north and east of the capital. At the time the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the disease may have already been spreading between closely linked individuals.

After infection through the gastro-intestinal tract by one of the three serotypes of polio virus, the virus replicates in the gut.

Polio attacks the nervous system, with young people under the age of five most vulnerable. It initially causes flu-like symptoms but is known to cause permanent paralysis. The virus can affect the muscles that control breathing, causing death due to asphyxiation. It is fatal for up to 10 percent of the children who suffer from paralysis.

Polio identified in a quarter of London boroughs

In a statement this week, UKHSA said, Following the findings earlier this year of type 2 poliovirus (PV2) collected from the Beckton sewage treatment works, further upstream sampling undertaken by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has now identified at least one positive sample of the poliovirus, currently present in parts of the following boroughs: Barnet, Brent, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Waltham Forest.

These represent a quarter of Londons 32 boroughs.

It warned, The level of poliovirus found and the high genetic diversity among the PV2 isolates suggests that there is some level of virus transmission in these boroughs which may extend to the adjacent areas. This suggests that transmission has gone beyond a close network of a few individuals.

Explaining the significance of its finding, the UKHSA revealed, A total of 116 PV2 isolates have been identified in 19 sewage samples collected in London between 8 February and 5 July this year, but most are vaccine-like virus and only a few have sufficient mutations to be classified as vaccine derived poliovirus (VDPV2).

VDPV2 is of greater concern as it behaves more like naturally occurring wild polio and may, on rare occasions, lead to cases of paralysis in unvaccinated individuals.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, said, No cases of polio have been reported and for the majority of the population, who are fully vaccinated, the risk is low. But we know the areas in London where the poliovirus is being transmitted have some of the lowest vaccination rates. This is why the virus is spreading in these communities and puts those residents not fully vaccinated at greater risk.

The BBC noted, the samples detected are linked to a polio vaccine used in other countries.

Parts of the world still dealing with polio outbreaks use the oral polio vaccine - which is safe but uses a live virus. This gives a huge amount of immunity but has the potential to spread from person to person in areas where not a lot of people are protected.

This becomes a problem if it continues to spread, as the safe form of the virus used in the vaccine can mutate and evolve until it can once again lead to paralysis.

The UKHSA said it was working closely with health agencies in New York and Israel alongside the World Health Organization to investigate the links between the poliovirus detected in London and recent polio incidents in these 2 other countries.

The eradication of polio in Britain

The poliomyelitis (or) polio virus has been known since ancient times, but it was in the 20th century that it caused widespread epidemics. These emerged in Europe and the US in the late 19th century, persisting until the middle of the 20th century. In the US there was an outbreak in 1916 that resulted in over 27,000 cases and more than 6,000 deaths and led to polio becoming a global disease.

French clinic for polio victims, Paris 1948-1967

The return of polio in Britain comes after the disease had been totally eradicated due to a public information drive and mass vaccination programmesaimed at everyone aged under 40from the late 1950s onwards. Crippled polio victims were once a common sight in Britain and in the early 1950s epidemics resulted in as many as 8,000 annual notifications of paralytic poliomyelitis in the UK. There were up to 750 deaths a year from the disease.

In 1955, the last year before the polio vaccine was introduced in the UK, more than 3,000 cases were recorded. In 1961 there were 707 acute cases and 79 deaths.

By 1963 the number of cases had slumped to just 39. The last outbreak of indigenous poliomyelitis was in the late 1970s. Since 1984 no cases have been reported in Britain, with the country formally declared polio-free in 2003. There are more than 100,000 survivors from the disease in Britain today, including those who would have required extensive treatment in iron lung respirators. Polio was also wiped out by 1988 from the US, Australia and much of Europe but remained prevalent in more than 125 countries.

An interview with Dr. Diane E. Griffin of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

In July, the WSWS ran an interview with Dr. Diane E. Griffin, M.D. and Ph.D., a university distinguished service professor and a professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The interview covered Long COVID and viral RNA persistence, but Professor Griffin also addressed the significance of vaccine-derived poliovirus being found in London sewers.

She said, Im not surprised to hear that its being found. I think in Tel Aviv theyve known that theyve had polio in wastewater for a long time and theyve never been able to identify the person that its coming from.

So, polio vaccine is a live virus vaccine. And that group of viruses are RNA viruses. Its very good at constantly mutating and selecting for viruses that replicate better. It also recombines with other viruses like it including other types of polioviruses. There are three types of polioviruses.

Basically, theres a selection process particularly if its being transmitted in a population. That vaccine virus is constantly being shed from the gastrointestinal tract and in low vaccinated populations where people havent been vaccinated then you get a lot of transmission.

I think maybe one of the questions thats interesting and I havent heard about what is happening in the UK but Im sure the UK has high vaccine coverage for polio, but they use an inactivated vaccine as we do and as many developed countries do and not the live virus vaccine.

But the inactivated vaccine doesnt induce intestinal immunity, meaning you can still get infected even though you dont get sick. The inactivated polio vaccine prevents the virus from going to the brain. And thats the only part of poliovirus infection that anybodys really worried about because of the paralysis. Summing it up, the inactivated vaccine works perfectly well to protect against paralytic polio, but it doesnt protect against infection.

So, most of the developed countries that are using the inactivated vaccine are susceptible to an introduction of polio through the fecal-oral route or contaminated water or food that then can spread to others. And then if you dont have a highly vaccinated population, you may start getting cases of paralysis.

Surveillance for polio, traditionally, has depended on [the presentation of] paralysis among cases. Even with a completely unvaccinated population with wild type infection, only one in 100 to 200 ever get paralyzed. Most people have asymptomatic infection which means you can have a lot of undetected transmission and spread without recognizing it unless youre doing other kinds of surveillance, like the wastewater surveillance.

The breakdown of public health

To achieve immunity from polio, vaccines must be regularly administered in childhood. In Britain, pre-school children and those aged 8 and 14 are vaccinated. The World Health Organization recommends that, to be successful, a school-aged vaccination programme should achieve a 95 percent uptake. However only three areas of BritainRutland, Country Durham and East Ridingmeet the threshold, with overall uptake UK-wide under 85 percent.

The fact that a deadly form of polio virus has been detected in London, a city of nearly 10 million, must raise the alarm. Under successive governments for over four decades public health infrastructure and expenditure has been gutted, resulting in the countrys population being disastrously exposed to diseases once considered eradicated and susceptible to new pandemics.

The Johnson government ignored, with terrible societal consequences, a decade of pandemic planning ahead of the COVID-19 disaster. Its criminal policy encouraged the spread of the virus, despite being forced by opposition in the population to impose several lockdowns. The existence and transmission of the polio virus was confirmed just one month before the Office for National Statistics also confirmed on July 13 that more than 200,000 people had died from COVID in Britain.

It also emerged this week that despite the WHO declaring last month that monkeypox was a global health emergency, the UK will likely exhaust stocks of the vaccine in the next two to three weeks. The UK officially has 2,859 cases of monkeypox, one of the largest tallies in the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting social, political and economic crisis have had an impact on every feature of human society, including artistic and cultural life.

The series Reading Greek Tragedy Online, produced by the Center for Hellenic Studies and the Kosmos Society at Harvard University, arose out of this crisis.

The WSWS interviews Joel Christensen and Paul O'Mahony

Its co-producers, classical scholar Joel Christensen and actor/director Paul OMahony, responded to the tragedy and loss of the pandemicand the necessary closure of performance venuesby staging a series of online performances and discussions of, to borrow a phrase of Aristotle, the most tragic works in literature.

The series brings together leading classical scholars and actors to discuss and perform excerpts from Greek drama. The series, created during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and continuing through the mass protests against police violence of 2020, the 2020 election and the January 6 coup attempt, is not afraid to explore the contemporary relevance of Greek drama and the parallels between these works, written two and a half millennia ago, and events of our own time.

Reading Greek Tragedy Online has produced over 50 episodes, including all the existing works of Greek tragedy. The performances have been viewed by thousands of people all over the world, from all walks of life.



The works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides are regarded as being among the most important literature ever produced.

Greek drama is the predecessor of modern forms of artistic performance such as theater, movies and television. But it also has enduring artistic significance in itself, speaking to both the human condition in general and the specific contemporary themes of war, political crisis, democratic rights and the mistreatment of refugees and other oppressed people.

Joel Christensen is a Professor at the Department of Classical Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of The Many-Minded Man: The Odyssey, Psychology, and the Therapy of Epic.

Paul OMahony is the director of the Out of Chaos Theatre in the UK and has been involved in theatre for over 15 years as an actor, writer, director and producer.

The entire catalog of Reading Greek Tragedy Online is available for free on the series website.

Oedipus Tyrannus, Sophocles
In Junebefore the overturn of Roe v. Wade by the far-right Supreme CourtNebraska police, using information obtained through a warrant served to Facebook, arrested a then 17-year-old girl and her mother for seeking an abortion after 20 weeks. The Norfolk, Nebraska police department requested, according to the affidavit in support of the search warrant, profile contact information, wall postings, and friend listing, with Facebook IDs going back to April 2022, after having asked the daughter about the age at which her stillbirth occurred.

Allegedly contained within this vast array of personal information were private messages between the teen and her mother on obtaining the abortion pill Pregnot. These messages were subsequently used by the police to file felony charges against the pair. The daughter was more than 23 weeks pregnant, according to medical investigators, with NPR saying her pregnancy was about 24 weeks.

The Nebraska State Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 [AP Photo/Nati Harnik]

The efforts to prosecute the pair are part of the states campaign to ban abortion, with the state legislature failing just days ago to pass a 12-week abortion ban. The Republican Party is seeking to whip up a reactionary atmosphere and embolden far-right elements against mass opposition to the banning of abortion, of which the failed referendum to ban abortion in neighboring Kansas is representative of.

Initially, the mother and daughter were charged with a single felony for removing, concealing or abandoning a body, as well as two misdemeanors, after the daughter had a miscarriage on April 22. A man was also charged in connection with helping to dispose of the fetus.

It was not until a month later that police filed felony charges relating to the states 2010 abortion law, which stipulates felony charges for those performing or aiding in an abortion after 20 weeks, on the basis that fetuses can feel pain, a spurious claim refuted by the Journal of the American Medical Association, the British Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and researchers at Harvard University, University College London and elsewhere. The claim is pseudoscience because the neural structures necessary to feel pain are not yet developed at that age. Eight other states followed Nebraskas lead, passing similar laws banning abortion at 20 weeks.

The prosecutor handling the case, according to the Associated Press, said it is the first time in his 32 years as county prosecutor that he has charged anyone with illegally performing an abortion after 20 weeks . Before the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, when the girl and her mother were charged, states were not allowed to enforce abortion bans until 24 weeks of pregnancy, when fetuses are generally considered viable.

As in other states such as Indiana and Texas, the number of abortion clinics, where the vast majority of abortions are performed in the state, has decreased dramatically over the preceding decades and is mostly limited to highly populated cities. The number of abortion clinics in Nebraska declined from 8 clinics in 1982 to 3 in 2017, with a total of 7 facilities of all kinds providing abortions in a state which is home to 1.9 million people.

According to court documents, the mother was charged with five crimes, three of which are felonies, including perform/attempt abortion at > 20 weeks, perform abortion by non-licensed doctor, and removing/concealing a dead human body. The latter of the charges refers absurdly to the disposal of the fetus in the same way as one would the body of a murder victim. A more appropriate comparison would be to the disposal of medical waste, i.e., a part of a woman that cannot survive outside of her such as an appendix, tonsils, etc.

But such is the logic of the reactionary religious-based laws which assign person-hood on the basis of Christian concepts of life, blatantly violating the separation of church and state, as well as the prohibition of religious discrimination that was enshrined in the Constitution as part of the American Revolution. This historic struggle sought not just to overthrow the rule of the reactionary British monarchy over the colonies but to sweep away all of its reactionary remnants, including its practice of religious discrimination and a state-sanctioned religion, of which the British king was head.

Both are being brought back by the modern-day Tories in the Republican Party, aided and abetted by the Democrats who view a strong Republican Party as essential to saving American capitalism. Most of the leading Republicans involved in the attack on abortion rights also supported the attempted coup on January 6, 2021 to overthrow the Constitution and install then-President Donald Trump as a dictator. Yet every effort has been made by Democrats to obscure this fact and shift all blame away from the Republican Party and solely onto Trump and a few chosen bad apples.

A 24-week-old fetus is in the extremely preterm range of pregnancy, according to the World Health Organization, and is unlikely to survive outside the mother without medical intervention. In American states such as California and other countries such as the United Kingdom, abortions are allowed up to 24 weeks with exceptions after that point in the case that the pregnancy puts the mothers life at risk.

Facebook spokesman Andy Stony defended the companys decision to release the data, saying, Nothing in the valid warrants we received from local law enforcement in early June, prior to the Supreme Court decision, mentioned abortion, and The warrants concerned charges related to a criminal investigation and court documents indicate that police at the time were investigating the case of a stillborn baby who was burned and buried, not a decision to have an abortion.

He claimed Facebook would always scrutinize every government request we receive to make sure it is legally valid. Contrary to these claims, Facebook admitted it gave investigators data 88 percent of the time, out of the nearly 60,000 times a year it was asked, cementing its role in the US domestic surveillance apparatus.

The case is also a landmark in the attack on democratic rights in general, which is being pursued under the guise of attacking womens democratic right to abortions.

The seizing of the mother and daughters personal information, facilitated by Facebooks handing over of their data, violates their Fourth Amendment constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure. The police, according to Facebook, were only requesting information pertaining to the improper disposal of a fetus. It is the digital equivalent of police walking into someones house for a domestic dispute and proceeding to rifle through closets looking for drugs and contraband, a blatantly illegal practice that has been grounds for dismissal of cases.

Additionally, as the mother and daughter are technically being tried retroactively, that is, for a crime that was not a crime at the time it was committed, the question arises if they are being prosecuted ex post facto (literally after the fact), which violates the US Constitution.

The prosecution of a girl and her mother for performing an abortion is a sign of things to come. Women and girls suffering stillbirths can expect to have all of their data combed through by the American Gestapo, aided and abetted by social media companies like Facebook.
An address to the National Press Club in Canberra by Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian has become the latest focus of a protracted anti-China campaign waged by the media, in line with the aggressive US-led confrontation with Beijing.

Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian addressing National Press Club (Image: ABC-TV screen shot)

Xiaos remarks were a mild-mannered restatement of Chinese government policy on a host of issues, such as Taiwan, territorial disputes in the South China Sea and economic tariffs imposed on Beijing by the US and its allies. His presentation included an appeal for the normalisation of relations between China and Australia.

From the ensuing coverage in the Australian press, one would have no idea that Xiaos remarks were of a generally bland, matter-of-fact character and contained nothing that has not been said before.

In the days since the Wednesday event, virtually every major Australian publication has run hysterical stories. As if reading from the same script, they have declared that Xiao threatened Australia, made chilling comments on Taiwan and generally comported himself as the representative of a tyrannical and megalomaniacal regime, insensible to reason or diplomacy.

The media response, which bears not the slightest relation to the substance of the Press Club event, is ironic. In his opening remarks, Xiao had pointed to the biased and invariably negative character of media coverage of China, noting that issues related to the country of 1.4 billion people were almost always presented in black-and-white terms by the Australian press.

The appeal for a more nuanced and objective coverage of China clearly fell on deaf ears. But that was foreshadowed in the Press Club proceedings themselves.

Xiaos brief opening remarks had centred on calls for greater collaboration and cooperation, hopes of improved relations and points about the close economic and regional ties of Australia and China.

The moderator, opening the event up to the floor, may as well have been giving a signal to a firing squad to begin their fusillade. One after another, the leading lights of Australian journalism rose, to express their moral indignation over every Chinese policy they could bring to mind.

The issue of Taiwan was uppermost in these questions, many of which were in fact denunciatory statements.

Earlier this month, US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, in what was a pure political and military provocation. Even senior figures within the American political establishment noted that the visit, which involved military aircraft and warships, was an incendiary move that risked conflict, and it was initially opposed by the White House.

When China responded with live fire exercises in the Taiwan Strait, its actions were denounced as aggressive and threatening.

This was the line taken by the Australian journalists. All were suddenly passionately concerned about Taiwanese sovereignty, the safety and security of its people and their democratic self-determination.

No such concern was ever shown by the Australian media over the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan, illegally invaded and occupied for years in neo-colonial endeavours aimed at stealing resources and involving daily killings and atrocities.

The Australian press, together with the Liberal-National Coalition and the current Labor government, has buried revelations that Australian special forces soldiers operated as a virtual death squad in Afghanistan, murdering children, women and prisoners.

In his response to these questions, Xiao noted that China was committed to the status quo in relation to Taiwan. He outlined the One China policy, under which since the 1970s, the US and the entire international community has effectively recognised the Chinese Communist Party as the government of all of China, including Taiwan.

It was other parties Xiao stated, i.e., the US, which was seeking to undermine these longstanding norms, by promoting Taiwanese separatism. Washington has handed vast arsenals of weaponry to Taipei, and Pelosis visit was the latest and most high-profile of a series of such trips aimed at establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan, independent of Beijing.

Xiao emphasised that China would seek the reunification of China and Taiwan peacefully, but that it there were an attempt to separate the island from the Chinese mainland all options would be on the table. This line, completely taken out of context, was in virtually every headline reporting on the Press Club event.

Channel Nines Chris Uhlman sought to outdo his colleagues. Do you see why some Australians think when you talk about international law and positive policies, you do not do what you say? he asked, before outlining a litany of charges against Beijing, which could have been scripted by Washington, or the Australian intelligence agencies.

Channel Nine journalist Chris Uhlman questioning Xiao Qian at National Press Club (Image: ABC-TV screen shot)

Uhlman asserted that China was militarising the South China Sea. He said nothing about the massive US-Australian military build-up there, or Washingtons role in inflaming longstanding territorial disputes in the sea, involving China and several southeast Asian states.

He referenced reports that there have been close calls between Australian and Chinese military forces in the South China Sea and elsewhere over recent months. But it has become clear that those incidents, which Uhlman presented as Chinese aggression, were deliberate provocations by the US, Australia and other allied states, as they conduct continuous military operations throughout the Indo-Pacific.

China was also detaining several Australian citizens, Uhlman declared. Another reporter took up the same theme, passionately demanding their freedom.

When Xiao noted in passing the plight of Julian Assange, an Australian citizen imprisoned in Britain and facing extradition to the US, the issue was largely dropped. The Australian media has played a despicable role in the Assange case, cheering on the US-led persecution of a journalist for exposing American war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, or simply pretending that the WikiLeaks founder does not exist.

Such is the essential role of the official media, including its erstwhile liberal and progressive wing represented by such outlets as the Guardian, Crikey and the publicly-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All of them have lined up behind the US-led confrontations with Russia and China, dispensing with even a hint of critical reportage on matters of foreign policy.

Labor and Coalition politicians have latched onto the media frenzy over Xiaos address. The Labor government is marching in lockstep with the Biden administration, taking upon itself the task of a deputy US sheriff throughout the Asia-Pacific, demanding that countries across the region line up behind Washingtons confrontation with China and threatening them with consequences if they do not.

Labor is deepening a massive military build-up that already entails $600 billion in military funding over the decade. This vast expenditure, set to be expanded as Labor undertakes a review into offensive capability, is uncritically accepted by all of the official journalists.

Socialists oppose the Chinese regime from the left, advancing a genuine socialist and internationalist alternative to Beijings nationalist and pro-capitalist government. As Xiaos remarks demonstrated, the Chinese regimes response to the threat of war, together with is own military build-up that only heightens the dangers, is to issue plaintive and pathetic appeals for cooperation and collaboration to the warmongers in Washington and Canberra.

But such questions of principle are anathema to the well-heeled functionaries of the Australian press. They are the propagandists of aggressive militarist policies that threaten a catastrophe.
Are you a CP Rail worker? Let us know what you think of the governments response to the TSB report by emailing the CP Workers Rank-and-File Committee at cpworkersrfc@gmail.com or joining its Facebook group.

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More than three years after the fatal derailment of a runaway CP Rail train in Field, British Columbia took the lives of rail workers Andrew Dockrell, Dylan Paradis and Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer, Canadas federal Liberal government announced in late July measures it claims will prevent further tragedies. The measures, revealed by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra in response to an investigation concluded in March by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB), amount to a free pass for CP Rail and all Class I rail operators, who will be permitted to write their own safety guidelines.

Mid-train distributed power remote locomotive from the derailed CP Rail Train 301

In February 2019, two locomotives and 99 rail cars of CP Rail Train 301 derailed near the Kicking Horse River bridge. In the first leg of its trip the train had experienced braking issues before being put into emergency stop at Partridge Station for a crew change. While waiting for the relief crew to take over, the train was parked on a steep slope in extremely cold weather. A management decision was made not to apply hand brakes. By the time the replacement crew boarded the train, the pressure in the air brakes had dropped to such an extent that the crew was unable to control the train when it began to move.

In its final report, the TSB specifically recommended enhanced inspection and maintenance requirements for brakes on steep grades in cold weather. It also recommended the installation of automatic parking brakes on all freight cars.

A Ministerial Order from Alghabra came into effect on July 25 requiring railway companies to propose revisions to rules governing specific rail operations for the Ministers approval. The revisions to be proposed must address pre-departure inspections, periodic maintenance of air brakes on trains, and the elevated risks of operating trains in cold temperatures. The order also requires rail companies to develop a winter operating plan for their equipment and specify actions to be taken when temperatures are very cold, including implementing speed restrictions and performing enhanced inspections.

Beginning in September, Transport Canada will launch a working group with railway companies to consider the design and safety parameters of such devices. At the TSBs recommendation, the Government will launch targeted audits of Canadian Pacific Railway this month to assess the effectiveness of the companys safety management systems and training regime. Additionally, Transport Canada will be required to conduct oversight of Canadian Pacific Railway's occupational health and safety committees to monitor whether the company is effectively identifying and addressing hazards.

Behind all the bluster, Alghabras order amounts to a continuation of the disastrous policy of deregulation that has allowed rail companies to operate for decades as a law unto themselves. After sacrificing the lives of three workers to maximize profits, CP Rail management is being given the chance to write the new regulatory guidelines, which the Liberal government will rubber stamp.

CPs record of ravenously pursuing profits at all costs demonstrates that the federal governments latest announcement will do nothing to prevent future derailments, injuries or deaths.

In 2013, CP removed an already existing safety system, known as a centralized control system (CTC), from a section of track in Calgary, Alberta, without first conducting a risk assessment. The CTC is comprised of signals that provide various pieces of information, such as speed limits, to train operators. On September 3, 2016, a CP freight train rear-ended another on the section of track because the signals no longer indicated whether another train occupied the track ahead. No one was injured in the incident and the CTC was subsequently reinstalled, but the episode exposes the willingness of CP to cut corners and eliminate what had previously been considered necessary procedures or equipment.

Following the 2015-16 winter season, CP eliminated without explanation a ban on freight trains descending the steep Field Hill when temperatures fell below -25 degrees Celsius (-13 Fahrenheit). On the night of the Field derailment, a temperature of -28 Celsius (-18 Fahrenheit) was recorded.

CP Rail management continues to refuse to accept any responsibility for the Field derailment. It responded to the TSB report that the government now claims will improve health and safety on the railroads by denouncing it for containing inaccuracies and misstatements. Despite presiding over a company that sacrifices the very lives of its workforce to maximize corporate profits, CEO Keith Creel has seen his salary rise to one of the highest among all Canadian chief executives, receiving $26.7 million in 2021.

There is no reason to believe that CP will take the latest regulatory process seriously when it still refuses to admit that the company was at fault in any way for the Field derailment. In fact, there is ample evidence to suggest that CP sought to control and block investigations into the Train 301 disaster from the beginning.

In late 2019, Don Crawford, the original TSB investigator on the case, said he suspected criminal negligence and requested that the RCMP, Canadas federal police, take over the investigation.

While an RCMP investigation could result in criminal prosecutions, the TSB has no power to file any civil or criminal charges. As its website notes, (I)t is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability. Additionally, (f)indings of the Board are not binding on the parties to any legal, disciplinary, or other proceedings.

CP Rail responded to Crawfords call for the RCMP to intervene by threatening the TSB with a lawsuit. The independent agency reacted to this threat by removing Crawford from the inquiry, rejecting its own findings, and issuing a private apology to CP Rail, which was delivered by TSB chair Kathy Fox in January 2020.

A CP Rail worker speaking anonymously to the World Socialist Web Site recalled the companys systematic drive to cut corners prior to the Field derailment in order to increase productivity as part of its precision scheduled railroading (PSR) system.

Pre-departure brake testing, to my personal knowledge, was dire in terms of a lack of strict adherence to testing protocol, he said. The problem here is not that testing was insufficient in terms of what was being tested, it is because it was not being properly accomplished. After one particular incident in which I caught mechanical inspectors fudging a brake test, they apologized to me and explained that management only allowed them a minute and a half per car, which is nowhere near enough time to complete the process properly. CP came up with various mechanisms designed to circumvent proper testing, such as claiming certain trains bypassed the requirement when that was far from the truth. In addition, crews were lambasted and intimidated into noncompliance with testing requirements. I was once suspended for insisting that I complete the tests, which was viewed as me deliberately delaying a trainan utter fallacy.

Railways are obsessed with cutting down dwell times in yards (the amount of time a train is stationary while en route for testing, crew change offs etc.), because this directly undermines the PSR model. This is the profit model that strangles any semblance of rail safety.

Well aware of the deep mistrust among rail workers towards CP and the government regulators, who have worked hand-in-hand with the rail companies for years as safety conditions on the railways have become consistently worse, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) union rushed to proclaim its full confidence in Alghabras latest regulatory farce.

The TCRC places the safety of its workers and the public as its highest priority and is pleased to see that the Minister of Transport is taking this matter seriously, the TCRC wrote. Teamsters also recognizes that the Ministers response to the three TSB recommendations shows their dedication towards implementing a plan to enhance safety. The Teamsters will play an important role and will closely monitor the action plans implementation to ensure the actions carried out by various stakeholders meet their stated objectives.

Rank-and-file rail workers, fresh from the experience of the TCRC selling out their struggle for improved wages and conditions in March by agreeing to binding arbitration, see things quite differently. As the CP Rail worker explained to the WSWS, The main reason why Alghabra is doing this is pure window dressing. Hes pretending that hes doing something by tightening up brake tests that were workable and should never have lapsed in the first place. This is a de facto coverup of three unlawful killings that implicate a host of senior management figures and government officials that somehow enjoy legal impunity.

The fact of the matter remains that our friends and colleagues were killed, in my earnest opinion, by criminal omissions and people belong in jail no matter how vast this conspiracy is.
Let the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Day Parade celebrations begin.

What started out as a small, energetic procession celebrating our culture with a few hundred participants has turned into a multiday cultural celebration honoring the accomplishments, contributions, music and foods of all Puerto Ricans and Hispanics throughout Buffalo, Erie County and the state of New York, Charles F. Torres, president of the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Day Parade of Western New York, said Thursday.

Torres made the remarks during a flag raising ceremony in Niagara Square to honor achievements and contributions of the region's Hispanic community and to promote the 20th annual parade on Aug. 20, starting at noon in Niagara Square. Music, food, and activities and rides for kids will be at Niagara Square on Aug. 20 from 3 to 9 p.m., and Aug. 21 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A moment of silence was held Thursday in memory of the victims of the mass shooting at Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue on May 14th. Sunday marks the three-month anniversary of the shooting.

Aaron Salter III, the son of fallen Tops security officer Aaron Salter Jr., raised the United States flag in memory of his father. The elder Salter, 55, was the guard working at the Tops when a white gunman killed 10 Black people. Salter fired his gun, and at least one of his shots hit the gunman, but he was not wounded because of the protective armor he was wearing.
A grand jury in Leflore County, Mississippi, has refused to indict the woman whose accusations led directly to the August 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till, the brutal racist killing that helped to spark the mass US civil rights movement.

Emmett Till

The grand jury, after hearing seven hours of testimony in the case, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring kidnapping and manslaughter charges against Carolyn Bryant Donham. Donham, at that time married to Roy Bryant, had claimed that Till, a black youth from Chicago who was visiting Mississippi relatives for part of that summer, had made advances to her in the grocery store that she owned with her husband in a small town in the northwest part of the state.

Several days later, on August 28, 1955, Roy Bryant and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, abducted Till from his great-uncles home at 2 a.m. in the morning. They beat him beyond recognition and shot him, then tossed his body into the nearby Tallahatchie River, where it was soon discovered.

Roy Bryant and Milam were quickly tried for the murder of Till, and even more quickly acquitted by an all-white jury which deliberated barely an hour, an example of the kind of racist justice that was the rule in the Jim Crow South for three-quarters of a century. Carolyn Bryant took the witness stand and repeated her accusation. Bryant and Milam, safe from new murder trials under the double jeopardy clause of the US Constitutions Fifth Amendment, brazenly confessed to the crime less than a year later. They lived for decades longer, Milam until 1980 and Bryant until 1994.

Donham, now 88 years old and living in North Carolina, was reported to have been a passenger in the car that abducted Till. She was also reported at one point as having recanted her original accusation, a claim she later denied.

Over the past 67 years the case of Emmett Till has remained at the forefront of popular consciousness, and various local and national government bodies have on several occasions felt obliged to reinvestigate the case. A Mississippi grand jury declined to indict Carolyn Donham in 2007. The US Department of Justice opened and then closed a cold case investigation in 2004 after it went nowhere. The federal authorities reopened the case yet again in 2017, closing it once more, in December 2021, after concluding that they could not prove Donhams guilt.

In the last few months, even after nearly seven decades, new information came to light. In June, an arrest warrant for Carolyn Bryant was discovered in the basement of the Leflore County Courthouse. Apparently the original arrest warrant for Milam and Roy Bryant had also included Bryants wife, but the warrant was never served, with the excuse that she could not be found.

A few weeks later, an unpublished 109-page memoir of Carolyn Bryant Donham was leaked to the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. The memoir, dictated 14 years ago to her daughter-in-law, makes the grotesque claim that, I always felt like a victim as well as Emmett.

Despite the new evidence, the Leflore County grand jury failed to indict Donham. The county DA, Dewayne Richardson, who is African American, instead issued an empty statement: The murder of Emmett Till remains an unforgettable tragedy in this country and the thoughts and prayers of this nation continue to be with the family of Emmett Till.

With the last party responsible for this crime close to 90 years old, it is likely that the murder of Emmett Till will not be brought before a courtroom again. This only underscores the importance of learning its lessons.

Mamie Till, the mother of the victim, insisted that his funeral take place with an open casket, so that the whole world could see the reality of racist brutality. This courageous stand reflected the growing determination to sweep away the whole racist Jim Crow segregation system that had taken hold after the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era. The burning anger at the murder of Emmett Till helped to fuel the Montgomery Bus Boycott against segregation a few months later, followed over the next decade by the lunch counter sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committees voter registration drives, and many other mass mobilizations.

The struggle against Jim Crow could no longer be held back by the two-party capitalist system which had served it so well since the turn of the 20th century and even before. The Democrats, through their Dixiecrat wing in the solid South, played the major role.

The Southern movement against Jim Crow received wide support in the North, including within the working class. The growing integration and militancy of industrial workers played a key role, despite the bureaucratic stranglehold of the AFL-CIO. The merged labor federation had been founded in the same year as Emmett Tills murder, and one of its aims was precisely to strengthen the bureaucracy and hold back the threat of a unified and militant working class.

The Cold War of the 1950s also worked to force the hand of US big business and its political establishment, as the foreign policy aims of US imperialism, with its democratic pretenses in the conflict with the Soviet Union, conflicted with the old system of rigid segregation. The Supreme Court decision outlawing school segregation came in 1954, one year before the lynching of Emmett Till.

Subsequent decades confirmed the fundamental limitations of the civil rights movement. The refusal of the movements leadership to challenge capitalism and the two political parties through which it ruled meant that it could not meet the aspirations of the many millions of workers who fought during the 1950s and 60s. The civil rights reforms of nearly 60 years ago laid bare even more clearly the essential class issues, and the need to unite the working class to fight against the system of capitalist exploitation.

The inability to bring the last perpetrator in the murder of Emmett Till to justice is an expression of the more fundamental inability of capitalism to meet the needs of the working class. The integration of the capitalist political establishment, in the South as well as elsewhere in the US, is for the purpose of defending the status quo, as illustrated by the action of the Leflore County grand jury under its African American District Attorney.

Because of the deepening crisis, workers of all races and ethnicities have faced deepening attacks on living standards and democratic rights after the gains of the 1960s. The division of labor between the Republican and Democratic parties continues, even if in a different form. The Republicans have assumed the role previously played by the Southern racist Democrats, going even further in the direction of fascism.

The Democrats, on the other hand, pose as opponents of racism for the most cynical and sinister purposes. Last March, President Joe Biden signed federal anti-lynching legislation, decades after it could have made a difference. The Democrats, from the White House on down, will seek to use Tills case the way they are trying to use the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, as a talking point for their election campaign lies, trampling on the real legacy of working class struggle against racism in order to hustle votes for austerity, while COVID continues to rage and the preparations for a third world war continue.

The most important lesson of the Emmett Till case and the history of the mass movement it helped to initiate is that the fight against all forms of racism and reaction requires the mobilization of the working class and the fight for its political independence in the struggle for socialism.
Attorney General Merrick Garland made his first public comment on Mondays FBI raid on the Mar-a-Lago estate of former President Donald Trump, announcing Thursday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had gone to court to seek the public disclosure of the search warrant that provides the judicial authorization for the raid, as well as an inventory of the contents seized.

Garland said he had personally approved the raid and sought to defend the FBI and the DOJ from the right-wing furor that has erupted in response to Trump making the raid public. He said the White House was not involved in his decision to make a public statement and had not been informed in advance.

Attorney General Merrick Garland (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

As for President Biden, he remains on vacation in South Carolina and has refused to comment either on the raid or on the ensuing political firestorm. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to answer any questions on the subject at a press briefing Tuesday, and there are no further briefings scheduled this week.

Bidens silence in the face of the right-wing furor over the raid is extraordinary. He has declined to issue a statement declaring his full confidence in Garland, which under other circumstances would be routine. He is more concerned with keeping the Republican Party on board with his war policies against Russia and China than with the threat of fascist violence in the United States.

Both the president and the attorney general continue to avoid the central issue posed by the raid: How is it connected to the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, and to Trumps ongoing efforts to mobilize his fascist followers, overthrow the government and install himself as a fascist dictator?

Garland pointed out that going to court in South Florida to seek the disclosure of the warrant was only necessary because Trump had not released it, which the ex-president could have done at any time since the raid. He gave the ex-president until Friday to decide whether he would agree to the release or oppose it.

The Justice Department request to unseal the warrant and the inventory of evidence taken was filed by U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez and Jay Bratt, chief of the Justice Departments Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, Counterintelligence Division. Bratts role is significant, since unnamed DOJ officials and the media have repeatedly declared that the only purpose of the Mar-a-Lago raid was to retrieve highly sensitivie classified documents that Trump took with him when he left the White House.

In his two-minute statement, Garland referred to the intense public interest about the first-ever police raid on the home of an ex-president and said the proposal to unseal the warrant and inventory was in response to that. According to the motion filed in South Florida, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any legitimate privacy interests or the potential for other injury if these materials are made public.

In the event Trump opposes the release of the warrant and inventory related to the August 8 raid, federal Judge Bruce Reinhart, who issued the original search warrant, set August 25 for a hearing on the issue. Trumps lawyers must file a brief opposing release and give the U.S. Attorney time to prepare a response by that date.

The search warrant could prove to be revealing and politically significant. The New York Times reported on its website Thursday afternoon, Some senior Republicans have been warned by allies of Mr. Trump not to continue to be aggressive in criticizing the Justice Department and the F.B.I. over the matter because it is possible that more damaging information related to the search will become public.

Garland said he would not release a third document related to the raid, the DOJ affidavit filed with the judge, arguing that there was probable cause that crimes had been committed and that evidence of those crimes was at Mar-a-Lago.

In his appearance before the press at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, Garland defended the FBI agents and Justice Department attorneys who were handling the investigation.

He cited a flood of threats of violence and accusations of political motivations on social media in the three days since Trump made the raid public and claimed he was being targeted by the Biden administration for political reasons.

Press reports suggest that there was considerable discontent within the FBI over the right-wing campaign of violent rhetoric directed at the FBI and the Justice Department. Garlands defense of the FBI agents and DOJ attorneys was thus in response to considerable internal pressure within the agency.

The day before Garlands appearance, FBI Director Christopher Wray sent out a memo to all bureau employees urging them to be on their guard and telling them that his primary concern right now was their safety and security.

The right-wing threats against the DOJ and FBI have included repeated declarations of war against an alleged conspiracy by the deep state against Trump. One particularly ferocious threat called on Trump supporters to destroy the FBI. There have been death threats against federal agents in general and against Garland and Wray in particular.

A Trump supporter, later identified as Ricky Shiffer, apparently acting on such sentiments, tried to carry out an armed assault on the FBI office in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area. He arrived at the office at 9:15 a.m. Thursday morning, wearing body armor and equipped with an AR-15 assault rifle and a nail-gun.

After he was unable to get through the visitor screening room, he fled the scene and was later spotted by Highway Patrol officers on the I-71 interstate headed northeast out of Cincinnati toward Columbus, Ohio. Gunshots were exchanged, and Shiffer exited the interstate and was pursued by the police along rural roads.

Eventually Shiffer abandoned his car and fled on foot through a cornfield. An armed standoff ensued, lasting for several hours, before Shiffer was shot and killed.

According to the New York Times, Shiffer had declared on social media that he was present at the US Capitol on January 6 and blamed the attack on federal agents posing as Trump supporters (a common ultra-right conspiracy theory). He also posted about the fascist militia group the Proud Boys, writing, Save ammunition, get in touch with the Proud Boys and learn how they did it in the Revolutionary War, because submitting to tyranny while lawfully protesting was never the American way.

The final shootout with Shiffer took place around 3:00 p.m., suggesting that Garland was following the events in Ohio closely and delayed his appearance in front of the media until he was sure that the gunman had been killed, although he made no mention of these events in his brief statement.
In Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government recently declared that the pandemic is over, the grossly underestimated official numbers of cases and deaths are rapidly rising. The complicity of the bourgeois opposition and trade unions with the governments policy of mass infection and death underlines the need for working people to take matters into their own hands to save lives and end the pandemic.

The official number of cases in the week of July 25 to August 1 reached 406,332, while 337 people died of COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization, Turkey ranked first in Europe and fifth in the world in terms of COVID-19 infections that week.

Tevfik Ozlu, a member of the official Coronavirus Scientific Committee, spoke to the Ihlas News Agency (IHA). In a devastating comment on the policies of his own committee, Ozlu said: The saddest part is that the number of deaths, the number of cases, is not very important to me anymore. Since most people do not get tested, they do not reflect the real numbers.

In February, despite warnings from public health specialists, Ozlu had said that COVID-19 will eventually turn into a common respiratory infection, like the flu or the common cold.

Healthcare workers go on strike nationwide to protest working conditions and low pay. The banner reads: "We are on strike, we will struggle until we get our rights." Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. [AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici]

We are experiencing the highest number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ceyhan, Head of the Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in Ankara, said on Thursday. He added: We had to reopen the COVID-19 pediatric ward due to the increasing number of cases.

Speaking to Cumhuriyet on July 25, Prof. Dr. Bekir Kocazeybek, a member of the Department of Clinical Microbiology at Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty in Istanbul, explained why the number of cases is increasing: Cases are increasing due to the Health Ministrys abolition of masks in indoor areas, and the fact that tests are almost never performedinfected people are sent back without being tested. The government is driven by economic concerns.

Kocazeybek noted that Omicron is the dominant variant in Turkey, with 70-80 percent of cases, warning that vaccines are losing effectiveness and calling for public health measures: Turkey should act with an approach that prioritizes human health instead of tourism and economic concerns. Otherwise, we may spend the fall and winter more seriously with a 6th wave  My biggest concern is that we will encounter more resistant and more contagious mutations. We must reduce the infection chain by disciplining human movements.

Health care workers organizations in Ankara recently issued a statement on the pandemic, calling for various precautions against the spread of the virus. They demanded that COVID services and polyclinics should be reopened in hospitals. The use of masks should continue in indoor places and crowded open areas.  Effective contact tracing and isolation should be implemented.

They added, Vaccination should be accelerated through campaigns and booster doses should be administered with effective vaccines. The 5-11 age group should be included in the vaccination program. Urgent precaution plans should be put into practice.

Continuing, they warned: While a new variant in the COVID-19 pandemic spreads very rapidly, every six months, faster and more easily transmitted than the previous one, all measures have been lifted in our country since May. The Health Ministry started releasing daily data on a weekly basis after May 30, and although the number of tests is currently very low, the number of weekly deaths is very high.

It concluded with a call for public health measures against the governments profits before health policy: We once again state that the government, which determines the criteria in the fight against the pandemic according to the hospital occupancy rate, the production level of factories and tourism revenues, should give priority to public health.

As a result of this policy of death, hospitals intensive care units are filling up again. Prof. Dr. Oktay Demirkran, President of the Turkish Intensive Care Association, told NTV television: 80-90 percent occupancy rates have been reached in some places and that there is no more room at Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Hospital, one of the major hospitals in Istanbul.

Demirkran also stated Tuesday that The case density in Istanbul continues. Last week, some of our patients had to stay in the emergency service for a week due to the intensity and could not be admitted to intensive care units.

In an interview with Mesopatamia Agency on August 7, Guclu Yaman, a member of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Pandemic Working Group, summarized the horrifying situation in the pandemic: Last year, during the Delta surge, excess deaths were around twice the official COVID-19 deaths, while this rate has increased up to ten times this year.

He continued: There is also an increase in official deaths, but this is far below the actual deaths. In a sense, we are back to the summer of 2020.  If you remember, the Minister of Health declared in his statement after the summer of 2020 that he hid data in order to protect national interests. According to Yamans calculations, as of August 2, the number of excess deaths in Turkey has risen to 294,000, though the official death toll is still below 100,000.

Under these conditions, threats against scientists by pandemic deniers and anti-vaxxers are on the rise. Indeed, the suicide of Dr. Lisa-Maria Kellermayr in Austria, after she was targeted by anti-vaxxers and the Austrian government ignored the threats, reveals that this is an international campaign backed by the ruling class.

In Turkey, Prof. Dr. Esin Davutoglu Senol and other scientists who have criticized the governments unscientific policies and called for public health measures since the beginning of the pandemic are increasingly targeted by anti-vaxxers. The governments indifference to these threats reflects the fact that in Turkey, as in Austria and in most countries, authorities have adopted the far-right policies of pandemic deniers and anti-vaxxers.

As the World Socialist Web Site has consistently explained, it is clear what global public health measures are needed to stop the pandemic and save lives. The Zero-COVID strategy implemented in China is the only way to end the pandemic worldwide. Only a mass mobilization of the international working class, based on a scientific program, can change the death policy of the ruling class adopted by the entire political establishment and trade union apparatus.

Workers must demand and fight for nonessential workplaces and schools to be closed until zero cases are reached, together with mass vaccination, widespread testing, contact tracing and isolation of infected persons and other public health measures. There must be full income support for all workers and small businesses affected by these measures.
Following his nomination last month to be on the ballot for UAW president, autoworker Will Lehman has received letters from workers throughout the US supporting his campaign and asking questions about his program.

The WSWS has endorsed Lehmans campaign. We are publishing below a selection of letters and responses from Lehman. The letters have been edited to ensure the anonymity of the workers.

For more information on Will Lehmans campaign, visit WillforUAWPresident.org.

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Hey Will,

My union reps and the company are as ONE! We dont have proper representation, theres too many concessions made for the company. I hope that you will make some much needed changes. We are struggling and the future generations will as well, if something is not done. Benefits need to be increased dramatically. We support Ford, yet they throw millions of dollars into an in-plant car wash system, lifts, overhead door dryers that never work. Yet, the economy doesnt fit our budget as our wages stay the same as living expenses rises!

Make it make sense, right! We need a team that will strike and make a statement to these companies. They lied years ago, and the union representation shook hands on the deal, really!

We need great leadership, you got my support, if you are serious about accountability of those hurting the UAW.

R

Dear R,

Thank you, but as I have stressed, I cannot do this alone, and I am not some kind of magic problem solver. Workers need to build rank-and-file committees to bring changes about. I agree that the future generations need us to push now more than ever for the betterment of material conditions for workers everywhere in the future.

The team I intend to build is composed of workers on the shop floor, that is my rank-and-file committee approach. I hope you will be interested in building a rank-and-file committee at your plant.

Yes, Ford is egregious in their exploitation while having no concern for workers. In July, I was on two calls with workers at Ford plants in India and Germany. These were with workers at plants that are both facing plant closures. Workers everywhere need to realize that our struggles are all connected. We have the power to save jobs and elevate our working conditions if we build rank-and-file committees and coordinate internationally. Please let me know your thoughts on the building of a rank-and-file committee at your plant.

Thank you,

Will Lehman

***

Will,



How do you plan to change things in the UAW? The way it is, we pay dues as a formality to have slightly better healthcare and wages than non-union jobs. Dues are pretty much bribe money. I work at Mack, and we have lost every contract since Volvo took over. They wanted temps, and indirectly (thru 6 years of wage progression MOU) they got temps. Everything they want, they get.

The strike in 2019 was a fake. I wont cross a picket line, but rest assured I wont be part of nonsense fake strikes. Who the hell goes back to work when nothing is ratified? Volvo was planning down-weeks anyhow, and they let it go long enough to start receiving a little bit of bad press and then they called an end to it. Aside from all this we have a huge rat infestation at the plant. Everybody is telling the supervisor on everybody else. Nobody knows how to mind their own business. I applaud you for trying to fight, but Ill tell you what I think: The time has come and gone.



I think its over.

***

Yes, that is the way it is now, and if we do nothing things will continue to get worse until we are ground into the dust. Im proposing workers do something, now, on the shop floor level. We need to group up into the rank-and-file committee that was started here last year when NRV was out on strike. There are many reasons for organizing in this way, principally so we have an open organization where everyone can freely speak about the actions we should take without being hindered by the UAWs typical losing strategy.

Secondly, we need rank-and-file committees so when it comes time to take action workers are the ones that will be in control of that action. Arguably, we should have formed a committee in 2019 and called for not returning until we had all the details of the agreement. We need to lead our own actions, not be misled under the leadership of a bureaucracy. Yes, the 2019 strike was manipulated, but we voted by 79% to strike. There wasnt anyone I knew at the time that told me they voted no to the strike authorization vote. The will was there, but it was misled. We need to be ready to fight again. And if were going to win, we cant be misled again.

Whether things change or not depends on workers being willing to fight. If you are, I suggest you join up and help build. Get coworkers in that you know are solid. Im not a lone great reformer. My turn is to the workers. The working class has the power to make monumental changes if we all decide to organize and fight.

Im not running on the platform of I alone can fix it, or I will bring some new bureaucrats in with me to fix things. Im trying to encourage workers to build on the floor because thats the only way its going to happen. Our material conditions have been declining for quite some time, and this will continue to horrible extremes if we do nothing. There will be a breaking point when workers can take no more losses, and Im trying to point the way forward now so were in the best position to fight when that happens. We need to organize in a new way if there is to be any change.

Will Lehman

***

Were pretty lucky in my opinion at our shop. We were working every two Saturdays and the 3rd off for a long time, but since Covid thats slowed down due to the parts shortage. Im a fairly new hire, but Ive been union my entire adult life. I feel General Motors uses and abuses our temps. Thats my main goal. Get back to 90 days, hire or fire, with a competing pay scale of a minimum of $20 an hour for the temps.

B

Dear B,

There was a time when workers fought and risked their lives for the 8-hour day and 40-hour week. Those hard-fought gains should have never been conceded, as well as equal pay for equal work and a family sustaining wage.

From where I stand, the working class generates all the profit so the working class should determine where it goes, naturally with equality at the forefront of that discussion. I tend to put it as: If a worker is doing a full-time job, a job that any worker at top rate could also potentially hold, they should be receiving top rate pay for the completion of that job. Im not as concerned with the companies rights of hiring and firing or their right to 90 days to decide to transfer temps to full-time. Those decision makers often do zero work, are used to the habitat of an air conditioned office and wouldnt know real work if they were staring at a real worker doing it.

I also dont agree with the temp status. If more workers are needed, there should be more workers. Temp status is a cheap way for a company to get out of paying a worker to do a full-time job. It is meant to divide the working class up, with the intention of sending all the ill-gotten profits to the lazy bureaucrats and shareholders that put in zero work.

The way were going to get past concessions back is through the formation of rank-and-file committees, and its up to workers like you who recognize there are gains to be made to build those committees. If you are interested in starting one, let me know and we can discuss that further.

Thank you,

Will Lehman

***

Hello Will,

I have been encouraged by the emails about your campaign for UAW president. I agree wholeheartedly with your platform. Its well past time to put the power back in the hands of the rank-and-file.

I am a member of the UAW at Michigan Technological University. Throughout my years here, I have often felt that the union doesnt do enough for its members. In fact, it actively hampers upward mobility. Being in the union here is more damaging to my career and pay than if I were a salaried employee. As union employees, we are the lowest tier.

I have had to take on extra work without being compensated appropriately because my position is in the union. We dont get cost of living increases or significant raises of any kind. As someone who knows the value of their work and genuinely loves their job, it just feels insulting. In fact, right now there are so many open union positions on campus that they are offering $1,000 signing bonuses; they are desperate for employees, but dont take care of the ones they have. If union employees were paid better wages, there wouldnt be so many open positions.

Its been frustrating and disheartening fighting what feels like a losing battle against an organization that doesnt do the bare minimum for its members. Many of us have given up on any hope of positive change.



Thank you for your time, and I truly hope that your campaign is successful. I believe you could bring some much needed change to the UAW.

Sincerely,

K

Hello K,

I do want to stress that I alone cannot put the power back in the hands of the rank-and-file and that change will only occur to the extent that workers recognize the need to fight for it and organize rank-and-file committees. Have you been able to share any of the campaign messaging with your coworkers and if so, what do they think? I would be very interested to know if there is interest in forming a rank-and-file committee where you work. You are not alone in the UAW bureaucracy failing you either. The bureaucracy at the international and local level fails everyone that pays them dues, some worse than others.

I had more than one coworker die from COVID after being infected in our plant. One worker, William D, passed after Thanksgiving, and when our rank-and-file committee reached out to our local about it they didnt even know he had passed. Mack Trucks, where I work, had a supervisor canvass me for his job two days later, and he was just as casual about the position being open as any other position being open. That type of indifferent and negligent attitude towards social murder is a large part of why I am running.

Our continuously worsening economic condition is tied to my running as well, as is the popularizing of workers doing the one thing that can bring about change. That is the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, the need for abolishing capitalism and bringing about socialism. It would help my campaigns effort greatly if you could spread the word on social media and in your workplace.

Thank you,

Will Lehman

***

How do you feel about how the janitorial members are treated i.e, contract, treated as if we took Big Three jobs from them, wages, etc.

P

Hello P,

At Mack they put the janitors in a separate, lower tier, classified as General Maintenance. In my opinion any worker on the floor doing a job that is deemed its own position should not be paid less than the rest of the workers on the floor.

One of the biggest things the companies have created over the years, with the blessing of the UAW bureaucracy, is glaring inequality. They divide workers up and seek to foster the growth of anti-worker talk among us workers. Any time you hear one worker saying why another worker doesnt deserve this or that form of equality, that is the type of talk Im referring to.

That kind of talk is to get workers distracted, to view our own working class brothers and sisters as enemies while distracting from the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid out to UAW bureaucrats, and in some cases tens of millions of dollars paid out to corporate bureaucrats. They use that kind of talk about workers in other countries too, when no matter what country youre from, what should unite us is working class solidarity.

Prime examples of the pay of the real parasitic culprits the companies dont want you to see are the total income of GM CEO Mary Barra, Volvos CEO Martin Lundstedt, Flex-N-Gate CEO Shahid Khan and the wealth of HarperCollins owner Rupert Murdoch. The money they are gorging themselves off of is the money were generating but never sees our pockets because we are divided on the floor and dont understand the need for our class unity, and lack historical working class knowledge that would lead to us having a better understanding of the working class unity we need.

In short, there is a lot to be said to get to the understanding of working class solidarity but I would say it begins there, and every worker, the ones generating all the profits, should have a democratic say in how those profits are generated and a decent living afforded to them no matter where they are or what type of work they do. To get to that point though we need to start grouping up in rank-and-file committees and educating ourselves on the way to achieve that equality. It will not be achieved through reliance on corrupt trade unionism leading the way.

Thank you,

Will Lehman

For more information on Will Lehmans campaign, visit WillforUAWPresident.org.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that it is no longer recommending that those exposed to COVID-19 quarantine in order to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. It is instead calling on those exposed to wear a high-quality mask for 10 days and get tested on day 5.

The CDCs press release also reiterates its earlier reduction of isolation for those who test positive for COVID-19, stating that an infected person should only isolate for five days. It also explicitly notes that as long as symptoms are improving after day five, you may end your isolation. It only recommends isolation for 10 days for moderate or severe illness, while ignoring the fact that those with a mild case of the pathogen can spread it to others and that even those cases can be extremely debilitating and can lead to Long COVID.

Signs on the wall remind students to keep 6 feet apart during a media tour of the Norris Middle School in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, July 29, 2020. The CDC has again revised its COVID guidelines, further relaxing quarantine recommendations. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

The CDC also issued no change to its definition of fully vaccinated as two shots of the mRNA vaccines, despite the mass of data showing that the Omicron variant and its many subvariants have severely eroded the ability of two doses to prevent hospitalization. The agency also reaffirmed that it will continue to use hospitalization rates, a lagging indicator of the spread of the virus, as the chief measure of the level of danger from the pandemic in each county.

At a press conference Thursday, CDC spokesperson Greta Massetti attempted to justify the changes by claiming that, Were in a stronger place today  with more toolslike vaccination, boosters, and treatments. She continued that the pandemic is at a point where it, no longer severely disrupts our daily lives and added ominously, We know that COVID-19 is here to stay.

In other words, according to the CDC, tens or hundreds of thousands of infections and hundreds or thousands of deaths each day from COVID-19 is to be the baseline going forward, with public health measures increasingly non-existent and mass death a daily occurrence. New variants and whole new pandemics, whether from monkeypox, polio or some other disease, are to be accepted by the population.

The agency also explicitly noted that the new regulations mean that the test to stay policy to check children for COVID-19 infection after exposure at schools is being dropped. There will be no attempt to stem the spread of the deadly disease in schools, despite the fact that COVID-19 has killed at least 1,736 children in the US alone, a number which is likely a significant undercount, and inflicted Long COVID on an untold number of young people.

Ignoring the mortal threat to children is, however, more or less state policy. The same day the CDC guidelines were released, Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders interviewed the Biden administrations COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. One of the topics was the impact of the virus on children. During the interview, Sanders made the extraordinary claim that, children  are not dying from COVID-19.

More remarkably, Dr. Jha made no effort to correct Sanders! He instead built off Sanders falsehood and justified the new CDC guidelines for schools, asserting, we should look forward to a school year in which every child is in school, is in person, full-time, for the whole year. I think we have all the ability to do that, and that should be the only acceptable standard. Dr. Jhas enforcers will be the teachers unions, from whom he received positive reviews about the new CDC guidelines.

There is a clear aligning of forces among the capitalist state, from its nominal public health officials, leading politicians, and corporatist trade unions, to ensure that students are forced into schools so their parents can be more easily forced into factories and offices for the enrichment of the capitalist elite and their media and union toadies.

The new CDC guidelines provoked a flood of opposition among principled scientists and anti-COVID advocates on social media Thursday, with many commenting directly to the World Socialist Web Site.

Dr. Ellie Murray, an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, told the WSWS, I am disappointed that they are advising fewer protections, despite the continued high case and death rates. I am even more disappointed to see them recommending less testing at the same time they roll back other precautions. With less testing we will not be able to properly assess the impact of this guidance.

Dana Parish, a leading anti-COVID advocate, responded sharply to the CDCs announcement, telling the WSWS, The new CDC guidance is the figurative nail in their coffin, and will be the literal nail in the coffin for countless children and adults who counted on CDC to protect them. That theyre downright encouraging further spread of a deadly airborne virus that has a propensity to disseminate and persist in organs all over the body, cause strokes, heart attacks, multiple organ damage, dementia, and lead to an increased risk of sudden death, goes against the most basic principle of public health: to do no harm.

They are again misleading the public by insinuating that vaccines and/or a less severe acute illness will protect them. But neither prevents long term damage, and that is a crucial message the public deserves to know. To be clear, an asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infection still puts you at an unacceptably high risk for Long COVID. The initial infection is NOT the problem for most people now; the long term damage is.

Several other epidemiologists and airborne transmission experts weighed in on the reckless and anti-social character of the new guidance. Nicolas Smit, an expert on masks and respirators, commented to the WSWS, As COVID-19 continues to spread along with monkeypox, the decision to lift guidelines is another sign that the goal of the government is no longer stopping the damage both viruses have on Americans health or the already fragile economyand instead to focus on winning votes for the midterms at all costs.

During the 2020 election, President Biden said that anyone who was responsible for allowing 220,000 people to die should not be President of the United States and that it was important to role model mask wearing. Unfortunately, President Biden is now responsible for well over 600,000 deaths, yet still discourages mask use. The continued refusal to protect workers or the public from two preventable deadly and debilitating viruses means that the death toll will continue to grow.

Yaneer Bar-Yam, co-founder of the World Health Network, warned that, The CDC continues to abandon protections that prevent disease, death and disability through Long COVID. Everyone should recognize that we have to share responsibility to take care of and protect ourselves under these conditions. Prevention continues to be the best response to both the COVID-19 and monkeypox pandemics.

Anti-COVID advocate Lazarus Long wrote, It is ironic that it comes just as school starts. More teachers will be out sick, and children will lose even more quality education. Even if substitutes are brought in, it is likely they will be not qualified, such as college students or military personnel. These changes are not for Americans health, but for Bidens political health.

It is not merely, however, that the CDC has abdicated its role as the chief public health agency in the country. It is actively pursuing policies designed to generate private profits for a tiny minority of the American and world population as the rest are forced to live and work on an increasingly plague-ridden planet. Anti-COVID activist Theo Allen made this clear, noting that the CDCs press release is making explicit that the CDC implemented the Great Barrington Declaration of herd immunity.
Work in the meatpacking industry? We want to hear from you: Fill out the form at the end and tell us what conditions are like in your workplace. We will protect your anonymity.

Casen Garcia with his infant son [Photo by Allison Rose from Facebook]

On July 9 Casen Garcia, a 22-year-old worker, was killed on the job at the Tyson Foods plant in Joslin, Illinois, under as-yet unexplained circumstances.

In a family obituary posted last month, Casen was described as an avid outdoorsman and lover of animals. He enjoyed working with his hands, music, photography and drawing, it stated. Some of his favorite times were those spent with family and friends. He will be greatly missed by all.

Casen left behind his fiancee, Jessica, and their 14-month-old son, as well as parents, siblings, grandparents and other family members.

The company has sought to evade responsibility for the death, claiming it was the result of a medical episode. However, reports continue to emerge of the lack of safety in the plant and in the area where Garcia was working.

A source at the Tyson Joslin plant recently contacted the WSWS, wanting to expose the dangerous conditions and blatant disregard for workers safety. John, whose name has been changed, requested to remain anonymous, fearing reprisals from Tyson.

At the spot where Casen died at least six other workers had reported getting shocked by the hoist. So, management knew there was an electrical safety issue and did nothing, John told the WSWS.

This happens with all kinds of issues. In my department, the machines that hook and carry the beef down the line are constantly jamming. He continued, When that happens workers have to manually climb up and push the beef putting them in an awkward position where accidents are likely to happen.

He described one incident where during a machine jam a large carcass fell from the hoist and landed right on a workers station. Luckily he was on break and no one was there. If he hadnt been he would have been seriously hurt.

John went on to say that in just his department there have been at least eight near-misses where an accident nearly caused a serious injury or death. All of them had been reported but nothing was ever done, he said.

Often, in the mornings management will call a meeting to discuss operations. They spend only a few seconds on safety, you know: Alright lets talk about safety everything good? Any near misses? None? Okay good. And then they move on to production goals which is practically the entire meeting.

They always preach safety first in the office, but on the floor its production first.

He said that Tyson has been heavily pushing speed-up and setting production goals that are impossible to reach. Management only comes out onto the floor when we have to stop the line. That normally only happens when there is a safety issue and we have to stop to make sure no one will get hurt. So, they come out demanding production continue and dont even ask about the safety concern. Managers have been asleep in their offices when they are supposed to be checking that everything is safe, and someone was disciplined for waking up a manager who was asleep on the job.

According to John, the pressure to keep production high despite a significant shortage of workers is fueling the safety issues. They recently reported that we had 150 people either quit or be terminated. They are avoiding reporting any safety issues that normally would have resulted in a suspension because they are so short on labor. There were problems before, but since the pandemic this has basically been how things are done.

Just yesterday there was a drain that backed up and the whole health services department was flooded. Even with the flooding going on they wanted production to continue, he said.

He explained that in the plant management promotions are awarded out through nepotism to the friends and relatives of the upper management. Once there was a manager who had gotten so many write-ups that she was about to be suspended, but because she was related to the plant manager they announced the next day that managers cant be disciplined anymore.

When asked specifically about Garcias death, John told the WSWS that although he was not a witness and works in a different department, he has witnessed similar conditions.

I dont doubt at all that the stories I have been hearing about his death are true. Especially about no one answering the man down calls over the radio. I had something similar happen in my department. There was a worker who was having a medical emergency and health services were radioed but never answered. We kept asking that the radio chatter be kept clear because we were having an emergency but it was ignored and everyone kept talking over us. A worker had to run all the way to the health services office before they came to help.

John said that any calls to address safety concerns are falling on deaf ears. I dont want to witness someones death and go to a funeral and tell the family Im sorry. We can fix these problems before anyone else is killed. I dont want that to happen to me. I dont want that to happen to a coworker.

When asked if the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), the union at the plant, had responded to Garcias death, he said, No, the union has said nothing at all. He added that the union rep in his department often ignores issues brought up by immigrant workers. In particular he noted that the union makes no attempt to address concerns of workers who do not speak English.

He concluded saying that there has been a lot of discontent among the workers since Garcias death and a fear that they too could be killed, saying, This stuff needs to change.
Motion arguments in the child sexual assault case against G. Steven Pigeon were adjourned Friday in State Supreme Court until Sept. 9.

Defense attorneys for Pigeon, who was charged last year with sexually assaulting a girl younger than 11 in 2016, requested the adjournment, according to prosecutors.

Pigeon, who turned 62 Friday, had denied the allegations, previously telling The Buffalo News he believed he was "set up."

In another state case last month, the former Erie County Democratic Party chairman and one-time political power broker was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty in a bribery scheme involving a then-State Supreme Court justice. Pigeon will serve that sentence concurrently with his four-month sentence also issued last month in a separate federal case.
A 19-year-old Buffalo man pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder and second-degree murder charges in two separate homicide cases that occurred three months apart, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said Calvin D. Clemons used an illegal weapon to fatally shoot 17-year-old Felix Aguirre of Buffalo on Dec. 24, 2020, while the victim was sitting in a parked vehicle on Liddell Street. Clemons and an accomplice robbed another man of his backpack on C Street in Buffalo on March, 29, 2021. During the course of the robbery, Trenten Jacob Sink, 20, of Lockport, was shot in the leg, chest and side of his body. Sink was taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center where he died.

Clemons faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Oct. 5 by Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan. He remains held in custody without bail.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old youth was also indicted for his alleged role in the killing of Sink. The case against him is pending. He is scheduled to return before Eagan on Aug. 17 for a motion.
An Orchard Park man and woman were accused of mistreating animals after Orchard Park police and the SPCA on Sunday seized a cow, a horse, a chicken, two sheep and four dogs from a Southwestern Boulevard property.

Orchard Park Police Chief Patrick M. Fitzgerald said police were called to the property for a trespassing complaint. Officers found a vehicle and the trailer, which contained two sheep, a cow and a horse, all in what he described as deplorable condition.

Police said there was no food or water for the animals, who could not lie down in the confined space. The animals appeared emaciated and were living in their own waste inside the enclosed trailer in close to 90-degree weather, Fitzgerald said.

Shawn Hirschbine, 48, and his girlfriend, Deanna Huff, 62, arrived and attempted to take possession of the animals, police said.

Hirschbine was charged under the Agriculture and Markets law with confinement of a companion animal in extreme heat, neglect of animals and failure to provide sustenance for animals, plus trespassing, obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest and criminal mischief. Huff was charged with confinement of a companion animal in extreme heat and neglect of animals.

Both were released on appearance tickets and are scheduled to appear in Orchard Park Town Court on Aug. 25.
An Erie County Sheriff's deputy shot a man in the leg after he reportedly pointed a gun at law enforcement multiple times, ending a two-hour standoff Thursday afternoon in Sardinia, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

The suspect was identified as James Zbytek, 37, of Sardinia.

The incident began at 1:37 p.m. as deputies responded to a report of "a despondent male with a gun who threatened to harm himself and a family member" at an address on Savage Road.

Officials said an "elderly individual with restricted mobility issues" at the house was being held hostage.

The sheriff's SWAT, crisis negotiators, bomb technicians and Air-1 helicopter were deployed to assist in the situation.

Zbytek is accused of pointing his weapon at deputies "multiple times," officials said.

A deputy shot Zbytek in the lower leg, officials said. Then deputies went into house and rescued the hostage and located Zbytek. Both were given first aid and Zbytek was taken to Bertrand Chaffee Hospital by ambulance and later by Mercy Flight to Erie County Medical Center. Zbytek remained in Sheriffs custody Friday.

He faces felony charges including menacing a police officer with a firearm.
In an election year like no other, voters can start heading to the polls Saturday.

Again.

Early voting for Election Day on Aug. 23 begins at 38 polling locations across Erie County.

Early voter turnout could be light if voter registration and absentee ballot requests are any indication, Erie County Board of Elections officials say. But a higher turnout is expected for Election Day itself.

Absentee requests indicate a low turnout, Board of Elections Commissioner Ralph Mohr said in a statement. Erie County has always ranked first or second in the state in early voting turnout. The first few days of early voting gives us a good indication as to what to expect. Republican voters still are mainly election day voters, and we expect a higher turnout on the 23rd on Election Day as a result.

Registered Democrats and Republicans in New York already voted in a primary election on June 28, notably choosing Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Lee Zeldin as their respective candidates. But because a judge threw out some proposed new districts, some primaries were delayed, including ones for members of Congress and the State Senate.

They include:

23rd Congressional district. This election is in the newly reconfigured 23rd District. In the still existing 23rd District, a special election will also be held, for a district that covers different geography.

The redrawn district encompasses the southern half of Erie County, as well as six other Southern Tier counties, stretching from Chautauqua to Chemung. It is considered one of the reddest districts in the state.

Rep. Chris Jacobs, a former Buffalo school board member, withdrew his re-election bid in June after announcing he would support bills banning assault weapons, raise the age on some gun purchases to 21, limit gun magazine capacity and ban the sale of military-style body armor to civilians.

The May 14 Tops supermarket shooting that killed 10 in Buffalo and a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead both were carried out with weapons that were legally obtained, authorities have said.

Jacobs called the Buffalo massacre a profoundly impactful event.

In this newly drawn district, state Republican Chairman Nicholas Langworthy will face off against former gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino. The winner will face Democratic candidate Max Della Pia, a retired Air Force officer, in the November general election.

26th Congressional district. Rep. Brian Higgins is seeking a 10th term. He faces Emin Eddie Egriu, a contractor who has tried three previous times to get on the ballot.

The winner will face retired Army Sgt. Steven Sams II of Getzville, a Republican, in the November election.

61st State Senate District. Like Jacobs, Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra cited his opposition to the GOP stance on gun issues and dropped out of the Republican contest. Although his name will remain on the ballot, incumbent Edward A. Rath III will prevail.

Democrats, meanwhile, must choose between State Sen. Sean Ryan and challenger Benjamin S. Carlisle, an attorney. Ryan is the incumbent in the 60th Senate District, but with redistricting, he is running in the 61st District. The winner will face Rath in November.

Special election. With the unexpected resignation of Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican from Corning, voters of the existing, differently configured 23rd Congressional District will choose a successor to complete the final few months of Reeds term.

Because this is a special election, and not a primary, all registered voters in the district may cast ballots.

A complete list of candidates is available at the board of elections website at elections.erie.gov, and the public may call 716-858-8891 with any questions.

Early voting continues through Aug. 21, with polls open from noon to 9 p.m. weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends. Voters may cast their ballot at any early voting location, regardless of address.

Only residents registered with the Democratic, Republican, and Conservative parties are eligible to vote in the primaries. Polls will be open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Primary Day.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiss (R) top spokesperson is moving over to his reelection campaign.

Christina Pushaw began working for the governors office as DeSantiss press secretary a little more than a year ago, but in that time shes earned a reputation among Florida politicos and journalists for her combative online presence and frequent squabbling with reporters and virtually anyone willing to criticize her boss.

Pushaw also faced intense scrutiny earlier this summer after The Washington Post reported that she had registered as a foreign agent because of previous work she had done on behalf of the president of Georgia. DeSantis defended her in the face of the criticism, calling it a smear against his press secretary.

Her decision to resign her post in the governors office to work on the campaign side wasnt a surprise. Pushaw retweeted a copy of her resignation letter on Friday along with a brief remark: Now, the gloves are off.

The Florida Standard, a conservative news site in the state, first reported Pushaws resignation.

Shes expected to serve as the director of rapid response for DeSantiss reelection campaign, a position that will almost certainly allow her to reprise her role as the governors most aggressive defender. Bryan Griffin, the deputy press secretary for DeSantiss office, will replace Pushaw as the press secretary at the governors office.

DeSantis himself is a polarizing figure. He became a rising star among conservatives in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic for his pushback against federal public health experts and his disdain for coronavirus-related restrictions.

Democrats, meanwhile, have sought to cast DeSantis as a fringe political figure with an authoritarian streak, arguing that hes pushed the limits of his power to punish his critics and implement a hard-line agenda.

Still, he appears in a solid position to win a second term in the governors mansion in November. He faces no primary opposition and polling shows him leading both of his top Democratic challengers, Rep. Charlie Crist and state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Marty Stuart continues to be one of the busiest legends in country music, announcing touring and new label plans for 2022.

The Country Music Hall of Famer and five-time Grammy winner will tour globally from August 2022 to February 2023. Additionally, Universal Music Group-owned and Spinefarm Music Group-housed Snakefarm have confirmed the worldwide signing of the country music icon.

"I like the idea of joining forces with Snakefarm. I am intrigued by the global mindset and the aura of musical integrity that surrounds the brand. I look forward to a long line of thrilling musical escapades in the days ahead," stated Stuart via a press release.

Marty Stuart will headline a European tour has already been announced for August / September of this year, which will see Marty and his Fabulous Superlatives  Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs  visiting the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

The potential of his first studio release in five years was also announced. Moreover, Stuart's first European tour in a decade will see Marty and his Fabulous Superlatives  Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson, and Chris Scruggs  play 13 shows in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. A debut appearance at The Long Road Festival in Leicestershire (UK) is also planned. Moreover, once he returns to America, he will tour the country. This will include playing at the Pilgrimage Music Festival in Franklin, TN, September 24-25.

Nashville-based rising star Sam Williams will support Stuart's European tour dates. His 2021 debut album "Glasshouse Children" was released via Snakefarm in the UK on behalf of Mercury Nashville.

Marty Stuart holds Johnny Cashs guitar at Marty Stuart's warehouse in Hendersonville, Tenn., Wednesday, May 18, 2022.

Snakefarm's A&R, Dante Bonutto, added, "As long-time supporters of the great man and his music, it's with much pride that we welcome Marty Stuart to Snakefarm. The intention with the label has always been to shine a spotlight on the very best in roots music, its sacred traditions, and values, and when it comes to an artist who lives, breathes, loves, and protects these values, Marty Stuart is in a class of his own. We look forward to a long and exciting journey ahead, and we're aware that we'll have to spectacularly up our game on the fashion front!"

For more information, visit Marty Stuart's website at https://martystuart.net/.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Marty Stuart announces worldwide signing, will headline 2022-2023 American, European tour
LOUISVILLE, Ky.  Former Louisville Metro Police Detective Kelly Goodlett will plead guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Breonna Taylor for helping falsify an affidavit for the search of her apartment in March 2020, her attorney said.

Goodlett will appear Aug. 22 before U.S. District Judge David Hall to enter her plea, her lawyer, Brandon Marshall, announced in court Friday.

Magistrate Judge Regina Edwards ordered Goodlett to surrender her passport and have no contact with her codefendants  Sgt. Kyle Meany and former detectives Joshua Jaynes and Brett Hankison.

Goodlett was expected to plead guilty  and testify against her colleagues  because she was charged by information rather than indicted.

LATEST: Feds charge 4 Louisville police officers in Breonna Taylor shooting

She faces a sentence of no more than five years in prison.

The charging document says Goodlett falsely claimed a postal inspector had verified Taylor was receiving packages for her ex-boyfriend, convicted drug dealer Jamarcus Glover, at her apartment before the raid.

Goodlett, a detective in the now-disbanded Place-Based Investigations, also is charged with knowingly conspiring with Jaynes and others to falsify the search warrant affidavit.

She is also accused of falsely telling investigators with the Kentucky Attorney Generals office that Sgt. John Mattingly in passing" had told Goodlett and Jaynes that three months before Taylors death that Glover was getting mail or Amazon package at her apartment.

And she is accused of meeting with Jaynes in his garage after local TV station WDRB reported the claim about the postal inspector was bogus so she and Jayne could get on the same page.

Jayne and Meany also face civil rights charges for the search that ended in Taylor's death while Hankison is charged with violating the civil rights of Taylor; her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker; and three of Taylors neighbors; by blindly firing shots into her apartment.

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Taylor was killed during a police raid on her Louisville apartment when Walker, thinking an intruder was breaking in, fired one shot that hit Mattingly in the leg. He and Cosgrove returned fire, killing Taylor.

She was 26, and her death set off protests that lasted for months in Louisville and across the country.

From Opinion: Two years after Breonna Taylor's death, federal charges show how to end police violence

Latest: Breonna Taylor's mom leaves courtroom after ex-cop said Taylor 'didn't need to die' in raid

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: In Breonna Taylor case, former officer Kelly Goodlett to plead guilty
Ventura firefighters rescued a dog from a storm drain Wednesday evening.

Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

Ventura firefighters rescue dog

VENTURA  Firefighters rescued a dog trapped in a Ventura storm drain Wednesday night, according to the Ventura Fire Department.

Authorities were contacted about the incident at 7:06 p.m. in the area of Victoria Avenue and Thille Street.

Crews found a young dog tangled up by its leash in brush and stuck in a storm drain. Firefighters freed it from the brush and removed it from the drain. The dog appeared to have suffered injuries to a hind leg and mouth, authorities said.

After giving the dog some water, crews turned the dog over to Ventura County Animal Services to be housed at the Camarillo shelter. Anyone who recognizes the dog or knows the owner can contact Animal Services at 805-388-4341.

Ventura firefighters rescued an unidentified dog from a storm drain Wednesday night.

Motor oil spill closes lanes on Hwy 101

OXNARD  A big rig spilled motor oil along southbound Highway 101 in Oxnard, causing lane closures and disrupting traffic Thursday morning.

The incident was reported around 9:22 a.m. between the Rice Avenue and Del Norte Boulevard offramps.

The big rig was involved in a crash with a white pickup truck, causing the vehicle to leak engine oil across the roadway, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP officers briefly closed all but one lanes for crews to clean up the spill. The right lane remained closed much of the morning as Caltrans personnel staged trucks and equipment.

Heavy traffic was reported along the southbound corridor between Ventura and Oxnard due to the lane closures.

No injuries were reported.

Cleanup of a spill from a big rig slowed traffic on southbound Highway 101 in Oxnard Thursday.

4 arrested after pursuit

OXNARD  The Oxnard Police Department arrested three men and a woman Wednesday night after a vehicle pursuit during which a third car tried to crash into the pursuing officer's patrol vehicle.

The pursuit began around 9:30 p.m. near M and Teakwood streets.

Police attempted to pull over the driver of a red Mitsubishi SUV for a vehicle code violation and initiated a pursuit when the driver didn't stop.

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During the pursuit, a blue Mercedes-Benz drove between the officer and the Mitsubishi, attempting to interfere with the pursuit and at one point trying to collide with the patrol car, according to Oxnard police.

More local news: Britney Spears' ex-husband found guilty of trespassing, battery at wedding celebration

Officers eventually pulled the Mitsubishi over near Yucca Street and Saviers Road. Two Oxnard men, age 31 and 33, were arrested on suspicion of various firearm violations, while the female driver was arrested on suspicion of evading an officer.

The driver of the Mercedes, a 28-year-old Oxnard man, was apprehended in the 700 block of Polaris Way. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon  for allegedly trying to hit the officer's vehicle  reckless driving and evading an officer, all felony offenses.

Increased jet activity at Point Mugu

VENTURA COUNTY  Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu warned of increased aircraft activity beginning next Thursday due to multiple test events.

The tests will involve approximately 50 aircraft in the region, many of which will take place during airfield hours between Aug. 22 and Sept. 2. The tests are being conducted to provide training for pilots and air crews at Point Mugu.

Local residents in the Camarillo and Oxnard areas may hear more noise from jet activity during the test events. More details are available by calling NBVC at 805-989-9234.

Jeremy Childs is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at 805-437-0208, jeremy.childs@vcstar.com, and on Twitter @Jeremy_Childs.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Ventura firefighters rescue dog, Oxnard freeway oil spill
Handout

With international observers desperately trying to avert an unprecedented nuclear catastrophe in Europe by calling for an immediate end to the bombing of a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, one Russian statesman has opted for a different approach and decided to threaten loads more nuclear complexes across the continent with further sinister incidents.

Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for a series of dangerous blasts at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Russian-controlled southern Ukraine this week, the latest in a months-long series of worrying explosions reported at site. The UN has called for a demilitarized zone to be imposed around the plant to avoid disaster, as detonations continued to rip through the plant on Thursday. But while stepping back from the brink of cataclysm might seem like the sensible thing to do, some people just cant resist a good bit of weapons-grade saber-rattling.

Russia Is Now Openly Threatening to Bomb a Nuclear Power Plant

Pulling out all the rhetorical control rods, former Russian president and cavalier psychopath Dmitry Medvedev on Friday decided to up the nuclear ante with an unhinged screed on messaging app Telegram. It seems like Kyiv scumbags and their Western patrons are ready to orchestrate a new Chernobyl, Medvedev wrote. Rockets and shells are falling closer and closer to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant reactor. They say it's Russia. This is obviously 100 percent nonsense even for the stupid Russophobic public [in the West], he added.

Medvedev served as Russian president before Putin in 2008-2012 and hes been the deputy chairman of his countrys Security Council for the last two years. In whispered conversations in the Kremlin's corridors, he's even touted as a potential successor to Putin. Medvedev presumably drew on all that diplomatic and security expertise when he threatened European leaders with: Dont forget that there are nuclear sites in the European Union, too. And incidents are possible there as well.

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His menacing comments Friday follow a pattern of increasing hostility toward the West since Putins invasion of Ukraine began in February. Once considered a pro-Western politician, Medvedev has now adopted an altogether more apocalyptic attitude. In May, he even explicitly warned countries sending arms to Ukraine that they were risking an escalation of Putins invasion into a full-scale nuclear war.

His intervention on the crisis at the Zaporizhzhia plant comes after calls were made at an emergency UN Security Council meeting Thursday for steps to be taken to deescalate the risk of potentially catastrophic consequences at the site on Thursday. This is a serious hour, a grave hour and the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] must be allowed to conduct its mission to Zaporizhzhia as soon as possible, Rafael Grossi, the agencys head, said. Alarm about the situation has continued to grow after Energoatom, the plants Ukrainian state-run operator, reported five blasts at the site on Thursday. At least one of the strikes occurred near a site where radioactive materials are stored, the operator wrote on Telegram.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Presidential Residences

Joe Raedle/Getty. Inset: Zach Gibson - Pool/Getty Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Inset: Donald Trump.

Though he wasn't in Palm Beach, Donald Trump was watching as federal agents executed a search warrant on his Mar-a-Lago home earlier this week, with one of the former president's attorneys saying he watched via a live feed.

"I think the folks in New York  President Trump and his family  they probably had a better view than I did. Because they had the CCTV, they were able to watch," Trump attorney Christina Bobb said in a Thursday interview on right-wing media network Real America's Voice, per Business Insider.

Meanwhile, Bobb said she was "stuck in the parking lot" of Mar-a-Lago, "there to collect paper and answer questions."

RELATED: Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Home Searched by FBI: 'The Mood Was Pure Shock'

"But they were actually able to see the whole thing," Bobb added of Trump and his family, though it's unclear which family members were with him at the time. "They actually have a better idea of what took place inside."

Bobb claimed that the FBI had initially told them to turn off security cameras in Mar-a-Lago and the staff complied  until "the lawyers stepped in."

"Shortly after, they turned them back on," she said, "so the cameras were only off for a very short period of time."

RELATED: 'Donald Is Furious Yet Scared': Movement in FBI Investigation Complicates Trump's Plans

The former president, 76, was the one to confirm the news that the FBI searched his residence at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort on Monday.

A source told The Washington Post that the investigation was in regard to sensitive materials, including those pertaining to nuclear weapons, though the specifics of those documents and whether any were recovered remains unknown.

In a last-minute press conference Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the DOJ had filed a motion in a Florida court to unseal the search warrant and property receipt, making those details available to the public.

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"The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing," the motion reads, according to The Post. "That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any 'legitimate privacy interests' or the potential for other 'injury' if these materials are made public."

Trump himself has said he wants the documents released.

RELATED: People Are Sharing a 2016 Sarah Huckabee Sanders Tweet After FBI Searches Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort

The search warrant comes after FBI agents and a senior Justice Department national security supervisor reportedly visited Mar-a-Lago in early June in regards to boxes of classified documents sitting in the property's basement.

Trump reportedly assured officials that he had no more classified materials, but weeks later, "someone familiar with the stored papers told investigators there may be still more classified documents at the private club."

Various outlets report that a source then told the FBI there were additional documents, and on June 22, the Trump Organization "received a subpoena for surveillance footage from cameras at Mar-a-Lago."

Two months after their first visit to the private Palm Beach club, agents were back  this time with a search warrant.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

A source close to Trump told PEOPLE earlier this week that Trump "is furious yet scared. He feels victimized and is calling everyone he trusts to give him advice and reassure him that this is a witch hunt."

Still, the source added, the former president "is buoyed by the Republican support" he has seen in the wake of the search.
On Wednesday, during a 49-day campaign tour of Texas, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto ORourke snapped at an event attendee who laughed as he was addressing the recent elementary school massacre in Uvalde.

During his stop at the Crazy Water Hotel in Mineral Wells, ORourke mentioned the shooting that killed 19 kids and two teachers in May -- when an apparent heckler who was holding a Gov. Greg Abbott campaign sign began to laugh before ORourke could finish his point criticizing the availability of assault-style weapons.

"You could buy two or more, if you want to, AR-15s [and] hundreds of rounds of ammunition and take that weapon that was originally designed for use on the battlefields in Vietnam to penetrate an enemy soldier's helmet at 500 feet and knock him down dead--" O'Rourke said as laughter was heard.

That led him to profanely snap back at the unidentified person.

It may be funny to you, mother------, he said, but its not funny to me.

PHOTO: Beto O'Rourke, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Texas, speaks during a campaign event in Bastrop, Texas, Aug. 5, 2022. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Video of the exchange, which quickly spread online, shows attendees began to cheer and clap for ORourke.

He later tweeted: Nothing more serious to me than getting justice for the families in Uvalde and stopping this from ever happening again.

O'Rourke, a former representative for El Paso, announced last fall that he was seeking to challenge Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott. He previously ran to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz but lost in 2018; he then went on to unsuccessfully seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.

Throughout those campaigns, O'Rourke has made gun control a signature issue.

He plans to continue to holding 70 public events in more than 65 counties in the lead up to November's election.

Beto O'Rourke snaps back during laughter after he references Uvalde school shooting originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
TikTok waited with bated breath to see if he would show.

Rising pop star Maisie Peters proved shes nothing if not grounded when she shared her latest interactionor lack thereofwith a boy on TikTok.

The popular TikToker signed on to Ed Sheerans Gingerbread Man Records last June, and her debut album, You Signed Up For This, followed just a couple of months later. Now, Peters in on tour in Europe with Sheeran, opening for him every night, but make no mistakemany in the audience are there for her.

Peters is one young artist who was able to use TikTok to her advantage, sending her songs viral long before they were ever released, regularly interacting with her fans in the comments, and showing off her lyrical genius and unparalleled sense of humor.

While out and about during the day of their performance in Gothenburg, Sweden, Peters and a couple of her tour mates decided to pop into a coffee shop, where they naturally documented the experience. Captioned, do blondes have more fun i think so, referencing her newest single Blonde," the video showed her scribbling a note on a napkin with a big grin on her face, a friend watching closely over her shoulder with the same reaction.

Text overlaid on the clip informed fans that she "saw a really cute man in the coffee shop so i decided to write him a note inviting him to the ed sheran show we are playing later and leave it by his work station . and that is on being in ur blonde era.

She flipped the camera to zoom in on the note, which read, Hello, My name is Maisie, I was the blonde girl in the yellow top. Just wanted to say I think youre beautiful! Im playing a show tonight if you wanna come message me on Instagram @maisiehpeters. Have a nice day! Maisie x." She then left it at the counter where he was working and made a great escape, giggling all the way out.

View the original article to see embedded media.

YES MAISIE! Blonde is all about being bold, mega slay , one commenter wrote.

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big Main Character Energy I am obsessed, said another.

But, most importantly, everyone wanted to know, Did he come to your show ?.update plz.

Peters told fans that she'd have to wait till the show later that evening to find out, but promised to keep fans posted.

View the original article to see embedded media.

And she did! Sadly, when she finally shared the update, it wasn't the rom-com ending may were hoping for.

In what shes calling the biggest humbling of the 21st century, the short answer is no, coffee shop man did not show up.

clearly i was getting too powerful a man had to ruin it <3 the caption of the update said. With a disappointed look on her face, Peters stared off to the side for the duration of the update, which came in the form of another text overlay letting us know that not only did the barista not show up, he never even messaged her. today blonde era suffered a knock but not a setback we bounce back stronger than ever .

Both videos were backed by Blonde, which ironically includes the lyrics Nothing more frightening than a woman scorned, and Peters isnt letting the rejection slow her down.

More News:
Family of American fighter captured during war believes he is still in Ukraine

A former U.S. soldier who was captured by Russian-backed forces in Ukraine two months ago told his mother in a phone call that he and two other American prisoners are still in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the family said in a press release. Alex Drueke spoke to his mother, Lois "Bunny" Drueke, and a U.S. State Department case manager Thursday morning, the family said.

"Several things he said seem to indicate they are still in the Donetsk region of Ukraine," Bunny Drueke said in the press release. "When he was able to call two weeks ago, he said they had been moved to an actual prison, so we weren't sure if they had maybe been relocated to Russia. But now I don't think they have."

U.S. military veterans Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh and Alexander Drueke left their homes in Alabama to serve with Ukraine's army on the battlefield. They were reportedly captured by Russian forces during fighting in eastern Ukraine in June 2022. / Credit: CBS News

She said he mentioned a "nearby bombing of a water filtration plant that left a lot of Donetsk without running water, so they have been given bottled water the past couple of days."

Alex also asked if "the news in America was showing that 'people are dying here in Donetsk and Donbas,'" according to Bunny Dreuke.

The State Department has not confirmed whether the men are in Donetsk.

Two months ago, Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh, who were volunteering with a squadron of foreign fighters alongside the Ukrainian army, were captured by Russian forces. The U.S. is working to confirm whether a third American, identified as retired Marine Captain Grady Kurpasi, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. military, was also taken prisoner. He went silent after taking small-arms fire in the Kherson region earlier this summer, according to a family friend.

Ukrainian government spokespeople have classified them as prisoners of war.

In a Thursday press release, Bunny Drueke said her son "sounded stronger and more like himself than ever before."

According to Alex's aunt, Dianna Shaw, he said that he's in a prison cell with Huynh and an unidentified third American. They play "mind games" and chess, using trash as game pieces, and also get time outside, she said she was told.

Alex also asked his mom about the sort of news coverage the war is receiving in the U.S.

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"While it sounds just like Alex to want to know about this, we also assume this is something his captors wanted him to ask because he kept returning to the subject throughout the call," Shaw said.

"Alex made a couple of statements that clearly were provided to him and intended to portray Russia as non-aggressors in the conflict," Shaw added. The press release said the family is not repeating those statements.

"POWs are often used for propaganda purposes, so we want to remind the public to be skeptical of any statements the men make in Russian-generated media," Shaw said.

Last month, Russian media released unverified images and videos allegedly showing the prisoners. Bunny Drueke said one of the people in the images was her son.

"Unmistakably under duress, but thank God they're alive," Bunny Drueke told CBS News foreign correspondent Chris Livesay at the time.

Thursday's press release said both Drueke and Huynh's families are receiving briefings from government officials and support from "NGOs that serve families of hostages and detainees."

Russia's war in Ukraine has been ongoing since February. Much of the heavy fighting has been in the eastern portion of the country, including Donetsk.

Drueke's mother previously told "CBS Mornings" that her son "felt very strongly that Putin needed to be stopped, because he said Putin is not going to be satisfied with just part of Ukraine, or even all of Ukraine."

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Author Salman Rushdie, who has had death threats made against him for decades over his writing, was attacked during a literary event in New York on Friday morning.

A man rushed the stage and stabbed Rushdie as he was being introduced at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, according to an Associated Press reporter at the event.

New York State Police Major Eugene J. Staniszewski said the attacker, identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, jumped onto the stage and stabbed Rushdie in the neck and the abdomen.

At Matar's arraignment on Saturday, prosecutors said Rushdie was stabbed 10 times and alleged the attack was premeditated and targeted, the New York Times reported. Matar pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault during the arraignment, the New York State Police told BuzzFeed News. He was ordered held without bail in the Chautauqua County Jail.

Staniszewski said several staff members and people in the audience rushed the suspect and took him to the ground before he was taken into custody by a state trooper. Meanwhile, a doctor who was in the audience treated Rushdie until emergency medical personnel arrived.

Rushdie was transported by helicopter to a local hospital. Staniszewski told reporters Friday afternoon that the author was still in surgery and his condition was not known. Rushdie's agent Andrew Wylie told the New York Times Friday evening that the author was on a ventilator, saying "the news is not good."

"Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged," Wylie said in an email, according to the Times.

Another individual on the stage, Henry Reese, cofounder of City of Asylum, a Pittsburgh nonprofit that helps house writers living in exile, also sustained a "facial injury" in the attack, Staniszewski said. Reese was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment and later released.

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A motive for the attack is not yet clear, Staniszewski said. The FBI and Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office are assisting in the investigation.

Photos from the scene show Rushdie lying on the ground surrounded by people presumably attending to his wounds. A blood splatter can be seen on the white screens he'd been in front of.

Salmon Rushdie stabbed at Chautauqua. Hes on the stage being treated. Before his scheduled speech. 02:51 PM - 12 Aug 2022

Rushdie had a fatwa issued against him by the Ayatollah of Iran in 1989 following the publication of The Satanic Verses, with criticisms that the book was blasphemous against Islam.

He faced constant death threats, and a bounty of over $3 million was issued for his death by a group in Iran.

In a statement, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were "shocked and saddened" to learn of the attack and were praying for Rushdie's recovery. Biden also thanked the first responders and bystanders who rushed to the author's help and subdued the attacker.

"Salman Rushdie  with his insight into humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced  stands for essential, universal ideals. Truth. Courage," Biden said in the statement. "Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. These are the building blocks of any free and open society."

Staniszewski said authorities were working to obtain search warrants for various items, adding that a backpack and electronic devices that were found at the scene. Authorities believe the suspect acted alone.

He added that state police were not aware of any previous threats ahead of the attack, but troopers were present at the event at the request of the institution.

Michael Hill, president of Chautauqua, said the individual had a pass to access the grounds "just the way any patron would have." The institution is a not-for-profit educational center that offers courses in art, music, dance, and other interests and hosts over 100,000 public events.

Hill said Friday's attack was "unlike anything" the institution has ever experienced in its nearly 150-year history.

"We were founded to bring people together in community to learn and in doing so to create solutions through action, to develop empathy, and to take on intractable problems," Hill said. "Today, now were called to take on fear and the worst of all human traits: hate."
Maryana Polyak, 42, was terrified as she clung to her three sleeping children while on a 10-hour flight from Munich, Germany, to Chicago.

The flight in late July was the familys second of that day, which began in Warsaw, Poland. Poland had been the familys home for five months after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, displacing 10 million citizens.

Sean Kirst: In the middle of the night, two words by text from Ukraine comfort East Aurora mom We read every day about refugees whose lives are torn apart amid bedlam around the world. It becomes different when it is your son, his wife and your grandson, Sean Kirst says.

Polyaks family were among the 5 million Ukrainians who fled to Poland. But her husband, Dmytro, had to stay behind because men ages 18 to 60 are banned from leaving the country, in case they are called to fight.

So as Polyak sat in the dark plane cabin, she prayed to the Virgin Mary for the safety of her children, her husband and her country.

After yet one more flight, Polyak and her children landed at Buffalo-Niagara International Airport and were greeted by their cousin Kusia Hreshchyshyn, a Buffalo native who resides in Berkeley, Calif.

Local agencies prepare as Ukrainian citizens resettle in Western New York There are about 237 Ukrainian citizens now in the Buffalo area, said Molly Carr, CEO of Jewish Family Services.

Hreshchyshyns late father, Dr. Myroslaw Hreshchyshyn, a medical scientist and professor of gynecologic oncology and obstetrics at the University at Buffalo Medical School, was the cousin of Polyaks grandmother.

Hreshchyshyn said that although her parents fled Ukraine in World War II, they have always maintained a relationship with their relatives there. So when Russian troops began approaching Ukraine, Hreshchyshyn started checking in on Polyak and her family.

"All throughout that winter, I'd been watching the news and watching those troops. I mean, it wasn't hidden," Hreshchyshyn said. "I think Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora knew that there was going to be an invasion."

When Poland stopped providing housing assistance to Ukrainian refugees after three months, Polyak says she took Hreshchyshyn up on her offer to bring Polyaks family to the United States.

"It's really an honor to be able to help as a sponsor," Hreshchyshyn said. "It's a very small contribution, and sort of the least I can do in response to the unbelievable horror that's been unleashed on Ukraine."

Will Buffalo see a Ukrainian refugee influx? Not for a while It's far too soon to know when, or how many. And it may not be a huge number, simply because Ukrainian refugees have options closer to home.

The Hreshchyshyn family sponsored the Polyak family through the Biden administrations Uniting for Ukraine program.

Uniting for Ukraine allows 100,000 Ukrainian citizens entry into the United States for a temporary two-year stay under a humanitarian parole status. On July 20, Polyak received approval to enter the United States, and arrived in Buffalo on July 21 with her two daughters and son.

The Polyak family is living in Hreshchyshyn's mother's home in Williamsville. Polyak says she is excited to begin taking English language classes, since she already knows Ukrainian, Polish and German. For now, her daughters translate for Polyak as they know the same three languages, along with English and some Latin.

According to Polyak, her daughters Katrusia, 13, and Annychka, 11, are excited to enter the eighth and sixth grade. The two have already been enrolled into school, along with Polyaks 5-year-old son, Myron, who is entering the first grade.

However, while the family is filled with excitement, they continue to worry about Ukraine.

Their hometown, Lviv, is the largest city in western Ukraine. Before the war, Polyak and her husband worked at a parquet wood flooring firm. She also would help coordinate exhibitions for local artists who were her friends.

Katrusia and Annychka, like most children their ages, did not particularly enjoy school in Ukraine, but had friends there, according to Polyak. Outside of school, Katrusia competed in equestrian competitions, and Annychka participated in the Ukrainian equivalent of the Girl Scouts.

Those everyday activities ended as Russian-Ukrainian tensions begin rising in February. Polyak and her husband were fearful for their familys safety because their home neighbored a military base.

Katrusia says she remembers how one day her parents kept her home from school because of their fears of a war.

When I came down, my parents say, You dont go to school because we dont know what will be with Ukraine, what will be with Russia,  Katrusia said. I was first worried because I had a test of biology and algebra at school, and I am not good at those, so I was happy.

On Feb. 24, Polyak drove 43 miles through a war zone to the Ukrainian-Polish border with her three children, a nephew and a goddaughter. They waited 16 hours at the border before entering Poland.

As the children finished their school year in Poland, Polyak cared for them alone while she was employed coordinating classes for Ukrainian children at a Polish school.

With five kids, it was so hard to have money (for them) to go to the school, Polyak said. My husband and relatives (in Ukraine) said they could not get us money because, at this time, they cant work. All work had stopped.

Now, in the United States, Polyaks family has support from their relatives sponsoring them. These relatives will have to help Polyak file for documents such as work authorization, a Social Security card and a driver's license.

According to Hreshchyshyn, who is an attorney with a nonprofit for LGBTQIA+ immigrants called Oasis Legal Services, private sponsors can often feel burdened with a heavy load of responsibilities. But they can connect with refugee resettlement agencies for help supporting Ukrainians like Polyaks family.

Polyak says that she already has scheduled an appointment with Jewish Family Services of Western New York, one of the five refugee agencies in Buffalo.

Polyaks family also has found a welcoming Ukrainian community in Buffalo and compare it to a "Little Ukraine." They regularly attend events at Dnipro Ukrainian Cultural Center on Genesee Street, and are looking forward to its Celebration of Ukrainian American Day on Aug. 28. At St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church on Fillmore Avenue, the family participates in traditional Ukrainian Masses.

It helps that their cousin Yuri Hreshchyshyn is the president of the Buffalo chapter of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, according to Polyak.

Looking at the next two years, Polyak says she is unsure of what may happen. The U.S. government has not announced what will happen to Ukrainian citizens after their two-year stay under humanitarian parole status.

Polyak says that she worries for her husband, who is still in Ukraine as "terrorists" kill Ukrainians and their children.

Her husband is helping citizens escape from eastern Ukraine  where most of the fighting has taken place  to the west. Her husband has shared that some of his nights are spent crouching in a basement as air raid sirens blare for several hours.

We very wish my husband was here with us. It is very confusing alone with three children. It is very hard. I wish our family was complete, she said.

Until then, Polyak remains hopeful to return to Ukraine and have her family unite once again.
Robert Boik, the Chicago Police Departments executive director of constitutional policing and reform, was fired by the superintendent Tuesday after sending an email asking for a reversal of a decision to distribute his staff to patrol instead of officer training, according to multiple police sources.

Boik had been in the role for about a year and a half and was fired without warning, sources said. Monday morning he sent an email to police Superintendent David Brown after he was told the Office of Constitutional Policing and Reform had to send 46 individuals back to patrol.

Mayor Lightfoot responds to firing of Chicago police leader of reform effort, calling it palace intrigue. Read more here >>>

In Boiks email, which was obtained by the Tribune, he said that if those individuals were moved to patrol, there would be 21 fewer instructors at the academy and the department would no longer be able to offer an eight-hour gender-based violence course to officers this year.

The decision would also result in 10 fewer people in the crisis intervention training program, which would diminish the program by about 30%, according to the email. Putting these individuals on patrol would also put a minimum of 8% of the departments current consent-decree compliance at risk.

Beyond the consent decree requirement to train our frontline officers, we have a fundamental obligation to ensure all our officers are provided with equal tools to do their jobs in the field. With the proposed cuts, every single officer will fall short of 40 hours of training this year, Boik wrote in the email.

Brown announced at Saturday and Monday news conferences that the department would be moving officers around the department to meet the needs of CTA and downtown violence. Boiks email suggested that his staff would be moving to districts all over the city and therefore will likely have minimal impact on patrol capacity for any one district.

Chicago police had little to say about Boiks exit.

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Robert Boik is no longer a member of the Chicago Police Department. Beyond that, we do not comment on personnel matters, the department said in a statement.

Boik did not immediately comment on the situation.

Arne Duncan, a managing partner of Emerson Collective and the founder of violence prevention organization Chicago CRED, wrote in a statement: Bob Boik was fired for blowing the whistle and telling the truth  that he has no support and that the administration is not serious about police reform. Trust between the police and community is already far too low, and losing him is a big step in the wrong direction. That is dangerous for our city, for the community and for our police officers.

Walter Katz, who served as former Mayor Rahm Emanuels top public safety aide, tweeted criticism of the firing.

For 25 months I talked to Bob Boik daily  often multiple times a day. We were in the same conference room for months negotiating the consent decree in 2018-19., Katz tweeted. We also went through the pain of 4 line of duty deaths in a year. Bob deserves a medal. Not this. #leadership

Alexa James, the head of the Chicago chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the loss of Boik was very troubling to those who are trying to help the department implement the massive court-ordered reforms, many of which focus on mental health.

This sends us a message that it is an unstable environment (for reform), said James, who up until September worked in the department on officer wellness and continues to work in crisis intervention training.

James called Boik an innovator.

And we really need more innovation in government, she said. ... Losing somebody with this level of institutional knowledge and respect in the department leaves us wondering who is going to do it.

The firing is not the first round of turmoil for the Police Departments reform efforts.

Chad Williams, the former civilian commanding officer of the Police Departments audit division, resigned in 2021 after emailing Mayor Lori Lightfoot to say he had been proud to lead the unit but had become disillusioned and was resigning his post.

Unfortunately, my disappointment with the inability of this departments top leadership to even feign interest in pursuing reform in a meaningful manner has made it impossible for me to remain involved, Williams wrote in the email, as previously reported by the Tribune. Even more unfortunate is that my experience is far from unique. Many well-meaning and talented civilians have signed up to help improve the nations (second-largest) police department, only to find themselves steadily thwarted by its perverse incentive structures until they inevitably depart due to demoralization.

Lightfoots onetime deputy mayor for public safety, Susan Lee, left that post in fall 2020 but remained involved at City Hall as an unpaid consultant on public safety issues until she resigned in August 2021 while raising concerns about the citys ability to keep moving the ball forward on its violence prevention efforts and Police Department consent decree implementation, records obtained by the Tribune show.

pfry@chicagotribune.com

gpratt@chicagotribune.com

asweeney@chicagotribune.com
Now that school is back in session, making the most of your weekends is even more important. Check out everything going on in Shreveport and Bossier City including a pop-up escape room and a stand-up comedian at the Strand.

Friday, August 12

Comedian Brian Regan

Comedian Brian Regan at the Strand Theatre - Known as one of the most respected comedians in the country with Vanity Fair calling him "the funniest stand-up alive." Regan is bringing his non-stop theater tour to the Strand located at 619 Louisiana Ave. in Shreveport. For more information including how to purchase tickets, visit the Strand Theatre website.

The Artwork of Leah Welch Opening Reception at the Bossier Arts Council - Artist Leah Welch says she is still trying to find her artistic style and meaning. What she does know is that she loves to paint beautiful things like architecture, people and nature that she finds herself surrounded by using mediums like watercolor, oil and photography. The reception will be from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Bossier Arts Council located at 630 Barksdale Blvd. in Bossier City.

More: How a mental health counselor and an artist are using GoFundMe to help Shreveport students

Saturday, August 13

AirBnb experiences

Pop-Up Escape room by Revelation Escapes - This faith-based escape room experience is for both the escape room enthusiast and beginners in a race against the clock to solve the puzzles, clues and objectives to escape. To register and purchase tickets, visit the Revelation Escapes website. The event will take place from 6 - 7 p.m. and is located at 4000 Viking Dr. in Bossier City.

Cumberland Community Back 2 School Block Party - This free event is for the whole family with a day of bounce houses, games, face painting, free snow cones and hot dogs and more. Celebrate the end of summer from 10 a.m. - Noon at 1000 Traffic St. in Bossier City.

Sunday, August 14

Artipsy's RB Paint and Sip and Wine & Whiskey Paint

Open Paint with Bottomless Mimosas & Charcuterie at Artipsy - Get creative with bottomless mimosas and a personal charcuterie board. The session is $50 and includes all painting supplies, the mimosas and charcuterie board. Open Paint will be from Noon - 2 p.m. at Artipsy located at 450 Clyde Fant Pkwy Suite 600 in Shreveport.

Celebration of Life for Lewis Kalmbach at Big Sun Studios - There will be a memorial held to celebrate the life of late Shreveport artist Lewis Kalmbach. This is a come-and-go event with valet parking available. In memory of Lewis, any donations can be sent to The Philadelphia Center or Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The Celebration of Life will be from 2 - 6 p.m. at Big Sun Studios located at 619 Edwards St. in Shreveport.

Meredith G. White is the arts and culture reporter for the Shreveport Times. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and Twitter as @meredithgwhite, and email her at mgwhite@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Fill your weekend with fun activities in Shreveport and Bossier City
Analysis-China's Taiwan military drills offer spying opportunity for U.S FILE PHOTO: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan leaves Victoria Harbour after a visit to Hong Kong

By Greg Torode and Idrees Ali

HONG KONG/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While China's expanded drills surrounding Taiwan have marked an unprecedented military and political warning against outside interference over the island, they opened a window to gather intelligence for the United States and its allies.

The four days of intense drills last week - and extended manoeuvres this week - provide an opportunity to scrutinise the missiles China would use to drive off foreign militaries intervening in any future invasion as well as its command, control and communications systems, regional diplomats and security analysts say.

And on the strategic intelligence front, the exercises have given a clue to China's ability to blockade the island as a prelude or alternative to any invasion, showcasing the firing of ballistic missiles over Taiwan for the first time as well as simulated air and sea attacks on ships on its east coast.

While acknowledging ongoing data gathering, two U.S. military officials have cautioned that the drills are unlikely to offer the type of in-depth intelligence opportunity provided by other manoeuvres beyond the headlines.

China is unlikely to display its best tactics and strategies during drills that it knows are being watched closely, said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The officials said that most of the systems and missiles used by China appear to be known to the United States and allies, so it was unclear how much more could be gleaned on their capabilities over the past few weeks.

Singapore-based security analyst Collin Koh said rather than weaponry, the drills offered a prime chance to monitor key Chinese elements - China's reformed Eastern Theatre Command, its Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force - operating together in a fully coordinated and integrated way.

"I fully expect the U.S. to be collecting from a full spectrum - signals, communications and electronic intelligence - it is just a too good opportunity to miss."

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"When you collect this kind of data from the other side, it means you can figure out where the vulnerabilities are, and it helps you create your own counter and jamming systems," Koh told Reuters.

SHIPS, SUBMARINES, DRONES

The United States has kept at least four warships east of Taiwan, centred on the USS Reagan aircraft carrier, during the exercises. And while those ships wield a powerful strike threat, they also operate a vast surveillance capability above, across and under vast swathes of ocean.

Reuters confirmed the presence of the ships last week, and they remain around the Philippines Sea east of Taiwan, according to official Twitter feeds.

Less visibly, U.S., Japanese and Taiwanese submarines and advanced surveillance aircraft are likely to be involved in the intelligence operation as well, analysts and retired intelligence officers say.

For example, submarines can collect a warship's individual acoustic "signature" - vital data if a conflict is to ever break out.

Online trackers of aircraft and ships have also reported the presence of specialist electromagnetic intelligence gathering assets in the area, including powerful U.S. RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft and a missile monitoring ship. Taiwan also launched its locally produced Albatross reconnaissance drones during the Chinese drills, according to video footage reviewed by Reuters.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command did not respond to Reuters questions on the deployment of intelligence gathering assets in the area.

The Chinese and Taiwanese defence ministries did not respond to Reuters' questions.

NO ACTIVE ADVERSARY

The two U.S. military officials said it would take time to digest any intelligence harvested.

While the drills appeared to show that Beijing was able to coordinate its military forces from air, land and sea, the exercises could only reveal so much since there wasn't an active adversary, they said.

"Things are easy when you're not being shot at," one of the officials said.

The officers pointed to Russia's actions in Crimea in 2014 and in Syria over the past few years, which allowed the United States to try and understand Moscow's military capabilities. The United States believed that Russian forces would be able to take Kyiv within two to three days, but their estimates were wrong.

So far, the Pentagon has not changed its assessment that China would be not be militarily capable of staging a successful invasion of Taiwan for five years. And the Pentagon's number three official said on Monday that despite Chinese exercises, the United States had not changed its view that China was unlikely to try and militarily seize Taiwan in the next two years.

Trevor Hollingsbee, a former naval intelligence analyst with the British Defence Ministry, said that a key signals intelligence target would be the role of political commissars on ships - an unusual system of Communist Party control compared to Western militaries.

"They will be looking for any evidence that the double-headed command system of employing a political officer on Chinese warships has a detrimental and exploitable effect upon combat efficiency," Hollingsbee told Reuters.

A statement from China's Eastern Theatre Command on Tuesday highlighted precautions. It described early warning and jamming aircraft operating "under a complex electromagnetic environment to refine joint containment and control capabilities."

On another level, however, China's military chiefs might be unafraid of displaying their expertise in conducting such complex, integrated drills, some analysts believe.

"We got to observe and monitor a least a glimpse of how they look at doing that sort of thing," said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii-based military analyst and a former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command's joint intelligence centre.

"I think they wanted us to see it...I think they wanted us to know that this is not the PLA ... of even 10 years ago, they wanted us to know how far they had progressed."

(Reporting By Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Idrees Ali in Washington; Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
An armed man who was fatally shot Thursday by Ohio law enforcement after he attempted to break into the FBI's suburban Cincinnati's office and exchanged gunfire with police said on a social media account that he was an electrician living in Columbus.

The man, identified by law enforcement authorities as 42-year-old Ricky Walter Shiffer, appears to have most recently lived in Omaha, Nebraska, and the St. Petersburg and Tampa areas in Florida, records indicate. However, he has had several Columbus addresses in the past and was a registered voter in Franklin County from at least as far back as 2013 and last voted here in the November 2020 election. Records show he began voting in Florida in the April 2021 primary.

Cincinnati FBI breach:Suspect may have posted on Trump's Truth Social during incident

Law enforcement said Shiffer was armed with an AR-15 rifle and a nail gun when he attempted to enter the FBI Cincinnati field office. He fled the scene and led them on a chase that ended when police fatally shot him in a standoff in a cornfield in Clinton County.

Screenshots of a personal account on Donald Trump's Truth Social media app that appears to have been since taken down shows the name Ricky Shiffer with the handle @rickywshifferjr. In the bio, Shiffer stated he was an electrician in Columbus.

Shiffer does not appear to be a licensed electrician contractor in Ohio, according to the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board database.

Ricky Shiffer, the armed man in body armor who was just killed trying to breach an FBI office, had the most active Truth Social account I've ever seen. His last two non-reply posts: https://t.co/Dv0yWkzl0m pic.twitter.com/eCFmJfF0en  Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) August 11, 2022

Ricky Walter Shiffer lived in Columbus' Weinland Park neighborhood until 2020

His most recent Ohio address was an apartment on the 1200 block of Summit Street in Columbus' Weinland Park neighborhood. He is believed to have stopped living there sometime in April 2020, according to public records.

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Public records also show Shiffer has lived at addresses in multiple other states, including Omaha, Nebraska, and in residential addresses in Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, where he has family near Harrisburg.

He served aboard the USS Missouri, but it is not clear for how long he was there or how long he lived at any of the addresses.

He also had at least registered as a student at Zane State College in Zanesville and at the University of South Florida, records show.

Law enforcement official: Ricky Walter Shiffer may been present at Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol

A law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation, told the Associated Press that Shiffer was believed to be in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and may have been present at the insurrection.

However, Shiffer was not charged with any crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, the official said and a Dispatch check of the PACER federal court database confirmed.

A representative for the FBI could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

Shiffer had an active case in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, where he was sued on June 17 for a tax lien judgement valued at $553.53 by the Ohio Department of Taxation, a court docket shows.

Shiffers listed address in the court docket is an address in St. Petersburg, Florida, and his 2021 Florida voter registration lists a Tampa address.

Ricky Walter Shiffer was issued two citations in Franklin County

In 2013, Shiffer was issued two citations in Franklin County for traffic violations, one for a stop sign violation and another for speeding. The citations list him at an address in the 700 block of Sullivant Ave. in Franklinton and the 500 block of Chilcote Ave in the University District.

Shiffer was killed Thursday after trying to break into the FBI field office in Kenwood, a suburb of Cincinnati, and after an hourslong standoff followed, where he was at one point "contained," according to the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency.

During the standoff, the suspect raised a gun toward police, said Lt. Nathan Dennis of the Ohio Highway Patrol. Law enforcement officers shot and killed him at about 3:45 p.m., he said.

"He succumbed to his injuries at the scene and everything remains under investigation at this time," Dennis said at a press conference.

Shiffer allegedly attempted to breach the visitor screening facility at around 9 a.m. at the FBI's field office in suburban Cincinnati, the FBI said in a tweet. Officials said he was wearing body armor and carrying an AR-15 and a nail gun.

After an alarm went off and special agents responded, the man fled, driving north onto Interstate 71, a nail gun and AR-15, law enforcement sources told NBC and CNN.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers pursued the man, who drove a Ford Crown Victoria, said Thomas Breckle, director of the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency. Officers traded gunfire with him as he drove away, Breckle said.

The suspect left the interstate and abandoned his car near Center and Smith roads, where he exchanged gunfire with police. The area was closed for hours during the standoff.

Clinton County Emergency Management issued a lockdown for all buildings within a one-mile radius of the area and instructed residents and business workers to lock their doors and remain inside.

The incident came a day after the FBI director warned against threats circulating online against agents and the Justice Department in the wake of the agencys search of former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home. On Wednesday, the FBI cited increased social media threats when warning agents to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards are not visible outside FBI spaces.

FBI Director Christopher Wray reiterated his defense of the bureau after the attempted breach in Cincinnati.

Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others, Wray said in a statement.

Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans. Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. I am proud to serve alongside them."

Dispatch reporter Bethany Bruner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Man killed by police after FBI break-in had lawsuit in Franklin County
An otter pup from The Aquarium of the Pacific

Robin Riggs/Courtesy of The Aquarium of the Pacific

It's time for the internet to once again decide the name of a baby animal.

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif., is calling on the public for help in naming its newest sea otter pup. The animal's care team is in charge of selecting the winning name  and perhaps the name will even reflect the animal's unique path to the aquarium.

For a chance to name the otter pup, patrons must join the aquarium's virtual adoption program and donate $100 or more by Sept. 30. Then, they will have the opportunity to submit their name suggestions for the pup. The person who comes up with the winning name will be invited to the aquarium for an otter feeding and training session, perhaps with the pup himself.

The otter pup had a somewhat unconventional way of making it to the aquarium; it was found on April 12 alone on the shores of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. Experts determined that he was about three weeks old when he was stranded without his mother on the California shore.

After his rescue, the pup was transported to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where staff attempted to pair him with a surrogate mother. The aquarium hoped to return him to the wild but the pairing wasn't successful, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the pup could not be released back into the wild.

The otter is now at the Aquarium of the Pacific, in a behind-the-scenes pool with Chloe, the aquarium's resident adult sea otter. And so far, everything seems to be going well.

"Chloe and the pup are socializing well together and have formed a close bond," Brett Long, the aquarium's curator of mammals and birds, said in a statement.

While guests may not get to see the aforementioned nameless pup, the aquarium is home to plenty of other animals that are also up for "adoption," like sea turtles, penguins, and sharks. Reservations are required to visit the aquarium and general admission starts at $36.95 for adults.

For more information on how to visit, check out the aquarium's website.

Cailey Rizzo is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure, currently based in Brooklyn. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at caileyrizzo.com.
(Reuters) - The founder of China's Huobi Group, which runs one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is in talks with investors to sell his almost 60% stake in the exchange for over $1 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

Leon Li's stake sale would value Huobi between $2 billion and $3 billion, and could be completed as soon as the end of the month, the report said. (https://bloom.bg/3zPD9y4)

Tron founder Justin Sun and Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX are among those who have been in contact with Huobi regarding the proposed stock sale, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

A spokesperson for Huobi confirmed to Bloomberg that Li was engaging with several international institutions about the sale, but declined to offer specifics, while Tron's Sun told the news agency that he hasn't had any negotiations with Li about a sale.

Huobi Group, Tron and FTX did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The Chinese group's crypto exchange stopped new registrations of accounts by mainland China customers last year after Beijing introduced a blanket ban on all cryptocurrency trading and mining in the country.

Meanwhile, crypto players globally also ran into difficulties following a sharp selloff in markets that started in May.

The market conditions reflected in the results of rival exchange Coinbase Global, which reported a larger-than-expected quarterly loss this week as investors worried by this year's rout in risky assets shied away from trading in cryptocurrencies.

(Reporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
Flutter owns the Paddy Power brand (PA Archive)

Two of the biggest names in UK gambling have revealed the impact of delays to government reform plans for the industry.

Flutter, the owner of the Paddy Power, hit out at the uncertainty, as measures it has already taken ahead of the legislation came ahead of a 4% fall in revenues its UK and Ireland business. 888, which owns William Hill, reported a 25% decline in UK revenue as it too tightened its policies.

The white paper on the subject was delayed in June due to the Conservative Partys leadership contest, the fourth postponement since the original 2019 announcement that changes were on the way. The potential measures have been a source of disagreement within the government ever since.

Peter Jackson, Flutters chief executive, called the delays disappointing, pointing out that weve consistently supported reform and we hope for clarity as soon as possible ...theres been uncertainty for everyone involved, and weve now had more than 18 months of it.

We hope [the white paper] will be out in Q4, he said.

Flutter has already changed aspects of its business in anticipation of tighter rules to prevent problem gambling from high-spending customers, including trialling limits on online slot machine stakes at 10 and compulsory deposit limits for all customers under the age of 25.

Group revenue at Flutter rose 11% to 3.4 billion. Earnings fell 20% to 476 million. Flutters shares rose 7.8% to 10165p.

888s overall first half profits slumped 66% to 14.4 million, sending its shares down 8% to 148p.
* Colombia advances towards restarting peace talks with ELN

* Costa Rica's cenbank gets authorization for $1.1 billion credit

* Venezuela, Colombia seek to repair ties with new ambassadors

Aug 12 (Reuters) - The latest in Latin American politics today:

Paraguay VP Velazquez to quit after U.S. accuses him of corruption

WASHINGTON - Paraguayan Vice President Hugo Velazquez on Friday said he would resign and withdraw his candidacy for the presidency, after being blacklisted by the United States for alleged "significant" acts of corruption.

Velazquez denied the accusation but said that, to "protect" his party, he would submit his resignation next week.

"I speak with the calm that my behavior gives me, because I did not do what they are accusing me of," he told local radio station Monumental.

Colombia advances towards restarting peace talks with ELN

HAVANA/BOGOTA - Colombia hopes to restart peace talks with leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Cuba, the country's Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said in the Cuban capital, Havana, late on Thursday.

The trip came just days after the inauguration of Colombia's new President Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla group, who promised to establish "total peace" in Colombia.

Representatives of the ELN, which was founded in 1964 by radical Catholic priests, have remained in Cuba since previous talks, begun under the government of Juan Manuel Santos, were called off in 2019.

Costa Rica's central bank received authorization for $1.1 billion credit with Latin American Reserve Fund

SAN JOSE - Costa Rica's central bank says it received authorization for a $1.1 billion credit with the Latin American Reserve Fund.

The application for the loan was announced on June 3 and is set to improve the financial shielding of the country, the bank said in a statement.

Venezuela, Colombia seek to repair ties with appointments of new ambassadors

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CARACAS/BOGOTA - Venezuela and Colombia have appointed ambassadors to each other's capitals, moving to rebuild relations between the two countries that have been broken for more than three years.

The appointments come days after the inauguration of Colombia's first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, who has expressed his intention to normalize diplomatic relations with Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appointed Felix Plasencia, a former foreign minister, as ambassador to Bogota, calling him "a man of great diplomatic experience". Petro named Armando Benedetti, a former senator, as Colombia's ambassador to Caracas. (Compiled by Steven Grattan; Editing by David Holmes)
If you need to learn one thing  only one  about the entire theater of college sports realignment, it is simply this: Every man for himself. This is not about virtue or honor or academic integrity. Its a world in which every person and school are trying to find the best deal, the best situation, for themselves.

You can admire that. You can hate it. What were emphasizing here is that its simply the truth of the matter, right or wrong.

USC was offered a pile of tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Were the Trojans honestly expected to turn down all that Big Ten cash, given the inferior media rights landscape they faced in the Pac-12?

UCLA was hemorrhaging debt. Were the Bruins honestly going to say no to the Big Ten out of a desire to keep their Olympic sports in the West? They needed the money precisely so that their Olympic sports could continue. Romantic notions of geography and intimacy were simply not going to compete with the money the Big Ten could offer.

Now we have another example of a person taking a deal which was simply too good to pass up.

Northwestern is an elite academic institution. If you are a college president who loves being an administrator and wants to be in charge of a top academic powerhouse, you dream about being president at Northwestern. Its not Harvard or Yale, but its high up the food chain.

Oregon President Michael Schill got the opportunity of a lifetime. Of course he was going to take it. No one in his position would refuse NU to stay at Oregon. Thats just the way it is.

Schill was announced as the new president of Northwestern University on Thursday.

University of Oregon president Michael Schill tells me of leaving for Northwestern, "It's a great university and closer to my family." Where do the Ducks go from here? Why does this all matter to the Pac-12? Column: https://t.co/C9pObOL9Vn  John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) August 11, 2022

You can imagine that this will create a lot of speculation about Oregons future relative to the Big Ten Conference. Stay tuned.

Story continues

But remember: Every man (and school) for himself.

List

Massive Big Ten media rights development has numerous implications for USC

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire
Rock Tech Lithium Inc.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (TSX-V: RCK) (OTCQX: RCKTF) (FWB: RJIB) (WKN: A1XF0V) (the "Company" or "Rock Tech") announces that the terms for its previously announced marketed offering of units of the Company (Units) have been amended. The Company now intends to raise aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$30 million (approximately C$38 million) pursuant to the Offering of Units at a price of C$3.50 per Unit (the Offering). Each Unit will be comprised of one common share in the capital of Rock Tech (a "Common Share") and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole Common Share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") for a period of 36 months from the date of issuance of such Warrant, at an exercise price of C$4.50, subject to and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the warrant indenture to be entered into between the Company and Computershare Trust Company of Canada, including acceleration and adjustment in certain circumstances.

Rock Tech currently intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering to finance the development of the Company's proposed high grade lithium hydroxide converter and refinery facility in Guben, Germany (the "Guben Converter") and to fund the continued exploration and development of the Company's Georgia Lake lithium project in Ontario, Canada (the "Georgia Lake Project"). The net proceeds from the Offering are expected to provide the Company with sufficient capital to advance its projects, including the Guben Converter and Georgia Lake Project, in line with its proposed business timeline. Additionally, over the last week further strategic, less dilutive financing possibilities have arisen, which could help to strongly accelerate the company's growth.

It is anticipated that a portion of the Offering will be conducted through a syndicate of underwriters (the "Underwriters") led by TD Securities Inc. and Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corporation acting as joint book-runners and including Berenberg Capital Markets, LLC as joint lead manager (the Underwritten Offering). The Company expects to grant the Underwriters an option (the "Over-Allotment Option") to purchase up to an additional 15% of the Underwritten Offering. It is anticipated that such Over-Allotment Option will be exercisable, in whole or in part at the discretion of the Underwriters, at any time up to and including 30 days following the closing date of the Offering. The Underwriters can elect to exercise the Over-Allotment Option for Units only, Common Shares only, Warrants only or any combination thereof, to cover over-allotments, if any, and for market stabilization purposes.

The remaining portion of the Offering, will be conducted via a non-brokered private placement pursuant to subscription agreements to be entered into directly between Rock Tech and purchasers (Subscription Agreements), all of whom are expected to be existing shareholders of Rock Tech (the Concurrent Placement).

The final terms of the Offering will be determined at the time the Company enters into a definitive underwriting agreement with the Underwriters and Subscription Agreements with purchasers under the Concurrent Placement. Closing of the each of the Underwritten Offering and the Concurrent Placement will be subject to a number of customary closing conditions, including acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V"). There can be no assurance as to whether or when the Offering will be completed, or as to the final size or terms of the Offering.

The Underwritten Offering will be made to the public in each of the provinces of Canada, excluding Quebec, pursuant to a prospectus supplement (the "Prospectus Supplement") to the Company's existing Canadian base shelf prospectus dated July 13, 2022 (the "Base Shelf Prospectus") and in the United States on a private placement basis to "qualified institutional buyers" pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). In addition, the Underwriters (directly or through affiliates or selling group members) may offer Units pursuant to the Underwritten Offering in such jurisdictions outside of Canada and the United States as agreed between the Company and the Underwriters on a basis which does not require the filing of a prospectus, registration statement or similar document in such jurisdiction.

The Prospectus Supplement and the Base Shelf Prospectus contain important information about the Company and the Underwritten Offering. Prospective investors in the Underwritten Offering should read the Prospectus Supplement and the Base Shelf Prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference therein, before making an investment decision. Copies of the Prospectus Supplement, the Base Shelf Prospectus and all documents incorporated by reference therein will be available electronically on Rock Tech's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

The Units, Common Shares and Warrants referred to in this press release have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or any state securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company.

ABOUT ROCK TECH LITHIUM INC.

Rock Tech is a cleantech company on a mission to produce lithium chemicals for EV batteries. The Company aims to serve automotive customers with high-quality lithium hydroxide. Rock Tech plans to build high-tech lithium converters at the door-step of the European and North American automotive industries, to provide customers with supply-chain transparency and just-in-time delivery. To close the most pressing gap in the clean mobility story, Rock Tech has gathered one of the strongest teams in the industry. The Company has adopted strict ESG standards and is developing a proprietary refining process to further increase efficiency and sustainability. Rock Tech plans to source raw material from its own mineral project in Canada as well as procuring it from other responsibly producing mines. In the years to come, the Company expects to also source raw materials from discarded batteries. Rock Tech's goal: to create a closed-loop lithium production system. www.rocktechlithium.com

Neither TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

The following cautionary statements are in addition to all other cautionary statements and disclaimers contained elsewhere in, or referenced by, this press release.

Certain information set forth in this press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which information is based on Rock Tech's current expectations, estimates, and assumptions in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends. All statements other than statements of historical facts may constitute forward-looking information. Often, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words or phrases such as "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and all other indications of future tense. All forward-looking information set forth in this press release is expressly qualified in its entirety by the cautionary statements referred to in this section.

In particular, forward-looking information contained in this press release includes: statements regarding the Offering, including the pricing and size of the Offering, the size of the Underwritten Offering, the size of the Concurrent Placement and completion and timing thereof; the entering into of a definitive underwriting agreement; the granting of the Over-Allotment Option to the Underwriters; the intended use of proceeds from the Offering; the entering into of the Subscription Agreements; the ability of the relevant parties to satisfy the conditions to closing the Offering, including the approval of the TSX-V; Rock Tech's opinions, beliefs and expectations regarding the Company's business strategy, development and exploration opportunities and projects; expectations with respect to future financing options; and plans and objectives of management for the Company's operations and properties.

Forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions, estimates, expectations and opinions of the Company and, in certain cases, third party experts, that are believed by management of Rock Tech to be reasonable at the time they were made. This forward-looking information was derived utilizing numerous assumptions regarding, among other things: the satisfaction of the conditions to closing of the Offering in a timely manner, including receipt of all necessary approvals; that the Offering will be completed on terms consistent with management's current expectations; the supply and demand for, deliveries of, and the level and volatility of prices of, feedstock and intermediate and final lithium products; expected growth, performance and business operations; the availability of financing on acceptable terms; future commodity prices and exchange rates; Rock Tech's prospects and development projects (including the Guben Converter and the Georgia Lake Project), as well as other opportunities available to the Company; general business and economic conditions; the costs and results of exploration, development and operating activities; Rock Tech's ability to procure supplies and other equipment necessary for its business; and the accuracy and reliability of technical data, forecasts, estimates and studies. The foregoing list is not exhaustive of all assumptions which may have been used in developing the forward-looking information. While Rock Tech considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect and should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results.

In addition, forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond Rock Tech's control, that may cause actual events, results, performance and/or achievements to be materially different from that which is expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results, performance and/or achievements to vary materially include: an inability to satisfy the conditions to closing of the Offering on a timely basis, or at all; uncertainty regarding whether market conditions and marketing efforts will result in terms of the Offering acceptable to the Company; the Company's ability to access additional funding, including through the Offering, required to invest in available opportunities and projects (including the Guben Converter and the Georgia Lake Project) and on satisfactory terms; the current and potential adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including future outbreaks or mutations and any associated policies or restrictions on business; the risk that Rock Tech will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due; changes in commodity and other prices; Rock Tech's ability to retain and attract skilled staff and to secure feedstock from third party suppliers; unanticipated events and other difficulties related to the construction, development and operation of the Guben Converter or the Georgia Lake Project; the cost of compliance with current and future environmental and other laws and regulations; title defects; competition from existing and new competitors; changes in currency exchange rates and market prices of Rock Tech's securities; Rock Tech's history of losses; impacts of climate change; and other risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Rock Tech's public disclosure documents available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, including those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Rock Tech's most recently filed Management Discussion and Analysis and Annual Information Form, respectively. Such risks and uncertainties do not represent an exhaustive list of all risk factors that could cause actual events, results, performance and/or achievements to vary materially from the forward-looking information.

The forward-looking information contained in this press release reflects Rock Tech management's views as at the date such information was created. Other than as may be required by law, Rock Tech undertakes no obligation and expressly disclaims any responsibility, obligation or undertaking to update or to revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, to reflect any change in Rock Tech's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such information is based. The forward-looking information contained herein is presented for the purposes of assisting readers in understanding Rock Tech's plans, objectives and goals and is not appropriate for any other purposes. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to rely on the forward-looking information set forth in this press release.

For further information: please contact Andre Mandel, VP Marketing & Communications, Rock Tech Lithium Inc.; 777 Hornby Street, Suite 600, Vancouver, B.C., V6Z 1S4; Telephone: +49 (0) 151 2825 4014; Facsimile: (604) 670-0033; Email: amandel@rocktechlithium.com.




BATAVIA  A right-wing roadshow featuring unabashed support for former President Donald Trump and disdain for public-health mandates rolled into this Genesee County town Friday, and thousands gathered under a white tent at a Christian church to hear how they can take back their country.

It was the beginning of the two-day stop on the ReAwaken America Tour, a controversial event featuring speakers who spread falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election and the Covid-19 vaccine that was moved to the Cornerstone Church in Batavia after protests drove it from its planned stop in Rochester.

Visit by Trump-aligned roadshow at Batavia church spurs protests An event featuring pro-Trump, anti-vaccine speakers that kicks off Friday in Genesee County is running into the same opposition that drove the tour out of its scheduled stop in Rochester.

More than 3,000 people were expected at the tour stop, its first in the Northeast, to hear scheduled speakers such as former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, presidential son Eric Trump and other prominent conservatives.

"It's not hateful," said Kathy Nolan, a retiree from Angola, who attended with her husband, Thomas, addressing criticism of the event's message. "We're just simply standing up for what America used to be."

No one protested outside the church as of late Friday morning, but 2 1/2 miles away, at the First Baptist Church of Batavia, a group of religious leaders decried divisive rhetoric and conspiracy theories employed by ReAwaken America speakers. They said participants twisted their faith for political purposes and forgot Christianity is a religion based on love, inclusion and empathy.

"Our hearts are broken because of the damage this tour, this ReAwaken America Tour, has already caused around the country using the cover of religion," said the Rev. Roula Alkhouri, pastor of Batavia First Presbyterian Church.

Batavia is the 18th stop on the ReAwaken America Tour, launched in April 2021 by Oklahoma businessman and podcast host Clay Clark as a conservative Christian platform for unsubstantiated claims about the Covid-19 vaccine, pandemic safety measures and the integrity of the 2020 election.

The tour stop taking place Friday and Saturday in Batavia initially was booked at the Main Street Armory in Rochester before protests prompted the venue owner in July to cancel the appearance.

Cornerstone Pastor Paul Doyle agreed to host the event and didn't change his mind in the face of pleas from Genesee County faith leaders, progressives and other community members.

By 9:30 a.m. Friday, a field next to the church converted to a makeshift parking lot was filled with rows of vehicles, many adorned with American flags.

Vendors peddled Trump apparel, alternative medical treatments and conservative children's books.

Patrons decked out in red, white and blue moved smoothly through the check-in and security lines. Hats and shirts displayed messages such as "Trump 2024: Take America Back"; "Alex Jones Was Right," a reference to the alt-right Infowars host recently ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook massacre; and "I'm Not One of the Sheep."

Jennifer Shanley, who works at a law firm in Albany, said she came "to be with people who are like-minded, who have the same values as us, and to realize we're not alone in this fight to save our country."

In interviews, Shanley, the Nolans and other attendees insisted President Biden did not win a fairly conducted election  no evidence has emerged to support this view  and they had more to fear from the Covid-19 vaccine than from the virus itself.

"I think they've blown it way out of proportion," said Stacy Sadlowski, a third-grade teacher from Ava, N.Y., near Rome, referring to Covid-19. "I think it was a pre-planned scam-demic."

Inside the revival tent, Flynn ended his remarks by urging attendees to "speak up" and "get involved."

He gave way to the Rev. Mark Burns, founder of a church and Christian television network based in South Carolina, who warned of the forces doing "whatever they can" to stop Trump from seeking the presidency again.

He then spoke about state Attorney General Letitia James, who earlier sent a letter to tour organizers raising concerns the event could encourage racially motivated violence.

"We've got to pray for her," he said. "We've got to get her saved."

Burns' sermon mixing religion and politics was an example of what faith leaders from various denominations objected to during their news conference about 2 1/2 miles from the Cornerstone Church.

They further decried the idea that America must be "taken back" or reshaped as a conservative Christian country, a view deemed "Christian Nationalism."

"We resist the twisted beliefs and self-serving bastardization of the Bible that its proponents embrace," said the Rev. Dr. Shiela Campbell McCullough, a Batavia resident, prison chaplain and member of the New York State Council of Churches, which opposed the tour stop.

Several speakers pointed out the wild vaccine conspiracy theories some ReAwaken America speakers spread; the ties between some tour participants and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol; and their use of language embraced by white supremacists.

"We are raising our voices loud and clear to say this is not our America. This is not the America in which we believe and for which we will continue to dream," said Rabbi Drorah ODonnell Setel of Temple Emanu-El in Rochester, who is a Buffalo native.
Reuters Videos

STORY: Underneath the surface of Taiwan's otherwise peaceful Matsu Islands lie deep, extensive tunnels -- a permanent mark of the ever-present threat of war.The small, sleepy archipelago is just off the coast of China, making it Taiwan's frontline in case of any conflict.Beijing claims Taiwan as its own. And for many residents here, the threat of a Chinese invasion has felt all the more imminent as Beijing steps up military exercises around Taiwan, in the wake of a high-profile diplomatic visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Taiwan is a very small island. If they really want to start a war, there would be no place to hide. No matter how many tunnels we have, if they (China) really occupied (Taiwan), there would be no use in having tunnels, as they can still find you.For local residents like Dora Liu, the heightened Chinese military activity in recent weeks is a pertinent reminder that their beloved hometown has never really been safe.Home to a major military base, the Matsu Islands were regularly bombarded by China at the height of the Cold War, and have always been at risk of Chinese invasion.If Taiwan was to be invaded, Huang Tzu-Chuan, a visitor from the city of Taoyuan, says the choice for him is clear.If on any given day such a thing (a Chinese invasion) were to happen, I am of course willing to fight for my country. It doesn't matter if I might not be very good when it comes to warfare, I will think of ways and do my utmost best to help defend this country from China.But Lin Te-chien, the local mayor, says if war breaks out, there might not be much that locals can do.There are some things which us common people cannot control, including the (political) circumstances, frankly we are not the ones in charge. We are in a passive situation, and if things (like a war) really happen, we'll find a way to deal with it.Despite the recent tensions, the Matsu Islands have remained a fashionable and popular destination for many Taiwanese -- and visitors continue to flood in.
A federal judge in Utica rescinded his retirement this summer amid controversy over his appointed replacement being from Albany, not the Utica area.

President Joseph Biden nominated Jorge A. Rodriguez July 13 to take the place of Judge David N. Hurd, who serves in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of New York.

Hurd last year indicated that he intended to take senior status, a type of semi-retirement federal judges over 65 who have served at least 15 years may take. Hurd said he would make the career move "upon the confirmation of my successor," according to a Nov. 1, 2021 letter to Biden. Rodriguez would be the first Hispanic judge to preside over the Northern District, according to the White House.

However, a day after Rodriguez's nomination, Hurd, 85, wrote to the Biden administration to immediately withdraw his intention to take senior status, expressing his viewpoint that his successor should live in the Utica area, and serve out of the federal courthouse there.

Judge David Hurd speaks during a past naturalization ceremony in United States District Court in Utica.

"I will take senior status if a confirmed successor lives in this area and is permanently assigned to the United States Courthouse in Utica, New York," he wrote.

Since 2014, Rodriguez, 43, of Clifton Park, has served as a New York State assistant attorney general, based in Albany.

On Wednesday, Hurd wrote to Biden to reiterate he was rescinding his retirement, stating he would remain on active status for the foreseeable future. This means there doesn't appear to be a path to the role for Rodriguez at the moment.

Hurd's decision to reverse his retirement plans in this case could complicate Biden's push to diversify federal court benches that have been overwhelmingly white.

"Mr. Rodriguez is an exceptionally qualified candidate who would bring a much-needed diverse perspective to the region's federal bench," said Andrea Nill Sanchez, executive director of Latinos for a Fair Judiciary, an advocacy group composed of Latino civil rights organizations, in a statement. "Unless he changes his mind, Judge Hurd's inexplicable and unprecedented about-face decision to exploit his lifetime tenure to block the appointment of the first-ever Latino judge to serve on (the Northern District of New York) will be a stain on his legacy and a disservice to the people of New York."

Story continues

Both Hurd and Rodriguez did not respond to the USA Today Network's requests for comment.

NY22:Democratic candidates talk Oneida County challenges, priorities

NY22:GOP candidates talk Oneida County challenges, priorities

Where would Hurd's successor have presided?

Utica-based Judge David Hurd rescinded his plans for semi-retirement in July, saying his successor should be from Utica. President Joe Biden nominated Jorge Rodriguez, from the Albany area, for the role earlier this year.

Rodriguez indicated he would preside on the bench in Utica, about an hour and a half from the state capital, according to the office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, who recommended him for the court seat.

It has always been the expectation that Judge Hurds successor would sit in the Utica courthouse, and Jorge Rodriguez has committed to doing so, said Jess Fassler, Gillibrands chief of staff, in a statement.

Hurd is one of 16 judges serving in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, which has offices in Albany, Binghamton, Plattsburgh, Syracuse, and Utica. There are currently two active district court judges in Syracuse and two in Albany, along with one  that being Hurd  in Utica.

Hurd, nominated by President Bill Clinton, was confirmed by the Senate in 1999, according to the Federal Judicial Center, which records judges' biographies. Hurd had been a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. Prior to that, he was in private practice for nearly three decades in Utica, serving briefly as an Oneida County prosecutor in the 1960s.

He filled the seat vacated by Constantine George Cholakis, of Rensselaer County, who died in 1996. Cholakis was appointed to the role by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and appeared to have presided over cases in Albany during his tenure, according to his New York Times obituary.

'Attempt to steal a judgeship'

New York State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, expressed frustration with the nomination, putting out a statement Wednesday calling it "disingenuous attempt to steal a judgeship from the Mohawk Valley and move it to the Capitol District" by Gillibrand.

On Thursday, Griffo told the USA Today Network there were other qualified candidates that could have been chosen, though he was hopeful Hurd rescinding his retirement would stop Rodriguez's nomination.

"This is practice and tradition here," he said of having a judge in Utica, later adding. "It's showing indifference to this community by Sen. Gillibrand."

While Griffo later noted Hurd's predecessor had been from the Albany area, he doubled down on the need for Hurd's replacement to be from the Utica area.

"To me it goes to the essence of this, he said. "You have a sitting judge, a resident judge presiding here and it's worked. There's no need to change that."

Nomination process meant to reflect U.S. diversity

Rodriguez was one of six nominees Biden announced in July. Currently, Rodriguez works in New York Attorney General Letitia James Office in the litigation bureau. He previously worked at New York City and Albany law firms after receiving his law degree in 2004 from Vanderbilt University, where he also received his bachelors degree.

The nominees, a White House news release said, were meant to ensure judges reflected the U.S. diversity. Since taking office, Biden has nominated 118 people to federal judicial positions as of July 13, when he announced Rodriguez's nomination.

Currently, white men comprise about half of all federal court judges, far higher than their share of the U.S. population, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School.

Hispanic federal judges only make up about 9% of all active status judges, about half of how much Hispanic or Latino people make up the U.S. population.

A January report by the Brookings Institute said that, of Bidens 41 appointees in his first year, 78% were women, 29% were Black, 17% were Asian American, and 2% were Native American. Fifteen percent of appointees were Hispanic.

We strongly believe that the judiciary, especially the federal judiciary, functions best when it reflects the demographics and diversity of the American population, I dont think theres any question in that, said Carlos Bollar, president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. He added that the group is pleased with Biden's nomination choices, and the judges confirmed during Biden's tenure.

Weve been excited to celebrate the diversity of these selections across the board, but we still have a lot of ground to cover, he said.

Bollar said the association vetted Rodriguez and supported his nomination to the Northern District Court of New York. Bollar said he hadnt seen a judge rescind his senior status.

It can be frustrating when you have an exceptional candidate like this one, with obstacles that just keep being thrown in the path to progress, he said.

View Hurd's July letter rescinding his retirement below, along with a November 2021 letter accepting the senior status designation upon the confirmation of a successor.

H. Rose Schneider covers public safety, breaking and trending news for the Observer-Dispatch in Utica. Email Rose at hschneider@gannett.com.

Eduardo Cuevas is the racial justice reporter for the USA Today's Network New York state team. Reach Eduardo at Emcuevas1@gannett.com or on Twitter @Eduardomcuevas.

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Utica federal judge reverses retirement amid controversy over successor
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced updated COVID-19 guidelines Thursday, easing back quarantine recommendations for people who arent current with their vaccines.

Like fully vaccinated Americans, those who havent received their primary series or recommended boosters now do not need to quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person.

The agency also said people who test positive for the virus but are asymptomatic or see symptoms improve quickly can isolate for a shorter period, instead of the previously recommended five days.

The CDC continues to say people who test positive should isolate from others for at least five days, regardless of vaccination status.

The updated recommendations come as nearly 40% of the country report high COVID-19 community levels, according to the CDC map. A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows hospitals in 19 states reported more COVID patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 20 states had more patients in intensive care beds.

Its a positive sign that advances in vaccines and treatments have significantly lowered the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from the disease, said Dr. Daniel P. McQuillen, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. However, with much of the country experiencing higher than 20% transmission rates, we cannot let our guard down.

Also in the news:

 President Joe Biden finally left isolation Sunday after testing negative for COVID-19 twice. Biden had isolated inside the White House since July 30 after testing positive from a rebound case.

 About 97% of schools across the country are not requiring masks as kids gear up to return to school, according to data from school tracker Burbio.

 Germanys health minister said European Union drug regulators are expected to meet Sept. 1 to consider a vaccine that would protect against the original virus and the omicron variant.

Story continues

 Masks will once again be required for visitors inside all Great Smoky Mountains National Park buildings due to the high transmission of COVID-19, according to the park's website.

What we're reading: After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, the flu may be back this season  and with a vengeance. Read more here.

Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY's Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Want to be sure you dont have COVID? FDA says you'll need to pass 3 home tests

If you're taking an at-home COVID-19 test and want to be confident you're clear of the virus, you'll need not just one or two but three tests with negative results over five days.

That's the new recommendation issued Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration. It follows a new study that concluded using three home COVID tests with 48 hours between tests for those without symptoms delivers a higher degree of accuracy than two tests over three days.

The recommendation for a third test is directed at those who fear they may have been exposed to the virus or want to leave no doubt about their negative status. Even with that stipulation, Thursday's recommendation signals a significant shift in a system where home tests are mostly sold and distributed in two-test kits.

Researchers said the higher sensitivity of using three tests over five days could catch more cases and inform infected people without symptoms to avoid contact with others, limiting spread.

 Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY

COVID patients need more health care services 6 months after infection, study shows

A new study highlights COVID patients' continued need for health care services six months after initial infection.

Researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California looked at nearly 130,000 patients across the country who tested positive for COVID-19 and another 130,000 who tested negative between March and November 2020.

They found having COVID-19 was associated with a 4% increase in use of health care services six months after infection, according to the study published Friday in JAMA Network Open.

A substantial amount of health care utilization occurs in the six months following the acute stage of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which highlights the potential for COVID-19 to exert an ongoing demand on health care organizations, said lead author Sara Tartof, an epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation.

The most common conditions that required care were lingering COVID-19 symptoms, alopecia, bronchitis, pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis and difficulty breathing. The most common conditions among COVID-positive children were irregular heartbeat, difficulty breathing, pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, and ear, nose, and throat disorders.

North Korea claims disputed victory over COVID-19

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un declared victory over COVID-19 and ordered an easing of preventive measures just three months after the country first acknowledged an outbreak, the country's news agency said Thursday.

North Korea had suggested in July that its COVID-19 outbreak began in people who had contact with objects carried by balloons launched from South Korea  a claim that appeared to be an attempt to blame its rival.

South Koreas Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, expressed strong regret over North Koreas extremely disrespectful and threatening comments based on ridiculous claims.

The country's statements about its outbreak are widely believed to be manipulated to help Kim Jong Un maintain absolute authority. But experts believe the victory announcement signals his intention to move on to other priorities.

Contributing: Associated Press. Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.

Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID this week: CDC quarantine guidelines, FDA update on home testing
Weather Alert

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT FRIDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with temperatures up to 103. * WHERE...In Washington, Eastern Columbia River Gorge of Washington, Simcoe Highlands, Kittitas Valley and Yakima Valley. In Oregon, Eastern Columbia River Gorge of Oregon. * WHEN...Until 11 PM PDT Friday. * 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. &&
There are three new faces in the administration of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz thanks to one top administrator leaving for a different county job and two others being elevated to statewide positions by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The new office holders are Jeremy Toth, county attorney; Brian Bray, head of the Personnel Department; and Benjamin Swanekamp as the county executive's chief of staff.

Former County Attorney Michael Siragusa left county government last month to serve as judge with the State Court of Claims. Poloncarz has now appointed Toth, the first assistant county attorney, to take that job. Toth had been filling in as acting county attorney since Siragusa left.

Hochul nominates Erie County personnel commissioner to a top state post Timothy Hogues is the first official from WNY to gain a high-level position in state government since Kathy Hochul, a Hamburg native, assumed the reins as governor in August.

Former Personnel Commissioner Timothy Hogues also left the administration in April to become the state's head of the State Civil Service Commission. Poloncarz has appointed Bray, his policy director, to replace Hogues.

And as previously reported, Poloncarz appointed his former Deputy Budget Director Swanekamp to serve as his new chief of staff. He replaces Jennifer Hibit, who left to take a job as the director of Human Resources with the Erie County Water Authority.

Poloncarz's deputy budget director tapped to serve as chief of staff Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz has appointed his deputy budget director as his new chief of staff.

The appointments of Toth and Bray are subject to County Legislature confirmation, though no objections are expected.

"Theyre well respected in each of their areas," Poloncarz said. "They know county government inside and out."

Toths compensation is going from $ 147,306 to $ 182,079 in his new role, Brays from $ 101,924 to $ 137,800.

Toth had served as second assistant county attorney for nine years before being promoted to first assistant county attorney last year, supervising the county's litigation team. The Buffalo resident graduated from City Honors School, SUNY Albany and University at Buffalo Law School.

Poloncarz's chief of staff leaves to take Erie County Water Authority job Jennifer Hibit, who has served as the chief of staff for Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz since he first took office, is leaving to take a job with the Erie County Water Authority.

Prior to serving as Poloncarz's policy director, Bray worked for six years as special assistant to the Commissioner of Social Services. Before that, he spent two years as Poloncarz's legislative liaison and previously worked in the Town of Amherst, heading up the Senior Services Department.

He also established several advisory boards including the Poverty Committee, New Americans Committee, Coordinating Council on Children and Families and the Foster Family Advisory Board. He is working on his doctorate in public administration from West Chester University, received his master's from Hilbert College, and his bachelor's degree from UB.

"The nice thing is, they both can get in there and hit the ground running," Poloncarz told The Buffalo News. "They both have a tremendous amount of county experience. They both were, in my eyes, the best choice."
Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 104F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 84F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 99F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
"The scale of the phenomenon keeps growing bigger every day. We still have no information as to the source of the water poisoning" - such was the announcement made on Saturday, July 30, by the Oawa branch of the Polish Angling Association (Polski Zwiazek Wedkarski).

- This is a real disaster as far as the Oder's fish stock is concerned. Weve been taking care of it for years, stocking the river, protecting the fish, and limiting fishing opportunities. Itll take over 10 years to rebuild this- said Adrzej Swietach, head of the Wrocaw PAA branch.

Local activists, including the musician Micha Zygmunt, have raised the alarm about the river pollution already at the end of July: "A wave of chemicals is flowing through the Oder (...) Where are any official announcements? Where are the institutions? I demand action. After all, people are still using the river on a daily basis, and there is no information about any possible danger they could be exposed to.

On Wednesday, August 3, the Lower Silesian Inspectorate of Environmental Protection issued a communique on the case of dead fish in the Oder River. We learn from it that the first reports reached the inspectors on Thursday, July 28. The communique also reads that the water samples taken below the Lipka sluice (near the border with Opolskie province) between August 1-3 showed "with more than 80% probability the presence of cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives in all three tested water samples. The presence of mesitylene, a substance with toxic effects on aquatic organisms, was found with more than 80% probability in samples collected near the Lipka sluice and the town of Oawa".

REKLAMA

Mesitylene is a poisonous organic chemical compound from the group of aromatic hydrocarbons. It is a colorless liquid with a sweet, aromatic odor. In industry, it is used in organic synthesis, as a high-octane component of motor gasoline and as a specialized solvent.

Zatruta Odra. Kostrzyn nad Odra Fot. Cezary Aszkieowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

German authorities find high levels of mercury in the river

In the following days, dead fish were spotted in the capital of Lower Silesia, Wrocaw, including the city moat, where the city authorities fished them out.

On Wednesday, August 10, similar reports were coming in from Kostrzyn, West Pomerania.

REKLAMA

A group named "Zatruta Odra" (Poisoned Oder) has been set up on Facebook. There, one can learn that dead beavers have been spotted floating on the water in the German town of Lubusz. Local German authorities are also investigating the source of the water poisoning.

Niemcy. Informacja o zatrutej Odrze i ostrzezenie, by nie owic ryb, nie wpuszczac do wody psow itp. Fot. Cezary Aszkieowicz / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

German police took water samples in Frankfurt on the Oder. On Thursday evening, the oderwelle.de portal reported that "the results of the analysis of water samples from the Oder River indicate an incredibly high level of mercury".

At the river bank in Kienitz, local authorities have posted laminated cards with warnings not to fish, eat, bathe or allow dogs in the water.

REKLAMA

Wyborcza looked for similar warnings on the Polish side, unfortunately to no avail.

An environmental crime

Polands main water management agency  the State Water Holding "Polish Waters" (Wody Polskie), continues to post information about the situation in the river on its website.

The most recent announcement reads: "The Wrocaw branch of Polish Waters recommends all residents of towns located along the Oder River and tourists staying by the river not to enter the water and not to bathe in it. The appeal applies to both people and dogs under the care of their owners. Until the causes of the currently observed phenomenon are clarified and the source is located, which is the responsibility of other authorities and institutions, it is also not advisable to fish in the Oder and consume the fish".

On Wednesday, the management of the Polish Waters branch in Zielona Gora filed a notice to the local prosecutor's office and the local police on the possibility of an environmental crime.

The same notice was filed by the Wrocaw Regional Environmental Protection Inspectorate. - At the moment, we have filed a notice with the prosecutor's office, but not against a specific entity- says Beata Merenda, the spokeswoman for the Wrocaw Regional Environmental Protection Inspectorate.

An environmental crime of this scale is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Martwe ryby w Odrze Fot. Wadysaw Czulak / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

The government is playing the blame game

On Wednesday, August 10, the Chief Management of the Environmental Protection Inspectorate held a press conference. - We are conducting our research from the river level and conducting drone flights to assess the situation. The elevated physical and chemical parameters could have various causes. We are investigating every possibility.

Officials assured the public that the situation on the Oder River in the Lubuskie province was not dramatic, few fish had died, and the results of analyzed water samples did not indicate toxic substances. Fishermen, who pulled out several tons of dead fish from the river, were outraged. They began flooding the internet with photos and videos of dead animals (dead beavers and birds have also been spotted). Local politicians accused the central government of being tardy and lying to the public.

On Thursday, another press conference was held in the village of Cigacice near Zielona Gora. This time, among the present officials were the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Jacek Ozdoba, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure Grzegorz Witkowski, and President of Polish Waters Przemysaw Daca. Mr. Daca said that his agency knew about the dead fish in the Oder River since July 26. Since then, no one has warned residents and local government officials.

The conference was kept in a completely different tone than the last one. The Minister of the Environment admitted that we are facing an environmental disaster of great magnitude.

- We will find those who are responsible for this. A substance that causes fish to die was introduced into the water. We are checking what kind of substance it was- Jacek Ozdoba said. Residents present at the conference were angry because they had hoped to hear specific answers. Especially, given that government institutions knew about the environmental disaster as early as July 26.

- You had two weeks to find the culprit! You had two weeks to warn people!  residents shouted.

Minister Ozdoba admitted that chemical parameters were elevated at first, but then the danger disappeared.

- The whole ecosystem died, the whole river died, and you are only talking about the millions youll spend on restocking the river?  environmental expert Marta Jermaczyk-Sitek was angry.

Deputy Minister Witkowski tried to put the blame on local governments. The message on state TV was supposed to be clear - the river is being poisoned by municipalities, which in the west of the country are managed by the oppositional Civic Platform.

The public was told that local governments are also discharging wastewater into the Oder and are co-responsible for the pollution.

- Please, understand that local governments can dump gigantic amounts of sewage into the river. Local governments run by the Civic Platform are dumping sewage. We will punish them and send in the prosecutor's office to investigate- Witkowski thundered.

On Friday, the Defense Ministry announced that the military would help contain the disaster.

***

Every day, 400 journalists at Gazeta Wyborcza write verified, fact-checked stories about Polish politics and society, keeping a critical eye on the ruling camps persistent assault on democratic values and the rule of law; the growing cultural tension between religious fundamentalism and human rights; and the ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine. Our journalists are on the front lines in 32 Polish cities, reporting from the streets, hospitals, and courtrooms about issues that move public opinion.

We decided to make our service available to everyone free of charge in order to provide access to high quality journalism for expats and English speakers interested in Polish affairs.

The access to information should be equal for all.
A cultural festival is being held to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Hungary and Kyrgyzstan in Budapest between Thursday and Sunday.

According to a statement from the Kyrgyz embassy, the cultural days will start with a gala concert at the Budapest Music Center on Thursday night, featuring Kyrgyz popular music, a fashion show and an exhibition of Kyrgyz artists.



The festival has been organised under an agreement on bilateral cooperation between the foreign ministries of the two countries in 2022  2025, signed by Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto during an official visit to Kyrgyzstan in May.



Venue:

Budapest Music Center

1093 Budapest, Matyas u. 8,
Ryanair is to cancel eight of its Budapest destinations, having warned earlier that the imposition of the windfall tax on the company could result in fewer flights.

his list does not include popular routes that are closed for the winter anyway, such as Rimini.



The eight destinations removed from the schedule on Wednesday are Bordeaux, Bournemouth, Cologne, Kaunas, Krakow, Lappeenranta, Riga and Turin.



The airline clearly waited to find out which routes are not performing well, based on bookings, and cancelled those that are probably not able to bear the extra cost to be paid by the passengers, according to travel website Okosutas.



Recently the government condemned low-cost airline Ryanairs unfair ticket pricing and a heavy fine was issued - see related articles below.
YORK  In the spirit of a new school year, York Public High School is making some positive changes for the 2022-2023 academic school year.

The high school is expecting 480 students this coming year. Their will three new staff members on board: Benny Hanaphy (English), Joshua Harris (band) and Laci Rutherford(special education).

Jason Heitz, York High School Principal, said he was pleased with how things were returning back to normal after COVID-19.

Heitz said, It was the first, normal year in three years. It was a relief for the kids and adults to have a normal school year without having to worry about any restrictions or mandates.

This year, Heitz and his staff are looking forward to adding a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system to class instruction.

PBIS includes teachers giving positive feedback, recognition, and acknowledgement of good behavior. I look forward to adding PBIS and having a common set of expectations in our classrooms, Heitz.

Additionally, YHS is adding a new English language arts curriculum.

For the high school students, they are still offering advanced college classes through Peru State and South East Community College.

Building onto through their extracurricular activities, YHS is adding boys and girls bowling and girls wrestling.

The YHS band will be seeing positive changes as well. Last December, former band director Curtis Forsch announced the York Senior High Band received a generous donation from an anonymous donor to purchase shiny, new band uniforms.

I received the call shortly before Christmas, said Forsch, When they called, I said this cant be. I was kind of shocked. People just dont call you up and say theyll buy you new band uniforms. Its a big enough expense!

The students were a part of designing process, which was an exciting learning experience. They looked at multiple samples and put together what they liked most. They decided to keep the tradition of incorporating the Y style to the design.

It was a long, but very neat process, said Forsch.

The new uniforms will have a detachable front tail, a hat wrap that will allow band members to have different looks, and adjustable pant hems with snaps.

Forsch gives a huge thank you to the donor (who wants to remain anonymous).

COVID relief funds will continue to go towards maintenance. They are replacing the AC units in the hallways, main gym and theater. Then AC units will be installed for the wood shop, animal lab, and welding shop.

YHS will start the school year in tip top shape with the first day being August 17.
A 21-year-old woman has been charged with felony theft after she was accused of stealing more than $37,000 in about a month while working at an Omaha convenience store.

The woman was arrested Friday after a complaint was filed with the Omaha Police Department by the district manager of the Casey's convenience store chain. A Douglas County Court judge on Monday ordered the woman to be held on 10% of $150,000 bail, meaning she must pay $15,000 to be released from jail.

According to an arrest affidavit, the district manager said surveillance video captured the woman taking money from the safe and register of a Casey's store near 42nd and Grover streets. The thefts occurred between July 1 and Aug. 3, she said.

The district manager told police that $37,184 was missing from the store. The woman, who began working at the store June 24, admitted in a written statement to taking $25,000, the affidavit said.
An Omaha police officer who had been charged in January with third-degree domestic assault has resigned from the department.

Brittney Taylor, 34, resigned her position in late June, a spokesman for the department said. The misdemeanor domestic assault charge was dismissed that month due to lack of cooperation from the alleged victim, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said Wednesday.

At the time of her arrest, police said Taylor had been accused of injuring her girlfriend. Officers were called to a home near 45th Street and Laurel Avenue about 4 a.m. Jan. 30 and spoke with a woman who had injuries to her head and face.

The woman identified Taylor as her attacker, a police spokesman said.

Taylor, who had been with department for about three years, was placed on administrative leave at the time. An internal investigation began that was separate from the criminal investigation.
Several weeks of dry weather have allowed drought conditions to expand in Nebraska, with the worst conditions in the southwest part of the state.

According to the latest weekly Drought Monitor released Thursday by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 50% of the state is in severe drought or worse, more than 80% of the state is in at least a moderate drought and 95% is considered abnormally dry.

The abnormally dry area once again includes Lancaster County, where the Lincoln Airport has recorded only 0.34 inches of rain over the past month, about 3 inches below normal.

Nebraska State Climatologist Martha Shulski said parts of eastern Nebraska have precipitation deficits of 8-10 inches just since October.

But the situation locally is a far cry from the southwest corner of the state, where exceptional drought now covers a significant area.

Virtually all of Perkins County is in exceptional drought, which also covers large portions of Hayes, Hitchcock and Keith counties.

It's the first time since 2013 that exceptional drought has been present anywhere in Nebraska, and only the third time since 2000 it has appeared in the southwest part of the state.

Al Dutcher, Nebraska's associate state climatologist, said the move from extreme drought to exceptional drought in southwest Nebraska is not as noteworthy as it seems.

"It's really a matter of semantics," Dutcher said, noting that when areas have been in severe and extreme drought as long as southwest Nebraska has, "the damage has already been done."

More than 18% of the state is now in extreme drought, a nearly 50% increase from just a week ago. Outside of southwest Nebraska, the area most affected by drought is northeast Nebraska, where a half dozen counties are completely covered by extreme drought.

The National Weather Service's Omaha office said in a tweet that the region it covers would need 150%-175% of its normal rainfall over the next six months to alleviate drought conditions.

Unfortunately, the long-range forecast calls for a better-than-average chance of below-normal precipitation and above-average temperatures.

"Our weather outlook going into fall doesn't provide much hope," Shulski said. "A continuation of overall warmer- and drier-than-normal conditions have the highest probability of occurrence. Southwest monsoonal moisture may make it into western Nebraska in the near term. But widespread drought alleviation is not likely in Nebraska anytime soon."

The continued drought conditions are starting to have an effect on crop potential.

DTN, a company that provides real-time weather, agricultural, energy and commodity market information, said Thursday that its annual crop tour conducted this week shows that corn and soybean yields in Nebraska are likely to be much lower than earlier estimates.

DTN is estimating average corn yields of 158 bushels per acre this year, considerably lower than the U.S. Department of Agriculture's five-year average for Nebraska of nearly 186 bushels per acre. The estimate for soybeans is 52.5 bushels per acre, compared with a five-year average of 59 bushels.

"In Nebraska, conditions have been poor going back to last fall when drought started to creep into the state," DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said in a story posted on the company's website. "With winter and spring being abnormally dry, drought has been the major player in the state's crop production this year."

Baranick also cited heat and severe weather as factors in the lower crop yields.

In addition to lowered crop yields, Shulski said she's heard reports of complete crop losses due to drought, as well as pastures drying up, stock ponds and lakes going dry, reduced hay yields, destocking of pastures, and early weaning and selling cows. Some municipalities also have water restrictions in place, she said.

Much of the state has been baking over the past couple of weeks. Lincoln's high was expected to reach the upper 90s on Thursday, making it the 12th day out of the past 13 with 90-degree temperatures. Temperatures are forecast to remain in the 90s through at least Sunday, potentially reaching the triple digits on Saturday. If that happens it would be the fifth time this year, the most 100-degree days since 2012.

Conditions have been even worse in central and western Nebraska. Imperial has had 16 days with a high of 100 or more, North Platte has recorded 18 and McCook has had 22.

The prolonged lack of rain has led the Platte River to all but dry up in areas around Columbus, and 70% of the state's topsoil moisture is now considered short or very short.

While conditions may remind people of the state's last major drought a decade ago, Dutcher said things aren't nearly that bad.

"This in no way compares to 2012," he said. "It's nowhere close to that magnitude."

The good news is that cooler weather is on the way. Temperatures in Lincoln are forecast to drop into the low 80s starting Tuesday, and there will be some more significant chances of rain.
A 12 grade girl studying at Modern School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi volunteers at occupational therapy centre and schools Orkid centre for special needs.

Tarini has been helping children for their rights to education as crores of children in India have been impacted by the various restrictions since the pandemic hit the country and the world as a whole. The marginalised and underprivileged lot has been at the worst receiving end due to online modalities of education.



Tarini used her experience from her early years as a volunteer in the field of special education to create a catch-up programme for these vulnerable children suffering from staggering schooling and extended the scope of her work vastly for increasing their access to the digital domain. She started helping them through Star in Me (YouTube Digital Library and App). Star in Me' by Tarini Kapur, is a learning resource, which includes an App including Chitrakatha (Picture Story) videos with a Hindi translation narrative, downloadable picture story PDF versions, MCQ based Video Games and downloadable question answers of the Grade 10 English Literature section (as per CBSE Curriculum). The project has gained recognition and an impetus on various platforms consequently. It began in 2020, and is still doing well.

The unique problem-solving approach lies in the application of richly visual illustrative descriptions which combine visual and audio learning modalities used in special education to bridge learning gaps suffered due to interruptions in schooling experienced by children due to digital poverty.

She carried out the work with constant feedback from the students and teachers in the village. She also started with creating animation videos on a dedicated YouTube Channel covering the Poetry Section, English Literature, for the Grade 10 CBSE Board Exam. It was followed by video games for practising objective type questions, downloadable PDF corresponding to the picture story video along with important question answers as per the latest pattern for 2020-2021.



Till date, nearly the entire grade 10 Literature section has been covered. More than 900 hand-drawn illustrations and computer-generated infographics, and, 32 videos on the YouTube Digital Library. The channel has garnered 350,000 views so far and as per YouTube support data has a projected viewership of nearly 1,000,000 views by the end of 2022.



More than 4000 students have downloaded the app, and almost 350,000 (and still counting) have watched the videos on the YouTube channel. The App has been channelized through teachers of 7 villages namely Thapaliya Mehra Gaon, Surya Gaon, Tirchha Khet Gaon, Chunautiya Gaon, a nearby town, Haldwani within Uttrakhand; Kami Village and Pilli Beeth in Uttar Pradesh and Rohad Village in Haryana. The App has been very well-received by the Gram Vikas Samiti Anwarpur NGO from Pilkhuwa who are associated with nearly 60 schools. Over 40 NGOs have been contacted using the App with the students they are working with.



Tarinis second educational-cum-social initiative is It Takes a Village. In this project, She mobilized local support and voluntary donations to set up the Panchayat Ghar(facility for meetings of the village administration) as a Resource Centre at the village. The centre has three rooms and an open space, replete with school furniture, a library of over 1000 books, printer and copier facility, an electricity connection, 5 tablets to borrow, swings for children, regular suply of stationary and teacher volunteers to help students.



Consensual support of community elders was key. The Panchayat Ghar, which was the erstwhile meeting point for panchayat meetings was not being utilized anymore as the village was now under the jurisdiction of the Nagar Nigam. Being the nerve centre of the village in essence, it had the advantage of being equidistant for all the residents. NGO partnerships were fostered and voluntary donations were channelized through social media campaigns.



Under the It Takes a Village initiative, the number of children visiting the Resource Centre regularlyisapproximately 35.There is a tie-up with almost 15 NGOs for usage of the App and several government school teachers too.

Tarini also supported village students through skill enhancement and craftmanship programmes. Cone of Vision, a project initiated by her is on skill development for self-sufficiency for students from grade 3 to grade 12. The ubiquitous local craft of Aipan was incubated through a series of product development. The price range of the products is between Rs 200-Rs 1800. The pricing on Etsy is in USD (ranging between 2.50-25 USD), and the products have been sold internationally, too. This improvement stands tall as against the products made earlier including painted terracotta diyas and small cloth bags, where the children earned a maximum of Rs 10 on the diyas to Rs. 200 on bags. The products have been sold at eight hotels and cafes, and 6 stalls at different tourist hotspots in the district.
New Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: The 2022 Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is the companys first mid-size SUV and also the first strong hybrid from the India's largest carmaker. The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara was recently unveiled in India and is expected to be launched around the festive season. The SUV is developed in collaboration with Toyota under the global partnership between the two Japanese brands and will be built by the carmaker in Toyota's facility in Karnataka. On the other hand, Toyota's iteration of the Grand Vitara will be called 2022 Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder and will share everything same as the Vitara. The biggest highlight of the New Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is the Strong Hybrid variants with the highest mileage in the country. Here's a look at top 5 things to know about the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Hybrid:

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: Pricing

The 2022 Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara will be available in two trims  Zeta Plus and Alpha Plus and is expected to be priced at Rs 17 lakh - Rs 18 lakh ex-showroom. The strong hybrid variants will be the range topping versions and the mild hybrid is expected to start at Rs 9.50 lakh only.

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Zeta Plus - Rs 17.00 lakh

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Alpha Plus - Rs 18.00 lakh

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: Dimensions

The New Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is the biggest SUV from the brand till now and the Strong Hybrid dimensions are identical to the Mild Hybrid variants. The SUV measures 4,345 mm in length, 1,795 mm in width, 1,645 mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2,600 mm.

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara Strong Hybrid



Length 4,345 mm

Width 1,795 mm

Height 1,645 mm

Wheelbase 2,600 mm

Fuel capacity 45-litres

Ground Clearance 210 mm

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: Specifications

The new Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is powered by a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder Toyota-sourced engine on the Atkinson Cycle. While the mild hybrid will get only the petrol engine, the strong hybrid will be paired to a 177.6V lithium-ion battery pack that delivers a combined power of 114 bhp and 122 Nm of torque with the help of an eCVT. The battery system is a self-charging unit and does not need to be plugged in.

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara engine

Displacement: 1.5-litre

Power: 114 bhp

Torque: 122 Nm

Gearbox: e-CVT

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: Competition

The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara is the flagship vehicle from the brand and will compete against the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder directly and also Honda City Hybrid, if only hybrids are to be considered. However, it's a mid-SUV at the end of the day and will face a stiff challenge from the likes of Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos among other vehicles.

New Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: Mileage

The 2022 Grand Vitara Strong Hybrid returns a mileage of 27.9 kmpl, which is highest in India for any vehicle. With the help of 45 litres tank, it translates to a range of 1200 km, making it the most fuel-efficient SUV on sale in India today.
An old video of social media influencer Balvinder Kataria alias Bobby Kataria recently went viral showing him smoking inside a SpiceJet flight. Aviation safety agency BCAS, Aviation Ministry and Spicejet all releases statements on the matter. While Jyotiraditya Scindia, Aviation Minister of India stated that the incident will be investigated, Spicejet said that the action was taken as the passenger was put on a no-flying list by the airline for 15 days in February 2022. The said flight is from January 2022 when Kataria allegedly travelled from Dubai to Delhi.

However, the accused social media influencer Bobby Kataria claimed that it was a dummy plane and it was a part of his shooting in Dubai. "The video in which I was seen smoking is not a normal airplane, it was a dummy plane and that was a part of my shooting in Dubai. Taking lighter inside the plane is not allowed," said Kataria.

As seen in the video, Kataria is seen lying down on the aircraft seat and lighting a cigarette and taking a couple of puffs. In a statement SpiceJet said, "the matter had been investigated thoroughly in January 2022 when the video was brought to our notice and a complaint had been filed by the airline with the Udyog Vihar police station in Gurugram."

It further said that the matter came to the airline's notice on January 24, 2022, through social media posts. "The matter was referred to the Internal Committee constituted as per the provisions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on the handling of unruly passengers (not consisting of any SpiceJet employee). The said the passenger was put on a no flying list by the airline for 15 days in February 2022," the statement added.

Defending himself, Kataria said that the video in question is an old video shot in Dubai. "The video in which I was seen smoking is not a normal airplane, it was a dummy plane and that was a part of my shooting in Dubai. I want to ask everyone; how can a lighter make its way into an airplane? It would be detected by a scanner. A cigarette still one can carry, but not a lighter. It was shot in 2019 or 2020," said Kataria.

An investigation found that the accused Balvinder Kataria alias Bobby Kataria had travelled from Dubai to New Delhi via SpiceJet. "The incident took place in January this year. Kataria boarded the SpiceJet flight from Dubai. A police complaint was lodged. Also, as per Civil Aviation requirements, an enquiry was conducted by SpiceJet. He was banned from flying on Spicejet flights for 15 days thereafter," said Scindia.

Kataria landed in Delhi on January 23 and the video is not available on his Facebook and Instagram pages now. "Balvinder Kataria had travelled from Dubai to New Delhi on the SpiceJet flight. He landed in Delhi on January 23. The video is not available on his FB/Insta page. The action was taken by the aviation security earlier," The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security told ANI.

Soon after its release on social media platforms, the video sparked a controversy regarding the security and law and order around the airline's norms. Another case has also been registered against Kataria at Dehradun's Cantt police station for allegedly consuming liquor in the middle of a road in Uttarakhand. A case has been registered under sections 342, 336, 290 and 510 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 67 IT Act, said Uttarakhand Police.

Talking about the Dehradun video, Kataria said that the video is not from Uttarakhand. "I do not even remember when was it recorded and even that must have been a part of my shoot, I did not consume alcohol and that video is not from Uttarakhand," he added.

With ANI inputs
After a faulty alarm rang due to an engine warning, a Go First flight from Bengaluru to Male (Maldives) made an emergency landing at Coimbatore airport. The plane had to make an emergency landing after an engine overheat warning alarm sounded. Around 12 p.m., the Airbus 320 touched down at Coimbatore International Airport. The alarm allegedly went off after the twin engines overheated, and the flight was safely landed. The engineers checked the engines and determined that there was a problem with the alarm and that the flight was safe to fly.

"The plane with 92 passengers left for Male, the capital of Maldives, from Bengaluru, Karnataka today at 12:00 pm. An hour after the flight took off, the engine overheated, and the warning bell sounded. Shocked by this, the pilot contacted air traffic control and requested permission to land at the nearby Coimbatore airport. Permission was granted at Coimbatore Airport. Firefighters and rescue workers were on standby after the plane landed," said the officials.

The flight landed safely at the Coimbatore airport at 12.57 pm. All passengers were disembarked, and the entire aircraft was searched. As per reports, there was no sign of ignition on the flight.

Also read: Bobby Kataria denies smoking charges on flight, 'was shooting on dummy plane' claims Influencer

The flight will depart for Male, the capital of Maldives, after 5 pm after following the underlined procedures.Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over air safety after three emergency landings at airports in the country in the last 48 hours.

Scindia directed the officials in the meeting that, "there should be no compromise with the passengers` safety."Further, he said, "safety is the topmost paramount priority and a directive has been issued by the ministry to adhere to strictness about the safety issues and maintain the highest safety standards as per international norms.

"Earlier, three aircraft of international carriers made emergency landings at various airports in the country in one day recently, making it a day of technical emergencies for various airlines. A senior official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday.All emergency landings happened because of various technical issues.

The Air Arabia aircraft while operating flight G9-426 from Sharjah to Cochin was involved in a Hydraulic failure. The aircraft landed safely on the runway. The aircraft has been towed to the bay. In another incident, on July 16, an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Bangkok made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport due to a pressurisation issue.In a third similar incident, on July 15, an aircraft of Srilankan Airlines made an emergency landing at Chennai airport due to a hydraulic issue.

(With inputs from ANI)
Akasa Air, India's newest airline, launched its inaugural flights on the Bengaluru-Kochi route today after successfully launching its commercial operations on August 7, 2022. Akasa Air's QP 1353, which departed Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport at 11:00 a.m., arrived at Cochin International Airport at 12:30 p.m. The first aircraft, Akasa Air's QP 1354, left Cochin International Airport at 13:10 and touched down at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru at 14:15. Akasa Air will start operating twice-daily flights between Bengaluru and Kochi on August 13.

Akasa Air has already announced a total of five routes in five cities, including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Bengaluru, and Chennai, and would be operating a total of 54 weekly flights by August 13, 2022. This is in keeping with the airline's vision of using a phased approach to expand its network across India.

Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air, said, We are extremely grateful for the response we have received from travellers since our maiden flight, which was flagged off by the Honourable Civil Aviation Minister Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia-ji on 07 August. With this new Bengaluru  Kochi route, we look forward to our customers from these cities experiencing Akasa Airs warm and efficient customer service and reliable operations at very affordable fares.

Also read: Spicejet launches taxi service for passengers at 28 airports, promises zero waiting

With a focus on the metro to tier 2 and tier 3 route connectivity, the airline launched its commercial operations with two aircraft and expects to add two 737 MAX aircraft per month to develop a strong pan-India presence. By the end of March 2023, Akasa Air's fleet size will be 18 aircraft, and over the following four years, the airline will add another 54 aircraft, bringing its total fleet size to 72 aircraft.

At the time of Akasa Air's first flight Praveen Iyer, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Akasa Air, had said, "Akasa Air`s network strategy is focused on establishing a strong pan-India presence and providing linkages from metro to tier 2 and tier 3 cities across the country." In July, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed airline received the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
A high-profile event featuring pro-Trump, anti-vaccine speakers that kicks off Friday at a church in Genesee County is running into the same fierce opposition that drove the tour out of its scheduled stop in Rochester.

The ReAwaken America Tour features speakers who traffic in debunked beliefs and falsehoods about the 2020 election and Covid-19, including former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, presidential progeny Eric Trump and Republican operative Roger Stone.

The national tour was set to stop in Rochester on Friday and Saturday, but word of the visit spurred pushback earlier this summer and drove the host venue to pull the plug on the appearance.

Organizers then moved the tour stop to the Cornerstone Church in the Town of Batavia. This generated similar objections from church leaders and progressive groups there and prompted the state attorney general to send a letter to tour organizers raising her own concerns about the event.

Opponents have held several protests in Batavia and more are planned during the two-day event. They say they're primarily concerned about language used by tour participants that, they believe, caters to white supremacists and conspiracy theorists and splits the public along political or religious lines.

"You don't need that kind of division in our community," said the Rev. Roula Alkhouri, pastor of Batavia First Presbyterian Church, who has helped organize opposition to the tour stop among local church leaders.

The protests have not swayed Cornerstone Pastor Paul Doyle, who didn't respond to requests for comment.

ReAwaken America organizer Clay Clark, an Oklahoma businessman, said he has gotten used to the controversy that has dogged the tour from its inception. He expects up to 3,500 attendees at the Batavia stop and, with extensive security in place, he said he's not worried about any problems during the event itself.

"I'm only afraid of God and that's it," Clark said.

Clark, with Flynn's support, launched the ReAwaken America Tour in April 2021. It offered a platform, rooted in conservative Christianity, to promote objections to the Covid-19 vaccine, masking requirements and other measures intended to ease the spread of the coronavirus as well as to boost baseless claims about election fraud in the 2020 presidential race.

After leaving the Trump administration, Flynn in 2017 pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian government and, later, encouraged Trump to declare martial law following the 2020 election. Stone was found guilty of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump pardoned both men before he left office.

Other ReAwaken America Tour speakers include: Gene Ho, Trump's former campaign photographer, who has embraced the false QAnon conspiracy theory that the world is run by a ring of Democratic politicians who worship Satan and traffic children for sex; and Dr. Rashid Buttar, identified as one of the leading doctors who spread misinformation about Covid-19, who has called the virus a "planned operation" and predicted most people who received the vaccine will be dead by 2025.

The tour has held 17 stops since spring 2021. The stop scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Main Street Armory in Rochester was the first in the Northeast.

The booking stirred up strong objections from Rochester community leaders in May, with an online petition urging the armory to cancel the event receiving more than 2,000 signatures.

Clark said he wasn't surprised by Donaldson's decision.

Every event we do, every tour location we do, normally requires we book three to five venues. Cause usually the venues will cancel if theres any type of pressure from local media, activists, et cetera, he said.

The tour ended up shifting 35 miles west, to the Cornerstone Church in Batavia, where it also received a frigid welcome.

Alkhouri said she heard about the tour from a fellow pastor in Rochester after the visit was rescheduled from that city to Batavia.

She said she circulated a statement of opposition that was signed by 19 religious leaders and she and a couple of other pastors met with Doyle, Cornerstone's pastor, a week and a half ago.

The meeting was civil but no one's mind was changed, according to another attendee, the Rev. Jim Morasco, pastor of the Morganville United Church of Christ, who said he believes the organizers "twist" the true meaning of Christianity.

"It's just the opposite of what I believe Christianity, or any religion should be about," he said. "If anything it should ... bring people together. So, I didn't like the message that they were sending, or espousing."

Morasco and Alkhouri, who have attended anti-tour protests held in Batavia in recent weeks, said the language used by organizers and speakers could encourage future acts of domestic terrorism  even if the speakers at the tour stop don't directly use racist or violent rhetoric.

Alkhouri pointed to the May 14 hate-fueled attack at a Tops Market, where 10 Black people were massacred, carried out by a man authorities have described as a white supremacist.

"They may not say it, like, oh, you know, 'Go kill people,' " she said. "But what happens is people get radicalized  that's the concern that we have."

Similarly, in a letter to Flynn and Clark sent last week through the Cornerstone church, Attorney General Letitia James highlighted speakers' past "regular allusions to white nationalist ideals connected to the 'great replacement theory,' "  a conspiracy theory embraced by the Tops shooter  and warned that any outbreaks of violence or civil-rights violations would be investigated and prosecuted.

Doyle told local media outlets that he has a right to host the event and he felt James was harassing him.

Its intimidation right from our government, Doyle told Rochester's News 10.

Clark denied any racist motivation for the event.

Asked about the great replacement theory specifically, Clark said, "That is not a belief that I have. I've never used those words."

On Friday and Saturday, Clark said, the event will have a heavy presence of private security in and around the church in the Town of Batavia.

Genesee County Sheriff's deputies and state police also will be in the area, said road patrol Chief Deputy Brian Frieday.

Frieday said he spoke to his counterparts in other communities that have hosted the tour and they didn't report experiencing any serious problems.

Local and out-of-town religious leaders on Friday will hold a news conference outside the First Baptist Church, in the City of Batavia about 2 miles from the tour stop.

And local socialists are planning a teach-in to highlight the harm caused by an event that promotes, in their eyes, fascist views.

We have a very diverse community," said Gregory Lebens-Higgins, a member of the Genesee County chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. "I think we do have an obligation to show people in Buffalo, in Rochester, that this ReAwaken America Tour does not represent the people of Batavia and Genesee County.
New Delhi: Union Panchayati Raj Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh has hit back at Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his remarks that he never wanted to become the Prime Minister or Vice-President of India. Attacking Kumar, Singh said that he was throned as Chief Minister of Bihar in the year 2000 by the BJP only and now that he has become the CM for the last time, it is also because of them only

The senior BJP leader said that only time will tell whether Nitish Kumar wanted to become PM or Vice President of the country. "I said it earlier and will say it today that Nitish Kumar was never as comfortable as he has been with BJP. He was made the Chief Minister in 2000 by the BJP only and now that he has become the CM for the last time, it is also because of them only."

Singh further said that Kumar broke ties with them (BJP) because they don`t have a vacancy for the Prime Ministerial post. "Even in 2010, he broke ties with us and contested for the position of Prime Minister of the country in 2014 but he got stuck with two seats," he said.

"This year, there was no insult to him but he chose to walk away as we did not have space for the candidate to replace PM Narendra Modi. Yesterday, he remarked that whether he will stay or not (till 2024)...he will not go back to 2014, PM Modi has people`s blessings, PM Modi will remain the country`s Prime Minister till 2029, just watch!" Giriraj Singh said.

He also attacked RJD leader and Bihar Dy CM Tejashwi Yadav over his promise of creating at least 10 lakh jobs in the state.

10                     

pic.twitter.com/X8pbjhxmdH  Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) August 11, 2022

When asked about the political developments and damage control in Bihar, Singh said that politics and policies were for the betterment and welfare of the people. It may be noted that Kumar has categorically refuted the BJP`s claims of him wishing to become the Vice President and termed it `bogus`.

"Nitish wanted to become Vice President of India. Many JDU senior leaders sounded BJP Ministers if it is possible," BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi alleged in a tweet.

Sushil Modi further alleged that Kumar ditched the party after BJP denied nominating him for the position of second highest Constitutional post in the country and broke the alliance. Kumar was a long-time BJP ally before snapping ties in 2013. He later again joined hands in 2017. Kumar said that there was a unanimous decision in the party meeting in the morning "to break off ties".

JDU and BJP had fought the 2020 assembly polls together and Nitish Kumar was made the chief minister of the alliance though the BJP had won more seats. Nitish Kumar`s ties with BJP stretched to over two decades and he was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1996.

JDU leaders indicated that factors including the developments related to the exit of RCP Singh from the party had soured ties with BJP. JDU leaders have also been chafing at the role of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan during the 2020 assembly polls and have indicated that his putting up candidates from seats contested by the party had damaged it. JDU and RJD had fought the 2015 Bihar polls together. JDU has 45 and the RJD has 79 MLAs in the 243-member Bihar assembly.

(With ANI Inputs)
NEW DELHI: Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor' starrer 'Laal Singh Chaddha', arrived in theatres on August 11. The film, which is an official adaptation of the 1994 Hollywood feature Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks, follows the extraordinary journey of a simpleton named 'Laal' as he chases his dreams and love. In a big shock to the makers, the film has received a shockingly low rating of on IMDb.

'Laal Singh Chaddha' has received a rating of 3.5 on IMDb on the basis of 12,000 votes. This is a very poor rating, and reportedly is Aamir's lowest-rated film on IMDb so far. In fact, his major flops like 'Mela', 'Dhoom 3' and 'Thugs of Hindostan' have a better rating on IMDb than 'Laal Singh Chaddha'.

However, the rating on IMDb can be changed if more votes are cast in the favour of the film.

BOYCOTT LAAL SINGH CHADDHA TRENDS ON TWITTER

The film ran into a controversy ahead of its release in theatres after a section of internet users began trending #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha on Twitter, urging people to not watch the movie. Reason? Aamir Khan's controversial "India's growing intolerance" statement he made in the past is being circulated while a few of Kareena's controversial statements from the past too have been dug up by haters.

Aamir Khan in his 2015 interview said, "Our country is very tolerant, but there are people who spread ill-will". His wife Kiran Rao also made headlines for saying that she considered leaving the country for the safety of their children.

On August 11, members of a Hindu outfit staged a protest against 'Laal Singh Chaddha', demanding a ban on it in Uttar Pradesh as they accused the actor of making fun of deities. Members of the Sanatan Rakshak Sena raised slogans against the movie and held a protest in front of I P Vijaya Mall in Bhelupur.

The adaptation of the Hollywood film 'Forrest Grump' underwent a series of changes over a period of two decades. Atul Kulkarni spent the first ten years adapting the script, and another ten years purchasing the remake rights. Aamir Khan bought the rights to the film in early 2018 with the help of Los Angeles-based producer and director Radhika Chaudhari and announced the film officially on 14 March 2019, with its title.

The film has been shot at multiple picturesque locations across India. With the film, Aamir and Kareena reunited on-screen 13 years after the 2009 hit film '3 Idiots'. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan also has a cameo appearance in the film.
New Delhi: Dabur Chairman Amit Burman has resigned from his position, showed the BSE filing of the company. His resignation has been accepted by the board of directors and will take effect as of August 10's closing hours.

Additionally, the company announced the appointment of Saket Burman as Non-Executive Vice Chairman of the Board, effective August 11, and the appointment of Mohit Burman as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, effective August 11. Read More: Over 7% Indians owned cryptocurrency in 2021, says UN trade body

According to the company, Amit Burman will continue to work for the company as a Non-Executive Director. Read More: Income Tax payers alert! 50-day deadline to join Atal Pension Yojana -- 10 key points

Burman is credited for launching Dabur Foods Ltd., the company's entry into the processed food industry. According to Dabur Foods, he has been in charge of leading all business strategy, development, and communications.

In 1999, he took charge of Dabur Foods and launched a line of ethnic cooking pastes, chutneys, and packaged food juices. When Dabur Foods and Dabur India merged in 2007, he gave up his position as CEO of Dabur Foods.

He was then chosen to serve as Vice Chairman of Dabur India Ltd. He took leadership of Dabur India in 2019.

Burman holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, an MBA from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University, and a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University, Cambridge. He previously worked for Colgate Palmolive in the Manufacturing Strategy Department before joining Dabur. He also received training at Tishcon Corporation in New York in 1990.
New Delhi: Anand Mahindra, a well known industrialist, claims that receiving the tricolour from India Post as part of the government's "Har Ghar Tiranga" campaign was an honour.

The campaign was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a part of the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. In order to commemorate India's 75th anniversary of independence, the Central government is aiming to have at least 20 crore flags flying from August 13 to 15. Read More: Amit Burman steps down as Chairman of Dabur India, to continue as non-executive director

Anand Mahindra, age 67, was presented with a tricolour by Mumbai Postmaster General Swati Pandey. This afternoon, the Mahindra Group chairman tweeted a picture of himself holding the national flag along with the caption, "It was an honour to receive the 'Tiranga' from Postmaster General, Mumbai, Swati Pandey as part of the Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign. I appreciate you preserving the flag in our postal system, Swati. The beating heart of our country is still there! Read More: Homebuyers Alert! Land prices in Noida to go up by 20-30% after 3 years

As a part of the #Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign, it was an honour to receive the Tiranga from Postmaster General, Mumbai, Swati Pandey. Thank you Swati for keeping the Flag flying high in our postal system. Its still the heartbeat of our nation!#Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav pic.twitter.com/yl0B0BRxZX  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) August 12, 2022

The hashtag "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav" was also added by him.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the campaign on July 22, traders claim that sales of tricolours of all kinds have increased 50 times.

The goal of the initiative, according to the government, is to "inspire a sense of patriotism in the hearts of the people and to promote awareness of the Indian National Flag."

"With its extensive network of 1.5 lakh post offices, the Department of Posts (DoP) has reached every citizen of the nation with the "Har Ghar Tiranga" programme. India Post has sold more than 1 crore national flags to citizens in just 10 days through post offices and online "In a statement released on Thursday, India Post reported that more than 1 crore flags had been purchased in just 10 days.
New Delhi: Microsoft, which let go 1% of its workforce, or 1,800 workers, in July, has asked for the resignation of about 200 more staff members, this time from one of its customer-focused R&D projects, according to Wednesday's news reports.

Contract recruiters have reportedly been affected by the recent layoffs in various locations, according to posts on LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft. Read More: Anand Mahindra gets tricolour from India Post, says Har Ghar Tiranga

The additional job cuts were primarily concentrated in Microsoft's Modern Life Experiences (MLX) group, which was formed in 2018 with the objective of "winning back consumers," according to a Business Insider report ". Read More: Amit Burman steps down as Chairman of Dabur India, to continue as non-executive director

The Modern Life Experiences team's approximately 200 employees have been instructed to find another job at the company within 60 days or take severance, "the report claimed.

A company representative refused to give TechCrunch any additional information, but "didn't dispute that layoffs had taken place."

In order to empower families to learn, explore, and connect in a fun and safe environment, the Modern Life Experiences team was committed to "bringing consumer products directly to the people who need them."

According to reports, the MLS team later collaborated with Microsoft's Family Safety division to create the initial iteration of the Family Safety apps for iOS and Android.

The MLX group introduced Money in Excel in June 2020, a template that enabled users to quickly and easily link their bank, credit card, investment, and loan accounts to Excel.

"Money in Excel" "is expected to cease operations on June 30, 2023.

Last month, Microsoft, which is led by Satya Nadella, made history by hiring layoffs as part of a "realignment." ". Nearly 1% of Microsoft's 1,80,000-person workforce across its offices and product divisions was laid off. Additionally, Microsoft's hiring has slowed in the Office, Teams, and Windows divisions.

Google, Meta, Oracle, Twitter, Nvidia, Snap, Uber, Spotify, Intel, and Salesforce are a few other tech companies that have reduced hiring or laid off workers as a result of the current economic downturn.
International Youth Day 2022: According to estimates in the 2020 United Nations World Youth Report, 1.21 billion - 15.5 per cent of the global population - young people between the ages of 15 and 24 inhabit the earth. The International Youth Day is observed every year on August 12 to showcase and acknowledge the various issues young people across the world deals with on a daily basis and the role of youth in important matters in the world, be it in the world of education, social justice, global peace, climate change and more.

International Youth Day 2022: Theme

According to a report by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), "This years theme is 'Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages' to combat ageism and build bridges between generations. From the wisdom of youth to the energy and idealism of the elderly, we must welcome and leverage the gifts people of all ages bring and ensure no one is left behind. The worlds problems are too vast for entire generations to be absent from helping address them."

International Youth Day 2022: History and Significance

Ever since it was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1999, August 12 is celebrated as International Youth Day to acknowledge and amplify the importance of youth participation in current affairs

The UNFPA report highlights that ageism leads to discrimination and later gives rise to other ills of society like sexism and racism, which can have a detrimental effect on society and individuals. "We celebrate young peoples efforts and contributions big and small toward righting the worlds wrongs and pulling others along with them. Todays youth are tomorrows leaders who know that nothing will change if they stand by; change only happens when they stand up," the UNFPA says.

International Youth Day 2022: Wishes, quotes and messages

"Good habits formed at youth make all the difference."  Aristotle

The power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, our present and our future. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of the young people - Kailash Satyarthi

"My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions." - Swami Vivekananda

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation..." - Pearl S Buck

Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness. - F Scott Fitzgerald
The meritorious girl students, studying in government schools of Noida from classes 1 to 12, were felicitated in an event on Wednesday. The event to felicitate the students was IDC Technologies.

The IDC has provided government schools in Lucknow and Noida with basic facilities like stationery, text books, modern software and hardware for computer labs, firm's CEO Prateek Gattani said.

The felicitation ceremony was presided over by Mr. Ashu Jain, Mr. Ganesh Chandra Jha.

The dignitories felicitated Sulekha, a student of Government School, Sector-12, Noida. Meritorious girls of Primary School Kurshi Road and Rajauli Lucknow were also awarded.



Prateek Gattani also motivated the girls to move forward. A total of 75 female students were selected for the IDC Meritorious Student Awards in Noida and Lucknow. The female students were honored with certificates of encouragement and gift hampers.



Centering on the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" campaign being run by the government, IDC Technologies is always ready to advance the needy and deserving girl students and will continue to work selflessly in building an educated society.
New Delhi: Three minor girls were allegedly kidnapped, drugged and sexually assaulted in a house in New Delhis Rohini area by a man, who had planned to sell them in Chandigarh but all the girls managed to escape, police said. Delhi police informed that the girls were kidnapped from South Delhi`s Defence Colony area and were taken to Rohini on August 6 where they were allegedly raped.

The police said that four persons, including two women, have been arrested in connection with the case. The accused were identified as Bangali Lal Sharma (45), Sandeep alias Shanky (36), Ruksana (40) and Jyoti (19). However, the fifth accused Prakash alias Sanjay alias Minto is absconding.

The police informed that on August 6, the father of one of the girls lodged a complaint with the Defence Colony police station that his daughter went to school in Delhi`s Andrews Ganj at 7.30 a.m. by her school van. However, at 2 p.m., the school van driver informed the victim`s father that his daughter did not go to school by the van.

When the police started to investigate the case, it was found that two other girls were also found missing from the same school. Following this, the police, on basis of the father of the victim`s statement, registered a case under section 363 of the IPC at Defence Colony police station and the investigation was taken up.

The police formed a team of elite officials, who questioned the school staff, classmates of the missing girls and their relatives. The police team also examined the CCTV footage of the area.

"Meanwhile, information about the girls was received about their movement in Karol Bagh area. After making sincere efforts, they were traced from Karol Bagh area and were medically examined. The victims told the police that they were sexually assaulted," a police official said.

The victims told the police that the accused took them to a house in the Rohini area and they were sexually assaulted. A team of police personnel reached the house wherein the missing girls were kept after the kidnapping immediately.

"One Bangali Lal Sharma was found there and on enquiry, it was learnt that he used to run a syndicate of selling the girls along with a woman named Ruksana. As per the statement given by the girls, Sharma was the person, who along with the absconding accused Prakash alias Sanjay alias Minto had taken them to Rohini. The girls were offered drinks laced with sedatives. Minto sexually assaulted the three girls," the police said.

The police added that the victims managed to escape while Minto tried to take them to Chandigarh for selling them. The victims fled away from there and reached Delhi`s Karol Bagh area by an autorickshaw.

During the raid at the house of accused Minto, Sharma were apprehended along with the two women -- Ruksana and Jyoti. The police said that they have added sections 328/366A/370/376/506/120B/34 of the IPC and six POSCO Act in the FIR.

Both the accused women were also present in the room when the alleged incident of rape took place. Both Ruksana and Jyoti have been arrested and sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

The accused, Sharma and Shanky, who used to help in selling girls from one place to another were also arrested.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (August 12, 2022) gave an additional time of one week for the demolition of Supertechs twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald project in Uttar Pradeshs Noida. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna agreed with the Noida authority`s submissions and gave an additional bandwidth of one week in case of any technical delay or weather conditions in the demolition of the twin towers. The blast date has now been deferred from August 21 to 28.

Supertech's Apex and Ceyane towers in Sector 93A of Noida are scheduled for demolition in pursuance of the Apex Courts order from August last year which noted that the structures had come up in violation of building norms. According to the authorities, over 3,500 kg of explosives will be filled in around 9,400 holes drilled in the columns and shears of the skeletal structures of the twin towers.

Noida authority apprised the apex court that certain work prior to demolition has to be completed by August 25. The earlier date fixed to demolish the towers, which have been held illegal for a violation of norms, was May 22, 2022. It was extended to three months after the agency appointed for demolition Edifice Engineering sought time.

Earlier, the application for an Extention of time to demolish the towers was filed by Interim Resolution Professional (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 was expected.IRP was appointed superseding the board of Supertech Ltd. by the NCLT while hearing a petition filed by the Union Bank of India against the real estate major for non-payment of dues worth around Rs 432 crore.

Amicus curiae advocate Gaurav Agrawal had 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.

On February 7, the top court had asked the CEO, Noida to take necessary steps and to commence within two weeks the demolition of Supertech`s twin towers in Noida.

The apex court had earlier dismissed a plea of Supertech seeking modification of its August 31, 2021 order by which it was directed to demolish two of its 40-storey towers at its Emerald Court housing project.

While directing the demolition of two towers over grave violations of building norms, the top court had said that the Supertech shall carry out the demolition at its own expense within three months under the supervision of the Noida Authority and an expert body like the Central Building Research Institute.

The order had come on a batch of petitions filed by homebuyers for and against the April 11, 2014 verdict of the Allahabad High Court, which had ordered the demolition of the two buildings within four months and the refund of money to apartment buyers.

(With agency inputs)
Once again the Lalu Prasad Yadav's family has returned to power in Bihar. From party leaders to workers are celebrating it. The Lalu family was away from the power of Bihar since 2005. In 2015, when RJD's first grand alliance was formed with JDU, Tejashwi Yadav was Deputy Chief Minister for 18 months. His brother Tej Pratap Yadav was also a minister. But in 2017 the paths of JDU and RJD parted and Nitish Kumar formed the government with BJP.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav continued to sharpen his claws in politics. Keep learning political tricks. He matured himself to take over his father's legacy and strengthen the party. His leadership was also seen in the 2020 Bihar elections. Meanwhile, on 10 December 2021, he got married to his old frie aka Rachel Godinho. There was a buzz in Bihar that Rajshree Yadav would prove to be lucky for Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu family.

Just 9 months after getting married, Tejashwi Yadav has again become the Deputy Chief Minister. Rajshree came in Tejashwi Yadav's life a year ago, since then the stars started changing for the Lalu family. Lalu Prasad Yadav got bail in the fodder scam on medical grounds. Tej Pratap, who was unhappy with Tejashwi Yadav and other members on various issues, also came close to the family. He attended Tejashwi Yadav's wedding and was also seen dancing with her. Since then there has been no indication from Tej Pratap that he is angry with the family members.

After marriage to Rajshree, the relationship between Tejashwi Yadav and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also improved. During the Iftar party, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had also reached Rabri Devi's house. Since then, Nitish and Tejashwi met several times. At the time of Tejashwi's swearing-in, Rajshree Yadav had said that she is very happy that her husband has become the Deputy CM of Bihar. He thanked the people of Bihar and CM Nitish Kumar for this.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  The remains of Native American people who once lived in Alabama were dug up a century ago  often by amateur archaeologists  and given to the state along with the jewelry, urns and other objects buried with them.

The Alabama Department of Archives and History announced this week that it is beginning the process of returning the remains and funerary objects held in its collections to tribes as required by federal law. The department also announced it had removed the funerary objects from displays where the artifacts had sat for years, viewed by school groups and other visitors.

The origins of those materials and the way they came into our possession is really quite problematic from todays perspective. and we very much honor and agreed with Native perspectives on what is and isnt a proper type of material to show in a museum exhibition," Steve Murray, the director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, said Thursday.

The funerary objects were,the personal property of someone who was buried and then that burial was later disturbed without permission," Murray said.

The 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires federally funded institutions, such as universities, to return Native American remains and cultural items to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. However, the return has been slow to happen.

The Associated Press reported last month that 870,000 Native American artifacts  including nearly 110,000 human remains  are still in the possession of colleges, museums and other institutions across the country, according to data maintained by the National Park Service.

The first materials to be returned from the Alabama archives will be 37 sets of human remains and 349 associated funerary objects that were excavated from burials at two sites in Montgomery and Lowndes counties in the early 1900s. The graves were of people who lived in Alabama in the 18th century although some dated back to the 1600s, Murray said.

State archives have a total of 114 sets of remains taken from 22 sites across the state plus the objects that were buried with those people, Murray said.

University of Alabama museums are the largest holder of Native American remains and artifacts in Alabama.
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakhs each to kin of those who died in Banda boat capsize incident. The Chief Minister also instructed officials concerned to provide immediate help and relief to the victims. Two ministers of the Yogi cabinet, Ramkesh Nishad and Rakesh Sachan, have been instructed to reach the spot immediately.

CM Yogi Adityanath earlier condoled the loss of lives and directed the District Magistrate (DM) and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the district to conduct a search and rescue operation immediately.

Meanwhile, search operation resumed on Friday morning for 17 people who are still missing after their boat capsized in the Yamuna River in Uttar Pradesh`s Banda district on Thursday. The boat carrying 30 to 40 people was going from Fatehpur to Marka village. Three bodies have been recovered so far. According to reports, teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) stopped the operation on Thursday night.

Also read: 'Respect laws of the land, OTHERWISE..': CM Yogi warns youths working against Constitution

District Magistrate Anurag Patel told ANI that the administration is trying its best to rescue as many people as possible, adding "NDRF, SDRF, a team of local divers are searching for 17 missing people. We are trying our best to rescue as many people as possible from those who have gone missing. The rescue operation has been stopped now, it will resume in the morning."

Also read: UP to soon become only state in India with 5 international airports: Yogi Adityanath

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) reached the location promptly.

A resident of the area told ANI, "In the boat, around 40 people were on-board, as many as 15 people have returned. The boat capsized after one of its flanks broke, there were 8 women and 4 children on board."

"Due to rain, it has been slippery which is causing issues in rescue, bur still teams are working hard to trace the missing people," ANI quoted Deputy Inspector General of Police, VK as saying. As of now, around 20 people have been rescued and 17 are still missing.

(With ANI Inputs)
New Delhi: A major tragedy appears to have been averted after the Delhi Police claimed on Friday that it has busted a syndicate involved in the smuggling of ammunition and recovered a huge quantity of ammunition during the operation just days ahead of Independence Day celebrations. Delhi Police has also not ruled a terror angle behind the recovery of a huge cache of ammunition and has begun an extensive probe in this regard.

According to reports, Delhi Police recovered around 2,000 live cartridges from its east district and arrested six people in this connection ahead of Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

Delhi Police have busted a syndicate involved in the smuggling of ammunition, recovered a huge quantity of ammunition including around 2000 live cartridges; 6 persons arrested. pic.twitter.com/rpaiG4upSl  ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2022

Sharing more information, Additional Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range) Vikramjit Singh, prima facie, the accused appear to be part of a criminal network but he did not rule out a TERROR angle.

Delhi | This consignment was intended for Lucknow, UP. Prima facie it appears to be a part of criminal network. Terror angle not ruled out: Vikramjit Singh, ACP, Eastern Range on busting ammunition smuggling syndicate pic.twitter.com/BvheJpTGzO  ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2022

Of the six arrested, Singh identified two as Rashid and Ajmal. He said an auto-rickshaw driver had tipped the police about the duo.

"A total of 2,251 live cartridges have been recovered. We got a tip-off about the same on August 6 from an auto driver who had dropped two persons at Anand Vihar railway station," Singh said at a press conference.

"Of the six people arrested so far, one is a person from Dehradun. He is the owner of a gun house. Prima facie, it appears to be done through a criminal network. However, police are not ruling out a terror angle," he added.

High alert in Delhi ahead of I-Day celebrations

The national capital has turned into a fortress as the city police has made elaborate security arrangements for Independence Day, which would be flawless and foolproof. Police have beefed up security measures across the capital, intensifying patrolling and conducting anti-sabotage checks. Hotels, guesthouses, parking lots and restaurants are being checked, and a verification drive of tenants and servants is being carried out.

10,000 police personnel deployed on duty

On the occasion of Independence Day, more than 10,000 police personnel will be deployed in different roles across the Red Fort and the routes leading to the venue. We have made flawless and foolproof security arrangements for the day, Special commissioner of police (law and order) Dependra Pathak was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday maintained that he had no prime ministerial ambitions but said he was looking forward to playing a positive role in forging opposition unity against the ruling NDA at the Centre.

Taking a dig at the BJP over misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate against the new government in Bihar, he said, "the new government came in power after ousting the BJP and those habituated to misuse central agencies will face public ire".

"Please do not ask me such questions. I have said many times that I have no such ambitions. I want to serve my state", Kumar asserted with folded hands on being asked whether the people of Bihar could one day see him as the prime minister.

However, when asked what role he saw for himself in forging unity among disjointed opposition parties? Kumar said- "Our role will be positive. I have been receiving many calls. I wish that we all come together (against the BJP-led NDA). You will see some action in the days to come."

When asked about the fear of ED and CBI being unleashed on the new ruling govt, he said, "I have no such fears. Those who have a habit of misusing central agencies should remember that people see everything very closely".

When asked whether he would travel to Gujarat to campaign for the assembly elections scheduled later this year?

"The JD(U) leader said you will get to know about that in due course".

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: A senior BJP leader has warned Trinamool Congress MLAs and office bearers that their party president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will ditch them too if something about them made her uncomfortable at any point in time. The warning was issued by BJP's media cell in-charge Amit Malviya days after TMC leaders Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal were arrested by the central agencies ED and the CBI in separate cases of alleged corruption.

Malviya, who is also West Bengal BJP co-incharge, took to Twitter and said, Mamata Banerjee stopped picking Partha and Anubrotos calls, just when they needed her the most. She deserted them when it got inconvenient. Message for other ministers, TMC workers and bureaucrats, who have colluded with her to loot, murder and rape - you too will be abandoned.

Mamata Banerjee stopped picking Partha and Anubrotos calls, just when they needed her the most. She deserted them when it got inconvenient.



Message for other ministers, TMC workers and bureaucrats, who have colluded with her to loot, murder and rape - you too will be abandoned.  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 12, 2022

The BJPO leader also accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of patronising criminals like Anubrata Mandal. Malviya alleged that Mamata gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch.

"Mamata Banerjee patronises criminals like Anubrota Mondal. As Chief Minister and Home Minister of West Bengal, she gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch. Partha Chatterjee or Anubroto Mondal, the buck stops at Mamata Banerjee," Malviya said quoting his old tweet.

Mamata Banerjee patronises criminals like Anubroto Mondal. As Chief Minister and Home Minister of West Bengal, she gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch. Partha Chaterjee or Anubroto Mondal, the buck stops at Mamata Banerjee. https://t.co/fNRKSwV4fh  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 11, 2022

On March 26, sharing a picture Malviya had said, "What message is Bengal`s Home Minister giving by having Birbhum`s local goonda Anubroto Mondal in her car, under whose instruction Anarul Hossain operated, now arrested for the Rampurhat massacre? This picture explains how the criminalisation of WB politics starts right from the top."

After Anubrata Mandal was arrested by the CBI this morning, West Bengal BJP president Dr Sukanta Majumdar tweeted: "CM @MamataOfficial has turned blind eye to cattle smuggling. Slowly slowly, culprits in such heinous crimes are being arrested. Anubrato Mondal is the same person who threatened that past incidents of murders like in 2011,14,16 and 19 will be repeated again."

The CBI officials reached Mandal`s Bolpur residence around 9.50 a.m. escorted by a huge contingent of central armed forces personnel. After a little over an hour of questioning, they arrested him in connection with the cattle smuggling scam. The arrest was made after the Trinamool Congress strongman ducked the central agency summons ten consecutive times.
KOLKATA: In yet another setback to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a senior TMC leader Pawan K Verma on Friday tendered his resignation to the party president.

Verma took to Twitter and wrote, "Please accept my resignation from the @AITCofficial. I want to thank you for the warm welcome accorded to me, and for your affection and courtesies. I look forward to remaining in touch. Wishing you all the best, and with warm regards."

Dear @MamataOfficial ji, Please accept my resignation from the @AITCofficial. I want to thank you for the warm welcome accorded to me, and for your affection and courtesies. I look forward to remaining in touch. Wishing you all the best, and with warm regards, Pavan K. Varma  Pavan K. Varma (@PavanK_Varma) August 12, 2022

It may be recalled that Pavan K Varma, a former JD(U) MP, had joined Trinamool Congress last year, saying it was the need of the hour to work for strengthening the Opposition.

Keeping the political circumstances in mind, it is imperative to strengthen the Opposition, he had told reporters then.

Varma, along with Prashant Kishor, was expelled from the JD(U) last year after the two stepped up attacks on its alliance partner BJP over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

His resignation came days after Nitish Kumar returned to the Mahagathbandhan, breaking JD(U)'s alliance with the BJP-led NDA in Bihar.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come under an Opposition attack after TMC leaders Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal were arrested by the central agencies - ED and the CBI - in separate cases of alleged corruption.

She has been accused of patronising criminals like Anubrata Mandal. BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya has alleged that Mamata gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological Es recently approved heterologous Covid-19 vaccine, Corbevax is expected to be available as a booster dose on the COWIN App in both public and private vaccination centres from Friday, the company said. Corbevax was approved as Indias First Heterologous COVID-19 Booster Shot for 18 Years and above after the six months of administration of the primary vaccination doses of Covaxin or Covishield.

Who can take Corbevax booster shot?

People who have taken Covaxin or Covishield can be administrated a Corbevax booster shot in "emergency use authorisation". The Union Health Ministry approved Corbevax for emergency use on the basis of a recently made recommendation by the COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

"This approval came after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the vaccine for emergency use as a heterologous COVID-19 booster dose for individuals aged 18 years on June 4, 2022," an official statement from the BE said.

It further added that the Corbevax had received emergency use authorization as a primary two-dose vaccination regimen in Adults, Adolescents and Children aged 5 years and above, in a series of approvals from December`21 to April`22.

10 crore doses delivered so far

The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company (BE) has, so far, delivered 10 crore doses of Corbevax to the Centre. "Pan-India roll-out of the booster shot vaccine in children aged between 12 to 14 years was initiated on March 16, 2022 and till now almost 7 crore doses have been administered and 2.9 crore children completed their two-dose vaccination regimen," it said.

According to the manufacturer company, the vaccine has undergone comprehensive booster trials on Indian subjects and subsequently received approval from the Indian regulatory authority.

First Indian vaccine to be approved as a heterologous Covid-19 booster dose

BE`s Corbevax is the first Indian vaccine to be approved as a heterologous COVID-19 booster dose. It uses a traditional recombinant protein-based technology, which is also used for vaccines such as Hepatitis B.

The Corbevax heterologous booster-dose clinical trials demonstrated a significant boosting of humoral immune response measured in terms of neutralization antibody titres against the ancestral as well as the omicron strain, binding antibody titres as well as cellular immune response along with minimal adverse events that were mild in nature.

"Corbevax has become the first vaccine in India to be approved as a heterologous COVID-19 booster. The approval by the Ministry of Health today is another important step in combating the pandemic. We are very pleased with this endorsement, which recognizes the safety and efficacy of our vaccine," said Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. Limited.

What is the price of Corbevax vaccine?

The price of Corbevax for private COVID-19 vaccination centres is Rs 250, inclusive of the Goods and Sales tax. For the end-user, the price of the vaccine is Rs 400, including taxes and administrative charges. Corbevax is expected to be available as a booster dose on the CoWIN App in public and private vaccination centres from Friday (August 12, 2022).
New Delhi: The World consists of 195 nations, out of which, 92 countries consider Terrorism to be a grievous and serious global issue and attempt to make efforts to eradicate it. Terrorism has no place in a civilised society and that is why developed and developing countries today, from every corner of the world, are joining forces to surmount this problem. We had seen some of the most daunting manifestations of human terrorism in the ghastly attacks of 9/11 in the US, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in India, France and many nations of the world. However, out of all these nations that stand united against the issue of terrorism, India is the sole country where even terrorism is politicized. We have no shortage of people and institutions who talk about the human rights of the terrorists, who take hundreds of innocent lives without a cause, of which the latest Bandipora killing of a migrant worker at the hands of terrorists is the case in point.

In todays DNA, Zee Medias Rohit Ranjan made a detailed analysis of the rising terrorist attacks on Hindus and migrant workers and the politicisation of terrorism.

Why the sudden rise in killings of non-Kashmiri workers?

The prime and foremost reason behind this is the pro-terrorism forces and anti-national organisations intend to halt any kind of development in Kashmir and this can be possible only when they abate the employment opportunities in the disputed region.

Notably, this is the second major incident of target killing in the last 10 days. Earlier on August 4, in Pulwama, a worker from Bihar was killed in a grenade attack.

Earlier on June 2 this year, terrorists killed a Hindu bank manager from Rajasthan.

This is because the anti-India forces do not want normalcy to return in Kashmir and intend to create such an environment in the valley that no worker from any other state can come here for employment opportunities and leading to the development of the valley,

The infamous Bandipora killing

A 19-year-old migrant worker, named Mohammad Amrez was brutally killed by terrorists in Kashmirs Bandipora on Thursday. He came to the valley in search of employment with his two brothers just four months ago.

Amrez was shot thrice and was found by his brother lying in a pool of blood.

Watch Today's DNA here!
New Delhi: The Yamuna is flowing precariously close to the warning level of 204.5 metres in Delhi following heavy rain in upper catchment areas, and its water level is likely to breach the danger mark on Saturday morning, authorities said. The Delhi flood control room issued a warning on Thursday night. According to a forecast by the Central Water Commission, the water level in the river is likely to cross the danger mark of 205.33 metres on Saturday morning. The flood control room said the water level stood at 203.86 metres at the Old Railway Bridge at 8 am. It was 204.29 metres at 8 am on Thursday.

A flood alert is declared in Delhi when the discharge rate from the Yamuna Nagar-located Hathnikund Barrage crosses the 1 lakh cusecs mark. People living near the floodplains and in flood-prone areas are evacuated then, an official said. The warning issued by the flood control department on Thursday advised all sector officers to keep a vigil in their respective areas and take necessary action at vulnerable points such as the deployment of a requisite number of quick reaction teams to warn people residing within river embankments. Thirty-four boats and mobile pumps have been deployed in anticipation of flooding in low-lying areas.

The Delhi flood control room reported a discharge rate of around 2.21 lakh cusecs from the Hathnikund Barrage at 3 pm on Thursday and 1.55 lakh cusecs at 12 midnight. One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second. Normally, the flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage is 352 cusecs, but the discharge is increased after heavy rainfall in the catchment areas. The water discharged from the barrage normally takes two-three days to reach the capital.

According to the India Meteorological Department, heavy to very heavy rainfall occurred at a few places in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday. The administration is keeping a close watch on the situation as more rainfall is expected in the region.

Last year, the Yamuna had breached the danger mark on July 30 and the water level at the Old Railway Bridge had risen to 205.59 metres.

In 2019, the flow rate had peaked to 8.28 lakh cusec on August 18-19, and the water level of the Yamuna had hit the 206.60 metre-mark.

The Delhi government had to launch evacuation and relief operations after the overflowing river submerged many low-lying areas.

In 1978, the river had swelled to the all-time record water level of 207.49 metres. In 2013, it had risen to 207.32 metres.

(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Zee News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: As the welfare schemes vs freebies debate between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continue to grow intense, senior AAP leader and Arvind Kejriwals number two Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of running a Dostiwadi model of government where the loan of the big time, rich industrialists are waived off a common people are compelled to pay taxes and given no subsidies. The deputy chief minister of Delhi was addressing the media on the freebies issue, a day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attacked Arvind Kejriwal for damaging the economy of India by providing free facilities and services to the people.

Talking about the BJPs reaction, Sisodia said, They're (BJP) making fun of welfare schemes by saying it's a 'Revdi' and had a 'Dostwaadi' model, they won't waive off the loan of a single farmer. Under this model, they don't believe in giving free govt education to students.

They're (BJP) making fun of welfare schemes by saying it's a 'Revdi' & had a 'Dostwaadi' model, they won't waive off the loan of a single farmer. Under this model, they don't believe in giving free govt education to students: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia pic.twitter.com/kx3hoSRtZ6  ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2022

BJP believes in ruining schools and hospitals to the extent that people are forced to go to private schools and hospitals which mostly belong to their friends. Once poor people fail to pay the fee, gates of these private institutes are shut for them, he added.

They (BJP) believe in ruining schools & hospitals to the extent that people are forced to go to private schools & hospitals which mostly belong to their friends. Once poor people fail to pay the fee, gates of these private institutes are shut for them: Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia pic.twitter.com/L8TYOtICjy  ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2022

Freebies: BJP vs AAP

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also, while addressing the nation on fuel price rise, said that it is easy for governments to provide free petrol and diesel but it defeats the purpose of Atmanirbhar Bharat that todays India stands for.

It was also PM Modi who coined and brought the term Free ki Revdi term into the Indian political scenario

Later, Finance Minister Sitharaman launched an attack on Arvind Kejriwal for his where is the Centres money going barb.

Arvind Kejriwal is giving a perverse twist to freebies on Health and Education. This is to scare the public. We want a debate and discussion on freebies,she added.

Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday targeted the Centre for denouncing free facilities given by his party to the taxpayers and asked where is all the money of the Union Government going.
HBSE Results 2022: The Haryana Board of Secondary Education, HBSE, has declared the 0th 12th Compartment Result 2022. Candidates who appeared for the compartment exams can now check their HBSE Class 10, Class 12 Compartment Result 2022 on the official site- bseh.org.in.

HBSE 10th, 12th Compartment Result 2022: Here's how to check

Visit the official website of Haryana board, hbse.org.in On the home page click on the Secondary/Sr Secondary Examination July 2022 link Entre your log-in credentials Submit, Your Haryana Board Compartment Result 2022 will appear on the screen Download and take a printout of the same

The compartment exam which was held on July 31, 2022 was a one-day exam and the results can be checked now.
The announcement that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will meet in Buffalo this month  the agencys first meeting outside Washington, D.C., since 2015  is welcome news in a city still coping with the heinous attack by a white supremacist who killed 10 Black shoppers at a Tops supermarket and wounded three others on May 14.

But its more than that, too.

The gunman highlighted deep fissures within Buffalo. Prominent among them is the systemic racism that afflicts one of the nations most segregated cities  one that nonetheless prides itself as the City of Good Neighbors.

None of this information is new and, to their credit, individuals, nonprofit groups and businesses have been hard at work to tell the story and change the narrative.

Consider the Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable which launched in 2015, and includes 33 community leaders and more than 350 community partners from public, private, nonprofit and faith institutions. That group convened to advance racial equity and promote the change required to accelerate a shared regional prosperity through a 10-point-agenda and supported by organizations including the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the City of Buffalo and many other local and national donors.

But if segregation is infused in the regions history, so are efforts to bring about racial equity, starting as far back as the Underground Railroad at the Michigan Street Baptist Church.

A piece by William Evitts for the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society states that it can be argued that the 20th Century Civil Rights Movement began in Western New York and adjoining Fort Erie, Canada, in 1905. Uncompromising protest and the demand for change, and led the way for the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) five years later, he wrote, noting the use of 1910 as the official opening year of the NAACP, though there were preliminary meetings in 1909.

The Niagara Movement was composed of 59 leading African American intellectuals, writers, newspapermen and activists, 29 of whom attended the organizational meeting in Buffalo, and whose moving spirit was none other than W.E.B. Du Bois.

So, yes, it is wholly appropriate for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to hold its listening session in City Halls Common Council chamber on Aug. 22. The purpose is to gather input for its strategic enforcement plan for the next five years.

The gunman who stole 10 lives exposed the social and economic chasm that still divides this community but did not  could never  put an end to the hard work that has taken place to close those gaps.

America is still a work in progress, and that is what makes it great. As Charlotte A. Burrows, the EEOC chair said, Wisdom exists in many communities outside of Washington, and Buffalo, like so many American cities, has a history inextricably tied to racial discrimination but also to resilience and civil rights advocacy.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Independence Day 2022: The stage is all set for Indians across the globe to commemorate August 15th as the day when India gained freedom from Imperial British Raj 75 years ago. However, do you know that India is not the only country that got its independence on August 15.

As we celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mohatsav, 75 years of freedom, from the violence of colonialism and colonial modernity, lets take a look at five other countries around the world that share the joy and jubilation of freedom along with India on August 15.

North Korea and South Korea

North Korea and South Korea celebrates its National Liberation Day or Gwangbokjeol on August 15. Gwangbokjeol (meaning Time of the Restoration of Light) marks the end of Japanese rule of Korea. The National Liberation Day of Korea commemorates Victory over Japan Day, when the United States and the Allied powers liberated Korea from 35 years of Japanese rule. However, Independent Korean governments were created three years later.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein also celebrates its Independence Day on August 15. The country calls it Staatsfeiertag. Liechtenstein is worlds sixth smallest nation. The date also commemorates the birthday of Prince Franz Josef II.

Bahrain

Bahrain declared its independence from the British on August 15, 1971, following a United Nations survey of the Bahraini population. Although 15 August is the actual date on which Bahrain gained its independence from the British, the kingdom does not celebrate or mark that date. Instead, the state annually celebrates 16 December as National Day, to coincide with the day that late emir (ruler) Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa ascension to the throne, as per he reports.
Jaipur: Around one crore school students across Rajasthan on Friday set a "world record" by singing patriotic songs under the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' campaign, officials said. Addressing students at the Sawai Mansingh stadium, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot congratulated the students for the achievement.

"I am happy that the World Book of Records, London, which is a prestigious institution, listened to the songs sung by one crore students and presented a certificate to the state government," he said. Songs like 'Vande Mataram', 'Sare Jahaan Se Acha' and the national anthem were sung by the students for around 25 minutes to set the record.

The chief minister said the new generation should inculcate the values of brotherhood and sacrifice as they are the future of the country. He said his government wanted the state to progress on the path of development.

Gehlot also congratulated young people of the country on International Youth Day. "Greetings to young people on #InternationalYouthDay. Our youth have an important role to play in nation building. On this day, we reaffirm our commitment to provide the best education, training and adequate employment opportunities to the youth," he tweeted.

Greetings and best wishes to young people on #InternationalYouthDay. Our youth have an important role to play in nation building. On this day, we reaffirm our commitment to provide the best education, training and adequate employment opportunities to the youth.  Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) August 12, 2022

At the district-level, the in-charge ministers concerned were the chief guests at the programmes.


New York: India has expressed its concern over the reports of shelling near the fuel storage facility of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Ukraine, calling for mutual restraint as the Russian military operations entered nearly six months, while addressing a UNSC briefing. India's statement came after Ukraine accused Russia of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) again on Thursday. "India expresses its concern over the reports of shelling near the spent fuel storage facility of the Zaporizhya Nuclear Power Plant. We call for mutual restraint so as not to endanger the safety and security of nuclear facilities," ANI quoted India`s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj as saying.

She said that they are following the developments regarding the safety and security of Ukraine`s nuclear power reactors and facilities, adding that India attaches high importance to ensuring the safety and security of nuclear facilities, as any accident involving nuclear facilities could potentially have severe consequences for public health and the environment.

Ruchira Kamboj further said, "We also accord high priority to the discharge by the IAEA of its safeguards and monitoring activities, in accordance with its Statute in an effective, non- discriminatory and efficient manner, and we value the efforts of the Agency in this regard. We have noted the latest information available with regard to the nuclear power plants and facilities in Ukraine, including the updates published on August 9 and 10 by the IAEA, and today`s updates on developments."

Also read: India slams China, Pakistan for double standards on terrorism at UNSC meet

Stating that India continues to remain concerned over the situation in Ukraine, Kamboj reminded the UNSC that ever since the conflict between the two countries started, India has consistently called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to violence, adding that "India has called upon both sides to return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue. India supports all diplomatic efforts to end the conflict."

Also read: India's envoy Ruchira Kamboj calls Israel-Gaza conflict Matter of Grave concern at UNSC

"While we are discussing the nuclear dimension of this conflict, we need also to be acutely cognizant of the impact of the Ukraine conflict on developing countries, particularly, on the supply of food grains, fertilizer and fuel. It is important for all of us to appreciate the importance of equity, affordability, and accessibility when it comes to food grains. Open markets must not become an argument to perpetuate inequity and promote discrimination," she added.

Indian envoy also welcomed the UN Secretary General-backed initiative to open the exports of grains from Ukraine via the Black Sea and the facilitation of the exports of Russian food and fertilizers, adding "These efforts demonstrate that differences can be resolved through sustained dialogue and diplomacy, which has been the consistent position of India. We continue to reiterate that the global order should be anchored on international law, the UN Charter and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states."

Zelenskyy urges world to react on Russian-controlled N-plant

Earlier in his daily video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community to force the Russian army to leave the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after multiple strikes hit the compound, adding "The entire world must react immediately to chase out the occupiers from Zaporizhzhia. Only the Russians` full withdrawal... would guarantee nuclear safety for all of Europe."

This statement came after Ukraine accused Russia of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) again on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier, the Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanded access to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "as soon as possible" for their safety.

"I ask that both sides cooperate... and allow for a mission of the IAEA to proceed as soon as possible," Rafael Mariano Grossi said in an address to the UN Security Council.Grossi said the IAEA had received updates from both Ukraine and Russia, but that the information provided was often contradictory, according to Al Jazeera.

"So I propose, I plead to call this mission as soon as possible," he said, adding that preventing a nuclear disaster was a "collective responsibility." Ukraine`s interior minister said that Kyiv is making contingency plans to face any scenario at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, including evacuating people from the area."

Meanwhile, the UN Chief has called for an immediate end to all military activity around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, warning that any damage could lead to "catastrophic consequences" in the region and beyond, reported Al Jazeera.

In a statement issued before a UN Security Council meeting to discuss security at the plant, Antonio Guterres appealed "for common sense and reason" to avoid any actions "that might endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the nuclear plant".

Notably, Russia launched a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, which the West has termed an unprovoked war. As a result of this, the Western countries have also imposed several crippling sanctions on Moscow.

(With ANI Inputs)
Madurai-born, Toronto-based filmmaker, Leena Manimekalai landed in a bitter controversy when the poster of her upcoming documentary movie depicting Goddess Kaali showed a woman dressed as the Hindu goddess smoking a cigarette. After Hindu priests and political leaders raised an objection to the depiction, several FIRs were filed against her across India. On Friday, Leena shared a Facebook post revealing that her grandmother has passed away and added that she could not "kiss her a goodbye" because of the FIRs filed against her.

The Facebook post, which includes a picture of hers with her grandmother which she wrote was taken before she left for Canada, mentions, "Avva, my grandmother Rajeswari, stopped breathing. She is the binding force for our family. An abode of compassion, love and patience. I don't understand why I am alive when I can't even kiss her a farewell."

She goes on to explain why she could not big her grandmom a final adieu. "I am stuck in Toronto because I am a criminal according to the Indian Government that has booked me in nine FIRs and issued a look out circular to arrest me in the airport itself - all for a film poster. Three days ago, Avva has told my amma that, I would win all the cases. She whispered love you, muah in my last video call with her. Maybe I am alive to live her wish. I am Kali. My avva is Kalis mother. We can be defeated but not be destroyed."

Check out her Facebook post below:

Leena Manimekalai: Who is she and what's the controversy

Leena Manimekalai is a Madurai-born, Toronto-based Indian filmmaker, poet and actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and a dozen films in genres, including documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. She has been recognised for participation, mentions and best film awards in many international and national film festivals. She has received numerous accolades and awards including the Silver Trophy for Best Documentary at the Europe Film Festival (2004), the Independent Diaspora Festivals in Paris and in Norway (2005), the Golden Conch at the Mumbai International Film Festival (2008), and others.

The portrayal of Goddess Kali in the poster of her documentary did not go down well with a section of social media users who had demanded her arrest. Many Indian politicians had also slammed her.
Laal Singh Chaddha boycott row: Amid Lal Singh Chaddha boycott row, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has postponed his proposed visit to Assam till after Independence Day celebrations at his request.

Sarma asked the 'Laal Singh Chaddha' star to push back his visit so that the focus does not get diverted from Independence Day gala.

"Aamir Khan wanted to come here and had spoken to me about it. But to ensure that the focus of Independence Day doesn't get diverted, I urged him to come after August 15," Sarma told reporters here on the sidelines of a programme.

"We don't want the focus to shift from the Tiranga on Independence Day," he added. Sarma said that he is "regularly in touch with Khan over phone and the actor will visit the state whenever I (Sarma) ask him?"

"We will fix the date later," the chief minister added.

The actor had donated Rs 25 lakh to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund in June this year when the state was reeling under devastating floods.

Often called Bollywood's "Mr Perfectionist," Khan had last visited the state nearly 10 years ago and had stayed in Tezpur in the northern part. His latest movie, "Laal Singh Chaddha," released on August 11.
New Delhi: A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death by some people after an argument in south Delhi's Malviya Nagar area, police said on Friday (August 12, 2022). The incident was caught on a CCTV camera, footage from which was shared widely on social media.

Police had received a call on Thursday about stabbing of a man near gate number 3 of Begumpur's DDA Market, a senior police officer said.

The man was rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre, from where police found that the injured was one Mayank Panwar, a resident of Shahpur Jat, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Benita Mary Jaiker said.

Vikas Panwar, Mayank's friend, told police that the incident happened around 7 pm Thursday when they both were sitting at Qila, Begumpur in Malviya Nagar, where 4-5 men picked an argument with Mayank, the DCP said.

After the argument they went away, but soon returned and pelted both friends with stones, police said.

Vikas and Mayank tried to flee, but the group chased down Mayank near gate number 3 of the DDA Market and stabbed him multiple times, the DCP said.

In the video, Mayank is seen running and being chased by some people. They catch up with him near a car and one of the accused, wearing white pants, stabs him several times.

A case under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC has been registered and an investigation is on, police said.

The accused have been identified and efforts are being made to nab them, Jaiker said.

The motive behind the incident is yet to be ascertained. Mayank had done a course in hotel management and was currently unemployed, police said.
New Delhi: Amid the attacks and counter-attacks regarding the `Revdi politics` on freebies, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday (August 12, 2022) slammed the Centre on their `quid pro quo` approach. Sisodia said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tried to scare people by claiming that spending government money on public welfare will destroy India and urged the Centre to invest in citizens.

"Politics is being done to make fun of welfare schemes by calling them `free ki revdi`. Yesterday, FM Nirmala Sitharaman tried to scare the country and said that the country would be ruined. Madam Finance Minister google and see that all the developed countries of the world believe in free education for their children," said Sisodia.

Delhi Deputy CM, while addressing a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat, claimed there are two models of governance. One is the 'Dostwadi' model and the other is investing in public welfare schemes, Sisodia said.

"The 'Dostwadi' model of the BJP waives loans of lakhs of crores of rupees of its friends but deprives common man of facilities like health and education. They do 'Dostwadi' politics (for welfare of friends) and we do politics for the common people," the AAP leader said.

Sisodia said the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government is "revenue surplus" despite providing free schemes for the people while the "BJP-run states are in deficit". He also highlighted that 39 countries around the world provide free education and countries like Canada, UK, and Brazil provide free health facilities to their people while drinking water is free in many countries.

ALSO READ | India@75: India is responsible for these eight world-changing inventions

"These governments believe in free investment on their citizens. Our country is at the bottom of every index. Madam Finance Minister look at the BJP governments, the physical deficit in UP is Rs 81,000 crore and that of Gujarat is Rs 36,000 crore. Whereas for 7 years, the Delhi government is running in surplus despite investment in education, health etc," he added.

Meanwhile, earlier on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had hit out at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal saying he had given a "perverse twist" to the debate on freebies as health and education were never considered giveaways and no Indian government has ever denied them to the people.

Sitharaman said that by classifying education and health as freebies, Kejriwal was trying to instil fear in minds of the poor.There should be a genuine debate on this matter, she said. The Finance Minister was responding to questions raised by the Delhi Chief Minister on freebies.

(With agency inputs)
Gurgaon: A 36-year-old woman has been admitted to the hospital in critical condition after she was attacked by a Pitbull dog here, causing serious injuries. The incident has been reported from the Civil Lines area. The woman, a domestic help, was attacked by the dog on Thursday morning when she went to a house where she works, the police said. Munni, a native of West Bengal, suffered injuries mainly on the neck and all over the body. She lives with her husband and three kids at a rented accommodation near a dam in the Civil Lines area in Gurgaon.

The complainant, Beauty, sister-in-law, of the woman, alleged that the owners of the dog -- a man and a woman -- intentionally left their dog free and then attacked Munni.

Also Read: Seven Gurugram club employees arrested for women harassment and physical abuse

"The dog first grabbed Munni's neck from behind, and later, the dog bit her all across the body. I escaped unhurt as I was behind Munni. The owners were watching everything but did not offer any help. Due to the attack, Munni fell unconscious. She is now admitted to a hospital in Delhi and is in a critical condition," Beauty told IANS.

During a preliminary investigation, the police identified the dog owner as Nitu Chikara, a resident of the Civil Lines area of Gugaon.

Also Read: Gurugram SHOCKER: IT company manager, 4 women thrashed by bouncers at nightclub, watch viral video

"Based on the complaint received in this regard, a case under sections 289, 338 of the IPC has been registered against the owner of the dog at the Civil Lines Police of Gurugram. We are yet to make any arrests in the case," Subhash Boken, spokesperson of the Gurgaon police said.
New Delhi: According to the latest media reports, the University Grants Commission, UGC has sent a proposal that would merge the NEET and JEE Main exam in CUET (Common University Entrance Test) making it one entrance test for all.

Talking to the TOI, UGC Chairman, Professor M Jagadesh Kumar said that the commission is working on a proposal that would integrate the separate entrance examinations for medical and engineering into the CUET. UGC chairman also added that there is no reason why a student should appear for separate examinations for proving proficiency in same subjects.

Professor Kumar informed TOI that a committee has also been formed to analyse the possibility of merging JEE, NEET and CUET. ALSO READ- NEET UG 2022: Courses students can get in with NEET Results other than MBBS

"The proposal is, can we integrate all these entrance examinations so that our students are not subjected to multiple entrance examinations base don the same knowledge base? The students should have one single entrance examination, but multiple opportunities to apply among the disciplines," Kumar told TOI.

Students who would like to go into engineering, their marks in mathematics, physics, chemistry can be used as a ranking list and similarly for medicine, he added.

Why merging NEET and JEE in CUET

According to UGC, one entrance examination for all ill simplify the logistics of the National Testing Agency, NTA, which conducts all the examination and students will not have to manage their exam dates and exam centres which is the case right now.

NEET, JEE Merger- One nation one exam

As per the propasal only one entrance examination for all the JEE NEET and CUET will be conducted in CBT mode, twice a year. If accepted, students might have the chance of appearing for the examination once in say May  June (after the boards) and another in December.

At present, students have to appear for NEET for medical and dental education, JEE Main for admission to engineering courses and CUET for admission to degree courses in science, humanities and commerce in various universities.
New Delhi: Socialist leader Shivpal Yadav on Friday said the coming together of opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh is possible only if their leaders show "maturity" like the one witnessed in Bihar. A new government was installed in Bihar after the Janata Dal (United) snapped its ties with the BJP there and forged a new alliance with the RJD, Congress and four other parties. On the possibility of any such alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia president said, "Firstly, there should be maturity among leaders. Until and unless there is maturity among them, nothing can happen." "The leaders of Bihar showed maturity, hence, everything happened," he added in reply to a question as to whether the Bihar development would have any impact on Uttar Pradesh.

He, however, did not name any party or individual.

Asked about the chance of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar emerging as the opposition's face against Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Yadav said, "He (Nitish) has become the chief minister for the eighth time. He is senior and along with that he is an old socialist."

When asked whether he will take the initiative to forge unity among political parties in UP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, he said there is still some time for it.

"We are a small party and at present, we are strengthening our organisation," he said.

Of late, Yadav has been attacking his nephew and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for not showing political maturity in handling his opposition alliance partners in UP.

Yadav, who himself had won the recent UP polls on the SP ticket, parted ways with the party after prolonged bickering following the opposition's defeat in the Assembly polls earlier this year.

JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday took oath as the Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time, a day after snapping ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD, Congress and four other parties to form a Mahagathbandhan government.

Though Nitish Kumar and his party doesn't have any influence in the most populous state, his joining hands with the RJD has prompted leaders here to think on similar lines to take on the BJP in the next general election.

Shivpal Yadav had played an active role some years back when Mulayam Singh Yadav had made an attempt to bring together leaders sharing a common socialist background.

Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad, as well as former Union minister Sharad Yadav, had made an effort to bring the socialists together.

The exercise helped Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar come together in the 2015 Bihar polls. Their reunion had resulted in a massive defeat of the BJP in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections.
The August edition of the Economist establishes that Putins actions are fascist as his victimhood language and the conquering rivals is based on grievances and resentments he feels from the diminishment of the post-Soviet union. As we see from Putins Ukrainian and Crimean invasions, the Putin regime relies on violence forced by the state and its assault brigades like Mussolinis militias. Mussolini was steadfast to restore the grandeur of the Roman Empire. The strong man Putin promises restoration of a supposed golden age after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Now here comes the scary part. In Mussolinis Italy and Putins Russia there is a culture of cruelty. Domestic abuse is no longer a crime and nearly 30% of Russians say torture should be allowed. The Economist points out that the democratic reformer, Alexander Yakovlev, uses wording that suits both communists and fascists when he says we have become used to living in a criminal world with a criminal state in charge. Be careful U.S. citizens of such behaviors appearing in our backyard. Putins fascist redemptive, regenerative violence supports his fascist philosophy of national purification. To have such purification Putin calls for a self-detoxification of society and, therefore, encourages his genocide of Ukraine. We can see the entire cultural identity of the Ukraine being destroyed. Worse yet, hundreds of thousands of children are being relocated to Russia and they are young enough to forget their identity and their language.
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who recently got embroiled in a controversy for posing nude for a magazine photoshoot, has now been summoned by the Mumbai Police for the same.

The `Padmaavat` actor will be served notice to record his statement in connection with his nude photoshoot controversy. He has been summoned to appear before the police on August 22.

A team of Mumbai Police reached his residence on Friday but couldn`t serve the notice because Ranveer is not present in Mumbai right now.

An FIR had been registered against Ranveer on July 26, on a complaint filed at the Chembur Police Station. Reportedly, the case was filed after receiving the complaint by an office-bearer of the NGO who had alleged that the actor hurt the sentiments of women with his nude photos.

The Mumbai Police filed the FIR under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code like 292 (sale of obscene books, etc), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young people), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and provisions of the Information Technology Act.

The images from Ranveer`s photo shoot for Paper Magazine were posted online on July 21. In the images, Ranveer is seen wearing no clothes. In one of the images, he was seen lying on a rug naked recreating Burt Reynold`s famous photograph.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Ranveer was recently seen in Netflix`s interactive special `Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls` which received a positive response from netizens all over the globe.

As far as films are concerned, he will next be seen in Rohit Shetty`s next directorial film `Cirkus` with Jacqueline Fernandes and Pooja Hegde. The film is slated to release on the occasion of Christmas 2022.

Apart from that, Ranveer also has `Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani` with Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan. The film is all set to hit the theatres on February 11, 2023.
KOLKATA: Following the arrest of TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal in connection with the cattle smuggling case by the CBI, the main opposition party in West Bengal  BJP has said that a devil like him deserves to be in jail and should not be set free again.

1.4 A person like Anubrata who is involved in post-poll violence should never be set free.  Dilip Ghosh (@DilipGhoshBJP) August 11, 2022

Stepping up the attack on Mamata Banerjee's government, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh alleged that Anubrata Mondal had ruined many lives and tortured people in Birbhum. Ghosh even called on the CBI to be equally cruel to him.

1.1 A Devil can cite scriptures for his purpose.



The Central investigating agencies have to be cruel with TMC Leader Anubrata Mondal, the goon arrested by CBI in cow-smuggling case. He has ruined many lives in Paschim Banga and tortured people in Birbhum district. pic.twitter.com/WCgpdYwEK3  Dilip Ghosh (@DilipGhoshBJP) August 11, 2022

Despite being just a local leader of Birbhum, the district administration was controlled by a person like Anubrata who is involved in post-poll violence should never be set free, he asserted.

Training his guns on TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Ghosh said, We have seen how the TMC government tried to save IPS-Rajib Kumar, a police officer dear to TMC and accused in Sarada chit-fund scam. We might see such things in future with Mamata govt taking action against CBI.

1.3 I wish such people stay in jail all their life. We have seen how the TMC government tried to save IPS-Rajib Kumar, a police officer dear to TMC and accused in Sarada chit-fund scam. We might see such things in future with #MamataGovt taking action against CBI.  Dilip Ghosh (@DilipGhoshBJP) August 11, 2022

Anubrata Mondal is the second TMC leader arrested in recent weeks, after former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjees arrest by the ED in the SSC scam. Connecting the dots, BJP IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya charged that Mamata Banerjee patronises criminals. Malviya alleged that Mamata gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch.

"Mamata Banerjee patronises criminals like Anubroto Mondal. As Chief Minister and Home Minister of West Bengal, she gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch. Partha Chatterjee or Anubroto Mondal, the buck stops at Mamata Banerjee," Malviya said quoting his old tweet.

In a fresh jolt to Trinamool Congress, the CBI arrested Anubrata Mondal in a cattle smuggling case on Thursday, three weeks after Enforcement Directorate picked up another heavyweight leader Partha Chatterjee in the school recruitment scam.

Mondal, who was arrested from his residence in Bolpur in Birbhum district after an hour-long interrogation, was sent to CBI custody till August 20 by a special CBI court. The ruling party of West Bengal decided to hit the streets for two consecutive days against the vendetta politics allegedly being pursued by the BJP-led central government by using its agencies.

Opposition BJP alleged that Mondal's arrest proves that TMC is neck-deep in corruption and demanded a statement from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on this.

Mondal whose political career was marked by controversies skipped his scheduled appearance before the central probe agency on Monday and Wednesday, citing ill health.

"We have arrested him for non-cooperation in the investigation into the cattle smuggling case. We have found Mr Mondal's direct involvement in the scam, a CBI official said.

The agency has summoned Mondal 10 times earlier, but he had appeared before them only once earlier this year. The official said the CBI would also question the doctor of a Bolpur hospital who had prescribed Mondal bed rest for 14 days.

The TMC's stand on the issue of Mondal was in sharp contrast to that of another party heavyweight Partha Chatterjee who was arrested on July 23 by the Enforcement Directorate in the school jobs scam. The ED found crores of rupees in cash in flats owned by a woman considered close to him.

Chatterjee was stripped of his cabinet portfolios and party posts within five days of his arrest. The TMC did not hit the streets against central agencies following his arrest. In a sign of support for Mondal, the Mamata Banerjee-led party said no action will be taken against him now.

"The party doesn't support any form of corruption or wrongdoing. We have zero tolerance for corruption. The party will take the appropriate decision (on Mondal) at the right time. An allegation against someone doesn't prove him guilty? senior leader and minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty alleged that Mondal considered himself above the law in the Birbhum district, and the TMC leadership "turned a blind eye to his misdeeds."

The Congress state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed that the day is not far away when the central probe agency would reach the top echelons of the party in the graft case.
New Delhi: India on Friday said it is concerned over the developments and called for avoiding unilateral action to change the status quo in the region regarding the Taiwan issue.

India also pitched for exercising restraint and underlined the need for efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region.

China launched major military drills around Taiwan as part of its response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taiwan.

"Like many other countries, India too is concerned at recent developments," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

"We urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change status quo, de-escalation of tensions and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region," he said.
New Delhi: Bihar's newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday (August 12, 2022) met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and some other Opposition leaders in New Delhi and reportedly discussed the prevailing political situation in the country and his state.

While talking to the reporters in the national capital, the Deputy Chief Minister said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to form the Mahagathbandhan government was a "slap on the BJP's face" and a similar coming together of Opposition parties will be replicated across the country.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader accused the BJP of working to finish regional parties and asserted that if they are finished, the Opposition and democracy will be finished as well.

Tejahswi Yadav said Lalu Prasad fought against communal forces and social justice. He also accused the BJP of destroying regional parties, citing the happenings in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

"BJP wants to scare those who get scared and buy those who are willing to be bought out," Yadav alleged.

"Constitutional institutions are being destroyed. Be it Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation or Income Tax (Department), their condition is worse than police stations. Who do they want to scare? We, the people of Bihar, are not going to be scared. I have said 'Bihari bikaau nahi, tikaau hota hai' (People of Bihar cannot be bought out, they are reliable)," he said.

Who are they trying to scare? Biharis won't be scared; we're 'tikaau',not 'bikaau'...We blamed Nitish Ji & vice versa, but we're from the same home with socialist beliefs. Fights happen in every household, but we welcome Nitish Ji's decision looking at country's situation:T Yadav pic.twitter.com/QvFL8yJ2Sp August 12, 2022

They (Biharis) will never compromise with their self-respect, Yadav said, adding Bihar and Nitish Kumar have shown this. Alleging that the BJP wants to destroy regional parties, he said, regional parties are mostly of backwards and Dalits and the BJP wants to finish such parties.

"You wanted to finish Nitish Kumar, you created division in Ram Vilas Paswan ji's party. If regional parties are finished, Opposition will be finished, democracy will be finished. If democracy is finished, the country will be run in a dictatorial manner," he said.
KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP workers celebrated and distributed sweets among people after TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the cattle smuggling case on Thursday. Mondal, considered very close to Mamata Didi and a TMC Bahubali, was sent to a 10-day CBI in connection with the matter.

News agency ANI shared pictures and videos of BJP workers celebrating the news of Mondals arrest by the CBI.

West Bengal | BJP workers distributed sweets among people and celebrated yesterday in Birbhum, following the arrest of TMC Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal in cattle smuggling case.



He has been sent to a 10-day CBI in connection with the matter. pic.twitter.com/jbGLKNGFf4  ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2022

Following the arrest of Anubrata Mondal, the opposition BJP said a devil like the Birbhum strongman deserves to be in jail and should not be set free again. BJP MP Dilip Ghosh alleged that Anubrata Mondal had ruined many lives and tortured people in Birbhum and called on the CBI to be equally cruel with him.

Despite being just a local leader of Birbhum, the district administration was controlled by him person like Anubrata who is involved in post-poll violence should never be set free, he asserted.

Training his guns on TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Ghosh said, We have seen how the TMC government tried to save IPS-Rajib Kumar, a police officer dear to TMC and accused in Sarada chit-fund scam. We might see such things in future with Mamata govt taking action against CBI.

Anubrata Mondal is the second TMC leader arrested in recent weeks, after former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjees arrest by the ED in the SSC scam.

Connecting the dots, BJP IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya charged that Mamata Banerjee patronises criminals. Malviya alleged that Mamata gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch.

"Mamata Banerjee patronises criminals like Anubroto Mondal. As Chief Minister and Home Minister of West Bengal, she gives state protection to those who operate crime and extortion syndicates under her watch. Partha Chatterjee or Anubroto Mondal, the buck stops at Mamata Banerjee," Malviya said quoting his old tweet.

On March 26, sharing a picture Malviya had said, "What message is Bengal`s Home Minister giving by having Birbhum`s local goonda Anubroto Mondal in her car, under whose instruction Anarul Hossain operated, now arrested for the Rampurhat massacre? This picture explains how the criminalisation of WB politics starts right from the top."
Bengal state politics was abuzz with the arrest of Anubrata Mandal in the cow smuggling case yesterday afternoon. At that moment, Partha Chatterjee, former education minister of the state, was walking outside cell number two of the Presidency Jail. It was at that time that he got the news, 'Anubrata Mondal was arrested'. According to sources, the news of the arrest of Birbhum district Trinamool president was conveyed to Partha by the prison guards. After hearing the news, Partha asked the guards, "Will Anubrata come to this jail?"

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) dramatically raided Partha's Naktala house on Friday, July 22, in the case of 'corruption' in the appointment of teachers. That day morning at around 7:30, the investigating agency surrounded Partha's house with central forces. He was arrested at midnight that day. The next day i.e. July 23, Saturday morning, Partha was picked up by investigators from his home. After that, as the investigation progressed, the flow of events took a dramatic turn. Presently Partha's address is Presidency Jail.

Also Read: Anubrata Mandal: 'Fish seller becomes owner of Rs 1,000 crore, THANKS to DIDI', BJP MP MOCKS Mamata Banerjee

After 20 days, another central investigating agency, CBI, caught Anubrata from his house in a somewhat similar fashion. CBI officials surrounded TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's 'Keshto' in Bolpur with central forces on Thursday morning on Rakhi Bandhan. After an hour, they arrested Trinamool's 'BAHUBALI' leader in the cow smuggling case and took him to the car. Anubrata is currently in 10-day CBI custody. The CBI brought Anubrata to the Nizam Palace (CBI headquarter) in Kolkata late at night. However, after the arrest, Partha remained silent at first, but later he was seen opening his mouth several times on the way to and from Joka ESI Hospital for medical examination. But after being arrested in the cow-trafficking case, 'Main Accused' Anubrata has become completely 'SILENT'.

Also Read: CBI ARRESTS Mamata Banerjee's 'BAHUBALI' Leader Anubrata Mandal in connection with cow smuggling case

Around 11:30 pm on Thursday, the CBI vehicle got stuck in the traffic jam at Dhanekhali in Hooghly. While stuck in the traffic, reporters kept asking him various questions about Anubrata's arrest. Without answering all those questions Anubrata was staring straight ahead. Sometimes he wipes his face with a towel, drinks water, yawns, puts his head on the car seat. He even laughed once after listening to the constant questions of the journalists running through the car window. In the coming days, they will keep an eye on whether he open his mouth and speak in an angry manner or not!

After his arrest, Partha was removed from the ministry as well as removed from all Trinamool posts. Trinamool Disciplinary Committee will decide whether to follow the same path against Anubrata or not!
Srinagar: In yet another incident of targeted killing of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, a migrant worker from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said on Friday. The attack took place around midnight, they said.

J&K | One migrant labourer from Bihar, Mohd Amrez shot dead by terrorists at Soadnara Sumbal, Bandipora.



Visuals from Community Health Centre in Sumbal. pic.twitter.com/rdCEPZmjTs  ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2022

"During intervening night, terrorists fired upon & injured one outside labourer Mohd Amrez S/O Mohd Jalil R/O Madhepura Besarh #Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, #Bandipora," the Kashmir Zone Police said on Twitter.

During intervening night, terrorists fired upon & injured one migrant labourer Mohd Amrez, r/o Madhepura, Besarh, Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, Bandipora. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he succumbed: Kashmir Zone Police August 12, 2022

The police said Amrez was shifted to a hospital for treatment where he succumbed to injuries. According to the sources, "the terrorists fired at Muhammad Amrej, 19, a non-local labourer in Sadnara village of Bandipora`s Hajin area around 1 am".

This comes a day after three army personnel died while neutralising two terrorists who attempted to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Rajouri on Thursday.

Subedar Rajendra Prasad, Rifleman Manoj Kumar and Rifleman Lakshmanan D made the supreme sacrifice for the country during the operation on Thursday morning. However, the alert Army personnel managed to foil the suicide bomb attack at its base camp and killed both the terrorists.
New Delhi: Rashmika Mandanna, who was in the song 'Srivalli', has brought about a brand-new kind of rage in the country with her hit movie Pushpa.

An LA band that just shared a rendition of the Srivalli song on their social media account received a shout-out from the actress on social media. The song was heard being sung by the band's two members' voices.

The actress recently took to her social media to give a shout-out to the band, where she wrote, "Love it @thebalaboys !!"

Rashmika essayed the role of love interest of the character 'Pushpa' played by Allu Arjun in the movie. The film, when released, not only became a pan-India hit but all of its songs, especially 'Srivalli', were ruling all the radio stations in the country.

On the work front, the actor was recently seen in 'Sita Ramam', starring Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur, and which has been receiving praise and love from the fans and critics as well. Apart from her next release, 'Goodbye', the actor also has the film 'Animal', sequel of 'Pushpa' 2 under her kitty along with Mission Majnu opposite Sidharth Malhotra, and Varisu with Vijay Thalapatty.
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who recently got embroiled in a controversy for posing nude for a magazine photoshoot, has now been summoned by the Mumbai Police for the same.The `Padmaavat` actor will be served notice to record his statement in connection with his nude photoshoot controversy. He has been summoned to appear before the police on August 22.

A team of Mumbai Police reached his residence on Friday but couldn`t serve the notice because Ranveer is not present in Mumbai right now. An FIR had been registered against Ranveer on July 26, on a complaint filed at the Chembur Police Station. Reportedly, the case was filed after receiving the complaint by an office-bearer of the NGO who had alleged that the actor hurt the sentiments of women with his nude photos.The Mumbai Police filed the FIR under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code like 292 (sale of obscene books, etc), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young people), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and provisions of the Information Technology Act.

The images from Ranveer`s photo shoot for Paper Magazine were posted online on July 21. In the images, Ranveer is seen wearing no clothes. In one of the images, he was seen lying on a rug naked recreating Burt Reynold`s famous photograph.Meanwhile, on the work front, Ranveer was recently seen in Netflix`s interactive special `Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls` which received a positive response from netizens all over the globe.

On the work front the actor will be next seen in Rohit Shetty`s next directorial film `Cirkus` with Jacqueline Fernandes and Pooja Hegde. The film is slated to release on the occasion of Christmas 2022.Apart from that, Ranveer also has `Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani` with Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan. The film is all set to hit the theatres on February 11, 2023.
New Delhi: Bollywood actor Salman Khan has filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court against the Sessions Court`s earlier order which refused to pass a restraining order against his Panvel farmhouse neighbour NRI Ketan Kakkar.

In his plea before the High Court, Salman said that Ketan has made several social media posts against him that were defamatory in nature.

He added that Ketan`s posts are not only defamatory and derogatory against him but also communally biased and create a communal divide.

The matter will be heard by a single judge bench of Bombay HC, of Justice CV Bhadang, on August 22. Earlier, in March, the Sessions Court refused to pass an injunction order against Ketan in the defamation case filed by Salman for the former`s social media posts.

The verdict of Sessions Court Judge AH Laddhad was pronounced on March 23, the detailed order of which came later.

The verdict noted that Ketan had placed on record evidence like complaints and show-cause notices to Salman about the allegations of encroachments by the actor in his Panvel property, the 100-acre farm, in the public interest as a "whistle-blower".

Notably, Kakkar has claimed that in or around 1995, he and his wife had acquired/ purchased a certain plot of land near Salman`s farmhouse, for constructing a house, ashram, temple, etc.

Kakkar also claimed that the plot of land allotted to him was allegedly cancelled by the Maharashtra forest department at the behest and in collusion with Khan, and also said that the entry and exit to his plot of land were illegally acquired and blocked by constructing a gate.

He also claimed that he had constructed an eco-friendly Ganesh Temple, access to the same also was allegedly blocked and the said temple is grabbed/usurped by Salman`s family.

Salman, in his complaint, contended that, in fact, the defendants are inciting communal violence and Hindu-Muslim hatred by making provocative, baseless and false statements based on religion, which are absolutely irrelevant and absurd.
The sportsmen and women of Western New York will be celebrating 100 years of conservation at the Erie County Fair.

The fair is more than just special events, carnival rides, and tasty food. Its also an educational lesson for attendees for those perusing the many displays and exhibits, including in the Conservation Building that focuses on the important role that hunters, anglers and trappers have played through the years.

A century ago, the Erie County Society for the Protection of Fish and Game lobbied Fair officials to construct a Conservation Building as part of the Hamburg complex. Part of the argument at the time was that there was already a conservation exhibit at the State Fair in Syracuse, as well as at an exposition in Rochester and a fair in Chautauqua. Why not at the Erie County Fair?

In an article in the Buffalo Morning Express on May 7, 1922, then-President J.C. Brennan with the Erie County Society noted there were more hunters in Erie County than any other county in the state. He pointed out how an example of this kind would encourage the spirit of cooperation between farmers and the sportsmen of the county. One exhibit would demonstrate the need for reforestation and the role the forests and woodlands play in the propagation of fish and wildlife, according to the article.

Brennan also promoted a battery of fish tanks that would contain a long list of native fish species, and it would also house a working trout stream. In addition, there would be a collection of wildlife that were blacklisted, birds and animals known for their negative impacts on other wildlife. Other exhibits would include multiple wildlife displays from area taxidermists, racks of guns, ancient and modern fishing tackle, and more.

Everyone should be interested in this conservation and reforestation movement, whether they are a sportsman or not, Brennan said then. It has been demonstrated that reforestation will check floods in addition to protecting fish and wildlife. The City Council has been asked by the society to investigate the possibility of such a project.

The project was approved and later became a reality that same year. According to George Rockey, current chairman of the Southtowns Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, this 100-year milestone should be duly recognized by the conservation community. The Conservation Building, now being called the Environmental Sportsmen Building this year for the first time, plays an integral role in creating a better awareness for what conservation is for all fair attendees  whether you are an avid outdoors person or not.

I can remember attending the Fair years ago and being impressed with the exhibits and displays on conservation, Rockey said. There was still a working trout stream in the 1960s. I cant say as I agree with the name change and we are working to try and keep the Conservation Building name. Sportsmen and women are the true conservationists.

Exhibits and displays expected this year include the Erie County Federation of Sportsmens Club (representing more than 50 clubs in the county), the states Department of Environmental Conservation, the Erie County Conservation Society, Erie County Trappers, Southtowns Walleye Association, Erie County Parks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Buffalo Kennel Club.

In a letter to the Buffalo News a few weeks ago, Charlie Metz Jr., president of the Erie County Conservation Society, wrote:

One of the great things about living in Western New York is our proud history of conservation activities. We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the building of the Conservation Building on the grounds of the Erie County Fair. The sportsmen of the Erie County Conservation Society built the structure themselves, demonstrating their commitment to the goals of conservation and educating future generations. Celebrating the construction of the building honors these pioneering men and women.

As families and children walk through the building this summer and celebrate the 100th anniversary of this institution, built by our forefathers, a new generation will be engaged to preserve our water, land, and wildlife. It is now our obligation to preserve what they envisioned for us. Join us at the Fair in celebrating our as caretakers of our water, land, air, and wildlife.

Rockey couldnt agree more. This is something special, an education and an awareness that needs to continue for another 100 years and beyond.

Thanks to the Erie County Conservation Society who saw the need for an organized conservation movement, Rockey said. Who knows where we would be if they wouldnt have stepped up to get things started? The ECCS was formerly the Erie County Society for the Protection of Fish and Game.

The Erie County Fair continues through Aug. 21. Rockey invites everyone to stop into the Conservation Building for a lesson on conservation and natural resources. Dont be confused by the building's new name.
New Delhi: The Ministry of Finance has now decided that it will not allow income taxpayers to apply for the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme from October onwards. The new order issued by Finance Ministry will come into effect from October 1, 2022.

Hence, if a subscriber  who is also a tax paying citizen  wishes to join Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme, September 30 is the last date to do so. There is a 50-day window for interested subscribers to join APY, because the new notification will not be applicable before October 1, 2022.

Here are 10 points you want to know before joining Atal Pension Yojana before October 1, 2022

- According to the gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Finance on August 10, any citizen who is or has been an income tax payer according to the Income Tax Act will not be eligible to join the Atal Pension Yojana from October 1, 2022.

- If someone has joined the scheme on or after October 1 and is found to be an income tax payer on or before the date of coming into force of the new rule, his/her account will be closed immediately.

- However the pension amount or the accumulated pension wealth that has been deposited till that time will be refunded in one go.

- Launched on May 9, 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the APY aims at delivering old age income security particularly to the workers in the unorganised sector.

- APY can be subscribed by any Indian citizen in the age group of 18-40 years having a bank account. APY is a government scheme administered by PFRDA through NPS architecture.

- The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. Therefore, minimum period of contribution by the subscriber under APY would be 20 years or more.

- First, it provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 on attaining 60 years of age. Secondly the amount of pension is guaranteed for lifetime to spouse on death of the subscriber. Third, in the event of death of both the subscriber and the spouse, entire pension corpus is paid to the nominee.

- APY has pre-defined monthly contributions. Under the APY, the subscribers would receive the fixed pension of Rs. 1000 per month, Rs. 2000 per month, Rs. 3000 per month, Rs. 4000 per month, Rs. 5000 per month, at the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions, which itself would vary on the age of joining the APY.

- Under APY, the Central Government would co-contribute 50 percent of the subscribers contribution or Rs 1000 per annum (whichever is lower) to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of 5 years, i.e., from 2015-16 to 2019-20, who join the NPS before 31st December, 2015.

- APY subscribers would enjoy tax benefits on their own contributions as well as their employers contribution under Section 80 CCD and 80 CCE.
New Delhi: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased the launch of a new social media website named X.com amid the legal battle with Twitter.

X.com used to be the domain name of a startup Musk founded two decades back, which he later merged with financial services company PayPal.

When asked has he thought about creating his own social platform if the Twitter deal doesn't come through, Musk replied: "X.com."

After selling its electric vehicle company shares worth nearly $7 billion, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he would repurchase Tesla stock if the Twitter deal did not close.

When asked by a user on the microblogging platform if he is done selling Tesla stock, the tech billionaire replied affirmatively.

"Yes. In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners do not come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock," Musk wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, while replying to another user who asked "If the Twitter deal does not close, will you buy Tesla stock again," Musk replied, "Yes."

As per a report, Musk sold 7.92 million company shares worth around $6.88 billion.

Musk's transactions occurred between August 5 and August 9, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings revealed, following Tesla's 2022 annual shareholder meeting on August 4 in Austin, Texas.

Musk and Twitter are locked in an intense legal battle over cancellation of the $44 billion takeover deal, and the five-process will start in a US court from October 17.
New Delhi: Garena Free Fire releases redeem codes on everyday basis. The 12-digit redeem code consists of alphabets and numbers. Players can get rewards such as skins for in-game weapons and characters to improve their gaming experience.

Garena Free fire is banned in India. However, if you are located outside India, you can access the reward codes and redeem them. For that you will be required to visit official Garena Free Fire reward site and log in to your Facebook, Google, Twitter IDs to access the Free Fire redemption page. (Also read: iPhone 12 gets massive price cut on Flipkart Big Saving Days Sale, offer details here)

Check out the Garena Free Fire Redeem Codes for August 12, 2022

8F3QZKNTLWBZ

WLSGJXS5KFYR

FF11WFNPP956

YXY3EGTLHHJX

X99TK56XDJ4X

FF11HHGCGK3B

WOJJAFV3TU5E

B61YCTNH4PV3

U8S47JGJH5MG

VNY3MQWNKEGU

ZZATXB24QES8

MCPTFNXZF4TA

FF119MB3PFA5

FF10617KGUF9

ZRJAPH294KV5

Y6ACLK7KUD1N

FF10GCGXRNHY

FF11NJN5YS3E

SARG886AV5GR

FFCO8BS5JW2D

FFAC2YXE6RF2

FFICJGW9NKYT

FF11DAKX4WHV

FF9MJ31CXKRG

FFIC33NTEUKA

(Also read: Shocking! Ex-Amazon Web Services engineer hacked data of 10 crore customers)

How to Redeem Garena Free Fire codes for today, August 12, 2022

Step 1: Go to the official Garena Free Fire redemption portal



Step 2: Log in on the portal with either your Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Google, VK, or Huawei ID.



Step 3: Enter a redeem code in the designated text box.



Step 4: Click on the Ok button to get free rewards in your game account.

(Disclaimer: Garena Free fire is banned in India. Hence we advise people to adhere to government rules)
New Delhi: No, we don't want you to avoid paying your electricity bills, but if you do, be careful. A new scheme by hackers to trick people has been developed, and this time it involves your electricity bill. In most cities, the electricity board will send out a message to users reminding them to pay their electricity bills on time. People have, however, recently reported receiving WhatsApp messages reminding them to pay their electricity bill or their electricity connection will be suspended. Even a tech-savvy person could be persuaded by the message to pay right away without giving it a second thought.

According to Twitter users, the message informing users to pay their electricity bill is typically sent via SMS or WhatsApp. A scammer-owned phone number can be found in the message. The con artist convinces the user, who is frantically dialling the number, that they must pay for the electricity or risk having their electricity cut off. Most cases of electricity scams have been reported by con artists in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Odisha, among other cities. Read More: Elon Musk does it again! Teases his own social media site, check name

The message says, Dear Consumer Your Electricity power will be disconnected. Tonight at 9.30 pm from electricity office. because your previous month bill was not update. Please immediately contact with our electricity officer 8260303942 Thank you. It is sent from an arbitrary phone number that is unrelated to the electricity boards and is sent from that source. If you've noticed by now, the message was not sent by a legitimate source. The phone number is changed to "BSES DL" when you receive a message from, let's say, BSES Delhi. Read More: OnePlus 10T sale on August 16: Avail it on MASSIVE discount, check offers and other details

The message's use of language should raise yet another warning sign. The sentences are incorrectly constructed. The writing is extremely haphazard throughout. It is obvious that the message does not adhere to proper syntax. There are erroneous full stops and a complete lack of understanding of capital letters and small-cap letters.

People have been warned to be wary of such messages that are sent with the obvious intention of deceiving innocent people by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell. Most people who have actually forgotten to pay their electricity bill are most likely to fall for the message because it is alarming. You typically become agitated and act without giving it much thought when you unexpectedly see a message warning that your electricity connection will be cut. And scammers are constantly searching for such impressionable users who can be easily duped.

Always double-check the message and the sources. The message's language must be carefully considered because it says a lot about its sincerity.
Washington: Former President Donald Trump called late Thursday for the immediate release of the federal warrant the FBI used to search his Florida estate, hours after the Justice Department had asked a court to unseal the warrant, with Attorney General Merrick Garland citing the substantial public interest in this matter.

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents. He continued to assail the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago as unAmerican, unwarranted and unnecessary.

Also Read: Russia moves to expel several US diplomats in tit-for-tat move, declares them 'persona non grata'

Release the documents now! he wrote.

The Justice Department's request earlier on Thursday is striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation. But the department appeared to recognize that its silence since the search had created a vacuum for bitter verbal attacks by Trump and his allies and that the public was entitled to the FBI's side about what prompted Monday's action at the former president's home.

The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favour of unsealing, said a motion filed in federal court in Florida on Thursday.

Should the warrant be released  the request is now with the judge  it could disclose unflattering information about the former president and about FBI scrutiny of his handling of sensitive government documents right as he prepares for another run for the White House. During his successful 2016 campaign, he pointed frequently to an FBI investigation into his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, over whether she mishandled classified information.

Also Read: Alleged ISI members held in US for posing as federal agents

It's unclear at this point how much information would be included in the documents, if made public, or if they would encompass an FBI affidavit that would presumably lay out a detailed factual basis for the search. The department specifically requested the unsealing of the warrant as well as a property receipt listing the items that were seized, along with two unspecified attachments.

To obtain a search warrant, federal authorities must prove to a judge that probable cause exists to believe that a crime was committed. Garland said he approved the warrant, a decision he said the department did not take lightly given that standard practice where possible is to select less intrusive tactics than a search of one's home.

In this case, according to a person familiar with the matter, there was substantial engagement with Trump and his representatives before the search warrant, including a subpoena for records and a visit to Mar-a-Lago a couple of months ago by FBI and Justice Department officials to assess how the documents were stored. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Neither Trump nor the FBI has said anything about what documents the FBI might have recovered, or what precisely agents were looking for. But the former president complained anew Thursday about the search.

Trump, who for years has lambasted the FBI and sought to sow distrust among his supporters in its decisions, said the warrant was served and the search conducted despite his cooperation with the Justice Department over the search.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump said that his attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully before the search and that government officials could have had whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, if we had it." The Justice Department has until Friday afternoon to alert the judge about whether Trump will object to the release.

FBI and Justice Department policy caution against discussing ongoing investigations, both to protect the integrity of probes and to avoid unfairly maligning someone who is being scrutinized but winds up ultimately not being charged. That's especially true in the case of search warrants, where supporting court papers are routinely kept secret as the investigation proceeds.

In this case, though, Garland cited the fact that Trump himself had provided the first public confirmation of the FBI search, ?as is his right." The Justice Department, in its new filing, also said that disclosing information about it now would not harm the court's functions.

Even so, Garland, in a hastily scheduled public statement delivered from the Justice Department podium, appeared to acknowledge the unusual nature of the department's request as he declined to take questions or provide any substantive details about the FBI's investigation.

?Much of our work is by necessity conducted out of the public eye. We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations," he said. "Federal law, longstanding department rules and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time.

The Justice Department under Garland has been leery of public statements about politically charged investigations, or of confirming to what extent it might be investigating Trump as part of a broader probe into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The department has tried to avoid being seen as injecting itself into presidential politics, as happened in 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey made an unusual public statement announcing that the FBI would not be recommending criminal charges against Clinton regarding her handling of email and when he spoke up again just over a week before the election to notify Congress that the probe was being effectively reopened because of the discovery of new emails.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served on Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trump's home in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year. The National Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information.

The attorney general also condemned verbal attacks on FBI and Justice Department personnel over the search. Some Republican allies of Trump have called for the FBI to be defunded. Large numbers of Trump supporters have called for the warrant to be released hoping it will show that Trump was unfairly targeted.

I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked, Garland said of federal law enforcement agents, calling them dedicated, patriotic public servants.

Earlier on Thursday, an armed man wearing body armour tried to breach a security screening area at an FBI field office in Ohio, then fled and was later killed after a standoff with law enforcement. A law enforcement official briefed on the matter identified the man as Ricky Shiffer and said he is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol and may have been there on the day it took place.
Washington: In an unprecedented search conducted on the premises of former US President Donald Trump earlier this week in Florida, the FBI agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons, according to The Washington Post report, which was neither denied or confirmed by the US Justice Department, which oversees the FBI. The newspaper sourced the report to multiple officials "all unidentified" involved in the investigation but gave no further details of the kind of nuclear weapons` documents sought by the agents.

Government officials are reportedly worried that these documents could fall in the wrong hands at Trump`s Florida home that is also a club frequented by members. The report say that Donald Trump has held on to an undisclosed volume of documents from his presidency that he is required to have turned in for archiving by the government. The National Archive, which is the repository of these documents, has been following up with him and his aides for months.

The FBI agents searched Trump`s home in an unprecedented first for a US President on Monday, according to a statement from Trump, who called it a "raid" in a political ploy to both discredit it and rile up his base with a familiar story of victimhood he had used against the Russia investigation and his double impeachment.

As allies and followers predictably poured scorn and outrage on the "raid", Trump and his lawyers did not tell them and the country the details that were available to them by way of the search warrant issued by a federal judge, which would have contained the grounds for it, or the itemized list of articles taken by the FBI "at least 15 boxes" that were duly provided to them.

For US president was once again the hounded hero for his followers "including many lawmakers" who had no idea why his premises were searched. US Attorney General Merrick Garland, who heads the Justice Department that has oversight of the FBI, called the former President`s bluff.

Court asked to unseal search warrant for Mar-a-Lago raid

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a motion to unseal the search warrant for former President Donald Trump`s Mar-a-Lago residence earlier this week. Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement on Thursday after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, said Xinhua news agency report.

Addressing the press at the DOJ headquarter, Garland said he personally "approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter," adding "The Department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken."

Trump and his allies have denounced the operation as a political attack orchestrated by Democrats while calling out the FBI and the DOJ. The raid was said to have involved classified materials that Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, when he left office in January 2021. The Presidential Records Act requires that all records created by Presidents be turned over to the National Archives at the end of their administrations.

Some of the Trump presidential records received by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) included paper records that had been torn up by Trump, according to the federal agency. In January, the NARA also arranged for the transport from the Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives of 15 boxes that contained presidential records.

(With IANS Inputs)
SAINT-MAGNE: High temperatures and a worsening drought brought a high risk of new fires breaking out in southwestern France, officials said on Friday, even after an overnight reprieve held a monster wildfire that has been raging for days in check. Firefighters from Germany, Romania and Greece were on the ground to help France battle the fire in the Gironde region - home to Bordeaux wine - as well as on other fronts, including in Brittany in the northwest, and more from across Europe were on their way.

The risk of new fires is "very severe" considering the weather conditions, the Gironde prefecture said. "The day is likely to be complicated since temperatures continue to increase and humidity continues to drop, so we remain vigilant and mobilised," senior local official Ronan Leaustic told a news conference.

Also Read: Shashi Tharoor to be conferred Frances highest Civilian award

Temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) were expected in the southwest, with high temperatures also expected across much of France, France`s official weather forecast Meteo France said.

The heatwave - officially France`s third this summer - was set to ebb on Saturday and end on Sunday with storms, it said. Some 7,400 hectares (18,000 acres)of forests have gone up in flames in Gironde, and 10,000 people have been evacuated.

Wildfires have broken out across Europe this summer as successive heatwaves bake the continent and renew the focus on climate change risks to industry and livelihoods.

Also Read: As heat wave sweeps Europe, sets record-high temperatures in Britain, UN warns it should be a 'wake-up call'

A huge wildfire raged throughout the night and into its seventh day on Friday in central Portugal, where more than 1,600 firefighters backed by nine waterbombing aircraft were combating the blaze that has destroyed about 15% of the Serra da Estrela national park.

After starting in the Covilha area on Saturday, the fire has spread to several neighbouring councils, burning around 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) overall.

Meanwhile, water levels on the river Rhine in Germany have fallen again, with some vessels no longer able to sail, shipping operators and brokers said.

And British households were facing new water usage restrictions, with parts of England likely to declare a drought as the government, environment officials and water companies meet to discuss the prolonged hot and dry weather.

Politicians across the continent are evaluating the impact. "This fire season this year is far from over," Pascal Martin, a centrist French senator and former firefighter told Europe 1 radio.

"Now though two lessons have to be learned, which is that the fires are extending both geographically and over time, no longer only in the south, but in the entire country, even in the Jura and in Brittany, and no longer just in the summer months."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been forced to point out that the monkeypox outbreak is not linked to monkeys after reports emerged of increasing attacks against the primates in Brazil.

Brazil is one of the most affected countries by the current outbreak and is one of the only countries, apart from Spain and India, where a patient has died from the disease.

What people need to know is that the transmission we are seeing is happening between humans, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

Ms Harris added that monkeys could not be held responsible for the outbreak of the disease.

The WHOs statement comes a day after Brazilian news website G1 reported on Sunday that 10 monkeys had been poisoned in less than a week in the city of Sao Jose do Rio Preto in Sao Paulo state.

Similar incidents have also been reported from other parts of Brazil.

Ms Harris said while the contagion can take place from animals to humans, the current outbreak is limited to human-to-human transmission only.

The concern should be about where it [is circulating] in the human population and what humans can do to protect themselves from getting it and transmitting it, she said.

People should certainly not be attacking any animals, she said.

Any stigmatisation of any person infected is going to increase the transmission, because if people are afraid of identifying themselves as being infected, then they will not get care and will not take precautions, she added.

So do not stigmatise any animal or any human, because if you do do that, we will have a much larger outbreak.

Last month, the WHO declared the current monkeypox outbreak ripping through Europe and the Americas as a global health emergency.

Since May, nearly 90 countries have reported more than 29,000 monkeypox cases.

Brazil, the US and Canada are the areas most affected in the Americas by the monkeypox outbreak, where more than 5,000 cases have been reported, the Pan American Health Organisation said last week.

Additional reporting by agencies
Photo credit: Paramount+

Note: The following article contains discussion of sexual misconduct that some readers may find upsetting.

Bruce Lindahl's rape and murder spree is even bigger than Ted Bundy's  and yet he managed to evade capture by the police for years. Now he's being exposed in new Paramount+ series, The Box.

Eventually, it was his own deadly tendencies that proved his undoing. In a massive stroke of luck for dozens of potential future victims, he managed to kill himself accidentally while in the act of another murder.

But that proves little solace for his survivors, and the victims of the families whose lives he'd claimed  especially as it took more than 30 years for him to finally be pinned for the crimes he committed.

Despite his horrific crimes, Lindahl is someone who may even be unheard of among true crime aficionados, with mainly only Chicago residents knowing his name.

With the new documentary series, Detective Chris Loudon  a retired investigator who had been haunted by one of the murders  uses a box of unused evidence in the case to finally crack some of the cold cases Lindahl committed, finally allowing some rest and answers for those so badly affected.

Here's what we know about Bruce's crimes so far, the bizarre incident that meant he was finally stopped in his tracks, and the currently ongoing case to discover exactly how many people he raped and/or murdered.

How many people did Bruce Lindahl kill?

Photo credit: Paramount+

The number of people that were raped and/or killed at the hands of Lindahl has never been confirmed  with dozens of potential victims attached to his name in the time that he was active.

In total, more than 80 women were killed between the years of 1974 and 1981, in the suburban areas that Lindahl lived  most prominently DuPont County, Aurora, Lisle, Woodridge and Downers Grove. Lindahl currently a prime suspect in at least 12 of them, as well as nine rapes.

In 1974, 20-year-old Annette Lazar went to the police after being raped at gunpoint by Lindahl, who had lured her into a home under the pretence of selling her marijuana. However, as the house in question belonged to police officer Dave Torres, and she was a known drug addict to the police, they threw out her case and he was never charged.

Story continues

Lazar is one of the many women speaking up about her experience in The Box. Torres later explained (via Chicago Tribune ) he had befriended Lindahl as part of a skydiving group, and would party and hang out with him regularly.

Photo credit: Paramount+

There were multiple opportunities for Lindahl to be caught by police, and he was even arrested on occasion, only for the charges to be dropped due to lack of evidence or, in the case of 25-year-old Deborah Colliander, the victim went missing.

Deborah went to the police to report Lindahl raping her in June 1980, and he was arrested and charged for the attack. Officer Torres says his investigation into the case was the last time he spoke to Lindahl.

However, before the case went to court, Deborah went missing after leaving work and was never to be seen again. The absence of the key witness meant the entire case was dropped.

Her body was found in 1982, two years after her disappearance, and it was only after Lindahl's death that a man came forward to claim Lindahl had offered him money to kill her to stop her testifying against him. While he was never charged with her murder or rape, investigators believe the story to be true considering the clear motive.

Another opportunity was missed when police pulled Lindahl's car over to find a woman passed out with a head wound next to him. At the time he claimed to be taking her to hospital, but an ambulance was called to the scene instead. The woman later said she passed out after being given something by Lindahl at a party, but again, the investigation stalled and there was never an arrest made.

In 2020, thanks to the development of DNA profiling, Lindahl was finally connected to the rape and murder of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer, whose body was found laying on the side of a road in 1976. It took 44 years for the police to finally get this solid evidence that he'd killed her.

This breakthrough in the case allowed the police to open him up to the possibility of being connected to more unsolved investigations.

How did Bruce Lindahl die?

Photo credit: Paramount+

Bruce Lindahl died on April 4, 1981 at the age of 28  while in the middle of another murder.

While in Naperville, Illinois, Lindahl befriended 18-year-old Charles Huber, playing bowling with him before inviting him to his girlfriend's house to drink. However, after arriving at the apartment, Lindahl attacked Huber, stabbing him a total of 28 times.

But during the frenzied attack, Huber fought back, and in the resulting tussle, Huber stabbed himself in the thigh, tearing through a femoral artery in the process. He bled out as a result of the injury, meaning that he died in minutes, collapsing next to the body of Huber.

Unfortunately, Huber didn't survive the attack either, and became Lindahl's last known victim.

After Lindahl's death, police located a box of photographs at his home. In the photographs, women were seen in states of various undress, and on occasion appear to have been drugged before the pictures were taken. Some of the photos contained pictures of underage girls in the same state of mistreatment.

The news report about his death sparked a new frenzy of phone calls from women who claimed to have been attacked by him in the years prior  either being threatened with a weapon or drugged before being raped. These investigations are ongoing.

Some of the women came forward to share their testimonies in The Box.

The Box is available to watch now on Paramount+, which comes free with Sky Cinema.

If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information from Rape Crisis England and Wales, who work towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct, on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotlands helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.

Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.



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Wahida Amiri was kept in detention by the Taliban

Wahida Amiri worked as an ordinary librarian before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August. But when the militants started to strip women of their rights, she became one of the leading voices against them. She told the BBC's Sodaba Haidare how protesting against Taliban rule led to her arrest and why she decided to leave her country.

Short presentational grey line

The Taliban said I was a spy. That I had helped start an uprising against them. That I went onto the streets and protested just to get fame. "Go home and cook", said one of them.

But the truth is, I only wanted one thing: equal rights for Afghan women. The right to go to school, to work, to be heard. Is that too much to ask for?

The day they came to arrest us, an eerie silence had fallen over Kabul. In recent days a number of women who had protested against the Taliban had been taken, so we were moved to a safe house.

In the last few months since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, I had been a strong and proud woman, marching through the streets to protest against them. I looked them in the eye and said: "You can't treat me like a second class citizen. I'm a woman and I'm your equal." Now, I'm hiding in this unknown place, not knowing my crime but wondering if they'll come for me.

Wahida worked as a librarian before the fall of Kabul

Suddenly, tires came screeching and broke to a halt outside the building. I couldn't count the number of cars or soldiers. It seemed they had come prepared to arrest a whole village and not just a few women marching to live freely in their own country.

When they barged into the room, in the middle of all my friends' screams and panic I could hear them say: "Have you got Wahida Amiri, have you found her? Where is she?" I thought: "This is it. It's over, I'm going to die."

The library was my happy place

Before the tragic day of 15 August 2021, I was an ordinary woman. I had graduated with a law degree and now at 33 years old I ran a library in the heart of Kabul.

The library was my happy place where everyone was welcome, especially women. Sometimes we discussed topics like feminism over chai sabzi, the traditional Afghan green tea with cardamom. Afghanistan wasn't perfect, but we had freedom.

Story continues

I cared deeply about books because up until the age of 20 I couldn't read myself.

I had just started school when the Taliban first rolled into Afghanistan, waving their black and white flags. The year was 1996.

One of their first orders was to shut schools for girls.

All our relatives fled to Panjshir, a mountainous valley in the north and our original home. But my father decided to stay and after my mother died, he remarried. The years that followed were extremely painful.

"I want to put pressure on the Taliban to reopen schools, to let our girls learn," says Wahida

We moved to Pakistan where all the chores and responsibilities in the house fell on my shoulders. I cooked, cleaned and scrubbed the floors all day long. I thought this would be my life. Then came September 11, 2001.

I watched the fall of the twin towers on TV. It wasn't until much later that I properly learnt about 9/11 and how much that day changed the lives of ordinary Afghans like us. Before long we waved goodbye to Pakistan. The Taliban had been defeated and it was safe to go home - we'd never be refugees again and I'd never come back here, that's what I thought.

I was 15 when we moved back to Kabul and I saw how different life was now that the Taliban were not in charge - girls were going to school, women could work. But not much changed for me. To my family keeping the house tidy and serving guests was more valuable than my education - so I carried on running a house until my cousin helped me to enrol back into a school some five years later.

The letters in the books were shaped strangely - the words looked back at my face blankly. I took exams and scrubbed floors at home at the same time. And every time I failed I would try again and again, until I passed.

When by some miracle I got accepted into university to study law, I was still a shy and timid girl - until a woman came into my life. Her name was Virginia Woolf. Her manifesto was A Room of One's Own. I felt like I was reborn. The book of this important English author taught me everything I should have known a long time ago. The more I read, the more I realised that I was a strong woman with my own thoughts.

The fall of Kabul

On a hot day in August, the nightmare I had lived through once returned to my life. The Taliban drove into Kabul waving the same black and white flags.

Only this time it wasn't 1996, it was 2021. And I wasn't a child. I wasn't uneducated. I had gone through hell to build a life, and I wasn't going to hand it over to them just like that.

I was relieved when I found other women had the same thoughts. We knew the risks of defying the Taliban but we all said "let's protest". We came up with a name for our group: Spontaneous Movement of Fighting Women of Afghanistan.

One of the protests Wahida (on the right) helped to organise in Kabul

At this point the Taliban had already shown their true colours. They backtracked on their promise to allow women to return to work and shut schools for girls once again. They announced their new "government" and there was not a single woman in it.

In those first days, as we marched on the streets for our rights, the Taliban cornered us. They fired teargas at us, and shots in the air - they even beat some of the women. Then they banned protests altogether.

Most of the women decided not to carry on, it was too risky. But they couldn't stop me.

I continued organising protests. The night before each one I couldn't sleep. I'd be restless and scared. I'd keep thinking "tomorrow will be the last day of my life".

File photo of an Afghan woman taking part in a protest

The arrest

In Afghanistan, arresting a woman is the same as ruining her reputation. There's a general assumption that she's been raped and in the Afghan society, it's the worst kind of shame a woman will carry.

That day in February 2022, when the Taliban stormed into the safe house to arrest us, we were ordered to hand in our phones. I couldn't breathe. "What's next?" I thought. "Will they kill me? Gang rape me? Torture me?" I felt like I had a body but my soul had left me.

We were put in their pickup trucks and taken to the Ministry of Interior Affairs. We passed a long hallway with a red carpet and were led to a small room that used to be the ministry's nursery, though it didn't look like one. No paintings, no toys, just a few national flags of Afghanistan piled up in the corner and a giant map of the country on the wall. We'd be kept in this place for the next 19 days.

The day after our arrest, one of the Taliban pushed the door open and stormed in. He was tall and had a dark expression. His eyes scanned the room and when he found me he shouted abusive words - he said I was "dirty" and "impure". "You've been insulting the [Islamic] Emirate for the past six months. Who are you collaborating with?"

I told him: "No-one, I'm doing it all on my own." Then he handed me a pen and piece of paper and said "You're a spy. Write down the name of all your collaborators."

Wahida on her journey from Afghanistan to Pakistan

Since I was from Panjshir, a province known for resisting against the Taliban, they thought I was being supported by the National Resistant Front, an armed group that is fighting them in the north.

The days that followed were slow. One by one the other women were released, but not me. Then one day they brought in a camera and told those of us remaining that they were going to ask us questions and we were to answer them looking at the lens.

When we demanded to know what the recording was for, they said it was just a formality and would be kept in the ministry's archives. We were told to say our names, which province we were from and who was helping us. By force they made us say Afghan activists abroad told us to protest.

We didn't know at the time but this would give people the impression that we marched to become famous and be evacuated from Afghanistan.

Shortly after, they released the forced confessions to the media. In a small TV in the hallway we saw the video being played by Tolo News, one of the largest TV stations in Afghanistan.

We all broke down crying. Now everyone knew we were taken by the Taliban. They didn't rape us, but in the eyes of many people they had. Now everyone thought we protested just to get help to leave Afghanistan.

Wahida clears her head in a local park

Two days after the forced confessions they said we were free to go. It came with a price, though - we had to promise not to protest again.

Kabul was cold, the streets were empty.

On the way home, my eldest brother couldn't stop scolding me. "What were you thinking, Wahida? Did you really think you could bring the Taliban down? You're just one woman." I was ashamed. I had lost everything. My job, my freedom and now the meaning of my life if I couldn't protest anymore.

One day I read an anonymous interview with another female protestor who said the Taliban had beaten us while we were in their custody. They hadn't. My family begged me to leave Kabul as they were worried the Taliban would be angered by the article and come for us again.

So, two months after my release I packed a small bag of clothes and some of my favourite books, including A Room of One's Own, and said goodbye to my motherland.

Wahida eats at an Afghan restaurant to remind herself of home

I left home at the crack of dawn and once again ended up in Pakistan.

I left my whole family. I left my bookshelves. I left the library. The last time I was there was the 14th of August, one day before the fall of Kabul. I sometimes wonder what happened to those books - are they still there?

I was a librarian in my previous life, now I am a refugee.

A new life

I live with a number of other families in Pakistan. I stare at my books but I don't have the energy to flick through the pages. I feel trapped like I can't dream or escape to another reality, even if it's just for a moment.

The women still in my country are being silenced with many afraid of opposing the Taliban openly. I go to the park to clear my head but the thought of my people doesn't leave me. I miss my home, my family and my cat.

The only thing that gives me a little joy and reminds me of home is an Afghan restaurant nearby.

These days I spend a lot of time in the local library, trying to put some words together about the women who protested. About our lives and how much they changed because of the Taliban.

Wahida is working on a book about the women who protested

I hope what I'm writing could one day turn into a book. I want women around the world to know Afghan women didn't just give up, they fought and when they were silenced and defeated they rose again, in one form or another.

I spend the rest of my time speaking to Afghan women all over the world - from Germany to the US - organising a global movement against the Taliban.

My aim is to make sure the international community never recognise them as an official government. I want them to put pressure on the group to reopen schools, to let our girls learn, to let us live freely in our own country.

I've wasted too much time not being able to read. To this day there are certain letters I still can't pronounce the way I should. I don't want the same for the future generations of my country.

Photos by Munazza Anwaar and Musa Yawari.

BBC

BBC 100 Women names 100 influential and inspiring women from around the world every year. Follow BBC 100 Women on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Join the conversation using #BBC100Women.
Last year, 55-year-old Merrill Grimes of Menomonie got a $971 bill for an ambulance ride. He was astounded.

I worked my whole life. I got insurance, he said. I couldnt believe that I rode an ambulance one time, and it cost nearly 1,000 bucks. My question is, why? I mean, why?

Luckily, Grimes was OK. He had high blood pressure, he said.

I was good. Im on meds now. But that trip, and time in the ER, cost a pretty penny. Thousands of dollars, he said. Im on a payment plan. But really? It was 19 miles. Why did it cost so much?

His girlfriend, who asked that her name be withheld, said: We thought we were doing the right thing, you know? We called 911. Then we got the bill and, forgive my French, but goddamn it was expensive.

In November, Dunn County voters will have the opportunity to show support for a potential solution to problems like these.

Last month the legislative committee of Dunn County approved a referendum question that is unprecedented in rural America. It asks Congress and the president to nationalize health care.

Generally, attempts such as these come from large, urban areas. They may come with a left-leaning agenda.

But in Dunn County, it is quite the opposite. This referendum is the result of dozens of locals working together, year after year. They dont care if you are blue or red or opaque. They just want you to have some say in whether you have good, reliable health care.

Their goal is to let the public decide if the federal government should cover health care costs for all, rather than just Medicare and Medicaid.

Thats it.

Thats the issue up for debate at this moment.

Heres where it gets unusual. Legisalators in the county voted unanimously to add this question to the November ballot. Some of them are incredibly conservative, politically speaking. Others lean in the opposite direction.

And yet, every legislative member voted to allow this question to go to referendum.

The goal, officials say, is to make sure that Americans are heard; that residents have a chance to give their opinion about health care in the United States.

You know, people are going to see that its on the ballot, and theyre going to start asking questions. What does it mean for the federal government to have universal health care? said Monica Berrier, a Dunn County supervisor.

But why does this matter?

If the referendum passes, that wont immediately affect national policy. However, it is saying that residents of Dunn County want new, national health care options.

And there are other counties in the state of Wisconsin that are looking to add this referendum  with the same wording and sentiment  to their ballot for the spring of 2023. This includes Douglas and Ashland counties.

So, if its just Dunn County, I dont see it having that much of a direct impact, Berrier said. However, what I hope is that this discussion in Dunn County will inspire other counties to do the same. And I think that if other counties across Wisconsin, and even into other states start doing that, I think that the federal legislators are really going to have to start to pay attention.

But for now, it is a waiting game.

I think its really exciting that Dunn County is breaking ground here and being the first county in the state to do this, said Berrier. And I think its really important for us, and the local government, to give the people a voice on national issues as much as we can.

Berrier, who was elected to the County Board of Supervisors in April and represents District 13, spoke in the public comments during the July meeting, which focused on whether the county would put a question to referendum. Thats more than a little unusual  to speak in the public comments on an issue as a citizen, when a microphone is available to you to say your piece as an elected official.

But thats what Berrier did.

Im the county supervisor for District 13. So, like the others, Im speaking today, regarding the referendum for national health care, she said in July. A question has come up about whether this is really county business, and I want to make the argument that it really is in the countys interest to be advocating for a better health care system.

Berrier said she wanted to make the argument that this should be a referendum question through the perspectives of budget and whether the current system is a responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

So, when I first started looking into this, I looked at the numbers from the meeting packets from the committee and administration for the past three months. And, what I found was that the county had spent around $500,000 each month on health insurance, for the past three months, she said. And, when I first saw this, I thought thats got to be some mistake, right? I must have misunderstood something.

Berrier said she pulled up the one-page 2022 budget summary for the county, which is a public document available to all.

In 2022, weve budgeted at, or around, $10 million per year for health insurance, and thats out of a $90 million budget total, she said. Thats not just personnel, thats all county operations. So $10 million out of $90 million, or about 10%, of all county operations goes to health insurance. So were spending a lot. But when we compare that to what the employees are actually getting, its a pretty bad deal.

In June, Dunn County expenditures for health insurance totaled $423,115.41.

Berrier said that Dunn County is part of a system where delays and denials of care are routine.

I dont know how anybody can look at this and think that this is a good situation. But its the system that were stuck with, she said. I believe that as elected officials, and stewards of taxpayer dollars, we have a responsibility to demand better from the federal government that serves us.

Over two meetings last month, more than 50 people from Dunn County spoke in favor of the referendum. From farmers to truck drivers to retired physicians, the sentiment was the same: Please let this go to referendum.

I have been canvassing in Dunn County this spring, said Dr. Lorene Vedder, a retired internal medicine physician. It is almost universal that our fellow constituents believe that everyone should have access to health care, even those unable to pay for it.

Then she added: I have a question for the audience. Will everyone here in favor of a referendum for universal health care, publicly financed and nonprofit, be on our ballot in Dunn County, in November. Would you please stand up?

More than two dozen residents of Dunn County stood up.

John Calabrese, the supervisor for District 14, said he thinks the language of the referendum helped move things along. It was something that people could get behind, he said.

Whats really interesting about the language here is that the referendum question was hoping to avoid the landmines, he said, the terms that are used regarding, a national health insurance program, terms such as Medicare for all or single-payer health care.

And so in November, Dunn County residents have the opportunity to add their voice to the national conversation about health care through the referendum.

I know that Dunn County is largely rural, and often voted conservative, but I can say from my time on the board that we dont talk about left versus right, Calabrese said. This is our way of trying to show what we in rural America can accomplish by working together.
For USDA State Wildlife Biologist Ritch Nelson, the desire to work with nature started early.

"I grew up on a farm northeast of Albion, a dairy farm, so I was outdoorsy and I was always kind of drawn to wildlife, nature, that kind of thing," Nelson said.

Little did he know that would lead to his being named Biologist of The Year. On Aug. 5, the USDA announced the title via press release.

Nelson said he's honored to be recognized for his work, especially among so many people who do so many things for conservation. Across 50 states, each with their own state biologists, plus however many on the local level, he said, there's a wide pool of talented individuals who care.

"Obviously its rewarding to be recognized from that standpoint among other highly qualified individuals," Nelson said. "It puts things in perspective that a lot of good works being done out there."

From his childhood fascination with the outdoors, Nelson went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study natural resources with a concentration on wildlife management. In 2003, he joined the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and has been there ever since.

"Basically I work with farmers and ranchers to help conserve natural resources, whether its soil or water quality, wildlife or whatever on their property, we try to help with that," Nelson said.

Nelson works with 77 offices across the state, communicating with them on their efforts to help conserve Nebraska wildlife. As his range is so vast, most of what he does involves making plans for smaller agencies or conservation workers to enact in their area.

"Whether its wetland restoration or tree and shrub plantings or grass seeding with native grasses. I dont actually do these things but I set the prescription for how they should be done to have them be successful," Nelson said.

That wide network contains not just employees of the NRCS, but members of Game and Parks, Pheasants Forever and the like. Nelson said that collaboration is a key contributor to his success in the role.

"Ive told them a lot of their work helps me look better. I guess thats part of my perspective as well that this isnt just my doing. Its a collective effort with all these other folks I get to work with," Nelson said.

Nelson's supervisor, NRCS State Resource Conservationist Britt Weiser, said in a press release that Nelson's experience with the NRCS as well as the experience he gained in his time working for both Nebraska Game and Parks and Wyoming Game and Fish has allowed him to provide an excellent level of advocacy and service to Nebraska wildlife.

"Ritch constantly advocates for wildlife management, ensuring species habitat needs are met through his training, guidance, and oversight of wildlife planning in Nebraska NRCS," Weiser said.

Weiser went on to say that Nelson's ability to collaborate with and educate others across the state has been a boon to Nebraska conservation efforts.

"Ritch is a role model and mentor to many of the field biologists working for partner agencies in Nebraska, which makes his impacted acres for conservation unmeasurable," Weiser said.
Panamanian Regulator May Swing the Ax after Bitcoin-friendly Bank Bans Use of Crypto Mixers

Source: AdobeStock / hanohiki

Panamas bitcoin (BTC) and crypto-friendly bank Towerbank says it will bar its customers from making use of crypto mixers  in the wake of the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)s move to sanction Tornado Cash earlier this month.

As previously reported, the OFAC has added the Ethereum (ETH)-powered crypto mixing service to its Specially Designated Nationals list, with Dutch police arresting a suspected Tornado developer who facilitated money laundering this week.

Latin American parties are also responding  with Towerbank apparently taking the lead in Panama. Experts, however, have stated that it is likely that the Panamanian banking regulator will follow up with a move of its own.

CriptoNoticias reported that Towerbank users who use Tornado could face sanctions such as account suspensions or further punitive measures.

The media outlet quoted the head of the banks crypto and blockchain division, Gabriel Campa, as stating that crypto mixers are often used for illicit activities.

He suggested that the bank agreed with the OFACs move, but indicated that the ban would not necessarily be retrospective.

Campa said:

If you are someone who made use of mixers years ago, we would have to analyze [your case], because it may not have constituted illegal behavior at the time.

Towerbank has positioned itself as the bank of choice for crypto investors, and offers dedicated crypto accounts and a Visa debit card that allows users to operate with digital assets.

But Campa dismissed the notion that Towerbank could move away from the crypto space, stating:

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are here to stay, so our bank has to be part of that.

Rodrigo Icaza, the Executive Director of the Panamanian Chamber of Digital Commerce and Blockchain, claimed that the banking regulator, the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP), would likely be spurred into action by the Towerbank move.

Icaza opined that the SBP would likely swing the ax at coin mixers and told the crypto community to be aware and act carefully in order to win the trust of the banking sector.

He added that the bitcoin community needed to be formalized and should work with regulations, rather than seeking to get around them.

Icaza urged the community to self-regulate by producing annual statements of crypto holdings and crypto-related income. This, he said, would allow banks to build up profiles of would-be crypto customers  and would let crypto holders gain more trust from banks.

____

Learn more:

- Tornado Cash Ban Blows Winds of Both Division and Unity Through Crypto Community

- Panama's 'Lost Crypto Opportunity'



- Panamanian MP: Our Draft Crypto Law Is Different from El Salvadors Bitcoin Law

- Crypto Bills in Panama, Brazil Progressing Fast, but Argentina Province Sends Mining Warning



- Banking Giant Santander is Set to Offer Crypto Trading to Brazilians as Crypto 'Is Here to Stay'

- Portuguese Banks Stop Offering Services to Crypto Exchanges, Citing Risk as Rationale
Relationships are paramount for success in education.

That was the message Thursday from Colleen Friend, superintendent of the Carlisle Area School District, as she spoke to local Rotary Club members.

I can teach anybody how to manage a classroom or write a lesson plan, she said, referring to teachers. But the most important thing is relationship building with students and your colleagues. We go to the trenches together.

A 1988 graduate of Carlisle High School, Friend had 18 years of experience in her home district before the school board in May appointed her superintendent effective July 1.

Since then, she has been making her rounds before community groups and at local events in the lead-up to the start of the 2022-23 school year.

I believe in the power educators hold in making a difference in a childs life, Friend said. We underestimate ourselves. I believe that every child can learn and grow, but we must start with the strengths. Individualize the instruction to meet their needs.

Theres a quote Every child is gifted, they just unwrap their packages at different times, she said. As educators, its our job  like when they were little  to help them tear the [gift] paper so they can get that package open quicker.

In a PowerPoint presentation, Friend outlined district goals while offering her take on leadership. I know people have said the words home grown about me, she said. Im very proud of that, but its my job to make sure that I dont get stuck there, to bring in new and fresh ideas.

One goal for this school year is to complete an upgrade of districtwide counseling services for all students in grades K-12.

We have to start career exploration at the elementary schools better than what we do now, Friend said. Were hiring an at-risk counselor in addition to the counselors that we have [on staff].

In a good year, we have 120 kids experiencing homelessness, she said. The average kid experiencing homelessness misses 27 days of school. Thats significant. We have to figure out how we can help.

Friend said she wants to emphasize communication, engagement and visibility in district interactions with the public. Every administrator serves on the board of a local nonprofit service organization. Administrators are also encouraged to attend local events and functions.

Being immersed in the community means so much to our kids and to our families, Friend said. Its part of the job.

Friend was asked what the district was doing to recruit and retain substitutes. There have been cases where principals have pulled teachers from free periods to cover classes, he said.

Every school building [in CASD] is allowed at least two assigned building substitutes who report to work every day, Friend said. Director of Elementary Operations Monique Wallace will review the daily demand and reassign building substitutes to other schools as needed.

Thats our first layer of defense, Friend said. The district plans to offer substitute teachers an incentive of additional per diem pay if they make themselves available a majority of school days from month-to-month, she said.

Friend was also asked about plans to handle the prospect of additional student enrollment from the three to four housing developments under construction in North Middleton Township.

Long-term, the district has a committee studying the best way to reprogram and/or reconfigure the elementary school program to address future enrollment increases, Friend said. The board of directors will guide us in the next steps.

Short-term, there is some room for growth at Crestview Elementary School, she said. If you are student attending that school, you are probably in a class of about 19 to 22 students. We are four deep in classrooms at each grade level. We have room, but space-wise, it will be tight. We are using everything we can at Crestview.
Late in summer 1918, the War Department rolled out an incentive for Dickinson College students.

Every volunteer for the Student Army Training Corps will have all of his college expenses paid by the government. In addition, SATC recruits will receive $30 a month.

More than a year had passed since the U.S. entered World War I on April 6, 1917. Projected manpower needs required a strategy that allowed students to take college courses while training for the military.

A college bulletin in late July reported that a SATC unit will be established at Dickinson in the upcoming academic year. By early August, the college received word from the War Department that it had met all the conditions to participate in the program.

Rifles, uniforms, overcoats and other equipment will be shipped in the near future, The Sentinel newspaper reported on Aug. 5.

Further details, released a month later, mentioned other incentives for career-minded individuals who volunteer for induction into the program.

All student-soldiers will be given military instruction by army officers and will be kept under observation and tested to determine their qualifications as officer candidates and technical experts, The Sentinel reported on Sept. 2.

After a certain period, they may be transferred to officers training camps, to non-commissioned officer training schools, to schools for further intensive work along special lines, to schools for technician training, or to cantonments for duty as a private, the newspaper reported.

Three weeks later, on Sept. 25, The Sentinel published a follow-up story announcing that the SATC program will be inaugurated at noon on Oct. 1. The local ceremony on the Dickinson College campus coincided with the opening day of the program at 400 other college campuses nationwide.

The military commandant at Dickinson College is Lieutenant Frank William Furby, who has come here from Massachusetts where for the past five months he has been engaged in training students at a Boston School, the newspaper reported. He will be assisted by a number of other officers who will be sent here by the War Department and who will arrive in a day or two.

Dickinson College hosted Student Army Training Corps units during World War I and World War II as a precursor to the establishment of its Army ROTC program during the height of the Korean War in 1952, according to a program history posted on the college website.

Tour through Time runs Saturday in The Sentinel print edition. Reporter Joseph Cress will work with the Cumberland County Historical Society each week to look at the county through the years. Send any questions, feature ideas or tips to jcress@cumberlink.com.
News  Vietnam

Health Ministry yet to approve vaccination for children under five
The fast-moving, middle-of-the-night inferno destroyed the home in the small community of Nescopeck, where members of an extended family had gathered for a summertime sleepover.
An area man faces multiple charges this week in St. Francois County following a Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation into child pornography possession and promotion.

Mark Alan Chaplin, 60, of Farmington, was charged on Thursday with four counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of first-degree promoting child pornography.

According to a probable cause statement, on July 19, the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) Digital Forensics Investigative Unit was provided information from Microsoft. The company provided an IP address and reported that on the morning of June 4, a person used Microsofts BingImage to upload an image of child pornography.

The report states the suspect performed a visual search of the image, which provides users with similar pictures to the ones uploaded. The uploaded image reportedly depicted a female child, approximately 8-10 years old.

On July 27, Microsoft informed investigators of another IP address used to upload child pornography on June 25. The report states the person used Microsofts BingImage to upload an image of a nude female child, about 10-12 years old, and performed a visual search of the picture.

Per the report, public records showed both IP addresses were registered to AT&T U-Verse, and a search warrant for subscriber information was served to the company. AT&T reportedly responded that the subscriber for both suspect IP addresses was for service at a Farmington address.

On Aug. 10, MSHP investigators executed a St. Francois County search warrant at the address in Farmington. During this search, the report states investigators interviewed Chaplin, who admitted to looking on the internet for pre-teen images. Chaplin was shown the image provided to investigators from Microsoft and allegedly admitted to viewing it online.

A search of Chaplins computer reportedly revealed numerous images of nude children, one of which involved a child in a sex act, according to police. The report states these images were stored in the cache files of his computer. An investigator noted in the report that through his training and experience, for images to appear in the cache files, the user must access them from the computer.

Chaplin was booked at the St. Francois County Detention Center on Wednesday, and a $150,000 bond was set in the case. If released on bail, Chaplin must comply with GPS and pre-trial monitoring. The man is also prohibited from having contact with children under the age of 18.

An initial court appearance in the case against Chaplin is scheduled for Tuesday.

A press release from the MSHP notes that the highway patrol was assisted by the Farmington Police Department.

The Division of Drug and Crime Control encourages internet users to promptly report to the Patrol or local law enforcement anyone who attempts to engage in unwanted, inappropriate, or sexualized communications with children, the release states. The Digital Forensics Investigative Unit is partially funded by the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, St. Francois, Jefferson, and Ste. Genevieve counties are considered to have high COVID-19 community levels, while Iron and Madison counties are at medium COVID-19 community levels.

The COVID-19 Community Level is determined by three factors. The first factor is the number of cases in the county over seven days divided by the population in the county, then multiplied by 100,000. The second factor is the total number of new admissions of patients with confirmed case over seven days divided by the total population in the Health Service Area, and then multiplied by 100,000. The last factor is the percentage of staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with a confirmed case within the entire Health Service Area over a seven-day average.

As of Wednesday, St. Francois County has 202 cases of COVID-19, according to the CDC. As of last Monday, the county has seen a percentage positivity of 42.52%, meaning of the total amount of tests performed, more than 40% of the tests were positive. With data from July 28, a total of 382 tests were performed.

More than half of the population in St. Francois County has received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, according to the CDC. At least 33,719 people, or 50.2% of the population, in the county have received at least one dose of a vaccine; while 29,718 people, or 44.2% of the population, is considered fully vaccinated.

The most common variant the county is seeing in watersheds, according to Tara West, the Communicable Diseases/COVID-19 public health nurse for the St. Francois County Health Center, is Omicron BA.5. For the month of July, the county had a total of 797 cases, while June only had 516.

The St. Francois County Health Department does offer daily testing and vaccinations Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. According to West, there are still people continuing to get vaccinated, but not as much as the first quarter of the year.

The health department recommends wearing a mask, avoiding crowded areas, and vaccinations are the best protection and prevent for fighting the virus.

Other areas

Washington County, as of Wednesday, has 60 active cases of COVID-19. As of last Monday, testing percentage positivity is 74.04%, which is an increase of 26.4% compared to the previous week. The number of tests performed through July 28 is 156.

At least 9,392 people, or 38% of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine in Washington County, while 8,021 people or 32.40% of the populations is fully vaccinated.

In Ste. Genevieve County, as of Wednesday, there was 46 active cases over the course of a week. Both percentage positivity and test performed have decreased, with the percentage positivity at 16%, a decrease of 19.71%. The amount of tests performed with data through July 28 is 25, a percentage change of -63.24%.

About half of the county has received at least one dose of the vaccine at 8,972 people or 50.1%, while 8,133 people or 45.5% of the population are fully vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, according to the CDC, Madison County has reported a total of 33 cases over a course of seven days. Through last Monday, the percentage positivity is 39.22%, with a decrease of 8.4%. The number of tests performed has also decreased, as of July 28 the county had 55 tests performed over a course of seven days, leading a percentage change of -21.43%.

At least 5,646 people or 46.7% of the population have received one dose of the vaccine in Madison County; while 4,880 or 40.4% of the population is fully vaccinated.

A total of 14 cases over the course of a week were reported in Iron County through Wednesday. The percentage positivity as of Monday has also decreased to 60%, giving the percentage change of -2.86%. The number of tests performed has also decreased according to the CDC to 26 over the course of seven days through July 28, which gives a percentage change of -39.53%.

In Iron County, at least 4,482 people or 44.3% of the population have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 3,991 people or 39.4% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Six dogs at the Farmington Pound are seeking their owners or new homes where they can be loved and cared for.

They include a male mixed breed dog, 8 months old, surrendered to animal control by his owner; female brindle mixed breed dog, 9 months old was surrendered to animal control by her owners; a friendly male mixed breed dog, approximately a year old; male, mixed breed. This beautiful blue-eyed boy was picked up as a stray near Taco Bell; a male mixed breed dog, approximately 9 months old, that was picked up as a stray; and a female, mixed breed dog, approximately 2 years old.

For more information, contact the Farmington Animal Control officer at 573-631-9521. Animal Control is located at 1650 Vargo Road and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Dogs and cats remain for at least seven days at the Park Hills and Farmington pounds, and at least five days at the Desloge Pound, to allow owners the opportunity to claim them. After that, they are eligible for adoption or euthanasia. There are no adoption fees, but rescuers are required by the Missouri Department of Agriculture to sign a spay/neuter/vaccination commitment.

Contact any other pounds listed for their adoption policies and fees.

Sometimes space does not allow for every pound pup photo to be published. Animals not featured in this story may also be available for adoption.
The FBI recovered documents that were labeled top secret from former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the unprecedented search this week.

A property receipt unsealed by the court shows FBI agents took 11 sets of classified records from the estate during a search on Monday.

The seized records include some marked not only top secret but also sensitive compartmented information, a special category meant to protect the nation's most important secrets that if revealed publicly could cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. interests. The court records did not provide specific details about information the documents might contain.

The warrant says federal agents were investigating potential violations of three different federal laws, including one that governs gathering, transmitting or losing defense information under the Espionage Act. The other statutes address the concealment, mutilation or removal of records and the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations.

The property receipt also shows federal agents collected other potential presidential records, including the order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone, a leatherbound box of documents, and information about the President of France. A binder of photos, a handwritten note, miscellaneous secret documents and miscellaneous confidential documents were also seized in the search.

Trumps attorney, Christina Bobb, who was present at Mar-a-Lago when the agents conducted the search, signed two property receipts  one that was two pages long and another that is a single page.

In a statement earlier Friday, Trump claimed that the documents seized by agents were all declassified, and argued that he would have turned them over if the Justice Department had asked.

While incumbent presidents generally have the power to declassify information, that authority lapses as soon as they leave office and it was not clear if the documents in question have ever been declassified. And even an incumbent's powers to declassify may be limited regarding secrets dealing with nuclear weapons programs, covert operations and operatives, and some data shared with allies.

Trump kept possession of the documents despite multiple requests from agencies, including the National Archives, to turn over presidential records in accordance with federal law.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant served Monday was part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records recovered from Trumps home earlier this year. The Archives had asked the department to investigate after saying 15 boxes of records it retrieved from the estate included classified records.

It remains unclear whether the Justice Department moved forward with the warrant simply as a means to retrieve the records or as part of a wider criminal investigation. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified information, with both criminal and civil penalties, as well as presidential records.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, the same judge who signed off on the search warrant, unsealed the warrant and property receipt Friday at the request of the Justice Department after Attorney General Merrick Garland declared there was substantial public interest in this matter, and Trump said he backed the warrants immediate release. The Justice Department told the judge Friday afternoon that Trumps lawyers did not object to the proposal to make it public.

In messages posted on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, Not only will I not oppose the release of documents ... I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents.

Take a look at the Mar-a-Lago search documents here:
Hate speech should not be free speech, say legal experts with the University of Virginia Jewish Studies Program.

The experts are calling for a new look at the First Amendment that would look at hate speech as an act to incite violence rather than a demonstration of free speech.

The programs first Zoom event of the fall semester on Thursday looked at ways the 2017 Unite the Right rally is making legal experts reevaluate Constitutional protection of violent speech.

In 2017, white supremacists were cunning in crafting language and public messages that promoted violence without claiming any actual responsibility. Violent themes and action calls were carefully couched in verbiage that could be read in different ways.

Charlottesville, Albemarle County and Virginia officials did not take action to shut down the rally before Aug. 12, 2017 because there was no direct threat of violence, although internet and social media posts were construed as calling for violence.

City officials proposed that the organizers move the event to McIntire Park for safety and logistical reasons, reasoning the group would have more room for the projected amount of attendees with additional space.

That move was fought by organizers who chose Market Street Park because of the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that once stood there.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the citys decision to move the event. When city officials did not meet the U.S. District Courts requirement of providing proof of planned violence, the judge ordered the original permit for the Market Street Park rally be honored.

The basic frame was, This is going to be a polite civil demonstration, theres going to be free speech on both sides, said Dalia Lithwick, Slate senior editor, author and host of the Amicus podcast.

Lithwick joined James Loeffler, director of the Jewish Studies Program and professor of Jewish history at UVa; and Micah Schwartzman, director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy, to discuss ways in which city administrators underestimated white power groups, despite federal research on their violent history.

You dont have a free speech right to bring that kind of violence to a community, Schwartzman said.

Lithwick said people believed the rally would be like the planned 1978 Nazi march through the predominately Jewish town of Skokie, Illinois, then home to hundreds of Holocaust survivors. Skokie officials and allies tried to legally block the demonstration, triggering a barrage of lawsuits and leading to ACLU representing Nazis.

The Nazi march effort led the city of Skokie to pass numerous ordinances aimed at preventing the march and even legislation in the Illinois legislature with a broad definition of hate speech. Lawsuits overturned many of the ordinances as too restrictive to free speech.

The Nazis eventually agreed to move the demonstration to downtown Chicago. On June 24, 1978, with an estimated 1,000 Chicago police officers to separate the Nazis from angry counter-demonstrators, it occurred.

[People thought Aug. 12, 2017] will be like a Skokie Nazis marching through some suburb of Chicago kind of event, and itll happen, itll fizzle and everything will go back to normal, Lithwick said of the Unite the Right rally. That model was just completely wrong. People showed up with guns and guns change everything.

According to the group, the attacks on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 highlighted the intersection of amplified hate speech using technology rather than presenting brand new racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

During former president Donald Trumps 2016 campaign and the months leading up to the Unite the Right rally, participants used secret chatrooms and private social platforms to mobilize under the radar.

An online presence allowed the white supremacists and neo-Nazis to access a larger network and legitimize their mission into the mainstream.

Abject failure of the Justice Department to do anything in the wake of Charlottesville was the reason that a civil rights trial had to be brought, Lithwick said, noting the Sines v. Kessler federal lawsuit that was filed in the wake of the Aug. 12 violence. The question is, is the law adequate to [the issue]? I think theoretically, it is. But we are very, very far away from having a legal system that, in fact, was adequate, both in advance and after the fact.

Last year, a federal jury awarded $26 million in the Sines lawsuit after finding the organizers of the violent Unite the Rally guilty of civil conspiracy to harass, threaten and harm counter-protesters under Virginia state law.

The trial encouraged questions about the modern sustainability of the First Amendment, since the way Americans communicate with one another has changed.

Weve had to learn how to address courts, and how to show them that this is, in fact, whats happening, Schwartzman said. I think that speaks to a larger set of themes about whats necessary in order to hold people accountable to affect the rule of law.

From the standpoint of assigning accountability to the white supremacists who stormed Charlottesville streets five years ago, the trial was successful. It proved that racist conspiracies to commit violence can be litigated in a court of law on both state and federal levels.

The trial has already impacted legal strategy in other cases, including current litigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol invasion, holding it as a civil trial aimed at holding inciters of anti-democratic violence responsible for their actions.

And this trial has spawned other cases coming out of January 6, weve got litigation in the DC federal district courts right now, based on this model, Schwartzman said. I think that is an enormous contribution that this trial made.

While the Unite the Right trial was a successful step in the right direction, federal and state laws are still adapting to quickly identify extremist violence and hold perpetuators responsible in a court of law. Lithwick called on legal experts to be better about connecting speech that is designed to incite lawlessness and racist violence that can cost people their lives rather than focusing on maintaining dated First Amendment ideals.

This would require shifting focus from free speech to terrorists in the process to investigate hate speech cases.

I mean, that it happens again on Jan. 6, its just mind boggling that with all the years in between that we had to learn from what happened here, that there wasnt development between Charlottesville and this assault on the Capitol building, Lithwick said.
Cue the tumbleweeds, because theres a new deputy on the Grounds of the University of Virginia: Deputy Police Chief Bryant Hall, to be precise.

UVa Police officers, UVa faculty and staff along with members of Alpha Phi Alpha joined Charlottesville community members at the sun-filled Rotunda Dome on Friday morning to welcome Hall to his new position.

Hall has been with the department since 2019 as the field services captain, responsible for organizing 24-hour uniform patrol, investigations and crime prevention. Now, he will take his place deciding on the best safety measures for the university alongside Chief of Police Timothy Longo.

Were here, not just for a promotion, but for a legacy that will outlive all of us, Longo said. This is a different police department; this is a unique space.

I couldnt be happier about this promotion, UVa President Jim Ryan said. Hes an incredible individual and an incredible member of [the University Police Department.] Hes going to do great things.

Halls wife, Maria Hall, pinned the new badge on her husband as attendees smiled from ear to ear. Halls children were the first to clap once she finished.

Before joining the university department three years ago, Hall served with the Portsmouth Police Department for more than 13 years and in the Coast Guard Reserve in 2001.

During his time in Portsmouth, Hall created a program called Teens and Traffic Stops to teach youth about protocol when being pulled over, in the midst of high-profile stops and police shootings around the country at the time. It was the first of its kind in Virginia.

Norfolk State University alum, Hall spearheaded a partnership with the university police and the Norfolk Life Enrichment Center in which officers tutor Albemarle County Public School students to strengthen community relationships.

My first [priority] is providing procedural justice: to make sure students, faculty and staff are protected at all costs, Hall said. Im focused on community engagement; thats why there are so many pastors and organizers here. I want that relationship with the community, focusing on being an employer of choice and making this a place that law enforcement from all over Virginia want to come and work.
Following last week's White House declaration that the monkeypox, or hMPXV, outbreak is a public health emergency, Oregon health officials announced Thursday, Aug. 11 that the state now has 95 cases.

As the Oregon Health Authority ramps up its health response, leaders reflected Thursday during a media briefing on the harm that may befall certain communities in the effort to explain who is at risk.

Because the language surrounding the outbreak may be causing misconceptions, those in the LGBTQ+ community have been stigmatized, said Katie Cox, executive director of the Equity Institute, which bridges health care access to LGBTQ+ folks.

She joined OHA officials for the media briefing. She said LGBTQ+ folks may have an already difficult relationship with medical professionals. Some have had trouble accessing care or feel they arent believed, Cox said.

Addressing the stigma

To be clear, anyone with skin is at risk of getting monkeypox, Cox said.

There is a lot of confusion among community members about vaccine access, Cox said, relaying the story of a person who had a confirmed exposure but was waitlisted for the vaccine. They later contracted monkeypox before being able to receive the vaccine.

Cox said vaccine access should be "based on activity, not just sexual orientation.

From the HIV/AIDS epidemic, public agencies should understand the stigma that can arise, Cox said. Despite being a guest at the briefing, Cox was bold: She wondered aloud if the public health response would look differently if the disease weren't mostly affecting a historically marginalized community.

Many people who partake in at risk activities that lead to close contact, such as swingers, polyamorous or sex workers, fall under all types of identities, including being straight, she said.

Monkeypox can occur in all genders and all sexual orientations, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, state health officer and state epidemiologist, agreed.

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It isnt just men, and it isnt just one sexual orientation, he said.

Although most of those being afflicted by monkeypox are assigned male at birth, there are some cases of patients identifying as straight or being female at birth, Sidelinger said.

Sidelinger noted he appreciated the concerns brought up and for holding us accountable.

Not like the COVID-19 pandemic

Although it is a serious health concern, it is not another COVID-19, Sidelinger said. It is not as transmissible and requires close to skin-to-skin contact.

While monkeypox can transfer onto objects before infection, officials are seeing fewer cases where that is happening, Sidelinger said. They also are not seeing any evidence yet that suggests asymptomatic cases.

"Monkeypox doesn't spread the same way between people and isn't as easy to catch as COVID-19," Sidelinger said. "The number of cases among certain higher-risk individuals is increasing, but we're not seeing  nor do we anticipate  the rapid spread of the virus that we experienced with COVID-19."

Monkeypox symptoms may be a fever, achiness, or sore throat, but may also start with rash or sores. In most cases the rash is severe, but sometimes it can be very painful. Being aware of your body and any new rashes is important, he said.

The OHA is working to make sure doctors are also keeping a low threshold for detecting monkeypox in patients, he said.

Those who have monkeypox should be under quarantine until all blisters have closed and healed. This can last anywhere between two and four weeks, said Sidelinger.

Unlike, COVID-19, there are no federally allocated funds to help those who may have to miss work or need assistance with food and child care.

There have been no pediatric cases yet, and schools remain a low-risk setting, Sidelinger said. However, OHA is working to give schools some guidelines and putting efforts to make those guidelines dont have stigmatizing language.

Vaccination

Oregon health officials are also trying to increase vaccine accessibility and hope to expand vaccine eligibility. In a joint announcement on Aug. 5, OHA and the Department of Consumer and Business required insurers to cover the monkeypox vaccine.

Supplies of the vaccine are still limited, Sidelinger said. Right now OHA is focusing on people who have had or are more likely to have monkeypox in the last 14 days.

OHA has also created a new web page with accurate information regarding how to get vaccines, and information about monkeypox at https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/Monkeypox/Pages/index.aspx.

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Globe Telecom gained board approval to sell over 7,000 mobile towers, in deals expected to reap PHP71 billion (US$1.2 billion) to finance network expansion and sustain industry consistency and reliability scores.

In a statement, the operator detailed two 15-year sale and leaseback agreements were signed for portfolios totalling of 5,709 telecom towers and related passive infrastructure. Both deals are expected to close in Q3 this year.

The first contains 2,180 telecom towers in Luzon which will be acquired by MIESCOR Infrastructure Development Corporation (MIDC) for PHP26 billion, the pre-tax gain from this transaction to be PHP10.6 billion. Globe also commissioned the company to construct 750 additional build-to-suit towers over the next four years on which the operator will be the anchor tenant.

The second deals consist of 3,529 towers which will be sold to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines for PHP45 billion. Globe estimated the pre-tax transaction gain form this deal will be PHP15 billion.

The majority of the towers to be sold are located in Luzon (66%) with the rest in Mindanao (19%) and Visayas (15%). The majority (79%) of the assets be to sold are ground-based and with the rest being rooftop towers.

Another deal is currently in advanced discussion with an undisclosed tower company for the sale and lease of 1,350 towers located in Visayas and Mindano. This deal is expected to close in Q4.

We have always been looking for ways to monetise our tower assets and this record-breaking initiative marks our continued commitment to optimise our capital raising efforts and further strengthen the balance sheet as we seek to capitalise on opportunities in the telecommunications sector and complementary services, said Globe CFO Rizza Maniego-Eala.

These expanded long-term partnerships with the tower companies show Globes commitment to help improve the Philippines internet condition, as well as our desire to have as many Filipinos enjoy the benefits of having access to reliable internet. We also believe that through these monetisation efforts, Globe will be able to further improve overall operational efficiency, allowing us to serve our customers better, added Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu.

Financial results

In its H1 results, Globe revealed capex increased year-on-year by 17% to PHP50.5 billion due to aggressive network rollouts to improve customer experiences.

The companys service revenue hit PHP78/9 billion a 4% increase which was fuelled by the contribution of data-related products and services across mobile and corporate data.

Mobile data revenue grew 8% to PHP41.8 billion from PHP38.6 billion last year. Mobile data consumption grew to 2,177 petabytes from 1,761 petabytes last year. EBITDA stood at PHP40.5 billion which is up 8% from the same period last year.
Citing sources with knowledge of the matter, a number of news outlets have been reporting that a cable project may soon be formally announced that will connect Morocco with Mauritania through Western Sahara.

Such an initiative could also reinforce the African Coast to Europe (ACE) cable to which Mauritania was connected in 2011 and on which it mainly relies for high-speed internet services.

The Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable spans 17,000 kilometres along the west coast of Africa, connecting three European countries  France, Portugal and the Spanish-owned Canary Islands  and 16 African countries including Mauritania.

According to the Ecsaharaui website, Moov Mauritel, Mauritanias leading operator, is especially interested in the, as yet unnamed, cable project.

If it goes ahead the cable would be over 1,000 kilometres long, stretching from Moroccos southern Saharan regions to Mauritania while crossing the Guerguarat border post and boosting internet speeds significantly.

But will the project go ahead? A rather tricky issue is the argument that such a cable would imply recognition by Mauritania of Moroccan sovereignty in Western Sahara, one reason that the project has been rejected by previous Mauritanian presidents. If it is officially affirmed, however, it seems that current president, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, would be changing that position.

Another issue is Algeria, which may be unhappy with a project that undermines its own position. It supports the Polisario Front, the group that claims independence in the southern Moroccan provinces.

Algeria made clear its dissatisfaction when the Spanish government officially endorsed Moroccos Autonomy Plan  a proposal to resolve the Sahara conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front  as the most serious and credible basis to end the dispute over Western Sahara.

In the event, we still seem to be awaiting a formal acknowledgment of the scheme, though there will then presumably be the practical issues of funding and project tendering to deal with.
A strategy to help get hydrilla and other weeds under control in Merritts Mill Pond will begin Aug. 29 and continue into September, the Jackson County Commission announced this week.

According to a press release from Jackson County Public Information Officer Dylan Bass, the county contracted with a mechanical harvesting company to remove hydrilla and other unspecified materials from the main channel of the Mill Pond.

The move is intended to help vessels navigate it and open more area so that future herbicide treatments can have greater impact, officials said.

To start this process, biologists from the University of Florida, along with FWC will conduct a dye-trace study during the week of August 29, the release states.

Boaters may be able to see the red dye in the water if theyre out on the pond, but it likely wont be visible from the road, county official Rett Daniels said in a conversation following the press release.

The dye helps determine the flow of water and the amount of herbicide needed in a subsequent grass treatment that is to follow during the week of Sept. 12-16, the release stated.

It went on to provide some information about how the herbicide will be used.

The herbicide treatment uses a pulsed drip system dispersing Aquathol K over the course of the week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The results will be monitored over the following weeks to determine effectiveness, it stated.

Daniels said in the conversation following the press release the application of the herbicide will not necessitate the close of the water to swimmers, boaters, fishermen or other users and that it poses no threat to humans or fish.

He said that although there could be some collateral damage to desirable aquatic vegetation such as eel grass, that is expected to be minor as the concentration of hydrilla is so thick that it will be a big target and therefore take the brunt of the application.

The release also spoke of the reason this is being done.

Merritts Mill Pond is one of Jackson Countys most highly valued natural resources. It exists not only as a source of recreation for visitors and locals alike, but also as a home to many citizens with property on its shores, the release states.

Over the years, the hydrilla grass levels have increased which impacts life on and in the waterthe county has taken many different approaches to manage the grass levels.

The Board, along with staff, would like to ensure the community that we are making every effort to address this situation for the health of the ecosystem as well as the longevity of public access, it concluded.
The former PM Imran Khan said that the Judiciary needs to take notice of this.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan strongly condemned the torture on PTI leader Shahbaz Gill and questioned who ordered for the torture on him?

In his Tweet, he said, "Under what law & under who s orders is this being done? If he broke any law then he should be given a fair hearing. But just to salvage Imported govt of crooks the Constitution & all laws are being violated with impunity."

The former Prime Minister went on to say, "Judiciary needs to take notice of this."

While he also added, "ARYs news editor was picked up violently late night from his home without warrant & a wife with suckling baby picked up illegally because her husband worked for Gill."

"A climate of fear is being spread to make people kowtow before cabal of crooks," Imran khan wrote.

 Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 12, 2022

Earlier today, Shahbaz Gill told the local court that he was being subjected to torture by the authorities claiming that his medical report presented by the police in the court was false as he was not taken for any medical examination.

The PTI leader was produced before the court today after the completion of two-day physical remand. Later, the court hearing a sedition case against him rejected the prosecutions plea seeking an extension in his physical remand and sent him to jail on judicial remand.
Rice fields are seen in the Mekong Delta in January 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Tai

The Mekong Delta has long been hailed as the countrys rice bowl, but the burden of ensuring food security for the nation is slowing its growth and robbing the region of opportunities to thrive, a report says.

With an annual rice output of 24 million tons a year, or half of Vietnams total, the Mekong Delta has been given the responsibility of ensuring food security for the country over several decades, which is both a "destiny" and a "tragedy," according to a recent report by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management.

"We need to release the region of the food security mission to reduce its dependence on rice. No country gets rich by growing rice. It is given the destiny to grow rice and because of that it has become poor," said Vu Thanh Tu Anh, director of the school, at the release of the Annual Mekong Delta Economic Report 2022.

Vietnam exported over $3.5 million tons of rice in the first six months in return for $1.72 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.5% in value and 16.2% in volume.

The reason for the gap between value and volume growth is because the worlds leading rice producers (China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand) have been increasing production, and their combined volume reached a new record of 521 million tons last year. The increased supply has resulted in lower prices.

"It is not wise to maintain a high output. If we keep increasing output, price will drop," Anh said.

The Mekong Delta rice farming area has been expanding for the last two decades. In 2000, it accounted for 51.5% of Vietnams rice farming area and this rose to 54.5% by 2020.

"More output means more fertilizer and more pesticides. It also means more CO2 which makes Vietnams carbon neutral target more difficult to achieve. We need to lower rice output in the long run," Anh said.

Bearing the "rice bowl" responsibility has also made the Mekong Delta struggle to grow. Its GRDP growth was merely 2.42% in 2020 and -0.43% last year.

Among nine localities with negative GRDP growth last year, six were in the region.

Anh explained that agriculture contribution to the regions GRDP was just 0.5-1% point, which was not enough to lift up its economy.

Farmers in the region use outdated techniques and focus more on quantity more than quality, the report said, adding that their agriculture value added per worker in the region was $2,917 in 2019, lower than that of Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The VCCI-Fulbright report said that the food security mission has successfully helped Vietnam eradicate hunger and become one of the worlds top rice exporters, but it did not help the Mekong Delta region thrive.

The mission locked the region in low-added-value agriculture activities with poor infrastructure and lack of resources, chasing away investors and workers due to low living standards and scarcity of job opportunities.

Anh and other experts that authored the report said that the current rice farming area in the region needs to be reduced to make room for other activities with higher value and productivity.

Although the government has agreed to cut the regions rice farming area by 88,560 hectares, or 2.3%, by 2030, it was unclear how the plan will be implemented, Anh said.
A girl has her health checked before getting Covid-19 vaccine in Hanoi in April 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Chieu

The end of Covid-19 should not be declared yet since its incidence has not stabilized and continues to fluctuate, the Ministry of Health has said.

In a communication to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday, it said for Covid to be considered a common illness, it needs to meet certain criteria like occurring in a specific population group or area and incidence being stable and predictable.

However, in most countries, the number of infections has been fluctuating and the trajectory of infections changes every time there is a new variant of the novel coronavirus.

The new variants constantly appear as immunity, built up either via vaccination or infection, is not stable and decreases over time, the ministry said.

As a result, the disease could flare up again, it said.

In March the PM had instructed the ministry to evaluate the degree of protection antibodies provide against the coronavirus.

Covid has been under control across the country, but the number of cases increased again recently and there are still deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday that Vietnam is among the top four countries in terms of number of cases.

It has been recording over 571,000 new cases the past week, only behind South Korea (713,000 cases), the U.S. (760,000) and Japan (1.4 million cases), WHO said.

To declare the end of Covid-19 as a pandemic, several conditions need to be met, including "detecting no new cases for 28 days in a row" the ministry said.

If Vietnam does make such a declaration, special mechanisms would not be imposed if a new and more dangerous variant appears, it pointed out.

Then Covid patients would stop getting free treatment, including those living in remote areas without easy access to medical services, and medical workers would not get special allowances. There would be no specific mechanisms for emergency use of vaccines.

Maintaining the current status ensures focus and mobilization of all available resources to fight the pandemic, the ministry said.

"Vietnam has basically met the necessary conditions for the transition from pandemic prevention to sustainable management, but still needs to be alert to new variants of the virus."

Vietnam has among the highest vaccine coverage rates in the world with 247 million vaccine doses given to its 79.4 million people.

Since April the ministry has expanded the vaccination to cover children aged five and upward. Those aged 12 and above are being given booster shots and a fourth dose is highly recommended for high-risk adults.

The ministry also wants to keep Covid-19 in group A, which comprises dangerous infectious diseases with the ability to spread quickly and widely, and have a high mortality rate or an unknown causative agent.

Some others in this group include influenza A - H5N1, plague, smallpox, dengue fever, and cholera.

So far no country has declared Covid a common illness.

Some have fixed criteria to consider it an endemic disease, including low mortality, reduced rate of severe cases requiring hospitalization, and high vaccine coverage of various age groups, especially high-risk populations.

In March WHO released an updated plan with key strategies to allow the world to end the emergency phase of the pandemic if implemented within this year.

They include vaccinating 70 percent of the world against Covid.

As of August 9 some 62.8 percent were fully vaccinated with at least two doses.
The health ministry has decided not to vaccinate children under 5 against Covid-19 yet, it said in a Thursday report to the prime minister.

The Ministry of Health will continue to follow recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO), experience from other countries and will determine whether to vaccinate children under 5 against Covid-19 or not based on science.

A vaccine expert said the decision stemmed from the fact that there is not yet enough scientific basis and evidence on Covid-19 vaccination for children under 5.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in June that Pfizer and Modernas Covid-19 vaccines can be used on children under 5. But a New York Times survey revealed 43% of parents with children under 5 would not let their children be vaccinated against Covid-19, 27% would "wait", and 13% comply on request.

Their main concerns were the vaccines side effects, their novelty and what they perceived as the lack of sufficient research.

As of Wednesday, Vietnam has administered over 249 million Covid-19 vaccine shots, with all children aged 12-17 having received at least two, and 40% three. A total 73% of children aged 5-11 have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot, and 41%, two.
The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China published a white paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" on Wednesday, which resonated strongly among overseas Chinese.

In separate interviews with Xinhua, overseas Chinese were of the same mind that the white paper demonstrates the firm will and determination of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people in pursuit of national reunification, and reveals the egregious moves of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities "seeking independence by soliciting U.S. support" and external forces attempting to "use Taiwan to contain China." They also expressed confidence in the bright future for the great cause of China's reunification.

CPC'S LEADERSHIP: KEY TO NATIONAL REJUVENATION, REUNIFICATION

The white paper points out that resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. It is indispensable for the realization of China's rejuvenation. It is also a historic mission of the CPC.

Many overseas Chinese said they can see from the white paper the strong determination, firm will and strong ability of the CPC and the Chinese government to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity and to realize the complete reunification of the motherland, which makes them feel very excited.

"It is an indisputable fact that Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. The CPC and the Chinese government have always made it an unswerving historical task to realize the complete reunification of the motherland," said Lu Hongmin, executive director of the Federation of Ottawa Chinese-Canadian Community Organizations.

"We are convinced that the Chinese nation, with a splendid civilization history of more than 5,000 years, will realize the great historical mission of complete reunification of the motherland with its will, wisdom and ability," said Lu.

Liu Shufang, vice president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Cuba, said Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, which is the universal consensus of the international community.

"We can see that the CPC is firmly committed to the complete reunification of the motherland and has made great efforts to promote the peaceful and integrated development of cross-Straits relations and uniting compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits," Liu said.

"The CPC has always cared about the interests and well-being of Taiwan compatriots, and has been working tirelessly for the peaceful reunification of China and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is the backbone of the Chinese people and nation, and the firm leadership core for national rejuvenation and reunification," said Qiao Fengxiang, president of the National Association of Chinese-Americans.

Wu Youyi, president of Western America Chinese Peaceful Unification, said that the white paper reviewed the principles and policies adopted by the CPC to resolve the Taiwan question at various historical stages, and systematically expounded the major policies and policy propositions of the CPC and the Chinese government to promote the reunification of the motherland in the new era.

Wu said that the CPC has always regarded resolving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland as an unswerving historical task, and has played a core leadership role in resolving the Taiwan question.

Li Zhuohui, editor-in-chief of Harian Xin Bao Indonesia, has noticed "the greatest sincerity and efforts" from the CPC and the Chinese government in promoting peaceful reunification. He said the CPC and the Chinese government have put forward the most feasible guidelines and policies, fully respecting and considering the interests and well-being of Taiwan compatriots.

The two sides should enhance mutual trust and recognition on the common political basis of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence," so as to lift their exchanges and interactions to a new height, Li said.

"Taiwan is part of China's territory, and the historical and legal facts are clear and unquestionable," said Xu Yiping, president of the Association of Culture and Commerce of China in Chile.

"I believe that in the new era and on the new journey, the CPC and the Chinese government will continue to unite and lead the compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to achieve the complete reunification of the motherland and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The historical task of the complete reunification of the motherland will surely be realized," Xu said.

SEEKING INDEPENDENCE A DEAD END; USING TAIWAN TO CONTAIN CHINA DOOMED TO FAIL

To protect the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole, including our compatriots in Taiwan, we must resolutely oppose it (separatism) and work for peaceful reunification, the white paper emphasized.

"We Chinese will decide our own affairs," it said, adding the Taiwan question is an internal affair that involves China's core interests and the Chinese people's national sentiments, and no external interference will be tolerated.

Zhu Hailun, chairman of the Finnish Association for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China, has considerable reflections on the white paper, saying "Taiwan independence" separatists and a small number of foreign politicians were just making a noise with their clumsy political stunts in the process of China's national reunification.

To challenge the one-China principle is to make an enemy of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, Zhu said, adding that attempts to hinder China's complete reunification are doomed.

"National reunification reflects the aspiration of the people and meets the call of the times, which cannot be impeded by anyone or any force," said Qian Qiguo, chairman of the Australian Alliance for Peaceful Chinese Reunification.

Associations in Australia for promoting China's reunification regard the Taiwan question purely as an internal affair of China, which brooks no external interference, Qian said, stressing that the Chinese people have the strong will to secure national reunification and territorial integrity.

Zhao Qian, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Branch of the Business Association of China in Vietnam, said that in recent years, the Taiwan authorities led by the DPP have caused tensions in cross-Straits relations by relying on foreign forces to seek independence, while some external forces have taken the chance to make provocations.

These obstacles, endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, must be cleared in China's endeavor for peaceful reunification, Zhao said.

The United States has been playing the "Taiwan card" deliberately to incite the separatist forces to stir up troubles, which has jeopardized regional peace and stability, said Bai Yi, president of the Federation of Overseas Chinese and Chinese Businessmen Association the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, who believes that any plot for "Taiwan independence" or external interference will surely be thwarted.

Relying on external forces to seek independence is a dead end and attempts to use Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail, said Jin Xiaodong, president of the Overseas Chinese Association of Nepal, noting that people on both sides of the Straits share the same origin and the bond of kinship.

People all over the world have seen a few countries led by the United States fan the flames everywhere for self-interest, Jin said, adding that the one-China principle represents the universal consensus of the international community, which is consistent with the basic norms of international relations.

Having read the white paper, Tie Jilong, head of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Korea, said that as a Chinese living and working in South Korea, he will contribute to helping strengthen the solidarity between compatriots on both sides of the Straits.

"The attempts to use Taiwan to contain China and seek 'independence' by soliciting U.S. support are definitely in vain, and any action to undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity is destined to failure," Tie said.

COMPLETE REUNIFICATION SURELY TO BE REALIZED

The white paper pointed out that "as long as we Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits devote our ingenuity and energy to the same goal, let there be no doubt - we will tolerate no foreign interference in Taiwan, we will thwart any attempt to divide our country, and we will combine as a mighty force for national reunification and rejuvenation. The historic goal of reuniting our motherland must be realized and will be realized."

Reflecting on those points highlighted in the paper, Shang Liang, vice-president of the general association of Chinese merchants and entrepreneurs in Madagascar, said, "Achieving complete reunification of the motherland is the common aspiration of all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and is a prerequisite for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Sons and daughters of the Chinese nation in Africa stand in solidarity with the motherland, and the great cause of achieving complete reunification of the motherland will surely be accomplished."

Gu Di, vice president of Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Namibia, voiced confidence that under the leadership of the CPC and with the joint efforts of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, Taiwan will surely return to the motherland.

Li Youbao, secretary general of the Chinese Business Club in Saudi Arabia, said he firmly believes that reunification of the motherland will bring more benefits for compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Li said that realizing peaceful reunification will create vast potential for Taiwan's social and economic development, and bring about tangible benefits for Taiwan compatriots. Overseas Chinese firmly support the great cause of achieving reunification of the motherland.

"Cross-Straits amity and cooperation stand to gain from peace and cooperation. Peaceful cross-Straits reunification is of benefit not only to the Chinese nation, but to all peoples and the international community as a whole," said Fang Yuan, president of the Chinese Women (Fiji) Union, after reading the white paper.

Fang said realizing the complete reunification of the motherland is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and is the historical inevitability for achieving national rejuvenation.

Chen Yinglie, head of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in Croatia, said, "I believe that under the strong leadership of the CPC, the great cause of achieving national reunification will surely be accomplished, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese national will surely be realized."

Deng Zhuting, president of London Chinatown Chinese Association, said he was deeply impressed by a sentence in the white paper, which said: "We hope they (fellow Chinese in Taiwan) will stand on the right side of history, and be proud of their Chinese identity."

"I think that to be Chinese proud of our Chinese identity is to bravely shoulder the responsibility to safeguard the greater good of the nation, conform to the general trend of history, push forward extensive cross-Straits exchanges, cooperation and development and participate in the cause of promoting peaceful reunification of the motherland through practical actions. The motherland is our strongest support. The overseas Chinese in Britain firmly believe that reunification of the motherland must be realized and will be realized," Deng said.
Spokeswoman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang (Photo: VNA)

At the ministrys regular press conference in Hanoi on August 11, Hang affirmed Vietnams consistent stance on the Taiwanese issue, which, she said, has been clearly reflected in common documents reached during high-level visits by Vietnamese and Chinese leaders.

She confirmed Vietnams viewpoint that peace, stability and cooperation in the Strait hold significance to the region and the world amid regional and international complicated developments.

On the basis of persistently following the 'One China' principle, Vietnam wants parties concerned to exercise self-restraint, prevent increasing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, making positive contributions to maintaining peace and stability, and promoting cooperation and development in the region and the world, she said.

According to Hang, the US and China are both powerful countries and leading important partners of Vietnam. Their bilateral ties impact peace, stability and prosperity on the global scale.

Vietnam wants the two countries to maintain healthy and stable relations and settle differences via dialogue based on international law, she said.

Vietnam, for its part, will continue promoting relations with the two nations on the principle of respecting independence, self-reliance, mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation for the benefit of the people, and for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world, Hang added./.


At the hand-over ceremony (Photo: CPV)

Speaking at the hand-over ceremony, Ms. Pham Thanh Xuan, representative of the Overseas Vietnamese Association in Russia, said that with the tradition of solidarity and toward the Fatherland and sharing difficulties and encourage spirit of those who directly do rescue work in Vietnam, through the Russia-Vietnam Cooperation Development Promotion Fund "Tradition and Friendship", the Overseas Vietnamese Association in the Russian Federation launched a fund-raising drive and bought three UAZ Hunter Expedition off-road vehicles made by Russia to present to the Rescue Department under the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army. The three off-road vehicles symbolize the affection of people from the three regions of Vietnam, who are living and working in the Russian Federation, towards the beloved Fatherland.

Three UAZ Hunter Expedition vehicles were handed over to the Rescue Department. (Photo: CPV)

According to Ms. Pham Thanh Xuan, an important criterion of the "Tradition and Friendship" Fund is to promote cooperation development between Vietnam and the Russian Federation. In 2016, the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed a Protocol to support the production of motor vehicles in Vietnam. Among the tasks set forth in the Protocol is establishing a joint venture company for the production and assembly of UAZ off-road vehicles and spare parts and components.

UAZ Hunter Expedition vehicle is equipped with a winch for rescuing. (Photo: CPV)

"We believe that the three specialized vehicles will make a useful contribution to the rescue work of rescuers in Vietnam, and contribute to enhancing the concerns of potential Vietnamese  Russian partners in establishing the joint venture company," shared Ms. Pham Thanh Xuan.

Mr. Bui Van Hoa, member of the Standing Committee of the Vietnamese Association in Russia, and Colonel Pham Hai Chau, Deputy Director of the Rescue Department exchanged the hand-over minutes. (Photo: CPV)

Colonel Pham Hai Chau, Deputy Director of the Rescue Department, affirmed this gift shows the affection of overseas Vietnamese in Russia toward the homeland, actively contributing to natural disaster prevention and rescue work in Vietnam./.
More than 8 mln doses of iodine prophylaxis drug produced by Darnitsa pharmacy since its registration

Darnitsa pharmaceutical firm, the only manufacturer of the drug for iodine prophylaxis, has produced 8.2 million doses since the medicine registration.

The company told the Interfax-Ukraine agency, Darnitsa has donated 6.6 million doses of the drug out of this amount to charity, 500,000 doses are in pharmacies, and 1.1 million doses are in the warehouses of the pharmaceutical company.

According to the director of corporate communications at Darnitsa, Vasyl Hubarets, the amount of the drug produced makes it possible, if necessary, to carry out iodine prophylaxis for more than 8 million people.

He clarified that out of the produced amount of the drug, back in April, the company transferred 5.25 million doses for a total of UAH 66 million to the Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health

In addition, he noted that in the second week of August, the company recorded a rapid increase in demand for this drug.

"According to the leading marketplaces for the search, booking and delivery of medicines, the daily sales of the second week are twice as much as in the first days of August. In the first 10 days of August, twice as much volume of this medicine was sold than for the whole of July as a whole," he said.

As reported, Darnitsa pharmaceutical company, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the National Security and Defense Council, in May registered a drug to protect the population from radiation. Currently, it is the only tablet preparation on the Ukrainian market that is produced in a dose that allows iodine prophylaxis for adults in accordance with state regulations in the event of a radiation accident.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky urged military experts not to voice details of defense plans.

"The general rule is simple: war is definitely not the time for vanity and loud statements. The less concrete details you give about our defense plans, the better it will be for the implementation of those defense plans, he said in his traditional video address on Thursday.

If you want to leave the big headlines, that's one thing. Frankly irresponsible. If you want victory for Ukraine, then that is another thing, and you should feel your responsibility for every word you say about our states preparation for defense or counteroffensive, the president added.
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba discussed global food security with Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed, and the Ukrainian Minister also invited the Emirati side to participate in the reconstruction plan of Ukraine.

In our call today, the UAE Foreign Minister H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and I discussed global food security. Grateful to the UAE for supporting Ukraine within the UN and providing humanitarian aid. Proposed the Emirati side to take active part in Ukraine's Fast Recovery Plan, Kuleba said on Twitter.
Amnesty International (AI) calls on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to hold Russia accountable for the seizure of Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) by its troops, Secretary General of the organization Agnes Callamard said.

The imminent danger posed by the militarization of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant is and should be the key issue for the Security Council. It would appear that this militarization is part of a broader strategy by Russian forces to threaten civilians and put millions of people at great risk. We should also keep our attention on Russias abominable conduct, and the fact that during its six months of aggression against Ukraine its forces have endangered and killed many civilians. We should not allow the Russian authorities to avoid accountability, the Secretary General said.

She noted that the allegations we are receiving directly from Enerhodar, the town adjacent to the nuclear plant, speak volumes about the terrible impact Russias militarization of the plant and surrounding areas is having on civilians. Amnesty International is currently investigating these worrying reports and urges the Security Council to do the same.

She also called on the UN Security Council to hold Russia accountable for war crimes in Ukraine and to protect civilians.

|The UN Security Councils unequivocal priority  with regard not just to Zaporizhia but across the entire conflict  must be to ensure civilians are protected, the Secretary General said.

Earlier it was reported that on August 5, the ZNPP turned off one of the three operating units due to limited capacity due to damage to power lines by the Russian militarys shelling. Later, President of state-owned enterprise National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom Petro Kotin said that in case of further damage, the NPP would be turned into blackout mode.
Russians fail to break through defense of Ukrainian Armed Forces in Luhansk region, they are preparing for "referendum now

On August 11, the Russian occupiers tried to break through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near 14 settlements in Luhansk region, but were unable and withdrew, said head of Luhansk Regional Military Administration Serhiy Haidai.

"During August 11, the Russians attacked eight times from the air. From different sides, they tried to break through the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in about 14 settlements, once again attacked Verkhniokamyanske, but again retreated to previously occupied positions," he wrote on the Telegram channel.

At night, the enemy launched a missile strike, fired seven times from barrel and rocket artillery, and twice joined tank units to the assault operations.

According to Haidai, the occupiers are confident in the results of their future pseudo-referendum for the annexation of the Ukrainian regions to Russia, despite the fact that they still cannot fully occupy Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

He noted that the occupied part of Luhansk region was visited by former President of Russia and current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, who promised to repair schools destroyed by the Russians.

Haidai added that the occupiers are still demonstrating their concern for the population by distributing free bread or hot lunches, at the same time, the Russians are not telling residents anything about the upcoming winter.

According to the head of the Regional Military Administration, no one is preparing a heating system, a steam shop in the occupied cities.
M270 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) have arrived in Ukraine from the UK, and other supplies are expected soon, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

UK promised, UK delivered! More M270 MLRS arrived in Ukraine. Thanks to British PM Ben Wallace and all the British people! Your support is amazing and so important for Ukraine. Our Ukrainian army will skillfully use this replenishment at the battlefield. P.S. More gifts will arrive soon, he said on Twitter.
The reaction of the international community to Russia's nuclear blackmail should be quick and tough, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk believes.

"The whole world should understand a simple truth  nuclear war has no borders, and there is no hiding behind alliances, unions, or anything else, and the reaction of the international community to such blackmail should be very fast and tough. It is necessary to further expand the sanctions package, including in relation to the Rosatom Corporation. And we are waiting for a powerful reaction and concrete actions of the International Atomic Energy Agency," Stefanchuk said on the air of the national telethon on Friday.

Stefanchuk stressed that the Ukrainian conditions for preventing a nuclear catastrophe are very simple.

"Russian troops have to pack their things right now, leave the territory of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe  Zaporizhia NPP. Russia should declare that it accepts the IAEA mission without any conditions. Moreover, the demilitarization of the perimeter of Zaporizhia NPP and Enerhodar should be immediate and inevitable, because today no one needs a repeat of the 1986 disaster [the Chornobyl nuclear power plant disaster], which will be many times more destructive for the whole world," the speaker of the parliament summed up.
Ukraine preparing for all possible scenarios due to situation at NPP, possibility of evacuation of population being considered  Monastyrsky

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories are considering all possible scenarios in case of deterioration of the situation at the NPP, including the possibility of evacuation of the population of nearby settlements.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the corresponding statement was made by Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky during a working trip to Sumy region.

"We all have seen the shelling carried out by Russian troops on the power unit. It's horrible. After the last attacks on the station, we were convinced that there are no deterrents for them," the minister said.

According to him, there is no adequate control over Zaporizhia NPP now and at the moment the station is "not just in the hands of the enemy, but also in the hands of inexperienced specialists who can really allow a tragedy."

"The Ukrainian specialists remaining there are partially not allowed to the sites where they should be. As it is known, Russian military equipment is located on the territory of the station today. All this is assessed as the highest level of threat," Monastyrsky stressed.

He clarified that Ukraine already has plans that provide for any development of events at the station, including the release of radiation. "Today, in the State Emergency Service, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Regional Development, we are discussing various scenarios for the development of events, including the issue of evacuation," the Interior Minister stressed.

"Let me remind you that this is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which has six power units. And it's hard to even imagine the scale of the tragedy that could happen if the Russians continue to stay there," he summed up.
Ukraine's security and defense forces call on the civilized world to prevent the trial of Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol and send representatives of international organizations to places where Ukrainian prisoners of war are kept.

"The operation to rescue 2,500 defenders of Mariupol was the only possible option to save the lives of our Heroes. There was no alternative such as extraction, there was a choice: a rescue operation or death at Azovstal, first of all, seriously wounded. But the stocks of necessary medicines ended," the joint statement of the security and defense forces regarding the captured defenders of Mariupol, published on Friday on the SBU Telegram channel, reads.

The statement emphasizes that Ukraine managed to save the seriously wounded during the exchange in June: 144 people, of which 95 are the defenders of Mariupol, have already returned, at the moment they have received the necessary medical care and rehabilitation.

"All state institutions are working to return the Heroes of Mariupol and all Ukrainians captured by the enemy. The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War continues to work 24/7 to release Ukrainian defenders from captivity, search for missing persons under special circumstances. At the same time, we maintain contact with the families of captured servicemen and fulfill our obligations for their social protection," the joint statement says.

At the same time, as the report says, the Russian side does not adhere to its obligations, neglects agreements, does not recognize international norms and rules of warfare, which complicates the process of exchanging prisoners.

"We call on the entire civilized world to prevent the trial announced by the executioners in Mariupol over the Ukrainian defenders. We demand to immediately send representatives of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross to the places where Ukrainian prisoners of war are kept, primarily to Olenivka," the joint statement of Ukraine's security and defense forces concludes.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has identified an occupant, who turned out to be a friend of Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, and notified him of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war for torturing a minor during the occupation of Kyiv region, the SBU has said.

"The perpetrator turned out to be the commander of the special-purpose mobile detachment (better known as OMON) of the National Guard in the Chechen Republic Akhmat, Bisaev Anzor Saladievich. This occupier was part of Kadyrov's inner circle," the SBU said on the Telegram channel on Friday.

According to the Ukrainian special service, in early March, while in the village of Babyntsi, Buchansky district, Kyiv region, the invader, together with his subordinates, broke into one of the local private houses and abducted a teenager.

"At gunpoint, putting a knife to his head, the invaders demanded from him information about the location of the Ukrainian troops. When the torture did not bring the "desired result," the guy was taken to an armored vehicle and underwent further abuse, violence and threats of physical violence," the SBU said.

SBU investigators have notified Bisaev of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 438 (violation of the laws and customs of war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On Youth Day, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska took part in a ceremony celebrating the participants of the action Child Rescuers - War Heroes.

According to the presidential press service, the ceremony was held in the White Hall of the Heroes of Ukraine in the Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv. The participants of the action, which is held in Ukraine for the first time, were young Ukrainians who performed the feat of a savior during a full-scale Russian invasion.

"I am glad that we are starting the Youth Day holiday with such an important event  we congratulate our young heroes. Your actions are strong and mature... We can be proud of you, it means that Ukraine has a future that we can be proud of today. Congratulations to all of you. You are great, our state applauds you. Thank you for every life you have saved!" Zelensky said.

The ceremony was attended by Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky and Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Serhiy Kruk, who presented valuable gifts and sets of lifeguard uniforms to the action participants.

Young heroes were greeted by Ukrainian artists.

According to the President's Telegram channel, Zelensky also met with representatives of the youth environment of Ukraine and the world.
All critical infrastructure facilities in Sumy region have been fully restored after shelling/staying on the territory by the Russian military forces, Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said at a briefing on Friday.

At the same time, according to him, the region continues to be subjected to numerous attacks and bombardments by Russian aircraft and artillery.

In Okhtyrka and Trostianets districts, the restoration of damaged property of residents continues. Moreover, all critical infrastructure facilities have been fully restored. The administrative buildings of the Okhtyrka city district court, the premises of a fire station of Trostianets and Sumy resumed work.

In addition, Tymoshenko said, repair work continues in Zhytomyr region: at the Korolyov Zhytomyr Military Institute and Zhytomyr Automobile and Road College of the National Transport University, the glazing and repair of building facades have been completed almost in full. The roof of these buildings is also prepared for cold and bad weather. Defects on the facade have been eliminated in the Regional Museum of Local Lore.

According to Tymoshenko, the Zhytomyr Regional Perinatal Center, the Center for Primary Sanitary Care, Hospital No. 2, the outpatient clinic for general practice of family medicine in the village of Vakulenchuk are working as usual.

In addition, the roof has been repaired and windows have been replaced at the Malyn Culture and Leisure Center. The private buildings of the Brusyliv, Vilshanka, Volytsia and Horodotska communities have been almost completely restored.

In Kharkiv region, the deputy head of the President's Office said, daily monitoring of information on Russian war crimes is carried out. However, the number of damaged critical infrastructure and housing stock continues to grow. At the same time, the Kharkiv regional road service continues to eliminate the consequences of Russian aggression.

In Chernihiv region, demining of the territory previously occupied by the military of the Russian Federation continues. According to Tymoshenko, complete demining could take several years.
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is continuing to undergo medical treatment in Vivamed, a civilian hospital in Tbilisi, where he receives all necessary care, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze said.

"Inmate Mikheil Saakashvili is in the internal medicine department and not in the intensive care unit, as opposition representatives say, and he is not starving," Bregadze told reporters on Friday.

Commenting on Saakashvili's possible transfer for treatment abroad, Bregadze said that neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Special Penitentiary Service is empowered to address this issue.

"It is up to a court to decide on this matter - whether to defer the serving of the sentence or release Saakashvili from incarceration based on a medical report," he said.

Defense attorneys earlier told reporters that Saakashvili was in critical condition and fighting for his life. He needs treatment abroad, they said.

Saakashvili arrived in Georgia secretly on September 29, 2021, and was detained in Tbilisi on October 1. Shortly after, he found himself in a prison in the city of Rustavi, where he went on a hunger strike. On November 8, without the consent of his relatives or lawyers, Saakashvili was transferred from the Rustavi prison to the prison infirmary in Tbilisi's Gldani neighborhood. On November 20, Saakashvili was transferred to a military hospital in Gori, where he ended his hunger strike. He was transferred to a civilian clinic in Tbilisi on May 12.

Several criminal cases have been opened against Saakashvili in Georgia. He has labeled his detention as unlawful and the charges brought against him as falsified.
Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic presiding in the European Council, Jan Lipavsky, confirmed on Friday reports circulating in the European media this week that at the end of August the EU countries would discuss a visa ban for all Russians because of the full-scale war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

"A complete ban on visas for Russians by all EU member states could be another very effective sanction against Russia," Lipavsky was quoted as saying by BFMTV.

The channel notes that the Czech minister intends to probe the opinions of his European colleagues on this matter during an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on August 31 in Prague.

Lipavsky explained that during the period of the ongoing military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine "there can be no talk of tourism, as in normal times, for Russian citizens."

However, according to BFMTV and a number of other European media, not all EU countries agree with this measure, and its approval requires the unanimity of all 27 EU member states.

According to the TV channel, the Czech minister has yet to convince the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who chairs the councils of foreign and defense ministers of the EU countries, of the need for such a measure. Initiating sanctions is one of its prerogatives.

Earlier it was reported that Finland and Estonia are calling for restrictions on the entry of Russians into the EU, up to a ban on tourist visas.

The European Commission refrains from direct comments on these calls. EC spokesperson Anitta Hipper said at a briefing in Brussels last Thursday that the responsibility for issuing or not issuing visas rests with member states, who make decisions on an individual basis.
Egypt's lower house of parliament  the House of Representatives  has called back its 596 members to convene in an extraordinary session on Saturday to look into an urgent matter, amid reports of a possible cabinet reshuffle.

The house's Secretary-General Ahmed Manaa announced on Friday evening that "MPs are required to attend an extraordinary session on Saturday 13 August at 12:00pm to look into an "urgent matter."

While the invitation for Saturday's extraordinary meeting did not disclose the urgent matter to be discussed, it stressed that "all members should be keen to attend the session."

Circulated news reports indicate that the house's extraordinary meeting will discuss a presidential decision to introduce a cabinet reshuffle.

Informed sources told Extra News satellite channel on Friday night that the house's extraordinary meeting is related to a cabinet reshuffle for some ministerial portfolios.

Al-Shorouk daily quoted informed government sources who said that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who has been serving since June 2018, would retain his position, while some ten cabinet ministers would be reshuffled. Other press reports asserted that a minister of information would also be named.

Egypt's House of Representatives adjourned the sessions of its second legislative season on 5 July and is currently on a three-month summer recess. The 2021-2026 house is scheduled to hold its third legislative season in the first week of October.

Conditions for extraordinary meetings

Parliament's internal bylaws regulate four conditions in which the house can hold extraordinary meetings, the first of which comes through Article 128 that deals with what the house should do if the president decides to fire the government as a whole.

In such a case the president should send a written message to the house speaker notifying him of his decision, and that if the message comes while the house is in summer recess the house should hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss and vote on the president's decision, Article 128 states.

Article 129 states that the president must do the same if he decides to reshuffle the cabinet, which requires the approval of two-thirds majority of MPs in order to pass in the house.

Article 130 also states that if the president decides to declare war or state of emergency or send troops to perform fighting missions outside the country's borders in line with Article 152 of the constitution, the president must contact the house in the same manner.

The house must then hold an urgent closed-door meeting to discuss and vote his decision, which also requires a two-thirds majority for approval.

The last case is when the president decides to name any of the chairpersons of independent organisations (such as media organisations) and watchdog institutions (such as the Central Auditing Agency), and requires the same procedures as the previous cases according to Article 342.

The last time the Egyptian House of Representatives held an extraordinary meeting was in July 2020 when President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi asked MPs to approve sending the Egyptian Armed Forces on combat missions outside the borders of the country to defend the Egyptian national security on the western strategic front against acts of criminal militias and foreign terrorist elements.

The mandate came a few days after El-Sisi met with Libyan tribal leaders in Cairo, where they called on the Egyptian Armed Forces "to intervene to protect the national security of Libya and Egypt."

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The Public Prosecution ordered on Thursday a university student who is alleged to have knifed fellow student Salma Bahgat to death Tuesday to be tried on charges of premeditated murder.

The crime of premeditated murder is punishable by the death penalty in Egypt.

A state of public uproar has prevailed on social media after 22-year-old university student Islam Mohamed reportedly stabbed to death 20-year-old Bahgat in the lobby of a building in the city of Zagazig, the capital of Sharqiya governorate.

Following the attack, bystanders rushed to the scene of the crime and detained the suspect by closing the gates of the building until police arrived.

Mohamed is suspected to have stalked the victim, who was was studying mass communication at Shorouk Academy, for some time.

In its Thursday statement, the prosecution said Mohamed decided to murder Bahgat after she and her relatives refused his marriage proposal due to his bizarre thoughts [and] bad behaviour.

Mohamed threatened to murder the victim if she and her family did not accept the proposal, according to the statement.

The defendant found out the victims location by deceiving one of her friends, who she was set to meet inside the building where the crime took place, the prosecution said.

Mohamed bought a knife from a nearby shop and stabbed her several times with the purpose of killing her when she entered to the building, the prosecution added.

The defendant confessed his crime in detail during the Public Prosecutions investigations and before a specialised court, the prosecution noted.

The prosecution said it also established its evidence against Mohamed by listening to the testimonies of 15 people, checking forensic reports and other digital data, as well as inspecting the phones of the defendant, the victim and her friend.

The crime came less than two months after a similar incident stirred public anger when a 21-year-old student at Mansoura University killed his fellow student, Nayera Ashraf, also in broad daylight after she rejected his advances. In July, a criminal court issued a preliminary death penalty verdict against the perpetrator in the case.

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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on Friday completing the third phase of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dams (GERD) reservoir, saying from the beginning that we did not want to make the river our own.

Compared to last year, we have reached 600 metres, which is 25 metres higher than the previous filling, Ahmed said in images shown on state TV from the dam site in western Ethiopia.

Egypt and Sudan have reiterated their rejection of the unilateral Ethiopian acts regarding the $4.2 billion GERD, including filling its 74-billion-cubic-metre reservoir and operating the dam turbines without their consent.

African Union-sponsored talks to find a solution to the GERD dispute between the three countries have been stalled since April last year with Egypt and Sudan blaming failure of talks on the upper stream countrys intransigence.

The two downstream countries repeatedly reaffirmed their support for Ethiopias right to development, but called on Addis Ababa to sign a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam that would secure their water rights and their peoples interests.

Ethiopia has brushed away the two countries call for an agreement and has implemented the dam filling for three consecutive years despite Egypt and Sudans diplomatic steps in opposition, including sending letters of objection to the UN Security Council.

Addis Ababa also announced on Thursday that they had begun operating the GERDs second electric power turbine, a step that Egypt and Sudan earlier described as a breach of Ethiopias international commitments when Ethiopia started operating the dams first turbine in February.

Currently, the two turbines, out of a total of 13, have a capacity to generate 750 MW of electricity, according to the AFP. The dam is ultimately expected to produce over 5,000 MW, more than doubling Ethiopias current output.

When we set out to build a dam on the Nile, we said from the beginning that we did not want to make the river our own, Ahmed wrote on Twitter today.

Ahmed highlighted so-called gifts of the dam, claiming that Ethiopia will use the river in [Egypt and Sudans] respective ways.

It allows us to live in harmony. It is known that as the dam prevents sedimentation, it will reduce the amount of wealth and human lives lost in downstream countries due to floods, Ahmed claimed.

He added that GERD would connect the three countries just as the Nile River, on which the dam is built, has connected them four thousands of years.

We stood up with the truth, built [the dam] with our own truth, according to our word, without harming anyone, Ahmed asserted.

Ahmed claimed on Thursday that Ethiopia is keen to resume the AU-sponsored talks between the three countries, saying any other option will not stop what we have started and will be futile.

Abbas Sharaky, a professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University, believes that Ethiopia has made the GERD a water bomb after increasing its capacity to 74 bcm from the initial 11.1 bcm initially planned.

The unstable geologic conditions surrounding the dam means that it endangers the lives of more than 20 million Sudanese people living on the banks of the Blue Nile.

According to Sharaky on Thursday, Ethiopia managed to retain nine bcm in the third filling, raising the total volume of water stored in the dam's reservoir to around 17 bcm at a height of 600 metres, he added.

During the launch of the second electric power turbine of the GERD on Thursday, the Ethiopian prime minister, however, said the third filling has been able to hold about 22 bcm of water.

Egypt, which relies mainly on the Nile for its water needs, fears that the unilateral and quick filling and operation of the GERD will have a negative impact on the country's water supply. Meanwhile, Sudan is concerned about regulating water flows to its own dams.

Late in July, Egypt resorted to the Security Council for the third consecutive year, sending a letter protesting against the unilateral third filling.

Egypt stressed in the letter that the step is a clear violation of the Declaration of Principles  signed by the three nations in 2015  and the applicable rules of international law" that obliges Ethiopia, as an upstream country, not to harm the rights of downstream countries.

Egypt, which is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, receives around 60 bcm annually  mainly from the Nile  while its needs stand at around 114 bcm, placing the over 100-million-person country well below the international threshold for water scarcity, at 560 cubic metres per person annually.

In its letter to the Security Council, Egypt held Ethiopia "fully responsibility for any significant harm to Egyptian interests that may result from Addis Ababas violation of its aforementioned obligations."

Egypt will not tolerate any prejudice to its rights or water security or any threat to the capabilities of the Egyptian people, for whom the Nile River represents the only lifeline, the letter added.

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Egyptian Minister of Defence and Military Production Mohamed Zaki and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III have reaffirmed their commitment to Egypt-US military-to-military cooperation as a cornerstone of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

In a phone call on Thursday, Austin thanked Egypt for its leadership role in the region and vital assistance in securing the recent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, said a readout of the call published by the US Department of Defence.

A Cairo-brokered ceasefire between the Israeli and Palestinian sides in Gaza came into effect late on Sunday. The ceasefire ended three days of renewed conflict between Israel and Islamic Jihad in the enclave with Israeli bombardment claiming the lives of 43 Palestinians, including children.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden thanked President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the senior Egyptian officials who played a central role in the diplomacy of the Gaza ceasefire, saying the US has worked with officials from Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Jordan and others throughout the region to encourage a swift resolution to the conflict.

Zaki and Austin spoke about the strong defence relationship between their two countries and discussed shared security objectives and regional challenges across the Middle East and North Africa, the readout said, without further elaboration.

Austin expressed US concerns regarding Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, said the readout.

For decades, Egypt and the US have shared firm relations in the political and security fields as well as in the economic, scientific, educational, and cultural areas. The two countries have also maintained coordination on counterterrorism, border and maritime security and security cooperation and have continued to consult on regional issues, especially the Palestinian cause.

Egypt and the US celebrated the centennial of their diplomatic relations this year and held in November last year their first strategic dialogue since 2015, during which they discussed enhancing economic, commercial, defence, diplomatic, judicial, educational, cultural, scientific and political cooperation.

Concerning defence and security cooperation, Egypt commended in November the US role in economic development in Egypt and its supply of defense equipment and joint cooperation to reinforce Egypts defence capabilities.

The US has been the main arms exporter to Egypt between 2000 and 2019 at about 41.6 percent followed by Russia at a share of about 25 percent, according to 2021 data by the German data base company Statista.

In January, the US administration approved a massive $2.5 billion arms sale to Egypt, including 12 Super Hercules C-130 transport aircraft, saying the deal would support the US foreign policy and national security by helping to improve the security of Egypt.

The US is also one of Egypts largest trade partners, ranking second after China in 2019. Egypt-US trade volume amounted to $8.7 billion in 2019, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham).

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"There are no physical clashes, but the pro-Russians are constantly trying to be aggressive," 58 year-old Gorbunova told AFP with a conspiratorial tone.

Her own allegiance is clear. She carries a kitsch tote bag featuring a saintly Ukrainian woman destroying an enemy tank with a flaming sword.

This bitter divide between neighbours is playing out across villages, towns and cities caught on the frontline in the vicious tug-of-war between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

"There is no love, no harmony," Gorbunova says.

Divided 'in their souls'

The conflict began in Donbas in 2014 following a pro-Western revolution in Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Ukrainian forces fought off pro-Russian separatists who received military and financial support from Russia and who seized part of the region.

The region's inhabitants are predominantly Russian speaking, but it is not majority ethnically Russian.

The true extent of pro-Russian sentiment is hard to gauge.

The frontline city of Bakhmut in Donetsk is the area where the Russian offensive has been its most successful over the past month in Donbas, according to the UK ministry of defence.

The constant sound of artillery fire echoes off largely abandoned apartment buildings and the town is bisected by tank traps and roadblocks.

It is also split along other lines.

"In their souls, people are divided into two camps," said 52-year-old Sergey Nikitin.

"Everyone has his own opinion, and everyone keeps his mouth shut."

Nevertheless Nikitin gives not-so-subtle clues about his beliefs.

He talks about "degradation" in Ukraine, the closure of factories since the end of the Soviet Union and the potential for employment opportunities in Russia.

Mykhaylo Matsoyan, 38, recalls overhearing his neighbours in Bakhmut discussing "that it would be great if the Russians would come".

He confronted them and "it almost came to a fight, so I had to leave," he says.

"You can't prove nothing to fools."

But another resident exiting a pharmacy does keep quiet about his political loyalties.

"We are all waiting for peace. I don't distinguish. I love everyone, I am for peace," said 40-year-old Dmitriy before hurrying away.

'We don't care'

"We meet people who have a pro-Russian position. And I explain to them that it was not we who came to their land with weapons," says 56-year-old soldier Sergei, from central Ukraine, sucking down coffee at a roadside kiosk.

"I always say the following: if I come to my neighbour with bread, he will set the table, but if I come with a weapon, he will fight back."

The city of Soledar is as close to Russian-held territory as it is possible to get.

Moscow's troops are believed to be on the outskirts, potentially inside the city limits already.

The shelling here is constant, the devastation to the city is complete.

There is no tension on the streets: the situation is too dire for that.

"We are waiting for all this to pass," says 59-year-old Oleg Makeev.

"We don't care -- either Ukrainians or Russians, we just need a peaceful life, and nothing more."
Two Tunisian soldiers were wounded on Friday in an exchange of fire with suspected jihadists during a military operation in a mountainous region of the south, the defence ministry said.

The shootout happened at Mount Salloum near the town of Kasserine close to the border with Algeria, where jihadists operate, local media reported.

"There was an exchange of fire between soldiers and a group of terrorists in the Kasserine area," defence ministry spokesman Mohamed Zekri told AFP.

"There were wounded among the terrorists who fled," he said, adding that two soldiers were slightly wounded.

The most recent similar clash was in March when suspected jihadists opened fire on a national guard barracks in the city of Kairouan, some 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of Kasserine.

After the 2011 revolution, Tunisia saw a boom in jihadist groups which launched attacks that killed dozens of tourists -- notably at the seaside resort of Sousse and at the Bardo National Museum in the capital -- as well as security personnel.

In March 2016, an assault on security positions in Ben Guerdane near the border with Libya killed 13 members of the security forces and seven civilians.

At least 55 jihadists were also killed and dozens arrested.

The authorities say they have made significant progress in the fight against "terrorism", with no attack on that scale having taken place since.

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Ahram Online spoke to Gilles Kepel, the author of more than 20 books on the modern Arab world which have been translated into 17 languages, about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the balance of power in Europe and the Middle East and the future of regional and international jihadism.

During his time in Egypt, from 1980 to 1983, Kepel witnessed firsthand President Anwar Sadats assassination and the rise of political Islamist movements, the theme of his PhD dissertation and first book The Prophet and Pharaoh (1984), which is still a standard reading in Middle East departments in universities worldwide.

Among his best-sellers, The Revenge of God (1990) compared the political use of religion in Islam, Judaism and Christendom, while Jihad (2000) and lately Away from Chaos / The Middle East and the Challenge to the West (2020) contributed to the global history of jihadist movements, from Afghanistan to Al-Qaeda and Daesh. He also studied the manyfold developments of Muslim diasporas in France and Europe, and penned Terror in France (2017) which analysed the latest attacks by Daesh and others. He was appointed in 2022 President Macrons Special Envoy on the relations between France and its North African, Sahelian and Middle East environment, though he expresses himself in the following interview in his personal capacity only.





Books by Dr. Gilles Kepel

Ahram Online: What new phenomena could the Russian-Ukrainian war create? Will we witness new geostrategic alliances and a state of political polarisation. How likely is it to ignite new military confrontations?

Gilles Kepel: I believe the Russian-Ukraine war is a major game changer on the world scene  Russia, a nuclear power, has attacked a neighboring state which is part of the European continent, and now a candidate to the EU. As opposed to the Red Army invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, a country remote from major world centres, the present war threatens the core balance of the world system.

It disrupts both the oil and gas markets, which are crucial for Europe, and also the grain exports from Ukraine, which threatens countries like Egypt who rely heavily on such imports.

It also creates new alignments in the Middle East as a whole: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, trusted allies of the US, have been reluctant to increase production to reduce the price hike. President Biden, who had stated he would not interact with the Saudi Crown Prince after the Khashoggi murder in Istanbul in 2018, had to go to Jeddah in July 2022 to that effect. And, were Ukraine to remain occupied, even partly, it would give China an opening to invade Taiwan. Also, a number of pro-western states formerly colonised by Europe have kept a neutral stance  particularly in Africa and Asia  and a military escalation seems inevitable to many, who hold their breath.

The UN and the World Trade Organisation, which exerted a major influence on world affairs in the first two decades of the 21st century, have become impotent, if not irrelevant.

AO: The Middle East was one of the most important stages in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Will we return to this state of affairs?

GK: The Middle East has changed tremendously since the Cold War. The peace treaties between Egypt, then Jordan, with Israel, and lately the Abraham Accords with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan and the Jewish state have significantly diminished the intensity of the Arab-Israeli tension at state level, something which provided a regional vehicle for USA-USSR confrontation.

Add to it that Qatar, which was also attracted to the spirit of the accords, which consists in creating a sort of joint venture between Arab oil money and the start up nation which is Israel, with its huge technological environment. And the NEOM project in KSA is part and parcel of the same venture, the kingdom has twisted westwards, towards the Red Sea and the Suez Canal  even though it cannot officially embrace the Abraham Agreements because it would still be, at this stage, detrimental to its Khadim al Haramayn status [custodian of Mecca and Medina]. Its leadership on Islam worldwide is challenged from Iran, and also, to some extent, by Erdogans self-styled neo-caliphate pretense as was seen when the latter re-Islamised Haghia Sophia in July 2020 in great fanfare and saber-rattling, while KSA had not allowed the pilgrimage to take place as usual because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the attraction of regional prosperity under US auspices was what kept Russia at bay, and also diminished the attraction of the Muslim Brotherhood: Qatar  which had also a long-standing commercial relation with Israel  recently toned down Al Jazeeras support for the Ikhwan, and has made its peace with KSA and (to a lesser extent) with the UAE. Erdogan, who is cash-strapped and faces elections in 2023, also shut down the exile Egyptian Brotherhood TV Channel and traded the Khashoggi affair for MBS petrodollars Rather facetiously, the main politics of the Muslim Brothers in the Middle East now is to provide a tipping point majority at Knesset for whatever Israeli government, thanks to Mansour Abbas four representatives. What a paradox, that says a lot about the changes happening in the region: the much reviled Zionist State of yesterday can function today only thanks to Muslim Brotherhood support  so that the Raad Islamist party can pump money into dilapidated Arab-Israeli neighborhoods!!

AO: What will be the impact of this war on global terrorism given the social and security disruptions it is causing, especially considering the massive influx of weapons into Ukraine expected to reach the black market?

GK: The Ukraine war was first and foremost an attempt by Putin to reclaim Russias great power status. When you think that its GDP is located somewhere between that of Italy and Spain The display of force was aimed to that, though it is unsure the aging Moscow leader has a clear view of the way out, except strong-arming against the West.

In the meanwhile, the global unbalance he has unleashed for all of us in both the Middle East and North Africa on the one hand, and Europe on the other hand, is worrying: bread riots, on top of destabilising governments in the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, would translate into renewed illegal migrations to Europe, some of which are a harbinger for jihadi terrorism on the one hand, and the rise of the European extreme-right as a reaction.

And you are right, much of the weapons used on European soil by Daesh had been smuggled from the former Soviet arsenals, paramount among them the infamous AK-47.

AO: The Middle East has suffered throughout its history from the scourge of war. Understanding the crises of the Middle East stems to a large extent from a misunderstanding of the far and near historical roots that feed these conflicts? How can the bracket of endless crises be closed?

GK: Well, in a lifelong 40 year career as an academic specialist of the modern Mediterranean  both on its southern, eastern and northern shores  I have tried to put into historical perspective the conflicts which are unfolding under our eyes  Alas, this perspective was not taken into consideration by the powers-that-be, and it is now coming back to us with a vengeance. That might be why President Macron has tasked me with the present mission  and I would very much like to suggest that the civil society exponents and leaders of the Mediterranean countries without exception gather to close the bracket of crises that you mention  Inshallah!

AO: In the face of the tragic scene that the world is experiencing, are we about to witness the emergence of the fifth jihadist generation? What are its dangers and areas it will spread in?

GK: I devoted a lot of attention to that in my last book  The Prophet and the Pandemic (2021)  which, unfortunately, the very pandemic has not allowed to have made its way into an English or Arabic translation yet. You can read it in French, German, Italian, Spanish or Greek.

I noticed that the last terror attacks we suffered in France and in Austria in the fall of 2020 were of a different kind, as opposed to the previous mode of operation by Al Qaeda or Daesh. The perpetrators did not belong to a chain of command: they were self-mobilised into killing targets because they had read on their cellphone messages posted by entrepreneurs of rage that identified different individuals or entities as enemies of Allah, apostates, kuffar, etc. This phenomenon I dubbed jihadism of atmosphere: it is a major challenge to security agencies which are trained to identify people who give orders.

AO: If the great Arab setback that resulted from the June 1967 defeat created a vacuum that contributed to the growth of political Islam, will the war in Europe contribute to the ongoing growth of populist and extreme right-wing parties, or even the collapse of the European Union?

GK: I do not think the EU is on a disintegration path; on the contrary, the threats, both from the Ukraine war and from the jihad terror attacks, have led to a significant, if insufficient, awakening that we Europeans have to build a strong homegrown security and defense policy, which is not solely reliant on the US, even though we are of course their allies.

Germany, which had built its prosperity since the end of WW2 on the absence of defense spending  as the US taxpayers catered for it  and on its privileged access to cheap Russian gas, has made an important about-face after the Ukraine war, and is now investing 100 million in rebuilding a military.

NATO is gaining two new members  Sweden and Finland  in spite of Erdogan blackmailing them into curbing the freedoms of Kurdish Swedes.

AO: With the regression of ISIS and the sluggishness of the Sunni-Shia conflict, what kind of conflict will the Middle East witness in the coming period, and what is the future of jihadism and Salafism?

GK: Jihadism is in crisis, as I mentioned above. Daesh was destroyed by the bombings on their rogue [state] in Al-Sham and Iraq from 2016 to 2019, but they are trying to reorganise, learn the lessons from their political failures, and build a new strategy  up to the metaverse!!! But I believe that the enormous amount of knowledge accumulated after the study of Al Qaeda and Daesh allows us to analyse better what they have in mind.

The threat is still around of course, and the turmoil coming in the region as a consequence of the Ukraine war will no doubt give them opportunities. See for instance that EU States are now repatriating their Daesh citizens which were detained in Kurdish camps in northeast Syria under the YPDs watch, because the advent of a Turkish attack on the Syrian border would lead to the dismantling of the camps of al-Hol and Khorj, allowing a number of seasoned jihadists to go free and reorganise with a view to rebuild global networks.

The Arab world, and the Western world in particular, has come to live without an agreement of the so-called alliance of terror between the ideology of jihadist political Islam and the anti-Islam ideology, where both militant jihadists and Islamophobic movements have come to support each other, so what is the cultural, intellectual and religious impact of this?

To an extent, jihadists, Muslim Brothers and the European extreme-right reinforce each other. Indeed, in a mirror-image dynamic. Abu Mussab Al Suri, the French-educated Syrian ideologue of Daesh (together with his namesake the Jordanian Abu Mussab Al Zarqaoui) had theorised all that as of 2005: perpetuating attacks blindly on the European public would reinforce the anti-Muslim feeling in the population. Therefore, European Muslims themselves would gather under the Prophets banner  to quote from Zawahiris 1997 manifesto Fursantahtarayat an-nabi (Knights under the Prophets banner)  and turn to jihadists to defend them [in the same way] Iraqi secularist Sunnis joined Daesh to protect them from the Shia militias after the US invasion of March 2003.

For the time being, this phenomenon, which is taken very seriously by government agencies in Europe, has developed only within limited circles. You could add to your scenario that some forces on the extreme left are now courting political Islam voters from disenfranchised neighborhoods, among European citizens from immigrant Muslim descent or converts something which is not unlike what Raad and Mansour Abbas are doing in Israel!

AO: Religions throughout history have constituted one of the main factors in conflicts. Is the Russian-Ukrainian war primarily religious?

GK: I am not an expert on Russia. What I understand of the Ukraine war is that there is an issue of identity also between Catholics in western Ukraine, and Orthodox in the eastern part of the country not to mention the Jewish issue.

Ukraine was the birthplace of conservative, Hassidic Judaism, which was persecuted by the Nazis, and has later developed strong networks the world over. So while initially Israel was leaning a blind eye to the war (Netanyahu had not voted against the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 because Moscow and Jerusalem had an agreement on the sharing of Syrian skies), there was afterwards a strong reaction of conservative Jews in Israel, who control a lot of votes, and the Jewish State had a much more pro-Ukrainian stance, at least officially.

AO: What do you think about the idea of forming a "Middle East NATO" against "common enemies" as it resurfaced before President Joe Biden's visit to the region?

GK: I do not believe a Middle East NATO  or METO  could be feasible  it would be reminiscent of the CENTO post-WW2 that sank into failure. The Middle East challenge now is to rebuild its centrality at the world level, [not because of wars], but because it can build the transition towards clean energy and be one of its main producers  something that was in the making as a consequence of COVID-19. I believe President Bidens visit has more modest goals  the first of which is to help him secure a Democratic majority in Congress for the mid-term elections this fall, for which the omens are not great as of today if we believe the polls.

AO: On the heels of the economic crises caused by COVID-19 and the war, what are the biggest obstacles to regional cooperation facing the US?

GK: After the Trump administration came to an end, we had the Ukraine war, which has led to a rather different picture. I believe that for many countries in the Middle East, first and foremost Egypt but not only, the burning issue is to find a way out of the cereals and food security problem which is looming in a matter of months, and parallels the cold winter ahead in Europe if the gas problem is not resolved.

Such very matter-of-fact considerations, I believe, should lead to a major Middle East, North Africa and Europe conference because we are now making an extended region, and we need to think our future together.

AO: The French government has introduced a new body  the Forum of Islam in France  to get rid of extremism. Do you think this new forum can build bridges for dialogue and build trust between Muslims in France and the French society?

GK: Much had been said and written in the Arab world about supposed French Islamophobia, a campaign mostly boosted by the Muslim Brothers International and its sidekicks. President Macrons speech against Islamist separatism  ie against the creation of enclaves where Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood would put their rigid understanding of sharia above the law of the secular French republic  was uttered ten days before the beheading of a schoolteacher by a Chehen jihadist who had read Twitter post demonising him because the teacher had asked his pupils to debate the Charlie Hebdo cartoons. Those tweets were forwarded all around by such Islamist entrepreneurs of rage that I mentioned above.

That separatism is comparable to what you called fitnataifia in Egypt  and that you considered unacceptable because it wanted to destroy the Egyptian state and values in the name of an extremist view of religion that threatened to rip off the national fabric. Alas, we were, if I may say so, lost in translation and largely misunderstood in the Arab and Muslim world. That may be why someone with some knowledge of the Middle East was asked to provide some thoughts to mend the misunderstanding? The present-day Forum of Islam in France is precisely intended to give the responsibility for recruiting imams and managing mosques to associations of reliable French Muslim citizens even though much of the problem, as the beheading of the teacher showed, is rooted in the internet.

AO: How has the world changed in the two decades since the events of September 11?

GK: Bin Laden did not succeed in building a state (something Daesh would achieve between 2014 and 2017 in its own rogue way with its self-styled dawla[state]), but it set an example for many angry youth and built new fault lines within communities, societies and also between states. I believe we have not yet assessed the magnitude of the damage, let alone found the remedies. That is why I believe that the civil societies and leaders most concerned on the middle and long-term, those bordering the Mediterranean and the hinterland beyond, should seriously take the matter into their hands.

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Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of shares in Tesla as the billionaire gets his finances in order ahead of his court battle with Twitter.

Musk disclosed in series of regulatory filings that he unloaded about 8 million shares of his company Tesla Inc. in recent days. "In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don't come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock," Musk tweeted late Tuesday.

Musk is by far the largest individual shareholder in both Tesla and Twitter. Shares of Tesla rose almost 2 percent before the opening bell Wednesday. Shares of Twitter Inc., up 16 percent in the past month with most believing Musk faces long-shot odds of success in court, jumped another 3 percent.

Musk countersued Twitter last week, accusing the company of fraud over his aborted $44 billion acquisition. He claimed that Twitter held back critical information and misled his team about the size of its user base.


Genres : Action and Thriller



: Action and Thriller Running Time : 125 min.



: 125 min. Directed by : Lee Jung-jae



: Lee Jung-jae Starring : Lee Jung-jae, Jung Woo-sung

Synopsis : Two intelligence agents team up to uncover a North Korean spy within their agency, only to stumble upon a hidden truth.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Yo-jong has accused South Korea of spreading coronavirus across the tightly sealed border and threatened a "strong retaliatory response," state media reported Thursday.

Kim Yo-jong told officials in a meeting that the COVID outbreak North Korea has experienced was triggered by attempts to "annihilate" the North by its enemies.

The outburst suggests the North Korean regime is desperate to find a scapegoat not only for the health crisis in a country without even basic medical facilities but also its economic crisis triggered by the total border lockdown and international sanctions.

In South Korea, a Unification Ministry official expressed "strong regret over North Korea's insulting and threatening remarks based on repeated groundless claims."
Major conglomerates are donating money to help people who were driven out of their homes by floods that hit the Seoul metropolitan area early this week.

Samsung said Thursday that it will donate W3 billion to the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association (US$1=W1,303). "We also plan to donate 5,000 packages of bottled water, blankets, clothes and towels to the victims and offer free repairs of electronic devices that were damaged by flooding."
KYODO NEWS - Aug 12, 2022 - 23:21 | All, Japan

At least 20 Japanese lawmakers appointed as deputies for Cabinet members confirmed Friday that they had links to a controversial religious group, after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for a self-check and review to appease a wary public.

The revelations add to evidence of what could be a deeply ingrained network of contact between ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and the Unification Church. Seven ministers in the revamped Cabinet have also acknowledged their ties of some sort to the group under the renewed spotlight since the assassination of former premier Shinzo Abe.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (far L) speaks at a meeting of newly appointed senior vice ministers in Tokyo on Aug. 12, 2022. (Kyodo)

The religious group, known formally as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was founded by a staunch anti-communist and is known for its mass weddings. It has drawn scrutiny over "spiritual sales," in which people are talked into buying jars and other items for exorbitant prices.

The nature of ties to the church varies among the 20 of 54 lawmakers appointed as senior vice ministers and parliamentary vice ministers on Friday. Some had participated in events linked to the group, sent congratulatory messages and sold fund-raising party tickets.

The discovery deepens the woes for Kishida, who reshuffled his Cabinet on Wednesday in an apparent bid to stop public support from tumbling further. The premier has said neither he nor the LDP, on an organizational level, had links to the church in question.

Opposition parties are ratcheting up their pressure on the prime minister. Kenta Izumi, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has blasted Kishida's personnel choices as being designed to "cover up" the relationship between the LDP and the church.

The latest controversy began after the man who shot Abe during a campaign speech in early July told investigators that he held a grudge against the church, which he blamed for financially ruining his family after his mother made huge donations. He apparently took it out on the former prime minister he thought was linked to the group.

Taro Kono, a minister in charge of consumer affairs, said Friday that his agency plans to set up a committee to look into complaints from people falling victim to spiritual sales.

"Complaints come to us first," Kono told a press conference. "It's also important that we review the way we have handled those issues," he said, adding that recent years have seen more complaints about monetary donations to the church than about spiritual sales of products.

Kishida has said freedom of religion guaranteed in the Constitution should be respected, but it goes without saying that religious groups also need to abide by the law as members of society.

The office for Masaki Ogushi, one of the 20 lawmakers, said it sold 60,000 yen ($450) worth of fund-raising tickets in May to a group related to the church.

Political analyst Atsuo Ito said the revelations suggest that the Unification Church has crept into Japanese political circles, mainly the LDP.

"Prime Minister Kishida has basically allowed politicians with links (to the church) to join his Cabinet. He says he has instructed them to review ties from now, but the issue is that such links have already existed," Ito said.

"He may have tried to deflect attention from the inconvenient issue by reshuffling the Cabinet. However, it seems to have inflicted more damage to him," Ito said.

The approval rating for Kishida's Cabinet hit a worst-ever 51.0 percent in late July. In a Kyodo News survey conducted Wednesday and Thursday, it recovered slightly to 54.1 percent.

Kishida replaced seven Cabinet members who had acknowledged links to the church in the latest reshuffle. They include former Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, the younger brother of Abe, who received help from the group in past elections.

Followers of the Unification Church have been convicted in Japan in connection with money illegally obtained from people through the use of threats, including the citing of "ancestral karma."

Tetsuya Yamagami, the shooter, was quoted by investigative sources as saying that former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi "invited the church (to Japan from South Korea). So I killed (his grandson) Abe."

Kishi backed an anti-communist political group linked to the Unification Church, which was established in Japan in 1968.

The National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales (Japan) was set up in 1987 to help victims of spiritual sales. According to the lawyers, such sales typically involve members of the Unification Church randomly approaching people on the street and offering free fortune-telling without identifying themselves as such. They later urge their targets to purchase expensive items, often seals, to "shake off bad karma" created by their ancestors.

Related coverage:

Unification Church-affiliated group commemorates Abe in South Korea

85% say politicians must cut ties with Unification Church: Kyodo poll

5 members of Kishida's new Cabinet had links with Unification Church
KYODO NEWS - Aug 12, 2022 - 15:47 | World, All, Japan

A Japanese ruling lawmaker has met with Myanmar's junta leader, a state-run newspaper reported Friday, days after a Japanese documentary filmmaker was charged in connection with an anti-coup protest in Yangon.

It was apparently the first meeting between a Japanese lawmaker and Myanmar junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing since film producer Toru Kubota was detained with sedition and violating immigration law, prompting Tokyo to call for his early release.

Hiromichi Watanabe, a lawmaker of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, and the junta leader exchanged views on the political situation in Myanmar during their talks held in the country's administrative capital Naypyitaw on Thursday, according to the newspaper.

Myanmar emphasized the "need for people in Japan to know" the truth about the Southeast Asian country as "false information" on its political situation has been spreading, it said.

Meanwhile, Watanabe, a former minister in charge of reconstruction from the March 2011 devastating earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan, is believed to have urged the leader to release Kubota as soon as possible.

Since the military seized power in February last year, Myanmar's junta leader has met with Japanese figures such as Hideo Watanabe, a former posts and telecommunications minister who chairs the Japan Myanmar Association.

Related coverage:

Myanmar junta to implement 5-point consensus with ASEAN this year

Japanese man detained by Myanmar police at anti-coup protest: reports

Japan demands early release of national detained in Myanmar
By Takaki Tominaga, KYODO NEWS - Aug 12, 2022 - 11:50 | Feature, All, Japan

Tanks containing treated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant are likely to reach capacity around the fall of 2023, later than the initially predicted spring of next year, as the pace of the accumulation of radioactive water slowed in fiscal 2021.

The slowdown, based on an estimate by operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., gives some breathing space to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government if any roadblocks are thrown up in the plan to discharge the treated water into the sea starting around spring next year.

China and South Korea as well as local fishing communities that fear reputational damage to their products remain concerned and have expressed opposition to the plan.

About 1.30 million tons of treated water has accumulated at the Fukushima Daiichi plant following the 2011 nuclear disaster, and it is inching closer to the capacity of 1.37 million tons.

The water became contaminated after being pumped in to cool melted reactor fuel at the plant and has been accumulating at the complex, also mixing with rainwater and groundwater.

According to the plan, the water -- treated through an advanced liquid processing system, or ALPS, that removes radionuclides except for tritium -- will be released 1-kilometer off the Pacific coast of the plant through an underwater pipe.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been conducting safety reviews of the discharge plan and Director General Rafael Grossi says the U.N. nuclear watchdog will support Japan before, during and after the release of the water, based on science.

An IAEA task force, established last year, is made up of independent and highly regarded experts with diverse technical backgrounds from various countries including China and South Korea.

Japan's new industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura says the government and TEPCO will go ahead with the discharge plan around the spring of 2023 and stresses the two parties will strengthen communication with local residents and fishermen, as well as neighboring countries, to win their understanding.

Beijing and Seoul are among the 12 countries and regions that still have restrictions on food imports from Japan imposed in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami triggered nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima plant in March 2011.

"We will improve our communication methods so we can convey information backed by scientific evidence to people both at home and abroad more effectively," Nishimura said after taking up the current post in a Cabinet reshuffle Wednesday.

Kishida instructed Nishimura to focus on the planned discharge of ALPS-treated water that will be diluted with seawater to one-40th of the maximum concentration of tritium permitted under Japanese regulations, according to the chief of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The level is lower than the World Health Organization's recommended maximum tritium limit for drinking water.

TEPCO will cap the total amount of tritium to be released into the sea as well.

Meanwhile, the Kishida government has decided to set up a 30 billion yen ($227 million) fund to support the fisheries industry and said it will buy seafood if demand dries up due to harmful rumors.

Fishing along the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, known for high-quality seafood, has been recovering from the reputational damage caused by the nuclear accident but the catch volume in 2021 was only about 5,000 tons, or about 20 percent of 2010 levels.

Construction of discharge facilities at the Fukushima plant started in August, while work to slow the infiltration of rain and groundwater was also conducted.

TEPCO said it was able to reduce the pace of accumulation of contaminated water by fixing the roof of a reactor building and cementing soil slopes around the facilities, among other measures, to prevent rainwater penetration.

The volume of radioactive water decreased some 20 tons a day from a year earlier to about 130 tons per day in fiscal 2021, according to the ministry.

The projected timeline to reach the tank capacity has been calculated based on the assumption that about 140 tons of contaminated water will be generated per day, according to METI.

However, storage tanks could still reach their capacity around the summer of next year if heavy precipitation or some unexpected events occur, the ministry said.

As part of preparations for the planned discharge, the Environment Ministry has started measuring tritium concentration at 30 locations on the surface of the sea and seabed around the Fukushima plant, four times a year.

Similarly, the Nuclear Regulation Authority has increased the number of locations it monitors tritium levels by eight to 20. The Fisheries Agency has started measuring tritium concentration in marine products caught along the Pacific coast stretching from Hokkaido to Chiba Prefecture.

Given that it is expected to take several decades to complete the release of treated water, NRA and METI officials urged TEPCO to further curb the generation of contaminated water at the plant.

"We want TEPCO to step up efforts so as to lower the volume of the daily generation of contaminated water to about 100 tons or lower by the end of 2025," a METI official said.

Related coverage:

Evacuation order on Fukushima nuclear plant town to be lifted in Aug.

Nuclear regulator approves treated Fukushima water release plan

FEATURE: Young people bringing new energy to revive stricken town's fortunes
KYODO NEWS - Aug 12, 2022 - 21:30 | All, Japan

The Japanese government will not disclose results of its research on critical technologies if there is a risk the information may be diverted for military use overseas or otherwise jeopardize national interests, sources close to the matter said Friday.

Research results on cutting-edge technologies specified in the economic security law will be shared only within associations made up of government officials and private researchers, with some sensitive information further subject to confidentiality agreements, the sources said.

The associations will serve as a trial for a security clearance system that the government plans to introduce, which will allow only screened personnel to handle sensitive information.

Twenty technologies have been listed in the law as potentially critical, including hypersonic technology that could be used for missile development and space-related technology that could evolve into satellite surveillance systems.

Japan's eagerness to advance in high-technology fields comes as competition has intensified between the United States, China and Russia amid the rapidly changing security environment.

The economic security law enacted in May provides a framework to establish an association for each research field to facilitate the development of cutting-edge technologies through public-private cooperation.

The government is expected to invest around 500 billion yen ($3.8 billion) into the research from the state's economic security fund.

The results will generally be made public to aid domestic universities, companies, and other organizations in the development and practical application of the technologies, with the exception of those expected to be used for military purposes, such as defense and coast guard.

The government will also impose a confidentiality agreement on sensitive information provided for research purposes, punishable by up to a year in prison if breached.

The introduction of the security clearance system was proposed during the formulation of the new economic security law, as such a system will prove essential for sharing classified information with overseas authorities.

But it has yet to be included in the law after several members of the ruling parties voiced concerns over the requirement of a background check to pass the screening.
A medical worker prepares a dose of monkeypox vaccine at a monkeypox vaccination site in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 11, 2022. Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency.

The CDC's dashboard showed that 1,391 confirmed monkeypox cases were reported on Wednesday, the first time that CDC reported over 1,000 monkeypox infections in one day since the first was reported on May 17.

The confirmed cases in the country still account for almost 30 percent of the global count -- 31,800 so far, even though the country's population is just under 5 percent of the world population.

The Biden administration last Thursday declared monkeypox a public health emergency, more than a week after the World Health Organization qualified the outbreak as a global emergency.

Critics say the U.S. authorities had acted too slow and were not meeting the demand for vaccines as the number of cases continued to grow.

California State Senator Scott Wiener said the federal government could have kept up its stockpile of the Jynneos vaccine, a smallpox vaccine that's proven to be effective for monkeypox. 

A medical worker gives a dose of monkeypox vaccine to a recipient at a monkeypox vaccination site in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 11, 2022. Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

A medical worker gives a dose of monkeypox vaccine to a recipient at a monkeypox vaccination site in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 11, 2022. Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

People wait to be vaccinated at a monkeypox vaccination site in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 11, 2022. Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

People are seen at a monkeypox vaccination site in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 11, 2022. Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

A medical worker gives a dose of monkeypox vaccine to a recipient at a monkeypox vaccination site in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Aug. 11, 2022. Confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States have exceeded the mark of 10,000, reaching 10,392 cases Wednesday, according to the newest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's national public health agency. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)
Jakaya Kikwete, the head of the EAC Observation Mission and former Tanzanian president, speaks during a press briefing in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Charles Onyango/Xinhua)

Election observers from the African Union and regional blocs including COMESA, EAC, and IGAD, said in preliminary statements that they were satisfied with Kenya's Aug. 9 general election voting exercise amid a lack of major glitches or security lapses.

NAIROBI, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's general elections, held Tuesday to choose the fifth president, county governors, senators and members of the National Assembly, were largely peaceful, free and fair, pan-African blocs said Thursday.

The joint election observation mission to Kenya from the African Union (AU) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), and election observation missions from the East African Community (EAC) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said in their preliminary statements that they were satisfied by the voting exercise amid a lack of major glitches or security lapses.

Election observers attend a press briefing in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Charles Onyango/Xinhua)

Ernest Bai Koroma, the head of the AU-COMESA Election Observer Mission and former president of Sierra Leone, said Kenya's electoral body had demonstrated improved capacity to conduct a seamless national voting exercise.

"There was (a) notable improvement in the overall voting exercise across the country. Polling stations opened on time, voters were identified easily by digital kits and no major security incident was reported," Koroma said at a briefing in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Statistics from Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) indicate that 64.4 percent of 22.1 million registered votes, translating into 14.2 million votes, had been cast.

Counting of votes is underway, with electoral agency officials calling for calm to ensure the results for the presidency and other local elected leaders were credible in order to avoid costly litigation.

Jakaya Kikwete, the head of the EAC Observation Mission and former Tanzanian president, noted that the voting exercise adhered to local laws and international best practices, earning the confidence of voters and foreign monitoring groups.

Kikwete lauded Kenya's electoral body for investing in modern technology and skilled manpower to ensure that the election of new leaders was inclusive, smooth, transparent and verifiable.

"We are satisfied by the manner in which polls were conducted. We hope the subsequent process of transmitting and tallying votes will be above board and a reflection of the will of the people," said Kikwete, noting that despite being highly competitive, Kenya's seventh general elections under a multiparty system of governance were devoid of polarization that could jeopardize national security and cohesion.

Kikwete acknowledged that voter turnout was lower compared to the 2013 and 2017 general elections, adding that there was a need to expand outreach to the youth and ensure they took part in the civic exercise.

Mulatu Teshome, former Ethiopian president and the head of the IGAD Election Observation Mission, said that adequate preparations ensured that the voting exercise in Kenya met the globally recognized threshold.

According to Teshome, the outcomes of a free, fair and inclusive electoral process in Kenya would be critical to sustaining regional stability, growth and cohesion. 
SANYA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Li Juan, a nurse at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in central China's Henan Province, came to Sanya, a popular coastal resort city, several days ago.

She did not come on holiday. Instead, her daily routine is collecting nucleic acid samples, clad in a heavy hazmat suit, in a neighborhood in Tianya District.

Between Aug. 1 and 11, over 4,000 COVID-19 infections were reported in Sanya, southern Hainan Province, and the situation is still severe as the new infections exceeded 1,000 on Thursday.

This is the first time for Li to aid an anti-epidemic fight outside Henan.

"I was the first to sign up when our head nurse posted a message asking if anyone is willing to go to Sanya," Li said.

She gets up before 5 a.m. every day and then takes a bus to Nanbianhai, a fishing village, to conduct nucleic acid testing. She also needs to visit the homes of those that are under quarantine or have difficulty moving.

"We should be there wherever and whenever needed," said Li.

Li was among 100 medics from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University that arrived in Sanya to join the anti-epidemic fight over the weekend.

"Our hospital is the largest one in Henan, and our medical staff has always been on the frontlines of fighting the epidemic, from Wuhan to Shanghai to Henan's Anyang," said Zhang Guangchao, a head nurse from the same hospital.

Over 10,000 medics from 19 provincial-level regions have been drafted to help Hainan in fighting the latest COVID-19 resurgence, with the majority in the worst-hit city of Sanya.

A team comprised of 201 medics from Hubei Province is in charge of the nucleic acid testing at 41 venues across six communities. They collect about 50,000 samples every day.

"It's a huge workload and the well-armed medical staff are soaked in sweat in half an hour under the scorching sun in Sanya. So we change shifts every two hours," said Jiang Botao, the team leader.

In a gymnasium at the Sanya Technician College of Hainan, a gas membrane nucleic acid testing lab set up by a team from south China's Guangdong Province was put into use on Aug. 7.

The daily nucleic acid detection capacity currently has hit 60,000 tubes, and the maximum capacity can reach 100,000 tubes.

"We hope to screen out the positive cases and let everyone's life return to normal as soon as possible," said Zhang Ning, who heads the team from Guangdong. 
BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China has been beefing up rail and air travel services in the summer travel rush to ensure safe trips for passengers.

About 309 million railway passenger trips were made between July 1 to August 11, with average daily trips reaching around 7.365 million, according to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).

Some 7.2 million railway passenger trips are expected to be made on Friday, China Railway added.

To meet growing travel demand, more trains have been put into services between tourist cities during the travel rush, while some new airline routes have also been added.

This year's summer travel rush will last for 62 days from July 1 to August 31. The travel rush is usually a busy season for China's railway system as college students return home and transport demand from family visits and travel soars. 
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The migratory monarch butterfly in the Americas is under grave threat from breeding habitat destruction and climate change, Mexican biologist Gabriela Jimenez of the National Autonomous University of Mexico said, calling for more actions to protect the endangered species.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, the researcher said the sanctuaries where the migrant butterflies rest in the United States, Canada and Mexico are being lost due to global warming, among other things.

"In recent years, the population of this species has decreased in Mexico, while forests have disappeared in Canada where the butterflies rest, specifically in cold tolerant trees," Jimenez said.

When global temperature is rising, trees are being damaged and disappearing, boding ill for the stay, survival and reproduction of the beautiful butterfly.

On July 21, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) added the monarch butterfly to its Red List of Threatened Species as Endangered, only one step away from becoming critically endangered.

The orange-winged species, which travels each year some 4,200 km from the United States and Canada to the Mexican mountains to spend the winter, has had a 72 percent reduction in its population over the past decades, IUCN data showed.

In view of this situation, the biologist called for more coordinated efforts to take care of pine forests where the butterflies shelter, and conserve milkweed plants, where they lay eggs and from which caterpillars emerge to feed on milkweed leaves, so as to protect them in their long-distance journey of migration.

She also suggested urgent measures to reduce carbon emission and curb climate change.

"If there are butterflies, it means that the ecosystem is fine," she said. "Butterflies are our great pollinators and if their role breaks down, we would be facing an irreparable catastrophe." 
Zhang Jun (C), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks at a Security Council open debate convened by China on the theme "Peace and security in Africa: capacity-building for sustaining peace" at the UN headquarters in New York, Aug. 8, 2022. (Xinhua/Xie E)

"We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint, act with caution, refrain from any action that may compromise nuclear safety and security, and spare no effort to minimize the possibility of accidents," a Chinese envoy said.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Thursday said that China is "deeply concerned" by the recent shelling on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

"We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint, act with caution, refrain from any action that may compromise nuclear safety and security, and spare no effort to minimize the possibility of accidents," he told a UN Security Council briefing.

Zhang chaired Thursday's meeting on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as president of the Security Council for the month of August.

Speaking in his national capacity, the envoy said that the shelling did not pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety, and the radiation level remained normal, citing information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from Ukraine's nuclear regulator.

"Nevertheless, the shelling did cause damage to the physical integrity of the plant, its safety and security system, power supply and personnel safety, which sounded a nuclear alarm to the international community," he said. 
BEIRUT, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Lebanonese military received Friday the first batch of Qatari financial aid for servicemen's salaries, the Lebanon Armed Forces Command said in a statement.

Joseph Aoun, commander of the Lebanese armed forces, thanked Qatar and its emir for "this valuable initiative towards the Lebanese army," while praising Doha's "commitment towards Lebanon and its military in light of the challenges it is facing due to the repercussions of the deteriorating economic situation."

On June 30, Qatar pledged 60 million U.S. dollars to the Lebanese military to support the salaries of their soldiers amid the country's current economic crisis. 
A report released Tuesday by a Chinese NGO revealed a series of crimes committed by the U.S. in the Middle East and surrounding areas.





Iraqi people, who had lived in pain amid years of conflicts, echoed the criticism and accused the U.S. of violating human rights, saying the U.S. committed crimes merely to seek self-interest.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Ernest Bai Koroma, the head of the AU-COMESA Election Observer Mission and former president of Sierra Leone, speaks during a press briefing in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Charles Onyango/Xinhua)

NAIROBI, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's general elections, held Tuesday to choose the fifth president, county governors, senators and members of the National Assembly, were largely peaceful, free and fair, pan-African blocs said Thursday.

The joint election observation mission to Kenya from the African Union (AU) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), and election observation missions from the East African Community (EAC) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said in their preliminary statements that they were satisfied by the voting exercise amid a lack of major glitches or security lapses.

Ernest Bai Koroma, the head of the AU-COMESA Election Observer Mission and former president of Sierra Leone, said Kenya's electoral body had demonstrated improved capacity to conduct a seamless national voting exercise.

"There was (a) notable improvement in the overall voting exercise across the country. Polling stations opened on time, voters were identified easily by digital kits and no major security incident was reported," Koroma said at a briefing in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Statistics from Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) indicate that 64.4 percent of 22.1 million registered votes, translating into 14.2 million votes, had been cast.

Counting of votes is underway, with electoral agency officials calling for calm to ensure the results for the presidency and other local elected leaders were credible in order to avoid costly litigation.

Jakaya Kikwete, the head of the EAC Observation Mission and former Tanzanian president, noted that the voting exercise adhered to local laws and international best practices, earning the confidence of voters and foreign monitoring groups.

Kikwete lauded Kenya's electoral body for investing in modern technology and skilled manpower to ensure that the election of new leaders was inclusive, smooth, transparent and verifiable.

"We are satisfied by the manner in which polls were conducted. We hope the subsequent process of transmitting and tallying votes will be above board and a reflection of the will of the people," said Kikwete, noting that despite being highly competitive, Kenya's seventh general elections under a multiparty system of governance were devoid of polarization that could jeopardize national security and cohesion.

Kikwete acknowledged that voter turnout was lower compared to the 2013 and 2017 general elections, adding that there was a need to expand outreach to the youth and ensure they took part in the civic exercise.

Mulatu Teshome, former Ethiopian president and the head of the IGAD Election Observation Mission, said that adequate preparations ensured that the voting exercise in Kenya met the globally recognized threshold.

According to Teshome, the outcomes of a free, fair and inclusive electoral process in Kenya would be critical to sustaining regional stability, growth and cohesion. 

Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) officials inspect electoral documents at the Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Fred Mutune/Xinhua)

Jakaya Kikwete, the head of the EAC Observation Mission and former Tanzanian president, speaks during a press briefing in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Fred Mutune/Xinhua)
A woman wearing a traditional costume is seen during the Tourism and Technology Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Aug. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Experts and policymakers attending an event on tourism and technology have called for concerted efforts to harness Ethiopia's untapped potential in the tourism sector.

ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Experts and policymakers attending an event on tourism and technology have called for concerted efforts to harness Ethiopia's untapped potential in the tourism sector.

They made the call Wednesday during the opening of the Tourism and Technology Week that aims to create a policy discussion platform for tourism-related issues, enhance networking opportunities for tourism digital champions and innovators, as well as bring together partners in the tourism sector.

Ethiopian Minister of Tourism Nasise Chali said that Ethiopia is working to add value to its natural and historical tourist attraction sites so as to fully tap the tourism sector.

As part of the event, panel discussions will be held focusing on tourism in the Ethiopian macroeconomic policy framework, the nexus between tourism and technology, as well as job creation, among others.

Shimelis Abdisa, president of Ethiopia's Oromia regional state, said that the East African country, despite being naturally endowed with potential tourist attraction sites, is yet to tap into its huge potential due to various hurdles.

Shimelis Abdisa, president of Ethiopia's Oromia regional state, speaks during the opening of the Tourism and Technology Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Aug. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Abdisa said the challenges include lack of adequate funding, insufficient travel marketing, and infrastructure deficits along the tourist attraction areas. He said concerted efforts are currently underway at the national and regional levels to harness the country's untapped tourism endowments.

According to the organizers, with the advent of technological advancements and rapid digitalization, all travel companies have shunned geographical barriers and are adopting online methods to approach their clients. Lack of finance, high training costs, the rapid pace of technological change, and the cost of high-speed broadband, however, are some major obstacles to further the implementation of digital technology in tourism.

Ethiopia's tourism sector has suffered from recurrent conflicts, which were exacerbated by the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
A teaching building and an auditorium were inaugurated at Kabul University in Afghanistan, constructed with the help of China. It's expected to bolster the development of the war-torn country's tottering education sector.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during a UN Security Council briefing on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at the UN headquarters in New York, Aug. 11, 2022. Zhang on Thursday said that China is "deeply concerned" by the recent shelling on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. (Xinhua/Xie E)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Thursday said that China is "deeply concerned" by the recent shelling on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

"We call on the parties concerned to exercise restraint, act with caution, refrain from any action that may compromise nuclear safety and security, and spare no effort to minimize the possibility of accidents," he told a UN Security Council briefing.

Zhang chaired Thursday's meeting on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as president of the Security Council for the month of August.

Speaking in his national capacity, the envoy said that the shelling did not pose an immediate threat to nuclear safety, and the radiation level remained normal, citing information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from Ukraine's nuclear regulator.

"Nevertheless, the shelling did cause damage to the physical integrity of the plant, its safety and security system, power supply and personnel safety, which sounded a nuclear alarm to the international community," he said.

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged accusations over shelling the Zaporizhzhia plant, which generates a quarter of Ukraine's total electricity.

Zhang pointed out that if a large scale accident occurs at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the largest such plants in Europe, the consequences would be more devastating than that of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

The leakage of massive quantities of radioactive materials caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the resulting nuclear-contaminated water have far-reaching consequences for the marine environment, food safety, and human health, thereby sparking widespread interests and concerns, he said.

"China does not want to see the same risks playing out again," he said.

While urging the parties concerned to exercise restraint, the envoy expressed hope that existing obstacles can be cleared as soon as possible, so that the planned mission to the Zaporizhzhia plant by IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi and the agency's team of experts can materialize without delay.

He noted that Russia has undertaken to provide necessary assistance to the visit, and Ukraine, in a recent letter to Grossi and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also underscored the increasing necessity of organizing such a visit.

The Ukraine crisis has been dragging on for over five months. The security risks posed by the conflict to nuclear facilities are looming large throughout, Zhang said.

"Only by defusing the situation and restoring peace at an early date, can we fundamentally remove nuclear risks, reduce misjudgment, and avoid accidents," he said.

The envoy called on all parties concerned to resume negotiations as early as possible, seek a solution to the Ukraine crisis in a cool-headed and rational fashion, address each other's legitimate security concerns, and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture, so as to achieve common security.

He reaffirmed China's consistent position that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be upheld, and countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected.

"We call upon all parties in the international community to act responsibly to facilitate a proper solution of the crisis, and step up political and diplomatic efforts in order to create conditions for the parties concerned to return to the negotiating table. China will continue its constructive role in this regard," said Zhang. 




HONG KONG, China, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee on Thursday pledged efforts to create a new chapter for the development of innovation and technology in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Hong Kong will seize the historic opportunities offered by the country's 14th Five-Year Plan to build itself into an international center for innovation and technology, Lee said at a forum on GBA innovation and technology cooperation.

He said measures to gear up Hong Kong's innovation and technology development will be proposed in his policy address, which is expected to be delivered on Oct. 19 this year.

Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said in his video speech at the forum that the ministry will continue to support the building of an international innovation and technology hub in the GBA, and further open up national sci-tech programs to Hong Kong and Macao through inter-departmental efforts.

Last year, Hong Kong's total research and development (R&D) expenditure exceeded 26.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 3.38 billion U.S. dollars), a record high, and the number of start-ups has increased to about 4,000, official data showed.

Hong Kong ranked first in Asia and second globally in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2021, produced by the IMD World Competitiveness Center, with its performance in technology being rated first in the world.





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BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the international community to gather consensus on promoting development, create an enabling environment and foster new driving forces for global development to jointly work for a global development partnership.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a congratulatory letter on Friday to the International Civil Society Solidarity Conference on the Global Development Initiative. 
BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Released at a right time, the white paper on the Taiwan question and China's reunification bears great significance and has boosted public morale, Taiwan studies experts said Friday.

Over 30 experts and scholars on the Taiwan question discussed important discourses in the white paper, titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era," at a think tank forum held in Beijing.

The white paper systemically combs through the basis in history and jurisprudence that Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times, experts agreed at the forum on China's reunification in the new era.

It gives a comprehensive summary of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) resolute efforts, major achievements and precious experience in promoting China's complete reunification, experts said.

The white paper also exposes the absurdity and risks of the Democratic Progressive Party intensifying provocative actions to seek "Taiwan independence," and of the United States stepping up efforts to play the "Taiwan card," experts noted.

It systemically elaborates on the position and policies of the CPC and the Chinese government in advancing national reunification in the new era, and projects the bright prospects after the peaceful reunification is achieved under "one country, two systems," experts said.

On the recent visit to China's Taiwan region by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in disregard of China's strong opposition and solemn representations, experts agreed it was a serious violation of the international order and rules by the U.S. side.

The move had severely undermined peace in the Taiwan Straits and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, experts said, adding that China's countermeasures are timely, necessary, reasonable and legitimate.

The forum was organized by the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 
RIYADH, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A man wanted by Saudi state security detonated an explosive belt, killing himself and wounding a foreigner and 3 security officials in Jeddah, the Saudi Presidency of the State Security said Friday.

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening when the security forces attempted to arrest him.

The Saudi fugitive, identified as Abdullah bin Zaid Abdulrahman Al-Bakry Al-Shihry, was part of nine terrorists wanted in different security cases, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The state security reiterates its determination to continue confronting whoever attempts to break the stability in the kingdom. 
A monarch butterfly stays on the hat of a tourist in Angangueo, central Mexico's Michoacan State, Dec. 31, 2005. (Xinhua Photo/Zhou Que)

In a recent interview with Xinhua, the researcher said the sanctuaries where the migrant butterflies rest in the United States, Canada and Mexico are being lost due to global warming, among other things.

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The migratory monarch butterfly in the Americas is under grave threat from breeding habitat destruction and climate change, Mexican biologist Gabriela Jimenez of the National Autonomous University of Mexico said, calling for more actions to protect the endangered species.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, the researcher said the sanctuaries where the migrant butterflies rest in the United States, Canada and Mexico are being lost due to global warming, among other things.

"In recent years, the population of this species has decreased in Mexico, while forests have disappeared in Canada where the butterflies rest, specifically in cold tolerant trees," Jimenez said.

When global temperature is rising, trees are being damaged and disappearing, boding ill for the stay, survival and reproduction of the beautiful butterfly.

On July 21, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) added the monarch butterfly to its Red List of Threatened Species as Endangered, only one step away from becoming critically endangered.

The orange-winged species, which travels each year some 4,200 km from the United States and Canada to the Mexican mountains to spend the winter, has had a 72 percent reduction in its population over the past decades, IUCN data showed.

In view of this situation, the biologist called for more coordinated efforts to take care of pine forests where the butterflies shelter, and conserve milkweed plants, where they lay eggs and from which caterpillars emerge to feed on milkweed leaves, so as to protect them in their long-distance journey of migration.

She also suggested urgent measures to reduce carbon emission and curb climate change.

"If there are butterflies, it means that the ecosystem is fine," she said. "Butterflies are our great pollinators and if their role breaks down, we would be facing an irreparable catastrophe." 
People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People prepare the flower carpet at the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 12, 2022. After the cancellation of the Flower Carpet 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional festival returned to Brussels from August 12 to 15, 2022. The theme of the Flower Carpet 2022 is "50th Anniversary of the Brussels Flower Carpet". Artists reinterpret the design of the pattern of the first flower carpet in 1971, using about 140,000 begonias, 225,000 dahlias, dyed bark, rolls of turf, chrysanthemums and euonymus. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)




HARARE, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- "We very much welcome the Initiative that we have to move forward to a shared future, not a selfish future, but one which is shared by all countries of the world, rich or poor," said an official of Zimbabwe's ruling party on the China-proposed Global Development Initiative (GDI).





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Photo taken on Oct. 10, 2021 shows a whale near Kaikoura, New Zealand. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

A study uses modelling to project the regional range shift of blue and sperm whales in New Zealand by the year 2100, under different climate change scenarios, and it shows a southerly shift of suitable habitat for both species, which "increases in magnitude as the ocean warms."

WELLINGTON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A new study has showed many areas around New Zealand will become unsuitable for blue and sperm whales as global sea-surface temperatures continue to rise, with new modelling predicting they will be seeking refuge further south.

Areas around New Zealand's southern and eastern offshore islands will likely become more suitable for these species, but the move will have a destabilizing effect on marine ecosystems. These changes will likely have a negative effect on tourism in areas such as New Zealand's Kaikoura, known for whale watching, as sightings become less frequent and less reliable, according to the study recently published in the international journal Ecological Indicators,

Most of the tourists going on a whale watching tour in Kaikoura can spot whales from their boats, Nick Jiang, a tour operator in New Zealand's South Island, told Xinhua on Thursday.

However, the chance of spotting a giant sperm whale is decreasing. Instead, killer whales, humpback whales and other smaller whales are much easier to be spotted, Jiang said.

A man seeks to spot whales near Kaikoura, New Zealand, Oct. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)



Selling boat tickets for whale watching in Kaikoura, TripAdvisor said on its website "You are almost guaranteed to spot a whale, as you'll receive most of your ticket price back if you don't."

Most of the whale watchers' comments on TripAdvisor are positive, such as "well worth the money" and "a once in a lifetime experience."

The international collaborative study between Massey University, the University of Zurich, the University of Canterbury, and Flinders University, has shed light on how climate change will impact the distribution of great whales in New Zealand waters.

It used a complex modelling approach to project the regional range shift of blue and sperm whales by the year 2100, under different climate change scenarios.

The study showed a southerly shift of suitable habitat for both species, which "increases in magnitude as the ocean warms."

The most severe climate change scenario that was tested generated a 61 percent loss and 42 percent decrease in currently suitable habitat for sperm and blue whales, mostly in New Zealand's northern waters.

"Regardless of which of the climate change scenarios will be the reality, even the best-case scenario indicates notable changes in the distribution of suitable habitat for sperm and blue whales in New Zealand," said research lead Dr Katharina Peters of the University of Canterbury.

Island nations such as New Zealand are extremely vulnerable to climate change impact on marine ecosystems because of their strong connection to the ocean, Peters said, adding sperm whales in New Zealand are critical for the tourism industry and local economy.

Great whales, such as sperm and blue whales, are important ecosystem engineers. This means that they fulfill a multitude of tasks such as facilitating the transfer of nutrients from deep waters to the surface, and across latitudes via migration from feeding to calving areas. Their predicted future southward shift, driven by climate change, will impact ecosystem functioning and potentially destabilize ecological processes in the northern part of New Zealand, the study showed.

The study also highlighted habitats that may be suitable in the future for both whale species in New Zealand's South Island and offshore islands, which provides an opportunity for their increased protection in the future. 
Photo taken on Aug. 11, 2022 shows the Stinson Parade Bridge in Suva, Fiji, a China-aided bridge which was opened to traffic in January 2018. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing)

"The BRI is a process of open, inclusive and common development, it is in the interests of both the Pacific island countries and the international development partners if they can work together and take concrete actions," said Keshmeer Makun, a university lecturer.

by Zhang Yongxing

SUVA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been warmly welcomed in the Pacific island countries because it has helped boost their social and economic development over the past decade, a Fijian expert said here Thursday.

In an interview with Xinhua, Keshmeer Makun, a lecturer at the University of the South Pacific based in the Fijian capital Suva, said that the BRI has become a platform for win-win cooperation between China and the participating countries across the world, including the Pacific island countries located at the southward extension of the BRI, now important economic and trade partners of China.

"To date, 149 countries, including the 10 Pacific island countries, have diplomatic relations with China, and 32 international organizations have joined the initiative. The world has already witnessed China's expanding trade and investment ties with countries along the Belt and Road over the years," he said.

The BRI, which consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is aimed at building a trade, investment, and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Makun said that "as an important platform for China and these countries to advance the cooperation, the BRI is bolstering bilateral ties between China with her partners across the Belt and Road with shared interests and mutual benefits. The enhanced ties between China and the Pacific can be exemplified in this regard."

"China has provided support in infrastructure development like roads, hospitals, and climate mitigation projects in the Pacific island countries and also pledged to support them in the areas of need in the future. The tangible benefits under various projects and development support have lifted the relations between the Pacific (island countries) and China to a new height," he said.

Staff members of Bula Mushroom company check the condition of mushrooms in Nadi, Fiji, May 11, 2022. China's Juncao project has benefited a lot of Fijian people since 2014 when it was introduced in the Pacific island country. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing)

The Chinese-run projects and businesses have become part of the local economy in the Pacific island countries, generating jobs and incomes for the people, he said.

The building of the BRI continues to demonstrate strong resilience and vitality, injecting strong impetus into global openness and cooperation and world economic recovery, he said.

Believing that China and the Pacific island countries have great potential in their future cooperation, Makun said that the two sides should work together to synergize the BRI with the recently-launched 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, a roadmap for sustainable development in the Pacific region.

Participants pose for a group photo during the 51st Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders' meeting in Suva, Fiji, July 12, 2022. The 51st Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting focuses on the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent (2050 Strategy). (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing)

"The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and green development of the BRI are win-win cooperation for both China and the Pacific. In fact, they are making a strong commitment to sustainability and demonstrating their social responsibility for the developing world," he said.

He pointed out that Chinese expertise and know-how in the field of renewable energy can be of tremendous help to the Pacific island countries which are rich in renewable energy resources such as hydropower, solar power and wind power.

Makun also stressed the importance of cooperation in climate change between China and the Pacific island countries, saying that China, as the world's most populous country and the second largest economy, will be a key partner in mitigating natural disasters and climate-induced risks, reducing poverty and achieving the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

"China is increasingly showing environmental leadership on the global stage, supporting the Paris Agreement on climate change and promoting a philosophy of reviving an ecological civilization. The BRI can offer a significant contribution toward meeting the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement," he said.

Photo taken on April 3, 2022 shows a beach in Suva, Fiji. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing)

Makun made it clear that the BRI is not a debt trap for participating countries, but a platform for mutually-beneficial cooperation.

Developing countries like the Pacific island countries need massive infrastructure investment, and China can certainly help to provide some of this, he said, adding that despite the so-called "debt trap" myth raised by some media reports, the world has come to know that the BRI is endowed with a coherent set of principles where "win-win" situation, rather than "win-lose" or "zero-sum," through "all-round connectivity" gets the ultimate priority.

The lecturer urged international development partners to work together to help the Pacific island countries address their challenges as the BRI is an initiative for peaceful development, economic cooperation and it will make economic globalization become more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all.

"The BRI is a process of open, inclusive and common development, it is in the interests of both the Pacific island countries and the international development partners if they can work together and take concrete actions," he said. 
People rally to protest against the Japanese government's decision to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater in Fukushima Prefecture into the sea, in Tokyo, capital of Japan, April 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

By making the controversial decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, the Japanese government and TEPCO have ignored the legitimate and reasonable concerns of the international community and their own people. Japan should return to the track of full consultation with stakeholders and relevant international agencies, analysts say.



TOKYO, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A new wave of public anger and serious concerns over sea pollution have been triggered in and outside Japan after the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO) recently started construction of facilities that will discharge nuclear wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

Many Japanese citizens and civic groups have gone online and offline expressing their outrage -- "The ocean is not a dustbin!" "No more polluting the ocean!" and calling out the Japanese government and TEPCO as dishonest, irresponsible, hypocritical and selfish.

Struck by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan's northeast on March 11, 2011, the No. 1-3 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered core meltdowns, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

The plant has been generating a massive amount of radiation-tainted water since the accident happened as it needs water to cool the reactors. As TEPCO has still not found solutions to remove the melted-down cores, highly radioactive water will continue to be produced.

Japanese environmental groups have been seriously concerned that if TEPCO starts discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, it will be a catastrophe of marine pollution with no end in sight, leaving immeasurable long-term impacts on the marine ecological environment, aquatic product safety, and public health in the Pacific coastal regions.

Japan's fishing industry and other relevant groups fear that once the nuclear wastewater dumping starts around next spring, the pollution of the waters around Fukushima and the damage to the fishing industry will be irreversible.

People rally to protest against the Japanese government's decision to discharge contaminated radioactive wastewater in Fukushima Prefecture into the sea, in Tokyo, capital of Japan, April 13, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

A panel of experts organized by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had proposed five options when considering how to deal with the contaminated water, and the Japanese government eventually opted to discharge the water into the sea, which "takes the shortest time and costs the least," passing on the risk to the whole world.

By making the controversial decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, the Japanese government and TEPCO have ignored the legitimate and reasonable concerns of the international community and their own people. Japan should return to the track of full consultation with stakeholders and relevant international agencies, analysts say.

The international community has also raised a variety of questions about the legitimacy of the plan, the credibility of the data provided by TEPCO, the purification efficiency of the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), and the uncertainty of the impact on the marine environment. A task force of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had requested clarification and put forward suggestions for improvement after a visit to Japan in February.

Nuclear-contaminated water must be disposed of in an open, transparent, scientific and safe manner. Alternative plans should be taken into consideration by Japan and it must accept strict supervision by the IAEA, experts have stressed.

For the international community, Japan's wilful pushing through of the plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea has ignored the legitimate concerns of countries in the region and interests of the whole international community, exposing the country's selfish nature regarding its international responsibilities and obligations.

A poster to boycott Japanese products is seen in a supermarket to protest against Japan's decision to dump radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, in Seoul, South Korea, April 14, 2021. (Photo by Xu Ruxi/Xinhua)

The Korean Federation for Environmental Movements, a South Korean civic environmental organization, warned that if nuclear wastewater is discharged into the ocean, it would endanger marine products and deepen marine contamination further. The contaminated water would inevitably spread into the Pacific Ocean, polluting oceans near neighboring countries of Japan.

South Korean government officials have urged Japan to take responsible measures that are safe from a scientific perspective and comply with international laws and standards.

Civic activists in Japan have pointed out Japan's hypocritical stance on the plan, saying Japan's calculation behind the decision obviously overrides the safety of the fishing industry and the health of residents near the surrounding waters.

The ocean belongs to all mankind. Japan should stop treating it as a "dustbin" in its own courtyard, halt its plan immediately and stop harming the marine homeland of mankind for its private interests, environmentalists say. 
A contestant watches his robot in motion during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A robot is seen trying to pick up an object during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

Contestants watch their robot in motion during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A contestant watches his robot in motion during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

Contestants watch their robot in motion during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A contestant watches his robot in motion during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A contestant watches his robot in motion during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A contestant watches his robot picking up an object during a robot competition at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 11, 2022. Sixteen teams of physics and engineering students from UBC participated in the robot competition on Thursday. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)
NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of U.S. student visas issued to Chinese nationals plunged by more than 50 percent in the first half of 2022 compared with pre-COVID-19 levels, with the United States losing ground as the most-coveted place for Chinese students to pursue higher education abroad, reported The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

"Even before the pandemic, Chinese students were shifting their study-abroad sights elsewhere, driven by doubts about whether they would feel welcome in the United States and the emergence of more domestic and international alternatives. Travel restrictions and heightened safety concerns during the pandemic accelerated that decline," said the report.

In the first six months of 2022, the United States issued 31,055 F-1 visas to Chinese nationals, down from 64,261 for the same period in 2019, according to data from the U.S. State Department. "The drop has hit revenue at big and small colleges and universities around the country, including state flagships," the report noted.

"For more than a decade, China has been the top source of international students to the United States, providing universities with crucial tuition dollars to offset domestic declines and dwindling state funding at public universities," said the report.

In the 2019-20 academic year, before the pandemic depressed study-abroad numbers, Chinese nationals accounted for 35 percent of foreigners studying in the United States and contributed 15.9 billion U.S. dollars in economic value, according to numbers tracked and aggregated by the Institute of International Education's Open Doors report. 
BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Export-Import Bank of China (China EximBank) has offered 920 billion yuan (about 136.47 billion U.S. dollars) of loans to the foreign trade industry in the first half of the year (H1), up 22 percent year on year.

By the end of June, the bank's outstanding loans to the foreign trade sector rose 19 percent from the previous year to 2.68 trillion yuan.

The bank said it would actively promote credit supply and increase support to the real economy in H2.

The China Eximbank is a state-funded and state-owned policy bank supporting China's foreign trade, investment, and international economic cooperation. 
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday announced the appointment of Amir Mahmoud Abdulla of Sudan as the world body's coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Abdulla succeeds Frederick Kenney of the United States who was on loan by the International Maritime Organization as interim coordinator for the UN at the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), said a statement issued by the UN chief's press office.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was launched by Ukraine, Turkiye, Russia and the UN on July 22 to enable the resumption of exports from Ukraine of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizer, including ammonia, through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor.

Under the initiative, the JCC was established on July 27 in Istanbul, Turkiye, to monitor the implementation of the grain shipment from Ukraine.

According to Guterres' press office, Abdulla brings over 30 years of experience in the areas of humanitarian response and management with the World Food Programme (WFP) as well as specialized expertise in emergency operations, supply chain and security.

From 2009 until June 2022, he served as the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of WFP, overseeing its humanitarian operations around the world.

Prior to that, and starting from 1991, he served in various capacities in WFP both in the field and headquarters.

In his earlier career, Abdulla worked at shipping and engineering companies and also taught at the American School and Comboni College in Khartoum. 
BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin Friday said that the United States should fully bear the consequences of undermining bilateral relations and damaging China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation.

A White House official said that China's move to suspend cooperation with the U.S. to combat narcotics trafficking, including illicit fentanyl, is "unacceptable," adding that the ongoing overdose epidemic driven by fentanyl has claimed more than 100,000 lives in the U.S. in the past year.

"In disregard of China's stern warning and repeated representations, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted on her provocative visit to China's Taiwan region, which seriously undermined the political foundation of China-U.S. relations," Wang told a daily news briefing.

The eight countermeasures from China, including suspending China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation, are a response to the provocation. These measures are reasonable and appropriate, Wang added.

"As for the fentanyl abuse in the United States, I'd like to say that first, the root of the crisis lies in the U.S.," Wang said.

The international community, including China, has become increasingly strict in control over fentanyl-like substances. However, the abuse of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids continues to worsen in the U.S., and the number of overdose deaths is rising. The reasons for this are worth pondering by the United States, Wang said.

"According to the International Narcotics Control Board, the United States is the world's largest producer and consumer of fentanyl-like substances. Americans, who account for 5 percent of the world's population, consume 80 percent of the world's opioids," he added.

Wang said that the U.S. government lost control over prescription drugs, did not have enough publicity on the harm of drugs, and took ineffective measures to reduce drug demand, ending up with poor drug control. He said the U.S. side must face up to its own problems instead of shying away from them.

"Second, China has made great efforts to help the United States solve the fentanyl problem," Wang said.

Wang noted fentanyl is not a major problem in China and has never been abused on a large scale. He said that with a humanitarian and responsible attitude, China has been helping the U.S. resolve the fentanyl abuse crisis and working with other countries to tackle the new challenges of the drug problem.

"China is the first country in the world to implement a whole-class control of fentanyl-like substances, which is far beyond the scope of the UN convention. However, as the country with the most prominent problem of fentanyl globally, the United States has not officially established the whole-class control of fentanyl-like substances," Wang added.

He said that China showed enough goodwill and sincerity to cooperate with the United States on an extraordinary level, which is unprecedented in China's conventional drug control practice.

It plays a significant role in preventing illegal trafficking and abuse of fentanyl-like substances. It also sets an example for international counternarcotics cooperation, recognized by the international community, he said.

"Third, the responsibility of undermining China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation rests entirely with the U.S. side," Wang added.

Wang said the U.S. side used Xinjiang-related issues as an excuse to add a few Chinese scientific research institutions, which are responsible for the detection and control of fentanyl-like substances, onto its "entity list" since 2020. Also, the U.S. side has repeatedly made negative and untrue public statements, stirred up old cases, imposed sanctions on Chinese companies under the pretext of fentanyl, and offered high rewards for arresting Chinese citizens.

The U.S. keeps misleading the public, blaming others, and deflecting responsibility for poor drug abuse governance. China has made representations to the U.S. side many times, but the U.S. side has not given feedback so far, Wang added.

"The consequences of undermining bilateral relations and damaging China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation should be fully borne by the U.S. side," Wang said.

Wang said China's stance on strict drug control is firm. Against increasingly rampant global drug abuse, China has achieved remarkable results in drug control. As a responsible country, China will, as always, take an active part in international and multilateral counternarcotics cooperation and contribute its wisdom and strength to global drug governance.

"We also sincerely hope that the U.S. side will effectively resolve the fentanyl abuse crisis and the American people will be free from the scourge of drugs soon," he said. 
TUNIS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian military forces clashed with terrorist elements in Jabal Salloum in Tunisia's western province of Kasserine, said the Defense Ministry on Friday.

"The terrorist elements got injured while two soldiers were injured," Mohamed Zekri, spokesman for the Tunisian Ministry of Defense, told private radio station Mosaique FM.

The injured soldiers were transferred to the military hospital and their condition was stable, he added.

There have been sporadic clashes between the Tunisian security forces and terrorist elements in the western mountains not far from the border with Algeria. 
ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has condemned the recent acts of violent protests in Sierra Leone.

The AU Commission chairperson expresses "deep concern over the violent protests in Sierra Leone on Aug. 10, 2022, which resulted in loss of life and the destruction of property," an AU statement issued late Thursday read.

Faki condemned the acts of violence as he urged all stakeholders to refrain from further violence and engage in constructive dialogue within the parameters of the democratic process to maintain the stability that Sierra Leone has enjoyed since the end of the civil war in 2002.

He reaffirmed the pan-African bloc's commitment to accompanying the government and people of Sierra Leone in the restoration of normalcy.

On Wednesday, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, and some other parts of the country, calling on the government to grapple with the issue of the economic hardship and high cost of living. The protest disrupted businesses with shops remaining closed across the national capital for fear of being attacked by protesters.

Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh on Wednesday declared in a TV broadcast a nationwide curfew following the massive protest in the West African country, saying it is a measure to calm down the situation and return the country to normalcy. The government has invoked the military to work alongside the police to react to the protest in the country.

A statement issued by the Sierra Leone police said Thursday that four police officers were killed in Wednesday's nationwide protest, while 113 protesters were arrested by the police. 
Wigs are displayed at a shop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 13, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- For 28-year-old Johnson Allen, a hairstylist based in Tanzania's business capital Dar es Salaam, the sky is the limit when it comes to selling human hair wigs.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, he said the hair wigs from China are selling like hotcakes in his three shops in the business capital's suburbs of Sinza, Kinondoni, and Kariakoo.

Allen, who owns a chain of hairstyle shops called Jonijo, is nicknamed Jonijo wigs, a recognition he earned after he ventured into the business in 2015.

"I started this business when I was still in secondary school. I started it as a passion when I realized that the future for this kind of business was bright. I threw my full weight into it and in 2018 the business started to pick up," said the hairstylist.

However, he said in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out across the world, his business slowed down because he could not travel to China anymore to select the wigs he wanted. But he is optimistic again as he recounts that right now things are slowly getting back to normal.

Allen said he gets most of his customers on social media, especially Instagram due to his unique posts and the impressive quality of his human hair wigs.

"I import the wigs from China and I distribute and export them to various regions of Tanzania and outside the country, respectively," said the soft-spoken hairstylist.

He said for women, wigs are a favorable fashion that they imitate from some celebrities who prefer different styles of wigs or hairstyles.

"My clients come to my shop and ask for styles that they have seen worn by certain celebrities," he said, adding that this makes him press orders in China according to the demands of his clients.

Allen said prices of wigs vary depending on the type of wig, length or quality because some people prefer the Malaysian style of wigs while others prefer Mongolian styles.

"There are several styles, so sometimes we educate our customers because different styles cost differently. A wig costs up to 2 million Tanzania shillings (about 857 U.S. dollars). So we order according to our clients' demands," he said.

He said apart from selling the wigs, he is looking forward to opening a beauty salon where those buying the wigs can be fixed with the wigs with an added make-up. "I intend to make it a one-stop beauty center," he said. 

Wigs are displayed at a shop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 13, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)

A hairstylist arranges a wig for display at a shop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 13, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua)
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia cracked down on human trafficking and sexual exploitation, dealing with 359 cases in 2021, a significant rise from only 155 cases in 2020, a senior official said on Friday.

Interior Ministry's Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng said that as the government was busy fighting against COVID-19, some criminals had tried to smuggle people across the border last year.

"The year of 2021 was the year that we had recorded the highest number of crackdowns on human trafficking cases," the official said during a press conference organized by the Royal Government Spokesperson Unit.

"This clearly reflects our relentless efforts to protect and save people from all forms of human trafficking," she added.

Chou Bun Eng, who is also the permanent vice-chair of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking, said that in 2021, there were 538 human trafficking suspects sent to court, as 1,577 victims were rescued.

She reiterated that the government is committed to eliminating all forms of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. 
A devotee receives tika on the forehead during the Janai Purnima festival on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 12, 2022. During this festival, Hindus take holy bath and perform annual change of the Janai, a sacred cotton string worn around their chest or tied on the wrist, in the belief that it will protect and purify them. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)

A priest arranges the Janai during the Janai Purnima festival on the premises of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 12, 2022. During this festival, Hindus take holy bath and perform annual change of the Janai, a sacred cotton string worn around their chest or tied on the wrist, in the belief that it will protect and purify them. (Photo by Sulav Shrestha/Xinhua)
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 161,562 tons of dry rubber in the first seven months of 2022, a slight drop of 0.3 percent year-on-year, said a General Directorate of Rubber report on Friday.

The kingdom earned 254.8 million U.S. dollars in revenue from exports of the commodity during the January-July period this year, down 6 percent from 271 million dollars over the same period last year, the report said.

"A ton of dry rubber averagely cost 1,577 dollars during the first seven months of 2022, about 95 dollars lower than that of the same period last year," Him Oun, director general of the General Directorate of Rubber, said in the report.

The Southeast Asian nation exports the commodity mainly to Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and China.

Cambodia has so far planted rubber trees on a total area of 404,044 hectares, in which the trees on 310,193 hectares, or 77 percent, are old enough to be tapped, the report said. 
Vietnams export to American market sees sharp rebound

Post-pandemic robust rebound in the American market has ushered in multiple opportunities for Vietnam to expand its export of key products, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.













Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Vietnams export to the American market jumped by nearly 22% to nearly 77 billion USD in the first seven months of 2022. Of which, shipment to the US was a bright spot, reaching 66.7 billion USD, up 23.7% year-on-year.



In 2021, Vietnam made a hallmark in exporting its goods to the American market in the context of the global COVID-9 crisis, earning 114 billion in total export value, representing a year-on-year increase of 27%. It enjoyed a trade surplus of 89 billion USD with the market in the year.



Exports to the US surpassed 96 billion USD last year, 21 billion USD higher than that reported in 2020, placing the US in the leading position among Vietnams importers with export turnover far exceeding that to other markets like China, the EU, ASEAN, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.



Many new markets that signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with Vietnam in America such as Canada and Mexico have also increased imports from the Southeast Asian nation.



In January  July, Vietnams export turnover to Canada and Mexico hit 3.23 billion USD and 2.4 billion USD, up 31.5% and 14.2 percent, respectively.



Vo Hong Anh, Deputy Director of the MoITs European - American Market Department, said apart from the US market, Vietnams exports to other American markets recorded robust growth thanks to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).



Aquatic products, wooden products, textiles, footwear and farm produce and electronics were among those recording impressive export growth in the American market.



Anh cited shrimp export as an example for effectively tapping CPTPP, saying Vietnam earned over 100 million USD from shipping shrimp to Canada in the first half of 2022, soaring nearly 90% as compared to the same period last year.



According to the MoIT, handsets, computers, and electronic items hold the largest proportion in Vietnams export structure to the American market, reaching 43.3%; followed by textile, apparel, and footwear products with 25%; wood and wooden items with 8%; and agricultural and agro-aquatic products with 4%.



However, the foreign-invested sector remains a main contributor to Vietnams total export value to this market./.
SUVA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Vanuatu launched on Friday its revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to better fight climate change, which is believed to be the single greatest existential threat facing the South Pacific island countries.

According to Vanuatu's Daily Post newspaper, the revised NDC, a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts, was launched by Vanuatu's Ministry of Climate Change at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Economic Ministers Meeting in the capital city of Port Vila where the topics of inadequate and inaccessible climate finances dominated discussions.

The revised NDC acknowledged that finance to address loss and damage by climate change is insufficient, and called for the establishment and rapid mobilization of a Loss and Damage Finance Facility under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to fill critical financial gaps experienced already by most vulnerable communities, and to address loss and damage through the constructive multilateral process and thereby avoid costly legal pathways.

A statement by the ministry highlighted the island nation's call for the establishment and rapid mobilization of a Loss and Damage Finance Facility under the UNFCCC.

"While developed countries had promised to mobilize at least 100 billion U.S. dollars per year by 2020 to fund climate change in developing countries, the latest analysis shows that this finance has not yet been met," the ministry said.

"The real costs of achieving Vanuatu's Revised and Enhanced NDC, expected to be financed by donor countries, is 1.2 billion U.S. dollars by 2030, with mitigation activities costing 315 million U.S. dollars, adaptation initiatives costing 721 million U.S. dollars and the commencement of loss and damage initiatives starting at 177 million U.S. dollars," it said.

Vanuatu, an island nation with a population of about 320,000, is one of the victims of climate change. 
By Nurul Fitri Ramadhani

JAKARTA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has maintained its target to draw 1.8 million to 3.6 million foreign tourists to the country in 2022, despite a surge in the COVID-19 daily cases, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno has said.

He remained optimistic because the country was moving to "improve the quality and sustainability of its tourism destinations, such as developing tourism villages."

"We can survive the pandemic whilst boosting our tourism sector thanks to our adherence to the health protocol and massive vaccinations," Uno said in a recent virtual seminar.

Indonesia's tourism sector, indeed, has enjoyed a boom in tourism as foreign travelers have started to flock back into the country since most of the social restrictions were waived earlier this year.

In June, the Southeast Asia's largest economy saw a 1,973 percent increase of foreign tourist arrivals in June compared to the same month last year, according to data from the country's Central Agency of Statistics (BPS). Bali resort island remains the most popular destination for the tourists.

Tourists from Australia dominated the total number, accounting for 64,500 visits or 18.7 percent from foreign arrivals, followed by Singapore with 53,000 visits, Malaysia with 31,700 visits, India with 25,700 visits and the United States with 17,200 visits.

During the first semester of this year, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta served no less than 18.15 million passengers, or 100 percent higher than the same period of last year, when there were only 9.1 million passengers, mostly from and to Bali, according to the state-owned airport management company PT Angkasa Pura II.

BPS head Margo Yuwono said recently that the significant increase in foreign tourists showed Indonesia's speedy recovery after the pandemic. "The high increase in our tourism sector is in line with the improvement of health care facilities across the country," he said.

However, data from the Health Ministry has shown that Indonesia has seen rising cases of COVID-19 infections. Throughout June, in capital Jakarta only, the average daily increase reached 1,000 of reported cases per day.

As of Friday, there were 6,091 new cases nationwide, raising the total tally to 6,273,228 cases.

Despite the fact, Uno said that the government would significantly add more planes and flight schedules to attract more tourists.

"We'll add more seats for the passengers and make the ticket prices more affordable. We'll approach airlines companies to immediately prepare more planes, particularly to serve the routes to popular tourism destinations," Uno said.

He even asked tourism business owners to offer discounts, cashback and special tourism packages ahead of Indonesia's Independence Day, which falls on Aug. 17 every year.

However, Uno said that all people were expected to keep following the health protocols.

Separately, Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurants Association for Bali, I Gusti Agung Rai Suryawijaya, said that the Group of 20 (G20) Summit that would be held in Bali in November would significantly raise the number of foreign tourists. 
NEW DELHI, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday reiterated the country's commitment to protect elephants.

"On World Elephant Day, (we are) reiterating our commitment to protect the elephant," Modi said in a statement posted on social media. "The number of elephant reserves has risen in the last eight years (in India)."

The Indian prime minister also lauded the efforts of elephant conservationists on the occasion of the World Elephant Day.

According to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), a leading conservation organization, elephant populations in Africa and Asia have experienced significant declines over the last century. The greatest threat to African elephants is poaching for the illegal ivory trade, while Asian elephant populations are mostly at risk from habitat loss and human-elephant conflicts. 
YANGON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities have seized 200,000 stimulant tablets in Mon State, according to a release from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, anti-narcotic police made an operation in the state on Thursday.

The drugs, estimated at a price of over 190,000 U.S. dollars, were recovered from a vehicle and a suspect was nabbed in the operation.

On Wednesday, 204,000 stimulant tablets worth more than 140,000 U.S. dollars were seized from a vehicle in Mogok of central Myanmar's Mandalay region. 
YANGON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will hold its seventh tourism exhibition in its commercial city of Yangon in September, in an effort to revitalize its pandemic-hit tourism industry.

The travel fair is aimed at stimulating the tourism industry as visas are being reissued in other countries, Naung Naung Han, chair of Myanmar Tourism Entrepreneurs Association (MTEA), told Xinhua on Friday.

"After 2019 tourism exhibition, any event hasn't been organized because of COVID-19. Now in 2022, vaccination rate in the country is getting higher," said the MTEA chair, giving the reason of reorganizing the exhibition.

People can get travel information during the exhibition scheduled to be held on Sept. 17-18 in Yangon, he said.

Airlines and travel tour companies will offer travel packages of domestic tours and outbound tours with special prices at the event, he added.

Myanmar resumed the operations of international commercial flights in April, and then the number of tourists visiting the country has gradually increased.

Between April and June, 42,315 foreign tourists visited the country, up 22.9 percent year-on-year, official figures showed.

As of Friday, Myanmar recorded 614,335 COVID-19 infections, including 19,435 deaths and 593,081 recoveries, the health ministry's data showed. 
KIEV, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The fifth caravan of ships carrying grain sailed from Ukraine's Black Sea ports on Friday under a deal to prevent a global food crisis, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said on Facebook.

The general cargo ship SORMOVSKIY 12 and the bulk carrier STAR LAURA together carrying 63,000 tons of food departed from the ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdenny respectively, the ministry said.

Later in the day, two more ships, BRAVE COMMANDER and PETREL S, will arrive at Chornomorsk and Pivdenny ports for loading, the ministry said, adding that the ships will carry more than 40,000 tons of grain from Ukraine.

On July 22, Ukraine and Russia separately signed a deal with Turkiye and the United Nations in Istanbul to resume food and fertilizer shipments from Ukrainian ports to international markets via the Black Sea.

On Aug. 1, the first cargo vessel carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for the port of Tripoli in Lebanon. 
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- An armed man who tried to breach the Cincinnati office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday morning was shot dead by law enforcement.

The male attempted to breach the visitor screening facility at the FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, at approximately 9:15 a.m. Eastern Time (1315 GMT), according to a statement from the federal law enforcement agency.

The subject fled and was encountered by law enforcement officers near Wilmington, Ohio, where they exchanged gunfire in which he "was shot and is deceased" in the afternoon.

The FBI said it is "reviewing this agent-involved shooting."

The Ohio State Highway Patrol tweeted troopers and their law enforcement partners "attempted to negotiate with the suspect to bring the standoff to a peaceful end" throughout the afternoon.

"Once negotiations failed, officers attempted to take the suspect into custody by utilizing less lethal tactics," the police wrote. "The suspect raised a firearm and shots were fired by law enforcement officers. The suspect succumbed to fatal injuries on scene."

Federal investigators are reportedly examining whether the male may have had ties to far-right extremist groups.

It remains unclear what his motive was in trying to break into the FBI Cincinnati field office.

The incident came days after FBI agents raided former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

The operation was said to have been related to classified materials that Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, when he left office in January 2021.

Trump and his allies denounced the raid on Monday as a political attack orchestrated by Democrats while calling out the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice.

FBI Director Christopher Wray issued a statement on Thursday, saying that the "attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law."

"Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans," Wray added. 
Afghanistan: Lord Richard Harrington, the Minister for Refugees, wrote in late June to inform local governments that the government was looking for an additional 2,000 homes, 500 of which would have four bedrooms, to accommodate 10,500 asylum seekers. Can go

Afghan asylum seekers oppose relocating to Scotland or Wales, claiming it is too cold and no one speaks English there.

According to sources who spoke to the Daily Telegraph, the typical London-centric mentality of the British middle class was present in those who fled the Taliban's rapid resurgence during the chaotic and bloody western evacuation of Kabul last August.

About 7,000 Afghan asylum seekers, including those serving in US-NATO occupation forces and their families, have agreed to live there permanently.

However, another 9,500 people currently live in hotels in the UK, costing the taxpayer around 1 million a day.

Daily expenses for housing an additional 26,000 asylum seekers, including those trafficked illegally across the English Channel, total an additional 3 million.

Lord Richard Harrington, the Minister for Refugees, wrote in late June to inform local governments that the government was looking for an additional 2,000 homes, 500 of which would have four bedrooms, to accommodate 10,500 asylum seekers. . He claimed that private landlords, real estate investors and even online marketplace Rightmove had been approached.

According to a statement from the Home Office, "Finding adequate housing is a challenge not only for Afghans and those in need of security, but also for British nationals on waiting lists for homes.

"Hotels provide safe, secure and clean accommodation, but they do not provide long-term solutions," it added.

On BBC 2's Newsnight, he said the situation prevented asylum seekers from establishing a new life in the UK.

Since September last year, he claimed, they have been staying in the same hotel room, and his wife was finding it difficult to accommodate. "She's not guilty, because I'm aware of the circumstances. With two kids, she spends a year in that room. Things aren't good because these are kids and she's depressed."

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USA: The White House issued a fact sheet on May 23, just hours before the leaders of the United States, Australia, India, and Japan gathered in Tokyo for a summit to discuss their shared concerns about the Indo-Pacific region, but in hindsight, it was most notable for its omission.

A number of initiatives were listed in the document, including the creation of the Quad Investors Network, which was described as "an independent consortium of investors" and intended to increase access to capital for critical and emerging technologies for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, to which the four democracies are parties.

"The Quad" is widely believed to be motivated by Beijing's expanding influence in the region on many fronts, including technological competitiveness, even though it is not specifically billed as an alliance against China.

The name of the organisation tasked with directing the network, however, was not mentioned in the White House's announcement: The well-known investment firm America's Frontier Fund came to public attention weeks earlier when President Joe Biden appointed Gilman Louie, a co-founder, to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. AFF was described as a "public-private partnership established to ensure that America leads the next wave of technological innovation" in a press release from the time. Biden has signed legislation that will provide US$52 billion in subsidies for parts that the military and a number of industries rely on, as US lawmakers and government officials across the political spectrum push for action to keep up with China technologically. However, AFF has recently caught the attention of some tech industry watchdogs because it is in a prime position to help determine government priorities under the Chips and Science Act. They worry that excessive private influence will lead to a "clear conflict of interest" within the government.

AFF bills itself as the nation's first non-profit private capital fund and says that it works to "protect democracy throughout the world" and maintain America's "technology leadership." It claims to be a "force multiplier" for government spending on cutting-edge technologies like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, 5G, and quantum computing. The Chips Act is the current area of focus for the fund. According to Jordan Blashek, president and co-founder of AFF, "We want to help give granular insight into where we think the biggest opportunities are for disruptive US semiconductor leadership." AFF claims that it does not currently receive or spend money from the government and instead intends to obtain its own investment capital from the private markets. The fund is exempt from disclosure requirements because it is non-profit. According to Xiaobo Lu, a political economist and professor at Barnard College at Columbia University, it appears that the US is attempting to "take a small, but important page out of China's playbook" regarding public-private partnerships, a tactic where "industrial policy is not regarded as a negative word."

He noted that the US Congress had approved subsidies to protect and advance the semiconductor industry and queried how the funds would be used. How to avoid wasting tax dollars Lu noted that officials connected to a state-owned investment fund tasked with boosting China's semiconductor industry were being looked into by anti-corruption authorities in China. The mission of AFF aligns with some of the objectives of the Biden administration's China policy, including fostering private-public partnerships to invest in crucial technologies and maintaining US leadership while reducing reliance on Chinese supply chains. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence discussions, according to Blashek, a former executive at Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic organisation founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy Schmidt, were the inspiration for the tech fund (NSCAI).

The 2018 establishment of the NSCAI gave it the authority to advise the president and Congress on how to "advance the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and associated technologies." In March 2021, the commission headed by Schmidt turned in its final report and issued a dire warning that China posed a threat to American technological dominance. According to Blashek, Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, and Schmidt are both donors to the AFF. Schmidt is not a member of the AFF's board of directors or listed among its executives. However, the AFF has a roster of defence industry insiders and Schmidt's close connections in Silicon Valley and Washington.

Gilman Louie, a co-founder of the AFF, served as the first CEO of In-Q-Tel, a privately funded, non-profit venture capital firm. Louie was one of the NSCAI's 15 commissioners while it was run by Schmidt. The Department of Defense adopted a number of the commission's recommendations in 2021. Other prominent figures associated with AFF include HR McMaster, who advised President Donald Trump on national security matters, Ash Carter, a former defence secretary, and Michele Flournoy, who served as undersecretary of defence under President Barack Obama. The three of them are directors of AFF.

Prior to leading the NSCAI, Schmidt worked for the Pentagon. From August 2016 to September 2020, he served as the chairman of the Defence Innovation Board, a nonpartisan group that offers the Defense Department technology innovation advice. After the AI commission, a number of people got together and brainstormed ways to combine the US's current strengths with its new capabilities in order to close the innovation base gap.AFF now hopes to advise the US government on where to invest in chip technology in order to achieve this. The task of selecting which businesses are eligible for subsidies will fall under the purview of the Commerce Department and its secretary, Gina Raimondo.

This isn't a free pass for these businesses, Raimondo reportedly said. There are numerous restrictions and safeguards for taxpayers.Blashek sees AFF as linking private sector innovation to governmental priorities because semiconductors are a crucial part of everyday electronics, medical technology, and military hardware.Where should we spend our time, talent, and money to make the breakthroughs necessary for the next wave of innovation in microelectronics? Blashek enquired. "The Chips Act does allocate substantial funding in numerous ways, and some of that money may be used for start-up investment."

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EU: After Lithuania left China's 16+1 trade grouping of Central and Eastern European countries last year, Estonia and Latvia announced on Thursday that they too had left.

The foreign ministries of the two countries made nearly identical statements on their websites, "committing to continue striving for constructive and pragmatic relations with China, both bilaterally and through EU-China cooperation for mutual benefit, in accordance with international law." respect, based on human rights, and international rules-based order."

However, a statement on the website of the Latvian ministry said that "Latvia has decided to stop its participation in the cooperation framework of Central and Eastern European countries and China."

While Estonia has been a member of the group since its inception in 2012, the Estonian ministry noted that it had not participated in any meetings since the summit in February last year.

A request for comment from the Chinese mission in the European Union was not immediately met.

Beijing created the forum ten years ago as a 16+1 grouping, which became a 17+1 grouping in 2019 after Greece joined. Its purpose was to promote trade and investment.

However, it recently lost steam. Lithuania's Baltic neighbors, who left the group last year citing heavy economic consequences, were expected to follow.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a "no borders" friendship in February, China's suspicions have grown across the region.

According to Sarah Kreps, a professor of government and law at Cornell University, Putin later waged a war against Ukraine and recent military tensions in the Taiwan Strait after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's island visit led more countries, including Latvia and Estonia, to the United States. , "to establish themselves in special camps like in the Cold War."

Both the nations, according to him, "are trying to signal very clearly that they are in the pro-democracy camp and they do not want to ally with nations that are seen as acting against democracy. "

They want to consider how they can demonstrate their loyalty so that in the future, if they are exposed, [the US and its Western allies] will take this into account and make sure they are rewarded with a strong defense. Go," Kreps continued.

Beijing sent its regional envoy Huo Yuzhen to visit the capitals during the spring in an effort to repair relations that had deteriorated as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's alleged support of Moscow's territorial claims.

Beijing last month hosted a meeting with 11 countries in the region, reflecting declining interest in engagement with China across Central and Eastern Europe.

According to a diplomatic source familiar with the occasion, Hungary offered to host a "commemorative ministerial" in Budapest this year to mark the tenth anniversary.

Another cause of concern in the region has been China's alleged pressure on Lithuania to host the controversially named Taiwanese office.

Vilnius last year allowed Taiwan to establish a "Taiwan Representative Office" for diplomatic and commercial purposes. Instead of referring to the self-governing island as a sovereign nation and risk upsetting Beijing, other countries have used the term "Taipei".

China reportedly responded by imposing trade sanctions on Lithuania. As a result, the European Union has filed a World Trade Organization (WTO) case against China.

Vilnius will open its first business office in Taipei next month. Despite rumors that it could become another flashpoint in relations between the EU and China, Lithuanian officials have remained silent on what it will be called.

The most prominent member of the European Union who defended Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last week was Lithuania's Gabrielius Landsbergis, who claimed it had "opened a very wide door for Taiwan, and I am sure other defenders of freedom and democracy." Will be running through very soon."

Lithuania's ambassador to China Diana Mikaevisyn, who was expelled from that country last year over the Taiwan issue, reaffirmed her support for Pelosi's visit.

We all agree that the President of the US Congress has visited Taiwan before, but he said it is about principles. It has happened at the same level before. We value the principles of separation of powers and democratic countries. Let's see these as principlesindeed, important principles in existenceand in that sense, I can agree with China that what has happened is about principles.

According to Andrew Mertha, director of studies for China at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Latvia and Estonia's actions demonstrate a willingness to maintain diplomatic relations with Beijing, despite their geopolitical allegiances.

"China can continue to exploit differences between Eastern European countries and their more developed Western neighbors, as well as separately" relations between 16+1 countries, he said. Latvia and Estonia, on the other hand, are trying to strengthen their security by voting with their feet.

Mertha continued, "They are indicating that they also understand that there are subtle differences between Beijing and Moscow about their 'spheres of influence' that these Baltic countries can take advantage of, if not exploit outright. They claim to seek "constructive and practical relations" with Beijing.

We should not be shocked, he said, adding that Beijing should also not be overly concerned.

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Dragon TV: A latest survey on the business environment for foreign companies released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) shows that the vast majority of foreign companies in China remain optimistic about their development prospects. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: I noticed the relevant report. Id like to share some latest statistics with you. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, in the first six months this year, Chinas paid-in FDI grew by 21.8% year on year. According to statistics from the CCPIT, 91% of foreign-invested companies maintained or expanded their operations in China in the second quarter. Nearly 90% of foreign-funded enterprises are relatively satisfied with the policies concerning market access, tax and fee reduction, easing difficulties of companies, implementation of major foreign-funded projects, and green channel. According to UNCTAD, China saw a record $179 billion of inflows  a 20% increase last year. Recent survey reports by AmCham China, the German Chamber of Commerce in China and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China show that more than 60% American-invested companies and over 70% of German-invested companies plan to increase their investments in China. The performance of Japanese companies in China in 2021 was even better than pre-COVID-19 levels and reached a record high. Bloomberg News and other foreign media also reported recently that China has been considered a promising land for investment in recent years. All this shows that the vast majority of foreign businesses remain fully confident in the Chinese market.

Foreign companies believe that to invest in China is to invest in the future, for they are optimistic about the strong resilience and development prospects of Chinas economy, its huge market, and its industrial and supply chain networks. Also, this comes as a result of our effort to firmly advance high-level opening-up, support the multilateral trading system and continuously provide foreign investors with a more market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment. No matter how the international landscape may evolve, we will not change our resolve to open wider at a high standard; we will not change our determination to share development opportunities with the rest of the world; and we will not change our commitment to economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all.

We believe that with measures being put in place to ensure safety against COVID and promote socio-economic development, the Chinese economys great potential, strong resilience, robust vitality and enormous space will be further amplified. China will continue to open its door wide to the outside world, facilitate foreign investment and work together with other parties to build a future of shared prosperity.

Global Times: The US magazine Newsweek reported on August 10 that Arab Barometer, a nonpartisan research network based at Princeton University in the US, conducted polling from October 2021 to April 2022 in countries including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Sudan. The result shows that people in the Arab states have more positive opinions about China than the US. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: I have not read about the survey you mentioned, but Im not surprised to hear its result. China has always been a sincere friend that the Arab states can trust. In recent years, China-Arab relations have seen robust growth. We have firmly supported each other on our respective core interests and set an example in combating COVID-19 in solidarity. Our friendship is strong both between governments and between our peoples, and both at the central and local levels.

China always follows the principle of non-interference in other countries internal affairs and stays committed to the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit. China has always played a constructive role in the Arab world. We never seek geopolitical interests for ourselves, still less do we have any intention to fill up the so-called power vacuum. We support the Arab countries and other countries in the Middle East in addressing regional security issues through solidarity and coordination, and we support people in the region in independently exploring a path for development. We are ready to work with the brotherly Arab nations to support each others national development and revitalization, jointly safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East and steadily advance practical cooperation in various fields, so that as we deliver benefits to the Chinese and Arab people, we also inject more positive energy into defending true multilateralism and international justice and fairness.

China Daily: According to reports, protests occurred in places including Hargeisa, the capital of the Somaliland region in northern Somalia on August 11. The protesters were calling for elections for the regions leadership to be held as scheduled. Clashes with security forces led to the death of several protesters. Whats Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: Somaliland is an inalienable part of Somalia. What happens in Somaliland is Somalias internal affairs. China always follows the principle of non-interference in other countries internal affairs. We firmly support the Federal Government of Somalias efforts to safeguard national unity, security and stability. Continued stability and tranquility in Somaliland serves the interests of all the people of Somalia. At the same time, we ask the authorities of Somaliland to earnestly protect the safety and property of Chinese enterprises and nationals there.

CCTV: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a recent press conference with the Congressional delegation to Asia that Taiwan is one of the freest countries in the world and their visit is to salute this democracy. She also noted that the visit signals no departure from the US governments one-China policy and they are not trying to upset the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: Pelosis remarks are further proof that her visit to Chinas Taiwan region shows connivance and support for Taiwan independence separatist forces. She openly referred to Taiwan as a country. This is a serious political provocation that violates the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques. The DPP authorities have redoubled efforts within the island to remove the Chinese identity of Taiwan and push for incremental independence, and sought every means to create two Chinas and one China, one Taiwan in the international arena. Against such a background, Pelosi chose to visit Taiwan and claimed in a high-profile fashion that she was there on behalf of the US. The visit was clearly official in nature and aimed to provoke cross-Strait confrontation and interfere in Chinas internal affairs. This is an extremely egregious move. To defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity, to uphold the basic norm in international relations of non-interference in other countries internal affairs, and to truly safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, China has every right to take resolute countermeasures in response to the USs provocations. Such measures are absolutely necessary under those circumstances.

Pelosi will achieve nothing by using democracy as a pretext for her visit. Her visit has nothing to do with democracy. It was a political stunt that went against the will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan, and challenged the one-China principle widely accepted by the international community. Her visit tramples on democracy and shows how the US puts its selfish interests above international justice. If Pelosi truly cares about democracy and human rights, she should visit Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya instead, where she could express repentance over the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians killed by the US military and vow to prevent such atrocities caused by US violation of UN Charter and norms in international relations from happening again.

China will stand together with friends in all countries who love peace and uphold principles to firmly oppose anything said or done that interferes in other countries domestic affairs, firmly resist all reckless moves that undermine regional peace, jointly defend the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and safeguard regional stability and world peace.

AFP: Tomorrow marks two years since Australian journalist Cheng Lei was detained. We know that her trial took place earlier this year. Do you have any details on whether the verdict has been reached or what the details of this verdict might be? Could you tell us if Cheng Lei has been sentenced already?

Wang Wenbin: On March 31, 2022, the Beijing No.2 Intermediate Peoples Court held a closed-door trial of first instance of Australian citizen Cheng Leis case of illegally providing state secrets to overseas parties. Cheng Lei and her defense lawyer were present. Currently, the case is under trial and the court will pass the judgment in due course. The Chinese judicial authorities have handled the case in accordance with law, fully protected Cheng Leis litigation rights under the law, and respected and facilitated the Australian sides exercise of its consular rights including visiting the defendant and staying informed.

Hubei media group: According to reports, more than 70 economists and experts from other fields recently wrote to US President Biden and Treasury Secretary Yellen, criticizing the US governments executive order that divided the $7 billion of frozen assets of the Afghan central bank into two and calling on the government to immediately return the assets in full. This open letter was published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and co-signed by Nobel Laureate for Economics Joseph Stiglitz as well as other global scholars. What is Chinas comment on that?

Wang Wenbin: I have noted that this open letter pointed out that the US governments decision to seize Afghanistans $7 billion foreign exchange reserves contributed mightily to Afghanistans economic collapse. The US governments decision to divide these funds in two is arbitrary and unjustified and undermines the recovery of the Afghan economy.

I also noted that it has been almost one year since the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. Critics around the world have argued that the US still hasnt stopped doing harm to the Afghan people. If anything, it has been aggravated. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that millions of Afghans are on the verge of death. An official of the World Food Program pointed out at 98% of Afghans are facing food insecurity and nearly half of the Afghan children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition.

Nearly 20 years of forced transformation imposed by the US on Afghanistan have not only failed to lift the Afghan people out of poverty and turbulence, but also worsened the crisis of human survival and national development. This is yet another textbook example of how US democracy destabilizes the world. Although US troops have left Afghanistan, the crimes done to the country still persist. Unless the US stops harming the Afghan people, their ordeal will not end.

We urge the US to own up to its wrongdoing and take real action to heal Afghan peoples trauma, and show accountability to the world.

Reuters: South Korean officials have recently repeatedly said that the THAAD missile defense system is purely for national self-defense, mainly against potential North Korean attacks, while the foreign ministry here has emphasized that it has three nos demands regarding the system. I was wondering if the foreign ministry could perhaps explain whether there is sort of a balance to strike between South Koreas need to protect territory and Chinas concerns that the missile defense system could be used by the US to perhaps repel or contain China?

Wang Wenbin: Does anyone else have a question about the issue of THAAD?

Beijing Youth Daily: ROK Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said on August 11, In the case of the radar location of the THAAD battery, if it faces China, there is a mountain right in front of it, so it is shielded so that it cannot be physically operated (to detect China). He added that the THAAD system can only defend the Korean Peninsula, and it is not structured to play any role in the US defense system and doesnt target China. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: China has always respected the sovereignty of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and understands its security concerns. However, since the USs deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in the ROK undermines Chinas strategic security, the Chinese side cannot just look the other way. The Chinese and ROK foreign ministers held in-depth exchange of views on this issue during their recent meeting in Qingdao, where they elaborated on the two sides respective positions and agreed to take each others security concerns seriously and strive to properly handle the issue to make sure it does not become a stumbling block to bilateral relations. We hope the ROK side will continue to properly handle this issue in accordance with the two sides previous understanding and the common understandings reached between the two foreign ministers during their meeting in Qingdao.

Phoenix TV: Rahul Gupta, Director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House, tweeted on Chinas countermeasures in response to Pelosis visit to Taiwan that its unacceptable that China is suspending counternarcotics cooperation with the US in light of an overdose epidemic ... that has claimed more than 100,000 lives in America last year. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: In disregard of Chinas stern warnings and repeated representations, Nancy Pelosi visited Chinas Taiwan region. This has dealt a heavy blow to the political foundation of China-US relations. The Chinese side announced eight countermeasures including suspending China-US counternarcotics cooperation. This is a firm and strong response to the US and Taiwan independence separatists provocation. It is completely justified, appropriate and proportionate. On the fentanyl abuse issue in the US, I would like to stress the following:

First, the root cause of the fentanyl abuse crisis in the US lies in the US itself. The international community, China included, has been strengthening control of fentanyl-related substances, while in the US, abuse of synthetic opioids including fentanyl has been deteriorating. There have been more deaths from overdose. The US should seriously reflect on the underlying reason. According to data from the International Narcotics Control Board, the US is the worlds largest producer and consumer of fentanyl-related substances. With five percent of the worlds population, the US consumes 80 percent of opioids in the world. The US government has lost effective control over the management of prescription drugs. There arent enough public awareness campaigns about the harm of narcotics, and measures to reduce demand and ban narcotics have not worked well. The US must look squarely at its own problem instead of deflecting blame.

Second, China has made tremendous efforts to help the US solve its fentanyl issue. There is no immediate hazard or large-scale fentanyl abuse in China. China has always acted in a humanitarian and responsible way in helping the US solve the fentanyl abuse crisis and working with other countries to address new challenges in counternarcotics. The UN Conventions on drug control scheduled 27 categories of fentanyl substances. China was the first in the world to have scheduled fentanyl as a class, covering more categories than what are scheduled by the UN Conventions. In contrast, while the US has the most acute fentanyl challenge in the world, it has yet to officially schedule fentanyl-related substances as a class. China has shown utmost goodwill and sincerity and gone out of our way to work together with the US in this area, which is unprecedented in our drug control practice. This has not only played an important role in preventing the illicit manufacturing, trafficking and abuse of fentanyl-related substances, but also set a fine example for international counternarcotics cooperation and has been fully recognized by the international community.

Third, the responsibility for undermining China-US counternarcotics cooperation is entirely on the US. It has been over two years since the US put the Institution of Forensic Science of the Ministry of Public Security and the National Narcotics Laboratory of China, which are responsible for testing and controlling fentanyl-related substances, on the USs entity list in the name of so-called human rights issues in Xinjiang. They still have not been removed from the list. The US has been publicly making irresponsible remarks and repeatedly rehashing old cases. The US has sanctioned Chinese companies in the name of controlling fentanyl-related substances and offered high reward for the arrest of certain Chinese citizens. The US has done this to mislead the public, deflect the blame, and shift away the responsibility for the botched response to narcotics abuse in the US. China has made demarches with the US side over this multiple times, but has received no response. All the consequences arising therefrom, including the damage caused to bilateral relations and China-US counternarcotics cooperation must be borne by the US side.

China takes a firm stance on counternarcotics. China has achieved notable results in counternarcotics governance despite the global spread of narcotics. As a responsible major country, China will as always actively participate in international and multilateral counternarcotics cooperation and contribute Chinas expertise and effort to global counternarcotics efforts. We also sincerely hope that the US can find an effective solution to the fentanyl abuse in the country at an early date so that the American people can rid themselves of the scourge of narcotics sooner rather than later.
EU: The European Union tried to stay out of contention between the US and China over Nancy Pelosi's island visit last week, with European lawmakers vowing to move forward with planned visits to Taiwan.

According to Marie-Pierre Vedren, a French member of the European Parliament, the storm surrounding the US House speaker's visit will have no effect on the trade committee's plans to visit Taiwan in December.

"These reactions will not change our plans, I hope to travel as planned," she said.

Separately, a delegation of German legislators has announced that they will travel in October.

Lithuania's Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, Agne Viukevit, led a delegation that visited this week to discuss building sister-city ties between Kaohsiung, a city in southern Taiwan, and Klaipda, a port in Lithuania. , which was once considered a potential centre. Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin condemned the visit on Thursday, saying it was a "deliberate violation of China's sovereignty and gross interference in China's internal affairs."

We urge the relevant authorities, he continued, "not to continue down this wrong path and, more importantly, not to play the pawn of Taiwan's independence and anti-China forces."

Lithuania intends to set up a trade office in Taipei next month, but is adamant that it does not signal a departure from the EU's one-China policy, which recognizes Beijing as China's only legitimate government .

Despite warnings from Chinese embassies in Europe that travel to Taiwan is not allowed, there has been a flurry of activity.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi issued a warning to politicians in other countries on Thursday, saying doing so would "seriously undermine the political foundations of engaging with China."

The European Union and national governments have so far reacted slowly to Pelosi's visit and the unprecedented Chinese military activity that followed. The European Union and its members are being consumed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and decimated by an annual holiday exodus that threatens foreign policy.

Wedren, a supporter of French President Emmanuel Macron, said: "If we hadn't had our position in Ukraine, it would have been different, but we focus so much on that - it has direct consequences on our borders."

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that the launch of ballistic missiles in Beijing's waters is what Japan claims is a part of its exclusive economic zone and that Taiwan is "highly worrying developments that cause instability and increased risk". Huh."

Because the two sides cannot agree on borders, China, which has long made overlapping claims with Japan, claims that there is no EEZ in the water where the rocket landed.

When the debate began, Borrell and some of his top Asia advisers were in Cambodia. People familiar with the situation say it is unlikely he would have been physically involved if he hadn't already been in the field.

The G7 statement from two days ago, which was co-signed by the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Japan, as well as the representative of the European Union, echoed in his speech.

Brussels officials, however, privately admit that they do not see any benefit in intervening too much in such a delicate matter.

The US and China are widely believed to be involved in the current standoff. Brussels is keeping a close eye on the situation for any supply chain disruptions, but has not found any yet.

The EU's position is in contrast to the United Kingdom, whose Foreign Secretary Liz Truss claimed that on Wednesday, Chinese ambassador Zheng Zheguang was called to the Foreign Office "to explain her country's actions".

Beijing still intends to use force to capture Taiwan because it sees it as a separatist province of China. Although most nations, including members of the European Union, do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, Western governments oppose any attempt to forcibly annex the island.

Analysts claimed that recent events demonstrated the need for the EU to prepare for potential regional shocks.

Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at French bank Natixis, said European countries would have to find a way to balance concerns about Taiwan and Ukraine when dealing with China.

According to him, I think [the EU] puts both events together  and they look at how Russia backs China, and how China uses all kinds of emerging markets to support its one-China policy. and their interpretation - they will start to realize that they have two fronts."

According to Antoine Bondaz, director of the Taiwan program at French think tank Fondation Pure la Recherche Strategic, the EU should find practical ways to cooperate with Taipei while avoiding "politically Sensitive stuff."

He urged the EU to sign up for the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, a forum set up by the US and Taiwan in 2015 to host workshops for public servants and civil society experts.

China is trying to increase the cost of doing business with Taiwan by putting pressure on Western countries. Therefore, let's focus more on practical, substantive cooperation with Taiwan and less on obvious, politically sensitive issues.

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Karachi: The Pakistan Navy on Thursday said it rescued nine Indian crew members of a ship from sinking after it capsized in the Arabian Sea. The incident took place on August 9 near the coastal city of Gwadar in Balochistan province when the Indian vessel 'Jamna Sagar' sank, the Pakistan Navy's Director General of Public Relations said in a statement. There were 10 crew members.

According to a statement by the Director General of Public Relations of the Pakistan Navy, the Navy received the news about the ship, following which the Pakistan Maritime Information Centre requested the nearby merchant vessel MT Kruibke to provide necessary assistance to the crew of the Indian ship. The merchant vessel finally rescued nine crew members, the statement said. The Pakistan Navy ship later received the body of a missing crew member, which was handed over to the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency, they said.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka has approved the Chinese-built Pakistani warship PNS Taimur to stay in Colombo. Sri Lanka granted this permission to the Pakistani ship after the Bangladesh government refused to allow it to stop at Chittagong port. The ship is coming here on August 15 to join the Pakistan Navy. Due to the journey from Shanghai to Karachi, the warship was to anchor outside Chittagong port from August 7 to 10. The Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh refused to allow PNS Taimur to stay as the month of August is a month of mourning for PM Sheikh Hasina. Her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated on August 15, 1975.

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ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Finland and Sweden to take "concrete steps" to fulfil their obligations before joining NATO.

"They have not yet fulfilled their pledges made in the documents (to join NATO)," Cavusoglu said during the annual Ambassadors' Conference, convened in Ankara to review Turkish foreign policy. Following the commencement of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war on February 24, Finland and Sweden agreed to join NATO.

However, Turkey initially rejected their accession attempt, accusing both nations of aiding terrorist organisations when they refused Ankara's extradition demands for suspects linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Gulen movement.

On June 28, the three countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that addressed Turkey's concerns at the NATO summit in Madrid, in which Finland and Sweden pledged to support Ankara's fight against terrorism and agreed to expedite and thoroughly address its "pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects."

NATO members, including Turkey, signed accession documents for Sweden and Finland in early July, kicking off the process of admitting the two Nordic countries to the military alliance. The next stage is for all NATO nations' parliaments to ratify their membership in NATO.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in July that his country might suspend Finland and Sweden's NATO membership if they failed to keep counter-terrorism agreements.

"We want to know why the required steps aren't being implemented. We are not under any timing constraints. Of course, there is a time constraint in the fight against terrorism, but these are the countries that want to join NATO "Cavusoglu stated this on Thursday.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has been fighting the Turkish government for more than three decades. The Gulen movement is headed and named after the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is considered as a spiritual leader by his followers.

The Turkish government accuses the movement of masterminding the failed coup in 2016, which killed at least 250 people.

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Ukraines partners pledge EUR 1.5 billion in aid to Ukraine during Copenhagen Conference 12 August, 12:12 PM President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi (Photo:president.gov.ua)

A conference of the defense ministers of 26 countries in Copenhagen, Denmark, named #CopenhagenUkraine, has gathered EUR 1.5 billion ($1.55 billion) in aid for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Aug. 11.

Zelenskyy, speaking during his nightly video address to the nation, explained that Denmark had immediately pledged an assistance package for Ukraine of EUR 110 million following the opening the conference..

In total, the conference collected 1.5 billion euros in just one day, said Zelenskyy.

Some of it will be spent on the production of vital ammunition.

 

Zelenskyy added that this is a significant addition to a $4 billion loan guarantee that the United States had previously given to Ukraine.

I am grateful to everyone who supported Ukraine in Copenhagen today and I believe that meetings like this one will accelerate our common victory, the President stated.

The 26 nations, which included Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, all promised to continue to support Ukraines military defense against Russian aggression.



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Hartland is in Waukesha County

A small Wisconsin town's attempt to ban more sex offenders from living there flunks one of two tests that would make it unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The decision sent the matter back to a lower court for argument about the second test, and whether the local law should be thrown out.

Hartland adopted an ordinance in 2018 after it felt it had more offenders per capita than other Waukesha County communities. A sex offender who wanted to move there sued, claiming the ordinance amounted to an ex post facto law. Such laws, specifically prohibited in the U.S. Constitution, punish conduct that occurred prior to a law's passage.

A judge dismissed the case, agreeing with the village that the law applied only to new conduct after it was passed  like moving to Hartland as a sex offender.

Under that analysis, the plaintiff argued, a town could force out people with past convictions by imposing new penalties triggered by even passive or innocuous current acts without worry of running afoul of the ex post facto clause.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, said it was overturning its own legal precedents upon which the district judge relied.

Hartland's ordinance is retroactive, the court ruled.

"The Village advances the startling argument that because the Ordinance is 'temporary,' it cannot be retroactive. Assuming with skepticism that a four-year ban is still temporary, we fail to see how an allegedly shorter deprivation of a constitutional right has any bearing on our analysis," the decision reads. "This imaginative position from the Village borders on the frivolous and can be quickly dismissed."

RELATED: Would-be resident sues Hartland, calls ban on more sex offenders unconstitutional

The 7th Circuit sent the case back to the trial court to determine whether the ordinance is also punitive. Both factors must apply for the sex offender cap to be an illegal ex post facto law.

Story continues

Karsten Koch, 35, was convicted of sexual assault of a child in 2007, served seven years in prison and will remain on supervision another 12 years. He was living with his parents in Nashotah but wanted to move closer to his job in Hartland, where he found a landlord willing to rent to a sex offender; no one in Nashotah would, according to his lawsuit.

Koch is slated to remain on community supervision until 2034. In 2020, he found a room to rent in Hartland to be closer to his work but got an email from the police chief telling him about the moratorium on new sex offenders moving to the village.

Koch's attorney, Mark Weinberg, called the 7th Circuit's ruling a big win but said the next challenge will be proving Hartland's rule is punitive.

"One of the factors is whether it's consistent with historical notions of punishment," Weinberg said. "We say at least some of the restrictions are. They basically constitute banishment from various towns."

Weinberg has several other cases pending that challenge other kinds of municipal restrictions on sex offenders in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Most require that offenders may only reside certain distances from places where children might congregate, such as parks and schools, or say only offenders who were residents at the time of their convictions may qualify.

Hartland's ordinance amounts to a ban on any new sex offenders moving in.

As communities impose residency restrictions, offenders are forced to less-restrictive towns, which respond by imposing their own restrictions. Hartland wound up with more offenders than other Waukesha County communities.

What is punitive?

A law that's characterized as civil in nature  such as banning new sex offenders from moving to Hartland  can be punitive. A U.S. Supreme Court decision adopted five factors to make that analysis.

Does the law result in what would historically be considered punishment? Does it impose an affirmative disability or restraint? Does it promote traditional aims of punishment? Does it have a rational connection to a nonpunitive purpose, and, if so, is it excessive regarding that purpose?

In other words, though a residency restriction may be called a civil, nonpunitive, regulatory rule, its effect could negate that stated intention, and it could still be found to be punitive.

Hartland says it adopted the moratorium to "protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens, especially the children," of the village, according to its brief. It doesn't banish Koch because he may still work, visit or loiter in the village. And since he currently lives only a couple of miles from Hartland, any disability or restraint on him from the moratorium is minor.

Hartland's ordinance provides for a fine of $20 to $1,000 for the first day of a violation, and up to $4,000 a day for continuing to reside there as a sex offender. Failure to pay the fines could result in a 90-day jail sentence.

There were about 30 offenders living in Hartland last year, according to Koch's appellate brief. For the village to reach the "saturation level" that would end the moratorium, the number would have to shrink to five.

RELATED: A recently released sex offender needs 24/7 supervision. Why the state says a Winnebago trailer designated for such needs won't work

RELATED: Sex offender law challenged over urban/rural release disparity

A different state law applies to the placement of certain sex offenders returning to communities after a period of post-prison civil commitment. Once designated as a "sexually violent person" under Chapter 980, an inmate can be subjected to indefinite civil commitment at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in western Wisconsin.

When they are deemed no longer a risk, they are entitled to live under supervision in the county where they were convicted. Resistance to such placements became so extreme that the Legislature shifted the burden of finding appropriate housing from the Department of Health Services, which runs Sand Ridge, to the counties.

RELATED: A Wisconsin county's plan for soon-to-be-released sex offender: A trailer with a view of a landfill

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 7th Circuit restores lawsuit over Hartland's ban on new sex offenders
(Bloomberg) -- Japan, one of the worlds top buyers of liquefied natural gas, is rushing to secure supply for winter, exacerbating a global shortage and driving prices of the super-chilled fuel higher.

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The Asian benchmark spot price has jumped this week, although is still almost 70% off the record set in early March, when Russias invasion of Ukraine upended markets. Several Japanese utilities accelerated discussions with suppliers in the past week to purchase additional shipments for winter, according to traders with knowledge of the matter.

Supply disruptions from Russia to the US have importers worried that there wont be enough natural gas for everyone when demand peaks in the northern hemisphere winter. Thats intensified competition between Asia and Europe for LNG shipments, sending spot prices in both regions to unprecedented heights for this time of year.

The two largest LNG importing companies -- Korea Gas Corp. and Japans Jera Co. -- are both in the process of buying more cargoes for winter. That prompted smaller Japanese utilities to dive into the spot market to also secure shipments while supply is still available, traders said.

The Japanese government has been urging the nations utilities to stock up inventories before winter amid an outlook for tight power supply, according to the traders.

The Japan-Korea Marker, the spot LNG benchmark for North Asia, surged 9% to $50.63 per million British thermal units on Thursday, the highest since July 27, according to S&P Global.

BP was allocated an extra LNG cargo for Oct. 7 loading from the NWS export facility in Australia, said traders The so-called upside cargo was awarded to BP this week

Oman sold an LNG cargo scheduled to load in August

Story continues

Buy tenders:

Sell tenders:

(Adds prices, details from last paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) -- South Koreas biggest electric-car battery makers and Hyundai Motor Co. have expressed concern over new US legislation aimed at boosting domestic production of EVs and reducing the use of Chinese materials, moves they say could hurt their competitiveness.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Korean trade ministry officials met with Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK On Co. to listen to their concerns and difficulties about the measures in the USs tax and energy bill, the ministry said in a statement Thursday. Chief among these are the need to assemble EVs in North America and to quickly end a reliance on China for the battery supply chain in order for the vehicles to qualify for a maximum $7,500 tax credit.

The concerns, along with a request for the tax-credit requirements to be eased, were conveyed to the US Trade Representative, along with a warning the steps may breach the US-Korea free trade agreement and World Trade Organization rules, a trade ministry spokesman said Friday.

South Korean battery makers source most of their materials from China, and finding new sources could be difficult amid surging demand and short supply. Meanwhile, all the EVs Hyundai currently sells in the US and Europe are made in Korea. The automaker plans to open its first US plant in Georgia in 2025.

Korean battery makers hold around 30% of the global market and supply carmakers including Tesla Inc., General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., and Rivian Automotive Inc.

The firms are waiting for more details on the US rules and some are already seeking to diversify suppliers outside China, according to people at the four big Korean cell and materials makers, who asked not be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. The draft of the legislation still seems to be vague and the thresholds may be adjusted after US carmakers lobby Congress, some of the people said.

Story continues

The cost for making batteries will rise as companies will have to spend more on a new supply chain, said Kim Min-Ji, senior researcher at state-run Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade. Its not easy to change a metal supplier, and its even harder to refine metals at a low cost, which China does, especially in an eco-friendly way.

South Korean battery makers, which use chemistries like nickel, cobalt, manganese or aluminum, imported more than 80% of the key minerals from China in 2020, according to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade. Japan also imported 80% of its hydroxide lithium and 96% of manganese from China for making batteries, the institute said.

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2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Bears be damned  the bulls geared up as thousands of participants in the crypto world descended upon Toronto this week for ETHToronto and the Blockchain Futurist Conference.

Billed as Canadas largest blockchain conference, the three-day event was held at two of Torontos most prominent nightclubs  Rebel and Cabana  which are known to be frequented by many A-list celebrities.

The conference had a hackathon, panels, several fun activities, afterparties and a keynote by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who poked fun at monkey JPEGs. To top it all off, Cosmos co-founder Ethan Buchman rapped about interoperability and use cases for the ecosystem.

Read more: Hey, Look, Its a Monkey! Ethereums Vitalik Buterin Pokes Fun at Ape NFTs, Expresses Optimism About the Merge

Maybe it was the party atmosphere or the beautiful summer days of Toronto but, judging by the mood of the participants, it seemed like the audience felt that the crypto rout has bottomed out.

Of course, it also helped that, during the conference, Ethereum network native token ether (ETH) hit its highest price since June, ahead of the network overhaul known as the Merge, which looks likely to happen next month.

For the first time in a long time, people were inspired again, said attendee Greg Gopman, chief marketing officer of crypto infrastructure provider Ankr. Maybe it was Vitalik showing up. Maybe it's news of the Merge nearing reality. Or maybe it was just the beautiful indoor-outdoor venue during two perfect Toronto summer days  but for the first time in a while, things felt bullish again.

There was a full house at Day 1 of the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto. (Aoyon Ashraf/CoinDesk)

The main focus of the conference, aside from the obvious discussions on the Merge and decentralized finance (DeFi), included privacy and regulations, real-world applications of blockchain, interest in crypto from traditional finance (TradFi) and new technologies as well as a rare feat in crypto  female empowerment.

The Merge and beyond

Between the many bars at the conference and plenty of schmoozing at side events, the conference was buzzing with the excitement of the upcoming Merge, which will see Ethereum move from its proof-of-work protocol to proof-of-stake, as well as the improvements to the network that will be made beyond the upgrade to a more energy-efficient system.

Story continues

While Vitalik Buterin was upbeat about the Merge, Anthony Di Iorio, another co-founder of Ethereum, told the audience about the white-list opening of Andiami, a global tech project designed to add value to leading decentralized networks, which will be launched on Nov. 3 of this year, about 10 years to the day after the first Bitcoin meeting he hosted in Toronto.

(Fun fact: Vitalik Buterin is Canadian and many people consider Canada the birthplace of Ethereum.)

Anthony Di Iorio speaks at Futurist Blockchain Conference introducing Andiami. (Margaux Nijkerk /CoinDesk)

Di Lorio excitedly left the audience  not because of his new project but rather because he was in a rush to the hospital to welcome his newborn.

Aside from talks about Ethereum, other layer-2 representation also made its way around the conference.

There was a very optimistic crowd present in Toronto with layer 2 and the Merge at the forefront of discussion. It was great to see the level of collaboration between the variety of ecosystems and projects that were present, said Zack Gall, VP of communications at EOS Foundation.

A layer-1 network is the base layer, or the underlying infrastructure of a blockchain. Layer 2 refers to a set of off-chain systems or separate blockchains built on top of layer 1.

Metis, an Ethereum layer-2 rollup platform, also shared that participants in the conference seemed enthusiastic about layer-2 products, especially in a post-Merge world.

Kevin Liu, a co-founder of Metis, mentioned that there was a lot of hype over Ethereum. We spoke about so many projects and we were excited to speak with everyone about Reputation Power on Matrix [Metis Web3 identity system], which will help drive mass adoptions of Web2 to Web3.

Meanwhile, interoperability among the blockchains was a big topic of discussion. In fact, after his keynote speech, Cosmos co-founder Ethan Buchman rapped about interoperability and sovereignty. Cosmos  described as the "internet of blockchains, a network of blockchains able to communicate with one another in a decentralized way  was pitched by him as one interoperability solution.

Cosmos co-founder Ethan Buchman spits fire at the Blockchain Futurist Conference in Toronto (Aoyon Ashraf/CoinDesk)

An interoperable, multichain ecosystem will be crucial to unlock growth for the crypto and blockchain industry, said Viveik Vivekananthan, CEO of Swing, a Web3 liquidity infrastructure provider company.

Privacy

Whats a blockchain conference without debate on privacy? There were plenty of discussions on the topic.

During a panel discussion on privacy, Warren Paul Anderson of Discreet Labs, a blockchain research and development company building out Findora and other privacy protocols, said that theres been a real push in the industry to put everything on the chain, because it protects the ethos of decentralization. But what is missing in the privacy space is trust, he said.

Anderson believes that zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs, which ensure that data can be shared without releasing personal information, will be able to solve this problem. This will be the next phase of innovation around privacy issues in blockchain, he said.

Read more: The Sudden Rise of EVM-Compatible ZK Rollups

Andersons comment came right before the sanctioning of Tornado Cash, which made the need for privacy and regulations a much-debated topic. Given the recent sanctioning of Tornado Cash, privacy seemed to be a hot topic of conversation at the Blockchain Futurist Conference this year, he told CoinDesk.

Crypto and everyday uses

On the more educational side, the opportunities to interact with blockchain and crypto in real life were endless at the conference.

By competing in dead hangs to win $1,000 in bitcoin, using cryptos via Flexa (a crypto-payments app to pay for food) and arriving by helicopter at the venue using payments in crypto, participants had ample opportunity to use crypto for mainstream" activities.

A participant arrives at ETHToronto by helicopter. (Margaux Nijkerk/CoinDesk)

Tracy Leparulo, the main organizer of ETHToronto and the Blockchain Futurist Conference, spoke to CoinDesk about the conferences launch of a real-life engagement token to bring people close to real life and drive actions on site.

A participant attempts the dead hang for an opportunity to win $1,000 in bitcoin. (Margaux Nijkerk/CoinDesk)





Wont be caught dead

Meanwhile, TradFi interest in crypto was very prominent at the conference.

Leparulo said that she has been running the conference since 2013, and before, the TradFi crowd wouldnt even be caught dead coming to a crypto conference  the complete opposite of this years conference turnout.

The largest audience of this event this year is [made up of] people within traditional capital markets, she said, adding that there were people from investment groups and stock exchanges at the conference, showing a shift in mindset about the crypto industry.

It's not surprising to see the intersection of TradFi and crypto, as recently there has been a continued push from the institutional investors to expand into the industry. Most recently, BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, has formed a partnership with publicly traded crypto-exchange Coinbase (COIN) to make crypto directly available to institutional investors.

Female empowerment

In a more surprising twist, the conference had a strong female representation, not just crypto bros.

Maybe it's because the organizers were led by some prominent women in crypto.

The most inspiring part is that we had the largest submission to CryptoChicks bounty for the hackathon. A total of 13 projects led by women were submitted, Metis and Cryptochicks CEO Elena Sinelnikova told CoinDesk.

We at Metis are so grateful that we were able to help organize this conference with Untraceable and CryptoChicks, she added.

Leparulo also mentioned that there was a big female turnout in Canada. She said, [If] you're a female in this [blockchain] space, come to Futurist. It's a great inclusive area. Im about to be eight months pregnant  I can do this. So if you're female in space, get on board and get into crypto. Anyone can do it.

Perhaps it's a sign that not just the sentiment was turning at this conference but also the social scene.
HONG KONG / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / BitMonsters team is pleased to announce about the plan of launching its full-fledged ecosystem soon, with setting sights on bringing the highest passive revenue and referal rewards for users

BitMonsters, Friday, August 12, 2022, Press release picture

BitMonsters, one of the best marketing platforms, offers users a wide array of investment opportunities. It intends to bring to them the most profitable investment options, ones with maximum returns, to be precise. And its track record so far seems that suggest that BitMonsters has achieved the target. With more than 5200 registered users across 45 countries, BitMonesters has already received investments worth more than $5 million. BitMonsters has conducted events in Dubai, Durban, Hanoi, and a tour in Europe to further expand its base and draw more users. These, too, have worked in its favor, with the user base growing exponentially in recent days.

The tremendous success achieved by BitMonsters can be attributed to the team behind it, be it Louis Casper Dunweber, the CEO, Leandro Marcarian, the Tokenomics Advisor, and Erick Ho, the Project Advisor. Dunweber has vast experience in the crypto space and trading in equities, both long-term and intraday. Dunwebe expertise in the field of trading, as well as his knowledge of the various issues plaguing the market, has helped BitMonsters navigate its way through the tricky initial stages and make a name for itself in the space.

BitMonsters plans to launch a full-fledged ecosystem with all the critical domains and services made available to users. The ecosystem will be created such that all the subprojects remain intertwined, and the native token on BitMonsters be used across them. Bitmonsters ecosystem consists of a platform that will offer users the latest news in the crypto space, along with groundbreaking opinions and investment advice after thorough market research.

There will be a trading platform with the most advanced tools, a crypto wallet to hold and trade the digital assets, and the BitMonsters DEX (Decentralized Exchange) for seamless conversion of one cryptocurrency into another with a multi-level referral system and the lowest transaction fee. Besides, the BitMonsters native token, to be released in the coming days, will be usable across the ecosystem and act as the means to deliver rewards. BitMonsters plans to launch the biggest crypto bank, compatible with a wide range of cryptocurrencies, a crypto card and set up ATMs for easy withdrawal of funds. Also, there's an energy drink, car rental platform, and an online shop under development, and more information on it will be available in the coming days.

Story continues

BitMonsters offers one of the best referral rewards and up to 25% as passive income to users who purchase one of the packages from the five currently available on the platform. The referral rewards work like a chain. It's not just the number of users you invite but also the investments they make that play a critical part. The higher their investment, the more you will earn as rewards and subsequently level up on the platform. There are 17 levels in total, and as you make more investments and invite more users, you climb up the ladder and get a higher deep bonus.

Users who reach a turnover worth $100,000 can apply to set up a BitMonsters office in their region. The platform is opening offices this month in Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, Austria, South Africa, and Kazan, and you could be the one setting up the next office in your country, meet potential partners, and increase your income.

Apart from these, there are rank bonuses as you level up to Rank 6 or above. Those on Rank 6 will receive an iPhone or 1000 $USDT, a Macbook or 2000 $USDT for Rank 7, Yacht Leadership in Dubai for Rank 8, an Audi or 100,000 $USDT for Rank 10, an apartment or 200,000 $USDT for Rank 11, a Rolls Royce Phantom or 500,000 $USDT for Rank 15, a villa in Dubai or 10,000,000 $USDT for Rank 16, and a Private Jet or 20,000,000 $USDT for Rank 17.

So, register on BitMonsters today, choose a package, invite your friends and other potential investors, and win these lucrative rewards as you level up.

To find out more about BitMonsters and the ecosystem its developing, visit the official website: https://bitmonsters.xyz/

Also, follow BitMonsters on all social media handles to stay updated with the recent developments and releases on the platform.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/btcmonsters

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitmonstersofficial/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BitMonsterss

Telegram: https://t.me/btcmonster

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzqf8svfWKqqWmQEI8dPWxg

Media Contact:

BitMonsters

Louis Casper Dunweber

support@bitmonsters.xyz

BitMonsters.xyz

SOURCE: BitMonsters





View source version on accesswire.com:

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Rig mobilisation for Gazania-1 in South Africa and Namibia Update

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 12, 2022 / Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (AIM:ECO)(TSXV:EOG), the oil and gas exploration company focused on the offshore Atlantic Margins, confirms that the Island Innovator rig, owned by Island Drilling Company AS, was released and mobilised today.

The rig is now under contract to Eco and its JV partners and will move on to the Gazania-1 well on Block 2B, 25km offshore the Northern Cape in Orange Basin South Africa. The rig is expected to arrive and spud by the end of September 2022, subject to weather conditions. The Gazania-1 prospect is targeting a 300 million barrels light oil resource. The well will take approximately 25 days to drill, and the JV partners plan to seal and plug the well after the test, with no equipment being left on the sea floor. The partners have also approved the option to drill a sidetrack well contingent on a discovery in the main target.

The JV partnership in respect of Block 2B comprises Eco Atlantic (50% WI and Operator), Africa Energy Corp (27.5% WI), Panoro 2B Limited, a subsidiary of Panoro Energy ASA (12.5% WI), and Crown Energy AB (10% WI).

Update on Namibia

The Company is also pleased to announce that it has signed Joint Operating Agreements ("JOA's") with NAMCOR, the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia, with regard to the Company's four operated offshore Petroleum Licence ("PEL") interests in Namibia, being PEL 97 (Cooper), PEL 98 (Sharon), PEL 99 (Guy), and PEL 100 (Tamar).

Updated Presentation

An updated version of the corporate presentation is also available on the Company's website: https://www.ecooilandgas.com/investors/reports-presentations/

Colin Kinley, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Eco Atlantic, commented:

"We are excited to get underway with our drilling campaign at Block 2B in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa. A successful outcome at the Gazania-1 well has the potential to be transformational for Eco and our JV partners.

Story continues

"We are also pleased to have signed JOA's with NAMCOR in relation to the PEL's we operate offshore Namibia. With all of the recent operational success we have seen recently in Namibia, we are excited to be one of the largest offshore licence holders in the region and look forward to working with NAMCOR to generate value for the benefit of all."

**ENDS**

For more information, please visit www.ecooilandgas.com or contact the following:

Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas c/o Celicourt +44 (0) 20 8434 2754 Gil Holzman, CEO Colin Kinley, COO Alice Carroll, Head of Corporate Sustainability +44(0)781 729 5070 Strand Hanson Limited (Financial & Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 7409 3494 James Harris James Bellman Berenberg (Broker) +44 (0) 20 3207 7800 Matthew Armitt Detlir Elezi Echelon Capital (Financial Adviser N. America Markets) Ryan Mooney Simon Akit +1 (403) 606 4852 +1 (416) 8497776 Celicourt (PR) +44 (0) 20 8434 2754 Mark Antelme Jimmy Lea

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended).

Notes to editors:

About Eco Atlantic:

Eco Atlantic is a TSX-V and AIM-quoted Atlantic Margin-focused oil & gas exploration company with offshore license interests in Guyana, Namibia, and South Africa. Eco aims to deliver material value for its stakeholders through its role in the energy transition to explore for low carbon intensity oil and gas in stable emerging markets close to infrastructure.

Offshore Guyana in the proven Guyana-Suriname Basin, the Company holds a 15% Working Interest in the 1,800 km2 Orinduik Block Operated by Tullow Oil. In Namibia, the Company holds Operatorship and an 85% Working Interest in four offshore Petroleum Licences: PELs: 97, 98, 99, and 100, representing a combined area of 28,593 km2 in the Walvis Basin.

Offshore South Africa, Eco is Operator and holds a 50% working interest in Block 2B and a 20% Working Interest (to be increased to a 26.25% Working Interest, subject to Completion of the Acquisition announced 27 June 2022) in Blocks 3B/4B operated by Africa Oil Corp., totalling some 20,643 km2.

Cautionary Notes:

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements", including, without limitation, statements containing the words "will", "may", "expects", "intends", "anticipates" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, general economic and market factors, competition, the effect of the global pandemic and consequent economic disruption, and the factors detailed in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com. Although forward-looking statements contained herein are based on what management considers to be reasonable assumptions based on currently available information, there can be no assurance that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and our assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Ltd.





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By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

The Russian Grain Union will host the XII International Grain Trading Conference "Global Grain Outlook" in Baku from October 4 through 7, 2022.

According to the information, Azerbaijan was chosen as the venue for its unique geographical location, which allows it to be considered a link between the grain markets of the Black Sea region, Asia, and the Middle East. Another reason for the choice is the formation of a positive image of Azerbaijan and the countrys positioning as a grain gateway between the Islamic world and the countries of the Black Sea region.

During the conference, the sides plan to conduct a broad discussion of medium and long-term tendencies in the development of grain production, ways to promote investments, including collective investments by several interested countries in grain production and grain market infrastructure, and mechanisms for financing grain production and trade.

Furthermore, the participants will exchange views on approaches to determining a fair grain price based on the balance of interests of producers and consumers, as well as measures to ensure the availability of grain processing products for all population groups in different countries.

An important and urgent issue is the new quality of grain logistics, the creation of new transport corridors, including the use of the Silk Road for grain supplies, the creation of a North-South grain corridor with access to the Persian Gulf, etc.," said the union.
ReportLinker

Subsea Power Grid System Market Research Report by Component (Cables, Switchgears, and Transformers), Depth, Application, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Subsea Power Grid System Market Research Report by Component, Depth, Application, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299321/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Subsea Power Grid System Market size was estimated at USD 871.23 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 993.02 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 14.23% to reach USD 1,936.09 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Subsea Power Grid System to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Component, the market was studied across Cables, Switchgears, Transformers, and Variable Speed Drives.



Based on Depth, the market was studied across Deepwater and Shallow Water.



Based on Application, the market was studied across Captive Generation and Wind Power.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Subsea Power Grid System market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Subsea Power Grid System Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market, including ABB Ltd., Aker Solutions ASA, Apar Industries Ltd., Baker Hughes Company, General Electric Company, Hitachi Energy, JDR Cable Systems Ltd., LS Cable & System Ltd., Nexans S.A., NKT A/S, Oceaneering International, Inc., Prysmian Group, Schlumberger Limited, Schneider Electric SE, Siemens AG, SSG Cable, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., TE Connectivity, TechnipFMC PLC, Teledyne Marine, and ZTT.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Subsea Power Grid System Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299321/?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.



__________________________

Story continues

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




ReportLinker

Sulphur Recovery Technology Market Research Report by Technology (Claus Process and Tail Gas Treatment), Source, Capacity, Region (Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa) - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19

New York, Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Sulphur Recovery Technology Market Research Report by Technology, Source, Capacity, Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299233/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market size was estimated at USD 381.23 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 413.90 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR 8.82% to reach USD 633.22 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across 7 major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2019 and 2020 are considered historical years, 2021 as the base year, 2022 as the estimated year, and years from 2023 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Sulphur Recovery Technology to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:



Based on Technology, the market was studied across Claus Process and Tail Gas Treatment.



Based on Source, the market was studied across Gas and Oil.



Based on Capacity, the market was studied across 101-200 t/D, 201-300 t/D, < 100 t/D, and > 300 t/D.



Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.



Cumulative Impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, and the long-term effects are projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. Our ongoing research amplifies our research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report delivers insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecasts, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market.



Cumulative Impact of 2022 Russia Ukraine Conflict:

We continuously monitor and update reports on political and economic uncertainty due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Negative impacts are significantly foreseen globally, especially across Eastern Europe, European Union, Eastern & Central Asia, and the United States. This contention has severely affected lives and livelihoods and represents far-reaching disruptions in trade dynamics. The potential effects of ongoing war and uncertainty in Eastern Europe are expected to have an adverse impact on the world economy, with especially long-term harsh effects on Russia.This report uncovers the impact of demand & supply, pricing variants, strategic uptake of vendors, and recommendations for Sulphur Recovery Technology market considering the current update on the conflict and its global response.



Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Sulphur Recovery Technology Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Competitive Scenario:

The Competitive Scenario provides an outlook analysis of the various business growth strategies adopted by the vendors. The news covered in this section deliver valuable thoughts at the different stage while keeping up-to-date with the business and engage stakeholders in the economic debate. The competitive scenario represents press releases or news of the companies categorized into Merger & Acquisition, Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership, New Product Launch & Enhancement, Investment & Funding, and Award, Recognition, & Expansion. All the news collected help vendor to understand the gaps in the marketplace and competitors strength and weakness thereby, providing insights to enhance product and service.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market, including Air Liquide S.A., Axens SA, BASF SE, Bechtel Corporation, Black & Veatch Holding Company, Chiyoda Corporation, Experitec Inc, Fluor Corporation, Haldor Topsoe A/S, Honeywell International Inc., John Wood Group PLC, Kinetics Technology SpA, KT-Kinetics Technology SpA, Linde AG, Merchem Limited, Paqell BV, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Sulzer AG, Technip S.A., and WorleyParsons Ltd.



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Sulphur Recovery Technology Market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06299233/?utm_source=GNW



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ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




This funding will support community prevention, education, awareness, and anti-stigma activities

VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada remains agile in its ongoing evidence-based response to cases of monkeypox in Canada. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is working closely with provincial and territorial public health partners to ensure coordination of Canada's strategic response. They are investigating and monitoring monkeypox cases in Canada, as well as providing up to date guidance and information including on laboratory testing and vaccines.

Today, the Honourable Hedy Fry, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre on behalf of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced a total of $550,000 from the HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund to the Community Based Research Centre (CBRC), H.I.M Health Initiative for Men Society in Vancouver, and the Queer and Trans Health Collective in Edmonton. This funding will help community-based organizations in the regions most impacted by the monkeypox outbreak by increasing their capacity to respond to the expressed needs of their communities for prevention, education, awareness, and anti-stigma activities. CBRC will also develop an evidence-based set of national educational resources to support communities across Canada, including smaller communities as the outbreak evolves. CBRC serves as the coordinating body for the Advance Community Alliance, a pan-Canadian alliance of organizations addressing gay and bisexual men's health.

The Government of Canada has been engaging stakeholders across the country, including community-based organizations in sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections and sexual health fields, to understand their information needs when it comes to the monkeypox outbreak. The organizations identified a need for more tools and information to help answer questions and direct members of their communities to credible information and resources. These organizations are trusted sources of information who will use the funding to amplify PHAC messaging in culturally appropriate and stigma-free way, to reach the most affected populations.

Regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and race, anyone can become infected and transmit monkeypox. Understanding of the virus is still evolving and information will continue to be provided as it becomes available.

Quotes

"Every community has its unique ways of sharing information. This funding will enable the organizations to amplify what they are already doing  increasing and maintaining awareness about the risks of monkeypox and sharing information in the most effective and compelling ways possible."

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos

Minister of Health

"I am pleased that this funding will help organizations such as H.I.M Health Initiative for Men Society, a community-based organization here in Vancouver that has been dedicated to promoting the health of gay and bisexual men. This funding is an important step in increasing each organization's capacity to share information about monkeypox and collaborating to help slow the spread of the virus."

The Honourable Hedy Fry

Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre

"This swift government action is essential. Monkeypox, or mpox, has been affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men in Canada, and the most important thing we can do is to get information, resources and vaccines to those who need them. CBRC, and our Alliance partners, will use this funding to work closely with our communities to learn about their needs and empower them to prevent and care for mpox. It's imperative that we not only get out the facts to those at risk, but also play a role in combating stigma and providing support to those impacted. We'll continue to look for ways to work in partnership with government on improving Canada's response."

Jody Jollimore

Executive Director, Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC)

"As MPOX continues to affect our community, this financial support from PHAC is vital to reduce transmission. We're incredibly grateful for funding to support resources to help queer and trans community members in Edmonton access vaccines, keep themselves safe, and reduce stigma amid this outbreak."

Lea DuCoeur

Program Director, Queer and Trans Health Collective

"We have seen that when community-based organizations, governments, and public health collaborate on health promotion and disease prevention we are able to reach more people more effectively than any of us can alone. In Vancouver, such collaborations have yielded the most robust response to monkeypox that we have seen anywhere in the world. We are pleased that the federal government recognizes and is supporting the role community-based organizations have in keeping our communities safe."

Simon Rayek,

Director of Health Administration H.I.M.

Quick Facts

Monkeypox is a viral disease that can spread from person-to-person through close contact including sexual contact, with an infected person's skin, bodily fluids, mucosal surfaces (such as eyes, mouth, throat, genitalia, anus, or rectum), and contaminated objects,

The HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund supports community-based interventions across Canada to address HIV, hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted and blood borne infections.

Total of $550,000 from the HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund is allocated to support two organizations within the Advance Community Alliance and the Queer and Trans Health Collective to engage populations currently affected by the monkeypox outbreak.

Today's announcement is part of a $1 million commitment to support organizations across the country.

On July 21, 2022, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change on behalf of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced a total of $350,000 to support three organizations within the Advance Community Alliance , REZO in Montreal, AIDS Committee of Toronto, and MAX Ottawa - community-based organizations in the regions most impacted by the monkeypox outbreak.

The funding will help the organizations amplify the Public Health Agency of Canada's messaging in a way that is culturally appropriate and stigma-free, to reach the populations who are currently affected by the outbreak.

Related Products

Associated Links

SOURCE Public Health Agency of Canada

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View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2022/12/c0710.html
Good morning, Fall River! It's Saturday, Aug. 13. Let's kick off the weekend with a look at our top stories.

A user searches for SnoOwl on a smartphone.

Eleven days before Jasiel Correia II reported to federal prison to start serving a six-year sentence for political corruption and fraud, the former mayors wife and a business partner set up a corporation to develop a mobile app company. According to the Secretary of States corporation database, Jenny Simone Correia and David Riccio Jr. of Revere registered the app company itsaVibe on April 11. Read more on this story here.

For Brian Bentley, 38 years at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School wasnt enough. Eight years after he retired as principal, hes back at the school as the interim superintendent for the upcoming school year. Being a lifetime educator, I love school, he said. Even in retirement, I always knew the school calendar; I always stayed in touch with who I called my Diman family. Read more on this story here.

Fall River residents Kathryn Gauvin and Lila Stilley recently participated in the annual AAU Junior Olympics for field hockey at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. They were among seven field hockey athletes from Massachusetts and 108 chosen nationwide to play in the national games. Nexus (USA Field Hockey's pathway to the Olympics) selected the two athletes. Read more on this story here.

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Not one of our beloved digital subscribers yet? You can become one right now, and join the growing team of people dedicated to preserving great local news. Its so easy  go to heraldnews.com/subscribenow and check out the options. For just a few cents a day, you get all-you-can-read local news, and youll be keeping local journalism alive in our community!

Check out all these stories and more at heraldnews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Jasiel Correia's wife created an app company before he went to prison
Lery Seafood Group ASA

Lery Seafood Group ASA have the pleasure of inviting to its inaugural capital markets day on September 22nd-23rd, 2022 in Hitra, Norway.

On September 22nd, management will present strategic priorities focusing on the groups fully integrated value chain as well the farming segment. On September 23rd, a tour through Lerys operations in Mid-Norway (Lery Midt) will be offered to participants, including visits to one of the world's most automated processing sites for salmon and one of the world's larger post-smolt facilities, based on RAS-technology.

The presentations will commence on September 22nd at 12:00 am. The tour on September 23rd will end within 13:00 pm. Common bus transport from Trondheim Airport to Hitra and back will be offered to participants. The bus will depart from the airport on September 22nd at 08:30 am and return to the airport on September 23rd, with estimated time of arrival being no later than 15:30 pm.

The presentations will be held in English. A live broadcast will be available on September 22nd and a recording will be made available after the event on www.leroyseafood.com/capitalmarketsday. The webcast accommodates Q&A.

Kindly complete the following form within August 18th should you wish to participate: www.leroyseafood.com/capitalmarketsday. A limited number of seats are available. Registration is not required for the webcast.

The complete agenda and practical information will be published on www.leroyseafood.com/capitalmarketsday closer to the date of the event.

For further information, contact:

Hans Ljen, Head of Treasury & Investor Relations Lery Seafood Group ASA, +47 481 87 750




Next-gen partnership with close to $800 million AUM is Sanctuary's third this year from UBS

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanctuary Wealth, home to the next generation of elite advisors, welcomes Marble Wealth, its first team in Alabama. Based in Montgomery, the four-person team had more than $770 million in client assets under management as of July 31, 2022. The firm includes Chief Executive Officer, Partner Matthew Murphy, CFP and Chief Operating Officer, Partner Rebecca Baker, CFP, who previously operated as Longleaf Wealth Management at UBS, and Chief Investment Officer, Partner Adam Rogers, previously Portfolio Manager at The Retirement Systems of Alabama.

"We're pleased to welcome Marble Wealth as our first partners in Alabama, but what's really important is what this team represents," said Jim Dickson, CEO and Founder of Sanctuary Wealth. "They are a highly credentialed next generation team with long careers ahead of them. Matthew and Rebecca built an incredible practice as UBS employees and have now unlocked that asset becoming business owners. Adding Adam's portfolio management expertise into the mix will allow them to serve clients even more fully."

Marble Wealth's CEO Matthew Murphy spent his entire career of more than 14 years with UBS rising to the position of Senior Vice President, Wealth Management. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a graduate of Auburn University where he earned a BS in Finance with a minor in Accounting. Matthew's professional accomplishments include being named to the Forbes Top Next-Gen Best-in-State Wealth Advisors and Best-in-State Wealth Advisor lists as well as the UBS Top 35 Under 35.

"I started my career with UBS, learned the business there and had a great experience overall, but we feel that we are now ready to take the next step by establishing our own firm to serve clients in the manner that they and we think is best for them," explained Matthew Murphy, CFP, Chief Executive Officer, Partner, Marble Wealth. "After extensive due diligence, we are convinced that aligning with Sanctuary is best for our clients and for us as business owners. The Sanctuary Wealth model of partnered independence provides tools and resources that will allow our team to go deeper with our clients."

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"We chose independence because we wanted to be able to offer our clients more solutions and advise them on all facets of their financial life," added Rebecca Baker, CFP, Chief Operating Officer, Partner, Marble Wealth. "Sanctuary Wealth offers us a wide range of resources as well as support with compliance and other back-office functions that don't directly touch our clients. Partnering with Sanctuary Wealth will allow us to focus much more of our time and energy directly on our clients."

Chief Operating Officer Rebecca Baker spent more than six years with UBS as a Financial Advisor. She also held a similar position with Morgan Stanley after beginning her career and spending a decade with the full-service CPA firm of Aldridge, Borden & Company. Her credentials include Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Exit Planner Advisor (CEPA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She has earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting from The University of Alabama and an MBA in Accounting from Auburn University at Montgomery.

The firm's third partner, Adam Rogers, spent more than 17 years as Portfolio Manager and Equity Analyst with The Retirement Systems of Alabama, the administrator of the pension fund for employees of the state of Alabama and one of the 20 largest internally funded pension funds in the world. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a graduate of the University of Alabama with a BS in Finance, Banking and Financial Services and a MA in Financial Risk Strategy from University of Alabama, Manderson Graduate School of Business.

"I've spent my career helping thousands of people prepare for retirement without ever meeting many of them, so the opportunity to work face to face with clients and put my investment experience to work for them is very exciting for me," said Adam Rogers, Chief Investment Officer, Partner, Marble Wealth.

"Going independent is a bold decision and this is a relationship business. While a robust platform is a must-have, often times trust and culture are the deciding factors for breakaway advisors who choose Sanctuary Wealth. The team at Marble Wealth and our Regional Director Dylan Isaacs developed a strong relationship during their years together at UBS. I'm sure that made a difference." said Vince Fertitta, President of Sanctuary Wealth.

To learn more about Marble Wealth, please visit: www.marblewealth.com.

About Sanctuary Wealth

Sanctuary Wealth (sanctuarywealth.com/) is the advanced platform for the next generation of elite advisors, who have the entrepreneurial spirit to build and own their own practices and desire the freedom to deliver the tailored service their clients deserve. Sanctuary Wealth's ecosystem of partnered independence provides a complete technology and operations platform, as well as support from a community of like-minded advisors and the resources of invaluable affiliated businesses. Currently, the Sanctuary Wealth network includes partner firms in 27 states across the country with approximately $25 billion in assets under advisement. Sanctuary Wealth includes the fully owned subsidiaries; Sanctuary Advisors LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, Sanctuary Securities, Inc. a FINRA member broker-dealer as well as Sanctuary Alternative Holdings, Sanctuary Asset Management, Sanctuary Insurance Solutions, Sanctuary Global, and Sanctuary Global Family Office.

CONTACT: Michaela Morales

JConnelly

973 224 7152

mmorales@jconnelly.com

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View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/marble-wealth-joins-sanctuary-wealth-as-first-partner-firm-in-alabama-301605192.html

SOURCE Sanctuary Wealth
(All dollar amounts are in United States dollars unless otherwise indicated)

TSXV: MTA

NYSE American: MTA

VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 12, 2022 /CNW/ - Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. ("Metalla" or the "Company") (TSXV: MTA) (NYSE: MTA) announces its operating and financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022. For complete details of the condensed interim consolidated financial statements and accompanying management's discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, please see the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or EDGAR (www.sec.gov). Shareholders are encouraged to visit the Company's website at www.metallaroyalty.com.

Brett Heath, President, and CEO of Metalla, commented, "In the second quarter of 2022, we saw several significant advancements and milestones achieved within our royalty portfolio. G Mining's Tocantinzinho project secured a $481M financing package, expected to reach production in the second half of 2024. Wasamac's production profile was increased to 250k oz Au per year by Yamana Gold, making it an expected top 10 gold producer in Canada. We also saw discoveries made at Moneta's Garrison project and Canadian Malartic's Camflo property that look to provide even more potential upside. We are pleased to see our assets continue to advance and benefit from our strong counterparties at a time when equity and debt markets remain constrained."

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

During the six months ended June 30, 2022, and the subsequent period up to the date of this news release, the Company:

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Noted the following key milestones announced by operators of certain properties in its portfolio of royalties and streams (please see the 'Asset Updates' section of this press release for the details of these announcements):



Amended an existing 1.0% NSR royalty on Monarch's Beaufor Mine. In consideration for $1.0 million paid in cash to Monarch, Monarch agreed to waive a clause stipulating that payments under the NSR royalty were only payable after 100 Koz of gold have been produced by Monarch following its acquisition of Beaufor Mine. Payments under this NSR royalty will commence shortly as Monarch announced the start of production during July 2022 (see below).

For the three months ended June 30, 2022, received or accrued payments on 560 attributable Gold Equivalent Ounces (" GEOs ") at an average realized price of $1,844 and an average cash cost of $9 per attributable GEO (see non-IFRS Financial Measures). For the six months ended June 30, 2022, received or accrued payments on 1,284 attributable GEOs at an average realized price of $1,839 and an average cash cost of $7 per attributable GEO (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





For the three months ended June 30, 2022, recognized revenue from royalty and stream interests, including fixed royalty payments, of $0.5 million, net loss of $1.4 million, and adjusted EBITDA of negative $0.2 million (see non-IFRS Financial Measures). For the six months ended June 30, 2022, recognized revenue from royalty and stream interests, including fixed royalty payments, of $1.1 million, net loss of $3.6 million, and adjusted EBITDA of negative $0.2 million (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





For the three months ended June 30, 2022, generated operating cash margin of $1,835 per attributable GEO, and for the six months ended June 30, 2022, generate operating cash margin of $1,832 per attributable GEO, from the Wharf, Joaquin, and COSE royalties, the New Luika Gold Mine (" NLGM ") stream held by Silverback Ltd. (" Silverback "), the Higginsville derivative royalty asset, and other royalty interests (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





For the three months ended June 30, 2022, recognized payments due or received (not included in revenue) from the Higginsville derivative royalty asset of $0.6 million, and for the six months ended June 30, 2022, recognized payments due or received from the Higginsville derivative royalty asset of $1.2 million (see non-IFRS Financial Measures);





On May 12, 2022, the Company filed a new final short form base shelf prospectus and a corresponding registration statement on Form F-10 that replaced the base shelf prospectus and Form F-10 registration statement previously filed by the Company in 2020, and to enhance the Company's financial flexibility. In connection with this transition, the Company terminated its At-The-Market (" ATM ") program announced on May 14, 2021 (the " 2021 ATM Program "). From inception on May 14, 2021, to the termination on May 12, 2022, the Company distributed 1,990,778 common shares under the 2021 ATM program at an average price of $8.18 per share for gross proceeds of $16.3 million, of which 20,170 common shares were sold during the three months ended June 30, 2022, at an average price of $7.13 per common share for gross proceeds of $0.1 million;





On May 27, 2022, the Company announced that it had entered into a new equity distribution agreement with a syndicate of agents to establish an ATM equity program (the " 2022 ATM Program ") under which the Company may distribute up to $50.0 million (or the equivalent in Canadian Dollars) in common shares of the Company. From inception to the date of this press release, the Company did not distribute any common shares under the 2022 ATM program; and





In August 2022, the Company and Beedie Capital entered into an agreement to extend the maturity date of its loan facility from April 21, 2023, to January 22, 2024 (the "Loan Extension"). In consideration for the Loan Extension the Company incurred a fee of 2.0% of the currently drawn amount of C$8.0 million, the C$160,000 fee will be convertible into common shares at a conversion price of C$7.34 per share, calculated based on a 20% premium to the 30-day Volume Weighted Average Price of the Company's common shares on the trading day immediately prior to the effective date of the Loan Extension. The Loan Extension is subject to stock exchange approvals which are pending.

ASSET UPDATES

Beaufor Mine

On July 5, 2022, Monarch announced that it had begun processing ore from its Beaufor Mine at its wholly-owned Beacon Mill, it reported it had stockpiled a total of 30,549 tonnes of ore averaging 4.76 g/t gold and would start feeding the mill with that ore and expected to pour its first bar of gold in July 2022. On July 27, 2022, Monarch further announced the production of its first gold bar from the Beaufor Mine, and announced it expects to reach commercial production in the coming months.

On June 16, 2022, Monarch reported results from recent drilling at the Q Zone where significant intercepts include 122 g/t over 1.4 meters, 20.74 g/t over 3.3 meters, 83.2 g/t gold over 0.5 meters and 18.87 g/t gold over 1.2 meters. On July 25, 2022, Monarch reported high grade results from drilling at the Q Zone that included 37.59 g/t gold over 2.5 meters, 29.79 g/t gold over 2.45 meters and 418 g/t gold over 0.63 meters, highlighting the potential to expand the Q Zone at depth.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Beaufor mine.

Wharf Royalty

On August 3, 2022, Coeur Mining Inc. ("Coeur") reported second quarter production of 20.4 Koz gold at 0.47 g/t gold, in line with the 70-80 Koz full year guidance for Wharf disclosed by Wharf on February 16, 2022. During the quarter, one reverse circulation ("RC") drill rig had completed a resource conversion program at the Portland-Ridge-Boston claim group and at the Flossie area.

On February 16, 2022, Coeur reported that Wharf's updated Proven and Probable Reserves totaled 852 Koz at 0.73 g/t. Total Measured and Indicated Resources were reported at 412 Koz at 0.63g/t with an Inferred Resource estimate of 90 Koz at 0.75 g/t. In addition, Coeur reported in their Q4 2021 financial statements, an updated mine life of 8 years for Wharf. Additionally, Coeur reported the continued exploration success at Wharf where a total of 6,625 meters of drilling was completed in the Portland Ridge  Boston claim group, Flossie and Juno areas. Coeur spent $4 million on exploration at the mine in 2021, its largest since acquiring the asset in 2015.

Metalla holds a 1.0% GVR royalty on the Wharf mine.

New Luika Silver Stream

On July 21, 2022, Shanta Gold Limited ("Shanta") reported that it produced 17.5 Koz of gold at its NLGM in Tanzania in the second quarter of 2022, in line with full year production guidance of 68-76 Koz gold. On July 19, 2021, Shanta announced a new mine plan for NLGM, where average annual production is expected to be 73.6 Koz gold with the potential to extend mine life beyond 2026 through conversion of significant known resources and the expanded 2,450 tpd mill throughput. Shanta expects total gold production from NLGM for the five-year plan to total 368 Koz from both open pit and underground mine sources from the mining license.

Metalla holds a 15% interest in Silverback, whose sole business is receipt and distribution of a 100% silver stream on NLGM at an ongoing cost of 10% of the spot silver price.

Cote-Gosselin

On August 3, 2022, IAMGOLD Corporation ("IAMGOLD") reported that construction had reached 57% completion at the Cote Gold Project. It also reported completion in the second quarter of 2022 of approximately 10,500 meters of the 16,000 meter drill program is planned in 2022 to further delineate and expand the Gosselin mineral resources and test selected targets along the deposit corridor. In addition, IAMGOLD completed a project update to the Cote life-of-mine plans where the update proposes an 18-year mine life with initial production expected in early 2024. Average annual production during the first six years is expected to be 495 Koz gold and 365 Koz over the life-of-mine.

Figure 1: Table showing updating Gold Production Profile for the Cote Gold Project. (Source: IAMGOLD Corporation. Announces Results of Cote Gold Project Update, issued August 3, 2022) (CNW Group/Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.)

Metalla holds a 1.35% NSR royalty that covers less than 10% of the Cote reserves and resources estimate and covers all of the Gosselin resource estimate.

Castle Mountain

Castle Mountain is slated to become one of Equinox Gold's ("Equinox") largest assets. Metalla's 5.0% NSR royalty covers the South Domes portion of the deposit which will be part of the Phase 2 expansion slated to begin in 2026.

On August 3, 2022, Equinox reported production in the second quarter of 6.7 Koz gold and exploration expenditure in the second quarter of $0.5 million at the Castle Mountain property. This was in addition to the exploration announced on May 3, 2022, where drilling in the first quarter included 7,948 meters of RC drilling across the South dump area to assess the continuity and distribution of grade. Equinox also completed 1,448 meters of RC drilling in the area between the JSLA and South Domes pits.

Equinox also announced that in March 2022 it had submitted applications to amend existing permits to accommodate the Phase 2 expansion. On February 24, 2022, Equinox announced they expect to spend $7 million for Phase 2 permitting, optimization studies and metallurgical test work and nearly $2 million for exploration. As of August 3, 2022, the Phase 2 permitting timeline was on schedule with the San Bernardino County having determined the application was complete. Equinox expects the U.S. Bureau of Land management to complete its completeness review by the end of July with the application reviews to run through to the end of 2022. Both agencies will determine the appropriate level of state and federal environmental review required with the resulting review process anticipated to begin by early 2023.

Metalla holds a 5.0% NSR royalty on the South Domes area of the Castle Mountain mine.

Garrison

On July 7, 2022, Moneta released the results of exploration drilling at the Garrison deposit in their Tower Gold project. Drilling results tested new areas all within the Tower Gold project, including east and west of the Garrcon resource, south of the Westaway resource at South Basin, east of the Windjammer South resource at Halfway, and west of the 55 deposit. Drilling has confirmed significant gold mineralization beyond the current resource. Highlights include a drill hole that intercepted significant mineralization with 50.09 g/t gold over 5.05 meters and 0.66 g/t gold over 16 meters. The holes highlight the potential to expand the Garrcon resource pit shells and open new targets for future exploration drilling.

On May 11, 2022, Moneta released an updated resource estimate for the Tower Gold project, including 4.27 Moz gold in the Indicated category and 7.5 Moz gold in the Inferred category. Moneta plans to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the project scheduled for completion later in the second quarter of 2022. The Garrison deposit forms part of the Tower project and is comprised of three zones, Garrcon, Jonpol, and 903. At Garrcon, the open pit Indicated Resource is 841 Koz at 1.02 g/t gold with an Inferred Resource of 15Koz at 0.67 g/t gold, the underground portion has an Indicated Resource of 87 Koz at 5.08 g/t gold with an Inferred Resource of 120 Koz at 4.98 g/t gold. The Jonpol zone has an Indicated Resource of 297 Koz at 1.4 g/t gold and an Inferred Resource of 114 Koz at 0.99 g/t gold. The 903 zone has an Indicated Resource of 610 Koz at 1.01 g/t gold and an Inferred Resource of 600 Koz at 0.74 g/t gold. The Garrison starter pit now has an Indicated Resource of 1.75 Moz at 1.07 g/t gold. Moneta is slated to release a PEA in the second half of 2022.

Figure 2: Cross Section showing high grade intervals below the Garrcon resource pits (Source: Moneta Gold Inc. press release on Step-out drilling at Garrcon, Tower Gold Project, issued July 7, 2022) (CNW Group/Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.)

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the Garrison project.

Wasamac

On July 7, 2022, Yamana announced the approval of the Wasamac bulk sample program, providing for earlier access to the deposit and to increase the level of confidence in the future mining of the project. Permit approvals are expected in early 2023 with ramp development potentially beginning in Spring 2023. A reassessment of the Wasamac project highlighted an improved gold production profile compared to the feasibility study with new projections of ramp-up to 200 Koz in 2027 and up to 250 Koz in 2028. Ongoing mine design and sequence optimizations could position Wasamac with the option for future incremental expansion of the mill to 9,000 tpd from 7,000 tpd in year 3 of operations which will extend the gold production profile of 250 Koz per year until at least 2030. Yamana also highlighted additional opportunities not included in the strategic plan which include processing flow sheet optimization to increase metallurgical recoveries by approximately 3%, optimized configuration of the tailings filter plant and paste backfill plant. Yamana also announced that bulk sample permits are scheduled for submission in the third quarter of 2022, with the approval expected in early 2023 and ramp development could begin in spring 2023.

On July 27, 2022, Yamana announced positive results from infill drilling at the Wasamac project where grades continue to exceed expectations with significant results include 5.05 g/t gold over 54.06 meters and 5.45 g/t gold over 16.8 meters. Exploration drilling at the Wildcat South target continued to expand on the discovery with a significant intercept of 7.31 g/t gold over 3.37 meters and 1.46 g/t gold over 12.3 meters.

Figure 3: Chart showing projected production profile of the Wasamac project (Source: Yamana Gold Inc. Second Quarter Operating Results, issued July 7, 2022) (CNW Group/Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.)

Metalla holds a 1.5% NSR royalty on the Wasamac project subject to a buy back of 0.5% for C$7.5 million.

Amalgamated Kirkland Property

On July 27, 2022, Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico") reported that an assessment was ongoing at the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit to provide incremental ore feed to the Macassa mill with annual production of 40 Koz as soon as 2024. The Macassa underground ramp had been extended by 615 meters and twenty-four drill holes had been completed in the higher-grade portion of the deposit. Significant intercepts from the underground drill program include 14.1 g/t gold over 6.5 meters, 23.9 g/t gold over 2.0 meters and 14.9 g/t gold over 3.0 meters. Drilling from the surface drill program designed to infill near surface mineralization proves to be successful in confirming grade thicknesses with significant intercepts of 6.9 g/t gold over 6.7 meters, 5.9 g/t gold over 6 meters and 9 g/t gold over 9.2 meters.

In 2022, Agnico plans to spend $8.6 million on a 1.3 kilometre exploration ramp from the Macassa near surface zones, designed to carry out infill drilling and a bulk sample of the higher-grade regions of the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit. On April 28, 2022, Agnico reported that the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit hosts an Indicated Resource estimate of 265 Koz gold at 6.51 g/t gold and an Inferred Resource of 406 Koz at 5.32 g/t gold. The deposit remains open at depth and extends laterally.

Metalla holds a 0.45% NSR royalty on the Amalgamated Kirkland property.

El Realito

On July 27, 2022, Agnico reported that pre-stripping of the El Realito pit was approximately 81% compete. Pre-stripping activities at El Realito pit are in line with forecast are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022. The production guidance in Agnico's February 23, 2022, press release for the La India mine which hosts the El Realito pit were positively revised to 82.5 Koz gold in 2022, 70 Koz gold in 2023 and 22.5 Koz gold in 2024. The increase in the production guidance was due to pit optimization and increase in mineral reserves at the El Realito deposit.

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the El Realito deposit which is subject to a 1.0% buyback right for $4.0 million.

Del Carmen

On May 4, 2022, Barrick Gold Corporation reported that drilling at Del Carmen resumed in the second quarter of 2022, drilling will continue until the winter season. Results received at Carmen Norte, located to the north of the Rojo Grande target, confirmed gold mineralization with an intercept of 0.5 g/t gold over 39 meters, which opens up a new area with upside potential to add resources to Del Carmen. In addition, all geological models grade estimates and geometallurgical models with be updated and rebuilding in the second quarter to inform future steps for the project.

Metalla holds a 0.5% NSR royalty on the Del Carmen project which is the Argentine portion of the Alturas-Del Carmen project in the prolific El Indio belt.

Fifteen Mile Stream

On July 27, 2022, St. Barbara Limited reported that the Fifteen Mile Stream project has been extended to include all four identified resource open pits and enable development of the full potential of the project. Permitting application for Fifteen Mile Stream under the Canadian Federal protocol have been made and will be determined in August 2022.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Fifteen Mile Stream project, and 3.0% NSR royalty on the Plenty and Seloam Brook deposits.

Tocantinzinho

On July 18, 2022, G Mining announced a $481 million financing package, which included a gold stream, term-loan, and equity placement from Franco-Nevada Corporation for $353 million, for the development of the TZ Gold Project located in Para State, Brazil, providing for full financing required for the project. In addition, Eldorado Gold and La Mancha participated for $89 million in equity placements. Project financing is now in place for full construction to begin in Q3 2023 and targeting production for the second half of 2024.

G Mining had previously announced a feasibility study for the TZ Gold Project was completed in the previous quarter, which confirmed a 10.5-year mine life producing 1.8 Moz of gold in total resulting in an average annual gold production profile of 174,700 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $681/oz.

Economics were favourable, at a $1,600/oz gold price the study demonstrated an after-tax NPV 5% of $622 million and generated an after-tax IRR of 24%. Also of note, G Mining increased the reserves at TZ by 12% to 2.0 Moz and saw an increase in the capital cost at the project of only 7% since the last study was conducted. Project optimization and detailed engineering is expected to occur from Q4 2021 through to Q4 2022. G Mining also expects to complete two drilling campaigns totaling 10,000 meters beginning in Q4 2021 through to Q1 2022, these include a grade control drilling program to de-risk early years of production and an exploration drilling program to test for potential extensions of the known mineralization at depth and below the current pit.

G Mining is a precious metals development company with a leadership team which has built four mines in South America, including the Merian mine for Newmont Corporation and Fruta Del Norte for Lundin Gold.

Metalla holds a 0.75% GVR royalty on the Tocantinzinho project.

Fosterville

On July 27, 2022, Agnico reported that gold production from Fosterville for the first six months of the operation was 168 Koz gold. During the quarter, the Robbins Hill and Phoenix exploration declines were completed allowing for the advancement of exploration drilling in the prospective areas.

On February 23, 2022, Agnico reported that they expect to spend $34.6 million for 121,400 metres of drilling and development to replace mineral reserve depletion and to add mineral resources at the Fosterville mine. Agnico announced that another $19.7 million will be spent on underground and surface exploration with the aim to discover additional high-grade mineralization, with $2.9 million to be spent on regional exploration drilling on the land package surrounding the mine.

Metalla holds a 2.5% GVR royalty on the Northern and Southern extensions of the Fosterville mining license and other areas in the land package.

CentroGold

On July 25, 2022, Oz Minerals stated that the relocation plan required for progressing the court injunction removal for CentroGold was still in review with the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA). In addition, exploration expenses of $0.9 million were spent on the project for the quarter.

Metalla holds a 1.0-2.0% NSR royalty on the CentroGold project.

Camflo

On July 27, 2022, Yamana reported the Canadian Malartic partnership has identified porphyry hosted gold mineralization that could potentially be mined via an open pit at the Camflo property and provide tonnage to the Canadian Malartic operation. Additional studies are underway to fully evaluate the mineralization and additional potential in adjacent rock types. An aggressive drill program is planned in 2023. The Camflo property covers the past producing Camflo mine which had historical production of approximately 1.6 Moz of gold.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Camflo mine, located ~1km northeast of the Canadian Malartic operation.

Montclerg

Through press releases dated July 20, 2022, and June 23, 2022, GFG Resources Inc. ("GFG") reported high grade intervals at the Montclerg Gold Project located 48 km east of the Timmins Gold District. Significant intercepts include 1.32 g/t gold over 33.5 meters, 1.6 g/t gold over 70.4 meters and a 4.95 g/t gold over 8.3 meters. Step-out drilling has demonstrated the Montclerg deposit continues for 530 meters to the east and remains open. GFG are planning to complete a 8,000-10,000 meter drill program in 2022.

Metalla holds a 1.0% NSR royalty on the Montclerg property.

Detour DNA

On July 28, 2022, Agnico reported that exploration plans will investigate the Sunday Lake deformation zone along strike to the west and east of the mine. In addition, step out drilling two kilometres west of the current pit out has encountered significant intersections including 32.3 g/t gold over 4.8 meters outlining the potential for an underground operation.

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the Detour DNA property which is ~7km west of the Detour West reserve pit margin.

Green Springs

On August 9, 2022, Contact Gold reported results from the first 3 drill holes from the 2022 step-out drill program at the Green Springs oxide gold project in the Cortez Trend, Nevada. Significant results from the X-Ray zone include 1.66 g/t gold over 28.96 meters and 0.82 g/t gold over 35.05 meters. Results from the remaining 20 holes are pending.

Metalla holds a 2.0% NSR royalty on the Green Springs project.

Red Hill

On June 21, 2022, NuLegacy Gold Corporation reported an updated exploration plan for Red Hill for 2022-2023 with a 29-hole program expected to have begun in July 2022.

Metalla holds a 1.5% GOR royalty on the Red Hill property which is in close proximity to Nevada Gold Mines Cortez operations.

QUALIFIED PERSON

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Charles Beaudry, geologist M.Sc., member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and of the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec and a director of Metalla. Mr. Beaudry is a QP as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT METALLA

Metalla is a precious metals royalty and streaming company. Metalla provides shareholders with leveraged precious metal exposure through a diversified and growing portfolio of royalties and streams. Our strong foundation of current and future cash-generating asset base, combined with an experienced team gives Metalla a path to become one of the leading gold and silver companies for the next commodities cycle.

For further information, please visit our website at www.metallaroyalty.com

ON BEHALF OF METALLA ROYALTY & STREAMING LTD.

(signed) "Brett Heath"

President and CEO

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Non-IFRS Measures

The items marked above are alternative performance measures and readers should refer to non-international financial reporting standards ("IFRS") financial measures in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, as filed on SEDAR and as available on the Company's website for further details. Metalla has included certain performance measures in this press release that do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS including (a) attributable gold equivalent ounces (GEOs), (b) average cash cost per attributable GEO, (c) average realized price per attributable GEO, (d) operating cash margin per attributable GEO, which is based on the two preceding measures, and (e) adjusted EBITDA. In the precious metals mining industry, this is a common performance measure but does not have any standardized meaning. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow. The presentation of these non-IFRS measures is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Other companies may calculate these non-IFRS measures differently.

Technical and Third-Party Information

Metalla has limited, if any, access to the properties on which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest. Metalla is dependent on (i) the operators of the mines or properties and their qualified persons to provide technical or other information to Metalla, or (ii) publicly available information to prepare disclosure pertaining to properties and operations on the mines or properties on which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest, and generally has limited or no ability to independently verify such information. Although Metalla does not have any knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be no assurance that such third-party information is complete or accurate. Some information publicly reported by operators may relate to a larger property than the area covered by Metalla's royalty, stream or other interests. Metalla's royalty, stream or other interests can cover less than 100% and sometimes only a portion of the publicly reported mineral reserves, resources and production of a property.

Unless otherwise indicated, the technical and scientific disclosure contained or referenced in this press release, including any references to mineral resources or mineral reserves, was prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"), which differs significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") applicable to U.S. domestic issuers. Accordingly, the scientific and technical information contained or referenced in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the SEC.

"Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Historical results or feasibility models presented herein are not guarantees or expectations of future performance.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. The forward-looking statements herein are made as of the date of this press release only, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them except as required by applicable law.

All statements included herein that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "does not expect", "is expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "projects", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to: the successful completion of certain milestones in respect to the CentroGold project; the satisfaction of future payment obligations and contingent commitments by Metalla; the effectiveness, and potential use and benefit of, the Company's final short form base shelf prospectus and Form F-10 registration statement; the future sales of common shares under the 2022 ATM program and the value of the gross proceeds to be raised; the completion by property owners of announced drilling programs, capital expenditures, and other planned activities in relation to properties on which the Company and its subsidiaries hold a royalty or streaming interest and the expected timing thereof; production and life of mine estimates or forecasts at the properties on which the Company and its subsidiaries hold a royalty or streaming interest; the closing of the Loan Extension; future disclosure by property owners and the expected timing thereof; the completion by property owners of announced capital expenditure programs; the estimated production at Beaufor, Wharf, Higginsville, Beta Hunt, NLGM and La India;; the results of the permitting application for Fifteen Mile Stream under the Canadian Federal protocol; the anticipated results from the recently completed RC drill rig resource conversion program at the Portland-Ridge-Boston claim group and at the Flossie area; the completion of the drill program to further delineate and expand the Gosselin mineral resources and test selected targets along the deposit corridor;; the completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Tower Gold Project, and the timing thereof; the completion of pre-stripping activities at El Realito and the expected timing thereof; the future start of mining operations at Beacon Mill and the expected timing thereof; the progression of the court injunction removal at the CentroGold property; expectation that the U.S. Bureau of Land management will compete its completeness review by the end of July with the application reviews to run through to the end of 2022 with respect to the Phase 2 permit application for Castle Mountain; future opportunities for Equinox Gold to move South Domes earlier in the mine plan at Castle Mountain; the potential for Castle Mountain mine to become one of Equinox Gold's largest assets; expected timing of the preliminary economic assessment at the Tower Gold project by Moneta; the completion of two drilling campaigns at Tocantinzinho and the anticipated timing thereof; anticipated results of the completed exploration declines at Fosterville mine, including the feasibility for the advancement of exploration drilling in the prospective areas; the expectation that G Mining's $481 million financing package will fully fund the construction of the TZ Gold Project, and the anticipated timing thereof; the potential for product at the TZ Gold Project and the timing thereof; the anticipated timing of the bulk sample approvals in respect to the Wasamac Mine; engaging in ramp development at the Wasamac Mine and the timing thereof; the potential to significantly expand the Garrcon resource base and support an underground operation at the mine; the release an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment by Moneta with respect to the Garrison Project, and the anticipated timing thereof; the potential that the porphyry hosted gold mineralization identified by the Canadian Malartic partnership may be mined via an open pit from the Camflo property (1.0% NSR); continuation of the drilling at Del Carmen; receipt of permits for Fifteen Mile Steam under the Canadian Federal protocol, and timing thereof; investigation of the Sunday Lake deformation, and anticipated results thereof; the completion of project optimization and detailed engineering at Tocantinzinho and the anticipated timing thereof; the replacement of mineral reserve depletion and addition of mineral resources at the Fosterville mine; the potential production at the Wasamac project; the future production at the Amalgamated Kirkland deposit and the anticipated timing thereof; the amount and timing of the attributable GEOs expected by the Company in 2022; the future production at El Realito and the anticipated timing thereof; the increase of producing royalties to seven; future expectations regarding the royalties and streams of Metalla; royalty payments to be paid to Metalla by property owners or operators of mining projects pursuant to each royalty; the mineral reserves and resource estimates for the properties with respect to which the Company has or proposes to acquire an interest; future gold and silver prices; other potential developments relating to, or achievements by the counterparties for Metalla's stream and royalty agreements, and with respect to the mines and other properties in which Metalla has, or may acquire, a stream or royalty interest; and estimates of future production, costs and other financial or economic measures.

Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Metalla to control or predict, that may cause Metalla's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: risks associated with the impact of general business and economic conditions; the absence of control over mining operations from which Metalla will purchase precious metals or from which it will receive stream or royalty payments and risks related to those mining operations, including risks related to international operations, government and environmental regulation, delays in mine development, construction and operations, actual results of mining and current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans are refined; problems related to the ability to market precious metals or other metals; industry conditions, including commodity price fluctuations, interest and exchange rate fluctuations; interpretation by government entities of tax laws or the implementation of new tax laws; regulatory, political or economic developments in any of the countries where properties in which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest are located or through which they are held; risks related to the operators of the properties in which Metalla holds a royalty or stream or other interest, including changes in the ownership and control of such operators; risks related to global pandemics, including the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) global health pandemic, and the spread of other viruses or pathogens; influence of macroeconomic developments; business opportunities that become available to, or are pursued by Metalla; reduced access to debt and equity capital; litigation; title, permit or license disputes related to interests on any of the properties in which Metalla holds a royalty, stream or other interest; the volatility of the stock market; competition; future sales or issuances of debt or equity securities; inability to obtain stock exchange approvals or otherwise satisfy the conditions to close the Loan Extension; use of proceeds; dividend policy and future payment of dividends; liquidity; market for securities; enforcement of civil judgments; and risks relating to Metalla potentially being a passive foreign investment company within the meaning of U.S. federal tax laws, as the other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form, annual report on Form 40-F and other documents filed with or submitted to the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the EDGAR website at www.sec.gov. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that 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. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws. For the reasons set forth above, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

Website: www.metallaroyalty.com

Cision

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Cision

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A pair of suspects have been arrested in Chicago following last week's gunfire inside a crowded store at the Mall of America, police said Thursday.

Shamar Alon Lark, 21, of Minneapolis and Rashad Jamal May, 22, of Burnsville were arrested during a traffic stop conducted by the Chicago FBI's Fugitive Task Force about 2:25 p.m. Thursday, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said during a news conference Thursday evening. The two had just left a barbershop and were in a vehicle with another person who was driving.

Lark and May were arrested without incident and are in the process of being booked into the Cook County jail in Illinois and then will be extradited to Minnesota, according to Hodges.

"A week ago, we said that you can't shoot at the mall and expect to get away with it. You can't commit these acts and think you're going to enjoy the freedoms of a free society," Hodges said. "It's my hope that Mr. Lark and Mr. May get the help they need to turn their lives around after they are held accountable for their actions."

Warrants were issued for the men who face several gun charges, including second-degree assault, felony discharge of a dangerous weapon and felony possession without a permit for Lark. May is charged with aiding an offender.

The two were shown in mall surveillance video fleeing a fight among four other individuals that led to Lark firing several shots. No one was injured in the incident that sent shoppers scurrying and led the mall into lockdown.

Lark is on probation for a shooting in September near SE. 26th and Delaware avenues. Lark and another male ran from the area of the shooting, and he was later apprehended while in possession of a firearm. He was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit.

Three other people were arrested and charged Monday with aiding an offender: Denesh Raghubir, 21, of Minneapolis; Selena Raghubir, 23, of Bloomington; and Delyanie Kwen-Shawn Arnold, 23, of Burnsville. They are accused of helping the men escape the mall.

Story continues

According to charging documents:

May drove Lark's vehicle to the mall, arriving around 4 p.m. Thursday. It was left in the parking ramp and towed to the Bloomington Police Department, where officers searched the vehicle and found IDs for both men as well as a handgun holster in the trunk.

Three cartridges were found inside the main entrance of the Nike store after officers responded to the shooting shortly before 4:20 p.m. Security video shows a fight broke out before May and Lark left the store briefly. Lark returned and fired a handgun in the direction of the fight. He then ran out the north doors with May and into the Ikea parking lot where they could no longer be seen on surveillance.

The men were picked up by a Best Western hotel shuttle at Ikea and taken to the hotel just south of the mall. Officers interviewed the bus driver, Raghubir, who told police he dropped them off and last saw them smoking outside the hotel.

Officers obtained a search warrant for May's phone which showed that two minutes after the shooting, he called Arnold, who in return called May five times between 4:20 and 4:23 p.m.

Arnold then called his girlfriend, Selena Raghubir, an assistant manager at the hotel who is a cousin of the shuttle bus driver. The couple exchanged calls with May around 4:30 p.m.

Ten minutes later, the bus driver is shown on surveillance picking up Lark and May at IKEA and dropping them off at the back side of the hotel, where a vehicle registered to Selena Raghubir followed.

It was the second such shooting at the Mall of America within a year's span. On Dec. 31, 2021, two people were shot and wounded following a dispute on the mall's third floor.

Kahlil M. Wiley pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to second-degree assault in connection with the gunfire.
(Bloomberg) -- Peter Ma isnt afraid of dramatic change.

Most Read from Bloomberg

In the past three years, the 66-year-old chairman of Chinas biggest insurer has slashed more than 800,000 roles, or 60% of his army of life insurance agents, in a painful reform to boost productivity and restore value for Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. Hes repeatedly restructured the company he built over three decades, shuttering unpromising businesses and striking out into new areas, in his pursuit of growth.

Now Mas set sights on splitting up Europes largest bank, HSBC Holdings Plc, where Ping An has a major stake. Concern about the lenders ability to handle geopolitical risk -- its based in London but counts Hong Kong as its biggest market -- and disappointment in its business performance sit at the heart of Ping Ans push, according to a person familiar with the insurers thinking, who requested not to be named because the matter is private.

From behind the scenes, Ma has set in motion a tussle thats fired up retail shareholders in Hong Kong, a third of HSBCs investor base. The schism with the banks management dovetails with Beijings tightening grip on the former British colony.

This public rift is more than uncommon, its unique, Michael Sheridan, author of The Gate to China, a new history of the Peoples Republic and Hong Kong. To see a giant Chinese insurer taking on the dominant bank in Hong Kong signifies a tactical change with huge implications. This is not purely about money, its about power and who rules the financial landscape in Chinas international gateway.

For its part, HSBC has pushed back, most recently at a chaotic shareholder meeting in Hong Kong where protesters held up placards in support of Ping Ans stance. Chairman Mark Tucker and Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn argued that an Asian carve-out plan was unworkable and posed a major risk to the company. It would also put Hong Kongs place as a global financial center at risk, Quinn warned.

Story continues

Long Romance

On Thursday, a person familiar with the insurers thinking said HSBC was overstating the challenges of a spinoff, and was in urgent need of radical change.

A closer look at Ping Ans reticent chairman provides clues on what Ma envisions for the 157-year-old lender.

The son of Peoples Liberation Army officers, Ma never received a college degree due to the Cultural Revolution that disrupted Chinas education system. He learned English by memorizing the dictionary, and built Ping An into the worlds second-largest insurer from scratch. He designed almost all its new businesses, often beginning with sketches of business models, like how he played with self-made toys during his childhood.

Since founding Chinas first joint-stock insurer in 1988, Ma has built it into a financial conglomerate spanning insurance, banking, and asset management. Ping An has incubated and listed unicorns worth billions and is seeking to transform itself into a technology giant comparable to Huawei Technologies Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

His romance with HSBC began in 2002, when the British lender bought a 10% stake in the Chinese insurer. HSBC sold out in 2012, after helping Ping An build its back-office platform and improve risk management. Five years later, Ping An disclosed it held a 5% stake in HSBC, switching the relationship. When the lenders stock hit a 25-year low in 2020, Ping An raised its holding to 8%, helping put in a bottom.

HSBCs Tucker once asked Ma, who hes called an old friend, why Ping An kept pushing the boundaries. A sense of crisis, Ma responded. The comment fits with what people who know him describe as an obsession for change, a perpetual sense of crisis, and an ability to execute on plans.

Despite the close relationship, differences rooted in the companies cultures have grown more apparent over the past decade, the person familiar with the firms thinking said, adding that Ping An was particularly disappointed by HSBCs underperformance compared with other Asia-focused banks and a suspension of dividends during the pandemic.

It also worries about the geopolitical hazards. Given HSBC is based in London and mainly regulated by in the UK, its susceptible to risks as western countries and China decouple, the person said.

Tensions grew after Ping Ans input was brushed aside by HSBC, despite it holding the largest stake, the person said.

On Aug 9, Hong Kong governments advisory Executive Council convenor Regina Ip said that she definitely wanted HSBC to be headquartered in the city, a 2015 proposal that was once reviewed but vetoed by the bank.

HSBC and Ping An declined to comment.

Changing Times

Ma has seen his share of troubles.

Ping An drew the spotlight in 2012 when the New York Times reported that former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabaos relatives once acquired shares in the firm after an appeal by the insurer to authorities averted its breakup following the Asian financial crisis. Ma emerged from the incident unscathed.

More recently, Ping Ans stock has dived more than 50% from a 2021 high, fueled by a botched real estate investment, Beijings technology crackdown that hit the value of its spinoffs and a slumping life insurance business. Thats added urgency to the need to squeeze value from one of Mas biggest bets.

The insurer is keen to bolster shareholder return at HSBC, and is flexible on the approach -- possibilities include a breakup of HSBCs Asia business or just the Asia retail operations, the person said. The spinoff can remain part of HSBC to leverage its global back office operations through internal agreements.

In response, the bank has set out 14 reasons why changing its structure was a bad idea, ranging from the length of time it would take - the bank reckons as long as five years - to the loss of direct access to US dollars.

HSBCs latest earnings report and shareholder meeting offered little to appease Ping An. Asias contribution to pretax profit climbed to nearly 70%. In Ping Ans view, that bolstered Mas case to spin off the regions business and capture growth in China, the person said. The insurers leadership also thinks HSBC management has yet to provide a long-term solution to deal with geopolitical risks, the person added.

Ping An remains focused on persuading HSBC to give shareholders a vote on the spin off of its Asian operations as a Hong Kong-listed and headquartered standalone business, a person familiar with the matter had said following the investor meeting. It estimates a spinoff would generate additional market value of $25 billion to $35 billion, release $8 billion in capital requirements, and save on headquarter and infrastructure costs, the person said on Thursday.

For now, it remains to be seen whether Mas campaign will be successful. But even if he ultimately fails to convince HSBC and its investors to back a spinoff, the episode may bring renewed urgency to the banks efforts to improve shareholder returns, said Mak Yuen Teen, a professor at the National University of Singapore, who researches corporate governance.

In HSBCs case, management has raised some valid points against a spinoff, Mak said. Nevertheless, such a campaign could push the board and management to do a fundamental review of its business and may not be a bad thing.

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2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Police on scene at the 1000 block of N. Covell Avenue on Aug. 11 in search of a shooting suspect.

Police arrested two men after a multi-hour standoff in northern Sioux Falls, including one who allegedly threatened to shoot state employees.

Elliot Lincoln Jay Bird, 27, from Sioux Falls, was arrested in an apartment complex in the 1000 block of N. Covell Avenue after police saw him enter the building with another man after an attempted traffic stop, according to a police press release. Police believed both men to be armed.

Jay Bird was arrested alongside Trevor Swift Eagle, 24, from Sioux Falls, for fleeing from police, burglary, parole violations and warrants both men had, according to Lt. Adam Petersen.

The men were arrested after several hours of negotiations, during which some residents were evacuated and some sheltered in place.

The incident was called in just before 5 p.m. when police spotted Jay Bird in a vehicle that sped off on them. Instead of pursing him in patrol units, they used an aircraft from the South Dakota Highway Patrol to track the vehicle, Petersen said.

The suspects broke into the apartment on Covell Avenue where they remained until surrendering to the Sioux Falls Police's SWAT team around 12:45 a.m. Friday, Petersen said.

They were arrested without incident, and neither suspect or law enforcement were injured, Petersen said.

Earlier: Man fires gun into air after asking group of people if they are state employees, police say

Jay Bird accused of threatening state employees

Police said Jay Bird drove up to a group of people Wednesday morning and asked if they were state employees. When they said no, police said he fired a shotgun into the air and drove off.

That was the morning after police fatally shot Jacob James after police say he fired a gun toward them while fleeing from a traffic stop in a Burger King parking lot near W. 12th Street and Kiwanis Avenue.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol and Sioux Falls police initially provided different details about Jay Bird's involvement the shooting at Burger King.

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While the police department said that incident and Jay Bird's threats to state-employees were separate, the South Dakota Department of Public Safety came out and said Jay Bird was involved in both.

Petersen gave more details during Friday's media briefing when he said all four people involved in the Burger King incident were accounted for.

"He [Jay Bird] became related when he threatened to shoot law enforcement because of some sort of connection to the individual who was shot at by police at Burger King earlier in the week," Petersen said.

As of Friday morning, police still did not specify what the relation was between Jay Bird and Jacob James, the man who allegedly shot at police before a police officer and a sheriff's deputy fatally shot him, police chief Jon Thum said.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls Police arrested shooting suspect after standoff
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Kazakhstan is expected to sell some of its crude oil through Azerbaijan's biggest oil pipeline from September, Azernrews reports.

According to a direct source, Kazakhstan's state oil firm Kazmunaigaz (KMG) was in advanced discussions with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state firm SOCAR to allow 1.5 million tonnes per year of Kazakh crude to be sold through the Azerbaijani pipeline that delivers oil to Turkiyes Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The final contract is due to be signed at the end of August with flows through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline starting up a month later, the source said.

Another 3.5 million tonnes per year of Kazakh crude could start flowing in 2023 through another Azerbaijani pipeline to Georgia's Black Sea port of Supsa, two sources said.

Over 700 companies with Azerbaijani capital are presently registered in Kazakhstan, and about 60 companies with Kazakh capital are registered in Azerbaijan.

The main export products from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan are mineral resources (oil and gas), chemical raw materials, grain, barley, tobacco products, carbon steel rolling, and electrical equipment. Azerbaijan exports petroleum products extracted from bituminous materials, ethylene polymers, components for machines and mechanisms, prefabricated buildings, etc. to Kazakhstan.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the European Court of Justice is pictured outside the main courtroom in Luxembourg

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's National Settlement Depository has filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to overturn European Union sanctions imposed on it, the NSD said on Friday.

The EU added the NSD, which Moscow planned to use to service the country's Eurobonds, to its list of sanctioned entities in June.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y. Lee will receive a presidential pardon on Monday, South Korea's Ministry of Justice said, paving the way for the heir to the country's biggest company to regain power at the top.

Lee was paroled from prison last year after serving 18 months in jail for bribing former South Korean president Park Geun-hye. The parole banned Lee from being employed for five years and limited overseas travel. The pardon will erase the 54-year-old executive's criminal record from his 2017 conviction.

The special pardon will enable Samsungs de facto leader Lee, the grandson of Samsung's founder, to officially participate in management, restoring his right to work at the giant tech company. His arrival is expected to help Samsung accelerate its decision-making on major strategies from chipmaking to investment plans.

The pardon comes as the semiconductor industry faces challenges like supply shortages from the coronavirus pandemic, inflation and logistics snags.

A South Korean government official said the special pardons to business leaders, which are in consideration of their roles in leading national growth through technology investment and job creation, will help overcome the national economic crisis.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to start anew," Lee said in a statement. Lee promised to try harder to give back to society through continuous investment and job creation.

(This article has been updated with Jay Y. Lee's comments.)
The State Department announced on Thursday that it was offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identity and location of five individuals believed to be tied to the Conti ransomware group.

The agency accused the hackers, known by their online aliases as Target, Reshaev, Professor, Tramp, and Dandis, of participating in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure.

Stripping anonymity from key players, offering bounties, seizing illicit funds, and making public declarations of intent are important actions that may help to increase the real and perceived risks of engaging in ransomware operations, said Jeremy Kennelly, a senior manager of financial crime analysis at cybersecurity firm Mandiant, in a statement.

Conti, a Russia-based hacker group, has supported the Russian government following its invasion of Ukraine and has threatened critical infrastructure of countries it perceives as a threat to Russia, the State Department said.

The agency added that the group has conducted over 1,000 ransomware operations targeting U.S. and international critical infrastructure, including law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services and 911 dispatch centers.

The State Department has been issuing several of these rewards following the invasion of Ukraine. In May, it offered a similar reward with an additional $5 million for information leading to the arrest of any individual conspiring with the Conti ransomware group.

In April, the agency said it was offering a $10 million reward for information on a group of Russian hackers who were allegedly involved in malicious cyber activities.

According to the State Department, the hackers participated in a criminal conspiracy that took part in a destructive malware infection of computers worldwide in June 2017 using malware referred to as NotPetya.

Continued action by the U.S. government and law enforcement agencies targeting key criminal organizations such as the Conti operators is critical to shifting the incentives that have allowed the ransomware ecosystem to thrive over the past few years, Kennelly added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Stop and Shop

Annual program aims to fight summer hunger by providing locally grown, fresh vegetables to communities in need

QUINCY, Mass., Aug. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Summer can be the hungriest time of year for many families with an estimated 22 million children facing summer hunger, according to Feeding America. Today Stop & Shop announced the launch of its annual Local Produce for Locals in Need program, an initiative dedicated to donating locally grown, fresh vegetables to neighbors in need to help combat summer hunger in children and families throughout the month of August. Distribution events across multiple states will bring the same local produce Stop & Shop offers in its stores to hundreds who are facing food insecurity.



Stop & Shop has a longstanding history of giving back to the neighborhoods it serves with a focus on fighting hunger. Through this program, communities in need will have access to fresh, local produce like eggplant, corn, cabbage, peppers, and cucumbers as Stop & Shop works to increase access to healthy, nutritious foods across its footprint.

The brand will be kicking off the program in New Jersey, where Stop & Shop will donate $5,000 worth of New Jersey grown produce to regional food bank Fulfill, which services Monmouth & Ocean Counties. Nearly 300 clients of Fulfill will be able to drive up to its Neptune City location on August 12 to receive grocery essentials and fresh, New Jersey produce from Stop & Shop associate volunteers. Additional distribution events will be held throughout the month in locations including Quincy and Roxbury, Massachusetts, and Brentwood and East Islip, New York.

Stop & Shop highlights local produce throughout all of its stores each year during the month of August, helping to sustain local farms and businesses while supplying customers with a selection of regionally sourced items and local flavors across farmstand-fresh produce, sustainably sourced seafood, delicious baked goods and many more locally sourced favorites. Stores will feature signage throughout aisles highlighting featured farms Stop & Shop sources its local selection from.

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For more information on Stop & Shops programs to support local communities, visit https://stopandshop.com/community/.

About Stop & Shop:

A neighborhood grocer for more than 100 years, Stop & Shop offers a wide assortment with a focus on fresh, healthy options at a great value. Stop & Shop's GO Rewards loyalty program delivers personalized offers and allows customers to earn points that can be redeemed for gas or groceries every time they shop. Stop & Shop customers can choose how and where they want to shop - whether in-store or online for delivery or same day pickup. The company is committed to making an impact in its communities by fighting hunger, supporting our troops, and investing in pediatric cancer research to help find a cure. The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC is an Ahold Delhaize USA Company and employs 58,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit the website

CONTACT: caroline.medeiros@stopandshop.com




(Bloomberg) -- Russia defied growing international pressure to grant inspectors immediate access to Europes largest nuclear plant in occupied Ukraine amid fears of a catastrophe, saying a visit cant take place before the end of the month.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putins invasion set Russias economy back four years in the first full quarter after the attack, with gross domestic product expected to have plunged an annual 4.7% -- one of the steepest downturns on record. Quarterly figures will be released later Friday.

A senior US military official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. still doesnt know what weapons were used in an attack Tuesday on a Russian airbase in Crimea. The official said surveillance aircraft and munitions were destroyed in the attack on the Saky base.

(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)

Key Developments

Putins War Hurls His Economy Back Four Years in One Quarter

Crimea Base Blast Deals Blow to Russias War Machine in Ukraine

Sanction All Russian Banks, Ukraines Envoy to the US Urges

Ukraine Envoy to US Cautions War Fatigue Would Embolden Putin

Russia Visa Ban in EU Wins Key Backing From Czech Presidency

Turkey Boasts of Russia Trade Boom, Defying Push for Sanctions

Putin Aide Leads Talks on Fate of Russias Top Internet Company

On the Ground

The northern city of Kharkiv and the towns of Nikopol and Marganets in the Dnipropetrovsk region were shelled overnight, according to local authorities. Russian forces were partially successful in the offensive in the direction of Horlivka-Zaitseve, the Ukrainian general staff reported. The Ukrainian military says Russian forces launched an unsuccessful attack in the districts of Spartak and Maryinka in the Donetsk region. Fighting continues near the village of Pisky in Luhansk.

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(All times CET)

US Official Says No Immediate Threat to Zaporizhzhia Plant (7:28 p.m.)

The senior US military official who spoke Friday said there is no immediate threat to a nuclear plant in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia but that could change at any moment.

Russia continues to engage in indiscriminate artillery fire in Ukraine, the official said. Earlier, the Russian envoy to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said a mission to the nuclear plant led by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi cant take place before the end of August or early September, according to an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.

The IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has warned of a real risk of nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia because of repeated strikes near the facility in recent days. Russian invasion forces took over the power station in March, though it continues to be operated by Ukrainian workers. Each side in the war accuses the other of targeting it.

Druzhba Pipeline to Resume Oil Flow to Czech Republic (4:53 p.m.)

The supply of Russian oil to the Czech Republic via the Druzhba pipeline will resume on Friday around 8 p.m. local time, according to an emailed statement from Slovak pipeline company Transpetrol.

Russian crude flows through Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were halted because sanctions prevented payment of a transit fee. Supplies for Hungary and Slovakia restarted two days ago.

Russia Visa Ban in EU Wins Key Backing From Czech Presidency (2:46 p.m.)

The Czech Republic will put a proposal for a broad ban on visas issued to Russian citizens at an EU foreign ministers meeting later this month.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said his government will seek consensus on the measure, which so far has gained little traction outside of the EUs Baltic members, at a meeting of the blocs foreign ministers later this month. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signaled Thursday he wouldnt support it.

Putin Aide Leads Talks on Russias Top Internet Company (12:03 p.m.)

One of President Vladimir Putins top Kremlin aides is leading negotiations to decide the fate of Russias most popular search engine, whose founder was sanctioned over Yandex NVs portrayal of the war in Ukraine, according to three people familiar with the talks.

Sergei Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of Putins administration, is heading the talks over the public company as Yandexs founder, Arkady Volozh, has been sidelined due to European Union sanctions, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private.

EUs Michel Lauds WFP Vessel to Load Grain for Africa; More Grain Ships (9:30 a.m.)

The Liberian-flagged Brave Commander is expected to arrive at Ukraines Pivdennyi port on the Black Sea to load about 23,000 tonnes of grain for Ethiopia.

Its the first vessel chartered so far under the framework of the UNs World Food Program since grain exports restarted under a safe-transit agreement signed last month.

Separately, two more grain vessels left Ukrainian ports on Friday bound for Turkey and Iran, respectively. Another two ships have been authorized to go to Odesa for loading, pending final inspections, the safe-transit grain corridors Joint Coordination Center said.

Ukrainians Back NATO Membership in Poll (9:28 a.m.)

Almost all Ukrainians believe the nation will will the war against Russia, and 72% would back joining NATO if a referendum were held today, according to a joint survey of the Washington-based International Republican Institute and the Ukrainian Rating group.

A sizable majority, 64%, said Ukraine would maintain all territories from its internationally recognized borders in 1991 after the current war. Another 14% say that Ukraine would regain territory under its control prior to Russias Feb. 24 invasion.

Approval of President Volodymyr Zelenskiys job performance was running at 91%, up 13 points from May. The poll was taken June 27-28 and excluded the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Putins War Sets Russian Economy on Path for Long Downturn (6:38 a.m.)

Russias economic slump following its invasion of Ukraine seems more shallow than initially indicated, but President Vladimir Putins war has still put the nation on track for one of the longest downturns on record.

Forecasts due Friday will likely show Russias GDP shrank for the first time in a year, hit by international sanctions that disrupted trade and threw industries like car manufacturing into paralysis.

Ukraine Envoy to US Cautions War Fatigue Would Embolden Putin (1:11 a.m.)

Ukraines envoy to Washington cautioned the US and allies against fatigue over a war thats costing billions of dollars in security assistance, saying it would be far costlier in the end to let Putin go unchallenged.

Can you simply say, OK, lets forget about Ukraine and do something else? The answer is no, Ambassador Oksana Markarova said in an interview Thursday in Bloombergs Washington office.

Markarova also called for the US to sanction all Russian private banks.

Zelenskiy Say Russia Using Nuclear Plant to Threaten World (10:28 p.m.)

Ukraines President Zelenskiy said theres a global interest, not just a Ukrainian need, to pressure Russia to give up control of the captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europes largest.

Russia has once again gone through another floor in the world history of terrorism, Zelenskiy said Thursday in his nightly video address to the nation. No one else has used a nuclear plant so obviously to threaten the whole world.

Only the complete withdrawal of Russians from the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP and the restoration of Ukraines full control over the situation around the plant will guarantee the restoration of nuclear safety for all of Europe, Zelenskiy said.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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In 1770, on a farm in what is now Caroline County, a man was born who played a key part in Lewis and Clarks famed 180306 Expedition to the Pacific.

This man was a hunter and carried a firearm, could swim and, having an understanding of natural remedies, took care of members of the expedition when they grew ill.

He went on scouting trips and had an equal vote with other team members on important decisions, such as where to build a fort to overwinter on the Oregon coast.

He was admired by the Native Americans and helped make successful trades with them. Two geographic featuresa series of islands and a creekwere named after him.

Yet unlike every other man who accompanied William Clark and Meriwether Lewis on the historic voyage, he did not receive the U.S. governments reward of double pay and 320 acres of land.

Thats because this manwho had only one name, Yorkwas enslaved by Clark, willed to him in 1799 by his father, who owned Yorks parents.

Years ago, we acknowledged [York in Caroline County,] but not to the degree we need to today, said Carolyn Davis, president of Historic Port Royal.

Davis, a retired school principal, is also the Caroline County chair for the Virginia Lewis and Clark Legacy Trail, or VLCLT, which was initiated in 2010 and crosses the state, marking places and events that played a role in the expedition.

Three years ago, trail organizers began raising funds to support extending the trail, adding new signs and updating existing ones. This year, the General Assembly approved a budget amendment funding the fabrication and installation of four highway markers and directional signs to support the trail.

Caroline County is one of the four localities that will submit applications to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and Virginia Department of Transportation for the funds. According to a press release from the VLCLT, the money will be used to replace the existing highway marker for York, which was installed in 2009 on U.S. 1 near the intersection with Ladysmith Road.

Davis will work with the VLCLT and the Department of Historic Resources to write the text for the new marker.

The existing marker mentions Yorks birth on the farm of William Clarks family, the fact that he was the only Black member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the fact that he received no rewards for his participation because of his status as an enslaved person.

But Davis said the marker should acknowledge more of Yorks accomplishments with the Corps of Discovery, as well as the known facts about what happened to him after the expedition.

We want to make sure whats there is correctly done, she said.

According to historian, author and speaker Hasan Daviswho wrote a childrens book about York and portrays him in living history performancesYork enjoyed freedom and equality on the expedition.

Journals kept by crew members show that York was greatly respected by everyone.

If you look at the journals, its estimated there are about one million words of text all written by white men who were indoctrinated in white supremacy, and not one time was there a negative, derisive or ugly stereotypical statement made about York, Davis said. Just that absence was more powerful than anything and that led me to dig deep into his story.

Indigenous leaders who Davis spoke to during his research told him that York was admired and respected by the Native Americans as well.

He made an impact and he created opportunities [with the Native Americans] where there wouldnt have been any, Davis said. These were very sophisticated communities with their own economic systems and many of them were under-impressed by the crew, but because York was so unique, he created unique opportunities.

Yorks presence may have gone so far as to keep the entire team alive. Davis said indigenous leaders told him, You need to know that the only reason we didnt kill them all was because we heard about him.

His impact was so much more than just, the guy carrying the bags for William Clark, Davis said.

The respect that York received during the expedition made returning to enslavement unbearable for him, Davis said.

Clark and York grew up together in Virginia and later Kentucky, which at the time was Virginias western frontier. York served as Clarks personal servant and the two were companions for decadesthey were in their mid-30s at the time of the expeditionyet Clark was never able to see him as an equal, Davis said.

There are no official papers showing that Clark ever granted York his freedom, he said.

Clark did allow York to go to Louisville, Kentucky to be near his wife, but wrote to his brother, if any attempt is made by York to run off, or refuse to [perform] his duty as a Slave, I wish him Sent to New Orleans and Sold, or hired out to Some Severe master [until] he thinks better of Such Conduct.

Clark later told the writer Washington Irving that he freed York 10 years after the expedition, but that his life as a free man was a failure due to his own laziness. He claimed that York set out to return to his master but died of cholera and was buried in an unmarked grave.

Is this account accurate, or is Clark using racist stereotyping of the era to justify why York never should have been free at all? Davis asked in an article he wrote about York for the National Park Service.

Another account from a fur trader who wrote about his years in the western territories, describes encountering a Black man who claimed to be York living among a band of Crow Indians in todays Wyoming.

He lost his wife and family and maybe he decided to go out there and live his second best life, Davis said. He found that place where he had been welcomed and valued. He was a competent frontiersman. He knew the rivers and the waters. Everything about it shows its something he could have done.

However he ended his days, Yorks history-making accomplishments as the first Black man to cross the continent as part of an important voyage of discovery deserve to be celebrated and shared, Carolyn Davis said.

York was a valued and trusted member of the Corps of Discovery, working side-by-side with the other members of the group, she said. His contributions were innumerable during the 28-month journey.

Historic Port Royal and the Caroline County Historical Society will hold a joint meeting on Sunday, Aug. 14, at 2 p.m. at Caroline County Community Services Center in Milford. The groups will discuss the legacy trail project and hear a presentation from Peggy Crosson, president of VLCLT.

We would like to compliment Mrs. Davisshe has jumped on board serving as the county chair for Caroline and she is also trying to coordinate and engage other counties that have Lewis and Clark connections, like Spotsylvania, Crosson said.

The Lewis and Clark legacy trail hopes to install more than 40 new signs in the next 10 years.
A Maryland woman Tuesday pleaded guilty to robbing an 88-year-old Stafford County man last year, but wont have to serve any prison time.

Tiffany N. Barker, 36, of Nanjemoy, Maryland, entered the plea in Stafford Circuit Court. As part of a plea agreement worked out by prosecutor Ryan Fitzgerald and defense attorney Kevin Roach, Barker received a five-year prison sentence with all of it suspended.

In addition, a second robbery charge and an abduction charge were dropped.

According to court records, Barker and 35-year-old Kevin N. Allen of Washington went to the Aquia Harbour residence of the victim on Aug. 10, 2021. Barker claimed she was there to pick up bail money for another woman, while Allen claimed he was just along for the ride.

The victims grandson called 911 at 2 a.m. that day after hearing his grandfather, who has dementia and was in a wheelchair, yelling for help.

The suspects were still in the area when deputies arrived and were taken into custody. The victim had dried blood on his mouth and told police that $800 had been taken from him. The money was not recovered.

The victim reported that he let Barker into the home but was not immediately aware that anyone had accompanied her.

Allen was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery and received a five-year sentence with all but five months suspended.
As schools have reopened and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has loosened COVID-19 guidelines pertaining to quarantine, heres a mixed bag of reports in terms of data.

Hospitalizations from the virus are up slightly in the Fredericksburg area but down slightly across the state. New cases are down, both locally and across Virginia, as are death counts.

As of Friday, there were 38 people being treated for COVID-19 symptoms in the Fredericksburg areas three hospitals, according to data from the Rappahannock Area Health District. Five of them were in intensive care.

A week earlier, there were 30 people in Mary Washington Hospital, Stafford Hospital and Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center with COVID-19.

Virginia was averaging 778 patients a day with the virus as of Fridaya rate thats down from the previous week, when the daily average was 792 patients, according to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association dashboard.

While the BA.5 type of omicron variant has been highly contagious, those infected havent overwhelmed ICU unitswhich was the case with the original strain of omicron, and before that, the delta variant. Across Virginia, about one of every seven people hospitalized with the virus, as of Friday, needed intensive care and one-third of those in ICUs were on ventilators, according to the VHHA.

In addition, local health officials have said those who develop serious illnesses tend to have underlying health conditions or immune systems that are suppressed as a result of certain medical conditions or because theyre being treated for diseases like cancer.

Locally, case numbers have dropped. There were 781 new cases reported in Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford for the week ending Friday. The previous week, there were 911 new cases, according to RAHD data.

However, because the total does not include people who test at home, health officials suspect the number of infected people is considerably larger.

One new death related to COVID-19 was reported in the local health district last week compared to four deaths the previous week.

In summing up current conditions, the CDC announced Thursday that Americans no longer have to quarantine if they come into contact with a person who has the virus. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin made a similar announcement a month ago, saying those exposed to COVID-19 at child care, schools or camp settings no longer have to undergo mandatory quarantine.

The CDC also said people no longer need to stay at least 6 feet away from others. Agency officials estimate that 95% of Americans age 16 and older have some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or infected.

The current conditions of this pandemic are very different from those of the last two years, said Dr. Greta Massetti, a senior epidemiologist with the CDC.

In the midst of the changes, the federal government on Friday announced $2.1 million in funding to address the pandemic in rural areas, including a clinic in Essex County. A news release from U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine contained a more urgent tone than the CDC report the previous day.

As Virginia communities continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, its critical that we provide resources to help protect Virginians, stated the news release from Warner and Kaine. Thats why we are pleased to see these grants go towards COVID vaccination and testing, telehealth and food assistance services, ventilation systems and financial aid.

Money came from the U.S. Department of Agricultures Community Facilities Emergency Rural Health Care program.

The LedwithLewis Free Clinic in Tappahannock is one of three facilities in Virginia to receive funding. It is getting $36,800 for test kits, rapid test supplies and vaccines as well as additional staffing. The investment will benefit about 27,350 people, according to a news release.

The community-based clinic offers free health care to low-income, uninsured residents of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. Its funded by donations from individuals, churches, civic groups and businesses.
First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva on her official Instagram page has shared photos from her visit to Gobustan District with President Ilham Aliyev.

Azernews presents the post: Diri Baba tomb.




It began with a simple prayer request.

Fremonter Tina Skibstead was praying during her morning devotions.

If theres anything you want me to do for you Lord, bring it to my heart, Skibstead prayed.

From that request came an event planned for this weekend called, March for Christ.

The public is invited to the event, which starts at 1 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 14, at the picnic table shelter at John C. Fremont City Park on Eighth Street.

Participants will meet at the shelter, then embark on a 2- to 3-mile march with posters and signs proclaiming the presence of Christ in the community.

The rectangular march route will go from the park shelter, north down Broad Street, east on 23rd Street, then south on Clarkson Avenue and west on Eighth Street back to the park shelter.

Skibstead said the march will end at about 2:30 p.m. at the park shelter where the walk began.

Participants are encouraged to bring bottled water and either a lawn chair or a blanket and sit and hear a message from Mark Bonkiewicz, head of Nebraskans for Founders Values.

Skibstead told how the event came to be.

She said after praying and asking God what she could do for him, she remembered being part of a March for Dimes event years ago.

Skibstead believes the Lord put it on her heart to have a march for Christ.

The local woman said she asked the Lord to guide her steps and what route he wanted her to take and to raise up people to help her.

She cites the purpose of the event.

Its for people to recognize who Jesus is and that theres a better life out there for them, Skibstead said. Its to bring the community of Fremont to get to know Jesus and their rights to worship and praise God.

During his talk in the park, Bonkiewicz will share his concern about the nations 1st Amendment rights of freedom to worship.

A former farmer and rancher in Sidney, Nebraska, Bonkiewicz raised winter wheat, edible beans and 500 head of lambs each year.

Three years of drought and poor prices forced him to leave the farm, Bonkiewicz said in a press release.

Bonkiewicz moved to Omaha, where he had a 35-year career selling construction services and label solutions. He also launched and operated his own consulting firm for 10 years. The firm specialized in strategic planning and customized sales training.

For the first 59 years of his life, Bonkiewicz voted in elections and helped a candidate or two with literature drops.

Then for weeks during early morning prayer, Bonkiewicz said he heard the Lord telling him to be a man of both prayer and action and to protect all his children.

The result, Bonkiewicz said, was Nebraskans for Founders Values, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

Bonkiewicz said members of this organization are guardians of 1st Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion in all 93 Nebraska counties.

The NFFV hosted 38 workshops, called Legislature 101 Bootcamps, in all areas of the state in 2020 and 2021, Bonkiewicz stated in his biography.

Bonkiewicz said the decline in moral standards in the United States in the last 40 years has been a major concern to him.

But he said his No. 1 concern has been how churches in America were relegated as non-essential services due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He said Christians must pray and work hard now to help churches regain and keep essential service status before the next medical challenge.

Bonkiewicz and his wife, Paula, have two adult sons and two grandchildren.

Skibstead hopes people attend Sundays event.

Theres a lot of people who are searching for something and maybe this will help them see a different life, she said.
A Lancaster County judge on Wednesday signed an arrest warrant for a Lincoln man who police say fled to Canada as police investigated sexual abuse allegations against the 56-year-old, authorities said in court records.

Issa Augustino has been charged with third-degree sexual assault of a child and felony child abuse, but remains at large, with recent bank activity indicating he is now in Canada, Lincoln Police Investigator Tyler Nitz said in the affidavit for Augustino's arrest.

The investigation into Augustino began in June 2022, when a teenage girl told police he had been regularly sexually abusing her for at least five months, Nitz said in the affidavit.

In two instances, the girl filmed the alleged assaults to prove they occurred, she told investigators.

As the alleged abuse went on, the girl said Augustino began sending her money electronically, which she suspected was "'hush money' for the molestation," Nitz said.

The 56-year-old fled the country in April.
Firefighters can tell you that a house fire can burn at more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

And because heat rises, the hottest point of the room in a house fire is around the ceiling, which some experts say can reach 1,500 degrees.

I cant imagine that kind of heat.

So when I think of a Bible story where a king really turned up the heat, I imagine a horrifically hot fire.

We can find this story in the book of Daniel.

It begins in Babylon, where three young Hebrew men, whove been taken from their homes, are in captivity.

Their names are Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

We know them by their Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

At this point in Bible history, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar has built a 90-foot-tall gold statue, which he orders everyone to bow down and worship.

Those who dont will be thrown into a fiery furnace.

Guess who wont bow down?

Yep. It was those three Hebrew men, who just happen to be in positions of authority.

When some jealous astrologers tattle to the king about the three mens noncompliance, he is enraged.

Nebuchadnezzar commands that the men be brought to him.

Hes ready to give them a second chance.

If they bow down and worship the statue, Nebuchadnezzar will be satisfied.

But if they dont, theyll immediately be cast into the fiery furnace.

And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands? the king asks.

Obviously, Nebuchadnezzar doesnt know the God behind the three brave men.

But they do.

Thats when they display incredible God-fueled courage.

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us, the men say. And he will deliver us from your Majestys hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.

OK. Stop the bus.

Did you notice they said, Even if he does not ?

Oh, how many of us can say that?

Even if God does not  heal me  or give me that perfect job or a child or a spouse .?

Its a remarkable statement.

These men arent just refusing to bow down to a statue.

Theyre refusing to bow down to fear.

The king becomes furious and orders the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than usual.

So Im thinking this had to be reaching at least the 1,000-degrees Fahrenheit mark.

The king commands some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the furnace.

Dont you wonder what was going through their minds?

Were they determined to be brave to the end?

Were they praying to God for deliverance or, at least, a quick death?

Were they remembering the homes theyd been taken from or thinking theyd soon be seeing loved ones in paradise?

It doesnt sound like they had much time to think at that point.

The men are still wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes when they are bound and thrown into the furnace.

Nebuchadnezzars command is so urgent and the furnace so hot that the fire kills the soldiers who take up the three men and toss them in.

Remember heat rises, so the hottest point must have been around the top.

Its no wonder those strong soldiers died.

What happens to the three men who fall inside?

Suddenly, the king leaps to his feet.

Werent there three men we tied up and threw into the fire? he asks those around him.

Everyone agrees the kings math is correct.

Look, he says, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!

Stop. Put yourself in these guys sandals for a minute.

What was it like to walk in a fiery furnace unharmed?

Did they look at their arms and handsamazed because the ropes were gone?

Did they look at the fourth man (now believed to be an angel or a preincarnate manifestation of Christ) and wonder who he was?

Or did they just marvel in his presence?

The king orders our three fellows to come out of the fire, which they do.

Theyre not hurt, their clothes arent scorchedand they dont even smell like smoke.

I dont know how long they stayed in that furnace, but it doesnt sound like they were there too long before the king called them out.

If it were me, I might have thought it was safer to stay in the furnace than go out to meet that hot-tempered king.

But I doubt these men had muchif anyfear after that.

Ill bet it burned away with those ropeswhich makes me wonder something else:

Does it sometimes take a fiery trial to make us realize just how close God really is?

And is it possible to love those furnace times, because that can be the time when we feel God the most near and see his power deliver us in the most amazing ways?

It reminds me of the Scripture in the book of Isaiah, chapter 43, verses 1-3, which, in part, reads:

....Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you my name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I recall a fiery trial I went through years ago, when it seemed like I was in the center  in the hottest part.

Looking back, I remember feeling that all the peripheral stuff Id previously worried about didnt matter.

A couple grudges Id harbored seemed to burn away like the ropes on those three men.

When youre in a fiery trial you realize whats trivial  like being angry about how someone offended you years agoand what really matters  like trusting the God who sees the future that you do not.

Our God can bring us out of those fiery times to a better place.

I love the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, because its not only a story of bravery in the face of danger.

Its a picture of fire-proof faith.

I pray that God will provide me with this faith whenever I face a fiery trial.

Because I truly believe nobody can walk us through one of those 1,500-degree Fahrenheit kind of fires like our beloved Savior Jesus.
Ahmad Ghani Khosrawi dedicated two decades of his life to restoring Afghanistan's education system, only to find himself rebuilding his career abroad following the country's return to Taliban rule.



In leaving for Germany, Khosrawi, who headed the Faculty of Literature and Humanities at Herat University, joined the exodus of professionals that has left Afghanistan depleted of some of its best and brightest minds as the country once again adjusts to new rulers in Kabul.

Doctors, engineers, judges, and lawyers were among those who had the financial means, education, and skills that could facilitate emigration. Losing such human capital, simply put, is disastrous for Afghanistan."

Many left ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. and foreign forces a year ago, anticipating that an era of democratic and social reform was coming to an end. Others, like Khosrawi, joined the exodus only after the Taliban seized power in August 2021 and filled the professional ranks with often unqualified loyalists.



"They came and appointed their own people," Khosrawi said of the situation in the education sector. "Naturally, this was a fatal blow to the universities and caused a large number of professors to leave the country."



A year on, the Taliban government is reeling from the brain drain that has hampered its ability to provide basic services and deal with a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis.



The loss of skilled workers has particularly affected the health, education, security, and judicial sectors, according to Weeda Mehran, co-director of the Center for Advanced International Studies (CAIS) at the University of Exeter in Britain.

"While hard data about the exact numbers is not available, it is safe to say that thousands of highly skilled and educated Afghans have left the country," the professor said.

Many who left had pursued an education abroad or trained at elite foreign military academies under the previous, Western-backed government that took power following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.



Doctors, engineers, judges, and lawyers were among those who had the financial means, education, and skills that could facilitate emigration," Mehran said. "Losing such human capital, simply put, is disastrous for Afghanistan."



The Taliban is already dealing with formidable obstacles that would test any government. Its rule remains officially unrecognized by any country, and the delivery of promised international aid intended to help the country deal with a humanitarian crisis brought on by famine, drought, and insecurity has been complicated in part by international sanctions imposed on the militant group.



In turn, the Taliban's return to its notorious restrictions on women and ban on girls' education, combined with its failure to live up to its own promises to uphold free media and share power, have contributed to its international isolation.



'Starting From Scratch'



Sima Stanekzai was appointed a deputy governor of Jowzjan Province in 2021 after working as a reporter and activist for 15 years. Hers was the highest-ranking position ever held by a woman in the northern province under the previous government. But the Taliban's return to power led her to flee with her family to Germany out of fear of retaliation.



Now, she feels that 20 years of effort and service in Afghanistan were wasted overnight.



"We always have to start from scratch in Afghanistan to make some progress, if at all," Stanekzai told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "And then everything gets messed up again."



Women had virtually no rights during the Talibans first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. During the 20 years of foreign military presence that followed the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, women still faced major obstacles in exercising their newfound rights.



The latest report by the U.S. Special Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, issued on July 30, noted that "while the opportunities available to Afghan women slowly increased under the Islamic Republic as compared to the preceding years of Taliban rule, women's rights and gender-mainstreaming efforts in Afghanistan failed to achieve the structural change the U.S. and international partners had envisioned."

Behnaz Rasuli was among the women who bought into the post-Taliban system that had allowed women to work and take part in public life. She opened a sewing business in the city of Herat, running two stores that employed only women, before her hopes were dashed.



"Unfortunately, with the arrival of the Taliban, I had to close the shops in a hurry because I was afraid the saleswomen might be harmed," Rasuli told Radio Azadi. "Little by little, the women's motivation dropped, some of them moved away, and luck was not on our side, and I closed the shop."



After collecting what was left of her meager savings, Rasuli, too, left for abroad.



Observers believe the departure of qualified female educators in Afghanistan will significantly hinder the future of girls' education -- a prospect that was discussed at a major sit-down of religious scholars organized by the Taliban in Kabul in June.



"Should the Taliban allow secondary and high school girls to return to classes, there will be a shortage of female teachers," the CAIS's Mehran told RFE/RL in written comments. "This might be compounded by the fact that male teachers will not be allowed to teach girls. Likewise, many universities are already facing a shortage of female staff, particularly female professors, as the Taliban's policy has been complete gender segregation in higher-education institutions."



Not The First Time



Afghanistan has been through this before, having suffered major departures of skilled workers after the Soviet invasion in 1979, as well as during the 1992-96 civil war that resulted in the Taliban first taking power.



Each time, the exodus left a vacuum of talent that set the country back years or decades and required its leaders to start anew in training new people to fill the void.



Even as more than 1 million Afghans have left the country -- some by crossing into neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran, and others seeking official refugee status in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere in the West -- some have come back.



According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 1,430 Afghan refugees have voluntarily returned to Afghanistan since the beginning of this year, of whom nearly 300 have settled in Kabul.



UNHCR senior communications officer Peter Kessler told RFE/RL in written comments that those numbers are slightly more than the figures for the same time last year and more than double those of two years ago.

Ever since the Taliban overran Kabul on August 15, 2021, its leadership has tried to encourage civil servants, military and security personnel, educators, and others to remain or return to the country of around 40 million people.



The Taliban promised an amnesty for security forces and others who had worked for the previous government and claimed that for those who had already left "all would be forgiven" and professionals would be treated as "heroes" upon their return to the country.



In May, the Taliban put those promises in writing when it announced the objectives and duties of its new Commission for Contact With Afghan Personalities that aimed to recruit prominent professionals to return to Afghanistan.



The Taliban offered assurances to former politicians and soldiers who feared for their security, saying they would be given temporary shelter and protection. Regarding the private sector, the Taliban promised that "if someone creates a problem for returnees, they will be dealt with."

On its Twitter feed, the commission has openly extended an olive branch to those who emigrated, inviting "academic, political and intellectual figures, experts, intellectuals, and all Afghans who live outside the country" to return.



But few politicians, security personnel, and officials who served the former government have taken up the Talibans offer. The militant group has been accused by international rights groups of carrying out hundreds of human rights violations since seizing power, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and torture of those associated with the ousted government along with human rights defenders and journalists.
Dear Reader,

Welcome to Gandhara's weekly newsletter. This briefing brings you the best of our reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If youre new to the newsletter or haven't subscribed yet, you can do so here.

This week's Gandhara Briefing brings insight into the killing of top Pakistani Taliban commanders, the brain drain from Afghanistan, and why private schools are shutting down in the country.

Peace Talks And The TTP

Radio Mashaal broke the news about the killing of three top commanders of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) inside Afghanistan this week. They included Abdul Wali, alias Omar Khalid Khorasani, one of the most notable Pakistani Taliban commanders.

In an analysis, Daud Khattak assessed whether the killings could end the TTP's delicate peace talks with Islamabad. The murky killings have also possibly exposed the frictions within the hard-line organization, which is allied with the Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other Islamist militant groups.

"The TTP may not be interested in scrapping it because it is the Pakistani state that is making compromises," Muhammad Amir Rana, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said of the talks that began earlier this year and have so far seen the release of more than 100 TTP militants in return for a cease-fire.

Hundreds of TTP fighters have already returned to the parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa they had fled because of military operations years ago.

Residents of Dir and Swat protested against their return this week, while the residents of North Waziristan have been protesting for nearly a month.

Afghan Brain Drain

Michael Scollon writes about the large-scale exodus of Afghan professionals and educated middle class from Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover nearly a year ago.

The brain drain is particularly difficult for a country that barely recovered from its human resource losses during the war against Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the civil war in the 1990s.

The departure of those who were educated abroad has retarded Afghanistan's development.

"Losing such human capital, simply put, is disastrous for Afghanistan," said Weeda Mehran, an Afghanistan expert at the University of Exeter, adding that the loss of trained professionals has hit health care, education, security, and judicial sectors hard.

"We always have to start from scratch in Afghanistan to make some progress, if at all," said Sima Stanekzai, who rose through the ranks to eventually become the deputy governor of Jowzjan Province.

Afghan Private Schools Take A Major Hit

Radio Azadi reports on why private schools are closing across Afghanistan. More than 200 schools have already shut their doors to students in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

"Our school was shut because of economic difficulties," said Maiwand Mangal, whose school, Nawakht, recently ended its lessons. "We could not raise funds to pay rent for the building we were letting."

Our photo gallery captures how the economic collapse has triggered a hunger crisis in Afghanistan:

Azim Maidanwal, the head of the Afghan private school association, said the COVID-19 pandemic and the collapse of Afghanistan's pro-Western government last year ravaged their schools.

"Many owners simply walked away from their schools by locking the doors," he said. "They even left behind their desks and chairs."

Teenage Afghan Girl Questions Taliban

In a video report, we take you to meet a teenage Afghan schoolgirl who aspires to be a digital artist.

"Why are you taking away our rights?" she asks the Taliban, who have banned teenage girls from education since returning to power last year.

"It is our right to be educated. We don't want the history to be repeated," she said, referring to the Taliban's first stint in power from 1996-2001 when women were banned from education, the workplace, and social life.

That's all from me this week.

If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do so here. I encourage you to visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.



Yours,

Abubakar Siddique

Twitter: @sid_abu

You can always reach us at gandhara@rferl.org.
In case you missed it  summer's most popular meteor shower is set to peak tonight above Colorado, with the celestial event remaining active through September 1.
Colorado health officials are again recommending schools take a "layered" approach to COVID-19 prevention, but they're advising districts not to require mask or quarantine for in-class exposures unless there are larger outbreaks or cases are rising to high levels in the broader community.

The guidance, drafted and released by the state Department of Public Health and Environment, seeks to keep schools open and in person as much as possible and is a continuation of state policy of guiding, not steering, COVID-19 mitigation.

Exactly how schools and districts prevent and respond to COVID-19 is up to them, their county health departments or other local governance, as was the case to varying degrees last year. The state recommends  but doesn't require  schools take a multilayered approach to COVID-19 mitigation, including improved ventilation, masking, hand-hygiene, testing and vaccinations.

Broadly, the guidance recommends schools encourage vaccinations, and to investigate and respond to clusters of cases, rather than individual ones. Outbreak and case reporting are still required of school entities, and the agency admitted in its guidance that, without individual case investigation, actually identifying outbreaks may be difficult. Health officials recommend that schools monitor for "increases in absenteeism, especially due to respiratory illness, or an increase in reported cases of COVID-19"; if such trends occur, the school or district should work with local public health authorities to respond to outbreaks.

The guidance-first approach is also furtherance of what's become state policy for COVID-19 response for more than a year. Last summer, Gov. Jared Polis said the emergency involving the virus was over and that the state would cede much of its handling of response to individual counties. That resulted in frustration months later, when the delta wave peaked and omicron emerged; several counties in the metro area asked Polis to institute a statewide masking order. When he didn't, the counties rolled one out themselves.

In a statement, state epidemiologist Rachel Herlihy noted that the state had already shifted away from a case-by-case response in schools toward a "transmission mitigation strategy." The state previously announced that students don't need to quarantine for routine exposure in classrooms, and it announced last month that it would no longer publicly report outbreaks in schools, as it had since the beginning of the pandemic.

In a separate statement, Colorado Education Association president Amie Baca-Oehlert said the group supports the new guidance "because the best place for students to learn is in-person, in the classroom  and it should be a safe place for students and school staff alike."

"Everyone can help keep kids in school by doing their part in keeping the whole community safe by staying home from work or school when sick, quarantining when necessary and frequent hand washing," she said. "Maintaining the health and safety of our students and educators should be everyones priority.

The shift is unsurprising: The state has signaled for months that it's beginning to treat COVID-19 like other infectious diseases, now that vaccines are widely available and approved for every person over the age of 6 months old. The health department wrote in its guidance to schools that districts "should implement a more typical routine disease control model for disease control in schools. Such a model focuses more on response to clusters of cases, outbreaks, and evidence of ongoing transmission in schools, and less on individual case investigation, contact tracing, and quarantining of staff and students following school exposures."

To that end, quarantines should only be used, the state wrote in its guidance, as part of broader mitigation strategies implemented by local officials, like when COVID-19 cases are rising or when there's an active outbreak. Staff and students who test positive should isolate, and schools should notify parents, staff and students of positive cases.

When there are identified outbreaks, the health department said, schools should consider limiting mixing of impacted classrooms or grades and temporary universal masking and testing.

As for masking generally, perhaps the most controversial COVID-19 mitigation measure implemented in schools or society generally, the health department deferred to federal guidance: It recommends schools "support" mask wearing and notes that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend "indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, when CDCs COVID-19 Community Levels are high and when a school or child care facility has identified cases or outbreaks of COVID-19 among staff or students."

The agency did say schools may consider universal masking and other measures "when they serve or employ large numbers of high-risk or vulnerable individuals."

Masking was also not required last year, but state officials said repeatedly that their own internal analyses indicated that districts that required masking had fewer outbreaks and cases than those that didn't. Some major districts, including Denver Public Schools, required masking at the beginning of the year. After the omicron wave subsided in February, DPS and other mask-requiring districts ended the mandate.

The state will continue to offer weekly rapid testing to schools for free this year, the health department said.

COVID-19 has affected schools and their operations as much as any other facet of American society since 2020, and those effects have touched off intense debate across Colorado and the country. Indeed, last year's decision to give districts and their health departments agency in deciding masking requirements helped lead to the destruction of the Tri-County Health Department, after Douglas County opposed Tri-County's school-masking order. That then spurred a lawsuit launched by the county's school district against county leaders, which, in turn, fueled a wave election that unseated four incumbent school board members.

Last year, COVID-19 cases began rising in Colorado shortly before students returned to school in August. That rise continued almost continually for months, triggering outbreaks in schools, nursing homes and elsewhere. That surge was sparked initially by the arrival of the delta variant and then morphed upon the December emergence of the omicron strain.

Though the last two years have seen late-year COVID-19 surges, what will happen this year remains unclear. Eric France, the state's chief medical officer, told The Denver Gazette last week that the biggest risk for a surge in September or October is the emergence of a new variant.
The atmosphere was somber, and save for the occasional outburst  whether of joy or anger or somewhere in between  from a child, quiet. The American flag flew at half staff and tears flowed freely Friday among members of the El Paso County Sheriffs Office.

The sheriffs office held a flag-raising ceremony to honor fallen Deputy Andrew Peery, who was killed Sunday while responding to a shooting. Well over 300 people gathered outside of the office to pay their respects, and Vermijo Avenue was closed between South Cascade Avenue and South Tejon Street.

The flag raised Friday will be the same flag used to cover Peerys casket during a memorial service scheduled to be held at 11 a.m. Monday at New Life Church. It flew for six minutes as the crowd quieted. Each minute marked one year of Peerys service with the sheriff's office.

Some guys were very close to him, Sheriff Bill Elder said after the ceremony. Its hard to understand. [Officers] get to be very close friends and in some cases closer than family.

Elder said the tone of the office was somber as the staff tries to grieve while still doing the necessary job of keeping the county safe.

According to Elder, they have held daily staff meetings as a means to check in with and support one another as employees navigate the first death within the department since Deputy Micah Flick was killed in a shooting in 2018.

Peerys death has been felt especially hard in the force, as Elder described him as a perfect cop.

[He was] the epitome of a cop you want working for you: A consummate professional, he made friends with everyone, Elder said. He was always friendly and always kind.

While El Paso County deputies do not travel with a partner in their vehicles, Peery was one of two deputies to respond to the report of shots fired on Sunday. The other deputy, who has not been named, was just rocked according to Elder.

I worry about every single one of these guys, he said.

Elder kept his composure throughout most of the ceremony. But he has lost three officers in the line of duty since becoming sheriff in 2014, and Peerys death comes four months before his retirement.

Elder took a moment to compose himself before continuing the conversation.

Its been a long career, he said. These guys are hurting. This family is hurting.
By Azernews

By Orkhan Amashov

In an exclusive interview with Azernews, H. E. Richard Kauzlarich, former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan from 199397, who is also a renowned writer and intelligence analyst, shared his invaluable reflections on the current phase of the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace process, the obstacles on the thorny path to the emergence of a full-fledged bilateral format, the war in Ukraine and many other salient issues of our troubled times.

The conversation with the distinguished diplomat, which took place on 9 August, was immensely interesting and moved from the latest escalations in Karabakh to the realm of energy, Azerbaijan's foreign policy challenges, and then to more global issues.

Ambassador Kauzlarich is a strong believer that the majority, if not all, of the issues falling within the rubric of the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace process should be directly dealt with by Baku and Yerevan without external assistance. Far away from thinking that the issues pertaining to the Karabakh Armenians will disappear of their own volition, he is of the opinion that the current focus should be on border-related matters and the reopening of communications.

The diplomat believes that, once sufficient confidence between the populations is achieved, it will be much easier to address the rights and security of the Armenian population residing in Azerbaijan. He is also of the view that there is a direct correlation between progress in Turkish-Armenian normalisation and significantly moving forward in the Baku-Yerevan process.

Our interview also covered subjects related to the EU's role in mediating between Baku and Yerevan, US Foreign Policy, the difficulties faced by Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan in his backyard, the future of the Russian 'peacekeepers' temporarily stationed in Karabakh, the Kremlin's promulgated design to revive its influence in the post-Soviet space and Azerbaijan's attitude towards the Iranian-Israeli confrontation. As to the latter, my interlocutor stressed that Baku should be very careful in maintaining neutrality, as the Iranian factor is not to be taken lightly.

Ambassador Kauzlarich defined Azerbaijan as a "medium-size energy supplier" and praised the renewable energy provisions of the recently-inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Brussels and Baku of 18 July as a model for other deals that the EU may negotiate with different countries.

This brief introduction only provides a tantalising glimpse of the content of the interview. Below is the unexpurgated script of our conversation, with the video added at the end.

Recent flare-up in Karabakh

Q: Fantastic. I think that our conversation will be dedicated to many subjects, but there are two separate items that I can detect and discern as taking precedence. One subject is going to be energy, and another is the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace process. I was initially planning to start with energy, but it so happened that between the time I contacted you via email and now, regrettable events have happened in Karabakh. I would rather start with Karabakh as there has been some escalation. Russian peacekeepers are stationed there. However, there is considerable concern in Azerbaijan about the terms and expiration date of the contingent's presence. We are not entirely sure whether they will leave in 2025 or not. Their mandate is shrouded in obscurity. There are many subjects that are of concern to the Azerbaijani public. In April, there was the second EU-mediated trilateral meeting in Brussels. Back then, there was an overwhelming sensibility that momentum had been engendered. At that point, a bilateral format effectively emerged and there were two telephonic conversations between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers for the first time in some considerable period. The current feeling is, as far as my experience and communications with different people are concerned, that momentum seems to have been slightly slackened. What is your take on this subject?

A: I will start by saying that I am very far removed from Azerbaijan, physically. I dont have the same sense of contact that you do. My impression is really along the lines that you described. We had this period of optimism. And I think you are right to point to the bilateral context as being really important and significant. I think we also had  I wont say at the same time, but going on separately in a parallel way - the talks between Turkiye and Armenia, which showed some degree of progress there. In my view, the more those talks progress, the better it is for Azerbaijan and Armenia to make their own progress.

When the November war ended with this statement - I dont call it an agreement, that was a statement issued by Putin, Aliyev, and Pashinyan  I was very concerned about the Russian-only peacekeeping force, precisely for the reason you have pointed out This date Would Russia honour that? So, I think it is right that Azerbaijan should be concerned about that.

I have a very strong feeling about the Russian behaviour as a result of their unjustified invasion of Ukraine. From my perspective, they have kind of lost standing to be able to go into another conflict, like the one in the South Caucasus, and somehow present themselves as neutral and unbiased and work with both parties.

I think the real question will be now if the bilateral context could be resumed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I think it would have to be very quick. The fighting that took place over the last week is not a good thing. It is a sign that there is no structured process that needs to take place in order for peace to result from it. That has to deal with border issues, transportation links, return of refugees and displaced people, demining and unexploded ordnance, which is the responsibility of both parties.

I will say, having served in Bosnia, I know exactly what happens when there is a war, military action, and weaponry ordinance that seem to have been implanted as mines.

My hope would have been that, by this point, we would have had a series of bilateral working groups on these very specific issues. At the top, Foreign Ministers talking to each other, the heads of state, and heads of government talking to each other on these issues are necessary. I think we are in a very dangerous time, quite frankly, as a result of these.

Bilateral format and obstacles

Q: In your judgement, what are the main obstacles on the way to developing a genuine bilateral format? Is it mistrust between the sides, or some external factors?

A: People always jump to the external factors first. Let me talk about the sides themselves. Because there are some issues about two parties talking to each other. I think the transportation links are important. For Azerbaijan, you are looking for a much more controlled environment for the link between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. And, certainly, for the Armenians, they are looking for a much more controlled link on and around Lachin.

You have got two different versions. On the other hand, I think on the boundary issue, this ought to be - I wont say it will be easy  negotiable. It is only between the two parties. The efforts to involve the Russians? The Russians assert themselves as having maps. The Soviet era maps are not helpful. The border issues, in particular, have to be dealt with directly. Azerbaijan has some very talented diplomats who worked on border issues on the Caspian Sea. I think it was the Deputy Foreign Minister. I have a great deal of respect for his diplomatic skills and abilities. You dont really need outside intervention to help.

The argument over the Minsk group I dont find it helpful. You ended up with the tripartite structure; this is what the Minsk Group was designed to avoid. I think at this stage, if there must be some outside intervention, it is much better if it is the EU. As I have said, Russia has disqualified itself as an unbiased party. I think the EU does have some standing. I think it is good that the US is supporting what the EU is doing. Personally, I am not clear what the US role in this structure would be.

They seemed to be working within a bilateral format before the fighting. There is an EU piece added to it. Try to identify those areas wherein you can actually make some progress.

I think the 'demining and unexploded ordnance' part is critical. You do not need outside parties. It is more than exchanging maps. Some ordnance might have been planted. It is more than mines, it is artillery shells and other unexploded ordnance from both the First Karabakh War and later on. You are not going to be able to return refugees if you still have large amounts of unexploded ordnance.

Again, I go back to my experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was exactly the problem and it took years. They are still doing it. This is not easy. 300 mines this week, so many in the futureThis is really an ongoing difficult process.

If I were the Master of this process, I would work on these problems and get foreign ministers, heads of state involved. Now it is time for Aliyev and Pashinyan to work together.

Q: Now we have two separate formats. Moscow may have disqualified itself, but it is still there and playing an important role. So, we have two formats. If one looks at what they are doing, they are looking at two separate issues: one is delimitation and demarcation and the border issue, and the second is the opening of communications. You realise that Karabakh itself, and its current and future population has been downgraded to second grade. Can it be assumed that, as a result of Azerbaijans victory in the Second Karabakh War, the subject itself has lost its primary significance, or is this a delusion?

A: That is really a question one has to ask Armenians and Azerbaijanis. For people outside, that is a very difficult issue. I think the reality is that there are Armenians living in what was called Nagorno-Karabakh and their status remains unsettled. I think the most important outcome of the last year or so has been the recognition that the parties to the conflict are Armenia and Azerbaijan. These two countries can address some of the issues that we have been talking about. It is going to be very hard to address the question as to what the status of the Armenians living in Karabakh is going to be.

I must say, in my mind, there is a question of the status of Azerbaijani citizens who were expelled either during the First Karabakh War, or later, and their right to return to that territory as well. I think we can look to the Balkan experience, in places like Bosnia and Kosovo, to a certain extent, Croatia, where people coming back home, some who left immediately after the fighting, have to be assured of their rights, their rights as individuals, their rights to property. Property claims can only be very important in this. Those are not always settled by the documents that people have in hand, it may be that documents have been destroyed as a result of the war or otherwise.

When you say it has been downgraded, I guess I would prefer to say there are other issues that really have to be addressed first. You cannot address the status issue without addressing the boundary question and the rights of people who had lived in that region to return.

I am so far removed that I have kind of lost touch with the Lachin issue. That is kind of interesting. Historically, from what I know, there were very few Armenians who lived in that Lachin area before the First Karabakh War. Armenians were brought in there, quite frankly. We can debate where they came from. But Armenians with no historic ties to the region were brought there obviously to provide a sense of security for the transportation.

Well, it is complicated and I understand this issue will not go away. But it may not be the first issue that has to be addressed. That is my sense.

Q: The focus now is on the bilateral format and direct talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The OSCE Minsk Group is still technically alive and not abolished. I know your views on the OSCE Minsk Group. You believe that it failed, not because it aimed to do so, but because Azerbaijan and Armenia were not taking the correct decisions at the time. Now, we are in the post-Second Karabakh War age, the EU is playing an important role, and a bilateral format is emerging. Is this an institution of the past? Can we talk about it in the present sense?

A: I think you can talk about it in the present sense until somebody abolishes it in a formal sense. The OSCE has a right and role under the current conditions. It has a mechanism to proceed ahead. It does not have to be a particular Minsk Group format we knew before. I think that is a fair question to discuss. The advantage that the OSCE provides is a certain degree of experience in the area of peacekeeping operations in Europe.

Rather than having a simply Russian-only PKO, which is unhelpful on a number of levels, if you had other countries prepared to play that role, or to do in a way that, I won't say satisfying both Armenia and Azerbaijan, but in a way that would have ensured the ceasefire was maintained, contacts were taking place, things like demining and unexploded ordnance would be addressed, that would be better.

If there is going to be an international body that is going to address the issue, that would be the OSCE. I do not believe there can be a role for the UN. Potentially, the EU may do all of these things, but that would be much more difficult. And Russia...It would have to be done with some sort of acquiescence from Russia if that would be possible. As a formal structure, it is still there.

Q: When I had a chat with Paul Goble, former advisor to the US Secretary of State, he reiterated that Russian participation is necessary but will now be less determinative, whereas EU participation is welcome, but not decisive. What is about US participation? What is your take on the US role in the South Caucasus, in particular, on the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace process?

A: There are limits to the ability of the US to be involved in every conflict, even in important ones, like the conflict regarding Nagorno-Karabakh. This administration is going to be consumed with Ukraine and Russia and China, I guess.

It is going to be very hard to expect that the Secretary of State, for instance, is going to be directly involved in mending the relations between Baku and Yerevan and helping to negotiate a peace agreement.

I am encouraged that, at least, there have been a lot of contacts, including in these Covid days via zoom and via phone. I must say there have been more discussions that Secretary of State Blinken has had with the leaders in both countries than I would have expected, given his own challenges coming from Ukraine and China in particular.

I think there will be attention on the energy front. We can get to that later on. There is something that would define a more involved US role that might be on that side to encourage Azerbaijan to cooperate with the EU and to make sure Azerbaijani oil features in the international market. That is really important. That may be a distinctive aspect of the US engagement and diplomacy. It may not seem to have much directly to do with Karabakh, but, on the other hand, I think it would imply that the US cannot ignore the Karabakh conflict, because if there were more military actions, that would disrupt its interests in global markets.

Q: Could the fact that the Kremlin is preoccupied in Ukraine present Azerbaijan with a chance to curb Russian influence or presence in Karabakh? There have been some suggestions to that effect and could this be an opportune moment for Azerbaijan?

A: It is hard to answer that question without thinking about the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations, and the fact that Erdogan and Putin have been regularly engaging mainly about, as I understand, Syria. There are a lot of speculations about whether Erdogan is becoming closer to Russia, because of this relationship with Putin. So, what the Turks think is important. These visits of President Aliyev to Turkiye are of significance.

Turkiye may be encouraging Azerbaijan in Karabakh and Turkish-Armenian relations could provide an impetus. There is also a broader issue of Russia and Russias role in the region. We have got this multidimensional game going on. We really cannot ignore the Turkish element in all of this, when we try to provide an answer for the question "can Azerbaijan take advantage of Russia being so heavily involved in Ukraine?". That would be a difficult strategy for Azerbaijan, at least, under current circumstances. That is for people closer to decision-makers in Baku to answer.

EU-Azerbaijan Memorandum of Understanding (Mo)

Q: On 18 July, Azerbaijan and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding gas supplies. Azerbaijan has a role to play, in particular, for South-Eastern Europe, but Europe is not going to replace Russian gas with Bakus supplies  as the volumes are completely dissimilar. Is the emphasis on Azerbaijan, in terms of energy, more of a political nature or is it connected with genuine economic necessities?

A: There were plans to modestly expand Azerbaijan's exports into Europe in any event. This fits in, even before the Ukrainian War, with the strategy of Azerbaijan finding different markets for its gas.

What has changed a bit here is the importance of oil. Oil is a different commodity than gas. Oil is more of a global commodity. It is vital to make sure that Azerbaijani oil is not disrupted, in particular, given the vulnerabilities that the Kazakh CPC pipeline is facing in moving its oil to the Black Sea.

Oil is part of that as well. If I were sort of looking at the approach of the US government, it is to look at where the sources of gas are, even though, as you point out, it may not be enough themselves, enough to compensate the Russian gas in Europe, but taken together and phased in terms of the ability to get gas to market, you end up with a coalition of gas suppliers that can play a role.

The US is the biggest gas producer in the world. The amount of LNG that the US is sending to Europe, taken with the supplies provided by Azerbaijan, Oman, Algeria, and Norway, is serious. This combination is very serious.

The concern with me is whether Russia can find a way to disrupt those flows in some fashion, either by interfering with the way the markets function or by taking actions against the infrastructure that is necessary for the gas and oil to get to Europe.

I think Azerbaijan is an important energy producer. It is a medium-sized energy producer. Without additional investment in both production and conceivably in pipelines, Azerbaijan is not going to be able to produce much more gas than originally planned before the Ukrainian War.

But, again, taken together it is significant. That is the reason why Secretary of State Blinken and others have emphasised that.

Q: In line with the newly-inked MoU, the current 10 bcm that Baku sends to Europe could be doubled to 20 bcm, but even that is not massive.

A: Yes. But it may be significant depending on where the gas goes to. If it goes to smaller markets in the Balkans, for example, that could make the difference. It may be significant for those countries in terms of having access to non-Russian gas.

Baku-Moscow dimension

Q: Azerbaijan and Russia signed the Moscow Declaration a day or two before the invasion of Ukraine. Azerbaijan also signed the Shusha Declaration with Turkiye. As you know, Turkiye is referred to as Turkiye, not Turkey.

A: Yes, I am sorry. I have not gotten into the habit. I should.

Q: It was ratified two days before the incursion into Ukraine. How critical was the moment? What was the rationale behind the timing, if any?

A: That is the question I have. I see no reason objectively why President Aliyev would have had to make this visit to Moscow on the very eve of the invasion. Everyone knew about Russian military activity. Visits are delayed all the time. People have colds or some other things that keep them from travelling. I think that was an impossible situation for President Aliyev to be with President Putin. Because Putin could dictate or make it appear that the US and others were going to try to stop him, he still had allies around, including Azerbaijan. I have read the document. I am not sure what formally it is called. Strategic Understanding or

Q: It was called the Declaration on Allied Interaction.

A: Yes, Allied Interaction. I was very concerned with what seemed to be a veto right Russia was given to object to any agreement that Azerbaijan might have with third parties that Russia was not satisfied with. I think that still hangs out there as something to be concerned about.

I don't have an explanation as to why the visit took place at the time it did. And I am concerned about some of the provisions that are public and I have read on the agreement and what it may mean for the freedom of Azerbaijan to operate. I am not as familiar with the Shusha Declaration signed with Turkiye, but I think there too is a risk.

Azerbaijan's freedom of action, both vis-a-vis Moscow and Ankara, could be constrained by these agreements. Totally, different frameworks for each one.

Q: The view is that the Shusha Declaration embraces a deeper form of integration, whereas the Moscow Declaration is more of an arrangement between allies, wherein they agree to behave in a certain fashion. The wording is similar, but one may notice nuanced differences.

A: That is the reason I have admitted that I am not as familiar with the Shusha Declaration as I am with the Moscow Declaration. Just the impression I have is that, for good or ill, there are constraints on Azerbaijan's ability to interact with third parties under both of them.

Q: Azerbaijani foreign policy design seems to prioritise good relations with all its big three neighbours  Turkiye, Russia, and Iran. With Ankara, relations have been top-notch. With Moscow, the relations have been managed. With Iran, relations have been problematic. How careful should Azerbaijan be regarding the Iranian factor?

A: I think you have to be very careful about Iran. I see Russia as a threat to Azerbaijan. I see Iran as a threat. Which is greater? I think right now given the state of Israeli-Iranian relations, the recent visit of President Biden to Israel, where he was very clear about the Iranian nuclear programme, it is a risk, I call it a risk, if Azerbaijan could be brought into either the bilateral conflict between Iran and Israel or a broader conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran.

Iran, as you know, is quite capable of reaching across the border into Azerbaijan. It is a reasonable concern. I do not think it can be managed through diplomacy. Obviously, there is a place for that. The Iranian dimension to this is the one that does not get as much attention as it probably should in the US.

We can't simply assume that because Azerbaijan and Israel have close relations, this is necessarily going to result in Azerbaijani support for things that we and Israel decide as necessary regarding the nuclear programme.

Zangazur Corridor

Q: There is a new subject in Azerbaijani discourse. This is the Zangazur Corridor. What is your perspective?

A: As to the corridor, I think Iranians have a lot of stake in this. Over the years, they have enjoyed economic benefits and political influence because of the connection to Nakhichevan, which, by and large, had to go through Iran.

If you end up with the corridor that avoids that there are economic losses for Iran. More significantly, a level of political influence is no longer there. So, that is another reason to watch Iran.

Q: Back to the Zangazur Corridor. Azerbaijan has an ambition, stemming from the trilateral declaration, to develop an overland passage, providing unobstructed and unimpeded connection between its main territory and Nakhichevan, with Russian forces providing security along the commensurate border. Armenia has extraterritoriality concerns. Can Baku and Yerevan develop a compromise construct, by means of which the former will get what it desires and the latter's sovereignty concerns will be placated?

A: One point to bear in mind too is that I am not sure Russia has got enough troops. They are having a problem taking care of where they are now - that area around Lachin. They are not very successful now. Under the circumstances of the war in Ukraine, it is not clear whether they will come up with another 5000 troops to police that corridor. Let us just set that piece aside as an important point.

This is my reading of the way that the media I am able to follow treat this issue. It seems that at times Azerbaijan is insisting on physical control of the corridor. I think that would be a problem unless you are going to make this issue in border talks. My ideal would be that there is enough confidence between Armenia and Azerbaijan that it would not be a question of physical control of the corridor, but access to a corridor that would have allowed a free movement of people as well as trade between Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan.

You also need to - whether this is in the process now or not - figure out what you are going to do about Lachin. Can the Armenians have enough confidence in what I believe is legitimately Azerbaijani territory? There is no question about that. For Azerbaijan to provide the same sense of freedom of movement and access between Armenia and what remains of Nagorno-Karabakh. There is a fundamental issue of 'guaranteed access vs physical control of the territory that is outside the boundaries of both countries.

Here, quite frankly, Turkiye could be very helpful if the process of normalisation between Turkiye and Armenia continues.

Q: I will ask you separately about the impact of prospective Turkish-Armenian normalisation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian process.

A: Right. If there is confidence there, there ought to be confident in the other direction. That is the way I see it. I have not deeply followed the technicalities, whether this will be road or rail, ideally both. At some point, I hope it will involve the trade between Azerbaijan and Armenia as well. That is not the immediate objective, nor should it be. But if it works, it should work in the dimension as well.

Turkish-Armenian rapprochement

Q: We now come to Turkish-Armenian normalisation. We remember 2009, which was a critical juncture. Back then, it did not go through, as there were obstacles. Now, the situation has drastically changed in the South Caucasus. There are thus two questions. What are the current prospects for rapprochement and what would be its impact on relations between Baku and Yerevan?

A: The earlier process was basically halted because Azerbaijan wanted to link the political settlement regarding Nagorno-Karabakh to the improved relations between Armenia and Turkiye. At the time, I thought that was not a wise position for Azerbaijan to take. Because I think Azerbaijan gains more from good relations between Armenia and Turkiye than it does otherwise.

The good thing I have noticed in the current process is that there have been supportive statements from Baku about what is going on between Turkiye and Armenia.

I don't know certain details about economic and transportation links, in particular. I do not know what the recent fighting has done to influence this. It would be interesting to see if this topic comes up in the meetings that President Aliyev has in Ankara with President Erdogan.

Our best hope for this is that Azerbaijan supports the way the process has evolved up to this point and to see more. Hopefully, this will have good results in terms of encouraging direct contacts between Baku and Yerevan.

Q: I recall the interview given by former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan in which he opined that normalisation with Turkiye constituted a danger to Armenian nationhood. He said that he did not want Armenia to be another Ajaria subjugated to Ankara. There is an evident fear within Armenia that, if normalisaton goes ahead, whilst interacting with much bigger neighbours  Turkiye and Azerbaijan  Armenia may lose its independence. How justified is this fear and how can its concerns be placated?

A: Whether it is justified or not, I do understand the fear. Armenia is not the first small country that changes its relationship with its larger neighbours. We can go back to Europe and World War II. There are examples when small countries, in fact, have prospered because of peace, not because they have to give up something else.

That may go back to your very first observation about where the question of the status of the Armenians in Karabakh stands. If you can create confidence that Armenian nationals living in what is Azerbaijan will have their rights protected, their language protected, their right to free movement protected, then all of these become less of a concern about being absorbed by larger neighbours. That has always been the risk when a war breaks out, whether it is a direct or indirect conflict, countries lose parts of their territory. As I say, whether it is justified or not, it is understandable. I think there is a need to be careful about the words that everyone uses to talk about the process and the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

You go back to the history of the OSCE, what was stressed from the very beginning after the breakup of the Soviet Union was that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the states must be maintained and protected. So, again, I think it will take, in this case, maybe a role for the OSCE to provide that kind of security, not in a physical sense, but in a diplomatic sense, security on the future of Armenias independent statehood. I am not familiar with the interview that Kocharyan gave. What you described is typical for him.

Q: It is clear that Prime Minister Pashinyan is under huge and unenviable pressure. When he takes steps that are diplomatically sound, he is always under attack from his own opposition, which is linked to the former regime. In his December 2021 interview, he stated that even the old OSCE Minsk Group process would not have led to the separation of Karabakh from Azerbaijan, blaming his predecessors. In April this year, he suggested that Armenian status expectations must be lowered. On the other hand, he has stated many other opinions which have been utterly different. He is under the pressure from the Armenian Church, the opposition, and the expatriate diaspora, which is very militant. What are his chances of overcoming the pressure?

A: The pressure will not go away. For me, at least, the message is that the sooner that political progress is made between Armenia and Azerbaijan that should begin to address the issues we have been talking about earlier, the better it is. In other words, the longer this is going on, the more pressure he is going to be under. And I think to the extent that he is now a leader of Armenia and as long as he is there, there are going to be different views coming out.

He is the person that Aliyev needs to develop a relationship with, of confidence, so that we can both, as outside interested parties but also the parties of Armenia and Azerbaijan, see substantial progress. People can see that there is a benefit. That would be the most important element here that the people of Armenia see this not as something they are giving up but as something they are actually benefiting from because of the normalisation, both economic and political life, and also protecting Armenian nationals' rights within Azerbaijan. I think if there is anything we need to do now that is to make progress soon and not string this out again.

Turkmen gas

Q: I want to return to energy-related subjects. What are the prospects for Turkmen gas being brought to Europe? The discussions on this subject have usually met with scepticism. The mega Trans-Caspian Gas pipeline seems to have been shelved. The swap arrangement between Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan is interesting, but the volumes do not seem to go beyond 3bcm per annum. The alternative shorter pipeline suggested by US-based Trans-Caspian Resources is interesting, as it suggests 10bcm per annum being exported via Azerbaijan. The financial aspect of the proposal remains problematic. How optimistic are you on the prospects for Turkmen gas being exported to Europe?

A: I am not optimistic at all. You are correct to point out that there have been some discussions about the Trans-Caspian Pipeline. It goes back to my time when I was Ambassador. The American Oil company was talking about the Trans-Caspian Pipeline. I really think there are several factors. I think the unresolved demarcation of the Caspian between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. That can be overcome, I am sure, but that is still a factor.

The second one has to do with Iran, Russia, and the Caspian Treaty from 2018 which has a lot of defects in it. What seems to be clear is that signatories can object on environmental grounds for projects that would be through under the Caspian Sea. The third element is whether Turkmenistan has enough gas. I know they have got a lot of gas. They have a very strong commitment to China and whether they would be enough to supply remains unknown.

As to other ideas that have recently come up, you are right to point out that amounts of gas would be relatively small. And, I dont think we are going to overlook the fact that there are still sanctions against Iran which could get into play when you discuss how you are going to finance either some of the big mega projects and some of the smaller ones. I think the less ambitious this is, the Iranian dimension can be dealt with; it might work but it is not going to result in huge amounts of Turkmen gas going as far as Europe, certainly could go to Azerbaijan and Turkiye ultimately.

Azerbaijan's renewables potential

Q: The recent EU-Azerbaijan MoU contains a provision on commercial viability and market demand. Does this point indicate that the actual exports will be curtailed and curbed?

A: I think it is a protection for the Europeans to basically say look, if all this makes commercial sense, we will act, but the EU may not put its money into the pipelines and gas development if it does not see it. I am sure Azerbaijan, too, is not in the position to make a commitment today in terms of investment, including both production and pipelines. It provides a kind of escape provision for both parties. I think the more interesting parts of this agreement really relate to renewable energy. I have said that this agreement could be a model for Europe to negotiate with other gas-producing countries if they wanted to do that. This MoU recognises that climate change is an important issue. Europe has priorities in terms of global aspects of climate change. It is in the interests of both parties to do what they can to develop alternatives to traditional oil and gas exports. At the same time, they are increasing amounts of, in this case, gas going to Europe. I think that part is a really interesting piece of this agreement, although it is not directly politically tied to Russia or Ukraine.

Q: It is not the most widely discussed part of the MoU, but a very important one, nonetheless.

A: Yes, it is important. Because if you can free up through renewable energy, looking at Azerbaijan producing electricity you do not have to burn oil and natural gas, which becomes available for export.

War in Ukraine

Q: Prior to the signing of the MoU, there had been some reports by EU Observer and Reuters suggesting that there would be three linchpins, namely 'risk sharing' in terms of investments, combined with an increase in export volumes and attainment of climate objectives. Still, the first element does not seem to be crystal clear.

I now want to move to the war in Ukraine which is impacting all of us. If five or six years ago, someone had suggested that Russia might try to resurrect the Soviet Union in one guise or another, that person would not have been taken seriously. Now, the Russian officials talk about this candidly. Dmitri Medvedev, former Russian President, has posted something to this effect. What is your take on the Russian ambition to revive this former superpower and the resources at the Kremlins disposal to implement this policy?

A: I agree with you that if you would have looked five years ago, not many people would have thought of that. I can recall being at an event that the Atlantic Council, a think-tank here in Washington, hosted, with former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev. I think it is still in the archives of the Atlantic Council. If you want to look for it, it was five or six years ago.

Kozyrev said a very important thing that  as you say people did not pay attention to  for Putin, the collapse of the Soviet Union was a geopolitical disaster and he has never got over it. For him, the reconstruction of the Soviet Union is important. I think we tended not to pay attention to that. I am not sure that Russia needs that many resources available to, if not to recreate the Soviet Union, certainly to deconstruct some of the security arrangements that have existed.

Look at what is going on in the Balkans - in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. There the Russians with a very little amount of financial resources, except in the case of Serbia, with no basis for military operations, are able to potentially upset the processes that the EU, the US, and NATO were involved in to bring peace to that region. There is a capacity to be disruptive. We have to watch Kazakhstan as well. That may not require divisions and divisions, but strategic involvement in both hybrid kinds of warfare and political influence can be significant. I think other countries in Central Asia are equally vulnerable.

So, I think we have to take this possibility seriously. It is not just one person talking about it. I think there are clearly steps underway and with everyone focused on Ukraine as they must, we cannot overlook what is going on everywhere from the Baltics, from the periphery of Russia to Central Asia and beyond.

The open question for me is what Chinas approach is going to be. If the Chinese unhappiness with the US grows, they may be prepared to 'help' Russia, in particular, in the areas where it seems to be in conflict with the US and US interests.

It is the resources that the Chinese can bring to help Russia. The Russian economy is in trouble, whatever they are saying. And, they can generate oil and gas exports and continue to do so, although the US and the West are having some success. I just think they do not need a tremendous amount of resources to create conditions for, if not the return for the Soviet Union, certainly the return to the confrontation that characterised that period between Moscow and Washington, and, potentially, Moscow and Europe.

The full interview: https://www.azernews.az/region/197936.html
For historian and author Mark Lee Gardner, there are always times when his subjects become real.

It can happen when youre digging through archives or reading books and some morsel of newfound information almost transports the historical figure into the room. For Gardner, it was a visit to the South Dakota State Historical Society, where an archivist showed him a new collection related to Sitting Bull, one of the subjects of his new dual biography, The Earth is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation. The book was released in June and is available online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and other booksellers.

Gardner learned that after Sitting Bull was killed in 1890, his body was brought to Fort Yates, N.D., on his Standing Rock Indian Reservation. People helped themselves to his remains, effectively stealing, among other items, the American Indians scalp, his leggings and cabinet cards, an old style of photos used for portraits that Sitting Bull had kept in his clothing. The cards were still stained with the mans blood.

As Im holding them, this is that moment, Gardner said from home in Cascade. Sitting Bull was a real human who was brutally killed, and this is his blood on those cards. I was stunned. It was so hard for me to compute. So overwhelmingly sad. What a waste. This guy was murdered, and all he was doing was fighting for their (Lakota) tradition and their culture.

The award-winning author, whose other books include To Hell on a Fast Horse: The Untold Story of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, Shot All To Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild Wests Greatest Escape, and Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge Up San Juan Hill, is an American West afficionado. Hes also appeared on PBS American Experience, the History Channel, Travel Channel and NPR.

He spent the past five years immersed in the lives of the two epochal Lakota chiefs who led their people to victory at the famous Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. He believes the two men are known around the globe for the way they stood up for their people.

As long as they lived they fought to preserve their homeland and their culture and were killed because of it, Gardner said. But because of that stand it inspires us, even though theyve been gone now for 100 years. Theyve become icons and for the right reasons.

Gardner, a lifelong history buff, always harbored a love for the American West, the famous battle and the wars for the Northern plains, though he stays away from calling them the Indian Wars: Why are we putting it on the Indians?

While there are numerous books on the same subject matter, he hoped to paint an even more detailed portrait with new information and insight culled from a vast array of resources, including oral histories recorded in the 1920s and 30s. One such anecdote he stumbled upon took place in 1885 when Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bills Wild West Show. He was promised a meeting with U.S. President Grover Cleveland, where he intended to ask for land for him and his followers, but all he got was a handshake as a publicity bit. Sitting Bull and the other Lakotas were then taken and given a private viewing of the Declaration of Independence. The incident upset the Lakota chief.

We dont know what was said to Sitting Bull, Gardner said. Little things like that are incredible moments for me as a historian where your imagination can go wild. What was said, what was he thinking, or maybe it had no impact at all. These people were confined to their reservations and shown a freedom document. Their story is tragic. That was something that hadnt been written about before.

In writing the dual biography, Gardner also wanted to make sure the story was told accurately. Hes noted a tendency for people to believe the American Indians were the cruel ones in the contest for the plains, calling them savage and telling the story in a way that made their behavior worse than the white soldiers trying to force them onto reservations.

The Euro-Americans who invaded the plains claimed to be civilized and thought they were superior, he said. But there was nothing civilized in the way the U.S. government took advantage of and stole from the Lakotas, or the killing of women and children and the deaths of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Im willing to give the Lakotas a pass when I consider those terms. It was the Lakotas land.

Contact the writer: 636-0270
When violence between Israel and Palestinian militants intensifies  as happened in Gaza last week  American Jews thousands of miles away feel the pain and go on alert for possible repercussions.

Weve definitely heard concerns of antisemitism, especially as things escalate in the Middle East and Israel, said 22-year-old rabbinical student Yosef Cohen of North Carolina.

People feel it affects them, particularly people in bigger cities, he said, but it also makes its way into the suburbs.

Among their tasks, Cohen and fellow rabbinical student Yosef Eagle of Maryland are in southern Colorado for about three weeks to encourage Jewish people to hold strong and practice their Judaism in the face of adversity.

Standing proud is the best deterrent, Cohen said. I definitely find that works; those in opposition are forced to stand down against the pride of the Jewish people.

Cohen and Eagle are among 700 students who have been dispatched around the world this summer as part of the Roving Rabbis program of the Merkos Linyonei Chinuch. The school for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a branch of Hasidism, is based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The pair of Yosefs are cold-calling  knocking on doors of more than 200 Jewish people that have had some sort of contact in the past with the Chabad Lubavitch of Colorado Springs and Southern Colorado. Its the areas only Chabad center, which is open to Jews of all affiliations, whether Reform, Conservative or Orthodox.

Throughout the pandemic, people lost the in-person connection they had, so reconnecting, asking them how theyre doing and praying brings joy and smiles to their faces, Cohen said.

Not all appreciate the unexpected visit, though.

Weve heard everything from, Im not interested to us spending over an hour in conversation discussing their life, Cohen said. There are varied responses.

Local synagogue founder Rabbi Moshe Liberow and his wife, Zeldy, requested to receive a team of students to help reach the remote areas of southern Colorado as well as its central hub, Liberow said.

The students have visited Jews at their homes and businesses in Monte Vista, Durango, Telluride, Crested Butte, Manitou Springs, Monument, Pueblo and are in Colorado Springs this week.

Their purpose: Unite the Jewish spark and build an awakening of the Jewish person to their roots, Liberow said.

Students have been encouraging and inspiring people to grow in their Judaism, said Cohen, who aspires to become a pulpit rabbi at a synagogue after graduating in a few months.

Theyve assisted with mitzvahs, 613 commandments to be performed as a religious duty, such as lighting candles and donning the tefillin, small black boxes with leather straps that adult Jewish men wear during morning prayers.

Mitzvahs provide a spiritual shield of protection, Liberow said.

"The security of the Holy Land (Israel) gets strength, and Jews get tremendous support when we do mitzvahs for them, to extend an extra blessing," he said.

While in Crested Butte, Cohen and Eagle performed the Mitzvah of Teffilin on the streets with a Jewish man from Texas.

"It was very uplifting," Cohen said. "Even though they are so distant from any other Jewish community, we were able to bring a smile to their faces."

Such public displays also help foster amicable relationships with non-Jewish people, Liberow said.

The visiting rabbis program, which was suspended during the pandemic and has been reinstituted, originated in the 1940s to reach people living far away from Jewish centers. It's been going strong ever since, Liberow said.

The idea is theyd encourage people to do good deeds and practice observances, Liberow said.

The Jewish people are all about roots, he said, as more than 3,000 years of religious and cultural traditions and customs are as meaningful in the present as through the centuries.

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement promotes the belief that every Jewish person has a godly soul and is inspired often to connect to God and other Jews, Cohen said.

However, regardless of religious affiliation, non-Jewish people also have an obligation to promote goodness, kindness and compassion, he said.

Theres always more you can do, and were trying to encourage everyone to do their best to make the world a better place.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet visited Colorado Springs on Thursday, in part to tout the PACT Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law Wednesday, expanding health care benefits for veterans who developed illnesses from exposure to toxic substances from burn pits on military bases.

Burn pits are used to dispose of waste collected on overseas military bases. Because forward-deployed units cannot get rid of its trash and waste in conventional ways, they have to dispose of it by the most expedient means possible, which often means digging a massive trench, dumping the waste products into it, and setting it ablaze.

Plastics, rubber, discarded food, chemicals, batteries  as well as medical and human waste  produce toxic fumes when burned, and millions of exposed service members have developed a vast array of medical symptoms from the smoke, including long-term effects on skin, eyes, lungs, and the reproductive and central nervous systems. Several forms of cancer also have been connected to burn-pit poisoning.

The PACT Act was enacted to expand health care and remove the burden on certain veterans to prove that their conditions are connected to their military service.

But when the Colorado Democrat stopped by VFW Post 101 to speak with a group of combat veterans about the legislation, the conversation evolved into an intense, emotional discussion about deficiencies in the way the U.S. health care systems treat former service members.

The senator did far more listening than speaking as a contingent of former and current service members delivered a clear consensus: The PACT Act is a crucial and beneficial step toward caring for veterans, but much more help is needed.

One of the most pressing needs, veterans said, is a more efficient way for veterans to get in to see a physician.

As part of my cancer treatment, they had to pull seven teeth from the left side of my face, said Aaron Himes, a retired soldier who has throat cancer. Last December, I started the process to get those teeth replaced. My second appointment isnt until this December. So its going to take a year to get evaluated, and another year to 18 months to get those teeth replaced.

For me to go see a dermatologist for my service-connected illness, its a 9-month wait, said Elba Barr, a former military intelligence analyst whos also battling cancer after prolonged burn-pit exposure. There shouldnt be a roadblock to our care. Weve earned the right to this care, we deserve it, and we need it.

The wait to see a doctor can be so daunting that some veterans just dont bother, Barr said.

The red tape is whats stopping a lot of veterans, especially younger ones, from coming in, she said. Theyd rather just not deal with it than wait 18 months just to get their teeth cleaned at the dentist.

Other needs the vets listed: mental health care with a focus on suicide prevention, treatment for military-related sexual trauma, counseling and treatment for addiction issues, and more efficient claim-processing.

Bennet acknowledged that the delay issues are unacceptable, and said lawmakers need to find a way to help the Defense Department and the VA better coordinate.

You see these units that have had an outsized number of suicides after theyve come back (from overseas), Bennet said. DoD isnt tracking this in a way that informs the VA, and the VA cant seem communicate to the DoD what theyre seeing. If we had a better system, we might be able to intervene before its too late for some of these people.

Maybe theres a way for us to do a better job coordinating with the congressional offices, as well, so that we all have a conviction together, Bennet said. If we can figure out how to better integrate care among the different VA institutions and with the nonprofits and private sector  not just on health care, but on behavioral health and substance abuse  that would be enormously helpful.

The senator said he was moved by the veterans stories, and that he plans to raise their issues in Washington.

When asked what the veterans can do to help, Bennet said, Youve already done it. The whole reason Im here is to thank you, because we could not have gotten the PACT Act across the finish line without you, and without the families and loved ones whove been fighting for this.
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By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The Azerbaijani army has conducted engineering activities on Mount Buzdux and numerous other dominant heights that have recently been cleared off illegal Armenian armed groups, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

Units of the Azerbaijani army are carrying out engineering activities for the establishment of new positions and laying supply roads to specified positions on advantageous frontiers. Required measures for engineering support are being continued in the liberated territories and dominant peaks, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the service and combat activities of the Azerbaijan army units, stationed in the liberated lands, are well organized. The necessary measures are in the pipeline to maintain and improve the combat readiness of military troops serving round-the-clock in places with harsh weather conditions and tough terrains.

The Azerbaijani troops in specific combat positions are always prepared to thwart any provocation, the ministry stressed.

On August 3, the Azerbaijani army conducted Operation Revenge in response to the provocations of the illegal Armenian armed group located in the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily deployed. As a result, several strategic heights, including Mount Buzdux have been taken under control by the Azerbaijani military units.

In a similar vein, the Defense Ministry in a separate report on August 11 said that the remains of an Armenian military Mi-8 helicopter were discovered in the area of Khojavands Tugh village.

The remains were identified as belonging to an Armenian armed forces Mi-8 helicopter, which was shot down by the Azerbaijani air forces units together with its crew on October 18, 2020, in the direction of the Tugh village.




FILE PHOTO: Breonna Taylors art is seen in Jefferson Square after the announcement that the FBI arrested and brought civil rights charges against four current and former Louisville police officers for their roles in the 2020 fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud
Samantha Peck was arrested after allegedly making false claims in a phone call to police on July 24.
Courtesy photo

Gregory Wawrytko leading the black horse, Achilles, and Anthony Archer with the white horse, National Anthem, during the poignant pinning ceremony
Despite the warnings from officials that striking down a portion of Colorado's child welfare law would imperil federal funding and trigger a domino effect across nearly all states, the federal appeals court based in Denver has deemed unconstitutional Colorado's prohibition on disclosing certain information about child abuse investigations.
First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva on her official Instagram has shared a video footage from her visit to Ismayilli District with President Ilham Aliyev.

Azernews presents the post under the title of "Heading to the ancient settlement of Basgal".




One of the state's oldest liquor stores has expanded to one of Colorado Springs' fast-growing areas.

Applejack Wine & Spirits opened last week in the former Whole Foods space at the First & Main Town Center, northeast of Powers Boulevard and South Carefree Circle on the citys east side.

A formal grand opening  to include tastings, giveaways and other events  will take place Labor Day weekend, from Aug. 31 through Sept. 5. A soft opening being conducted until then will allow the retailer to iron out last-minute wrinkles, Applejack CEO Jim Shpall said Friday.

"It should be a good weekend," he said of the formal Labor Day opening. "That's sort of the end of summer. It's a chance for people to have barbecues and parties and sort of close the summer, even though the summer continues for many more weeks. It's just a chance for families to get together and have those last summertime celebrations."

Applejack's arrival is the latest example of a well-known Denver-area business that's opened in Colorado Springs.

Several Denver-area merchants and restaurants  such as Denver Biscuit Co., Dos Santos Tacos, White Pie Pizzeria, Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, Anthonys Pizza and Mici Handcrafted Italian  have cited the Springs' strong population growth, healthy economy and desirable quality of life as reasons they've expanded to the city in recent years.

For Applejack, the retailer also had an opportunity to grow after a change in state law regulating liquor licenses allowed it to add a third location after Jan. 1. The retailer then looked to add to its legacy Wheat Ridge store, which opened in 1961, and a Thornton outlet that debuted last year.

When it looked to the Springs, Applejack was attracted to thousands of homes and apartments that have been built over the past 20-plus years within a few miles of the First & Main Town Center, Shpall said.

First & Main, a sprawling open-air shopping center, stretches for more than a mile along the busy Powers Boulevard retail corridor, from North Carefree Circle on the north to Constitution Avenue on the south.

"We did our homework before we picked that location," Shpall said. "It's a growing part of Colorado Springs. And we also know there are a lot of rooftops there. And the rooftops extend from there all the way east to (unincorporated Falcon) and south. That was extremely important to us. It's a vital part of Colorado Springs."

The feel and tenor of the Springs store mimics that of Applejack's flagship Wheat Ridge location, Shpall said. Its 28,000 square feet is comparable to Wheat Ridge, though its 20,000-square-foot sales floor is slightly larger, he said. The Springs store employs about 50 people.

The Colorado Springs location will have a selection of more than 15,000 beers, wines and spirits, about 95% of which are in stock as the retailer ramps up for its grand opening, Shpall said.

While the Colorado Springs store mirrors the one in Wheat Ridge, Applejack will tailor local selections to meet the preferences of area residents, he said.

"We've been doing work to find out what is popular in Colorado Springs," Shpall said. "And if it differs from what is popular in Denver or Wheat Ridge or Thornton, we will make sure that it's emphasized in Colorado Springs.

"What are the favorite wines in Colorado Springs?" he said. "What are the favorite spirits in Colorado Springs? What is the favorite beer? There are going to be distinctions. I'm playing to the Colorado Springs community."

Applejack's Colorado Springs store operates from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays.
Four new laws that seek to help prevent and respond to wildfires went into effect on Wednesday after being passed by the Legislature earlier this year.

One of the laws, House Bill 1111, increases the amount of property lost to wildfires that insurance providers have to cover upfront from 30% of the value to 65%. The law also extends the time frame wildfire victims have to rebuild their homes from 12 months to 36 months.

Senate Bill 114 allows county commissioners to designate ponds as fire suppression ponds, protecting them from being drained if needed for firefighting resources. House Bill 1132 requires all controlled burns on private property to be reported to local fire departments. Finally, HB 1012 invests more than $7 million on forest health and restoration efforts.

These days in Colorado, wildfire season lasts year round, Rep. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, who sponsored SB 114, said. We have to be prepared to respond at any moment and give our brave first responders every possible tool they need to do their job.

These new laws come as record-breaking wildfires have become more and more common in Colorado.

At the end of December, Colorado suffered its most destructive wildfire in state history, when the Marshall fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County. Shortly before, the three largest wildfires in Colorado history occurred in 2020.

The four laws taking effect Wednesday are among 11 wildfire-related measures that lawmakers passed this year, totaling tens of millions of dollars. The rest of the measures have already gone into effect, including legislation to increase firefighting resources, foster recovery efforts, conserve watersheds and fund wildfire mitigation incentives and outreach.

The threat of wildfires continues to grow, said Sen. Tammy Story, D-Conifer, who sponsored four of the wildfire-related bills. Its important that were as prepared as possible to handle them.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet visited Colorado Springs on Thursday, in part to tout the PACT Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law Wednesd
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the inauguration of the Young Artists Center and Museum of State Symbols at the Flag Square in the city of Aghsu.

President Ilham Aliyev was informed of the conditions created at the Young Artists Center.

The construction of the center started in December, 2017, and ended in January, 2022. The building of the center has a 36-seat auditorium, rehearsal stage, theater club, painting, sculpture, photography, tailor's rooms, and administrative and auxiliary rooms.

President Ilham Aliyev then viewed the Museum of State Symbols.

The construction of the museum started in December, 2017, and ended in January, 2022. The museum building has an exhibition hall, administrative and auxiliary rooms.

The Flag Square, where the Museum of State Symbols is located, was created on an area of 1.27 hectares. The 65-meter-high State Flag was installed here.










A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday at Community Health Center in Mason City to celebrate the Building CommUNITY mural that was completed by more than 100 volunteers during July.

The Mason City Chamber of Commerces goal was to have the mural completed before RAGBRAI visited Mason City. More than 100 volunteers from local businesses, daycares, organizations, and citizens assisted in painting the mural - each leaving a signature thumbprint on the wall. .

According to a press release Building CommUNITY is an initiative of the Mason City Chamber of Commerce to highlight the inclusive spirit of North Iowans. According to the 2020 US Census, the diversity of Mason Citys population stands at 93.17% white. But, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (commonly referred to as DEI) impact more than race and ethnicity.

The Chambers DEI program is positioned as a workforce attraction and retention strategy and Anderson said they would like to get community employers on board . The community mural and the companion billboard campaign were intended to launch this program.

The Community Health Center, located at the north gateway to downtown Mason City, provided the perfect backdrop and CHC was excited about the mural request.
Achievers

RealTrends has announced that Jennifer Hollowell of RE/MAX Realty Consultants, a real estate broker specializing in residential real estate sales, has been featured in the 2022 RealTrends Agent Rankings.

These rankings are published annually and feature the countrys top-producing real estate agents and teams. RealTrends uses several criteria to rank agents, including transaction volume, production levels and average sales price.

Hollowell is notably ranked in the top 1.5% of all agents in the United States.

Announcements

Triad Goodwill held a grand opening Aug. 11 of a new retail store and donation center at 215 S. Greensboro St. in Liberty. This is the first Goodwill in Liberty and the fourth location for the organization in Randolph county.

The new location occupies the former Dollar General.

* * * *

Triad Voice Magazine, a free community magazine that amplifies the voices of women of color throughout the Triad, held a launch luncheon Aug. 11 at The Loft At Congdon Yards in High Point.

The magazines mission is to celebrate diverse American culture, connect the local community and serve as a trusted source covering the arts, financial literacy, health and fitness, business, culture, lifestyle, and local events.

A digital copy of the inaugural issue can be viewed at https://triadvoicemag.com/voiceonline.

Awards

This spring, the National Scenic Byway Foundation awarded the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation the 2022 Visitor Experience Award for the rehabilitation and reopening of The Bluffs Restaurant at Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Laurel Springs.

In 1949, The Bluffs Coffee Shop became the first dining establishment to open on the parkway. It welcomed generations of diners before closing in 2010. While it was shuttered, the building fell into disrepair.

In addition to National Park Service funds, individual donors, private foundations, the state of North Carolina and the Appalachian Regional Commission together contributed nearly $1 million to the rehabilitation project through the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. The repairs and upgrades included a new electrical system, reconstructed lunch counter, ADA-compliant restrooms, new kitchen equipment and more. Visitors to The Bluffs today will experience the restaurant as it was when it opened more than 70 years ago, with green and white checkerboard floors, a retro lunch counter and the original light fixtures.

The Bluffs is welcoming guests for its second full season and is operated by Heritage Dining and Events under an agreement with the foundation. The nonprofit holds a historic lease for the National Park Service facility and is responsible for ongoing maintenance and improvements.

The Bluffs Restaurant is open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday through Sunday, until Nov. 13. To learn more, visit BluffsRestaurant.org.

Military

At Naval Education and Training Command, instructors at advanced technical schools teach sailors to be highly skilled, operational, and combat-ready warfighters, while riding the tools and opportunities for continuous learning and development.

Seaman Ian Jenkins, a native of Greensboro, is a student at NETC, learning the necessary skills needed to be a gunners mate.

Once a gunners mate, Jenkins will be responsible for operating advanced combat weapons systems.

Jenkins, a 2021 Smith High School graduate, joined the Navy less than a year ago.

I joined the Navy because I took for granted all the life-changing opportunities that would separate me from others and my family, said Jenkins. I see the Navy as a way I could be different from everybody else back at home.

On the Move

IFB Solutions, a nonprofit based in Winston-Salem and the largest employer of people who are blind or visually impaired in the country, has promoted Jason Moser to vice president of finance, Ken Mullins to manager of procurement and demand planning, and Naomi Venable

to development support professional.

Veteran banker

Chris Hodgin

has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a financial adviser at the firms Green Valley Road office.

Truliant Federal Credit Union has promoted

Ciji Wright

to the role of director, Member Contact Center. Wright was previously Member Contact Center operations manager.

Triad Business Bank has named

Erica Gregg Parker

as director of small business banking to expand the banks small business deposits and loan portfolio.

Downtown Greensboro has announced the hiring of

Rob Overman

to serve in the newly-created position of director of strategic initiatives. For more than five years, Overman has served as the executive director of Greensboro Downtown Parks.
GIBSONVILLE  A rabid fox was found on Huffine Mill Road, the Guilford County health department said in a news release.

The fox tested positive for the rabies virus on Wednesday and is the 17th confirmed case of animal rabies in 2022, the department said.

North Carolina law requires that all domestic pets (cats, dogs, and ferrets) aged 4 months or older be vaccinated for rabies. Supervising pets when they are outdoors could prevent contact with wild animals and lessen the possibility of rabies exposure.

Here are some tips to help prevent you or your family from being exposed to the rabies virus:

 Avoid direct contact with wildlife, dead or alive. If you find a sick or injured animal, contact Guilford County Animal Control at 336-641-5990.

 Avoid any animal displaying unnatural behavior. Wild animals are not usually friendly so be very careful if they approach you.

 Do not try to separate fighting animals.

 Feed your pets indoors. Leaving food outside will attract dogs, cats, and other wildlife into your yard.

 Report all stray animals to animal control at 336-641-5990 in Greensboro and 336-883-3224 in High Point.

 If a person is bitten by an animal, wash the bitten area immediately with soap and water, seek medical attention and report the bite to animal control.

For more information on rabies prevention, contact Guilford County Animal Services at 336-641-2506 or visit www.guilfordcountync.gov/our-county/animal-services.
A judge has opened the door for a district attorney to try to prosecute someone for a 2020 campaign ad by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein using a specific criminal count that Stein argues is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles refused on Tuesday to issue a preliminary injunction two weeks after she signed an emergency order blocking temporarily enforcement of the state law. Steins campaign committee was worried the Wake County district attorneys office was taking the case to a grand jury last month. The law makes it a misdemeanor for someone to knowingly circulate false derogatory reports about candidates to damage their election chances.
CHARLOTTE  Two Nigerian nationals living in the United Kingdom have been extradited to Charlotte to face charges of using a phony email scheme to scam almost $2 million from Appalachian State University.

Newly unsealed federal court documents accuse Oludayo Kolawole John Adeagbo, 43, and Donald Ikenna Echeazu, 40, of being principals in a multimillion-dollar cyberfraud ring that targeted two major universities, a Texas community college, government agencies and private companies in three states. The total losses were placed at $5 million.

Appalachian State, in Boone, lost its money in 2017. Some $1.5 million was quickly tracked down and returned by the FBI.

Adeagbo also faces charges in Texas, where he is accused of trying to steal $3 million from construction companies, government agencies and a Houston-area community college.

A third defendant, Olabanji Egbinola, was ordered extradited from the U.K. to Virginia, where he is accused of bilking almost $470,000 from Virginia Commonwealth University using a version of the same email scheme, documents show.

All three were indicted in 2019 and arrested in Britain a year later. They fought extradition to the U.S. in the British courts, with their last appeal being thrown out by the U.K. High Court in July.

According to their 2019 indictment, Adeagbo and Echeazu face charges of wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, they face up to 40 years in prison.

App State, colleges targeted

As outlined in case documents, the conspiracy  part of a category of fraud known clunkily as cyber-enabled business email compromise  was ruthlessly simple: The defendants and other unnamed collaborators used slightly altered email addresses and stolen domain names to intercept millions of dollars in payments being shipped to legitimate companies.

In three instances, the alleged conspirators targeted universities in the midst of expensive construction projects, discovered the names and emails of the key people involved, and then, posing as actual construction company representatives, sent emails to the schools asking the officials in charge to send future payments to a slightly different company email account.

In App States case, the email bait that arrived in December 2017 came under the name of the actual comptroller from the Charlotte construction company then building the campus new health services center.

A school administrator followed instructions and wired $1.96 million that he thought was headed to Charlotte. Instead, the money zoomed west to Los Angeles, where it disappeared into a maze of money-laundering accounts, with the FBI soon giving chase.

In March 2018, as was earlier reported by The Charlotte Observer, a federal grand jury in Charlotte indicted Ho Shin Lee of Los Angeles on 14 separate money-laundering counts for his role in the App State swindle.

Under a plea deal with prosecutors, Lee was sentenced in March 2019 to three years in prison.

He was also ordered to pay Appalachian State $1,959,925.02 in restitution.
RALEIGH  After 30 years of fighting fires, Henderson Fire Department Chief Steve Cordell was diagnosed in February with an aggressive brain cancer.

That meant surgery to remove two tumors. Then 33 radiation treatments. Then 42 days of chemotherapy. And now I have to do chemo for five days a month, he told The News & Observer on Thursday when he was in Raleigh attending the South Atlantic Fire Rescue Expo at the Convention Center downtown.

I have to undergo an MRI every two months to check, to make sure the cancer has not come back. I have to do that for the remainder of my life, he said.

Cordell is one of the first firefighters to receive money to help offset costs from his cancer through a new program. Hes grateful to God and the pilot program that eased his worries about treatment costs. I have been blessed. God has blessed me, he said.

Cordell said he was back working on light duty a week after his surgery. He oversees a fire department of 42 full-time and 15 part-time employees.

For me, its been a wonderful gift. And to be able to not have to worry about how and where Im going to pay for my medical expenses. So that was an added bonus, he said.

Cordell, 50, said that he became a firefighter because he was born to serve.

Being a firefighter meant to give back to my community, and give back to the city, he said. And its just an honor and a privilege to help others.

How the firefighters program works

The program that began in January was funded by $15 million in the 2021 two-year state budget that Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law late last year. The Firefighters Health Benefits Pilot Program is a supplemental insurance policy that gives firefighters newly diagnosed with certain cancers a $25,000 lump sum as well as reimbursing up to $12,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses.

We need to be there for you when times are bad, Cooper told firefighters on Thursday at the South Atlantic Fire Rescue Expo going on this week at the Raleigh Convention Center downtown.

The governor and Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who is also the state fire marshal, both attended the opening ceremony of the event for firefighters and rescue personnel.

We know that because of the nature of the work that you do, that its more likely that cancer may be caused by that, Cooper told them, adding that the program does not require firefighters to prove whether their cancer was directly related to their firefighting work.

The fact of the matter is, you guys did the work, you took the risks, were courageous and regardless of whether it is, you deserve to be helped because of our gratefulness for you, Cooper said.

Causey told The N&O on Thursday that so many firefighters now find they have cancer related to something in their line of work, where theyve had to go into smoke-filled buildings. And even with the oxygen tanks and everything else, you still hear stories all the time about people getting cancer from being around  its not only the structures, but sometimes its also the clothing, the turnout gear.

Turnout gear is personal protective equipment, also known as PPE. Causey said that N.C. State University is working on developing textiles that are more protective.

Jackie Ireland, president of North Carolina VFIS, which insures emergency organizations, said that dozens of claims have already been paid out this year.

Weve had about 65 claims filed so far and paid about 40 so far, Ireland said.

The pilot program also includes disability claims, but those were on a six-month delay so are only now starting to be filed seven months into the program.

The $15 million in the budget to be spent through the 2022-23 fiscal year is kind of a shot in the dark as far as the amount needed, he said, because there isnt a prior program in place.

We really dont know exactly what were going to be looking at in the long haul, Ireland said. The money being paid out to firefighters is a stopgap and salvation for those who wouldnt be able to pay the rest of their bills otherwise. The program also helps track who has cancer by demographics. A volunteer cancer registry hasnt gained enough traction to provide the data they need, but they hope that will change.

We really dont have any idea how many cases are out there. We dont know how many people in the fire department died over the last 20 years due to cancer. If we can get that registry, we can get a lot of participation in that, those numbers would help us to determine whether we do have enough money to continue the program, Ireland said.

To qualify, firefighters must:

Be diagnosed after Jan. 1, 2022, with a cancer that may be caused by exposure to heat, radiation, or a known carcinogen, as defined by the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer, according to the bill.

Have served in a fire department in North Carolina for at least five years.

File their claim by June 30, 2023.

More information about the program and how to file a claim can be found on the N.C. Department of Insurance Office of the State Fire Marshal website.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on measures to build the Aghsu-Kurdamir-Bahramtapa-Arabmehdibay-Dadali-Gasimbayli-Xalilli-Mustafaly-Goydallakli-Takla-Dalilar-Garagoyunlu-Kandoba highway in Agsu District, Azernews reports.

According to the decree, in order to build the above-mentioned highway, connecting 12 settlements with a population of 10,000 people, 3.2 million manats ($1.88 million) were initially allocated from the amount indicated in sub-clause 1.26.18 of the "Distribution of funds provided for state capital investments (investment expenditures) in the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022" to the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads.
The Angel Funds 16th annual Stuff The Bus fundraiser wrapped up on Aug. 5.

The goal this year was to help 1,400 students by raising $50,000. While Angel Fund Executive Director Janet Riis said final numbers are not yet available because some donations and matches are still rolling in, she confirmed the goal has been met. She also said Valley Bank matched the $5,000 that people donated to the effort through the bank.

Before COVID-19, Stuff The Bus brought in supplies such as pens, backpacks, crayons, notebooks and more that were dropped off at various donation spots around Helena. At the end of the fundraiser, a bus would come around to collect all the donations and in one day, Angel Fund volunteers would sort out all the items donated and schools would come to collect what they believed they would need for the upcoming school year.

Stuff The Bus later switched to monetary donations, and the Angel Fund kept it that way because it gives schools more freedom to meet their needs through grants.

Its like if a high school needs Texas Instrument calculators, no one really donates those, so now they can go and purchase those themselves with the grant money, said Riis.

Stuff the Bus is one of several distinct programs run by the Angel Fund each year.

Another program involves student clothing. There is an Angel Coordinator in each school within Helena Public Schools. If a family qualifies for free or reduced lunch, the Angel Fund also provides a monetary stipend for clothing: $150 for elementary school students and $200 for middle school and high school students.

There are four stores the Angel Fund partners with in Helena: Target, Walmart, T.J. Maxx and Old Navy. Students can go to these stores and pick out clothes with their stipend and leave them at the store checkout. An Angel Coordinator will stop by and pay for them, and then the family can come pick them up.

This program starts around October or November because that is when schools have an idea of which students are in the free and reduced lunch program.

For the Running for Montanas Future Program, the Angel Fund partners with the school resource officers (SROs) who then work with the school counselors to provide new shoes to students who need them. The SRO drops them off to the student in their size. Since this program started in 2010, over 800 pairs of shoes had been purchased for students as of November 2021, according to prior Independent Record reporting.

The Angel Fund also provides post-secondary scholarships to graduates of Helena Public Schools who want to continue their education after high school. The scholarships are based on financial need, academic success, and a commitment to pay it forward. Whether that be at a two year or four year college, it doesnt matter to qualify for the $1,000 to $2,000 scholarship.

Some upcoming events for the Angel Fund Riis highlighted are Copper Furrow Brewing Charity Night on Sept. 27 from 4 to 9 p.m., where $1 will be donated for every pint of beer sold.

Dec. 5 is the big fundraising night for the Angel Fund with On Broadway Night, where 50% of proceeds go to the fund. That night, there is also an in-person auction. Riis estimated that last year was the biggest year yet for this event, raising around $8,000-$9,000.

Donations to the Angel Fund are accepted year-round, not just during Stuff The Bus. To donate, visit www.angelfundhelena.org, or donations can be mailed to: Angel Fund, P.O. Box 7436, Helena, MT 59604.
Five Native American tribes on Friday filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court defending the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

The Supreme Court on Nov. 9 will hear arguments on Brackeen v. Haaland, a case challenging the law's procedure for placing Native children in foster or adoptive homes.

ICWA aims to protect Native children by giving their tribe and family opportunities to participate in decisions from which they may have previously been excluded. Enacted in 1978, ICWA came in response to decades of state child welfare and private adoption agencies separating Native children from their families.

The law requires that states place Native children in foster care first with an extended family member. If thats not possible, the child should be placed with a family approved by the childs tribe. And if thats not possible, the child can be placed with a non-Native agency.

ICWA opponents typically argue the law is unconstitutional, saying it discriminates based on race. Some legal experts disagree. They say the law is based on tribal citizenship, not race.

Tribes file brief

In the brief, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., Morongo Band of Mission Indians Chairman Charles Martin, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, Oneida Nation Chairman Tehassi Hill and Quinault Indian Nation President Guy Capoeman explained how ICWA has benefited Native children.

ICWA is based on a simple idea, the brief reads. When Indian children can stay with their families and communities, tribes and children alike are better off.

Tribal leaders defended ICWAs constitutionality, saying that the law protects tribal sovereignty and self-governance by safeguarding children against unwarranted removals by non-Indians and states.

Plaintiffs do not represent Indian tribes, families or children but fill their briefs with claims about Indians best interests, the brief reads.

In a statement, tribal leaders said ICWA has received strong, bipartisan support and has been repeatedly upheld in state and federal courts.

Tribal leaders referred to ICWA as a gold standard of child welfare laws and wrote that if those attacking ICWA are successful, they would not only dismantle a law that is central to our sovereign interests in protecting our children but also create chaos and instability throughout the country by overturning the basic framework of Indian law and the political nature of tribal citizenship.

If the Supreme Court ruled against ICWA, the leaders warned, The court would be ignoring decades of precedent, overriding congressional authority and putting our tribal childrens safety at risk.

Brackeen v. Haaland

Brackeen v. Haaland centers on Chad and Jennifer Brackeen, a couple from Texas who fostered a child eligible for membership in the Navajo and Cherokee tribes, according to The Associated Press.

When the boys parents voluntarily ended their parental rights, the Brackeens tried to adopt him. But the state denied their request after the Navajo Nation found a possible home for the boy with a Navajo family. The Brackeens went to court and were able to adopt the boy when that placement fell through. Now, the couple is trying to adopt the boys younger half-sister.

Attorneys general in Texas, Indiana and Louisiana as well as other couples have joined the case, suing the federal government and arguing that ICWA is discriminatory.

According to the National Indian Child Welfare Association, Indigenous children are four times more likely to be removed by state child welfare systems than non-Native children, even when their families have similar presenting problems. Native children are also overrepresented in the foster care system, according to the same report.
Vorachek named senior wealth management advisor

DECATUR  Hickory Point Bank announced that Curt Vorachek has been named senior wealth management advisor.

We are pleased to welcome Curt, a veteran investment management professional who brings a holistic approach to wealth management, said Anthony G. Nestler, president and chief executive officer. Curts expertise will enhance our value proposition for new and existing clients.

In his new role, Vorachek will develop asset allocation strategies, manage a variety of portfolios, develop business succession plans and partner with the bank's experts to serve a diverse group of clients. He is based in Springfield.

Hughes named RCC Outstanding Faculty of the Year

DECATUR Richland Community College has named Laurie Hughes the 2022 Outstanding Faculty of the Year.

Hughes has served as a full-time instructor of English and humanities for more than 20 years at Richland. She is well known for her dedication to students, high standards and innovative instructional delivery. She challenges students to strive for excellence in academics and beyond and fosters and reflects inquisitiveness and passion for her field and pedagogy.

Hughes leads and serves by mentoring faculty during the tenure process, and as co-director of the Honors Program. She is committed to continuous improvement in and outside the classroom. In 2021, she, along with Professor Rosemarie King, secured a grant from the University of Illinois to redesign Humanities 100 to increase the depth of content exploration. In the classroom, Dr. Hughes infuses new technologies such as NearPod, a tool that makes any lesson interactive whether in the classroom or virtual, to enhance student engagement and provides students with intense tutorial opportunities individually and in small groups.

Hughes contributions to the college include participation on the Online Quality Assurance Review Committee, Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee, and the Calendar Committee.

Community Foundation welcomes board members

DECATUR  Lindsey Craycraft and Dr. Perry P. Guaglianone have been elected to serve on the board of The Community Foundation of Macon County.

Craycraft is an associate judge for the 6th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois. Guaglianone is a medical oncologist at Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois.

Each will serve a three-year term and is eligible to serve up to three consecutive terms.

These two community leaders join our current board members in their commitment to help our foundation succeed in its mission, says Natalie Beck, CEO of The Community Foundation of Macon County. Our goal is to connect the philanthropic goals of our donors with the needs of Macon County in order to identify and address those needs through leadership and community engagement.

The board members meet monthly to review and approve grants, oversee the foundations finances, and develop creative and effective ways of empowering fundholders, nonprofits and charitably inclined citizens to make good happen in Macon County.

Established in 2000, The Community Foundation of Macon County stewards more than 365 funds and total assets of $53 million. To date, The Community Foundation has distributed over $38 million to charitable organizations and endeavors.
DECATUR  The family of a Mount Zion girl battling leukemia is hosting a blood drive on Wednesday, Aug. 17.

It will be held from noon to 6 p.m. at Passion Community Church Worship Center, 4225 Camp Warren Lane, Decatur.

Shoni Anderson, 6, was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2021. She has received and will likely continue to receive additional blood transfusions.

Donors will receive a $10 e-gift card and a chance to win gas for a year.

Appointments are required. Call 800-733-2767 or register on the Red Cross Blood Donor App.
I am a long time resident of The West End. Moved here 21 years ago. We raised our girls here and one of them has since married and moved just a few blocks from me. Because she loved our neighborhood.

I have been so concerned hearing that they want to close Dennis School down. It was alarming to hear they wanted to build a new school in Lincoln Park. So glad that didn't work out. I truly feel Woodrow Wilson is the best option. Its' already large enough.

I get Dennis has expanded since it went from from grade school to also housing middle school students as well. No doubt they would run out of space. But we cant keep abandoning schools when we've decided they no longer serve a purpose.

When we moved our family into this neighborhood we first looked at the school district. I just ask that we stop abandoning old schools and building new ones. If they decide on utilizing Woodrow Wilson I sure hope for the sake of our lovely west end neighborhood that they don't just abandon the old Dennis. When people come in to view their students going to Millikin they drive around the area. Dennis is so close. That could cause parents to not want to sent their students to Millikin.

A lot goes in to this. I just want to keep what we have and be able to cherish what we bought into.

Brandy Kelley, Decatur
Grapes of hope: a womans journey out of poverty in northwest China

09:40, August 10, 2022 By Zhong Wenxing ( People's Daily Online

Photo taken on July 6, 2022 shows Liu Li (second from the right) introducing wine to her clients. (Peoples Daily Online/Liu Ning)

The air is filled with the aroma of wine coming from rows of oak barrels and two-story steel vats. This is the cellar of Chateau Lilan winery in Yinchuan city, capital of northwest Chinas Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where Liu Li, a 40-year-old mother of two, serves as the director of winemaking.

For the first 30 years of my life, I thought that wine was simply grape juice combined with sugar and water, Liu, a poorly educated villager from the high mountains, told Peoples Daily Online.

Liu wasnt at fault for not knowing anything about wine, as Liu and her family experienced severe drought, precarious ecological conditions, and poverty, along with many other residents of Xihaigu, an area in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. One of the poorest regions of the country, it was dubbed the most unfit place for human settlement by visiting experts from the United Nations in the 1970s.

How did this underprivileged, less-educated woman become a knowledgeable winemaking director who now leads a comfortable life?

For Liu, its not so simple.

Trapped in poverty in a desolate village

Liu was born in a remote and impoverished mountain village. Her parents couldn't afford to pay for the education of every child, so as the oldest of a large family, she made the decision to forego her own education in order to provide a brighter future for her younger siblings.

After dropping out of middle school, Liu was set up on a blind date with a young man who she went on to marry when she was 19. Liu then relocated to her husbands village in Wenpu township, Longde county, where she would live for more than 10 years in poverty. Until recent years, she had very little interaction with the outside world.

She farmed a small piece of land at home during the decade, while her husband worked as a migrant laborer at urban construction sites, returing home only during the busy farming seasons.

The villages sole water source was a spring 1.5 kilometers away at the base of the cliff, resulting in villagers needing to carry water buckets through the night along rocky, winding trails in the mountains. Liu used to complain that there wasnt enough water to wash her clothing or hair.

Liu Li. (Peoples Daily Online/ Ebulayi)

Lius daughter had to climb big mountains and trek at least 10 kilometers each day to get to the nearest primary school. Furthermore, Liu was constantly concerned about how she would be able to pay for her kids future education.

Move out and start a new life

On Aug. 2, 2013, Lius family, along with more than 100 other villagers, relocated from their homes in the deep mountains to Yinchuans Minning Township, marking a significant turning point in her life. In an effort to help the residents of Xihaigu better settle down, the local government offered them free houses. Lius four-person family received a two-room house with a small courtyard, covering an area of 260 square meters.

After dropping off her suitcase and entering the home for the first time, Liu recalls turning on the outdoor faucet as the first thing she did. I saw hope in my life the instant I saw running water from the faucet.

While the water and housing difficulties were resolved, a new problem arose. Liu, with no training and no work experience, struggled constantly to find steady employment in the town.

She had little choice but to accept low-paying, temporary jobs, including tree-planting, cooking and cleaning for about 80 yuan per day (about $11). At dinner, when she told her son what she had done that day, the little boy often questioned, Why did you change your work today? For fun?

In 2014, Liu noticed a winery hiring and decided to give it a shot. For Liu, her only impression of wine came from her childhood when her parents bought a bottle of wine at 2 yuan to celebrate the Spring Festival, which made her believe wine was grape juice mixed with sugar and water. Now I know it was just water mixed with cyclamate, Liu said.

From grapes to wine, from ignorance to mastery

Photo taken on July 7, 2022, shows Liu Li (left) working inside the labelling workshop of a wine producer at Mining Township, Yinchuan, capital of northwest Chinas Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Peoples Daily Online/Zhong Wenxing)

New to the winery, Liu was mainly responsible for weeding. Grapes are very different from wheat, and I believe they need to be handled mindfully. Liu Li always took great care to set aside the grape seedlings before hoeing the grass below.

Her hard-working and reliable performance soon led to fresh prospects. Liu Li was assigned to the production line to assist with cleaning oak barrels and brushing wine bottles before eventually transitioning into more skilled tasks, such as canning and brewing.

Liu wrote down her observations in a notebook and went over them multiple times as she learned what each works operational technique is comprised of and what outcomes it can produce. Liu spent a lot time learning and practicing day and night. Whenever she had time, she would ask her managers questions she had about winemaking.

After mastering the more than 100 steps required to make wine in 2015, from growing quality grapes, to brewing and bottling, Liu then advanced to the position of skilled winemaking manager after her years of commitment to this work.

Since 2016, her husband has also joined the winery and is responsible for grape growing. Liu and her husband now earn over 10,000 yuan per month from the winery. Recently, the family have expanded their home, constructing four more rooms and a garage in the courtyard, and now possess a new personal computer, car, television and refrigerator.

A well-lived life with hopes for a brighter future

Liu claimed that her lack of education posed huge challenges to her career development as the criteria of information needed to work in management of winemaking is a combination of various subjects, including microbiology, chemistry, physics, and engineering.

I have experienced knowledge gaps, therefore I made it a point to send my kids to college. Im hoping that education could enable them to change their life course and become valuable members of society, Liu remarked.

Photo taken on July 6, 2022, shows wine grapes in a vineyard in Minning Township, Yongning county, Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Peoples Daily Online/Zhong Wenxing)

Some of Lius dreams are now becoming reality: Lius daughter is pursuing a bachelors degree in Grape and Wine at Ningxia University, a famed university in northwest China, while her son performs well at his middle school.

I didnt choose to be born in an underdeveloped village, and I certainly didnt choose to live in poverty, therefore poverty is never a personal choice. Being impoverished was not my fault, but my nice life today is beyond my individual efforts. My life today owes too much to our society, she remarked.

Lius life, with the turning point of her relocation in 2013, is a microcosm of Chinas fight against poverty.

Over the years, around 66,000 residents from the deep mountains of Xihaigu have triumphed over poverty after their relocation to Minning Township. The per capita disposable income of farmers in the town stood at about 16,098 yuan in 2021, which has risen over 32-times since 1997. Currently, the development of industries, including grape wine, mushroom farming and solar photovoltaic energy generation, are booming and injecting great vitality into the local economy.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have today visited Gobustan.

The President and the First Lady viewed the reconstruction works carried out regarding the creation of tourism infrastructure in the Diri Baba tomb.

Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan Fuad Naghiyev informed the head of state and the First Lady of the works carried out in the tomb.














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HICKORY  The Catawba County Vietnam Veterans of America Joe Dillard Chapter 1136 will meet Monday, Aug. 15, at 6 p.m. at the DAV building, 882 21st Street Drive SE in Hickory.

Representatives from the Blue Ridge Honor Flight will present a program describing the Honor Flight and sharing how veterans can apply for the next flight which will be held Saturday, Oct. 1.

There is no cost for a veteran to be part of an Honor Flight. People who want to assist veterans are called guardians, and folks interested in being a guardian will also receive information about how to apply. Each veteran who is part of an Honor Flight is assigned a guardian.

The Blue Ridge Honor Flight is part of the national Honor Flight program that honors veterans of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam by providing a day for veterans to visit the various memorials in Washington, D.C. as well as get a front row seat for the changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery. Service men and women who served during the Vietnam era but did not serve in-country are eligible to apply to the Honor Flight program.

This month's VVA meeting is open to anyone who wants to learn more about the Honor Flight program. Anyone interested in finding out more about the local VVA chapter or the Blue Ridge Honor Flight may contact the chapter vice president, Ric Vandett, at drvandett@gmail.com.
After three years of "trumped" up charges by Clinton, FBI, DOJ, here we go again.

In June, former President Donald Trump willingly allowed FBI to search his home. The FBI came again this week but with backpacks and would not let Trump's attorneys view the search nor what was in their backpacks. The search warrant was signed by a magistrate rather than a federal judge.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor they Father and Mother; which is first commandment with promise; That It May Be Well With Thee, and Thou Mayest Live Long On The Earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in nurture and admonition of the Lord. Not with eyeservice as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good doing service as to the Lord, and not to men.  Ephesians 6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7

A rainy, cloudy Tuesday. But this afternoon as I write, it isnt quite as dark and gloomy. The ho-hum-ness of the day has sort of lifted. The really warm temperature of last week has cooled down. After 120 degree-plus heat index, 68 is almost chilly.

Saturday really was very warm. Very. I had lots to do. I had to keep lecturing myself to keep going. After coming home from work, I had laundry to do and I wanted to mow yard.

Right at first I thought I had to skip laundry. It was cloudy and so humid, so I ate lunch and took a short nap.

Then I decided to do laundry after all.

Then I got the weed eater fired up and went after some weeds.

And oh mya rose I had been babying along all summer got whacked off. Oh well, maybe it will grow out nicer than ever now. Maybe?

It looked so much better, so I mopped the sweat and got out the mower. Oh yes. I love to mow. Lloyd had been mowing since I broke my foot. But now I get to. Actually, my other foot hurt almost too bad to mow. I was hot and tired, but I told myself, you can rest tomorrow. Its our in-between Sunday and we wont go to church.

Well, when I was done mowing, I checked messages and yes, Lloyds had left a message that they are going to church and asked if we want to go along.

Well, yes, but my very human me protested, you are soooo tired. I shushed it, put on my big girl clothes and went. And was so very glad we did.

Yesterday was the day of appointments. First I had a horse-shoeing appointment. That means being gone all morning. When we got home a little before noon, I had time to get my one community newsletter in the mail.

Then it was time to head to Mattoon for my appointment with the foot doctor.

My foot was pretty well-healed. Had it not been for my other foot, I would have canceled. But my right foot was causing more grief than the left, which was the broken one.

I figured maybe he could do something about my bunion. But no, he did pare off a huge callus, probably one inch thick. Well, no, but it was really thick. What a difference. Wonderful. I can walk without pain. Yes. Until it comes back. Sigh

And with two appointments and being gone all day, I couldnt do the laundry. And today, not being a laundry-friendly day, I again couldnt wash.

I guess we can turn out clothes inside out and use the back-side of the towels.

Seriously, I hope I can wash tomorrow. But I also have beans to can and probably have some more to pick. And it will be muddy, I expect. Im trying to get a bunch canned for grandson Ervin and Joanna Miller in Dale, Illinois.

Maybe Ill just go to the neighbors, Floyd Millers, and see if they have some from their produce patch. Just get what I need and can them and be done with that. So I can move on to the next thing.

Our corn wasnt much of a crop, so that is off the list. I have hopes for my tomatoes. They havent started to get ripe yet. The plants are all huge, all grown out of the cages and sprawling across the ground. I hope the growth didnt all go into the plants instead of tomatoes.

In closing: Being right does not depend on having a loud voice.

How about yet another breakfast casserole? This one is quick and easy.

Quick and Easy Breakfast Casserole

Biscuit dough

1 lb. sausage

3/4 cup diced green peppers

1/2 cup diced onions

1 small can mushrooms

10 eggs, scrambled

1/2 - 1 package Lil Smokies

Cheese sauce

Bacon

Put dough in casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Fry sausage, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Put on top of biscuits, top with scrambled eggs and Lil Smokies. Make your favorite cheese sauce and put on top; sprinkle with bacon and bake for another 15 minutes.
Michael Gableman has been fired, marking an end to the more than $1.1 million taxpayer-funded, GOP-ordered review that has failed to uncover any evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who hired Gableman last summer to lead the review, said in a Friday statement that the Office of Special Counsel headed by the former state Supreme Court Justice has been closed. Gableman's firing comes three days after Vos narrowly defeated his primary opponent Adam Steen, who was endorsed by both Gableman and former President Donald Trump.

After having many members of our caucus reach out to me over the past several days, it is beyond clear to me that we only have one choice in this matter, and thats to close the Office of Special Counsel, Vos said in a statement issued first to The Associated Press on Friday.

Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday several state Republicans wanted to see Gableman's review come to "a natural conclusion," but at the time still planned to caucus next Tuesday to decide the fate of the review.

I would have fired his keister a long time ago, said Sen. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, who chairs the Senate elections committee. Bernier, who is not seeking another term this year, has long criticized the election review.

As to why Gableman had remained under contract for so long, Robin may not have fired him prior to the primary for political reasons and I don't blame him, Bernier said, clarifying that she was only speculating about Vos intentions.

Facing pressure from Trump, who continues to make baseless claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election, Vos unveiled plans to embark on the election review at the Republican Party of Wisconsin's annual convention in June 2021.

"I think for most of calendar year 2021, Justice Gableman did a good job," Vos told the State Journal Thursday.

A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. A report from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau last year found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election but made several recommendations for improvements.

The review was initially intended to conclude by the end of last year, but Gableman himself admitted in June  while providing testimony in one of four public records lawsuits related to the probe  that he spent the first several months of his efforts getting up to speed on Wisconsin elections.

In August, he attended a South Dakota event hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell billed as presenting "irrefutable" proof that Chinese-backed hackers helped steal the 2020 election for President Joe Biden. Gableman later said he was "very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims." He also traveled to Arizona that month to observe the widely discredited election audit conducted by Cyber Ninjas.

"He couldn't help himself and in the end he was going to rallies, he was attending political events which clearly looked like there was a partisan tinge to the investigation," Vos said Thursday. "We stopped most of that, but then here we are where he does not just attend a political event but chooses to be involved in a very partisan way and then lie about it."

In March, Gableman recommended the Legislature take the legally impossible step of decertifying the results, a proposal he described as a "practical impossibility" just two weeks later in a private memo to Vos.

Two months later, in May, Vos paused the probe to allow time for pending lawsuits related to the review to play out in court and halved Gableman's monthly salary to $5,500.

Vos hired Gableman at a cost of $676,000, though legal fees and other court costs have pushed the price tag to more than $1.1 million - all of which will ultimately fall on taxpayers. Gableman was paid more than $100,000 to lead the effort.

Gableman's most recent misstep came days before Tuesday's primary, when he recorded a robocall for Steen, an election denier who was seeking to oust Vos in the 63rd Assembly District, claiming that Vos "never wanted a real investigation." Vos ultimately won by about 260 votes, according to unofficial results.

"I never said we weren't serious about the investigation," Vos said Thursday. "Frankly, if you ask any Democrat and most Republicans in the state, they think I was pretty serious in spending the money and time and resources that we did. So for him to lie about it, that's kind of an unforgivable situation where you trust somebody because of their integrity and then at the end they lie."

State Journal reporter Alexander Shur contributed to this report.

This story will be updated.
Two hotel properties off Hanes Mall Boulevard  Home2 Suites Hotel by Marriott and Springhill Suites by Marriott  have been purchased for the second time in four years.

A Huntersville hotel-management group associated with Vallabhbhal Patel, 1102 South Tryon LLC, has paid a combined $30.35 million for the properties.

The group paid $16.83 million for the Home2 Suites property at 1010 Marriott Crossing Way.

That hotel, which opened in February 2018, is located on a 2.19-acre tract and contains 91 hotel rooms.

The group paid $13.35 million for the Springhill Suites site at 1015 Marriott Crossing Way.

That property, which opened in 2009, consists of 95 hotel rooms on a 2.43-acre site.

By comparison, in September 2018 the BVWM groups paid $14 million for the Home2 Suites property and $11.5 million for the Springhill Suites property.

Home2 Suites and Springhill are part of a four-mile section of Hanes Mall Boulevard that contains 14 hotels and 1,554 rooms.

The hotel sales are the latest in a series of Winston-Salem hotel transactions over the past year.

In March, the Microtel property off Hanes Mall Boulevard was sold for $3.3 million to Charlotte hospitality group 4 Jugari LLC, an affiliate of Laxmi Hotels Group LLC.

In December, a Denver commercial and multifamily real-estate group paid $16.1 million to purchase the DoubleTree hotel property at 5790 University Parkway. The hotel is part of the Hilton chain near Wake Forest University. It has 150 guest rooms and the Providence restaurant.

The buyer was 5790 University Hotel LLC, which shares the same address as Allante Properties.

In November, the Baymont by Wyndham hotel property at 200 Mercantile Drive was purchased for $3.2 million by Samdeep Hospitality Group LLC of Winston-Salem.

In September, two vacant tracts off Hanes Mall Boulevard that abut Interstate 40 were sold for a combined $1.2 million to affiliates of High Point hotel development and management company BPR Properties.

That purchased involved a vacant 1.27-acre lot listed as 4612 Hanes Mall Blvd. and a vacant 0.89-acre lot listed as 3945 Oxford Station Way. The properties are to the immediate west of the Conns Home Place retail store.

Hanes Mall Boulevard contains 15 hotels and more than 1,650 rooms.

The Winston-Salem/Hanes Mall area is an attractive, healthy sub-market, relative to room occupancy rate and room rental rates, said Raymond Collins with Collins Commercial Properties Inc. of Winston-Salem.

It has been stable over a continuum, underpinned by two regional hospitals, presence of I-40 and U.S. 421 accesswise, and the many surrounding businesses in the area.

Local tourism officials and industry analysts agree that a more-the-merrier approach is realistic and sustainable for the local hotel marketplace, even in a hospitality sector prone to booms and busts.
UNC School of the Arts has taken another step in the long-awaited renovation of the Stevens Center by selecting Winston-Salems Frank L. Blum Construction Co. and W.C. Construction Co. as construction managers for the first phase of the renovation.

The university owns the 77,500-square-foot performing arts center in downtown Winston-Salem.

The first phase will likely take about three years. It will include roof and building repairs as well as interior improvement addressing accessibility and upgrades related to water intrusion, HVAC and fire suppression systems.

W.C., a minority-owned, Historically Underutilized Business-certified firm, has been in business for 16 years.

Blum and W.C. were approved by the UNCSA Board of Trustees on July 20.

The companies will work with architects and engineers to provide a construction perspective and expertise to the design process.

The Blum-W.C. Construction team has a proven track record of successfully delivering historic preservation and state construction projects in North Carolina, UNCSA chancellor Brian Cole said in a statement.

In addition to being incredibly qualified, the team has successfully delivered some of the most iconic buildings in our community, and the teams offices are less than three miles from the Stevens Center.

On June 9, UNCSA announced that Little Diversified Architectural Consulting of Charlotte and Steinberg Hart of Los Angeles have been hired to handle the design portion of the project.

The Forsyth County legislative delegation was able to secure $29.8 million for the project in the 2021-22 state budget. UNCSA is requesting another $12.4 million in future state funding.

Blum and W.C. have combined to complete more than 550 construction management projects totaling more than $1.4 billion in the last 10 years.

Our local presence, our experience delivering quality projects across the Triad and the team we have assembled uniquely position us to successfully deliver the Stevens Center renovation project, Blum vice president Mark Dunnagan said.

W.C. founder and president William Cockerham said that we have a long-standing commitment to maximizing participation in all of our projects, and we recognize the importance UNCSA places on employing minority and women-owned businesses.

Next steps

The advance planning and design now underway is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to complete.

Once those steps are finished, UNCSA expects the entire building will be closed for about two years, meaning the renovated Stevens Center could open between summer 2025 and early 2026.

The center will remain open for rehearsals and performances at least through the 2022-23 season.

Information about alternate venues for the UNCSA performance season, community programs and partner organizations during the time that the Stevens Center is dark will be announced at a later date, UNCSA said.

The 1,366-seat center debuted in 1929 as a silent movie theater. The neoclassical building was restored and reopened in 1983 with a redesigned stage and backstage that was able to house Broadway-scale live performances of music, theater, dance and opera.

Efforts will be made to retain the buildings original character, UNCSA said.

Other renovation phases will involve improving the experience for show attendees and students.

UNCSA said it has not settled on an overall cost for the full renovation, which will include public and private funding for each phase.

Cole said that chief among Little and Steinberg Harts services will be to determine cost and phasing strategies.

The groups have teamed to design and construct more than 80 art centers that serve academic institutions and their surrounding communities, including several in North and South Carolina.

Melanie Reddrick, executive principal-in-charge of Little, said the team recognizes that the Stevens Center is a significant historic treasure, and it holds great meaning for UNCSA and the region.

We will work closely with university and community stakeholders to give this remarkable theater a new lease on life, she said.

Those stakeholders include the Winston-Salem Symphony, Piedmont Opera and the National Black Theatre Festival.

When we are finished, our hope is that the Stevens Center brings joy to Winston-Salem for another 100 years, Reddrick said.

UNCSA will continue to seek input from the Winston-Salem community for the project, as well as partner organizations that use the Stevens Center.

Project background

In September 2017, the UNCSA board of trustees approved a concept master renovation plan.

Then-UNCSA Chancellor Lindsay Bierman said in September 2017 that the plan provided a detailed analysis of existing conditions, reflected the must-haves of most campus and community stakeholders, and outlined realistic cost estimates to bring the Stevens Center up to current industry standards and building codes.

Construction and other items, including furnishings, new rigging systems, lighting and audio/visual equipment were projected at that time to cost $35.2 million.

UNCSA said Little and Steinberg Hart develop new design plans but will refer to the 2017 concept plan.

Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, said that even though it took years to get funding for the renovation into the state budget, the inclusion represented a recognition that the Stevens Center has served our community well and is a shining example of our commitment to the arts and educational programs.

However, it is in need of repairs and updating, Lambeth said.
By Trend

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has commented on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan region, saying it will only make the international community more aware of the United States' hegemonic bullying and strengthen the consensus of adhering to the one-China policy, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

Wang made the comments during his recent contacts with foreign ministers of Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and Nepal.

Emphasizing that Pelosi's visit to Taiwan has been proved to be a sheer political provocation, Wang said this is a serious violation of the commitments made by the U.S. side and a serious violation of China's sovereignty.

"China will, of course, take necessary and resolute countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, uphold the basic norms governing international relations on non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and truly maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," Wang said.

Calling the visit a complete political farce, he said Pelosi's performance will only make the Chinese people more united and resolute in advancing the great cause of national reunification.

Wang warned against three dangerous trends as the situation develops.

He said that, firstly, it is necessary to be prepared for the United States gathering some accomplices to pour fuel on the fire, enhancing regional military deployments, further escalating the situation and attempting to create a new and bigger crisis.

Secondly, said Wang, we must be wary of "Taiwan independence" forces misjudging the situation, continuing to collude with external forces, and heading further along the path of splitting the country.

Thirdly, he said we must be wary of politicians in some countries ignoring right and wrong, getting caught up in the hype and following suit for political gain. This will seriously undermine the political foundation for relations between China and these countries, and will seriously undermine the UN Charter and the post-World War II international system.

"We are willing to, together with friends from all countries who love peace and uphold justice, resolutely oppose all words and deeds that interfere in China's internal affairs and resist all risky moves that undermine peace across the Taiwan Strait, and jointly safeguard the one-China principle, defend the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and safeguard regional stability and world peace," Wang said.
For 66 years, Wake Forest Baptist Church has embraced a commitment to inclusion that is reflected in its motto.

All Are Welcome, No Exceptions.

With their vote Sunday to end a nearly two-century tradition of an on-campus Baptist church at a school established by Baptists, members signaled that they no longer feel the same level of hospitality from their historical hosts.

Something changed, longtime member Jerry Gay said of the churchs relationship with the university.

Gays connections to Wake Forest Baptist and the university give him a unique perspective on their interplay.

As the 7-year-old son of a Wake Forest math professor in 1951, he was there when President Harry Truman came to Winston-Salem to take part in the groundbreaking for the schools new campus.

I didnt know what was going on but I did watch the United States president dig a hole, Gay recalled with a chuckle.

Five years later, Gay and his family moved from the town of Wake Forest to Winston-Salem, where his father began teaching in the newly constructed Reynolda Hall building.

When Wake Forest Baptist Church was launched that same year, Gay was part of the inaugural congregation.

There was a whole group of us faculty brats who were in church that first Sunday, and Ive been there ever since, he said.

When we started wed get 200 or 300 people every Sunday.

Gay, a retired court reporter who will turn 78 next month, also was one of the Wake Forest Baptist members who voted Sunday to dissolve the 66-year-old church.

The church attracted hundreds of worshippers for years. Weekly worship attendance now tops out at about 30, according to the Rev. Rayce Lamb, Wake Forest Baptists interim pastor.

Wake Forest Baptist members and leaders began contemplating the churchs future last fall after being notified that beginning in 2023, they could no longer use university facilities for worship at no charge and would be required to pay $2,500 a month to continue gathering on campus in Davis Hall.

It galls me to think about, Gay said of the decision by the university, which reports assets of more than $4.7 billion and a $1.8 billion endowment. We aint got that kind of money, and what the hell they want with it, I dont know.

Changing identityWhen members of Wake Forest Baptist disperse after worshipping together for the last time later this year, the moment will signal an institutional shift for a university whose denominational ties began fraying four decades ago, a religion scholar who has watched the transition with particular interest suggests.

The closure of the Wake Forest Baptist Church is, in my view, a symbol of the universitys changing identity, moving toward a non-sectarian private school with Baptist-related roots, said Bill Leonard, founding dean and professor emeritus at the Wake Forest School of Divinity.

The original Wake Forest Baptist Church was established in 1835 on the campus of what was then known as Wake Forest Institute, a year after the school was founded by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

The Winston-Salem churchs formation coincided with Wake Forests move to the new campus.

In the early years, freshman would flock to services, then held in the spacious Wake Chapel, on the first Sunday after they arrived on campus, Gay recalled.

The students would be lined up from the front, all the way to the back and around, then back to the front again, said Gay. At the time, it meant something to stay in the church, although Im sure their parents were more excited than they were. A lot of the students, maybe they joined and thats the last time we saw them.

Decades of dispute over academic freedom and moral restraints at the school opened a rift between the university and the State Baptist Convention, who agreed to part ways in 1986.

But Wake Forest Baptist remained on campus and continued to aggressively advocate for progressive issues  some of which put the church directly at odds with the state convention and tested its relationship with the university.

In the late 1990s, a decade-and-a-half before same-sex marriage became legally recognized in North Carolina, two women members of Wake Forest Baptist told the congregation they hoped to be united in a covenant ceremony in Wait Chapel, where the church worshiped.

Such ceremonies had never been performed by the church or on the campus, and the debate about whether they should opened divisions within the congregation and among Wake Forest leaders.

After months of sometimes contentious discussion  and a handful of defections from the church and school  Wake Forest Baptist agreed to the ceremony and the university adopted policies for such on-campus same-sex unions.

The covenant service took place in 2000, leading to the churchs ouster from the Baptist State Convention. The congregation withdrew on its own from the Southern Baptist Convention, the nations largest Protestant denomination.

As the university and church cut their direct Baptist ties, the number of Baptist students and faculty members gradually declined, as did the on-campus congregation, Leonard noted.

Beginning of the end

The new university policy that would require Wake Forest Baptist to pay $2,500 a month to hold services on campus prompted months-long discussions that ended Sunday with the congregations vote to dissolve.

The church, which has never had a freestanding facility on the Winston-Salem campus, paid the university rent for office use but not for worship space, Lamb, the acting pastor, said.

In the fall of 2021, however, the school informed the church that beginning in January 2023, it would be required to pay for the continued use of Wakes Davis Chapel on Sundays.

Around the same time is when the church began a ... process to discern what God was calling us to next, Lamb explained. With an aging and declining membership, limited financial resources and this new rental policy, it was determined by membership that continuing as is and paying rent was not the best use of the churchs resources.

The university insists its policy shift was not aimed at the church.

Wake Forest regularly evaluates lease agreements and informed the church of a changing fee structure for independent groups and organizations in November 2021, university spokeswoman Cheryl Walker said.

She did not directly address a question from the Journal about who at the school made the decision to begin charging the congregation for using Davis Chapel.

We celebrate Wake Forest Baptist Churchs rich legacy on our campus and in the community, Walker said. We understand the churchs decision to dissolve involved several factors and came after an intentional, thoughtful discernment process by members of the congregation. The university continues to offer a wide array of worship opportunities for students, including those of Baptist affiliation and heritage.

For now, Wake Forest will continue to allow the congregation to worship in Davis Chapel, which has a capacity to seat about 90 people, Walker added.

Progressive legacy

In a region dominated by the Southern Baptist Convention, Wake Forest Baptist and progressive congregations like it engaged in activism that defied popular notions of what it means to be Baptist.

Since the 1980s the SBC has been in the control of a significantly conservative majority with strongly rightward theological and political orientation, Leonard said. In the days when they were connected to the SBC, (Wake Forest Baptist) reflected a discernable progressivism on issues related to race, divorce, civil rights, women in ministry, and ultimately LGBTQ persons and issues. They were also progressive on theological issues related to baptism, evangelism, ecumenism, social gospel and interfaith dialogue. Many of those members were WFU faculty, staff and, often, students.

From 2011 to 2013, Wake Forest Baptist was led by lesbian co-pastors, the Revs. Susan Parker and Angela Yarber.

The Rev. Lia Scholl, who served as pastor from 2014 to 2021, was among those arrested during Poor Peoples Campaign protests in the North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh, and in Washington, D.C.

Church leaders and members also have participated in marches in recent years for voting rights and Black lives, and on behalf of immigrant families separated at the Mexico border.

Our legacy will continue, Lamb said. We have been a church committed to the formation of students who now serve in ministry and leadership roles across the country. Their roots will always be traced back to Wake Forest Baptist Church and the impact they help create in this world will also be the impact of Wake Forest Baptist Church.

Dying well

While the prospect of paying $2,500 per month for worship space triggered talks that led to the congregations decision, the end was inevitable, Lamb suggested.

The landscape of higher education is changing as is the religious landscape of America, he said. The challenges faced by Wake Forest Baptist Church are unique in the sense we are an autonomous and independent Baptist church housed at the center of a private university, yet it isnt unique in the fact that our social location has not shielded us from the challenges faced by many progressive churches in America.

Lamb added that in the coming months, he will work to match church members with congregations that share those progressive values.

First, we are going to take some time to grieve and mourn the loss of our faith community, he said. But then, we will begin the work of dying well and use our remaining financial assets in a way that aligns with our mission and helps carry on the legacy of our church for generations to come.

The end would have come soon enough for Wake Forest Baptist, which is why the university simply could have let the declining congregation dissolve on its own time, Jerry Gay, the original member, insisted.

It pisses me off, he said of the $2,500 rent demand. But time marches on, whether you like it or not.
RICHMOND, Va.  A Virginia authors investigative effort to uncover the origins of a racist photo on Ralph Northams medical school yearbook page has ended inconclusively, according to the author, who has written a book that offers new details about the 2019 scandal and the former governors remarkable political survival.

Of course, I would like to have determined exactly who was in the photograph. And I gave that my best effort, Margaret Edds, a retired journalist and the author of What the Eyes Cant See, told The Associated Press ahead of the books November publication.

Although Edds  like journalists and two groups of law firm investigators before her  did not arrive at any definitive answer about the photo of one person in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan costume, her 296-page book offers a behind-the-scenes look at the turmoil the image sparked. The book details Northams decision to remain in office despite tremendous pressure, as well as the steps he took to become better informed about the legacy of racism, redeem his reputation and work with Black leaders to sharpen his administrations focus on racial justice.

Northam participated in 14 interviews for the book, a digital review copy of which was provided to AP by The University of South Carolina Press. What the Eyes Cant See also draws on interviews with Northams wife, Pam Northam, staffers, consultants, friends and public officials, plus documents and contemporaneous news reports.

Mark Bergman, a longtime political adviser to Northam who was among those interviewed, said Northam participated because he thought the book would serve as the final word on what his service was about. Northam, who returned to work as a pediatric neurologist after leaving office in January, declined comment through Bergman.

The photo surfaced in 2019 when a conservative political website published it while Northam was embroiled in a controversy over remarks he made about late-term abortion. The image appeared along with three pictures that showed Northam on his personal page in the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook.

Northam initially apologized for being in the photo without saying which person was him. Then he reversed course, saying he wasnt actually in the photo. The move did not initially quell widespread calls for his resignation. But Virginias 73rd governor refused to step down, and the pressure eased after the states two other top Democratic officeholders became caught up in controversies of their own.

Edds said she was inspired to write the book when she heard that Northam had decided to remove an enormous state-controlled statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond.

I just thought, Oh my, what a journey, what a story, she said.

The book was not a collaboration, said Edds, who told the governor she wouldnt guarantee hed like what she wrote.

As for the photo, Edds may not have discovered who was in it, but she did manage to get the editor of the yearbook  who previously had avoided reporters and investigators  to open up.

She also captured the chaos of the initial news breaking, including the reactions of various high-profile Democratic leaders. The book explores Northams response to the lack of support, as well as his efforts to regain the trust of fellow Democrats. It weaves in chapters of Virginias history, as well as Northams, exploring his family tree and formative parts of his childhood on Virginias Eastern Shore. In it, Northam acknowledges specific instances in which he thinks white privilege boosted his career.

Northam may have had the most integrated childhood of any Virginia governor and initially saw thought of himself as someone who didnt see race, Edds said.

To me, it was a powerful moment when he came to recognize that its not that admirable not to see race if youre not seeing all the underlying systemic racism that affects peoples lives, she said.

Edds emphasized that the book is not only a story of personal redemption for Northam, its also an exploration of the way Black legislators and citizens both encouraged and pushed Northam toward change.

Edds, who spent 34 years working in journalism in Virginia, mostly at The Virginian-Pilot, has previously authored several other books, including works about the commonwealths history and the civil rights movement.

Her latest books title is a reference to a turn of phrase  the eyes cant see what the brain doesnt know  that Northam favors and has used with medical students, as well as to describe his own transformation.

The book is slated to go on sale Nov. 8.
A 47-year-old Lincoln man has been sentenced to 15 years and four months in federal prison for a conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine in the area.

Michael Tinsley pleaded guilty and Thursday, U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard gave him the prison term, plus five years of supervised release.

In a news release, acting U.S. Attorney Steven Russell said in December 2020, Tinsley fled a Richardson County Sheriff's deputy trying to stop him in a red Chevy Avalanche. Tinsley ditched the truck, which had 131 grams of methamphetamine, syringes, spoons with residue, two scales and two cellphones that contained evidence Tinsley was dealing drugs.

On Jan. 4, 2021, when a Lancaster County Sheriffs deputy arrested Tinsley at a Lincoln hotel he had about 7.6 grams of meth and a pipe on him.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the situation beginning in 2020, Nebraska was projecting a shortage of health care professionals, particularly in rural areas.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has long expected a shortage of 5,435 nurses by 2025, which combined with an aging population will seriously squeeze health care options in several areas of the state.

Other specialties  primary care physicians, pediatric physicians, OB-GYNs, even audiologists  were also tracking anticipated shortages before COVID strained the health care system, especially in rural counties.

While the statistics are sobering, UNMC Chancellor Jeff Gold told the NU Board of Regents on Thursday the university has a plan to build a sustainable workforce that will be key to ensuring patients across Nebraska can see a doctor or will have adequate numbers of nurses available.

And regents agreed with the plan, unanimously approving spending $50 million appropriated by the Legislature to expand the Rural Health Education Building at the University of Nebraska at Kearney to train a new generation of providers.

Only the university can do this, Gold said Thursday.

UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen said the $85 million expansion  the university will raise $35 million in private funds to build out the full project  will play a lead role in keeping rural Nebraska vibrant for years to come.

(Health care) is the future of all these communities, Kristensen said. We should do things that only the university can solve. Theres no one else in the state of Nebraska who can do this.

NU initially asked the state to fund $60 million of the project; the Legislature ultimately included $50 million for it in its rescue plan package earlier this year, and Gov. Pete Ricketts signed the bill into law.

With the state funding in place  the amount raised from donors will determine the final scale of the project  the UNMC-UNK project is expected to begin in September 2023, adjacent to an existing Rural Health Building that opened in 2015.

That facility was the focus of the Building a Healthier Nebraska Initiative, a 2012 partnership between NU, the Legislature and then-Gov. Dave Heineman to address the anticipated shortage of nurses and other health care specialties in the state.

The $19 million building, which provides high-tech space for UNMCs College of Nursing and College of Allied Health Professionals to train health care workers in a rural campus setting, was considered phase one.

The new $85 million expansion, which will expand the previous offerings while also adding programs for physicians, pharmacists and public health professionals, will be phase two, according to the university.

Gold, in a presentation to regents, said the need to move forward on the proposed center was urgent.

According to the Status of the Nebraska Health Care Workforce, a document showing the number of health care providers across several specialties that is updated every two years, 14 of the states 93 counties were without a primary care physician.

Only 19 counties had an internal medicine physician in 2020; seven counties have a pediatric primary care physician; and just 38 counties have a licensed OB-GYN, the UNMC study found.

Even in the counties where health care professionals are currently practicing, including the urban areas, the number of providers per 100,000 residents often falls short of the national average, Gold said.

Nebraska is also moving in the wrong direction, Gold added. A piece of clip art on a slide he showed to regents showed a car on a road that stops at a cliff side.

Id like to think we are proceeding full steam ahead away from the cliff, Gold said. But unfortunately, over time, that has not been the trend.

Lincoln Regent Tim Clare said the opening of the rural health care education complex in Kearney had already contributed to putting more providers in areas of Nebraska that previously didnt have one.

He said the program should continue to be a focus for NU.

If were going to grow our state, health care has to be at the top, Clare said. Health care, broadband (internet), you have to have it in these counties. If you dont, these counties are going to die.

And Omaha Regent Elizabeth OConnor, who also spoke in support of the project, said she routinely hears a lack of access to health care is the top concern for many Nebraskans.

I think it creates a lot of dread for Nebraskans in the future, OConnor said, adding that expanding programming designed to train doctors and nurses to work in rural areas was the right thing to do.

It demonstrates our commitment of giving back to the state, she said. That commitment is at the core of what makes our university great.
The long-awaited and hotly debated demolition of one of Lincolns most historic homes has started.

An excavator tore into 2636 Woodscrest early Thursday, beginning the razing and removal of the 5,500-square-foot Norman Revival so its owners can build a new home.

John and Ella Wirtz bought the property near 27th and Sheridan  known to some as The Castle, to others as the Miller House  nearly a year ago.

We love this neighborhood. We were looking for a house that would be our forever home, John Wirtz said Thursday. The intent of our search from the beginning was to find a place to raise our family.

They paid $1.4 million, according to the county assessor. But they never moved in.

Theyd planned to renovate it, Wirtz said, to make it meet the needs of their family. They hired Jason Woita of Woita Homes  which specializes in renovating old houses and has worked on others in the neighborhood  as their general contractor. They met with multiple architects.

We felt very confident we had the best minds walking through the house with us. We kind of put all the options on the table and there just wasnt a way to make the house work.

Wirtz wouldnt say specifically why they couldnt make the 100-year-old house accommodate his family. It was just a multitude of things that, in combination, made it not possible for us to do a renovation.

So they moved to Plan B  building a new house on the acre-plus lot.

They hired a Minnesota-based, nationally recognized architect who specializes in classic homes.

To make sure that the house that well build will be a beautiful house, that it's going to fit the character of the neighborhood really well, Wirtz said.

But when their plan to erase and replace started seeping through the neighborhood, it was met with outrage.

The Country Club Neighborhood Association hosted a city planning staffer to see if there was anything they could do to prevent the demolition, and whether the houses listing on the National Register of Historic Places gave it any protection.

Short answer: No, and no.

The Preservation Association of Lincoln staged a sign-waving rally near the home  Honk to support history, and, Save The Castle  and there were reports of the family facing threats and harassment.

But others took to social media to defend them: Its their money, their property and they can do what they want.

And what they want is a three-story Colonial Revival, with first- and second-floor porches facing Woodscrest and an attached garage with three stalls facing south, according to draft plans obtained by the Journal Star through a public records request to the citys Building and Safety Department.

The couples building permit application lists the construction cost at $2.1 million, and Woita estimated it will take him about 20 months to build.

The style of the home is going to be something that would fit in with the neighborhood, and look timeless and fitting of the neighborhood  not something that's contemporary, Woita said.

Demolition is expected to take four to five days, said Nate Peterson of Infinity Excavating.

Not all of the historic Woodscrest house will end up in the landfill. An architectural salvage crew removed what it could  windows, doors, light and plumbing fixtures, cabinets and countertops  and the couple donated it to Habitat for Humanity.

Water main break not related Shortly after the demolition started, a water main broke on Woodscrest Avenue, leaving 10 neighbors without service. But the two werent connected, said Andy Walker of Lincolns Transportation and Utilities Department. The main is more than 100 years old, and the break is the citys 14th so far this month. I think its natural causes, he said.

Wirtz didnt want to talk about whether his family had been threatened and harassed. He wanted to talk instead about how much Lincoln had given his family in the past two decades, and how much theyve contributed to the community.

And how the demolition crew that started work Thursday wasnt in their original plans.

We want to make sure people know how much we care about this neighborhood, and that it was not our intent to build a house there.
OMAHA  The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday dismissed an appeal by a handful of Creighton University students who sought to be exempt from the private Catholic school's COVID-19 vaccine mandate last year, arguing that getting the shots would violate their religious beliefs against abortion.

The state's high court said it didn't have jurisdiction, citing its 150-year stance that people can't appeal orders denying or granting temporary injunctions. In this case, a judge last year declined to issue a temporary injunction that would have blocked Creighton's requirement that all students get the COVID-19 vaccination.

"Because the court's denial of a temporary injunction was not a final order, we lack jurisdiction of the appeal and must dismiss it," Justice William Cassel wrote for the court.

The 10 students who sought the injunction said they had religious objections to the vaccines because they "were developed and/or tested using abortion-derived fetal cell lines."

Laboratory-grown cell lines descended from fetuses that were aborted decades ago were used in some early-stage testing of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and to grow viruses used to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The vaccines do not contain fetal cells.

The Vatican declared in 2020 that it is "morally acceptable" for Roman Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses when "ethically irreproachable" vaccines aren't available.

Douglas County District Judge Marlon Polk said in his September 2021 ruling that he wouldn't order the mandate be temporarily blocked because he didn't think the students would ultimately prevail in court. That's because the students had signed a form promising to get vaccinated once regulators fully approved one, the judge noted. The students appealed.

An attorney for the students, Robert Sullivan, said Friday that while he wished the state's high court had decided the appeal on its merits, the fact that it was decided on a technicality allows the students to continue their legal fight.

"The vast majority of the students want to move ahead with the case and see what we can get done," Sullivan said. Most of the students went on to enroll at other schools, he said, while one had enough college credits to graduate over the summer.

An attorney for the university did not immediately return a phone messages left Friday by the Associated Press seeking comment.

The private university in Omaha is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church, which teaches that abortion is a grave sin.

The university issued its mandate for students in August 2021, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the vaccine made by Pfizer. At the time, Creighton allowed only medical, not religious, exemptions to its vaccine requirements. However, the school added a religious exemption ahead of the 2022-23 academic year, Creighton spokesman Sam Achelpohl said.

Students refusing a vaccine on religious grounds must fill out a form and get approval from the university, according to the school's website.

Achelpohl declined to comment on Friday's ruling or the ongoing lawsuit.
OMAHA  A man accused of taking an off-duty police officers gun and firing it during an attempted bank robbery in Omaha was taken into custody.

Shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, Omaha police responded to a help an officer call at the First National Bank branch, 5006 Ames Ave. They found that a 41-year-old man had handed a bank employee a note indicating that there was a bomb in the building.

The man did not get any money. As he was heading outside, he encountered an off-duty officer who was working at the bank, and the two began to struggle. The man took the officers gun and fired one round before the officer took the gun back. No one was injured.

Police said officers were told that the man had broken into a home not far from the bank near 49th Street and Fowler Avenue. Officers and a police K-9 entered the home and took the man into custody. The officers later learned that the man had tried to enter another home before breaking into the house where he was captured.

The man initially was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center but has been moved to the Douglas County Jail, police said Thursday. The man was arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery, assault of an officer, possession of a gun by a prohibited person, burglary, attempted burglary and two counts of false imprisonment.

The man has a lengthy criminal history, including felony convictions for robbery in 2014 and 2020.
EMERSON  When the Post 60 Market grocery store opens soon in Emerson, the community literally will run the store.

If needed, many residents here just might be willing to work there for free. A number of them already have, showing up once, twice or three times to voluntarily unpack shipments of dry and canned goods and stock the shelves.

They're thrilled to have a grocery store back in town and will do whatever it takes to make sure they're not without one again.

"We have a lot of community support for it," Emerson resident Mark Graf said. "It's come together better than expected, and that's exciting. But most of all, I'm excited to have a grocery store back in town."

He and the rest of the 800 or so residents of this community, the only one in Nebraska to be located in three counties  Dakota, Dixon and Thurston.

But since 2018, the number of greater importance here was 0, as in zero grocery stores in town after Mike's Food Town closed.

"We went from having groceries in town to driving 20-30 minutes for the nearest groceries," Graf said of the inconvenience everyone, especially elderly residents who have a harder time getting around, has experienced.

They won't be making those drives to Pender, Wayne, West Point, South Sioux City or farther much longer.

As soon as the cash registers arrive, Post 60 Market could open, store manager Brian Horak said on a recent day when more than a dozen volunteers were helping him stock the shelves with the latest grocery shipment.

"Every time I need help, a lot of volunteers show up," Horak said. "Every town needs a grocery store."

You won't find anyone in Emerson who disagrees.

"That's what the town needs to keep it going. We want to make a go of it," said Fred Sebade, an Emerson farmer who was among the volunteer stockers.

In 2020, a group of citizens, along with the village board, began looking for ways to bring a store back to town. With help from the University of Nebraska Extension, they formed a steering committee to explore feasibility and ownership models.

It's a challenge many small, rural towns face, said Charlotte Narjes, a rural prosperity Extension educator.

Without a grocery store in town, elderly residents who have difficulties driving may choose to move to a community that does have groceries. The presence or absence of a grocery store can play a role when relocating families decide which town to settle in.

"That grocery store is an anchor institution," Narjes said.

Emerson residents didn't want to be weighed down by the lack of a grocery store any longer.

The community formed the Emerson Grocery Cooperative, an ownership model that gives those who buy shares a vote in how the store operates. More than 160 shares have been sold to date, raising more than $120,000, said Graf, chairman of the co-op's board.

With the former grocery store building sold and unavailable, the co-op board needed a location. In stepped Emerson's American Legion Post 60, looking to sell its Main Street building that was in need of some work.

Proceeds from share sales, grants, donations and loans funded the purchase and extensive renovation of the former Legion hall. The store was named Post 60 Market in honor of the Legion, which will retain a meeting room inside.

"It worked out perfect for both the store and the Legion," said Horak, an Emerson native who as a high school student worked at Mike's Food Town and at one time operated a grocery store with his brother in Springfield, Nebraska.

Horak will analyze shoppers' purchases to determine which goods to add or discontinue at the store, which will employ two full-time and six part-time workers.

"The town's going to manage the store in a way, and I'm going to make it happen," he said. "It's the town's store."

Emerson residents appear ready to make it work.

Down the aisle from Sebade, fellow shareholder and shelf-stocking volunteer Janie Gutzmann said she, along with nearly everyone in town, is excited to have a grocery store back in town. It's added some much-needed buzz, and traffic.

"It's nice to see cars on Main Street, and that's what Emerson's going to have again is cars on Main Street," Gutzmann said.

And those cars will be heading downtown, not down the road, for groceries.
In the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and his allies attempted to overturn the election and force a desired result contrary to the will of voters.

Some of these efforts were to exploit the weaknesses in an old law, the Electoral College Act of 1887. For those unfamiliar, the ECA was adopted to clarify the rules and procedures of counting and certifying electoral votes in a presidential election. Among other things, the ECA outlines the counting procedures of Congress, the rules for Congress to follow in the event of objections or disputed situations, and the role of the vice president, who presides over the counting of electoral votes.

Though the purpose of the ECA is to clarify electoral procedures, it has its flaws. There are phrases within the act that have broad interpretation. Some critics find ambiguity concerning the roles of Congress and the vice president. Are their roles ministerial or ceremonial? Can Congress reject electoral votes beyond the reasons given in the Act?

It is for these reasons that the ECA needs to be reformed and modernized in order to prevent a further constitutional crisis and restore faith in our democratic electoral process.

A bipartisan group of senators have recently put forth new legislation to reform the ECA. This group includes nine Republican lawmakers. Among them is Nebraskas own Sen. Ben Sasse. It has also been reported that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has expressed openness to reform the ECA.

I thank Senator Sasse for recently joining the bipartisan effort to update the ECA and strengthen Americas democracy. Updating the ECA will help protect our nation and its democratic institutions. It will ensure the will of the American people and the peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of every healthy democracy.

Rachel Bonar, Omaha
By Trend

Jordan's Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) signed deals with two telecom operators to introduce 5G services in the kingdom, according to a TRC statement, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

While calling the telecommunications industry a significant contributor to Jordan's economic growth, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad Hanandeh said at the signing ceremony that incentives were provided for the operators to facilitate the introduction of the 5G services.

The total investment in Jordan's telecommunications industry is about 2 billion Jordanian dinars (2.82 billion U.S. dollars), according to Hanandeh.

Bassam Sarhan, chairman of TRC's board of commissioners, said licensing 5G services was a national priority, which is expected to have a positive impact on the local economy.

The launch of 5G services accelerates production processes, develops new business models and enables innovation and entrepreneurship, Sarhan added, citing several international studies.
A 17-year-old has been charged with sexual assault, after reportedly raping a 12-year-old girl who he supposedly was going to give a snowboard lesson to in February at Alpine Valley Resort, just outside East Troy in Walworth County.

A lawsuit has also been filed against Alpine Valley Resort, where the suspect was reportedly employed at the time, as well as against the resorts insurance company, the teen and his parents.

Fintan Jarvis St. Clair, of the Eagle area, who was 16 at the time and is now 17, is charged with first-degree child sexual assault  sexual intercourse with a child under 13.

According to the criminal complaint, a girl who was 12 at the time visited the ski hill and lined up a lesson with St. Clair.

The incident reportedly happened Feb. 6, which was the weekend of Lake Genevas Winterfest.

At the ski hill, the defendant reportedly texted the girl that he was in his car. The girl was reportedly coerced in his car where he attempted to kiss her and then reportedly drove her to an area in the parking lot by the woods where he reportedly raped her.

Criminal charges were filed against St. Clair in June. St. Clair has pleaded not guilty and a status conference on the case is scheduled for Sept. 15 in Walworth County Circuit Court.

A lawsuit was also filed Monday, Aug. 8 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on behalf of the victim and her family by attorneys Mackenzie J. Mahony and Colleen Mixan Mikaitis of Taxman, Pollock, Murray & Bekkerman, LLC.

According to the lawsuit and a news release from the law firm, the Alpine employee reportedly drove the 12-year-old to an isolated area of Alpines parking lot.

The employee had been to that location many times before February 6, 2022 and knew that the area was unlit and lacked security or video-surveillance. .The Alpine employee proceeded to rape Joan Doe in his vehicle in the Alpine parking lot, the release summing up the case states.

The girls sister was able to reportedly find her by using a geolocating app  Life360. They traveled to her location and observed St. Clair in the backseat with the 12-year-old. The girl immediately fled the car and left with her sister.

According to the firm that filed the lawsuit, the area where the assault occurred was frequented by Alpine employees and was known to lack lighting and video surveillance.

Despite this, Alpine failed to take steps to add lighting or cameras to the area, the law firm stated in a news release on the case. The firm, on behalf of the family, also alleges Alpine failed to cordon off or limit access to the auxiliary parking area that was not secured by lighting or cameras.

Alpine carelessly and recklessly created an environment where one if its employees was able to exploit Alpines security failings and sexually assault, abuse, and rape a minor child on its property, the firm stated. The conduct that led to this occurrence is inexcusable. Alpine invited Joan Doe onto its property  even boasting on its website that she could learn to snowboard from a qualified, enthusiastic instructor in a safe environment. Instead, the environment at Alpine was anything, but safe  Those who are responsible must be held accountable, and Alpines security and employment practices must be reviewed and changed.

The family has also sued St. Clairs parents alleging that the day of the incident the teen boy had reportedly been drinking alcohol that he acquired at home. The lawsuit also alleges the boys family should have known that he drank alcohol and smoked marijuana regularly and should have been able to control the boy and prevent him from harming others.

The victims family is asking for $50,000 from Alpine Valley, $50,000 from St. Clair and $50,000 from his family from damages.

The defendants in the lawsuit, including Alpine Valley, have 45 days from receiving their summons to respond to the lawsuit.

Alpine Valley Resort management did not return a call for comment on the case.
RACINE  If Michael Gableman is now an embarrassment to the state and may soon be fired, as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Tuesday, Democrats and other progressives are wondering why he wasnt fired months ago.

Vos told WISN-TV (Channel 12) that Gableman was able to set his own agenda in the probe looking into allegations of irregularities in the 2020 election, but with two directives:

1. Dont get political.

2. Dont use your new clout to make media appearances.

What Vos said Robin Vos told WISN-TV (Channel 12) after declaring victory Tuesday night regarding Gableman: I hired him on recommendations, thinking we were going to have someone who was a good, articulate, independent voice. It was very clear in all of our discussions that he had a budget that he set for himself. We didn't say: don't go here or don't go there. He set his own parameters. Then we asked (of Gableman) two simple things  dont get involved in politics, and please try to make sure you focus on the investigation, not being on TV. He couldnt help himself but to try to inject his own opinions into this race.

Vos later told WDJT-TV (CBS 58) that Gableman did a really good job of of avoiding that partisanship until February. However, those apparent directives have been violated repeatedly since Gableman was hired to probe the 2020 presidential election, long before February. It was not until May that Vos shut down the investigative portion of the Office of Special Counsel, solely directed by Gableman, with the office remaining open only so long as it is involved in litigation.

It was not until Tuesday that Vos publicly spoke about Gableman breaking the apparent rules he was given by his employer; prior to Tuesday, neither Gableman nor Vos had said anything about these rules, leaving them unknown to the public.

While I agree with Vos that Gableman has been an embarrassment, he (Gableman) has also been incredibly dangerous for over a year since he was hired for this position. And, frankly, I believe that Speaker Vos thought he could control this narrative, but he cannot. He elevated Gablemans profile and allowed him to spread falsehoods in Wisconsin and beyond for over a year, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said in a phone interview Thursday.

Neubauer added that Vos gave strength to the campaign of his challenger, Adam Steen, in a Republican primary that concluded Tuesday; Vos won by less than 300 votes. Steen, a Republican challenger who believes the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, was endorsed by both Gableman and Trump.

Many of us were surprised by what happened and how close Adam Steen came in that primary. And what it says again is there are a significant number of people in this state who have been led to believe things that are not true about the 2020 election, Neubauer said.

In a pair of tweets Monday, Daniel Shafer  a Milwaukee-based independent columnist  said Robin Vos has only himself to blame. For all of this. He called a meeting questioning the election results, he elevated (state Rep. Janel) Brandtjen after she said 2020 should be overturned, he hired Gableman. It was all reckless and short-sighted and insulting, and he owns all of it. He just kept giving cookies to mice, never anticipating that they might be coming back for a glass of milk.

Neubauer called on Vos and other state leaders to say that the 2020 election was fairly won in order to counteract rising conspiracy theories.

Of course now we have a significant number of people who believe what Gableman has said, and who will continue to demand decertification  So, at this point, we need people in positions of leadership to be very clear that the 2020 election was secure and it was fair, she said. Vos needs to counter the narrative that he has allowed Gableman to spread for the last year

Really I do think the only way we will be able to move forward is if people in positions of power take responsibility for that and recognize that they need to be clear about this reality. Because, the people of Robin Vos district were made to believe these falsehoods by someone in a position of significant power  who is Michael Gableman. People are not going to recognize or acknowledge that the election was a fair election if they continue to see people in positions of power spreading these falsehoods.

Asked if Vos believes the 2020 election was secure and fair, Angela Joyce, spokeswoman for Vos office, said in an email: The far-right say it was fraudulent and demand decertification, and the far-left, like Rep. Neubauer here, think there was absolutely nothing wrong because they got the candidate they wanted. Various audits, including the gold standard Legislative Audit Bureau, have all given recommendations based off the 2020 election on how we can improve our future elections. The speaker stands by his previous statements that there were issues with the 2020 election, but we must look forward on how to address those issues, not focus on the past.

Vos has said multiple times in the past year that he believes there was some fraud in the 2020 presidential election, but he has never supported decertification. In September 2020, prior to Election Day two months later, he advocated for drop boxes as a safe and legal way to vote. The state Supreme Court ruled last month that drop boxes are not legal in Wisconsin, which supporters of decertification asserted should be grounds to undo the results of the 2020 election in the state.

Repeatedly, to reporters and in public appearances, Vos has affirmed that Joe Biden is the president and that the public  including Republicans  should move on from 2020. He said after declaring victory Tuesday that he is looking forward to passing election reforms, and not looking backward like Steen, Gableman and Trump have been.

Asked for comment on this story and to reply to criticisms raised by Neubauer, Vos said in a statement: In a meeting with our leadership team in the spring, we directed (Gableman) to refrain from attending political events. He agreed to that and then went back on his word.

Vos said Tuesday that, during a scheduled meeting of the Republican Assembly caucus Aug. 16, there will be a discussion of whether Gableman will be fired. Since May, Gableman has been paid $5,500 per month by the state, down from the $11,000 per month he was paid through the first 10 months of the probe.

Gablemans partisan appearances

Gableman traveled to South Dakota for a conspiracy-laden Cyber Symposium in August 2021 organized by MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell, who has been at the center of baseless attempts to return Donald Trump to the White House.

The former state Supreme Court justice gave a talk at a Chippewa County GOP meeting in December. For that travel, he filed an expense report, indicating he expected taxpayers to pick up the tab.

Gableman was announced to be featured at a pair of events on March 25 and 26 in Utah, including one that would feature a former Colorado county clerk indicted on felony charges by a grand jury for election tampering. Reports indicated Gableman planned to speak in support of efforts to decertify the 2020 election.

In early March, he was interviewed by the right-wing outlet The Gateway Pundit alongside others who have sought to overturn the 2020 election, including Minnesota attorney Erick Kaardal. During that appearance, he called on the public to take back control of elections from the 5% of elections officials he believes are partisan actors; Gableman laughed in agreement when Kaardal encouraged members of the public to take the red pill, a reference to the 1999 science-fiction film The Matrix and come to believe that the government and public schools are working against the public to take away the choices we should have.

In a March 7 appearance on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight, Gableman and Carlson shared multiple inaccuracies about nursing home voting and election bribery.

On April 5, Gableman traveled to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, for a Trump-hosted event furthering claims the 2020 election was rigged in Joe Bidens favor.

In an appearance on the Regular Joe Show  a nationally syndicated talk show that broadcasts from Green Bays WTAQ-AM that brands itself as "your home for consistent conservatism without apology!"  in April, Gableman ridiculed the clothing choices of a female election official he doesnt like but complimented a female politician he supports.

In May, he spoke at an election integrity event hosted by the Republican National Committee in Michigan  again using taxpayer dollars, indicating Gableman believed the travel was part of the official work he was hired by the Assembly to do.

On Friday, Gableman led a prayer at a Trump rally in Waukesha  although by this time it had become clear that Gableman and Vos had experienced a falling out, as Gableman was supporting Adam Steen, who was challenging Vos in a vitriolic Republican primary for District 63 that Vos narrowly won.

Some of these partisan actions taken by Gableman throughout his time contracted by the state were highlighted in a Twitter thread from Neubauer on Wednesday, in which she raised the question If Speaker Vos didnt want Gableman to get involved in politics, why didnt he fire him when any of these prior political actions were taken, not wait until Gableman fully turned on the man who hired him.
MOUNT PLEASANT  Village Attorney Chris Smith has been released from his five-year contract with the Village of Mount Pleasant, but will still continue doing the work of the village attorney.

Village Administrator Maureen Murphy told The Journal Times on Wednesday that, while Smith has done a great job as the in-house village attorney for Mount Pleasant for the past year and a half, he was given an offer by an outside firm he did not want to turn down.

That outside firm is a familiar name: von Briesen & Roper. That is the law firm that has been contracted by the village to do legal work surrounding the Foxconn development, including mass land acquisitions. Smith is now a shareholder with the law firm.

Smith originally came to the Village of Mount Pleasant as an outsourced contractor and will essentially be returning to that setup.

Back in 2018, the Village of Mount Pleasant was looking to change municipal lawyers because the same firm we had represented almost every municipality in the area, Murphy said in an email. I asked the Marquette University municipal law professor that I always ask when I think about making a change in municipal lawyers. He recommended Chris Smith with Wesolowski, Reidenbach & Sajdak. So, we did our due diligence and hired Chris.

When the village decided to move the position in-house less than two years ago, Smith was the only applicant who interviewed and was hired immediately, Murphy said.

According to Murphy, there is no real change in Smiths roles with the village now that he is an outside contractor.
RACINE  Voter turnout in Tuesday's party primaries shows that Racine County voters followed some  but not all  trends that decided key statewide races.

Countywide turnout among Democrats, Republicans and other parties totaled 40,017, or about 36 percent of the county's 111,713 registered voters.

Of those indicating a party preference in Racine County, the Republican Party was selected by 21,725 voters, while the Democratic Party was selected by 13,347, giving the GOP approximately a 62% majority in the turnout.

The Republican Party also had more competitive races than the Democratic Party on the ballot, with Democrats' gubernatorial candidate (Tony Evers) and U.S. Senate candidate (Mandela Barnes) being effectively unopposed.

Racine County's turnout outpaced statewide turnout, which was just shy of 26%, the highest for a non-presidential primary in 40 years.

Unofficial results for Tuesday's primary show that nearly 693,000 Republicans voted in the governor's race and more than 501,000 Democrats voted in the Senate primary. Interest fell in that race, won by Barnes, after his three top challengers dropped out two weeks ago.

Still, the 25.5% turnout was the best since 26.9% in 1982. Turnout in the 2018 primary, which featured a large field of Democratic gubernatorial candidates, was 23%.

Races

In the race for governor, the hotly contested Republican primary showed Tim Michels winning Racine County over Rebecca Kleefisch by a narrow margin, similar to the statewide result. Michels collected 12,223 votes in the county compared with Kleefisch's total of 11,403 and another 1,203 votes for Timothy Ramthun.

Michels is advancing to face Democratic incumbent Tony Evers in the November election.

In the lieutenant governor's race, Republican voters in Racine County favored Roger Roth by a wide margin over Cindy Werner and other choices. Roth, who won the nomination statewide, got 6,392 votes in Racine County while Werner finished with 3,983, followed closed behind by Will Martin and his 3,265 votes.

On the Democratic side for lieutenant governor, voters in Racine County favored Sara Rodriguez, who won the race statewide. Rodriguez received 9,551 votes in the county, compared with 2,791 for her opponent, Peng Her.

In the race for attorney general, Racine County Republicans broke with the statewide trend by favoring Adam Jarchow, who lost to Eric Toney statewide. Jarchow got 8,475 votes in the county, giving him a slight edge over Toney's total of 8,043.

Toney advances to face Democratic incumbent Josh Kaul in November.

Secretary of State Doug La Follette, who won the Democratic primary statewide, defeated challenger Alexia Sabor in Racine County by a vote of 7,906 to 4,734. La Follette in November will face Republican Amy Loudenbeck who won her party's nod while rolling up 9,965 votes in Racine County compared with Jay Schroeder's total of 8,236.

The race for state treasurer in November will pit Democrat Aaron Richardson against Republican John Leiber, both of whom captured Racine County en route to statewide victories. Richardson got 4,675 votes in the county compared with 4,358 for Gillian Battino, while Leiber recorded 14,398 votes in the county and opponent Orlando Owens finished with 5,614.

In a closely watched Republican primary for State Senate, incumbent Van Wanggaard cruised to victory while finishing with 14,287 votes in Racine County compared with 4,039 for challenger Jay Stone. With no Democrat in race in November, Wanggaard is virtually assured of re-election.

In primaries for U.S. Senate that were largely uncontested, Racine County voters favored Democrat Mandela Barnes with 11,091 votes over Alex Lasry and his 1,230 votes. Lasry and other Democratic hopefuls dropped out of the race and endorsed Barnes in the days leading up to the primary. On the Republican side, incumbent Ron Johnson finished with 20,997 votes and challenger David Schroeder got 3,698 votes in Racine County. Barnes and Johnson both advance to November.

Also advancing were Republican incumbent Congressman Bryan Steil and Democratic challenger Ann Roe, both of whom were unopposed in primaries in Wisconsin's First Congressional District, which includes Racine County.

Reporting from the Associated Press is included in this report.
On August 3, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved Finland and Sweden joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The vote was 95 to 1, far more than the two-thirds required for approval. This supports expansion in the strategically vital Arctic, which will significantly extend Russias borders with NATO members.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, an occasional collaborator with Russia, initially opposed admission of Finland and Sweden. His concerns included the presence in Scandinavia of the Kurdistan Workers Party and the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units. Turkeys government strongly opposes such separatist groups.

At the end of June, the three nations leaders signed an accord on the matter. Turkey has a very large and effective military. Expanding NATO to the north while not losing Turkey in the south represents a major strategic victory.

Russias invasion of Ukraine represents the most serious crisis and challenge in Europe since the Balkan wars of the 1990s. President Vladimir Putin no doubt anticipated a quick victory. Ukraines heroic self-defense to date has energized as well as united NATO. Russia is paying a high price for aggression.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict overall is a long-term affair. In 2014, Russia seized Crimea and the eastern portion of Ukraine. Crimea had been part of Russia until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred the peninsula to the authority of Ukraine in 1954.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the disintegration of the Soviet bloc of satellite states, and then the Soviet Union, represented historic strategic victory for the West. The end of the Cold War confirmed the policy of restraint and deterrence termed Containment, initiated by the Truman administration.

Poland, a NATO member since 1999, is active in the collective effort to provide arms to Ukraine. The new coalition government in Germany led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz began with a low profile regarding Europe, in considerable contrast to the assertive long-term leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel. This changed abruptly when Russia invaded Ukraine, and Germany now provides arms and other aid.

Both of the potential NATO members bring significant qualities. The Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940, ended through negotiation, demonstrated Finlands military prowess against a far larger enemy. Cold War Sweden practiced variations of often obviously anti-American neutrality. Both nations in NATO strengthen deterrence of Russia in the North.

During the early phases of the Cold War, the Arctic was the focus of intense security concern. NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command was formed in 1958 (retitled North American Aerospace Defense Command in 1981) to coordinate Canada and U.S. military activities. The threat of Soviet long-range bombers attacking after crossing the Arctic was a prime concern. Less visibly, President Dwight Eisenhower secured demilitarization of Antarctica in 1959.

In the North today, Russia has taken the lead in commerce, exploration and military bases. Moscow also pursues serious disputes with other Arctic nations. One example involves Canada and Denmark regarding control of the Lomonosov Ridge.

In 2021, Russia succeeded Iceland in chairing the Arctic Council, which also includes Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the U.S. Finland and Sweden in NATO will effectively isolate Russia as the only non-member of the alliance. Agreement within an enlarged NATO will facilitate effective strategy to counter Russias potentially significant expansion in the Arctic region, a vital area largely ignored by U.S. presidents since the turn of the century.

Russia has reconfirmed the validity of NATO.
Killeen, TX (76540)

Today

Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours. Thunderstorms likely in the afternoon. Storms may contain strong gusty winds. High 93F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with scattered thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
1. Yes. The new high school has made it a must. Thousands of people are impacted..

2. Yes. Even if it means revising some budgets, these entities must move on the project.

3. No. Its been known for years that the road was a problem.. Why the urgency now?

4. No. If prioritizing the road means more taxes, forget it. The project will just have to wait.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say until school has been in session for a few months.

Vote

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By Trend

The content of written instructions on the restriction or suspension of works posing a danger to monuments in Azerbaijans Shusha city has been approved, the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan told Trend.

According to the Cabinet of Ministers, this decision was made in compliance with Article 5.3 of the Law of Azerbaijan "On Azerbaijans cultural capital - Shusha city " to ensure the implementation of subparagraph 2.1.4 of Azerbaijani Presidents Decree No. 1374 dated June 22, 2021 on the application of this law.

The decree has determined the content of the above-written instructions, measures to eliminate the danger posed to the monuments in Shusha, as well as the procedure and terms for their implementation.

Thus, a basis has been created for the application of the legal regulation established by the law and other normative legal acts of Azerbaijan within Shusha city.
KEARNEY  The airline that will take over service to Kearney Regional Airport in 11 weeks flies 50-passenger jets and will provide 12 nonstop round trip flights per week to Denver International Airport.

City Manager Michael Morgan announced Friday that Denver Air Connection has been selected to replace SkyWest as the new Essential Air Service provider for the Kearney airport.

Denver Air Connection will begin in Kearney on Nov. 1 and feature bookings, connections and baggage transfers that will access United Airlines and American Airlines global network.

Flight schedules and prices will be announced soon, along with instructions so that passengers with SkyWest tickets can switch them to Denver Air Connection. The airline offers online reservations, complimentary snacks and two free checked bags on most flights.

The change in air carriers comes at a time when flying out of Kearney has never been more popular. City officials were anticipating a record-breaking 30,000 boardings this year when SkyWest announced in March it was dropping Kearney. The previous passenger record was 25,000.

With our passenger load and recent history, we were very attractive, Morgan said about recruiting a new airline. He said passengers from the Kearney region proved to Denver Air Connection that Kearney will be a successful expansion.

Kearney residents just did an outstanding job supporting air service. Were pleased to be going to a carrier thats comparable to SkyWest, Morgan said.

Denver Air Connection serves 14 destinations across a 9-state region from Arizona to Michigan.

The airline will expand into Cortez, Colorado, in October, with flights to and from Denver and Phoenix. Kearney will become the airlines 16th stop in November. With its partnerships with United Airlines and American Airlines, the airline can connect fliers to Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Phoenix and Denver.

SkyWest, which operated as United Express, informed the U.S. Department of Transportation that it intended to drop Kearney and 30 other Midwest cities, including North Platte and Scottsbluff.

The airline blamed chronic pilot shortages for its decision. SkyWest received a federal Essential Air Service subsidy for serving those 31 cities, and it was paid an EAS subsidy of $3.6 million annually for its 12 flights per week from Kearney to Denver.

Commuter flights to Denver are continuing at Kearney Regional Airport.

DOT has put a hold on SkyWest that requires the airline to continue serving Kearney until the new carrier takes over.

Morgan said the DOT awarded Denver Air Connection a two-year EAS contract.

Denver Air Connection owns, operates and maintains its entire fleet of aircraft from its base at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colorado, a Denver suburb. The location ties Denver Air Connection with Denver International Airport, which enables the company to control and effectively manage its operational and maintenance programs.

The safety and reliability of Denver Air Connection demonstrated in several communities, as part of the EAS program, will ensure Kearney continues to offer outstanding air service, Morgan said.

Pilot shortages and high demand for airline service have continued to challenge the industry, forcing some airlines to pitch hefty bonuses and other incentives to hire more pilots.

Headquartered in St. George, Utah, SkyWest has a fleet of 450 jetliners. All of the 29 cities in SkyWests March filing serve connector flights for United Airlines.

When SkyWest announced it was dropping Kearney in March, it was advertising $40,000 bonuses for pilots, profit sharing and 401(k) matches.

Kearneys new airline will be operating out of the current terminal for about 18 months, after which Kearney Regional Airport will open an enlarged and remodeled terminal. The Kearney City Council recently approved plans and specifications for the $9 million terminal thats designed to better handle larger passenger volume. Bids soon will be opened on the terminal project, which will be fully funded by federal stimulus money.

Terminal parking already has been enlarged to accommodate passenger numbers. In 2020 the FAA built a $12 million main runway at Kearney for jet operations.
LOOMIS  How many residents of central Nebraska can make a claim to have a Grammy Award-winning artist sleep on their sofa?

Tim and Bev Rehms can count more than a few.

It all just kind of runs together, Tim said, reflecting on nearly two decades of hosting musicians as part of the Rehmsworld Concert Series.

After 18 years of producing house concerts at The Balcony in Loomis, Bev and Tim have announced the lineup for their final season. The series begins with three shows:

Saturday  Will Sexton & Amy LaVere

Sept. 22  The Steel Wheels

Oct. 16  Darryl Purpose

When asked what the couple will miss, they have a quick answer.

The people  both the supporters and the audience and, of course, the musicians that we now call friends, Tim said. Certainly thats what well miss by not seeing them on a regular basis. Well miss the memories and all the great Halloween parties weve had. And artists like Justin Roth. In the early days he passed a notebook around, and the crowd would help him write a song.

The Rehms also remember the time they needed the septic system pumped during a show.

Thats something only rural Nebraska residents would know about, he laughed.

After 18 years, they both had a feeling this would be their final year producing concerts.

I came home from a walk last year, Tim said. I told Bev, I think its time to let go. Thats how it popped up. Without a doubt, the pandemic played a part. I dont want it to be blamed on the pandemic, but you know, sometime in the future theyre going to talk about the huge paradigm shift in our world. Not that its right, wrong or indifferent, but its certainly made a difference.

Audiences have been off by about 25%.

We hear that from every artist, Tim said. I think there are other parts of our world that are struggling with the same thing; when are people going to be back together?

Tim calls the booking process as relational, often relying on goodwill and an unwritten agreement.

The pandemic has turned that upside down, he said. The small agencies that used to do things on a handshake and an email have now been merged into big agencies that have contracts and down payments, which arent a big deal, but its an extra layer of work.

The couple specializes in bringing Americana performers to the intimate setting of The Balcony.

We never really knew how long it would last, Tim said. I certainly didnt think wed still be here 18 years later, I can tell you that.

The couple plans to bring returning artists to central Nebraska, as well as new ones.

The first show features the husband-and-wife duo of Will Saxton and Amy LaVere.

They came to us through Ray Bonneville, who was here last year, Tim said. He told them that they ought to come our way, and theyre going to be in Omaha on Sunday night, so the routing works. Were anxious to have them both here.

Tim and Bev have hinted at one-off shows, something they might produce for a special occasion. But as for another series, they feel that they have reached the end of the line.

One of the most rewarding things for me is when we have a returning artist, Tim said. Ill wait by the stage during intermission or at the end of the show. As I look out at the audience, I see the engagement and people singing along. If some of those songs ease the struggles of their days here in central Nebraska, I feel that our work here has been done.
LINCOLN  The University of Nebraska Board of Regents on Thursday approved the program statement and construction budget for Phase II of the UNK-UNMC Rural Health Education Building on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus.

Construction of the $85 million facility is expected to begin in September 2023, with projected completion in July 2025. Thanks to approval from the state Legislature, the proposed facility received $50 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for capital construction, plus $10 million for iEXCEL technology startup costs. Further, the Legislature has committed the necessary sustainable operational funds to support faculty and staff. The university has committed to raising $35 million in private funding for construction.

Adding a second health science-focused building at UNK creates opportunities for students who want to both pursue  and practice  their health careers closer to home, which help us build a stronger rural workforce, increase access to rural care and help communities thrive, said Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In short, it will transform lives for generations.

Gold presented an overview of the current distribution of health care workforce across the 93 counties of Nebraska as well as future projections of need. The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors, demonstrates an increasing gap, particularly in rural communities.

It is clear that there are many underserved rural and urban communities and that the UNMC colleges continue to educate a critically important proportion of this workforce, Gold said.

University leaders say the goal is to address urgent needs in rural Nebraskas health care workforce; 14 counties in the state, for example, do not have a primary care physician. Much of the data presented was derived from UNMC College of Public Health workforce assessments.

UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen called the project fundamental to rural Nebraska and the survival of many communities.

Only the university can solve this problem, he said. Were on the verge of doing something that nobody else in the United States is doing, and thats educating health care workers and professionals in rural areas.

The project expands on an already successful collaboration between UNK and UNMC. Phase I  the $19 million Health Science Education Complex (HSEC)  opened in 2015 and offers nursing and a variety of allied health profession training programs on the UNK campus. Phase II will enable UNMC to expand the presence of its allied health and nursing programs, launching new programs that will train physicians, pharmacists and public health professionals.

The project advances UNMCs mission  as Nebraskas only public academic health science center  to train and build the states health care workforce. It also complements UNMCs Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) and Kearney Health Opportunities Program (KHOP), which attract talented students from rural Nebraska who are committed to practicing in rural areas following their education and training.

The new facility will include state-of-the-art classrooms, extensive simulation and clinical skills laboratories for pre-clinical education and complex clinical scenarios and simulated primary care spaces. It will bring new options to the UNK campus, including medicine, medical nutrition, genetic counseling and respiratory care  all high-need areas in rural Nebraska. A Master of Health Administration degree will be added to complement UNKs undergraduate program, and discussion is underway for the UNMC College of Pharmacy to offer a joint degree program with UNK.

Targeted renovation is planned for the existing HSEC facility, which will provide expanded anatomy, rehab and musculoskeletal labs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Brad Finstad was sworn in as the U.S. representative from Minnesotas 1st Congressional District on the floor of the U.S. House on Friday.

Finstad won the Special Election for Congress on Aug. 9. The election was held to elect a member of Congress to serve the remainder of the late Congressman Jim Hagedorns term.

Finstad is a family farmer and fourth-generation resident of the New Ulm area, who formerly served as President Trumps State Director for USDA Rural Development in Minnesota.

The following is a statement from Finstad:

It is an extraordinary honor to have been chosen by my fellow Minnesotans to serve in this Congress. Minnesotas First Congressional District has been home to several generations of my family, and I believe its the greatest place on Earth. Having the opportunity to bring our values to Washington, D.C., is an important job, and I am committed to working hard for the people of our district every day.

Let us take time to remember my predecessor, the late Congressman Hagedorn. He was a man of honor and worked hard for the people of the 1st District.

Id like to thank my wonderful wife Jackie, our seven children, and all of my family, for their steadfast love and support. I could not do this without them.

People in my district sent a farmer to Congress. As a farmer, we wake up in the morning and dont wonder if something will be broken during the day; we know something will be, so instead, we wonder how we will fix it. I will come to work every day in Congress with the intention to do everything I can to fix things. We inherited the best country on earth from the last generation. We have an obligation to make sure the greatest country on earth is what we are passing to the next generation.
With their former church slated for demolition, several dozen people gathered on an East Side sidewalk Thursday night to open a time capsule buried more than a half-century ago.

After merging with another congregation last summer, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church sold its 54-year-old sanctuary to a developer who plans to build a 32-unit apartment complex on the site.

Not wanting any valuable materials to be wasted, Chris Meyer, director of the nearby community workshop Sector67, contacted the developers about salvaging hand railing, solar panels and any other materials that could be repurposed.

Then Meyer read on Facebook that there was a time capsule nestled behind the churchs cornerstone.

We decided wed just go over and take the datestone out, Meyer said. Sure enough, there was a time capsule there.

The capsule  a copper container  was the work of George McNulty, a tinsmith who worked for UW-Madison and served on the church council and committee that planned the new building in the late 1960s.

He would build boxes for everything, said Steve McNulty, his son. Instead of going out and getting a cardboard box somewhere, hed just build one out of steel.

After living elsewhere for the past 35 years, the younger McNulty recently returned to head the USDA Forest Services Forest Products Laboratory and was there to see Meyer open the over engineered box.

After drilling a hole in the top, Meyer used a power nibbler to peel off the top of the sealed box, which contained no stock certificates or mummies, as one onlooker suggested. There was a 1967 church directory, a yellowed page from the Aug. 24, 1968, Cap Times, a 60th-anniversary souvenir booklet, a mimeographed newsletter, and certificates of blessing for the church.

It was fantastic, McNulty said of watching the capsule opening. It was a memory of all the things my dad used to do. He loved the church.

Pastor Pat Siegler said the decision to abandon the building was difficult but necessary given the congregations size and the cost of upkeep.

Its all about the people, Siegler said. Its all about the community.

By partnering with Lakeview Moravian Community Church, Siegler said the two congregations will be able to expand their mission.

Before moving out, Siegler said he saved copies of all the documents that were pulled from the time capsule, but he said watching it be opened was pretty cool.

Those were the things that were important to them at the time, he said.

Attendees were delighted nonetheless and took turns perusing the ephemera and sharing their own memories of the new church, as many referred to it, as well as its 1940 predecessor.

Betty Jacobson, who taught Sunday school, remembered children putting small crosses into a time capsule.

Maybe its another box, someone offered.

Though he couldnt recall the occasion, McNulty also recalled another time capsule buried somewhere near the sign. He plans to return to the site with a metal detector in hopes of locating another of his fathers creations.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The State Statistics Committee has reported on the population growth, Azernews reports, citing Trend.

Azerbaijan's population has increased by 0.3 percent ( 29,418 people) from January 1 through July 1, 2022.

As of July 1, 2022, the country's population stands at 10,185,748 people.

Some 52.9 percent of the total population are urban, and 47.1 percent are rural residents.

Notably, the 10 millionth citizen of Azerbaijan was born on April 6, 2019.

The weight of the girl, born in the family of Rauf Hasanov and Nigar Ojagova was 3.6 kg, while her height was 52 cm. The child was born completely healthy.

In connection with the birth of the baby, festive events took place in Baku.

Tree-planting events and gala concerts were held on Baku Boulevard, and fireworks were arranged as well.

Moreover, Azerbaijan was once named the country with the highest percentage of people aged 25 to 29 in Europe, as noted in an article published in the MDS business journal.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

The construction of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway in the liberated lands is in full swing, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijani State Agency for Automobile Roads.

The construction of the 81.6-km road, which connects the liberated Fuzuli, Khojavand, Khojaly, and Shusha districts, starting from the M6 Hajigabul-Horadiz-Aghband-Zangazur highway is being carried out in line with the international road norms, the agency underlined.

The highway is being built with 4-6 traffic lanes according to the first technical grade. Thus, the first 48 kilometers of the road consist of six lanes, while the next 48 to 81.6 kilometers have four traffic lanes. The road bed is 29.5 and 21.5 meters wide, respectively.

Along the way, 137 culverts of various diameters, 30 underpasses, seven bridges, seven tunnels, and nine viaducts are being constructed. The tunnels are conditionally named T1A (3,303m), T1 (351.5m), T2 (550m), T3 (681.5m), T4 (570m), T5 (478.5m), and T6 (526m).

Construction activities on T4, T5, and T6 tunnels are already in the final stage. Thus, excavation, concrete work, drainage, and construction of cable pipes have been completed in the mentioned tunnels. Currently, a new asphalt-concrete coating is being laid inside the tunnel, as well as on the entrance and exit roads of the tunnels.

Excavation and shotcrete activities have already been completed in T1, T2, and T3 tunnels. At present, internal drainage, construction of cable pipes, and belt concreting are underway in the tunnels.

Excavation and reinforced concrete support activities were carried out on the left side of the T1A tunnel for a total distance of 1,426 meters and on the right side for a total distance of 1,604 meters. Currently, the mentioned activities are in progress at other distances.

Currently, eight of the nine viaducts (bridges built over the stream) planned to be built under the project are under construction. During the construction of three viaducts, for the first time in Azerbaijan, concreting work was performed by the method of horizontal sliding of the formwork.

The concreting work with the mentioned method is already being completed on the viaduct built at the 79.7th km of the road, the average length of which is 380 m (left-410 m, right-350 m). Currently, construction activities on the viaduct in this direction are in the final stage.

Under the project, the construction of bridges for cars, underpasses, culvert circular pipes, and rectangular monolithic pipes is ongoing. Over 70 percent of the overall artificial installation work has been completed.

At present, earthworks along the road are also being carried out. Thus, the construction of a new roadbed with excavation and filling work, as well as the construction of the road base using an optimal gravel and sand-gravel mixture, are ongoing. Asphalting has been started in the sections where the road base is ready.

In addition, the construction of a junction on the Victory Road section connecting to the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway is also being successfully carried out.

The construction is carried out under the supervision of the agency in line with the requirements of Construction Norms and Rules.

The construction of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

The road infrastructure projects implemented in the territory of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur economic regions will play an important role in the socio-economic development of the regions and villages liberated from Armenian occupation, the agency underlined.




A woman in the American state of Nebraska has been charged this week with helping her daughter end her pregnancy. The charges came after investigators got Facebook messages in which the two discussed using medication to end the pregnancy at about 24 weeks.

The prosecutor said it is the first time he has charged anyone for illegally ending a pregnancy after 20 weeks, a restriction Nebraska established in 2010.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Before that, American states were not permitted to enforce abortion bans until about 24 weeks. An abortion is any medical operation to end a pregnancy.

Meta, which owns Facebook, said Tuesday that Nebraska law enforcement ordered it to surrender records connected to the case on June 7. That was more than two weeks before the Supreme Court decision.

The orders, the company added, did not mention abortion at all. It said the orders concerned a police investigation of the case of a stillborn baby who was burned and buried.

In early June, the mother and daughter were charged with removing a body, hiding the death of a person, and false reporting. After investigators examined the private Facebook messages, a month later, government lawyers added abortion-related charges against the mother.

Lawyers representing the mother and daughter have not answered media requests for comment. The case, however, has renewed concerns about data privacy in the United States.

Tech industry response

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June, technology companies have faced increasing calls to protect the personal data that they collect from users. Many fear that law enforcement or activists could use the data, including messages, search histories, and locations, against people seeking abortions or those who try to help them.

Until this past May, anyone could buy mobile phone data of people at more than 600 Planned Parenthood sites around the country for as little as $160. A recent investigation by Vice Media said the information included where the phones sleep at night, time spent at the health center, and places people visited before and afterward.

In June, Democratic lawmakers asked federal agencies to investigate Apple and Google for enabling the collection and sale of their data to third parties. The following month, Google announced it will automatically remove information about users who visit abortion centers or places that could bring legal problems following the Supreme Court decision.

Privacy rights supporters say that is not enough. In the Nebraska case, for instance, neither Meta nor law enforcement would have been able to read the messages had they been encrypted the way messages on Metas WhatsApp service are protected by default.

Meta must flip the switch and make end-to-end encryption a default in all private messages, including on Facebook and Instagram. Doing so will literally save pregnant people's lives, said Caitlin Seeley George. She leads the nonprofit rights group Fight for the Future.

Governments and law enforcement can use court orders to force tech companies to surrender users data. But technology companies have said little about cooperating with law enforcement or government agencies trying to prosecute people seeking an abortion where it is illegal.

Meta, for example, pointed to its online transparency report, which says we comply with government requests for user information only where we have a good-faith belief that the law requires us to do so.

Users must help themselves

Abortion rights activists suggest that people in states where abortion is illegal should avoid creating such online data in the first place. They say people should turn off phone location services  or just leave their phones at home  when seeking reproductive health care. The experts also suggest learning the privacy policies of any health apps in use.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation suggests using web browsers that protect privacy such as Brave, Firefox and DuckDuckGo. The organization also suggests double-checking the privacy settings on browsers and turning off tracking on mobile devices.

I'm Dan Novak.

Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press.

_______________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

prosecutor - n. government lawyer who accuses a person of a crime

encrypt - v. to change information to another form in order to hide its meaning

flip the switch - phrase, to change suddenly or to do the opposite

transparency - n. the quality that makes it possible to see or understand something

track - v. to follow and watch something or someone

What do you think of the privacy issues raised in this story? We want to hear from you.

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In a dramatic turn of events, Albany leaders have decided to welcome psilocybin therapy within city limits next year after hearing personal stories of local residents who use the psychedelic mushrooms.

Psilocybin has been a hot topic at City Council the past month or so, as members debated whether to embrace Ballot Measure 109, the 2020 statewide proposal to legalize mushrooms in therapeutic settings, or ask Albany voters to approve either a total ban or two-year moratorium  the latter seen as a compromise stance.

Measure 109 passed with 56% voter approval, making Oregon the first state in the nation to legalize psilocybin for supervised therapeutic use. It is set to take effect Jan. 2. In Albany, 52% of the electorate said yes: Wards 1 and 2 voted in favor while Ward 3 did not, according to Deputy City Clerk Gabe Shepard.

The law allows cities to affirmatively opt out if they place either a two-year moratorium or a permanent ban on the Nov. 8 General Election ballot. Elected officials have until Aug. 19 to decide whether to go that route.

Doing nothing means licensed centers can offer the treatment, which is said to address some mental health concerns, including post-traumatic stress disorder, although jurisdictions can enact time, place and manner restrictions on the use.

Earlier this week, Albany councilors seemed poised to put a two-year moratorium on the ballot. After the two years, the leaders could then either allow the therapy or propose a permanent ban for the 2024 ballot.

When it came time for the City Council make the call at its Wednesday, Aug. 10 meeting, members of the public came forward to say they're against a moratorium.

Mushroom users come forward

Patrick Winczewski, an Albany native, shared findings that show psilocybin to be an effective addiction treatment. He cited Oregon as among the worst states for addressing substance abuse and pointed to seven research articles about psilocybin.

Psilocybin can mitigate addiction. Its time for Oregon to get out of last place, he said.

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Resident Janice Brown came forward with her own personal experience with the psychedelic.

With a preamble that noted she paid taxes, volunteered and was an upstanding citizen, she said psilocybin was safe, effective and different from recreational drug use.

Brown described her experience as blissful and introspective. She had taken the psychedelic in a therapeutic setting and was lying on the ground where she internally worked through issues for seven hours.

Its the polar opposite of being dangerous or offensive, she said.

After the experience she noted positive life changes, and a change in her mindset: She stopped having to take antidepressants, and she felt more forgiving and less judgmental to people, Brown said.

North Albany resident Peggy Joyce also has personal experience using the psychedelic.

We are wasting a precious opportunity to help people who have already tried everything else, Joyce said.

Psilocybin is not a drug you could buy off the street, she said. Per the ballot measure, it will be used only under supervised conditions, and that person has to be present the entire time the drug is in the users system.

The experience was a positive one for Joyce, she said, adding the person undergoing treatment has to be aware of the issues they want to work through. It's a very active process.

Voters said what they want, and for the local government to second-guess the decision of voters is disrespectful, she said.

How the decision was made

After the public hearing, councilors had a lot to consider.

Councilor Bessie Johnson was still in favor of placing a moratorium on the ballot because she believes the Oregon Health Authority hadnt decided how to regulate psilocybin.

Councilor Marilyn Smith countered OHA does have rules in place and available materials detail the regulations.

People seeking therapy could go to Corvallis, a city that is not putting a local ballot measure on the November ballot, Council Member Matilda Novak said. Monitoring the rollout there could inform Albany leaders if they wanted to take up the therapy in Albany after the moratorium.

Novak also worried that the OHA rule requiring 160 hours of training for psilocybin supervisors was not enough.

Saying he was also concerned about supervisor training, Mayor Alex Johnson II wants to ensure training includes CPR and first aid. He said the decision feels rushed.

The public didnt have enough information to make an informed decision, he said about 2020's Measure 109.

But Councilor Ray Kopczynski said similar comments were made when marijuana was legalized, discrediting the decisions of voters.

In the end, the ordinance to adopt the moratorium was read, and no council member voted to approve it. The lack of action means that there will be no moratorium and no ban on the ballot, and therapeutic psilocybin facilities will be able to set up shop starting in 2023.

The decision sparked some excitement in chambers as some of the public quietly cheered and took photos. The outcome surprised Winczewski, who attended a previous city council meeting.

I knew what I was saying was going to resonate, he said in a later interview. Hearing the testimonies of the other two members of the public rounded out his research and won them over, he believes.

Winczewski knows he cant undo hundreds of years of mushroom stigma but feels that the decision is a step in the right direction to getting people help.

Related articles:
Former President Donald Trump is calling for the immediate release of the federal warrant. And a spokesperson for Anne Heche says the actor is on life support after a fiery crash. Those stories and more on our daily news podcast.
Episode 50: To mark our 50th episode, hosts Rick Kyte and Scott Rada wanted to tackle a big and important topic, and few are bigger  and more polarizing  than religion.

The hosts  who have different points of view  discuss whether we are interpreting the Bible correctly, the existence of an afterlife and the effectiveness of prayer.

About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A judge has granted a mistrial in Deontae Rush's murder trial for the killing of a Lincoln man during a drug robbery last year.

Prosecutors on Friday morning filed a motion for mistrial over COVID-19 delays that meant the jurors would have been outside of the courtroom and unsequestered for at least six days.

Trial started Monday over James Shekie's fatal shooting in his home near North 20th and Superior streets on Feb. 23, 2021.

They did jury selection, opening statements and the state called its first witnesses. But on Tuesday morning, jurors arrived to be sent home after the judge and at least three Lincoln police witnesses tested positive for COVID-19.

Initially jurors were told to return Friday, when trial tentatively was set to resume.

But in the motion for mistrial, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Eric Miller said the attorneys learned Thursday that the judge still was symptomatic so they wouldn't start back up until Monday at the earliest.

"As of the filing of this motion, the parties do not know with any certainty as to when his symptoms will abate or when he will test negative, and thus it is not clear as to when his isolation will end and when trial can resume," Miller wrote.

Miller said, if convicted, Rush likely would argue that the jury had the opportunity to engage in jury misconduct or to be exposed to improper influence given media attention to the case; and they are unlikely to have a fresh recollection of the evidence already presented.

The delay also could cause problems with the state's ability to secure the attendance of witnesses from out of state, Miller said.

Lancaster County District Judge Kevin McManaman granted the motion for mistrial Friday afternoon.

"The court finds that the events at trial, through no fault of the state or the defendant, constitute sufficient grounds for declaration of a mistrial," he wrote.

He said a mistrial was necessary to avoid prejudice and injustice to both sides.

A new trial date wasn't immediately scheduled.
Ilya Somin (George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty) has posted A Major Question of Power: The Vaccinate Mandate Cases and the Limits of Executive Authority (Cato Supreme Court Review, Forthcoming (Symposium on the 2021-22 Supreme Court Term)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

In January 2022, the Supreme Court decided two major cases reviewing the legality of sweeping Covid-19 vaccine mandates imposed by the Biden Administration. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a 6-3 ruling invalidated a regulation requiring employers with 100 or more workers to compel nearly all of them to get vaccinated against Covid or wear masks on the job and take regular Covid tests. In Biden v. Missouri, decided the same day, a 5-4 Court upheld a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) policy requiring health care workers employed by institutions receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funds to get vaccinated.

Both cases addressed large-scale policies that were significant in their own right. The two cases also have important implications for the scope of executive power to set regulations (NFIB) and impose conditions on federal grants to state and local governments (Biden v. Missouri). The majority was justified in striking down the OSHA employer mandate because Congress had never clearly authorized it, and also justified in upholding the CMS mandate because it was backed by far more unequivocal statutory authorization.

NFIB v. OSHA reaffirmed important constraints on the executives power to decide a major question of policy on its own, while also giving an indirect boost to constitutional nondelegation constraints on the transfer of legislative power to the White House and the administrative state. For its part, Biden v. Missouri makes clear that the executive can exercise reasonable discretion when Congress does clearly authorize it, particularly in the context of attaching conditions to federal grants to state and local governments.

Part I of this article provides a brief overview of the history of the two cases and the policies they address. It is particularly notable that both were sweeping emergency measures enacted in response to the Covid pandemic, and both reached the Supreme Court on a heavily expedited basis. I also summarize the Supreme Courts rulings. Part II defends the outcome in NFIB v. OSHA, but also criticizes key elements of the Courts reasoning.

Part III assesses Biden v. Missouri. In this case, the Courts statutory reasoning is compelling. But the justices erred in failing to address some crucial issues related to Congresss Spending Clause authority to set conditions on federal grants to state and local governments. Finally, part IV considers some broader implications of the two rulings. Americans across the political spectrum have much to gain from judicial enforcement of limits on executive power. The kind of sweeping unilateral authority the Biden administration claimed in NFIB could easily have been misused by future presidents of both parties. The Courts sensible statutory interpretation in Biden v. Missouri also bodes well for the future.

Recommended.
Bupa Arabia has won a number of regional and international awards as well as topped global rankings in the health insurance, digital innovation, and sustainability fields among others.

The leading health insurer topped Brand Finance's list of the most valuable insurance companies in the Middle East in 2021, a testament to Bupa Arabias efforts in providing innovative healthcare services to millions of people, within the framework of the Council of Cooperative Health Insurance.

Bupa Arabia also topped the insurance companies for Forbes Middle East's annual rankings of the 100 most powerful companies in the region for 2021, which includes the largest, most profitable, and most valuable companies in the Middle East.

Strategy success

Tal Nazer, CEO of Bupa Arabia, said the companys presence in the Forbes Middle East and Brand Finance rankings, acknowledges the success of its strategy of adapting to the needs of the evolving industry, making a difference in healthcare, and most importantly, improving its members health.

Bupa Arabia was also placed 13th on Brand Finance's most valuable brands in Saudi Arabia rankings, six places ahead of its position in the previous year's rankings, driven by a growth in its brand value by 22.7%, increasing it to $618 million (SR2.31 billion).

Remaining in the lead

In other achievements, the International Business magazine named Tal Nazer as the "Best CEO of Insurance Company in 2021," and Bupa Arabia as the "Best Health Insurance Company of 2021.

The health insurer also won the "Best Innovation for a Health Insurance Product" recognition for its Bupa Parents service, and was named the "Best Leading Investor Relations in Insurance" for applying the highest quality standards in customer service and products in 2020, by the US Journal of World Economic Magazine, which enjoys high credibility among decision-makers and influencers in various financial sectors.

Bupa Arabia was also named the Middle East Health Insurance Company at the Middle East Insurance Industry Awards - supervised by Ernst & Young.

Prominent digital initiatives

Bupa Arabia won the "Best Health Insurance Company of 2021" and "Digital Innovation in the Health Insurance Sector" awards at the Golden Shield Awards for Excellence, held on the sidelines of the InsureTek Regional Conference.

Meanwhile, at the 2021 Global Business Outlook Awards, it won the Best Health Insurance Provider Award and Digital Innovation Award in the Insurance Sector for its Tebtom programme.

Nazer said the multiple award wins reflect Bupa Arabias leadership in digital transformation in the insurance sector. The company recently launched the revolutionary Bupa Click service, aiming to provide "integrated healthcare with one touch."

Moreover, Bupa Arabias Tebtom programme provides various innovative healthcare services such as home vaccination for children, doctors consultation (Bupa Doctor), telemedicine and others, while the Rahatkom provides an integrated healthcare experience for members, from the moment they enter the hospital and throughout their time there.

Aspiring work environment

Bupa Arabias achievements and awards not only recognise its excellence in insurance but also in human resources, as it was named the Best Employer in the Middle East by the CIPD as well as won in the "Best Employee Engagement Initiative" category.

In addition, at the Gulf Sustainability Awards, Bupa Arabia won the "Best Practices in the Workplace and Human Resources" award, while at the Global Brand Awards, it won the "Best Mobile Insurance App 2021" award for its innovative Bupa Arabia app.

In the same vein, Bupa Arabia won an award at the LinkedIn Talent Awards Mena. The awards, which are given out by LinkedIn, a global network specialising in professional communication, see intense competition among a wide range of companies, institutions and recruitment destinations in the region.

Nazer said that Bupa's continuous achievements are due to its dedicated team members. "The Covid-19 pandemic has not affected our performance, thanks to the continuous efforts of the team that deserves gratitude and appreciation, and we look forward to continue developing our services, so that we always remain at the forefront, he said.-- TradeArabia News Service
Authorities have identified the pedestrian killed when he was hit by a vehicle on the Beltline Saturday.

The Dane County Medical Examiner said 40-year-old Carmelo Garcia Alvarado of Nicaragua died as a result of the crash, which happened around 5:10 a.m. near Agriculture Drive.

According to Madison police, the driver said Alvarado walked out of the median and into the path of traffic. Alvarado was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police and the Medical Examiner's Office are continuing to investigate the crash.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.
FOND DU LAC  A Wisconsin judge committed a man accused of targeting a motorcyclist in a fatal crash because of the victims race to life in a mental institution Thursday.

Daniel Navarro, a 27-year-old Mexican American from Fond du Lac, was convicted Wednesday of first-degree intentional homicide as a hate crime in the July 3, 2020, crash that killed Phillip Thiessen, who was white, in Fond du Lac County. He was also convicted of first-degree recklessly endangering safety as a hate crime.

Navarro pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The convictions triggered a second phase of his trial in which the jury was tasked with determining his mental state at the time of the crash, a key finding that helps determine whether he should face prison time or be institutionalized.

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said the jury heard two doctors testify Thursday that Navarro suffered from paranoid delusions and schizophrenia. Judge Andrew Christenson committed him to the state Department of Health Services institutional care for life.

Navarros attorney, Jeffrey William Jensen, said the jury made the right call but theres no cause for celebration in what he described as an extremely sad case.

An innocent man is dead, Jensen said. And if (Navarro) had gotten help maybe he wouldnt have ruined his life.

Thiessen, 55, was a retired special agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and a former police officer.

Prosecutors say Navarro struck his motorcycle head-on in the town of Taycheedah near Fond du Lac. Authorities said Navarro didnt know Thiessen.

Navarro told investigators he had been harassed by co-workers and neighbors, and poisoned, drugged and verbally attacked by white people because of his race, officials said.

During an interview at the sheriffs office, Navarro said he wanted to go to prison for the rest of his life so he could be free from his neighbors, who he could hear making racist comments through the walls of his house, according to a criminal complaint.
Federal authorities say they have captured a suspect who had been on the run since November when he escaped in Milwaukee.

Robert Johnson Jr., 40, was being transported from Laredo, Texas, to the Rock County jail in Janesville in November, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, which said Johnson was facing drug charges and a sex offender registration violation as well as violation of his parole in a 2015 armed robbery conviction.

Johnson, who was being transported by a private contractor, asked for his handcuffs to be removed so he could use the bathroom in the Mitchell International Airport, according to the Marshals Service. He then punched his escort and fled.

The federal agency said Johnson was arrested Wednesday in Toledo after a pursuit that ended when he crashed his vehicle, where police found a firearm reported stolen from North Carolina.

Johnson was listed Thursday as an inmate at the Lucas County Corrections Center in Toledo.
A rally that took place on Wednesday was organized to support a victim of a recent alleged sexual assault that occurred off of school grounds between two East students. Lilyian Jenkins, a senior at East and one of the organizers for Fridays walkout, said the Friday event was a strike for a list of demands meant to help students feel safe at school.
Republicans have consistently criticized the states election administration system since the 2020 presidential election, but they disagree on whether to alter the current bipartisan system or transfer election duties to the partisan secretary of state.

The issue is front and center in the upcoming gubernatorial election, with a Republican win all but assuring some kind of changes ahead of the 2024 election. The winner of the secretary of state election could also affect how the discussion plays out.

The debate has largely been driven by Republican opposition to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, an election panel of three Republican and three Democratic appointees. The commission is under fire for issuing guidance and creating rules intended to ensure a free and fair election during an unprecedented health crisis, though courts have ruled some of that guidance is not permitted under state law. Some Republicans contend the guidance  cosigned by at least one Republican by design  benefited Democrats and opened the door to fraud.

One emerging alternative to having the Elections Commission conduct elections is to transfer those duties to the office of the secretary of state.

Republican secretary of state nominee Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, wants the office shes seeking to have a greater role in overseeing elections. But Democrats and top Republicans have opposed that idea, making it unclear whether such a move has the necessary support to ever become law.

Republican Tim Michels, who will face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the Nov. 8 election, wants to replace the Elections Commission with what he has called WEC 2.0, an agency made up of appointees from each of the states eight congressional districts. Michels has not provided specifics on who would appoint the new agencys members or what the partisan makeup of any new board would be.

Any effort to alter elections administration would have to be approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and enacted by the governor.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he opposes the secretary of state controlling election duties because the office, currently controlled by a Democrat running for reelection, could remain under Democratic control.

Secretaries of state administer elections in 24 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In two states, theyre run by the lieutenant governor, while three use a chief election official picked by the states legislature, five have officials appointed by the governor (in four of those, the position is known as the secretary of state), seven use a chief election official combined with a board of elections and nine, including Wisconsin, have a board that oversees elections.

Wisconsins secretary of state hasnt had a hand in elections for decades. Former Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers created the Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2016 to replace the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, made up of appointed retired judges.

The GAB was created in 2008 in the wake of the 2001 legislative caucus scandal in which lawmakers from both parties were convicted of using taxpayer resources to campaign. It came under fire from Republicans for its role in an investigation into coordination between Walkers 2012 recall campaign and supposedly independent political groups.

I dont want to simply say were going to brush this away and go back to what we had 50 years ago, Vos said. I want to be open-minded enough to say if somebody comes up with a better idea, Im certainly open to it. But the idea of trusting an elected official to be nonpartisan in their application of the law, I just dont know if thats possible. Id certainly be open to it, but as of right now Im not convinced.

Vos this past legislative session oversaw the passage of several bills that would have altered elections administration and the Elections Commission. Evers vetoed all of them, saying they would make voting harder.

If Michels defeats Evers in November, Vos said bringing back the election bills would be one of several priorities for the next legislative session.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieus office declined to comment for this story, though he has opposed dissolving the Elections Commission in the past.

Still, LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, has made clear his ongoing frustrations with the commission, including seeking to join an ongoing Waukesha County lawsuit that asks a judge to eliminate Elections Commission guidance permitting clerks to correct errors or fill in missing information on absentee ballot envelopes.

Lawless ballot curing cannot and will not be allowed to continue, LeMahieu said in a statement Thursday. Were putting the full weight of the Legislature behind this lawsuit to shut down WECs defiant and flagrant abuse of the law.

That legal move came after the Legislatures Republican-controlled rules committee last month struck down a recently created rule authorizing election clerks to correct or fill in missing information on absentee ballot envelopes before the ballots are accepted. But the Elections Commissions separate guidance, first issued in 2016, remains intact.

After the legislative move last month, the Elections Commission deadlocked on a motion supported by the agencys three Republican appointees that would have eliminated the commissions 2016 guidance. The commissions three Democratic appointees opposed the motion.

Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley, D-Mason said she would have to see specifics of alternatives to the Elections Commission but added, Im pretty sure that the people who have wasted over a million taxpayer dollars on disgraced former Supreme Court Justice (Michael) Gablemans farce of an investigation arent going to propose anything that would actually improve on the current model.

She added that she thinks concentrating elections administration power in one individual is a bad idea that would lead to lapses in the monitoring of our elections.

Doug La Follette, the Democratic incumbent who has served as secretary of state for over 40 years, is against his office taking charge of elections administration duties.

The critical issue in this campaign for Secretary of State is maintaining the independence of Wisconsin elections system, he said on Facebook. My opponent in this election wishes to turn the election supervision over to the Secretary of State making it dependent on the whims of partisan politics.

Saying on her website that WEC is broken and must be replaced, Loudenbeck has said the secretary of state would be held accountable by voters unlike the Elections Commission commissioners, who are appointed.

We need a board of election of officials one way or the other, said Sen. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, who is chair of the Senate Elections Committee but isnt running for reelection.

I would not be comfortable with the administration of elections being under one individual, whether Democrat or Republican, said Bernier, a former elections clerk who is not seeking reelection this fall. Bernier has been one of the few legislative Republicans to defend the 2020 election results.

She added that she would be OK with putting that election board under the secretary of state with an open seat reserved for whomever is serving in that office.

State Journal reporter Mitchell Schmidt contributed to this report.
A meeting of two Dane County Board committees did little to chart a clear path on the future of the long-stalled jail consolidation project, with supervisors voting to not recommend approval for a smaller jail plan that includes other calls for criminal justice changes that the boards Black Caucus rolled out last week.

Supervisors had their first public discussion of the latest jail proposal on Thursday night as they face a historic public works undertaking that has been mired in ever-increasing costs and political deliberations as the extreme racial disparities and inhumane conditions in the countys jail facilities continue.

The new plan, which has the support of MOSES, a key criminal justice reform organization in the community, would erect a five-story building with 725 beds.

The smaller facility would put the project back within budget and cost less to operate once opened, sponsors of the plan have said. Those sponsors include Sups. Anthony Gray, 14th District; April Kigeya, 15th District; Dana Pellebon, 33rd District; and Jacob Wright, 17th District.

But members of the boards Public Works and Transportation committee voted 5-1 to recommend the plan for denial when it faces a full board vote on Aug. 18. The boards Public Protection and Judiciary committee voted 5-1 to not make a recommendation one way or the other.

Detractors of the Black Caucus plan said the smaller facility doesnt take into account future population growth. Should the facility get overcrowded, the cost of transferring inmates to other counties would cost the county untold money in the long run, argued Sup. Andrew Schauer, 21st District.

If the Black Caucus plan is rejected by the board, its opponents would still have to persuade their colleagues to support an extra $10 million to build a version of the jail OKd by the board that was already millions over budget within months of getting approved.

725 beds is simply too small, and its based on overly rosy projections, Schauer said. If the (resolution) would have not reduced the size of the jail, but instead added space and funds for programming, for exercise, for faith group space, I would have supported it. That would actually reduce recidivism and reduce the overall jail population.

Compromise plan

The board has appropriated $166 million to consolidate its existing jail facilities into a single campus that includes the Public Safety Building and a six-story tower with 825 beds. Supervisors signed off on that plan in March as a compromise because the original scope of the jail, a seven-story tower with 922 beds, had grown $24 million over budget at that time.

But even the compromise plan is now about $10 million over budget, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced in June.

The Black Caucus has suggested an 825-bed facility assumes that the jails staggering racial disparities wont change.

On Thursday, 53% of the jails population was Black. Dane County is about 6% Black, according to the U.S. Census.

Last month, the JFA Institute, a criminal justice consultant, told the countys Criminal Justice Council that high incarceration rates for Black people is a key driver of the jails population.

Calls for criminal justice reform that would reduce those disparities are included in the plan.

The plans language urges the Dane County legal system to start an 18-month weekend court pilot program and review how cash bail is used. Other language urges the sheriff to limit the number of federal prisoners to 10% of the jails population and wants law enforcement throughout the county to not arrest individuals who report crimes if they are wanted on a warrant for a nonviolent crime.

While the jail is under construction, officials can get to work making those proposals a reality so that the smaller facility can accommodate a reduced jail population with less racial inequality.

Thats the point, Pellebon said. Were good with spending $10 million. Were good with 825 beds, but anything different were not good with.

Pellebon showed consternation as she detailed how the most progressive city, county in the state is trying to build a bigger jail at a time when Republican officials like former Gov. Tommy Thompson have showed regret for their role in mass incarceration.

That just doesnt make sense to me, she said.

Jail closure

On Aug. 3, Sheriff Kalvin Barrett closed part of the jail at the City-County Building, citing his offices staffing shortages and the facilitys long-documented inhumane conditions.

The announcement came a day after the Black Caucus unveiled its proposal. Barrett doesnt support it. He says a 725-bed facility doesnt align with jail population projections and would ultimately require the City-County Building jail to remain open.

The partial closure of the facility resulted in 65 inmates being transferred to jails in other counties, with some going as far as 200 miles away to Oneida County.

At Thursdays meeting, Barrett said the monthly cost is $105,000 to keep those inmates in other facilities. That price tag will shake out to $500,000 by the end of this year.

Medical beds

Another component of the latest jail plan involves eliminating acute medical housing beds to free up space in the facility.

Sponsors of the plan say inmates who need those beds would be accommodated at local hospitals.

The current jail plan, the 825-bed facility, would have 62 medical beds and 57 mental health beds. Those beds are proportionally divided up for men and women.

Barrett has said that inmates in need of hospital-level medical treatment are already sent to the hospital anyway.

What were looking to have in regards to medical beds is not an infirmary, the sheriff said. It is a place to house residents who cannot be housed in general population due to a variety of medical issues that dont quite meet the level of going to the hospital.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Friday fired Michael Gableman, marking an end to the more than $1 million taxpayer-funded, GOP-ordered review that has failed to uncover any evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

A day after telling the Wisconsin State Journal he wanted the election review to reach its natural conclusion, Vos, who hired Gableman last summer to lead the probe, ended the states contract with Gableman and closed the Office of Special Counsel headed by the former state Supreme Court justice.

Gablemans firing comes three days after Vos narrowly defeated his primary opponent Adam Steen, who was endorsed by both Gableman and former President Donald Trump.

After having many members of our caucus reach out to me over the past several days, it is beyond clear to me that we only have one choice in this matter, and thats to close the Office of Special Counsel, Vos said in a statement issued first to The Associated Press.

In an interview with WISN-12, Vos said he sent Gableman a letter on the matter, adding he hasnt personally spoken with the former justice in weeks.

I really dont think theres any need to have a discussion, Vos said. He did a good job last year, it kind of got off the rails this year and now were going to end the investigation.

Vos said his goal now is to help Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels defeat Democratic Gov. Tony Evers this November and pass a slew of election bills Evers vetoed last legislative session.

Vos hired Gableman at a cost of $676,000, though legal fees and other court costs have pushed the price tag to more than $1.1 million  all of which will ultimately fall on taxpayers. Gableman was paid more than $100,000 to lead the review.

Farce from start

The investigation was a farce from the beginning and did nothing but waste taxpayer dollars, demonize our local clerks and election officials, and further sow misinformation and doubt in our democratic systems, Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said in a statement. Im relieved the Office of the Special Counsel is closed, but this action from Speaker Vos today is far too little, far too late.

Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday several state Republicans wanted to see Gablemans review come to a natural conclusion, but at the time still planned to caucus next Tuesday to decide the fate of the review.

I would have fired his keister a long time ago, said Sen. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, who chairs the Senate elections committee. Bernier, who is not seeking another term this year, has long criticized the election review.

As to why Gableman had remained under contract for so long, Robin may not have fired him prior to the primary for political reasons and I dont blame him, Bernier said, clarifying that she was only speculating about Vos intentions.

Gableman did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Trumps lie

Facing pressure from Trump, who continues to promote the lie of a stolen 2020 presidential election, Vos unveiled plans to embark on the election review at the Republican Party of Wisconsins annual convention in June 2021.

But while Vos launched the review at Trumps behest, the former presidents opinion of Vos has soured in recent weeks due to the speakers refusal to entertain Trumps calls to decertify the results of the 2020 presidential election  something that cannot happen under state law or the U.S. Constitution.

A recount, court decisions and multiple reviews have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. A report from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau last year found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election but made several recommendations for improvements.

A brief history

The review was initially intended to conclude by the end of last year, but Gableman himself admitted in June  while providing testimony in one of four public records lawsuits related to the probe  that he spent the first several months of his efforts getting up to speed on Wisconsin elections.

He also attended a South Dakota event hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell billed as presenting irrefutable proof that Chinese-backed hackers helped steal the 2020 election for Biden. Gableman later said he was very disappointed with the lack of substance to back up those claims. He also traveled to Arizona that month to observe the widely discredited election audit conducted by Cyber Ninjas.

He couldnt help himself and in the end he was going to rallies, he was attending political events which clearly looked like there was a partisan tinge to the investigation, Vos said Thursday. We stopped most of that, but then here we are where he does not just attend a political event but chooses to be involved in a very partisan way and then lie about it.

In March, Gableman recommended the Legislature take the legally impossible step of decertifying the results. Two weeks later he described the proposal as a practical impossibility in a private memo to Vos.

Vos paused the probe two months later to allow time for pending lawsuits related to the review to play out in court and halved Gablemans monthly salary to $5,500.

Gablemans most recent misstep came days before Tuesdays primary, when he recorded a robocall for Steen, an election denier who was seeking to oust Vos in the 63rd Assembly District, claiming that Vos never wanted a real investigation.

I never said we werent serious about the investigation, Vos said Thursday. Frankly, if you ask any Democrat and most Republicans in the state, they think I was pretty serious in spending the money and time and resources that we did. So for him to lie about it, thats kind of an unforgivable situation where you trust somebody because of their integrity and then at the end they lie.

Vos ultimately won by about 260 votes, according to unofficial results.

Speakers timing

Its astonishing that in a matter of weeks, a campaign emerged that almost unseated the most powerful Republican in Wisconsin state government, said UW-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky. If Gableman wants to continue having influence, hes certainly laid the groundwork for that because he has fans in the party and he has the backing of Donald Trump.

Several state Democrats, including Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, applauded Gablemans firing, but also pointed out the timing of Vos decision.

There were zero consequences for Gablemans buffoonery, mismanagement of state dollars, brazen violations of open records laws, temper tantrums, and constant lying  until he attacked Robin Vos politically, Wikler said in a statement.

Its unclear how the end of Gablemans contract impacts the several ongoing lawsuits related to the probe. All told, four lawsuits have been filed against Gableman, Vos and the state Assembly over records requests related to the probe. Another pending lawsuit in Waukesha County relates to whether Gableman has the authority to demand that the mayors of the states five largest cities and other officials be jailed for not cooperating with his subpoenas.

Gableman issued subpoenas to local and state election officials, the mayors of the states five largest cities and two companies that make vote-counting systems, Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Systems. Many of the subpoenaed parties have rejected Gablemans requests for in-person meetings or documents, while the former state Supreme Court justice has also withdrawn some requests, including one filed with immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera Action.
The first International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEC) that will take place in Ghanas capital city Accra from October 11-12 aims to strengthen international and regional cooperation to combat terrorism and organised crimes.

Hosted by Ghana Armed Forces, the two-day international exhibition and conference that will be held at the Burma Hall within the Ghana Armed Forces Headquarters in Accra, will bring international defence equipment manufacturers, technology providers, procurement officials as well as other industry stakeholders who aim to contribute towards the $20 billion annual defence market, a statement said.

Welcoming the regional and international defence delegates, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, Chief of the Defence Staff, Ghana, said: I bring you warm greetings from Accra, Ghana. As you may be aware, global peace and security continue to deteriorate amid the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and the current Russia-Ukraine crisis. These events have had a significant impact on livelihoods and human security, particularly on the African continent.

The West African sub region in particular is currently experiencing a surge in activities by armed groups. I am happy to note that several steps have been taken to deal with these threats. However, a lot remains to be done, that is why I, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, Chief of the Defence Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces wish to invite you to the maiden International Defence Exhibition and Conference in Accra from 11th to 12th October 2022 under the theme Strengthening International Collaboration to Combat Terrorism and Transnational Organised Crimes.

I am by this invitation calling on all stakeholders in academia, media, industry, defence and other government security apparatus as well as the international community to converge in Accra to find practical solutions to the litany of security challenges facing the region and beyond. It is my hope that by the end of the 2nd Day event our collective aspirations would be achieved.

At stake is the safety and security of 422 million people of West Africa with a combined GDP of $659 billion. The rising cost of terrorism in Africa prompting the governments to not only upgrade the security capabilities of each country, but also to increase cross-border security cooperation.

The International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEC), hosted by the Ghana Armed Forces in Accra will build upon the endeavours of Africas Armed Forces to enhance combined capabilities to counter the continents leading security challenges. This unprecedented event will showcase the importance of integrating strategies and solutions across land, sea and air to solve challenges such as extremism, cross-border crime and maritime security in this region, Air Vice Marshal Mike Kwame Appiah Agyekum, Deputy Chief of Staff (Admin), General Headquarters of the Ghana Armed Forces and Head of the Organising Committee, said.

The overarching objective is to improve regional development and security by promoting defence partnership, both regionally and internationally. Through a series of unique platforms, the two-day event aims to assemble Africas Defence Chiefs of Staff and senior officers and executives from security agencies and global partners and advanced solution providers to improve combined combat operations and regional development initiatives.

A large number of defence procurement officials of the African countries will participate at the event to check out the latest defence equipment, technologies, systems and services  before making a purchase decision as the defence forces are looking at acquiring the latest defence equipment to strengthen their capabilities and reinforce regional security.

IDEC provides an ideal platform for the global defence suppliers to showcase their latest products and services and to meet the defence buyers to negotiate fresh supplies. The two-day event creates a unique platform to establish and strengthen cross-border cooperation among the regional armed forces  land, navy and air forces.

In 2021 military expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa totaled $20.1 billion, 4.1 percent higher than in 2020, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a global peace watchdog. The increase in 2021 was the first in sub-Saharan Africa since 2014 and was primarily driven by Nigeria, the biggest spender in the subregion.

Between 2020 and 2021, Nigeria raised its military spending by 56 percent, to reach $4.5 billion. The increase came in response to Nigerias various security challenges, such as attacks by extremists and separatist insurgents, SIPRI said in a latest report published in April 2022.

In 2021 Kenya, Uganda and Angola were, respectively, the third, fourth and fifth largest military spenders in sub-Saharan Africa, it said in a report. Over the decade 201221, Kenya and Uganda have both faced insurgencies that have influenced their military spending.

Between 2012 and 2021, military expenditure rose by 203 percent in Uganda but remained relatively stable in Kenya (down by 4.5 percent), it said.

The event will be attended by more than 5 Chiefs of Defence Staff, 8 Ministers and Secretaries of Defence, 6 Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Forces, 40 VIP Speakers, 60 Sponsors and Exhibitors from 60 countries.

Some of the main themes of the IDEC conference, include terrorism and counter-terrorism, transnational organised crime, maritime security, cybercrime, advancements in surveillance and monitoring and border security.

The organisers of major events such as the Africa Maritime Security Forum, the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference, the Air Force Africa Forum and the International Conference of Crime Prevention- The Great Minds Event Management have been officially appointed to support the organising committee along with the non-profit think-tank Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute.--TradeArabia News Service
BANGKOK (AP)  Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who last month fled anti-government protests in his country, arrived in Thailand on Thursday night on a flight from Singapore, where he had been staying since mid-July.

Thai television stations showed Rajapaksa and a woman believed to be his wife outside the VIP hall at Bangkoks Don Mueang airport being led to a limousine, which then drove off to an undisclosed destination.

Officials in Thailand on Wednesday said they had been asked by the Sri Lankan government to allow him entry, and that he would be permitted to stay temporarily.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he was aware of Rajapaksas intended visit and that it was allowed for humanitarian reasons because the former president was seeking asylum in a third country. He did not elaborate but said Rajapaksa would not engage in political activity while in Thailand.

Rajapaksa has made no public comments about his travel plans. After fleeing Sri Lanka last month, he first went to neighboring Maldives in a Sri Lankan military plane and then to Singapore, where his visa expired Thursday. He submitted his resignation only after he left Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankans have staged massive street protests for months demanding democratic reforms and solutions to the countrys economic collapse.

Protesters who had occupied official offices and residences in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, blame mismanagement and corruption by the Rajapaksa family for the economic crisis that has led to serious shortages of essentials such as medicines, food and fuel. The island nation is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout program.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanee Sangrat said Wednesday that Rajapaksa's "stay is temporary in nature with the aim of onward travel. No political asylum has been sought. He said that because the former president held a diplomatic passport, he would be allowed to stay for 90 days without a visa.

In addition to being criticized for mismanaging his country's economy, Rajapaksa has been accused by human rights groups of involvement with war crimes when he was defense secretary during Sri Lanka's civil war, which ended in 2009.
ABOARD THE ASTRAL (AP)  A Spanish maritime rescue group helped pull some 40 people from the Mediterranean Sea after their overcrowded wooden boat capsized during a rescue operation Thursday.

An Associated Press photographer who was aboard the ship operated by Spanish group Open Arms documented the harrowing rescue, capturing images of people desperately clinging to their overturned boat as it sank.

Open Arms tweeted that all the passengers survived and were transferred to an Italian coast guard ship. The group said the passengers originally were from Eritrea and Sudan.

The rescue took place in high winds and rough seas south of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and is often the destination of choice for migrant-smuggling operations based in Libya.

The Open Arms says it has rescued more than 26,500 people since 2015.

Follow AP's coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
MADISON  Prosecutors charged a Weyauwega man Friday with killing a woman and her boyfriend 30 years ago in apparent revenge for a snowmobile accident.

Fifty-two-year-old Tony Haase faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the stabbing deaths of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue in March 1992. According to the criminal complaint, Tongstad's father was involved in a snowmobile accident in 1977 that left Haase's father dead.

Investigators wrote in the complaint that they've been working the case for decades and identified Haase as a possible suspect. They did not say in the complaint how they learned about him. Officers took a DNA sample from him during a traffic stop on July 6 that matched DNA found on Tongstad's body.

He told detectives on Thursday that on the night the couple died he got drunk and started thinking about the snowmobile accident, the complaint said.

He went to Tongstad's rural farmhouse, where he said he fought with Mumbrue and punched Tongstad in the face, knocking her out.

He described moving his arm in a stabbing motion toward Mumbrue's chest and stabbing Tongstad in the chest as she regained consciousness, according to the complaint.

Online court records indicate Haase made his initial court appearance Friday. Waupaca County Circuit Judge Raymond Huber set cash bond for Haase at $2 million. Haase's attorney, Alex Gelhar, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment on the case.
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside has announced that high school students will be able to take college courses at their schools for free, starting this fall as part of the Parkside Access to College Credit Program (PACC).

The program, which began in 2016 with 29 students, is a dual-credit program known as concurrent enrollment at UW-Parkside. It allows eligible high school students to earn college and high school credit by taking designated college courses at their high school during the regular school day, taught by qualified high school teachers.

Previously, students paid a reduced tuition cost for the courses. Since the programs inception, 1,400 high school students have earned over 4,000 credits, saving over $850,000 in future tuition costs, according to data from PACC.

Expanding dual-credit programs creates new opportunities for students and helps keep the cost of college affordable, said former UW System President Tommy Thompson. UW-Parkside is a leader in aggressively pursuing new approaches to help underserved students. Its another innovative effort to increase educational attainment that will improve lives and build a better Wisconsin.

UW-Parkside Chancellor Debbie Ford agrees. UW-Parksides mission is to transform lives through higher education. Dual-credit programs help us to advance this mission by expanding access to higher education for all students in our region. Our regions future depends on an educated and skilled workforce, and its vitally important that we provide students with the education and experience they need to thrive in our economy.

Research has proven that students who participate in concurrent enrollment courses are more likely to go to college, and to complete their bachelors degree. Students also are more likely to do better academically while in high school and in college. PACC courses also help students become better able to manage their time, grow in their academic skills, and believe that they can be successful with college-level classes, said Dwight Trieber, a PACC chemistry teacher who has taught UW-Parksides General Chemistry course at Park High School in Racine since 2017. These benefits have allowed my students to be more successful in college.

Students must be in good academic standing, with a high school GPA of 2.0 or higher to participate in the program. Unlike other college credit in high school programs in Wisconsin, PACC does not require an ACT score to participate. This realistic approach to student success, accompanied by free tuition, is designed to increase opportunities for all students participation, reducing the equity gap among students taking these courses.

Nationally, African American and Latino students enroll in dual-enrollment courses at a significantly smaller rate than white students. Data from University of Wisconsin campuses show that 83% of students who took college coursework while in high school were white. However, the PACC program closely parallels the diversity of the schools it serves, with 47% minority and 53% white students, research also shows.

PACC courses are currently offered in Kenosha and Racine Unified high schools, Burlington High School, and Wilmot Union High School, where, depending on the school, students can earn from 3-to-33 college credits before graduating high school. The PACC program expands the opportunity for high school students to experience college courses, said Julie Housaman, Chief Academic Officer for Kenosha Unified School District.

PACC courses are offered in KUSD high schools and are taught by KUSD teachers. Transportation to the university is not a barrier and high school teachers can scaffold the student learning experience from high school expectations to college expectations. Students achieve success in PACC courses, which builds their confidence and reduces their anxiety, regardless of whether they choose to continue their education or pursue a career after graduation, Housaman said.

Denise Olstinske, Director of the PACC program, is committed to only offering credits with a purpose, meaning that all credits earned are directly related to bachelor's degree graduation requirements and are guaranteed to transfer to all University of Wisconsin institutions.

It is important for students and their families to understand the utility of the college courses and credits beyond just accumulating credits, and to ensure students are not earning empty credits, Olstinske said. Alumni of the program have reported 100% transferability of their PACC courses to other colleges and universities in Wisconsin and across the country.

PACC offers unique support activities for participating students including, but not limited to: class visits to the Parkside campus to experience twin classes on campus, tutoring, library services, writing assistance and more. This year, PACC will be adding student support services directly related to college preparation and admission.

For more information, go to www.uwp.edu/pacc or call Denise Olstinske at 262-595-2162.
Another congressman from Wisconsin is backing fair negotiations between local news providers and giant technology companies so journalists get paid for their work.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, said last week he added his name as a cosponsor to the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act because several news outlets in his northern Wisconsin district could go out of business due to the predatory practices of Big Tech.

For far too long, tech giants like Google and Facebook have hamstrung local news organizations with their monopolistic power, Tiffany said in a statement to the State Journal. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act will give hardworking local reporters a level playing field and relief from Big Techs anticompetitive practices.

Hes right. And more members of Wisconsins congressional delegation should get behind this important cause to preserve independent and professional reporting in their local communities.

Tiffany joins Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, and 75 other members of Congress in backing a level playing field for fair negotiations over how local news reports may be used and monetized by search engines and social media sites.

Supporters include 44 Democrats and 20 Republicans in the House, and seven Republicans and six Democrats in the Senate. Thats about as bipartisan as it gets. And a key Senate committee is expected to take up the proposal soon, advocates say. The Senate Judiciary Committee should recommend and send the bill to the full Senate for a vote, where Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, should be supportive.

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would let local news providers negotiate as a group with the biggest technology companies for up to four years. The temporary exemption from federal antitrust laws would give local news outlets more leverage to secure advertising revenue and better control how their stories are used by Google, Facebook and a handful of digital brokers.

Big Tech companies grab most of the revenue now, with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude toward news providers, even though local journalists are the ones producing much of the content these technology companies profit from. Thats not a free or fair market.

News publishers are gaining record audiences online. With so much unattributed and untrustworthy information on social media and shady online platforms, the public is seeking  and needs  credible information from local sources in their communities.

Yet many reliable outlets  including smaller newspapers in Tiffanys northern Wisconsin district  are struggling to survive because Google and Facebook control so much of who gets to see what online, and how revenue from all that traffic is divvied up.

Google and Facebook control the digital market and enjoy dictating the terms to their favor. But Americans are increasingly suspicious  with good reason  that these companies are unfairly distorting discussions, highlighting sensational claims, encouraging division, vacuuming up personal information and hurting our democracy.

Theyre also cashing in.

The Journalism Competition and Protection Act would encourage the tech giants to negotiate in good faith over the value local journalism provides for their platforms, as well as how it appears and is prioritized. And instead of Big Tech snatching most of the advertising revenue, more could go back to newsrooms to pay for local news coverage.

Congress needs to act so market forces  not two companies  allow local journalism to be fairly compensated, hire more reporters and keep citizens informed.

Wisconsin State Journal editorial board The views expressed in the editorials are shaped by the board, independent of news coverage decisions elsewhere in the newspaper. STAFF MEMBERS KELLY LECKER, Executive editor SCOTT MILFRED, Editorial page editor PHIL HANDS, Editorial cartoonist COMMUNITY MEMBERS JANINE GESKE SUSAN SCHMITZ
Election deniers are democracy destroyers. A group of people, many of whom are politicians, are deceiving good people with repeated lies into supporting a would-be dictator instead of our wonderful country.

These destroyers of our democracy work to convince people that the democratic process that our country relies on is corrupt. They encourage abuse of election officials who have been cursed and threatened with their lives. These officials are our neighbors.

The destroyers say trust a dictator, not our "corrupt" country. They attack our democracy by making it more difficult to vote and not accepting the truth of our votes. They dont care about what this teaches our children about honesty.

They demand allegiance to their fallen leader, not to our country. Politicians who put country first are to be punished whenever possible.

Patriotic citizens need to stand up to those who are betraying our country with their lies. Stand up by voting for candidates who will protect our democracy.

Robert F. Chapman, Middleton
BURLEY  After reading a Times-News article about the Cassia County coroner working out of his home because he didnt have office space, PMT executives decided to donate a used cargo van to the office.

PMTs spokesperson Juli Jaime said one of the companys executives read the article and reached out to Cassia County Coroner Craig Rinehart about the donation.

On Aug. 1, PMT donated a 2014 GMC cargo van to the office, which was part of its vehicle fleet.

It has 133,000 miles, which is quite low for that vehicle and less miles on it than the one we have, Rinehart said. Its also 10 years newer.

The coroners office had been using a 2004 GMC Suburban, which will continue to be in service.

Rinehart said the donated vehicle will be very handy when he has to travel to Boise for autopsies and having two will mean one vehicle can remain in the county ready for use by the deputy coroner during that time.

In the nearly 12 years that Rinehart has been in office, there were four occasions when the office received two calls for service at a time.

I was just amazed when we received it, he said. They cleaned it all up and had it detailed and everything.

A couple of months ago, Cassia County commissioners worked out a deal with Minidoka County for the Cassia County Coroners Office to share office space with the Minidoka County Coroner in a Minidoka County-owned building.

Previously Rineharts office was his dining room table at home and he had been using his own computer and printer.

Rinehart said Thursday that hes now officially moved into the new space, which will be able to house a new body cooler that had been in storage for nearly two years, because there was nowhere to put it.

The two coroners offices will remain separate but will only share the space.

The county has also supplied him with a laptop and desktop computer and printer, which are now up and running.
Members of Idahos Congressional delegation would probably not receive any heroism awards for their actions relating to the PACT Act, also known as the burn pit bill.

When the Act came up for a vote, our Congressional troops flat failed to protect the backs of sick veterans. Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson voted against final passage of the bill in the House. Not to be outdone, Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch both voted against the legislation on three separate occasions.

The Act provides health care and benefits to veterans who suffered cancer and other ailments from exposure to toxic burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan and extends benefits for veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Congress gave final approval to the Act on August 3, after Republican Senators were shamed into submission by veterans groups and comedian Jon Stewart. Risch and Crapo joined just nine other GOP Senators in voting against final passage of the Act.

Both of our Senators talk big about how much they love our veterans, but that happy talk does not always translate into action. We should not be surprised because the Washington establishment has been historically indifferent to the health needs of American veterans.

For well over a decade after the Vietnam War ended, the Veterans Administration (VA) and Congress routinely denied care and benefits to Vietnam veterans for a wide range of service-related health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder and illnesses related to Agent Orange. Vets were left to fend for themselves, resulting in thousands of unnecessary deaths, including numerous suicides. It took many years to convince official Washington that veterans were suffering from health conditions related to their Vietnam service and that the country was honor bound to help them.

Veterans started claiming that they had illnesses caused by breathing toxic fumes from burn pits shortly after the First Gulf War. First responders to the 9-11 attacks made similar claims a decade later. The VA became aware of scientific evidence linking serious health problems with burn pit smoke in 2009, but chose to ignore it. Congress did not seem to care either because no action was taken. The governments stance was dogged denial, much like its earlier response to Agent Orange.

The PACT Act calls for a dramatic reversal of this shameful governmental conduct. The Act makes a presumption that certain illnesses are covered if the veteran was exposed to a burn pit. The veteran no longer has an almost impossible burden of proving his or her condition was caused by the toxic smoke. The Act specifies a number of covered cancers, including pancreatic cancer.

To illustrate the change, when I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2017, I learned there was no scientific way to prove the source of this type of cancer. It is not a cancer that was covered under Agent Orange legislation. Although Id been exposed to Agent Orange, I knew it would be fruitless to make a claim for health care coverage. A veteran had to prove the cancer was caused by Agent Orange, which was an impossibility. Similarly, prior to passage of the PACT Act, a burn pit victim was unlikely to be successful in making a case because he or she had the burden of proving the cause. The Act now puts the law on the side of sick veterans.

Our Senators had a clear choice on August 3either vote for burn pit victims, or vote against them. There was just one bill on the table. The two claimed their vote was influenced by an elusive $400 billion slush fund that nobody seemed to be able to adequately explain.

Veterans deserve better from those who supposedly represent them in Congress, particularly those who persist in claiming they are appreciative of veterans and doing their utmost to serve them. They should be judged on what they do, not what they say.
Olivia Newton-John taught me how to dance.

OK, thats a bit of a stretch. Olivia Newton-John convinced me to try to learn how to dance at nerd camp, even though, looking back, it was not a success.

The Associated Press described her passing this month this way: Olivia Newton-John, the Grammy-winning superstar who reigned on pop, country, adult contemporary and dance charts with such hits as Physical and Youre the One That I Want and won countless hearts as everyones favorite Sandy in the blockbuster film version of Grease, has died. She was 73.

Heres how I handled it: NO!

Though I didnt follow her career into the later decades, she was my first elementary school celebrity crush.

Her album If You Love Me, Let Me Know was a 1974 North American release of some of her previous hits in Australia. The title track grabbed me by the ear and the cover photo, a denim-clad country girl (from another country) stole my heart.

Her first Billboard No. 1, I Honestly Love You appeared on that album and I was convinced she was singing it directly to me. In 10 or 12 years, she would be Mrs. Olivia Newton-John-Hollifield and we would raise wallabies and drink Fosters on a 100-acre spread at the edge of the outback.

While that didnt happen and my interest in Olivia waned with subsequent releases that did not profess her love directly to me, she made another impact on my life a few years later.

In my seventh-grade summer, I was picked to go to nerd camp at what was then Mars Hill College and is now Mars Hill University, about 20 minutes north of Asheville. It was called something like Summer Enrichment and Enhancement, but, lets be real, it was nerd camp.

I dont know how the selection process went, but it was probably, Hey, do guys have a kid you can send up here for the summer because we are one short from your disadvantaged area of getting our federal funding.

A couple of administrators looked at each other and said, We can send Hollifield. He probably wont murder anybody.

It even made the local newspaper. I believe the headline was Buck-tooth boy makes good.

And thats how I got to nerd camp.

There were all kinds of classes to help us think outside the box, a phrase that gets reused every few years when people cant come up with any other cliches. On the physical activity side, I chose a fencing class because I could learn how to fight people with a sword, something that would come in handy never.

I could have taken a class on rewiring a lamp but, no, I wanted to learn to fight someone with a sword just in case of a big pirate uprising.

The counselor for my group decided  against our wills  the physical activity for the second part of camp would be learning a choreographed dance. Im pretty sure this was only because he had a thing for the co-ed dance instructor.

I voiced my objection.

Ron, I think I speak for all of us here in saying I would prefer more sword fighting or perhaps dueling with pistols.

Nope. Ron said we were all going to learn a dance performed in the musical Grease to the song Youre The One That I Want which featured none other than  Olivia Newton-John. She would be there in spirit only.

At that moment, I remembered that she honestly loved me. And maybe, just maybe, I was the one that she wants. Would it get physical, physical? I could only hope.

I did my best. I practiced my steps. I tried to stay in time. But, the cold, hard truth was I was better at stabbing people in the chest with a sword than dancing to Youre The One That I Want.

Rest in peace, Olivia Newton-John. Someday, Ill see you on that 100-acre wallaby spread in the sky. Well have a Fosters and I will show you some sword-fighting moves.
An investigation commission on the Pegasus case set up by the European Parliament found out that some 12 EU member states out of 27 are Pegasus clients.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the commission of enquiry was set up after European commissioners denounced having been spied on, which suggested that it was European state-to-European state espionage.

These findings show that the Pegasus affair relayed in 2021 by several international NGOs and media, like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories consortium (grouping 17 Western media), which pointed the finger primarily on the softwares users in non-Western countries, including Morocco and other states in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, suggesting that Western countries respected the rules, privacy and did not engage in espionage, was in fact an orchestrated campaign, dictated by political motivations.

The campaign by international but especially French media group and NGOs had accused Morocco of using the Israeli spyware Pegasus. Morocco then filed defamation lawsuits with the Paris Court, demanding that evidence to corroborate these accusations be revealed.

The European Parliaments commission of enquiry visited Israel and held talks with employees of NSO, which developed the spyware, representatives of the Israeli Defense Ministry, and local experts.

The European commission members were surprised to discover during their investigation in Israel that NSO had European customers, and that out of 14 European countries that had signed contracts with the company in the past, 12 are still using the Pegasus program at a state level, reveals the Israeli media.

During their inquiry visit, the EU commission members attempted to identify NSO customers in Europe at present, but were surprised at the sheer number of European customers across 12 EU member countries.

The Israeli firms responses to questions from the European Commission reveal that the company works with many security bodies in the EU, reports the Israeli daily Haaretz, debunking the allegations by Forbidden Stories consortium and NGOs that had targeted Morocco.

14 nations have done business with NSO in the past, and at least 12 are still using Pegasus for lawful interception of mobile calls, according to NSO.

At times, there can be multiple clients from the same country, explained NSO, varying from law enforcement to intelligence agencies, all of whom are end-users, as the company did not cite contracts with governments.

Additionally, NSO did not disclose which EU countries are active or previous customers. Their client status, however, has not been refuted.

If one company has 14 member states as customers, you can imagine the overall size of the industry, wondered a member of the Pegasus inquiry committee.

The investigation has seemingly faced European legislators with the sheer, unexpected size of the industry, as they now believe that there is a huge market for commercial spyware, and EU governments are very enthusiastic buyers, the MEP stated.

Many EU countries had signed contracts with the Israeli company in the past, and 12 still use Pegasus for lawful interception of cell phones calls, according to NSOs response to questions from the European Commission, explains Haaretz.

Part of these revelations, the Israeli company explained that it currently works with 22 European end users  security agencies, intelligence departments and law enforcement agencies- in 12 European countries. In some of these countries, NSO has more than one customer under contracts signed not with the country but with the operating agencies, according to the revelations of the investigation.

Anyways, these shocking revelations and others that are surely still in store shed light on the real goals of the campaign orchestrated in 2021 against specific countries, including Morocco, in the Pegasus case.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, a leading global hospitality company, has announced the opening of Magma Resort Santorini, the first property in The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand in the Greek Islands.



The opening signals Hyatts continued focus on growing its brands within the Independent Collection in key, desirable global destinations for guests. The 59-room hotel delivers the tranquil and soulful essence of Santorini, inviting guests to find inspiration in the islands rich history and spirit.



A secluded sanctuary nestled amid the hilltops of Vourvoulos, Magma Resort Santorini offers a serene Santorini experience with unforgettable views. Striking contemporary design complements the hotels breathtaking surroundings of lava sand beaches, sweeping vineyards and the endless blue of the Aegean Sea.



A commitment to holistic and spiritual wellness is realized through a subterranean Lava Spa and elite gastronomic experience led by chef Arnaud Bignon of the two-Michelin-starred restaurant, Spondi Athens. Stylish features including a stunning sun terrace and infinity pool offer mesmerizing panoramas of the islands dramatic coastline, elevating the hotels unique atmosphere of relaxed luxury.



We are delighted to open Magma Resort Santorini and introduce The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand to the many independently minded, luxury travellers looking for an authentic experience of our iconic island, said Stelios Koutsivitis, president and one of the major shareholders of SWOT Hospitality, management company of Magma Resort Santorini.



We have a deep understanding of the soul of Santorini and what makes it such an extraordinary destination. The Unbound Collection by Hyatt ethos is all about inspiring, thought-provoking experiences and we invite guests to be inspired by a new side of Santorini, uncovering its true spirit with us.



Magma Resort Santorini offers 59 luxurious rooms, including 24 suites, finished with cosy verandas, walk-in showers, relaxed living and dining spaces, as well as private pools, all of which provide desirable, unrestricted views of the islands horizon. For the ultimate luxury experience, guests can retreat into the elegant Magma Suite, where theyll find 77 sq m of space encompassing an expansive living area, king size bedroom, a private terrace and a pool that overlooks the beautiful azure waters of the ocean.



Signature dining

Discover a new level of culinary sophistication at Magma by Spondi, the hotels exclusive dining concept curated by the two-Michelin-starred chef, Arnaud Bignon. Awarded his stars while working as Head Chef of Spondi Athens, Arnaud is one of the youngest chefs to ever hold this distinction. He brings his rare interpretation of local and seasonal ingredients to Magma Resort Santorini, with a signature menu that spotlights the culinary traditions and heritage of the Greek Islands.



Holistic wellness

Guests can experience holistic and spiritual wellness at the hotels state-of-the-art Lava Spa and Wellness Center. Descend into the subterranean 430-sq-m spa, the largest on the island, and uncover its calming, indoor pool and signature treatments designed to revitalize and indulge the senses.



The hotel offers a fully equipped, professional fitness centre, as well as a range of activities intended to connect guests to the islands lush natural environment, including hiking, snorkelling, and sun-drenched yoga classes on the terrace.



Inspiring meeting and events

Magma Resort Santorini presents Magma Hall, a 228-sq-m venue featuring modern design notes and the latest high-spec technology. Suitable for any event, from intimate social gatherings and romantic weddings to inspiring business receptions, the event space at the hotel can welcome up to 250 guests to create story-worthy experiences in a venue like no other.



Once open, Magma Resort Santorini will join the collection of independent properties within The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand in Europe, including The Wellem in Dusseldorf, Hotel SOFIA Barcelona, Hotel Reisen in Stockholm, Parisi Udvar Hotel Budapest, Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London, Hotel du Louvre in Paris, the iconic Hotel Martinez in Cannes and Hotel du Palais Biarritz as well as three additional properties in the pipeline: Grand Hansa Hotel Helsinki, La Zambra in Mijas, Spain and Hotel Rhodania Crans Montana in Switzerland.  TradeArabia News Service
Malis transitional authorities have announced a three-day national mourning after confirming the death on Sunday of 42 Malian soldiers in an attack attributed to jihadists in the northeast of the country, an assault in which the army neutralized 37 terrorists.

The army reacted vigorously to a complex and coordinated attack in Tessit during which it had 42 dead and 22 wounded in its ranks. During the clashes that lasted for several hours, 37 terrorists were neutralized and several of their equipment, including vehicles, were abandoned, according to a new assessment of casualties published by the government. The previous toll was 17 soldiers and 4 civilians killed.

The presidency announced in a separate statement a three-day national mourning from Thursday, in tribute to the civilian and military victims during the terrorist attack in Tessit.

It is the heaviest official toll for the Malian army since a series of attacks in late 2019-early 2020 by the Islamic State group on military camps in the same tri-border region. The attack on Sunday comes as Mali, which has pushed out the old French ally and eagerly revived cooperation with Moscow, has been facing a resurgence of assaults in recent weeks by the nebulous Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM, JNIM in Arabic).
Germany has suspended until further notice most of its military operations in Mali as part of the UN mission (MINUSMA), denouncing a new refusal of overflight by the Malian authorities, the German Ministry of Defense announced Friday.

The Malian government has once again refused to authorize a flight scheduled for today, which was to provide a rotation of personnel, said a spokesman for the ministry.

As a result, we are suspending our reconnaissance operations and helicopter transport flights until further notice because it is no longer possible to support the MINUSMA operationally, he said.

Without the new personnel who were to partly replace the French forces which are withdrawing, security on the ground is no longer assured and the remaining forces must be dedicated to security and will no longer be able to carry out their usual missions, the spokesman explained at a press conference.

The refusal of the overflight came despite assurances to the contrary from Malis defense minister, Sadio Camara, during a telephone conversation Thursday with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht, he said.

Relations between Mali and the UN, whose peacekeepers have been in the country since 2013, have deteriorated in recent weeks.
Stagespecific distribution of female breast cancer cases, ages 40 to 49 years versus ages 50 to 59 years, Canada excluding Quebec, 2010 to 2017. Note: Quebec is excluded because cases diagnosed in Quebec from 2011 onward had not been submitted to the Canadian Cancer Registry. Vertical error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. Source: Canadian Cancer Registry (1992 to 2018) at Statistics Canada. Credit: Current Oncology (2022). DOI: 10.3390/curroncol29080444

A new study led by University of Ottawa professors has found Canadian provinces that annually screen women aged 4049 had lower proportions of advanced breast cancer compared to women aged 5059 from provinces that did not hold annual mammograms.

The study, published in the latest edition of Current Oncology, found lower proportions of stage 2, 3 and 4 breast cancer in women 4049 and lower proportions of stage 2 and 3 breast cancer in women 5059 from provinces which screened the 4049 age subset annually.

"This is the first Canadian study to show that screening policies for women 4049 impact women 5059," said co-lead author Dr. Anna Wilkinson, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at uOttawa. "Women who are not screened in their forties are presenting with later stage breast cancer in their fifties. This means more intensive treatment and a worse prognosis for these women than if their cancers were diagnosed at an earlier stage."

Dr. Wilkinson and fellow lead author Dr. Jean Seely reviewed the data of 55,490 women between the ages of 40 and 49 and 50 and 59 from the Canadian Cancer Registry who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2010 and 2017. They evaluated the impact of the 2011 Canadian breast cancer screening guidelines by looking at changes in the incidence of breast cancer by stage from 2011 to 2017.

The authors found that since Canadian guidelines changed in 2011 to recommend against screening women 4049, there has been a 13.6% decrease in incidence of stage 1 and a 12.6% increase in stage 2 for women in their forties. For women in their fifties, the incidence of stage 2 increased by 3.1% over the same period. In provinces which did not continue to have organized screening programs for women 4049, there was a 10.3% increase in stage 4 breast cancer in women 5059 over the six years.

Survival rates decrease in relation to the more advanced stage of breast cancer at diagnosis. The five-year survival rate for stage 1 breast cancer is 99.8% compared to 23.2% for cancers diagnosed by stage 4. Such outcomes potentially lead to more advanced cancer and intensive treatments and surgeries and increased mortality.

"This is a great example of the benefit of using Canadian Cancer Registry data housed at Statistics Canada to take advantage of studying the effect of different policies regarding ages to start screening. Our findings align with recently updated U.S. National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines that recommend annual screening mammography for average risk women beginning at age 40," said Dr. Jean Seely, Head of Breast Imaging at The Ottawa Hospital and Professor at uOttawa's Faculty of Medicine.

"Further work will be needed to determine whether finding these cancers at an earlier stage translates into fewer fatal breast cancers and improved long-term outcomes."

Canadian jurisdictions have different polices for screening women starting at age 40 or 50 despite evidence that early detection of breast cancer leads to improved survival rates. The provinces and territories utilizing annual screening reminders for women in their forties during the study period were British Columbia, Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Currently, only Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon employ annual reminders.

More information: Anna N. Wilkinson et al, The Impact of Organised Screening Programs on Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis for Canadian Women Aged 4049 and 5059, Current Oncology (2022). Anna N. Wilkinson et al, The Impact of Organised Screening Programs on Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis for Canadian Women Aged 4049 and 5059,(2022). DOI: 10.3390/curroncol29080444
Multivariable adjusted linear regression for log-transformed cortisol with 95% confidence intervals, with data from the Mexican Teachers Cohort (MTC) (N = 881) and the Icelandic SAGA Cohort (N = 398), both as a combined sample and by cohort according to 10-item Perceived Stress Scale score. The figures are scatterplots with an overlying linear regression and 95% confidence intervals. The results are adjusted for marital status, occupation, educational level, BMI, smoking status as well as cohort for the combined sample. The overall sample (Panel A) had a 1.4% (95% CI 0.6, 2.11) increase in log-cortisol per unit increase of PSS. The Mexican sample (Panel B) had a 1.3% (95% CI 0.7, 3.3) increase in log-cortisol. The Icelandic sample (Panel C) had a 2.0% (95% CI 0.7, 3.2) increase in log-cortisol. Credit: PLOS Global Public Health (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000571

A team of researchers from the University of Iceland and the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico City, working with a colleague from TU Dresden, has found evidence that suggests doctors may soon be able to measure recent stress levels in patients by measuring cortisol levels in their hair. The group has written a paper describing their research and have posted it on the open access site PLOS Global Public Health.

Cortisol, also known as hydrocortisone, is a type of steroid made by the adrenal gland. It serves a wide variety of purposes and is produced in abundance when people experience stress. Because of that, it has sometimes been referred to as the stress hormone.

In this new effort, the researchers wanted to know if cortisol winds up in the hair as it grows, and if so, is the amount related to stress levels. To find their answers, the researchers studied data in the Mexican Teachers and Icelandic Stress and Gene Analysis cohorts which included data on hair samples collected from 881 women living in parts of Mexico and 398 in Iceland. Each of the samples was yanked, not cut, so as to be able to test the root section as well. Each hair was also cut to just 3cm. The researchers also noted that hair grows an average of 1cm per month, which meant each hair sample they studied represented the prior three months growth. Each of the women who volunteered to participate in the study also answered a short survey that asked them questions about how stressed they had been feeling over the past three months.

After testing the hair samples and analyzing the surveys, the researchers divided the results into five groups representing the stress levels of the participants, with number scores given to allow for comparison between the groups. In so doing, the researchers found a correlation between the amount of stress reported by the women volunteers and the amount of cortisol they found in their hairthe more stress they had been feeling the more cortisol they found in their hair.

The researchers suggest their findings indicate that cortisol levels in a person's hair can serve as a biomarker representing stress levels in the recent past. They acknowledge that such a test would have to take into account other factors, however, that could have led to increases in cortisol production, such as the use of certain medications or the presence of benign tumors.

Explore further Higher cortisol levels may help predict risk of people developing depression in the future

More information: Rebekka Lynch et al, Perceived stress and hair cortisol concentration in a study of Mexican and Icelandic women, PLOS Global Public Health (2022). Journal information: PLOS Global Public Health Rebekka Lynch et al, Perceived stress and hair cortisol concentration in a study of Mexican and Icelandic women,(2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000571

 2022 Science X Network
The COVIDsafe website has been updated to urge users to uninstall the app. Credit: covidsafe.gov.au

On August 9, 2022, Australia's COVIDSafe app was officially decommissioned, and all its features removed. People were encouraged to uninstall the app. Reports of its closure have made international news.

On ceasing COVIDSafe, health minister Mark Butler said the "government acted to delete the wasteful and ineffective COVIDSafe app" and accused the former government of wasting "more than $21 million of taxpayer's money on this failed app."

Was COVIDSafe a magic bullet, as per the previous government, or a total failure, as the current government wants us to believe?

The writing was on the wall

Designed to help manual contract tracers find positive COVID cases, the app was launched in April 2020.

Rewind to the first months of the pandemic, and Australians were encouraged by then prime minister Scott Morrison to download the app, which he compared to putting on sunscreen when going outdoors and a "ticket to opening up our economy."

To some, it was clear already in 2020 the app wasn't going to achieve expectations. It also disappeared from politicians' vocabularies, and there were mounting calls to scrap it in 2021.

Overall, the decommissioning of the app this week shouldn't come as a surprisethere was also a strict sunset clause put into law when it was first developed.

But is there a silver liningcan we learn anything from the COVIDSafe experiment? Here is our scorecard.

Some passes, some fails

PASS: Automating manual contact tracing

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, most public health systems relied on manual contact tracing, a tool many thought at first would be ineffective for managing and controlling a rapidly spreading disease on a large scale.

One of the goals of COVIDSafe was to automate the manual work, to help the efforts of contact tracers at scale. This goal was achieved, although the value and effectiveness are questionable, as we discuss below.

PASS: Mass adoption

Few systems have needed rapid and widespread adoption to the extent that COVIDSafe did. The app did reach the initial expected target threshold of 40%. There were more than 7.7 million downloads, with 3 million Australians downloading the app by the end of April 2020.

Getting so many Australians to download new and contested technology is an unparalleled achievement. While the number of downloads doesn't tell us how many people were actively using the app, it shows some success in getting people to at least download and engage with it.

A significant challenge was also to make the app accessible to a wide range of people with varying levels of tech aptitude. Despite its questionable effectiveness, technical and registration issues, COVIDSafe struck a balance between being aesthetic and relatively easy to use.

FAIL: Improving the efficiency and accuracy of contact tracing

The COVIDSafe app only helped to identify two positive cases not reported by manual contact tracing. This can be partly attributed to the success of Australia's suppression strategylow case numbers in 2020 meant the app was not fully tested "in the wild."

As of November 2021, only 792 COVID-positive COVIDSafe users consented to upload their data to the national database. Australian states also introduced QR code scanning at public places (such as transport, shops, sport venues, cafes, hotels and restaurants) that overlapped with the role of the app.

Independent evaluation suggests that COVIDSafe was "an additional step that increased workload [for contact tracing staff] without delivering any added value."

FAIL: Easing restrictions, opening the economy, and returning to 'normal'

The Morrison government framed COVIDSafe as an integral part of its plan to remove restrictions imposed on society and open the economy. COVIDSafe failed to deliver on this, as much of Australia continued to face tough restrictions and remained in lockdowns until late 2021.

FAIL: Suppressing COVID-19 and its spread

Another widely popularized goal of COVIDSafe was controlling the spread of the disease. Despite early optimism around such apps, this goal was not achieved.

It was unrealistic to expect a contact-tracing app to suppress the spread of a virus whose epidemiological characteristics evolve over time.

Lessons for the future

Getting systems right is a process. Understanding the failures and successes of COVIDSafe is a useful starting point to advance the conversation on what "digital contact tracing 2.0" should look like.

Avoid techno-optimism

A techno-optimism ideologythe idea that there's a tech solution for every complex problemwas at the root of developing COVIDSafe in the first place. Officials used metaphors such as "digital vaccine," "sunscreen" and "road to recovery," suggesting the app would protect individuals from being infected and return life back to "normal."

In developing health applications, government should use "digital also" instead of a "digital first" approach. Health apps, especially new and rapidly deployed ones, should not be conflated with medical solutions. Otherwise, we risk unrealistic expectations and loss of public trust.

Understanding the needs

COVIDSafe showed that digitalizing a manual contact-tracing process doesn't necessarily make it more effective. In a July 2021 report to parliament, then health minister Greg Hunt admitted "the use of existing, well established tracing processes has limited the need of public health officials to rely on COVIDSafe."

When defining the scope and purpose of an app, we need a better understanding of everyone's requirements and existing manual processes.

Manage data volume

As COVIDSafe was developed and launched, much attention was lavished on privacy concerns, Bluetooth connectivity, accessibility and mass acceptance.

But it seems less attention was given to the needs of public health staff. The app complicated the work of contact tracers who were quickly overwhelmed by data volume. Public health staff should be provided with effective tools to manage incoming data; in this case, it would have helped to figure out which encounters needed to be checked for potential close contacts.

Privacy preservation

Privacy considerations were central in the development of COVIDSafe, with a range of measures applied across the actual app, its legislation and its use.

Future apps should be developed to give people control over the collection and sharing of their mobility data, so users can select appropriate options according to their personal privacy preferences.

So, was COVIDSafe worth the investment?

Australia was not the only country to develop a contact-tracing app. Several German-speaking countries, France, India and Singapore developed similar apps with varied success, while the United Kingdom, Italy, Latvia and others made us of the exposure notification system Apple and Google developed.

COVIDSafe reflects the urgency of early 2020 and the strong support for such technology from epidemiologists and other medical professionals.

It was also a bit like taking out an insurance policy we didn't fully need: initial public acceptance did not align with low positive case numbers. It's unclear whether a similar app deployed in 2022 would have led to a different outcome.

Overall, it is hard to expect a financial return on such emergency investment. The app gave some people hope and comfort during the dark periods of 2020, arguably delivering a social return on investment.

Explore further The COVIDSafe app was designed to help contact tracershere's what really happened

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

Clinicians' reluctance to discuss possible harms of anal sex is letting down a generation of young women who are unaware of the risks, warn researchers in The BMJ today.

Surgeons Tabitha Gana and Lesley Hunt argue that as anal intercourse becomes more common amongst heterosexual couples, failure to discuss it "exposes women to missed diagnoses, futile treatments, and further harm arising from a lack of medical advice."

They say healthcare professionals, particularly those in general practice, gastroenterology, and colorectal surgery "have a duty to acknowledge changes in society around anal sex in young women, and to meet these changes with open neutral and non-judgmental conversations to ensure that all women have the information they need to make informed choices about sex."

In Britain, the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyle shows participation in heterosexual anal intercourse among 16 to 24 year-olds, rose from 12.5% to 28.5% over the last few decades. Similar trends are seen in the U.S., where 30-44% of men and women report having anal sex.

Young women cite pleasure, curiosity, pleasing the male partners and coercion as factors. Up to 25% of women with experience of anal sex report they have been pressured into it at least once.

Anal intercourse is considered a risky sexual behavior because of its association with alcohol, drug use and multiple sex partners. But it is also associated with specific health concerns, explain the authors.

For example, increased rates of fecal incontinence and anal sphincter injury have been reported in women who have anal intercourse. Women are also at a higher risk of incontinence than men, due to their different anatomy.

"The pain and bleeding women report after anal sex is indicative of trauma, and risks may be increased if anal sex is coerced," the authors write.

Effective management of anorectal disorders requires understanding of the underlying risk factors, and good history taking is key, they say. Yet clinicians may shy away from these discussions, influenced by society's taboos.

What's more, NHS patient information on anal sex considers only sexually transmitted diseases, making no mention of anal trauma, incontinence, or the psychological aftermath of the coercion young women report in relation to this activity.

"It may not be just avoidance or stigma that prevents health professionals talking to young women about the risks of anal sex. There is genuine concern that the message may be seen as judgmental or even misconstrued as homophobic," they note. "However, by avoiding these discussions, we may be failing a generation of young women, who are unaware of the risks."

"With better information, women who want anal sex would be able to protect themselves more effectively from possible harm, and those who agree to anal sex reluctantly to meet society's expectations or please partners, may feel better empowered to say no," they conclude.

Explore further FDA approves first condom designed for anal sex
Were still waiting for the new binomial name for monkeypox. Credit: Shutterstock

As monkeypox vaccination programs roll out and health authorities release information about how to reduce the spread of the virus, progress on another aspect of the outbreak is lagging: its name.

On June 14, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the agency was "working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox virus, its clades and the disease it causes."

This followed a letter signed by 29 scientists around the world calling for a non-discriminatory and non-stigmatizing name for the virus.

More than eight weeks later, nothing has changed yet.

Since mid-May 2022, as of August 10, 31,425 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 82 countriesincluding 66 in Australiawhich historically haven't reported cases of the virus.

During the same period, 375 cases have been reported in seven countries that have historically reported monkeypox.

While the focus has been on changing the name of monkeypox, it's the names of the two main clades (organisms derived from a common ancestor) that are most geographically discriminatory. They are currently named the Congo Basin (or Central Africa) clade and the West Africa clade.

How is the name of a disease created?

In 2015, the WHO, in consultation and collaboration with the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, identified best practices for the naming of new human diseases. These conclude:

if the causative pathogen is known, it should be used as part of the disease name with additional descriptors; for example, novel coronavirus respiratory syndrome

coronavirus respiratory syndrome names should be short (minimum number of characters) and easy to pronounce; for example, H7N9

potential acronyms should be evaluated to ensure they also comply with these best practices

geographic locations, such as cities, countries, regions, and continents should be avoided; poor earlier examples include Murray Valley encephalitis and Spanish flu

people's names (such as Chagas disease) and the names of species (such as swine flu and bird flu) should be avoided.

Naming of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, did not include the name of the pathogen. But it did comply with the other criteria and, fortunately, was not called Wuhan disease or China virus.

How is the name of a virus created?

The WHO is not directly responsible for naming or renaming viruses, clades of viruses and the diseases those viruses cause. Naming virus species is the responsibility of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

Monkeypox is a member of the orthopoxvirus family and related to smallpox, which was eradicated in 1979. Unlike other bugs, such as parasites like malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) and bacteria like "golden staph" (Staphylococcus aureus), there is still not a consistent system of assigning binomial (two words) Latinised names to viruses.

A subcommittee of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is in the process of finalizing a proposal for new binomial names for all the poxviruses, including monkeypox.

Most viral conditions have different names for the disease it causes and the virus itself.

In the case of the novel coronavirus causing the current pandemic, the short name of the disease is COVID-19, while the virus is named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Why is it so hard to change the name of monkeypox virus?

Monkeypox is not a new virus; it was discovered in 1958.

While on the face of it, the name monkeypox does not seem stigmatizing (other than to monkeys) some have pointed out that monkeys are rarely associated with the Western world, and this association with the global South could be seen as problematic. The word monkey has also been employed in racist slurs against people of color.

Monkeypox is also a misnomer because monkeys are not its natural host, which is probably in rodents. The name of the virus was given because it was first identified in laboratory monkeys in Copenhagen.

However, there is a problem with the names of the virus's clades. The two main clades are named after West Africa and the Congo Basin, the latter causing more severe illness. This contravenes the WHO's efforts to avoid naming viral diseases after countries or continents.

Unfortunately, many media outlets use photos of Africans, often children, with the tell-tale rash. This heightens perceptions that this is an "African disease" that has escaped to the Western world.

Despite the WHO naming criteria announced in 2015, the agency has been unable to change the name of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), caused by a camel coronavirus. In fact, one of the largest outbreaks of MERS was in South Korea.

One of the main reasons given for not changing the name is that it could disconnect future researchers from research papers written over more than five decades. This seems a weak argument because it's almost certain that future researchers will be aware of the original name.

Another challenge is that the name would need to be changed in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) which is used around the world for medical billing and clinical epidemiology studies.

There is an apparent consensus among virologists that the new name will be something like Orthopoxvirus monkeypox. "That's certainly the majority proposal at this stage," according to the chair of the poxvirus subcommittee of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

This is not much of a change and is inconsistent with WHO's naming criteria.

There is, however, more optimism the two clades could shed their geographic names to something like clades 1 and 2.

Focus on prevention and control

During the long process of changing its name, the prevention and control of monkeypox remain the same:

surveillance

finding cases, isolation and contact tracing

behavior change communication to reduce the number of sexual partners

vaccination of close contacts and treatment of severe illness with antiviral drugs.

This needs close engagement with communities most affected by the virusmen who have sex with men. It's crucial to prevent stigma and discrimination, not because of the name of the virus itself but those who are most vulnerable to infection.

Explore further Why monkeypox may soon get a new name

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

Emergency departments across Canada that have usually been open 24/7 are increasingly closing overnight and on weekends as health systems grapple with escalating nursing shortages.

But the issue goes beyond having enough bodies to fill vacancies, says Jacobi Elliott, medical director of Grandview Medical Clinic in Manitoba. "It's how you treat the bodies that is part of the issue."

Grandview Medical Clinic, along with several other emergency departments in southwestern Manitoba, suspended overnight and weekend emergency services temporarily this summer due to nursing shortages.

Many nurses have left for private agencies and part-time work, contributing to tensions with those who remain in the public system, Elliott says.

"It creates animosity because they get paid more doing agency work," Elliott says. "At our site, for example, agency nurses said they wouldn't come anymore because it was too difficult and too lean here."

Elliott notes that emergency department closures aren't always because of a lack of staff. There have been weekends when there were enough nurses and lab technicians to work, but administrators had already made the decision to reduce the hours.

"We can't help but think it's willful. I think they're trying to make the workforce go work in bigger sites," says Elliott. "They're trying to get us to migrate there, and the sad thing is, many are just going to leave health care."

Staff vacancies 'three times higher' than before pandemic

Health worker shortages aren't a new problem in rural and remote communities, but even larger urban centers are experiencing acute shortfalls now.

In Ontario, Ottawa's Montfort Hospital and Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital were among those recently forced to close emergency services temporarily over the weekend.

In British Columbia, multiple jurisdictions announced a string of emergency department closures. Port McNeill Hospital and Port Hardy Hospital, both in the North Island region of Vancouver Island, have shut down emergency services several times this summer.

A spokesperson for Island Health attributes the closures to "limited availability of registered nurses."

Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital in Clearwater, B.C., also shut down its overnight emergency services for five days in early August. CBC News estimates that emergency department has been closed a total of 539 hours so far this year.

According to a spokesperson for Interior Health, the regional authority responsible for the hospital, the number of health worker vacancies is currently "about three times higher than it was before the pandemic."

"Site leadership works every day to fill all shifts up to the last possible moment before making the decision to place an emergency department on diversion," the spokesperson told CMAJ. The closures in Clearwater, "where we have fewer positions to start with, relate to ongoing vacant positions among nursing staff, as well as planned and unplanned leaves," the spokesperson said.

COVID hangover

A single person calling in sick can create a staffing crisis for most small hospitals across Canada, says Karl Ellis, CEO of the Listowel Wingham Hospitals Alliance in Ontario.

"At one point earlier this summer, we had four out of eight full-time staff members on maternity leave or other leaves of absence," Ellis explains. "Our part-time and casual staff were simply not in a position to pick up the extra hours."

The Listowel Wingham Hospital Alliance, which oversees a mostly rural health network in Southwestern Ontario, had several overnight and weekend closures of emergency departments this summer.

Many health care workers are catching up on summer vacations and planned time off, which was granted "consistent with the collective agreements," Ellis says.

When there have been situations where other employees were unable to cover absences, "we have not called staff on vacation to work," Ellis says. "If they work on a vacation day, it is their choice."

Beyond nursing shortages, shortfalls have also extended to physicians, laboratory technologists, pharmacy technicians, and support services staff.

COVID-19 absences are taking a toll, too, Ellis says. In the first week of August, three nurses were unable to work on the same day due to COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 exposures.

Ellis also notes that isolation periods for hospital employees are longer than for other workers.

Each wave of the pandemic has brought new difficulties for hospitals, according to Chris Simpson, executive vice-president of medical at Ontario Health.

"Early in the pandemic, you know, there was this need for all these ICU beds and that was the focus," Simpson told As It Happens. Subsequent waves put pressure on medical wards, "and now in wave seven, we're seeing not so much that the demand for services is up, but the health-care workforce is depleted."

Pressure to privatize

Like other provinces, Ellis says Ontario is losing full-time nurses to private staffing agencies, which are paying nurses two to three times what they'd make in the public system. Meanwhile, the provincial government has capped nurses' pay increases at 1% under Bill 124.

Unions representing Ontario's health care workers are calling for "immediate steps" to address the staffing crisis, including offering financial incentives, repealing wage caps, and funding more full-time positions within the public system rather than relying on part-time workers to pick up the slack.

In response, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones ordered regulatory colleges for nurses and doctors to develop plans for expediting licensing of internationally trained health professionals. However, Jones has repeatedly denied requests for interviews about the staffing shortages.

Premier Doug Ford recently took questions about the crisis for the first time in weeks. He claimed that most patients are still getting the care they need "within the health parameters" despite emergency room closures.

Ford also called on Ottawa to shoulder a larger portion of health care costs, framing the issue as a federal funding problemeven though Ontario's per person program spending is the lowest in Canada, with the least amount dedicated to health care.

Some critics say provincial inaction to stem the exodus of nurses to private agencies is part of a broader policy of underfunding and understaffing public hospitals while shifting more services to private providers.

"Managing hospitals on a razor's edge is just a dangerous game that goes way beyond efficiency," the presidents of SIEU Healthcare and CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions wrote in an open letter. "Driving workers out and relying on agency services is wrongheaded and wasteful."

According to Jones, the province isn't ruling out privatization as the government looks at ways to deal with hospital staff shortages. "All options are on the table," she said.

Explore further Study shows PPE was highly effective against COVID-19 in emergency department workers
Gram stain of meningococci from a culture showing Gram negative (pink) bacteria, often in pairs. Credit: public domain

Officials in southeast France said Friday they were urging some 56,000 young people to get vaccinated against meningitis, after 12 cases over the past year that led to at least one death.

The alarming number of Meningococcal B cases may be linked to a new variant of the bacteria, which infects the lining of the brain and spinal cord or the blood.

"Meningitis is a serious disease that can lead to permanent disability or even death," Dr. Anne-Sophie Ronnaux-Baron of the ARS health agency for the Auvergne-Rhones-Alpes region told AFP.

"We have therefore sent 56,000 letters to young people aged 16 to 24the population most affected by the variantand to parents of infant newborns to two-years-old, as part of a massive vaccination campaign," she said.

The latest two cases were detected in late July, bringing to 12 the number of patients in four local departments (Savoie, Ain, Rhone and Isere).

Though one youth has died, "at this stage there is no particular indication that this variant is more dangerous or contagious" than others, Ronnaux-Baron said.

Meningococcal B bacteria is spread by prolonged contact with a carrier or by exposure to coughs or saliva.

Symptoms include fever, headaches and vomiting, and the disease often cause a stiffening of the neck and the appearance of red or purple rashes.

Since April, French authorities have added meningitis to the list of recommended vaccinations for infants, saying around 500 children come down with serious cases each year.

Around 10 percent of cases prove fatal, the ARS said.

 2022 AFP
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

When he was 19 years old, Cecilio "Pepe" Vega was shot in the leg while sitting on his deck playing cards. With his back to the scene, he never saw the passing driver who attacked him that day in New Haven in 1989.

On his way to the hospital, he says a police officer pulled over the ambulance and began interrogating him, demanding to know who shot him. When Vega insisted he didn't know, he says, the officer began swearing at him.

"I hope you die," he said according to Vega, and slammed the door. At the hospital, Vega spotted the officer again whispering to his doctor in the doorway. He snuck out of the hospital and never returned.

"Unfortunately, that was a common incident back then," says Anthony Campbell, Yale's newly installed chief of police and former chief of the New Haven police department. "There was so much gun violence. Officers were so busy going call to call, and when a shooting victim came in, particularly one where it was unclear whether they were going to live, officers oftenwhether they meant to or notwere revictimizing them by the way they asked questions."

About a year later, Vega was a victim of another drive-by shooting at a pizzeria near Yale's campus. The gunshot shattered the windows, injuring his arm. Reflecting on his previous experience, he opted to not seek help.

Yale pediatric emergency medicine experts and child psychoanalysts alike agreegun violence is a public health crisis both in New Haven and across the country, for the death and physical injury it causes and for the mental anguish that victims such as Vega suffer. According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, guns became the leading cause of death in youth in 2020. Now, several decades later, Vega has joined forces with Yale researchers, including James Dodington, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics (emergency medicine) and medical director of Yale New Haven Hospital's Injury and Violence Prevention Center, to help disrupt the cycle of violence in the New Haven community. Dodington's Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) at Yale New Haven Hospital is the first of its kind within a hospital or health system in Connecticut.

"Experiencing community violence can impact you in every possible way," says Dodington. "We are striving to create policies that will impact and bring sustained improvement for victims."

Gun violence in Connecticut has widespread health implications

The level of community violence in Connecticut is staggeringly high. In 2011, New Haven experienced 34 homicides and more than 268 shootings, putting it among the top four most dangerous U.S. cities of its size. While there have been efforts to curb the amount of gunfire in the city, its impact is still significant. This year alone, New Haven has already suffered seven homicides, says Campbell, and this violence disproportionately impacts people of color, as well as those who are of lower economic and educational status.

"Gun violence and gunfire in this city are a significant issue which has to be addressed," he says. "Not just because of the people who are killed. It traumatizes residents of the community, and most important, it traumatizes children by desensitizing them to the reality of gun violence in their neighborhoodsmaking them more prone to either engage in that activity or be victims in the future."

The state has taken steps to improve firearm safety, including introducing child access prevention laws such as Ethan's Law, which have been shown to reduce both accidents and suicide risk, and red flag laws designed to keep guns away from people who are considered threats to others. However, there is still work to be done, especially after the onset of COVID-19 triggered a rise in gun violence. Dodington's work, for example, has revealed sobering statistics. In the first month of the pandemic, for example, his team found a 66% increase in victimization statewide due to firearm-related injuries and stabbings, particularly among Blacks and Latinos.

"Clearly, there need to be greater efforts done to address community violence," he says.

The long-term health impact of experiencing a traumatic event such as a shooting on a young person depends on two factors, says Steven Marans, Ph.D., Harris Professor in the Yale Child Study Centerhow the youth's development was progressing in the first place, and the kind of support they receive following the trauma. When evidence-based interventions are not accessible, he says, the outcomes for children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic dysregulation can be significant.

They may experience a range of symptoms that disrupt daily life including difficulty sleeping, generalized fearful responses even when the danger is past, withdrawal from relationships with peers and family members, aggression, difficulty with concentration, increased frequency of nightmares, and avoidance of activities and sources of pleasure. These youth are also at an increased vulnerability to developing post-traumatic stress disorder and other long-term anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, substance abuse, personality disorders, and suicidal behaviors.

"The loss of control and helplessness is the cornerstone of the traumatic experience, and the most effective treatment interventions are aimed at increasing the child's ability to take control of what they can control, which is the reduction of symptoms that follow the original traumatic dysregulation," says Marans.

Hospital-based intervention programs interrupt cycle of violence

When youth who are exposed to violence are more likely to be involved in future violence, having evidence-based programs for breaking this cycle is critical for helping communities such as New Haven that are impacted by firearms.

"When children are physically assaulted, they are much more likely to be involved in a homicide or an assault with a firearm in the next six months," says Kirsten Bechtel, MD, professor of pediatrics (emergency medicine). "Having hospital-based violence intervention programs can make the difference in the lives of our kids who are impacted by firearm homicides."

HVIPs are a "golden opportunity," says Dodington, to interact with victims of gun violence as they arrive at the hospital and provide them with case management services that can help disrupt the cycle of possible re-injury. Through Yale's HVIP, staff coordinate with a trauma team to make sure both the patient's physical and mental health are appropriately addressed.

Oftentimes, those impacted by violence need much more than medical treatment. So first, the program assesses patients' current needs and circumstances and helps make them aware of potential opportunities available to them. For example, staff may work closely with patients to help them fill out applications for federal victims compensation if they qualify to have coverage for mental health visits. Then, they try to help patients get back out on their feet in terms of their education and career goals, as well as housing stability.

"We've been super lucky to have a partnership right now with an organization called 4CT, which allows us to offer cash assistance for immediate needs of victims," says Dodington. "We can improve outcomes and really help get folks in a better place if we're able to meet their needs, particularly around housing."

In the most unfortunate circumstances, they help make sure families receive compensation for funeral expenses, which are a significant burden for many.

"Having people who deal with treating the impact of gunfire on a regular basistrauma surgeons, nurses, doctorsworking hand-in-hand with members of the community who are on the ground level to address this level of violence and trauma is crucial," says Campbell.

But the true leader of this program, says Dodington, is Vega, who has dedicated his life to helping victims after suffering his own gunshot injuries years ago. He now is in charge of patient outreach at Yale's HVIP.

"Vega has taught me everything I know about this work on the ground," says Dodington. "We're so lucky to have him."

"The gun problem in New Haven is extremely serious," says Vega. "Most of the youth I engage with in the community either carry a gun, have a friend who carries a gun, or know where the gun is in their house. They're afraid and they feel like they need to carry a gun because everyone else does. If that's not a public health crisis, I don't know what is."

But while gun violence remains prevalent in New Haven and across the country, Vega and Dodington agree that HVIPS remain chronically underfunded, as is community violence intervention in general. While some critics point out the lack of randomized controlled trials in support of these programs, Dodington points out that this assessment is unfair.

"There have been so few efforts to make sustained investments in this area," he says. "There certainly has not been enough investment via the medical research industry to really show a sustained outcome in a large trial yet." Part of that has been a longstanding federal prohibitiononly recently lifted against funding studies of guns' public health effects.

Despite this major obstacle, Dodington is excited about two big wins. First, Connecticut recently became the first state in the nation to sponsor Medicaid reimbursement for community services to do violence intervention outreach. Second, cities including New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport have also introduced violence interruption organizations such as Project Longevity that engage and disrupt cycles of community violence through street outreach, group violence intervention, and other measures.

"It's very exciting to be able to advocate and see real change happening in a state like Connecticut," says Dodington.

Yale researchers work to address gun violence

HVIPS are just one piece of the puzzle for curbing the consequences of gun violence. Across Yale, researchers are striving to better understand the problem and introduce solutions. Marans, for example, has worked to pioneer a relationship with the New Haven police department and developing a model for mental health law enforcement and collaborative response to communities exposed to violence. The partnership has been in place for 30 years.

"Our work has led to a greater understanding of effective ways of helping children and families who've been impacted by violence and other catastrophic events achieve greater acute stability, as well as increasing and enhancing the role of police in helping with that stabilization," says Marans.

For a recent study, Bechtel and her team spoke to firearm owners in Connecticut about weapon storage, and found that many participants said they would be open to changing their storage practices after experiencing the birth of a child. For example, several participants who used to keep their gun in a drawer began locking up and unloading it after their child arrived.

"The birth of a child would be a great opportunity for health care providers to talk to parents about locking up and unloading the weapons they have in their home," says Bechtel. "We're not going to be able to prevent people from owning firearms, but we can encourage them as much as possible to store them in a responsible manner so that people who shouldn't use them can't access them."

Considering factors that put individuals disproportionately at risk is especially important, says Campbell. Growing up in an environment where gun violence was prevalent, Campbell experienced firsthand how opportunities such as good schooling can significantly alter one's life path.

"You can't change a person's race, but you can help them with their education," he says. "You can help them their socioeconomic status and help them find better, sustainable jobs. And you can help them move into communities where gun violence is not as prevalent. These are some of the key ways we can help those who have been victimized by gun violence in this country."

While the prevalence of gun violence can be scary, parents can take steps to effectively communicate with their children about current events.

"One thing we can talk to children about is that there are adults who are working really hard to try and figure out how to not make this happen anymore and keep kids safe," says Bechtel.

Explore further Study finds 'hidden' child victims in violent homes face long wait for help
Quality of life themes identified in children with glaucoma. This dual y-axis chart demonstrates the total number of codes per theme (blue bar chart) and the proportion of children who discussed an issue within the theme (red line chart). Credit: BMJ Open (2022). DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062754

Children and adolescents living with glaucoma develop a high level of emotional and social resilience to cope with this rare chronic eye condition, a new Flinders University study reveals.

However, more can be done with researchers examining feedback from 18 young people about the challenges, both visual and non-visual, caused by childhood glaucoma.

Giving their side of the story can help shape methods of support and strategies to improve their life inside and outside a clinical setting, Flinders ophthalmology experts say in a new article in BMJ Open.

"The study raises important implications for how we engage and empower children in their eye care so that they are ready and confident to manage their condition on their own," says lead researcher Lachlan Knight, from the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute at Flinders University.

"Navigating childhood and adolescence with a rare eye condition, attending multiple appointments, and missing school can be tough for children because their peers may not understand what they are going through.

"Children, and most often teenagers, do worry about their glaucoma and how it will impact on their future, in particular career choices, getting a driver's license and navigating adult eye care without their parent or guardian."

Glaucoma is often associated with the aging population, resulting in little attention to the childhood form. Childhood glaucoma can be diagnosed at any age from birth through to 18 years.

Although rare, affecting approximately 1 in 30,000 children in Australia, it contributes to about 7% of childhood vision impairment worldwide.

Participants were quoted as saying: "When I try to explain [that I have glaucoma]no one understands and I have to keep explaining, explaining, and explaining," and "I can't actually join the Army, because of my lack of vision It sucks, because now I don't actually have a plan for my life."

While the study found a high level of resilience among children with glaucoma, including adapting to their visual limitations in the classroom and other settings, it recommends:

The need to develop interventions that improve a child's ability to manage their condition so that they develop the necessary skills to overcome any challenge that comes their way now and in the future.

Clinicians are encouraged to provide children with an active voice in their care and direct questions towards them instead of their parent or guardian.

The study found children often considered their ophthalmologist a "friend" and found that the use of laptops and vision aids in the classroom meant they could easily keep up with schoolwork.

The South Australian researchers have interviewed 100 impacted by childhood glaucoma over the past two years and are close to validating the world's first quality of life measure for individuals with childhood glaucoma.

The tool will be used to in the clinical and research setting to support a multidisciplinary model of care which involves ophthalmology, genetics, social work and psychology.

Explore further Focus on childhood glaucoma caregivers

More information: Lachlan S W Knight et al, Quality of life in children with glaucoma: a qualitative interview study in Australia, BMJ Open (2022). Journal information: BMJ Open Lachlan S W Knight et al, Quality of life in children with glaucoma: a qualitative interview study in Australia,(2022). DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062754
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

With increased age comes the increased risk to develop cancer or dementia. Both conditions share similar risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes. Many cancer patients experience cognitive impairment from cancer and its treatments with symptoms similar to dementia.

But are these only similarities, or does a cancer diagnosis predispose patients to developing dementia? Prior literature indicates a lower risk of dementia after a cancer diagnosis and vice versa. However, studies of the long-term effects are lacking.

As part of her dissertation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, Mackenzie Fowler, Ph.D., conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the long-term relationship between the two conditions. Results published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease showed dementia patients with cancer history demonstrated better cognition at dementia diagnosis and declined slower than dementia patients without cancer history.

"Our findings indicate that, even in the long run, only around 20% of cancer patients develop dementia after their cancer diagnosis, and those who do seem to experience better cognition at diagnosis and over time than those without a prior cancer diagnosis," said Fowler, now a postdoctoral scholar trainee in the UAB Division of Hematology and Oncology in the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine. "This inverse relationship between cancer and dementia confirms similar results in the medical literature while also providing long-term evidence."

Overall, patients with one cancer diagnosis had an approximately 1.1-point higher cognitive baseline score and cognitive decline and seemed to progress slightly slower than non-cancer patients. However, patients who had two or more cancer diagnoses saw an approximately 1.5-point lower cognitive score than those without a prior cancer diagnosis.

Fowler used data going back to 2003 from UAB to identify dementia patients with and without prior cancer diagnoses. She then evaluated recorded cognitive scores of the patients over five years from 20142020. Having a clinical patient population also allowed for observation of diversity within the population over an extended period. Rates of cognitive decline between race and ethnicity groups differed. Regardless of cancer status, underrepresented race and ethnicity groups did not perform as well as non-Hispanic white patients.

"The next step is to ask why there is this overall inverse relationship and why two or more cancers seems to alter this relationship," Fowler said. "Could it be because early signs of cognitive decline were captured earlier due to a cancer patient's receiving frequent medical attention? Is it something that is more biologically driven? What about race, socioeconomic status or other social determinants of health? There are many questions to be answered by future studies."

Fowler notes major study limitations include not being able to differentiate by cancer or dementia type and stages and that all study participants were from one hospital. She hopes to add these variables into future studies with larger, more geographically diverse samples.

More information: E. Fowler et al, The Relationship Between Prior Cancer Diagnosis and All-Cause Dementia Progression Among US Adults, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2022). Journal information: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease E. Fowler et al, The Relationship Between Prior Cancer Diagnosis and All-Cause Dementia Progression Among US Adults,(2022). DOI: 10.3233/JAD-220054
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Brykyta Shelton found herself standing in a checkout line of a big-box retailer, uncomfortably aware as a woman ahead of her stared at her sandaled feet.

Shelton had been taking medication for months for what her doctor said was toenail fungus, but one nail still looked gross.

After Shelton completed her purchase, the woman pulled her aside and said that, while she wasn't a doctor, she thought Shelton was dealing with something more serious than fungus.

"She's like: 'I know I'm just a random stranger, but please, go get it checked out by someone else,'" said Shelton, who lives in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C.

Shelton, now 42, took the advice.

The initial lab work didn't give a clear diagnosis, but her new doctor said he was confident she had acral lentiginous melanoma, a form of skin cancer. Additional testing proved him right. While rare, it is the most common subtype of melanoma in Black people, like Shelton. It is the disease that killed reggae star Bob Marley at age 36, and is most often found on skin less frequently exposed to the sun, such as the hands, the soles of the feet, and under nails. Researchers do not understand what causes acral lentiginous melanoma, and they don't know how to prevent it. It is often overlooked in skin checks or misdiagnosed.

Skin cancer, in general, is often missed or misdiagnosed in Black patients.

Historically, Black people and those with dark skin have been left out of efforts to combat skin cancer. Long neglected by sunscreen manufacturers and a medical community lagging in diversity and cultural competencythe acknowledgment of a patient's heritage, beliefs, and valuesmany have not been informed about sun safety or how to check their skin for signs of damage or cancer.

To be sure, skin cancer rates are lower for people with dark skin tones. Melanoma is more than 20 times as common in white people as in African Americans, with an overall lifetime risk of 1 in 38 for white people compared with 1 in 1,000 for Black people. Melanin does provide some protection against sun damage, so those with more of itthose with darker skinare better protected than those with fairer skin.

But overall, Black patients are more likely to be diagnosed with various forms of skin cancer at more advanced stages and have a higher mortality rate, said Dr. Janiene Luke, with the Skin of Color Society, a nonprofit that works to educate doctors and the public on skin health.

The five-year melanoma survival rate among non-Hispanic Black people is 66%, compared with 90% for non-Hispanic white people, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And 1 in 3 Black men or women diagnosed with melanoma in the U.S. die of the disease, compared with at least 1 in 7 for non-Hispanic white people, says the American Cancer Society.

Given the known disparities in outcomes, Dr. Valerie Harvey, president of the Skin of Color Society, said two areas of research are needed: studying educational initiatives to see if awareness might lead to earlier diagnosis and improved survival; and determining risk factors in patients with dark skin, especially factors leading to the occurrence of melanoma in places less exposed to the sun.

Improving cultural competency and diversity within dermatology is just one step toward improving diagnosis and outcomes. According to the most recent data, fewer than 3% of dermatologists nationwide are Black. Orthopedics is the only medical specialty with a smaller share.

Dermatology has traditionally been one of the most competitive specialties in medicine, said Dr. Michelle Henry, a clinical instructor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine. In addition to stiff academic requirements, admission to dermatology programs also depends on connecting with mentors and extensive networking, which can be expensive. And that, Henry said, has traditionally created barriers for Black medical students who want to pursue dermatology.

"There are so many hurdles that make it difficult for a lot of students of color to do the things that they need to do in such an uber-exclusive and small space," she said.

Recent initiatives to help students overcome those barriers are beginning to work, said Dr. Susan Taylor, vice chair for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the dermatology department at the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the Skin of Color Society. Initiatives from the American Academy of Dermatology include holistic reviews of residency applications, mentorships, and programs to increase interest among and prepare high school students for college and medical school.

Medical app company VisualDX is working to reduce disparities in medicine through Project Impact by creating a catalog of images reflecting various diseases in different skin colors. Skin cancers may appear different on fairer skin than on darker skin, and because doctors may have been trained only with fair-skin depictions, the chance for misdiagnosis in people with dark skin increases.

Change has also come to the sunscreen industry.

Jorge Martinez-Bonilla, senior vice president and partner with Chicago market research company C + R Research, said failures within the medical community to provide adequate skin care for people with dark skin mirror the lack of availability of sunscreens to meet patients' needs, especially for Black people.

"What that has done is that it has pushed Black entrepreneurs, from one day to the next, to come up with their own solutions and their own products," Martinez-Bonilla said. "Not only from the lack of availability, but because these are the people who know their needs best."

Katonya Breaux is one of those entrepreneurs. She wasn't thrilled when, in her 30s and 40s, she noticed she was getting moles on her face and neck similar to those she'd seen on older family members while she was growing up. She assumed it was just part of aging. But her dermatologist said it was sun damage.

"I was, literally, shocked. I was like: 'But I'm Black,'" she said, adding that she had no experience with sunscreen growing up. "It was so foreign to me. I believed we just didn't need it."

After struggling to find a sunscreen that didn't leave a residue or feel like it was burning her skin, she worked with a chemist who helped her create a tinted mineral-based sunscreen. At first, she intended it just for her personal use, but she ultimately launched Unsun Cosmetics. The Los Angeles-based company educates about skin care and sells products designed for consumers with dark skin.

Shontay Lundy also struggled to find a sunscreen that didn't "leave a blue, purple, or other-colored hue on my skin." Until, she said, "I realized it didn't exist."

So, in 2016, she developed products that left no residue, ultimately launching Black Girl Sunscreen.

Education is fundamental to her company's advertising, Lundy said. "Our mission is to equip people of all ages and skin tones with the right sunscreen products to take their skin health seriously and protect themselves from sun damage."

Shelton, whose chance encounter in a store's checkout line led to her cancer diagnosis, said she has become an evangelist for skin self-checks and sunscreen, and is now known at her local pool as "the sunblock lady." The kind of skin cancer she had may not have stemmed from sun exposure, but it increased her awareness about skin damage and other types of skin cancers.

She has been cancer-free since the doctor successfully removed the tumor on her toe and she underwent chemotherapy and radiation. But the experience was traumatic.

"It's life-altering," she said.

Still, she said, she's resumed an active and full life. She said she will forever be grateful to the stranger who pulled her aside that day, as well as the doctor who disbelieved the first set of labs that came back, opting instead to trust his instincts to immediately begin treatment.

Tips for avoiding skin cancer for all skin tones:

Avoid direct sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Keep babies out of the sun entirely.

Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher every day. Reapply every two hours or after swimming or activity/sweating.

Don't leave sunscreen in the car, because temperature fluctuations can cause it to break down and become less effective.

Wear clothing that covers arms and legs.

Wear a broad-brimmed hat to protect the face, ears, and neck.

Wear UV-blocking sunglasses.

Avoid indoor tanning beds.

Examine skin from head to toe every month. Look for dark spots or patches, or growths that are growing, bleeding, or changing; sores that are slow to heal, or heal and return; patches of skin that feel rough and dry; and dark lines underneath or around fingernails or toenails. Be diligent in checking nail beds, palms, soles of the feet, the head, lower legs, the groin, and other places that get little sun. Contact a doctor if you have any concerns.

See a board-certified dermatologist at least once a year for a full-body examination.

Explore further Newer sunscreens can better match your skin tone

2022 Kaiser Health News.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
THURSDAY, Aug. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday it has loosened its COVID-19 social distancing recommendations as the American public learns to live with the virus in its midst.

Were in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools  like vaccination, boosters, and treatments  to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from COVID-19, Greta Massetti, author of a report on the new guidance, said in a CDC news release.

We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus, like wearing high-quality masks, testing, and improved ventilation. This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives, Massetti added.

"As transmission of SARS-CoV-2 continues, the current focus on reducing medically significant illness, death, and health care system strain are appropriate and achievable aims that are supported by the broad availability of the current suite of effective public health tools," Massetti's team wrote in its new guidance.

Changes to the guidance include de-emphasizing the 6-feet of social distancing that the CDC has advised since early in the pandemic. Instead, the agency advises Americans on what settings are riskier based on crowds, poor ventilation and personal risks such as health issues and age. An emphasis will also be put on building ventilation to stop the spread of many respiratory illnesses, the agency said.

Although the CDC still asks people who are sick with COVID-19 to isolate, the guidance would ease recommendations for anyone who is simply exposed to an ill person. Instead of being asked to stay home for at least five days, those individuals should wear a mask for 10 days and get tested on day 5, the CDC said. However, the guidance also suggests that exposed persons take extra precautions around people at high risk for severe disease for at least 10 days.

The agency did fine-tune its advice for those who fall ill with COVID: If you have moderate illness (shortness of breath or had difficulty breathing), severe illness (hospitalization), or a weakened immune system, you need to isolate through day 10, instead of day 5.

If you are unsure if your symptoms are moderate or severe, or if you have a weakened immune system, talk to a health care provider for further guidance, the agency said.

If you have ended isolation, and your COVID-19 symptoms worsen or you test positive again, you should restart your isolation at day 0. Talk to a health care provider if you have questions about your symptoms or when to end isolation, the agency advised.

The reasons for the changes include a high level of underlying immunity, with 95% of Americans having had the virus or having been vaccinated against it, as well as changes in public opinion about the precautions.

The CDCs recommendations are not mandates. Local government, states and school districts can set their own guidelines under these circumstances.

About 42% of the U.S. population currently lives in areas with a high level of virus in the community, according to the CDC.

The new guidance was published Aug. 11 in the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More information

USA.gov has more on COVID-19 and related issues.

SOURCE: CNN
Lauren Monroe Jr., vice-chair of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, was selected to serve on Interior Secretary Deb Haalands Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names. He is the only committee member representing a tribe in Montana.

The federal advisory group helps identify and recommend changes to derogatory terms, according to a news release. Appointed by Haaland, the 17 members of the committee represent tribes, tribal organizations or the general public, or those who have relevant expertise.

Monroe said he was surprised and honored to be selected. Specifically, he will be advocating for tribal history to ensure that updated place names are respectful and accurate.

Blackfoot history is important to me, he said. Our history is our landscape. We have such a connection to the land. This work is about inclusion. Our people have given up so much for the creation of this country, and derogatory names are an insult to us.  These (name changes) are victories that celebrate our existence.

Monroe said hes excited to bring a Blackfeet perspective to the committee, and hes especially interested in advocating for name changes within Glacier National Park. Monroe said when Glacier became a national park in 1910, park officials changed many of the existing place names, erasing names of Blackfeet origin.

Marias Pass, located on the south border of Glacier, for example, was renamed to honor Meriwether Lewis cousin, Maria Wood. It was once named Running Eagle Trail, according to Monroe.

But no one knows that, he said. That was her trail. She was very revered. And Marias doesnt have anything to do with Blackfeet.

Monroe said some place names are derogatory and some are "mundane" forms of erasure.

Theres Singleshot Mountain in Glacier, Monroe said. There was a Blackfoot name before and it was changed to recognize some white man who killed a sheep in a single shot. So you replace a whole history and equate it with a boring story that doesnt connect to our land or our people. It erases us.

We want to rectify these things, Monroe added. We want to say, Were still part of this world.

Monroe hopes that changing place names will inspire pride in Native identity. He thinks it will remind Indigenous people and their communities of their connection to the landscape and to history.

He hopes that non-Native people will also appreciate the work of the committee. He thinks the place names will inspire curiosity and mutual respect and foster an accurate understanding of history.

I think these names paint a picture of humanity," he said. "It inspires connections rather than divisions."
A jury trial in municipal court regarding assault charges against the now-former Sentinel High School principal Ryan Rettig was vacated this week.

Missoula County Public Schools placed Rettig on administrative leave in April after the district was made aware of criminal charges filed against him. Rettig resigned from his position at Sentinel at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, according to Tyler Christensen, a communications specialist with MCPS.

Rettig pleaded not guilty in municipal court in April to misdemeanor charges of partner or family member assault for an incident that occurred in January. He was released without bail on his own recognizance following the court appearance on the condition that he would have no angry contact with the survivor.

Missoula Police Department officers responded to a report of assault in the Sentinel High School parking lot after 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 7.

The survivor told officers that she and Rettig had been arguing in a parked vehicle when he leaned over and pointed a finger in her face. After she tried to move his hand out of her face, he then grabbed her finger and caused injury to her hand that later required surgery, according to charging documents.

A scheduling conference regarding the charges is set for Tuesday, Sept. 6.

The district hired Trevor Laboski over the summer to serve as principal at Sentinel this school year. Laboski most recently worked as the head of an international school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2016 to 2022. Before that, he was an executive regional director for MCPS and a principal at Big Sky High School and Corvallis High School.
Fishing at the mouth of Rattlesnake Creek where it enters the Clark Fork River will close on Saturday to protect bull trout seeking respite from the August heat.

Weve never done this before at the mouth of Rattlesnake, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks spokeswoman Vivaca Crowser said on Friday. But thats a spot where the bull trout are getting out of the warmer main-channel waters, and the spot where people tend to concentrate fishing. We know theres enough bull trout in there, we might as well take this step to protect those fish.

Although the Salish Indians historically knew the creek as the place of small bull trout, the big fish havent had much presence in Rattlesnake Creek for decades since a small dam blocked it for drinking and irrigation water in the early 20th century. Crowser said most of the bulls affected by the closure are probably residents of the Clark Fork.

Incidentally, the Salish referred to the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers near Bonner as the place of big bull trout. Bulls have a complicated life cycle starting with spawning sites (called redds) in small gravel-bed creeks, growth to maturity in bigger rivers and lakes, and then a return to the original birth redd to spawn another generation.

Their predatory nature on other fish, combined with their tendency to school up in deep pools, helped push bull trout to threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act. FWPs predecessor agency had a magazine that in 1932 referred to bull trout as the enemy of game fish.

For years, Montana offered bounties on bulls and encouraged their eradication, Tom Dickson noted in the modern FWP magazine Montana Outdoors. One magazine article recommended pitch forks.

The closure starting Saturday only applies to a 100-yard radius around the mouth of Rattlesnake Creek, near the east end of the Hilton DoubleTree hotel upstream of the Madison Street Bridge. Fishing in Rattlesnake Creek remains open above that circle to the end of Duncan Drive, just below where the old dam used to stand. The dam was removed in 2020. Fishing is prohibited between there and the mouth of Beescove Creek.

Hoot-Owl restrictions limiting fishing to the hours between midnight and 2 p.m. are in place for the Clark Fork above Drummond and downstream of Missoula, as well as all of the Bitterroot River and its main tributaries.
Scorching temperatures, dry heat and thunderstorms rolling in may not bode well for fire activity in western Montana through the weekend.

Missoula National Weather Service Meteorologist Kevin Shive said theres potential for fire igniting from lighting strikes that may hit over the weekend.

On Friday afternoon, NWS Missoula issued a severe thunderstorm watch warning for western Montana and much of Idaho. Hail, wind and lighting were all possible threats through the evening.

Shive predicted more thunder and lightning storms would roll in throughout Friday afternoon and evening. Storms, combined with temperatures nearing 100 degrees, make for dangerous fire conditions. Contingent on wind patterns, Shive said theres more potential for fire activity this coming week.

Its not necessarily a great situation, he said

While smoke in the Missoula valley remained at bay for the most part, Missoula County moved its fire danger to Extreme on Thursday. Fire danger is also Extreme on the Flathead Indian Reservation and all Lolo National Forest lands.

To date this year, firefighters in the Lolo National Forest have responded to 36 blazes, 24 of which were human-caused, a Lolo National Forest press release stated. Last week, there were three fires started from humans.

Extreme fire danger means all fires start quickly and burn intensely, and small fires turn into big fires much quicker.

Elmo 2 Fire

Crews fighting the Elmo 2 blaze have made decent progress, and vegetation burned has remained at about 21,000 acres for the last few days.

CSKT Division of Fire dispatch confirmed all evacuation orders in the area had been lifted, except for Camp Tuffit Road and West Shore Road. Lake Mary Ronan State Park and the Elmo fishing access boat ramp both reopened.

The massive fire, which burned eight structures at its peak last week, moved to 75% containment on Friday.

Thursday brought in thunder and lightning across western Montana, resulting in a new fire start about 1 mile north of Lake Mary Ronan. As of Thursday evening, it was estimated to be at roughly 2 to 3 acres. Firefighters and a helicopter worked on constructing a fire line on Friday.

The Red Horn fire, which has burned 511 acres seven miles northeast of St. Ignatius in the Mission Mountains, remained at 0% containment on Thursday. No structures are threatened, and there are no evacuation orders in effect.

Hog Trough

Burning just 18 miles south east of Hamilton, the lightning-caused Hog Trough fire has remained at a steady 824 acres torched over the last few days. Its now 64% contained.

Firefighters are removing hazardous trees to improve a constructed line. Fire behavior is expected to continue as smoldering, with strong outflow winds possibly causing fire movement in areas not getting rain, an update on the Hog Trough fire information Facebook page stated.

Resources are available to fight any new blazes that start from passing lightning and thunderstorms.

Moose fire

The Moose fire, near North Fork, Idaho, is still ablaze in the Salmon-Challis National Forest. Its scorched 75,481 acres and remains at 21% contained. Officials determined it was human-caused.

On Friday, the Lemhi County Sheriffs Office reduced the evacuation notice to ready status from Tower Creek to North Fork and west to Caddiagan Ranch, a press release from the U.S. Forest Service stated.

Firefighters are working 16-hour days and making headway on objectives for containment efforts. Rainfall and favorable conditions helped teams knock down the blaze, the press release stated. Southwest winds and scattered rain and thunderstorms were predicted on Friday.

The increased humidity should make fire activity more moderated in coming days.
April 12, 1994, the day 11-year-old Jeremy Bullock was killed at Margaret Leary School, is a day that haunts many 28 years later.

Anyone who grew up with us knows exactly where they were that day, said Hunter Terry, who went to school with Bullock and his twin brother, Josh. No matter what was going on, even if you werent there, you remember that day.

Bullock was the unintentional victim of a school shooter, who meant to shoot a bully and got Bullock by mistake.

In his honor, Bullocks family created the Jeremy Bullock Memorial Trust and Charities through Jeremy, which sponsor and fund a number of things, including the Jeremy Bullock Safe Schools Summit.

The third annual summit took was held Tuesday and Wednesday at the Copper King Hotel and Convention Center with two days of speakers and workshops for teachers and school staff, with the mission of making schools safer for students.

A fan favorite at the summit is the Student Voices Panel, which features a number of students who answer questions about what makes their school safe and what could make their school safer, among other things.

The students on the Tuesday panel were Rylan Beye, a rising senior at Park High School in Livingston; Kip Pumnea and Reid Whitlock, both seniors at Butte High School; Will McGree, a freshman at Butte Central High School; Jason Johns, a sophomore at Butte High; and Keeley Janecke, a rising sixth-grader at Hillcrest Elementary School.

Jeremy Bullocks sister, Kaity Bullock, moderated the student panel.

As the students answered questions, a number of themes formed: open campus at Butte High, School Resource Officers and teachers are a big contributor to the students feelings of safety, and transparency in the reporting processes for things that alarm the students and the general goings on in the schools would make the students feel safer and more willing to report things.

When Kaity Bullock asked the students what their schools key issue was, all three of the Butte High students  Pumnea, Whitlock and Johns  mentioned Butte Highs door being unlocked and open campus.

My key safety issue is kids being able to leave the school and coming back and being able to prop the doors open, Pumnea said.

During the question portion of the panel, Butte High Principal John Metz asked how the students who spoke about open campus thought others would feel if it were to be taken away. He mentioned that its not just students who would be affected by this policy, but local businesses.

The students all agreed the student body would be upset and mad.

Were not really at school to have fun, were there to learn, Pumnea said, eliciting a chuckle from the audience.

Beye, for his part, mentioned his school, Park High, allows open campus for sophomores, juniors and seniors, but also only has one door people can enter through, the main door, which can always be seen by an administrators.

And I think that is definitely super helpful, he said. I think thats something that other students can use and maybe build on.

When asked what makes their schools safe, all the students mentioned being able to reach out to the authority figures at the school, whether that be teachers, counselors or SROs.

Later, when Bullock asked what the role of an SRO is in school, they all seemed to agree that it is to listen to and protect students and the school.

Beye elaborated on this by saying that an SRO in his school is not just a police officer in the school, but someone you can confide in, be friends with and trust.

The students also seemed to reach a consensus that none of them really know what happens after they report something suspicious in their schools to a teacher or trusted adult, and a more transparent process where they know exactly what next steps are after the initial report would encourage them to speak out.

They also all seemed to agree that schools are safer now than when their parents were in school, with the exception of Janecke  who said that schools could be safer still  and Johns  who said that while schools are technically safer they seem less safe because of how prevalent violence seems to be now.

The Law Enforcement Panel, which took place a couple of hours before the student panel and featured a number of SROs and law enforcement officers, talked about how active shooter protocols have changed since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, active shooter trainings for both parents and teachers, how an officer becomes an SRO and teachers being armed while at school.

Sheriff Leo Dutton of Lewis and Clark County was on the panel, and retired Butte-Silver Bow undersheriff George Skuletich moderated.

Dutton spoke about how, since Columbine, officers have been trained to act more immediately when theyre alerted of an active shooter, rather than waiting for backup.

Sgt. Hal Richardson with the Bozeman police department, who oversees the SRO program there, spoke about an in-depth active shooter training the department has planned in the area for later this summer, and spoke about the importance of teachers knowing what to do in an active shooter situation.

Skuletich echoed his sentiment, comparing active shooter training to fire drills.

We havent lost a student in a fire since 1955, he said.

Richardson said to become an SRO in Bozeman, an officer must have at least three years of experience in the department before they apply.

So theyre already coming to the interview with hundreds of hour of training, he said.

Both Skuletich and Dutton spoke against the idea of teachers carrying guns in schools, primarily because they said if an officer goes into a school with an active shooter and sees a teacher with a gun, they could mistake that person for the shooter.

A video from Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., recorded specifically for the summit and shown earlier in the day, reportedly showed him speaking out against the idea of arming teachers in schools.

The summit concludes Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Commentary: CPC strong leadership core of national reunification

Xinhua) 08:13, August 12, 2022

BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The white paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era," released on Wednesday, has fully demonstrated the leadership core role played by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in pursuing the reunification of the motherland.

The white paper has also further enhanced our confidence and determination to achieve the complete reunification of the motherland and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

To achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we must have a strong force to lead the Chinese people forward, and this strong force is the CPC.

The CPC is committed to the historic mission of resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification, striving to de-escalate tension across the Taiwan Straits, set out on a path of peaceful development and make many breakthroughs in improving cross-Straits relations.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core, the CPC and the Chinese government have adopted a series of major measures for charting the course of cross-Straits relations and realizing China's peaceful reunification.

They have safeguarded peace and stability across the Straits, and promoted progress towards national reunification.

Under the guidance of the CPC, great progress has been made in cross-Straits relations over the past seven decades, especially since the estrangement between the two sides was ended.

We now have better conditions, more confidence, and greater capabilities to complete the historic mission of national reunification.

The Taiwan question arose as a result of weakness and chaos in our nation, and it will be resolved as national rejuvenation becomes a reality.

The reunification of the motherland will surely be achieved under the strong leadership of the CPC.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
A small group of protesters holds a puppet of John Hines, NorthWestern Energy vice president for supply and Montana government affairs, during a protest on Friday outside of NorthWestern Energy's headquarters in Uptown Butte. The protesters were aiming to bring awareness to rising global temperatures, by claiming Hines is a "climate criminal."
These are recent reports of missing children made to local law enforcement. If you think you have seen a missing child, contact the National C
Butte police reports

Boyfriend punched

Katie J. Conte, 36, of Alsip, Illinois was arrested around 4 a.m. Friday for misdemeanor simple assault.

Officers arrived in the 50 block of West Park Street to investigate a disturbance between a man and a woman. When they arrived, the 35-year-old boyfriends lip was bleeding.

Also of Alsip, he told police that Conte had punched him in the face and ripped his shirt.

Bike stolen

At around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, Caleb Newsome Harwood, 31, of Butte allegedly stole a bike outside the Montana Axe Bar & Throwing Co., 37 W. Park St., and then headed across the street to the Park Street Parking Garage, where officers found him about 15 minutes later.

He was booked into the jail for felony possession of dangerous drugs and the miscellaneous offenses of criminal contempt warrant, theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Fraudulent check

An employee of Wells Fargo Bank, 3650 Harrison Ave., called late Thursday afternoon to report that Ryan Kenneth Neal, 36, of Butte had just attempted to cash a fraudulent check at their facility.

When officers arrived, Neal was still in the parking lot and was arrested for felony forgery and the misdemeanor offense of buying or possessing stolen property. At the jail, he was found to be in possession of a glass pipe and a loaded syringe, so was also jailed for felony possession of dangerous drugs and the misdemeanor offense possession of drug paraphernalia.

Uptown speeder

Just after 8:30 p.m. Thursday, an officer clocked the driver of a dark-colored Charger going 70 miles per hour in the 700 block of South Montana Street.

Adrian Rene Lucero Jr., 28, of Mission Hills, Calif., was then pulled over on Park Street and arrested for driving with a suspended or revoked drivers license and reckless driving.

More reports

Tools were stolen from a house under construction in the 300 block of West Granite Street.

A battery from a 2001 Ford Expedition was taken while in was parked in the 2000 block of Florence Boulevard.

A man and woman staying at the KOA Campground, at 1601 Kaw Ave., were having a verbal argument, loud enough that the police were called. The fighting duo told the officer they were done arguing and everything was fine.

Three people were sleeping at Emma Park. An officer arrived and told the trio to move it along.

It was reported that a .45 pistol was stolen from a home in the 1900 block of Wilson Avenue.
A Butte man accused of shooting a neighbor in the face and abdomen had a deep cut and other facial injuries himself when arrested and told police, He was going to kill me.

But prosecutors charged 36-year-old Martin Bradley Coleman in the June 11 shooting and Thursday he pleaded not guilty to attempted deliberate homicide and felony possession of dangerous drugs.

District Judge Kurt Krueger accepted the pleas and set the next hearing for Sept. 29.

Coleman faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and up to life if convicted of attempted homicide and a maximum five years for the drug charge.

Coleman was cuffed and dressed in orange jail garb during Thursdays hearing and when Krueger asked him if he had any questions about the charges, he said, I just dont think its right.

He got a few more words out before the judge cut him off. Krueger also rejected a request from Colemans attorney to reduce bail from $250,000 to $25,000. A woman in the gallery then asked if she could say something.

No you may not, the judge said. Coleman said the woman was his girlfriend, she lived in his house and he just wanted to visit, but Krueger said, Thank you and he was escorted out of the courtroom and returned to jail.

Coleman is accused of shooting a 42-year-old man in a house in the 1300 block of East Park Place around 2 p.m. on June 11, a Saturday. A woman said the two were arguing in the living room and after she told them to take it outside, she heard gunshots.

Police found the victim inside the door and before he was taken to the hospital, he said Marty was the shooter, he lived across the alley and drove a red truck, according to prosecutors. The victim survived his injuries.

Police went to the suspects house and a woman told him he wasnt there and she hadnt seen him since morning. Officers located Colemans vehicle at an apartment complex several hours later and when he came out of an apartment, he was arrested.

During the arrest of Coleman, he began crying and said he had been so scared all day, prosecutors wrote in charging documents. He also made a couple of comments, he was going to kill me, he was going to kill me.

Police said he had numerous facial injuries, including a deep laceration, and an abrasion and bruising injury on his torso. Officers located a small caliber handgun in the apartment with blood on it and it had a bullet in the chamber.

Police also found a pouch with a clear baggie containing a white crystal substance that appeared to be meth.

During Thursdays hearing, defense attorney Sarah Busch said Coleman had moved from California to Montana four years ago to get a fresh start, and though he had a criminal history, none of it occurred in Montana.

She said he had steady employment and other ties to Butte and was not a flight risk, but prosecutor Kelli Fivey opposed a bond reduction, citing the seriousness of the crime and other factors.
The World Museum of Mining, 155 Museum Way west of Montana Tech, will mark the 100th anniversary celebration of St. Patricks Mission at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13.

The mission was built in Browns Gulch and dedicated by Father Tougas on Aug. 15, 1922. The church had a congregation of 170 parishioners. It was eventually moved to the mining museum.

Father Patrick Beretta will lead a ceremony at 1:30 followed by some birthday sweets.

For more details, contact the museum at 723-7211.
The gray wolf roamed Montana for thousands of years, balancing ecosystems in the wild places that many of us cherish today. But a small anti-wolf minority, including Montana legislators, Governor Gianforte, and the politically motivated Fish and Wildlife Commission would have us believe that strangling, gunning down, and crushing wolves with traps is our heritage. It is not.

Last year, Montanas legislature passed a series of anti-wolf bills to allow trappers and trophy hunters to kill as many wolves as possible  ethics and fair chase not required. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MFWP) covered for the cruelty in their 2021 annual wolf report, which claims stable population numbers through 2021. Lets consider how MFWP landed on this absurd conclusion.

Montana is the only state to get its wolf population estimate from the new and still scientifically questionable Integrated Patch Occupancy Modeling (iPOM) methodology. The iPOM, as used by MFWP, is unreliable. It is a series of models that build on each other to reach a final population estimate, and each model in the series has its own errors. When MFWP combines the results of each model to get a final population estimate, the errors combine to overestimate the wolf population.

First, Montana eliminated intensive field-based monitoring to measure the wolf population, which is an essential part of ensuring its population estimate is reliable. The iPOM relies on opportunistic hunter observations rather than observations by trained biologists. No population model other than Montanas iPOM suggests that wildlife population size can be estimated without any actual demographic data or counts. MFWP does not rely on such unverified models for other wildlife population estimates.

On top of that, two models in the series tend to overestimate wolf populations. The first allows double counting of wolves that exist outside of breeding packs, and the second can underestimate territory size, assuming more wolves exist in any given area. One of these alone is problematic but together they create room for serious error.

Montanas claim, based on the iPOM, that the wolf population is stable is also contrary to evidence from scientific studies that human-caused mortality at the rates we're seeing in Montana consistently results in a decreasing wolf population. Typically, with more liberalized killing methods available, scientists would expect a higher number of wolves killed. But when such methods yield the same or fewer number of wolves killed  as is happening in Montana  it is a warning that the population is not stable. Ignoring this evidence, Montana claims the population is unchanged, without any actual counts to back up that assumption.

Because the iPOMs compounding errors allow for falsely bloated population estimates, Montana can continue to claim that wolves are doing fine. The wolf population could be near collapse before MFWP acknowledges anything is wrong at all. This means MFWP can continue profiting from wolf tag sales and hunters and trappers can keep cashing in on glorified wolf bounties.

Conveniently, Montanas claim of a stable wolf population also allows the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to neglect its legal responsibility to relist Montanas wolves under the guise of adequate state management. If the federal government continues to trust the population estimates produced by states like Montana and Idaho so it can avoid doing its job to protect imperiled species, decades of conservation achievement will be erased in a handful of years.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is. In our perspective, it's too horrendous to be accepted.
WAPELLO - Monkeypox has not yet been reported in Louisa County; and although public health administrator Roxanne Smith is hopeful that will continue, the Louisa County Board of Health (BOH) learned Tuesday Smith and her staff at the Louisa County Public Health Service (LCPHS) will remain vigilant.

Were staying on top of it, she told the board members, adding the virus was not yet considered a major threat to the general populations health.

Smith explained early data was showing people in the gay/bisexual and men who have sex with other men were showing the highest number of cases and were the focus for treatment.

That is really the targeted population and that is where the vast number of cases they are seeing, she said.

Despite that, Smith said a person outside of those target populations could pick up the virus if they are exposed to an infected person and her staff was prepared to respond.

She said vaccines were being stored in strategic areas around the state, although none was currently in Louisa County.

I doubt if we ever get it, Smith said about the vaccine.

Smith also provided a short Fiscal Year 22 recap of COVID vaccinations data and revenue.

According to the data sheet Smith provided, nearly $78,220 in COVID-19 revenue was collected by the LCPHS through June 2022. That included nearly $59,713 in staff time dedicated to case investigations, vaccine administration, education and other activities.

Another $7,527 was used to purchase a vaccine fridge, with nearly $7,647 for vaccine supplies, coolers, tents, mileage and other costs.

The LCPHS also collected $4,107 that was paid to Community Health Center (CHC) subcontracted services. Another $774 or about 10 percent of the total, was being held by the Iowa Department of Public Health and had not yet been reimbursed.

Smith also reported nearly $2,379 in COVID vaccine administration fees had been received by the LCPHS from January 2022 through July 2022. Another $790 had been billed, but not yet received.

Smith reminded the board members the LCPHS had not charged for administering the COVID vaccine until January of this year.

The BOH also reviewed the public healths overall FY 22 budget and the first months financial information for FY 23.

Co-county sanitarian Brian Thye also provided updates on environmental health activities. Both Thye and co-sanitarian Bruce Hudson also reviewed a form that property owners seeking a waiver from certain sewage disposal rules must complete.

The two said the petition for waiver the property owners must complete and submit to either the Iowa Department of Natural Resources or the local public health service, would not alter the current procedures they follow.
MUSCATINE  Four new firefighters will soon be added to the Muscatine Fire Department, boosting its numbers back up to its fully authorized staffing level of 15 firefighters per 24-hour shift.

Before they can join the team, however, these soon-to-be firefighters must complete their four-week training course at Muscatine Station #2. But while they may only just be finishing up their first week of training, the future is already looking bright.

Lt. Andrew McSorley, who is conducting this latest round of training, shared that he excited to have these four recruits be part of the departments team.

(The recruits) seem to retain the information that theyre learning well, he said. Everyones got a really good attitude and really wants to be here and work hard. Theyre also really jelling together well.

For this latest round of recruits, the group includes Marissa Janssen, Skylar Duncan, Chad Whitehall and Aaron Meredith.

Both Janssen and Duncan were previously certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT), with Janssen having served in the Iowa Army National Guard for eight years and Duncan serving in the Navy. Whitehall, meanwhile, served in the Army before deciding to take EMT classes, which further inspired him. Meredith also took EMT classes through Scott Community College, having the opportunity to learn about the Muscatine Fire Department through ride-a-longs.

(These recruits) were the top performers through the civil service process, which included a written interview and physical test, McSorley said. They pay attention really well, ask a lot of questions and they really are just a fun bunch.

During this first week, the course has mostly consisted of power-points and paperwork, according to McSorley, just to give the new recruits a chance to ease into the job of being a firefighter. While four weeks may seem like a long time, McSorley acknowledged how quickly those weeks can go by as well as how overwhelming all the new information and training may be for recruits.

As we go through each week, it just progressively gets a little more intense and then in Week Four we kind of just start putting everything theyve learned together, McSorley explained. We do live burns and have them collectively use everything weve taught them through the month. Thats where it all comes together and you really see what theyve got.

Within two to three days after their graduation, the four recruits will then be given their new assignments and start their shifts, now officially part of the Muscatine Fire Department.

Naturally, teamwork and communication is key for a successful team of firefighters, which is why McSorley said hes always sure to include some sort of group bonding or team-building activity during each week of the training course. We did one (Thursday), and they really seemed to enjoy it.

When it comes to helping new recruits learn what they need to in order to succeed, McSorley admitted that he saw it as a way to give back, and as such takes great pride in being the one to help lead this training course.

I remember when I started in the fire service and those ones that put the foundation blocks down for me, and I always refer back to them and what I took out of that  where it started me and where Im at now, he said. Being put in that role now is just an exciting moment for me, to help build these careers and see if I can help them get to where Im at or maybe even further. Its just fun for me to be able to help them out.
MUSCATINE  Last year, Miss Emersyn Thacker decided that her newest goal was to be crowned Miss Iowa Princess at the next National American state-level pageant. This summer, she was able to accomplish that goal.

On July 30, Emersyn, now six years old and heading to first grade at Jefferson Elementary School, was given the crown and title of Miss Iowa Princess.

We were just so proud of her and all the hard work she did to (meet that goal), her mother, Cara Thacker, said.

For National American Miss pageants, the only required components are Personal Introduction, a gown portion and a round-robin interview portion. In addition to excelling in these three main components, Emersyn also chose to compete in several other optional components while at the state pageant, of which she was able to also win many of them.

These wins included: Talent, where she performed a musical-theater dance routine using the skills she picked up from participating in the local childrens dance group River City All-Stars; Runway; Casual Wear; Fun Fitness Wear; Hat Model; Most Photogenic; Best Thank-You Note to her sponsors; Fan Favorite; and Miss Personality.

She had an amazing weekend, and we were all very proud of her, Thacker said.

With the top title at the state level now hers, Emersyn is expected to compete at the National Pageant, which will be held in Orlando, Florida, during the week of Thanksgiving. While there, she will have the opportunity to win a new 2022 Ford Mustang Convertible as well as several other big prizes and various amounts of cash.

But while all the prizes and titles are indeed exciting, for Emersyn its never been about those things. For her, competing in pageants is just something she enjoys doing.

Last year, she did National American Miss for the first time and won first runner-up, and she just fell in love with pageants, Thacker explained.

Although her daughters pageant career has been a short one so far, Thacker has still been very supportive of it, stating that she believes pageants provide a positive experience and are a great thing for girls to get involved in. Most are not the Toddlers and Tiaras type of thing you see on TV. Theyre uplifting experiences for the girls, and you give them confidence to be able to move on into their future.

As a mother, Thacker said she appreciated how many fun bonding opportunities NAM provided for all the girls competing such as a pajama party, giving the girls all a chance to have fun, build confidence in themselves and make new friends  something that she said Emersyn feels is one of the most enjoyable parts of competing in pageants.

Emersyn made two great friends last year at (NAM) that we have kept in touch with, one who is older than her and one who lives in Nebraska, and they actually both won titles as well, and so they all became queen-sisters which was really exciting too, Cara continued. It was really fun for her to be able to accomplish her goal with her friends.

Currently, Emersyn and her family are preparing and practicing for both the National Pageant as well as the trip to Disney World that they plan on taking while they are down in Orlando. As for what the future holds, Cara believes that there will plenty more pageants - as well as new friends and all the new memories that come with these pageants - in Emersyns future.

Those wishing to request an appearance from Miss Emersyn Thacker at their community event or service opportunity can reach out to Cara at 563-571-0505.
It was a complicated week for former President Donald Trump.

The FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday as part of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into the discovery of classified White House records that had been moved to Florida.

The former president was then in New York on Wednesday as part of a civil investigation, but he says he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during the deposition.

Then on Thursday, we learned that the Justice Department had asked a court to unseal the search warrant used in the FBIs search. Attorney General Merrick Garland cited the substantial public interest in this matter" and said he had personally approved the warrant.

That evening, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: Release the documents now!

For an expanded look at the case, please download the bonus episode of Hot off the Wire called FBI investigation into former President Donald Trump.

In political news, Democrats moved closer to passage of their economic agenda. Indiana became the first state to approve an abortion ban following the Supreme Courts recent decision. A Trump-backed candidate won a primary in Wisconsin. President Joe Biden signed a bill to help veterans. And a former police officer was sentenced for his role in the Jan. 6 riots.

It was an eventful week for court cases involving hate crimes, abortion and misinformation.

And in other national news, President Biden visited Kentucky and a new general will lead American forces in Africa.

Concerns over the economy continued this week, although several reports indicated there may be relief in sight.

Consumer and producer prices showed some improvement in July. Gas prices kept falling and the national average dipped below $4 for a gallon by the middle of the week. Airfares have also declined.

The jobs market was somewhat mixed as employers continued to add jobs, however, unemployment claims have been on the rise. Grocery deliveries have also declined, likely due to higher prices.

In other news, Kia issued a recall and Twitter was in the news over its deal with Elon Musk as well as a security breach.

In international news, President Biden signed the CHIPS Act, which drew the ire of China and extended tension between the two nations as well as Taiwan.

We had several updates out of Ukraine, including the destruction of Russian jets, resistance from Ukrainians, and a return from a fast food giant.

New Zealand welcomed back cruise ships as COVID restrictions eased and Germany is dealing with drought.

Finally, in health and science news, a look at the link between climate and diseases, a Lyme disease vaccine, monkeypox, sleep patterns of spiders, freshwater losing ground and a court case involving a pharmacy chains link to the opioid crisis.

 Compiled and narrated by Terry Lipshetz from Associated Press reports

Does religion make us more ethical? | The Ethical Life podcast  The hosts debate whether we are interpreting the Bible correctly, the existence of an afterlife and the effectiveness of prayer.
SpaceX has significantly reduced the size of an exclusion zone for its Starlink Internet service in South Africa in a recent update to its coverage map.

A concerned MyBroadband Forum member previously brought the zone to our attention in May 2022, shortly after Starlink first launched the map.

Moving the mouse cursor over the map provides a date for which SpaceX plans to bring the Starlink service to a particular country or region.

In May 2022 and some months after that, hovering over most of South Africa would show Starlinks estimated arrival time as 2023.

However, that date would disappear completely when moving over a large zone bordered by a jagged circle that included much of the Northern Cape, about half of the Western Cape, and a part of the Eastern Cape.

The cities and towns within the circle included Upington, Ladismith, Beaufort West, and De Aar, with the distance between its northernmost and southernmost tips measuring over 550km.

While it remained unconfirmed at the time, the prevailing theory was that the exclusion zone was to accommodate the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project near Carnarvon in the Northern Cape.

The radio-astronomy installations sensitive antennae operate within some of the same frequency spectrum used by Starlink and would effectively be blinded by Starlinks satellites should they beam signals within the SKAs operational area.

The image below is a screenshot of the Starlink coverage map in late May 2022, with the initial exclusion zone shown inside the red ring.

A spokesperson for the SKA recently told MyBroadband the organisation had approached SpaceX about the size of the ring, which was excessive considering the installations operational area.

SpaceX appears to have erred on the side of caution, opting to oversize Starlinks exclusion area in South Africa.

With input from the SKA team, the company has since adjusted the ring to cover a much smaller area surrounding the South African SKA site.

Its northernmost and southernmost points are now only separated by roughly a third of the previous distance.

A large chunk of South Africa which would not have been included in Starlinks previous coverage  including numerous small towns and farms  now appear to be included in the rollout plans.

Notably, the borders of the exclusion circle now correlate closely with the legally-protected Karoo Central Astronomy Advantage Area, the worlds largest radio quiet zone.

Due to that legislation, the area does not have the typical cellular and radio services available in the rest of the country.

The images below show the updated circle as reflected on the map by 8 July 2022.

SpaceX has seemingly been sensitive to the concerns raised by the radio-astronomy community, who feared the multi-billion-euro SKA project would be rendered moot by Starlinks satellites.

But Starlink is not the only communications service that could have caused problems for the SKA.

Residents of the farms and small towns surrounding the site cant use regular cellular services available in the rest of the country due to its status as a radio quiet zone.

But the residents have not been left to fend for themselves, with the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (Sarao)  a partner of the SKA  subsidising some of the cost of alternative means of connectivity.

That includes paying residents for the installation, terminals, and modems needed to receive broadband coverage from Morclick, which uses Hughess YahClick Internet service.

Hughess geostationary communication satellite uses the Ka-band frequencies of 26.540GHz, while the SKA South Africa dishes operate between 350MHz-15.4GHz.

Customers only have to pay the monthly subscription fee  ranging from R299 to R1,999  for packages with speeds between 5Mbps and 50Mbps. These also include voice-over-IP lines for phone calls.

The four relatively small towns within the Radio Quiet Zone  Carnarvon, Brandvlei, Williston, and Vanwyksvlei  also get free public Wi-Fi at their libraries.

These sparsely-populated towns had less than 20,000 inhabitants between them during the 2011 census.

The SKA will be the worlds largest radio telescope upon completion. It is expected to help make important scientific discoveries about the universe, including some that could lead to breakthrough innovations with practical applications for humankind.

MeerKAT, an initial phase of the SKA , has already helped produce the best images of the Milky Ways galactic centre to date.

Now read: Starlink wants to offer mobile broadband via its satellites
The bacterium that causes Legionnaires disease has been found on fixtures at the building that houses the Napa County jail, as well as on a hotel property  all connected to the largest local outbreak in recent years, county officials have confirmed.

Water samples taken from a cooling tower on the Hall of Justice at 1125 Third St. in downtown Napa contained high levels of Legionella, county spokesperson Leah Doyle-Stevens said Thursday afternoon.

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The county received test results from the Hall of Justice water sample on Wednesday, but began disinfecting all parts of the buildings cooling system immediately after collecting the water sample there, the county said in a follow-up statement.

Although the Hall of Justices cooling system is now believe to pose little risk of harboring Legionnaires bacteria, the county will continue monitoring and will send further samples to an outside laboratory for testing, with results expected in one to two weeks, officials said.

Legionella bacteria also were discovered in samples from a decorative fountain and pond at Embassy Suites by Hilton Napa Valley at 1075 California Blvd. in the city of Napa  the same hotel where Legionella was earlier found in a cooling tower, according to a news release published at about 4 p.m. (An Embassy Suites spokesperson has said the hotel's staff is working closely with health officials in their investigation of the outbreak.)

Both sites, where water samples were collected July 25, have been undergoing cleaning and disinfection since last week, before test results became available, county officials said.

We are confident that these additional sites no longer pose a risk to the public, said Dr. Karen Relucio, Napa Countys public health officer. Staff from the county health and environmental health divisions have performed outreach to property managers of other cooling towers to perform remediation proactively, since Legionella contamination in one site can spread in the air and contaminate other sites, she said in the statement.

Update: One dead, three hospitalized from Legionnaires' disease in Napa County; bacteria found on hotel property Napa County public health authorities have reported finding bacteria that cause Legionnaires disease on the property of a Napa hotel, one day after the announcement of a local death from the disease. None of the 12 local people sickened by Legionnaires' since July are known to have visited the hotel, according to officials.

Legionella bacteria are waterborne and can spread in aerosols for up to a mile from a contaminated water source, Relucio said last week.

County officials are continuing to monitor the Hall of Justice, but no jail inmates or county staff members had been moved out of or relocated within the property as of late Thursday, according to Doyle-Stevens.

Napa County also announced an illness in a Solano County resident who is believed to have contracted the illness in Napa. Since July 11, 12 Napa County residents have fallen ill with the pneumonia-like disease, Relucio previously reported. One of the patients later died, and two remain hospitalized.

County health officials confirmed the first nine Legionnaires cases on July 29, then disclosed the death of a patient Aug. 2, the first such fatality in the Napa Valley since at least 2015. One or two Legionnaires-related illnesses in the county per year are typical, according to health officials.

Napa County has said its health and environmental departments are working with a joint investigative team that includes the state Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Legionnaires disease  named for the 1976 American Legion convention in Philadelphia where an outbreak caused 29 deaths and about 180 illnesses  is a type of pneumonia that is caused by Legionella bacteria, which naturally occur in lakes and streams but also can grow in artificial warm-water sources. Aerosolized water can come from cooling towers (air-conditioning units for large buildings), hot tubs, cooling misters, decorative fountains and plumbing systems. (Home air conditioners are not considered a threat to spread the bacteria because most such units do not use water as a coolant.)

Napa County residents and workers who have flu-like symptoms, cough, fever or difficulty breathing should contact a health care provider as soon as possible. People can contract the disease by breathing in aerosolized water droplets containing the bacteria. Legionnaires disease is not spread from person to person and, can be treated with antibiotics when detected early.

Those at higher risk of contracting Legionnaires include people 50 and older, cigarette smokers, and patients with chronic lung diseases or weakened immune systems.

Strategies to prevent the growth of Legionella bacteria in the home include:

 Flushing faucets and shower heads that have not bee been used recently

 Cleaning, disinfecting and maintain all devices that use water, such as humidifiers, respiratory therapy devices, shower head and faucet aerators, water heaters, and hot tubs
According to information published by Daily Sabbah on August 12, 2022, the serial production of Turkiye's first armed unmanned surface vessel (AUSV), the first marine craft under the ULAQ project, has begun.

Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link

Armed Unmanned Surface Vessel ULAQ (Picture source: Ares Shipyard)

Studies have been launched for the production of 50 units per year at the request of some countries, Onur Yldrm, director of the unmanned systems project at the Ares shipyard. The AUSV was developed by Ares Shipyard in cooperation with Ankara-based Meteksan Defense Industry Inc.

The project began with research and development (R&D) and design studies in the second half of 2018, Yldrm said, before sea and field trials began in 2020.

It hit a target with pinpoint accuracy in its first firing as part of the Sea Wolf (Denizkurdu) 2021 military exercise, launched by Turkish naval forces simultaneously in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

ULAQ fired Cirit missiles, produced by another Turkish defense giant, Roketsan, during the exercise.

It previously carried a pod with four laser-guided Crist missiles and two laser-guided long-range anti-tank missile launchers, Yldrm noted, explaining that this weapon system was dismantled and the Koralp 12.7mm stabilised weapon system was subsequently integrated into the platform.

About the ULAQ

The ULAQ is an unmanned surface vessel that was developed in different versions to support a range of missions such as reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence, asymmetric warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, strategic facility security, and armed escort and force protection.

The ULAQ has been built from advanced composites. She can reach a top speed of 65 km/h with a maximum cruising range of has 400 km. The unmanned vessel has day/night vision capabilities, encrypted communication infrastructure, which can be operated from mobile vehicles and headquarters or from sea platforms such as aircraft carriers or frigates with a range of 200 km. It can also perform autonomous operations by artificial intelligence systems, which are installed onboard to fully control the vessel in autonomous mode.
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Turkey wants to move normalization talks with Armenia to their respective capitals after conducting previous discussions in third countries, reported the Middle East Eye.

A Turkish diplomatic source told journalists that Turkey's special representative to Armenia, Serdar Kilic, was ready to visit Yerevan and there meet his counterpart, Ruben Rubinyan.

The source underlined that Azerbaijan wasn't part of the talks, and the conversations were strictly between Armenia and Turkey. Yet, the source said that they cannot completely ignore the tensions and developments between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which can directly impact the parties' mentality going into talks.

The Turkish diplomatic source said Armenia doesn't appear to be willing to move the talks to Ankara and Yerevan unless there is a significant breakthrough in discussions. The source added that moving talks to the respective countries would itself be a breakthrough, and they should do so to progress talks in a more positive environment.

Turkey is prioritizing measures that will not lead to excessive expectations on both sides and that are welcomed in both countries and will be taken "step by step".

The source said there were unexpected challenges in opening the land border for third countries due to insufficient infrastructure at crossings, which may delay the step.

For example, the physical conditions at the Alican and Akyaka border crossings, which have not been used for more than 30 years, need to be improved. Kilic, Turkey's special representative for the normalization process with Armenia, went to the border after the last meeting with Rubinyan and made inspections at the crossings.

That is why Turkey and Armenia will first need to hold technical talks among the relevant bureaucrats to resolve the infrastructure issues in September. The special envoys may then hold another round of talks in Ankara or Yerevan, if Armenia agrees.

The source described the atmosphere between Kilic and Rubinyan as a very cordial and friendly, with them frequently calling each other to resolve minor issues.

The source said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last month was also very positive.

While confidence-building measures were prioritized in the talks, "difficult" issues between the two countries, especially the Armenian genocide, were not brought up.

Ankara believes that it would not be "rational" to discuss the "difficult" issues between the two countries at this stage. However, the Turkish source appreciated that Armenia publicly restated that it doesn't have any land demands from Turkey.

Local reports last month suggested that Turkey had been clearing mines on the Armenian border, which triggered speculation that Ankara was readying itself to fully open the border. However, the Turkish diplomatic source said the mine clearance wasn't related to the diplomatic talks, but to the multinational Ottawa Convention, which mandates Turkey to clear its borders of land mines.
Mary Ann Robinson, climbing onto the bridge connecting Palm Beach Island to the Florida mainland the day after the FBI searched Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, holds a White Claw alcoholic beverage in one hand and resents the actions of federal law enforcement, the Irish Times reports.

When they raided our president[s home], I felt hurt, then anger, said the retired healthcare administrator. I come to these rallies to bring attention to what is happening in our government. We know the Godless commies will never take this republic down as long as we are here.

Robinson was part of a relatively small group of unbending Trump supporters who staged a rally in defense of the former president, many waving huge flags and honking.

Their reactions were riddled with conspiracy theories about both the 2020 election and the political motives behind the FBI search, echoing Trump's own statement about the raid. They also ominously suggested that the backlash could escalate into violence, especially if the former president is arrested or not allowed to run for re-election in 2024.

Were going to fight until the end, whatever it takes, said Mark Harvey, a Florida local who fishes in the waters around the Trump residence and introduced himself as Beach Cracker. Ninety-nine per cent of Republicans are armed and ready to go. Were ready to take it to the next level if it comes down to it.

Such threats and rage were not limited to Palm Beach. From the moment Trump announced that federal agents had searched his home, anger swept across conservative America.

Republican lawmakers lashed out at the FBI and the Justice Department for complicity with the repressive federal regime and the "deep state" bureaucracy that sought to stifle any political opposition.

Other Republicans linked the FBI's actions against Trump to the $700 billion economic package recently passed by the US Senate and endorsed by President Joe Biden. The bill includes measures to increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service to check the rich who evade paying taxes, which some conservatives have characterized as another sign of impending government harassment.

The federal Regime is targeting those it dislikes for disfavored treatment, Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, told his supporters in a fundraising email on Wednesday.

When Scott Perry, a Republican lawmaker from Pennsylvania who is one of Trump's most loyal supporters on Capitol Hill, reported that his phone had been seized by the FBI after he was subjected to a thorough congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the anger of the far right increased.

This is America, and these Gestapo tactics are not welcome. There will be a reckoning, Lauren Boebert, the pro-Trump Republican lawmaker from Colorado, said on Twitter.

The reaction highlighted the extent to which many Republicans have tilted toward Trumpian skepticism about federal law enforcement in a party that has traditionally positioned itself as a tough on crime.

Even senior Republican leaders in Congress openly attacked the Justice Department and the FBI after the search, and Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House, promised an investigation against Attorney General Merrick Garland if they regained control of the lower house of Congress in November.

Meanwhile, Republican candidates announced fundraisers amid the search and promised retaliation. The question is what comes next, said JD Vance, the author and venture capitalist running for a Senate seat in Ohio. We either have [a] Republic or we dont. If we do, the people whove politicised the FBI in recent years will face investigation and prosecution.

Republican strategists hope the search will bolster their advantage over US voters in the midterm congressional elections. But there is a risk that this anger could alienate moderate and independent voters, showing how deeply anti-Washington extremism has infiltrated the Republican Party and the extent to which the party remains at Trump's mercy.

On social media, rage erupted with equal force. Within hours of news of the Mar-a-Lago raid, the number of tweets referencing "civil war" and "FBI Gestapo" peaked at over 3,000 in a single hour. Two days later, an average of 1,000 such tweets were still sent every hour.

Many on Twitter, Telegram and Trump's alternative platform TruthSocial pointed to the raid as evidence of the ongoing persecution of Trump and his supporters by Biden and the so-called "Deep State." Conspiracy theories quickly circulated Tuesday and Wednesday, accusing the FBI of planting evidence to prevent Trump from running for president in 2024.

On far-right platforms such as the Telegram channel QAnon and message boards TheDonald and 4chan, the threats of violence were more overt and targeted, with many posting death threats against Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. One popular post on TheDonald read: They have awakened a Dragon and its coming for them.

Meanwhile, former Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon urged supporters to mobilize. Get an overwhelming majority in the House, take the Senate, take every school board, every election board, every canvassing board, every medical board in every state, he added.

But it was outside of Trump's adopted home in Florida that feelings were most acute and troubling. "When the FBI raided Trumps home, we stepped into an entirely new realm, said Charles Molesphini, a retiree from Delray Beach.

Linda Ulmer, a retiree from Jupiter Beach, added: If Trump is put in prison, there will be a civil war. People will be out on the streets. Buildings will burn. People will take down the Capitol.
There are calls to judge the generals, but first of all, we need to judge the diplomats, especially the decision-makers, of course, in the future, political analyst Stepan Danielyan wrote on his Facebook page.

He, in particular, noted:

"It is very important to know the history of diplomacy, because there you can find diplomatic techniques that now and in the future are also used and will be used. Also, countries, having diplomatic schools, use the experience and skills built on the past. Simply put, each country has its own "handwriting," which cannot be faked, just like human handwriting.

We often liken the Russia-Turkey relationship to that of 1920, which is appropriate, but this relationship is not necessarily seen in the realm of relations between these countries. For example, the technique of Soviet-German relations in 1939 is also very interesting and may also have similarities in terms of thinking and tricks, in terms of today's Russo-Turkish relations.

Let's cut to the chase.

So, in 1939, when Germany attacked Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union approached Poland about providing a military corridor to help the Czechs, but Poland refused. It was a Polish-German honeymoon at the time, and the Poles said a Russian soldier would never set foot on Polish territory. At the same time, the USSR appealed to Britain and France, which possessed the most powerful military force in Europe (at least that was believed at the time), but these countries shirked such a commitment. In the end, Germany bribed Poland by ceding some Czech territory, and began to prepare to settle the Polish issues.

It was to Britain's advantage that Poland disappeared as a buffer and a Soviet-German clash took place. The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact was concluded at that time. Poland was divided, great economic and military cooperation began, like now between Turkey and Russia.

The Soviet Union bought time, and France received the first blow.

The war between Germany and the Soviet Union nevertheless broke out, but later and in a different scenario.

This is very similar to today's Russo-Turkish relations. Both countries are buying time, but the West needed to eliminate the buffer between Russia and Turkey, which we and Georgia are, so that a direct confrontation could start. That was one of the goals of the Artsakh war. Now we or Artsakh are in the role of Poland. Like the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, in all likelihood there is also a secret Lavrov-Cavusoglu pact, which we will probably learn about in 100 years.

We can't say now how events will unfold in the future, but I am interested in the diplomatic handwriting and thinking.

If we had had a well-established diplomatic school, perhaps we could have avoided this development and events would have followed a different scenario. But not only did we not have this school, we don't have it now, and that is the most dangerous thing.

There are calls to judge the generals, but, first of all, we should judge the diplomats, especially the decision-makers, of course, in the future.
US President Joe Biden is spending his vacation with his family on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, in an oceanfront mansion owned by a longtime Democratic Party donor, the Daily Mail reports.

The day before, it was reported that Biden, his wife Jill, son Hunter and wife Melissa Cohen and grandson Beau flew on a presidential jet from Andrews military base to the port city of Charleston, near where Kiawah Island is located, Wednesday afternoon.

According to the newspaper, the house where Biden's family remains, including his son Hunter, who has appeared in various scandalous reports, belongs to the wealthy widow of businessman James Allwin Maria. It is noted that this is not the first time the US president's family is staying in this mansion worth $ 20 million - since 2009, they have repeatedly vacationed in this house. And, as noted by the media, the Biden's do not pay for their stay there.

How long the US president's family will be on the island is unknown, but restrictions on flights over its territory were introduced there until Tuesday.

The US president was not able to fully spend his previous summer vacation because of the vote in Congress, the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, and the outbreak of a pandemic coronavirus. The current trip was preceded by Biden's extended illness, who contracted the coronavirus two weeks ago, then recovered but then tested positive again. On Wednesday, despite his negative test, Biden repeatedly interrupted his speech due to a cough, while continuing to assure the public that he was feeling fine.
A new model of the Bayraktar Kizilelma supersonic drone can be produced at a plant that the Turkish company Baykar Makina is building in Ukraine, the general director of the company Haluk Bayraktar said, reports UNIAN.

He said the company plans to produce a new unmanned aerial vehicle Bayraktar Kizilelma at its plant in Ukraine, in addition to drones Bayraktar TB2 and Bayraktar Akinci.

On March 16, the Turkish company began assembling a prototype of its first drone, the MIUS (Muharip Insansiz Ucak Sistemi - Unmanned Combat Aircraft System) fighter. It is also called Kizilelma. Its first flight is scheduled for 2023. At the same time, the supplier of the AI-322F turbojet engine for these vehicles in accordance with the contract concluded in November 2021 is the Ukrainian state enterprise "Ivchenko-Progress" (a part of the concern "Ukroboronprom").

The director general also said that the company has already started building a factory for the production of Turkish Bayraktar drones.

On February 3, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Kiev. During his visit eight interstate documents were signed, including an agreement on cooperation in high-tech, aviation and space spheres, which will allow to build a factory for the production and maintenance of Bayraktar in Ukraine. On July 19, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft law on ratification of the agreement with Turkey. On 8 August, the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, said that Baykar Makina had bought a land plot in Ukraine for the construction of the plant.
The residents of Aganus village are skeptical that their village, handed over to Azerbaijan after the 44-day war, can be returned to the Armenian side.

And about the possible transfer of Aganus under Artsakh's control, Artsakh Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Hayk Khanumyan said the other day. "The territory of Aganus community returns to the corridor, goes out of Azerbaijani control, but everything there has been looted and burned since the first war and until 2020," Khanumyan told Armenpress.

The Artsakh village of Aganus came under Azerbaijani control a few days after the end of the 44-day war, on December 1. The village had 102 residents who were evacuated during the war. Most of them settled in Armenia. The residents of Aganus learned from the media that the village could once again come under Artsakh's control.

The head of the aforementioned Karabakh village Artak Abrahamyan has already had time to talk to his fellow villagers about this issue. According to him, the fellow villagers believe that it is too early to talk about it. "How reliable is the information that Aganus will remain Armenian? Today Azerbaijan is only deporting Artsakh people. It's still too early to talk about the return of the residents to Aganus, I just can't imagine how an Armenian and an Azerbaijani can live next to each other? Residents from 1994 until the 44-day war were deceived, and no one is going back at the moment, because people think about creating their own corner at least in Armenia," Abrahamyan said.

Aganus was inhabited at the end of 1994. According to the head of the community, up to 300 families lived in the village in different years, but during the 44-day war there were only 13 families, with 102 residents. Abrahamyan assures that not a single house in their village was burned down, but during the war, when the residents were evacuated, they were looted.
Today the keys to a reconstructed apartment building were handed over in the Shurnukh administrative district of Syunik province. Four families will move into the apartments, two of whom lost their homes as a result of the 44-day war, two from Syunik

"There shouldn't be any homeless people in Goris. There are 86 families in Goris, who still live in barracks. The problem of their housing will also be solved, design works are underway. We have a task to complete the construction of this building by next year," Goris Mayor Arush Arushanyan told journalists.

A children's development center, a playground and a youth center were also opened in the settlement.

According to Arushanyan, another 13 apartments in Shurnukh are already under construction at the initiative of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure.

"I can proudly say that no one has emigrated from any of the border villages. The houses being built in Shurnukh are a few meters away from the enemy, but the people here are fighting. We must stand until the end, until the liberation of Artsakh. We must not only give homes to people who have lost their homes, but also expand the village and attract new residents. We need to do everything so that the quality of life of residents here is not inferior to the quality of life of people living in the center of Yerevan, Gyumri or Goris," Arush Arushanyan said.
On her first visit to Bengaluru after assuming charge in September 2021, US Mission India Charge d'Affaires, Patricia Lacina met with business leaders and entrepreneurs to underscore the strong US-India economic and commercial ties. Lacina acknowledged the immense contributions of over 650 US companies in Bengaluru that employ tens of thousands of Indian citizens in high-standard work environments in the formal sector. She applauded their immense contribution to the US-India bilateral relationship -- not only through their economic ties and investments, but also through corporate social responsibility initiatives and a commitment to the development of employee skills. "This year, as our two countries commemorate 75 years of diplomatic relations and trusted partnership, we celebrate a US-India partnership defined by US President Joe Biden recently as deep connection between our people - ties of family, of friendship, and of shared values. It is because of these shared values that US and Indian firms work so well together, forging a path for innovation and prosperity." Joining her in Bengaluru were US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin and Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan. The NSF Director visited Bengaluru to expand upon the strong partnership within the fields of science and technology. A Chennai native and graduate of the Indian Institute of Science, Panchanathan is in India to announce NSF funding for 35 collaborative research projects between US and Indian university laboratories. NSF, under the direction of Panchanathan, is tasked with keeping the US at the leading edge of discovery in a wide range of scientific areas. NSF has recently been the subject of major legislation which, in addition to supporting funding in all areas of basic research, establishes a new directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnership to greatly accelerate the translation of research to application. Panchanathan also gave the Dr. M.A. Govind Rau Founder Memorial Lecture at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Lacina used the occasion to mark the arrival of the new Counsellor for Commercial Affairs Carey Arun. Based in Chennai, Arun will oversee the US Commercial Service's efforts in south India, supporting opportunities for US-India trade and business. The US Commercial Service has offices in Chennai and Bengaluru. --IANS pvn/pgh ( 377 Words) 2022-08-11-22:36:01 (IANS)
The Agriculture Minister said that besides pineapples, Tripura also exported various other fruits and horticultural products to the UK, Germany and many other countries.

Singha Roy said that to popularise the marketing of the state's pineapples, the delicious fruit was recently commercially branded with a special logo.

Tripura annually produces 1.28 lakh tonnes of two major varieties -- Kew and Queen -- of pineapples in 8,800 hectares of mountainous orchards across the state and for many years, exporting the pineapples and lemons to many countries and many Indian states as well.

Former President Ram Nath Kovind, at a function in Agartala in 2018, announced the "Queen" variety of pineapple as Tripura's state fruit.

The Minister said that besides pineapples, Tripura also exported a large quantities of jackfruit, tamarind, stone apple, betel leaf, ginger to the UK, Germany, Dubai, Bangladesh and other countries as well as various Indian states.

The minister said that the Kisan Rail and Kisan Udaan schemes, introduced by the Central government, are immensely benefiting the producers and farmers, especially of the northeastern region, by connecting them to the national as well as international markets.

--IANS sc/pgh

( 239 Words)

2022-08-11-23:18:04 (IANS)
Marathe and Gurumurthy have been re-nominated for a further period of four years with effect from August 11, 2022, or until further orders, whichever is earlier

For Iyer and Chaturvedi, re-nominations are for a period of four years after completion of their present tenure on September 18, 2022, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Further, Iyer and Chaturvedi have been re-appointed as a Member of the Northern Local Board and on the Eastern Local Board of the Reserve Bank of India for a further period of four years after completion of their present tenure on September 18, 2022, or until further orders.

In June, the government nominated Mahindra and Mahindra group Chairman Anand Mahindra, TVS Motors Chairperson Venu Srinivasan, Zydus Lifesciences' Chairman Pankaj Patel, and Ravindra Dholakia, a former member of the Monetary Policy Committee, as part-time non-official directors on the central board of the RBI.

As per RBI's website, the role of board members is to advise the central Board on local matters and represent the territorial and economic interests of local cooperative and indigenous banks; to perform such other functions as delegated by the central board from time to time. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], August 12 (ANI/PNN): Going a step forward in making 32 Watts a household name as an authentic clear aligner (aka Invisible Braces) provider in India, the company joined hands with Gmedz, a platform that unites 9500+ healthcare services and product providers and customers across India. GMedz is a pioneer online platform when it comes to delivering quality healthcare utility products at the best concessional rates along with the fastest delivery all over the country. 32 Watts, on the other hand, is an ace clear Aligner Company in India, and both of them together are reaching the masses to democratise healthcare services in India. GMedz is a Gmoney Group Company that endeavours to provide healthcare essentials of top medical brands all over India on one platform. The company promises to deliver quality healthcare essentials at unimaginable reduced prices. It delivers all the products listed to the customer's doorstep in the shortest time frame. In the latest addition to the list of top brands in the healthcare industry, it has pinned 32 Watts Company as the top brand for clear aligner providers in India. GMedz has listed 32 Watts clear aligners on top in the 'dental category', where it showcases the 32 Watts clear aligner efficacy, plan, treatment time and cost on the product information page. 32 Watts clear aligners are the only clear aligner providers in India who have matched the ethos of the GMedz Company and is the only clear aligner provider that is under a collaborative study with AIIMS -Delhi (The premier medical institution of India), and therefore, has made it on the category of dental products on their e-commerce platform. GMedz has an endless list of top brands in India that deal in healthcare essentials and getting listed on the most popular and credible website like that is another feather tucked into the hat of 32 Watts clear aligners, India. GMedz and 32 Watts clear aligner tie-up is a strategic move and collective endeavour to make smile correction treatment a hassle-free process. The 32 Watts clear aligners will be delivered to any doctors who wish to correct their patient's misaligned teeth at their clinic via GMedz's efficient delivery system in a matter of a few days. Apart from delivering the 32 Watts aligners at the doctor's clinic, GMedz has made sure that the treating doctor & patient can get all the information related to the product on their website itself through video tutorials and detailed information on the 32 Watts clear aligners. The ease of the process, quick delivery and reduced price will sum up for a doctor to choose 32 Watts clear aligners from GMedz, to make their patient's smile journey a smooth ride. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 12 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Known for recording career milestones for its learners, upGrad Asia's higher edtech major recently hosted yet another virtual valedictorian ceremony for over 1200 learners who have completed the Post Graduate Program in Management with IMT Ghaziabad. The program was powered by upGrad. Gracing the event with their presence were Sumit Mathur - CMO, Kellogg India and Sethunathan L - CMO, JSW Cement who joined as the chief guests, along with Prof. Vishal Talwar, Prof Puja Aggarwal Gulati, and Prof. Sapna Popli from IMT Ghaziabad. "Happy to be part of the valedictory ceremony of five batches of the certificate program in collaboration with upGrad. Online learning has been such a leveller in enabling students to continue upgrading their knowledge despite pandemic-induced challenges and giving flexibility to learn without compromising on their jobs. We congratulate the learners for successfully completing the program and best wishes for their future roles. These learners are now ready to take up the contemporary work challenges which demand a thorough knowledge of new-age technologies for driving results," said Dr Talwar, Director-IMT Ghaziabad. The 11-month online program comes with a value-add for professionals wherein they get a chance to earn credits for a Global MBA Degree with Top B-Schools from UK and Australia, that can be used later for continuing their LifeLongLearning journey. Marking another successful Valedictorian ceremony of 2022, upGrad bid the learners farewell in style with live performance by Maati Baani. Sumit Mathur - CMO, Kellogg India referred to upskilling as a needle mover, and said, "As automation, AI, and new job models reconfigure the business world, lifelong learning has become accepted as an economic imperative. Eighty per cent of CEOs now believe the need for new skills is their biggest business challenge. Learning in the flow of work is a new idea, as it aligns with the industry standards and with the people/stakeholders involved. While the curriculum will give you some interesting domain knowledge, there are other practical measures, more on the side of enhancing soft skills would also include Practice metacognition and mindfulness." Commenting on the development, Arjun Mohan, CEO - India, upGrad said, "upGrad is committed to bridge the gap through its high-engagement learning modules that offer an industry-like atmosphere for professionals to grow and excel. It's not just about creating pedagogy but the real ROI is to see our learners complete the program and attain tangible career results. I'm excited to have a university partner like IMT Ghaziabad who's equally bullish for creating an all-immersive ecosystem for its learners, thereby also creating a wider acceptance for millions who doubted the efficacy of online education a couple of years back." This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], August 12 (ANI/NewsVoir): Bajaj Capital India's most trusted Financial brand, witnessed industry leaders from HDFC AMC, Tata AIA, White Oak AMC, Kotak AMC and many more speak at their Annual Mega Meet, "ThePowerof100%". A group of 700+ strong achievers of Bajaj Capital from every nook and corner of India attended their 5 days mega Annual All India Meet: an employee interaction and upgradation program at Gurugram. This year, the theme of the program was the POWER of 100% - Effort, Achievement and Growth. The leadership spoke about its vision and mission for the year and thanked its teams for their fantastic support to their clients for over 5 decades. The company believes that in order to serve the clients well, the business team must have the tremendous product knowledge and market understanding for which they must train together. The event also had Industry leaders acknowledging the tremendous efforts by wealth managers of Bajaj Capital. The event was a roaring success with a gathering of over 700 wealth advisors from all over India and was graced by the famous Bollywood Actress Shazahn Padamsee as Special Guest and Motivational Speaker and Corporate Guru Vivek Bindra. Rajiv Bajaj, Chairman and MD, Bajaj Capital Ltd., said, ''Our employees are the difference maker for our client's wealth. In a rapidly advancing and changing technological world, people are drowning in data and yearning for wisdom. Clients today want a person with whom they can shed their inhibitions with, and make an authentic connection, one that would be far deeper than that which can be achieved by a mere click. It's our core belief that by genuinely fostering and valuing our employees we are further building trustworthy relationships with our clients, in other words, revving up the engine to the Power of 100%.'' Sanjiv Bajaj, Jt. Chairman and MD, Bajaj Capital Ltd. said, "The world has changed but fundamentals remain the same. Trust and loyalty requires the factor of time and it has to be earned. With the annual meet, we appreciated employees who have gone an extra mile to deliver the best-in-class services to clients. We also had the Industry leaders share their vision of their organization with the 700+ strong sales leaders and trained our team for the coming year." Navneet Munot, CEO of HDFC MF spoke on building Mutual Fund Business. He said, "Bajaj Capital has been a pioneer in helping Indians build wealth. It's amazing to see the strong team of Bajaj Capital all geared up to help customers invest well. The deterrent in doing the right investment is the lack of education and awareness around the subject of investments. That is why Relationship Managers need to build a trusted relationship with the customers and should do their utmost to understand their customers and their financial requirements thereby echoing the theme of the year, The Power of 100%." Aashish P Sommaiyaa ED and CEO of White Oak AMC shared his visionary acumen on market growth strategies with the Bajaj Capital team. "The observation he shared was that every Indian today needs two things. 1. SIP 2. Insurance and the future is "Assisted Digital" that builds trust. He shared that Bajaj Capital is playing on its strength, 'assisted digital, Phygital approach to cater to the needs of the digital-savvy customer and that makes us future ready". During the event, Bajaj Capital launched their most advanced Investment Portfolio analysis report- EDGE that lets any customer upload their portfolio and get a detailed view of their investments across MF, NPS, Bond, FD etc. They also launched their upgraded OnlineMF.BajajCapital.com platform that is integrated with BSE Star. Through its annual event, Bajaj Capital intends to communicate to its employees the immense belief it places in them and that it sees them as true heroes and the face of the brand. The company believes that a well-informed and appreciated employee is an indispensable cog in driving the financial machinery of India. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 12 (ANI/NewsVoir): On the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav of India's Independence, various activities are being implemented by the Government. To mark this momentous occasion, the government has encouraged every citizen to fly the national flags at their homes under the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign. The campaign will be implemented in our city from August 13 to 15, 2022. To celebrate 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', a program of handing over 5 lakh National Flags to the Pune Municipal Corporation by Bajaj Group was organized on August 12, 2022, at the Pune Municipal Corporation. Vikram Kumar, Municipal Commissioner and Administrator, Ravindra Binwade, Additional Municipal Commissioner, Vilas Kandae, Additional Municipal Commissioner, SachinIthape, Deputy Commissioner (General Administration), All HoD's and Employees of Pune Municipal Corporation and representatives of Bajaj Group - Shefali Bajaj, Chairperson of Bajaj Finserv CSR Steering Committee, Ajay Sathe, Head of Bajaj Finserv CSR and Customer Experience along with other members of the Bajaj Group of companies were present at the event. Commenting on the occasion, Ajay Sathe, Head of Bajaj Finserv CSR and Customer Experience, said, "This is the 75th year of India's Independence and as proud Indians, we are all excited to be a part of this momentous occasion. Bajaj Group has a strong legacy of being a part of India's freedom struggle and on its evolutionary journey of becoming an Atmanirbhar Bharat. The Group continues to support the next generation of India, through its CSR programmes that are focussed on children and youth." Vikram Kumar, Municipal Commissioner of the Pune Municipal Corporation said, "We would like to thank the Bajaj Group for providing the 5 lakh National Flags, which will be distributed across the city. This has been a great support to reach Har Ghar for celebrating the 75th Glorious year of Independence. The Bajaj Group of companies have always been a strong supporter for PMC in many critical initiatives and their support during the pandemic for the vaccination drives and other healthcare support has been truly noteworthy. It is one of the remarkable contributions that the PMC could handle the pandemic situation effectively. The Bajaj family is a family of freedom fighters. They have been committed towards progress of the society. I am confident they will continue this relationship with PMC and help the civic body in the future as well." India's 'Amrit Mahotsav' is an initiative of the Government of India to commemorate 75 glorious years of progressive India and its rich history, culture, and great achievements. The Indian national flag is a symbol of national pride for the entire nation. To further honor our flag, 'Har Ghar Tiranga' will be organized as part of Amrit Mahotsav of Independence to mark the 75th year of India's independence. This event is an inspiration to all Indians to raise the national flag at their homes. The aim of this initiative is to inculcate a sense of patriotism in the minds of the people and increase respect for the national flag. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Anne Heche is in critical condition after a fiery car crash last week, and may not survive, said a representative of the actor's family and friends. The kin of the 53-year-old actor had been hoping for a miracle following her horrific car crash on August 5, which has not happened so far. Hence, her closest ones are making the difficult decision to take her off the life support system after she was pronounced brain dead by the doctors after her accident. The Emmy winner is being put on a ventilator until the doctors are able to determine if the fatal car crash left any of her organs damaged, reported Deadline Hollywood, an online news site. "Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive," Deadline Hollywood quoted the unnamed representative as saying. Wishes have been pouring in for the American actor ever since the news of her car crash came out. Fans and well-wishers have been sending messages on social media, praying for her speedy recovery. "We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne's recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital," the representative said. The spokesperson also revealed that the actor always wanted to donate her organs, but the doctors now have to ascertain the possibility of fulfilling her wish. "It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable," the representative added. "Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life's work -- especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light." There are plans for Heche to get Honor Walk, a hero's goodbye to donor patients by hospital staff as they are wheeled into the operating room in their final journey, according to the news portal. Since August 5, the 'Wild Card' actor had been hospitalized after her car crashed into a Mar Vista House, causing the vehicle to catch fire, turning it into a fireball of sorts. However, the house's owner and the actor's pet were able to be evacuated. Fifty-five firefighters had to battle the blaze, which engulfed both Heche's car and the house, for almost 65 minutes until she could be pulled out of the wreckage. Heche was reportedly able to communicate at the time of her rescue but lost consciousness shortly thereafter and never regained it. She has been in a coma ever since, various reports say. She has, since then, been in an extremely critical condition. "She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention," informed the actor's representative. There had been a lot of speculation about Heche's condition before the crash as she was filmed driving erratically and speeding in the minutes prior to the accident, including getting into another, minor car accident. A blood test, performed at the time of her hospitalization, revealed that the actor was allegedly inebriated. On Wednesday, Deadline Hollywood quoted officer Lizeth Lomeli of the LAPD saying that "based on the blood work, it revealed the presence of narcotics." Heche had recently wrapped filming Lifetime's movie 'Girl In Room 13', which explores the dark underworld of the 150-billion-dollar human trafficking industry. Amy Winter, executive vice president and head of programming for Lifetime Networks addressed Heche's accident on Thursday during a panel for the film at the Television Critics Association virtual press tour. Winter stated that the film was still scheduled to premiere in September as planned. "This project is important to Anne, along with each and every one of us." We all sought to make a film that would bring attention to this appalling issue of human sex trafficking. We hope that this film reached you and that you are just as inspired as Anne was to help us with our mission to stop violence against women," said Winter. (ANI)
Hollywood star Ignacio Diaz-Silverio is leading and has started filming for his horror-comedy 'Departing Seniors' in Chicago, the lead in the recently announced Amazon series, Primo. According to Deadline, written by Jose Nateras, the film follows witty high school senior Javier (Diaz-Silverio), who after witnessing an act of bullying, begins having psychic visions that reveal the horrifying truth behind a rash of supposed suicides at his school. It's up to him and his sarcastic best friend to unmask the truth behind the grisly occurrences. Clare Cooney, who also serves as a producer, is directing her first feature film. Together with Clare Cooney, Jose Nateras, Kelly Parker, and Dashawna Wright's Choppe Productions, the project is being made possible thanks to Divisionist Films. The executive producers are Greg Newman and Queensbury Pictures. Broadcast Signal Intrusion, starring Harry Shum Jr. and Girl On The Third Floor, were both produced by the American and British genre studio Queensbury Pictures. Director Clare Cooney said: "I couldn't have asked for a more ambitious and exciting first feature. Jose's sharp, funny, moving script is an ode to so many classic genre films, and yet uniquely its own. It has been exhilarating to dive into collaborating on this project with a team as diverse as the characters on the page. I look forward to heading back to my artistic home of Chicago to bring this suspenseful, whip-smart, thrilling script to life." "Chicago is fast becoming a key hub in independent filmmaking. We're thrilled to be working with this extremely talented team. Jose Nateras delivered a powerhouse of a script, Clare Cooney is a director to watch, and the production team is led by Dashawna Wright is doing amazing work," added Queensbury's Greg Newman. Ireon Roach (Candyman), Lorena Diaz (Chicago Med), Yani Gellman (Pretty Little Liars), and Cameron Scott Roberts also appear in the Queensbury Pictures production (The Walking Dead). (ANI)
Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who recently got embroiled in a controversy for posing nude for a magazine photoshoot, has now been summoned by the Mumbai Police for the same. The 'Padmaavat' actor will be served notice to record his statement in connection with his nude photoshoot controversy. He has been summoned to appear before the police on August 22. A team of Mumbai Police reached his residence on Friday but couldn't serve the notice because Ranveer is not present in Mumbai right now. An FIR had been registered against Ranveer on July 26, on a complaint filed at the Chembur Police Station. Reportedly, the case was filed after receiving the complaint by an office-bearer of the NGO who had alleged that the actor hurt the sentiments of women with his nude photos. The Mumbai Police filed the FIR under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code like 292 (sale of obscene books, etc), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young people), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and provisions of the Information Technology Act. The images from Ranveer's photo shoot for Paper Magazine were posted online on July 21. In the images, Ranveer is seen wearing no clothes. In one of the images, he was seen lying on a rug naked recreating Burt Reynold's famous photograph. Meanwhile, on the work front, Ranveer was recently seen in Netflix's interactive special 'Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls' which received a positive response from netizens all over the globe.As far as films are concerned, he will next be seen in Rohit Shetty's next directorial film 'Cirkus' with Jacqueline Fernandes and Pooja Hegde. The film is slated to release on the occasion of Christmas 2022. Apart from that, Ranveer also has 'Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani' with Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan. The film is all set to hit the theatres on February 11, 2023. (ANI)
Britney Spears's ex-husband Jason Alexander has been found guilty of aggravated trespass and battery charges. According to Fox News, The Ventura County District Attorney's Office reported that Alexander pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanour charges on Thursday. Spears' home, where she and her husband Sam Asghari were getting married, was the location of Alexander's arrest on June 9. Authorities claim that Alexander, who was not invited to the wedding, assaulted a security guard who tried to eject him from the event after he refused to leave and damaged a door. Britney Spears fired back at ex-husband Kevin Federline Saturday night over an interview he did, claiming their two sons are choosing not to see her. Alexander spent 64 days in the Ventura County Jail following his arrest, and on Thursday, he was given credit for time served. Additionally, he is prohibited from being within 100 yards of Spears and the involved security guard due to a criminal protective order. Childhood friends Spears and Alexander wed on a whim on January 3, 2004, early in the morning. The Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas served as the location for the wedding of the couple, who were both 22 at the time. Spears' and Alexander's marriage was annulled 55 hours later a decision Alexander says was forced by Spear's management and her mother, Lynne. The annulment claimed that Spears was "incapable of agreeing to the marriage" at the time. "We were just looking at each other and said, 'Let's do something wild, crazy. Let's go get married, just for the hell of it,'" Alexander told Access Hollywood a day after the marriage was called off. (ANI)
Bollywood actor Salman Khan has filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court against the Sessions Court's earlier order which refused to pass a restraining order against his Panvel farmhouse neighbour NRI Ketan Kakkar. In his plea before the High Court, Salman said that Ketan has made several social media posts against him which were defamatory in nature. He added that Ketan's posts are not only defamatory and derogatory against him but also communally biased and create a communal divide. The matter will be heard by a single judge bench of Bombay HC, of Justice CV Bhadang, on August 22. Earlier, in March, the Sessions Court refused to pass an injunction order against Ketan in the defamation case filed by Salman for the former's social media posts. The verdict of Sessions Court Judge AH Laddhad was pronounced on March 23, the detailed order of which came later. The verdict noted that Ketan had placed on record evidence like complaints and show-cause notices to Salman about the allegations of encroachments by the actor in his Panvel property, the 100-acre farm, in the public interest as a "whistle-blower". Notably, Kakkar has claimed that in or around 1995, he and his wife had acquired/ purchased a certain plot of land near Salman's farmhouse, for constructing a house, ashram, temple, etc. Kakkar also claimed that the plot of land allotted to him was allegedly cancelled by the Maharashtra forest department at the behest and in collusion with Khan, and also said that the entry and exit to his plot of land were illegally acquired and blocked by constructing a gate. He also claimed that he had constructed an eco-friendly Ganesh Temple, access to the same also was allegedly blocked and the said temple is grabbed/usurped by Salman's family. Salman, in his complaint, contended that, in fact, the defendants are inciting communal violence and Hindu-Muslim hatred by making provocative, baseless and false statements based on religion, which are absolutely irrelevant and absurd. (ANI)
An multinational research team led by UCL has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) programme that can identify minute brain anomalies that lead to epileptic seizures. The algorithm used in the Multicentre Epilepsy Lesion Detection project (MELD), reports the locations of abnormalities in cases of drug-resistant focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), a major cause of epilepsy, was developed using more than 1,000 patient MRI scans from 22 international epilepsy centres. Brain regions known as FCDs have evolved improperly and frequently lead to drug-resistant epilepsy. Surgery is usually used to treat it, however, finding the lesions on an MRI is a constant problem for doctors because MRI scans for FCDs can appear normal. The scientists employed about 300,000 places throughout the brain to quantify cortical properties from the MRI scans, such as how thick or folded the cortex/brain surface was. The system was then trained on cases that experienced radiologists had classified as either having FCD or being a healthy brain based on their patterns and attributes. In general, the algorithm was successful in identifying the FCD in 67% of instances in the cohort, according to the results, which were published in Brain (538 participants). Radiologists had previously been unable to uncover the abnormalities in 178 of the patients based on their MRI results; however, the MELD algorithm was able to detect the FCD in 63% of these cases. This is crucial because, if doctors can identify the anomaly in the brain scan, surgery to remove it could result in a recovery. Mathilde Ripart, a co-first author from the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, stated: "We focused on developing an AI system that was interpretable and could assist physicians in making decisions. A crucial step in that process was demonstrating to the doctors how the MELD algorithm generated its forecasts. Dr Konrad Wagstyl, a co-senior author from the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, added: "This algorithm might make it easier to identify these concealed lesions in epileptic children and adults, which would increase the number of patients who could potentially benefit from brain surgery to treat their condition and enhance cognitive function. In England, epilepsy surgery could help about 440 kids a year." Epilepsy is a severe neurological illness that affects 1% of the world's population and is marked by recurrent seizures. About 600,000 people in the UK are impacted. The majority of epilepsy patients can be treated with pharmaceuticals, although 20-30% of them do not benefit from them. FCD is the most frequent cause in children who have had surgery to treat their epilepsy, and it is the third most frequent cause in adults. Furthermore, FCD is the most frequent reason for epilepsy in people who have a brain anomaly that cannot be seen on an MRI scan. Dr Hannah Spitzer, a co-first author from Helmholtz Munich, stated: "Our system automatically learns to detect lesions from thousands of patient MRI scans. It is capable of accurately identifying lesions of various sorts, forms, and sizes, including several that radiologists had previously overlooked. Dr Sophie Adler, a co-senior author from the University College London's Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, added: "We believe that this technology may assist to discover abnormalities that are now being missed that cause epilepsy. In the long run, it might make it possible for more epilepsy patients to undergo possibly curative brain surgery. This FCD detection study makes use of the biggest MRI cohort of FCDs to date, making it capable of identifying all FCD subtypes. Study limitations The 22 hospitals involved in the study used various MRI scanners from around the world, making the algorithm more robust but also perhaps affecting its sensitivity and specificity. (ANI)
Every eight minutes a woman succumbs to breast cancer in India and with 165,000 new cases being annually reported, breast cancer has overtaken cervical cancer to become the commonest cancer affecting women in the country, said leading breast surgeon Dr P. Raghu Ram. "Even more alarming is that, when compared to the West where breast cancer presents most often after 50 years, in India, breast cancer presents at least a decade earlier with peak incidence in younger women between 40-50 years. More than 70 per cent present in the advanced stages," said Ram, the Director of KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases. In his address at 10th annual Conference of The Association of Breast Surgeons of India (ABSICON 2022), inaugurated by KNR University of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor, Dr Karunakar Reddy, Ram said since breast cancer can't be prevented, the only way to fight the disease is through early detection. The government must focus upon creating much more awareness about the importance of early detection by addressing the "taboo" issue surrounding the disease, particularly in rural India where more than 70 per cent of the population reside in addition to streamlining the pan-India implementation of the population-based Breast Cancer Screening programme, which is already functional through the National Health Mission, he said. Ram said that the Association of Breast Surgeons of India (ABSI) must play a lead role in developing the concept of breast care nurses, who will play a pivotal role in supporting, comforting and reassuring patients and their relatives. "I look forward to ABSI evolving into a truly multidisciplinary organisation with integration of breast radiologists and breast pathologists in its fold, who are, in fact, the eyes and ears to a breast surgeon," he said. The ABSI represents general surgeons, surgical oncologists and plastic surgeons and has rapidly emerged to become the voice for surgeons all over India practicing the art and science of breast surgery. For the first time, it is ABSI is partnering with The Association of Breast Surgery in the UK (ABS UK), and the Breast Imaging Society of India (BISI), which represents radiologists. Ram, who is Chairman of Organising Committee for ABSICON 2022, said a conscious effort has been made to bring together three Associations under one platform to emphasise the importance of multidisciplinary care in assessment and management of breast cancer. ABSI President Dr S.P. Somashekhar commended Ram for his outstanding leadership role in nurturing ABSI since its inception. "Most breast cancer surgeries in the country are done by general surgeons. I am proud of the various initiatives implemented by the Association to improve the knowledge and skill sets of Surgeons, particularly in smaller towns across India through the implementation of ABSI Training Module in addition to funding bright young surgeons to train at world renowned centres of excellence in the UK." Dr Karunakar Reddy said he was happy to note that the three-day conference will deliberate about the best evidence based practice guidelines covering every aspect of breast cancer care, advocacy, early detection and benign non cancer related breast health issues as well. --IANS ms/vd ( 526 Words) 2022-08-12-19:04:08 (IANS)
Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Giriraj Singh has agreed to allocate additional 8 lakh houses to Odisha under PMAY scheme. This was decided at a meeting held between Singh and Odisha Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Minister Pradip Kumar Amat in presence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the national capital on Thursday. Issues related to implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) in the state have been resolved at the meeting. "There should be transparency, no corruption and proper monitoring on implementation of the PMAY scheme. All genuine beneficiaries should be included under the PMAY-G and the ineligible persons should be removed from the scheme," Singh told reporters. During the meeting, Singh raised concerns over several irregularities flagged by the Central team of the rural development ministry that visited Odisha to verify and review the status of PMAY (G) scheme in the state. There were as many as 37 per cent anomalies in the list of beneficiaries, discrepancies in uploading data on was - soft website, fudging in beneficiaries bank account numbers, transfer of funds to non-eligible persons and denying benefits to legitimate individuals. Singh also raised serious objections to the change of logo of the PMAY-G which is against the scheme guidelines. The Union Minister also advised the state to put up the PMAY logo of the central government on the houses. "He (Amat) will inform Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik about the advice and I will take further action after receiving a letter from the CM," said Singh. He further said the union rural development ministry, together with the state government, has a target to provide houses to the more than 8 lakh beneficiaries in Odisha. The tribal and backward districts should be accorded priority. It was agreed in the meeting that anomalies pointed out by the Central team will be resolved and punitive action will be initiated against fraudulent beneficiaries and complicit officials. Speaking to the reporters, Amat said the state government has dismissed 22 officials from services while 44 officers have been suspended and actions have been taken against 268 other employees. The Odisha government does not tolerate corruption and would take stringent action against corrupt officials, he said. --IANS bbm/pgh ( 382 Words) 2022-08-11-22:30:03 (IANS)
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, in his capacity as Chairman of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), ordered on Thursday to register an FIR against 11 former DDA officials in a nine-year-old case of financial misappropriation and violation of Codal Formalities, CPWD Works Manual and GFR, which was reported in 2013. The retired DDA officials include a chief engineer, superintendent engineer and executive engineer while the other officials were from the finance and accounts departments. The officials facing action include Abhay Kumar Sinha, then Member (Engineering); Venkatesh Mohan, then Member (Finance); Om Prakash, CE (Retd); Nahar Singh, SE (Retd); JP Sharma, EE (Retd); PK Chawla, Dy CAO (Retd); Jasvir Singh, AAO (Retd); SC Mongia, AAD (Retd); SC Mittal, AE (Retd); RC Jain, AE (Retd); and Dilbagh Singh Bains, AE (Retd). Considering the 'grave misconduct' and 'loss' to the exchequer, the LG has also ordered to "permanently withdraw the full pension benefits" of these retired officials, against the department's recommendation of withdrawing only 25 per cent of their pension. The case is related to the work for upgradation and beautification of Coronation Park at Kingsway Camp that was awarded to M/s Ajab Singh & Co in 2013. The tender cost of the work was Rs 14.24 crore, but additional works amounting to Rs 114.83 crore were carried out at Narela and Dhirpur without any sanction. According to the report, the original project cost of Rs 14.24 crore was escalated to Rs 28.36 crore and the same was further deviated with additional work, at a different location altogether, amounting to Rs 114.83 crore which was executed without any sanctioned estimate. This resulted in overall payment of Rs 142.08 crore to the agency. According to a source, the LG expressed serious displeasure and took a strict note of the manner in which the supervisory officers - Member (Engineering) and Member (Finance) - failed in their responsibility to effectively supervise their subordinate officials, which resulted in the charged officers blatantly violating the provisions of CPWD Works Manual and GFR and causing avoidable loss to DDA. "From the foregoing, I am of the considered view that the entire sequence of events amounts to criminal breach of trust and the angle of corruption cannot be ruled out. Hence, it is directed to register FIR in this case against all concerned, including incumbent supervisory officers, within 15 days," the LG said in his order. --IANS avr/arm ( 411 Words) 2022-08-11-22:34:01 (IANS)
Arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal was on Thursday sent to 10-day Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody till August 20 by a special CBI court of Asansol in connection with cattle smuggling case. He reached CBI Office Nizam Palace, Kolkata from Asansol Special Court. When Mondal was taken to the court, the crowd shouted 'Chor-Chor' (thief-thief) and showed shoes to him outside the court. CBI on Thursday arrested the TMC Birbhum district president who is known to be a close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in connection with the cattle smuggling case. Earlier today, a team of CBI arrived at Mondal's residence in Birbhum's Bolpur. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 5 had sent a notice to Mondal for interrogation in connection with a cattle smuggling case, sources said. Mondal was asked to appear in the CBI office at Nizam's Palace in Kolkata on August 8. The CBI on September 21, 2020, had arrested a former Border Security Force (BSF) Commandant, in connection with illegal cattle smuggling across the India-Bangladesh border. Anubrata Mondal's name came under the scanner during the investigation of the case, the sources added. The latest development comes in the backdrop of a bitter BJP-TMC fight over a case being investigated by central agencies. Former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was earlier arrested by the ED following which the TMC government removed him from the cabinet. The court had sent Partha Chatterjee to judicial custody till August 18 in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam. The ED sleuths have recovered around Rs 50 crore in cash, along with jewellery, from Arpita Mukherjee's two flats in southwest Kolkata and Belghoria. The arrest of Partha Chatterjee followed after Rs 21 crore in cash and jewellery worth above Rs 1 crore were recovered from the Kolkata residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of the former education minister. The ED raided Arpita Mukerjee's house in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam. Earlier, Rs 20 crore was recovered from her residence in South Kolkata. ED officials also conducted a raid at the residence of businessman Manoj Jain in Ballygunge. Jain is reportedly an aide of state minister Partha Chatterjee. While the BJP has attacked the TMC government accusing it of corruption, the TMC has claimed that there was an attempt to tarnish the party's image. (ANI)
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that the Aguada Jail and the museum which is dedicated to the freedom struggle along with galleries will be opened for the general public from September 1. He hoisted the national flag at Aguada Jail and received the Guard of Honour at a function organised by the Government of Goa to commemorate the "Har Ghar Tiranga" Campaign as part of the ongoing "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" being held to celebrate 75 years of the country's independence. Highlighting the rich history preserved at renovated Aguada Jail in Goa, Chief Minister said, "The renovated Aguada Jail and the museum which is dedicated to the freedom struggle along with galleries, will be open for the general public from September 1, 2022, and informed that students will get free entry in the renovated Aguada jail museum for one year as part of ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav." He urged the students to visit the Aguada Jail museum to understand the rich history of Goa. Further, he informed that 75 freedom fighters who sacrificed their life for Goa's liberation will be given a certificate of Honour on August 15. Earlier, the Chief Minister felicitated five freedom fighters on the occasion. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo, MLA & GTDC Chairman Ganesh Gaonkar, Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel, DGP Jaspal Singh IPS and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. The 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign is part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,' which will be held from August 13 to 15 to commemorate India's 75th anniversary of independence. 'Har Ghar Tiranga' is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India's independence. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of India's people, culture and achievements. The program envisages inspiring Indians everywhere to hoist the national flag at their home. The aim of the programme is to make the relationship with the national flag a more personal one rather than just keeping it formal or institutional. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and promote awareness about the tri-colour. (ANI)
Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui's proposed show in Hyderabad has once again triggered a row with a BJP MLA from the city threatening to stop the programme and beat up the artiste. BJP MLA T. Raja Singh has warned that if the comedian goes ahead with the show, he would beat him up and burn down the venue. A video of the controversial MLA threatening the comedian has surfaced on social media, in which he alleged that Faruqui had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus by making jokes on their gods. The BJP MLA's warning came a day after Munawar took to his Instagram account to announce his show -- 'Dongri to Nowhere' -- in Hyderabad on August 20. He had earlier planned to perform in Hyderabad in January but the show had to be cancelled due to a surge in Covid-19 cases. "In the past too, our i***t minister KTR had offered police protection and invited him, saying his event will be a great success. But even then, when Hindu groups across Telangana united to threaten him, he got scared and cancelled the event," Raja Singh said. "I am seriously telling this. Everybody knows about the law and order situation in Telangana. I am telling KTR, if you don't want it to deteriorate further, don't allow the comedian in Hyderabad," the MLA from Goshamahal said. The BJP leader went on to issue an open threat, saying: "See what will happen if they invite him. Wherever the programme is, we will go and beat him up. Whoever offers him a venue, we will burn it down. If something goes wrong, KTR and the government and police officers will be responsible." The BJP leaders had issued similar threats in January when Munawar had planned to perform. However, the show had to be cancelled due to the restrictions imposed on public gatherings in view of a surge in Covid cases. Faruqui had announced his Hyderabad show on December 22, 2021, days after minister KTR had extended him an open invite. The stand-up comedian had earlier tweeted that he was receiving several calls and mails from Hyderabad to perform in the city. KTR had extended an open invitation to him to come to perform in Hyderabad, saying the city is truly cosmopolitan. KTR had taken a jibe at the BJP government in Karnataka, after shows by stand-up comedians Faruqui and Kunal Kamra were cancelled in Bengaluru over threats from some right-wing groups. --IANS ms/arm ( 421 Words) 2022-08-11-23:24:02 (IANS)
Odisha Government has decided to distribute the 30 lakh national flag to the people of Odisha free of cost to celebrate the country's 75th anniversary of Independence. "As the whole country is going to celebrate "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav" to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence, the Odisha Government has decided to provide the national flag to the people of Odisha free of cost," the official statement reads. It further said that the women of Mission Shakti have prepared 30 lakh national flags which will be distributed to the people. "There is great enthusiasm among the people of the country, to mark the occasion, extensive preparations are being made for this at the government and private levels. The women of Mission Shakti have prepared 30 lakh national flags which will be distributed to the people of State and for this, the State Government has provided them with a financial grant." Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements. This Mahotsav is dedicated to the people of India who have not only been instrumental in bringing India thus far in its evolutionary journey but also hold within them the power and potential to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The official journey of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commenced on March 12, 2021, which started a 75-week countdown to our 75th anniversary of independence and will end post a year on August 15, 2023. As part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,' the government is also running a 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign, which will be held from August 13 to 15 to commemorate India's 75th anniversary of independence. 'Har Ghar Tiranga' is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India's independence. The program envisages inspiring Indians everywhere to hoist the national flag at their home. The aim of the programme is to make the relationship with the national flag a more personal one rather than just keeping it formal or institutional. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and promote awareness about the tri-colour. (ANI)
Union Minister of State for Cooperation BL Verma will address the valedictory session of the conference.

Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation Gyanesh Kumar, NAFSCOB Chairman Konduru Ravinder Rao and NAFSCOB Managing Director Bhima Subrahmanyam shall also be present.

An official release said that the short-term cooperative credit structure in India comprises 34 State Cooperative Banks, 351 District Central Cooperative Banks and 96,575 PACS.

The National Federation of State Cooperative Banks was established on May 19, 1964, with the broad objective to facilitate the operations of state and central cooperative banks and the development of a short-term cooperative credit structure.

NAFSCOB provides a common forum to its members and their affiliates, shareholders and owners to project their achievements, focus their concerns and promote their interests.

Amit Shah will also present Performance Awards to select State Cooperative Banks, District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) and PACS, and felicitate a few short-term cooperative credit institutions for 100 years of service.

The release said that the government has been working for the betterment of agriculture and rural areas and as the government's investment in agriculture infrastructure increases, so does the role and potential of cooperatives. (ANI)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday said the Delhi government cannot give cash rewards to Commonwealth Games bronze medal winner Divya Kakran as she represents Uttar Pradesh. His statement came after Indian wrestler Kakran, accused the Delhi government of not giving any kind of help because of which she was forced to move to Uttar Pradesh. "Player lives in Delhi but has only played for the state till 2016-17. As for respect, CM called her in 2018 respectfully. We can't give her cash rewards as she represents UP but we have always respected her," said AAP MLA over allegations by Divya. Addressing a press conference, Kakran said, "I moved to Delhi in 2001 and in 2006, I started practising wrestling. I am putting up in Gokalpur for the last 22 years. My father somehow managed to provide me with training for wrestling. I earned money by competing with boys but the Delhi government did not provide any assistance. I went to UP only when our family, suffered and cried a lot due to our financial condition." Kakran further said she won numerous medals for Delhi. "In 2011 I won bronze for Delhi. Till 2017, I got 58 medals and all for Delhi. Only Manoj Tiwari came to us and gave me 3 lakh, That money helped me a lot," she said. She said that had received the Rani Lakshmi Bai award from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a cheque of Rs 3,11,000. Meanwhile, BJP national spokesperson Shahzad Poonawalla said the verbal fight between the AAP government and wrestler Divya Kakran was an insult to athletes, youth, and the Tricolour. Addressing a press conference held by the BJP, Poonawalla said, "A topic has come to the fore in which the players of the country, the women of the country, the honour of our sisters have been insulted. The sisters of the country, the players of the country, and the national flag have been insulted. I am placing the subject in front of everyone on behalf of the party." "The only mistake Kakran made that she told the truth to Kejriwal. Our daughter, our sister, who made the country proud, if she spoke the truth, then the entire social media infrastructure of the Aam Aadmi Party got dominant," he said. Poonawalla also slammed AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj saying, "Earlier AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj questioned the player, who brought laurels to our country, are you not from Delhi? I thought you are from Uttar Pradesh. The player plays under the name of a country's flag, and respects India. CWG people do not sit in the provinces, AAP leaders say that you are not from Delhi, you are from Uttar Pradesh. You show proof, this is the process of asking for proof as they had asked for proof from our jawan. When did the surgical strike happen, proof from the jawan who defended India's flag." The controversy erupted after, Kakran won bronze in the women's 68 kg freestyle category on August 6 and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated her. In a reply to Kejriwal's tweet, she expressed disappointment with the Delhi Government highlighting that she didn't receive any help from the state even after residing in the national capital for years. "I thank Delhi CM from the bottom of my heart for congratulating me on my victory. I have a request. I have been living and practising in Delhi for the last 20 years, but I neither received any prize money nor did I get any help from the state Arvind Kejriwal." "I request you that I will be felicitated in the same manner you honour other Delhi wrestlers even if they represent other states," she said in another tweet. The Aam Aadmi Party government responded to Kakran saying it respects all sportspersons but clarified that Kakran currently represents Uttar Pradesh. Taking to Twitter, Bharadwaj said, "Sister the whole country is proud of you. But I don't remember that you play for Delhi. You have always been playing for Uttar Pradesh. But the player is the country. You do not expect respect from Yogi Adityanath ji. I think the Chief Minister of Delhi will definitely listen to you." He further said, "Maybe I am wrong, but when I searched, I found that you have always been playing for Uttar Pradesh, not from Delhi state. Today the whole country is proud of you. I pray to God that you go ahead." In response, Kakran informed that she represented Delhi between 2011 and 2017 and also shared a photo of her certificate as proof. She further said that if he still does not believe her then she is ready to share other screenshots of her 17 gold medal certificates won for the national capital. Indian grappler Divya Kakran clinched a bronze medal in the Women's Freestyle 68 kg in the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 after defeating Tiger Lily Cocker Lemalie of Tonga. Kakran defeated Lemalie 2-0 in the bronze medal match. Kakran bagged the medal in only 26 seconds via Victory by Fall. (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh Police on Wednesday said that a video of Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP from Hindupur Gorantla Madhav, which went viral over the last week, is not original. "The video of Hindupur MP Gorantla Madhav is deemed as not original based on the forensic analysis report," said Fakkeerappa Kaginelli, Anantapur Superintendent of Police (SP). While addressing the press conference Kaginelli said that the video was shot on someone's phone and is not the original video. Based on the forensics analysis report, the police are on the hunt for the source of the video and to nab the accused. "According to the complaint filed by K Ramaiah, Anantapuram MP Konatalapalli Venkateswara Rao's father, the video has been deemed as not original, in a way that harms the image of Hindupuram MP Gorantla Madhav. The video went viral on social media on the 4th of this month," the SP said. The SP noted that the video that went viral on social media, was first posted in the iTDP official WhatsApp group at 02:07 midnight on August 4 from the number +44744370..... He added that there could be a hand of TDP members in propagating this video on social media. "Moments before this video was posted, the number + 44744370... was added in the iTDP official WhatsApp group. Since the number that posted the video for the first time on social media is an international number, we will first collect the details of the person related to that number and investigate his involvement in the case," the SP, noted. On Thursday, a video of MP Gorantla Madhav went viral on social media, to which a complaint was filed with the Hindupur police and the MP demanded a thorough investigation in this regard. Earlier on Wednesday, the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party (TDPP) lodged a complaint with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Madhav, demanding stringent action against him. The TDP MPs Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu and Kanakamedala Ravinda Kumar told media persons in New Delhi that the YSRCP is only trying to divert the issue of its party MP and the party has become a master in diversion politics. "The YSRCP is always interested only in bailing out the party leaders, including Madhav, from the criminal cases and thus, they filed a complaint against the YSRCP MP with the Lok Sabha Speaker. We are confident that the Lok Sabha Speaker will act on our letter," they added. (ANI)
Within a short span of ten days, India Post has sold more than 1 crore national flags, through its 1.5 lakh post offices as well as online, to citizens, informed the Ministry of Communications on Thursday. "Department of Posts (DoP) with its omnipresent network of 1.5 lakh post offices, has taken the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' programme to every citizen of the country. Within a short span of 10 days, India Post has sold more than 1 crore national flags, through post offices as well as online, to citizens," the statement said. These Flags have been sold by the Department at a very economical price of Rs 25. "For online sale, the Department has provided free doorstep delivery to any address across the country; more than 1.75 lakh flags have been purchased online by the citizens through the ePost Office facility. The postal department is selling the tricolour for Rs 25 apiece," the ministry said. It said that 4.2 lakh strong Postal employees across the country have enthusiastically propagated the message of "Har Ghar Tiranga" in cities, towns and villages, in border areas, in LWE Districts, and in mountainous and Tribal areas. "Through Prabhat Pheris, Bike Rally and Choupals sabhas, India Post has taken the message of "Har Ghar Tiranga" to every section of the society. Social Media tools like Twitter and Facebook have also been extensively used for spreading the message of the programme among digitally connected citizens," it said. The sale of the National Flag through Post Offices is open till 15 August 2022. "Citizens can walk in, to the nearest Post Offices or visit the e-post office (epostoffice.gov.in) and obtain their National Flag and become a part of the "Har Ghar Tiranga" campaign. Citizens can also take a selfie with the Flag and upload it on www.harghartiranga.com and register their participation in the largest celebration of New India," it added. The 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign is part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,' which will be held from August 13 to 15 to commemorate India's 75th anniversary of independence. 'Har Ghar Tiranga' is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India's independence. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of India's people, culture and achievements. The program envisages inspiring Indians everywhere to hoist the national flag at their home. The aim of the programme is to make the relationship with the national flag a more personal one rather than just keeping it formal or institutional. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and promote awareness about the tri-colour. (ANI)
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday congratulated the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB) on its phenomenal turnaround. According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the bank which had suffered a loss of around Rs 46 crore in just four years has earned a profit of Rs 87 crores in the financial year 2021-22. The Minister expressed his profound happiness that this also happens to be the highest ever profit earned by the bank. Thakur reiterated the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Government is steadfast in its efforts to merge the spirit of Cooperation with the Spirit of 'Azadi ka Amritkaal'. "The Prime Minister has categorically stated that the Government is working to ensure that cooperative societies become competitive in the market and get a level playing field and reduction in taxes on cooperatives is a move towards that goal, the Minister recalled. The remarkable achievement of the bank will further the motto of "Sahkarita Se Samriddhi" (Prosperity Through Co-operation)," he said. The Minister acknowledged the growth of the bank in the last four years and said the bank has seen a substantial increase in enrolment of customers under various social security schemes. He congratulated all the 1,400 employees of the bank whose dedication to serving the bank's over 17 lakh customers has resulted in an impressive growth of over Rs 3000 crores in the last four years. The KCCB was issued a Certificate of Registration in 1920 and started operations in March of the same year. The bank currently has 26 branches with its Head Office at Dharamshala. During the last four years, the bank has seen tremendous growth in various indicators. Investments of the bank have increased by Rs 2324 crore while reserve funds have grown by Rs 26 crores. The Net Profit has increased to Rs 87.53 Crore in the financial year ending March 31, 2022, compared to Rs 4.55 Crore as on 31st March 2018. (ANI)
The deceased labourer was identified as Mohd Amrez, hailing from Bihar's Madhepura.

Soon after being shot, he was shifted to the hospital for treatment where he died.

"During intervening night, #terrorists fired upon & injured one outside #labourer Mohd Amrez S/O Mohd Jalil R/O Madhepura Besarh #Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, #Bandipora. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he succumbed," tweeted Kashmir Zone Police this morning.

This comes a day after three army personnel died while neutralising two terrorists who attempted to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Rajouri on Thursday.

Subedar Rajendra Prasad, Rifleman Manoj Kumar and Rifleman Lakshmanan D made the supreme sacrifice for the country during the operation on Thursday morning.

However, the Army personel managed to foil the suicide bomb attack at its basecamp and killed both the terrorists. (ANI)
Karnataka Police on Friday said that more than 25 people were taken into custody in Hulihyder village, in connection with a clash that broke out between two communities in the Koppal district on Muharram. "More than 25 people were taken into custody in Hulihyder village related to the violence which occurred at the time of Muharram. Investigation going on," said Arunagshu Giri, Superintendent of Police, Koppal. The SP also informed that two people were killed in the alleged clash between two communities and assured that persons involved in the violence will be booked "We will book the cases. We have come to know that two groups allegedly indulged in this incident, of which two people have died. We will file the First Information Report," he said. He said, "We have deployed the police and have asked to impose Section 144 in the area for seven days." According to police, two people-- identified as Pasha Walli (22) and Yenakapaa Talavad (60) succumbed to their injuries at the hospital, while other six persons were also reported injured in the clash that took place on Thursday. The clash took place after a Hindu boy went to meet a Muslim girl on the occasion during a Muharram programme, following which an argument broke out between the groups. Right after that the people from both communities joined in and started beating each other, which resulted in the clashes. Further investigation is underway. (ANI)
Amid his ongoing legal battle against Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased a potential social media site of his own as a competitor for Twitter. While responding to a question from one of his followers, Musk dropped a cryptic tweet, hinting at a potential new social media platform 'X.com'. On Tuesday, a social media user asked the billionaire tech tycoon whether he had given any thought to creating his own social platform. Musk, who is quite active on Twitter, noticed the question and responded by just writing "X.com". X.com used to be the domain name of a startup Musk founded two decades ago, which he later merged with financial services company PayPal. In fact, last week, Musk talked about the website during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting last week as well. "I do sort of have a grander vision for what I thought X Corporation could have been back in the day. It's a pretty grand vision and of course that could be started from scratch but I think Twitter would accelerate that by three to five years," Musk had reportedly said. The tweet comes at a time when Musk is involved in a high-stakes legal battle with Twitter. ' Twitter recently sued Musk after he decided to back out of the USD 44 billion takeover deal. In April, Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter at USD 54.20 per share in a transaction valued at approximately USD 44 billion. However, Musk put the deal on hold in May to allow his team to review the veracity of Twitter's claim that less than 5 per cent of accounts on the platform are bots or spam. Back in June, Musk had openly accused the microblogging website of breaching the merger agreement and threatened to walk away and call off the acquisition of the social media company for not providing the data he has requested on spam and fake accounts. Musk alleged that Twitter is "actively resisting and thwarting his information rights" as outlined by the deal, CNN reported, citing the letter he sent to Twitter's head of legal, policy and trust, Vijaya Gadde. Musk demanded that Twitter turn over information about its testing methodologies to support its claims that bots and fake accounts constitute less than 5 per cent of the platform's active user base, a figure the company has consistently stated for years in boilerplate public disclosures. (ANI)
The Fire Brigade officials of Mumbai have recovered the body of one of the two persons who drowned in the creek at SV Road and Sea Link Road Junction in the Bandra West area. The body was found floating in the creek near Reclamation Flyover. The deceased was identified as Javed Alam Shaikh. "It was learnt that the body of one Javed Alam Shaikh who drowned on August 11 (as per rescue service call at 2333 hours) was found floating in the creek near Reclamation Flyover Bridge. The body was removed using the manilla rope and then handed over to the Police," Fire Brigade officials said. However, the body of the other person who drowned in the creek is yet to be found. More details are awaited. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia launched an attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging that he lied about MNREGA, while also adding that the Aam Aadmi Party chief has "made a record of telling lies". BJP spokesperson on Thursday held a press conference to counter the statement made by Kejriwal over Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). "The first lie Arvind Kejriwal said that the amount of MNREGA has been cut by 25 per cent while truth is that this scheme provides 100 days of work to the poor, farmer and labourer. There are no such cuts on this," Bhatia said. In an additional attack, a BJP spokeperson claimed that Arvind Kejriwal set a new standard for lying. Kejriwal's Delhi model has failed that's why he is misleading the public about cutting the MNREGA budget. By raising its budget and ensuring that every rupee goes directly into the designated account and that there is no corruption, the MNREGA was made more effective, Bhatia said. While countering the statement over the MNREGA budget cut, Bhatia claimed that the budget of MNREGA in 2021-22 was 73,000 crores and due to the pandemic, this budget was increased by 25,000 crores to 98,000 crores. "You (Arvind Kejriwal) made an unscrupulous allegation that till now the Central government used to collect tax and give 42 per cent to the states, for the last few years it has been cut from 13 to 29 per cent. Now let me tell you that the Finance Commission has decided that for five years, it will remain at 42 per cent of all the states," he said. On Thursday, Kejriwal slammed the Centre saying that the money collected from taxes is for serving the people of the country and not for waiving loans of politicians' friends. He held a press conference to counter the statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day. PM Modi said, "Instead of following short-cuts, our government is engaged in permanent solutions to the problems. A lot has been said about the problem of stubble burning over the years. But those with a short-cut mentality could not solve it". Delhi CM countered by saying, "Never in the past 75 years has the government taxed basic food grains. Tax over petrol and diesel is over Rs 1,000 crore. They're now saying all free things by the government should end, and fees should be charged in govt schools and hospitals. They're saying free rations to be stopped." "It is for the first time in the history of the country that the Centre, justifying their Agnipath Yojna, said they're doing it so they do not have to pay pensions to defence persons anymore. The Centre has time and again repeated that they don't have money, and has decreased money that was given to states. Tax being collected is much higher as compared to 2014 but they have no money. Where is the money going?" Kejriwal asked. (ANI)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who broke ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined hands with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), said on Friday that he had no prime ministerial aspirations but was only working to bring the entire opposition together. "I say this with folded hands, I have no such thoughts...My work is to work for everyone. I will make an effort to see that all the Opposition parties walk and work together. If they do, it will be good," Kumar told reporters here when asked whether he was a possible prime ministerial candidate of the opposition. Nitish Kumar was sworn chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday after he resigned from the post a day earlier and quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took an oath as deputy chief minister. The Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar will go for a floor test on August 24 to prove its majority in the state assembly.The decision to hold the floor test on August 24 and make a suitable recommendation for convening the state assembly was taken at a cabinet meeting attended by Kumar and Yadav on Wednesday. Sources said that expansion of the cabinet is likely to take place on August 16 and RJD will have more ministers than the Janata Dal-United. Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance has the support of 164 members in the assembly. Nitish Kumar broke his alliance with the BJP for the second time in eight years on Tuesday before joining hands with RJD and other parties in the Mahagathbandhan including the Congress and Left parties. The Grand Alliance also has the support of Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), which has four MLAs in the Assembly. BJP has accused Nitish Kumar of "disrespecting" the mandate given by the people of Bihar. BJP and JD-U had fought the assembly polls together in 2020. Nitish Kumar was made Chief Minister though the BJP won more seats. Sources said that Congress is likely to have 2-3 representatives in the cabinet and HAM may get one berth. (ANI)
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday called the recent tie-up of Nitish Kumar's JD(U) with Mahagathbandhan "a natural alliance and not a deal", and also claimed that Bihar will be the largest government jobs providing state within a month. Speaking to the reporters in the national capital where he reached on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan to meet his father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi said, "It's a natural alliance, not a deal. This is the real 'Mahagathbandhan' which was formed by Lalu Yadav Ji and Nitish Kumar. We welcomed Nitish Kumar's decision and came together." Talking about the timeline of the fulfilment of his promises of providing jobs to the youth of the state, the Deputy CM said that it will only be done after the trust vote in the Assembly. "We do not do BJP-style politics that we will threaten and buy the leaders. We will provide jobs, let the trust vote be over. We are very serious about this issue. Within one month, you will see that Bihar will be the single-largest job-giving state in government jobs," he said. Meanwhile, soon after being sworn in as the Deputy of Nitish Kumar on Wednesday, Tejashwi assured that the new government will address unemployment and poverty on a priority. Speaking to mediapersons Yadav stressed that the Chief Minister felt the pain of the poor. "Bihar did what the country needs to do. We have shown them a way. Our fight has been against unemployment. Our CM felt the pain of the poor and the youth. We will give bumper jobs within one month to poor and youth, it'll be something so grand that it has never happened before," Tejashwi Yadav told ANI. He also highlighted his confidence in the Mahagathbandhan and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be cornered as the opposition in Vidhan Sabha. "Mahagathbandhan is so strong that BJP would be only one left for Opposition in Vidhan Sabha... The difficult decision taken by CM Nitish Kumar is a decision which was needed. Communal tensions were being spread by BJP, they were trying to kill regional parties," he added. (ANI)
The Kochi Police have initiated the "1 lakh download challenge of the "Nirbhayam" app and encouraged women to download it. Kochi Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) S Sasidharan said a program was organized to promote the 'Nirbhayam' app launched by the Kerala police to ensure women's safety. The Kerala Police launched this app with the aim of bringing the violence against women in various situations and the adverse situations they face to the notice of the police as soon as possible and providing them with the necessary assistance and facilities. "The Kerala Police developed this app in order to bring violence against women in diverse contexts and the challenging circumstances they encounter to the police's attention as soon as possible and to provide them with the aid and facilities they require," DCP said. "Women must download this app on their Android phones and submit their details. By implementing this, once an emergency situation occurs, we will be able to quickly receive information at the police control room after hitting a button on this Nirbhayam app," Sasidharan said. Within ten days, it is anticipated that at least one lakh individuals would download it, transforming our culture into one that protects women, he added. Kochi police have set up kiosks in the city with the QR code of this app to encourage women to download it. Last year, Kerala Police launched the app. (ANI)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested the ninth accused in connection with the brutal daylight killing of Rajasthan's Udaipur-based tailor Kanhaiyya Lal Teli in June this year. A 41-year-old Muslim Khan, a resident of Rajasthan's Pratapgarh district, was arrested on August 10 for his "active role in the conspiracy", the NIA said on Friday. Earlier, eight accused persons were arrested in the case on June 29, July 1, July 4, July 9 and July 21. The case pertains to the killing of Kanhaiyya Lal Teli, 47, at his shop in Maldas Street in Udaipur on June 28. The victim was killed as he reportedly had shared a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma-- former BJP leader who had made controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad. The case was initially registered on June 29 at Udaipur's Dhanmandi Police Station. The NIA re-registered the case on June 29 and took over the probe. The main killers involved in the case-- Riyaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad-- were taken into custody on June 29 by Rajasthan Police and then by the NIA during the investigation of the case. NIA FIR mentions that "assailants involved in the 'brutal' murder of Kanhaiyya, circulated a video of the assault with assertion to promote "enmity on religious ground" and to create "panic and terror" amongst the masses across the country. The FIR is based on the complaint of Kanhaiyya's son Yash Teli, a resident of Rajasthan's Housing Board Colony, regarding the brutal killing of his father by two assailants-- Riyaz Akhtari and Ghouse Mohammad-- armed with sharp weapons at his shop 'Suprim Tailor', Bhoot Mahal Maaldas street, Udaipur. Two workers of the shop were also injured by the assailants in the incident, mentions the FIR. The brutal killing took place on June 28 (Tuesday) between 3 pm and 3.30 pm, and the information was received at NIA through an order issued by the MHA's Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization Division (CTCR) on June 29. Soon after committing the crime, the two accused, both residents of Udaipur, posted a video on social media boasting about the "beheading" and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life as well. (ANI)
Two hundred children participated in a National Flag rally organised as a part of the Har Ghar Tiranga initiative led by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in the Shamshabad area of Hyderabad's Hamidullah Nagar. The event was conducted in the district as a part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The Assistant Commandant of Sheikpet Damodhar Singh told ANI that they have conducted a Tiranga Rally and will be planting saplings to celebrate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. "As a part of the Har Ghar Tiranga programme, called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we gave small Indian National Flags to the kids and also made them aware of its significance," Singh said. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements. This Mahotsav is dedicated to the people of India who have not only been instrumental in bringing India thus far in its evolutionary journey but also hold within them the power and potential to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The official journey of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commenced on March 12, 2021, which started a 75-week countdown to our 75th anniversary of independence and will end post a year on August 15, 2023. As part of the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,' the government is also running a 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign, which will be held from August 13 to 15 to commemorate India's 75th anniversary of independence. 'Har Ghar Tiranga' is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India's independence. The program envisages inspiring Indians everywhere to hoist the national flag at their home. The aim of the programme is to make the relationship with the national flag a more personal one rather than just keeping it formal or institutional. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and promote awareness about the tri-colour. Notably, Indians were only allowed to hoist their National Flag only on some specific occasions, but it eventually changed after the industrialist Naveen Jindal culminated in the 23 January 2004 landmark judgement of the Supreme Court, which declared the Right to Fly the Indian National Flag with respect and dignity as a Fundamental right as mentioned in the Constitution of India. Praising PM Modi's Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, Jindal has also appealed to the countrypersons to make 'Har Ghar Tiranga' their motto. (ANI)
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey has moved the Delhi High Court for bail in connection with the National Stock Exchange phone tapping and snooping case. Pandey was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the charges of money laundering. The bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh will hear Pandey's bail plea on Tuesday next week. A trial court had recently denied him bail in the matter and said that considering the broad probability based on the material placed before the court, the involvement of the accused in the offence of money laundering as defined by the Apex Court cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, the applicant Sanjay Pandey was the top cop of Mumbai police till June 30, hence the apprehension of the Investigating agency that the applicant may influence witnesses or tamper with evidence is not unfounded, the trial court said while denying Pandey bail. In the bail plea before the trial court, Pandey stated that "he had investigated and prosecuted several high-profile and politically sensitive cases and the instant proceedings are a political fallout of honest and sincere discharge of his duties as a senior police officer." The case is clearly motivated by political considerations and it is also evident from the fact that an offence that allegedly occurred between 2009 and 2017 is being investigated in 2022 i.e., thirteen years after its purported commencement and five years after its purported closure; and that too within a week of the Applicant demitting his office, Pandey's bail petition stated. Advocate Aditya Wadhwa with Advocate Siddharth Sunil represented Sanjay Pandey and submitted that the huge delay in the registration of the said FIR raises serious doubts as to the bonafide of the investigation. It appears that the applicant (Sanjay Pandey) is arraigned in the present case, for no fault of his own, and only to fulfil some political vendetta. For ED, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju and Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta had appeared and submitted that he (Sanjay Pandey) resigned in April 2000 and there was litigation between 2001-2006 during his service. VRS was moved in 2007 and in October 2008 and he had withdrawn that. He formed a company incorporated in 2001, when this was incorporated he was still in service and even when he was not the director of the company, he attended the meeting. We have records defacto he was in control. ED further submitted that the contract came in as facade 120-B is a predicate offence held. MTNL lines were tapped. This company was a family concern and Rs 4.54 crore were the proceeds of the crime. The agency's move came after it reportedly found enough evidence in the NSE co-location scam in which it wanted to know the role of the audit company, incorporated in 2001 by a retired Mumbai Police chief, for raising a red flag that the NSE servers were compromised. The compromise had allowed one of the trading companies to get unfair access to the system, resulting in windfall profits. The case is already being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since 2018. It is alleged that the firm incorporated by Pandey was one of the IT companies tasked with conducting security audits at NSE from 2010 to 2015 when the co-location scam is believed to have taken place. (ANI)
The Delhi Police on Friday seized a consignment of smuggled ammunition that was intended to be transported to Lucknow from the national capital. The police have arrested six persons in the case, including two persons for transporting it, one gun house owner from Dehradun, one person each from Roorkee and Dehradun, and one consignment handler from Jaunpur. "Six persons including two persons transporting the consignment, a gun house owner from Dehradun, one person each from Roorkee and Dehradun and one handler from Jaunpur were arrested," Vikramjit Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP), Eastern Range, Delhi said in a press conference on the recovery of a large amount of ammunition days before the 75th Independence Day. The ACP further informed that the consignment was intended for Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and said that it prima facie appeared as a part of some criminal network. "This consignment was intended for Lucknow, UP. Prima facie, it appears to be a part of a criminal network," he added. However, no terror angle has been ruled out by the police, so far. The police had recovered a huge quantity of ammunition-- which included as many as 2,000 live cartridges-- from two bags in Anand Vihar of Delhi. DCP (East) Priyanka Sharma termed the recovery 'achievement of the police along with the civil societies under the 'Eyes and Ears scheme' of the Delhi Police. She informed that the police acted on specific input from a rickshaw puller who nudged a constable in the staff about two suspicious persons carrying heavy bags. "Acting on the information, we could nab the people, identified as Rashid alias Lallan (20) and Ajmal (20) of village Suetha Kalan in UP's Jaunpur and recovered 2,251 live cartridges from their possession. According to an official statement from the police, the ACP of Madhu Vihar proceeded to Lucknow and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh to nab the other members of the syndicate-- who were the receivers of the consignment. The team raided several places and nabbed one of the proposed receivers namely Saddam was from Village Suetha Kalan in Jaunpur. Meanwhile, another team was sent to Dehradun to find the source of the said illegal ammunition and after collecting inputs and scanning the CCTV footage at and around the locations where the consignment was allegedly exchanged, the police identified one Parikshit Negi who runs a gun house in Dehradun. On sustained interrogation, Negi revealed that he had procured the ammunition from several Gun Houses in Uttarakhand as well as other sources, and after manipulating the records of his gun house, he used to supply the ammunition to the persons accused. Negi further said that he was frequently involved in such illegal trafficking of arms and ammunition and had already supplied them to the same person 4-5 times in the past. As per the version of accused Parikshit Negi, he had already supplied thousands of cartridges to the same syndicate at different places, the statement read. During further investigation, three more members of the syndicate were identified and arrested by the teams of Delhi Police. Further investigation is underway. (ANI)
Four persons, including two women, have been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting three schoolgirls, Delhi Police said. According to the police, one of the accused took the minor girls to a house in Rohini, where they were sexually assaulted on August 6. A case has been registered at Defence Colony Police Station area under section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sections 328, 366A, 370, 376, 506, 120B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. According to the police, all the three minor girls went with the accused persons on their own will, following with they first went to a metro station and then took an auto to the place of the alleged crime. As per the preliminary investigation, the assault was committed by a single accused, the police said. The victims were rescued on August 8. "On August 6, the complainant who is a resident of Masjid Moth in New Delhi reported at the Police Station that his daughter had gone to her school in Andrews Ganj area around 7.30 am by her school Van and around 2 pm, the driver informed that the girl did not go to the school by van," the police said adding that it was further disclosed that her two other classmates were also reported missing from the school. After the thorough examination of the CCTV footage and investigation with the parents and classmates, their movement was traced from Karol Bagh, from where they were medically examined and then the prosecutrix presented a history of sexual assault. The girls stated that the accused person took them to a house in Rohini, and sexually assaulted them. Following the investigation, the police rescued the girls from Rohini and arrested four persons identified as Bangali Lal Sharma (45), Sandeep alias Shanky (36), and Jyoti (19)-- all three from Begampur-- and Ruksaana (40), resident of Qutub Garh. It was further revealed that Bangali Lal Sharma used to run a syndicate of selling the girls with Ruksaana. "He (Sharma) is the person who along with one other person had taken them to the aforesaid address and offered them drinks laced with sedatives," the police said quoting the victims' statement and added that they managed to escape the accused on August 8 when one of the accused people was trying to take them to Chandigarh. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a public meeting in Telangana's Munugode on August 21 in conjunction with the Munugode consistency bypolls, informed BJP leader K Laxman. Speaking to ANI, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP K Laxman said, Telangana politics will shift as a result of the Munugode by-election, the people are fed up with the TRS party's dominance and want Telangana to change, which can only be accomplished by the BJP. "People used to believe that Congress would be an alternative, but after watching the politics at the federal level, all of the regional parties under the Congress umbrella have united with BJP to oppose Congress," Laxman said. People in Bihar elected the BJP, but Nitish Kumar abandoned them and allied himself with the RJD, similarly, Congress is doing the same thing in Telangana, he said. He further exuded confidence in winning the Munugode constituency by-election. "Definitely, we will win Munugode bypoll. So whenever the elections are scheduled in Telangana, BJP will form the government. Telangana will become the gateway for the BJP in South India," Laxman said. "People are now aware that TRS and Congress are the same. The TRS supported a vice presidential candidate and even helped to elect a Congressman as president. Telangana, the TRS and Congress governments would work together to oppose the BJP before and after the elections," he said. "However, the people of Telangana are with BJP. With the help of the people of the state, we are sure that we are going to be an alternative and form the government in Telangana," he added. (ANI)
JD(U) president Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh on Friday said that crime was always kept under check during Nitish Kumar's rule as he rejected BJP's allegations that 'goondaraj' had returned as political propaganda. The JD(U) chief also said that Kumar would soon hold meetings with opposition leaders in Delhi in a bid to unite the opposition. His remarks came after Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar's chief minister for a record eighth time by breaking his alliance with the BJP and joining hands with rival RJD. "No Gunda raj has come back in Bihar, no village crime has increased. BJP kept on campaigning for all this. People of Bihar will show them in the 2024 elections whether crime and Goondaraj has increased or if cheaters like BJP will be sent off," Janta Dal United (JDU) National President Rajeev Ranjan Singh told ANI. Singh also laid out JDU's plans of uniting with other opposition parties. "We will definitely do it. We have requested Nitish Kumar ji and after a few days when the new government starts running smoothly, he will definitely visit Delhi and meet all the parties. He will meet the opposition leaders and tell everyone that all the parties should unite and fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party jointly," he added. He also hit out at the BJP and alleged that the latter was responsible for breaking the alliance in Bihar. "This National Democratic Alliance was born out of Atal-Advani Ji's thoughts. When Atal ji was leading the BJP and when NDA was formed in 1996, we parted in 2013. There was never any difference in NDA even for 17 seconds in 17 years. Today, the people of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who are in power, they are not ready to give respect to allies," alleged Singh. He also cleared the air for Nitish Kumar's possibility of being the Prime Ministerial candidate. "Will Nitish Kumar lead or not, is a different question. It depends on all the opposition parties. We have said that Nitish Kumar Ji is not the prime ministerial candidate but he definitely possesses the qualities required for the PM." Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar was sworn chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday after he resigned from the post a day earlier and quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took an oath as deputy chief minister. The Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar will go for a floor test on August 24 to prove its majority in the state assembly. The decision to hold the floor test on August 24 and make a suitable recommendation for convening the state assembly was taken at a cabinet meeting attended by Kumar and Yadav on Wednesday. Sources said that expansion of the cabinet is likely to take place on August 16 and RJD will have more ministers than the Janata Dal-United. Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance has the support of 164 members in the assembly. Nitish Kumar broke his alliance with the BJP for the second time in eight years on Tuesday before joining hands with RJD and other parties in the Mahagathbandhan including the Congress and Left parties. The Grand Alliance also has the support of Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), which has four MLAs in the Assembly. (ANI)
After the Karnataka High Court abolished the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), formed by the former Congress government headed by then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in 2016, and transferred all pending cases before the ACB to the Lokayukta Police division, the Aam Aadmi Party welcomed the recent order of High Court and party leaders celebrated the move by cutting a cake in front of the Lokayukta office in Bengaluru. Aam Aadmi Party's state President, Prithvi Reddy addressed the media and said, "Social activists started 'Bhrashtachar Saku' in 2010 and 2011. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too joined this movement. Later, this turned into 'India Against Corruption' movement, spreading all over the country and leading to the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party. Hence, people who suffered from corruption started supporting Aam Aadmi Party". He further said that "all those cases which are long overdue should be investigated at the earliest. "Also, Lokayukta should reopen the cases that ACB had closed by giving a clean chit. There are many examples where prominent and powerful people escaped from punishment but their corruption is well known to the world. The State Government should give full powers to empower the Lokayukta to uphold its strength," said the AAP leader. Mukhyamantri Chandru who is the Karnataka State President for Campaign Committee said that "the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched ACB in 2016 fearing Lokayukta's prosecution of his corrupt Ministers and associates. The state-sponsored ACB protected the corrupt instead of punishing them. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa promised restoration of Lokayukta powers within 24 hours. However, this step was never taken despite being in power for three years now. JDS party didn't oppose it as they too had corrupt sharks in its fold. The High Court's order has come as a shocker to all 3 parties." AAP leaders met Lokayukta and insisted on a quick investigation of pending cases so that all those guilty of corruption shall be punished soon. AAP's state spokesperson Mathai and others were present in the delegation. "We celebrated the rebirth of Lokayukta today in Bangalore. Congratulations to all involved in the movement. We have submitted a request to review the cases of influencers closed by ACB," tweeted the Karnataka AAP unit today. The Karnataka High Court on Thursday abolished the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), formed by the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah in 2016 and transferred all pending cases before the ACB to the Lokayukta Police division. In 2016, the Siddaramaiah government formed the ACB, curtailing the powers of the Lokayukta.A division bench comprising Justice B Veerappa and Justice K S Hemalekha said that all pending cases before the ACB will now get transferred to the Lokayukta Police division. The order was passed in connection with the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Chidananda Aras, advocates' association and social activist SR Hiremath's Samaj Parivartan community challenging the formation of ACB. Reacting to the High Court's order, Congress leader Siddaramaiah said, "I have not yet seen the order on the issue of High Court quashing the ACB". Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, said that only after seeing the order, he will respond. "ACB was formed by separating Lokayukta. We respect the decision of the High Court. Haven't seen what the order is. I will respond after seeing the order. ACB was an independent investigative body. ACB is there not only in Karnataka but also in many states. ACB should be in Lokayukta," said Siddaramaiah. He said that now the High Court has decided that there is no need for independent existence. (ANI)
Hours after a labourer from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday expressed condolences and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of the deceased. "The incident of killing of Mohd Amrez of Bihar by terrorists in Bandipora, Jammu and Kashmir is sad. Rs 2 lakh will be given to the kin of the deceased from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund," tweeted Kumar. "I have directed to grant kin other benefits as per rules from the schemes run by Labour Resource Department and Social Welfare Department. In Delhi, the local commissioner of Bihar was directed to make proper arrangements for transporting the body of the deceased to his native village," tweeted Kumar. The labourer from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district on the intervening night of August 11 and 12. The deceased was identified as Mohd Amrez. He was a resident of Bihar's Madhepura. "During the intervening night, #terrorists fired upon and injured one outside #labourer Mohd Amrez S/O Mohd Jalil R/O Madhepura Besarh #Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, #Bandipora. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he succumbed," Kashmir Zone Police tweeted. A policeman was injured after terrorists fired at a joint naka party of the police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir, informed the Jammu and Kashmir police on Friday. The injured policeman was immediately evacuated to a hospital for treatment. Following this, the area was cordoned off and a search is in progress. "Terrorists fired upon joint naka party of police/CRPF in #Bijbehara area of #Anantnag. In this terror incident, one police personnel got injured who was immediately evacuated to the hospital for treatment. Area cordoned off. Search in progress," tweeted the Jammu and Kashmir Police. Earlier, three Indian Army personnel on Thursday succumbed to injuries received while neutralising two terrorists who tried to carry out a suicide bomb attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri. Subedar Rajendra Prasad, Rifleman Manoj Kumar and Rifleman Lakshmanan D made the supreme sacrifice for the country during the operation Thursday morning. The Army managed to foil the suicide bomb attack on its base here and killed both the terrorists. (ANI)
A Go First flight from Bengaluru to Male (Maldives) made an emergency landing at Coimbatore airport after a faulty alarm rang due to an engine warning, informed the officials on Friday. The flight landed on an immediate basis after an engine overheat warning alarm sounded. According to airport officials' info, "Airbus 320 was landed at the Coimbatore international airport around 12 pm. The alarm went off after the twin engines allegedly overheated and the flight was safely landed. The engineers checked the engines and declared that there was some fault in the alarm and declared that the flight is fit to travel." "The plane with 92 passengers left for Male, the capital of Maldives, from Bengaluru, Karnataka today at 12:00 pm. An hour after the flight took off, the engine overheated and the warning bell sounded. Shocked by this, the pilot contacted air traffic control and requested permission to land at the nearby Coimbatore airport. Permission was granted at Coimbatore Airport. Firefighters and rescue workers were on standby after the plane landed," said the officials. The flight landed safely at the Coimbatore airport at 12.57 pm. All passengers were disembarked and the entire aircraft was searched. As per reports, there was no sign of ignition on the flight. The flight will depart for Male, the capital of Maldives, after 5 pm after following the underlined procedures. Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over air safety after three emergency landings at airports in the country in the last 48 hours. Scindia directed the officials in the meeting that, "there should be no compromise with the passengers' safety." Further, he said, "safety is the topmost paramount priority and a directive has been issued by the ministry to adhere to strictness about the safety issues and maintain the highest safety standards as per international norms." Earlier, three aircraft of international carriers made emergency landings at various airports in the country in one day recently, making it a day of technical emergencies for various airlines. A senior official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday. All emergency landings happened because of various technical issues. The Air Arabia aircraft while operating flight G9-426 from Sharjah to Cochin was involved in a Hydraulic failure. The aircraft landed safely on the runway. The aircraft has been towed to the bay. In another incident, on July 16, an aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Bangkok made an emergency landing at Kolkata airport due to a pressurisation issue. In a third similar incident, on July 15, an aircraft of Srilankan Airlines made an emergency landing at Chennai airport due to a hydraulic issue. (ANI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday felicitated 'Super-25' students of the Veer Gatha Competition and hailed the creativity of students through their entries. During this, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was also present. "I was not only very happy, but also pleasantly surprised to see your creativity. What wonderful expressions do I see in your paintings, poems, essays and videos. I saw the journey from freedom struggle till today in your entries," Singh told students. Praising further, Singh highlighted that glimpses of Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra, Manoj Pandey to Mumbai attack braveheart Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Colonel Santosh Babu, who sacrificed his life in the Galwan standoff, were seen in the entries. The Defence Minister also remarked ,"All entries were different in terms of language, creed, and custom. But there was one thing that everyone had in common, they had their own beloved country - India. They were all bound by one thread, and that thread was patriotism." Adding further, Singh said those who became immortal in history had their childhood values behind them. "Be it Veer Shivaji, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Bose or Ashfaqulla Khan, their persona was developed by such values," he mentioned. The Veer Gatha Project was organized by the Ministry of Defence in partnership with the Ministry of Education and MyGov at an all-India level from 21st October to 20th November 2021 for school students between class 3 and class 12 in all States and Union Territories as well as all schools affiliated to CBSE. The activity was organized to disseminate the details of acts of bravery and life stories of the officers/personnel of the Armed Forces among the students. The students were motivated to frame different projects in the form of poems / Paragraphs / Essays / Painting / Multimedia presentations (Enactment videos) on gallantry award winners. (ANI)
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday sharpened its verbal attack against Aam Aadmi Party over the latter's stand on freebies culture. In a fresh development, Union Minister Anurag Thakur called AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal 'Jhootmantri', the one who spreads lies. "Arvind Kejriwal is 'Jhootmantri' and spread lies and fears. He fought an election on the issue of corruption but is running a corrupt government. Their health minister is in jail, while the health system including Mohalla clinics are in shambles," told Union Minister Anurag Thakur to ANI today. The BJP has taken on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with its full force in refuting his claims about the BJP seeking withdrawal of subsidies in the education and health sectors. Kejriwal came under heavy attack from BJP on Thursday with BJP hitting out against the "perverse twist" given by him on the debate on freebies and alleging that his politics was all about "revdi (freebie) culture". BJP leader Amit Malviya said that successive governments have been caring for the poor and Kejriwal cannot claim the credit for measures taken by a welfare government. "In what seems like an inadvertent slip, Kejriwal admits that various governments, for the last 70-75 years, have been providing free education, food and healthcare to the poor. That is a welfare state. Arvind Kejriwal can't claim the credit. His politics, however, is all about 'revdi culture'," he said. BJP spokesperson RP Singh also accused Delhi Chief Minister of "unbridled spends on only ads". "Kejriwal has perfected a model which is about freebies for the certain media and allied ecosystem. Unbridled spends on only ads and ads and nothing else. This is what allows @ArvindKejriwal to blatantly lie in full public glare knowing media won't expose him," Singh said. Former Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said Kejriwal has been "resorting to lies" and said he had failed to fulfil his promises. He alleged that Kejriwal is not a man of his words. "He has become a lying machine and he is not hesitant about it. A number of times, he made a U-turn over controversial statements made by him. A number of times he has apologized for his statements. Despite this, he continues to make such remarks. Whenever the central government makes schemes, it aims to serve people for their overall development. Earlier, during the days of election campaigning, Kejriwal said 'sabke paani ke bill maaf, bijli half'. Did it happen for all people of Delhi? This is called revdi culture. He (Kejriwal) is not a man of his words," Tiwari said. The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that promising and distributing freebies by political parties during elections is a "serious issue" and an amount has to be spent on infrastructure etc. The apex court was hearing a plea seeking direction to seize election symbols and deregister political parties that promised to distribute irrational freebies from public funds. A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Krishna Murari told parties in the case: "Economy losing money and welfare of people, both have to be balanced. That is why, this debate and there must be someone who can put their vision and thoughts. Please submit something." (ANI)
Lt General Upendra Dwivedi interacted with the injured jawans at the 166 Military Hospital.

The Indian Army on Thursday foiled a suicide attack on its base in Rajouri in which two terrorists were killed while three Army troops also lost their lives. One officer and two soldiers were also injured.

"In a terrorist attack 25 km from Rajouri, two terrorists carried out a suicide attack on an Army company operating base. Both terrorists have been killed while three own troops have lost their lives," Indian Army officials had told ANI.

"One Officer along with two other jawans is injured in the terrorist attack and has been rushed for medical treatment," the Army had said.

The suicide attack on the company operating base of a Rashtriya Rifles unit in Pargal located in Darhal area of Rajouri, looks like an attempt to carry out an Uri-like attack where terrorists had infiltrated in the Army camp and killed 19 soldiers, sources said.

The attempt to infiltrate the Army camp took place days ahead of the 75th Independence Day celebration in the country.

Notably, the attack came a day after three LeT terrorists were neutralised by security forces in Budgam. One of the killed terrorists was involved in the killing of civilians Rahul Bhat and Amreen Bhat. (ANI)
On 16 August at 11:30 am, Mass singing of the national anthem will be organised in Telangana.

Ahead of the 75th Independence Day celebration, preparations and parade rehearsal was reviewed by the Chief secretary that is being carried out at Golconda Fort in Hyderabad.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar reviewed the arrangements made at Golconda Fort in the city to celebrate Independence Day. There, the Chief secretary reviewed the arrangements for the ceremony with the officials of the Police, GHMC, R&B, I&PR, Culture and Revenue Departments.

On this occasion, Somesh Kumar said that the authorities should coordinate and make arrangements to organize the independence celebrations in a grand manner.

He said, "It is a 15 days program, it started on August 8 and will continue till August 22. The Gandhi movie is screened in every theatre in Hindi and Telugu in Telangana. A freedom run was held and there is a freedom rally."

Every district and every nook and corner in Telangana will participate in this mass singing. Vehicles will stop and people should come into attention position and sing the national anthem, he added.

Somesh Kumar was accompanied by City Police Commissioner CV Anand and others. (ANI)
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal attended a public meeting at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati today as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav - a national campaign to celebrate 75 years of India's Independence. The Minister hoisted the national flag as the crowd sang the National Anthem with great pride and passion. Floral tributes were offered at the statue of Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi after which the Sonowal led a walk with enthusiastic participation from leaders and the public alike waving the tricolour and chanting 'Vande Mataram' as patriotic fervour wafted through the air. The lively atmosphere at the event reflected the mood of Jan Bhagidari as common people joined hands with everyone else to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence with pomp and grandeur. Speaking on the occasion, Sonowal said, "The tricolour is our honour, our pride and our symbol of self-respect. Let us join hands under the pious contour of the Tricolour to dedicate ourselves to the service of our country. The call by our honourable Prime Minister about "Har Ghar Tiranga" has resulted in a massive people's movement. Our Prime Minister has kept the ideals of our freedom fighters as a guiding mantra as he commits himself to rebuilding our nation. Modiji is working tirelessly to make India Vishwaguru and Atmanirbhar." "The people from all walks of life are celebrating this festival of independence in Assam under the able leadership of Chief Minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarmah. I appeal to everyone to hoist the tricolour between August 13 and 15 in their homes so as to stir up the patriotic spirit in the society," said Sonowal. This Har Ghar Tiranga event, organised at the behest of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, is part of a nationwide campaign, under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, whereby dignitaries are visiting around 400 places associated with freedom struggle & historical significance across India between August 11 August and 15, 2022. The event also remembered the horrors of partition as the Minister exhorted everyone to solemnly observe August 14 as Partition Horror Remembrance Day. At the event, family members of leading freedom fighters were honoured by Sonowal. At the meeting, the ultimate sacrifice made by braveheart Kumoli Devi, braveheart Khahuli Devi, braveheart Lerela Kachari, and braveheart Tileswari Baruah at the Dhekiajuli Police Station at the peak of the Quit India Movement in 1942 were remembered. Their family members - Devicharan Neog, Kamal Naam, Jonali Boro and Uttam Baruah - were honoured. At the event, the contribution by Freedom Fighter Robiram Kalita during the Quit India movement was also remembered when in September 1942, he was arrested for collecting money for the freedom struggle in Nagaon. The grandson of the Freedom Fighter, Pranjal Kalita received the honour from the dignitaries on the occasion. The event also remembered one of the leading leaders of the Indian Freedom Movement, Bharat Ratna Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi and Deshbhakta Tarun Ram Phookan. The respective family members Bolin Bordoloi and Shyamanta Ram Phookan were honoured on the occasion. The family members of the freedom fighters were honoured with a Gamusa, an Eri Shawl, a Cheleng Saador, a Jaapi, a Xoraai and a National flag. Sonowal said, "We won our independence because of scores of freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the country. Their sacrifice and love for the motherland is an inspiration for the people of this county. They inspire us to strengthen our country as their love for the country binds us together. With great respect, I remember those noble souls." Espousing the need for a New India, Sonowal said, "Till 2047, when India will complete 100 years of independence, we have 25 years of Amrit Kaal. Our popular leader Modiji has laid great emphasis during this time when we must invest ourselves completely and responsibly in nation building so that India becomes an Atmanirbhar and the best country in the world." Notably, Indian citizens, on earlier occasions, were prevented from hoisting the National Flag except on a select number of occasions. This changed after a decade-long legal battle by industrialist Naveen Jindal ended in the landmark Supreme Court judgement of January 23, 2004, declaring that the right to fly the National Flag freely with respect and dignity is a fundamental right of every Indian citizen within the meaning of Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India. Lauding the Centre and PM Modi for the Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign, Naveen Jindal has urged every Indian to make 'Har Din Tiranga' their motto. (ANI)
On the occasion Dhankhar said India's relationship with ASEAN is full of promise and potential, and engagement with ASEAN is a critical element of India's 'Act East' policy.

This is the first international parliamentary delegation he met in his capacity as Vice President.

Commemorating 30 years of the establishment of relations with ASEAN, Dhankhar stated that the cultural and civilizational connect between the two is visible in the monuments, architecture, languages, food habits, culture and people that have laid the foundation for a strong strategic partnership.

Dhankhar said that India is celebrating the 75th year of its Independence as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' and added that this year also marks the establishment of India's diplomatic relations with the individual ASEAN member states such as the 75th anniversary with Thailand, 70th anniversary with Cambodia, 65th anniversary with Malaysia and 50th anniversary with Vietnam.

Highlighting the importance of ASEAN as a 'gateway' into and out of the Indian Ocean region, Dhankhar said that India's relationship with ASEAN is full of promise and potential since it is one of the most economically and politically dynamic regions of the world today.

He underscored the need for deeper engagement with ASEAN given its critical interface in India's 'Act East' policy.

Recollecting the growth of India's ties with ASEAN which has been upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2012, Dhankhar expressed satisfaction about the progress of India's relationship with ASEAN ever since India became a Sectoral Partner of ASEAN in 1992.

Advocating a strong ASEAN-centered regional architecture, Dhankhar said that India fully supports ASEAN unity and centrality that provides a natural platform to promote a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo Pacific region.

The delegation led by Kittisethabindit Cheam Yeap appreciated the friendly relationship between India and ASEAN countries and hoped that such visits would further strengthen the existing bonds.

--IANS miz/bg

( 328 Words)

2022-08-12-20:14:01 (IANS)
The Madras High Court on Friday came out strongly against the practice of an orderly system in Tamil Nadu Police and called for the Director General of Police to provide a report to the court before August 18. A bench of Justice S.M. Subramaniam said that it was painful to write about the colonial orderly system in state police even when the country was celebrating its 75th year of Independence. He also expressed displeasure over a report filed in the court that only 19 orderlies were withdrawn despite the court giving time for six months to abolish the orderly system in toto. The judge said that the continued practice of using trained policemen in the residences of top police officers to perform menial work and household work at the cost of taxpayers' money was a slap on the constitution. Justice Subramaniam wondered how the policemen who were trained to shoot with guns were ultimately used to cook dosas and chapatis at the residences of top police officers of the IPS cadre. The court suo moto impleaded the state DGP in the case as a respondent and directed him to provide a report to the court before August 18, listing out the effective measures taken to abolish the orderly system in letter and spirit. The judge told Additional Advocate General, P. Kumaresan that the DGP must actually strive to abolish the orderly system by Independence Day and let his department's flag fly high before joining the nation in hosting the national flag. He also called upon the state government to have more control over the police force and to keep the top police officers also under check. Justice Subramaniam said that there was no point in punishing the constables and Sub Inspectors alone for indiscipline. He added that the government could certainly add one or two appointed residential assistants for doing household work in the residences of each top police officer, but uniformed policemen could not be used for such menial works. The Judge disclosed in the open court that he had been receiving several letters complaining about the use of orderlies in the residences of top police officers. "The Constitution of India in its spirit, philosophy, and ethos declare that every citizen of our great nation is a Queen or a King. No public servant can imagine living in a world of Mughal Emperors. The executive authorities are mere public servants," he said. --IANS aal/vd ( 420 Words) 2022-08-12-21:12:03 (IANS)
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the appointment of Saleem Baig as the chairman of the Pakistan Electronic and Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), local media reported. The Federal cabinet will approve his appointment through a circulation summary in a couple of days, ARY News reported citing sources. Earlier, Baig was appointed to the same position during the interim government in June 2018. In 2019, former Pemra chairman Baig submitted his unconditional apology in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in connection with a contempt of court case. During the hearing, Baig said that he could not even think of misusing the court's name and the notice was not issued to challenge the powers of the court. He prayed IHC for withdrawing the show-cause notice over contempt of court issued on November 1 2019, reported ARY News. This speculation came after the Sindh High Court ordered the PEMRA to immediately restore the ARY News transmission across the country. This development came after the Pakistani media portal aired a report that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has reportedly activated its strategic media cell to malign Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, referring to PTI leader Shahbaz Gill's arrest. A day after the transmission of Pakistani television station ARY News was taken off air by the country's regulatory authorities, the outlet's senior Vice President Ammad Yousaf was arrested from Karachi in the early hours of Wednesday. Meanwhile, in the recent development of Ammad Yousaf's case, the Karachi court on Thursday acquitted him. Senior Vice President of the outlet, Yousuf was produced before the Malir district Court. He was brought in an armoured vehicle and was not allowed to meet his lawyers and family members, ARY News reported. A day earlier, Yousuf's lawyer Naeem Qureshi requested the court to withdraw a First Information Report (FIR) against the head of ARY News. "We will apply for bail if the court does not withdraw the FIR," he said. According to the lawyer, the FIR against Yousuf in Karachi is illegal. "The FIR registered in Memon Goth police station is against the court decisions," he added.Yousaf while talking to the media after the decision said he was thankful to everyone who has supported ARY NEWS during the testing time. President and CEO of ARY Digital Network Salman Iqbal, Anchor persons, Arshad Sharif and Khawar Ghuman were also booked under sedition charges. On the complaint of the Station House Officer (SHO), a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered at Karachi's Memon Goth police station. According to the channel, the FIR was registered just an hour before the arrest of ARY News head Ammad Yousaf. The FIR has been registered under sections 120, 124A, 131, and 153A in which sedition and charges of plotting alleged conspiracy have been included. (ANI)
Ohio Police officers killed an armed man who tried to breach the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Cincinnati field office on Thursday. The armed man was eliminated after a long standoff and the investigation is on to find out the motive behind the breach of the highly guarded area. The investigators, looking into the case, are looking into whether that armed man had ties to extremist groups, including the one that participated in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, according to The New York Times citing two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. In what appeared to be one of his social media accounts, the suspect posted a message earlier this week, just days after federal agents searched the Florida home of former President Donald J Trump, threatening to kill employees of the FBI. The attack in Cincinnati came a day after the FBI director told the reporters that there were online threats against federal law enforcement which were "deplorable and dangerous." The man wearing body armour tried to enter the visitor screening facility around 9 am, said Todd Lindgren, an agency spokesman. After fleeing, the man headed northbound onto Interstate 71, leading officers on a car chase near Wilmington, Ohio, state Highway Patrol Lt. Nathan Dennis said as quoted by the Washington Times. Police officials first tried to negotiate with the man and then tried to take him into custody with "less-than-lethal tactics." Those efforts failed, as the officers fatally shot him after he raised a gun toward the police. The confrontation comes days after the FBI executed a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's Florida estate. Since the search, threats of violence against the FBI from Trump supporters online have increased, and Republicans have intensified criticism of the agency. Senator Rick Scott likened the government to "the Gestapo," and the New York Young Republican Club called for the arrest of those involved in the search. Residents and businesses within a one-mile radius of the standoff scene were told to lock doors and stay vigilant, according to the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency. At about 4:30 pm, the local agency said the law enforcement response ended, according to the Washington Times. In May, a Twitter user named Ricky Shiffer said he was present at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and suggested the attack was carried out by left-wing radicals in a reply comment to a photograph that showed rioters scaling the walls. "I was there," the user posted. "We watched as your goons did that." In a separate reply that day, the user referred approvingly to the Proud Boys, an extremist right-wing group, several of whose leaders face charges in the Capitol riot, in response to a comment about the Supreme Court. (ANI)
As soon as the UK decided to ban China's telecommunication Huawei, from its 5G telecoms networks, the debate regarding the security threat from Chinese equipment again intensified in the mainstream. Recently, the British government has replaced security equipment provided by Chinese-owned tech companies at offices of key government officials. This comes after the MPs and peers called on the British government to crack down on the use of surveillance equipment from two Chinese companies, Hikvision and Dahua, which have already been blacklisted by Washington, Financial Post, an American-based publication reported. However, there is one threat that has gone under the radar, the tiny components made by Chinese companies in devices connected by the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved from niche industrial applications to being ubiquitous in homes, offices and some vehicles. These technologies are great to help in our day-to-day life but it turns out to be data collectors which can be used by a hostile state such as China to influence, pressure or threaten an adversary, company or individual. All these connected functions are enabled by tiny cellular IoT modules. Unlike semiconductors or 5G base stations, they are rarely marketed as complete products, which goes some way to explaining why the risk appears to have been lost on London and Washington. According to the publication, CISA, the US cyber security agency, recently warned of critical vulnerabilities in Chinese-made GPS-enabled IoT devices in cars and motorcycles. They were found to contain hard-coded admin passwords and other flaws that would not only allow Chinese suppliers to monitor the location of these devices remotely but to potentially cut off the fuel supply while vehicles were in motion. Meanwhile, Prof. Fraser Sampson, Commissioner for the Retention and Use of Biometric Material and Surveillance Camera Commissioner welcomed the UK's move to replace the Chinese surveillance system. He told Asian Lite that other government departments would review their existing systems and will consider the clauses suggested by him in procuring surveillance and security equipment. Sampson is an expert in criminal justice and national chair of the Association of Police and Crime Chief Executives. He said that the market is flooded with privately owned and unregulated recording devices like dash cams, mobile phones, and video doorbells etc. "We don't need these many CCTV cameras in our public places. We simply need a system to compile the content and edit to make it useful for the security purpose," he said. Other rights groups are campaigning for Hikvision and Dahua to be banned in the UK due to the companies' involvement in the Chinese state's repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China. Hikvision and Dahua cameras are used in concentration camps throughout the Uyghur region. Both companies have contracts worth at least $1.2 billion for 11 separate, large-scale surveillance projects across the region. Chinese authorities have detained up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in internment camps since 2017, according to numerous investigative reports by researchers, think tanks and foreign media. (ANI)
Recent protests in China's Henan province underline the risks being faced by banks as the real estate sector continues to struggle. The real estate sector in China accounts for around 24 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), almost a quarter of the nation's GDP, according to authors Ahana Roy and Siddhant Nair contributed to Organisation for Research on China and Asia. For years the Chinese government tried to diffuse the debt fiasco and for that in 2020, Beijing introduced a policy to oversee and handle loan regulations for the real estate sector, commonly known as the "three red lines". Under this, the developers had to meet three criteria- liability to asset ratio lower than 70 per cent, net debt to equity ratio less than 100 per cent, and a ratio of cash to short-term borrowings less than 1. Last year, the largest property developer, Evergrande Group defaulted on their interest payments, eventually leading to the slump of the entire industry. And the situation worsened by June 2022. According to the authors, the sales and home prices fell, construction dropped, property loan growth slowed and consumer confidence weakened. Protests erupted across the country over the mortgage crisis and banking crisis, despite the market exhibiting signs of stability. The Chinese financial system is in a precarious situation, brought on by its "poor capital turnover", liquidity stress, and global and domestic economic slowdown. The dynamic zero-COVID policy, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, etc, have equally contributed to causing global anxiety over China's banks and real estate market. A faltering Chinese economy, brought about by a struggling property market that would worsen the banking crisis, would have global consequences. On July 10, over a thousand furious customers staged a mass protest at a Bank of China branch in Henan, demanding their savings be returned. The local government used plain clothes to suppress the protest. Four rural banks in China's Henan province have frozen millions of dollars worth of deposits since April, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of customers in an economy already affected by Covid lockdowns. The depositors have staged several demonstrations in the city of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, but their demands are being ignored by the Chinese authorities, CNN reported. Local banks in China have been plagued by systemic issues and riskiness, caused by increased housing prices, policy uncertainty, and shadow banking. After the global financial crisis, smaller banks and financial institutions were found to have a greater influence on the interconnectedness and stability of the Chinese banking sector. As the Henan protests continue, protestors have made it clear that they are "against the corruption and violence of the Henan government". They have not mentioned the Communist Party of China, instead, they have invoked a sense of patriotism in their protests and have used Xi's "Chinese dream" slogan to put forth their appeals to the central government and protest the local government's crackdown. (ANI)
The Embassy of India in Antananarivo celebrated the festival of Raksha Bandhan on Thursday at their auditorium where Ambassador Abhay Kumar highlighted the importance of the festival, according to the statement from the Indian Embassy in Madagascar. The event was attended by members of the Indian diaspora, local government, ITEC/ ICCR alumni and media persons in Madagascar. On this occasion, the Ambassador presented eco-friendly Bamboo Rakhis, which were hand-made by the Adivasis of Melghat from the Maharashtra state to the prominent members of the Indian diaspora and persons from Madagascar who have been helping the Embassy in the promotion of Indian culture in Madagascar. During the event Ambassador also read the message of Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, the President of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) which highlighted the meaning and importance of the festival. "Raksha Bandhan is an integral part of Indian Culture, and for ages, people have been celebrating this festival in their own way. As a part of this Raksha-Bandhan, traditionally like a friendship band, a thread is tied on the wrist of one's dear ones and near ones! This is a symbolic binding, a sacred vow to defend, and protect each other, with the sister praying for the long life of her brother and the brother silently renewing the pledge to protect her life and honour at all cost," Kumar said With the passage of time, this festival has become gender neutral. In the present day, it has come to symbolise all seeking and giving of protection regardless of relationship. Nobody is isolated, nobody needs to feel lonely and be left to himself/herself as we are all a part of a universal family. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is the foundation of India's world view and today it is extremely relevant to spread it all over the world!" he added. India has always stood with Madagascar during its time of need. The announcement of the donation of 15000 bicycles and 5000 tonnes of rice by India to Madagascar on the occasion of 15 August is an example of this. Ambassador wished for India-Madagascar's long bond. (ANI)
Overseas Chinese express shared aspiration for China's complete reunification

Xinhua) 08:14, August 12, 2022

BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China published a white paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" on Wednesday, which resonated strongly among overseas Chinese.

In separate interviews with Xinhua, overseas Chinese were of the same mind that the white paper demonstrates the firm will and determination of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people in pursuit of national reunification, and reveals the egregious moves of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities "seeking independence by soliciting U.S. support" and external forces attempting to "use Taiwan to contain China." They also expressed confidence in the bright future for the great cause of China's reunification.

CPC'S LEADERSHIP: KEY TO NATIONAL REJUVENATION, REUNIFICATION

The white paper points out that resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. It is indispensable for the realization of China's rejuvenation. It is also a historic mission of the CPC.

Many overseas Chinese said they can see from the white paper the strong determination, firm will and strong ability of the CPC and the Chinese government to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity and to realize the complete reunification of the motherland, which makes them feel very excited.

"It is an indisputable fact that Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. The CPC and the Chinese government have always made it an unswerving historical task to realize the complete reunification of the motherland," said Lu Hongmin, executive director of the Federation of Ottawa Chinese-Canadian Community Organizations.

"We are convinced that the Chinese nation, with a splendid civilization history of more than 5,000 years, will realize the great historical mission of complete reunification of the motherland with its will, wisdom and ability," said Lu.

Liu Shufang, vice president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Cuba, said Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, which is the universal consensus of the international community.

"We can see that the CPC is firmly committed to the complete reunification of the motherland and has made great efforts to promote the peaceful and integrated development of cross-Straits relations and uniting compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits," Liu said.

"The CPC has always cared about the interests and well-being of Taiwan compatriots, and has been working tirelessly for the peaceful reunification of China and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is the backbone of the Chinese people and nation, and the firm leadership core for national rejuvenation and reunification," said Qiao Fengxiang, president of the National Association of Chinese-Americans.

Wu Youyi, president of Western America Chinese Peaceful Unification, said that the white paper reviewed the principles and policies adopted by the CPC to resolve the Taiwan question at various historical stages, and systematically expounded the major policies and policy propositions of the CPC and the Chinese government to promote the reunification of the motherland in the new era.

Wu said that the CPC has always regarded resolving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland as an unswerving historical task, and has played a core leadership role in resolving the Taiwan question.

Li Zhuohui, editor-in-chief of Harian Xin Bao Indonesia, has noticed "the greatest sincerity and efforts" from the CPC and the Chinese government in promoting peaceful reunification. He said the CPC and the Chinese government have put forward the most feasible guidelines and policies, fully respecting and considering the interests and well-being of Taiwan compatriots.

The two sides should enhance mutual trust and recognition on the common political basis of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence," so as to lift their exchanges and interactions to a new height, Li said.

"Taiwan is part of China's territory, and the historical and legal facts are clear and unquestionable," said Xu Yiping, president of the Association of Culture and Commerce of China in Chile.

"I believe that in the new era and on the new journey, the CPC and the Chinese government will continue to unite and lead the compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to achieve the complete reunification of the motherland and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The historical task of the complete reunification of the motherland will surely be realized," Xu said.

SEEKING INDEPENDENCE A DEAD END; USING TAIWAN TO CONTAIN CHINA DOOMED TO FAIL

To protect the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole, including our compatriots in Taiwan, we must resolutely oppose it (separatism) and work for peaceful reunification, the white paper emphasized.

"We Chinese will decide our own affairs," it said, adding the Taiwan question is an internal affair that involves China's core interests and the Chinese people's national sentiments, and no external interference will be tolerated.

Zhu Hailun, chairman of the Finnish Association for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China, has considerable reflections on the white paper, saying "Taiwan independence" separatists and a small number of foreign politicians were just making a noise with their clumsy political stunts in the process of China's national reunification.

To challenge the one-China principle is to make an enemy of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, Zhu said, adding that attempts to hinder China's complete reunification are doomed.

"National reunification reflects the aspiration of the people and meets the call of the times, which cannot be impeded by anyone or any force," said Qian Qiguo, chairman of the Australian Alliance for Peaceful Chinese Reunification.

Associations in Australia for promoting China's reunification regard the Taiwan question purely as an internal affair of China, which brooks no external interference, Qian said, stressing that the Chinese people have the strong will to secure national reunification and territorial integrity.

Zhao Qian, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Branch of the Business Association of China in Vietnam, said that in recent years, the Taiwan authorities led by the DPP have caused tensions in cross-Straits relations by relying on foreign forces to seek independence, while some external forces have taken the chance to make provocations.

These obstacles, endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, must be cleared in China's endeavor for peaceful reunification, Zhao said.

The United States has been playing the "Taiwan card" deliberately to incite the separatist forces to stir up troubles, which has jeopardized regional peace and stability, said Bai Yi, president of the Federation of Overseas Chinese and Chinese Businessmen Association the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, who believes that any plot for "Taiwan independence" or external interference will surely be thwarted.

Relying on external forces to seek independence is a dead end and attempts to use Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail, said Jin Xiaodong, president of the Overseas Chinese Association of Nepal, noting that people on both sides of the Straits share the same origin and the bond of kinship.

People all over the world have seen a few countries led by the United States fan the flames everywhere for self-interest, Jin said, adding that the one-China principle represents the universal consensus of the international community, which is consistent with the basic norms of international relations.

Having read the white paper, Tie Jilong, head of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Korea, said that as a Chinese living and working in South Korea, he will contribute to helping strengthen the solidarity between compatriots on both sides of the Straits.

"The attempts to use Taiwan to contain China and seek 'independence' by soliciting U.S. support are definitely in vain, and any action to undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity is destined to failure," Tie said.

COMPLETE REUNIFICATION SURELY TO BE REALIZED

The white paper pointed out that "as long as we Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits devote our ingenuity and energy to the same goal, let there be no doubt - we will tolerate no foreign interference in Taiwan, we will thwart any attempt to divide our country, and we will combine as a mighty force for national reunification and rejuvenation. The historic goal of reuniting our motherland must be realized and will be realized."

Reflecting on those points highlighted in the paper, Shang Liang, vice-president of the general association of Chinese merchants and entrepreneurs in Madagascar, said, "Achieving complete reunification of the motherland is the common aspiration of all sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and is a prerequisite for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Sons and daughters of the Chinese nation in Africa stand in solidarity with the motherland, and the great cause of achieving complete reunification of the motherland will surely be accomplished."

Gu Di, vice president of Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Namibia, voiced confidence that under the leadership of the CPC and with the joint efforts of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, Taiwan will surely return to the motherland.

Li Youbao, secretary general of the Chinese Business Club in Saudi Arabia, said he firmly believes that reunification of the motherland will bring more benefits for compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Li said that realizing peaceful reunification will create vast potential for Taiwan's social and economic development, and bring about tangible benefits for Taiwan compatriots. Overseas Chinese firmly support the great cause of achieving reunification of the motherland.

"Cross-Straits amity and cooperation stand to gain from peace and cooperation. Peaceful cross-Straits reunification is of benefit not only to the Chinese nation, but to all peoples and the international community as a whole," said Fang Yuan, president of the Chinese Women (Fiji) Union, after reading the white paper.

Fang said realizing the complete reunification of the motherland is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and is the historical inevitability for achieving national rejuvenation.

Chen Yinglie, head of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in Croatia, said, "I believe that under the strong leadership of the CPC, the great cause of achieving national reunification will surely be accomplished, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese national will surely be realized."

Deng Zhuting, president of London Chinatown Chinese Association, said he was deeply impressed by a sentence in the white paper, which said: "We hope they (fellow Chinese in Taiwan) will stand on the right side of history, and be proud of their Chinese identity."

"I think that to be Chinese proud of our Chinese identity is to bravely shoulder the responsibility to safeguard the greater good of the nation, conform to the general trend of history, push forward extensive cross-Straits exchanges, cooperation and development and participate in the cause of promoting peaceful reunification of the motherland through practical actions. The motherland is our strongest support. The overseas Chinese in Britain firmly believe that reunification of the motherland must be realized and will be realized," Deng said.

(Web editor: Peng Yukai, Hongyu)
The US Justice Department on Wednesday announced the criminal charges against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps for allegedly trying to assassinate John R Bolton, who served as the national security adviser to former President Donald J Trump. The alleged plot can be the retaliation for the January 2020 US air strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Justice Department said as quoted by CNN. After the strike, leaders of the terrorist organization vowed "revenge against Americans" for Soleimani's death and publicly lashed out against then-President Donald Trump and other high-ranking officials in his administration. The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reacted to US accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran without providing evidence. The spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani, said, "US judicial authorities have raised accusations without providing valid evidence and necessary documents in a new fiction in the continuation of the country's endless accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran and in the continuation of their failed Iranophobic policy." Kanaani added, "Such baseless claims are made with political goals and motives, and in fact, it is an escape forward, propaganda, and especially evading the responsibility for numerous terrorist crimes either the US government has been involved in, like the cowardly assassination of Martyr General Soleimani, or they have been carried out with the support and backing of the United States, such as the terrorist crimes of the Zionist regime and terrorist groups such as Daesh." In a statement on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani called it the "continuation of the failed Iranophobic policy" and "new scenario creation" by the American judicial authorities. He said there was "no evidence" to prove that Shahram Poursafi orchestrated a plot to assassinate the former US national security advisor, who was highly critical of Iran. Meanwhile, in the US, the Prosecutors said that Shahram Poursafi, an IRGC member, attempted to pay USD 300,000 to an individual in the US to kill Bolton and said he had a "second job" for USD 1 million, according to CNN. According to the source, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also a target of the Iranian assassination plot. Here, the "second job" was a reference to Pompeo, the source revealed. Pompeo was one of the administrators who served Trump at the time of the airstrike that killed Soleimani. He was informed directly by the Justice Department last Wednesday that he was the second target of an IRGC assassination plot, a source close to Pompeo told CNN. According to the court documents, Poursafi, who has been arrested for a long period of time, contact an individual who happens to be the FBI informant. Poursafi asked the informant to take photos of Bolton "for a book that Poursafi was writing," according to court documents. He later asked if the informant could hire a person to "eliminate someone," who was later revealed to be Bolton, and promised protection for the CHS and the assassin, prosecutors said. Poursafi has been charged with the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, which carries a 10-year maximum prison sentence and attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot, which carries up to 15 years in prison, CNN reported. (ANI)
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday dismissed a plea against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to contest elections on all nine vacant seats of the National Assembly (NA), local media reported. Justice Shahid Jamil Khan of the Lahore HC heard the petition challenging PTI chief Imran Khan's decision. During the proceedings, Justice Shahid Khan asked whether the nomination papers had been submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)'s office, to which the counsel representing the petitioner replied negative, ARY News reported. Terming the matter 'immature', the court said the petitioner should wait until the submission of the nomination papers and then file his objection with the ECP first and then approach the courts. The petitioner's counsel, after observing the court's vision, decided to withdraw the petition. Subsequently, Justice Khan dismissed the petition after the counsel withdrew it. The petition was filed by Advocate Mian Asif Mehmood, named the Federation of Pakistan through the Cabinet Division secretary, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar through the law secretary, the Election Commission of Pakistan ECP through Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, and Imran as respondents in the case. The petitioner, Mian Asif Mehmood, Punjab president of the Amun Taraqqi Party, had requested the court to restrain the PTI chairman from contesting the by-elections on all nine seats in the "interest of the country". The ECP had announced last week that by-elections on nine National Assembly (NA) seats will be held on September 25. Last month, the ECP accepted 11 out of the 131 resignations tendered by the PTI MNAs, following the removal of the party chief from the office of the Prime minister earlier this year. Soon after the decision was taken, Imran Khan had announced his candidature for all the seats. According to Dawn newspaper, the petition filed stated that it had become "a lacuna to contest election on multiple seats by the candidates in the general elections", highlighting that the issue needed to be addressed as it was a "very clear case of political exploitation". It pointed out that this phenomenon was legally "questionable" and the costs of an individual contesting multiple seats were "significant" in bypoll-related expenses that would be required if a candidate secured many seats. The petitioner said he was filing the application on the basis of public importance/interest to get the ambiguity in the law removed for the "larger interest of the nation", adding that it needed to be heard in the "supreme interest of justice for the interest of the public at large". Furthermore, he requested the LHC to direct Imran not to contest any election of the parliament before the submission and acceptance of his resignation as an MNA. The petition also called for a direction to be issued to the relevant respondents to amend the law so as to regulate the eligibility criteria of parliamentarians to contest the election. (ANI)
Expressing concerns over the situation of journalists in Afghanistan, Reporters Without Borders in its report said that country has lost 39.59 per cent of its media outlets and almost 60 per cent of its journalists since the Taliban took over the South Asian nation on August 15. Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. In its latest report, RSF report reads, "According to a Reporters Without Borders (RSF) survey, in the year since the Taliban took power on 15 August 2021, Afghanistan has lost 39.59 pc of its media outlets and 59.86 pc of its journalists, especially women journalists, three quarters of whom are now unemployed and no longer exist in 11 provinces. All this has happened amid a deep economic crisis and crackdown on press freedom." The report brought to light that journalism in Afghanistan has been drastically curbed and reduced in terms of number of journalists and media outlets, reported Tolo News. RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said, "Journalism has been decimated during the past year in Afghanistan." "Media and journalists are being subjected to iniquitous regulations that restrict media freedom and open the way to repression and persecution. The authorities must undertake to end the violence and harassment inflicted on media workers, and must allow them to do their job unmolested." Comparatively, the situation has deteriorated to a great deal and this is confirmed by the numbers prior to 15 August 2021. According to RSF's report, Afghanistan had 547 media outlets prior to 15 August 2021 while one year later in 2022, 219 ceased their activities. "RSF's survey leaves little doubt about the massive impact that the fall of Kabul and the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan have had on the media. Afghanistan had 547 media outlets prior to 15 August 2021. One year later, 219 ceased their activities. And of the 11,857 journalists tallied prior to 15 August 2021, there are only 4,759 now. Women journalists have been impacted most - 76.19% of them have lost their jobs," according to the RSF report. One of such journalists who is now concerned and ambiguous about his future in the media industry is Samiullah Taniz. He works in Kabul and is one of the hundreds of reporters in the country whose future is doomed. Meena Habib, another journalist, said, "I have worked in the media for nine years of my life and I have not found time to learn another career." Hojatullah Mujadidi, chairman of the Afghan Independent Journalists Association, said, "The Islamic Emirate should work with the media and journalists to set up a committee to deal with media violations and access to information." After the US troops left the Afghan soil amid fears of the Taliban regime, thousands of journalists fled the country. Some of them are currently living in Pakistan and other countries with no clear future plans, as per the media portal. Taliban have been accused of blocking the way of a journalist with guns from coverage and reportedly whipping the media person. A local Afghan news outlet has released a video circulating on social media giving insight into the violent treatment going on in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August last year, it rolled back women's rights advances and media freedom revoking the efforts on gender equality and freedom of speech in the country. The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) had expressed concern at the incident in which the female host of Dost Radio in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, Selagi Ehsaas was recently attacked by unidentified gunmen. AFJC condemned violence against the media and journalists after the beating of Selagi Ehsaas, who was returning from work on July 20, when she was stopped by unidentified gunmen and pistol-whipped in Moi Mubarak village of Surkh Rod district in Nangarhar province, reported Khaama Press. The locals brought Selagi to the hospital after she fell unconscious due to the attack, the locals said, adding that she is still in shock and fear. She said she does not "feel safe", Khaama Press reported, quoting locals. It is alleged that the female broadcaster was beaten by the Taliban and was also said to work as a midwife in one of the private hospitals; however, the Information and Culture Department of the Taliban in Nangarhar province has denied the claims. Previously, on June 6, the manager of Dost Radio, Sahar Sirat Safi, was detained by Taliban intelligence in Kabul and released after 28 days. According to UNAMA, there have been significant changes in the country's media landscape, including the closure of more than half of the free media, the evacuation of hundreds of journalists, and rising work restrictions, violence, and threats against journalists. Earlier in May, while reporting a women's demonstration, journalist Roman Karimi and his driver were detained and tortured by the Taliban. Over 45 per cent of journalists have quit since the Taliban assumed power. The ever-increasing restrictions against media in Afghanistan have also drawn widespread criticism globally with the United Nations (UN) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) decrying the arrests, demanding the Taliban stop harassing local journalists and stifling freedom of speech through continued detentions and threats.The Taliban had promised women's rights, media freedom, and amnesty for government officials in the group's first news conference after the takeover in August. However, activists, former government employees and journalists among others continue to face retribution. (ANI)
India on Friday urged the avoidance of unilateral actions to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait amid the rising military tensions between China and Taiwan. Addressing a weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry's spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that efforts should be made to maintain peace and stability in the region. "Like many other countries, India too is concerned at recent developments. We urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change the status quo, de-escalation of tension and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region," Bagchi said to question over tensions in the Taiwan Strait. In response to a question on India's position on the one-China principle, the MEA spokesperson said, "India's relevant policies are well known and consistent and they do not require reiteration." After US House Speaker Nancy Policy paid to visit Taiwan against China's wishes, Beijing started holding large-scale military exercises while threatening to take over the self-ruled island. After more than a week-long training near Taiwan, China on Wednesday announced that it has concluded its military drills, simulating an attack on the self-ruled island. The PLA Eastern Theater Command said it had successfully completed various missions during recent drills around Taiwan and effectively tested the troops' joint operation combat capacity, state media outlet Global Times reported. The command will regularly organize combat readiness patrols in the Taiwan Strait, it added. On Tuesday, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said China used the military drills to influence the international community's freedom of navigation in the waters and airspace of the Taiwan Strait and to prepare for an invasion. Wu said China's decision to carry out military exercises in areas surrounding Taiwan is a gross violation of Taiwan's rights under international law and gravely threatens regional peace and security. Justifying its large-scale military drills and airspace violations in the East and South China sea, China on Tuesday said that after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the country is now preparing itself for every possible scenario. Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said that Pelosi's Taiwan visit is a major provocation that upgraded US-Taiwan relations and a real threat to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity adding that China has to prepare itself for every possible scenario. (ANI)
Indian government always keeps an eye on any activity which impedes the defence and security of the country and take required measures, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. These remarks came in response to a question on the recent meeting of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Nepal's Foreign Affairs Minister Narayan Khadka and reports of increasing Chinese investments in Kathmandu. "I don't want to comment on what has been discussed and what could be the investment. India Nepal relations particularly our economic and connectivity and our people to people connect are very special as you saw from the recent high-level visits from both sides this year which is a good example of strong linkages that we are seeking to strengthen." However, Bagchi added, "If there is any security activity which impedes the defence and security aspects, then the government is always cognisant to that and keeps an eye on it and take necessary measures against that." MEA spokesperson Bagchi noted that India's relations with Nepal are unique and don't need to be highlighted as they stand on their own merit. Earlier, during the meeting between Wang Yi and Khadka, the Nepalese FM assured Wang that the Nepali territory will not be allowed to be used for any activity against China. During the meeting, Wang reiterated China's continued and unconditional support for Nepal's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and assured support for the country's development endeavours as per the priority of the Kathmandu government. Wang also announced that they will provide 800 million RMB to Nepal for the year 2022. "The two Foreign Ministers took stock of overall aspects of Nepal-China relations and cooperation and agreed to promote further cooperation in various sectors including trade, connectivity, investment, health, tourism, poverty alleviation, agriculture, disaster management, education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges, among others. Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made in a range of matters of bilateral cooperation since the official visit of the State Councilor to Nepal in March 2022," the statement read. Both the ministers expressed their commitment to the timely implementation of the agreements signed and understandings reached during high-level visits in the past. They agreed to expedite the implementation of China-assisted projects in Nepal. During the meeting, the Chinese side assured the Nepali delegation that China will soon start the construction works of the second phase of the Kathmandu Ring Road Improvement Project. Wang also announced that China will carry out the feasibility study of the Keyrung-Kathmandu Railway under the grant assistance. He also assured support for the pre-feasibility study of the Nepal-China cross-border transmission line as agreed during his official visit to Nepal in March 2022. Upon the request of the Nepali side, the Chinese side assured that it will positively consider providing chemical fertilizer to Nepal and study the feasibility of establishing a chemical fertilizer factory in Nepal. "The State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China agreed to assist Nepal's agricultural sector. He also agreed to encourage Chinese investment in developing the manufacturing capacity of Nepal and enhance cooperation in the export of Nepali tea and traditional medicinal herbs," the statement noted. Chinese Foreign Minister also announced to provide Nepal with 3 million RMB worth of disaster relief materials as per the Kathmandu request. China will also provide Nepal with an additional 2 million RMB worth of medical items and logistics. Apart from these, China will provide additional COVID-19 vaccines and COVID-19-related medical assistance as much as Nepal may require. "The two Foreign Ministers also exchanged views on continuing cooperation in various regional and multilateral forums on matters of mutual interests," the statement added. (ANI)
Terming China's defence of Abdul Rauf Azhar, a top commander of Pakistan-based proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), as "unfortunate", India on Friday said that when it comes to the collective battle against terrorism the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice. This comes as while all other 14 members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday agreed to impose sanctions on Abdul Rauf Azhar, a top JeM commander, China stood out by coming to the defence of the terrorist and placing a hold on the proposal. Addressing a media presser, Ministry of External Affairs Minister Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "I want to emphasize that it is unfortunate that when it comes to our collective battle against terrorism and the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice." Moreover, Bagchi highlighted that India will continue to pursue its principled position of bringing terrorists to justice including through the UNSC resolution. He reiterated that India's permanent representative in United Nations in New York during the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) open debate on August 9, had flagged this concern categorically to all members. "We note with regret that a technical hold has been placed on the listing proposals," Bagchi added. Bagchi while quoting the Indian envoy to UN Ruchira Kamboj said, "There should be no double standards in dealing with terrorists. The practice of placing holds and blocks without giving any justification must end. It is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold. Double standards and continuing politicizations have rendered the credibility of the sanctions committee regime at an all-time low." "As you are all aware Abdul Rauf Azhar, the deputy chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad which is a UN proscribed entity was actively involved in terrorist acts such as the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 in 1999 as well as the terror attacks on the Indian Parliament in 2001 and the terror attacks at Indian Army camps in Kathua in 2014 as well as the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Pathankot base in 2016." Abdul Rauf Azhar "has been proscribed in Indian and US laws already therefore the placing of the technical hold against such unwanted terrorists is most uncalled for. India will continue to pursue its principled position of bringing these terrorists to justice including through the UNSC resolution 1267 sanctions regime." India and the United States wanted Azhar to be designated as an international terrorist and be subjected to a global travel ban and freezing of his assets, a proposal that would need to be agreed by all members in the 15-nation UNSC body but China, a permanent veto-wielding member of the UN and a close ally of Pakistan, delayed the move by putting a hold on it. Reuters cited a spokesperson for China's mission to the United Nations as saying that the delay was done as China needed "more time to study the case." "Placing holds is provided for by the Committee guidelines, and there have been quite a number of similar holds by Committee members on listing requests," the Chinese spokesperson was quoted as saying. Azhar has been under US sanctions since 2010 after the United States accused him of urging Pakistanis to engage in militant activities and organize suicide attacks in India. On Tuesday, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj, in an apparent reference to China, said that the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests of terrorists without giving any justification must end. India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj made these remarks during a UNSC debate on Tuesday on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts. China on repeated occasions has put the listing of Pakistan-based terrorists under the UNSC Al-Qaeda and ISIL Sanctions Committee on hold. Earlier in June, India slammed China after it blocked the proposal to list terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the Sanctions Committee, also known as the UNSC 1267 Committee. Ambassador Kamboj said India has suffered from the menace of terrorism for decades and has learned to counter this threat with resolve and firm determination. "We hope that the international community will stand united in addressing this threat to humanity with zero tolerance," she added. A spokesperson of the US mission to the United Nations told Reuters, "The United States respects other countries' needs to verify that a sanctions proposal meets their domestic evidentiary threshold to justify a listing at the UN." "The United States values cooperation with our Security Council partners to effectively use this tool in an apolitical way to stop terrorists from exploiting the global order to do their misdeeds," the spokesperson added. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with the Lithuanian Parliamentary delegation in Bengaluru on Friday morning and received a book titled 'History of Lithuania' from head of delegation Mykolas Majauskas. In a tweet, Jaishankar wrote, "Nice to meet Lithuanian Parliamentary delegation in Bengaluru today morning and receive a book titled lithuaaniyaa kaa itihaas from head of delegation Mykolas Majauskas." India and Lithuania enjoy cordial relations that are marked by close cultural linkages. The economic and commercial ties have grown in recent years and the bilateral trade between India and Lithuania stood at USD 485 million in 2020-21. Indian investment in Lithuania includes Indorama Group's investment of over USD 200 million in a manufacturing plant and HCL Technologies which has taken over the IT infrastructure services of Barclays in Vilnius employing over 500 people. Indorama has set up a plant in the Klaipeda Economic Zone to manufacture plastic resin. Indian investment is increasing in Lithuania. In Bangalore, Jaishankar also interacted with entrepreneurs and business community at a dicussion on challenges global economy is facing and ease of doing business. "Thank Electronics City Industries' Association (ELCIA) and Lagu Udyog Bharati for organising the event. Enjoyed the free-wheeling discussion on the challenging state of the global economy and ease of doing business with it," he wrote. During the discussion, Jaishankar gave a strong message that Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government fully supports employment creators and promotes exports. "Atmanirbhar Bharat is a mark of our faith. It will make a difference to global resilience and derisking. It will work positively to counter and bounce back from the current global financial risks," the External Affairs Minister tweeted. "The open discussion on the challenging state of the global economy and further simplification of trade was useful." Moreover, Jaishankar also interacted with the students of PES university where the students displayed their Artificial Intelligence and drone technology. "An impressive display of innovations and talent by students of PES University. Their application of AI and drone technology validates the faith reposed in our youth by the Modi Government. Students of PES university brilliant talent through their inventions. Their use of artificial intelligence and drone technologies reinforces the faith the Modi government has placed in our youth." (ANI)
Namgya C. Khampa has been appointed as the High Commissioner of India to Kenya, a press release by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. "Namgya C. Khampa (IFS: 2000) presently Deputy Chief of Mission in Embassy of lndia, Kathmandu, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Kenya," it read. Ambassador Khampa is expected to take up the assignment shortly. India and Kenya are maritime neighbours. The contemporary ties between India and Kenya have now evolved into a robust and multi-faceted partnership, marked by regular high-level visits, increasing trade and investment as well as extensive people to people contacts. India-Kenya consultations on UN and Multilateral issues at DG level were held in Nairobi on June 6, 2022. Both sides reviewed their ongoing cooperation during their current tenure as non- permanent members of the UN Security Council and reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together in the UNSC and other multilateral fora. They discussed issues on the agenda of the UNSC, including regional country files in the Horn of Africa region and other thematic issues related to counter terrorism and UN Peacekeeping. In keeping with their multi-faceted partnership, both sides agreed to deepen their engagement at other multilateral fora, including at the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Commonwealth and G77 groupings. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar paid an official visit to Kenya from June 12-14, 2021 and Co-Chaired the Third Session of Kenya-India Joint Commission Meeting. During the visit, the two Ministers held bilateral consultations at which they hailed the cordial and historic relations between the two countries, underpinned by common values and strong people-to-people links dating back many centuries. Both Ministers positively noted the mutual desire to expand bilateral cooperation under the Kenya- India Joint Commission Framework. This underscores their commitment to the relationship playing a greater role in regional and global context. They will continue to strengthen their relations through structured and systematic engagements. The challenging circumstances of Covid-19 pandemic has only made their resolve in this regard even stronger. Cognizant of the travel challenges due to the Covid-19 situation, both sides welcomed increased bilateral engagements either physically or virtually on issues of mutual interest in order to maintain momentum in relations. The two sides deliberated on the impact of Covid-19 situation globally and called for joint efforts to combat the disease as well as consolidate economic collaboration during the pandemic and post-Covid-19 period. They emphasized the need for equitable and affordable access to vaccines and ensuring treatment for all. During the deliberations, the External Affairs Minister of India emphasized that India's approach was guided by the 10 principles of engaging Africa, enunciated by PM Modi in July 2018. Africa's priorities would continue to be the paramount factor in our bilateral cooperation. Accordingly, he recognized the Big Four Agenda of Kenya on Manufacturing, Affordable Housing, Universal Health and Food Security, and underlined that India will further build upon its partnership taking these into account. Both sides reiterated their strong commitment to South-South Cooperation and expressed confidence that their bilateral partnership would be an exemplar in that regard. (ANI)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will conduct an official visit to Bangladesh Sunday, 14 August, upon the invitation of the Government, the UN Office of the high commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Friday. The OHCHR said in a statement that this is the first official visit by a UN Human Rights Chief to the country. During her visit to Dhaka, the High Commissioner is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed and other Ministers. She will also meet with the National Human Rights Commission, representatives of civil society organisations and other stakeholders. In addition, Bachelet will deliver a speech at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies. The High Commissioner will also travel to Cox's Bazar where she will be able to visit camps housing Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and meet with refugees, officials and non-governmental organisations. Bachelet will hold a news conference in Dhaka at the end of her mission, on Wednesday 17 August at 17h30 local time. Access to the news conference will be strictly limited to accredited media. This comes a few days after the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Bachelet should publicly call for an immediate end to serious abuses including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances during her upcoming visit to Bangladesh, nine human rights organizations said today. During the trip, she will meet with government officials and civil society organizations and visit the Rohingya refugee camps. "If the high commissioner fails to clearly condemn these abuses and seek reform, the ruling Awami League could use her silence to legitimize its abuses and undermine activists," HRW said. Hundreds of Bangladeshis have been forcibly disappeared, tortured, and killed since the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina first took office in 2009. Although security forces in Bangladesh have long committed grave human rights abuses under successive governments, including torture and extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances in particular have become a hallmark of Sheikh Hasina's rule of more than a decade. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that India-China relations cannot be normal unless border situation is and added that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact the relations further. "We have maintained our position that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact our relations. Our relationship is not normal, it cannot be normal as the border situation is not normal," EAM S Jaishankar said in Bengaluru on the India-China issue. Jaishankar also said that the big problem is the border situation and Indian military has been holding on to the ground. "We have made substantial progress in pulling back from places where we were very close to the LOC," he added. Moreover, S Jaishankar while speaking on the Belt and Road Initiative noted, "There was a violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty, the fact that third country is doing things on sovereign Indian territory occupied by another country." Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that the government has seen reports about third countries participating in projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Projects, and any such activity by any party directly infringed on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. MEA spokesperson Arindam Baghchi said India firmly and consistently opposes projects in the "so-called CPEC, which are in Indian territory that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan". "Such activities are inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable, and will be treated accordingly by India," the official statement added. Responding to media queries regarding the participation of third countries in CPEC Projects, the MEA spokesperson Bagchi said: "We have seen reports on encouraging a proposed participation of third countries in so-called CPEC projects." "Any such actions by any party directly infringe on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said. The response of the MEA comes amid reports that Pakistan and China have decided to invite any interested third country to join the multibillion-dollar infrastructure CPEC project which they termed as mutually beneficial cooperation. The third meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group (JWG) on International Cooperation and Coordination (JWG-ICC) was held on Friday, July 22 in virtual mode. In 2015, China announced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in Pakistan worth USD 46 billion, of which Balochistan is an integral part. CPEC is a part of China's most ambitious project 'Belt and Road Initiative', aimed at renewing the country's historic trade routes in the coastal countries of south-east Asia. It would link Pakistan's southern Gwadar port in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China's western Xinjiang region. It also includes plans to create road, rail and oil pipeline links to improve connectivity between China and the Middle East. The Baloch have opposed China's increasing involvement in the province. The CPEC has not benefited the people of Balochistan while people of other provinces enjoy the fruits of the mega project. This has led to widespread protests as the Chinese are viewed as encroachers who are squeezing out all the wealth from the region. Media reports said that Beijing has been using the CPEC to gain control of the Gwadar port and the region of Gilgit-Baltistan. Gwadar port, located on the Arabian Sea, will allow China to have a say in global energy economics as the country can use a naval base to hold control over the maritime traffic passing between West Asia. It is crucial for China to gain control over the Gilgit-Baltistan region (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir PoK), as the region borders the Xinjiang province of China. Since 2010, there have been reports of the growing presence of China in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. It was believed that several Chinese soldiers were present in the region in 2010 to secure road links, and build infrastructure projects, including nearly two dozen tunnels. China's presence grew in the region three years later following the announcement of CPEC.The Chinese mega projects are showing an adverse impact on Gilgit-Baltistan's environment leading to uncontrollable pollution and irreversible depletion of aquatic ecosystems. Under the banner of CPEC, Pakistan and China are initiating work on mega-dams, oil and gas pipelines, and uranium and heavy metal extraction in Gilgit-Baltistan. CPEC has been a major cause of militancy and even terror attacks and a sore point with local populations from Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north to Sindh and Balochistan in the south, who feel neglected and marginalised, while their resources get transferred to Punjab and big cities and now to China. Even Islamabad is facing rising unrest and protests from locals in Balochistan, Gwadar and other areas as they accuse the government of depriving them of basic amenities and rights. (ANI)
A contingent of Indian Air Force (IAF) has arrived in Malaysia to participate in a bilateral air exercise 'Udarashakti' with their Malaysian counterparts. Participating with Su-30 MKI aircraft, supported by C-17 and IL-78 Air-to-Air refueller aircraft, the Indian Air Force contingent will carry out complex aerial missions and share best practices with the Royal Malaysian Air Force, IAF said. Earlier, the Indian Air Force contingent left for Malaysia on Friday to participate in the bilateral exercise. This is the first bilateral exercise being conducted between Indian Air Force and Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). The Indian contingent departed from one of its air bases directly for their destination, the RMAF base of Kuantan. The exercise will give an opportunity to IAF contingent members to share and learn best practices with some of the best professionals from RMAF, while also discussing mutual combat capabilities. The four days of exercise will witness conduct of various aerial combat drills between the 2 Air Forces. Exercise Udarashakti will fortify the long-standing bond of friendship and enhance the avenues of defence cooperation between the two Air Forces, thereby augmenting security in the region. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh discussed a wide range of issues including bilateral, regional and defence industrial cooperation with Malaysian counterpart Hishamuddin bin Hussein on Sunday. During a video conference, Rajnath Singh congratulated Dato 'Seri HishammuddinTun Hussein for assuming the office of the Senior Defence Minister in August last year, an official statement issued by the Ministry of Defence read.Both Ministers expressed the intent to further boost the already strong India-Malaysia Defence cooperation.The two Ministers discussed the existing defence cooperation activities and framework, and ways to further enhance them under the existing Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Meeting (MIDCOM) framework. According to the statement, the next MIDCOM is scheduled to be held in July this year, and it was decided to use this platform for a deeper engagement in defence.Rajnath Singh during the video conference highlighted the areas in which Indian Defence industries could assist Malaysia.He suggested a visit of senior officers from Malaysia to India to get a first-hand experience of the facilities and products of Indian Defence industry.The Malaysian Senior Defence Minister expressed the need for inducting women personnel in peace keeping missions. Both sides agreed to engage each other on this issue. It was also agreed to upgrade capability for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.Defence Minister also invited Senior Defence Minister of Malaysia to visit India at an early convenient date to discuss closer and strategic defence ties, as per the statement. (ANI)
A gunman killed as many as 11 people and rendered six others grievously injured including a member of the police in a mass shooting in Montenegro's central city of Cetinje on Friday, and the assailant was eliminated in police firing. Montenegro's public broadcaster, Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) said that six people were wounded, including a member of the police. It further said that the incident was preceded by a family conflict, after which the assailant randomly shot passers-by on the street. It further said that the attacker also shot at the police and was killed in a confrontation. RTCG citing unofficial sources added that the attacker was 34 years old. 4 wounded people were hospitalized in Cetinje hospital, while two wounded were transported to the Clinical Center in Podgorica, according to RTCG. Meanwhile, the Government of Montenegro declared three days of mourning on the occasion of the great tragedy that happened on Friday in the Capital of Cetinje, RTCG said. Milo Dukanovic, President of Montenegro termed the incident an "unprecedented tragedy" and tweeted, "This is an unprecedented tragedy that affects the whole of Montenegro. Therefore, I call on the Government to declare a Day of Mourning in the country. I wish the injured a speedy recovery." "I am deeply shaken by the news about the terrible tragedy in Cetinje. I express my sincere condolences to the bereaved families, and to all those who have lost their loved ones. All of us as a society must stand in solidarity with them in these difficult times," he added. Danijela Durovic, President of the Parliament of Montenegro extended her condolences to the families and friends of the victims. "I am horrified and deeply affected by today's tragedy in Cetinje, which shook the whole of Montenegro. I express my sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims and express the hope that we will never witness anything similar in our country again," she said in a tweet. (ANI)
Pakistan's Interior Ministry has cancelled the no-objection certificate of ARY News and stated that the order has been taken on the basis of adverse reports from agencies. The notification issued, dated August 11 to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) reads: "The NOC issued in favour of M/S ARY Communications Private (Ltd). is cancelled with immediate effect and until further orders on the basis of adverse reports from agencies." Reacting to the development, ARY News' English website called the cancellation by coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif an "economic murder of the journalist fraternity". and further said that the cancellation of NOC will be meant by the economic murder of more than 4,000 media workers associated with the news channel. The ARY News administration condemned the suspension of its transmissions, saying the network is being victimised by the federal government. This move comes after the Sindh High Court directed Pemra and cable operators to immediately restore the transmission of ARY News, which had been suspended on orders of the government. Senior lawyer Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan said that it is a legal requirement to issue a show-cause notice and listen to the reply in such decisions. Ahsan said that NOC cancellation could be challenged, according to ARY News. Ahsan said that the court will not take a long time to nullify the government's decision of the NOC cancellation of ARY News. He said that the decision came under the contempt of the court as the SHC issued orders to not close the transmission of the channel. "It cannot be done in this way that a bureaucrat takes a decision solely to issue a notification of the NOC cancellation. The channel cannot be closed after the decision of the interior ministry. The decision of the NOC cancellation should be immediately challenged to the court." Legal expert Abuzar Salman Niazi said, "According to PEMRA law, a notice will be issued to seek a reply. The court will not take time to nullify the decision and such steps cannot be taken in a democracy. The NOC cancellation is an unconstitutional and illegal move." On August 10, the Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered PEMRA to restore immediately the channel's transmission across Pakistan. In the 10-page order, the Sindh High Court suspended the show-cause notice issued to ARY News by PEMRA. The court also stopped the media regulatory authority from suspending the license of TV channels till the next hearing. The court also issued notice to PEMRA and the deputy attorney general and adjourned the hearing until August 17, ARY News reported. Soon it was revealed that PEMRA had ordered the suspension over a statement given by a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shehbaz Gill among other reasons, the ARY News distanced itself from Gill's statement and issued a statement on the matter. Gill was arrested for "making statements against the state institutions and inciting the people to rebellion," according to the police. The ARY News clarified that comments or opinions of any individual televised by the network do not represent the channel's policy. Shahbaz Gill's statement was his personal opinion not ARY's editorial policy. Earlier on Monday, the PEMRA issued a show-cause notice to ARY News for airing what it called "false, hateful and seditious" content." On Monday, the transmission of Pakistan's ARY News was suspended in different parts of Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission in Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly opposed the disruptions to ARY News and asked the country's regulatory authorities not to take channels off the air arbitrarily. "HRCP strongly opposes the disruptions to @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL. PEMRA must refrain from arbitrarily taking channels off the air and protect all media houses' right to freedom of expression, responsibly exercised," HRCP tweeted. Pakistan is one of the world's deadliest countries for journalists, with three to four murders each year that are often linked to cases of corruption or illegal trafficking and which go completely unpunished, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Any journalist who crosses the red lines dictated by the Pakistan military is liable to be the target of in-depth surveillance that could lead to abduction and detention for varying lengths of time in the state's prisons or less official jails. (ANI)
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Costco is a true haven for savvy shoppers, with exclusive member savings available on everything from groceries to outdoor furniture. While you can score deals simply by perusing the aisles, there are some tactics you can utilize to save even more on your next Costco trip.

Check Out: 7 Walmart Brand Items That Are Just as Good as Name Brands

Important: 7 Surprisingly Easy Ways To Reach Your Retirement Goals

GOBankingRates spoke with shopping experts who shared their top tips for getting the best deals at Costco. Find out how to save big.

Weedezign / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Peruse the Monthly Members-Only Savings

Every month, Costco releases new "members-only savings" that highlight the best deals of the moment.

"Costco sends out mailers with members-only savings at least a couple of weeks before they actually begin, so take the time to peruse it and see what kind of deals you can expect for the upcoming period," said Julie Ramhold, consumer analyst with DealNews.com.

"These mailers can also be found online, and note when deals are online-only, warehouse-only or available both in-store and online. Sometimes the deals will be vague and only note that it'll be something like $10 off, but other times you'll see the starting price, instant savings and the final price. Also keep an eye on purchase limits, too."

Take Our Poll: Do You Tip for Service?

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Shop the Bundle Deals

"Costco will frequently have item bundles," Ramhold said.

For example, in late July, you were able to get a Chromebook bundle that included a wireless mouse and protective sleeve for $150 off.

"Even if it's the same bundle offered elsewhere, sometimes Costco's price will be cheaper," Ramhold said.

katleho Seisa / Getty Images

Check Out the 'While Supplies Last' Section on Costco.com

"If you're shopping online, you should definitely check out the 'while supplies last' section of the site as these are often limited offers -- once they're gone, they're gone," Ramhold said.

"This is where you may find things like themed LEGO sets for $15, special beauty picks (I got a six-pack of the best tinted lip balm I've ever used in this section for ridiculously cheap a couple of years ago, for example), super cheap home items like an Eddie Bauer plush sherpa throw for $10 and so much more."

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Clothing

Take Advantage of the 'Buy More Save More' Option for Clothing

"You can double up on savings when you shop for sale and clearance clothing online at Costco," said Marie Clark, managing editor of CostContessa, which provides tips for shopping at Costco.

"When you buy any five items, you save $20, and you can stack that on top of sale and clearance prices. (Most items qualify, but check each item listing.) There are some real steals online, and it's always free shipping."

Costco

Know How To Read the Price Tags

"Knowing how to read Costco price tags is the key to getting markdown and clearance deals in-store," Clark said.

"Unlike most traditional retailers, Costco doesn't 'red line' or 'clearance' tag their clearance deals. You can identify markdowns by the cents they end with -- .97, .00 or anything that ends in 7 cents are the clearance deals."

David Tonelson / Shutterstock.com

Stick to the Store Brand

Although Costco sells many brand-name products, the best deals will be on its own Kirkland Signature line.

"These stores offer great deals on big name brands, which can make it seem worthwhile, but it's often still better value to purchase their own brand items," said Alice Gerwat, senior content editor at Magic Freebies.

"These items are often of the same quality but with a much lower price tag, so don't be fooled by big discounts on household names. This is especially true for alcohol."

More From GOBankingRates

Nicole Spector contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Expert Costco Tips To Score the Best Deals
In the upcoming anthology, 'City of Hustle' (out Oct. 11), nearly 50 essays about Sioux Falls and its history, readers learn a lot about South Dakota's largest city. There are essays about the diverse communities in Sioux Falls, who immigrated to the area when the city was established by white settlers in the 1800s and more.

But the book isn't just about who came and who was, there are essays about the punk music scene, the importance of the Big Sioux River and iconic landmarks.

Here's seven things I, someone who moved to Sioux Falls in the last year and a self-described history lover, learned about the Queen City.

1. Norwegians loved Sioux Falls

There was a heavy influx of Norwegian immigrants into Sioux Falls during the 1800s. While the city was 63% American in 1880, according to the essay by one of the book's editors Jon Lauck, the remaining 37% were immigrants, the largest group from Norway.

Norwegians owned shops downtown and their descendants opened the Nordic Hall, as a way to remember and celebrate where they had come from.

Also, Augustana University was originally founded as a Norwegian Lutheran college and writer and farmer Ole Rolvaag's cabin is on the campus.

More: Augustana University plans to relocate 4 historic buildings to make space for hockey arena

2. Sioux Falls was once home to the second-largest brewery in the U.S.

Sioux Falls has had a history of loving beer. While we enjoy ales from Fernson's, Remedy and WoodGrain, they're only part of our brew-loving town.

The Sioux Falls Brewing Company, which before being demolished in the 1980s looked like a castle and had been a dairy factory after the brewery closed, was at one point the second-largest brewery in the United States.

The brewery opened its doors in 1875 and was originally known as George A. Knott and Company before changing its name to Sioux Falls Brewing Company in 1883, according to the essay by Austin Lammers.

At its peak in the early 1900s, the company was brewing more than 75,000 barrels a year, becoming the largest brewery in the U.S. next to Milwaukee.

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3. The falls of the Big Sioux River were sacred to Native tribes

Before white settlers came to the Dakota territory and established residence along the Big Sioux River and near the falls, Native tribes held the area in reverence.

In the essay by Cheyenne Marco, detailing the history of the Big Sioux River, she writes the first inhabitants of the area lived nearly 10,000 years ago. A second group of nomadic people came to the area between 500 and 800 AD. Later, the Oneota and the Lakota arrived.

The Lakota called the area Watpaipakshan, "where the Sioux River bends," and the area below the falls Tchan-Kusundata, "thickly wooded river."

The falls were considered sacrosanct and tribes "developed a sort of law of nations, by which the banks of the creek are sacred and even tribes at war [met] without hostility," according to Lewis and Clark's interpreter, Mr. Durion.

More: 'City of Hustle' celebrates Sioux Falls history and explores a sense of place

4. Sioux Falls has had a healthy punk rock/DIY scene

Thanks to venues like The Pomp Room and Nordic Hall, rock lovers of all ages have had the chance to watch local bands and national headliners make their way across the stage.

Aerosmith and Metallica played at the Pomp Room in the 1990s between stops on their tours, in an essay about the famed bar by Patrick Lalley.

More: 'You have the memories:' Music fans remember the Pomp Room at sold-out documentary showing

A little band by the name of Green Day also made a stop at Nordic Hall as well during their first tour in the early '90s, according to Elinor Nauen. Green Day has since been nominated for 20 Grammy awards and won five, and has also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

5. Who quarried the stone for the state penitentiary

The pink Sioux quartzite that makes up the South Dakota State Penitentiary was quarried by prisoners when the prison was originally the Dakota Territorial Prison in 1881, according to Marty McGoey.

But the prison isn't the only place that has used the strong-as-steel rock. From the Old Court House Museum to buildings along Phillips Avenue, Sioux Falls has used the rock quarried over by Falls Parks for nearly two centuries.

6. The Statue of David was involved in two controversies

Believe it or not, people were not thrilled when the bronze replica cast of David was gifted to the city in 1970s by inventor Thomas Fawick. A minister wrote the Argus Leader at the time, saying David was "not art, but sin," because of his nakedness.

The "City of Hustle" essay by Virginia Olson, details when David was place at Fawick Park, he faced the 10th Street viaduct. The city in response to the outcry turned David to face away from the road.

But scandal wasn't over for David yet.

It turns out that the artist, Felix W. de Weldon, lied about having permission from the Italian government to make the bronze cast of David, as well as the Moses statue that stands on the Augustana campus.

Creating casts of David and Moses had been outlawed by the Italian government since the 1880s and de Weldon had used his own plastic casts of the statues, according to Olson.

7. Sioux Falls and the immigrant experience

Various essays throughout the book detail Sioux Falls and the immigrant experience, especially with recent immigrants from Central and South America as well as the Somali, Sudanese and Ethiopian communities.

Essays about Smithfield talk about how recent arrivals to the country work at the meatpacking plant. Other essays detail new businesses that have started in the city that represent these communities such as the bakery Manna and Nicki's.

David Wal Jal's essay "The Lost Boys" talks about how Sioux Falls has the largest group of Lost Boys, former child soldiers from Sudan who were forced to fight for the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Sudanese Civil War that started in the late 1980s.

The work that Lutheran Social Services does to help refugees resettle in Sioux Falls is also highlighted.

Where to buy 'City of Hustle'

The anthology is out Oct. 11. A book launch event is planned at Zandbroz Variety, located at 209 S. Phillips Avenue at 5 p.m. on Nov. 10th.

Folks wishing to buy the book can find it locally or wherever books are sold. People can also pre-order the book on Belt Publishing's website.

Follow Annie Todd on Twitter @AnnieTodd96. Reach out to her with tips, questions and other community news at atodd@argusleader.com or give her a call at 605-215-3757.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: 7 things we learned from 'City of Hustle,' Sioux Falls history essays
This story originally published Aug. 12 in the Idaho Capital Sun.

The Idaho Legislature filed a response brief in U.S. District Court on Tuesday stating it should be a named party in the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice because the Idaho attorney generals office will not offer a full, zealous, thorough-going defense of the states abortion trigger law.

Kriss Bivens Cloyd, a spokesperson for the Idaho attorney generals office, said the office cannot comment on legal strategy and that the office will vigorously defend the states laws with a defense that is grounded in law and fact.

The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit against Idaho on Aug. 2, saying the states ban on nearly all abortions  which is scheduled to go into effect on Aug. 25  is unconstitutional and violates the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. That law requires hospitals that receive payments for the federal Medicare program to provide medical care to stabilize all patients who come to the hospital with a medical emergency.

The federal governments position is that Idahos trigger law puts health care providers in an untenable position of risking criminal prosecution under the state law or subjecting themselves to enforcement actions under federal law.

The Legislature, represented by attorneys Daniel Bower and Monte Neil Stewart, filed a motion to intervene in the case on Monday. The Legislature is already a named party in the three state lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood challenging abortion laws, but the U.S. governments attorneys, including Samuel Bagenstos and Paul Rodriguez, said it is unnecessary and would complicate the expedited nature of the case.

Bower and Stewarts initial motion to intervene in the case cited law passed by the Idaho Legislature in 2022 codifying a right for the Legislature to intervene in cases related to constitutionality of a statute. But the federal government said case law does not compel the court to allow the state Legislature to intervene, and that it should instead submit friend of the court briefs and split time arguing before the court with the Idaho attorney generals legal team.

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The Legislature has failed to carry its burden of demonstrating both that it has a significantly protectable interest related to the subject of the action and that its interest will not be adequately represented by existing parties, the Department of Justices brief said.

In its response to the government filed on Tuesday, Bower and Stewart wrote that they have already started making plans for appearances at hearings, including intent to subpoena Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts, to give testimony about prosecutorial discretion with regard to emergency room abortions. In parentheses, the brief says that intention will be news to Bennetts.

Bower and Stewart also wrote they have communicated with Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasdens office to learn to what extent, if at all, that office intends and is prepared to present evidence countering the governments position on the material issues of fact. What we learned is that that office has no clear present intent or plan to do anything of the sort.

Bivens Cloyd said that statement is inaccurate and an overstatement or misunderstanding of the states legal strategy.

The authors of the brief were not authorized to speak on behalf of the attorney general or the state of Idaho, nor disclose any legal strategy conversations, she said.

A hearing is scheduled before Judge B. Lynn Winmill at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 22 in Boise, where Winmill will hear arguments on the federal governments preliminary injunction that would prevent the trigger law from going into effect on Aug. 25.
When Michelle Hudson began planning her 2014 wedding, the New York native knew she wanted an adults-only celebration.

"A wedding cost so much to begin with, plus its a long event for kids," Hudson told TODAY Parents. "I wouldve been thinking about how loud the DJ was, profanities that may have been in certain songs, if there was going to be space for kids to get energy out without disturbing other guests  it was a no for us."

But even with a clear "adults only" message on her invitations, Hudson hit a snag.

A couple from my moms guest list responded and wrote in + child on the RSVP card, Hudson said. It caused a whole slew of issues and caused a rift between my mom and her friend.

Hudson said the couple wound up not attending her wedding, because they could not bring their child.

That was totally OK, but it was just such a horrible situation and caused so much extra stress even before the wedding, she said.

Child-free weddings are becoming more common, Sarah Brehant, a wedding planner at Brehant Creations Events in Connecticut, told TODAY Parents. But that doesn't mean they're controversy-free.

The debate over children at wedding rages on internet forums and Reddit pages, with brides sharing stories about families and friend groups torn apart by a simple no children, please on a wedding invite. Meanwhile, some parents are debating the morals of family members and friends not including kids in their love-filled celebrations.

Most weddings arent an appropriate setting with all of the drinking, dancing and partying, Brehant said.

By the time Ariana Hayes and her husband, Alex, were ready to tie the knot in December 2019, the couple had attended more than thirty weddings together and knew exactly what they did  and did not  want when it came to their own celebration.

For the Philadelphia couple, that meant an adults-only wedding.

"We wanted a black tie wedding, and for our friends to be able to celebrate entirely with us, and each other," Hayes, 33, told TODAY Parents. "We found that having children at weddings changed the dynamic of the party. Not for better or for worse, its just that the presence of kids changes the vibe."

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Hayes explained that the decision was practical.

"Only a handful of our friends and family were parents (at the time), and we didnt want those individuals to have to worry about bedtimes, potential meltdowns or sensory overload, or even just keeping up with their kids while trying to simultaneously enjoy themselves," Hayes said, adding that none of her invited guests balked at the couple's request.

She added, "We also had a 240-plus person wedding and making it a kid-free celebration meant we could invite more of our friends and family."

Now a mom herself, Hayes told TODAY she stands by her decision, and would not be offended to receive an adults-only invitation.

"I dont even think I would want to bring my child to most weddings," she said. "I want to be able to devote my attention to celebrating the couple."

Casey Ferri, of Charlotte, North Carolina, got married nearly thirteen years ago, and opted for a child-free wedding. Today, as a mother, she told TODAY Parents she would make the same choice again.

"It's always a good reminder that someones wedding day is about them  not me as a guest, and not about my child or who I have available to babysit," Ferri, 35, told TODAY.

Not all people enjoy the idea of child-free weddings.

"I think that kids are a part of a family and should be included," Hannah Suhr of Pennsylvania told TODAY Parents. "I also think they bring added joy to a celebration like a wedding. It seems it is rarely a child who messes up a wedding."

Suhr, who is a mom, said she did not like kid-free weddings before she was a parent, either.

"I am not at all offended or upset if someone chooses differently," Suhar said. "I respect that everyone planning an event  wedding or otherwise  is entitled to plan it according to their desires."

Related: How the royal wedding photographer got (nearly) all the kids to smile in this pic

Emma Kaveney, a mom of two in Maryland, told TODAY she "firmly believes" it's up to the couple to decide how they want their special day to look.

"I also believe that the couple should understand that me not attending, because I cant, wont, (or) dont have viable childcare doesnt mean I dont love and celebrate them," Kaveney said.

Tips for couples planning an adults-only wedding

For couples trying to navigate planning a child-free wedding, Brehant recommends:

1. Make it clear.

Put on your RSVP card that its adults only, or specify the amount of seats reserved for them so your guests dont assume they can bring their kids, she said.

2. Give options.

If youre having a destination wedding or even a local wedding, perhaps you could put the name of (a) nanny or childcare service on your wedding website to help people with a resource if they want to bring their kids on the trip, Brehant told TODAY.

3. Keep them occupied.

Alternately, Brehant said that if couples want to include kids, they could ask their wedding coordinator to set up a kids station at the wedding or reception to keep youngsters occupied.
The Albuquerque Police Department released body camera video of officers arresting the man who is being charged with the murder of two Muslim men and suspected of killing two other Muslim men in New Mexico.

Muhammad Syed, 51, was arrested in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, on late Monday night when police were planning to execute a search warrant at his Albuquerque home but saw him leave in a gray Volkswagen Jetta, then stopped him over 100 miles away, police said.

Body camera video from police officers who arrested Syed shows that there was a brief struggle before he was taken into custody.

Syed denied being involved in the murders, but police have charged him with two counts of murder and say he is "most likely" connected with the murder of two other Muslims.

ALBUQUERQUE MURDER SUSPECT SAID HE WAS GOING TO TEXAS TO FIND NEW HOME, REFERENCED 'SHOOTING OF MUSLIMS': COPS

Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Police Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock said that they are still trying to find a motive.

"We do have some information about those events taking place, but we're not really clear if that was the actual motive, or if it was part of a motive, or if there's just a bigger picture that we're missing," Hartstock said.

Police said during the press conference that they have evidence showing that Syed "knew the victims to some extent and an interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings ."

Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, was killed on Aug. 1, and Aftab Hussein, 41, was killed on July 27. The men were Muslim and from Pakistan, police said.

ALBUQUERQUE POLICE IDENTIFY SUSPECT IN POSSIBLE NEW MEXICO SERIAL KILLINGS

Naeem Hussain, who was from Pakistan, was killed on Aug. 5. Mohammad Ahmadi, a Muslim from Afghanistan, was killed in November.

Muhammad Afzaal Hussain was a planning and land use director for the City of Espanola, and would have celebrated his one-year anniversary in his position shortly after he was killed.

A criminal complaint states that Syed told investigators that he has "known Naeem Hussain since 2016 and recognized Aftab Hussein from parties in the community."

Fox News' Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.
Nearly 10 months since the fatal "Rust" shooting, which resulted in cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' death, the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office has received the full forensic report from the FBI.

According to a press release, the Santa Fe Sheriffs' detectives received the FBI's completed forensic reports on Aug. 2. They were then forwarded to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) "for review."

"The OMI had advised the Sheriff's Office that they required these forensic reports to finalize their investigation," the release reads. The sheriff's office received the "official OMI reports" on Wednesday.

Per the release, detectives with the homicide and computer crimes unit at the Suffolk County Police Department in New York are still actively assisting the Santa Fe Sheriffs' office in obtaining and processing Alec Baldwins phone records.

The Santa Fe Sheriff's Office received the FBI's full forensic report on the Alec Baldwin "Rust" shooting. Getty Images

"The District Attorneys office has been working with Suffolk County PD, and Baldwins lawyer to acquire the phone records," Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said. "Once Suffolk County PD completes its agency assist and sends those records to New Mexico law enforcement, our detectives will need to then thoroughly review those phone records for evidentiary purposes."

'RUST' INVESTIGATION: ALEC BALDWIN POSSIBLY COULD HAVE FIRED GUN WITHOUT PULLING TRIGGER, SANTA FE DA SAYS

Once the phone records are obtained, as well as the official OMI and forensic reports are reviewed, the Santa Fe Sheriff's investigative case will be sent to the district attorney for review and ultimately final charging decisions.

In March, Baldwin addressed the "Rust" shooting during a film festival and shared that he was "hopeful" that he wouldnt face any criminal charges.

Alec Baldwin addressed the "Rust" tragedy during a film festival panel in Boulder, Colorado, in March. Jim Spellman/Getty Images

During an interview at the Boulder International Film Festival, festival special event programmer and panel moderator Ron Bostwick opened the floor to Baldwin, 64.

ALEC BALDWIN 'RUST' SET SHOOTING RECREATED IN VIDEO SIMULATION

Baldwin spoke about how there were "two victims," while also seemingly suggesting there are some people who have filed suits who are "financially motivated" and are going after "deep pockets litigants," The Hollywood Reporter reported.

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"From the beginning, from the moment this happened, everybody has put out  besides all the anguish and the suffering, horrible feelings we have and, of course, there are two victims and nobody else is a victim, so to speak  we have dealt with a situation where specific people are not as interested in finding out what really happened," Baldwin said, according to THR.

"Im very hopeful when the facts come out we will not be held criminally responsible, but it has changed my life. And I dont mean this in the ordinary sense that I was involved in something or somebody passed," he said. "I mean, I was involved in a situation with somebody was killed. Its changed my life just in terms of the function of weapons in films and television."

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The actor was holding a gun that discharged on a New Mexico movie set on Oct. 21, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin continues to maintain his innocence and said in a televised interview he did not pull the trigger.

His statements have angered Hutchins' husband, Matthew, who has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin. In addition to Matthew Hutchins, a handful of "Rust" crew members have filed lawsuits against Baldwin and the "Rust" production.

Baldwin has previously shared that he is "hopeful" he won't face criminal charges in the "Rust" tragedy. Dimitrios Kambouris

"The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me," Matthew Hutchins told NBC News' "Today" co-anchor Hoda Kotb during an interview in February.

"But gun safety was not the only problem on that set," Hutchins added. "There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced and theres multiple responsible parties."
By Greg Torode and Idrees Ali

HONG KONG/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - While China's expanded drills surrounding Taiwan have marked an unprecedented military and political warning against outside interference over the island, they opened a window to gather intelligence for the United States and its allies.

The four days of intense drills last week - and extended manoeuvres this week - provide an opportunity to scrutinise the missiles China would use to drive off foreign militaries intervening in any future invasion as well as its command, control and communications systems, regional diplomats and security analysts say.

And on the strategic intelligence front, the exercises have given a clue to China's ability to blockade the island as a prelude or alternative to any invasion, showcasing the firing of ballistic missiles over Taiwan for the first time as well as simulated air and sea attacks on ships on its east coast.

While acknowledging ongoing data gathering, two U.S. military officials have cautioned that the drills are unlikely to offer the type of in-depth intelligence opportunity provided by other manoeuvres beyond the headlines.

China is unlikely to display its best tactics and strategies during drills that it knows are being watched closely, said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The officials said that most of the systems and missiles used by China appear to be known to the United States and allies, so it was unclear how much more could be gleaned on their capabilities over the past few weeks.

Singapore-based security analyst Collin Koh said rather than weaponry, the drills offered a prime chance to monitor key Chinese elements - China's reformed Eastern Theatre Command, its Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force - operating together in a fully coordinated and integrated way.

"I fully expect the U.S. to be collecting from a full spectrum - signals, communications and electronic intelligence - it is just a too good opportunity to miss."

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"When you collect this kind of data from the other side, it means you can figure out where the vulnerabilities are, and it helps you create your own counter and jamming systems," Koh told Reuters.

SHIPS, SUBMARINES, DRONES

The United States has kept at least four warships east of Taiwan, centred on the USS Reagan aircraft carrier, during the exercises. And while those ships wield a powerful strike threat, they also operate a vast surveillance capability above, across and under vast swathes of ocean.

Reuters confirmed the presence of the ships last week, and they remain around the Philippines Sea east of Taiwan, according to official Twitter feeds.

Less visibly, U.S., Japanese and Taiwanese submarines and advanced surveillance aircraft are likely to be involved in the intelligence operation as well, analysts and retired intelligence officers say.

For example, submarines can collect a warship's individual acoustic "signature" - vital data if a conflict is to ever break out.

Online trackers of aircraft and ships have also reported the presence of specialist electromagnetic intelligence gathering assets in the area, including powerful U.S. RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft and a missile monitoring ship. Taiwan also launched its locally produced Albatross reconnaissance drones during the Chinese drills, according to video footage reviewed by Reuters.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command did not respond to Reuters questions on the deployment of intelligence gathering assets in the area.

The Chinese and Taiwanese defence ministries did not respond to Reuters' questions.

NO ACTIVE ADVERSARY

The two U.S. military officials said it would take time to digest any intelligence harvested.

While the drills appeared to show that Beijing was able to coordinate its military forces from air, land and sea, the exercises could only reveal so much since there wasn't an active adversary, they said.

"Things are easy when you're not being shot at," one of the officials said.

The officers pointed to Russia's actions in Crimea in 2014 and in Syria over the past few years, which allowed the United States to try and understand Moscow's military capabilities. The United States believed that Russian forces would be able to take Kyiv within two to three days, but their estimates were wrong.

So far, the Pentagon has not changed its assessment that China would be not be militarily capable of staging a successful invasion of Taiwan for five years. And the Pentagon's number three official said on Monday that despite Chinese exercises, the United States had not changed its view that China was unlikely to try and militarily seize Taiwan in the next two years.

Trevor Hollingsbee, a former naval intelligence analyst with the British Defence Ministry, said that a key signals intelligence target would be the role of political commissars on ships - an unusual system of Communist Party control compared to Western militaries.

"They will be looking for any evidence that the double-headed command system of employing a political officer on Chinese warships has a detrimental and exploitable effect upon combat efficiency," Hollingsbee told Reuters.

A statement from China's Eastern Theatre Command on Tuesday highlighted precautions. It described early warning and jamming aircraft operating "under a complex electromagnetic environment to refine joint containment and control capabilities."

On another level, however, China's military chiefs might be unafraid of displaying their expertise in conducting such complex, integrated drills, some analysts believe.

"We got to observe and monitor a least a glimpse of how they look at doing that sort of thing," said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii-based military analyst and a former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command's joint intelligence centre.

"I think they wanted us to see it...I think they wanted us to know that this is not the PLA ... of even 10 years ago, they wanted us to know how far they had progressed."

(Reporting By Greg Torode in Hong Kong and Idrees Ali in Washington; Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay in Washington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Actor Anne Heche is not expected to survive her injuries following a fiery crash in Los Angeles that left her in a coma.

In a statement sent to TODAY late Thursday, a spokesperson for Heche, 53, said the situation is dire.

"Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive," the spokesperson said. "It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable."

"Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her lifes work -- especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light."

The actor was involved in a crash on Aug. 5, police told Los Angeles NBC affiliate KNBC, that involved a Mini Cooper speeding down a residential street and into a home.

A "heavy fire" broke out after the crash, which happened in the neighborhood of Mar Vista, and took nearly an hour to put out, officials said.

US-CELEBRITY-HECHE (CHRIS DELMAS / AFP via Getty Images)

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told NBC News on Thursday afternoon that Heche's blood draw revealed the presence of drugs and said the case is being investigated as a felony DUI traffic collision.

Investigators still planned to do a second test of her blood to "rule out any substance/medication administered at the hospital, the spokesperson said.

The LAPD spokesperson said that he could not yet comment on the presence of cocaine, fentanyl or alcohol.

In a statement later Thursday afternoon, LAPD emphasized it is waiting on "final toxicology results" and that the investigation was still active and ongoing.

Related: Neighbor recalls moments after Anne Heches fiery crash in LA

One neighbor, Lynne Bernstein, told TODAY on Aug. 8 that he and his wife rushed outside after the impact and saw glass everywhere.

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I could see a big hole in the house, Bernstein said. You could tell the car had crashed through the floor. I mean, it was all the way through the front room and into the back, by the back wall of the house.

Mel Harris, Anne Heche And Nely Galan Visit Hollywood Today Live (David Livingston / Getty Images)

Heche first rose to stardom on the soap opera "Another World," where she played twins Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She later landed roles in films like "Donnie Brasco, Volcano, and I Know What You Did Last Summer."

More recently, she appeared as Corrine Cuthbert in the the TV series "All Rise" and as Dep. Superintendent Katherine Brennan in "Chicago P.D."
Police block traffic near the crime scene

An armed man clad in body armour was killed after he tried to "breach" an FBI building in Ohio, officials say.

The suspect fled the scene in Cincinnati and was shot by police after an hours-long standoff in a rural area.

Law enforcement officials told US media they are examining whether the man - whom outlets named as Ricky Shiffer, 42 - had any ties to far-right groups.

The head of the FBI said violence and threats against the agency "should be deeply concerning to all Americans".

Police have not formally identified the suspect killed in Ohio on Thursday, and did not comment on his motive during news briefings.

Unnamed law enforcement officials told US media the suspect may have been present at the Capitol building in Washington on the day of last year's riot by Trump supporters, although he was not charged with any crimes in connection to the disorder.

The Ohio incident comes as US officials warn of increased threats against law enforcement after the FBI executed a search warrant on Monday at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Police said the suspect tried unsuccessfully to breach a visitor security screening area at the FBI office in Cincinnati at around 09:15 (13:15 GMT).

He fled the area, but was spotted about 20 minutes later by a police officer, Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesman Nathan Dennis told a news conference.

FBI's Cincinnati office

A chase ensued until the suspect stopped and exchanged gunfire with officers before fleeing into a cornfield.

After an hours-long standoff, he raised a weapon towards officers and was killed by police around 15:00 local time, said Mr Dennis. No police were injured in the shootout.

According to NBC News, the man fired a nail gun at the FBI building and was also armed with a semi-automatic rifle.

There are two social media accounts in the reported name of the suspect, according to the BBC's disinformation reporter Shayan Sardarizadeh.

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Most of the tweets were about the 2020 election, saying it had been stolen from Mr Trump. The posts also included calls for violence against Democrats, the FBI and the Supreme Court.

At least two posts on the Twitter account - including one saying "I was there" - suggest the person attended the Capitol riot.

On Truth Social, the website owned by Mr Trump, an account in the name of one Ricky Shiffer posted earlier on Thursday, calling for Americans to "be ready to combat", adding: "I am proposing war."

One post appeared to have been made after the incident at the FBI office in Cincinnati.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Mr Trump in 2017, said in a statement that "unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others.

"Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans."

In a speech to FBI field agents in the state of Nebraska on Wednesday, he called online threats to officials "deplorable and dangerous", adding: "Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you're upset with."
Save $140 on the JBL Free II In-Ear Bluetooth Truly Wireless Headphones. Photos via Best Buy Canada.

Yahoo Lifestyle Canada is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.

The weekend has officially arrived, which means that Best Buy Canada is celebrating with a new crop of can't-miss deals.

In case you haven't yet had a chance to check out their site, a fresh batch of deals was just added to their online flyer, giving shoppers the chance to save big on the latest in tech, home appliances, electronics and more.

The latest must-have on sale at Best Buy? A pair of JBL wireless earbuds that are $140 off  just in time for some early back to school shopping.

JBL Free II In-Ear Bluetooth Truly Wireless Headphones. Image via Best Buy Canada.

$80 $220 at Best Buy Canada

The details

For compact earbuds that don't sacrifice on sound, look no further than the JBL Free II In-Ear Bluetooth Truly Wireless Headphones. Bluetooth connectivity pairs effortlessly with your smartphone or tablet, letting you enjoy superior sound quality.

These earbuds offer up to six hours of continuous play or talk time and 18 hours of backup with the smart charging case. They're also water resistant to stay safe from rain or sweat while in use.

Boasting a built-in microphone with an automatic stereo-mono mode, these earbuds let you answer and make clear phone calls with just the touch of a button.

JBL Free II In-Ear Bluetooth Truly Wireless Headphones. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Shoppers say that they deliver on clear sound and noise cancellation, and are "super easy to connect to Android phones."

"The light weight of the earbuds keeps them comfortable and they sound great," shared one reviewer.

"Amazing sound quality delivered from such a small device," added another.

Although these earbuds do come with three different sizes of ear tips, some reviewers still had issues with them "falling out" of their ears.

If these earbuds aren't what you're looking for, you can also shop a selection of Best Buy Canada Top Deals below.

ASUS CX1 14" Chromebook. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Those heading back to school will want to take advantage of this Chromebook on sale for $230. It's sleek and lightweight construction can withstand tough conditions, making it an ideal choice for students of all ages.

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$230 $330 at Best Buy Canada

Sony WH-XB910N Over-Ear Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Save $150 on this pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones from Sony. They provide up to 30 hours of battery life, so you can rest assured that you'll never be caught without headphones.

$200 $350 at Best Buy Canada

Toshiba 50" 4K UHD HDR LED Smart TV. Image via Best Buy Canada.

This smart TV is ideal for upgrading your living room or dorm, as it comes with all of your favourite streaming apps built in.

$480 $630 at Best Buy Canada

Insignia Air Fryer - 3.2L/3.38QT. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Enjoy delicious, crispy foods for a fast-food fix at home  minus the unhealthy oils. It boasts a hot air circulation system that helps everything cook evenly and thoroughly for perfect results every time.

$60 $150 at Best Buy Canada

Fitbit Sense Smartwatch. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Track all your health and fitness goals with the latest in Fitbit technology. This smartwatch helps with stress management and heart health, tracks SpO2, calories burned, steps, sleep, skin temperature, and more.

$240 $330 at Best Buy Canada

Theragun Prime Handheld Percussive Massage Device. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Relieve sore muscles with the help of this percussive personal massager. It features five speeds, and targets deep into the muscles to improve blood circulation and effectively release stress and strain.

$330 $400 at Best Buy Canada

Mophie All in One Wireless Charger. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Save 50 per cent on this wireless charger that lets you simplify your charging setup. It has room to charge your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch simultaneously  without the need for any cords or cables.

$80 $160 at Best Buy Canada

Ninja Specialty Multi-Use Coffee Maker. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Coffee connoisseurs will be sure to appreciate this coffee maker that lets you create barista-worthy drinks at home. It brings together rich coffee concentrates and hot or cold frothed milk for your perfect custom beverage.

$170 $300 at Best Buy Canada

Dyson Tower Fan. Image via Best Buy Canada.

Keep your home feeling cool, even when the temperature rises with this powerful Dyson fan. Its bladeless design is ideal for those with pets or young children, minimizing the risk of injuries if it's touched by accident.

$350 $450 at Best Buy Canada

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
President Joe Biden triggered a standing ovation for former Daily Show host Jon Stewart as he expressed his gratitude at the White House for Stewarts vital help in expanding health and disability coverage for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.

What youve done, Jon, matters. It really, really matters, Biden said Wednesday in the East Room on the day he signed the PACT Act into law.

The PACT Act, also known as the Honoring Our Pact Act, includes health coverage for veterans  many of whom are grappling with cancer  after exposure to burn pits while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

You refused to let anyone forget, Biden said, addressing an emotional Stewart, who was in the audience.

We owe you big, man, Biden added. We owe you big.

ICYMI: During a White House ceremony on Wednesday, Pres. Biden singled out Jon Stewart for his advocacy work in getting the PACT Act to his desk, which will expand health care to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits pic.twitter.com/xvJjjyeOZD  NowThis (@nowthisnews) August 11, 2022

To the veterans, family members and lawmakers in the room, Biden added: All the rest of you, you never gave up the fight. You never quit. You didnt stop, no matter what you were told.

Stewart was an indefatigable champion for expanding health care coverage for veterans. He lashed out at Republican senators when they unexpectedly blocked the bill last month. Earlier this year, the PACT Act passed through the Senate, but the 25 Republicans who previously backed it withdrew their support during Julys vote.

Veterans had traveled to Washington to celebrate the passage of the bill last month and instead held a fire watch vigil outside the U.S. Capitol. They were joined by Stewart, who talked to the press at the time to shoot down arguments against the bill that had been made by GOP lawmakers.

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Biden, who was in isolation at the time after testing positive for COVID-19, talked to the veterans in a video call and sent them pizza.

The Senate held another vote on the bill last week, and the measure passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Im not sure Ive ever seen a situation where people who have already given so much had to fight so hard to get so little, Stewart said on Aug. 2 after the bills passage. I hope we learned a lesson.

Jon Stewart on Senate passage of the PACT Act to help veterans exposed to toxic burn pits: "I'm not sure I've ever seen a situation where people who have already given so much had to fight so hard to get so little.



And I hope we learned a lesson. https://t.co/9UdI0wNYH1pic.twitter.com/mLH06NirQs  ABC News (@ABC) August 3, 2022

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Mark Carver, right, along with his attorney, Ron Shook, and family walk to the main entrance of the Gaston County Courthouse to have his ankle monitor removed Friday afternoon, Aug. 12, 2022.

Belmont resident Mark Bradley Carver no longer faces a first-degree murder charge in the 2008 death of UNC Charlotte student Ira Yarmolenko.

Gaston County District Attorney Travis Page, who inherited the case when he took office on July 1, 2021, formally dismissed the charge against Carver on Friday.

Gastonia attorney Ron Shook shows the official dismissal papers to Mark Carver as he and his family and friends wait to enter the Gaston County Courthouse to have his ankle monitor removed Friday afternoon, Aug. 12, 2022.

"The evidence no longer supports a charge of first-degree murder against Mark Bradley Carver or Neil Leon Cassada. Accordingly, the remaining charge of first-degree murder against Mr. Carver has been dismissed," Page wrote in a press release after dismissing the charge.

Cassada, who was Carver's cousin, died Oct. 10, 2010, the day before he was set to go on trial for murder in Yaromolenko's death.

Carver would spend more than eight years in prison, and lose an appeal of his conviction before the state Supreme Court.

However, in June 2019, Superior Court Judge Christopher Bragg found Carver did not receive a fair trial and granted him a new one. Much of Bragg's reasoning centered on the DNA evidence prosecutors used against Carver at his trial.

Bragg's ruling set in motion a sequence of events where Carver was soon released from prison, although he was required to wear an ankle monitor and remained under house arrest while awaiting a new trial.

On Friday, Carver received a certified copy of his case dismissal. Around 3:45 p.m. Friday, he walked into the courthouse, with more than a dozen family members with him, to have court officials remove the monitor from around his ankle.

At 3:49 p.m. Friday, after first being charged with murder in the early morning hours of Dec. 11, 2008, Carver was a free man.

"Go skip down the hall and have a good day," his attorney Christine Mumma told him in a FaceTime conversation over a cellphone.

Mark Carver leaves the Community Safety Unit without an ankle monitor at the Gaston County Courthouse Friday afternoon, Aug. 12, 2022.

"I'm so glad he's got his name back and the word 'innocent' will be associated with it," Mumma told The Gaston Gazette while discussing the dismissal over a teleconference call.

Carver told Mumma he planned on having a cookout with his family on Saturday. He also hoped to go visit a 6-month-old grandbaby.

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"Maybe I'll go to Alabama," he told family members. The ankle monitor kept him from leaving the state. Family members joked that they drive him across the state line into South Carolina on the way back to his home outside Belmont.

A young girl's death

Two people on personal watercrafts found Yarmolenko's body on the banks of the Catawba River on May 5, 2008. Her car also was down the embankment, stopped after colliding with a tree stump at the river's edge.

Police determined Yarmolenko was strangled to death with the drawstring from her hoodie, a ribbon from a bag in her car and a bungee cord. Police guessed the amateur photographer had come to the river to take some photogaphs. Her camera was found, but without film.

Cassada and Carver were fishing nearby at the time Yarmolenko's body was found. Police investigating Yarmolenko's death questioned them that day.

Police did not charge Cassada or Carver until after receiving results from DNA testing.

Mumma has long argued that state labs used outdated methods to test the DNA found on Yarmolenko's car.

"Mark's DNA was not on anything," Mumma said Friday. "If they'd had used the appropriate standard for testing the DNA these charges would have never been filed."

Page released in his statement that the DNA prosecutors used at Carver's 2011 trial to tie him to Yarmolenko's car "no longer contained a sufficient amount of DNA for examination." Page declined to be interviewed to further explain his decision to dismiss the case against Carver.

Who killed Ira Yarmolenko

While both Mumma and Carver's family expressed joy in the dismissal of the murder charge, both said that someone who killed a young woman still remains free.

"Ira's murder has not been solved and she and her family deserve justice," Mumma said.

"We just hope her family gets justice," said family spokeswoman Robin Carver, the sister-in-law of Mark Carver. "We know someone is still out there, and they are guilty."

Mark Carver show off his ankle monitor with help from his friend Junior Campbell outside the Gaston County Courthouse Friday afternoon, August 12, 2022.

Some internet sleuths have long pushed a theory that Yarmolenko committed suicide and strangled herself. Mumma said no evidence in the case supports that theory.

She said she has offered to open up her case files to investigators, but so far no one has asked to see what she has collected. Without offering details, Mumma said evidence in the case does point to others.

Ira Yarmolenko

Happy day

Carver has spent his time on house arrest mostly watching television, he said.

He would not take questions from reporters present.

"We're happy it's finally over," said his sister-in-law. "It's been a long time coming."

To those who may still believe Carver got away with murder, Robin Carver had a quick response.

"They're wrong," she said. "Just look at the evidence."

Mumma, the executive director of the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence, says Carver's case points out the need for reform in law enforcement investigations. Mumma has won the freedom of several other inmates in North Carolina wrongly convicted of murder.

"We've proven it can happen to anybody," she said.

You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-201-7016 or email him at Kellis@gastongazette.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Murder charge against Carver in death of UNC Charlotte student dropped
Britney Spears and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, are battling on Instagram, and things are getting ugly.

Federline, 44, shared three old videos showing Spears scolding their two sons: Sean, 16, and Jayden, 15. Spears and Federline married in October 2004 after dating for nearly 10 months. Their divorce was finalized in July 2007.

Spears has not yet addressed the footage, but her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, shared a statement with Fox News Digital, slamming Federline for posting the videos and for his explosive interview with The Daily Mail.

"Britney Spears is a brilliantly talented, extremely hardworking icon, who is rightfully beloved and respected by millions around the world," Rosengart told Fox News Digital. "The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about Mr. Federline, who for reasons that are inexplicable, decided to give a gratuitous interview that has hurt the mother of his children."

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline are battling on Instagram. J. Merritt

BRITNEY SPEARS CONFIRMS SHE'S WRITING A BOOK, AIRS OUT FAMILY DRAMA

He continued: "Britney has faithfully supported her children and she loves them dearly. Whether he realizes it or not, Mr. Federline has not only violated the privacy and dignity of the mother of his children, he has undermined his own children, whose privacy he should protect Mr Federline's ill-advised decision to post an old video of his 11 and 12 year old children was cruel, bottom of the barrel stuff. It was abhorrent."

Rosengart noted that Spears will "not tolerate bullying in any area."

"We urge Mr. Federline to act with a measure of grace and decency and to cease from publicly discussing private matters, which benefits no one," he concluded.

Britney Spears' sons did not attend her wedding to Sam Asghari in June. The singer is pictured with her kids in 2013. Gregg DeGuire

A representative for Federline did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Federline captioned the since-deleted post, "I can not sit back and let my sons be accused in this way after what theyve been through. As much as it hurts us, we decided as a family to post these videos."

He noted that his sons were 12 and 11 years old when the videos were taken.

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"This isnt even the worst of it. The lies have to stop. I hope our kids grow up to be better than this," he continued.

Spears shares two sons with Federline. Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers via Getty Images

In the videos posted by Federline, Spears was seen scolding her sons. "This is my house," she told them. "If I want to come in here and give you lotion for your face because its coarse  yall better start respecting me, are we clear?"

BRITNEY SPEARS, SAM ASGHARI SLAM EX KEVIN FEDERLINE OVER CLAIMS THAT THEIR KIDS ARE AVOIDING HER

In a second video, Spears was seen yelling at her oldest son, Sean, for not wearing shoes inside a store. "Have you lost your fking mind? Have you lost your fking mind?" she yelled from the passenger seat of the car.

As punishment, Spears told Sean she was taking his phone away.

Federline's Instagram post was in response to Spears' since-deleted post in which she said her sons decided not to visit her during her conservatorship and it "knocked the breath out of me."

"I talk about it because my heart doesn't understand cruelty. It breaks my heart because it seems to be that these days, cruelty does in fact win, although it's not about winning or losing !!!" Spears wrote. "But I can't process how I dedicated 20 years of my life to those kids  everything was about them !!! For them to knock the breath out of me."

Kevin Federline and Britney Spears were married from 2004 to 2007 and share two sons. Jason Merritt

Her lengthy caption continued: "See you can't fix me !!! No therapy or sense of worship can fix my heart !!! I will forever have trauma and I know this, I've accepted it ... it would take a miracle to fix my heart and not one miracle, maybe 3 !!!"

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

The "Womanizer" singer shared that Sean and Jayden told her they planned to visit her less often this summer.

"I always TRIED and TRIED, and maybe that's why they stopped coming here !!! I wanted them to love me so much that I might have overdone it !!!" the singer wrote. "This summer, they told me, 'we may come here less' and I was like that's fine. I called their dad and I told him that it seems like the boys are wanting to stop coming here as much, which I get because they have their own thing going on but I feel like they are being pretty harsh."

Spears' sons were not present when she married Sam Asghari at her Los Angeles home in June. J. Merritt

The back-and-forth feud between the exes began when Federline spoke with the Daily Mail last week, claiming it was his children's choice to stop seeing their mother.

"The boys have decided they are not seeing her right now," Federline shared with the outlet. "It's been a few months since they've seen her. They made the decision not to go to her wedding."

Spears married her longtime love, Sam Asghari, at her Thousand Oaks home in June. Her sons were notably absent from the festivities.
When schoolchildren return to California classrooms for the 2022-2023 school year, they will all be eligible for free breakfast and lunch, no matter their familys income level.

Californias Universal Meals Program will provide funding for breakfast and lunch each school day to students who request a meal, regardless of whether they qualify for free or reduced price meals already. It will include students in state public school districts, charter schools and other public classrooms across the state.

The program means California is the first state in the country to have a free statewide school meals program, according to multiple reports. After California's action Maine officials also approved a similar program taking effect this year.

The income caps for students receiving free or reduced price meals change annually, tied to federal poverty measures. The Associated Press reported last year that a family of four must have made less than $34,000 per year for a student to qualify for free meals. They must have made less than $48,000 to qualify for reduced-price meals.

The food program is part of state Assembly Bill 130, which Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last year.

Erin Primer, director of food and nutrition services for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, told the Associated Press last year the free meals are historic and beyond life-changing" for students.

Weve completely leveled the playing field when it comes to school food, she said.

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Many schools across the country started offering free meals to all public schstudents during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But some schools are returning to charging students for meals.

Several cities across the U.S., including New York, Boston and Chicago, offer free school meals for students.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California schools will give all students free breakfast, lunch
California companies will not be required to make salary data public after a bill was weakened in a key fiscal committee in the state Legislature on Thursday.

Proposed legislation by Sen. Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara) would have required the state to post salary data online for private employers with more than 250 workers, with a focus on gender, race and ethnicity.

But those requirements were stripped from the bill, without debate, in the fast-paced Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Limon called the last-minute amendments to the bill "disappointing, to say the least" and "a setback for women and people of color" but said she will continue to pursue pay equity measures in the future.

"Equal pay has been an issue for decades in this country, and certainly in the state of California. So while women and people of color will not get to see that information publicly because of what happened with the bill today, I'm in this for the long run," Limon said when asked about the legislation at a reproductive rights event in San Francisco led by Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday.

Some elements of SB 1162 survived, though, and would address pay transparency if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this month.

The bill would require employers to publicize pay scales, including during the hiring process, a move proponents said would prevent those who are historically underpaid from accepting lower salaries than their peers.

The bill would also strengthen the state's enforcement of existing pay data requirements. In 2020, Newsom signed a bill that requires the state's largest employers to collect wage data and report the information to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

That information  which is statewide aggregate data and omits employer and employee identities  found that women, Latino and Black workers are overrepresented in the state's lowest pay brackets, according to the first report released by the state this year.

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The policy aims to ensure employers adhere to anti-discrimination laws. Nationally, women earned 83 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2020, according to U.S. census data.

The state has taken legal action against some companies, including JPMorgan Chase, after they failed to submit the required data.

Limon's bill would strengthen the state's enforcement of the law by fining companies for not complying.

A number of business groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, opposed the bill, saying that publicly sharing pay data would lead to burdensome litigation, and that those potential legal costs would then limit employers' ability to increase wages.

"Publicizing the data to target employers is a cynical and disingenuous manipulation" of the information, and is not a reliable measure of pay disparities, opponents said in a letter to lawmakers this month.

Denise Davis, spokesperson for the chamber, said Thursday that SB 1162 would be removed from its "job killer" list because of the new amendments but that the organization still opposes the bill.

Times staff writer Hannah Wiley contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The charges have been dropped against a man once convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 2008 death of a UNC Charlotte student, a court document said.

According to a court document obtained by Channel 9 on Friday, the Gaston County District Attorneys office dropped the murder charges against Mark Carver. The notice of dismissal said upon retesting and re-examination of the physical evidence, there is no longer sufficient DNA evidence to support the charge.

Mark Carver Murder Charges Dropped

Gaston County DAs office dropped murder charges against the man who once served a life for the death of Ira Yarmolenko. The dissmissal said there is no longer sufficient DNA evidence to support the charge. pic.twitter.com/6W27uZ0zyB  Ken (@kenlemonWSOC9) August 12, 2022

The notice comes more than two years after a judge overturned Carvers 2011 conviction for the murder of Ira Yarmolenko.

Carver and his cousin, Neal Cassada, were fishing near where UNC Charlotte student Irina Ira Yarmolenkos body was found on the banks of the Catawba River in 2008.

Investigators said Yarmolenko had been strangled and her body was found next to her car.

Ira Yarmolenko

Both Carver and Cassada were arrested and charged with murder. Cassada died the day before his trial.

Carver was convicted of first-degree murder in 2011.

In June 2019, a judge ordered a new trial in the case, citing several significant mistakes made by Carvers original attorney during his trial, including critical evidence that was never shown to the jury. The judge ruled that DNA evidence used in his trial wouldnt be admissible by current standards.

The judge also said Carvers trial attorney didnt consider his low IQ and carpal tunnel syndrome.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gaston County DA hopes to use DNA evidence in case against Mark Carver

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Carver was released from prison after nearly a decade in June 2019 and was required to wear an ankle monitor while out on bond. An appeals court ruled against a move to have him sent back to prison in April 2021.

The monitor restricted Carver from leaving the state, even after a judge determined there were questions about the testing of DNA and other flaws in his 2011 conviction.

In January 2022, Channel 9 learned Gaston Countys district attorney, Travis Page, was taking the first steps toward a possible retrial for Carver. Page wanted to retest DNA evidence in the case.

Now, Carver is cleared in the case and had his ankle monitor monitor taken off Friday.

Today, upon review of (lab) analysis, the District Attorneys Office concludes that the evidence no longer supports a charge of First Degree Murder against Mark Bradley Carver or Neil Leon Cassada. Accordingly, the remaining charge of First Degree Murder against Mr. Carver has been dismissed, a statement from the Gaston County District Attorneys Office said in part.

PREVIOSU COVERAGE: Motion filed to dismiss charges against man in UNCC students 2008 murder

Thank God: Carvers loved ones react to charges dropped

Channel 9s Ken Lemon was there Friday when the GPS monitor was removed from Carvers ankle. He said there was so much joy in every step to this office.

Carver was too nervous to speak, but his sister-in-law, Robin Carver, relayed this sentiment: Thank God. Thank God.

Chris Mumma, the attorney who fought to get Carvers conviction overturned, joined him via video from Raleigh. Mumma said she couldnt comment on the reason for dismissal, but said it it backs up her original claim.

Our original position had been from the moment we took this case that Marks DNA was not on anything, she said.

She celebrated Carvers first steps as a free man.

Mumma, the Carver family and the district attorney all agreed someone must be held accountable for Yarmolenkos death.

Consistent with our mission and our promise to this community, the Gaston County District Attorneys Office will continue to seek justice for the Yarmolenko family and all homicide victims as the evidence and rule of law permit, the district attorneys office said on Friday.

Editors note: A previous version of this story said the Gaston County District Attorneys Office had not commented on the decision to dismiss charges. That was incorrect. A portion of the offices release has been included above.

MORE PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

(WATCH BELOW: Gaston County DA hopes to use DNA evidence in case against Mark Carver)
A family says lightning struck their home during a storm this week.

They lost everything, including their dog.

Channel 2s Christian Jennings went to Breedlove Road, northeast of Canton in Cherokee County, where a mom and toddler are safe thanks a neighbor who rushed in to help.

Oliva Jock says her family lost everything in a fire earlier this week at their home.

My daughters birthday was just a few days ago and all her brand new stuff got destroyed, Jock said.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

A neighbor, Joe Darvish, said he saw lightning strike the home.

It was kind of crazy. It hit the house and we saw some smoke and thought it was just from the lightning, Darvish said. After about two minutes we noticed the smoke was starting to billow, get a lot heavier.

Jock said at the time, she and her 2-year-old son were asleep.

We were woken up by a huge boom, like sounded like it was right in the house, she said. And so I jumped up and started looking around, and I walked onto my front porch and smoke was pouring out of this bag of clothes.

She told Channel 2 Action News that within seconds, the porch was engulfed in flames.

Neighbors didnt hesitate; they rushed over to help.

TRENDING STORIES:

And the flames were going over the canopy of the front porch, and I saw her stick her head out with her son in her arm and she thought, I think that she was in kind of shock, Darvish said. I just ran in there, I handed her kid off to Joseph up here and went back inside and grabbed the young lady and helped her get outside through the flames.

The Red Cross is providing some assistance, but the family is struggling to figure out where they go from here.

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Theyre also grieving over the loss of the family dog.

She didnt make it out because the flames got so high, I just had to get me and my son out and I couldnt find her, Jock said.

Fire officials said theyre still investigating the cause and cant rule out lightning at this point.

Anyone interested in assisting the family has been asked to visit their GoFundMe page.

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IN OTHER NEWS
A Chicago police officer shot a man Friday afternoon after officers stopped a car on the Near West Side, officials said.

About 3:15 p.m. police conducted an investigatory stop on a vehicle in the 2100 block of West Adams Street, police said.

When officers spotted an armed person inside the vehicle, an officer shot that person, police said.

Paramedics took the gunshot victim in unknown condition to Stroger Hospital, said Larry Merritt, spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department.

Tom Ahern, spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department, said on Twitter that a gun was recovered, one person was arrested and no officers were injured.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability in a tweet said it was at the scene and urged anyone with information to call the office at 312-746-3609 or reach out through its website, chicagocopa.org.

The officers involved will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days, as is routine when officers fire their weapon at someone.

It was at least the second police shooting in less than 24 hours, as police shot someone in the Back of the Yards neighborhood late Thursday.
Associated Press

A hermit known as River Dave  whose cabin in the New Hampshire woods burned down after he had spent nearly three decades on the property and was ordered to leave  has found a new home in Maine. David Lidstone, 82, has put in windows and is working on installing a chimney on his rustic three-room cabin, which he said is on land he bought. The foundation needs repair work," Lidstone, who received more than $200,000 in donations following the fire, said in a phone interview on Monday.
A juvenile has been arrested and charged in the murders of a mother and her two young sons in New Hampshire, the state's attorney general announced on Thursday.

Kassandra Sweeney, 25, her 4-year-old son Benjamin and her 1-year-old son Mason were found dead in their home in Northfield on August 3, CBS Boston reported. Autopsies showed each died from a single gunshot wound and the medical examiner ruled all three deaths as homicides.

The juvenile is facing three counts of first-degree murder and one count of falsifying physical evidence. Under state law, no other information can be released about the juvenile, Attorney General John Formella said.

Kassandra Sweeney with her 4-year-old son Benjamin and 1-year-old son Mason. / Credit: GoFundMe

On Wednesday, state and local police searched a large area of Route 93 in New Hampshire for evidence, CBS Boston reported.

Father and husband Sean Sweeney said in a Facebook post Sunday that "things will never be 'normal' again." Authorities have described him as "very cooperative and helpful in this investigation."

"It is our job now to keep their memories alive," Sweeney wrote. "They will be forever loved and missed and forever in my heart."

Attorney General John Formella had previously said investigators have identified everyone involved in the shooting deaths and there's no threat to the public.

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(Bloomberg) -- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. warned that clients in sectors such as smartphones were freezing orders, underscoring how a downturn in consumer electronics demand is hurting the chip sector.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Waning demand from makers of smartphones and TV components is forcing SMIC to readjust its manufacturing plans, co-CEO Zhao Haijun told analysts on Friday. The economic downturn and inventory adjustments have spurred rapid freeze and urgent order halts as some clients hold off on placing new orders, he said on a conference call. SMIC fell as much as 3.1% in Hong Kong.

Investors fear the notoriously cyclical chip industry is hurtling toward a prolonged slump after years of shortages led to heavy investments in capacity. SMIC is among a raft of semiconductor manufacturers now grappling with rapidly crumbling global electronics demand, as consumers leave a pandemic-era boom behind. Its also contending with steadily tightening US export restrictions as Washington tries to contain Beijings technological rise.

Chinas largest chipmaker reported revenue rose 42% to $1.9 billion in the second quarter, generally in line with expectations. It posted net income of $514.3 million in the second quarter, surpassing the $469.5 million average estimate.

Read more: Apple Expects to Sustain IPhone Sales in 2022 as Market Slows

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

Semiconductor Manufacturing Internationals return on equity is on track to hit a new high in 2022 despite disruptions to production and capacity expansions due to stricter US export-licensing requirements and Chinas Covid-19 lockdowns. The companys chip foundries will run at high utilization rates over the next two years amid a rapid increase in local fabless chipmaker numbers and increasing silicon content in consumer appliances and automobiles. Its shift toward higher-margin specialty chips -- less exposed to sanctions risk -- may help to offset soaring depreciation and staff costs.

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- Charles Shum, analyst

Click here for the research.

Read more: China Graft Probes Stem From Anger Over Failed Chip Plans

SMIC is at the vanguard of Chinas long-term ambition to produce chips sophisticated enough to replace American silicon, which comprise the majority of the countrys annual $155 billion in semiconductor consumption.

It remains a technological leader in a giant domestic industry now gripped by a series of corruption probes, as senior officials frustrated with the nations lack of progress in semiconductors begin to hold executives accountable. The outcome of the widening dragnet and its impact on local players remain unclear.

US sanctions have played a central role in curbing the countrys chip ambitions. The Trump administration blacklisted SMIC about two years ago on national security concerns, citing the companys ties with the Chinese military, an allegation the chipmaker has denied. Washington is now also pressing allies into the effort, so that key suppliers like the Netherlands ASML Holding NV and Japans Nikon Corp. join its technology blockade.

Read more: US Pushes for ASML to Stop Selling Chipmaking Gear to China

In response, homegrown firms have attempted to develop alternatives to American silicon. The Shanghai-based contract chipmaker has succeeded in advancing its production technology two generations this year to 7-nanometers, though industry experts caution that may not be based on the same standards employed by far larger rivals like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

SMIC has said sanctions hurt its ability to develop more sophisticated technologies. The companys capability is severely curbed by its lack of access for instance to ASML Holding NVs extreme ultraviolet lithography systems, which are required to make the most advanced chips.

The company said in a separate filing that Tudor Brown, the former president of Arm Ltd., has resigned from the board, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. Zhao also resigned as an executive director, according to the company.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
A PetroChina gas station in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province of China. Zhang Yun/China News Service via Getty Images

Five Chinese companies including energy giants Sinopec and PetroChina said Friday they each plan to delist their shares from the US market.

The moves come as the US and China remain locked in a dispute over the inspection of work by Chinese auditing firms.

China's securities regulator reportedly said the delisting plans were based on the companies' concerns.

Energy heavyweights PetroChina and Sinopec were among the Chinese companies on Friday that filed their intentions to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, as China and the US remain deadlocked in a long-running auditing dispute.

PetroChina and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, Aluminum Corp. of China, China Life Insurance, and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical each filed regulatory notifications about plans for their shares to cease trading in the US market. The companies said they would submit delisting applications later this month.

US-listed shares of Sinopec were down more than 6% and PetroChina fell nearly 4%.

The "considerable administrative burden for performing the disclosure obligations as necessary for maintaining the listing of the ADSs on the NYSE as a result of the differences in the regulatory rules of multiple listing venues," were among the reasons PetroChina in a statement said its board approved the delisting of its American Depositary Shares.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said the delisting plans were based on the business concerns held by the companies, according to Bloomberg.

Chinese and the US authorities had reportedly been working on resolving an auditing dispute that has been running for more than a decade. Chinese officials have been reluctant to allow inspections by overseas regulators of local accounting firms because of national security concerns. US lawmakers have set a 2024 deadline for Chinese companies to comply with US auditing rules or face delisting.

Roughly 300 businesses based in China and Hong Kong were at risk of being pulled off US exchanges, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence estimate in May. The market value of those businesses was more than $2.4 trillion.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Krystina Burton and Gabriel Solberg on their wedding day in Paris, France. Courtesy of Krystina Burton and Gabriel Solberg

A couple who met as strangers on a plane left behind their wedding plans to elope in Paris.

Krystina Burton and Gabriel Solberg were due to have a 40-person ceremony in St. Lucia in July.

After delays caused by COVID-19, the couple found a French wedding planner and married on the Seine.

A couple who met as strangers on a plane say they left behind their plans for a destination wedding in St. Lucia to elope in Paris instead.

Krystina Burton, 33, and Gabriel Solberg, 38, met on a flight from New York to Los Angeles in 2018 and fell in love. They now travel the world together and document their adventures on their Instagram account, @swirlthroughtheworld, where they have 18,600 followers as of Friday.

The couple became engaged in October 2019 on a trip to Italy and planned to marry at a St. Lucia resort on July 25, 2020  their anniversary date. But the couple told Insider that, like many, their wedding was delayed for two consecutive years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead of losing yet another opportunity to get married on their anniversary, Burton and Solberg decided to take back control and elope this year on July 25.

"We couldn't keep asking people to save the date and then potentially have to cancel flights and try to get refunds," Burton told Insider, referencing their disrupted 2020 and 2021 wedding plans.

Krystina Burton having her makeup done in a Paris Hotel while Gabriel Solberg looks on. Ludovic Ismael/Wedding By L

The newlyweds, currently based in Stuttgart, Germany, where Burton says she is a dancer and Solberg is a digital nomad, put their 40-person guest list to one side and started to think about elopement destinations nearby. After toying with the idea of Italy, they decided on Paris where they had previously spent Valentine's Day.

In January, the couple first started considering an elopement and researching wedding planners. It took them six months to finalize their plan of marrying in Paris.

Their ceremony took place by the river Seine, with the Eiffel Tower as their backdrop. Burton and Solberg were chauffeured from their hotel, Novotel Paris Vaugirard, to the outdoor location in a 1950s Citroen. The couple legally married in May at a courthouse in Virginia, where Burton's family reside, so their Parisian rendezvous was a symbolic union.

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The couple said they didn't tell anyone about their Virginia wedding other than one close friend who recommended an officiant to them. They said they messaged the officiant the day before they hoped to get married and opted for an informal day with no guests. Burton wore a multicolored summer dress and Solberg donned denim shorts and a black shirt for the occasion.

Krystina Burton and Gabriel Solberg at their legal wedding ceremony in Virginia. Courtesy of Krystina Burton and Gabriel Solberg

Meanwhile, their Paris union was organized by Ceremonize, a French wedding planning service, which charges clients between 1,399 to 4,299, or around $1,445 to $4,439, for one of three wedding packages. Burton said she hired makeup artist, Aissatou Mansaly, and that Ceremonize facilitated every other vendor including their photography, videography, travel, and food.

Burton wore an off-the-shoulder ivory dress with a fishtail skirt for the occasion. She said she bought the dress in from Ava Laurenne Bridal in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 2019. "I'm not someone that had an idea of what they wanted to wear, or ever fantasized about their wedding because I never thought I was getting married," Burton said, adding that the store assistant told her she was the first bride to wear the gown.

Meanwhile, Solberg said he found his eccentric blue suit and patterned waistcoat at Da Vinci Brautmoden, a family-owned establishment in Stuttgart, a few weeks before the elopement.

Krystina Burton and Gabriel Solberg being chauffeured to their wedding. Ludovic Ismael/Wedding By L

After their riverside nuptials, Burton said they had their portraits taken by photographer Ludovic Ismael at the Arc de Triomphe, Petit Palais, and Louvre museum.

The couple said they finished the day with a romantic dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant where, in Solberg's words, "you leave hungry because the portions are tiny." He added that they mailed their wedding outfits home for safekeeping and, still hungry, they sought out a cheap kebab and binge-watched "Snowfall" in their hotel room.

Solberg said the elopement "allowed us to really make the day special and meaningful for us, and honor the commitment and journey we want to take moving forward." Burton added that eloping removed the stress of making sure guests are having fun and allowed them to focus on themselves.

Although Burton and Solberg said they felt the societal stigma of not having family and friends with them for the celebration, they were supported by their loved ones. "People were surprised, but a lot of them were like, 'Oh my gosh, finally. We're so happy that it finally happened for you guys,' because they've been along with us on the journey," Burton said.

Krystina Burton and Gabriel Solberg on their wedding day in Paris. Ludovic Ismael/Wedding By L

Burton and Solberg are one of many couples choosing to elope

Even before the pandemic caused couples to reconsider their dream wedding, more people were turning to elopement to escape the pressures of planning a big event. In April 2019, Harper's Bazaar reported that Pinterest observed a 128% increase in searches for elopement photography ideas. According to Harper's Bazaar, Pinterest also found popular search terms included "elopements at city halls" and "elopements in forests."

Burton and Solberg have some no-frills advice for other couples who want to elope.

"If you do it, don't tell anybody, because they are going to come in with their opinion on why you're making a bad decision," Solberg said. He added that this negates any relief you are hoping to feel by eloping, and warned that there will always be people who aren't going to like your plans.

Still, Burton and Solberg say they're happy with their decision. They said they went on to have "mini fake honeymoons" in Sardinia and Mykonos in July, but they have yet to decide on the big honeymoon adventure they sau they're planning next year. While the jet-setting couple didn't marry in St. Lucia, there's every possibility that they could unwind there as newlyweds.

Read the original article on Insider
Danny Tomasello, a laboratory technician at the Loxahatchee River District, collects a wastewater sample.

Palm Beach County may experience a big drop in COVID-19 cases, a sewage testing report released this week indicates.

Coronavirus fragments found in north county wastewater fell 19% between Aug. 1 and Monday, the Loxahatchee River District reported.

Boston-based laboratory Biobot Analytics found 1,990 viral fragments per milliliter in the wastewater sample the district sent, down from 2,451 seven days before.

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Sewage sampling can reveal COVID trends faster than official case counts. Infected people often shed the most virus at the beginning of their infection. Sewage testing can give the public and health officials a five- to 10-day lead on the prevalence of new clinical cases.

Health officials have documented an average of 600 to 800 positive cases daily in Palm Beach County since late May with no sign of dropping, data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. But with the rise of at-home testing, many positive test results dont make it into official statistics.

COVID sewage testing will now happen twice a week thanks to CDC program

Until Monday, the Loxahatchee River District sent Biobot samples every other week. But now the district plans to have its sewage tested twice a week, thanks to a federal program that tracks coronavirus in wastewater nationwide.

With school starting and snowbird season in the coming months, the increased frequency of monitoring, and the additional detail it provides, is timely, district Information Services Director Bud Howard said.

The district had applied in May to be part of the CDCs National Wastewater Surveillance System, which would give it federal dollars to pay for more frequent sewage testing. But, Howard said, the CDC accepted only large metropolitan water treatment facilities into the program.

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Now, the federal program will give the district money through January, Howard said.

The district plans to publish results Wednesdays and Fridays on its website at loxahatcheeriver.org.

The district serves the Tequesta-Jupiter area ZIP codes of 33458, 33477 and 33469.

Chris Persaud is The Palm Beach Post's data reporter. Email him at cpersaud@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: COVID sewage testing in Palm Beach Beach County shows big reduction
Parts of Connecticut will see an elevated risk of wildfires this weekend, according to the states Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

DEEP is warning Connecticut residents and visitors of a higher risk of wildfires in eastern Connecticut on Friday and in the south-central parts of the state throughout the weekend.

Due to ongoing drought conditions, forest fire danger levels are elevated from high to extreme throughout the state and are expected to remain that way until there is significant rainfall, DEEP said in a statement Friday.

As always, Connecticut residents and visitors alike need to take precautions to prevent forest fires, said DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes. This is especially true right now as we are expecting very dry conditions with reduced relative humidity to continue throughout the state over the next few days. If you are enjoying the outdoors at a state park or forest, always limit your campfires to the stone or metal rings provided and be sure your fire is doused thoroughly when done.

According to DEEP, the departments Division of Forestry constantly monitors the danger of forest fire to help protect Connecticuts 1.8 million acres of forested land. So far in 2022, 300 acres have burned in Connecticut, said DEEP.

The average number of acres burned per year in Connecticut is about 500, according to the department.

Residents are reminded that open burning permits are not valid if the Forest Fire Danger is rated high, very high of extreme, or if burning is taking place within 100 feet of a grassland or woodland.

Anyone who spots a forest fire is asked to call 911 immediately.

DEEP issued a list of tips to help prevent forest fires while the danger is elevated, including making a fire-safe zone around your house and cleaning flammable vegetation and debris from at least 30 feet around the house and any outbuildings.

DEEP also suggests pruning away the lower limbs of evergreens that are within the fire-safe zone because evergreens catch fire easily during dry periods and burn quickly, removing any limbs which overhang the roof or chimney, regularly removing leaves and needles from gutters, dont store firewood in the fire-safe zone, using fire-resistant roofing materials and making sure firefighters can find and access your home.

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DEEP suggests people mark their houses and roads clearly and prune away limbs and trees along their driveway which do not allow fire truck access and have an escape plan and practice it.

Residents and visitors are also asked to follow state and local open burning laws, stay with outside fires until they are completely safe and to dispose of wood ashes in a metal bucket, soaking them with water before dumping them.

DEEP also asked that people in Connecticuts parks, forests, and open spaces, use fires with caution and follow the following recommendations:
Aug. 12OGDENSBURG  Remember. Renew. Rejoice.

The thematic three Rs for the Diocese of Ogdensburg's sesquicentennial culminated in an Anniversary Mass held Wednesday at St. Mary's Cathedral in Ogdensburg.

The Rev. Bryan D. Stitt, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Canton, coordinated the worship and served on the event  planning committee.

"We drew in people from all over to celebrate this one," he said.

"One-hundred-and-fifty years is nothing to rest on your laurels. It's something to celebrate and look to the future for."

The celebration was a year in the making.

"Remember," he said.

"You're looking back. Where have we been? How did we start? To see Bishop Wadhams be sent to us by Pope Pius IX, literally 150 years ago this year. To imagine what that history was like in his journals talking about getting a sturdy pony and making it to not just every parish but every home and every family and just spreading the Gospel."

His Eminence Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, D.D., Ph.D., Archbishop of New York was the Principal Celebrant, and The Most Reverend Terry R. LaValley, D.D., J.C.L, Bishop of Ogdensburg, was the Homilist at the Anniversary Mass held on Aug. 10, the Feast of St. Lawrence.

HISTORY

On February 16, 1872, Pope Pius IX severed a portion of what was then the sprawling Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and created the Diocese of Ogdensburg.

The new diocese would encompass 12,036 square miles of northern New York, including Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, as well as northern Herkimer County.

The Right Reverend Edgar P. Wadhams, D.D., First Bishop of Ogdensburg (May 5, 1872  December 5, 1891), was the former Vicar General of Albany. He was born in Lewis in 1817.

His crozier, the Bishop' staff, was used by Cardinal Dolan in Wednesday's celebration.

"Every bishop has his staff," Stitt said.

"We asked Cardinal Dolan if he would like to use our first bishop's, Bishop Wadhams' shepherd staff, to show that continuity. It's not just what happened 150 years ago, but it's renewing. That's the second one, right? We are continuing on. We're looking into the future. How can we grow?

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"We're still the same faith. We still need shepherds. We need teachers. We need servants to share the Gospel, but it's a different world today. How do we renew this faith in a dynamic way? And then, to rejoice. Boy, oh boy, did we. The music was glorious. The church was full."

TWELVE BISHOPS

In attendance were: The Most Reverend Marcel Damphousse, D.D. Archbishop of Ottawa-Cornwall; The Most Reverend Michael Mulhall, D.D. Archbishop of Kingston; The Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito, D.D., J.C.L. Bishop of Palm Beach; The Most Reverend Robert J. Brennan, D.D. Bishop of Brooklyn; The Most Reverend Robert J. Cunningham, D.D., J.C.L. Bishop Emeritus of Syracuse; The Most Reverend Paul S. Loverde, D.D. S.T.L., J.C.L. Bishop Emeritus of Arlington; The Most Reverend Douglas J. Lucia, D.D., J.C.L. Bishop of Syracuse; The Most Reverend Richard J. Malone, TH.D., S.T.L. Bishop Emeritus of Buffalo; The Most Reverend Salvatore R. Matano, D.D., S.T.L., J.C.D. Bishop of Rochester; and The Most Reverend Noel Simard, D.D. Bishop of Valleyfield.

"We literally had a dozen Apostles," Stitt said.

"The successors of the Apostles are the Bishops. We weren't shooting to have a dozen like Jesus, but we had a dozen of them, which is so symbolic. All of our Bishops are successors of the Apostles. It's beautiful to see the continuity not just for the past 150 years, but the 12 Bishops there is like having the 12 Apostles, the continuity for 2,000 years. So much beauty, and so much richness in that presence."

Stitt said it is always exciting to have Cardinal Dolan in Ogdensburg.

"A close second was what he called Mt. Rushmore because we had the three previous bishops, Bishop Loverde, was our 11th Bishop; Bishop Barbarito, was our 12th Bishop; and Bishop Cunningham, was our 13th Bishop," Stitt said.

"So, we had those three plus our native son, who is now the Bishop of Syracuse, Bishop Doug Lucia. Those four were featured prominently. Cardinal Dolan called them Mt. Rushmore. Then, the Cardinal spoke of the good work that Bishop LaValley has been doing and sharing his values with us. So, he had a round of applause for all the good work that he has been doing."

PARISHIONER'S PERSPECTIVE

Plattsburgh resident Anita Soltero is the assistant director of Education for Faith Formation and Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Ogdensburg.

"My reasons for attending would be multi-layered," she said.

"My faith is very important to me. I've been connected to St. Peter's Church here in Plattsburgh since 1994 when I moved here from downstate. I've been an active parishioner all these years participating in many many events. I've also been connected to the diocese from participating in their events that they offer and have been a volunteer catechist, teaching at St. Peter's Faith and Formation Program since 1998."

Soltero became the director of Faith Formation at St. Peter's Church in Plattsburgh in 2010 and worked there for seven years.

"It was the best job of my life," she said.

"Then, I was lucky enough to be able to take a position with the Diocese, my current position, going on year four. Obviously, my connection to the diocese is very, very strong.

"I wouldn't miss a great celebration like this. To be able to share with Cardinal Dolan was a very special blessing, to be in his presence and celebrate Mass with him in addition to the former Bishops that were here as well as all the priests and deacons from from around the diocese and all the people that attended as well."

Soltero said it was a joyous celebration.

"And, we got to hear some of the history of the diocese, the creation of it," she said.

"So, it makes you realize the great struggles that the early kind of pioneers had to go through in order to establish the Church in the North Country. And, it makes you appreciate it that much more."

Soltero said she wouldn't miss a family reunion or special anniversary celebration.

"My church community is just like family, you want to share all the joy you can with them and celebrate special events in a big way," she said.,

"And we did just that yesterday! The choir was spectacular and the cathedral was full. There is nothing better than celebrating mass together with all the stops pulled!"

A RETIRED PRIEST'S PERSPECTIVE

Msgr. Dennis Duprey was there, and he was a priest of two years at the 100th anniversary held in Lake Placid's Old Olympic Arena in 1972.

"You hang around long enough, you get to everything," the retired priest said.

"If you were in your 20s and now in your 70s, you made it."

Duprey called Wednesday's celebration renewing and inspiring.

"I don't have as much future in front of me as I did in 1972, but it was not an event that was simply grateful for the past, but it was an event that look forward with hope to the future," he said.

"It was inspiring because of the sacrifices that people made in the past, particularly our first bishops and priests and religious and lay people.

"They didn't have the kind of the communication, transportation systems, anything that we have, and yet they made it work. We got problems today, but they had more challenges then in many ways. They went at it. They didn't let anything deter them from the celebration of their faith and the future that lay in front of them. If they could do it, hey, why not?"

More than 100 people from the Plattsburgh area were in attendance traveling by buses and private vehicles.

"I was very pleased with it," Duprey said.

"The music was gorgeous, especially gorgeous. The food afterward was terrific, unlike afterwards when we were at the 100th. It was more of a banquet-style thing. This was picnic on the lawn of the Cathedral. But not a picnic of hot dogs and hamburgers, but of pulled pork and ham, and various food served under tents. It was a gorgeous day. It started on time, ended on time, and we were back here in time. It was a good day. A very good day."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell
I took this photo at 6:05 p.m. on a Thursday in July. Amanda Krause/Insider

Disney Springs is an outdoor shopping and dining center at Disney World that's free to enter.

It's a fan-favorite spot, but big crowds and hot temperatures can make it disappointing to visit.

Disney Springs can also be expensive as a result of pricey food and souvenirs.

Disney Springs might be one of my favorite spots to shop and eat at Disney World, but it isn't always magical to visit.

This Mickey fountain is located near the World of Disney store at Disney Springs. Amanda Krause/Insider

Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Disney Springs has little shade and dark, asphalt walkways. So when it's 90 degrees outside, you feel the heat.

Good or bad, Florida weather hits you the moment you enter Disney Springs. Amanda Krause/Insider

There are a few shaded paths near stores, but they're small and sunlight still pokes through.

People gather under shaded walkways at Disney Springs in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

As you walk around, you'll notice that some stores are a bit basic  like the giant M&M shop that sells regular candy for sky-high prices. Some small boxes of the candy, for example, cost upwards of $20.

At Disney Springs, there's an M&M store located near an AMC movie theater. Amanda Krause/Insider

You might also see some sections under construction for months at a time, like this restaurant that isn't set to open until 2023.

It will likely be months before this new restaurant opens at Disney Springs. Amanda Krause/Insider

There are plenty of restaurants to choose from at Disney Springs, but they're not always open. Food trucks, for example, don't open until late in the evening on weekdays.

This food truck was closed when I visited after 5 p.m. on a Thursday in July. Amanda Krause/Insider

Other food stalls, like carts that sell Mickey pretzels and ice cream, don't have set hours, so you might have to walk for a while until you find an open one. And when you do, prepare to spend a decent amount of money. Pretzels alone cost $7.50.

A closed food cart at Disney Springs in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

There are plenty of photo-ops throughout the shopping center, but they're often crowded with resting travelers.

Disney fans gather around a Lego sculpture in Disney Springs. Amanda Krause/Insider

There are also unique activities to participate in, like Amphicar tours. But beware  a 20-minute ride in one costs $125, and if you want to watch from the sidelines, you'll have to get through big crowds of spectators.

Crowds gather to watch the Amphicars leave the Boathouse restaurant. Amanda Krause/Insider

If you visit after 5 p.m., expect to see the large crowds grow even more. People flock to Disney Springs as the sun goes down to avoid the heat.

I took this photo at 6:05 p.m. on a Thursday in July. Amanda Krause/Insider

As Disney Springs fills with tourists, lines become extremely long. At popular restaurants like The Polite Pig, where reservations are not suggested, there's often a wait to get inside.

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A line of people wait to enter The Polite Pig at Disney Springs in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

The Rainforest Cafe was one of the busiest restaurants I saw, with a line that extended past the destination's giant volcano just to make a reservation.

A line of people wait to enter the Rainforest Cafe at Disney Springs in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

Gideon's Bakehouse had an equally long wait, with dozens of visitors waiting to purchase the shop's half-pound cookies.

People wait to buy dessert from Gideon's Bakehouse in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

Read more: I tried the $6 cookies at Disney World that people wait hours in line for, and it was the highlight of my vacation

You'll also have to wait for quick-service snacks, like Dole Whip.

A line of people waiting for Dole Whip at Disney Springs' Swirls on the Water booth. Amanda Krause/Insider

And once you get your ice cream, it might not be too picturesque. Even at 7:15 p.m., the Dole Whip I ordered melted in under two minutes. Quickly, this $6.50 dessert seemed overpriced.

A melted Dole Whip flight at Disney Springs in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

Of course, you could go shopping instead of dining, but you likely won't beat the crowds. When I visited the Disney Springs Sephora in July, I could barely walk through the aisles.

Evening crowds at Disney Springs often congregate in air-conditioned stores. Amanda Krause/Insider

Some of the worst lines are a result of confused shoppers. The World of Disney line was so long that people didn't know where to stand. And at Disney's Christmas store, I waited more than 20 minutes to purchase an ornament before realizing I was at the personalization counter, not the registers.

I spent more than 20 minutes in line to make a purchase at Disney's Days of Christmas. Amanda Krause/Insider

Some of the designer stores are a bit quieter, but the merchandise is less accessible. After seeing fans gather around a purse in the Coach store, I checked the price. It cost $695.

A Disney-themed Coach bag at Disney Springs in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

Whenever you decide to leave, good luck. It's almost impossible to walk through the crowds, and the ride-share pick-up spots can be hard to find. There's only two, and they're at opposite ends of Disney Springs.

Crowds at Disney Springs on a Friday night in July 2022. Amanda Krause/Insider

Read the original article on Insider
(Bloomberg) --

Most Read from Bloomberg

Dubais ruler is set to become the second-largest shareholder in Emaar Properties PJSC as part of a 7.5 billion dirham ($2 billion) deal that will hand the real estate firm full control of a key development in the city.

Emaar will buy Dubai Holdings 50% stake in the Dubai Creek Harbour project and finance the deal equally in cash and shares, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoums holding firm said in a statement late on Thursday.

The deal will make Sheikh Mohammed Emaars second-biggest investor, according to the statement, though it wasnt immediately clear how many shares will be issued or the total stake Dubai Holding will hold. Dubai already owns a 24% stake in Emaar -- which is the developer of the worlds tallest tower, Burj Khalifa.

Shares in Emaar closed down 1.6% on Friday. The stock has almost tripled from a March 2020 low and is up about 15% so far this year.

Dubai is getting its financial house in order with a string of asset sales and initial public offerings of state-owned companies that aim to raise funds just as borrowing costs surge across the world. Authorities are also seeking to stem a glut of properties thats plagued the emirates real estate market for years.

The Dubai Creek Harbor deal is the latest in a series of asset sales by the state-backed conglomerate. In 2019, Dubai Holding unit Meraas set up a $1.4 billion joint venture with Brookfield Asset Management Inc., giving the Canadian firm a degree of control of some of the citys most prized retail assets. Dubai Holding is also behind Tecom Group, which in June raised $454 million in an initial public offering.

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Strong Rebound

Emaar had suspended construction of parts of the Dubai Creek Harbour project when the coronavirus outbreak dampened demand. In recent months, the citys property market has rebounded strongly, helped by factors including an increase in Russian buyers looking to safeguard their wealth and Dubais nimble handling of the pandemic.

Raj Purswani, a senior research analyst at International Securities LLC, said some investors may view the deal negatively due to concerns about dilution and the developers commitment to dividends.

Cash, which could have been used to repay debt, considering the rising interest cost, will now be used to buy the project, he said. It will also reduce available free-float in the market, which will reduce Emaars weight in the future calculation of MSCI and FTSE indices.

Others say the acquisition will benefit Emaar in the long term. It will give the developer a large land bank to build on in its strongest market along with full control of the project and its profit, according to Mohammed Ali Yasin, an Abu Dhabi-based, independent capital markets advisor and investor. In the future, that should help lift Emaars share price, he said.

Rothschild & Co. acted as sole financial adviser to Dubai Holding on the transaction.

(Updates with analyst comment, details from fifth paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2022 Bloomberg L.P.
As Russia's war in Ukraine grinds on after more than five months of vicious fighting, casualties are mounting on both sides. Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have suffered life-changing injuries, but many tell CBS News they're determined to continue defending their country if they can.

CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams visited a rehabilitation center in western Ukraine trying to help some of the warriors recover. The men she met said they wanted America's help to heal, so they can get back on the battlefield.

Many lost limbs fighting off Russia's invasion. Now they're rebuilding their bodies and their minds.

Ukrainian army Captain Danylo Ishchenko speaks with CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams at a rehabilitation center in the west of Ukraine. / Credit: CBS News

"It was a big pain, but also it was a big shock," Captain Danylo Ishchenko told CBS news. He said he lost his leg to a Russian mortar during intense fighting last month around Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv. "I am a warrior, and it's not very important  warrior with iron leg or natural leg," he told Williams. "I will fight." He's already learning to ride horses as part of his therapy, and he said his next goal was to complete a biathalon. Major Viktor Deineka told CBS News he lost both of his legs to a Russian missile on February 24, the first day of Vladimir Putin's invasion of his country.

Major Viktor Deineka told CBS News he lost both of his legs to a Russian missile on February 24, the first day of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. / Credit: CBS News

Without adequate first aid equipment, he said he managed to improvise a tourniquet from his own belt, to stop the loss of blood, and possibly save his own life. He's been fitted with temporary prosthetics, but told Williams he recently had a fall, because he was trying to move too quickly on them. He laughed when she noted to him that he'd literally tried to run before he could walk.

Ukraine's military heroes are as stoical and determined as their country, but many Williams and her team met at the rehab center were hoping America might lend them a hand. They'd love access to the kind of top-quality prosthetics and world class rehabilitation wounded American troops might get.

Captain Ishchenko told CBS News there's another reason he'd like to go to the U.S. "I want to learn more about drones, about battle drones," he told Williams.

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He wants to be trained up by the American military to fly drones, so he can come back home and use the weapons against Russia. Ukraine and its people are undoubtedly battle scarred, but they are not broken.

"Sturgeon moon" gives spectators around the world this year's last supermoon

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(Reuters) - Indian-born novelist Salman Rushdie, who was attacked on a New York state lecture stage on Friday, spent years in hiding after he was ordered killed by Iran in 1989 because of his writing.

Following are some key events that followed that death edict - or fatwa - issued by Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the publication of Rushdie's 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses", which Khomeini deemed blasphemous to Islam.

- Feb 12, 1989: At least six people are killed in the Pakistani city of Islamabad in shooting between police and gunmen in a crowd protesting against the sale of the novel in the United States.

- Feb 14, 1989: The fatwa. Khomeini calls on all Muslims to kill Rushdie.

- Feb 24, 1989: Twelve people are killed in Mumbai when police open fire to prevent a crowd of 10,000 protesters marching on the British High Commission.

- May 27, 1989: Pro-Iranian and pro-Iraqi factions clash when some 30,000 Muslim demonstrators mass outside the British parliament.

- Sept 14, 1989: Four bombs are planted outside bookshops in Britain owned by Penguin, publisher of "The Satanic Verses".

- July 3, 1991: Ettore Capriolo, Italian translator of The Satanic Verses, is beaten and attacked with a knife in his Milan flat by a man who says he is Iranian.

- July 12, 1991: Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi is stabbed to death in Tokyo by an attacker who flees.

- Sept 7, 1995: After six years under police protection and living in safe houses, Rushdie appears in London in his first pre-announced public appearance since the fatwa was issued.

- Feb 12, 1997: Eight years after it first offered a reward, the Iranian revolutionary 15th Khordad Foundation increases the bounty on Rushdie's head to $2.5 million.

- Sept 22, 1998: Iranian President Mohammad Khatami says the Rushdie affair is "completely finished".

- Sept 24, 1998: Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi tells British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook at the United Nations in New York that Iran will take no action to threaten Rushdie's life, nor encourage anybody else to do so.

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- Sept 28, 1998: Iranian media say three Iranian clerics have called on Islamic followers to kill Rushdie under the fatwa.- Oct 4, 1998: Some 160 members of the Iranian parliament say the death decree against Rushdie remains valid.- Oct 10, 1998: A hardline Iranian student group sets a one billion rial (then $333,000) bounty on the head of Rushdie.- Oct 12, 1998: State-linked Iranian religious foundation raises its $2.5 million bounty by $300,000.- Feb 3, 1999: Mumbai-born Rushdie is granted a visa by the Indian government to visit his country of birth, triggering protests by Muslims.

- June 15, 2007: Rushdie is awarded a knighthood by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for services to literature, prompted diplomatic protests from Pakistan and Iran and demonstrations in Pakistan and Malaysia.

- Jan 20, 2012: Rushdie cancels plans to attend a major literature festival in Jaipur, India, after protests from some Indian Muslim groups.

- Sept 16, 2012: Iranian religious foundation raises its bounty for killing Rushdie to $3.3 million.

- June 20, 2014: Rushdie wins annual PEN/Pinter Prize for his support for freedom of speech and what judges call his generous help to other writers.

- Oct 13, 2015: Rushdie warns of new dangers to freedom of speech in the West amid tight security at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Iranian Ministry of Culture cancelled its national stand at the fair because of Rushdie's appearance.

- Feb 22, 2016: Iranian state-run media outlets add $600,000 to a bounty for the killing of Rushdie.

- June 1, 2022: Rushdie is made a Companion of Honour in the British Queen's annual birthday honours.

- Aug 12, 2022: Rushdie is attacked on stage at a literary event in Chautauqua, western New York state, and is flown by helicopter to a local hospital for treatment.

(Compiled by John Stonestreet; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
Elizabeth Fisher/CBS

Youve never seen a nun quite like Andrea Martins Sister Andrea on Paramount+s Evil. At first blush, one might mistake her for an ordinary woman of God; in fact, the characters around her tend to do just that. But much like all of Martins charactersfrom Aunt Voula in My Big Fat Greek Wedding to Francesca Lovatelli on The Good Fightanyone who underestimates our Sister in Christ does so at their own peril.

Evil creators Robert and Michelle King (who, incidentally, also spawned The Good Fight) knew what they were doing when they brought Martin on as a series regular for this season, which comes to a spectacular close Sunday night. In fact, Sister Andrea might be the most formidable nun weve seen on screen in recent memory; she kills demons no one else can see, and shes the only one that consistently puts Leland Townsend (played by Michael Emerson, our consummate TV villain) in his place.

EVIL Elizabeth Fisher/CBS

More importantly, however, Sister Andrea is a comedic force to be reckoned witha font of dry humor, coy smiles, and one-liners. Her chief passion in life (apart from riding the bus) seems to be allowing everyone around her to think theyre in control when really, much like Leland, shes the one pulling the strings.

Consider, for instance, this seasons third installment, The Demon of Sex." Andrea quietly sits in on a counseling session, in which psychotherapist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) advises a couple who cant have sex without breaking into hives and, on one harrowing occasion, finding giant claw marks across their backs. Although Kristen is reluctant to let Sister Andrea sit in, the superstitious nun is the only one who really knows whats going on: As the couple discusses their issues with Kristen, Andreas staring down a demon in the corner of the room.

When David asks why he, a priest, cannot see the supposed demonor the snail trail of goo that its left on the floorour lady of perpetual bluntness does not mince words. Because, she says, youre not as good.

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Like most Evil pursuits, Sister Andreas demon hunting is often more humorous than scary. The series demon design has long been one of its best assets. (Sometimes literally, as in the case of one demon who chooses to moon Sister Andrea.) An even more consistent source of comic relief, however, are the cutaways in the middle of Sister Andreas epic showdownswhich reveal that, to everyone else, shes yelling at thin air.

And while The Daily Beast would never spoil whats to come in this weeks finale, lest we be haunted like those who choose to skip the shows opening credits, I will say this: Sister Andreas got a lot of demons to kill, and each one is more stunning than the last. But are these hairy, scaly, slimy guys really a bigger challenge for Sister Andrea than Kristens daughters, whose incessant chattering and rough manners she seems hellbent on reigning in? That might be a matter for Season 4 to tackle.

One thing we do know, however, is that Sister Andreas work is far from over. Although Martin, a seasoned comedic actress, relishes the laughs she can bring in her role, what really grounds her character, as she put it in a recent interview with TV Guide, is Sister Andreas mission.

Evil Is Still the Funniest Creepshow on TV in Season 3

She can joke, she can talk about sex, she can talk about her own relationship, she can do all that, Martin said. But her mission is to completely abolish evil from the world. And when your feet are grounded like that, you cant go too far anyway. Hear, hearand heres to more demon smiting (and, hopefully, even more Andrea Martin) in Season 4.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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A former music professor and orchestral director with the University of Kansas has filed a federal lawsuit against her ex-employer, saying the school failed to provide equal pay and treatment during her four-year tenure.

Carolyn Watson, hired to join the universitys School of Music in 2018, says in the lawsuit that she was paid less than men in similar roles who had less experience or fewer responsibilities. Her attempts to address the pay issue with university administration resulted in no change, the lawsuit says, and were allegedly met with hostility and mockery from a direct superior.

A university spokeswoman declined to comment, saying KU would not discuss pending litigation.

Watson was chosen to take the position by a university committee among 100 applicants, the lawsuit says. She claims the School of Music dean disfavored her selection by the committee and preferred a male candidate who was not invited to be interviewed.

Meanwhile, Watson grew concerned about the starting salary she was offered after learning that a male conductor in the School of Music was earning significantly more at the time, the lawsuit says. She sought the opinion of an economics professor specializing in pay inequity at KU and was told the offer she received was inadequate.

Based on that information, Watson says she tried to negotiate for higher pay with the dean. That led to an immediately hostile reaction, the lawsuit says, that ended with her feeling pressured to take the lower pay scale or not get the job at all.

Watson said she was also criticized for seeking advice from the KU economics professor regarding her offer. After starting the job, Watson says she heard the dean had publicly announced a desire to rescind her offer because he considered her actions unethical.

The lawsuit also alleges Watson became aware that the dean had read emails she sent to him aloud in front of other staff members in a mocking tone, essentially mocking her efforts to negotiate a fair salary.

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Watson described the general workplace environment as hostile and says she was treated with extreme animosity. Despite that, the lawsuit says, she brought positive recognition to the universitys orchestra program, including two national awards in 2020.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District of Kansas. It alleges the university violated the Equal Pay Act, calling for front and back wages and benefits as compensation.

Carolyn Watson, originally from Australia, left KU earlier this year. She was hired to join the University of Illinois-Champaigns School of Music as the director of orchestras in the fall.
Fox School of Business at Temple University.

On Tuesday, Temple University announced its current business school dean, Ronald Anderson, will step down in June 2023 and return to teaching and research.

Anderson was first appointed interim dean of the Fox School of Business in July 2018 following the rankings scandal that ultimately led to a conviction in federal court of his predecessor, Moshe Porat, for knowingly submitting false data to a prominent magazine to boost the schools online MBA, EMBA, and part-time MBA programs. Porat was sentenced in March to 14 months in federal prison; Porat is currently free on bail as he appeals his conviction. (Read: New Temple Fox Dean: Ranking Scandal Could Never Happen Again)

Anderson was appointed to the deanship full-time in 2019. Poets&Quants connected with him this week to talk about his decision and what comes next for the Fox School; the interview has been edited for length and clarity.

To start off, why did you decide to step down?

I think theres three components: The first is that were largely past the ranking issue. It hasnt quite finished playing out in the sense that the Third Circuit Court of United States Superior Court is reviewing a couple of pieces of Moshe Porats appeal, so well probably have that play out, Im hoping by year end. Having said that, were still dealing with some of the reputational fallout, and thats a longer term rebuild. It takes a lifetime to establish trust and two or three minutes to destroy it. From that perspective, we probably have three or four years of continuous reputation rebuild until this is beyond us. From an undergraduate perspective, the undergrads dont really care too much about it anymore. The graduate students do, and so we still have a little bit of rebuilding.

I think the second big issue is that the last four years have been challenging, and between the rankings, the pandemic, and the demographic challenges that were facing in the northeastern United States, Ill just say Im tired. I think its time for a new voice, new energy in the deans office, and so this is a good time to make the transition. Were kind of heading in a new direction, rebuilding the programs and so forth. Much of that has been established, and its just a matter of finishing that process.

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Ronald Anderson

Finally, as you get older, your interests change. Ill be 64 in October, and being a dean of a large business school is, truthfully, a 24/7, 365-day job. I would like to transition into another phase in my life. Go back to teaching and research and then look forward to next steps.

Can you elaborate on some of the demographic challenges you mentioned?

In the northeastern United States, were dealing a lot with the aging population. Its been happening over the last two or three years: the number of 12th graders graduating from high school is shrinking about 2 or 3%. Thats particularly prevalent in the Pennsylvania area. If you project out, it looks like in 2026, were going to actually see a pretty big step down in the demographics. If you go back 18 years from 2026, that gets you to the 2008 financial crisis. There was a big, big drop in the number of births, so were probably going to see a 6 or 7% step down (in the number of college-aged freshmen). What this really gets to is that were all competing for a smaller pool of students. In universities, we compete on two dimensions: quality and reputation, and on price right. Its becoming incredibly competitive.

How would you describe the Fox School of Business in 2022?

I think were offering state of the art education; Were very focused on student outcomes. And when I say student outcomes, I mean is the education that were providing getting students where they need to be in the corporate world, are employers loving our students? All the data tends to suggest that they are. Our undergraduates. 91.6% of them are placed within six months of graduation. With our (full-time) MBAs, 94% are placing within three months of graduation. Our specialty master students are doing just as well. We feel like on the education side, were doing really well.

On the research side, if you look at UTD (University of Texas at Dallas) research rankings for business schools, over the last four or five years, weve gone from 38th to 33rd internationally. I feel like were doing really well.

The other thing that Im particularly proud of is the engagement that we are now having with our alums, and the community in corporate partnerships. Thats something that we werent paying a lot of attention to before. But right now, every one of our MBA students gets a corporate executive or retired corporate executive as a mentor when they come in. Theyre meeting up with these mentors at least once or twice a month, and its been fun watching this because I think the mentors like it as much as the mentees. You know, youre getting the CEO of Kyndryl, the IBM spin off, to be one of your mentors. Its making a big difference for the alums, the community, and our students as well.

In terms of fundraising, were back to where we were. Were on the right path, and we set some pretty ambitious objectives to get to where we need to be.

Finally, culturally, weve got a much more authentic and genuine environment here now. I would say that the culture of fear is completely gone, that people are much more open, that people are allowed to come into my office whenever they want. I have an open door policy. And so I think our culture is more representative of what you would see in the corporate world than what we had here before, which I have to say, was a culture of fear.

What are some of the immediate challenges Fox and other business schools are facing right now?

I think the most immediate challenge is stabilizing enrollments at both the undergraduate and the graduate level. Everybodys seeing these declines in MBA programs. Were seeing the growth of specialty masters, which I think is good, so finding the right portfolio in specialty masters is really important.

The other thing is how we as universities and business schools, because its going to have to be a partnership between the University and the business school, how we decide to deal with the declining undergraduate enrollments. From my perspective, I think its a right sizing exercise. Business schools are probably going to be a little bit smaller than they were five or 10 years ago.

Interesting. And what are some of the opportunities you see at Fox?

The big opportunity that were pursuing right now is data science and business analytics. The idea that data is so ubiquitous that our students have to learn it, they have no choice. One of the things that well start this fall, is all of our students as freshmen and sophomores have to get into some form of data analytics. If coding is your thing, then youre going to learn Python; If marketing and presentation is your thing, then youre going to be doing business analytics.

The other thing that I think is extremely important, when Im out talking to corporate executives and our alumni, the people skills are still incredibly, incredibly important. If we can find a way to mix it youre a strong data person and you also have developed strong people skills as youve gone through our program  I think thats what corporate America is going to need. I think its the skill set that we have to give both our undergraduates and graduate students.

Lets talk about your plans after your dean tenure ends in June.

So Ive missed teaching; Im just gonna say that right up front. I also hope to be able to get back into my research stream. Ive kind of kept it alive over the last four years, but its hard when youre working 24/7 to do research. I think the other thing thats important for me is that now that Ive been managing at this level and so forth, I see some of the things that our MBA and our master students need more access to from a finance perspective, because Im a finance professor. Id like to start up private equity, venture capital courses, and network our students more into that, not just from a classroom perspective, but from an experiential learning perspective.

What do you want to get done in the last year? What are your goals for your last year as dean?

I want to rationalize our specialty masters portfolio. I think weve over expanded and we need to rationalize that a little bit. I want to help the university find the right person to come to Fox. Those are the two biggies for me. We just rationalized our undergraduate programs last year, so I feel pretty good about that.

DONT MISS: NEW TEMPLE FOX DEAN: RANKING SCANDAL COULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN AND MOSHE PORAT, FORMER TEMPLE FOX DEAN, SENTENCED TO 14 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR RANKINGS FRAUD

The post Exit Interview: Dean Ronald Anderson On Whats Next For Temple Fox School Of Business appeared first on Poets&Quants.
The FBI reportedly sought classified documents related to nuclear weapons when the bureau searched former President Donald Trumps Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, earlier this week, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The newspaper, citing people familiar with the search, said the revelation reflects the concern government officials had about the sensitive nature of information Trump and his team took to the resort after he left the White House.

Its unclear what type of documents the FBI sought or if they pertained to nuclear weapons belonging to the United States or other countries.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday he personally approved the decision for the FBI to seek a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago, adding he had moved for the Department of Justice to make the warrant public. Officials had reportedly been searching for any potentially sensitive classified documents that had been improperly taken to the resort.

Garland declined to provide details about the investigation Thursday and would not say what the FBI retrieved.

The publics clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing, meaning a motion to unseal the search warrant, the Thursday filing read. That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any legitimate privacy interests or the potential for other injury if these materials are made public.

Trump denounced the FBIs search on Monday evening, declaring: These are dark times for our Nation.

Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before, he said in a statement. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before.

The governments concern over the documents came after the National Archives earlier this year retrieved 15 boxes of records Trump took with him when he left office. The agency said in February those boxes contained classified information and other materials subject to the Presidential Records Act, which requires such items be turned over to the federal government.

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But officials grew concerned in recent months that the president hadnt turned over all of the documents he had.

The New York Times reported Thursday that the Justice Department sent Trump a subpoena seeking any additional classified material last spring.

The former president and his allies have begun spreading a conspiracy theory that any damaging documents found during the search were planted there by the FBI. The agencys current director, Christopher Wray, was appointed by Trump in 2017 after Trump fired James Comey.

The search has widened the ideological chasm over the former president and his continuing influence over American politics. Republicans have denounced the FBI  with some frothing for the agency to be defunded  and Trump supporters have rushed to defend him.

FBI agents were engaged in a standoff with a gunman in Ohio on Thursday who allegedly tried to force his way into the bureaus Cincinnati office. The man, who was killed by authorities, had made previous threats against the agency.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Filipino fast-food restaurant chain Jollibee is set to open a flagship restaurant in the heart of Times Square in New York City.

Jollibee, which is known for its Filipino sweet-style spaghetti and its crispy fried chicken, will be opening its flagship restaurant at 1500 Broadway between West 43rd and 44th Streets on Aug. 18, Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) announced on Friday.

The new branch, which occupies a 7,000-square-foot space, will be located beside the Good Morning America Studio and the Bow Tie of Midtown, where the Times Square Ball Drop takes place every year. It joins Jollibees existing New York location at 609 8th Ave. in Manhattan, which opened back in 2018.

According to their website, Jollibee, which has over 1,300 locations across the globe, is the largest and fastest-growing Asian restaurant company. With a goal of managing 500 stores across North America by 2028, the Times Square flagship store is part of the companys aggressive overseas expansion plans. The new location is expected to introduce the brand to mainstream American customers, according to JFC.

More from NextShark: Taiwan considers extending compulsory military service amid China threat

Opening our Times Square location, an undeniable global destination and retail hot spot, is truly a dream come true for our brand, Maribeth Dela Cruz, president of the Jollibee Group North America, told QSR magazine. Its not only our newest location, but a powerful symbol of how far weve come and the unlimited potential we see for the future.

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Besides serving its famous Chickenjoy and Peach Mango Pie, the flagship will also be introducing a new lineup of beef burgers, salads and sides. The new burgers, which will be exclusive to the Times Square location, include a Double Deluxe cheeseburger and an Aloha Burger. Its line up of salads and sides will include Baked Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese, Mandarin Orange Crispy Chicken Salad and flaky Biscuits.

We are committed to becoming one of the top global [quick-service] restaurants and this opening marks a key milestone in that plan, Dela Cruz said.

More from NextShark: SF official calls for school board member's resignation following 'flat-out wrong and racist' comments

Featured Image via Michelle De Pacina (left), @Ted_Cordero (right)

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'One nation under God': Ex-Trump adviser's call for one religion in the US draws condemnation
By Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) -A former Louisville, Kentucky, police officer will plead guilty to helping falsify a search warrant in the botched 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor, in a case that sparked nationwide protests, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing the officer's lawyer.

The officer, Kelly Goodlett, was one of four former and current Louisville Metropolitan Police Department detectives charged by the U.S. Justice Department on Aug. 4 for their involvement in the March 13, 2020, raid that killed Taylor in her home.

Goodlett was charged with conspiring with another detective to falsify the warrant and then cover up the falsification.

Former Louisville Metropolitan Police Department Detective Joshua Jaynes and current Sergeant Kyle Meany were charged with civil rights violations and obstruction of justice for using false information to obtain the search warrant.

A fourth officer, former Detective Brett Hankison, was charged with civil rights violations for allegedly using excessive force, U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland said.

The charges represented the Justice Department's latest attempt to crack down on abuses and racial disparities in policing, following a wave of controversial police killings of Black Americans.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Rami Ayyub and Grant McCool)
A former Kentucky police detective will plead guilty to federal charges for the 2020 fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, her lawyer has said.

Kelly Goodlett, formerly with the Louisville Police Department, intends to plead guilty to helping falsify a search warrant and filing a false report, his attorney, Brandon Marshall said in court Friday, The Washington Post reported.

Ms Goodlett, who was released on $10,000 bond, plans to enter her plea during her next hearing in a Western District court on 22 August.
Fame may be putting Norway's celebrity walrus at risk of death.

Crowds flocking to see the 1,300-pound star of the country's summer, nicknamed Freya, are damaging the marine mammal's health to such an extent that euthanasia is now an option, the country's Directorate of Fisheries warned Thursday in a statement.

People have been gathering just feet away to take photos, throw objects and even swim in the water near Freya, who has made her home this week on a peninsula in Sandvika, around 10 miles west of Oslo, the capital, the statement said.

The animals welfare is clearly weakened. The walrus is not getting enough rest and the professionals we are in dialogue with believe she is stressed, Nadia Jdaini, a senior communications adviser at the Directorate of Fisheries, said in the statement.

We are now investigating further measures, where euthanasia could be a real alternative, she added.

The walrus has been an object of curiosity in Norway this summer as she swims from harbor to harbor along the countrys jagged coastline, feeding and resting on small boats that she often damages with her weight, to the frustration of the owners and the amusement of onlookers.

Image: Freya (Directorate of Fisheries)

Walruses are a protected species in Norway, and the Directorate of Fisheries had previously said that euthanasia was out of the question.

But Freya's celebrity status is now raising fears for her safety, as well as for members of the public who get too close to her, the directorate said, adding that it had informed police about incidents where people had tried to swim up to the walrus.

Our biggest fear is that people could get hurt, Jdaini said.

Norway's Institute of Marine Research, whose scientists have been consulting with authorities on Freya's welfare, warned that relocating her to a more private space could be risky.

Moving the walrus would be a difficult process, also because tranquilizing includes a risk of it drowning, Erlend Asta Lorentzen, communications adviser at Norways Institute of Marine Research told NBC News via email on Friday.

Walruses are not commonly seen south of the Arctic Circle, but scientists believe Freya may have traveled from Norway's northern archipelago of Svalbard to feed on a species of invasive Pacific oyster found in coastal areas of northern Europe. Sightings of Freya have been documented online from as early as 2019.

Freyas small tusks mark her as a young walrus, and a white scar on her right nostril and previous injury on her flipper help distinguish her from other members of her species that have undertaken similar tours in the last few years.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Read also: Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Melnyk reveals whether his resignation was related to the Bandera scandal

Ive spent three years working at the office of the (German) Federal President (Frank-Walter) Steinmeier, and I can definitely say that the visit will take place, said Feldhusen.

Read also: German chancellor opposes joint ban on Russians entering EU

Without specifying the exact date, the ambassador said she hopes the visit will happen in near future.

Previously, citing Steinmeiers Russian ties, President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy declined to welcome the German president to Kyiv, various media outlets reported on April 12.

Read also: German chancellor denies curtailing aid to Ukraine

Steinmeier and Zelesnkyy had a phone conversation on May 5 where they discussed Steinmeier potentially visiting Ukraine. Official briefings said Zelenskyy extended an invitation to the German head of state.

German magazine Der Spiegel earlier reported that Steinmeier had asked why his planned April visit to Kyiv was abruptly cancelled.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Age of Innocence Mansion, American actress Winona Ryder and British actor Daniel Day-Lewis on the set of The Age of Innocence

Houlihan Lawrence and Daniel Milstein Photography, Columbia Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty

History and cinema converge in this prestigious Gilded Age property.

The New York state mansion, featured in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence, has hit the market for $6.5 million. Located just 25 miles north of New York City, the property is nestled in the quaint yet upscale town of Irvington-on-Hudson in Westchester County.

The estate, also known as the Villa Nuits, was built in 1853 and boasts nine bedrooms and eight full bathrooms. Expanding across five acres of lush green land, the 12,500-square-foot property rests just beside the Hudson River.

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Age of Innocence Mansion for sale

Houlihan Lawrence and Daniel Milstein Photography

While the impressive mansion welcomed actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder for a period of time during the film's production, it also served as a home for historic noble figures.

Aurora Tishelman and Carolyn Joy, the listing agents from Houlihan Lawrence, spoke with PEOPLE about the Gilded Age property.

"The house captures that time period in which everybody was building these estates. We call them peer houses and this was a peer house to the Rockefellers and Jay Gould," Tishelman says.

She adds, "Everyone was having these 'cottages' built outside of New York City with a carriage trail that brought them up here. And this was one of those homes."

RELATED: Martin Scorsese Says He Wishes He 'Had the Chance' to See Ray Liotta 'Just Once More'

Age of Innocence Mansion for sale

Houlihan Lawrence and Daniel Milstein Photography

The exterior of the house features Italianate style and green shutters lining each window. An expansive porch welcomes guests into the beautifully carved grand entrance, which is made of limestone imported from Caen, France, according to Tishelman.

Another true-to-the-time amenity is the Billiards room, equipped with a fireplace and pool table.

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Age of Innocence Mansion for sale

Houlihan Lawrence and Daniel Milstein Photography

Nestled in the back of the house is the Lord & Burnham glass conservatory, which is recognizable from scenes in The Age of Innocence.

Joy notes the home's original construction remains. "The house is untouched. It has the same roof that it had and it has the same windows," she says.

RELATED: Tom Holland Disagrees with Martin Scorsese's Assessment of Superhero Films: 'He's Never Made One'

Age of Innocence Mansion for sale

Houlihan Lawrence and Daniel Milstein Photography

Its impressive historical background isn't the only compelling feature about this property. The basement houses a number of hidden gems such as a media room, wine cellar, sauna, two separate dressing rooms and a catering facility right next to the pool. There is also an elevator inside the house.

Along with a heated pool equipped with an outdoor shower, the exterior of the house includes a "guest cottage with its own acre of property and river views," Tishelman says, rounding out the luxe amenities.
Off-road e-powersports company Volcon (VLCN) has a big, new technical partner  General Motors (GM).

Round Rock, Texasbased Volcon makes electric powersports vehicles like motorcycles and UTVs (utility terrain vehicles) only for off-road purposes. With its new partnership, GM will provide electric propulsion systems for use in Volcons UTV off-road vehicles, including the upcoming Stag  everything from motors, to batteries and inverters.

Volcon says future models, including future versions of the Stag, as well as the upcoming Project X vehicle, will be designed and developed to utilize GMs electric systems. Volcon also says it will be the first, and currently only e-powersports company to be powered by GMs electric offerings.

The Volcon Stag electric UTV

We've been speaking with our counterparts at GM for quite a while, working on how we can integrate their tested and proven EV components, Jordan Davis, Volcon CEO said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. As far as production goes, we're looking at beginning deliveries in the middle of 2023.

For GMs part, the relationship makes sense as it shows the market it has EV solutions for a number of applications.

General Motors has transformed from an automaker to a platform innovator, with scalable architectures designed to accelerate EV adoption across different industries and product types, Travis Hester, GM VP of EV growth operations said in a statement. Our work with Volcon is indicative of our plans and demonstrates the flexibility of the platform as well as potential applications well beyond traditional vehicles.

Even before Volcon struck its deal with GM, its current products  such as the Grunt and Runt electric motorcycles  were already pulling in a good amount of interest.

The Volcon Stag electric UTV

We are very close to being in a sold-out position, Davis said. We announced a few weeks ago the results of our preorder push, we topped 70 million in preorders very quickly. We have just a few hundred units left, and after this morning's announcement, we're already seeing a lot of excitement from both consumers and the dealer base.

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While powersports isnt that big of a phenomenon in urban areas or on the coasts, it is a big business in America overall, one that Volcon sees growing even past the pandemic, when outdoor activities where a mainstay for many Americans.

More and more people are enjoying time outside, and the segment is becoming more and more popular - it is a great time to be in the space, especially because we offer electric vehicles, Davis says about the powersports industry. The barrier to entry in our 2-wheel vehicles is low  if you can ride a bike, you can ride one of our vehicles [and] range anxiety is lessening, as well as the acceptance of electric technology is increasing. The industry is strong, growing, and we see more to come.

The Volcon Stag electric UTV



Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A ship docked in a Ukrainian Black Sea port on Friday to begin loading up with wheat for hungry people in Ethiopia. It will be the first food delivery to Africa under a U.N. plan to unblock grain trapped by Russias war on Ukraine and bring relief to some of the millions worldwide who are on the brink of starvation.

For months, fighting in Ukraine and a Russian blockade of Ukraine's ports meant that grain produced in Ukraine, one of the world's key breadbaskets, piled up in silos. That sent global food prices sky-high and led to hunger in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. In recent days, several ships carrying grain have left Ukrainian ports under the new deal  but most of those shipments were animal feed and went to Turkey or Western Europe under previous contracts.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the ship named Brave Commander will carry its wheat to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, where it will be unloaded and sent on to Ethiopia.

The wheat will go to the World Food Programs operations in Ethiopia, supporting the Horn of Africa drought response as the threat of famine stalks the drought-hit region," he said. It is one of many areas around the world where the near-complete halt of Ukrainian grain and food on the global market has made life even harder for the families already struggling with rising hunger.

The ship was expected to take on more than 23,000 metric tons, according to Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry  still only a tiny portion of the 20 million tons of grain languishing now in Ukraine. It docked in the port city of Yuzhne late Friday, the ministry said.

Ethiopia, along with neighboring Somalia and Kenya, is facing the worst drought in four decades in the Horn of Africa. Thousands of people across the region have died from hunger or illness this year. Forecasts for the coming weeks indicate that for the first time, a fifth straight rainy season will fail to materialize. Millions of livestock, the basis of many families wealth and food security, have died.

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Millions of households will struggle to cope with these shocks in Ethiopia, according to a new assessment by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Food assistance needs are at record levels, with up to 15 million people in need of food assistance.

While one shipment won't solve the crisis, the World Food Program still heralded it as an important step" in getting Ukrainian grain out of the country to the worst-affected countries. Ethiopian officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Yet on Ukraine's front lines, the fighting was incessant, especially in the eastern region of the Donbas, where much of the fighting has been centered as the war approaches the six-month mark. The town of Kramatorsk was hit by 11 rockets overnight. Seven people were killed and 14 others were wounded in and around the town, which remains cut off from gas, running water and electricity.

Three quarters of the population of the region have already been evacuated, because incessant shelling by the Russian army doesnt leave civilians any choice  its either to die from wounds, or from hunger and cold in winter, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television.

The threat of a nuclear accident also loomed in southern Ukraine, where shelling has hit near Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Shelling near the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant continued overnight. Russian forces fired more than 40 rockets at the city of Marhanets, which is across the Dnieper River from the power plant. Three people were wounded in the most recent shelling, including a 12-year-old boy. The neighboring city of Nikopol was shelled as well, said Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The U.N. nuclear chief warned late Thursday that very alarming military activity at the nuclear plant could lead to dangerous consequences.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi urged Russia and Ukraine, who blame each other for the attacks at the nuclear plant, to immediately allow nuclear experts to assess damage and evaluate safety and security at the sprawling nuclear complex. He said the situation at the plant has been deteriorating very rapidly.

He pointed to shelling and several explosions at Zaporizhzhia last Friday that forced the shutdown of its electrical power transformer and two backup transformers, forcing the shutdown of one nuclear reactor.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said authorities were drafting plans to evacuate residents from towns and villages near the plant.

There is a high-level threat, so there are plans for any possible development, including release of radiation, Monastyrsky said Friday. We all have seen the Russian shelling of the plant. Its horrible.

He said Russian forces have stationed weapons at the plant and have denied Ukrainian nuclear workers access to some areas in the complex.

Its hard to even imagine the scale of tragedy if the Russians continue their action there, he said. We have become convinced that there is no restraining factors. There is a deliberate stand declared by the Russian authorities that they are ready for any action, regardless of consequences.

-

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
By Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING (Reuters) -A hacker claims to have obtained the personal information of 48.5 million users of a COVID health mobile app run by the city of Shanghai, the second claim of a breach of the Chinese financial hub's data in just over a month.

The hacker with the username as "XJP" posted an offer to sell the data for $4,000 on the hacker forum Breach Forums on Wednesday.

The person provided a sample of the data including the phone numbers, names and Chinese identification numbers and health code status of 47 people.

Eleven of the 47 reached by Reuters confirmed they were listed in the sample, though two said their identification numbers were wrong. Reuters was unable to further verify the authenticity of the hacker's claim.

The true size and nature of these kinds of data hacks is sometimes overstated by the seller in an attempt to make a quick profit.

"This DB (database) contains everyone who lives in or visited Shanghai since Suishenma's adoption," XJP said in the post, which originally asked for $4,850 before lowering the price later the same day.

Suishenma is the Chinese name for Shanghai's health code system, which the city of 25 million people established in early 2020 to combat the spread of COVID-19. All residents and visitors have to use it.

The app collects travel data to give users a red, yellow or green rating indicating the likelihood of having the virus. The code has to be shown to enter public venues.

The data is managed by the city government and users can access Suishenma either by downloading the app or opening it using the Alipay app, owned by fintech giant and Alibaba affiliate Ant Group, and Tencent Holdings' WeChat app.

The Shanghai government, Ant and Tencent did not immediately respond to requests for comment. XJP declined to comment when reached on Breach Forums.

"I'm not ready to answer questions yet as I have a lot more to drop," XJP said.

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The purported Suishenma breach comes after a hacker last month claimed to have procured 23 terabytes of personal information belonging to one billion Chinese citizens from the Shanghai police.

That hacker also offered to sell the data on Breach Forums.

The first hacker was able to steal data from the police as a dashboard for managing a police database had been left open on the public internet without password protection for more than a year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing cyber security researchers.

The newspaper said data was hosted on Alibaba's cloud platform and Shanghai authorities had summoned company executives over the matter.

Neither the Shanghai government, nor police nor Alibaba have commented on the police database matter.

Chinese regulatory bodies have in the past two years announced a barrage of new rules strengthening oversight over the private sector's management of user data, after years of complaints by residents of how their personal data could be easily stolen or sold.

A screenshot of XJP's offer on Breach Forums went viral on Chinese social media on Friday, prompting several Weibo users to weigh in on this latest leak and its broader implications, as well as question what sort of action would be taken.

"Data leaks in China are really no longer uncommon news," said one.

(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and the Shanghai newsroom; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Robert Birsel, Mike Harrison and Mark Potter)
Republican officials in Kentucky are sounding off on the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Florida estate, ranging from demanding details on the action, to suggesting without evidence that the federal government planted evidence to frame him of a crime.

Few details have emerged since the FBI conducted a search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago property Monday, with sources telling multiple media outlets the search warrant was signed Monday by a federal magistrate judge in West Palm Beach.

Two people familiar with the search told USA TODAY Monday the action was connected to Trump's alleged removal of documents from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago property when his presidential term ended in January 2021.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, running for Governor, spoke at Fancy Farm.Aug 6, 2022

The day after the search, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron  a Republican who is running for governor next year and was recently endorsed by Trump  tweeted out a full defense of the former president against his critics.

"President Trump is a fighter," Cameron wrote. "No raid at Mar-a-Lago is going to stop him from working hard for the American people. Folks here in Kentucky will always support someone the media despises and the left hates, because it means that person is standing up for their values."

More news:Trump in midst of gathering storm of investigations. Mar-a-Lago document inquiry is one of many.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

U.S. Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R) said what he would do if elected majority

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to answer questions from the media about the FBI search Tuesday as he toured flood-ravaged parts of Eastern Kentucky, but later issued a statement that fell short of defending Trump, while demanding answers from federal law enforcement.

"The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday," McConnell tweeted. "Attorney General (Merrick) Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately."

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By Tuesday evening, attorneys for Trump were suggesting on television appearances that the FBI "planted" evidence at Mar-a-Lago  which the former president then proceeded to do in a social media post early Wednesday.

Writing that his attorneys were not allowed to witness the search, Trump added that "they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, 'planting.' Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody out?"

Sen. Rand Paul

Isaac Aguirre holds his cousin Jerome Cotton as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul makes a visit at Gospel Light Baptist Church in Hazard Tuesday morning. Isaac and the baby were airlifted from their flooded home.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., picked up where Trump left off in a Fox News appearance Wednesday, asking: "Do I know that the boxes of material they took from Mar-a-Lago, that they won't put things in those boxes to entrap him?"

"How do we know that they're going to be honest with us about what's actually in the boxes? How do we know that was in the box before it left the residence if the lawyers weren't allowed to see everything?"

Paul went on to suggest that Garland should be investigated and possibly impeached for misusing his office "for political purposes."

More news:GOP, long the law and order party, slams FBI, Justice Department over search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago

Rep. Thomas Massie

"What does it say about our country where this lawlessness is going on to this extent that a 17-year-old feels compelled to stop it?" Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Northern Kentucky says.

Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky has tweeted similar sentiments, accusing Biden of directing the raid and calling for the defunding of federal law enforcement agencies.

"After the 2022 elections, Congress must use the power of the purse to rein in the DOJ and FBI," Massie tweeted. "Any Republican who tells you thats not possible is too addicted to big government to fix this."

The criticism of law enforcement is a stark contrast from the recent rhetoric from some GOP politicians, as Paul's reelection campaign has focused attacks on his Democratic opponent for allegedly wanting to "defund the police," while Cameron recently tweeted that "as Governor, I will always Back the Blue!"

Russell Coleman

Russell Coleman  a Republican who is running for attorney general of Kentucky next year with the support of McConnell  was recently in a leadership role with such federal law enforcement agencies, having served as U.S. Attorney for Kentucky's Western District during the Trump administration.

Russell Coleman is the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Asked for his reaction to the FBI search and Republican criticism of the agency, Coleman in a statement to The Courier Journal called for transparency from the agency for the sake of its "reputation."

At a time when this country needs its FBI laser focused on protecting us from historic levels of violent crime and overdose deaths, the reputation of one of our critical institutions calls for near-term public transparency as to why it took such jaw dropping action against a former President of the United States," Coleman stated. The reality is half the country will look on this with a jaundiced eye and transparency would help reassure the American people.

More news:Trump takes the Fifth in NY deposition; questions swirl about Mar-a-Lago search

Coleman added: "All we know is theres a dispute over paperwork, which to many Americans would make a raid seem like politically motivated overkill.

Rep. James Comer

Rep. James Comer, the top GOP official on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, tweeted Wednesday that "the weaponization of the federal government against President Bidens political rivals cannot go unchecked," all while he has signaled his committee will aggressively investigate the president's son, Hunter Biden, if Republicans take back the majority in the fall elections..

Beyond the Justice Department's investigation of White House records, including some marked classified, that were taken to Mar-a-Lago, there are at least four other separate investigations related to Trump being conducted by federal, state and local agencies, including:

The Justice Department's investigation into the effort to overturn the 2020 election and keep Trump in the White House, including attempts to substitute fake electors in key battleground states won by Joe Biden and to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to block the certification of Biden's victory.

An investigation by the Fulton County District Attorney into alleged election interference by Trump in Georgia, who is accused of trying to pressure the Georgia secretary of state to switch votes in his favor.

The New York attorney general is conducting a civil investigating into whether the Trump Organization made false property valuations in its dealings with lenders and taxing authorities, while the Manhattan district attorney's office conducts a parallel criminal investigation. Trump invoked the Fifth Amendment during his under oath deposition by the attorney general Wednesday.

The United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack is investigating the events before the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, including Trump's role in instigating the attacking mob.

Thursday morning, an armed man in body armor who attempted to breach security at Cincinnati FBI office was shot and killed after a standoff.

A USA Today review of online postings by an account in the name of the attacker on Trump's Truth Social site shows the account had recently posted angry reactions to news of the FBI raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida home  even posting during the attack.

"Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn't. If you don't hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I., and it'll mean either I was taken off the internet, the F.B.I. got me, or they sent the regular cops while"

The post apparently ended mid-sentence.

FBI Director Christopher Wray defended the bureau Thursday against a new wave of threats in the aftermath of Mar-a-Lago search and attempted breach of its Cincinnati office.

Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a grave disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others, Wray said..

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky GOP officials weigh in on FBI raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago
BOSTON (AP)  Eric Hosmer hit a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning just after Baltimore rallied to tie it, and the Boston Red Sox held on for a 4-3 victory over the Orioles on Thursday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Tommy Pham and Alex Verdugo also had RBI doubles for Boston, which had lost six of seven and was in danger of carrying a five-game skid into a weekend series with the AL East-leading New York Yankees.

"It was a tough one but a good one, Boston manager Alex Cora said.

Reliever Austin Davis (2-1) got the win by closing out the sixth after the Orioles scored three to tie it. John Schreiber pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save.

Terrin Vavra hit a two-run triple for the Orioles, who were off to a 7-1 start in August.

Vavra's triple to right with two men on in the sixth pulled Baltimore within 3-2, then the Orioles were able to tack on another run when they challenged a call at first base that would have ended the inning. After a video review, which showed Austin Hays beating the throw, the call was reversed and Vavras run counted, tying it up briefly.

We had a really nice rally to come back, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. Vavra with a huge hit for us there but we didnt score after that.

J.D. Martinez drew a two-out walk from Dean Kremer (4-4) and Hosmer followed with a double to right off of reliever Nick Vespi. The run was charged to Kremer, who pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Josh Winckcowski also went 5 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

I thought Winckowski was good. I thought he gave us a lot of trouble, Hyde said.

After a leadoff single by Jarren Duran in the second, Pham lined a double down the left-field line and Duran came all the way around from first. It was the fourth double for Pham in nine games with Boston, which picked him up at the trade deadline in a deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Pham scored on a sacrifice fly by Xander Bogaerts to put Boston up 3-0.

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GOING DEEP

Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless seventh and has allowed just two hits over 3 1/3 innings since coming off the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder. Barnes credited Winckowski, a rookie who just made his big league debut on July 31, with giving Boston's bullpen some much-needed rest.

Winck threw the ball great today, Barnes said. I thought he commanded the strike zone incredibly well and was able to go deep into the game and put us in position to win a ballgame.

TRAINERS ROOM

Red Sox: INF-OF Kike Hernandez will continue his rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Portland on Friday, Cora said. Hernandez has been on the injured list since early June with a strained right hip flexor.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Austin Voth (2-1, 5.53 ERA) faces Rays RHP Corey Kluber (7-6, 4.05) as Baltimore opens a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Friday night.

Red Sox: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-3, 4.23) starts for Boston on Friday in the opener of a three-game series against the Yankees, who planned to start RHP Domingo German (1-2, 5.09).

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Benzinga

These ten major real estate investment trusts (REITs) are in downtrends from their January peak prices to their present, much-lower values. Some of this movement has to do with interest rates, some with other issues  but whatever the case, sellers are outdoing buyers on these all year. Not all REITs are declining, but these ten are widely followed. Its clear from the price charts of each one that its been a tough year. Anyone looking for growth has to be disappointed with 2022 and the REIT se
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India said on Friday it opposed any unilateral change to the status quo over Taiwan but that its stance on the 'one-China' policy remained consistent, days after Beijing said it hoped New Delhi would continue to recognise its claim to self-governing Taiwan.

China launched ballistic missiles and deployed multiple aircraft and warships around Taiwan in recent days, angered by last week's visit to the island by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi said last week that India was one of the first countries to recognise Beijing's 'one-China principle' - that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China - and that it hoped http://in.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/embassy_news/202208/t20220804_10733759.htm India would not change its position.

Asked by a reporter about India's position on the one-China policy, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: "India's relevant policies are well known and consistent. They do not require reiteration."

"We urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change the status quo, de-escalation of tensions and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region," he said.

Relations between India and China have suffered since clashes on their Himalayan border in 2020 killed 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers. Troop deployments remain high on both sides despite military and diplomatic-level talks to defuse the situation.

Beijing was "willing to push forward the development of our relations on the basis of the one-China principle", the Chinese embassy said http://in.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/embassy_news/202208/t20220803_10732591.htm last week.

(Reporting by Krishna N. DasEditing by Mark Heinrich and Toby Chopra)
Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Indian independence in Bangalore, Aug. 8 2022. Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images

India will celebrate its 75th birthday on Aug. 15, 2022.

Its independence from British colonial rule followed a complex process, including Partition: the division of India into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. Partition displaced tens of millions of people and caused loss of life and property that remains in living memory for many.

Indias future remained unresolved for over two years after Partition. While the country attained its independence on Aug. 15, 1947, it only became a fully sovereign republic with its own head of state on Jan. 26, 1950.

Between those dates, the 299 men and women of Indias Constituent Assembly worked to imagine their emerging country and to inscribe their vision and foundational legal principles in a national constitution. The outcome of their efforts is a remarkable document that remains a source of both inspiration and contention today.

Police respond to unrest over Partition in Kolkata in 1946. Keystone/Getty Images

Here are a few things to know about the Indian Constitution.

#1: High word count

Perhaps fittingly, the worlds most-populous democracy has the worlds longest national constitution.

At the time it was adopted in 1949, the Indian Constitution contained 395 Articles and had approximately 145,000 words. The only longer written constitution belongs to the state of Alabama, where I currently live and teach law.

By comparison, the U.S. Constitution  generally considered the worlds oldest national charter  originally contained just seven articles and around 4,200 words. The worlds shortest constitution belongs to its second-smallest country, Monaco. It has just around 3,800 words.

#2: Early exemplar

When the Indian Constitution was ratified, constitutions were not as common as they are today. Indias was just the worlds 23rd national constitution. In comparison, Pakistan didnt ratify its constitution until 1956.

Consequently, ratification was itself a major achievement. In societies like India with many deep cultural, religious and socioeconomic divides, the process of drafting and ratifying a shared founding document can serve a valuable symbolic function.

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Some countries, faced with the challenges of drafting a constitution for a deeply heterogeneous population, never agree on a single, unifying document. Israel is one example.

#3: Crowdsourced inspiration

Because constitutions were still relatively rare in the 1940s, Indias Constituent Assemblys Drafting Committee sought inspiration wherever it could.

The committee chairman, B.R. Ambedkar, drew on his education in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Advisor B.N. Rau traveled in the fall of 1947 to Canada, the U.S., Ireland and the U.K. to learn from their experiences.

Rau even indicated which country had inspired each element of the draft constitution he prepared for the Assembly. For example, Indias 1947 constitution did not contain a due process clause like its American counterpart: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter had warned Rau that due process would give Indian courts too much power to overrule legislation, while simultaneously imposing a heavy burden on the judiciary.

Indias constitution does, however, contain non-justiciable Directive Principles. The term non-justiciable means these constitutional provisions cannot be enforced by courts. This feature was borrowed from the Irish Constitution of 1937 to give lawmakers and judges a set of values to keep in mind.

4: Easy adjustments

Today, Indias Constitution is among the most amended in the world. It has 105 amendments with the last one passed in August 2021.

Saluting the Indian flag in Hyderabad before a rally to mark the 75th anniversary of the countrys independence on Aug. 8, 2022. Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images

Easy change was intentionally encoded into the Indian Constitution. [T]here is no permanence in Constitutions, declared Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. There should be a certain flexibility.

Consequently, Article 368 only requires that a sole member of parliament propose a bill to change the constitution and that parliament approve proposed changes by a simple majority to pass them.

By contrast, the U.S. requires two-thirds of Congress to propose a constitutional amendment or two-thirds of the states to propose a constitutional convention to consider amendments. Ratification requires two-thirds of the states. Consequently, only 27 of roughly 12,000 amendments to the Constitution proposed since 1787 have been adopted.

Easy change is credited with being one contributor to the Indian Constitutions longevity, which at 75 years old far exceeds the global average lifespan of 17 years. In Asia, only two other countries that gained independence soon after World War II still have their original constitutions: Taiwan and South Korea. Thailand, by contrast, has had around 20 constitutions since 1932.

5: Striking features

The Indian Constitution has several other elements that are remarkable  for better and for worse.

Two provisions have received widespread acclaim.

Article 17 responded to widespread and debilitating caste discrimination by abolishing untouchability  the practice of segregating and persecuting certain groups because they are considered impure  in any form.

And Article 21, protecting life and personal liberty, has directly contributed to Indians right to a free, public elementary education and was cited in the Indian Supreme Courts 2018 decision to decriminalize consensual same-sex conduct.

Other parts of the Indian Constitution, such as a provision on preventative detention that allows the government to imprison people before they commit a crime, have prompted considerable criticism from scholars, activists and lawyers.

Finally, some features of the Indian Constitution are unusual, but not necessarily good or bad.

The constitution has two provisions on religious freedom. Article 25 establishes the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion to all persons. That is, the article grants individuals religious freedom. More unusually, Article 26 recognizes religious denomination[s] as also having specific rights regarding property, institutional management and matters of religion.

Those two rights  the individual and the collective  often conflict, as my research on the high-profile dispute over womens access to the Hindu temple at Sabarimala shows. What matters, when these two rights collide, is which limitations apply to Article 25 and which communities count as religious denominations for Article 26.

In 1991, after analyzing both Articles 25 and 26, a high court decided that Sabarimala could ban women at all times, despite good reasons to believe women had historically been granted entry under some conditions. Then, in 2018, the Indian Supreme Court invalidated that decision, declaring that because some women had likely always visited Sabarimala, all women should be allowed to enter. The Supreme Courts ruling was also based on an interpretation of Articles 25 and 26.

Future of Indian democracy

Despite its long and generally promising history, Indian constitutional democracy faces turbulent times.

Several recent scandals, including a chief justice accused of sexual harassment and another chief justice accused of abuse of power by his own colleagues, have compromised the Supreme Courts reputation as a steward of the constitution.

And certain political developments, such as a controversial 2019 law that made religion a criterion for citizenship for the first time, threaten Indias status as a non-theocratic state.

When they began drafting Indias constitution 75 years ago, the 299 framers intended to create a charter that would serve all Indians, no matter their faith, caste or gender. Whether that democratic tradition continues for another 75 years will depend on whether lawmakers and judges stay true to that vision.

Editors note: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the status of Indias constitution as among the most amended in the world.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Deepa Das Acevedo, University of Alabama.

Read more:



Deepa Das Acevedo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Thousands of troops from Indonesia, the United States and allies held a live-fire drill Friday as part of what a top US general said was Washington's efforts to prevent a regional conflict after China's "destabilising actions" around Taiwan.

The United States and its Asian allies have expressed growing concern about China's increasing assertiveness in the Pacific, but Washington said the drills were not aimed at any nation even though they were larger than previous training missions.

The exercise in Indonesia known as "Super Garuda Shield" came after Beijing staged unprecedented war games around Taiwan, which it claims as part of its territory, last week in a furious reaction to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the self-ruled democracy.

"The destabilising actions of the People's Republic of China as applied to the threatening activities and actions against Taiwan is exactly what we are trying to avoid," Admiral John Aquilino, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, told a press conference after the drill.

China's week-long air and sea exercises pushed tensions in the region to their highest level in years and raised the spectre of conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

"Everyday we are trying to prevent war," said Aquilino.

At least 4,000 American and Indonesian soldiers were joined in the two-week exercise by forces from Australia and Singapore -- as well as Japan, which is participating for the first time in the annual drills.

In Friday's drill, only Australian and Singaporean forces joined the US and Indonesian troops.

Joint military forces fired Javelin anti-tank missiles while Apache helicopters staged manoeuvres, shooting rounds of machine gun fire and rockets into a hilly training area.

Indonesian army chief Andika Perkasa denied the expansion of the exercise was due to the situation in the Taiwan Strait, saying the drills had been planned long before that.

Aquilino, echoing Perkasa, said the annual exercises with other countries "continue to become more free-flowing and complex because all the nations in the region are getting better".

Canada, France, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Britain participated in the exercise as observer nations.

agn/jfx/dva
talc on shelf

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will stop making and selling its talc-based baby powder around the world from next year.

The announcement comes more than two years after the healthcare giant ended sales of the product in the US.

J&J faces tens of thousands of lawsuits from women who allege its talcum powder contained asbestos and caused them to develop ovarian cancer.

But the company reiterated its view that decades of independent research shows the product is safe to use.

"As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio," it said in a statement.

The firm added that cornstarch-based baby powder is already sold in countries around the world.

At the same time J&J reiterated its position that its baby powder is safe to use: "Our position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged."

"We stand firmly behind the decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirms talc-based Johnson's baby powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer," it said.

In 2020, J&J said it would stop selling its talc baby powder in the US and Canada because demand had fallen in the wake of what it called "misinformation" about the product's safety amid a number of legal cases.

At the time the firm said it would continue to sell its talc-based baby powder in the UK and the rest of the world.

The company faces lawsuits from consumers and their survivors who claim J&J's talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos.

Talc is mined from the earth and is found in seams close to that of asbestos, which is a material known to cause cancer.

A 2018 investigation by the Reuters news agency claimed that J&J knew for decades that asbestos was present in its talc products.

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Reuters said that internal company records, trial testimony and other evidence showed that from at least 1971 to the early 2000s, J&J's raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos.

In response to evidence of asbestos contamination presented in court rooms, media reports and to US lawmakers, the firm has repeatedly denied the allegations.

In October, J&J created a subsidiary, LTL Management, assigning its talc claims to it. It later placed it into bankruptcy, which paused the pending lawsuits.

Before the bankruptcy filing, the company faced costs from $3.5bn (2.87bn) in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgement of more than $2bn.

In April, a shareholder proposal calling for an end to global sales of the talc baby powder failed.

Johnson's Baby Powder has been been sold for almost 130 years and became a symbol of the company's family-friendly image.

Baby powder is used for preventing nappy rash and for cosmetic uses, including as a dry shampoo.

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Ever since The Cloudveil, Autograph Collection, made its debut in Jackson Hole in May 2021, it's become not only one of the region's most beloved hotels, but an integral part of the community. So it's no surprise that the newcomer so quickly nabbed the top spot in Travel + Leisure's World's Best Awards' inaugural best Wyoming resort category, after first being recognized on T+L's 2022 editor-curated It List of best new hotels.

"Coming off our one-year anniversary since opening last spring, it's an incredible honor to be recognized with such a prestigious award," Bruce Grosbety, the property's regional vice president and general manager, told T+L. "Our team is so thankful to our amazing guests and the Travel + Leisure readers for this tremendous recognition."

The Cloudveil in Wyoming, a Marriott Autograph Collection resort hotel

Courtesy of Autograph Collection

The 100-room property sits right on George Washington Memorial Park, better known as the city's Town Square, surrounded by art galleries, eateries, and boutiques  and in walking distance of the city's best known spots, like the honky-tonk Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, local favorite The Bunnery, "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives"-featured Pinky G's Pizzeria, and Parisian-inspired Persephone Bakery. But panning further back, its true appeal comes into sight: its proximity to two of the nation's most beloved national parks, Grand Teton, just five miles north of the hotel, and Yellowstone, which is about 60 miles north.

The Cloudveil leans into its prime location, with its Pathfinders, a team of outdoor-savvy concierges who help point guests toward the area's best hiking, biking, and whitewater rafting tours, as well as wildlife-spotting excursions with companies like EcoTour Adventures. Convenience is also top of mind: during the ski and snowboard season, guests can book fittings for gear at the hotel and have equipment sent straight to the nearby ski resorts.

The Cloudveil in Wyoming, a Marriott Autograph Collection resort hotel

Courtesy of Autograph Collection

What the hotel does best is bring the magic of the region's outdoor vibe inward, capturing both its Western heritage and its mountain setting. "Everything from the warm rustic design inspired by organic elements of its locale, to the local artwork and animated wildlife photography at the end of each hallway, encapsulate all that makes Jackson Hole the transformative destination we all know and love," Grosbety added. Each of the rooms  which include guestrooms with two queen-size beds, king guestrooms with fireplaces, and a two-room suite with an oversized balcony and soaking tub  is decked out using custom wood, leather furnishings, and mountain-inspired local art.

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The Cloudveil in Wyoming, a Marriott Autograph Collection resort hotel

Courtesy of Autograph Collection

The dog-friendly property also has a pool, hot tub, and fitness center, as well as a standout rooftop terrace, which boasts idyllic sunset views and hosts programming like yoga, meditation, stargazing, and live music.

The coveted rooftop space also recently started opening to the public on select dates from 5 to 9:30 p.m. as The Rooftop Bar at The Cloudveil, serving street food and a full bar. During the warmer months, couches and fire pits make for a restful setting to unwind from the day's adventures.

The Cloudveil in Wyoming, a Marriott Autograph Collection resort hotel

Courtesy of Autograph Collection

Finally, the in-house restaurant, The Bistro, a Parisian-inspired brassiere from Gavin Fine and Fine Dining Restaurant Group, is a true property highlight. While the raw bar is a popular favorite, Grosbety enjoys the plates of the day, especially Monday's short ribs, Friday's seared scallops, and Sunday's coq a vin.

You can find the full list of T+L's 2022 World's Best Awards winners here and book your stay at The Cloudveil here.
Netflix

Its easy to imagine first-time director J.J. Perry and screenwriters Tyler Tice and Shay Hatten in the pitch meeting for Day Shift, selling it as a Lethal Weapon riff with hungry vampires and John Wick ultra-violence. All of which is to say, theres absolutely nothing novel about this Netflix B-movie (Aug. 12), whose lack of originality is only dwarfed by its failure to inject even a fleeting dose of humor into its wannabe-comedic horror carnage.

Headlined by Jamie Foxx, here stuck in one-note badass mode, Day Shift is set in a Los Angeles populated by both the living and the undead, although the formerdespite knowing about vampires, as proven by references to the Twilight franchiseare completely unaware that the latter are in their midst. No matter that ignorance, bloodsuckers are lurking practically everywhere, nesting in abandoned bowling alleys and shopping malls and even walking around during the day courtesy of Audrey (Karla Souza). A star San Fernando Valley realtor and ancient uber vamp, Audrey is buying up the areas properties in order to populate them with her minions, whom shes also empowering with a heavy-duty lotion that lets them survive in the radiant sunshine. Alas, what goes into this protective balm is a mystery never revealed by the film, regardless of the fact that its entire narrative ostensibly hinges on its application.

Meagan Good Would Like Everyone to Shut Up About How She Looks: I Love Being a Black Woman

Such screenwriting sketchiness is part and parcel of this mirthless affair, whose primary focus is Bud Jablonski (Foxx), an L.A. local introduced cleaning a filthy residential pool. Once his work is done, Bud exposes his true identity as a covert vampire-slayer on the hunt for fresh prey. He finds that in an elderly monster living in a nondescript house, resulting in the first of many prolonged tussles involving Buds trusty shotgun and handgun, plenty of highly choreographed hand-to-hand combat, and a bevy of limb-cracking, back-breaking maneuvers on the part of Buds supernatural adversary. Director Perry stages this mayhem with lucidity and muscularity if minimal verve; the entire thing comes across like a third-generation photocopy of multiple things Keanu Reeves and Wesley Snipes have done before, all of them blended up in a vain attempt to mask the spectacles derivativeness.

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Bud makes a living selling his nocturnal targets fangs, which go for a nice price on the black marketpersonified by pawn-shop owner Troy (Peter Stormare)and far more money through the Union, an official outfit that regulates the murder of vampires. The problem is, Bud was kicked out of the organization for ceaseless code violations. He is, in no uncertain terms, the type of defiant crime-fighter who refuses to play by the rules. Would you believe that he's eventually allowed back into the Union thanks to the aid of his friend Big John (Snoop Dogg), where hes yelled at for his habitual insubordination by a chief (Eric Lange) sitting behind a big office desk? And that hes paired with a wimpy bureaucrat, Seth (Dave Franco), whos ordered to keep tabs on him (as a way of kicking him out of the Union for good) but eventually transforms from narc to begrudging partner to BFF?

Stop me if youve seen this a thousand times before in slightly different garb. Day Shift amalgamates with glee, from Big Johns cowboy accoutrements (including an Eastwoodian cigar) to the soundtracks blend of hip-hop and country. Theres no real rhyme or reason to this mixing and matching; Perry simply throws whatever seems cool up on the screen, hoping to strike an entertaining spark. He rarely does. Day Shift proceeds in haphazard fashion, typified by the film having the criminally underutilized Stormarea human cartoon if there ever was onecovet Buds pistol like its a legendary weapon, only to then forget to explain what makes it so special and drop the issue altogether. Audreys paper-thin scheme inspires similar head-scratching, since its never apparent why she needs to purchase suburban homes for a vampire takeover when the undead can just slaughter their inhabitants and seize them at will.

Day Shift cares more about eliciting thrills than dotting every I and crossing every T, but its Swiss cheese plotting does it no favors. Its characterizations arent much better. Buds main dilemma is that his estranged wife Jocelyn (Meagan Good) is going to relocate to Florida in a week with his beloved daughter Paige (Zion Broadnax) if he doesnt come up with $10,000 in childcare expenses, thereby giving him urgent motivation to execute as many vampires as possible while simultaneously dealing with stool pigeon Seth. Unfortunately, this on-the-ropes situation doesnt jibe with Buds status as a peerless and prolific killing machine, nor with his untouchable cockiness, which Foxx broadcasts via big glares, bigger smiles, and lots of slow-mo strutting. Hes the alpha of all alphas, and consequently as monotonous a presence as his polar opposite Seth, a whining nerd who shows up for creature-stalking duty in a bland suit and, at every sign of danger, pees his pantsa running gag thats emblematic of the proceedings wit.

A gun-fu rehash thats additionally a Black-white buddy comedy sprinkled with a dash of Blade, Day Shift operates in a comic book-y realm where nothing much matters and even less warrants ones attention. The balance between brutality and jokiness is consistently off; the film wants to wow its audience with inventive showdowns and yet undercuts its gory violences impact with cornball cartoonishness, as in a scene that pairs Bud and Seth with two brothers (Steve Howey and Scott Adkins) who, besides being adept at their Van Helsing-inspired profession, like to share each others gum. I dont know why thats supposed to be funny. I do know, however, that its depressing to see talented actors such as thisincluding Adkins, one of the action genres under-recognized talentssquandered by material that doesnt know which way it wants to go at any moment and hits every cliched bump in the road on its way to a predictably deflating finale.

Whether taking place at shadowy midnight or brilliant midday, Day Shift strives for vicious irreverence and comes up with only middling familiarity. Its draining in ways that the filmmakers surely didnt intend but would make its villains proud.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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BALTIMORE  A federal judge has ruled that Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services must offer health care coverage to the spouses of gay employees as long as the employees jobs are nonreligious in nature.

U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake ruled last week that the worldwide charity violated federal law in 2017 when it withdrew coverage from the husband of a male employee on the grounds that doing so fell within its rights as a faith-based institution.

Blake wrote in a 23-page memorandum on the case that such a claim was invalid because it violated the employees rights under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a provision that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

The question of how, or whether, that provision applies to religious organizations has been a subject of intense debate  and not a little litigation  in legal circles in recent years.

Eve Hill, a co-counsel for the plaintiff in the lawsuit, said Blakes ruling is something of a landmark at a time when faith-based institutions are trying to expand the scope of their religious-freedom rights, sometimes at the expense of the civil rights of individuals.

This ruling means that religious entities are not exempt from the laws that prohibit sex discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, said Hill, an attorney with Brown, Goldstein & Levy in Baltimore. Their argument was that their religion exempts them. Its important that this judge agreed with us.

Blakes ruling does not define the process by which CRS must alter its policies on dealing with the spouses of gay employees, should it decide not to appeal or request a stay of her decision.

Nikki Gamer, a CRS spokeswoman, said in an email to The Baltimore Sun that the charity is weighing possible responses to the ruling, which Blake filed Aug. 3 in federal court in Baltimore.

We are aware of the recent ruling and considering our options, Gamer wrote. We will continue working to resolve this important issue as soon as possible. We have no further comments at this time.

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The dispute at the heart of the lawsuit got underway in 2016, after CRS hired a man as a data analyst.

Hes identified in the court filings as John Doe. In an interview with The Sun, he requested continued anonymity out of concern he might be harassed and because his spouse, who grew up in a country that bans homosexuality, has not publicly identified himself as gay.

Before accepting the job offer, Doe asked a benefits manager whether CRS, the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, would offer his husband health care coverage through its insurance carrier. The manager said yes, the agency acknowledged in the lawsuit, and the coverage began after Doe started work.

CRS acknowledged that it continued to offer the spouse coverage through Aetna for months, until a human resources executive learned of the benefit and set out to terminate it.

In keeping with the Catholic Churchs opposition to same-sex marriage, CRS agency policy is to refuse coverage for the spouses of same-sex employees, the executive told Doe, according to the lawsuit. The executive said the benefits manager erred in offering it.

Doe met with agency representatives numerous times over the next few months to attempt to address the dispute. At one point, CRS officials offered him a $5,000 raise and other considerations as compensation. Doe declined, and CRS terminated the coverage Oct. 1, 2017. Doe filed the lawsuit nearly three years later.

In his interview with The Sun, Doe cast his decisions about the case as the culmination of years of experiences dealing with discrimination over his identity as a gay man. Raised within a conservative religious community, Doe said he suffered from teasing and verbal abuse while growing up, and that those experiences left him with scars he didnt know how to address.

Years later, he said, a career transition brought him into the field of international development, and it was not long after completing graduate school that he spotted a notice for a data-analyst job at CRS. Though competition for jobs in the field is intense, he said, he would carefully read employment notices from faith-based humanitarian agencies to ensure the openings didnt call for employees to proselytize, preach or engage in other overtly religious activities.

I saw plenty of openings like that, and those agencies are fully entitled to offer them. But if they came with those kinds of requirements, I simply didnt apply, he said.

The CRS opening mentioned no such criteria. Doe accepted the offer, he said, with the understanding that the work would be secular in nature.

When it comes to my work, honestly, if the word Catholic were not in the name of the agency, I wouldnt even know it was a religious organization, said Doe, who continues to work there.

Asked why he would continue his employment at an organization he believes disadvantages gays, he said the job is a good one, his colleagues are open-minded and understanding, and he has decided he will not move to another until it represents an advancement in his career.

Jobs in international development are hard to come by, he said. Im not going to discriminate against myself by just taking any job anywhere. Im not going to leave CRS unless its for a better opportunity.

Finding his lead counsels  Hill and Shannon Leary, of Gilbert Employment Law of Silver Spring  meant gaining the expertise and support hed never enjoyed before, Doe said. He decided to press the case in part as a way of honoring earlier gay rights activists who helped create opportunities for him.

Hill, Leary and other attorneys on his team centered their argument on the idea that, while religious organizations enjoy greater latitude in exercising what they view as their religious freedoms than they did as recently as 20 years ago, such changes on the legal landscape have their limits.

Nancy Modisett, a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, said seminal cases such as Burwell v. Hobby Lobby in 2014 and Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020 showed the U.S. Supreme Court is more amenable to claims involving religious organizations and their freedoms than has historically been the case.

In the Hobby Lobby case, the court found that a federal mandate for health insurance coverage of birth control violated privately owned, for-profit corporations right to religious freedom. The Bostock ruling, meanwhile, established that employment discrimination against gay, transgender or gender-fluid individuals constitutes sex discrimination, which is banned by the Title VII provision of the Civil Rights Act.

Those and other cases have pushed into the spotlight important questions about how religious freedoms and Title VII protections should be balanced, Modisett said, and the ruling in John Doe v. Catholic Relief Services brings the question into the employment setting.

Blake ruled, among other things, that while religious institutions are free to restrict some positions to members of their faith or those who subscribe to its beliefs  a Catholic agency cannot be forced to hire a Protestant minister, for example  such freedoms do not extend to jobs unaffected by religious considerations.

For ministerial positions, you can prefer Catholics, but this shows that when it comes to nonminister positions, you dont just get carte blanche, Modisett said.

Blakes ruling was first reported by Bloomberg Law.

For his part, Doe said he hopes CRS accepts the ruling, as the thought of this case continuing and reaching an even higher profile is terrifying. But hes resolved to keep it moving forward, if necessary.

Its also exciting to be a part of this, because if this ruling sticks, and I would have played a part in bringing health insurance to the hundreds, if not thousands, of gay people working in secular roles within religious organizations, that would be amazing, he said. If they appeal it, so be it. Im in this for the long game.

____
Aug. 12Lackawanna County Commissioner Debi Domenick signed an agreement stipulating she'll be prohibited from accessing emails and stored electronic data of the district attorney's office.

County Judge Terrence R. Nealon then signed the stipulated order Thursday, granting a permanent injunction barring Domenick from accessing those materials.

It provides District Attorney Mark Powell  who sought an injunction preventing Domenick from doing just that  the result he hoped to achieve.

Powell also seeks declaratory relief in court to correct county policy regarding emails and stored data, noting he's optimistic that can be amicably achieved over the coming months. In that event, he said he would withdraw the civil case.

Powell filed court documents seeking the injunction July 6, accusing Domenick of ordering a subordinate to retrieve emails from the county server to gain information about an investigation involving a county prison employee. Certain emails she obtained contained highly sensitive law enforcement information from the district attorney's office, and the injunction is necessary to protect investigative information, he argued in subsequent filings.

Domenick contends she complied with county policy in requesting the emails, never requested or intended to request emails of the district attorney's office or judiciary and didn't receive privileged or confidential information. She accused Powell of sensationalizing his claims and bringing the case for political purposes.

Nonetheless, Domenick agreed in a brief filed Tuesday that she should not have access to district attorney emails without filing a Right to Know Law request.

The brief also referenced the agreement, or stipulation, that Domenick ultimately signed Thursday, which states she "shall be prohibited from accessing emails or stored electronic data of the District Attorney's Office and consent to the issuance of a Court order stating the same."

Story continues

A lengthy news release issued by Domenick's attorney, Matthew Comerford, emphasizes the stipulation restates and is consistent with her position from the outset.

"It is in no way an admission of wrongdoing, and, because Commissioner Domenick's actions were reasonable, Plaintiff (Powell) would not have been able to establish otherwise," the release reads. "That all being said, Commissioner Domenick is happy to put this political charade to bed by signing the stipulation that she initially proposed because Plaintiff sought to enjoin her from something she clearly had not done and did not intend to do."

"She looks forward to returning to more important matters and furthering the business of her constituents," the release concludes.

Powell  whose office is conducting a separate criminal investigation into a purged prison record documenting Domenick's 1995 confinement at the prison  rejects the claim she did nothing wrong regarding her demand for and access to emails.

"While Commissioner Domenick has finally agreed (to) not search through privileged and confidential emails, I am astonished that she continues to deny she did anything wrong despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary," Powell said in a statement. "Be assured, we will continue our criminal investigation to get to the bottom of why the record from her 1995 incarceration was deleted."

Domenick has denied any involvement in the deletion of the record.

The executed stipulation eliminates the need for an Aug. 16 hearing in the injunction matter, according to Domenick's filed response to an order Nealon issued Wednesday. Powell agreed there is now no need for a hearing.

Contact the writer:

jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter.
A federal judge on Friday unsealed the warrant and property receipt used by the FBI to conduct a search of former President Donald Trumps Florida home earlier this week, resulting in materials that could see Trump charged with violating the Espionage Act, among other charges.

The documents were unsealed at the request of Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said at a press conference Thursday he had personally approved the FBIs decision to seek the warrant.

Around 20 boxes of items were ultimately removed from the residence, including 11 sets of classified documents. A Washington Post bombshell Thursday indicated highly classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the files seized.

Depending on the information they contain, those documents may be governed by the Atomic Energy Act. If so, they cannot be unilaterally declassified by a president.

Some of the documents seized by the FBI were marked top secret and designated to remain only in a secure government facility.

Other seized items on the three-page list include a handwritten note, information about the President of France, the executive grant of clemency for Trump ally Roger Stone, and a leatherbound box of documents.

Judge Bruce Reinhart gave the Justice Department until 3 p.m. ET Friday to notify the court if Trump would oppose the proposed unsealing. Trump had called for the immediate release of the warrant, but stopped short of releasing the document himself, which he has been free to do since the search itself.

Trump and his allies have been particularly vociferous following the search, seeking to paint it as politically motivated and even threatening the FBI.

Garland said Thursday its quite the opposite, and that not pursuing the warrant would have amounted to an unequal application of the law.

Faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy, Garland said. Upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly without fear or favor. Under my watch, that is precisely what the Justice Department is doing.

Story continues

Law enforcement officers have been concerned about sensitive, classified material at Mar-a-Lago after learning Trump took 15 boxes of White House documents with him when he left office, in violation of the Presidential Records Act.

While some of those records were later recovered, it appears the Justice Department believes Trump nevertheless squirreled away other, much more sensitive documents for his own benefit.

In 2018, when he was president, Trump made mishandling classified documents a felony.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
Investors in Just Group plc (LON:JUST) had a good week, as its shares rose 5.4% to close at UK0.76 following the release of its half-yearly results. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. We thought readers would find it interesting to see the analysts latest (statutory) post-earnings forecasts for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Just Group

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Just Group's four analysts is for revenues of UK3.19b in 2022, which would reflect a substantial 12,122% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 58% to UK0.075. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of UK3.34b and losses of UK0.12 per share in 2022. While the revenue estimates fell, sentiment seems to have improved, with the analysts making a very promising decrease in losses per share in particular.

The analysts have cut their price target 7.4% to UK1.16per share, suggesting that the declining revenue was a more crucial indicator than the forecast reduction in losses. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on Just Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at UK1.55 and the most bearish at UK0.80 per share. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. For example, we noticed that Just Group's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit exponential growth to the end of 2022 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 6.1% a year over the past five years. Compare this against analyst estimates for the broader industry, which suggest that (in aggregate) industry revenues are expected to grow 21% annually. Not only are Just Group's revenues expected to improve, it seems that the analysts are also expecting it to grow faster than the wider industry.

Story continues

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that the analysts made no changes to their forecasts for a loss next year. They also downgraded their revenue estimates, although industry data suggests that Just Group's revenues are expected to grow faster than the wider industry. Even so, earnings are more important to the intrinsic value of the business. The consensus price target fell measurably, with the analysts seemingly not reassured by the latest results, leading to a lower estimate of Just Group's future valuation.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Just Group. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Just Group going out to 2024, and you can see them free on our platform here..

You can also see our analysis of Just Group's Board and CEO remuneration and experience, and whether company insiders have been buying stock.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Kassandra Sweeney and her two sons Benjamin and Mason were found dead in their home last week (GoFundMe)

A juvenile has been arrested and charged with murdering a woman and her two sons in Northfield, New Hampshire last week, police said.

The child, who will be tried under the juvenile system, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of falsifying physical evidence in connection to the three deaths.

The body of Kassandra Sweeney, 25, was discovered alongside her four-year-old son Benjamin and one-year-old son Mason at their house in Northfield on 3 August by police responding to a 911 call.

Autopsy reports determined each died of a single gunshot wound.

Police have not revealed the name and age of the accused due to legal restrictions on sharing information on children charged with crimes.

New Hampshires senior assistant attorney general Geoffrey Ward said: We dont anticipate any other charges coming.

Like I said, we believe  and we believed last week  that we had identified all individuals involved.

He did not reveal whether the suspect was connected or known to the family or what evidence has been found.

The three deaths which were ruled homicides sparked rumours and fear among people in Northfield.

In a statement to The Independent on Tuesday morning, New Hampshire attorney general John Formella said there is no threat to the general public and they have identified all the parties involved.

A funeral for Kassandra Sweeney and her children was planned for Saturday in Concord.

Sean Sweeney, the husband of Kassandra Sweeney, spoke out against his name being dragged through the mud in a Facebook post against rumours of his involvement in the murder.

I wanted to thank everyone for the outreach and support, while things will never be normal again my body finally shut down and let me get some sleep last night and I woke up feeling as normal as possible, he wrote.

Thank you to everyone who has spent the last few days ensuring that the random idiots online are properly informed and while I still am unable to confirm anything as to what happened and who is responsible, he said.

Story continues

He said he is beyond words to those who just know better and are stopping my name from being dragged through the mud.

He called his wife beautiful and the most amazing, caring, sweetest all around good person that anyone could ever meet and just how much she loved our boys.

A GoFundMe was launched to help with memorial services by the womans cousin. It reached more than $47,000 by Friday morning.

My cousin Kassandra, one of the most genuine and beautiful people you could ever meet, and her two beautiful baby boys were taken from us, it said.

Our family is beyond devastated.
The owner of a Kettering business and some of his employees want to make sure the victims of the Kentucky flooding know they have the strong support of Bluegrass expatriates.

Highfield Door Sales owner Rodney Highfield, his family and company employees will be accepting donations at the business, 1350 E. Stroop Road, to help the flood victims from now through Aug. 20.

>> RELATED: Kentucky Flooding: What you can do to help

It breaks my heart to see the destruction and heartache in my home state, Rodney Highfield told News Center 7 this week. Our team made an easy decision to do our best to make a positive impact.

Highfield is originally from Ashland, Kentucky. His wife Becky has relatives in the Barbourville and Pineville areas.

Families in Kentucky have lost quiet literally everything, Clothes, food, homes, cars, you name it, Rodney Highfield said. I heard a story of a father who was able to quickly think of tying his family to a telephone pole just so they would not get separated as the water rushed through and destroyed everything.

Eastern Kentucky, parts of West Virginia and southwest Virginia were among the areas affected by flash flooding that began July 24 and lasted about a week.

Ohio Task Force 1 was one of the many rescue and recovery teams dispatched to the region in response to the flooding. The Butler County Sheriffs Office also lent search and rescue support.

As of Aug. 11, the death toll was 39, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.

We have more tough news out of Eastern Kentucky. The official death toll from the flooding has now risen to 39, with an additional loss being counted in Breathitt County. I ask the commonwealth to join me in praying for our fellow Kentuckians during this difficult time. ^AB  Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) August 11, 2022

The most needed supplies are non-perishable food items, personal hygiene items, toiletries, kitchen utensils, pet supplies, baby products, building materials, water, and first aid products.

Story continues

The Highfields said their company is ready to load several trucks and head to Kentucky and they are seeking as much publicity as possible to add even more donations for their effort.

>> RELATED: Bills Donut Shop shipping donations to Kentucky

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited Monday along with Beshear and first lady Britainy Beshear. Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been in the region surveying damage and the agency has announced that uninsured or underinsured people in 12 counties can apply for disaster assistance.

Beshear has continued to give weekly updates on the aftermath in Kentucky.

Today, Gov. Andy Beshear focused his weekly Team Kentucky update on the continuing efforts in Eastern Kentucky following historic flooding, noting that the state is now moving from the emergency phase to the stabilization phase.



Read more: https://t.co/xvMjOl5ahb pic.twitter.com/mFqn0Ihxhx  Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) August 11, 2022

Beshear said at a news conference a week ago that the state had collected more than $3 million in donations to assist those affected by the floods, and that the state legislature was considering a special session to discuss relief.




Authorities ramped up efforts to find missing teen Kiely Rodni as the search entered its second week.

The Placer County Sheriffs Office announced plans to bring in more personnel and expand the search area around Prosser Family Campground in Truckee over the weekend amid criticism over the lack of an Amber Alert when Kiely first disappeared.

Kiely was last seen around 12.30am on 6 August near the campground, where she attended an allegedly alcohol-fuelled gathering of more than 200 teens and young adults.

An investigation was launched the next morning after Kiely failed to show up for a hike with friends.

More than 260 personnel have been canvassing the area on the ground and in the air and more than 1,200 tips have been received from the public.

One of those tips fell flat on Saturday when FBI officials checking out a potential burial site dug up a dead dog.

Meanwhile, Kielys mother Lindsey Rodni-Nieman has continued pleading for information, telling The Independent: We are desperate for any other teens to come out and share the last pieces of the story that nobody seems to be able to piece together.

Key Points

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party

Police release picture of Kielys jewelry

Partygoers urged to come forward with any information

No activity on Kiely Rodnis cellphone since early hours of Saturday

Kielys friend describes her love of music

19:00 , Megan Sheets

Kielys friend, 17-year-old Madelyn Wicks, attended the event on Saturday and spoke of her love of music.

She was always singing, singing in the car. I know she likes to play the guitar, Madelyn told KCRA.

She said she is hopeful that the event will send a message to Kiely.

We feel like, hopefully, this will help draw her here and know from at least wherever she is, she knows we are here, she said.

Dead dog found in potential burial site

16:54 , Megan Sheets

FBI officials searching for Kiely reportedly spent hours digging up a potential burial site - only to find a dead dog inside it.

Story continues

Yesterday there was a potential burial site that was located near the [Prosser Family] campground, Placer County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Angela Musallam said, according to SFGate.

It was located by a search-and-rescue ground team. Kielys family was notified of the potential development. The FBI responded to secure the scene yesterday and was accompanied by the Placer and Nevada county sheriffs offices. The FBI agents investigated the site through early this morning and recovered the remains of a dog.

Song is twice as loud as a prayer

16:00 , Megan Sheets

One of the performers at Saturdays event was Jenni Charles, Kielys longtime music teacher.

They say song is twice as loud as a prayer, Ms Charles said on stage, according to KCRA.

Its not just people coming together to have a party. Its because we are connected to her musically and we are playing her songs. We hope she can hear so that she knows we are going to find her soon.

Recalling how she taught Kiely to play the fiddle when she was just two years old, Ms Charles said: She was the youngest student I took on because of her determination and the light and how much she enjoyed music.

Hundreds attend Kountry for Kiely event

14:01 , Megan Sheets

Hundreds of supporters turned out for a musical event raising awareness about Kielys disappearance on Saturday evening.

The event called Kountry for Kiely paid tribute to the teens love of music, with performers dedicating their songs to her.

It was held at Truckee Regional Park as the search for Kiely entered its second week.

Happening now: Truckee community gathers to stay hopeful as 16 yo Kiely Rodni has been missing one week. Friends host Kountry for Kiely as music is a big part of her life. #findkielyrodni #kcra #missingteen @kcranews pic.twitter.com/zf2ECqsBWO  Michelle Bandur KCRA (@MBandurKCRA) August 13, 2022

Kielys boyfriend recalls their final conversation

11:00 , Megan Sheets

The boyfriend of Kiely Rodni broke his silence to reveal the last conversation he had with her before she vanished without a trace at a campground party  as the search for the missing teenager now enters its eighth day.

Jagger Westfall texted his 16-year-old girlfriend to tell her to be safe and dont do anything stupid on the night of 5 August as she headed to a senior farewell party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

And so I was just like, OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid, he told KTXL.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis boyfriend breaks silence as search enters fifth day for missing teen

ICYMI: Police say adults are discouraging teens from coming forward

08:00 , Megan Sheets

During a press conference on Friday, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said it had received reports of adults in the community deterring teenagers from coming forward.

Public information officer Angela Musallam said if those reports proved true, they were actively impeding the investigation.

Our interest is not arresting, prosecuting, or holding any individuals accountable for any underage drinking or illegal drug that did occur at the Prosser Family Campground, Ms Musullam said.

Our sole purpose in this investigation and search is to bring Kiely home to her family.

Friend recounts final call before Kielys disappearance

05:01 , Megan Sheets

A friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni has spoken about the pairs final phone call before her friend vanished from a campground party in California.

Samantha Smith, 18, told The Independent on Monday she was the last person to speak with 16-year-old Kiely after midnight on Saturday.

This is the last call anybody had with her. We said love you, good night. Get home safe, and thats the last thing we heard of her, Samantha said on Monday.

Investigators said they have no information about Kielys whereabouts after 12.33am.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Exclusive: Friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni recounts last call before she vanished

Kielys mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party

02:00 , Megan Sheets

The mother of Kiely Rodni has revealed that her daughter almost didnt go to the campground party the night she disappeared as she issued a gut-wrenching plea to local teenagers to help piece together what happened.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke to The Independent on Thursday as the search for her missing 16-year-old daughter entered its fifth day and investigators are no closer to getting answers as to her whereabouts.

She said that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her mother on Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

Ms Rodni-Nieman said she wishes Kiely had never gone to the party that night and had joined her at the car show that night. But she said thinking like that is not helpful.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party on night she vanished

RECAP: Everything we know about Kielys disappearance

Sunday 14 August 2022 00:00 , Megan Sheets

A desperate search continues for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who vanished from a party at a northern California campground on 5 August.

Kiely was last seen around 12.30am on Saturday (6 August) near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said.

She is described as white, 57 tall, and 115 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has numerous piercings and jewelry, including a nose ring, and was last seen wearing green Dickies pants and a black tank top.

The FBI, Homeland Security, California Highway Patrol and several other local law enforcement agencies have joined the Placer Sheriffs Office in the search for Kiley. Hundreds of investigators and K-9 units are searching for Kiely, but no leads have emerged that could possibly indicate what happened to her after the party.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Everything we know about 16-year-old Kiely Rodnis disappearance

Kielys best friend says she just wants her back

Saturday 13 August 2022 22:00 , Megan Sheets

Kielys best friend Magdalene Larson has said she just wants her back as the search entered its sixth day.

I just want her to come back and be OK and just to know that shes loved and that we all looked for her and that we all loved her through this and stuff, she told KCRA3.

Ms Larson described her best friend as such a vibrant person with so much energy.

The two best friends met briefly aged nine at an art camp but became close a few years later when their mothers became friends.

My parents decided that were going to hang out and that I was going to be friends with their daughter and thats just what happened, she said.

It was when they went on a three-hour walk together one day that their friendship was cemented and they have been best friends since.

Loved ones using app to track search for Kiely

Saturday 13 August 2022 20:00 , Megan Sheets

Volunteers helping with the search for Kiely have been using an app to track their movements around the heavily-wooded region.

The app called Caltopo allows searchers to map out what ground theyve covered and share that information with fellow volunteers and law enforcement, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Kielys family set up an RV site where volunteers from across the state can convene to join the search.

GoFundMe to increase reward surpasses $40k

Saturday 13 August 2022 18:00 , Megan Sheets

A GoFundMe campaign for Kielys safe return has surpassed $40,000 as of Saturday morning.

The campaign set up by the teens friends aims to increase the reward for information surrounding her disappearance.

More than 300 people have donated toward the $150,000 fundraising goal.

The official reward being offered by police is currently set at $50,000.

Kiely honoured at fundraising event

Saturday 13 August 2022 16:00 , Megan Sheets

A musical fundraising event in Kielys honour is set to take place on Saturday as the search for the teen drags on into its second week.

Kountry for Kiely will be held at Truckee Regional Park from 1pm to 4pm.

In gratitude, we honor and love the support from our amazing teens and community at large that have been on the front lines of this crisis since day one, a flyer for the event states.

Team Kiely is strong. Wear white in solidarity. Lets bring our girl home.

(findkiely.com)

Search for Kiely expanding over the weekend

Saturday 13 August 2022 13:59 , Megan Sheets

As the search for Kiely Rodni enters its second week, authorities say they are ramping up efforts by expanding the search area and putting more personnel on the ground.

The investigation into Kielys disappearance began one week ago on 6 August when her mother realised the teen never returned from the campground party she attended the night before.

Angela Musallam, the public information officer for the Placer County Sheriffs Office, on Friday said more searchers would be brought in over the weekend as authorities expand their search around the Prosser Family Campground.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the dedicated tip line at 530-581-6320.

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party

Saturday 13 August 2022 13:00 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of Kiely Rodni has revealed that her daughter almost didnt go to the campground party the night she disappeared as she issued a gut-wrenching plea to local teenagers to help piece together what happened.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke to The Independent on Thursday as the search for her missing 16-year-old daughter entered its fifth day and investigators are no closer to getting answers as to her whereabouts.

She said that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her mother on Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

Ms Rodni-Nieman said she wishes Kiely had never gone to the party that night and had joined her at the car show that night. But she said thinking like that is not helpful.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party on night she vanished

Boyfriend of Kiely Rodni reveals last messages before she vanished

Saturday 13 August 2022 11:00 , Rachel Sharp

The boyfriend of Kiely Rodni has broken his silence to reveal the last conversation he had with her before she vanished without a trace at a campground party  as the search for the missing teenager now enters its fifth day.

Jagger Westfall texted his 16-year-old girlfriend to tell her to be safe and dont do anything stupid on Friday night as she headed to a senior farewell party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

And so I was just like, OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid, he told KTXL.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis boyfriend breaks silence as search enters fifth day for missing teen

Kiely sent last text to her mother at 11.30pm on Friday

Saturday 13 August 2022 09:00 , Rachel Sharp

Kiely Rodni last sent a final text to her mother at 11.30pm on Friday night.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman told The Independent on Thursday that she last saw her daughter that morning when she came downstairs in their home and mother and daughter chatted about their plans for the day.

They then stayed in contact throughout the day and last spoke at around 11.30pm that night when Kiely texted to say she would be setting off on the 25-30 minute drive home from the party.

She said shed be leaving at 12.15 and was going to start heading home, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

That was the last time she heard from her daughter.

Fight at party believed to be unconnected to Kielys disappearance

Saturday 13 August 2022 07:00 , Rachel Sharp

It has emerged that a fight broke out at the party at Prosser Family Campground on the night of 6 August  but that officials do not believe it is connected to Kielys disappearance.

In Thursdays press conference, Placer County Sheriffs Office Lieutenant Josh Barnhart mentioned the fight at the party.

While investigators do not believe it has any connection to Kiely going missing, Lt Barnhart said that people recorded the fight and so investigators want to see the footage to see if it holds any clues.

Teens and young adults who attended the party were urged to send the videos to law enforcement and were also told that  if they are concerned about coming forward with information about the missing persons case  they should go to a person they trust and have them take the information to law enforcement.

This comes as officials have repeatedly urged teens to come forward, reassuring them that they are disinterested in investigating underage drinking and just want to bring Kiely home safe.

Public urged to look out for Kielys jewellery

Saturday 13 August 2022 05:00 , Rachel Sharp

Law enforcement officials have urged the public to keep a look out for jewellery that Kiely Rodni is believed to have been wearing when she disappeared.

Authorities shared a recent photo of the 16-year-old wearing a string of gold necklaces. She is believed to have been wearing the same necklaces on 6 August when she went to the campground party.

Anyone who has/may have seen her necklaces is asked to call the tip line at (530) 581-6320 Option 7, or email the tip portal - sheriff_tahoeinvesttips@placer.ca.gov. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Kiely Rodni is believed to have been wearing these necklaces when she disappeared (Placer County Sheriffs Office)

New system launched to upload tips

Saturday 13 August 2022 04:00 , Rachel Sharp

A new system has been launched for members of the public to upload tips about the disappearance of Kiely Rodni.

Law enforcement officials announced on Friday that they have created a central location for the community to upload tips and help us find Kiely.

Anyone with information including photos and videos from the party can upload them anonymously at: https://linktr.ee/placersheriff

Friend recounts final call before her disappearance

Saturday 13 August 2022 03:00 , Rachel Sharp

A friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni has spoken about the pairs final phone call before her friend vanished from a campground party in California.

Samantha Smith, 18, told The Independent on Monday she was the last person to speak with 16-year-old Kiely after midnight on Saturday.

This is the last call anybody had with her. We said love you, good night. Get home safe, and thats the last thing we heard of her, Samantha said on Monday.

Investigators said they have no information about Kielys whereabouts after 12.33am.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Exclusive: Friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni recounts last call before she vanished

Everything we know about the disappearance of Kiely Rodni

Saturday 13 August 2022 02:00 , Rachel Sharp

A desperate search continues for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who vanished from a party at a northern California campground on 5 August.

Kiely was last seen around 12.30am on Saturday (6 August) near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said.

She is described as white, 57 tall, and 115 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has numerous piercings and jewelry, including a nose ring, and was last seen wearing green Dickies pants and a black tank top.

The FBI, Homeland Security, California Highway Patrol and several other local law enforcement agencies have joined the Placer Sheriffs Office in the search for Kiley. Hundreds of investigators and K-9 units are searching for Kiely, but no leads have emerged that could possibly indicate what happened to her after the party.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Everything we know about 16-year-old Kiely Rodnis disappearance

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party

Saturday 13 August 2022 01:15 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of Kiely Rodni has revealed that her daughter almost didnt go to the campground party the night she disappeared as she issued a gut-wrenching plea to local teenagers to help piece together what happened.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke to The Independent on Thursday as the search for her missing 16-year-old daughter entered its fifth day and investigators are no closer to getting answers as to her whereabouts.

She said that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her mother on Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

Ms Rodni-Nieman said she wishes Kiely had never gone to the party that night and had joined her at the car show that night. But she said thinking like that is not helpful.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party on night she vanished

Boyfriend of Kiely Rodni reveals last conversation before she vanished

Saturday 13 August 2022 00:30 , Rachel Sharp

The boyfriend of Kiely Rodni has broken his silence to reveal the last conversation he had with her before she vanished without a trace at a campground party  as the search for the missing teenager now enters its fifth day.

Jagger Westfall texted his 16-year-old girlfriend to tell her to be safe and dont do anything stupid on Friday night as she headed to a senior farewell party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

And so I was just like, OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid, he told KTXL.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis boyfriend breaks silence as search enters fifth day for missing teen

Kielys best friend says she just wants her back

Friday 12 August 2022 23:45 , Rachel Sharp

Kielys best friend Magdalene Larson has said she just wants her back as the search entered its sixth day.

I just want her to come back and be OK and just to know that shes loved and that we all looked for her and that we all loved her through this and stuff, she told KCRA3.

Ms Larson described her best friend as such a vibrant person with so much energy.

The two best friends met briefly aged nine at an art camp but became close a few years later when their mothers became friends.

My parents decided that were going to hang out and that I was going to be friends with their daughter and thats just what happened, she said.

It was when they went on a three-hour walk together one day that their friendship was cemented and they have been best friends since.

No leads as search enters sixth day

Friday 12 August 2022 23:09 , Andrea Blanco

On Friday, police said they have no new leads in the case despite having assigned 200 personnel on the case and employed 9,000 man-hours in searches.

Placer County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Angela Musullam urged the community to report anything that might help the investigation.

Tips have not slowed down. Theyre pouring in every single hour. Unfortunately, most leads have not panned out and have not been fruitful.

Locals are encouraged to anonymously send tips

Friday 12 August 2022 22:47 , Andrea Blanco

Authorities have created an online portal where the community can anonymously upload pictures and videos that could help in the investigation.

It is a completely confidential way to receive pictures, videos from the Prosser Family Campground party, spokesperson Angela Musullam said.

Police is asking anyone who has information to call (530) 581-6320, option 7, or email tips online at sheriff_tahoeinvesttips@placer.ca.gov.

Adults are discouraging teens from coming forward with information about the party, police say

Friday 12 August 2022 22:26 , Andrea Blanco

During a press conference on Friday, The Placer County Sheriffs Office said it had received reports of adults in the community deterring teenagers from coming forward.

Public information officer Angela Musallam said if those reports proved true, they were actively impeding the investigation.

Our interest is not arresting, prosecuting, or holding any individuals accountable for any underage drinking or illegal drug that did occur at the Prosser Family Campground, Ms Musullam said.

Our sole purpose in this investigation and search is to bring Kiely home to her family.

Press conference starting soon to provide update on case

Friday 12 August 2022 21:45 , Rachel Sharp

A press conference is being held at 2pm local time (5pm ET) on Friday at the Truckee-Donner Recreation & Park District in Truckee to provide an update on the case.

A separate community meeting will then be held later at 5.30pm local time in the same location.

Check back for more details.

GoFundMe to increase reward money tops $38,000

Friday 12 August 2022 21:25 , Rachel Sharp

A GoFundMe launched to increase the reward money for information that helps in the search for Kiely Rodni has now topped $38,000.

The campaign reached $38,010 as of Friday afternoon local time.

With the consent of Kielys parents, I am starting this gofundme to help increase the reward for her return, writes organiser Amie Quirarte.

We hope this will encourage more people to come forward with any information that can help bring this sweet girl home. Right now, the reward is $5,000. Lets get that number higher and bring her home. Please consider donating!

A reward of $50,000 is already being offered for information that helps lead to the missing teen. The GoFundMe was launched to increase the reward.

Local businesses share fliers to try to find missing teen

Friday 12 August 2022 21:05 , Rachel Sharp

Local businesses in Downtown Truckee have been sharing fliers and putting up posters in their windows to try to help find the missing teen.

Lisa Gotts, owner of California 89 Home, told local outlet KOLO that it was important to spread the word.

Its so important that theres as much knowledge out there that shes missing and anything we can do to help, she said.

Weve also posted on social media, on our stories, like I have seen so many in the local community doing.

Her son has gone to parties at Prosser Family Campground in the past, she said. The campground was the last known location of Kiely Rodni at around 12.30am on Saturday.

You know he used to go out to Prosser and go to parties out there and Ive had long conversations with him about it and its just heart wrenching, she said.

Campground was popular for teenage parties

Friday 12 August 2022 20:45 , Rachel Sharp

The Prosser Family Campground is a popular hangout spot for local teenagers and is seen as a safe space for young people, Kielys mothers Lindsey Rodni-Nieman has revealed.

Teenagers have partied and hung out at the campground going back decades and Kiely had been to several parties there before Friday.

It feels like a safe place. Like a neighbourhood backyard, Ms Rodni-Nieman told The Independent.

Its a couple of miles out of town and is just this open space with reservoirs and camping and dirt roads. Lots of people go riding dirt bikes or hiking and its a community space.

What was different that night was that the party was very large with teens from different schools all over the region descending there.

Theres not generally so many people there. Thats what made it unusual, said Kielys mother.

Officials have said that around 200 to 300 teenagers and young adults gathered for the party that night.

Public urged to look out for Kielys jewellery

Friday 12 August 2022 20:25 , Rachel Sharp

Law enforcement officials have urged the public to keep a look out for jewellery that Kiely Rodni is believed to have been wearing when she disappeared.

Authorities shared a recent photo of the 16-year-old wearing a string of gold necklaces. She is believed to have been wearing the same necklaces on 6 August when she went to the campground party.

Anyone who has/may have seen her necklaces is asked to call the tip line at (530) 581-6320 Option 7, or email the tip portal - sheriff_tahoeinvesttips@placer.ca.gov. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Kiely Rodni is believed to have been wearing these necklaces when she disappeared (Placer County Sheriffs Office)

Kielys mother said she wishes she never went to party

Friday 12 August 2022 20:05 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of Kiely Rodni has said she wishes her daughter never went to the campground party the night she disappeared.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman toldThe Independent on Thursday that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her last Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

There was this classic car show in Reno  shes so dynamic she loves everything from playing the violin to car shows  and so she was maybe going to see some drag races with us there, she said.

The mother and daughter talked about the plan on Friday morning  the last time they saw each other.

Later that day, Kailee then texted saying she was going to go to a party instead of going to the car show. Shed been to the car show already and there was this party in Prosser, said her mother.

I said yeah thats fine, of course you can go to the party.

While she thinks about how things would be different if Kiely had joined her at the car show that night, she said its not helpful.

Theres a Willie Nelson song that Ive got a long list of real good reasons, for all the things Ive done And regret is just a memory written on my brow. And theres nothing I can do about it now, she said.

Its not helpful [to think about that]. What is helpful is to pray and keep the faith that well be seeing her soon and keep the faith that whoever knows something is going to find the courage to come forward and share their information.

New system launched to upload tips

Friday 12 August 2022 19:45 , Rachel Sharp

A new system has been launched for members of the public to upload tips about the disappearance of Kiely Rodni.

Law enforcement officials announced on Friday that they have created a central location for the community to upload tips and help us find Kiely.

Anyone with information including photos and videos from the party can upload them anonymously at: https://linktr.ee/placersherif

Volunteers urged to be careful not to disturb evidence

Friday 12 August 2022 19:25 , Rachel Sharp

Volunteers have been urged to be careful not to disturb possible evidence as they join the search for the missing teen.

Speaking at a community meeting on Thursday, officials said they dont have any specific areas closed to the public as part of the search and dont have one particular area of focus.

While much of the search has so far centred on the campground where the party took place, teams have now expanded to roads and lakes all around the area.

As a result, officials cautioned people to be careful and conscious not to disturb anything that could help lead to finding Kiely.

A footprint could be important, a tyre track could be important... be conscious where youre searching, an official said.

Almost 900 tips received in missing persons case

Friday 12 August 2022 19:05 , Rachel Sharp

Almost 900 tips have been received so far in the six days since Kiely Rodni vanished without a trace.

A total of 204 personnel from 16 different law enforcement agencies including the FBI have joined in the search and worked for a combined 9,228 hours to try to track down the missing teen.

Despite the vast efforts, investigators have been unable to track down Kielys whereabouts  or her car  after 12.33am on Saturdaty morning.

How to anonymously give tips

Friday 12 August 2022 18:45 , Rachel Sharp

Anyone who may have any information about Kiely is highly encouraged to submit tips online at sheriff_tahoeinvesttips@placer.ca.gov or through the dedicated tip line: (530) 581-6320 Option 7.

If anyone believes they have photos or videos that may assist authorities with the investigation in locating Kiely, they are asked to submit them here: https://placersheriff.app.box.com/.../0c30cd16cff04e07baf...

Officials have reiterated that tipsters can remain anonymous.

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party night she vanished

Friday 12 August 2022 18:25 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of Kiely Rodni has revealed that her daughter almost didnt go to the campground party the night she disappeared as she issued a gut-wrenching plea to local teenagers to help piece together what happened.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke to The Independent on Thursday as the search for her missing 16-year-old daughter entered its fifth day and investigators are no closer to getting answers as to her whereabouts.

She said that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her mother on Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

Ms Rodni-Nieman said she wishes Kiely had never gone to the party that night and had joined her at the car show that night. But she said thinking like that is not helpful.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party on night she vanished

Kiely Rodnis mother defends law enforcement over Amber Alert

Friday 12 August 2022 18:05 , Rachel Sharp

Kiely Rodnis mother has defended the efforts of law enforcement and urged people not to focus on the lack of an Amber Alert in her daughters case.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke at a community meeting on Thursday night.

Questions have mounted around why an Amber Alert was not issued for the missing teen.

Officials have said they agree with the public on the issue but  under state law  the case does not meet the criteria for an alert as there is no evidence Kiely was abducted.

This Amber Alert thing, it was frustrating, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

Pointing to the law enforcement officials on stage, she said that they share our frustration.

There is no one behind me right now that doesnt agree an Amber Alert should have been issued immediately.

She continued: But to focus on what is right isnt helpful and doesnt move forward the lack of any movement forward is not for a lack of resource or want or determination from everyone who stands behind me. Lets focus on asking questions that lead to positive results.

She said that the issue around the Amber Alert system could be an opportunity for change.

Maybe we can use this opportunity to maybe go to the state legislature that may be more effective in changing that, she said.

Even if it doesnt change it today or tomorrow or for Kiely at all maybe it can change it for someone else

Authorities were never called to party

Friday 12 August 2022 17:45 , Rachel Sharp

Authorities received no calls for service to the Prosser Family Campground on the night of the party, officials said at a community meeting on Thursday evening.

There was reportedly a fight at the party last Friday night but authorities believe it was unconnected to Kielys disappearance.

Authorities have also acknowledged reports of possible underage drinking and drugs but insist they are not interested in investigating that.

We dont care. We just want to find Kiely, an official said.

Press conference scheduled for 2pm local time

Friday 12 August 2022 17:25 , Rachel Sharp

Another press conference will be held at 2pm local time (5pm ET) on Friday at the Truckee-Donner Recreation & Park District in Truckee.

The Placer County Sheriffs Office announced the briefing on Friday morning, revealing that the search had continued to yield answers about Kielys whereabouts.

Over the past six days, we have utilized many local, state, and federal law enforcement resources to help locate Kiely. Search teams from across the state are still thoroughly searching on the ground, in the air, and in the water  currently, we only have information on Kielys last known location before she went missing, the statement said.

Detectives are still following up on several hundred leads and conducting interviews in hopes of locating Kiely and her vehicle.

A separate community meeting will be held at 5.30pm local time in the same location.

Lack of information about where car was parked at party

Friday 12 August 2022 17:05 , Rachel Sharp

Six days on from her disappearance, authorities are still struggling to piece together details about where exactly Kiely Rodnis car was last seen at the campground party.

Investigators were asked at a community meeting on Thursday night where Kielys car  a silver 2013 Honda CRV  was parked at the Prosser Family Campground on 6 August and what other vehicles were parked near it.

Officials said that was one of the details they were still trying to piece together.

That question is on a list of about a thousand others we have, they said.

Investigators going door to door for footage of Kiely

Friday 12 August 2022 16:45 , Rachel Sharp

Investigators have been going door to door in the local community to try to find any possible footage of Kiely Rodnis movements.

Placer County Sheriffs Office Lieutenant Josh Barnhart said at a community meeting on Thursday night that authorities are collecting videos and photos from both people at the campground party and from surveillance footage and doorbell cameras in the surrounding areas.

We are continuing to collect media from every source  video, photos, people at party are coming in so we can use data from their phones, he said.

The FBI and detectives are going door to door collecting data and Ring camera videos... [footage] from gas stations etc... cameras at intersections.

Authorities urged people to share any footage or photos that could help in the investigation and to come forward with any information.

Anyone with information is asked to email Sheriff_TahoeInvest@placer.ca.gov, contact Detective Stephanie Frykberg at (530) 392-5609, or call the anonymous tip line at (530) 581-6320.

The last known contact from Kiely Rodni

Friday 12 August 2022 16:25 , Rachel Sharp

The last time Kiely Rodni was accounted for was at 12.33am on Saturday morning, with no known contact from or sightings of the missing teen for more than six days.

Placer County Sheriffs Office Lieutenant Josh Barnhart confirmed the timing at a community meeting on Thursday night.

12.33am was the last known time that we have for Kiely, he said.

Anything after that we have not been able to find. And so please again we urge and beg you, if you were there and you know something please come forward and give us that information so we can continue our investigation past 12.33.

Boyfriend of Kiely Rodni reveals last conversation before she vanished

Friday 12 August 2022 16:09 , Rachel Sharp

The boyfriend of Kiely Rodni has broken his silence to reveal the last conversation he had with her before she vanished without a trace at a campground party  as the search for the missing teenager now enters its fifth day.

Jagger Westfall texted his 16-year-old girlfriend to tell her to be safe and dont do anything stupid on Friday night as she headed to a senior farewell party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

And so I was just like, OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid, he told KTXL.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis boyfriend breaks silence as search enters fifth day for missing teen

Mother says nothing out of the ordinary day Kiely vanished

Friday 12 August 2022 15:45 , Rachel Sharp

Kielys mother Lindsey Rodni-Nieman told The Independent that there was nothing out of the ordinary with her daughter on the day she vanished without a trace.

It was just like any normal day, she said, as mother and daughter chatted about their plans for Friday in their family home that morning.

It was morning, hi, love you and talking about plans for the day  just a little check-in as normal, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

She was going to see some friends and maybe go to the gym We also talked about her plans to go camping the following night. And then we said have a great day and love you.

She said: She did not seem out of the ordinary at all.

Everything seemed the same, she had a big smile on her face and she was ready to greet the day. She was having a good day and week and was excited about going camping the following night. We had a great exchange.

The mother and daughter stayed in contact throughout the day and last spoke at around 11.30pm that night when Kiely texted to say she would be setting off on the 25-30 minute drive home from the party.

She said shed be leaving at 12.15 and was going to start heading home, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

That was the last time she heard from her daughter.

Despite 500 tips investigators still lack clues

Friday 12 August 2022 15:25 , Rachel Sharp

Despite hundreds of tips pouring in from the public, investigators appear to be no further forward in locating the missing teen.

On Thursday, Placer County Sheriffs Office revealed that the multi-agency taskforce working on the case had received more than 500 tips since Kiely was reported missing on Saturday morning.

Some tips have come from outside of California and investigators are following up on more than 380 leads.

However, investigators are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in tracking down the missing teen.

Nevada County Sheriff Captain Sam Brown said in Thursdays press conference that we are still lacking clues and that they dont have an exact spot around which to focus the search.

He admitted that was unusual especially when the teens 2013 Silver Honda CRV is also missing.

Authorities activated CodeRed emergency alert

Friday 12 August 2022 15:05 , Rachel Sharp

Authorities in California have activated the CodeRed emergency alert as the search continues for Kiely Rodni.

Nevada County Sheriffs Office Captain Sam Brown announced the alert had been launched at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

We have about an 80 percent enrollment for Nevada County, so out of our 100,000 residents, that message should hit about 80,000 residents, he said.

We have other countries that are even asking and wanting to talk to the family, so theres support, I think because people feel like they could be even in this same situation themselves. We just want word out so that more eyes are out because we dont have an exact spot to look for, and that is unusual  especially with a large object like a car.

An Amber Alert has not been issued for the missing teen because officials said the case does not meet the criteria because there is no evidence that she was abducted.

Police shut down online rumours

Friday 12 August 2022 14:45 , Rachel Sharp

Investigators were forced to shut down false rumours that circulated online claiming that Kiely had been spotted.

Audio alleged to be from a police scanner was posted online on Thursday, reporting a possible sighting of the missing teen and her car.

The Placer County Sheriffs Office responded to the rumours confirming that they were untrue.

Kiely Rodnis mother refuses to give up hope

Friday 12 August 2022 14:25 , Rachel Sharp

Kiely Rodnis mother said she is refusing to let herself think of the worst possible scenario but said that not knowing what has happened to her daughter is a very difficult place to be in.

Lindsey-Rodni-Nieman told The Independent on Thursday: The mind reels and I think that our imagination is our best asset and our worst enemy and I dont want to give power to any of my worst thoughts by speaking them out and making them words.

The family is just holding onto hope that one day this is a memory and when that day comes shell be back with us, she said.

Kielys best friend says she just wants her back

Friday 12 August 2022 14:05 , Rachel Sharp

Kielys best friend Magdalene Larson has said she just wants her back as the search entered its sixth day.

I just want her to come back and be OK and just to know that shes loved and that we all looked for her and that we all loved her through this and stuff, she told KCRA3.

Ms Larson described her best friend as such a vibrant person with so much energy.

The two best friends met briefly aged nine at an art camp but became close a few years later when their mothers became friends.

My parents decided that were going to hang out and that I was going to be friends with their daughter and thats just what happened, she said.

It was when they went on a three-hour walk together one day that their friendship was cemented and they have been best friends since.

Fight at party believed to be unconnected to Kielys disappearance

Friday 12 August 2022 13:45 , Rachel Sharp

It has emerged that a fight broke out at the party at Prosser Family Campground on the night of 6 August  but that officials do not believe it is connected to Kielys disappearance.

In Thursdays press conference, Placer County Sheriffs Office Lieutenant Josh Barnhart mentioned the fight at the party.

While investigators do not believe it has any connection to Kiely going missing, Lt Barnhart said that people recorded the fight and so investigators want to see the footage to see if it holds any clues.

Teens and young adults who attended the party were urged to send the videos to law enforcement and were also told that  if they are concerned about coming forward with information about the missing persons case  they should go to a person they trust and have them take the information to law enforcement.

This comes as officials have repeatedly urged teens to come forward, reassuring them that they are disinterested in investigating underage drinking and just want to bring Kiely home safe.

Investigators urge public to keep lookout for Kielys jewellery

Friday 12 August 2022 13:25 , Rachel Sharp

Police have released pictures of the jewellery Kiely Rodni appeared to be wearing at the time of her disappearance.

During a press conference on Thursday, Placer County Sheriffs Office public information officer Angela Musallam urged the public to contact authorities if they come across a gold chain Kiely is believed to have been wearing back on 6 August.

Were told she always wears this type of jewellery  Wed want anybody who comes across [this necklace] to please contact us immediately because this would certainly provide us a new tip, and a new direction, Ms Musallam said during the press conference.

Officials did not reveal why they are honing in on the items of jewellery after they have spent days combing the land and waterways for signs of the teen and her missing car.

Kiely Rodnis father breaks down, says this is your kids

Friday 12 August 2022 13:04 , Shweta Sharma

Daniel Rodni, the father of missing teen Kiely Rodni, got emotional as he urged people of the community to approach investigators with information about his daughter to come forward.

She is no longer just our daughter. This is your kids, he said.

These are the parties that your kids are going to, he said. We need answers, and you need answers because when your kids turn 16, where are they going to go? Kiely is your child, too.

Her mother described Kiely as a funny and smart girl who has an interest in playing music.

She has since she was a little girl. She loves  of course, being a teenager  she loves being with her friends. Shes so interested in science and in medicine and in cooking, Rodnis mother said.

She taught herself how to make chocolate cakes from scratch when she was young, and theyre actually good.

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party

Friday 12 August 2022 13:00 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of Kiely Rodni has revealed that her daughter almost didnt go to the campground party the night she disappeared as she issued a gut-wrenching plea to local teenagers to help piece together what happened.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke to The Independent on Thursday as the search for her missing 16-year-old daughter entered its fifth day and investigators are no closer to getting answers as to her whereabouts.

She said that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her mother on Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

Ms Rodni-Nieman said she wishes Kiely had never gone to the party that night and had joined her at the car show that night. But she said thinking like that is not helpful.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party on night she vanished

Missing teen's mother says Amber Alert should have been issued immediately

Friday 12 August 2022 12:51 , Shweta Sharma

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, the mother of the missing teen, has said an Amber Alert should have been issued immediately after Kiely Rodni went missing on 6 August at 12.30am.

Speaking to members of the community and a group of law enforcement officers at a town meeting, Ms Rodni-Nieman said: The Amber Alert should have already been issued immediately.

Please understand that the lack of any information, the lack of any new movement forward with this case, is not for a lack of resources, its not for a lack of want, its not for a lack of determination from everyone who Im looking at, she said, according to Fox news.

So lets work together and lets focus on asking questions that will lead to positive results.

Investigators have not issued an Amber Alert for Rodni yet, citing a lack of evidence confirming that the teenager was abducted.

Boyfriend of Kiely Rodni reveals last conversation before she vanished

Friday 12 August 2022 09:00 , Rachel Sharp

The boyfriend of Kiely Rodni has broken his silence to reveal the last conversation he had with her before she vanished without a trace at a campground party  as the search for the missing teenager now enters its fifth day.

Jagger Westfall texted his 16-year-old girlfriend to tell her to be safe and dont do anything stupid on Friday night as she headed to a senior farewell party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

And so I was just like, OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid, he told KTXL.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis boyfriend breaks silence as search enters fifth day for missing teen

Friend recounts final call before her disappearance

Friday 12 August 2022 07:00 , Rachel Sharp

A friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni has spoken about the pairs final phone call before her friend vanished from a campground party in California.

Samantha Smith, 18, told The Independent on Monday she was the last person to speak with 16-year-old Kiely after midnight on Saturday.

At 12.36am she called me  and this is the last call anybody had with her. We said love you, good night. Get home safe, and thats the last thing we heard of her, Samantha said on Monday.

Kiely was at a party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said. Because her vehicle, a silver 2013 Honda CRV, is missing, authorities are treating the incident as a possible abduction.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Exclusive: Friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni recounts last call before she vanished

Investigators release new images in search for the missing teen

Friday 12 August 2022 05:00 , Rachel Sharp

On Wednesday, investigators released two new photos to the public: one of Kielys missing silver 2013 Honda CRV and one of a hoodie she is believed to have borrowed at the party.

The black hoodie features the eerie Lana del Ray lyrics: You dont want to be forgotten. You want to disappear.

We dont know whether Kiely was wearing that hoodie when she disappeared, but we believe it was still in her possession, Placer County Sheriffs Office said.

Kiely had reportedly planned to drive herself and her friend Samantha Smith home from the party in her vehicle.

Ms Smith previously told The Independent that Kiely was drinking at the party and wouldnt have been able to drive so they both told each other to get home safe.

Kielys car has not been found during the five-day search which has centred on the area around the campground where she was last seen.

The hoodie Kiely Rodni borrowed the night she vanished (Placer County Sheriffs Office)

Kiely Rodnis 2013 silver Honda CRV which is also missing (Placer County Sheriffs Office)

Kielys mother knew something was wrong

Friday 12 August 2022 04:00 , Rachel Sharp

Kielys mother said she knew something was wrong when she learned her daughter hadnt come home on Friday night  as it was so out of character for her.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman told The Independent that she asked her daughter to wake her to let her know she was back home safe.

The teen had texted her at 11.30pm to say she was leaving the party soon.

The thing I regret most is not waiting for her to get home, she sobbed.

I fell asleep. I asked her to wake me when she got home but I didnt notice until 8am the next morning.

When I woke up and noticed she hadnt woken me I first thought maybe my husband was still awake when she got back and so she didnt wake me.

But I jumped up and checked her car and it wasnt there. I went to her room and she wasnt there.

Ms Rodni-Nieman checked her cellphone location data and found her cellphone was last at the campground where the party took place at 12.03am. She has since learned that Snapchat data shows her cellphone at the same location at around 12.30am.

There was no question that this is so out of character that we needed to get a search going right away, she said.

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party

Friday 12 August 2022 03:00 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of Kiely Rodni has revealed that her daughter almost didnt go to the campground party the night she disappeared as she issued a gut-wrenching plea to local teenagers to help piece together what happened.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke to The Independent on Thursday as the search for her missing 16-year-old daughter entered its fifth day and investigators are no closer to getting answers as to her whereabouts.

She said that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her mother on Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

Ms Rodni-Nieman said she wishes Kiely had never gone to the party that night and had joined her at the car show that night. But she said thinking like that is not helpful.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party on night she vanished

Campground was popular for teenage parties

Friday 12 August 2022 02:00 , Rachel Sharp

The Prosser Family Campground is a popular hangout spot for local teenagers and is seen as a safe space for young people, Kielys mothers Lindsey Rodni-Nieman has revealed.

Teenagers have partied and hung out at the campground going back decades and Kiely had been to several parties there before Friday.

It feels like a safe place. Like a neighbourhood backyard, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

Its a couple of miles out of town and is just this open space with reservoirs and camping and dirt roads. Lots of people go riding dirt bikes or hiking and its a community space.

What was different that night was that the party was very large with teens from different schools all over the region descending there.

Theres not generally so many people there. Thats what made it unusual, said Kielys mother.

Officials have said that around 200 to 300 teenagers and young adults gathered for the party that night.

Boyfriend of Kiely Rodni reveals last conversation before she vanished

Friday 12 August 2022 01:30 , Rachel Sharp

The boyfriend of Kiely Rodni has broken his silence to reveal the last conversation he had with her before she vanished without a trace at a campground party  as the search for the missing teenager now enters its fifth day.

Jagger Westfall texted his 16-year-old girlfriend to tell her to be safe and dont do anything stupid on Friday night as she headed to a senior farewell party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

And so I was just like, OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid, he told KTXL.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis boyfriend breaks silence as search enters fifth day for missing teen

Everything we know about the disappearance of Kiely Rodni

Friday 12 August 2022 01:00 , Rachel Sharp

A desperate search continues for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who vanished from a party at a northern California campground on 5 August.

Kiely was last seen around 12.30am on Saturday (6 August) near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said.

She is described as white, 57 tall, and 115 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has numerous piercings and jewelry, including a nose ring, and was last seen wearing green Dickies pants and a black tank top.

The FBI, Homeland Security, California Highway Patrol and several other local law enforcement agencies have joined the Placer Sheriffs Office in the search for Kiley. Hundreds of investigators and K-9 units are searching for Kiely, but no leads have emerged that could possibly indicate what happened to her after the party.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Everything we know about 16-year-old Kiely Rodnis disappearance

Kiely sent last text to her mother at 11.30pm on Friday

Friday 12 August 2022 00:30 , Rachel Sharp

Kiely Rodni last sent a text to her mother at 11.30pm on Friday night.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman told The Independent that she last saw her daughter that morning when she came downstairs in their home and mother and daughter chatted about their plans for the day.

They then stayed in contact throughout the day and last spoke at around 11.30pm that night when Kiely texted to say she would be setting off on the 25-30 minute drive home from the party.

She said shed be leaving at 12.15 and was going to start heading home, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

That was the last time she heard from her daughter.

Friend recounts final call before her disappearance

Friday 12 August 2022 00:00 , Rachel Sharp

A friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni has spoken about the pairs final phone call before her friend vanished from a campground party in California.

Samantha Smith, 18, told The Independent on Monday she was the last person to speak with 16-year-old Kiely after midnight on Saturday.

At 12.36am she called me  and this is the last call anybody had with her. We said love you, good night. Get home safe, and thats the last thing we heard of her, Samantha said on Monday.

Kiely was at a party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said. Because her vehicle, a silver 2013 Honda CRV, is missing, authorities are treating the incident as a possible abduction.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Exclusive: Friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni recounts last call before she vanished

Teen-to-teen meeting cancelled

Thursday 11 August 2022 23:30 , Rachel Sharp

A teen-to-teen meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon has been cancelled.

The website FindKiely.com, set up by her loved ones in the search for the missing teen, had previously announced that a meet-up would be held from 5pm to 7.30pm local time at local high school Incline Village High.

The meeting came as law enforcement and Kielys family have urged young people who attended the party to share any information no matter how big or small.

Several teen-to-teen meetups have taken place over the last few days with parents and law enforcement officers not present for the meeting in an effort to create a safe space for teens to speak out without fear.

On Thursday afternoon, the website said that the teen-to-teen meeting was cancelled.

A peer is always available at Truckee Rec Center for peer-to-peer conversations, the memo read.

There was no explanation about why it was cancelled but a community meeting is still going ahead at 5.30pm local time.

Community searching for Kiely can share their progress with law enforcement on an app

Thursday 11 August 2022 23:21 , Andrea Blanco

Authorities have created a system for community members who are going in the field and searching for Kiely to track their progress in certain areas.

Our team was able to create a map that will allow teams in the community who are going out to track their tracks so we can monitor  if they [have] some information, Sheriff Brown said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Nevada County Sheriff Sam Brown asked the public on Thursday to limit the posts and urged locals to especially take advantage of that resource.

Anonymous pictures or video of the party can also be submitted here.

Thursday 11 August 2022 23:00 , Andrea Blanco

A spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriffs Office said the local law enforcement department will continue requesting assistance from other agencies that wish to join the search.

We will not leave any stone unturned. And we have requested the help of every agency who is willing to help, and that does include many local, regional, state, and federal agencies, and were very thankful for that help, public information officer Angela Musallam said during a press conference on Thursday.

As of Thursday afternoon, at least seven agencies, including more than 220 personnel has been assigned to the investigation, the sheriffs office said in a statement.

This is our daily update on the investigation and search for Kiely Rodni. #PCSO #FindKiely pic.twitter.com/1pBk6i5sqT  Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) August 11, 2022

No new leads in the investigation, police says

Thursday 11 August 2022 22:40 , Andrea Blanco

Amid no new leads on Thursday, law enforcement agencies assisting in the search encouraged the community to keep spreading the word about Kiely.

We are trying to be strategic at things. This has grown into something that we didnt anticipate on day one or two, Nevada County Sheriff Sam Brown said during the presser.

Sheriff Brown said theyd be conducting more extensive searches to invigorate the investigation.

We do searches all the time. Nevada County does probably 40 searches every year, but not to this extent and this long. Theyre usually pretty successful. Its pretty stressful for us and more so on the family. Its hard to look at them and not have answers.

Police release picture of Kielys jewelry

Thursday 11 August 2022 22:20 , Andrea Blanco

Police released a new picture of Kiely wearing a distinctive necklace that friends and family say she always wears.

Placer County Sheriffs Office public information officer Angela Musallam urged the public to contact authorities if they come across the gold chain while searching for Kiely.

Were told she always wears this type of jewelry  Wed want anybody who comes across [these necklaces] to please contact us immediately because this would certainly provide us a new tip, and a new direction, Ms Musallam said during the press conference, KCRA 3 reported.

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party

Thursday 11 August 2022 21:41 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of Kiely Rodni has revealed that her daughter almost didnt go to the campground party the night she disappeared as she issued a gut-wrenching plea to local teenagers to help piece together what happened.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman spoke to The Independent on Thursday as the search for her missing 16-year-old daughter entered its fifth day and investigators are no closer to getting answers as to her whereabouts.

She said that Kiely had planned to go to a car show in Reno with her mother on Friday night but texted her during the day to say that she was going to go to a party at the Prosser Family Campground instead.

Ms Rodni-Nieman said she wishes Kiely had never gone to the party that night and had joined her at the car show that night. But she said thinking like that is not helpful.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis mother reveals she almost didnt go to camp party on night she vanished

Campground was popular for teenage parties

Thursday 11 August 2022 21:09 , Rachel Sharp

The Prosser Family Campground is a popular hangout spot for local teenagers and is seen as a safe space for young people, Kielys mothers Lindsey Rodni-Nieman has revealed.

Teenagers have partied and hung out at the campground going back decades and Kiely had been to several parties there before Friday.

It feels like a safe place. Like a neighbourhood backyard, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

Its a couple of miles out of town and is just this open space with reservoirs and camping and dirt roads. Lots of people go riding dirt bikes or hiking and its a community space.

What was different that night was that the party was very large with teens from different schools all over the region descending there.

Theres not generally so many people there. Thats what made it unusual, said Kielys mother.

Officials have said that around 200 to 300 teenagers and young adults gathered for the party that night.

Everything we know about the disappearance of Kiely Rodni

Thursday 11 August 2022 20:44 , Rachel Sharp

A desperate search continues for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who vanished from a party at a northern California campground on 5 August.

Kiely was last seen around 12.30am on Saturday (6 August) near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said.

She is described as white, 57 tall, and 115 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has numerous piercings and jewelry, including a nose ring, and was last seen wearing green Dickies pants and a black tank top.

The FBI, Homeland Security, California Highway Patrol and several other local law enforcement agencies have joined the Placer Sheriffs Office in the search for Kiley. Hundreds of investigators and K-9 units are searching for Kiely, but no leads have emerged that could possibly indicate what happened to her after the party.

The Independents Andrea Blanco has the full story:

Everything we know about 16-year-old Kiely Rodnis disappearance

Partygoers urged to come forward with any information

Thursday 11 August 2022 20:22 , Rachel Sharp

Officials and Kiely Rodnis family members are urging partygoers to come forward with information  no matter how big or small.

Kielys mother Lindsey Rodni-Nieman issued a desperate appeal begging teens to help piece together what happened to her daughter as she believes someone must know something that could help.

We are desperate for any other teens to come out and share the last pieces of the story that nobody seems to be able to piece together, she told The Independent Thursday.

If we could just have that piece of the story of who she did leave with, when, which way did she go. Im imploring the teenagers and the parents of the teenagers.

She added: I do think that there are stories from that night that have not been told and I think that as soon as those people who have stories have courage to come forward and share it would be such a massive turning point and could help slingshot us forward.

Ms Rodni-Nieman also urged parents to beg their kids to share anything they know.

Boyfriend says he taught her to get out of sticky situations'

Thursday 11 August 2022 20:04 , Rachel Sharp

Kielys boyfriend Jagger Westfall said that both he and Kielys father had taught the teen to to get out of sticky situations and insisted that he believes she is alive and well.

Her dad taught her a lot of stuff about like self defence, things like that, he told KTXL.

I taught her how to get out of sticky situations. I know that shes smart. She wouldnt do something that would definitely put her life at risk.

I really need her back. I really just need to know that shes safe, thats all I need at this point, I really want to hug her again.

He added: I definitely feel like that in this current situation that shes safe.

I dont know where she is. We dont have anything to go off of at this point. But, I fully believe that shes alive and well.

Kielys mother says there was nothing out of the ordinary on day of disappearance

Thursday 11 August 2022 19:41 , Rachel Sharp

Kielys mother has spoken out to say that there was nothing out of the ordinary with her daughter on the day she vanished.

Lindsey Rodni-Nieman told The Independent on Thursday that she last saw Kiely on Friday morning and spoke to her by text message that night, not long before her last known sighting.

It was just any normal day.

Kiely had come downstairs in their home that morning and mother and daughter chatted about their plans for the day.

It was Morning, hi, love you and talking about plans for the day  just a little check-in as normal, said Ms Rodni-Nieman.

She said: She did not seem out of the ordinary at all. Everything seemed the same, she had a big smile on her face and she was ready to greet the day. She was having a good day and week and was excited about going camping the following night. We had a great exchange.

The mother and daughter last spoke to each other at around 11.30pm that night when Kiely texted her to say she would be leaving the party soon.

She said shed be leaving at 12.15 and was going to start heading home, she said.

That was the last time Ms Rodni-Nieman heard from her daughter.

More than 500 tips received

Thursday 11 August 2022 19:20 , Rachel Sharp

Authorities have received more than 500 tips in the search for the missing teen, Placer County Sheriffs Office said on Thursday.

Multiple law enformcement agencies have been drafted in to help find Kiely Rodni with 224 personnel assigned to the case together working for over 7,030 hours.

Law enforcement to hold press conference later today

Thursday 11 August 2022 19:00 , Rachel Sharp

Law enforcement officials have annnounced that they will update the public and the media about the investigation later today.

A press conference will be held at 2 pm local time (5pm ET) on Thursday at the Truckee-Donner Recreation & Park District in Truckee.

In a statement announcing the briefing, the Placer County Sheriffs Office and Nevada County Sheriffs Office sad that they continue to search for Kiely with numerous resources and agencies responding to help find the teen.

Searchers from across the state continue their search on the ground, in the air, and in the water - so far, we only have information on Kielys last known location before she went missing, the statement read.

Detectives from local, state, and federal agencies continue to follow up on leads and conduct interviews in hopes of locating Kiely and her vehicle.

A community meeting will also be held at 5.30pm local time at the centre.

GoFundMe to increase reward money tops $30,000

Thursday 11 August 2022 18:40 , Rachel Sharp

A GoFundMe launched to increase the reward money for information that helps in the search for Kiely Rodni has now topped $30,000.

The campaign reached $31,770 as of Thursday morning local time.

With the consent of Kielys parents, I am starting this gofundme to help increase the reward for her return, writes organiser Amie Quirarte.

We hope this will encourage more people to come forward with any information that can help bring this sweet girl home. Right now, the reward is $5,000. Lets get that number higher and bring her home. Please consider donating!

Community rallies round family

Thursday 11 August 2022 18:23 , Rachel Sharp

As the search rumbles on with no answers as to Kielys whereabouts, her mother Lindsey Rodni-Neiman told The Independent that she is grateful for all the support from her loved ones and the local community.

Family members have travelled from all across the US to California to support her and join in the search.

But, as time ticks by, the nights and mornings are becoming especially hard.

Its the nights and mornings that are really difficult because were just at home and idle and it always feels better to be in action and be moving and doing something, she said on Thursday morning.

Im so grateful my family is here to help and to breathe love and energy and distraction into the home Then we go out into the world and the town and were surrounded by the love and support of the community.

Close friends and community members gathered together for a vigil on Wednesday night, including her old violin teacher who played some of the teenagers favourite songs.

Description of missing teen

Thursday 11 August 2022 18:00 , Rachel Sharp

Kiely Rodni, 16, is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, 115 pounds, with blonde hair and hazel eyes.

She has a nose ring, a tattoo of the number 17 on her ribs and has scars on her left arm and near her wrist from surgery.

She was last seen wearing a black spaghetti strap bodysuit, green Dickies pants with a black grommet belt, and black Vans.

Kiely is also believed to have in her possession a dark grey hoodie featuring the Lana del Ray lyrics: You dont want to be forgotten. You want to disappear. Investigators believe she was loaned the item at the party.

No activity on Kiely Rodnis cellphone since early hours of Saturday

Thursday 11 August 2022 17:40 , Rachel Sharp

Investigators have said that there has been no activity on Kiely Rodnis cellphone since around 12.30am on Saturday morning.

Kielys mother Lindsey Rodni-Neiman told The Independent on Thursday that the family shared cellphone location data and that she could see her last location was the campground where the party took place. That was at 12.03am.

Snapchat data shows her cellphone at the same location at around 12.30am, she said.

This was around the same time that she was last seen at the party and when she last spoke with a friend  Samantha Smith  on the phone.

Police grow frustrated with lack of leads

Thursday 11 August 2022 17:01 , Rachel Sharp

Law enforcement officials are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of leads in the case as they revealed they are no closer to finding out what happened to the missing teen.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Josh Barnhart of the Placer County Sheriffs Office said there was no new leads multiple days into the search.

We do not have any new leads, and that I can tell you is very frustrating for us, he said.

Nevada County Sheriffs Office captain Sam Brown said that they believe someone knows what happened to the 16-year-old.

We believe that someone knows, he said. Someone saw her but theyre not coming forward.

Boyfriend of Kiely Rodni breaks his silence to reveal last conversation before she vanished

Thursday 11 August 2022 16:35 , Rachel Sharp

The boyfriend of Kiely Rodni has broken his silence to reveal the last conversation he had with her before she vanished without a trace at a campground party  as the search for the missing teenager now enters its fifth day.

Jagger Westfall texted his 16-year-old girlfriend to tell her to be safe and dont do anything stupid on Friday night as she headed to a senior farewell party at the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, California.

And so I was just like, OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid, he told KTXL.

The Independents Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Kiely Rodnis boyfriend breaks silence as search enters fifth day for missing teen

Kielys loved ones believe she is no longer in California

Thursday 11 August 2022 16:15 , Rachel Sharp

Some of Kiely Rodnis loved ones believe that the 16-year-old is no longer in California and could have crossed state lines into Nevada.

While law enforcement officials are carrying out a huge search around the campground where Kiely was last seen in the early hours of Saturday morning, Ms Rodnis boyfriend Jagger Westfall and two of Kielys friends believe she might be in Reno  a city just across the California border into Nevada.

Mr Westfall told KTXL that the young couple would often go there to hang out together.

Friend Kate Cuno said that she had gone to Reno with Kiely and some other friends to have some fun one day before the doomed party.

The trio carried out their own search on Wednesday in the spots in Reno they often frequented with Kiely.

Mr Westfall said that they fully believe that the two of us, three of us or other people are gonna bring her home safe.

Investigators release new images in search for the missing teen

Thursday 11 August 2022 15:55 , Rachel Sharp

On Wednesday, investigators released two new photos to the public: one of Kielys missing silver 2013 Honda CRV and one of a hoodie she is believed to have borrowed at the party.

The black hoodie features the eerie Lana del Ray lyrics: You dont want to be forgotten. You want to disappear.

We dont know whether Kiely was wearing that hoodie when she disappeared, but we believe it was still in her possession, Placer County Sheriffs Office said.

Kiely had reportedly planned to drive herself and her friend Samantha Smith home from the party in her vehicle.

Ms Smith previously told The Independent that Kiely was drinking at the party and wouldnt have been able to drive so they both told each other to get home safe.

Kielys car has not been found during the five-day search which has centred on the area around the campground where she was last seen.

The hoodie Kiely Rodni borrowed the night she vanished (Placer County Sheriffs Office)

Kiely Rodnis 2013 silver Honda CRV which is also missing (Placer County Sheriffs Office)

Teen-to-teen meet-up scheduled for Thursday afternoon

Thursday 11 August 2022 15:36 , Rachel Sharp

A teen-to-teen meet-up will be held at local high school Incline Village High on Thursday afternoon as young people who attended the party are urged to share any information that could help in the search for Kiely Rodni.

The meetup will run from 5pm to 7.30pm local time.

According to the website FindKiely.com, set up by her loved ones in the search for the missing teen, the event is a safe space and will be teen-led with parents and law enforcement officers not present for the meeting.

This is a space for anyone at the party who wants to come and share anything they remember. Any information is helpful, the website states.

This is a teen-led event & safe space for students to share Information from the Prosser party. Parents and LEO will not be inside for the gathering.

Law enforcement officials have called on all teenagers who attended the party to come forward with any information no matter how big or small, reassuring them that they are not interested in investigating underage drinking or partying and just want to bring the missing teen home safe.

Kiely was in no state to drive

Thursday 11 August 2022 15:15 , Andrea Blanco

Kielys friend, Samantha, said that they had been drinking at the party and Kiely was evidently intoxicated.

She was in no state to drive and she wouldnt have made it far or would have crashed, Samantha told The Independent on Monday.

She also told ABC that she had shared all drinks with Kiely.

She was having fun at the party, just being a teenager, she told the outlet. Everything she drank, I drank out of.

Exclusive: Friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni recounts last call before she vanished

Loved ones say she did not runaway

Thursday 11 August 2022 14:55 , Andrea Blanco

Kielys friends and family have reiterated the teenager had no reason to flee her hometown.

The day of the party, I hung out with her, Kate Cuno, Kielys friend, told local news station Fox40. We made creme brulee. Everything was normal. I dont think she ran away or anything.

Kielys mother, Lindsay Rodni-Niema, has also said that it is out of caracther for her daughter to not communicate with her.

Kiely is thought to have been wearing a loaned hoodie before she vanished

Thursday 11 August 2022 14:35 , Andrea Blanco

Police had previously said that Kiely was last seen wearing green Dickies pants and a black tank top.

On Wednesday, authorities revealed Kiely was possibly wearing a black hoodie with flower patterns in the back that had been loaned to her before she disappeared.

The front of the hoodie read, you dont want to be forgotten, you just want to disappear.

We dont know whether Kiely was wearing that hoodie when she disappeared, but we believe it was still in her possession, the sheriffs office said in a statement to SFGate.

Kielys family fear shes been trafficked

Thursday 11 August 2022 14:14 , Andrea Blanco

Kielys loved ones are voicing their fears that the teenager could have possibly been abducted and trafficked by sketchy, older guys who were at the party.

Now we know there were a lot of college people. Teens are coming out [with information] in our teen-to-teen talks. There were a lot of sketchy, older guys that were seen there, Samantha Smith, Kielys friend, told The Sun.

This was right about when I left when we had the last contact.

Kielys boyfriend shares their final conversation

Thursday 11 August 2022 13:47 , Megan Sheets

Kielys boyfriend, Jagger Westfall, spoke to FOX40 on Wednesday, the fourth day of the massive search for the missing teen.

Jagger said he was texting Kiely before she set off for the senior farewell party at Prosser campground, the site where she was last seen.

He recalled texting her: OK. Be safe. Dont like, do anything stupid.

Jagger said he went on to complain about his day and a few hours later she replied: Oh, Im sorry that youre going through that.

That message came in at 10.30pm - roughly two hours before her last known communication.

Everything we know about 16-year-old who vanished from camp party in California

Thursday 11 August 2022 11:10 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

A desperate search continues for 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who vanished from a party at a northern California campground on 5 August.

Kiely was last seen around 12.30am on Saturday near the Prosser Family Campground in Truckee, the Placer County Sheriffs Office said.

She is described as white, 57 tall, and 115 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has numerous piercings and jewelry, including a nose ring, and was last seen wearing green Dickies pants and a black tank top.

Watch: Message from Kiely Rodnis parents to community

Thursday 11 August 2022 09:50 , Josh Marcus

Kiely Rodnis parents recorded a video message to their daughter and the community at large earlier this week.

Please just come home, her mother, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, said in the clip.

Watch the full message below, courtesy of the Placer County Sheriffs Office.

As #PCSO detectives continue to investigate Kielys disappearance and follow up on multiple leads, Kiely Rodnis mother, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, has a plea to the community. If anyone has any information where Kiely may be, please call our tip line: (530) 581-6320, Option 7. pic.twitter.com/kx4ZBVnrwu  Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) August 8, 2022

GoFundMe raises $30,000 reward to aid Kiely Rodni search

Thursday 11 August 2022 08:50 , Josh Marcus

A GoFundMe page has raised more than $30,000 to be put towards a reward for those who help authorities locate missing California teen Kiely Rodni.

With the consent of Kielys parents, I am starting this gofundme to help increase the reward for her return, page creator Amie Quirarte wrote in a caption.

We hope this will encourage more people to come forward with any information that can help bring this sweet girl home.

Kiely Rodnis friends launch site to raise awarness

Thursday 11 August 2022 07:50 , Josh Marcus

Kiely Rodnis friends are organising to raise awareness about the missing teen.

In addition to hosting youth-only meetings, where students might feel freer to share evidence or recollections related to the night of the 16-year-olds disappearance, theyve also launched FindKiely.com as a news hub and portal to collect funds to support the investigation.

What was Kiely Rodnis final message?

Thursday 11 August 2022 06:50 , Josh Marcus

A friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni has spoken about the pairs final phone call before her friend vanished from a campground party in California.

Samantha Smith, 18, tells The Independent she was the last person to speak with 16-year-old Kiely after midnight on Saturday.

At 12.36am she called me  and this is the last call anybody had with her. We said love you, good night. Get home safe, and thats the last thing we heard of her, Samantha said on Monday.

Andrea Blanco has the full report.

Exclusive: Friend of missing teen Kiely Rodni recounts last call before she vanished

Sheriffs office releases image of Kielys car

Thursday 11 August 2022 06:03 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The Placer County Sheriffs Office on Wednesday released an old image of Kiely Rodnis 2013 silver Honda, which has been untraceable along with her.

Officials also shared a photo of a hoodie that Kiely had borrowed on 5 August, the day before she went missing.

We dont know whether Kiely was wearing that hoodie when she disappeared, but we believe it was still in her possession, the authorities said.

We continue to ask for the communitys help to find Kiely and bring her home to her family.

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), one of two Republicans on the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, said in a new interview with WGN-TV that he believes former President Trump has won their short-term battle over the soul of the GOP.

Asked in the exclusive interview if the former president had won the Trump vs. Kinzinger war, the Illinois Republican suggested there was no reason to sugarcoat reality.

Yes, yeah, he won. In the short term, at least, Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, told WGNs Ben Bradley. Theres no use in pretending somehow I scored some major victory and saved the party.

Kinzinger will leave Congress at the end of the year after a round of redistricting made his reelection race more difficult.

Most of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump are either retiring or lost primaries. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the other Republican on the Jan. 6 panel with Kinzinger, faces her primary on Tuesday.

In the interview with WGN  which, like The Hill, is owned by Nexstar Media Group  Kinzinger said that he did not necessarily expect everyone to join him in opposing Trump but did not think he would have such few allies in his party.

Maybe there wasnt going to be a tidal wave of people to come over, but I certainly didnt think Id be alone, he said. We talk about democracy  Republicans like to talk about the Constitution  and yet were openly violating it now.

Kinzinger voted for Trump in the past presidential election, saying that he is the only person in America that didnt vote for him in 2016 and did it 20. He said voting for Trump was a cowardice move that he regrets.

He said he paid a price for not voting for Trump in 2016, and people remembered that he did not vote for him at the events he attended. He said he decided to vote for Trump in 2020 because he knew Trump would lose Illinois, a solidly Democratic state, and Kinzinger could avoid the isolation he felt.

Story continues

But he said he would not do the same again if he could go back in time.

Kinzinger also criticized Democrats for the steps some in the party have taken to undermine moderate Republicans who oppose Trump.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent millions of dollars on ads promoting Trump-backed candidates in swing districts as the primaries for the 2022 midterm elections proceed. The committee has hoped the Trump-backed candidates will be easier for Democratic nominees to defeat in November.

Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), who also voted to impeach Trump, lost his primary for reelection earlier this month. Democrats ran ads supporting John Gibbs, his Trump-backed challenger.

Similar situations have happened in states like Illinois, where Trump-endorsed Darren Bailey won the Republican primary in June.

When theyre spending donor money to promote these candidates that dont believe in democracy and then come and tell me Where have all the good Republicans gone? that does get a little frustrating, Ill tell you, Kinzinger told Bradley.

Kinzinger has served in the House since 2011. If people wake up, he told Bradley there may be an opportunity for him to come back.

But he said no matter what, he wants his son to be proud of his last name when he reads about this time period.

I know at some point hes going to be proud hes a Kinzinger, he said. I have a lot of colleagues that cant say the same, and I wouldnt want to be in their position.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FRIDAY, 12 AUGUST 2022, 17:08

Ukrainian intelligence says that covert measures are being taken in Russia with regard to the so-called "industrial mobilisation" of companies and enterprises in the defence sector.

Source: Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine

Details: Rostec [a state-owned defence conglomerate] has imposed a ban on leave for all management and many of its staff since the beginning of August.

In some companies within Rostec, the "postponement of leave for an indefinite period" applies to 100% of staff.

In addition, the military-industrial commission of the Russian Federation, headed by Russian president Vladimir Putin, is preparing amendments to the Russian Federations state defence procurement programme for 2022. The amendments, which are expected to be approved in early September, will include a 600-700-billion-rouble increase in expenditure.

The purpose of the covert "industrial mobilisation" is to facilitate combat action in the territory of Ukraine. Similar measures are likely to be taken at other defence enterprises in Russia in the near future.

The cancellation of leave is also connected with the governments attempt to fully control the movements of defence enterprise employees, especially management, amid high-profile cases of individual representatives of Russias scientific communities being accused of treason.

Rostec comprises over 800 companies and enterprises in various branches of manufacturing. The companys portfolio includes up to 40% of all state defence procurement and priority civil programmes.

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EUROPEAN PRAVDA  THURSDAY, 11 AUGUST 2022, 20:18

European Pravda reports that Dmytro Kuleba, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine, has taken to Twitter to express his disagreement with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has not supported the initiative to ban all Russian citizens from entering the EU.

"This is Russias war, not just Putins. Not Putin, but actual Russian soldiers come from Russia to kill, torture and destroy. Russians overwhelmingly support the war and cheer missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and the murder of Ukrainians. Let Russian tourists enjoy Russia then," Kuleba tweeted.

On Thursday, 11 August, Scholz rejected calls for an EU ban on tourist visas for Russian citizens, saying, "This war is Putins war."

Meanwhile, also on 11 August, the Estonian government announced that within a week it will block entry to Russians who had been granted EU visas, with only a handful of exceptions.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has called on EU member states to halt tourist visas for Russian citizens. She stressed that visits to Europe are a privilege, not a human right.

On Wednesday, 10 August, Jan Lipavsky, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (which is currently presiding over the EU Council), expressed his support for the EU visa ban for Russian citizens which had been proposed by several other EU member states.

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Theres Ann Amrine was last seen on Saturday, Aug. 6 at around 1 p.m. at the Greyhound bus station located at 251 S. Marion Ave in Lake City, Florida.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

It is believed that Amrine was on her way to Marysville, Ohio, but she never made it there. Police are considering Amrine a missing person.

If you have information that can help locate this woman, Lake City police ask that you contact them at 386-752-4343 or dial 911.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories
A Las Vegas landlord is accused of demanding a woman to have sex with him before renting a four-bedroom home. According to court records obtained by KTNV, Allan Rothstein wrote out the graphic details of his demands in a contract he forced the woman to sign in 2018.

Rothstein, who was the property manager for the house and also a real estate broker at the time, pressured the tenant to swear she does not currently have a boyfriend/girlfriend/parent who is larger, meaner, and more physically aggressive, owns firearms and/or is more possessive than the INITIATOR/S.

There are additional details found in the contract titled Direct Consent for Sexual Intercourse and or (oral sex). Included in the document, the woman was required to swear she wasnt signing under the influence of an incapacitating intoxicant, aphrodisiacs, or psychoactive substances, including but not limited to, alcohol, drugs, oysters, Bremelanotide, truffles, sea cucumber, strawberries, lobster, dark chocolate, Cocaine, LSD, cannabis or any other mind-altering chemical or substance, nor have they been given the same by the INITIATOR/S.

Ive never known anybody to be under the influence of lobster, housing lawyer Bruce Flammey told KTNV. I dont know where you get a list like that.

The lawyer added that he has never seen anything like this.

Not even on bar exams in law school, he said. Nobody has ever put something like this together that Ive ever seen. Although, in all candor, I think theres more of these out there.

Rothstein confessed to the Nevada Real Estate Division, saying any agreements or documents mentioned speak for themselves.

When somebody says the document speaks for itself, what theyre really saying is, I dont want to talk about it, Flammey said.

The landlord, who lost his real estate broker and property management licenses after the Real Estate Division completed its investigation, is now part of an ongoing federal trial, facing allegations of discrimination, harassment and fraud.

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Court documents reveal that the woman and her five children desperately needed a home in 2018, as they were living in a residential hotel. The family thought they lucked up when they were approved for Section 8, a federal program that assists with housing.

But one of the provisions of Section 8 is that once youre approved, you have to find a residence that will be covered by the program within about 60 days of when youre approved, Flammey said. Now, depending on where she was in that 60-day window when this thing came up, she may not have had other options.

Rothstein has pulled off similar stunts with other tenants, sources told KTNV. He is also accused of charging illegal fees and forcing a wrongful eviction after the woman in the latest case refused any sexual encounters.

Additionally, investigators said he listed a fake address for his brokerage, using the location of an auto parts store. The state revealed more allegations, saying the landlord repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances when he had the tenant come to his home to sign documents.
The League of Women Voters of Columbia-Boone County is promoting a proposal that the next new elementary school in Columbia Public Schools bear the name of Luella St. Clair Moss.

Voters in April approved an $80 million bond issue that includes financing for two new elementary schools. The first would open on the campus of John Warner Middle School.

Historic information about St. Clair Moss was provided to the Tribune on Thursday by the League of Women Voters, Columbia College and the Boone County Historical Society.

Known in her time as a "steam engine in petticoats," Moss was the first woman president of Christian Female College, now Columbia College. In her non-consecutive terms as president, she oversaw the financing and construction of eight campus buildings.

Luella St. Clair Moss was the first woman president of Christian Female College, now Columbia College.

The buildings and structures include Launer Auditorium, Missouri Hall, Rogers Memorial Gate, Dorsey Hall and St. Clair Hall, the main campus building.

More: What are parking hours downtown? Columbia district leaders want the confusion cleared up

Installation of electric lights was part of her first term.

"She was one of the forces for the suffragists here," said Pam Springsteel, chair of the Luella Committee for the local League of Women Voters.

St. Clair Moss helped establish the Columbia Equal Suffrage Association in 1912, working to get women the right to vote until that happened with approval of the 19th Amendment.

She was the first woman elected to the Columbia Board of Education in 1922. That year, she also ran for Congress in Missouri's 8th District. She won the Democratic nomination in a primary, but narrowly lost in the general election to the Republican nominee.

Luella St. Clair Moss helped establish the Columbia Equal Suffrage Association in 1912, working to get women the right to vote until that happened with approval of the 19th Amendment.

She later served as president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri and was the first woman president of the Missouri Library Commission. She worked to establish the tax base for the Columbia Public Library 100 years ago.

She died in 1947 at age 82. She was inducted into the Boone County Historical Society's Hall of Fame in 2013.

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More: Downtown Columbia leaders want public educated about possible new surveillance system

Her name has been considered before, including for the school that became John Warner Middle School and when the school that became Beulah Ralph Elementary School was named in 2015.

The procedure for naming school buildings is in school board policy. A committee is formed comprised of key stakeholders from the district and community, and names are solicited from the community, said CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark.

Luella St. Clair Moss served as president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri and was the first woman president of the Missouri Library Commission among other leadership roles over her lifetime.

The committee evaluates and considers the names and makes a recommendation to the school board.

The district hasn't started the process of naming the new elementary school, Baumstark said.

"We're a ways off from establishing a committee," she said. "The first step is to design the school with stakeholder input. That will take place this fall."

Springsteel said she had talked with CPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood about the LWV proposal and provided him with an informational flier.

"Wouldn't this be a perfect name for the next Columbia Public School?" the flier concludes.

League of Women Voters of Columbia-Boone County will have community actor Mary Shaw at its September picnic doing a portrayal of St. Clair Moss as part of its naming campaign. The picnic is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Sept. 6 at Gordon Shelter in Stephens Lake Park.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Women's suffragist name suggested for next Columbia elementary school
The Beaver Islander, ferrying people to enchanting Beaver Island since 1962.

One hundred fifty years ago, the Aug. 10, 1872 Charlevoix Sentinel warned its readers of the papers imminent demise: GONE Ur. [sic] CERTAIN. THE SENTINEL cannot last much longer. A county subscriber has stopped his paper because we refuse to publish his nonsense. Would that many editors around the country today might be intrepid enough to follow in owner/publisher Willard A. Smiths footsteps.

The same issue reported that several of Charlevoixs married men couldnt handle their wives not being at home to see to their every need. Some couldnt handle being home alone themselves. Sorry for Them.Five of our prominent citizens are boarding at the Fountain City House (hotel, now the Weathervane Terrace), enjoying the sweets of temporary bachelordom and the hospitality of Richard (Cooper, the proprietor). Several others are scattered about town, cooking their own grub and looking anxiously lakeward for the white hull of the steamer that is to bring the runaway wives. The ladies are all possessed of a mania for visiting their mammas.

One hundred years later, Charlevoix Courier editor Bob Clock wrote an editorial on the therapeutic value of taking a trip from Charlevoix over to Americas fabled Emerald Isle on the Beaver Island ferry. He based his comments on the experience of a young lady named Sandy who had been a pupil of his when Bob taught school in Holly, Michigan. Now in her mid-20s, and working in Ann Arbor, Sandy said I can only stay away from the Beavers for so long. Then I have to go back.

Bob wrote: Several years ago after moving to Ann Arbor from Holly, Sandy had a problem with drugs. But shes off them now. She figures that life can be heady enough without the use of mind-expanding chemicals. Besides, theres always at least one trip a year to Beaver Island--a mind-expanding experience if there ever was one. She camps in the islands parks and hikes along the islands moist, hard-packed roads in the shade of towering birches and hemlocks. Who needs drugs?

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It is a wonder that psychiatrists dont start prescribing Beaver Island as a cure for patients beset by the cares of a work-a-day world. As soon as the Beaver Islander clears the pierheads, mainland worries become smaller and smaller, just like the vanishing Charlevoix shoreline. The jangle of telephones, the clatter and whirr of machinery, the roar of highway trafficall are replaced by the pleasant slap of waves against the bow as the Beaver Islander churns toward her home port.

Life on the island is the next thing to idyllic. Perhaps because of their isolation, the Islanders welcome all travelers like long-lost kinfolk. If you dont feel at home on Beaver Island, theres a good chance youll never feel at home anywhere in the world. Sipping beer in the cool recesses of the Shamrock on the Beachcomber on a sunny afternoon. Swimming in the surf in the village park. Hiking or pedaling a bicycle down the islands pleasant, tree-shaded byways. Lunching at the Castaways with a dockside view of St. James Harbor. Dining out at the Circle M. Bedding down at night with the sound of surf in your ears. Or camping out, as Sandy does, under the stars. The spell of Beaver Island is difficult to translate into words.

If you thrive on elbow-to-elbow crowds and are turned on by the racket and excitement of big cities, you probably wont like it. But if you savor the gentle things of lifethe piney scent of deep woodlands, vistas of endless blue water and the no-strings-attached friendship of the islands Irish inhabitants, then Beaver Island awaitsjust beyond the horizon.

For many, the unexplainable, irresistible lure of Beaver Island still holds true today.

More: subscribe for the latest in local news

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Looking Back: Nixed newspapers, mama mania and the island life
The couple allegedly at the centre of the luxury goods scam: Pi Jiapeng (right), a 26-year-old Singaporean man, and his 27-year-old Thai wife, Pansuk Siriwipa. (PHOTOS: Singapore Police Force)

SINGAPORE  The couple arrested for an alleged multi-million-dollar luxury goods scam were each handed three charges in court on Friday (12 August).

Pi Jiapeng, a 26-year-old Singaporean man, and his 27-year-old Thai wife, Pansuk Siriwipa, were arrested in Johor Bahru and handed over to Singapore police on Thursday, after being on the run for over five weeks.

CNA reported that two of the charges are for conspiracy to cheat, while the third charge is for illegally leaving Singapore via Tuas Checkpoint at about 7.25pm on 4 July.

Pi and Pansuk are accused of cheating customers of Tradenation - one of two companies they are associated with - by deceiving them into paying for luxury watches that they did not intend to deliver between 28 May 2021 and 27 June this year.

They are also accused of cheating customers of another company, Tradeluxury, between 15 January and 27 June by deceiving them into paying for luxury handbags that they did not intend to deliver.

Not right to have fled Singapore: Pi

CNA reported that Pi and Pansuk appeared in a district court via video-link from remand.

When asked by the judge if they had anything to say, Pi said it was not right for them to have fled Singapore.

"My wife and I are facing a lot of death threats and pressure. It is our mistake to take that decision and we are really very sorry about the trouble," CNA reported him as saying.

Meanwhile, Pansuk said via a Thai interpreter, "I know that I have done something wrong. I will cooperate with the police for the investigation."

CNA reported that the judge granted the prosecution's request for the pair not to be offered bail, as they were "proven" flight risks.

The pair will return to court next week.

Fled Singapore by hiding in lorry compartment

Pi was first arrested by the Singapore police on 27 June, and released on bail the next day with his passport impounded. Pansuk, who was assisting the police with their investigation, surrendered her passport to the police on 30 June.

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The duo subsequently became uncontactable and later fled Singapore by hiding in a container compartment of a lorry on 4 July. Two Malaysian men, including Mohamed Alias, 40, have been arrested and charged with aiding the fugitives in their escape.

Interpol red notices issued against the couple were published online on 21 July.

At least 180 reports have been lodged with Singapore police since June against Tradenation and Tradeluxury, with victims claiming that they made payments for luxury watches or bags to the companies, which then failed to deliver the goods. Investigations into the case are ongoing.

The punishment for cheating is jail for up to 10 years and a fine.The penalty for leaving Singapore without presenting a passport is up to six months' jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

Youve got to stand for something, or youll fall for anything (at least according to the great country and western philosopher Aaron Tippin). But it also happens to be true.

Take the Republican Party.

Instead of turning on Donald Trump following the devastating revelations in the Jan. 6 hearings (or, at least, exercising strategic silence), the partys reaction was to immediately fall in line. Again.

The Banned OK Groomer Guy James Lindsay Is Not a Free-Speech Martyr

Trump, himself, is full of contradictions. The obvious hypocrisies include: You cant resist (a police officer); Lock her up! (back when he thought it was OK to suggest using the government to jail his political opponents); and If youre innocent, why are you taking the Fifth? (before he invoked the Fifth Amendment nearly 450 times this week). Clearly, this is an unprincipled man, whose positions are a matter of convenience.

But his impact on the Republican Party transcends his own moral flexibility. Look no further than the FBIs search of Trumps Mar-a-Lago residence for proof.

After a 2020 election cycle that saw the law and order party criticize Democrats for wanting to defund the police, weve seen quite a few members of the rights commentariat blithely wave off video of MAGA rioters beating Capitol police officers with flagpoles. (Those cops lives dont matter, to the Blue Lives Matter crowd.) Now, a lot of those same voices on the right are saying, Defund the FBI. So much for lionizing the law enforcement heroes who run toward danger.

Why the reversal? Its not because the police have suddenly become more abusive, and its not because Republicans figured out that standing against law enforcement wins votes. The real reason concerns Trumps attempt to avoid accountability and oversight.

But this is just one of many outrageously cynical flip-flops for the party of Trump. Todays GOP is inscrutable, even deranged. And the changes transcend a political reordering that brought more working-class Americans into the GOP foldswapping free trade for populist protectionism and moving past the wealthy blue blood image evoked by establishment elites like Mitt Romney.

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Consider foreign policy.

Ronald Reagan famously showed moral clarity by confronting and calling out the Soviet Union as an Evil Empire. Trump, by contrast, lauded Russian President Vladimir Putin (not to mention other authoritarian leaders of places like North Korea and China).

Consider a commitment to the American project, itself.

The fundamental goal of conservatism in America was to conserve democracy. Todays illiberal right wants to destroy it. Conservatives lionized the Founding Fathers and Americas past leaders. Now, for all their fulminating over the left removing statues and renaming schools, some of Trumps defenders sought to rhetorically tear them down as a way of excusing Trumps inexcusable behavior in office. Republican politicians boasted about being for the rule of law and being constitutional conservatives. But then, they supported Trumps bogus emergency order regarding the border wall.

And theres more. Conservatives long decried the culture of victimhood, yet Trump constantly plays the victim and refuses to accept responsibility for anything (much less blame). Likewise, conservatives have criticized identity politics and playing the race card. Trump, who called New Yorks attorney general (who is investigating him) a racist, does so with glee.

Its all about power, presumably. But once issues and tactics become indistinguishable from the other side (except to the degree that you have escalated their worst impulses and tactics), the contest becomes a pointless power play. Presumably, its about tribalism. But who is our tribe? Absent any transcendent principles or policies, how do we tell the red shirts from the blue shirts?

For the GOP, Im pretty sure the litmus test is to be pro-Trump. The only color that matters is orange.

The biggest reversal, of course, has to do with reversals. Conservatives have historically espoused a belief in moral absolutes, while decrying moral relativism. Yet, so much of what todays conservatives sayabout the establishment and institutions (like the FBI)could have been spouted by a Berkeley hippie in 1968.

Mainstream Media Fucked ItselfNow Were Paying the Price

Go down a list of issuescharacter, values, free trade, earmarks, Russia, spending, law and order, the rule of law, etc.and youd be hard-pressed to find any semblance of a consistent position. Todays Republican Party is 180 degrees different from the party that most of its memberslike myselfsigned up to join.

So we are left with a party without a foundation, without a roadmap, and without a soul. It does have a brand though, its tacky and gold-plated and it reads TRUMP.

While it may be possible for the GOP to abandon its premises and coast on the borrowed capital of the past, enduring without a raison d'etre requires a constant stream of revenge fantasies to rationalize supporting such a shallow cult of personality.

Absent deep, abiding principles, well fall for anything. Donald Trump probably wont be around to see the aftermath when the music stops.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Donald Trump is being investigated for potentially obstructing justice and violating the Espionage Act, according to the now-public search warrant executed at the former president's Mar-a-Lago home earlier this week.

On Friday, the search and seizure warrant along with the signed receipt from the search were unsealed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

An inventory of the items taken in the search shows 11 sets of classified documents. Some were marked as top secret, which the Wall Street Journal notes should only be available in special government facilities.

Among the many boxes of items taken were binders of photos, an unspecified handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for former Trump aide Roger Stone. The three-page list of items also showed that information about the President of France was collected.

The receipt was signed by Trump attorney Christina Bobb.

The warrant to search the property, which had been granted by a federal magistrate judge in Florida, outlined that agents could search "the '45 Office,' all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate."

POLITICO reports that the warrant reveals that the FBI is investigating Trump for "removal or destruction of records, obstruction of an investigation, and violating the Espionage Act." Conviction of those statutes, notes the outlet, "can result in imprisonment or fines."

Presidential Residences

Joe Raedle/Getty. Inset: Zach Gibson - Pool/Getty Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Inset: Donald Trump.

After the former president, 76, announced that the FBI searched his residence at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort on Monday, a source told The Washington Post that the investigation was in regard to sensitive materials, including those pertaining to nuclear weapons.

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Trump has said on his social media platform Truth Social that any documents in his possession had been declassified.

"Number one, it was all declassified. Number two, they didn't need to 'seize' anything," Trump wrote on Friday afternoon.

"They could have had it anytime they wanted," the former president said, before accusing law enforcement authorities  who work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and entered the property with a warrant that required probable cause and sign-off from a judge  of "breaking into Mar-a-Lago."

RELATED: Unpacking the Far-Right Terminology Aiming to Discredit the Federal Investigation into Donald Trump

In a press conference Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice had filed a motion in a Florida court to unseal the search warrant and property receipt, making those details available to the public.

"The public's clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred under these circumstances weighs heavily in favor of unsealing," the motion reads, according to The Post. "That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any 'legitimate privacy interests' or the potential for other 'injury' if these materials are made public."

A protester stands in front of Trump Tower in New York

Seth Wenig/AP

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The search of Mar-a-Lago comes after FBI agents and a senior Justice Department national security supervisor reportedly visited the resort in early June in regards to boxes of classified documents sitting in the property's basement, officials followed up with Trump's lawyer, with instructions to install a stronger lock on the storage room door.

Trump reportedly assured officials that he had no more classified materials, but weeks later, "someone familiar with the stored papers told investigators there may be still more classified documents at the private club," per The Wall Street Journal.

Two months after their first visit to the private Palm Beach club, agents were back with the warrant.

While the FBI conducted its search of the property Monday  which reportedly focused on Trump's office and personal quarters  the former president was in New York City inside Trump Tower.
On any given day when the Hon. Keith Sanborn oversaw a docket or officiated a wedding as a pro-tem judge, he would stride up to the Sedgwick County Courthouse already dressed in his black judicial robes.

Usually, a judge in robes is a sight reserved for the courtroom.

But Mr. Sanborn had no chambers. He officially moved out of the courthouse in 1993 when he was 70, the age judges were required to retire by state law whether they were ready, or not.

Coming to work already dressed was practical, in his mind.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett sometimes saw the retired judges wife dropping him off in front of the courthouse, ready to take up business in the justice system that he for a lifetime respected and loved.

He was one of the stalwarts of the bench for decades. There were a number: Paul Clark, David Kennedy, guys like that, Bennett said.

Keith was just one of the names always synonymous with that era.

Mr. Sanborn, who served Sedgwick Countys 18th Judicial District as an elected judge for a dozen years but for more than two decades after his retirement stepped back into the role when duty called, died Aug. 1 in hospice care at his Wichita home. He was 100.

A friend of the family said the cause of his death was advanced age. Mr. Sanborn celebrated his centenary year in April, surrounded by family. At the time he was still in reasonable health and good spirits, agreeing to chat with a newspaper reporter about his storied legal career  which included arguing before the U.S Supreme Court and 18 years as the Sedgwick Countys top prosecutor  as well as his love of Kansas, where he returned to raise his family after serving in World War II.

Worldly as he was, Mr. Sanborn fancied himself a plain country boy who had a love of Wichita so great, he couldnt stay away.

He told The Eagle in April: When you get to Wichita, Kansas, you have arrived.

Asked his favorite part of the city, his answer was simple: Everything.

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In Wichita, he said, you learn to be who you are.

A funeral service is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at Hillside Christian Church, 8330 E. Douglas in Wichita  which his parents co-founded and where he was a longtime member  followed by a private burial at 3 p.m. at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Bluff City.

Early life, WWII service

He was born Norman Keith Sanborn on April 27, 1922, in Bluff City to interior designer Jonathan Earl Sanborn and Lola Mardis Sanborn. The family moved to Wichita when he was a toddler. He attended Sunnyside Elementary School, Wichita East High School and Ohios Antioch College until he joined the Navy during World War II, serving as an aviator in the Pacific Theater on a search-and-rescue squadron.

It was during his military service that he met Wanda Szymborski, a WAVES control-tower operator from upstate New York who he would marry.

Mr. Sanborn, in his April interview with The Eagle, said he spotted Wanda, a dark-haired beauty, at the officers pool at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. He was smitten instantly.

It took several weeks of convincing, he said, for her to agree to a date.

They married on July 19, 1946. Children and a move back home to Kansas, where Mr. Sanborn earned a bachelors degree from what was then the University of Wichita and a law degree from Washburn University on the GI bill, soon followed.

His daughters, Deborah Sanborn and Wendy Sanborn Dougan, in April said their father taught his children to be good, fair-minded and tolerant citizens. He believed everyone needed at least six hugs a day to get by, they said.

His legacy as first DA

Mr. Sanborn was admitted to the Kansas Bar Association in 1950. After working in private practice, he joined the prosecutors office in Sedgwick County, becoming the county attorney  a position that later transitioned to district attorney  in 1959.

He was here during the transition from the Court of Common Pleas and the older era and was the first district attorney of Sedgwick County after serving as county attorney, Bennett said, adding that to date, Mr. Sanborn has been the second-longest serving DA in the offices history.

He was part of the professionalization of the office, his legacy, Bennett said.

His reputation was that of a career prosecutor and somebody very well known in the community for the way he ran the office.

Mr. Sanborns career with the prosecutors office saw some of the citys most-notorious crimes and criminals. He was the acting Sedgwick County district attorney, for example, in 1974 when the BTK serial killer murdered his first victims, slayings that went unsolved for more than 30 years until Dennis Rader was identified and captured in 2005.

The brutality of the homicide scenes was something Mr. Sanborn never forgot, he told The Eagle years after his retirement.

He also successfully prosecuted Michael Soles, a troubled teenager who on Aug. 11, 1976, rode an elevator to the 26th floor of the downtown Wichita Holiday Inn hotel (now the Garvey building) and opened fire, picking off unsuspecting pedestrians and motorists on the streets below. The mass shooting lasted 11 minutes, killing three and wounding several others.

Mike Hill, a retired Sedgwick County sheriff, was a Wichita Police Department lieutenant at the time and one of the officers who halted Soles rampage. Hill said he first became acquainted with Mr. Sanborn while he was a police department street supervisor and Mr. Sanborn was the district attorney, showing up at crime scenes.

He was an icon in his day, as a prosecutor and as a judge.

The last time he saw the judge was by happenstance, Hill said. In 2017, when Soles, who became known as the Wichita Holiday Inn sniper, had his fifth parole hearing, Mr. Sanborn traveled to the Derby police and courts building, where public comment sessions are held, to help make a case for keeping Soles in prison.

Hill and Bennett were both there, doing the same.

Mr. Sanborn had difficulty walking by then, due to his age, Bennett said.

But when it was his turn to address the parole board, he stood and spoke eloquently about the reasons Soles should stay in lockup, he said.

Soles release was inconceivable, Mr. Sanborn told the panel, according to The Eagles news archives.

He remembered many details (about the crime), things Id never heard before, Bennett said.

Firm and fair judge

In 1976, Mr. Sanborn lost his seat as district attorney to legendary lawman Vern Miller and, after Miller was sworn in, he went back to private practice. He won a Sedgwick County District Court judgeship four years later, in 1980, at age 58, and served until he turned 70, when he had to retire.

He was well respected by those that appeared before him. He was firm and fair, and he ran a good courtroom, Hill said.

As in his lawyering days, Mr. Sanborns time on the bench was punctuated with infamous local cases including the 1980s murder trial of Ivory Haislip and Anthony Ray Martin, accused of killing a Wichita police officer.

On his last working day, Mr. Sanborn handled his final cases then packed up his chambers, including a collection of gavels he never used  he told The Eagle at the time he hadnt rapped one once in court during his career  and headed out, according to a profile published by The Eagle in 1993.

Colleagues whod worked with him at the time lauded his attention to detail and love of the law, as well as his quirky demeanor and relentless curiosity that endeared him to juries and ensured there was always something happening in his courtroom, the profile says.

Stories of him and things he had done and cases he had tried and presided over ... were ever-present in the courthouse, Bennett said, adding that into his 90s Mr. Sanborn would call occasionally when he thought something deserved the DAs attention.

He was still invested in this community.

In April, Mr. Sanborn said independence was what he most missed about being judge. He urged todays judges to always be fair and open and honest.

My philosophy was always be fair, he said at the time.

In retirement, the Marrying Judge

In his later years, one of Mr. Sanborns most-cherished honors was officiating weddings.

He performed perhaps hundreds, well into his 90s, his daughter, Deborah Sanborn, said  so many that some referred to him as the Marrying Judge.

He always came to the ceremonies with a gift for the newlyweds: a flashlight he said might help the couple find their way if ever the marriage turned dark.

He and his own wife, Wanda, were married for more than 70 years, until she died in 2018.

I certainly did perform a lot of weddings, Mr. Sanborn recalled in the April interview.

Thats the best part about being a judge, making people happy.

Mr. Sanborn was preceded in death by his parents and wife. He is survived by his four children, Deborah, Wendy, Rick and Keith John; his grandchildren and other members of their families. Memorial contributions may be made to The Hon. Norman Keith Sanborn Memorial Scholarship fund at Washburn University School of Law, 1729 S.W. MacVicar Ave., Topeka, Kansas, 66604, or online at wualumni.org/givenow.
BERLIN/WARSAW (Reuters) -Polish and German authorities are working "flat-out" to establish the cause behind a mass fish die-off in the river Oder, German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said on Friday, warning of an environmental catastrophe.

Tonnes of dead fish have been found since late July in the river Oder, which runs through Germany and Poland. Both sides have said they believe a toxic substance is to blame but have yet to identify it.

"An environmental catastrophe is in the offing," Lemke told the RND newspaper group. "All sides are working flat out to find the reasons for this mass die-out and minimise potential further damage."

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the waterway would take years to return to normal.

"The scale of this pollution is very big. So big that the Oder may take years to return to a fairly normal state," Morawiecki said in a regular podcast on Friday.

"It is likely that enormous amounts of chemical waste have been dumped into the river," he said, adding those responsible would be held accountable.

Late on Friday Morawiecki fired the head of Poland's national water management authority, Przemyslaw Daca, and the head of the general environmental inspectorate Michal Mistrzak, saying that their institutions should have reacted earlier.

A spokesperson for the German environment minister told a news conference on Friday that they were following the situation closely, and that it was not yet clear what had got into the water.

"We have an incomplete picture," the spokesperson said. "We need clarity on what materials are in the water."

"GIGANTIC" POLLUTION

Green activists and opposition politicians have criticised the Polish government for not responding quickly enough to the danger and failing to alert Poles to avoid bathing and angling in the river that has been contaminated since late July.

Germany has also grumbled over Poland's response: Brandenburg environment minister Axel Vogel had earlier said "chains of communication between the Polish and German sides did not work in this case".

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Earlier Friday, Daca said the situation was serious and that by Thursday evening Poland had collected over 11 tonnes of dead fish.

"The problem is enormous, the wave of pollution runs from Wroclaw to Szczecin. Those are hundreds of kilometres of river, the pollution is gigantic," he was quoted as saying by Polish Radio 24.

An analysis of river water taken this week showed evidence of "synthetic chemical substances, very probably also with toxic effects for vertebrates," the German state of Brandenburg's environment ministry said on Thursday, adding that it remained unclear how the substance entered the water.

According to local German broadcaster rbb, the state laboratory found high levels of mercury in the water samples.

Poland has detected mercury above normal levels in samples of Oder water from the province of Silesia, no traces of the poisonous metal were found in samples taken in the West Pomeranian, Lubusz and Lower Silesian provinces, Deputy Environment Minister Jacek Ozdoba told a news briefing late on Friday.Poland plans to set up a barrier on the Oder near the city of Kostrzyn to collect dead fish flowing down the river, with 150 Territorial Defence Forces soldiers delegated to help with the clean-up.

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Marek Strzelecki and Pawel Florkiewicz; Additional reporting by Anna Koper, Thomas Escritt and Karol Badohal, Writing by Rachel More; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Mike Harrison, Toby Chopra, Raissa Kasolowsky and Louise Heavens)
(Reuters) - The small former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro on Friday ordered a Russian diplomat to leave over what it called violations of norms, prompting Moscow to promise a response.

Montenegro's foreign ministry announced the move on Twitter but gave no details. The Balkan nation has joined international sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia will give an appropriate answer," the Tass news agency cited a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson as saying when asked about possible retaliation.

In March and April, Montenegro's foreign ministry ordered a total of five Russian diplomats to leave over violations of diplomatic norms.

Tass said that in late May, Moscow had ordered a diplomat from Montenegro to leave Russia.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Paul Simao)
A Nampa woman was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole by 4th District Judge Micheal Reardon for her involvement in the killing of a 42-year-old man.

Eava June-McCarthy, now 20, will spend at least the next 18 years in prison before she can become eligible for parole, after entering a guilty plea to a first-degree murder charge in the death of Gamaliel Nava Garzon. The minimum sentence for first-degree murder is a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 10 years. She is also expected to pay about $19,000 in restitution.

I dont think I have the words to fully express how sorry I am for my actions and how they resulted in the loss of your father, June-McCarthy said in her statement, as she addressed his children. I know that because of me, he wont be around for special moments in your life.

June-McCarthy pleaded guilty in March in an agreement that dismissed an additional charge  one count of destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence. June-McCarthy also asked that any language stating the murder was premeditated be dismissed.

This is a tragic situation which resulted in the unlawful death of Gamaliel Nava Garzon, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Peterson said Friday. A single father who had provided a home and nurture to his three children and grandchild.

June-McCarthys attorney, Anthony Geddes, said the incident involved multiple people and June-McCarthy didnt actually shoot Nava Garzon. No one else has been arrested in the case, Geddes said.

June-McCarthy and others initially visited Nava Garzon to rob him, according to attorneys. Under Idaho law, if someone is involved in a murder while in the process of or attempt of a burglary, it is considered first-degree murder. The Idaho Statesman has reached out to the Ada County Prosecutors Office for additional information on the other suspects.

She wasnt the one who killed him. She wasnt the one who pulled the trigger, and yet shes the only one currently being held accountable, Geddes said. Thats been a difficult barrier for us to get over.

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But Reardon said that June-McCarthy has previously admitted to having a more direct role in Nava Garzons death.

I cant really be sure of what exactly happened in the room beyond that (Nava Garzon) lost his life for no reason, other than greed, Reardon said.

Details of Nava Garzons death unclear

The slaying occurred at a La Quinta Inn and Suites By Wyndham, near the Boise Towne Square mall, in October 2020 during an attempted robbery, when June-McCarthy was 18 years old.

Gamaliel Nava Garzon was stabbed in the eye and shot, which led to his death, according to previous reporting by the Statesman. Geddes said that on the night of his death, Nava Garzon expected to have an enjoyable evening smoking meth and having sex with a couple of ladies in his hotel room.

But the evening took a turn, Geddes said. June-McCarthy and others had planned to rob Nava Garzon.

It was a chaotic crime scene, but it was apparent that there was a terrible struggle there  multiple people were involved, Geddes said. There was a tremendous amount of blood. It was everywhere, but particularly in the entryway by the door.

Geddes said that the crime scene was unique, specifically because of the blood pattern. Geddes said Nava Garzon likely was alone, struggling to find the door and seeking help after he was shot. Nava Garzon was found by emergency personnel outside his hotel rooms hallway.

June-McCarthy, who was under the influence of meth during the crime, initially told authorities that she killed Nava Garzon out of revenge because he raped her, but Geddes said she changed her story multiple times.

Geddes also said June-McCarthy has had a tough life, including abuse and neglect, and has been a drug user since she was a child.

If she ever at any point determines to put her brains, and her survivor skills, and her street smarts to good use, she could have tremendous affect on other people, Geddes said, either in the prison or after she gets out.
A law enforcement officer who was shot early Friday morning in Wake Country, North Carolina has died.

The shooting took place at approximately 1:30 a.m. ET near the intersection of Battle Bridge Road and Auburn Knightdale Road, WRAL-TV reported.

The Wake County Sheriff's Office announced shortly after the shooting that the officer died of his injuries.

"The Wake County Sheriff's Office is grieving after one of our own was fatally shot in the line of duty, earlier this morning," the WCSO posted. "Please pray for this agency!"

ENTIRE NORTH CAROLINA POLICE DEPARTMENT RESIGNS AFTER NEW TOWN MANAGER IS HIRED

A large police presence was seen there shortly after the shooting, photos show.

It is not immediately clear what caused the shooting.

OFF-DUTY CALIFORNIA POLICE OFFICER SHOT AND KILLED IN GYM PARKING LOT

WRAL reported this is the fifth sheriffs deputy in the central North Carolina area to be shot over the past 12 days.

The shooting comes just days after Sampson County Sheriff's Deputy Caitlin Emanuel sustained gunshot injuries while serving in the line of duty over the weekend.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office was never able to definitely prove which parent was responsible for the severe brain damage and other injuries that led to the death of their month-old daughter in July 2020.

Both parents are headed to state prison, nonetheless.

The parents, Lindsay Orton-McIntyre and Logan B. Miller, both 27 and of North East, pleaded guilty and no contest, respectively, to third-degree murder in the death of their daughter, Kaylee Miller.

With the pleas, entered Thursday in Erie County Common Pleas Court, Orton-McIntyre and Miller acknowledged that they murdered their daughter by failing to get prompt medical care for her after she suffered injuries so serious that any parent or other caretaker would have known that she needed medical attention.

The injuries, which a pediatrician described as "catastrophic," occurred at an apartment in the first block of Clay Street in North East, according to the charges.

The parents of a month-old North East infant ended the third-degree murder case against them by entering pleas in Erie County Common Pleas Court on Thursday. Shown in this photo on is the 43 Clay St. apartment complex where the prosecution said the baby, Kaylee Miller, suffered her fatal injuries. The parent were charged on March 8, 2021, when this photo was taken. Kaylee died in July 2020.

District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz, who is prosecuting the case, said in court that Orton-McIntyre and Miller were not accused of committing first-degree murder and intentionally killing Kaylee. Instead, Hirz said, her office alleged the two parents committed third-degree murder  an unpremeditated killing with malice  by showing "extreme indifference to human life" by failing to seek medical care for their daughter.

By not getting treatment for Kaylee, "it is ignoring a very serious risk," Hirz said.

The unmarried couple entered their pleas before Erie County Judge John J. Trucilla, who accepted the pleas and set sentencing for Oct. 10. Jury selection in the couple's trial had been scheduled to start on Friday.

What's next?

Third-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in state prison. Under the state sentencing guidelines, which account for a defendant's guilty or no contest plea and other factors, Orton-McIntire and Miller are both facing a minimum sentence of six years in the standard range of the guidelines, their lawyers said following the plea hearing.

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Orton-McIntyre's lawyer is Brian Arrowsmith. Bruce Sandmeyer represents Miller.

Arrests:North East parents charged with 3rd-degree murder in death of 4-week-old daughter

By pleading no contest, Miller agreed not to challenge the charges. A guilty plea and a no-contest plea are the same for sentencing purposes.

Hirz is expected to ask for sentences longer than the minimum under the standard range, and she is expected to ask Trucilla to apply a two-year sentencing enhancement against both defendants. The enhancement is not mandatory, but Trucilla could order it because Kaylee  the murder victim  was younger than 13 years old.

As part of the plea bargain, the prosecution dropped the two other charges that both Orton-McIntyre and Miller had been facing: one count each of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated assault, both first-degree felonies.

Criminal complaint:Police: North East mom charged in month-old daughter's death resisted medical care for her

Hirz declined to comment following the plea hearing. She and the defense lawyers will be able to present arguments at sentencing.

Miller and Orton-McIntyre said little at the plea hearing, except to state their pleas and say they understood the proceedings.

Theory of case:North East baby death: Neglect rather than intent at core of charges as parents arraigned

The North East police charged Miller and Orton-McIntyre in March 2021. Miller has been free since posting bail of $100,000 in June 2021. Orton-McIntyre has been unable to make bond of $100,000 and remains at the Erie County Prison.

A case of third-degree murder against both parents

The District Attorney's Office sought third-degree murder convictions from the start of the case.

The evidence showed both parents were the sole caregivers for their daughter, and that the injuries occurred under their care. But neither parent took responsibility for the injuries, according to the criminal complaints, leaving the District Attorney's Office to pursue a case based on what turned out to be the incontrovertible evidence: that the parents were guilty of murder because they failed to seek medical care for their obviously injured child.

Kaylee died at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC on July 28, 2020, after she was transferred there from UPMC Hamot in Erie on July 22, 2020.

Erie County Judge John J. Trucilla set sentencing for Oct. 10 for the two North East parents who entered pleas in the murder of their month-old daughter.

The criminal complaint against her parents does not specify how Kaylee was hurt so badly that she suffered extensive bleeding in and around her brain, extensive retinal hemorrhages and a fractured right arm.

Kaylee's brain injuries were so apparent that a pediatric physician at Children's Hospital called them "catastrophic" at the pair's preliminary hearing in May 2021. Any reasonable person would have known to seek swift medical attention for a baby in such a condition, according to the prosecution's case.

Preliminary hearing:Doctor calls slain North East baby's brain injury 'catastrophic'; parents held for court

At the preliminary hearing, the doctor, Carmen Coombs, testified that the injuries were not accidental and that Orton-McIntyre told her she and Miller were the only caregivers for Kaylee, who was born on June 24, 2020.

Kaylee had marijuana in her system when she was born, and Lindsay Orton-McIntyre admitted to smoking marijuana throughout pregnancy, claiming it helped with her nausea, according to the criminal complaint.

More evidence:Police: Positive pot test at birth led to OCY involvement in case of slain North East baby

A 'constellation' of severe injuries to a baby

North East police started their investigation into Kaylee's injuries July 22, 2020, when police responded to a welfare check at a South Washington Street residence where Miller had taken Kaylee, police said.

Miller brought the baby to the residence  where a friend lived  about 10 minutes earlier, according to police.

The baby had been at the apartment of Orton-McIntyre, in the first block of Clay Street, where Orton-McIntyre had lived since July 15, 2020, and where Miller also stayed, according to arrest records. The morning of July 22, 2020, police said in the arrest records, Miller had stopped by the apartment to take the baby to the hospital, but Orton-McIntyre  by her own admission  refused to let him go. Orton-McIntyre later allowed Miller to pick up the baby, and he took the baby to the friend's house and called an ambulance.

Kaylee was taken by ambulance from the residence to UPMC Hamot and then transferred to Children's Hospital.

At UPMC Children's Hospital, physicians cataloged the baby's injuries. In addition to the blunt force trauma to the head, she suffered, according to the affidavit of probable cause attached to the criminal complaint, bleeding to the brain, hemorrhaging of both retinas, swelling of the spinal cord and a fracture of the right wrist "with no signs of healing."

One of the consulting physicians said the "constellation of these severe injuries would not be explained by an underlying medical condition and resulted from physical child abuse," according to the affidavit.

Another North East case:'She starved this baby': North East mom sentenced to state prison for neglect of son

Pending case:DA seeks 1st-degree murder conviction against Corry mom in toddler son's starvation death

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Baby's parents plead guilty, no contest to her murder in North East
FBI agents gather outside the FBI building in Cincinnati on Thursday after a gunman tried to get past security. (FOX19 Cincinnati)

The gunman who died in a shootout Thursday after trying to get inside the FBIs Cincinnati office had apparently called on social media for federal agents to be killed on sight in response to the search at former President Trumps home, a law enforcement official said.

Federal investigators are examining social media accounts they believe are tied to the gunman, 42-year-old Ricky Shiffer, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

At least one of the messages on Trumps Truth Social media platform appeared to have been posted by Shiffer on Thursday after he tried to breach the FBI office. It read: "If you dont hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the F.B.I.

Another message posted on the site this week by @rickywshifferjr included a call to arms and urged people to be ready for combat after Monday's FBI search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Authorities also are looking into whether Shiffer, a Navy veteran, had ties to far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys, the official said.

Shiffer was armed with a nail gun and an AR-15-style rifle when he tried to breach the visitor screening area at the FBI office Thursday, according to the official. Shiffer fled when agents confronted him.

He was later spotted by a state trooper along a highway and got into a gunfight that ended with police killing him, authorities said.

The burst of violence unfolded amid FBI warnings that federal agents could face attacks after the search in Florida.

The FBI is investigating the Cincinnati incident as an act of domestic extremism, according to the law enforcement official.

Shiffer is believed to have been in Washington in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and may have been at the Capitol that day, but was not charged with any crimes in connection with that attack, the official said.

Officials have warned of a rise in right-wing threats against federal agents since the FBI entered Trump's estate with a search warrant Monday in what authorities said was part of an investigation into whether he took classified documents with him after leaving the White House. Supporters of the former president have railed against the search, accusing the FBI and the Justice Department of using the legal system as a political weapon.

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FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, who was appointed by Trump, denounced the threats as he visited a bureau office in Omaha on Wednesday, saying, Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who youre upset with.

The FBI warned its agents Wednesday to avoid protesters and ensure their security key cards were not visible outside FBI space, citing an increase in social media threats against bureau personnel and offices.

A now-suspended Twitter account, @rickyshiffer, had the same profile picture as the Truth Social account and shared similar opinions, including a call this spring for armed conflict in the U.S.

It included posts saying that elections are rigged against conservatives and that the country faces tyranny.

I dont think its a one-off incident, said Amy Cooter, a Middlebury College researcher and expert on militias. Im afraid theres going to be a pocket full of people who feel compelled to act.

Courthouses, government offices and election headquarters all could be targets, she said, adding that anywhere is fair game now, because these folks feel this a personal issue for them.

Shiffer worked as an electrician, according to one social media profile believed to be his. He was a registered Republican who voted in the 2020 primary from Columbus, Ohio, and in the 2020 general election from Tulsa, Okla., according to public records.

The Ohio Department of Taxation filed suit against him in June, seeking a $553 tax lien judgment, according to court records listing him at an address in St. Petersburg, Fla. He also previously lived at several addresses in Columbus and in Omaha.

He graduated from high school in central Pennsylvania in 1998 and enlisted in the Navy that year, later serving on the submarine Columbia until 2003, according to military records. He was an infantry soldier in the Florida Army National Guard from 2008 to 2011, when he was honorably discharged.

I know he was way into World War II and the military," said Lori Frady, a classmate of Shiffer's at West Perry High School in Elliottsburg, Pa., who had not seen him since graduation. "He didnt have a lot of friends, but the friends he did have were big into history and military history.

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, John Seewer in Toledo, Margery Beck in Omaha, and Jim Mustian and researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Footage appearing to show dead fish that have washed up on a beach has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media alongside the misleading claim it was filmed after China staged military drills around Taiwan in August 2022. The video, however, has previously circulated online since at least November 2021, when there were multiple Chinese-language reports about dead fish washing up on a beach in China's Huizhou city.

The 11-second video was posted on Twitter on August 5, 2022.

A person can be heard off camera saying in Mandarin: "The beach is full of dead fish. My goodness."

The simplified Chinese tweet translates as: "Chinese Communist Partys military drills killed a lot of fish! Poor fish."

The caption includes the hashtags "Pelosi", "Visit Taiwan" and "Prepare for War".

Beijing has raged at a trip to Taiwan in August by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- the highest-ranking elected American official to visit in decades -- staging days of air and sea drills around the island that raised tensions to their highest level in years.

Screenshot of the misleading Twitter post, taken on August 11, 2022

The video was viewed more than 200,000 times alongside a similar claim in social media posts in Chinese here and here, English here and Spanish here.

Comments on the posts suggest many online users believed the video was filmed recently.

"Pelosi visited Taiwan, then innocent fish had trouble," one user wrote.

"Pelosi didn't kill the fish, but these fish died because of Pelosi," said another.

However, the video predates Pelosi's visit to Taiwan by at least eight months.

Dead fish in Huizhou

Keyword searches found the video was earlier published on YouTube on November 9, 2021.

The YouTube video is captioned: "On November 6, a large number of dead fish were found on the beach of Double Moon Bay in Huizhou, Guangdong.

"The videos show that a large number of dead fish were washed up to the beach, looking shining white from the distance."

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Double Moon Bay is located in the southeast part of Huizhou city in China's Guangdong province.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the video in the misleading posts (left) and the YouTube video (right):

Further keyword searches on Weibo found corresponding clips filmed on the same beach were published by Chinese state newspaper Beijing News on November 6, 2021.

Below are two comparisons of the video in the misleading posts (left) and the clip from Beijing News (right) showing the same buildings and two people on the beach:

The Beijing News report stated the cause of the incident was unclear.

It translates in part: "Beijing News learned from the management committee of the Port Coastal Tourism Resort that the relevant departments of the local Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau have sampled the dead fish and seawater, and the test results have not yet been released."

The incident was also reported by Chinese state newspaper The People's Daily and Chinese financial news site Hexun.com.

Both reports also stated it was unclear what caused the large number of fish to die.
By Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Miguel Gutierrez

KABUL/SALAMANCA, Spain (Reuters) - As thousands of Afghans crowded outside Kabul airport a year ago desperately trying to escape the Taliban, Massouda Kohistani managed to fight her way on to a foreign military flight bound for the Gulf and ended up in Spain.

Her mother and more than a dozen other family members did not make it. They were left behind on the tarmac, Kohistani recalled, so as well as dealing with the pain of separation from her family and home, the 41-year-old rights activist is coping with a crushing sense of guilt.

"I feel terrible having left behind my family, my sick mother," Kohistani, who is single, told Reuters from Salamanca, a city west of Madrid, shortly after finishing another emotionally draining video call with her family back in Kabul.

"They don't have enough money to manage expenses...earlier I managed to pay all the bills."

Although there are no accurate estimates, thousands of Afghans fled the country in the chaotic days that followed the hardline Islamist Taliban's military conquest on Aug. 15, 2021.

Reuters spoke with 13 prominent Afghan activists who escaped and who are now living as refugees abroad with no clear idea of when, if ever, they will be able to go home.

The men and women are wary of returning to a country ruled by a government that has restricted basic freedoms since returning to power.

Besmullah Habib, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the Taliban had invited all Afghans who fled to return, and that a special commission had been set up to help that happen.

Kohistani, speaking from her apartment in Spain, said she had had her refugee status confirmed, valid for five years.

Spain's Interior Ministry declined to comment on individual cases. According to ministry data, almost 3,000 Afghans have arrived in Spain expressing a wish to seek asylum in the last year. Nearly 2,000 have sought asylum and just over 1,500 have been granted it so far.

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Any sense of relief Kohistani felt after getting away proved short-lived.

"I live alone in Spain and the panic of traumatic moments at Kabul airport haunt me every day," she said.

Foreign forces at Kabul airport let her on to a plane filled with hundreds of Afghans, but her family was not allowed, she said. Reuters could not independently verify her account.

"My exit was the turning point from a life with promise to one filled with anxiety, frustration and trauma," she said.

RIGHTS CURTAILED

Scenes of panic at the airport a year ago dominated news bulletins around the world, and underlined the fear many Afghans felt as the Taliban marched into Kabul. Resistance from local forces crumbled at the time as the U.S. military withdrew.

Scores of Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. troops were killed by a suspected suicide bomber who mingled with crowds outside the airport in an attack claimed by Islamic State, a rival hardline Islamist group.

The Taliban, who fought a 20-year insurgency against U.S.-led forces in which tens of thousands of civilians were killed, have severely curtailed the rights of women and girls since toppling the Western-backed government.

Some ex-officials and soldiers from the ousted administration have also accused them of carrying out vendettas against former foes.

The Taliban government, some of whose top leaders are on U.S. wanted lists for suspected links to terrorism, has vowed to respect people's rights according to its interpretation of Islamic law, and said it would investigate alleged abuses.

In Kabul, Kohistani's sister and now wheelchair-bound mother said the Taliban continued to conduct surprise inspections of their family home to check if the daughter who fled had returned from Spain.

"It was a big shock for me to see my daughter leave suddenly," the mother told Reuters after hanging up on the same video call.

"I don't care about my life ... I just wish that when I die, Massouda can come to my funeral," added the mother, who requested her name not be published for fear of reprisals.

Habib from the Interior Ministry denied accusations the Taliban had conducted searches at the home.

"The general amnesty announced by the supreme leader includes everyone," he said. "Those who claim these issues are trying to ... strengthen their immigration case."

According to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, Afghans are living as refugees in 98 countries, making them the third largest displaced population after Syrian refugees and displaced Venezuelans.

A senior United Nations official working in Afghanistan, who requested anonymity, said an estimated two million Afghans out of a population of some 40 million people were seeking immediate refugee status overseas, and the number of applicants continued to rise.

(Additional reporting by Rupam Jain in Kabul and Christina Thykjaer in Madrid; Writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Raju Gopalakrishnan)